I walked into my office this morning and was immediately greeted by cheering. Which struck me as odd, even though I think I'm pretty cool and totally merit such a welcome. Then I realized that the cheering was coming from outside, and stepped out onto the balcony to see what the fuss was about.
Turns out it was lots of schoolchildren running down the sidewalk waving banners and screaming in solidarity with illegal immigrants, as an extension of this weekend's various protests against anti-illegal immigration laws.
Being the daughter of a legal immigrant, I personally feel like supporting illegal immigration is a bit of a slap in the face for those people who, like my father, went through all the bureaucracy and paperwork and various requirements to become citizens of this country. Sorry, folks. Can't find it in me to rally behind this one, unless I get to wave a flag saying, "You've got to be kidding me."
I was amused by the following quote from an article about the aforementioned student march (which was actually a walkout) on CNN.com:
"We are illegal immigrants if you trace our heritage all the way back, but we are here and we are working and we are living the American dream," said Janet Padron, a 22-year-old Allen Park resident.
Yeah, well. Some of us are here AND paying taxes for the privilege. Not to mention NOT getting free healthcare.
Do I sound bitter? Well, I should. No one cheered for me this morning!
Monday, March 27, 2006
Sunday, March 26, 2006
A Gaping Wound Needs More Than Band-Aids
I hear that Abdul Rahman is probably going to be released due to "lack of evidence." Case dismissed.
So am I happy? Not entirely.
In other articles I've been reading this past week, it became very clear that the Afghani people in general were in favor of him being put to death. The imams were also emphatic in their calls for his execution. If the government simply lets him go free, his life is in danger on the streets of Afghanistan. So no, I am not happy about that.
Again, the problem here goes deeper than this one man's case, and I cannot stress that enough. If Islam is not reformed, we are going to keep running into this issue. We need to face it head-on, and this case provides our chance, and we are BLOWING IT by letting Afghanistan simply dismiss the case and let him go, as a measure of appeasement. I don't want to be appeased! I want to to see CHANGE!
It's time for Western countries to realize the truth: that we are not at war simply with corrupt regimes. We are absolutely embroiled in an ideological war, and the ideology we are fighting is so inherently tied to a religion, that you can't tell where one begins and the other ends.
The U.S.'s failure to acknowledge that fact is a big reason for our continued failures in all of our dealings with the Middle East, throughout history. We have no excuse to continue in our ignorance. The case of Abdul Rahman has revealed the truth, and if we don't learn from it, we will pay for it.
And so will countless others.
So am I happy? Not entirely.
In other articles I've been reading this past week, it became very clear that the Afghani people in general were in favor of him being put to death. The imams were also emphatic in their calls for his execution. If the government simply lets him go free, his life is in danger on the streets of Afghanistan. So no, I am not happy about that.
Again, the problem here goes deeper than this one man's case, and I cannot stress that enough. If Islam is not reformed, we are going to keep running into this issue. We need to face it head-on, and this case provides our chance, and we are BLOWING IT by letting Afghanistan simply dismiss the case and let him go, as a measure of appeasement. I don't want to be appeased! I want to to see CHANGE!
It's time for Western countries to realize the truth: that we are not at war simply with corrupt regimes. We are absolutely embroiled in an ideological war, and the ideology we are fighting is so inherently tied to a religion, that you can't tell where one begins and the other ends.
The U.S.'s failure to acknowledge that fact is a big reason for our continued failures in all of our dealings with the Middle East, throughout history. We have no excuse to continue in our ignorance. The case of Abdul Rahman has revealed the truth, and if we don't learn from it, we will pay for it.
And so will countless others.
Saturday, March 25, 2006
Just A Thought
I'm so tired.
I like to think that I could make a difference in the world--that my being here matters. But most of the time, I don't feel like it much.
One day, I hope that I do something that goes beyond my own narrow little world, to make someone else's a little better. One day, I hope I really and truly care more for other people than I care about myself.
I think that would be nice.
I like to think that I could make a difference in the world--that my being here matters. But most of the time, I don't feel like it much.
One day, I hope that I do something that goes beyond my own narrow little world, to make someone else's a little better. One day, I hope I really and truly care more for other people than I care about myself.
I think that would be nice.
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Finally, This is News
So, it's finally come to the attention of the international media in a big way that a native person of a Muslim country who converts to Christianity can be put to death.
The article on cnn.com states, "...the case of 41-year-old Abdul Rahman has many Western nations wondering if Afghanistan is regressing. Rahman, a father of two, was arrested and is on trial for rejecting Islam. The Afghan constitution, which is based on Sharia, or Islamic law, says that apostates can receive the death penalty."
One of the things I find most interesting in this story is the way the government of Afghanistan is trying to get around dealing with the case because of the furor it's causing, i.e., tell everyone that the guy in question is probably insane. If he's found to be crazy, he can't be tried in the court and "...definitely Islam has no claim to punish him. He must be forgiven. The case must be dropped." (quote ascribed by the AP to Moayuddin Baluch, a religious adviser to President Hamid Karzai.)
In other words, the government of Afghanistan doesn't come out and say, "This is a problem in our government, that we have no religious tolerance." No, they say, "Oh, the guy is mentally ill, so we can't try him. End of problem."
Only it isn't. The end of the problem, I mean.
And the problem isn't that Afghanistan is regressing, by the way. There is no regression where there has been no fundamental paradigm shift away from the original foundation.
I know that it is the politically correct thing these days to talk about the "sublimity" of Islam, and how a perfectly peaceful and good religion is getting a bad rap because of psychotic extremists, but I for one don't buy it. The history of Islam is covered in blood, from its inception to the present-day, and it shows no sign of changing.
Representatives of "moderate Islam" like to say that theirs is the true version of the religion. My response: When the majority of the Islamic Middle East--the region where Islam actually was born and where it is still the rule of law today--reflects democratic, peaceful and equable values within their own societies and governments, then I might start to believe that Islam is fundamentally a democratic, peaceful religion. But not until then.
I traveled through the Middle East two years ago, and had the chance to meet with many native Christians there. And I found that even in Egypt, which is probably the most liberal of the Middle Eastern nations, at least in terms of religious tolerance, Christians still suffer discrimination and persecution, and someone who converts from Islam to Christianity could face imprisonment or death. I had Christians tell me I couldn't write down the things they told me, because they were afraid that it could end up "in the wrong hands." And when I did write anything, I changed names, or didn't mention them at all, because I didn't want to inadvertently cause trouble for anyone.
This has been an ongoing reality in Muslim nations. Christians, and members of other religions, live in fear of their lives in many countries. This is not a sudden, recent development, and I find it appalling that only now are Western countries expressing outrage over this situation. Still... perhaps it is better late than never.
Here's a favorite quote from the article:
"All four nations [the US, Germany, Canada, and Italy] have expressed displeasure over the situation, some even saying that it is intolerable that soldiers of all faiths die to protect a country threatening to kill its own for converting to Christianity."
Yes, it IS intolerable. But that is exactly what's going on. And pssst, guess what--Iraq won't be any different. Why? Because the new government is Islamic. Do we honestly think that we're creating a society that understands and will adhere to the principles of democracy and equal rights for men and women, when Islam shows itself to be antithetical to those principles in practice, in every country where Islam rules? Do we honestly think that THIS Islamic government is going to be different from all the rest?
We are fooling ourselves in this matter, at great cost, and that's because we don't understand the history of the different cultures involved. If we did, we would know that democracy is not a universal mandate; it is a product primarily of WESTERN philosophy. And contrary to the underlying assumptions of many of us in Western nations, the West is not the whole world.
Surprise.
The article on cnn.com states, "...the case of 41-year-old Abdul Rahman has many Western nations wondering if Afghanistan is regressing. Rahman, a father of two, was arrested and is on trial for rejecting Islam. The Afghan constitution, which is based on Sharia, or Islamic law, says that apostates can receive the death penalty."
One of the things I find most interesting in this story is the way the government of Afghanistan is trying to get around dealing with the case because of the furor it's causing, i.e., tell everyone that the guy in question is probably insane. If he's found to be crazy, he can't be tried in the court and "...definitely Islam has no claim to punish him. He must be forgiven. The case must be dropped." (quote ascribed by the AP to Moayuddin Baluch, a religious adviser to President Hamid Karzai.)
In other words, the government of Afghanistan doesn't come out and say, "This is a problem in our government, that we have no religious tolerance." No, they say, "Oh, the guy is mentally ill, so we can't try him. End of problem."
Only it isn't. The end of the problem, I mean.
And the problem isn't that Afghanistan is regressing, by the way. There is no regression where there has been no fundamental paradigm shift away from the original foundation.
I know that it is the politically correct thing these days to talk about the "sublimity" of Islam, and how a perfectly peaceful and good religion is getting a bad rap because of psychotic extremists, but I for one don't buy it. The history of Islam is covered in blood, from its inception to the present-day, and it shows no sign of changing.
Representatives of "moderate Islam" like to say that theirs is the true version of the religion. My response: When the majority of the Islamic Middle East--the region where Islam actually was born and where it is still the rule of law today--reflects democratic, peaceful and equable values within their own societies and governments, then I might start to believe that Islam is fundamentally a democratic, peaceful religion. But not until then.
I traveled through the Middle East two years ago, and had the chance to meet with many native Christians there. And I found that even in Egypt, which is probably the most liberal of the Middle Eastern nations, at least in terms of religious tolerance, Christians still suffer discrimination and persecution, and someone who converts from Islam to Christianity could face imprisonment or death. I had Christians tell me I couldn't write down the things they told me, because they were afraid that it could end up "in the wrong hands." And when I did write anything, I changed names, or didn't mention them at all, because I didn't want to inadvertently cause trouble for anyone.
This has been an ongoing reality in Muslim nations. Christians, and members of other religions, live in fear of their lives in many countries. This is not a sudden, recent development, and I find it appalling that only now are Western countries expressing outrage over this situation. Still... perhaps it is better late than never.
Here's a favorite quote from the article:
"All four nations [the US, Germany, Canada, and Italy] have expressed displeasure over the situation, some even saying that it is intolerable that soldiers of all faiths die to protect a country threatening to kill its own for converting to Christianity."
Yes, it IS intolerable. But that is exactly what's going on. And pssst, guess what--Iraq won't be any different. Why? Because the new government is Islamic. Do we honestly think that we're creating a society that understands and will adhere to the principles of democracy and equal rights for men and women, when Islam shows itself to be antithetical to those principles in practice, in every country where Islam rules? Do we honestly think that THIS Islamic government is going to be different from all the rest?
We are fooling ourselves in this matter, at great cost, and that's because we don't understand the history of the different cultures involved. If we did, we would know that democracy is not a universal mandate; it is a product primarily of WESTERN philosophy. And contrary to the underlying assumptions of many of us in Western nations, the West is not the whole world.
Surprise.
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
LA Drivers: Part II
Ok, ok. Maybe I was being unnecessarily cynical with that last post. I am sure there are lots of reasons to love LA drivers. For instance, their patience.
Like, sometimes they will wait an entire half-microsecond between the time a light changes from red to green before laying on the horn, which is very considerate really, because you might have made everyone behind you wait for, I don't know, a whole second or even two, due to the fact that you were blinking just then.
Or what about the eager helpfulness that characterizes the typical LA driver? I bet you didn't know about that, but it's so true. You'll find out when you do something utterly misguided and ridiculous, like slowing down at a green light before turning right, because there happens to be a pedestrian in the crosswalk. Well, an LA driver (or maybe even more than one!) is bound to honk helpfully at you, letting you know that you shouldn't hold up traffic for the sake of something as trivial as a person's LIFE--they probably don't need it that much anyway, right?
Then there are the super-thoughtful folks who are just looking out for your best interests when they give that horn a tap because the car in front of you isn't moving through the green light. That's obviously no excuse for you to be selfish and not run right into them in order to MAKE them go like they're supposed to.
See what I mean? If it weren't for the uber-courtesy of LA drivers, you wouldn't know about all the stupid things you are doing out there on the road which are endangering other people's ability to get where they are trying to go (usually at speeds exceeding the maximum velocity of the Space Shuttle). I for one am now positively GRATEFUL that LA drivers exist. What would I do without them!
(Probably get to and from work in 20 minutes instead of an hour, but I won't mention that. Oh whoops, too late. I did.)
Like, sometimes they will wait an entire half-microsecond between the time a light changes from red to green before laying on the horn, which is very considerate really, because you might have made everyone behind you wait for, I don't know, a whole second or even two, due to the fact that you were blinking just then.
Or what about the eager helpfulness that characterizes the typical LA driver? I bet you didn't know about that, but it's so true. You'll find out when you do something utterly misguided and ridiculous, like slowing down at a green light before turning right, because there happens to be a pedestrian in the crosswalk. Well, an LA driver (or maybe even more than one!) is bound to honk helpfully at you, letting you know that you shouldn't hold up traffic for the sake of something as trivial as a person's LIFE--they probably don't need it that much anyway, right?
Then there are the super-thoughtful folks who are just looking out for your best interests when they give that horn a tap because the car in front of you isn't moving through the green light. That's obviously no excuse for you to be selfish and not run right into them in order to MAKE them go like they're supposed to.
See what I mean? If it weren't for the uber-courtesy of LA drivers, you wouldn't know about all the stupid things you are doing out there on the road which are endangering other people's ability to get where they are trying to go (usually at speeds exceeding the maximum velocity of the Space Shuttle). I for one am now positively GRATEFUL that LA drivers exist. What would I do without them!
(Probably get to and from work in 20 minutes instead of an hour, but I won't mention that. Oh whoops, too late. I did.)
LA Drivers: Gotta Love 'Em
Welcome everyone, to another episode of the Frogg's Top Five! Today, I will share my top five reasons why I adore LA drivers:
5)
4)
Oh here's a really good one:
3)
And let's not forget:
2)
Finally, let's have a big drum-roll, please, for the #1 reason why I love LA drivers...
1)
5)
4)
Oh here's a really good one:
3)
And let's not forget:
2)
Finally, let's have a big drum-roll, please, for the #1 reason why I love LA drivers...
1)
Monday, March 20, 2006
Saturday Play-by-Play
Went snowboarding on Saturday. Thought I'd write out a detailed account of the day, for your reading pleasure. Enjoy!
Saturday, March 18
4:50am Miss my alarm, which I don't realize until...
5:09am ...at which point I jump out of bed in a panic because I am the one who made such a big deal about everyone being READY TO GO at 5:30am. Naturally, that means I am the last one ready. Sigh...
6:00am Stop in Azusa to leave my car at a house where I will theoretically be attending a friend's birthday party that evening, after we get off the mountain. As we all pile into M's truck, I notice that my brother's girlfriend, J, still has store tags on her pants and I tease her about it.
6:10am-6:30am My brothers regale everyone with a story about how I wore a tag on my jacket in Christmas pictures taken TWO YEARS AGO, and how they didn't understand why I didn't take the tag off when they TOLD me to, but no, I had to be STUBBORN and RUIN the Christmas pictures, which is pretty much the same as ruining Christmas, to hear them tell it. I realize that I will never, ever hear the end of this story. I make a mental note to take tags off of my clothing from now on.
7:30am We're heading up the mountain and notice a cell phone tower disguised as a tree. Which, of course, means that the disguise isn't really working out so well. My brother makes fun of it. We all laugh, because he's witty.
7:45am We stop to let my brother and his girlfriend pay a visit to the restroom, otherwise known as The Great Outdoors. I try to take a picture of J but she has hidden herself behind a bank on the opposite side of the road. Oh well.
8:30am We stop to rent equipment for T, KD, and J at a shop about 20 miles from Big Bear. There is one kid running the place and he's obviously hung over. He asks us what day it is. We tell him. I'm glad I have my own equipment.
9:30am We get to Summit and the parking lot is full; parking lot attendants are directing everyone to the lower lots from where we will have to take a shuttle. We find out that M is good at lying, when he rolls down his window and, without batting an eye, tells an attendant, "We're meeting a buddy up there"--meaning in the main lot close to the mountain, the lot they had blocked off to everyone else because it was full. As we drive up, the rest of us pray that we find a space, but then feel conflicted, because we are basically asking the Lord to reward us for telling lies. While we are considering that maybe we should instead pray for M's soul, we find a spot. We aren't sure what this means theologically, but we don't care anymore. We're happy.
See?
10:00am-1:30pm Mountain time! Yeeha!
1:30pm-2:30pm We spend KD's life savings on three cheeseburgers and a couple of hot dogs. Oh, and a bag of chips.
2:30pm-4:30pm More riding. I also use my little digital camera to take some video clips which would rival The Blair Witch Project in terms of motion sickness potential. Cool.
5:09pm We had all agreed during lunch that, should any separation occur within our group, which it did, we would all meet at the car at 4:30pm. T and I end up together and neither of us has a watch or cell phone with us. As we head off the mountain, I ask a guy what time it is, then feel bad because he has to go to all this effort to get at his cell phone; i.e., digging into a pocket, taking off his gloves, etc. He eventually tells us it is 5:09, which is EXACTLY the time when I got out of bed that morning! Weird. But more importantly, it means T and I are over half an hour late for meeting the others. T says he figures the rest of the gang will probably be waiting in the car with the heat on, nice and warm, so no big deal.
5:12pm The gang is waiting outside the car, where it is not warm at all. T had the keys the whole time. Oops.
9:30pm Traffic is bad, so we don't get back to Azusa until after 9pm. The others drop me off, but before going in to my friend's birthday party, I change clothes in the backseat of my car, proving yet again that I missed my calling as a Cirque de Soleil contortionist. Once inside the house, I start chatting it up with a couple of guys, and am feeling pretty good, until I go to the bathroom and look in the mirror. My hair looks... well, like it's been under a beanie all day, while the part of it that remained exposed to the elements got wet and then dried in very interesting sculptured shapes. And it looks like I got sunburned in just one spot, next to my left eye. I laugh at myself and leave the party about 10 minutes later, confident that I've made a very lasting impression.
10:30pm-11:00pm I drive home listening to some station's "Totally 80s!" Saturday night music show, because I can't find anything I like on the radio but desperately need something upbeat (and annoying, apparently) to keep me awake. I wonder, not for the first time, why 80s music is so enduring. Coincidentally, that's the exact same kind of music they were playing at the party I just left. Weird.
Saturday, March 18
4:50am Miss my alarm, which I don't realize until...
5:09am ...at which point I jump out of bed in a panic because I am the one who made such a big deal about everyone being READY TO GO at 5:30am. Naturally, that means I am the last one ready. Sigh...
6:00am Stop in Azusa to leave my car at a house where I will theoretically be attending a friend's birthday party that evening, after we get off the mountain. As we all pile into M's truck, I notice that my brother's girlfriend, J, still has store tags on her pants and I tease her about it.
6:10am-6:30am My brothers regale everyone with a story about how I wore a tag on my jacket in Christmas pictures taken TWO YEARS AGO, and how they didn't understand why I didn't take the tag off when they TOLD me to, but no, I had to be STUBBORN and RUIN the Christmas pictures, which is pretty much the same as ruining Christmas, to hear them tell it. I realize that I will never, ever hear the end of this story. I make a mental note to take tags off of my clothing from now on.
7:30am We're heading up the mountain and notice a cell phone tower disguised as a tree. Which, of course, means that the disguise isn't really working out so well. My brother makes fun of it. We all laugh, because he's witty.
7:45am We stop to let my brother and his girlfriend pay a visit to the restroom, otherwise known as The Great Outdoors. I try to take a picture of J but she has hidden herself behind a bank on the opposite side of the road. Oh well.
8:30am We stop to rent equipment for T, KD, and J at a shop about 20 miles from Big Bear. There is one kid running the place and he's obviously hung over. He asks us what day it is. We tell him. I'm glad I have my own equipment.
9:30am We get to Summit and the parking lot is full; parking lot attendants are directing everyone to the lower lots from where we will have to take a shuttle. We find out that M is good at lying, when he rolls down his window and, without batting an eye, tells an attendant, "We're meeting a buddy up there"--meaning in the main lot close to the mountain, the lot they had blocked off to everyone else because it was full. As we drive up, the rest of us pray that we find a space, but then feel conflicted, because we are basically asking the Lord to reward us for telling lies. While we are considering that maybe we should instead pray for M's soul, we find a spot. We aren't sure what this means theologically, but we don't care anymore. We're happy.
See?
10:00am-1:30pm Mountain time! Yeeha!
1:30pm-2:30pm We spend KD's life savings on three cheeseburgers and a couple of hot dogs. Oh, and a bag of chips.
2:30pm-4:30pm More riding. I also use my little digital camera to take some video clips which would rival The Blair Witch Project in terms of motion sickness potential. Cool.
5:09pm We had all agreed during lunch that, should any separation occur within our group, which it did, we would all meet at the car at 4:30pm. T and I end up together and neither of us has a watch or cell phone with us. As we head off the mountain, I ask a guy what time it is, then feel bad because he has to go to all this effort to get at his cell phone; i.e., digging into a pocket, taking off his gloves, etc. He eventually tells us it is 5:09, which is EXACTLY the time when I got out of bed that morning! Weird. But more importantly, it means T and I are over half an hour late for meeting the others. T says he figures the rest of the gang will probably be waiting in the car with the heat on, nice and warm, so no big deal.
5:12pm The gang is waiting outside the car, where it is not warm at all. T had the keys the whole time. Oops.
9:30pm Traffic is bad, so we don't get back to Azusa until after 9pm. The others drop me off, but before going in to my friend's birthday party, I change clothes in the backseat of my car, proving yet again that I missed my calling as a Cirque de Soleil contortionist. Once inside the house, I start chatting it up with a couple of guys, and am feeling pretty good, until I go to the bathroom and look in the mirror. My hair looks... well, like it's been under a beanie all day, while the part of it that remained exposed to the elements got wet and then dried in very interesting sculptured shapes. And it looks like I got sunburned in just one spot, next to my left eye. I laugh at myself and leave the party about 10 minutes later, confident that I've made a very lasting impression.
10:30pm-11:00pm I drive home listening to some station's "Totally 80s!" Saturday night music show, because I can't find anything I like on the radio but desperately need something upbeat (and annoying, apparently) to keep me awake. I wonder, not for the first time, why 80s music is so enduring. Coincidentally, that's the exact same kind of music they were playing at the party I just left. Weird.
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