heads of state

I'd written about Mahmoud Ahmadinejad before. He had said then that he wouldn't do Oli Stone's doc b/c he wants nothing to do w/ the US b/c anything to do w/ the US relates to "the Great Satan".

Sooooo.... um, isn't Columbia University in the US? So, why'd he do that? You know what I really wanna know that I can't seem find out? How much did they pay him to appear & speak?

You know what I mean? Seriously, even if you wanted Carrot Top to come to your school to speak, you'd have to pay him, & put him up in swanky digs & stuff. So, how much? And the students are ok w/ having contributed to his income?

Y'all remember the tasering that happened at John Kerry's todo at the University of Florida last week? I mean, they freakin tasered him! He just didn't agree w/ Kerry. I mean, his tuition & fees helped bring Kerry there, so he's got a right to say what he wants. I think The Idea of Progress did a great post on it. Yes, he got carried away, & shoulda been removed b/c he was getting in the way of the others who also contributed & actually did want to hear what the Ker-ster had to say. But to TASER him; that's just sickening. I've written about another tasering at a sunny school before too; & so y'all know I'm just pretty anti-tasering.

But the Columbia president paid Ahmadinejad to come to speak there, & then just bent him over & spanked him? If we're going to taser anyone who is adamantly against whoever we pay to come speak at the school, shouldn't that be consistent?

The kid paying tuition & fees gets tasered. The president who collects his income from the tuition & fees doesn't. I'm not saying he shoulda got tasered. I'm saying the kid shouldn't have.

I hate inconsistencies. Ahmadinejad saying he wants nothing to do w/ the US, then coming here to speak. Someone getting tasered for causing a scene at a lecture, & someone else being commended for it (even though he himself paid big money to the offender?). What's up w/ all dat yo?!?!

Oh, yeah, & then Evo Morales spoke at Cooper Union on Monday, & said that capitalism is "the worst enemy of humanity". He got thunderous applause from the 200 students that came to hear him speak. So, don't tell me it has anything to do w/ denouncing our way of life. Maybe it's just cause they're such a hippie school.

Sidenote: don't think I'm anti Evo, cause I'm not. I think it's cool that a poor farmer w/ no "formal education" can become president. I put "formal education" in quotes not b/c I love quotes so much, but b/c I don’t think a person’s intelligence or common sense comes is relative to the level of his degree. There are so many ppl among us who may not have formal training, but may be smarter or more qualified than those with a doctoral degree. But that’s a post for another day. Or not (you know how lazy I can be about posting).

a call for more lazy protesting!

I think I may be supporting the wrong causes. I dragged myself out of bed this morn, & dragged myself in & outta the shower to get ready. As I got out & was getting ready, it hit me that I completely support the wrong causes in my life.

Look at John & Yoko... They supported causes that made them stay in bed ALL DAY LONG! Now, whatever type of cause wants you to rally like that, I can get behind. I could TOTALLY do that!

How come no one ever has rallies like that anymore?

I’ve mentioned here how I went to Kent State. Y’all know Kent State, right? You’ve heard of it in the song “(4 dead in) Ohio”. About when our government’s military force opened fire on their own kids. Yeah, & you wonder how I ended up so paranoid & cynical. I remember in college, we didn’t have classes on May 4th in remembrance of the Kent State shootings. There were tons of vigils, & musicians (nationally famous hippie musicians, & local hippie musicians) would come & play on Blanket Hill. We would hang out on the grass & listen to ppl sing or speak. There was this one guy on the May 4th Task Force that was also there in the shootings, & he would speak & re-tell his story every year.

But one year that clearly sticks out in my mind is the year we all spread out & laid on the entire expanse there. Hundreds of ppl came that year. Everyone met at Blanket Hill, & laid down on the hill (careful not to hurt the daffodils*), over the hill next to Taylor Hall, & partly in front of it.

Anyway, the point of this all was that I did attend a rally where ppl laid down on the grass on a temperate, beautiful sunny day surrounded by flowers, & just thought of the injustices that happen in the world. News crews were there to take pics, so the word could be spread. So, there’s proof positive that you can have a successful rally & be laying around.

I wish there were more things like that. Either that, or I need to go to bed earlier. But since I didn’t get to sleep until about 2 am last night, y’all get a big long rambling post b/c it takes me forever & a day to get to a point.

Assorted May 4th sites: official site of May 4th Task Force | may41970.com | may4.org (they have a great timeline of events) | FBI investigation | A million other links

*The pic is of Blanket Hill, the 2 granite structures are part of the May 4th memorial (they only built 7% of what was proposed), & the building in the back (that kinda reminds you of the Pantheon) is Taylor Hall. There are 58,175 daffodils planted on Blanket Hill; one for each of the US servicemen & servicewomen who died in the Vietnam conflict war. When I was in school there, I’d heard that you get fined $500 per daffodil that you picked b/c it’s technically defacing a memorial (or something like that). I never did find out if that was true, or just an urban legend; but I never did pick a single daffodil. I did pick the black-eyed susans that were in front of the Student Center all the time though.

there's another hurricane brewin in Louisiana

Do you guys remember the story of Hurricane? Mr. Rubin Carter? I know a lot of you have prob seen the movie (w/ Denzel). I’ve never seen the movie. I know the story b/c I’m a big Dylan fan. One of my fave songs is “Hurricane”; if you’ve never heard it, please do yourself a favor & listen to it. It will give you chills; it still gives me chills & I listen to it all the time.

Here’s a synopsis: Rubin Carter was unjustly imprisoned for 2 consecutive life terms by an all-white jury. He was charged w/ a triple murder; one of the victims, on his death bed told the police that Carter was not the right man. But 2 robbers, who were also in a lot of heat testified against him. That year was 1967.

1967 folks. 1967.

Dylan wrote “Hurricane” to raise awareness for Rubin Carter (in '75, after Carter had sent him a copy of his autobio, The Sixteenth Round which he wrote while locked up). On February 9th, 1976, Carter was sentence to 2 consecutive life terms (this was his 2nd trial; which they had fought for). Dylan never performed Hurricane live since that happened (last live performance of the song was January 25th 1976 in Houston). It wasn’t until November 1985 that he was released on parole, & 1988 that the original indictments were dismissed.

Why am I bringing this up?

Because it's 2007, ppl, & we should NOT be dealing with stuff like this in 2007. Or, at all in my lifetime, & I've been around for a lil bit now.

But if you haven't heard about Jena 6, please go to the Color of Change website & read about it. Print the letter to fax or email it. They also give you the option of writing out your own note. I did opt to do that b/c I figured (hopefully) they're gonna get thousands of letters from everywhere. There is HUGE media coverage about what's going on in Jena, LA globally (China, France, England). It's unfortunate that the national coverage isn't as much as it is overseas. What the world must think of the big, bad, ole US of A, huh?

To read more, you should also check out Aquababie's and/or V's sites. They've put up very thoughtful, in-depth posts; much more so than I have.

So, please go to the ColorOfChange.org website, & send a letter. You can also sign up to stand with the families if you will be in the area from July 31st to mid-August.

Again:
Sign the letter - Color of Change.org
Sign the online petition asking for the US Department of Justice to get involved

There is also a man named Michael David Murphy who went to Jena, LA & took pictures & has a photo journal; he's got two sites w/ pics & links: www.michaeldavidmurphy.com/jena/ & While Seated.

I've also posted the lyrics to Hurricane below in it's own special post.

Person of the Week: Joe Pa

I’ve decided that every week, I’m going to have a person that kicks ass. I’ll likely post this at the end of the week; Thurs, Fri, or Sat. But I’m not promising. I can’t handle that kind of commitment.

I thought of this b/c I read these stories about ppl who I think just rule in the best way possible.

Our 1st Person is Joe Paterno. Joe Pa, as he’s called, is not gonna stand for any BS. He is the coach of the Penn State football team. A couple of his guys were punks; so he decided that the whole team’s gonna clean up Beaver Stadium after each home game. Everyone. B/c they’re a team, & he will not have them called trash.

"We're all going to do it, everybody. Not just the kids that were involved. 'Cause we're all in it together. This is a team embarrassment. I wouldn't call it anything much other than that."

"I just thought that, hey, we had 14, 15 kids – I don't even know how many – that were involved in something embarrassing, and I think that we need to prove to people that we're not a bunch of hoodlums."

In addition to cleaning up the humongo stadium, they're also gonna build a house for Habitat for Humanity, & volunteer over SUMMER for the Special Olympics.

Most football coaches let things slide. "Boys will be boys." That sorta thing. But if you just let boys be boys, then how will they EVER become MEN?!

This is a man, a real man, to admire. He has character & principles & ideals. He knows right is right, & wrong is wrong. He will not have ppl talk trash about HIS ppl. He'll chase down a ref if he thinks he's wronged his ppl.

He will teach his ppl to rise above. And that makes him good ppl in my book.

Um, did I also mention that he's 80, has been the coach or assistant coach there for 57 years. AND, Penn State has never been under NCAA probation, and has never been under any serious investigation for wrong-doing since he's been there. Why? Uh, b/c he RULES!

actors & hookers

You know what I was thinking about last night? I was thinking about how actors & prostitutes are pretty much the same.

I mean, they both do & say as they are told. There is someone there to "direct" their actions. The prettier ones make a lil more moolah. They both get paid just for showing up & doing/saying what they're told.

Then I started thinking about Will Smith. I think I was thinking about all this b/c I saw some commercial for that new movie of his before I went to bed. I wasn't watching tv, but you know how if the tv's on, it's in the corner of your eye?

So, then I was thinking how Big Willie started out mostly in music, & is now mainly acting. And his wife was mostly acting before, & now she's mainly singing (she's always on tour w/ her band whenever I hear about her). Funny, huh? (ironic-funny, not haha-funny).

UPDATE: After I wrote this, I remembered when I was in school. I went into my undergrad to study architecture & sociology. I recalled that in my 2nd year of studio, we were told that architects are like whores, b/c you have to 'put out' whatever the client wants. Only a very select few will ever get to design what they truly want. I eventually switched outta arch, & just finished w/ a major in Sociology, which I love.

yea-grey

Um, you know how the British spelling differs from the American?

The British spell it 'grey', Americans--'gray'. And of course, we all know the 're' instead of 'er' at the end of such classics as 'theatre'; or the 'our' instead of 'or' in colour, behaviour, etc.

Well, is 'yay' the American way of spelling 'yea'? I've always spelled it 'yea'. Mainly cause I learned British-English growing up. I think. In primary school, they beat the ‘our’s & the ‘re’s right outta me. Well, ok, so they didn’t beat me here in the States*. But they def worked their patooties off to re-condition me to spell things the American way instead of the British way.

Um, does anyone else also call it 'primary school'? Grammar school? Grade school? Anyone?

But I guess they never noticed the ‘grey’. Maybe I just didn’t use it back then. I mean, how many 8 year olds use the word grey? I use it all the time now, complaining about yanking out yet another couple of hairs. So, it hasn’t been til recent years that I even noticed that it’s correct to spell it ‘gray’ as well.

But what about ‘yay’? Is that the same thing? Or, is it just these young punks now-a-days. W/ their adding words like ain’t, bootylicious, & google (as a verb) to our dictionaries?

*Although when I was in preschool overseas, my teacher used to threaten to tie me to the ceiling fan at least twice (or thrice) a week. No kidding. My mom & grandma had to go to school on several separate occasions to ask her to stop.

Aside: I was trying not to post b/c I wanted to keep the link to write about the crisis in the Dafur region at the top of my page; but please do scroll down & click on the link to help. Amnesty is trying to get a massive amount of letters to Washington by Monday.

remember the taliban

No, not like "remember the Alamo". I'm asking, remember the taliban? As in the taliban that Yale admitted to a non-degree progam? Well, hotair.com has an update on it all; as does the NY Times.

At the time of my prior post, Mr. Hashemi was asking to be moved into the full-degree program* w/ a sophomore status (since he had already completed one year there). Well, now it’s been decided that he may be back for one more semester in the fall, but he will not be graduating. I know it really shouldn’t be such a big deal; but it is to me. Yes, everyone deserves an education; & I will be the 1st to give someone a second chance, & I truly believe that people can reform. I did a dissertation on the rehabilitation of prisoners in college, & most ppl can reform if endowed with w/ the ambition & the means**.

But here’s my beef w/ the situation. Yale does not allow the ROTC to train on campus, they would not allow intelligent Afghan women to study there; but they’re ok w/ this top-level Taliban official being there? I think that part is wrong. At least the Afghan women were well-qualified, & likely to succeed in a high-caliber institution; but Mr. Hashemi only completed a 4th grade education, & a high school equivalency certificate. Not only that, but I don’t believe he’s reformed, or that he regrets any of his past doings. He was doing horribly in his "Terrorism: Past, Present and Future" class, arguing the textbooks were labeling the wrong ppl as the bad guys. He said that public executions in a soccer stadium in Kabul (pic to the left) were akin to the executions that take place in Texas***. I can’t agree w/ that. Um, btw, the ppl that were executed in that very public (see the tons of ppl in the background watching) stadium were missionaries.

*This is very common for international students to be admitted into a non-degree program, & be “shifted” into the full-degree program after a year (pending grades/courses, & approval by a dean). Of course, they need to formally petition this change (either by re-applying or simply writing a letter of appeal/petition to the dean & admission committee).

**I did find exceptions (as usual). It seems that some types of criminals have a chemical imbalance in their brains that actually propels them to do what they do. However, some of those crimes are not considered deviant in other countries. We as a society have deemed their actions as deviant behavior & so we persecute them. We are either fortunate to live in a country where we are so protected; or they are unfortunate to live in such a narrow-minded society that is not willing to accept their behavior. It depends on exactly how liberal you’re willing to go. I’m not quite that open-minded & liberal.

***I really did not mean to start up a topic on capital punishment. I know that the ppl who are executed in Texas are convicted murderers & rapists. I also know that a lot of ppl who have been on death row had subsequently been found innocent (via testimonials, dna, whatev); some before they were executed, & some unfortunately after. And I know that the anesthetic injection they give to paralyze the individual before they actually inject the super-painful poison that destroys the person’s insides doesn’t always work right; & there’s evidence that the person goes through the most jarring, wrenching pain possible before they actually die, but they can’t communicate it b/c they have been paralyzed. That all being said, I’d love to hear any thoughts anyone has on this. You can leave an anonymous comment.

dude, what am I?

For over a decade now, I've been undeclared (as a voter). The only real effect this has is that in May, during the primaries, I've only voted on the issues (some years, I've just gotten a ballot w/ one issue on it*). I’ve always voted in every election since I was 18; including primaries. This past May, I did have to declare myself for the first time, b/c there was this guy running in the primary, so that he could run for office in November. So, I knew he had to beat the other dude. That meant I would have to declare myself to give him a fighting chance, so that he could do good (not unlike Superman). But alas, he didn’t win the nomination.

I don't think anyone can really say that they are completely liberal or completely conservative. We live in the shades of grey in between. It's more a matter of how liberal. or how conservative.

Anyway, I found this quiz that asks "How Liberal or Conservative are You?" I though it was really interesting.

Your Political Profile:

Overall: 35% Conservative, 65% Liberal

Social Issues: 25% Conservative, 75% Liberal

Personal Responsibility: 0% Conservative, 100% Liberal

Fiscal Issues: 75% Conservative, 25% Liberal

Ethics: 25% Conservative, 75% Liberal

Defense and Crime: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal

*usually the school levy, which I always vote for, even though sometimes I feel they're just wasting the money. Well, not sometimes, a lot of the times. They threaten you by saying they're gonna cut classes or bussing or teaching staff, but then they use the money to give the higher-ups (superintendent or board members). I feel we as adults have a responsibility towards children. Even total strangers' children. If I pull up next to a car w/ a kid in the front seat & see no seat belt on him, I do roll down my window, honk the horn to get their attention, & tell them that kid needs to have that restraint on him/her. Yes, that crazy lady is me; my dad would yell at me & say that anyone who was willing to not make their kids buckle up musta been some sort of cretin, so he might even just pull out a rifle & shoot me. This was like 12 years ago; now that it's like the law, you don't see ppl w/out their seat belts on much. Well, not here anyway. And on the plus side, more ppl have guns. Yea.

Yale admits just about anyone

Whaaa!?!

You know how schools are always looking to diversify their student body? Well, they are. I just read that Yale enrolled a former Taliban official in to a non-degree program. That’s not even all of it. This person only had a 4th grade education!

Sayed Rahmatullah Hashemi, a former ambassador-at-large of the Taliban, was admitted as a “special student”.

Related articles:
Opinion Journal (from the Wall Street Journal)
NY Times article
Polly Awards (handed out by CampusMagazine)
Article from Gujarat paper