Linds Takes On The World

“Women’s rights are human rights, and human rights are women’s rights.”

2012-01-03T21:48:00.000-05:00

{Post delayed a couple weeks due to excess holiday cheer ;) }

An unfortunate glimmer of the true status of the Egypt streets, and insight into its government’s ceaseless cover-ups gained great recognition in an interesting way a couple of weeks ago. Civilians have been taking to the streets in protest against the depravity and lies of the military; in a nutshell, Egypt is trying to elect a new Parliament, but the military is allegedly blocking this and causing problems because, as soon as the Parliament takes over, the military’s power will decrease accordingly. Despite the military’s constant assurances and even the assurance of the Prime Minister that no force is being used against protestors, Twitter and other Internet resources bearing videos of military-imposed violence are telling a much different story.

This is really not too unusual, however, because the commoners of the Middle East have been trampelled by their lying leaders for centuries.

So what made this particular story the subject of primetime news all around the world? It was a particular victim of the military violence and a particular video that has now been seen around the world. This protestor-victim was interesting because, first and foremost, she was a woman. She was modestly wearing an abaya (long sleeved, ankle length, dark-colored, loose-fitting dress required by the Quran), which her brutalizers quickly stripped her of, revealing a BLUE bra as they proceeded to viciously kick and stomp on her now-exposed midriff.

So in this story, we have a lying government, an abusive military, a conservative Muslim woman protesting in the streets, and…a blue bra.

Do I secretly think that this story caught the media’s attention because it was a perfect opportunity for eye-catching women’s lingerie to flash on the screen—always a trick for getting viewers? Perhaps.

But I hope that it was more than that. I find 2 things interesting about this image:

1) A conservative Muslim woman was wearing a loose-fitting, modest, black abaya and even a hijab covering her hair & neck, but was wearing NOT white, NOT beige, but a BRIGHT BLUE bra.

2) A conservative Muslim woman was alone on the streets in protest against her government.

Both are signs of the expanding role of women in politics and women as independent, free-thinkers. I know what you’re saying—“A blue bra= free thinking…huh?” But think about it. In a religion where modesty is paramount and, in my personal opinion, stifling, boldly-colored lingerie is surely a break from the norm. In the religious circumstance where a devout woman is expected not to show her arms, her legs, and sometimes even her face or her hands, it naturally flows that this hyper-modesty to shun any sort of sensuality that can arise from the form and features of a woman’s body would also likely extend to hyper-modest, anti-sensual undergarments. Biased as I may be, loose, white granny panties automatically come to mind.

But not for this woman. She may be devout on the outside but underneath her stifling religious garb she carries a jewel-toned symbol of her femininity.

And people have caught on to this. This abused woman’s undergarment has become a symbol of the subsequent Women’s Protest.

This woman reveals a blue shirt with a bra sketched onto it and the words “Your eyes are cheap.” I’m not exactly sure what she means by this by this statement, but my guess two-fold.

First, it is meant as an accusation against the brutalizers of the blue bra-ed woman who, like cheap slobs, stripped her of her clothes in order to sordidly gaze upon her exposed chest.

Or perhaps, second, it is a criticism to all of the news cameras and of all of us watching the protestors from the comfort of our own homes and not lifting even one finger to make an ounce of difference to their plight, just looking on, sighing, and somewhat amused.

[As a TOTAL side note, I was recently led by a former college buddy named Beau to a surprising article ~~http://broadblogs.com/2011/12/07/modesty-objectifies-women-says-nude-egyptian/~~ written by a single, young Egyptian woman whose argument was that overly-restrictive modesty actually objectifies women by teaching them that they are mere sex objects that will be abused, harassed, and taken advantage of by men who can only see them as objects of their desire at the mere sight of an uncovered ankle or elbow. When compared to this situation, the words of this seemingly radical blogger ring (at least partially) true.]

Now, back to the Women’s Protests—which I find, in a word, AWESOME! Women have actually been a major force in many of the recent revolutions in many Middle Eastern countries. For example, this article entitled Bahrain Women Take Pridein Vital Protest Role women are given credit for their active role across the Middle Eastern world for their influence in the recent “Arab Spring” that has left more than a few governments either toppled, weakened, or at least shaking in their boots.

This may not seem like such a big deal in the United States, we see images of women storming the US Capital and marching down Pennsylvania Avenue all the time, be it for Gay Rights, the Abortion debate, or any other controversial news item they feel the need to voice their opinion about. But 1) The U.S. wasn’t always so accepting of females in the political words, and 2) Middle Eastern countries by and large are still not so accepting of women in the political world. Rewind U.S. History a little, and you can get a sense of the import of the brave women like those in Bahrain.

Need I remind you that even former (male!) slaves could vote before women in the United States?

I am passionate about women in the political realm. I even did a HUGE presentation on the subject for my Women’s Studies college course and I was so captivating that the entire class voluntarily stayed beyond the end of the class period to watch some relevant video clips I had selected! OK, so maybe Tina Fey portraying Governor Sarah Palin was really the one who was captivating, but I digress…

I so greatly admire the pioneering women in this country who left their comfortable housewifery to storm the streets and rally until women were given the right to vote with the passage of the 19^th Amendment in 1920—a full 42 years(!) after the first draft was submitted by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton to Congress.

Like the Middle Eastern women of today, Western Women fought against their government 100 years ago and we now revere them as heroes. They are certainly my heroes.

These Middle Eastern, Muslim women are doing more than hosting conventions and marching, they are getting beaten and even martyred for their causes. As the amateur videos from this incident reveal, a women in a red coat named Aza (who, incidentally, did not get her lingerie exposed and [therefore] did not make primetime news) went to help the anonymous blue bra-ed woman and ended up getting struck TWENTY TIMES by military police officers and having her skull fractured to the point of sending her into a coma. When video footage made the attack undeniable, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, who currently rule Egypt and wish to stay in power at the lost of liberty, gave their “regrets.” It’s tragic, shameful, and even disgusting.

Warning- the video is not for the faint-hearted:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnFVYewkWEY&feature=player_embedded&skipcontrinter=1

These women suffering for their rights and breaking the mold in their culture are, like the suffragettes in my culture, also my heroes. Rather than the Mary Poppins “soldiers in petticoats,” these brave women are soldiers in abayas and like the suffragettes of the West, their legacy will live on for generations and inspire their daughters’ daughters. I truly admire them.

Penn State: my school, my perspectives

2011-11-11T23:59:00.000-05:00

I have been fielding questions and participating in countless discussions on the Penn State sex scandal that is currently commandeering the headlines. As I have been sorting out my feelings on the issue, I have been paying close attention to the news, listening to my law school peers, and asking questions to my professors. In my evaluation, I have approached the situation from several different angles, as follow:

AS A CHILD ADVOCATE

I have been working at the PSU Dickinson School of Law’s Children’s Advocacy Clinic for nearly a year and have served many kids in the contexts of both guardian ad litem and attorney. Looking at the scandal from this perspective, several facets of the issue disturb me.

1) A bogus email sent by one of our deans. Disclaimer: this particular dean and I are not on exactly friendly terms. I find him disrespectful, avoidant, and I feel that he single-handedly makes decisions that impact everyone but him while behind closed doors with no transparency. Putting my personal vendetta aside, this particular dean wrote ALL of the law school faculty a letter stating that if their class members start talking about the scandal, then they need to re-focus the attention of the conversation on the fact that the law school has a Children’s Advocacy Clinic. And…so? I guess that he is saying that we should not be blamed for this because we have a handful of students who regularly work with abused kids, myself included. He then made some OVERLY generous statements about the Clinic.

I don’t have a problem with the trumped up praise, really, but I do have a problem with this forced effort to not let students express their feelings in favor of discussing the Clinic exclusively. This scandal has affected the students greatly. At one moment we are wondering if our degree has lost all value, then realizing that ALL subsequent interviews will begin with the question “So what do you think about Joe Paterno?”, then wondering if we should be ashamed based on our PSU affiliation. It has been nerve-wracking, to say the least, for us students and we have the right to discuss whatever aspects of this issue we find relevant and therapeutic without administrative interference.

2) A lack of focus on the victims. With all of the media hype surrounding JoPa, you would thing that HE was the one molesting kids! Not only has the perpetrator nearly disappeared from the media’s eye, but the victims are equally scarce. I am disappointed with the coverage of this tragedy focusing on the sensational firing of prominent PSU employees, not on the REAL issue, which is harm to children.

3) Mandatory reporting requirements. The current law in Pennsylvania setting forth the people who are statutorily required to report suspected child abuse is 23 Pa.C.S.A. § 6311. This statute contains a list of people who are considered “mandatory reporters” including doctors, nurses, school teachers, social services providers, and so forth. Coach is not a part of that list. Of course, the list is not exclusive, but arguably JoPa is not covered by the statute at all because his position as head football coach of a university does NOT put him into regular contact with children, as the statute requires. As far as I know, JoPa was not coaching the Second Mile program where the victims were taken advantage of; therefore, he is arguably excluded from the statute. This is perhaps why he is not being criminally prosecuted like his superiors (who would be managing both PSU and the Second Mile program) are.

Additionally, the version of this statute at the time of the incidents in question included additional language which stated that a child must actually “come before” you (ie, if you were a teacher you would see the kid at school with bruises or if you were a therapist the child would disclose abuse to you during a session) OR you had to see the abuse being committed. If the court applies the statute as it appeared at the time of many of the incidents, I believe that even JoPa’s superiors will be guiltless because they never saw any kids or any foul play. BUT the graduate assistant (now assistant coach) McQueary who DID see abuse occur likely WOULD be in trouble. Much to me and my peers’ confusion, McQueary has currently not been charged with anything and not been fired like anyone else. Only today was he asked to not attend this week’s football game, and that only after a public outcry. And rumor has it that McQueary’s dad and the perpetrator are very good friends…fishy.

AS A DEFENSE ATTORNEY

I also have a heart for public defense. I hope to be a public defender and I spent this past summer working near DC for a wonderful PD’s office. From this side of the table, several different red flags are raised.

1) Joe Paterno. I was relieved to hear that he hired a prominent defense attorney— he needs one. He is a very old man (no offense, Joe) and when I think about him needing to handle these extremely sensitive issues, I think about my own grandfather and how he would feel about handling huge press conferences and having everyone glaring at him, thinking he is pure evil. It makes me ill. In Joe’s time, the world was not so educated about sexual abuse and I’m sure this is a difficult concept for him to grasp and understand how to approach. I think he has been given far more blame than he deserves and I cannot agree that he honestly believed the reports he was receiving about his right-hand man. I cannot imagine he took the allegations seriously and as such, he did his duty of reporting to his superiors and then left it there, thinking it was all a hoax anyway and not wanting to bury his close friend alive in what he likely believed were unfounded allegations.

So when Joe makes a statement to the press like “In hindsight, I wish I had done more,” I again think of my own grandfather. I feel that Joe was just trying to do the right thing and make an honest, seemingly sensitive statement like my grandfather would. He would not be familiar with the legal ramifications of that statement; he would only want to say what he thought was appropriate. Unfortunately, the defense attorney in my head shouts, “SHUT UP! THEY WILL USE THAT AGAINST YOU! THAT’S BASICALLY AN ADMISSION OF GUILT!” But how would he know that? I think people need to get off his case until more facts become available about what he actually knew and believed.

Additionally, casually calling a prominent coach of nearly 50 years who was literally the face of the university on the phone and just saying “Uhhh…well…you’re fired” is unacceptable. Completely disrespectful of a great man and I am embarrassed that the Board would think that was okay.

2) Lastly, the perpetrator, Sandusky. I’m gonna get rotten tomatoes thrown at me for this, but whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty? When before a grand jury, the prosecutor has an EXTREMELY low amount of evidentiary procedures to follow to prevent false information from coming into the court. A grand jury is NOT a regular jury. It is a pre-jury and the prosecution basically ALWAYS wins; thats just the way the system works. It's just a step that always happens before a regular trial- he has NOT been found guilty! So I feel that people who jump to the conclusion that Sandusky's guilt has already been proven are uninformed. I am shocked at the media’s absence of the word “alleged.” There has been NO genuine judicial fact finding that these events have occurred, so as of now these are only alleged events and alleged victims. The way the media is treating this as won and done before trial has even begun, coupled with the way they are blasting this on all stations, means that Sandusky will NEVER have the opportunity to be tried before an unbiased jury, as is his Constitutional right.

AS A PENN STATE STUDENT

1) First of all, I’m getting VERY tired of all of the emails from our (new) administration. Enough is enough. I respect them trying to keep us in the know, but the recurring theme dominating all of these emails is to guilt trip us into being as honorable as we can since now its apparently our sole responsibility to restore credibility to the university. Great. Thanks. So how about a tuition cut for my stress and trouble? Emails with words such as these…

Through your conduct every day, you can play a role in restoring the integrity, honor, and pride that have always characterized Penn State…always remember that your actions reflect on the entire Penn State community. Please set an example that will make us all proud.

…don’t exactly inspire confidence.

2) Joe Paterno. I have no real loyalties to PSU football, but I was sad to see this legendary man go. I have conspiracy theories that pulling Joe into this was all a scheme to get him out of the way so the school can get into a more profitable conference, but I have really no evidence to substantiate that.

3) Westboro Baptist Church. You know times are tough with WBC decides to protest at your school. These are the deplorable people who protest the funerals of our honorable military heroes with signs like “God Hates Fags” and do forth—absolutely despicable. Well, apparently we made their godless list too. I can’t wait to hear them screaming garbage like ‘God hates Penn State because it hires homosexuals and those boys got what they deserved as punishment from God for attending a PSU affiliated program.’ Outrageous. I’m offended already. Seriously.

To counter this, law student groups have already decided to organize a peaceful assembly to censor the WBC at Beaver Stadium tomorrow. Good luck to my fellow students; may God grant you patience and calmness in order to prevent yourself from being sued for punching a WBC member.

4) The riots. Yet another example of media sensationalism, these “riots” were blown way out of proportion. The VAST majority of students peacefully gathered at the football stadium and at JoPa’s home, expressing support of him and literally holding hands and singing our school song. Only a handful of (stupid) students were responsible for tipping a news truck, attempting to light a tree on fire, and so forth. These kids were probably already drunk and just wanted an excuse to run around town. Honestly, there’s not too much else to do in State College… I’d like to think they intentionally chose to tip a news van because they want to protest the media’s skewed coverage of this issue, but I honestly can’t give them that much credit. This handful of students truly embarrassed the rest of us and, unfortunately, have become the face of all of us across the country.

In sum, I hope that justice and right prevails. I hope that the (alleged) victims receive all the help and support they need and deserve. I hope the media figures out that there is SO much more going on in the world than this. I hope that people will recognize how graciously most of us students are trying to handle this stressful situation. And I sincerely hope that Tom Ridge is our new university president!

The Problem with "Christians"

2011-10-11T09:19:00.003-04:00

The problem with Christians is that sometimes they're not. They're not Christian, ie, they don't act in Christ-like ways and they don't legitimately follow the parameter's of Christ's teachings. If you recall, I discussed this when we had the embarrassing Hitler-esque burning of the Quran in the south a year or so ago. Yet again it comes up, and of all places, at a Conservative Christian voter's summit.

Pathetic.

Case in point:

Pastor Robert Jeffress announced at this summit that Mormonism is a "cult" and that its followers, ie Mitt Romney, are not Christian. He claims they are not Christian because they don't embrace "historical christianity." Actually, if he did a little research, he would discover that the Mormon church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) is actually based on the church that Christ himself organized while he lived. This church has 12 apostles (like historical christianity) and a top leadership of 3 apostles (think Peter, James, and John- like historical christianity) who lead the church with the priesthood of God (like historical christianity), along with missionaries sent abroad (think Saint Paul in historical christianity), etc. They are an extension of historical christianity, hence their name- the church of JESUS CHRIST of LATTER-DAY SAINTS- meaning the Church that Christ historically organized as re-instated in these modern times, since the foundation's of Christ's original church have since become corrupted by man and the historical christianity has been lost.

Oh and by the way, they worship Christ as their Savior and redeemer and as the son of God.

The only part of "historical christianity" that the Latter-day Saints do not embrace is the Nicene Creed, which is what these modern christian sects seem to be so stuck on. But guess what, the Nicene Creed is not the Bible, it is the product of men, hundreds of years after Christ when christians could no longer agree on what historical christianity was anymore. Christ's teachings and foundations were being altered and the simple basic principle of who and what are God and Jesus were already being modified. This principle was the subject of heated debate, argument, and lobbying. It was a very political convention and finally common ground was found just to have something to unite them (can you say Congress??). Religious truth comes from revelation, not debate, which is why the Latter-day Saints do not jump to embrace the Nicene Creed. It's not because Latter-day Saints are not Christian, it's because the Nicene Creed didn't come from Christ, it came from scholars. It's not doctrine or revelation, it's a compromise; therefore it should not preclude an honest group of sincere worshipers and followers of Christ from being considered christian.

But one thing that IS doctrine and DID come from Christ is the Christian value of "love one another", repeated by Christ again and again throughout the New Testament. Christ's agonizing atonement was made because he loves us and wants to save us ALL from sin, even if we are sinners and even if He does not agree with our politics, and so forth. As such, I just cannot see how name-calling and labeling people's sincerely religious beliefs, in order to gain one's one political advantage, is something that any real Christian would think is okay for them to do and within their doctrinal parameters.

Looks like that rock star newsman Anderson Cooper thought the same way and he TOTALLY called out Pastor Jeffress in the following news clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chvz6ptT-ik&feature=youtube_gdata&noredirect=1

So maybe being in a cult is not so bad since Pastor Jeffress seems to classify everyone but himself and his followers as being in a cult, he even has some doubts about Catholicism. Oh, and even if you are not in a cult, he will probably not accept your claim as being a Christian anyway, so there's really no point trying to please this bigot.

I'm sorry, but cult is a VERY derogatory term. Cult= drinking poisoned purple Kool Aid because some guy you worship told you to. Yearning for Zion polygamist group in Texas? Maybe a cult, but I would still say that word is too strong. Buddism and Islam? No. You can't just make these huge offensive claims, and calling something only a "theological cult" does not make it any better. After all, to outsiders, evangelical christianity is also based on a man starting a social following, that man being Jesus Christ. It's only their belief in Christ's divinity that takes them, in their view, out of cult status. But in all these other religions' views, Joseph Smith, Mohammed, Buddah, and so forth where all chosen prophets inspired by a higher power, they are not just "men" trying to make money, gain power and influence, and control people's minds.

It comes right down to my friend John Skaggs' life motto: think before you speak!

And if you're going to be broadcast on national television, I would not only think, but I would think VERY hard and research before I speak. I have very little respect for intentionally infecting others with self-imposed ignorance.

Turkey Recall & Why it's all Pharma's Fault

2011-08-05T13:24:00.000-04:00

And here comes yet another reason for me to hate the Big Pharmaceutical companies. Corruption in the inhumane meat-packing industry is encouraged by the evil empire I collectively call "Pharma" who provides US farmers with FOUR TIMES the amount of antibiotics than are consumed and prescribed by humans in the US so that they can keep raising their animals in nasty environments full of other animals that have died from disease and their own animal feces teeming with viruses. Meanwhile the industrial "farmers" are feeding their animals foods that make them ill (CORN!) because it's cheaper to buy subsidized grain and subsidized antibiotics and pack animals into unhealthy environments than to raise and feed animals the right way. (see The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan for more details- an EXCELLENT and highly informative book). And then those corn farmers are encouraged by the government through subsidies to perpetuate the problematic feeding of animals and at the end of the day we are all fat and sick with salmonella from eating diseased animals and high fructose corn syrup all day. But I digress...

Cargill is pretty much the embodiment of the Evil Empire and so when I heard that this week they recalled 36 MILLION POUNDS of ground turkey, I went right to their website to see what they had to say about it. So after one death and a whopping 76 people coming down with salmonella (not fun at all), they released the following statements from their president of turkey processing, Steve Willardsen:

“Eliminating food borne illness is always our goal.”

==> Oh, really?! Then how do you explain the DISGUSTING living conditions of your animals?! How do you explain the fact that you are intentionally feeding your turkeys grains when they were biologically designed to eat grass and grubs and that the grains make them ill to the point that you MUST prescribe them antibiotics? If you REALLY were interested in preventing disease, you would feed your animals properly in the first place and give them a -shocking!- sanitary place to live.

Our man, Steve, goes on:

"Cargill is contacting its customers to make certain they know which of their ground turkey products are affected by this recall…Cargill is working closely with its U.S. customers to make certain as much of the product is retrieved as possible"

==> Oh, right. I'm expecting a phone call from Cargill any minute now, I'm sure they are VERY concerned about me and Mabel next door...

And finally:

“We all need to remember bacteria is everywhere..."

==> In other words, get over it America! Someone died? Meh- people die everyday, its just germs! Not our fault.

Pathetic.

I then looked to the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service and they had some interesting things to say:

'No hormones have been approved for use in turkeys. Antibiotics may be given to prevent disease and increase feed efficiency. In approving drugs for use in livestock and poultry, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) work together. FDA sets legal limits for drug residues in meat and poultry. FSIS enforces the limits FDA sets for drug residues.

A "withdrawal" period is required from the time antibiotics are administered before the bird can be slaughtered. This [arguably] assures that no residues are present in the bird's system. FSIS randomly samples poultry at slaughter and tests for residues. Under the Federal meat and poultry inspection laws, any raw meat or poultry shown to contain residues above established tolerance levels is considered adulterated and must be condemned.'

[NOTE: SALMONELLA IS NOT CURRENTLY CONSIDERED AN ADULTERANT UNTIL IT ACTUALLY MAKES SOMEONE SICK!]

Okaaaayyy...so the FDA and FSIS says its okay to give antibiotics not ONLY to prevent disease (interesting that it is used to PREVENT disease, not TREAT disease, since they already know that disease is inevitable in their improperly treated animals!) but antibiotics can also be used to "increase feed efficiency." So this is their license to give animals bad food because its cheaper. AND I read this as meaning its also okay to give animals antibiotics to help them fatten up quicker, which it does. And for Cargill, the less time an industrial farmer needs to be feedings their turkey before the slaughterhouse, the better...or at least the cheaper. And yet again, Cargill the evil empire of food robs the consumer and makes us ill all at the same time.

And clearly this "withdrawal period" is not really working out so well if people are STILL getting sick and STILL showing resistance to common antibiotics as a result of over-exposure via permissible drug residue in our food.

And then there was NPR to shed some additional light on the issue:

'In 2008, the government found that 78 percent of turkeys testing positive for salmonella were contaminated with strains resistant to at least one type of antibiotics. The USDA says antibiotics may be given to turkeys "to prevent disease and increase feed efficiency." [so you'll get sick and then your own antibiotics won't work!]

The size of the latest outbreak has renewed calls for the government to take action against the use of antibiotics in healthy food animals.'

Let's hope the outcries can even make a tiny dent this time in the major structural problem our food system has. But I'm sure Pharma won't let than happen any time soon, so don't count on it.

Legit Tagging

2011-06-29T11:54:00.000-04:00

Many DC hooligans, I have noticed, tend to be a tad more historically and politically aware than your average graffiti-painter:

Yep. That's a Benjamin Frankin quote. Impressive.

"Those who sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither."

Old News: Old Borders

2011-06-13T12:22:00.000-04:00

This isn't the most current news, but considering the Obama Administration works pretty slowly...it's probably still number 1 on their agenda; therefore, still relevant :)

Here is an article regarding the speech Obama made last month that I listened to at the laundromat- hey, I dont have a TV, so my Presidential speech-hearing is limited almost exclusively to the gym and laundromat if I want to see it live! Anyway, when I listened, my jaw totally dropped and I SWEAR Obama MUST read my blog because I could not have said anything better myself!

He focused on two issues that go hand-in-hand: (1) Israel and Palestine's shared borders, and (2) Security.

The I/P border has been a SERIOUS issue for a very long time, note the illustration below. We used these same maps in my Near Eastern Studies class at the BYU Jerusalem Center:

As we all know, the Jewish people have called Jerusalem and thereabouts home for centuries and they were scattered and re-gathered there over the course of history and, in recognition of this being their historical homeland, part of Palestine was officially given as a religious state to the Jewish people after the atrocities they collectively endured during the second World War. Unfortunately for them, this part of the world was also the historic home of other groups of people who did not take the news too well that their ancestor's enemies would be taking back their most prized land that they have been fighting for since, well, forever. As the influx of Jewish refugees and immigrants swelled, so did the tempers of their now-displaced neighbors, generally known as Palestinians. The state of Israel was created at the sign of a piece of paper and Israel had the whole western world at their back post-WWII as they struggled for prominence and power in the area. Meanwhile, Palestine floated along as a bitter, under-developed quasi-nation with little or no international respect or even recognition.

As a result, as Israel gained power and resources, Palestine lost power and land holdings accordingly. When I was in Jerusalem, I heard about an employee at my school who had to lose her job there because the Israelis built a wall that shut off her neighborhood from accessing Jerusalem regularly. The worst part about it was that her neighborhood wasn't even on a border! The wall was built such that it bisected a Palestinian neighborhood in the West Bank, thereby increasing the Israeli holdings in the West Bank (since now its within the wall and considered "Israel", and Palestine can't very well change that!) and simultaneously cutting off people from crossing into the city on the whim of border patrol.

This is not an uncommon occurrence.

So you can see just how Israel has been able to carve into Palestine over time (note the porous West Bank map on the far right). Of course this leads to anger and annoyance by the Palestinians- and what can they do about it? NOTHING besides throw molotov cocktails over these hated walls because they have an unrecognized and weak government, continually being toppled and and overthrown and infiltrated, which can do nothing for them.

Back to President Obama, so he wants to go back to the pre-1967 borders which would get rid of the recent wall-building shananagins that we have just been talking about. He also wants Palestine to work toward being a recognized state, which would hold them to higher standards and give them more power to both (a) protect their people, and to (b) stop them from un-sanctioned hate crimes against their Israeli neighbors. It's a win-win.

Israel is mad of course, they have been succeeding at their sneak attack land ciphoning game and they see Palestine as a threat whether a recognized state or not, and this is probably the first time that a US President has appeared to present a plan that is easily interpreted as pro-Palestinian, so they are fuming! But I do think that, in the end, having honest, clear-cut borders and a Palestine that is accountable to the world will be in everyone's best interests.

PS, support this nonprofit: Middle East Children's Alliance- http://www.mecaforpeace.org

Hearsay and Israel

2011-05-18T19:12:00.000-04:00

In law school, I spent about 2+ months of my life trying to wrap my head around the federal "hearsay" rules that apply to evidence admitted into court. Basically, anything asserting to be the truth that is not stated in front of the fact-finder cannot be used. You would think that a similar principle would apply in the world of journalism, specifically, that you don't report on something without an eyewitness or some other indicia of reliability. It's common sense that you should not report gossip or half-truths as the facts. Right?? Unfortunately, sometimes the (American) media likes to use partial truths when reporting something negative to soften the blow, only to quietly release the truth later when no one is really paying attention or when people have already formed their opinions anyway.

EXHIBIT 1:
When bin Laden's death was intially reported, the military correspondent on NPR that I listened to decidedly said "bin Laden was armed with a gun at the time of the attack." Later, it was said that, "bin Laden may or may not have been armed, but he certainly put up a fight." And finally, "bin Laden was not armed." Well...? Is there really any excuse for that?

EXHIBIT 2:
I have been moderately following the recent Nakba Day Israeli/Palestinian clash- I still consider both of those peoples my friends and I hate when I hear these things. The line that was the biggest hearsay offender from a recent NYT article said:
"Commentary in newspapers and on airwaves in both Israel and the Palestinian areas suggested that what took place Sunday might serve as a dress rehearsal for the coming year, posing a serious challenge to Israel."

A. Note that they generically said "commentary" not ____ newspaper or _____news station or Near Eastern Studies Expert John Doe stated... For all we know, some dude on the street called into their local radio and made an out -of-the-blue accusation that is now considered an expert prophesy thanks to the New York Times.

B. It's the Palestinian "area" not actually Palestine. That whole area of the world can be called "the Palestine area" but phrasing it like this makes it sound like Palestinians are admitting that they are planning some mass attack on Israel within the year. That is clearly misleading.

~~~

Meanwhile, the Jerusalem Post is talking about how the Egyptian Foreign Minister Elaraby was instrumental in creating the alliance between the Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah, because he believes that together these groups could help Palestine become a recognized state which would have more responsibility and be held to the standards set by the UN, thereby helping to promote peace for Israel in the future. (I happen to agree) But of course you don't see this on US headlines because the Obama Administration considers Egypt their baby and does not want it out that Egypt may have a different agenda relating to Israeli/Palestinian relations than the US has because it will make all of our (pathetic) efforts to promote reform in Egypt look wasteful!

And may I just say how disappointed I am in the Israeli army? Seeing a bunch of frustrated Palestinians marching was honestly just a convenient excuse to shoot a few of them. What were the Palestinians armed with? Rocks?! If they really believed this to be a military offensive, its time for the Israeli military to re-think their training methods.

My Hero! :(

2011-05-18T13:00:00.000-04:00

I remember a VERY long time ago at a friend's birthday party in elementary school thinking about my heroes. We had been watching the high-quality film "Spice World" featuring the Spice Girls- admittedly my favorite singing group at the time- and my friend's mom commented to my mom about how it was nice to have such good role models for us girls...meaning the Spice Girls were good role models! This launched my mom into a lecture our whole drive home about how most famous people, the Spice Girls included, are NOT to be idealized and made into heroes, and that they usually have really immoral personal lives, etc.

I distinctly remember feeling like I had no heroes. This whole situation made me realize that there really wasn't anyone famous that I actually wanted to be like (so my mom was actually preaching to the choir, though she made a valid point). This was true until I became the nerdy little President of the high school club Junior Statesmen of America and I become obsessed with Arnold :)

He effectively staged an unprecedented coup of the California governorship (which was awesome, and SO true to our democratic roots!) AND he was in photographs all over the walls of our high school weightroom demonstrating proper form in a Speedo! How much cooler could this guy get?!

I recall him presenting initiatives to the public to vote on and then even when the voters shot all of them down, he would graciously make a statement to the effect of "Well, I guess it's a good thing I asked!" I felt that he really respected the democratic process and that he was very mindful of not abusing the power he had been entrusted with by the people. I respect him a lot! (And don't you just love him on those Visit California commercials?!)

So when I heard that he and his wife had separated, I was sad (even though she truly is scary looking...a little plastic surgery goes a long way...) And then when the news about his so-called "love child" surfaced I was EXTREMELY disappointed in my homeboy Arnold :( But I will say this, given the extensive custody work that I have done as a law student, I give props to any man who is current on his child support! haha But seriously, I am very disheartened. I guess my mom was right, the people in the media that we idolize often have pretty messed up personal lives and their morality has often been thrown out the window long ago. I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

Secretly, I'm holding onto the theory that the baby mama was payed to seduce him by political rivals who want to make sure that there is NO way that he would ever be able to run for President ;)

Justice for Osama

2011-05-02T16:38:00.000-04:00

A monumentous day. A time for much–needed closure. When I found out that Osama Bin Laden, the heart and soul of an evil entity known as al Qaeda, had been killed in a US military strike it brought me to tears. I intently listened on the news to the wife of the pilot on one of the airplanes hijacked on 9/11 who attended one of many Sunday night patriotic rallies across the nation (including one right here in my very own Carlisle, PA!)- she spoke of how that the rally she attended was where she and her son needed to be. That their hearts belonged among those celebrating the end of the man who had formulated the plan that took the lives so many innocent people, including her husband. The plan that shook the United States forever and covered the world with fear.

The father of a US soldier killed in Afghanistan also attended a rally with an American flag and a photograph of his son in uniform, expressing that he finally has closure, he feels like his son did not give his life in vain.

For out nation, this has been a long time coming. When I was in high school (which is starting to become a long time ago…) student wore shirts with this on it:

10 years we have been waiting for justice. Even though I have strong beliefs about the rights of the accused and I feel that even the most heinous of people deserve due process of law so that justice can be served, there is something very comforting about knowing that now, on the other side, this man is facing God’s perfect justice and every terrible think that he ever did and contributed to is known to his Omnipotent Judge.

(Okay, okay, so I just finished book-on-taping Dante’s Inferno and I can’t get the image out of my head of Osama’s feet dangling out of the mouth of a demon…)

Dont Judge Me: The Royal Wedding!

2011-04-30T12:07:00.000-04:00

Confession: I LOVED IT! And yes, this counts as world news- they are now the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, for goodness sake! My observations:

1) The Archbishop of Canterbury- awesome! Not only does he have incredible eyebrows (!) but I actually really enjoyed his mini sermon during the ceremony. Nothing wishy-washy there. I admire England for being true to their roots by keeping Anglicanism an integral part of the monarchy. It is interesting that they have made no concessions regarding their faith, even in modern times when the going trend is to separate church and state as far as they can go. And although religion has a tendency to muddle politics when done to an extreme (think Taliban-run Islamist societies), I find it amazing that England has been able to strike this balance by having a completely secular Parliament, while allowing the monarchy (which, admittedly, doesnt actually do THAT much politically) to operate based on its religious ideology in a way that does not oppress the non-religious in any way.

2) Prince Harry...true to his name, apparently did not find it necessary to comb his hair for the big day...

3) Prince William- I admit, I had a HUGE crush on him growing up! But that in no way inhibited my ability to enjoy the wedding anyway :) No jealousies here...at least none that I can't deal with. One British news commentator characterized Prince William as an "incredible hunk in uniform"- haha, loved that! The commentator went on to talk about how William having Diana's good looks was "a boon to the royal line" which I think was her polite way of saying that since Prince Charles is so ugly, England is thrilled that William turned out alright.

4) On the balcony of Buckingham Palace, it occurred to me that the young couple could have used some "scooping the peach" instruction to allow for more graceful waving. But they did kiss a record number of twice, so I guess I'll cut them a break.

5) And of course, the DRESS! Loved it. It was perfect. Perfect for the occasion and the venue. I talked to some strangers in a store about it afterwards and one commented that she heard (she hadnt actually seen it) that the dress was boring. By boring, she probably meant not sexy enough. But I told her that was WRONG! That if you are getting married in the Westminster Abbey, or any church for that matter, you ought to be dressed appropriately and not look like a floozy. Here is what one blogger said about it:

"While almost every bride in America beelines to the strapless numbers during her Kleinfeld appointment, Kate’s dress was quintessentially royal, with long lace sleeves and a modern, narrow v-neckline. The fullness of the bottom perfectly flattered her tiny frame (could we be more jealous?), and the train was appropriate for the venue without overpowering the entire look."

I agree 100%. It was appropriate, regal, dramatic, and SO not frumpy. Many people have been commenting on the monarchy's recently demonstrated ability to maintain their dignified and classy ways, while becoming tastefully more modern. I think this dress is an example. It had sleeves, but not puffy sleeves. It didnt show cleavage, but it had a dramatic neckline. It think it was gorgeous and truly fit for a Queen (or Duchess).

Another impressive thing about this couple, showcasing their modern-mindedness, was their request for charitable donations in lieu of wedding gifts. Here is a couple with high-powered, deep-pocketed connections, and they selflessly led them to various nonprofit organizations in a time of universal financial need. Yet again, LOVE it!

Overall, I was very impressed. Classy and traditional without being over-the-top or wasteful. When I saw the royal procession, I even teared up. I think I'm a Loyalist at heart :)

And hooray for another way to give fascinators more publicity in the US! I feel in love with these in Australia, and they NEED to catch on out here!!

PS- how much do you LOVE the Queen! Adoreable!

And watch out Alyce's Bridal in Provo- dresses like this will surely be ALL OVER the place in no time!

Oh, Barry...

2011-04-15T17:08:00.000-04:00

I don't think that sports counts as news. But I've been in court a lot lately, so just in case that wasn't enough judicial fun, I decided to read up on Barry Bonds' trial.

And hey, I've actually seen the guy outside of a baseball game (it was at Disneyland), so he's pretty much like a buddy of mine that I feel compelled to keep tabs on :)

My boy Barry was charged with 4 separate counts, only one of which the jury was able to reach a decision on, which was that he IS guilty of obstruction of justice. Somehow, the jury was unable to even decide whether or not Barry knowingly used steroids in his career.

For me, the evidence is clear.

1) He has a big fat head and a tiny little girly voice...therefore, he uses (or at least used) steroids.

2) Barry denies that he knew that the shots his trainer injected him with were steroids. So he is honestly saying that a grown man who's entire career relies on his physical health didn't stop and figure out what he was being shot up with? He just let that little fact slide for years?! If someone was trying to stick needles in most people, they would want to know why, what, etc. Especially if one's body has earned them millions and has the potential to earn them millions more if they treat it right. But no, of course not, Barry just closed his eyes and didn't care what was being shot into his veins while meanwhile his muscles get huge, his head gets fat, and his voice reverts to pre-puberty levels. Yeah, he had no idea.

Nice Work, Egyptians- You're Just Not Finished Yet

2011-01-31T22:16:00.003-05:00

I have been hesitating to write about Egypt for a few reasons, but primarily because there is not too much to report because so-called news networks have really been lagging. In their classic sensationalist fashion headlines and screen banners read “Huge Protests!” “Egypt in Uproar!” and so forth without really giving any facts or political/historical context. Dead body counts apparently attract more attention that they actual reason why there are dead bodies in the first place, so that’s what we get- the bright lights and exclamation points that are the media. I say more Anderson Cooper and less ShowBiz! But this is a huge pet peeve of mine that will have to wait for another day.

So, Egypt. I was not at all surprised to hear that the citizens of Egypt have finally had enough of their government. They have been a police state for some 30 years and their pompous President (when I was in Egypt there were huge posters of him EVERYWHERE) has allowed himself to slip into the role of dictator. In the name of freedom, he has outlawed, among other things, a political party known as the Islamic Brotherhood. Yes, in this country I think we would characterize that as state action targeting a specific religion and, therefore, unconstitutional. In my opinion, President Mubarak did this to show the US that he was cool enough to join our anti-Jihadist campaign, despite the fact that Islam is probably the dominant religion in the area. I don’t doubt that radical Islam is a bad thing, it is. It really is. But the Islamic Brotherhood, although conservative on the spectrum of Islam, stands for the fact that they are not trying to push their values on all citizens, but they will try to use the political process the promote Islamic ideals. I see NO DIFFERENCE between this and conservative Christians saying we want to use the political process to vote-in Republicans who oppose abortion because it furthers our Christian ideals. Banning religious groups from political activity like this in our country would be an outrage! So you can see why this is equally problematic in Egypt. To support the Brotherhood further, they are not even visible leaders in the current upheaval (although that is likely for a strategic reason), but the point is that they have demonstrated that they know how to control themselves and that they want to try to gain power in a democratic, organized way.

So if the Islamic Brotherhood is not completely to blame for the protests, then who is? A large proportion of the protesters are young unemployed or underemployed men who are frustrated with their dead-end lives and the police oppression that has been going for as long as they have been alive. Basically, they have nothing to lose, so they are risking their lives to try to implement democracy and greater freedoms for themselves and their posterity. They don’t want to wait for a peaceful transition of leadership, they are working for change NOW. Seems noble, and it probably is, but there are some problems the people need to address, in my humble opinion:

1) Anti-American Sentiments. Along with the anti-Mubarak cries of the masses, you can hear anti-US and anti-Obama statements as well. And it is hard to blame them after all the big talk that Obama made when he gave a worldwide address in Egypt about spreading freedom and democracy to the Near/Middle East and yet he still takes the side of the allegedly freedom-sucking Mubarak. Of course they are frustrated! However, I really don’t think that if these people are trying to start a democracy in the Near East that they really want to be making enemies with the US. With our experience, albeit far from perfect, in training civilians to lead and helping to foster elections that the US Armed Forces has had for the last several years in the Middle East, plus all of Obama’s big promises, they may be knocking at our door very soon for some help and support and, since we have made ourselves out to be the Great Diplomats of Democracy it is extremely unlikely that the US will turn down a request for assistance in rebuilding the political infrastructure of Egypt. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I see the US going in and educating the leaders and people of Egypt in the practical workings of democracy and it will be a very awkward experience if this relationship is begun with anti-American protests. The Egyptian people likely will lose the support of the American people that they would have had if they had said “Oh, US- we are trying to be more like you, please help us!” As narcissistic as we are, we would not be able to refuse, and Egypt would become the next Haiti with every spare dollar and fleece blanket being sent overseas. And who doesn’t like a blanket in time of crisis? :) So although I don't advocate begging and feet-kissing, a little humility and buddy-buddyness would help their cause greatly.

2) The Police Problem. So the police are under the direction of the government, it’s a police state- think Marshal Law. Unfortunately, they have vanished. Many feel that its because the current administration is trying to show that without them, there is chaos. This has almost worked, since looting and rioting has become rampant. But it really hasn’t accomplished much since civilians have teamed with the military to create their own checkpoints and neighborhood watch units. This is pretty cool. Contrast the image of tanks rolling over civilians at Tiananmen Square and then look at how civilians in Egypt have been, with permission, painting revolutionary slogans on the military tanks, taking photos on them, and hanging out around them. However, last I heard, the police are back. And this could mean the clash of the Titans in the next few days. I fear that the police are going to infiltrate the rioters in plain clothes and we could very quickly have a massacre on our hands.

3) Time. Most of these people only know the oppressive police-run state of Egypt. It has been this way so long that it is going to take some extreme effort to truly turn from this type of regime, especially when their geographical neighbors aren’t exactly the best examples of freedom and peace. This is a lofty goal, and it is going to be a long, long transition that needs an action plan and some bright, humble, young leaders ready to fight the odds for the rest of their lives.

4) The looting. I’ve already mentioned it, but this kind of behavior is just playing into the hands of the police- showing that chaos land lawlessness ensue in the absence of a restrictive government. And what REALLY made me upset was to hear that at least 2 mummies in the Cairo Museum have been destroyed in the chaos. WHAT?!? So you destroy priceless artifacts from the premier museum in that whole corner of the world and, with it, vandalize your own rich culture and heritage in an effort to show your angst against the current administration. Come on, guys- get your act together.
(NOTE: sure, when I went to the Cairo Museum I had Nile Belly and I was beginning to suffer from heatstroke and the museum wasn't even air conditioned and I got left behind being sick in the bathroom...but still! DO NOT mess with the artifacts!)

5) Communication. Phone service was somehow shut off for a time by the government to prevent things like Twittering where the next riot would be and the internet has also been largely disabled, making it extremely difficult for the citizens to make any sort of effective plans. However, there are tech savvy people all over the world and rebels are already finding way around the internet ban and they are making progress towards information sharing that will greatly assist them in their reform efforts.

In sum, good idea- but it is far from over and I fear that if there is not greater organization and practical planning on the part of the rebels, that little or no permanent change will be made.

A Warning for the Mamas: NUTMEG!

2011-01-02T21:20:00.000-05:00

Leave it to our bored teenagers to find something more stupid than glue and aerosol to get high on...that's right...nutmeg, the new cheap and legal recreational drug of choice. (rolling eyes)

I heard about this on the news, and did a little extra research on my own. As one who likes to study about brains, neurotransmitters, and the like, I actually found it kinda interesting and wanted to share.

Nutmeg's narcotic agent, myristic acid, is an MAO inhibitor. MAO stands for MonoAmine Oxidase, an enzyme that breaks down some amines in the brain, thereby rendering them ineffective. The specific effect of nutmeg on the brain is that it blocks parasympathetic nerve impulses, with the end effect being hallucinations and a warming sensation in the limbs after ingesting 1-8 tablespoons worth of ground nutmeg.

Furthermore, it is dangerous to combine MAO inhibitors, which can be found in things like sedatives, antihistimines, and even other spices and herbs (like dill) which leads to great a hazard of side effects from mixing drugs inadvertently as well as overdose since the side effects of nutmeg are not actually felt for about 5-6 HOURS after ingestion!

But you may not need to lock the cupboards yet, because even if your kid decides this is a fun thing to try, apparently its not something that people typically do twice. The high itself is lacking in the typical euphoric nature offered by other drugs and the hangover is notoriously miserable. One user wrote that it feels like a supreme being "taking a dump on your soul." hahaha, sorry, highly inappropriate, but I just had to share that quote.

Well, at any rate, knowledge is power and I figure its better to know what to look for rather than being oblivious in case a problem comes your way. I work with kids and teens in the legal system now so I have to be up on these things :)

Moral of the story: kids and teens are BORED!! They are so bored that they turn to activities that leave them feeling like death is imminent, just because they can't think of anything better to do. Growing bodies need healthy physical activities like sports and mentally stimulating activities they enjoy so that they don't end up doing the stimulating themselves via spice cupboard shananagans. So subtly steer them towards some positive activities- they may grumble and sigh at first, but they'll get over it and their bodies and brains will be better off because of it. If they want to start a band, support them. If they dont want to be on the chess club, but are interested in wrestling- that's okay! Be there for them! Kids need hobbies and need to realize that they have talents and abilities that they can be proud of so they don't have to seek happiness from sources that leave them feeling worse than before.

Pizza: think twice before your second slice

2010-11-08T11:35:00.001-05:00

It's been a while, folks, but I'm here.

So, pizza... the great American dorm food. Confession: although I have never actually liked pizza much, I have started this bizarre ritual of watching Biggest Loser on Tuesday nights while eating pizza and doing exercises on my yoga ball. And I think that this may have to stop. The pizza part only, that is- don't you dare take my Biggest Loser from me! ;)

So here's an interesting graphic (click on it to see the whole thing!!) from a recent New York Times article about pizza:

Keep in mind that this is thin crust and topping free. Eww...saturated fat...

So the article discusses how even though the federal government is expressing repeated concerns about our egregious obesity stats, they don't seem to mind so much when economics is involved. That is, a federal agency advised Domino's recently to add even more low-quality, high-fat cheese to its pizzas in order to boost sales.

Ok, I get that sometimes you just give people what they want: supply and demand. This is the favored argument among violent tv supporters "We aren't out there to make kids bring guns to school, we just make violent shows because that's what sells and we're not responsible for its consequences." I'm not convinced.

Particularly when this nation is trying (and failing) to take a better approach to health care and to tackle some of the issues that are draining our economy, such as the lost work days and medical expenses associated with heart disease, diabetes, and other obesity-related issues, this advice to Domino's seems counter-intuitive. It's putting a BandAid on the economic problem for one company while perpetuating the problem of over-consumption (both stuff and calories) that has put this nation in the position that it is in now.

I would advise Domino's to start using locally-grown produce and meats at their individual restaurants for the toppings on pizza like peppers, onions, sausage, and so forth and then advertise THAT fact instead of advertising "Now More Cheese." This would boost local economy, cut down on fuel used in shipping in produce and meats from farther away, show the public that this company is socially conscious and thereby boost their image and sales, and maybe even get a few more people to order the veggie pizza instead of the meatlovers (still not exactly a healthy dinner, but better than it could have been with even more gross cheese).

It's time to look at the bigger picture, instead of just focusing on our individual paycheck being bigger at the expense of everyone else's gut getting bigger.

Christian?

2010-09-10T13:23:00.000-04:00

Chalk another one up for the self-righteous American Protestant making a fool out of himself.

You call yourself a Christian?! Sponsoring a Hitler-esque burning of the sacred text of a peaceful, global religion? Whatever happened to "what would Jesus do" or "do unto others." I'm pretty sure that Christianity is about loving your neighbor, and not about committing hate crimes.

I have great sympathy for Muslims with the widespread misperceptions and general mistrust that we often see associated with their religion. Not only because of the time I spent in the Near East, figuring out how devoted and peaceable most Muslims are, but also because I find myself in similar peril. Extremists ruin it for the rest of us. Unfortunately, people that go off the deep end in the name of a good cause, can lead to the destruction of the image of that good cause. Like Muslims, Mormons are also labelled according to the illegal acts of extremists. The Mormon church WILL excommunicate any member of the church who practices polygamy. End of story. It's been this way since the 1800s. However, some extremists with neither authority nor permission litter the front pages with scenes of backwards polygamous colonies out in the middle of nowhere, and thus people feel that all Mormons are nutty polygamist outlaws.

False.

And of course, when we hear about extreme Jihadists committing terrorist attacks we assume that all Muslims are gonna take any chance they can get to kill some infidels.

Wrong again.

And if you are so naive as to think that is true, and honestly believe that all Muslims are evil, then at least you could be the bigger person by not trying to combat evil with evil. It is not promoting peace by saying, "Hey, you wanna blow up buildings? Well fine, I'll insult you, your faith, and your ancestor's faith- boo ya!" No. That's taking you nowhere.

So next time you go on a crusade in the name of God, 1) Get your facts straight; and 2) Think about if what you are doing is HONESTLY promoting what you are pretending it does. Because I'm pretty sure that burning the Quran isn't exactly the best way to make any Muslim like you any more. Duh.

US "News"

2010-08-20T21:30:00.000-04:00

So, I like how this is news in the US: "Palestine and Israel to resume direct talks, which is a victory for the Obama Administration."

Huh?!?

Okay, so I remember Obama giving a great speech in Cairo about promoting peace in the Middle East a little over a year ago back when some people still liked him. At the time, I liked the speech but did and still do doubt his personal ability to make two nations that have been pitted against each other for millennia best buddies. Of course I want it to happen- Israel and Palestine are two of my favorite places in the entire world and they are currently ruining each other- and although the goal is noble, it is a little bit self-righteous to think that its just the sheer goodness of Team Obama + Hillary that will end the hatred sewn for generations.

So now that these two countries are resuming talks about building peace (not actually a big deal, they have been on and off again with this for a looooong time without making much, if any, progress) it is suddenly something that Team O+H considers a "victory" for themselves. Although I'm sure that Hillary in all her lovely menacingness has been putting pressure on the leaders of these countries to work things out, if she has actually had any real influence on this decisions it is just because their chiefs of staff are tired of taking her nasty messages down and caved. (I would agree to do a lot more than just "talk" to get her off my back too!)

So the moral of the story is, don't be fooled by the media- the Middle East is not the puppet of the current Administration, in some ways, it is actually quite the opposite that is true.

Why Most Vegetarians are Morons, And Why I Almost Want to be One

2010-07-07T12:37:00.002-04:00

What follows is an expose on my thoughts about Vegetarianism primarily from a health and wellbeing perspective, with hints of politics and religion:

As some of you know, the book that provoked this discussion was The Jungle by Upton Sinclair- a classic piece of American literature which, after reading, I find easy to imagine that it made even the great outdoorsman Teddy Roosevelt become a vegetarian. It contains an account based loosely on the real experiences of the author as he observed living and working conditions in Chicago at the height of the meat packing industry's influence post-industrial revolution. It tells of the gruesome slaughterhouses that chewed up and spit out men as well as beasts and marketed to the world as Grade A what was really mixed with rats, the bread that the rats had eaten, the poison put on the bread to kill the rats, limbs of workers, bloody spews of workers with consumption, blood mopped up off the floor, fillers like potato remnants, animals with tuberculosis, and so on and so on and so on. Disgusting.

As is made clear in the documentary Food, Inc. (available on Netflix- watch it!), food companies market their products with tender farm scenes, nostalgic red barns, and rolling green hills when, in reality, there is nothing happy and farmy about where most of our food comes from. Animals are jam packed in crowded and sunless buildings, trampling over dead caracases as they struggle to get some festering water, many of them ill and dying, being shot-up with antibiotics, and living anything but a blissful Old MacDonald existance.

If you decide that enough is enough, and that you will no longer support an industry that is cruel to animals and unfair to its underpaid illegal immigrant labor force, then I applaude you. I am right there with you. But I'm not convinced that the answer is pure veganism. Instead, I have been really trying to buy local meat from Mennonites (that's the beauty of Pennsylvania) or other organic farmers in my area with actual FARMS, not puppy-mill style feed lots, and I've been eating meat hunted and prepared by Dan's uncle (that's as organic as it gets!), or at least organic meat that was not hormone or antibiotic treated that was fed with grass, not the cheaper corn which makes cattle fat, but ill. There are ways to still respect animals and to make sure that the animal products you eat came from animals that were treated humanely and were healthy themselves before they wind up on your plate. Fortunatley, we live in an age where there is the availability of organic, respectfully raised animals- you just have to be willing to pay for it. But, as demand increases and producers wise up, surely prices will decrease for all of us- so make it happen!

That being said, although Vegetarianism for a cause is noble, I have personally never known even ONE vegetarian who lived their lives the way they do as a political protest against the unsavory meatpacking industry. If that was their cause, then they would not have a problem eating meat that was raised with love by Mennonite Mo next door. They ignorantly munch on their artificial crab (you know that's just food colored fish, right??) yet shun the free range chicken fed quality food and treated well by its owners who bring it fresh to you from the next town over. This makes NO SENSE to me and to try to back themselves up for their illogical choices, there are a variety of other reasons that I have seen people give for their vegetarianism, each with varying levels of idiocy.

1. "After watching Bambi, I just couldn't eat meat anymore."
Oh, please. As the scriptures state, God has given man dominion over the animals- it is our right to have what we need. (see Genesis or Moses) That being said, scripture also cautions men to eat meat sparingly, for this is right in the Lord's eyes. (see Doctrine & Covenants 89) From that, it sounds like God isn't too fond of killing Bambi just for the sake of killing either. But if there is a need, which there is- we need at least 30 grams of protein everyday for our bodies to function properly- then there is no moral wrong to humanely killing the animals you need to sustain human life and then to make frugal use of the animal. And if you're so sad about bambi, why do you still drink milkshakes made from the milk of a sick old cow pumped up with hormones while its utters are jerked around by a machine? And yes, that same milk is dehydrated and made into the powdered cheese on your Doritos. You can't escape it. If you honestly can't stand the killing of an animal, why have you ever eaten a cupcake made with the unborn young of a chicken cramped inside a dark and dirty shed? Or used glue? You cannot escape the fact that we are surrounded by products with animal derivatives. Animals provide a useful means of creating the things that we need daily. Like you, I wish that they were treated better and killed in more humane ways, but not eating meat is not going to get your point across. You are still coming into contact with, using, and probably eating animal products everyday. A better route to vent your concerns would be through the political process, not naively thinking that you can change the world by eating grilled cheese (cow's milk) with mayo (chicken eggs) (+eggs and milk in bun) instead of a hamburger.

(creepy girl, huh? haha)

2. "It's a cool lifestyle, and yeah, I care about animals"
These are the people who become vegetarians to be (as they see it) cool. It seems like a nice thing to do since they like fluffy bunnies and blood grosses them out and besides, their best friend in junior high thought it would be cool too, and now it has become a part of their shallow identity. I have seen a lot of this with adolescent females. They are looking for a way to set themselves apart from their peers and think that being a vegetarian or, worse yet, a vegan, will make them seem edgy and interesting. Wrong. In my eyes you look uneducated and insecure. EVERY single girl I knew in high school who wanted to become a vegetarian, had absolutely no grip on the idea of her need for protein. There is a way to be a healthy vegetarian and to get enough protein. I know, because I actually get about half of my protein from plant sources- some of my favorites include black beans, pure almond butter, raw walnuts, lentils, edamame, organic soymilk, hummus, and so forth. But how many teenagers are packing their lunches with things like these that they need to sustain them? None that I've ever seen. Which leads me to...

3. To lose weight
This is the worst of all. Again, typically another teenage girl idiocy. They think that cutting out a food group and thereby throwing off their whole nutritional balance will somehow cause them to lose weight. If becoming vegetarian means eating a lot of fresh, unadulterated fruits and veggies instead of other processed snacks, then yes it's possible to lose weight. However, that is never what vegetarianism means to a naive young person. Rather, it means instead of a turkey sandwich, they get nachos with extra cheese (dont even get me started on how wrong nacho "cheese" is), it means instead of grilled chicken they have Cheetos and a few Little Debbie Snack cakes. There is nothing about this lifestyle change that is either a) weight loss promoting, or b) healthy in ANY way.

Most vegetarians really should be taking some supplements under the direction of a nutritionist to ensure they are getting enough iron, B vitamins, and other nutrients that they will likely be lacking without a significant source of animal products. However, not only are these pathetic teens and young adults (or older adults looking for a way to revamp themselves...keep looking, people) not very unlikely to be getting these vitamins and minerals, but they are likely loading up on saturated fat and simple sugars because they often turn to pre-packaged processed foods when they forego the regular meaty main dishes served in most public places. (For example, the extra cheesy french fries and sundae instead of the chicken sandwich.) Not only are many people who overlook meat often choosing poor alternatives (ie, my neighbor who eats Nutella for dinner, sorry, had to call you out) but they are also missing out on great nutrient-dense foods. Per gram, protein has the same number of calories as carbohydrates, so the same amount of trimmed lean meat is not going to deliver any more calories than an equal amount of plain bread. Not only that, but because meat products are often more expensive in general than plant-based products like bread, you will often see the portions of bread products being much larger than its meaty counterpart (chips vs. beef jerky in the vending machine), thereby delivering even more calories. Supersize Me (the excellent documentary) gives a great example of this when it shows that the average bagel, as I recall, delivers SIX full servings of bread (that's all you need for an entire day!)- weighing in at about 300 calories plus cream cheese (and, yes, even strawberry cream cheese is an animal product and loaded with fat and sugar) adding probably around 100 calories more. Compare to 2 hard boiled eggs which totals only 140 calories and 14 whopping grams of protein. Which seems like the healthier breakfast to you? The fact is, that most weight loss regimens recommend getting MORE protein and less of the other junk.

An Attempt to Practice What I Preach:

You dont have to read anymore, I've fairly well said my peace, but this is just me trying to justify to myself that I am doing enough to satisfy my own food concerns. I am a total omnivore. I love all good, REAL food. I pretty much eat only whole foods- fresh fruits and vegetables (farmer's market!), 100% whole grains, fresh lean meat, rich oils, spices, and herbs (from my garden!!). And I LOVE it. Whole is how nature intended our food to be. Of course, I'm not perfect, I indulge in the white pita or naan occassionally and I have a horrible sweet tooth (or rather, many sweet teeth) and I love to bake. But even so, I typically use honey or non-sugar sweeteners when I bake, oil instead of butter, unsweetened applesauce instead of oil, and white whole wheat flour. I have also converted to almond milk and organic unsweetened soymilk instead of cow's milk since I decided I wasn't too keen on the hormone shots given to cows to keep them producing and the fact that the government pays off farmers to dump HUGE quantities of milk every year to keep the supply lower so prices can be higher- such a waste, this infuriates me- but I'm admitedly not perfect on that either since I still use cream to make ice cream and eat high quality cheeses. I just already have enough hormones, I don't need to drink any more of them.

Food is fuel, but food should also be enjoyable. I eat a LOT, but because I'm eating the right things, I can (typically) get away with it. I can't remember the last day when I haven't eaten at least 3 servings of fresh vegetables and I have had to literally cut down on fruit since I was eating over 5 servings a day! Now I typically have 3 fresh fruits a day. And my body is happy :)

Arm yourself with some knowlegde about your food habits and learn how to manipulate the way you eat to reflect your needs. I highly recommend the calorie calculator which also breaks down your percentages of fat/carb/protein ratios and how much sodium and sugar you are eating at: www.livestrong.com/myplate
It is excellent. As my Dad always said when I was a chubby kid, "Eat to live, don't live to eat." When you are using food to your advantage, you can have mastery over your body. I have fortunatley been in sports for many, many years and have been able to develop a very accurate awareness of my body and its needs. I have also been able to take college classes on human nutrition, sports nutrition, and exercise science which taught me to use food to my advantage. As I moved from position to position over the years when I played rugby, my body would also change as I would fuel and work my body differently. In my final year playing rugby, I was pounding the protein (animal and plant) and working the weights much more than the cardio based on the needs of my position. Now that I'm a regular civilian again, I've changed to more veggies, less but still enough protein, and more cardio, less weights. Since my last rugby game a little over a year ago, I've healthily dropped over 25 pounds without hardly trying, just since I've been listening to my body and what it needs. (Don't worry, I basically look just the same, just a pointier chin and smaller shoulders, haha) No gimmicks, no deprivation, I snack constantly- but on whole, healthy foods. Control your body or else your body's illnesses and developed limitations will control your entire life.

Knowledge is Power.

In conclusion, stand up for what you think is right, but don't just be a rebel without a cause. Help effect realistic change by putting your money where your mouth is (literally) and supporting local organic farmers and using the political process to try to change the gruesome system we have in place. Treat your body well and it will treat you well.

All that glitters is not gold...it could be lithium

2010-06-16T09:13:00.000-04:00

When I read this I was excited! Then nervous.

For decades and decades, the war-torn country of Afghanistan has had little substance to base any sort of restructuring on. Politicians are ousted again and again, war is waged again and again, religious zealots wreak their havoc as they come and go, and the Taliban is fueled by the only lucrative business available- the drug trade. Opium dominates the Afghan economy, leaving corruption and ruied lives everywhere it touches. But what else has there been to do or develop? Nothing; until now.

A literal gold mine of natural resources have been rediscovered throughout the country. Interestingly, the Soviets were aware of the resources years ago, but since they left, the Afghan people have not had the means to develop them as they have been bombarded with war, corruption, and debt. Now that they have been rediscovered, there is a great opportunity to restructure the Afghan economy, create jobs, have a viable (and legal) export, and rebuild upon a foundation that can help lead them out of poverty and into the future.

This vision, of course, is a long way off, considering the country's utter lack of mining structures and other pieces that will need to come into play before these resources, like lithium, actually make it overseas into American laptop batteries and make the Afghan people stable jobs and money. But the hope of a realistic way for this country to end its economic reliance on narcotics is inspiring.

The worry I still have, however, is that, like so many other things, the Taliban will sieze this opportunity and capitalize, thereby making themselves richer and everyone else more desparate for their favor and leadership. Or, we could have an oil/Saudi Arabia-type situation where a handful of spoiled wealthy upperclassmen control the whole enterprise and monopolize, thereby enslaving their own countrymen as well as international buyers. Let's hope not. If the government takes a slow, conscientious and fair approach to setting up a working mining system, this could be a great success and change the face of Afghanistan for the better- giving just the boost that they need to move into the realm of becoming an independent and developed nation.

"I was wrong"- Mr. O

2010-05-28T10:23:00.000-04:00

Hmmmm...

This is unusual. A VERY unusual way for a President to handle things. President Obama has proven to be one of the most gifted orators that the White House has ever seen, and once again he stunned the masses by publicly stating "I was wrong" followed by "In case you're wondering who's responsible, I was responsible."

(gasp!) Shocking!

A very honest and bold approach to the bp gas spill. I think, however, that it was really the only viable approach given that experts had been stating all along that they projected the spill to be the worst in US history and 10 times worse than what the government was reporting. And it turned out that the expert were right- doh! I appreciate the President's humility, but what other choice did he really have- the federal government screwed up BIG TIME.

However, I cannot blame the President for the spiralling of this disaster, one man can only do so much through the red tape we call the Federal Government. To me, this appears to be yet another HUGE mess that FEMA couldn't bring itself to work on in time. What does FEMA actually DO?! Their whole purpose is to work through environmental emergencies, which don't really happen every day, but when they do happen, their leaders just end up doing nothing and resigning. Seems like they sit around twiddling their thumbs and looking outside their office windows, watching for disasters but hoping they will never come because then they will have to stop their thumb twidling...or will they?

Sadly, it looks like this spill will have not only a horrible environmental impact, but it has also placed a moratorium on offshore drilling- our one hope (besides leaglizing marijuana, hahaha- joke) for freeing ourselves from slavitude to rich Saudi princes and from one big, fat national debt. And I'm pretty sure the second consequence is worse.

NY Times Article

Maternal Death Rates

2010-04-14T22:02:00.000-04:00

I just read this article and I was glad. In undergrad, I wrote this huge research paper for Women's Studies examining cross-cultural birthing practices and what I found was pretty scary. As if giving birth in a developed country is not gross and painful and chaotic enough, try doing it in a dirt hut all by yourself...yeah...and we wonder why the maternal death rates in some countries are epidemically high.

Needless to say, I was really pleased to hear about the results of a new study (sponsored, by the way, by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation- they are awesome and have really great priorities and interests, not to mention unbeatable influence, in their giving) that shows that the maternal death rates worldwide are sharply declining.

A big part of this trend is foreign governments setting up programs that help train birthing assistants and provide qualified people to be present with mothers during and immediately following labor. Duh! What mother wouldn't be better off with a trained medical professional when she is going through such a physically traumatic experience! I guess I'm just grateful that womens rights are finally being better recognized in this critical area. However, this should not be categorized as just a womens rights issue. EVERYONE was born, so this issue is applicable to everyone and should therefore be better advocated! Get on it, people!

Die, Pharma! (and friends)

2010-03-12T11:40:00.000-05:00

I just saw on the news an investigative report that revealed some hospitals were billing overnight patients $1000.00 for a toothbrush! Yeah, you read that right- a cheap plastic $1 toothbrush for a grand! It's absolutely unconscionable (one of my favorite new legal words)! I can totally relate, after being harassed by my local hospital to pay some $500 for a strep test- unbelievable. If I'd have walked in there with no identification and sobbed about a sad story it would have been totally free. Well I DO have a sad story. It's called I'm a law student who hasn't had a paying job for years and I won't for years more, and yet I'm not allowed to be on my parent's insurance anymore (since I should be able to pay for my own insurance, right? I mean I already have had to pay for undergrad and now grad and rent and outrageous electricity bills and gas and, oh heck, I seem like a great candidate to offset the free care given to people in the community who actually do have jobs, but work illegally or make minimum wage.).

Don't get me wrong- health care is a human right and everyone should be treated regardless of their ability to pay, but I think that there are a lot of people on the verge of poverty who are paying way more than their fair share to help counterbalance the completely free care given to their neighbors who happen to make $0.25 less an hour than them. These billing schemes have gotten completely out of hand.

This broke student situation is being played out in a major way in California where the state has decided that a good place to look for eliminating their debt is the empty pockets of its own college students. Obviously, this has resulted is a huge backlash- student riots and demonstrations are happening all over the state and I completely support the students. (yay for the first amendment!) It is not their fault that banks were making risky moves, homeowners were being greedy, politicians were authorizing more programs than they could pay for- not their fault AT ALL! Students are the one group of people in society that we can have hope in to change the poor policies and implement innovation as they begin to fill into the gaps in the retiring workforce. Our college students are working to improve themselves and they want to make a difference. Most of them are going into debt in their own names to pay for their schooling, most of them went to state schools just because they are cheaper than private schools. And they get totally jabbed in return. Outrageous.

In fact, I see it as a vicious circle. Greedy deans and university presidents and professors demand outrageous paychecks (even the no-name College in my PA town here pays part-time faculty 6 figures, it's completely ridiculous) and then the state demands a cut and we get from that insane prices for higher education (the same no-name college is about $30K a year for students, worse than most good law schools). Therefore, the students going into professions that require more schooling will incur more debt and demand outrageous prices for their services (doctors) and thus we see baffling medical billing. And don't even get me started on the corruption of pharmaceutical companies...

Some Realistic Advice:
-be real, $1mill is not a normal salary, be reasonable and lower superfluous wages. Yeah, that includes pensions. People should not get paid the same amount for not working as they did for working. It's called saving up and using your resources wisely. Irresponsibility killed the economy, please learn from this error.
-with lower paychecks for university staff, lower tuition and make education more accessible
-cut students some slack, in my opinion, they all should be considered indigent

I'm still your friend, Mr. President

2010-01-29T16:53:00.001-05:00

State of the Union.

Cool.

I love this Constitutional relic- I think its really a neat thing crafted into the Constitution by our founding fathers in order to keep the people updated and to keep the government in the position they were designed to be: responsible to the people! We elected them, after all.

Not incredibly noteworthy, we're pretty used to well-written and well-delivered speeches by our current President. Although, there has been a bit of subsequent drama associated with the fact that Obama totally called out the Supreme Court right in front of them, and in front of the rest of the counrty, for the opinion they issued last week (as discussed in the previous post- I KNEW Obama read my blog!).

People are saying this was an untrue presenation of the facts or that it was just plain disrespectful.

I, on the other hand, am completely fine with it- and not just because I happened to agree with what he said. After all, they don't call it the "Bully Pulpit" for nothing. And if the President can't exercise free speech, then who can? Give him a break.

P.S.

2010-01-22T13:26:00.000-05:00

By the way, per the request of many, I have created a second blog on which I plan to talk about what's going on in my life, as opposed to what's going on in the world at large. If you care to take a gander, you can find it with this link: Livin the Life

Peace

LRO-P

Come On, Supreme Court!

2010-01-22T13:03:00.000-05:00

I am a little less than happy about the Supreme Court's recent decision to eliminate all corporate caps on political donations. Frankly, campaign financing disgusts me. I first went to college devoted to pursuing a career in politics and in my very first semester, I endured a lecture on campaign financing and political action committees (PACs) and left the class feeling nauseated. And then I switched my major. It is just ludicrous.

We're talking millions and millions of dollars coming from people and organizations who pretend that they are all into making the world better, when really all they want is to get the person elected who will give them the most power. If they were really interested in reform, they would stop spending on commercials slandering their political enemies and donate some of those millions to reputable nonprofit organizations, to food aid, to scholarship funds, or to public schools, just to name a few places. There needs to be spending caps in place, otherwise politicians will keep hunting down more and more and more dollars to waste just so that they will have as many or more signs and commercials as their opponents. If we set a limit, there wouldn't be this huge grubbing race for fruitless donations.

The 2008 Presidential Elections turned out to be the election with the most money spent in history. Barack Obama alone raised nearly $140,000,000.00! We may as well have used all the money collected for the election to finance the bailouts and to lessen the national debt, at least that would have done something for the country. I would be fine if Congress sent out circulars (like the local governments do for elections on propositions, judges, etc.) where there are the names of people running, their platforms, and their plans to put their goals into action. Isn't that why we vote anyway? To show which policies we want implemented, not because we were most convinced by candidate X's dashing smile and catchy jingle? How much would that cost? A lot for printing the circulars for everyone, but it could be done on cheap paper. A little to hire people to write it, but cheaper than hiring speech writers, media consultants, makeup artists, graphic designers, videographers, etc. And you would not have to rent facilities for rallies, print signs, print bumper stickers, buy commercial air time, make commercials, blah blah blah.

I like Obama, but I will tell you a secret, I did not vote for him. Want to know why? Its because I did not agree with how his campaign was run- yes, this stuff really means a lot to me! He was portrayed as an idol, he was marketed like a teen super star. His campaigning focused on his image, not on his policies. It was more important that he was black than how he was going to get us out of a recession. No one knew his stances or policies, all they knew was he was a good dresser and that they had warm fuzzies whenever his commercials came on. People rallied around the words "Hope" and "Change" without really knowing what that had to do with Obama at all. That's not how politics should be. We elect officials to responsibly govern, not to look good on a postage stamp.

I guess that's all for now, I'm sure I will have more to say on this soon.

Check out this really cool site about the 2008 Election financing: Super Cool Site!

Modern Art and the Modern Man

2010-01-07T15:12:00.001-05:00

Recently I had the interesting treat of seeing the world-renowned Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), an unusual experience in and of itself, which was further enhanced by the fact that I was accompanied by a man. We're talking a grown man who plays semi-pro football, has a somewhat cynical mind, and likes to eat bacon. A lot. Got a good image? If you're not already laughing at the sheer irony of the scene, just wait.

So after a little coaxing, we walked in through the tall glass doors and began perusing. This man, we will call him Daniel (mostly because that's his name), seemed a little nervous, as if questioning his manhood, then after looking around a bit, he looked suddenly enraged and finally spoke the words, "What the heck is this?!" (edited version) probably a little too loud for the comfort of our fellow art viewers. I lost it; I totally cracked up. I immediately thought of the story about the Emperor's New Clothes with everyone around us taking what they saw so seriously and trying to appear sophisticated, while Daniel was the only one to call out the napkin with pencil marks on it accompanied by a half-eaten bagel for exactly what they were: garbage.

Fortunately, there were many better pieces. One of our favorites was this one that looks like a great painting of white birch trees, but up close you can see that its actually a collage made of newspaper and the faces of famous people photocopied onto green paper. Now that's cool. That takes talent and it was also very visually appealing. Both of us could appreciate that.

To be truthful, although some modern "artists" (so they call themselves) have "art" (so they call it) that is little more that a ridiculous excuse for creative mediocrity and sensationalism, I generally really like modern art. And Daniel kept giving me these puzzled looks when, from a room away, I could tell who had painted what and was dashing to go see them up close. The conversation would go omething like this:
"Oh, I love Matisse! His paintings are coming up in the next room!"
"Who?"
"Matisse!"
"Huh? How do you know who painted those without reading the card next to it?!"
"Oh, I don't know, I studied a little post-Renaissance humanities in college and I just like modern art"
"Yeah, whatever. Okay, I bet you don't know who painted that one..."
"Easy, that's Chagall. Marc Chagall. I like him, he puts a lot of Judaism in his paintings"
(walking over to read the card)
"You cheated! You read the card!"

And thus it went.

For me, the best part was probably seeing all of the Picassos- I was hyperventilating! This is a post-Guernica piece that is pretty similar and since Guernica is ont of my favorite paintings, I was super excited to see it.

We even made a little crazy modern art of out own, of all places, in the Picasso room:

Next we came to some HUGE Jackson Pollock paintings. They truly are a lot more powerful in person, they are so gigantic and so emotional and they were so revolutionary for the time during which they were created. Or at least that's what I was thinking as I stared at them from 3 inches away, drooling. Meanwhile, Daniel sat in the back, rolling his eyes and sending a text. Typical. And totally understandable! Pollock's pieces are a bunch of paint thrown down from a latter and onto a canvassed floor. I would have been worried if Dan had actually liked them. After all, his is a modern man.

Needless to say, it was a great evening and I saw a lot of amazing pieces that I only been able to behold via textbook images before then- and there they were, right in front of my own eyes! Very cool. Modern art is different because its viewers are forced to do a little added introspection since the motives and the feelings of the artists are not as obvious as they may be in a more classically done piece. That being said, I admit that some of it is just a bunch a junk. So the take-home message is don't be afraid to be creative, but let's not go too far, or else you take the risk of being called out by an incredibly insightful bacon-eater.

Au revoir

(*Special thanks to Dan for his patience in coming with me to the MoMA. Not every dude would have or even could have done it. Not only his he handsome, but accommodating as well!)

PS:
I love Mondrian!

This is called "Broadway Boogie" nicknamed by my male companion as "Broadway Booger"- haha :D

Microcredit & Mircoloans: The Girl Effect

2009-12-11T13:25:00.000-05:00

I saw this and I IMMEDIATELY had to share it.

Click on this link:

The Girl Effect. (hint: to go straight to the video, click on "Agree")

This is all about microloans and women's rights! Two of my favorite things! No offense to men, but statistics show that when men in developing countries are given microloans, there is only approximately a 30% chance that they will actually pay back the loan. On the other hand, women pay back their loans and make profits at rates upwards of 90% of the time- and quicker than their male counterparts! Why? Well, women often are more motivated to work hard on their small (micro) businesses ventures for several reasons.

1. To provide for their families- in many underdeveloped countries, the women scrimp together what little they have to try to feed their children while the men are busy using the money that should be going to their families for alcohol and other slovenly purposes (see Russia for an example) and the maternal instincts of women push them to work harder for food for their children then their husbands in the same situation.

2. This is their chance to prove themselves. Obviously, the status quo in most underdeveloped nations is that men work and women take care of home duties. But in many instances, this is clearly not working, as evidenced by ever-increasing poverty and hunger. So, women are propelled forward by the glimmer of hope that they can get out of this societal rut by their own means and exercise their autonomy by means that their culture may not have allowed them to engage in before: business! They have been sitting on the sidelines all too long and are now revved to make a difference in their families and communities.

3. Sad as it is, women are just less likely to spend their loans on risky investments, gambling, prostitutes, etc. The money they receive actually goes where it is intended, making a return much more feasible.

I love this! We think that HUGE bailouts and trillions of government dollars in handouts will end poverty, but I think that the key really lies in good old fashioned hard work with a little financial boost coupled with accountability, business basics, and education. I was privileged to get to listen to a presentation by the founder of The Academy for Creating Enterprise (a Philippines-based nonprofit for former LDS missionaries that are from the Philippines, designed to teach them to use the skills of work and communication that they used on their missions in the field of small business- super cool) make a presentation in a class for my Nonprofit Management minor and it was awesome! The microloan revolution is changing lives, and it will inevitably change nations.

For information on a nonprofit gaining great prominence in this field, see Heifer International, and I would encourage a donation, considering this season of giving. Also, for even more information, see the book "A Word Without Poverty" by Mohammed Yunus- the real pilot of this field (who actually earned his Nobel Peace Prize thorough research, creative innovation, and hard work that has benefitted mankind). Cheers!

Superfluous Cakes

2009-12-10T23:25:00.000-05:00

On a rare personal note, I am in the heat of my first round of law school finals. And although it would be much more typical of me to discuss the juxtaposition of President Obama receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in the same month that he announced sending thousands of more troops to the Middle East (his speech announcing that was actually very moving and I was watching it in the gym, practically crying on the treadmill- always a safety hazard). But, no. The topic at hand is cakes. After my mini trip to New York and the discovery of the Crumbs Bake Shop, coupled with an engaged girl at school talking incessantly about how her wedding cake is having a different flavor of cake on every layer, cakes have been on the mind. It is my little unproductive way of forgetting about final exams for a moment. So if you came here today to read some interesting philosophical treatise on human rights, keep looking; I apologize. But if you are the mood for some mind mush, then do read on.

After a delightful Google Images search, I came up with some real gems:

For those Mario Bros. lovers out there, I though this Mario-themed cake was super clever! You've got little Toadies, Question-Mark boxes, Princess Peach and her castle, and of course, Mario himself. Very creative and a bit whimsical.

As for this next one, every boy that I have shown this to has had virtually the same reaction, "Whoa! That's amazing!" Yes, here it is, every little boy's dream- the Hostess Cake:

Complete with all of our schoolyard favorites. You could trade this cake for like a million tater tots at your local Elementary School. Oddly, it actually has a pleasing amount of visual interest, and is not nearly as tacky as I would have expected.

And just when you thought that was crazy, get this- the Sushi Wedding Cake (complete with rubber duckies?!?...I have no idea...)

I'm just hoping that there's not actually a cake underneath all of that raw fish. And I love the strewn leaves and edamame, ya know, just for some more color...or something.

And finally, a cake that I actually seriously like. I think its both pretty and sweet. Not to mention the thought of eating all that fondant makes me start to drool, mmmmmm...

Cute little nest on top, huh? :)

Well, friends, I'm afraid that will have to do for now. Back to the grind stone. May your day be full of sweetness and creativity.

PS, for some real fun, try the Google search of "20 Ugliest Wedding Cakes" and see what you can find!

No, You're Secretary Clinton- President Clinton Was Someone Else

2009-11-25T20:51:00.000-05:00

Warning: this may appear to the faint-hearted as a Conservative rant. It's NOT. That's not really what I do. It is actually just an anti-Hillary rant. She is one of the most frightening human beings on the planet and it doesn't matter what her political views are or what her background is- she's just a plain scary individual, and someone had the bright idea to put her in power. Unfortunately, she now thinks she's the President of the United States...most unfortunately...considering she's nuts. She was literally in my textbook for the Psychology of Personality, as an example of personality gone awry.

Exhibit A:

Haha. Sorry, that was uncalled for. But I just couldn't resist.

In all seriousness, here she is as Secretary of State, pretending like she was actually elected to that position and likewise pretending that her position is much more lofty than that of the Secretary of State. Yes, its still a very important position, but let's not pretend like it wasn't just a throw-back from Obama as a part of their bargaining so that he could become the President.

As a lovely example of her arrogance, here is a great quote:
"When I came into the administration {meaning, when I lost the support of my party and came crying back to the winner and was only accepted to get feminist support for the administration, not to mention I would have probably murdered whoever else would have been chosen if it wasn't me, and no one wanted that to happen} I was one of the few people who had a long-term positive relationship with President Karzai {meaning I was one of the few that had been in the same room as him before; forget the fact that Bush used to have regular video conferences with Pres. Karzai}."

Oh, but it goes on. Since she has such a "positive relationship" with the President of Iran she showed up unannounced to his inauguration (ie, party crasher who couldn't take the hint of not being invited and LOVES traveling in the name of America, not just on the tax payer's dollar, but also to make herself look more like the President). But this wasn't the jolly best buddy congrats-on-rigging-the-votes-can-you-teach-me-how kind of visit (although that conversation probably occurred too). No, according to a senior US official (as reported by the NYT), she "bluntly warned Mr. Karzai to crack down"- yikes. Some bff; some positive relationship. Congrats on winning, I'm here to crash your party and threaten you since I believe that I basically have the whole US at my disposal, so fear me.

Gosh, she's bothersome.

Here's another good one. She literally has her back to the President and has situated herself at the very top corner of the table, so its almost as if she's at the head of the table.

Typical Hillary.

Healthcare Humor

2009-11-24T10:05:00.000-05:00

So I saw this ad from rethink reform.com this morning and I HAD to share it:

I laughed soooo hard when I saw this photo! In light of all the healthcare drama, I just wanted to take a moment to say that I think it is a bold undertaking and that some serious reform is, in fact, needed. As a student, many of my friends do not have health insurance because their parents have recently pushed them out of the nest, they already find themselves tens of thousands of dollars in debt to student loans, and the last thing they want to think about is paying healthcare premiums. Unfortunately, that means I've seen many friends NOT go to the hospital when they really should. Even though I have insurance, that hasn't barred me from needing to pay $100 copays to have have a flustered and overworked doctor tell me to just take some Chloroseptic. And when I injured myself on a rugby trip in Florida, I ended up paying hundreds of dollars for what turned out to be a misread X-ray. Its absolute bogus. And I don't even have a serious disease! Think of all those who need costly treatment and medication in the situation of myself or my uninsured friends- its a frightening scenario and yet it is the reality for so many. Even if we are not going to have the government provide their own medical programming, the medical profession needs some serious work. I'm not sure how qualified a bunch of politicians are at regulating and scrutinizing the medical field, but I commend them for trying and I agree with their goals.

A Vote is a Voice

2009-11-02T11:37:00.002-05:00

I wish I could say that I was surprised when Hamid Karzai's run-off opponent, Abdullah Abdullah, dropped out.

I was thrilled when Afghanistan was finally looking to its Constitution, evaluating the importance of democracy, and realizing that fraud was worth the time and money and inconvenience to deter. Voting is, nearly by definition, what embodies a democracy. As soon as the votes of everyday people do not matter, you have lost touch with democracy. It was incredible that the people and the leaders of Afghanistan had the faith to press forward in the noble cause of preserving democracy from corruption by holding a run-off election after there were almost a million fake ballots discovered. However, Abdullah, the symbol of challenging the corruption of the standing Afghan government, has given up. Fighting for an honest use of democracy was too much, too painful. In an emotional speech, he declared, "I hoped there would be a better process...but it is final." He gave in to the fact that if a million of ballots were faked before, there is little if any way of stopping the same thing from happening again. I lament his admission of imminent defeat.

At first I judged the Afghan government at large and was sure that this MUST be a pay-off. Abdullah had to have been threatened by the powers that be, quite possibly the Taliban who were already threatening trouble if the election continued as planned. I still have not abandoned this theory, but my criticisms of them have actually softened since I considered the parallels between this and our very own United States a mere 5 years ago.

Consider it: the 2004 elections were full of ballots cast on behalf of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. Thousands of legitimate ballots were cast out because of hanging chads, pregnant chads, and otherwise expendable offenses. Recounts were demanded. Ballots invalidated and re-validated. People were worried about changing the Presidency while we were engaged in a war. And then at the last moment, the contesting party bowed out. You can say it's because he knew he would have lost anyway, but you can also say that about Abdullah. You can say that John Kerry didn't want to win amidst contention, but you can also say that about Adbullah. And yet, with these striking similarities, one election we excuse, perhaps we are even grateful for how it turned out, and the other we demonize and criticize.

Was there a payoff or a threat of death for Abdullah? Perhaps. Was there a payoff for Kerry? Perhaps. We just don't know either way. But we do know that the democracy of Afghanistan is new; it is fragile.

The Obama Administration is all fine and dandy Abdullah eliminating himself from contest because they initially backed Karzai, so now it looks like they won. Is that really what it's about? Looking good? Is that really why we have politics?? Silly me, I thought it was to protect the public from chaos and harm. Well guess what, everyone knows that this election was totally illigitimate, at least that is the perception, so how strong of an ally does our current administration really have in Karzai's so-called victory?

A larger concern is whether or not the fragility of this government will survive such an early blow to its legitimacy. I am concerned about the citizens who are questioning whether or not their votes matter and, consequently, whether or not they matter. I am concerned for the women who finally have a voice in their communities, only to have it stomped on by the looming terror the Taliban still exerts over them. May terror no longer be the motive for people to comply and act. May people realize that sometimes liberty means more than life, and that bravery must be exercised in times of peril so that we can defeat (or at least do all that we can to challenge) evil.

Iran is NOT the 51st United State, so lay off

2009-09-27T17:40:00.000-04:00

I don't really get it.

I love the UN- I would love to work for them someday. Part of the UN is obviously the UN Security Council. Okay, great. Nuclear nonproliferation is an issue that they deal with as a part of their work. Good; the world needs security. I am all for that.

Then there's Obama. I like the guy, actually quite a bit, but how did he suddenly become the head of the UN Security Council? And simultaneously the go-to man at the G20 summit (in my state of PA!!!) regarding "nuclear reforms" which is Obama-G20 code for "Hurry! Stop Iran!" I guess I'm just confused as to who died and made the Obama Administration the world champions of nuclear regulation?!?

I laughed when it was "news" earlier this week that Iran admitted to having nuclear facilities. That's not news; maybe old news. I mean, come on. We know this has been coming for a long time. Iran is a highly populated and rapidly industrializing country that is hated by the world superpower (us) and we are all shocked that they now want nuclear weapons, too. What's the big deal? They claim that they are doing everything within the bounds set forth by international laws and treaties, but that's not good enough for us. And we can't just let the UN go in neutrally and make sure that everything is up to par. Oh, no. The Obama Administration says to the world, "Don't worry, guys- we'll take care of this" as if it was even their business in the first place. I'm afraid that regarding this issue, our administration is more than a trifle biased and will not be the best at making a fair assessment of Iran's nuclear facilities.

Now I realize that this isn't just any potential treaty violation. What we are talking about here can literally mushroom cloud into virtually the end of human life if left unchecked. But honestly, I don't think that Iran wants to end the world. I think we are getting a little too uptight. If Iran, the years from now that it would actually take them to become fully operational, actual was stupid enough to launch some nuclear missile, it is obvious that someone, probably anyone, would strike back. The Cold War mentality -that I can't make a move without you making a move, either of which will mean utter destruction of both you and I- is not completely erased from our global conscious. I really don't think we have to worry about nuclear holocaust. No one is ridiculous enough to go there at this point. And what right do we, the United States of America- just a bunch of little states on the North American continent that rebelled from England only some 250 years ago- have to stop another country far far away from feeling secure in this world, from feeling like they have the equal footing with other industrialized countries, from feeling like they are a part of that Cold War equation that no one will want to strike against them for fear of them having the ability to strike back.

I think that we would be outraged if the Queen of England suddenly took it upon herself to rummage through our Top Secret defense files. What gives us the right to do virtually the same thing to Iran?

I say let the UN do its job and let the US worry about its own problems before trying to take away the rights of another country.

Literature- a dying art

2009-08-31T18:41:00.000-04:00

Ridiculous.

That is the link to an article which proposes arguments that I find to go right along with the title I gave it.

I just found out from the NY Times (a personal favorite, although not necessarily a pure source of truth, mind you) that there is this revolution beginning in Middle School English in the US. They let the kids pick what they want to read. At first I was like, "Yay! Duh! Of course if you give kids options, they will be more vested in what they read; it's about time." However this elation quickly faded when a teacher told of how instead of To Kill A Mockingbird (in my opinion, one of the greatest pieces of American literature), most of her students had opted to read the Captain Underpants series instead.

Excuse me?!? First of all, I know that series is WAY below their grade reading level. As if American kids don't get a crappy enough education already. We're basically the only ones who aren't well versed in several languages by adulthood, the only ones who have the time and means to play record levels of video games and watch record levels of tv and eat and eat till we're all obese as heck and yet our test scores as compared to the rest of the world are well BELOW average. We think we're SO great and world dominant, but China is coming and their students actually study! (But that's a way different topic)

(ancient library at Alexandria, from which there is a brick in the Washington Monument- so cool!)

I can understand when kids are in Elementary School and they may be at varying reading levels depending on what kind of learning was going on at home and they can basically choose among Babysitters Club, Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Goosebumps, etc. At this age, most books are highly gender specific, so it is only fair to let them choose what they want to read. And to be honest, I really don't think that there are ANY pieces of actually GOOD literature before about the Jr. High reading level. Maybe the Little Prince, but they won't get the philosophy behind it anyway. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for Montessori and the choices granted kids in that philosophy of teaching, but the difference there is if the 5th grader picks up The Little Prince on his own accord, his "teacher" or whatever they call them in this system would then have the opportunity to actually explain to the 5th grader the philosophical meanings if he or she were interested since there would be no confining subjects that the teacher MUST stick to. This is awesome. If a kid is eating something up, feed them more- they have obviously discovered a talent or natural propensity.

On the other hand, classroom free-for-all where there is complete disregard for the classics once you are old enough to start appreciating them is completely unacceptable. What separates our generation from the generations of the past? In my opinion, we have completely lost our sense of the humanities. The art, literature, music, and philosophy that our very society was built upon has been replaced by the mindless Backstreet Boys, Twilight, texting, and materialism of our day.

I cannot accept the fact that teachers would honestly let students abandon their societal roots for a picture book about toilets. It's both humiliating and shocking. The one student who picks up Dickens over Harper Lee is not worth the 25 others in the class who run for comic books as a replacement for their literary education. This is not education. This is the stupifying of our country right before our very eyes.

2009-08-26T18:35:00.002-04:00

sometimes blogger annoys me. I think it is the most under-worked branch of the world of Google. You'd think that a company that knows virtually everything would be able to know when its programs are annoying. Until then...bon appetit! :D

The Tech Revolution

2009-08-24T20:07:00.000-04:00

So I was inspired by my mom's newest post which included a comic and so I did a quick search of something I have been thinking about lately- the pervasiveness of technology that is taking over our culture and how it is spreading even to the older generations. Case in point, my grandma is on Facebook. Not that I'm complaining, I helped her make her page, so there you go. It's almost a necessity so that my family members can actualy keep tabs on my nomadic life and see the photos along the way. Unfortunately, many people use FB time in the place of real social time. I was surprised when this week at church someone was actually asked to speak about the hazards of excessive online gaming. Whoa, the Bishop (an old guy) actually comprehended this issue and recognized that we need to hear about it! The talk was actually really good- he made the point that virtual living is just what it purports to be- virtual. Not real. He even quoted some of the lyrics from that Brad Paisley song "I'm So Much Cooler Online"- yeah, over the pulpit. It was awesome, rock on PA Saints!

I work down at the Pizza Pit
And I drive an old Hyundai
I still live with my mom and dad
I’m five foot three and overweight
I’m a sci fi fanatic mild asthmatic
Never been to second base
But there’s a whole ‘nother me
That you need to see
Go check out MySpace

‘Cause online I’m out in Hollywood
I’m six foot five and I look damn good
I drive a Maserati
I’m a black belt in karate
And I love a good glass of wine
It turns girls on that I’m mysterious
I tell ‘em I don’t want nothing serious
‘Cause even on a slow day I can have a three-way chat
With two women at one time
I’m so much cooler online
I’m so much cooler online

I get home I kiss my mom
And she fixes me a snack
I head down to my basement bedroom
And fire up my Mac
In real life the only time
I’ve ever even been to L.A.
Was when I got the chance with the marching band
To play tuba in the Rose Parade

But online I live in Malibu
I pose for Calvin Klein I’ve been in GQ
I’m single and I’m rich
And I got a set of six-pack abs that would blow your mind
It turns girls on that I’m mysterious
I tell ‘em I don’t want nothing serious
‘Cause even on a slow day I can have a three-way chat
With two women at one time I’m so much cooler online
Yeah, I’m cooler online

When you’ve got my kind of stats
It’s hard to get a date
Let alone a real girlfriend
But I grow another foot
and lose a bunch of weight
Every time I log in

Honestly, technology is such a good thing that I use everyday for school, research, communication with my family and friends, and as a means of expression and political activism. However, it is no replacement for social skills and real human interaction. Just don't get hopelessly sucked in.

Carlisle, Pennsylvania- my new home!

2009-08-23T15:01:00.001-04:00

So here I am in sweet old Carlisle and I wanted to share a bit of what it is like!

This is my actual law building- one of the top five (I believe) oldest law schools in the country...therefore, it needs a little renovation. We'll be back in here for classes next semester!

This is my new house! It is located in the Downtown Carlisle Historic District and I live upstairs

This is around the corner from my house- it made me laugh ;D

Interesting factoids:
-Carlisle is about 15 miles from Harrisburg, the state capital (and considered for the US capital at one point)
-It's about 40 minutes from Gettysburg
-Almost 2 hours directly north of DC
-Home to the 2nd oldest military barracks in the US (and apparently where my Grandpa Bill was once stationed)
-Where Molly Pitcher is buried
-Visited my George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and other cool dudes back in the day

HOORAY!

The Beach...IN DELAWARE!!

2009-08-23T14:43:00.000-04:00

(whoa-there's foliage!)

So, I have lived in Southern California my entire life (until that college thing) and so the beach was always there. However, until yesterday, I had NEVER been to the beach on the East Coast. So here are a couple photos of my Atlantic Ocean journey!

So I think the place we were at was called Indian River Beach in Rehoboth, DE, or something like that. I'm still learning about this boardwalk phenomenon, as opposed to the pier. There was definitely not any good surfable waves here, unless you want your brain smashed. Basically huge swells came out of nowhere and come crashing about a yard from shore and then about 10 ft into the water and beyond there are virtually no waves at all. Strange. But thrilling! The big challeng was to just get into the water.(period) Think The Wedge in Orange County or Makena Beach in Hawaii.

Some nice features:
-the actual stretch of sand between land and water is minimal- no toting coolers for a mile before getting to the water
-there are actually some plants
-the lifeguards where blue, it's nice to mix it up I guess

Less nice features:
-thunderstorms that come out of nowhere
-obviously the brain-smashing waves
-very thickly grained sand, more ouchy, although brushes off things better

Overall:
A heart-warming success!

Tax Evasion Woes

2009-08-19T15:09:00.000-04:00

We all knew that large scale tax evasion was getting out of control when several months ago one after another of Obama's cabinet picks were being disqualified on account of their HUGE histories tax evasion. And now, as the government gets hard pressed for money, they are FINALLY cracking down on this and its about time. I think they waited so long primarily because politicians operate with the aid of greedy people. People who want there policies furthered and will donate to political campaigns. Those same greedy people apparently just can't bear to have their precious money go to those that they don't approve of, as happens with taxes. Yes, those same greedy who are probably in the best position to financially contribute to the country through their tax dollars and yet, they are people who consistently evade their taxes. Not because if they pay taxes their kids won't eat, not because they have a serious issue with the tax system that they are trying to make a statement about (see note below), but just because they are greedy. And the government has been sitting back letting them get away with it, I feel, because they are their financial allies. It's disgusting.

I feel like it is a long-standing joke that rich drug dealer types hide their money in overseas Swiss banks and, as it turns out, its not such a joke anymore. Today the New York Times released a front page article stating that UBS (one of the largest Swiss banks with many international clients) has made a bargain with our IRS to turn over thousands of names representing Americans they suspect of large-scale tax evasion.

It's about time we got honest here.

NOTE: the reason I had to include this bit about making a statement was because I adore the character played by Maggie Gyllenhaal in Stanger Than Fiction who specifically didn't pay for the 22% percentage of her taxes that she had calculated went tothings she morally abhorred.

Ana Pascal: Listen, I'm a big supporter of fixing potholes and erecting swing sets and building shelters. I am more than happy to pay those taxes. I'm just not such a big fan of the percentage that the government uses for national defense, corporate bailouts, and campaign discretionary funds. So, I didn't pay those taxes. I think I sent a letter to that effect with my return.
Harold Crick: Would it be the letter that beings "Dear Imperialist Swine"?

Not exactly right, but better than greed.

My 1st Movie Trailer!!

2009-08-03T23:37:00.001-04:00

So last night I decided that sleeping would take the backseat to playing with iMovie on my laptop. What emerged was the preliminary trailer of a little film that I like to call THE EVANMEISTER STRIKES BACK! Needless to say, I am quite proud. I will now attempt to post what I have so far! (NOTE: you have to read the intro fast!)

So...I hope that you can appreciate the obvious genius behind this { ;) } as well as the fact that those two minutes took over two hours to compile! haha Hopefully there will be more to come!

Equal Rights...and pioneers?!

2009-07-25T02:18:00.000-04:00

I just came across this photo again and I wanted to say something about it. The Mormon (LDS) Church gets a lot of people thinking erroniously that they oppress women. Of course no sect or group of any sort in our society is without its abuses, but I just had to speak up briefly with regards to this issue. I am an LDS women who is pursuing law school and, eventually, an international career. And although many of my LDS peers may not share my plans and aspirations, that does not mean that I am one whit less worthy of a member of this church. All of my church leaders are constantly telling me how proud they are of my achievements and none of them have ever discouraged me from continuing my education. Now, the point. In Nauvoo, the beautiful city established by early members of the Church in Illinois before their forced migration to Utah, there is a plaque that I am here pictured standing next to that reads:

"Last evening the ladies met to organize...Several resolutions were adopted...If the men wish to hold control over women, let them be on alert. We believe in equal rights."

-Louisa Barns Pratt

June 7, 1846

Yeah, we are talking a whopping 74 years before the 19th Amendment which gave women the right to vote in the US in 1920. Besides being whimsical, this quote is surprisingly prophetic. These were not your average barefoot "baby-makers" that are so belittled in our day. These early women were among the first pioneers to cross the plains and to settle uncharted land. They were courageous and fought death daily on behalf of their beliefs. They exibited enormous physical, emotional, and moral strength that any modern feminist could be proud of.

Happy Pioneer Day

2009-07-24T22:19:00.001-04:00

2009-07-24T22:18:00.001-04:00

West Bank Story+

2009-07-15T00:40:00.000-04:00

Hey there. I just convinced my baby brother Evan to watch West Bank Story with me on Google Video and thought it would be a great thing to share! I first saw it a couple years ago and if you have any knowledge about the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict and/or the movies West Side Story and Fiddler on the Roof and you can handle some extrememly corny humor, then you won't want to miss it! I just had to throw down some props to one of my favorite short films (an amazing genre of art in my opinion) Click the link and see! It's about 20 minutes- enjoy! And by the way, was anyone else WAY annoyed by the very repetitive and seemingly plotted answers of Sonia Sotomayor at her hearing today? I was.

2009-07-04T14:07:00.001-04:00

the great and abominable talk

2009-06-22T18:55:00.000-04:00

At the request of Hayley who gave a fantastic Old Testament-oriented talk for mother's day, I am posting my Old Testament-oriented (I consider the Pearl of Great Price as a sweet revision of the Old Testament) talk for father's day! It's pretty long, so no pressure to read it or anything, but here is basically what I said...

In thinking on the topic of father’s day, one particular scriptural father, although somewhat obscure and not actually the greatest example of fatherhood, kept coming to my mind. When I kept thinking about him again and again, I decided to look into it and see what there was to learn from his story. I was thinking about Terah, whom the Old Testament identifies as the father of Abram who was later called Abraham, known in the church for, among other things, the Abrahamic Covenant. I found it particularly interesting that the great prophet that we often refer to as “Father Abraham” actually had a pretty rocky relationship with his earthly father.

This is obvious from the first facsimile in the book of Abraham, which depicts Abraham himself lying on an altar, about to be sacrificed by the priests of his father, Terah’s, religion. Verse 27 in the first chapter of Abraham states that Terah was led away by an idolatrous religion that sought to imitate the gospel and falsely claimed to have the priesthood through the lineage of Ham, the son of Noah. The followers of this sect in the land of Chaldea, where Abraham and Terah lived at that time, sacrificed heathens and because Abraham didn’t follow the idolatry of his father, he was chosen to be sacrificed. (Abraham 1: 7, 27) This adds humor to the first verse of the Book of Abraham, which says, “I, Abraham, saw that it was needful for me to find a new place of residence.” With your dad’s church buddies trying to sacrifice you, that’s quite an understatement!

Through all of his challenges like these, Abraham had a clear vision of what path he wished to pursue as a father. He wanted to claim the blessings of being a righteous and worthy priesthood bearer with the true authority of the Lord. I really like what he says about the joy and gift of the priesthood in Abraham chapter one, verses 2-4, “And finding there was greater happiness and peace and rest for me, I sought for the blessings of the fathers and the right whereunto I should be ordained to administer the same…I became a rightful heir, a High Priest, holding the right belonging to the fathers. It was conferred upon me from the fathers; it came down from the fathers, from the beginning of time, yea, even from the beginning, or before the foundation of the earth, down to the present time, even the right of the firstborn, or the first man, who is Adam, or first father, through the fathers unto me. I sought for mine appointment unto the Priesthood according to the appointment of God unto the fathers concerning the seed.” Meaning he saw that there was great joy and many blessings available to himself and his posterity through the priesthood authority that came through the generations of his righteous forefathers like Adam and Enoch.

Thankfully, Abraham’s diligence in seeking after righteousness made him instrumental in becoming, as the Bible Dictionary describes him, “the founder of the covenant race” and “the father of the faithful”.

Through him came the Abrahamic Covenant from the Lord which we all can take part of. He is a symbolic father to all members of the church.

The True to the Faith Gospel Reference Manual published by the Church says that, “As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, you are a child of the covenant. You have received the everlasting gospel and inherited the same promises given to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You have the right to the blessings of the priesthood and to eternal life, according to your faithfulness in receiving the ordinances of salvation and keeping the associated covenants. Nations of the earth will be blessed by your efforts and by the labors of your posterity.” (True To The Faith, “Abrahamic Covenant”)

The importance of families is central to the covenant made by Abraham. It relates to eternal marriage, eternal increase and progression. We are blessed to have the gospel so that we can know the eternal importance and significance of families and, armed with that knowledge, safeguard our families and begin working now to have a Celestial Family, which includes a righteous father.

In a great conference talk by Elder L. Tom Perry of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles called, “Fatherhood, an Eternal Calling”, Elder Perry boldly states, “It appears to me that the crosshairs of Satan’s scope are centered on husbands and fathers. Today’s media, for example, have been relentless in their attacks- ridiculing and demeaning husbands and fathers in their God-given roles…Satan, in his carefully devised plan to destroy the family, seeks to diminish the role of fathers.”

In contrast to what the world would have us believe, the gospel brings us eternal truth. The Family, a Proclamation to the World lets us know that, “by divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide for the necessities of life and protection for their families.”

Something that I am indebted to my father for is that he always worthily held the priesthood in my home; I was very blessed to have that. However, at school, when I was some 800 miles from my earthly father, I was still able to enjoy the blessings of the priesthood through righteous home teachers and church leaders. My first semester away from home I ran into a stressful and challenging time. I asked my home teachers, two very new Melchizedek Priesthood holders, to give me a blessing. It was obvious that they were nervous- they had never given a blessing before. Likewise, I had never received a blessing from anyone other than my father beforeSo we all had the opportunity to exercise our faith. It was a wonderful blessing; the Spirit was very strong, and there are things from that blessing four years ago that I still remember and that still give me comfort today. I am grateful for righteous Priesthood holders who bless the lives of all within their stewardship, whether they are biologically related or not.

Similar to this was the experience of the 2000 stripling warriors. We often think of this story in reference to the diligence of their mothers, but I also like to look at the leadership of Helaman who acted as their father, even referring to them on several occasions as his “sons”. (Alma 56) This makes me think of the righteous leadership the young men of our ward have not only from their fathers, but also from bishopric members, seminary teachers, and young men’s and scout leaders. I have seen them influence our young men for good and shape their character throughout my life. They have blessed the lives of many, including my own brothers, for which I am so grateful.

My earthly father has worked my whole life to set an example for me of righteous church service and has taught me the gospel on many levels. It seems to me that he has been working so hard for me so that I may have the best chance to be able to live in an eternal family, and that I may have success in this life and exaltation in the world to come. This mission of earthly fathers to help their children find joy in this life as well as in the eternities is the same as that of our Heavenly Father, who’s work and glory is to “bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.” (Moses 1:39) Like our mortal fathers, our Heavenly Father loves us and wants us to return to Him and experience joy. No matter what family circumstances we may have in this life, as President Howard W. Hunter put it, “We have a divine pedigree; every person is a spiritual child of God” and we have the ability to obtain all the blessings of the gospel for both ourselves and our posterity. (October Ensign, 1991)

I am so grateful for how the gospel light illuminates the true role of fathers and for the righteous men of this church who fulfill that role with all diligence, blessing the lives of all of God’s children.

Shameful

2009-06-17T16:55:00.001-04:00

So while Iranians are risking it all to protest for their rights, on the other side of the globe we have Angelinos (a term I just learned which apparently refers to people from LA- fun, huh?) who are also assmeblying en masse in the streets of Los Angeles. However, they are not rallying peacefully, oh no, they are starting fires in the street, throwing fireworks in front of cars, looting the stores of their very own neighbors, and more. And why are they doing this? Not because their rights are in jeopardy, but because their team won the NBA Championships. No, you read it right- they WON. How they connected victory with permission to destroy the property of their fellow Angelinos is beyond me. Frankly, I think it is ridiculous and that they are making a mockery of our freedom to peaceably assemble. It is a sorry excuse to steal from your neighbors and I wish that they had been punished by not having any disputed Lakers parade at all.

Time for the Truth

2009-06-16T22:42:00.000-04:00

I don't have the time to make a full analysis, but I just wanted to take a moment to say: ROCK ON, IRAN! Honestly, this is a huge step in independence for government oppression! I love that the Iranian people are standing up against their government and demanding the truth. I do not see these post-election riots as a result of some people being sore losers or just trouble makers, but rather, many people are feeling not only underserved, but lied to by their government and they are fed up! I am so happy for them exercising their right to have the truth and to let their opinions be heard and acted upon. Even though there is apparantly a ban on this kind of demonstration in Iran, these citizens looked at the higher law of human rights and went ahead and protested, despite the ban. The right to peacably assemble should be a given, so as long as they do their best to steer clear of violent protesting, I am totally on their side. And shockingly, so far it looks like their protesting might even work! There is already talk of a review of the votes and I wish them all the best!

Cliff's Notes of Obama’s Speech in Cairo, by Lindsey Price

2009-06-04T16:08:00.000-04:00

This is REEEEALLY IMPORTANT (any of my Jerusalem friends will understand this homage to Brother Seely, our Ancient Near East professor, and I really mean it!)- not just for Egyptians, not just for Muslims, not just for the Arab world, but also for us as Americans who ought to be studying what our current administration has plans to do and what their core values are. This also was a call to American's to learn more about Islam so that we can grow together in mutual respect. So I hope that this post serves as a nice overview and to educate and inspire progress, as was intended. sorry about this color-it's being stubborn!-

I was very happy with President Obama’s speech in Cairo this week. Of course, its not a panacea, but I think that he took a lot of time to plan and prepare, and as a result, I feel that he outlined very well many things that are of great global importance right now.

I was a little annoyed at how much time he spent on trying to connect himself with Islam when, come on Obama, you’re a rich American Christian politician whose dad’s family just happened to have some black Muslims - a religion somewhat alienated from what most people view as the world of Islam. But, hey, you’ve gotta give him credit for trying. And he did say many good things that will hopefully get the point across that, no, the US does not hate Islam.

So after all of his feel-good Islam comments, he finally got down to the main points of his speech which included (and I will quote my favorite or the most notable parts of each section):

Confronting Extremism

{This is addressed a lot in point 2} The situation in Afghanistan demonstrates America's goals, and our need to work together. Over seven years ago, the United States pursued al Qaeda and the Taliban with broad international support. We did not go by choice, we went because of necessity. I am aware that some question or justify the events of 9/11. But let us be clear: al Qaeda killed nearly 3,000 people on that day. The victims were innocent men, women and children from America and many other nations who had done nothing to harm anybody. And yet Al Qaeda chose to ruthlessly murder these people, claimed credit for the attack, and even now states their determination to kill on a massive scale. They have affiliates in many countries and are trying to expand their reach. These are not opinions to be debated; these are facts to be dealt with.

Make no mistake: we do not want to keep our troops in Afghanistan. We seek no military bases there. It is agonizing for America to lose our young men and women. It is costly and politically difficult to continue this conflict. We would gladly bring every single one of our troops home if we could be confident that there were not violent extremists in Afghanistan and Pakistan determined to kill as many Americans as they possibly can. But that is not yet the case.

Israel/Palestine

For decades, there has been a stalemate: two peoples with legitimate aspirations, each with a painful history that makes compromise elusive. It is easy to point fingers – for Palestinians to point to the displacement brought by Israel's founding, and for Israelis to point to the constant hostility and attacks throughout its history from within its borders as well as beyond. But if we see this conflict only from one side or the other, then we will be blind to the truth: the only resolution is for the aspirations of both sides to be met through two states, where Israelis and Palestinians each live in peace and security.

That is in Israel's interest, Palestine's interest, America's interest, and the world's interest. That is why I intend to personally pursue this outcome with all the patience that the task requires. The obligations that the parties have agreed to under the Road Map are clear. For peace to come, it is time for them – and all of us – to live up to our responsibilities.

Palestinians must abandon violence. Resistance through violence and killing is wrong and does not succeed. For centuries, black people in America suffered the lash of the whip as slaves and the humiliation of segregation. But it was not violence that won full and equal rights. It was a peaceful and determined insistence upon the ideals at the center of America's founding. This same story can be told by people from South Africa to South Asia; from Eastern Europe to Indonesia. It's a story with a simple truth: that violence is a dead end. It is a sign of neither courage nor power to shoot rockets at sleeping children, or to blow up old women on a bus. That is not how moral authority is claimed; that is how it is surrendered. {I LOVE this part}

Nuclear Weapons

No single nation should pick and choose which nations hold nuclear weapons. That is why I strongly reaffirmed America's commitment to seek a world in which no nations hold nuclear weapons. And any nation – including Iran – should have the right to access peaceful nuclear power if it complies with its responsibilities under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Democracy

So let me be clear: no system of government can or should be imposed upon one nation by any other.{I was a little surprised by the bluntness of this- a different point of view than the previous administration} That does not lessen my commitment, however, to governments that reflect the will of the people. Each nation gives life to this principle in its own way, grounded in the traditions of its own people. America does not presume to know what is best for everyone, just as we would not presume to pick the outcome of a peaceful election. But I do have an unyielding belief that all people yearn for certain things: the ability to speak your mind and have a say in how you are governed; confidence in the rule of law and the equal administration of justice; government that is transparent and doesn't steal from the people; the freedom to live as you choose. Those are not just American ideas, they are human rights, and that is why we will support them everywhere.

Religious Freedom

Among some Muslims, there is a disturbing tendency to measure one's own faith by the rejection of another's.{Very good point- following this would help settle a lot of hate in Israel/Palestine}The richness of religious diversity must be upheld – whether it is for Maronites in Lebanon or the Copts in Egypt. And fault lines must be closed among Muslims as well, as the divisions between Sunni and Shia have led to tragic violence, particularly in Iraq.

Women’s Rights

Our daughters can contribute just as much to society as our sons, and our common prosperity will be advanced by allowing all humanity – men and women – to reach their full potential. I do not believe that women must make the same choices as men in order to be equal, and I respect those women who choose to live their lives in traditional roles. But it should be their choice. That is why the United States will partner with any Muslim-majority country to support expanded literacy for girls, and to help young women pursue employment through micro-financing that helps people live their dreams. {YAY! This is a BIG deal for me and this was probably my favorite part of the specch}

Economic Development

I know that for many, the face of globalization is contradictory. The Internet and television can bring knowledge and information, but also offensive sexuality and mindless violence. Trade can bring new wealth and opportunities, but also huge disruptions and changing communities. In all nations – including my own – this change can bring fear. Fear that because of modernity we will lose of control over our economic choices, our politics, and most importantly our identities – those things we most cherish about our communities, our families, our traditions, and our faith.

But I also know that human progress cannot be denied. There need not be contradiction between development and tradition. Countries like Japan and South Korea grew their economies while maintaining distinct cultures. The same is true for the astonishing progress within Muslim-majority countries from Kuala Lumpur to Dubai. In ancient times and in our times, Muslim communities have been at the forefront of innovation and education. {And then he gave some great ideas about creating business and technology partnerships and creating more international internships and scholarships…none of which we probably have money for at the time…}

PEACE!

It is easier to start wars than to end them. It is easier to blame others than to look inward; to see what is different about someone than to find the things we share. But we should choose the right path, not just the easy path. There is also one rule that lies at the heart of every religion – that we do unto others as we would have them do unto us. This truth transcends nations and peoples – a belief that isn't new; that isn't black or white or brown; that isn't Christian, or Muslim or Jew. It's a belief that pulsed in the cradle of civilization, and that still beats in the heart of billions. It's a faith in other people, and it's what brought me here today.

We have the power to make the world we seek, but only if we have the courage to make a new beginning, keeping in mind what has been written.

The Holy Koran tells us, "O mankind! We have created you male and a female; and we have made you into nations and tribes so that you may know one another."

The Talmud tells us: "The whole of the Torah is for the purpose of promoting peace."

The Holy Bible tells us, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God."

The people of the world can live together in peace. We know that is God's vision. Now, that must be our work here on Earth. Thank you. And may God's peace be upon you.

OKAY, so I have been reading online and listening to the radio and the reactions so far have been pretty positive. Most Cairo university student’s whose opinions I read seemed to be glad at the overall balance (meaning lack of bias) that the President’s speech held. However, a few of them condemned him for his excess of rhetoric verses his lack of concrete solutions. Although, as we know, most of the issues the world faces do not have a simple solution. And this was not meant to be a “let’s solve the world’s problems, right here, right now” speech, rather it was meant to be more of a “let’s put out on the table for the world the opinions of the US’ new administration and try to start a better relationship with our Muslim neighbors” speech, and I think that it was successful in fulfilling that. I think that this speech will serve as an outline to Obama's presidenct and as a guide to legislators worldwide. Hence, it truly is "REEEEEEALY IMPORTANT" :)

Click here to read the entire text of the speech compliments of The New York Times.

Cuba is our neighbor again!

2009-06-04T13:39:00.000-04:00

Well, Cuba has always been our geographic neighbor, however, for decades our relationship with Cuba has been aything but neighborly. Several weeks ago I was very pleased to hear that President Obama was talking like he wanted to lift the embargo. In case you did not know, the US has not had any trade with Cuba and we did not even have any direct flights allowed between the US and Cuba, not to mention Cuba was kicked out of the Organization of American States (OAS) back in the early 1960's. They have been largely ostracized as a nation by the rest of the Americas, particularly the US, for nearly fifty years as a result of Cold War strife and lingering post-Cold War sentiments as well as the fact that Fidel Castro turned out to be a big lying Marxist who misled the entire diplomatic world along with his own people as he seized power (but that is a different, MUCH longer story).

Now the tide has changed. Last year Fidel Castro handed over power to his brother because of his failing health. Obama was elected President with the intent of largely improving international relations. Many more of the countries within the Americas are developing more Leftist govenrments. Put it all together and -BAM- we can be friends with Cuba again!

I thought that Robert Wood, US State Department Deputy Spokeman, put it well when he said, "The historic action taken today eliminates a distraction from the past and allows us to focus on the realities of today."- regarding the re-admittance of Cuba into the OAS.

I think that this is really good news for Cubans and families of Cubans who have been struggling for years thanks to some lingering ill will towards Castro decades ago in a war that, in my mind, ought to be long-since gotten over.

Do Something Interesting

2009-05-20T00:16:00.000-04:00

(photos of sprained wrist, sprained thumb, popped blood vessels, and a double tackle below)

I love rugby; I think that most of you know this. I have dedicated every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoon along with Saturday mornings for practice; most Tuesday and Thursday mornings for weight training; and virtually half of all my weekends to games and traveling during season for the past 4 years to my team. By very rough calculations, including travel and presidential duties, I estimate that that comes to approximately 1700 hours. Wow. Making minimum wage, that comes to over thirteen and a half thousand dollars. If I had cheap housing, that would have been enough to pay for my tuition and rent for four years of Fall and Winter semesters! Time is money, after all. (I guess that’s why most college teams can justify giving their athletes free tuition- they demand a TON of time from them to represent their school. Although, I really respect Harvard for not letting athletes on their football team who were not academically admitted to the University. It is only fair that someone getting a free education actually deserves it! Giving the spot of a hard-working and bright student to some fat meathead who will only pass his classes because of athlete favoritism is not fair and tarnishes the reputation of the degree he will be given without actually being up to par. Boo to football! But I digress…) But that doesn’t matter to me nearly as much as the things I have gained by being a college athlete.

The BYU women’s team is really unique in several ways. For one, we are all members of the LDS faith and this is manifested in many activities that other teams just do not have. We pray together before every game and after every practice. When we are on the road, we have devotionals where we sing a hymn and have a spiritual thought every morning. We occasionally have team fasts. We meet up with each other at Stake Conferences and sit together to listen to our church leadership instruct us. We even invite one another to come to the temple. We bond together through our common gospel values and this brings us together more than anything. We see each other at our best, crying with joy and we say a prayer of gratitude after a successful game that means advancing to the quarter finals, and at our worst, stumbling as we attempt to run up the hill near the field for the tenth time with a teammate on our back, or getting taken out of a game, dazed, with a new concussion. We experience everything together and see each other nearly everyday. It is obvious why I miss them so much.

We also are not a sponsored Varsity team. Meaning, we don’t get University funding. No scholarships. No monthly discretionary funds like the football team. No new Nikes every month. No BYU equipment without a pricetag. We largely pay our own way. Fortunately, we had a gracious donor help us with warm-ups and other travel gear and the National Guard gave us new uniforms and field equipment- we count those as major blessings. The rest is up to us, either out of pocket or through our fundraising efforts {see womenscougarrugby.com to make a donation}. The result? We REALLY want it. We work for this team, we fight for this team, we put our money where our mouth is. Other teams we played against got to travel to Europe to play games, while we are still paying off our trip to Florida for the finals. This perpetual fight for respect and legitimacy has given us determination, heart, and unbeatable cameraderie.

I also got a few other things from being on this team that were somewhat less pleasant. Besides the fact that I actually had to wear a walking boot over my broken foot at graduation, I have a lengthy history of injuries, that is actually mild in comparison to many of my teammates. I have made a similar list of said injuries before (I think it was only my second blog post back in the day, but it has a photo of my neck X-ray and black eye if you want to check it out!), and now I want to conclude it:

-cracked rib

-massive black eye

-100s, possibly 1000s of bruises

-torn ligaments all over the top of my foot requiring years of PT

-cervical spine reversal (yeah, bad)

-3 lost toenails

-one VERY dead leg

-tendonitis in my shoulder

-bersitis in my shoulder

-impingement in my shoulder

-2 sprained wrists

-neck soreness ALL the time

-popped blood vessels all along my shoulders and upper back, regularly

-2 thumbs on the verge of dislocation, requiring lots of tape

-1 partially ripped off thumb nail

-2 inch scar under my forearm

-3 scars across my knees

-some awful blood blisters, and regular ones too

-supposedly a hairline fracture on my right foot

-sprains and strains all over my right foot

-and on & on & on

That was fun. Dear parents of the world, take note- this list seems daunting, even abusive. And yet in the process, I have made the best of friends, been able to travel all over the country, built my confidence, increased my fitness, expanded myself culturally, and helped define me as I grew through my college years. Your kids may express a desire to do things that, frankly, scare you. Tae Kwon Do, wrestling, fencing, rugby…but I would ask you to not get hung up on the stereotypes (everyone thinks that rugby players are beastly 300 pound aggressive man-eating Lesbians- not entirely true), but think of what they can gain. If you want your kids (or yourself!) to learn new skills, be healthy, and develop team player qualities, then you might as well let them do something that they want to do so they don’t get burned out and decide that channel surfing must be the only sport for them. No one wants that.

Take home message: go for it! I have scared my parents many a time with sports injuries, traveling to Palestine while terrorist acts were occurring frequently, SCUBA diving with amateurs in another hemisphere, and so forth and I am nothing but better for it! Try something new today- everyone needs a hobby! Don’t let the mundane dominate your life; be that lone white girl in hula class, take that trip that you’ve always wanted, study that language you are curious about, paint your room that crazy color!

Keep it real.

Welcome back to the fresh air, Roxana

2009-05-12T15:12:00.000-04:00

Really interesting story. I remember hearing an obscure tale of an Iranian-American journalist imprisoned in Tehran, Iran, for espionage. Seemed ridiculous at the time and as the facts are surfacing, looks even more ridiculous now. There are actually several journalists imprisoned in Tehran at the moment on similar charges and I am sure they all have similar stories. These arrests and detainments appear to be purely politically motivated and, in a word, corrupt.

Yesterday it was announced that Roxana Saberi was released from prison in Tehran. Of note is the fact that she has dual citizenship in the US and Iran and her father is an Iranian native. She has lived there for about 6 years, working as a freelance journalist for BBC and other news agencies while living with her family. If I had family in the Middle East as well as citizenship in a Middle Eastern country, you bet I would be over there in a minute to be able to get first-hand information to share with the global news network. Not to mention she has cultural and linguistic experience in the area and she is trained in journalism. Of course she is going to be there! It is all very logical and yet the Iranian government leapt to the ridiculous conclusion that she must be a spy for the United States and locked her up in jail with an eight year sentence after a hearing that, according to Saberi’s father, was a mockery and lasted only a couple of minutes.

Thank goodness for people like her who are willing to leave home (although, arguably, Iran is like home to her, making the case for her being an enemy to the state even less likely) in order to seek out global truth so that others can know what is going on and be able to intervene in unjust cases like this. Good thing someone is there to find this out and the word can get to those in authority to help set things right. I admire international journalists and I plead with them to deliver truth, not to further agendas under the guise of truth.

Honestly, can't we just tell the truth? Politicians, teachers, reporters, writers, parents? That would make things a lot easier.

A Tribute to My Mom

2009-05-08T13:41:00.001-04:00

Well, I graduated from college a couple of weeks ago and I have the greatest mom ever, so I wanted to take a moment to explain the connection between those two statements of fact.

The thing is, my Momma has been with me every step of the way. She got me Ninja Turtles shoe lace chompers so that I would not have the peril of untied shoes in preschool, thereby eliminating any unnecessary distraction from my early childhood education. She waited until I could actually read before putting me into GATE classes at school so I wouldn't get frustrated and hate it. She let me do after-school sports, summer swimming squad in junior high, high school sports, and even college sports which helped keep me invested in my education and mentally refreshed for my studies. She stood in long lines so that I could transfer into better schools with better programs. She literally made me lunch everyday up until I graduated from high school- amazing!- unless of course it was "breakfast for lunch" at Patton Elementary, in the which case, I gladly bought. There was also hot cocoa ready for me before seminary everyday and, although I scorched my tongue most of the time, it was a greatly appreciated boost to get me out the door in the morning. Demonstrated by hundreds of PTA meetings and Parent-Teacher Conferences and Booster Club events, school carnival shifts, napkins in my lunch that said "I love you" in permanent marker, water polo games and swim meets attended, and countless other acts of service, her love for me was loud and clear. She set the example by working late into the nights to finish her own school work and showed me the value of an education as she finished her degree- I am so proud of her for that. My mom came with me to set up my dorm room at BYU and take a freshmen photo at the very same spot we are in for the photo above four years later when she stood by me again, this time as a college graduate. Thanks for letting me call you all the time and always knowing when to send me a box of treats and when to tell me to stop whining and to always inspire me to never give up while always believing in my value as a women, as a daughter of God, and as a person in this world. I love you SO much and I thank you for giving me every opportunity for growth and happiness. Happy Mother's Day!

Remember the Taliban?

2009-05-06T14:52:00.001-04:00

Big problems. The Pakistani government, in an effort to protect its people has told many of its citizens to evacuate in order to avoid an imminent battle between the Pakistan army and Taliban fighters. With their people’s security as the government’s priority, peace accords were signed in February between the Taliban and the Pakistani government that basically, in part, ceded the Taliban some land in exchange for a ceasefire. Seems all well and good, except now there is no longer a ceasefire, as the area of Mingora has been recently taken by force by Taliban members, and the land given to the Taliban is now being used as a base to launch their offensive against Pakistan. Mistake number one: giving ANYTHING to the Taliban. Seems overstated, but the “we will NOT negotiate with terrorists” stance is, in my opinion, probably the safest. I hate to blame them, though, because if I saw a glimmer of peace through some talks and agreements, then I would be tempted to give it a shot, in the hope that lives would be saved and that people would come through for you and not go back on their word. I like to have faith in people. Unfortunately, we are talking about the Taliban here…not exactly the most charitable and trustworthy members of the human race. So, sadly, these peace accords have horribly backfired on Pakistan. But better luck negotiating with terrorists next time.

Photo of Pakistanis evacuating. Yeah, not enough room actually inside the bus apparently. Courtesy of New York Times.

Female Suicide Bombers

2009-04-30T22:30:00.001-04:00

Now don't be too shocked, but there is, actually, more going on in the world than Swine Flu (are we still allowed to call it that?) and the economic crisis. I know, shocking. And as I have been trying to search for some of this "other" news, I came across a series of interesting articles that led to more articles and soon I was reading about a topic I had never really thought of at length before: female suicide bombers.

I think that most Westerners have this image in their head of a terrorist. Something like bin Laden, hiding in a dirt hole, with machine guns everywhere and possibly fangs. Chances are, you are thinking of an extremist male. However, Lindsey O'Rourke of the University of Chicago has extensively researched the topic and discovered that, among groups that permit female suicide bombers, that females make up 15% of attackers. That is WAY higher a percentage than I expected. I figured maybe there had been just a couple ever, until I read that last week alone there were 2 female suicide bombers in Iraq. And that's just Iraq. Women pose a special threat since, as second class citizens, they are under much less suspicion and they often wear flowing robes that could allow for weapons to be easily concealed.

O'Rourke also said that women "were responsible for an overwhelming 65 percent of assassinations; one in every five women who committed a suicide attack did so with the purpose of assassinating a specific individual, compared with one in every 25 for the male attackers." These women mean business. They aren't just blowing themselves up and destroying some property and civilians along the way; they have a target, they are assassinating with a vengeful purpose.

One point to note is that most of the female attackers that get publicity are those who were later found to be mentally disabled. And, true, that does happen and it is horrendous that an organization would be evil enough to be fine with saying, "Sure, let's talk this disabled woman into killing herself to further our cause. She's worthless anyway and we're probably doing her a favor." Like I said, evil. And it does happen, but these cases are the extreme minority and most female suicide bombers are completely aware of what they are doing and, interestingly enough, most of them are not doing it for religious reasons, but for secular reasons (like showing their opposition of foreign military occupation), and many of them are not even Muslim, but include Hindus and Christians. Talk about blowing your stereotypes out of the water.

Honestly, there are such better ways to get your point across successfully. If someone is trying to blow me and my home up because they oppose my policies, I can tell you that I'm not about to go sit down at some peaceful talks with their cronies- not a chance. This isn't really getting them anywhere, in my opinion. But I did think it was thought-provoking to consider the women who are involved in terrorism. This is obviously something that is beginning to stew, not in just extremist Muslim men, but is a practice that is beginning to pervade the whole culture of the Middle East with little signs of slowdown. I daresay that there is little hope that the next generation will not have been so exposed to suicide bombings as a common occurrence that they will not be perpetuated as an acceptable means of displaying rebellion. I am starting to fear what will happen as the US troops pull out since, although it appears to be what needs to happen for the safety of our soldiers, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, an Iraqi Extremist, recently ridiculed President Obama and called his plan to withdraw American forces by 2011 an “implied avowal of defeat.” Likewise, an Iraqi civilian lamented, “America was not able to finish them off. How can our forces do it?” Despair seems to drip from his words and I hope that Iraqi forces really will be as self-sustaining as we are laboring to make them.

Division I Elite 8- Women's Rugby

2009-04-21T18:20:00.000-04:00

Alright, I just have to brag a minute. So I play collegiate rugby. No, wait, I am actually now a retired collegiate rugby player...still getting used to that. So after all my years of play and an incredible season this year, our team (BYU) made it into the Elite 8 of Division I- such a huge honor and achievement! If only BYU football could be so lucky...don't get your hopes up- that will probs NEVER happen. Those fat woosies with full-body pads...don't get me started. At any rate, we had a couple of games this weekend to finish out the season in Florida and it was great. We fought hard and I tackled up a storm for my last game. You can actually watch our final game on USARugby.org- I'm famous! So I just wanted to let you all know. Thanks for everyone who has supported me and my team over the years. We are still trying to pay for those Florida plane tickets, so if you can, will you please make a modest donation at WomensCougarRugby.com which will go directly to the team being able to pay off the credit card debt we have incurred from our travels. (There should be a little thing to click on the left that says "Donate To The Club".) We need your assistance today. Thanks!

Enjoy the game!! I'm white #1, by the way, and I have short hair now, so look for some little blond ponytails. Hopefully this link works, otherwise go to USARugby.org, click on the Media Center on the left of the page and you should be able to find the 2 halves of our game, labeled Brigham Young VS Penn State. USA Rugby Media Center.

Oh, and the photo is of me when a Penn State girl attempted to stiff-arm and side step me, but I instead grabbed her arm and pulled her to the ground! So there! :)

Security & Prosperity

2009-04-13T10:15:00.000-04:00

Thought this was interesting. It came from the Security Update section of the Jerusalem Center and it was posted when I was living there. It has been sitting on my desktop, lost among the syllabi, photos, research, and assignments, but now I have rediscovered it and will finally throw it out there.

July 22, 2008

There was another incident today in West Jerusalem in which a Palestinian used a bulldozer to attach Israelis along a major street in that part of the city. The attack tool place on King David Street, a major street in the western (Jewish) part of the city that runs past the King David Hotel (the best known hotel in the city). The attack, along the lines of one that occurred two weeks ago, wounded 16 (1 person seriously; the others had only slight injuries). The attacker was killed by a policeman. The students have been in Jordan and were not out and about in the city when the attack occurred. Upon their return, the security situation will be reevaluated with regard to restrictions, if any, on travel within Jerusalem...

I wrote about this while there, very early on. I believe it was the first of the two bulldozer attacks that several terrorist groups took responsibility for immediately, even though it was just some angry guy that did it. My point was that it was funny how even the extremists don't know what's going on among themselves and they can't get it together enough to figure out which of their constituents are doing what.

At any rate, there were a slew of these "incidents" as our security personnel called them while I was living in Jerusalem. And surprisingly, none of them really affected us- the city was accustomed to them, and pretty soon, so were we.

Everyday I am grateful for the freedoms and the privileges that I have, however, I want to make a not that the US does not actually corner the market on happiness. People can adapt to a great many things. When I first moved to Australia, it was suddenly apparent to me that, yes, these people have freedoms, they vote, they have probably less governmental corruption than us, they have local civic leaders who care about their needs, they have a surplus of means, they have safety, security, and happiness. For some reason, this was a slight shock to me. I remember being indoctrinated as I wrote this paper in 5th grade about how America is the only country with so many freedoms, blah blah brainwashing blah.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is try not to adopt the imperialistic attitude that we are the best and that we must convert everyone to our superior western ways. Respect culture.

With that said, more will be coming about our moral responsibility to contribute to foreign philanthropy...stay tuned...

(These are Aussie photos- see, they have school, jobs, and joy, too!)

Facebook's Global Usage, ie, Egypt

2009-03-18T23:15:00.000-04:00

You may not be aware, but for the last several months I have been following the political and social climate in Egypt via online news sources as I research for a nonprofit that I would LOVE to create. One thing that I found again and again was the huge influence that Facebook has as a medium for the youth of Egypt. In the US, we use this social networking site primarily to share photos, invite people to parties, and keep in touch with high school and college friends post-graduation. However, in Egypt, youth are using this site for the purpose of political mobilizations. As Egypt is Westernizing, with greater availability of the Internet and the spread of Western websites, they are using these means to try to enact change in their local spheres. I think it is awesome that these youth have such energy and creativity as they try to work for peace and positive change. The problem is, they are encountering some major trouble as they are doing so. For example, earlier this month a young man was arresting in the middle of the night for creating a group on Facebook called “April 6 Youth” that rallied up a huge group of young people who were ready to take action in order to reform Egypt. Similar events have happened as political groups, feelings, and activities have emerged by way of the site.

Lessons:

The young people in Egypt clearly see the shortfalls of their fathers and are ready to enact positive change, which I think is both necessary and great
The Internet is hugely promoting globalization and the young people of the world are leading the way in this movement towards greater global unity
Egypt NEEDS my nonprofit!

Egypt’s Youth of Tomorrow

My brilliant fellow nonprofit students Kami & Lisa & I have this brilliant master plan. The thing is, I really think it could be feasible and we have a surprising amount of decent contacts here and there whom could help us pave the way towards social change and success. So the basic plan is that we have a Youth Center where local citizens can come and teach a couple of skills to junior high and high school students in workshops, for example, entrepreneurship, specific business skills, what you need to do to apply to college, and some other classes like sports, arts, and fun stuff to do with their fellow youth. The rest of the time after school that they are at our center, they will have the opportunity to create groups that will work together to plan community service projects. The incentive? They earn points every time they participate in and/or plan a service activity and after a certain amount of points, they will earn a college scholarship from our program. So we are empowering the youth with knowledge of what they can do in the world, we are teaching them skills including managing planning meetings and carrying out events, they are getting the chance to improve their communities which Egypt could really use, and they will be given the means to further their education! So great.

I love nonprofits.

The End.

Sponsoring the arts and more

2009-03-10T14:22:00.000-04:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKgBdrsqvjs

(Sorry to steal your thunder, Ariel, but I couldn't resist posting this!)

PLEASE click on the link above. It should take you to the YouTube version of a public service announcement from Americans For the Arts and other fine art-sponsoring organizations and foundations. My roommates Ariel, Rachel, and I saw this PSA on public TV after the BYU devotional and we LOVED IT! Not only is it absolutely hilarious, but they make a great mock up of normal cereal ads, and they actually got us to check out their website- now that's good marketing.

Now here comes the plug. As you may know, this semester nearly all of my classes are dedicated to my Nonprofit Management minor and I want to impart of some of my little tiny blobs of wisdom that I assume are floating around upstairs. First of all, nonprofit organizations operate on a foundation that is fundamentally different from organizations in the for-profit business world. Their bottom line is not revenue, it is lives touched. They work very hard in order to make their goods or services available to as many people as possible, but for this to happen, they need funding. Think about it, how could the Boys and Girls Club, for example, possibly be able to maintain their facilities, provide computers, sports equipment, and other materials to the kids they serve, as well as sponsor free events for families and pay their staff while still only charging a few dollars per year for kids to come and spend hours there everyday?! Unless you want to hugely jack up the annual fees for the kids, thereby making it so that many of them could not afford to go, it is NOT possible without outside funding. This includes funding from the government (which is justified because most nonprofits provide a public service that the government cannot but should, so the nonprofit sector is actually already doing the federal government a huge favor by working on behalf of the people in their place), corporate or foundation grants, and private donations.

Now, in case you are unaware, the economy is a bit iffy at the moment. And unfortunatley, this is really scaring the nonprofits who are expecting donations and grant monies (not to mention federal funding from our hurting government) to be on the huge decline. If this gets bad enough, many nonprofits will have to close their doors. The tragic truth is that they cannot give their public services without the necessary economic means. In this time of struggles, please do not forget your local and national nonprofits that have touched your life and that you feel should be helped to remain in existence. GM does not deserve your money for their bad business practices, but I think that Americans for the Arts, for one, does deserve to be sponsored for the good work that they do which may now be jeopardized because of the declining availability of grants.

I encourage you to think about who you can help and where you want to put your voice in the form of your donated dollars. Perhaps a local hospital that is a nonprofit or the Red Cross or a religious institution or maybe international education organizations or human rights groups. What do you care about and how do you show it? Maybe you cannot give your money, but you can give your time. I recently discussed how I appreciated President Obama's call for an increase in voluntarism. I still believe it. Make a difference and don't be afraid to give! Just bring a reusable water bottle with you instead of getting a drink from the vending machine everyday for one month and, bingo, there's 50 bucks for Amnesty International. In a time when money may be becoming tight, now is when we should be putting our money where our mouths are.

Bailout Blahs

2009-03-03T16:52:00.000-05:00

Alright, I've pent it up long enough. This is ridiculous and obviously NOT WORKING! We knew it would take a long time to recover economically, but now we are seeing an even larger decline. Some good this bailout is doing. The only positive thing coming from sinking the Fed's (and therefore yours and my) money into dying organization is the fact that it is saving many jobs, at least temporarily. But shouldn't those companies paying their executives millions of dollars and taking the entire board of directors to Hawaii every quarter and making risky business moves pay for their misgivings? Isn't the public punishing them for their unethical practices by saying "No, I will not buy your stuff/support you because I can't afford the extra that is tacked on to the price to pay for your Christmas bonus" or "No I will not invest in a company with unhealthy financial practices"? Isn't it the consumer's right to keep businesses honest by not patroning the ones who do not live up to our expectations? And isn't it just the way of free enterprise- you make money and thrive, or you lose money and die? That's just the way that our economy functions, so why is it suddenly such a big surprise? Maybe these corporations should have been a little (or a lot) smarter in their tactics and had a better rainy day fund and capped CEO salaries and been prepared for economic issues. We all saw it coming, didn't we? I can recall hearing doom and gloom over the supposed economic downturn that we were naturally overdo for. Unfortunately, no one listened. We all bought things we couldn't afford and now we're kicking ourselves. Honestly, what did we expect? I am disappointed in our lack of preparation and disappointed in the fact that all our leaders can think of to do is to throw money at dying, unwise corporations. I suggest we instead fund new vehicles of employment that are organized with smart economic and management tactics already in place, that way we won't have to waste time and money undoing the bad that has been done and can get right to work on what we have now learned needs to be in place for an organization to be successful and ethical in our current climate.

PS- just because a few American car companies go under DOES NOT mean that it would be the end of the world! I'm pretty sure most of us buy foreign cars anyway! Stop fretting!

Hummus, a haven

2009-02-27T17:44:00.000-05:00

Well, friends, I am SICK TO DEATH of talk about the economy and the bailout- BLAH! I wish they would just admit that they don't really know what to do, there is no guaranteed fix, and that they are scared out of their pants because it took a major world war to get out of the last huge economic depression. But no, they will play the theoretical confidence game and Obama will get standing O's and I'll keep losing more and more college money.

In an effort to divert my attention, I made a couple batches of hummus yesterday. Perhaps doing the same will help you divert your attention as well. Hummus is cheap to make and amazing to eat. Here is one of the interesting recipes I tried:

Tahini-Free Black Bean Hummus
-1 can garbanzo beans (chick peas)
-1 can black beans
-2 minced cloves of garlic
-1 T olive oil
-2 T lemon juice
-2 tsp cumin
-1 T parsley (it calls for dried, but I used fresh, chopped & it was awesome)
-S&P to taste

--> Just combine it all in a food processor, gradually add some of the reserved garbanzo bean liquid if you want to modify the texture. It is really think and beany- more of a spread- and it is excellent and doesn't have the fat (or expensiveness) of Tahini Sauce.

So that was random. The lengths I go to in order to avoid the economy! :)

Good Things

2009-02-23T17:17:00.000-05:00

Well, I had a great rugby tour this weekend, but last night on the way home we were all incredibly stiff, sore, and bruised while cramped in a 15 passenger van for about 13 hours which was, shall we say, hellish. Then I got back to an Inbox full of depressing Times reports, undone assignments, and I was exhausted. So today in class, to help me keep from falling asleep, I wrote a list of things I have recently decided I appreciated or that I think are great. Here they are:

-fruit leather
-reusable grocery bags
-LDS hymns as literature
-NPR
-free WiFi
-slippers and fuzzy socks
-public drinking fountains, especially the clean ones
-very high quality cheese
-nonprofits
-INGOs
-farmer's markets
-deadline extensions
-airplanes
-Sunflower Market
-digital cameras
-my family

Well, now I feel better. Thanks.

Smile

2009-02-13T13:34:00.000-05:00

Haha- I just had to put up this photo. Thank you Robert Nickelsberg, I love this. It's not the best quality reproduction, but this is a laughter club in India where women go to help prevent and treat depression and other medical issues. The practice is called "hasyayog" and I think it is awesome. People who have the resiliency to be able to laugh at problems that come their way are, I believe, much better off as far as their psychological health. This seems like a strange thing to talk about, but I guess I am being given a degree in Clinical & Developmental Psychology in a couple of months, so maybe I should try to share some things I have learned. Having a positive outlook, positive social support, and general hardiness have been clinically found to improve health- even significantly improving one's chances of recovering from cancer in a study done on US women with breast cancer! (Sorry, I can't remember the name of that researcher off the top of my head- its driving me crazy- but if you are interested, let me know and I'll look it up.)
I have also studied a lot about the pressure that stress puts on the body and the psychological and, believe it or not, physical harm that ruminating over your problems can do. Take home message: do something that is relaxing for yourself everyday. I am a huge fan of nighttime rituals, they can really help abate the stress of the day and prepare for a repairing and restful sleep. Get into the habit of listening to Enya, stretching, or reading something positive before going to sleep. Give yourself plenty of time to get ready for bed, begin to relax and de-stress as you wash your face, brush your teeth, etc. so that your mind can be prepared to sleep as soon as your head hits the pillow.
Again, I know this is a little odd, but trust me. Just the physical act of smiling, even if you don't mean it, has been clinically found to promote the release of endorphins into your blood stream. So just pretending to be happy can lead you in the right direction! Moral of the story: relax and smile more. Your body, which includes your brain, will thank you.

Facts

2009-01-30T01:20:00.000-05:00

Charles Levinson of the Wall Street Journal recently reported the words of a Palestinian man who stated,

'"We come, we go, we come, we go," said Salman Muharrab, a 52-year-old farmer fleeing his border village of Abu al-Ajeen on a donkey cart with his two sons. "We just want the fighting to stop, but I have no doubt that it will go on until doomsday."'

I just found this quote to be very telling, and sadly, very true at this point. I also wanted to add that 13 Israeli soldiers died in the Gaza War and nearly 1,300 Palestinians died. Seems really fair. Not.

That's all. Just throwing that out there.

where the red man can get ahead, man

2009-01-29T17:09:00.000-05:00

All benediction jokes aside, today was a depressing day for me. I am usually relatively aloof to the economy in fear that my bliss will be burst by fact. Unfortunately, today I finally owned up to it. Most of my classes this semester are with graduating seniors, like myself, and there has been this recent solemn attitude in all of our class discussions and today we finally had out with it- we are afraid. Not afraid to graduate and take on the world, no, that's exactly what we want to do. We are all afraid because one by one as we have been looking for entry-level jobs in the fields over which we have been slaving for years to meet its expectations, our classmates keep getting the same responses, "sorry, we are currently in a hiring freeze", "no, we are not hiring at this time, nor do we plan to in the near future", "actually, we are trying to make cuts right now and can't hire on anyone new, you know, the economy...", and so forth. In one class discussion today, we all saw the despair in one another's faces and I imagined us all at graduation in a few short months scared out of our minds with nowhere to go. How can we change the world/make money/buy a home/actually use our degree/begin cutting governmental red tape/cure cancer/save the trees/pursue our dreams or whatever we wish to do without income? Most of us have already been living for the past 4+ years barely making ends meet and even going into debt and now what? The future us bleak for my fellow class of 09ers. I seriously almost cried in class. And here I go, about to incur probably several hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt in the next 3 of years of school and then what- will there be jobs then? I sure hope so. Perhaps I am dramatizing the situation a bit, but to my classmates this is a very real stressor. If I could make a request, I would say that if you have got a spare moment, hug a college senior. Maybe even buy them lunch if you can. Believe me, we are distraught.

PS- hats off (pun intended) to the Deseret News for the photo.

A Monumental Day

2009-01-21T00:41:00.000-05:00

Well, a really great day for America- another monumental peaceful transition of power. No matter what party you profess to belong to, this was an amazing and monumental time for everyone. Following a meaningful MLKJ Day, we had the first American president of African descend sworn in- something that I’ll bet many of our parents and grandparents never imagined seeing. I appreciated President Obama’s inauguration speech (Even though I am sure that someone else wrote it- they have top speech writers over there in DC working awfully hard! As a side note, that is one thing that I think makes the Gettysburg Address so amazing is that the president actually wrote it himself! It really came from the heart and without tons of premeditation and committee approval. Anyway…) and he said many bold things. Among my favorite quotes was:

“We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.”

Boo ya, Osama bin Laden. That’s all I have to say. I also loved the part when he said:

“To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West — know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.”

I agree. I love how the speech ended with some awesome imagery of our founding fathers and their supreme courage that ought to serve to inspire us all to be better citizens, to more fully engage in service, and more diligently build up our communities. This nation is the product of great men and women working through divine providence and although we are not perfect, we owe it to them to work as best we can to uphold the great work they started and improve the lives that are within our grasp to touch. I often reflect on a quote that I do not recall who said it or where but it goes something like this, “you may not be able to change the whole world, but you can change someone else’s world.”

I encourage us all to participate in community service- some of my greatest college experiences have come through my volunteer work at the Children’s Justice Center, Utah State Hospital, Buckland House, and the Central Access School. They have shaped my desired career and have polished my character. I want to echo the oft overlooked credo of BYU “enter to learn, go forth to serve” which I find a much more worthwhile pursuit that just seeking immediate revenue for selfish ends. Don’t get me wrong, money is great and without it the world would cease to function as we know it. But money can either serve to corrode or to bless, only the holder of it can decide which it will do. With that said, as my NPO professor Brad says, “giving money is great, but giving your time is priceless.”

The War.

2009-01-09T11:40:00.000-05:00

(photo of the West Bank, Palestine- in a time of relative peace a few months ago)

Check out this article from the NY Times today- lots of interesting stuff:
U.N. and Red Cross add to Outcry on Gaza War

This is chaos! What is going on?! I cannot believe how poorly things are playing out in Gaza. First Israel makes mountains out of mole hills and then when things go from bad to much, much worse, they only add fuel to the fire. I understand that the IDF and Israeli government is trying to put on a facade of humanitarianism by having scheduled ceasefires for a grand total of 3 hours every other day where people can go get help from groups that have come in for medical and other support, but come on! 3/48 hours to receive medical care, to get food, to try to find shelter- that is ridiculous. If we only offered food and care for 3 hours every other day in our hospitals, no one would make it. Not to mention that many of the victims in Gaza are trapped under fallen buildings, wounded, or are children who simply cannot get to relief stations are may not be found among the rubble and assisted in so short a time. And bombing a U.N. school- an elementary school!- don't even get me started. I had better stop before I say something rash, rather like our dear Vatican official- what a statement! (see the Times article for more info) I actually found some wry humor in how he said that, sure, Hamas was not exactly sending Israel "sugared almonds", but to respond in the way that Israel has is unthinkable.

Another crazy thing is how war is now televised in our modern world. There is all of this international pressure, because the whole world can see up close and personal into the tragedy and inhumanity of war. I wonder how the modern world would have reacted to the Civil War, the War of Independence, and so forth had they been able to witness it via satellite and what they would have tried to have done. Interesting.

And I don't know who is responsible for killing those relief workers, but seriously, that blows my mind. Whatever side you are on, you do not want the entire world to stop sending aid and help to those in need. Palestine is in dire need of the assistance, and Israel does not want to contribute to its current view of brutality. This has seriously gone too far.

Lastly, I just want to say that I have actually interacted with members of the IDF as well as Palestinian military members. At first their presence was shocking with their huge, loaded guns being toted around like nothing. When crossing the wall into Bethlehem, we were inspected by tough, muscular Palestinians with large guns and scowls on their faces. Looking at our passports, walking around and inspecting us and then they said, "Alright, thank you. Have a nice day" with real sincerity. I was left gaping. These are real people. They don't want to scare you, they are just doing their job and trying to protect their families. I liked this picture of IDF members (from the online NYT), some with kippahs, one on a cell phone- they are just people. That is why I can't stand the way that so few have such a significant charge over so many in this world who would have things a different way. These military members probably don't want to hurt relief workers, children, and civilians (although most Israelis do support the war). But this is their duty and it is tragic that it means sentencing their neighbors to death.

by the way

2009-01-02T15:57:00.001-05:00

By the way, you have likely heard about the Israel/Palestine skirmish that is blowing up into an all-out war, right? Although I want to try to limit my words, I do want to say that it has been weighing heavily upon my mind.

When I first heard the news, I read all that I could find on it and it just broke my heart. You may not understand, but this is a place I once called my home. These are a people that I think of as my brethren, I am of the house of Israel- and I believe that to be literal- so here are my people suffering and here is my home which has become a war zone. The very same government that permitted me to study in Israel seems to now be initiating what looks a lot like genocide.

I just want them to stop, to take a step back, to find common ground and realize what they are all doing to each other. But Palestine has little international recognition and little governmental organization and little ability to mobilize. The people there have been pushed and have been labeled and now they are being destroyed. The common Palestinian has never launched a rocket into Israel. The common Palestinian is not a Hamas leader that craves power. The common Palestinian has, however, seen a massive military attack on their small space of land. I know that Hamas is corrupt, I know that both Israel and Palestine have been stubborn and have violated what international pressure has been pushing in order to establish peace. However, it appears to me that the problem is in the organization of the Palestinian government. They do not have real authority, just corruption. There are continual rockets and bombs thrown over the wall into Israel not because it is some military attack, but because the government cannot control the fundamentalists and angry militant youth that make their own bombs and throw them in their anger at the Israelis building a wall that cuts into their territory and then not regularly letting them past border control for work or worship. There are a minority of Palestinians that have just had enough of being pushed around like 2nd class citizens and since the government does not have an effective way of diplomacy, the only way these young, angry people know how to react is with their homemade bombs.

Obviously this is dumb and ineffective and Israel has now gotten sick of it and , unlike Palestine, Israel has the monetary support of the US and has every citizen automatically enrolled into the military as teenagers and so they have the ability to launch a major offensive attack in response to these stupid bottle rockets. It's all so sad, so frustrating. I have seriously cried thinking about it several times. I am most saddened when I read about the civilian deaths. I think of the Palestinians that I got to meet and wonder where they are and if they are alright. I have put in a photo of a Palestinian boy that I met and I cried when I read a news clip from a man talking about how his son had been running an errand for him when the first Israeli missiles were fired and never came back. I do not know if this is the same boy that I know, but it doesn't matter- someone knows him and loves him and misses him. Not just this boy who never returned, but all of the casualties. They all have families that mourn for them and I get emotional just thinking about all of the cumulated anguish being experienced right now in my former home.

nice to be back

2009-01-02T15:38:00.000-05:00

Well, dear friends, it has been a while. It is great to be back and, of course, I have something upstairs cooking. Several somethings, really. We'll just start with one. I was interested to see an article compliments of Yahoo! Travel that paralleled many of the things I saw in Egypt. If you search in my archive, you will see that there is a post on Egypt covering some of these issues already, so I will try not to repeat myself. Let's start with what our comrades at Yahoo! said:

"Of all the original Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, only one is still standing: the Great Pyramid of Cheops. Granted, its pinnacle was lopped off, and the polished white limestone that once faced its sloping sides was scavenged ages ago. But there it is in the Egyptian desert, the largest in a trio of stupendous royal tombs, with a quirky monument called the Sphinx alongside. It's quite a sight to see — if only you could see it.

"Today, aggressive throngs of souvenir vendors, tour touts, and taxi drivers crowd the entrance to the Pyramids of Giza. Though camel rides and horseback tours are now banned from the monument area, visitors still clamber unchecked over the ancient landmarks. The haphazard sprawl and pollution of Cairo comes right to the edge of the archaeological zone, yet Egyptian officials seem unconcerned about protecting the site.

"It's difficult now to get that iconic long-distance view of the three pyramids looming in the desert; you can't really see them until you're too close. Oriented precisely to the points of the compass, they were built for three Pharaohs of the 4th Dynasty (about 27th c. B.C.) — the Great Pyramid of Cheops, the slightly smaller Second Pyramid of Chephren, and the much smaller red-granite Third Pyramid of Mycerinus — and designed to imitate the rays of the sun shining down from its zenith. Most tourists expect a visit to the famed pyramids to be a once-in-a-lifetime thrill, not a tawdry letdown. It's the only Ancient Wonder we have left — what a pity it's come to this."

AMEN! What a pity. I, for one, did not see any enforcement of this supposed ban on camel and horse rides in the area- there were camels all over! A friend of mine was even asked by a vendor there how many camels he would be willing to accept in exchange for me (as a slave? wife? who knows...), but that is another story.

Because of the one remaining side of the pyramids, I believe the to West, that is still a large stretch of sand where everyone takes their photos, few people realize that they are actually situated right in downtown Cairo. There is a park across the street where I always saw tons of people gathered doing drugs, urinating, etc. Not exactly upper crust real estate. The Pyramids are, unfortunately, not even the start of the disregard of ancient wonders that are not cared for. The Cairo Museum which houses many priceless things in textbooks that have expanded the minds of historians and taken the lives of archaeologists to discover, was a depressing sight. Artifacts literally thousands of years old were disheveled in little glass cases in disarray all over. There was very little organization and things were just all out in the open in the sweltering heat- yeah, no air conditioning! How well can the memory and history of these things be preserved when they are forgotten about on a shelf, crammed in with other similar artifacts with pencil-written descriptions in each case and no climate control? It was almost offensive to me how poorly the artifacts were treated. The only AC, thank goodness, was for Tut's treasures and a room of mummies. Needless to say, I spent most of my time there where the forced air better masked to scent of perspiration and mildew. I would have gladly payed more money at each sight to better enable the Egyptian government to better maintain their history. And although I'm not usually a huge fan of conquest and colonization, I can honestly say that the items taken by foreigners that are now housed in the British Museum or in Berlin probably have a much better chance of preservation.

Why Terrorism is Ridiculous

2008-11-30T19:19:00.000-05:00

Well, I honestly can't expect myself to do justice to this topic on a little blog post on one fine Sunday afternoon as I sit on the floor and think about what to make for dinner. But I will say just a few words to try to get the tip of my iceberg of feelings on this issue out there.

After seeing terrorist acts committed by enraged Palestinians as I lived in Jerusalem, I was able to see the reaction of the communities involved. For one, some of the more Orthodox Jewish rabbis would demand the blood of the family members of the terrorists. This will obviously only make things worse, more blood on both sides and a perpetuation of hate.

For another thing, this just teaches the Israeli kids that Palestinians are all bad people that want to hurt them, a false generalization that will also perpetuate conflict and misunderstanding. And then the Palestinian kids see those few Orthodox rabbis speaking out against their countrymen and they develop a hatred towards the Jews in general, again, continuing the cycle of hatred.
Now, let's look at Sept 11. These terrorist attacks led to a war and many deaths on all sides, it led to a worsened stereotype of all Arabs worldwide as being untrustworthy terrorists who just want to blow you up, another HUGE fallacy that has led to hate crimes towards and misunderstanding of both Arabs and Muslims.

So who is benefiting from terrorism? I would say absolutely nobody. It is just making life worse for everyone, Muslim, Jew, American, Palestinian...everybody.

Now about the attacks at Mumbai, my heart truly hurt when I read this devastating news from my laptop at our Illinois hotel this week. I was so saddened at a repeat of this illogical mechanism meant to achieve power through terror. It is so disgustingly selfish of an act and it is not even effective! What a tragedy. My heart goes out to all involved. I looked through some photos of the events, compliments of Yahoo! and I was refreshed to see some people who feel like I do, that is, that terrorism is preventing peace and making Islam look evil, which it is most certainly not. I hope for understanding to prevail.

I'm thankful for NAUVOO

2008-11-30T19:03:00.000-05:00

I just got back today from Nauvoo, Illinois, and it was great! It was my first experience in the Midwest (it was actually a lot prettier than I anticipated) and it was the first time being with all of my family for a very long time. The best part, I think, was just seeing my grandparents doing their missionary thing. I got to see Grandpa driving around in his truck early in the morning as I jogged, he was off to fix or restore something or other. I saw Grandma give tours of the historic sites and share tons of interesting information with everyone. And I got to see them both sing and act in a performance the missionaries all put on and they did so great! I am so proud of them and all of the great work that they are doing in service of the Church, they are a great example.
The temple was also so gorgeous and way larger than I had envisioned. It was really breathtaking and I loved being able to go there with all of my family- my family is great. I really feel a lot closer to those early Saints and I feel like I can comprehend their vast hardships so much better now. I am grateful for the early and modern pioneers who paved the way and who still light the path today for people to come closer to peace, joy, and perfection through sacrifice and service.

Rivalry, shmivalry

2008-11-21T00:22:00.000-05:00

This week I finally decided that I like BYU. I was walking around at lunch time and I finally appreciated all of the funny things going on and the quirkiness that is just so BYU. I have been given all the opportunities here to pursue my dreams and to learn from a very unique and enlightening perspective and I am grateful to be a student here. That being said, there are a few irreparable things that are a twinge annoying. I will here only discuss one very tiny example.

So apparently it’s rivalry week here at BYU, as evidenced by the statues covered in Saran Wrap all over campus. Apparently Saran Wrap causes deviant Utes to melt or something. Honestly, I don’t really get the whole rivalry thing anymore. When I was a freshman (ya know, back when I actually went to a football game or two) I totally bought into the whole hatred towards the University of Utah and accepted the fact that they must be an inferior breed of students. Honestly, I now have better things to waste my brain cells on (or at least what few I have left after that one rugby injury…). Frankly, if I lived in Utah, I wanted cheap tuition, and I wasn’t Mormon, I would be a Ute myself--big deal. At any rate, every single one of my professors have brought up the rivalry game that is apparently coming up on Saturday- what a waste. No one cared when I played Stanford or Berkeley or UCLA or even New Mexico, which I would call our rival team. I guess I’m just jealous. But seriously, here is your typical football game day plan:

-Wear ugly blue stuff all day
-Walk to the stadium and get there like 2 hours early to get a hot dog at the Cougar United tailgate party for losers with bad grades and no lives
-Wait in the most uncomfortable seats ever for 2 hours until game time
-Wait for 4 more hours in the most uncomfortable seats ever while we get our trashed kicked and it gets really cold outside, possibly snowing, surprise! It’s Utah!
-The paint on your face smudges all over your ugly blue clothes and now you really look like a moron
-Meanwhile, the team can’t keep the ball for more than 5 yards at a time, and that is letting them get a breather every 2 minutes because the game keeps stopping again and again, and did I mention they are wearing pads? (football is for fat woosies)
-Listen to that ridiculous cougar noise coming out of the scoreboard every 5 minutes and lose your voice from shouting things that none of the players could possibly hear, let alone do
-Walk home in shame, having wasted the last 7+ hours

Oh, yeah. Go Cougars.

At least I thought this graphic in the Daily Universe was kinda funny. Especially because Dreyer’s actually does make a BYU flavor around here. I wonder if that is just a Utah original considering this state is the per capita ice cream consumption champion (we’ve gotta replace alcohol with something), or if that is common in college towns across the country. Hmmm. Maybe I’ll find out when I blow this popsicle stand and head off to law school far, far away.

Pomegranates: taking over the world 1 smoothie at a time

2008-11-15T23:51:00.000-05:00

I had an epiphone this morning while eating my cereal. I had been to Red Mango while running errands with Rach the day before and they were promoting their new pomegranate frozen yogurt and then we went to the farmer's market where we got a free sample of pomegranate juice, and then I looked at my desktop which was oddly enough this photo of the pomegranate tree from outside one of my classrooms at the Jerusalem Center, and then I remembered that I had gotten a Pomegranate Paradise Jamba Juice the day before and it hit me- pomegranates are trendy! And everywhere! In your grape juice, in your smoothies, in your frozen yogurt, on your desktop- everywhere.
I kept thinking about it and remembered in the Old Testament how Solomon's Temple was described as having pomegranates carved into the pillars. I also happened to ask these ladies at the Israel Museum (I saw the Dead Sea Scrolls here, by the way- AMAZING!!!) gift shop while I was there what the significance of pomegranates were in Jewish culture, since they were depicted symbolically on stuff all over Jerusalem and beyond. This was a way rough conversation since their English was broken at best, and my Hebrew was, well, non-existent. It took a while for the question to actually get across and then they just stood there thinking and looking puzzled and saying things back and forth to each other and finally said to me "It means many things." Wow, I could'a told you that one...luckily they continued after quite a while longer of discussing between one another. They eventually got across that it had to do with beauty, family, fertility, love, happiness...after this point I think they started making stuff up to appease the annoying American girl who ought to know Hebrew, but I was really grateful for their time. They definitely had the right idea and they were really kind to help out. I have heard since that in Judaism, it often is associated with the 1st commandment to Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth, which makes a lot of sense since they are packed with hundreds of these red seeds. (hence the name which means "seeded apple" in case you don't know Latin)
Pomegranates also appear in some Christian art sometimes symbolizing the atonement, which I'm gonna guess relates to the blood from every pore scripture with all the moist and shiny red seeds. Likewise, the Koran mentions that pomegranates are grown in heaven. Interesting. I also remember seeing it associated with the goddess Persephone in a lot of Classical art when I did a research project on her once upon a time. Not to be outdone by major world religions of the past and present, Armenia uses the pomegranate (and the apricot, in fact) as a major symbol of itself and they are naturally grown all around that area of the world.
So anyway, this is already way longer of a post than anticipated, but what I really wanted to know at the time of this epiphone was whether or not they have real health benefits or if it is just a fad. So, one Wikipedia search (and beyond, slightly) later and here I am to tell you that although there is not really 100% conclusive results on antioxidant efficacy in humans, the preliminary data is very promising with improvements/prevention being seen in studies on various types of cancer, heart disease, and (randomly) dental plaque. However, it's not really unusually high in any actual vitamin. I suppose being a stockhouse of phytochemicals and free-radical reducing agents gives you that right.
Now that you know way more than you ever wanted to, eat away! Don't be thinking that it is some proven miracle salve, but it is good- and darn tasty. Feed the trend.

Fulla

2008-11-13T17:42:00.000-05:00

I came across some images of these dolls while doing a Google search for a presentation on the media's effect on gender role development and it all came back to me. I remember walking through the crowded, narrow streets of the Old City of Jerusalem with merchandise in your face at every turn and I remembered being puzzled by the Fulla doll. Here we have your typical American Barbie doll, except she is dressed in Muslim garb, including a modest dress and a head covering. These were sold all over the place, but what really got me is that about half of the ones I saw in stores and on corners were blonde. Half. If you think that half of little Muslim girls are blonde, you are dead wrong. This means that many Arab girls are valuing Western looks, even to the point of wanting a doll with their religious ideals, but someone else's looks. I don not know what the exact sales figures are for white vs arab dolls, but this is just what I saw. At school we talk a lot about the global media and how internet and communication miracles are contributing to a global culture, and I think it is fair to say that some of these girls have been entransed by the glamorous Western women that they see on TV and in movies and that there is something coming across to them that these women are somehow more pretty or superior to them. Now, I had a black cabbage patch doll and a hispanic American Girl doll and I think this was awesome. However, I loved my Josephina doll, for example, because I thought her cultural clothing and story were so interesting. I have all of the Mexican goods to go along with her. White Fulla dolls, however, are literally replacing darker-skinned Fulla dolls by putting on the traditional clothes of a Muslim while still looking American. Something else is going on here. I don't really have an answer, but I think that we all need to be proud of our heritage and be able to celebrate the religious or geographical culture of others without trying to bash our own at the same time or replacing our ideals with other's that some in the world feel are somehow more acceptable. I hope that these little girls know that they are beautiful and that they can celebrate who they are and not feel pressure to live up to a Western view of beauty that is mere convention.

I love documentaries

2008-11-10T00:09:00.000-05:00

You are probably saying, “Oh boy, here she goes again about Palestine” …and you’re kinda right. On a more scholarly note, yesterday I had the priviledge to attend an event with the Middle Eastern/Arabic Studies group here on campus and we watched a documentary on Palestinians in East Jerusalem- right where the JC is located- called "Jerusalem the East Side Story". I was so excited because this was literally a presentation on my old neighbors! I was glad to see the Seeley kids (everyone in that family has an IQ of 30+ points above average and I adore them) as well as Rachel Zackrison (to whom I will give a shout-out since she is so sweet and awesome—and not just because she looks like me) who were a part of my Jeru Crew and we got to see the film together.
It was so great just to see living images of the Holy Land again and I loved every minute of it. Of course, there was an obvious slant to the film and the creator, who answered questions afterwards, caused a few eyebrows to raise, but I still really appreciated his work and I think that he said a few really poignant things. I loved when he said “Don’t be an advocate for Palestine or Israel, be an advocate for peace and justice.” I couldn’t agree more. This is applicable regardless of your political ideology or sentiments. There are real people on either side of any conflict that have unalienable rights and often need help in receiving justice. I also loved when he (even though he was an inactive Muslim) talked about Jesus being the first human rights activist! I had never thought of that before, but I agree here too. Christ turned the tables of the money changers when they were cheating the humble Jews trying to worship at the Temple. He ate with sinners and publicans when others reviled them. He suffered that all mankind might have eternal justice and mercy. Now there is someone to emulate in our modern world.
Seeing this film got me all riled up about international and human rights law and I am just getting more and more pumped about law school everyday! There is so much that an American citizen with sufficient means and education can do in crisis situations around the world. While in Israel, Meg asked me on the bus one time what one of my huge, likely unachievable, life dreams was. Although I had never given it much thought, I found myself saying, “To save a 3rd world country in distress” and I actually believed it. My optimistic bubble will probably be popped the second I step out of academia and into the real world, but for now it is a great dream. I think that Americans need to wake up and realize the influence they can have. I encourage families to take service vacations, going to areas devastated by flood and earthquake to help re-build homes. This will get your kids out of their little world and show them just how much they have, as well as teach them to value of service and the universality of humanity. I love the LDS church’s idea of fast offerings: I don’t eat breakfast and lunch today and give the money I would have spent on food to you. In other words, we are suffering with our fellow neighbors and personally seeing to it that they are a meal closer to making it through. I commend all those who put in the invites of their birthday cards “no gifts please, but you are welcome to make a donation to (international organization or charity here).” Our current global problems are huge, but so is the globe, so is the 1st world population. May we contribute in whatever way we can.

Totally irrelevant, but Provo is SO beautiful right now and I took these photos from my living room window last week.

Fall Update

2008-11-09T23:42:00.000-05:00

It has been an amazing couple of weeks! I love the Fall. After a crazy dress-up broomball date (see photo) Colin came down for the Halloween weekend and I, feeling nostalgic about Jerusalem (as usual) had the genius idea of making homemade falafel! Sadly, we didn’t have pitas, but we did have tortillas (yeah, a pretty weak substitute, but it worked) and it turned out great! The falafel seriously smelled JUST like the Old City and I was blown away! Seriously, I thought I would cry. And I made some of my own tzatziki sauce which was actually way great- a triumph!
Then today I slightly helped Rachel in the creation of an amazing culinary masterpiece! We (more like she) created this pear-cranberry pie from scratch and I have probably eaten half of it within the last 2 hours- whoa. Needless to say, she was very proud and we were very proud to have her as a roommate.
In other news, I have now officially submitted 3 law school applications and it feels so good! I am actually gonna try to finish them all this week somehow, so wish me luck. Peace out, homies.

Photos

2008-11-06T01:22:00.000-05:00

After many frustrating attempts at getting a bunch of my photos to upload, I have decided to try to update my Flickr account (link at top left of page) and I am also starting an online photo journal at lindseylivesitup.shutterfly.com
at least I think that's the site, if not I will update. Obviously I'm still working out the kinks. Stay tuned!

Proposition 8

2008-10-30T14:25:00.000-04:00

Although I am neither the most eloquent of writers nor the most qualified on this subject, and I do not have much time to get my many thoughts down, I have been recently inspired by Elder M. Russell Ballard to use technology to further the ideals that I feel strongly about. As this election is getting down to the big crunch, I would like to briefly add my voice in support of Proposition 8.
This issue actually took a while for me to come to terms with. On the surface, it seems like- hey, why shouldn't the gay neighbors next door be able to marry?- and many people are getting hung up on this. The thing is, that this is not a proposition with affects that are directly related to gay rights only, this is something that has the potential to limit the rights of all people. Isn't it the right of Catholic adoption agencies to only approve families with the financial stability, mental capacities, and who are legally married to adopt through them? Or is this anti-gay, anti-poverty, and discriminating against those with mental imbalances? Where do we draw the line? Being a homosexual couple will obviously not have the same impact on an adopted child that being detrimentally impoverished or critically mentally ill would have. However, heterosexual family relationships is something that the Catholic Church (and many other churches) hold as a sacred truth. These adoption agencies are not actively hating gays, but they cannot, according to their morals, support them in this way. It would be a logical fallacy according to all of their beliefs. And, I believe, it is our right to uphold our religious beliefs. Last time I checked, the freedom of religion was a founding principle of this nation.
And what about the LDS church's temples wherein marriages are performed? Isn't it their right as a religion to be able to marry those who follow the guidelines of their doctrines in the sanctuaries that belong to them? If this Proposition was passed, I feel that these and other such religious buildings of significance will be asked to compromise their standards and, since that would be impossible according to their doctrine, they must necessarily shut down, taking away the right of fervent LDS, for example, couples to marry in their own temples. What about their rights?
M. Russell Ballard discussed in his talk on Prop 8 a couple of weeks ago that people are judging proponents of this proposition as bigots, saying that we claim to follow Christ and yet we do not love others who are different than us. I really appreciated his reaction to this. He said that the tolerance preached today by modern politics is not the tolerance of the Savior. The world would have us not only accept the actions of others, not matter what they are, but also to celebrate and support them at the expense of our own values. The world asks us to embrace a relativism that is simply false and that leads to nowhere but confusion and lawlessness. The Savior, on the other hand, loved all people and yet taught that there are eternal and unchanging principles of truth on which this world is founded. It is our duty to love others, yet we cannot condone sin. We must love and respect our gay neighbors as children of God, which they are, and as people with feelings and needs and great abilities. However, we must follow our principles and stay true to our values because no unclean thing can enter into the presence of God.
It is my belief that fighting for gay "marriage" is a fruitless battle considering that, as I see it, gay couples can already enjoy the benefits of civil unions that give them all the rights of a married man and woman. This is not a battle of rights that the opponents are supporting, because most of these rights are already in place through civil unions, this is a battle of terminology. And who are we to change the meaning of "marriage"? Isn't this definition already clear: the legal union of a man and woman. This is a heterosexual institution. Civil unions are the homosexual version of it and as long as they are getting the same tax and other benefits as straight couples, I think that we are alright. May we embrace our homosexual neighbors with love and respect, but not try to undermine the rights of others or the sacred institution of marriage over an unnecessary battle with expansive consequences.

Clinton/Palin Skit

2008-10-28T17:17:00.000-04:00

Looks like election fever is getting to me! It is my first presidential Election after all! Check out this SNL video if you have not watched it a million times already like I have. It is a riot! The best part is that I got to show it in my Women Studies class during my presentation on women in the modern political arena. It was great! At first I was a little weary of everyone making so much fun of these female politicians, but heck- the men get it just as bad! It's all in good fun, I suppose. (This clip is TV 14, be aware.)