First, watch this video. Apparently, the band (I think) donates 49 cents for every time this video is watched. Plus, it's a good song.

How can anyone, conservative or liberal, show any support for this president and his cabinet? It is quite obvious that the war in Iraq is no more about freedom and fighting terrorism than money. Jersey's own senator Frank Lautenberg led an analysis that showed our Vice President still owns over 300,000 stocks in the infamous war-profiting company Haliburton. Those shares, the ones he denies owning, have risen 3,281% over the previous year, from $241,498 to more than $8 million. Read about it here.

Anyone remotely interested in this and with a couple hours to kill should absolutely watch the movie "Why We Fight." It does an excellent job in describing the military-industrial complex. Basically, war has become extremely profitable due to the privatizing of our military.

Also, what happened to the two Republican candidates who I thought were actually worth considering a vote for? I'm talking about Presidential hopefuls John McCain and Rudy Giuliani. Granted, I do agree with Obama and Edwards (Clinton is a another story, ugh) stances on key issues much more than I ever did with those two, even before their recent decline (in my eyes). It seems to me McCain used to be the one Republican that would go against the current and actually stand up for what he believed in, regardless of party lines. Which, whether you agree or not, you have to admire in politics today. Giuliani, well he at least came off as a class guy who had sympathy and seemed to be of very genuine character. Now after both of their recent rants, McCain with his unfounded support for Bush's "new policy" on Iraq, and Giuliani with his rant about how electing a Democrat equals death to Americans. A great piece by Keith Olbermann attacking the statements made by Giuliani can be found here. I know it's hard to trust anyone on tv since it's pretty safe to assume any speech being made by a public figure was written beforehand by someone other than themselves. But even if that is true with Olbermann, he delivers it in such a concise and passionate way, it is hard not to applaud him. Anyway, the two Republican candidates that I actually had hoped would make my decision come November of 2008 a a difficult one, seem to be the same talking heads I hate most about politics, whether Democrat or Republican.

I'm tired of the fear mongering that this current presidency and the Republican party in general have been pushing on us. How if you don't support their views you are anti-American and "not supporting the troops." I have more respect and admiration for those men and woman over in Iraq than I will ever have for the people that (pointlessly) are keeping them there. There is no excuse for us still being there when it is a CIVIL war between two conflicting faiths that we have no control over. Our presence there is simply causing more instability in a region that has to create stability themselves, not wait for us to do it for them. My favorite line the talking heads spit out is how, if we leave too soon, we will have created a safe haven for terrorists to grow in and attack America from. Even if you do support that opinion, (Which I do not, how do you irradicate a hatred for America by doing the very things that caused them to hate us in the first place?) how do they explain that the real enemy Mr. Bin Laden is still currently out there plotting and readying his next terrorist attack? I'm not sure, but I think about 99.99999999% of Americans would feel a hell of a lot safer knowing Bin Laden was dead or in jail over some unorganized terrorist factions in Iraq, the one's we're remaining there to stop so they don't have a "safe haven."

Bottom line is, Iraq=money for this cabinet. I vote impeach.

I, like most people, was following the VTech shootings on Monday through various websites, and all I kept on going back to in my mind was Columbine. Obviously, it's next to impossible not to go back to that horrible day back in 1999 when something eerily similar happens, but what I couldn't stop thinking about was that day from my perspective. I remember it was my senior year of high school and watching the news during class and throughout the whole night when I got home. I remember being glued to the tv for hours and becoming very upset upon hearing more and more of the details being released. What was stopping something like that from happening at my school? How would I feel if I lost some of my best friends? All while praying for the families of those lost, and that some day, they'll be able to recover from losing their loved ones. I was a complete and utter mess that day, a day that marked the end of my childhood better than any other.

The reason why I'm troubled right now, and the reason I'm writing this, is my reaction towards Mondays events compared to my reaction with Columbine. I was upset and I kept updating the web pages to find out as much as I could, but something was missing. For some reason, I wasn't as traumatized by the events of Monday, something that is of equal or greater tragedy, than I was back in April of '99. For some reason, the faces of those who lost their lives 8 years ago are, and will forever be, more vivid in my mind than the one's from 3 days ago. Perhaps it was because there were more deaths, that instead of concentrating on 13 people, you have to expand you compassion to 32? I do believe the higher the number of people who lose their lives in a tragedy the more a victim becomes more of a number rather than a person. I do remember the faces of a majority of the people who were killed at Columbine, and at the same time I can't think of more than 2 or 3 faces who perished on 9/11. Which is a good transition into the actual reason, I think, for my lack of emotion towards VaTech...desensitization.

Maybe it's just on a personal level, but I think we, as humans, have become so used to death and tragedies that we when something like Monday does occur, it's hard to get terribly upset. After experiencing something like 9/11 in our lives, how can anything else really compare? Not only were the deaths a great number higher, but the enemy was someone more easily understood and therefore, easily hated. Obviously, Cho Seung-Hui was an extremely bad person, but I think most of us can agree that his evil stemmed from a deeply troubled mental state rather than a genuine distaste for humans. However, I don't think he will ever come close to the pure evil that is Osama Bin Laden. A person who some consider crazy, but directly hates Americans and our way of living. Bin Laden plans and tactically kills people who are no different than you and me. He would take your life because you are American, not because your are black, white, asian, or hispanic. He despises the one thing all of us proudly have in common, our home. Cho Seung-Hui was troubled and in some ways, hated a group of people that didn't even exist. I will never consider a psychopath that snaps on the same level as those who meticulously and routinely kill out of hatred, such a man is the purest form of evil.

Again, (sorry for the sidetrack) after experiencing something as devastating as 9/11, the Virginia Tech Massacre could never bring out such emotion. Emotion? Yes, but on a sympathetic level, not a life-altering one. It is sad that death has become such an occurrence that those lost are treated more as numbers than faces. We will hear more about Cho Seung-Hui than we will of Professor Liviu Librescu (I was wrong a couple posts back, there are still heroes in this world), and because of that, I think 9/11 had more of an effect on us than we could ever imagine.


On a lighter note, I was watching the (horrible) Phillies last night and caught a commercial for an upcoming game on Mothers Day. Apparently, mothers 15 and over get a free Chase Utley blanket. Seriously, are they worried all those mothers who are younger than 15 will show up and take all the blankets? Here's hoping there aren't THAT many of them in Philadelphia.

First off, I hope anyone affected by the shootings a Virginia Tech University today, whether directly or indirectly, are as well as they possibly could be. It's so upsetting to think of 32 (upon writing) college kids were just going about their normal Monday routine and now, won't be going home tonight. Just having a few acquaintances of mine that go there made my morning stressful before finding out they were ok. The parents of every kid at that university must've went through hell today, and I can only begin to imagine what the ones who lost someone are going through.

Now, my rant...I'm sorry but if 7 to 9 students get shot in a dorm room on campus, you close school immediately. Even if it means locking down all classrooms and posting a police officer by each door, you do it. I don't care how "isolated" you feel the first shooting was and how sure you were the shooter had left campus, you lock down until you're positive. I can't help but think that 30 more people lost their lives today because of stupidity and carelessness. The school had TWO HOURS to make sure the rest of the students on that campus were safe. If such a tragedy happened at TCNJ, and they acted in the same way Va Tech. did, I would be filling out transfer applications tomorrow. A schools number one job is to protect its students, not to educate, not to entertain, TO PROTECT!! Apparently, a student reported to CNN that during the two hours between the shootings, the school sent out one email about "investigating an incident that occurred in one of the dorm rooms." Are you kidding me? At least 7 students get shot on campus and you send out an email?!?! How can you possibly look into the eyes of one of those parents who's kid was part of that final 30 and say "sorry, we thought we had the first incident isolated?" Avoiding the chaos that might have ensued if they made a campus wide announcement that there was a shooter loose is one thing, and I can understand that. But why couldn't they inform the faculty about what was going on and instruct them to lock their classroom doors until further notice in two hours?

Again, the more important thing is that everyone else is ok and such a tragedy never happens again. I hope those affected the most find comfort in their loved ones, and those loved ones can be a source of stability in their recently devastated lives.

I am sick and tired of the apathy in this country I see everyday. From people on message boards just complaining about our governments actions and not doing a thing to actually stop them, to blogs informing its readers about atrocities but not empowering them to do anything about it. Today I decided I would (try to) make it easier for everyone who comes across this page to use as little energy as possible in order to help in what is considered one of the worst, if not the worst, atrocity occurring today, the genocide in Sudan. Please, take 5 minutes and write your Senator. First, some links in case you live in a box and have no prior knowledge to the event I am speaking about...

wiki
video

Click on the following link to look up your Senators contact page.

US Senator's contact pages

After navigating to your senator's contact page fill in the information required. Then, copy and past (if you want, or write your own) the generic email I created for you to fill in the comment box.

*****begin*****

Dear Senator,

I am writing to you as a citizen of our state who is very concerned with the current conflict in Darfur, Sudan. I support the general consensus that what is happening there can be characterized as genocide. In a world where unlimited access to world news and information is at Americans fingertips, ignorance is no longer a convenient excuse, but a blatant, barbaric choice. Such ignorance cannot be associated with the government of, what is considered by many to be, the greatest country in the world. The language I choose is not meant to demean you or any other member of the legislative, executive, or judicial branch of government, but I see no other more appropriate word to describe the lack of action we, as a country and a key member of the United Nations, have taken. I understand most foreign affairs must be dealt with in a politically sensitive way, but it is my opinion that an atrocity such as the genocide in Darfur cannot and should not be dealt with in this way. Direct action must be taken. Whether those actions are taken on the platform of politics, foreign interests, or simply on basic human morals, they must be done without further hesitation. I ask you as a voting citizen of ***fill in state***, to please make any effort you can for the United States or United Nations immediate and strong involvement to end this conflict. Thank you for your time.

*****end******

Finally, click submit.

One email might not do anything, but if we send enough I hope we can make a difference. Even if we our simply showing our concern and how our assumed apathy can be taken for granted no more.

Since I've noticed digg is frequented by many citizens of the UK and Australia, here are links to their respective parliaments and their contact information. Obviously, some changes would have to be made in the above email, but this genocide is a global problem and we should all do something to stop it.


Parliament of Australia
UK Parliament

Any constructive criticism regarding my email or this post in general would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

you have to love living in a world (country) where in the past 48 hours, information regarding a radio host using a racial slur, has been the leading news story on a major broadcasting companies website (cnn). literally, for the past 2 days something regarding this stupid and meaningless comment made by an equally meaningless radio host has been the front page story on cnn.com. yes, the guy used a phrase that stereotypes african american women, but come on, "nappy-haired ho's" is worth 2 days of news when their are astronomically more important things going on in the world? first off, apparently this imus guy uses the word "ho" all the time. not that i'm condoning it but it takes a little bit of the edge off if he calls everyone hoes (including his wife) in a joking manner as opposed to one group of females. secondly, "nappy" isn't exactly the more serious n word. if he did use the n word, i could understand this level of anger since he is using a racial slur that's derogatory to a whole race of people. on a slightly different level than saying a group of girls has fuzzy hair. an article i read today made a good point about how kids will read in the news how it is reprehensible to stereotype a group of females in such a way that this guy did, and then go home and watch music videos of their favorite rap artists sing about how many women they "own" or how they're worthless. either that or open up a magazine and see such strong female role models like paris hilton and fergie...

"all my girls get down on the floor,
back to back, drop it down real low.
i’m such a lady, but i’m dancing like a ho,
‘cause you know
i don’t give a fuck, so here we go!"

...puuuuure class

i also love how people get all worked up cause some ignorant radio personality says something stupid, and yet when someone purposely uses a seriously derogatory term, like when ann coultier (a.k.a. satan, in blonde form) called john edwards a "faggot," there is a report about it and then it gets forgotten. no one was demanding the republican party disaffiliate themselves with her, or that her book publisher terminate her contract, like everyone is doing with this imus whack. which brings me to another person i have strong feelings of dislike towards, reverend al sharpton. here is a good article on what a hypocrite and racist mr sharpton is...

http://www.capmag.com/article.asp?ID=2411

the only reason he is making such a big deal out of this is simply for image. he doesn't really give a shit about rutgers girls basketball team, all he cares about it getting noticed and making more of a name for himself. either that or he really does see himself as the savior for all african americans.

the bottom line is that some dipshit on the radio made an ignorant mistake, apologized for it repeatedly, and got suspended for his job for 2 weeks. i've read he repeatedly uses racial slurs attacking all type of people. therefore, he should lose his job, not only because of this most recent incident, but because there is no room on a major radio station for ignorance.

besides that, people have to stop being so damn sensitive. i am well aware that being a white male i am in the majority of the majority and i have little experience with racism directed at me, but it is more a case of ignorance than racism. ignorance is rampant in this country and until you start attacking each and every case equally, and while i hope he does, demanding one guy lose his job is not going to solve anything.

on a related note, even though i wasn't even alive, this stuff makes me miss great leaders like martin luther king and mohandas ghandi even more. seriously, can you name one great leader in the world today? someone who is more interested in peace and freedom rather than war and division. someone who preaches tolerance, acceptance, understanding, and forgiveness instead of spitting hate and stirring up violence. i've tried to think of one all morning and i came up with nothing. bono with his attempt to rid hunger in africa? angelina jolie trying to adopt every poor kid in the world? not one person alive today, that i can think of, can be described a great leader on a worldly scale. it makes me sad to think the children of today are growing up without a hero to look up to. it makes parents who fill that void, all the more important. maybe they are out there, much like paul rusesabagina who's story was told in the movie hotel rwanda, but if they are, you do no hear about them. instead, all you hear about is a caucasian radio host calling a team of african american "nappy headed ho's." cause in the news today, ignorance always triumphs over awareness.

ps...the phillies really suck, i mean like 'makes you miss the flyers' suck.

it's monday*



*posted to invalidate chris' comment

does anyone even read this? haha ohwell, it gives me the illusion that i'm sharing my thoughts with someone other than my own consciousness.

anyway, i guess the biggest news of late is that me, chris, and his brother marc are going to see rage against the machine in july. it is now confirmed since i received my ticket in the mail yesterday. i have always said that one of my biggest regrets in life was not seeing them live before they broke up a few years back. in high school and up until probably my junior year in college i wasn't much into music, at least not nearly as much as i am now. i first heard of rage from the kid that sat behind me in history 2 at cherokee during my junior year. i remember thinking that it was such an interesting name for a group, but since that kid was heavy in hard rock and i wasn't much into music at all, i didn't even really think twice about them. fast forward about 4 years later to when i first gave rage a true listen and i finally got it. i remember listening to their song "renegades of funk," perhaps their most underrated song and probably my favorite (side note: i just opened rhapsody to listen to this song because it will never get old...top 10 song of all time) and literally being inspired. inspired in a way that i was completely ignorant of the world around me and how many great men/women have changed it with something as simple as a voice or action. i started reading about social dynamics in the world, whether it be revolutions or peaceful protests, and i continue today. i know rage's music isn't for everyone, but how many individual songs can you say changed your life and, at least in your own opinion, made you a better person? my list consists of...

Rage Against the Machine - Renegades of Funk...introduced me to my ignorance (also, inspired the poem i posted previously, which i'm sure most of you still haven't read :-P)
Counting Crows - Goodnight Elisabeth...introduced me to hopeless romanticism
Billy Joel - We Didn't Start the Fire...introduced me to music, the first song i ever listened to on repeat for days

and that's really it. i love so many more songs but to say they inspired me to the point that was life altering, i can't say. after researching, reading, and understanding about the world around me i began question things that i took as fundamental and were just supposed to be "right" or "the way things should be." an example would be something that rage against the machine preaches throughout their music, socialism. ah socialism, the socio-economic system which one of the most influential social philosophers of our time, karl marx, believed would be the next to last "evolution" of societies (the final "evolution" being communism). one current socialist country is that of venezuela. it's leader, hugo chavez, is often heard of in the news due to his extreme lack of respect (to put it lightly) for president bush and his cabinet. now, i don't exactly endorse chavez's views and the current government he has implemented in venezuela, but i know one thing for sure, a two party democracy was not working for that country. i love the united states, and for better or worse, the two party system generally works although it is far from perfect. however, in venezuela, it simply was failing the majority of citizens who were in the lower class. those who controlled the oil and the media, controlled the country, and the majority of venezuelans were neglected by the upper classes. when a large majority of a country is living in poverty for decades, something is wrong and has to be done. only time will tell if socialism is the answer for them, but i'm a firm believer in that it couldn't get much worse. a good documentary to watch if you have time to spare is one called this revolution will not be televised.

there are a lot of views that ratm express which i do not support. a good example being their belief mumia abu-jamal is innocent, something i posted about previously. but i do share their passion for questioning fundamentals and seeking a better world. i believe apathy is a problem in this country/world and whenever someone with a voice can inspire normal people to care or to take a side, i endorse them fully. it doesn't matter what side you're on, liberal vs conservative, republican vs democrat, free trade vs fair trade, whatever is may be, i just think the world would be a better place if people were passionate about something.

well i'll end my rant here with one of my favorite quotes from rage...

"...it has to start somewhere
it has to start sometime
what better place than here
what better time than now..."