Monthly Archives: February 2006

Sunday

We are watching Honor Deferred from the History Channel.

**sidebar***When I see how people are mistreated because of prejudices it gets my blood boiling. I don’t understand how people can do that to other humans and still consider themselves human. I keep hoping that as a people we have progressed past that but then you see how the frantics are terriorizing people world wide and know that we have not.

I love learning history and I’m enjoying what I’m learning from this show, but it is depressing that shows like this are not shown year round. They only bring them out during Black History month. They should not need a month, it should be part of the norm to have these stories out regardless of the month. We haven’t come as far as many folks like to tell themselves.

We broke down and got ourselves a new printer. Our other one was about 5 years old and sharp never updated the drivers when XP came out. So to get my laptop to recognize it I would have to unplug everything and start everything in the particular order to get it to work. The one we got is a Brother-MFC-420cn. What is really cool is that it isn’t hooked to either of our pcs. We have it hooked up to our wireless router and through our wireless network, able to print from either one of our pcs. =)

Well, I was a little more productive then yesterday. I got some emails done, laundry, balanced the check book, paid some bills and started some evals. I also talked to mom & dad & my best friend today, so that was cool.

Mind Adrift

I haven’t had much on my mind to post. My mind has been adrift. I’ve let work keep me busy and distracted. Some days are better then others. Maybe I’ll feel better as soon as we get Aurora’s ashes.

I have projects and taxes that I need to get to, but haven’t been able to focus.

We were supposed to meet up with friends last night, but they cancelled since he was sick. May meet them next week.

I haven’t done much today…………kind of a wash. =(

Another Day

I can’t wait for the weekend………….I actually have it off. Not sure what I’m going to do. I really should start on our taxes and do the 2 evals that I need to get done………maybe get around to writing a few letters. I’m not sure.

Just been the usual thing at work. We did get to meet our new boss. Seems really nice and we seemed to hit off. She’ll offically be taking over on the 20th, I can’t wait. Cuz it is always so weird to have visiting folks from other locations helping out.

We got an unexpected phone call from mom last night. Heather had gotten a splinter in her finger and was wanting Harold to remove it for her. He had done it for her a couple a years ago and was able to get her to calm down then. Well, she is in Indiana & us in Florida, so Harold talked to her and tried to calm her so my mom can remove it. We hoped it worked. =)

Time for me to get to bed, I haven’t been getting enough sleep here lately and I’m exhausted.

Cartoon Uproar

From the Magazine | Essay
Your Taboo, Not Mine
The furor over cartoons of Muhammad reveals the zealot’s double standard
By ANDREW SULLIVAN

Posted Sunday, Feb. 05, 2006
The iconic image of last week was in the Gaza Strip. It was of a Palestinian gunman astride the local office of the European Union. All the diplomatic staff had fled, tipped off ahead of time. The source of the militant’s ire? A series of satirical cartoons originally published in Denmark. Yes, cartoons.

A Danish paper, a while back, had commissioned a set of cartoons depicting the fear that many writers and artists in Europe feel when dealing with the subject of Islam. To Western eyes, the cartoons were not in any way remarkable. In fact, they were rather tame. One showed Muhammad with his turban depicted as a bomb–not exactly a fresh image to describe Islamic terrorism. Another used a simple graphic device: it showed Muhammad surrounded by two women in full Muslim garb, their eyes peering out from an oblong space in their black chadors. And on Muhammad’s face there was an oblong too, blacking out his eyes. The point was that Islam has a blind spot when it comes to women’s freedom. Crude but powerful: exactly what a political cartoon is supposed to be.

The result was an astonishing uproar in the Muslim world, one of those revealing moments when the gulf between our world and theirs seems unbridgeable. Boycotts of European goods are in force; demonstrators in London held up signs proclaiming EXTERMINATE THOSE WHO MOCK ISLAM and BE PREPARED FOR THE REAL HOLOCAUST; the editor of the French newspaper France-Soir was fired for reprinting the drawings; Afghan President Hamid Karzai condemned the publication; and protesters set fire to the Danish and Norwegian embassies in Damascus. The Egyptian ambassador to Denmark expressed disbelief that the government would not prevent further reprinting. Freedom of the press, the Egyptian explained, “means the whole story will continue and that we are back to square one again. The government of Denmark has to do something to appease the Muslim world.”

Excuse me? In fact, the opposite is the case. The Muslim world needs to do something to appease the West. Since Ayatullah Khomeini declared a death sentence against Salman Rushdie for how he depicted Muhammad in his book The Satanic Verses, Islamic radicals have been essentially threatening the free discussion of their religion and politics in the West. Rushdie escaped with his life. But Pim Fortuyn, a Dutch politician who stood up against Muslim immigrant hostility to equality for women and gays, was murdered on the street. Theo van Gogh, a Dutch filmmaker who offended strict Muslims, was killed thereafter. Several other Dutch politicians who have dared to criticize the intolerance of many Muslims live with police protection.

Muslim leaders say the cartoons are not just offensive. They’re blasphemy–the mother of all offenses. That’s because Islam forbids any visual depiction of the Prophet, even benign ones. Should non-Muslims respect this taboo? I see no reason why. You can respect a religion without honoring its taboos. I eat pork, and I’m not an anti-Semite. As a Catholic, I don’t expect atheists to genuflect before an altar. If violating a taboo is necessary to illustrate a political point, then the call is an easy one. Freedom means learning to deal with being offended.

Blasphemy, after all, is commonplace in the West. In America, Christians have become accustomed to artists’ offending their religious symbols. They can protest, and cut off public funding–but the right of the individual to say or depict offensive messages or symbols is not really in dispute. Blasphemy, moreover, is common in the Muslim world, and sanctioned by Arab governments. The Arab media run cartoons depicting Jews and the symbols of the Jewish faith with imagery indistinguishable from that used in the Third Reich. But I have yet to see Jews or Israelis threaten the lives of Muslims because of it.

And there is, of course, the other blasphemy. It occurred on Sept. 11, 2001, when fanatics murdered thousands of innocents in the name of Islam. Surely, nothing could be more blasphemous. So where were the Muslim boycotts of Saudi Arabia or Afghanistan after that horrifying event? Since 9/11 mosques have been bombed in Iraq by Islamic terrorists. Where was the rioting condemning attacks on the holiest of shrines? These double standards reveal something quite clear: this call for “sensitivity” is primarily a cover for intolerance of others and intimidation of free people.

Yes, there’s no reason to offend people of any faith arbitrarily. We owe all faiths respect. But the Danish cartoons were not arbitrarily offensive. They were designed to reveal Islamic intolerance–and they have now done so, in abundance. The West’s principles are clear enough. Tolerance? Yes. Faith? Absolutely. Freedom of speech? Nonnegotiable

Another Story : Cartoon controversy is extremism at its worst (Dan Abrams)

Day Off

If you read Harold’s post, you’d know that we did some yard work today. The yard looks better, but there is still so much more to do. It did feel good to get some of it done.

I had plan on working on some stuff for work today, but doing the yard threw me off. I’m trying to get myself motivated to work on the schedule. It is mostly done, but I still have to make a few adjustments and tighten up the budget. So I’m going to do that and try to go through all the stuff I brought home with me, so I wouldn’t have to do it at work.

I did the laundry today, now it is sitting on the bed waiting for me to put it away………lol Alexis has a thing for laundry and loves to cuddle with it, it is cute………..grin

I’m still lost enough that I really don’t have much more to say. So I’m going to try and get some work done.