News Binge
Try to breathe.
I counter things I find.
I found the article on lifting the ban on stem-cell research. (whoo!)
Then I found the Concerned Women of America Group and started reading some articles on religious freedom. I think they meant religious freedom for Christians. (boo!)
I then found this amazing video on Al-Jazeera with Leyla's cousin (he's a professor at the University of Tehran) and subsequently decided that he is a zen cow when battling ignorance about Iran and that other countries understand America's foreign policy before we can even formulate the sentence "We gave Iraq democracy." Then I found out who Walid Shoebat is. And while I am all for peace, I don't think proclaiming Islam as a religion of violence is the most intelligent thing to be said or most compelling argument for one third of the world to give up their religion.
Since I was on this news feed for Al-Jazeera I found a program called 'Witness.' It chronicles trying times for people with specific stories around the world. I clicked on one called 'House of Journalists.' I won't get into how heartbreaking it is but instead give you the summary. There is this amazing little place in France that houses journalists who were exiled by their country for speaking out against human rights violations and corruption. There was a man from Cuba, one from Haiti, another from Burma, and one from Iraq among many more, I'm sure. They provide French lessons, and counseling for those who can't even face leaving their room.
One especially depressing for me was the man from Iraq. I was being dumbed down by American rhetoric. It's so easy to not think about it, how far we haven't come. This man's family was killed and when asked by who, it seemed he had to think whether or not he wanted to risk saying more when he said "militia power can reach very far" (paraphrased). An American General helped him avoid a prison sentence but he had to flee to France. If this was recent, which I assume it is, that means that the militia in Iraq is capturing and torturing journalists? Yet we're so headstrong to announce the democratization of Iraq after all our efforts? Am I alone in wanting the truth from just one American official?
I feel like the rest of the world knows more about what we do abroad and its effects and public opinion and I'm in a vacuum devoid of any intelligence.
I'm hoping things change. I'm hoping one day I'll be beyond the hypocrisy of the Nation I grew up in. I'm wondering if any nation isn't hypocritical.
When the Prime Minister of Britain looks at the United States and is shocked to see a case concerning civil rights and equality reaching all the way to the Supreme Court in our current era, I have to sit back and just breathe, because it all seems so unreal.
In other news, I saw Rent on Broadway with original Broadway's Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp. I was speechless, it was absolutely amazing and it renewed my love for the music and for live performances.
There's too much hate in the world. <3 to everyone.
I am a hippie :(
I counter things I find.
I found the article on lifting the ban on stem-cell research. (whoo!)
Then I found the Concerned Women of America Group and started reading some articles on religious freedom. I think they meant religious freedom for Christians. (boo!)
I then found this amazing video on Al-Jazeera with Leyla's cousin (he's a professor at the University of Tehran) and subsequently decided that he is a zen cow when battling ignorance about Iran and that other countries understand America's foreign policy before we can even formulate the sentence "We gave Iraq democracy." Then I found out who Walid Shoebat is. And while I am all for peace, I don't think proclaiming Islam as a religion of violence is the most intelligent thing to be said or most compelling argument for one third of the world to give up their religion.
Since I was on this news feed for Al-Jazeera I found a program called 'Witness.' It chronicles trying times for people with specific stories around the world. I clicked on one called 'House of Journalists.' I won't get into how heartbreaking it is but instead give you the summary. There is this amazing little place in France that houses journalists who were exiled by their country for speaking out against human rights violations and corruption. There was a man from Cuba, one from Haiti, another from Burma, and one from Iraq among many more, I'm sure. They provide French lessons, and counseling for those who can't even face leaving their room.
One especially depressing for me was the man from Iraq. I was being dumbed down by American rhetoric. It's so easy to not think about it, how far we haven't come. This man's family was killed and when asked by who, it seemed he had to think whether or not he wanted to risk saying more when he said "militia power can reach very far" (paraphrased). An American General helped him avoid a prison sentence but he had to flee to France. If this was recent, which I assume it is, that means that the militia in Iraq is capturing and torturing journalists? Yet we're so headstrong to announce the democratization of Iraq after all our efforts? Am I alone in wanting the truth from just one American official?
I feel like the rest of the world knows more about what we do abroad and its effects and public opinion and I'm in a vacuum devoid of any intelligence.
I'm hoping things change. I'm hoping one day I'll be beyond the hypocrisy of the Nation I grew up in. I'm wondering if any nation isn't hypocritical.
When the Prime Minister of Britain looks at the United States and is shocked to see a case concerning civil rights and equality reaching all the way to the Supreme Court in our current era, I have to sit back and just breathe, because it all seems so unreal.
In other news, I saw Rent on Broadway with original Broadway's Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp. I was speechless, it was absolutely amazing and it renewed my love for the music and for live performances.
There's too much hate in the world. <3 to everyone.
I am a hippie :(