12/28/05
Ok, so sharing my valuable opinions with the world could become a full-time job. There's so much in the news today I need to comment on! And, I'm still working on getting all the links attached to my last posting so that I can at least justify myself a little bit. I'll just have to keep plugging along. I want to get at least the links and a quick comment on here today and then I'll go back and flesh it out a little when I can.
-Andrew
Ansel Adams vs. Larry Flint
As long as it is something you can pay too much for and hang in your foyer, politicians are all for the freedom of expression in art. But make something the politicians don't agree with and it's labeled as porn and demands are made to take it down. Politicians should be 100% behind the artists in these cases. They need to get on TV and tell people, "This is what you get with freedom of expression--alternate viewpoints. This is what being part of a FREE society is about! Freedom of expression doesn't mean freedom of only YOUR expression."
Honor Killings
This is exactly the reason that people find it easy to hate Muslims. This could be cultural, it could be religious, but whatever it is, it can't be divorced from Islam. It may not be representative of all of Islam, but I'm sure it happens much more often than reported. Just like Pat Robertson and abortion doctor killings give Christians a bad name, stories like this make people turn to each other and say, "I told you so." And, until issues like this are addressed in the Muslim community, there will continue to be a huge rift between Muslim nations and the rest of the world. I actually think Al-Jazeera is a pretty decent news agency, but checking their English-language website, I didn't find any mention of this story on their homepage, news page or culture page. Leaders of predominantly Islamic countries should be shouting the condemnation of these killing from the rooftops, but their silence will only act as a nod to the "faithful" that these types of acts are condoned. I won't be too harsh right now, though. As I write this, it's just after 10:00 a.m. in Dubai, so it's possible "official" responses to this tragedy haven't been publicized yet.
2-weeks' notice
I like this story. Maybe so called "high-ranking" Democrats will get the message that they need to shape up or people will ship out. I think it's high time for 2 more parties anyway. Moderate Republicans and liberal Democrats are simply not represented by their parties any more.
Ooh, this is getting good
OK, this bears my full attention. Break out the Preparation-H, baby, because I'm full of opinions and mine probably stink, but I need an outlet for my valued insights and blogging is healthier than chucking eggs at passing cars...
I think I'll work on the comments and put it in my next post. I'll be on the lookout for more end-of-2005 stories.
On a lighter side
The Literary Review Bad Sex in Fiction award is awesome. Not only are the passages themselves fun (and painful) to read, awards like these are necessary to keep writers honest who want to take a little too much literary freedoms in their work.
Blogging without Borders
Apparently Reporters without Borders recommended the use of http://www.Anonymizer.com to access independence websites in Morocco and has since been blacklisted. I attempted to access Anonymizer from my computer at work, and our Internet filter restricted it because it contained "Anonymizers content." Apparently, someone at Corporate has done their homework. I won't say what company I work for, but I ran across this unusual article online. By the way, Reporters without Borders also has this "handbook for bloggers and cyber-dissidents."
Ok, so sharing my valuable opinions with the world could become a full-time job. There's so much in the news today I need to comment on! And, I'm still working on getting all the links attached to my last posting so that I can at least justify myself a little bit. I'll just have to keep plugging along. I want to get at least the links and a quick comment on here today and then I'll go back and flesh it out a little when I can.
-Andrew
Ansel Adams vs. Larry Flint
As long as it is something you can pay too much for and hang in your foyer, politicians are all for the freedom of expression in art. But make something the politicians don't agree with and it's labeled as porn and demands are made to take it down. Politicians should be 100% behind the artists in these cases. They need to get on TV and tell people, "This is what you get with freedom of expression--alternate viewpoints. This is what being part of a FREE society is about! Freedom of expression doesn't mean freedom of only YOUR expression."
Honor Killings
This is exactly the reason that people find it easy to hate Muslims. This could be cultural, it could be religious, but whatever it is, it can't be divorced from Islam. It may not be representative of all of Islam, but I'm sure it happens much more often than reported. Just like Pat Robertson and abortion doctor killings give Christians a bad name, stories like this make people turn to each other and say, "I told you so." And, until issues like this are addressed in the Muslim community, there will continue to be a huge rift between Muslim nations and the rest of the world. I actually think Al-Jazeera is a pretty decent news agency, but checking their English-language website, I didn't find any mention of this story on their homepage, news page or culture page. Leaders of predominantly Islamic countries should be shouting the condemnation of these killing from the rooftops, but their silence will only act as a nod to the "faithful" that these types of acts are condoned. I won't be too harsh right now, though. As I write this, it's just after 10:00 a.m. in Dubai, so it's possible "official" responses to this tragedy haven't been publicized yet.
2-weeks' notice
I like this story. Maybe so called "high-ranking" Democrats will get the message that they need to shape up or people will ship out. I think it's high time for 2 more parties anyway. Moderate Republicans and liberal Democrats are simply not represented by their parties any more.
Ooh, this is getting good
OK, this bears my full attention. Break out the Preparation-H, baby, because I'm full of opinions and mine probably stink, but I need an outlet for my valued insights and blogging is healthier than chucking eggs at passing cars...
I think I'll work on the comments and put it in my next post. I'll be on the lookout for more end-of-2005 stories.
On a lighter side
The Literary Review Bad Sex in Fiction award is awesome. Not only are the passages themselves fun (and painful) to read, awards like these are necessary to keep writers honest who want to take a little too much literary freedoms in their work.
Blogging without Borders
Apparently Reporters without Borders recommended the use of http://www.Anonymizer.com to access independence websites in Morocco and has since been blacklisted. I attempted to access Anonymizer from my computer at work, and our Internet filter restricted it because it contained "Anonymizers content." Apparently, someone at Corporate has done their homework. I won't say what company I work for, but I ran across this unusual article online. By the way, Reporters without Borders also has this "handbook for bloggers and cyber-dissidents."
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