Fort Hood

What has happened in Fort Hood is a terrible thing. There just aren't any words to describe it. I have friends in the military as well as family down near Fort Hood. In fact, my aunt had been to the PDX on base earlier that day.

The first question that seems to have popped up is why? Sadly, many people thought they knew the answer within seconds of hearing the suspect's name.

People who use their bigotry to decide reasons why Major Hasan committed this tragic crime are only adding to the heartache. They should be ashamed of themselves for perpetrating hate crimes on top of the hurt already done all over the country. Within virtual seconds after the suspect's name was released, those who were already talking about the possibility of terrorism had ample ammunition. This is going to be a case where Major Hasan and the bigots in the media and the news have ruined it for not only the families and loved ones of the soldiers but also the Muslim population in the military (and the entire U.S.).

Unfortunately, I fear a backlash against the Muslim population, similar to that which occurred after September 11th. I'm not the only one. We could see it in the first five minutes that the world knew the Major's name... and not just on the internet. In CNN's live coverage of the tragedy, Wolf Blitzer's Situation Room was on. Within a few moments of learning Hasan's name, Wolf Blitzer makes the comment that it is "obviously an Arab name."

Really? Wolf Blitzer, I expected better of you. Comments like that do not come from someone who is unbiased or at least fair about situations such as this. Cultural insensitivity is way beneath you... at least I thought so.

If anyone has been reading for very long, they know that I am very interested in the Middle East and studying Islam from a scholarly point of view. I am especially interested in Iran and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In fact, I am writing my senior capstone right now on Israel/Palestine. I have heard viewpoints related to Hasan's self-identification as Palestinian - that he was carrying out a terrorist attack against the U.S. as a form of revenge for what wrongs continue to be perpetrated against the Palestinian peoples. First off, the man in all likelihood did not commit this act as a terrorist, but as someone whose mental health had degraded severely. Secondly, for the Palestinians to attack the U.S. - one of Israel's greatest allies - would be counterproductive, and I would go so far as to assume that most people understand that. Unfortunately though, people are going to associate Hasan with Palestinians, which will hurt their cause greatly.

I hope that we can move forward as a nation brought together by this tragedy and not as one segregated because of bigotry and stereotypes. My heart goes out to the people who are suffering as a result of this man's actions.

I Got A New Job

Working at a car dealership! It'll be so nice to get out of Kmart :)

In sad news, I just heard John Hughes died :(

Who's My Favorite Person Right Now?

Jeff Goldblum :)

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Michael Jackson

I'm gonna piss people off, so I'll let you know right off the bat.

I'm sorry, but if you didn't molest young boys, why would you settle with one of the boys' families? I know I wouldn't. It is also obvious to see what happened as a result of his relationship with Macaulay Culkin also.

Do I feel bad that his childhood sucked? Sure. Do I like some of his music? Of course. Do I feel bad that he's dead? No, not really.

Student Killings

Student massacres in Tehran continue as videos and pictures keep making their way out of the blocked country. These stories are heartbreaking and gut-wrenching. How anyone can hear these problems and not want to help change something is beyond me.

Graphic video of shot Iranian "rebel"

Despite this violence, there is a lot of silence over there right now. Very disconcerting.

Can U Meet Up 2nite?

Anyone else getting tired of hearing about problems people are getting into while texting? Seriously, don't people have the common sense not to stop in the middle of the street while texting? Or, you know, not operate a train?

In Silicon Valley, they're talking about banning texting while driving.

WHY CAN'T YOU JUST NOT FREAKING DO STUPID STUFF?

I text while I drive. I also text at school, at work, in the bathroom, even (gasp!) in the shower! Honestly, if you do almost anything in a smart way and in moderation, it can't hurt you. If you'd just determine the right time to text is not while crossing the street or driving a train with tons of lives on your shoulders, then you'd be fine!

People just talking on their phones have a hard time driving. Imagine that, unlike myself, they don't have the number/letter key configuration memorized, that they don't have the ability to text without looking with 98% accuracy. Those same people who can't drive and talk at the same time are now talking to others in the car, listening to music, not obeying driving laws, AND now their attention is drawn to making sure they're spelling something right?

Maybe texting while driving should be banned. Maybe there are only a select few of us can that do more than just walk and chew gum at the same time. Or maybe this is a case of the stupid few ruining it for the rest of us?

Talk amongst yourselves, I'm feeling a little furklempt.

The Beauty of Love

Love can make us jealous, whiny, annoying, clingy, bitchy, and just downright stupid...

But, love can also help us to endure the hardest of the hard & the worst of the worst. It can force us to be selfless in an otherwise self-centered world.

This is the only news story that I want to share today. This woman is in a coma in order to reduce the amount of pain that she is going through from her terminal strain of hepatitis. She was brought out of it long enough for her bedside wedding to her long time partner. She is only expected to live a few weeks longer.

I can understand that she must be in terrible pain if they have decided to keep her in a coma. Maybe it's just me - that I'm a hopeless romantic, that I'm so head over heels still after a year that I can't imagine being by Theron but not really being there, that I can't stand not seeing him for more than a week without getting amazingly lonely - but I can't imagine wanting to be in a coma - no matter how much pain I'm in - for the last few precious days and weeks of my life instead of staying awake with the people I love. Because of my health problems, I've thought about many of these types of scenarios and what I would do. I could understand if my husband didn't want to see me in pain so much - I would certainly sympathize. But I wouldn't want to be asleep so long before I die.

Even if I had to be in bed the whole time, if I had to eat through a tube, if I had to be pumped full of mega strength prescription meds, I would stay awake. I think I would suffer more to know that I was in a coma, going to die, and not spending time with someone that I love so much.

Weird News

I'm trying everything I can to avoid taking about Sarah Palin... and more importantly her pregnant, engaged seventeen year old. So enjoy these odd stories I found in the den of the enemy (aka Fox News).

Ever feel like you wanted to take your mother with you everywhere you go? What about your girlfriend's mom? Well, now you can! The new 'Mom in a suitcase' will help you to keep close and cuddily contact with your mommy (or a friend's) without being embarrassed by cheek kisses in front of others. Supplies are limited so call today!

For those moms out there constantly embarrassed by their children, there is also help. No longer do you have to worry about locking your daughter in the trunk, a la Casey Anthony, but you can rent a storage unit to hide them in too!

Speaking of trunks, this Brazilian man survived three whole days locked in a trunk.

And here's why you don't do drugs... or rather, why you don't approach homeless guys to ask for drugs and then invite them back to your apartment. And really, Saw? Couldn't he have picked a movie with a little more umph to it?

The Sex Files

David Duchovny really is a freaky m-f-er. Then again, I suppose that sex is a much better addiction than anything else he could be exposed to in Hollywood. Given his recent Showtime show Californication, however, it could be expected. It's still kinda weird to think of him as a sex addict though.

I guess McCain has picked a woman for his VP. I'm sure it's so that people will vote for him based on the "I wanted Clinton because I'm a feminist" situation. I wonder what her position is on drilling for oil in Alaska?

The classic cartoon move comes to life! Of course, it didn't turn out exactly right, but the baby is okay at least.

I'm not entirely sure how this kid was planning on using the heart or the eyelids for that matter, since I'm sure they both would've brought up a lot of questions. It makes me wonder if it's something that his former heart's owner planned on... similar to The Eye, which was a much better movie than I thought it'd be.

And, speaking of attempted murder, Steve Jobs' obituary was recently published in Bloomberg News. I guess they make pre-death obituaries in order to get the story out faster when the death occurs, and it accidentally got published. I wonder what they'll do when he actually dies now.

At least they got it fixed before death. This poor witch was executed and just recently was exonerated. I guess she was Europe's last executed "witch" but the last witch trials in Salem were held almost a year earlier. How very odd.

Oh, and to avoid losing your head like the witch, I wouldn't go to Mexico right now... or at least the Chichi Suarez and Buctzotz regions.

Comedic Tragedies

In the past two days, two seriously funny people have passed away suddenly.

Bernie Mac, 50, passed away Saturday from complications related to pneumonia that forced him to be hospitalized. The last statement before notifying the world of his death actually said that he was responding well to treatment and recovering. Sadly, we all know that everything can change in a millisecond.



And today, at 65, singer Issac Hayes was found unconscious in his Tennessee home near a still running treadmill. I suspect, due to the treadmill still being on, that the cause of death is probably going to have been a heart attack. A little more than two years after leaving South Park over issues pertaining to Scientology (Hayes' religion and the famous subject of the South Park episode "Trapped in the Closet"), it seems as though Chef will never return to any screen.

What A Way To Go

Most of us know by now that when a person dies, the body goes crazy and anything you have left to release gets released. So is it a far stretch to die on a toilet? I think not. In fact, according to a former boss of mine, it's happened at several Kmarts as well. But I think it'd be weird to go on an airplane. The fact that they didn't notice someone was in the bathroom by the time they were making the final approach is pretty sad. The flight attendants are supposed to check the bathrooms once they get relatively close to making a descent and getting ready to land. They should've noticed at least a few minutes before.


But what about being attached to 1,000 balloons? On April 20, this priest took off, by balloons, and lost contact with his ground team. They recovered his body earlier this month, just finally confirming his identity via DNA testing. I think it'd be interesting to take a look at the autopsy report and see how he died, because there are so many dangers in pulling a stunt like this - going too high and losing access to air, the balloons popping or shrinking, getting pecked to death by birds - the possibilities are nearly endless.

And "Another Way to Die." It's the new Bond movie theme song. And get this - it's a duet between Alicia Keys and Jack White of the White Stripes. What a poor combination of voices! It really will be another way to die.