Monday, August 30, 2010

Ground Zero Mosque Nonsense.

I missed my Saturday post because I was busy watching Doctor Who, so I feel like I should post tonight. BEFORE I watch Doctor Who. :D

One thing I did actually want to talk about: the whole Ground Zero Mosque Extravaganza.

AMERICA. DUDES. WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM? Do you not remember that whole freedom-of-religion thing that is in your beloved Bill of Rights? Would you not be all up in arms if someone wanted to stop YOU from building YOUR churches? This whole issue is just beyond ridiculous.

Let's get something straight right now. RIGHT NOW. Are you listening, America? I'll put it in simple terms you can all understand, so pay attention:

MUSLIM =/= TERRORIST. ALL MUSLIMS ARE NOT TERRORISTS. ALL TERRORISTS ARE NOT MUSLIM.
Anyone remember that Unabomber guy, Ted Kaczynski? American citizen, freakin' genius - terrorist. The Oklahoma City bomber dude, Timothy McVeigh? American citizen, Army vet, raised Catholic - terrorist. His partner, Terry Nichols, was a Michigan farm boy, football player, veteran - and terrorist. Oh, and this awesome guy: Eric Robert Rudolph, the Olympic Park Bomber (killed two and injured over 150 people in a series of Southern bombings between 1996 and 1998), a Southern boy, Catholic, a veteran, far-right affiliations - and a terrorist. All of these people were born and raised on American soil and all of them killed Americans on American soil. Some of them were even in the military, fighting for their country. Most of them were Christian. NONE OF THEM ARE MUSLIMS, ALL OF THEM ARE TERRORISTS.

There. Now that's out of the way. It really irks me that a lot of people seem to think that ALL or MOST terrorists are Muslim. But what irks me even more is the anti-mosque movement. Terrorism aside - because this isn't about terrorism, it's about religion - people don't want the Muslims putting up mosques at all. I could understand, maybe, not wanting a mosque at the site of an alleged Islamic terrorist attack, but it makes complete sense for a city with a large Islamic population to build a mosque, just like it makes sense for a place with a lot of Jewish people to have a temple. No one pitches fits when Jews put up temples, or when different Christian sects build their churches. But the second an Islamic community decides they want somewhere to worship, too, they get attacked, protested against, even BOMBED.

Now, I don't think that Muslims in NYC having a sense of community, a place to feel closer to their god, and a place where they can feel safe and be themselves is in any way a threat to the US, but most Americans seem to feel that it is. How completely unfair is that? I mean, imagine for a second - here you are, in this glorious country founded on freedom, which indeed preaches "freedom of religion" as one of its citizens' most important rights, and all you want to do is pray to and worship your god. But you're not allowed. Your ways and traditions are mocked, feared, maybe you're not even allowed to perform them in public places. Your church is vandalized, people stand outside yelling insults and threats for hours, maybe it's even bombed. Maybe your family members are killed in a bombing. You're blamed for something you had nothing to do with, just because of the color of your skin, the style of your clothes, and the religion you follow. You're punished and blamed for these things, and the whole country is against you, even if you're American-born. And there's nothing you can do, because any retaliation or protest will be construed as terrorism and you'll be arrested or shot or possibly deported. You have no friends in school or work because people are afraid of you. Imagine being a little Islamic kid, friendless and shunned at school, mourning the loss of a family member from a mosque bombing, and now you're not even allowed the comfort of your religion and religious community.

We don't assume every German person is a Nazi. We don't assume every Chinese person is a Communist. We don't assume every English person wants to take over the world. We are so worried about being politically correct, about not making racist-sounding statements, about not offending anyone in any way... and then we do stuff like this. Why is this okay? Why is it even an issue in this country?

People can be so freaking cruel to each other, and I just don't understand it. I just can't understand why we do these things to ourselves. Did you ever stop to think that maybe being so intolerant of Muslims may cause MORE terrorist attacks? Did you ever think that by allowing them to build their Ground Zero mosque, it could be an opportunity to forgive and forget, to maybe lessen the tension between all of us? The actual terrorists are the crazy, hardcore religious people, in ALL religions. But there are an awful lot of Muslims in our country who are perfectly nice people, perfectly sane and normal and peaceful people, and by refusing to let them worship, by grouping them all together and labelling them "TERRORISTS," we are alienating our own citizens. How is that American?

And as far as Obama's reaction goes, I'm a little upset with him for "flip-flopping," although nearly all the articles I've read cite him as supportive, so I guess the flip-flopping is behind him. I can understand that this would be a difficult thing for him to speak decisively on, also. Salon.com has this to say:

President Obama delivered a strong defense on Friday night of a proposed Muslim community center and mosque near ground zero in Manhattan, using a White House dinner celebrating Ramadan to proclaim that "as a citizen, and as president, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as anyone else in this country" . . . .

"I understand the emotions that this issue engenders. Ground zero is, indeed, hallowed ground," the president said in remarks prepared for the annual White House iftar, the sunset meal breaking the day’s fast.

But, he continued: "This is America, and our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakable. The principle that people of all faiths are welcome in this country, and will not be treated differently by their government, is essential to who we are."


As Salon.com states, this is awesome because there's nothing he can gain politically from his support of this, but there is substantial risk politically. He's speaking not with himself and his job in mind, but with our country and our rights in mind. And that's what a president should do. You go, Obama. Four for you. <3

Also, as a side note: all you people who are all like "It's insensitive to the people who lost family members and stuff in 9/11," just shut up right now. If they were building any other building there you would not have an issue, so just shut up.

The went on a lot longer than I thought, and I got a little rambly, so I guess I'm pretty angry about it. But I just think it's insane, and a horrible thing to do. WHY CAN'T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG, PEOPLE.



Some articles about this issue and terrorism in general:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrorism
http://socialistworker.org/2010/08/30/challenge-to-islamophobia

John Green's video about Islam - very helpful in understanding the actual religion:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jQ67cdzDyI

Monday, August 23, 2010

Utter failure, but a glimmer of hope! :D

It's so rare that "real life" gets in the way of my interneting, so when it happens I'm always taken completely off-guard. I've actually had like, stuff to DO lately, which is weird in and of itself, and then school started back up today, so things have been hectic.

My classes are pretty good. I only have to go to campus Mondays and Wednesdays from 12 to 4, so that's neat. Then I have two online classes which should be pretty easy and maybe even fun. I'm taking English (the 2nd American course), Math 101 (basic algebra, kill me now D:), Spanish 101 (EXCITED), and Music Appreciation (should be fun and easy). So I'm fairly excited for this semester. :D

UNFORTUNATELY, that means that I kinda failed a lot on my goals thing. These past two weeks, I was supposed to:

17. Learn three simple songs on my lap harp -- FAILED
54. Learn to juggle -- DIDN'T EVEN TRY D:
16. Write a musical (well, finish the one I'm working on, excluding music) -- WORKING ON IT

I haven't completed my musical yet, but we're getting there. We're very nearly finished with all the WRITING, and then we'll just have to do the music, and then we can cast and start filming. :D I'm excited for that, too, though it's probably going to be a month or two before we're ready to film. Still, it's exciting. :D

I'm really not doing too much better at this goal thing, am I? I guess I just really don't care as much as I thought I did about these things. XD But I always get really optimistic and excited around the change of the seasons, so maybe it'll be all right. We're planning some pretty extensive redecorating stuff for my house, so I'll probably be pretty busy between that, writing a musical, and college... so maybe I'll give the goal challenge a rest for a bit. I'll work on the sign language, accordion, and finish up my musical, and once all that's done and life has settled a bit into a routine, I'll pick it back up. I'M TOTALLY NOT QUITTING. I'm coming back to it, I swear! :D

And I want to focus a lot more on writing - I mean, that IS what I want to do with my life, is write books. So I really need to be writing more. I write a lot, just not... stories and books and things. I write a lot of nonsense, is what I write. What I'm hoping for is to get into a really good routine in September and October, so that by the time NaNoWriMo rolls around, I'll be totally ready to knock out a novel in 30 days. Reading the Hunger Games (MOCKINGJAY COMES OUT TODAY OMGWTF) has really inspired me again, like Un Lun Dun did two years ago, like Gemma Doyle did last year. It seems every year I read an amazing book or series, and then I don't do anything with that inspiration, so in November I try to re-create that kind of amazingness and expect it to come out amazing, instead of being edited and re-edited into amazingness. O_o If that made any sense at all. The point is, I need to write more, so that will be my ultimate goal until I get back into this challenge thing: get a writing routine going, like an hour a day or something. That's all I'm asking.

It's late, later than I've been up in a while (I know, it's weird for me too), so I'm going to bed now. Buenos noches. LOOK AT ME KNOWING SPANISH WHHOOOOOO. Goodnight guys.

Saturday, August 7, 2010

In which I TOTALLY OWN at the challenge game.

I am sick, and it sucks. BUT I have a blog to post to and a challenge to update you all on, and so I must sally forth despite my wobbly head and ouchy throat.

So for the last two weeks my challenges were:
18. Learn at least three simple songs on my accordion -- OWNED
27. Write some letters to the editor of the Sun News -- TOTALLY DID IT
52. Start learning American Sign Language. -- STARTED, AT LEAST

I OWNED this chunk of the challenge, which is excellent since I failed so spectacularly on the first bit. I learned "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star," "Mary Had A Little Lamb," and "London Bridge," NOT TO MENTION "Zelda's Lullaby" and "Epona's Song" from The Ocarina of Time. :D I am a huge nerd and I am proud of it, you be quiet. ^_^ I (crappily) recorded all of this on my digital camera, but we've been having some computer issues of late so it will have to be uploaded later. But if you don't believe me, ask my parents, who had to listen to me play them over and over and over.

I wrote a letter to the editor of the paper, but it turns out you're only allowed one every 30 days, so I only did the one. I have no idea if it was printed or put on the website or what, but here it is, copied from my email:

"Have you noticed the enormous amount of tow-away zones in the Myrtle Beach area? Probably not, because the tow companies like to hide their signs where you can't see them, so that you will park there unknowingly and have to give them $200. The area right behind the late Crazy J's/The Basement is a designated parking area, but when you pull in, the first thing you see RIGHT AFTER the "PARKING" sign is a row of parking spaces that are in a tow-away zone. There are about ten spaces, and the Corner Cars Towing sign is at the very end, right behind a light. How are you ever supposed to see that, unless you're parking in the space right in front of it? And they're not the only company that does that, although they are by FAR the rudest and most difficult I've ever dealt with. I wish it were mandatory that the tow-away areas had to be CLEARLY marked, from ALL angles, instead of just a tiny sign that you can't read as you drive into Piper's Point Apartments, or a hidden sign in a designated parking lot. Please stop trying to screw us all over, City of Myrtle Beach."

SO YEAH. OWNAGE. NEXT TASK. :D I started learning ASL, but I'm not very advanced yet. I can do the alphabet, almost entirely from memory, and a few words. But this will be an ongoing goal, I just have to like... remember to practice. XD

I've made up a little schedule thing for when school starts back up, so I can remember to do all the things I keep meaning to do, like helping keep the house tidy, working out (failed again to go to the gym), learning languages and instruments, and writing. I've got a laptop now so I should be able to be more on top of things. School starts in like, two weeks or something, which is slightly terrifying because I'm not ready, and slightly exciting because I'm bored. ^_^

OKAY. So for the next two weeks, these will be my challenges:
17. Learn three simple songs on my lap harp,
54. Learn to juggle,
16. Write a musical (excluding the music for the songs - the book and the lyrics can be done in two weeks, but the music will take longer).

Unofficially, I will be trying to keep learning sign language, keep practicing the accordion, and try to get into a gym schedule. I don't think I will be reaching my weight loss goal, but if I can get into a regular exercise regimen, I'll be satisfied.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

YAYS FOR THE GAYS

So as I'm sure you've all heard, Proposition 8, which outlawed gay marriage in California, got overturned yesterday! WHOOOOO *throws party hat and chucks confetti everywhere* Go and watch this in celebration, it's funny and there's a bunch of cool celebrities in it INCLUDING THE ALL-POWERFUL NEIL PATRICK HARRIS: http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/c0cf508ff8/prop-8-the-musical-starring-jack-black-john-c-reilly-and-many-more-from-fod-team-jack-black-craig-robinson-john-c-reilly-and-rashida-jones?rel=featured

It only lasted two years, and after it was voted in, there were mass protests and candlelight vigils and all kinds of things going on in the CA LGBT community. It was a disappointing decision, but any event that brings people together to fight for equality and freedom and love is a good thing in my book. So eventually people protested and sued so much that they threw it out, saying that it violated the constitutional rights of gays and lesbians.

Currently there's a stay on the issue, meaning it's basically still in effect as no courts will marry a same-sex couple yet, while both sides are still going at it. The guys against it are all "Let's just keep pushing it back with appeals and stays and ridiculous nonsense so that no one can ever be happy!" and the guys for it are like "Dudes, you're not freaking taking our rights away again. STFD AND STFU."

Also, there's a huge uproar about how Obama is like "I don't agree with gay marriage, but I support equality for the GLBT community." WHY IS THAT NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR YOU? Shut up about him being wishy-washy, 'cause in my opinion that is EXACTLY THE RIGHT RESPONSE. He's saying it's not his personal belief, but ultimately he wants to do what's right. And the people who are like "WELL IF YOU SUPPORT THEM WHY ARE YOU TAKING SO LONG TO MAKE THINGS BETTER FOR THEM HUH HUH HUH WHY," you guys should also shut up. Being president is hard, and he's doing the best he can given the circumstances, and you should stop having a hissy-fit every time he makes a decision you disagree with. No one is ever going to be the perfect president, but he's doing a fine job. WHATEVER, NAYSAYERS. YOU GO, OBAMA. FOUR FOR YOU.

Anyway. It makes me literally feel sick that this is such an issue. It makes me so angry and so sad that people are arguing this. First of all, the government has no right to tell me who I can and can't marry. It's a personal decision, it affects no one but the two of us, and I really don't see how it's any of your business if I want to marry a woman or an illegal immigrant or a Martian, as long as they're of age and agree to it. Secondly, the idea that marriage should be between a man and a woman is outdated. Back when that was a true fact, you not only would have been killed for being gay, had rules against marrying black people, and allowed polygamy to happen, but also weren't allowed to get divorced or anything. It's a bit different in the world these days, and we need to get with the times.

But mostly, my issue is this: all they want is to officialize (shut up, I'm making it a word) their love, prove to the world that they belong to each other, just like millions of other people do every day. Celebrities get married for mere days, sometimes hours, but as long as it's opposite-sex it's fine. People get married, then divorced, then married, then divorced, then married, but as long as they're all the other gender, that's totally cool. People can marry foreigners just so they can stay in the US, but gays can't get married because they truly want to be with each other, simply because they're the same gender? My friend Erin put it like this:

"i also don’t understand how anyone came to think that whether or not gays can marry should become the entire country’s business. no one gives a f**k if heterosexuals marry. but gays have to ask permission from the entire country just to love someone and declare that love?" (sic except that I censored her - I'm family friendly. XD)

That is seriously skewed logic, there. Why is it different for a man to marry another man instead of a woman? Who is it really going to hurt? And why is that any of our business? Like the meme goes, "Opposed to abortion or gay marriage? THEN DON'T HAVE ONE AND SHUT THE F**K UP."

Erin also said this, which nearly made me cry:
"and if you’re too stuck to accept, at least try to tolerate. after all, we grew up tolerating your jeers of fag, lesbo, dyke, queer, fudgepacker. we grew up tolerating your shoves and pushes. your ignorance. we grew up tolerating a world where we would never be completely accepted. we grew up thinking we needed to hide. we tolerated hiding ourselves from the world and changing ourselves to fit in the narrow-minded views of others.

and we’re not accepting that anymore.

and we’re not apologizing for it any longer.

we tolerated your hate, you can tolerate our want to LOVE." (sic)