Second Attempt

That's what this post is, the second attempt made today. This morning's was not published by blogger so I've been too busy to get back to try to do another post. Here it is early evening and I will try again.

All day I have been thinking about my frustration with the people evacuating from Lebanon to Cyprus. The media has a knack for picking out the most disgruntled of people and playing up their complaints. It is disgusting. One student complained about no decent surroundings on the freighter she was evacuated on - that no food or water was available. It was a Swedish vessel so her complaints of the U.S. were bogus. She didn't bother to say that the Navy Seals went out to the vessel and sent chicken sandwiches to the Americans on board. She merely complained that not everyone else got food. You would think the trip to Cyprus took a week or something, not a matter of hours. Plus she had to get her dig in about why should she expect to be evacuated quickly after seeing the response to Katrina. What a waste of space she is. Spoiled little American girl waiting to be taken care of and then complain when she is.

And she had complaints about the conditions on the vessel - mind you this is a Swedish freighter, not a luxury cruise ship, - that there were flies and towards the end it resembled a "refugee" ship. Well, yeah. That education she's receiving at the university isn't making her too sharp. And I would love to know if she's there on a government grant.

How about a simple thank you? The fee has been waived and they don't even have to reimburse the government the measly fee of $150 that they were required to pay, by law, and the island of Cyprus is held by many to be a vacation resort island. Don't you feel sorry for her?

Contrast that with a story I just heard that restores my faith a bit: An American woman and her in-laws were in Lebanon to pick up the baby the American was adopting. Her husband is waiting for their return at their home in New Hampshire. He works in Massachusetts. They chose Lebanon to adopt from as he is 3 generation Lebanese. With the help of a cable tv show host, the senators from N.H. and a congressman from Massachusetts and Ted Kennedy, working with ICE and Homeland Security, they now have the green light to get on a ship tomorrow from Beirut. Americans pulling together. She was on tv tonight thanking everyone for the help and thanking the politicans. Then she and her husband both said God Bless America. Nice touch.

When Americans make the choice to travel and live in foreign lands, especially dangerous spots like the middle east, they must take full responsibility for how events play out. Good or bad. They are not forced to go to school there, work there or vacation there. As Americans we feel entitled to travel the world and assume all will be well. It is a naive way of thinking in today's world.

That's one lucky little Lebanese baby. His name in now Logan. I think he'll like it in New Hampshire.

Yesterday after my post I was playing around and found something fun from a couple of blogs I enjoy reading. So I had son help me post my results... Hence, the soul entry.

Good times.