So far, so good this morning. Enjoying morning coffee without worrying about breaking into a sweat, as the a/c is doing well now. The air was a bit cooler and drier outside as I took son to school, a welcome relief. But, alas, we expect 90 degree temps again this afternoon. Here in this part of the world, our low temps at night still hover around 70 degrees. It'll be like this through the fall months, with the afternoon temps slowly hitting highs in the 80's. I have vivid memories of wearing shorts and sleeveless shirts on Christmas Eve as a child.
How about that space debris, huh? I am a bit nervous about the sudden appearance of three or four objects floating around outside the shuttle and the astronauts are trying to figure out what the stuff is. Holy cow. I'm holding them in my thoughts. I hope the best for their families, who I'm sure are stressing out on this development, whether they say so publicly or not.
Last night brought the happy ending to the bizarre story of the kidnapped infant girl from her home in Missouri. Her family's prayers have been answered. That facial birthmark saved her life when it was discovered to be hidden by makeup by a woman relative of the kidnapper. The ironic thing is this birthmark will be something the girl will want to be cosmetically removed as a teenager, I'm sure.
Have you heard about the first woman tourist, paying her own way, to travel into space on a Russian rocket? She blasted off from Kazakhstan. I'm sure if my hubby was still in that country he would have tried to get to wherever she blasted off and check it out. She is an American citizen now, born in Iran and left that country at the age of 16. She is 40 now and very successful in her life in America. Her father was a senior executive in a wine company and it was closed by the Iranian radical Islamic regime. Her name is Anousheh Ansari.
Ms. Ansari spoke no English upon arrival in this country. She received two degrees within five years, however, and secured a loan to start up a software firm with her husband in her 20's. Then they sold the business for $500 million...
When preparing with her space suit for travel, she let it be known she wanted to put the American flag on one sleeve and as an inspiration to Iranian women, the Iranian flag on the other sleeve. She was pressured by the U.S. government and the Russian government to rethink her idea. She agreed to not make political statements while in space. I feel compelled to ask, why? I read about this in the Wall Street Journal's online wrapup and I am as baffled as they are as to the reasoning of discouraging a voice of reason coming through in a symbolic way. Why in the world when we are in the middle of such a void of moderate Muslim voices would this woman be pressured to be silent? Educational institutions in this country, like Harvard, allow hateful, devisive voices like Mohammad Khatami's to be heard yet this woman is silenced. Where is our common sense?
People like me are asking, daily, where are the moderate Muslim voices? Where are those who can come forward and denounce the hateful actions of the extreme fringe of the religion? It has been five years now since that morning on 9/11 yet we are still seeking reason and productive dialogue. Yesterday the United Nations allowed the fanatical leader of Iran to stand in front of their assembly of world leaders and rant about the vision he has for the world. He sees a world where the United States is not in existance at the end of this century. He sees a world where Israel is wiped off the map. He says there was no Holocaust. He says the U.S. is the oppressor and the cause of the problems of the world. He has joined with leaders like Hugo Chavez and calling for the destruction of America.
The IslamoFacists calling for death to America, death to the Christians and Jews, the infidels, are protesting the Pope's recent speech. The Pope was calling for a dialogue among religious factions to have a vehicle for peace and understanding. I am not Catholic and have no dog in that fight, but now the protesting Muslims are verifying the Pope's statements. They are protesting with signs threatening the life of the Pope, of Christians, of Jews. They burn the Pope in effegy. The Pope before this new one was shot by a Muslim.
On a different note, how cool was it that the Australian Prime Minister, John Howard, spoke at the memorial service for Steve Irwin? The eulogy made by Steve's young daughter blew me away. She is quite an amazing 8 year old.
"Truth and justice has to prevail." - Duane "Dog" Chapman, the Bounty Hunter.
4 comments:
I've missed reading you the past couple of days. I think I've had my head inthe sand...you brought me back quickly to reality with your posts. Thanks.
It's incredibly duplicitous to convince her not to make a "political statement" while in space. Was the space program not built on, or at least propelled by, the desire to make a political statement?
I'm nervous for our astronauts, too. I can't stop thinking about them.
Steve Irwin's young daughter blew me away, too. Incredibly brave, confident and aware young lady.
I am having video card problems. Intermittent purple lines show up and just when I think I have tweeked it and it is gone, it comes back. Of course the machine is no longer under warranty so I will ahve to call someone else. I think the video driver is sapping too much something and trying to go out. Something called acceleration.....if I make it go to nothing it fixes the video problem and also makes my audio output higher...I have no idea what I am doing.
Anyway... earlier this week I heard a statement that really made me pause.
"The founding fathers didn't write the "separation of church and state" into the Constitution to keep religion OUT of the government; but rather to keep the government OUT of religion." As I thought about this it dawned on me that that is exactly what has happened. In other words they didn't write it to keep prayer and Bible reading out of schools but to keep Congress from telling us which church to go to, or what preachers have to say there. I would say we are suffering under "Political Incorrectness"... the Constitution has not been interpreted correctly.
You know, I'm not a big fan of TV preachers and they are human and put their feet in their mouths a lot. But when the dialogue of Studio 60 openly made reference to "The 700 Club" and Pat Robertson, calling him a bigot and referring to Conservative Christians in a demeaning fashion while at the same time putting out garbage language and situations I wouldn't want my children to see or hear.. I was deeply offended. This show by the producers of The West Wing (didn't care that much for it either), is marked off my viewing schedule. I may see what advertisers support it and use other products as well. I know, small pebble...
srp -- I"m a believer in small pebbles. I don't use Heinz ketchup (or any other Heinz product), won't won't won't see any movie with Susan Sarandon or Sean Penn (among others) and have sworn off several tv shows.
I don't get the anti-flag/sleeve pressure either I'm getting tired of the tippy-toe and feeling ready to slam on the seven-league boots and make some impressions. I've wondered where the Moderate Muslin voice is too. Too scared to speak up or too few?
That Hugo Chavez just twists me all into a jittery wad. And re: the Pope's remarks...
Here in E-TN, most folks are Baptist but you will regularly see two different Baptist churches, usually small but not always, sharing a driveway and sometimes one huge covered picnic table. If you ask one of the congregation you will often hear a story about how somebody got mad over something that was done or said and split the congregation and the property and built another church right next door. Nobody burned out the other's home or begged God for their deaths (publically). They just co-existed and sniped privately. Nevertheless, you can pass one of these feuding duos and see a sign once a year proclaiming a joint potluck supper.
Some of these grudges and pseudo-feuds go on for generations, just like in stories, but they can manage at least polite over dinner on the grounds once a year with no bloodshed.
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