How much can we save?

Nazanin Fatehi (17 years old) may get the death penalty for fighting off three rapists. She had stabbed one of them and killed another, she was also defending her 16-year-old daughter who were both pinned to the ground as they tried to escape. Thousands are trying to see why they would sentence this girl to hang. According the Iranian law, 'One Man's life is worth twice as much as a woman's life.' The retrial is set for January 10. There is a petition online.

Here it is.

Another really weird way I personally think to support Nazanin, is to attend a reading of The Vagina Monologues. I've been to one and I really don't see how this will make people aware of what this global fight against violence toward women is. But anyways it supports it so that's good:

Check if there's a show in your area, gives good laughs.

I was reading letters concerning an article on an American soldier that plotted with two other American soldiers to rape this girl that lived nearby where they were stationed at. They locked the family in their room and raped her, killing the family and the girl afterwards. People were appalled saying how dare they write an article on the soldiers that are trying to help, they already have it bad. Here are two different letters.

"I'd like to thank you for running the article about the soldier Steven Green and the horrors he committed in Iraq ["Soldier, Rapist, Killer"]. I'm an American Muslim, and it makes me furious to hear about instances like this where American soldiers victimize the people they're allegedly helping. It makes America--as well as the rest of the hardworking soldiers--look bad. I'm glad you published this article because we hear about American soldiers dying every day, but rarely do we ever get a picture of the other side."
Angelique, 22, Ozone Park, NY.

+

"You should be ashamed of the story "Soldier, Rapist, Killer." There is already enough negative press press concerning our soldiers, and it is awful of you to add to it. Be different from media today and publish a story on the good troops are doing overseas. I know that I, along with many military wives, girlfriends, and fiancees, would appreciate it."
Kasey, 21, Fort Hood, TX.

Some people are pretty amazing. And yes, This was from my Seventeen issue of February. What do you guys think? I think Kasey hasn't heard many of these stories either like me, if she knew someone like she knew her boyfriend there, I think she'd think different. Too many people are subjective. Bye.

-Yanira (First actual blog!)

Blog Update: Feeds

http://feeds.feedburner.com/AMorePleasantBlog

You can now better keep track of posts on this blog through that site. You can either read the blog through that link, subscribe to one of the many feed options they list (I now have A More Pleasant Blog on my Google homepage ^_^), or, if you use Firefox, you could've subscribed to the feed beforehand using the little chiclet to the right of the url.

Check out how cool this is:


If you don't know what a web feed is, read up: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_feed

Have fun!

-Josh

And even Thomas Jefferson...

What would Thomas Jefferson say about the current state of the country? What would he say about our laws, our policies, our viewpoints? Is this country what he and the other Fathers saw as the future of their budding democracy? If not, can we still reach their high expectations?

What would Thomas Jefferson say about Keith Ellison, the first Muslim to ever be elected to Congress? Jefferson was a strong proponent of religious freedom, being well-read in whatever beliefs he could and helping shape the Government into a tolerant one. He would surely be overjoyed, or at least indifferent to the idea. For someone to overcome the sterotypes of their religion and to succeed in the political spectrum regardless of their party and position would be seen as remarkable by him, especially in times such as these.

But wait, there's a catch. Representatives take the office collectively, and without fluff. However, they also take seperate oaths of office with the Speaker of the House. This is mainly a photo-op. He goes up to Nancy Pelosi, she swears him in with hand on the Bible, and the photographers go nuts.

But Keith wanted something different. Instead of taking his photo-op oath on the "traditional" Bible, he announced that he will be sworn in on the Qur'an.

And the loonies in Washington went ape-shit. They attacked him left and right for wanting to do so, the head chicken in the pack being Virginia Rep. Virgil Goode, who called Ellison's humble request "a threat to American values." This is nothing but pure bigotry on Goode's part.

But what is Keithy to do? Admit defeat and praise Jesus? Hallelujah! Lawd Amighty! He wasn't willing to do that. He defend his request as anyone would, but the attack from the Right was unrelenting. They claimed that the Bible is the main base of American Law, and as such, no matter what Ellison's religion, he should show his respect for the book, and that is partly true. The Bible did have a crucial role in the shaping of this country, and most of the Founders were religious (Deists, but religious), Jefferson among them. But should that mean that Ellison is wrong?

Keith was not going to back down, and he had a plan, a plan that is one of the most politically-savvy moves I have seen in a long time. After a month of waiting, Mr. Ellison made an announcement: yes, he will still be sworn in on the Qur'an, but the specific Qur'an he will be sworn in on will be one owned by—you guessed it—Thomas Jefferson.

"He wanted to use a Koran that was special," said Mark Dimunation, chief of the rare book and special collections division at the Library of Congress, who was contacted by the Minnesota Dem early in December. Dimunation, who grew up in Ellison's 5th District, was happy to help.

Jefferson's copy is an English translation by George Sale published in the 1750s; it survived the 1851 fire that destroyed most of Jefferson's collection and has his customary initialing on the pages. This isn't the first historic book used for swearing-in ceremonies -- the Library has allowed VIlPs to use rare Bibles for inaugurations and other special occasions. (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/03/AR2007010300075.htm)

Eat that, bigots. That is a very smart move, a VERY smart move, and I applaud him for having the intelligence to come up with it. The justification of this move was stated eloquently by Ellison spokesman Rick Jauert: "Keith is paying respect not only to the founding fathers' belief in religious freedom but the Constitution itself."

How will Virgil Goode react to that? Who can say? Who cares? It'll all be over in 10 seconds, and we'll all move on, though some will take longer than others.

-Josh

Not Too Amazing

Just a few minutes ago the body of President Gerald R. Ford was driven to his museum in Grand Rapids, Michigan, past a crowd of admirers who were willing to wait outside on a cold, January day just to catch a glimpse of the hearse as it passed. Waiting at the museum was his wife, Betty Ford, and a small army of children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren, as well as the presidents of the University of Michigan and Yale, the mayor of Grand Rapids, and former President Jimmy Carter. Tomorrow's ceremony will be shorter, with eulogies from Jimmy Carter, Donald Rumsfeld, the Cheneys, and the Ford children. But today is today. Ford's flag-drapped casket was revealed in the back of the hearse to the tune of "Hail to the Chief" and all was serene and quiet across the plains...

...until the bagpiper began. Ford had specific requests for his funeral, he had picked out his exact burial spot and all the rituals that would accompany him into the ground. One of his requests was for a bagpiper to play the hymn "Amazing Grace" as his casket was brought into his museum for the public to show their appreciation. And the city of Grand Rapids answered his request, producing a police bagpiper to play at the ceremony.

Apparently they like that.

Now, I'm not the biggest fan of the bagpipes. They are generally loud and annoying. But the guy they dug up (forgive the burial pun) was absolutely dreadful. When I think of a good bagpiper, I think of a skilled someone able to use that despicable sack of noise to lure us into a soft, pastoral land far from the white noise of the city, invoking images of Burns' Scotland.

This numb-nut must not have practiced enough.

The sound that came out of the bagpipes as the Honor Guard beared Ford's body into the museum was not "Amazing Grace," and I would deny its encore on the grounds that it is a cruel and unusual punishment to all within the absolute threshold of hearing. The rendition, for lack of a better term, was even more squeaky and out-of-tune than most bagpipe preformances, and listening to it brought to mind a million wet sneakers running across an unbegotten and boundless linoleum floor. I think even Betty Ford, in her quiet mourning, was thinking "who is that and why are they strangling a cat?"

And the icing on the cake comes from Norah O'Donnell, who is that is currently covering the service for MSNBC, who commented on how beautiful the music was. I'd give an exact quote but it was too ridiculous to remember. Thank God for the choir chiming in during the ceremony, for helping to reunite my torn eardrums and easing my mind's pain. Will they pardon the bagpiper in the end? Guiltier men have gone free.

R.I.P Jerry. I hope they play better music in Heaven.

-Josh

Feed Your Heaaaad, Feed Your Heaaaaaaaaaaaad

I believe that people would be alive today if there were a death penalty.
-Nancy Reagan

Wise words indeed.

Well yesterday was a queer, sultry summer day, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs, and I didn't know what I was doing in New York. Wait, not quite. It was a winter day, and they hanged Saddam Hussein, and I knew exactly what I was doing in Las Vegas. Sylvia, you failed me once again!

Saddam has been dead for a day now, and I'm not sure how I should feel. Evil tryant gone, woopee!, right? But then again, the death of any human shouldn't be celebrated, as it is always a sad occasion. We're all the same in death: lifeless corpses.

Now I support the death penalty, and I believe that his trial was, for the most part, fair and justice was served to an evil man (it was unusually speedy, though). But still, someone's dead, and that's sad. Video of the execution is already online, and I have no real intention on seeing it anytime soon, I had enough after the Nick Berg execution (Wikipedia gave me a nice surprise by showing me a picture of Saddam lying there with his neck broken, that sure made me feel good). First James Brown, then Gerald Ford, now Saddam Hussein. It must be a good week to die! I wonder what that says about 2007. Maybe those three are the lucky ones.

International reaction to the execution has been mixed, to say the least. At the optimistic end is the leaders of the U.S. and Iraq, that practically proclaim that God's in his heaven and all is right in the world. In Iraq itself there are mixed feelings. The Shi'a are party-hardying, the Sunni are mourning and blowing things up. Outside Iraq, opinion is even more mixed. It seems that all of Europe is backing the European Union's belief (along with the Vatican and human rights groups) that capital punishment is wrong, though a good number of countries have went so far as to say that they respect the judical processes of Iraq. Brazil, Cambodia, India, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka were blatantly against the whole execution. Palestine's Hamas party went even further to declare the exectution "a political assassination" (http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=18985), and Gaddafi's Libya declared a three-day mourning period for the fallen Sunni hero.

But who's the biggest supporter of the execution, after the U.S.? Iran! Oh the irony, the irony feels so good. Here is a statement from Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Hamid Reza Asefi:

"With regard to Saddam's execution, it amounts to a victory of the Iraqi people as they were the winners of his fall [...] Saddam's regime was overthrown because the Iraqi people did not support him. It is crystal clear that the United States should not misinterpret his fall and take the credit to itself" (http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-12/30/content_5550896.htm).

What a wacky world we live in, huh?

J.C.

P.S. And James Carville gets to live. How do you like that?

P.P.S. Happy New Year everyone. :]

"Be not afraid of greatness; some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them."

Well, I wasn't born great. Nor was greatness thrust upon me...yet. So, that must mean I might achieve greatness someday.

Introducing to you: One of the most inspiring (or one of the most uninspiring) person in the world!

I am Addison. The title to this entry is a Shakespearian quote from "Twelfth Night." I sometimes analyze on writings like that. I see things differently than people see in sight and perspective. I am color-blind, but that has no significance on how I live my life, thus explaining how I see differently from people. I do play the piano, having somewhat of an 'incline to musical talent.' Sort of. I enjoy music, from classical to rock. Not rap. I do like to read and write poetry, short stories, essays, etc., but lately things have gotten too busy, so I haven't written anything in a while. Maybe sometime I'll post one and see what you think! I am a non-conformist. Rather, I would go out of my way for people. Leading to one of my downfalls as somewhat of a messianic complex, leading to other faults. I act, at Backstage Studios. I can go on, and on...But you'll find out later. That's about it for me.

I think I might like this blog.

Salutations.

I guess since I'm going to be contributing as well, along the side of the mysterious and witty Joshua Cohen and hopefully others, I should introduce myself. My name is Yanira, don't remember what it stands for. I usually look on the brighter sides of things, what can be better, but I don't make up truths and pretend the world is alright. I don't have a set opinion, but I do believe in fairness. I fill my time with competition dance, musical theatre, running a club for teens on Darfur and other world issues (focusing on Darfur right now though), and normal friend things. I'm sixteen and the rest you can assume.