My thoughts on Kim Jong Il's Funeral and the UN lowering the flag for his death

On one hand, judge not lest ye be judged; the West likes to claim they are in touch with Judeo Christian values, and yet I find myself judging the rest of the world all the time, even subconsciously, something I am never proud of doing and work hard to stop myself from doing, yet something I also notice is very pervasive. I agree it's a nice gesture to bridge-build with the North Korean people and maybe one day history will recall the UN's lowering of the flag as the first brick paved in a road to better relations between N Korea and the rest of the world. But, at the same time, I'm also kind of aggravated because the UN does exist on US soil and the US is its largest financial contributor. The US also believes in life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and I feel that in a way, even though te US and the UN are NOT the same, I don't see the harm in upholding those ideals, I don't really see how any rational person could possibly have a problem with endeavouring to pursue these ideals, I don't see "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" as controversial goals, and by the UN lowering its flag on US soil for N Korea, it's kind of telling man's most noble qualities, or at least telling those who believe it's worthwhile to try and achieve or embrace those qualities, that they aren't any better than the diametrically opposed ideals of repression and tyranny championed by Kim Jong Il. I don't think it's controversial for the UN to champion, foster, and embrace the best parts of humanity, the most noble qualities we as humans (not just as members of any particular country) can achieve, or to make a statement that it holds these values in higher regard than oppression. Life and liberty are always going to be better than death and oppression. there are some times morals aren't relative; there are some beliefs that are better than others, that represent a more evolved frame of mind; ideals whose ends result in better outcomes than others. However, this stance confuses me too, because it's kind of like we'd be treating N Korea like some wayward child that needs our guidance, and to disrespect their sovereignty like that is counter to our founding principles (save the GW Bush references, I know we haven't always adhered to them), and run counter to my personal beliefs as somebody who does try to be the best person I can be and embrace the best parts of my nature. So, I find myself in a conundrum, a very slippery slope. I think we have an obligation to let the world know many of us believe in principles of equality, freedom, and democracy, and that we don't tolerate brutal regimes who murder their own people and create misery solely by existing. At the same time, it's hard to adopt this stance without the accompanying condescension implicit in "we know better than you; here's how to do things if you want to be our friend. You are a misbehaving child who needs our discipline." I disagree with that, too. How do we show the world we hold idealism in regard without heavy-handing our way into their way of life? How do we encourage them to embrace freedom, equality, and opportunity without judging them implicitly? It's just a really slippery slope. I'm just going to hope smarter people than I, smarter, well-intentioned people, can answer these questions.

Try Occupying a Job

The "Occupy Wall Street" movement, organized and funded by Adbusters, a Canadian leftist organization (huh?), is a fetid swamp of human trash, eager to steal rather than earn their keep. Possessing an irrational hatred of the wealthiest 1% of the population, most of whom earned their money through hard work, ingenuity, or a combination of both, they believe these people are to be exterminated and vilified rather than emulated or imitated. Why is that? Because hard work is involved. Today's generation of people, especially college aged and early 20somethings, have an entitlement mentality never before seen in any recent generation. The idea of industriousness has earned the ire of these losers, who went to college to pursue idiotic degrees such as Women's Studies or Gender Relations, then expressed surprise at their inability to acquire a high-paying job right at the outset. Forget the idea of entry-level work, forget the idea that during a recession/weak economy it might be necessary to lower your expectations and buckle down for a few years, forget the idea that it's possible to make your own opportunities when you're fortunate enough to live in America, just complain that your student loan debt isn't being paid off by somebody else's dollars and if you complain loudly enough, with enough other losers, and without taking a shower for enough days, maybe the mainstream media will embrace your movement in an attempt to distract people from the president's ever increasing embarrassments during a tenure highlighted by gross incompetency, greed, selfishness, arrogance, and loathing. In this regard, it's very easy to see similarities between those in the movement, and their party leaders.

Target to San Diego Gay Group: Get off Our Property or We'll Sue You

The latest news coming out of San Diego's gay community is the lawsuit being filed against them by Target (the retailer). The pro gay-marriage group, Canvass for a Cause, has been picketing outside Target stores in response to the retailer's donation to a political candidate who is anti gay-marriage. Since the protestors were on private property, Target had them removed. A judge has ruled in Target's favor.

Typically, a furor has erupted in the wake of these events. The attorney for Canvass for a Cause is arguing that courts have traditionally held that the land outside department stores, retailers, etc., to be public domain, and that people have the right to assemble/free speech in public domain lands.

What do you think? Here is a link to the whole story.

Top Headlines for Friday, March 25 2011

California GOP Elects First Openly Gay Board Member

Lost amidst all insider bickering, Haley Barbour question-dodging, press-banning and John Bolton sabre-rattling at the weekend California Republican convention was a bit of history:
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/nov05election/detail?entry_id=85460#ixzz1HdcrRNcG

Senator Barbara Boxer gets up in GOP's face about Effort to Defund Planned Parenthood

GOProud Joins other Conservative Outfits in Effort to de-fund Planned Parenthood

New York Rep. Anthony Weiner both Toasts Obamacare...and Pushes for Statewide Exemption to "save money."

Obama Administration Storied history with Inspectors General - Why Amtrak failed par the course

As Usual, Eric Holder Offers Policy on Racial Lines Only

Much has been made in the media about bullying as of late. While Columbine really opened up the national discourse on the social ramifications of bullying, a resurgence of high-profile, violent scenarios have resulted in deaths, suicides, and jail time. While the faces have changed - these days, social media provides bullies a venue - the message is still the same: bullying affects kids. Whether you're a gay kid at Rutgers hooking up with somebody in his dorm room, whose roommate all the while has been feeding the video stream to the Internet, or you're a mother-daughter team masquerading as a facebook/myspace guy to bait a girl down the block, only to later tell her she should kill herself, the progression of bullying is something that needs to be analyzed to find a root, then addressed by the government. Unfortunately, that means Eric Holder.

The current administration's idea of dealing with bullying is essentially to apply the anti-discrimination laws of the 60s and 70s to school settings. This means reverse racism, of course. The anti discrimination/hate-crime laws focus on protecting things like sex, race, religion, and sexual orientation, or people with handicaps or disabilities, etc. If you're one of these golden ticket winners in the eyes of the Obama Administration, consider yourself protected....or, at least, able to pursue legal recourse. However - if you're, for example, a tubby straight white kid being bullied for being fat, or, a white kid being bullied by a black kid, or a black kid being bullied by another black kid, you're SOL (shit outta luck). Yet another hasty, ill-conceived bandaid from the Obama administration, these becoming the hallmark of his tenure as Worst President Ever. Sagging auto sales? Cash for Clunkers! Rising unemployment? Put 'em to work in the Census! Historic uprisings in the Arab world? Doddle and jetset for 30 days, then whimper out a tenuous co-sponsorship of a U.N. no-fly resolution.

I'll leave you with one thing to think about. The next time you're voting for something and you feel those awful stirrings of White Guilt™ in your belly, remember what it got you all the last time, as you're sitting with your child and his black eye and scarred psyche from being picked on by a student who gets bussed in from 3 counties away, in the waiting room of a government-owned doctor's office behind 450 illegal immigrants waiting to give birth for free, only to find out you can't afford the gas to drive home afterwards.

Japan's Stock Market is Going Nuclear

In the wake of that country's worst earthquake ever - recently upgraded to a moment magnitude of 9.0 from original estimates as low as the low 8's, then 8.8, then hovering around at 8.9, making it the 5th worst quaker in recorded history - the fallout included the usual victims: architectural damage, fires, power outages, tsunami; what nobody was banking on were implications in Japan's notoriously efficient and technologically advanced nuclear power infrastructure.

Unfortunately, catastrophic damage at the Futsushibidabubabidadudshubi (sic) Nuclear Power reactor near Sendai - a port city around 35N in the Northeastern part of Japan - has led to superheated fuel rods, increased radiation levels (as high as 25-30x normal levels in areas north of Tokyo), and a real shit-show for Tokyo Power Co. Plant workers even had to divert sea-water into the reactors as a last-ditch effort to prevent a worse melt-down, something that I have gathered from several articles over the last couple of days, is considered a very last-ditch effort to cool overheated fuel rods in the event that coolant is either depleted or cannot be accessed. For those of you novices in nuclear physics (morons!), the fuel rods are literally several meter long rods of nuclear material which become superheated due to radiation, then inserted into water to produce steam. The steam is what actually produces energy, not nuclear energy itself. Dumping sea-water into the core to cool them down, I would imagine, "fucks stuff up."

Fears of a Chernobyl-style meltdown (which experts, and yours truly, both feel is not a possible scenario, so don't worry) have translated to a real Chernobyl-style stock market meltdown. The Nissei - Japan's benchmark index, like our DOW or S&P, has shed 11%, up from a 14% sell-off earlier yesterday - making it the 2nd worst sell-off in that index's auspicious history. The 1st worst? Oct 2008, in the immediate aftermath of the global financial crisis. Of course, major sell-offs in one of the world's biggest economies spreads. The Hang Seng (china), as well as India's indices suffered, and the DOW went down about 187 points. This is not catastrophic by any standards, but, it shows how the world's economy has really integrated and globalized.

In any case, that's just the news I have time to share at 6:30 am before I have to leave for school. I would like anyone reading to offer a moment of silence, of prayer, of thought, whatever your preference, for the potentially tens of thousands of dead in Japan. GOd bless!

5 members of Israeli West Bank Family have their throats slit - World shrugs

By now, I know enough to say, with conviction, that I will never know enough to understand the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. There are perhaps, only a handful of other deep-reaching, long-lasting, controversial agreements which permeate every aspect of life, from diplomatic disagreement through full-blown cultural antagonism. Reports grounded in objective fact are nonexistent - too much passion exists on both sides. We hear that Palestinians murder Israelis in cold blood. We hear that Israelis fire missiles indiscriminately into Palestinian territory. We hear that neither side's claim to sovereignty is legal or should be recognized internationally. We hear Israelis are evil colonial imperialists, strong-arming their neighbors into submission with their nuclear arsenal and superior military. We hear that Palestinians unanimously support, harbor, and sympathize with Hamas. What we never hear, however, are serious and realistic intentions to forge a peace.

On the heels of Saturday's news piece, that 5 members of an Israeli family living in the West Bank had their throats slit as they slept, by suspected Palestinian militants, the international community is in a furor. A link to the original story is below, and it also follows up with Israel's planned response to add several hundred settlements in the West Bank - an obvious backtrack from their pledge to halt any further settlement until a mutually agreed upon plan had been reached - in order to secure the area.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/13/israel-expand-settlements-family-killing

All I can really say is - murdering a family in cold blood, in the middle of the night, to make any type of statement about politics, religion, government, or anything at all - is not the right way to do things. I get that both sides of this schism feel equally passionate about the core issues....but how can society purport to label itself "civilized" if this is how we handle things? So many people on comment boards, on other blogs, etc., seem to target one side or the other. Some say that Israelis deserve this due to their past treatment of Palestinians. Others say that Palestinians deserve retaliation for this. I say: stop disrespecting your neighbor. What is so important? What is the end goal? What does this accomplish? Maybe nobody should be allowed to reside in the West Bank - nary an iota of good news has ever come out of that region.