why burning the quran is not like burning the american flag

There are many people around the world who are decrying Pastor Terry Jones and his Dove World Outreach Center's decision to host an "International Burn a Quran Day" on September 11, 2010. I recently posted that I would like to hear from those support his actions and have a discussion about it. I received several replies, mostly from those against it - no surprise here - but i did receive a couple which equate it with the burning of the American flag.

While I can understand how they may feel this way, there are a couple differences between the two and the symbolism between their desecration...

First off, "The American Mindset -vs- Radical Islam"...yes, there are those in foreign countries who choose to protest America by burning our flag. There are those in America who choose to do so as well. When we look upon this action, we shake our heads in disgust and, in regards to foreigners, chalk it up to them hating our freedoms and policies. No one goes so far as to murder those who oppose us simply because they did so. With all due respect to those within that society, we are a bit more civilized than them in that respect. Also, in regards to when an American burns his country's flag, we MOST definitely do not immediately despise ALL Americans based upon the actions of a few extremists.

Secondly, yes, symbolically speaking, the American flag is very important to our citizens and especially the men and women who fight, and sometimes pay the ultimate price, for it. I get that...I really do, although comparing our flag, which is just less than 300 years old to a scripture which is a 1000+ years old and is followed by over a billion people worldwide is too simplistic to me. I don't read the bible, nor any other religious text, on a regular basis but I would feel for those who do, if it were used as a pawn by another who claimed to be "trying to make a point". What if it were an American Muslim hosting a bible burning...would you feel the same way?

I truly feel for American Muslims who salute our flag, pay their taxes and read the Quran...the heartbreak they must be feeling towards a fellow American burning the very scriptures they cherish must be immense.

what I read today

THE WOMEN'S CRUSADE
source The New York Times Magazine

CHRISTIAN COUPLES STAYING FAITHFUL ONLINE
source The Sacramento Bee

WHITE HOUSE ADVISER VAN JONES RESIGNS AMID CONTROVERSY
source The Washington Post

BEATLES ROCK BAND: HARMONIX CREATIVE DIRECTOR JOSH RANDALL
source Blast

PIMA COUNTY WANTS MORE DRUNK DRIVERS PAYING FOR JAIL STAY
source The Arizona Daily Star

what I read today

WHERE DO I FIND A GOOD DRUG DEALER
source Michael Ian Black Blog

ELECTRIC CARS AND CHINA: YES THEY CAN?
source Al Gore Blog

US AIR FORCE ABANDONED NUCLEAR BOMB IN GREENLAND
source Gizmodo

THE SNOOPING DRAGON:
SOCIAL-MALWARE SURVEILLANCE OF THE TIBETAN MOVEMENT
source University of Cambridge

zia records...what the hell?

Due to "comment moderation" on their blog I'm sure my comment I just posted will never see the light of day...so here it is; for the whole world to see...

Uhhhh...your entire blog is dedicated to one album from one artist?? I mean c'mon, the blog is called Nas Controversy? Dude…are you guys kidding? Boy, this guy is right...after years and years of being the coolest thing in town, you guys suck now. Thought you were above becoming another money machine…that you were dedicated to the local music scene and keeping the old indie record store vibe alive. Apparently you’re just another cog in the man’s machine. It’s pathetic and so is your so called "blog".

I expected so much more from you. Congrats Zia, another customer bites the dust.

PS Little advice: Next time, use spell-check...it's the little button with ABC and the checkmark under it...

president bush pardons himself against potential war crimes

I am currently researching the validity of Mr. Cafferty's statement...I will post my findings as they occur...

what I watched today

Okay, not exactly watched but you get my point...

Nas - Sly Fox (FOX News Diss)
New Release - June 27, 2008

Lyrics
So we look at what's going on -- this as an EXTREME aggression, um
I'm also hearing about it from EVERYWHERE!
It's-it's on the islands, it's on the continent, it's here: it's everywhere!
And this is, if you will, a WAR -- An all out assault by...

The sly fox
Cyclops
We locked
In the idiot box
The video slots
Broadcast
The Waco Davidian plots
They own YouTube, Myspace
When this ignorant shit gon' stop?
They monopolizing news
Your views
And the channel you choose
Propaganda
Visual cancer
The eye
In the sky
Number five
On the dial
secret agenda
Frequency antenna
Doctor mind bender
Remote control
soul
Controller
Your brain holder
Slave culture
Game's over
What's a Fox characteristic?
Slick shit
Sensin'
Misinformation
Pimp the station
Over stimulation
Reception
Deception
Comcast digital Satan
The Fox has a bushy tail
And Bush tells
Lies and Foxtrots
So I don't know what's real
_________________________________

[Chorus]
Watch what you watchin'
Fox keeps feeding us toxins
Stop sleeping
Start thinking
Outside of the box and
Unplug from The Matrix doctrine
But watch what you say Big Brother is watchin'

Watch what you watchin'
Fox keeps feeding us toxins
Stop sleeping
Start thinking
Outside of the box and
Unplug from The Matrix doctrine
But watch what you say Fox 5 is watchin'

_________________________________

The Fear Factor got you all rattled up
O' Reilly
Oh really?
No rally needed
I'll tie you up
Network for child predators, settin' 'em up
Myspace pimps, hoes, and sluts
Ya'll exploit rap culture, then ya'll flip on us
And you own the post, and ya'll shit on us
What is they net worth?
They gonna try to censor my next verse?
Throw 'em off the roof neck first
While I'm clicking my cursor
Reading blogs about the pressure they put on Universal
It gets worse while I'm clicking my mouse
While they kickin' my house
They figured us out
Why a nigga go south
It's either he caught a body, no sleep they watchin'!
I watch CBS
And I See B.S.!
Tryin' to track us down with GPS
Make a nigga wanna invest in PBS

[Chorus]

They say I'm all about murder-murder and kill-kill
But what about Grindhouse and Kill Bill?
What about Cheney and Halliburton?
The backdoor deals
On oil fields
How's Nas the most violent person?
Ya'll don't know talent if it hit you
Bringin' up my criminal possession charges with a pistol
I use Viacom
As my firearm
And let the lyrics split you
Who do you rely upon?
They shoot shells at Leviathan
I'm dealing with the higher form
Fuck if you care how I write a poem?
Only Fox that I love was the red one
Only black man that Fox loves is in jail or a dead one!
Red rum
Political bedlam
Don't let the hype into your eyes and ear drum
Murdoch on Fox
Not 18 with Barracas
And he hate Barack cause
He march with the marchers

I pledge allegiance to the fair and balanced truth.
Not the biased truth
Not the liar's truth
But the highest truth
I will not be deceived
nor will I believe
In the Propaganda
I will not fall for the Okey-Doke
I am tuned-in

Watch, cause they're watching
Watch what you're watching
Better watch, cause they're watching
Watch what you're watching
Me-Me-Media
Misleading ya
Watch what you're watchin'

what I read today

OBAMA: “I AM ASKING YOU TO CHANGE HISTORY’S COURSE.”
source The ONE Blog

BETANCOURT REUNITED WITH FAMILY
source BBC News

GOOGLE MUST DIVULGE YOUTUBE LOG
source BBC News

HELP YOUR KIDS STOP THE SUMMER BRAIN DRAIN
source The Today Show

what I watched today

Bush Tours America To Survey Damage
Caused By His Presidency

words others have spoken that I rather enjoy the sound of... (updated frequently)

The words are not entered in any particular order, such as preference or when I heard them...it's mostly to do with when I have time or they come to mind...

Also included will be statements made by either a public or private figure that I just cannot believe came out of their mouths. I call this section, WTF¿. These will always be on the lower half of this post.

Enjoy...

WEDNESDAY JULY 2, 2008

"There are no happy endings because nothing ever ends."
- Schmendrick the Magician - The Last Unicorn, 1982

TUESDAY JULY 1, 2008

"Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you are a mile away from them, and you have their shoes." - Frieda Norris

MONDAY JUNE 30, 2008

"Baracknophobia. It is defined as the irrational fear of hope. The irrational fear that behind the mild-mannered facade, Barack Obama is intent on enslaving the white race. It‘s true. Wake up, white people.The sickness manifests itself mostly through rumor often in the form of the only e-mail that your grandmother has ever been able to successfully forward." - Jon Stewart - The Daily Show, June 16, 2008

SATURDAY JUNE 28, 2008

"If you don't get everything you want, think of the things you don't get that you don't want." - Oscar Wilde

FRIDAY JUNE 27, 2008

"Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to a better understanding of ourselves." - Carl Jung

THURSDAY JUNE 26, 2008

"Loud doesn't mean right.” - Phil Donahue - O'Reilly Factor, Sept. 23, 2005

WTF¿

"The feminist agenda is not about equal rights for women. It is about a socialist, anti-family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians." - Pat Robertson - 1992

"Well, it's not like we go over to London and expect them to speak English." - Ed Cross - 2006 (during a discussion as to whether or not public schools, offices, etc. should allow bilingual signs, forms and translators for the people who come to America to live and cannot communicate with a majority of the population.)

Wow.

perhaps I'm no better than...

Those who know me know that I am a very passionate person. I'm passionate about my family, my work, my community and my country. Over the past few years I have noticed a change in my attitude when having dealings with others whom I may consider intolerant and/or ignorant. Perhaps it’s age or my evolving awareness of our society and its imperfections. After a particular exchange I engaged in with two gentlemen last evening who hold different views than mine, I found myself thinking about it as I laid in bed. "Am I any better than those that I rail against?" I try to be. Okay, not better per se, although I do make an exerted effort to not get caught up in negativity and accusations. Sometimes, for a passionate person, this can prove to be more difficult then I'd prefer.

This year's election has the entire country talking. The pundits are salivating…chewing on every word spoken by the campaigns and regurgitating it on every venue possible. Those of us who are following this election closely have to be aware not to get caught up in their caustic rhetoric. The tendency to do so can be great.

So as I go on with my day, I keep the values I teach my children in my head and my heart…everyone is unique and that the differences that we have are what make mankind interesting. How boring the world would be if we were all the same.

Thank you Someguy - retiring the Dawg for a while and Admiral Sir John. Thank you for reminding me of the person that I fear of becoming...biased and jaded by a process that is as old as our country.

"Any fool can criticize, condemn & complain & most fools do."

- Benjamin Franklin

wesley clark hammers mccain's experience

Wesley Clark was on Face the Nation today, and he took aim at the idea that McCain's Vietnam War experience makes him more qualified to be president. “I don’t think getting in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to become president.” With one swoop, Clark attacked the entire basis for the McCain presidential campaign.
_____________________________________________________

There are many people out there attacking Mr. Obama for the comments made by Gen. Clark yesterday morning. Apparently, reporters write what they believe, not the truth, and everyone eats it up. The opening line to Josh Kraushaar's article on Politico.com, "Gen. Wesley Clark, acting as a surrogate for Barack Obama’s campaign..." is false but those who choose to believe everything they read, have taken those words and ran with them.

I find it amazing that although Mr. Obama stands in front of the American people and denounces Mr. Clark's statements, no one believes him. What is the truth then? What you say it is? If it's offensive and polarizing enough, it has to be true. Followers of this election appear to be picking and choosing what they believe to be true. You can't do that. Well, you can, but then you would no better than those who are attempting to think for us.

Just as religious zealots do not "speak" for God, when they perpetrate violence on others for their beliefs, nor can one man sum up another in one sentence.

read more digg story

we are the change that we seek.

_____________________________________

_____________________________________

were war crimes committed by the president of united states?

War crimes are "violations of the laws or customs of war", including but not limited to "murder, the ill-treatment or deportation of civilian residents of an occupied territory to slave labor camps", "the murder or ill-treatment of prisoners of war", the killing of hostages, "the wanton destruction of cities, towns and villages, and any devastation not justified by military necessity".

War crimes are defined in the statute that established the International Criminal Court, which includes:

Grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions, such as:
- Willful killing, or causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health
- Torture or inhumane treatment
- Unlawful wanton destruction or appropriation of property
- Forcing a prisoner of war to serve in the forces of a hostile power
- Depriving a prisoner of war of a fair trial
- Unlawful deportation, confinement or transfer
- Taking hostages

The following acts as part of an international conflict:
- Directing attacks against civilians
- Directing attacks against humanitarian workers or UN peacekeepers
- Killing a surrendered combatant
- Misusing a flag of truce
- Settlement of occupied territory
- Deportation of inhabitants of occupied territory
- Using poison weapons
- Using civilians as shields
- Using child soldiers

The following acts as part of a non-international conflict:
- Murder, cruel or degrading treatment and torture
- Directing attacks against civilians, humanitarian workers or UN peacekeepers
- Taking hostages
- Summary execution
- Pillage
- Rape, sexual slavery, forced prostitution or forced pregnancy

However the court only has jurisdiction over these crimes where they are "part of a plan or policy or as part of a large-scale commission of such crimes".

_____________________________________

The highlighted crimes are the ones that I believe Mr. Bush has committed and should be impeached for. What do you think?

an open letter to ed & caren hale & the members of the clinton supporters supporting john mccain for president

Dear Mr. & Mrs. Hale,

If I may have a moment of your time...

Why, if I may inquire, would you spew propaganda that is so fallacious? Who, is it exactly, are you representing? Perhaps it’s your fellow Texans.

Has your memory failed you? Were you living in the United States of America in 2000? How about '04? Well, let me catch you up on some history you have conveniently forgotten.

Are you aware that in 2000 Al Gore beat GWB with almost 500,000 more American votes? How about the fact that the issues raised in the 2000 election centered on Florida? Coincidence? Who knows. I try not to speculate, although the degrees of separation between responsible parties in this case are too close for comfort for most.

Did you also know that in 2004, controversies such as voter suppression were centered in Ohio? Their Representative at the time, Dennis Kucinich, had this to say, "Dirty tricks occurred across the state, including phony letters from Boards of Elections telling people that their registration through some Democratic activist groups were invalid and that Kerry voters were to report on Wednesday because of massive voter turnout. Phone calls to voters giving them erroneous polling information were also common." Almost 90,000 casted ballots were rejected due to hanging chads. Coincidence? Who knows.

Bush focused his campaign on national security, presenting himself as a decisive leader and contrasted Kerry as a "flip-flopper." Bush's point was that Americans could trust him to be tough on terrorism while Kerry would be "uncertain in the face of danger." Sound familiar?

Let me ask you a question: Did you place a nearly $18,000 ad in either of those years to fight the illegitimacy of those elections? Who knows and although I did state that I do not speculate...there are some things that make you go hmmm...

You're petitioning the country to vote Republican to prove what point? Did you actually support Ms. Clinton or are you just a wolf in sheep’s clothing - going against HER wishes to unite the party AND the country* - to fulfill your agenda?

The truth of the matter is, the Clinton's - either intentionally or not - have angered many people over the years and when it came down to it, they didn't have as many "friends" as they thought.

Shame on you Mr. & Mrs. Hale, if you are indeed a true Democrat, for attempting to assay female voters during a time when we need unity the most. And if you're not, I'm not at all surprised by your negativity...it's right on par for your party.

* "Today, as I suspend my campaign, I congratulate him on the victory he has won and the extraordinary race he has run. I endorse him, and throw my full support behind him. And I ask all of you to join me in working as hard for Barack Obama as you have for me." - Hillary Clinton, June 7, 2008

old friends

What can I say about Old Friends? Wow...what can't I say?

When you see an Old Friend, it takes you back to the time when you were close. You remember all the good times you had together...all the crazy shit you used to do together... and all the things about each other that you love.

You wonder, where has all the time gone? When did we go from being everyday friends to being once every few years friends? But life happens. You move on...have a kid or two... find another to spend your time with. But you always remember them. Every once in a while, they come to mind, in the hectic day-to-day bullshit that is life, just the thought of them can always bring a smile to your face. The one that you spent so much time with in your youth, the one that you never had a fight or disagreement with, the one who will have a special place in your heart forever... your honest to goodness friend.

You know who you are, I will always love you, and you will forever be my friend.