Every morning I wake up and turn on the news in hopes of finding some report of any minuscule positive story from over there. However, morning after morning disappointment sets in as I hear more stories of violence and destruction that seem to be regressing to become worst and more deadly rather than becoming contained.
I think of my beautiful Baghdad, even though the rational part of my brain realizes that it has lost all of its aesthetic beauty, I still like to think of it, in my mind, as being beautiful. Yes, I like to preserve the image I had of my Baghdad despite the fact that it was on the road to destruction since I was living there (or more accurately since the day I was born during the Iraq-Iran war).
I do not care; I will always keep the image I have formed in my own mind even if it does not exist now. Maybe someday it will, and maybe it never will, but this picture holds the most important memories of my life, my childhood days, and that is something that will always remain with me. Despite the hardships my country was going through, yet these were the best days of my life and they constitute the most wonderful memories of mine.
These beautiful memories are much stronger than all the car bombings, civilian killings, and bloodshed that are currently taking place. No matter how powerful they may be, these acts of destruction will not succeed in stripping me from this one thing that I deeply treasure: Memories of my beautiful Baghdad!
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Happy V-Day
we definitely need more love in this world these days...and that includes all categories of love...hope you all will find and feel some love today:)
Friday, February 03, 2006
Caricature Drama
UPDATE (2/5/2006 @ 10:08AM): and their barbarity has started again...violent acts against the Danish governmental agencies around the world (as if the government controls the newspaper)...didn't I tell you these people can not comprehend the meaning of freedom and democracy...in their small twisted minds they think that governments can do anything, even control what a newspaper publishes in a free democratic country...here is the story on CNN
Original Post:
ok, I know I said I won't be blogging for a while, but this is one of those topics that I absolutely had to blog about...
Freedom of speech means exactly that: FREEDOM OF SPEECH…this concept seems to be hard to understand by the Muslims protesting the cartoons that were first published by a newspaper in Denmark and now are being published by many European newspapers. What exactly are they protesting?
The cartoons apparently depicted the Muslim prophet Mohammed in a way that Muslims are claiming to be “blasphemous” and now they are raising hell all over the world demanding what exactly? I have no clue. The Danish newspaper apparently apologized to the Muslims, but that does not seem to satisfy the protestors. They have attacked the Danish embassy in Indonesia as well as going on various protests in other Muslim countries and burning the Danish flag.
What these people need, in my opinion, is a wake-up call…maybe they would rather live in a society where every word that comes out of their mouth is censored by the almighty and powerful government, which can ensure that no one would draw such caricatures or any other caricatures that have political, religious, social, or any other insinuations that the government does not like. That is completely fine if they prefer to live in such an environment. All they have to do is go back to the countries where they came from, and they will no doubt be welcomed by all the suffocating restrictions and prohibitions that they love and desire so much. But, DO NOT move to western countries and expect to impose your sick un-democratic ideals and beliefs in places where freedom and Democracy reigns, where you have been provided with a home, and where you are allowed to express your opinions and thoughts freely!
It is absurd and laughable that these people are making such a big fuss about this. This is not the first cartoon that mocks a religion or a point in a religion. Just look at the many television shows that constantly ridicule Christianity, Judaism, or other religions like “Family Guy” or “the Simpsons” etc. In fact, that is what caricatures do: they make fun of religious, political, and social institutions. It is completely acceptable if you find some of these works offensive due to your personal beliefs, I know I do sometimes, but you know what you do in such a case? You flip the channel; stop reading the newspaper or magazine; ignore what you are seeing/reading and recognize that the person behind this does not share your beliefs or viewpoints, or counter it with your own civilized non-violent response. However, you do not demand that the person’s freedom of speech/thought/expression be taken away, because his/her work was offensive TO YOU (but perhaps funny to someone else).
You want to live in the west, then you follow the rules of the west, and freedom of speech is one of its main tenets. Ever heard of the saying “when in Rome, do as the Romans do”? Apparently these people have not. Actually, you don’t even have to do as everyone else does. That is the beauty of the west; you can be and do whatever you like as long as you don’t threaten other people’s freedom. You don’t like that? Then please do us all a favor and stay put in whatever hellish tyrannical country you may be living in, and enjoy your life there (trust me it is more suitable for people like you anyways!).
On another topic…
I think our friend Iran is craving a little spanking, or as a saying in Aramaic goes “its skin is itching”. Why exactly is it defying the U.S. and the European nations who are demanding that it stops making nuclear weapons? Perhaps it is like our old friend Saddam who was under the illusion that he could defy and defeat the entire 35-country coalition (and look where he is now). Oh how I would love to use psychological and neurological methods to see what goes on in the brains of these nut cases!
Original Post:
ok, I know I said I won't be blogging for a while, but this is one of those topics that I absolutely had to blog about...
Freedom of speech means exactly that: FREEDOM OF SPEECH…this concept seems to be hard to understand by the Muslims protesting the cartoons that were first published by a newspaper in Denmark and now are being published by many European newspapers. What exactly are they protesting?
The cartoons apparently depicted the Muslim prophet Mohammed in a way that Muslims are claiming to be “blasphemous” and now they are raising hell all over the world demanding what exactly? I have no clue. The Danish newspaper apparently apologized to the Muslims, but that does not seem to satisfy the protestors. They have attacked the Danish embassy in Indonesia as well as going on various protests in other Muslim countries and burning the Danish flag.
What these people need, in my opinion, is a wake-up call…maybe they would rather live in a society where every word that comes out of their mouth is censored by the almighty and powerful government, which can ensure that no one would draw such caricatures or any other caricatures that have political, religious, social, or any other insinuations that the government does not like. That is completely fine if they prefer to live in such an environment. All they have to do is go back to the countries where they came from, and they will no doubt be welcomed by all the suffocating restrictions and prohibitions that they love and desire so much. But, DO NOT move to western countries and expect to impose your sick un-democratic ideals and beliefs in places where freedom and Democracy reigns, where you have been provided with a home, and where you are allowed to express your opinions and thoughts freely!
It is absurd and laughable that these people are making such a big fuss about this. This is not the first cartoon that mocks a religion or a point in a religion. Just look at the many television shows that constantly ridicule Christianity, Judaism, or other religions like “Family Guy” or “the Simpsons” etc. In fact, that is what caricatures do: they make fun of religious, political, and social institutions. It is completely acceptable if you find some of these works offensive due to your personal beliefs, I know I do sometimes, but you know what you do in such a case? You flip the channel; stop reading the newspaper or magazine; ignore what you are seeing/reading and recognize that the person behind this does not share your beliefs or viewpoints, or counter it with your own civilized non-violent response. However, you do not demand that the person’s freedom of speech/thought/expression be taken away, because his/her work was offensive TO YOU (but perhaps funny to someone else).
You want to live in the west, then you follow the rules of the west, and freedom of speech is one of its main tenets. Ever heard of the saying “when in Rome, do as the Romans do”? Apparently these people have not. Actually, you don’t even have to do as everyone else does. That is the beauty of the west; you can be and do whatever you like as long as you don’t threaten other people’s freedom. You don’t like that? Then please do us all a favor and stay put in whatever hellish tyrannical country you may be living in, and enjoy your life there (trust me it is more suitable for people like you anyways!).
On another topic…
I think our friend Iran is craving a little spanking, or as a saying in Aramaic goes “its skin is itching”. Why exactly is it defying the U.S. and the European nations who are demanding that it stops making nuclear weapons? Perhaps it is like our old friend Saddam who was under the illusion that he could defy and defeat the entire 35-country coalition (and look where he is now). Oh how I would love to use psychological and neurological methods to see what goes on in the brains of these nut cases!
Thursday, February 02, 2006
A break!
I will be taking a long break from blogging due to the craziness of my last semester in college and the stress of the medical school application process with all the interviews etc. so don't expect anything new from me unless something major happens and I just have to write about it.
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