terrorism + 9/11

hate speech vs free speech

yllwdaisies complaints/hating, religion, sad/scary stuff, terrorism + 9/11

There is a new slew of comic book superheros that are women, and of course you know that I love that! One such (newish) superhero is a Muslim teen, born in Jersey City. She is Kamala Khan by day, and morphs into Ms. Marvel when the going gets tough!

Well, in San Francisco, a hate group has bought advertising on public transportation. Anti-Islamic advertising, that likens Islam to the Nazis. I don’t want to show their ads, but I think I must to truly show how despicable they are. But FIRST, let me show you what someone has plastered OVER their ads. Which I THINK ARE AWESOME.

kamala khan1

kamala khan3

kamala khan2

Now, here’s the thing. Someone at the city of San Francisco (or in the company of the transportation system, I don’t know if it’s a private company or city-owned), sold the advertising space to a known hate group. The Freedom Defense Initiative is considered a hate group, same as the KKK.

I get that the First Amendment is a BFD here in the US. But I never quite got how it supersedes hate groups. Hate groups are ok here in the US; their rights are protected. The Westboro Baptist Church is protected to the extent of the hate they spew at funerals (even of veterans that died so they could have that freedom).

Remember John Galliano? The famous designer? He got in trouble for hate speech in France. Other countries take Hate Speech more seriously. But only certain targets of hate there (from what I can see). I say that because Charlie Hebdo can publish all sorts of filth about religions, and it’s free speech. But France arrested 54 people for expressing their freedom of speech. I guess hate speech is not tolerated in their country, but it depends on what type of hate speech you have, and who it is you’re hating on.

I really don’t want to promote the ad, but I do want you to see how outrageous it is. It’s ridiculous, stupid, outrageous. Comparing to the Nazis? Really? Anyway, since I don’t necessarily want to promote it on my front page, I’m putting it after the jump. The only thing after this is the unadulterated ad.

Oh, go read my post on galliano. For real.

Continue reading →

We choose what we allow

Video yllwdaisies complaints/hating, terrorism + 9/11

There’s a point to be made about looking at ourselves. What we buy into, as consumers. Whether consumers in the economic sense or consuming of information. The media will deliver what we want. It’s simple supply and demand. That’s why there’s a $5 BILLION zombie industry in the US. An actual industry just for zombies. We buy into fear; that’s why so many news networks have all this fear-mongering. It sickens me.

Charlie Hebdo: Whose Fault Is it? Russell Brand The Trews (E231):

1 of these things is not like the other

yllwdaisies terrorism + 9/11

The primary victims of Jihadist behavior/outlashing are other Muslims. Just like the the primary targets of inner-city African-American violence is other inner-city African-Americans. What’s known as “black on black crime” constitutes the largest percentage of aggression on the black men in America.

booRemember that old Sesame Street bit, “one of these things is not like the other”, where they’d ask you to spot the item that’s different? Well, with race/culture & radical extremism, it’s not as easy to spot. You can’t necessarily spot the gang member, the Aryan brotherhood member, or the radical Jihadist; when each might be among those that look similar to them.

You can’t blame all of one group of folks (whether a culture like inner-city minorities, or a race), for the actions of a few bad seeds. What is the one common trait of ALL the following bad guys?
– the Virgina Tech student shooter
– the mentally-disturbed shooter at the elementary school in Newtown
– the politically-minded assault at (then) Congresswoman Gabby Giffords’ meeting with constituents in Tuscon
– the 9/11 plane hijackers

They were all human beings. So, since that’s the only commonality, do we then discriminate & hate all humans? No, we simply cannot do that.

One of those things might be “not like the other, but we aren’t able to discern.

We must be vigilant in our surroundings & continue on with our lives. We must have hope.

We cannot view all Muslims as bad. It would be like viewing all Christians as evil b/c of the behaviors/beliefs of the Westboro Baptist Church or the KKK.

christians muslims2

Fed funding to protect our cities

yllwdaisies politics, terrorism + 9/11, the law

Ppl complain about how much money our federal govt spends. But so much of it really MUST be spent.

For example, I read an article today about how Boston is one of the most prepared cities for crisis. I think we can all agree now, in retrospect, that the US Govt funneling BILLIONS of dollars into crisis preparedness of major cities was $ well-spent.

You should read the article, b/c it goes into the drills they did.

boston 4-15-2013The drills, which included hostage situations, HazMat incidents and a movie theater shooting, brought together emergency officials from the city, state and federal government, as well as from the Boston Police, SWAT teams, the Fire Department, EMS, local hospitals, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, the Coast Guard. All in all, there were over 600 participants in the November drill, from over fifty different departments and agencies.

“What the Urban Shield program does is test it all at the same time – bomb squads working, swat teams working, fire, HazMat, search and rescue, command centers activated, all your radio systems, hospitals activated – everyone’s kind of working together,” says Baker, who worked closely with the city to execute the simulation. “That’s where you start to find your gaps – who can’t speak to whom on the radio. You identify the real problems when you get everyone together.”

This is a good use of money. Especially after what we’ve seen happen this past week in Boston. Those ‘boys in blue’ really knew what they were doing, and KUDOS to that whole city!

On a slightly related note, about the whole federal funds thing. Back when Hurricane Sandy happened, so many Senators voted AGAINST giving funds to those affected by the storm. They needed to rebuild, and get back to work, re-open businesses. But Congress didn’t want to give them money. For a natural disaster.

Two of those who voted against giving them money, were the 2 Senators from TX. Well, now those 2 Texas senators are asking for money for what happened when that private business caught on fire & exploded in West, TX. I’m sympathetic for the city. But why, time & time again, are we against something until it hits us personally. Are we that disillusioned that we are no longer able to put ourselves in someone else’s shoes? I’m looking forward to finding out what happened there as well. That is, if that private company did not follow federal regulations. I’ve heard that there was at least 1 safety mark against them. Let’s see what we get out of this investigation as well.

west tx

Clinton liaison for Israel & Palestine

yllwdaisies amnesty, gov't, my thoughts, politics, religion, sad/scary stuff, terrorism + 9/11

Am I the only 1 who thinks that sending former US President Bill Clinton to motivate a treaty & peace between Israel & Palestine, is a likely solution?

He almost had them at the cusp of something back in 2000. No one has come close to what he’s been able to do in extreme foreign circumstances.

UPDATE (Nov. 21, 2012): I knew it! Well, I knew it’d take a Clinton! I just had the wrong Clinton pegged! I saw Hillary Clinton do her whirlwind tour yesterday, from Myanmar/Burma to Israel, Egypt, & the West Bank. AND NOW LOOK! CEASE FIRE. THANK YOU, Sec. Clinton.

the gas blame game

yllwdaisies gov't, terrorism + 9/11

I saw this image today, & it upset me.

I’m all for political infographics, as an easy-to-digest way of spreading what’s going on, or someone’s agenda. But this graphic is just all kinds of wrong.

First of all, gas should NOT have been less than a dollar a gallon AT ALL, throughout the 80s, let alone 90s. Remember Reagan? Oliver North? Arms trading to the middle east? Yeah, that’s why gas was so cheap in the 80s. We should have been paying $2.50 a gallon for gas in the 80s. Then, US car companies would have focused efforts on creating more gas-onomical cars then, & wouldn’t have bottomed out when gas did skyrocket. Ppl would have automatically already have budgeted gas money as well, so it would not have made such a grave diff to them & their households.

Let’s stop & take that all in.

Then, secondly, b/c I couldn’t really care less since I don’t think gas prices should be less than $2.50 a gallon, EVER. But, secondly, they’re showing an extreme low during the Clinton administration, and then an extreme high during the Bush administration. I can’t get down with that. I think Clinton is the best Pres. I’ve ever seen in my lifetime, but I just can’t get down w/ feeding poo to the masses, most of which can’t remember enough to question what they see even though they lived it. The majority of ppl lack common sense.

If I sound like a broken record, it’s because I wrote about gas before:
lower gas prices feel like blood money in my pocket (July 29, 2008)
gassy boo-hoo (March 30, 2006)

bully the movie

yllwdaisies amnesty, change, complaints/hating, loopholes/sneaky, my thoughts, politics, sad/scary stuff, school, terrorism + 9/11

There’s a new movie coming out, “Bully”.

It’s gotten an “R” rating by the Motion Picture Association of America, ONLY due to the usage of the “F-word” in this film. But the words used are those of children, ages 11-17, told to other children. There are much more violent & adult-themed movies given a rating of PG-13.

But this movie, one that should prob be shown in schools, one that is teaching our youth of the real consequences of bullying, has been given an “R” rating, & will not be seen by those who need to see it most.

These kids already know these words. Geez, I am shocked by how much kids know these days. I certainly did not use any type of bad words when I was a kid. I never saw a movie that had the “F-word” in it until I was 18; and my jaw dropped when I heard it b/c I was in a large public space & there it was, coming off a huge movie screen. But these kids today? They hear bad words & see questionable content everywhere. I don’t remember songs with bad words on the radio when I was a kid either. But I hear stuff on the radio now; & even when they attempt to bleep stuff, you know what they’re bleeping.

Anyway, I’ve signed this petition. It was started by a Katy Butler, a high-schooler in Ann Arbor, MI. I heard about this on the Ellen show today (it was a previous episode on my dvr); and I had to post about it. Katy has started this petition to change the rating to PG-13 so that this movie can be seen by those who need to see it most.

Pls sign this petition: MPAA: Don’t let the bullies win! Give ‘Bully’ a PG-13 instead of an R rating!

You may also want to contact the Motion Picture Association of America: ContactUs@mpaa.org
Phone & Fax # for offices in major cities: http://www.mpaa.org/about/contact

Trailer for the movie:

the “mosque” at “ground zero”

yllwdaisies change, commercialism, complaints/hating, my thoughts, religion, sad/scary stuff, terrorism + 9/11, tweet-tweet

You knew I had to talk about it here at some point, right? I mean, I’ve been tweeting & leaving comments on everyone’s fb statuses about it.

First of all, “mosque” is in quotes b/c it’s not a freakin mosque. It’s an Islamic Community Center. Yes, there will be a place for prayer there, but it’s a smaller part of a $100 MILLION Cultural Center. It will also have a swimming pool, a gym, basketball court, an auditorium, a restaurant (& culinary school), a library, and art studios. Are we calling it “the ground zero pool”? No? Then why “ground zero mosque”? Plus, wouldn’t it be nice to stimulate the economy ($100 Mill project) whilst adding to the community?

If you want to find a Mosque, there IS one INSIDE the Pentagon, open for worship, rebuilt after the 9/11 attacks on the Pentagon.

Are we criticizing Christian churches around the Oklahoma City building site? Why is it that American laws seem to apply or be exempt for Christians? Division of church & state doesn’t exist like it should. Lots of religious organizations receive tax-exempt statuses, then give money to fuel their political interests. It’s like certain things are ok, as long as you’re the “right religion”.

“Ground zero” is in quotes b/c it’s not at ground zero! It’s 2 blocks away. Though, there was a mosque already 5 blocks from ground zero (GZ); it was there for like 30 years!

Though, there are currently strip clubs way closer to GZ. & they’re planning to build a 55,000 sq. ft. mall right on GZ. How is a mall paying tribute to those who lost their lives on 9/11?!?! Mall to me means a bunch of corporate stores. Not even small businesses. Starbucks. The Gap. Banana Republic. How does that remember fallen heros?

Roger Ebert recently re-posted an op-ed piece that he originally published on Sept. 12, 2001:

A Green Field

If there is to be a memorial, let it not be of stone and steel. Fly no flag above it, for it is not the possession of a nation but a sorrow shared with the world.

Let it be a green field, with trees and flowers. Let there be paths that wind through the shade. Put out park benches where old people can sun in the springtime, and a pond where children can skate in the winter.

Beneath this field will lie entombed forever some of the victims of September 11. It is not where they thought to end their lives. Like the sailors of the battleship Arizona, they rest where they fell.

Let this field stretch from one end of the destruction to the other. Let this open space among the towers mark the emptiness in our hearts. But do not make it a sad place. Give it no name. Let people think of it as the green field. Every living thing that is planted here will show faith in the future.

Let students from all lands take a sunny corner of the field and plant a crop there. Perhaps corn, our native grain. Let the harvest be shared all over the world, with friends and enemies, because that is the teaching of our religions. Let the harvest show that life prevails over death, and let the sharing show that we love our neighbors.

Do not build again on this place. No building can stand here. No building, no statue, no column, no arch, no symbol, no name, no date, no statement. Just the comfort of the earth, to remind us that we share it.

old ppl are just wrong

yllwdaisies complaints/hating, loopholes/sneaky, my thoughts, religion, terrorism + 9/11

Does anyone else feel this way? Old ppl just do whatever they want, & the rest of the world needs to adjust to them.

I can’t tell you how many dinner parties I’ve been to where ppl tell funny/quirky stories about their grandmas. Uh… their racist grandma. Not that I can’t tell a few too. I could give you anecdotes of grandmas of every race, from anywhere in the world, being racist. But I really don’t think that’s necessary.

Old ppl often use the excuse that they just didn’t know it was wrong, when they do something wrong. Recently, an older man hit me in my new car. He turned left in front of me, & said that he didn’t think that he was in the wrong. Why? B/c old ppl can do whatever they want, & we should just accommodate them?

Anyway, this post is really about the Retired Catholic Archbishop Rembert G. Weakland, the louse. He’s selling a memoir about his life, including his time as Archbishop in Milwaukee.

He allegedly covered up widespread child sexual abuse. In 1993, he oversaw the evaluation of Father Lawrence Murphy, who was being prosecuted at the time for abuse. Jump to 2003, when a report came out that made allegations of sexual abuse by 58 clergymen under the direct supervision of Archbishop Weakland.

As of 2009, the Archdiocese of Milwaukee spent about $26.5 million in legal fees & settlements for the victims.

Apparently, in his memoir, he contends that he didn’t realize that raping/abusing young children was a crime. Weakland retired in 2002, when it came out that he paid one of his victims $450,000 in 1998.

We all considered sexual abuse of minors as a moral evil, but had no understanding of its criminal nature.

Accepted naively the common view that it was not necessary to worry about the effects on the youngsters: either they would not remember or they would ‘grow out of it’.

I’m sorry, but isn’t knowing that something is wrong enough to keep you from doing it, esp if you’re, like, a man of God. How can you not know it’s wrong? I mean, we all have a sense of what’s appropriate behavior & what’s not. That’s why we feel guilt.

If anyone knows about guilt, it’s a Catholic. Just sayin.

I guess the sex scandal is just a chapter of the book. It also covers his childhood, his time as a Benedictine monk, his acknowledgment of his homosexuality, & his difficult relationship w/ the new Pope. Maybe his relationship w/ Pope John Paul II was so strained b/c he knew the new Pope won’t ignore this type of stuff.

He says proceeds from the book will go to the Catholic Community Foundation. I don’t know what that means; it’s so vague. What percentage of the proceeds will go there?

& is this supposed to make me feel better about ppl buying the book? I went to the Catholic Community Foundation’s website to try to find out where the money goes, but they just tell you all the diff ways you can give money, not what they do w/ it.

What I do know is that the almost half million he paid out to the victim came from the archdiocese, & he even concealed it from them at the time. & I also know that this summer, he’s moving to St. Mary’s Abbey in Morristown, NJ. So, it’s prob more of a case of his having to re-pay the Catholic community. Financially, but also for the bad PR. Not that he’s the only one.

I didn’t realize it was still 1960

yllwdaisies amnesty, California, change, comics, complaints/hating, important info, lgbt, loopholes/sneaky, marriage, my thoughts, politics, sad/scary stuff, same-sex marriage, terrorism + 9/11, the law

So, I already mentioned I’m pretty upset about stupid Prop 8 in Cali going through. I’d love to see someone put up a proposition to ban hetero marriage. No… that’d be preposterous, right?

Seriously, who’s to say that one union is legit simply b/c of the party’s pieces/parts?

“But what about the children?”

Really? So, it’s totally cool if Alex gets a sex change oppo, becomes Alexis, & marries a dude? Trust ppl, you’ll have a much harder time explaining that to your 5-yr old. & the kids don’t care. Every kid I’ve ever met totally understands, if 2 ppl love each other, they get married. They’re so idealistic, they don’t even know about the probs/conflicts a couple face.

It more acceptable to marry you cousin than for a same-sex marriage to take place. Uh…. that’s right ppl, I said marry your cousin. Seriously, though, it’s legal to marry your cousin in 26 states. There’s even a loophole in Vermont’s state government that allows DOGS to marry!

You know how we look back 100 or 200 years & say that it seems unreal that certain civil liberties didn’t exist then (like voting for some ppl)? I can’t help but be embarrassed for what our descendants are going to think of us deny civil liberties in 2008!

On June 2nd, 1958, Richard Loving & Mildred Jeter were married. 5 weeks later, they were arrested & then sentenced to a year in jail. Wanna know why? B/c interracial marriages were prohibited. Of course they appealed it. This idocity went on for 9 years before the US Supreme Court unanimously overturned it.

“… The freedom to marry has long been recognized as one of the vital personal rights essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness by free men. Marriage is one of the “basic civil rights of man,” fundamental to our very existence and survival … Under our Constitution, the freedom to marry, or not marry, a person of another race resides with the individual and cannot be infringed by the State.”

– Chief Justice Earl Warren, June 12, 1967

gay-interrcl-marriage

How is Prop 8 in Cali (or 102 in Arizona, or 2 in Florida) even really an issue that we are debating today? Hello, 2008, it’s 1960 on the phone for you.

In Arkansas, an LGBT person can’t even adopt a child. I’ve counted 17 states (you can double-check it, I got a headache counting) that don’t even recognize same-sex civil unions!!!

I’m not going to go on any further. B/c I’ll just blow a gasket. (Does anyone say that anymore? No? Just me? Whatev.)

So, I’ll leave y’all w/ a comment I once left to someone else’s comment saying that why can’t “they” just be happy w/ “civil unions”. You know why?

Cause there was never a top-ten hit that went,

“♪♫♪♪ Goin to the Chapel, & we’re gonna get Civil-Unioned ♫♪♪”….

It’s still not the same thing. It would be the equivalent of telling “certain ppl” that they can ride on the same bus to the same destination, but they have to sit at the back of the bus.

You might argue: Why would they care? They still get to the same place.

B/c it’s saying that they’re different/lesser, & don’t deserve the idealism that “regular ppl” do.

The reason “regular” is in quotes is b/c I don’t believe that being straight is a “regular” trait. Maybe it’s a dominant trait (like having brown eyes, versus the recessive having blue eyes.). But that 2nd link shows that homosexuality has been around for eons, & they’ve even proven it exists naturally in animals.

Want to do something about it? Try: