Fighting for peace

Here in the United States, we have a volunteer military. It wasn't always this way. Right now our military is stretched thin, and a draft in the near future is possible. I hope it doesn't come to that, but it is possible. *Maybe not kicking the gays out would help*

In Israel, serving in the military is required, for both men and women. I think the requirement is 2 years, but I'm not sure about that. This has been part of the Israeli culture for many decades.

Today, I was introduced to Omer Goldman, via Ed Asner. There is a new generation of young Israelis standing up to the government. They believe in a better, more peaceful future for themselves and for Israelis and Palestinians, and they are refusing to join the Israeli army. They're in jail, holding strong against immense pressure from family, friends and the Israeli government.

Omer's own words:

I first went to prison on September 23 and served 35 days. I am lucky, after 2 times in jail, I got a medical discharge, but I'm the only one. By the time you read this, many of my friends will be in prison too: in for three weeks, out for one, and then back in, over and over, until they are 21. The reason? We refuse to do military service for the Israeli army.

I grew up with the army. My father was deputy head of Mossad and I saw my sister, who is eight years older than me, do her military service. As a young girl, I wanted to be a soldier. The military was such a part of my life that I never even questioned it.

Earlier this year, I went to a peace demonstration in Palestine. I had always been told that the Israeli army was there to defend me, but during that demonstration Israeli soldiers opened fire on me and my friends with rubber bullets and tear-gas grenades. I was shocked and scared. I saw the truth. I saw the reality. I saw for the first time that the most dangerous thing in Palestine is the Israeli soldiers, the very people who are supposed to be on my side.

When I came back to Israel, I knew I had changed. And so, I have joined with a number of other young people who are refusing to serve - they call us the Shministim. On December 18th, we are holding a Day of Action in Israel, and we are determined to show Israelis and the world that there is wide support for stopping a culture of war. Will you join us? Please, just sign a letter. That's all it takes.

Everyone should have the choice to serve or to not serve. Everyone should have the choice of promoting peace without resorting to war.

Jewish Voice for Peace is the U.S. group heading things up for the Shministim. Sign the petition here if you want to stand up for Omer and those like her.

Myself, I've always been conflicted about military service. Growing up as a Jehovah's Witness, one of the many 'rules' was NO MILITARY SERVICE. If you joined the military, you were turning you back on "God" and putting your faith in 'Man'. No matter what country you were in. They were really big on the whole "you'll find Catholics killing Catholics and Protestants killing Protestants, but you'll never hear of JWs killing JWs"! I've always had a strong respect for those that choose to fight for the freedoms I enjoyed. I was hyper-aware, you might say, because I wasn't allowed that choice.

I never took my right to stand without my hand over my heart during the Pledge of Allegience for granted. NEVER. In fact, the very first fight Keith and I ever had was about that very subject. My religion forbade me certain things, and I was grateful that others had given me those rights so I didn't have go to prison. JWs in other countries weren't always so lucky. Hell, during the draft days, many of the JWs DID go to prison for refusing to serve in the military. Or, like my father, used the loopholes in the system to keep their names from coming up.

I think the draft has it's place, honestly. And the next time it is used, I hope they start including women. I don't think it's fair in this day and age to exclude them.

But I don't think military service should be mandentory all the time. Only when it's needed. And everyone should have the choice, no matter what country they live in. Everyone should have the choice to stand up for what they believe in.

MUWAHAHAHAHAHA!

I love it when hate is ridiculed!

The pirates of Little Rock stole Fred Phelps' Westboro Baptist Church's thunder last Friday. The Topeka church was protesting the National Conference of Editorial Writers because they are "responsible for the satanic milieu in this evil land" and for assisting the "satanic agendas" of "baby-killers and fags."

But in a fortuitous twist, the protest happened to fall on International Talk Like a Pirate Day.

Swashbuckling Flying Spaghetti Monster worshipping Central Arkansas Pastafarians decided to join the counter protest in full pirate gear.

The Arkansas Times gave this account:

Yep, the cuckoo Phelps hate group walked the plank this morning after a happy bunch dressed like pirates and holding signs saying "God hates shrimp -- Leviticus" and "God hates cotton-polyester blends" stood opposite them at the corner of Markham and Scott streets. The group, made up of Central Arkansas Pastafarians, waved swords and growled "Arrghh!" in a manner that would have made Abbie Hoffman proud.

"They didn't know what to do," a pirate named Boatswain (aka Gerry Schulze) tells The Pitch. "We decided that the best way to handle them was ridicule. They had not earned our hatred, only our ridicule and perhaps our contempt."

"I had a blast that day," says Pasta Pontius Pirate (aka LeeWood Thomas).

Pirate 1, Phelps family 0.

YES!

The hypocracy of the Church(es)

If you belong to a church that doesn't allow women to be pastors, think about this.

From Debra Haffner:

I wrote last year about being in the audience at Renaissance Weekend and hearing Rev. Richard Land, the head of the Southern Baptist Convention, talk about why women can't be ministers. Although there were women ministers on the panel with him, he without any hesitation or even apology, said in no uncertain terms that he would never support women as senior clergy nor did he think rites performed by women could be considered valid. To say I was offended is an understatement.

At least according to an interview in Christianity Today, he has no such hesitation about a woman as Vice President, reporting indeed that he had recommended Sarah Palin as a candidate.

But, let's not think that this means that the Southern Baptists think that women can lead churches. According to a report by Religious News Service, the current issue of Gospel Today is being kept off the shelves at the SBC's Lifeway Christian Bookstores. Why? Because there are five women ministers on the cover. Read more at:

http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/female-vp-okay-female-pastors-magazine-not-okay

So, what am I not getting? Apparently Mr. Land has said that the Bible only speaks out against women ministers not women Vice Presidents. But, I'm not sure what verses he could be referring to. Of course, there are those very few verses in Ephesians that say that women must be submissive to their husbands, and by inference, that no man should be submissive to a woman. But, correct me if I am wrong, I don't think there is any verse that says we can't be pastors. And then there are those Genesis and Galatian texts that say that we are all equally created in God's image.

So, a few questions are in order here. If Ms. Palin wins, might the Southern Baptists finally change their minds on women senior ministers? Or do they know if Ms. Palin has her husband's permission to run for office? And what happens if she becomes the Commander in Chief of all of the armed services, and all those military men have to report to her?

Can you really support a woman for the second highest office in the land and yet not want another woman to baptize, marry, or bury you?

I don't get it.

I don't either.

on the economy...

I like Mark Cuban's view:

Dear Sen. McCain,
I admire your desire to cut taxes, and to eliminate the pork barrel spending that costs all Americans our hard earned money.I like your Maverick spirit.

However, after the events on Wall Street this past week, my hope is that you will completely retract your economic strategy and do the prudent thing, which is to say that your strategy of tax cuts is no longer viable when the government is about to take on what could be anywhere between 500Billion and 1 Trillion dollars in debt to support retaining liquidity in our financial system and in turn keep our economy running smoothly.

Dear Sen. Obama,

I respect your desire to reduce the tax burden on the middle class, and in fact give them a tax cut, while increasing the tax burden on those earning more than 250k annually. I understand that your goal was to have the wealthy pay for the tax cuts of the many. Speaking for exclusively for myself, I was willing to accept the tax increase and examine your candidacy based on other issues.

However, after the events on Wall Street this past week, I have to take a new look at your economic strategy. The trillion plus dollars of market valuation that have been lost in the stock market has come from primarily those you would like to increase taxes for. The reality of the market was that it has given greatly to the wealthy over the past 8 years, in the span of a few weeks, it taketh away .

I know many people who have lost much if not all of their networth, and during my trip to NY this past week, met several who have been completely wiped out. Their entire life savings, gone because they owned stock in the several financial institutions that have gone bankrupt or sold at pennies on the dollar and their jobs were lost as a result as well. My hope is that you will completely retract your economic strategy and do the prudent thing, which is to say that your strategy of tax cuts for the middle range of earners, and tax increases for those earning 250k is no longer viable when the government is about to take on what could be anywhere between 500Billion and 1 Trillion dollars in debt to support retaining liquidity in our financial system and in turn keep our economy running smoothly.

Senators McCain and Obama, failure to recognize that what the financial markets went through changed the fabric of our economic model and in turn the impact of your economic policy is completely irresponsible.

The prudent thing for each of you to do, and I know neither of you is asking me for this advice, but Im offering it anyways, is to say the following:

“Based on the series of events on Wall Street this past week, I am withdrawing my economic proposals. Once the market settles down, I will meet with Secretary Paulsen, who has down a phenomenal job in handling this crisis, and gain a better understanding of where the economy is and where it can go from here. Based on that information, I will present to the American people my new economic strategy.

In the meantime, because the economic future of this country depends on the funding of the plan Secretary Paulsen has proposed, I will set aside my campaigning and work with my colleagues in the Senate and across my party to quickly get this bill passed. The future of our economy depends on it”

That is what my candidate will hopefully do.

And one last thing I have to mention. Does everyone realize how much bigger a disaster last week would have been had Social Security been privatized ? Please, let us all remember that when the topic comes up again in the future.

It would be nice if both candidates took this view, wouldn't it? Because it would show that they care more about the country as a whole than just winning an election. I want someone who cares, dammit.

7 years ago...

I'll let you look at that day through the eyes of an atheist Muslim...

Seven years ago today, I sat in a cold, windowless classroom, staring at a puddle of tears on my desk. I should have skipped class today, I repeated in my head. Today would have been the best day to skip class. Some of the other kids, boys mostly, were yelling back and forth about how we should just nuke them. We. Them. On an ordinary day, I’d be included in the we. But I was one of them that day, and the 20 pairs of eyes burning holes through my skin reminded me of that more and more with every passing second.

It wouldn’t have done much good to tell them that I wasn’t really a Muslim. I was an agnostic. Or a cultural Muslim. Or an I-dunno-what, but I certainly wasn’t a Muslim. I didn’t know what to say, so I sat there in silence, watching the puddle ripple as it grew bigger and bigger until it finally spilled over the edge of the desk and left dark spots on my jeans. For some reason, that was my breaking point. I grabbed my bag and walked out.

The grad student / teacher came running out in the hall after me and asked if I was OK. I’m not sure what I said to him — incoherent mumbles, I’m sure — but the next thing I knew, he was giving me a hug and apologizing. He said he thought asking the class to share their thoughts and feelings would help them cope. And he was sorry for what it turned into.

*snip*

That day, seven years ago, I walked out to the parking lot and found my tires slashed. All four of them.

Go to her site and read the whole post, and all of the comments.

The best comment, imo, is this one:

We should not be arbitrarily proud of our country because it’s where we happen to live. We should be proud of what our country does when it does the right thing, and criticize it harshly and unceasingly when it does the wrong thing. It really bothers me when people eat up this crap about dissent being unpatriotic. It is truly the only patriotic thing to do when your country fucks up.

I'm ashamed of what the white people in this country do to those that are different, be it in skin color or sexual preference. And I'm pissed off over what religion has done to this country, and to the world. And I'm including Christianity in that mix, for sure.

but honey, I need the Government to tell me...

stolen from Blue Girl, Red State.

Pascal's Wager

Stolen from Fiery.

This man has embraced Pascal's Wager to its fullest extent.

In which there was cake...

Boob cake!*

We had to add nipples since Keith forgot to request them.

Spyder has a complete list of everyone who showed up last night. I want to thank everyone for the birthday wishes and good luck wishes for the upcoming surgery. You guys are the best!

*For anyone who wants to know, we got our cake from Vivian. I'm gonna see if she can do a Thomas the Tank Engine cake for Matt's birthday in August. Cause he would L.O.V.E. that!

April KC Blogger Meetup! (with b-day goodness!)

Thursday April 24th 2008 5pm
at

LEVEE BAR & GRILL OFFICE
816-561-2821
16 W. 43rd St.
Kansas City, MO 64111

HAPPY HOUR
Tuesday through Friday 2-7
$2 Beer, Well Drinks & Wine

NIGHTLY SPECIALS
Thursday - $2 Red Stripe

We have the deck reserved at 5 for 20-30 people.

Both Keith and I will be attending, and he's working on getting a cake shaped like my birthday present. It should be fun!

new blog for me to read!

Yay! Another really good friend of mine has started her own blog, thereby allowing me to keep up with her life!

Go meet Faith!

Stealing other bloggers' stuff.

In case you haven't noticed, I read Dooce. Did you see the baby kangaroo? Too fucking cute!

I found this over at Sageweb's:



This song really struck a chord with me. Love was what I needed to recover and heal after leaving the JW's, and love is what Keith and Kris gave me. Without them, I wouldn't be where I am today.

Thanks, you two. I love you both.

um, yeah. what she said.

I think my son and her daughter must be twins.

And the orgasm part at the end? TOTALLY!

tagged by Miss Spyder

and M. Toast, apparently. Stupid sinus infection!

a. list seven habits/quirks/facts about yourself
b. tag seven people to do the same
c. do not tag the person who tagged you or say that you tag "whoever wants to do it"

1. I'm a natural blonde. I CHOOSE to be a red-head! And it looks way better on me.

2. If I don't tan, I get glow-in-the-dark white. Seriously. And tanning helps with the SAD.

3. Every Monday night Keith and I put the kids to bed early and watch a movie. This is something new that we've started doing in the last two months, but I think we'll keep it.

4. I have acrylic nails. Every two weeks I get a 'fill'. I'm sure I could save a lot of money every year if I did not do this (or at least did it myself), but it's something I do for me. Pampering myself, if you will. (When I was pregnant, both times, I also got a pedicure at least once a month.) Keith has NEVER complained!

5. Camping for me involves room service.

6. I love wearing high heel shoes. LOVE! Well, except during the summer when I'm wearing flip-flops. Even then, I have sandals with high heels that I wear when I go out.

7. Sometimes, when I'm bored, I let other people decide what color my toenails should be. They're currently purple, btw. Other times, I let people vote on what my next hair style should be!

There. I hope those are quirky enough for everyone! And since everyone has already been tagged, I don't care what the third rule is, I'm not tagging anyone!

Proud to identify as an Atheist.

Many here know that I'm a huge fan of the PossumMomma. I've even quoted her before.

Now, P-momma has Lupus. The kind where going into a room with windows on a sunny day causes her pain. This means she cannot even go into her children's rooms to help them with their homework or watch them play.

Never let it be said that "Organizing atheists is like herding cats." Berlzebub has started a donation drive to buy UV film from 3M for the P-family. You can read about it here.

Now, this post isn't about drumming up donations for P-momma, but rather this post is about how awesome the Atheist community really is, and I for one am PROUD that we have created our own community, thanks to the wonders of technology. And I am very proud to identify with this awesome group of people.