More than six years later

I am slightly more conservative but still have socialist views, according to this online test. I wouldn't call myself a socialist, though.

Now:

You are a Social Liberal (68% permissive) and an... Economic Liberal (8% permissive) You are best described as a: Socialist Link: The Politics Test on OkCupid.com: Free Online Dating Also: The OkCupid Dating Persona Test

Then:

You are a Social Liberal (78% permissive) and an... Economic Liberal (13% permissive) You are best described as a: Socialist Link: The Politics Test

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I didn't think the results were all that accurate last time, either.

small airlines zoom between small cities

pain at pump

Paranoid Android

Slaying in Fairfax followed earlier confrontation about speed hump, police say

Stephen A. Carr worked aggressively, but patiently, to try to slow down the cars that flew past his house in the Burke area of Fairfax County. Most of his neighbors applauded his help, and earlier this year a speed hump was installed in front of his house.

This is not unlike the fatal shootings over a parking space in Lebanon that occurred a few weeks ago in terms of the pointlessness of the deaths.

We've become such a paranoid society about safety that we've given up a heckuva lot of freedom. Instead of installing speed bumps (at taxpayer expense), how about teaching your kids to look both ways before crossing the street? Is it too much to ask for a little personal responsibility? Common sense? Guess so, if people are dying over speed bumps.

Immigrants you social mobility

I'm staring at a maid service van owned by some Latinos and I'm thinking, "Man, what an awesome country we live in when you can immigrate and start your own business like that." Another difference between liberal and conservative. Today's American conservative would bitch about the immigrants while waving a flag and proclaiming America to be the best country on earth while condemning the very thing that makes it so great.

Hezbozos

The headlines read:

“Senior Hezbollah Member Killed in Beirut Clashes”

The first line read “Clashes erupted between Shiite and Sunni groups on the streets of Beirut…”

But the argument allegedly started over the lack of a parking space. The guys who wanted the space happened to be a Hezbollah official and a Sunni from Al-Ahbash. There was, as far as we can tell, no political reason for the parking space; it was simply a squabble – a daily occurrence in Beirut due to the dearth of space for parking – that escalated into death. The tribalism that characterizes much of the planet took over from there – a family was pissed that someone killed a member and sought to exact revenge on the killers. The story is as old as time – think Montagues and Capulets. The only difference between this situation and one of the McCoy-Hatfield American variety is that RPGs are regularly available in Lebanon.

Yet the media somehow turned this into a battle of Hezbollah versus a Sunni sect, as if using “Hezbollah” had any relevance. This is the same type of ignorant paranoia that blinds the West every time it deals with Lebanon. It is the same reason Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs Howard Berman ordered a hold put on US military aid to Lebanon out of fear it would fall under Hezbollah’s control. Not once did anyone take into consideration that Iran would rush to fill the need or that without that aid to the Lebanese military, it is weaker to counter Hezbollah. Everything is HEZBOLLAH, HEZBOLLAH, HEZBOLLAH! Give it a rest.

The same blind mentality that the West uses in dealing with Lebanon is also the same blind mentality that Hezbollah and likeminded militia idiots use in sticking to their retarded ideologies. Yes, resistance against Israel is needed. But it shouldn’t be up to the undereducated morons that populate the ranks of Hezbollah, morons like Mohammed Fawaz who are stupid enough to die over a parking space.

Yup, I'm a Racist

Every time I hear anti-immigrant comments and racism towards Latinos, I think about what my Irish ancestors went through when they immigrated to America and had to go through the exact same racism we see today. Shame on you, America.

This shirt was for sale in Lexington, Kentucky. While bigots like Rush Limbaugh continue to deny they are racist but then say things like

"[Obama] wouldn't have been voted president if he weren't black. Somebody asked me over the weekend why does somebody earn a lot of money have a lot of money, because she's black. It was Oprah. No, it can't be. Yes, it is. There's a lot of guilt out there, show we're not racists, we'll make this person wealthy and big and famous and so forth.... If Obama weren't black he'd be a tour guide in Honolulu or he'd be teaching Saul Alinsky constitutional law or lecturing on it in Chicago,"

at least whoever makes and buys this shirt admits it.

My Irish ancestors were O'Hagans, but when they came to America, they dropped the "O" like so many other Irish did to lessen the discrimination.

This pub in Chicago opened in 2000, far after the Irish assimilated, multiplied, and prospered. The Irish, despite the discrimination they faced, persevered and can now proudly display their "O" and celebrate their Irish heritage. Indeed, many non-Irish folks celebrate Paddy's Day.

The Irish can be proud of what they accomplished in America. Back in the day, these "Irish Need Not Apply" signs were common in storefront windows. Immigration laws were drafted to reduce the number of Irish who were coming to America to escape poverty and persecution by the British. Many of the same immigration laws are still in effect in America today.

The Irish were not the only ones to face discrimination. The Italians had it rough, too. Racist names like "guido" and "wop" were used towards Italians by Americans who were themselves descendants of immigrants but failed to see the hypocrisy in their anti-immigrant rhetoric. Everyone had it rough at one point or another - the Chinese were used as slave labor well after slavery was abolished and the civil war fought. The Japanese were rounded up in concentration camps in the US during World War II despite having birthed generations of full citizens.

It makes me sick to my stomach to hear anti-immigrant rhetoric being spouted off today by the same people who wave flags and sing "God Bless America" and hang posters of the Statue of Liberty, on whose base are inscribed the words "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free." THE FREAKING STATUE OF LIBERTY IS INVITING IMMIGRANTS TO AMERICA AND PEOPLE WANT TO KEEP THEM OUT.

Oh, but people are so stupid. They use idiotic excuses like "they should follow the law" and "they're bring drugs into the country" and "they're sucking up all our tax dollars" to mask their racism. Here's a clue folks - those same immigration laws that were used to restrict the flow of Irish coming to America are in place now. They are outdated and unable to handle the flow of Latinos who are escaping the poverty and violence that plagues their countries. Much of Mexico is a lawless warzone fueled by America's drug obsession (yes, drug use is widespread, not just by "poor people" - LOTS in the suburbs.)

And that welfare garbage...Latinos are some of the hardest working people in the country. Are there some who exploit the system? Yes. But Latinos do all of the shit jobs that Americans refuse to do. Have you looked in the kitchen of your Applebees? Latinos are washing the dishes. Latinos are doing the landscaping and the construction and all of the hardwork jobs that pansy Americans won't do. Racists in America complain about Latinos and blacks being on welfare when the largest race of welfare recipients are white, and those who exploit the system the most are white. White trash. Lazy to the bone who would never do the jobs Latinos do.

Those were the jobs the Irish had. They worked hard with far fewer labor laws. They did dangerous work. They saved up. They prospered. And many of them today are the same ones supporting racist laws like the one in Arizona.

Yes, there is a problem with drug violence spilling into Arizona, but erecting Berlin Walls and making fascist laws is not going to solve the problem.

Yes, there are people exploiting the system. It will always be like that. Doesn't mean you should whine about welfare and ruin it for the majority of people who use it correctly.

Instead of exerting all of your energy hating people who are different than you, how about spending some time pushing for immigration reform and drug law reform. The easiest solution would be to legalize drugs and mess up the supply chain, but, you know, we can't do that because the Christian Crackheads won't allow it. We started the "War on Drugs," and it's spilled over our borders.

I watch the Latino life in amazement, because I feel like I am looking back in time. I understand more of where I come from when I watch them work hard, raise families, become more prosperous, and deal with the racism they face. They are not "they." They are "we." It's a shame that the "nation of immigrants" can be so hateful towards immigrants. You spit all over that flag you claim to love with every racist statement you utter.

We Won't Work for Peanuts

Screw WaPo for publishing this b.s., especially in light of Haiti's need at this time.

...an analysis of the charity's tax returns raises questions about how it has spent money in the past, with administrative expenses that appear to be higher than comparable charities and payments to businesses owned by the musician and a board member, including $100,000 for a performance by Jean at a 2006 benefit concert.

Wyclef has done nothing but good in raising awareness about Haiti's plight (before quake) and helping Haitians to claw their way out of the mire. This article amounts to little more than spreading a rumor that will only hurt the Haitians who have been devastated by plague after plague. It's irresponsible journalism - why not wait until the organization has been thoroughly investigated before publishing an account of corruption? And newspapers wonder why they're failing? Yele should sue WaPo for defamation.

It takes money to run a non-profit. I know people who've never worked for a non-profit think we who work for them should receive pittance for wages and gasp! we have health insurance? But to be effective, you need money to fund your organization.

I'm also sick of the criticism of celebrities who fight for causes. Once upon a time there was a generation of celebrities who put their names on a cause, planted a tree at a school, did a save the whales commercial, but many of today's celebrities are actually experts in what they are supporting. They spend time working in the field, fundraising, and learning about the issues they are supporting. Wyclef, a Haitian, is one of these guys. He was before the quake, and he will continue to be long after people have moved onto their next moment of concern and forget Haiti exists.

Donate to Yele Haiti Foundation.

_

Pandora never has a crappy year

NPR did a quick survey asking people to describe 2009 in one word. I was surprised at how negative it was, if only because NPR listeners tend to be more liberal with higher education levels that make them less susceptible to losing their jobs in the midst of a depression. (Then again, when "sucky," "sucked," and "suckfest" were used several times, you have to wonder about education levels...)

Pessimism is so odd to me. If I had what many would consider a bad year, I would just be grateful that I wasn't homeless, a refugee, living in a warzone, had all my limbs, was healthy, etc. I would look at the highlights of the year - seeing a young Reds prospect make his Major League debut, a concert I attended, a person I met - and use those to define the year. You know, the small things. They all add up to be the biggest anyway.

To me, pessimism is the sentiment of a life unfulfilled, someone who isn't living life to the fullest, someone with a spiritual void. I imagine a pessimist spends many hours in front of the television or within the confines of a gray cubicle beneath the harsh tones of a fluorescent light. Fluorescent life. A pessimist has ceded control of his life to outside forces.

2009 was a crappy year for the economy, it is true, but you don't need money to enjoy life. Playing ball in the backyard with your kids is free, or if you don't have a backyard, in a local park. Reading a good book from your local library is free. You don't need to take your kid to Pump It Up for a birthday party - bake a cake and pin the tail on the donkey. It's all the extra things that people couldn't do that make so many say it was such a crappy year.

If a person's year is a "suckfest," that's a character flaw - he didn't do the things that could give him fulfillment. Yet so many people blame everyone else - blame the government, blame the corporations, blame the rich, blame the poor people who took out loans they couldn't afford to chase the American Dream. They blame, blame, blame while they sit in their living rooms filled with fancy televisions, DVRs, and a $100 a month television bill, wondering how long they'll be unemployed, wondering how they'll pay the credit card bills, worrying about this and that material possession.

Sure, worrying is natural. But it shouldn't define your year. It shouldn't make 2009 a "suckfest." Here's a real suckfest:

A few weeks ago, I walked by a man and two boys on a corner of a DC street. He was middle-aged, white, well-dressed, and the boys were playing with some toys right there on the sidewalk. The stores around us had recently put up Christmas displays, and as the sun had already left us for the day, the air was getting cold. My heart was broken when I saw what he was holding. It was a cardboard sign with neatly drawn letters that said, "Please help. We're homeless." I nearly started bawling right there on the street corner amidst the Christmas lights and window displays calling people to buy things they didn't need. The man had a difficult time looking at people's faces - shame filled his eyes. The kids, who were also well-dressed, were in awe of everything around them, like they'd never been to a big city before. It seemed to me they were newly homeless.

I walked several blocks up towards Dupont Circle wondering how it had come to that for that family. What had been the man's job before he lost it? Where was the mother? How long were they behind on their house payments before they were evicted? Why did they have no friends or family to stay with? And then I thought about the thin line between courage and desperation. How long had he put off standing on the street corner asking people for their spare change? There was still a pride in his face, a pride that has long since left the hardened veterans of the streets. Had he stood in front of a mirror in a communal bathroom in a homeless shelter that morning, trying to psyche himself up to go out there as he smoothed out a wrinkle in his white button down shirt? How courageous he must be to face the humiliation of begging.

I only saw him that one time. The faces of the Dupont-Farragut homeless are now familiar to me, but he has not been among them. That gives me hope that he has found a job or a place to stay.

I guess some people have a right to say they had a crappy year.

I have a few wishes for 2010: Peace on Earth. Horny teenagers no longer blowing themselves up for 72 virgins. Americans no longer throwing around the words "fascism," "racism," and "socialism" so they lose their meanings. Glenn Beck getting fired. The Bankee$ finishing in last place and the Reds winning the World Series. People coming to see the quest for material possessions is not a good thing. Americans getting to know their neighbors. Adults reading books written for adults again. An end to pessimism.

Fortunately, "awesome" and "hope" were two of the big words on the collage. That's a great start.

On Human Rights

This is the post I wrote for Developing Lebanon on International Human Rights Day.



Some time ago, a King in England signed a piece of paper establishing certain rights of men. King John signed the Magna Carta in part because he was afraid he'd be overthrown by revolting barons who were angry at the monarch's abuse of power. By no means did the document care about the rights of ordinary people - it was meant to protect the wealthy barons' properties. Yet the rights of the rich it protected gradually evolved into universal rights in the nearly 800 years that have passed since it was drafted.

Three hundred years after John put his signature on the Magna Carta, the Twelve Articles of the Black Forest were drafted in Germany by peasants who demanded certain rights as Christians. The articles are considered by many to be the first record of human rights in the world. That is not to say that human rights issues were not being debated and implemented in other parts of the world. Akbar the Great, the Mughal Emperor, established religious rights for all during his reign in the same century. The British Bill of Rights was drafted in the late seventeenth century. The United States of America was founded on the principle of universal human rights:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." - United States Declaration of Independence, 1776

The French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen of 1789 is a precursor document to modern human rights.

We have come a long way since we lived in caves, ate raw meat, and died by the age of thirty, haven't we? Yet, everywhere we look we see human rights violations, from Aun Sun Sui Kyi's house arrest in Burma to the Iranian regime's crackdown on student protests in Iran to the United States' detention without trial of prisoners in Gitmo to the apartheid in Israel to terrorists blowing up lives in the name of religion to Uganda proposing the death penalty for homosexuals to migrant worker abuse in Lebanon to the Swiss banning of minarets...Sometimes it makes our heads spin, makes us feel like there is no hope, that we should give up, that humanity is so corrupted by its own selfish impulses there will never be any solution to our global problems. Media bombards us every day with new stories about injustice, new terrors to be wary of, new deaths that have come at the hands of psychos. It's easy to dwell on the atrocities that take place on this planet. It's easy to succumb to the forces of disillusionment and despair. It's easy to let ourselves drown in the seas of human suffering, to let our hearts burn in the fires of hatred and ignorance, to let our minds be swallowed by the psychology of victimhood.

Hope is hard.

Hope is what keeps the world spinning. All of the progress we've made throughout human history hasn't been made by those who wallow in the pits of despair but by those cognizant of the future, by those who can imagine a planet where people are equal, where people have enough food to eat and clean water to drink and clean air to breathe, where people aren't killing each other in the name of their own version of a Creator. Human rights martyrs like Martin Luther King, Jr. did not dwell on suffering but envisioned a world like this.

"...when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:

Free at last! Free at last!

Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

The dream of Dr. King has made progress in the 36 year since he spoke to a million people in front of the memorial to President Lincoln, another martyr who died for the cause of human rights. Yet, we still have so far to go. Sometimes it may seem like we're going backwards or that those who profess a faith in the rights of humanity are hypocrites because they violate human rights. Such is the criticism of President Obama, who accepted a Nobel Peace Prize today.

Those who pursue human rights are not perfect. We tend to view our martyrs as perfect and forget their flaws. We put people like Gandhi on pedestals and forget he had an army of critics. Lincoln himself was something of a racist, but he always believed slavery was wrong and that all men should never be deprived of life, liberty, and property. His work for the cause of Emancipation and the bloody civil war that entailed exposed him to African-Americans and his views on race began to change. It was a speech in which he supported the right for blacks to vote that so incensed John Wilkes Booth, he murdered him two days later.

You have to remember, humanity is still evolving. People's attitudes evolve. There will never be an End to History so long as homo sapiens sapiens roams the planet. We have not reached a point in our history where we are capable of ending our problems as quickly as it takes us to tweet them. Just the fact that we as a species generally recognize something called "Human Rights" is wondrous, something to be marveled at and revered. Sure, many times the path that we think leads to progress turns out to be covered with thorns or full of poisonous snakes and hungry beasts. Sometimes we have to turn around and start over. Sometimes we get so lost that it seems like we will never reach our destination, Dr. Kings dream. But we're gonna get there some day. Just look at how far we've already come.

While human rights heroes like King, Lincoln, and Gandhi have become immortal, we can't forget all of the others who work for human rights without recognition. Today we should remember them, remember all of the civil society organizations across the world that fight for human rights, those who give speeches, who hold conferences, who write the reports demanded by a grantmaking organization, who tweet and blog about human rights, who create awareness about issues. They might not do the glorious work, but they are just as important to progress.

A Pakistani man writes about his experience with Americans

In praise of common Americans
S. Nayyar Iqbal Raza


Karachi, Pakistan - Greg Mortenson is an American and, like our philanthropist Maulana Abdul Sattar Edhi, likes to spend his time with the underprivileged and poor without discrimination, according to the Dawn article by Safia Siddiqui on 22 November.

He represents the common man in America who is humble, kind, generous and good at heart.

He came to Pakistan to scale K2, the second highest mountain in the world, but had to abandon the climb near the top to rescue his friend below. He lost his way during the descent and wandered to a remote village, where the villagers nursed him back to health.

His hosts told him that the first cup of tea is offered to strangers, the second cup is offered to friends and those who are offered a third cup become family. For family, he was told, Pakistanis would lay down their lives.

Moved by their hospitality, he decided to open a girls' school in that small village. He wrote 580 letters to celebrities in the United States but only received $100.

However, shortly after, he received $623 in pennies from school children in Wisconsin, inspiring him to go ahead with his plan.

Today, he has more than 120 schools to his name in remote areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan where he has been captured by the Taliban and investigated by the United States government, both wanting to know why he is educating people in Pakistan.

I had the opportunity to spend about three months in the United States in 2007. I had the chance to interact with common people at the plant where I worked, in workshops that I visited, in offices, stores and on the streets.

Most were polite, courteous, understanding, hospitable and open. Many times while travelling, I would say prayers at busy airports and malls without being stared at.

Common Americans know very little about things outside their country; some don’t even want to know what exists outside their city. For example, we wanted to take a 60-year-old specialist from Baton Rouge to Philadelphia for a business meeting. To our surprise, we discovered that he had never been on an airplane or gone outside Baton Rouge. He had not even seen New Orleans, which was just 70 miles away.

And the wife of a friend once asked me at the dinner table one evening: “Do you have coke in Pakistan?”

Similarly, while travelling with me from London, a charming, retired schoolteacher from Houston was astonished when she heard that my daughter often talks about Oprah Winfrey. She was shocked that Pakistanis know about Oprah, especially female students.

One event that left a great impression on me happened at a gas station. We were having our car filled when a smartly dressed middle-aged man approached me and asked for a dollar. He confessed that he had just come out of jail and wanted to call his friend.

I had a five-dollar bill that I gave him. When he saw us pulling out of the gas station, he came running after the car, shouting that he wanted to return the balance, four dollars. Such were the ethics of this ex-convict in the United States.

I made many friends there, one of whom is Ken Jafferson, a source for useful engineering tips. I call him whenever I am stuck on a project. During one of my calls, I happened to catch him while he was attending a funeral.

He came out, listened to me patiently, asked couple of questions and then gave me a great solution. Only later did he tell me that he was attending a funeral.

These are real and common Americans.

Greg Mortenson is one of them. He does not share the agenda of the US government. He came as a mountaineer to conquer K2 but ended up conquering our hearts. He has won many awards, including the Sitara-i-Pakistan, the third-highest honour awarded by the Pakistani government. May he also win the Nobel Peace Prize that he has been nominated for.

###

* S. Nayyar Iqbal Raza is a reader of Dawn in Pakistan and wrote this letter to the editor. This article is distributed by the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) with permission from Dawn.com.

Source: Dawn.com, 7 December 2009, www.dawn.com
Copyright permission is granted for publication.

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I think I can I think I can I think I can...

First Senate hurdle passed today. Time to start threatening Lincoln and Landrieu with pledges to contribute to their opponents...

La la links

Oscar the Grouch trashes Fox News.


Funny, but is it really necessary on a children’s show?

This might only be of interest to language geeks – particularly those who’ve studied Arabic. It certainly makes sense and goes along with what I’ve been saying – that “Arabic” is not a language. It’s a series of languages and the only reason that “Lebanese,” “Egyptian,” “Jordanian,” etc. do not exist as a language is because of the Arab nationalism idea leftover from the Nasser age.

Last week’s massacre at Fort Hood was not the first time it happened there. In 1991, George Hennard killed 23 people before killing himself. Wait – George Hennard? That doesn’t sound like a Muslim name!

A cause liberals and conservatives can get (and are getting) together on. Break down the banks!

Republicans hate women? Who knew?

Shouldn’t this be headlines? 124 people are dead, and it’s buried in the Twitterverse?

I found it odd that an English newspaper would write so much about US health care reform, as it’s one issue that has no direct bearing on the rest of the world. Indirectly, maybe. Because liberals are going to do their best to fight against those Democrats who voted against the bill. I’ll be one of them. It will be stupakendous to see them go down to defeat in the primaries.

That being said, the Stupak amendment doesn’t matter as much as it’s outspoken critics think it does. We need this reform to pass, and it won’t happen without compromise.

I mean, why would so-called progressives prefer no health care reform to a compromise bill with no federal funding for abortion language? Pass the bill, work to change the bad parts later.

Or does it matter?

Flailin' Palin sees US coin design conspiracy. Where does she get this stuff?

Speaking of nutjobs.

Why does rightwing hatred still stun me?

Westboro Baptists used to be so extreme. Now they seem no different than teabaggers.

Support the Troops!™

The Liberal Media™

Really tired of the Che/Lenin/Satan rhetoric from the right while St. Ronnie and St. W get a free pass.

Too big to fail, too big to exist. Awesome. And from a socialist, nonetheless.

Larkin belongs in the Hall.

Paul Krugman is the most sane man in America.

If the woman had told the man that his fascist religion was wrong, he would have been pissed off and Faux News would not touch the story about her being fired.

Another reason liberals are better.

Jesus wept.

Jesus smiled.

Can we help them out?

Socialism!

Ich bin ein jelly donut

Freedom is indivisible, and when one man is enslaved, all are not free. When all are free, then we can look forward to that day when this city will be joined as one and this country and this great Continent of Europe in a peaceful and hopeful globe. When that day finally comes, as it will, the people of West Berlin can take sober satisfaction in the fact that they were in the front lines for almost two decades.

All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin, and, therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words "Ich bin ein Berliner."

-John F. Kennedy, June 26, 1963

I remember it vividly. It was 11/9/89. 11/9, a reverse of 9/11, and what had happened on that day was the reverse, too.

I first stepped into the city of Berlin on the eighth anniversary of that day, and it seemed like the celebration had never stopped. In 1997, Berlin held the promise of the future in its cranes and crania. The city looked much like Beirut does today and sounded much the same, too, a symphony of jackhammers and big yellow machines and clanging steel. Most of all, though, I remember the energy - it felt like the future, like possibility, like...Hope.

I was 12 years old when I watched people with sledgehammers breaking up a wall that had symbolized a global division and had been responsible for so many ruined lives, so many heartbreaks, so many deaths. In 1989 I saw that wall fall down through the miracle of television, a wall that had kept prosperity and humanity out, a prison wall, a tragedy. The wall fell and the cranes went up, cranes that would not leave a picture frame, cranes that would start the rebuilding process, that would give back Berlin its heart.

I remember it all even if I didn't understand it at the time. In school we had this good thing called democracy and this other, evil thing called communism, and that was the world and there was no other way to look at it. Then suddenly the definition of the world no longer defined it and people were proclaiming the "End of History" and other ridiculous notions and a lot of peacocks ruffled their feathers and couldn't keep their beaks shut about triumph and victory and blah, blah, blah. What was a kid to do except either ignore it or try to find out about the world and what was going to happen to it now that all the world's problems had been solved?

Indeed, it did feel like a victory of sorts. Back then cable news reported news instead of balloon boys. Back then my twelve year old eyes and heart knew this was something that was changing history. I didn't know why or how, but you could just feel it. The joy and unity people felt in seeing those Berliners dancing on top of concrete and graffiti was shared by everyone (aside from those Soviet fat cats who benefited from imprisoning a city and much of the globe for all those years.) There was a certain energy in the air that made it feel like that illusion the English language called "peace" was possible across the rest of the world.

Eight years later, I found myself getting off a train at the Zoo Station, a twenty year old university student carrying that same optimism for the world that had been born all those years earlier. (Whether that optimism and idealism was inspired by divinity or insanity has not yet been determined.) I had yet to notice the world's optimism was slipping, and it was tough to feel anything but awe and amazement as a city was rebuilding itself.

Another twelve years have passed since the first time I set foot in Berlin. The world is a vastly different place, and ominous clouds have replaced the sunshine of hope that could be felt in the last days of the twentieth century. When once the promise of peace graced us with its presence, now, "times of uncertainty" has become a cliche phrase.

BBC posted images of separation walls that still exist in the world, walls built after we should have learned our lesson.

Curious, I asked Lebanese Twitterers if there were any walls in Lebanon which divided the different communities. A couple of interesting responses:

@MXML: plenty of psychological walls, that's for sure.

@srichani: imaginary walls btw different sects, political affiliations, social classes, ethnicities.

I imagine psychological walls are far more difficult to take down.

Today, a group of Palestinian youth knocked down a section of the Israel Wall.



Their retreat and the bullet trails were nothing like those iconic images of sledgehammers and dancing on top of graffiti covered concrete. Yet - there is a tiny victory in the defiance of these youth, a little of the spirit of Berlin, some of the hope.

That's enough to keep fighting for the future.

We are all Berliners. We are all Palestinians. We are all Earthians. Humans. And we all deserve the freedom that we watched unfold before our eyes on that blessed day in 1989 - 11/9, or as it's written outside of America, 9/11. That's the 9/11 that should shape our world.

This will be published on November 9 on Developing Lebanon.

Support the troops!™

Venture capitalists investing in green again.

Reverend Billy makes the news (and got a decent showing on election day).

Who cares what happens to a person after they’re born? Women shouldn’t be drinking the devil’s drink anyway, right?

There’s a special place in hell for teabaggers. And for the GOPs who have allowed them to take over their party.

Perspective on the shooting at Fort Hood. If more people would actually serve in the military, they'd understand how bad (and sometimes violent) harassment can be and how very little is done to stop it. They'd also know that psychological illness is still mostly treated as a "weakness" and there isn't much done to help those who need treatment, even if there are problems that are recognized. Often, psych patients are called liars by those who are supposed to treat them, because psych is viewed as a "way to get out" of the military.

The guy snapped. The fact that the wingnut media is making this out to be a Muslim thing is disgusting. Then again, the right rarely gets off their butts to serve their country, so how would they know what it's like?

Srsly, what is wrong with this country? Why do people think it’s ok to lie and involve emergency crews for attention?

I saw elephant in the title and thought it was a story from India, not Oklahoma.

A pro-net neutrality column in the Wall Street Journal. There have been a great number of pro-business, pro-net neutrality statements of late. Not, of course, from the US Chamber of Evil, because, you know, those who stand to benefit from controlling the internet – the telecoms – feed Tom Donohue’s bank account.