Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian who tried to bring down an airliner with explosives sewn into his underpants brings new meaning to the childhood taunt " liar liar pants on fire". His pants literally were on fire and if things had gone the way he wanted them to, he and God knows how many others would be dead by now..
While the crime he tried to commit is horrendous, there is also something crazily comical about the man who is becoming known as the " underpants bomber." I mean carrying enough PETN in your crotch to blow the side out of an airliner certainly has a cartoonish quality about it, especially when all you manage to do is burn your balls and scare the pants off your fellow passengers. Nothing dignified here. Certainly no martyrdom. Just a very bad joke and a pathetic, confused rich kid .
Think of the possibilities for stand up comics. After Richard Reid, the shoe bomber, failed to bring down a Virgin Atlantic flight in 2001, we all started having to take off our shoes for the securiity folks at the airport. In the wake of the underpants bomber, are we all going to have to submit to underwear searches or go commando when we fly? Would make joining the mile high club easier, wouldn't it < wink wink> Oh yeah-- there is humor here.
I wonder how Umar's daddy feels about pix of sonny's underwear flying around the internet--a pair of tightie-whities in shreds and flecked with blood-- an object of scorn and laughter. Must be a bit of an embarrassment for a distinguished banker to say the least. Poor guy must be wondering where he went wrong.
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab,will definitely NOT be entering paradise with 70 virgins waiting for him. More likely, if he is lucky, he will end up some hairy convict's bitch in a maximum security prison in the United States. No club Fed for him. Hope he's learned his lesson. "liar liar, pants on fire"
It isn't over in Iran. In fact it may just be beginning. The creation of martyrs always galvanizes any movement, social, religious, or political, but what is happening in Iran is a perfect storm of martyrdom.
For starters, tens of thousands of protestors have chosen Ashura, one of Shia Islam's holiest festivals to mount massive demonstrations all over the country. Ashura is particularly important for Shia muslims because it marks the moment of their split from the Sunni majority and commemorates the martyrdom of Hussein, son of Imam 'Ali and grandson of the Prophet, on the 10th of Muharram, AH 61 (October 10, 680), in Karbala, Iraq. Ashura in Iran is all about martyrdom.
Even as an American of Christian background, with virtually no exposure to either Islam or Iran, I can see that this confluence of protest and martyrdom is proving very very powerful. Since the disputed election last summer, the movement has been growing. Iranians who at first just wanted their votes counted now want regeme change. They march in the streets. They risk severe reprisals incuding torture, jail, even death. I am profoundly moved by the tweets, videos, and blogposts coming out of Iran to chronicle this event. This is more than a protest and it goes far beyond pollitics., This is a real revoloution and a genuine expression of faith. The harder the regeme cracks down on the protesters, the more martyrs are created and the more powerful the dissent movement becomes. The regeme has a tiger by the tail. Can't say that I am sorry.
There are no impartial foreign journalists recording events in Iran-- just thousands of citizens flooding the internet with videos, blogposts, text messages and tweets. They bear witness to what is happening. The protests are growing. The list of martyrs is growing. The nephew of opposition leader, Mir Hussain Mousavi, is the latest addition according to reports.
The world is watching and holding its breath. History is being made in Iran by Iranians, but the outcome will affect us all. I am particularly talking to you, my fellow Americans. Check out CNN on TV or online. They are doing a good job of covering the action and checking facts in a traditional journalistic way. Follow #Ashura #iranprotest and #iranelection hashtags on Twitter. Set up a google alert for Iran protest. You will be amazed.
Web Sources for Good Iran Info in English
homylafayette Iran News in English-- excellent ongoing up to the minute news, photos and videos plus knowledgable personal commentary in English.
Anonymous Iran a wonderful forum with lots of excellent information and commentary about Iran and the protests from all over the world
Enduring America -- an American intellectual blog doing a good job of analysis of the situation
The Huffington Post -- not only articles, but also great recent photos and a live twitter feed for #iranprotest
Tehran Bureau -- absolutely the best single source of thoughtful articles, up to date information, photos and videos. An American based website run by Iranians with sources on the ground in Iran.
Keep your eye on this situation, say a prayer, and may God help the good people of Iran.
I can't believe it is almost Christmas. Where did the year go? . Seems like only yesterday I was riding on Amtrak with Obama on my way with him( in my mind at least) to Washington to restore the hopes and dreams of America and the world. Seems like we have come a long way since George and Laura Bush lit the White House Christmas Tree for the last time..
The world is quite different, yet in many ways it is the same. Fear, anger, war, poverty and pestilence still dog us. People are still dying and children are still going to bed hungry, even in America. And Christmas, this year as always, symbolizes the hope of the world embodied in the birth of a baby. It speaks to the power of humility, the love of God, and the family of man.
This holiday season, whatever the holiday you celebrate, or if you celebrate none at all, I wish you health and happiness and in the spirit of Christmas, I wish you light in the darkness, hope in the face of hopelessness, and joy in living each day as it comes.
I can't believe it is almost Christmas, but I am glad it is. Merry Christmas everyone. May the coming year bring us all one step closer to peace on earth and to understanding one another.
They are lining up for miles in the malls of middle America to buy Sarah Palin's book, Going Rogue. Who are these people? Who is buying the book and why? I came across a video that attempted to answer that question. Random people were interviewed outside a Borders store in Ohio a couple of weeks ago waiting to get inside, buy the book and get it signed.
The mood was festive. The reporter was neutral. The questions simple and direct-- nothing complicated or loaded. The answers given totally blew me away. When asked what they liked about Sarah Palin, fans offered generalities like" she is what this country needs" or ""she'll stand up for America" New Left Media, which made the video, swears that they simply interviewed random people and did not skew the responses in any way and I believe them. Here's what they said on YouTube
We interviewed only a few more people than ended up in the video, not hundreds, and what was cut was done for time purposes. The people were selected at random--some offered to be interviewed--and we were only there for about 90 mins
Point being-- this was not a set up. It was an honest attempt to find out who is buying the book and why and what they think of Sarah Palin as a potential Presidential candidate.
Check out this video. Unless you are totally brain-dead yourself, it will scare the pants off you.
Today, December 1st, is World AIDS Day, as it has been since 1988. Some things have changed since AIDS arrived in America in the early 1980's but unfortunately much has not. There is still no vaccine and there is also much less publicity and awareness than 20 years ago.
Here in the USA the urgency is gone. AIDS is no longer sexy( to coin a phrase). It seen as just another chronic disease, not a death sentence. H1N1 gets a lot more media coverage. HIV/AIDS is viewed as a disease of the disadvantaged and morally depraved and for most middle class Americans has been put into the " it could never happen to me" category-- even though millions of Americans are living with AIDS and according to the CDC as many as 50,000 new cases are diagnosed every year.
On this World AIDS day I would like to share the story of my friend, Brian. Brian was diagnosed with AIDS in 1987 and died in September of 2003. I watched the course of his disease and how at the same time that it ravaged his body, it seemed to enlarge his soul. He was a man who had suffered much: childhood sexual abuse, alcoholism, mental illness, and discrimination because he was gay. I was privileged to know him for almost two decades and to call him my friend..
Please click on this link and read an inspiring article about Brian written soon after his death.. It puts a personal face on a terrible disease and I hope gives honor to a dear friend whom I miss greatly. That seems a fitting way for me to mark World AIDS Day 2009.
