garyfrank ([info]garyfrank) wrote,
@ 2008-04-28 13:09:00
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Current location:Work
Current mood: confused
Current music:Paul McCartney & Wings: Wings OVer America
Entry tags:africa, bbc news, cricket

I read the news today, oh boy
Well, all right, I didn't read it, I heard it. But that's the way the song was written and who am I to change things?

BBC News Today:

Bad Boys of Cricket. A Mr. Singh, after a cricket match, while shaking hands with other players, slapped a fellow player so hard, the other man started crying. What? Ah, the sport of gentlemen.

Jennifer Baumgarten (an activist in NYC) has created two T-shirt designs: I had an abortion and I've been raped. The idea is to break the taboo and give voice to the silence. I'm not sure how I feel about this but it seems really strange. That would sort of be like wearing a T-shirt that announces your darkest shame. Not something I would do. Heck, I'd sooner post it on the Internet than wear a...waitaminute. I have posted it on the Internet!

UN Peacekeeping forces from India and Pakistan are allegedly arming militias in the Democratic Republic of Congo in exchange from gold. The UN knows of the allegations, but says they've all been proven false except for a couple of individuals. In one case, the militia that the peacekeepers are "doing business" with were responsible for the genocide in Rwanda. The more I learn about Africa, the sadder I am. The country has to be one of the most hellish places on Earth. The brutality that goes on in almost every country is heartbreaking. I'm not joking when I think we need to send spiritual leaders in to speak with the commanders and military leaders and help them overcome their fears and ego.

Feel free to reply with any other interesting news bits you hear or read about.


Peace,
Gary . . .


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[info]possumqueen
2008-04-28 07:10 pm UTC (link)
You petit bourgeois neo-colonialist???? Reactionary capitalist thug... thing...? :(

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[info]garyfrank
2008-04-29 12:18 am UTC (link)
Really. I'm only reporting the news. The reporter called croicket the sport of gentlemen. I was merely repeating his words.

But I must say, you string a very intellectual insult together with vim and vigor!

A neo-colonialist? Pardon my not-knowing moment, but what ARE you talking about?

As far as reactionary capitalist thug...I have to say that particular shirt doesn't fit me at all.

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[info]possumqueen
2008-05-09 03:39 pm UTC (link)
When I read this sentence:

I'm not joking when I think we need to send spiritual leaders in to speak with the commanders and military leaders and help them overcome their fears and ego.

... all I could think of was, "If Gary posted this in some public board, he would get slammed with every name in the book! Just for having the audacity to suggest that all is not well and with the best intentions in his heart!" I was mocking that kind of knee-jerk ideological crap. There's been much of it in the news of late.

I can hurl meaningless, pseudo-intellectual, ideologically frozen cowchips through the air like frisbees with the best of them. ;) It's what I remember most about the 1970's. And I'd be reading that stuff with a common sense mind and going "WTF? What planet do these people come from?"

Gary, I would never point harm in your direction. We AGREE. :)

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[info]pamphiliawrites
2008-04-28 11:50 pm UTC (link)
Saw the Sunday CBS News show and was surprised by a segment on how our military is adopting a more "Christian" stance that includes the persecution of people from other religions.

Commentator's interviewee went as far as to comment how it's no surprise that our "enemies" see our involvement in the Middle East as a "Holy War".

Scary, very scary.

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[info]garyfrank
2008-04-29 12:16 am UTC (link)
The article relating to the segment is on the CBS news website.

The notion that the US military is a "Christian" army will only cause those poor men and women more harm if the "insurgents" over there think we're in this as a crusade against Islam.

Some time ago, one general did say it was the Christians against the muslim devils. He later said he "misspoke."

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