Coretta Scott King 4/27/27-1/31/06

Very sad start to the day today not only for me personally but for the entire world I think. I just read that Coretta Scott King, wife of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, has passed away. I remember when I was in elementary school and we were learning about civil rights, most notably Dr. King. I remember my teachers talking about the accomplishments of his wife, Coretta Scott, as well. I remember them saying that after her husband was murdered, she sort of picked up where he left off becoming a leading force within the civil rights movement herself. I think in a lot of ways she became what her husband was supposed to be. She not only fought for the rights of African Americans but for women, gays and lesbians, and AIDS prevention. She was also a vocal opponent to capital punishment and to the war in Iraq.

One of the teachers made this bulletin board of important people from around the world, most of them were American though, but anyway she was on there. I can't remember the exact little blurb on there but it basically said what I stated above. Also pictured were Helen Keller, Sally Ride, Cesar Chavez, Martin Luther King (of course), Christa McAuliffe, and Yuri Gagarin and Valentina Tereshkova among many others. I always found myself staring at Coretta Scott King though. I always admired what her husband did and it saddened me that someone took his life when he was all about peaceful resistance. And I thought how great a human being she must be to raise 4 children on her own but also take up her husbands work and continue it for the rest of her life.

She is someone I would hope my future kids would look up to and hope that they would also feel compelled to fight against social injustice. She was a truly great person and the world will miss her....I will miss her. She is someone that I wanted to model my life after and now that she's gone it makes me want to work even harder for things that I feel are important not just to me but to all people. I'm almost at a loss for words right now...it's taking a lot for me to write this. I feel like someone close to me just died even though I never met her. I'm a little teary right now. I know it may seem like I'm over-reacting and perhaps I am. I just can't imagine the world without her. She had a profound impact on my life. I don't think there are a lot of people in my generation that had anyone to look up to that was still alive. She was it for me...it's kinda like when you think that someone is always going to be around. You know that death has to come for everyone but somehow you don't think its going to happen to that one person whether it be a relative or friend. Today people don't have a lot of leaders to look up to and now the world is a little emptier now that she's gone. I can only hope that someone will "pick up the torch" and carry on the good work that her and her husband accomplished over the years.

Speaking of Christa McAuliffe...over the weekend was the 20th anniversary of the Challenger explosion. I swear it doesn't feel like it was 20 years ago. I can remember watching what happened that day like it was yesterday. I think most people my age and older can remember watching that. I remember the funerals as well....especially Christa McAuliffe's. We watched it in school and I remember her coffin. I remember there was a red apple on it...the umofficial symbol of teachers. I remember some of her students talking about her and how much they were going to miss her. It was a very sad day indeed.

Tonight is also the State of the Union address. I, for one, will be watching it to see exactly where Bush seems to be standing on certain issues.....the big one other than the "War on Terror" and the war in Iraq is healthcare. This nation is in a crisis in more ways than one. I think we need to hear what he has to say for himself and what if anything he plans to do. I have a feeling I'm going to be going to bed a little more saddened than I would have given the news today. This country is in the proverbial crapper and I'm not trying to sound unpatriotic or whatever. I think that this country is a great country....we have a lot of opportunities that other countries don't have. But I think we are in a downward spiral at the moment. Things seem to be getting progressively worse and as of right now, not to sound pessimistic, it doesn't look like it's going to get any better.

This Is Why I Love Joel Stein

Not only is he a fantastic journalist, but he's funny too. I don't know if anyone has seen him on I Love the 80's but he's on there too....him and Mo Rocca kind of resemble each other but thats neither here nor there. He's really funny and really smart. Now the other day he wrote an article in the Opinion section of the L.A. Times stating his feelings about the war. This article is hilarious and needlesss to say it has ruffled a few feathers especially among conservatives. They are not at all happy with what he said at all even though it is clearly HIS opinion. It should definitely be checked out. To read the full article click HERE .

In other news....well things are just going a little batty around the world with Iran wanting to develop nuclear weapons (Very scary thought) and of course the daily issue that is Iraq. The Middle East appears to be becoming hell on earth. You couldn't pay me any sum of money to go there for any reason. Now Hamas has emerged victorious in Palestinian elections. All this is a lot to take in at once isn't it. It just seems to be building up. Bush doesn't know what he's doing (hasn't since day one but thats my view)...it's just all sorts of messed up. Kinda makes you feel a little helpless at this point. There isn't anything we can do right now to stop whats going on aside from bringing the troops home but Bush is determined to keep them there as long as he feels like. It just makes my blood boil. I shouldn't let it upset me this much but I can't help it. To think of the all the innocent people that are dying over in Iraq not to mention the almost daily casualties that our soldiers are suffering...and what for?

Mary J. Blige and U2

I don't know what kind of music everyone is into but if you like U2 you should definitely check out Mary J. Blige's version of "One" with U2. "One" is probably my favorite U2 songs. It has beautiful lyrics and I can just feel how Bono feels just by the way he sings. When I heard that Mary J. Blige covered it I almost hit the floor. No one should EVER cover "One"...who does she think she is? How dare she!

I love Mary J. Blige I do but I thought this can't be good. I listened to it and if it is at all possible, I think it's better than the original. She brings something else to it and it's like hearing the song for the first time. And not only does Bono sing on it but the rest of U2 plays on it. I thought how awesome are they to redo one of their most popular songs and not a rock version but a more R&B version. I love this song. I can't stop listening to it. Everytime I listen to it I almost cry. It's probably one of the most beautiful songs I've heard.

I even downloaded the entire album, which isn't too shabby. There are some really really good songs on it. It's a lot different then her last album. I think it's probably one of the best albums I've heard in a long time. If you have the chance give it a listen. I don't know if anyone is familiar with "Hate it or Love it" by the Game but she redid the song and it's called "MJB Da MVP". Another great song as is "Baggage". She's got a great voice...I can only hope she keeps it up considering her last one wasn't that great. This one is fantastic. Don't believe me just listen to it...especially "One"!

Edgar Allan Poe

Today is the 197th birthday of Edgar Allan Poe. He died here in Baltimore back in 1849. No one really knows what he died from although most people seem to think it had something to do with his drinking problem which very well could have been...I don't know. Anyway there is a tradition that takes place here every year on Poe's birthday where a disguised man places a dozen roses and a bottle of cognac on his grave. No one knows who this man is or why he does it. Most people seem to think of it as a tribute to the great writer. He has been caught on camera although he concealed his face and he also left a not some years ago saying that "the torch will be passed" meaning that someone else was going to take up the tradition when this person stopped. People always try and catch the guy but no one ever succeeds. This has been going on for 57 years in a row. He hasn't missed a year yet and I don't think he's going to miss one.

I think this is one of the coolest stories. I love that there is a tradition like this here. I work right down the street from where he is buried and ride by it everyday. The cemetary he and his family are buried in is behind a locked gate but that doesn't seem to phase the visitor or Poe Toaster as he has been dubbed. Its a big thing here in Baltimore and every year people try and find out who he is. He is always dressed the same and just sort of appears. No one sees him come or go. I don't want to know who he is but I want to see him once. When I was little I thought he was the ghost of Poe....I don't know why...I think it has something to do with that they never saw who did it and never really knew why. I remember seeing video one of the news people captured and it looked to me that he materialized out of nowhere. He didn't...I saw the video later and saw that it walked right up to it did his thing and left. There are a lot of historic places here in Baltimore but the Poe house and grave seem to be the main attraction. We have the Betsy Ross house where the first flag was supposedly made and there is also Fort McHenry where one of the most famous battles of the War of 1812 took place that would give us our National Anthem. There is a buoy where most historians think the ship that Francis Scott Key was on when he wrote the Star Spangled Banner...you can see it if you look down while going over the Key bridge. Just a lot if interesting stuff but nothing seems to capture the attention that Poe's grave does. What a fitting tribute to one of America's most famous writers.

Not Feeling Well At All

I'm really starting to feel like crap. I hope its not the flu or anything like that but my eye is all runny and nasty. Gross!

Hmmmm

Today my friend e-mailed me. We haven't spoken in a couple weeks due to a stupid misunderstanding but thats not the point. Anyway she e-mails me with the heading of Update and goes on to say in the short email that she has decided to move to New York while her fiance is at boot camp. That is a drastic turnaround since the last time we spoke. When we talked last, her fiance was looking for a job because he did something totally irresponsible and got himself suspended....well that turned into him getting fired. It was totally his fault and anyone that knows the situation will tell you the same thing. Anyway so they pushed up when they're getting married and all that. He's supposed to be leaving for boot camp in March which means that they're getting married before that. I think its a mistake and I've said it time and again. But it's not my decision or my life. So I told her to call me at work and let me know whats going on. It was all just really awkward. We just chatted for a bit and she told me to shoot her an email so I did explaining my side of the story and now I'm waiting for a reply. We'll see how things go but I can pretty much bank on her either not caring about my side of the story or she'll just ignore it. I'll have to wait.

Other than that nothing is going on. I watched "Cold Mountain" over the weekend. It was a decent movie. A lot better that I thought it was going to be. I wasn't bored at all. Renee Zellweger was really good in it and I don't really care for her at all. I think the only other movie that I liked with her in it was "Empire Records". I was one of the few that didn't really like "Jerry Maguire". It was ok just not something I would watch again and the whole "You had me at hello" thing got on my nerves. Anyway she was really good in it and it was just a good movie. I'll have to look into reading the book. My sister has it so maybe I can borrow it from her. She said it was kinda hard to get into but I've plugged through books like that.

Ok well thats all that is going on in my life. Nothing really happening with me in particular. I think maybe that I live vicariously through people....I lead a relatively boring life. It's ok with me. For now I'm content with that. I think I would rather have a boring life than one that is overly complicated. Thats not a good thing.

Sniff!

I haven't been outside since I got to work. A guy needed to be let in to deliver a freezer from the loading dock and since Mike isn't here today I had to let him in. It's sort of dreary out....very foggy and damp. Anyway I went down to let him in; I opened the door and was hit by a blast of wind. When I was hit by the wind it reminded me of something. It reminded me of being near the ocean during the summer. I don't mean the middle of summer when its like 60 degrees at night but in late summer early fall. We've had unusually warm temps the past couple of days here...its seems more like spring to me. Anyway when you're at the ocean in the summer and its cool and foggy, the air just smells different. I wanted to run home get a sweatshirt, grab a cup of coffee and just sit outside. It's not actually raining but it looks like its going to any second. You know how the air smells right before it rains? I thought I could smell thunder. I don't know if that makes anysense at all to anyone but that is what I thought of. It's weird I know, you can't really smell a sound but that was the best way I could describe it. I wish it was like that the rest of the weekend. I would sit with the windows wide open hoping to tempt the air through the window and into the house. It's just a very peaceful feeling for me when I smell and feel stuff like that. It's funny how things just sort of make sense to probably only you when you experience certain things. Ok now I'm just rambling. I'm having a bit of a hard time putting into words exactly how I felt but I think I did it the best way I could.

Ok...moving away from that....the Donner Party. They are once again in the news. Turns out they might not have resorted to cannibalism like everyone thought. To read the story click here. I can remember the first time I heard of the Donner party....it was in the movie "Beetlejuice" when the Maitlands were waiting to see Juno (sp?). I didn't know who they were and I never gave it much thought but years later I heard it again and I remembered hearing it in that movie so I looked it up and read about it. Funny how you remember things, isn't it?

Well thats all for now...I'm going to daydream about what its like outside and wish for it to be 3:30 so that I can leave here for the weekend.

Some People are Just Plain Crazy

Ok, I am all for freedom of speech I really am but sometimes I feel that there is a line that is crossed and something needs to be done about it. When freedom of speech becomes so hurtful and full of hate, people need to respond. Yesterday on the way home from work I was listening to 98 Rock, the local rock station. In the afternoon, Mickey and Amelia are on from 3 to 7 and they're pretty funny. Mickey is a local comedian, a staunch republican and suffers from diarrhea of the mouth. Amelia is the exact opposite; she is more moderate but funny nonetheless. Anyway they're pretty funny although Mickey gets on my nerves and I don't find him all that funny. Anyway Mickey came across this website godhatesfags.com and hit the roof. This website is for a baptist church in Kansas. A church! These people are worst kind of people. They are akin to the Islamic fundamentalists except they are "Christians".

If you would read what some of these people have up on the site, you would be appalled. I would even go as far as to say that they are harming the public by what they're saying. They say that God killed the 12 miners in West Virginia because of books and movies that are made. I mean come on! That is totally irrational. They planned on picketting the memorial service being held for the miners saying that they deserved it and blah blah blah. When people in West Virginia caught wind of this, they fought back. They wrote letters stating their opinions and some of them threatened bodily harm. I'm a pacifist but I can't say that I don't blame them for feeling that way. If someone picketted a memorial service for a friend or loved one because they believed God killed them to teach people a lesson, I might be tempted to beat the crap out of them myself. If they truly followed Jesus, they would know that he preached love and understanding not hate. They also "praise" God on their sight for the development of IED's or improvised explosive devices. These IED's are the number one killer of people and soldiers in Iraq. Tell me now these people aren't truly crazy. They say that God is now punishing us because of gay people. I know these people are just doing this to get a rise out of people and yeah it's working but something needs to be done about this. I don't understand what could have happened in the lives of these people that made them think this way. It's not ok and no matter what people do, they're not going to change. But there is always a hope that maybe one person who is being misguided by this group will see that all they are doing is feeding a problem.

Something Mickey said really struck a chord with me...he said this is exactly how David Koresh started out....and you know I think he's right. Are we headed for another Waco? That is a scary thought but I think he might be on to something there. You would think that people would know better and learn from history but they don't. There will always be a group of nuts that think they are doing the Lord's work but aren't. You can't tell me that God is ordering people to murder people? That would mean breaking one of the 10 commandments which most people know is a no-no. Why is it that people hear what they want to hear when it comes to the teaching of God and Jesus? Why do they mold it to what they feel is right. This is why I have a bit of an issue with organized religon. I consider myself a Christian....I believe that Jesus was/is the son of God....but I also think that if Jesus were here in this time teaching, he wouldn't be condoning these hateful actions in his name. It doesn't make sense. It reminds me of a quote from "Dogma" when Rufus says what really ticks Jesus off is the stuff that is carried out in his name like holy wars and killings. Yeah I know its just a movie and was purely for entertainment purposes but I think that is a truthful statement. Don't you think that Jesus would be a little angry at the fact that people are killing others in his name? I think he would be. That just my opinion though. This is the man who turned the other cheek, right?

Anyway on the radio program, they finally got the lady that put this website up on the phone. Unfortunately I didn't get to hear the rest of it but my mom did. She said all she did was quote the Bible and Amelia got so angry with her that she had to leave the room. Mickey, who is a Catholic and knows a good bit of the Bible, was questioning her and all she did was keep quoting the Bible. This lady truly believed that what she was doing wasn't wrong. I don't know about people sometimes. I think they need to be evaluated and maybe someone could figure out what the deal is. The same thing for any religious zealot no matter what faith or creed. It's something I think needs to be looked into. I wish I would have found this a couple months ago when I was writing my paper for a faulty website. I think I could have gotten a couple pages out of it. It's something I've never understood and I don't think I ever will.

Darfur (My Afterschool Special)

Things are really getting out of hand in Darfur. For those who don't know anything about the situation in Darfur here is some background.

Darfur is located in the Sudan which borders the Central African Republic, Libya, and Chad. It has some forested areas in the south and in the north it is more desert like. A civil war broke out in 2003 between Arab people and the non-Arab people and has resulted in continued conflict that has lead to the deaths of thousands. The Janjaweed, an Sudanese government-backed Arab militia, have been accused of mass murder and repeated rapes. Human rights organizations are trying to do something about it but nothing seems to be happening. Things are getting worse and more and more people are being raped, murdered, and forced out of their homes into neighboring regions. Genocide is taking place and it seems no one wants to help these people. Genocide is one of the worst crimes ever committed.

This has been seen in Africa time and again. In Somalia years ago something similar happened and to this day is still happening. You don't hear about it much anymore and things might have quieted a little but its boiling under the surface. Throughout history civil wars have been taking place and until people figure out war isn't the answer, they will continue to take place. Something should be done to help these people but what can be done? I don't think given the current situation involving the U.S. that it would be a good idea to send troops in. That could be a major mistake. Maybe the U.N. should step in and do something about it. I think that would be a good idea but I have little faith in the U.N. I think that sometimes they have the right idea but there are times, now being one of them, when I feel that they don't want to do anything unless it does something for them. So meanwhile, thousands are being killed and raped and displaced.

There has to be something that we can do to help those people. I don't want to see what happened in Somalia and Rwanda happen again although I fear it has and things aren't going to get any better. We can't let it happen. They are people too and if we turn our backs on them they won't have a chance.

So what to do:
1. Learn about whats going on. Education is the key.
2. Contact human rights groups like Amnesty International and get involved
3. Get the word out. Tell people about what is going on and what they can do to help
4. Write the government and tell them why you feel this needs their attention.

Yeah I know this sounded like a little Afterschool Special. That wasn't my intention at all but thats how it turned out. I was just hoping that if I put it out there people would find some interest in the subject and learn more about it. Its something that should not be happening in the world today. We should be acting more civily to each other instead of fighting. I thought that maybe after thousands of years of war that we would finally learn that violence is never the answer. Its a temporary solution that never lasts. Just look through a history books at how many wars have been fought and for what reason and how long the winning side lasted. Its alarming but humans still haven't learned their lessons.

Tragedy and Lies

TRAGEDY: Of course just about everyone who keeps up with the news is probably aware of the tragedy that has happened in West Virginia. 12 of the 13 miners are dead.....the lone survivor is in critical condition. I know after the mining incident in Pennsylvania a couple years ago, people were optimistic that most or all would be found alive, and rightly so. I know if it was my family trapped in a mine, I would try to think positive and only hope for the best. Unfortunately, there is an entire town and families torn apart with the deaths of these 12 individuals. I think most Americans were pulling for these people, hoping they would be found maybe tired and cold but alive. My heart goes out to the families that lost their loved ones in the mine.

This leads to my other point, why hasn't mining gotten any safer? Sure there are probably less fatalities today then there were say 50 years ago but that doesn't mean that improvements couldn't be made to insure the safety of people risking their lives for a paycheck. Miners are most of the time overworked and underpaid. They literally risk everything when they go to work each day to support their families. People shouldn't be dying in mines for any reason......not for fuel and not for metal. It's just not right. Especially when there are alternatives to coal and other heating materials.

LIES: Now this is a bit of local news. A long time columnist at the Baltimore Sun, Micheal Olesker, has resigned amid allegations of plagiarism. He's been with the Sun for nearly 30 years and is also a commentator on one of the local news programs. It was found that he had plagiarized a paragraph in a column he wrote on December 24. A writer from the free local Baltimore City Paper noticed something weird about a retraction that appeared did some research and found that he had plagiarized many times before. This writer tokk his finding to the editor of the Sun and the Sun began an investigation of their own. They had started looking through some of his previous work and before they could really get anything, Michael Olesker resigned. I think they'll probably still continue to investigate but his career is pretty much over.

It doesn't stop there though....The Baltimore Sun has filed a lawsuit against Governor Bob Ehrlich citing that he violated the first amendment. This goes back to when the governor banned state executive branch employees from speaking to either columnist. There is a lot of bad blood between the governor and the Sun so we'll see if the recent allegations will affect the lawsuit. Should be interesting to see how things play out. Of course the governor's office is using this to their advantage. They are saying things like what else has he "written" and how much of it is true, etc. etc. I can understand that but I know the Ehrlich administration is going to use this to the full advantage. I can only hope that it is resolved and the truth comes out not just concerning the accusations of plagiarism but that the governor has violated the first amendment.

You know though I don't remember ever hearing about this before now. I don't remember hearing anything about a lawsuit or anything like that. Very weird. Ehrlich is a shady character to begin with and a lot of people voted for him because they wanted no part of the previous administration in office. Parris Glendening was also shady but he was a democrat whereas Ehrlich is a republican. Glendening had a scandal concerning his private life and also some misappropriations of funds. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend seemed alright to me though. I still don't know why people didn't vote for her. I did but thats me.

Tangent: There are some interesting things taking place at home and elsewhere. There have been mudslides and I just read about a suicide bombing. Crazy stuff going on. I guess my hope for a peaceful year is going down the tubes. I wish I could get into the mind of a suicide bomber and try to understand the logic behind killing themselves and others. it doesn't make sense to me but I guess thats the difference between a killer and regular people. There is a movie out called Paradise Now that is about suicide bombers but a lot of people didn't want it shown here in the U.S. so I don't know when I'll be able to see it. It should prove to be an interesting movie...maybe it'll give some insight as to what is going through their minds when they decided to end their lives and the lives of others in the name of religion. Religious Wars is another hot topic with me and I'll save that for another post. For now I think I've written enough.

My New Year

My New Year started off alright....very very quiet. Maggie and I had an arguement so we haven't spoken since Friday. It was all a misunderstanding but until she's ready to talk about it like adults then I'll just keep it quiet. So I spent the New Year at home with my parents, my sister, my brother in law, my brother in laws brother and Frankie. Frankie and Jenn came along with me to my dads on Friday. They made it a lot less awkward for me and Dad got to meet Frankie. We've been friends for 7+ years and they never met. I got to see my great niece who is absolutely gorgeous. She has the bluest eyes I've ever seen. Its weird technically being a great aunt at 26. That is usually reserved for people over the age of 40. Anyway it wasn't so bad.

Yesterday I just sort of hung out......There wasn't much to do here...there hasn't been much to do at all. Today I stayed home as well. I was off for the holiday. I did get a little reading done and finally watched Fantastic Four. It was a decent movie. I'm not at all familiar with the comic so I'm no expert or anything. Frankie just left....it's the last time I'll see him for at least a year. He goes to VA tomorrow and leaves for AZ from there. Then on February 4 he goes to Iraq. I was really hoping that he wouldn't have to go but he does. I think he realizes now that he didn't really want to go. He's planning to travel a little when he gets home from Iraq. He wants to go to Europe and all that. It's something he's always wanted to do. February 4 coincidentally happens to be the same date he left for Korea 5 years ago. Thats pretty odd to me. Anyway he's gone and I'm not as upset about it as I thought I was going to be. It just seems like it was meant to happen. I don't know how to explain it. It just seems ok, you know?