Apathy and Ignorance
There is so much that I want to write about today that I already have ideas for posts for 2 days so tomorrow will be one and the next day will be something too. Usually I have problems concentrating on one topic but there is a lot going on in the world.
It seems everyone who is anyone is voicing their opinion about the mess that is the Israel-Lebanon Conflict. Yesterday there was a rally to support Israel at the Baltimore Holocaust Memorial. You can really tell it's an election year when the 2 main candidates for governor come out to talk and so does one of the people running for Senate. I'm not trying to be pessimistic but I had to ask myself "Would they be there if it weren't an election year?" I couldn't tell you for sure but I'm thinking probably not. It's a sad sad situation and truth be told I wouldn't want to be on either side. I don't know who is right and who is wrong. Yes, the U.S., Australia, Canada, and a couple other countries consider Hezbollah a terrorist organization. Should they be allowed in government? Probably not but the dynamic over in countries like Lebanon, Iran, Iraq, Syria, just about any Middle Eastern country is remarkably different that what we're used to as Americans. I still don't completely understand what the deal is with the constant fighting over Israel. Yes, after the war many people migrated there. That doesn't make them criminals or give them any less of a right to be there.
The Battle of the Holy Land has been an ongoing thing with a couple brief periods where there was a cease fire. I don't think things were every really as peace over there. Israel and it's surrounding countries are remarkable. Those areas mean something to people, mostly for religious purposes. Jerusalem is the Holy City of not only 1 religion but 3 of the most dominant world religions: Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. I don't think there is any other place on Earth that is held in such high regard by so many than Jerusalem. Unfortunately, you have religious zealots on all three sides that have tried to claim the Holy Land as solely their own at one time or another. For example, the Christians tried during the Crusades...that's the one I remember the most because I think it's the one we're taught most about in history class. And here we are centuries later and that area is still at war within itself. It is a truly unique situation.
I don't know what's going to happen or how it's going to be resolved but something needs to be done. More and more innocent civilians on BOTH sides are being hurt or killed. I don't have a solution and thank God it's not my job to come up with one because short of diplomatic talks, I don't have a way for them to come together and stop the fighting. I know I've repeated myself over and over again but I wish people would learn to come together and realize that all this fighting is getting us nowhere. The shelling has to stop...the rockets too. All they are doing is showing the world that they can't compromise and that they would rather resort to violence than to find a peaceful end to this problem. Yeah as an American I have a lot of room to talk right? I'm saying "Oh we need to talk and not kill people blah blah blah" meanwhile in Iraq people are still dying once again civilians seem to make up the bulk of those whose lives are ruined. I don't agree with the war, I didn't want the war to happen, I want the soldiers to come home. I think more and more Americans are wising up and realizing that this war was a mistake and a big one that is costing people their lives not to mention robbing future generations of knowing family.
Unfortunately for us, there is nothing we can really do about it for the next couple of years. There are a couple of things we can do: 1.) vote which is the big thing, 2.) Contact your local representatives and Senators, and 3.) stay informed. (Sounded a bit like a public service announcement...I apologize) I think by doing those three things that Americans can take back control of the government. There are people out there that claim to be patriots because they're for the war. To me patriots are people who aren't afraid to stand up and say when they feel something is wrong and they want to do something about it. They question the government which after all is pretty much what this country is based on. You don't want to be a sheep and accept the things people are doing because you feel like there isn't anything you can do or because it doesn't affect you personally. I think that's where a lot of people go wrong. They say "hey that doesn't affect me. Why should I care?" That's the kind of thing that gets people in trouble. It's like people don't care what happens to others unless it directly effects them. That's insane! I wish people could see how terrible they look when they have that sort of mentality; how uneducated and unfeeling. My hope is that in the future and maybe even today, more people see how being apathetic and unsympathetic is no way to live.
This has very little to do with what I've written so far but it's related in a way. I have a friend who is currently serving in Iraq. He's been there since March and he's part of the National Guard. He was enlisted in the Army for 4 years spending the majority of that time in South Korea. When it's time for you to leave the army you have one of 2 options: 1.) join the reserve or 2.) join the National Guard. I think most people pick the latter of the two because it was pretty rare for National Guard to be deployed unless it was to protect the state or there was some sort of national emergency. Usually they have you stay in for a year. Frankie at first joined the Reserve but opted at the last minute to go into the Guard considering he didn't really want to go back overseas for any reason other than vacation or something like that. A couple days before he was set to finish his time, they decided that he had to stay in longer. This is called stop-loss. That means that if you're time is about up and the government feels it's necessary, they can keep you for up to 18 months longer. To me this basically a back-door draft. These people are looking forward to being out and can't wait to be done (well most of them anyway) and then the government turns around and says "Nope. You can't leave yet. You're needed ______". How fair is that? Anyway I was reminded of this because I just read an article about a local man who after being in the Guard for 16 years and 5 days away from being discharged, is being deployed to Kuwait. 5 days, people, 5 days! He tried to sue to be able to stay but he lost, just like those before him. This doesn't seem right to me. I mean the man has served his time and now they're telling him no. It brought me back to when Frankie said that he was going to be deployed and he wasn't looking forward to going. Apparently this has been happening a lot here lately. What next? My question now is considering all that is going on between Israel and Lebanon, Korea, and Iran, are they going to force people to stay in again? Say Frankie comes home and is ready to be discharged again...does that mean he's going to have to go somewhere else if the government decides he needs to stay longer?
Speaking of Frankie...He called on Friday. I only got to talk to him for 20 minutes or so but it was good hearing from him. I was starting to get a little worried. I hadn't heard from him since June 3 and he usually calls once a month to let me know he's still alive and chit chat a bit. He said he should be home around the first week of September. He's hoping to be home in time for Labor Day but he's not 100% sure that's going to happen. He said it's God-awful hot over there. He bought a thermometer which maxed out at 115. That's just crazy. Anway I was just happy that he was ok and that he called.
It seems everyone who is anyone is voicing their opinion about the mess that is the Israel-Lebanon Conflict. Yesterday there was a rally to support Israel at the Baltimore Holocaust Memorial. You can really tell it's an election year when the 2 main candidates for governor come out to talk and so does one of the people running for Senate. I'm not trying to be pessimistic but I had to ask myself "Would they be there if it weren't an election year?" I couldn't tell you for sure but I'm thinking probably not. It's a sad sad situation and truth be told I wouldn't want to be on either side. I don't know who is right and who is wrong. Yes, the U.S., Australia, Canada, and a couple other countries consider Hezbollah a terrorist organization. Should they be allowed in government? Probably not but the dynamic over in countries like Lebanon, Iran, Iraq, Syria, just about any Middle Eastern country is remarkably different that what we're used to as Americans. I still don't completely understand what the deal is with the constant fighting over Israel. Yes, after the war many people migrated there. That doesn't make them criminals or give them any less of a right to be there.
The Battle of the Holy Land has been an ongoing thing with a couple brief periods where there was a cease fire. I don't think things were every really as peace over there. Israel and it's surrounding countries are remarkable. Those areas mean something to people, mostly for religious purposes. Jerusalem is the Holy City of not only 1 religion but 3 of the most dominant world religions: Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. I don't think there is any other place on Earth that is held in such high regard by so many than Jerusalem. Unfortunately, you have religious zealots on all three sides that have tried to claim the Holy Land as solely their own at one time or another. For example, the Christians tried during the Crusades...that's the one I remember the most because I think it's the one we're taught most about in history class. And here we are centuries later and that area is still at war within itself. It is a truly unique situation.
I don't know what's going to happen or how it's going to be resolved but something needs to be done. More and more innocent civilians on BOTH sides are being hurt or killed. I don't have a solution and thank God it's not my job to come up with one because short of diplomatic talks, I don't have a way for them to come together and stop the fighting. I know I've repeated myself over and over again but I wish people would learn to come together and realize that all this fighting is getting us nowhere. The shelling has to stop...the rockets too. All they are doing is showing the world that they can't compromise and that they would rather resort to violence than to find a peaceful end to this problem. Yeah as an American I have a lot of room to talk right? I'm saying "Oh we need to talk and not kill people blah blah blah" meanwhile in Iraq people are still dying once again civilians seem to make up the bulk of those whose lives are ruined. I don't agree with the war, I didn't want the war to happen, I want the soldiers to come home. I think more and more Americans are wising up and realizing that this war was a mistake and a big one that is costing people their lives not to mention robbing future generations of knowing family.
Unfortunately for us, there is nothing we can really do about it for the next couple of years. There are a couple of things we can do: 1.) vote which is the big thing, 2.) Contact your local representatives and Senators, and 3.) stay informed. (Sounded a bit like a public service announcement...I apologize) I think by doing those three things that Americans can take back control of the government. There are people out there that claim to be patriots because they're for the war. To me patriots are people who aren't afraid to stand up and say when they feel something is wrong and they want to do something about it. They question the government which after all is pretty much what this country is based on. You don't want to be a sheep and accept the things people are doing because you feel like there isn't anything you can do or because it doesn't affect you personally. I think that's where a lot of people go wrong. They say "hey that doesn't affect me. Why should I care?" That's the kind of thing that gets people in trouble. It's like people don't care what happens to others unless it directly effects them. That's insane! I wish people could see how terrible they look when they have that sort of mentality; how uneducated and unfeeling. My hope is that in the future and maybe even today, more people see how being apathetic and unsympathetic is no way to live.
This has very little to do with what I've written so far but it's related in a way. I have a friend who is currently serving in Iraq. He's been there since March and he's part of the National Guard. He was enlisted in the Army for 4 years spending the majority of that time in South Korea. When it's time for you to leave the army you have one of 2 options: 1.) join the reserve or 2.) join the National Guard. I think most people pick the latter of the two because it was pretty rare for National Guard to be deployed unless it was to protect the state or there was some sort of national emergency. Usually they have you stay in for a year. Frankie at first joined the Reserve but opted at the last minute to go into the Guard considering he didn't really want to go back overseas for any reason other than vacation or something like that. A couple days before he was set to finish his time, they decided that he had to stay in longer. This is called stop-loss. That means that if you're time is about up and the government feels it's necessary, they can keep you for up to 18 months longer. To me this basically a back-door draft. These people are looking forward to being out and can't wait to be done (well most of them anyway) and then the government turns around and says "Nope. You can't leave yet. You're needed ______". How fair is that? Anyway I was reminded of this because I just read an article about a local man who after being in the Guard for 16 years and 5 days away from being discharged, is being deployed to Kuwait. 5 days, people, 5 days! He tried to sue to be able to stay but he lost, just like those before him. This doesn't seem right to me. I mean the man has served his time and now they're telling him no. It brought me back to when Frankie said that he was going to be deployed and he wasn't looking forward to going. Apparently this has been happening a lot here lately. What next? My question now is considering all that is going on between Israel and Lebanon, Korea, and Iran, are they going to force people to stay in again? Say Frankie comes home and is ready to be discharged again...does that mean he's going to have to go somewhere else if the government decides he needs to stay longer?
Speaking of Frankie...He called on Friday. I only got to talk to him for 20 minutes or so but it was good hearing from him. I was starting to get a little worried. I hadn't heard from him since June 3 and he usually calls once a month to let me know he's still alive and chit chat a bit. He said he should be home around the first week of September. He's hoping to be home in time for Labor Day but he's not 100% sure that's going to happen. He said it's God-awful hot over there. He bought a thermometer which maxed out at 115. That's just crazy. Anway I was just happy that he was ok and that he called.
posted by Kyleen at 5:48 AM
1 Comments:
I agree with you I'm not sure any of those candidates would be out there if it wasn't an election year. I know the lebonise community in Edmonton had a rally too and if I recall correctly from the news none of the politicians were there.
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