My soapbox, please….
28 November, 2001
Today, Sky News showed a live interview
(from Winfield, Alabama) with the father of the CIA officer who was killed a
while back in Afghanistan. This leads back to what CNN said on 25 November, but
the USA government wouldn’t admit then. He’s the first American killed in the
“War on Terrorism.” I suppose that the officer will be deemed a hero. Whatever.
I don’t mean to sound
disrespectful, but the guy is not a hero. He died. So what? He was a soldier
who was sent to a foreign country to kill people. What about all the other
people who died on that day? Perhaps there was someone who worked with homeless
or disadvanged children who died on the same day. Perhaps there was an EMT
(Emergency Medical Technician) who saved two lives that day. They’re heroes.
Not a government paid assassin. Click here to read an article
from the Miami Herald about who the heroes really are.
**************************************************************************************************************************
25
November, 2001
CNN has
a part where they play quotes from people who call in. Linda Heard from Athens
Greece (with a perfect English accent, so she was probably English, but living
in Athens) said that she wanted to praise the “unsung heroes” of the war on
terror, the journalists. She said that they are risking their lives and have
had to completely change their lifestyle, living in tents and eating bad food.
Give me a break!!
The
media people over there are a bunch of glory hounds hoping to get their “big
break” by sending back war footage and also gathering materials to use in the
books they will write (and highly profit from) when they return. I have no
sympathy for the media people who get hurt or killed in war conflicts as they
usually shouldn’t have been where they were when they were hurt or killed.
Unsung heroes my ass!
**************************************************************************************************************************
17
October, 2001
Today a senior Israeli official was
shot and killed by a Palestinian group. The leader of Israel, Ariel Sharon, has
said that this changes everything. Does it? Last week, a senior Palestinian
official was assassinated by Israel. What’s the difference between the two?
It’s okay for Israel to assassinate people, but not for Palestine to do it? Sorry,
I don’t agree with that.
Also, it’s interesting how the
western media (BBC World, Sky News and CNN) all call the killing of an Israeli
official an assassination, but the killing of the Palestinian official last
week was only called a killing. It appears to be propaganda to make the viewers
in the UK and USA feel sorry for the Israelis.
**************************************************************************************************************************
5
October, 2001
As far as television newscasters
go, there isn’t a "War on Terror," there is a "War on Terrah."
When W first declared this "war," he pronounced the word incorrectly,
perhaps because of his Texas accent. Since then, almost every news presenter in
the USA is pronouncing it "terrah" instead of "Terror."
Even the dictionary says that the "r" at the end should be
pronounced. The news presenters are just jumping on the bandwagon of saying it
how W said it. It makes them sound stupid.
**************************************************************************************************************************
17
March, 2001
It’s a two rant day! The committee
that is in charge of awarding the 2008 Summer Olympics recently
visited Toronto, Ontario, Canada. There are people in Toronto against the Olympics,
saying that the money should be used to build affordable housing to help the
people get off the streets (I agree with that). The "awarders" met
with leaders of Toronto charities that help the homeless, but then determined
that that is not a factor in awarding the Olympics.
Hello?
That certainly is a determiner in
awarding the Olympics. The money that is being used to win Toronto the Olympics
could be better used to help the homeless. The money that Toronto will have to
use to build all of the new facilities for the Olympics could also be better
used to help the homeless. The "Clueless Meter" is on
"high" today. Do we really want people that insensitive awarding the
Olympics? They probably don’t care because they have plenty of money and feel
that these things don’t concern them. If I ever become like that, someone
please kill me.
**************************************************************************************************************************
17
March, 2001
This really disgusts me! There was
recently a Celebrity golf tournament sponsored by Michael Jordan on
Paradise Island, Bahamas. Stars such as Pamela Anderson Lee, Michael Bolton,
Charles Barkley, Wayne Gretszky and Natalie Cole participated. $300,000 was
raised for the Ronald McDonald House charity in the USA, $25,000 was raised for
a Bahamas charity and the winning team won $200,000. Where do I start?
First of all, I feel that a lot
more than $25,000 should have been given to the charity in the Bahamas! That’s
outrageous that the charity in the USA (albeit I support the cause of the
Ronald McDonald House charity) received more than 10 times the amount given to
the charity of the country where the even is held! Perhaps it could have been
split evenly.
Secondly, the winning team receiving
a $200,000 prize is completely absurd. This was supposed to be a charity event!
In my opinion, celebrity charity events like this shouldn’t have prizes
to this extent for winners. I could see giving the members of the winning team
trophies, or a trinket like that, but the amount that this team walked away
with is way out of line. The celebrities don’t need the money!!
**************************************************************************************************************************
18
February, 2001
Brazil has been making generic copies of AIDS
medicine and giving them to people in Brazil with AIDS for free. If they didn’t
do this, most Brazilians wouldn’t be able to afford the medicine and would die.
Their death rate from AIDS has dropped by 50% since they started doing this in
1998. That’s great!
However, the USA isn’t happy about
that. Brazil is part of the World Trade Organization, which requires that
countries pass a law that protects the patent on pharmaceuticals for 20 years. Brazil
did pass that, however also passed a law that allows Brazil to make copies of
the drugs if a company doesn’t produce them in Brazil, effectively creating a
loophole so that they can continue to help their people. The USA is bringing
this before the WTO in Geneva in protest to have it stopped. However, since
only a country, not a company, can bring something before the WTO, it is the
powerful pharmaceutical industry (special interest group), which donates
hundreds of millions of dollars to "buy" politicians, which wants it
to stop.
Doesn’t the pharmaceutical industry
realize that there is more to life than money? If they sold their products at a
rate that everyone who needs them could afford them, then this problem wouldn’t
exist. The pharmaceutical industry has a great opportunity to help people all
over the world, however they choose to put profit before people’s health.
That’s not right! Yet another reason I left the USA.
**************************************************************************************************************************
22
January, 2001
W has said that one of his
priorities is education. He plans $1500 payments (vouchers) for
low-income families so that their children could attend private schools if
failing school districts don’t improve their standards within three years.
I have a problem with that (I would
have even more of a problem with it if I lived in the USA and my tax dollars
were funding it). That’s not solving a problem, it’s sweeping it under the
carpet! What that money should be used for is improving the schools that it. In
the long run, it is cheaper to do that than the other. With vouchers, it
discriminates against people whose income isn’t considered low income, however
they still can’t afford to send their children to private schools. Also,
many states have voted down voucher programs! Why should the government make
the states do something that they have voted down already? Also, does he really
think that the parents are all going to be honest about sending their kids to a
private school with that voucher and not just transfer them to a different
school and take the money? W is an idiot!
**************************************************************************************************************************
5
November, 2000
Today, Iraqi Airlines
resumed domestic flights, some of which go through the "no fly zone"
in the north of the country. The USA and Britain have said that that is fine,
as the "caretakers" of the no fly zone only target military
airplanes.
Could someone explain to me WHY
Iraq needs to resume domestic flights, other than for political reasons? After
all, only the VERY rich will be able to afford the flights, AND it’s been 9
years since they were discontinued. According to the Iraqis, over 500,000
children have died due to malnutrition, which they claim was caused by the
sanctions as a result of the Persian Gulf War. Shouldn’t the money needed for
maintenance of the airplanes and airport as well as the salaries of the people
involved be put towards feeding the people? Don’t even get me started on the
fact that all of the government palaces have been rebuilt and a few new holiday
resorts have opened. Gee, I wonder where the "oil for food" money is
going?
**************************************************************************************************************************
13
October, 2000
Kim Dae-jung, the president of
South Korea won the Nobel Peace Prize for the year 2000. In my opinion
it should have been shared between the leaders of North and South Korea, as
they are both going through great lengths to establish peace and reconcile the
two Koreas to one country again. The commentator said that the main reason that
the president of North Korea wasn’t included to share the award was because of
the criticism that he and the committee would have suffered to due to the
treatment of the people in North Korea. Cowards! However, the Nobel Committee
did throw this token in "The Norwegian Nobel Committee wishes to express
its recognition of the contributions made by North Korea's and other countries'
leaders to advance reconciliation and possible reunification on the Korean
peninsula."
In my opinion, this was a political
decision. There is no reason for the leaders of both countries to not have received
and shared it. After all, the award has been shared by leaders working towards
peace in other places before peace has been established. Perhaps the Nobel
committee needs to wait until peace is actually established before handing out
awards. I think that they think they are encouraging peace by giving awards in
anticipation that it might help. Obviously that hasn’t worked in the past.
Let’s look back at some of the people who have won the Nobel Peace Prize..
1998 – John Hume and David Trimble
for their efforts to find a peaceful solution to the conflict in Northern
Ireland. It is far from peace.
1994 – The prize was awarded jointly to: Yasser Arafat , Chairman of the
Executive Committee of the PLO and President of the Palestinian National
Authority, Shimon Peres, the Foreign Minister of Israel and Yitzhak Rabin, the
Prime Minister of Israel, for their efforts to create peace in the Middle East.
That is also far from peace.
In my opinion, the Nobel committee
needs to rethink its definition of the word "peace." Maybe I need to
email them. Maybe I need to make my own award!
**************************************************************************************************************************
27
September, 2000
There are European fishing
trawlers (huge fishing vessels) illegally fishing off the coast of Western
Africa. They are catching a majority of the fish and leaving the Africans, who
rely on the fish for food and work, to go without. This year, the catch in The
Gambia (a West African country) has been ¼ of normal. There really isn't
anything that the African countries can do, even though they do have proof
(there is an airplane that takes pictures of the vessels so that they can be
positively identified), as they are not able to prosecute the much more
powerful European countries. There are predictions that within 5 years, there
will be no fish in that area. All this so that the Europeans can eat seafood.
That's not right. Let the Europeans
fish their own waters empty and then find something else to eat. There is no
reason for them to steal the fish of less fortunate countries, thus possibly
creating famine in the future. Then what will happen? The poor countries will
have to rely on the richer countries for food, and, in most cases, have to beg,
which, if history holds true, will only be granted after pictures of starving
children are shown on the tellie, after many people have already died. It's sad
that people's greed blinds them about the future.
**************************************************************************************************************************
17
June, 2000
I don’t understand "football
hooligans" (so there is no doubt in anyone’s mind, I am referring to
what is called soccer in some countries). I’ve only been following football for
a few years now (every since I was in Paris for World Cup in 1998), so don’t
know a lot of the history. Usually it involves English fans getting drunk and
causing absolute chaos in whatever foreign city they may be in. They attack
supporters of the other teams and blame everyone but themselves for the
problems. I acknowledge that there are hooligans that support other teams, but
more often than not, it’s the English fans that cause the problems. So far this
year, they have destroyed parts of Istanbul & Copenhagen as well as various
parts of Belgium. After the Istanbul incident, on BBC World, there was an
interview with the captain of the English team saying that the Turks should be
banned from European play because they’re horrible people. Yeah, like the rest
of the world believes that!
These hooligans are incredibly
selfish people. After all, when they travel to a different country, they are
guests in that country. They shouldn’t think that they own it. Why do they have
to fight to support their team? Why do they have to trash cafés, throw tables
& chairs, break windows, and perform other acts of vandalism? Do they think
that that shows the team that they like them? It makes the English team look
even worse. Why can’t they just have a few drinks and enjoy where they are. Why
do they have to fight? It just boggles my mind to see so many ADULTS acting
worse than children do.
**************************************************************************************************************************
7
April, 2000
Today, in the USA, there was a
settlement between the tobacco industry and 3 smokers in Florida.
The (3) smokers were awarded $13 million USD for compensation for the tobacco
companies responsibility of their cancer.
Where do I begin to comment on
that? How about…IF YOU SMOKE, YOU TAKE A RISK OF DEVELOPING
CANCER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Only a moron couldn’t figure that out. How could the
tobacco companies be responsible for self-inflicted injuries? Why can’t the
idiots that smoked understand that if they didn’t smoke, they wouldn’t get
cancer? Talk about clueless. If those idiots didn’t buy cigarettes, they
wouldn’t get cancer, and last I heard, there wasn’t a law on the books in ANY
state requiring people to purchase and smoke cigarettes.
**************************************************************************************************************************
31
March, 2000
Yesterday, Al Gore broke
from the Clinton Administration’s decision to support sending Elian Gonzales
back to Cuba. He said that he would now support congressional legislation to
keep Elian in the USA. What a hypocrite. Earlier, he supported sending the boy
back to his father. However, now he realizes that he may loose a lot of voters
in Florida if that happens, so he has changed his stance. If I was voting this
year, he would have just lost my vote. Any candidate who cares more about
himself than returning a little boy to his father, the only family he has left
after losing his mother at sea, doesn’t deserve to win.
**************************************************************************************************************************
4
March, 2000
On CNN World on today I saw an
article about a group of people called "The League of the South" who
still wants independence for the southern USA. There was a march of 10,000
(white) people waving confederate flags in Montgomery, Alabama on 4 March.
Don’t they realize that that won’t
happen? Don’t they realize that the confederate flag nowadays is a symbol of
segregation and slavery, not freedom? Don’t they realize how disrespectful this
was to a state that has one of the highest black populations in the USA? Don’t
they realize that the war is over and they lost? To my friends in B’ham (Joe,
HD, Leffty, and cuz) please forgive this rant. Being Alabamans, I would love
your opinions on that march and correcting any misinformation in this segment.
**************************************************************************************************************************
2
March, 2000
This morning (at 9h GMT +1),
General Augusto Pinochet was cleared by the British government to return
to Chile today. He was the dictator of that country from 1973 – 1991. Under his
government, over 3,000 people were tortured, murdered, or just simply
"disappeared". The British Home Secretary (Jack Straw) has
determined, through medical tests, that the 84 year old’s health is too bad for
him to be extradited to Spain (the country that originally asked) for
prosecution. Spain has agreed to abide by Britain’s decision. The only hope for
prosecution was for one of the other countries that later filed suit (Belgium,
France, or Switzerland) to have filed an injunction through the EU before he
left Britain. That didn’t happen. This murderer is now safely on his way home
(although he might have to face Chilean courts when he returns). He left the
rented house that he has been in for 16 months in a motorcade of six police
vehicles out of a back entrance for a RAF (Royal Air Force) base in
Lincolnshire (160km north of London). The coward didn’t even have the guts to
come out the front entrance and face some of the people that he had wronged.
In my opinion, he should be tried
anyway. Who cares how old he is? He took the lives of many people and should be
held accountable. I guess this leads back to the question I posed in the below
article about Diallo, what about victim’s rights?
**************************************************************************************************************************
1
March, 2000
CNN World reported of yet another shooting
in the USA. A 6-year-old shot and killed another 6-year-old yesterday in
Michigan over a disagreement on the playground the previous day. One would
think that when people hear of things that on a monthly (at least) basis, they
would become immune to it. Well, maybe some people did, however, I didn’t.
It needs to stop. I was in the USA
for most of 1999 and there was at least one shooting in a school or office
building EVERY MONTH! When will enough be enough before the lobbyists start
working for the people instead of the special interest groups like the NRA? Oh
wait, if they did that, they would no longer be called lobbyists, but
humanitarians.
I am glad to be out of that
country. It is a shame that the pro-gun people think that their right to own
guns is more important than passing decent gun legislation to help prevent
things like this from happening again. I know that some pro-gun will read this
and think of the old warn out phrase "Guns don’t kill people, people kill
people." Well, I say "People WITH GUNS kill people."
The second amendment to the
Constitution of the USA (the amendment which most pro-gun people hide behind)
states this: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of
a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be
infringed." Keep in mind that was added to the Constitution on 15 December
1791, shortly before the federal Uniform Militia Law was created in 1792,
requiring all able-bodied free white men ages 16 to 45 to arm themselves to
defend their communities. Most pro-gun people only site the "right to bear
arms" part of that. I think that they need to take it in context with the
whole wording of the amendment. It wasn’t meant for people to hoard assault
weapons and automatic machine guns.
I am definitely an anti-gun person;
however, I am also a realist. Realistically, I realize that banning guns won’t
happen in the USA. So, I support RESPONSIBLE gun ownership, however, that
appears to be unenforceable. So, I guess that the pro-gun barbarians have won.
**************************************************************************************************************************
26
February, 2000
Last night, at about midnight
(GMT+1), there was news on CNN World that had the verdict of the Amadou
Diallo trail in New York. The officers have been acquitted of all charges.
Diallo’s parents and black leaders in NYC (Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson) were
calling for calm protests. I was expecting to wake up and hear about big riots
in NYC. Luckily, when I turned on CNN World at 9am today, only a dozen people
had been arrested and the protests were still, more or less, peaceful.
For those that don’t know much
about the case, four New York City police officers were accused of murdering an
African immigrant in the Bronx on 24 February 1999. They were looking for a
rapist in the area and saw him (he turned out not to be the rapist) in the
vestibule of his apartment. He had something black in his hand, the officers
thought it was a gun, fired 41 shots at him, and killed him. What he had in his
hand turned out to be his wallet. The trial was moved from the Bronx, an 80%
black and Hispanic area of the state, to Albany, a 75% white area of the state,
out of fear that the officers couldn’t get a fair trial in The Bronx. What
about the victim’s rights?
The first time I heard about this
case was when I was in NYC the weekend after it happened. I was (and still am)
appalled. It reminded me so much of the Rodney King case from 1992.
The verdict saddens me. It means
that the officers were not guilty of using excessive force as well as murder
(41 bullets isn’t excessive?). The jury said that the shooting was
"justified as the police feared for their lives". AGAINST A WALLET???????
If this had been a white person, they wouldn’t have shot immediately. I thought
(and hoped) that the USA had progressed in the 90’s as far as racial tolerance
(meaning: the capacity for recognizing and accepting religious or social
characteristics that differ from one's own) goes. I guess I was wrong. Set your
clocks back 30 years.
According to the news, there are
protests scheduled for this weekend. If I was still in the area, I would
definitely be there participating in them.
**************************************************************************************************************************
26
February, 2000
There is an incorrect stereotype
of the Polish people by Germans. They consider Poles to be car thieves and
lower forms of life than the Germans are. On a German TV station that
broadcasts into Poland, there is a commercial about tourism that encourages
Germans to visit Poland. At the end of the commercial it says, "Visit
Poland, your car is probably already there."
How RUDE can they be to do something
like that?!? To have the audacity to broadcast a commercial like that into a
country of which the commercial and people are directly degrading and
insulting? Get over yourselves, Germans !! The war is over and you lost !!!
You’re no better than anyone else is !!!
**************************************************************************************************************************
2
February, 2000
Yesterday was the deadline for
nominations for cities that want to host the 2008 Summer Olympics. The
actual decision will take place in June, 2001. Among the group are places such
as Beijing, Toronto, Sevilla, Paris, and, this one gets my vote, Havana! I
think it would be great for Havana to be selected! That would definitely cause
relations to be different between the USA and Cuba. Right now, they seem to be
dictated by the Cuban exiles in Miami. I wonder what would happen? The USA
would probably threaten to boycott the Olympics. More on this in 2001.
**************************************************************************************************************************
1
February, 2000
The country of Austria, a
member of the European Union, is considering putting a "far right"
party into the government, the leader (Joerg Haider) of which has sympathized
with Hitler in the past. One of the major issues is immigration and keeping
"undesirables from the East" (specifically meaning Eastern Europe)
from entering the country, out of fear that they could take jobs from
Austrians. I guess that includes me. After all, the only difference between the
average everyday working class Pole and myself is that I hold a USA passport.
The leader is also opposed to the
expansion to the east of the EU. I am glad that the EU is considering of
discontinuing political relations with that country if that happens. For now,
Austria is off of my holiday list until this issue is resolved. As far as I am
concerned, any country that doesn’t want a certain kind of people in their
country doesn’t want me either. After all, what would happen if I was traveling
with a Pole, and at the border, the customs agents looked at my passport and
said that I could enter, then they looked at the Pole’s passport and wouldn’t
let them in?! What would I do? If I had already stepped onto
"official" Austrian ground, I would turn around and reenter the
country of where I had previously been. If I hadn’t "officially"
entered Austrian ground, I would turn around and walk away. I couldn’t picture
even wanting to enter a country that would adopt that kind of a policy. If this
worsens, I will totally support a boycott of Austria.
UPDATE
The "Freedom Party" is
now sharing power in the Austrian Parliament. The USA and Israel have recalled
their ambassadors and the EU is imposing sanctions to politically distance
itself from Austria. There is an unofficial boycott of Austria going on, with
businesses canceling orders from Austrian companies and people selecting other
places to spend holidays (Switzerland will benefit greatly from this).
**************************************************************************************************************************
30
January, 2000
Why is it so important for people
on holiday to have their picture taken in front of every little thing
that looks picture worthy, without respect for people that want the picture
without anyone that is not suppose to be in it there?! When I was in the castle
in Krakow, I entered one room and two musicians started performing (one on
violin and one on madalin). Instantly, before I could take a picture of the
performers, a tour group stampeded into the room and people were standing
behind the musicians having their picture taken so that they could be in it.
Then, two lines formed..one for people to stand behind them, and the other for
their friend to take the picture. I never took mine. This has happened so many
times I have lost count. It’s like they think their friends won’t believe they
even went on holiday if they are not in EVERY SINGLE PICTURE that is taken!
UPDATE
I was in the castle again on 30
August, 2000 and the performers now have a red rope in front of them, I guess
so people don't do as mentioned above.
**************************************************************************************************************************
24
January, 2000
I heard that the US government has
determined that Microsoft has harmed the computer industry and is
thinking about divesting them. Personally, I think that if it wasn’t for Microsoft,
the computer industry would be nowhere near where it is now. Leave it up to the
US government to screw things up (can you say AT&T?).
**************************************************************************************************************************
16
January, 2000
Once again, there’s a person (I bit
my lip to avoid typing "There’s some ignorant moron") named David
Irving, from England, saying that there’s no proof that the holocaust
ever happened. One of his arguments is his statement "Even the Poles have
said that there are no gas chambers at Auschwitz."…..Well, duh….. Anyone
that has done any research on the holocaust knows that the gas chambers are 2
km away at Birkenau. He has probably never even been to Poland. There are ovens
(I’ve seen them) that were used for cremating dead bodies at Auschwitz.
****Update
12 April, 2000****
Yesterday, the British High Court
in London issued a ruling officially discrediting David Irving and officially
labeling him a Holocaust Denier. They said that he changed, manipulated and
perverted historical facts to match his political beliefs and for his own
personal gain. Irving said that this could cause him "embarrassment and
financial ruin." And the rest of the world should care about that why?
**************************************************************************************************************************
I don’t agree with the Elian
Gonzalez situation going on in Miami. According to the US law, he should be
sent back to Cuba since he didn’t make it to land. There was just a poll on CNN
World saying that 56% of Americans think that he should be sent back (36% said
that he should stay, the other 8% didn’t know). However, CNN World also just
said that some members of Congress are drafting a bill to give him US
citizenship ! How appalling ! He’s an illegal immigrant ! What about all the
legal immigrants that have to wait 7 years for citizenship? I’m just glad that
my tax dollars aren’t paying for any of this! He’s a six-year-old boy that is
being used as a pawn in a political game. He belongs with his father in Cuba.
His relatives in Florida may be able to take him to DisneyWorld (one member of
the House even gave him a puppy!) and shower him presents that he would never
have in Cuba, but, Cuba will always have something that his Floridian relatives
can’t give him: his father and grandparents.
**************************************************************************************************************************
Guy Taylor….has anyone heard of him? Probably not.
He’s a Canadian young man (just turned 18 years old) who is living with his
grandmother in Orange County, California. His father died before he was born.
His mother died when he was 16. At that point in time, his grandmother traveled
from to Canada to bring this then minor orphan to live with her. At first she
was told that he would only be allowed to stay for 30 days. Finally, she got
him a 1-year residency permit. He is now attending university in California.
However, his residency permit runs out in the summer of 2000. The INS said that
he "doesn’t fit the profile to immigrate to the USA." And Elian does?
There is a good chance Guy will be deported. Where will he go? What will he do?
The next letter that I write will be to Senator John McCain, a supporter of
Elian, and a presidential candidate, to request help for someone that really
needs it.. After that, I will email Al Gore, Bill Clinton, Hilary Clinton, and
Janet Reno. I encourage all that read this to do the same, as well as writing
to anyone else that you think could help.
