Posts on October 21, 2008

Colin Powell's endorsement of Barack Obama
Mood: groggy
Posted on 2008-10-21 11:39:00
Tags: politics
Words: 354

Here's the video. The best part (to me) was this:

I'm also troubled by, not what Senator McCain says, but what members of the party say. And it is permitted to be said such things as, "Well, you know that Mr. Obama is a Muslim." Well, the correct answer is, he is not a Muslim, he's a Christian. He's always been a Christian. But the really right answer is, what if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer's no, that's not America. Is there something wrong with some seven-year-old Muslim-American kid believing that he or she could be president? Yet, I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion, "He's a Muslim and he might be associated terrorists." This is not the way we should be doing it in America.

I feel strongly about this particular point because of a picture I saw in a magazine. It was a photo essay about troops who are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. And one picture at the tail end of this photo essay was of a mother in Arlington Cemetery, and she had her head on the headstone of her son's grave. And as the picture focused in, you could see the writing on the headstone. And it gave his awards--Purple Heart, Bronze Star--showed that he died in Iraq, gave his date of birth, date of death. He was 20 years old. And then, at the very top of the headstone, it didn't have a Christian cross, it didn't have the Star of David, it had crescent and a star of the Islamic faith. And his name was Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan, and he was an American. He was born in New Jersey. He was 14 years old at the time of 9/11, and he waited until he can go serve his country, and he gave his life. Now, we have got to stop polarizing ourself in this way. And John McCain is as nondiscriminatory as anyone I know. But I'm troubled about the fact that, within the party, we have these kinds of expressions.

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I picked a bad week to quit sniffing glue
Mood: sick
Posted on 2008-10-21 14:16:00
Words: 190

Last night: played Rock Band 2 for the first time (fun! remarkably similar to Rock Band 1!), hot tubbed. All was well.

Later last night: in bed, started itching in odd places, like (for example) all over my body. Dozed on and off sorta. Got up at 2 and showered to try to get rid of the itching, which helped a little but not a whole lot.

This morning: woke up exhausted, called in sick. Watched Daily Show and Colbert Report, then napped in the morning, had some intense dreams. Walked to Walgreens for Benadryl (ooh, I should take some) and Food Shui for lunch. Brought Newsweek along to read on the way, which worked well. While waiting for my food at Food Shui, glasses screw fell out. Recovered the screw and lens, ate lunch with one eye then walked home. Crossing the street is hard with one eye! (it's not the traffic, it's the curbs...)

Back home, can't fix glasses by myself but djedi (what would I do without him?) reminded me I have an old pair which are almost as good. Going to relax for real now. Yeesh.

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