February 2012
6 posts
Canyon Theatre Guild
In the heart of Downtown Newhall, California located in the Santa Clarita Valley, is a theatre called the Canyon Theatre Guild. I was first introduced to the place when my Knights of Columbus council decided to do a fund-raiser holiday show. We rented out the entire theatre for a performance of A Christmas Carol.
The shows are done with live actors. Granted, there are no live musicians, but the...
Why we should not bomb Iran
Ignorance: I’m worried about Iran. They are building a nuclear weapon, then they will blow up Israel and we will have even more terrorist attacks on our country. We most protect ourselves. The only way to do that is to attack Iran before they attack us.
Knowledge: Why do you think Iran would have a nuclear weapon?
Ignorance: Because they are a violent country and they have a crazy president.
Knowledge: Do you know when the last time Iran attacked another country was? It was 300 years ago.
Ignorance: Well, they have a crazy president who would do it.
Knowledge: What would they do?
Ignorance: They would attack us with a nuclear weapon.
Knowledge: Did you know that the national intelligence estimate has concluded that there is no evidence that Iran is working on a nuclear weapon. It is the consensus of 16 different US intelligence agencies including the CIA, the DIA, army intelligence, navy intelligence, air force intelligence, the department of energy as well as the department of homeland security.
Ignorance: I don’t care. They have nuclear ambitions.
Knowledge: What exactly do you mean by ambitions?
Ignorance: That is what they say on the news. It means they want to build a bomb to attack us.
Knowledge: That is what the media and politicians say because they know that there is no evidence that Iran has a nuclear weapons program, but they want us all to be scared and to believe that the Iranian government would be crazy enough to use a nuclear weapon against us. That way our government will have the support of the American people if we decide to take military action against Iran just like when we invaded Iraq. We would be able to say that we are protecting ourselves in self-defense.
Ignorance: Saddam was a bad man.
Knowledge: But Iraq did not have any nuclear weapons either. Can you tell me which is the only country to have ever used a nuclear weapon against another country? I will give you a hint. It begins with a U and ends with an S.
Ignorance: But we signed the nuclear nonproliferation treaty.
Knowledge: Iran also signed the nuclear nonproliferation treaty. It was one of the first countries to sign.
Ignorance: But Iran has threatened to wipe Israel off the map.
Knowledge: That is not an exact translation, but yes. That was what the Iranian president said. However, Ahmadinejad is just the president and not the supreme leader. Even if he wanted to attack Israel, he wouldn’t have the authority to order it. Only the supreme leader can declare war or mobilize troops. However, the supreme leader has already spoken out against having nuclear weapons. Speaking of military action, what do you suppose it means when the US says “Nothing is off the table”? Do you think that could possibly mean nuclear attack?
Ignorance: Of course, it means nothing is off the table.
Knowledge: Well then, that means the United States has threatened the use of nuclear weapons against Iran, which also happens to be a violation of the nuclear nonproliferation treaty we signed. George Bush, Barack Obama, Hilary Clinton, John McCain, and other American politicians have all said nothing is off the table when referring to Iran.
Ignorance: John McCain said to bomb Iran. He sang a song and it was funny. Bomb bomb Iran.
Knowledge: Do you know that the United States has already drafted a military plan of attack against Iran. Iran has also been called part of the evil axis by President Bush. So do you think Iran might actually have a reason to fear an attack from the United States? The United States have invaded Afghanistan and Iraq, which both have borders with Iran. The United States also has troops in military bases in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia as well as a very large naval presence in the Persian Gulf. The United States is allies with Israel, who has nuclear weapons, and which has already discussed and advocated an attack on Iran. And Israel will not sign the nuclear nonproliferation treaty either. So do you think maybe Iran might possibly have a reason to want to protect itself?
Ignorance: We can’t let Iran have a nuclear bomb they will attack us again, just like 9/11.
Knowledge: Then if that is really what you want, why in God’s name should we be doing everything humanly possible to provoke and threaten Iran and give them a reason to make a nuclear weapon to defend themselves? Do you see even the slightest sense of logic in the US foreign policy if we don’t want Iran to have a nuclear weapon? Don’t you think if we really didn’t want a country to have a nuclear weapon, then you would not threaten to attack it or invade its neighbors or have military troops surrounding it from all sides? Would the United States feel threatened if Iran invaded Canada and Mexico and conducted naval military exercises in the Caribbean?
Ignorance: I don’t want another 9/11.
Knowledge: Do you even know where the 9/11 hijackers were from?
Ignorance: I don’t care.
Knowledge: They were from Saudi Arabia and Egypt not Iran. Yet both Saudi Arabia and Egypt happen to be US allies. We give them both billions of dollars in aid every year.
Ignorance: I don’t like any of them. They attacked us.
Knowledge: Who are they? Arabs. Iranians are not Arabs.
Ignorance: Well, they attacked. I mean they were responsible for… I mean they… they… they hate us.
Knowledge: You blame them for hating us?
Ignorance: They are not democratic.
Knowledge: Iran used to have a democratic government.
Ignorance: Then they were not smart enough to keep it.
Knowledge: No. Actually, they had a popular democratic leader, but the United States CIA overthrew the prime minister, Mohammed Mossadeq, in a kill in 1953. In other words, we overthrew their government.
Ignorance: That does not make sense. The United States supports democracy like in Afghanistan.
Knowledge: Hamid Karzai is the president of Afghanistan and was a formal ally of the US and a former CIA contact during the 1980s, when they were fighting the Soviet Union. So we supported him as president because Karzai aided what the US and Britain wanted him to do.
Ignorance: That is what I mean. He is democratic.
Knowledge: So is Mohammed Mossadeq. Mossadeq was the democratically elected Prime Minister of Iran in 1953 before he was removed from power by the United States because he did not do what we wanted him to do.
Ignorance: He was a communist.
Knowledge: Mossadeq wanted Iran to keep the profits from their own oil to help their own country, so British Petroleum would not take it all.
Ignorance: They spilled oil in the Persian Gulf.
Knowledge: No. Actually, British Petroleum spilled oil in the Gulf of Mexico. They used to be called the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company in the 1950s because Britain got all of its oil from Iran.
Ignorance: Anyway, they support terrorism.
Knowledge: Who?
Ignorance: The Iranians.
Knowledge: The United States government gives financial support to the MEK and PJAK which are all terrorist groups that operate within Iran, and are responsible for attacking, kidnapping, and assassinations in Iran. So tell me, what is the difference? Terrorism is terrorism. It is just as bad no matter who does it or supports it. In 1988, a United States navy ship shot and blew up an Iranian passenger jet in the Persian Gulf killing 274 innocent civilians. Isn’t that a terrorist attack?
Ignorance: It was an accident.
Knowledge: Can you think of any other time in the history of aviation that a passenger jet has been shot down by mistake? So then, I suppose the one time it does happen it just coincidently happens to be by one country against its adversary right at a time of heightened tension? Can you imagine how the US would react if the Iranian military shot down a US passenger jet and killed 274 people, mostly American?
Ignorance: It was not on purpose. It was an accident. How come I’ve never heard of this before?
Knowledge: The US news media does not like to talk about it because they don’t want Americans to think our government has engaged in acts of terrorism. They want us to believe it is only the behavior of countries like Iran. Everything I am saying is fully documented. You can check it yourself on Google or Wikipedia. If you are really opposed to terrorism, I don’t see the difference if one country supports it or another. Isn’t it all equally as bad?
Ignorance: We should attack Iran.
Knowledge: Just because the Iranian government is bad in many ways, does not mean we should simply attack the country. I don’t think you fully realize what would happen if we really did attack Iran. There are 1.2 billion Muslims in the world. What do you think would be their reaction if we attacked an Islamic country, after what we have already done in Iraq and Afghanistan?
Ignorance: I don’t care what they would think. It doesn’t matter.
Knowledge: On a scale of 1 to 10, where do you think the level of anger would be against the US if we attacked another Islamic country?
Ignorance: It doesn’t matter.
Knowledge: Is it more likely to go up or go down? If you are trying to protect America, then why would you want to increase the anger in this world against us? Iran is three times the size of Iraq with three times the population and a very powerful military unlike Iraq, and yet we still don’t have a stable situation in Iraq after 7 years and 2 trillion dollars.
Ignorance: But Saddam was a bad man, so it was worth it.
Knowledge: Fortunately for us, many of the Iranian people like Americans, and do not like their government.
Ignorance: That is a good thing, so it will be an easy job for us.
Knowledge: Then what do you think would happen if we attacked Iran?
Ignorance: They would greet us with flowers.
Knowledge: Did we greet Al Qaeda with flowers after they attacked the twin towers in New York City? Instead, did most Americans put aside our complaints and rally behind our government in a show of nationalism?
Ignorance: I put a flag on my car. I don’t understand what you are saying.
Knowledge: Don’t you think the Iranian people would also put Iranian flags on their cars if the US attacked them?
Ignorance: Yes.
Knowledge: Then why would anyone in America want to push the Iranian people away from liking the US to support the very government we despise so much?
Ignorance: Of course. No one would want to do that.
Knowledge: Then please give me any sensible reason why the United States should attack or even threaten to attack Iran?
Ignorance: I don’t need a sensible reason.
Knowledge: Why?
Ignorance: Because I’m a racist hater who supports violence against people I hate.
Knowledge: Maybe Iran should attack the United States after all.
Why quit Facebook (Op-Ed from a bright young man) →
I really understand this young man. He really has a great future ahead of him.
STAY CALM, DAD →
A little girl remains calm as she calls the 911 dispatcher when her father started having chest pains.
January 2012
10 posts
Hicockalorum: How's Your English Pronunciation? →
vowelsme:
If you can pronounce every word in this poem correctly, you’ll speak English better than 90% of the native English speakers in the world.
—
The Chaos by G. Nolst Trenité
Dearest creature in creation, Study English pronunciation. I will teach you in my verse Sounds like corpse, corps, horse, and worse. I will keep you, Suzy, busy, Make your head with heat grow dizzy. Tear in eye,...
German iPad →
If only the real iPAD can do this :).
The Adventures of TinTin: Secret of the Unicorn --...
I remember reading the TinTin comic books when I was a kid and I enjoyed it. I was curious as how they would treat the movie adaptation. I must say I was very pleased with everything about the film including the CGI and voice acting. The movie kept me interested the whole time. The only thing that I thought ran a little long was the opening credits, but that’s because I couldn’t wait...
1 tag
Happy New Year to those in the GMT :)
December 2011
11 posts
1 tag
Just going through my music library. Pirates of the Caribbean-The Curse of the Black Pearl is definitely one of my favourite soundtracks.
Remind me to never play scary computer games at night :).
One of my favourite Christmas jokes
In a small southern town there was a “Nativity Scene” that showed great skill and talent had gone into creating it. One small feature bothered me. The three wise men were wearing firemen’s helmets.
Totally unable to come up with a reason or explanation, I left. At a “Quik Stop” on the edge of town, I asked the lady behind the counter about the helmets.
She exploded...
November 2011
9 posts
American Airlines Now Charging Fees To... →
Satire piece from The Onion in light of the American Airlines Chapter 11 Bankruptcy filing.
Happy Thanksgiving to all in the USA →
WatchOk, this is totally hilarious. Hopefully it won’t offend the Christians (I am one and I was not offended).
WatchFEMA’s National Emergency Alert System Test
FAA to ban plane crashes →
Consider the source :).
October 2011
15 posts
WatchOh this is brilliant. It describes social network to a tee.
50/50 Review
When I first saw the preview for 50/50, I thought it was going to be an excellent movie, with some humor mixed in. After the movie came out and I read the reviews, I was worried because I was expecting every other word to be a curse word and there will be a lot of sex scenes. I decided to go see it anyway.
I was pleasantly surprised. Yes, there were some curses uttered by the characters,...
SIGN IN CHURCH: ‘We regret that the box marked ‘FOR THE SICK’ must be reserved henceforth for monetary contributions only.’
WatchHow a one liter bottle helped brighten a Filipino community.
Slinky Experiment →
So what happens when you drop a slinky? Watch these three videos and find out.
60 Seconds on the Internet (infographic) →
What do I find Ironic?
Margie J Phelps, who, I believe, is a member of the notorious Westboro Baptist Church, announces, via an iPhone that they will picket Steve Jobs’ funeral because he teaches sin. She even tweets that God created an iPhone for that purpose.
God created the iPhone?
Why do leaves change color →