Nope, I don't know when the next terrorist hit is going down.

So, I was in the E.R. for four hours yesterday because I had "hives." Sounds disgusting? It was. And itchy, very itchy. I tried to explain to the doctors that it was because I started trying to customize a Wordpress template, but they seem to think it was something I ate. What do they know? They obviously haven't ever tried to customize a WP template.

Anyway, I'm posting this YouTube clip of American Iranian comedian, Maz Jobrani. You may know him from the Axis of Evil Comedy Tour which is the source of this clip.



Who doesn't beleive that I've been asked these questions, like, a million different times in my real life?!

The General's Got My Back

"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. "

--General Colin Powell (Ret.) at Meet the Press

This whole "Isn't Obama a Muslim" issue has really started to upset me.  And not upset in the sense of, "That-makes-me-so-mad," but upset in the sense of  "if-I-hear-one-more-person-say-that-I'm-going- to- start-sobbing."

That question really, really hurts my feelings.  People are certainly entitled to their opinions. Still, to intimate that the status of Muslim precludes a person from being American enough to be President of the United States equates to the suggestion that I am not American enough, in general.

I believe that Sen. McCain isn't a prejudiced man, but I do fault him for not addressing this issue in the "really right" way.

And just to be fair, I understand the need for political expediency, but Sen. Obama's repeated focus on the fact that he's Christian instead of saying something to the effect of "you would be better served by asking yourself why that is important to you" hurt my feelings, too.

A few weeks ago, I wrote the campaign an e-mail about it.

I got a form letter directing me to a page on his site which enumerated all the ways that he was Christian as well as the many ways in which he supported the American Jewish community.  And that's great, good for him and all the Christians and Jews in this country.  But, really, all I wanted was one measly sentence that said, "Hey, back off,  you narrow minded bigots, Americans can be Muslim, too."

This whole thing made me feel victimized.

Yes, that's a strong word.  But, it's in response to a strong accusation.   When people assume that a Muslim president automatically translates to a president aligned with terrorists, they assume that Muslim Americans don't take the responsibilities of American citizenship as strongly as others.  I don't presume that all Muslims in this country take their citizenship as seriously as myself, but I'm sure that the same can be said of any religious group in this country.

I have an argument that is well reasoned, in my opinion, regarding how my faith doesn't at all preclude me from fulfilling every obligation incumbent upon American citizens.

But, you know what?  Until I see Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, Scientologists, or any other religious group having to defend their religious choices in the context of their obligations as American citizens, I don't think I should have to share my defense with anyone else.

That said, I would like to end this post thanking General Colin Powell (Ret.) for his statements made on "Meet the Press."

Thank you, General, for giving the "really right" answer.

Thank you for sticking up for me when no other politician would willingly do so.  I know you don't have an election to win, but it still made me feel better to see someone do the right thing.

Thank you for reminding everyone that I, the soldier who gave his life for his country, and that seven year old boy have a right to all of the privileges, honors and aspirations that any other American in this country does.

Watch this and admire how a real American stands up to injustice.

The Absolute Last Bit Of Evidence You Need

These guys definitely know something that John McCain supporters here just do not know.  I get it, though.  This is going to take foreign policy to a whole new level.

<<YouTube Video Missing>>

I did take some cough syrup about an hour ago, so I hope this is still as funny tomorrow as it is at this very moment.

Thanks to Sandhya at Literary Safari for this.

Points of Reference

This year's topic for Blog Action Day? Poverty.

Some people approach defining poverty within the context of material goods. Do you have enough to eat, drink, and a roof over your head? Yes? Then, you, according to some Americans, are not impoverished.

In an attempt to understand "American Poverty," I did what any Internets junkie would do, I googled the phrase "american poverty." This took me to a site called The Heritage Foundation, a self described think-tank, whose mission is to

formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense.

This foundation takes issue with recent statistics from the Census Bureau which suggest that 14% of Americans live at or below the poverty line. "Poverty," writes an author on the site, "means destitution...[lack of] nutritious food, adequate clothing, and reasonable shelter."

Based on this definition of poverty, only about 2% of this nation's population are actually impoverished. There's more in this article suggesting that the poorest people in our nation live much better than the majority of the world's middle class.

So, this is our new paradigm? Am I to understand that this position suggests that as long as the bottom 14% of this nation lives better than the middle class in, say, Sierra Leone that poverty is just not an issue in our nation?

Personally, I believe that American's should examine poverty as a function of disparity and access rather than material goods.

What do you think? Do you think American poverty should be defined relative to the rest of the world? Or do you think that it should be evaluated within the context of America itself?

***BTW, I'm doing a guest post at Avitable's blog on Thursday, October 16. If you're interested in reading a "NSGA (not suitable for general audiences) Faiqa", check it out!

Follow Me

For those of you who live under a rock without Internet, twitter is a social networking site that allows users to "microblog."  That's geek speak for "Tell us what you're doing in 140 characters or less."

Unlike Facebook, Twitter allows you to connect with other users without having to wade through annoying applications like, "If you were a prime number, which prime number would you be?" It also bypasses the unintended hassles created by Facebook's Inbox.  As if we all need another e-mail application to worry about?!

If you click on the name of this post, you should be redirected to my twitter profile.  Just a series of updates about what I'm doing right now, and perhaps a link or two is what you'll find.

You will also find that I am "following" 20 people while only 15 people are "following" me.

The number of people I am following outnumber the number of people that are following me. How can this be?!  I am a more of follower than a leader?

Why does everything that ever happens to me have to be some kind of painful karmic lesson?

First, I tried chalking this whole thing up to the fact that the majority of people in my social network are either very busy people who have better things to do than be on Twitter, or that they're too busy sharpening their wooden pencils in a manual pencil sharpener to be bothered with that newfangled Internets.

Then, I started surfing around the accounts of some of the people I follow.

1,345?!!

894?!

Who are these people?  How do you get that many people to follow you?

If I had that kind of power, I would be working on a viable plan for world domination.  Notice the term "viable"... because I do have a plan for world domination stuck in a drawer somewhere.  It's just not workable.  Yet.

I, too, want to be part of the Twitter elite.  I need to move some place where something terrible is going to happen, so I can get people to follow me as I tweet about it.

All that said, let me set aside the last shred of dignity I have and, beg you to please follow me on Twitter if you aren't already doing so.  My self respect seems to depend on it.