Rambling

29 June 2008

Well, I haven’t really written a blog in quite a while. I have been posting other stuff that I think is quite important to me. But the truth is I’ve been coming up blank. I can’t think of anything to write about. I have been fighting depression seriously again and with the depression it makes me so tired. I just can’t seem to get enough sleep these days. Yet when I’m in bed I toss and turn and am up most of the night. I have and take sleeping pills which help but then I feel groggy the whole next day. You’re supposed to take one sleeping pill and if it doesn’t work I can take a second. But when I only take one it only gives me 2-4 hours worth of sleep so I automatically take two. I generally get between 4-6 hours of sleep when I take two sleeping pills. But as I said I don’t like it because I feel groggy and tired the whole next day.

I really don’t know what to write about so if anybody has any suggestions or requests please feel free to suggest it in a comment and I’ll see if I can’t come up with something for that topic.

I think the last blog I actually wrote was for father’s day since then I have been posting old blogs and articles and things I find on the internet. I realize it’s my blog and I can do that but I would really like to develop a good enough following because I love watching the stats. It’s really fun. Speaking of stats I finally have over 1000 hits to my blogs which is an amazing feat to me. I never thought that many people would read my blogs but I guess I do have somewhat of an audience. So thanks guys. Sorry to disappoint you with such boring stuff these past few weeks. But it’s the way it goes for me. It’s either feast or famine.

I am currently reading a book on Mid Life Crisis and it’s ok but it’s not what I expected. And it’s taking me longer to read because I’m having trouble reading it. I just had my eyes checked a few months ago and I got a new pair of eye glasses. But they didn’t make them right and I cannot read through the bi-focal part. I see cross-eyed so I have to close one eye so I don’t get much read at one sitting. I really should have brought them back right away but I didn’t and now I feel like it’s too late. They’re going to wonder what I waited so long for. I’m like that, I procrastinate when it comes to things like that. I suppose I could come up with some sort of excuse but they’d see right threw that and know the bottom line is I was just too lazy to bring them in. But I wasn’t satisfied with my last eye exam anyway so I think I just may make an appointment for another eye exam with a new doctor and then just go back to the place I usually get my glasses. I like to go to that 60 minute place. I have never had a problem with them. I tried a different place this time. I was told that I pay extra at the 60 minute place but I don’t find that I saved any money by going to a different place. My eye glasses are expensive no matter where I go. I’m also sorry I didn’t get myself a pair of prescription sunglasses this time.

Anyway, as you can tell I’m just rambling so I can say I actually wrote something. I am hoping to break this writers block so I can write a good blog again. I think that some of my blogs are pretty good while most of them suck every now and then I come up with a good one. And I can tell because you all give me a lot more hits on those blogs. Although I found the one on Masturbation Statistics sure got a lot of hits. It’s funny because of the topic that so many people would be interested to read about it. I did not participate in that questionnaire as I wasn’t aware of it. But I have since read the questions and it really was a good survey so I believe those stats are pretty accurate. I don’t think folks had any reason to lie as it was done anonymously and the questions were put very well. It wasn’t some silly survey that you find on the internet games areas. It was a serious survey and so I think the results were because folks were really being honest. Anyway, it’s fun to watch my stats on my blog to see what you folks like and what you don’t like.

I noticed hardly anybody was interested in my article I copied from CNN about Darfur’s women and children being raped and I found that to be sad. It is such a tragedy that there is genocide and ethnic cleansing still happening in this day and age but it still is. And that the rest of the world is sitting back and doing nothing for our brothers and sisters over there in Darfur Sudan. If it was happening in the US or a place that had something to offer us you can bet your bottom dollar we wouldn’t stand by and allow it to happen. And it just proves to me that the priority of today is not human life but the all mighty dollar. This is so sad. According to that article rape is a way of life for every woman and child in the camps over there. They are leaving babies to die because they do not want them. They don’t fight the rape anymore because they know it’s inevitable and that is just so sad to me. I have really stepped up my efforts for activism on Darfur. I have a SaveDarfur avatar that I use on all the bulletin boards I belong to. I have it as a permanent signature on my email. I am trying so hard to make people aware of what is going on and it sure is frustrating because it seems to me nobody really cares. I can’t help and wonder what God thinks about the way the world is handling this situation. He must be sickened to see that nobody is helping those folks out. Sure the US and the UN have declared genocide and have promised to help but they have done nothing. Nothing at all. And it is up to us, the people of the world to do something about it. That’s why it’s so important to me. Because every letter that is sent to the Prez and to the UN General Secretary is a voice that says to do something and if enough folks put pressure on these entities then something will happen. But of course right now the big focus in the US is the presidential campaign and the price of gasoline. We have it so good here. WE just do not realize it. We are such a selfish people it’s all about “me” and the “almighty dollar”. To hell with the rest of the world. I read somewhere that was a letter to the US people and it said something to the effect that American’s need to wake up and realize there’s more to the world beyond the US borders and this is so true. American’s can’t think beyond our own borders sometimes. We think the whole world is just like us.

I learned differently back in early 1990’s because I went to Russia as soon as the Iron Curtain fell. I saw what a third world country lives like. It is nothing like we have here in the States. It was so sad I cried for weeks after I got home. I think every single American should be required to go on a trip to some foreign country just to see how good we have it here and to see the blessings God has bestowed upon us. And the scary part is the Bible says to him who much is given, much is required. And we have a lot to be accountable for.

At any rate, my big activist cause right now is to SaveDarfur and I do not know why it is so near and dear to my heart but it is. I just cannot imagine this is going on in this day and age. I remember Rwanda back in the 80’s and I just can’t bear to see the same thing repeated. We didn’t step in until it was all over with. Are we going to do the same thing here? And then after all the people have been murdered are we going to prosecute a few of the important guys for war crimes when it’s too late? It sickens me. I can’t help but wonder if it is because they have nothing to offer us, they have no oil for us to fight for so why bother and also because they are black folks does that play a role in it too. I hope not but yet I cannot help but think that way. If it was another country a white European country would we sit back and watch? I doubt it. Even if they had nothing to offer us. Don’t let anybody kid you racism is still in the veins of many, many American’s. Both black and white are guilty of racism and I just don’t understand it. Why can’t we all get along. We all bleed red blood. Christ died for us all He didn’t just die for one race or the other but the world.

Well, I guess I found something passionate to write about after all. So that’s good. At least I have something to post today. I was worried I wouldn’t have anything to say and this would be a short blog. But I see as usual I got carried away with a topic. Believe it or not this is the way I am in real life. I can be talking about something with somebody and all of a sudden I go way off on a tangent and nobody knows what the heck I am talking about. I do it without warning. I just start going off in my own direction. Sometimes I make sense, sometimes I don’t. But it is always triggered by something that was said. Funny isn’t it. I have the gift to gab and I guess I can sometimes carry that forward into my writing. But then that’s my problem with writing because I then tend to write like I talk and that isn’t very well for folks reading what I wrote because it doesn’t make sense and you’re not allowed to interrupt me and ask me what the hell am I talking about. LOL.

Anyway, I guess I will end the blog there. I feel better for getting it all off my chest. Now I hope I will be able to write another blog in the near future. Something new and fresh. Something I’m passionate about. I can get very passionate about a given topic it’s just a matter of finding that topic that gives me writers block I guess.

So, for now…

Rape is A Way of Life For Darfur’s Women – CNN

Please read this and let it soak into your heart. Please take five minutes to sign the petition to the right of the screen. Please follow the link. It is not a fake petition, it is a letter to Prez Bush and the Secretary General of the UN to act! PLEASE do something to stop these atrocities!!!! I cannot emphasize how important this is to me. PLEASE go and sign the petition. No money required. Just five minutes of your time.

ZAM ZAM DISPLACEMENT CAMP, Sudan (CNN) – Sudan’s Darfur crisis has exploded on many fronts — violence, hunger, displacement and looting — but United Nations peacekeepers say the biggest issue now affecting the region is the systematic rape of women and children.

UNAMID police officer Ajayi Funmi, left, educates Darfur women about rape.

Thousands of women as young as 4 caught in the middle of the struggle between rebel forces and government-backed militias have become victims of rape, they say, with some aid groups claiming that it is being used as a weapon of ethnic cleansing.

“That is one of the biggest issues in Darfur: the rapes, and crimes against women and children,” said Michael Fryer, police commissioner of UNAMID, the United Nations peacekeeping force deployed to try to tackle the violence.

Relief workers say they are powerless to stop the attacks and say that if they do speak out, they fear that the Sudanese government will tell them to leave the country.

Humanitarian group Refugees International said in a report last year that rape was “an integral part of the pattern of violence that the government of Sudan is inflicting upon the targeted ethnic groups in Darfur.”

Some relief workers say that almost every woman living in aid camps has been raped or become a victim of gender-based violence. Many teenagers, while out running errands such as collecting firewood, are raped multiple times by militiamen, the workers say. Watch women face dangers in Darfur »

They say the situation has now become so bad that many women are now resigned to rape as a way of life and men are unwilling to accompany them because they fear that they will be killed if they try to defend them.

But despite the extent of the abuse, the Sudanese government insists there is no problem, adding to the difficulties faced by the victims, who are often ostracized by their communities or fall afoul of a legal system seen as favoring their attackers. iReport.com: Share your photos, videos of Darfur

“There is no rape in Darfur,” said Mohammad Hassan Awad, a Humanitarian Aid Commissioner for West Darfur, who accuses foreign aid workers of persuading people in refugee camps to make false claims.

Although few aid workers dispute the extent of the attacks against women, they say survivors are unwilling to come forward. But those who do reveal shocking levels of abuse.

Don’t Miss

• U.N fund shortfall threatens Darfur aid
• Sudan cuts ties with Chad after attack
• iReport.com: Been to Darfur? Share your photos, videos
• Sudan accused of Darfur cover up

“She said they removed their scarves and used it to tie them up and were taking turns to rape them. One is 13 years old; the other one is 16 years,” Ajayi Funmi of the UNAMID police, who is trying to educate women, said after talking to two girls.

Making matters worse, aid workers say scores of babies conceived through rape are being dumped by their mothers.

“Abandoned babies are reported, but because of the stigma attached to it, there is no detailed report, because the women don’t come forward,” said Dr Naqib Safi of the U.N. children’s body UNICEF

As many as 20 babies a month are being dumped in one camp of 22,000 people.

With U.N. officials calling for more female officers to better educate women against rape and women saying they won’t feel safe until the under-equipped and undermanned United Nations force is strong enough to protect them, the situation shows little sign of improving.

Selling Home Part IV

13 June 2008

I think this will be the last in this series. The house is finally sold. It took a lot out of me. It was much harder than I expected and I was very upset about the closing being postponed because I pushed so hard to meet all the requirements on time. But alas, it’s all behind me now.

So, here I sit in my new apartment. I say new apartment but in reality it’s very old. I believe the house is over 100 years old. But it’s new to me. It’s a lot smaller than my house. It’s hard to go from owning your own house to renting an apartment. There’s a huge amount of having to swallow pride and pride doesn’t go down very easy. You gag all while you’re chewing it.

I am just about all unpacked although I still do have a couple of boxes and some bags left to unpack. I have basically been taking it easy because I got the bulk of it done and then we had a heat wave. I tried to buy an a/c but all the stores were sold out so I had to order one online. I ended up getting it at WalMart and it will be delivered to the local store. They will notify me when it’s in which is 7-10 business days and then I can go and pick it up. I tell you never living in an apartment and being on the top floor, man does it get hot up here. I was roasting. Seriously. I bet I lost 10 lbs just from sweating. I do have an a/c in the bedroom to sleep but it’s way too small to cool the apartment and I didn’t want to break it so I just used fans. In the evening I put on the bedroom a/c and then went and sat on my bed and started reading a book. That was the only way I could tolerate those hot evenings and nights. And when I talk about hot, I’m talking temperatures around 100 degrees F give or take a couple and very, very humid. And I honestly believe that the apartment got well above 100F, it’s my guess it was at least 120F up here.

I haven’t watched television in at least five years now, I believe longer but I’m not sure just how long. At any rate I ordered satellite television. I got Christian satellite and it ends up I do not need a dish or cable or anything. It’s new technology called IPTV and it comes in through the computer. You only need 1.5 mb download speed and I have five times the required amount so I should be all set. I need to get a wireless router and then plug a box to the television set and I’m off and running. I got the family package and it is much cheaper than cable or satellite and it is mostly Christian television so I don’t have to worry about getting hooked on any of those garbage shows. I hate watching garbage television. It is addicting when you watch a series because you want to know what happened next but it’s just not worth the hassle so I gave it up. But this way I won’t get the violence and sex which will be very nice. And being in an apartment I have much more time than I did in the house to watch television because I only have to care for such a small place it’s not hard to do. Plus I also have the computer set up behind the sofa so I can watch television while I’m sitting here. So I’m excited about that. I only hope and pray it’s as easy to set up as they claim it to be.

I have been very relentless about getting the word out about the genocide in Darfur and about asking folks to please go to the website and sign the petition. I do not know if I am aggravating people or not, but we seem to not mind passing around dirty jokes and chain letters I thought we could pass around a notice for folks to go and sign the petition. So while I’m getting ready to end this blog. I’m once again going to ask you to please take five minutes of your time and click on the link to the right of this blog and sign the petition. You do not need to give any money, you do not need to be a US Citizen and you will get a response from the White House and the United Nations. So please take the time to follow the link to sign the petition to help stop the genocide that is happening this very moment in Darfur. They truly need our help. Thank you.

So, for now…

War: for Profit or Peace

04/27/2008

I have to admit that I am guilty of voting for President George W. Bush and I am guilty of supporting our invasion of Iraq. At the time I believed it was the right thing for us to do. With the Twin Towers attack and the War on Terror and Saddam Hussein’s WMD’s and of course UBL on the run I thought the only solution to the whole thing was to invade Iraq and topple the Hussein Regime. I also thought when we went into Afghanistan that we went in there to pull out UBL and bring him to justice so I supported that part of the War on Terror as well.

After all the hype about the WMD’s and Saddam’s defiance started to calm down it was clear that we had false Secret Service information. Our main objective, to me, was to topple Saddam’s Regime and to rid Iraq of WMD’s. I believe that once those two objectives were reached that the war would have ended. We finally captured Saddam brought down his Regime. He went to trial and was hanged for charges unrelated to the War on Terror which he never had a chance to go to court for. And then the discovery that there were not any WMD’s in Iraq it was in my opinion time to pull out and bring our soldiers home.

I never expected the war to last this long and I never expected the amount of casualties and injuries that our soldiers are facing. I also am astonished at the number of Iraqi civilians that have been killed and/or maimed because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

It seems to me the longer we stay in Iraq to fight this War on Terror it becomes clearer and clearer that we are there for the Oil and no other reason. I feel that the World was deceived into believing that we were justified by attacking Saddam and bringing down his Regime. It seems to me our objective never really was WMD’s or the Regime but Oil. If the Oil didn’t play a role in this you can be sure that our troops would be home by now. Or worse yet, you can almost be sure that we never would have attacked in the first place.

At any rate it is always easy to play Monday morning quarterbacking especially when you have the amount of years behind the war as we have now accumulated. But it is too late to go back and change what was done. I am not a military analyst so I cannot begin to strategize how best to bring our troops home. But I believe that that should be their main objective at this point. I realize we cannot just pull out because that would leave a vacuum and Iraq would simply collapse in on itself. It has to be done over time but the question is, how much time? Well, I think we’ve had plenty of time but Mr. Bush seems hell bent on staying the long term over there which to me is evidence enough that his main objective is clearly Oil.

Anyway, I said all that to say that I was for the war but I am now against the war and I would like to see our troops beginning to come home. I think we have occupied Iraq long enough. I think Iraq has enough money, with revenues from their oil, to sustain themselves to build a new army and to rebuild their country. I think it is time we left and let them have their country back to do as they see fit. It is after all a sovereign country and we have no business being there any longer.

The sadist casualty to suffer for this war is Darfur, Sudan. With the genocide that is going on in that country I believe it is not only proper but our duty to be over there and fighting that war to help save that country. That is where we are really needed. Darfur’s genocide has been going on for years and it has been totally ignored until now. It is finally coming into the light. The news media is finally picking up on it and we are hearing more and more about the terrible atrocities that are occurring there in that part of the world. In my heart of hearts I have to wonder why we do not pull our troops out of Iraq where we are not only not needed but not wanted and we should be sending our troops to Darfur, Sudan to help save a nation.

It seems to me there is no vested interest in Darfur which is why it has been virtually ignored until now. They have no Oil for us to fight for, they have nothing to offer us so what good reason do we have to interfere with that civil war. No we must stay the course in Iraq because we have an interest in Oil and to hell with the poor people of Darfur. It is time for President Bush and for the UN to come together and draw up a plan and go in there and save Darfur while there are still people alive to save.

To me Darfur is an embarrassment to the USA and to the UN for totally ignoring them while we fight a war primarily for Oil. It shows where our priorities are. We are not fighting a war for peace we are fighting a war for profit. If we were fighting a war for peace we would have been in Darfur a long time ago.

President Bush has just asked for another $172 billion dollars to fund his war in Iraq. I just signed a petition asking that it not be passed and I am going to supply you with a link and ask you to please go and sign the petition. It is time we stop this President from wasting so much money on a war that we are not going to win. The war in Iraq is going to go on for years and years and we cannot afford to keep putting billions of dollars into it when our debt is as high as it is.

To top it all off we are spending so much money per day, that’s per day, on the war in Iraq that we could be pouring that money into Darfur is a total shame to our government. Darfur is the first country in the history of the United States that has been accused of genocide while it is currently going on. All other times it has been declared after the fact. Since President Bush acknowledges that genocide is going on why isn’t he doing something about it?

I do not know the solutions but I am not blind to the problems. And while I cannot claim to know how to do anything about it, something has to be done to pull our troops out of Iraq and something has to be done to stop the genocide in Darfur. And it is up to the USA to do something about this. To stop fighting for profit and fight for peace. It seems to me that our country has this backwards and Bush has his head stuck up his ass.

Please take a few minutes of your time to follow these links and sign these petitions as I believe they are very important to stop the war in Iraq and to stop the Genocide in Darfur.

Petition to President Bush and the UN to stop the genocide in Darfur:

http://action.savedarfur.org/campaign/savedarfurcoalition

Petition to Rep. John Murtha of Congress to stop funding the war in Iraq:

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/302/t/6080/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=986

So, for now…