Gitanjali's blog

Hope, Happiness and History

On this day, November 5, 2008- on the day after we elected Barack Hussein Obama as president of the United States, I feel proud to be an American.  Though in a tired, sleep-deprived state after staying up to hear one of the most inspirational speeches of my life, I have had a smile on my face all day.  I want to stitch an American flag onto my luggage and travel through Europe (just like the Canadians do with their Maple Leaf flag).  I no longer feel the need to defend our country when people outside the U.S. talk about Americans as gun-toting, racist war mongers.  We now have proof that America is much more than that.  I have renewed confidence in the American people!  Even though his name rhymes with Osama and his middle name is Hussein, the majority of Americans did not assume he is a terrorist.  Rather, they looked beyond his name and the color of his skin and embraced his ideals and his optimism.  They--  WE, elected him president.

I have faith that Obama WILL bring change to this country.  He has already changed the way citizens and governments of other countries look at us. Countries around the world are literally celebrating. Fireworks were going off in Mumbai, India this morning.  Obama organized a campaign where volunteers were lining up to help.  He has inspired the youth of this country.  He will be the commander in chief of the U.S. Military, but also has the power to be the Commander in Chief of an army of volunteers-  average citizens who have shown that they are willing to give their time and their money to help a cause in which they believe.

 Obama is living proof that you don't have to have a rich daddy to pull strings to get you into Harvard.  You can work hard and get there yourself.  He has shown that the color of your skin does not have to dictate your status in life.  He has raised the bar.  He has brought us hope.  He has inspired millions around the world.  He has inspired me.  This is the kind of president we need-  a role model and a figure who reminds us that we can achieve great things, not through intimidation or being a bully, but by persevering, as he and thousands of volunteers did during the campaign.  Yes WE CAN!

Jesus, Guns and Money

I keep asking myself why some people are still motivated to put McCain/Palin in office.  After all, McCain has done some pretty remarkable things in the past few weeks-  he has accused Obama of calling Sarah Palin a pig while using the "lipstick on a pig" metaphor (Obama explained later that even if he were trying to use a metaphor, if you follow the logic of their argument, Palin would actually be represented by the lipstick, not the pig). McCain stated, several times that the "fundamentals of our economy are strong."  I'm no economist, but I hardly believe that an economy based on debt- from personal debt held by the average citizen ($8000-$9000 credit card debt per family in the U.S.) to government debt- can be considered an ecomony based on a strong foundation.  And, since he made that comment, we have seen how strong our economy is.  In a word, "bailout."  He has run campaign advertisements stating that Obama wants to teach sex education to 5 year olds.  This is an outright lie and shameful attempt to make Obama appear to be an extremist.  And now, he has resorted to name calling, calling Obama a liar.  Shame on you, McCain.  Weren't you lying when you cheated on your first wife?  And, do you seriously believe that Obama "pals around" with terrorists?

 

When I try to understand why people are still supporting McCain/Palin, even after watching Palin over the past few weeks, my brain starts to hurt.  And, I keep coming back to the same three things:  Jesus, Guns and Money.

(1) Jesus.  Palin believes that Jesus Christ is the only way to Heaven.  She knows she is right.  Many Americans believe the same thing.  They "know" they are right and they "know" that the other 4 billion people in the world are wrong and going to hell.  Of course, there are many Christians (and non-Christians) who believe strongly in the teachings of Christ, and they also have respect for other belief systems (I actually thought McCain was one of these people before he chose Palin).  However, I think that Palin supporters are different.  They are motivated by issues such as abortion and stem cell research and feel very strongly that it is their moral obligation to vote for McCain/Palin. The fact that Palin is embarrassingly uninformed about the world, and unable to speak in grammatically correct sentences is irrelevant to them. 

(2)  Guns.  Some people are fearful of losing their right to own a guns. And, in my opinion, guns represent fear.  Many Americans feel that they need to own guns to defend themselves (even though research has demonstrated time and time again that if you own a gun, you are more at risk of dying from a gunshot wound than if you don't own a gun).  Guns also represent war. Many Americans still support the war in Iraq, which I really can't understand except that maybe they are just xenophobic and assume that all people in the Middle East are terrorists?  Iraqis did not cause 9/11 and they never had weapons of mass destruction.  We have plenty of evidence showing that Bush and his team knew this when they attacked.  But still, alarmingly, many Americans still trust his judgement (which McCain supported) more than Obama's judgement.  Obama understands, and has always understood that Afghanistan and Iraq are two different countries.  And, that's not because Obama has terrorist ties.  It's because he is smart.

(3)   Money.  This one manifests in different ways.  For example, many people say they believe in smaller government.  Really, they believe in lower taxes, because if they really believed in smaller government then they would not want to the government to interfere in people's personal lives (e.g, defining marriage).  People are afraid of higher taxes and irresponsible government spending.  Here is what confuses me-  isn't this war an example of irresponsible government spending?  I think it is, but for many in the oil business, the defense business and the reconstruction business, there is money to be made!  Which brings me to the oil issue and the idea of a bunch of McCain/Palin supporters chanting, "Drill, Baby, Drill!"  Absurd.

Those are the reasons I can think of...  if anyone as any other ideas, please feel free to share. I really would like to know.

Taxi to the Dark Side

Did you know that the Guantanamo Bay Prison has a gift shop?  I didn't.  I find that really bizarre, actually.  Did you know that the majority (like, over 85%) of detainees held by the U.S. government were actually not captured by the U.S. military, but delivered by our Afghan and Iraqi forces?  I had actually never really thought about that before.  Did you know that our allied forces get paid incentives for the men that they deliver the the U.S. military?  I never really thought about this either, but I suppose it makes sense.  I'm kind of embarrassed though, because when you put all these pieces together, the fact that we (the U.S.) still lacks any evidence that the majority of these Islamic prisoners have done anything wrong, also makes sense.  It's because many, many of these individuals have not actually NOT done anything wrong at all.  Unlike in the U.S., they are not taken to trial or considered "innocent until proven guilty."  Instead, they are captured and then interrogated for information.  Many were captured as part of a broad sweep in a village, farm or marketplace that was suspect.  The man profiled in this documentary was driving his taxi at the wrong place at the wrong time, and was captured, along with the three men he was transporting.  The taxi driver was eventually killed, by U.S. military, in prison.  The passengers were eventually released after a long period of imprisonment. Personally, I do not know who is luckier... the one who died, or the ones that have to live the rest of their lives remembering the torture they sustained while at the hands of the U.S. government.

I am embarrassed that I have been buying the rhetoric put forth by our leaders.  After all, I don't really like Bush, Cheney or Rumsfeld and have been disgusted by many of their other policies.  I just really never thought they or the other HUMAN BEINGS (and "good, Christian human beings") that have led the war efforts were capable of such outrageous violations of human rights. I believed them when they said that the detainees that have been captured are really bad, dangerous people who probably deserve to be detained. After all, I want all the terrorists who planned 9/11 and other attacks against Americans to be captured (and, frankly, I really don't care what happens to them afterward).  It brought me some peace to think that our military was making progress and capturing these thugs.  I did not pay that much attention to the abuse scandals so widely covered by the press, because a part of me has always thought that if these people are terrorists, then I would rather focus my energy and attention on other issues, rather then their rights as prisoners.  I was wrong. 

This documentary, "Taxi to the Dark Side" won an Academy Award.  I think every American needs to watch it. Americans need to wake up and realize that our nation has not acted morally in any sense.  They need to learn that just because someone is brown, speaks another language, worships a different God, and wears a turban doesn't make them a terrorist and doesn't give the military free reign to humiliate them.  Ask yourselves, my fellow Americans, "What Would Jesus Do?"

Palin Schmalin

She has apparently inspired many in this nation.  She has "energized the evangelicals."  She has gained the support of more men than women.  She has inspired me to be pissed off.  She cites examples, such as her strong stance against the "bridge to nowhere," in order to show us how unselfish she is.  What she doesn't cite is the fact that she supported it before she was Governor, and then once she "flip flopped," Alaska kept the money.  She supports "abstinence only" education with no regard for the scientific studies that prove that "abstinence only" education does not lead to decreased rates of teen pregnancy.  By the way, "the other kind of sex education" is effective in reducing teen pregnancy and STDs (which leads to less pregnancy, thus fewer abortions).  She believes in "smaller government"-- the kind of government that should not interfere in our lives.  But she thinks that the government should interfere in a woman's right to choose, or a school's right to choose to educate kids about condoms.  She says she cares about the environment.  But, she thinks we should be drilling more-  with no mention of conserving, or creating more technology (which would create more jobs) that would help us use less energy.   She thinks that Americans should be afraid of religious fundamentalists who are "fulfilling God's will" by plotting against Americans.  I agree, of course.  But I am actually just as scared that SHE thinks it's God's will is to help Alaska build a pipeline or invade Iraq.  I think that God would be more inclined to support the people suffering from the genocide in Darfur-- oh wait, but there is no oil there, so maybe God doesn't care??  I doubt it.  And, who makes Palin the authority on what God wants?

Palin's choice to have a baby who has Down's Syndrome was her CHOICE.  No law required her to make this choice.  It was her decision.  Her family's decision.  But, if I hear anyone else mention what a "joy" it is to raise a kid with special needs, I just might slap them.  Having a child in order to bring joy to one's own life is totally selfish.  When the parents are old, or dead, who will care for their "special needs" adult child?  I sure hope that someone who supports disability care and universal health care for all Americans is in office at that time.  This is about the quality of life of a child.  Not politics and not God.

And, about that "bridge to nowhere."  Do Americans even know where that bridge was supposed to go?  It was supposed to be built so that people could more easily travel to and from a very busy airport in Alaska.  Environmentally, perhaps it was a good decision not to build it... but that wasn't her reasoning.  And, you can bet that if Alaska starts drilling, they will need to build it very quickly.

I had respect for McCain until he chose this woman to be his running mate.  I viewed him as a very honorable veteran who was willing to sacrifice his life for this country and someone who was willing to risk an election for his beliefs.  Although I disagreed with him on many issues, I had respect for him.  Plus, he was moderate compared to George W on issues that are important to me.  My feelings have changed.  Choosing Palin was a cheap shot.  An offense to women.  An offense to science. An offense to children.  An offense to the environment.  An offense to anyone who had a belief that this could be a non-partisan, clean election.  Go Obama.

Life will kill you

Every day there is a new study about something that will kill us. Yesterday it was countertops, and today it was cell phones (again). According to a prominent professor at the University of Pittsburgh, cell phone use can cause brain tumors- especially in young and developing brains. It helps if you don't put the phone near your head, but use a headset or speaker phone instead.

In the movie, "Waitress," Joe says "life will kill you." I guess that's true, whether or not you use a cell phone.

It's funny though, the messages and warnings people choose to heed- someone might avoid artificial sweeteners but not wear a seat belt. Others might not choose not to fly in airplanes, but smoke a pack a day. We are not rational beings, that is for sure.

Personally, I think I'll use my headset a little more often, and reduce my use of plastic food containers, but I'll still go to Arby's for a beef and cheddar sandwich and curly fries every now and then!

Oh no, don't touch the counter or else you'll get cancer!

The New York Times reports today that granite countertops emit radon.  Granite contains uranium which decays naturally over time and emits radon as that happens.    Radon in large quantities is bad.  Radon can cause cancer.  Apparantly, a "hot" countertop ("hot" meaning one that is emitting radon, not a stolen countertop) "might add a fraction of a millirem per hour and that is if you were a few inches from it or touching it the entire time."

Millirem?  What's that?  "The average person is subjected to radiation from natural and manmade sources at an annual level of 360 millirem (a measure of energy absorbed by the body), according to government agencies like the E.P.A. and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The limit of additional exposure set by the commission for people living near nuclear reactors is 100 millirem per year. To put this in perspective, passengers get 3 millirem of cosmic radiation on a flight from New York to Los Angeles."

Should people stand an arm's length away from their sinks when they do their dishes?  Would organic dish soap help cancel out the radon effect?  Maybe they should start doing dishes outside?  The counters just LOOK so nice! 

This article has quickly risen to the most emailed article of the day.  It reports that people have actually torn out their granite countertops because they are afraid.  Hmmm.  Are we too alarmist a society?

The article is called "What's Lurking in your Countertop" by Kate Murphy http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/24/garden/24granite.html?em&ex=1217044800&en=b1b72356dde58ae6&ei=5087%0A