When I began this blog in 2001, I was appalled by President Bush's headlong rush to an illegal war (we were not in fact under attack). As time wore on and Bush began his assault on the Constitution and any people bold enough to criticize, I believed that "the republic is endangered more by actions of our own government than by those of any terrorist." With the election of a high-minded, compassionate, intelligent man like Barack Obama, my fears have ceased.
"Honor them with peace, not war"
United for Peace
Friday, September 28, 2001
I read in the Times today there is a little restaurant down south called "Osama's Place. It's been there over a decade and is popular among locals and follks from the nearby military base. Lately some have suggested he should change the name.
They feel that way only because they have heard that name only once, ok twice now. If they new how common a name it is elsewhere, they wouldn't leap from Osama's place to Osama bin Laden.
I did a search on "Osama."
* Osama writing instruments (aka pens)
* Osama Creative Concepts Web design (with a note saying "This is not Osama Bin Laden site, for more info. about Osama Bin Laden click here"
*Osama Tolba a PhD student in computer science at MIT. Poor guy, they'll be watching him like a hawk I guess.
*Dr. Osma El-Arini home page.
*Osama world famous fishing lures
There are more. If you search on a spelling variant "Usama" you get mostly reports on bin Laden, but the occasional doctor or engineer pops up too.The NY TImes article said "Osama" means big cat in Arabic. The restaurant they reported on decorated its walls with lion and tiger illustrations.
The primary reason for American intolerance is lack of perspective. Those Americans who are widely read or have travelled to different parts of the world tend to be more tolerant. Our primary news provide a narrow view of events, focusing entirely on war, violence and negative news. Reporting rarely encourages change. If it's happeneing in the U.S., they don't tell you about it unless it's violent. If it has already happened elsewhere, we don't know. The U.S. is always the last to know anything.
And we say we are free!
Copyright © 2001-03 Pam Shorey
(except the specific sources credited in quotes)
I read in the Times today there is a little restaurant down south called "Osama's Place. It's been there over a decade and is popular among locals and follks from the nearby military base. Lately some have suggested he should change the name.
They feel that way only because they have heard that name only once, ok twice now. If they new how common a name it is elsewhere, they wouldn't leap from Osama's place to Osama bin Laden.
I did a search on "Osama."
* Osama writing instruments (aka pens)
* Osama Creative Concepts Web design (with a note saying "This is not Osama Bin Laden site, for more info. about Osama Bin Laden click here"
*Osama Tolba a PhD student in computer science at MIT. Poor guy, they'll be watching him like a hawk I guess.
*Dr. Osma El-Arini home page.
*Osama world famous fishing lures
There are more. If you search on a spelling variant "Usama" you get mostly reports on bin Laden, but the occasional doctor or engineer pops up too.The NY TImes article said "Osama" means big cat in Arabic. The restaurant they reported on decorated its walls with lion and tiger illustrations.
The primary reason for American intolerance is lack of perspective. Those Americans who are widely read or have travelled to different parts of the world tend to be more tolerant. Our primary news provide a narrow view of events, focusing entirely on war, violence and negative news. Reporting rarely encourages change. If it's happeneing in the U.S., they don't tell you about it unless it's violent. If it has already happened elsewhere, we don't know. The U.S. is always the last to know anything.
And we say we are free!
Palema
7:38 AM
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Copyright © 2001-03 Pam Shorey
(except the specific sources credited in quotes)
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