Waxing Poetically: News and Lifestyle with a Twist of Poetry

What do you believe? It seems simple to answer for some people who have firmly planted feet in one area or another. One says, “I’m a Democrat!” or “I’m a Christian!” or an or “I’m an Environmentalist!” while happily smiling and shaking hands with Joe Schmo and Sally Bag-o-nickels. But If you’re anything like me, the lines and limits aren’t so neatly drawn for you. Thus a dilemma arises.

Growing up I was the type of kid who asked questions, heard answers and then formed my own opinions about the world spinning under me. I asked all the questions in the known Universe from little things like, “Who invented underwear?” and “Why do baby’s cry?” to the profound childhood query of, “Mommy, is there a toy store in Heaven?” to my loving mother gently replied, “I don’t know, but there could be.” Around age seven when I asked about when the Jewish family across the street believed in God, I got the kind reply,, “They believe in God… they just don’t celebrate Christmas.” So basically, I was the Socrates of little kiddies, minus the students.

The same spirit of questioning stayed with me me though to high school when my new knowledge of the Protestant Reformation had me questioning my Catholic faith and my knowledge of the two party system had me voting Independent by age 18. I now consider my a Libertarian: I’m socially liberal with the exception of my pro-life stance, and fiscally conservative with my full belief in the free market and overall capitalism and my belief that socialism goes against human nature. These days, I’ve also been listening to philosophy podcasts from UC Berkley to generate ideas for my screenplay. So my brain has had a lot of time to think about beliefs in general.

Yet my religious affiliation is boarder still. I’m currently a practicing Catholic but my inner most being still has a sense of exploration. I have many interests in the philosophical parallels between the teachings of Jesus, the Buddha, Confucius, Lao Tzu, Krishna, and Mohammad as is evident in my doing my comparative scripture study in the past two weeks. This week my beliefs were tested even more when a Youtube user invited me two nights ago to watch his videos on Islam when while looking up a single text in the Qu’ran, (Koran) I ending up reading a few chapters and finding so much of my “personal” faith in it (if not all of it through the “lens of my own interpretation” of certain texts).

So in the spirit of my own weirdness, I’d like to ask you what you believe. You can post any view, so long as it is not hateful or violent. Even if you think I’m crazy, I don’t mind hearing it. So come on and wax poetically!

Note: The video below is an interview with author Irwin Tang on his book, Gook: John McCain’s History of Racism and Why It Matters. Tang shows evidence of John McCain’s tendency to dehumanize “the other” in times of war. Also, note that all known sources confirm that McCain was tortured in a P.O.W. camp for five years under the Vietcong Army in Vietnam, so you may not be surprised that McCain would use the term “gook” so loosely in a non-war and public context.

However, Tang points out that McCain with military background, he tends to make dehumanizing comments across all areas in which McCain sees an enemy. Tang points to the fact that after McCain was told that cigarettes were a major U.S. export to Iran, McCain replied, “Good, maybe we can kill ‘them’” and cites to McCain’s rendition of “Bomb, bomb, bomb– Bomb, bomb Iran” ala The Beach Boys.

While I always try to give a look at all sides of an issue, this ones irks me. I’m afraid McCain’s personal vendetta may take Americans to places they don’t want to go in wartime or peacetime… or dinnertime for that matter; and while I understand his hatred toward those who tortured him, he should know better than to use a racist term like that in a public forum. It’s now a blanket term used on all Asian types to dehumanize them. Think of it this way, if he has said, “I hate those Ni****’s and I’ll always hate them,” no matter to whom he meant it, his career would be OVER!

For me it’s personally troubling because of my many Asian friends and extended family. I even had an Iranian pediatrician for my entire childhood and guess what? I’m still healthy! Keep waxin’!

Link: For more on racism in politics, read my review of the classic novel, The Ugly American.

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Here, My Friends is a thoroughly scientific look at the prospects and pitfalls of embryonic stem cell research from objective study. Dr. Rudolf Jaenisch, a Professor of Biology at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and founding member of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research discusses the evidence of why certain types of cloning can be in many ways set apart from others and further attempts to clarify the media’s picture of the whole issue. Jaenisch’s lecture is followed by a presentation by Dr. Steven Marks, of the Harvard School of Public Health. Marks takes on all sides of the legal rights and human rights debate. Enjoy this debate and wax on!

Note: Both lectures are clearly objective and present logical explanations for all views including the ethical and theological. Please if you have a chance, watch the video below. It has definite made me think about my own views.

Here is a summary of the lecture:

Definition of a Stem Cell

Stems cells are those single cells that can renew themselves and create cells of any type.

– There are generally two types of embryonic stem cell cloning:

Reproductive Cloning

– The cell is fertilized to clone an animal or human with a newly made genetic make-up and MUST BE implanted into the uterus. However, because it is a clone, the embryo doesn’t contain the usual distinct genes needed from two parents and the baby is not normal.

Therapeutic Cloning

– Using somatic stem cells (bodily cells): The donated egg is combined with let’s say… a skin cell:Unlike in reproductive cloning, new genetic forms are not made and therefore there is very little evidence if any, that a baby could ever be created… The embryo IS NOT Implanted in a uterus.

Problem:

– The Process of epigenetic manipulation (or manipulation beyond DNA) makes certain genes not readable: All clones have deficiencies (only offspring have been shown to be normal).

Excerpt from learnoutloud.com:

Ignore the noisy debate around cloning, Rudolf Jaenisch quietly insists, and instead look closely at the biology involved. First, note that there are two different kinds of cloning: reproductive cloning, the attempt to create an exact replica of a human being, which Jaenisch believes to be both biologically flawed and morally questionable; and therapeutic cloning, which offers potential cures to some of mankind’s most devastating diseases, and from Jaenisch’s point of view, sidesteps ethical pitfalls.

(Watch the lecture here, 1 hr 30 mins).

FOX NEWS: NEW YORK — A Muslim group, in collaboration with a Brooklyn imam once investigated as a possible co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, paid $48,000 to run Islamic advertisements on the city’s subway cars this September.

According to reports, the Islamic Circle of North America has begun a campaign called the Subway Project to support dispelling of common misconceptions and the goodness within about Islam. However, the report states, that 1995,imam (prayer leader in a mosque) Siraj Wahhaj, a U.S.-born Muslim convert, is assumed to have provided supportive testimony for Omar Abdel-Rahman who was convicted to a life sentence for his role in the 1993 World trade center bombing.

Wahhaj has been qouted on the FOX website as saying in one sermon, “In time, this so-called democracy will crumble, and there will be nothing, and the only thing that will remain will be Islam.”

Hmm this sounds a bit Rev. Wright-like to me i.e., “So-called democracy will crumble” v. “Americas chickens are coming home to roost”. Hmmm? You make the call. Ironically the message on one one of of the posters I saw on the FOX site was completely harmless in my eyes. Yet, I am quite put off by Wahhaj’s statement above mainly for it’s ambiguous meaning. I’m really not sure where this campaign will go. I guess we’ll have to keep an eye out. Just in case he is up to anything, but we won’t really know until someone gets a bit more information on this guy. So until further notice… keep waxing poetically!

Dear Readers,

Hi there, I thought I’d say just a few thing about my intentions with this comparative scripture study that I’ve been posting for the past two weeks. Take me at my word when I say that this is not an attempt to preach.

Foremost, I want to be clear that I make no attempts at manipulating scriptural meanings. I wish to present the various passages as they appear in their respective books. In very many cases, I lay out entire passages unabridged and without any alterations. Those changes I do make are only related to specific names, groups or individuals to which they relate in their cultural interpretations in order that the parallels are more easily noticeable when held up away form their cultures’ perceptions. My intent is to expose object truth in philosophical parallels only. It is not my intent however in any way to say that the cultures out of which these faiths grew are not unique to the people and places from which they came… because they are in fact very different in many ways.

With that said, I’d also like to make clear that any conservative opinion that opposes my claims need only research my claims. (i.e., if you think my observations are errant in any way, look them up yourself,by copying the texts into your search engine and then cross checking them with your own sources. I’m fully willing to hear your arguments. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy the study.

Sincerely,

Mike

Imus (top) Savage (bottom)
Do you remember this gem? “That’s some nappy-headed hos there. I’m gonna tell you that now, man, that’s some — woo. And the girls from Tennessee, they all look cute, you know, so, like — kinda like — I don’t know.” That was talk radio’s favorite old guy Don Imus’ seeming nod to Snoop Dogg and Ludacris in reference to the Rutgers Women’s Basketball Team’s looks and personhood on April 4, 2007.

It was the slur heard around all corners of the globe, (wait… globes don’t have corners… they’re globes). But, I digress. Nearly a whole 30 seconds after Imus uttered those stupidly joking words, every media outlet since the Pony Express ran with those words to advertisers and activists all over world and of course Imus’ radio affiliates. Imus was subsequently fired and later he apologized to all parties who were offended which also included a very personal apology to the Rutgers team.

However, almost 15 months after his less than poetic ode to hip hop, Imus is back on the air. Yet there remains one shock jock radio ranter who continually offends his public. His name is Michael Savage. Savage said the following on the July 16 edition of his radio show Savage Nation:

[Autism] is a fraud, a racket.” …”I’ll tell you what autism is. In 99 percent of the cases, it’s a brat who hasn’t been told to cut the act out. That’s what autism is. What do you mean they scream and they’re silent? They don’t have a father around to tell them, ‘Don’t act like a moron. You’ll get nowhere in life. Stop acting like a putz. Straighten up. Act like a man. Don’t sit there crying and screaming, idiot.’ ” Savage concluded, “[I]f I behaved like a fool, my father called me a fool. And he said to me, ‘Don’t behave like a fool.’ The worst thing he said — ‘Don’t behave like a fool. Don’t be anybody’s dummy. Don’t sound like an idiot. Don’t act like a girl. Don’t cry.’ That’s what I was raised with. That’s what you should raise your children with. Stop with the sensitivity training. You’re turning your son into a girl, and you’re turning your nation into a nation of losers and beaten men. That’s why we have the politicians we have.”

He continued: “[W]hy was there an asthma epidemic amongst minority children? Because I’ll tell you why: The children got extra welfare if they were disabled, and they got extra help in school. It was a money racket. Everyone went in and was told [fake cough], ‘When the nurse looks at you, you go [fake cough], “I don’t know, the dust got me.” ‘ See, everyone had asthma from the minority community.”

Folks, where can we go from these arguments. Let’s analyze. First, we have Don Imus, an elderly man with a disheveled look using a African-American slang as if were on tour with Cedric the Entertainer. If one were to playback the comments, it would be obvious that this man was trying to get a laugh where no humor could be found. Unlike Ludacris, he has no credibility with the word “hoes”to the tune of Luda’s,”I got in hoes different area codes.” That’s not to say that ludacris’ credibility in itself doesn’t present a problem, but that’s a topic for another day…. It’s just altogether sad.

Savage, by contrast, has a rage filled quality to his tone. Even in print he provokes the thought of a fire breathing dragon and from the episodes I’ve heard, the rest of his views are very similar, from condemning Islam as a religion of “slavery and chattel”, to ranting that th Latino community in the U.S. needs to stop forcing America to learn Spanish. This man, whether out of showmanship or not, is continually and most vehemently enraged. His show runs a disclaimer at the top of each show saying, “Warning: This show contains adult language, adult content, psychological nudity. Listener discretion is advised.” Yet, for all his radicalism, Savage’s national audience is nearly 8.5 million strong and is consistently in the top three shows among the talk radio crowd, behind Rush Limbaugh’s and Sean Hannity’s programs and despite many claims of hate speech by his detractors, he remains on the air.

Note: In rubuttal to Savage’s claims about autism being a fraud, I’d like to state that I have a few people in my immediate inner circle who have some form of autism… one quite severe case. Autism is without question a real thing. Secondly, I also have it on good authority from the lips of my own mother who is a registered nurse that roaches can carry asthma causing agents and because of this fact, poor living conditions in the minority community can have a direct effect on the asthma rate therein.

So in closing, there are very few things left to say. Who is worse? Is it the old guy who used a phrase used by every rapper in today’s mainstream? Or is it the guy who is pissed off all day at foreigners, minorities, Muslims and Democrats and probably your mom too? You tell me…. Keep it waxidocious, People!

Hello, Friends! This is my continuation of my comparative scripture study. This week’s topic is the Creation, (though it probably should have been my subject last week :p). I used the Judeo-Christian Book of Genesis, a Hindu Creation poem (that also incorporates aspects of Buddhism) and the Muslim Koran. Again, this week I combined the various texts without noting which text belongs to which faith. I do have to note however that I removed all references to specific names in order that the text fit together as all one story. Enjoy, critique and keep waxin’!

On Creation:

Before time began there was no heaven, no earth and no space between. A vast dark ocean washed upon the shores of nothingness and licked the edges of night. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning–the first day.

And God said, “Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water.” So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. God called the expanse “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning! He created grass, flowers, trees and plants of all kinds. To these he gave feeling. Next he created the animals and the insects to live on the land. He made birds to fly in the air and many fish to swim in the sea. To all these creatures, he gave the senses of touch and smell. He gave them power to see, hear and move. The world was soon bristling with life and the air was filled with the sounds of [His] creation. And God saw that it was good.

Then God said,”Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” He began the creation of man from clay, and made his progeny from a quintessence of fluid. It is He that created [him] from a single person, and made his mate of like nature, in order that he might dwell with her in love.

God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning.

(See previous blog, Articles of Faith: Comparative Scripture #1)

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Many of us have heard the word “jihad” in reference to Muslim terrorists and their quest to rid the world of those who do not share their worldview. But what does the word itself actually mean? National Public Radio’s Jamie Tarabay considers how the American media may be mistakenly paying terrorists a tremendous compliment by calling them “jihadists.” Please read the following article and consider all points and reply on the comment board with insightful responses. I’m certain you all have something to contribute. Wax away!

Excerpt: Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the Bush administration has relied on terms like “jihadist” and “Islamic extremists.” But jihad has very positive connotations in the Islamic world. It is akin to religious duty: when someone wants to better themselves, they embark on a jihad. Whether it’s to quit smoking, pray more, and in some cases, fight off anyone preventing them from practicing their religion.

“Just like you wouldn’t call Josef Stalin a hero of the revolution, you don’t want to call Osama bin Laden a jihadist. He loves it,” says Duncan MacInnes, a spokesman for the State Department’s Counterterrorism Communication Center (NPR.org).

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“I’m going to blow it up. It obstructs my view of Venus.” - Marvin the Martian on his plans for Earth

Well it’s finally come… that day that everyone who breathes that wondrously breezy thing called air has been waiting for! It’s been confirmed that NASA has found discernible proof that water did exist on Mars at one time! The Phoenix Mars Lander has uncovered mineral remnants of water on the ground away from the planet’s polar ice caps… and of course water is a fundamental building block of life as we know it, but unfortunately, no little green men or Looney Tunes-style “Space Mmmmodulatooors” were found at the scene… Waah!

Space.com: “We don’t know the form of the water, beyond the fact that there is too much there to be explained solely by water bound in minerals” -Reseacher Maria Zuber Zuber said. “So chunks, a layer, etc. are all possibilities. The [Phoenix] observation is an important advance in our understanding of water on Mars, and continued sampling will undoubtedly add to the story.

Still, principle investigator Peter Smith reminds us not to jump any sudden conclusions and The X Files‘ Moulder and Skully aren’t needed just yet:

“Just the fact that there’s ice there doesn’t tell you if it’s habitable,” Smith said. “With ice and no food it’s not a habitable zone. We don’t eat rocks — we have to have carbon chain materials that we ingest into our bodies to create new cells and give us energy. That’s what we eat and that’s what has to be there if you’re going to have a habitable zone on Mars.”

I wonder though. If life did exist, was it like our form of it? Did Mars have civilization i.e. cultural events, holidays, religion, currency? (I’m Picturing Martian Christmas as I write this). Did it have all the mind numbing crap we have like VH1’s I Love the 20,000’s and weird food like Lunchables? What was the food like? Was any of it blue (in homage to the late George Carlin’s idea that blue food might bestow immortality)? Well that last one might not be true just because if it were, the Martian’s might still be alive. Then again, there’s always Michael Jackson and Carrot Top! Also, obviously Martian’s wouldn’t call their planet Mars. Maybe, Steve. That’s it! They probably called it Steve. Anyway, I think the spirit of George Carlin officially has possessed me. So until we meet here again… wax the night away! I still be working on that Space Mmmmodulator in my basement!

Below is the newly released video of a 16 year-old Omar Khadr being questioned by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service after being accused of throwing a grenade that kill military medic in Afganistan in 2002. Khadr can be seen crying continuously, covering his eyes and chanting. He claims that his confession made previously to U.S. officials was due to torture.

Khadr says, after being told he looks as if he’s getting good medical care, “No I’m not. You’re not here… I lost my eyes. I lost my feet. Everything!”

“No, you still have your eyes and your feet are still at the end of your legs, you know,” the man in the video says. Sobbing uncontrollably, Khadr repeats a few times, “You don’t care about me.”

Khadr’s lawyer claims that Khadr’s fragile state was a result of several days of sleep deprivation and his being moved from his cell to another for three weeks.

I don’t know that I agree with any particular side on this matter. Liberals seem too quick to take Khadr’s side. While conservatives are just as fervent about throwing him into the Bottomless Pit. Shouldn’t we wait for the verdict, People? Anyway, please watch the video and give me your feed back… waxfully that is.