IRONY

IRAQINAM

2007-01-11T21:20:00.000-08:00

with news of 21,000 more soldiers being sent to iraq, i'm wondering what people are thinking about the current situation.

PLEASE COMMENT YOUR OPINIONS!

Iraq

the caste system in the united states

2007-01-09T21:28:00.000-08:00

we citizens in the united states know for a fact that freedom reigns supreme in these parts. we know that we live in a grand old country that lets us shoot our guns, drink our beer, speak our minds, marry guys (that is, of course, if you're gay--i am not an enthusiastic supporter of gay marriage), become instant millionaires, etc., etc., etc. we love this land.

along with all of the freedoms granted to us citizens, one of the most important is the fact that we are all equal; equality. no one man is greater than another. we all have equal opportunities to succeed in this great country of ours. right?

hell no.

as a student preparing for college, i know that equality is not as strong in this country as it seems to be. put yourself in the shoes of a college-bound senior applying to colleges here and there. these students have a plethora of institutions to plug their applications into, but let's face it: most colleges out there are pretty crappy, and if they're not ivy leagues or within the top, let's say, 30 list, then they're shit. to really succeed in this world, one needs serious education at a serious school. getting into these "serious" schools is an uphill battle that most applicants lose.

in the US today, the eight ivy league schools and a handful of other elite schools are harder to get into than the white house, literally. you'd probably have a better chance of getting to sing at the white house for the annual student christmas concert with a handful of other school choirs than get into an ivy league. these elite schools, which are princeton, harvard, yale, upenn, caltech, mit, duke, cornell, stanford, columbia, stanford, dartmouth, and brown, are so competitive that, from what i've heard from friends and family, students with even outstanding scores on their sats (2100+), outstanding highscool records (4.0+), outstanding extracurriculars (football, basketball, golf, community service, etc.), and outstanding reps get rejected from these elite schools. there are so many damn students who are top notch that they all get rejected. so who goes to these elitest schools?

watch the news. although the story has receded in a sense, the duke rape scandal reveals who goes to these schools: bitchass-drunk, sex-crazed lacrosse players. those atheletes who play for these elite schools don't have to do a damn thing. all they have to do is show up for practice two times a day and party hard on the weekends. not only do athletes have easy access to these ivy leagues, but the sons and daughters of ceos, senators, socialites, etc. to me, it seems like the only way to get into these ivy leagues is by either being ridiculously adept at a sport, or being the child of someone famous.

no way do "average" high achieving students have a chance at these schools. today, straight-a's and excellent standardized test scores mean little. these elite institutions have evolved into pits full athletes, socialites, and those few students who are genuinely brilliant. and in the future, graduates of these elite schools go on to become great people while us normal students have to work twice as hard to achieve half the greatness of those ivy bitches.

who said that this land was equal?

health-nut saddam

2007-01-09T17:32:00.000-08:00

from reuters.com:

["Less than 48 hours before he was hanged, Saddam Hussein said he had doubled the workout on his treadmill to be in good shape when he faced the gallows, according to his Iraqi lawyer."

"...I am making extra effort to prove to them that an Arab dies with honor and dignity defending honourable principles."]

to tell you the truth, if i were saddam, i would say 'screw dignity' and take the offered tranquilizers.

update

2007-01-08T21:40:00.000-08:00

remember what john kerry said a while back? we all remember that quote. who could possibly forget that painful soundbite? well, during precal today, conversation about that sorry-ass excuse of a joke popped up. the following is direct dialogue from the argument between the four conservatives and the one liberal in the class. observe:

liberal: "no, it was a botched joke you turd. watch any political commentary on tv instead of listening to your bible-hugging parents and maybe you'll learn that kerry made a mistake."

conservative 2: "seriously, you're gay. obviously you don't understand the fact that john kerry is a liberal democrat who opposes the war and opposes the soldiers."

liberal: "(to both conservatives)...yall are seriously homo">

the argument ended there because the lone liberal didn't have enough fodder to continue and also because the teacher called the class back to order.

although i had many things i wanted to contribute to the argument, i couldn't because i was way on the other side of the room. but here's what i would've said:

1) like the liberal stated, it was a botched joke. to quote one of the many pundits on air, "it was a botched joke. john kerry is not a comedian!"

2) people slip up.

it's not much, but it's the truth. just because one's adversary made an honest mistake doesn't give the opponent the right to prance on that mistake. well, actually, it does because when in a battle, like john kerry was in with dubbyah, you can't really mess up. i guess it was john kerry's fault for screwing up so bad, regardless of the innocence of his botched joke.

nonetheless, conservatives need to understand the reality of error.

damn

2007-01-07T16:35:00.001-08:00

stanford-76
uvirginia-75

more averages

2007-01-07T16:08:00.000-08:00

yep, it's that time again. i've been curious about how many iraqi civilians would perish during the ongoing conflict. according to the iraq body count (iraq body count), there have been 55,654 iraqi civilian deaths since the start of the iraqi war. as of today, 1389 days of conflict have passed. that's 40 iraqi casualties per day. two more years of this fighting will bring at least 29,244 more iraqi deaths. so in total, five years of war (2003-2008) will bring approximately 84,898 iraqi civilian deaths.

84,898 dead people--i thought conservatives were pro-life...

stanford v. virginia!

2007-01-07T13:25:00.000-08:00

2:00; FSN; *watch it and pray that stanford gets it's ass beat*

20,000 more

2007-01-06T19:01:00.000-08:00

according to the new york times, the new plan for iraq, authored by bush and his henchmen, calls for a rapid influx of troops, up to 20,000, and a job program that could cost billions for the US.

does the president not know that the war is purely futile and unamanageable? according to the Iraq Coalition Casualties organization, http://icasualties.org/oif/, 3006 US soldiers have been killed as of january 4, 2007. 1388 days have passed since the first US soldier was sent to iraq, which was on March 20, 2003. with some simple math, the average casualties-per-day can be figured out. observe:

3006 casualties/1388 conflict days=approximately 2.17 casualties per day

so now we can figure that at least two brave soldiers of the US military die every day for a lost cause. with two soldiers dying every day, we can now figure out how many will perish until the end of president bush's term, roughly two more years. observe:

two years (730 days) * 2.17 casualties per day= approximately 1584.1 casualties

ultimately, if this war keeps going for two more years, approximately 4590 soldiers will have perished at the hands of terrorists who we are in no way responsible for. that's 4590 families crushed by the absences of their sons and daughters. 4590 funerals attended by mourning friends and family members. 4590 needless deaths for the furthering of one man's staunch tenacity and stubborness.

i know for certain that the job of the president is a tough one and that president bush has been plagued by an unfortunate amount of crap since his first term in office. but with all due respect to him, the war has been his lethal concoction and is an utter failure. the war has been started for flimsy reasons and even the crap reasons change as the endless war rolls on.

senator obama said the following a while back on meet the press:

"The war in Iraq was an ideologically driven war. I think Bush was sincere and is sincere about his desire to maintain a strong America, but there was a single-mindedness to this process that has led our country into a very difficult position. It's a consequence of that single-mindedness that we did not create the kind of international framework that would have allowed success once we decided to go in. I think that this administration is sincere but I think it's misguided."

i fully agree with what he has said on the iraq war. his opinion and delivery clearly convey the character of a man who has respect for the president, yet can still politely object to the president's utter failures and flaws.

conservative bitches

2007-01-04T20:02:00.000-08:00

since our new school year started midweek, administrators at our school decided to screw the school week and take a trip to San Francisco to see the titanic exhibit in the metreon. as exciting as the exhibit was, all three hundred of the salvaged artifacts, the more exciting portion of the trip was for sure the ride down to the bay.

as a student at an ultra-conservative educational institution, i have heard many conservative based opinions from the many conservative students who know nothing better than their parent's conservative opinions on every major issue concerning our nation and community today. i feel confident to say that at least 95% of the students in the high school are staunch believers of the conservative doctrines that are preached by the local pastor at the church. knowing this, you, the reader, imagine how a bus load of conservative scripture quoting zealots would react upon reaching san francisco, the most liberal city in the united states.

as we neared the bay bridge, conversation about the "sinfulness" of san francisco sparked up and down the bus. as we passed a billboard for gap stores that had a suggestive picture of two men hand in hand, the crowd on the bus was in utter revulsion. another billboard had a picture of speaker pelosi with the header "congratulation madame speaker pelosi!" as we passed this one, a certain teacher put a disgusting scowl on his face and muttered something under his breath. driving down market street, we passed by several noticeably gay couples, and as we passed by them, the whole bus started yelling disgusting epitapths that did not fit the characteristic trademarks of a christian group.

i call the 95% of the conservative students in my highschool worthless jackasses who don't know what the hell they're talking about. the only reason many of these students hold the distorted opinions that they do is because they've been brainwashed by their evangelical parents who have been serviced the same way by their parents. as christians, these bitches should be embracing the gay population who are, just like them, human beings. IT'S INFURIATING HOW THESE KIDS DON'T KNOW ANYTHING BUT ANTI-GAY, ANTI-ABORTION, ANTI-LIBERAL, ETC. ETC. ETC.

remember that one saying that we're supposed to live by?

"love thy neighbor as theyself..."

*from now on, ultra-cons will be labled as bitches*

to whoever it may concern, please read the following

2007-01-01T22:29:00.000-08:00

i remember when i first heard that the war had started--i was in the kitchen cooking spaghetti for my famished stomach. i, along with a vast majority of the nation, knew that war was looming on the horizon; no one could ignore bush's words to "disarm" within 24 hours.

i still remember watching the msnbc footage of the cruise missiles being launched from warships in the persian gulf. those cruise missiles looked so powerful, lighting up the bright sky so magnificently. to tell you the truth, i thought the US would win the "war" within several weeks. how wrong was I?

that was over three years ago. 2003. today, it is 2007. war still rages on.

sure, significant changes have taken place in iraq: saddam was captured and killed. a new democratic government was installed. for all of you out there who think that it is still an essential task to stay the course, consider this: massive civilian casualties. massive US casualties. increased civil violence. sectarianism. damaged iraqi infrastructure. coalition occupation of iraq. and finally, no end in sight.

it's been way too long. our troops have been there for more than three years, and for what reason? so many people in high places today say that it is time for them to come home. when so many powerful and intelligent people say that it is time to pull the plug, something tells me that it's time to pull the plug.

3000 dead...

...but for what?

it makes me angry when people die just because one person refuses to admit his failure.

saddam video

2007-01-01T17:38:00.000-08:00

ok--so i saw the execution video. although there was no blood and gore and those glorious decapitations so treasured in modern cinema, it carried a profound tone. i was feeling pretty morbid when i heard the trap door release and subsequently his body dropping. pretty weird shit.

welcome

2006-12-31T22:17:00.000-08:00

and so here we are...on the brink of a new year.

we're two hours and 39 minutes away from the big 07

goodbye 2006

hello 2007

a hanging saddam

2006-12-29T21:56:00.000-08:00

so now he hangs...

imagine what he must have been feeling while on those gallows. a pang of remorse for killing those innocent civilians, or just an eerie feeling of disbelief, still not accepting that it was possible for him to be killed so soon.

december of 2006 has been a weird month. three influential people who have changed society have died all within the same week--perhaps a CONSPIRACY THEORY mobilized by big brother?!?!

probably not. just mother nature doing her job.

a hanging saddam

2006-12-29T21:44:00.000-08:00

'this just in: SADDAM EXECUTED FOR WAR CRIMES'

so now he hangs.

sometimes, i wonder what individuals who are about to meet their makers at the hands of their adversaries are thinking. when the federal government gives an inmate on deathrow a last meal, does that inmate have the appetite to consume that meal? it must be a gut wrenching feeling to know that one is about to die, and that he or she has no chocie but to accept his or her fate.

but on the contrary, many argue, those who are on deathrow deserve to be there and deserve to pay for their crimes. i agree to that axiom to an extent, but my mind comes up with another counterargument: who are we to judge the actions of other people? isn't the judging of one's character God's, Buddha's, Allah's, Trent Lott's, Benedict's (choose one) job? we should not be deciding who deserves to live and who deserves to die.

albeit i have conflicting viewpoints, it's essential for society to dole out justice accordingly in order for society to survive.

endless drives to taco bell and the gutting of saddam

2006-12-28T22:48:00.000-08:00

Thursday, December 28, 2006--a day filled to the brim with watching reruns of mythbusters, reading old, yellow-aged parchment-like newsweeks, and driving around the city with no destination. Well, actually, there was a destination: Taco Bell.

While cruising around on this giant network which people call the internet, I read a story on the drudge about Saddam being executed BY this Sunday.
The story of Saddam is an ironic one. Consider this: The 95% of the people in my life have stated that Saddam was an evil, fire-breathing, man-slaughtering, womanizing, “satanistic” devil-tyrant who committed atrocious crimes against the glorious people of Iraq. Ok, I’ll agree that Saddam was a tyrant who indeed killed people, but should we treat him with the genocidal status that really should go to leaders of the Janjaweed in Sudan? These crazies in Sudan have been killing each other and displacing each other for a while now. C’mmon…there are much more evil people in the world than Saddam Hussein. Now saying this, I could further say that instead of initially allocating the valuable assets of the US military to Iraq, the brave and dashing leaders of this country could have sent our boys to the troubled areas surrounding Khartoum. What we have now is a destroyed Iraq in the midst of a civil war while in Sudan, thousands are dying.

Has anything good happened since Saddam was thrown from his pulpit?