World Social Forum

Let me paint a picture. Before a cheering crowd stands a man who sees the poverty of his people, a woman mourning the death of her son in a war she believes is unjust, and a
woman who grieves the death of her husband, who wanted independence for his country. Each of these people supports a cause. They want the U.S. to change. They want the U.S. to stop fighting foreign wars and stop interfering in foreign markets. They want the U.S. to allow other people to live the way they choose to live and accept that these people may have different values. They want peace and freedom.
But let's look a little deeper. First, the woman grieving hers husband. Though her husband did support independence, he was killed in an FBI raid. The FBI were searching for him because he stole $7.2 million from the U.S. Also, the country is Puerto Rico, a territory if the U.S.; a territory that I don't think many would consider exactly enslaved by the U.S. Now the second woman. Her son died in Iraq. Her son died as a volunteer in the military, fighting in a war to free a nation terrorized by its president and in which every intelligence agency in the world believed there were WMD. And finally, the man who claims to be fighting for the welfare of his nation. The man who is kicking out Christian missionaries, who threatens everybody who is American, whether they are good or bad, who fights against big business, taking away jobs from his people, who nationalizes industries, an economic move which has already been proven to devestate economies. A man who lies and threatens, who creates conspiracy theories to bring him sympathy, pity, and power. He is a man who seeks one thing - power at the expense of all else, even the welfare of his own people.
You can see these people as freedom fighters, who are fighting against a corrupt nation, or as villains who are spreading lies and deceit about a generally good nation. Or perhaps it is more complex than that. Maybe the people are bad, but the nation is also corrupt and they merely are feeding off that corruption. Or maybe the nation is good and these people are good and they are merely blinded by grief over the pain they see in those they love. The point is, I may be wrong.
Here is how I see it, though. Elma Beatriz Rosado was married to a criminal. He may have had good intentions, but he stole millions of dollars from the U.S. He broke the law and deserved to pay the consequence. He may have been killed before he could face trial, but I have serious doubts that the FBI shot without provocation. Cindy Sheehan is fighting not in support of her son, but against him. Rather than asking this government to structure an effective reconstruction scheme so that we can build up a nation and pull out without risking the civil war or having to return, she demands we pull out now and abandon the Iraqis to the terrorists who still have far too much control. She fights, blinded by her own grief, ignoring the fact that if we pull out now, her son's life would truly be a waste: Iraq would simply develop into a place either just as bad or worse than what it was like under Saddam.
Finally, Hugo Chavez. I do not have the words, and would not be willing to write them if I did, to describe my feelings about this man. He is truly a villaim who desires one thing: power. To get it, he plays off the unpopular actions of the U.S. He harnesses the traditional biases of the people against big business and the rich. He plays off racism: the battle between Hispanic and white Americans. To keep power and make it appear that he cares about the people, he tears apart the Venezualen economy. This man is evil. I have no doubt about this. He is doing things similar to what Hitler did in Germany. He is playing off the natural prejudices and the poverty of the people to, perfectly legally, place himself in power. The parallels are scary. In the early nineties, Chavez attempted a failed coup and was placed in jail. When he came out, he used the poverty of the people to catapult himself into elected office. Hitler attempted a coup. He was placed in jail. He came out, played off the terrible poverty of the Depression, and was elected into office. These moves do not mean Chavez is Hitler. But they may show that he thinks in a similar way. Let's not repeat history. Let's watch Chavez closely and be sure to defend the rights of his people, since so far he has not.

You know youve achieved perfection in design, not when you have nothing more to add, but when you have nothing more to take away.
- Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Snow Angels

“If you can talk, you can sing. If you can walk, you can dance.”
-African proverb

     Tonight I went to a church dance and had the time of my life. I don’t know what it is exactly that makes it so fun. It’s not like I can dance. I do the same thing over and over, just kicking my feet and swinging my arms. And I’m not a big fan of most of the music they play. In fact, outside of the dance, I usually hate to hear that stuff. Yet I’ve had more fun at dances, especially the two church dances I’ve been to up here, then I’ve had almost anywhere else. I can’t explain it.
     Regardless, my ears hurt. We danced next to the speaker. How dumb can you get? Here are two speakers on top of each other, blasting loud enough to be heard clearly outside of the church, and we danced right next to them. Well, it was fun.
     That’s the story of the dance.

Peanut M&M's

     It’s been too long since I last wrote. It’s been good back at school, but a little weird. I’m still adjusting to having two different homes. I love it here, but I miss my home. When I’m home, I miss here.
     Leading a life like this has some interesting effects. I’m separated from my home, family, and old friends. Suddenly, I’m in new environment, facing new challenges, and some old one. Living away from home for college makes it impossible to live the same superficial life. I can’t base me, my personality, off of my friends, family or home. I don’t have those here. No In-n-Out, no beaches, I can’t wear sandals or shorts year-round. I spend time with people who are very different and have different interests from my old friends. Relationships take on a new character. No relationship here can take the place of the ones I had back home, the ones that helped me define who I was. Suddenly, the that was my life is taken away. Now what? Do I develop a new shell?
     I started to. Then I went home for Christmas. What happened there? The new, still fragile shell cracked. It didn’t hold up. I couldn’t figure it out. Who am I, exactly? It’s really not an easy question. But having two homes has helped me answer that question
     Living in two homes, as I already said, makes it difficult to live in a shell. Each time I move from one home to the other, the shell cracks and is stripped away. What is revealed each time is the person I truly am. That is the great benefit of living away from home, of traveling and experiencing the world. I am able to define myself by what I am inside, but what I consistently do wherever I am, rather than by what I wear, who I spend time with, or where I hang out. Suddenly, the importance of truly knowing who you are is apparent. If I didn’t know who I was, what would I do? I would seek out things that don’t matter. I would search for what I had before and always be disappointed because I can’t find it. But now that won’t happen. Though the journey is nowhere near over, I have come to this realization. I have made the first step.
     I know who I am. I am a child of God. I am a divine being, here on this earth, learning all I can so I can return back to my Heavenly Father and, if I live the way he has asked, inherit all he has. That truth provides me with a basis on which I can always act, no matter where I am. Wherever I am, I will seek out the way I can serve him best. Here, it is in class, learning of the universe he has created, and being a friend to those around me. This gives a purpose to my life; a purpose that is greater and deeper than getting the best grades or having the most fun possible or being popular or doing the best in video games. Though at times each of these concerns may cloud my mind and distract me, my understanding of who I am is at the root of my being, and it shines with a light that pierces through all the mists of darkness that stop me from finding my way.
     If I were all alone, in a new, unfamiliar place, without a friend, without the ability to do well in school, without the wealth that allows me to sit in privacy and type this entry, I would still have this truth. I am still a child of God and he has a task for me, wherever I am, and I will fulfill it. This is there core around which I build my shell and no matter what happens to the shell, that core will remain and guide me through all my life.

Time to get back to blogging again. I took quite a break there. I hope somebody out there is willing to read this still.

Calvin and Hobbes commentary on TV is right in line with what I think. In case I haven't said it enough, I love this comic strip! Actually, I got the Complete Calvin and Hobbes for Christmas. What can I say, I'm obsessed.