Hmm...Should We be Concerned? Probably.

As I was browsing through my various news haunts ( unrepentant news junkie here), a headline that should have been bigger caught my eye. "Canada Closes Embassy in Iran, To Expel Diplomats."

Erm...what?!

Canada could probably, without much argument, be considered one of the most mild mannered countries in the world. They pretty much mind their own business. And yet...they have suspended diplomatic relations with Iran. This begs the question, "What do they know that we don't?" Or rather, what do they know, that our government probably also knows, and is keeping from us?

In his press conference, Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird, cited Iran's nuclear program, their hostility towards Israel, and their assistance of the Syrian government in it's civil war as the reasoning behind this move, and said, " Iran in the biggest threat to global peace and security in the world today."

Strong words, indeed.

I have a sneaking suspicion that some super serious shenanigans are about to go down. Ladies and Gentlemen of Blog Land....the Ahmadinejad fueled Iranian Time Bomb is about to go off...and the stuff's about to hit the fan.

Mark my words!

The following link takes you to a news report about some of the ways in which Iran continues to "stir the pot".
http://news.yahoo.com/video/israel-concerned-over-irans-nuclear-004137334.html 

A Ride on the Wild Side

It has been an especially trying week. I've been getting up an hour earlier to work out...my body is still trying to figure out what's going on, and Little Sis has been throwing temper tantrums, sometimes 2 or 3, everyday. Thankfully, today is my Thursday and after tomorrow I'm heading out of town for a mini vacation.

My daily "home from work routine" always involves throwing on some sweatpants and  big comfy shirt, cuddling up in the bed or on the couch with my faithful computer in hand and checking the news, blog stuff, and emails. And of course...Pinterest. Ha.

My home page is set to CNN (yes...I know...I'm a news buff nerd) and what usually greets me is the same depressing twaddle everyday. However, as I scrolled down the page a news bite caught my eye...it read, "Woman's Scooter Flips on Escalator". I figured this had to be some kind of joke. But nonetheless I clicked on the video...

Let's just say that after this week...I needed that laugh.

 Oh hush, blog land!

I know, I know...it could've been dangerous...blah..blah...I know...! And I am truly glad that the lady is all right. But...erm...that is one of the funniest...and one of the dumbest things I have ever seen. Especially considering there was an elevator she could have used.

So before you self-righteously shake your heads at my seemingly callous response...watch the video for yourselves...

Pulling at My Heartstrings

Please watch this video before reading the post below.

Whew! Every single time that I watch this video I get get a catch in my throat and tears in my eyes. Aesha Mohammadzai is an amazing young woman with an amazing story that is still waiting for it's happy ending. 


What appalls me the most about this story is the fact that in the society into which she was born, such a beautiful little girl could be given to repay someone else's crime, abused for years, to the extent that the abuse resulted in the mutilation of her nose and ear. Women are so marginalaized in Afghanistan, that even years after the Taliban was overthrown, such horrors are still accepted as the norm. 


If there is anything that I can say about women, it's that we are born with a deep well of strength and resilience. The depth of which is unknown even to us until we are forced through adverse circumstances to draw from it. I'm am sure that as Aesha continues to be surrounded by a strong support system, as she continues to learn English, to read, to write; as she continues in therapy and as she eventually undergoes the reconstruction surgery....she will be able to see that she is valuable, beautiful, and important. 


Even though she has encountered such harshness in life, she exudes sweetness. How many of us can say the same? In this country we have all faced our own hardships, our own sadnesses. We are all injured in some deep emotional way, but usually, our injuries remain on the inside. Aesha's emotional scars extend from her heart to her face, yet that sweetness remains. 


What about us? Does the sweetness of Christ remain in us, despite of the hardships in life we've faced. Hmm. Food for thought.


I will never meet this young lady, but she has struck a chord in my heart. What if I had been born in Afghanistan? That could have been me. That could have been my sister, my mother, cousins, or aunts. I am once again grateful that I live in a country where freedom still exists and that I am not forced to live on the margins of society simply because I am a woman. 


 Join me blog land, in lifting up Aesha Mohammadzai in prayer everyday, for her emotional healing, peace, and physical well being as she undergoes surgery. Join me in praying for the women who remain in Afghanistan, those whose every day existence is a drudgery and a horror. 

Nom Noms, Sneezies, and ET

A man caught the Black Plague in Oregon.

A man ate another man's face in Florida. 

There are those who are claiming aliens will arrive on Earth sometime this year.

It is after all 2012.

Is anyone else disturbed by what they're reading, hearing, and seeing in the news? Ok, the whole alien thing is definitely a little suspect but well...I was under the impression that the Plague had been eradicated. I also never thought a day would come when I would read about a human being eating another human beings face off in broad daylight in the street. 

Apparently, in the U.S. there are at least 10 to 20 cases of the Plague a year. There are probably more, but in an effort to control mass panic, the CDC probably keeps a lid on the real numbers. Yes. I know I sound like a conspiracy theorist. Ha. 

Bath Salts (the synthetic drug) has the power to turn people in to...well...zombies. I'm sure you've all heard by now of the email that the CDC sent out to it's employees instructing them on what to do if a Zombie Apocolypse occurred. Of course, , it was immediately hailed as a joke by the CDC big wigs and just a silly PR stunt. 

Of course.

But erm...did anyone else have the thought, "Do they know something we don't?"

Ha. 

On that note...I'll leave you to your own thoughts on the matter. 

Below I've posted a few links to some articles that you might find interesting. 

BEWARE THE ZOMBIIIIEEEESSSS!

Miami Police Shoot, Kill Man Eating Another Man's Face

Zombie Preparedness

Concordia

It has been 8 days since the Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia ran aground just off of the Tuscan coast. As each day passes, more and more disturbing details of what happened, and what should have happened, but didn't, emerge. 

There are many stories floating around from various crew members and passengers, but one element is common in them all...complete and utter chaos. 

I am sure by now that we are all pretty familiar with the story. The ship ran aground, the captain and the crew passed it off as a mere electrical problem that was "under control", the crew instructed passengers to return to their cabins, then the evacuation sirens went off, and chaos ensued.

Apparently, by the time the crew began instructing people to get into life boats, the ship had already started to shift to its side...which made deploying the life boats into the water difficult and dangerous. One interview that I saw with an American couple described the journey from the life boats into the water as the most terrifying part in the whole scenario. They explained the difficulty of getting into the boat, the life boat crashing into the side of the cruise ship, and the danger of the life boat actually dumping them into the ocean because of the angle of the cruise ship. 

Of course in the midst of all this, the question is bound to come up...where was the Captain in all of this?

Good question. 

Well, at one point we know where he was not....and that was not on the Concordia.

 Although reports indicate that most people had been safely gotten off of the ship, there were still some on board. The Italian Coast Guard released it's conversation with the Captain, as he sat safely in one of the life boats. The coast guard demanded that he go back aboard...the Captain hemmed and hawed and generally made excuses as to why he could not go back aboard the ship. He basically admitted to abandoning it, while there were still passengers aboard. The Guard continued to demand that he go back aboard the ship to help coordinate the evacuation of those remaining. He never did. 

There were many questions that the Guard had for the Captain, such as how he came to be on a life boat and not on the ship...his answer? He tripped and fell and landed in a life boat. 

I'm not making this up...this is what the man actually said.

It also came out today, from one of the ship's cooks, that after the ship hit the reef, he ordered dinner for himself and a lady that was with him. 

Once again, I'm not making this up. 

In addition to this ridiculousness,  we find that this man more than likely caused the wreck because he had deviated from the course that was charted for him, was navigating the boat by sight, and was also going too fast to be able to guide the ship away from the reef to prevent it from hitting it. 

This man is an idiot and a coward.

I think it's pretty common knowledge that the Captain should be the last person off of the ship. That if the ship goes down and there are still people aboard, then the Captain goes down with it. 

This Schettino character's actions are unthinkable. 

Anyone else see Titanic?

This current disaster is eerily reminescent of the disaster of the Titanic which sank exactly 100 years ago this year. While most of the passengers and crew managed to escape the Concordia, the fact remains that there are people who didn't. Today, divers  recovered another body, bringing the count up to 12. There are still about 11 people missing. Although the number is small in comparison to the number who perished aboard the Titanic in 1912, a life is a life and the wrecking of the Costa Concordia is still a terrible disaster. A disaster that could have and should have been avoided. It is also a disaster that was magnified by the Captain's hiding of the seriousness of the problem and his failure to act in a timely manner. 

I'm appalled. Completely and totally appalled. And needless to say, I will not be going on a cruise any time soon.

Below are a few news links about the story, including a translation of the conversation that Schettino had with the Coast Guard from the life boat. 

http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/21/world/europe/italy-cruise-main/index.html?hpt=hp_t3

http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/18/travel/concordia-us-survivor-stories/index.html

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/01/17/port-authority-to-cruise-ship-captain-get-on-board-damn-it/?iref=allsearch