NEW BEGINNINGS
Once again, everyone around is resolving to smoke less, drink less, eat less, exercise more, and lose weight. Good grief, is this all we can worry about? Are we really doing everything else perfectly? Are we really as kind as we can be? Have we learned everything we need to know? Are we as grateful to those who care for us as they deserve? Are we doing everything we can for the communities we live in? Are our homes havens of peace and thoughtfulness? Honestly, if I thought I had mastered all these other virtues, I wouldn't care how much I weighed.
I want to start the new year with a vote of thanks to Faris Hasan, the 16-year-old from Florida, who took off to Iraq on his own savings in pursuit of a story for his journalism class and the truth about how the people of Iraq are living. Although his parents are Iraqi immigrants to the US, and he did get some help from a family friend in getting from Beirut to Baghdad, he doesn't speak Arabic, and basically operated entirely on his own. His parents, of course, are talking about grounding him until he qualifies for Social Security. It's hard to blame them. If my kid did that, I'd probably feel the same way. But bless his heart--he wanted to know what life is like for the people living in the country his parents left, the country our country is invading. And he used his own resources, at his own risk, to find out. I can't wait to read the journalism paper that comes out of this trip. Is there a special Pulitzer for teenagers?
California has too much water. Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico don't have enough. By comparison, the gray, damp Midwest is pretty lucky.
And, finally, there's the eavesdropping scandal. It doesn't have an official name yet. But President Bush has admitted to eavesdropping on private phone calls and emails involving US citizens on US soil. And now he wants a congressional investigation. To be specific, he wants a congressional investigation to find out who leaked this information to the NY Times. I'd kind of like to know too. Whoever it is deserves some kind of award. But somehow I doubt that's what the President has in mind for him, her, or them. The President seems to think the Leaker has made us less secure. I think he/she/they have made our freedoms more secure.
I want to start the new year with a vote of thanks to Faris Hasan, the 16-year-old from Florida, who took off to Iraq on his own savings in pursuit of a story for his journalism class and the truth about how the people of Iraq are living. Although his parents are Iraqi immigrants to the US, and he did get some help from a family friend in getting from Beirut to Baghdad, he doesn't speak Arabic, and basically operated entirely on his own. His parents, of course, are talking about grounding him until he qualifies for Social Security. It's hard to blame them. If my kid did that, I'd probably feel the same way. But bless his heart--he wanted to know what life is like for the people living in the country his parents left, the country our country is invading. And he used his own resources, at his own risk, to find out. I can't wait to read the journalism paper that comes out of this trip. Is there a special Pulitzer for teenagers?
California has too much water. Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico don't have enough. By comparison, the gray, damp Midwest is pretty lucky.
And, finally, there's the eavesdropping scandal. It doesn't have an official name yet. But President Bush has admitted to eavesdropping on private phone calls and emails involving US citizens on US soil. And now he wants a congressional investigation. To be specific, he wants a congressional investigation to find out who leaked this information to the NY Times. I'd kind of like to know too. Whoever it is deserves some kind of award. But somehow I doubt that's what the President has in mind for him, her, or them. The President seems to think the Leaker has made us less secure. I think he/she/they have made our freedoms more secure.
posted by WiredSisters at 4:14 PM
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