|
|
Hmm, now no updates for over a week. I gotta work on my time management huh?
Secondly, some stuff is pretty screwy with some of the pages on here. I'm not sure what the deal is with that, but I'm working on it.
Remember all that stuff I wrote about at the last update with our freedom's being taken away? It's beginning. A national ID system is now being seriously considered, face recognition camera's are being pushed, weakened encryption standards are being shoved through legislature, and many more similar stories are coming up everyday. I'm sure that amendment banning flag burning will easily pass through legistlature now as well. Things are being passed on emotions, not rational thinking. The University of Central Florida is condering background checks on all it's students, with the students saying that it should be no problem if you have nothing to hide. That isn't the point, the point is that people have no right to know about one's private life. And this is all done in the name of fighting terrorism. But the only real thing we're fighting is the things that millions of American's had died for: freedom.
It also shows up in the editorials I read in the student newspapers here on campus. People wanting to arrest and deport people who want "Peaceful Justice" or who even praise bin Laden for making America question our involvement in foreign countries. Sure, I think it's pretty sick to be in favor of a terrorist like that, but to arrest someone for free speech? That just goes against everything America stands for. One woman wrote in that since the University of Florida didn't fly a flag over Tigert Hall (the main administration building) that UF was being "treasonous" and that the "federal government should take appropriate actions". Heck, I'm sure they think that I should be "investigated" for standing up for my first amendment rights to question their fanatical patriotism. Yes, I love America and I think it's the greatest country in the wold. But I don't think that means that we're always right, and I really fear that the coming years will be a dark time in the history of this country. The kind of time where 30 years from now we'll wonder how we could ever act the way we did. War shouldnt be an excuse to take away all the rights that were given to us by our independence. However history sets a bad precendent when it comes to things like this. Like the way we put Japanese into concentration camps during WWII, or Lincoln taking away habeas corpus during the Civil War. That means that people could be arrested without just cause. I can very easily see that happening with Arab looking men in the near future, or anyone making any kind of slightly anti-American comment and having it be called treason. I'd hate to live in a world where I have to fear critizing my government, as it is that right that I love so much about America. History is being made right at this moment, and how we make it will be read for centuries to come. And to think that we are fortunate (or perhaps unfortunate) enough to live through it.
Warning: The following material may offend some people who don't want to laugh at the events following the WTC attacks. If you have no sense of humor about the events, don't read the following link. If on the other hand you think some humor will help you deal with the stuff that happened (that's the way I feel) then please read on.
The Onion is back and better than over. After taking a 2 week vacation following the attacks, they've decided to confront it head on with all their satirical wit. It's probably one of the funniest editions I've seen from them yet, and it even has some really good points about the religious motives (with God telling people that he specifically said "Do Not Kill") as well as the uncanny similiarties of the events with an action movie. That particular story ends with the quote "But one thing is clear: No Austrian bodybuilder, gripping Uzis and striding shirtless through the debris, will save us and make it all better. Shocked and speechless, we are all still waiting for the end credits to roll. They aren't going to." I've really got to hand it to the Onion for trying to be funny in such a serious time, but I for one feel that it's neccassary and I'm really glad they took the risk.
|
