October 31st, 2006 by CD
Welcome to part 3 (part 1, part 2)! Well if you missed this interview you will want to get out your popcorn and soda for this one. This lady is a piece of work! For those of you not familiar with this interview, Lynne Cheney the wife of Vice President Dick Cheney was asked to come onto CNN for an interview. This was just a perfect time to ask her some important questions regarding her husband’s comments on waterboardering. We all know the American government practices this kind of torture so lets use common sense on this one. Unfortunately, she is one without common sense.
Lynne Cheney repeatedly attacked CNN for having a liberal bias during a fiery and combative appearance today on the Situation Room. Cheney said a CNN special that aired yesterday was a “terrible distortion of both the president and the vice president’s position on many issues,” in part because CNN used the phrase “domestic surveillance” to describe the so-called “Terrorist Surveillance Program.” When Wolf Blitzer pointed out that some individuals have been arrested and interrogated despite having no ties to terrorism, Cheney warned, “I think that you might be a little careful” declaring someone has “clean hands.”
Later, Cheney criticized Virginia Senate candidate Jim Webb for including sexually explicit material in his novels. Asked whether her own novel Sisters had “lesbian characters,” Cheney said, “no, not necessarily. This description is a lie. I’ll stand on that.” In fact, her novel did contain multiple scenes describing a lesbian love affair.
I am not sure exactly what I expected her to say. I suppose she has to take up for her husband but it is just very upsetting hearing her deflect issues and blame it on the media.
Can we compare this interview with Fox’s interview with Bill Clinton? Hummm, one major point that I will say on that one is that Clinton told the TRUTH and Lynne Cheney just uttered complete nonsense from her mouth.
Watch and read the transcripts on the below link!
Read the transcript here.
P.S. By the way Mrs. Cheney, it was Hurricane Katrina NOT Hurricane Katrino. No wonder our government is broken, you don’t even know the name of the disaster that happen right in our own country.
October 31st, 2006 by CD
As with every Tuesday, I like to introduce to my readers new music from around the globe. Today, I am going to introduce to you Mustafa Sandal from Turkey. Turkish music specifically is very interesting. The contemporary pop music in Turkey is often mixed with traditional instrumentation and traditions that go hand in hand! Turkish music has pushed its way into Europe as singers like Mustafa bring hits to Europe.
Born in 1970 in Istanbul, Mustafa Sandal was educated in Switzerland and the United States before returning back to his motherland to pursue a music career. I would consider him one of the oldies and favorites in the Turkish music industry. Ask anyone from Turkey and they are sure to know Mustafa Sandal. His albums include:
Suc Bende (The Crime is Mine) 1994
Golgede Ayni (The Same at the Shadow) 1996
Detay (Detail) 1998
Akisina Birak (Leave it to you love) 2000
Kop (Be Crazy) 2002
One of my first and favorite songs that the French copies from Mustafa was called Araba (Car). I only knew the French version years ago which was called “La main dans la main” (Hand in Hand). Totally different names. In any case, I can remember listening to Araba like 8 years ago and it brings back a lot of memories hearing this song again. So here is Mustafa singing one of his international hit songs Araba (original version). Enjoy this video in context of Turkish culture (i.e. dance style etc….)
Samples:
Araba Video
Mustafa Sandal singing in English “All my life”
October 30th, 2006 by CD
Welcome back to Part Two (Part One) of “Torture now apart of America’s history.” In my opinion the media has not done a relatively good job in covering and bringing this issue out in the open. I still do random questions to people that I know and ask them about torture being a part of America’s policies now or ask them about their own rights as American citizens. It’s sad to say that must of them do not even know their own rights. Those rights are getting lessen each waking hour that Bush holds office. I hope by reading this blog you will be more informed on the issues surrounding your rights and the legislations that are being passed down in Washington.
CNN and MSNBC did a pretty good job on covering these issues. CNN did not have a whole segment but Wolf Blitzer and Jack Cafferty did cover this. MSNBC has Keith Olbermann who covered this in his weekly program. So with that said, here is a clip of that episode and hopefully by watching it, you will have a greater understanding of what is happening to your rights and to this country!
See the video here
October 29th, 2006 by CD
U.S. policies have surely changed over the last couple of decades in terms of America’s policies towards the treatment of prisoners and its OWN citizens. Yes, American citizens! The days of the U.S. condemning and prosecuting officials that practice torturing techniques like waterboarding during WWII is now over. Our own government now justifies that this is acceptable along with many of techniques such as beating someone to near collapse. And I want to remind you that if you say “well I’m not a terrorist, why should I care about other people being torture?” Let me remind you that by the recent ratification of Bill S 3930, President Bush can now claim anyone an “illegal combatant” and drag them off the street and conduct torture on that person.
One example of the blatant lies by the U.S. government is lying is that early this year they denied having secret prisons where the torturing was taking place. At Abu Ghraib Major General Antonia Taguba wrote a report that became public stating:
“Breaking chemical lights and pouring the phosphoric liquid on detainees; pouring cold water on naked detainees; beating detainees with a broom handle and a chair; threatening male detainees with rape; allowing a military police guard to stitch the wound of a detainee who was injured after being slammed against the wall in his cell; sodomizing a detainee with a chemical light and perhaps a broom stick, and using military working dogs to frighten and intimidate detainees with threats of attack, and in one instance actually biting a detainee.”
You can read the full Taguba Report here.
The Washington Post has posted a copy of the “Torture Memo” and I encourage everyone to read it to see what this administration has done. It is formally known as “Re: Standards of Conduct for Interrogation under 18 U.S.C. 2340-2340A,” from the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel for Alberto R. Gonzales, counsel to President Bush.”
What are your thoughts on the issue of torture? Has Bush gone too far with his abuse of powers? Have we as American citizens done a poor job in letting him go this far?
October 27th, 2006 by CD
Since this blog is for the diversity of the world and because I have not posted this type of topic before, I thought it would be interesting to share this story. Looking at the picture, you probably think that the child on the right is adopted. Well, if you guessed that, you are wrong. Actually, they are both from the same parents not to mention they are twins.
With all the differences some societies create to try to distinguish one race from another, who we are genetically is all the same (99%). According to the Human Genome Project, there are about 35,000 genes that make us who we are. Only about 10 of those genes plays a role in determining skin color. Mother and father Kylie Hodgson and Remi Horder are themselves mixed race which increased the odds of the two twins’ different skin colors. So what are the odds of this happening– a million to one!
Celbrating the diversity of the world we live in may the children and their parents live happily!
Read more of this story here.
October 26th, 2006 by CD
While the middle class and under middle class struggle to pay basic bills and send their children off to college, U.S. congressmen are hard at work trying to pass legislation to alleviate some of the burdens most of us face, right? WRONG! Most of us would dream of going into work on a Tuesday and leaving the office on a Thursday. Well, say hello to the day of a U.S. congressman as that is their typical workweek. What is even worse is that their yearly salary is $165,000! Yikes! As CNN reported “This year, Congress will probably end up meeting for about 100 days — an average of about two days a week.” Why, CNN found out that Many weeks, the House and Senate don’t schedule sessions on Monday or Friday, so that members can return to their home districts and states to make political appearances and raise the money they need for increasingly expensive re-election campaigns. Former congressman Trent Lott said that when he was majority leader, senators would routinely line up in front of his office to beg for their four-day weekends. Some of them would get pretty aggressive about it.
So, while we are working hard, you can be certain that U.S. congressmen are not working on issues of grave importance to the middleclass and under middleclass like social security, employment outlook, crimes in our cities, immigration and education. And out of the 100 days they are working they are probably having cyber sex with pages or trying to cover up something else that they should not be doing.
So my dear Congressmen, out of the 100 days you will actually be in Washington doing your job (God willing) remember your fate rest in the hands of voters! It time to vote most of you guys and gals out! Well that is if our votes count!
October 25th, 2006 by CD
With elections just around the corner, it is very possible that your vote could either not be counted or changed without your consent. Eight out of every ten voters will be using the e-voting systems in the November election. The e-voting system is plagued with machine failures, staff that cannot operate the machines, new regulations and the possibility to an outside attack. It is as simple as this, if you want to ensure victory in any election, control the votes!
Has anything changed since the 2000 election? We are still a country that has mass amounts of doubt in terms of election fraud. Persistent voting frustration has opened lawsuits seeking to prohibit the use of e-voting machines in Colorado, California, Arizona, Pennsylvania and Georgia. If you live Maryland, you should certainly be aware as this is one state that has massive problems with e-voting. Maryland’s governor had suggested that all voters cast paper absentee ballots rather than use electronic voting machines. According to a report done by electionline.org, a Princeton University computer science professor released a report that described how a Diebold TS machine — the same kind used in Maryland — could be compromised by loading a malicious program that can be spread from machine to machine. Johns Hopkins University professor Avi Rubin, also a poll worker, said tamper-resistance seals on the machines could be easily removed and replaced, unnoticed by election officials. A company spokesman said the accusations of security flaws were “exaggerated” and that the kind of tampering that was successful in the lab at Princeton could not be replicated in a polling place because of newer software and security procedures. The Diebold company is so far from reality it’s an outrange.
What are your thoughts on this issue? Are you worried that your vote may not be accurately recorded?
Additional Links
Electionline.org —- is the nation’s only nonpartisan, non-advocacy website providing up-to-the-minute news and analysis on election reform.
Verifiedvoting.org —- making sure that our election systems are reliable and publicly verifiable enfranchises voters and increases public confidence and participation in our political process.
October 24th, 2006 by CD
Since Sheila Majid made her debut in 1985, she has been the epitome of Malaysian jazz and R&B. Her music has reached across boarders as her sweet sounding melodies calms the soul. Even if you do not understand a word of Malaysian, her turns will certainly put you at ease.
For nearly 20 years, Sheila has proven her uncanny ability to persevere through difficult and hard times. And through perseverance and hard work has Sheila remained one of the longest standing divas in the Malaysian music industry. Today, Sheila continues to shine brilliantly with her passion for creating music that touches the hearts of many, besides being a devoted mother to her two children and a budding businesswoman.
Her albums include:
1 Dimensi Baru (New Dimension) 1985
2 Emosi (Emotion) 1986
3 Warna (Colors) 1988
4 Legenda 1990
5 Ratu (Queen) 1996
6 Ku Mohon (I pray) 1999
7 Cinta Kita (Our Love) 2004
8 Legenda XV XX 2006
Request for songs can be made on my blog if you like this type of music.
Additional links:
Official site of Sheila Majid
Full Bio
