Never-ending Shiite vs. Sunni war

Firstly, before I get into the purpose of my blog entry today, I am fairly certain that there are several people who still do not know the difference between a Shiite and a Sunni Muslim. Why do I say this? Because the topic recently came up with an acquaintance of mine, who said though he was aware of the two groups of Muslims, he had never quite bothered to find out what their difference was.

A Sunni Muslim believes that the first four successors of Mohammed (called "caliphs"), who was the founder of Islam, took his place as the leader of Muslims. Sunnis recognize the heirs of all four of these caliphs as legitimate leaders of the Islam religion. Shiites however believe that only the heirs of the fourth caliph, Ali, are the legitimate successors of Mohammed. 90% of Muslims today are Sunni, whereas the remaining 10%, mostly Iraq and Iran, are majority Shiite nations.

Sunni-Shi'a relations have been extremely sour for a very long time now. There has been an ongoing "war" between the two groups for generations. During the more recent couple of decades terrorist acts between the two groups and against other groups have increased dramatically. Suicide bombers are featured in the news almost on a daily basis. However, there is a new level of brutality now introduced into this already large and ever-growing problem: burning people alive.

Just yesterday, November 24, Shiite Militia men killed 25 Sunnis in Iraq, 6 of which were doused in kerosene, lit on fire, and burned alive. Here is the article on ABC News: http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2677344

It's awful how brutal extremists can be. The closest thing I have to compare is the major division within Hindus, Vaishnavites and Shaivites. Vaishnavites believe that the one Supreme God is Vishnu, one of the three of the Holy Trinity in Hinduism. They recognize all of the incarnations of Vishnu as Supreme as well, but recognize anyone else only as devas or demi-Gods. Shaivites believe that the one Supreme God is Shiva, another one of the three Gods within the Holy Trinity.

Though there is this very prominent difference between the two Hindu groups, I don’t see them fighting on a daily basis and killing each other. It’s very unfortunate, and frankly, stupid, that these extremist Islam groups continue to kill each other in the most brutal ways possible.

Soldiers aren't always so heroic

And that's an understatement. Why? I would be mildly surprised if you didn't agree after reading this: http://www.forbes.com/business/services/feeds/ap/2006/11/16/ap3183497.html

It is absolutely atrocious that there are American soldiers out there who are engaging in such activities. I actually started writing this post on November 16, and got too heated up to continue it at that moment. It's now November 20, and I'm returning to this post now.

Between the 16th and the 20th, I happened to discuss this with a close friend, who was at the time probably more likely to look at this story with a more objective viewpoint than I was able to. He agreed, that the concept of rape in general, when a guy is doing it for his own sexual pleasure or out of anger against a girl who is completely innocent is wrong and unacceptable under any terms.

Then he gave me a couple of scenarios. What if I had to choose between me getting raped, or 20 other people I didn't know getting raped? He gave me a scenario in which he would have to choose either his one good friend getting raped or 20 individuals he had no connection to getting raped. Though it was difficult at first for me to admit, I would have chosen the 20 others to get raped. Ideally, I wouldn't have wanted the rape committed at all. But if there was no choice but one of these two, I would have to go with the other individuals. Likewise, he chose the same.

Then he gave me another instance. What if I was living in a time such as World War II, and was a Jewish woman and my entire family had been murdered in concentration camps as a result of the Holocaust. If I had the choice of raping Hitler [assuming it's possible to rape a man] or kill Hitler, what would I choose?

He talked me through this. I realized in the process of the discussion that murder simply kills a person. That person doesn't feel a thing afterwards. However, rape can mentally scar someone for life. It is difficult not to wake up every morning and think about what happened to you. It is hard not to let it affect everything you do or feel or think. If I really wanted to harm someone for what was done to me and/or ones I loved, would I rape that person?

These are all extremely difficult questions to answer. Maybe not something you will be able to answer for a very long time, if at all. You start letting what your individual beliefs, morals and values are affect what you think, or what should ideally be the action taken. It's not easy to come up with an answer within the instant. These are all just things to think about.

Are there extreme scenarios in which rape is "justified"? Part of me wants to say absolutely no way. But the other part of me is still trying to answer those questions and decide if sometimes it may be "necessary", as awkward as that sounds.

When I showed my friend this article, he said that we are hearing one side of it. We don't know if that girl or that girl's family did something horrible to force the soldiers to react that way. From the article, I get the impression that the girl and her family were innocent, and this was a concoction of a few soldiers' silly, idiotic, drunken thoughts which were later carried out in action. If that is so, then these men who committed this serious crime deserve the worst torture possible.

I really don't know what to make of any of this at this point...all of this is just food for thought. So, any thoughts?

them Republicans...gotta love 'em

So, midterm elections in the United States...what's the mildest way to put it? Hmm...nope, no mild way. Republicans got WHOOPED!

Democrats won power in both the House and the Senate by capitalizing on frustration with President Bush and the War in Iraq as well as the Congress and their scandals galore.

In addition, we have the added bonus of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld stepping down. Not to mention Republican National Committee chairman Ken Mehlman is stepping down at the end of his 2-year term in January after his party lost both chambers of Congress during the mid-term elections.

Oh, and the best part? Republicans didn't even stand a chance against a democratic candidate who had died 2 months ago. Check this out: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15622299/. Now is that's not a stab at a person's (group's) ego, then I have no idea what is.

Now, let me go sit back and continue watching the show...

3 mo. old baby charged with robbery...?

I kid you not. This is an actual news item. Go on to read the article here: http://news.aol.com/topnews/articles/_a/3-month-old-charged-with-robbery/n20061104062209990002?cid=936

Think that's not ridiculous enough? Try these:

Naked Man Arrested for Concealed Weapon

Nude Couple's Feud Ends at Waffle House

Does anyone else find it ridiculous that this is the kind of news we get these days? Who the hell writes about weird naked people and who the hell charges a 3 month old baby with robbery?? It's absurd. People have nothing better to do, seriously.

But, try this for some REAL news: Saddam Hussain has been convicted and RECEIVES THE DEATH SENTENCE.

There we go. Now that's some real news...

Time needs to go by faster =\

Have you ever wanted time to go by really fast, think that it is a certain time or a certain day, then realize afterwards that it's not? It's so frustrating...

I actually thought today was the 4th of November. I'm desperately waiting for the 12th to arrive, and fast...it was the most depressing thing to realize that it is in fact not the 4th, but the 3rd.

Well, I suppose to plus point to my day is the fact that working at a law firm gives me free consultations for any old odd thing, when most people pay hundreds of dollars for each. It's great. Any contracts I have for writing, etc. all go through my law firm first. Sometimes, I love my job! Ah, well, anyway, I should get back to my work. Till next time...

Having a baby without knowing you are going to?

It amazes me how dumb people can actually be...

"Honey, I just gave birth to a baby boy."
"Haha yeah, sure. And I just became president."
"No, sweetie, really, you're a dad."
"Stop lying. You don't just wake up one morning and give birth to a baby without going through 9 months of pregnancy."
"Oh but I did. I just didn't know it."

Think that sounds ridiculous? Well, not far from the story here: http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2006/11/01/ap3139543.html

Doesn't make sense to you? Well, it doesn't make much sense to me either...