Blogophile

Blogophile (plural blogophiles): A person who is fond of or obsessed with blogs or blogging. An obsessed person who fondles blogs or simulates blogging while in the shower.

Retrieved from "Nasty Habits and Their Insidious Seduction" By J. Jurgensen Author of “Been There, Done That, My Journey through the Mexican Penal System” Random House

Category: English nouns

A "concerned" friend of mine recently sent this to me, hmm..., maybe I am "obsessed," perhaps not as obsessed as others I have control over my addiction! Postnote, this is the same friend who recently asked me to help him set up his own blog. I wonder if he still wants my help???

Religious Misuse

I consider myself to be a person of faith. With this in mind, I am becoming increasingly more bothered when I see religion used to cover up illegal activities. Just because an organization is religious, I do not believe that gives them the right to violate their followers or disregard the laws of the country in which they are based.

Recently I read an article in a local, independent newspaper, "The Stranger," about the relocation of pedophile priests to remote outcroppings in Alaska. The article can be viewed at http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/the-pedophiles-paradise/content?oid=1065017. I am not Catholic, I was in a Catholic church once for a wedding. Maybe I am not the best judge, but as the article says regarding the prolific "dumping" of priests with questionable pasts to these remote areas begins to "look less like an accident and more like a plan." The number of suicides and social/emotional problems faced by the citizens of these areas seems to have increased as well in the presence of said priests.

I am mostly just tired of the pay outs and the covers ups and the amount of energy that the Catholic church puts into trying to sweep this obvious problem under the rug. When are they ever going to hold any of these priests accountable? Will any of these cases ever see a courtroom? I'd like to remain hopeful, but as it stands this remains just another example of religious misuse.

Heart Magic Man 1976 Midnight Special

The Wrestler

I saw the film" The Wrestler" last night. All that I can say is, "Wow!" what a story! Parts of this film were quite difficult for me to watch. I am a healer by nature and I have difficulty understanding why someone would put their body through such pain over and over and over again. Mickey Rourke really put in an exceptional performance on this one. I also thought that Marisa Tomei did an excellent job as an ageing stripper. They both must have put in countless hours at the gym to get in shape for their respective parts. Both were at the end of careers that they should have given up long ago. Although the film focused primarily on the wrestler (Mickey Rourke) and his personal and professional challenges associated with ageing out if his profession, these issues were present for the stripper (Marisa Tomei) as well. What I loved most about this movie was the intimate portrayal of a person so devoted to the past that he had no way of making any sense of his future. His body was going, going, gone, but he still couldn't let go of that glory day, April 6, 1989, the date that was the fulcrum of his life. The very best part of this film, besides the truly great acting, was the terrific ending. I despise tidy, happy endings that don't fit in the real world and this one went beyond my expectations. I also enjoyed the music, it went perfectly with the lifestyles and expectations of the film's characters.

Casting off the Burkha

As many of you know, if you read my blog, I am not a big fan of fundamentalist religion. While fundamentalist religions do have the right to exist, I believe that they have a responsibility to show tolerance and consideration for the world at large and live harmoniously in the world with other human beings. I first started to think this way in 2002 after the September 11th attacks. I got to thinking about how we here in the west ignored fundamental Islam for many centuries passing this group off as being too far away or too small to make a difference here in our lives in the west. That has proven to be untrue and fundamental Islam and the encouragement their religious freedom proved to be very costly to our country.

Now we have books like Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali, which is one of many out there that tells the "inside story" of fundamental Islam. I am choosing to focus on this book because Ayaan Hirsi Ali has chosen to cast off the burkha to a very public detriment. People often look at women in burkhas and think, "if they don't like living that way, why don't they just leave." That is exactly what Ayaan Hirsi Ali did. Now she has a death threat over her head. This probably has more to do with her public denouncement of Islam than for actually choosing to peacefully leave it. Because she has gone public with her story "free" countries both in Europe and America have started paying closer attention and statistically documenting such things as honor killings and female genital mutilation. Before Ms. Ali was a public figure, these things went on freely in our world and we who are "politically correct" turned a blind eye in the name of religious freedom.

In 2004, Ms. Ali teamed with a Dutch film director, Theo vanGough in order to film part I of a ten minute short film entitled "Submission." This short film can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnKxefgI15A . After the first part of this short film was produced both Ms. Ali and Mr. vanGough received numerous death threats from the more fanatical side of the Islamic community. Ms. Ali chose protection, Mr. vanGough did not. He was murdered in November of 2004 by Mohammed Bouyen, a member of the Dutch Hofstad Network. Mr. vanGough was shot eight times, had his throat slit nearly to decapitation, and a five page missive threatening the west was affixed to his chest with a knife. Ms. Ali is a member of Dutch Parliament, approximately 3.2 million Euros have been spent on her protection.

Does this tell me that all people of Islamic faith are bad and ought to be eliminated? No, but it does tell me that even a single radical group, carrying religious principals (in this case jihad) to an extreme can be dangerous to the world at large. If one person isn't allowed to publicly renounce their faith without threat of death, that is extreme in my opinion. Those of us in the west are so bound by political correctness that we don't even seem to recognize extremism until it smacks us in the face or plows into tall buildings with hijacked aircraft (shouldn't the fact that at least one of those pilots, during his training, refused instruction on how to land a plane have been a red flag?).

We are the land of the free and the brave, we are a land where ideals can be taught and theoretically lived to the fullest. I don't want to lose this dream more than any other American. However, how free are those who are abused, threatened, or held hostage in the name of their religion?

Favorite Pictures

What is St. Teresa thinking????

Enjoying the Weekend in Style

Little did I know that when I made my post of the "Stones" that I would have a stylish weekend myself. It began on Friday evening when I went out with a good friend to Purple Cafe and Wine Bar in order to celebrate her belated birthday. Saturday I spent cross-country skiing with my good friend Megs here and on Sunday I went to Pacific Northwest Ballet's production of Balanchine's "Jewels" with my kids, and we came home to watch the last two quarters of the super bowl with my lovely neighbor. All in all a very "stylish" weekend indeed.