Reflections of the Tragedy

This is Margaret Cho's reflections about part of the coverage concerning the tragedy at Virginia Tech.

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Our Humanity

Whenever anything really bad happens around Korean people, that is when I would like to hide, go to Hawaii and eat spam sushi until it blows over. I don't want to comment on it because I don't want to escalate the situation and I don't want to implicate myself in it. I don't want to 'come out' as Asian because therein lies a tremendous responsibility that I never volunteered for, that I don't have any real control over, and that is as mysterious to me as it is to someone who isn't Asian.

So here is the whole terrible mess of the shootings at Virginia Tech. I look at the shooter's expressionless face on the news and he looks so familiar, like he could be in my family. Just another one of us. But how can he be us when what he has done is so terrible? Here is where I can really envy white people because when white people do something that is inexplicably awful, so brutally and horribly wrong, nobody says – "do you think it is because he is white?" There are no headlines calling him the "White shooter." There is no mention of race because there is no thought in anyone's mind that his race had anything to do with his crime.

So much attention is focused on the Asian-ness of the shooter, how the Korean community is reacting to it, South Korea's careful condolences and cautiously expressed fear that it will somehow impact the South Korean population at large.

What is lost here is the grief. What is lost is the great, looming sadness that we should all feel over this. We lose our humanity to racism, time and time again.

I extend my deepest sympathies to all those who lost their loved ones, their children, their friends and family, in this unimaginable tragedy. I send them all the love I have in me, and I encourage everyone to do the same.

"I Don't Recall"

I love Jenny Moos' commentaries on CNN. This is no exception. Fire the guy already.

No Comment Necessary

Realy Good News For Fruity Loving Alcoholics

This might be a bad thing posting this since alcohol has more detrimental effects for a body than good in large doses. Especially since I very rarely see anyone just have one drink. Oh well, you all are responsible adults...hhhmmm yeah.

Fruity cocktails count as health food, study finds

Fri Apr 20, 8:49 AM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A fruity cocktail may not only be fun to drink but may count as health food, U.S. and Thai researchers said on Thursday.

Adding ethanol -- the type of alcohol found in rum, vodka, tequila and other spirits -- boosted the antioxidant nutrients in strawberries and blackberries, the researchers found.

Any colored fruit might be made even more healthful with the addition of a splash of alcohol, they report in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture.

Dr. Korakot Chanjirakul and colleagues at Kasetsart University in Thailand and scientists at the U.S.
Department of Agriculture stumbled upon their finding unexpectedly.

They were exploring ways to help keep strawberries fresh during storage. Treating the berries with alcohol increased in antioxidant capacity and free radical scavenging activity, they found.

Any colored fruit or vegetable is rich in antioxidants, which are chemicals that can cancel out the cell-damaging effects of compounds called free radicals.

Berries, for instance, contain compounds known as polyphenols and anthocyanins. People who eat more of these fruits and vegetables have a documented lower risk of cancer, heart disease and some neurological diseases.

The study did not address whether adding a little cocktail umbrella enhanced the effects.

To the Pro - Choicers Who Don't Vote, Blame Yourself

Supreme Court OKs abortion procedure ban



By MARK SHERMAN, Associated Press Writer 5 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court's conservative majority handed anti-abortion forces a major victory Wednesday in a decision that bans a controversial abortion procedure and set the stage for further restrictions.
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For the first time since the court established a woman's right to an abortion in 1973, the justices upheld a nationwide ban on a specific abortion method, labeled partial-birth abortion by its opponents.

The 5-4 decision written by Justice
Anthony Kennedy said the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act that Congress passed and
President Bush signed into law in 2003 does not violate a woman's constitutional right to an abortion.

The law is constitutional despite not containing an exception that would allow the procedure if needed to preserve a woman's health, Kennedy said. "The law need not give abortion doctors unfettered choice in the course of their medical practice," he wrote in the majority opinion.

Doctors who violate the law face up to two years in federal prison.

Kennedy's opinion, joined by Bush's two appointees, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice
Samuel Alito, was a long-awaited resounding win that abortion opponents expected from the more conservative bench.

The administration defended the law as drawing a bright line between abortion and infanticide.

Reacting to the ruling, Bush said that it affirms the progress his administration has made to defend the "sanctity of life."

"I am pleased that the Supreme Court has upheld a law that prohibits the abhorrent procedure of partial birth abortion," he said. "Today's decision affirms that the Constitution does not stand in the way of the people's representatives enacting laws reflecting the compassion and humanity of America."

Justices
Clarence Thomas and
Antonin Scalia also were in the majority.

It was the first time the court banned a specific procedure in a case over how — not whether — to perform an abortion.

Read the rest of the article here.

Ohh Praise Jesus!!??!

So it is Good Friday for those of those of the religious type. Here is what some people like to do to confirm that they love Jesus.

Friday, 29 March, 2002, 15:48 GMT
In pictures: Philippines crucifixions
Millions of people in the mainly Roman Catholic country of the Philippines celebrate Easter every year, with some penitents following in the footsteps of Jesus Christ even up to the point of being nailed to a cross.



From left, Rolly Turla, Ruben Enaje and Emerito Baking re-enact the crucifixion of Jesus Christ by having themselves nailed on the cross
Thousands of locals as well as curious tourists turned out to see three men being crucified at Cutud, in Pampanga province


Cult leader Winnie de Vera (l) wants peace in Zamboanga while Amparo Santos (r) was the only woman taking part
Amparo Santos (r) was the only woman taking part - for her 15th crucifixion - while cult leader Winnie de Vera hoped for peace


An unidentified resident drives a nail on the palms of Apolito Manansala
Real nails are used for the crucifixions though the devotees generally stay on the cross for minutes, not days


Hooded flagellants kneel in front of a chapel at Mandaluyong, Philippines
Hooded flagellants mimic the crucifixion before whipping themselves with chains to absolve them of their sins


An old man hits the back of a flagellant in suburban Mandaluyong City
A flagellant aims to share the pain of Jesus as he is beaten by a man with glass fragments embedded in a piece of wood


A penitent, dressed as Jesus Christ, is hit by residents of Mandaluyong during a re-enactment of Christ's last days
Crucifixions are an annual event in the Philippines, despite opposition from Church leaders who want less violent ceremonies