WORD NERDS: this is NOT your nanay's blog

As I've mentioned before, I catch the early morning but actually late night news headlines since I'm still treating these days like summer nights.

There's a common denominator between recent headlining news and what's given more attention or the stories that are repeated when I flip channels amongst news stations only to find that they're the same stories. (Current) Events are about timing. 9/11 has become the call for American patriotism as demonstrated by half staff flags, red, white and blue candle-lit vigils and memorials. An emotional celebration to honor the lives of the brave individuals affected can also be used (or has been used) to discreetly condemn foreign power or any actions that seemingly counter the need for solitude & remembrance. Emotional tolls are indeed immeasurable; I have never had grieving solitude without remaining wary and critical of what got me there in the first place. These commemorations must not be further manifestations of blind faith.

I find it interesting and peculiar to know that after celebrating 9/11 as an unofficial national holiday, headlines are just as propagandist and accusatory as ever. Blind faith happens, and it seems as though the message being sent is about trusting the powers that we do seem to control. I see that now being taken in two opposing ways.. 1) trust the Bush administration to handle these matters or 2) exhaust the system for change as civilians. The rest of this entry commends and highlights events that utilize strategy #2.

Update: Justice for the Jema 6... or 5?

"Court overturns teen's conviction in racial beating case:

A black teen's conviction in a racial beating case has been overturned by an appeals court in Louisiana, which said the boy should not have been tried as an adult.

Mychal Bell is one of six black Jena High School students charged in the beating of a white student amid racial tensions, and one of five originally charged as adults with attempted second-degree murder.

The charges brought widespread criticism that blacks were being treated more harshly than whites in this Southern town. The case drew international attention, and one by one the charges against the teens have been reduced.

Bell, who was 16 at the time of the beating, had been convicted of aggravated battery, which could have sent him to prison for 15 years...." source

"Ok, so if you've been under a rock... this is what is still happening in America... Land of the Free? Home of the Brave?" - Rudy Francisco the Poet

Update: MoveOn.org ad in the New York Times



Hella heat rising after this was released. Considering Pres. Bush & Gen. Petraeus recently gave a speech and presentation, respectively, regarding the War in Iraq (which I so lovingly tuned in for), the post 9/11 rhetoric is building on blind faith and strategy #1. A speech full of contradiction need not be given.

Things seem to be moving on, but timing is crucial. And lives hang and wait to be lived when we place faith in the wrong hands.


x_magsalita.