comic relief

well sort of...

Indecision 2008

Why is the Democratic Convention being held in Denver, of all the places? Like always, the wise Jon Stewart put my curiosity to rest. As Stewart mentioned last night, Denver was chosen for two reasons, beer and elitism. (and people thought politics was complicated).

The Democrats believed, by holding the convention in a city that loves its booze they would be able to connect with the blue-collared constituents or in other words average-beer-drinking-'Homers'. The show resurrected several beer commercials of yore, including the famous wuzzzzzuuuup commercial, which surprisingly enough still makes me laugh. Moreover, Dems chose Denver to reaffirm their elitist status, it being a high altitude city et al :-). They had Brit John Oliver doing the elitism bit, further hitting home the message regarding the Democratic snootiness.

In other election news, folks, we might be headed to the polls this fall. Since our 'True North strong and free' didn't want to feel left out, Stephen Harper has said he would go against his word (big surprise there), and instead of next year, we are going to be voting this fall, to re-elect our makeup wearing prime minister. I think he chose the perfect timing, with the deadly Listeria outbreak in the country, any capable leader would only be preoccupied with re-electing himself, instead of showing more concern for the people who died.

I know I am not an American citizen (thank God for that :P), but our Canadian politics is just not as interesting as theirs. I have been following the Democratic primaries throughout this year, and I have to admit, I was a Clinton supporter, until her campaign got bitter and defensive. So, her last night's speech was very bittersweet for me. I think it was the best speech I have heard in a long time. She adamantly encouraged her "sisterhood of travelling pantsuits" to support Obama. She paid a tribute to Obama's policies, Michelle Obama, Joe Biden (Could his name Joe be anymore American!), and acknowledged the strong economic measures implemented by her husband's administration. She attacked McCain's bogus campaign and claims. Lets not forget he is the guy who fell asleep during a Senate meeting, and gets confused between Iran and Iraq. Hillary deserves kudos for paying homage to her former competitor and admitting her defeat so gracefully.

Quotes of the Day

Abdel Wahed Mohammed Al-Nur, a leader of the rebel Sudan Liberation Army, who said that at least 50 people were killed today in a Darfur refugee camp by Sudanese government troops:

"This really is a catastrophe. People are being killed while the world just watches."

Missing Journalists

A Canadian journalist, and her Australian colleague have been missing in Somalia. I hope they return home safely. As this article points out, foreign correspondents are usually kidnapped for ransom money, since Somalians are laden with extreme poverty and conflict.

Lest we not forget

The Beijing Olympics came to an end today. A lot of importance was placed on these games, labelling them as China's coming out party. The Olympics did show a different face of China. We saw the emergence of a new China, a country that has wealth, modern architecture, and rich ancient culture. The opening ceremony alone showed that China led the West toward it's 20th century glory, and it is ready to takeover the reins again.

The games also saw the emergence of Michael Phelps, and Usain Bolt. The latter had the scientists wondering how fast can humans really run.

But in the midst of these games, the question regarding the Darfur Genocide remained unanswered. I know politics should be left out of the games, and it is not like the G8 countries are doing much for the genocide or about the human rights violations in Guantanamo. But, I also believe that since China opened its doors for the rest of the world, China could have been more willing to cave to the international pressure, to exercise its economic influence on the Sudanese government to bring an end to the genocide.

One Olympian who I immensely respect, more than Phelps or Bolt, is ex-speed-skater Joey Cheek. After his Gold victory at the Turin Winter Olympics, instead of gushing over the Gold, he used his 15 minutes of fame to talk about the Darfur Genocide. He donated his victory money to provide food and shelter to the displaced Darfurians in Chad. Cheek was planning to go to Beijing to speak for the voiceless, nameless Darfurians, but his visa was revoked by the Chinese authorities. However, he decided to turn this negative situation into a positive and decided to speak up against the Genocide from America.

The reason I am writing this post now is because I don't know if Darfurians would ever get a platform where their problems would be addressed, and finally be solved after four brutal years of killing and physical violation of women.

i heart Jason Mraz

I wanted to put up more of Jason Mraz's songs here, but I realize that I get too happy with the embedding function. So here is a list of his songs that I absolutely, utterly, madly, deeply love (not that you care, but you should).

Geek in the Pink - "Hey baby, look at me go from zero to hero…I'm geek in the pink, yo!" :-)
Wordplay - la la la la
The Remedy - "I say tragedy is how you're gonna spend the rest of your nights with the light on."
You and I Both - "the telephone works both ways."

Smart Spending

I have been a fan of the Body Shop since my teenage years. Their stores always smell nice and fresh, and the products have no animal products, they are all made from fruits and/or vegetables. Moreover, the company has a strict policy against animal testing, and supports community trade. They purchase natural products from disadvantaged communities throughout the world, especially Africa. This way they are able to empower these often neglected people, who can hopefully use the money toward better education and disease prevention.

The Body Shop also has a campaign to stop violence against women, called Break the Silence on Domestic Violence. As majority of the abuse against women is committed by someone they know, a family member or a partner, these women often feel obliged to keep their silence, and not share their sorrow with their friends.

The money from the purchase of these stick lip balms goes towards rescue shelters for both abused women and children. It is a known fact that 1 in 3 women has suffered violence in one form or the other, but only a few actually speak up. This fact says more about our system and less about the women. I believe that if women were provided with better support systems or shelter homes they wouldn't be forced to stick out an abusive relationship. Their children wouldn't have to grow up around screaming and physical pounding.

So by buying these "For me, For You" lip balms, you are reminding your friends that no matter what, you are there for them. After all, nobody knows what goes on behind closed doors.

Fidelity

Can't seem to get enough of this song. It's very folksy, reminds me of Feist's 'I Feel it All'.

It's in you to give

I remember, a few years ago, at Sick Kids I had a little girl going through radiation to remove her stem cells, so she could receive a new set from her donor.

Sadly, it is very hard for patients of ethnic minorities to find a stem cell match, due to the lack of donors from their ethnic background. I think nobody should be left to die just because he/she was not able to find a match. If anyone is interested in donating their stem cells, please sign up with Canadian Blood Services. More information regarding the medical procedure can also be found on the website.

I know the medical procedure involves a surgery, but this is something one can surely do for another human being. Maybe one day I would need a bone marrow transplant, and it would really be emotionally taxing for my family to see me suffer or die, because the doctors were not able to find me a match. I know, my altruistic instincts are very selfish :-).

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