Friday

  • Talked to the ‘rents this morning; they are doing well.
  • Had a cup full of espresso-enriched frozen mocha goodness.
  • Typical work day. I listened to more of Glory Road. I got roughly 2/3 of the way through it when there was a rather abrupt change in the story. The reason: 18 of the mp3s aren’t there. BAH! And I don’t have the parity files to generate the missing ones. Of course, I could go the old-fashioned route and actually read the book. Apparently, Dee came up with a bevy of QotD fodder, but since he, Land, and Rick were in one site and I was in another AND no one thought to write any of them down, there will be no quotes tonight.
  • Met at Borders for a Cafè Mocha, some drawing and light conversation.

NPR/PRI News and Tonight’s Rant
There were stories on Thursday and Friday’s editions of The World that floored me:

Thursday: Samyuktha Verma is a big-time movie star. She’s has leading roles in 18 movies in her native India. She’s been described as the Julia Roberts of Malayalam-language movies. But Verma’s stardom didn’t help her this week, when she was flying from Chicago to New York. Another passenger on her plane told a flight attendant that Verma and her traveling companions were engaging in “suspicious activity.” The next thing the Indian star knew, she, her family, and two other Indian performers were in police detention.

Friday: A centerpiece of this year’s Lincoln Center festival in New York is an Iranian-produced play-cycle set in ancient Persia. It’s called “Taziyeh” which means “mourning” or “grieving.” It depicts the martyrdom of the Prophet Mohammad’s grandson, Hussein at the battle of Kerbala in the year 680, and it’s one of the most popular stories among Shi’ite Muslims. The action is told through chants, gestures and song, as well as sword-fighting and horse-back riding. As The World’s Lisa Mullins tells us, Lincoln Center faced a huge challenge importing this extravaganza to the United States.

It’s sad that it took a tragedy of the magnitude of the World Trade Center attack to give us what may have been an overdue kick in the pants. Have we really become so paranoid that we think that anyone who does not look/dress/act JUST LIKE US is a threat?! And there’s something else to think about: WE don’t all look the same! *sigh* Yes, there are people outside our national borders who wish us ill. If I remember correctly, not everyone inside our borders thinks along the same lines. Hopefully, we will soon find a balance where we can defend our borders and national interests and treat visitors to our country hospitably. And, more importantly, like people. And, hopefully we will be able to accomplish this without becoming the withdrawn and secluded (or possibly ‘deluded’) country that some other nations seem to think that we are.

Songs that seem to relate to this:

Okay. That’s my 2¢ worth for the night.

Peace.