Thursday, June 25, 2009

Theology Shmeology

Many times we hear that religion and politics go hand in hand, to many, they actually complement each other. The latter is there to ensure the proper implementation of the former or so is the belief!

Why are you restating yourself? Is i tbecause your editor asked for 1000 words and you only had 750? Or is it because you in fact don't believe what you write?

What many fail to recognize is that, as in any field or profession, if one is not educated properly in the field, then perhaps s/he should not be entrusted to work.

That is a valid point. But tell me good sir, how are you qualified to write? You are not educated properly in the field. Or is it a case of do as I say, not as I do? I think you should heed your own advice and quit this writing thing.

I will give you a clear example; if one is not properly educated in the science of medicine and if one is not adequately qualified to become a surgeon.

What is the point of this fragment, sir? These two are not mutually exclusive. They, if you will, complement each other. If you are not educated in the science of medicine then you are not adequately qualified to practice it. But wait, surely there are those who are not educated in medicine that practice it well? Shamans? Herbal doctors? Yes, those people exist.

If you know that such is the case and that your life depends on the skills of a given doctor to cure an illness that requires surgery, would you opt to be operated by a qualified surgeon or by a surgeon that is well- read on every major operation yet has practiced none?!

That has nothing to do with education. That is a question of experience. Of course you want the doctor with experience. That doesn't mean that the rookie is not qualified to do the procedure. He might be. But your experience tells you to go with the experienced doctor, even though the rookie might be better. Education plays no part in the argument.

Clearly, the idea of having a priest King is ideal for it would combine the two distinct worlds together, like a Khalifa that would rule based on theology. Nevertheless, we have experienced time and again through history that theological regimes or regimes that claim to gain their legitimacy from the Almighty are bound to fail at one point or another.

Those that claim to gain their legitimacy from the Almighty are bound to fail because their claims are heresy.

In our contemporary world, amid our direct neighbor we have clear examples of theology and the negative impact such rules have on the daily lives of their citizens.

I don't think the problem lies in the theology in as much as the people of the neighboring country don't want to be governed by it. Even if it is a good theology, if the people of the country reject it, there are bound to be problems.

What comes worse than theological rule, is a dictatorial theology whereby one is not even allowed to challenge through religion the various edicts passed by the ruling 'mullahs' who have taken the job of being God's vice-regents on earth as if the kingdom of heaven passes first through their approval and then to God!

There's a word for those vice-regents. They're called heretics.

What I find ludicrous is the fact that even though we are all given a test in this life for those that believe, and that the test is not an open book test nor is it a group project whereby people pass if they ally themselves with more versed individuals. We are clearly told that a day will come when we will all be held accountable for our own actions and that on such a day no one will be of use to us, not even our parents!

Yes, but the rulers of such nations, the leaders of men, will be asked what they have done to curb heretical actions and injustices and attacks on the religion. This is why theocracies still exist. However, the problem lies in the people who hold the power in these theocracies, and not the idea of theocracy itself. You seem to miss the point here. It is not the religion that you should be attacking, but the people implementing it. We've gone through this before, good sir.

With such clear warnings, I find it absurd for the least that people are not willing to seek the truth for themselves. I find it bizarre that people are scared to seek within the various revelations, the truth that will set their conscious free rather than merely rely on unreliable people that seek power at any cost. We are all prisoners of conscience due to our inability to challenge theology for fear of damnation, as if the 'mullahs' have such power.

The fear is not one of damnation. The fear is, as it always has been, that of the bullet. People die when they oppose the mullahs. Are you not watching the news? You know you can't report on the news if you're not watching.

It is saddening that those that are unable to convincingly argue their points resort to fear, for they know that their answers will come short of convincing the masses if they don't confuse in their speeches. The ultimate tool to control masses; the promise of an unknown that these so to speak of 'mullahs' have access to. More importantly this is how they derive their ultimate power.
Bold

Read: Bullets and guns.

May we all be guided to the path of truth and righteousness and that we may live together in peace regardless of our beliefs. The judge on that matter will make a manifestation on his decision at a later time. In the meantime, righteous actions are what people should strive to accomplish.

Amen.

My good sir, your righteous action should be writing more gems like this conclusion. It almost makes me want to rescind my critique of your article.

On second thought, naaaaaaah.

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Fuck! Ass!



An umpire with Tourette's... Wow.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Guillermo

Fuck. (There's nothing better than to start off a rant with this word. It sums it all up perfectly. It says, "World, I am pissed off. I am seriously steamed and I need to get some shit off my chest." Now, why is that so? Is it because of the way the word sounds, which incidentally is a release of some sort? The eff at the beginning, the U which seemingly is the rage bottled up, then the CK sound which sounds like a fucking release? Shit, the word perfectly describes the act of fornication doesn't it? Wheeew. End of long tangent.)

What do I do? What the fuck do I do? This chick is lying dormant on my bedroom floor, she's dead I just know it, she's fucking dead. Oh God, oh God. I shouldn't have given her that pill, man. She was way too plastered to handle E, dude. Way too fucking plastered. And, wasn't there remnants of coke on her nose? Shit, the bitch has coke? Where the fuck is the coke?

Whew. There that's all better. Now I can think clearly. Relax, man. Just fucking relax. She's a nobody. Look through her purse. See what the hell is in there, maybe she has some cash, or shit, maybe some more coke.

FUCK... This bitch is loaded and connected. Oh fuck fuck, she's Guillermo's cousin. And the bastard is calling her. Wasn't he supposed to be here with my fucking coke an hour ago? Shit shit shit. I gotta call him, he can't come here now. He'll shoot me. I already owe him money.

Holy shit, that's a lot of cash. A lot of cash. Oh fuck she works with Guillermo, too. I know I've seen her before- at his place? At the club? Where the FUCK have I seen her before? Who the hell is at my door?

Guillermo. What the fuck is it, man? What do you want now? Didn't you get my text? (I never actually got around to sending him that, but fuck man, he doesn't know that.) My coke? Hold on, hold on.


Oh.

Fuck.

Monday, June 15, 2009

Company Man

I woke up this morning and, for some reason, I had Schrute on my mind. I think it was because, for the first time in a while, I decided to forgo my usual work attire of a t-shirt and shorts and wear a button down. Apparently, I can't wear whatever I want to work. (This is news to me; I'm a work newbie.)

So, anyway, yesterday, I was needed at a client meeting to read one of my glorious creations. I tried to get out of it on account of my outfit, but to no avail. It was awesome, though. I got to see all these fat cats squirm in their suits and dishdashas and I walked in there looking like I was going to the beach.

But that's another story. So, anyway, a few coworkers told me to basically, in Barney parlance, to suit up. I decided to go with a buttton down and jeans- not exactly dressy, but not exactly beach life. Let me tell you this, folks, sleeves suck.

I don't know whether it was because I've been going to the gym and my arms are bigger, or that the shirt shrunk, but the fucking sleeves are cutting off the blood circulation, damn it. This reminded me of an Office episode when Charles Minor, aka Stringer Fucking Bell, asks Dwight to wear a long sleeved shirt as opposed to his usual short sleeved one. Dwight had the same complaint.

But this got me thinking about Minor's lack of talent evaluation. Minor thought that Dwight, not Jim, was the better Dunder Mifflin employee, and in some ways, he was right.

Here's the difference between the two. Dwight's life, or lack thereof, is paper. (One could argue that his life is in fact Michael, which explains why Michael detests Dwight. It's because, irony of ironies, Michael is a scary judge of talent, and he sees that Dwight's vision is limited to Dunder Mifflin and pleasing his bosses and Michael, basically doing whatever it takes to please Michael, something- irony of ironies- Michael detests. Michael's idea of an ideal employee is someone who has the company's best interest at heart, but isn't a drone to the company. Someone who realizes that being stuck at a paper company isn't anyone's idea of a dream job. Someone like Jim.

Jim is at the opposite end of the spectrum. He has the company's interests at heart, but he's not driven by his work or pursuing a bottom line. Jim takes his job as a 9-5, leaving work troubles at work, knowing that he has bigger things to worry about (Pam and a baby on the way). In a way, that makes Jim a better employee, since he is driven by a basic human need to feed himself and his family, whereas Dwight's needs are to basically please Michael.

As I reflect on the kind of employee I want to be, I think I would rather be a Jim clone, someone who loves his job, but isn't held prisoner by it. I want a life as well, man. The irony is, I work in advertising, where my work is my life.

You know what? I wouldn't have it any other way. I love my job.

Most of the time.

Monday, June 8, 2009

GOAL!

For future reference, this is the goal to measure all goals from now on. Just simply amazing!

Sunday, June 7, 2009

I Miss My TV

It's been almost four months since I've left Miami, and I really miss American television. At first, I was happy with the television schedule in Kuwait since I got to watch football all the time, and I wasn't bombarded with ESPN's breaking news from Brett Favre's scrotum about whether or not he's going to sign with the Minnesota Vikings. I mean, sure, I wasn't watching as much basketball as I wanted to, but I caught the big games, the NCAA tournament (a complete bore this year if you ask me; I was just happy Carolina won the freaking thing). Besides, Barcelona games are on all the time, and the commentary, while not exactly great mind you, beat Tommy Smyth and Derek Rae all the time. (What's ironic about this is that I have a video file on my computer of the UEFA Champions League final. The commentators? Yep, you guessed it.)

Anyway, now with football season over, and the endless saga of the offseason is getting kinda boring, I miss American television. I miss Around The Horn- not really. I miss the endless marathon of SportsCenter from 12 AM to 6 AM, when I watched each and every segment with the slim hope that it was going to deviate from the hour previous. I miss PTI, oh man do I miss PTI. Mostly though, I miss Kenny and Charles.

That's not all. While I still log on to the Big Lead and the various sports blogs I used to follow back in FLA, its just not the same. The PM roundup is my morning roundup and vice versa, and nation, that ain't right. (Oh yeah, I really miss Colbert.)

In short, I miss Miami, man. I want to go back. Now.

Monday, June 1, 2009

The Offseason

Another year is in the books for Barcelona, and what a year it was! The worry that I expressed some months ago has been for not, and the cules became the first Spanish team ever to win the treble. Yep, Guardiola's boys won the league, the Copa del Rey, and the UEFA Champions league. The lesson? In Pep we trust.

So, as always, the fun part of the offseason kicked off: transfers, baby! Who's coming, who's going, and who's going to be out on loan. Pep seemingly isn't content, and wants to sign a few players. The notables are:

Zlatan Ibrahimovic: The Swede may be a bigger head case than Cristiano Ronaldo, but his talents are second to none. A tall, lanky offensive wizard like him would no doubt bolster the most formidable attacking ranks in world football. The knock on him seems to be that he doesn't rise to the occassion, which is warranted maybe, but you really can't say that about a guy who's won Serie A for seven consectutive years now can you? If he does sign for Barcelona (and Barca doesn't give up Sammy Eto'o in the process), pencil him in for at least 40 goals. The freedom given to him by Xavi and Iniesta to just score goals will allow him to focus on the end product, while at Inter, dude was the entire offense.

Franck Ribery: A terrorizing wing player? Don't we already have one of those? Yep, it seems that Pep wants to shatter the record for goals scored next year by going after the second best right winger in the game today (Cristiano is always going to be number one, but Ribery is a very close second). In truth, I'd much rather have Scarface than Pansy Pants because Franky fits in perfectly with the boys. He's unassuming, and doesn't make headlines with his mouth, just his feet. Wow, the parallels to Leo Messi are undeniable. Please, Pep, get this guy. Now!

Philip Lahm: Are you serious? Wow, Pep is going for the jugular on this one. Philip Lahm can slide right in to the spot that Sylvinho occupied most of last year (he can even take his number 16 shirt) and the team would keep on clickin'. A swoop of Lahm also means Barca can offer Juventus Eric Abidal in exchange for David Trezeguet, who's propensity for scoring goals earned him the nickname Trezegoal. (While Ibra is by far the better player, David makes more sense for this team. He's not a prima donna, and he isn't going to command a hefty salary like Ibra most definitely will. He'd fit right in, he will.)

While there are a few other players on the radar (Diego Forlan, David Villa - long shot), I think if we get those three players, we can repeat easily. Los tres? Ha! With this lineup, we can shoot for more.

Like los seis!