Back and better than ever

It's clearly been a while since I have contributed to this blog (so long that, in fact, I had completely forgotten how to log-in and start posting). I will admit that I am on here mainly because this is a homework assignment for a Computer Science class that I am taking this semester, my spring semester of my junior year at Brandeis. I used to be avid about updating this precious piece of Internet real estate, beginning with a desire to improve my writing skills in high school followed by an independent research project on the blogging phenomenon that I pursued my senior year. It was a great success, earning me an award that has long since disappeared from my collection of personal items. Nevertheless, I seem to keep coming back to this thing, even if my academic career does not directly call for it. I have and will always think of myself as a writer, one often times with an opinion best expressed in an informal setting (what better than a blog?).

In short, a lot has changed in my life since my last post, which I believe was in summer of 2006. My freshman year at Brandeis was memorable in the sense that it taught me a lot of lessons, ones that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. That summer I was given the honor and privilege of going on Baha'i pilgrimage to Haifa, Israel. It was there that I underwent a spiritual renewal the likes of which I had never experienced before. Hopefully the details of this rebirth will gradually be revealed in time. For now, I want to say that I desire for this blog to take on a new tone. Make no mistake... I am still the Pundit. However, I do not wish for the critic and cynic in me to drown out the voice of reason, of hope, and informed judgment. I wish to inspire, not to bring down. I wish to uplift the human spirit, not to leave it aimlessly wondering what kind of mess of a world its body was born into.

Until next time, my friends.

The end of Zarqawi's reign

Finally some good news from Iraq.

The fallout

Glenn Reynolds found a good wrap-up of the Senate's rejection today of a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.

Key quote:

"Most Americans are not yet convinced that their elected representatives or the judiciary are likely to expand decisively the definition of marriage to include same-sex couples," said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a possible presidential candidate in 2008. He told the Senate on Tuesday he does not support the amendment.

Good call.

Islamic state anyone?

The BBC reports:

The moderate leader of the Islamic Courts Union, Sharif Shaikh Ahmed, has said that his militia does not want to impose a Taliban-style Islamic state on Somalia.

But some Islamic courts officials have said they would only support a government based on Islam.

Is Somalia going from a frying pan into the fire? I don't frankly trust any Islamic militia that seizes power and chants "Allah'u'Akbar" into press microphones to choose to fully neglect Sharia law as a means to control the population. Sure, it may be a good move towards peace... how many times have nations been united under moderate Islamic rule througout history? But modern Islamic rule is different. We are clearly seeing a resurgence in militant Islamic fundamentalism, something the United States simply cannot afford to have dominate the Horn of Africa.

Better keep our eye on Somalia

Anytime I see anything about Islamic militants taking control of some political entity, I am just a little bit concerned.

The capture of Somalia’s war-ravaged capital would mark a humiliating defeat for an alliance of faction leaders that were rumoured to be supported by the US as proxies in its war on terrorism. It would also be viewed as another example of US policy failure in the Horn of Africa nation, which has been without an effective government for 15 years and is cited by US officials as a potential haven for terrorists.

Osama has probably already put down his security deposit...

Reflections on God's silence

Two recent Boston Globe articles give cause to reflection on the past as well as the future of Jewish-Christian relations. Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Auschwitz last week was intriguing to say the least: a "son of Germany" now at the head of the world's single largest Christian denomination visiting the site of perhaps the world's single largest crime against humanity, a crime that many still deny and make excuses for. The silence of the Catholic Church throughout the duration of the Holocaust is shameful to say the least; only recently have we begun to see regret surfacing and condemnation of the Nazis' actions being put forth by the Catholic leadership. However, after a close examination of Benedict's words I, along with many others, cannot help but think he is "skirting" the issue a bit.

The Globe's James Carroll writes:

In addressing an audience of Jews in [Cologne], the pope roundly condemned the Nazi genocide campaign. But then he defined the lethal Nazi anti-Semitism that spawned the genocide as having been ``born of neo-paganism." He made no mention of anti-Semitism's other parent, the long tradition of Christian contempt for Jews and the Jewish religion... At Auschwitz, again, he was unsparing in condemning what the Nazis did. But now he implicitly exonerated the German people, effectively defined the Nazis' ultimate target as having been not Jews but Christianity, and complained not of the church's silence in the face of the horror, but of God's.

As the vicar of Christ on Earth, I would argue that within a Catholic setting, the silence of the Pope (in other words the Church) is practically the same as the silence of God. Trying to overanalyze the motives of the Nazis by throwing in phrases like "neo-paganism" and "the destruction of Christian values" seems to take away from the real point at hand, which is simply that the Church failed horribly in its duty to defend the rights of man. Jeff Jacoby's column has more on the subject.

"Where was God in those days?" asked the pope. How could a just and loving Creator have allowed trainload after trainload of human beings to be murdered at Auschwitz? But why ask such a question only in Auschwitz? Where, after all, was God in the Gulag? Where was God when the Khmer Rouge slaughtered 1.7 million Cambodians? Where was God during the Armenian holocaust? Where was God in Rwanda? Where is God in Darfur?

The answer, though the pope didn't say so clearly, is that a world in which God always intervened to prevent cruelty and violence would be a world without freedom -- and life without freedom would be meaningless. God endows human beings with the power to choose between good and evil. Some choose to help their neighbor; others choose to hurt him. There were those in Nazi Europe who herded Jews into gas chambers. And there were those who risked their lives to hide Jews from the Gestapo.

Yes. The Pope's lamentation hardly impresses me... I feel that his message should have been exactly what Jacoby is saying here. If God made man in His image, then it is our responsibility to act in His image.

One more point that I'd like to make is that certain individuals present at the Pope's speeches at Cologne and Auschwitz could not help but notice that he did not choose to address the rise of modern anti-Semitism, a pressing issue facing the European Jewish community. I think perhaps Benedict owes us a few more speeches... or better yet actions.

Summer movies so far

Just thought I'd share a few opinions on flicks I've seen so far...

Mission Impossible 3: Very good opening, it definitely grabbed my attention from the start. Overall I'd say this blows MI2 out of the water (not a huge fan of the John Woo style I guess). Explosions and plot twists galore, this movie moves along at a good pace, with some pretty good acting by Tom Cruise I must say. The only beef I remember having was the villain... I felt Philip Seymour Hoffman could have used more development. Plus I'm not sure I can ever quite get his image as "Dusty" from Twister out of my head.

Da Vinci Code: Not a particularly great film adaptation of the hugely popular novel, but it gets the job done. I can't say I was a huge fan of Tom Hanks in it though... his acting seemed a bit stiff and boring. Overall it was entertaining, with some pretty nice cinematography. Not to mention Audrey Tautou as Sophie Neveu was pretty darn cute.

X-3: I'll admit I was fairly amazed at how packed the theater was on opening night. I guess I hadn't quite realized how popular the X-Men franchise has become in recent years (I used to think I was the only kid that used to watch the Saturday morning cartoon version on Fox). In any case, there are some pretty spectacular visual effects in this movie, with a number of plot twists I hadn't expected as well. I remember things started off a bit slow, with the pace only picking up about half way through the movie. But overall it is very satisfying to all of those X-geeks out there who thrive off of seeing more and more classic comic book characters being portrayed on screen (Juggernaut, Beast, and Angel to name a few). Jean Grey's transformation into the "Pheonix" was darn creepy too... I'd say she adds a good "unstable" element to the film (that one character that makes you want to sink down into your seat every time she comes on). The number of deaths in the movie was shocking as well, but I swear I won't give away any more than that.

Sorry for the delay

I've been meaning to get back on here for some time now, but alas my summer job hunt has pretty much dominated my attention since I've been home from Brandeis. Enough excuses though, let's get down to business.

The keyword in foreign policy circles recently has been Iran. Khamenei is warning that there will be serious disruption of oil shipments from the Gulf if the U.S. decides to make a move.

''You will never be able to protect energy supply in this region. You will not be able to do it,'' he said, addressing the West.

Ridiculous. If credible evidence is produced that Iran has a bomb, I highly doubt the U.S. will be forced to work with the same fragile coalition it did during Operation Iraqi Freedom. In fact, I would even be willing to bet that the Israelis would be so anxious to neutralize such a threat that the Iranians would be out of luck before you can say "Osirak." No one jokes about wiping Israel "off the map" and hopes to get away with developing a viable nuclear weapon. So maybe what I'm saying is... just don't worry about it.

Home for the summer

Okay, so I know I've been out of the loop for a while (and by that I mean last November) but now that my freshman year of college has finally concluded, I feel like I can get back to writing for "creative" purposes. A lot has been happening in the world and it's definitely time I get my word in once again. Stay tuned...

Something to consider

Rob on AIM:

Ratapala4: has your blog gone to internet heaven?
Ratapala4: or better yet, purgatory?

Quite possibly. So sorry everyone.