On Yahoo! News there's an article from Reuters regarding the scandal in the Church. It starts off: "A Vatican-sanctioned journal has attacked the U.S. media for 'morbid' behavior in its coverage of a child sex scandal and denounced what it called anti-Catholic attitudes that portrayed priests as monsters." I believe this. I've more than once encountered certain Protestants who like to attack me for my beliefs, behaving in a very un-Christian way. And there are many Fundamentalist "Christians" who like to call the Church the "Whore of Babylon" (see: Hunting the Whore of Babylon). So, back to the Yahoo! article- the Vatican was talking about the excess coverage on the scandal. The media is focusing on the Roman Catholic Church when this is not a new story, nor does it occur in just the RCC. There are noted cases in many Protestant denominations, even with Jewish rabbis! In addition to the anti-Catholic feelings mentioned in the article, my take on this was that of a conspiracy, of sorts. The Roman Catholic Church is quite powerful in many regards. Hearing all these stories, knowing it wasn't unique to my religion or to just religion in general, I felt that all the press it was receiving was a diversion. I believe that the pro-Israel groups that have control over US mainstream media are partly responsible. These are attempts to divert attention from the atrocities Sharon's government is committing in Palestine. Did not the sex abuse scandals not make front page around the time when people all over were pointing out human rights abuses committed by the Israel Defense Force? And when the UN attempted to organize a fact-finding commission to see if a massacre had truly occurred in the Jenin refugee camp? It's all so suspicious. Whatever- the Church will prevail. And hopefully, we will one day be able to grow closer, if not fully unite, with our sister churches - the many Catholic and Orthodox religions throughout the world.

When I was thinking of editing my old webpage, this quote came to mind and I couldn't remember where it was from or what it meant. I tried to do a web search, which didn't help me very much, but I think I can conclude that it was a Shakespeare quote. So I thought maybe it was from "Hamlet," something we read back in AP English. Before I went to sleep, I decided I would try and read it. Sheesh - it's gonna take me a while to get through that mess! I even have a version with a nice guide to the work. I'll probably never even finish the play and it will return to my bookshelf to collect dust. Plus summer school starts Monday. I'll be concerned with other things. My vacation is ending. My self-study of the Italian language is gonna get put to the side as well, I'm sure. But hopefully, I'll be solidifying my knowledge and enriching my vocabulary of the Arabic language. And if I see him I'll be working with a Vietnamese professor on establishing some functionality in my mother tongue. Let's see if he can bring back any of those skills I once had when I was a toddler. In sha' allah, he can.

I watched the Harry Potter flick for the first time last night. I liked it. I think I've watched nearly a dozen movies since I've been home on break. Guess I'm just tryna catch up cuz I rarely see any films. Ever. I mean, who goes to the movies? I don't. Shit's expensive and I've got no dough. But if ya think about it, why would you wanna give your money to someone who doesn't need it. Have you noticed the crap consumers spend their money on? I guess everyone's satisfied with capitalism, but sheesh - doesn't it seem to be true that the rich get richer and the poor, well, they're still poor. I'm broke as hell, but, regardless... I like to think that when I purchase something, I do it with principles, morals, and ethics in mind. I've made a conscious decision to boycott certain products/companies because I don't think certain groups deserve my money. Hey, here's something ya'll should consider: BOYCOTT ISRAELI GOODS. Why? Because Israel has disregarded international law and is one of the worst human rights violators, to name a few. Israel receives more US aid than my peeps in Asia or Africa. In fact, Israel alone gets more money than the entire African continent. WTF? Can someone tell me why our tax dollars are so poorly spent?

So I finally jumped the bandwagon and started a blog. Let's see how long it lasts. =P Anyway, I just watched this documentary on World Link TV called "Vietnam, Long Time Coming" about some Vietnam Veterans who went to Vietnam as part of some reconciliation process, I guess. They cycled from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City along with Vietnamese vets and some sports team. Basically, I lost respect for the veterans. Actually, I never really had any for them to begin with (my father is a Vietnam Vet, by the way). I didn't even bother to finish watching it because some of the Americans were getting on my nerves. I hate imperialism...