Finally!

I usually don't talk about current events much on this blog, but one thing has been bothering me for a while now. I think it's time to talk about it.

As I hope you know, Israel is currently at war in Gaza, trying, among other things, to destroy some terrorist organizations.

In my opinion, it's about time.

I was surprised to find out that my opinion differs with what seems to be most of the world's. It looks like most people think that Israel has no right to invade Gaza, that they are totally in the wrong.

As I'm sure you are aware, terrorists have been firing missles into several Israeli cities, most notably Sderot, constantly, for the past six years or so. I don't know if you understand what that means.

Basically, it means that when the people of these cities hear the warning sirens, they have fifteen seconds to run to the safety of a bomb shelter. And this happens constantly. I still don't think you understand. I know I don't. It's one of those things that you can't understand unless you experience it firsthand.

And yet, the entire world is condemning Israel, saying they're not right in finally fighting back to protect their innocent civilians. I wonder, would Americans be so quick to condemn this if it was, say, Los Angeles that was being bombed daily? Or Chicago? Or Manhattan?
Would our government stand by and watch while terrorists destroy civilians?
If it would, then there is a huge problem here. The point of the government is to protect its people. If America would not let terrorists kill its people, then how can it expect Israel to do that?
The terrorists are a bunch of cowards. They run into hospitals and hide behind their sick and weak.

Terrorism in Israel has been going on for years. Isn't it time that they finally fight it?
How can anyone say that is wrong?

Random Quote of the Day

"The opposite of war isn't peace, it's creation."

-Rent

It's In Your Hands

No matter what anyone says, YOU have the power to decide who you are.
Who you are today does not have to be who you are tomorrow. YOU have the power to change yourself.
I hate it when people say, "I can't help being a jerk. It's who I am. Take it or leave it."
Well, if there's a problem with who you are, change yourself! You can be whoever you want to be, for better or worse.
Changing your personality is one of the hardest things in the world, because it's changing a part of who you are. It can take a lifetime. And once changed, you can always lapse back into your original state in less than a second. It takes no longer than a blink of an eye to undo decades' worth of effort.
But I believe change is possible.
People talk about changing the world. But we can't all change the world. In fact, it is very nearly impossible to change one other person at all. We change others by changing ourselves. Remember that.
I believe that we all have so much potential we're not using. I believe we all have incredible strengths hidden within us.
No matter what people tell you you are, no matter what they call you, it is up to YOU to decide who you are now, and who you will become.
The power is in your hands.
Will you let go of it, give it to others? Let them decide who you are? Let them tell you to be a good person or a bad person?
Or will you use the power yourself, for yourself, to be the best YOU that you can possibly be?

Starving for Beauty

To all the girls in the world:
I am writing this post to ask you, convince you, beg you to listen to what i have to say right now. Most of you probably won't listen, but maybe one or two of you will. Please, please, at least hear me out, ok? Here's the message:
Give it a rest, will you?
Why does it seem that every girl in the world thinks that she is fat? And why is this such a crisis? Why is everyone desperate to have the figure of a Barbie doll?
The beautiful thing about the internet is that I don't know what any of you look like. i can be talking to really thin people or really fat people. i don't know, and i don't care. it doesn't make a difference.
It seems that every girl nowadays, whether she's fat, thin, or average, is obsessed about her weight. People will do anything to lose a few pounds, even if they don't need to. People who are thin will go to extreme measures to make sure that they stay that way. Girls are killing themselves trying to "look good".
I mean that literally. Bulemia and anerexia are so common nowadays, and it's so sad. Please, step back and look at yourself. You put yourself on a diet, "just to lose five pounds", right? But you're never satisfied. You want to lose more, and more, and more. you are striving for an impossible goal. you are trying to look like the super-thin supermodels that are plastered on billboards in their underwear.
why?
what's the point? if you are seriously obese, then sure, lose weight to stay healthy. ut if you are perfectly fine, then try to eat healthy, but PLEASE stop obsessing over your weight. it's driving me CRAZY! the only thing anyone wants to talk about is what they ate that day. people are scared that if they're not thin enough, they'll never get married.
it's really starting to get on my nerves.
Listen, your body isn't you. But it is yours, and it will be for a long time, God willing. Don't you think you should learn to be comfortable with the body you have, instead of going through so much pain to make it look like somebody else's?
Your weight is just a number. You are not a number. You are not your body. And you don't have to be thin to be beautiful.
A smaller dress size is not worth dying over.

A Definition

Responsibility: (noun) The state, fact, or position of being accountable for something

Does this word sound familiar to you? I doubt it. It seems to me that nobody is willing to take responsibility for his own actions.

Say some guy, i don't know, steals from someone. His parents are shocked. "Our Johnny would never do that! It's not his fault. He got mixed up with a bad crowd."
Notice, however, that the bad crowd didn't rob. Johnny did.

A girl is acting obnoxious. "No, you can't blame her! She had a rough childhood."

OK. Of course, the fact that Johnny was hanging out with the wrong kids, and the girl had a "rough childhood" contribute greatly to the fact that they weren't acting morally. But is that the sole reason?

Someone once asked me, along with a group of people, if we thought the Nazis could be completely blamed for what they did. A you could imagine, this sparked a heated debate.
It is true that, from a young age, German children were told, over and over again, that Hitler's way was the right way. That the Jews, and anyone else who was different, was evil and subhuman and believed to be murdered. It is true that not obeying the Nazi party meant almost certain death.
This is all true. And yet...to say that the Nazis can't be blamed for what they did? I'm not saying that if i was in their situation, i wouldn't have done what they did. It would have been incredibly hard not to. But it would be possible. I have proof of that- there were people who didn't listen to Hitler, who did everything in their power to save innocent lives.

I'm sorry, but anyone who says the Nazis can't be blamed is gravely mistaken. If the Nazis can't be blamed for the Holocaust, who can? Was it all Hitler? As the saying goes, you can't be a king without a country. Hitler couldn't have done anything if nobody went along with him.

So yes, our environment, family, and peers do, to a large extent, affect our actions. But when it comes down to it, we make our own decisions. No one can force us to do anything. We all have free will; we all make our own choices.

Johnny decided to rob a store. He should be held responsible.
The Nazis decided to murder millions of innocent people. They should be held responsible.

Whatever choices you make, you are held responsible for. Don't try to push the blame on anything else or anyone else. After all, that may be what caused the Holocaust in the first place.

Some Thoughts Bouncing Around My Brain Socket

How do we know what's real? Just because we see it? If we see it, does that mean it really exists, or can it be some illusion we conjure up in order to fit the world into our preconceived notions and borders?
And if we don't see it...does it not exist? That doesn't make much sense to me.
Is fantasy real? Is that an oxymoron? But to say that it's fake is to deny its existence, which is a lie. Or is it?
Some people like to label everything,classify it, pin it down into a category. Can that be done with everything? Can that that be done with anything? Is there any person or thing in the world that you can understand so completely that you are capable of classifying it like that? And if not, if everything is so complex that you cannot even begin to understand the essence of it, why do you always try to label it?
Why must every person be labeled? Are they so simple that everyone fits into some category? Or are humans so complex that one can't even begin to comprehend himself, let alone another person?
Does all this labeling make us confuse reality and illusion? Do we think something of someone just because of the label that we ourselves have stuck onto him? Do illusions even exist at all? Or are illusions illusions themselves?
If i think something is right, does that make it right? For me or for anyone else?
If i think someone is a certain way, do i make him that way by implying to him that he should be that way, even subconsciously, without realising it?
Does what i do determine who i am? and if it doesn't, what does?
Can i be blamed for everything i do? and if i can't, then who does the blame fall on?

I don't seem to be sure about anything anymore.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Guess what? Today is this blog's first birthday! Wow. It seems like only a year ago when i started posting.
...Wait. It was only a year ago. That's what i just said. OK, well, this is turning out to be a bit of a strange post. Sorry about that; i'm in a strange mood.
Anywho, as a birthday present for TO KNOW IS NOTHING, TO IMAGINE IS EVERYTHING, I have decided to let you, my faithful readers, choose the next topic that you want me to post about. Well? Any ideas?...
Just as an interesting note, there is not one single person who stuck with this blog for the entire year. i find that sad. i wonder if anyone's gonna stay here until next year? I keep making new blog friends, but i keep losing old blog friends, too. Here are some of the people who were here in the beginning:
sweetpotatopie
golda
bassrunner
miimaker
mella (she's actually back now! yay!)
beachbum (where did she go?!)
star

and lots of others....

yup. so, have a great day, and don't forget to wish the blog a happy first birthday!

(and i'll happily accept birthday money. cash, please.)