3988

If you're paying attention you know what this number is.

19 by Paul Hardcastle

A More Perfect Union

History was made today...



Full text of speech here.

Cheers.

*This is not an endorsment of the canidate Obama.

Beijing 2008 Olympic Games

One of many reasons to boycott the 2008 Olympic games and all of its sponsors...

Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.

BBC News - June 4, 1989, Tiananmen Square Massacre



Definition of Bravery



The Deaths
Statistics and estimates of deaths at the hands of the People's Republic of China generated from different groups indicate:
4,000 to 6,000 civilians killed - Edward Timperlake.
2,600 had officially died by the morning of June 4 (later denied) - the Chinese Red Cross. An unnamed Chinese Red Cross official estimated that, in total, 5,000 people killed and 30,000 injured.
1,000 deaths - Amnesty International
7,000 deaths (6,000 civilians and 1,000 soldiers) - NATO intelligence.
10,000 deaths in total - Soviet Bloc estimates.
in excess of 3,700 killed, excluding disappearance or secret deaths and those denied of medical treatment - PLA defector citing a document circulating among officers.
186 named individuals confirmed dead as at the end of June 2006 - Professor Ding Zilin.

For something more current please read this: Repression continues in China, six months before Olympic Games

Sponsors to Boycott:
Coca Cola, Kodak, GE, Mc Donalds, Omega, Lenovo, Panasonic, Manulife, Adidas, Volkswagen, Air China, Bank of China, Samsung, VISA, UPS, Staples, Snickers and Budweiser just to name a few.

Boycott the 2008 Olympic games and its sponsors!

The "Ghost"

"There are countless ingredients that make up the human body and mind, like all the components that make up me as an individual with my own personality. Sure, I have a face and voice to distinguish myself from others, but my thoughts and memories are unique only to me, and I carry a sense of my own destiny. Each of those things are just a small part of it. I collect information to use in my own way. All of that blends to create a mixture that forms me and gives rise to my conscience."

-Major Motoko Kusanagi from "Ghost in the Shell"

Beliefs.

belief |biˈlēf|
noun
1 an acceptance that a statement is true or that something exists : his belief in God | a belief that solitude nourishes creativity.
• something one accepts as true or real; a firmly held opinion or conviction : c.ontrary to popular belief, Aramaic is a living language | we're prepared to fight for our beliefs.
See note at opinion .
• a religious conviction : Christian beliefs | I'm afraid to say belief has gone | local beliefs and customs.
2 ( belief in) trust, faith, or confidence in someone or something : a belief in democratic politics | I've still got belief in myself.

Don't we believe more than we know? How many of us actually witness an event or have first hand experience in what we have come to accept? Because you believe (in) something it doesn't make it true (or real). Isn't belief for the most part a chosen ignorance if you have no verifiable evidence to back it up?

Do you really know that the politician you have so much faith in will do as promised even though history shows they probably won't or can't? The person you are with loves you or do you just believe it? You believe that your job will be there tomorrow even though the economy may disagree?

I'm not saying beliefs are necessarily a bad thing if they are based on prior experience but making a decision purely by them can be tragic.

As human beings we tend to romanticize life, put a smiley face on it as it were. We obscure the facts with our beliefs to ease the pain of reality. But isn't knowledge and wisdom the cure for that pain?

Cheers.