Here we are at the end of March. At this point I've watched 16 movies total. A bit behind, but I've got time, right?
So, since the last time, here's what I've watched:
Tootsie (1982)
A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
Singin' in the Rain (1952)
The Philadelphia Story (1940)
Gone with the Wind (1939)
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
All great! The Philadelphia Story gave me a new appreciation for Jimmy Stewart. Vivien Leigh is brilliant in Streetcar and Gone with the Wind. Gene Kelly is a fabulous dancer in Singin'. Tootsie has a subtle humor and that happens to be the kind I like the most. And Lawrence of Arabia...Peter O'Toole is amazing and the scope of the movie is breathtaking; it really stirred my thoughts. I'd recommend 'em all!
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Obama on Libya
I didn't get a chance to hear the President's speech about Libya, but I got an email about it from the White House. I figured I'd share it so that anyone else who hadn't heard it could read it, or watch the video at this link. Regardless of our individual feelings about Obama, it's good to know what his position is on the conflict and the role that we are playing there.
-------------------
Good morning,
I'm writing today with an update on the situation in Libya, including the actions we've taken with allies and partners to protect the Libyan people from the brutality of Moammar Qaddafi. For further details, please take a moment to watch this morning's Weekly Address:
Sending our brave men and women in uniform into harm's way is not a decision I make lightly. But when someone like Qaddafi threatens a bloodbath that could destabilize an entire region, it is in our national interest to act. In fact, it’s our responsibility.
Our mission in Libya is clear and focused -- and we are succeeding.
Along with our allies and partners, we are enforcing the mandate of the United Nations Security Council. Working with other countries, we have put in place a no-fly zone and other measures that will help prevent further violence and brutality. Qaddafi's air defenses have been taken out, and his forces are no longer advancing across Libya.
As a consequence of our quick action, the lives of countless innocent civilians have been saved, and a humanitarian catastrophe has been avoided.
The role of American forces in this mission is limited. After providing unique capabilities at the beginning, we are now handing over control of the no-fly zone to our NATO allies and partners, including Arab partners like Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
The United States has also joined with the international community to deliver urgent humanitarian assistance. We're offering support to the Libyan opposition and have frozen tens of billions of dollars of Qaddafi's assets.
Our message to Qaddafi is clear: attacks against innocent civilians must end, his forces must be pulled back, humanitarian aid must reach Libyans in need, and those responsible for the violence in Libya must be held accountable.
The progress we've made over the past seven days demonstrates how the international community should work, with many nations, not just the United States, bearing the responsibility and cost of upholding international law.
Every American can be proud of the service of our men and women in uniform who have once again stood up for our interests and ideals. And as we move forward, I will continue to keep each of you fully informed on our progress.
Sincerely,
Barack Obama
President of the United States
P.S. On Monday evening at 7:30 p.m. EDT, I will deliver an address at the National Defense University in Washington, DC on the situation in Libya. You can watch the speech live at WhiteHouse.gov/live.
-------------------
Good morning,
I'm writing today with an update on the situation in Libya, including the actions we've taken with allies and partners to protect the Libyan people from the brutality of Moammar Qaddafi. For further details, please take a moment to watch this morning's Weekly Address:
Sending our brave men and women in uniform into harm's way is not a decision I make lightly. But when someone like Qaddafi threatens a bloodbath that could destabilize an entire region, it is in our national interest to act. In fact, it’s our responsibility.
Our mission in Libya is clear and focused -- and we are succeeding.
Along with our allies and partners, we are enforcing the mandate of the United Nations Security Council. Working with other countries, we have put in place a no-fly zone and other measures that will help prevent further violence and brutality. Qaddafi's air defenses have been taken out, and his forces are no longer advancing across Libya.
As a consequence of our quick action, the lives of countless innocent civilians have been saved, and a humanitarian catastrophe has been avoided.
The role of American forces in this mission is limited. After providing unique capabilities at the beginning, we are now handing over control of the no-fly zone to our NATO allies and partners, including Arab partners like Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
The United States has also joined with the international community to deliver urgent humanitarian assistance. We're offering support to the Libyan opposition and have frozen tens of billions of dollars of Qaddafi's assets.
Our message to Qaddafi is clear: attacks against innocent civilians must end, his forces must be pulled back, humanitarian aid must reach Libyans in need, and those responsible for the violence in Libya must be held accountable.
The progress we've made over the past seven days demonstrates how the international community should work, with many nations, not just the United States, bearing the responsibility and cost of upholding international law.
Every American can be proud of the service of our men and women in uniform who have once again stood up for our interests and ideals. And as we move forward, I will continue to keep each of you fully informed on our progress.
Sincerely,
Barack Obama
President of the United States
P.S. On Monday evening at 7:30 p.m. EDT, I will deliver an address at the National Defense University in Washington, DC on the situation in Libya. You can watch the speech live at WhiteHouse.gov/live.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
An Apology to My Muslim Friends by Lynne Hybels
A link for the below article was just sent to me and I think it's worth reading. I also saw the video that Lynne mentions and I thought it was absolutely ridiculous. People, hate mongering doesn't get us anywhere.
-----
An Apology to My Muslim Friends
by Lynne Hybels 03-09-2011
On the weekend of Oct. 6, 2001 — less than one month after 9/11 — my husband preached a sermon called “Religion Gone Awry.” That was not the message he had originally scheduled for that weekend. But the rising level of hostility — and hate crimes — directed at Muslims compelled him to speak out.
“I’ve been aghast at what some pastors and Christian leaders have been saying,” Bill stated in the introduction to his sermon. “I’ve been embarrassed. Christians are saying words that are widening the gap.”
He talked about “hot reactors,” people who “opinionate before they reflect, before they bow down and pray; who ventilate before they ask God for sober-mindedness and self-control; who indict whole races of people before they know the facts. Let’s call this what it is: not good. Not good behavior. Not good Christianity. This is Christianity gone awry.”
He then challenged Christians to focus on James 1:19: “My brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.” In Bill’s well-known “soft” style he continued, “Some of us have to just shut up, because saying anything would likely mean saying an inappropriate thing. If we’re hot reactors, we better be quiet or we’re going to sin with our mouths.”
In response to the many emails he’d received from fired-up Christians claiming that Islam encourages violence and that the Qur’an advocates terrorism, he suggested that we engage in fair play. “There are passages in the Old Testament where God tells the children of Israel to wipe out an entire nation — men, women, and children. We would be offended if people interpreted Christianity based on those passages. So we shouldn’t do that to Muslims, either.”
Bill then invited a friend, local Muslim Imam Faisal Hammouda to join him on stage to be interviewed. Bill explained that while there are many differences between Christianity and Islam — and he and Faisal had discussed those at length — the interview would focus strictly on Faisal’s response to 9/11.
During the next 30 minutes, Faisal stated unequivocally that while Osama bin Laden may claim to be a Muslim, he is clearly not a true Muslim. “In Islam it says, whoever kills one life is as if he has killed all humanity, and whoever gives life to one soul is as if he has given life to all humanity.” Faisal said that terrorism — the killing of innocents — has no place in the just war theories of Islam. To the extent that 9/11 was connected with Islam it was clearly “Islam gone awry.”
It is a moving interview. Faisal ’s wife had hoped to join him for the interview but she had been visiting her daughter in Florida during the attacks on the Trade Center; being an Arab woman wearing a headscarf, it was not safe for her to try to fly home. After the Saturday evening sermon, one of our church members who worked for Southwest Airlines offered to arrange to fly Faisal to Florida so he could bring his wife home. Another man said, “I don’t have access to planes, but I have a car. I would love to drive you to Florida to pick up your wife.” Faisal mentioned these offers on Sunday morning and said, with a slight quiver in his voice, “God bless them both.”
I’m describing this church service from nearly a decade ago because of a video I watched this week in which protesters in Orange County, California, shout insults and accusations against a group of Muslim men, women and children who are attending a fund-raiser for a women’s shelter. It is a shocking, horrifying video.
I don’t know if the protesters claim to be Christians, but they do claim to be Americans. I need to state unequivocally that they do not represent me or my understanding of what it means to be an American. I am saddened and embarrassed by their words and their actions.
I offer this public apology to my friends and acquaintances who are sincere, peace-loving, American Muslims. I am so sorry. You do not deserve this.
Lynne Hybels, co-founder of Willow Creek Community Church in Illinois, is author of Nice Girls Don’t Change the World and a columnist for Sojourners magazine.
-----
An Apology to My Muslim Friends
by Lynne Hybels 03-09-2011
On the weekend of Oct. 6, 2001 — less than one month after 9/11 — my husband preached a sermon called “Religion Gone Awry.” That was not the message he had originally scheduled for that weekend. But the rising level of hostility — and hate crimes — directed at Muslims compelled him to speak out.
“I’ve been aghast at what some pastors and Christian leaders have been saying,” Bill stated in the introduction to his sermon. “I’ve been embarrassed. Christians are saying words that are widening the gap.”
He talked about “hot reactors,” people who “opinionate before they reflect, before they bow down and pray; who ventilate before they ask God for sober-mindedness and self-control; who indict whole races of people before they know the facts. Let’s call this what it is: not good. Not good behavior. Not good Christianity. This is Christianity gone awry.”
He then challenged Christians to focus on James 1:19: “My brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.” In Bill’s well-known “soft” style he continued, “Some of us have to just shut up, because saying anything would likely mean saying an inappropriate thing. If we’re hot reactors, we better be quiet or we’re going to sin with our mouths.”
In response to the many emails he’d received from fired-up Christians claiming that Islam encourages violence and that the Qur’an advocates terrorism, he suggested that we engage in fair play. “There are passages in the Old Testament where God tells the children of Israel to wipe out an entire nation — men, women, and children. We would be offended if people interpreted Christianity based on those passages. So we shouldn’t do that to Muslims, either.”
Bill then invited a friend, local Muslim Imam Faisal Hammouda to join him on stage to be interviewed. Bill explained that while there are many differences between Christianity and Islam — and he and Faisal had discussed those at length — the interview would focus strictly on Faisal’s response to 9/11.
During the next 30 minutes, Faisal stated unequivocally that while Osama bin Laden may claim to be a Muslim, he is clearly not a true Muslim. “In Islam it says, whoever kills one life is as if he has killed all humanity, and whoever gives life to one soul is as if he has given life to all humanity.” Faisal said that terrorism — the killing of innocents — has no place in the just war theories of Islam. To the extent that 9/11 was connected with Islam it was clearly “Islam gone awry.”
It is a moving interview. Faisal ’s wife had hoped to join him for the interview but she had been visiting her daughter in Florida during the attacks on the Trade Center; being an Arab woman wearing a headscarf, it was not safe for her to try to fly home. After the Saturday evening sermon, one of our church members who worked for Southwest Airlines offered to arrange to fly Faisal to Florida so he could bring his wife home. Another man said, “I don’t have access to planes, but I have a car. I would love to drive you to Florida to pick up your wife.” Faisal mentioned these offers on Sunday morning and said, with a slight quiver in his voice, “God bless them both.”
I’m describing this church service from nearly a decade ago because of a video I watched this week in which protesters in Orange County, California, shout insults and accusations against a group of Muslim men, women and children who are attending a fund-raiser for a women’s shelter. It is a shocking, horrifying video.
I don’t know if the protesters claim to be Christians, but they do claim to be Americans. I need to state unequivocally that they do not represent me or my understanding of what it means to be an American. I am saddened and embarrassed by their words and their actions.
I offer this public apology to my friends and acquaintances who are sincere, peace-loving, American Muslims. I am so sorry. You do not deserve this.
Lynne Hybels, co-founder of Willow Creek Community Church in Illinois, is author of Nice Girls Don’t Change the World and a columnist for Sojourners magazine.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)