Terrestrial Aliens?

National and international news about an organization of immigrants fighting for a push towards legalization shadowed the US Congress assembly this morning. Terrestrial Aliens is an activist group in Boston who launched attacks on congressmen this week. One congressman said, " Living in America is a privilege for good and hard-working people, but we cannot embrace every single newcomer." Activist John Colin angrily replied, " In a nation of immigrants it is hypocritical to stop them from coming and staying. America's settlers have shaped values of embracing new cultures." The debate usually comes around at this time of the year, however the fire tends to be put out right after Labor Day.

Mr. Pinky and Brain

Gordon Brown is to urge America to re-engage with the world in the manner which it did after the Second World War, saying the world is at a point in history when it needs American "values and leadership".

The remarkable sentence "American 'values and leadership' " gets under my skin. How can Mr. Pinky and Brain have the guts to come on TV and tell us they want to dominate the world? Does Gordon Brown mean the world should forget its diverse culture and follow the culture of America? Does he want the world under the dominance of one empire? Or is he just dumb?
To me the values of America are as democratic as the philosophy of the nation. Leadership should be shared among the people. Nonetheless, America has affected the values and leadership of other cultures anyway. Why inflicting other cultures more? What is different about this point in history? Because Mr. Brown is alive? The world is changing and his comments are narrow-minded and inappropriate at a time of globally spread news. It is an ancient Greek mentality to think of perfect values. I mean it is rather old-fashioned than conservative. It is rather stupid.
A disappointing leadership is not what we need. We need educated and keen politicians. In a Democratic Republic we should elect the educated to run the country the way we want and not the ones who ignore others' cultures and autonomy.
The years of president Bush stain the history of America and he should have been impeached long ago or rather never been elected.

Footnote:
Gordon Brown succeeded Tony Blair in 2007 as prime minister of the United Kingdom. Born in Scotland, Brown attended the University of Edinburgh, where he earned both an undergraduate degree (1972) and a doctorate (1982) in the study of history. Brown became a member of Parliament for the Labour Party in 1983, from the Scottish constituency of Dunfermline East. He rose through the ranks of the Labour Party while earning a reputation as something of a policy wonk, serious and even gloomy but with a powerful mind and a passion for detail. Brown and Blair developed a knotty relationship in the 1990s, when both were rising stars of the Labour Party. Brown stepped aside during Blair's run for the prime minister's post in 1997, allegedly with the understanding that Blair would later step down in favor of Brown. Blair took office and Brown became Chancellor of the Exchequer, but as the years passed and Blair remained on the job, Brown was said to be increasingly impatient for his turn. On 27 June 2007, Blair stepped down after a decade in office, and Brown became the prime minister. Brown has also authored books, including the political biographies Maxton (1986, about Socialist leader James Maxon), John Smith: Life and Soul of the Party (1994), and Courage (2003).

Deadly sins

On that sunny day the fat man on the beach could not get off of his beach chair. The already tanned man was sleeping after a lavish feast. At the hut where the man ate and delighted himself with delicacies of various cultures the staff gossiped about him.

“Look at that fat o’fucker.” Said Louis with rage in his eyes. “He sits there all day and don’t do shit.” Michael commented. Jackie however loved the man. She interrupted them; “You're a bunch of assholes. You’re pissed ‘cause you wanna be just like him.”

The fat man only spoke to the boys to have them bring him food and drinks. He seemed to care little whether the boys liked him or not. Intelligently though he sensed their animosity. On the other hand, Jackie had always treated him well and today was no exception. She walked up to him and brought water, he thanked her and they started chatting.

“Jackie!” he said breathlessly, apparently due to the amount of food ingested. “Yeah, sir!” the little girl replied. “Don’t call me sir.” he suggested, “You know my name.” She said, “Yes, Doug." He took off his sunglasses and took a good look at her, from head to toe. “Will you marry me Jackie?” he asked. She gulped, “I beg your pardon!” “You heard me!” He said.

Confused she ran away with a smile on her face. He put his shades back on and returned to his state of drowsiness.

The boys overheard the conversation and impulsively began to work out a plan to rid themselves of the fat man. Louis pulled out a shotgun and loaded it one time. Doug saw them inside circling the bar but remained motionless. Michael went into the kitchen and brought out a knife.

“Don’t mess with my girl.” Michael cried out. The man looked at him vehemently and blew him a kiss. He stabbed Doug in the chest three times. Louis came over with the shotgun and shot him twice. He had to reload the gun for the second shot while Jackie watched him in disbelief.

Upon the altar

Nicholas had long been attending bible classes when he decided to quit. The first year they had an old lady instruct them. He was probably absent-minded in all those classes because besides boring they were too unchallenging for his witty mind. He dragged on for so long because his mother wanted him to go to class.

The other reason why he had stayed there for three years could have been his teacher’s fourteen-year-old daughter whom he had a crush on. She had taught them as well in the few occasions when her mother had doctor appointments. The old lady was sick and needed constant treatment but she made sure to teach as many classes as she could.

The church served people who had been living in the neighborhood. It had lost its authority however. The majority of the people who frequented masses were comprised of old people. The youth of the neighborhood had been long taken away from church. Contrary to those Nicholas would seldom be late for service. One day however he told his mother of an incident he had in church that changed his way of thinking.

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“Praise, God! It is so wonderful to know that my husband is saved.” was the first thing I heard mom. “God blessed me with over five thousand dollars,” one said, and to my amusement everyone started telling a different story of how their lives have changed.

“Our Lord…has blessed us with a big six room house.”

“I received ten thousand in a financial blessing."

“God made it possible for us to buy seventeen acres of land.”

“The Lord has healed my throat.”

“I’ve gotten a new car and a job, I have been blessed.”

And I noticed that all of the sentences refer to god and how fortunate their lives have been, and how they have not experienced suffering. There they lay a message to convey salvation, heaven, or paradise. And by doing that they have attracted millions to their church where they impose their values on the weak in an attempt to make them stronger.

Well mom, I walked up to the altar where the well-dressed gentlemen chanted halleluiahs and said “The gravity pull of planets, moons, and other massive bodies all affect the orbit of Earth as it circles the sun.”

“Halleluiahh!”

“Halleluiahhh!”

“Halleluiahhhhh!”

They all looked at me as if they disapproved of it but I think they didn't understand anything.

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Yet disappointed Agnes made up her mind that she would not force her son into bible class anymore. He was so intelligent that she never bothered interrupting his actions even though he was only eleven years old. One of the church missionaries even tried coming to their house to ask him to go back but he refused relentlessly.

Not only he grew bored of church but also he began to question whether there was indeed a god. “Mom, I pray to god but he doesn’t do anything. Maybe there is no god.” It was as much a doubt as it was a statement.

Violência Urbana

Os homens adentram o bar do Baixinho às cinco horas da tarde. O sol já está baixando pois é tarde de inverno. “Me vê uma Skol?” diz o barbudo. "Não tem,” responde Baixinho "só tem Kaiser.”. “Porra que merda!” exalta o companheiro do barbudo, “Vai essa merda aí mesmo!”. “Calma aê rapaz!” interfere Baixinho “Tá pensando que tá na casa da sogra?”
Pestana, o barbudo olha rapidamente para ver a reação de seu comparça.
“Olhe que bonitinho."
“O pequeno tá nervoso.”
“Traz a porra da cerveja lá pequeno.” diz Gustavo já impaciente.
“Não quero confusão rapaziada,” apreensivamente diz Baixinho “já vou trazer a cerveja.”
Os dois olham para fora do bar enquanto o anoitecer vai deixando o clima cada vez mais intenso. Baixinho traz a cerveja quase que imediatamente e diz “Tem que pagar a cerveja agora.”
“O pequeno não tá entendendo parceiro.” fala Gustavo ao olhar fixamente para os olhos de Baixinho. “Tem mais alguém no bar?”
“Que porra é essa meu?! Sai fora do meu boteco!" grita Baixinho.
“Sai fora o caralho!” fala Pestana. “E larga essa cerveja aqui filha da puta!” diz Gustavo ao ver que Baixinho está tão nervoso que ainda não largou a garrafa.
“Agora me responde, tem mais alguém no bar?” Baixinho começa a caminhar para trás do balcão como se procurasse refúgio. Ao ver o pânico de Baixinho o Pestana tira um revólver calibre 38 do coltre e o engatilha.
“Volta aqui filha da puta!” grita o Pestana. Baixinho pára imediatamente ao ver o revólver. “Calma pessoal, vamos conversar.”
“Calma o caralho,” diz Pestana. Gustavo fica revoltado repentinamente. Ele vai até o fundo do bar onde há apenas uma mesa de sinuca. Ele inspeciona a cozinha ao voltar do fundo do bar, enche o copo e toma um gole da cerveja. Ele retorna até o fundo do bar pega um taco e uma bola de sinuca. Enquanto isso Pestana coloca Baixinho atrás do balcão e o ameaça com a arma. Baixinho está muito apavorado para dizer algo.
Gustavo entrega a bola de sinuca para Pestana que imediatamente bate na cabeça do Baixinho com ela. “Toma vagabundo!” Baixinho se agacha de dor. O Gustavo volta à mesa e vira o copo de cerveja goela abaixo. Ele caminha por volta do balcão e começa a bater em Baixinho com o taco de sinuca sem dó. Ele bate na costela e na cabeça até que Baixinho desmaia.
Já está escuro quando eles terminam a garrafa de cerveja e se retiram do bar.

Mug Sentence

I got to the classroom early in the morning. The weather was pretty good. The teacher looked angry but passionate about her profession. She taught them with wisdom, austerity, and pride. She wrote a sentence on the wall the first day of school, and she called it a mug sentence.
The mug sentence in her way of thinking was a sentence with which you should start the day. No matter what, that sentence had to be true, achievable, and even.
According to her, a mug sentence represented your first meal of the day along with knowledge, and no matter what kind of knowledge it was, you should receive it as it was - good or bad. And every morning she painted a different sentence just to show her pupils that knowledge was simple but that it took a lot of work to place it on the wall.

Jose (researchmonkey)