Today is 9/11

Today is 9/11/11. The 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. You can’t pick up a newspaper or turn on a television and not hear someone share about how 9/11 forever changed their lives.

I could see that if you were a New Yorker, or if you lost a loved one on that day, how it could have a profound effect upon you and I am sorry for your pain. However, the rest of you people need to quit your fucking whining. Every time you whine about 9/11, the terrorists have won. Every time the television shows those planes crashing or those people jumping to their deaths, the terrorists have won.

Their mission wasn’t just to kill a bunch of Americans. Their mission was to terrify us all. To make us believe that we are not safe and that the terrorists can get any one of us at anytime they want to. Many people are convinced of that. It seems like all of our elected officials want us to think that and to think that they are keeping us safe.

In the past 10 years there have been 33 US deaths linked to terrorism. That averages out to 3.3 deaths a year due to terrorism. Since 2006 more than 200 Americans have been killed by lightning strikes. 1 in 8 women will contract breast cancer at some point in their lifetime and around 35,000 women die from the disease each year. More than 100,000 Americans have been killed by drunk drivers in the last 10 years. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have taken more than 6200 American lives and according to the VA, that’s about the same number of veterans that take own lives each year.

My point is, there is a whole lot more shit for us to be worrying about than fucking terrorists.


WE ARE LOSING TITTIES AT AN ALARMING RATE AND NO ONE SEEMS TO CARE!! WHERE'S ALL THE LOVE FOR THE TITTIES???



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I was driving down the road the other day and passed the Community Mosque. Out front they had a sign that simply said:

Sunday 4pm, Remembrance and Reflection

The Sunday being referred to is today, Sunday, Sept 11, 2011.

Most people are unaware that 30 Muslims were killed during the attacks on 9/11, some of them heroes who died trying to help save other people, but we don’t hear a lot about those guys. Instead somehow all of Islam has become our enemy. That’s just plain wrong. That’s like condemning all Christians just because a handful of priests are guilty of molestation. It’s bad enough being an immigrant into a strange country and trying to adjust and to fit in. Thanks to 9/11, It’s even worse when most people only see you as a terrorist.

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Recently at work I was speaking with two ladies from Pakistan. I was asking them mainly where it was that I could purchase a Salwar, the traditional Pakistani shirt and trouser ensemble. I asked the ladies where they were from (Punjab), about where to find Pakistani food and the like. My wife is into all of that stuff. She likes to eat all kinds of weird stuff and we are both interested in different cultures.

There was an older white woman there and she asked me what nationality my wife was. I had to stop and think for a minute. “Well, her great grandmother was a McAllister from Scotland, her mama’s people are from Missouri and her Daddy’s people are from Colorado.”

“No, No, No, I meant what Nationality is she? Like I’m an American.”

I looked at the two Pakistani ladies and I said, “They are Americans too.”

“Well, I was born here.”

“Lucky You, they had to travel halfway around the world, jump through a bunch of hoops, and then take a test to become Americans.”

That older white woman looked at me like I was an emissary of Satan. The Pakistani ladies though, they always wave and smile when they see me now. I think it was a good trade.

The United States of America is a nation of immigrants. Unless you are 100% Native American, you come from immigrants. A few hundred years ago there were a bunch of Cherokee and Iroquois who were bitching about how the crime rates had risen and the neighborhoods were messed up all because of those damned white folks coming over here and fucking everything up. Stupid palefaces couldn’t even speak the language. We forged this nation by shooting anyone and everyone who said we couldn’t live here. That was our citizenship test.

Today, the rules are a little different. You have to live here 4 or 5 years, not be a criminal, be able to speak English, and you have to take a test. The test is in English. In the test, the applicant is asked only 10 questions out of a possible 100. They must get 6 of those 10 questions correct.

My question is this: What if they made ALL of us take that test? What if we ALL had to take that test in order to get, or to maintain, our citizenship? Are you as smart as a Naturalized citizen? Do you have what it takes to pack up all of your shit, say goodbye to your family and friends, most of whom you will never see again, and move halfway around the planet? To a foreign place with a foreign culture, and you with very little money, all just to try and provide a better life for your family?

If you ask me, that’s some impressive shit.

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Here are the questions on the Citizenship Test. Could you pass?

AMERICAN GOVERNMENT

A. Principles of American Democracy

1. What is the supreme law of the land?
2. What does the Constitution do?
3. The idea of self-government is in the first three words of the Constitution. What are these words?
4. What is an amendment?
5. What do we call the first ten amendments to the Constitution?
6. What is one right or freedom from the First Amendment?*
7. How many amendments does the Constitution have?
8. What did the Declaration of Independence do?
9. What are two rights in the Declaration of Independence?
10. What is freedom of religion?
11. What is the economic system in the United States?*
12. What is the "rule of law"?

B. System of Government

13. Name one branch or part of the government.*
14. What stops one branch of government from becoming too powerful?
15. Who is in charge of the executive branch?
16. Who makes federal laws?
17. What are the two parts of the U.S. Congress?*
18. How many U.S. Senators are there?
19. We elect a U.S. Senator for how many years?
20. Who is one of your state's U.S. Senators?*
21. The House of Representatives has how many voting members?
22. We elect a U.S. Representative for how many years?
23. Name your U.S. Representative.
24. Who does a U.S. Senator represent?
25. Why do some states have more Representatives than other states?
26. We elect a President for how many years?
27. In what month do we vote for President?*
28. What is the name of the President of the United States now?*
29. What is the name of the Vice President of the United States now?
30. If the President can no longer serve, who becomes President?
31. If both the President and the Vice President can no longer serve, who becomes President?
32. Who is the Commander in Chief of the military?
33. Who signs bills to become laws?
34. Who vetoes bills?
35. What does the President's Cabinet do?
36. What are two Cabinet-level positions?
37. What does the judicial branch do?
38. What is the highest court in the United States?
39. How many justices are on the Supreme Court?
40. Who is the Chief Justice of the United States?
41. Under our Constitution, some powers belong to the federal government. What is one power of the federal government?
42. Under our Constitution, some powers belong to the states. What is one power of the states?
43. Who is the Governor of your state?
44. What is the capital of your state?*
45. What are the two major political parties in the United States?*
46. What is the political party of the President now?
47. What is the name of the Speaker of the House of Representatives now?
48. There are four amendments to the Constitution about who can vote. Describe one of them.
49. What is one responsibility that is only for United States citizens?*
50. What are two rights only for United States citizens?
51. What are two rights of everyone living in the United States?
52. What do we show loyalty to when we say the Pledge of Allegiance?
53. What is one promise you make when you become a United States citizen?
54. How old do citizens have to be to vote for President?*
55. What are two ways that Americans can participate in their democracy?
56. When is the last day you can send in federal income tax forms?*
57. When must all men register for the Selective Service?

AMERICAN HISTORY

A: Colonial Period and Independence

58. What is one reason colonists came to America?
59. Who lived in America before the Europeans arrived?
60. What group of people was taken to America and sold as slaves?
61. Why did the colonists fight the British?
62. Who wrote the Declaration of Independence?
63. When was the Declaration of Independence adopted?
64. There were 13 original states. Name three.
65. What happened at the Constitutional Convention?
66. When was the Constitution written?
67. The Federalist Papers supported the passage of the U.S. Constitution. Name one of the writers.
68. What is one thing Benjamin Franklin is famous for?
69. Who is the "Father of Our Country"?
70. Who was the first President?*

B: 1800s

71. What territory did the United States buy from France in 1803?
72. Name one war fought by the United States in the 1800s.
73. Name the U.S. war between the North and the South.
74. Name one problem that led to the Civil War.
75. What was one important thing that Abraham Lincoln did?*
76. What did the Emancipation Proclamation do?
77. What did Susan B. Anthony do?

C: Recent American History and Other Important Historical Information

78. Name one war fought by the United States in the 1900s.*
79. Who was President during World War I?
80. Who was President during the Great Depression and World War II?
81. Who did the United States fight in World War II?
82. Before he was President, Eisenhower was a general. What war was he in?
83. During the Cold War, what was the main concern of the United States?
84. What movement tried to end racial discrimination?
85. What did Martin Luther King, Jr. do?*
86. What major event happened on September 11, 2001 in the United States?
87. Name one American Indian tribe in the United States.

INTEGRATED CIVICS

A: Geography

88. Name one of the two longest rivers in the United States.
89. What ocean is on the West Coast of the United States?
90. What ocean is on the East Coast of the United States?
91. Name one U.S. territory.
92. Name one state that borders Canada.
93. Name one state that borders Mexico.
94. What is the capital of the United States?*
95. Where is the Statue of Liberty?*

B. Symbols

96. Why does the flag have 13 stripes?
97. Why does the flag have 50 stars?*
98. What is the name of the national anthem?
99. When do we celebrate Independence Day?*
100. Name two national U.S. holidays.