Can an individual make a difference?

Today, a colleague of mine mentioned that she doesn't watch any serious movies at all, except "dumb comedies", you know movies that I call "stupid funny". I asked her why not. She told me there are too many problems in this world, and that "dumb comedies" are one way of forgetting the negatives of this world. Yeah, but is that being a responsible citizen? or is that that we as citizens no longer can make a difference? I am not sure.

All, I know is that if you take care of yourself, and you consciously make an effort to live for the "good", then shouldn't that make some sort of ripple effect of goodness? I mean if your yard looks clean and environment friendly, wouldn't your neighbors want to do the same thing with their yards? At least they tend to want to do the same.

Something, I realized...that an individual DOES make a difference, but sometimes it goes unacknowledged. How did I come to that conclusion? I had made a suggestion on a list serve that I get through email: to read Pedagogy of the Oppressed to understand oppression and conditioning's of oppression. One reader emailed me privately, and asked my opinion of Pedagogy of the Oppressed or Pedagogy of Hope, which one should she read?

I was kind of surprised. I thought my message would be lost in cyber space because you know how list serves work: you get many messages a day. I was wrong. So, I decided that I am going to take great care of my actions and thoughts because I may influence you or someone else.

Comments are welcomed.

War is ugly

According to Al Jazeera English 's article "Blair 'to announce Iraq pull-out' " http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/646AC730-BD49-48E7-967C-7636EEB15448.htm, and CNN's article "Reports: UK to begin withdrawing Iraq" troopshttp://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/02/20/uk.iraq.troops/index.html, Blair is finally going to begin withdraw British troops from Iraq. All I can say is about time. I mean they should have never been sent there in the first place. I think Bush needs to follow suit. I say bring our troops home, enough headaches and heartaches.

Although, ruling under Saddam may have not been the best in the world, I think Iraq's situation has worsened than under Saddam's ruling. In Iraq, there is chaos, kidnappings, religious tensions, and corruptions, it is just plain crazy. All for oil? For location of the Middle East? Solve this through peaceful actions and missions.

The solution is complicated and complex. A wise person once told me, "You can kill a person, but you can't kill the idea." War is not the answer. People die, but ideas live on. The bottom line is we have to negotiate with words, followed by diplomatic actions. We all have the same, basic human needs of survival.

I know I just kind of jumped from one point to another. It is just is frustrating to see a country that used to be the Mecca of Education in the Middle East, to go down in ruins as if they have never had anything great happen in that country. I mean, how long, will wars have to last, and people have to suffer?