actually a report that someone in Pakistan had published in a newspaper an offer of a reward to anyone who killed an American, any American. So an Australian dentist wrote the following to let everyone know what an American is, so they would know when they found one: An American is English, or French, or Italian, Irish, German, Spanish, Polish, Russian or Greek. An American may also be Canadian, Mexican, African, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Australian, Iranian, Asian, Arab, Pakistani, or Afghan. An American may also be a Cherokee, Osage, Blackfoot, Navaho, Apache, Seminole or one of the many other tribes known as native Americans. An American is Christian, or he could be Jewish, or Buddhist, or Muslim. In fact, there are more Muslims in America than in Afghanistan. The only difference is that in America they are free to worship as each of them chooses. An American is also free to believe in no religion. For that he will answer only to God, not to the government, or to armed thugs claiming to speak for the government and for God. An American is from the most prosperous land in the history of the world. The root of that prosperity can be found in the Declaration of Independence, which recognizes the God given right of each person the pursuit of happiness. An American is generous. Americans have helped out just about every other nation in the world in their time of need. When Afghanistan was overrun by the Soviet army 20 years ago, Americans came with arms and supplies to enable the people to win back their country. As of the morning of September 11, Americans had given more than any other nation to the poor in Afghanistan. Americans welcome the best, the best products, the best books, the best music, the best food, the best athletes. But they also welcome the least. The national symbol of America, The Statue of Liberty, welcomes your tired and your poor, the wretched refuse of your teeming shores, the homeless, tempest tossed. These in fact are the people who built America. Some of them were working in the Twin Towers the morning of September 11, 2001 earning a better life for their families. I've been told that the World Trade Center victims were from at least 30 other countries, cultures, and first languages, including those that aided and abetted the terrorists. So you can try to kill an American if you must. Hitler did. So did General Tojo, and Stalin, and Mao Tse-Tung, and every bloodthirsty tyrant in the history of the world. But, in doing so you would just be killing yourself. Because Americans are not a particular people from a particular place. They are the embodiment of the human spirit of freedom. Everyone who holds to that spirit, everywhere, is an American. |
-from the Book of Five Nostrils, ca. 532 AD, translated from the original Gothic. |
TEHRAN, Iran -- Cupid, drop the bow. That's the word from Iranian police, who have ordered shops to remove heart-and-flower decorations and have confiscated other symbols of what religious authorities consider a decadent, Western event -- Valentine's Day. The vice police on Wednesday sealed several shops in wealthy north Tehran and ordered others to remove images of couples embracing or other "corrupt materials" from display windows. In ultraconservative Iran, public embracing between men and women is taboo while Valentine's Day and all its trappings are seen as promoting Western values. "Vice police gave me 48 hours Monday to close," said angry shopkeeper Hamid Mahdavi. "Having my shop closed Thursday means that I would go bankrupt." A written notice issued by plainclothes officers warned the store owner that he had to remove all cards and other staples of the holiday from his Tina Card shop. Down the street, another store was already forced to close. "This is all heart-themed cards. Is this corruption?" Mahdavi said while his assistant continued to sell the banned items to young customers. ***This would be the western culture that America is promoting. Celebrating love.*** |
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