Being yourself, being others.

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being others, being yourself, childhood fantasies, playfulness, Whitman

This morning while I was having my coffee I wrote down this idea —

“The important thing is to be yourself, even if it means pretending your are someone else.”

I know it sounds like a contradiction, but it makes sense to me. When I remember my own childhood I remember the sense of play, or play acting, and how important that was to me. One day I was a jet airplane pilot, the next day I was a baseball pitcher striking out the side in the World Series, another time I could be a clever spy keeping a watchful eye on my treasonous neighbors.

That playfulness was an integral part of who I was as a kid. It was a form of self expression, an exploration that allowed me to be more of who I really was.

I was also thinking about adults and all the masks we wear in life. There’s the mask we show strangers, our work mask, the family mask, the lover masks. There’s even a mask we wear to show ourselves.

So who are we, really?

We are many different people and play different parts at different times in our lives. Yes, there are times I pretend I am some other person — some competent, knowledgeable, take-charge man. Other times I pretend I am sensitive, astute, intuitive. There are other people that I “play” at being. The point is, they are all of me. Each character makes me who I am.

The trick is to allow myself to be all those different persons. It might confuse everyone else, but it makes perfect sense to me.

Hillary Clinton addresses issue of sexual violence and mass rape in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

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Democratic Republic of the Congo, mass rape, sexual violence, U.S. State Department

Allegations of Mass Rape in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Comments released by U.S. State Department
8/25/2010

“The United States is deeply concerned by reports of the mass rape of women and children in the Democratic Republic of the Congo by the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) – an armed, illegal rebel group that has terrorized eastern Congo for over a decade – and elements of the Mai Mai, community-based militia groups in eastern Congo. This horrific attack is yet another example of how sexual violence undermines efforts to achieve and maintain stability in areas torn by conflict but striving for peace.

The United States has repeatedly condemned the epidemic of sexual violence in conflict zones around the world, and we will continue to speak out on this issue for those who cannot speak for themselves. Less than a year ago, I presided over the UN Security Council session where Resolution 1888 (2009) was unanimously adopted, underscoring the importance of preventing and responding to sexual violence as a tactic of war against civilians. Now the international community must build on this action with specific steps to protect local populations against sexual and gender-based violence and bring to justice those who commit such atrocities.

Sexual violence harms more than its immediate victims. It denies and destroys our common dignity, it shreds the fabric that weaves us together as humans, it endangers families and communities, it erodes social and political stability, and it undermines economic progress. These travesties, committed with impunity against innocent civilians who play no role in armed conflict, hold us all back.

When I visited the DRC last year, I learned an old proverb — “No matter how long the night, the day is sure to come.” In the depths of this dark night of suffering and pain, my thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families. The United States will do everything we can to work with the UN and the DRC government to hold the perpetrators of these acts accountable, and to create a safe environment for women, girls, and all civilians living in the eastern Congo. ”

To read about the UN’s response to the allegations, click here.

What if Saddam Hussein still controlled Iraq?

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Ambassador of Death, anti semetic, IAEA, International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran nuclear bomb, Iranian drone, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Israel, middle east, nuclear war, Saddam Hussein

Today my favorite Middle East dictator, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, made the headlines by unveiling his new “Ambassador of Death,” an unmanned bomber that can carry up to four cruise missiles 620 miles.

As I looked at the picture of Mahmoud with his new toy, I could only breathe a sigh of relief that another regional despot, Saddam Hussein, was no longer around to play with the world and the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Imagine this guy AND Mahmoud with nucelar weapons!

Yeah, George Bush never found the weapons of mass destruction that he told us were there. But can even the most daft of the far left crowd deny that Saddam, like Mahmoud, would have spent the past seven years doing a nuclear rope-a-dope and buying time until he could blackmail the world into doing his bidding?

Whew!

What a scary idea! Saddam and Mahmoud, both with nuclear weapons, both with anti-Semitic visions of power and revenge against Israel and the West.

I never was a fan of George Bush, but I did support his mismanaged war and am grateful that we have only one homicidal maniac on the loose, when there might have been two. . .or more.