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"The greatest prayer is patience." Buddha

The problem with today's quote is that I am the original "God grant me patience and I want it now" person. Not being real patient today. It has been a long week and things are going to pieces at work and I'm exhausted. My best friend there has had it and is taking a job else where. If I wasn't battling such a cold I might feel a little more tolerant. Just a little. Not much however.

One of the problems at work is the same as one of the problems I was experiencing tonight while reading the news articles. Stupidity. Some people are their own worst enemies. It is pretty stupid to call in sick but refuse to talk to your manager because you are ticked off because she didn't specifically tell you she was taking a couple of days vacation. Hello? You are going to jeopardize your job for spite?

I was shocked to read about the assassination of Bhutto in Pakistan. She was a very courageous woman and fought for freedom and against terrorism. We have lost a major ally with her death. A volatile situation has become worse. So what were these readers doing? Playing the stupid political blame game or engaging in vicious  name calling of the dead woman.

Another story was about how Angelina Jolie was named the number one celebrity for her charity work.  The woman is a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations. She and partner Brad Pitt have worked hard to try and rebuild New Orleans when others have ignored it. So of course these readers have to call her a whore and home wreaker because Brad Pitt and Jennifer Anniston got divorced. Like they know what really happened in a marriage. Come of folks it is Hollywood. Marriages rarely last there. Angelina and Brad both have done an enormous amount of good in helping the poor around the world.

These people remind me however of a lesson I learned at bookstore where I worked in Denver called Tattered Cover. The owner there said that you could find any book you want from extreme right wing to extreme left wing and everything in between. Why? Not because she agreed with everything that was written but because she believed in something more important. Freedom of Speech. Everyone has the right to speak. The idiots that make their inane comments have they right to make fools out of themselves. And trust me they are.

What irritates me the most in this political year is the fact that both sides feel they have the right to name call and make derogatory comments about anyone who doesn't agree with them. They have totally ignored the fact that there is something called “debate” where you can discuss in a civilized manner the pros and cons of a position on anything. They also forget that if someone allows freedom of speech on their web site or blogs it doesn't mean that the person agree with everything that is said. It means they have the courage to let others make fools out of themselves if that is their choice. You have a variety of opinions and the opinions expressed by others are not necessarily those of your own. Freedom of Speech.

The picture is called Guardian of Freedom.

The real counter is 6572.

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