It is often heard that you don’t discuss religion or politics, for there is never an end and the arguments are nothing if not circular. Perhaps that’s true, but I continue to do so nonetheless.

I started to think about what might be the reason that I find it important to express myself, other than the obvious desire to be heard (and the First Amendment, no doubt).

This is how I said it to my supervisor:

I spent most of my childhood and teen years studying about the persecution of Jews and others throughout history — from the Biblical times to Ancient Rome, to the Hellenistic period, the Ottoman Empire, The Crusades, The Inquisition, Stalin’s reign, and most recently but not least significantly, The Holocaust.

What I took away from these teachings was the resilience and perseverance of the human race. I learned about the power of standing up against intolerance and hatred, and the gravity of the consequence if it goes unchecked.

I can’t tell you how many Holocaust survivors I have met over the years. Many of them have remained silent about what they endured, and who can blame them for all of the trauma and horror they witnessed. Many have also become outspoken for the plight of innocent groups of people. They told us stories in such graphic detail that I couldn’t imagine how they were still standing. Stories of their parents being gassed, their siblings being murdered, and their unimaginable escape from lock-down concentration camps.

The mantra of “Never Again” has echoed through these eras and stories, and it plays through my head on loop. Never again should we sit idly by while others are being mistreated, persecuted, or denied rights. We know what happens, and old patterns die hard.

(Side note: Check out the famous poem “First they came…“  attributed to Pastor Martin Niemöller on this very theme.)

(Another Side note: this theme is portrayed very nicely throughout the X-Men movies, as mutants fight for the right to exist. The most recent movie also does a great job highlighting the “Never Again” mantra. I’m not sure where I  fall between Professor X and Magneto — probably somewhere in between.)

That is why I stand up, and voice up against what I perceive to be injustice.

In the modern day political situation, I believe we’ve seen the extremes of both Capitalism and Communism, and a balance must be sought after — one where social causes and rights of citizens are just as secure as our borders and our wallets.

I may not always be right, and yes, some may call me a dreamer, but my intentions are pure, and no, I’m not the only one.

Source: AP Photo / Charles Dharapak

Imagine it from their point of view — not that I’d ever, ever stand up for terrorists — Bin Laden was a mastermind, evil, horrific man who caused so much despicable cruelty; but, those across the world may look at our celebration of Bin Laden’s death with similar horror and disgust. Imagine an innocent young child, growing up in the Middle East with only these images to represent the entire American nation.  My brother was only five when 9/11 happened, and at the time we lived 25 miles away from Ground Zero – we watched the chaos from our living rooms – on TV and through our windows. It would have been quite easy to translate those images into a dominant story — all Muslims are this way; they are all out to get us. We didn’t let that happen, of course, but imagine how it could.

I’m not sure what my final point is — it seems overwhelmingly philosophical for a Monday night, and I don’t quite know how to sit with these opposite perspectives – one that supports our nation and is proud of this victory, and the other that recognizes that death is death, and that truth is subjective. Ah, cognitive dissonance. 

I’ve seen the following quote on Facebook all day today, and it seems to resonate as the nation sobers from its delirious hangover.

“I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.” — Martin Luther King, Jr.

It’s no surprise that it was spoken by MLK, for he was someone supernaturally gifted at empathy and forgiveness, and I think for us mere mortals who lived through the horrors of 9/11 and relive it often, justice seems so sweet.

What are your thoughts? I’m more than curious!

Remember cutting out the front page of newspapers when something big was going on? Well, in that spirit, I “cut” snippets of a whole host of websites’ front pages – check out the national shock & celebration of a long awaited justice.

(c) Huffington Post

(c) CNN

(c) The Washington Post

(c) The New York Times

(c) Fox News

(c) MSNBC

I’ve watched President Obama’s statement twice now, and I’m glued to the screen watching celebrations outside of The White House and at Ground Zero. The feeling certainly harkens back to those months and months we spent watching news channels covering 9/11. It’s a closure, in a way, of a wound we’ve felt as a nation for almost a decade. The pain will always be there, and the scar burns as we remember the deaths of our people. But tonight, we celebrate their lives and that just has prevailed.

I’d like to extend my pride and sincere gratitude to our troops and special forces for bringing this to fruition, and to our President Obama for making Bin Laden’s capture one of his top priorities, and for delivering on that promise.

Where were you when you found out that justice had been served?

P.S. I made these screen grabs way before The Huffington Post - thieves!

Photo Credit: AP Photo/Chattanooga Times Free Press, Angela Lewis

When I saw these pictures, they really touched my heart. As you may have noticed from my previous post, I’ve been quite preoccupied with a bunch of adorable kittens for the past few weeks. Yesterday, my brother and I had to take one of the mamas and her babies and surrender them to the Humane Society because some of our neighbors were getting real angry. We still have a bunch of the kittens, though, and I just saw one eating dry food today – hooray, a good home is on the horizon! In the above photo, a man named Andy Page got some happy news too when he found his feline friend safe and sound amid his demolished home in Georgia.

Photo Credit: AP Photo/Chattanooga Times Free Press, Angela Lewis

Click here for more shocking, inspiring, and touching photos. 

If you can, please donate to The Red Cross through the link below:

(c) Matt Hamm

There are days when I feel like I over-post – that my online identity is TMI — too much information, be it Facebook or here on Lena’s Beat. I think, “why would anyone want to read what I have to say, or watch videos that I enjoy?” I think perhaps some will judge me as being part of the “liberal media machine” and others will say I have no life. And I’m not too proud to admit that I do care what others think — but as I sit here and contemplate it,  I really want people to care about what I’m saying, too. Social networking is such an incredible way to make a statement, in a world that is ever-refreshing, updating, transgressing, and etching new boundaries in cyberspace.

I might look back ten years from now and laugh at myself or cringe in embarrassment, but I might thank present-day Lena for caring enough to share, and for wanting to have discussions about things that matter – politics, art, film, and entertainment.

I recently watched Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore on Piers Morgan, where they stood up against the mind-blowing rate of human trafficking in the U.S., and demanded that law enforcement go after the vile men who buy and pay for sex with these poor trafficked women and men. These two voices will link to millions of others through social media, myself included, which may very likely improve the situation. Check out clips of Kutcher and Moore’s interview here.

I think Kutcher said it quite well when Piers asked him about his social networking presence.

And by the way, you know, it’s one of the reasons why I’m such a big advocate of social media, is because it allows us to participate in a very real way. You can move an issue with your own voice. And you don’t have to have millions of followers. You just have to rally support…For me, I think I’ve looked at this stuff, and I thought to myself, this could be the collective consciousness. Right? Like this platform in and of itself, a little shout here and shout here, but the key was being able to drive a link into deeper, richer content into a tweet and then have that tweet be syndicated.

Yes, it bothers me that genres such as “twitterature” are gaining momentum, for I am an avid supporter of literature and prose. I don’t claim that tweeting,  blogging, and updating should be placed on a bookshelf, per se. But for our world, one that is replete with soundbites and ADHD medication, perhaps social media has its place. Moreover, it is incredibly freeing (with proper accountability) to have the opportunity to say whatever we want, whenever we want it, and send it off into the world for praise, criticism, or both.

Once again, as Kutcher said it:

I mean in oppressive societies, this kind of — this kind of social media, this kind of democratization of media, is crumbling infrastructures that have existed for decades. And so to not — to say that it’s not democracy at its truest, I think it’s — I think it’s wrong. I think that’s absolutely wrong.

What are YOUR thoughts and comments about social networking/media?

I’ve been working on a new design layout, and I’ve finally got most of the components the way they looked in my mind! So, without further ado — I present you with the new and improved Lena’s Beat!

Feel free to look & click around, and tell me what you think!

The icons on the right will lead you to the following categories:

Viewpoints: posts about pop culture, current events, politics, school, psychology, updates on my life, travel, health tips, and other goodies.

Eats: posts about food, of course! I mostly cook from vegetarian recipes, with some meatier ones featuring ground turkey, grilled chicken, and salmon.

Movies: posts about movies I’ve seen, and my recommendations, typically in the genres of drama, comedy, thriller, gay & lesbian, indie, romantic comedy, and whatever else Netflix recommends (i.e. “Critically acclaimed cerebral dramas with a strong female lead”).

TV: posts about the plethora of shows I love (up to and including  Queer as Folk, Dexter, 24, The Sopranos, Mad Men, Glee, Parenthood, Alias, Beverly Hills, 90210, Buffy, Californication, Frasier, Roseanne, and more!)

Photos: Stay tuned for posts featuring some of the photos I’ve taken! As a full-time student and part-time employee, this growing hobby often takes a backseat right now, but when I do get to use my lovely D-SLR, it’s a happy day for me, and I look forward to sharing it with you!

If this is your first visit and you like what you see, please do subscribe and I’ll do the same for you!

Thanks, and enjoy!

Notice: there be spoilers down below.

I’ve finally caught up on the last ten episodes of Glee, and I’ve got to say, right on! The show continues to be quite stellar on all counts – acting, plot, characters, and of course, singing. Not only did they touch on some serious teen issues, but they did it with song and humor.

Here are some highlights for me:

• Kurt dealing with an aggressive jock bully who secretly questions his own sexuality (a la Queer as Folk)
• The Furt family wedding episode was an emotional TKO  - loved the vows, and the dance between Kurt and Finn
• Newbie Sam’s adoration of Quinn
• Puck wooing Lauren
• Coach Beast’s first kiss
• Mr. Shuester’s night out at a honky tonk with Coach Beast — hilarious!
• Anything that comes out of Brittany’s mouth. (Santa Claus, The Stork? Good lord!)
• The marriage of Sue Sylvester to Sue Sylvester. Such a touching episode, with a heartfelt portrayal of evil Sue (special props to Sue’s nazi-hunting mama, played by Ms. Carol Burnett)

• Earlier in the year, I wrote about some of the possible guest-stars floating around in the rumor mill — didn’t know about Gwyneth Paltrow at the time, but boy does she nail her part!  And surprisingly, quite a good singer! Check out her singing in the rain performance here!
• Kurt and Blaine’s kiss <3

• • So perfect, and such a great chemistry between the two.
  • Caused quite a stir by some has-been, born-again, former SNL-star who nobody’s ever heard of
  • Ironically, that episode features Kathy Griffin as an uptight tea-party politician who insists “I am not a witch” and then decries homosexuality as wrong…
• Rachel Berry’s honest and continuing search for identity away from Finn
• The regionals performances
  • Kurt and Blaine’s duet = adorable
  • Rachel’s original song, “Get it Right’ was amazing (see below)
  • “Loser Like Me” by the New Directions kicked some serious Warbler butt!
• Generally, I continue to be very very impressed with Chris Colfer & Lea Michele

Can’t wait for the reason of the season, with “A Night of Neglect” airing on April 19th! In the meantime, check out Lea Michele’s performance of “Get it Right“

(AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Today, Mad Men fans shed a collective tear for the delay of Season 5. The network released the following statement about the show…

“While we are getting a later start than in years past due to ongoing, key non-cast negotiations, Mad Men will be back for a fifth season in early 2012.”

The tears are mitigated by the fact that at least there will be a season 5 (er, well depending on who you ask; see below), but for such an immensely popular show at the prime of its life (with riveting plotlines, character development, and intrigue), it’s a mystery why the Powers That Be have decided to give it a mid-life crisis.

Let’s hope it won’t be its last season when it returns, like with the prolonged hiatus of The Sopranos.

Signing off,

A bitter yet hopeful Mad Men fan who misses Donny Don.

Related Articles

• ‘Mad Men’ Season 5 Talks Could Collapse; Is the Show in Danger? (screenrant.com)
• Time and Tide Wait for MAD MEN (macleans.ca)
• AMC greenlights season five of ‘Mad Men’ – for 2012 (insidetv.ew.com)
• Is Mad Men on the rocks? (arts.nationalpost.com)

I feel I have a bit more time to let my creative side hang out. So in true Gemini form, I’m beginning the process of revamping my blog (again). As such, I’ve decided I want to blog more.

Rather than just thinking about doing it, I’m starting right now.  To start out, I’m challenging myself to post a blog a week on this site for the rest of 2011. Hopefully, I will work my way up to a post-a-day speed – but no pressure.

I know it won’t be easy, but it might be fun and rewarding, not to mention help me keep at writing. Therefore I’m promising to make use of The DailyPost, and the community of other bloggers with similar goals, to help me along the way, including asking for help when I need it and encouraging others when I can.

If you already read my blog, I hope you’ll encourage me with comments and likes, and good will along the way. If you’re new here, feel free to subscribe and follow along!