O Alexandria, Alexandria

What I'm Listening To: (not) the Black Eyed Peas horrendous Superbowl halftime show

My attention is riveted on my namesake this week as Egypt is ravaged with war-torn indecision. The oppressed will always find a way to overcome a system to find their freedom. However; at what cost will this Egyptian government finally right itself? Many people know the background story to this jarring tale of a country fighting against a corrupt police system and 30-year regime from President Mubarak. I'm interested in whether the United States was justified in cautiously cutting ties with Egypt for the sake of maintaining control for our own purposes or if it were simply wrong.
I'm not trying to criticize our cabinet; this is coming from a person who just fully acquainted herself with the situation. The break with Egypt was the most recent step made, and it's intriguing to think about where diplomacy will go from here. The United States could take the approach that it always does in its need to police the world and bring democracy everywhere. I appreciate democracy and enjoy democracy, but to be perfectly honest, democracy isn't for everyone. This need to bring everyone into the light of democracy possibly stems from the fact that maybe the United States is at fault for manipulating countries, and is trying to make amends because we know that we have messed up. Yes, Sec. of State Hilary, when you say that it's too fragile for Mubarak to step down because it could ruin the transition to democracy, who says that Egypt needs democracy? They don't need totalitarianism, but there is nothing set that demands that they need democracy. They probably could care less about democracy and that is what this whole issue is about in the first place. Ties with the United States did nothing for them so our country should just let them be. But of course, things are not so simple and every single event is tied to every other where the slightest shift in policy could blow up a country (literally). They just want freedom and to be left alone. This is not the time for Teddy Roosevelt's Big Stick Ideology This is time to figure out how WikiLeaks is getting all of the classified information from the higher ups and placing it out for all the world to see and to what extent the Internet block is affecting Egyptians. But only more WikiLeaks hacking and Egyptian bloggers will tell.

Men Don't Cry in Egypt

What I'm Listening To: Pop-NSYNC

...I mean they don't cry in general. Alyssa Milano (Phoebe from Charmed--watch it!) tweeted this a week ago and it intrigued me. I know, I'm really late, but I wanted to post about it anyway. Oh, and disclaimer, my posts are going to become slightly more journalistic (hopefully) because I'm supposed to be staying up on current events--which I am horrible at--for my journalism class.

The post basically detailed the five situations in which guys are allowed to cry. I wasn't sure how I felt about it. Technically, society stigmatizes crying in general as a sign of weakness. I've bought into it yes. If we were to examine this further, there are a couple of downfalls to crying. There are only a few people who can do it and get away with looking cute. It makes your sinuses start to run and then you can't breathe (or at least I can't right after doing it), your eyes get red, your voice gets whiny, and you sound absolutely incomprehensible while crying. However, guys can be sensitive without crying. There is a limit, but the question is, should there be a limit to the amount that men are able to cry? Interesting concept. I'm not sure. I'm in the camp where men should not be afraid to cry when necessary, but there is a line. Somewhere. It's hidden and very thin, but there somewhere.

Egypt-oh boy. I've only heard/seen snippets and pieces (sad I know, yes it's all over the internet) and I am determined to fully educate myself by tomorrow. However, it seems sad that people are revolting because their government seems Americanized to them. Go figure. And the police are joining in as well. When you have the police on your side in a revolt, it's a guaranteed foot in the door. Obviously, this is a really simplified and blase view of the whole situation, and why I seriously need to educate myself more. But to be fair, I'm most likely going to be doing something in PR and not in Journalism...

Let Your Shoulder Lean to Elephants or Donkeys? (Politics)

What I'm Listening To: Shoulder Lean by Young Dro ft. T.I.

"The longer I live, the more uninformed I feel. Only the young have an explanation for everything"- Isabel Allende

I have a confession to make: I do not really follow politics or current events. Furthermore, the fact that half the time I don't know what's going on is simply appalling (health care, what? just kidding, it's not that bad....sort of...) It's not that I'm not interested in what is going on around me, it is just the fact that if I have to add one more thing to my 7:30am-2:00am day, I would really be nocturnal and less functional than usual. I catch the major points, like if something is truly catastrophic (how about that oil spill?) or if I just happen to catch the national or local news one night.

I'm a donkey. And there are all sorts of awesome reasons why: or the difference:

1) Donkeys look better than elephants
2) In a fight, the donkey would win because the elephant would tire itself out and die
3) Donkeys are more conscious of citizen needs
4) Elephants are too uptight. That's why they get old and wrinkly so fast.
5) A donkey could be a noble steed, but if you fell off of an elephant, you might break something
6) Donkeys forgive and forget. Elephants hold grudges and remember every last single thing.
7) Elephants are expensive dates. Just imagine how many tons you'd have to feed that thing! (can we say high maintenance?)
8) Donkeys aren't clingy. Elephants are all about the babies and the mating and super territorial.
9) You wouldn't have to lie to a donkey. If an elephant asked you if it were fat, I hope you wouldn't tell it the truth unless you want to be crushed or skewered with an ivory tusk.
10) Donkeys don't have weird, creepy appendages like trunks or huge dumbo ears. They are compact and you don't have to be embarrassed to take them anywhere

In all seriousness, yes I am democratically inclined, however, if a Republican has a good idea, I'm not going to knock it just because it happens from a Republican. I tend to vote more with ideas rather than parties, although I do claim the Democrats.  So essentially, on Thursdays, starting this Thursday, I'm going to blog about politics/current events. It will help me to be more involved, and hopefully crack you up at my ineptness in my forays into the political world (don't laugh too hard though). I am going to attempt to be neutral, but because of this post, you already know that my shoulder lean goes left.