Today, or what's left of it is the fourth anniversary of the deadly terrorist attacks on September 11. While many Americans still remember, some have forgotten. I just wanted to say as a newspaper writer, as a member of Gamespot, as an American...thankyou to the FDNY for all that you did. And I want to give my condolences to all New Yorkers and to anybody who lost family or friends in the attacks.

R.I.P. All

I was talking with my editor Friday about all the talk about the Hurricane down in New Orleans. All over the Internet, all over the television, all over the radio, all you hear about is Katrina. People act as if there has never been a hurricane ever to hit America and kill so many people. Hurricane Andrew didn't get this much coverage, Hurricane Fran didn't get this much coverage and it completely destroyed the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

Now I may not be the most emotional guy around, but c'mon. For two straight weeks, I can't open a newspaper, turn on the news or even check out the news online without being plastered with information about the Hurricane. When you have minute-to-minute coverage, how much can really happen in that time span? Everybody is out that is going to get out, the water is receeding, the damage has been done. Enough with it already!

I was watching the Carolina Panthers football game today and all I heard was how good the Saints were doing because the Hurricane hit and they were fighting back from adversity. Give me a break, every one of those players has seven digit figures at least for their paychecks. They can afford to rebuild, they can afford to move. And they talk about how bad they have it. Go live in one of those flooded houses for a week with no food or water. Go live in the Superdome for a week and tell me how bad you have it.

I remember very vividly the events of 9/11, I wrote multiple stories over it for the paper and a very long and awarded column over it. But there was not this much talk about it. For a week, it was all over the news about the cleanup and recovery. And about a week later it slowly started to fade away. There was still a lot of talk about the cleaup but there wasn't as much. We are entering the third week of coverage and we are still getting minute-to-minute coverage of this. The death toll probably won't even hit a thousand and we're having the coverage pushed down our throats.

I feel for the people, I've donated my money to the United Way, I've bought one of the Fight the Flood T-Shirts from Bungie. It's not that I don't care about the people, I'm just sick and tired of having coverage crammed down our throat of a natural disaster that we hard warning of. 9/11 was more serious, it was deadlier and it was more touching to American lives, so why do we not hear nearly as much about it as we have about Katrina? The world may never know.

Was listening to the news earlier and they were talking about how Israelis are refusing to leave their homes after the Israeli government decided to give the Gaza Strip to the Palestenians. The ironic thing is this land once belonged to the Palestenians, not even one hundred years ago. It was the Jewish people who moved in and removed the Palestenians from their homes because of the events of the holocaust. All I hear on the news is how the Jewish people have been persecuted for hundreds and thousands of years. And yet...they take the Palestenian lands and make them their own and then herd the Palestenians into refugee camps or completely remove them from Israel.

If there are any Jewish people, sorry for what I say might offend anybody. But I am sick and tired of the world governments sucking up to Israel because they claim to be "God's people". I'm not a Christian, I'm not a Muslim, I'm an Atheist, so I don't see the merit in clouding politics with religious bickerings. Islam is a bigger religion than Christianity and Islamic countries hold most of the world's oil supplies. So shouldn't it be the Muslims the world sucks up to if anybody?

Many Jews point out that Israel was once their homeland. And supposedly Moses came down from the mountain with the 10 Commandments and they wandered for like 40 years or something and finally Joshua lead them to Israel. But historically, Israel was a free area. Jews, Arabs, Romans, everybody lived there in peace with each other. Sure, the Jews have been persecuted in the past. But why should innocent Palestenians be put in refugee camps just because the Jews have a bone to pick with the world? Nobody is alive from the ancient Roman days. Nobody is alive from the time of the Exodus. Nobody is alive from the times when the Jews were ever persecuted except for WWII. And yes, WWII was bad and the Holocaust was horrible. But just because many were killed innocent people have to vacate their homes? When a kid gets in a fight with another one at school, does the agressor have to give the kid his video games or his playing cards or anything? No...and this whole thing between the Palestenians and the Israelis is just like two little kids fighting over a ball at recess.

The Israelis claim God himself gave them the land. The Palestenians just want a place to live in peace. And if God is about forgiveness, why do the Israelis refuse to work with the Palestenians? All there was on the news about three or four years ago was a suicide bomber would kill five or six Israelis. Then Israel would move in with tanks and attack helicopters and slaughter fifty or sixty innocent Palestenians, mostly women and children. And they would destroy the homes of hundreds. There was even a few points when they dozed over Palestenian refugee camps. And these are "God's people"?

I don't have a problem with Jewish people. I happen to know a few Jewish people. I just don't like the mentality of most. Does anybody really know the method behind Hitler's madness? After World War I, Germany was forced to pay all the debts of the war. That sent the country into financial collapse. The Jews held all the wealth of Germany but refused to share it. They would not help out their country, instead they would whorde it. Hitler originally wanted to just remove the Jews from Germany, but sometime in his life he went crazy.

If the Jews would be more inclined to help out people other than themselves, they would not be met with such hatred in the world. Some Jewish people I know think the world owes them something. I don't know why the world would owe the Jewish people anything. If anything, the Jewish people owe the world and especially the Palestenians something for taking their lands. Yes, I know Britain handed it over to the Jewish people, but it was the Jews who pushed out the Palestenians.

And then you turn on the television and you see Jews cursing the soldiers, telling them they will burn in hell because they have to leave their homes. Well, guess what, you did it to people once, and now it's happening to you. None of them will ever have my sympathy. As far as I'm concerned, all of Israel should go back to the Palestenians. It was originally their land. But that's just my opinion.

I decided to go get a haircut earlier today. My grandfather wanted one too so he went with me. I went to this barbershop that we've been going to for 2+ yearsand was getting my hair cut and he came and set down. The owner/manager of the place, I don't really know what he was, was on the phone and then hangs up and proceeds to tell my grandfather he's going to have to leave. Why might you ask? Because my grandfather is obese. He tells my grandfather and I quote, "sir, you're going to have to leave, I can't make my people cut your kind's hair." I emphasize "your kind". So he leaves and doesn't say anything.

I'm a respected member of my community and have some pull considering I'm neighbors and very close friends with the police chief. I get up and pay the girl who was doing the cutting, real nice girl, and I look over at the guy and tell him he's not getting anymore of my business or anybody else that I know of. He tells me "good, that's okay because I don't want your business, I don't like his kind." So I tell him he'll be speaking to my lawyer soon because he was segregating against a person who had done nothing wrong and just wanted a haircut. But no...he had to be a pompus a*shole and say no, he doesn't serve "his kind".

I didn't know we were in a caste system. I mean are obese people like Jewish people in 1930's Germany? Are they to be cast out and ignored? Are they to be persecuted against simply because they're obese? While we're at it, why don't we just take out all the skinny people and tell them they can't go to certain places. Let's go and tell black people they have to go to seperate schools again. Let's tell Mexicans they cannot eat at our restaurants. Let's tell smokers they have to stay in their own homes. Why don't we just take the entire American country and divide it up into sections for each individual race/religion/heritage/health situation and everything else. Let's give each little group their own peace of the land and say "this is your area, you cannot leave it". Because that is what the world is coming to.

Besides being pissed for the guy being a four letter word in the first place, there was no sign saying "we reserve the right to refuse service." On top of this, I have been going there for over two years. He has been going there for over two years. And now this guy is going to be an as*hole and say no. This goes beyond just a little incident. The guy calls the cops on me and nearly has me thrown in jail because I was "disturbing the peace". By all means, when does telling the truth disturb the peace? When does calling out something that is wrong disturb the peace? If anything, I'm helping the damn peace! Who the hell made anyone a god and give them the power to dictate what can or cannot be done?! Since when do people say "I don't want to serve you because you're fat, get out." Since when do we tell red blooded Americans they do not have the same rights as any other person? Our history is filled full of injustices against different groups in society. It happened to the Indians two hundred years ago. It happened to the Japanese 70 years ago. It happened to the African Americans 50 years ago going back to before America was a country. But now we're going to discriminate someone, not based off race, but based on their size and their health status.

This is getting worse by the day though. Now obese people have to buy two plain tickets? What was that excuse...because they cost more in gas. Can anybody say bullsh*t? I know I sure as hell can. Get me a good lawyer, and I'll challenge that policy. That's blatant discrimination and personally, what I call humiliation and harrasment. These airlines say they don't discriminate...that's like saying "We like you sir, but because you're fat, you have to buy two tickets." So the next time a tall person comes in, they should have to buy two tickets considering their legs are so long they might hit the seat in front of them.

I have a lot of problems with the world we live in. I say we're just screwing each other for no other purpose than our personal pleasure or gain. Our kids are growing up and seeing this stuff about how obese people are bad and how they're not as good as "regular" people. Now what does that tell the future generations? I feel sorry for my children who will have to grow up in an intolerant world. V for Vendetta comes out later this year about a world that's socilaist and intolerant. It's fictional, but guess what, we're living in the beginnings of that world. Give it another hundred years before we're herding obese people into "fat camps" where they're forced to lose weight. And people wonder why the suicide rate is rising. Why live in a world that doesn't want you?

In recent years, the Entertainment industry has evolved into a cease pool of good and trash. The movie industry roles out bad movie after bad movie with no thought of the people who pay their hard earned cash hoping to go see something decent. It is no wonder ticket sales were down 18 straight weeks this year compared to last year. Looking at how ticket prices have jumped $1.25 in one year here at the Carmike 8 in Lawton, it is dumbfounding. But the movie industry is not the main problem in today’s entertainment world. But these problems are not just in the movies. Bigger problems have arisen on television. Whether you are a Republican or a Democrat, this goes beyond party politics and strikes at the heart of the war on terrorism. 

On July 7 the world was shocked when it heard of the tragedy in London. Nearly 60 people died within a matter of minutes. It was the bloodiest day in British history since WWII. For many people, it brought back memories of 9/11 and the thought that “this could happen again”. That very same night World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) aired its taped show, “Smackdown!”. That night, they showed the controversial character Muhammad Hassan played by Brooklyn native Mark Cantoni, come into the ring and pray to Allah while five masked men choked down the Undertaker. Hassan then picked up the Undertaker’s body and showed it to the camera in a scene that frightfully resembles the beheading videos. They then carried Hassan’s manager, Davairi over their heads as if it was a martyr funeral. 

“Smackdown!” is taped every Tuesday night prior to its airing on Thursday night on UPN. The scene was edited out of the airing of “Smackdown!” in Britain but was not edited out here in America. Instead, UPN ran a crawler numerous times advising people of the events that were about to take place. Still, it did not help when hundreds of callers phoned in to voice their concerns over the sketch. 

In a statement made on WWE’s website, “Smackdown!” executive producer Kevin Dunn said, “We’re very proud of our product. We try and be sensitive with everything we portray, but there’s got to be protagonists and antagonists on our TV shows. We just happen to reflect the politics of the world sometimes-especially with these Arab-American characters”

A WWE spokesman added, “If we had any idea that something like [the London attacks] might happen, obviously you wouldn’t try to do that segment on that day.”

The character Hassan was born in Detroit, MI and grew up from Arab descent. He claims since 9/11 he has been persecuted for being of Arab decent and looking like a stereotypical terrorist. Each week he comes out and complains on the microphone about how he’s been mistreated in the WWE. He was recently entered in a feud with WWE legend, The Undertaker after Hassan attacked him with a chair from behind on a recent “Smackdown!” airing. 

UPN approached WWE publically and demanded the Hassan character not be on anymore “Smackdown!” airings. At the recent WWE pay-per-view event, The Great American Bash, Hassan was “buried alive” by the Undertaker. 

Hassan has been in the WWE since November of 2004. Each week he would come out and demand the “injustices” against him be ended. He has been the leading mid-card heel (bad guy) for sometime now. Apparently WWE thought it was okay to have a character on their show to mock what was going on in the world. Across the Internet, many different petitions have been started to bring the Hassan character back to the WWE. 

I recently spoke with a soldier, Dale Anderson, recently back from Iraq about the matter, “I find it appalling,” she said, “there are thousands of us over there fighting and back home we have wrestlers mocking what we do.” 

Appalling or not, Vince McMahon, chairman of the WWE, officially removed the Hassan character from the show but has not decided whether he will come back. It seems Vince should spend a month in Iraq before he begins televising characters like this.

These are the facts of the whole Hassan incident. This was the editorial I wrote for the newspaper earlier this week. Now, for the things I couldn't say...

In recent days I have scoured the conglomeration of stupidity...otherwise known as the Internet. I watched the SmackDown! episode where this was televised. And while the only British people I know are the ones I encounter and are friends with on here or the ones that I encounter on Xbox Live, I still respect them as a people and felt sorrow after I learned of their attacks. I stumbled onto one article that was well thought out and well written talking about how the WWE was only trying to point out the problems in our society and our perception of Arab-Americans.

Yes, this is true, America is notorious for hating all ethnicities that we are at war against. In WWII, we herded all Japanese-Americans into "Internment Camps" to keep watch over them. But the problem with this analysis is we are at war. And this war is not your traditional war where the enemy wears different uniforms and carries a Soviet rifle. The enemy are the people we see on the streets. Anybody can be a terrorist and we would never know it. Look at the news, each terrorist is of Arab descent. I'm not going out and saying all Arabs are terrorists. THat would be a bold, irrational and otherwise ignorant statement. What I am saying is sometimes the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. America put the Japanese in Internment Camps because it was learned that it was regular Japanese civilians living in Pearl Harbor that helped funnel information to the Japanese military back in Japan. So you would have to forgive a country that is just watched their backs after two blind attacks like Pearl Harbor and then 9/11. America has been caught off guard twice, and at the cost of around 5,000 innocent lives. I would rather imprison one hundred innocent men to stop one terrorist who could kill 1,000 people than let him go so they can enjoy freedom. The world is a cruel place.

But back to the topic at hand. The WWE doesn't give a rat's ass what goes on in the country. Vince McMahon doesn't care who's being killed or what's being destroyed. He's a businessman and a cut throat one at that. He wants his money and he wants ratings for his shows. So what would bring in more ratings than an Arab-American wrestler turning his back on America? I have read articles saying that the WWE never meant for the men in ski masks to be portrayed as terrorists or Hassan to be portrayed as a terrorist.

Look at it this way. I have personally witnessed the Berg beheading video, it was horrible. There were men in ski masks and camoflauge pants who did it. Now men dressed like this came out to the ring and choked down The Undertaker and they weren't supposed to be seen as a terrorists? And then Undertaker's body is held to the camera in what looks like a beheading? Only the inept and stupid people would say the WWE didnt mean for them to be portrayed as terrorists.

Now I'll admit, Hassan didn't come in as a terrorist. He came in as a man wanting some justice. But aren't terrorists looking for what they conceive as justice? I'm not calling Hassan a terrorist in any way. I'm just saying that what he did and said could come off as appearing like a terrorist. He blatantly turned his back on America and mocked Americans each week. And then the previous incident happened. What does that look like to the average viewer?

The thing that really irritated me was one comment made by a British person said that and I quote "two words PURE EXCELLANCE and this should be sen to every paper in america because its better than the crap they write on a daily basis and you truly know what your talking about unlike those american 'journalists' who are infact racist and unable to even see it themselves but i guess thats how bush works. making people so damn paranoid that they think that every1 whoz of a differant background is a terrorist my advice is to send it in."

I'm an American journalist. I'm not racist and I saw everything that happened. I am a Bush supporter and do not agree with some of the things he says. But look at it this way, we thought everybody was friendly in 2001, we thought the world was great. Then on 9/11 we wake up and turn on the news and we see a plane fly into the World Trade Center. And then we see another one. And then we hear of the death toll over 3,000 people. It was known that Arabs did it. And while not all Arabs are bad, I would rather be safe than sorry. We have stepped on the toes of a few people and their civil rights and there hasn't been another attack on American soil since then. Bush does not make people paranoid. 9/11 made people paranoid. I can speak for the majority of Americans when I say we don't think everybody is a terrorist. This guy was a complete idiot and a few three and four letter words i can't say.

I agree with the WWE pulling Hassan off the air. He was causing too much trouble for his gimmick. If they can write it in where he comes back, it would be great. I personally like the wrestler and I like his talents, I just don't like his gimmick. Many people say the WWE is ruining a great wrestler, I say the WWE is keeping themselves from going down a path they can't go.