Just for Fun

Just for fun, I though that I would link the latest edition of "News of the Weird." My favorite entry is the one about Subway worker who told police that he was a CIA agent and the 500 plus dollars that he took would be reimbursed by the CIA. Believe it or not, I've actually read stupider excuses offered by criminals to the police.

File Under "Proving My Point for Me."

The Pope gave a speech 3 days ago concerning the differences between Islam and Christianity. In it he quotes some dialog that goes back to the days of the Byzantium Empire when Emperor Manuel Paleologos II and a Persian scholar were discussing the same subject. The Emperor believed that the forced conversions to Islam were evil. As you can imagine, many Muslims found this offensive. Instead of calmly explain why the Pope is wrong, more than a few Muslims have resorted to hysterical rhetoric and mob like behavior. Read about it here.

Note to hysterical "protestors" calling themselves "moderate" Muslims: responding to criticism that your prophet was violent and cruel with hateful word only helps prove Manuel Paleolgos's point. It's time to learn to take some criticism and stop screaming about the Crusades. The West is not interested in forced conversions or conquest for the Roman Catholic Church. Another thing, stop blaming the West for negative perceptions of Islam. Your pyrotechnic don't help. Comparing the Pope to a man who killed millions doesn't score you brownie points either.

In all fairness many Muslims aren't burning things in the streets or calling the Pope Hitler and it would behoove more of them to speak up. Like the article here . I realize that in many places speaking up could get you killed by your fanatic of a neighbor, but sitting on fence just delays the inevitable.

Alfred Vukosa - 9.11.01

Today I remember Alfred Vukosa. Alfred was the typical American family man. He meet his wife Annette on the floor of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Annette's family was Guyanese and Alfred's was Croatian. According to his wife, Alfred learned about Hinduism and blended into her family. Alfred and Annette were close to their families, both of which lived in New York.

Annette and Alfred made their home in Brooklyn, where they raised their two sons, Adam and Austin. According to the people who knew Alfred, he was devoted to his family and loved spending time with them. His sons looked forward to his returning home from work because he would take them on walks. He also enjoyed taking his family on vacation, and traveled to Hawaii, Aruba, Puerto Rico, and Disney World in Florida.

Like so many Americans, Alfred was a man with dreams and was striving to reach them. He loved computers and technology and was earning a degree in computer engineering. Often Alfred and his oldest son Austin would do their "homework" together. He was employed at Cantor Fitzgerald, whose offices were on the 103rd floor of Tower One at the World Trade Center, as an Information Technology Specialist.

On September 11, 2001, Alfred went to work as usual and became one of the 2,996 who perished that day. His niece Stacy Lalman said the following of him: "I truly thought that he would get out because he was a very strong man; but I also believed that if he had the opportunity; he would rather try to help someone else's life than his own!" His wife remembered him as a man who, "was always there to please us." She says that "he was a good husband."

Alfred Vukosa was a hard working man who loved his family and was motivated to improve his life and theirs. His family was a melting pot of people from different ends of the earth who blended together in love and support. He was an ordinary American who in so many ways epitomized the American Dream. On this, the 5th anniversary of 9/11, let us remember the way he lived his life. A life that stands in stark contrast to those of the terrorist who sought to destroy American by murdering men and women like Alfred Vukosa.

My sources of information about Alfred Vukosa are here and here. My source for the photograph is here.