I am Big Baby and I'm in charge.

In the past week, North Korea has threatened both the United States and South Korea with nuclear weapons if either of the two nations support the United Nations' recent decision to push sanctions, aimed to punish North Korea, for it's most recent (and may I add failed) rocket launch, calling the United States their "sworn enemy".

Honestly, I think this is hilarious. It's North Korea, I mean, what can you do? They think they're a major threat to us, but in reality, they aren't, that's why both The United States and South Korea are not taking this threat very seriously. With it's current dictatorship that is failing in almost every way, excuse me, every way possible, North Korea is not really in the position to be threatening neither it's southern neighbor nor the U.S. The situation actually reminds me of a very popular series that I just read, "The Hunger Games" series. Here you have a country that has just been demolished by a major war almost a century prior and what remains is a corrupt dictatorship that is leading a failed nation. This is very similar to the situation in North Korea: the Korean War was a little more than 60 years ago, and now, because of a stale mate, the opposing remains of North Korea have become a country of 23 million in poverty with a young, inexperienced "leader". And don't even get me started on Kim Jung Un. I mean, have you seen the guy? He looks like baby, literally.

I am Big Baby with serious face.

I am Big Baby and I'm in charge.

I am Big Baby and I have pin with my daddy and grand-daddy on it. Cheese.

I mean, does this man even look fit to govern a nation? No. He's killing his people. Millions of North Koreans are suffering from failing health and starvation and are attempting to defect to South Korea and other free countries because this man ^^^ is a selfish, inexperienced toddler who driving the country even further into the ground all the while claiming that he is a major threat to the United States, South Korea, and the rest of the World.

Below is the link to the article that I referenced to in this post.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/01/25/korea-dialogue/1863701/

An Imperfect Institution

To stand for what you believe in, especially when facing opposition from a major, universal institution, one must have unyielding courage, and Reverend Tony Flannery has just that.

Rev. Flannery, an Irish priest, disagrees with the Church teachings which condemn contraception and the "practice" of homosexuality, and believes that the women should have the right to be ordained. Because of these beliefs, he has been removed from the Vatican and is only allowed return to the ministry if he constructs a document, signs and publishes it, discrediting his beliefs. Stating that he will do no such thing, Rev. Flannery has planned to discuss the subject with the public.

In response, the Vatican's doctrinal office wrote to Rev. Flannery's religious superior telling him to remove him from his ministry and to make sure he no longer writes and publishes any more of his publications, and to order him not accept interviews to the media, while also directly threatening Rev. Flannery with excommunication.

After reading this article, I experienced two opposite emotions, surprise and expectation. I was first surprised when I read the title of the article, "Priest Is Planning to Defy the Vatican's Orders to Stay Quiet", for you don't see those words all in the same sentence everyday. Then, the further I read into the article, I experienced expectation, the expectation that the Church has very "religiously" held onto: being afraid and slow to change.

Rev. Flannery has stated his beliefs on subjects that the Church entirely disagrees with: women are not to be ordained like men, contraception is a sin, as well as practicing in the "sinful acts" of homosexuality. Honestly, I agree with his beliefs. With overpopulation becoming a very current and pressing issue, contraception seems to be a common and safe answer to turn to within the sexually active community. Homosexuality, too, is becoming more and more excepted among younger generations around the world, especially amount the Western-European, and Western-European influenced countries, who largely see no moral wrong with same-sex relationships. And with the subject of female ordination, I see no wrong. Are women not as capable as men at communicating the beliefs of the many to such believers? If not, then why not? I just think that the Church, especially under the more conservative rule of Pope Benedict XVI, is simply just "out of date", living by the written beliefs of 2,000 year-old, chauvinistic, Israeli men. I mean, why does the Church pick which doctrines it chooses to follow, even though all of them can be found in the Bible? Women can't be ordained, contraception can't be practiced, and acts of homosexuality are sins, yet we can wear more than one type of clothing, allow women to speak during a service, have tattoos, and be rape victims, all of which are either sins or punishable by death according to the Bible, all the while saying that it's "okay" to have slaves?

I commend Rev. Flannery for standing up for what he believes in and not succumbing to the opposition of the Church. If anything, he has sped up the process of the Church's eventual change in its doctrines and set a precedent for others, while also showing the Church that it's not always right. And you know what, that's totally understandable. The Church is an institution created by humans, imperfect creatures who strive for perfection. So naturally, the Church too is imperfect. Humanity as a whole still has a long way to go, and it's people like Rev. Flannery, with their unwavering courage, who are leading the way.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/20/world/europe/priest-is-planning-to-defy-vaticans-orders-to-stay-quiet.html?_r=0

You Don't Run Fast, You Run Quickly

My name is Jon Doyle. I love to garden in my spare time. I grow pumpkins, cucumbers, squash, beans, peppers, tomatoes, radishes, green onions, cilantro, basil, thyme, and more. My favorite book is Flipped. I love most all seafood. I have 33 cousins, 4 siblings, 22 aunts and uncles, and 4 grandparents. I used to be an artist. I love learning languages. I like to read books, especially on a rainy, summer evening, alone by myself in the house. I love gelato. I tend to be a night person. I like to collect pins of different cities that I visit. I love maps and have them all hung up around my wall. I watch a lot of documentaries by BBC and National Geographic. National Geographic is the only magazine I have a subscription to. I like origami and astronomy, as well as architecture and creating terrariums. I have 5 pet fish. One of my major pet peeves is when someone doesn’t use proper English (You don’t run fast, you run quickly). I don’t like to be in a room without the fan on, even when it’s cold. I like the show “Friends”, and any other show commonly found on channel 27, as well as “The Big Bang Theory”. I’m an introvert. I would love to go on a complete tour of Europe and see Florence, Venice, Rome, Naples, Paris, Monte Carlo, Dresden, Berlin, Prague, London, Madrid, Barcelona, Geneva, Stockholm, and more. My favorite place in the world is tied between Seattle and Omaha.