hello all in xangaland, or at least those of you who still bother to read this... I've gone into my cave for quite a while, but just peeking out to see who's around.  I'm really glad to see 2007 go. But 2008 looks promising.  Where does the time go?  After all these months, I'm still "en route" and not quite settled and not quite moved, but hoping and praying to see some action, some signs of life, soon.  Whatever God has in store, I'm ready. 

how's everyone else doing?  I miss you guys.  Hope y'all are having a fantastic New Year's Eve, and have an awesome new year. *hug*

Mike was my floormate in the dorms and has grown into quite the outstanding conservative voice on the UCLA Campus, to such success that The Daily Bruin ran a hit piece on him after he was appointed to the Associated Students UCLA Communications Board, for having been an editor of the Bruin Standard (a conservative quarterly newspaper that began publication my last year of UCLA) and, worst of all, for being a *gasp* conservative libertarian~!

His MySpace, Facebook, and the Bruin Standard

Here's his response to the unhinged hit piece on him (which the Daily Bruin, of course, refuses to print) and I'm copying it all here because not everyone has facebook or access to his note. 

"Your Boy Mike, Front Page"

So here’s the situation; because of my previous experience
working for various publications as well as my involvement in student
government the President of the UCLA Undergraduate Student Association
decided to appoint me to the Associated Students UCLA Communications
Board after I turned in my five page application. Normally this is not
a very contentious process but because I am an outspoken
conservative/right-wing/libertarian/Republican
the crazy anti-American, commie fascist, radical-Islam supporters at
UCLA unleashed the gates of hell on your lovable, chill, quiet,
favorite Egyptian, Mike.

Here is the “hit piece” that the
Daily Bruin published (and kept of the front page for over FIVE days)
about what a horrible person I am:

http://dailybruin.com/news/2007/sep/14/usac_appoints_former_bruin_standard_editor_communi/
(If this link doesn’t work the article is all the way at the bottom.)

I
plan on framing it and putting it on my wall. Keep it up crazies, it’s
just fuel for my fire. ALL my friends and family are sooo proud of me
especially my Pops. Oh, and not to mention all this attention really
helps me out with the ladies, haha!

But wait, they’re not done.
Saba Riazati called me the other day and told me that I was on speaker
phone with the entire editorial board of the Daily Bruin and proceeded
to interrogate me. They were trying to get certain answers from me
rather than the truth. When they didn’t get what they wanted they
became clearly aggravated. When a frustrated Saba hit a wall, the
Viewpoint editor jumped in and asked the same questions in different
ways to get what they wanted for a story they were crafting.

Apparently
they’re gearing up to write another hit piece on me, but this time
it’ll be in the editorial section, so we can all expect it to be waaay
worst than the first story. I CAN’T WAIT, bring it on, I love it.

When
I asked if they would print my response, Saba implied that it was
unlikely. Below is my response that Saba and the Daily Bruin will in
all likelihood completely ignore.

Show me a man that is loved by everyone, and I’ll show you a man that stands for nothing.

Holler at your boy,
MIKE!!!

__________________________________________________

This
is in response to DB news editor, Anthony Pesce’s biased, factually
incorrect, hit piece on me which ran on September 14, 2007, regarding
my appointment to the ASUCLA Communications Board. First, I feel that
it goes against basic journalistic values that no one from the DB
bothered to contact me regarding an article that was entirely about me.
It is also very unethical to have three biased quotes in one article
from the Editor in Chief in his/her’s own paper while having not a
single quote from the person that the article is about.

Second,
student magazine editor Hector Pena and BD Editor in Chief Saba
Riazati’s charged that we at the Bruin Standard violated the ‘Society
of Professional Journalists' code of ethics. Anyone can clearly see
this as merit-less because neither I nor any member of the Bruin
Standard ever attempted or claimed to be journalists. We were/are
commentators; we wrote opinion pieces, not hard news. Therefore we were
not bound by this code of ethics and I cannot understand why someone in
Riazati’s position dose not understand this concept.

Ironically,
Riazati’s and the Daily Bruin violated this same code of ethics that
they, as journalists, are bound by. They violated this code in a number
of ways; first by blatant lies. Riazati claimed that my appointment was
made in haste. In reality I submitted my application at the end of the
last school year, I was then interviewed before three members of the
council who later approved me to go before the entire council.

The
second lie was the statement regarding the picture on my Myspace
profile. This was in fact never brought up at any point during my
confirmation hearing. If it was, I would have stated it was simply an
homage to a local LA underground punk band who’s album cover had a
American solider holding a large gun. A song on the album had lyrics
that read, “I kill leftists, I kill commie fascist murderers, and I am
hated for it.” These lyrics were a tribute to American veterans who
fought in Vietnam against the communist Viet Cong army and came home
only to be spat on by anti-war protesters. Again, I was never able to
explain this to the council because it was never brought up at any
point during my almost two hour long confirmation hearing.

It
should also be noted that only two council members voted against me and
that after my confirmation I reached out to everyone, including those
who moments earlier were attacking my character, morals, and integrity.

Lastly,
I would like to emphasis that I am extremely proud of my past and/or
present affiliations with the Bruin Standard, Orthodox News, the
College Republicans, Bruins United, and now the ASUCLA Communications
Board of Directors.

-Michael Rafail (a.k.a. Mike Soliman)

________________________________________________

USAC appoints former Bruin Standard editor to Communications Board

Anthony Pesce, News Editor
Published: Friday, September 14, 2007

The
Undergraduate Students Association Council appointed one of the former
managing editors of the Bruin Standard to the Associated Students UCLA
Communications Board at a special meeting on Tuesday night.

Michael
Rafail, the newly confirmed appointee, faced over an hour and a half of
questions and discussion before the appointment was made, delving into
his background on The Standard and his personal politics and ethics.

The
Bruin Standard is a conservative and libertarian opinion publication on
campus, published quarterly, which was founded by former Daily Bruin
Viewpoint columnist Garin Hovannisian.

The Communications Board
serves as the publisher for all of Student Media at UCLA, which
includes the Daily Bruin, several news magazines and bruinwalk.com.

The
board consists of a student majority, with four undergraduate student
representatives appointed by USAC, four graduate student
representatives appointed by the Graduate Students Association, and
seven other members, including a faculty representative, administration
representative and several community seats.

The board approves
the budget for Student Media and all of its publications, manages the
department's finances, implements journalistic standards, and hires the
top editor for each publication, said Arvli Ward, the director of
Student Media.

For at least the past 15 years, the board has not interfered with the editorial content of any of the publications, Ward added.

Several
of the newsmagazine editors issued a joint statement to council urging
them not to appoint someone who had worked as an editor for a
publication that was created to counter the mission of Student Media
and harm the reputation of its publications.

The editors, led by
Hector Pena of La Gente de Aztlan magazine, questioned Rafail’s
journalistic and moral integrity and expressed concern that he would
help make the decision to appoint the next round of editors for the
magazines.

“The writers of the Bruin Standard continually
violate the Society of Professional Journalists' code of ethics,” Pena
said. “Allowing someone on our board that has had a hand in such antics
would be counterproductive to our mission.”

Rafail, who also
goes by the name Mike Soliman, said his experience with helping to
produce a small publication would make him a good choice for the
position – a sentiment others on council echoed throughout the meeting.

He
also said he has plenty of other outlets to express his political
opinions and would never let his politics bleed into his role on the
board.

Saba Riazati, the editor in chief of the Daily Bruin,
said that though the appointment of Rafail creates uneasiness among
some of the newsmagazines and the Daily Bruin, she has the utmost faith
in the board and does not foresee any shifts in board policy.

“The
Communications Board has never meddled with the editorial content of
the Daily Bruin, nor have they interfered or controlled content when
and if something we publish has not been to their pleasing. For this I
am grateful, as our readers and the community will be able to receive
information without censorship,” Riazati said after the meeting.

“(Rafail's)
appointment was made in haste, without considerable review of his prior
affiliations with a publication openly disregarding ethical codes
within the realm of journalism, which should be alarming to the board
members, as they are our publishers and will be working with (him) in
the coming year,” she added.

Councilmembers Sanobar Sajan and
Bernice Shaw, members of the slate Students First!, echoed the concerns
of the newsmagazine editors at the meeting, questioning groups he
belonged to on Facebook and MySpace such as “smash left wing scum” and
a picture of him holding a gun with a caption that reads “I kill
leftists.”

Rafail, a Bruins United slate supporter during the
previous year’s USAC elections, said by “left wing” he means radical
communists such as Joseph Stalin.

Gabe Rose, USAC president and
a member of Bruins United, and Katya Balan, a member of the board and
supporter of Bruins United, chastised the council for asking him
questions about his political leanings and defended his character.

Rose
said Rafail was forwarded for the position because of his experience on
publications, including The Standard, and that other applicants did not
possess those qualifications.

Riazati questioned the appointment and wondered why Rose did not forward one of the other applicants.

“Simply
put, it just doesn’t make sense to appoint someone to a nonpartisan
publishing body who, by recent, prior involvement, has shown a lack of
respect and understanding of not only The Bruin but journalism in its
entirety,” she said.

I wish I had known him while in school. 
And he writes better than half the English majors I've read.
Our troops are, without question, the nation's best and brightest.

From a Slain Bruin Soldier, Hero
Why I Joined
By Lt. Mark Daily

"One thing is certain, as disagreeable or as confusing as my decision to enter the
fray may be: consider what peace vigils against genocide have accomplished lately.
Consider that there are nineteen year old soldiers from the Midwest—who have never
stood in a college campus or a protest—who have done more to uphold the universal
legitimacy of representative government and individual rights by placing themselves
between Iraqi voting lines and homicidal religious fanatics. Often it is less about how
clean your actions are and more about how pure your intentions are."

" In digesting this, please remember that America’s commitment to overthrow Saddam
Hussein and his sons existed before the current administration and would’ve existed
in our future children’s lives had we not acted. Please remember that the problems that
plague Iraq today were set in motion centuries ago and were up until now constrained
by the cruelest of cages. Don’t forget human beings have a responsibility to one another
and that Americans will always have a responsibility to the oppressed. Don’t overlook
the obvious reasons to disagree with the war but don’t cheapen the moral aspects either.
Assisting a formerly oppressed population in converting their torn society into a plural,
democratic one is a dangerous and difficult business, especially when being attacked
and sabotaged from literally every direction. So if you have anything to say to me at the
end of this reading, let it at least include “Good Luck.”  "

talent AND convictions. shown in word and attire. do your thang.

"I partied with the late, great Reagan"

I know there are times your dreams turn to dust
You wonder as you cry why it has to hurt so much
Give Me all your sadness someday you will know the reason why
With a child-like heart simply put your trust in Me

The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away.
Blessed be the name of the Lord.

For every hostage killed, pledge to send in 1,000 troops into Afghanistan to dig through every fox hole and smoke out every last Taliban militant.  Considering that they've killed a second male missionary, that would bring the total up to 2,000 and implementation could commence... oh... NOW. 

As you can tell, I'm not above calling certain "humans" a waste of skin or wishing them a cruel and unusual death.

But Mr. Special Envoy from the ROK should really take a lesson in hard-line diplomacy and realize that "negotiating" with them or buying off terrorists will only ensure that the next time they're hard up for money or power they'll return to capturing South Koreans (and any other foreigner) as bargaining chips and ticking time bombs. 

But of course, the realism settles in and Korea will never take that hard line stance because it has no balls.  It never has.  Thousands of years of being conquered, raped, pillaged, and destroyed by its neighbors.  Tough enough to survive through it but never strong enough to stand up against it and ensure that it doesn't happen again.  Koreans get beaten time and time again, and with a bloodied face and lifted fist trembling in rage they mumble, "you bastard."  That, my friends, is the meaning of "HAN" in all its historically-pertinent glory.  It is not some greater passion or heartache for an injustice, it is festering anger, putrid hate, and a grudge that cannot evolve from its rigid impotence.

It is pathetic.

...and even you still-rational radicals who need to reach left of self to touch Stalin...

Please watch this video.  At least twice~!  And visit the site (HotAir.com) for a change of pace to the DailyKos kooks and Jon Stewart sound bites.
Do not immediately and stubbornly trust what the mainstream media force-feeds you.  Be wary of what anyone says, for that matter, and don't discount your own reason.  But you know all this.  Supposedly.  And yet when I talk to you I get the same discouragement and hopeless bickering seen on TV.  Hm.  Well, this video provides a breath of fresh air, especially to all you who seem to be so sure that Iraq is never going to get better.  Here's your proof, and this isn't really news to those following conservative blogs, since this stuff has been happening in increments throughout the war but the media just moves from one hotspot car-bomb mania to the next, only highlighting disgruntled congressmen (Harry "This war is lost" Reid) who don't know much about what's really going on and yet want to micromanage the war and waste all their time with investigations where there has been NO constitutional breach, only to take the greatest assault on the Constitution themselves. 

Finally, if that doesn't convince you to click on that link, I'll make my take my last stand...

"If you don't watch this video you don't love me~!"

(Ah, the advantages of being a lovable girl...) hehe~

As an aside, I've had a great time thus far getting back in touch with old friends and talking with them about the issues of the day.  And though I'm usually brushed off as the crazy conservative voice, I'm encouraged that no matter where anyone stands on the political spectrum they find me approachable and reasonable.  But the more I talk with people I realize it's sources of information that cause the greatest divide. 

I watch mainstream media, I love a good laugh on the Colbert Report, I appreciate silly banter and have my problems with the administration but more with Congress.  (Bush is currently twice as popular as Congress).  But to me, it's very obvious what they choose to report... and even more interesting what they don't talk about, what they don't report.  So I encourage you to look at other sources of information, especially if you find yourself always nodding to what you hear around you.  As I gain more information, I find myself (respectfully) disagreeing with people more and more and contradicting them. 

That, to me, is the right path, because it makes me really believe what I say and say what I mean because everyone else is watching my every move, waiting for an "a-ha~!" moment to prove me wrong.  But if you can't, ask yourself if you're choosing to be correct or simply choosing to make yourself feel good. 

And while we're at it, how about asking the most fundamental question, "Do you want to succeed in Iraq?" Because for World War II and Korea (before the US was castrated) this was not even a question.  Korean Americans should especially remember that.

And another random thought: Republicans didn't constantly whine and complain but stepped up and supported wars that Democrats initiated (WWII - Roosevelt, Korea - Truman, Vietnam - Kennedy).  Hm.

-----------------------------------

And here's a thought for "compassionate conservatism": 

My heart goes out to the Korean Christian medical missionary hostages and the one who was brutally murdered by extremists whom I question if they even have souls.  And to protect those hostages whom I love I desire to obliterate those who threaten their very existence.  So I have compassion, respect, and love for those who do that work for me, and destroy the enemy for the sake of innocent captives taken prisoner and threatened throughout the past, present and future.  These terrorists/jihadis/mujahideen may be human, but they are not humane. 

The gospel and life itself are three-pronged.  There's the compassion and love for all, hatred and wrath for those against the beloved, and God who oversees it all (and who gave us His word).  And in this world, Genesis 1:28 is fulfilled by our love and dedication as well as our efficiency in destroying the enemy.  God has already given us the word, from the beginning and the end:

Genesis 1:28 - "God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.  Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."

Revelations 2:26-27 - "To him who overcomes and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations -- 'He will rule them with an iron scepter; he will dash them to pieces like pottery' -- just as I have received authority from my Father."

And this is why terrorists wounded in the field are given the same medical care as our soldiers, next to their beds in Iraq, even though upon their release they'll only keep attacking Americans, soldiers, Korean medical missionaries, etc.  It's a bit too nice, in my humble opinion, but it's the American Christian way.  Kind of a stark contrast with those murderous jihadis who glorify suicide bombings of innocent civilians, eh?  Those must be some frickin' hot virgins.

-----------------------------

[edit]: Man, I've got some crazy runaway sentences here.  hehe.  But still grammatical~! (Take that, Dickens... haha.. yeah right)

Which I'll probably get in trouble for, but whatever.  I'm saying what's on my mind.

It's getting excruciatingly difficult for me to deal with people who think skin deep, or stop their logical processes after an abstract-so-it-must-be-seemingly-profound thought or phrase.  These people tend to be good little liberals who went to college and are quite intelligent, but when we talk I feel like I'm getting talking points memos from Jon Stewart but without the comedic timing.  Which really sucks.  I like comedic timing.  It makes up for a lot.

Anyway, I'm realizing that I can't argue with people because our banks of information are filled with different currency.  I get my information from myriad sources so I usually know what people are talking about and why they're angry, but they don't understand what I'm saying because it's foreign.  So instead of arguing with my foreign currency I convert it and translate it for them.  That's when I see that the problem is that he/she is uninterested in filling in the holes of logic or obtaining the answer to the why's and how's that frustrate us all.  It's disappointing, but understandable.  But it still doesn't excuse ignorance.  I just won't hound them for it.

One nagging itch I've had about this whole Korean hostages situation in Afghanistan is my disappointment in these "Christian missionaries".  Who goes to a known danger zone as a medical missionary, only to be captured and pleading for their lives?  Just don't go!  Or go with some guts and stake your life on what you believe.  And no one would have thought lesser of them had they just not gone.  Sigh.  Maybe it's because I'm translating sermons right now from early 20th century Korean (mostly North Korean) revivalists, but... man.  They don't make 'em like they used to.  But really, going of your own volition and then grieving your home country by pleading them to compromise their mission... I'm not claiming one thing or another but it sure looks like a political stunt... or a embarrassing exhibition of mettle.  Either way, I'm grieving, it's just for a different reason---shame.  But still, the world is watching and I hope this keeps them from getting hurt.  Damn the Taliban. 

And now, I'm officially evil.  Or perhaps just not eloquent.  ugh.

But something I'm thankful for is that now that I have all this time and am reading a lot but thinking even more, the day-to-day has become a bit heavier.  Sobering, really.  And it's tough to find answers when you're taking each fact on relative or conditional value, pending the acquisition of further information.  But endeavoring such a feat, simply trying, has brought one thing to light---the evidence of the Spirit who guides me.  I don't tire of the quest and the esoteric gems I gain render me humbly indebted and grateful. 

And now, I'm officially pretentious.

...haha. I promise the next post will be lighter, maybe pictures, even. 

So, I'm back home.  Indefinitely.
It's given me a lot of time to think. 
And vegetate.  Ah, the thrill of lethargy.

I did well on the test, thanks to all of you who were rootin' for me.
I've spent the last week or so jet lagged like no other.
I think I'm all better now.  I can finally stay up past 7pm~!
And for the first time in my life I'm not working or preparing for something.
It feels goooooood.  But I can already feel the boredom coming.
Went and checked out a martial arts class today.
I think I'll stick to dancing.
And reading. 
I'm simultaneously digesting 3 pillow-sized nonfiction politically commentating anthologies.
For now.

Woohoo~! Give it up for nerd-dom.