Is Being A "Muslim" or "Arab" an Insult in U.S. politics?

This year we have seen some of the most interesting political campaigns in the U.S. Many are cautiously watch this election, wondering exactly who should we vote for, and what happens if you don't want to vote either of them.

I am not gonna tell you who you should vote for and why. What I want to tell you is that I am kind of disturbed how many see being a "Muslim" or being an "Arab" is a bad thing. Why should that be? Don't you see that this is a form of racism? With this type of mentality, you are oppressing Arabs and Muslims, when in fact you and they can benefit or learn from each other.

About one week ago, a lady tells John McCain that she didn't want Barack Obama to be president of the U.S. because he is an Arab. Ummm...what is that supposed to mean? We are living in 2008, not 1868 or even 1968. I thought we have come a long way from that kind of thinking.

Many people will say, yeah but Faten, look what happened in 9/11, etc. I say ok, but you can't hold every single person from that same ethnic group responsible. It is not fair or realistic. Then every human on this planet would be just as guilty. Now tell me what a child had to do with a tragedy? That is what I thought.

A fantastic article I think every person should read is Commentary: So what if Obama were a Muslim or an Arab?. I give Campbell Brown kudos for this awesome piece that she wrote. I appreciate her attempts on educating the public on deconstructing the myth of equalizing Arab and Muslims with insults and "bad". Good job Campbell--you just gained a faithful reader.

My barrier is time

Heather asked us what our barriers are, and at first, I thought 'I don't have one!'.
I'm massively profilic, writing fiction, non-fiction, poetry, setting up a publishing house, going to University full time....raising a family...
And that's when it hit me.
My barrier is time.
Not time management, but time itself.

My barrier is time because there isn't enough of it.
My average day is 19 hours long. I sleep for five (though every so often, I don't sleep at all!). In those 19 hours, I spend:
2 eating
4 studying
6 chasing after my children before and after school - doing homework, reading and writing with them.
3 hours cleaning and doing 'house' stuff.
That leaves me six hours for writing, playing games, and the other 'stuff' I do - articles for gaming sites, my books 'etc'.
After term ends in April, I 'gain back' my study time, so that gives me a solid eight hours of work to look at my novels and other work.
But time is a huge barrier for me - I can't do 'everying' I want to do - though, of course, most of its my fault. I love my projects, but I'm pulling down this one barrier by rearranging, carefully. I'm selling off a lot of sites, and amalgamating a lot more.

Whatever your barriers are, you can tear them down - just work out what they are and why they are there and creatively change the rest ;)

Theme Week: Barriers

Here at Mama Needs A Book Contract we are rolling out somethin' new... THEMES!

Just because we're moms, we're writers, we're bloggers... and we like a) themes and b) deadlines!

Our first theme is in honor of the lunar eclipse that happened last week. Barriers.

What? Barriers?Eclipse? Ok, I was going with the idea that there are barriers in our life that tend to eclipse our writing. They are big, they are bad, they block out everything but themselves. What are they?

Stay tuned and find out!

But consider this:

"How you deal with challenges will determine whether you achieve your goal or give up and settle for less than you deserve. If we really want to create different results in our lives, we must become aware of how we interpret the "facts" or "events" of our lives and understand that our explanations often do not represent the "truth" of what's possible for us. In a very real sense, facts are an objective account of the event that occurred. No interpretation or meaning is attached. For example: "I was rejected by a potential investor for my project," "My husband left me," "I lost my job," "I was diagnosed with an illness," "I can't get pregnant."

Truth represents what's possible in any situation. "Each rejection brings me one step closer to an investor for my project," "I will find a new, better relationship," "I can find a better and more fulfilling career," "My health will improve," "I can adopt," and so on. Many people believe that events control their lives and that their circumstances have shaped who they are today. It's not true. It's not the events of our lives that shape us, but how we respond to those events, what we think they mean, and whether challenges trigger the "giving up" reflex in us or motivate us to hang tough and keep fighting."

Cynthia Kersey, Unstoppable Insights.