Esther

[FONT="Franklin Gothic Medium"][SIZE="1"]I've lived all over the place in the past 28 years.. I was born and raised in [B]Paradise Valley, AZ[/B]. It's a pretty nice place and I guess these days it's considered the richest city in the state. No big surprise there. My parents still live in the house I grew up in and I'm a frequent traveler to PV every once in a blue moon to visit mom and pop. There's not much to do there really. I never liked Arizona either, so maybe I'm biased. After college I worked for a small company in Salt Lake City, UT. I wasn't there for long. I still think it's one of the most beautiful places in the United States. My favorite place in the state, hands down, was Zion National Park. If you're ever for some reason in Utah you MUST visit it. I then moved across the Pacific to Singapore to work for that country's branch of a chat-based online game. I had tons of fun there and experienced so many different things and cultures that I would have never done otherwise. Singapore is definitely another place to visit once in your life. The people are nice and the island is just beautiful, clean, and sunny. Sentosa was my favorite place to go; beautiful beaches! On top of that it's where I met my husband. :] After getting married, my husband's father passed away in South Africa. His father for some reason didn't leave any sort of will and the family was fighting over who got what. We were there for about 2 months until the issue was resolved. South Africa is another beautiful place. However, it was also extremely dangerous. I never really felt safe which is a shame because of the beauty the place has. Africa as a whole is just simply amazing. Now, I live in a suburb of Los Angeles called Stevenson Ranch. It's a community of the larger Santa Clarita Valley. For the most part it's just an average suburb you'd find anywhere else with the exception of the beautiful rolling hills that surround the city. Also, a lot of movies are filmed in the surrounding city; most recently Twilight was filmed in a few local places. Magic Mountain is here too. At first I was reluctant to settle down here but over the past year I've come to love my new home. I'm here in California to stay and I'll be starting a family very soon. Phew! Did you catch all that?[/SIZE][/FONT]

[quote name='Chabichou'][COLOR="#004a6f"]I think it's about high time that people recognize Israel for what it is: a terrorist state, comparable to Nazi Germany. For the past 60 years many people, particularly those living in the west, have been fooled by Israel's lies claiming it wants peace, but I am glad to say their numbers are dropping. [/quote][/COLOR] [SIZE="1"][FONT="Verdana"]Excuse me? I'm afraid you've been spoon fed too much propaganda from Hamas television. Watching a bit too much of that terrorist Mickey Mouse, huh? You've got it completely twisted -- Hamas is the group that's listed as a terrorist organization by nearly westernized and civilized nations. Palestine themselves have declared Hamas a dangerously militant group. [/FONT][/SIZE] [quote name='Chabichou'][COLOR="#004a6f"]It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out by now, that Israel, its pockets filled to bursting-point with American money, uses terror to beat its opponents into submission. Israel craves any opportunity to show off their "military might" to give the message: "if things don't go our way, we will pulverize you". This craving greatly increased when they suffered a humiliating defeat to Hezbollah in the summer of 2006.[/QUOTE][/COLOR] [FONT="Verdana"][SIZE="1"]Oh please. Israel doesn't bring out tanks and rockets just for the lulz. Israel brings out the heavy artillery whenever they feel they're in danger; which they have the right to feel seeing the area they live in is full of barbarian terrorists. Poor Israelis having to live in such a crappy area thanks to..[/SIZE][/FONT] [quote name='Chabichou'][COLOR="#004a6f"]In 2004, the International Court of Justice ruled that Israel has no right to East Jeurusalem, Gaza or the West Bank. Every year since 1989, the United Nations General Assembly votes on a resolution, that is to be a peaceful resolution of the Palestine-Israeli conflict. Every time, the whole world would vote in favour of this resolution, while Israel and the U.S (along with few microstates) would vote against it. The Palestinian authority, and yes, even Hamas, have come to accept this as solution. The only obstacle is Israel and the U.S.[/QUOTE][/COLOR] [FONT="Verdana"]Do you [I]honestly[/I] believe that Hamas would uphold that resolution? That's like asking al-Qaeda to shake hands with the US miltary and calling a truce. It will NEVER happen. Hamas is such a radical group, it's like a horse gone wild -- there's no stopping it. It wouldn't be long before Hamas decided to shoot a couple of rockets into Sderot to provoke Israeli action then cry to the rest of the world how their people are suffering.[/FONT] [quote name='Chabichou'][COLOR="#004a6f"]Hamas was diligent to uphold the ceasefire. Israel however, does not want peace. If Hamas stayed true to the ceasefire, its legitimacy would increase, and international pressure would increase on Israel and U.S to finally accept the two-state solution.[/QUOTE][/COLOR] [FONT="Verdana"][SIZE="1"]Tell that to Hamas. I still find it hilarious you're portraying Hamas like the nice guy here. Knee-slapper.[/SIZE][/FONT] [quote name='Chabichou'][COLOR="#004a6f"]Israel had been planning for this war-- no, this [I]massacre[/I] of the Gazans before the ceasefire even began in June. The ceasefire simply gave them time to build up their weaponry. All they needed now was an incentive for attacking Gaza.[/QUOTE][/COLOR] [FONT="Verdana"][SIZE="1"]And Islamic radicals have been planning the complete annihilation of the Jewish people for hundreds of years. They're even preparing their children by telling them that strapping a bomb to your chest and blowing yourself up is an honorable thing to do! Going to school? Getting an education, a career? Raising a family? Nah. Those all take back seat to suicide bombings. What a great way to raise a kid! Israel is 100% justified in their Gazan offensive, as I've already stated before. Hamas, and every Muslim extremist group for that matter, must be EXTERMINATED. If Israel is going to combat terrorism and protect the people of the free world, then I would expect EVERYONE to stand up and support them. Shame on Palestine for not recognizing that Israel is trying to free them from the evil grips of Hamas.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[quote name='Tophel']They have done nothing but denounce and demonise. Hamas is an ugly organisation and many of its leaders are nasty people. But if you want peace you need to look past that, you need to be able to look forward and not just backwards.[/quote] [FONT="Verdana"][SIZE="1"]Well, what do you expect? Hamas is an ugly orginzation, yes -- a hideous one at that. And ALL of its leaders are nasty people. There will never be peace with Hamas, and suggesting that there can be is beyond naive. Tell me: if you were an Israeli and a Jew, and saw that Hamas was airing this as a children's television series, would you think peace was obtainable with them? [URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gi-c6lbFGC4&feature=related"][B][U]Video 1[/U][/B][/URL] [URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jm8w7_P8wZ0"][B][U]Video 2[/U][/B][/URL] Didn't think so.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[quote name='James'][font=franklin gothic medium]Yeah, that's cool and all, but it wasn't terribly clear from her post. Given that a thread involves responses to the OP, it's usually a good idea to be specific when referencing stuff outside the thread. [/font][/QUOTE] Sorry you mis-read my post, James. I thought I was pretty specific when I stated in the very beginning sentence of my post that I was talking about protests and went on to speak about the protests... Also, if I was responding to a specific post I'm always sure to quote that post like I did above. :] [quote name='Rachmanioff']Also, I seriously doubt International law allows one country to wantonly attack another and not be held accountable for their actions. So based on what I've read, I'm seeing that it was Hamas that broke International law in this case, not Israel.[/quote] [FONT="Verdana"][SIZE="1"]Exactly my point. The people who cite International Law against Israel obviously don't have any background knowledge on the crisis in the Middle East. Like I've already said, rockets have been fired into Israeli territory since the last Gaza fiasco in 2006. Hamas and their supporters like to state that the rockets haven't killed as many people as the airstrikes carried out by Israel into Gaza (City). So I guess it's now okay to fire mortars into your enemy's territory and kill a few people and cause survivors to suffer from post-psychological stress. In my opinion, Hamas wanted this to happen.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT="Verdana"][SIZE="1"]I find all these protestors in favor of Hamas to be very hypocritical and offensive. "Stop the Holocaust in Gaza"? "Save the children!"? Please, spare me the dramatics. It's Hamas's fault. Perhaps were they to stop shooting rockets into southern Israel and accepted the cease-fire, Israel wouldn't have had been FORCED into taking more aggresive action. Israel has been taking all this like an abused housewife for the longest time. In ONE single day there were 80 rockets fired into southern Israel. 80! So now that Israel decides to take action, they're the bad guy? Someone, for God's sake, please explain this mind-set to me because I'm really not getting it. And people need to stop pulling the "save the children" card because it's really ineffective. The Israeli government hasn't been storming orphanages in Gaza and exterminating Palestinian children. There is a conflict in a densely populated area, and when there is military conflict in a densely populated area there WILL be casualties, and unfortunately some will be children. There is not "Holocaust" going on in Gaza. How can you compare 400 deaths to the deaths of millions who were persecuted PURPOSEFULLY? The Palestinian people are not being targeted because they are Palestinians. Hamas is the enemy here, and they happen to be Palestinians. The Israeli government has stated that they wish to have peace with the Palestinian people but Hamas has decided to ignore this. Hamas had a chance to avoid this, they took that chance and threw it out the window. I support Israel's actions in Gaza. It's very clear who is at fault here.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT="Verdana"][SIZE="1"]I've never been one to ask a lot for Christmas. I always feel bad when I do. This year, I just told my hubby, parents, and friends to get me whatever or nothing at all -- it really didn't matter. However, I would be really thankful if someone got my something from Tiffany's. ;) (I saw a little blue bag in my husband's office closet by accident so I think he did go to Tiffan'ys!) [/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT="Verdana"][SIZE="1"]I live in Southern California, so it obviously hasn't snowed here. But apparently it snowed here last year and there's a small chance it might snow again this year! Global warming, anyone? Hehehe.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT="Franklin Gothic Medium"][SIZE="1"]I really don't see why everyone is so shocked that Obama chose Warren to deliver the prayer and speak at the inauguration, Mr. O has a record of associating himself with inflammatory characters; I'm not going to name names, but I'm pretty sure everone can think of two examples to back this up.. The Obamamaniacs are trying to cover this gaffe up by saying this is an example of how Obama is going to bring the nation together. Yeah, okay. The LGBT community should not be upset by this choice because Obama was never on their side. He only appealed to them to seal their vote. Obama did not appoint one LGBT person to his cabinet nor did he (to my knowledge) have any LGBT people in his senior staff for his campaign, [B][I]but Sen. McCain did.[/I][/B] Do I believe this was a good choice? No. If he really wanted to bring the nation together, he would have chosen a religious person that appeals to EVERYONE and not one demographic, not a man who has abused his power of voice to [B]compare homosexuality to polygamy, BESTIALITY, AND PEDOPHILIA.[/B] Good job Barack, he's sure to hit the ground running.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT="Verdana"][SIZE="1"]Seeing as so many of you are already deep into the conversation, I'm just going to state my opinion and anyone is free to comment on it. :] As most of you already know, I'm a strong advocate of marriage equality. Some of you may also remember, I also used to be a devout Mormon when I first joined the OB a while ago (I have since left after a conflict took place between myself and numerous church members). Needless to say, whether you like it or not, the Mormon church had an agenda this election cycle, as they do with everything. Their politicking was based on the foundation of one thing only: lying their ***** off to scare Californians into thinking their kids are going to be "taught" about gay people. First and foremost, California state law says that if you are a parent of a child in school you are given the right to opt your child out of ANY school related activity. No one is holding a gun to your head and saying "YOU MUST LEARN ABOUT GAYS!" Besides, your child is going to learn about homosexuality anyways whether it be on the playground, TV, Internet, or even discovering they themselves are gay. Also, what's this notion that whatever your child is taugh in school reflects what they decide to do with their lives? Children learn about the KKK, but do they decide to burn crosses outside of black Baptist churches? Children learn about John Wilkes Booth, but do they decide they're going to go out and assassinate the President? I think people tend to forget that children are human beings with their own free will -- they will eventually get older and decide what they personally want to believe in for themselves, you can only do so much as a parent. Another talking point the religious right loved to use was that Californians will lose their right of religious freedom. Ever heard of a little thing called the First Amendment? I honestly do not think Californians understood the severity of the issue when they entered their local polling places on November 4th. They were spoon-fed lies by propagandic commercials funded by the Mormon church. They played dirty, very dirty. Hell, they even used pictures of children in one of their advertisements celebrating the same-sex marriage of one of their teachers. Why is this wrong? First, they didn't even have the consent of the children's parents who were opponents of Prop 8. Secondly, they took images of care-free children celebrating the happiness of someone they loved and distorted it to fit their message of hate. And that is pure evil.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[quote name='Sabrina'][FONT="Tahoma"]It's also a fact that quite a few people voted against it. Passing doesn't mean everyone supported it. So to tell them they should be ashamed, when you don't know if they voted for both or not, is what I'm saying is a silly assumption. Some probably did, but I'm sure there were plenty who did not. Plus I'm well aware that it's a fact (that the deal passed) I'm only calling to question the assumption that those who voted for Obama,[I] also[/I] voted for Proposition 8, it's a fine distinction, but it is one to think about. Keep in mind: "Voters approved the constitutional amendment by a margin of 52.5 to [B]47.5[/B] percent, according to near complete results." So all I'm saying is that it's a stretch to assume that those who voted yes, also voted for Obama. Unless you have the hard data on how people voted that you can link to. And yes I know you're being more general in your statements. [B]I just think general statements of "you should be ashamed" are inflammatory and don't really solve anything other than to perhaps vent your own frustrations.[/B] [/FONT][/QUOTE] [FONT="Verdana"][SIZE="1"]You're still not grasping what my message was in my post. I'll edit this tomorrow when I have more time to elaborate on this. Also, I'm confused with the statement I bolded. I know I said I personally was ashamed to be Californian. Can you quote the part in my post where I told everyone is to feel ashamed like you said I did?[/SIZE][/FONT]

[quote name='Sabrina'][FONT="Tahoma"] That's assuming that the same people who voted for Obama [I]also[/I] voted for the ban on same sex marriage. That's a pretty big jump/assumption to be making don't you think? We had a similar ban against same sex marriage come up here a few years ago. And though it passed, I don't feel ashamed for being a Utahan. Why should I? When I read it and realized that it discriminated against all couples (including straight) who were not married, I voted against it.[/FONT][/QUOTE] [FONT="Verdana"][SIZE="1"]I'm afraid you've mis-interpreted what I meant. I was speaking in general terms, California elected Obama and California passed Proposition 8. It's not an assumption, it's a fact.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT="Verdana"][SIZE="1"]Well, I obviously voted for McCain. My parents over in Arizona voted for Obama which I found pretty funny. It would have been so sad if McCain actually lost Arizona. Tuesday night was so historical, and I am proud--as a minority myself-- of Obama, even if I don't agree with his politics. I'm pretty sure millions of Americans across the country are still dumbstruck even today. However, the night was overshadowed with sadness for me. When Prop. 8 was projected as a pass, my best friend and I just held each other in silence for such a long time. It just seemed so unreal, it broke my heart. And as Arizona, Florida, and Arkansas passed their anti-gay bills as well it just really dampened my night. I've been protesting against Proposition 8 for about 2 weeks now and I participated in the march in West Hollywood last night. I'm deeply ashamed to be a Californian today. I'm also in complete shock that 70% of African Americans voted in favor of Proposition H8. I would think that all of us minorities would be able to reach out and connect, if anything, with the gay community; we know first hand what discrimination is like. We have to challenge the constitutionality of the proposition and repeal it. I find it truly hypocritical of Californians (and Floridians for that matter) to elect a preacher of change yet in the same breath vote against it. [/SIZE][/FONT]

[quote name='ChibiHorsewoman'][color=#9933ff] Oh and BTW, if I was living in California I'd vote yes on Prop eight because it's really no one's business what two consenting adults are doing in their bedroom. For Christ sake keep Gay Marriage legal[/color][/QUOTE] [SIZE="1"][FONT="Franklin Gothic Medium"]I hope you mean "No" on Prop 8! Haha.[/FONT][/SIZE]

[FONT="Franklin Gothic Medium"][SIZE="1"]What's with all the bashing of Fox News? It's obvious that Fox News has a conservative slant just as much as MSNBC/MSNBC/CBS are part of the liberal media elite therefore, leaning towards the left. It's just a piece of OLD news that people need to get over. As for the actual topic: I will be voting for the McCain ticket "holding my nose" so-to-speak. Like I've mentioned in another thread, Palin doesn't really catch my fancy. In my opinion, she doesn't represent smart, educated, conservative women such as myself well enough. Sure, she may be a "maverick" but in my opinion she's just a figure head my party put out in an attempt to keep hold of the office which they lost their chance in winning some years ago. So, I do believe Obama will win this election -- I don't agree with his politics, but I will respect him as President of my country that I so dearly love, just as I, despite not supporting each and every one of his political moves, respect President Bush to this day.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[SIZE="1"][FONT="Franklin Gothic Medium"]I don't really know how to categorize the way I dress. I have 3 years on me before I hit 30, so I still like to dress "young". My favorite store is Forever 21. Honestly, that store has some of the cutest things ever. I also like to shop at Burberry, Off 5th, etc. I'm not materialistic as I don't really care what anyone else is wearing; I just have a very unhealthy expensive taste. On an average day I'll be wearing anything from a satin collored dress to a solid colored polo. It really just depends on what I'll be doing that day or where I'm going. Don't even get me started on shoes. :[[/FONT][/SIZE]