Wednesday, December 24, 2008

OBAMADAN


It’s that time a year again, when families relax by the fire to commemorate the holiday season and sip hot cocoa while reflecting on the year gone by. But this year, things are different. It’s not about Christmas or Chanukah or Kwanza or some amorphous, politically correct “Holiday.” This year, the world can gather together to celebrate OBAMADAN.

In the tradition of other made-up holidays like Festivus, we here at EMITYB are proud to bring you our newly founded holiday. So gather ‘round, children, as we recount the miracle of Obamadan.

Details of the Obamadan legend are fuzzy, but historians have built a consensus based on the following account:

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away (Hawaii), the world was in peril. War raged, energy was scarce and cholera was taking its toll. A young woman with child walked the streets of in search of a place to bear her offspring, a child that was destined to be The Chosen One. His fate was foretold by Thomas Jefferson’s hazy vision 200 years ago, that may or may not have been opium-induced. The father was back in his native Kenya, having abandoned the woman to give birth and raise the child alone. Lacking health care, the woman searched long and hard for an inn rather than a hospital, but alas, every last Motel 6 had lit its “NO Vacancy” sign. It was at the bleak Ayers Compound that the woman finally found refuge, and, yea, her child was birthed amidst a kindling of straw and Marxist literature. It was a strong child, wrapped in swaddling clothes, donning a Che Guevara hat, and bearing the mark of the Savior. Visitors came from far and wide, bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and biodeisel fuel. Corn-fed cows from the monoculture farms of Iowa kept the baby warm. This child, “The Obama”, would be our shining light.

The Obama grew to be a strong boy and a skilled carpenter, lending his craft to a slew of LEED certified high-density, mixed-use, transit-oriented developments. He worked for approximately one month, and then decided he was better suited for managerial duties rather than manual labor. He also had one bitch of a splinter. Both the pain from the splinter and his passion for helping the underdog inspired him to organize his former coworkers in a lifelong campaign against “The Man”. The Obama would go on to win the adoration and admiration of many followers, and eventually defeated The Man in an apocalyptical showdown for the presidency. Soon he will rule the world from his sacred Temple at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in the District of Columbia.

Obamadan is a month-long celebration held every year in honor of The Obama, culminating on January 20th. It is a festive holiday marked by indulgence and revelry, symbolizing the bounty brought to us by The Obama’s hard work over the years. Unlike most holidays that encourage self-sacrifice, those who participate in Obamadan are encouraged to “slow” over the course of the month, meaning they should eat constantly throughout the day at a slow speed. During Obamadan, it is improper to NOT drink every night after the sun goes down. In fact, some bars are starting to recognize the growing number of Obamadan supporters and vowing to stay open until 5am during the height of the festivities.

On each day of Obamadan, believers light Change Candles to signify The Obama’s victory over The Man. On the eve of the final night of the celebration, children leave a plate of organic carob-chip cookies and a warm mug of soy milk under their Hope Shrubberis in anticipation of a visit from Obamaclause. Obamaclause is the embodiment of The Obama’s good will, and is said to fly around the world in his hybrid sled led by a team of eight free-range reindeer every January 19th to deliver MacBooks, welfare checks, and New York Times Magazines to all the good little boys and girls. The bad kids, however, will receive a lump of clean coal.
Happy Obamadan, from all of us here at EMITYB.

...without a dope post to step to.

So Turk and I have been unbelievably busy at the think tank that shall not be named. But we're back and we're revving up a couple bad-ass pieces to launch this holiday season.

First, you thought Festivus was cool, wait until you experience OBAMADAN!!!

Then, forget Time Magazine's "Person of the Year", we're going to unveil ITYB's "Asshat of the Year" for 2008. We'd love your input! Vote for your favorite moron in our new poll.

One of the most groundbreaking discoveries in public health research was John Snow’s 1854 study on the cholera epidemic in London, in which he traced the disease to a contaminated water supply. Snow’s findings prompted the construction of new sewage systems and advancements in hygienic practices throughout the developed world. Unfortunately, 1.1 billion people still lack access to safe water and 2.6 billion live in areas without proper sanitation.[1] Cholera and other preventable infectious diseases continue to plague (and yes, THE plague is still around believe it or not) third world countries in Africa and Southwest Asia. The World Health Organization, which has a hilarious way of spelling “diarrhea” (diarrhoea), reported over 130,000 cases of cholera in 2005[2].

In the past few months, a severe cholera outbreak has emerged in Zimbabwe. The country has been experiencing major political turmoil since a hotly contested campaign between Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai in March. While the later won more votes, he did not secure the 50% needed for a conclusive victory, prompting a runoff election this summer. However reports of corruption, intimidation, and suppression on the part of Mugabe loyalists caused Tsvangirai to pull out of the election. Despite calls for resignation from fellow African leaders, and sanctions from Western nations, Mugabe refuses to concede. As he clutches to power, infrastructure and services in the country have been deteriorating, hence the current sanitation problems causing the cholera epidemic.

It is reprehensible that in 2008, with all the advances in modern medicine, there should be even one case of diseases like cholera, let alone thousands. While Americans are dying from “Western” diseases of overconsumption, such as diabetes, people in third world nations are dying from viruses that have been completely eradicated in developed nations. It makes me furious. In fact I’m burning mad, almost as if I had cholera myself.

The US has basically been mum while Mugabe has presided over a dictatorship of hyperinflation and epidemic, leaving the people of Zimbabwe economically and physically decimated. If our rational behind the war in Iraq was to free the Iraqi people from the atrocities of Saddam Hussein, why aren’t we equally if not more concerned about Mugabe’s misdeeds? Well, as Kanye West once opined, “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.” We haven’t intervened in the abhorrent violence and abuse taking place right now in the Sudan or Democratic Republic of Congo, so why should Zimbabwe deserve special attention? It reminds me of the George Washington video that was a YouTube sensation a couple years ago, in which our first president is depicted reading a newspaper while a lion devours a British kid. We’ll save children, but not the African children.

I hope that our first African-American president will get in touch with his Kenyan roots and have sympathy for a continent that suffers more than the average American can even comprehend. Instead of sending our troops to pillage for oil in countries that pose no threat to our security, we should deploy them strategically to help the truly defenseless people in third-world nations like Zimbabwe. Dictatorships like Mugabe’s are the real weapons of mass destruction, as they wreck infrastructure and economies and perpetuate abject poverty. We can’t call ourselves the champions of freedom when we pick our battles so discriminately.

[1] World Health Organization. The world health report 2007: a safer future: global public health security in the 21st century. http://www.who.int/whr/2007/whr07_en.pdf.
[2] World Health Organization. Weekly epidemiological record. 4 AUGUST 2006, No. 31, 2006, 81, 297–308.