I had an Australia-related dream last night.
I'm on a train, or something like that. My Australian friend Tracey is there, but it's not like we're on an outing together. It's more like we just happen to be on the same journey (It's kind of like when you're in school, and everyone heads to an assembly together. Your friends are with you, but it's not like you made plans to go together. Does that make sense?)
Tracey tells me she meant to forward me a video my cousin Stephanie has made. It's of our trip to Hawaii together (In real life, Stephanie didn't go with us, but in the dream she did). Tracey offers to let me use her phone so I can call Stephanie. She remembers that my regular phone doesn't have out-of-country capabilities. I think it's nice of Tracey to offer, but I'm thinking if I need to talk to Stephanie, I'll email her. And besides Stephanie never responded to my Facebook Friend request, so I probably don't need to contact her anyway.
Then we're in a train station, an underground type thing. I realize I've gotten myself separated from Tim and Jack. The idea now is that we're in Australia. This is our first day. I have no idea where my husband and child are, and no idea how to find them. I don't even know what hotel we're staying at. I'm thinking that next time we need to come up with a meeting place before we arrive at our destination. I'm thinking a bookstore would be a good idea.
Somehow we find each other (I think the dream skipped the searching part). We're all at a hotel. Tim is at the desk checking in. They tell him he can put his ID away. This makes him annoyed, because he feels they didn't take the time to look at it and make sure his credit card belongs to him (Tim often thanks people for asking to see his ID when he uses his credit card). They assure him they did. I go off to see the rooms. I have to walk outside. I look at Australia, and am totally in love. I think about how it's dreamlike, and what's the point of sleeping when we're here? Being awake is like a dream. I start thinking though that Tim is probably getting tired of Australia, and this might be our last visit.
I go into the hotel thing. I end up on a floor that doesn't have rooms. It just has blow up beds and sleeping bags. It looks like a mass sleepover. I'm thinking it looks kind of fun, and am wondering if we should try this someday. (There's idea that other floors had regular rooms, and private toilets)
Later....
I got the last part (taking things out of context) from stuff I read last night. In the article, I got the anti-American comment from, other people commented on how the information of the article was taken out of context.
Mac Howard of the Gold Coast says Biden did NOT say that Assange was a terrorist at all as this sentence illustrates - "I would argue that it's closer to being a high-tech terrorist." - he was given a choice of two oprions between this and an innocent journalist merely reporting what has been leaked to him (as many a newspaper has). It was terrorist or innocent and Biden said the former was nearest. For crying out loud guys show some regard for objective journalism!
Patrick of Sydney says That really is a misleading headline. I happened to watch the interview this morning, and Biden was making the point that he is closer to the high tech terrorist category than the Pentagon Paper category, after the questioner asked which one Assange was. There was absolutely no unequivocal condemnation of Assange as a high tech terrorist - just a comment on where Assange's activities are on a scale between the two options put by the questioner. The Australian should correct the headline.
I think what I was thinking in my dream (and in real life too) is that there's not much difference between Assange and the media in general. Could Assange be a danger to American security? Maybe. But I think other journalists can do so as well. You can twist information to create mass hatred, and mass hatred can lead to violence. It's not just the fault of the media, though. It's OUR fault, for the most part. We're too quick to believe, too quick to judge, and we don't take the time to get the full story.
I'm on a train, or something like that. My Australian friend Tracey is there, but it's not like we're on an outing together. It's more like we just happen to be on the same journey (It's kind of like when you're in school, and everyone heads to an assembly together. Your friends are with you, but it's not like you made plans to go together. Does that make sense?)
Tracey tells me she meant to forward me a video my cousin Stephanie has made. It's of our trip to Hawaii together (In real life, Stephanie didn't go with us, but in the dream she did). Tracey offers to let me use her phone so I can call Stephanie. She remembers that my regular phone doesn't have out-of-country capabilities. I think it's nice of Tracey to offer, but I'm thinking if I need to talk to Stephanie, I'll email her. And besides Stephanie never responded to my Facebook Friend request, so I probably don't need to contact her anyway.
There's debate between Tracey and myself regarding Stephanie's nationality. I think she's American, and Tracey thinks she is British. And this is because of a bakery bag we have with us. For some reason, this bag is connected to Stephanie. Tracey thinks the writing on it is British. Whatever.
Then we're in a train station, an underground type thing. I realize I've gotten myself separated from Tim and Jack. The idea now is that we're in Australia. This is our first day. I have no idea where my husband and child are, and no idea how to find them. I don't even know what hotel we're staying at. I'm thinking that next time we need to come up with a meeting place before we arrive at our destination. I'm thinking a bookstore would be a good idea.
Somehow we find each other (I think the dream skipped the searching part). We're all at a hotel. Tim is at the desk checking in. They tell him he can put his ID away. This makes him annoyed, because he feels they didn't take the time to look at it and make sure his credit card belongs to him (Tim often thanks people for asking to see his ID when he uses his credit card). They assure him they did. I go off to see the rooms. I have to walk outside. I look at Australia, and am totally in love. I think about how it's dreamlike, and what's the point of sleeping when we're here? Being awake is like a dream. I start thinking though that Tim is probably getting tired of Australia, and this might be our last visit.
I go into the hotel thing. I end up on a floor that doesn't have rooms. It just has blow up beds and sleeping bags. It looks like a mass sleepover. I'm thinking it looks kind of fun, and am wondering if we should try this someday. (There's idea that other floors had regular rooms, and private toilets)
Tim shows up, and is in a bad mood. He mumbles something about the fire safety of the building. That gets me worried, and I get a feeling there might be a problem with the smoke detectors. A part of me wants to ignore Tim because I like this place, and don't want to ruin things. Another part of me worries if I ignore Tim, we might end up killed in a fire.
Later....
I'm on a train again, or maybe a bus....it's some form of public transportation. My mom is with me. She starts going off on the awfulness of Julian Assange. I ask her what crimes he committed. She can't answer, and I can tell she wants the subject dropped. I then ask what's the difference between what he did, and newspapers do? I ask, how about newspapers that take things out of context, and then make headlines out of misinformation? My mom tries to ignore me.
I got the last part (taking things out of context) from stuff I read last night. In the article, I got the anti-American comment from, other people commented on how the information of the article was taken out of context.
Mac Howard of the Gold Coast says Biden did NOT say that Assange was a terrorist at all as this sentence illustrates - "I would argue that it's closer to being a high-tech terrorist." - he was given a choice of two oprions between this and an innocent journalist merely reporting what has been leaked to him (as many a newspaper has). It was terrorist or innocent and Biden said the former was nearest. For crying out loud guys show some regard for objective journalism!
Patrick of Sydney says That really is a misleading headline. I happened to watch the interview this morning, and Biden was making the point that he is closer to the high tech terrorist category than the Pentagon Paper category, after the questioner asked which one Assange was. There was absolutely no unequivocal condemnation of Assange as a high tech terrorist - just a comment on where Assange's activities are on a scale between the two options put by the questioner. The Australian should correct the headline.
I think what I was thinking in my dream (and in real life too) is that there's not much difference between Assange and the media in general. Could Assange be a danger to American security? Maybe. But I think other journalists can do so as well. You can twist information to create mass hatred, and mass hatred can lead to violence. It's not just the fault of the media, though. It's OUR fault, for the most part. We're too quick to believe, too quick to judge, and we don't take the time to get the full story.