Israel

I think that the attack on Gaza right now is horrible. I think the entire situation in the region is fucked beyond belief. Because though I think this is a disproportionate response to Hamas, and the Palestinian people in Gaza, I can't think of a proportionate response, or what that even means in context. As of the end of November 1212 rockets and 1290 mortar bombs were fired into Southern Israel. In an article I read on Sunday in the new york times (which I don't have access to online to reference) 300 rockets were fired into Israel last week alone right after the cease fire ended.

What Israel is doing I think is wrong, but there doesn't seem to be a right thing to do. What is the proportional response to almost 3000 rockets/mortar bombs, fired into one's country over the course of a year? Because what they were doing before didn't seem to be working to get it to stop.

And how does one negotiate with an organization that calls for one's destruction?

None of this is an excuse for Israel, just honest issues that as a Jew, a supporter of Israel, and of Peace, that I struggle with every day.

the inconvinence of truth

I've been absent, here's what you missed:

It's official. I'm going to vacation in Hong Kong in November. I've been on the fence for a bit, but expense be damned. I haven't really traveled and taken more than two days of vacation in over a gazillion years (literally). It's only going to be for a week, but if all goes well it will be a very good week. I shall be staying with a friend who is currently semestering over there, which will cut down on my expenses tremendously. I am quite pleased.

I've never seen a traditional Korean wedding ceremony and I guess I never will. My buddy Koo got married two weeks ago and because mapquest should really be called "the most ass backwards way of getting from point a to point b dot com" we (Natasia and I) got there late and missed the wedding. We arrived just in time for the reception. The food was pretty good (from what I had of it - lots of meat, lots of Korean stuff I was too scared to eat because I didn't know what was in it and I'm a coward) and we were sat with the only other white couple there. On the down side the best man gave the worst toast I have ever heard in my entire life. Things one should never say during a best man toast: "Ladies, I'm single and looking for a sugar mama." followed by "Also I am completely broke so anyone qualifies." A best man toast is not the time to practice your AA material. Don't talk about the hard life you've been having. How you had no one to talk too, how you felt estranged from your best friend, but thanks to Jesus everything is OK now. And most of all, it's a toast. It should be no more than five minutes not nearly a half an hour. I wish I had a time machine so I could talk to this best man and set him straight.

Lots of other travel is coming up, I am going to Nashville Tennessee this weekend for a bachelor party. I will write more on that after the fact.

Last little thought of the day. Who are the idiots out there who are still undecided? The two candidates have been running for over a year now. If you don't know which one you like better that means you haven't read a newspaper, watched a single bit of television, listened to the radio, checked your e-mail, or surfed any part of the internet for over a year. Or, you are incredibly stupid (and probably ugly to boot). Either way, if either one of those two things are true you don't deserve the right to vote. I don't care which candidate you've decided on (well I do care, but that is an all together different rant), but if you claim you don't know the candidates well enough yet, you haven't been fucking paying attention and I hate you. And for all of you undecided who can't make up your mind because even though you think Obama would be better you aren't sure if you can vote for a black man, You are what's wrong with this country and I hate you even more. If you really loved America like you say you do you'd kill yourself for the betterment of the rest of us.

That is all for now.

TTFN

I love sarah silverman

This is hilarious, especially if you are jewish. Watch it!


The Great Schlep from The Great Schlep on Vimeo.

Two things

The first is that the world did not end today. So hooray world! That's one for science and nothing for irrational fears of science and human development. That brings the total score to... well science is still far behind as there are still people who believe that the world is flat. But Science is definitely catching up. So hooray for science as well.


The second things is why is it that a celebrity seems to be able to speak more succinctly as to the problem with Sarah Palin as the vice-presidential nominee than anyone else I've heard so far?

Basically what I think about politicians

These are not my thoughts but I agree with them whole heartedly.

From Chapter 28 in Douglas Adams' The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

The major problem - one of the major problems, for there are several - one of the many major problems with governing people is that of whom you get to do it; or rather of who manages to get people to let them do it to them.

To summarize: it is a well-known fact that those people who must want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it. To summarize the summary: anyone who is capable of getting themselves made president should on no account be allowed to do the job. To summarize the summary of the summary: people are a problem.

I can't say it better myself, which is why I don't care how exciting a speaker is, or how much any candidate offers change (see both democrat and republican conventions for details) if you want to be president, I just don't trust you. People are definitely a problem.

Do I really suck that bad?

I've been converting all my old files from my old computer onto my new one (a bit of an annoying process) going through what I should keep, and what I should just dump. I've come across a few gems and much more than a few really old crappy essays and stories which I promptly dumped. I found more duplicates that I was aware that I had (why did I let them take up the space on my hard drive, who knows?).


In any case this is an opinion article I submitted to a small newspaper in boston that was accepting open submissions. It was rejected, but very nicely encouredging me to try again. I never did because, I don't really know why. The point is, I know it's not even a little bit timely. In fact it's very dated, and it's a bit standard (I totally understand why it didn't it), but it isn't bad. So instead of just dumping it into the trash I figured I'd post it here as a dumping ground, so I can feel like it got used in some way in my life. I did spend some time on it, so why not make use of it. Right?

Anyway, here it is, feel free not to read it.

11/18/2003

As I turned my TV on Tuesday morning, the first sound that echoed from the speaker was a news anchorwoman informing me that gay marriage had just been legalized in the state of Massachusetts.

Like the majority of heterosexuals in this state I was aware that there was a case at the state supreme court in this regard but I also knew that it had been in trial for a few years, and figured that it would be a few years more before anything was actually established.

Well, something was definitely established, and though this ruling realistically affects only a minority of the population, the majority of us will be up in arms, either for or against, even though it does not affect our lives. This is not a law that ensures cleaner drinking water, not a law helping fund our schools, and not a law repealing any tax or tax cut. If this ruling went the other way our lives wouldn’t have changed. Luckily, the supreme court legalized gay marriage, and you know what, us heterosexuals can still get married like before, schools are still underfunded, there’s still toxins in the water, and I haven’t seen a penny of that tax cut. I can barely tell the difference between now and then.

This ruling was a long time coming and is just the next natural progression for a free and civil society. This is the whole “All men are created equal” bit we’ve been hearing about so much since we first studied the Constitution back in grade school. We are either all created equal with the same protection under the law or we’re not. The Massachusetts Supreme Court upheld the belief that we are.

Though this ruling may not affect our lives in the secular world it will be perceived to have an impact on the religious one. I doubt I’m the first to say that the courts decision should in no way affect how marriage is upheld in as a religious ceremony. Whether or not gay marriage is something that should be instituted by the various religious institutions is not up to the state. Likewise, how a legal marriage is defined by the state should not be up to any religious group, or groups. As a religious Jew I don’t know how comfortable I am with a religious gay marriage ceremony. But the fact remains, my religious beliefs in regards to a religious marriage should be completely separate from the state’s definition of a legal marriage.

Unfortunately many people can’t make this sort of distinction. America is a secular country, regardless as to how many Christmas advertisements you might see. And as a secular country it is very important to put the secular needs of the people ahead of any religious dogma.

Hence, in keeping with the upcoming holiday spirit it’s important for us to remember, as Rabbi Hillel once said, “Do not do unto others as you would not want them to do unto you.” This means, for those of you out there who disagree with the courts ruling, you don’t have to go out of your way to embrace the gay community, just allow them to live the same rich full life you yourself wish to live.

-Amichai Greene
11/18/03

So there you go. Who knows what other pointless crap I can find to take up space on this blog?

once again Warren Ellis is smarter than I am

This should really come as no surprise but Warren Ellis is smarter than me. I've had a decent amount of free time recently, partly due to my own laziness, partly due to the holiday season, and partly due to a job offer I'm waiting to hear back from which may or may not be the ticket out the more annoying and sad parts of my life (seemingly now more likely not than yes, but we live in hope), and I've spent some time (too much time) reading stupid things on the internet. I thought about linking a bunch of sites to give examples but really, I don't want to subject you to the inanity that has consumed my waking hours. If you are really interested just got to reddit.com and check out their politics section.

In any case, everybody and their grandmother seems to want to blame everything on an ideology. Be it religion, left or right wing politics, or some other crazy ideology. What it comes down to I think is not an idea or ideology, it's (as Warren Ellis writes - and I'm sure lots of other people have also said) it doesn't matter what the idea is, people screw it up every time. People are the problem, not because people are inherently bad or evil, rather because people are inherently stupid.

It's unfortunately that simple. People ruin everything.

But maybe I've spent too much of my time on the internet instead of doing something more productive, like trying to have a life. Maybe I should get on that.

Will this actually make a difference? One can only hope

In the end of Janurary CNN will be hosting more debates for the presidential primaries. On their website, you have the opportunity to write in your own questions, and then vote on the questions you think are the best.

I myself have posted a question, and intend to post some more. If you would like to pose some questions to the potential nominees you may do so here: http://dyn.politico.com/debate/index.cfm

If you don't want to register with Politico feel free to leave your questions in my comments section and I will post your questions for you.

It is in our best interests to ask the questions we feel we have a right to be answered, not only for our own edification, but so the general public is aware of their stances (whether or not you are a US citezen, as - not to sound ethnocentric but - there are global implications depending on who becomes the the next American President). The political process is meaningless with out our involvement. Well, at least more meaningless than it would be otherwise.

Random "important" thoughts Part one

On Global Warming:
I don't know much about global warming. I generally believe in global warming, from the bits that I've read and seen on TV and such it makes sense to me. Do I think it's a catastrophic event that is going to destroy mankind? I have no idea, but probably not. Do I think that it's minute and nothing we should worry about? No, I definitely don't think that either. I'm somewhere in between those two poles in regards to the belief that global warming exists and it is caused to a certain extent by human beings and the industrialized world. Given that, my basic notion in regards to global warming and the environment is the following: whether global warming exists or not, it's still a good idea to try and keep our environment as clean as we can. Tossing global warming aside, anyone who argues that an Earth with more pollutants and less biodiversity is a good and healthy place to live is an idiot. Can't we just want clean air and water, and a bountiful and beautiful natural landscape because that's better living for all inhabitants of Earth, including (and especially) humans, without making it political? I'd like to think so.

On President Bush:
I think I'm one of the few liberals that I know, who has grown to like Bush more as time goes on than less. Which is not to say that I think he is a good president, or actually agree with his policies. Perhaps like is too strong of a word. Grown more tolerant of our current president is probably a better way of putting it. I recently had a short conversation with someone at work (not a fellow employee but a customer) who was going on about how Bush is a fascist, and then started comparing him to Hitler. Many jokesters like saying that Bush is nothing like Hitler because Hitler was democratically elected. This may be so, but Hitler then dismantled the government, started a world war of conquest, and institutionalized genocide in Eastern Europe. So far, as I am aware, the government as imagined by the constitution still exists. We have started a war, and though many have categorized it as a colonialist occupation, the ultimate goal is one of withdrawal. Granted there has been tremendous deal of lying, and the removal of civil liberties, along with the ignoring of international treaties (as in the Geneva convention) but we as the public are slowly gaining ground on these issues, and hopefully the next president will be able to restore the seat of the presidency so there isn't such egregious abuse of power in the future (which means I hope a democrat wins in 2008). Do I think he is a bad president? Definitely. Do I think he might have broken the law and thus should be prosecuted? I do. Do I think he's evil? No I don't. I think the more I hear or read arguments comparing him to leaders like Hitler, or calling him a fascist, the more tolerant I become due to the extreme fallacy of those arguments.

when good ideas go bad

Just to put it out there, I am not a Christian. This is not a remark that is meant to infer judgment. I am not a Christian in the way you hear many secular people claim that though they were raised Cathotolic, Protestant, Evangelical, ect. they no longer believe, say they are not Christians. I am Jewish. But I live in a nation of Christians. This is not to say that America is a Christian Nation. I don't believe that it is. But it would be foolish to say that this country doesn't have a Christian majority. That it's founders were, if not strictly Christian (as many like to call them deists), coming from a Christian heritage in Europe, and had a decidedly Christian view on life. Granted they were also given the foresight, that though there was a Christian majority, we would be given a secular government to ensure the rights of all citizens regardless of religious or ethnic back ground. And to any one out there would claims this isn't really a nation of Christians, ask yourself why we get Christmas vacation but not Passover, Diwali, or Ramadan vacations? Even if you want to call it winter break, it still is set up to coincide with Christmas. So semantics aside, America is, was, and probably always will be set up and run with a Christian ideology (not Judeo-Christian as people like to say, if it really were Judeo-Christian then eating pork would be just as hotly contested as abortion - well that's a stretch, but you understand what I mean).

So it hurts a little bit when I hear about Christian groups complaining about the lack of Christian values in this country. It takes supreme hubris (and a Rumsfeldian sized disconnect with reality) to make such claims and act the victim.

Recently on CNN Christiane Amanpour had a three day special about God's Warriors and if you really want to learn more about it, click the link. Personally I don't think it was that good of a documentary series as it pulls a false analogy between Jews and Christians with religious ferver, to Jihadists who actively train and then follow through with murder. But I'm not going to get into that right now. You can follow the link and make up your own mind.

In this documentary, for God's Christian warriors they follow (among others) a group called BattleCry. to learn more about the organization I give you this and this and then look the rest up yourself (fine I'll help). I also had an interesting conversation with two friends down in Atlanta about BattleCry, and why it scares us as people.

But where am I really going with this you ask? Well I'm glad you did. I went to the Battlecry website and I read their teen bill of rights. And for your reading pleasure I give it to you here.

We, a new generation of young Americans, in order to protect the heritage of our forefathers and secure the blessings of liberty for ourselves and generations to come, do affirm and pledge this declaration:

When character and morality are uncommon qualities,

When corporations and marketers seek to profit from our destruction,

When pop culture icons do not represent our values,

When Judeo-Christian beliefs are labeled as intolerant,

When activists seek to remove God from our schools,

When truth is deemed relative and unknowable,

It is necessary for us, the emerging generation of young Americans, to stand for what is right and reclaim the values that have made our nation great. We call our nation to a higher standard, a lifestyle based

not on convenience, but on character,

not on what is easy, but on what is excellent,

not on what feels good, but on what is good,

not on popularity, but on principle,

not on what is tempting, but on what is true.

We, as young Americans, assert our right to determine our future and the future of our great nation. We hold these truths as our God-given rights, and we embrace them with our hearts and our lives:

We recognize that God, our Creator, is the source of all truth.

We will live with honor, always striving to do the right thing, even when it is unpopular. We will be honest and truthful in matters large and small, regardless of the consequences.

We will take responsibility for our actions, and not point to governments, schools, celebrities, parents, or friends to justify our wrong decisions.

We recognize that we are responsible for our mistakes. We will pursue purity throughout our lives.

We will not be seduced by a fabricated idea of sex and love.

We will save our bodies and hearts for our future spouses, and once married we commit to pursue faithful and enduring relationships.

We will see through the lies of drugs and alcohol and refuse to let any chemical influence our thinking or destroy our lives.

We will respect the authorities placed in our lives, even though some may not live as honorably as they should.

We will honor our parents, teachers, and other leaders.

We will reach out with compassion to the hurting and less fortunate, both in our society and around the world.

We refuse to be absorbed with our own comforts and desires.

We recognize the value of each life, whether born or unborn, and we seek to protect those who are unable to protect themselves.

We will do our best to represent and communicate our Creator to our peers, leaders, and society as a whole.

We will work to see that every person has the opportunity to see and hear about the true nature of our God.

In signing, we commit to pursue a life that exemplifies these standards.

We refuse to sit idly by and witness the destruction of our generation.

With God's help, we envision a bright and prosperous future for the nation we love.

Honestly, even though I'm not Christian, (and I'll let go on my animosity towardst the phrase Judeo-Christian) most of what is in this pledge are actually really nice sentiments. Sure I don't agree with everything in this pledege, but nothing jumps out at me as wrongheaded. Some of it is a bit naive (the bit about abstinence before marriage specifically, and the automatic respect of all authority placed in their lives regardless whether said authorites act with honor or not), but nothing so out there as one would assume based on their rallies and such.

So how does an orginization with a pledge that basically encoureges kids to help other people ("We will reach out with compassion to the hurting and less fortunate, both in our society and around the world.") turn into what they themselves call a militant orginization? It's not called a Battlecry for nothing. How does calling for a war against secularization not contradict with the overt peaceful message in their pledge?

I am just saddened that an idea of peace, and respect, and a desire to share one's belief's (which I am not opposed to, sharing is caring, it's the judging that comes along with it that I don't care for) turn into a fountain of distrust and even hate.

I don't know whether to Laugh, Cry, or Crap my pants in sheer Terror

To all of you who wonders what the true face of evil looks like, I give you Prussian Blue.

Aren't they just adorable?

Aside from any other idealogical problems I might have, I have to admit, this article brings front and center a demon of mine I need to get out in the open. As one who wouldn't have been considered white forty years ago (and there still are country clubs I can't get into because they don't consider me white) I have also been concerned about the quality of white babies being in decline.

And if you are interested you can buy those cute smiley face t-shirts Here

Don't even get me started on what their band name is a reference to (also check under this wikipedia entry).

And for those of you who just can't get enough of those wonderful girls, I give you their Homepage. Revel in teenie bopper hitler folk rock insanity.

Now if you'll excuse me I have to decide whether to kill myself or kill everyone else. Frankly, based on my mood right now, I'm leaning towards the latter.

I am a mother pheasant plucker

I'm all for a cease fire, and for peace in the middle east and all that Jazz. I really am. I am not going go all Political here - mostly because I don't have access to the sources I want to reference, and I can't put out any info without the proper sources to back said info up.

Thing is, and this is the part that is really fucking my shit up, in all the talks for a cease fire, and all the war protests I've read about in the papers, why is no one even talking about the release of the kidnapped Israeli soldiers that blew up this powederkeg?

And what ever happened to that kid (yes I know he is a soldier, but I don't think he's even 20 yet) who was kidnapped in Israel and is being held in Gaza?

What the fuck is wrong with the world?

But good. There is now a cease fire. But what's the next step?

Why Europeans are Stupid

I don't know if you've been following the news but apparently, last September a Dutch Newspaper printed a series of twelve political cartoons satirizing the prophet Mohamed and the nations of Islam (by which I mean the real Muslims, not the American organization that gave Malcolm X the boot). The cartoons show Mohammed in various poses, the one that the New York Times keeps referencing is of Mohamed with a bomb shaped turban about to go off. It is against Islamic religious law to create an image of their holy prophet Mohammed. Muslims world-wide (at least Muslims in the Middle East) are up in arms, demanding, well demanding something anyway. They always are demanding something. Just once I would like to see them in ask politely in some sort of calm diplomatic context. That being said, this is not a diatribe against various Islamic countries.

Since the Newspaper doesn't follow an Islamic doctrine they shouldn't be penalized for drawing an image of the Prophet. That being said, what the fuck did they think would happen by publishing demeaning images of a important religious icon? It's like publishing an image of a bunch of crooked nose Jews counting their money while drinking christian or muslim blood, or those really bad Japanese caricatures that were so prevalent in the US around World War Two. People will get very angry. I know all that blood libel crap gets my blood boiling.

According to the New York Times (Sunday, February 5, 2006 page A10) the Danish paper (Jyllands-Posten) claimed it had asked cartoonists to draw the pictures because the media was practicing self-censorship when it came to Muslim issues. Now this is a load of grade A bullshit. The difficulty to assimilate and be accepted in European culture (there was just a big write up about this about Muslims and other ethnic immigrants to Sweden and the racism they face in many aspects of Swedish culture in the most recent New York Times Magazine), or perhaps an article about the strife between the secularists and the religious Muslims in Muslim countries, or even the various political conditions that led the Palestinians to vote to power a terrorist organization; those are Muslim issues. Publishing racist cartoons of the prophet Mohammed is not a Muslim issue, it is a perception of the "Muslim issue", which is nothing other than inherent racism in occidental culture, and says much more about the publication and perhaps Denmark than it does about Islam.

Denmark, like most free countries believe in the Freedom of the Press. I believe firmly in this freedom. The Jylands-Posten should have and has the right to publish anything they desire, and I support their right to do so, even if they are publishing garbage. That being said, just because you can print something doesn't necessarily mean you have to print that thing. We pick and choose all the time what we feel is worth while to print or write about. If all the images do is create hate and animosity (and maybe reinforce ethnic stereotypes) what is their worth for publication? Freedom of the press is not a mandate to the press, you needn't publish everything that comes across your desk. Choosing such obvious inflamitory images reflects poorly on the publication itself, and as I understand it, newspapers live and die based on their reputation.

When you boil everything down, this would be a non-story; in September a single newspaper printed something stupid, it happens all the time (Fox News ring a bell to you Americans out there?). The fact that due to the controversy other Newspapers around Europe picked up the cartoons and ran them in their newspapers in some sort of feeble minded attempt at solidarity. As if having the right to publish also gives you the right not to have people get angry at what you publish. Again, just because something can be published does not mean it should be published. And if what was published was crude and racist it might be smarter not to publish it. This is a very much "What the Fuck?" moment. What the fuck where they thinking? It's February, September was five months ago. FIVE FUCKING MONTHS AGO. Only now are the riots starting. If the rest of fucking Europe wasn't so goddamn uppity and would let a really stupid decision fade into the background, there wouldn't have been a riot in Lebanon and Syria, and who knows where else, in front of the various Danish Embassies.

Freedom of the Press only means that you can publish what you will, it does not mean you can be exempt from the consequences. (And cheers to England, because I'm pretty sure they haven't run the cartoons in questions).

The Arab nations are not blameless, and I don't mean to intimate that they are. But my rant about the Arab nations is, well, it's a completely different sort of rant. I find they don't really have a leg to stand on as in Syria, Egypt, and others, they have a television adaptation of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a proven forgery many times over, and quite possibly the most anti-Semitic book ever written which has also done tremendous harm to the Jews over the course of the last century and even still today. There is a word called hypocrisy and another called over reaction and lastly an exacerbated motivation towards violence, but I'll let those lie - for this post anyway.

I'll end with my sincere plea to Europeans, stop being idiots. It's not doing anyone any good, and publishing hate and claiming freedom of the press only makes you guys look like douche bags. As far as foriegn relations go, America has been getting shit for years, and most of it deserved. It's Europe with it's hollier than thou attidute, that really gets my goat. As if they haven't made and are still making the same fucking mistakes we make over here. Publish whatever the hell you please, just don't expect your shit to come out smelling like roses. Next time if you use a little common sense and actually stop being so freaking racist (recent riots in France anyone?) this won't happen in the future, and then you can go back to blame America for all your problems.

Jackasses.

I totally miss boston

Million Dollar Rabbi (having quicktime will definitely help)

These are the type of shananagins I've missed by moving to Queens. Both fellows in the video are my former roommates. I didn't think I missed my freinds so much, but apparently I do.

As the song goes "Boston you're my home."

Also, my thoughts on the holiday season, summed up by someone else. I don't know who wrote it, but I really wish it was me. If you get gooey over christmas, this might not be the read for you. (I should thank Jeremy for posting this on his blog first, otherwise I would never have found it.)

Why didn't I see this sooner?

So Jon Stewart was on Crossfire last october and I never saw it untill today. It was freaking brilliant and if you haven't seen it I urge you to check it out.

Questions without answers

I don't support the war in Iraq, but that's old news and that isn't what this post is about. I just wanted to get it out of the way, and give a little background before I charge head first into this rant.

There's been more and more talk about Cindy Sheehan, in the papers, and on the various news programs. Whether she is vilified (say, by Foxnews), put up on a pedestal (MoveOn.org), used as a jumping off point for discussion (Newsweek) or mined for comedy (The Daily Show) no one can seem to shut up about her and her protest down in Texas.

Now whether you agree with her motives or not, you should concede it takes a very strong woman, and strong sense of commitment to do what she is doing. There are those who are denouncing her motives saying she is just using her grief and the death of her son for political gains, but then again many of those same denouncers are the ones who supported Terry Shiavo's parents who used their grief over their daughter for political gains (the denouncers political gains, not the parents). But the left isn't blameless either, just look at the recent attack adds on Judge Roberts NARAL pulled because they were just too damn mean (and by and large, blatantly ignored the facts). Both sides like twisting the truth for their own political gains.

To be honest, I don't really care about all of that. It's back story. Here's my real issue. In her protests Sheehan asked if this war was so important why hasn't he (President Bush) sent his daughters off to Iraq. This question, if you recall, was used by Michael Moore in his documentary Fahrenheit 9/11 as he approached Senators who voted for the war whether they would enlist their children to fight. The point being, if the Senators and President Bush aren't willing to sacrifice their own children it must not be a just war. I find that to be very flawed reasoning for a few reasons. First, I can't think of a single parent who would willingly sacrifice their children's lives for any cause. There are parents who swell with pride when their children choose to join the army, and fight for their country, even with a strong possibility that their children will die fighting. That being said, no parent I know would sign their children up themselves if given the choice.

Which brings me to the second reason. It's not the parents choice. My parents can't sign me up for the military. The only person who can sign me up is me. Even if they wanted me to be a soldier, if I didn't want to be a soldier, there was nothing they could legally do about it. The same is true for the first daughters. Even if President Bush wanted them in the army (which I doubt he does, as Jon Stewart of the Daily show said, "Are you kidding, I thought we wanted to win this war?") with out their consent he couldn't do anything about it, legally. The same applies to the children of Senators, or Congressmen or women. It's the children who have to choose to volunteer, that's why it's called volunteering.

The question "would you send your children to war?" is a divisive one. There is no way one can answer it and look good, sound good, or be righteous. It's asked simply to make the recipient look selfish, greedy, and - for lack of a better word - bad. Bad as in evil, morally repugnant, and hypocritical. These sorts of questions just make protesters on both sides of the aisle less palatable to the other side. They just entrench us in our beliefs that those on the other side are wrong as we think to ourselves: "I mean look at the kind of cheap tricks they pull to get some sympathy." To really spark a helpful debate we need to start asking better questions, not just divisive ones.

I'm a man a head of my times

Holy crap I'm psychic! But of course in the bad sorta way. If only I could predict good things to happen instead of this crap.

As reported in the Denver post:

Officials of the city's system, which this month pulled 6,000 racy Spanish-language picture books from its shelves, are worried that a full review of its 2.5 million books, CDs and videos may follow.

Juvenile delinquents

I always feel like such an idiot walking into the library, heading straight for the YA section to read the graphic novels (ie. comic books) I can't afford at the moment. I don't feel like an idiot because I can't afford them, rather that I have to walk into the section filled with 13-16 year olds playing some sort of online computer games, to get my graphic literature. I feels eyes boring into the back of my head as I browse ("look at that dork, still reading comic books").

Yeah, I like comic books, so what?

But shocked me the most is the nature of some of said graphic literature in the YA section. The librarians, who don't read the comics themselves (and I'm not advocating that they should, or that there is anything wrong with not reading comics) assume that if there are pictures it's for kids. This could get a library in serious trouble. Some comics contain images not suitable for young adults (at least by certain adults or parents).

For instance, if Preacher, the award winning series Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon, were made into a movie it would definitely be rated R. Strong religious themes and theological debates arise amidst a sea of sex, nudity, and blood. It is smart, funny, but with out a doubt adult (Adult as in a R rated movie, not a porno). If I had a thirteen year old child I probably wouldn't have a problem having him or her read it, but I know there are parents out there that would forbid it from their house.

And if teenager, or child took out a comic like Preacher from the library, and their parents don't approve of that sort of mature content for said child/teenager it's the comic that gets blamed for the content, not the library for putting it in the wrong section because "comics are for kids."

I know, I know, this is just a hypothetical, but stuff like that happens more often than we think, but mostly to comic shops than libraries (as most people I know aren't even aware libraries carry comics). Check out the comic book legal defense fund for more info.

I'm just sick of the bad rep comics get.

Anyway, rant over. Bah, humbug.

My horse is so high I can't see the ground

Just because this issue hits close to home.

Logan Ritchie reported in this weeks Jewish Advocate (the greater Boston Jewish newspaper) that the US Air Force Academy in Colorado has been accused of anti-semitism.

"Recent Graduate Casey Weinstein claims he was subject to proselytizing by his teachers, restriction of kosher food, the inability to observe the Sabbath and Christian themed parties sponsored by the academy."

Hooray separation of Church and state. Er, wait a second, that doesn't sound like separation at all.

Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State told this to the Jewish Advocate:

"There is a clear preference for Christianity at the academy, so that everyone else feels like a second class citizen."

Be all that you can be, as long as Christianity is somehow involved. No atheists, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and so forth allowed. But not just any old Christian is welcome.

Bruce Debosky, regional director of the ADL for the Mountain states is quoted:

"This is not something that happened over night. there is a history of Evangelical messages, and even mainstream Christians have been made to feel uncomfortable. It is critical that the constitutional principle of separation of church and state be up help."

I'm not going to get into a big thing explaining why the separation is important, or why, even though it isn't specifically mentioned in the constitution (It was Jefferson who coined the phrase "A wall of separation between Church and State" while giving a speech at a church). All I want to say is that this is getting more and more frustrating and even if this has been a problem for a while (as it in fact has been) we keep hearing about it more and more frequently now. I think much of the blame should fall on this current administration, as Bush has shown time and time again, to put it ineloquently, he sucks at being a uniter.

I don't have a problem with christians, religious or otherwise. Nor do I have a problem with religious evangelical christians. They can believe any way they want. I do have a problem with the Evangelical christian right who seem to be getting their way more and more with out regards to the rest of us living in this country. This is not a Christian land, no matter how much they would like to obscure the history and wish otherwise.

Whatever happened to those goth kids you knew in High school?

Judge: Parents can't teach pagan beliefs. Father appeals order in divorce decree that prevents couple from exposing son to Wicca. as published by the Indystar.

Well now we know. Sure I might make fun (and I do) but I respect anyone with who tries to uphold their religious beliefs in a respectful and peacefull manner. This is just wrong.

Religious freedom should be for everyone, not just the ones that the current group of old Christian white guys in power are comfortable with.

I'd go on, but I don't want to bore any of you with another political rant. But if you really want one you should check out Peter David's blog Peterdavid.net.

Don't just carry on, get angry, do something....