Am I being too cynical?

Maybe, but after the last few years is it hard to blame me?

If a marine named Todd Johnson had mysteriously escaped beheading via Iraqi insurgents and turned up in him birth country of Canada, where he still has relatives, would there be all this paranoid obsession about it?

So Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun has gone on leave. Apparently that's a standard part of the 'repatriation process' (something that sounds a little creepy to me, but maybe now I'm being paranoid...). Perhaps, in light of the spectacle of themselves the military made during the whole Captian James Yee fiasco, they are choosing to be hush-hush about their investigation, but the only people who seem to be acting like Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun did anything wrong are our histrionic media.

But, you know, that's really just par for the course, so I shouldn't be surprised.

Meanwhile...

Wassup? Just a little pic taken from my new Samsung E715 camera phone (and then made into a little wee pic via a picture editor on the computer).

That's right. I am now one of the cell phone people.

While you're waiting for me to get my blogging act together, why not check out my friend Tim's blog. He's the bravest guy on the planet for me right now.

I didn't die

Blogging will resume, I promise. Soon. Tomorrow. But now I sleep.

Angels and menaces of grace defend us...

This would be funnier if it weren't so right on the mark.

I agree with cartoon Kerry. It's scary that Bush can't say 'nuclear.'

Link via NTodd.

And speaking of Jesus...

This Nicholas Kristof Op-ed is worth attention.

If the latest in the "Left Behind" series of evangelical thrillers is to be believed, Jesus will return to Earth, gather non-Christians to his left and toss them into everlasting fire:

...These are the best-selling novels for adults in the United States, and they have sold more than 60 million copies worldwide. The latest is "Glorious Appearing," which has Jesus returning to Earth to wipe all non-Christians from the planet. It's disconcerting to find ethnic cleansing celebrated as the height of piety.

If a Muslim were to write an Islamic version of "Glorious Appearing" and publish it in Saudi Arabia, jubilantly describing a massacre of millions of non-Muslims by God, we would have a fit.

I don't doubt it. I'm sure these books will be decried as evidence of the horrible violence inherent in the 'rotten to the core' Christian culture any day now, but just to be on the safe side, I'm not going to hold my breath.

God Hates Crabs.
 
The Slacktivist has some excellent ideas as to why some acts of 'abomination' are more abominable than others.

The folks over on the religious right cite Leviticus as evidence that homosexuals are an unclean "abomination," yet they have no problem eating at Red Lobster. What gives?
Since many observers have noted this apparent inconsistency (see, for example, godhatesshrimp.com) I figured I would wade in to try to explain why it is that so many contemporary Christians reject gays while embracing shellfish.

Things like this have always been interesting to me because, as an athiest, I think everybody's just making it all up, but it's always seemed that the answer to alot of the world's problems is not less religion but rather more of it. 
 
Or, at least, more of it followed properly.  For example, suicide bombing wouldn't be much of a problem in the Middle East if the idea that suicide was evil were taken seriously.  Also, Christian fundamentalists wouldn't be such hate-filled bigots if they actually did the things Jesus wanted them to do.
 
Poor Jesus.  He must be spinning in his grave right now.
 
Just kidding.

Sigh...
 
Now, far be it for me to undermine our current democratic nominee for president, but John Kerry is making me pine for Howard Dean. 

WASHINGTON - Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry said Friday he would be willing to launch a pre-emptive strike against terrorists if he had adequate intelligence of a threat. 

..."Am I prepared as president to go get them before they get us if we locate them and have the sufficient intelligence? You bet I am," he said at a news conference at his Washington headquarters.

Now, I suppose the argument could be made that by "them" he means actually al-Qaida and not just whoever he feels like.  However, after four years of bald-faced lies from a U.S. president, I'm a little jaded and quick to suspicion. 
 
Over the next few months, "The lesser of two evils is actually less evil..." will be my mantra.

Cripes.
 
They went and changed blogger again.  Although I kind of like this fun toy.
 
Who knows.  Maybe I'll post in different colors all the time now.

I just wanted to let the world know...
 
...that my friend Tim is strong, and brave, and wonderful.
 
Okay, back to regularly scheduled programming.

It's good to know some things never change
 
Iggy Pop, still scary.

And soon, no drinking and no talking!

Now, I know smoking is a nasty habit and leads to all sorts of badness, but I've never quite understood the logic of banning smoking in bars.

It's like saying, "Well, go ahead and kill your liver, not to mention running over a happy family on your way home, but your lungs...now they're sacred territory to remain pink and fresh!"

It's totally stupid. If you're going to a bar and drinking...chances are health consciousness isn't one of your top concerns. Which is why I find this story out of Ireland so heartening.

GALWAY, Ireland July 7, 2004 — The smoke of rebellion rose across Ireland on Wednesday as a handful of pubs let customers smoke in defiance of a government ban.
Health Minister Micheal Martin promised to punish the owners of Fibber Magees, a Galway pub that was the first to rebel against the 3-month-old ban, and any others joining the campaign.

It's good to know that somewhere on the planet people haven't gone entirely insane about smoking.

Yes, smoking is unhealthy. And unless you've just ran a mile, eaten nothing but skinless chicken breasts without any sort of sauce, and breathed only crisp mountain air after bathing in the purest of springwater then I don't want to hear a word of it from you.

Banning smoking in bars is like banning sodas from McDonald's.

Yay!

I like this news.

I think John Edwards's idea of "Two Americas" should come back to the forefront.

Pop Quiz

Is the person who said this Muslim or Jewish?

"We will not support any violence, but we'll understand because the way that Sharon acts is a way that encourages violence,"

How do you feel about the religion of this fundamentalist cleric?

A Palestinian cleric drew criticism last week for saying that anyone handing over part of Palestine to a non-Muslim could be killed under a historic law of "fatwa" -- a license to kill someone who intends to kill someone else.

Of course, that's not how the quote originally went.

Violence breeds violence. The Palestinian/Israeli conflict would be just as bloody if they were Catholics and Hindus. It has nothing to do with religion, but with abuse of power and terrorist tactics.

Naturally, the fanatical fundamentalist rabbi who issued that call to arms is no more representative of Judaism than Osama bin Laden is of Islam. Jews worldwide are not to blame for his actions, nor should they need to decry them. It's obvious that any sane person would disagree with him. The question "does Judiasm support assasination?" doesn't even need to be asked. Of course it doesn't support it.

Unfortunately, Muslims in America are forced to explain the actions of a minority of people who pay lip-service to their same religion all the time.

As my father said, it's like holding all of North and South America accountable for the actions of the population of Albuquerque.

Or, as Margaret Cho said, like grabbing a redhead and shouting at them, "What's up with the IRA?"

Okay, this is hardly funny anymore...


borderline


Which Personality Disorder Do You Have?
brought to you by Quizilla


I don't care what Brian says...I am not a loose cannon! This quiz is just wrong!

Oh yeah...

Happy Fourth of July.

From where I'm sitting in New Mexico you can actually hear the Native Americans say "whooptie-doo."