Uniquely American

Religion

Now I don’t discuss religion at length because quite frankly, they’re my beliefs and my business just as it’s your belief and your business. However, given my recent commentary the last few days and the exposure I have had to some Christians who drop like a Brazilian soccer player screaming “I’m Hit! I’m Bleeding! You’re attacking my FAAAAITH!” whenever someone criticizes the actions of the Political Christian Right, I thought I should make my stance on Christianity clear. I am not a Neo-pagan because I hate Christianity or I resent a male dominated (and Protestantism really is) religion (though stereotypically neo-pagans are viewed that way). I first left the church because I didn’t get it.

First of all, Christ’s torture and death seems monstrously unfair. I still get choked up when I think about what that innocent and wise man/being (I wasn’t there, I don’t know) went through when he was guilty for nothing. He is not guilty of my sins, for him to be the scapegoat for my wrongdoing just isn’t right. He didn’t screw up. I did. My screw-ups are my look out, my responsibility. And secondly, I didn’t get how the mechanism of redemption worked. “O.K. so this dude, this really bona-fide cool dude, dies 2000 years ago and that somehow makes up for my wrongdoing?....How? Seriously, how does that work?”

And see, that’s where the faith comes in. That is what Christians believe just as I believe that the divine is a Yin and Yang of a God and Goddess. Both beliefs probably sound equally nonsensical to the adherents of the other, but we have faith that is how the divine works.

But that’s the only reason I am not a Christian, because I don’t believe. (Well, that and the whole “Ghandi is in Hell” thing.) Taken as Christ taught it, Christianity is an elegantly simple religion of faith and forgiveness, charity and hope. Christians just need to stop listening to preachers and just read the New Testament. You’ve got an awesome Messiah, you should pay attention to what he had to say.

And it’s not even that I think all Christians are screwed up. My mom is the coolest Christian I know and she is seriously into it. Her faith has been a life’s journey for her and though sometimes, y’know, it took her places the rest of us couldn’t follow, the end result (at the moment) is a woman who believes so strongly that even when the Church failed her, she still believes and lives with God everyday.

Temper has been a bit of a struggle (I did come by that quite naturally) *chuckle*. I actually had a dream once in which Mom had died, but she kept coming back to borrow books because she had gotten into an argument with Paul.

Anyway, my mom is no saint but she actually tries to live by what Christ taught and her faith is very strong, strong enough not to be threatened by other’s faith, even her children. After I left the church I went on a book search to find something that felt Right. That rang true to me. (I leaned towards Buddhism for a while, but found it a little too esoteric. Nirvana? Shouldn’t you be a little more concerned about how you are living this life now? And the denial of this world seemed unnatural.) Anyway, when I found Neo-paganism, my mother went out and bought “Wicca for Dummies” because she wanted to know what it was I was getting into. She wishes I would come back to Christianity, but she has never preached, threatened, cut off relations or tried to con me into it. Her faith is not bound up in her children and she actually believes in her God enough to know that he doesn’t need her to convert people.

Because that’s what it comes down to: Belief. I can’t sit here and tell you how wonderful my faith is (and it is) and expect you to believe it. People cannot be taught what God (or no God) they believe in, they just do. Which makes all beliefs (so long as they don’t involve hurting others) equally valid.

And when you think about it, who’s to say we aren’t all right in some way? I mean think about the Universe. Think about how truly awsome and complex a creation the entirety of the Universe is, from Galactic clusters down to microbes. Do you really think the being who came up with a universe that quite frankly, staggers our ability to conceptualize is somehow easier visualize than his creation? God is far too vast and subtle for man to comprehend fully. So who to say that he/she/it didn’t reveal different aspect of his/her/it-self to different peoples? Maybe we’re all just seeing different facets of God.

"I came to the conclusion long ago … that all religions were true and also that all had some error in them, and whilst I hold by my own, I should hold others as dear as Hinduism. So we can only pray, if we are Hindus, not that a Christian should become a Hindu … But our innermost prayer should be a Hindu should be a better Hindu, a Muslim a better Muslim, a Christian a better Christian." ~ Ghandi

What I do have an issue with is unholy alliance between the Christian Right and the Neo-conservatives: Neoconservatives promising religious agendas to get the Church’s votes, the Christian Right using Neoconservative politicians to further their agenda of religious zealotry. This sort of thing is exactly what the Founding Fathers were trying to guard against: Politicians setting religious dogma and religion setting public policy. Worship as you want, just stay the hell out of my government.

This isn't a Reeces Peanut Butter Cup.

O.K. I Have To Get This Off My Chest.

I want to declare my Love for the Dixie Chicks who slammed back into the world of Music this week with a massive “Fuck You” to the their critics and Clear Channel and many radio stations who banned their music after they made some jokes about Bush on a London radio programme. After this video I want to bear their children.

Love the “Drink to Kool-Aid” reference at the end.

Anyway, if you go on the various boards the number of jack*sses calling them traitors for speaking their mind on a London radio is pretty ridiculous.

Let me make this clear morons:

Jane Fonda went to North Vietnam, our enemy in arms, and did a press junket supporting their cause and handed them a big check. Natalie Maines went on a British radio programme, our allies in arms, and made a joke about George Bush.

If you can’t tell the difference, you are an idiot.

If you are, let me spell it out for you: The Dixie Chicks did NOT travel to the Middle East to have a chummy photo-op with Hussien or bin Laden, nor did they give a big check to Ba'athist party or al Queda.

Get it?

I made my bed and I sleep like a baby
With no regrets and I don’t mind sayin’
It’s a sad sad story when a mother will teach her
Daughter that she ought to hate a perfect stranger
And how in the world can the words that I said
Send somebody so over the edge
That they’d write me a letter
Sayin’ that I better shut up and sing
Or my life will be over
I’m not ready to make nice
I’m not ready to back down
I’m still mad as hell and
I don’t have time to go round and round and round
It’s too late to make it right
I probably wouldn’t if I could
‘Cause I’m mad as hell
Can’t bring myself to do what it is you think I should

What amazes me is the level of hatred these girls have incited. John Stewart and Al Franken bash the Bush administration all day, everyday, yet I have never seen the vindictive and hated filled commentary I have seen leveled at the Chicks. Even after Maines apologized for the joke (without retracting her stance on the war I might add; it’s called courtesy with integrity, Whatttaconcept!) the Dixie Chicks were still vilified beyond the basic "They're traitors and they hate the troops!!!" neo-con Bullshit. "Trangendered" was applied to them, "Lesbian/dyke", "Untalented", "Trashy", "Sluts", "Whores", "The only thing they are good for is a spread in Playboy/Penthouse/Hustler", "The only thing they are good for is lying on their backs..." Not only are their words attacked (in fact, rarely are their words attacked) they have to be devauled and demeaned as human beings. And not just demeaned, sexually demeaned. Perhaps more of that: “Uppity wimmin’s need to be put in thar place” BS? Men can speak their mind and argue as strongly as they want, but women argue their opinions just as strongly and they’re somehow how more deserving of crude insult and violent hatred maybe? Seems like there are a bunch of NeoCons who feel pretty darn threatened by these PEOPLE speaking their minds.

“America isn't easy. America is advanced citizenship. You've got to want it bad, because it's gonna put up a fight. It's gonna say, "You want free speech? Let's see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil who is standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours. You want to claim this land as the 'land of the free'? Then the symbol of your country cannot just be a flag. The symbol also has to be one of its citizens exercising his right to burn that flag in protest. Now show me that, defend that, celebrate that in your classrooms. Then you can stand up and sing about the 'land of the free.'" ~ The American President (1995)

This country was founded on the idea that the government worked for the people, that citizens not only had a right to critize the government, but a duty to watch over it.

“I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it” ~ Voltaire

I will say that the Chicks have been getting a lot of support across the internet as well, but it is sad that so many Americans seem to have confused their country with Communist China.

P.S.

I've been watching that DVD for NASCAR 2005. Can someone tell Jeremy Mayfield that the length of braided grass he has in the cabinet in his trailer is not a "good luck charm", but a sweet grass braid used for smudging? You light it like inscene so that it smolders and gives off smoke to spiritually purify a space.

Just a PSA from your Friendly Neighborhood Pagan. :D

Best of luck to Elliott, Dale and Mark and their crews this week at Martinsville!

You Know, This One Just Speaks For Itself...

DeLay Tries to Cover His Ass By Claiming "War on Christianity".

DeLay says he sees war on Christianity in U.S.
Sugar Land Republican speaks at conference of religious leaders

By SAMANTHA LEVINE
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON - American society looks down on Christianity, U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay asserted Tuesday at a conference of religious conservatives, but God and Jesus Christ have chosen Christians to stand up for faith.

DeLay, who is facing tough times of his own, offered a half-hour speech that was part history lesson and part sermon to a crowd of about 300 gathered at a Washington hotel for a two-day conference titled "The War on Christians and the Values Voter in 2006."

The Sugar Land Republican said some commentators — the "chattering classes" — will argue that there is no war on Christianity in this country.

"But in a sense, there always has been and always will be," he said. "Our faith has always been in direct conflict with the values of the world. We are, after all, a society that provides abortion on demand, has killed millions of innocent children, degrades the institution of marriage and all but treats Christianity like some second-rate superstition."

Despite those factors, DeLay said, "we have been chosen to live as Christians at a time when our culture is being poisoned. ... God made us specifically for it. ... Jesus Christ himself made us just so that we could live in this nation at this time."

The conference was convened by Vision America, a group founded by the Rev. Rick Scarborough to mobilize "patriot pastors" of all denominations to promote Christian involvement in government.

Scarborough, the former pastor of the First Baptist Church in Pearland, is a long-time DeLay ally.

"This is a man, I believe, God has appointed ... to represent righteousness in government," Scarborough told the audience, which included Eagle Forum Founder Phyllis Schlafly, former ambassador Alan Keyes, and Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan.

Was Pat Robertson busy?

DeLay made no mention of his own political troubles, including a looming trial on state charges of campaign money-laundering. The indictment in Travis County last fall forced DeLay to step down as House majority leader, a position that had cemented his power in Washington. DeLay has denied wrongdoing.

In addition to having been admonished multiple times by the House ethics committee, DeLay also has faced questions over his friendship with Jack Abramoff, the disgraced former lobbyist at the center of a federal investigation of influence-peddling on Capitol Hill.

Scarborough said DeLay had been "nearly destroyed in the press," and he made a vague pitch for the conference participants to support DeLay in his general election race in November. DeLay should not worry about it, however, he said: "God always does his best work after a crucifixion."

In case you all missed that, DeLay just compared himself to Christ

The Rev. Barry Lynn, who heads Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said the gathering was more about partisan politics than religion or cultural values.

"This 'war' is nothing real," Lynn said in a telephone interview with Cox News Service. "The fact is Christians in America are a cultural majority, and they are an extremely powerful group. But what you have here are second-tier preachers who are hoping to hit the big time, desperately hoping for a national spotlight ... ."

samantha.levine@chron.com

Christianity I have no truck with, I know many very sincere compassionate Christians who try daily to live up to the values taught by Christ. This is something entirely different. This is the money changers in the Temple all over again.

P.S. Given that Christianity is the largest and most wealthy religion in the U.S., not to mention having a President who has "Jesus" rubber stamp his decisions on a regular basis, I'd say Christianity is doing pretty well for being "persecuted" and all. Don't you think?

However, There Is Good News

Abramoff Sentenced

Though why didn't he have to replay the entire 60 million?

Hopefully we will be reading something similar about DeLay within the year.

Scary Addendum

*
Bush passes law that has not passed the House.

"But last month, Washington threw all that old-fashioned civics stuff into a tizzy, when President Bush signed into law a bill that never passed the House. Bill – in this case, a major budget-cutting measure that will affect millions of Americans – became a law because it was “certified” by the leaders of the House and Senate.

After stewing for weeks, Public Citizen, a legislative watchdog group, sued Tuesday to block the budget-cutting law, charging that Bush and Republican leaders of Congress flagrantly violated the Constitution when the president signed it into law knowing that the version that cleared the House was substantively different from the Senate’s version.

The issue is bizarre, with even constitutional scholars saying they could not think of any precedent for the journey the budget bill took to becoming a law. Opponents point to elementary school civics lessons to make their case, while Republicans are evoking an obscure Supreme Court ruling from the 1890s to suggest a bill does not have to pass both chambers of Congress to become law."

How many laws do they have to break before people wake up to what these people are doing? They just by-passed the one branch of government that represents the American people. It doesn't matter if you agree with the proposed legislation or not, it was passed without our representatives, and by proxy our, consent. It's illegal. Illegal as selling drugs or breaking & entering. Write your representatives! Demand that this adminstration follow the Law!

*Props to Farker Level 2

I Leave and All The Excitement Starts…(Edited)

Speaking of Quagmires...

Yesterday 500K people took to the streets of Los Angeles to protest new immigration legislation that would make it a Federal Crime to be an illegal immigrant in this country.

First of all, let me say that I think this legislation is WAAAY out of line. Most of the people who are here illegally are simply trying to improve their lives and the lives of their families. Cutting corners to obtain that goal does NOT put them in the same boat as murderers and such. Period. If Enron execs can steal billions of taxpayer dollars and not serve heard time, neither should these folks.

However, immigration is an issue I am very torn and confused on. I will be the first to admit I am probably not as informed on this issue as I should be. I do think there needs to be some sort of control over the process, controls that are not currently working. I do feel for those families in need of medical care who are here illegally, but understand how peeved people who have gone through the system to obtain their citizenship are at giving assistance who have not jumped through all the hoops that they have to be in this country legally.

Does that make sense?

Let’s put it this way: Waaay back in the 1994, everyone in CA was deep in debate about Proposition 187 . I didn’t think it was right to deny medical care to anyone who needed it. But a co-worker of mine who had emigrated from Trinidad said. “I have filled out the paperwork, taken the classes, jumped through all the hoops to get the benefits of being an American citizen. Why should they get them just for entering the country illegally? It’s not fair.” And I can see her point. We are not exactly encouraging anyone to come into the country legally right now. But should we deny help to those that need it? Anyway…

Add to that problem the number of business that will specifically hire illegal immigrant just because they don’t have to pay them living wages or provide benefits. Let be real people, China isn’t the only one with sweatshops. This attitude/idea doesn’t help matter any:

“The president repeated his call for a guest-worker program that would "create a legal way to match willing foreign workers with willing American employers to fill jobs that Americans will not do.”

Sorry Mr. President, I call "Bullshit". You encourage companies to ship all the manufacturing jobs overseas leaving us a service industry oriented economy, and don’t insist that companies pay a prevailing wage and provide benefits so that people living here can actually live on their paycheck and then say “Oh, Americans won’t work those jobs”? Americans won't work these jobs for the pittance your campaign contributors want to pay them.

Americans can’t live on those jobs. Like that one single mom you met last year with three jobs? That’s what is happening to everyone in this country’s middle to lower class, citizen, immigrant or illegal immigrant. And you seem to think thats cool? When did your Mom work three jobs Mr. President? Or any of your relatives for that matter?

No, serving on three Board of Directors doesn't count.

(I always find it amusing that neoconservatives want so desperately to bring us back into the hazy golden years of the 1950’s, but so readily give tax breaks to companies that ship the manufacturing overseas that provided the middle class the ability to raise a family on a single income in the 1950’s.)

“Guest Worker Programs” make me nervous because it creates a group of second class citizens that can be abused. If you are going to work in this country, you deserve the same treatment and rights as everyone else that works in this country. We already know that “separate but equal” doesn’t work.

Now, America is a country of immigrants. Period. To deny that is deny our entire history. Immigration is one of the factors that have made this country as great as it is. But the way things are working in this country currently, we are debilitating our economy. Maybe that is a step in globalization, I don’t know, but it sure as heck doesn’t look very good. Not to mention border security is something we obviously need to address.

What is the solution? I don’t know, but it seems that all the current legislation under question attacks the people when it is the system that needs to be fixed.

I’m going to open up the comments section on this one because I know I have some friends with some more informed perspectives on this and want to hear their side of it.

In More Scary News

Tracking Cars to “Tax Miles”. For some reason they can’t seem to be able to do this through the odometer reading? They have to use a GPS? WTF?

Apparently this is nothing new among the car rental industry. Enterprise does this as well from what I hear.

Now, this is a huge invasion of privacy. Tracking people’s locations? This is ridiculous! Why isn’t this a bigger story?

Oh...

I Have to Bring This One Up:

Whiny Babies grow up to be Conservatives. Or don’t, depending on your point of view.

Now, obviously this sample is too small to be truly representative. But it does raise some eyebrows and answer some nagging questions. *chuckle*

Actually, I really do think that the categories of Conservative and Liberal need to be dropped in daily conversation because they all too often get thrown around and misused so much they no longer have any meaning. Supporting Bush administration does not make one a Conservative just as it is not the deciding factor in being a Republican either. People who do not support the Bush administration are not necessarily Liberal, nor do they need to be Democrats. The Democrats having become near clones of the GOP has also canceled out the meaning of the major political parties as well.

However...it's is a pretty funny statistic.

Yet Another Missing Link..

H. Erectus to H. Sapiens Transitional Skull Found in Ethiopia.

It will be interesting to see where exactly this falls into the fossil record.

Speaking of Which….

Archbishop of Canterbury Disagrees with Creationism as a Scientific Doctrine

He has some very interesting commentary in this article, very interesting viewpoint.

"Whatever the biblical account of creation is, it's not a theory alongside theories. It's not as if the writer of Genesis or whatever sat down and said: 'Well, how am I going to explain all this... I know: in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth'.”

“So if creationism is presented as a stark alternative theory alongside other theories I think there's just been a jarring of categories. It's not what it's about."

Asked if it should be taught, he said: "I don't think it should, actually. No, no. And that's different from saying - different from discussing, teaching what creation means.”

Good Gawd, common sense. What will these crazy Brits think of next.

I told you all, societies who have been though massive religious upheaval know better than to take these things as seriously as we do.

Speaking of which...again....

EDIT: NEWSFLASH!

The Gospel of FSM hits the stores tomorrow!

Ramen my Pastafarian brethern, Ramen.

Prayers…

Going out to the Danas and all of Paul's friends and associates.

And Congrats…

To Mark Martin on his 6th place, Dale on his 11th place and Elliott on his 13th place finishes. Not that anyone should be thinking standings this early in the game and Lawd knows I don’t want to jinx it, but all three of my guys are hanging tough at 11th and above.

Itty-bitty *Yea!* with furtive glances to make sure Racing Gods didn't hear her...

Heard about the shove on Pit Road. I understand hot how thing get during a race, but Kenseth was right in admitting to being in the wrong and Jeffie-Pop owes him an apology.

On Final Note...



I'd like to thank Dad for sending me the X-Ray of Mom's angioplasty...

But I somehow think Chris was supposed to get it. :D

Kip's Travels: Spring Breakin' in Cape Fear

As much as I promised myself I was going to get sooo much work done over spring break… I didn’t.

However, I did manage to get the place almost completely set up at last. No more boxes on the floor, pictures hung, stuff put away. Papers sorted through, which took about a day and a half. I don’t know about you guys, but paper is my main housecleaning nemesis. I can’t be in a place more than a couple weeks before sheets of paper start eyeing each other lustily and breeding entire reams which scatter all over the place.

To my shame I hadn’t even set up my alter, which I finally did just in time for Vernal Equinox.

Then I spent a couple days down in Cape Fear. My NC History report is on the blockade of Wilmington. I though it appropriate to go down and get the lay of the land so to speak. I wish I could have found a boat tour that covered at least one of the routes into the river, but I was unsuccessful. I did however, run down to take a look at Fort Fisher (great website BTW). The only thing left standing (with one gun placement restored with a Columbiad gun) of the fort is Shepard’s Battery, but the little museum they had attached to the site was very well done and I spent some time chatting with the resident Historian there who was not simply a font of information, but very pleasant and eager to share about the site and the people who made it famous. I actually got to go back into their library and see some of the original records they have.

View from the western most gun of Shepard's Battery.

This was a trend I noticed on my trip: North Carolina has mostly a lot of small museums, but they are really well done. Coming from a township in Maine where the local history museum was a collection jumbled together in the old Fire Barn garage, the Cape Fear Musuem is staggering. They are quite serious about tourism here. I was driving home and passed through what amounted to pretty much a collection of trailers surrounded by a scattering of farm houses, but on every electrical pole and light post there was a “Welcome to Pink Hill!” banner. Very feisty little Chamber of Commerce.

I’m also getting a real sense of the cultural difference between Eastern and Western North Carolina as well as the rivalry between North Carolina and Virginia. I haven’t been able to ascertain the stereotypes of either side of the border beyond “Idiot”, but I am looking forward to hearing some more of the jokes.

While we were down there, I also toured their local aquarium, which is apparently part of a system of state run aquariums. While small, the set up was quie impressive beginning large atrium housing tanks of local water life (including one of local snake species with the copperhead on one side of the little pond and aaaall the other snakes on the other) among a lovely garden before you enter the main aquarium itself with all the requisite tanks: multi story local, carol reef, sea horse (proof of God's sense of whimsy), jelly fish, lion fish, etc., as well as some interesting displays of cutle fish, a gregarious octopus (Which I would have taken a picture of, but they are so normally shy I didn't want to freak him out) and a baby sea turtle that was passing the time bullying rays.

Kip: Budding nature photographer.











Of course, I also stopped, walked along the beach and reacquainted myself with the Atlantic again.
Lord and Lady why did I ever leave?




Rutger and I got to check out historic Wilmington with it’s collection of nice shops (including a great tattoo/piercing studio) and excellent restaurants along the river walk. Sunset over the river from one of these patios is spectacular. We even stumbled across the start of their local “Ghost Walk” which is a great way to see some of the more out of the way places and learn their local lore. We went to the Hospital and St. James Church and the house that is on the Old Gallows Hill. I also wanted to go on the Haunted Pub Crawl, but I didn’t make it back from the Cape in time. As well, another trip.

Rutger on the River Walk (Lord knows the best use of the most decorated battleship of WWII is as a background for a picture of your pet.) ;)

I also took the chance to see the USS North Carolina. You read about them, you see pictures of them, but you have no idea how absolutely bristling with guns a battleship is until you actually drive up on one. They actually allow folks into the 16” gun turrets, which are a *lot* more cramped than one would expect. I can’t imagine the horrendous noise of fighting one. I would be surprised if any of those men walked away with any hearing at all. Dad (a “brown shoe” ie. Navy Pilot, Sailors/Ship Personnel were/wore “black shoes”) requested pictures of the kingfisher, the rescue planes launched from catapults in the fantail (why is it called a fantail and not a stern, by the way?), which will be popped into the mail tomorrow.



I did go out for St. Patricks Day and was reminded why I normally don’t go out of St. Patrick’s Day. Or as one of the Local termed it: “Amateur Night”. 5$ cover for a crappy singer with a guitar and a horde of college kids using an excuse to blind drunk. Wow. That’s entertaining. I found one of the quieter spots frequented by the locals instead.

I will say this though: I sat in both a restaurant and a bar surrounded by smokers and did not ask anyone for a cigarette.

Show me some love people. :D

It’s been almost three months. I find it a heck of a lot easier if I simply don’t think about it.

But that was my first exploratory trip of NC which definately makes me look forward to more.

Will write news commentary later. You didn't think you would get away that clean did you? Don't worry overmuch, it's been a slow week.

P.S.

Heard about the racing being postponed in Atlanta. Know is sucks everyone not to go home, but have a nice night and good luck tomorrow if I don't get back online before then.

V For Vendetta: Spoilers Ahead, Ye Be Warned!!!

This was a really great film. I’m not sure if it’s as “pivotal for our time” as the press junket wants it to be, but it’s damn good.

Now the original comic series was written back in 1988 by Alan Moore. I hadn’t read the series until recently because my first intro to Moore’s work was League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, which I was deeply unimpressed with. League was nothing more than playing around with classic character in shocking, mostly sexually violent, ways. Nothing very deep or insightful about it the series at all. V for Vendetta is another matter entirely.

The film does follow the comic book fairly closely and thank the Gods for it. I think the one thing we all have Peter Jackson to thank for is getting Hollywood to realize that the Fantasy and SciFi market is not simply about the gimmick, it’s about the incredible stories that those writer are free to create, the subject matter they are free to explore.

Moore’s Existentialist take on Freedom is a refreshing reminder of both the control and the self responsibility we give up when we give up power. Anthropologists have struggled with the question for years of exactly how egalitarian band societies with acquired merit become socially stratified chiefdoms with prescribed merit and so on to the modern state societies. By what mechanism will people give up power over their own lives? Why do they do it? The two prevailing theories are that after a society reaches a certain critical mass, if you will, an infrastructure of control is required to organize community activities such as digging irrigation ditches, or building mounds or temples or organizing raiding parties or make treaties with neighbors or whathaveyou. One person’s take on that role of community organizer and eventually as more organizers come from a certain family, that family takes on that role with their relatives in descending orders of status by how far distant they are related to the chief. The other theory is that people are fools and lazy and ambitious individuals garner power for their own ends with the same results.

Given what we see in today’s political arena I think most would favor the latter theory, but I have faith in humanity and have to believe that the reasoning of the former must have come into play at least somewhat.

I mean, as right as it is to be responsible for your own destiny, we do need someone to organize a police force, fire department, garbage pick up, public schools, power grids and so on. Western nations are simply to big and too complex to trust to even the gentle idealized anarchy of Moore & the Wachowski's Borther's V (which I think may be in part based on this work, though perhaps unconsciously). But where does the balance lie and how do prevent tyrannies from occurring? What is our responsibility in governing ourselves, not only as people, but as a nation? I think the ideal of anarchy raised by both the book and the film are naive, but these are very good questions that we need to be constantly asking ourselves, especially now.

The with any medium trying to related two hundreds or so pages of graphic novel into two hours of screen time, the Wachowski Brothers had to pick a single theme and run with it and there is plenty of action to be had in toppling a tyrannical power. Though the outright fascism of the 1988 comic book has been replaced with the more generalized anti-terrorism paranoia of today. The pivotal event sending the U.K. down this dark road in the comic being a nuclear war and a self-induced bio-weapon plague in the film. What a difference 18 years makes. The plague ties the entire Larkhill Camp background into the story much more seemlessly, though one might walk away with the sensation they just sat through Fahrenheit 9/11 again. *chuckle*

Evy’s journey is the same, and here is where the audience is left with some questions. V is obviously a madman, I don’t think anyone can argue that. But what was he trying to accomplish? To free her, as says? I have to question that. All the heroic references to Edmond Dantes aside, that was a monstrous act and shows that V as a morally ambiguous character which makes one question whether the ends do justify the means? (Indeed, Dumas' Monte Cristo himself is also morally ambiguous character that takes is lust for revenge, his vendetta, so far as to almost kill an innocent child.)

And Moore’s portrait of a power structure’s collapse with various scavengers so busy trying to gain control of the top of the pile they don’t realize the pile is collapsing underneath them, was very realistic I felt. To often story is are concerned with mainly the struggle of bringing the tyrannical power down and not what happens afterwards. Moore doesn’t tell a story of what happens afterwards, but he does acknowledge that there is a massive transition taking place between destroying and creating. Something hinted at in the movie when V gives command of the train to Evy.

But one aspect I particularly liked in the film was how they showed that V is every person. Everyone has the capability to become V if pushed to the brink. Every one has V in them.

My Dad makes eggs like that too, only he calls them “One Eyed Kellys". ;)

And Valerie’s story, and the lesson she teaches, is incredibly told in both mediums. “The very last inch…”

The acting is excellent, Natalie Portman held up her end of the story very well and Hugo Weaving does an amazing job of emoting through that mask for the entire film! (Plus I think I am falling love with his voice. Once he dropped that creepy sibilance of Agent Smith, his voice has a wonderful tonal baritone.) And if someone can get me the alliterative monologue V delivers when he first meets Evy, I would be grateful. Delivering that in and of itself must have been a feat! Stephen Fry was brilliantly cast and his short and wonderfully understated performance is one of the highlights of the film. The action is quite good. If one thinks about it, one can tell techniques from the Matrix were used, but nothing was so obvious as to prevent V for Vendetta being a complete departure from the Wachowski Brothers earlier work.

This one is a definite “must see”.

What's Wrong With Our Country...

in a snapshot.

Most of the activists said they would support any Republican who wins the nomination. Their biggest concern was finding someone who can beat the Democrats.

"I'm for any Republican who can get elected," said Craig Capehart of Dallas, Texas. "It would be nice if they also had policies that would be good for the country."

Gee, "it would be nice..."

Golly wouldn't it?

This two party system has to go. It's just glaringly obvious that it is no longer about the American people anymore, just who is on top. A few weeks ago, I went and got my NC Driver's Licence, and at the time they asked if I would like to register to vote.

"Certainly!"

"What party?"

"Green."

".....We don't have that party here."

"Uh...o.k. American Independant." (What I was before I went Green.)

"We have Democrat, Republican or Libertarian." I guess the look of shock on my face was rather obvious because she quickly followed with, "We also have "Unaffliated."

To which I replied rather weakly, "I'll..go with that."

When I complained about this to my Board Mates, one of them quickly put up this link, specifically to direct me to this part:

The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism. The disorders and miseries which result gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual; and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of public liberty.

Without looking forward to an extremity of this kind (which nevertheless ought not to be entirely out of sight), the common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it.

It serves always to distract the public councils and enfeeble the public administration. It agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms, kindles the animosity of one part against another, foments occasionally riot and insurrection. It opens the door to foreign influence and corruption, which finds a facilitated access to the government itself through the channels of party passions. Thus the policy and the will of one country are subjected to the policy and will of another.

There is an opinion that parties in free countries are useful checks upon the administration of the government and serve to keep alive the spirit of liberty. This within certain limits is probably true; and in governments of a monarchical cast, patriotism may look with indulgence, if not with favor, upon the spirit of party. But in those of the popular character, in governments purely elective, it is a spirit not to be encouraged. From their natural tendency, it is certain there will always be enough of that spirit for every salutary purpose. And there being constant danger of excess, the effort ought to be by force of public opinion, to mitigate and assuage it. A fire not to be quenched, it demands a uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting into a flame, lest, instead of warming, it should consume.
(Props to Dirtrum)

Damn, Washington was a smart man. Anyone who questions the Founding Father's relevance to modern politics need only look at that passage.

When the American people so readily sacrifice the American good in order to back “their party” it is no longer government, it’s a sport.

Now *This* is a Sport: The Cure For Vegas

Dear Dale Jr. and Bud Crew,

Next time the team needs to go to Vegas, take a brand new shiny 2006 Corvette. Take the Corvette out into the desert. Burn it. If you make a sacrifice*, maybe the Desert Gods won't hate you anymore.

Sincerely,
J.

Congrats to Mark Martin & Co. staying in the top ten and Elliott & Co. for upping their performance to a top 15 finish. :)

*Pagan Note: This of course is a joke. The appropriate sacrifice to nature dieties would be participating in a clean up or donating time and or money to a local conservation effort.

Well, Good Gods son, it couldn't hurt. ;)

Part III - Addendum: O.K. Maybe I missed this but…

Check it out!

The trailers for the new X-Men are out!

Wow. That...looks pretty good. The visuals do certainly.

O.K., so they got Hank and they got Warren…though it looks like they placed a generation between the two. And did they just make Avalanche a chick? And was that Juggernaut chasing Kitty through the walls of the mansion? And who’s the kid with the spikes? And the mutant who is the “source” for that matter? I'm really hoping in that crowd the audience get to run into the New Mutants. Espcially Dani and Sam, who really never got their due as probably the most unusual leadership paring ever created for a series.

In the book, the guy who created a “cure” to suppress the X-Gene was a guy, Forge, a Native American and a mutant whose ability was to instantly comprehend and build any machine he could imagine. The cure was a ray (this was back in the day) and they originally went after Rogue (who was wanted by the FBI) with it, but they accidentally shot Storm. Forge and Storm had this on again off again thing for a while and the Inhibitor turned out to only work temporarily, though for a long time.

Looks like they really changed the story up. I have some reservations about the director and I really hope they write Hank well.

I wonder if they are going to play out the entire Dark Phoenix Saga or just start it? It looks like they are just starting it, which would be infinitely cool.

Part II

And As If There Wasn’t Enough Ranting In This Entry:

I heard this while radio surfing the other day and it just ticked me off.

Girls lie, too
We don’t care how much money you make
What you drive or what you weigh
Size don’t matter anyway
Girls lie, too
Don’t think you’re the only ones
Who bend it, break it, stretch it some
We learn from you
Girls lie, too ~ Terri Clark


I’d like to personally thank Terri Clark for stereotyping women as shallow mercenary b*tches. No wonder most of southern men I have encountered has such a crappy attitudes about women.

A. How much money a man makes doesn’t matter so long as he is actually dong something he loves. A man living his passions is ten times more interesting than a man who is just collecting a paycheck to make car payments on a flashy car and a house in the right zip code.

What is a more interesting dinner conversation? “I pushed more paper today. Our profit margin was up.” vs. “We got the contract to build the new children’s center! Isn’t that great?” or “Let me tell you about some of the customers we had at the bar last night. You’re not going to believe this…”

A wise man once told me: “You are going to spend a lot more time in a relationship talking than you are screwing, so you had better find someone you like to talk with.”

B. Speaking of the flashy car, I assume everyone here has heard of “compensating”?

C. What they weigh? Considering how some women pack on the pounds once they have a guy locked in, I think that’s a little hypocritical, don’t you think? Personally, I like a man with a little meat on him anyway. Besides: good natured and chunky vs. narcissistic and buffed out. Hrmmm, tough choice. *rolleyes*

D. Get a clue. Size does not matter. Having slept with guys who were practically as big as my forearm and guys who were under the official 6” average I can say with compete assurance that the smaller guys were actually much more satisfying as sexual partners. Why? Because they A. cared weather I was having a good time or not and B. didn’t rely on their wonder wand to do the work for them. Size has nothing to do with enthusiasm, skill, caring and the ability to get a woman to really open up and drop her inhibitions.

And for matter, men can stop asking about it too. Your insecurity is tiresome.

Do women lie? Yes. Everyone tells little white lies. It’s called civility. It's how society keeps from collapsing into anarchy as people start bringing guns to work. Being brutally honest in a relationship *all* the time is destructive as we all deal with enough competition and obstructions in our daily lives outside the relationship. We want to come home to somewhere safe and that means being accepted for who we are, not being constantly criticized for it. Certainly not criticized over the shallow crap outlined by this song. If you're going to take issue over something your partner does you do it over something that matters, not nit-picking. If you really have as many petty issues with your partner as outlined in the entirety of this song, then maybe you shouldn’t be in that relationship.

Gods, the entire reverse-sexism thing just gets on my nerves!

Wow

That's the real deal.

Quakers Pray for Tom Fox's Murderers.

That's...that's what Christ was talking about right there...That's Christianity.

My prayers go to Mr. Fox's family and friends and with his community in their endevors for peace. My the Divine bring them all much needed comfort. I'm not Christian so I do not have to pray for his killers, but I admire those that can.

On the Home Front.

It’s Spring Break! Huz-ZAH!

Last week was pretty crazy, multiple exams and an essay due, but I’m pretty sure I pulled it all out. I had originally planned on going on a week-long sea kayaking trip down in GA, but since only two people signed up it was canceled.

That’s fine, it gives me time to work on my History Term paper. Since it is for my North Carolina History Course it will give me a chance to explore the state a bit.

Weather was quite hot and pleasant today, reminded me of a summer in Maine. That warm cozy humidity that hangs out after the sun goes down, encouraging hanging out on the dock after dark, conversing in the darkness and enjoying the quiet lap of waves on the beach.

And Now For Something Completely Different…

Props to Farker waivon


















Good luck to Elliott, Dale, Mark and their teams tmorrow!

I'm Too Verbose...

When I wrote out my latest blog entry, it became five pages long, so I'm splitting it up into two entries.

On with the show...

Milosevec Found Dead in His Cell

BBC Story

Too bad, I would have liked to have seen him punished for his crimes. But I guess no one in Serbia is going to cry over it.

James Bond goes…American?

First BMWs and now…Ford?

Granted, my driver is a Ford driver, but this is Bond...James Bond. Have Aston Martins really gotten so horrible?

The Heresy! Heresy I tell you!

It’s not even that flash.

Can Someone Explain To Me...

Why, when we are actively helping India with their nuclear program and have given our full approval to Pakistan’s nuclear program, are we getting in Iran’s face about it?

Russia Suggests New Iran Nuclear Talks

“If that does not happen, Bolton and other senior American officials have suggested Washington might look elsewhere to punish Iran _ possibly by rallying its allies to impose targeted sanctions.”

I don’t get it…

However, I Will Give Credit Where Credit Is Due:

U.S. Employers Add 243,000 Jobs.

It’s a drop in the bucket considering the Unemployment Rate and I wonder what type of jobs these are. Retail? Fast food restaurants? Other jobs that actually cannot support a person, let alone a family? But it is something. Something good.

Though I don’t see why the Fed must necessitate raising the rate in response to rise in wages? Why not leave them alone for a year or so to help the American people recover?

This entire “debt oriented society” bothers me. Debt is not longer simply acceptable, we are supposed to have it. Without having some sort of debt we are blocked from buying homes, cars, getting emergency loans. People who live within their income levels actually have a harder time getting loans when they need it than those that have engaged in revolving debt for their entire adult lives. What is wrong with this picture? What happens in a major economic crisis. I mean, granted, the safeties the Fed has built into the system will keep another Black Monday from affecting everyone in the nation, but still…Is it really wise to have the entire country in debt?

I’m not an economist, but it sure as heck sounds like a recipe for disaster to me. Why not leave the rates alone for a while and help Americans get out of debt by not changing the playing field underneath them?

Pet Lesson #1:

When they don’t want to go to the vet, they really don’t want to go to the vet.

Bush Bemoans Fall out on Dubai Ports World Deal

Poor Bay-Bee

(Thanks Andrea for the tip off)

UAE’s spotty terrorism record aside, and I will grant they have become much more cooperative with our hunt for terrorists since 9-11, no one, and I mean no one, not even the English, should be running major security check points into the U.S. except Americans. It’s not about islam-phobia, it’s about being stupid.

We would not want China or North Korea to own O’Hare airport would we? We would not want Mexico running our border security would we? Then why is it O.K. to have anyone but us running our ports through which million of containers pass everyday into this country?

And I think the people at Dubai Ports would be smart enough realize that Bush is simply reaping the own rewards of his fear mongering. He tells American that we are in a war of ideals between east and west and then goes and kisses King al Suad on the cheek. Playing both sides against the middle was bound to bite him in the ass at some point. Though I see from this article, he is playing it to their face that it all the American populaces fault for being bigots for wanting tight border security in today’s world.

"The notion that the U.S. discriminates against Arabs in general is already widespread, and now we're facing a situation where people feel the same anti-Arab sentiment is being applied to companies," said Rochdi Younsi, a Middle East analyst with the Eurasia Group, a Washington consulting firm.”

What a prick!

I should also think they would be smart enough to realize that no one of any country in their right mind would consider having a foreign nation control 6 massive entry points into their country o.k. If the UAE wants to buy a car manufacturer or a software company, by all means, have at it. But not our ports!

I mean, 80% of the terminals of the Port of Los Angeles are controlled by foreign companies and this is the kind of crap Immigration has to deal with there.

I know it sucks for them having gone through weeks of hell to get here and then be just shipped back, Gods only know what will await them on Chinese soil, but this is just an example of how permeable our security already is. Those were people who had to leave the containers. What if they didn’t have to and could have made it all the way to Denver or Phoenix in the container via train, like a bomb could?

Some Congressional Republicans expressed frustration Friday that the ports controversy focused on foreign ownership and not on port security.

"I wanted a rational dialogue about it, but I just saw some of my colleagues just becoming rabid, so I backed away," said Rep. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.), a critic of the ports deal.

Of course it focused on foreign ownership, that way they can guilt trip us into letting them control our ports. If you discuss something with as much common sense as national security that won’t get them anywhere will it? The fact that they made this about foreign ownership without addressing the security issues alone indicates how shady this deal is.

I am all for globalization, but not at the cost to the American public. I can even deal with it if the cost if our insanely materialistic standard of living comes down a notch of two if it improves the standard of living world wide. It’s bound to happen and if hey, if a bunch of kids here have to give up their x-boxes or a bunch of Yuppies have to give up their pristine Lexus SUV’s so that kids in Africa can have a decent meal everyday and access to some decent health care, I’m all for it. But this was just leaving the door open to destruction. This was seriously not cool.

It's Utterly Partisian But....

Funny as hell: Ask a Republican. (Should really be titled "Ask a NeoConservative")

To Be Continued...

Yippy Skippy!

I can post pictures!

For my first Photo Essay:

Winter Comes to North Carolina:
















And Jenny does what comes naturally:



Rutger meets snow. (It's a very brief aquaintance.)
















Now we can spice this blog up a bit! Will write more over the weekend! Have a great one all!

The Oscars

Well, I admit it, I blew off studying to watch the Oscars this evening, mainly for John Stewart who...well, he did O.K. Slow start but he got rolling as the evening wore on. It’s hard to be a comedian and an Oscar host. For Hollywood this is the most stiff and formal they get and the hosts are well warned not to rock any studio head boats I am sure. Though I did like the “If we pulled the Oscar statue down do you think we would have democracy in Hollywood at last?” bit. *chuckle*

First of all Dolly Parton, now damn that is the way to do it, isn’t it. No band, no special effects no randomly whirling dancers. Just walk out on empty stage and belt that puppy out. She doesn’t quite have the clarity and power she used to, but she sure as hell can still sing and still take over a stage. I mean, you really don’t realize that she is this tiny little thing of five foot nothing, did you?

Bravo Altman. Loved Meryl and Tomlins intro, that was brilliant. Altman has always been an actors director, very organic in letting a scene flow.

Rachel Wiesz for The Constant Gardener. AwRIGHT! She did a brilliant job in a brilliant film. That one…the story is powerful, it’s dirty and it’s gitty and it’s ugly and the writer put this incredibly beautiful love in the center of it…and the way story was constructed, how it unfolded, was utterly brilliant.

And Ralph Fiennes is always nice to look at and does “over his head”- bewildered so well.

Speaking of which, Clooney really is our Cary Grant, isn’t he? Male grace and charm, not something you see in American men anymore.

The music was interesting. The scores, I mean, because we had nominees from non-western countries. One of the first things our professor in International Music taught us music is very, very culturally specific. What sounds sad and mournful to us in America and western Europe may be a joyful harvest song in the Ukraine. Or a feasting song in Africa. The audio cues that communicate mood to us are something we are raised and trained to respond to, it’s not innate. So when the composers for a film like Memoirs of a Geisha and film about Japan written for a western audience, are writing the score they have to do some very tricky cross cultural composing.

BTW-Was this the night of Oscar Flubs? First the senatorial Morgan Freeman trips over a word (his recovery was cute) then like four or five other presenters (not counting Bacall, who was having some real trouble reading the teleprompter) flubbed their lines. Then there was the accidental cue that got into the televised feed form the camera director up in the control room.

I wish David Strathairn had won for Good Night and Good Luck, he’s one of those working actors that no one ever notices but is in everything. If you look at his IMDB profile, he’s got a resume as long as your leg. But I haven’t seen Capote yet, so I wouldn’t be surprised Hoffman fully deserved the honor.

Ang Lee, thumbs up for him. I have not seen Brokeback Mountain yet, but he has a very eclectic body of work and he masters all of it so elegantly. He’s the one who made one of my father’s favorite Comedies: Eat, Drink, Man, Woman which is a very Chinese film as is Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. But he has also done The Hulk, Sense and Sensibility and the Ice Storm. I like his style…it reminds me of Clint in a way because he allows the story to breathe rather than trying to squeeze it into a rigid format.

(Clint is still the master at letting a story unravel itself.)

Crash was a great film. It really, really plumbed the depths of American intolerance, an ugly side we like to hide. The little fears and biases and assumptions that can flare up into full blown racism with a single incident and how it creates it’s own destructive cycle. One review I read said Crash was one of those stories “in which everyone is at fault, and yet no one is a villain”. That’s a refreshing and realistic look in a polarized world such as the one we live in right now. And yet…while seeming one of those films that would make you want to stick your head in an oven (Like Galliopli or Leaving Las Vegas), it somehow manages to find hope in simple human dignity. In the universal human being we all reach out to in the most dire or simple circumstances. And it was beautifully constructed and told as well with an incredible cast. I like the fact that Bullock got to play something that wasn’t cute or pretty, Fraiser too. They really got to step outside their normal roles. As political as the Oscars are, this one definitely deserved the nod.

All the montages were excellent as well. Though I am waiting for the day they put “Sword and Sandal flicks” in their own subcategory. *chuckle*

Actually, I want to find the video store where these things are organized properly. Drama, Comedy, Action, Suspense, International, Documentaries, SciFi with sub catagories of science fanatsy (Star Trek and Star Wars) and science fiction (Contact, Bade Runner), Fantasy (I think we have enough films for it to rates it's own shelf). Animated films would simply be mixed in with the appropriate dramatic genre. Mizayaki's Prince Mononoke in fantasy, Deep Blue in Suspense, Cowboy BeBop in SciFi.

Chick Flicks and Date Flicks: there is a huge difference. "Date Flicks" are the romantic comedies that guys are usually dragged to within the first couple weeks of dating. "Chick Flicks" are the estrogen infused dramas that have every women in the audience balling their eyes out while every man beside them is looking confused (and usually a bit worried). Just Like Heaven is a date fick. The Joy Luck Club is a chick flick. I'd file 'em seperately.

Then the Historical Epics: Sword and Sadal (or Toga flicks), Sword and Armour (Medieval and Renaissance), Guns and Honor (everything from the Enlightenment through the Civil War) and modern history which covers everything from the Edwardian age through the 1960s. Then of course there is Internationl Historical films as well.

I could break it down even further, but that would be needlessly pedantic for my customers. :D

Anyway - All in all: Good show, no big surprises. Typical Oscars.

Will type more tomorrow, have a great day all!

Thank You All For Bearing With Me...

Into every online life, little psychotics must fall and it appears that mine has found me. No point in going into it; crazy people who's entire ego/self esteem is wrapped up in their online life.

So thank you all for following me through this transiton, one of many in recent months. We'll be on schedule for a new post this Sunday!

In the meantime...

NC Weather has been extremely pleasant, allowing me to have the windows open late into the evening. Though the mugginess that is playfull and endearing now promises to grow up to kick my ass on a regular basis come summertime.

I attended a planary lecture on Medieval Irish Archaeology this evening. Extremely interesting stuff. I may post my notes between now and Saturday, but here is alittle of what was discussed: Irish Ring Forts

There is another brief lecture tomorrow on Irish Martime Archaeology. Spiffy!