Randy Kennedy's article in Sunday's New York Times confirmed what I wrote back in November - Atheists love Christmas.
The article interviews a few prominent atheists for their take on Christmas. Although some atheists have aversions about celebrating the holiday, every atheist I've ever personally met celebrates it. We've got a small Facebook group going if you want to join.
I don't watch legal dramas very often, but I have spent the last couple months enjoying FOX's Justice. Each week follows a case of the fictional high-profile criminal defense team at TNT&G in Los Angeles. The cases are all interesting, the acting is great and writing is tight. Instead of the absurd task of trying to figure out a mystery in 40 minutes like some shows have you do, Justice is about rooting for the defense team and their clients to triumph over the arrogant and malicious district attorneys.
So the bias is an excellent antidote for the heavily anti-suspect shows I am forced to watch at work. My favorite part is when Suzanne Fulcrum, an undisguised Nancy Grace parody, broadcasts her show demanding "justice" against TNT&G's usually innocent clients.
Apparently, Scotland is facing a crisis from something called 'knife culture.' The government is sending a bus around the country as part of a public information campaign called ' Knives - Let's Not Scar Another Generation.' According to Justice Minister Cathy Jamieson,
Earlier today, the Iraq Study Group released its report, which criticizes the Bush-Rumsfeld strategy in Iraq and outlines some new policy proposals. This report, along with the confirmation of new Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, could trigger a new direction for President Bush in Iraq. That direction is out.
Iraq is sliding towards chaos, and virtually no one is pretending its not. "Stay the course" isn't working. We have to either get in or get out. Since we still have another war we're fighting on the other side of Iran, since our troops are already over-extended, and since I don't exactly have the utmost confidence in our military planners, I vote for "get out."
To blow some stress off in the middle of finals week, I bought some toy guns at the dollar store and my roommates and I have been playing around with them. We just saw Deer Hunter a few weeks ago, and cap-gun Russian Roulette is very fun. (did I mention finals is stressful?)
Although neither of my parents have ever owned a real gun (and neither have I), I was raised with plenty of toy guns. When I was little, they would sell toy guns that actually looked like guns instead of the crappy orange-tipped ones they have now. (the ones on the 'Super Bang' models are easiest to remove - don't tell Janet Reno I sawed the orange plug off my plastic shotgun) Its hard to even find a squirt gun that doesn't look like a giant frog or something out of Star Wars.
5) Alphaville,une étrange aventure de Lemmy Caution (1965) My roommate described it as 'the French version of Star Wars.' Instead of fighting the empire with lightsabers, the aliens walk around, have sex and discuss philosophy. Jean-Luc Godard's challenging film comes at the end of the New Wave's heyday and isn't for everyone. Its honestly a lot more exciting than I probably just made it sound. Our school film-festival entry my friends and I are going to waste time on this winter break is partially a parody of Alphaville.
10) Planet of the Apes (1968) The movie that spawned four decent sequels and a Tim Burton "re-envisioning" ; is a good dystopia and dark satire in its own right. Based on the novel by Pierre Boulle, (author of The Bridge on the River Kwai) Charlton Heston finds himself on a planet taken over by super-apes [no spoilers] who enslave humans and practice an ape-version of fundamentalist Christianity. Its hard to explain the story without it sounding hilarious, but the film takes itself just seriously enough to work. If you haven't already had the ending ruined for you, hurry and rent the movie before someone someone does.
This was originally a Top 15 list, but I saw The Handmaid's Tale last weekend and I had to tag it on at the end. An adaptation of Margaret Atwood's feminist 1985 novel, it imagines a future where theocrats have turned the United States into the Republic of Gilead, based on Old Testament law. The few women who are still fertile are are treated quite literally like little more than walking incubators. Strict, Iranian-style dress codes are in place, and the rulers preach, "You had freedom to. Now you have freedom from. Don't underrate it."
Its very flawed as a movie, but I like what I saw of Atwood's ideas. This is one of the rare movies that made me want to read the book.
Although the term isn't familiar, the genre of 'dystopia' is. In a place and time that eerily resemble our own, a 'Big Brother' type figure or group has taken control of every aspect of peoples' lives. In the effort to create a perfect society, it has created a horribly imperfect one. Only a small few understand that the government is fundamentally flawed and fight against or try to escape from it.
Dystopias have their genesis in Thomas More's famous book 1516 book Utopia, meaning both 'no-place' and 'good-place.' It described an imaginary society in order to critique the real world that More lived in. Utilitarian thinker John Stuart Mill played off More and coined the term Dystopia in 1868, meaning 'bad-place.'
I have very tough standards for my imaginary Hall of Fame ballot. I wouldn't have voted for anyone last year, and my picks in '05 were based on current Hall standards, not the ones I'd choose. Even though I'd love to see Eric Davis in, I can't vote for him. So here's my ballot:
I haven't noticed nearly as much reporting on the 'War on Christmas' as I did when I blogged about the topic a year ago today. I've been an atheist for my entire adult life and Christmas is my favorite time of the year, so it always surprises me when people think I don't celebrate it or am part of a secret plan to destroy it.
Since Christmas is a time of peace and joy, I'm going to try and keep everything positive. I want to associate Christmas with hot chocolate and family, not political bickering. With that in mind, a friend and I created the Facebook group "Merry Christmas To All" - Atheists who celebrate Christmas to take a non-combative approach towards dispelling some popular disinformation. Everyone is free to join.
Other than generating publicity, donated money doesn't help because significant amounts of food and medical supplies cannot reach the refugees because of the intense fighting. The Sudanese government is just stepping back and waiting for the genocides to end when everyone is dead. An outside military solution is the only real way to stop the killings.
The African Union is far too weak to help. Its going to take hundreds of thousands of troops on the ground for several years to avoid simply turning it into another Iraq. The United States, with the help of the United Kingdom, is already fighting two wars and has no troops to spare. A major UN or NATO commitment would require massive numbers of troops from countries like France and Canada. I really don't see that happening.
This week, police officers needlessly shot and killed two American citizens.
On the 21st, an informant bought $50 worth of drugs from a home in Atlanta. (or, according to the local Fox station, the police may be lying about this) Instead of arresting the man then, they got a warrant for the home, where a 92-year old grandmother lived. Instead doing a threat assessment and weighing the risks involved and balancing them against the significance of the charge, (selling drugs to consenting adults) they sent undercover agents over at night. Just a few months ago some criminals broke into another Georgia home and terrorized while wearing 'S.W.A.T.' shirts and posing as police, so grandmother Kathryn Johnston opened fire when the strange gun-toting men broke down her door.
43 years ago today, President Kennedy was shot in Dallas, Texas. Most of us can agree on at least that. I wrote about the two Kennedy assassinations and the King assassination back in May, as part of Conspiracy Week.
The first President to be assassinated was killed as part of an elaborate conspiracy to take destabilize the Union. The second was assassinated by a mentally ill political enemy, and the third was assassinated by a lone socialist anarchist who had been shunned by the American anarchist community. The question is, in which of these three templates does the Kennedy assassination best fit?
Rupert Murdoch has canceled the O.J. Simpson "confession" interview and book release, after public condemnation of his News Corp. teaming up with O.J. to exploit the tragic murders of his wife and friend. FOX isn't exactly known for its high standards of taste, but when even Geraldo Rivera thinks its yellow journalism, you need to pull it. This is a victory for the families of Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman in a battle they never should have had to fight.
The family of Melinda Duckett is also fighting back. Two months ago, Nancy Grace severely berated a fragile young woman with a missing child. Duckett killed herself, citing the interview as a cause in her suicide note. Even after CNN Headline News learned about this, they ran the interview anyway. Since then, Grace has devoted her show to convincing people that Duckett is guilty and that she - not Grace - is the bad guy.
Democratic Rep. Charles Rangel (NY), Chair of the House Means and Ways Committee, has called for the re-instatement of the draft. The Courts have ignored the plain language of the constitution and created a technicality to allow the draft, but in the real-world, there is no getting around the fact that the draft is slavery.
Rep. Rangel isn't proposing this legislation because he is trying to win the Iraq War. He was one of the few Democrats who openly opposed the 2003 invasion. Instead, he wants to re-institute slavery in order to correct what he sees as a social imbalance.
Freedom took a hit last night, when House Democrats joined with a few Republicans to block the passage of a bill that would open Vietnam up to free trade. Seeing as how the Democrats will control the next Congress, if this turns into a trend it could have horrific consequences for our economy and for impoverished people both here and in Vietnam.
Right now, Americans want to buy clothes made in Vietnam, and Vietnamese want to buy manufactured goods and food from America. The governments of each country have put into place extra taxes on these goods if they come from a foreign country, in order to prevent their citizens from buying what they desire. If we get rid of these tariffs, more people will be able to buy more goods at better prices, allowing businesses to increase production and hire more workers.
The text reads: Two photos that were printed in the Nov. 10 edition of the Traveler concerning a student's arrest on page two were incorrectly credited as courtesy photos. The photos were actually taken by Adam Roberts, a student with MetropolisTimes.com
This hasn't been a fun situation, and I hope its all in the past now. Needless to say, I won't be submitting any photos to The Traveler again. But just because the editor screwed up badly in this situation doesn't reflect on the entire paper and I'm sure their coverage of the Campus Libertarians will be fair and equitable when we form next semester.
The Democrats have some power now, and Bush has replaced Donald Rumsfeld, so now is as good a time as any to take an overview of the Iraq War. Most of my opinions here are inspired by blog tdaxp's always interesting posts on the subject, which are devoid of partisan rhetoric, but full of pie charts and vocabulary-boosting opportunities.
There are 5 major fighting groups in Iraq right now:
Sunni Arabs:
Who they are - 15-20% of Iraqis. Includes Saddam Hussein and the Ba'athists. They were in power before the U.S. invasion. The leadership committed massive human rights atrocities against the Kurds and Shi'ites.
Goals - Return to power, make Iraq a single, secular Arab state.
Short-Term Goals - Prevent the Shi'ites from creating an Islamic theocracy and the Kurds from splitting the country.
Like most young political junkies, I watch The Daily Show and The Colbert Report religiously. As far as television goes, they are some of the best shows on. I don't want to seem like one of those people who constantly complains how The Simpsons isn't as funny as it was the particular season they started watching. But they're not as funny as they could be or should be. I have more good things to say than bad, but here's some fan criticism.
The Daily Show has seen a noticeable decline in quality since the 2004 Presidential Election. Jon Stewart had always skewered all sides pretty equally, but after Bush won his second term, Stewart made sure no one was in the dark about what party he belonged to. Jon started spending half the show mocking Republican politicians and their positions on the issues, while his only quarrel with Democrats seemed to be that they weren't fighting the evil Republicans hard enough.
By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April's breeze unfurled;
Here once the embattled farmers stood;
And fired the shot heard round the world.
The foe long since in silence slept;
Alike the conqueror silent sleeps,
And Time the ruined bridge has swept
Down the dark stream that seaward creeps.
On this green bank, by this soft stream,
We place with joy a votive stone,
That memory may their deeds redeem,
When, like our sires, our sons are gone.
O Thou who made those heroes dare
To die, and leave their children free, --
Bid Time and Nature gently spare
The shaft we raised to them and Thee.
Photos Published Under False Pretense - Traveler Offers Correction
11.10.06 (3:16 pm)
You probably remember Tuesday's coverage of the arrest at the University of Arkansas. Within hours, I had video and photos up on the blog, and I appeared on Campus Crossfire Wednesday night to discuss the event.
Wednesday night, I received a YouTube private message from Brandon Marcello, the Managing Editor of The Arkansas Traveler, the school paper. It read:
Hi, I'm with the Arkansas Traveler, and I was wondering if you had any photos or clear screenshots of the man being arrested in your Nov. 7 Moses video. I noticed on your Website that you did, but I was wondering if you have any larger versions of the photo as we would love to credit them to you and attach them to a story we're working on.
Anyone who reads this blog or knows me doesn't need to be told, but my comment about 'poor African-Americans' was meant to draw attention to the fact that Democrats pretend to help the large numbers of oppressed African-Americans with their socialist ideas when they really just cost them jobs and perpetuate the poverty cycle, and not because I'm some racist in secret. To be honest, I was more concerned with the 'poor restaraunt workers' because we're the ones who will get squeezed tightest by a large minimum wage hike.
Pretty good debate so far, but I completely forgot to bring up abortion, we got so excited about deficiet economics. Read/View More...
Swing Libertarians Decided Election
11.08.06 (12:53 pm)
The last couple elections were decided by the Evangelical vote. 2006 was decided by the libertarian vote.
Thanks to the influence of the Religious Right and the anti-liberty methods used in the War on Terror, it was predicted that libertarian voters, who overwhelmingly supported Bush in 2000 and were split in 2004, would defect from their Republican votes and cast their ballots in favor of the Democrats or Libertarian Party candidates this time around.
This is not satire. Yes, The Onion ran a piece on the fictional 'National Machete Association' six years ago, but much like its story about lawsuits against 'Big Chocolate,' life is imitating jokes.
5) Alphaville, une étrange aventure de Lemmy Caution (1965)
10) Planet of the Apes (1968)