Merry Christmas

Quite good… and fun, too. Have a great Christmas!

Kill Your Child

TORONTO — A Mississauga, Ont., cab driver has been charged with the murder of his 16-year-old daughter, who was attacked in the family home after clashing with her strict Muslim family over whether or not to wear the hijab, the traditional Islamic head scarf for women.

How can any parent murder their own child in the name of God? Sometimes I think I understand the passionate part of Jihad and fanaticism (although I do not condone it). But how on Earth can a parent bring themselves to beat their child so severely that the child dies. One who does so cannot be a religious zealot. Surely, any God would never sanction such behavior. No, a person of this ilk is a criminal, a barbarian, a dolt.

When Robots Rule

It’s not today, but legendary writer, futurist, inventor and all around good guy Arthur C. Clarke will be celebrating his birthday soon. Clarke will turn 90 on December the 16th.

“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”

Of UFOs: “They tell us absolutely nothing about intelligence elsewhere in the universe, but they do prove how rare it is on Earth.”

“When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong.”

Ham For Chanukah

 

I’m thinking that the Manhattan foodie store, Balducci’s, is a tad bit embarrassed. Thanks to NancyKay Shapiro’s blog for pointing out the fumbled marketing attempt to promote hams for Chanukah. Ham is not part of the Kosher diet maintained by observant Jews. Even those who do not keep Kosher try to avoid piggie goodness on the holidays. Balducci’s did apologize, though.

Patron Saint of Bacon

Who knew that Saint Anthony was the Patron Saint of Bacon? And why not at only $4.95 (plus shipping, of course)?

Religious Freedom

For a country that was founded with religious freedom being one of its foundational elements, we sure do seem to have a lot of issues with folks who aren’t “like us”. It was a big deal for Kennedy to have to explain his Catholicism. And now Romney is having to explain his Mormon faith. We still have a very long way to go to get to this society of acceptance. Black, white, man, woman, Mormon, Jew, whatever. Can you do the job and be effective?

Jihad On You!

The fashion and the rage these days is to conflict, nay clash, nay go to war in the name of God. Allah be praised, it is a holy war! Catholics and Protestants, Muslims versus the world, Jews versus whoever, and on and on. “Nations tried to destroy each other for the sake of God, and the banner of the cross dripping with blood floated over a thousand fields — but the god was silent. He neither knew nor cared. Pestilence covered the earth with dead, the priests prayed, the altars were heaped with sacrifices, but the god did not see, did not hear. The miseries of the world did not lessen the joys of heaven. The clouds gave no rain, the famine came, withered babes with pallid lips sought the breasts of dead mothers, while starving fathers knelt and prayed, but the god did not hear. Through many centuries millions were enslaved, babes were sold from mothers, husbands from wives, backs were scarred with the lash. The poor wretches lifted their clasped hands toward heaven and prayed for justice, for liberty — but their god did not hear. He cared nothing for the sufferings of slaves, nothing for the tears of wives and mothers, nothing for the agony of men. He answered no prayers. He broke no chains. He freed no slaves.” – Robert Ingersoll

Perhaps we should all find somebody else’s name to champion?

Miller Lite: Acts Dumb, Gets Dumber

It’s beer. Some would say that beer is hydaulic fluid that keeps the world moving. Miller Lite was pretty much the first light beer to come along. In its long career, it’s had its share of marketing hits and gaffes. It seems, of late, that Miller Lite just cannot get out of its own way. One would think that Miller Brewing Company and its advertisers would be bright enough to know that the only part of the usual killer subject triumverate (sex, religion, politics) that beer can get near is sex. And even that has dire consequences if pushed to far. But no. Miller exhibits a large amount of dumb/dumber with their sponsorships.

Last year, Miller infuriated opponents of illegal immigration when the Chicago Tribune reported it paid $30,000 for a convention and newspaper ads publicizing a march of illegal-alien advocates to protest against Speaker Dennis Hastert’s congressional office in Batavia, Ill. Consumers launched a national boycott. Probably not a wise move. That said, Miller found something better to sponsor. The gay, S&M, leather-clad, anti-Jesus crowd in San Francisco! Think that will go over well with mainstream America? A week or so ago I blogged about part of this strange festival and how a gay couple was publicly parading their toddler girls in camp attire and leather dog collars. I didn’t see the promotional poster for the fair, but others did.

Seated at and standing behind a long table, Last Supper-style, are a set of men and women in various stages of leather dress/undress, including a man wearing a black dog mask. Sex toys, including a big red fist, are strewn across the table. As a spokesman for Concerned Women explained, “The bread and wine representing Christ’s broken body and life-giving blood are replaced with sadomasochistic sex toys in this twisted version of Da Vinci’s ‘The Last Supper.’” Prominently on display in the left-hand corner of the ad — the Miller Lite sponsorship logo. Miller eventually produced a talking head to deflect criticsm, emphasizing their support for the gay community, disavowing any knowledge of content of the poster art that they were sponsoring, and went on to say “We understand some individuals may find the imagery offensive.”

While I’m not a big proponent of religion, I am capable of realizing that there are well over 200 million Christians in the US that could be just a teensy bit put off by this. 200+ million people does not equate to “some individuals” in my book. There’s even more questionable sponsorship activity by Miller at this same event. Feel free to read the editorial by Brent Bozell, III.

Flying Spaghetti Monster Church on Campus

Finally, a refreshingly sarcastic approach to religion on campus. I think the only disturbing thing is that the group gets hate mail.

Rave Revival

Now that’s what I call a fun video…