Destination Unknown

Pardon Whom?

nobody@vox.com(Paxton) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 11:17:42 -0700

Keeping with Thanksgiving tradition, President Obama will today - as every President has done since (possibly) as early as Truman - publicly pardon a Thanksgiving turkey.

Dick Cheney volunteered, but a spokesman for the White House responded that the tradition was to pardon a turkey, not a jackass.

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American Terrorists Abroad

nobody@vox.com(Paxton) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 12:24:20 -0700

From The Week: "An American living in Israel has been charged with a string of terror attacks against Arab, gay, and leftist targets." Jack Teitel, 37, has confessed to numerous attacks "saying he was acting on direct orders from God."

America now has so many religious bigots that we have to export them overseas. That'll help our image.

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Rev. Dobson, There's the Door

nobody@vox.com(Paxton) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 10:31:27 -0700

James Dobson has gone on record that if any of his taxes go to pay for abortions, he would not pay, and he and his wife would gladly go to prison or even - he dared to say - "leave this beloved country and spend the rest of our lives in exile."

Neither the House nor Senate version of the Health Care bill would use taxpayer monies to fund abortions. The Hyde Amendment is still fully intact, despite what opponents of health care reform are claiming. But, don't let that stop you, James. You are perfectly free to leave. Abortion is illegal in most Muslim countries - I'm sure they'd be happy to take you and your entire Theocratic following. I would happily throw a few dollars toward a fund to buy you all a big cruise ship to take you wherever the hell you want to go, so long as you promise to never come back.

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Book Review: The Family

nobody@vox.com(Paxton) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 10:38:12 -0700

The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power

Jeff Sharlet

I don't read a lot of non-fiction, but after seeing interviews with Jeff Sharlet about this book, I decided I needed to read it. The full title is The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power, and it's a truly astonishing read on many levels.

It's a difficult read, both because of the depressing nature of the subject matter and because it's dense with facts - people, places, dates, and historical background all leading up to the situation we have today in America. This is due partly to the immensely knowledgeable author, who is a research scholar at New York University's Center for Religion and Media. This book is the product of his broad knowledge of the history of religion in the United States, first hand interviews and research (including what might be considered undercover work), and the arduous task of digging through archives of correspondence belonging to the early members of The Family.

In brief, The Family is a fundamentalist Christian organization that prides itself on its secrecy and its ability to infiltrate the American political power structure. I call them Christian because their theology focuses around Jesus, though they themselves don't even like using that label, presumably because calling themselves a Christian organization might keep them out of some settings. One might also hesitate to call them Christian because their version of Christianity is unlike anything I'd really heard before.

The Family believes that God speaks directly too them during prayer. That, in itself and unfortunately, is not unique to this sect. They take this to its logical conclusion, though, that if a political leader prays and follows the will of God as it is conveyed to him from on high, then nothing else matters. Their ideal form of government, then, is a dictatorship in which the despot follows God's orders directly. They frequently point out what they see as the positive leadership qualities of Hitler, Stalin, and Mao. Democracy is antithetical to this view, obviously. They have communed and prayed with vicious foreign dictators and innumerable domestic legislators from both major political parties.

This book should be required reading. Reading about this secretive theocratic movement within what many consider to be the strongest democracy in the world should frighten anyone who loves freedom.

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No Plans for Halloween?

nobody@vox.com(Paxton) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 12:45:54 -0600

Well, if you're in North Carolina, head on over to Amazing Grace Baptist Church where at 7 pm they're going to have a good old fashioned Christian book burning! Any book they deem to be antithetical (that means, in opposition) to God's will is going to be thrown on the pile and set alight! Hallelujah!

Heck, they're so Christian, even James Dobson and Billy Graham are a couple of pinko communist secularists by their standards. Any books by those two are going on the fire! All those liberal interpretations of the Bible? They're going on, too! The only King James Version of 1611 is allowed in their congregations!

Think Hank Williams is leading you down the primrose path to fire and brimstone? Bring your eight-tracks, Cletus, 'cause they're going on the fire, too! Only hymnal music is allowed in this church!

Irony is dead, dead, deadsky.

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To Larim

nobody@vox.com(Paxton) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 15:47:45 -0600

Fort Collins, Colorado, is the seat of Larimer County. Larimer

Across the northern border of the county, on the eastern side, is the Wyoming County of Laramie, whose county seat is Cheyenne.

So, we have a Larimer and a Laramie. That means that "to larim" must be a transitive verb, not only that, but it is something that the state of Colorado must have done to the state of Wyoming. You would think that some action that exists between states would be important enough to show up in the dictionary, but "Larim" is not found in the dictionary. Can anyone tell me what it means?

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Another 25 Songs

nobody@vox.com(Paxton) — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 10:22:09 -0600

I've been tagged again to provide 25 random songs from my computer's playlist. First, let me say that I get a lot of music from We Heart Music here on Vox. I had a lot to begin with, too. My music library is currently showing 9,211 songs, so it's bound to be pretty eclectic!

1. Strength - Coyote Oldman (new age/native american/flute)
2. The American Jean - Helium (rock)
3. Halloween - Japan (new wave/80's rock)
4. Kool Thing - Sonic Youth (punk?)
5. Sober Up and Drink No More - The Black Velvet Band (Irish drinking song, seriously)
6. Eternal - Evanescence (emo rock/alternative)
7. Light Suits (live) - Blue Man Group (rock)
8. More Than This (X-Files soundtrack version) - Cure (rock, electronic)
9. 1984 - Guytare (flute, instrumental jazz)
10. Better Days - Goo Goo Dolls (alternative, i.e. boring)
11. Another "G" Thang - Dr. Dre (rap)
12. Sleep to Dream - my girlfriend, Fiona Apple (bluesy, rocky, alternative)
13. You Are the Best Thing - Ray Lamontagne (bluesy rock)
14. Rooster - Alice in Chains (angry rock)
15. Here with Me - Dido (pop, early emo-rock)
16. Sweet Rolls - Béla Flek and John Hartford (modern bluegrass/jazz)
17. More Than Words - Extreme (acoustic/pop)
18. Anywhere I Lay My Head - Scarlett Johansen (celebrity pop crossover)
19. Rat Salad - Black Sabbath (instrumental rock/solos/disgusting title)
20. Baby We've Got a Date - Bob Marley and Wailers (reggae)
21. First Suite for Military Band in b-flat Major - Gustav Holst (neo-classical)
22. Perfect Strangers - INXS (slut-rock)
23. Falling Down - Oasis (rock)
24. The Hornburg (Lord of the Rings Soundtrack) - London Philharmonic Orchestra (modern symphonic)
25. Please Me Like You Want To - Ben Harper (pop/acoustic/alternative)

I tag no one, because it's against my religion.

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Book Review: Shadowfall

nobody@vox.com(Paxton) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 16:18:21 -0600

Shadowfall: Book One of the Godslayer Chronicles

James Clemens

Shadowfall is a really well-written fantasy novel set in a complex and well-constructed universe. Although it is Book One of the Godslayer Chronicles series, author James Clemens has populated his world with thoroughly developed characters with rich back histories.

In the world of the series, magic ultimately comes from gods. There are about a hundred gods to be exact, and each lives in and controls a particular area of the world. They are tied to the land they live on and can't travel, so all of their interaction with the other gods is done through their servants. Their bodies are inherently magical, and everything that comes from their bodies, blood, tears, etc., have magical properties. People serve the gods, and the gods, in return, share their magic with their subjects.

This arrangement has been going on a long time, and things seem pretty secure, but of course there wouldn't be much of a story if everything was as it seemed.

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Concerning Roman Polanski, Child Rapist

nobody@vox.com(Paxton) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 16:15:21 -0600

Hollywood, in general though not in total, seems to be rallying to the defense of Roman Polanski, admitted child-rapist. This includes the likes of Harvey Weinstein, Whoopie Goldberg, and Peter Fonda, to name a few.

Whoopie, for example, says it wasn't "rape-rape." Apparently, there's rape, and then there's rape, and a 43-year-old man drugging then anally penetrating a 13-year-old girl isn't rape, it's just rape, and heck, if we're going to start sending people to jail for that, where will it stop?

Mr. Fonda points out that Polanski didn't kill anyone. Osama bin Laden is a murderer, Fonda's argument goes, and we haven't done anything to him yet, so why are we picking on poor Mr. Polanski? I assume by this argument no one should go to prison for anything until bin Laden is captured and convicted. We all have carte blanche!

Film critic Patrick Goldstein questioned the fact that Los Angeles County would spend money on an oversees extradition during a budget crisis. It's only common sense that we should pursue child rapists only when we're flush with cash. I mean, you have to have your priorities straight, right?

Anne Applebaum with the Washington Post points out that the victim no longer wants Polanski prosecuted, preferring to get on with her life. Trying and convicting the admitted rapist of a little girl, she says, "does not serve society in general or his victim in particular." She says, "If he weren't famous, I bet no one would bother with him at all." Because non-famous pedophiles are never extradited from other countries, right?

Many of the articles published on the story, in fact, make a point of the fact that the victim no longer wants Polanski prosecuted, citing the fact that she received an "undisclosed settlement" from Polanski. By all means, if you have enough money to pay off the victim afterwards, you should of course be allowed to rape little children without legal repercussions.

The Swiss Directors Association said that the arrest was "not only a grotesque farce of justice, but also an immense cultural scandal.” Obviously, arresting this great director is much more of a scandal than the rape of a child.

France's cultural minister thinks that Polanski has been "thrown to the lions because of ancient history". Who knew that thirty years ago was ancient history? Now that makes me feel really old.

Polish Defense Minister Radek Sikorski says he will make an appeal in Polanski's defense.

Here are my thoughts.

I don't care that he's a "great director."

I don't care that it was thirty years ago, as if sodomizing a child at the age of 43 is a "youthful indiscretion."

I don't care that the victim would rather leave it behind, as many victims do.

I don't care how much it cost to fly him back to the U.S.

I don't care that it was the 70's and things were "just crazy back then".

I don't care that he has not been caught raping other little girls since he fled the U.S. to avoid prosecution.

I don't care about the supposed injustice that he is going to be prosecuted while murderers like bin Laden are still free.

I don't care how famous he is.

I don't care how rich he is.

I don't care how loved he is by his fans.

I don't care.

I don't care.

I don't care.

Rape is rape is rape is rape.

I am glad that he was arrested.

I'm glad he's being extradited.

I'll be glad when he's tried.

I will be glad when he's convicted.

I will be glad when he goes to prison.

The next time conservatives rail against the Hollywood liberal elitists, I will have to agree with them. The fact that in 2009 there is even a debate about whether an admitted child-rapist should be given a pass because he's famous is absurd, depressing, and infuriating.

I personally will not be watching any movies or TV shows, listening to songs, or reading books by any artist of any medium that defends this child-rapist because he's "such a nice guy" and a "great filmmaker". If entertainers think they are better than the rest of us and are above the law, it is because we have given them that impression. Maybe it's time to remind them that they live in their exalted position only because we put them there, and we can remove them any time we want.

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Disturbing Study Concerning Flu Shots and H1N1

nobody@vox.com(Paxton) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 11:03:04 -0600

Recent studies conducted in Canada suggest that people who received the a shot for the regular flu last year are twice as likely to contract H1N1 this year. Read the article here.

This study has not been peer reviewed or published, yet. The World Health Organization is reviewing the results now to determine if they should discourage people from receiving the regular flu vaccine this year. My question would be how well did they control for other variables? Many people who get flu vaccines do so because they have a higher rate of exposure to the flu virus (day care workers, medical personnel, etc.), and that may be why they are getting H1N1 at a higher rate, not because they had the flu vaccine last year.

Hopefully, the WHO will be complete their review soon.

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