Duck Goes Moo!

Many of us miss Pope John Paul II but not everybody likes the new pope, Benedict XVI, and some have come to even espouse hatred upon him and his papacy, including much of the Muslim world. Some even go far enough to say he is evil, or at least looks evil:

Not liking the pope? Check out this site: http://www.notmypope.com/

They even list protestant churches to convert to for those ready to leave Catholicism, or the Microsoft of the Christian World as Stephan Colbert put it.

The U.N. was created with the goal of making the world a less warlike and dangerous place, where nations across the globe can debate out their differences, work together to enact global change, stop tyrants and help prevent other tragedies.

Whether or not it actually accomplishes that goal, it is nice to have some sort of global forum of sorts to add at least the sense that the world is indeed one big peaceful community that can talk things out.

Yona Metzger, the Chief Rabbi of Israel, has proposed that a “United Nations of religious groups” could be formed to help prevent religious violence.

I think it is a nice idea, but I worry to what degree it could work. Almost all religions depend on the idea that they are the only true faith. Meeting formally with other religions seems to negate that idea to some degree.

This is not to say I do not think that a global forum for religions is a good idea, but what power would said “United Nations of religious groups” really have? Should this perhaps just be an adjunct to the real U.N.?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4800194.stm

I am watching “The Daily Show” with John Stewart and they were interviewing Howard Dean about the Democratic comeback in the House and Senate. As they were signing off I could of sworn Dean said to John Stewart, “You guys did it for us”.

Did The Daily Show and The Colbert Report really effect the elections that much? I always viewed the shows as a form of entertainment for those with a liberal or moderate mindset, but not so much a a collective grassroots political movement.

Or were they? Are there any other shows out there that acted as much as a marshal point as these two shows?

Hmm… am I the only one who has noticed that gas prices have dropped just as the Mid-Term Elections have drawn near?

In a recent live broadcast President Bush lambasted the news media for reporting his administration’s finincial monitoring program. Even more so:

The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee urged the Bush administration yesterday to seek criminal charges against newspapers that reported on a secret financial-monitoring program used to trace terrorists.

source WashingtonPost.com

This is going too far. Do not blame the media for reporting on leaked information; it’s the role of the free press to report on everything and anything they can. Blame the Leakers, not the Media!

It really makes me wonder if the Bush administration is intentionally leaking information to the press so they can then accuse the free press of being destructive to America.

This is a must see:

Part 1: http://video.freevideoblog.com/ffplayer.swf?fileid=AAC7FA18-2DDC-4D3E-B1BB-9D6CBD83E27F

Part 2: http://video.freevideoblog.com/ffplayer.swf?fileid=C91DDBB4-28AD-4E6F-BD52-822BC77DF696

United 93 had come out and I have mixed feelings. In some regards I do want to see it as it is moving, supposidely fact-based, and everyone likes a disaster movie; but on the other hand, I view it the same way I view those who sold t-shirts at ground zero right after 9/11: as people exploiting the pain and suffering of the victims of the attack for profit.

I’ve already been challenged for my lack of patriotism on stating I dislike the Darryl Worley song “Have You Forgotten”. I always viewed it as someone using the memories and passions of 9/11 to make money, while some people I know say that it was written to bring us all together in patriotic unity.

Hey, I like patriotism as much as anyone else, and I do see some weight to the argument that we shouldn’t try to hide images of 9/11 from the public, but there is a fine line between using the imagery of the terrorist attacks to keep the memory alive and using them to make a big box office smash.

Still, I watch all the 9/11 documentaries whenever they are on and I am sure someone makes money off of those too. Psychologists say that no one does anything for someone else without having some kind of ulterior motive, so I can see how someone can have both the goal of making money and honor the brave people who fought back on flight United 93… so maybe I wont watch the movie now, but perhaps I will watch it when it comes out on DVD.

Taken from Zogby.com:

The wide-ranging poll also shows that 58% of those serving in country say the U.S. mission in Iraq is clear in their minds, while 42% said it is either somewhat or very unclear to them, that they have no understanding of it at all, or are unsure. While 85% said the U.S. mission is mainly “to retaliate for Saddam’s role in the 9-11 attacks,” 77% said they also believe the main or a major reason for the war was “to stop Saddam from protecting al Qaeda in Iraq”.

http://www.zogby.com/NEWS/ReadNews.dbm?ID=1075

Could it be true? Could Gore actually be trying to run in 2008? Many Democrats dislike Hillary enough to vote for McCain out of spite, and Gore seems to have grown more into his own personality to put any “Gore-Bot” jibes to rest.

Some even go so far as to say that Gore backed Dean in 2004 and lobbied for him to become DNC chairman so that he’d have the Democratic party eating out of his hands in 2008.

How will 2008 go? The 2006 elections results will be sure to have some sway in the who runs when and how well for president. A Democratic congressional takeover could help bring the donkey back into fashion and lead the elephant back out to pasture.

I wonder if Nader will run again…

Founded in Brazil in 1961, O Centro Espirita Beneficiente Uniao do Vegetal (The Center for the Benificial Spiritual Union of the Vegetable… or something like that) is a Southern American religion fused with Christian beliefs. One of their main cannons of belief is that one can only talk to God by drinking hoasca tea, which contains Dimethyltryptamine, better known as DMT.

DMT is a Schedule 1 drug under the Controlled Substances Act, as it causes hallucinations simular to LSD, so in America its use is prosecuted to the furthest extent of the law, which comes in conflict with Uniao do Vegetal’s religious practices.

Well, in a recently decided Supreme Court case it has been decided that Uniao do Vegetal members may indeed use this tea to be able to communicate with the lord almighty. This is quite a surprising decision, especially considering how Marijuana, a mere cannabinoid, is not allowed to be used medicinally by federal law. Marijuana is a Schedule 1 drug as well, while Cocaine, which can be used to make crack, is only a Schedule 2 drug.

I wonder if we will soon see a great influx of people joining the Uniao do Vegetal religion now that their tea is legal.

During the presidential election in 2004 a close friend of mine confided in me that she was going to vote for Bush, even though she has no Republican values and lives a very “liberal” lifestyle. Her main reason for supporting Bush was that he would do the best job protecting us from the terrorists and that critics of the Iraq war were aiding the enemy.

We debated the issue at length, but in the end neither of us convinced the other to change our choice for who should lead our country. Bush, as we now know, won the election.

My friend that I had the discussion with was not only a devout Bush fan but also a devout StarGate SG-1 fan, a show which I had not watched in depth until recently.

After seeing a majority of the episodes I found the reason why my friend wanted Bush to be president: In StarGate SG-1 a secret group of people know of secret enemies, the knowledge of which cannot be revealed to the rest of humanity. This group of people engage in war with other civilizations with no explainations or meetings with other governments, and the only people who want to stop the main characters from doing what they do are crooked, self-serving politicians who have ulterior motives galore. Most importantly, the main characters in StarGate are pure good and the enemies are pure evil who want to crush freedom.

It became obvious to me why my friend backed Bush: he was keeping us safe from the evil secret forces that we are not allowed to know the truth about. Who knows, Osama Bin Ladin might be a Goa’uld and Al Qaeda a faction of Jaffa building an empire on Earth.

Is StarGate perhaps a propaganda piece for Bush administration? Not likely, but it may have been enough to tip a few Sci-Fi liberals over to the other side when it came time to vote. It makes me wonder if the writers of StarGate SG-1 support the war or not.

Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.

Martin Luther King Jr., Strength to Love, 1963

This is amazing: http://onegoodmove.org/1gm/1gmarchive/002750.html

Luigi Cascioli, an Italian author, has proposed an interesting court case: to prove Jesus existed. While many non-Christians may believe that Jesus existed but was not the son of any God, Luigi believes that he did not exist at all.

For this court case to take place in Italy, the papal homeland, is especially interesting. What kind of ramifications will take place if the judge rules that Christ never existed? Or the other way around?

Here is a link to the story: link

The editorial cartoon has been a trademark of the free press. It allows a way to bring important, and at time distasteful, issues to the forefront through a hopefully clever and intellegent fashion. I’ve been a big fan of political cartoons for quite some time now and have been thinking of making my own for some time now, but have never completely gotten down to it yet.

Due to the general conglomeration of USA newspapers and the desire by the owners to remove more and more local news and opinions the editorial cartoon may be threatened. More and more editorial and political cartoonists have been finding themselves fired and no longer have a place to vent their daily rants at society, and now they are trying to find a way to fight back.

Could there be a better way than to use their trade to point barbs at those who have ended their employ? Check these out.

While Hillary Clinton is rumored to be investigating the idea of running for president in 2008, there’s an old familiar name that might reappear come the end of Bush’s second term: the man he defeated: Al Gore.

While he did not invent the internet and has seemed to fall off the poltical bandwagon, he has been slowly building up a new following, whether he’s aware of it or not.

Barack Obama, who soundedly beat the highly theatrical, if not goofy, Alan Keyes for a senate seat in Illinois in 2004, is also being looked upon as a favorite for running in 2008. While he might not have much experience, George W only had served one term as Governor of Texas when he ran and won the 2000 election for president.

Could a Gore / Obama ticket be in the future? Some might say it is too late for Gore to run again, but Nixon ran eight years after losing to Kennedy and won. Either way some merchandisers are already ready for Gore’s return.