Monday, December 18, 2006

So, what's your sign? You crash here often? - Yahoo! News

So, what's your sign? You crash here often? - Yahoo! News

There's something wrong with this. I'm sure the insurance companies are just going based off of statistical research data, but there's still something very wierd about it. That something so arbitrary as your astrological sign determines whether you're a high-risk or not is absurd. I'm sure a lot of people who believe in astrology would argue with me. But really. And, I wonder, if someone took the ball and ran with it, if insurance companies could be sued for this kind of bias?

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Ubersite - Video games make me racist

Ubersite - Video games make me racist

Funny how well I can identify with this story.

Hell, even when I'm not playing games, the computer can make me swear. And every time I get multiple aggro from elite mobs playing my char on World of Warcraft, I can swear well enough to make a sailor blanch.

Yes, I play World of Warcraft. F*!? off.

Killing the sacred cow

Holocaust conference begins in Iran - Yahoo! News

But he added that Zionists have used the Holocaust to "give legitimacy to their illegitimate project," the creation of Israel.


You'd expect something like that to be stated at this Holocaust convention in Iran. And such a typical thing to come from the mouth of that radical nutjob calling himself Rabbi Ahron Cohen.

Wait, what?? A Rabbi said that?

Yep. And I think I can understand why.

Anyone with even the slightest grasp of mid 20th century history will recall that Hitler's Big Thing (tm) was to create a National Socialist empire ruled by the Aryan race. Essentially, a Nazi earth governed by blue-eyed, blond dudes...or, at least, people with that heritage (considering Hitler himself had brown hair, etc).

So...a nation based off of being Aryan. How much different, at the most basic level, is that from a nation based off of being Semitic--specifically Jewish?

But that's what Israel is. After World War II, the Powers That Be felt that these distinct people without a nation needed to have SOME place to call home. So they took a chunk of British Palestine and made it Israel in 1948. They didn't carve an arbitrary chunk of land out of somewhere for just anybody. This was for the Jews who had managed to survive the Holocaust.

Pay no attention to whether or not this was merited. The fact still remains the same. It is a nation established based off of racial identity. Most nations are like that by default...that is, it's hard to NOT be a (generally) Black nation if you're in Africa; just like it's hard to NOT be a (generally) White nation if you're in Scandinavia, or (generally) Oriental if you're in East Asia. It's all about the geography. The same could be said for Israel, EXCEPT that it was expressly MADE for the purpose of these nationless people, who were INVITED to come there from all over the world (especially Eurasia). It is a nation of immigrants...specifically of one race. They weren't (generally) already there...they were scattered across the globe.

This reasoning may be a large part of why the Arab populace in the region hate Israel and, by proxy, the United States so much. It does, at the most basic level, seem hypocritical.

Now, something else to consider about the founding of Israel is that a lot of nations at the time (1940s) didn't want the Jewish people in their country. A little known "fact" (note the quotes) says that Hitler initially just wanted to get the Jewish people OUT of Germany (good luck with that as you're gobbling up countries like a fat man at a KFC). Jews also suffered at the hand of people like Stalin, as well. So what do you do for a specific group of people who are persecuted throughout Europe?

Unlike the "Aryan" people, Jews WERE persecuted. "Aryan" people were not. There is that one fundamental difference between establishing an Aryan state and a Jewish state. IMHO, at the time it was the best solution to be made. It, unfortunately, displaced a lot of Palestinian Arabs; and the effect still lasts to this day.

People will argue that Jewish people are entitled to Israel because they are God's chosen people. I won't argue that. I'm pointing out how it would LOOK to an outside observer...and how it probably looks to the Palestinians and other Arabs in the area. The only way to resolve an argument--especially one that has lasted almost 60 years now--is to understand the other person's point of view, which is what I'm trying to do here.

Friday, December 08, 2006

Sodomy (oooooo!!)

VERSES FROM THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES (OLD TESTAMENT) ON HOMOSEXUALITY

When just about any person--especially Christians--hear the name "Sodom," gay sex immediately jumps to mind. After all, "sodomy" is specifically defined (in a dictionary, mind you, as well as many law books) as anal sex (straight OR gay for that matter).

Would it surprise you to know that Sodom's crime probably wasn't "teh buttsecks?"

We are faced with the inescapable and rather ironic conclusion that the condemned activities in Sodom had nothing to do with sodomy. As one Christian editor (9) wrote: "To suggest that Sodom and Gomorra is about homosexual sex is an analysis of about as much worth as suggesting that the story of Jonah and the whale is a treatise on fishing." There is still another level of irony associated with this passage: God seems to condemn the citizens for insensitive treatment and harassment of others. But, this is the favorite Biblical passage that some Christian faith groups use to attack gays and lesbians.


Bububutbutbut...how could this be true??? Well, there's a way to find out exactly what God had in mind.

LITMUS TEST TIME!

Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."


The author of the referenced article that debates the Bible's stance on homosexuality (wow what a grammar nightmare this sentence is) suggests that what Sodom was most guilty of was being inhospitable (if not just downright horrible) to strangers. In fact, the straw that breaks the camel's back in Genesis 19 is the fact that the townsfolk of Sodom wanted to treat the angels badly. Click the title of my blog entry to go to the author's argument. It makes good sense.

This being the Christmas season, I think it would do us well to contemplate on how we treat our fellow human beings--gay or straight. To quote a very favorite meme of many Christians: "What Would Jesus Do?"