magic

Ok, I know I'm a sicko. But i found this really ... compelling. H/T Bishop Alan

Hooray!

The Georgia Supreme Court unanimously struck down a state law Wednesday that limited where registered sex offenders could live, ruling that the statute was so restrictive it unconstitutionally deprived the offenders of their property rights.

Can I just say that this rocks? Yeah, you all think I'm a sicko now. But "sex offenders" have become the lepers of modern American society. yes, some of them have done really shocking things, and shattered peoples lives.

and gone to prison for it, and gone through treatment for it, and maybe they are sober for years now, and are doing really amazing things with their lives. And nobody cares. Because they are a (oh my god) "sex offender". Meanwhile, nobody prevents George Bush, Daniel Murphy, or Dick Cheney from living in any particular neighborhood, despite the things they've done or instigated which are *way* worse than anything even the most heinous sex offender in the country has ever done (come one, argue with me here)

They're not the bogeymen we make them out to be. They're not monsters. They're human beings who have fucked up. Like the rest of us. Period. Hooray for the Georgia supreme court!

the difference between obama and hillary

Wow this struck me today. Today is the day before "Thanksgiving", one of the biggest holidays of the American year, which is supposed to be about eating huge amounts of yummy food and focusing on gratitude.

At the top of Barack Obama's home page today: these four lines:

Happy Thanksgiving
Read a message from Barack
Support America's Second Harvest
Support Share our Strength

In the message linked at the top of his page, this quote from Barack

I will be volunteering this week at the New Horizons food pantry in Manchester, New Hampshire. And I encourage all Americans to do what they can to help those in need -- because the best way to show our gratitude for what we have is by doing our part for those who have less."

At the top of Hillary Clinton's Homepage today: these two lines:

Happy Thanksgiving
Read Hillary's Thanksgiving Message

In the message linked at the top of her page, this quote from Hillary

At our campaign offices in California, Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina as well as our headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, we're accepting donations of nonperishable food to help local efforts to fight hunger.

The difference here is enormous and very telling, in my opinion

Wide eyed

I absolutely love this photo. It's from this slide show

Christmas wish list

I know it's a lot to ask for. But here it is.

1. A Deep Water well for disease free fresh water in the third world-$18,000
2. Sponsor a child through World Vision via my wife. Just shoot her an email--Meganady at gmail.com--she is a world vision child ambassador, and has a whole list of children available. Or she can get you a sponsor child per your specifications.
3. Buy basic immunizations for a child in the third world--$41
4. Provide malaria prevention for one family-$20
5. Help provide hope for a sexually eploited girl-$35
6. Help reunite a child with their family-$75
7. Help save the lives of mothers and newborns-$116
8. Help prevent AIDS
9. Buy 5 ducks for a hungry family
10. If you must buy a gift to send to Benjamin himself, please try to keep it under $20.
    

Happiness

Look people--want a simple exercise to increase your happiness? Join my other blog! the people at U Penn--including the super smart one, Martin Seligman, have demonstrated empirically that doing this simple exercise, even for a short time (one *week*) will make you lastingly happier (at least for 6 months). (Of course it also helps to be on the upside of your cyclothymia. but that's another story, and altogether different) By the way, the relevant bit of that PDF (the one linked to the words "demonstrated empirically") is on pages 5-6. although the whole thing is very readable. The key with the exercise is to not only write down three things that went well each day, but *why* they went well.

If you wanna join, just email me. It's benjamin.ady at gmail.com. of course you will have to delete the spaces and change the "at" to "@". I do it that way to avoid spam. although Gmail is fricking briliant for spam--I basically never get any, even thought I don't really guard it that well. which is to say you should get a gmail account if you don't already have one, since everybody knows google is going to rule the world, as soon as they find a way to open sourcishly defeat the current American Empire of the World.

wow I'm glad I'm not running for president. It takes a certain kind of ... stupidity to do that, doesn't it? hmmmm.....

iran next?

why not? I mean what's another 1.6 TRILLION DOLLARS, 80,000 civilian deaths, and 2 million refugees. At least Boeing, ATK Tech Systems, Honeywell Corporation, and Bush/Cheney/Blackwell/Big Oil will just keep getting richer. Hey--trickel down economics, rigth? I mean if *some* people are getting wealthier, it will eventually trickle down to the 40 million Americans who have no health insurance.




Oh, and here's John McCain's take on the whole thing.




And when asked later if his joke was insensitive, he replied "Insensitive to What? The Iranians?"
By the way "The Iranians", which is to say, the Persians, are one of the oldest and profoundly beautiful cultures on the planet. It would be altogether american to bomb them. Thoroughly. Fuck I hate being American sometimes.

Hooray

Obama leaps ahead of Clinton in Iowa polling

Just wait 'til he wins Iowa, and then Edwards pulls out and endorses him =)

Trivia question

which current candidate for the U.S. presidency has the most doctorates?

realization

So I am writing an "essay" (it's not really an essay, since it's only allowed to be 300 words long) for my spanish class on U.S. intervention in a country or region of my choosing. I chose Central America, and I am reading up (in English, I must confess) on U.S. interventions in Central America. And what I am learning is pretty freaking shocking.

And what I've realized more than anything, in this study, is that Ronald Reagan was a truly evil man. Worse, perhaps than G.W. Bush, which is saying something. Did ya'll know that during the 80's, which is to say during Reagan's administration, the U.S. was largely responsible for funding and training armies in Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Guatemala which carried out reigns of terror in which hundreds of thousands of relativley normal people were murdered, raped, and tortured? And multiple times Reagan's government completely ignored reports of what was going on under our funding, training, and support. In fact, the U.S. has refused to pay reparations ordered by international courts regarding some of this stuff. I guess we couldn't afford to, seeing as how we needed the money to illegally invade Iraq.

So here's what I wanna know. How is it that nearly 60% of the people who voted in 1984 voted for Reagan? Did they not know? Not care? "We're fine if hundreds of thousand of people are being raped, murdered, and tortured in our name just a few hundred miles to the south, as long as we're rich, comfortable, and safe"? I am increasingly convinced that this country is seriously fucked up. I mean that's not actually strong enough language, but I lack the vocabulary to say it more strongly. maybe someone can help me out. FUBAR, perhaps? I'm sure some of you old military guys could help me out with this.

costs of war

$1,600,000,000,000

Will buy (approximately):

• 80,000,000 international adoptions
• 26,000,000 new houses to shelter the homeless and the poor
• 70,000,000 four year scholarships to public universities
• 90,000,000 new deep water wells for communities that don't currently have access to fresh, safe, clean drinking water

OR

• 2 million new refugees
• 84,000 civlian deaths.
• 106,000,000 new CBU 87 cluster bombs (5% of whose bomblets will fail to detonate, creating thousands of new civilian casulties in the years and decades to come)
• the salary of ATK chief executive Daniel J. Murphy for the next 160,000 years (of course he's actually seen a big chunk of that $1,600,000,000,000)

barack obama vs. john edwards

So I watched the Democratic candidates debate in Las Vegas a couple nights ago. As you, the regular readers of this blog are aware, I have been an fan of Barack Obama for some time now. Once again I really liked Obama's take on things in this debate. I love the fact that he refused to answer so called "yes or no questions" because he wouldn't buy into the premises behind the questions. I mean we've had a president for 8 years who thinks you can look at the world in a simplistice "yes or no, us or them, good or bad" dichotomy, and the results speak for themselves.

However, during the debate, John Edwards also caught my attention. He said he wants to rid the world of nuclear weapons, including here in the U.S. How frickin' kewl is that? I loved his explanation of how we got NAFTA, which hurt lots of poor people, and didn't get universal health care, all at the same time, because big corporate interests rule Washington D. C.

At this point, I think I'd be pretty happy to vote for either Mr. Obama or Mr. Edwards in the general election. However, I still rather prefer Mr. Obama. This has to do with their backgrounds. Obama lived in Jakarta for four years as a preteen, and attended local schools. Obama's entire career has been devoted to working to help "the least of these". Edwards, on the other hand, is pretty much from the old south, and although in one sense I rather like the fact that as a malpractice lawyer he won some $60 million in settlements for his clients, on the other hand I rather *don't* like the fact that he probably pockets at least $15 million of that. Moreover, I rather don't think that such enormous awards are leading towards a useful or helpful solution to the stupidity of the whole medical system in this country.

That's my 27 cents worth.

killing our friends

So it looks like on Tuesday U.S. forces "accidentally" killed 50 members of a tribal group that had been allies in the so called "war against terror".

Now where have we seen this sort of thing before? How about the way we treated the Hmong?

From the wiki article:

In the early 1960s, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) began to recruit the indigenous Hmong people in Laos to join fighting the Vietnam War, named as a Special Guerrilla Unit led by General Vang Pao. Over 80% of the Hmong men in Laos were recruited by the CIA to join fighting for the U.S. Secret War in Laos.

and after the war was over?...

the Secret War began around the time that the U.S. became officially involved in the Vietnam War. Following the U.S. withdraw; from Vietnam in 1975, the Lao kingdom was overthrown by the communists and the Hmong people became targets of retaliation and persecution. While some Hmong people returned to their villages and attempted to resume life under the new regime, thousands more made the trek to and across the Mekong River into Thailand, often under attack. This marked the beginning of a mass exodus of Hmong people from Laos. Those who did make it to Thailand generally were held in squalid United Nations refugee camps. Nearly 20 years later, in the 1990s, a major international debate ensued over whether the Hmong should be returned to Laos, where opponents of their return argued they were being subjected to persecution, or afforded the right to immigrate to the U.S. and other Western nations.

Of those Hmong who did not flee Laos, somewhere between two and three thousand were sent to re-education camps where political prisoners served terms of 3-5 years. Many Hmong died in these camps, after being subjected to hard physical labor and harsh conditions. Thousands more Hmong people, mainly former soldiers and their families, escaped to remote mountain regions - particularly Phou Bia, the highest (and thus least accessible) mountain peak in Laos. Initially, some Hmong groups staged attacks against Pathet Lao and Vietnamese troops while others remained in hiding to avoid military retaliation and persecution. Spiritual leader Zong Zoua Her rallied his followers in a guerilla resistance movement called Chao Fa (RPA: Cob Fab). Initial military successes by these small bands led to military counter-attacks by government forces, including aerial bombing and heavy artillery, as well as the use of defoliants and chemical weapons.

Small groups of Hmong people, many of them second or third generation descendants of former CIA soldiers, remain internally displaced in remote parts of Laos, in fear of government reprisals. Faced with continuing military operations against them by the government and a scarcity of food, some groups have begun coming out of hiding, while others have sought asylum in Thailand and other countries.

Friday Video

Diet Coke and Mentos



H/T Tony

happy

From here

The Christian response to Islam--the best, of hope, and the worst, of fear

I read two extremely different takes on the Christian response to Muslims this week. In My Not So Humble Opinion, one represents the best of christianity, while the other represents the worst.

Brian McLaren, Nov. 14, 2007 (at the start he is quoting his Christian friends Larry and Andrea, who work and live among Muslims in the Middle East) In my visits to Muslim countries, I have been honored by the friendship and hospitality of ordinary people. What will ordinary Americans offer in return? Will we allow ourselves the "outrageous" experience of seeing the humanity rather than the ugliness in our enemies? Will we reach out to Muslims in our communities and in other countries, and in the process, allow our own lives to be transformed? Perhaps it is a distant hope to see political leaders gathering around a table in a true gesture of reconciliation and respect. But it is the changed hearts of ordinary people that will help to transform both societies - and our world. My friends are echoing something Bono said in a recent interview: "But then you've also got to try to cut off the oxygen supply of hatred, which is false ideas about who you are as an American, who you are in the West. I know that sounds like limp liberalism, but it's really not." When we treat guests in our country with contempt, when we refuse people the dignity of speaking with them, when we focus on the ugliness of our enemies to the exclusion of their humanity, we are reinforcing a pretty ugly idea of who we are as Americans. Ultimately, we're hurting ourselves. Again, to quote Bono, "Isn't it cheaper and smarter to make friends out of potential enemies than to defend yourself against them later?" As we approach the season of Advent, we will recall our central story: that the holy God who created the universe was mysteriously incarnated in a vulnerable baby among an oppressed people, entering a hostile world full of vicious but beloved enemies to talk to them, walk among them, befriend them, and seek to reconcile with them. What would happen this Christmas if we applied this message to our world and its hostilities today? Preachers, there is a subject for you to work into your sermons. Don't expect such sermons to be popular, but do expect them to be faithful.

Chuck Colson, Nov 14, 2007. Patrick Sookhdeo, a Muslim convert to Christianity who is also an Anglican priest, is the author of Islam: The Challenge to the Church. Dr. Sookhdeo writes that many Christians are confused by the seemingly capricious way in which their Muslim neighbors relate to them. This is because they are unaware of the many Koranic teachings that regulate relations with those outside the faith. For example, hospitality and the exchange of gifts is the linchpin of relationships among Muslims, and many Muslims also invite Christians into their homes and give them gifts. But this seldom works in reverse. This is more than simply a concern about eating non-halal food, Sookhdeo writes. “There is also the cultural concept of Christians as being religiously ‘unclean,’ arising from the discriminatory laws against them in sharia. There’s also the fact that accepting a meal means owing a favor to the host.” Another problem may be your family pet. Religiously observant Muslims may refuse to enter a home that contains a dog, since dogs are considered unclean. As for gifts—many Muslims will be eager to give a copy of the Koran to Christian neighbors, but they will refuse to accept a copy of the Bible in return. “Muslims are always on the alert for opportunities for mission,” Sookdeo says, “but they guard themselves against anything that might serve to deflect them from the way of Islam, such as the scriptures of another faith.” In their efforts to reach out to Muslims, Christians must beware of taking part in one-sided events that benefit Islam at the expense of Christianity. For instance, a Christian pastor may invite a local imam to speak from the pulpit as part of a cultural exchange. But all too often, Sookhdeo says, “the pattern is that the imam preaches in the church and the minister merely prays in the mosque.” Muslims view this as a victory. As with the attempted exchange of scriptures, Sookhdeo writes, “Muslims will use every opportunity to promote their faith and to prevent the similar promotion of Christianity.” Christians end up doing all the learning while Muslims do all the teaching.

perfectly captured:

the spirit and letter of christian fundamentalism, perfectly captured. H/T Spiritofthebeer

'bout time

The Senate Finance Committe investigates "non-profit" prosperty theology mega-churches.

H/T Reformed Poser

the myth of veterans day

Words from the Wikipedia article on veterans day: heroes. honor. service. tribute. grateful nation. homage. solemnly remember. sacrifices. fought valiantly. preserve heritage of freedom. an enduring peace.

Words from George Bush's speech today, on veterans day: good. noble. just. promise. sacrifice. honor. blessed. brave. service. valiantly. free. home. magnificent. proud. victory. safely.

why all these words? These words are being used to create/propogate a myth. By "myth" I mean "a traditional or sacred story that attempts to iterate, explain, or justify the thoughts and actions of a people".

The myth we are creating/being created in is strongly related to the myth of redemptive violence.

The reality is this: my father, who is a reasonably good man, has probably been more profoundly affected by his involvement with the Vietnam War than by any other one thing in his life, including his acoholic father. He has spent time in psych wards. He has to take psychotropic medications to function. Apart from very faint memories as a very tiny lad, I cannot remember a time when my dad hasn't suffered from chronic pain of one type or another in his body. He was doubtless exposed to Agent Orange. He was doubltless introduced to the most psychologically toxic horrors over there in Vietnam. He without doubt had to kill people, real live human beings with moms and dads and brothers and sisters. He probably had to kill children.

I'm not saying all this to dishonor my dad. He's pretty damn close to the awesome end of the spectrum, as dads go.

I'm saying it because the myth is bunk. My dad didn't sacrifice his health, his sanity, his humanity, for a good cause. He sacrificed it for a lousy cause--so that we Americans could continue to be the word's most excellent consumers. So we can continue be part of the 20% who consume 80% of the world's resources. So we can work 40 hour weeks, and have nice warm beds, and instant surgery in case of placental abruption, and personal computers upon which we can blog, and unbelieably huge amounts of food to eat, and pocket money, and 60" plasma televisions, and big fancy trucks with big fancy fifth wheels in which we can spend our retirement putzing around this beautiful nation, all while 2 billion people live on $2/day or less, and the continent of Africa can't even control stop malaria, the tools for the stopping of which have been around quite a while already, and 30,000 children starve to death every day, each for the lack of less money than we spend on lattes each day.

My dad sacrificed all that he sacrificed in order to maintain that imbalance in the world. Because such an imbalance doesn't just stick around by itself. He sacrificed so that we the powerful can continue to have so much power at the expense of the weak. And in spite of all the lovely words of George Bush, and all the other deluded Americans who will write and celebrate and weep and remember this weekend--that's a rotten cause. Vietnam, and Nicaragua, and Laos, and Cuba, and Afghanistan, and Iraq (and this list goes on for quite a long time) do not qualify as noble, honor, sacrifice, blah blah blah ad nauseam. They're all based on the same hogwash myth. It's all about hundreds and hundreds of thousands of normal, weak, poor, downtrodden people all over the world dying, just to make sure we stay on top of the heap. I hope today or tomorrow somebody blows up Liberty Enlightening the World, with her yotta-bullshit bronze plaque which reads

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

2 million new refugees from Iraq since 2003.
In Syria alone as many as 500,000 Iraqi girls and women have been forced into prostitution due to economic hardship.
Fewer than 5000 have been accepted into the United States.

Patriotism

and if you're a fucking terrorist, we can use waterboarding on you. And we even have a patriotic new Attorney General who will make sure it's not ("legally") torture.

H/T Rachel