My friend Bob recently sent me this link to a video, which is a bit disheartening, a bit inflammatory, a bit scary, and might make you a little bit angry.
I'm not one to advocate doing anything because you were told to in a movie, and I understand the workings of propaganda and counter-propaganda, but I definitely think this bears looking in to.
The sad thing is, it might already be too late to do anything about the organized crime mafia that the US government has become inextricably linked to...Americans, in general, seem too lazy and too pre-occupied with entertainment and tech to do anything about it.
Monday, December 04, 2006
Monday, November 27, 2006
Maisie Mononoke, Queen of the North Forest
Sunday was an adventure. We drove up North...well, to a place about 15 miles North of Alexandria, which is really only about half-way up North, "up North" generally meaning it takes over 3.5 hours to get there, but...anyway, when we arrived at "Pig Paradise", we picked up this little bundle of joy, who currently inhabits our bathroom during the day, our living room and bedroom during the evening, and our hearts all of the time.
What a cutie, eh?
What a cutie, eh?
Friday, November 17, 2006
Playstation 3 Queue
Took this last night outside the Target in downtown Minneapolis. The first bunch of people waiting for this morning's release of the PS3. I saw an ambulance down by the queue later when I was catching a bus...I wonder if there was a fight?
Monday, November 13, 2006
Nonsense Poem
Today I felt like writing a nonsense poem...
Wozalo nixize wo
Su ru no xa su po
Su po du li
Su ru no mi
Wozalo nixize wo
Pronounciation guide...
WOAH-zah-loh NEE-chee-zay WOAH
soo ROO noh CHAH soo POH
soo POH doo LEE
soo ROO noh MEE
WOAH-zah-loh NEE-chee-zay WOAH
To the tune of "Hickory Dickory Dock"...
:oP
Wozalo nixize wo
Su ru no xa su po
Su po du li
Su ru no mi
Wozalo nixize wo
Pronounciation guide...
WOAH-zah-loh NEE-chee-zay WOAH
soo ROO noh CHAH soo POH
soo POH doo LEE
soo ROO noh MEE
WOAH-zah-loh NEE-chee-zay WOAH
To the tune of "Hickory Dickory Dock"...
:oP
Thursday, October 19, 2006
What's the Problem with the Church Today?
The other day, while waiting for the bus, I was audience to a man with a bullhorn standing next to the bus stop shelter, expounding upon all of the things we "sinners" do wrong, and exhorting us to come back to Christ.
During part of the diatribe, he mentioned the seventh commandment, "thou shalt not commit adultery", and expanded it to include any type of "fornication", or sex outside of marriage. As I got onto the bus he was proceeding to lump homosexuality in with fornication as covered under the 7th commandment, and I thought, "wait a minute...the only reason homosexuals have to have sex outside of marriage is because the church doesn't allow them to marry."
Which pushed me forward into thinking...what is is about "The Church" (in my case meaning specifically the Church of Christ, Temple Lot, but most of this can be applied to any Christian sect) that puts me so on edge?
The major problem for me is one of discrimination. The Church is sexist, homophobic, and in many cases racist, as well. As long as the Church excludes people from communion (and by communion, I mean the ability to partake in all walks of Church life, including being promoted to clergy) based on sex, race, sexual preference, or any other factors that I might be missing...as long as they do, it will seem to be that there is something fundamentally flawed that would make me a hypocrite to participate.
During part of the diatribe, he mentioned the seventh commandment, "thou shalt not commit adultery", and expanded it to include any type of "fornication", or sex outside of marriage. As I got onto the bus he was proceeding to lump homosexuality in with fornication as covered under the 7th commandment, and I thought, "wait a minute...the only reason homosexuals have to have sex outside of marriage is because the church doesn't allow them to marry."
Which pushed me forward into thinking...what is is about "The Church" (in my case meaning specifically the Church of Christ, Temple Lot, but most of this can be applied to any Christian sect) that puts me so on edge?
The major problem for me is one of discrimination. The Church is sexist, homophobic, and in many cases racist, as well. As long as the Church excludes people from communion (and by communion, I mean the ability to partake in all walks of Church life, including being promoted to clergy) based on sex, race, sexual preference, or any other factors that I might be missing...as long as they do, it will seem to be that there is something fundamentally flawed that would make me a hypocrite to participate.
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Thursday, September 14, 2006
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
MSP-ORD
I've now arrived safely in the states...Minneapolis, MN, to be precise, and am in the departure lounge waiting to get on the last leg of my flight to Chicago, the Windy City.
It was sad to say goodbye to Edinburgh, but now I mostly feel excitement at the commencement of another new chapter in my life!
It was sad to say goodbye to Edinburgh, but now I mostly feel excitement at the commencement of another new chapter in my life!
Married...Back to Minneapolis
Our wedding (that is, the wedding of Hannele and myself) went off without too much of a hitch (just a little rain and a little goose) on the 18th of June, 2006. There will soon be links to pictures available at http://wedding.jceddy.com.
And now (rather, in half an hour or so), a taxi will pick me up to take me (and a couple of incredibly heavy suitcases) to Ediburgh International Airport, from whence I will fly to Amsterdam, Minneapolis, Chicago, and (eventually) back to Minneapolis, more or less "for good" (whatever that means, when married to a wanderlust-inflicted kenderkind, as I am). I look forward to moving back to Minneapolis (not to mention my up-coming week in the Chicago area), but will definitely miss Edinburgh...the sights, sounds, food, and most of all people that have made my almost two-year long stay here to wonderful and memorable.
I'll miss you all!
And now (rather, in half an hour or so), a taxi will pick me up to take me (and a couple of incredibly heavy suitcases) to Ediburgh International Airport, from whence I will fly to Amsterdam, Minneapolis, Chicago, and (eventually) back to Minneapolis, more or less "for good" (whatever that means, when married to a wanderlust-inflicted kenderkind, as I am). I look forward to moving back to Minneapolis (not to mention my up-coming week in the Chicago area), but will definitely miss Edinburgh...the sights, sounds, food, and most of all people that have made my almost two-year long stay here to wonderful and memorable.
I'll miss you all!
Thursday, June 08, 2006
Gay-Marriage Amendment
The US Senate recently voted on a proposed Constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage.
This brings up all kinds of questions in my mind. For example: What is the legal purpose of marriage? Should marriage have any legal repercussions whatsoever? Isn’t all of this anti-homosexuality sentiment within the government a breach of the separation of church and state?
As far as I understand it, the main legal purpose of marriage is the legal merging of two taxable entities to create one…or “kind of” one, that is, since a couple filing a joint tax return isn’t EXACTLY like one person filing a joint tax return with the same income as the total of the two married parties…it’s something special.
Since marriage is such a messy battlefield, and the distinction between the religious aspects and the legal aspects of it overlap in ways that make it unclear what it actually IS, I think it would make much more sense to completely split it…leave the religious version to churches, where it belongs, take away any legal bonds and any legal benefits of marriage…it’s a religious issue, not a legal one. If people still think we need a legal version of marriage (though I, for one, can’t see why), then create a legal-only one…a legally binding contract that is witnessed and signed by a judge and can only be broken through legal venues. Of course, this legal-only version of marriage would have to be discrimination free, so would allow the legal joining of ANY two (or more?!) people, giving them the same duties and benefits, be they a man and a woman, two men, two women, or perhaps even any combination of men and women.
Control of sexuality is something that churches do…the legal rights to privacy and protections against discrimination take all regulation of sexuality out of the hands of the state. When our political leaders throw around statements about “protecting morality” and “sacred institutions”, they are conflating their roles as protectors of our rights with those that rightfully belong outside of the legal and political sphere. We look VOLUNTARILY to churches and religious leaders for guidance in our moral decisions…we should not have the morals of others foisted upon us, except perhaps in extreme circumstances when our behavior threatens the rights of others.
In a recent address to the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention, President Bush lumped his opposition to same-sex marriage into his “culture of life” stance. He said, “We will continue to build a culture of life in America, and America will be better off for it.”
What does homosexuality have to do with a “culture of life”? It’s not like homosexuals are murderous fiends, across-the-board supporters of abortion, or advocates of capital punishment. It might be argued that homosexual partnerships don’t result in babies, but actually, with technology at the point where it is now, there’s no reason why a homosexual couple couldn’t have children.
Basically, this is just another hallmark of the specter of religious persecution that seems to be looming ever larger over American society, and we as a thinking, caring people need to stand up to put a stop to it before we end up in a hopelessly religiously oppressive nation…that is, if we aren’t there already.
This brings up all kinds of questions in my mind. For example: What is the legal purpose of marriage? Should marriage have any legal repercussions whatsoever? Isn’t all of this anti-homosexuality sentiment within the government a breach of the separation of church and state?
As far as I understand it, the main legal purpose of marriage is the legal merging of two taxable entities to create one…or “kind of” one, that is, since a couple filing a joint tax return isn’t EXACTLY like one person filing a joint tax return with the same income as the total of the two married parties…it’s something special.
Since marriage is such a messy battlefield, and the distinction between the religious aspects and the legal aspects of it overlap in ways that make it unclear what it actually IS, I think it would make much more sense to completely split it…leave the religious version to churches, where it belongs, take away any legal bonds and any legal benefits of marriage…it’s a religious issue, not a legal one. If people still think we need a legal version of marriage (though I, for one, can’t see why), then create a legal-only one…a legally binding contract that is witnessed and signed by a judge and can only be broken through legal venues. Of course, this legal-only version of marriage would have to be discrimination free, so would allow the legal joining of ANY two (or more?!) people, giving them the same duties and benefits, be they a man and a woman, two men, two women, or perhaps even any combination of men and women.
Control of sexuality is something that churches do…the legal rights to privacy and protections against discrimination take all regulation of sexuality out of the hands of the state. When our political leaders throw around statements about “protecting morality” and “sacred institutions”, they are conflating their roles as protectors of our rights with those that rightfully belong outside of the legal and political sphere. We look VOLUNTARILY to churches and religious leaders for guidance in our moral decisions…we should not have the morals of others foisted upon us, except perhaps in extreme circumstances when our behavior threatens the rights of others.
In a recent address to the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention, President Bush lumped his opposition to same-sex marriage into his “culture of life” stance. He said, “We will continue to build a culture of life in America, and America will be better off for it.”
What does homosexuality have to do with a “culture of life”? It’s not like homosexuals are murderous fiends, across-the-board supporters of abortion, or advocates of capital punishment. It might be argued that homosexual partnerships don’t result in babies, but actually, with technology at the point where it is now, there’s no reason why a homosexual couple couldn’t have children.
Basically, this is just another hallmark of the specter of religious persecution that seems to be looming ever larger over American society, and we as a thinking, caring people need to stand up to put a stop to it before we end up in a hopelessly religiously oppressive nation…that is, if we aren’t there already.
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