This little planet of ours managed another sweep around the sun. It’s done it about 4.5 billion times before, despite what those silly young earth creationists will tell you, so it’s getting quite good at it.
Here’s hoping the next lap will be filled with happiness, peace, rationality, good racing, interesting travels, delicious food, and chocolate. Lots and lots of chocolate.
Happy new year everyone!
Whether you’re atheist, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, Christian, Muslim, liberal, conservative, republican, democrat, communist or any other faith or ideology, I wish you all the merriest Christmas and the happiest new year.
Some wise words the current “leader of the free world” should pay heed to:
…it is apparently necessary for me to state once again — not what kind of church I believe in, for that should be important only to me — but what kind of America I believe in.
I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute; where no Catholic prelate would tell the President — should he be Catholic — how to act, and no Protestant minister would tell his parishioners for whom to vote; where no church or church school is granted any public funds or political preference, and where no man is denied public office merely because his religion differs from the President who might appoint him, or the people who might elect him.
I believe in an America that is officially neither Catholic, Protestant nor Jewish; where no public official either requests or accept instructions on public policy from the Pope, the National Council of Churches or any other ecclesiastical source; where no religious body seeks to impose its will directly or indirectly upon the general populace or the public acts of its officials, and where religious liberty is so indivisible that an act against one church is treated as an act against all.
…
Finally, I believe in an America where religious intolerance will someday end, where all men and all churches are treated as equals, where every man has the same right to attend or not to attend the church of his choice, where there is no Catholic vote, no anti-Catholic vote, no bloc voting of any kind, and where Catholics, Protestants, and Jews, at both the lay and the pastoral levels, will refrain from those attitudes of disdain and division which have so often marred their works in the past, and promote instead the American ideal of brotherhood.
…if the time should ever come — and I do not concede any conflict to be remotely possible — when my office would require me to either violate my conscience or violate the national interest, then I would resign the office; and I hope any conscientious public servant would do likewise.”
– John F Kennedy, 1960
Mark Driscoll says:
It is not uncommon to meet pastors’ wives who really let themselves go; … A wife who lets herself go and is not sexually available to her husband … is not responsible for her husband’s sin, but she may not be helping him either.
So remember ladies, look after your husbands; make yourself pretty, dress like a man if that’s what he’s into, have a supply of methamphetamines handy in the kitchen cupboard. Don’t drive your man to gayness!
Every year, works of literature are challenged in libraries and schools around the world. Sometimes they get banned, sometimes they get burned, sometimes the challenge fails.
Despite the fact that my wife sometimes hides James Dobson books when she finds them at the library, I am generally opposed to censorship. So it seems is Google, who are promoting Banned Book Week, which ends tomorrow. If you follow that link you can read some of the most challenged books (the copyright free ones anyway) online.
The number one banned books of the 21st century are the Harry Potter series. Obviously they’re not available on Google. I will be corrupting my son with them in years to come though, along with:
The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien - Burned in Alamagordo, N. Mex. (2001) outside Christ Community Church along with other Tolkien novels as satanic.
The Book - It was found by a BookCrosser. It amused me to leave a book about English country walks in Canada; I apologise if it’s not a very exciting read.
Dawson - VampireFreaks, the online goth community where the Dawson gunman chose to display his mental defects, have been busy raising money which they are donating to the Montreal Children’s Hospital (after the hospital got the OK from the da Sousa family). It may not be for completely altruistic reasons, but it’s still a really nice gesture. So far they’re up to 2500USD.
The Hamster - He’s out of intensive care and “stable”. Clarkson managed to get a smile from him by calling him a crap driver. Fans have already raised over 30,000UKP for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance on his behalf.
No Cars Go - Today is car-free day in Montreal. The timing is between the two rush hours, which kind of defeats the object. The trains weren’t any busier this morning.
Breakfast - We’re going to Eggspectations for breakfast tomorrow. I heart Eggspectations.
Richard Hammond, one of the presenters of BBC motoring show Top Gear crashed a jet powered car while trying to break a land speed record (or not maybe) yesterday. He’s currently in serious condition in hospital. He’s a funny guy, I hope he makes a full recovery.
Top Gear has always been a target of TV campaigners. Environmentalists hate it for obvious reasons (I have my own mixed feelings about that aspect), anti-speed campaigners hate it for equally obvious reasons, and some people just hate Jeremy Clarkson. But if anyone uses the Hamster’s accident as an excuse to renew calls for banning the show I will hide dead sardines in their curtain linings.
Dawson - Arranged by text message and email over the weekend, Dawson College students turned up on Monday wearing pink in memory of Stacy de Sousa (she loved pink). They gathered outside and entered the building en masse at 12:41 (the time the shooting started) to thunderous applause from the Dawson staff. An amazing show of strength and unity.
Canadian Idol - I was wrong about Paris Bennett, but I was right about Eva Avila. If she doesn’t mess up she will be the biggest thing to come out of Quebec since Celine. Bravo Eva.
The Amazing Race - Using your disability to gain advantage when you’re apparently fit enough to run an Ironman is just wrong. Kentucky coalminer is scary but funny. The Alabamanians won’t last long. Gay daughter’s Dad is probably in the closet. The beauty queens aren’t very beautiful. Do the producers have to find the campest gay couple they can for every season?