This just in: Islamist extremists are still obsessed with looking like total clowns, so you better go visit the pyramids of Egypt before some nut bar decides to dynamite the lot of them (http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/11/12/249092.html).
Of course, overreaction to all slights is the order of the day, so when some fool writes ‘Canada will burn; Praise Allah’ on a Toronto war memorial with a marker – yes, a marker – it needs to be international news (posted on Drudge Report) and investigated as a hate crime (see: http://www.torontosun.com/2012/11/12/coronation-park-war-memorial-defaced-canada-will-burn-praise-allah). Mayor Ford was “sickened” when he heard.
Folks, our soldiers fought and killed the Waffen SS. I think one idiot with a marker isn’t a threat. Condemn the stupidity when asked, sure, but hate crime investigations and declarations of horror are overkill.
Just to give you a glimpse of what abject idiocy looks like when it’s clothed in Christian cloth, check out www.godhatesfags.com . I can’t log onto it at work because our internet filter says it falls under the category ‘Racism and Hate’ – an accurate description, to be sure, but I find it a little strange reporters aren’t allowed to wear big boy pants and visit whatever websites they think are appropriate, without first submitting the URL to a help desk. Ah well, no reason to think newspaper publishers would be completely immune to nanny-statism.
Texas is separating from the United States: http://blog.chron.com/txpotomac/2012/11/the-petition-to-let-texas-secede-from-the-u-s-to-be-reviewed-by-the-white-house/
Yeah, this won’t happen. But it’s an interesting window into the curious mix of nationalism and state pride that is the U.S. One can be a proud American but an equally proud Texan. The same may not be true of all states, though. Texas was one of a few states that were at one point a political entity independent of the United States (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Texas). Vermont’s another: http://www.amazon.com/Secession-Vermont-States-Themselves-Empire/dp/1932595309/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1352814666&sr=8-2&keywords=secession+vermont
Still, anyone who thinks the federal government would allow a state to leave is kidding themselves. Besides, I think we all know this is a toothless protest. Signing a petition is one thing, but cutting ties with your own nationality is another.
For an animal lover and vegetarian, I’m surprisingly intrigued by news stories about people fighting animals to save their own lives: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_RUSSIA_WOLF_KILLER?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-11-13-07-03-43
Here’s another example: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2006/07/22/bear.html
It’s definitely not a hatred of animals, even the attacking animals. Maybe I’m just (morbidly?) fascinated with the idea of humans being thrust back into the primal food chain, fighting for their lives and emerging triumphant.
I probably watched too many cartoons as a child.
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