19 September 2006:
It's our 1-Year Anniversary!!! Hooray! After class was over I took Amanda out to dinner. I gave her a silver claddaugh necklace and she got me a massage. Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh... it's gonna be fun! Now we are sitting on the couch watching House M.D. and Amanda keeps poking me in the nose!
So the big story in the news recently is the one about Pope Benedict XVI's inflammatory remarks concerning Islam. The Pope quoted a medieval text calling some of Muhammad's teachings "evil and inhuman" and calling Islam a violent religion that is "spread by the sword." Muslims, understandably, around the world became offended by the Pope's remarks. So they protested this characterization of their religion as being violent and evil by burning effigies of the Pope in southern Iraq while chanting, "Death to the Pope!", hurling firebombs at churches in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and shooting a nun to death in Somalia. Wow, that'll teach show the Vatican and the rest of the world just how wrong they are about Muslims. Just in case the level of hypocrisy wasn't made abundantly clear, al-Qaida in Iraq issued a statement saying that "you infidels (non-Muslims), we will continue our jihad and never stop until God avails us to chop your necks." The statement went on to say, "We will break up the cross, spill the liquor and impose the jizya tax (tax imposed on non-muslims), then the only thing acceptable is conversion or the sword." ...which is pretty much... er, EXACTLY what the Pope said. Actually... it's even MORE GRUESOME than what the Pope said.
Yeah, I'm sure you're making that puzzled, John-Stewartesque expression on your face like I am. So let's compare quotations:
Pope Eggs: "...Islam is a violent religion that is spread by the sword."
al-Qaida (in response to the Pope): "...the only thing acceptable is conversion or the sword."
Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm... yup! That's the same exact thing alright!
So let's break down the dispute to its most basic form:
Pope Eggs: "Muslims are violent."
Muslim Fundamentalists: "We are offended by that comment. We are going to chop off your head now."
Meanwhile, I have FINALLY found a candidate for senator that I can vote for in good conscience. The problem is, he's an independent whose name I'll have to write-in on voting day, which means he certainly won't win. Here's what my major problem is: I feel that it is my duty, as an American, to exercise my privilege of voting. Here is the problem: I am fed up with the scum-sucking Republicans and their equal amount of scum-sucking adversaries the Democrats (or scum-sucking Republicans pretending to be scum-sucking Democrats) (or vice versa). This leaves me in a pickle because voting the lesser of two evils (the proverbial giant douche or turd sandwich, if you will) does not sit well with me. It's very rare that I find a candidate whose political platform mirrors my own. But John Mertens is pretty much a perfect match for me. His website is also pretty impressive. It basically details his stance on just about every issue there is.
