Yesterday's Comics

And this is just hilarious:

But, of course, Doonesbury comes and messes things up

There's a place for lists of people who have died in Iraq, but the comics section isn't that place. The comics is for humor, not for sorrow or for political statements, although Garry Trudeau has consistently used his comic as his platform before.

There's very little that will kill humor faster than politics, if it isn't done right. Jay Leno (or his writing staff) can make funny jokes about the War in Iraq, but almost everyone else who tries is too bitter to pull it off.

But, while we're on the subject of lists of the dead:

I'd wish you a happy Memorial Day...

In any case, enjoy grilling and shopping as you remember our fallen warriors.

Because, that's what it's all about, right?

Travelling Meme

create your own personalized map of the USA or write about it on the open travel guide

Now obviously, I didn't include instances where I was just passing through on my way to another location; if I didn't spend a night or see some sight there, then it isn't listed.

For those of you who are really interested in the boring details of my life, I describe my travels in the extended entry below.

Idaho: My grandmother lives here, so we visit every coupla' years.

California: My uncle and his wife (and assorted cousins) live here. My brother also worked at a summer camp here, and we visited on his birthday.

Nevada: Frequent stopovers in Reno when we travel to California and Idaho; we've stayed in a hotel here at least once.

Utah: Frequent stopovers in Salt Lake City; also saw the Mormon Temple which is cool. We also met a guy who was witnessing for Christianity outside the Temple. He told us that he comes every year.

Texas: My other grandmother and step-grandfather (? Or is it grand-stepfather? Or just grandfather?) and assorted aunts, an uncle, and a cousin live here. So we visit every now and then. And we drive. From South Carolina. This is not a short drive.

Tennessee: Saw Chattanooga; liked the Tennessee Aquarium.

Alabama: I think my Dad, brother, and I went on a church camping trip here. This amused me, because Alabama (in Georgia) is the butt of all the stupid people jokes ("Pollack jokes" rewritten).

North Carolina: As a young child, visited Discovery Place, one of those "Fun Science" complexes. Pretty cool. Had a birthday party there where I received some really cool "Spy Tech" stuff, which they don't make anymore. Like a folding periscope and a irritating hypersensitive motion sensor. Let me tell you, you never have birthdays like you do when you're a little kid.

South Carolina: My home. When states are ranked, we're near the bottom in every good thing and near the top in every bad thing. And it's really hot. But it's nice anyways. Having your immediate family nearby does that to a place.

Georgia: Former home. Good riddance. Even hotter, in the middle of *nowhere*. About an hour from Atlanta. Half an hour from church. A little further from the mall. Had to be schooled by video, because there wasn't a good Christian school nearby and my parents were (wisely) unwilling to put my brother and I in a public school.

Florida: Visited Orlando's Sea World and Clearwater Christian College. CCC looks like a good school, but it was much cheaper to go to Bob Jones (LIFE scholarship and the ability to be a town student). Sea World was a lot of fun; my youngest brother and I got soaked by Shamu the whale.

New York and Washington D.C.: Visited on my Senior Trip. Best. Trip. Ever. I loved it. I threw a paper airplane off the Empire State Building, the place where they print money, the White House (the outside), Library of Congress, Smithsonian; it was so much fun. I only saw the outside of the White House because the President was giving a speech (security, I guess). So, we got to see that. We went through the metal detectors, stood in a big crowd outside, and noticed huge numbers of police officers, even more than you'd expect for a presidential speech. Turns out we had stumbled into a meeting for the Fraternal Order of Police (I think; working from memory), and the President was giving a speech honoring policemen who died in the line of duty during the previous year, especially those who died on 9/11. Later we found that it was supposed to only be open to police officers and their families. Whoops....

Places I would like to visit: Chicago, maybe Philadelphia. Also, I've never been out of the country, so it'd be interesting to visit Ireland or Scotland or something. Israel too, perhaps someday.

What happened to America?

That's not to say I don't love my country; it's the best country that I know of. I guess I should be more specific: I'm as loyal to my government as I am to Wal-Mart. What I really want is freedom from most of what the government does.

To illustrate my point, I link to a couple of blog entries from Small Town Country Girl, a blog I discovered today through this week's Carnival of the Vanities. The first post, "We're at war, but with whom?," (henceforth, SMTC) quotes John Stossel's book Give Me A Break:

That's the government I want. That's all that it needs to do. I don't see in that list social security, medicare, medicaid, a war on drugs, a war on obesity, free health care, free housing, protection of utility monopolies, protection of the envrionment, public education, space travel, building codes, anti-discrimination laws (on any basis), welfare, and so on. I wouldn't even mind these so much except that I have to pay for them with a laundry list of new taxes, from the Federal Income Tax to the Cigarette Tax to the Trailer Registration Tax, that you can find here, also on SMTC. John Stossel points out

Every dollar that goes to government is a dollar that isn't buying houses, investing in companies, or paying for any useful service. Imagine how much more prosperous we could be if we didn't have these taxes! Take, for example, gasoline tax. Here in SC, it's 35.2 cents a gallon. In New York, it's as high as 51 cents a gallon. When I'm commuting from school, I refill my car about once a week, and have to put in 14 gallons or so. This tax adds up to $4.93 per week, or $256.36 a year.

That's what I want freedom from.

I also want the freedoms promised to me in the Constitution, like freedom of speech. Laws like the McCain-Feingold Act make me sick. Laws that prevent children and teachers from exercising their freedom of religion in schools are a disgrace to the country.

All I want is what I am told by the very founding documents of my country that I am supposed to have. I want what the founding fathers thought worthy enough to fight for.

This is why I'm a proponent of free market sponsored space travel. When that technology matures, we, like our founding fathers before us, will have a place to go to get away from an oppressive government.

Aww...!

There is nothing in the world that can't be made better with cute little dogs.

(Via The Patriette)

I guess I should be honored.

What's weird about these is that they bury the ads way down in the archives, where it seems they'd do the least good. ::shrug::

Irritating Photo

To explain why it's offensive (although it's fairly self-evident), we need a round of Achievement Test Analogy Time: "Fag" is to homosexual person as "nigger" is to black person. Both words are highly offensive and neither word can legitimately be used in debating an issue. In essence, the BBC attempts to undermine the entire argument against gay marriage by showing these sign-wielding scum as the only possible people who aren't erudite enough to welcome gay marriage with open arms.

But when has the BBC ever been terribly concerned with accuracy or a balanced look at the issues?

Fun Translations

Oh, I bet they will be!

Really? I wonder what other ways I could use a flashlight.

I'd really love to buy the Vandisori (if only to read the manual), especially after reading the review that Gizmodo links to. One minor little detail though: They're like potato chips, in that you can't buy just one. They're offered in quantities from 500 to 10,000. We'll have to wait for someone who can speak Korean to buy them and start selling them in the US.

Gay Marriage

That's a good idea.

I've posted before about my thoughts on the gay marriage issue. In short, I think that (a) the government has no valid reason to know my marital status (b) marriage is a church rather than a state issue, so the government shouldn't be handing out marriage licenses at all.

I like Sensing's idea, in part because it clearly draws the line between the state and the church. His plan still leaves some government involvement in marriage, which I don't like, but we can take things one step at a time.

(As a side note, I wonder how the government got involved in marriage in the first place. Are there any countries in which the government is not involved in sanctioning marriage?)

The Cost of Laziness

That'll work.

Hilarious

While we're on the subject, one thing that is really ticking me off right now is the fact that the media is ignoring the execution of one of our civilians and is instead focusing on some naked photos from Iraq.

Before someone gets in a hissy fit, as we say in South Carolina, of course the abuse of prisoners is wrong. Of course those responsible should be found and punished appropriately. But these pictures are nothing compared to the beheading of an innocent American civilian, or even compared to what the Iraqi's were used to under Saddam Hussein.

But I suppose, that's the point: America has taken the moral high ground. We say, emphatically at times, that our system of government is more righteous than theirs. That's why we should expect more criticism over our comparatively minor offenses than the tyrannical Islamic governments in the majority of the Middle East receive for their atrocities. Because we are better, and people are always watching for the righteous to fall.

Quote of the Day

--Epitaph Posted by Blog Jones at 01:19 PM | Comments (0) | Category: