Why doesn’t…
You know how Google tries to predict what you're searching for as you type? Type "why doesn't" into google toolbar search window and these are the suggestions:
why doesn't he call
why doesn't he love me
why doesn't he like me
why doesn't god heal amputees
why doesn't glue stick to the inside of the bottle
why doesn't alcohol freeze
why doesn't dog poop turn white anymore
why doesn't he want me
why doesn't she love me
why doesn't tarzan have a beard
Reminds me of this video I watched about wefeelfine.org, a web site that crawls the web and records anytime people write about how they feel. It also records where and when they had this feeling, and what the weather was at the time. The browsing interface is interesting too, lots of colored dots.
The End Of Free Society
Naomi Wolf talking about her book, The End of America. It explores some of the correlations between past outbreaks of fascism and recent events the US. She's on the terrorism watch list so she must be on to something.
Ten Reasons Gay Marriage Is Un-American
Ten Reasons Gay Marriage Is Un-American
- Being gay is not natural. Real Americans always reject unnatural things like eyeglasses, polyester, and air conditioning.
- Gay marriage will encourage people to be gay, in the same way that hanging around tall people will make you tall.
- Legalizing gay marriage will open the door to all kinds of crazy behavior. People may even wish to marry their pets because a dog has legal standing and can sign a marriage contract.
- Straight marriage has been around a long time and hasn't changed at all; women are still property, blacks still can't marry whites, and divorce is still illegal.
- Straight marriage will be less meaningful if gay marriage were allowed; the sanctity of Britany Spears' 55-hour just-for-fun marriage would be destroyed.
- Straight marriages are valid because they produce children. Gay couples, infertile couples, and old people shouldn't be allowed to marry because our orphanages aren't full yet, and the world needs more children.
- Obviously gay parents will raise gay children, since straight parents only raise straight children.
- Gay marriage is not supported by religion. In a theocracy like ours, the values of one religion are imposed on the entire country. That's why we have only one religion in America.
- Children can never succeed without a male and a female role model at home. That's why we as a society expressly forbid single parents to raise children.
- Gay marriage will change the foundation of society; we could never adapt to new social norms. Just like we haven't adapted to cars, the service-sector economy, or longer life spans.
Morons and Idiots
Some say it's the result of our superstitious religious belief system. Some say it's the secret to happiness. Some say it will get you laid. It describes pretty much everybody except you, but nobody can say what it is exactly.
Stupidity - the documentary
Good Movie
In case you didn't already know you're being lied to and stolen from and manipulated, you should watch this movie.
Interestingly, if you look at the Google Video rankings for Canada, Mexico, Chile, Austria, Argentina, Switzerland and a few others, this the most popular video, even more popular than "Fire Fart" or "Barbie Girl." Currently in the U.S., Fire Fart is more popular. But this is number 8. It has 4.3 million views. You gonna pay your income taxes next year?
Allah Is God
Last night I finally came to the realization that Allah is God. It was in my Arabic class. I asked how you say "gods and goddesses." Turns out it's "illah" and "illaha," the non-definite masculine and feminine forms of Allah. The "Al" at the beginning of Allah is pretty much the same thing as our capital "G," it shows you're talking about a specific god, not just any god. So "Allah" really is "God," the exact same word as our word for God. In fact, when Arab speakers use the word "Allah" they're actually talking about the exact same invisible deity as when people in this country say "God," the God of Moses and Abraham, Jesus' dad, etc. So "Allah" is "God;" they represent the exact same concept in every sense of the meaning.
My teacher said that when Bush said something about a war between God and Allah it was pretty much impossible for Arabic newscasters to translate into Arabic. They just stumbled over it. There's no way to say it, they are the same word, a war between God and God? Even if they tried to explain it, it wouldn't make any sense because they are the same god. When English is translated into Arabic, "God" is translated to "Allah." When it's translated back into English, Allah stays. When you read the Bible in Arabic it says Allah. Allah is God.
So why do we not translate the Arabic word for God into English like we do for every other language? We don't talk about how Mexicans are shifty cause they don't believe in God, they believe in "el Dios." The word "Allah" should not even exist in English. It's not an English word, we have our own word for that. We don't talk about how silly it is to believe in illah's and illaha's, and that true Christians believe in the one true Allah.
Think of the incredible social consequences of not translating that one word. Instead of all the religious people in this country viewing Muslims as brothers, they view them as enemies. All because of one mis-translated word. Honestly I think it's just ignorance. Nobody knows that it's just a mistaken translation. How the fuck can that be? How is it that no one has corrected some news announcer and MSNBC? Seems like it would only take once or twice before people realize they sound like an idiot when they say that.
A similar thing was attempted recently with "madrasa," the Arabic word for "school." Absolutely every educated person in this world went to a "madrasa," but Fox News tried to make it out like Barack Obama was at a terrorist training camp or something, just by using the Arabic word for school instead of the English one.
Anyway, I guess I kind of knew this before, but I never really thought about it being a translation issue, and that we don't do it with any other language.
So will everyone please not use the word Allah unless you're speaking in Arabic. If you're speaking in English, the word is "God", not Allah. Any differences between the Christian and Muslim renditions of God are no different than between the Catholic or Jewish versions of God, and the English language is fully equipped to discuss the differences.
Happy Birthday Universe
According to Bishop James Ussher (1581-1656), God created the universe on October 23, 4004 BC. That would make the universe 6011 years old today.
"James Ussher was an Irish Archbishop whose chronology of Biblical history was widely accepted throughout Christianity. Based on an intricate correlation of Middle Eastern and Mediterranean histories and Holy writ, it was incorporated into an authorized version of the Bible printed in 1701, and thus came to be regarded with almost as much unquestioning reverence as the Bible itself. "
He even remembered to take into account the day that God stopped the rotation of earth so that Israel could "avenge themselves" against the Amorites. (They worshipped the Sun, so I guess that was God's way of being funny.)
Baptist Minister Found Dead In Scuba Gear With Dildo In His Ass
How embarrassing.
An Alabama minister who died in June of "accidental mechanical asphyxia" was found hogtied and wearing two complete scuba wet suits, including a face mask, diving gloves and slippers, rubberized underwear, and a head mask, according to an autopsy report. Investigators determined that Rev. Gary Aldridge's death was not caused by foul play and that the 51-year-old pastor of Montgomery's Thorington Road Baptist Church was alone in his home at the time he died (while apparently in the midst of some autoerotic undertaking).
The local paper didn't mention the dildo they found in his ass.
He used to lead the singing in Chapel and sang "People Need the Lord" all the time and was famous for trying ot get several thousand college kids to settle down by repeating "Young people" over and over again