Dave Crosland (illustrator extraordinaire who I worked with on “Heaven, LLC” and “Bad Ideas”) recently appeared in a webisode of “The Variants,” a comedy web series put together by the fine folks at Zeus Comics in Dallas, Texas.

Dave costarred with “PvP” creator Scott Kurtz.

Check it out here:

Good… but not as good as his Rudy impersonation,

-Shady

I’ve been wondering what other ways I could sell my drawings while still using recycled materials and I have recently discovered a new one. The title sort of gives it away, so I won’t mess about. I’m talking about keyrings!

OooOooooOo...

I had the idea a little while back and had spent a fair amount of time searching for a company offering recycled keyring cases. I recently came across www.pinbadge.com who’ve got a few choices for recycled keyring cases, but usually specialise in promotional stuff for big companies. This means I have to buy in bulk which makes this whole idea a bit of an investment for me. So I need help.

Are they a bad idea?

I thought the best place to start with pondering this idea and it’s saleability is right here on my blog. I figured you could all perhaps help me and tell me what you think?

It looks very professional I think...

I don’t yet know what I’d charge for them, I’ve not done that sort of research just yet but I know that it’d cost me about £85 for 250 empty cases. I then have to fill each of them myself which will involve a bit of work. So what are your thoughts? Would you like a drawing of mine in keyring form? Or do you think other people would at least? Vote below!

I babysat someone on Friday night.  What did you do?

Met up with a former co-worker last night at Fibbar’s in Sunnyvale and she ended up getting drunk.  She’s not exactly “big,” so her route to the land of the drunk was pretty quick and light: two Purple Hooters and one Mai Tai.  She had two waters at the bar, then another two at my place, and some late night Wendy’s.  All the while complaining of being cold and somewhat nauseous.

At 1 a.m. I couldn’t really take it any longer and actually fell asleep.  When I woke up at 2:30 for a brief moment, she finally told me she was ready to be taken back to her car.  Whew!  So I had to get myself together and drive her to her car.  I got back home and was finally able to finish sleeping.  The drinking was fun, but man, I thought I was done babysitting.  I haven’t had to take care of someone after a night of drinking since the ex-girlfriend had issues way back in 2003.

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 is great and all, but Im not sure real life shootings count toward your Leaderboard totals.

A teenager accidentally was shot with a 12-gauge shotgun while he and other boys were squirrel hunting and re-enacting a video war game about 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, according to the Bossier sheriff’s office.

The 15-year-old had wounds to his lower abdomen but was alert and talking when he was flown to LSU Hospital in Shreveport, where he underwent X-rays, sheriff’s spokesman Ed Baswell said. Doctors were examining surgical options.

The shooting happened off Country Forest Drive, just south of state Highway 157 at state Highway 527 south of Haughton and west of Koran Community, Baswell said.

“At this point, based on everything we have seen, we are investigating it as an accidental shooting,” he said. “There would be no charges unless we see something different in the course of our investigation.”

Guess he should have used the riot shield.

There were the revelations that the global warming hoax has been a political power grab and not a pure scientific exercise, now we find out that the scientists were so cool they threw out their research.

Climate change data dumped

Update on Climategate

Researcher: NASA hiding climate data

If you’re recently graduated from college or getting ready to be, just think of all that wasted time you spent in public school being spoon-fed the toxic waste of the global warming myth. Angry yet? Just imagine how angry you would be if you knew the truth about evolution. When you realize you’ve wasted a good portion of a third of your life, because the state “academics” were busy poisoning your mind, how do you feel?

Obama’s Lies About Climate Change Confirmed

Round Earth Flat Earth? What Did Columbus Know?

Are you convinced yet that a public education, isn’t? Now think, who is responsible for the global collapse of economic structures? (Clue: they’re the same people who gaves us GW) When liberals get a hold on the reigns of power, the people mourn.

The words of a wise man’s mouth win him favor, but the lips of a fool consume him. The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness, and the end of his talk is evil madness. A fool multiplies words, though no man knows what is to be, and who can tell him what will be after him? The toil of a fool wearies him, for he does not know the way to the city. Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child, and your princes feast in the morning! Happy are you, O land, when your king is the son of the nobility, and your princes feast at the proper time, for strength, and not for drunkenness!

Another guest post by my best friend.  She has such fantastic writing skills!

 Yesterday I was going through my friend’s photo blog and it brought up some memories, so I thought I would share this one with you 

BF before she upgraded her car, she had this wacked out Volla (Volkswagen beetle). This car had a mind of its own; seriously, it would only start if it felt like it. (Because we are girls we refuse to accept that it had anything to do with the starter or alternator). 

One evening, BF was still pregnant, she must have been about 5 or 6 months, we decided that we wanted a night out and to paint the town red. So we called up our mates and made our way to Centurion to fetch her then baby daddy boy friend (whom I refer lovingly to as DICK) On our way there, (Taking the longest route possible, because BF had just gotten her driving Licence and was too afraid to drive on the freeway, She said it was because she didn’t trust the car, BUT I know the truth) we had to stop at the petrol garage for the ever urgent fuel, I have been told cars do not function minus this. 

So Anyway following the correct protocol for administering petrol into a vehicle BF turns the engine off…BAD IDEA, Unaware to us…she was doing the petrol thing , and I was doing the cigarette thing, the engine was conjuring up a master plan, thinking that if it could conquer us…the Volla could conquer the world! 

We finished up got back into the car and for the life of us it wouldn’t start!  The very nice gentlemen aka petrol attendants all jumped up to assist these damsels in distress and started to give us a push…down a slope into a DITCH in a very dark opening next to the garage. 

Once they realized the royal mess up they made… one would think they would have stayed to help us out..of the Ditch, BUT NOOO, they ran away..literally. 

Oh well Never mind, Pregnant BF and I, in HIGH heels, jump out and try to push start this car ourselves, yet all we managed to do was rock it back and forth, back and forth for about 20minutes. 

It was then that I got a brilliant Idea, I jumped into the driver’s seat, and turned the ignition…Brilliant hey? Voila it started like magic..I screamed for BF to Jump in because I was scarred it my die again if I didn’t abuse the accelerator. Very happy she jumps in and say goes….Little did she know… 

I started to giggle hysterically, while I tried to figure out how gears work, realizing that the clutch is to my left and the accelerator is no my right and that I can go faster the 40km/ph if I put pedal to metal. Never bothering to find out what that thing in the Middle was. 

During this time I had Alet screaming, keep to the left PLEASE, it dawned on her: 

A: Have you ever driven before?

ME: no, I have only ever gone around the block at 40. 

Never ever have I seen such fear on one persons face as I did in the 10 minutes it took to get us to DICK’S house. 

It still cracks me up, I am actually hysterical just typing this. 

GOOD TIMES!

photo credit

The big news this weekend is Tiger Woods. While we know very little because no one is talking, what we do know is that Tiger was involved in a car accident at 2:25 am the morning after Thanksgiving.  He hit his neighbor’s tree and a fire hydrant.  Almost immediately we were told that “alcohol was not involved.”

So what was he doing driving at that time the morning after Thanksgiving?  Quickly trying to get away from something?

Speculation time.  Busted Coverage has some.

When I first saw this, I immediately figured he had been drinking.  How else do you hit a fire hydrant and a tree?  Then we were told pretty quickly that booze was not a factor.  Fine, drugs perhaps?  A very driven athlete all of a sudden hitting the pipe on Thanksgiving doesn’t make too much sense.  If not either one of those, what’s the one thing that can bring down any man – a woman.

If you make as much money as Tiger and you decide to settle down, get married, and have kids, you damn well better be able to resist the temptations.  An average guy in an average relationships will face temptations.  When you are the first athlete to have earned a billion dollars, you can multiply those temptations by a billion.  You are going to be surrounded with a hot piece of you know what at every turn.  And the moment anything happens, there will be rampant speculation (like you are reading right here!).

If I was in Tiger’s shoes, I would never have gotten married in the first place.  Follow the example of Bruce Wayne… Become a crime fighting superhero in your spare time.

Theological Declaration of Barmen

Written by Karl Barth and the confessing church in Nazi Germany in response to Hitler’s national church.

I. An Appeal to the Evangelical Congregations and Christians in Germany

8.01 The Confessional Synod of the German Evangelical Church met in Barmen, May 29-31, 1934. Here representatives from all the German Confessional Churches met with one accord in a confession of the one Lord of the one, holy, apostolic Church. In fidelity to their Confession of Faith, members of Lutheran, Reformed, and United Churches sought a common message for the need and temptation of the Church in our day. With gratitude to God they are convinced that they have been given a common word to utter. It was not their intention to found a new Church or to form a union. For nothing was farther from their minds than the abolition of the confessional status of our Churches. Their intention was, rather, to withstand in faith and unanimity the destruction of the Confession of Faith, and thus of the Evangelical Church in Germany. In opposition to attempts to establish the unity of the German Evangelical Church by means of false doctrine, by the use of force and insincere practices, the Confessional Synod insists that the unity of the Evangelical Churches in Germany can come only from the Word of God in faith through the Holy Spirit. Thus alone is the Church renewed.

8.02 Therefore the Confessional Synod calls upon the congregations to range themselves behind it in prayer, and steadfastly to gather around those pastors and teachers who are loyal to the Confessions.

8.03 Be not deceived by loose talk, as if we meant to oppose the unity of the German nation! Do not listen to the seducers who pervert our intentions, as if we wanted to break up the unity of the German Evangelical Church or to forsake the Confessions of the Fathers!

8.04 Try the spirits whether they are of God! Prove also the words of the Confessional Synod of the German Evangelical Church to see whether they agree with Holy Scripture and with the Confessions of the Fathers. If you find that we are speaking contrary to Scripture, then do not listen to us! But if you find that we are taking our stand upon Scripture, then let no fear or temptation keep you from treading with us the path of faith and obedience to the Word of God, in order that God’s people be of one mind upon earth and that we in faith experience what he himself has said: “I will never leave you, nor forsake you.” Therefore, “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”

——————————————————————————–

II. Theological Declaration Concerning the Present Situation of the German Evangelical Church

8.05 According to the opening words of its constitution of July 11, 1933, the German Evangelical Church is a federation of Confessional Churches that grew our of the Reformation and that enjoy equal rights. The theological basis for the unification of these Churches is laid down in Article 1 and Article 2(1) of the constitution of the German Evangelical Church that was recognized by the Reich Government on July 14, 1933:

Article 1. The inviolable foundation of the German Evangelical Church is the gospel of Jesus Christ as it is attested for us in Holy Scripture and brought to light again in the Confessions of the Reformation. The full powers that the Church needs for its mission are hereby determined and limited.

Article 2 (1). The German Evangelical Church is divided into member Churches Landeskirchen).

8.06 We, the representatives of Lutheran, Reformed, and United Churches, of free synods, Church assemblies, and parish organizations united in the Confessional Synod of the German Evangelical Church, declare that we stand together on the ground of the German Evangelical Church as a federation of German Confessional Churches. We are bound together by the confession of the one Lord of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.

8.07 We publicly declare before all evangelical Churches in Germany that what they hold in common in this Confession is grievously imperiled, and with it the unity of the German Evangelical Church. It is threatened by the teaching methods and actions of the ruling Church party of the “German Christians” and of the Church administration carried on by them. These have become more and more apparent during the first year of the existence of the German Evangelical Church. This threat consists in the fact that the theological basis, in which the German Evangelical Church is united, has been continually and systematically thwarted and rendered ineffective by alien principles, on the part of the leaders and spokesmen of the “German Christians” as well as on the part of the Church administration. When these principles are held to be valid, then, according to all the Confessions in force among us, the Church ceases to be the Church and the German Evangelical Church, as a federation of Confessional Churches, becomes intrinsically impossible.

8.08 As members of Lutheran, Reformed, and United Churches we may and must speak with one voice in this matter today. Precisely because we want to be and to remain faithful to our various Confessions, we may not keep silent, since we believe that we have been given a common message to utter in a time of common need and temptation. We commend to God what this may mean for the intrrelations of the Confessional Churches.

8.09 In view of the errors of the “German Christians” of the present Reich Church government which are devastating the Church and also therefore breaking up the unity of the German Evangelical Church, we confess the following evangelical truths:

8.10 – 1. “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me.” (John 14.6). “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. . . . I am the door; if anyone enters by me, he will be saved.” (John 10:1, 9.)

8.11 Jesus Christ, as he is attested for us in Holy Scripture, is the one Word of God which we have to hear and which we have to trust and obey in life and in death.

8.12 We reiect the false doctrine, as though the church could and would have to acknowledge as a source of its proclamation, apart from and besides this one Word of God, still other events and powers, figures and truths, as God’s revelation.

8.13 – 2. “Christ Jesus, whom God has made our wisdom, our righteousness and sanctification and redemption.” (1 Cor. 1:30.)

8.14 As Jesus Christ is God’s assurance of the forgiveness of all our sins, so, in the same way and with the same seriousness he is also God’s mighty claim upon our whole life. Through him befalls us a joyful deliverance from the godless fetters of this world for a free, grateful service to his creatures.

8.15 We reiect the false doctrine, as though there were areas of our life in which we would not belong to Jesus Christ, but to other lords–areas in which we would not need justification and sanctification through him.

8.16 – 3. “Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body [is] joined and knit together.” (Eph. 4:15,16.)

8.17 The Christian Church is the congregation of the brethren in which Jesus Christ acts presently as the Lord in Word and sacrament through the Holy Spirit. As the Church of pardoned sinners, it has to testify in the midst of a sinful world, with its faith as with its obedience, with its message as with its order, that it is solely his property, and that it lives and wants to live solely from his comfort and from his direction in the expectation of his appearance.

8.18 We reject the false doctrine, as though the Church were permitted to abandon the form of its message and order to its own pleasure or to changes in prevailing ideological and political convictions.

8.19 – 4. “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men excercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you; but whoever would be great among you must be your srvant.” (Matt. 20:25,26.)

8.20 The various offices in the Church do not establish a dominion of some over the others; on the contrary, they are for the excercise of the ministry entrusted to and enjoined upon the whole congregation.

8.21 We reject the false doctrine, as though the Church, apart from this ministry, could and were permitted to give itself, or allow to be given to it, special leaders vested with ruling powers.

8.22 – 5. “Fear God. Honor the emperor.” (1 Peter 2:17.)
Scripture tells us that, in the as yet unredeemed world in which the Church also exists, the State has by divine appointment the task of providing for justice and peace. [It fulfills this task] by means of the threat and exercise of force, according to the measure of human judgment and human ability. The Church acknowledges the benefit of this divine appointment in gratitude and reverence before him. It calls to mind the Kingdom of God, God’s commandment and righteousness, and thereby the responsibility both of rulers and of the ruled. It trusts and obeys the power of the Word by which God upholds all things.

8.23 We reject the false doctrine, as though the State, over and beyond its special commision, should and could become the single and totalitarian order of human life, thus fulfilling the Church’s vocation as well.

8.24 We reject the false doctrine, as though the Church, over and beyond its special commission, should and could appropriate the characteristics, the tasks, and the dignity of the State, thus itself becoming an organ of the State.

8.25 – 6. “Lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.” (Matt. 28:20.) “The word of God is not fettered.” (2 Tim. 2:9.)

8.26 The Church’s commission, upon which its freedom is founded, consists in delivering the message of the free grace of God to all people in Christ’s stead, and therefore in the ministry of his own Word and work through sermon and sacrament.

8.27 We reject the false doctrine, as though the Church in human arrogance could place the Word and work of the Lord in the service of any arbitrarily chosen desires, purposes, and plans.

8.28 The Confessional Synod of the German Evangelical Church declares that it sees in the acknowledgment of these truths and in the rejection of these errors the indispensable theological basis of the German Evangelical Church as a federation of Confessional Churches. It invites all who are able to accept its declaration to be mindful of these theological principles in their decisions in Church politics. It entreats all whom it concerns to return to the unity of faith, love, and hope.

Four things the Declaration made clear:

1. It was a distinctly Reformed document.

2. It opposed the encroachment of the State into church affairs.

3. By fiat of that opposition, and its adherence to the Reformation principles and confessions, it stood in direct opposition to the Roman Catholic Church whose structure and aims, though particular to itself, were not essentially different from the State and therefore excluded it and others like it, exclusively inviting all who accepted the Confessions of the Reformation to join in the purposes of the Barmen Declaration.

4. It did not tolerate any new perspectives of any group which would deny Sola Scriptura. In today’s parlance that would include many Emergent churches. Under the rubric of the Barmen, Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and spurious religious sects we not included, rather they were implicitly excluded.

David Dockery of the SBC at Souther Baptist Theological Seminary has said that the Manhattan Declaration is like the Barmen:

Dockery said, “Not unlike the 1934 Barmen Declaration [the statement of the confessing church in Nazi Germany], the Manhattan Declaration is a clarion call for Christians of every tradition to stand together in biblical faithfulness for foundational matters of society and culture like commitments to life, marriage and family…. I pray that God will use this declaration among leaders and laity in churches, the academy and parachurch organizations to join hands together for the sake of the kingdom of God.”

Nothing could be further from the truth. The two documents address two fundamentally different concerns. The Barmen addresses the need to stand against the statists and their attempt to overthrow the authority of the church within its own realm while maintaining fealty to the Confessions and the right practice of matters pertaining to life. The Manhattan Declaration unavoidably separates the reason for living righteously from the foundation for doing so. In doing that The Mahattan Declaration is more like the formulations that constituted Barmen’s enemies (such as the Church party of the “German Christians”). The only difference between then and now is that the Manhattan declaration is not in concert with the ruling government. The highlighted portions demonstrate the difference between the two declarations and why it is that the Manhattan Declaration denies the sound Biblical principles of Reformation Confessions.

CAMPONTHIS: THE NEW DOWNGRADE…12 dangers of Evangelical Co-Belligerence related to the Manhattan Declaration

Pyromaniacs: Nineteen questions for signers of "The Manhattan Declaration"

This is the only reason to pay money to see Twilight Saga: New Moon

The Twilight Saga: New Moon
Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Taylor Lautner, Michael Sheen

In the second installment of Stephanie Meyer’s phenomenally successful Twilight series, the romance between mortal and vampire soars to a new level as Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) delves deeper into the mysteries of the supernatural world she yearns to become part of – only to find herself in greater peril than ever before.

I am extremely disappointed. The acting was good, especially considering what they had to work with. The screenplay was either badly written, or a reasonable screenplay may have been massacred by the bad director. Either way, the direction definitely was terrible.

I think Chris Weitz spent so much time making sure the imagery (and boys) were pretty, that he completely forgot to make sure the story and editing worked.

An example of what I mean:

The scene where the Cullens are gathered for Bella’s birthday, and things go wrong where she has a papercut. Edward has to step in to save her, and emotions are obviously running high, and the scene is ended by a ‘look’ from Edward that says he is not happy with the situation and something is going to be done about it.

The next day, he sees her at school, they laugh, smile, and tell each other how much they are in love. Great! Situation avoided it seems. End scene.

The next day Edward pops over to Bella’s, meets her in the garden, takes her to the woods (what the hell was wrong with her place?), and proceeds to tell her that the Cullens are leaving and he doesn’t want her with him, obviously having made the decision that being around him isn’t safe, after the incident 2 days previous.

So where did the scene in the middle come from?? Why on earth put it there? Why not the day before the troubles at the Cullen’s place or leave it out altogether?

A second example:

In the scene at the Voltare Palace. Aro had demanded that Bella accompany Edward to meet Aro, initially they refused, but then a short blond vamp turns up, and suddenly they are all petrified of her, as if we are supposed to know who she is. I’m informed I would have known if I had read the book. So I’m guessing the director assumed that we all should have done that first.

Then when they meet Aro, he is surprised that Bella is there also, yet 5 minutes previously, they were told Aro specifically wanted to see her also.

The film is full of sloppy gaps, and errors. Bella is a whiny little tramp who isn’t happy with simply dating an uber-fit Vampire for a few years as a human, or the prospect of settling down with an uberuberuber fit Jacob (OH MY GOD!), and going on the way she treats both of them (and everyone else in her life), she deserves a slap more than eternal happiness….or to be forced to marry somebody ugly.   Whatever happens, Edward doesn’t need to worry about ‘taking’ Bella’s soul if he turns her.  Her character is bereft of a soul already.

Oh and one last thing:  SPOILER ALERT. At the end of the film where Edward proposes to Bella, the last thing we see and hear is a gasp of sheer pleasure and unbridled happiness from Bella. I have just been told she says no to his proposal in the next book. Did the director not read the next book? I’m guessing he didn’t and he has now set the next director up with a little challenge to be starting the next movie with.  Bad show Chris Weitz.

John MacArthur chimes in on why the Manhattan Declaration is an abrogation of Christian responsibility. I wholeheartedly agree.

The Declaration therefore constitutes a formal avowal of brotherhood between Evangelical signatories and purveyors of different gospels. That is the stated intention of some of the key signatories, and it’s hard to see how secular readers could possibly view it in any other light. Thus for the sake of issuing a manifesto decrying certain moral and political issues, the Declaration obscures both the importance of the gospel and the very substance of the gospel message.

Albert Mohler responded to concerns about his compromise in signing the Manhattan Declaration in a recent article found at Al Mohler’s blog spot. He also speaks about it on his radio program.

Al Mohler’s usual wisdom goes out the window on this one. He does not get it. The document declares not just the common ground of social concerns and the ethical life that is shared among the qualifying participants. It declares that groups and persons who are heretical or at minimum unorthodox are Christian by granting them equality in the evangelical camp. When Mohler signed the document he legitimated those who claim The Faith but deny it and in doing so lent credibility to their errors.

We appreciate Dr. Mohler’s concerns for the social collapse we are experiencing in the West. However, we must never compromise the Gospel in any social or civil agreement that we make. Dr. James White speaks to this point at A&O Ministries. He makes the point well by bringing into the foreground the anti-Christian positions of Martin Luther King. MLK is given wide acclaim in the evangelical landscape without qualification. While we do appreciate the concern MLK showed for equal rights, we must at the same time not sequester that from his ideological or theological corruptions and so falsly ascribe to him legitimacy in those things, also.

We are in a time of taking sides (as if we in the Christian community have ever been out of it). Jesus’ called clearly to make his Gospel known and laid the challenge before all that if they were for him they were not against him but also that those who were not, were against him and divide and scatter of the flock. What Mohler has done is to blur that line of demarcation. There is one Gospel and to call those who are not Christian, Christian, is to deny that.

A good word on this can be found at Camponthis.

Also if you’re interested.

Afghan Source: The U.S. Has Offered the Taliban Control in Return for Quiet

An Afghan source in Kabul reports that U.S. Ambassador in Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry is holding secret talks with Taliban elements headed by the movement’s foreign minister, Ahmad Mutawakil, at a secret location in Kabul. According to the source, the U.S. has offered the Taliban control of the Kandahar, Helmand, Oruzgan, Kunar and Nuristan provinces in return for a halt to the Taliban missile attacks on U.S. bases.

It’s important to notice that this is a pretty thin report. We have no idea whence it came; nor who the sources are, what their motivations are, etc. This may turn out to be entirely false, and I sure hope it does.

If not, though…looks like those noodly Americans done gave in again. Just like in Somalia, right? Hold out long enough, and they’ll buckle. Because they’re weak.

The Anchoress has more. And Chris Wysocki never thought he’d see the day.

Some time ago, three friends called Mario, Walter and Leo came to the mountain to go camping. One of them decided to go away of the camp to walk a little when it was night,  and he did see a black cat with wounds all around its body. Walter, as soon at he did see it, he did start to run away from  him, but just before arriving to the camp he did stumble with a root from the ground and did fall. When Mario and Leo did get to him, the cat was over him and scratching his eyes with its claws until he was dead.

Walter and Leo did take fastly a torch from to the camp and started to run through the forest, wich was lonely, desolated and very dark. And they followed the path to an old town they never did see before.

While running, they got into an old and abandoned “Pizzeria”. Mario was hungry after all the running, and when he opened the fridge, it was full of bones with half-rotting flesh. After that, walter felt very ill and was going to faint, but Leo did take him out of the Pizzeria and decided to get away of the ghost town. On his way to the city they turned and they didn’t see the town, because it did never exist…

When they did head to the city again, the cat was just on their way and killed Mario.

After all that, he woke up and thought it was only a nightmare… but later his friends did ask him to go camping, and he said no.

Someone recently pitched an idea to me that caught me somewhat off guard. One of his friends had rattled off a list of rather sexually adventurous folks in his circle of friends and suggested that they spray paint the windows of one of their apartments black and have a weekend-long orgy in the darkened apartment. To help their eyes stay acclimated to the darkness, they decided that they would put blacklights in the bathroom and the refrigerator.

My first impulse was not to say, “What are you thinking, man? Half the people you listed are as emotional stable as teeter-totters in hurricanes! What kind of awful idea is this?! There is no way this can end well. It will end in disaster and despair and possibly mass suicide.”

Instead, I said, “You don’t bloody want a black light in the bathroom or the fridge. Or you will never want to eat or pee again.” After all, no amount of cleaning will ever get a fridge or a bathroom clean enough that a black light won’t highlight every bit of ick and grime and mold and crusted organic matter and splatter and gross. It will illuminate both of those places in ways that no bathroom or fridge should ever be highlighted. Think one of those creepy forensic shows with the lights on the bedroom sheets and multiply it by several magnitudes of awful and frightening.

I think this is really a very insightful look into the human mind. Because when an idea is so huge and bad, possibly intractably huge and bad, it’s much easier to approach the part of it that is small and bad. Small and bad can be remedied. Intractably huge and bad is something much more difficult to approach.

It’s almost 5 am, and I am back on the concrete floor again, listening to the soft sounds of Bader and Neha breathing. Neha is stretched out on the bed underneath a red blanket. Occasionally she stretches and turns. Once or twice she woke up and asked for the time. Bader is sitting backwards on a chair, cross-legged, with a book in his lap. His forehead is resting on the back of the chair. The book, a design book about office spaces, is open to the page he was reading when he passed out. His hand is curled across the page, his fist acting as a bookmark. I tried to wake him up to encourage him to adopt a more neck-friendly position, but my gentle shaking didn’t have any effect, and it’s a damn bad idea to violently shake or startle a martial artist awake.

So instead I have turned off all the lights, and am sitting in the gloom wishing desperately for a toothbrush. Also wishing that I had worn more layers. My feet have long since passed into the numb stage. I was hoping that I could warm my feet on the radiator, but the radiator is as cold as the floor.

I’m not precisely sure what I am still doing here. I mean, yes, I agreed to share a cab with Neha when she started to droop… but she never informed me when she started to droop and when I finally noticed, she was unconscious. Bader indicated that we should let her sleep, since he wasn’t planning to… but now he’s asleep in a position that makes my spine cringe for him and I am lying on the concrete floor feeling perplexed.

However, it being five am, there are only 4 more hours until school starts again. I’m not sure it’s worth the trip up the hill. On the other hand, I’m not sure I want to walk into school tomorrow wearing the same clothes I wore today.

In any case, I can already feel where the regret of this somewhat productive and mostly enjoyable evening is going to settle into my body tomorrow. It will come to rest on the front of my ribs (pressed against the floor), the area between my shoulder blades, the base of my spine, and the back of my neck. Possibly also my toes, which I suspect I will lose to frostbite in an hour or so. I am getting too old to be pulling this kind of stunt. Where is all of my good sense?

I would like cereal with milk for breakfast. I won’t be finding it here, I imagine.

It’s 5 and a half hours before Obama has to go on television and talk out of his ass. I was tempted to wait and see what he said. But this much is already clear: he’s going to do the wrong thing. When he was campaigning he said, “Let me be clear: I’m not against war. I’m against stupid war.” He was referring to Iraq; but Afghanistan is just as stupid. Afghanistan has roughly seven million tribal warlords – all of whom hate each other. The one thing they can all agree on is how much more they hate us. Sending more troops will just make things worse.

Why are we in this war? The majority of this country as well as our allies (the United Kingdom and Eastern Samoa) not to mention the rest of the world, all think this war is dumber than a bag full of Texans. Who is for the war? Well, nobody really. The military is for winning, of course; and if they have to go to war they want to win. If they had a choice between coming home and going to war, they’d pick coming home. The only people who want this war are corporations who make billions of dollars manufacturing things designed to maim and torture and kill. They live in lavish outrageous homes in the very laps of luxury because of their ability to create ordinance that steals the arms and legs of innocent civilians the world over.

They also write big checks to politicians – because our political system is more flawed than Karzai’s re-election. When George Bush started these wars in made perfect sense: the guy was a dipshit: we expected him to make bad decisions. Obama is no dipshit; and he was voted into office on the strength of his promise to end the war in Iraq; which makes this so much worse.

This is not a war; it’s an occupation. There is no enemy; they’re in Pakistan. We won’t win hearts and minds – until we leave. The President of Afghanistan is the brother of the heroin kingpin and considered a complete fraud and puppet of the U.S.

It’s going to cost at least 65 billion dollars – in addition to the more than 1 trillion dollars we’ve already spent for fourteen combined years of ineffective illegal warfare – to keep soldiers pounding sand for the next two years. We could have overhauled healthcare and kept a few bridges from falling apart at the very minimum with that money.

Sure, I’ll admit that going to war in Afghanistan made more sense than going to war in Iraq. But only a little bit; and only 9 years ago. This doubling down on bad is regrettable and one that Obama can’t blame on Bush. This one’s all his.

We’re fucked in Afghanistan. We’re throwing lives and money away so people in Washington can get reelected. And that’s a shame. I’m sure Obama will be very reasonable and lay things out in a very practical and easy to follow way. He won’t use shitty bromides like George Bush. He’ll be eloquent and his rhetoric will soar. The result – unfortunately – will be the same.

The mass tort industry hits China!

BEIJING — A court is hearing the country’s first civil lawsuit by a man whose child was sickened in China’s vast tainted milk scandal, state media reported Saturday.

At least six children died last year after drinking contaminated baby formula and more than 300,000 were sickened in one of the country’s worst food safety crises.

Parents and lawyers have reported pressure from government officials not to pursue lawsuits over the tainted milk, so the start of the trial Friday was seen as a breakthrough.

“Reported pressure from government officials not to pursue lawsuits.” Now that’s tort reform.

Everyone’s favorite abuse victim, Rihanna, has decided to speak her mind about a topic near and dear to her heart. Rihanna, whatever that name means, advises every woman to take nude pictures of themselves, because “In five years my body might not look like this!” There you have it, ladies and gents. Despite the growing problem of young teens taking photos of themselves and sending them to people, this genius is advocating that EVERYONE should be doing this. You can read the entire article for all of the quotes from this expert on morals here.

Now, I don’t think (hope, anyway) that too many people look to pop stars as role models anymore, but for someone who got the bejeezus pounded out of her a few months ago, you’d think she’d cool it on the crazy for a little while. The aftermath can be seen below.

Rihanna after Chris Brown beat her

Far be it from me to tell people not to take photos of themselves, but is this really the message that she should be spreading? MENSA just crossed her off the list of potential members.

A used tire…the cherry on top of your packing fail sundae.

[As Seen on Rossie Lee Ln. by BD]

2 December 2009 will mark the 25th anniversary of the Bhopal disaster. It was the night of 2nd December 1984 when over 35 tons of toxic gases leaked from a pesticide plant in Bhopal, owned by the US based multinational Union Carbide Corporation (UCC)’s Indian affiliate Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL). In the next 2-3 days more than 7,000 people died and many more were injured. Over the last 25 years at least 15,000 more people have died from illnesses related to the gas exposure. Today, more than 100,000 people continue to suffer from chronic and debilitating illnesses, for which treatment is largely ineffective. The disaster shocked the world and raised fundamental questions about government and corporate responsibility for industrial accidents that devastate human life and local environments. Yet 25 years later, the survivors and various organisations are still fighting for justice. Issues of plant site, toxic wastes and contaminated water have not been resolved. And strikingly, no one has been held to account for the leak and its appalling consequences. Bhopal is not just an incident of industrial disaster and human suffering from the last century. It is very much an issue of the present century of corporate accountability, peoples’ rights and government responsibility. The lack of mandatory laws and norms governing multinationals, legal complexities, and government failures are serious obstacles in ensuring justice for the people of Bhopal, and for the victims of corporate complicity in crimes against environment, peoples’ lives and safety.

The Role of Companies

UCC owned 50.9% of the equity of UCIL, and maintained extensive corporate, managerial, technical and operational controls over UCIL. Despite that, since the leak, UCC has argued that the Bhopal plant was not under its control or management, and that UCIL is an entirely separate corporate entity. However, UCC’s 1984 annual report stated: ‘Union Carbide Corporation’s business worldwide is conducted principally through the divisions, subsidiaries and affiliates listed below.’ One of those listed was UCIL, which was also included in UCC’s consolidated balance sheet for the same year.

Urging that the case be thrown out of the USA, UCC argued before the US District Court: ‘Indeed, the practical impossibility for American courts and juries, imbued with US cultural values, living standards and expectations, to determine living standards for people living in the slums or “hutments” surrounding the UCIL, Bhopal, India, by itself confirms that the Indian forum is overwhelmingly the most appropriate. Such abject poverty and the vastly different values, standards and expectations which accompany it are commonplace in India and the third world. They are incomprehensible to Americans living in the United States.’ UCC has subsequently refused to submit itself to Indian jurisdiction.

In 1994 Union Carbide sold its 50.9 per cent share of UCIL to MacLeod Russell (India) Limited of Calcutta, and UCIL was renamed Eveready Industries India Limited. Union Carbide stated: ‘As a result of the sale of its shares in UCIL, Union Carbide retained no interest in – or liability for – the Bhopal site, and Eveready Industries continued to retain exclusive possession of the land under lease from the state government of Madhya Pradesh.’ In February 2001 UCC became a wholly owned subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company. Even though Union Carbide continued to be a separate legal entity, its corporate identity and all its business was now fully integrated with that of Dow. Dow Chemical has publicly stated that it has no responsibility for the leak and its consequences or for the pollution from the plant.

A pending criminal case, failure to extradite Warren Anderson (the then Chief Executive Officer of UCC), a public interest litigation in Madhya Pradesh High Court, an out-of-court compensation settlement between Union Carbide and the Government of India, denial to get any redress through the US court system: this is all we have in the realm of fixing the company’s role. No international norms or national laws to govern the multinational companies existed at the time of the Bhopal disaster. However, UN Norms on the Responsibility of Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises with Regard to Human Rights came into existence in 2003. But the Indian government has failed in applying its provisions, not only in the case of Bhopal, but also in other ones of human rights violations by the global companies. According to Article 14 of UN Norms, transnational corporations and other business enterprises are responsible for the environmental and human health impact of their activities. The commentary of the article states in detail the concrete measures to be taken in this regard. Article 18 asks on transnational corporations and other business enterprises to make reparations for damages done through their failure to meet the standards spelled out in the Norms. Article 17 asks on states to have in place the necessary legal and administrative framework to give effect to the Norms: ‘States should establish and reinforce the necessary legal and administrative framework for ensuring that the Norms and other relevant national and international laws are implemented by transnational corporations and other business enterprises.’

Right to Information

The Company decided to store huge quantities of the ‘ultra-hazardous’ Mythyl Isocyanate (MIC) in the Bhopal plant in bulk, but did not equip the plant with the corresponding processing or safety capacity. On the night of the gas leak, crucial safety systems were not functional. After the leak, UCC maintained that MIC was nothing more than tear gas, even though the company’s own manuals clearly said that MIC was a fatal poison. Till date UCC has refused to identify the reaction products released, and related toxicological information of the products that leaked. This has prevented doctors from developing an appropriate treatment protocol for victims. Later UCC also claimed that the leak was an act of sabotage caused by a disgruntled employee, whom it has since refused to name. In 1994, the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) stopped all further research on the medical effects of the Bhopal disaster without any explanation. The full results of the research carried out and the data with the ICMR have yet to be published.

The single biggest factor in the Bhopal disaster – beyond the dangerous process in use – was the failure of Union Carbide to adequately inform the Indian government, its workers, and the surrounding community of the dangers. Equally disturbing is the fact that what happened in Bhopal is not unique. Many other cases around the country demonstrate the urgency of providing critical information about a company’s operations, in order to protect the environment and the lives and human rights of local communities and workers. We now have the Right to Information Act in the government sphere, but this law does not apply to the private sector. The present conditions call for more public disclosure, more transparency, and more accountability on the part of the companies. Without information, local communities live in the dark, employees unknowingly work in hazardous ways, and shareholders make uninformed investments. There is thus a strong case for the application of the Right to Information in the private sector. Information disclosure standards on environmental impacts (data on toxic releases and health risks to the local community), labour standards (information on workers’ exposure to dangerous chemicals, and basic labour practices including child labour), business practices (terms of agreements between the company and the government) and community relocation (information on displacement, compensation and rehabilitation) should constitute the core of it.

Bhopal survivors have a legacy of suffering and struggling. Ordinary people have shown immense strength in organising and raising vital issues of human well being and rights. Their diverse organisations and support groups — Zehreeli Gas Kand Sangharsh Morcha, Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Udyog Sangathan, Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationary Karmchari Sangh/Morcha, International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal, The Bhopal Survivors’ Movement Study, Students for Bhopal — have kept lives and hopes alive. Our governments have a prime responsibility to address outstanding problems of health care, safe water, cleaning up the site, compensation and rehabilitation. However, there is no substitute for taking steps to regulate the activities of corporations. Laws must be developed and enforced to allow governments and local communities to control the activities of companies operating in their territory. Ensuring public participation and transparency in decisions relating to the location, operational safety and waste disposal of industries using hazardous materials and technology is an essential step to heighten risk awareness and responsible behaviour, as well as to ensure better preparedness to prevent and deal with the consequences of disasters like Bhopal.

The Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind Conference held recently, has raised Cain through one of the 25 resolutions that were passed at the conference. The kind of noise that has been generated by this resolution has virtually air-brushed the other resolution out of reckoning. Did the remaining 24 resolutions not deserve closer scrutiny, especially in view of the fact that many of these resolutions had taken off from the recommendations of the Sachar Committee report.

The 24X7 “News” channels that claim to keep us updated on developments even before they occur, have by and large concentrated all their energies on this one resolution which claims that the “Singing of Vande Maatram is Un-Islamic”. Given the kind of attention that this resolution has already received, it may be worth our while to talk about some of the other resolutions before getting into the raging debate of Vande Maatram.

Some of the resolutions passed at the conference, especially those dealing with issues like Jihad, Terrorism, Palestine, the increasing bonhomie between Israel and India, the situation in Iraq, Afghanistan etc, broadly follow the generally accepted positions of the non-aligned movement. Those who increasingly see the world through the unipolar US view point, and all the votaries of “India the emerging Super Power thesis ” may feel more than mild discomfiture at these resolutions but then these gentlemen have never made common cause with NAM and the peace initiative of the Third World.

The resolutions that should cause much more than mild discomfort are the ones, dealing with issues of Education (especially education for the girl child and adolescent girls), reservation for women in the legislature, the proposed National Madrasa Board and suggestions for standardisation of curriculum of modern education in the Madrasas.

The resolutions on women’s education passed by the Jamiat reflect its anti women attitude and is nothing more than a reflection of the positions taken by conservatives, belonging to diverse faiths, on issues of women’s emancipation. The Jamiat resolution demands the setting up of non residential schools for imparting modern education to girls. These schools should, according to the Jamiat, offer education through curriculum that has been especially designed for girls. This apparently post primary course of education is supposed to last six years and envisages that all girls above the age of 10, shall conduct themselves according to the stipulations of the Shariah.

One does not need to be an Einstein to understand the contours of this especially designed curriculum for girls, sewing and embroidery, cooking, bringing up kids, caring for the in-laws and being a good wife, call it Home Science or present it as a Finishing School for Young Muslim Woman it will remain something that was rejected, by those who began working for spread of education among Muslim girls, almost a century ago. This is a project aimed at depriving 50% of the population of Muslims of even the limited rights and independence that they have gained after decades of struggles.

The objective is clear; prevent Muslim girls from joining the mainstream of modern education. The very idea of asking a secular state that it facilitate the enforcing of shariah on women, or for that matter on any section of the population, is preposterous to say the least. Such ideas need to be nipped in the bud.

In another resolution, meant apparently for Muslim males, the Jamiat calls upon the Muslims to acquire modern education, but in the same breath it asks them not to take admission in government or privately managed schools. The reason for this, according to the Jamiat, is that Muslims are cut off from their religious traditions in such institutes and often remain ignorant of the duties and responsibilities necessary for every Muslim.

The Jamiat is silent on the question of the source from where Muslims will acquire modern education given the inability of Islamic institutes to provide this knowledge and the strictures against those that have the resources to impart this knowledge.

The objective is clear; prevent Muslim Boys from joining the mainstream of modern education. The likely result of this should be obvious, Muslims will not only continue to be backward, they will be pushed back further, the fear of losing their Islamic identity will prevent them from demanding and taking their rightful place in the country. Not surprisingly, this is precisely what the votaries of Hindutva also want.

It is quite another matter that a majority of Muslims will pay no heed to these fulminations, An overwhelming majority of Muslims realises, as borne out by the Sachar Committee Report and other studies, that modern education is necessary both for life and livelihood. It is a matter of deep concern that these efforts are being made by those that claim to represent be interests of the community. Why are these worthies bent on convincing “their flock” to commit collective hara-kiri?

The Jamiat has, through another resolution, opposed a central government proposal to introduce an All India Madrasa Board to standardise the curriculum for modern disciplines. One fails to understand the reasons for this reservation. The government proposal is not to interfere with the curriculum of the traditional disciplines at all; it is an attempt to create some kind of equivalence with the general school syllabi, in order that those desiring to continue their education after their Madrasa education can migrate to mainstream colleges or universities. The quality of those teaching these subjects and the salaries they draw in the Madrasas will also improve as a result of this proposed standardisation.

Why have they opposed this? Are they afraid of the higher salary that those working under the board would draw? Those teaching modern disciplines will be better paid, even if it were not the Madrasa but the government that were to pay these salaries. This may lead to demands for higher salaries from the Madrasa teachers, something that Madrasa managements may not be too willing to do, because they have been getting this work done on salaries that are little better than subsistence wages.

For more than a decade, a debate has been raging on the issue of 33% reservation for women in the legislatures. Several political parties have come up with rather ingenious arguments to oppose the proposed legislation, but the arguments put forward by the Jamiat are so uniquely anti-women that they take your breath away through their sheer audacity. The resolution says that this will first of all be an instrument to further erode the minimal representation that the Muslims have in the legislatures and secondly, according to the Jamiat, this is a desperate attempt to main stream women and it would lead to several social problems that will lead to increased loss of security for women. This is such a reliable and time tested argument. If women step out of the confines of their homes, they will be exposed to instances of eve teasing and gender crimes. It is so much more convenient to confine women within the four walls of their homes instead of building a campaign for making the country secure for women and demanding strict action against miscreants. There is no easier method of keeping women, socially, economically and educationally backward and deprived than this easy panacea.

All these resolutions are fit only for the dustbin and yet no one from among the large contingent of special invitees from mainstream political parties, that talk incessantly of Social Progress, Defence of Democratic Rights and of gender justice, informed the gathering that the resolutions were not in the interest of the Muslims and that they would in fact turnout to be a major stumbling block in the progress of the entire nation, especially of our women.

The ongoing debate on Vande Maatram needs to be seen in the context of the understanding that finds reflection in these resolutions. It would be worthwhile to recapture briefly the history of the opposition to this song. This summary might help in understanding the politics that informs the articulation not only of those who see the singing of the lyrics as the touchstone of patriotism but also of those who see the insistence on the singing of the lyrics as a conspiracy against Islam.

The lyrics in praise of Durga, written in 1876, by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay were later incorporated by him in his novel Anandmath, and that is where the trouble began. In the final analysis Anand Math is a text that presents the colonial masters as saviours of Hindus, the Hindus are presented as the only patriotic force and Muslims appear as enemies of the nation, is it surprising that the votaries of Hindutva champion this text with such vigour. The well known historian R.C. Mazumdar, while talking of Anandmath and other texts written by Bankim was to say, “Bankimchandra converted patriotism into religion and religion into patriotism [quoted here].”

Rabindra Nath Tagore, who sang Vande Matram at the 1896 Calcutta session of the Congress, was in 1937 to assess the song in the following words in a letter to Subhash Chandra Bose.

“The core of Vande Mataram is a hymn to goddess Durga: this is so plain that there can be no debate about it. Of course Bankimchandra does show Durga to be inseparably united with Bengal in the end, but no Mussulman can be expected patriotically to worship the ten-handed deity as ‘Swadesh’ This year many of the special Puja numbers of our magazines have quoted verses from Vande Mataram – proof that the editors take the song to be a hymn to Durga. The novel Anandamath is a work of literature, and so the song is appropriate in it. But Parliament is a place of union for all religious groups, and there the song cannot be appropriate.” [Wikipedia]

This is the background in which a decision was taken in the 1930s that only the first 2 stanzas of Vande Maatram will become the text for the national song; this decision was prompted by the popularity of the song that had inspired thousands to stand up against the colonial masters.

History is replete with such ironies, Two stanzas of a song that was part of a text written to fan Hindu Muslim animosity and to be a paean for the colonial masters got transformed into a call of action for Freedom from British Imperialism.

The first two stanzas of Vande Maatram were chosen because the latter stanzas were clearly in praise of Durga and objections were raised not only by Muslims but those belonging to other non idol worshipping religions as well.

This entire history had to be repeated because the recently concluded conclave of the Jamiat ulama-e-Hind has claimed that the singing of this song is against the tenets of Islam. The gentlemen making this claim have forgotten that the then leadership of their organisation had approved of the decision to identify the first 2 stanzas of Vande Maatram as the national song.

But those were different times, the Jamiat was in the forefront of the Struggle for freedom and the Ulemas were publically attacking the votaries of Pakistan. Those were times when the Jamiat stood with the overwhelming majority of Indian Muslims who were along with the rest of the nation dreaming and fighting for a free and secular India. The Jamiat, as it stands today, has been reduced to an organisation of conservative and revivalist forces, at least that is what one gathers from a majority of their resolutions.

How is it that the singing of Vande Maatram did not emerge as a threat to Islam for so many decades but has become one now?.

And as for the Hindutva champions of this song, one wonders at their total lack of interest in the other national song of India “Saaray Jahan say achcha” is it because the author of “Saarey Jahan” was a Muslim or because there is no attempt in the song to turn “patriotism into religion and religion into patriotism” as evidenced in Vandey Maatram? The mere singing or not singing of this song cannot be taken as proof of any one’s patriotism or lack of it for that matter, neither can singing of it make you into a non believer in Islam nor can the refusal to sing it, turn you into a devout Muslim.