I found this excellent column about the mind of mass murderers like Cho, or Klebold, at www.time.com: Link

According to the Boston Globe, (link) a woman is suing two doctors for the cost of raising her child because one failed to abort her child, and the other failed to notice that she was still pregnant, much later.

“Mommy, do you love me?”
“Well, you know, now that you’re here, sure.”

I hope the woman had enough forsight to factor in the cost of massive therapy for her daughter. Something tells me she’s going to need it.

The other day, BoingBoing included this bit on a relatively-unknown author who claims to have pieced together the details of a huge religious-political conspiracy and who is trying to sell a flash drive containing the documentation for $3.5M. Link

He says that the documents are all in the public domain, and that he has simply done the research and compilation necessary to bring the story to light. Which, of course, is the problem. How can he prove to a news organization that (a) he is not part of the tinfoil-hat brigade, (b) his story is credible, and (c) his story is newsworthy?

I don’t think it’s likely, but $3.5M isn’t really that much money to a news organization and I would love to see one of them take a gamble and buy the flash drive.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair announced yesterday that the UK will begin withdrawing its troops from Iraq (link). Reportedly, Bush has asked Tony Blair to reconsider, saying, “Ok, so maybe establishing a stable democracy in Iraq ain’t gonna happen. But at least stay in the game until we can establish Walmart.”

The lawyer. The boyfriend. The Bahamanian Immigration Minister. Zsa Zsa’s Husband. Osama Bin Ladin. Good lord - Was I the only person not having sex with Ms. Smith? Why didn’t anyone tell me?

I can’t believe KT Tunstall wasn’t even nominated for “Best New Artist”. But when you consider that this is the category that brought us such musical geniuses as A Taste of Honey and Milli Vanilli, perhaps it was a compliment.

Pundits like to point out that we are a deeply divided nation, and they’re right. There’s us - people who like interesting, intelligent, creative and original music - and them - people who like Christina Aguilera. And it’s one of the great tragedies of democracy that we can’t round them up and shoot them for their appalling taste.

Love to hear what other people think about this. Do public school teachers have a responsibility to not be crazy whack-jobs outside of the classroom?

Link

It’s Monday morning and everything in the World is normal. Which is to say that it’s completely screwed up. Spinach is public-enemy number one in America, Muslims around the world are committing acts of violence to protest the Pope’s suggestion that Islam is a religion of violence, and the Alpha Centauri system still refuses to recall its planetary ambassador, Tom Cruise.

For me, though, it’s another thrilling week of job hunting. Job hunting is great fun, if “fun” is redefined to include shelving books in a library and several outpatient medical procedures.

Job hunting is just like being a sales rep with a single, dubious product, and no budget for swanky client lunches. Some people lie outright about their qualifications, which is very naughty, but everyone has to inflate their own personal wonderfulness a bit in order to get an interview, much less a job. And prospective employers do the same with their open positions. It’s important to remember that while you may be slightly under-qualified for the job you will eventually get, you will probably be underpaid and unsatisfied, too.

Today my “office” is a neighborhood coffee shop that offers free wireless. I’m here because there aren’t any neighborhood pubs that offer free wireless. Which is probably better for my job search. I’m not the only person using this joint as an office: there are some guys who get here early, set up a complete suite of office equipment at their tables, and stay all day. I can only survive until my personal environmental irritation threshold is exceeded. I have been hovering just below this level for over an hour, now, because I am (a) hungry but too cheap to buy anything, and (b) about to go into kidney failure but too grossed out by the bathroom. The threshold has just been blown to smithereens by the arrival of I-don’t-own-a-toothbrush-but-I-breathe-heavily-man, so I’m on my way out the door.

It infuriates me when I hear staunch Right-wingers interrupt a discussion about the violence in Iraq, or the activities of Hamas, and say something like, “Stop calling them insurgents or militants. They’re terrorists!” Even if the persons in question are terrorists, the purpose of the statement is to shut down any possible dissent.

The same thing happens in the debate over illegal immigrants. Pro-illegal-immigrant activists have liberally dished out the “Racist” label against anyone who opposes them. Such a tactic is intended to intimidate and silence anyone who might disagree.

I haven’t made up my mind about either subject, and I think there should be a healthy public debate. We should be able to debate what an insurgent is, what a terrorist is, and whether the people we’re referring to have any legitimate gripes, without being told that we’re un-patriotic or harming national security. We should be able to discuss whether our country has the right to decide who gets to be here and who doesn’t - and how we want to use that right - without being told that we just hate brown people.

I don’t care if you know you’re right, and everyone else is wrong. When you try to shut down the debate, you’re stealing my fundamental right to participate in the democratic process.

Note: I am honestly not sure who I’m insulting here. - SF

As you no doubt know by now, Israel has invaded Lebanon in an effort to find Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes’ new baby, Suri, who apparently was hustled away minutes after birth and has never been seen by any living human beings, only Scientologists.

But what I am really concerned with, however, is the plight of the world’s Atheists, who - to this very day - do not have a religion of their own.

In my humble* opinion, it is downright descriminatory that Atheists have been denied their basic human right to have a religion, simply because they don’t believe in God.

Many people seem to think that religion is, if nothing else, a belief in some sort of god. How bigoted. Atheists are human beings, just like people who do believe in a god, and they have a right to all the same privileges that god-believers enjoy. They have a right to religion just like everyone else.

Religion is so much more than a divine being. Religon is whacky hats and robes, incense, holy water, ancient scriptures and spiffy temples. Religion is prophets and lists of things that you can’t do, holy wars and people on TV with big hair. Don’t Atheists have a right to these things, too?

The answer, I say, is a resounding YES!! I forsee a day when Athiests will gather together in special buildings to sing beautiful hymns about not believing in anything, when little boy Atheists and little girl Atheists will sit, spellbound, listening to an adult Atheist tell the stories of ancient, mighty unbelievers, using a felt board. I forsee a day when groups of Atheists will go door-to-door, interrupting people in the middle of their favorite TV shows, to tell them about nothing.

Many of you who read this will laugh. But one day - one glorious day - this dream will be a reality.

Amen. Let us pray. whisper words to nobody in particular.

* not