Report: Iraqi spies in U.S.
WASHINGTON - Iraq sent spies from Canada to New York and Washington this month to snoop and stir up anti-war demonstrations, according to a government report obtained by the Daily News.


Hey, we also have to watch out for all those communist sympathizers that are looking to turn our children to the evil red army, as well as all those satanists. It's all an evil Iraqi plot to overthrow the decent, god-fearing way of life we have here in America.

We just dodged the bullet in the 60s with the commies, and now here are those damn muslims to come along and try the same thing, bet they're actually just commies, or commie-nazis. Commie-Nazi-Muslims, that's what we're fighting here.

Give me a break. There are no doubt some spies from Iraq in the US and Canada, but I'd say the spies for Britain, China, Israel and Greece far outweigh them in numbers, and the idea that war protests are started by Iraqi agents is preposterous. I have serious doubts about a war myself and I haven't talked to any Iraqi agents...that I know of.

Sweet Mother of the Baby Jesus, they could be all around us..Your classmates, your friends, you never know which one of them may be a Commie-Nazi-Muslim.

Time to go to the bunkers people. Isolate yourselves, the spread of information is the most deadly threat to the existence of our way of life.

In fact you should stop reading this right now.

You have been warned.

Well it's good that my pseudo-prediction of terrorism didn't come true. Of course it was due to my publicizing the plot here...of course.

I think more CD's should come with stickers. I like stickers. I like CD's. The two together are a win-win situation. I also like DVD's with my CD's. The new Billy Corgan CD Zwan comes with both stickers and a DVD, so did the new Tori Amos CD. This is a good trend.

On the Charmed front, yesterday they had an episode where the charmed ones fight demonic versions of then WCW wrestlers, Buff Bagwell, Booker T, and Scott Steiner. The wrestlers were commanded by Ron Perlman. Amazingly enough the episode was worse than it sounds. My mind boggles. I just hope that TNT starts showing the Rose McGowan episodes soon.

Tommy said I was arrogant for claiming my dick is as big as Dubbya's on the internet. I always liked to think of myself as lovably obnoxious rather than arrogant.

Todays code-word is Frunctured.

From the conspiracy corner:

The Astral Master of Death tells me that WhatReallyHappened.Com has a story predicting a terrorist attack today to predicate our impending war in Iraq and elsewhere. I think the site is badly designed and I have a problem finding anything specific, but here's my two cents on the conspiracy theory that will probably come to nothing (It's a bit like when I fantasy book wrestling on my TNA page, only in wrestling nobody dies if I'm right--most of the time). Today is also the superbowl. It's funny how Tom Clancey's novels have a tendency to come true in part. He did have one about planes crashing into the Capitol. Just think Sum of All Fears. I'll say no more on the issue. Hopefully just idle thoughts.

Also I still haven't seen my crazy theory that the plane that crashed in Penn. on 9/11 was the one actually headed for the Pentagon reported anywhere. It would make sense if you tie it in with the French conspiracy theorists claims that there was no plane that hit the Pentagon. Maybe everything didn't go according to plan for the terrorists more than people think on 9/11. Crazy conspiracy theories are fun, just remember Robert Anton Wilson's advice not to believe any of them too much. The Discordian ideal always applies that everything is true and nothing is true, even false things.

War Rant

(Hey, that's almost like a pun)

Will we go to war after the State of the Union address this week? Probably. I think it will be a bomb-the-crap-out-of-them war though, not a ground war as much. I think the ground war would come in Korea if it comes to that. What people don't realize is that the gulf war has been going on for the last 12 years it's just that the U.S. hasn't been obvious about it, this is just the official round two. We've been occupying the "No Fly Zone" for 12 years. We've also been bombing them and running ops inside their country for that long. The war never ended.

People at work were talking about the draft. I still say if the draft were ever re-instituted it IS political suicide for those involved. Protests against the war may not draw much media attention in the states from the "liberal" controlled media, but there are enough of us mean and political Gen-Xers out there that we would put a wallopin on them in the voting. The hippies of the 60s and the fact that they got drafted...well sorry buckos it's not the 60s anymore, and there are lots of alternative news outlets that weren't there before. As long as the corporitization of the internet doesn't continue as those in power no doubt hope there is the potential for great change as it evolves.

Here on the internet (to put it crudely) my dick is just as big as dubbya's.

Back to the rant and why the draft won't work--I really do think that there are enough cynical asshole types just like me out there that just wouldn't go. And those that do go, the parent's aren't as likely to look on it kindly, cause guess what...lot's of them are grown up hippies. Maybe I'm way off base, and if there really is another terrorist attack there are enough stupid-ass people out there like the one I just heard on Fox News that will fall
hook, line and sinker for any rah-rah bullshit that the government feeds us. Why does everyone else in the world hate us? Because we are such bullying assholes and think that everyone has to be us. We forget that everyone doesn't want to be us.

I think what the country needs that can never happen in the current climate is a lack of political parties and career politicians. Maybe what we need is an anarchosyndicalist commune, where everyone takes it in turn to act as a type of executive officer of the week, but every decision of that officer has to be ratified by a special by-weekly meeting in the case of purely domestic affairs and by a two thirds majority...(sorry had to interject some type of attempt at funny into this mess). Really though, no more parties. They're both the same and they make people think that's all there is. All this fighting over essentially nothing, and nothing really gets done because everyone's to busy fighting over petty little workplace disputes...but anyway I was talking about the draft and why it won't work wasn't I?

I don't like how the guy in the window on Fox news is staring at me right now.

People like their comfort, and they like their wars, but they don't like their children dying, or the prospect of their children dying. That's why the wars we fight now are special forces wars and bomb-the-hell-out-of-them wars..Less casualties on our side. I think this draft hoopla is just what happens when people get scared. Unless everyone attacks us at once, it won't happen. Even politicians aren't that stupid. I don't think. Dumb and easily manipulated, but not stupid.

Wow, political views from the EvilHippy, and nothing about Charmed for once. Heh.

Question to You "Good" People"

The Astral Master of Death and are thinking about something like a weekly internet talkshow, something probably on the order of thirty minutes or so each time on a variety of topics. What does everyone think, would anyone listen? We could set up a coinciding chat room for automatic feedback in lieu of call-ins. Just throwing the idea out, I doubt anyone is still with me after the rant fest above, but comments would be welcome. E-mail me or comment on the damn forum or something. That's what it's there for.
If we did such a thing I'd buy a Domain and hosting for this site and the show and a possible archive in RealAudio format, similar to Art Bell's site. I know my readership isn't that tremendous in size right now, but this is something I'd actually advertise. Maybe we could just do a show as a topic presents itself? Your suggestions would be apprecieated.


Today's codeword is: Squalor. Those of you in the know, you know what to do with this information.

Gunny wants an update do he? Well I've been doing alot more sleeping lately due to the cold and the snow. The Bacon's natural winter state is one of hibernation, which is the reason we haven't seen any of the Kevin Bacon lately and tend not to during the colder months. I will try to type more and sleep less.

Does anyone else out there think that Carrot Top has had some work done on his face? I don't mean in the large Italian punching him repeatedly there, more in the plastic surgery kind of way. His face just looks wrong.

Now in non-Carrot Top related news...

On the Drudge Report we have a story about a children's book based on the inspiring life story of R. Kelly. An interesting concept. Perhaps an entire line can follow with such inspirational stories such as the Pee Wee Herman Story or the Hunter S. Thompson story, both would be educational in many different ways.

Also a series of stories on the "Bug Chaser" story that appeared in a recent Rolling Stone issue about gay men who seek out HIV positive partners and have unprotected sex, intentionally. Incidentally last night I dreamed that this particular story ran in an issue of Golf Magazine, which I think would have made the overall hooplah all the more interesting. One story attacks Jann Wenner for printing the story in the magazine and the stories claim that there are no studies to support any numbers on the phenomenon which they admit exists. I thought the purpose of Journalism was to print different sides of issues whether they are popular or not.

The world's tallest and fastest roller coaster will be opening soon in Cedar Point Ohio, and Pimp Babyface Innocent will not be there to ride it. All I can say is that it looks to be the most ridiculously frightening ride ever. a ninety degree drop from four hundred feet at one hundred and twenty miles per hour as it twists torwards the ground. Huh-huh, I wonder if you'll be able to beat your vomit to the ground? I don't even like the Free Fall at Six Flags, and it just drops down at an angle. I can't even tell how you get to the top of the hill from the picture on the DrudgeReport.
On DiePunyHumans we have some new Sumo pictures from Mr. Warren Ellis. Nothing like giant man-mountains beating the snot out of one another.

Evil Hippy's Movie Corner

Near Dark is both a very good vampire movie and a very stupid vampire movie. On one hand it blends what I think would be the most likely outcome of regular people granted immortal life through the vampire's bite...incredibly stupid vampires. Do they attempt to understand what they are or do anything other than move about aimlessly and kill randomly? Nope. They don't even appear to care whether or not they are caught, as they come up with no contingency plans for pursuit or capture, relying instead on blind luck to get them through.
I do enjoy Bill "I'm not Bill Pullman" Paxton being a crazy vampire. He plays crazy really well, he should do it more often. I also wonder if it's possible for Lance Henrikson to be any more creepy. He's like Christopher Walken in that he's almost a parody of what creepy is, you run the risk of comedy by casting him in your films.
The direction of the film is capable, though not noteworthy in itself. There were not glaring mistakes that I noticed. Not Tarantino good, but not Sidaris bad either.
Music was passable, added very little and kept making me think of the original Terminator, especially with Paxton battered and bloody on hanging onto the front of big rig.
The director, Kathryn Bigelow, said that Oliver Stone told her the script had a poetic structure. Allright. I don't see a particularly poetic structre, but I'll take his word for it.
Perhaps more will be revealled after I watch the second disc of extras.

I'll be viewing MIB II for the first time today, perhaps I'll tell everyone what I think, but probably not.

For those of you who don't know I have been informed that I am "Bad News," and you should all keep your distance, if you know what is good for you.

That is all.

I now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.

I sure do like Hunter S. Thompson books. I'm reading the new one Kingdom of Fear right now. Gunny asked me what it was about last night, and I was left without an answer for a moment, because like all of his books it's about alot of things, though at the core it is about what his assignment has been for the last thirty years or so, the death of the American Dream.

That subject covers alot of ground, from his battles in court over assault and drug charges in 1990 to travels in Cuba in 1999 with Johnny Depp, all told in Hunters machine-gun style and prone to the wandering rants that I like so much.

Something else that bothers me about Charmed, why don't the witches ever use a magic circle when they summon things? I thought that was a pretty traditional thing, you know a pentagram on the floor in chalk or something and a big circle around it, maybe some candles and incense to set the mood. That might keep those nasty demons from busting up their house, and they should always remember Lovecraft's advice to never summon anything that you can't send back down (or up).

My orders for today are for everyone to go out and read a book, do it and I WON'T give a test, this time.

There is some dispute between Tommy and myself about who gave this cold we are suffering under to whom. I have a strong suspicion that he was the culprit due to the fact that he is almost over it and I am still unable to breathe without my trusty crack pipe--I mean Vicks Vapo-rub.

In an unrelated related story I am currently playing Max Payne, which I picked up for next to nothing at Hastings today, and I have to say that it is like Hitman without all the strategy and subtlety. Still fun in the run around and shoot everybody kind of way.

You'd think no one here in Middle Tennessee had ever seen snow before. Everything on local television is pre-emted for the snow coverage.

Tommy asked me what I think about Pete Townshend being arrested for kiddie porn, owing to my being a big Who fan, and well, I have mixed feelings.

I think this is probably how many Jacko or Pee Wee Herman fans felt when allegations were made against them. I may be gullible, but until they release more evidence I'm inclined to believe the story he released to the press that he had told Scotland Yard of his access of the site and that it was for research purposes fo an anti-child pornography group he was connected with.

If I were the prosecuter in the case I would pay special attention to the logs for the site if any as to how frequent a visitor he was. If, as he said, he was merely seeing what was out there for research purposes, then his acess should be minimal, but if he was a frequent visitor, then, well.

Whatever the truth in the case his reputation will at the least be tarnished and it will have an affect on his career.

But am I going to sell all of my Who and Townshend CDs even if he is into Child Pornography? No. To paraphrase Crowley, to hold artwork accountable for the politics of the artist is absurd. It's not like they stopped playing Jacko songs or that damn annoying Gary Glitter tune.

Maybe I'll be able to get that Lifehouse 6-cd set cheaper now...

Stupid, stupid, stupid. Why does Charmed have to be so stupid? Well, when you realize that most of the "Pagans" and "Wiccans" out there really know very little, having read at most a book or two and watched some movies, but, come on. No wonder witches got burned at the stake if they were so stupid as to carry their magical weapos around in their cloaks in broad daylight in a big group of people. Apparantly that is what they did in the past according to the show today.

Fitness Myths I've Heard

For those of you who don't know for about a year or so I was a health nut; working out almost everyday, running up to three miles a day, and following a pretty strict diet. I'm not doing quite that much anymore, though I still watch what I eat and plan to start running daily when it stops being so freaking cold. I realize that does not make me an expert, but I do know a tall tale when I hear one, and I've heard a couple in regards to people's excercise and diet stories.

Now, I don't want to speak badly of people, and I feel that most people who come up with these whoppers of stories really believe them at the time, are mistaken, or just get carried away, but I don't think they're true as they go against many of the established laws of physics and physiology, you judge for yourselves.

One guy once told us at work that while in the army he ate 20,000 calories a day and kept a lean, mean 2% body/fat ratio. Now I know for a fact that huge, professional body builders only eat around 5-6000 calories a day, and I myself only eat around 2-3000 normaly, but if somebody ate 20000 calories a day, they'd have to run 50 miles a day to burn it off. Also the lowest that somebody can lower their body/fat percentage without being dead is to about 4-5%, and the professional bodybuilders only do it for a few hours during tournaments. 2% wouldn't even account for the fat around a person's organs. (Gloat time, I got my body/fat down to 7% at the height of my workout regimine).

Another person recently told me at work that she and a friend used to walk 6 miles at a time in around 30 minutes. I don't think that is possible, since my friend Joey would find it hard to run 6 consecutive 5 minute miles. It the story is true those two should join the olympic fast-walking team.
Did I mention how stupid Charmed is?

Here's a question for you, why do all rap songs seem to have to have someone say the name of the song and who is performing at the beginning or the end, or if it is a remix or not?

I don't think it's too much to ask for people of all creeds and nations to bring to me tokens of their esteem, do you?

Just remember:
Taxation is just a sophisticated way of demanding money with menaces.
--Terry Pratchett

But if people want to give me money and gifts I feel it is out of love and admiration.

I try not to be a vengefull person, but some things have to be answered in kind. Last night at work I recieved a bitch dot from someone. For those of you who don't know, a bitch dot is when someone marks on you with a marker, usually in the shape of a dot, thus declaring you as being their bitch.

Needless to say I am not happy abou the arangement and the perpetrator will pay in kind. I have many, many markers and I have lots of patience, and a reasonably good memory.

Oooh, me so annoyed!

Now, granted, I'm not the sharpest tack in the tackle box, but why are people on Who Wants to be a Millionaire so stupid?

In one show a guy uses a 50/50 on the question of which character the movie Hook details the adult exploits of--He said Dennis the Menace! WTF? He went home with nothing, NOTHING. How stupid can you be? The next contestant has already used a lifeline on the second question of which sports star was in Enrique Iglasias's video "Escape," and she almost used a lifeline on the first question. (What are you not allowed to do in touch football. She said she didn't know anything about football) GAH!

And to think I almost got a heat-stroke trying out for this show. I didn't get on, but these people do.

On the way home from the grocer tonight I saw a car with three bumper stickers the top two were United We Stand and Proud to be an American and the lower one was Happiness is a North Bound Yankee, am I the only one who sees a bit of a contradiction there?

EvilHippy's Movie Corner

I just finished watching xXx starring Vin "BigStupidTommy hates him" Diesel, and I thought that it was a passable film, not great, but good enough. The effects were, for the most part, good, and the acting was what you would expect. The soundtrack was good, so was the editing, and the direction was allright, no major complaints on those points, but I do have some problems with the script.

Now I don't expect my action films to be particularly well written. I do like something above a Sidaris effort, but I'm not shooting for Mamet here. In fact if Jean Claude started spouting dialogue from State and Main that would probably increase the comedy factor of any film.

If you've not seen xXx, but want to and worry that I'll give you spoilers, well he wins in the end and the good-guys all live. The end, lots of things blowing up and crazy stunts in-between. There, now you don't have to worry about the spoilers anymore, we're all on the same page (more or less) and we can continue as equals.

Firstly, this solar powered submarine, is it remote controlled or what? How does it know which city to hit next? Couldn't, oh I don't know, the Navy of some country or other just blow the thing up? That's what Xander does in the end, why did him exploding it differ from if the planes had exploded it? Some of you would say, but the nerve gas breaks down in deep water--then why the hell do you put it on a submarine, why not a solar powered plane?
What happens when the submarine runs out of shots, does it return to base for refueling? And for that matter when did the world gain the technology for solar powered submarines anyway? I'd think the navy would like that alot better than dangerous old nuclear subs.

Second, how were they going to re-gather the nerve gas anyway? If you have to filter it through water how are you going to suck it back out of the open air? Wouldn't this gas kill ALL the people, thusly negating any glorious chaotical breakdown of society and government?

Next, the psychology of the villans is seriously out of whack. This is a hack screenwriters idea of what anarchical societies would think like. First if this guy is smart enough to lead all these people, then he's smart enough to realize that in a breakdown of government the power will be controlled by those with the most charasima, be it fear based or otherwise. These people would just set up more governments, probably not any better than those you have just destroyed. If he really wanted to create a governmentless free society, would he be the one in-charge of it? Doesn't that defeat the purpose? Isn't the point that all people are equal to do what they want when they want? I realize I'm debating with a poorly drawn character in an action movie, but I'd like the writer to at least consider these ideas before committing to a story.

At the end do you really think that Sam Jackson's character would be on a bridge that is about to be ground zero with no protection for his body whatsoever? We all know he'd be on the first plane out. His character isn't anymore stupid than the villan should have been.

Is this film really telling me that in a basement surrounded by electrical equipment, human bodies and heating pipes (it is cold-ass Prague after all) that the warmest thing for a heat-seeking missle to hone in on is a cigarette that is fifty yards away? Come on, I'm stupid but I ain't that stupid. For that matter why are the cops carrying a heat-seeking rocket? What did they expect to encounter, Jets or something?

This film did have some bad effects work as well. The avalanche sequence looked fake. I'm sorry, but the easiest way to spot shoddy computer effects is to see what looks to perfect and unreal in the scene. Jar-Jar didn't work because he didn't look real, he didn't fit in the environment, there wasn't enough reflection of color in the sets around him to make him seem real, and he looked fake. Gollum seems real becase all the little things are done right. The snow in xXx is alot like Jar-Jar, it looks fake, it moves too perfectly and in the end irritates me. The avalanche in Fellowship of the Ring was handled much better, at least it only looked like a model shot.

Also, while I like the choice of putting the title credits at the end, who was the person who decided to use the terrible lettering for the subtitles and the location names? The temp letters in the deleted scenes looked better.

And would it kill them to include a little pointless nudity? There appeared to be some in one of the deleted scenes, but they blurred it out.

But in the end I did like this film well enough, even with the CRAP script. It's still better than most of the last few James Bond films. If they could have just worked in a cameo by Rutger Hauer the film could have rated even higher.

Why do they have to go and put Paula Cole into Charmed? I hate Paula Cole. She's everything that's pretentious and wrong with music.

Feh.

Here's something that most people don't ever realize, and I do:

You know those times when you stand completely confused and dumbfounded by a situation and have no idea what to do? Your mind is totally blank, and there is no response pre-programmed into you for that situation. Those are the times when you're actually thinking.

Take a tally, make a note. I imagine for most people it doesn't happen very often.

For me it happens roughly every fifteen seconds as I am amazed and struck dumb by some new form of stupidity displayed around me.

So, the Rawhide Kid is gay.

Now granted this is a bit of old news, a few weeks old at least, but being the slow minded simpleton that I am, I'm going to weigh in now on the issue.

Firstly, who, you ask, is the Rawhide Kid? Well, let me tell you, he's one of the legions of characters that Stan Lee created for Marvel comics. He's a rootin-tootin-gun-shootin cowboy in the classic tradition, and in a six issue mini-series that'll start here in a month or so, it's revealled through double entendre's and whatnot that he is, in fact, gay.

John Severin will be provoding the art, he's in his 80s and he was apparantly also the first artist on the character. Ron Zimmerman will provide the words, he's a writer for Howard Stern, but also one of the creators and writers for the Christian family drama 7th Heaven, he also happens to be a pretty good comic book writer, mostly, to date, of off-beat one shot specials or short mini-series.

Oh, did I mention that Rawhide Kid is gay?

Does it really matter? I think that the controversy that surrounded this story for about twenty minutes was drummed up by Marvel to try and boost sales, and that's o.k. that's what entertainment companies do to try and boost sales.

The thing that "controversy" points out most to me (rabid comic fan that I am) is that the media has no clue about the current state of the comic industry, nor does the general public at large if they listen to the media (they do). In a roundtable discussion on CNN which involved Stan Lee and a media watchdog woman whose name I don't remember, the woman kept trying to say that children will read this book and they will be horribly scarred for life and whatnot.

For those who care, here are some reasons that kids will not read this book, and only people who want to find something wrong with it and why its sales will be big on the first couple of issues, but fall off dramatically after that:

Kid's don't go into comic shops to buy comics. In my many years of collecting, I have seen less and less kids in the stores, and the ones who are there are there for Pokemon or Yu Gi Oh cards. Some of them buy comics, but most seem to stick with the ones based on those card games, and whatever else fad happens to be big at the time: Power Rangers, Ninja Turtles, etc. But, fan-boy (you ask), won't the little impressionable kiddies buy this book at Wal-Mart or some other purveyor of smutty books? Not likely since the book is part of the Max mature line at Marvel which is only sold at specialty comic stores. The only other place you'll see this book will be at bookstores when it's collected in trade paperback form (and there are many more scandalous things for kids to find in bookstores).

This book is going to cost $2.95 an issue, for 22-pages of art and story. Why would a kid pay $2.95 for something to READ when they can watch television for free, or play video-games, or go see a movie, or buy a CD? This is the reason that the comic-industry has been sliding into oblivion since the 90's era of big sales and chromium covers.

Nobody reads western comics anymore. Another old western character, the Apache Kid, was just in his own Max series, and it sold nothing. He wasn't revealled to be gay, but it still sold only to me and Keith Haney (I suspect). That's two copies of each book sold. This is the third time in the last couple of years that they have tried to revive the Marvel western line, and I think that I am the only one who buys the damn books.

The media has already forgotten this story, maybe it would have generated big buzz and sales if the story had been leaked next month when the book debuts.

There are actually comic books out there aimed at adults that are not crazy Japanese import tentacle sex books. It's been that way for about twenty years. I know that it is hard for some to accept that there is literature and media out there for people who want to actually think, but I think it is time that they stop worrying about what everyone else is reading and doing and start looking at themselves. Personally I like my two dimensional drawed stories to have some resemblance to actual human relationships and the outside world, instead of genetic freaks in gaudy long underwear beating each other up.

Eh, I'm tired of this topic. Everybody is stupid. I'm also stupid, but at least I think people should be able to be stupid in any way that they want to as long as it doesn't interfere with others.

And just remember to always stay real, because you know for me it's like breathing. Dont' be fooled by these rocks that I got, I'm still the Hippy from the block.

I hope the Clonaid people really did clone humans, because they are getting a bum rap in the media because they believe something a little different from the norm. What do they believe?

Alien beings created humans as a genetic experiment....Wow, that's really different from, say Christianity where the universe's most powerful Non Human intelligence, therefore Alien being, created humans. The alien from the Raeliens of which Clonaid is a part is even named, I believe, Yahweh Elohim which is two of the names for God in the ancient Hebrew of the Bible.

Maybe this guy is a prophet and talked to God himself, but the media needs to get off the Sex/Alien cult thing and making fun of the people.

So again I say, I hope they did it. Screw the media.

The comment service I am using seems to be having problems keeping their stuff together, so I've set up a forum here. Go there and comment or don't.

I read Kemo's post on my church rant, and I too watched the new Halloween today (odd coincidence). I agree that it was not as bad as I thought it would be, but it was still horrible. Someone should be on the set to coach Busta through how to act in a dramatic role. I really like Busta, but he and Tyra Banks stunk up the screen whenever they were on. (The original ending was better as well) It wasn't as good as Jason X, but Jason X had a sense of humor that wasn't too over-done. There was no Busta in Jason X chewing up the scenery.

Kemo thinks churches are trying to not be scary to attract more people, I think the new buildings are way more frightening than the old ones. At least in the old ones you knew what you were getting, these just sneak up on you, you go in thinking what a nice library or warehouse, then before you know it you're wearing a dumb-ass grin and trying to convert others to the cause.

Why are people so afraid of cloning? I have a few ideas on that (surprise, contain your enthusiasm please).

Firstly there is an inherent superstitious fear of the unknown, which is enforced by most people's idea of a uniqe soul that we all have. If something is created in a lab that is genetically us, would that mean we have no soul, or would we share a soul. If the clone and the cloned exist simultaneously, without any lessening or sharing of soul power does this disprove religious ideas?

Secondly there is the science-fictionialization of cloning. We have Captain Kirk put naked in a machine on one side and a slab of silly-putty on the other, spin like a mad bastard and out come two shiny naked Shatner's, both identical, but one decidedly more evil than the other. Captain Kirk is split in half by the transporter, splitting his spirit, one weak and ineffectual, the other strong and evil. Then there are the clones in Star Wars. The word clone has a strong negative connotation in the realm of popular fiction.

And what about the inhumanity of it all, would the value of human life lesson if we were able to just clone more people? Would traits be bred out of existance, or races, would the world become as in the film Gattica? It is well established in Star Trek that clones degrade the more generations that they go through.

You know what the reasons above are, by and large?

Bullshit.

What people forget when the get all bloody-minded about this issue is that cloned humans are still that, human. They are babies, no one has perfected that rapid growth thing from sci-fi, and even if they did that's still at least five years down the road, plenty of time to prepare.

There is a tremendous amount of good that could come out of this science. Personally I think that if they can figure out how to clone an entire person, what's to stop them from cloning you a heart if you need one, granted you'd have to wait a few years for it to mature. Or perhaps they could find a donor organ base much like o-type blood that would palatable to more people. Think about that, new limbs could be grown. This is where the science could go. Is this playing God? Yes it is, but we play God each and every second of our lives with every decision that we make, we change the universe a little at a time.

I heard a quote to the effect that if people are against cloning then they are against science in general. I think that is very accurate, and many people are against science. It scares them. "Scientists" might figure something out that upsets their fragile little superstitions. "Scientists" might "prove" them wrong.

Could this science be used for malicious intent? Yes it could. The afore mentioned genetic shenanigans of breeding races out could happen, but even if people were cloned against their will, what of it? It's a baby that looks like you. It'll grow up to be a person that may or may not be like you because of it's environment. Who are we kidding, no one's going to clone you anyway, so stop your bitchin.

But the real question is, what if they clone Hitler or Stalin or Ross Perot, imagine the evil possibilites in the world in twenty or thirty years we could have an evil army of Hitler clones rushing across the free world punishing and killing all God-Fearing Americans! We must prepare an army of Cary Grants and G.W.'s to stand in their way, we must start now, the commie-nazis might already have their army in diapers, or KINDERGARTEN! Urge your senator to start the clone army project now before it's too late!

Sorry got a little sidetracked and paranoid there, must be all the microwave radiation being beamed into my brain from the government.

In conclusion: Send in the clones (nothing like a good, over-used pun).

Are the days of churches that are actual attractive buildings gone?

Here in the 'Boro there have been a number of new churches built in the past year or two, most right down the street from me (close enough for me to go, is God sending me a message? Probably just zoning or cheap land.) One of these is comprised of two big buildings that look like warehouses, rectangular and bland with no windows. Across the street there are two almost identical, gigantic brick buildings that also seem to have no distinguishing features, no steeples, no giant crosses, no stained glass, nothing.

One of these churches is St. Mark's U.M.C. I attended a few services at their old building, which was bought by MTSU to use as something or other, and the old building had character. It wasn't a grand cathedral by any means, but it had some old-school style. Their new building looks like a library, drab and boring.

This brings up the question in my mind, where is the money people give these churches going. I expect big humanitarian givings and whatnot if the best they can do for a building is a warehouse.

But then I worship Satan.

Everyone go and read Gunny's weird story in the comments down a couple of posts. It's not hard to find, look for the first time down that comments says anything other than (0) beside it. Read then come back, I'll wait here.


Allright, now that we're all up to date, first, I'm sorry about my totally non-weird story, but, damnit, Joey made a really big deal out of it at work, and I got tired of listening to him. Next, I think Gunny was right on the fact that his girl was cheating on her vegetarian ways with him. I dated a vegetarian, and she was of the opinion that I should make sure to brush my teeth or use mouthwash after eating flesh.

Now everyone should follow Gunny's example and post some mutherlovin comments. Gratify me people.

Also I have seen a commercial two times now for the ominously named "Tennessee Pain Clinic." I don't know about you, but that's just not somewhere I want to go. At least they're honest in their name they didn't call it something like "Tennessee It Really Won't Hurt as Much as You Think Clinic."