St. Pancake Day

Now, for some, this may seem a little mean, but today is the anniversary of when Rachel Corrie was turned into a terror pancake, so definitely a day to go down to IHOP or wherever and enjoy some pancakes :) ----------------------- EDIT: Red Tulips: I want this to be clear. Rachel Corrie supported terrorists. (as has been documented extensively here and elsewhere) She was a traitor to her country, and she did what she could to help terrorists kill innocent Israelis. I am not sad she is dead. But I do not delight in her death. This post reflects a parody at the myth of "St. Rachel." It does not delight in Rachel's death. You may now continue your regularly scheduled broadcasting!

Now time for resolutions

Attempted resolutions do not last too long, and after 10 days many have been abandoned, so now I make mine on day 10, hoping that if I can keep them past day ten, 364 days won't be as tough, or so my theory goes. But first, I will include an article by my all-time favorite, Capitalism Magazine: The Meaning of New Year's Resolutions My own resolutions: 1) Read 50 books or more this year. So far, I have 1 down and 3 if you count books I concluded at the beginning of the year, but I'll just count the one. 2) Lose the weight I gained over the holidays :) 3) Continue my Hebrew lessons, until I can read it and understand it as easily as the English in my siddur. 4) Now I can release some insider information that only RT and Irina knows right now, but I am planning to convert to Judaism, of the Conservative movement, so I will continue my research and will be ready for when Ft Hood's Jewish Chaplain assigns me a rabbi. 5) Save at least $20,000.00 this year..much easier to do as I will be deployed, hopefully. Six is not a lot, but good ones for enriching my life.

Eat your heart out at Heart Attack Grill

John Stossel has an pointed out a fun restaurant with a great gimmick and a perfect place for Michael Moore and Bill Clinton to eat at. Morgan Spurlock should go there for yucks, too. The place is called the Heart Attack Grill, and everything served is bad for you, and they admit that straight up. The place is set in Tempe, AZ so a perfect place for ASU students, especially with the waitresses known as nurses. They even have fun menu items like quadruple bypass burgers and flatline fries. Unfortunately, the falangists are all up in arms over the naughty nurse stereotype perpetuated by the waitresses. The State Attorney General has threatened to shut down the restaurant and the Arizona Nurse's Board is upset about the title nurse being used by the waitresses. Luckily the bullies were exposed so the Heart Attack Gril was spared the threat of being shut down. Now the only unfortunate thing is that this idiocy is being done in a great state like Arizona. Arizona is supposed to be a land of liberty and Barry Goldwater and the Attorney General's bullying dishonors everything Arizona should represent. Now, let's get Michael Moore, Ted Kennedy, Jerrold Nadler, and Al Sharpton to have an eating contest at Heart Attack Grill. Last survivor wins :)

New post for a new year

Welcome to a new year at Culture for All, and today, I bring a post from an old favorite, Capitalism Magazine. My article is about morality without religion. In the article, Peter Schwartz of the Ayn Rand Institute discusses the so-called culture war and dismisses both factions, the dogmatic right and the relativistic left. Also, Schwartz goes on to show that religion is not necessary for moral values, and he's right. Religion is a force that can be both good and bad, just like anything. In Judaism, there are three different terms used to describe a synagogue, depending on the movement. The Orthodx use shul, a Yiddish word for school, which emphasizes education. This can be good, like my Catholic education (and religion class was an easy A, which boosted my GPA :)), or it can be bad like a fundamentalist indoctrination camp. Conservatives use the word synagogue, a Greek word for assembly, which shows a social function, and certain non-faith churches do have a good social structure, like a club or fraternity, as well as religion-based networks, which can be both good or bad, depending on how the network is used. The final word used is Temple, mainly be the Reform movement, which is a reference to worship. Many people have a spiritual need that is fulfilled by this, making it a good thing, except when worship is used to promote hate or intolerance, like Orange Man's Day, or a demagogue preacher driving worshippers into a hate-filled frenzy. Ok, Schwartz doesn't evaluate positives and negatives of religion, as that is my view being discussed above. He does explain how the relativists have made themselves the public face of secularism, which is a huge insult to most of the good readers and posters on this blog, and that many regular folks are repulsed by this extreme and wind up preferring the other extreme of religious extremism, because it is red meat: tough, spoiled red meat, but red meat, nonetheless. And the philosophy that Schwartz supports is Objectivism, which can serve the same positive functions of a religion. Education is key, because a philosophy of individualism supports well-informed thought, and independent study. Even a religious person with an open mind can heavily benefit from studying objectivism, because nothing should be accepted without question or opposed without research and knowing just what you are opposing and why. Also, community is available with all kinds of objectivist networks and dating sites, and back in more ancient times, pen pals. As for worship, one could make some cheap shot about worshipping Ayn Rand, but an objectivist shouldn't claim spiritual needs, so this shouldn't be a needed function. On an unrelated note, I'l add resolutions on the tenth, because most resolutions are abandoned by then :)

Cute Chanukah videos

I was looking for some videos for Chanukah to add before the festival is over. Enjoy: And this reminds me to get some Chinese food if possible on Monday.

Baker baker men, cook me a deal

I need to find a good googlebombing nasty nickname for James Baker. Just in case you feel you can't dislike Baker any more, you learn he may be an enemy of his own country. Arutz Sheeva has an interesting article on this double dealing oil hungry WASP. If there is any justice, George W Bush's approval rating will drop to single digits for using the services of this bottom feeder.

Not commercial enough?

Now, I don't celebrate Chimas (Chi is the Greek letter that looks like an "X") or as I love it to call it, Humbug, but I do enjoy the annual articles in Capitalism Magazine on Humbug and how it should be more commercial. Granted, I'm going to do my gift giving on June 3, World Capitalism Day, but I do enjoy this article, especially for some reactions I can get :) It is also a good bit of American history explaining the American Santa Claus and how a Dutch saint who left chocolate in wooden shoes evolved into the icon we know of. I also know that the 25th of December only became a federal holiday in 1870, though Santa Claus was made up in 1822, at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution in America, and a symbol of the abundance to come. Also, while I do not celebrate or recognize Humbug, these Christian fanatics almost make me want to give out Humbug gifts just to spite them :)

Happy Chanukah

Today is the 25th of Kislev, and the first night of Chanukah, the eight day festival of lights, as well as rededication. It is also great for latkes and sufganiyot as well as chocolate coins which go with the dreidel. When I first learned about Judaism at age 10, it was because I bought a fun little book about Chanukah, and learned about Judah Maccabee as well as Antiochus IV, a nasty little tyrant. The story started when Alexander the Great conquered the Southern Kingdom of Judea, and the Judeans were allowed to live and worship in peace as long as they paid taxes to the Seleucids, until 175 BCE when Antiochus IV ascended the throne, and he decided to be a schmuck and started a series of progroms against the Jewish people. In 167, he ordered a temple of Zeus in Jerusalem. As a response Matthias, a priest, and his five sons John, Simon, Eleazar, Jonathan, and Judah started a revolt against the Syrians. The next year, Matthias died and Judah took the lead, as well as earning the name Maccabee (the Hammer), making Judah Maccabee the original Hebrew Hammer :) A year later, the Maccabees won and the Syrians were driven out of Jerusalem. Now, the miracle has nothing to do with the military victory. Instead it is about the olive oil used to light the menorah in the Temple. There was only enough oil for one day, but it lasted eight days, until more olive oil was attained. Another aspect of Chanukah is the dreidel. The dreidel is a top with four sides and a letter on each side, The letters nun, gimmel, hey, and shin stand for Nes Gadol Haya Sham (a great miracle happened there), while in Israel the Sham is repalced with Po, because in Israel, it is more accurate to say the a "great miracle happened here." The purpose of the dreidel was a cover, since the Syrians outlawed Judaism, so when Jewish students were learning, a lookout was posted, so that when Syrain thugs were nearby the students could pull out a dreidel and some money, so they'd appear to be gambling instead of learning the Torah. Nowadays, the dreidel is used as a fun game and the gelt (chocolate or real coins) represent the money that was used for the cover. In some ways history repeats itself as Israel is still menaced by Syria (also Ahmenidinnerjacket could be regarded as a modern day Haman, but let's save that for Purim), though Syria does not rule Israel, as it did during Greek and Roman rule (the Governor was in Damascus while a praetorian praefect ruled over Jerusalem), and while it took two years to kick the Syrians out of Judea. A modern day Maccabee could smash Syria within two weeks, or maybe even during the eight days of Chanukah, which would make for great dramatic effect. This evening, 19 years later, I went to my first Chanukah party, which was very nice and filled with knowledge, fun songs, and great food. While I knew some things about Chanukah and can learn the rest through wikipedia, it is even better to experience it. I hope everyone who reads this post is having a Happy Chanukah, whether you're Jewish or goyim, or somewhere in between :)

Snerk!! Jesus doesn't love everyone

I wonder what Christian pacifists have to say when Jesus attacks. Now, the irony is that the school had expelled two students for defacing a Bible earlier, and I do hope Samir Mohandis recovers and suffers no permanent injury, but this is still funny in a rather grim way. Well at least Aussie Dave and Aaron find it funny. At least if some silly street preacher tells Mr. Mohandis that Jesus loves him, he can point to his scars and say, "Well explain this, mate!!"

Pinochet dies aged 91

General Pinochet who ruled chile from 1973-1990 has died aged 91. He has cheated justice over the 3,000 people who went missing during his stint in power. Despite that, most people in Chile liked Pinochet for defeating Marxism in Chile. However he apprently stole $27 million and put the money into offshore bank accounts, which cooled peoples like for him (aside from those whose family members had gone missing due to Pinochet). It's always sad when a dictator dies without having to face upto the charges that they are charged with. Sources: BBC News Article CNN Article

He's a crook, but he's our crook

Even though the elections occurred last month, and the run off is between two Democrats, so no party change potential, my old Congressman "Dollar Bill" Jefferson has been re-elected. To recap, he is a New Orleans politician, so not what you'd call honest. During Katrina, he borrowed National Guard troops to secure his belongings, which is not crooked, but an abuse of power. More recently, he has been caught with $90,000.00 in his freezer, and was the only Congressman in Louisiana not elected with a majority last month. Today was the run off, and he was just declared the winner. The funny thing is that his opponent Karen Carter was more liberal, and he is essentially a moderate that Michael Moore lambasted, which is always a plus, but he's a crook who got caught with 90 grand in marked bills, and he's been stripped of seniority by Pelosi and the Democratic Caucus. Well, I guess voters in New Orleans decided to repeat the 1991 Gubernatorial election and voted for the crook. I guess the crooked politician you know is better than the one you don't know.