All-inclusive Randomness

“Police said 98 vehicles were torched on Wednesday night, marking a “return to a normal situation everywhere in France”.” BBC

This rant on Fuckthesouth.com (registered to the name of Nichlas Wind, alegedly a writer at The Nation) made me smile and nod and smile. I know it’s old, and I’m so behind the times, but I have to share things that make me smile on a long sleepy Monday.

18-year-old mayor.
Hillsdale, Michigan broke the record for electing the youngest mayor in America. He’s 18, still in high school, and won the election as a write-in candidate. The defeated former mayor, 51, accepted the defeat gracefully and returned to running his previous business — a roller-skating rink (!). I did not make this up.

The welfare states are getting weird.
For example, Norway has an angry minister of children and family, who is pushing for a law that would mandate that the proportion of women on every executive board of every Norwegian company be mandated to 40%. The law as she wants it allows for the government to break up (!) a company if it doesn’t comply within two years. I kind of don’t know what to think.

Poop and Dubya’s new suit.
I love Mark Mardell’s Europe Diary on BBC. My two favorite quotes today:

Even before the British presidency began, a good contact in Downing Street told me that despite the politicians’ and media’s attempt to make it a glamorous affair of opportunities, the reality was more prosaic: “It’s a bit like driving your mates to the pub. When it’s your turn, you do it.” Britain now stands accused of party pooping, glumly nursing an orange juice in the corner.

…and…

When president met president the discussion somehow turned to suits, and how nice George’s W’s attire was. Po-faced, he said, “God told me to wear it”. Adding after a couple of beats: “That’s a joke.”

such a let down. but also impressive. this is yet another occasion when i want to dig up old notes on my thoughts on criminalization of africa (because i don’t actually remember these things) from the depths of a gigantic nerd box. i’m putting it out here to create the neccesary motivation. also, i’m biting my tongue on any more comments on porn, especially the kind that has to do with jesus.

I read a mention of an interview with a Christian porn star somewhere. It piqued my curiosity and I googled. I highly recommend reading the whole interview, regardless of whether it’s real or not.

Douglas: Speaking of autobiographies, can you tell me your testimony-how you came to Christ.

CP: That’s a really great story. We were filming a love scene in a church, and I overheard the pastor telling the director all about Jesus. The director blew him off, but I wanted to hear more. So after the love scene was over, I found the pastor and asked to hear more. He told me how Jesus died for my sins and that accepting him would let me have a personal, one on one, relationship with God.

Douglas: Did the minister tell you, after you accepted Christ, that you needed to stop living your current life and start living for Christ?

CP: He’s the one who encouraged me to be a Christian porn star.

Douglas: What kind of minister was this?

CP: Methodist.

After reading the interview I decided to do some more research on Christian porn. I just couldn’t resist, I was hoping to seen an example (haven’t found one yet, any recommendations?). What I found instead was a proposal for establishment of Christian porn according to the Bible. Interesting indeed: (more…)

my medium knowledge of world politics suggests that this is the first time in history that a country has twins (as well as former film stars) for president and prime minister. i would think it was pretty funny had it not been for the fact that they are pretty damn populist and “family oriented”. something about the church saying that if you don’t vote for those two you’re voting against Christ also made me see the situation in less amusing light.

aren’t they adorable?

Sometimes I forget how much how much I love Jon Stewart. This video helped me remember.

A UNICEF public service ad (raising funds to help child soldiers in Burundi) to be aired in Belgium soon causes some controversy.

DJPR’s favorite line from the article: “We wanted something that was real war — Smurfs losing arms, or a Smurf losing a head — but they said no.'’

I haven’t had enough coffee yet to decide what to think. Child soldier rehabilitation = good. Smurfs = good. The message of the ad = confusing (note, the smurfs are not featured as child soldiers, they’re happily dancing around a fire (hmmm, how romantically African). child soldiers don’t usually happily dance around fire and then die from a bomb dropped from an airplane. it’s a little bit more complicated out there [a more informed and thought-through post on child soldiers and the Western response might come in the future]. i wonder if dead smurfs are enough to ease Belgian conscience re: colonialism.)

Watch the Belgian news bit (which includes the ad) here

Harriet Miers likes Bush. It’s on paper.

If this is not my last post of the day, then I’m a huge huge nerd. Tesa sent me a great article by Malcolm Gladwell full of interesting things like the history of Ivy League admissions policies, anti-semitism, the future career success of recruited athletes or luxury brand management. Some of it is old news, some of it is intriguing anecdotes.

Thanks to HissyCat, who spent more time poking around xxxchurch, I learned what happens when i, ehm, you, masturbate. God kills a kitten. I have a vague recollection of having heard this before — did they subliminaly get into my young mind many years ago? Or I saw it somewhere in the pre-blog era? Either way, what I haven’t seen before is this video.

It’s this Sunday. But don’t get your hopes up, it’s a church thing, where all the ministers that are brave enough are supposed to address how porn affects individuals. 75 churches nationwide have signed up to do it.

“I was a sex addict during my first year of seminary,”

This “event” is organized by an organization called the xxxchurch (!) (check out their “#1 Christian Porn Site”. It’s some two “ground-breaking” ministers who are breaking the silence about the porn problem in the Christian community. In their own words: “We were tired of hearing stories about people’s lives being wrecked, and feeling they had nowhere to go in the church to get help.” It’s important, because “more people’s lives are being destroyed on a daily basis by addiction to pornography than through abortion.” (more here)

While googling, I also found this bizzare link that is asking for $2500 to register for Porn Sunday — smart scam or do churches actually pay big buck to fight porn?

Unfortunately, the closest Porn Sunday to our whereabouts is happening in Sacramento. But maybe they’ll podcast? And finally, if you haven’t clicked yet, do check out their website, the design kills me.

Recently I postulated that free trade was prone to local minimums and theSlovak disagreed. Well, really she just didn’t like my metaphor and I wasn’t coherant.

She does like Fair Trade. I might even say she believes in it.

I have always wondered why liberal, environmentally friendly establishments only have limited fair trade offerings, or imply fair trade on their packaging and then don’t get certified.

The blog Green LA Girl has begun to answer this question. Summary: Expense of certification, the Fair Trade group has a limited definition of Fair Trade practices (in part for practical concerns).

Also, the Green LA girl blog is quite nice. But then again, I grew up an Angeleno, a green, and a girl.