Anne Rice goes from vampires to Jesus biographer

As I mentioned earlier, Anne Rice has shifted focus from Vampires to Jesus. Her new biography, Called out of Darkness: A Spiritual Confession, has been released and is apparantly selling relatively well. I wish her the best in her endeavors, but it definately leaves me wondering ...

It is well known that as people age they tend to move towards religion for peace of mind. In the USA the basic religion is some form of Christianity, so it is no surprise that in America people tend to become Christian. This is often attributed to the idea that Christianity promises life after death, giving the elderly the impression that they may in fact avoid death altogether. Do the elderly also tend towards religion in regions where the predominant religion has no promise of life after death? Buddhism or Hinduism? Most people in these regions are already religious, so it is a difficult question to answer. The vast majority of Agnostic or Atheistic cultures spread around the big 3 religions, which all promise a Heaven.

Man being so selfish, the most important promise religion has to offer is eternal life.

$54,000,000 Pair of Pants ... only in America

A quick introductin from the Associated Press:

A former administrative law judge who unsuccessfully sued a dry cleaner for $54 million over a pair of lost pants tried to convince an appeals panel Wednesday that he deserves the money because he is a fraud victim.

"This is not a case about a pair of suit pants," Roy L. Pearson argued before the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. Rather, it is about whether the owners of a neighborhood business misled consumers with a sign that claimed "Satisfaction Guaranteed," he said.

Let me get this straight, a Dry Cleaners lost a man's pants so the man sues said Dry Cleaners because the sign out in front says 'Satisfaction Guarenteed', and since he isn't satisfied their Guarentee isn't valid. In short, he feels robbed because he was counting on being Satisfied because of the sign in the window?

The fact that the man in question is an idiot goes without saying, but what I can't figure out is how any court can possibly accept such a case. Shouldn't there be some limit to the amount you can sue? Is this the type of Freedom that the USA is trying to instill in Iraq? I think that before America starts teaching other countries how to behave, it should take a closer look at what its people are doing and how its courts are handling them.

Corruption in the Financial Bailout

It should come as little surprise that the US government will use the Financial Bailout to line a few pockets. To ease the people's minds, the US government announced that the distribution of $700 Billion would be transparent. Strange as this may seem, it looks like the rules have changed.

This financial crisis will likely devastate many families, and cripple numerous world economies for some time. However, it is a well known fact that the elite will not likely suffer a great deal, and more than likely increase their lead on the rest. I am still of the opinion that a great deal of this crisis was controlled, and the outcome was planned. I find it hard to believe any sane person would give an $800,000 loan to a family making just over $100,000/year.

One thing for sure, this bailout will line the pockets of many senators, congressman, and other government elite. The unfortunate thing about this situation is that the majority of Americans are blind to this fact.

The IMF intends to loan Ukraine $15 Billion?

In the world of politics, bad decisions are made daily. Whether it is to declare war on another country, or hiring the blond prostitute instead of the brunette. However, when it comes to banking, I would have thought that the banking systems would have learned their lessons on who to loan money, especially considering the crisis we are currently in.

It seems like the IMF intends to loan Ukraine about $15 Billion to help the ailing economy in this country. I don't even know where to start on this one ... for one, the vast majority of the Duma have stolen far more than $15 Billion this year alone. To Yulia, for example, $15 Billion is pocket change that she probably wouldn't even miss if she misplaced it. This country doesn't have an ailing economy, it has a slight corruption problem.

Do the IMF have any stipulations when it comes to loaning money to sovereign nations? I am sure Zimbabwe could use some money right now. How can anyone justify loaning Ukraine money? Do they honestly think that this money will be well spent? I guarantee more than half of the money will line the pockets of the high ups, and the remainder will be budgeted to various projects then promptly stolen. What could the IMF possibly be thinking? ... oh, right, they were probably paid off as well ... how stupid of me!

Palin: Oil first, Planet ...

It is apparent that Palin is more concerned about her states profit than her states endangered species. When Polar Bears were deemed an Endangered Species, Palin decided to sue the Federal Government to remove the Polar Bear from the list.

Now, the Beluga Whale is being considered for Environmental Protection. Palin, of course, is against this. Why? Well, it should be obvious ... Oil. The Beluga Whale swims in waters that has heavy oil reserves. If the Beluga Whale is listed as endangered, until the listing is removed Oil companies will not be allowed to drill in their waters. This is actually the exact same reason Palin apposes the Polar Bear listings.

Where else does administration support Oil Interests? Change, right!

Tina Fey on Late Night

Election Humor Directly from the Candidates

Election Predictions

Forget pundit opinions, polls, and the like...the real barometer of who's going to win the presidential election is when bookies start paying off on Obama bets three weeks early. (Reuters)

Brought to you by Fark.

Obama's Foresight

The clip below seems to show a great deal of foresight by Obama, the Democratic nominee, but in reality it is a great deal of common sense taking into account the way Republican's have run their previous election campaigns. For those that were paying attention to Bush's rise to fame, when he was running against McCain he did everything in his power to discredit McCain, especially after McCain began wining a few primary states.

It seems like American voters care less about what is going on in their country, let alone in the entire world, than who they would like to go to the bar with. President Bush won on that basis alone. Since McCain couldn't pull that kind of support, he chose an idiot for vice president hoping that the people could 'relate' to her better. Thats the problem, people care more about who they can relate to rather than who can do a better job.

For fun, take a look at the clip below. Again, there is less foresight than common sense, but the point is still well made:

Bill Maher on Sarah Palin

A hilarious skit by Bill Maher on Sarah Palin's qualifications:

Abuse of Power, Alaska Style

A woman's wrath is a scary thing, especially if the woman is a governonr (or vice-president). Having a messy divorce with the governor's sister doesn't help much either. But, when the brilliant governor decides to fire the ex-husband's boss because she has no direct authority over the ex-husband, said governor is in for a ride.

Lets be honest, the majority of people that come to power will use that power to their advantage. Palin's current abuse of power charge is nothing new, and nothing uncommon. However, I can't expect that this news will help the McCain/Palin ticket in next months elections.

The Rival to the Bible

The BBC is running an interesting article about the Codex Sinaiticus, the worlds oldest living bible. I had posted about this earlier, and am eagerly awaiting its July release online. The complete BBC article is copied below:

What is probably the oldest known Bible is being digitised, reuniting its scattered parts for the first time since its discovery 160 years ago. It is markedly different from its modern equivalent. What's left out?

The world's oldest surviving Bible is in bits.

For 1,500 years, the Codex Sinaiticus lay undisturbed in a Sinai monastery, until it was found - or stolen, as the monks say - in 1844 and split between Egypt, Russia, Germany and Britain.

Now these different parts are to be united online and, from next July, anyone, anywhere in the world with internet access will be able to view the complete text and read a translation.

The Codex, probably the oldest Bible we have, also has books which are missing from the Authorised Version that most Christians are familiar with today - and it does not have crucial verses relating to the Resurrection.

Anti-Semitic writings

The fact this book has survived at all is a miracle. Before its discovery in the early 19th Century by the Indiana Jones of his day, it remained hidden in St Catherine's Monastery since at least the 4th Century.

It survived because the desert air is ideal for preservation and because the monastery, on a Christian island in a Muslim sea, remained untouched, its walls unconquered.

Today, 30 mainly Greek Orthodox monks, dedicated to prayer, worship there, helped as in ages past by the Muslim Bedouin. For this place is holy to three great religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam; a land where you can still see the Burning Bush where God spoke to Moses.

The monastery itself has the greatest library of early manuscripts outside the Vatican - some 33,000, and a collection of icons second to none.

Not surprisingly, it is now a World Heritage Site and has been called a veritable Ark, bringing spiritual treasures safely through the turbulent centuries. In many people's eyes the greatest treasure is the Codex, written in the time of the first Christian Emperor Constantine.

When the different parts are digitally united next year in a £1m project, anyone will be able to compare and contrast the Codex and the modern Bible.

Firstly, the Codex contains two extra books in the New Testament.

One is the little-known Shepherd of Hermas, written in Rome in the 2nd Century - the other, the Epistle of Barnabas. This goes out of its way to claim that it was the Jews, not the Romans, who killed Jesus, and is full of anti-Semitic kindling ready to be lit. "His blood be upon us," Barnabas has the Jews cry.

Discrepancies

Had this remained in subsequent versions, "the suffering of Jews in the subsequent centuries would, if possible, have been even worse", says the distinguished New Testament scholar Professor Bart Ehrman.

And although many of the other alterations and differences are minor, these may take some explaining for those who believe every word comes from God.

Faced with differing texts, which is the truly authentic one?

Mr Ehrman was a born again Bible-believing Evangelical until he read the original Greek texts and noticed some discrepancies.

The Bible we now use can't be the inerrant word of God, he says, since what we have are the sometimes mistaken words copied by fallible scribes.

"When people ask me if the Bible is the word of God I answer 'which Bible?'"

The Codex - and other early manuscripts - do not mention the ascension of Jesus into heaven, and omit key references to the Resurrection, which the Archbishop of Canterbury has said is essential for Christian belief.

Other differences concern how Jesus behaved. In one passage of the Codex, Jesus is said to be "angry" as he healed a leper, whereas the modern text records him as healing with "compassion".

Also missing is the story of the woman taken in adultery and about to be stoned - until Jesus rebuked the Pharisees (a Jewish sect), inviting anyone without sin to cast the first stone.

Nor are there words of forgiveness from the cross. Jesus does not say "Father forgive them for they know not what they do".

Fundamentalists, who believe every word in the Bible is true, may find these differences unsettling.

But the picture is complicated. Some argue that another early Bible, the Codex Vaticanus, is in fact older. And there are other earlier texts of almost all the books in the bible, though none pulled together into a single volume.

Many Christians have long accepted that, while the Bible is the authoritative word of God, it is not inerrant. Human hands always make mistakes.

"It should be regarded as a living text, something constantly changing as generation and generation tries to understand the mind of God," says David Parker, a Christian working on digitising the Codex.

Others may take it as more evidence that the Bible is the word of man, not God.

American Education

George Carlin, may he rest in peace, has a hilarious skit regarding the US Education System. The scary thing, however, is there is a lot of truth in it.



Just to keep things interesting, and to stay on subject with George Carlin, here is a second skit on your non-existing rights.

Ukrainian Collapse

It looks like President Yushchenko woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning and decided to dissolve Parliament ... again! In a strange twist of events, it looks like Bush backed the wrong guy.

This is only the tip of the iceberg. The fact is, there seems to be some catastrophic problem with Ukraine's national currency. Over the past 2 weeks, Ukraine is seeing an approximate 10% inflation verse the Dollar. One could argue that the dollar is gaining worldwide, however the Euro is also gaining in this country. The dollar was artificially dropped just 6 months back drastically, and it looks like Ukraine is feeling the repercussions of that decision.

It seems that this government crisis is stemming from something other than a coalition disagreement.

Quote of the Day

If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy.
--- James Madison (Founding Father - US President)

Election Dirty Tricks

ABC is warning that dirty election tricks are about to start. In the past, they've ranged from late-night robo-calls to voter intimidation. ABC has a pretty good list of what to watch out for as told by Allen Raymond, a former Republican operative, who was reformed after spending three months in prison in 2006 for pulling some of the stunts he now helps to prevent.
Taken from Slashdot.

Palin's and Obama

This was forwarded to me today ... not sure who the original author is, but great none the less. It is copied in its entirety:


I'm a little confused. Let me see if I have this straight.

• If you grow up in Hawaii, raised by your grandparents, you're "exotic, different."
• Grow up in Alaska eating mooseburgers, a quintessential American story.

• If your name is Barack you're a radical, unpatriotic Muslim.
• Name your kids Willow, Trig and Track, you're a maverick.

• Graduate from Harvard law School and you are unstable.
• Attend 5 different small colleges before graduating, you're well grounded.

• If you spend 3 years as a brilliant community organizer, become the first black President of the Harvard Law Review, create a voter registration drive that registers 150,000 new voters, spend 12 years as a Constitutional Law professor, spend 8 years as a State Senator representing a district with over 750,000 people, become chairman of the state Senate's Health and Human Services committee, spend 4 years in the United States Senate representing a state of 13 million people while sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public Works and Veteran's Affairs committees, you don't have any real leadership experience.
• If your total resume is: local weather girl, 4 years on the city council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000 people, 20 months as the governor of a state with only 650,000 people, then you're qualified to become the country's second highest ranking executive.

• If you have been married to the same woman for 19 years while raising 2 beautiful daughters, all within Protestant churches, you're not a real Christian.
• If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and left your disfigured wife and married the heiress the next month, you're a Christian.

• If you teach responsible, age appropriate sex education, including the proper use of birth control, you are eroding the fiber of society.
• If, while governor, you staunchly advocate abstinence only, with no other option in sex education in your state's school system while your unwed teen daughter ends up pregnant, you're very responsible.

• If your wife is a Harvard graduate laywer who gave up a position in a prestigious law firm to work for the betterment of her inner city community, then gave that up to raise a family, your family's values don't represent America's.
• If you're husband is nicknamed "First Dude", with at least one DWI conviction and no college education, who didn't register to vote until age 25 and once was a member of a group that advocated the secession of Alaska from the USA, your family is extremely admirable.

OK, much clearer now.

The Daily Show will Bill Maher

Jon Stewart interviews Bill Maher. They touch on the elections, but more so on Religion and Bill Maher's new movie Religulous. Jon's comparison of Religion to Drugs is dead on. It is great, take a look:


Part 1 -



Part 2 -

Ukraine's Rampant Corruption

Last week I had the privilege of running 4 large trucks from Germany to Ukraine. The trip through Germany and Poland was relatively uneventful. Nice roads, cheap hotels ... very standard. The interesting bit started on the Polish/Ukrainian border. The fact that we had to wait 36 hours to cross the border because of an excessive line was bad, but what happened when we finally reached the border was beyond explanation.

Lets take a step back and explain how the border works in Ukraine. When crossing the border, it is the job of the border patrol to find everything and anything that 'may' be wrong so that they can earn a bribe. The fact is, nothing has to be wrong for them to get a bribe. They simply need to find something that 'may' be wrong. Sound strange? ... well, it gets better. If they happen to find something that 'may' be wrong there are 2 possible routes. First, they will name a figure and you simply give them that amount of money ... you can negotiate, but not a great deal. Second, they will impound whatever it is they found wrong and let the 'courts?' decide. The courts can ONLY be won by bribery, and bribing the courts is substantially more expensive than bribing the person that 'may' have found something wrong. This probably sounds very confusing to any western thinker, but its the best I can do in 100 words or less

Luckily for us, there was nothing wrong with our trucks. However, since they couldn't find anything wrong, they have to find some way to earn a bribe. We crossed the border at 2AM, so they know that we can only verify whatever information they feed us in the morning at around 10AM, so now start what may or may not be lies. Rather than go into too much detail, we were faced with a situation where we can do any of the following for each truck;

A) pay about $8000 officially
B) pay $6000 officially and a 250 Euro Bribe
C) wait until morning and figure out what to do

One very important thing to note when it comes to bribery ... if you choose option C) and afterwards decide to go with option B), the cost of the bribe goes up substantially. Well, we chose option B) because we have already been sitting in line for 36 hours (which they fully knew) and knew that if we chose option C) we would likely be waiting for another 24 hours. Its funny, but if you want to be a good bribe earner in Ukraine, you need to be able to play psychological games very well

The border is a very interesting place, but now we are out and are on our way to Odessa, which is approximately 1000km from the border. Unlike western roads, Ukrainian roads have 2 subtle flaws. First, the condition of the roads are unbelievable. Its one thing when you have a small stretch of road that is terrible, but something completely different when that small stretch runs about 800km. Second, unlike western police, Ukrainian police are not on the road to keep the roads safe. On the contrary, safety is far from their concern and they often completely ignore unsafe drivers if they don't look 'profitable'. Ukrainian police have only one thing on their minds, Bribes. Their job is to collect as many bribes as possible, keep a little for themselves, but give a far larger portion to those sitting above them. As we drove through Germany, I saw maybe 2 or 3 police officers driving on the roads. Through Poland, there were exactly 2 standing on the roads and maybe 4 or 5 others driving. Please note, the trip through Germany is just under 1000km, and Poland is just a bit over 1000km. As we drove through Ukraine, we saw well over 30 police, and they almost always had a car stopped

The most frustrating aspect of the entire trip was what happened as we left the border. Less than 500 meters from the border, a pudgy officer flagged us down. He didn't even look at our documents, knowing very well that we just left the border so we most likely have everything in order, he simply told us that we need to give him $20 (in local currency) per truck or he will start to dig in our paperwork. We chose the bribe because if he starts digging, he will find something that 'may' be wrong, which will mean our trucks become impounded for the better part of a week and it will, of course, cost us far more. Police in Ukraine become very angry if you do not bribe them

Throughout the rest of the trip we were stopped 4 more times, which ended up costing about another $100 in total. In all, we spent about 1000 Euro and $400 in the port, then about $200 on the road to Odessa. Any logical person knows that if this money wasn't going to feed the elite, and instead, say, into the Roads, this country would be in far better shape

While we were waiting in Line to cross the border, we saw about 200 trucks such as ours. Assuming everyone chose option B) or the like (which is a safe bet), about $400,000 didn't enter the countries budget and about 50,000 Euro went into people's pockets. This is only at one of many borders, and only over the course of 36 hours. Can you imagine how much money these border officials actually make? You should see the houses that weren't too far from the border, they make Bill Gate's estate look like a pauper's shack.

We are only just skimming the surface, these are peanuts with respect to the true figures that go on in this country. I have lived here for 4 years, and have payed well in excess of $50,000 in bribes personally. Bribes are great when it comes to lining pockets, but Theft is far better

Currently pirates off the coast of Somalia are holding a Ukrainian arms shipment of 33 tanks and countless ammunition. Has anyone asked themselves, "Why are so many arms being shipped on a civilian tanker? No Guards? There are Tanks and extremely valuable ammunition there!". Well, the answer is simple, this sale wasn't supposed to be known. These are tanks and ammunition that disappeared long ago. They don't exist! Does anyone remember the Ammunition Depot fire in Ukraine last year? How about one a few years back? Or, before that??? I would like to let you in on a little secret, there was nothing in those Depots except for flammable substances. The Ammunition was sold

Georgia made out very well on Ammunition sales from Ukraine. During the war with Russia, there was a great deal of Ukrainian supplies found. Of course, Ukraine denies the accusations, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand the truth. Ukraine created a fire, claimed there were ammunition there, sold the arms to, say, Georgia, put all the money in their pocket, and everyone is happy. Georgia bought cheap arms, Ukrainian officials made money.

Of course, Georgia's corruption may not be as high as Ukraine's, but let me assure you that the Ports and Borders follow the same sets of rules. Police, too, are exactly the same. And, as you can see, officials are equally looking to make an extra $$$. Do you think that the Georgian officials wrote down that they bought stolen munitions? Of course not, from an accounting perspective they paid full price for the arms, and put the rest of the money in their pockets.

One very interesting bit of news regarding Arms sales from Ukraine to Georgia ... not too long ago Ukraine sold several tanks to Georgia. Each tank was sold for just under $300,000. No, I didn't forget any zeros. Surface to Air missile systems were sold for just under $200,000. Unfortunately I can't find any articles to back this claim, but it is very common knowledge here in Ukraine. Once again, money goes in the pockets of officials, and the people pay the price

With all that said, how can the USA support these two nations? How can they encourage entry into NATO and the EU? What is America thinking? Oh, I forgot ... Gas. Ukraine and Georgia have natural gas pipelines running through their country. How stupid of me, Bush has only one thing on his mind ... energy reserves

But, lets give credit where credit is due. Those that think the USA is squeaky clean when it comes to Bribery and Corruption, do you honestly think that $700 Billion will be divided amongst banks and given only to those in need? Do you honestly think no CEO's will receive their cut? Do you honestly believe that the Democrats and Republicans will not be pocketing a few billion? Somewhere around $150 Billion in slush for the House? Please, don't be so naive. When it comes to corruption, the USA will always lead the pack.

Debates?

What is the purpose of the Presidential and Vice Presidential debates? It was my understanding is that those debating are to answer specific questions with regards to critical points that the American people are interested in. However, when watching the Vice Presidential debates, Presidential as well, I get a different impression. A simple question about the US Economy turns into a debate about the US Energy policies. What happened to the Economy question? Why is it that the Moderator doesn't force the two to stick to the subject?

These debates are a joke. Those debating are allowed to switch subjects if they don't like the question. There needs to be far stricter rules on how questions are answered.

The Vice Presidential debate between Joe Biden and Sarah Palin is a bit of a lop sided debate. Joe Biden is a seasoned senator with ample experience not only in the field, but in talking in circles. Sarah Palin, on the other hand, isn't very bright. There was no need for this debate because everyone knew that Sarah Palin never stood a chance. But, I will give her credit, her preparation paid off. She managed to stick to what she was told to repeat 100 times, and she managed to almost sound intelligent. Of course, if she answered more of the questions posed to her instead of repeating the same talking points she was trained to repeat, she would have done considerably better.

For those that have nothing to do for the next 90 minutes, I have posted the debate in its entirety below: