Random Thoughts 1/31/06

• Arena League Football was not nearly as compelling as I thought it would be. I've heard great things about actually being at the game, but it doesn't translate well over to TV. It's a sport, like Hockey, that will benefit immensely from high definition television. If everybody was watching HD, the Arena League could show wider shots of the playing area so that we could actually see what's happening. As it is now it's like watching the game through a straw. No wonder the live experience is so much better than the telecast.
  
• Thank you Christiane Amanpour for your opinion, you can go now. The CNN correspondent declared that Iraq is a disaster. It is? The Meuse-Argonne Offensive (that's World War 1) saw over 26,000 Americans killed – in one battle! That's disastrous. Over 10,000 Americans were killed in the Battle of the Bulge (WW2), an actual disaster where American units were overrun and surrounded. That's a disaster. What Christiane probably means is that it's dangerous and people are dying, but more Americans were killed on a successful D-Day (2,500 on June 5-6, 1944) than in three years of fighting in Iraq. We would have to stay in Iraq for another 80 years (at current casualty rates) to equal the deaths in Vietnam. Is Iraq a disaster? We've freed over 25 million people from a murderous dictator. We've protected the establishment of freedom and democracy in a part of the world where they said it couldn't happen. We made a difference in history. That's not a disaster.
• The Society for Hand Held Hushing (SHHH) has cards to give to loud cell phone users. Most of the cards rebuke the offenders by saying "your conversation about *fill in the blank* is interesting but we don't want to listen to it!" Funny, but the site has several profanities so I won't link to it directly. I say anyone who uses a Nextel walkie-talkie in a restuarant ought to get a tranquilizer dart in the neck after their first offense. I don't want to hear your side of the conversation, why would I want to hear both sides?
  
• God bless Sam Alito, a well qualified and fair jurist. Will Roe v. Wade be overturned now? Probably not, but it should. In an objective evaluation, Roe v. Wade is bad law. Using the Supreme Court to create law is undemocratic. The Congress, accountable to the people, makes law, period. The Democrats should pass a law providing abortion protections if that's what they want. And Alito and Roberts wouldn't do anything about it, since the Constitution doesn't say anything about abortion. Hence, what may undo Roe v. Wade would also protect an actual abortion law. That's what I like about Alito and Roberts, they're not political operatives. They follow the rules even when they don't like it. And that's integrity.
• As the last holdout, having never watched one episode of Survivor, I may actually watch the show this Thursday. I'm not a big fan of reality TV; in fact the news, documentaries and a few sports make up 95% of what I watch. But I've had several people recommend it to me, saying that I'd like the psychology and "strategery" involved. We'll have to see.
• George Barna is openly against the local church? Yup. His new book Revolution is promoting Christianity sans the local church. Kevin Miller aptly critiques the book and the position in this book review.
• The Academy announced the Oscar nominations today. Yeah, I'm stunned. I thought the Academy would mostly reward movies with stirring themes of truth and justice and recognize box office success instead of touting small, unpopular films that dwell on perversion and misery, supporting an agenda that only appeals to about 20% of Americans. What was I thinking?
• Did you know that cell phones can be used to track you like a radio transmitter on an animal? The Department of Transportation wants this info to see which roads you use. Maybe other departments could check to see if you're speeding or if you're at home or where you spend you time. That's not creepy is it?
• If you're bringing cookies for church, please refrain from peanut butter. It's gross. Also there are kids in the church that are allergic to peanut butter but have generous little friends who like to share. That's a bad combo, so watch out.
• I heard a new phrase: "an edentulous threat." Edentulous means toothless. I like it. It's too obscure to actually use, but I like it.