Random musing

Just a quick note this morning. I woke up from one of those vivid dreams that follow you in to the waking world. It was highly emotive and left me feeling a little bit down which usually leads to me over-thinking things. This was no exception. It raised the following question:

If, as the Bible states, "As a man thinks, so shall he be" and sins of the mind are as bad as sins of the flesh (e.g. the commandment "Thou shall not covet thy neighbour's wife"), do Catholics have to confess and do penance for their dreams?

Good news

Apparently poverty in Pakistan has been taken care of, the Israelis have handed back Palestine and the world is at peace. It must be so, otherwise, surely, these fuck-knuckles would have better things to do than burn pictures and effigies of a cricket umpire.

Re-editing history

I really didn't know how to take this story when I read it this morning. The licensee for the Tom and Jerry cartoons in Britain has agreed to cut scenes that glamorize smoking. Initially it was “You’ve got to be kidding!! Who watches Tom and Jerry cartoons??” Then I thought about the message the cartoon in general was sending out. Violence is ok, but smoking is not?? It has become a bit of a trend (especially in the UK) recently to “politically correct” old forms of entertainment. Enid Blyton just had a going over with a whole raft of characters from “The Magic Faraway Tree” being renamed to “bring them in line with modern values”. And of course who can forget the homosexual/racism scandal caused by Noddy and Big Ears.

I get where these people are coming from, but I hope that original copies of all this work is being kept somewhere to preserve our history. To me it is a bit like removing depictions of endangered animals from cave paintings. Sure we don’t want to encourage the behaviour depicted, but does that mean we should forget it?

Mind Bomb

Prophetic Vision?

It's funny how things sit in the back of your mind, hidden from conscious view until a spark or a trigger brings them flooding back. In this case, the "thing" is Matt Johnson and "The The" and the trigger was a really interesting woman I met at a party on Saturday night named Mary. We were talking music and got to "The The". Her favourite album is Mind Bomb and she recommended I give it another listen in light of current political affairs. I have and now am recommending that anyone reading this does the same. Matt Johnson was either extremely paranoid or a visionary. The album starts with a muezzin calling the faithful to prayer and continues to examine the themes of religion and politics, love and lust, light and dark without trying to provide pat answers.

Islam is rising
The christians mobilising
The world is on it's elbows and knees
It's forgotten the message and worships the creeds.
It's war, she cried, It's war, she cried, This is war...
If the real Jesus Christ were to stand up today
He'd be gunned down cold by the CIA..."

It's hard to imagine that these words were written over a decade ago.

Religious Junkies

Have you ever noticed that reformed alcoholics and drug addicts are the most fervent in their preaching and condemnation of sin? Have you ever wondered why? I know I have and today I figured it out (well in my mind anyway, you, as always, are quite welcome to think what you like). I used to think that because they had seen the darkness they were all the more protective of the light, but its not. They often think their life has undergone a magnificent transformation. It hasn't. Their situation may have changed, but they still haven't rid them selves of the problem of addiction.

They've just become addicted to God.

They throw themselves into religion with the same need they had for drugs/alcohol/sex but with the added bonus of not having to lie about it. They become 'pushers', getting their fix from spreading the word to others. Not for them is the silent contemplative life, No, GOD himself has charged them with enlightening the whole planet.

Stil, they are marginally less offensive now Jesus is their fix, but they maintain the balance with hypocisy.

Political Correctness Hypocrisy

Case 1
I read an article about ex-Australian cricketer and now commentator Dean Jones being sacked for calling South African batsman Hashim Amla a "terrorist".
Case 2
"The West Australian". Friday 4th August 2006.
The "editorial cartoon" was making comment on McDonalds hiring workers from the Phillipines to fill skilled management roles in their stores in Western Australia's North West. The left panel of the cartoon had McDonalds products and the caption “McDonalds Happy Meal”. The right hand frame had an obviously Asian person serving a non-Asian at the counter with a speech bubble saying “You rike flies with that?”
The customer had a speech bubble “Wot?” The caption is something along the lines of “McSkilled workers”.

The first case struck me as a tremendously thoughtless thing for Jones to do in this day and age. Therein is the key to my complaint today. "In this day and age". In the current political climate "terrorist" and "Muslim" have become linked. Jones' off the cuff comment was ill-thought and he can hardly be surprised that people took offence and that it made the news.

The West Australian'ss little anachronism, however, has passed un-commented. Is this because the PC brigade can only be sensitive to on stereotype at a time. Or have I completely mis-read the situation? Is the 1970's depiction of Asians as buck-toothed semi-literates once more acceptable?
What is the difference between these two instances? Is it that terrorists are dangerous and Charlie Chan is a harmless buffoon? Or is it the audience? I can't believe that there are no people in Perth (other than me) that took offence.

Velly solly Mr Arston, you a sirry iriot and me no crapping.

AAAAARRRGGGHHHH!! (A dummy spit)

I really cannot handle bullshit that passes itself off as "news" or "information". What tipped me over the edge was an online poll on ninemsn today. “Do you think Shane Warne is a great Australian?” For a start, what defines a great Australian?? I looked at it and dismissed it as a harmless piece of frippery designed to make the “New Idea” crowd feel as if they are part of “the Internet”. No-one could possibly take it seriously. Could they??

Obviously ninemsn staff do. This is from an "article" on ninemsn (byline ninemsn staff)

“It seems Barry is not the only one critical of Warne with a new poll showing 69 percent of Australians don't believe Warne is a great Australian.”

Do they get fucking monkeys to write this shit? What does it even mean?? Shane Warne is a cricketer, a great one, and he is Australian but the only people who could possibly equate that to meaning Shane Warne is a great Australian is a fool. How can these people be given (what I assume are) paying jobs to dole this rubbish out? You wouldn’t let them play with sharp instruments, why let them near a pc with an internet connection.

A fool with a tool is still a fool