Cows With Guns

Mad cow disease is back in the news. Well forget about Mad Cows and worry about "Cows With Guns". Here is a hilarious Flash animation by Bjørn-Magne Stuestøl using a song by Dana Lyons. Dana probably meant this as a protest against carnivores like myself but that is okay, after watching the animation I don't have beefs with it.
NOTE: Quinqube rates this video PG for mild profanity, gun use, stampedes, and a male cow with udders.

Fat and docile,
Big and dumb,
They look so stupid,
They aren't much fun.
Cows are dumb.
- from the song "Cows With Guns" by Dana Lyons (c) 1996

Nuclear Weapons and National Security

There is no way to prove it but many people believe the Cold War between the Western democracies and Communist nations never became hot because of nuclear weapons. America and her allies had nukes and so did the Soviets. The threat of a non-winnable war prevented either side for attacking. Nuclear weapons don't have a lot of use offensively if your opponent has the ability to retaliate in kind. In 1981 Israel bombed the Iraq nuclear plant to prevent it from producing weapons grade plutonium.

Now Iran is in the news about her nuclear programs. The world continues to put pressure on the Iranian government to abandon the work on nukes. President-elect Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says Iran will continue to pursue nuclear projects for electricity not weapons. Does anyone seriously doubt sooner or later this will lead to nuclear weapons? What if nuclear weapons had been available to Iran when they fought Iraq a few decades ago? I believe they would have nuked Iraq and few in the world would have cared.

So what are the options available to the world and more specifically America?
1) Do nothing
2) Continue political pressure and expect it to fail
3) Attack (either directly or indirectly) to hamper the progress

Lets run this through a simple logic filter:
A) nuclear weapons pose a great threat
B) nuclear weapons deter an invading force
C) defending a nation is one of the prime directives of government

Using the above logic it makes sense for America to actively prevent any country without nukes from obtaining them. However the same logic would clearly dictate the Iranian government is obligated to develop nukes. Just because the logic is simple doesn't mean there is a simple solution.

This is where the summer ends
In a flash of pure destruction, no one wins
Go nuclear. Nuclear.
- from the song "Nuclear" by Ryan Adams (c) 2002

Green Ghost Optical Illusion

This image only contains three colors - magenta and black on a gray background. Focus on the center of the image and you will start seeing a green ghost dot moving around the circle. Focus long enough and all the magenta dots will disappear from view.

Judge Prohibits Parents From Teaching Religious Beliefs

Scary story from Indianapolis. Couple has son. Couple divorces. Couple (now ex-couple) shares the same religious beliefs. As part of the divorce process the judge made an order that prohibits the couple from exposing the child to "non-mainstream religious beliefs and rituals". So what dangerous religion are the parents? Wiccan. (Wicca is the worship of nature, not to be confused with devil worship). According to an article in the Indystar the judge was concerned in the "discrepancy" of the parent's lifestyle and the Catholic school the child attends. Yes, the parents are practicing Wiccans but send the child to a Christian school (what does that say about the public schools in Indy?). As I understand it the judge thinks the child will be harmed if exposed to two radically different cultures.

Makes me wonder if Wicca would be okay if he went to a non-religious school.

I consider this a very dangerous ruling, which hopefully will be struck down and laughed out of court. Somebody send this judge the Bill of Rights. On a personal level I consider Wicca to be a false religion. But religious freedom means you can practice false religions.

Applying logic to this case I see the following:
1) judge is concerned about the welfare of the child
2) the development of the child might be harmed by exposure to radically conflicting beliefs between home and school
3) therefore protect the child by eliminating one of the conflicting beliefs

Take the above logic and apply it to the concept of teaching (exposure) "Hollywood Culture" VS any devout world religion (Judaism, Christianity, Muslim, Buddhism, Atheism, etc). Uh oh I see radically conflicting beliefs. Well, maybe not with the religion of Atheism. So how long before a couple is judged "too devout"?

What next - arresting parents for teaching their beliefs?

Out there the law is a-coming
I've been so tired of running
Indiana wants me
Lord I can't go back there

- from the song "Indiana Wants Me" by R. Dean Taylor (c) 1970

Become A Vegetarian Cannibal

Found a strange product today called Hufu™. It is tofu (soy protein) designed to taste like HUMAN flesh. Here is the product description from the website, www.EatHufu.com :

Hufu™ is designed to resemble, as humanly possible, the taste and texture of human flesh. If you've never had human flesh before, think of the taste and texture of beef, except a little sweeter in taste and a little softer in texture. Contrary to popular belief, people do not taste like pork or chicken.

At first I figured this was just another elaborate hoax website. After all how would a civilized person know what human flesh taste like? Then I checked the domain registry and the ADMIN email address is "TheBestLawyer@hotmail.com". . . So a lawyer is behind it? Now it all makes sense.

Seriously though is this just a get-rich-wish-I-thought-of-that-pet-rock scheme or a frightening sign of our culture moving to the "dark side". Are there any major world religions that condone cannibalism? Should society be alarmed that people have a desire to sample human flesh, even if it is fake. I remember the public outcry about candy cigarettes and how it would lead children to become smokers when they became older. "Well your honor I cooked my friend because I wanted to see if he really did taste like Hufu™."

It was the genuine, original
Highly pathological
Finger-lickin’ digital café
It was Al Packer’s legendary
Culinary fast-food
Cannibal bar and buffet

- from the song "Comin' Back For More " performed by CW McCall, written by Bill Fries & Chip Davis (c) 1990