"Islamofascism"

So now there's Islamofascism. Can we can also use Christofascists, Hebrewfascists, Hindufascists, Buddafascists, Taofascists? Can we break them down by sect? How about Catholfascists? Baptifascists? Episcofascists? JehovahWitnofascists? Hey, this is fun!

But seriously, the major problem I see with the term "Islamofascism" is that it lumps together groups with very different objectives and methods of operation. For example: al-Qaeda is a Sunni group that uses terrorist tactics in its pursuit of restoring the Caliphate. Hezbollah is a Shite organization which has created a functioning mini-state within Lebanon. Hamas is a Sunni group that is focused strictly on the Palestine situation. The Taliban are an uniquely Afghan group that has more to do with Pashtun tribalism than Islam. And there are dozens of other Islamic groups that sometimes use terrorism but have no connection with each other. How does lumping all of these groups under one label help us to defeat them?

Early Warning Signs of Fascism

1. A powerful and continuing nationalism
2. Disdain for Human Rights
3. Identification of enemies as a unifying cause
4. Supremacy of the military
5. Rampant sexism
6. Controlled mass media
7. Obsession with national security
8. Religion and government intertwined
9. Corporate power protected
10. Labor Power Suppressed
11. Disdain for intellectuals and the arts
12. Obsession with crime and punishment
13. Rampant cronyism & corruption
14. Fraudlent elections

Perhaps Bu$hCo is just trying to justify it's actions by "demonizing" its enemies. Or maybe it's a strictly emotional term meant for the incredibly large number of people who depend on cliches and catch-phrases as substitutes for thinking.

Pluto Voted Off the Island

Talk about no respect. It seems the International Astronomical Union decided yesterday that Pluto no longer makes the grade under their new rules for what constitutes a planet: "a celestial body that is in orbit around the sun, has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a ... nearly round shape, and has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit." I mean COME ON, no celestial body is perfect!

Pluto has had planetary status since its discovery in 1930 (think of the millions of textbooks, exhibits and planetarium shows that will need to be changed, not to mention having to abandon my elementary school mnemonic for remembering the names of the 9 planets: “My Very Earnest Mother Just Served Us Nine Pickles” - Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto--pretty good, eh?). Does Mickey Mouse now have to change the name of his dog to Uranus? Actually, the dog debuted in 1930 as Rover, dog to Minnie Mouse. But Mickey and the dog hit it off, Rover became Pluto in honor of the planet, and Mickey became his master.

Now the IAU has decided (in their infinite wisdom) that The-Planet-Formerly-Known-As-Pluto be reclassified in to a new category called: “dwarf planets,” previously called “minor planets” (and to add insult to injury, not even capitalized). Who died and made these guys boss?

Well, Pluto, from one little girl who helped her Dad build a backyard telescope in the early 1960’s and spent many a wondrous evening exploring the heavens, I want you to know that some of us will always think planet size doesn’t matter.

What many of us already knew...

Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire!

The Prudhoe Bay Lesson

I’ve been reading in the JuneauEmpire that the reason behind this scandal is more about internal Alaskan politics. There’s a nasty gubernatorial race going on right now in Alaska, and the incumbent republican governor Frank Murkowski is probably not going to win the primary on August 22nd. The biggest reason being a backroom deal he made with the oil companies for a new tax structure on the oil they take out of the state. This “deal” cut the Alaskan legislature out of the bargaining process and it apparently pissed off a lot of people, even people in his own party have made this the biggest issue of the campaign. The oil companies have also bought a lot of advertising bemoaning how damaging the increased tax (on them) will be to the Alaskan economy. Boooo Hooooo!

My view here from “the lower 48” is that BP is trying to teach us all a lesson: mess with them and they’ll shut down production. Or, as my husband is fond of saying “When you’ve got them by the balls, their hearts and minds will follow.”

THREE THINGS TO THINK about:

1. COWS
2. THE CONSTITUTION
3. THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

COWS:
Is it just me, or does anyone else find it amazing that our government can
track a cow born in Canada almost three years ago, right to the stall
where she sleeps in the state of Washington? And, they tracked her calves
to their stalls. But they are unable to locate 11 million illegal aliens
wandering around our country. Maybe we should give them all a cow.

THE CONSTITUTION:
They keep talking about drafting a Constitution for Iraq. Why don't we
just give them ours? It was written by a lot of really smart guys, it's
worked for over 200 years and we're not using it anymore.

TEN COMMANDMENTS:
The real reason that we can't have the Ten Commandments in a
courthouse........ You cannot post "Thou Shalt Not Steal," "Thou Shalt Not
Commit Adultery" and "Thou Shall Not Lie" in a building full of lawyers,
judges and politicians -- it creates a hostile work environment.

(sent to me by a friend)