(no subject)

Oh, by the Nine . . .

Teresa Panepinto of the Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors in Oakland, which runs the hot line, says in today's mostly volunteer military there is "economic conscription" as young people join the forces for job skills or tuition -- not to fight wars.

"The ads for the military are sold as a scholarship tool. There is no footage of combat," she said. "It is a real bait-and-switch that is costing young people their lives."

Um . . . no.

Anyone who doesn't realise that the odds of having to kill increase if you join the military isn't real bright. Even in peacetime, there is always the possibility of war. The Military's job is to kill people and break things.

This to me is a no-brainer.

(no subject)

Now here's a weapon worthy of an Eisen! (The pistol axe)

Gods, I love me the nonfiring replicas! Good for costumed Dorkery!

(no subject)

Want to know something both sad and dorky?

I want Vanyel Ashkevron's life.

Isn't that sick? I mean, setting aside for the moment that Vanyel is fictional, there's a lot of things in his life to NOT want:

1) His family barely understands him and his father treats him like crap for most of his life.

2) His first love dies only months after they meet.

3) He spends much of the next thirty years single and feeling seperated from most of his friends and colleagues.

4) He knows, for thirty years, that he will die a horrible death, receiving visions of it often.

And yet knowing all this, I'd still step into that life, were it possible, even if it meant losing all the knowledge I have about him and living as he did. What the hell is that?

Maybe it's that Vanyel is a prime example of what I mean when I think "hero" in regards to fiction. Because Vanyel does walk into his fate open-eyed, and saves his people knowing full well the battle will cost him his life. And that's the kind of person I wish I was.

So Stephen rode and so it is
No living soul can tell --
How Vanyel fought nor what he wrought
Nor how the Herald fell.
They only found the focus-stone
The Gift of Stephen's hand
Now blackened, burned and shattered
By the power that saved their land!
- Excerpted from "Magic's Price" from the novel of the same name
Performed by Heather Alexander on the album Shadowstalker: Songs of Vanyel's Time

(no subject)

Of course, we're all going to Hell. Alas.

Very funny, but also not:

The good news is, the few states that do still have sodomy laws on the books rarely, if ever, enforce them. Despite Ashcroft's famous bilious homophobia and ShrubCo's anti-choicism and the general terrified puling of God-fearing outlets like the fun-lovin' Family Resource Council, such blatantly discriminatory laws are slowly vanishing, becoming less and less relevant. No one in recent memory, for example, has received the maximum 20-year prison sentence for committing gay fellatio in Oklahoma. Otherwise, they'd have no football teams.

But what isn't disappearing quite so fast is the hatred, the misinfo and the mind-set that inspire such laws in the first place. No matter which way the Supremes decide in the Texas case, the fact remains that we reside nowhere near the moral polar opposite of our fundamentalist enemies. In fact, with the Bush/Ashcroft/Cheney axis of cultural evil, we remain much more similar to our foes than we may want to believe.

Indeed.

From Mark Morford's Morning Fix, which comes with this disclaimer:

**PLEASE NOTE: May contain strong language, irony, deadpan humor, and occasional pointed remarks about the NRA, the Catholic church, and liquid cheese products. Not suitable for anyone who loves pleated khakis, pink wine, or Meg Ryan movies. Opinions expressed in this newsletter are usually those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of SF Gate or Hearst Communications.

Fixed the WAY too much info paste

I am such a dork.

I just looked outside to see the approaching storm. The first thing I thought?

"Alia keeps pace with the storm."

(no subject)

Thank you, darkmoon, for showing me this.

It's very cute, unless you're one of those genetic rejects who dislikes cats.

(no subject)

Here's a quote I agree with:

. . . I'm learning the hard way not to enjoy any non-reality based network program too much, for any horror/sci-fi/fantasy genre show that smacks of intellect seems doomed to go down, "not with a bang but a whimper.'