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Canadian government under fire again for their "War? What war?" policies - banning the media from covering the arrivals of the bodies of soldiers killed in action trying to clean up Pee Wee Bush's Big Soldier Adventure.

In the CBC article it notes that Defense Minister Gordon O'Connor, he of "soldiers should only be remembered one day a year" fame, said that this is being done for the benefit of the families of the soldiers. Not included in this link but appearing on the radio last night was the note that O'Connor ALSO admitted that he hadn't actually spoken to any of the families in question before deciding that some of them don't want the media involved.

Things to NOT say on a first date, volume 3422155 in a series:

From a housemate profile on Australian Big Brother:

"I am fantastic at sex. I can capture, eartag, earmark, brand, castrate and release a calf in an average of 47 seconds...that’s fast. "

"Hell Money"

In China, upon someone's death, monetary offerings are burnt. The deceased's spirit travels to the afterlife, and paper gifts of houses, cars, watches, appliances etc. are given to the deceased by surviving relatives so the spirit has a comfortable life in the afterlife. Cash is the most popular, and Hell Money is traditionally burnt to send it on its way to the spirit world. In addition, hell money can distract evil spirits that would otherwise steal all the other gifts intended for the spirit of the deceased.

The word Hell was introduced to China, my friend's parents told me, by Christian missionaries who claimed that non-converted Chinese folks were all "going to Hell" when they died -- and the Chinese, thinking "Hell" was the proper English term for the afterlife, adopted the word. Thus, Hell Bank Notes are simply Afterlife Monetary Offerings or Spirit Money.

.... I really have no idea who I should be mocking, in this interview.

An interview with a Christian who feels that Harry Potter books are a wonderfully witnessing tool.

DOOR: How do you use Harry Potter books as a way to lead someone to Christ?
NEAL: I used the story of The Sorcerer's Stone as a parallel to the gospel. You have the evil wizard who has the curse of death, and he throws the curse of death at Harry. Harry's mother loved him so much she threw herself in front of the curse, she died, and after that the curse was broken. So Harry rebounded on the evil wizard, broke his power. But the evil wizard is still at large - so all the kids trying to be on the side of good have to be on the alert constantly. At the end of the story the evil one couldn't touch him, and when asked why, Dumbledore said, "Because Harry, to be loved as much as your mother loved you, that is a protection that stays with you forever." So I am able to say, "That's what Jesus did, he jumped in front of the curse of death for us, He died on the cross, He took the curse on himself, and now the curse of death is broken so that the evil one cannot destroy us because we are sealed by the Holy Spirit."

The absolute greatest part:

DOOR: How do you think that the kingdom of heaven is like a Quidditch match?

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New proposed American law will make it a felony with a 10-year jail sentence to attempt (not succeed) to copy a CD, and will expand the DMCA to say that nobody may "make, import, export, obtain control of, or possess" any software or hardware that can be used to bypass copy-protection devices.

That's right, it's going to be a felony in the USA to *own a computer* with a network connection or a burner.

(PS: Compare and contrast sentencing, here. Check out what you get for, say, assault with a deadly weapon, B&E, grand theft, embezzlement of millions of dollars, or dangerous driving - and then compare what making a backup copy of your Snakes On A Plane DVD gets you. Downloading child porn: 7 years in prison. Downloading children's TV programming: 10 years in prison.)

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Tank Chair is a Custom off-road wheelchair that can go anywhere outdoors. Conquers Streams, Mud, Snow, Sand, and Gravel, allowing you to get back to nature, and can also climb up and down stairs.

The difference 30 years makes.

In 1976, a pair of 15-year-old girls hitchhiking through Yellowstone National Park needed to assure drivers that they were harmless, not the other way around.

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Is That a Perfectly Legal, Anatomically Correct Condom Education Model, or Are You Just Happy to See Me?

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Rick Mercer explains under exactly what circumstances that the flag on Parliament Hill drops to half-mast.

Mindless religious bigotry: it's what's for breakfast!

At Michigan State University, this is an email sent by a professor to the Muslim Students Association:

Dear Moslem Association: As a professor of Mechanical Engineering here at MSU I intened to protest your protest. I am offended not by cartoons, but by more mundane things like beheadings of civilians, cowardly attacks on public buildings, suicide murders, murders of Catholic priests (the latest in Turkey!), burnings of Christian chirches, the continued persecution of Coptic Christians in Egypt, the imposition of Sharia law on non-Muslims, the rapes of Scandinavain girls and women (called "whores" in your culture), the murder of film directors in Holland, and the rioting and looting in Paris France. This is what offends me, a soft-spoken person and academic, and many, many, many of my colleagues. I counsul you dissatisfied, agressive, brutal, and uncivilized slave-trading Moslems to be very aware of this as you proceed with your infantile "protests." If you do not like the values of the West--see the 1st Ammendment--you are free to leave. I hope for God's sake that most of you choose that option. Please return to your ancestral homelands and build them up yourselves instead of troubling Americans. Cordially, I. S. Wichman, Professor of Mechanical Engineering.

The punchline? The university says that this doesn't violate their behaviour guidellines.

jedwardtremlett asks "if a professor had written a letter to one of the African-American student organizations around Martin Luther King Day – a letter 'protesting' bad things that happen in Africa, and then telling those students to please move back there – would the university say that letter didn’t violate MSU policy? Or would they throw that professor off campus faster than you could say 'Jesse Jackson’s on line one'?"

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Well, now we know why the FDA's been balking at approving the "morning after pill" for OTC delivery.

...In the memo released by the FDA during the discovery process, Dr. Curtis Rosebraugh, an agency medical officer, wrote: "As an example, she stated that we could not anticipate, or prevent extreme promiscuous behaviors such as the medication taking on an 'urban legend' status that would lead adolescents to form sex-based cults centered around the use of Plan B."

That's right. According to the FDA, if they let you buy brith control, teenagers will form a SEX CULT around it.

I can't make this shit up.

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The world's most anticipated movie trailer ever:
Snakes on United 93

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