Arugula, Baby

Sunrise on the Redeye

All or Nothing

My argument has always been thus: believe whatever you want to believe, but don't push that belief on other people or deride them for believing differently.

You'd think this would be an easy argument.

There are small-minded people who think that their way is the only way and that they have the right to determine how other people should think. We watch news broadcasts about the Taliban and talk about how evil they are, inflicting their oppressive dogma on the populace in other countries. And yet, the same people who call this "wrong" are often the same who want to make their particular dogma the standard in America.

What's wrong with this picture? Plenty. You can figure it out.

The religious right in this country has taken a Taliban-like approach, albeit it quiet and insidious. They try to make one religion the standard for all people, and -- even worse -- try to instill it into public schools where children have yet to make up their own minds about religion. (I could write pages on how the concept of the separation of church and state is dead. But I will spare you that diatribe.)

My point is this: either teach all religions or teach none. If this is truly a melting pot of cultures and beliefs, and if we honestly want to give children an overview of the world, then provide a course that teaches religions of the world: Judaism, Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Shintoism, Taoism, Hare Krishna, etc. All are valid in the overall discussion of belief. If you do not want to be exclusionary, then teach all of them or teach none.

What's that? You think yours is "the way" and "the truth"? Get in line. Just don't try selling it in our schools.

Alliance and Empire: The Early Years

From left to right:
Han Solo, Darth Vader, Chewbacca, Leia, Luke Skywalker and R2D2.

Pure Inspiration

If this doesn't inspire you, there's something wrong.

Women at the Forefront

There was a time in the past century when women were appreciated for being women: lovely, curvy, smart, elegant, enthralling, distracting. While their rights were not yet guaranteed by any means, men were men and as such had a proper and healthy dedication to the women in their lives. This was well before the pornification of the country and the heroin-addict chic that led to such visual atrocities (and crimes against their own gender) as Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan and their ilk.

In World War II, images of women adorned the fighter planes and bombers piloted by the brave men who defended freedom far away from the women they loved. With a picture of his gal in his pocket (and one of Betty Grable above his bunk), pilots went into battle with images of strong women on the nose of their planes.

Often idealized portrayals, these images showed an appreciation for women that few men have today: strong, sultry, confident women who seemed to come from a Mickey Spillane novel or a Vargas book. But stereotypes aside, they were there to guide and comfort these men, as real women do so well out of their own sense of love and dedication.

There is an elegance and wonderful mystery about women that many men miss, probably because the Age of Real Men is gone. But the allure of an intelligent and strong real woman will always draw a real guy to appreciate her.

via WebUrbanist

Addendum: Virgin America took the classy route to sexy with this advert. Respect and appreciation can go hand in hand, yes? Yes.

Akshully...

via my [confined] space

Food Snob #4: Excess in Lieu of Duress

While affordable luxuries are in high demand during The Suckage, as the economy starts to look up we should focus on something more palatable than frugality: excess. It might not be politically correct to talk about this in a time when people are using terms like “stealth wealth” and “staycation” to hide such indulgence, but let’s face it: more is more, and more tastes damn good.

Which would you rather do: eat Manwich from a can every night or sit down to an occasional lobster dinner? Ordering a dozen Fanny Bay oysters and cocktails is going to do a lot more for your soul than sitting around and talking about how good it used to be to order oysters. Yes, we all have to build our nest eggs, but once in a while it’s nice to have an omelet.

Mouse Elbow

Me: I need a brace for tennis elbow, but it's not from tennis.

Salesguy: Well, golf is the #2 reason.

Me: It's from too much mousing.

Guy: Hmmm. (leaves)