A "Christmas Carol"

God rest ye merry, gentlemen
Let nothing you dismay
Remember, Mithras, our Saviour
Was born on Mithrasday
To save us all from Evil's power
When we were gone astray
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy

In the cosmic egg, in Persia,
This blessed Sol was born
And he went out to slay a bull
Upon this blessed morn
There is none Invictius life
Which you should take in scorn
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy

From Sol, our Heavenly Father
A blessed Pater came;
And unto certain Corax
Brought tidings of the same:
How that in the Cosmic Egg was born
The Light of Sol by Name.
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy

"Fear not then," said Pater,
"Let nothing you affright,
This day is born a Saviour
Of a pure Virgin bright,
To free all those who trust in Him
From Evil's power and might."
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy

The Corax at those tidings
Rejoiced much in mind,
And left their flocks a-feeding
In tempest, storm and wind:
And went to the vast cave straightway
The Light of Sol to find.
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy

And when they came to Cosmic Egg
Where our dear Invictus lay,
They found Him slaying the bull,
Where oxen feed on hay;
The Light of Sol was beaming down,
Unto the Sol did pray.
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy

Now to the Light sing praises,
All you within this place,
And with true love and brotherhood
Each other now embrace;
This holy tide of Mithras
All other doth deface.
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy

Have a good Mithrasday and may the Invincible God Mithras defend and protect us

It's the most wonderful time of the year.

I really get jazzed up this time of year, for the best time ever. That's right, the World Junior Hockey Championships, where I get my hockey fix for the year.

For those of you that don't pay much attention to hockey, Canada was last out of the medals in 1998, when they barely showed up (and avoided relegation by only one place. The last two years have made up for it, the 2005 team was probably the best junior team ever iced by Canada (and probably any team), they won the tournament by outscoring their opponents 41-7. The 2006 team was not expected to do much, as they had only one returning player from 2005. Instead they scored 16 less goals and allowed 1 less in winning for their second time in a row. Unbelievably Justin Pogge was not named the All-Star goalie for the tournament.

Here we go again

It is one of the tenets of my life that our country should be helping to improve the lives of those that are oppressed. Mr Duceppe believes otherwise. He talks about reconstruction and how we should be focused on that, but what he does not understand is that the military cannot do reconstruction when there is a group out there that sees schools as a threat to Islam. Maybe we should get out of Afghanistan and let the people there choose the government of their own. Then 20 years from now when a new group of Islamic Fundamentalists comes from there, I can say "I told you so".

Now Mr Duceppe's rationalisation for trying to force the government down is a good one, for his party. He is afraid that with two leaders that do speak to the average voter in Quebec he and his party will be marginalised. Mr Duceppe needs an election soon before Stephane Dion starts pulling from the ranks of the BQ and possibly gains seats at the expense of the BQ. The next group of troops scheduled to head to Afghanistan are French.

Mr Layton is easier to understand, his position is "LALALALALALA I can't hear you". When it comes to matters of the military, he does not understand, nor want to understand why we are in Afghanistan. Honestly, he only cares about the soldiers there because it makes good copy when he cries crocodile tears over the bodies of returning soldiers.

Mr. Dion is in a dfferent position, his government was the one in power when the troops were sent out. He, or at least his party, knew there would be fighting and deaths. Now he can support the BQ's position and try to worm some sort of "honourable retreat" claim past the Canadian public, or he can try and support the government and not get a shot at being PM within the year.

Dealing with ADHD

This one is just for fun, to lighten the mood.

I am not trying to turn this into a pro-Israel

anti-UN blog, and forever be marked as "that freak that blindly supports Zionism", but I did find this of interest.

Last month, Palestinian terrorists made 287 attacks on Israel, including 157 rockets fired from Gaza into southern Israel. The Israeli police operations in the West Bank have largely halted the deadly suicide bomb attacks on Israel. There have been 120 of these since the Palestinians began their current "war" on Israel in 2000. But new Israeli tactics have stopped nearly all the suicide bomber attacks in the last two years. However, these tactics require frequent police operations in the West Bank, to arrest terrorists who are planning suicide bomb attacks. The Palestinians consider these arrests to be aggression, and illegal.

The point being, is that there is supposed to be a ceasefire but I don't think the Palestinian terrorists want there to be a ceasefire. If they can continue to fire rockets at Israeli civilians, they know that the media will only point at the Israeli response. Let's look to the UN Commisioner for Human Rights and see what this "fair and balanced " office has to say about the recent Israeli-Hezbollah conflict.

In an interview published Friday, Ms. Arbour went further than moral equivalence between Hezbollah and Israel. She stated that the Jewish state actually bears more blame in the recent conflict than the terrorists who started the war in the first place. "In [the case of Hezbollah] you could have, for instance, a very objectionable intent -- the intent to harm civilians, which is very bad -- but effectively not a lot of harm is actually achieved," she said. "[But] how can you compare that with [Israel,] where you may not have an intent but you have recklessness [in which] civilian casualties are foreseeable? The culpability or the intent may not sound as severe, but the actual harm is catastrophic."

What she, former Supreme Court Justice Louise Arbour is stating, is that it was ok for Hizbollah terrorists to launch rockets and hide behind civilians, but there should be no response by the Israeli military, because they might hit the human shields the Hizbollah terrorists are hiding behind. Hizbollah of course denies it.

I know that Israel has done some things wrong, but why can the UN not do something to prevent the terrorists in Lebanon and Palestine from firing rockets? Or is that the jews fault too?

Update
Fortunately, Hamas feels they are doing the right thing.

A History Lesson

Those that forget history are...

So can anyone tell me

What the purpose of the UN is?

Canada tabled a resolution to take Iran to task for it's human rights record. It lost, 77-75 with 26 abstentions. Since Canada attempted to take Iran to task for this, Iran did the only rational thing, outside of suicide bombers…

Human Rights Watch takes a different view of the matter, they see the human rights violations in Iran, but are powerless to due anything but complain. Human Rights Watch has even commented on the failure of the Human Rights Commission to do anything except bash Israel.

The dirty little secret is that the UN is developing into a forum for human rights abusers to hammer on western countries and countries that are western style democracies.

The United Nations Human Rights Council contains such human rights visionaries as China, Indonesia, India, Cuba, and Saudi Arabia.

Call me when the United Nations Human Rights Council, or if you prefer, the
Organization of the Islamic Conference, decides to do something about human rights instead of continually condemning Israel.

Let me know when this farce is over, I tire of it.

Colbert on Dungeons and Dragons!

Colbert on Dungeons and Dragons!

The Ten Commandments

Colbert interviews a congressman on the Ten Commandments.

What kind of Roleplayer are you?

There is a quiz here inspired by Robin's Laws Of Good Game Mastering.

I know, I know, no big heavy politics here, just something kinda neat

Zahra Kamalfar

Not much to say, the video says it all

Am I a fear mongerer?

Or racist, or something else entirely.

I watched Glenn Beck's show last wednesday called the The Extremist Agenda. The question I ask is "Is this the what the Muslims see and think?". If you want to see something horrible, scroll ahead to the 22:00 minute mark and start watching for about a five minutes. There are even cartoons at the 25 minute mark, for those of you that prefer your indoctrination animated.

Of course, any groups that believe that The Protocols of the Elders of Zion are not entirely rational in the first place. The Protocols have been exposed as a fake many times but some people (including Henry Ford) still claim they are authentic.

I think I am rational and believe there is a threat from Middle East extremists and other terrorists. I think that the US invasion of Iraq was a bad idea (I have flip flopped several times on this issue) but have gone back to the idea that it has weakened the US support for Afghanistan (which should be the first job) and has allowed Iran and Korea to develop their own nuclear programs.

Unlike others though, I think al-Jazeera broadcasting in North America is a great idea. We need to see on a daily basis how Muslims think and see. They do get our programming (CNN, BBC and the like) so we should be seeing theirs.

I promised someone that I would write a breakdown of the four main Liberal leadership candidates but I keep getting too ranty regarding Ignatieff and I just don't care enough about Kennedy. Soon, though, I promise I will.

Ted Haggard

Somehow I missed this entirely in the news. This Daily Show clip is so funny, I'm still wiping tears from my face. I'm just going to let it speak for itself.

Muslims and Jews Agree!

Wow! Finally Muslims and Jews can agree on something! Is anyone surprised that the unifying theme for two strong fundamentalist groups would be hatred and bigotry?

Timmy's Wish

Just in time for the weekend!

If you like the idea of Jesus sawing somebody's leg of with a, uh, saw, then you'll love this!

What happens when little Timmy is sent to bed with no supper? He prays to God for help! And, since we all know that God always answers prayers, we shouldn't be surprised when we find that Jesus answers his prayer (this only works in IE unless you have the Firefox plugin).

Oh, yeah. Just like the Bible, this contains a lot of blood and gore and could be considered offensive. You probably don't want to watch this at the office.

Yeah, that'll work...

Every year in the US there are more babies born to single mothers and it doesn't look like the trend is going to change anytime soon. According to ABC news,

A record 1.5 million babies were born to single mothers in 2004, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. More than half of them were born to women in their early 20s.

What's a country to do? Naturally, you tell people to stop having sex. Hmm... that hasn't been working? Oh. No problem. You tell people to stop having sex until you're 30!

Oh, sure. I can hear you now. Nobody is stupid enough to actually think people will listen to something like this. Who would possibly teach abstinence to people in their 20s? Well, anyone who gets a grant to do it, that's who.

Just a quick hit

Have I mentioned how much I am enjoying Dreadnoughts? A book by Robert K. Massie on the growing tensions before WWI. What I love about it is that there are no dry dissertations, instead he talks about the personalities that made up the rulers of England and Germany and the men like Jacky Fisher who revolutionised the Royal Navy and Otto von Bismarck.

Amazing stuff, and a definite read for any history fan.

I know this was not political, but I had to share the book.

How to get into heaven

I've been spending a lot of time at this site lately and I just have to share this one video on how we know Christians are delusional. Wow. The guy who makes these is the Stephen Wright of atheism.

Fair warning: if you're even somewhat easily offended about attacks on Christianity, you will be offended by this video.

And, once you're done, you might want to check out how you can get into heaven. The same disclaimer applies.

Hey Whitey! You got no rights round here boy

The government of Manitoba is arguing that the Charter guarantee was not designed to provide a level playing field for white males.

Welcome to a brave new world, except for white males.

Damn those Canadian women!

I was on a conservative blog when I found a link to Sheik Taj Din al-Hilali, the highest Islam leader in Australia, and his little speech about theft and the position of the Koran regarding it. It really gets good at the end.

To boil it down it shows that American and Australian women are fine, it is those Canadian and Mexican women that are the problem.

Read it all and ask your spouses about it.

Hmm, a couple of updates, apparently the Imam was referring to the gang rape of an Australian woman and the trial of Bilal Skaf. Why doesn't the CBC talk about the gang rapists?

Hey look, I can post something too!

I read with interest the responses around Australian Beccy Cole's last single. It is blatantly pro military and pro Afghanistan war. A Canadian country singer Julian Austin released a single called Red & White that probably few outside of Afghanistan have heard. Why is it that a couple of country singers can express their support of the what the military is doing when pop stars cannot seem to grasp that insulting the President is also insulting every person that voted for him, which incidentally is more then those that voted against him. A few that decided the best way to win hearts and minds through name calling are Green Day with their single American Idiot, and Natalie Maines exclaiming:

Just so you know, we're ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas

The backlash was inevitable as people don't like being called stupid, particularly in large groups. The groups that disagreed with the anti-war groups used the insults as a wedge to disenfranchise those that disagree with the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Until the high profile groups understand that derogatory comments and insults are going to be used by their opponents to derail the discussion.

All that being said, television and the internet has changed the way war is broadcast live now and everything is reduced to a sound bite. People never saw the horrors of anything prior to the Vietnam War, but atrocities happen in every war so what makes this one different?

I finish with two final comments Toby Keith turned his career into a pro military propaganda machine and John Ford on 9-11, just so everyone remembers why the US, and by extension, Canada is there.

I wrote this over two days and forgot what I was writing about...

Religious Freedom?

Ah, religious freedom. It's one of the most important freedoms we have because it represents freedom of thought. Yes, in a free country, you can think and believe whatever you want. Can you imagine not being able to think and believe what you want to think and believe? That would suck, wouldn't it?

Thank goodness for the Religious Freedom Coalition. Just look at the name! How can you not support them? Like I just said, religious freedom is pretty much freedom of thought. Here's their mission statement, taken from the About RFC section of their website:

The Religious Freedom Coalition is a non-profit educational organization head quartered in Washington, DC. Founded in 1982 the Religious Freedom Coalition is dedicated to the equality of all mankind and the freedom of religious expression. The Religious Freedom Coalition maintains that Religious Freedom is the “first liberty” and wherever Religious Freedom is suppressed there is no true freedom of assembly, press or speech

Isn't that nice? Doesn't that pull a tear from your freedom-loving eyeballs? I wonder why the line under their name says, Promoting Religious Freedom and Family Based Legislation?

What does that mean, family-based? Oh, I should have read further. Under Marriage/Family we read, "The Religious Freedom Coalition works to ensure that marriage remains the union of one man and one woman." So, I guess if your religion says you can marry someone of the same sex, then it's not really a religion, and doesn't need freedom.

Oh, it gets better! Besides supporting legislation like the Marriage Protection Act they also list the Ten Commandments Defense Act. Yes, the RFC is working hard to protect all religions by trying to make sure the Ten Commandments are posted in public buildings. I'm sure the Muslims would really feel that their religious freedoms were being defended if they had to look at the Ten Commandments in public buildings. We'd have to discuss which Ten Commandments we'd use, of course. And, what about that pesky first commandment (second in the Hebrew version)? Doesn't that whole, No other gods before me thing violate religious freedom for anyone who doesn't believe in the Christian god?

So, clearly, the RFC is working for Christian Religious Freedom. Well, that's ok, right? After all, most of the world is Christian, right? Well, at least 33% is! And for those namby-pamby Christians who don't agree with the RFC, well, they're not really Christians anyway.

I'm feeling more free already...

The dawn of a new superhero

Finally, at long last, gay men don't have to worry any more. Now there's Heteroy!

Does anyone else see a problem?

Why does the world feel more like an episode of Babylon Five?

Sure, it's quite likely that the US government has been torturing prisoners in the last while. I wouldn't be shocked if every country has done it. But George Bush has repeated many times, that the US doesn't torture prisoners. Amnesty International disagrees, but who are they?

Well, they don't have to worry about that any more.

Nope, it's now legal to torture prisoners. It's now legal to hold prisoners, and not even tell them why they're being held. You see, last spring, the US supreme court said that the Military commissions the US was using in Guantanamo Bay were Illegal under American and international law. What's a poor president to do?

Simple, you change the law. Now, thanks to Congress, the President can determine the things that interrogators can legally use. If that isn't enough to disturb you, the law provides for immunity for any CIA members who interrogated prisoners since 9/11. Yes, Bush can now declare, retroactively, that interrogation methods used were legal. This also means that, if anyone wants to suggest that Bush approved torture methods, he can just say, "It's ok, it's not illegal anymore!"

Yes, now George Bush is one step closer to being King George.

And what of the Geneva Convention? Well, Bush wanted Congress to say it didn't apply anymore, but those pesky Congress members didn't let him. Instead he can decide how to interpret this vague set of rules called the Geneva Convention. Darn that vague Geneva Convention.

Where is the US going with this?

Awww... you hurt his feelings!

Yeah, everyone has heard about silly lawsuits. Everyone seems to sue nowadays. Even the Hells Angels. Rick Ciarnello is a poor, downtrodden Hells Angel, and he's not going to take it any more. Every since Judge Fuerst called the Hells Angels a criminal organization, Rick Ciarnello says he feels shunned. Yes, Ciarnello is a long-time Hells Angel. Apparently, when he joined the Hells Angels, he expected people to think he was joining an organization working for, you know, peace and love.

According to the CBC article, Ciarnello claims, "he has been treated rudely by his local supermarket staff, and he says many people are no longer friendly toward him, and instead fear him or avoid him altogether."

And, if you ever had any desire to be a lawyer, that should go away if you consider some of the things you need to say as a lawyer. Alan Gold, the nice fellow who filed the petition against calling the Hells Angels a criminal organization called the legislation "Evil." I couldn't have made that up if I'd tried.

But, hey, maybe we've got them all wrong! Maybe the Hells Angels are just nice guys who want to sell clothes. Besides, you have to feel sorry for them. As an organization, they're being taken advantage of everywhere and they need to protect themselves from evil organizations that are just taking advantage of them.

You could be posting here!

I'm inviting my friends (don't you feel special?) to join me here at Wafer Thin. This blog is for anything you might want to talk about.