Fireflys make good baseballs.

The Middle East is once again heading towards instability. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the leader of Iran, has claimed Israel will soon be annihilated. "The existence of this (Israeli) regime is a permanent threat" to the Palestine nations he says.

I doubt Israel can sit back and continue to allow such threats to go unanswered. Iran, after all, has proven they can enrich uranium. It is only a small step to go from civilian nuclear power to military power.

The president adds: "The Zionist regime is a rotten, dried tree that will be eliminated by one storm." Frankly, the speech sounds like a declaration of war - to be initiated when Iran produces the nuclear warheads to make their threat a reality.

Don't die.

Doom, doom, doom, DOOM!

I thought the Norwegians had an interesting Easter tradition, but two Philippine villages who crucify volunteers to reenact Jesus's sacrifice have topped my list for one of the oddest traditions ever. They pound four inch nails through their hands and feet to two wooden slabs in the shape of a cross. To keep out infection, the nails are dipped in alcohol. In one of the pictures, it even looks like the man is wearing a crown of thorns. I wonder if they whip them, too? Or give them vinegar to drink? Do they spare them the spear?

Frankly, whoever they hire to drive in the nails probably shouldn't be wandering out in public. Talk about sadism.

One last comment: "Wowzers."

Don't die.

Thick skulls make for good drums.

A few weeks ago I wrote about the "e-mail tax" implemented by AOL and Yahoo. Well, just recently, the EFF has discovered an interesting development: AOL is censoring e-mails. E-mails which include a link to www.DearAOL.com were bounced from AOL e-mail accounts. This particular website criticizes AOL over the "e-mail tax." If I had an AOL account, it would certainly be canceled right about now.

Don't die.

All portraits are self-portraits.

The EFF has released a paper outlining the ways in which the DMCA has violated Fair Use laws, limited free speech, impedes competition, and inteferes with Computer Intrusion laws.

It's a pretty lengthy read, but it describes some very interesting ways the DMCA has been used.

Don't die.

Aliens = bad news.

States are continuously pushing to charge sales tax for online purchases. Of course, this has been almost impossible due to the fact a business cannot possibly report/pay/calculate taxes to every single state/city from which a person buys a product. It would be too expensive and too time consuming.

So, some states are getting inventive. Rather than force the business to report on who buys what, the person buying may now be required to report the amount of purchases they make online. Once reported, they will owe the state/city the amount necessary.

New York is taking a stiff arm approach by saying: "If we find out you have made purchases you haven't reported to us, not only are you going to be liable for the amount owed, the tax liability, but also interest and penalties, which...could be up to three times as much as what you actually owe."

The truth is, collecting this tax is a hard business. It's much like the same problem the income tax had all those years ago: voluntary compliance usually ends in no compliance. Which is fine by me.

Lew Rockwell sums up the issue quickly: "Unless we assume the taxman has the moral right to your entire income, I don't feel anyone should be obligated to pay the use tax ... They already extract so much from us with little in return, just wars and welfare and general social trouble. The idea that we should turn over more is just outrageous."

Stupid taxes.

Don't die.

Making up the news for the sake of posterity.

The Norwegians have an interesting Easter tradition. During the week leading up to Easter, crime is very much the fad.

"It's a very Norwegian thing to do," says Ane Farsethaas, a Norwegian book reviewer.

Who knew?

Don't die.

Michael went to hell to berate Satan for some transgression - he came back with a cell phone.

The NSA is having difficulty keeping spying programs hush-hush lately. First, there was the fiasco were President Bush authorized the NSA to wiretap American citizens. Its legality is still being debated. Now, the EFF has filed an injunction against AT&T. EFF claims "AT&T is diverting Internet traffic into the hands of the NSA wholesale" which is a violation of wiretapping laws and our Fourth Amendment rights. The goverment may get involved in the lawsuit, as many of the documents the EFF wants to be disclosed may contain confidential security information.

AT&T has recently received a boon from our goverment: the monopoly they once held is being returned to them under the pretense that with the advent of the cellular phone and VOIP (voice-over-internet-protocol) they no longer have a monopoly on the telecommunications network. One could almost form a conspiracy theory with such information.

Don't die.

I use the binary rating system.

Ruth Malhotra is suing for the right to to condemn homosexuality at the Georgia Institute of Technology. According to the LA Times, the "Georgia Institute of Technology ... bans speech that puts down others because of their sexual orientation." Ms. Malhotra thinks this is an infringement of her right to the freedom of religion, because Christianity requires Christians to denounce homosexuality.

Its an interesting lawsuit, for the simple matter that discrimination based on sexuality has yet to truly be decided in any state. The courts seem hesitant to put down any cohesive stance on the subject, flip flopping from allowing an Oklahoma student to wear a t-shirt stating "Homosexuality is a sin! Islam is a lie! Abortion is murder!" to justifying Hewlett Packards firing of an employee for posting "Bible verses condemning homosexuality on his cubicle" which "harassed gay employees and made it difficult for the company to meet its goal of attracting a diverse workforce."

Supporters of Ruth Malhotra's lawsuit claim sexuality is a lifestyle choice and therefore shouldn't put speech condemning homosexuality on the same level as a racist condemning a man for being black. Oddly, religion itself is a lifestyle choice, and nearly every religion condemns every other religion as heretical, evil, and just plain wrong. Fortunately, America usually curbs discrimination or speech inciting discrimination against differing religions.

Truthfully, Ruth, and other far right-wing conservatives, miss the true calling of Christianity. She is doing far more to alienate potential followers/believers, than she is convincing everyone of the evils of homosexuality.

Sexuality is a choice which has little impact on the rest of the world. Frankly, its time to move on.

Pictures steal your mystique.

Christopher Moore is one of the funniest authors alive. His books will crack a smile in even the most downhearted, diehard, don't-understand-any-type-of-humor person. And yes, I discovered him through a magazine of ill repute featuring ladies clad in birthday suits.

His newest novel "A Dirty Job" is an entertaining look at death, reincarnation, and demons. Plus, the Emperor of San Francisco and a certain red headed vampire make appearances.

I'm already anticipating his next novel, so get cracking Christopher Moore.

Don't die.