You Shall Not Take The Name Of The LORD Your God In Vain – A View Into The Ten Commandments

The third of the ten commandments. 

We all know it. So highly symbolic are the Ten Commandments that almost all human beings on earth – even non-Christians – are aware of their existence. It is mostly because of the third commandment that shouting ‘Jesus Christ’ in conversation is frowned upon. I’d like to challenge that notion.

The Ten Commandments, The 10 Commandments

Does your God think less of you or possibly even punish you if you utter ‘Jesus Christ’ or ‘God damn it’? That’s too bad. Mine doesn’t! My God does not exhibit human-like pettiness. He does not care whether his name is used as an expression of surprise, anger or frustration. My God does not view uttering ‘Jesus Christ’ as a sign of disrespect. The need for respect from others is purely a human notion. God transcends all human reactions and emotions. He’s an entity that is much more grand than that.

Trust me folks. Your God cares much more about other things: kindness and helpfulness toward others; supporting those in need; sense of awe at his creations; sympathy; empathy; humility. You get the idea.

Who decided that the third commandment means saying ‘Jesus Christ’ is a blasphemous act? I want to meet that person. That’s just silly. Did that person talk to God personally? Who’s to say that the correct interpretation of this commandment should not be “You are not to make use of the name of the Lord your God for an evil purpose.” That would make much more logical sense. Here’s an example. In the dark ages, the church punished, in the name of God, those who did not believe the earth was the center of the universe. See what I mean? Here’s a more recent example: clergies abusing boys and covering it up.

Be skeptical of anyone telling you what God wants of us, or what he cares about (including me). No one knows that for sure. The only thing we can do is to employ logic, intuition, knowledge, and experience to arrive at a reasonable conclusion regarding God’s wishes and plans. That is why you are bestowed the gift of intelligence. One way or another, you must use your brain to untangle the mysteries of the ten commandments.

Here’s my personal belief: God doesn’t care about words. That is just silly! At this very moment, somewhere in the world, a child is dying of malnutrition or disease. At this very moment, a desperate person is praying to his creator, and asking for nothing more than a bite of food. At this very moment, innocent American and Iraqi lives are being wasted. At this very moment, someone is dying of cancer, and his family is grief-stricken. At this very moment, a woman is giving birth to a child. At this very moment, a new star is born in the universe. God is busy!

Does your God really make an adverse note about your foul language? Not likely! Don’t be afraid to challenge conventional wisdom (even religious ones). The Church has not always been correct in its teachings or its behavior. Exercise your remarkable and awe-inspiring gift of intelligence that God has given you. Think about it.

I welcome all respectful comments, including any of the ten commandments.

North Korea Deal Is A Miserable Failure For The U.S.

The other night, I was playing with my 14 month-old daughter while Fox News was on TV in the background. Yes, I alternate daily between Fox News, MSNBC and CNN – that’s what fair, balanced and intelligent people do. At one point during the Hannity & Combs broadcast, I thought I heard a very strange exchange, but I was too far from the TV to catch the details. I made a mental note to go back and research it. I did! And apparently many others did as well including Keith Olbermann who featured it on his Worst Person segment.

Here’s what happened. On the June 26 broadcast of Hannity & Combs, Sean Hannity introduced a segment on North Korea’s dismantlement of its nuclear program (based on destruction of the cooling tower at its main nuclear reactor) by saying “Although North Korea’s declaration is six months later than the deadline, the news today brings a clear foreign policy victory for the Bush administration. But will the press report it that way?”

Translation: The administration, with its decisive negotiation techniques and prudent foresight, was able to force North Korea to give up its Nukes. This is clearly a day to celebrate the administration’s victory.

Hannity then went on to introduce his guest, former Ambassador to the UN, John Bolton, and asked him “What do you think this means?”

Interestingly and unexpectedly, John Bolton actually completely disagreed with Hannity by saying “Well, I think it’s actually a clear victory for North Korea . . . This is North Korea demonstrating again that they can out-negotiate the US without raising a sweat.”

Translation: We (the US) lost again! We negotiated a bad deal, and North Korea out-maneuvered us. No victory and no celebration.

Hannity, facing certain and imminent embarrassment, skillfully executed a tactical 180 by saying “Boy, I tell you. They’ve done it time and time again, and I’m sorta perplexed, Mr. Ambassador, to understand why we keep going back to the well knowing that they haven’t kept the agreements in the past. Whatever happened to Reagan’s trust but verify?”

Translation: Doh! Um, forget what I said earlier. I agree with you, Mr. Ambassador! My foot did not taste very good in my mouth.

Combs took over by asking “. . . does Bush not know what he’s doing?”

John Bolton responded by saying “I think he has focused his attention on Iraq and Afghanistan, and I think this is one of the consequences. It’s a very sad day for supporters of the President.”

Translation: Hannity is wrong. This is not a clear foreign policy victory for the Bush administration. It’s a sign of failure by the US. We have a narrow perspective of world events.

Aside from getting a whiplash from all this back and forth, I happen to agree with Bolton on this issue. Our negotiation plan with North Korea has been nothing short of a miserable failure from the beginning. President Bush suspended talks with North Korea in 2001, which prompted them to resume their nuclear program. They have gained valuable knowledge in the past 7 years, and they will certainly put it to practice the next time they re-start their nuclear program (trust me, it will happen again!)

Destruction of the cooling tower meant nothing. The reactor was nearly mothballed anyway. Further, the administration relented its demand for a full accounting of North Korea’s involvement in the Syrian reactor (which was bombed by Israel last year). And the little that North Korea did declare lacked meaningful detail. In return, we eased sanctions against them, took them off the “axis of evil” list, and managed to alienate Japan (our biggest ally in the area) in the process.

Wow, what negotiation skills the administration has!

Watch the full video if you wish (link below):
http://www.foxnews.com/video/index.html?playerId=videolandingpage&streamingFormat=FLASH&referralObject=1804966&referralPlaylistId=949437d0db05ed5f5b9954dc049d70b0c12f2749

Scott McClellan’s Book Is A Waste Of Time & Money

So I finally picked up and thumbed through Scott McClellan’s book “What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington’s Culture of Deception”. Of course, we all know that Scott McClellan is a former White House Press Secretary. I was fully prepared to be disappointed as I didn’t believe this book was worth reading. As it turns out, I was right!

Everyone knows that the job of White House Press Secretary can be best described by the 1997 movie title “the man who knew too little“. It is, for the most part, not the function of key cabinet members to keep the Press Secretary abreast of decision details or upcoming events. It is in fact the responsibility of the secretary to seek out specific cabinet members and ask targeted questions in an effort to gain sufficient insight that would enable him to respond to reporters’ questions.

As such, Karl Rove’s assertion that McClellan should have spoken up if he had concerns is a ridiculous one (see below for actual quote). Rove knows, as well as anyone and perhaps even better so, that Press Secretaries are not privy to detailed information. It is not unreasonable for Mr. McClellan to believe he was deceptively mislead during his tenure at the White House based on information available to him now. Just because you did not think to question Santa’s existence as a child doesn’t imply you are forever obligated to believe he’s real as an adult!

At the same time, however, the book does not produce any earth-shattering revelations. It asserts that the White House engaged in tactics that were not entirely genuine in nature. So what? That’s not news. Even some Republicans admit that much. And quite frankly, that’s not new to this White House either.

My guess is that Mr. McClellan decided to write a book to chronicle his years at the White House. He was unable to engage an interested publisher because the book lacked ‘wow’ factor and did not contain a ‘smoking gun’. It appears, at least to me, that he spiced up some of the stories and demonized some details in an effort to market his book. Many liberals, seeking any evidence against the Bush administration, rejoiced. The rest is history.

Save your money and time folks.

==================================================================
In an interview on Fox News’ Hannity & Combs, Karl Rove said about McClellan: “if he had these moral qualms he should have spoken up about them. And frankly I don’t remember him speaking up about these things, I don’t remember a single word. There were people on the White House staff, colleagues of mine that had doubts about this or that policy, they spoke out.” (source)
===================================================================

Victoria’s (Not So) Secret Thongs Get Revenge – Finally!

Victoria has a secret. For too long, her underwear are worn by waaaaaaaaaaaaaay too many women who should refrain from doing so. Finally, her merchandise is getting revenge.

Macrida Patterson, a 52-year-old Los Angeles traffic officer, has filed a product liability suit against Victoria’s Secret claiming that she suffered an eye injury in 2007 while putting on her underwear (source). You may wonder how such an injury is possible. After all, crotch and face are separated by a couple of feet. But before you make jokes that imply her eye injury was due to seeing herself in thongs in front of a mirror (OK, fine, that’s my joke), consider her argument.

During an interview on NBC’s Today Show, Patterson said: “I was putting on my underwear from Victoria’s Secret and the metal popped in my eye. It happened really quickly. I was in excruciating pain. I screamed.” The metal she mentioned was a small piece that is used to secure a rhinestone heart onto the thong. It is claimed that she suffered cuts to her cornea as a result.

You can see a video of the interview (link below). I am told that the next advancement in underwear technology is a reality checker. Next generation thongs will use small computerized chips to evaluate many conditions including the physical proportions of the persons wearing them. If certain minimum conditions for wearing thongs are not met, an ‘Inspector Gadget’-like hand device flies out and delivers to the would-be wearers a warranty expiration card.

Bring on the hate mail. I’m ready.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/25258620#25258620

Memo To Airlines: Only Positive Incentives Are Effective

I just purchased a very expensive international plane ticket. Let’s just say it was very, very expensive. And that’s not all. There are very stringent restrictions on luggage based on number and weight. Exceeding the weight limit by even one pound will result in paying dearly for it.

This made me think. As any good teacher is already aware, negative incentives do not work. Telling children not to do something gives them exactly a reason for doing it. Even in business transactions, a good negotiator knows that a positive approach is much more likely to succeed than a negative one.

Here’s my out of the box proposal. Let’s face reality. By many recent accounts, over 40% of ticket prices go toward fuel (source). Weight affects fuel consumption. Therefore, airlines should set ticket prices according to total weight of the passenger and his/her luggage irrespective of the number of bags. This applies to both checked and carry-on luggage.

For example, let’s assume a hypothetical weight limit of 240 pounds. A 190 pound individual can only pack 50 (total) pounds in one or two bags, or pay more for the extra weight. A 150 pound individual can pack 90 pounds of luggage. A 210 pound individual – you guessed it – can only bring 30 pounds. And no, this is not discrimination against larger individuals. This is just the reality of the current situation.

Further, airlines should incentivize lower weight usage by passengers. If the total weight (me and my luggage) that I carry on the plane is only 200 pounds, then I should receive money back from the airline – the same amount per weight that they would charge me for over-weight condition.

Negative incentives don’t work. Are you listening airline industry bigwigs?

Bragging Rights: Google Search Terms – 06/24/08

The following are some of the search strings people have used that have resulted in viewing my posts:

‘is rachael ray supporting terrorists’ (2nd hit) – and yes, someone actually did this search:
http://logicalcomplexinfinitive.wordpress.com/2008/06/10/rachael-ray-supporting-violent-terrorists-holy-dunkin-donuts/

‘fist pounding’ (4th hit):
http://www.zimbio.com/US+Politics+and+Current+Events/articles/728/Fist+Pounding+Etiquette+Don+t+Overanalyze

‘story of euthanasia’ (4th hit):
http://logicalcomplexinfinitive.wordpress.com/2008/03/06/euthanasia-or-prayer-the-robert-latimer-story/

‘nyotaimori sushi’ (first page):
http://logicalcomplexinfinitive.wordpress.com/2008/02/16/naked-sushi-um-no-thanks-but-can-i-have-fries-with-that/

‘pringles containers’ (first page):
http://logicalcomplexinfinitive.wordpress.com/2008/06/23/the-many-uses-of-pringles-containers/

‘mccain is like jesus’ (first page):
http://logicalcomplexinfinitive.wordpress.com/2008/06/09/mccain-is-like-jesus-well-perhaps-only-in-georgia/

‘javelin throwers’ (first page):
http://logicalcomplexinfinitive.wordpress.com/2008/06/07/javelin-throwers-our-new-national-security-threat/

So You Think You Can Juggle? Guess Again.

Since losing the war some 60 years ago, the Germans have had a lot of time to reflect. The result? Watch for yourself.

The Many Uses Of Pringles Containers

Fredrick J. Baur, the inventor of Pringles container, passed away on May 4 at the age of 84. Mr. Baur was a chemist who had many interesting (and in my opinion ingenious) inventions, but none of them except for the Pringles container became a success.

So proud was Mr. Baur of his tube-shaped container that he not only patented it in 1970, but also requested to be buried in it! Yes, he requested his ashes to be placed in a Pringles can. His family, of course, honored his last wish.

I wonder if Mr. Thomas Crapper (the inventor of the toilet), having been flushed with success, had a similar wish.

OK, OK, I know. Mr. Crapper did not actually invent the toilet, but he did much to increase its popularity and came up with some related inventions such as the floating ballcock and the syphonic flush.

Fair well Mr. Baur, and thanks for completely ruining the experience of eating Pringles for me.

Belgian Newspapers: Stop Reading Our Articles!

Belgian newspapers must be among the dumbest non tech-savvy people ever. In a suit brought by them against Google, they have won a $77.5 million judgement for violation of copyright laws. You see, Belgians newspapers don’t like to see their articles published on Google News.

This is the age of technology. Information is everywhere. Newspapers are facing a slow death because they represent an outdated form of communication. As such, most newspapers and print media have re-established themselves. They use a combination of free on-line content with ads and membership plans for more premium material. Indexing of their articles strongly benefits them by increasing traffic to their sites. Belgian newspapers are apparently too unintelligent to comprehend that. Perhaps they would like to utilize the Pony Express to deliver papers to their readers.

Even if Belgian newspapers are too out of touch with reality and technology to desire more traffic to their sites, there is a very simple method of preventing search engine indexing of their articles. Use ‘robots.txt’! Webmasters know exactly what I’m talking about. This method has been around for decades, but I realize that pigeon-flying Belgian newspaper folks may not be aware of that.

Besides, Google and other search engines only display a portion of an article in their search results. To read the rest of the text, readers must click on a link that redirects them to the original website. Clueless Belgian newspapers don’t appreciate the beauty of free web traffic.

Well, at least the Belgians have a new invention to hang their (collective) hat on: a new game called Place to Pee. My guess is that they are going to piss that invention away too.

Sources: InfoWorld, Search Engine Land.

All of this explains a great deal about the European Union since its administrative center is in Brussels, Capital of (you guessed it) Belgium.

And This Is Why I Don’t Skateboard

No other explanation needed.