And I thought it was just us...

Jesus Christ's Existence is Going on Trial this week

"Viterbo, Italy, north of Rome, is the venue where Rev. Enrico Righi is being sued by his childhood friend, atheist Luigi Cascioli, for deceiving people into thinking Jesus was an actual historical figure."

"...claims the priest violated local laws against deception when he stated in a 2002 parish gazette "that the historic figure of Jesus was the son of Joseph and Mary (two totally imaginary characters and therefore historically non existing [claims Cascioli]); of having the same Jesus been born in the village of Bethlehem and of having grown up in Nazareth."

"Cascioli declares he is not intent on having the matter be decided by a court of law, saying, "I wrote to [Righi] an open letter, stating that I would withdraw the lawsuit if he were capable of supplying proof, just one proof, of the historical existence of Jesus."

My faith has been restored in the American people this week. The Italians are making us look good in the frivolous ( and very stupid) lawsuit category. Which somewhat saddens me, being half Italian. I just want to bounce this guy's head against a wall.

Can we start with the fact that the statement in question was published in a 2002 parish gazette? It wasn't in a public newspaper, it was in a journal that presumably parishioners -read BELIEVERS- would be reading. Then I'm going to hop to the fact that it was a 2002 publication. It's 2006, did this priest tick you off or do you just not have a life? Oh, and then there is the whole Catholics are not the only believers in Jesus Christ, is this a personal vendetta against the church? Maybe you got knocked in the head too many times by the nuns growing up? And then the most important aspect in my opinion, when did religion stop being about faith vs. fact?

Ugh. I hate people.

Okay, who's going to take France's nukes from them?

Chirac threatens nuclear response

"President Jacques Chirac said Thursday that he would consider a nuclear response to a large, state-backed terrorist strike against France."

Europe's response to Chirac

"Jacques Chirac is an idiot," chided Belgian daily De Morgen in an editorial. "He lives in a time where France is no longer a world power, but he's still acting as if prolonging a Napoleonic dynasty."

Okay, I admit, I was going to post the first article with an article about Iran moving it's assets out of Europe, which, to me, makes it look like something may be happenning. BUT, when I saw Europe's response (especially the line I copied) to Chirac's speech, I had to post that for my husband. I thought he'd get a kick out of that. He's not a big fan of the French government (neither am I).

Can't we all just get along? ... like these two?

I just had to post this once I saw it on the news this morning. I don't know why, I just thought it was cute.

Hamster and Snake pals


"Gohan and Aochan make strange bedfellows: one's a 3.5-inch dwarf hamster; the other is a four-foot rat snake.

...instead of indulging, Aochan decided to make friends with the furry rodent, according to keeper Kazuya Yamamoto. The pair have shared a cage since.

"I've never seen anything like it. Gohan sometimes even climbs onto Aochan to take a nap on his back," Yamamoto said."

My head hurts from this idiot - Edited to Add Apology - no not from me!

It feels like I just put up my last blog entry about the Sudan, but this came up and I just had to get back on my soapbox.

The Mayor of New Orleans Profound Words - yeah right

"Nagin also promised that New Orleans will be a "chocolate" city again. Many of the city's black neighborhoods were heavily damaged by Katrina."

"It's time for us to come together. It's time for us to rebuild New Orleans — the one that should be a chocolate New Orleans," the mayor said. "This city will be a majority African American city. It's the way God wants it to be. You can't have New Orleans no other way. It wouldn't be New Orleans."

A radio station I was listening to this morning swapped out every reference to black or chocolate with white or vanilla. It sounded like the speaker was a Klan member. How do people get elected into public office with this kind of mentality? Oh, and it is of course only my opinion (although that's what counts around here since it's my blog) but I'm pretty sure that God wanted New Orleans to be UNDERWATER!!!!. God didn't build the levies, man did.

"Mayor Ray Nagin suggested Monday that Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and other storms were a sign that "God is mad at America" and at black communities, too, for tearing themselves apart with violence and political infighting."

Why is it that God would be mad at America (and his reason for this was Iraq) but not at the rest of the world? Millions of innocent people in the Sudan are without homes because they weren't the "right" religion, the idiot in Iran wants to wipe ISRAEL (remember God's chosen people) off the face of the earth - and may get a chance if he gets the nuclear bomb that he just has to be trying for off the drawing board and yet God is mad at America?

The world is lucky that God has infinite patience, because if I were him I would have left to start a new civilization somewhere else.

Nagin apologizes

"Mayor C. Ray Nagin apologized Tuesday for a Martin Luther King Day speech in which he predicted that New Orleans would be a "chocolate" city again and said "God was mad at America."

"I said some things that were totally inappropriate. . . . It shouldn't have happened," Nagin said, explaining he was caught up in the moment as he spoke to mostly black spectators, many of them fearful of being shut out of the rebuilding.

Nagin, who is black, said his comments about God were inappropriate and stemmed from a private conversation he had with a minister earlier. "I need to be more sensitive and more aware of what I'm saying," he said.

The mayor said his speech really was meant to convey that blacks were a vital part of New Orleans' history and culture and should be encouraged to return."

So how long do you think it took one of his advisors to beat him into submission? Or do you think he reads my blog??? :P

Sudan wants leadership of AU

Okay, I'm taking a breather from Iran. It's pretty dominant in the press right now, so I think I can skip it long enough to rant over my other hot spot. Why these are my hot spots I'm not sure, but they are.

Sudan hopes to head AU.

"Sudan said on Saturday it believed it was entitled to take the chair of the African Union after a summit it is hosting this month, but acknowledged its prospects were unclear. "

I almost gagged when I heard this on the radio - WTF? This is complete insanity considering what has been going on there.

"Rights groups question how Sudan can act as Africa's ambassador when it is in the international firing line over its military campaign in the Darfur region -- a conflict that has caused one of the world's worst humanitarian crises and prompted U.S. accusations of genocide."

"With 7,000 AU troops monitoring a tentative truce in Darfur and AU-mediated peace talks progressing, albeit slowly, many including Darfur's rebels say there would be a conflict of interest if Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir became AU chairman."

Ya think? That's putting it mildly. I'm really hoping that common sense rears it's head here. This could be one of the worst decisions if the Sudan gets leadership of the AU. I've been very happy with the AU, I love that Africa created it's own union to take care of it's own problems. And they do seem to react without the 12 years of preparation it takes the UN to react - if it does. But to hand it over to a government that will probably misuse their power is going to be a travisty to this organization - at least in my opinion.

More on Iran

Anti-Government clashes in Iran

"Ahwaz, provincial capital of Khuzistan, is home to Iran’s ethnic Arab population and has been a hotbed of anti-government demonstrations. Throughout the months of April and July, the city was the scene of large-scale clashes between people and government forces."

Good to see that the government's insanity is not completely backed by the people.

Iran calls for EU rights abuse probe

"Speaking in the holy city of Qom on Monday, Khamenei said that the Islamic Republic was keen to help resolve rights abuses in European states, the state-run ISNA news agency reported. "

"Khamenei also rejected Western versions of democracy and human rights being implemented in Muslim nations. The West allows “immoralities” such as homosexuality and violence that are unacceptable to the Islamic world, he said."

Um, some government insanity, coming right up. Iran wants to help Europe stop rights abuses? This from the government who thinks this is justice:

Iran hangs teenage girl attacked by rapist

"An Iranian court has sentenced a teenage rape victim to death by hanging after she weepingly confessed that she had unintentionally killed a man who had tried to rape both her and her niece.


The state-run daily Etemaad reported on Saturday that 18-year-old Nazanin confessed to stabbing one of three men who had attacked the pair along with their boyfriends while they were spending some time in a park west of the Iranian capital in March 2005.


Nazanin, who was 17 years old at the time of the incident, said that after the three men started to throw stones at them, the two girls’ boyfriends quickly escaped on their motorbikes leaving the pair helpless.


She described how the three men pushed her and her 16-year-old niece Somayeh onto the ground and tried to rape them, and said that she took out a knife from her pocket and stabbed one of the men in the hand.


As the girls tried to escape, the men once again attacked them, and at this point, Nazanin said, she stabbed one of the men in the chest. The teenage girl, however, broke down in tears in court as she explained that she had no intention of killing the man but was merely defending herself and her younger niece from rape, the report said.


The court, however, issued on Tuesday a sentence for Nazanin to be hanged to death."

There were other examples of how great their human rights record is in that article, but I could barely handle this one.

Delurking Week

I borrowed the picture from KimmyK . If there is anyone who reads but doesn't comment... you must out yourself and say hello! Of course, I probably lost all my readers with that last post.

Self Appointed Iran Watcher

Iran closes Pro-Democracy Publications

"We got a telephone call from the Culture Ministry that said we have no permission to continue printing our paper," said Asia spokesman Navid Jamshidi. "Officials have given no reasons. We don't know why our paper has been ordered closed."


Iran bans Western Music

"... the official IRAN Persian daily reported Monday that Ahmadinejad, as head of the Supreme Cultural Revolutionary Council, ordered the enactment of an October ruling by the council to ban all Western music, including classical music, on state broadcast outlets."

It's year-end and in my field that's a very busy time of year, so I'm not sure how much I'm going to be posting for the next few months. However, having said that, I thought I'd take a look at how my pet nuisance has been doing. Should we take a poll to see how long it's going to take for Iran to become an explosive issue?

I was heartened to see that there was some pro-democracy outlets there. I'm just hoping that even though they cannot be heard any longer, they will fight for their beliefs as they continue to be trodden upon.