h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Is it true that Bush is actually friends with Rumsfeld? If so there was *no way* he'd get replaced.

Mike - I don't think so. Rumsfeld was picked up out of retirement because of his experience; I can't find anything that says that he was connected with the family. He might have been a buddy with Bush 41.

Don't get me started about fundamentalist Christians. You'll find in any conversation where you start quoting the bible to a fundie that your average fundie doesn't *read* the bible. They go to church and read the materials they give out, but they do very little independent thinking.

What was I saying last week? Oh, yeah... Something about most Christians actually read the bible and decide for themselves whether or not they believe that Christ is divine, because they believe the bible. Fundie Christians believe Christ is divine because of personal experience.

Bush has said that he believes God has chosen him to lead at this time. I think that's a dangerous assumption. It leads to pride, and as we all know, that goeth before a fall. If Bush was chosen by an omnipotent intelligence, it was to motivate the people to care about their country - not because of his foreign policy choices.

I'm an agnostic, myself. And I'm always enraged when somebody tries to indicate that I have no moral standards because I don't believe in a deity. It's ridiculous. The ability to choose what's right from what's wrong is instilled in you at an early age. That you should need a religion to tell you what to think - that goes against everything *I* think is right!

I like the deists. Ben Franklin was one - "I don't believe that there is a church today which worships god in the way he should be worshipped." A little anthropomorphic and male-centered, but that's okay - I agree with the sentiment. For all we know, if there is a god, he wants us to handle snakes. Or sacrifice chickens.

Ben Franklin also said, "God invented beer because he loves us and wants us to be happy."

My mannnnn!

Yes, and he thought the turkey should be the national bird, because it's tough, edible, and while it may not be the most noble looking bird, it represented the true spirit of America.

Um, I think we all read in the news where the administration says that Falluja was evacuated before the US Forces moved in, right?

Not!

http://fallujapictures.blogspot.com/


p.s., Don't go here if you're eating.

Smart guy. R has a t-shirt with that beer quote on it - one of his favorite shirts.

The turkey: ugly, large, edible, and obnoxious. Yeah, it suits.

Oh, man... those pictures make my heart hurt.

Mine too.

Some food for thought, maybe, on what's the main differences between the two sides of the Atlantic in political terms, off today's Soln.com:

http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2004/11/15/europe/index.html

The situation in Iraq is heartbreaking. And I feel so frustrated and helpless about it all.

Santra, your article is actually encouraging. The world needs a strong Europe, imho. And a strong America. To keep each other honest. But there needs to be the possibility open for cooperation in case a ~genuine~ threat to world peace arises.

How do we convince the American public that we do not indeed hold the high moral ground when the majority of Americans are so indoctrinated that we won't even consider the possibility that we're wrong? I've heard the argument that we have to support the president or we're unpatriotic so often that it's making my head swim.

I'm about as unpatriotic as they come. Good article.

Yes, Santra's article made me feel proud to be European. It also made me want to work hard for the Liberal Democrats at the next UK General Election to help punish Blair for his craven ing up to Bush.

I'm not sure if the Beeb will let you guys, but can someone on the other side of the pond explain why Blair felt the need to support Bush on Iraq?

I would like to know that also.

I know how keen you've all been to point out that the election was in fact really close, and that Shrub in fact doesn't have a massive mandate from the people of America. Well it looks like a bunch of cartographers from the University of Michigan have been working on how to represent this dilemma in the way that they do best, graphically.

I saw this story on the Comment and Editorial page of today's Guardian (Britain's lefty intellectual newspaper, just in case you didn't know that already) and have now found the story and links to the US site. So I post them here for your comment and enjoyment.

The GUardian newspaper article - http://www.guardian.co.uk/analysis/story/0,3604,1352225,00.html

And the maps of your election - http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mejn/election/

Very interesting! Glad to see it in a new perspective.

Those are some pretty sweet maps. Those work much better on my poor, color blind eyes, because there is still the contrast between red and blue, it's just interspersed. I guess the counties one, by population is the most accurate, if the most difficult to look at.

I like how the Guardian article pointed out that Alberta is hardly a bastion of liberalism. It's true. It's one of the most conservative Canadian provinces. It's the Utah of Canada.

Lentilla, I completely agree with you on all your comments about religion and fundamentalists. It's been too many times that someone has told me that I have no morals because I'm not really religious. Often, they'll say this without even having any information about my religious beliefs, if I say that I'm pro-choice or something like that.

I think deism is the way to go. That's my take on the world.

FG and GDZ: I'm ed if I know why Blair supports Bush so blindly. It's certainly costing him heavily in terms of his popularity with the British electorate. My best guess is that it makes Blair feel like a major player on the world stage. All I'm sure of is that I'll never vote for him again, and I was a loyal Labour Party voter for over 20 years. ,