Tolerance Thoughts from the White Board - March 31

When I went to log in to Blogger this morning, I used Google Search.  When I did, I typed in "blogger."  And underneath this blog host's weblink, there was a news article about a blogger in Bangladesh who was murdered last week.  What makes this case especially relevant, along with at least one other one I have noted in this forum semi-recently (the Saudi blogger who was flogged for his writings), is the fact that the blog writer in question was attacked because of speaking out on religious topics.

Blogger hacked to death in Bangladesh

I myself have declared on one occasion, via this blog, on religious matters.  I did it in what I felt was the defense of my own faith.  I don't speak up on such things often.  I suppose in some people's eyes, I might be viewed as a coward for this.  I'd prefer to say I feel disposed to keep my religious affiliations and personal experiences to myself.  There is an oft-quoted line from the Bible about "casting pearls before swine."*  My religious practices are a somewhat private matter to me, and not for mass consumption or possible mass abuse.  But you decide for yourself what I really am.

*Editor's Note: The author of this blog in no way intends to call his audience, small as it may be, "swine."  Unless they are, in literal fact, pigs.  In which case...  I didn't know pigs were online.  Cool. 

I was thinking...

...that I should do a Thoughts post, since I haven't posted one of those in awhile.

My doctor gave me two weeks to live. I hope they are in August. - Ronnie Shakes

It is much easier to be critical than correct. - Benjamin Disraeli

Silly customer. You cannot hurt a Twinkie! - Apu (The Simpsons)

Groups are grammatical fictions; only individuals exist, and each individual is different. - Robert Anton Wilson 

Thanksgiving Thoughts from the White Board - Nov 27

I was all fired up to make this into a real, honest to goodness Op-Ed piece.  I was going to blast Black Friday, and the disgusting way it seems so many citizens of the United States prostitute themselves before the alter of filthy capitalism.  I was going to point out that retailers who pander to the lowest and most base qualities in people by encouraging them to skip the more traditional aspects of the holiday are... well, pretty lousy.  I was going to really lay it on thick about how I won't be participating in any holiday sales (I won't, by the way, but that's beside the point), as I wouldn't want to show tacit support for organizations that are wantonly thumbing their corporate noses at...  the proletariat.  Yup, I said it.

I was going to say all that.  And probably more.  But I got to thinking about it.  And I decided that it wasn't worth it.

Instead, I'm going to focus on what is important today.  It's a day to enjoy good food.  It's a day to enjoy good family.  It's a day to enjoy the rest you are granted from the daily grind, if you have the circumstances to enjoy such.  Oops, I started falling back into my mental grumbling about how ridiculous it is that brick and mortar is so afraid of Internet shopping that they are enticing people into their stores ON Thanksgiving day.  Sorry about that.

Theological Thoughts from the White Board - Nov 13

A recent news article caught my eye when I opened up my browser, and I read through it.  The article discussed the "shocking" news that Joseph Smith, the first leader of the LDS Church - oft known as "Mormons" because of their adherence to the Book of Mormon as another body of holy scripture - had as many as forty wives.  The article was less-than-flattering, but I'd say in comparison to plenty of what has been written about the LDS faith, it was fairly middle-of-the-road. 

Having read the article, I began to ponder on some of the things that were said.  The more I thought about it, the more I found myself having a desire to...  how to put it?  Speak my mind, I suppose. 

I am not comfortable voicing my spiritual beliefs in such a broad forum, as a rule.  This blog is semi-anonymous and uses a pseudonym for the author specifically for the sake of protecting the privacy of myself and my family.  After all, with such wide and open means of communication in this day and age, anything you say can have a nasty habit of coming back to bite you in the behind later.  Whether that be by way of someone checking up on you and then acting in a discriminatory or evenly possibly outright hostile way toward you, or for the risk of being quoted out of context and having your words twisted.  I don't like either option.  Who would, really?

Chubby Thoughts from the White Board - Nov 3

And here is my first White Board post since the blog came back up.  You know, I wish I had a highly relevant piece of wisdom to share here.  Hmmmm...  Oh, I've got it!  Here is something a video game nerd might love (and probably already has; I'm not exactly the fountain of cutting news around here these days).  Apparently one of Chubby Checker's last recorded songs was a promo for the video game Dig Dug.

What?  You don't know Dig Dug?  Well it was a really cool old-skool game that had you digging underground, harvesting vegetables and using a weird pump gun to over-inflate bad guys with names such as "Fygar" and "Pooka."  And - fun fact - the Atari 2600 version was my very first home video game for that system.  Cool, huh?

I actually had the game for most of the day before I received my Atari 2600 console.  I was at a friend of the family's home most of the day, I recall.  I sat and read the instruction manual over and over, and even went so far as to start peeling the cartridge's label a bit in nervous anticipation.  Funny, I remember that waiting time better than I remember actually playing the game.  They say it's the wanting more than it is the getting,a nd perhaps they say true. / Source: videogameobsession.com