I just *love* easily offended Mormons.

"I can't... I'm Mormon." These are the words which have raised the ire of BYU students and faculty. In the Daily Universe there was an ad for the t-shirts with that slogan on it. I read the article today after seeing a short ad on television about it. Here's some quotes from the article that show both sides:

"Many Latter-day Saints living outside Utah, he [Ramos and t-shirt creator] noted, utter the phrase every day when asked to partake of activities - such as drink coffee or watch racy movies - that violate church standards."

And...

"I don't like it when people perpetuate these Mormon stereotypes," [Steve Brady] said. "I'm not a big fan of Mormon movies like 'Singles Ward' and 'Home Teachers' for the same reason."

I'm going to stand by Ramos. So many LDS here in Happy Valley (most of them grew up here) don't understand or think that LDS humor is appropriate. Unfortunately they have very shrill voices and like to make those shrill voices heard. I think the slogan is humorous and not offensive. So I'm okay... But people who find mild humor offensive need to ignore it. I'm going to trot out a term again... Utah Mormons. You can find them the quickest just by uttering that phrase. They'll be the ones who are standing up and getting red in the face. I've lived here in Utah myself about fifteen years and I have succumbed to some Utah Mormon ways. But I can see it in myself. Anyway, to the point: Utah Mormons will find shirts and slogans like this offensive, but ignore a lot of the more important things.

So I will happily proclaim: I can't... I'm Mormon!

What would you do?

I was just reading an article on US bombing insurgents in Iraq and having success. By success, I mean that they were eliminating insurgents against the US and Iraqi governments. This in turn has caused in-fighting amongst the rebels. Iraqi hospitals have reported civilian and child casualties with these attacks. The US gov't says that that is only propaganda. It is possible there were casualties outside of the rebels, but that the hospitals are exaggerating the numbers.

"'We've seen reports from the hospital about dead and wounded within 45 minutes of airstrikes,' Lessel said, which, he said, was too soon for victims to have been transported from the site of the attack. He also said wounded people shown on television could not have survived the airstrikes."

The article also quotes a Abu Thar as saying: ""They [the US,] are saying they want to kill al-Zarqawi, but instead they are bombing innocent families," Abu Thar said. "Iraqis' hatred is growing, which means the resistance is growing."

That I can understand. Whether you're a rebel or not, hearing your fellow citizens being killed would not make you happy.

So what do you do? If we leave the country all together and let them govern themselves, there may be a civil war. We would be responsible for that. If we stay, we are probably increasing the hatred some Iraqis have for the US and we will lose more soldiers to terrorist bombings and activities. It seems like a lose-lose situation both ways. I don't know what the solution is. I want the Iraqis to govern and police themselves. I don't want to lose more of our soldiers to cowardly terror attacks. Perhaps there is some way to have both. I hope so.

A Call to Legalize File-sharing with Taxes

The title and the article tell it all, so I am going to let you read it. Please feel free to comment. This is a novel idea, but it's still an idea. There may be others that are better.

BigRedHammer

Responsibility & Government

I was reading an article on the Israel's pull out from Gaza and their expectation of more attacks by Hamas as they do so. I am very critical of Israel and their tactics. Most Americans in my experience, sympathize with the Israelis. I sympathize with the Palestinians. They have no course of legal action, no representation in their government, nothing. So they do what they do. They attack the Israelis. I don't think that the way they do it gets them any closer to their goals. No strong government is going to give terrorists power or representation. So I do see current Palestinian tactics as futile. But I don't expect responsibility from small militant groups. I do however expect responsibility from a government. Throughout the rest of world, civilized nations find ways to deal with racism and hatred. Israel has too. They use missiles and their military to enforce it. I guess what I'm saying is, I expect more from Israel than their military-enchanced form of terrorism.

Hurricanes

Hurricane Ivan is now making landfall. My good friend 'Sobek' of SobekPundit has made it out with his family safely. I hope that everyone else in Ivan's path has evacuated safely and will suffer minimal losses. My prayers go out to everyone who is involved.

BigRedHammer

Serious Wisdom from a Play

The following are quotes from a theatrical production David Hare's "Stuff Happens," now playing in Britain.

From the character Colin Powell, "If anyone is stupid enough to think this is payback time for whatever grudge they happen to be nursing against the U.S.--be it Kyoto or the Criminal Court or, I don't know, how they hate McDonald's--then what they'll be doing in effect is condemning Iraqi women and children to the sort of bombardment which is going to make them wish they had never been born. ... That's what I'm trying to avoid,"

And from an Iraqi character, "Iraq has been crucified. By Saddam's sins, by 10 years of sanctions, and then this," the man says. "Basically it's a story of a nation that failed in only one thing. But it's a big sin. It failed to take charge of itself. And that meant the worst person in the country took charge. Until this nation takes charge of itself, it will continue to suffer."

Check it out.

=========>

Yes. That is an arrow. What is it pointing to, you may wonder. It is pointing to the newest entry to my blogroll. SonarBison, welcome to the hallowed halls of the BigRedHammer Blogroll. Your post on how to get a girlfriend at BYU deserves acclaim.

Any of you readers who have ever attended BYU, lived near BYU, know someone who lived by or attended BYU, or have been or had a girlfriend should check it out. You'll laugh.

Update: SonarBison has begun to get results. Follow the link above and find out the hilarious aftermath.

News to me: Many professors are liberal bigots

Okay, I just found more evidence of my 'bubbled' life. I just read an article on Yahoo news. In it I learned that in Colorado Universities conservative students are being discriminated against. I'll share a few of the examples given in the article:

"University of Colorado law student Mario Nicholas said a professor called him a Nazi after Nicholas complained when the professor told the class that "the `R' in Republican stands for racist." The professor was chastised by the dean but not suspended. "

"Metro State student William Pierce said he filed a grievance after a professor accused him of spying on the class for Republicans intent on enforcing the new policy. "

I go to Brigham Young University. It is a religiously funded university. As such only members of the LDS Church can be tenured professors. Which means that we have a very conservative faculty here. Well, comparatively. Many LDS people are ultra conservative and might disagree. So all I am used to is moderate professors who respect all ideas. But until today I didn't know this was not so of all colleges and universities. And I'm not referring to the conservative point. I'm talking about professors being moderate and respectful of all ideas.

The article talks about a professor that was forced out the classroom with death threats. He now sleeps with a rifle under his bed. I do not condone death threats or getting results through fear. And the 'conservative' students who did that not only hurt their cause, but hurt their lives.

But, such comments as calling a student a Nazi for any reason is not acceptable. The employers of such faculty need to evaluate their performance and if they cannot come to acceptable terms, let them go. That kind of environment is not conducive to learning for any type of student. Perhaps it is just my own experience, but professorship is not supposed to be a platform for expressing political views. Unless of course it is political science. And then it should be unbiased.

Students should not be judged on their political views.

Hurricane prognostication?

I predict that the next hurricane will be named, Jeanne. And let's up it one notch... the next one is Karl. Scary huh? Well, doing a little research, I found out that there is a hurricane name list for the next six years. 2005 will start with Arlene and end with Wilma. Interestingly enough, hurricane names can be 'retired' if they cause enough damage and a country requests it. Then a new name is selected and the replaced one will remain 'off-duty' for ten years.

So now you know more than you ever wanted to know about naming hurricanes.

But if that wasn't enough, find out more here.

No Time, Good Quote

"After voting for the war, but against funding it, after saying he would have voted for the war even knowing everything we know today, my opponent woke up this morning with new campaign advisers and yet another new position,"

--George W. Bush, 6 Sep 04

Seems to me that Kerry's advisors should run for President. Kerry is only their yes man. Oooh, here's an idea. What if I could infiltrate his campaign advisors? I could control the Democratic candidate. I'd have to slowly bring my friends in too. Eventually we could oust his advisors and if we won, we'd be in charge of the most powerful nation in the world. The biggest puppet government ever!

Terrorist Brutality

I just read about the attack on the terrorist-held school in Russia. The other day I was watching a music video that had children in school portraying the way we treat enemy combatants (blindfolded and arms tied). And I thought perhaps that is a brutal way to treat them. All people need a certain amount of respect.

Well, I was wrong. When anyone does something as heinous as kill innocent children for their own political purposes, they deserve to lose respect and most of their 'human' rights. These terrorists in Russia didn't just have children hostages by accident. No, they chose to hole up in a school. And now there is a possibility of over 150 children, parents, or teachers dead. The article said an explosion went off inside the school. The hostages took that as a sign to escape. The terrorists shot them down as they ran. You do things like that, you had better not expect any mercy or any rights when you are found. It's cowardly. And I know they will get their reward.

Now I have to applause Russia for standing strong against terrorism. Many people may say, "Just release the rebels so you can get your children back." But I don't think that they realize the danger that that response will put the entire nation in. If you give in even once the terrorists win. They now know a way to get what they want. Next time they want something all they have to do is march into a school and hold them hostage again. It's a cycle of fear that won't end. At least someone in Russia understands this. Earlier this year I was sad to see that Spain doesn't understand it. Rather than stand against terrorism with us as brothers, they chose to cave to terrorism. Sad.

It is strong language, but I hope those terrorists burn in hell.

Feminism and Inferiority

This past year I've noticed a prominent trend in the media (especially television). So often men are portrayed as being stupid brutes. Examples abound from any sitcom you care to name to television ads and movies. The first that comes to mind is a Carl's Junior commercial. A mid-twenty-something male is standing in front of an aisle of food in the supermarket. He stares slack-jawed at the many different brands of some product. The commercial closes with the statement, "If it weren't for Carl's Junior some men wouldn't eat." Most examples actually contrast a neanderthal-brained man with a clever and well-put-together woman who can show him the error of his ways or how to operate something.

It was only tonight that I thought that perhaps this is the liberal media's attempt at embracing the feminist movement. The first paragraph of this entry is obvious once it's been pointed out. My guess that it's part of feminism is only supposition. I notice as well that most instances of this are meant to be humorous. It's considered comedy to have stupid men and clever women.

It's interesting because it seems like the writers of this kind of comedy believe they are appealing to both genders. Eh, what do I know... maybe it does. But if you have a more refined sense of humor (like me) you won't find it funny. LOL I'm kidding of course. Just keep your eyes open, you'll see this humor all over.