Ex-aides say Bush never recovered from Katrina

Yeah, I saw that last night. My reaction has not changed since then, which is "BOO FUCKING HOO."

One of the things the FAC teaches about bible interpretation is that you don't camp out on *one* passage, or *one* concept that's never repeated again; instead you look at the whole shebang, and at what concept/message is repeated over and over and over and over

That's surprisingly enlightened for a FAC. Especially the studying in the original language.

It still took them to a creepy culty Army Of The LORD place, though.

What Dana said.

I'm in vacationland for sure now: went to bed after 4:30 and got up 11ish. (Really only 7 hours of sleep. . . that's normal, right?)

Hey, people who sell things on eBay: did you know you can get free boxes? [link]

you can get the same size free boxes from the post-office. I have a supply on hand, but still re-use boxes for most of the shipping, because I often ship 1st class or parcel and not priority.

Ah, I didn't note that part.

whump

whumpWHUMPWHUMP

Oh, that's not the sound of the good.

Iceland After the Fall

The island's footprint is 103,000 square kilometers, an area larger than South Carolina but smaller than Virginia, and 79 percent of the terrain is what the U.S. government calls "wasteland." Nine-tenths of the country's heat is geothermally produced. Renewable sources provide all electricity. The population has grown to 313,000—this is slightly less than the residency of Manhattan's Upper West Side, up to 155th Street—and the temperature of the Blue Lagoon, because I know you were wondering, averages 100 degrees, even in winter. What else? Iceland's culture today is a model of North European savoir-vivre. Almost two-thirds of its university students are women; the literacy rate has been estimated at 99.9 percent; and the annual publishing output is, per capita, the largest in the world.

Wow.

The article goes on to talk about the banking collapse, and resultant protests against the government.

The protests are organized by a group called "Phalanx Against the Situation," which sounds like a James Bond movie, or a particularly boozy Dada cell, and the most prevalent picket sign reads "Óstjórnina burt!" which I am told translates to something like "Away with you, you corrupt government!"

I just love the name "Phalanx Against the Situation." And the "Away with you, you corrupt government!" signs....

It still took them to a creepy culty Army Of The LORD place, though.

Speaking of, Jesus Camp was on the Biography Channel last night. I had the dvr pick it up and started to watch it at 1:30 in the morning, which I quickly realized was not the best idea I'd had all day, so I'll be watching it later this week. Just the little bit I saw was enough to give me the chills and have my eyes rolling--I saw the kids giving a little faux martial arts dance-ish thing that was like a religious haka done in camaflouge, and then the woman doing the presentation started going into a hard sell for the associated material.