PETA has plan for Israel: [link]

A leading animal advocacy group said the road to Mideast peace begins in a pita. The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has requested Israel's permission to post pro-vegetarian signs on both sides of its barriers with the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

PETA's signs are in Hebrew and in English. They feature Israelis and Palestinians sitting down for a meat-free meal along with the slogans: "Give Peas a Chance," and "Nonviolence Begins on Our Plates: Go Vegetarian."

"Every time that we eat, we can choose not to participate in violence," PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk wrote Wednesday in a letter. "While choosing a falafel sandwich over a lamb kebab doesn't create instant peace, it reduces the sum total of violence and suffering in the world."

Aside from every other issue that this has, was "Give Peas a Chance" really the best choice for a slogan that's going to be translated? And only English and Hebrew -- they couldn't find an Arabic translator?

(Actually, as usual, I'm sure that PETA never expected these signs to get approved. It's just something silly that gets them attention.)

Yeah, TB, thanks for that. One of the things that I loved so much about Obama's press conference was that when questions were based on faulty premises (e.g., "how do you plan to bring the Republicans into the stimulus process") he first corrected the record ("um, they've been knee deep all along") and then also responded to the question based on, you know, reality. I hope we see more of that on this kind of issue - people calling out the conventional wisdom when that wisdom happens to be based on bullshit.

Because Israel doesn't have enough problems to grapple with, now they've got PETA all up in their grill? Cripes.

This is nice: the Vatican has stated that the theory of evolution is fully compatible with Christian faith, and rejected 'intelligent design' as acceptable science or theology.

Thank God for that. My poor husband last week had to listen to me rant for a good half hour on how ridonkulous it is that in America we act like the theory of evolution is one of those things on which rational people can disagree, instead of calling out disbelievers for being nut whack.

Thanks TB for pointing that out. I was gonna comment on that, but I suffered a sudden attack of the lazies....

I just got the power turned back on. It is freezing here. What is going on with my landlords? I mean, seriously? I feel like I only just got hot water back.

I was supposed to drive down to USC tonight to go to dance class, but now I'm so freezing cold, and really cranky, and still missing my soc. security card, and hungry, and tired. I do not want to go.

The dance studio might be warmer than your apartment? That's the only compelling reason to go.

No, it's not. It's Mudd Hall, with all those giant drafty windows and doors that are left open so the class of eighty can breeze in and out. Plus all those high ceilings.

P.S. The room itself is absolutely gorgeous. But that alone will not keep you warm at night. And as a further aside- have you been in the library in Mudd Hall? It has the most inconvenient hours ever, but it's so pretty! I want it. I also want to stand inside one of those fireplaces, just to say I have.

Thank God for that. My poor husband last week had to listen to me rant for a good half hour on how ridonkulous it is that in America we act like the theory of evolution is one of those things on which rational people can disagree, instead of calling out disbelievers for being nut whack.

It's qutie a change from the Catholic Church's original reaction, where Pius IX described the theory of evolution as "a system repudiated by history, by the traditions of all people... by the observation of facts, and even by reason itself... The corruption of this century, the guile of the depraved, the danger of oversimplification demand that such dreamings, absurd as they are, be refuted by true science."

And, funnily enough, that's not so far from my outlook on creationism.

The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has requested Israel's permission to post pro-vegetarian signs on both sides of its barriers with the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

I think approval should be given by Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Hamas on condition they hold the signs in person. And then there needs to be a joint operation by the IDF, Fatah and Hamas to capture those holding the signs and sell them to organ traffickers. The profits would be split evenly; the operation would serve as a confidence building measure on the road to a peace agreement.