Happy St. Pat's day

May your glass be ever full.
May the roof over your head be always strong.
And may you be half an hour in heaven
Before the devil knows you're dead.

Another Canadian fixture is gone

Veteran journalist and broadcaster Bill Cameron, a fixture on Canadian news and current-affairs programming since the 1970s, died yesterday of cancer.

Cameron began his broadcasting career with Global TV in 1978, leaving to anchor the newsdesk at Toronto's CITY-TV in 1983 before becoming a reporter and alternate host for the CBC's news magazine program The Journal - which is where I remember him most vividly, as I was a regular viewer of The National and The Journal every evening while in high school. He remained with the CBC in various capacities until the deep budget cuts of 1999.

He was 62.

Friday in the wild - Mar. 11, 2005

Once again: whutz been goin on around the blog that wasn't here.

Two weeks ago I reported on a legislator in Maine that had introduced a bill to make it a hate crime to abort gay fetuses, should homosexuality be discovered to have a genetic cause. Joe Carter posted an interesting analysis of this situation this week, coming to a different conclusion than myself:

The question then is what will happen to gays and lesbians when homosexuality becomes “preventable?” My guess it that it won’t be long before "being gay" is once again classified under the disease model of behavior and is considered a treatable condition. After all, it was only recently that psychiatry let go of its hold on this "disorder." (Until 1987, “ego-dystonic homosexuality” was still classified as a pathology in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-II).)

The fact that the vast majority of gay people will not feel a corresponding desire to be “treated” will be deemed irrelevant. When alcoholism became a “disease” the onus was put on the individual to “get help” whether it was desired or not. If an alcoholic says that she can live and function just fine with her “condition”, she is considered in denial. If she won’t seek help for herself, the family and friends are encouraged to participate in an “intervention” to persuade her. Likewise, homosexuals may be compelled to seek treatment for their condition. Failure to do so might allow insurance companies to legitimately deny coverage for any illnesses that can be traced back to this “preventable” condition.

[Read Pre-Born Discrimination: Can Abortion Be Classified as a Hate Crime?]

The Conservative Grad Student ought to post more often, but when he does, his anecdotes of experiences in graduate studies in the humanities are usually worth a good chuckle. This week:

So, we're discussing St. Augustine for whatever reason (I'm not sure, as no one in the class understands any of the scriptural allusions he makes and all they want to do is insult him for not being clever enough to see through the sham of Christianity),

and

I quote a verse from the Bible from memory. One that Augustine alluded to but didn't fully quote.

Someone actually said "I didn't think there were people who could quote the Bible at the drop of a hat. At least not among educated people, anyway."

[Full Post]

There wasn't a full moon this week (quite the opposite, in fact) so the searches were relatively sane. Nonetheless, there were some interesting queries that brought surfers to this site:

• ringworld bloggers. What's to blog? It's big. It's round. It's fiction.
• It's started again, only now, ironically, I'm the fourth most relevant Google search on camilla parker cleavage only because I've spent the last five weeks complaining about being googled for Camilla Parker cleavage. Sigh.
• moonbats crusty curmudgeon: That you Rand?
• "steve bell" ottawa police: What, was he smuggling drugs in his guitar case, or something?

Oh - and Google searches for "crusty" still rank this blog as #4, only now they've discovered that the site has a name again, and all is back to normal. The ways of Google are mysterious.

Conspiracy nut update

The lunatic fringe has gone into serious "headless chicken" mode over Popular Mechanics' March cover story debunking 9/11 conspiracy theories. This excellent article has sent the freakazoids like Alex Jones and The Power Hour into a complete tailspin. Seriously, it's all they talk about anymore.

And now . . . this - Mar. 5/05

Woof!

A 40-year-old woman described as a transient was jailed in Grand Junction - accused of jumping a fence to wrestle naked with a dog.

An arrest affidavit indicated that Katherine Earle scaled the four-foot fence just before midnight Tuesday, then stripped in order to wrestle with the male Labrador retriever-blue heeler mix.

Residents of the home awoke from the noise and called police.

Responding officers said Earle told them she was having sex with the dog, and that she does it all the time. The dog's owner, Six Starr, said that Earle has been friendly with the dog, but that Earle has been acting strangely for the past six months.

[Full Story]

Strangely? Nah, it's OK, she does it all the time. Nothing to see here.

Paging Larry Summers

A fourth-grader who was attending a Methuen elementary school as a girl before February vacation has returned to school as a boy.

The parents of the 9-year-old child said the youngster was born with the body of a girl, but the brain of a boy.

They have asked that he be referred to and treated as a boy by teachers and other students, and school officials are accommodating the request. The parents have even changed the child's name.

[Full Story]

OK, but what kind of brain do her parents and the school admins have?

More cowbell, baby!

The slight cosmetic change at the top of the blog is in honour of this post by the Jollyblogger, who is responsible for my nearly passing out laughing. The cowbell sketch is one of the few things that actually gets funnier with repeated viewings.

(Out of curiosity, I located and listened to a clip of "Don't Fear the Reaper," and I'll be darned if there isn't someone banging away at a cowbell. The song's ruined for me now.)

The worst form of torture you can imagine is not having panties on your head, it's having "this song" stuck in your head. Jeremy at Parableman is personally responsible for the next worst thing. (One of the funniest Muppet sketches ever, though, so he's forgiven.)

Friday in the wild - Mar. 4, 2005

It's Friday! And that means that it's time for the regular Friday roundup of new and interesting stuff I've seen around the blogosphere from last Friday to today, which is Friday. Here goes:

Joe Carter laments - or maybe "laughs at" would be more factually correct - the sad state of modern visual art:

Modern art is in the toilet.

Literally.

Last December, 500 arts specialists in Britain agreed that the single most important work of art in the 20th century was Marcel Duchamp’s "Fountain."

[Read Lifting Art Out of the Toilet: Can Christians Save the Visual Arts?]

Fountain, for you ignorant philistines, is a urinal placed on a pedestal.

I think one of Joe's commenters said it best: "DuChamp has the right to write his name on any piece of plumbing he wants and I have the right to call him a lazy hack-poser for it. It's the circle of life!"

Here's an excellent piece from Challies.com about the contemporary trend toward deprecating the office of pastor:

As the Protestant church has changed and evolved since the time of the Reformation, so has the office of pastor. Where in times past the minister wore a robe, collar or both to differentiate himself from the laity, it seems that today the pastor is often the person wearing shorts and sandals. Where a pastor once wore clothing that conveyed dignity and displayed the uniqueness of the pastoral ministry, today the pastor often tries to be the most unnoticeable person in the church. Where the term "pastor" was once largely reserved for the minister who led his flock, today we have pastors of every type – music pastors, counseling pastors, administrative pastors, and even lay pastors (which seems to be a contradiction in terms). Where pastors and office-bearers once held the keys to the kingdom and had the privilege of administering the sacraments, today the laity is permitted and even encouraged to do this themselves.

[Read An Authoritative Word from God]

Taking his cue from Hollywood Worldviews author Brian Godawa, David at Jollyblogger comments on the self-stultifying assumptions of movies written from an existentialist point of view:

So, the bottom line is that the art of storytelling itself belies an existential worldview. The art of storytelling leaves no room for chance, it operates under a deterministic worldview.

[Read The Paradox of Existentialism in the Movies]

Call me heteronormative. That's the word Parableman suggests for the view that heterosexuality is normal and homosexuality is abnormal, as opposed to "homophobia" which has overtones of bigotry. He frames the discussion in terms of the flap at Harvard over Jada Pinkett Smith made some comments at a recent event that assumed a heterosexual audience.

No interesting searches graced the Crusty Curmudgeon this week. There were an understandable number of hits from people wanting info on Gene Scott, a less understandable run on "God's perfect will," and a last-minute attempt by someone to search for Michael Menkin, a literal tinfoil-hat guru. Googling crusty finds us in 5th place this week, though Google is still ignoring what's between the <title /> tags for some reason. Well, whatever. Enjoy.

Canada Reads followup

You wouldn't think that a silly literary contest run by the CBC once a year would have the effect it does.

Over the last week, I have seen people all over the place reading shortlisted books: Volkswagen Blues on the bus, Rockbound in the mall, everywhere.

I just put my name on the waiting list for Rockbound at the library. I am 158th in line. (I might actually get to read it this year.) Not at all bad for a book that was shrouded in obscurity only a few weeks ago.

And now . . . this - Mar. 1/05

Fortunately he landed on his head, and not a vital organ

From - you guessed it - Floriduh:

Teenagers in Orlando, Fla., are leaping between 80-foot high public parking garages in a new trend called "garage jumping," according to a Local 6 News investigation.

Local 6 News reported that the thrill seekers are vaulting themselves between garages in downtown Orlando.

Tim Bargfrede told Local 6 News that he was following friends when he attempted to garage jump and did not make it to the other side. Bargfrede fell six stories and was knocked unconscious on impact.

Marginally stupider than the kid is the family lawyer, Vincent D'Assaro:

D'Assaro is filing a lawsuit against the city of Orlando and the private garage owner for making little effort to correct a potential deadly risk.

"There was a very, very short length of fence that was completely ineffective in preventing this from happening," D'Assaro said.

[Full Story]

After all, kids these days need to be protected from themselves, being too dim to understand why you shouldn't jump off tall buildings.

And these people want to get to the moon?

An Indian teenager from one of the country's most backward states appears to have fooled governments, the media and even the president into believing he had topped the world in a NASA science exam. . . .

The Uttar Pradesh state government rewarded him with a 500,000 rupee ($11,500) prize and more than 100 members of the state's upper house each donated a day's salary to him.

But as he was at the president's official residence awaiting an audience during the week, his story unraveled.

[Full Story]

Mmm hmm. And what clued you in first?

An Indian news portal, rediff.com, contacted NASA, which denied any knowledge of the exam.

And your second clue?

The certificate, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters, declared "You are the member of NASA" (sic) and is signed by Singh and "Chief of NASA, Cin K. Kif" -- NASA's former administrator was Sean O'Keefe. It also lists the name of Singh's father, common practice in Indian documents.

Mmm hmm . . .

Singh says he flew to London on Indian Airlines -- which does not fly to the city -- and took a taxi to Oxford University and back every day for the exam from January 4-8, a round trip of about 230 km (140 miles).

How interesting. Go on . . .

Singh told Reuters he stayed in a hotel, but told a Hindi language newspaper he stayed at Buckingham Palace.

You can't make this stuff up.

Draw thy tool!

A man threatened his neighbors with a sword after they complained about him being naked in his front yard, police said. Curtis D. Rarick, 44, was charged with assault while displaying a dangerous weapon.

[Full Story]

The neighbours were just envious. Yeah, that's it.

Na na na na, hey hey, Auf Wiedersehen

As Canadian authorities prepared to deport Holocaust denier Ernst Zundel back to his native Germany, authorities there said Monday he faces arrest on charges of inciting racial hatred upon his return.

Zundel, author of "The Hitler We Loved and Why," has been held in a Toronto jail for two years while authorities determined whether he posed a security risk to Canadian society.

Federal Court Justice Pierre Blais ruled last Friday that Zundel's activities were a threat to national security and "the international community of nations."

Zundel's attorney Peter Lindsay said his client would not appeal and was expected to be deported as early as Tuesday. Immigration officials did not return calls regarding the timing and details of the deportation.

[Full Story]

Good riddance to bad rubbish. And take the hard hat with you.

(H/T: Religion News Blog.)