Church n' State

There must be no intersection of religious law and state/federal law. I do not elect priests and imams. They do not make resource decisions for me. I do not pay them my taxes. They do not enforce my laws.

I reject and ignore sharia law, and any other religious laws. I do not recognize any religions as having any place in my life. The secular state is vital - and supporting and solidifying the secular state is THE ONLY MEANS by which any religion can hope to avoid future religious persecution! Only a non-partisan, non-religious organization can provide impartial arbitration and resource management amongst people of varying (or no) religion.

Religious people should pray long and hard for the survival and thriving of the secular state; or woe to them when the forces of persecution and prejudice come knocking on their door!

Speaking of prayer... Superdelegates!

They're now saying that superdelegates are likely going to decide the Democratic nomination. This fills me with dread. My fear is that if the people are not allowed to choose their delegate, the clueless Washington insiders will just elevate Hillary the Unelectable Insider to the candidacy, and we can say hello to President McCain and total Republican hegemony, and pretty much just let the events in Dan Goldman's graphic novel "Shooting War" come to pass.

If that happens, I'm going to very seriously consider moving to Europe (probably UK). My skills are very portable, and it would be pretty awesome to be earning pounds instead of dollars.

Parents: PLEASE FOR MY SAKE, please find out what the deal is with Italian dual citizenship. Finish taking whatever steps you were taking to make that happen. We're talking about my future here.

Amy Winehouse - who cares?

I bought "Back To Black" today, spurred by the Grammy win of Ms. W. And I like soulful female vocalists, so I figured: why not?

Turns out I don't care for any of the album beyond "Rehab". And listening to the other tracks makes me think that she doesn't really have that much talent - she's all hype and gossip. In fact, I'm half sure that her music and her entire persona is totally manufactured. Her sound is too demographically targeted... it hits R&B and baby boomer sensibilities, yet her antics also make her extra appealing to retro loving snort-coke-in-the-bathroom hipsters.

I'll take Fiona Apple over her any day of the week.

SPORE release date!!

I need to live to see this Winter. Spore is being released on September 7th!!

Ms. Gau is home

Gau has returned, and is in high spirits (perhaps due to his painkillers). He's got to go in tomorrow morning again to get an IV shunt removed, and possibly get another catheter if he doesn't pee here at home tonight.

His entire butt is shaved - like a reverse poodle. There's basically just a large bloody stitch going from his anus to his lower belly, and everything that was there is gone. He used to have a furry little sack, but all his junk has now been taken away. That bit was a little unexpected, I thought he'd at least get to keep that; now all his genetic material is gone. Cloning will be the only option for more Gaus!!

He was laying on me earlier, purring happily, so I guess my fears of him changing personality were unfounded. Now he just needs to recover, and all will be well.

Also, the bill came out to be half what I was expecting, so that's a little bit of good news too.