People ar people

While we try to keep our mind out of the gutter and go for something that elevates the spirit, we are humans and we will fail.
So we fail.I suppose the trick, as in all things, is not to fall too low in the said gutter. After all, we have our limits. On the other hand, some people will be willing - will want to try anything at least once. So why not - if it is among consenting adults and nobody gets hurt. Prohibiting something only makes it worse. As with the Catholic Church and its famed Index. As with the U.S. and the Prohibition (and all the Al Capones who became filthy rich). And as with certain laws about which the now deceased Pierre E. Trudeau, former Prime Minister of Canada said that the government had nothing to do in the bedrooms of the nation. What adults do behind closed doors is theirs business.
So exploring is good but the dangers are great - not to your soul, that's another problem - but to your health if you dont protect yourself properly. So enjoy - with care.

Religious blinders

Again, Islam is not the only religion-cum-political system with blinders. The Catholic Church seems to prefer to pay off huge court settlements to priests/pedophile's victims and ignore the real problems Or rather, the real "state" of human nature.
Humansat large do not choose what religion they're born into. And it's not by prohibiting, say, homosexuality, or deny that it exists that it will go away.. Other form of sexual "crimes" are even more insiduous. A few years ago in Montreal a young man (of muslim heritage) was (eventually) found guily of rape. His defence was that he was not guilty of rape. To put it delicately, he'd not "deflowered" the girl, he'd simply sodomized her. An acceptable thing in his culture (apparently) because she was still a vigin (in a manner of speaking) when he was done with her.. She could pass the virginity test anytime with flying colors.
Hypocrisy prevails. We are all so pure.
Again, I want to see a splinter group within this Islamic stuff. A "Protestant" Islamic section as it were, A guiding light without the extremism.
Peacr. Not Iran, not Irak, notSaudi-Arabia or North Africa.
Just peace.
And leave your Burkas behind, please.

Sects, sects, sects.

Actually, all religions, big and small, are nothing but sects which succeeded and grew. Others remain marginal while a bunch of even smaller ones simply whither and die. The present day Catholic Church has a pretty tight grip all around and "protestant" groups in its midst are excommunicated quickly enough. But they exist and are trying to make this Church move foward. Of course, the Catholic Church itself will die before changing any of its principles or softening any of its rules . So they're losing members by droves and people at large don't care.
The Protestant Church comprises too many groups to mention. But ideas fly and there is an open-mindedness in many of its groups including the Anglican Church.
The history of Judaism is full of all sorts of groups, sub-groups and left wing and right wing "orthodox " crowds . A world in motion.
The only group seemingly stuck in the Darkest of the Dark Ages is Islam. Sunnis and Shiites battling it out. Nice religion. No central core, no Central Entity to guide the crowd. Oh, I suppose one could say that the Wahhabites, Extremists to the core, represent some kind of ideal. But lets remember that the Saudi Royal family belongs to this group. Draw your own conclusions.
Anybody can guide - anybody can be an Imam. All is needed is that he has the support of his peers, of those who seek his advice. no special training, nothing. Or he can have an exceptiona memory, become an hafiz (a muslim who knows the Koran by heart) and perhaps be considered to be "The Next One".
Perhaps what is needed is a new sort of Imam who, regardless of the consequences will rise up adapt his (or, yes, her) teachings to the modern world and guide his flock along an equally righteous road.. Teahchings will allow adaptations to a new world while keeping the best - and most charitable of the old.

Moderation

Somewaht of an example for Islam to follow might be Turkey. The Turkey of Mustafa Kemal, a.k.a. Ataturk (1881-1938) who laicised the government. So Turkey sits astride East and West, wishing to keep the old traditions and yet join the European Community. A lot of work remains to be done (and the Kurds will have to be respected) but one gets the feeling that Turkey is more "appoachable" than, say, Iran and the Ayatollahs (who the heck are they to tell you what to think and how to act?). heir revolution was certainly a huge regression towards the bowels of hell. May Allah have pity on everybody if those idiots get their hands on an atomic bomb.

Islam, religion of love

Tell me about it. Sunni versus Shiites. A lovefest that's been lasting forever and intensified in Baghdad recently It's enough to want to bring back Saddam Hussein and a semblance of order.
Sunnis versus Shiites. They're over there. At home. And now they're coming here. All insulted and demanding excusues because of some caricatures because, seemingly, the Koran prohibits representations of Muhhammed. Meanwhile other academics (muslims and well-versed in the subject) say that's hogwash and that nothing in the Koran says any such thing.
Islam, to me, is more a symbol of aggression, intolerance and extremism. Just take a look at the little footage we get of Mecca during the pilgrimage. Total craziness. Total disregard for others and thus dozens and dozens of deaths every time. It's so uplifting to see such religious zeal. And when this religious zeal blends in with everyday life, how can it not affect it?
In a manner, I couldn't care less what they do to (and with) each other "over there" but all the hatred and the intolerance in the land of Allah and what remains of the caliphates cannot be brought over here in a muslim's baggage. But it is. It's ingrained. It's in the DNA; and rather that adapt to the Societal Norms of the host country, they keep to the rigidity of their homeland (to wit: the extremist who killed the cineast Van Gogh and added that he would gladly do it again).
It's a total mystery. To see women get away from Islamic controlled lands and still bow down to those rigid rules is rather scary. But what faith. I remember riding the bus from work on that fateful September 11 and seeing a woman wearing her scarf. As if, as a muslim person, she wasn't concerned at all. Total faith. Or totally idiotic. France has decided to ban those scarfs in public schools. They should be banned entirely - as a first step towards a sort of modernization of Islam, a "religion" of War, Extremism and Fratricidal Hatred

Horoscope

Reading that stuff is like buying a little bit of hope. True hardly anybody will admit to reading these short pieces in the newspaper, but every one of those skeptics will know his or her astrological sign.
Strange, isn't it? So I'm a Capricorn, whatever that means and I never went further than that in my study of this sign in particular or of the astrological field in general.
But this area of study works for some people who make a very lucrative return out of predicting the future. As it's been said before, a sucker is born every day. Yes, we're all suckers for hope, good news and a bright tomorrow.

Reincarnation

A matter of cultural belief. I suppose what you come back as is a bit of a lottery. And is possibly based on what kind of life you lived prior to your departure. A concept offering hope to the masses and why not if it offers the prospects of a better life as a reward to the deserving and as a just punishment to those who were rats on two legs and come back as real four-legged ones.
Justice.
As for me, once around will be enough. As for what's on the other side - hey, if humans couldn't share this globe peacefully, why would they share Heaven any differently?

Backward, Ho!

Walking down the street in Montreal, I saw this Islamic couple, the lady(?) wearing one of those full-face veils. Slits for the eyes, that's it.
We're not in Kandahar here.
Amazing how we can be so stupid. We think we can encourage people to come over here and think they'll just sort of blend in. That the women will throw away the veil and kiss the ground upon their arrival. And yet, here they were, husband pushing the baby stroller, the lady holding her husband's arm. No obvious "slavery" here, just a cultural thing. And so bloody scary.
Why? Is it the usual fear of the unknown? Is it because of their apparent disregard for the ways of the (New) World? Is it because their religion entertwines with their lives while we relegated much of that religious nonsense to the trashbin of history?
Or because we fear that they feel so right about their world and disregard our ways, knowing that, in the long run, theirs will prevail.
If the full-face veils are here, fanaticism cannot be far behind. That's that scary part.

K.I.S.S.

That was the hugely successful entrepreneur's secret. Keep It Simple Stupid. It's not a bad rule of life either. Routine may be a dirty word for some people who like excitement and constant change, but then, it's ind of difficult to make anything grow properly when it's transplanted all the time.
Routine and discipline. It's like taking a time-out from all the craziness which surrounds us. And it doesnt mean that you're in a rut, or that you're against possible change in the future. It simply means that you'll have a certain control over it. Unless (and until) you get caught in one of life's whirlwind.

So Easy

So easy to get on that downward spiralif we forget about self-discipline. Nowadays it's rare that people will keep a job for twenty, thirty years. More like five, if that much. No matter how the end comes, from downsizing, to factory shut-down, to getting fired or quitting outright, it's easy to wallow in self-pity after a while.
The desire to sleep-in, catch-up on the Zzzzs, postpone the job search for a bit and letr it slide. o easy to become a slob. Actually, such a period may have a positive point to it if it doesn't last forever, if the time is taken for a "time-out" and lead to some sort of soul searching and new career outlook as well as a new outlook on life.
Out of the rat race, smaller income but more free time. More time to spend with your loved ones. More time to enjoy your life. So let things slide for a while, it's OK. But don't forget to keep your eyes on the road.

Guns, Guns, Guns.

What exactly is the purpose of a gun except to kill? You have one around, somebody's gonna have an itchy trigger finger.
A couple of years ago, an American weekly ran a special with 365 pictures, each one representing a child killed during the previous year by someone using a gun. Mainly accidents (children playing with guns - found in a shoe box, in a closet, found under the bed, the sink, whatever).
When it's not the children, it's rival gangs, it's an unhappy co-worker, it's a couple of high-school students who've had it up to here. And it's not because you ban certain weapons or impose severe controls that they're going to disappear. Law-abiding citizens will play by the rules. Bandits, truants and anarchists couldn't care less about rules and will always find ways to get them.
Guns in the house. Nothing good ever comes out of that stuff.

And the Catholic Church

We're told that the last pope, John Paul II, did not wish to resign - even though quite physically incapable of running the Church because a) he was chosen by God and b) it would set a bad precedent.
He was not selected byGod, but rather by a college of his peers. And the sight of this feeble old man who'd done so much for the Church and been such a tower of strength was pitiful. He shopuld have resigned - with all due honors.
He was one of the good ones. When you read the history of the Church you discover just too many things to make you believe for long. That bible stuff is a bit of a fairy tale for adults. And too many Robed Ones have forgotten its precepts and teachings. Of course, imposing chastity forever on a member of the clergy is a farce. There are some basic biological functions - and needs - which will not be denied. Hence, hypocrisies, atrocities and abuse of power.
I don't know which is the worst. But if one of the tenets is "go forth and multiply", isn't there something weird with the Church's hard line on celibacy?

Church versus State

I think that one of the problems of muslims in the West is that they do not understand the principle of Church and State being two different entities. Around this part of the world, freedom of religion applies to everybody.
Freedom of religion. You do not impose yours on me. Around here we have freedom of speech and freedom of expression. And that applies to irreverent cartoons, the likes of which appeared in the Danish newspaper Jyllands Posten in September. Islam is definitely too rigid.
Nobody is prohibited from visiting Rome and the Vatican. Nobody is prohibited from visiting Canterbury Cathedral. But if you're not muslim, if you're a "non-believer", you'll never set foot in Mecca.
That shows such a tremendous openness to the world, and promotes such friendship between fellow men. Such openness. Outsiders to the muslim world will be shot, beheaded, blown to pieces, held hostages for ever. Yes, Islam is a religion of love, peace and tolerance.

Must be the winter blues.

All those dark thoughts and depressing subject matters. It must be the dead of winter. So dark and the days so short. This is not a time when you want to do overtime or stay indoors on a beautiful day.
You want to go for a long walk, or get your skates or your skis. Whatever. Get some air into your lungs and some sunshine into your brain. This world is dark enough as it is. Anything to enliven the spirit. A good dose of humor helps too. Get the paper, read the comics. And try not to look too serious while doing it.

Suicide

To be or not to be. That is the question.
Some people would say it takes an extremely deranged person to implement such a drastic and final courase of action. Others would rather say that it takes a tremendous amount of courage to jump off of that cliff. It is known that there are young men who join the ranks of the military in the hope that they will go to war and get killed. And get posthumous medals of valor in the process. It's not written on their forehead but it's a reality.
Sometimes it's a suicide pact between lovers.
Or, for some religious groups, it's a quick ticket to heaven.
Motivations vary, the reasons many, the result quite the same. They'll get the final answer before we do.

Tattoos

An anchor on Popeye's arm is one thing. Soldiers, sailors. Goons. bandits. The usual stuff. The good, the bad and the ugly. But nowadays even young ladies sport them. It's Body Art. Different designs, from the exclusive to the usual (dolphin, cute devil) and that same ugly shade of grey-ish, blue-ish tone and possibly a touch of some ugly sort of red.
Body Art.
Some people really go all out, covering pretty much every inch of space on their body with some piece of "art". Including the face. At twenty it's ugly (and scary) enough. Imagine that at eighty and toothless.
It's some kind of statement. It sure is.