Porn Sites get a Domain Address

Reuters (and others) are reporting on ICANN's (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) move to include .xxx as a domain name specifically assigned to pornographic content. First off, this is an idea I have advocated for the last half decade or longer, before (I believe) this was ever even considered. I can hear some of you out there asking me for proof (figuratively, of course). Well, if I find some post, blog, or message board comment I have made a long time ago regarding this issue, it will be posted here immediately. Regardless, it's a good move with one caveat: forced migration. ICANN must force sites with pornographic content to move to the .xxx domain without exception. The beauty of the .xxx domain name is that it allows for filters to work more efficiently. This is not the same as censorship. The availability of pornography on the internet, in a society that allows for that content as free speech, is not being infringed upon. Rather, it is being placed in an area that allows for easier controls to be put into place much like those already existing in "real space" aka brick & mortar locations. Without ICANN forcing sites to move off .com and into .xxx, we'll simply see a doubling of the available porn site addresses (think : www.hypotheticalpornsite.com AND www.hypotheticalpornsite.xxx)*.


*As of this posting, these sites may not actually exist. I assume that they do not, but I'm sure that any address with "porn" in its name has most likely been bought. The point is, the domain names in my example are exactly what they say: hypothetical.

"Revenge of the Sith" Breaking Corporate Banks?

This article from the Washington Times exclaims that:

Challenger Gray & Christmas, a Chicago outplacement firm, estimated that 51 percent of people attending opening day would be full-time workers, costing employers as much as $627 million in lost productivity.

This same type of bogus information was passed around during the previous Star Wars films and during the Lord of the Rings films. The fact is, the majority of employers offer sick days or some other for of leave to their employees. This "cost" of $627 million in lost productivity fails to take that fact into account. If every person who skipped work to see Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith had used up all of his or her sick days or personal leave days, then we would see these soaring costs of lost productivity that had not already been accounted for in employment packages/arrangements.

Having said that, I'll see you in line on Wednesday night.

PS- What does this have to do with progressive Christianity or politics? How about relating it to the economy? Or, wait, everyone knows God loves Star Wars. Yeah, that's the ticket.
May The Force Be With You.

My Ecological Impact

I try to live an ecologically sound life. I have now been put in my place. Even as I answered the various questions at MyFootprint.org, I knew that my results would be off from what I wanted to believe they would be. Granted, my "footprint" on the environment is smaller than the average American's, however I still use more than I regularly lead myself to believe. Here's are my results below, check out the site and see how you fair.


My ecological footprint.

Bourgeois? Bohemian? Bobo? I just thought I was a hippie...

Does the Birkenstock Fit?

*This was sitting in my account as a draft, so I'm just going to make it a real post. I'm still alive, and hopefully I'll start posting again soon.

Pope John Paul II

During a time when the world grieves, leaders make many speeches in regards to the Pope's passing. Let us not forget that the Pope strongly opposed the Iraq War and any doctrine of preemptive military action.

My thoughts and prayers are with our Catholic brothers and sisters during this time of loss.

American Empire Rising

"Mr Wolfowitz, a lifelong academic and diplomat with no direct experience of the financial world, is an incendiary figure in international circles because he has consistently pushed for an end to the US doctrine of containment in international affairs and believes the United States has the right to take pre-emptive action wherever it sees fit and extend what he has called a "benevolent hegemony" over the rest of the world."

From The Independent comes the disturbing sequel to my previous entry, "If Only This Were..."

It is beyond my comprehension that men bent on creating an antagonistic empire out of the United States continue to be placed (or nominated/suggested) for such positions as they have been recently. Paul Wolfowitz believes that it is in the US's best interest and duty to violently suppress any country that could possibly cause any trouble for our position as the world's leading superpower. Mr. Wolfowitz's vision will now extend to, not only bloody battlefields, but a starnglehold on nations' pocketbooks. This is not a gut reaction based on fear and loathing of the Neoconservative agenda, but a reaction stemming from the cry of justice through a compassionate God who loathes the oppression of human beings, whether it be physical our monetary. The fear that rises now is that this will be no mere sequel, but a saga of epic proportions with disastorous repercussions.

If Only This Were Just A Cruel Joke...

Slate.com has an article regarding Bush appointing John Bolton as ambassador to the U.N. What I find more interesting is that I was surprised that Bush would knowingly appoint an individual who despises the U.N. to actually serve as an ambassador to the U.N. This move is akin to appointing a grand wizard in the KKK to head up a race-relations committee: Bolton doesn't just want to reform the U.N., he wants to see it dismantled entirely. Bolton asserts that there is no such thing as good international law, and that the only purpose of international law is to, ultimately, restrict the U.S. There is no possible way that Bolton, with the current issues involving Iraq, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, and North Korea, can serve in this position while acting on behalf of the best interest of the United States and a peaceful yet firm coexistence with the rest of the world. It should come as no surprise that the majority of our foreign allies and acquaintances responded to this move as if it were an insult.