Nonalignment pact

I continue to note with amusement the ads that google picks for me, based on the content of my posts. Alas, I'm now reading in that little box up above that it's not "easy to be a Christian" - which is especially true for me, since I'm a devout agnostic - and that if I'll just click the link, I'll learn what it means to "follow Jesus" in today's world.

Well, I'll leave that to others, though I can admit to a little curiosity. However, I refuse to capitulate - even to Satan. I'd love to have a beer with him, though, and Jesus is welcome to join in. (As long as there's no presumption of sex - unless Satan has retained his dastardly ability to appear in human female form, in which case it might be worth taking the plunge.)

I could make a plea for my readers to click through the ads, since I ostensibly make 12 or 16 cents for each one (never mind the odds of my reaching the $100 minimum for google to actually pay me are minimal at best). But I'd just as soon have people stay safely here on my cozy little blog, where there are no worries that they'll be in danger of unwittingly submitting to the predations of messianic reformers who want to fuck with their minds. We've got enough trouble in the world.

Speaking of trouble, Robert Fisk has a nice column in the UK Independent on how the U.S. got its just desserts with the election of Hamas in Palestine, like so many colonizers and meddling western governments in the past. You actually have to be a subscriber to the Independent to read the whole article there, but truthout has reprinted it in full, as they're wont to do.

And probing around for the Hamas article, I came across Fisk's intriguing review of Steven Spielberg's film Munich at this site, which makes me want to see the film more than ever. ("Munich suggests for the first time on the big screen that Israel's policy is immoral.") A few spoilers in the review, though, so tread carefully.

BTW, "Nonalignment Pact" was a b-side from around the time That Petrol Emotion released their amazing 1986 debut album, Manic Pop Thrill, which still holds a prominent place in my collection. Find a copy now, before it's too late.