I was rather surprised by the following news bite from the Washington Post:

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit that called for milk sold in the District to carry a warning label for people who are lactose intolerant.

The suit, filed by an organization that promotes vegetarian diets, asserted that Giant, Safeway and other local distributors of dairy products had been negligent in not warning consumers of the potential effects of dairy products on people who are lactose intolerant.

The suit was filed in D.C. Superior Court last fall by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine and was subsequently transferred to U.S. District Court.

U.S. District Judge Henry H. Kennedy Jr. ruled that federal law on food labeling would preclude the action that the plaintiffs were seeking in the District.

Wait a minute. They failed to label milk so the lactose-intolerant could avoid it? Milk? Um, it’s milk. Even if someone with a sensitivity has no idea what lactose is or what other products it might be in, they know it’s in milk. Am I missing something here? Why should there be a warning on milk? The name of the group is misleading too, because PCRM sure seems to focus a lot on food and animal testing ethics - it’s like a kinder, gentler PETA that’s pretending to be a medical organization. I’m sure they have doctors on staff, and I’m sure their tactics are much more sane than PETA’s methods, but…they’re not really focusing on what they purport to be about. But anyway…milk? We have to tell the lactose-intolerant to avoid milk?

I was participating in a forum thread about the phone calls that were made from Flight 93 on 9/11, and I had the opportunity to give my opinion on the conspiracy theories relating to those calls. I figured I’d share on my own site, too. The “fascinating link” is one that I presented following a simple Google search.
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I am a little surprised by the furor over the Afghani man who is facing the death penalty for converting to Christianity. His situation reminds me a lot of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, the opposition for which is the belief that individuals should be able to be themselves. The Afghani man could certainly say “okay, okay, I’ll be a Muslim” and then continue to believe whatever he wants, inside. But the American response is that he should be free to be a Christian if he wants. Well, guess what, folks - gay soldiers should be allowed to be gay without having to pretend they’re straight or anything else they want to be.

But the conservatives won’t make the connection. They support this man’s freedom to be an “out” Christian because Christianity is a good thing. Homosexuality, on the other hand, is a bad thing - and so gay people shouldn’t be allowed to be out.

There was a thread in the CourtTV.com Karla Homolka section called Question for D.V survivors. The vitriol in that thread really shocked me. This topic might be kind of sensitive for some people, so I’m going to hide part of this post.
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I was catching up on some old reading and read the Washington Post magazine article The Red Sea. A lot of it was disturbing to me, because of things like two of the most prominent high-rises in Oklahoma City lighting their windows at night in the shape of a cross. But this quote amused me:

“I’m proud to say we’re against the Lion’s Den [an adult store in Abilene], and that we don’t like that kind of pornography.” He shouldn’t have to wonder how to explain to his granddaughters what goes on next door.

So, Mr. Bruce Owen, what kind of pornography do you like?

I heard on the radio this morning that the man who caused the train wreck in California will be charged with murder. I can’t help but wonder if this is appropriate - murder indicates premeditation, and he almost certainly couldn’t have known that another train would be passing, the freight car would be there, etc. Shouldn’t he be getting charged with manslaughter?

Regardless of what the appropriate charges are, I bet he wishes he’d stayed in the vehicle now. His life is going to get a lot worse than it already must have been.

So it’s pretty much common knowledge now that there’s a video circulating of a Marine shooting an Iraqi in Fallujah. I saw the clip on TV last night, and I have no problem with the Marine making the decision himself. Not all of the details are known, of course, but for the most part I’m fine with his following his gut reaction. Those of us sitting over here on our asses have no fucking idea what was going through that Marine’s head. We cannot put ourselves in his shoes; we simply do not know his situation. So what right do we have to judge him?

I’ve heard rumors about what happened: supposedly the Marine was shot in the face the day before, or maybe he’d watched a buddy die a few hours prior to the incident; and I’ve heard rumors about why: the Iraqi was reaching for a detonator on his belt, or maybe he’d pulled a gun. But we don’t know. I regret the potentially unnecessary loss of life, I regret the investigation that the Marine is going to be forced through, I agree that it was a tragedy…but we should not judge this Marine.

Disclaimer: I am well aware that this post could be controversial; that’s part of why I published it: to get people thinking and spark discussion. It’s just a thought that came to me and I wrote about it quickly. I have not thought out the whole argument, and my mind can be changed.

I used to go to 7-11 around once a week for coffee on my way to work. I haven’t done that in a long time, but I went twice in the past week. I happened to notice that they are doing something very silly with their styrofoam cups: the 7-Eleven 7-Election. In addition to the regular 7-11 logo cups, they have a few election-specific cups available. You can choose one that endorses Bush/Cheney, one that endorses Kerry/Edwards, or one that specifically states No Opinion; the guidelines for that include that it’s for undecided voters, too. The first time I went, I had already poured my coffee into a 7-11 logo cup when I noticed these, and I wasn’t about to swap it out for a Kerry cup. The second time I went, I brought my own coffee mug, and something occurred to me: that’s what Green Party supporters must be expected to do. They’re almost saying “Bring your own damn mug, you hippies!”

As unscientific as the 7-Election is, I would get a Kerry cup if I had the opportunity. Just because it’s silly.

In the wake of Hurricane Ivan, the entire island of Grenada has been nearly destroyed. I visited Grenada in April 2003, and had a wonderful time there. The last major hurricane to damage the island was a few years previously (can’t find the exact storm, even through the Caribbean Hurricane Network), but Grenada had rebuilt successfully by the time I was there. They’re back to square one now, though, with reports of an island in ruins and 90% of homes destroyed. It seems I may never get the recipe for pumpkin ravioli as served by the Brown Sugar Restaurant. I wish the people of Grenada much luck in their rebuilding efforts.

Usually I am amused by the wording of news reports from India, as they tend to use English at a lower professional standard than is used by western news outlets. This time, though, the story (USA-L News archive here) is so appalling that I can’t even bring myself to be entertained by the language. Four men (referred to in the article as “goons” and “rowdies”) invaded the home of a deaf couple, woke up the family, and raped the 10-year-old daughter in front of the parents. The article indicates that the parents were mute and had no way to alert the neighbors, and while it’s rare that a deaf person cannot produce any sound, perhaps they live in an isolated area. What’s horrifying is that “[medical] tests confirmed that she was raped and organs in the lower portions of the body were mutilated almost beyond repair” (emphasis added). How the hell do you mutilate somebody that severely by raping them?! They’re not rowdies, they’re fucking savages.

In another current story from the Times of India, a girl was murdered by her family after her brother raped her repeatedly and she became pregnant by him. Apparently they killed her to defend the family’s honor. This happens so often I’m surprised it made the news; maybe the incest aspect is a new angle.