Whenever there is an outbreak of Muslim related violence, you start hearing about all the god, moderate Muslims out there. Yea, I'm sure there are plenty. There are also plenty of Americans out there that aren't murderers, but that doesn't mean we just stop trying to prevent murder, or punish those who do commit murder. I'm tired of hearing people defend Islam like it's only a few bad seeds that are causing problems and it has nothing to do with the religion itself. Somehow that seems to ignore the fact that the interior of the Islamic world is full of violence, despair, despotism, and the borders of the Islamic world are full of violence against non-Muslims. It's a pretty clear indictment of Muslim culture, if not the tenets of the religion itself.

Whether or not you want to admit it, it is a clear fact supported by actual proveable evidence that most of the warlike violence occuring on this planet involves Muslims killing other Muslims or non-Muslims. Maybe there is a connection there?

Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne wrote about the Pope today, and said the Pope should have thought more before talking about Islam. He goes on to say that the Pope failed to mention the violence that had previously erupted from Christianity. I fail to understand what relevance 500 year old violence has on today? The Pope was talking about now, not centuries ago, and now Islam is the religion running around killing people in the name of God. Not Christianity, not Judaism, no the Shintos. Islam. Dionne also says that we should open up a real dialogue with Islam instead of criticizing them, because criticism such as the Pope's is not constructive. Umm... Does that mean Mr. Dionne should stop criticizing George Bush? His criticisms haven't done anything. Maybe he should open up a dialogue with the President. Why doesn't Dionne ever go after all the people who criticize any person or group for any reason instead of opening up a dialogue? Why doesn't he ask the Palestinians to open a dialogue with Israel instead of the other way around?

Simple answer. He's a hypocrite, and is quick to distrust the motives of anyone whose desired future aligns in any matter with that of the current administration.

I'm at the first real day of my internship. I'm not sure how much I want to reveal about what I'm doing on here, not that it's a big secret, but until I really get in to it, I just don't want to say anything stupid.

If you're wondering why I'm blogging instead of working, it's because my "boss" isn't here, and without some feedback on what I've been working on, I'm sort of stuck. Luckily hours are pretty flexible and informal, so I'll take my leave for the day soon, and spend some time refining my work at home, assuming I get some feedback soon.

Ever since the first time I read the story of Theseus and the minotaur, way back in 5th grade, I've been fascinated by Greek mythology. Over the next several years I discovered that it wasn't really Greek mythology I loved, but myth and folklore in general. The heroism, the historical settings, the epic natures of such stories appealed to me in a visceral manner, and I have always wanted to create my own.

When J.R.R. Tolkien first began to write the epic sagas that became the background and heart of his famou epic, The Lord of the Rings, his stated goal was to create a mythology for the people of Britain. In this he succeeded, probably beyond what he had ever imagined. Were he alive today, I can't help but think he would be flabbergasted by the reach his stories have attained.

What is the new mythology, and what is the mythology of the United States? Until recently, I would have limited my response to Babe Ruth, to Paul Bunyan, Mark Twain, bits of folklore and history that have been told and retold to where everyone who grows up in culture is familiar with the stories at some level, even if they do not consciously realize where those stories came from. This morning I read that something that changed my view on the subject. The United States has a very vibrant, very dynamic mythology that is far more complex to anything seen before, and suits our society in a way standard myth cycles like the Olympian Gods and their stories never could.

What is this new folklore and where is it coming? Video games, and its becoming more and more prevelant. When I see a story about a guy who got his mom to create a giant wall-hanging tapestry of Link from Zelda holding his sword ready to strike, I see folklore. When I hear of people playing a live-action game of pac-man on the streets of New York, I see people reenacting a story retold over and over again in their childhood, and still affecting their personalities into adulthood.

No, our new mythology will never be standardized like the Greek myths, there are too many stories, too many influences, too many points of view for that to ever happen. Maybe in 1000 years when anthropologists study our culture they will force-feed our dynamic new folklore into a systematic cycle, but in contemporary times these stories and influences reflect the chaos of our culture in a fitting manner, and I will enjoy observing and studying this new paradigm as it evolves and chages over the years.

I'm sure most people over 30 who are reading this are poo-pooing it, but that's where the generation gap comes in to play. Those of us who grew up with video games will knows exactly what I am talking about. I don't care if you were a jock, a geek, or a goth kid in high school, if you were a kid in the 90's then you are at least familiar with the stories Link, of Metroid, and of Mario, and those names will resonate with you for the rest of your life.

Back again to Darfur. Just read that within the last two weeks a Red Cross ambulance was fired upon and the driver killed while in the Sudan. Yet there is almost no coverage of this from any news media, except of course from right wing bloggers. The dichotomy between the complete lack of coverage on this killing, and the extreme coverage of the Red Cross ambulance that was allegedly shot at by Israelis (which they deny) is just one more example of the double standard Israel and Jews are held to. The only real surprise is that no one has doctored the photo of the Darfur ambulance to make it look like Israel did it.

I also read an article from a European paper about how anti-Muslim "incidents" are on the rise in the U.S. and that Americans are more and more prejudiced against Muslims. Then I looked at some other facts, and saw that of reported hate crimes in the US last year, 12.6% were anti-Muslim. 62% were anti-Jewish. Why no article about how hate crime against Jews continues unabated? The apathy towards Jews is really starting to worry me. I can only hope that at some point the good people of the world will realize which group seeks only peace and prosperity, and which seeks death and domination, and that thoe good people will make the right choice.

Remember Darfur? It's that city in the Sudan that was such a hot topic of humanitarianism a couple of years ago, but since Bush wasn't involved, most of the left has decided to ignore it. Now the "African Union" force that was there to try to keep the peace is going to pulling out, and the slaughter will begin anew. In the interim the rapes, kidnappings, and murders were very prevelant, but now we can get back to good old genocide.

The Iraq debacle can't even hold a candle to what's going on in and around Darfur, but few people seem to care, the U.N. included. In fact, about the only people that ever talk about Darfur anymore are right wing bloggers. Unfortunately the fact that someone like Glenn Reynolds thinks it's important to prevent mass slaughter of innocents in Africa means that many people who identify themselves with the left are going to ignore the issue. You see, many people (not all, or hopefully even most) care much more about defeating Bush than actually helping anyone, and since Bush has had very little to do with Darfur, there's no real point in talking about it. There's also the fact that the U.N. was supposed to take care of the situation there. In this day when the U.N. is supposed to be the wise peacemaker of the world, it does not help the left's political agenda to point out the U.N.'s complete and total failure to prevent mass slaughter that approaches genocide, which, by the way, was one of the primary purposes of the U.N. when it was first created.

Again, not all the left is so careless about who and what they support. The problem is that the people on the left who are more about doing the right thing and helping people, and only care about defeating Bush because they think it would make the owrld a better place are marching hand in hand with groups like Hezbollah and Hamas. When you have the same goals as an avowed terrorist organization, then maybe you should rethink your priorities. A person can dislike Bush and the US involvement in Iraq without holding hands with terrorists, communist groups, and other anti-American folks, yet too many people seem to find that the best and easiest route to getting their voices heard.