Silliness and seriouness, all mixed together

[misscam]

*hits Livejournal with a trout for having to retype her whole entry*

Me and bro at discussing free will, leading to:

Bro: "...therefore, if you accept that all humans are a result of what is around them and genes, you really cannot hate them. Not even Bush and Rumsfeld."

Me: (Beat) "I can agree with the philosphical argument of that and still hate them on a purely personal level. Think of it as a hobby."

(And off we go on whether or not there is such a thing as free will.)

The whole discussion actually started with an article I read to him about creationists in the US. Apparently, there's this museum in San Diego which teaches the Bible's creation as a scientific fact and show "proof" for this (and how only bad, bad men like Hitler and Stalin believes in evolution). Which is rather mind-boggling to us, I'm afraid.

(Bro and me are still at it while watching FotR.)

Me: "I mean, is *truly free will* about making random choices? Otherwise... Oh, Boromir's about to die."

(Silence as we watch Boromir die. Poor Boromir.)

Me: "You know, in the book he has thirteen arrows in him."

Bro: "That works in a book, not a movie."

Me: "Mmmm-hmmm. Oh, here's Legolas looking like someone has kicked his puppy."

Bro: (Cracking up) "Kicked... his puppy?"

Me: "Yeah, you know, kicked-puppy acting. 'Now try to act really sad, so imagine someone kicked your puppy'." (Also cracks up)

(Both contemplate the image of Boromir as a puppy.)

Bro: "Seriously?"

Me: "Yeah! Kicked-puppy acting!"

(Both crack up again, as it is very late and both are feeling decidedly silly.)

Another thing we boggled at this weekend was Friday's live questioning of Rumsfeld before Congress. Not so much because of what Rumsfeld said, but the great speeches on "Oh, America, how great thou art, let us now count the ways" which went on and on and bloody on... I mean, is this a genuine reflection of American sentiment at this time or are they putting it on more and more since the events of September 11th? I mean, I've always sensed that there is a sentiment among some Americans that the US is the greatest thing since God himself, but at such a time, in a hearing about blatant disregard for human rights? The contrast was striking. And then there was the whole talk of "fighting the good fight" and "evil enemies" and what-not. I wonder if mum is not right when she considers that to be the underlying cause of these atrocities. If you believe yourself to be THE GOOD and your enemy to be THE BAD, it can so very easily lead to a certain way of thinking.

Take the Third Reich. The atrocities committed by Hitler's regime towards Jews and gypsies are mind-boggling in their cruelty to us. But to the German leaders, it was perfectly okay to do this, because they were THE GOOD and Jews and Gypsies were THE BAD and not true human beings.

Now, the US and the Hitler's Third Reich are of course two different things, but Bush's talk of all good and all evil worries me a great deal and having heard it echoed in the Congress was not very reassuring. I mean, is it just me that feel uncomfortable? Does this worry anyone else?

Recent polls show that over 60% of Norwegians have gotten a more negative view of the US the last two years. I wonder if that kind of talk is part of the cause. (It also showed that only 10% would vote for Bush.)

I know only this - no empire has lasted forever, so be careful how far up you put yourself, America. It's a long, long way down and the rocks are sharp.

(Meanwhile, me and bro have wandered from free will to religion.)

Bro: "So I don't get how God makes some humans such that they would never believe in him, and thus be damned in Hell forever. It's rather cruel."

Me: (Yawning, being rather tired as it is 2 a.m.) "Hmmm-mmm. The Old Testament has God being rather... stern."

Bro: (Beat) "Once the number three, being the third number be reached, then, lobbest thou thy Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch..."

Both: "... towards thy foe, who, being naughty in my sight, shall snuff it."

Comments

[misscam.livejournal.com]

Was that the one with the rather middle-aged woman with bright, bright (dyed) red hair?

If so - yes! Brilliant idea! And accompanied by a hail of trout it'll be a classic for the ages.

*hums* "Let's be happy, let's be gay, let's rain trout on the American Way..."

This is getting decidedly sillier and sillier.

[norwegianne.livejournal.com]

Yep, that's the one, I think.

And maybe, as the whaling season's getting started we should look into expanding the artillery with whales? There are probably quotas on how many trouts we're allowed to get... or are the quotas so high we don't need to call in the whales?


Probably getting sillier by the post, but what a great warm-up for the Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday... Or the semi-finale they're having tomorrow night.

[misscam.livejournal.com]

We probably have so much trout it would be more than enough, but it does pay to expand one's artillery. We could lob whales on anyone who doesn't surrender after an inital bombardment of trout. And if they still don't give up, it's time to get drown them in lutefisk. And tørrfisk.

Ah, Eurosong. The height of European taste and class. It's a shame it's not shown in the US so we can torture... I mean "delight" Americans.

You know, I'm definitely naming you as my second-in-command.

Watch out, America. The Norwegian invasion will come and we will bring Eurosong. *cue evil laughter*

[norwegianne.livejournal.com]

Oh, oh... *evil grin* yes.

*proud to be second-in-command*

The second Norwegian invasion - only about a millennia or so after the first one. Let's hope this one will be filled with more success, but then Leif probably wasn't armed with trout, whales, lutefisk and Eurosong, so it's no wonder he failed...

[norwegianne.livejournal.com]

Oh, and we should probably keep some Smalahåve in reserve to bombard with.

[misscam.livejournal.com]

Leif didn't have the weapons of mass destruction we have, poor sod. And with these kind of weapons the Vikings would have won England, too.

And thanks to you I've been singing "Let's be happy, let's be gay, let's rain trout on the American Way" pretty much all day (though with a different melody from the real version).

If we're bringing Smalahåve, we should place one on the Washington Monument before we invade, like a warning shot. On a hot and humid day so people can properly enjoy the smell, too.

*makes note to eqip all invading forces with ear plus and gas masks* Maybe masks with horns, to honour our pal Leif...

[norwegianne.livejournal.com]

Yep... when you think about it our weapons of mass destruction are even better than Saddam's so-called...

And thanks to you I've been singing "Let's be happy, let's be gay, let's rain trout on the American Way" pretty much all day (though with a different melody from the real version). What can I say? *shrugs* I'm evil.


Leif must be honored.

[misscam.livejournal.com]

Yep... when you think about it our weapons of mass destruction are even better than Saddam's so-called...

That's because ours are real! (That joke was waiting to be made, really.)

Evil is a very good quality for a second-in-command.

I think I shall make an icon or two in honour of this, as I haven't had so much fun being so decidedly silly in a few days at least. And I can watch Eurosong tonight and claim it to be 'weapons of mass destruction research' as a bonus.

[norwegianne.livejournal.com]

Of course ours are real...

the only thing probably stopping teh bush from invading us is the cold in the winter, or the fact that he probably hasn't realised it yet. Because we surely can't hope that he has learned anything from history...

So we'll invade him instead. Hey, he's got oil too...

Evil is a very good thing. Especially when there are invasions to be planned.


Oh, icons are fun. And anytime mocking television can be termed as research, it is a good thing. And there's twice as much research-material this year, as they're sending a semi-final tonight and the final on Saturday.