I heard the news today, oh boy...

Okay, I don't normally do this, but I'd like to look briefly at some of the news that may interest only me that merits some kind of snarky and sarcastic response. My usual thematic entry will follow, time and energy permitting. But first I felt the news from today needed commentary.

Rent a Room

Two Carolina Panthers cheerleaders, Renee Thomas and Angela Keathley, were arrested in Tampa (that would be where I live) after committing battery. Some patrons at a Channelside club complained that they could hear moaning from outside the restroom and that the two women were taking way too long while having sex in the bathroom stall. One of the cheerleaders used a fake id to police when she was taken in, and now both are being charged with criminal offenses. I don't think they planned on coming out of the closet that way. At any rate, both cheerleaders have since been kicked off of the cheerleading squad (part of the Carolina Panthers cheerleading site is, alas, still down, and the only pictures of the two I have managed to rustle up are their mugshots). Where did they think they were, Sodom? Corinth? No, they were in Tampa *sigh*. This kind of thing gives cheerleaders (and Tampa) a bad name, and I know plenty of nice cheerleaders, as well as people from Tampa, who don't deserve that sort of press.

Here's To You, Mrs. Robinson

A Hollywood star (who will be known here by the name of Toothy Tile, courtesy of Ted Casablanca) who has starred in such films as "Jughead" (which some friends of mine saw and were disappointed with) and the upcoming "Brokeback Mountain" (a film which probably does not require much acting from the currently in-the-closet actor), currently has a willing (and former "Friend") "Mrs. Robinson," presumably to teach him in the ways of women that he is so ignorant of. I guess he doesn't mind getting sloppy seconds from Vince Vaughn or *shivers* Brad Pitt. He's got a cool sister, though. She was one of the few reasons to enjoy "Adaptation."

We Fly The Bankrupt Skies

Flyi Inc., parent corporation of Independence Air, has declared bankrupcy. Sadly, for the airline industry (as well as countries in Africa and Latin America), declaring bankrupcy is a part of normal business strategy. For whatever reason (and there are several, including high gas prices and very high benefits to corporate leadership, and an obsolete hub-and-spoke business model). This particular airlines suffered mostly from bad timing and a very unfriendly economic climate. Flyi, formerly called ACA (an airline I have used before, notably to fly to the Lexington weekend in 2002), was formerly a subsidiary of Delta before going independent. Now it, like its parent company, has gone el-foldo. Too bad.

Life's A Riot

The Muslim population of Paris is still rioting, after nearly two weeks of car bombing, arson, and general misbehavior. This one goes under the "See, I Told You So" category of disaster. The French thought that by coddling dictators (see Saddam Hussein) and by bending over backwards to be a "nice" Western country to the Muslims, that the Muslims would assimilate and become good little Frenchmen. It doesn't appear to be happening, and the rioting, once confined to the suburbs of Paris, has now spread across the entire country. This looks grim, and the weak response of the French government has led to a lot of international criticism. It's not nice at all to gloat when a nation suffers, but one wonders if a lot of people (Americans in particular) aren't crowing a good bit about the fact that the Muslims of France have not responded to the gentle manner in which the French treated them. Perhaps they will be less foolish in the future. One can only hope so.

A Balanced, Rational Paper

Finally, with news a little closer to home, I would like to give my two cents worth on United's recent paper on interracial marriages. For the most part, it is a very sound and reasonable paper. I would take issue with the claim that someone who is against interracial marriages is not doing so out of reasons of racism, and I would not think the issue to be one that most ministers would be able to counsel members about (since few of them have personal experience with the issue), but the paper is a sound one. The cases of interracial marriage blessed and honored in the Bible is a rather lenghty one--including no less than three members of the family tree of our Lord and Savior Himself. At least two books of the Bible are intimately concerned with the practice (Ruth and Esther, and one can make a case for its ubiquity in Genesis as well). The Bible, wisely and correctly, considers race of no importance ("strangers" who followed God's law were to be counted as Israelites with full privileges), while placing the importance on faith rather than race. We should do the same. It's way past due for those of us in the Church of God community to cast aside the dark days of racist thoughts and to face the fact that ethnic origin is of no importance in the Family of God. For all who obey are sons of Abraham, not in blood, but in spirit.