I'm still getting used to the idea of writing my thoughs down online. I set up this blog, then had to leave in order to pick up my niece at the car shop. Along the way driving in the rain (is there ANYTHING quite as splendidly satisfying as driving a nice big pickup through some big mud puddles?) my mind was flooded with ideas. I have a feeling that I will flood this blog with posts the first few days, then ignore it for a while. Hopefully I can find some sort of equilibrium that will allow me to post 5 or 6 times a week.

Osama bin Laden is in the news again. He is starring in a video tape recently broadcast over the Al-Jazeera network. It depicts him going for a walk in the mountains with one of his top goons and exhorting the muslim hordes to slay Americans and other "infidels" indiscrimnately. Just in time for the second aniversary of September 11th. It just wouldn't be September with out old Osama now, would it? I don't think I am ever going to understand the Islamic culture in the middle-east.

Is Islam really such a peace-loving religion? Admittedly I have not met more than a handful of Muslims in my life, but it would seem to me that any religion which requires its women to go around with their faces covered so that they do not tempt men into sin is completely backwards. Where I was brought up men take responsibility for their own actions. They do not go blaming it on their rape victim's pretty blouse or vibrant lipstick.



Something interesting that I just picked up recently is that, according to the bible (never the most accurate of texts, but interesting none-the-less) the entire nation of the Jews, and by extension all of Christianity as well, are descended from Abraham's son, Isaac. The entire Islamic world is supposedly descended from Ishmael, the bastard offspring of Abraham and his Egyptian maid, Hagar. It is said that the house of Isaac would multiply and become the chosen people, while the house of Ishmael would multiply and become wild men bent on destroying civilization.

Pretty deep stuff, huh? While I'm sure that most Muslims don't like to classify themselves as being a bunch of illegitimate bastards born of an Egyptian slave, it is a fairly interesting perspective on the on-going conflict in the middle-east, though I wouldn't be surprised that this little slant on the story of Abraham was added much later in history in we all think as an explanation of the continuos conflict between Jews and Muslims.

The Yankees play the Tigers again tonight. Games like this make me nervous. Its easy to make an argument supporting the Tigers as a terrible team, but its also easy to forget that this is a team of young players who do not want to be remembered as one of the worse teams of all time. They will not be laying down for the Yanks.

It was a close one last night with the Bombers finally pulling it out 4-2. Contreras injured himself again last night, though not badly. He tweaked his ankle fielding a ball after starting the game very strong. I hope its nothing serious, this guy has been pitching exceptionally well between injuries.