Russ Woodman

And tonight, the weather is what’s bad. And a lot of times, that’s just the way I like it. We’re about to be hit with what looks like a very long line of strong thunderstorms. I can’t wait. In the meantime, the wind is up and it is literally howling. I like it when the wind howls and moans. If this were a horror movie, no additional mood setter would be necessary. Sometimes, it’s the simple things that make life grand.

Howling Wind MP3

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Congratulations to the makers of zolpidem tartrate, better known as AmBienCR, on aspiring to a whole new level of medical negligence. Reported side effects of this drug in clinical trials include depression, lack of coordination, behavioral changes, suicidal thoughts, hallucinations, sleep driving and severe anaphylaxis.

Sleep driving.

During most of the ads on television for a medicine, a company implores viewers to consult a doctor about conditions which may benefit from administration of their drug. The AmbienCR folks have dropped the term doctor in favor of prescriber, indicating that it’s not necessary to see a qualified physician, just someone with a prescription pad and bad penmanship.

Way to go, guys. Two thumbs way up. Excuse me while I hit up my prescriber for some Oxycontin and medically necessary weed.

I’m wondering why it seems that Christians, brand name doesn’t seem to matter, have a way of injecting their religious faith in everything they do. I get it ten times a day more: In e-mails, in passing conversation, overheard at the checkout line, and so on. While I have no problem with folks having faith in whatever they want to have faith in, I’m not sure that projecting it at every opportunity is conducive to effective communication. It’s done quite casually, as well: A “god willing” here and a “glory be” there. And when it’s written, bible passages and references to a favored deity abound and proliferate.

I rarely, if ever, hear members of other religions making mention of their faith in general conversation. No references to Vishnu or Pan, Allah or Buddha, Thor, Aphrodite or Zeus. There’s no injection of other random insights into our personal natures either: No comments about sexual orientation or position, political leanings, thoughts on capital punishment or favorite mixed drinks we might have recently overindulged in. Probably because these things are personal and could easily be offensive to others within earshot.

So while I believe everyone should have the right to believe in whatever they want to believe in, it would be better in practice to keep random religious zeal. and images of the virgin Mary on toast, close to the vest, only to be exposed when the topic of conversation truly warrants it.

Don’t make me pray to Joe Pesci and bring down his wrath. High gas prices would then be the least of our worries. Amen.

I popped open the mailbox today and stuffed in between a couple of circulars and the gas bill was an open letter from Gordon Winrod. I took a little time to brush up on the man, and then spent about five minutes reading his treatise. The general idea was evident right from the start, but I read the rest of it anyway. Now I wish I had my five minutes back.

Before I started reading, I figured I’d have some good fodder for a blog post about all the irrational, ugly, maniacal, hate-filled things he said. But the further in I got, the more I realized there would be no way to quote anything from the document. Not because I’m afraid of the things in it, or because I worry what others might think of the vitriol, but really because nothing in the paper is worthy of reprinting, in any context whatsoever.

The upshot is that Winrod is being accused of being anti-Semitic, and he claims he is not. Then he spends five very tightly packed pages explaining that when he says he’s not anti-Semitic, he really means he’s anti-Jew, and that Jews are not Semites, but they are all child molesters. Not just a few of them, ALL of them. So says the Talmud. [Insert examples from scripture and other sources ad nauseum here.]

I personally am a huge proponent of free speech, so I guess I can’t fault Winrod for using it. However, I’m pretty sure any putative omniscients can see through a bluster of semantics. I don’t wish to lower myself to his level and pass judgment, but I do hope his Lutheran beliefs include a hell for the truly evil full of fire and torture, and that sociopathic bigots like him get what they deserve.

Oh, it turns out there is one part of the paper worth mentioning. It’s at the bottom of the last page. It reads: “THE WINROD LETTER, published monthly. Subscription: $15.00 per year. 50 copies of this issue: $10.00 p.p. The Winrod Letter…” Either there’s a market for this sludge, or his gall simply knows no bounds. In either case, color me appalled.