McCain is a ROBOT!!!!

Ok, maybe not really a robot, per se. But I was reading on the CNN political ticket that the AFL-CIO had to launch an informational campaign to explain to it's members that a bunch of Republican-launched anti-Obama lies are actually not true. Given that this same Republican machine nuked McCain's changes in South Carolina by launching a phone campaign insinuating that McCain had fathered a black child during the 2000 Presidential primary. Here are some of the fun rumors they had to dispel:

1) Obama was not born in the United States - This one is designed to prey on those who didn't pass civics class and are the same people who want Arnold to run for President. The Governator can never run for President for the same reason that you have to be an idiot to believe that Obama wasn't born in the US. People born outside the US can't run for President, ass clowns.

2) Obama refuses to wear a flag pin on his lapel and wasn't sworn into the Senate on a bible. First of all, neither is actually true. Second of all, who gives a crap. Bush was sworn in as President on the bible and went on to kill thousands of Iraqis and US troops during his on-going campaign against terror. I've always wondered how these types of things can matter when we have a President that does both of these things and has completely fucked up the country. Guess what? I wear a flag pin on my lapel and am holding a bible, but I'm going to shoot you. Still think it means that much?

3) Obama hates freedom, puppies and children - This is probably one of the biggest reasons I am voting for him, actually.

I'm sure things are going to get nastier before the end of it all, but it wouldn't be an election without a whole lot of lies and bullshit to reinforce our apathy, right?

Things I didn't know were illegal in Oklahoma

I think Oklahoma might be trying to improve its reputation a little bit. Especially since the number one suggested new name for the transplanted Seattle Supersonics is the Oklahoma City Bombers. What's crazy is that if this lady made that many tapes, there had to be a market for them. That's what being neighbors with Arkansas, Kansas and Texas will get you.

Who's your Daddy?

You can probably gather from some of the previous posts on this blog, that we're not going to win any awards for being "Child-friendly". No endorsement from Parent's magazine shall be forthcoming.

Regardless of our previous position, Ryan the Angry Midget is going to be a Dad. If that's not scary, I am not sure anything would be. While having a kid really only means that you had sex, telling people that you're going to be a parent changes their entire perception of you. I have compiled a list of the some of the things people say that are annoying and how you should respond if you find yourself in this position:

1) What are you having? I probably get asked this by every single annoying person that figures out that my wife's baby bump is not liver cancer. We chose not to find out the gender, mostly because neither one of us felt strongly about finding out. What we didn't realize is that there is no middle ground here. People are disappointed in you if you find out or if you don't find out. Therefore, the best answer to this question is: a baby, you fucking idiot! My wife perfected another response that I thought was particularly clever: "I hope it's a white baby, because otherwise it'll be pretty awkward.". Saying "Puppies!" also creeps people out.

2) What names do you have picked out? This question is particularly annoying when you don't know the gender. People don't ask this because they are curious. They ask this because they want to share their opinion about the names you've picked out. NEWS FLASH: I DON'T GIVE A FUCK WHAT YOU THINK I SHOULD NAME MY KID! I've made a list of names, mostly awful, biblical or both, that I use to respond in this situation. Judas. Adolf. Herman. Mavis. Another option that gives the gift of annoyance right back is to just say the name of the person that asks you. People stop asking when you do this.

3) Is your wife going to quit her job to stay home with the baby? I hate this question a lot simply because the only people who ask it are those assholes that think the only way you can be a decent parent is by physically being with your kid all the time. And it's unfairly applied to women. You would never hear anyone ask this about a father. My response is typically that my wife will continue to work so that my children can grow up to appreciate the fact that women are intelligent and can contribute more than their breast milk to society.

And this, my friends, is only the tip of the most obnoxious iceberg you'll ever encounter. At times I feel as though I am wearing a t-shirt that says "I want your opinion on parenting." But I can promise you, I don't at all.

Why I am proud of San Francisco

I think San Francisco is San Frantastic. I always have. Where else on earth can you have an election for city council between a members of the Transgender Green Party and Socialist Vegan Party. Not Omaha, for one. It doesn't hurt that it's currently the pasture where CowboyLaw roams, but even before he relocated there, I would rank San Fran as one of the best cities in the US. Now, I am thinking it may very well be the best city in the US (my apologies to New York and Seattle, two other awesome cities).

San Franciscans are among the smartest groups of people living in one city in human history. Not only do they not hate gay people for no good reason like the rest of the country, but they want to name a sewage plant after George W. Bush. And we're not talking about some fringe homeless guy with a sandwich board either. 12,000 people signed a petition to get the issue on the November ballot. My hope is that San Franciscans will soon have their waste treated at a place named after a guy who is the ultimate piece of shit.

And now for something a little more serious....

That's right. It's time for ninjas on roller skates:

THE THING THAT WOULDN'T LEAVE!

So now Iraq has gone on the record as wanting the U.S. out of Iraq. Does this negate all that previous talk from President Bush, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, and Emperor Palpatine, ERRRRR, Joe Lieberman about not wanting to set timetables for our exit? Or are we going to continue to be John Belushi in that Saturday Night Live skit?


I don't know how much more direct they can be. We're not welcome there anymore, and we haven't been for years. I love how some Republicans still say we're winning over there because 'violence is on the decline.' If we just killed them all, then violence would REALLY be on the decline! Have we actually run out of brown people to kill?

Seriously though, it's been long enough. It's time to:


And no, HCP, I didn't mean your brown people.

Jesus Didn't Tap!

So I'm watching the UFC pay-per-view last night, and one of the fighters comes out wearing a shirt with this logo:


In case you don't know what it is to 'tap,' here's a definition (from Urban Dictionary):

'tapout' (verb) -- 1. To tap the floor or an opponent in an act of submission. As in Jiu Jitsu, the losing party, as opposed to being seriously injured or rendered unconscious will tap to admit defeat.

Here's what their MySpace says:

"Jesus didn't quit after going though the worse beating and pain that anyone could go through when he was crucified on the cross. His face was unrecognizable and almost every bone in his body was broken, but he still didn't tap so that we could live a joyful life. WHAT IF JESUS TAPPED? Jesus went through so much for us and didn't tap. He was beaten so bad that you could not even recognize him from head to toe, yet he still didn't tap. Not only did he not tap but he came back and defeated Satan by crushing his head to win after the beating he went through. If he would have tapped we would be in hell. We would be in pain mentally and physically 24/7, but Jesus didn't tap for us, so we don't have to live a life of hell."

Okay, so riddle me this: How could Jesus tap when his hands were nailed to a cross? Shouldn't they call it 'Jesus Couldn't Tap'? And he 'defeated Satan by crushing his head?' So, did Satan tap?

These are the kinds of things that keep me up at night.

Postpartum Depression in Liberty City

Niko, I wish I knew how to quit you.

In my previous blog post about Grand Theft Auto IV, I'd mentioned that I'd beaten the single player story mode, but wouldn't go back to get 100% completion because "I doubt I'll ever get THAT bored." Well, I did it. 50 Unique Stunt Jumps? Check. All random pedestrian missions? Check. 30 Most Wanted Missions? Check. Shot all 200 Pigeons? Check.

So why did I do it? I have other games to play. In fact, I have too many. I still plan on beating Bully, Rainbow Six Vegas 2, and The Bourne Conspiracy. I recently picked up The Incredible Hulk, Quake Wars, and Guitar Hero Aerosmith, but haven't even taken the shrink wrap off of those yet. I received CSI in the mail from GameFly that I need to at least give an hour to. And on top of all that, I'm still in the second act of Metal Gear Solid 4 on the PS3, which has been great so far, and apparently gets even better. So why did I spend countless hours last week shooting at a bunch of birds? I hadn't even beaten a GTA game since part 3 on the PS2, and I can't remember the last time I'd worked so foolishly to get 100% completion in ANYTHING. Was I really THAT bored?

I think the answer is simple: I missed Liberty City. The more I played the game, the more real the city felt. I'd gotten to the point to where I knew it like the back of my hand. I rarely used checkpoints anymore. I started listening to stations I hadn't listened to yet, and I found myself enjoying more of them than I thought I would (Classics FTW!). I'd broken into the sports car shop in Algonquin so often, they practically held the door open for me. And yet, I never felt like I was whoring for achievements. I found that I really wanted to spend more time in this town. I'd reach to put in some other game, but then the song 'Back in the New York Groove' would get in my head again. It was a fitting song to play over the credits, and it stuck with me. Next thing I know, I'm calling Brucie to set up another race, because I liked the way he says, 'Punish those bitches!' Or I'd go drinking again with Packie, just hoping he'd slur his way through 'Danny Boy' in the cab once more. You know, for old time's sake.

Right before I saved for the last time, I did something that bothers me even now, as I think about it. I called Little Jacob and loaded up on body armor and Molotovs. Why? Why would I do that? It's OVER. Nothing more to see here folks, move along. And yet, in an open world game, is it really ever over?

Rockstar, my hat's off to you. You've created the closest thing to a virtual city I've ever seen. You somehow made me feel nostalgic for it, even after spending more than 70 hours there. It's still not a perfect game. The cover system is flawed, the friendly AI is suspect at times, and the vehicle physics are too slippery. But at the end of the day, Grand Theft Auto IV will still go down as one of the best gaming experiences of this generation.


P.S. My Xbox 360 finally got the Red Ring of Death. It happened yesterday afternoon, when I had two pigeons left to find. Maybe after my jokes to all of my other X360 friends about their hardware troubles, it was karma showing up to strike mine down? Or maybe it was trying to weep over Bill Gates' retirement? In the end, it doesn't matter. The coffin is on its way. I'd thought about buying a used one at a game store, and then returning it after mine came back, but fortunately, I didn't have to. A friend of mine (who's even more impatient than I am) did the same thing when he got the RRoD last year, but never returned the used one, so he's letting me borrow that one until mine comes back from the dead. Microsoft, I wish I knew how to quit you too.

Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail 2008

As I write this, I am sitting in the vortex that is fast becoming Colorado's second most "liberal" city. This may be due to the fact that the city planners, and city council, actually use tax money for it's intended purposes:1)make the city a better place to live for all 2)use the money to fund infrastructure, among a laundry list of other reasons. However, this is all for another post.

My real intention is to ask my fellow bloggers a pressing question. Why is the debt of Hillary Clinton become a national problem for 1)Barack Obama and his supporters and 2)the rest of the democrat party, along with democrat leaning independents? I find it fascinating that the idea of party unity, come November, rests on the shoulders of Obama and his supporters. Isn't that the job of Hillary Clinton to bring party unity? Obama was gracious and magnanimous throughout her entire campaign, only to be ridiculed as condescending and sexist. It isn't the fault of Obama that she lost, this was hers to lose.

She walked into this campaign season assured a lightning quick victory to the presidential nomination only to find out that what she was really holding was a 500 pound greased pig ready for change. This is not the fault of the electorate, or Obama, it is her's and Bill's burden to bare alone. And only at a time when gas is at, or near, $4 a gallon, groceries prices are going up and a 4 year degree might qualify you to run the fucking Tilt-o-Whirl, would people worth upwards of $100 million dollars ask the people of America to bail THEM out. What the hell is happening here? Bubba have to start paying for those blow jobs? These people have been put into a position of phenomenal wealth, and earning power, by the people of America. And I'm going to say it, we owe them nothing now. She stayed in too long and over extended her budget. Not my fault, hers!

Let's look at this from a football perspective. It was relatively obvious after Texas and Ohio that she stood a snowballs chance in hell of coming away with a big enough margin of victory in the following contests to win the nomination and she stayed in anyways. Not only did she stay in, but she continued to spend money, that we now know, she didn't have to begin with. When a football team is getting it handed to them in the 3rd or 4th quarter, what does any coach worth his whistle do? He puts in his back ups and gives "lesser" players the opportunity to play ball because he knows that risking his starters only hurts him, and his team, in the long run.

So why did she not stop spending? Hubris? I refuse the notion that she didn't know, or refused to believe, what was seemingly inevitable. So, that leaves ego and I believe that the 90's gave both Bill and Hill plenty of that. Not the electorate as a whole, not her want to be a good public servant, but the chance to stay in the spotlight a little longer was her driving factor, and that I WILL NOT PAY FOR!

Thank you Hillary and Bill for your public service, but as for me, my money is staying right where it belongs...the gas station.

-Via con Dios,

HCP

McCain's energy plan seems like it would totally suck

I wasn't exactly expecting a home run on energy from a Republican, but McCain isn't exactly impressing me or anyone else here, which is why he's already lagging in the polls. I will say that we shouldn't get all get infected with micropollarrhea, where we shit our pants each time a new polls is released between now and November, but McCain's lack of imagination on his policies might mean that the shine is wearing off this particular turd.

Strategy number one: force auto companies to produce cars that run on flex fuel. Currently a number of automakers already offer flex fuel vehicles, and making it so a car can run on either ethanol or gas doesn't really lessen our dependence on oil appreciably. McCain can't even tell us how much switching would reduce our consumption, which is what really needs to happen to reduce oil prices.

Strategy number two: The Clean Car Challenge. Sounds so fucking awesome. What this really means is that he is willing to offer a $5000 tax credit for people that buy a zero emissions vehicle. Again, not lessening our oil consumption. Plus, greenhouse gases from transportation as a whole, which doesn't reflect the sole contribution of passenger cars, only accounts for 14% of greenhouse gas emissions at this point. The impact, despite the completely kick ass name, would be minimal.

Strategy three: The big prize. McCain must not have ever studied economics in his life. He is willing to offer a $300 million prize to the company that can develop a battery for an electric car. You don't get the prize until after you build the battery, but this type of thing shows what a complete idiot McCain really is. You don't need to offer a $300 million prize to support this type of innovation because the company that is able to do this would make $300 million in the first 5 seconds of announcing that they had this technology. While $300 million sounds like a lot of money to you and me, it's nothing to the folks who are working on this problem. Although it might be nice for them to have money to fight opposition from big oil on electric cars, but they can't get the prize until after they invent the battery. Too bad.

These policies are only a taste of what McCain has in store for us. What next? Foreign policy plans for domestic issues? Universal healthcare for pets? I can't wait!

Shattered concrete and live music

I need a vacation.

You may not guess it, but selling video games is a lot of hard work. Plus, the foundation repair is still going on, and it's a huge cause of stress. People are in my backyard drilling nine-foot holes into the ground, and it's hard to concentrate, let alone make sales calls. Of course, one could make a joke about how most of the music I listen to isn't all that different from jackhammers breaking up concrete, so there you go. As for my driveway, it's full of dirt and concrete, so we can't park our cars in the garage at night. Plus, they're not done in the master bedroom yet, so we're still having to sleep in the guest bedroom. When you've spent six years sharing a king-sized bed, and have to go down to a full-size, it's very disorienting. I can't even roll over in my sleep without waking one of us up. I haven't had a decent night's sleep in a week and a half, and it's gonna be almost another week before they're done. So, I'm ready to cut loose a little.

It's been a while since we last got out of town for a vacation. My girlfriend and I went to my dad's in Wyoming last Thanksgiving, but I doubt she considered that a vacation, as she hates cold weather, and it was my family and not hers. Plus, it's Wyoming. I love my dad, but I wish he'd move to Denver. :) So, we decided we were both overdue for a trip on 'neutral ground,' so to speak. So we thought, 'Why not go to Lollapalooza in Chicago in August?'


Of course, the biggest reason for this decision is that the Toadies are headlining the MySpace stage on Saturday, August 2nd. If you didn't catch my previous blog post about the Toadies, I have an old friend who is now their bass player, which kicks all sorts of ass. He used to play bass with punk bands like Hagfish and Only Crime, but had gone back to a desk job. That just wasn't his style, so I was ecstatic for him when he got this gig. We'd both been fans of the Toadies for a long time, so for him to be a member of the band now is too cool. The one regret I have about Lollapalooza is that Radiohead is playing on Friday, and I probably won't get to see them. They're on the short list of bands I want to see before I die, and I didn't get to see them when they came through in May. The good news though, is right after the Toadies play their set, we're all gonna run over to see Rage Against the Machine, so that'll be fun. But the trip won't be all about live music. I'm also planning on seeing a Cubs game that Sunday. I grew up a Cubs fan, and have been to Wrigley once, but swore I'd make it back again. If you're ever in Chicago and want to have some fun, take the train to Wrigleyville on a day when there's a Cub home game. You don't have to be a baseball fan to have a blast. My girlfriend can't stand baseball, but she had just as much fun afterwards in their bars as I did.

Anyone else gonna be at Lollapalooza on August 2nd? If so, post a comment and we can plan on getting together to have some $14 beers...

Grand Theft Auto IV -- Game Stat Update

I beat the story mode in Grand Theft Auto IV last week, and have since gone back and finished the Assassin and Courier missions. I still plan on finishing all of the Stunt Jumps and Brucie races, but I doubt I'll try to find all 200 of the 'Flying Rats'. That's gonna take a lot of exploration, and I doubt I'll ever get THAT bored in the game. But in the meantime, I thought I'd post some of my current game stats, for the two of you who care...

GENERAL
Game Progress -- 78.00%
Missions Passed -- 94
Missions Failed -- 34
Current Money -- $535,325
Times Busted -- 0
Times Died -- 20
People Killed -- 920
Playing Time -- 49:29:14
Longest Non-stop Game -- 04:09:34
Days Passed -- 103
Favorite Radio Station -- Liberty City Hardcore

CRIMES
Cars Stolen -- 284
Longest Cop Chase Time -- 10:01
People Run Down -- 500
Fires Started -- 93
Criminals Killed -- 86

VEHICLES
Miles on Foot -- 56.85
Miles by Car -- 606.47
Longest Bike Wheelie -- 1,668.62 ft
Farthest Jump Distance -- 397.23 ft
Air Launches -- 1,606

MONEY
Spent Buying Clothes -- $1,830
Spent on Prostitutes -- $520
Spent on Health Care -- $117,071
Spent in Gun Shop -- $317,535
Spent on Dates -- $700

PLAYER
Times Got Drunk -- 11
Longest Free Fall -- 147.26 ft

COMBAT
Bullets Fired -- 13,571
Killed by Headshots -- 459
Vehicles Blown Up -- 96
Kills with Carbine Rifle -- 239
Kills with Combat Sniper -- 130
Kills with RPG -- 61

SCORE
Pool Played Time -- 01:01:55
Bowling High Score -- 254
Favorite Activity -- Drinking
Pigeons Exterminated -- 18
Random Characters Met -- 9

MISC
Time Spent on Internet -- 01:23:08
Emails received -- 62
Time Spent Calling -- 01:27:39
Total Dates -- 20
Scored with Girl -- 10
Girls Dumped -- 4
Prostitute Visits -- 7
Tramps Given Money To -- 2

ACHIEVEMENTS (XBOX 360)
33 out of 50
585 Gamerscore

If you've been playing, I'd love to see some of your stats. Everyone plays the game differently. Maybe you've made it your goal to only drive on sidewalks, so perhaps you've run down twice as many people as me? Or maybe you've spent more money on prostitutes (but got it all back)?

White trash strikes it rich(er) through procreation

Who knew jizz could be worth so much?


This inbred one-hit wonder throws his baby batter around, and 15 years later, he's worth more money than he ever made on his own. But OH NOES! Here comes the scandal!

This morning, CNN thinks 'Billy Ray Cyrus reacts to Miley's Vanity Fair photos' is front-page news. He 'reacts.' To semi-clothed pictures. That were taken a month ago.

And what a dad he is! How did the pictures get taken? Let's let Achy-Breaky explain it:

"I wasn't there at the time. (Miley's) publicist was there, and everyone seemed in control," he said. "I didn't know they (were) gonna strip her down and wrap her with a blanket."

Someone get this guy one of THESE!


Is that what it's like in Hollywood? Publicists are surrogate parents? Plus, it was Annie FUCKING Leibovitz. If Mullet Man would've done a quick Google Image Search of her name, he would've seen a LOT of celebrity skin. John Lennon. Demi Moore. Scarlett Johansson and Keira Knightley. Seriously. Where the fuck has this guy been in the last 30 years? I know they have wi-fi in California. Hell, even his nephew has wi-fi on his porch:


That is to say, he would've found the images on Google if he could've spelled 'Liebovitz.' How in the world is this guy supposed to comment on fashion?

Foundation repair SUCKS

As I type this, people are drilling through the concrete slab in my master bedroom. My girlfriend and I had to move into the guest bedroom for the next 10 days or so, while they install three piers in the bedroom (and about 19 around the outside of the house, including six on our back patio). The cats are freaking the fuck out because they've been displaced, and now they hear a constant jackhammer coming from their safe haven.

The soil in Dallas SUCKS.

John McCain has beer on the brain

Either he wants to veto beer, or he likes beer so much that it worked its way into a Freudian slip during a speech. Will he be drunk when he vetos bills? I can already see the campaign slogans this summer: THE GOP -- FOUR MORE BEERS!

Oh well. It's not like we haven't spent the last seven-plus years with an alcoholic cokehead...

Flawed Logic

I woke up today to the news that Barak Obama is the presumptive Democratic nominee, which resulted in tons of speculation that Hillary Clinton may go from being Obama's punching bag to his right-hand bag, as his VP. At this point, insiders are trying to work deals behind the scenes, but who knows who will eventually be Obama's running mate. Hopefully, Obama will take his time and pick the right person. I haven't decided yet whether I think Hillary would be a good VP or not.

The media seems to be suggesting that picking Clinton is a win-win situation for Democrats, but I'm not sure that all Clinton supporters will trade in their "Bill Clinton for First Lady" t-shirts for "One you vote Barak, you'll never go back". Personally, I've been sporting my two favorite Dick Cheney shirts.


My point is that it's easy to fall into the logical trap that every other voter out there approaches this situation the same way we would. I would vote for a steaming pile of dog shit before I would vote for John McCain. For me, the decision has been made. Another group of Dems that were supporting Clinton will probably support Obama. Although the polls that will really tell us something are only being conducted as I type this, we know from our friends at Polling Report that the data suggest that before Clinton conceded, about 60% of Clinton supporters would switch to Obama without her being the running mate. In the coming days, we'll see if Obama's poll numbers increase. You know Obama's people are watching those polls like hawks.

My prediction is that if Obama opens up a huge lead without naming Clinton as his VP, he'll take his time. If Obama's numbers don't change a lot, I think he'll scoop Clinton up and be off to the races. Right now, McCain and Obama are polling within the margin of error of each other, so the poll numbers are going to tell us a lot over the next few days. I think 5% is the magic number: Obama leads McCain by more than that, Clinton is out. Obama stays in a virtual tie, say hello to VP Clinton.

Obama the Clincher

I don't have much to add to the whole Obama conversation right now, and this picture says it better than I ever could:


I do have to say though, I'm really glad this primary season is FINALLY over. So, should Hillary be his running mate? A friend of mine who's currently working in Sweden posted on his blog that Al Gore should be his running mate. I think both bring a lot to the table. Your thoughts?

Dolemite is BACK

Guess what, crackas? Dolemite is back!


In case you weren't with us in late 2005, here's a recap: I love Dolemite movies. I owe it to The Angry Midget. He opened my eyes to the genius of Rudy Ray Moore. The man was ahead of his time. And now, he's back, proving to the man that you can't keep a good muthafucka down. And, punk crackas can't keep his Hush Puppys out their muthafuckin' asses.

Marinate on this trailer, fools:



I have no idea when it releases, but as soon as I do, it's on. Midge, I don't care how many pages you have left in your doctoral thesis. We're meeting half-way between Omaha and Dallas to watch this thing.

My man Doni is in the motherfucking TOADIES.

I just wanted to take a second to congratulate my friend (and frequenter of the site) Doni Blair for landing the bassist gig with the Toadies. Yeah, that's right. The same Toadies you're thinking of. He's stoked, as you can probably imagine. They're gonna practice here in Dallas for a couple of weeks, and then it's time to hit the road. On top of the many dates they're playing in the U.S. this summer, they're also playing Lollapalooza in August.

I was already a huge Toadies fan since college, when Rubberneck came out. Hell Below / Stars Above is also a great album, but didn't get as much label support, so not as many people know about it. I've seen them live six times, which is more than I've seen any other band, including System of a Down (during my street-team work with them). So to have them get back together to tour, and to release a new album this summer, is awesome. Then to have a good friend actually be IN the band? Total enlightenment.

Here are a couple of their biggest hits, for the uninitiated:

Possum Kingdom:


Away:


Tyler (live ... takes about 10 seconds to start):


They put on a great show live, so if they're coming through your town this summer, go see 'em. And be sure to point at the bass player and say, 'Lord Bling sent me!'

A Case for Testing Parental Ability

I fail to understand what it is about this story that people are not more up in arms about the situation. I mean, we care about gays and lesbians being together, but this douche bag is allowed to not only disappoint this woman sexually, but others as well. I fail to recognize what their argument could be. Not only would any argument they make, in all likelihood, be completely ridiculous, even by 19th century standards, but would be even more so in this day and age. I understand our right to practice whatever religion we deem fit to follow but this is pushing it to another level. Any religion that requires fortified compounds and secret rooms for forcible sex on minors is, in my opinion, missing any ground to stand on.