My boss loaned my this awesome CD by a guy named David Rovics. I don't know where the boss finds these guys, but they rock. So here's one of his songs which I found particularly good:

Who Would Jesus Bomb? (David Rovics, Behind the Barricades)

I've seen you in the markets
I've seen you in the streets
And at your political convention
Talking of your crusade
Talking of your nation
And other things too terrible to mention
And you proclaim your Christianity
You proclaim your love of God
You talk of apple pie and mom
Well I've just got one question
And I want an answer
Tell me, who would Jesus bomb?

Maybe Jesus would bomb the Syrians
'Cause they're not Jews like him
Maybe Jesus would bomb the Afghans
On some kind of vengeful whim
Maybe Jesus would drive an M1 tank
And he would shoot Saddam
Tell me, who would Jesus bomb?

I've seen you on the TV
And on the battleships
I've seen you in the house upon the hill
And I've heard you talking
About making the world safer
And about all the men you have to kill
And you speak so glibly
About your civilization
And how you have the moral higher ground
While halfway around the world
Your explosives smash the buildings
Ah, if you could only hear the sound

But maybe Jesus would sell land mines
And turn on his electric chair
Maybe Jesus would show no compassion
For his enemies in the lands way over there
Maybe Jesus would have flown the planes
That killed the kids in Viet Nam
Tell me, who would Jesus bomb

Yes I hear you shout with confidence
As you praise the lord
And you talk about this God you know so well
And you talk of Armageddon
And your final victory
When all the evil forces go to hell
Well you'd best hope you've chosen wisely
On the right side of the lord
And when you die your conscience it is clear
You'd best hope that your atom bombs
Are better than the sword
At the time when your reckoning is here

'Cause I don't think Jesus would send gunships into Bethlehem
Or jets to raze the towns of Timorese
I don't think Jesus would lend money to dictators
Or drive those SUV's
And I don't think Jesus would ever have dropped
A single ounce of napalm
So tell me, who would Jesus bomb?

Everybody's favorite state is in deep trouble. And, no, it's not because they produced George W. Bush and his murderous regime. Texas, the number one death-penalty state may finally have to slow down its prison inmate state-sanctioned holocaust. Texas' justice system, the pride of rednecks and "pro-lifers" everywhere may have executed an innocent man. Hmmm.... Although it may be a bit rude to say that this was not unexpected, it is, at least, finally definitive evidence of the cons of the death penalty, and Texas' trigger-happy (well, injection-happy) judicial system in particular. Feel free to read the full article here: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=2027&ncid=2027&e=6&u=/chitribts/20050420/ts_chicagotrib/texasmayhaveputinnocentmantodeathpaneltold

Ahhh, spring. Flowers on the ground, butterflies fluttering in the air, and Republican blood in the water. For years, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay has been the scourge of House Democrats and the progressive public in general. Not anymore. As events progress, it seems ever more likely that DeLay will meet an end reminiscient of his colleagues Newt Gingrich and Trent Lott. Oh, Tommy, Tommy, Tommy! What happened to the "moral majority?" Were your "family values" too much for even a man as pious as yourself to uphold? Or perhaps "moral values" was little more than another two-faced campaign promise, something to be broken as soon as the paint dried on your office door? Poor Tom. It seems that everybody's picking on him. Republican Congressmen... They're an oppressed minority, you know. They are the victims. Well, at least in a world where peace is defined as preemptive war and sexual education is little more than "keep your pants on or you'll get AIDS and die."

But our boy Tommy, woo, he really knows how to shake stuff up. Gerrymandering and campaign finance violations in Texas, lobbyist-funded golf trips around the world, $500,000 payoffs to his wife and daughter. Oh, yeah, and three, count 'em, three admonishments from the House Ethics Commission in 2004. Wow! It's nice to know that we have good, upstanding Christian leaders in Washington to keep the country on the straight-and-narrow. I think that it's safe to say that it's no longer a matter of "if" DeLay will fall, but "when." At least one Republican (Chris Shays, R-Conn.) has publicly called for DeLay's resignation, and even the #3 ranking House Republican, Rick Santorum, has stated the DeLay needs to explain his behavior. Tommy Boy is taking a dive, but let's hope to draw it out a little, eh? After all, it would be nice to get a Democratic majority in the House in 2006. Bye, bye, Tommy. It's been fun, but it's time to send you back to Texas.

Hey everybody. It's time for a bit of rant, eh? Well, the other day, I was in Borders and I saw this new book by Tim Lahaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. I'm sure you've heard of them: they write those Left Behind books (you know, where all the "good" Christians go to Heaven while the rest of humanity endures horrible tortures at the hands of God). Now, I read the Left Behind series, and, in fact, I enjoy it because, whether you agree with their message or not (and I think it's pretty laughable), it's a good story. LaHaye and Jenkins claim to be writing these books so that they can educate so-called "non-beleivers" about the gracious and loving nature of Jesus so that their souls might be saved. (Side Note: If any of you guys have read the last book in the series, Glorious Appearing, you know that kind, loving, turn-the-other-cheek Jesus has been replaced by LaHaye and Jenkins new, improved, tyrannical, melt-the-heathens-where-they-stand Jesus. Hmmm....) Anywho, I digress. This book that I saw in Borders was called The Rising and you know what it is? It's a prequel. A prequel! Let's think about this, people. We have two guys who want to "help people find Jesus." So they come up with a great idea: let's write a book about the end of the world, and how much better everything will be if you're a Christian! But, of course, they can't just write one book. Then your noble readers wouldn't get the whole story! So then, twelve books and millions of dollars later, the series is done. You've gone from world o' sin to Jesus-melts-the-heathens-and-everyone's-happy (except the heathens). Where do you go from there? Well, if your intentions really were honorable, you'd donate most of your book money to charity (or the church, or whatever), pat yourself on the back for educating the heathen masses, and call it a day. Now, what do you do if you're nothing more than a money-grubbing capitalist? YOU WRITE A PREQUEL! How do you make even more piles of money? YOU WRITE A PREQUEL! Hello! This isn't rocket science, here. And speaking of money, let's get Biblical for a second, eh? In the modern world, I'm sure everybody's sick of Bible verses. Politicians, preachers, and that weird guy with the rumpled clothing screaming on the street corner have all made Bible verses little more than cute cliches, something to pull out when you want to feel morally superior to someone else. However, here's one (well, a couple I guess) that you won't here anyone wealthier than a pastor mention: Mark 10:17-31. I'll paraphrase to save space: Rich dude goes to Jesus and says, "look how good I am, I obey all of the rules!" And Jesus is like, "Boy, to get into heaven you have to sell all of your stuff and give the money to the poor." And then the rich dude is like, "Awww, man. I don't want to! Can't I just invade Iraq or something?" OK, maybe not that last part, but here's a direct Bible quote from JC about being rich:

24The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is[b] to enter the kingdom of God! 25It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

Yeah, that's right. He said eye of a needle. Bet you won't hear billionaire-boy Bush quote that verse in any stump speeches... But, anyway, I do wonder what LaHaye and Jenkins do with all of the royalties that they get from the Left Behind books. After all, it would appear that their Savior demands some hard-core charitable giving. Do they follow through? Or perhaps they are little more than "left behind..."