Sometimes I can understand why some people don’t read or watch the news because it’s too depressing. It really can build up at times and make you wonder what the hell is wrong with the world. Mostly it just makes me wonder if it was really that slow of a news day. The following two stories just make my brain hurt:

Off-Duty Police Sgt., Son Beat Up Man, Mistaken for Gay — The off-duty sergeant joins in on a brawl started by his son, because the son mistakenly thought that a (straight) guy was hitting on him. Some articles state that the man has a lazy eye, while others omit that fact.

Gay man sues publishers over Bible verses — The gay man bringing the lawsuit says that the publisher’s bibles have made him an outcast from his family and contributed to physical discomfort and periods of “demoralization, chaos and bewilderment.” Because the bibles contain passages referring to homosexuality as a sin.

Both of those stories make me say, “Wait… wha?” Has anyone seen any good news stories lately?

Wow, how did I miss this? Pray at the Pump holds prayer groups at gas stations in an effort to appeal to God to bring gas prices down.

“This whole thing is a wake-up call from God to Americans, because we idolize men so much,” said Twyman, 59, a public relations consultant and Seventh-day Adventist who believes that high gas prices are a sign of the apocalypse drawing nigh. “I think through this crisis, God is trying to call us back to depend on Him more.”

–WP: Activists Keep the Faith, if Not Their Money

To quote a well known nay-sayer, “What is it? Some sort of a cosmic cash machine?”

Good ol’ Jonesville Church of God. It looks like Pastor Roger Byrd realized that just maybe people might take some offense to linking a presidential candidates last name to that of a terrorist’s first name. Especially as a religiously endorsed effort to “stir people’s minds,” which sounds more like a scene in a bad horror flick.

The WYFF4.com story about the sign was viewed more than a quarter million times by users across the country. Hundreds of negative comments regarding the sign were posted online. On Tuesday, Byrd apparently decided the wording on the sign should be replaced.

The sign is now back to the very typical threatening you with eternal damnation, but in a lighthearted way slogan you’d normally expect from the Southern church. Nice decision, dumb-ass.

Shrimp and Grits made a good point that never even occurred to me. I wonder how many people saw this story and thought that it was made with an online church sign generator, since many people most likely saw it on other blogs and not the original NBC affiliate site. I admit I didn’t watch the video since I still prefer to read the news, not watch it, during my work day.

When I tell people where my parents live, I am quick to tell them, “That’s not where we’re from.” My parents live just outside Greenville, SC, not an area known for its progressiveness. They’re about 50 miles from Jonesville, SC where just last Thursday Pastor Roger Byrd put up the following message on the sign at the Jonesville Church of God: “Obama   Osama, Humm, Are They Brothers”

I am still stretching my brain to figure out just how that could have been interpreted in a positive manner, or what he thought he was doing. I’m used to church signs having messages that instill a little hope or a little guilt into the passerby, nothing that gives rise to these types of thoughts.

From the article:

Byrd said that the message wasn’t meant to be racial or political.

“It’s simply to cause people to realize and to see what possibly could happen if we were to get someone in there that does not believe in Jesus Christ,” he said.

When asked if he believes that Barack Obama is Muslim, Byrd said, “I don’t know. See it asks a question: Are they brothers? In other words, is he Muslim? I don’t know. He says he’s not. I hope he’s not. But I don’t know. And it’s just something to try to stir people’s minds. It was never intended to hurt feelings or to offend anybody.”

–NBC, WYFF: Small Church’s Obama Sign Causes Big Controversy

Some news station should send a mole into this Sunday’s service to see what his sermon discusses. I’m pretty sure that it would only take a few minutes online to determine not only the senator’s religion and home church, but also to see just how many idiotic rumors and stories are flying around all stemming from the name similarity. This isn’t a political endorsement, I just hate ignorance and frankly this is the kind of thing you’d examine closer and expect to see Karl Rove’s hand in, or more lately just an overzealous member of the other Democratic camp.

I can definitely say that I had a religious experience this morning. The trains were packed with regular commuters and all the Catholics there was very little space on the car and no personal space to be had at all. The only thing I can say about most of the riders was that they were very nice, aside from a few Type-A parents worried about getting separated from their kids, everyone was all smiles and “pardon me” and “i’m so sorry” when they bumped into you, so I can really only be upset with the sheer numbers of people, not their attitudes.

I also believe that I felt the spirit. On the train there were a number of priests and I ended up surrounded by a few of them, initially face to face, but they all turned around to talk to their friends and each one of them was so not respecting my personal space and as I told Betsy this morning, I wasn’t sure whether I should be turned on or religiously moved. Well I’m pretty sure something moved, but I believe I’m veering into blasphemous territory. However if the Catholics would stop ordaining hotties, I’m betting the gays would leave you be. Some of these priests were just too fine and I definitely could have used a Father figure, if y’know what I’m saying.

A good number of people took the offer to telework today so the office is near empty. I’m liking using the word telework instead of telecommute because it focuses on using the net to do your work, not just avoid your commute. I don’t know if the Pope’s motorcade will travel by outside my building or approach from the other side of the stadium, but if I have stuff to do here I won’t bother heading outside to catch a glimpse. I was expecting it to be a lot worse today, but I don’t think I’ll have many more pictures from the day.

In other news RCN sucks and is completely made of FAIL. Their tech came yesterday to install a CableCARD into my TivoHD and left before the job was done after he encountered a screen that he didn’t recognize and assumed that it was therefore my problem. Phone calls to tech support were absolutely useless as the reps didn’t even understand my problem even when I explained it to them slowly and repeatedly, even using terms that should have told them exactly what was going on. The kicker was that they wouldn’t send the tech out again last night nor would they try to accommodate me by putting in a rush on a new tech appointment. I felt myself turning into one of those angry customers who when they hear the term, “I’m sorry” or “I apologize,” it just sends them into a red rage.

I have to call them back today to let them know whatever they did at their end didn’t work and I’m not looking forward to it. I mean I’ve worked in customer service, it isn’t that difficult to level with a customer and it is possible to read from a script without making it sound as if you’re actually doing so. Failing to do either of those things is only going to get you an irate customer. So basically I have no cable tv service at all, not even lower tiers, because RCN’s tech didn’t finish the job, even though he reported that he did. If I miss Battlestar Galactica because of their incompetence, I will feel absolutely no shame about downloading a high-quality, commercial-free version. None whatsoever.