This article in the Salt Lake Tribune made me want to claw my eyes out:

The endlessly cheerful, excruciatingly nice, all-American image of Mormons in pop culture is not necessarily good news for a church that was once known for its radical nature. In fact, it may indicate that anti-Mormonism has won.

That is what Dennis Potter, professor of religious studies at Utah Valley State College, argued in his presentation, “The Americanization of Mormonism Reflected in Pop Culture,” on Thursday at the Annual Sunstone Symposium.

Potter built his thesis on three points: early Mormonism was radically opposed to all 19th century power structures; contemporary Mormonism has been so assimilated into American culture as to be often held up as the prototype for good citizens, and its radical theology (such as communitarian economics, importance of Mother in Heaven and the idea of becoming gods) is slowly eroding away.

And what powerful empirical evidence — no doubt painstakingly researched over many sabbaticals — does Professor Potter offer up in support?

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Shelly cries me a river on Feminist Mormon Housewives:

He has excuse after excuse but the facts remain: He’s lied to me more than once. He goes to bars while away on business with strangers! While I stay at home with our beautiful baby, he puts his health in danger, his priesthood to the wayside, contradicts our temple promises to each other…. BUT I am supposed to be understanding and loving. Being understanding and loving makes me feel like a doormat (again) and I just want to be angry. I want an apology. I want the life back that I signed up for. I am sick of being the perfect, caring housewife who cooks his meals and does his laundry just to be treated with NO respect or concern. I’m so mad but I do still love him even though I don’t show him anymore. So please, give me some practical advice, no sermons needed.

Translation: “Waaah. Waaah. I want attention! Give me attention *now* because my marriage is falling apart!”

Those who rely on random people on the internet to provide moral support and advice in such situations are unfathomably weak individuals. With this brand of mentality, there is no doubt that Shelly will find herself in situations even worse than her current plight as she stumbles her way through life.

Fortunately for us, we have the intrepid writers at FMH to exploit Shelly (and others like her) as fodder for their estrogen-overloaded community.

They get to play Dr. Phil, she gets to be an attention whore.

I, on the other hand, get a cheap laugh and a pause to thank deity that I’m not tied down to one of these anti-depressant pill-popping lards.

It’s win, win!

Samsung announced today it has developed the world’s first three-inch VGA LCD panel that “directly meets industry interface standards for digital still cameras.”  What this means is that future LCD screens on digital cameras will allow multimedia to be viewed at a resolution of 640×480.

In layman’s terms, expect significantly brighter, more detailed LCD displays, which will enable you to review your photography more thoroughly after you take an exposure.  This innovation will make it easier to spot blurry images and ensure your photo is framed properly.

Presently, a majority of camera LCDs only display multimedia at a resolution of 320×240 — significantly lower in quality than Samsung’s new LCD.

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It is perhaps the understatement of the year to say that Michael F. (last name held by request) was in the wrong place at the wrong time:

I had put off coming to my Father’s homeland because there was always some kind of trouble or war going on… I figured after 10 years of peace and rebuilding here in Lebanon it was safe to come and see what where my father grew up and meet a bunch of relatives I didn’t know.

Of course the world is funny like that.

This is the story of an American visiting his grandfather’s home in the southern Lebanese village of Yarun when Hezbollah forces crossed the border and abducted two Israeli soldiers on July 12, 2006. Less than three weeks later, it is reported that 750 people have perished and 800,000 more made refugees.

With Michael’s permission, we have published his diary and select photographs from the day the Israeli military operations began to his miraculous escape of the country.

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