Armin Meiwes, the weird German guy who shared a meal of pan-fried penis with its donor and then with the consent of the latter butchered and ate him, has been sentenced to life in prison. The government originally conceded that he didn't murder anyone and sent him to prison for 8 years. On appeal, the judge, disgusted by the case, decided the sentence was too lenient and has now found Meiwes guilty of murder, even though the maximum sentence for "killing on demand" is five years.

It would be hard to argue that Meiwes is a fine man to have as a neighbor and isn't a generally creepy freak all around, but certainly based on his statements and background -- he never hurt anyone before, and he never would have without consent -- he is not a threat to society. Considering we're talking about Europe, if he had simply shot a man on the street in cold blood he'd still probably only get around 20 years in prison. Something about cutting someone up and eating him makes Meiwes more offensive to the German state than a real murderer. Meiwes will go to prison for the rest of his life because he made the judge go "ewwwwwwwwwww." How's that for rule of law? Law is and always has been a completely arbitrary farce molded by the whims and tastes of the powerful.

I say free the weirdo -- he committed no crime. And then force the judge to watch something offensive to his religion as "sensitivity training."

I get so much shit for my views on the troops, but one cannot ignore the menace that masses of returning troops present to civilized society. There are plenty of stories of Iraq vets coming home and killing their wives, each other, robbing and raping -- and the war is still going on. It's not just Iraqis and Americans who are suffering at the hands of these animals, as they are also stationed all around the world in US bases. From Tuesday's Washington Post:

A U.S. soldier who raped a Nigerian woman in Italy was given a lighter sentence because the court deemed his tour of duty in Iraq had made him less sensitive to the suffering of others.

The crime would have earned him an eight-year sentence, but the judges reduced the penalty due to the "extenuating circumstances" of the psychological effects of Brown's year of service in Iraq, the document said.

He beat her and raped her in every orifice she had and then dumped her to wander the streets of Italy, a black woman, completely naked. I understand the reason to feel sorry...possibly...for this disgusting creature, probably some kind of borderline-inbred piece of trailer trash shoved into the military by the lethal combination of patriotism and a sharp recruiter, but I certainly don't see a reason to return him to the streets. If he can't be remanded into a psychiatric ward for the rest of his life, I plead to the Italian authorities, on the basis of the acute danger this person poses to the innocent inhabitants of this world, to summarily execute James Michael Brown. Thank you.

I learned today that the French government has shut down soup kitchens in the country, apparently, for offending Islam. Some of the free food given out to people in need contains pork, a traditional French, indeed, European ingredient. It's also delicious. Did I mention it's free? The problem people have is that it would make Muslim hobos search for a different free meal, somewhere else, which amounts to discrimination. Since France can't be seen in any way to so much as inconvenience for a moment either a hobo or a Muslim, and certainly not someone who is both, I suppose this action is to be expected. Sure, the French piggies claim it's all on "'administrative grounds,' claiming the soup kitchens do not have the correct papers." I'm just having trouble believing that the only places without the proper papers needed to give away food to hungry poor people were the ones serving ham sandwiches.

A clincher seems to be that these soup kitchens are run by "right-wing" groups who are purposely warding off Muslims with their pork soup. But could it be more likely that as nationalists, they're simply insisting upon serving traditional French food? Maybe not, but it's worth consideration before jumping to conclusions that serve the interests of religious morons.