New URL or: More bumptious self-aggrandizement. And websites.

Yesterday I paid $10 to register "www.shenpawarrior.com" as my new URL. The old link will forward to this one, but you really should link to the new address instead because it's just like totally so much cooler.

Also, in my quest for finding the coolest websites (for the left column), I've found some real keepers:

• Howcast - videos on how to do anything from cleaning your grill to making a move on the couch during a movie.
• iliketotallyloveit - things that people buy, that they like totally love.
• Robert Kirby - the only man in Salt Lake who writes stuff that the MOs, ex-MOs, and anti-MOs can all laugh at.
• Urban Dictionary - gives an urban word of the day, like "carbon guilt."

Those are all under "The Others" heading--the other two are "News & Politics" (which, I need to point out, contains quite a balance on the political spectrum.  Possibly the most balanced news/blog feed, ever) and "Science & Religion."

Under "News" you can also find FactCheck, which tells us when politicians are equivocating, or just plain lying, (like Obama's new ad that says he worked his way through school, when according to his campaign staff he only worked two summers). Check out that site during the debates this November and you will be appalled at how often all the candidates distort everything.

They're constantly updating so there will always be all kinds of good stuff for your perusal.

Kirby on Birth Control

Probably my favorite columnist, Robert Kirby, just wrote an article about religion, thinking for oneself, and birth control. It's a great read for anyone who has felt unduly pressured to blindly follow anyone else. My favorite line: "I prefer to focus on the fact that I was once insecure enough to let someone pressure me into doing something that was, in point of fact, none of his business - and to never let it happen again."

Defining principles (Coffee bad, Coke not so bad, Red Bull...?)

Caffeine debates always get a little sticky for Mormons. I don’t like trying to answer questions about my standards in this area, and I usually end up with something like “We don’t drink tea, but some tea is ok, we don’t drink coffee, but decaf is ok. Coke and Pepsi are ok, even though they have some caffeine, and, uh, …” I’m usually just grateful they didn’t ask about Red Bull or Rock Star or those other tastes-like-a-diaper drinks (according to a friend: ). I suppose they're not “hot drinks,” but some have as much caffeine as coffee.

This problem in clarity is probably why the three most prominent Mormons in the media (President Hinckley, Mitt Romney, and Napoleon Dynamite) have all said simply that we don’t drink caffeine.

Robert Kirby, a Salt Lake Tribune columnist and a Mormon who admits that he sometimes “sneaks home for a ham sandwich during priesthood meeting,” recently commented on the controversy:

“It's been a while since the last big (and pointless) caffeine-and-Mormons debate. During one such debate several years ago, I received a letter from a group of Baptist seminary students demanding biblical proof for the LDS stand on caffeine. I sent them Deuteronomy 25:13 and said, "I don't know how the Lord could possibly make it any clearer.” They wrote back that I was “an unserious man” and to “enjoy myself in Hell.” …Still, the "official" Mormon obedience factor regarding caffeinated soft drinks depends on the Mormon. Liberal Mormons tend to think it's their own business. Conservative Mormons might drink a Coke in a pinch and repent later. Orthodox Mormons put Pepsi in a subcategory of beer and won't allow it in their home. Nazi Mormons believe the Lord will give you a boil for simply watching a Dr Pepper commercial.”

My question is, do people need exact definitions of their principles in order to live them? Is that less hypocritical? Or is finding exactness in all areas of life an impossible task? I think that life is too gray sometimes to have completely precise stances on everything. What do you think?