Sweden Loves Metallica

Here's a fun article to start off with about how much the power of music can influence our lives:

April 4, 2007 (STOCKHOLM, Sweden) - Metallica may be a cool name for a heavy metal band, but a Swedish couple is struggling to convince officials it is also suitable for a baby girl.

Michael and Karolina Tomaro are locked in a court battle with Swedish authorities, which rejected their application to name their six-month-old child after the legendary rock band.

"It suits her," Karolina Tomaro, 27, said Tuesday of the name. "She's decisive and she knows what she wants."

Although little Metallica has already been baptized, the Swedish National Tax Board refused to register the name, saying it was associated with both the rock group and the word "metal."

Tomaro said the official handling the case also called the name "ugly."

The couple was backed by the County Administrative Court in Goteborg, which ruled on March 13 that there was no reason to block the name. It also noted that there already is a woman in Sweden with Metallica as a middle name.

It would be so easy to make jokes at the expense of either the Swedish parents or the subtle genius that is Metallica, but I am above that sort of non-sense. Instead I think it is far more beneficial to thank God for the inalienable rights of expression and free speech that Americans take for granted.

On a lighter note, it seems the message of Jesus sharing bread and fish with thine brethren is not being well received in Texas (surprise, surprise):

March 30, 2007 (SEGUIN, Texas) - Something stinks about the fish. Now, a Texas man is in jail, charged with swiping a church's fish fry.

Authorities in Seguin accuse Patrick Vaughn of stealing 800 dollars worth of seafood from the Our Lady of Guadalupe Roman Catholic Church.

Police say they became suspicious after hearing reports of a man trying to sell fish from a cart in the landlocked community.

The stolen cod, catfish, shrimp, and restaurant equipment were to be used at a church fish fry. Police recovered some of the seafood, but it all had to be tossed because of concerns over spoilage.

Alright, that is about all of the superfluous links I can handle for one blog. More to come later.