Thoughts and outrage

I do SOOOOOOOOOO love it when whack jobs trip up. Like Jimmy Swagart caught ho'in around. Pat Robertson obviously forgot the First Commandment;^)
Now on to outrage. The whack job preacher from Kansas who goes around the country with his little cult of homophobic followers has adopted a particularly egregious new tactic. He's been showing up at military funerals to inform the assembled mourners that their loved ones who have died in the line of duty were actually killed as divine retribution for America's tolerance of homosexuality. Now, if we could just get Pat Robertson to redirect his attention to the preacher......................
Ankh

Gaza............whazzup?!

Hey gents;
This is such a complex and fraught situation. Surely we can get a lot of mileage out of it. I'm curious about the U.S. government's support of Isreal from a Christian perspective. It's naive to think our interests are purely geopolitical. I've mistakenly stumbled into discussions about this perspective before with people(read devout Christians) who have an emotio/religious attachment to the situation. Can anyone explain the Christian perspective dispassionately?
Ankh

Minutiae, errata

Just bits and pieces of mental detritus, flotsam and jetsam;
Kansas(atajim: since you and your folks left, the place just ain't the same;^) is the first state to legislate intelligent(small "i" demonstrates my contempt) design into it's school science curriculum. Toto's looking off into thin air and whining. Thinking individuals among us can only hope this will gain as much traction as previous efforts to slip "creation science" into the curriculum in the same state some years ago.
The potential Republican presidential candidate pool is lookin' pretty shallow and murky. Forgive me, I can only come up with two in my sleep deprived state. First and most egregiously, is Senator Rick Sanctimonium, closely followed( a little too;^) by Jeb"Ya owe me one Dubya" Bush. Is Catherine Harris' continued ascendancy in politics any surprise?
S'all fer now,
Ankh

AVAM

Hey y'all;
Wife and I spent a very enjoyable evening south of the border at the American VisionaryArt Museum near Inner Harbor. Lots of fantastic nonconformist art. The capper appeared in the museum's gift shop. Among other interesting and entertaining things was a picture of Dubya wearing a sandwich board which said, "Will kill for oil". Made me smile. I tried to recreate it using the computer, but am just not savvy enough. Anyone care to give it a try............Geo?
Also, I immensely enjoyed the snippet of the interview show I saw yesterday where James Carville got Robert Novak to self-destruct. Don't particularly love Carville, but I admire his style. Don't particularly hate Novak, but I dislike his pole-up-the-ass conservativism(hope I'm characterizing him right).
Ankh

update: The Education of Shelby Knox

'lo;
I had posted on 30 June 'bout a P.O.V. show on PBS called "The Education of Shelby Knox".
I finally, by chance got to watch it the other night. What a tremendous show. The best part was the superintendant of the school district, who ultimately blocked all the kids' efforts to get Sex Ed. into the school curriculum, was discovered to have been carrying on a torrid affair with a female staff member, complete with graphic emails on the school's computer system. He has since left his post and disappeared.
But the dynamic tension created by the opening of this girl's mind(coming from a conservative Christian, Republican background) is amazing. Y'all must watch if you get a chance.
Ankh

Ne'erdowell carries the blog

Gentlemen;
Are we mice or men?! Ne'erdowell has been carrying the weight here. Speaking for myself, I've been suffering from a lassitude regarding posting on things which stick in my craw. My craw's full to overflowing and emptying it doesn't seem to help. I've taken refuge in concentrating on things which I can do something about, like building stone walls, diddling with my bike and living with my family. Hoping this passes though, 'cause I do likes to bloviate on things worldly;^)
Ankh

A mind opens

Just created my first link(crudely but effectively, I hope). I was just browsing last night and came across this piece. Very arresting, particularly the part where this young woman talks about the type of believers (her) God wants. If a mind can open in that kind of environment, after having been nutured in the way this woman's was, there is some small hope for humankind.
ankh

Free speech

Since 1789, there have been more than 11,000 attempts in Congress to amend the Constitution; only 27 amendments have won ratification. (from the YAHOO newsboard)

The most recent of a spate of attempts to amend the Constitution to prohibit flag burning seems destined to pass. Post 9/11 pressure, and some strategic Republican electoral wins have given this initiative the necessary oomph to prevail over sensible legislative scrutiny that has prevented 10,973 other misguided attempts to change the fabric of our national identity.
Emotion prevails, pundits wail and an impressionable public that never seems to learn from past abuses opens wide and swallows. Let's all stop being whores to manipulative, self-serving pols(to follow the dirty joke vein I'm mining). Let's be nice girls and spit the jizz of spurious, nonvalid legislative efforts right back on their collective laps!
We defend far worse things(IMHO) in the name if First Amendment protection than the act of flag burning. This smacks of cold war, red scare, commie hunting behavior, that we should have outgrown. The flag is a symbol(albeit a powerful one) pure and simple. If someone defaces or destroys it as an act of protest or defiance, I may not appreciate the gesture, but I don't take it as a personal affront. We're wasting far too much valuable time exercising ourselves over things of no consequence.
ankh

Dynasty?! I'm movin' to Canada

This is gonna be short, 'cause I only heard it in passing. I heard the other day that Bush, Sr. wanted to see Jeb elected to the presidency to cement his family's dynasty. Talk about royalist tendencies in the Republican Party, sheesch! That would be the final insult, electing the man who presided over one of the most egregious voter frauds in U.S. history to the presidency:^(
'Scuse me while I hurl.....................................
Hank

Spreading the wealth

From: "hank smeltzer" Date: Tue May 24, 2005 11:54 pm Subject: Thoughts on tropical paradise, social responsibility, my religion, cynicism vs.
goodnightnur... Offline Send Email
hope, skepticism............................"First, let's be fair to cynics. Cynicism is the place ofretreat for smart, critical, dissenting and formerly idealistic proplewho are now trying to protect themselves. They are not niave. Theytend to see things as they are, they know what is wrong, and they aregenerally opposed to what they see. These are not people who view theworld through rose-colored glasses, the ones who tend to trustauthority or who decide to live in denial. They know what is goingon, and at one point, they might even have tried for a time to changeit. But they didn't succeed; things got worse, and they got weary.Their activism, and the commitments and hopes that implied, made themfeel vulnerable. So they retreated to cynicism as a refuge fromcommitment."And later..................."And if you have middle-class economic security(as many cinicsdo), things don't HAVE to change for YOU to remain secure. That isnot intended to sound harsh, just realistic. Cynics are finally freejust to look after themselves."The above is excerpted from the book "God's Politics: Why theRight Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It. A New Vision forFaith and Politics in America", by Jim Wallis, an evangelical,preacher, theologian and faith-based activist.Part of my rededication to serious reading is an effort toclarify my thinking, and my positions on some issues that are veryimportant to who I am and how I relate to the world.In the past, when I haven't been sure of my feelings about athing or idea, I generally try to immerse myself in it. Not by tryingto absorb information just from my orientation to the issue, but byusing sources that make me uncomfortable. I definitely approachedthis book with more than a modicum of discomfort. The passages Iquoted above really struck me. I don't necessarily consider myself acynic.........more of a skeptic. But then, maybe that's justrationalization on my part. The definition sure as shit fits me. Icould never again embrace mainstream Christianity. I am just as sureof the validity of my particular religious philosophy as the author isof his, but I could work with this man. The vast majority of his bookresonated strongly with me. Much of the content regards our moralresponsibility to work to provide an improved standard of living tothe world's poor. I was reading this as we were travelling from theairport at St. Lucia, past squalid housing to our posh resort.Much of the rest of the content involves politics in America, itsdysfunctional relationship with those it is supposed to serve, and itsabuse and fear of communities of faith. This man is very balanced inhis analysis. Despite my initial reticence, his sense andevenhandedness won me over. Not to faith, but to the realization thatI could work with him DESPITE his faith, and accept that if weprevailed, we might both end up in the same place.It's an endless source of frustration to me that my ruminationsnever sound as clean, concise and coherent as Dr. Don's, but then, Igenerally start with much messier premises;^)My next selection is, "The Bottomless Well: The Twilight ofFuel, The Virtue of Waste, And Why We Will Never Run Out of Energy".Friend Don, this is one for you. The first pages alone havefired my thinking a quantum leap past the rudimentary energy exchangeswe've had here and on the blog in that past.More to come. I feel invigorated, frustrated...............gawd,it's a beautiful, fucked-up world.Hank

Moments of clarity

Rewind to the last election.........................the fatal sound bite. Howard Dean screeching and gesticulating to the crowd. I had a moment of clarity. At that moment, I knew that he was a political nonentity. I understood the implications of that out-of-context snippet of video. I mourned the loss. I liked Howard Dean. Would have voted for him without the reservation I harbored for John Kerry.
Fast forward to today. I was watching Charlie Rose interviewing Mike Nichols, the director. Very interesting guy, even when he was talking about stuff that really didn't interest me. Then suddenly, he provided me with another moment of clarity. He was discussing Howard Dean's fall, and in a couple of devastatingly simple sentences, he made me understand why that snippet of video was so damning. What he said was, "the audience wasn't miked". Dean was trying to project over, and was reacting to a raucous crowd. But because the audience's reaction to him wasn't provided(or was deleted), an (all) important piece of contextual information was omitted, and allowed those who wished him ill to effectively neutralize his message and appeal to the voters. Nichols said, "this is a serious thing." Perhaps one of the greatest understatements I've heard in some time. A real life "Wag the Dog", perpetrated on the American public in ths space of about five seconds. In my estimation, perhaps the most pivotal five seconds of the entire campaign.
This scares me,
Hank

Ellen Goodman-conscience clauses

Hey all;
Check out Ellen Goodman's column in the York Sunday News. The upshot is that they( pharmacists who refuse to fill "morning after pill" prescriptions) want to exercise conscience without consequence. Her "slippery slope" arguments are very compelling. By logical extension, the bus driver can refuse to let you off in front of the Planned Parenthood clinic. Interesting..........................hope I never have to decide whether or not to leave my job based on conscience issues.
Hank

Today's cartoon..............

On another subject.....................

Consider;
Your wife, daughter, mother has been raped. Medical science has developed a safe method to assure that there will be no risk of pregnancy from this act. Your family physician perscribes the medicine. When you reach the pharmacy, the pharmacist informs you that, due to his religious convictions he can/will not fill the perscription. Further, he will not refer you to someone else who might.
One of the central tenets of health care is that you do not impose your personal beliefs on those under your care. If you can't do that, you should find another line of work.
In yet another instance of legislative overreaching, lawmakers in Texas, and other states are trying to pass statutes to protect pharmacists who refuse to dispense RU486 and other such "morning after pills" to patients.
I appreciate the strength and depth of others' convictions, but "your right to throw your fist stops at my nose".
Hank

If you can't beat the system, kill the messenger

Gen'lmen;
This isn't a new issue, but recent events have brought it afresh to my attention. What right does someone who's run afoul of, or feel they've been abused by the courts have to kill the judge who's passed sentence? ...............................of course it's a rhetorical question, but that's why we ask these, to stimulate discourse.
White supremicist Matt Hale(yes, he who bloodied York's pedestrian mug by picking us to host one of his hate rallies) has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for trying to contract for the killing of a federal judge. The same federal judge(bizarrely) who was killed by a derranged and unsuccessful complainant in a medical malpractice lawsuit.
Now, disgruntled legislators who got beat at their own game by the courts are spewing inflammatory rhetoric at the bench that further feeds the fires of anarchic zeal. All the usual suspects are featured, Santorum, DeLay. Frist is carefully distancing himself.
I can't quite read through all the smoke where this is leading, but it's really disturbing. Anyone care to pick up the thread?
Hank

Lap dog rediscovers his teeth

Quote for the day.
"I do not want to end up with an American style of politics with us all going out there beating our chests about our faith."
Tony Blair, British Prime Minister.

by the way.........................

Full credit goes to my wife for this question: How many executions did the president sign off on or fail to intervene in in order to "err on the side of preserving life" during his tenure as governor of Texas? Surely, he would acknowledge that the criminal justice system is just as fraught with serious questions of veracity of information as was Terri Schiavo's case. And the stakes are much higher. We're talking state sanctioned murder vs. passive euthanasia.
Henr'

Terri Schiave.......requiescat in pace

"The essence of civilization is that the strong have a duty to protect the weak," Bush said. "In cases where there are serious doubts and questions, the presumption should be in favor of life."
Sounds like another unfunded mandate to me:^( Besides, Michael Schiavo was doing exactly what Dubya said..........protecting the weak(his wife) from the agendas of other unscrupulous parties. It's finally over though. We can all heave a sigh(for whatever reason). Unfortunately, some will be heaving that sigh in order to catch their breath so they can continue to beat this now dead horse. Republicans promise further hearings............it makes my heart heavy.
Hank

Censorship.

We have a Borders Books near where we live and they often have local artist and musicians play from time to time. Recently, they invited a local artist to display some of her art. Unfortunately, some of it offended a few patrons and the manger decided to remove it from the display.

Our local paper had a column on the whole thing, and I tend to agree with the guy writing, but I think the manager at Borders has to make a decision. He needs to decide whether he wants to display art or not display art. Art can be good, bad and/or controversial and in my opinion- good art is controversial once and awhile. That's what makes it art. It makes you think. Perish the thought.

This person got themselves all worked up and wrote in to the paper. Somehow they glossed over one important detail; Borders Books is a private business on private property. They can do whatever they damn well please as long as they don't violate any laws. If you don't like it-vote with your dollars.

Personally? I think the manager at Borders needs to get a set of balls. I saw the picture in question and I thought it was well done but I disagree with some of it's premise. That's my opinion and that's why it's called art.

Quickie.....

Not alot of time this morning........you guys gotta read this blog. Seeya, Johnny Donut needs his sleep.