A lot of people think the internet is shortening our attention spans to the point where we won’t read anything that takes more than two minutes of our time. If that applies to you, then you might want to just move along. But if you can still focus on something for more time than it takes to watch a YouTube video, here’s some interesting stuff:
Requiem for a Maverick — a post-mortem on the McCain campaign.
Our Mutual Joy — Opponents of gay marriage often cite Scripture. But what the Bible teaches about love argues for the other side.
And one more — which technically isn’t long-format, but since it’s a month’s worth of blog posts, it might as well be — One Dollar Diet Project (here’s the premise and scroll down here for Day One).
Enjoy!
Yeah, OK — Christians aren’t allowed to make praise music anymore. They’ve gone too far and it must be banned.
I think it might be the new black.
I don’t know if they’ve taken up their crusade as a way to suck up to the right’s (increasingly irrelevant?) wingnut base in a cynical attempt to get Mitt the dog lover into the White House, or if it’s something they’ve been planning for years, but the end result is that they’ve painted a big, red bull’s eye on their church — or is it a political party these days? Either way, while they’re claiming moral authority over the rest of us, let’s not forget some of the loonier things they buy into…
Fortunately, some saner heads are willing to walk away from what is becoming the LDS train wreck: Mormons resign, Prop 8 Made Me Quit, Son of LDS Leader Quits — why even Jesus’ General Himself Resigned. There’s LOTS more here.
UPDATE: like I said, it’s fashionable.
This is good stuff. It is crazy that the Mormon church has spent millions of dollars and immeasurable effort to limit the rights of segment of our community and now they are whining because they having to own their actions. Cry me a river, Donnie, Marie, Mitt, et al.
(Here’s the money quote: “I hope Tony Perkins doesn’t pray to Jesus with that mouth.”)
While we’re waiting for John McCain to come out from behind Sarah Palin’s skirt, I’d like to raise a couple of issues.
First, Roe v. Wade. I get the impression the most strident Roe opponents — those who shriek loudest about the decision — have no idea what it actually says, so let’s start by taking a peek at what’s there:
The opinion of the Roe Court, written by Justice Harry Blackmun, declined to adopt the district court’s Ninth Amendment rationale, and instead asserted that the “right of privacy, whether it be founded in the Fourteenth Amendment’s concept of personal liberty and restrictions upon state action, as we feel it is, or, as the District Court determined, in the Ninth Amendment’s reservation of rights to the people, is broad enough to encompass a woman’s decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy.”
Note that the decision rests on a foundation of privacy — something that Sarah Palin demands for her own daughter, but would take away from all the other little girls in the country. She’s maybe never actually even read the decision she’s so adamantly determined to overturn. But then again, ignorance never does stop a fanatic, does it?
Yeah, so anyway, Sarah Palin likes her kids ignorant and knocked up, and she wants to repeal Roe.
This means that Sarah, if presented with a woman who just found out that the child she is carrying has Tay-Sachs disease, wouldn’t have her choose between getting an abortion or carrying the child to term, only to watch helplessly as her beautiful baby goes from healthy to mentally disabled, blind, deaf and unable to swallow, then finally becomes paralyzed, before dying by the age of five. Instead, Sarah would make that decision for her, without regard to the woman’s financial situation; or whether she is equipped to deal with the emotional devastation of such an experience; or her ability to cope with the medical needs of a child who has such profound problems. In fact, she would make this decision on her behalf without knowing a single thing about her circumstances. Sarah would opt for the latter situation, and not even offer her the first option (even if the pregnancy resulted from a rape).
To be clear, I am not advocating for a woman to choose either option over the other. What I am doing is arguing that all women should be able to make that choice for themselves — just like Sarah Palin did when she chose to continue her pregnancy after she found out her youngest child had Down Syndrome.
But back to the woman Palin is forcing into gestation… Would Sarah do anything to address her child’s special needs, as she claimed at the convention? Well, the jury’s still very much out on that question, since Sarah has not been a governor long enough to have much of a record when it comes to action on health care. But since she’s signed onto the McCain/Bush/Republican platform, it’s safe to assume she’ll be supporting the status quo when it comes to American health care (at best).
And then there’s this (more here). Sarah Palin belongs to the spiritual warfare movement (go see the movie Jesus Camp if you haven’t already and you’ll get a peak into Palin’s world) — which more and more, is making Christian fanatics look a lot like Islamic fanatics.
The Third Wave may be kind of spooky, but it’s also really dangerous. These people see the world in very black/white, christian/not christian terms, and it’s that kind of simplistic thinking that got us involved in Bush’s stupid war to begin with — a war, btw, that was supported by Palin, who even subscribes to Bush’s theocratic view that the Iraq war is a “task that is from God.”
Now, John McCain may be with Bush 90% of the time, but Sarah Palin appears to be with him 110% of the time (if you saw any of her interview with Charlie Gibson, you may have noticed that she even mimics George’s word-fog style of speaking which features lots of words, but doesn’t necessarily have a clear point).
I really don’t think we want to go there. Eight years of simplistic, slow-witted leadership has been more than enough. I don’t care how much you’d like to hang out with these people, or how thirsty you are for a beer in their company, that doesn’t mean that they have what it takes to lead this country in the right direction. And if you like the fact that they’re just like you, think about whether or not you’re truly qualified to run this country — really, don’t you want to put someone who’s extra smart in charge? Ideally, someone who is smarter than you and me? There’s nothing elitist about not wanting stupid leaders.
If we need change, then we’re going to have to start with a fresh approach. And that is clearly not what these guys would give us.
- Have the Republicans become the party of instant satisfaction and gratification? This illustration offers some numbers in support of the suggestion:
- Do you have any idea why McCain won’t comment on matters of marital infidelity? It’s not like him to give up a chance to be high and mighty…
- A lot of locals have been excited to discover that Google Street View has come to Chattanooga, and they are pouring over the maps to find all the easter eggs caught in the images. But will they find anything as quite as spooky as a house on fire?
- Tennessee’s progressive blogosphere Sunday roundup.
- Quote of the week, from Ian McKellan, regarding an (yet another) intolerant religious leader: “From the pulpit, homophobia is preached by some arrogant religious leaders who think their beliefs are superior to our inborn and, some would say, God-given nature.” Ha!
- Here’s a puzzler:
So John McCain apparently lifted huge portions of his statement on the unfolding crisis in Georgia from Wikipedia. Here’s a 3 AM question for you: do you want a President with a real strategy for containing such a crisis, or do you want someone who’s stumbling over wikipedia entries after getting internet lessons from his wife? I guess when it comes to McCain and foreign policy, it’s a google!
I don’t think he’s up for the job, but we’ll see. (UPDATE: more here and here!) - Mind-boggling quote of the day, from George W. Bush on Russia’s activities in Georgia: “Russia has invaded a sovereign neighbouring state…. Such an action is unacceptable in the 21st century…. We have no doubts about it. This is a deliberate attempt to destroy an entire country and change the regime.” I am speechless. (UPDATE: more here!)
- Will a Southern community serve as a nuclear waste dump?
This is clearly going to get some people really stirred up…
religulous
(via Buck)
- Ted Talks: My Year of Living Biblically
- Barack Obama is planning to visit Tennessee!
- And who doesn’t need to get rid of some clutter?
- Why You’re Better Off Avoiding the iPhone (via cmwillis).
- Do you ever read something that is just so incredibly stupid that you have trouble even trying to process the folly? Usually I’m left speechless by extreme cases of idiocy like this one (also see here), whereas Naamah had no such trouble in responding (don’t follow the link if you’re bothered by colorful language).
And finally, there’s this gem. Way back in the day, when Dear Daughter was just a toddler, and she thought that the TV only had one channel, and that that channel had only one hour of programming a day (see, we ruin our kids when we let them go off to school and they find out about all sorts of evil stuff, like Disney and candy and Chuck E. Cheese), she used to get to watch Sesame Street. I probably wouldn’t let her watch it if she was a kid now, but back then, before Elmo, and before Jim Henson died and the Muppets got whored out to anyone wanting to make a sleazy buck, it was a pretty cool show. And it was because of features like Put Down the Ducky.
I can still see her in my mind’s eye, clutching her little plastic saxophone while doing a hoppy little dance and shrieking along with the song, while I enjoyed it for all the cool people who made appearances (John Candy as Yosh Schmenge from SCTV, Andrea Martin as Edith Prickley from SCTV, New York Mets Keith Hernandez & Mookie Wilson, Jane Curtin, Madeline Kahn, Joe Williams, Paul Reubens/Pee Wee Herman, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Wynton Marsalis, Celia Cruz, Ihtzak Perlman, Gordon Jackson & Jean Marsh as Angus Hudson and Rose Buck of Upstairs Downstairs, Paul Simon, Jeremy Irons, Pete Seeger, Rhea Perlman and Danny Devito, and NY Giants Sean Landeta, Mark Ingram, Karl Nelson and Carl Banks). I hope the video doesn’t get yanked off of youtube, but if it does, I’ll try to find a replacement somewhere…
OK, so this was actually overheard in my house this evening, but that’s in Chattanooga, so it oughta count.
We had some people over for dinner who are in the process of moving to Chattanooga. At one point I was hanging out with their very clever 5-year-old boy — the two of us were upstairs in a room that has a dollhouse and few toys in it. He picked up a plastic Jesus action figure (don’t ask — I don’t know why it’s up there or where it came from) and held it up and said to me “I know this guy! I can’t think of his name, but he’s the one who hangs out with those other twelve guys. Do you know who he is?” And I replied, “uh, do you mean Jesus?” He got all excited and said “yeah! That’s the one!” And then he started to put Jesus in the attic of the dollhouse, but then he stopped and told me that Jesus was supposed to be up higher than an attic and held him, hovering, over the house.
Kids don’t always retain what you think they should remember, but they always seem to pick up something.
UPDATE: and now to discover that I’m not the first one to tell my story to the internet! Harumph!
;-D Oh, well, it’s a good story…
Today is Labour Day, or International Workers’ Day in places around the world. In Israel, it’s Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day), it’s Beltane for the Celts, and National Love Day in the Czech Republic. Here in the US, not only is it May Day (which brings its own bizarre spectacle to Chattanooga), but it’s also Loyalty Day and Law Day!
Whew! Better take the day off!
UPDATE #1: it’s also National Day of Prayer (thanks, Bob!) and National Day of Reason, which both fall on the first Thursday of May.
UPDATE #2: AND it’s Mission Accomplished Day (thanks, Buck!).
Seriously, take the day off. With all this maypole dancing, praying, thinking and — well, trying to figure out how to get our country out from under its misguided and incompetent leadership — it’s going to be a very busy day!
UPDATE #3: well, it turns out that this year, May 1st falls 40 days after Easter, so it’s also (thanks again, Bob) Ascension Day (which jumps around on our calendar pretty wildly, since it follows Easter — last year it fell on my mother’s birthday).
And for the record, it’s also a bunch of other stuff today, too. But, fun as all this is, I think I’ll quit with the updates.
