Emasculation Was Not My Intent

Tags

astronomy, biblicists, capitalism, Catholicism, dining, food, fundamentalism, galaxy, John McCain, Karl Marx, males, testosterone, universe, Vatican, voters, YEC

I didn’t know what to make of this at first. Studies show that men who voted for McCain saw their testosterone levels fall when they found out he lost.

I feel, as you might expect, some responsibility for this. After all, I spent several months last year dragging out all the dirt on this dishonorable human being, assuring all that he was the worst possible candidate for president. And that woman (God how I hate that Sarah is of my sex), only added to the bonfire of reasons to vote for Obama.

It seems that my blogging rhetoric has worked to sissify, feminize, or otherwise reduce the beer swilling, rump scratching tendencies of some American males. I literally turned them into wusses when they realized that a sane and articulate human being was headed for the White House.

Of course, I don’t take all the credit. I’ll give some to Daily Kos, Huff Po, and all the other liberal bloggers, as well as due credit to Keith Olbermann, and that woman of the day, Rachel Maddow. But I do take some.

Okay, so my impact was statistically minuscule, less than the diameter of an atom. But still, I am in the company of those that did? Com’ on–please validate me!

Which makes it all the more remarkable that McCain still has a public forum at all. And he does, even though, as is pointed out, he really is a cipher these days. He holds no important committee chairmanships, has no legislation of note, has very little in the way of any constituency at all, and he is still pretty much hated by the loud-mouth swill that purports to speak for the Rethugs these days.

That public forum is the Sunday news shows, where McCain is called upon time and time again to give his two cents worth on various topics of which he is ill-prepared to pontificate upon. In other words, he was a dud and continues to be one when it comes to intellectual prowess on any subject except perhaps himself and his glorious history with the Vietnamese.

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This next head scratcher comes from the Vatican. It seems that Karl Marx has been quoted by the Vatican as having some rather good criticisms of capitalism on balance. He is being re-appraised as are people like Galileo, Charles Darwin and others. All, initially slammed as too frightening in their approach, and thus anti-biblical, are now being embraced as the Church enters into a more mature understanding of itself, God and the Church.

Course Catholics see this as nothing more than not throwing out the baby with the bath water, something all intelligent beings do.

Here, the Vatican, like many other groups, are trying to reconcile the normal defense of capitalism with the alienation and strong income disparity that has resulted worldwide between the titans of industry and the vast majority of the rest of the world’s people.

Still these reassessments are coming fast. Only last year Galileo was resurrected as being accurate in his claims about the earth revolving around the sun, and only last February did the Vatican categorically declare that Darwin and ensuing evolutionary theory are not in the least incompatible with faith.

None of this will sit well, (the matters relating to Marx at least) with the extreme right wing of the Roman Church, which steadfastly has little or no interest in social concerns for the masses, seeing  government solutions as “socialistic” in orientation.  They prefer, like many on the extreme right to let “private” charity make its usual small dent in the problem, and at least salve the consciences of the faithful in their efforts to do the “good works” demanded for personal salvation.

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Which takes us to the bible. You missed the connection? Well, no matter, travel forward. Madpriest has an excellent little rant on the far right and it’s penchant for dissembling into fantasy as it clings to what it wants to believe in the face of objective reality staring it in the face. Yes folks, I’m not the only one who finds the biblicist illogic maddening in the extreme and exceptionally self-serving and blinders created.

He says in part:

“People who believe that the Bible is totally the word of God. . . are deluding themselves and, as members of many minorities over the centuries will testify, this can lead to injustice and the infliction of pain on others (the exact opposite of what we are called to do in the teaching of Jesus Christ).”

That is the message here. It’s not that anybody cares what bilge anyone wants to believe, it what they do with that information that makes the difference. And the biblicists do work to harm society at large in their quest to protect their personal needs theology. It causes really harm and pain, and exactly the opposite of what God and Jesus intend.

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Segueing perfectly this time, The furthest and youngest galaxy cluster has been announced as found by NASA. It is some 10.2 billion light years away, meaning the light we see now, originated from the system 10.2 billion years ago. Bad news for the YEC’ers.

Scientists don’t expect to find more, since this about stretches the limit time wise when sufficient time exists to pull these clusters together. If more are found, then scientists will be back at the drawing board rethinking things no doubt.

Observatories from around the world joined together in making this discovery and confirming it.

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Which leads to food. Well of course it does. Science means thinking and thinking makes me hungry. This should be obvious.

I know, I know, you’ve read all the bilge above just to get to the good stuff, and here it is.

What are the 10 worst dining trends of the 21st century to date?

Oh you must have your own list, but in case you don’t–not being part of the intellectual effete arrogancy of the left,  so much maligned by the intellectual effete of the right, then do read on. Sure to be the topic of choice at the next cocktail party. And appletinis are SOOOO not in this year folks.

First on the list of has beens and never should have beens:

10: The bloomin’ onion  (aww shucks there goes the Super Bowl fare)

   9: Molecular gastronomy (your guess is as good as mine.)

   8: The $40 entree (I thought Applebee’s “two for twenty” was just about right)

   7:  The communal table (thought this happened only at church)

    6:  Proudly obnoxious fast food (read really really calorie and fat laden)

    5:  Knee jerk online reviews (sounds like a lot of whining to me)

    4:  Foam (did somebody forget to wash the soap off the pans?)

    3:  The menu as book (too much information makes us squeamish)

    2:  The chef as media whore (If you are talkin’ you ain’t cookin’)

     1:  Deconstruction (separating your peas from your taters)

Feel free to add your own ideas. I personally think that the chef at the Chinese Wok at the grocery store should use better containers to house the entrees. They leak all over the paper bag and are a mess when I am spooning them into the containers for reheating for dinner.  Just my number one peeve. I don’t mind the deconstruction of my rice from my entree however. I like to mix them myself.