Bigger Brains, Little Sense

Tags

Andrew Cuomo, Carl Paladino, Catholic Church, Catholics for Equality, cookies, divorce, gay rights, geography, Individual Rights, invasion of privacy, new world order, Recipes, right wing religious, teabaggers

It should come as no surprise faithful readers that I think that a goodly portion of humanity is rather worthless debris. It continues to marvel my intellect that a surprising number of questionable humanity can walk and chew gum at the same time. Clearly a good number cannot.

From time to time I conclude that this proves that God is busier than I think, and only has time to do a drive by old planet Earth every few millennium or so, taking note that shockingly we still haven’t blown ourselves to smithereens yet.

I make light, but the subject is most serious. A young man, aged 18, took his own life after learning that two fellow students at Rutgers had web cast his room and had broadcast him having a sexual encounter with another male student. The students, both also 18, are being charged with the tame sounding “invasion of privacy,” apparently the only charge that will fit this 21st century crime.

One can wax for pages on how stupid one must be to know that such a thing is utterly wrong. I mean really don’t we expect more of a ten-year-old than this? I have zero sympathy for the two, and hope that they receive more public vilification than any court can hand out. I am not prepared to hear one word of, “we never for a moment thought it would lead to this,” kinda crap.

Nothing more to say on this one, it’s too despicable for words.

***

I wrote a piece on dissent in the Catholic Church which can be found at my other site, Walking in the Shadows. You might find it interesting even if you are not a believer, nor a Catholic. It discusses the responsibility of dissenters to speak truth as they see it. Concomitant to that, I learned that a new Catholic organization has been formed. NCR reports that Catholics for Equality will work for marriage equality, and other issues of importance to the LGBT community.  CFE is founded by Father Joseph Palacios and others. Fr. Palacios points out that while 52% of all Americans support gay relationships, 62% of Catholics do.

***

On a light note: don’t try this at home. This is only for experts. Sit in a comfortable chair. Now raise your right leg and twirl your foot in a clockwise direction. Now raise your right hand and draw the number six in the air. See what has happened to your foot. Now keep doing it until you got it right. Your skeleton will be removed when you have been missed by someone.

***

A new and kinda fun blog is called: How to Become a Better You in 365 Days. It has a lot of different aspects, such as good old advice about growth and personality, some excellent recipes, and quotes of the day. Worth a look-see at least. Inspirational, and fun at the same time.

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Ree over at Pioneer Woman has a really really decadent cookie recipe that features oatmeal, M & M’s, chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, pecans and Rice Krispies. Ya know you wanna try ’em. There are 3,722 pictures, so if you just want the recipe, it’s down at the bottom of the post all nice and neat for ya.

***

Mafia Don, turned Teabagger, Carl Paladino, threatened a reporter who wanted proof of Paladino’s claim that his opponent, Andrew Cuomo had cheated on his wife. (Paladino finally admitted to his wife, that he had fathered ten years before, a daughter by another woman.) The Godfather would be proud. Paladino called out the reporter: “I’ll take you out, buddy.”

***

Don’t get me wrong here. I am in no way in favor of overly strict religious laws against divorce. They don’t prevent divorce and they  seem to encourage rather transparent attempts to call it something else–such as an annulment. However, RightWingWatch does have a point when it complains that the right-wing wackos are into every aspect of our sexual lives, always condemning,yet curiously, they are silent on divorce. And I would be the first to admit, that the bible does speak fairly directly on the issue. You’d think that there might be more bible banging about divorce. How come there isn’t? Read the post and see. I think I agree.

***

I’ve long believed that nation-states and their silly borders, are just that, silly. I’ve predicted their demise. (well, I predicted it to myself at least, and that does count!) Finally, somebody agrees with me! New Geography to be specific. In an article about the “New World Order” (here come the apocalyptic doomsdayers ala Jack Van Impe!), they find that race, ethnicity, religion and culture are the main drives today around which we are forming. It’s a most interesting look at how the world divides up along new parameters.

***

In our quest to understand the beastie that is Teabaggerism, we offer you a great piece by Kevin Drum over at MotherJones. Not only does it help us define who they are, but it links up to some very valuable articles that further flesh out our understanding. I think this is worth your time. It’s only three pages, and the links, I’ve yet to investigate myself.

Well enuf! Have a good one!

Related Articles

• Cheating Carl Paladino Accuses Andrew Cuomo of Cheating on His Wife [Polidicks] (gawker.com)

It’s the Caffeination, Stupid!

Tags

60's, cabbage, caffeine, Casseroles, divorce, Entertainment, gay marriage, incest, Mackenzie Phillips, Mamas and Papas, Music, Recipes, sausage, slow cooker, Steven King

“Boy, you sure made the coffee strong this morning, dear.” This as I yawn and peer through lidded eyes at GMA. “I don’t know that it’s any different that usual,” the great one replies.

“Well it was falling out of the grinder when I lifted off the top, so I knew it was gonna be strong,” smiling weakly. I saw a look of “oops” fall across his face. “Ummm, perhaps that was mine.” Mine being the caffeinated stuff, which I have long since abandoned as making me too wired, and upsetting my delicate digestive mechanism.

An hour later, I have completed my walk in record time, and am deeply ensconced in Genesis, trying to see the myriad differences between creation story one and creation story two. My mind is flying, reeling really among the possibilities, and now, I’m really not sure at all what “made in the image of” means.

I have the urge to write, yet know, I’m not nearly ready to tackle THAT topic. I start in the Google reader, skimming the stories, vaguely aware that I am looking for a few in particular, stories I want to consider. I make the mistake to visit Randal’s L’ennui melodieux. Not knowing French, I still have no idea what that means, though the word l-ennui is vaguely familiar. In any case, I don’t recommend that site when in a full-blown caffeine mania. I actually understood his post “Naked in front of the Computer.”

You see, I almost never understand Randal’s posts, which takes nothing away from the fact that mostly they are brilliant. He is writing as art personified. Like Justice Black, I can’t define it, but I know it when I see it.

With that post, I realized that my mind, going off in several directions at the same time, could not focus on one issue long enough to write a post about. Thus you get the hodgepodge of trivial and snappy snapshots of reality. At least my reality. The human brain is exceptional in it’s ability to hold, simultaneously, several thoughts at once, some of them in direct and obvious logical opposition (witness the fundamentalist mind –if you can call it that–which is required to do that 24/7–but no we are NOT going there again. I’m looking for a treatment for THAT addiction as well.)

Moving right along, switching gears, about facing, and other metaphors that come to mind. I always obsess happily about our utterly infamous and undoubted resident wing nut Stephen King, R-IA, (may God forgive us our sins). He is always good for a profoundly stupid remark. Yesterday he was quoted as saying that the best vote he ever made in the House was his nearly singular opposition to Katrina aid. Imagine that. Today he is quoted as saying that gays marriage is a “purely socialist concept.” No even, I with my high-speed brain cells this morning, don’t care to get into the ugly morass of a mind that could concoct such bull-crap. Be my guest. Read more here.

***

Meanwhile, spinning on a dime, and managing quite well, thank you, not to fall. . . over, I present a recipe. This time of year one’s thoughts turn to slow cookers and comfort food, and this is definitely that.

One can imagine doing all sorts of outdoorsy things, like planting fall mums, raking leaves, (yeah right) and coming inside for cocoa (yeah right) and taking in the wafts of yummy meaty goodness slowly melding together in the crock pot.

If such thoughts are yours too, and no doubt they are, then let your fingers do the walking over to Baking Delights and pick up the recipe for Slow Cooker Red Cabbage and Sausage.

***

With all due and I do mean due, respect to our tinfoily friends on the extreeeemmmme right, one of their oft cited, but never explained objections to gay marriage is that it will “destroy the sanctity of marriage.”

Well, yes, but, exactly what do that mean Mable? Nothing much it seems, but dang it sounds good. Words can, it seems, be put together in nice sounding ways that appear to point to deep thought, when in fact they bespeak no sense at all.

In other words, ya can’t destroy what don’t exist! And according to recent statistics,Die vorce is alive and well and on the climb and not, repeat NOT in the states that allow same sexers to marry.

Of deeper concern, since I live here, is a recent poll, (saw it I swear but have dumped the site already) in Iowa, that showed that something like 92% of Iowans don’t feel,  so far, threatened in their marriage because of Iowa’s new marriage decree that allows same sex wedding bliss. I can testify as well, that so far, I’ve not been hounded by lesbians wanted to “hook up” nor has the Contrarian been solicited by hoards of men wanting to cuddle behind the tractor. Nope, hasn’t happened. Course this will do nothing to stem the gasps and horror among the “bible told me so” folk.

***

And the winner in the category “gag me with a spoon” is. . . . Mackenzie Phillips and her revelations that “Dad and me were lovers!”

Now, it’s hard to know who to blame for all this. I’m inclined to blame the druggin’, which I understand was beyond the pale, over and above, topped out, even the Stones can’t come close to these folks in over indulgence.

The Contrarian recalls reading where Cass showed up in the Caribbean somewhere with a quart jar of acid one vacation time. These are seriously f**ked up people.

One could of course simply blame dad for all this, but really, Mack admits she was nineteen, yes you heard that right, at the time of the first incestuous meeting, and AND it continued for a record ELEVEN years. I’d say she is somewhat complicit? This doesn’t make any of it other than sordid, wrong, abusive, and a host of other things, but lordly, it sure taints any desire to hear “California Dreamin’ ” any time soon don’t it?

***

Yeah, I know, you wish I would go on and never stop, but hey, I can’t feed your addiction all day long ya know. I hear one of the big pharmaceutical companies, Pfizer perhaps is working on a drug to wean ya off me. If I can get a cut of the that action, I’ll gladly add my opposition to the Democratic health care reform movement. Greed does trump the common good. I can be bought! But you knew that already. Blessings, and well, I’m off to rain caffeine craziness upon the rest of my household.

Short Takes on the Day, 04/27/09

Tags

conspiracy theories, divorce, Health & Human Services, Health care, John McCain, medicine, pandemics, Pope Benedict, swine flu, torture, waterboarding

Well, yesterday’s post must have concerned God, since he went to some efforts to make me feel better about missing church yesterday. Later in the morning, I developed a definite fever, and felt lethargic. Rut-row, was the swine flu coming my way? We had been in a hospital for goodness sakes only Friday, and you know that everybody gets sick when you go near those places!

It didn’t last long. After I ate, I felt quite a bit better and the “symptoms” disappeared. So I started to feel a bit justified in my choice. Turns out though that it was never to be.

Today, which cooking up a storm, I finally got to sit down and turn toward my daily office practices. I happened to gaze out the window, and you guessed it, a solidly flat tire met me. Given that with all the rain, something like four inches total, nothing was getting down the lane but the Bronco, I was never going to church yesterday anyway. So I figure God was telling me it was okay, that I sorta fudged on “not being able to get out.”

***

John McCain continues to fascinate me. His daughter has come out in favor of gay rights and is taking plenty of pot shots at Karl (slight of hand) Rove. But the old man continues his shameful crap. He’ s more than willing to accept that waterboarding is torture and we shouldn’t do it, but thinks we should “move on” and not prosecute the slime balls who have ignored the Geneva Conventions and well, defend the practice on unproven claims that “it worked.” McCain remains the candidate who cuts corners on ethics to continue stroking the base. Word is  that he’s getting a real run for his money by an ultra conservative in Arizona, who is beating him over the head about his immigration policy (which of course, McCain no longer wishes to even speak of.)

***

Speaking of the new swine flu, and we were, how’s come we keep getting diseases from animals? I mean this seems always the case doesn’t it? Do they ever get sick from us? Other than getting murdered for food and tested for cosmetics and such? I mean that’s enough to be really mad at us I guess. But I haven’t seen any pigs sneezing. Is that a sign? I yell at one of our cats, Kate. She sneezes all the time, and never covers her nose, but that’s another story.

I’m just wondering if this is some massive conspiracy by the animal kingdom to do us in. I can understand why they might think it a good idea, but really our menagerie of spongers are way to lazy to work for their supper or pay any rent. They need us, like it or not. So enough with giving us all this darned illness! (You know this might have something to do with birds committing suicide by flying into jet engines……just thinkin’.)

***

Oh and while we are still talking about the flu, and we still are cuz I said so. Just wanted to give a nice shout out to the Rethugs for their help. Not only did they insist that money allotted to “pandemic disease” control be taken out of the stimulus package because it somehow didn’t create jobs, but they are blocking the appointment of Gov. Kathleen Sebelius for HHS. You know, it’s to the point where you almost have to think there is a satanic force at work making sure the GOP is on the exact wrong side of everything these days. (Shall we reload in our circular firing squad boys and girls, and continue to off each other faster than a Democrat can win an election against ya?)

***

It seems that all was atwitter for nothing much. Lots of speculation was afoot that things would not go well when Charles and Camilla had a private audience with his Holiness Benedict XVI.

First of all, it was expected that the Pope would be chastising the couple, since both are divorced, which is not kosher in the Vatican (I love mixing religions like that). It was also theorized that Benedict would present the couple with a facsimile of Henry VIII’s request for annulment. Neither one happened.

Apparently the meeting was quite chatty. This of course leads to new speculation that the Vatican is thinking about relaxing the divorce prohibition for its flock. Camilla was married to a Catholic, although Charles was not (actually it’s against the law for a royal to marry a Roman Catholic under current Acts of Secession). The pope we understand did want that dropped.

I’d not place too much emphasis on his meeting the two and not wagging his finger at the couple for “living in the sin of adultery” though. It would take some mighty fancy foot work to change the Church’s stance on divorce without a whole lot of other dogma threatening to collapse. When you make claims that the Church is prevented from error by the Holy Spirit, it is a big no no to suggest said Spirit in error.

Course, there are ways around this, but who is gonna be big enough to say they “misinterpreted” the Spirit? So don’t look for any change soon. So far the willing martyr has not been found. Swords are being readied perhaps for the inevitable falling upon though.

***

that’s all folks!

A Rose by Any Other Name

Tags

abortion, annulment, divorce, gay rights, Natural Family Planning, Pope Benedict, Vatican

It’s ironic actually. When you think about it, it makes you scratch your head in puzzlement. I am referring to all the energy we spend arguing and legislating on the issue of sexuality. The specifics are well known of course, and they touch every conceivable practice whether it be abortion, homosexual rights, contraception, divorce. It’s just a mess. The ironic part is well, this.

If you are fundamentalist in your theology, then you surely believe that God created every creature, and did it quite directly. Meaning evolution played no part but is but a left wing conspiracy created by atheists to subvert God and his kingdom (read SATAN here). So my question is thus: Why make sex so enjoyable? Why consign some folks to feel clearly that they are attracted to members of their own sex? I mean if God controls these things, as any good fundie believes, why the blatant infusion by God of pleasure in what, according to fundies should be mostly only a pro creative act?

It’s a bit of the same argument about YEC (young earth creationists). Why did God present us with fossil evidence and rock evidence that conflicts with a literalistic reading of Genesis? Why does God seemingly put roadblocks in the way of his mortals?

Fundies no doubt argue that these are tests of some sort. I am constrained to wonder why God would wish to test us. Under the same fundie theology doesn’t God already know my heart, even before I do? So that fails, it seems to me, as an argument that can hold water.

So the question remains, if sex is for procreation alone, why then the physical enjoyment. God need only proclaim that thou shall engage in this practice on some regular basis to ensure the continuation of the species. To argue that he had to make it pleasurable, as he did for animals but begs the question and raises that ugly shadow of evolution again.

I raise this because the Roman Catholic Church has managed to put themselves on the wrong side of things but once again. Now before I start, please don’t think I’m trashing the RCC. Goodness knows there are Episcopalians, whole parishes in fact that would agree with Rome. But Rome has made an official statement once again, one that puts them at odds with most of the world.

It seems that the UN has sponsored a declaration calling for the end of the discrimination against homosexuals. Nothing more, just a declaration that making homosexuality a crime, or the acts a crime, or God forbid, killing folks for being homosexual as they do in Saudi Arabia, is wrong and unacceptable. The Vatican has chosen to not support this declaration. And the reason is the usual one, that somehow, countries that oppose gay marriage will be targeted by the UN.

That there is no objective evidence of this is clear. Still the Vatican will not budge, although it has made and continues to make clear statements that it opposes the death penalty. This follows on a further refusal to sign on in a recognition of the rights of the disabled, because it did not contain a condemnation of abortion. Again, no such evidence that the declaration supported abortion was in evidence.

What is going on here? I remember reading some years ago, and I am wanting to attribute the remark to Fr. Robert P. McBrien, but I am not sure about that. In any event the statement was that the worst thing the RCC ever did was get in the business of defining on things sexual. It has gotten itself into a mess and it is impossible now to extricate itself without literally upsetting the entire theology of the Church.

Let me explain. As Roman Catholics know, and many others as well, the Church contends that that it is the true Church. It claims that it is the exact and only Church started directly by Jesus Christ. Similarly, Jesus announced that the Holy Spirit would guide the Church forever, and keep it forever correct even to the point that the “gates of hell would not prevail against it.”

With me so far? Okay. So, this leads to the argument and contention that the Church as a whole cannot err. People within the Church can, but the Church cannot. (How you can always separate the two or know which is which is a bit of a conundrum, but that’s another story.) Thus when the Church pronounces that God prohibits contraception or homosexual acts, or divorce or whatever sexual moray is involved, it is speaking for God Him/Herself. To argue that the Church is wrong, is to argue that God is wrong.

This leads to a blanket refusal to discuss such issues, though of course that stops no one from doing so. In fact, those traditionalists/reactionary elements within the Church like to make the point thusly: “We would be happy to discuss the right of women to ordination, but God has spoken that it is prohibited, so then, much as the Church might wish to look into the matter, it cannot. God has spoken.” You see, it’s not the Church that is on the wrong side of the issues, but God who is, and that argument is of course quite blasphemous.

It has always been my contention that this practice of declaring the Church infallible on its recitation of those things that relate to salvation and morals ends up causing the Church such problems that it looks in the end quite foolish, and certainly hypocritical. Let me explain.

Two items come to mind. First, divorce is not allowed. What God has joined, etcetera. Now there are some exceptions in principle. You are certainly not required to live with someone who is abusing you physically. That does not of course allow you to divorce necessarily, but it does allow you to retain a separate address. But generally speaking, falling out of love is simply not a good reason. Infidelity by the other person is not grounds either.

The second item is contraception. The Church teaches that contraception is an attempt to thwart God’s right to create life as He wishes. (Since God supposedly can do miracles at will, how this thwarts is hard to understand. A failed condom seems fairly easy to effect in the miracle department, to me at least.)

How do these things play out in reality? In America, quite a bit differently than in Europe for sure. In Europe, marriages do tend to last it seems, although infidelity remains a pretty much acceptable practice. But in America, whoa, things are much different. We all are familiar with the numbers of nearly 50% of all marriages ending in divorce. The solution for the faithful Catholic has become marriage nullification otherwise known as annulment, and NFP or natural family planning (science? infused rhythm method).

The use of annulment is a hugely American phenomenon. The last year for which statistics were available, 2002, showed that there were worldwide 56,236 requests for annulment, and of this, 46,092 were granted. Of this number 30,968 came from North America. Some numbers huh? It really takes no genius to figure out that annulment is the new divorce. If God indeed knows the soul, then who is kidding who here?

As to NFP, the lack of use of non-natural barriers to pregnancy seems key. But doesn’t limiting sex to specific days of the month in order to hopefully thwart pregnancy operate in the same vein? Fundie Catholics will of course disagree, since there is no unnatural barrier in place, but the desire is the same is it not? And if God is a respecter of freedom of will, then I guess he can see that both contraception devices and watching the calendar have the same ends in mind. Again, who is kidding who?

My point is simply that this is the kind of game that the RCC has found itself in, since it cannot figure out a way to retract its earlier pronouncements on these issues. It reasonably feels that to reverse course would be to declare that the Holy Spirit made a mistake? That can’t happen obviously. But still, of course the Church could declare that it has massively misinterpreted the scriptures. Not exactly likely to engender great faith among the faithful, that argument.

Thus we find ourselves at this juncture, with the Church opposing obviously moral and good declarations all in the name of consistent theological development. It is what in the end motivates more and more people to can the hypocrisy and move elsewhere in the Christian world, seeking a home more logically oriented. What once was the bastion of logical theology, has become the bizarre world of illogic. It’s ironic, no?