Stories that Stuck Like Flypaper

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Arnold Schwartzenegger, awards, Books, Britain, choking, Evan Bayh, fashion week, GOP, haute couture, health care reform, hotdogs, Japanese, Party of NO, Toyota, unsafe cars

I’m surely not the only one who finds Evan Bayh a pale comparison to the giant many of us consider his father, Birch.  Well, Ragebot, has done a lovely satirical piece on the retiring Senator from Indiana. Or is he? Go and take a gander at this quite amusing little post.

And guess what? It turns out that Evan’s wealthy wife, Susan, sits on the Board of Wellpoint, the parent company of Anthem Blue Cross. You remember them? They were planning a 39% rate hike for their existing members in California.

I guess we see why Evan has been so vehement in his refusal to consider anything meaningful when it comes to health care reform. Not gonna mess up that golden egg are we Evan? As I said, your father must be appalled.

***

Everyone in the world knows that America is nuts. After all, we are the home of swallowing goldfish, stuffing phone booths with people, food eating contests, Evel Kneivel, and Dog, the Bounty Hunter, and his fashionista wife. Need I say more?

Well, the Brits can give us a run for our money it seems. That should be clear anyway. Ever get a look at  what passes for royal fashion at Buckingham Palace? Enough said.

The silly Brits have a thing called the Diagram Award, and it features the best and silliest of book titles they can find. Past winners have been Bombproofing your Horse and Living with Crazy Buttocks.

Do stop by and see the finalists for this year. What can I say? I guess I have too much time on my hands again.

***

I’ve never been much of a fan of Arnold. I tend to be skeptical of actors entering politics. No doubt I’ve said an unkind word about the Terminator now and then.

But utter kudos are in order. Appearing on This Week, George Stephanopolous’s old gig, with Governor Rendell of PA, Arnold was willing to call it down the middle.

He condemned his own party for decrying the merits of the Stimulus package, all the while posing at home for photos with the big check, taking credit for bring money home. He also acknowledged that Republicans were in fact the “party of no” and it was time for ideas and compromise.

Colin Powell also echoed the call for compromise, calling on both parties to stop the bickering and start working for the American public.

I found it refreshing that Schwartzenegger was willing to put his state first and not merely echo the usual Rethug talking lies. Maybe we are seeing a few cracks in the monolithic GOP propaganda machine.

***
Okay, so we like Ugly Betty and Hollywood’s rendition of the fashion world, but to us sane folks, most of the crap worn on the runway is fit for either a Halloween costume or the grand finale of the Barnum and Bailey’s Circus.

I guess it stands to reason that each season, some attempt is made to “outdo” last year. Being more outrageous (ever seen the stilts Lady GaGa has tripped around on?), seems to be the key to wowing them in the aisles.

Anyway, Isabel Mastache, (we hope she is not an American. . . .as I said, our cup runneth over with weirdos already), offered us “penis pants.” in her new spring collection. There is a video attached so link up and go see for yourself.

One would be tempted to say, what next? but I rather think that we can’t fathom the possibilities. But what do I know? I after all, shop mostly at the Goodwill a hotbed of sweat pants and t-shirt fashion.

***

Is nothing sacrosanct? I mean really! Okay, its a serious subject. Choking is no laughing matter. People die from choking, but this?

It seems that doctors, some at least, think that hot dogs are the worst offender to young children. They also add in grapes and popcorn.  I mean how more American can one get than a hot dog? It’s more American than apple pie and mom right?

Yes, I can see that these items could be dangerous. But heck, should you not allow your children to ride their bikes down the sidewalk because somebody might suffer a stroke and go careening over the curb and run down your offspring?

These overly cautious ones want the hot dog redesigned, whatever that might mean. I guess we can redesign the Dachshund while we are at it. And what about the poor hot dog bun? What is he supposed to be used for now? A pen holder?

***

It’s beginning to look a lot like Toyota has got its tit in a wringer, or is up a chit creek without a paddle, which ever works for ya.

I’m not sure the Japanese automaker will be surviving this endless parade of its failure to build safe vehicles. Today I saw a feature where a man has been imprisoned for some years on a manslaughter conviction, all from an accident he claims was caused by an accelerator that would not release.

I’m wondering if Japan sells Toyotas to Japanese folk at home. While there are plenty of reasons why Asians have some axes to grind against America, callously ignoring the safety of innocents seems a lousy way to redress grievances. It’s impossible to believe that the average Japanese is so unfeeling, so we can only conclude that Japanese business leaders go to the same ethics lacking schools as Americans do.

Sad. Just sad.

Enough of all this drivel. You must have important things to do. Get on with them, and I’ll see ya tomorrow with who knows what. I never do.

The Only Person I Know Who is Sane, is Me

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atheists, biblical studies, civil rights, Congress, Declaration of Independence, democracy, Democrats, enemy combatants, Evan Bayh, fundamentalism, Jefferson, justice, Miranda warnings, terrorism, theology, war on terrorism

I figured you should share in my nightmare too, so the picture at right, having little to do with the commentary which follows, only serves to seer your brain with an image that will haunt your peaceful sleep in ensuing nights.

You see, it’s all too apparent that I don’t belong here. I’m in the wrong century, on the wrong continent, and most likely I belong on Betelgeuse, a red giant star, found in the constellation Orion. Well, not  actually ON Betelgeuse, that would be a short life indeed, but orbiting it at least, on a planet that is SANE.

This one, boringly named “earth” (why earth which is small in comparison to “water” I have no clue), is patently insane, and I have more proof for you today of that fact.

The uproar for weeks about where we can try a criminal, Khalid Sheikh  Mohammed, has been ongoing. Of equal hue and cry is the correctness of interrogating Umar Farouk Abdulmutallub using civil criminal methods versus military methods. At the center of much of this is the god-awful horror of our having “read them their rights.”

Everyone on the far right, and heck, half in the moderate category suggest this is a no brainer. Not a citizen, not entitled to Miranda warnings. I cannot fathom why. Now before you start up all the usual enemy combatants garbage, its a bit more basic that all that.

Once upon a time, far far ago, a country was contemplated, a nation, a place of freedom and liberty for all. In fact, a document to those principles was created by a guy by the name of Thomas Jefferson. You may have heard of him.  One of the things he wrote, and presumably believed, was something about freedom and liberty. He claimed that such rights were the “laws of nature, and of nature’s God.”

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Now, what it did not say, is that said rights only accrued to “American” citizens or those who were contemplated anyway. At the end, there are the signatures of a whole bunch of white men, who apparently all agreed to such a claim. We refer to them collectively as our “founding fathers.”

Historically, for several decades now, we have held ourselves out as that beacon of freedom, an example to the rest of the world. We have made awful attempts to export our “freedom” to others. We have encouraged revolutions to overthrow dictatorships and we have instigated wars to do the same.

Yet, we parse hairs here and claim that non-citizens in our custody are NOT to be beneficiaries of such GOD given rights? Explain this please? Oh and just for the record, should anyone ask, there is no such thing logically as a “war against terror.” Terror is a state of mind, and not an enemy. People who hold extreme views that cause them to espouse destruction without reference to the consequences to innocents are proper targets of efforts to put them out of business. Let’s keep things straight.

***

Evan Bayh comes off as Mr. reasonable in his decision to not seek re-election as Senator from Indiana. He seems reasonable. All that touchy feely, “I can’t stand the gridlock,” and “I love Indiana, but I don’t love Congress.”

Yes, but his timing was about as bad as it could be and Democrats are scrambling to even get a Democrat on the ballot now for next November, and Republicans now are starting to realize the impossible–control of Congress after 2010. Lots of time to go, lots can change, but the damage is huge.

And of course Bayh did NOTHING to help the Health care reform bill get through, and has been a whiny crabber about fiscal responsibility when we can’t afford to do anything else but pump the economy full and bring down unemployment rates for the working poor.

One could argue that Bayh was himself one of those obstructionists he condemns so loftily. That being said, I suspect what he has done is not so bad overall.  The electorate, having an attention span that is over faster than the speed of light, is so fickle these days that what chagrins today, will be forgotten tomorrow.

There is something to be said, that democracy is wasted on those who have inherited it. Every where you turn, the far right makes it clear they would remove freedom in the name of freedom. Catchy huh?

***

The most idiotic post I’ve read in a long time can be found here. First I would say, that I don’t for a minute think the author believes what he says, namely that fundamentalists are more coherently theological than are liberal Christians. It’s the old, “I want to attack thoughtful rational Christians and the best way is to suggest that the most incoherent Christians are actually the most rational.” So I see this all as just that, shock value rhetoric designed to stick it to mainstream believers.

To suggest that fundamentalists have a coherent worldview and “live out” their theology accordingly with a faithful though wrong, consistent interpretation of scripture, is to be so utterly devoid of rationality as to be a joke. The writer cannot be serious.

There is zero coherence in fundamentalism, in fact its most noted element is the ability to hold diametrically opposite views at the same time. It’s followers are famous for picking and choosing what bits of scripture they will follow and which not.

Mainstream theology and biblical studies have an unbroken 2,000 year history of development, all placing the bible and its contents in proper prospective, as well as tackling the big issues, always conscience of how they impact on each other in a rational logical fashion. Fundamentalism is stuck in mud, having made no progress ever, since by definition it is dramatically cut and dried, once and for all, take it or leave it, archaic and primitive in its outlook.

But then, perhaps it was all done tongue in cheek and I missed somewhere the punch line.

No matter, I hear the moons over Sirius are particularly nice this time of “year” and I’m heading there in my ship now. Come along if you’d like.  Make it so.

Reflecting Reflections Reflectively

Tags

Ash Wednesday, boredom, empathy, Evan Bayh, God, Jesus, Lent, love, penance

I have no clue what “bored out of my skull” means. It makes no sense, which I think is common to a lot of silly phrases we throw about haphazardly. In any case, I am not bored either in or out of mine, but I’m reflecting.

I live in a paradox. But don’t we all. Mine is that I seem to find a certain calmness in organizing my life into rituals. I get up at the same time, go through the same motions of making bed, cleaning up kitchen, making coffee, praying, cooking, studying. Dinner is at the same time, cleanup, computer time, news, shower, reading and meditation, TV. 

I find a certain comfort in “accomplishing” the day. But, then I can get “bored” with the sameness, the repetitive slogging through of innumerable bed makings and all the rest. I have been heard to say, “I’m just bored with taking a shower because it’s six o’clock.”

There is a certain grouchy grumbling going on here. That probably is why I’m unburdening myself. Yet, in the great continuum of life, I’m doing better than even at the moment. I’m making it. I’m surviving the trauma of a winter that refuses to let go. I’m assessing where I am and what I am doing. I’m pondering.

Reading blogs the last few days have lightened my mood. Gracious, but some of you are having much worse troubles than I am. That makes me feel better, and THAT thought makes me feel worse. If you get my drift. We all, to a degree can feel better when finding others who are doing so much worse.

Winter has sucked, but frankly, not as badly as some places in the US of A. Our woes have been tied to lots of other mishaps and unexpected disasters. Unexpected? Since they turn up with regularity, there is little unexpected except perhaps the EXACT form this one will take. I weep, and pray with certainty for the improvement of conditions for many, known and unknown. I know God did not cause it, and I know he won’t “fix” it, except through the open-hearted response of those who have relationship with Him.

It’s not a good thing to arrive at Ash Wednesday, unprepared. We are to be thinking during the run up to the most solemn of days, of what kind of penance we should be doing during the Lenten period. What are we going to “give up?” Soda or ice cream? Wasting time on FB? Playing online poker? Should we add something? More devotions? More volunteering? More something. More time thinking about the sacrifice of Jesus, the perfect and total obedience–the showing of us poor oh too human beings how to love completely and selflessly.

It all makes one feel inadequate of course. I cannot approach the Christ. I fail sometimes before the words of repentance are even out of my mouth, my tongue still curling over the last syllable. Jesus, of course understands, and forgives, and upholds, and encourages. Sometimes I listen, sometimes I turn my back. It depends–how raw is the pain? How much do I need to wallow in self pity if only for a few hours? Better people than me, far better, do better.

I look out the window and I see the sea of white that seems ever present. In fact, it comes close to being hard to remember when it was not like this. I decide my “give ups” and my “add ons” for the upcoming weeks. I shall try to do these practices mindfully and with great humility at my poor attempts. But I will be kind to myself too, for I know deeply that God offers such amazing grace each moment.

Somehow the distant clang of politics, and sports, and all that jazz, (are you eating up the lovely metaphors here?) resounds in quiet. Evan Bayh calls it quits and leaves the party in the lurch. A suspicious call (at least to me) at the pairs figure skating, Sarah sarahing, Dick “the Dick” Cheney, cheneying. . .  it all fades into a fair buzz, not subject to identification.

It is time to retreat into a mysterious world of silence, contemplating a broken world from afar. Yes we are in the world but not OF it as they say. At moments like this I remove myself from it. I dispassionately see it tattered and raw, from too much fighting, too little understanding and love seemingly relegated to personal relationships. No “fellow man” need apply.

This is the business of Lent. It is prospective examined. It is readjusting the continuum and making a nest for oneself there, somewhere between the extremes, somewhere safer than those places inhabited by Haitians and Iraqis, Afghans,  Iranians, and others who struggle with famine, war, and lack of freedom.

 It is time to pull up one’s boots and trudge on, for my life is so much easier than millions of others. Think of that. I am not walking miles for fresh water, nor standing in long lines for subsistence food rations. I am not making home in a tent, nor standing in more lines for showers and toilets. I am not worried that bombs will land upon me. I am not concerned with being incarcerated for thinking out loud.

Where I started was the thought that this winter was penance enough for Lent. But see? It certainly is not. Empathy is perhaps my theme this Lent. How to find it, grow it, and use it for the benefit of my brothers and sisters around the globe. I wish you all a blessed Lent, as we approach this fateful period. Give thanks for your own well being, rejoice in that, but do, I beg you, remember that you cannot escape responsibility. Am I my brother’s keeper Cain asked? Yes, yes you are and I am, all of us, on board this fragile planet held in God’s hand.

Doing What I Said I Wouldn’t

Tags

Barack Obama, Colin Powell, Election 2008, Evan Bayh, foreign affairs, Joe Biden, John McCain, Tim Kaine

I said I would not do it. In fact, just last night, I told the Contrarian, “I will not get sucked into the speculation debate on who Obama will pick. It will make no difference, and  why set myself up for being wrong?” Okay, so I am here to tell you that I am not really, but sort of going to, in a round about way. Okay?

The reason I got to thinking I should write something was this: I was wandering through my feeds as I do everyday, reading articles here and there, waiting for something to hit me, juicing me up for a post. And I wandered to Ramblings from Afar, a Pakistani blog, and found this. Nothing so terribly earth-shaking, or shattering or anything. Just a regular Pakistani blogger who thinks Biden has a better clue on how to improve relations with Pakistan and get all of us to work a bit more effectively toward common goals of maintaining democracy in the region, all the while combating the disease of fundamentalist radical Islam.

And the fact is, Biden is a master at foreign relations. He has just returned from Georgia, sizing up the situation there. No word of course as to why he went. I’m sure his position as Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee gives him plenty of cover, If, I say IF he went at Obama’s behest.

I think frankly he is a excellent choice as VEEP, not that anyone is consulting me of course. And since we are all going to know by Saturday, I may be blowing hot air to suggest he should be the choice, but here are my reasons:

1. He is an expert on foreign relations. No question about that. He knows this stuff inside and out, backward and forward, and, AND, he seems to have a mighty good grasp of doing diplomacy in a better way that we have seen in the past eight misery laden years. (Read the post by Misanthrope above, it really is good!)
2. He thus counters the “lack of experience” claim of McCain. McCain of course, doesn’t really want to discuss issues, he gets too confused when he does so, i.e., placing Iraq and Pakistan as bordering countries for instance, thinking that 21st century states don’t invade other states, getting Sunni and Shia mixed up, ya know, minor stuff like that. Oh, and McCain also mispronounces the country. McCain like most others calls it Pack-is-tan, whereas Pakistanis have noted that Obama pronounces it correctly, Paaah-is-taahn. McCain simply wants to attack the character of Obama, and Biden will counter that very nicely.
3. Biden is a terrific debater. Now don’t stop when I say this, (I’ve mea culpaed myself to death already) but Biden has that “sounds like you can trust him, sounds like he knows what he’s talking about” like Dick Cheney did. Read that DID. I knew nothing about Cheney in 2000 and thought he was the daddy that would protect us from the Idiot boy going off the deep end. Reasoned, seemingly bright, I thought he would temper the child. (Don’t get me wrong I was major for Gore and voted accordingly, I just thought Cheney was a sage protective blanket over the neophyte Dubya.)
4. Biden does have a tendency to talk on, and thus say things that perhaps he shouldn’t, but dang folks, we need to take the gloves off just a bit here. Biden is old enough to go after McShame without looking like a kid beating up on an old guy. He will simply look annoyed and say, “John’s giving you a load of crap and here’s why.”
5. I don’t know as there are any really embarrassing junk in his closet, but consult with the Obama people, their vetting is far better than mine no doubt.
6. Evan Bayh is a nice guy, but we would lose his seat in the senate, and he has done little that I have been made aware of. He can be viewed as a do-nothing who rode his dad’s coattails. I know less about Kaine from Virginia, but he seems to lack pizazz as they say, and I don’t know as either of these add much in the way of foreign policy experience.
7. McCain certainly promises more of the same in terms of foreign policy everywhere, and seems inclined to go backward. His premise is force and bully tactics first. Afghanistan is proving more hard to handle than thought, something the Russians of course were more than able to explain to us. Mostly we are having a much harder time there because our forces are bogged down in the growing quagmire of Iraq. Musharraf is out and as our Pakistani poster points out, we tend to give money to dictatorships who do our bidding and close our purse to democracies because I suppose they are less controllable. We need Pakistan badly if we are to deal effectively with the Taliban, and Biden’s suggestions provide a new and perhaps more effective way to do that.
8. He has blue eyes, which I like.
9. Okay, the last one was not a really good one, so sue me.

The Contrarian wants to save Biden for Secretary of State. I’m actually gonna step out and say something really weird here. (DON’T throw rocks, rotten fruit I can handle!) How bout giving Colin Powell a chance to redeem himself? I still think he is basically a good guy trapped in an evil empire whose military loyalty oaths just prevent him from ‘fessing up to all the crimes of his ex-boss. And Richardson for something good, maybe switch and give him Secty of State and give Powell the Secty of Defense. Okay, enough of fantasy land, and now that I have probably given the kiss of death to Biden, I’ll shut up.

I cannot wait to be vilified! Bring on the rotten tomatoes!!! I did say fruit remember? No watermelons, but grapes, strawberries, and oh a stray lime are okay though.