No Time for Trivia

Truly amazing.

Wow.

Can’t…get this song…out …of…my…head…

God turned that bitch into salt.  Thats the way he used to work back in those days…

The thing is, the many churches are still trying to use the threat of old fire n’ brimstone punishment as a coercive tool to push their myth based prejudices and bigotry.  There are segments of the religious community that would gladly employ the death penalty for gays, adulterers and basically anyone that disagreed with them.  With the acceptance of the story that Lots wife was turned to salt simply because she looked back at her home then the leap to mindless wrath against those that are different or violate ones interpretation of ancient scriptures is an easy step to make.

I have been studying Islam of late.  I have wanted to get an understanding of its origins and what the Quran is all about.  It is interesting in that they worship the God of Abraham and see Abraham as not Jewish because he came before Moses, the covenant and the Torah.  He simply submitted to God which is of course what Islam means.  Submission.  All of the Old Testament genocide, rape, murder, torture, and brutality is not in the Quran.  The Quran means “Recitations.”  The sura, or verses, are supposedly the direct word of God through the mouth of Mohammed.  Even to translate the revelations from Arabic is considered  wrong because the pure truth of those revelations would be corrupted through translation.

However, it is interesting that all three of the Abrahamic religions have such capacity to embrace killing and torture, and deny compassion and acceptance of those that are different.  In Islam it was taught that the Jews and Christians were not to be forced into conversion when conquered because they worshipped the same God and were “people of the book.”  All others had to covert to Islam or die.  Christian history shows the willingness to interpret their scripture to allow for the most barbaric punishments, invasions, attrocities…all in the name of Jesus.  The Jews are taught that they came by their promised land through genocide, intolerance, rape and pillage…and that it was good.

With the violent, unforgiving, intolerance of these three blights on humanity, it is amazing that we have had any progress at all in regard human rights over the past two thousand years.  Uganda has recently passed legislation calling for the death penalty for gays and prominent ministers here in the U.S. have not condemned that when asked point-blank about the issue.  I have no idea what the basis behind the Ugandan measure is about, whether it is religious based or simply a reactionary movement based on human bigotry.  However, it would seem that the world bodies, especially religious ones, would be united in their condemnation and calling for severe sanctions against the government of Uganda for this draconian step.

Islam means submission.  Judaism accepts the Torah’s version of brutality that gave them their “promised land” and all of the scriptures that called for killing people for simple violations of their most mundane laws even though one of their Ten Commandments say Thou Shalt Not Kill.  Of course modern Judaism has separated itself from that past, but that is the root of their belief system and as a result allows them to inflict the most barbaric treatment against the Palestinians because of it.  And Christians cite their scriptures as reason to lobby against gays having the same rights as other citizens, of atheists from having the same rights as other citizens, of pushing their warped interpretations of those scriptures into our modern laws and lives and perpetuating their ignorance and gullibility.

I will not submit to “revelations.”  I will not submit to ancient decrees in scriptures that were written at a time when man knew only the most basic of things in regards our universe, the human body and its systems, of nature and sciences.  I submit to higher understanding and the search for real truths, not those that come down from dreams and hallucinations or from the days when men thought that their Gods loved the smell of burning flesh. 

I am just a rider on this planet wishing that most of the world would catch up to those of us who have refused to submit to the insanity of religion.

Amen.

Alert!  We are at full burning fucking stupid!

Tenn. Mayor Claims Obama Blocked ‘Peanuts’ Special

The mayor of a suburban Memphis city accused President Barack Obama of deliberately timing his speech about the war in Afghanistan this week to block the airing of the “Peanuts” Christmas television special.

According to The Commercial Appeal, Arlington Mayor Russell Wiseman posted the statements on his Facebook page and said the president is Muslim. Obama is Christian.

“We sit the kids down to watch ‘The Charlie Brown Christmas Special’ and our muslim president is there, what a load…..try to convince me that wasn’t done on purpose,” he wrote, according to the newspaper.

I can only imagine what evil schemes he has in store for Christmas day. 

The…horror.

Orin Hatch.  Republican douchenozzle. 

Yes, when the GOP had the House, Senate and the White House, they really fixed this country.  And now we are trying to un-fix their fixes but finding they fixed us so good we will be fixed for a long fricking time.

I’m fixin to get mad.

I find it a challenge to present a picture or graphic that is representative of the gist of a given post that I write.  However, finding a suitable image for an hypocritical, douchebag, adultering Republican (Redundant Alert!) is difficult…

So, here in Georgia we have yet another of these self anointed “Family Values” conservatives caught living the lie.

Georgia House Speaker To Resign Amid Scandal

Reporting from Atlanta – Embroiled in a strange and unsavory drama involving a suicide attempt and allegations of an affair with a lobbyist, Georgia’s powerful House Speaker Glenn Richardson, a Republican, said Thursday that he would resign.

The announcement by Richardson – a hard-charging, family-values conservative — came amid Republicans’ mounting calls for his ouster and fears that a lingering sex and ethics scandal could harm the Georgia GOP in next year’s state elections. Richardson will leave office Jan. 1.

And it appears that his affair is more than just a rumor and that he is a very bad sport:

But this week, his ex-wife gave an interview to a local TV station, renewing allegations of the affair and producing e-mails that she said proved it. She also alleged that Richardson recently threatened to beat her and have state law enforcement track her down when she went out of town with a new boyfriend.

Now those are some “family values.”

I’m beginning to think that “family values” does not mean what Republicans thinks it means.

I feel much like I sense the creature above does.

I had surgery on my shoulder Friday and I am still in a lot of pain.  I am typing one-handed and fairly obtunded with pain meds and that sucks,  so I am taking a break till I can think a bit clearer and use two hands on my keyboard.  In the meantime, here are a few of my stored images.  They are of no particular point.

Makes me want to light up with my kids:

I…don’t know…why….

For non-fans of Twilight:

Be thankful…or wishful…whatever:

Zen anyone?

Why was this in my files?

I know why this was, but…nevermind:

And since it’s Sunday but I am a) feeling a bit pissy and b) not up to being articulate and insightful, here is my Sunday sermon:

Amen

I usually write about the true origins of Thanksgiving at this time.  I go into detail about how the real “Thanksgiving” by what we call the Pilgrims (though they did not refer to themselves as that) was the thanks that God delivered unto the indigenous a pestilence that killed so many of them and thereby was a sign of the newcomers blessing by the Lord to live in this “new” land.  And of course all the other nastiness that came with their intrusion on these “savages.”  But this year I won’t go into how our ancestors stole corn reserves stored by the indigenous peoples, or how they had to resort to cannibalism in their first year here because they were too busy stealing instead of planting, or how what we call the Pilgrims actually came upon a pre-built town that was devoid of occupants because they had all died from diseases that came up from the original colonial efforts in Jamestown and from coastal raiders that had been plying their slaving practices along the Eastern Seaboard for the previous 50 years.

No, this year I won’t go into all of that.  I am going to wish everybody a good day to enjoy their families and friends and hope that they feast well.  I will. 

I am going to play Combat Arms for a couple of hours till my family gets up, then have some home-made pastries, fresh ground coffee and help prepare our usual extravagant meal.  I just ask that we take a moment to think about those we took this land from and that our ancestors did not “discover” this land anymore than I discovered Italy the first time I went there.  And give a thought to those without and those in need as well. 

Enjoy your day.

Anything the Vatican hates I usually like or am for.  Therefore this recommendation against seeing New Moon is just another reason to go with my 14-year-old daughter and see it.  The UK Telegraph reports:

Condemnation of The Twilight Saga: New Moon Makes the Vatican Seem Ridiculous and Out of Touch

Catholics tend to ignore comic news stories about the Vatican, but they are becoming worryingly prevalent – and most of them are entirely the Church’s fault. The latest one reveals that Monsignor Franco Perazzolo of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Culture has condemned The Twilight Saga: New Moon, part of a teen vampire romantic fantasy series (I kid you not) which was released yesterday.

As Nick Squires reports, Monsignor Perazzolo said the film was an “an explosive mix” of good-looking young actors involved in supernatural activities. He also reckoned that the film’s occult imagery represented a “moral void more dangerous than any deviant message”.

A “moral void?”  And this is said with a straight face from Pedophile Central Headquarters?  My daughter has read all the books in this series and seen the first movie and she still has excellent grades and has only gotten better as a cello player.   I have not seen any “moral void” in her or her friends that follw this series either.

Of course, the good Monsignor was no doubt serious and his message plainly filled with the right intentions. But really, how many teenagers who watch vampire fantasy films really turn towards the dark arts? Is his view that simplistic? The Vatican is actually self-harming when it censors childish fiction in this way. It makes the Church seem out of touch and lacking in any sense of humour, alienating far more young believers than made-up wizards or vampires ever would.

Yeah, and I am still waiting for all the adolescent wizards and witches that Harry Potter was supposed to breed according to the Vatican.  The Catholic Church.  Wrong about Harry Potter, wrong about this flick and wrong on just about everything. 

But don’t go against them or they’ll withhold their magic crackers.

Today I get my pre-op work done for my operation on Friday.   I have no idea what all that entails but I am so ready to get this operation over with as my injury has been severely cramping my lifestyle.  Not to mention the pain…

Where the biceps connects to the glenoid ligament the tissue has been torn away.  They are going to have to repair the torn tissue and then re-attach the head of my biceps someplace else.   Hopefully when it is all over with I won’t bark like a dog when I move my arm or some other post-surgery anomaly.  One can only hope.

I must have my surgery the day after Thanksgiving because my work doesn’t give disability leave and I will have the weekend to recover some.   If you take a day off due to injury or sickness it comes out of your vacation, or PTO (Paid Time Off).  I am looking now in the picture dictionary under “Sucks” and it says “see: PTO as opposed to sick leave.”  I flip to that and it says “see: Sucks.” 

So I will gorge myself tomorrow and force my anesthesiologist to recalculate his figures for my weight on surgery day.  I plan on being several pounds heavier than I am today when I meet him for my pre-op interview.  Also, I hope the bourbon helps enhance the effect of the anesthesia.

I can hardly wait….

Ah…if only the crowd had hot tar and feathers.  How appropriate that would have been.

At Ole Miss….my how times have changed…for the better.