Archive for 8/4/2008 - 3 Av, 5768

Several US Diocese are writing petitions to Church leaders to make celibacy optional among priests.

Not being Catholic, my opinion is irrelevant. However, since the above story was published a few days ago, Bishop Wilton Gregory, of the Belleville IL diocese, and President of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, has made a statement I can comment upon:

The current sexual-abuse crisis “is not a moment when the church needs to, or in fact intends to, review every one of our constitutive qualities and identities and beliefs and practices,” Gregory said. “It’s a moment of very intense feelings, raw feelings, but the whole store is not up for sale.î

“I don’t believe that there is any linkage between the abuse of children and celibacy,” he added, because if that were so, sexual abuse within families would not be so widespread.

To argue abuse of children happens without celibacy, so therefore celibacy doesn’t cause abuse of children falls for a very simple logical fallacy. It assumes there is only one cause of abuse in the entire universe.

I’m not saying I believe in the logic one way or another, but to discount the connection merely because there are obviously other causes of the societal problem is I believe a mistake.

For those who celebrate the holiday 4 months late every year, here’s a poem I wrote 2 years ago at this time:

End of Summer Rituals
(August, 2001)

On September Third
Millions of Americans
Will celebrate the End of Summer
By having a barbecue.

Few know where the name
Of this holiday came from.
To most, it seems ironic
Since none but a few work.

Labor Day now means
The changing color of trees,
The start of the school year,
Or just another day off.

Any connection to unions
Or the forbidden word, “Socialism,”
Is obscured by the distance
From the First of May.

If we’re to return to the roots
Of this annual worker’s holiday
We need to barbecue Phil Knight
Over a bonfire of shoes

Or observe how Bill Gates
Changes colors
As we remove his tongue
And he can’t speak a Word^®.

I have added a comic to Make Louvre (Not War) illustrating a case for why it might be dangerous to teach religion in school. Among those friends I have been showing my work to lately, this is one of the strips that has garnered the most laughter. So I figured I’d post it here for your enjoyment…
Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s a chance to roast FOX News over an open flame in front of a live audience!

“Fair & Balanced is a scathing satirical attack on Fox News Channel and its claim of ownership to the words “fair and balanced.” Playwright Brian Flemming, who co-wrote the Off-Broadway smash hit Bat Boy: The Musical, penned this dark one-act comedy in which “Fair” and “Balanced” are charactersóthey are prisoners held in an underground dungeon, and every night at 8 p.m. a foul character named “Bill O’Reilly” comes down into the dungeon to torture them. ”

More information about the author and the play at the above link.

Living in the state I do, responsible for the likes of John Ashcroft and Rush Limbaugh, one gets used to not expecting any good news on issues such as the Death Penalty. That we live in a society that news such as this is progress is sad. But if the Missouri Supreme Court is finally saying no to juvenile executions, there’s hope for the rest of the country.

—
Excerpted from Supreme Court of Missouri’s opinion:

SENTENCE OF DEATH SET ASIDE RESENTENCED TO LIFE IMPRISONMENT WITHOUT ELIGIBILITY FOR PROBATION, PAROLE OR RELEASE EXCEPT BY ACT OF THE GOVERNOR.

Court en banc holds:

(1) In 1989, the United States Supreme Court declined to bar the execution of offenders who were 16 or 17 years old at the time of their crimes, holding that there was not then a national consensus against such executions. Stanford v. Kentucky, 492 U.S. 361 (1989). This Court is not bound by Stanford, however, because the determination of what is cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment must be interpreted in a flexible and dynamic manner. This determination must be considered by current standards, recognizing that society’s standards of decency are fluid and evolving.

(2) In the 14 years since Stanford was decided, a national consensus has developed against the execution of juvenile offenders. No state has lowered the age for execution from 18 to 17 or 16, five more states have banned the practice of executing juvenile offenders through legislative action and a sixth state has banned such a practice through a judicial decision. Only six states have executed a juvenile offender in the past 14 years. Opposition to the juvenile death penalty by professional, social and religious organizations, both nationally and internationally, has grown since Stanford. Similar to the reasons set out in Atkins in regard to offenders who are mentally retarded, neither retribution nor deterrence provides an effective rationale for imposing the juvenile death penalty, and the risk of wrongful execution of juveniles is enhanced.

(3) This Court concludes that the United States Supreme Court would hold that the execution of persons for crimes committed when they were under 18 years of age violates the evolving standards of decency and is prohibited by the Eighth Amendment to the United States constitution. This decision applies retroactively to persons whose cases are on collateral review.

A comment to my earlier post has encouraged me to come up with a list of possible organizations one might donate to in Sally Baron’s name…(see earlier post for explanation)

1. The commenter suggests “any political party” other than the Republicans. Some might have qualms with this. Any conservative political party (such as the Libertarians) would draw votes away from Bush and help the Democratic challenger. But I maintain voting Green, Natural Law, etc, actually helps Bush. There is nothing wrong with voting Green or Natural Law if you truly believe that it won’t matter to you whether Bush is re-elected or the Democratic challenger is elected. But you aren’t helping Sally Baron’s cause. Which is clearly stated as the removal of Bush from office.

2) The ACLU is definitely a worthy cause, as the commenter suggests. And supporting them will help to keep Bush et al from doing more damage to the US Constitution. They may indirectly help towards removing Bush from office by keeping some of the more outrageous things his administration has done in the public eye.

3) Beyond support of the Democratic Party, or a party that will steal votes away from Bush, the most direct action would be to support any and all Impeach Bush movements. But at this stage of the game, working towards defeating him in the 2004 election makes the most sense. If we fail, then we work towards impeaching him, so we don’t have to suffer a full 4 years. (But then we’re stuck with Cheney…We may have to impeach both of them. Impeach everyone necessary to get to Powell?)

The first case of West Nile hits St. Louis

I didn’t know her…at all…but her kids knew how to write a great obituary…

Excerpted:

STOUGHTON - Sally Baron, age 71, of Stoughton, died Monday, Aug. 18, 2003, after struggling to recuperate from heart surgery…She learned to cope with life’s trials with laughter and smiles…Memorials in her honor can be made to any organization working for the removal of President Bush.

Article of explanation.

and on the lighter side…Man puts wife’s brain on eBay

Brand New. Never Been Used. Still in Box.

Why do some people feel the need to erect monuments to their deities on public ground?

I believe in God. I love God. I go to services and pray. But when I visit a courthouse, capitol building, public school, I don’t expect to see monuments to God’s greatness. They don’t belong there. They belong in our homes and in our churches. (Unless you feel such monuments border on idolatry, and your religion states you aren’t supposed to construct idols, then perhaps they don’t belong in your homes or in your churches. But that’s for you to decide.)

Our forefathers were motivated by religion to come to this country. This fact SHOULD be taught to our students. History books should NOT be rewritten to downplay religion’s role in the formation of this country. This doesn’t violate any freedoms.

The stories in the Bible can be taught to our students — as literature. It is important for the literature student to be able to identify allusions to Judeo-Christian-Islamic, Greek, and Roman mythos. Without this knowledge, understanding of literature is crippled.

However, instructing our children as to the proper way to pray is a role that belongs to the parents, and the churches. Organizing school prayer forces one religion’s mode of prayer on those of different faiths. Letting students lead doesn’t solve this, as while each day a different student might lead, each day others will be led down a prayer they do not accept. (And if hypothetically 5% of the student body were one religion, and 95% another, than 95% of the time the minority would feel ostracized.) Setting aside a few minutes each day for silent prayer isn’t offensive, at least not to me. But I don’t see the point. Any child can pray silently at any time during the day they wish. They don’t need the time set aside for them to do it.

There is a time for everything…
There is a place for everything…
dairy shouldn’t be mixed with meat
government shouldn’t be mixed with religion

Judge declares FOX News “Wholly without merit, both factually, and legally.”

[Note: A word or two may have inadvertently been left out of the above statement. Management regrets any misunderstandings that might result.]

The mugshot of a dangerous criminal?

From the NYTimes…SD Congressman Bill Janklow’s 1999 State of the State address:

“Bill Janklow speeds when he drives — shouldn’t but he does,” Janklow said. “When he gets the ticket, he pays for it, but if someone told me I was going to jail for two days for speeding, my driving habits would change.”

Congressman Janklow said this in support of mandatory sentencing for drug offenders.

He hit a motorcyclist while speeding last Saturday. (75 in a 55 zone). The motorcyclist is dead. Janklow could conceivably face ten years in jail and a $10,000 fine.

Actor Billy Connolly should either sue God, or the zipper manufacturer

I remember getting extremely mad at Steven Spielberg when he rereleased ET last year replacing the guns the FBI agents were carrying with walkie-talkies. The revisionism bothered me. Now I find months later an old article at Salon.com explaining it wasn’t Spielberg’s idea at all…he was just doing what Drew asked him to do.

She’s consistent. The Angels in Charlies Angels don’t use guns either. That’s not to say there isn’t violence in Charlies Angels…there is…just not with guns. I don’t have a problem with her putting her political views into new films she produces. I acutally agree with her views somewhat. But I am against altering past movies to satisfy current beliefs.

That’s not to say if she showed up at my door today, and asked if she could spend the night, I’d turn her down. It’s purely a sexual thing between me and her, and I’m not above admitting it.

The Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal by Jesus Castillo.

Castillo, a clerk in a Texas comic book shop, was arrested for selling an adult comic to an undercover cop. He sold an adult comic to an adult. All the adult comics were in a separate section of the store, only accessible by adults. “Literary merit” was never even discussed by the prosecution. Their entire argument was based on comics being for kids, and therefore anything not suitable for kids shouldn’t be sold.

Therefore, I can’t imagine any store in Texas stocking any comic books with even slightly mature themes. I’d advise all Texas bookstores, for example, to remove Art Spiegelman’s Maus from their bookshelves. The graphic scenes from the Holocaust in those comics are definitely not for kids.

A list of Web Journalists who are now describing themselves as Fair and Balanced. Some probably hoping they’ll be sued by Fox News too.

“The US Supreme Court has refused to block the removal of a biblical display from Alabama’s state judicial building, rejecting a last-minute appeal from the state’s chief justice, Roy Moore.” [Don’t ask me why the BBC classifies this as an “Africa” story. I think this is a mistake. It will probably be moved to their Americas section soon.]

Judge Roy Moore says he will continue to fight the decision. Which of course raises a question….who’s he appealing the decision to? Someone needs to explain to him that the US Supreme Court is the highest law in the land.

Apparently Judge Moore was elected to his position based on a campaign pledge to install “the law God gave to Moses” in his courthouse. I haven’t seen the monument, but I am willing to bet a LOT the translation of the 10 commandments used for the monument do NOT match the translation used in Synagogues and Temples across the land. So, no, they AREN’T the law God gave to Moses. Sorry. Judge Moore has failed in his campaign promise, and installed a different 10 commandments. There are at least three main translations of the 10 commandments. Jewish, Catholic and Protestant. Both the Catholic and Protestant versions list Commandment 1 as “Thou Shalt Have No Other Gods Before Me”. This is Commandment #2 in the Jewish version. Commandment #1 should be ” I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.”

Update: I’m shocked. I would have lost the bet. Actually, an argument would probably ensue over who actually won.

This picture can be confusing. There are 11 commandments. “Thou shalt have no other gods before me” and “Thou Shalt not make unto thee a graven image” are actually one commandment. Since the King James Version of the Bible doesn’t include “I the Lord am your God” as one of the Ten, it divides the second commandment in two, in order to play “catch up”.

So the monument is kind of like a compromise between the Jewish and Protestant versions. Not really either one.

But since no numbers are placed next to the commandments, someone could claim that it matches the Jewish decalogue. However, they’d have to explain why they included two “thou shalt nots” from the second commandment…and not the third (thou shalt not bow down….)

I think this illustrates why we don’t need judges choosing between religious doctrines to feature in their courtroom.

I tend to agree somewhat with the Conservative Christian Right (gasp) on this one, at least partially. Asking Mel Gibson to alter the story of the Gospels for political correctness doesnít feel like the correct thing to do.

Of course, much of the editorializing from this viewpoint does tend to forget to mention that it isnít only Jewish groups asking Mel to do this, but that Catholic groups are as well. (For example, this piece from the Baptist Press ) Vatican 2 changed the ìOfficialî Catholic viewpoint on placing the blame for deicide. Of course, it didnít change the gospels, it just contradicted them. And of course, there are still many, like Gibson, who donít accept Vatican 2. But editorials that attack the Jewish groups — Reminding them they wouldnít want a Jewish film director to be asked to modify a story of the Exodus because it didnít portray Egyptians in a swell light — but which neglect to mention that Catholic leaders are also making these suggestions, borderline on anti-Semitic from my perspective. While I agree with the point theyíre making, thereís only one reason to ignore half the story.

The Gospels are anti-Semitic in nature. Any accurate portrayal of them will be anti-Semitic in nature. Therefore, any portrayal of them isnít meant for an audience that would be offended by that portrayal. But whatís the point of making a film which shows an inaccurate portrayal?

I missed an interesting story from Britain a couple months ago…apparently a reporter was visiting Prince Harry at his room in Eton to take some royal photos.

The 18-year old Prince had to move a pile of clothes in front of his bed for the picture.

Allegedly, he turned a beet red, when pink lingerie happened to fall to the floor.

Claims are that it was a ìtrophy,î as opposed to the latest trend in princely garb.
As one tabloid stated, itís better than chopping off her head, and having it mounted to his wall….

The latest Royal Scandal, is that Australian Aborigines are upset that Prince Harry appropriated aboriginal symbols and images in his artwork for school. It got him a ‘B’ in his Art A-Levels. He received a ‘D’ in Geography. (And as in America with the SATs, there is controversy in Britain that the A-Levels are being dumbed down, and are getting easier.)

Holocaust on Our Plates

PETAís been attacked
for comparing eating meat
to the Holocaust.

Elie Wiesel and the ADL
lead the attack
doing their best to forget
one of the first people
to make this
distasteful comparison
was not PETA,
but Nobel prize-winning author,
Isaac Bashevis Singer,
who fled Europe in 1935.

And in todayís newspaper
thereís a story
of a St. Louis dog
whoís gained some notoriety
by being the first animal
ever
to survive
the local poundís gas chambers.

Yes, Hitler justified
killing my ancestors
by comparing us
to animals,

but there were two premises
to that illogical progression.
Is it truly terrible
to argue
both may have been wrong?

Jews are human.
Animals arenít.
But while they shouldn’t
necessarily be considered
humanity’s equal,

they’re still God’s creations
and their lives
have value.

ìIn relation to [animals], all people are Nazis; for [them] it is an eternal Treblinka,î

ì[A]s long as human beings will go on shedding the blood of animals, there will never be any peace. There is only one little step from killing animals to creating gas chambers ý la Hitler and concentration camps ý la Stalin. … There will be no justice as long as man will stand with a knife or with a gun and destroy those who are weaker than he is.î

– Isaac Bashevis Singer

I wrote this about PETA’s campaign a couple months ago

[Note: I tried to become a vegetarian several years ago, but it proved too difficult. My tastes for vegetarian meals aren’t diverse enough; and eating has always been one of my sources of pleasure. I learned I don’t feel strongly enough to sacrifice the enjoyment I get from eating. There are a few food items I still won’t eat for ethical and religious reasons, and a few others I don’t eat much of for health reasons, but for the most part I am back to being a carnivore. Drew Barrymore, interestingly enough, gave up vegetarianism for similar reasons.

Several blogs I read regularly have done it. Not to say that I’m a follower, mindya. Considering I advertise my mind as slighly warped, I figured I couldn’t state this blog was balanced, per se. So I made a slight alteration in the tagline.

Fox News has sued Al Franken for using the catchphrase “Fair and Balanced” in his new book. I’ll probably talk about it in another entry later this weekend a little bit more, but first, I’ll point you to this column by Bill O’Reilly himself.

And I’ll quote a very interesting paragraph:

“It’s unfortunate, but in this country, if you’re successful or famous, many courts will allow defamation, slander and liable [sic] to go unpunished.”

1) ‘Liable’ and ‘libel’ are two very different words. That’s not a typo in a news story, that’s a complete misunderstanding of a word.

2) It seems to be saying if you are successful and famous you can get away with defamation, slander and libel. But that is a misunderstanding of the current state of the legal system. I hold that if Franken or O’Reilly defamed/libeled/or slandered joe schmoe on the street, they would not get away with it.

Now…if the victim is famous…or at least as well-known as Franken or O’Reilly…then the victim has to prove in a court of law that there was “malicious intent.” And that’s why news tabloids get away with libel against famous people all the time. (And those who are speaking — Television tabloid news ‘journalists’ for example — get away with slander.)

Am I implying that the O’Reilly Factor is Television Tabloid News? Heavens forbid! Of course not.

The local pound receives
eight dogs a day on average
and due to the building
not being larger
on the inside
than on the outside
eight dogs a day must leave
in some manner.

On Monday
August Third
2003
another eight dogs
were placed inside
the local gas chambers.
There was nothing newsworthy
about the event. Yet.

When the door was opened,
seven dogs lay on the floor.
The eighth was still standing
tail wagging
as if to say,
ìIs this the best you can do?î

They granted the dog his life,
and changed his name
to Quentin
in honor of the infamous prison.
They missed a chance however.

They could have had a line
a mile longer for adoption
if they had simply
renamed the pup
Harry.