Sayings NOT in the Bible

I frequently hear people say things like, "The Bible says..." Only, the Bible doesn't say! Here are a few of my favorite sayings that AREN'T in the bible:

"God helps those who help themselves."
"Money is the root of all evil."
"Cleanliness is next to godliness."
"God moves in mysterious ways."
"Pride goeth before a fall."
"Ashes to ashes and dust to dust."
"The Bible is the Word of God."
The "sinners" prayer
And my all-time favorite:
"Jesus said, 'You must be in the world, but not of the world.'"

So where do these come from?

God helps those ... Benjamin Franklin (a Deist)
Money ... a misquote of 1 Tim 6:10, "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils" (NRSV)
Cleanliness ... a mishmash of a host of verses about clean and unclean things
God moves ... hymn by William Cowper
Pride cometh ... misquote of Proverbs 16:18 "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall" (NRSV).
Ashes ... Derived from Eccl 3:20, "all are from the dust, and all turn to dust again."
Word of God ... while the Bible does refer to "the words of God" and sometimes "the word of God", and Jesus is called "the Word", the Bible never refers to itself as the Word of God.
The "sinners" prayer ... although commonly prayed at altar calls on t.v., there is no such thing in the Bible.
You must be in the world ... a mishmash of John 17:11 and John 16:33, "I have said this to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world!” (John 16:33 NRSV) "And now I [Jesus] am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one." (John 17:11. NRSV)

Private Lives

Here are a few of the headlines on CNN right now:

Wayne Newton says Johnny Carson was mean
Did Hulk Hogan buy son beer before wreck?
Lindsay Lohan & Riley Giles break up

Not that long ago, the headlines were O.J. Simpson in court and Kanye West's mom died having cosmetic surgery.

I've never quite figured out why any of this stuff is any of my business, or why people are so fascinated with people's private lives.

It's one thing to be interested about the new movie your favorite star is in, or about your favorite show, by why do I need to find out whether Johnny Carson was mean or whether Hulk Hogan bought beer? I don't get it.

Instead, here are a few of the headlines that topped BBC World News this morning that aren't anywhere on CNN:

EU failed to make progress in talks with Iran about its nuclear program
Russia disengaged from decades long arms treaty b/c of US plan to store missles in Europe
Explosives found at the home of an Iraqi politician's son
Massive rallies and protests going on in Gaza over mid-east talks
57 people died in a major Turkish international airplane crash
Bosnia and Croatia are in a political crisis that could result in a bloodbath over Bosnian muslims and Catholic Croats

Just thought you might be interested. Hmmm...maybe not. Maybe you're just interested in whether Jennifer Aniston's breasts are real or not. What do you think?

(Former) Bishop Carlton Pearson

I watched a program last night about former Bishop Carlton Pearson. He used to be the darling of the Pentecostal evangelical movement. He was best friends with Oral Roberts and quickly became bishop in his denomination, the Church of God in Christ, the largest african-american pentecostal denomination in the U.S. In his hey-day, his church had 10,000+ members and taking in $60,000/week in offerings.

In 2000, he had an epiphany while watching t.v. He saw images of young children in Africa, who were dying of malnutrition, and, because they were apparently muslim, or at least non-Christian, his belief was that they were going to hell. But on that day, he could not accept it, and asked God, "why did you make these kids to send them to hell?" And God answered, "Is that you what you think we're doing?"

After that, he decided to explore the scriptures about hell more carefully in the original languages, and decided that hell as he had always been taught, did not exist. He also stopped believing in biblical inerrancy. He began to preach what he called the Gospel of Inclusion, based on his belief that if Christ came to redeem the world on the cross, he either really did that, or he didn't. And he decided that he did.

This didn't go over very well. He lost his flock, was condemned by his best friends, including Oral Roberts, called a heretic, was defrocked and eventually excommunicated from his denomination and barred from the facility he helped create.

That was in 2001. Over the next few years, he began getting calls to preach the inclusion message to AIDS victims, homeless people, and others who were rejected. Later, he was offered space in the afternoon at the local episcopal cathedral. He's on the way back.

I appreciate all that Carlton has gone through. He has gone through a kind of hell because he was willing to stick to his convictions no matter the loss.

My one criticism is that he seems to be overly focused on slick presentation. The front of his new website says, "the friendliest, trendiest, most radically inclusive worship experience!" and "don't miss out on the newest shift in religious sensibility!" with Carlton still wearing his violet bishop's clergy shirt and his trendy glasses. He still calls himself a bishop, even though he is not (he is now ordained in the United Church of Christ, but so far as I know, is not a bishop in that denomination).

Go-Getter Eliminates Two Steps From Grieving Process

Fake news from The Onion:

CORNING, CA—Management consultant and recent widower Greg Pier successfully cut his grieving time by more than a third Friday by eliminating bargaining and depression from the mourning process following the death of his wife. "After three days in denial and a full night of anger, I realized that at that rate, I was never going to get over [wife] Betty's passing," said Pier, who convinced himself it was time to move on with his life after a simple cost-benefit analysis. "What am I supposed to do, mope around all day asking God to take me instead?" Piers noted that his intense grief should be even less time-consuming given his plans to avoid explaining to his children where their mother went.

Rudy and His Mistress

Let's see if I got this right: Rudy spends taxpayer money to visit his mistress, hides the expenses in unrelated departments, and it's the Democrats fault??

Whatever. One thing I know: the blogs that say that Rudy's campaign is over are wrong. Rudy has learned from G.W. Bush, that when the going gets tough, the tough get stubborn. Just lower your head like a bull and stand your ground. There is no scandal that you can't survive if you are stubborn enough.

Outrage

Hunter at DailyKos gets outraged so that I don't have to:

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/29/18282/703

Insults & the Law

I'm in favor of cultural and religious sensitivity, but doesn't such sensitivity go both ways? When British teacher Gillian Gibbons allowed her class to choose the name Mohammed for a teddy bear in Sudan, she did not know that doing so would offend anyone. It is, after all, the most popular boy's name in that country, and the name of the most popular boy in her class. So to charge her with a crime punishable by 40 lashes or jail for a year, seems so utterly unreasonable on its face. It is one thing to defend one's holy leader (and by the way, if God is God, then God doesn't need me to defend), but quite another to use the law to punish a person who never intended harm, who is in one's country to help, and who may not know all the the in's-and-out's of the culture. Indeed, a reasonable person might well have thought that if she did not allow the teddy to be named Mohammed that someone ELSE would have gotten insulted!

So, dare I suggest taking a line from a different holy book--when someone strikes you on one cheek, turn the other to him also. Insults only do the amount of harm that we permit them to do. If we choose not to be harmed by them, then they have no power. When we allow insults to have the power of Law, the Law kills.

Update: She was found guilty and sentenced to 14 days in jail. Thoughtful judges, who considered the full weight of the matter, decided that she was guilty. What. A. Crock.

Update 2: It's been revealed that Gibbons was ratted out by the school's own secretary. Now 600 demonstrators are rioting and calling for her execution. There is something deeply, deeply disturbing about this thirst for blood.

Update 3: She is finally free now, and the latest news is that the secretary had been fired a couple weeks earlier, and she ratted them out in order to get the school shut down. In that respect, it worked, the school is shut down and no word on when it would re-open.

For Sale: One Healthcare Insurance Company

Last night my company announced it was selling to CIGNA. The fallout begins.

Birthday

Today is my birthday. Happy birthday to me!

Disgraceful

This hits new lows:

The U.S. Military is demanding that thousands of wounded service personnel give back signing bonuses because they are unable to serve out their commitments.

To get people to sign up, the military gives enlistment bonuses up to $30,000 in some cases.

Now men and women who have lost arms, legs, eyesight, hearing and can no longer serve are being ordered to pay some of that money back.

The rest of the story: Military wants bonuses back

Safe

George W. Bush: "America is safer."

Douglas Adams: "Ah, this is obviously some strange usage of the word 'safe' that I wasn't previously aware of."

Souljourner's

Souljourner's this weekend was excellent, the best one so far. All about Ignatian Spirituality, especially the guidelines for discernment. Very helpful. Some of the gifts of the weekend:

praying in color
apples with caramel dip
kind words
genuine care

Now it is rest time! We get December "off". At least in the sense that we are not meeting. But I still have to read 2 books and write 3 papers between now and mid-January.

God's intention

"God has revealed his intention for our world, namely that all human beings live as brothers and sisters in a community of faith, hope and love united with Jesus Christ as sons and daughters of God, our Father and in harmony with the whole created universe.

If the universe is one action of God, then our own actions can be in tune with this one action or not. In order to become discerning, we need practice in prayerful attention to the movement of our hearts and honest appraisal of what seems more in tune with God's one action. What leads to greater faith, hope and love in our hearts? What seems more likely to enhance real communion and community among those with whom we live and work? Conversely, which alternative seems more fearful and self-protective? A daily examination of consciousness would gradually make us more fine-tuned as to what choices are more in line with God's kingdom."
-- William A. Barry, SJ, Paying Attention to God: Discernment in Prayer


With this view of God's intention in mind, and the attendant questions, how then would we answer our seemingly intractable problems like:

• immigration
• universal healthcare
• gay marriage
• global warming
• disaster recovery
• homelessness
  

It seems so obvious.

Wynonna - I Can Only Imagine

Written and popularized by the group Mercy Me, Wynonna does a pretty good job with it:

Tori Amos Mother

My favorite song from the Tori Amos concert.



Out of the nest
It's time
Go go go now
Circus girl without a safety net
Here here now
Don't cry
You raised your hand for the assignment
Tuck those ribbons under your helmet
Be a good soldier
First my left foot
Then my right behind the other
Pantyhose
Running in the cold

Mother the car is here
Somebody leave the light on
Black Chariot for the redhead
Dancing dancing girl And when I dance for him
Somebody leave the light on just in case
I like the dancing
I can remember where I come from

I walked into your dream
And now I've forgotten how to dream my own dream
You are the clever one aren't you
Brides in veils for you
We told you all of our secrets
All but one
So don't you even try
The phone has been disconnected
Dripping with blood
And with time
And with your advice
Poison me against the moon

Mother the car is here
Somebody leave the light on
Black Chariot for the redhead
Dancing dancing girl And when I dance for him
Somebody leave the light on just in case
I like the dancing
I can remember where I come from

I escape into your escape
Into our very favorite fearscape
It's across the the sky
And across my heart
And I cross my legs
Oh my God
First my left foot
Then my right behind the other
Breadcrumbs lost under the snow
Mother
Mother the car is here
Somebody leave the light on
Somebody leave the light on just in case
I like the dancing
Mother

Beyond Theology

Yesterday I watched a fascinating show on PBS called “Beyond Theology” (www.beyondtheology.tv). Today’s show was entitled “Ground of Being” and was about the various ways we conceive, perceive, experience, and talk about God, and how our talk is rapidly changing and evolving. The show featured Sr. Joan Chittister, John Shelby Spong, Karen Armstrong, and James Forbes. Produced locally by Washburn University, I thought it was a great show.

Looking at my local listings, it looks like it will show again on Tuesday night at 9:00-9:30pm.
The next show in the series is about religious pluralism. Future episodes will deal with the Bible, mysticism, creation spirituality, science and spirituality and others.

Televangelists Redux

So Creflo Dollar has released some of his church's financial records. They show that his church at just one of his locations took in $69 million just last year. Wow! The church owns a lear jet and gave Creflo Dollar a Rolls Royce. (For perspective, our church takes in 0.13% of that figure).

Creflo is quoted as saying, "without a doubt, my life is not average," Dollar said. "But I'd like to say, just because it is excessive doesn't necessarily mean it's wrong."

"The issue is, what route did you use to get that excess?" he said.

His route was money that he earned, Dollar said.

"When I want a nice car, I use my own money to get the nice car and not the money of the church," Dollar said.

Another article says that the church no longer gives Creflo a salary because he already earns millions of dollars on his books (which apparently he and the church considers to be private work and income unrelated to his church).

Endorsements...

Robertson has endorsed Giuliani, Weyrich endorsed Romney, Brownback endorsed McCain and now Natl Right to Life is endorsing Thompson. What in the world is a fun-loving right wing nut supposed to do?!

I get notes...

A NOTE OF THANKS: I returned from serving my five day prison sentence for protesting the war in Iraq and found many notes of support and donations from you. I am so touched by your acts of kindness.

The five days in prison were powerful in so many ways. I'm just beginning to write and reflect. But I have new models of hospitality—the women in prison who welcomed us, encouraged us, helped us through the intricate maze of rules—and I thought the organization of a monastery was intricate—and gave us from their small supply of coffee and snacks. Their kindness was overwhelming. So was the starkness of the place, the tragedy of many of their stories, the suffering of their separation from their children. Hard, tough, reality. Also, the noise, the lights, the surveillance camera—we had one in our cell, no privacy and only the dignity that the women offer each other. It all connects really with the violence we're exporting to Iraq.

I came out with a book wish list for Benetvision's Fund for Prisoners. The "library" for the women is dismal. When I mentioned that I was part of Benetvision, a few women immediately said, "Oh, Sister Joan, we get her Monastic Way." They want more books. Prayer books, like 25 Windows Into the Soul, Between Two Souls, 2008 Song of the Earth Calendars to help them track the days, Journals. They have so little—have to buy paper with money they might get from those outside. I am more convinced than ever of the need for the Fund for Prisoners. Thank you for your strong message of support. I am so grateful. (Read Anne's statement regarding her arrest and sentencing.)

Peace, Salaam, Shalom,
Sister Anne McCarthy, OSB

Lack of female characters in movies

This is an interested blog article:

http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2007/11/10/6306/

Specifically it mentions the "Bechdel Movie Measure," which I had never heard of before:

In order for a movie to pass the Bechdel Movie Measure, it must have three characteristics:

1. There must be two or more women in it
2. Who talk to each other,
3. About something other than a man.

Seems damn reasonable. The rest of the article is about how nearly all the Pixar animated films fail that measure (except The Incredibles), most recently in Bee Movie, and how, even worse, Bee Movie even uses males to fill traditionally female roles, and ignores the fact that in "real life" female bees do all the real work, and the males only do sex. :)

Anyway, they make a very good point that animated movies, presumably geared to both sexes, are actually teaching young women that they really don't have any significant place in the world. And that blows.

It makes me want to think back to the last few theater movies I've seen and think about whether it passes the "Bechdel Test." The last few movies I remember seeing are: 30 Days of Night, Saw IV, Mr. Woodcock, and Resident Evil: Extinction. Of course, none of these are chick flicks (Dean likes horror flicks), by any means, but still, virtually any movie ought to be able to pass such a simple test.

30 Days of Night had more than 2 female characters (the sheriff's girlfriend Stella, Denise one of the surviving residents, other female survivors, female vampires, the little girl that Stella saves at the end, and various female extras). Unfortunately, I can't remember any specific scenes where 2 women talk to each other about something other than a man. But honestly there probably was, even if it was casual and insignificant. I'd have to give this one a hopeful maybe.

Saw IV had 2 women in it (barely, the female cop and Saw's ex-wife), but I really don't remember them talking to each other about anything other than a man (the two talked about Saw, but that's all I remember). I'd have to give it a fail.

Mr. Woodcock did have 2 female characters (Susan Sarandon as Mr. Woodcock's love interest and the main character's mom) and Amy Poehler (the main character's book agent). But I don't remember them talking to each other, much less about anything other than a man. I have to say this one is a doubtful maybe.

Resident Evil:Extinction had more than 2 women in it (the main character Alice and Claire, the leader of one of the surviving bands). Thinking back, they definitely interacted, and about something other than a man. This one, surprisingly for the genre, definitely passes.

Weekend

So Saturday was spent writing papers for Souljourners. Sunday was Dean's Birthday-Eve celebration at his mom's. I blew up helium balloons and used Transformers decorations. Teri made shepherd's pie, spinach salad, jello, blueberry muffins, and chocolate cake. And kool-aid. Can't have a meal at Teri's without kool-aid. It's required. Luckily it was Sunday, which is our diet-free day. And boy howdy did we eat! Teri, Tony, Kacy, Brian, Lyman and Ted were there too. And Dean got lots of neato prezzies.

I didn't remember to take my camera, so no pictures, sadly.

Why I am A Democrat

Because not 1 single Republican senator voted against torture:

Mukasey Roll Call

My favorite religious authors

My top 10 Favorite Religious Authors (and my favorite books of theirs). Sorted by favorite author, not necessarily favorite book.

1. Brennan Manning, Abba's Child
2. Matthew Fox, Creation Spirituality
3. Henri Nouwen, Return of the Prodigal Son
4. Joan Chittister, Wisdom Distilled From the Daily
5. Frederick Buechner, The Magnificent Defeat
6. Walter Brueggemann, The Prophetic Imagination
7. Peter Gomes, The Good Book
8. N.T. Wright, The Challenge of Jesus
9. Brian McLaren, A Generous Orthodoxy
10. Anne Lammott, Plan B

Notable others: Anthony Bloom (Beginning to Pray), C.S. Lewis (The Great Divorce), Thomas Merton (No Man Is An Island), Richard Foster (Celebration of Discipline), Carol Bonomo (The Abbey Up the Hill), Esther DeWaal (Living with Contradiction), Thomas Keating (Open Mind, Open Heart)

Veto override

Today, Congress voted to override Bush's veto of the water bill, the first override to succeed in his administration.

Am I the only one waiting for Cheney to come out and say that Congressional overrides violate the President's unitary executive privilege as Commander in Chief?

Seriously.

The Bell Park of World Peace

Hwacheon (Wa-Shon) is a town bordering the DMZ in South Korea. It has a population of 27,000 citizens and 35,000 troops garrisoned there. It is one of the towns for which the Korean War has never ended. Like their North Korean counterparts, the folks here just watch each other waiting ....

But not any more.

Poised in the middle of this area is the so-called "Peace Dam". An empty hole in the ground that was built only to protect the area from flooding in case North Korea's dam were ever damaged, or deliberately opened. That is the site where the local government hopes that
"a tragic symbol of the hostility and conflict between North Korea and South Korea, will be transformed into a symbol of genuine peace for life in the Korean Peninsula, in North East Asia and around the globe. The Dam will be a historic monument for the future generations of the Korean people and for visitors from all over the world. It will be a paradoxical sign of communication and conviviality among the peoples of the world, not just in Korea." And there, at about this time next year, is where they will mount the Bell of World Peace, currently being made using spent bullet cartridges from around the world.

This is not something that North and South Korea decided to do together. It is something that the local community decided it needed to do for North and South Korea, with implications for the rest of us.

Writer's Strike

School shooting in Finland

In reading about the school shooting in Finland, I learned that a video that the shooter created included clips of the Columbine shootings, the government raid on Waco, and the US bombs falling on Iraq.

America used to be inspiration for freedom, ingenuity and democracy. Today, America was his inspiration for violence and that makes me sad.

Pat Robertson endorses Rudolph Giuliani

It's official. Being a faithful Mormon is worse than being a two-time divorcee and pro-abortion.

Senate to Investigate Televangelists

So this is interesting. Charles Grassley (R-IA) has begun an investigation of 6 televangelists:
Joyce Meyer
Creflo Dollar
Benny Hinn
Eddie Long
Kenneth & Gloria Copeland
Randy & Paula White

All of these would be representative of the "prosperity gospel," a theology that says that God wants you to prosper (get rich), but only if you are willing to give to God's kingdom, which of course, means giving to the televangelist's ministry, which, oddly enough, makes the preacher prosper and proves his point. It's a great scheme. It'll be interesting to see if something substantive comes out of the senator's investigation.

It is also interesting to see which televangelists are NOT on the list.

Gov. Ryan going to Jail

Gov. George Ryan of Illinois is going to jail for fraud and racketeering. For a decade as Secretary of State, and then as Governor, he steered contracts to friends who gave him bribes of vacations, gifts and cash. When investigators tried to investigate what was going on, he fired them. A family of 6 died as an indirect result of his greedy crimes.

Here is what GOP state Rep. Bill Black had to say: "Why would anybody take any great satisfaction that this man is going to prison? He had decades of, I think, noble service."

Is this where "moral" America is right now? The corrupt are portrayed as noble servants who are mere victims of ... well, something. Getting caught by people who have a beef against corrupt regimes I guess.

Sometimes Love Makes Us Lovable

SOMETIMES LOVE MAKES US LOVABLE

Willing, but not eager: that's pretty much how I felt about taking in Ben the Quacking Cat. He was blessed at birth with a meow that sounds exactly like the quack of a duck, and he simply could not turn it off. I wonder if there is such a thing as feline Tourette's Syndrome? If there is, it would explain a lot.

He would station himself at Anna's bedroom door at 4 in the morning and begin to quack, and he would quack his way mournfully through the day. If he was awake, you heard him.

Maybe it was the apartment. Unless you're really, really rich, your New York City apartment will be quite small, roughly the size of your bedroom when you were a teenager. Maybe he'll be quieter if he has more room, I told my daughter. She was tearful at the thought of getting rid of Ben, but she teaches school and needs her sleep, and besides, she was engaged: the first year of marriage has stresses enough of its own. And it wasn't as if we were turning him out on the street; Ben would still be in the family. She could come to see him on holidays.

It was worth a try.

So he had some strikes against him when he came in, did Ben: a personality trait that annoyed absolutely everyone with whom he interacted. For weeks we thought what all new parents think, that all the noise must surely mean that he was hungry, but feeding him had no discernable effect. So that wasn't it.

Well, what do we need? Food and water. Air. We need meaningful work, although I've had cats all my life and have yet to meet one with a job, so maybe cats don't need work. That leaves just one thing: maybe Ben needed love. Not that Anna didn't love him. But Ben drove away anyone who might have been moved to the physical expression of love with his incessant noise. Maybe what he needed was the very thing he drove away.

He wouldn't have been the first to have done that. How many are there? Tons. We alienate the very thing for which we long, sabotage the love we crave. The thing I wish to do, I do not do, St. Paul wails in his letter to the Romans, and the thing I do not wish to do, that is what I do. Without realizing what I am doing, I set things up so that I will not have what I need, and then I am miserable because I do not have it.

I determined to stroke Ben's chin and cuddle him every time he began to quack. Won't that just encourage him to do it even more? Q asked, unconvinced. But he couldn't possibly have quacked any more than he was quacking already, since he was never still except when he was asleep. So there was little to lose.

He would begin to quack, and I would pick him up. All cats love to have their chins stroked; well, their jaws, really: they have scent glands there, and gentle pressure on them feels good to them. And it worked: he would stop quacking after only a few strokes. Ben's black coat is very soft and rich, and his white bib is luxuriant; stroking and cuddling him was fun for me, too. And, as Ben began to quiet down, something began to happen to me: I began to love him. Soon he stopped immediately upon being picked up. He took to coming up alongside my face in the night; I would reach one hand out from under the blanket and give him a few strokes. That was enough, it seemed: he'd walk back down to the foot of the bed and go back to sleep. It was sweet to have the touch that helped him calm down. I realized that he had never wanted to quack all the time. He just hadn't known how to not to, and it was the physical expression of love that helped him stop.

I now adore my Ben. I love him as much as I've ever loved a cat, and I have loved some cats in my day. I bury my face in his lovely fur and tell him that he smells like a flower -- I'm sure there's a flower somewhere in the world that smells like Ben. I call him in from the back yard and he trots toward the back porch, quacking all the way, and I reach down when he's close enough, for a couple of quick chin-strokes. I now think his quacking is charming: the very thing that made me resigned, at best, to his coming to live here in the first place, now seems to me to be cute and funny.

Love made him lovable! And showing him love made me love him! It appears that love causes love, then. It seems that it is infinitely available among us, the rich milk of it produced on the spot, on demand, in as much quantity as we need, if we will only surrender to its delight.



The Almost-Daily eMo from the Geranium Farm Copyright © 2001-2007 Barbara Crafton - all rights reserved

Ron Paul

There is a lot to not like about Ron Paul. But raising $4.5 million in one day is pretty good. Here's a clip. It's pretty good.

Torture

Giuliani says that "Now, intensive questioning works. If I didn't use intensive questioning, there would be a lot of mafia guys running around New York right now and crime would be a lot higher in New York than it is. Intensive question has to be used. Torture should not be used. The line between the two is a difficult one."

General Russell Honore said, "As long as we're responsible for hunting those SOBs down, finding them and preventing them from killing our sons and daughters," Honore said, "I think we've got an obligation to do what the hell we've got to do to make sure we get the mission done."

The latest poll shows that 70% of Americans think that waterboarding is torture. Sadly, 40% of Americans say it's okay to use it.

We are not a country of peace. We are a country of power. The ends justify the means. It doesn't matter what we have to do to get what we want. Torture works--as if whether it works or not is the defining criteria of whether to use it or not. All of a sudden, we are country that is strangely similar to the Cambodian Khmer Rouge. Cripes.

"Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you mad." -- Aldous Huxley

Pat Boone sucks

Pat Boone is a jerk because he recorded an ad being sent via phone to Kentucky voters attacking Democratic challenger because he supports "every homosexual cause out there."

Listen to Pat Boone.

SCHIP Facts and Fiction

A great citizen-article:

http://www.theindependent.com/stories/11052007/opi_schip05.shtml

The lede:

The State Children's Health Insurance Reauthorization Act of 2007, or SCHIP, has continued to be a hot topic lately. It's program that has shown great success in providing needed health coverage for the children of working low-income families since it was first created in 1997.

Third District Representative Adrian Smith [R-NE] has voted against this vital piece of legislation from the very beginning. In defense of his vote, he has given several reasons why he voted against it. Unfortunately, he chose to once again mislead his constituents.

Here is a look at his claims and the facts surrounding those claims:

Waterboarding

Waterboarding is torture and torture is wrong. See, that wasn't so hard to say, was it?

Attack of the Killer Lady Bugs

or The Hibernation of the Lady Bugs ....

Whatever this movie is called, we have a lot of lady bugs here at Casa de Castillo-Manwaring. Here are some pics of the swarm we took attacking the west and north wall of our house. They were flying around, crawling around, landing on us, in our hair, down my shirt, on the dogs, inside the house....Good thing they aren't dangerous. Or are they?

The War on Whistleblowers

Good article:
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/11/01/whistleblowers/

Here is the lede:

Nov. 1, 2007 | If there is any doubt about how the Bush administration treats government whistle-blowers, consider the case of Teresa Chambers. She was hired in early 2002, with impeccable law enforcement credentials, to become chief of the United States Park Police. But after Chambers raised concerns publicly that crime was up in the nation's parks, she was rebuked by superiors and fired. When Chambers fought to regain her job through the legal system meant to protect whistle-blowers, government lawyers fought back, and associated her with terrorists. Despite a multiyear legal struggle, she is still fighting for her job.