Adult Sunday School today focused on Jesus asking the fisherman sons of Zebedee to "follow him," and they immediately dropped their nets and did so.
One woman there admitted "I'd want to go home and change clothes first." We all laughed.
I had a really nice exchange with a fellow blogger this week. A group of us were informed that one of us (not me) had an 8 week old niece diagnosed with H1N1. I and some others mentioned that we would pray or get in touch with a church group, etc. etc. BTW I don't claim any credit for me or for God, but baby is doing much much better this weekend and we're all grateful for that.
Another of the group said, being atheist - I don't have a prayer group. God doesn't listen to me anyway. Must have just been all that non-denominational love radiating through the atmosphere...
Now those of you who know me know my answer to THAT, and I replied immediately, yes, as immediately as the sons of Zebedee dropped their nets:
if there is a God She loves atheists best of all...that's why She made you clever and loving without benefit of clergy....
So often we so-called Christians focus on how we can control people rather than how we can bless them. This abortion bill mumbo jumbo is just the latest example. If I had the money, I'd mail a box of condoms to everyone who voted for that Stupid Stupak amendment and tell them to get back to me when they completely abandon abstinence-only hypocrisy.
Planned Parenthood notes that the cost of an abortion in the first trimester costs between $300 to $900. That doesn't include travel expenses to Atlanta, which for many Southern Baptist college students is the closest place to have their "mistake"... "taken care of." Church-going Daddies and wayward boyfriends do come up with that money all the time, without filing an insurance claim, trust me.
For the women who were unable to get an abortion on Medicaid due to the Hyde Amendment before last night? Life continues to suck, or in the words of our Lord and Master, "the poor you always have with you." Dear Congress: Jesus meant that as an accusation, rather than a statement of fact. Jesus knows what is in your hearts, Congressmen, and that you would send any number of pregnant interns to that Atlanta abortion clinic for the full nine hundred, just to save your fucking job, and many of you likely have.
That said... there is no Savior, or morning-after pill, strong enough for this dude:
[Photoshopped their sign just a lil' bit. Original here.]
Last night I attended an open house for the grade 6-8 magnet school for my children's school district. This is a terrific school. Every single kid in the school gets their own MacBook with their textbooks embedded to take home. The kids, as evidenced by the "student ambassadors" hosting the open house, are well-spoken, confident, learning dynamos.
There were about 250 parents and kids there in the crowded auditorium, being sold on the idea of applying to this magnet school. It's like selling water in the desert. Five hundred fifth-graders are expected to apply for approximately 100 available spots in this school. The sales pitch was completely unnecessary except to provide some eighth-graders with some public speaking "enrichment".
And we all sat there like sheep. No one shouted out in rage that the other option, one many of us fear and four out of five of us will be forced to consider, is sending our kids to the assigned residential school for our address. You know, the MIDDLE school that gets occasional good reviews because the SHERIFF'S DEPUTIES that roam the hall are really nice people.
That access to decent public education, right here in our own community, is rationed by a completely arbitrary lottery.
The children in my school district, a district I expect is typical, are poor and getting poorer by the year:
Crooks and Liars posted a story this week that half of all kids in America are, not will be, on food stamps sometime in their lives (full disclosure: my kids are, and free lunch too), and for black kids the statistic is 90%. This is not based on projections, but on historical evidence collected for a pediatric organization. Pediatricians know that children on food stamps are more likely to be malnourished. It's a national health concern and, memo to John Kyl, should be a homeland security concern as well.
And what comes to my mind as I take the long route home, my hands shaking on the steering wheel, is all this talk about rationing and "hands off my healthcare" from a generation of people who are going to receive a check from Barack Obama for $250.00 in the next year. Am I to assume the teabaggers will be tearing up the check and returning it to the US Treasury with their own stamp, out of concern for the deficits they protested in DC yesterday? Or will they apply that money to their hotel bill from last night, might as well stay an extra day so we can see the Air and Space Museum, seeing as Dick Armey gave us free bus fare into town.
Dick Armey, who considers healthcare reform, but not the Bush tax cuts, "generational theft."
That's BLUE GAL'S Anniversary Cake! Her blog is five years old today!
I don't know how FOX News can claim they aren't a propaganda arm of the Republican Party after they sent you a half-eaten (Cavuto, natch) "aborted white babies" theme cake. But once again, you can't fault them for subtlety!
(Happy one year anniversary, Mister P. It gets easier after five, you betcha.)
Tex Betsy's Food Porn, or what you missed at Salon Last Night
[20:20] texbetsy: i'm starving but don't have anything quick and easy. i may need to actually, ya know, cook [20:20] bluegal: mac and cheese, baby [20:20] texbetsy: that's cooking [20:20] bluegal: HA! [20:21] texbetsy: lol [20:21] bluegal: stir in a can of tuna and you're a CHEF [20:21] texbetsy: but may be necessary [20:21] texbetsy: oh i am a real chef. a cup of frozen peas in as well [20:21] bluegal: I may have to BLOG That. [20:21] bluegal: lolol [20:21] darkblack: Little Parmesan and it's Cordon Bleu [20:21] bluegal: whoo hoo! [20:21] texbetsy: too much work db [20:21] darkblack: Oh, and shallots [20:22] bluegal: sauteed shallots
I love TexBetsy. And leave it to Darkblack to think of the effin shallots.
While Quitty McQuitter runs the GOP from her Facebook Account, we're chatting live at Monday's Salon. Click here to join. No registration or special equipment needed, but it does work best in Firefox.
When I saw this "comment guideline" in a long post on "how to be respectful" at the community section of a large traffic feministubule blog, I instantly thought, "wow, that would look so cool on the front of a pair of white panties. Sisterhood!
But seriously, I feel sorry for people who don't have the will to ignore, or failing that, the verbal skills to swiftly and without writing nineteen paragraphs (I counted) castrate, those who are not "respectful to the blogger and her community." Sticks and stones, bitchez!
And now for the linky love... ____________
Scott's blog "Bill in Exile" is a hardcore gay blog, not safe for work, hide the kids and pets, etc. But then every once in a while he writes stuff like this, and I remember why he's so very blogrolled at my place. Besides the nekkid boy parts pictures.
A big congratulations to Doctor Zaius, who has reached one million hits, and Driftglass, who will reach two million today if he hasn't already.
And then I look at my hit counter and say, is this thing on?
This blog turns five years old on Wednesday. (Yes, Zaius, there will be cake.) My goal for the next year is to take my creativity in a more focused direction. I want to do more film-making and get back to video blogging or podcasting. There are changes coming to the big blog in which I hope to be a part.
But this is not my David Sirota "I'm going to completely quit blogging except for one post per day and also, Mrs. Sirota says I have to make this gig pay as soon as I get back from four weeks in China" resignation letter. You'll never miss me because I'm not going away, ha.
I'm writing this post while trying to get through to the state home heating bill assistance people. Wish me luck, Mister Sirota, the line's been busy twenty-three times so far.
...to paraphrase the BEST exchange in Napoleon Dynamite, which is the perfect blogger movie, in my opinion:
Whatcha gonna write today, Driftglass?
Whatever I want to GOSH!
On days like today I try to remember that...
On days when the fucking Wapo says ten assholes off the Harvard/Nobel Prize/federal prosecutor/published author boat are better choices than ANY blogger (not one of the finalists had even a blogspot addy) for their pundit contest***...
On days when I find out my video for the Steve Martin contest is automatically disqualified because it advocated a "political viewpoint" -- that puppies want single payer, yeah that old canard -- I try to remember that
...I can write whatever the hellfuck I want to. It's my blog.
It's a bowl of cold comfort,
except I get to share it...
Thank you for being there, for reading, for commenting. You folks are my personal miracle, and for that I am so grateful.
***To avoid having to go back and fix the broken links when Wapo goes out of business, I'm linking to other bloggers who write about the contest instead, a better long-term investment you betcha.
I've been thinking a lot this weekend, in light of the celebration of evil versus good in the whole Halloween/All Saint's Day dichotomy, about what it means to be "good."
A good woman... A good wife/homemaker/mother... A good liberal.
The good woman debate got a bit of a jolt this week with the publication of some racy sexual fantasies over at Double X, a "sex article" site run by Wapo/Newsweek. (Yeah, they're desperate at Wapo, but we knew that.) One African-American woman fantasizes about being degraded, and the other is entitled "We Act Out Rape, Then We Snuggle."
As the church lady would say, "Now isn't that special?"
Of course, the definition of rape includes coerced and non-consensual, so if the two partners want this whatever it is, and both have an equal say in what happens and what doesn't -- it's not rape. I say this fully aware of the horrible gang rape crimes discussed in the news recently.
But there are blog communities that would still have debates about that. I've suffered through many comment threads where ironically, it just doesn't matter what a woman wants because the women at the blog thread "aren't comfortable" with what she is doing and find it threatening/triggering. And that brings me to a related illustration concerning the housework/parenting/spousal goodness that came up this week at another website.
Someone posted an "instant mocha" recipe at a "organize your life" community which I read on occasion. This site deals primarily with home organization but has also branched out into saving money, eating healthy and getting exercise, the whole idea is to take care of yourself and your home because you're worth it, etc.
Anyway some nice lady suggested mixing instant coffee with cocoa mix and dried milk and voila, you never have to go to Starbucks again.
And a commenter chided her for publishing such a calorie-laden high carb prescription AGAINST the organizers of the online community. No, really:
Do [the website organizers] know that [this forum] is promoting this recipe? This recipe is very high in calories (and carbs), and one cup should be considered [our rule book's] "one dessert a week'! Drinking a cup or more of this every day is very likely to add to your weight.
"Nothing says I love you like a cup of something warm and wonderful" Such self-pampering is not blessing your body. It is shortening your life to your detriment and to that of your loved ones.
Stick to water or black coffee.
P.S. Is it your brat or your princess that tells you drinking this is a way to pamper yourself?
Wow. Name calling over calories. You think we on the political side are bad? But now we have the purist liberal "Obama sucks because he didn't give us single payer" commenters at several big liberal blogs. Watch this video, which was apparently made by a conservative to show what liars we on the left are on the public option thing...HA!
You are reading the blog of a unabashed liberal woman who cut her political teeth on Kennedy 80, made videos for Kucinich 08, and wants single payer without apology.
I also watched Reagan get elected in '80. I am not going to freak out at this point because, frankly, I think I can find a way to diss Rahm Emmanuel without electing Mitt Romney. And for now, I'm going to write the history of what happened as "liberals dug in their heels and did not flinch, finally, when told they were asking for too much when they had ALREADY compromised." I hope those who think we've "failed" at this point will not freak out about the carbs in the coffee and the rape that isn't there.
And we really have to let the dust settle on this one, assess where to go next, and fight on for what is right. There's more to do, obviously.
On the surface, Astro Boy is Wall-E without the subtlety.
The city of Seattle (veiled? I don't think so.) is elevated and suspended above the air pollution of the earth below. The result is a two-tiered society of city dwellers served by robots, and surface dwellers living in the garbage dump of the city above them.
Scientists, funded by the military, develop an endless supply of energy harvested from a far off star. It must be stored in two separate conditions: blue energy which restores the environment, brings peace and prosperity, and makes all things new again, and red energy which is military and kills people. The incumbent President running for re-election in this movie loves him some red energy.
I could go on and mention that the President doesn't want a dirty hippie sitting in his oval office (that line is actually in this movie, really) but there is a much more pernicious theme in this film. For all its 'gag me with a pro-Democratic agenda' political correctness, this movie teaches kids that under no circumstances can they trust that the love of a parent will be consistent and unconditional. Dad (Nicholas Cage) made him indestructible and put a blue energy heart in his mechanical body, and then decides the robot can't fill the void left by his dead son, so kicksthe robot-with-the-soul-of-the-boy out of the house so he can work out his own emotional loss. Astroboy's search for someone who will provide him with consistent unconditional love? Well, it kind of happens at the end but then again, he's a frikken robot with the power (and urgent sequel-predicting opportunity) to save the world, so who needs a Dad? And as in many children's movies, especially Disney products but also John Hughes movies, moms are almost completely absent or invisible. Astroboy's surface-dweller gang of friends are parentless, too, except for a robot repairman voiced by Nathan Lane, who we think is going to be the substitute father, but in the end is crazy, abandoning, and destructive.
Sorry to sugarcoat it, but Astroboy is a noisy, non-educational and emotionally damaging piece of crap, and I'm sorry I took my kids to see it.
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Blue Gal, what is with those panties, anyway? Just asking.
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