Friday, December 26, 2008

Thawing, melting

Today is the Twenty-sixth of December. Forget Boxing Day-- Wren Day sounds more fun, and Junkanoo might be even more fun than that.

In 1791, Charles Babbage was born.

In 1893, Mao Tse Tung was born.

In 1921, Steve Allen was born.

In 2004, a tsunami was caused by an earthquake off the coast of Sumatra. Over 200,000 people were killed.

Blood diamonds; blood gadgets. The cost of that convenience may turn out to be the existence of wild gorillas. Doesn't seem worth it, to me.

Thursday, December 25, 2008

So this is christmas

It's the Twenty-fifth of December. Christmas was first celebrated on this day in 354 CE (common era). No, it's not Jesus's birthday.

It is Humphrey Bogart's birthday, though (1899, and note the great portrait by Yousuf Karsh on the Wiki page), as well as that of Rod Serling (1924), Carlos Castaneda (1925), and Jimmy Buffet (1946).

In 1776, Gen. George Washington led his troops across the Delaware River, to win an engagement against Hessian troops.

In 1868, Andrew Jackson granted unconditional pardons to all persons involved in the “southern rebellion.”

Richard Starkey got his first drum kit on this day in 1959.

In 1985, James McDonnel of NYC returned home after 15 years, having been believed dead for at least seven. His fugue started in 1971 after two car accidents: he complained of a headache, went for a walk, and did not return. He found himself in a Philadelphia street, knowing only that his name was James, and took the name 'Peters' off a nearby store sign. On Christmas Eve in 1985 he bumped his head, his memory returned, and he looked up his wife's name in the phone book. She, luckily, was still living in the same house.

In 1991, Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as president of the Soviet Union. The USSR would dissolve the next day.

I hope you enjoy your holiday.

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Night of the Radishes!

Today is the Twenty-third of December. Night of the Radishes!

In 1908, portrait photographer Yousuf Karsh was born. See some of his brilliance here.

In 1980 a Saudi Arabian Tristar flying from Saudi Arabia to Pakistan had a hole blown in it by a retracted wheel exploding, and the sudden decompression sucked out two children, Samina, 10, and Ahmed, six. An immediate search was made for them with no result. Three years later, a Pakistani visiting a small Saudi port met the two children, who had been found floating in the sea by a fisherman who thought they were a gift form God and cared for them. The Saudi authorities were alerted about the children, but the fisherman and his charges had moved on.

Politics and small aircraft mix like oil and water. Maybe more like oil and fire.

Melissa Etheridge meets Rick Warren. Good news. Good readin'! This is still a bit troublesome, but I'm now willing and prepared to listen to his explanation.

Benny the Rat: Church needs money. Keep making babies!
Me: Homosexuality is part of the ecology of man. There are simply too many of us already- the human population on Earth is unsustainable, and homosexuality is a natural, ecological response. We don't reproduce.

I know this sounds foolish, but I had cash to spare right now, I'd consider stock in Ford. Call it a hunch, I dunno, but it's cheap, and my hunch says Ford isn't done yet. I've been right before, you know.

Monday, December 22, 2008

Jesusism and the cult of human sacrifice

Today is the Twenty-second of December. I have returned from my mission. It was an adventure (meaning, I thought I might die. It's not a real Adventure until you think you might not make it through).

On this day in 1849, the execution of Fyodor Dostoevsky was cancelled at the very last second (that would count as an adventure, yes). Some sources suggest that this was a mock execution, designed to scare the proto-revolutionaries, but the Tsar (Nicholas I) was known to be prone to paranoia and autocratic whims.

In 1990, Lech Walesa was sworn in as President of Poland.

Paul Krugman steps up to the plate, to answer my question about the difference between Madoff's crime and the economy at large. Thanks, Professor! (Quick answer: there is no difference. I was right!)

If you're wondering how I feel about Obama's choice of pastors to swear him in to office: yeah, I was a little miffed. Warren is a homophobe, plain and simple. Caring for gay people in order to change them, is homophobic. Caring for gay people because you think you're supposed to care for 'the unfortunate' is not only homophobic, but self-righteous and prideful.

But
...

As the President-Elect has said, America is a country of opinions, and we should be boisterous with them. Warren is entitled to his opinion, however much it might contradict his supposed religious beliefs. Obama is assembling a 'cabinet of rivals,' a group of advisors who openly disagree, not only with Obama but also each other. Why, then, shouldn't he pick a pastor with whom he disagrees on a point or two?

I suppose my problem with it, is that Obama himself doesn't openly support my side in the present civil rights struggle. Mr. President-Elect, what part of "separate but equal" don't you understand here?

To my Christian friends:
best to stop reading here today, unless you're extremely open-minded. Skip to the green stuff at the end. I am not implicating you in anything written below; what follows is a critique of modern, contemporary religiosity, and not your personal beliefs and practices. I do not believe that any of my friends practice or condone human sacrifice. But I do know that contemporary Christian parents have been known to try to kill their children in the name of God. It happens, and this is why.

Christianity is digging its own grave, while money-grubbing and power-hungry charlatans are taking over the pulpit. Rev. Warren: as far as anyone knows, Jesus never said anything about homosexuality. Jesus never said anything about caring for the less fortunate but only if they try to be more like you. In fact, I think he said something like "judge not, lest ye be judged," right? Hmm.

Today's 'christianity' has nothing to do with Jesus except fetishizing his image, which is why I call it 'Christianism,' or 'Jesusism.' Didn't Jesus throw the moneychangers out of the Temple? Didn't Jesus tell you to pray privately? Didn't Jesus preach tolerance and acceptance? Jesus never said "go worship me in a stadium every sunday and fork over the cash." No, he said "do it like I do," which is to say (being Jewish himself): don't work on Saturday, and quietly observe the (Jewish) holy days. Not Christmas, not Easter: Passover, Rosh Hashana. Maybe even Hanukkah. But never his own birth, and certainly not his own death.

How positively ghoulish.

The "God" of the Old Testament is a bloodthirsty monster. The "God" of the New Testament is invisible and has nothing to do with the world as we see it, unless you want to think of Him as the one who orchestrated Jesus's death, in which case he's still vengeful and bloodthirsty, and demanding human sacrifice. We're told to "worship" an image of a man being executed.

Jesus is rolling over in his grave.

All that aside, we have managed to do one good thing with this season, and that's to have turned it into a celebration of charity, the best thing we can do for each other. I hope your winter celebrations are filled with love and warmth and caring and consideration and respect for one another, whatever holiday you choose to celebrate (yes, even Christmas). May the next year be more peaceful and prosperous for us all (to the extent that we can all prosper at once).

Love!

Why is my finger twitching as I aim for the "publish post" button...?