Sunday, February 1, 2009
Am I The Only One...
in the whole USA who is not watching the Superbowl? Check in if you are NOT watching the BIG GAME. Grandpère popped in periodically to give me a play-by-play of the pre-game festivities, and he cannot believe that I'm not watching. Millions of people in the country and around the world have eyes glued to their tee vees, so why not me? I can't think why he's surprised, because I don't remember ever watching. I missed the whole Janet Jackson affaire du teton, but I saw the rerun. If the New Orleans Saints ever make it to the Superbowl, I'll watch.
New Orleans, Katrina Was All Your Fault!
From the AP via USA Today:
Pope Benedict XVI's decision to promote a pastor who called Hurricane Katrina divine punishment for sin in New Orleans was criticized by Austrian priests and church groups on Sunday.
The Vatican announced Saturday that the Pope has tapped the Rev. Gerhard Maria Wagner, 54, to be auxiliary bishop in Linz, the capital of Upper Austria province. Wagner caused a stir in 2005 when he was quoted as saying that he was convinced that the death and destruction of Hurricane Katrina earlier that year was "divine retribution" for tolerance of homosexuals and laid-back sexual attitudes in New Orleans.
There you go, people in New Orleans, you brought Katrina and the federal flood on yourselves with your wicked ways. Nightclubs, brothels, and abortion clinics were destroyed. That proves beyond a doubt the truth of Fr.Wagner's statements, right? Too bad about all the good folks who died, lost their families, their homes, their livelihoods, and their businesses, but retribution is retribution, and sometimes the good must suffer with the bad.
Upper Austrian priest and church dean Franz Wild said he was "appalled" by the decision and that he found it astonishing that someone with such extreme positions could be appointed to a post that was meant to unify.
"I hope it's clear to the church that we're living in the 21st century and that it also has to live there," the newspaper quoted Wild as saying on its website.
....
"The conditions of immorality in this city are indescribable," Wagner was quoted as saying.
I wonder what kind of pure land Fr. Wagner inhabits. If he put his mind to it, I'll wager he could manage a description of the indescribale. People want to know.
I continue to attempt to give Pope Benedict XVI the benefit of the doubt in his policies, but it gets more and more difficult to discover a benign motive behind several of his recent decisions.
Pope Benedict XVI's decision to promote a pastor who called Hurricane Katrina divine punishment for sin in New Orleans was criticized by Austrian priests and church groups on Sunday.
The Vatican announced Saturday that the Pope has tapped the Rev. Gerhard Maria Wagner, 54, to be auxiliary bishop in Linz, the capital of Upper Austria province. Wagner caused a stir in 2005 when he was quoted as saying that he was convinced that the death and destruction of Hurricane Katrina earlier that year was "divine retribution" for tolerance of homosexuals and laid-back sexual attitudes in New Orleans.
There you go, people in New Orleans, you brought Katrina and the federal flood on yourselves with your wicked ways. Nightclubs, brothels, and abortion clinics were destroyed. That proves beyond a doubt the truth of Fr.Wagner's statements, right? Too bad about all the good folks who died, lost their families, their homes, their livelihoods, and their businesses, but retribution is retribution, and sometimes the good must suffer with the bad.
Upper Austrian priest and church dean Franz Wild said he was "appalled" by the decision and that he found it astonishing that someone with such extreme positions could be appointed to a post that was meant to unify.
"I hope it's clear to the church that we're living in the 21st century and that it also has to live there," the newspaper quoted Wild as saying on its website.
....
"The conditions of immorality in this city are indescribable," Wagner was quoted as saying.
I wonder what kind of pure land Fr. Wagner inhabits. If he put his mind to it, I'll wager he could manage a description of the indescribale. People want to know.
I continue to attempt to give Pope Benedict XVI the benefit of the doubt in his policies, but it gets more and more difficult to discover a benign motive behind several of his recent decisions.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Inauguration Pictures
Ann sent me a link to an amazing set of pictures of the inauguration of President Obama from the Boston Globe. President Obama. I love the sound and look of that. I'll type it again. President Obama.
The picture above is my favorite. Schadenfreude? I don't think so. It's a picture rich with significance on many levels.
The pictures show people from the US and from all around the world watching the inauguration.
The picture above is my favorite. Schadenfreude? I don't think so. It's a picture rich with significance on many levels.
The pictures show people from the US and from all around the world watching the inauguration.
We Will See More Of This
Please read the moving post by Elizabeth Kaeton on the unemployed Tom who went to the parish hall of her church, The Episcopal Church of St. Paul, seeking help. Elizabeth's blog is Telling Secrets.
Two members of our blog community, JCF and JimB, who are both currently without employment, left comments to the post. It's a heartbreaking read all around, and we are likely to hear more and more stories like this, and perhaps go through the experience ourselves or, vicariously, with close family members. And then, there is David, who was recently laid off. It will get worse before it gets better.
Two members of our blog community, JCF and JimB, who are both currently without employment, left comments to the post. It's a heartbreaking read all around, and we are likely to hear more and more stories like this, and perhaps go through the experience ourselves or, vicariously, with close family members. And then, there is David, who was recently laid off. It will get worse before it gets better.
They Made MR-GO; Now They'll Unmake It
From the Times-Picayune:
The closing will end 45 years of navigation on the 60-mile shipping channel that provided a shortcut from New Orleans to the Gulf of Mexico. Although the corps contended that the channel, completed in the 1960s, had minimal impact on Hurricane Katrina's storm surge, MR-GO took the brunt of criticism for the massive flooding in St. Bernard Parish and part of New Orleans during the 2005 storm.
Environmentalists also have blamed it for killing off thousands of acres of cypress wetlands and marsh, vital to helping the area absorb the pounding of hurricanes.
....
The corps has been working with state and federal agencies to devise a supplement to the MR-GO closing plan to address restoration of areas affected by the shipping channel. The plan could include marsh creation, barrier island building, shoreline protection and freshwater diversions from the Mississippi River.
This is good news, one step in the right direction, but's only the beginning of a vast amount of work that needs to be done to restore the marshes and coastal areas of Louisiana. The people spoke out long and loud, and the Corps responded - finally.
The closing will end 45 years of navigation on the 60-mile shipping channel that provided a shortcut from New Orleans to the Gulf of Mexico. Although the corps contended that the channel, completed in the 1960s, had minimal impact on Hurricane Katrina's storm surge, MR-GO took the brunt of criticism for the massive flooding in St. Bernard Parish and part of New Orleans during the 2005 storm.
Environmentalists also have blamed it for killing off thousands of acres of cypress wetlands and marsh, vital to helping the area absorb the pounding of hurricanes.
....
The corps has been working with state and federal agencies to devise a supplement to the MR-GO closing plan to address restoration of areas affected by the shipping channel. The plan could include marsh creation, barrier island building, shoreline protection and freshwater diversions from the Mississippi River.
This is good news, one step in the right direction, but's only the beginning of a vast amount of work that needs to be done to restore the marshes and coastal areas of Louisiana. The people spoke out long and loud, and the Corps responded - finally.
Meet Crapaud
I'd like to introduce y'all to a new Louisiana blogger, Crapaud. Now how Louisiana is that name? His recent post on the new "Man of Steele" chairman of the Republican Party, Lawn Jockey Alert, is wise and funny. He can say stuff He quotes The Field Negro, who says stuff that I can't say, because I'm the wrong color, and it would not be PC. The title of his new blog is Times a'Changin'. Check it out.
UPDATE: I figured Crapaud all wrong, but I corrected the post as well as I could, while still showing that I made a big faux pas. All I had to do to get it right was to read Crapaud's post with a little more care. Let me say that I was proud to have what I thought was my first known black fan. But, hey! I should know that I'm not that cool. Crapaud, that don't mean that I don't like you, too, because I do. I have an idea. In solidarity with our new president, how 'bout we say, "We are all black now!"?
And you should read The Field Negro, too. He's a force!
UPDATE: Crapaud has apologized beautifully for MY mistake in misreading his post. That's Louisiana gallantry at its best. In addition, he provides us with the response of our own Louisiana man, David Duke, to the election of Michael Steele as chairman of the Republican National Committee, true pearls of wisdom from our very own Klansman.
But, Crapaud, surely you're too harsh on yourself.
UPDATE: I figured Crapaud all wrong, but I corrected the post as well as I could, while still showing that I made a big faux pas. All I had to do to get it right was to read Crapaud's post with a little more care. Let me say that I was proud to have what I thought was my first known black fan. But, hey! I should know that I'm not that cool. Crapaud, that don't mean that I don't like you, too, because I do. I have an idea. In solidarity with our new president, how 'bout we say, "We are all black now!"?
And you should read The Field Negro, too. He's a force!
UPDATE: Crapaud has apologized beautifully for MY mistake in misreading his post. That's Louisiana gallantry at its best. In addition, he provides us with the response of our own Louisiana man, David Duke, to the election of Michael Steele as chairman of the Republican National Committee, true pearls of wisdom from our very own Klansman.
But, Crapaud, surely you're too harsh on yourself.
"I Cried Today" - IT
From IT in the comments at The Friends of Jake:
IT said...
I cried today. Stupid. I was at my dentist's (he's a friend and came to our wedding) and he cheerfully said, "How's married life treating you?" and I replied, waaay too seriously, "good for as long as it lasts," and then he wanted to know about the court case, and if we'd heard whether our marriage would last, and when we would KNOW, and how we are doing, etc etc and I had to go through it all again.
I walked out to the car afterwards and got in and cried tears of anger and frustration--not at my dear dentist, but at feeling I'm living betwixt and between, unresolved, at being A Thing whose fate is decided by courts and how the PropH8 people took my euphoric feeling that finally I was a Real Married Person with a real place in society, like everyone else, and they threw me back into the gutter and kicked me back into being an unwanted outsider.
And then I dried my eyes and went to work and tried, yet again, to get past it.
I don't know what to say, except to note that the marriages of 18,000 couples, 36,000 human beings, may be annulled by the passage of Prop 8 in California.
H/T to Arkansas Hillbilly, who posted these poignant words, too, and followed them with lovely commentary.
IT said...
I cried today. Stupid. I was at my dentist's (he's a friend and came to our wedding) and he cheerfully said, "How's married life treating you?" and I replied, waaay too seriously, "good for as long as it lasts," and then he wanted to know about the court case, and if we'd heard whether our marriage would last, and when we would KNOW, and how we are doing, etc etc and I had to go through it all again.
I walked out to the car afterwards and got in and cried tears of anger and frustration--not at my dear dentist, but at feeling I'm living betwixt and between, unresolved, at being A Thing whose fate is decided by courts and how the PropH8 people took my euphoric feeling that finally I was a Real Married Person with a real place in society, like everyone else, and they threw me back into the gutter and kicked me back into being an unwanted outsider.
And then I dried my eyes and went to work and tried, yet again, to get past it.
I don't know what to say, except to note that the marriages of 18,000 couples, 36,000 human beings, may be annulled by the passage of Prop 8 in California.
H/T to Arkansas Hillbilly, who posted these poignant words, too, and followed them with lovely commentary.
Berani, The Orangutan, Escapes In The Zoo
From the Times-Picayune:
Using only a stretched green T-shirt and powerful upper-body strength, a Sumatran orangutan named Berani escaped from his Audubon Zoo enclosure Friday -- for about 10 minutes.
Employing a level of cunning that could have come from a prison movie, the brownish-orange primate stretched the shirt, scaled a 10 1/2-foot wall to the top of the moat, wrapped the shirt around the "hot" electrical wires surrounding the exhibit and swung out about 12:45 p.m., zoo spokeswoman Sarah Burnette said.
That's Berani the Coy in the picture. He's a clever one, isn't he? If he could talk, we'd know just how clever.
The sight of a primate mixing on the grounds with zoo patrons did cause a mild stir.
"There was a group of people standing there," Burnette said, "and they kind of pointed, and there was Berani, standing in the middle of the boardwalk. He kind of lingered there for no more than 10 minutes and catapulted himself back into his exhibit."
The zoo staff gave the orangutans t-shirts to play with every day, but now, no more t-shirts! Berani escaped from his enclosure, and then he got back in. T-shirts or not, he may repeat the the exercise. What now? A higher fence? I think there's a message here.
Friday, January 30, 2009
"To Be Six Again"
A man was sitting on the edge of the bed, observing his wife, looking at herself in the mirror. Since her birthday was not far off he asked what she'd like to have for her Birthday.
'I'd like to be six again', she replied, still looking in the mirror.
On the morning of her birthday, he arose early, made her a nice big bowl of Lucky Charms, and then took her to Six Flags theme park. What a day!
He put her on every ride in the park; the Death Slide, the Wall of Fear, the Screaming Monster Roller Coaster, everything there.
Five hours later they staggered out of the theme park. Her head was reeling and her stomach felt upside down.
He then took her to a McDonald's where he ordered her a Happy Meal with extra fries and a chocolate shake.
Then it was off to a movie, popcorn, a soda pop, and her favorite candy, M&M's. What a fabulous adventure! Finally she wobbled home with her husband and collapsed into bed exhausted. He leaned over his wife with a big smile and lovingly asked, 'Well Dear, what was it like being six again??'
Her eyes slowly opened and her expression suddenly changed. 'I meant my dress size, you dumb ass!'
The moral of the story:
Even when a man is listening, he's gonna get it wrong.
Don't blame me. Blame naughty Doug.
'I'd like to be six again', she replied, still looking in the mirror.
On the morning of her birthday, he arose early, made her a nice big bowl of Lucky Charms, and then took her to Six Flags theme park. What a day!
He put her on every ride in the park; the Death Slide, the Wall of Fear, the Screaming Monster Roller Coaster, everything there.
Five hours later they staggered out of the theme park. Her head was reeling and her stomach felt upside down.
He then took her to a McDonald's where he ordered her a Happy Meal with extra fries and a chocolate shake.
Then it was off to a movie, popcorn, a soda pop, and her favorite candy, M&M's. What a fabulous adventure! Finally she wobbled home with her husband and collapsed into bed exhausted. He leaned over his wife with a big smile and lovingly asked, 'Well Dear, what was it like being six again??'
Her eyes slowly opened and her expression suddenly changed. 'I meant my dress size, you dumb ass!'
The moral of the story:
Even when a man is listening, he's gonna get it wrong.
Don't blame me. Blame naughty Doug.
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