Because Everyone Should See This

Senator Diane Savino, a state senator from New York, on gay marriage.

Thanks to Fran for calling the video to my attention.

A Sweet, Possibly Apocryphal, Story

From Ruth Gledhill:

The Archbishop of Canterbury has a son who is of school age and who, like any schoolboy and certainly like my own young son, loves nothing more than a good play date.

This boy was apparently round at a friend's house the other day when his dad, Dr Rowan Williams, appeared on the television, as he does.

'Oh look,' piped up the boy's school friend. 'There's that man on the telly who does the hoovering at Pip's house.'

Mitres off to you Jane, you've got your priorities right. I think you might just be deserving of another bottle of Times champagne for this coup in domestic ecclesiastical politics.

Credit due. Archbishop Williams, if you push the Hoover in your house, you deserve applause. You're an example to all husbands. How about a video of your technique? We may learn a more efficient way to do the chore.

Thanks to Lapin for the link.

The President's Plan For Afghanistan

From the transcript of President Obama's address on the war in Afghanistan:

And as Commander-in-Chief, I have determined that it is in our vital national interest to send an additional 30,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan. After 18 months, our troops will begin to come home. These are the resources that we need to seize the initiative, while building the Afghan capacity that can allow for a responsible transition of our forces out of Afghanistan.

With all due respect, I don't buy the president's plan. What will be different in Afghanistan in 18 months? What will we accomplish in that time period, which will include more killing and maiming of Americans and Afghans? That's not to speak of the billions in the costs of the war, billions that could be put to better use than fighting a war we cannot win. The war becomes Obama's war now.

And this from TPM on the mostly ignored, but quite real "giant shadow army of contractors":

Private contractors employed by the Defense Department in Afghanistan will continue to outnumber the size of the American troop presence, even after President Obama sends 30,000 more soldiers to fight in the war, according to the military's most recent contractor count.

The latest figure on DOD contractors in the country is a whopping 104,100, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command tells TPM. That number, which is expected to grow, is already greater than the 98,000 U.S. troops that will be in the country after the new deployments.

The president mentions Pakistan several times during his address, as well he should. According to Seymour Hersh in The New Yorker, the nuclear weapons in Pakistan are much less safe than the leadership in both Pakistan and the US would have us believe. If you're looking for something else to worry about, read Hersh's article. It's long, but worth a read. A couple of paragraphs from the beginning of the article:

In the tumultuous days leading up to the Pakistan Army’s ground offensive in the tribal area of South Waziristan, which began on October 17th, the Pakistani Taliban attacked what should have been some of the country’s best-guarded targets. In the most brazen strike, ten gunmen penetrated the Army’s main headquarters, in Rawalpindi, instigating a twenty-two-hour standoff that left twenty-three dead and the military thoroughly embarrassed. The terrorists had been dressed in Army uniforms. There were also attacks on police installations in Peshawar and Lahore, and, once the offensive began, an Army general was shot dead by gunmen on motorcycles on the streets of Islamabad, the capital. The assassins clearly had advance knowledge of the general’s route, indicating that they had contacts and allies inside the security forces.

Pakistan has been a nuclear power for two decades, and has an estimated eighty to a hundred warheads, scattered in facilities around the country. The success of the latest attacks raised an obvious question: Are the bombs safe? Asked this question the day after the Rawalpindi raid, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, “We have confidence in the Pakistani government and the military’s control over nuclear weapons.” Clinton—whose own visit to Pakistan, two weeks later, would be disrupted by more terrorist bombs—added that, despite the attacks by the Taliban, “we see no evidence that they are going to take over the state.”

Madame Secretary, I hope against hope that you are right.

No, Mr. President, I cannot buy into your plan.

UPDATE: A link to a post by Fred Schwartz at Real Anglicans which I urge you to read. Fred is a Vietnam vet. Fred's father served in WWII, and his son is presently serving in the Gulf of Oman. I quote the final paragraph, but please read the entire post.

Let me end this with where I began. My son is in the Gulf of Oman. He and his friends are professionals, they go where they are told to go, and do what they are told to do. That is the beauty of our military; actually, that is the brilliance of our military. It is up to our civilian government to say where and when and how and for how long. I for one, do not want my son and his friends, pilots and his shipmates, to be there for one more second than needs be. If, we are there for "the long haul" and we will continue a mission that is ill-defined and ill-conceived and we are unwilling to do what we started to do in the first place, then it is time to stop the madness.

Please Pray For Juan

From Margaret:

And the reality of Juan's situation is looming with his first hearing this Thursday. An impossible maze with impossible hurdles. Yet, we are preparing to leap with faith...

Some days are just like that.... impossible. Faith full. Today, after a month of rain, the sun is shining --a respite of sun. And it's not yet that clear, cold, blue-white winter sun --it is still full of warmth. And texture.

Margaret and Joel have taken into their home a young man, Juan, an illegal immigrant, who must attend a hearing tomorrow, Thursday, because he turns 18 years old. Then, on Dec. 7, he will have an immigration hearing at which a decision will be handed down as to whether he will be allowed to stay in the country or taken into custody and eventually deported. Please pray that the seemingly impossible will come to be - that Juan will be permitted to stay in the US.

Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, for ever and ever. Amen.

Ephesians 3:20-21

Sad News - Gay Marriage Blocked

The gay wedding that was to take place yesterday did not.

From Reuters:

A gay Argentine couple and the mayor of Buenos Aires vowed on Tuesday to appeal a last-minute court ruling that blocked plans for Latin America's first legal same-sex marriage.

Alex Freyre, 39, and Jose Maria Di Bello, 41, were granted a marriage license by a city judge two weeks ago. That ruling gave approval for the two men to wed in the capital despite a national policy defining marriage as between a man and a woman.

But a national judge on Monday ordered the suspension of the ceremony, which had been planned for Tuesday, saying that the city judge had no power to make the earlier ruling.

"The wedding's been suspended but we're appealing to the Supreme Court today so we can figure out which court ruling to follow," said Ivan Pavlovsky, a spokesman for Buenos Aires Mayor Mauricio Macri.

I'm so sorry. There's still hope. We await the Supreme Court ruling.

Write It Down!

There was an elderly couple who had been married for ages and ages. He was starting to have problems with his memory, so Mrs. Elderly Couple figured out that if Mr. Elderly Couple wrote things down in his little notebook, there was much less strife in the household.

One evening as they were in bed reading, she said, "I feel a little hungry; I'd love to have a snack!" He said, "Well, what do you want? I'll go in the kitchen and prepare it!" She said, "Well, some ice cream would be nice! Write it down. Also, some chocolate syrup on the ice cream would be wonderful! Write it down." "Anything else?" he asked. "Well, perhaps some whipped cream and toasted almonds! Have you been writing this down?" "I don't need to write this down; I can remember it," he said. She said, "You'd better write it down because you know what happens when you don't." He said, "Ice cream with chocolate syrup, whipped cream and toasted almonds. What's so dang hard about that?" "I still think you should write it down," she said. He wandered off to the kitchen, mumbling, and she returned to her book.

About twenty minutes later he returned carrying a tray with pancakes, scrambled eggs, sausage, butter and maple syrup. "I told you to write it down," she said. "I wanted fried eggs, not scrambled!"

Padre Not-Doug

Padre Mickey sent this joke to me. Does he think I'm old, or something? The Music Director at his church told the joke Sunday during the announcements. The congregation at Padre's church celebrates a festival or has a party with delicious food nearly every Sunday. They tell jokes during the announcements. They have a band playing at their services. I want a church like Padre Mickey's.

And One More Thing...

Are you shocked that I post about condoms? I consider this another public service announcement on World AIDS Day.


Thanks to Ann.

Ugly Weather And More Oysters

Coldish (for us), rain, sometimes driving rain, brief (thank goodness!) near gale force winds - not ideal weather for road travel, but travel we did to the ophthalmologist for a check to see that all was well after my recent cataract surgeries. All is as it should be, thanks be to God.

After the office visit, I heard the oysters calling, and we headed back to Drago's Restaurant. We ordered charbroiled oysters as an appetizer once again. After I tasted the first oyster, I said, "Ummm, this is better than sex." I asked Grandpère, "Do you think these are better than sex?"

He blushed and said, "I don't know. You embarrass me." Now this conversation was strictly entre nous. No one else was within earshot. Why was GP embarrassed? I asked him, but he couldn't say.

We moved on to the the salad and the entrée. Mine was more oysters, this time fried, and GP had Shrimp Herradura, the dish I had last time, except mine was with oysters. Drago's does fried oysters well, too.

My one complaint about the food is that the salad consists mainly of iceberg lettuce, with a few, a very few, tasty salad greens thrown in. Note to chef: ditch the iceberg altogether.

Then it was back home again in the nasty weather, with me tense in the passenger seat, braking with both feet.

Image stolen from Mark's profile. Mark blogs as Oyster at Your Right Hand Thief, and he's not at all good about answering email.

World AIDS Day

Who says the U S federal government can't do anything right? Have a look at the official AIDS website. Watch the video of President Obama and his wife get tested for AIDS in Kenya three years ago, when he was still a senator, and listen to his message for today. Check out the wealth of resources and information in easy-to-understand language on the prevention and treatment of AIDS.

Today is World AIDS Day. Go get tested. Everyone should take the test.

The First Gay Marriage In Latin America

From the Guardian:

Two Argentinians will this week become the first gay couple in Latin America to get married, following a three-year campaign that pitted politician against politician, overturned laws and angered millions of Catholics.

The Beruti register office in the Palermo district of Buenos Aires will never have witnessed a marriage like it. On Tuesday, Alex Freyre and José María Di Bello, who met three years ago at a conference on HIV, will make history and divide a continent as they become Latin America's first gay married couple.

The ceremony will be a tribute to their determination as well as their love for each other, after a bitter three-year campaign which has divided a city, outraged Argentina's powerful Roman Catholic church and overturned the constitution.
....

The most controversial marriage in Argentina's history became possible when a city court judge ruled that it was unconstitutional for civil law to stipulate that a marriage can exist only between a man and a woman. The marriage licence was granted on 16 November. Since then, the couple and their lawyers have come under virulent attack from church leaders, who have warned that the marriage could act as the catalyst for the swift decline of the continent's traditional family values.

The archbishop of Buenos Aires, Jorge Bergoglio, has publicly lashed out at the city's mayor, Mauricio Macri, who decided not to lodge an appeal against the judge's decision to grant the marriage licence. An appeal by the city government against the judge's ruling would, in effect, have overturned the judge's decision and stopped the licence being granted. Bergoglio said that, in failing to act, Macri had "gravely failed" at his task of governing.

I'm sick, sick, sick of hearing from angry people who warn that gay marriage will destroy traditiontal marriage and family values. Straight people, look to your own marriages and family values and begin your work there. Get the planks out or your own eyes before you admonish others about their ways.

"This is just one marriage in one city in Latin America, we are very far away from this right being extended across the country, let alone the continent," said Analia Mariel Mas, the lead lawyer working with the couple.

"Recently, we travelled with a delegation of equality rights campaigners to the north of the country, and had people waving crucifixes at us as if they were seeing Satan in human form. So there needs to be a change to the national legislation to force through changes and uphold our constitutional rights. Change won't happen if we try to do this case by case." (My emphasis)

Waving crosses as if to ward off Satan? Alex and José love each other and want to live together as a married couple, and why shouldn't they? And how does their marriage cause harm to anyone else?

Alex says, "We have people calling us every day saying we are their heroes, people we don't know crying on the phone saying that Tuesday will be the best day of their life.... But we won't want to be heroes, all we wanted to do was get married.

Thanks to Fran for the link.