OK Schoolgirl Accused of Witchcraft

A schoolgirl in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma is accused of being a witch.

he ACLU is suing Union Public School Independent District No. 9 of Oklahoma. The reason is bizarre: administrators at the school have harrassed and violated the civil rights of a young woman named Brandi Blackbear because - and I'm a bit ashamed to admit this can go on in my country - they accused her of witchcraft. They say she used a magic spell to make one of her teachers sick. In retaliation, she has been subjected to searches and public humiliation, and the school has banned the wearing of non-Christian paraphernalia.

One of her accusers, a vice principal, is named Mr. Bushyhead.

A desert of ignorance in the heartland.

- Pharyngula | Going back to our Puritan roots
- More at Myspace | Brandi Blackbear - high school student suspended after being accused of casting a magic spell on a teacher

GOP Fiddles While Rome Burns

Tueday's headlines announced 60,000 jobs lost in a SINGLE day. 60,000 people out of work. That number also represents all who depend on them - the husbands and wives, sons and daughters, and aging parents.

The numbers are fed to us in an aseptic fashion, as raw numbers, curiosities. We still have no collective consciousness of what these numbers represent - people who may not be able to pay for their rent or mortgage, their utilities, their groceries.

How did the Republicans - who got us all into this mess - respond? Not a one voted for Obama's stimulus package, even after he stripped out infrastructure projects and contraceptives (let them eat children) and added tax cuts.

Tax cuts are for people who pay taxes. If you don't have an income you're not taxed. Anyone who has an income is hanging onto every penny against the possibility that their income disappears.

While Americans starve the Republicans congratulate themselves with a "we showed them" camaraderie.

Tony Perkins, at Family Research Council wrote yesterday.

Although the legislation passed this evening 244-188, the GOP did set in motion a new era of opposition, voting unanimously against a bill that would take government into the final frontiers of universal health care and federalized education. In the face of the most popular incoming President since JFK, Republicans stood together in statement of solidarity...

Government - for the people. God forbid!

I've lost my objectivity. Republicans are greedy, thieving bastards and it will warm my heart to see one or more of them donning an orange jumpsuit.

- The Exiled | Tips for New Paupers

Another of Ted Haggard's Victims

Ted Haggard should be in prison.

Thanks, Jesus General

Get Busy, White People, or You'll Disappear

Put white people on the endangered species list. Just like the (more photogenic) polar bear we white people are in danger of vanishing. So claims Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council in an article titled
Stimulus: Promoting Birth Control, Not Self-Control. Tony warns us ominously of a coming "demographic winter." But he's not really worried about all the pretty little babies. See if you can pick out his real plans.

Although America's birth rate isn't plunging like that of European countries, it has slowed. The reason we don't find ourselves in a "demographic winter" is largely because of the fertility rates of our immigrants, many of whom come from cultures that value life. Overall, the U.S. is hovering at its replacement level, which is hardly enough to finance the Baby Boomers' retirement.

Yeah! Perkins wants us to have lots of kids to shore up our ailing retirement system. But what Tony is suggesting is a ponzi scheme, where the people who got there first, the baby boomers, take money from the people who got there later. What about this vast crowd of new children that support us? They'll just have to have lots more children to support them, and on and on.

We need to overhaul the way we live and address poverty in all age groups head on. It has more to do with rich siphoning money out of the system than it does in a dearth of children. But it sounds nicer to blame it on the poor. When you blame it on the rich, you're dangerously close to talking class warfare.

- Family Research Council |
Stimulus: Promoting Birth Control, Not Self-Control

Did You Mean CRUTCH?

Three pages of news articles on various "chruches".

Fire Your Graphic Designer

Okay, I'll explain the joke. The tree is Bush's Pro-Life Policy and the logger is the Obama Administration cutting it down.

Oh, you DID get it?

Tony Perkins, of the Family Research Council, in a news release titled "24 Hours -- A World of Difference," complains that "the new President has already set to work undoing years of pro-life and pro-family policy."

Maybe it's petty to diss their graphic design abilities, but check this, much better, wordless editorial.




It's from Thomas Fuchs and Felix Sockwell's 'Deconstructing Dumbo' over at BoingBoing.net.

Clueless Blonde Fox Commentator

Oops.

More Chocolate Jesus

Yep, up on the top, those are chocoate dieties - Jesus and Ganesh, plus some regular Joe named Buddha.

Lynda Stern creates chocolate figurines of these, and the Virgin of Guadalupe, all coated with edible gold leaf.

Now you can break the first or second commandment (depending on the version) and EAT the evidence.

She also sells bon bons "infused with spirits." That happens to me sometimes, too.

- Lynda Stern's | Bond Street Chocolate

You GO, AMERICA!

He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.
Psalm 126:6

Welcome, Barack, Michelle, Malia and Sasha!

La Figa - Check it Out!

La Figa, produced by the gorgeous and enormously talented Lisa Derrick, is one of those blogs that is so good it makes you want to just hang it all up.

My Garage Social

Yesterday, in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday and Tuesday's inauguration, I held my first Garage Social. It's like a garage sale, but you don't have to sell anything - I didn't. I set up a coffee table and chairs, in the space in front of my garage, and met my neighbors. I served Meyers Dark Rum brownies and Meyer lemon squares, which were both a big hit. I had extra lemons, so let the neighbors take those, too.

One of my neighbors went home to get dog biscuits for the passers by with pooches, of which there were many. It was fun. We all got to know each other better. I gathered everyone's email addresses so I can let them know when we have another one, maybe the second Sunday of each month.

I like the idea of a day of service, but wanted something more personal than the things I found offered online at Change.gov. I didn't take any pictures this time, because I didn't want to distract from just meeting people.

There are so many directions in which the Garage Social could evolve. To me it seems there are few things in our current culture as subversive as walking up to a stranger, smiling, and introducing yourself.

Abortion Doughnuts

Judie Brown, is reaching for a reason to be outraged, and has chosen selected Krispie Kreme Doughnuts. The company has a new promotion that tosses around the word "choice" which she feels is a secret code abortion.

From the Krispy Kreme press release:

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc. (NYSE: KKD) is honoring American's sense of pride and freedom of choice on Inauguration Day, by offering a free doughnut of choice to every customer on this historic day, Jan. 20. By doing so, participating Krispy Kreme stores nationwide are making an oath to tasty goodies -- just another reminder of how oh-so-sweet "free" can be.

Judie Brown raises a sinister spectre.

The unfortunate reality of a post Roe v. Wade America is that "choice" is synonymous with abortion access and celebration of 'freedom of choice' is a tacit endorsement of abortion rights on demand.

Oh, Judie, if you're not careful you're going to pull a hammie.

- American Life League | Krispy Kreme Celebrates Obama With Pro-Abortion Doughnuts
Thanks, Joe.My.God.

Abstinence Clown - Your Tax Dollars at Work

Well, I sure as hell wouldn't have sex with him, not in 6,000 years.

- Pam's House Blend | Your tax dollars at work: clown teaches abstinence-only ed in Ohio middle schools

Tony Perkins | WTF?

We get it. Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council doesn't like Eric Holder. He said as much in his oh so cleverly titled post To Have and to Holder. But to do so he had to butcher a quote from an unnamed source (Junior Scholastic?) to associate Holder with corruption.

During his stint in the Clinton administration, Holder issued a series of questionable pardons, testified in support of "hate crimes," tried to restrict the Second Amendment, and couldn't shake what one magazine called "a record as a lackluster local U.S. attorney, [in which he] sat on ...corruption."

So Perkins is saying Holder "sat on... corruption"? Is that so wrong? Maybe he was trying to keep it down by sitting on it. Oh, if we only had the real quote.

Christian Gary Cass Tips His Racist Hand

Rev. Dr. (Theology) Gary Cass is vexed that President elect Obama has chosen openly gay Episcopal bishop Gene Robinson (pictured left) to offer a prayer at his inaugeration. Cass is warning, Don't let your children watch!

Now, I have to admit that I got my panties in a twist when I heard that openly homo-hating Pastor Rick Warren, author of the bestselling Purpose Driven Life, was slated by Obama to offer the inaugural invocation. But Obama is a smart guy and it was pointed out to me by cooler heads that by accepting Obama's invitation Warren and his hateful ideas were exposed to the full light of day. Warren, knowing exactly what side his bread is buttered on, HAS backed down somewhat, removing from his website a statement disallowing gays from membership in his church. Warren has even praised Obama's decision to include Robinson in the inauguration - an act that is pure garlic to the true Christians Rev. Dr. Gary Cass represents.

Robinson did not have to compromise his perverted principles to get invited, but Warren felt compelled to issue a statement praising Obama for selecting Robinson.

Robinson does not have a lucrative franchise with the U.S. Government, as does Warren, so could maintain his integrity. According to Warren's website,

Military personnel serving in every corner of the globe are finding similar hope and purpose through The Purpose Driven Life. Thanks to generous people like you, more than 310,000 men and women in uniform have discovered their Creator's purpose for them. With your help, we'd like to see every service person receive a copy of the book.

Warren's book is central to the Air Force's presentation, A New Approach To Suicide Prevention: Developing Purpose-Driven Airmen. I doubt the Air Force references Warren's material free of charge.

In an I-know-you-are-but-what-am-I? tone, Rev. Dr. Gary Cass calls Obama's inaugeration The Flamboyant Homosexual Inaugural, and suggests Obama should be called the President of Sodomy & Compromise.

Cass cynically patterns his organization after the ALD, the Anti-Defamation League, which seeks "to stop the defamation of the Jewish people... to secure justice and fair treatment to all." Unfortunately the name Christian Anti-Defamation LEAGUE was already taken by Cass's mentor and Christian Anti-Defamation COMMISSION co-founder William S. Hollis.

Though from the San Diego, CA area, Cass cut his teeth with Dr. D. James Kennedy of Coral Ridge Ministries in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, near Miami. I mention this because I believe that white Christian ministries such as the CADC have their roots in the White Citizens' Councils of the South, which were a sort of "thinking man's" Ku Klux Klan. Remember, it was not only the blacks that were the targets of these groups. They also rallied against other people of color, Jews, Catholics, organized labor and anyone who sympathized with any of these, which included many whites. Bayard Rustin wrote in "New South...Old Politics," in 1956,

The forces behind the Councils have thrived by keeping white workers poor and Negro workers poorer, and, as in the past, their prime device against any strong union of laborers is to fan the flames of religious and racial intolerance.

Organizations like the CADC are careful to not appear overtly racist, limiting their strongest disapprobation for women and gays and those who love them. But they cannot help but tip their hand, as noted in the end of Cass's post,

Obama ought to have a stripper lead off the inaugural parade followed by the Hell's Angel's (sic) Motorcycle Drill Team followed by the Crips Precision Handgun Corp. and the Transvestite Fashion Police.

Rev. Dr. Gary Cass caters to the worst stereotypes: women are strippers, blacks are criminals, and gays are only concerned with fashion.

Oh, and BTW, Rev. Dr. Gary Cass would still like you rent his home.

- Christian Anti-Defamation Commission | Inaugural Warning: P for Perverse
- WhiteHouse.gov | Rick Warren's connections with the White House

Christian, Like the Taliban, Wants Buddha Gone

Bamiyan Buddha destroyed by the Taliban.

David Engle was shocked, I tells you, SHOCKED, when he saw visitors at the Kansas City Zoo "...rubbing the heads and bellies of two large, smiling statues of Buddha at the entrance to the Tiger Trail area."

Then he started whining about nativity scenes and crosses on public property, idolotry, and his "infuriated" God. He complained to the zoo managament who promised to "...discuss it with our board leadership."

It's a small point lost on Engle, but Buddhists don't worship the Buddha.

- flickr | See 2 Satan worshippers molest statue

Sin | New and Improved!

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia there exists a panoply of sin. First, of course, there is original sin, which you inherit from Adam and Eve. Bad baby, bad!

Then there are sins of commission and omission, with the excuses "I didn't do it," and "I didn't do anything," respectively.

Sins are also divided in terms of malice: sins of ignorance, passion or infirmity, and malice, and then again according to sins of thought, word, or deed.

Finally, sins are categorized according to their gravity, and until now these were mortal and venial sins. One or both of these leave a stain on the soul that needs to be removed by penance. (Sorry, my eyes are starting to glaze over, sorting out this stuff.)

The seven deadly sin, or capital vices, according to Saint Thomas, are those that incite desire and provide a pleasurable, though limited, result. These are greed, lust, envy, gluttony, anger, sloth, and vanity.

As if this were not all confusing enough, the Pope has come up with one more category of sin - Ultimate Sin, a platinum line, if you will.

Betcha can't guess the first one. Yep!

1. Abortion
   


2. Using the Eucharistic host in Satanic rites
   


3. Clergy pedophile offences
   


4. Violation of the confessional
   


5. Offences against the person of the Pope

These sins are SO deadly that they'll "require forgiveness from the Pope himself."

Call me paranoid, but it looks like, rather than a new category of sin, the Vatican has set up a situation where they can compile lists of people for their own benefit - whatever that might be.

Help Thou Mine Unbelief

Sometimes I think I'm not a very good atheist, and then something will happen that solidifies the ground under my feet. (A spiritual person would probably describe that as having their faith shaken.)

The other morning I was lying abed, clinging to the warmth of the blankets while trolling through commercial free movie channels. I found the movie Resurrection, starring Ellen Burstyn and Sam Shepard. It was released in 1980, when I was but a blushing 24 years old.

Ellen Burstyn played a faith healer, the real deal, with no particular spiritual affiliation. In fact, her boyfriend, played by Sam Shepard, demanded that she claim Christ as the source of her healing powers and she refused. Conflict.

It's actually a very bad movie, shot in a movie-of-the-week style, with a saccharine script, and overly sentimental - puppies, and kids with cancer on their last trip to Disneyland, that kind of thing.

But at the time I LOVED this movie and the only explanation at which I could arrive is that, at that time, I really wanted to believe. Sometimes I still do, but I can find no sustainable evidence to believe in the supernatural.

Now I'm bordering on NOT wanting to believe because supernatural interference in the physical world would create untenable chaos. If the laws of physics were bent based on prayer or other worldly intervention what would be the motive to love, to work, to cherish, to care? If we could not predict outcomes based on our behaviors and the behavior of the physical world we would become paralyzed.

It happened with Bush and Cheney: creating, living in, and imposing an alternate reality that had little to do with truth. Look how that paralyzed the world, and the damage that has done. We're just a few days away from a chance to live in truth. Why would I pray for anything else?

And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.
Mark 9:24 KJV

Sacha's Black Jesus

Sacha Baron Cohen's new movie about his character Bruno, a gay Austrian fashionista, will feature a black Jesus in a loin cloth. Oh, Sacha. You go, girl.

- Telegraph.co.uk | Sacha Baron Cohen's black Jesus to shock America

White Night Riots

Yesterday my 13-year-old son and I went to see the movie Milk, about assassinated San Francisco supervisor Harvey Milk.

I moved to San Francisco from Boise, Idaho on October 11, 1978. I'd been run out of Reno the night before for dancing with a girl. I'm not gay, but where I came from in Idaho you could dance with anyone you wanted.

I'd been in San Francisco a little over a month when Harvey Milk was killed. I was 21 and was waiting in line at a bank in Noe Valley when a woman rushed in and cried, They've killed the mayor!

Everyone gasped. No one knew what was going on. It hadn't been a week since all those people had been killed in Guyana. Many, if not most, of the dead were from San Francisco. It felt like the world was coming apart.

The movie was a disappointment. There was so little rage expressed. Just before the credit roll there was text mentioning the White Night riot, as if it was a single event. It went on for three nights, and it was not at all like the peaceful candlelight vigil that ends the movie. I remember rows of burning police cars.

I've been reading about the Ludlow Massacre, the Watts riots, and the L.A. riots, and am beginning to see these events, and all the others like them, not as isolated incidents constrained to ghettos of individualized peoples - mine workers, Chicanos, blacks, women, gays - but as an expression of Americans fighting for their lives, which IS fighting for democracy.

It's hard to find a toehold in this stream of history. There are so many people who need help. Where do you go? What do you do? I do what I can, but it seems so little. After eight years of political languish I need much, much more.

Always Wear a Motorcycle Helmet

Even when you're not on a motorcycle, apparently.

Thanks, Chris.

Get Rich Quick... Eventually!

How to Profit From the Coming Rapture: Getting Ahead When You're Left Behind, by Steve and Evie Levy, if those ARE their real names, promises to be rollicking good fun.

From the product description:

Are the end times near? Is the Rapture really just around the corner? Could Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson possibly be right? About 1 billion people among us believe, yes, absolutely.

And that means one thing: investment opportunities!

Thanks, J-Walk Blog

Want to Smell Like the Pope?

Then visit ThePopesCologne.com

Private Formula PopePius IX - "...aristocratic, Old World cologne with surprising freshness..."

You can get a free sample for $4.50.

Adding to the Pomp...

Tee. Hee.

Thanks, Cyncial-C.

Sick Again

Damn, I'm down with the flu again - roused only momentarily from my Nyquil-induced delerium on Thursday night to notice the gunfire that heralds the turn of the new year in Los Angeles.

I predict I'll be in bed for days playing with the DS-Lite, and reading Sookie Stackhouse, Derren Brown, Cornell West and Eldridge Cleaver.

Not blogging. =(