Blasphemy Day

Happy International Blasphemy Day!!

Can you imagine getting jailed (or worse) for mocking Santa Claus? That’s how Atheists feel about people being punished for insulting someone else’s imaginary friend. Even if some version of god is real, the very concept of blasphemy is stupid. Why would an omnipotent, omniscient being need anyone to protect him from being insulted? Talk about a victimless crime.

Remember, it’s NOT blasphemy if the subject isn’t actually a deity.

So, here’s my contribution.

Knock Knock.
Who’s there?
Boing . . . Boing.
Boing boing who?
It’s me, Jesus H. Christ on a pogo stick!

Knock Knock.
Who’s there?
Boing . . . Boing.
Boing boing who?
It’s me you infidel, Mohammed on a pogo stick!

Knock Knock.
Who’s there?
Mithras.
Mithras who?
Mithras, the privileged pagan inspirer of medieval Christian iconography. Have you seen Jesus and Mohammed? I think those two bastards stole my pogo sticks.

Thank you. Thank you very much.

Coffee

For my history of coffee drinking, click here.

As I arrive at work, I am already anticipating my morning coffee. It really does get me going.

I mean, if I can’t take my coffee break, something within me dies. It lies down, and something within me dies.

I don’t care if my office light is fluorescent. And my chair needn’t be foam rubber. But if I can’t take my coffee break, gone is the sense of enterprise. Somehow, the soul no longer tries. Somewhere, I don’t metabolize.

It’s all gone, and something within me dies.

We're # 1! We're # 1! Except we're not.

Just as lying to oneself does one no good, neither do we help our nation when we lie to ourselves about our problems. The only way we can defeat our challenges is to face them in reality, not some irrational haze of false patriotism with hands over our ears shouting "We're number one!"

In health care, we are most indisputably, not number one.

The Conference Board, which has been issuing the report card since 1996, ranked the 16 countries according to 11 criteria, including life expectancy, mortality due to cancer, circulatory diseases, respiratory diseases, metal disorders, as well as infant mortality and self-reported health status.

Japan was once again the top-ranking country. Switzerland, Italy, and Norway also earned "A" grades.

"B" grades were given to Sweden, France, Finland, Germany, Australia and Canada, while Netherlands, Austria and Ireland earned a "C" grade, the report showed.

Along with the United States, Denmark and the United Kingdom got "D" grades.

That's the reality. To fix it we need to take a rational, hard look at the problem and make some tough choices. In my mind, that means offering low cost health insurance to those who cannot afford it now. Because when we don't offer that safety net, we all pay through bankrupt neighbors, higher emergency health care costs, more social services, foreclosures. Helping to take care of those less fortunate is also a moral imperative and one that shouldn't be beyond "the greatest nation on Earth."

If we are the greatest, then we need to prove it by taking care of our own people.

Hiccup Help

The Washington Post publishes a daily free mini-paper called the Express which they distribute at Metro stations in the morning.  It’s nice to get a free paper and it’s just the right length for the commute.

They publish a weekly insert that deals with health issues and though it sometimes goes off the woo woo end, by featuring ear candling of all things, it also sometimes prints good advice.  This morning there was a suggestion for a technique to defeat hiccups that sounds like it just might work.

  “Take the deepest breath you can, hold it for 10 seconds, then, without exhaling, suck in more air and hold it for five more seconds. Finally – still without exhaling – breathe in as much more air as you can squeeze in, hold for another five seconds, and exhale.  Then breathe normally.”

This technique is supposed to immobilize the diaphragm and prevent the spasms.

Give it a try and let us know if it works.

 

Amazing Race 15

The Amazing Race 15 premiered tonight and the show is really starting to piss me off.

First, they took an ill-advised page from Survivor. The race started with an extra team, then they held an instant elimination challenge and eliminated one team before they had left the starting area. It was gimmicky, unnecessary and came across as mean-spirited. These people submit their applications, get selected for the show and then are out before they get to travel anywhere. Bah!

Second, and maybe even more important, the frakking show still ISN'T IN HIGH DEFINITION!!!

This show is crying out for the high-def treatment. Survivor went HD some time ago and it's glorious. The Amazing Race travels around the world, showcasing amazing places, but in totally outdated, crappy standard definition. What the heck?!? It's almost enough to get me to bail on the show.

Get it together Amazing Race.

Follow up to New York trip

While I posted from New York City on our recent trip, I never followed up to cover the last couple of days. So, I thought I'd hit some of the highlights.

On Monday, August 10, our big event of the day was the visit to NYU. Rachel wanted to check out the campus (college is only three years away) so we signed up for a college tour. Arriving at the place by means of the subway, we met in a group of over 100 parents and kids. We heard a presentation and then broke up into groups to tour various buildings, all close by. NYU certainly has a vibrant urban campus, very reminiscent (although much more compact) than my alma mater, Boston University.

Afterwards, we were in Greenwich Village and wanted to eat! I couldn't find much via Blackberry but our wandering brought us to La Palapa, a Mexican restaurant in the West Village. Going in to check it out, the restaurant was empty (admittedly it was late for lunch). Since I HATE eating in empty restaurants, this gave us pause, but the menu looked good so we stayed. Good choice. We had one of the best meals of the trip and the service was excellent. We'd go back in a minute.

That night, after refreshing at the hotel, we saw our first Broadway show, Phantom of the Opera. I was amazed at how small the theatre was and surprised to find out later that the show has been in the same small theatre for its entire 20+ year run. Wow. The show itself was fabulous and the music just great. For a first Broadway experience, it was a good one. Ben enjoyed it because of all the killing.

The next morning was our biggest excursion of the vacation as we traveled over to New Jersey to take the ferry to Ellis and Liberty Islands. The trip to the ferry involved no less than three different trains but we had no trouble. Ellis Island was interesting, although I think much moreso for adults than kids despite efforts to make it accessible, and very crowded. The ferry system worked well conveying the crowds, though, which improved the situation.

Liberty Island was very cool. The weather was just brilliant, really setting off the beauty of the harbor, the city and the ginormous statue. While waiting in line for our turn to enter the pedestal, we discovered how important it is to do your research in advance. We saw several groups attempt to get in line only to discover that they couldn't go up into the pedestal or statue without advance tickets. I mean, really, shouldn't you do just a little research before visiting such a famous monument? The fact that others were denied the experience just enhanced our enjoyment of course!

The pedestal contains a museum and then you get to walk up to the base of the statue. We didn't get the tickets to go up into the statue itself but at the top level of the pedestal is a transparent ceiling allowing you to see all the way up through the inside of the statue. That was unexpected and cool.

We took the ferry back to NYC where we walked to Ground Zero and saw that construction is visible but still unimaginably preliminary eight years later. (I actually visited the Twin Towers in the mid-eighties and went into the observation deck in the North Tower.) We checked out Wall Street, the site of so much recent fun for the world, and then headed back to the hotel.

We wanted to see another Broadway show but didn't want to pay full price so we bought same-day half price tickets for Mary Poppins. The show was fun but not as good as Phantom (duh). What cracked me up was the attempt to "up the conflict". In the original Disney movie, there is no villain; Mary Poppins is in total control at all times. But that doesn't make a compelling show.

So, during the musical, the children have a falling out with MP and she leaves the family. To replace her comes their father's old nanny who is clearly evil and dishes out discipline through her malignant bottle of cod liver oil! Oh, the horror! When MP inevitably comes back, the stage is set for an all out battle between a woman with supernatural powers, including telekinesis and the ability to transport people to supernatural realms, and a woman with a bottle of bad-tasting medicine and a spoon! Can you guess who won?

Ben didn't like Mary Poppins as much because no one was killed.

The next morning, we packed up and caught our train back to Maryland. We had a remarkably busy (thanks to Carol), well-planned and fun trip (also thanks to Carol).

To close, here's my upskirt shot of the Statue of Liberty. Enjoy.

Another "Czar" under attack

In their ongoing campaign to destroy the Obama administration by picking off individual staffers, FOX News has some alarming information about Obama's "Safe Schools Czar".

President Obama's "safe schools czar" is a former schoolteacher who has advocated promoting homosexuality in schools, written about his past drug abuse, expressed his contempt for religion and detailed an incident in which he did not report an underage student who told him he was having sex with older men.

Wow! Those sound serious so let's take a closer look.

Jennings was appointed to the position largely because of his longtime record of working to end bullying and discrimination in schools. In 1990, as a teacher in Massachusetts, he founded the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), which now has over 40 chapters at schools nationwide. He has also published six books on gay rights and education, including one that describes his own experiences as a closeted gay student.

He sounds qualified to me. Actually, it sounds like he probably has extensive experience in understanding the causes and effects of bullying in school.

"Jennings was obviously chosen for this job because of the safe schools aspect... defining 'safe schools' narrowly in terms of 'safe for homosexuality'," Peter Sprigg, a senior fellow at the Family Research Council, told FOXNews.com.

Well that's certainly well-reasoned. Because Mr. Jennings has a particular focus on gay issues, having been a gay student himself in a less-enlightened time, then he can't be interested in safety for students but only in his own narrow issues. Kind of like saying that a Christian candidate would only be chosen to make the schools "safe for Jesus". And of course making students safe isn't at all something Jennings is probably interested in.

"But at least half of the job involves creating drug-free schools, and we've not been offered any evidence about what qualifications Jennings has for promoting drug-free schools."

Jennings' detractors note that he made four references to his personal drug abuse in his 2007 autobiography, "Mama's Boy, Preacher's Son: A Memoir."
...
Sprigg said that quote is particularly unacceptable for someone who has been named to lead America's Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools.

"It would be nice to hear from Mr. Jennings ... that he regrets the drug use he engaged in when he was in school," Sprigg said. "But in this autobiography, which Mr. Jennings wrote only recently, he never expresses any regret about his youthful drug use."

So if he jumps through this particular hoop he'll be acceptable? Awesome.

Look, I'm sure there are plenty of people out there who haven't ever used drugs, I'm one of them, but this seems like a pointless disqualification. Such a requirement would have disqualified at least the current President and the previous two. Geez, George W. Bush admitted to cocaine use! How many conservatives wanted him declared unqualified? (His incompetence was proof enough for that!) Maybe Mr. Jenning's past drug use will make him more understanding of why people use drugs and how to discourage their use.

The group Jennings founded has also been accused of promoting homosexuality in schools. At a GLSEN conference in 2000, co-sponsored with the Massachusetts Department of Education, the group landed in hot water when it was revealed that it had included an educational seminar for kids that graphically described some unorthodox sex techniques.
...
At the time, Jennings said he had concerns about events at the conference, but he also criticized attendees who filmed it.

"From what I've heard, I have concerns as well," Jennings told the Boston Globe in May 2000. "GLSEN believes that children do have a right to accurate, safer sex education, but this needs to be delivered in an age-appropriate and sensitive manner.
"What troubles me is the people who have the tape know what our mission is, they know that our work is about preventing harassment and they know that session was not the totality of what was offered at a conference with over 50 sessions," he said.

How many recent conservative social conferences have had sessions vilifying gays or minorities, or even openly encouraged sedition? If we were to reject everyone associated with these conservative conferences, the Republican Congressional leadership would all be out of jobs. Seriously, every single one has been associated with this type of crap.

Does that mean that Jennings gets a free pass? No. It means that we look at what he actually stands for and supports. It doesn't sound like he supported the particular session in question and said, "children do have a right to accurate, safer sex education, but this needs to be delivered in an age-appropriate and sensitive manner." That seems right on to me.

The religious right is also alarmed by Jennings' personal views about religion. In his memoir, he wrote of his views while he was in high school:

"What had [God] done for me, other than make me feel shame and guilt? Squat. Screw you, buddy -- I don't need you around anymore, I decided.

"The Baptist Church had left me only a legacy of self-hatred, shame, and disappointment, and I wanted no more of it or its Father. The long erosion of my faith was now complete, and I, for many years, reacted violently to anyone who professed any kind of religion. Decades passed before I opened a Bible again."

Why this attitude would be at all surprising to anyone familiar with the church's continued hatred of gays is baffling. And respecting religion shouldn't be any kind of actual requirement because it's irrelevant to the job, especially a job relating to public education.

Guess what? Not every government employee "needs to be" religious or respect religion. Some are even ::gasp:: atheists! Deal with it.

What's worse, he's apparently re-embraced religion, so the charge is just even more stupid.

"Since then he has been involved in the Union Theological Seminary," she said. "He does consider himself religious. He tithes -- I just don't see any evidence that he is hostile to religion."

Jennings is on the board of the Union Theological Seminary, which describes itself as "progressive and evangelical."

The last bit is the only thing I find potentially troublesome.

Another controversy from Jennings' past concerns an account in his 1994 book, "One Teacher In 10," about how, as a teacher, he knew a high school sophomore named Brewster who was "involved" with an "older man":

"Out spilled a story about his involvement with an older man he had met in Boston. I listened, sympathized, and offered advice. He left my office with a smile on his face that I would see every time I saw him on the campus for the next two years, until he graduated."
...

"I said, 'What were you doing in Boston on a school night, Brewster?' He got very quiet, and he finally looked at me and said, 'Well I met someone in the bus station bathroom and I went home with him.' High school sophomore, 15 years old' I looked at Brewster and said, 'You know, I hope you knew to use a condom.'"

The Washington Times reported in 2004 that "state authorities said Mr. Jennings filed no report in 1988." A spokeswoman for the Massachusetts Department for Children and Families, the department to which Jennings -- as a Massachusetts teacher -- would have been legally obliged to report the situation, did not return calls from FOXNews.com.

I'm not sure what good would have come from Mr. Jennings outing a gay student to his parents in 1988. That would likely have resulted in horrific consequences for the student as Mr. Jennings could probably testify to from firsthand experience. And as a practical matter, could he have stopped this student from further meetings with anonymous older gay men? If the man in question was a neighbor or teacher, something could have been done. But what good would have come from outing this student in this situation?

In any event, this happened 20 years ago and we don't really know what was involved. It's possible that Mr. Jennings was criminally negligent in not reporting the incident but it's also possible he did the right thing for the student.

Basically, this is all about casting aspersions like "promoting homosexuality" that no longer mean anything to most of the country. They throw out the usual social conservative scare tactics in hopes that the Democrats will get nervous enough to ditch their friends, like they have recently in response to these kinds of attacks.

If FOX News and social conservatives spent as much time contributing positively to the problems we face rather than spending most of their time just trying to destroy President Obama, we'd all be better off.

And stop being so handsome and articulate too!

Flush with their successful exposure of the recent scandal, “President-wants-to-encourage-kids-to-stay-in-school-GATE”, Republicans are focusing on another troubling attempt by the President to win the hearts and minds of American schoolchildren.

“Have you seen what the President did today? He traveled in a TOTALLY COOL helicopter to get to the United Nations. That thing took off right from his back yard! I mean, how can anyone compete with that? You could even see him waving from the window! My kids can’t resist that kind of cool,” said Congressman Richwell Offman (R-Texas).

“This type of brainwashing, which I should note they used to do in the Soviet Union, is just outrageous. Doesn’t he know that by teaching children who the President is, what he stands for and demonstrating his awesome helicopter, these poor brainwashed kids won’t have time for all three weekly church services or to watch their daily six hours of Fox News? Apparently this clown doesn’t understand that he’s only the President of the children of the people who voted for him.”

“It would be awesome to get a ride in that helicopter, though,” he added.

Yesterday, 100 House Republicans co-sponsored a bill requiring the President of the United States to drive an AMC Gremlin to all events.

If you believe, watch this

This video on logic and religious claims is well worth ten minutes of your time. It's easy to understand and irrefutable (using logic or reason, of course.)



Thanks to the Bad Astronomer.

How are your science chops?

Take the (amazingly short) Pew Research Science Quiz. See if you can match my awesome 100% score!

I thought this was terribly easy. Apparently, 90% of people who took it didn't think so.

Go me. Go me. Go me.

2009 Emmy Thoughts

Just a few thoughts.

• Starting the show off right, Kristin Chenoweth won a hugely-deserved best supporting actress award for Pushing Daisies! Right on!
• NPH was a classy and funny host.
• Ricky Gervais was, once again, one of the highlights.
• It was awesome to see Dr. Horrible (and cast), Really great.
• Why the heck weren't Colbert or Stewart presenting? They're always one of the best parts of the show.
• I can't believe Family Guy was nominated for Best Comedy. Ugh.
  

That's all I've got.

Suzanne Somers hates Patrick Swayze

Suzanne Somers thinks Patrick Swayze could have been alive today if he would have used alternative methods to treat his pancreatic cancer instead of chemotherapy.

The former "Three's Company" star, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1991 and rejected chemotherapy in favor of natural treatments, reportedly told Toronto-based columnist Shinan Govani that it was Swayze's chemotherapy treatments, not pancreatic cancer, that ended his life prematurely.

"They took this beautiful man and they basically put poison in him," she reportedly said. "Why couldn't they have built him up nutritionally and gotten rid of the toxins in his body? I hate to be this controversial. I'm a singer-dancer-comedienne. But we have an epidemic going on, and I have to say it." Link.

Swayze fought cancer for 20 months. If Suzanne Somers had it her way, he would have died in three.

Richter Rulez!

Andy Richter is awesome. Look how he mangled CNN's Wolf Blitzer at Celebrity Jeopardy.


And this isn't even a Saturday Night Live sketch! I mean, a negative score!?! Geez Wolf.

What a surprise

U.S. states whose residents have more conservative religious beliefs on average tend to have higher rates of teenagers giving birth, a new study suggests. Link

That's because the religious folk don't teach their kids about contraception. Then when their kids experiment with sex like all other human beings, they get pregnant more often than those who have been educated, thus creating more poverty and broken families.

Educating teenagers in sexuality and birth control is the ONLY way they're going to grow up to be sexually responsible adults. If you don't teach them, they'll have more disease, children earlier in their life when they can't handle it, more children out of wedlock, and continue a cycle of ignorance and poverty.

As with most problems, education would go a long way towards solving this problem. If only so many people's religion didn't stand in the way of education.

They finally figured out how to trigger the apocalypse

Dominionists and other Christian radicals weren't able to bring about the end of the world by fomenting war in the Middle East and the destruction of Israel. They finally got something far more unlikely to happen.

Bill O'Reilly backs the public option for health care.

O'REILLY: But you know, I want that, Ms. Owcharenko. I want that. I want, not for personally for me, but for working Americans, to have a option, that if they don't like their health insurance, if it's too expensive, they can't afford it, if the government can cobble together a cheaper insurance policy that gives the same benefits, I see that as a plus for the folks.

Flee, flee for the end is nigh.

When you wish upon a star, eventually Disney will get to it

It’s no surprise to readers of this blog that my family LOVES Disney World.  It’s my personal favorite place on the planet (deal with it, snobs) and my number one vacation destination.  I have some really, really good memories of visiting throughout my life.

Unfortunately, over the past 15 years or so, Disney has become rather stingy in improvements to the parks.  For example, what was designed to be a huge new “journey into space” area in EPCOT was downsized to “Mission Space”.  A great ride, but it pales beside the original plan.

So this is some long overdue news:

On September 12, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Chairman Jay Rasulo announced that a new 3-D version of the tremendously-popular "Star Tours" attraction will debut at the Disneyland Resort and Disney's Hollywood Studios in 2011. Based on the iconic Lucasfilm "Star Wars" films, the attraction will include immersive new elements that will take guests to many familiar places in the Star Wars galaxy.

For Walt Disney World in Florida, Rasulo outlined plans for the largest expansion in the history of the Magic Kingdom, vastly increasing the size of Fantasyland by 2013. Guests will soon be able to:

·         Visit their favorite Disney Princess in her castle, cottage, or chateau to share a dance with Cinderella; celebrate Sleeping Beauty's birthday with the Good Fairies; or join Belle in an enchanting story performance in the Beast's castle library.

·         Be Our Guest and dine in one of three enchanted rooms inside the Beast's castle.

·         Fly with Dumbo high above brand new circus grounds, twice the size of the existing attraction with a new interactive, three-ring circus tent.

·         Journey under the sea with Ariel, The Little Mermaid, in her very own attraction - also opening at Disney's California Adventure in Anaheim in 2011.

• Meet Tinker Bell and her friends in the magical world of Pixie Hollow.

All good (especially the update of Star Tours) and way, way overdue.  I can’t wait to see what they do.

 

The people who suggest that appointing "Czars" is communist, really need a history lesson

Conservatives (a la Glenn Beck and many Republican Congressfolk) have lately been going nuts about the number of Obama "Czars". Many of the 9/12 protesters last week carried anti-Czar signs.

Well, this article shows how ridiculous these people are and how Glenn Beck, once again, is manufacturing a non-existent controversy.

These elected officials seem to be unaware of some basic facts. Many of the people they insist need to be confirmed by the Senate already have been confirmed. Many of the people they consider to be holding unprecedented appointments are merely filling well-established positions. In some cases, these lawmakers seem to have forgotten that they themselves passed laws that mandated the appointments. And in a few cases, they just select some established functionary at random -- like a State Department envoy or the Deputy Secretary of the Interior -- and call that guy a "czar" just for fun!

Apparently, in truth the Bush Administration had 47 Czars! And there sure wasn't any peep out of these numbnuts about them. Just as there wasn't any protest out of them when Bush was spending a trillion dollars for two wars. But try to spend some money taking care of other Americans, then the crap hits the fan.

Stupid, stupid hypocrites.

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/16/dancing-with-the-czars-de_n_289465.html

He Lied!

South Carolina Congressman Joe Wilson is a doofus. His outburst during President Obama's speech to the joint session of Congress was not only outrageously disrespectful to the office of the Presidency, it was also in violation of the rules of Congress. And even more, he was factually wrong.

But immediately afterwards he apologized and President Obama accepted the apology. That should have been the end.

Unfortunately, in typical "shoot themselves in the foot" fashion, various elements of the Democratic party refused to let the issue die and have been calling for sanctions and an apology on the House floor. This has allowed conservatives to turn Joe Wilson into a martyr which is pretty much the last thing we need.

I find it incredibly sad that so many Americans think that this type of behavior is acceptable. But in this case, even though the Democrats have every right to censure him, the best thing to do would have been to let it go after the apology.

9/12 + Picture = Millions of attendees!

So what do you do when your rally doesn't attract as many attendees as you had hoped?

Apparently, you lie about it.


This is an image released by several conservative blogs to promote last weekend's 9/12 march on the Capitol. Trouble is, there's a building missing. The National Museum of the American Indian to be exact, built in 2004, which should be in the upper right hand corner next to the Air & Space Museum. Those damn injuns still causing trouble for true Americans.

During the rally, conservative bloggers and news outlets were reporting that the crowd size was from 1 to 2 million strong. In reality, it appears to have been in the high tens of thousands at best. This picture would support the million+ estimate. If only it were the rally in question.

Maybe it was an honest mistake. And to be fair, the number of supporters does not reflect the actual value of the ideas being expressed in the protest (although in this case they do).

Then again, maybe it was a government conspiracy to discredit the marchers. Yeah, that's the ticket.

Home Safe and Sound

Rachel is home and asleep on the couch. She said it was a great trip. We've only heard part of the story and look forward to seeing her pictures.

She's 15 and already traveled farther from home than I ever have.

Coming Home

Rachel's in the air again. They should arrive home tomorrow afternoon.

Several kids fainted during the parade rehearsal due to the heat, lack of air conditioning, and hot uniforms but everyone's okay. The parade reportedly went very well and Rachel had a great time.

Role models take advantage of children for their own superstitions

This is completely wrong. The arrogance and smug righteousness is astounding.

Football Players Baptized Video

Can you imagine if they had converted them to Judaism or Islam? Stupid wankers. I'd be suing their asses off if they did this to my kids.

China Update

We received a cryptic voicemail from Rachel today in which she assumed we know more than we do, always a dangerous assumption.  It seems that several members of the band fainted and two are in the hospital.  We are deducing that they were affected by the heat during rehearsal for tomorrow’s parade.  Rachel is okay and wasn’t one of the ones affected.  I’ll post more when we learn more.

The (delicious) insanity must stop!

The biggest shock to come out of last night’s Presidential health care speech was Obama’s confirmation of the existence of death panels and the revelation of their use as the source of the popular foodstuff, Soylent Green.  It turns out that Soylent Green is people! 

Well, Republican Congressmen anyway, and that’s close enough.

China

Rachel has arrived safely in China.  They are a full 12 hours ahead of us, which is going to make adjustment particularly difficult.  But, hey, she’s on the other side of the fricking planet!

The Internet is amazing.  By simply Googling the airline and the flight number, I was able to access two web sites that monitor flights live.  I was able to watch the plane’s progress for most of the day yesterday.  That was cool.

 

Departure Prep

We're at Rachel's school, getting ready to see them off. They're taking everyone's temperature to see if anyone potentially has swine flu. If they have a fever, they don't go on the trip. They're taking no chance of getting the group quarantined.

In case I didn't mention, Rachel joined the marching band to go perform in a parade in Shanghai.

Bon Voyage

Rachel is on her way to China in the morning.

She'll arrive on Thursday morning, around 24 hours after we drop her off at school.

An Overrated Decade

I really enjoyed this essay on the 60's and the reverence with which we're all supposed to hold that decade and its awesome counterculture.

Never in the history of this country has there been a generation that's cast a longer shadow without really having done anything to earn it than the children of the 60s -- specifically the so-called Woodstock Generation. For the most part, they're thoroughly undeserving of the immortality they've pretentiously bequeathed to themselves. But for God's sake, don't ever say this to the True Believers in the Boomer-Woodstock nostalgia aesthetic; they'll immediately begin lecturing you on the seemingly self-perpetuating legacy of the 60s protest movement, the brilliance of Abbie Hoffman, and the philosophical importance of shitting outdoors in the mud while Canned Heat plays Going Up the Country somewhere at the other end of the farm.

Check out the whole essay. It's right on. Groovy, even.

Old friends, long missed

I cannot tell you how much I have missed these two.


Beavis' voice has deepened. Manhood approaches for Cornholio.

Dream the dream, Michelle

From Crazy-Congresswoman, Michelle Bachmann:

BACHMANN: Also with women politicians, they want to make sure no women, no woman becomes president before a Democrat woman, and so they're doing everything they can to, I think, sabotage women like Sarah Palin, perhaps women like myself, or similarly situated women, to make sure that we don't have a prominent national voice. But the thing is, the people in our country, they don't care who the voice is, they just want someone, they want to know that someone is speaking out for them against what will certainly bring about the destruction of our great country if we continue to go down the Obama path.

Bahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!

If Hollywood Taught Science Class

From the awesome minds at Cracked.com.

If Hollywood Taught Science Class

Lots of fun.

Good game

That was pretty spectacular. A late in the 4th quarter touchdown by Rachel's team tied it up 8 to 8. Then a great drive was broken up with less than a minute to go with an interception by the other team.

Two plays later, with less than 10 seconds in the game, Rachel's team intercepts a pass at the 50 and runs it all the way in for the winning touchdown! Hooray!

Friday Night meh

Here we are at Rachel's high school football game. Remarkably (given her complete lack of interest until a couple of months ago) she's in the marching band which did an incredibly short show at halftime.

Thankfully, the chance of gunfire erupting during the game is pretty low since we're not in Texas.

Stupid Socialist Holiday

I presume that all of those brave Patriots afraid of “socialism” aka “anything Obama wants” will be boycotting the upcoming Labor Day Holiday and coming into work on Monday.  I mean, can you get much more socialist than “Labor Day”?

Nature Loves Me

After lunch today I was relaxing in a nice local spot, the Natural History Museum's Butterfly Habitat Garden (which usually doesn't have any butterflies). It's just a tiny strip of plants and flowers on both sides of a winding path between two streets next to the Museum. As I sit there, I see a squirrel hunting for food across the walkway. He approaches and finally gets to the foot of the bench on which I'm sitting. I'm just watching him very quietly so he keeps coming closer.

Not getting any food, he finally moves behind the bench and I don't pay him any more heed, until . . . HE CLIMBS ONTO MY SHOULDER FROM BEHIND! I jump a bit (duh) and he jumps down to the bench. Recovering, I sit there and he climbs briefly onto my knee.


Getting nothing to eat, he finally moves along. I think I'll take him some peanuts tomorrow.

Talk about performance anxiety

Father, send your Holy Spirit into our hearts. Place within us love that truly gives, tenderness that truly unites, self-offering that tells the truth and does not deceive, forgiveness that truly receives, loving physical union that welcomes.

Open our hearts to you, to each other and to the goodness of your will. Cover our poverty in the richness of your mercy and forgiveness. Clothe us in true dignity and take to yourself our shared aspirations, for your glory, forever and ever. Mary, our mother, intercede for us. Amen.

What is this? It's the Catholic Church's recommended prayer before sex.

I'm not sure what "poverty" has to do with it but the use of the words "cover" and "clothe" suggest that they don't really understand the whole "sex" thing. (Of course, some of them do, but that's a different issue.)

I will admit, though, that part about Mary interceding is pretty hot. I didn't realize the church would be supportive of that kind of thing.

Thanks to Pharyngula.

Sorry Spousal Unit, we gave it a good try

Oh noes!!!  My marriage is over!!  

Last night at midnight, Vermont started allowing gay marriages.

Of course this completely devalues my own, legitimate, heterosexual marriage.  Allowing these dudes to marry hurts me in ways I can hardly explain.  (Really, I can’t explain it at all.  Someone please help.)

I eagerly await god’s almighty wrath against Vermont.  I’m sure the state’s due to slide into the sea (that would be a neat trick!) or find itself the proud new owner of an erupting volcano any minute now.  Sure there will be some collateral damage, including children, because this issue is too important not to invoke some smiting and because that’s the way god rolls.  But it will be for the best, really, and will serve as an example to those other evil states promoting “happiness” for gays.