Little Miss Attilla in a new post is questioning whether - gosh darn - Bush lied to us about the reasons for going to war. And if he did what an "abuse of trust". This is the same LMM who in her early blog days mentioned that she had from reliable sources "absolute proof" that Hussein had WMDs and therefore was a threat needing to be taken out ASAP. She frequently took me to task for my disbelief, that the war in Iraq may have had overtones other than WMDs and that Bush et al may not have had the American Interest at heart when declaring war.

Care for coffee with that crow pie?

Damn Skippy

Who is this Skippy or are they referring to the peanut butter?

Marriage Again

My definition of marriage as stated in earlier postings does have one more flaw, something that most definitions have and that is none of them explicitly say you can't marry a relative. Never mind that in the old, old days it was acceptable. A more current definition may need to explicitly tackle this issue (or for the most enlightened - not bother at all). Don't ask me though. I still like my definition.

OK, this has been bothering me. If a man and woman get married and they both get sex changes are they still married? According to their certificates they shouldn't be since the roles have been switched thereby nullifying the paper but by "popular" definition they are. Another reason why gender should be left out of any definition.

A few posts ago I cited a definition of marriage stemming from a Catholic source. Popular religious reasons for marriage is to procreate and this site mentioned that sexual intercourse was a wanted result of marriage. Those were the words "sexual intercourse". Off hand I can think of three types of sexual intercourse so, really, gender does not have to be mentioned for this "rule" to be satisfied. Of course, I think what the Puckered Right wants is a definition like: "Marriage is a union betwen a consenting man and woman where for the sole purpose of procreation vaginal intercourse completed with male ejaculation occurs regularly." Or something stupid like that.

Curiosity

One thing that bothers me about the Puckered Right is their complete lack of curiosity towards Life. And because of this lack they believe and seek that others should also exist in a blind room. They have their Gods, their fervent behaviors and demand that others should also limit themselves. We seek to expand; they seek to shrink. We seek Freedom; They seek Control and Censorship.

We are born curious. It's what drives us to explore and learn. We touch, taste, feel, smell, and often do dangerous and/or outright stupid things because of curiosity. We have to know. Why climb Mt. Everest, visit Mars, crash atoms together, or add a new seasoning to meatloaf? Curiosity, a challenge, it's there.

We experiment and explore as infants and continue, if we're lucky, all the rest of our lives. We experiment formally in the Sciences and informally with hobbies, arts, and, yes, with chemicals such as drugs. We experiment to find ourselves, to advance civilization, to experience something new and unique, to create.

To limit curiosity, to put blinders on experimentation, limits culture and stagnates a Society. More importantly it's unnatural, unhuman. For the Puckered Right to infringe on curiosity is to infringe on our most natural Freedom and is beyond un-American.

A counter-argument beyond "Dude, you're full of shit!" is that, for example, we don't let kids experiment with explosives. Should we remove that limit for the sake of Freedom? No, of course not. But ask them why they want to play to explosives and see whether the information can be given to them in a non-lethal manner. Or for a different example "Just Say No" was an attempt to get and keep kids away from drugs. Like most Puckered Right attempts to control behavior, it failed. It failed because it lectured but didn't explain. Why should kids say no to drugs. Kids and adults do not like to be dictated to - tell them not to do something and guaranteed that something will be done if it's perceived as outlaw. Why alcohol or tobacco but not marijuana?

The Puckered Right likes to rule by authority not by logic and humanity. They like to stifle curiosity instead of nuture it. And then they wonder why Johnny can't read.

Puckered Left

I'm pretty hard on the Puckered Right mainly because they're dangerously organized, influential, and blind to Freedom. But I'm equally disgusted with the Puckered Left, those folks who spend their lives judging based on what foods you eat (organic only), what clothes you wear (no leather), which tree you've hugged (native only). They are Politically Correct to an idiotic extreme e.g. PETA asking the town of Slaughterville (Oklahoma) to change the name because it implies cruelty to animals. Or the Indian Rights group suing the Grammys because the Outkast dancers wore indian-like garb.

Should Coonville (Texas) change it's name? It's a racist epithet against Blacks. Should the Cleveland Indians change their name because they have a terrible ball team and that can be a negative? Should "Radar Love" no longer be broadcast becuase of that Indian-like beat?

Puckered Left and Puckered Right deserve each other with their tunnel vision. Neither can see outside the tunnel to the mountain and sky. Seal the tunnel! Extremism is always ugly and best left buried.

The Passion

The Sunday Feb 15th Los Angeles Times front page - Mel Gibson is feeling persecuted over his unreleased film "The Passion" and he's upset. Considering his film may further flame anti-semitism his feelings of persecution are rather ironic.

It's further ironic that he's showcasing his film about the last 12 hours of Christ's life as authentic and accurate when most if not all Biblical scholars know very little about Jesus's life and death beyond the biblical propaganda. Remember that the books in the New Testament were written starting 70 years after Jesus's supposed death and were subject to the needs of a new church. That is, the books were editied with a goal in mind of supporting the ideology of the new church.

That religious texts are essentially tools for the Clergy begs the question of the purpose Gibson had for making the film. Propaganda for the conservative church he belongs to? A money maker? More fuel for Jew hatred?

Many "Mainstream" Religions fail to teach the histories behind the dogmas for to do so reveals the human impact and manipulations, possibly undermining the efficacy of teaching and control over the sheep...errr...followers. Religions, particularly of the Judeo-Christian kind, rely on dogmatic blinders and unquestioned beliefs for if you ask questions you may discover that Religions are basically nonsense. Hence Faiths.

Side story. I have a relative who's a devout Ultra-Orthodox Jew. He lives in Israel, has a wife, 3 kids, one more en route. He doesn't work because "G-d will provide" and instead studies all day. The "Full Catastrophe" to quote Zorba. Point being that he was a very nice, open, and generous kid growing up but now he's nice, living with his blinders on, and is in his own way extremely selfish without realizing it. For G-d he has alienated his family. His brothers feel like they've lost him to a cult.

One of the Commandments is "Honor they Father and Mother". As a parent I can think of no greater Honor then when one of my kids gives me a hug, a smile, or a kiss for no particular reason other than love. This Ultra-Orthodox relatives honors his mother by essentially ignoring her. She's female and therefore unclean, possibly beneath contempt. He visited from Israel for a funeral and his mother tried to keep a kosher kitchen for him but not up to his demanding standards. No thanks for trying and that's the honor she gets.

Conservative or Ultra-Orthodox means severe blinders, limited thought, and potentially dangerous actions according to the whims of the controlling Priest, Rabbi, or Imam (think Jim Jones). Not that all of the Priesthood are evil but simply that the control and power are there, and absolute power... What if the Pope with his last breath declared War on Islam and backed it up with select quotes from the New Testament?

*sigh*. Mel, perhaps this feeling of persecution will gain you a new understanding, of the fear of living around others who blindly hate and may act on that hate. Perhaps you'll make a film about the aftermath of Christ, of how the Church came into being, of how the New Testament was edited, of how much blood was spilled in retaliation for Christ's supposed crucifixion. Perhaps you'll make an authentic film about anti-semitism.

In any case, Mel Gibson, welcome to Judaism.