Ole' Toro

It takes an idiot to do certain things, and one of those things is getting out in the middle of a very narrow cobblestone street, say just for example in Pomplona Spain, and try to outrun a herd of frightened bulls that have just been released. For one thing, these bulls are pretty much being herded toward their deaths, and while they might not necessarily be aware of that, they know something is definitely not right, and boy are they scared, and boy are they pissed. At this exact moment, the last thing they want to see is a human being, who they do know, I’m sure, is responsible for their plight.

I’m not one of these overly sensitive types who think hunting and meat eating should be outlawed. I think meat eating in moderaton is fine. After all, as animals ourselves, humans are merely lucky enough to be on the top of the food chain, and meat eating at this stage of our evolution is not only acceptable, it is desirable, and this will be true for millenia to come, doubtless.

Hunting, as well, is beneficial to the balance of nature, so long as it is regulated and done responsiby.

This, however, is barbaric cruelty for no real reason other than the pursuit of tourist dollars, though it says more about the tourist in question than it does the Pamplonans who understandably are all too eager to avail themselves of their currency. Unfortunately, it is probably the only thing that keeps this ancient Spanish city above ground financially.

Every now and then, somebody pays a hefty price. This last time out, one tourist ended up paralyzed from the waste down with only partial use of his arms. And he is yet in serious condition, though his family has hopes that he will recover, due to his overall peak physical condition and state of health. And he wasn’t even involved in the main running of the bulls that transpire on the streets of Pomplona, an event which usualy inevitably results in some participants being trampled, or gored, or both.

No, this person was in the bullring with a herd of female cattle, taking part in some minor event, and got his ass trampled. Well, I hope he recovers completely. These people aren’t necessarily bad people, they are just stupid.

Matadors, that’s another question altogether. I know it’s their culture, the way they were raised, I know it’s their career, etc. But it’s the bulls life, and he is an unwilling participant. Givn my choice between the two, I will root for the bull eveyrtime.

Ahhh Those Were The Days

This is absolute proof that pornography has been around for a long, long time. I’m guessing from the Victorian Era, anywhere from the 1870’s to the 1890’s. What is more to the point, notice how the woman doesn’t have the mans dick in her mouth, that it is in plain sight, while at the same time hiding her face. Yet, you can see her mouth is wide open as though ready to insert it.

It is hard to tell if this was geared toward a male or a female audience. But I suspect it was for females, only because of the prominent display of the dick, as oppossed to it being in the womans mouth. Had it been aimed toward men, my guess is that it would be wholly and obviously in her mouth.

On the other hand, the look on his face speaks of an attitude of a successful triumph, nearly arrogant. Note that he is somewhat muscular, thogh somewhat bowllegged, the body of a sportsman, I think. He has the body of I am guessing a tennis player. It’s too bad, really too bad, that the womans face is hidden. I wonder why that is, but I am suppossing she might have been married. She was very well buildt, beautiful actually.

These were upper class people, I think. They certainly weren’t poor. Maybe what would in the day have passed for upper middle class. Possibly even aristocrats.

I post this not only out of just general interest and curiosity, but to point out a little known fact about the Victorian Era. There was quite a bit of pornography, actually, although most of it admitedly was written prose. A typical story, based on an even older one by the Marquis DeSade, revolved around a convent in which occurred sexual shenanigans with a priest, a gardener, and every single nun in the convent, one of whom was a new arrival, and, of course, a virgin-though not for long.

The Victorian Era as wild and raucous in it’s own time sexually as is our own. This is the era after all that gave us Jack The Ripper, whose chosen victims were all Englsih prostitutes, of whom the numbers were obviously considerable.

This is the era in which upper class males in many cases in addition to maintaining a marriage and family, had outside the home what were termed as “kept women” for their extra marital pleasures. In not a few cases these women were presented the wholesome task of initiating their lovers teenage sons to the mysteries of sex.

And this is the Era from which this picture originated, which I acquired from another blog, and which is only one known survivor of what was obviously many more. What a treausre trove were they still around, yet to be disovered.

As for the blog in question, it unfortunately hasn't been updated since December of last year. Were it updated on a regular basis, it would be a definite addition to the Blogroll. Still, if you would like to view "Vintage Erotica", this Blogspot blog may be accessed in the link via the post title.

Ahhhhh, yes-the good old days, indeed.

Michael Jackson-Psychic Vampire Update

Update-Please note, this is an old post. For the latest Michael Jackson post, posted in the days following the demise of this extraordinary individual, please see this post.

Michael Jackson has been existing in the Neverland of financial limbo for some time now, and seems ready to reemerge from the shadows of darkness back into the light of who gives a fuck. He has or will be moving to Europe, while maintaining a home in Bahrain, in order to be in proximity to music industry figures. In other words, he is planning on releasing another album, sometime over the next year.

His spokeswoman, Raymone K. Bain, in what might be an unfortunate descriptive choice of words in Jacksons case, explained that his “creative juices are flowing”. That might be interpreted as “lock up the kids, especially the boys, Michaels back in town”, except of course Michael is still wildly popular, supposedly, in Europe.

In the meantime, in an apparent effort to restructure his finances, which have been on very shaky ground the last few years, Jackson has fired his Bahrainian lawyers, as well as his long time accounting and business partners, the firm of Bernstein, Fox, Whitman, Goldman, and Sloan, and has hired L. Londell McMillan and The McMilan Firm. And he’s not finished yet. Well, he hopes not anyway.

Unfortunately, vampires, like Disney characters, never age and they never grow up. And I still hold that Michael Jackson is a psychic vampire, as I did a year ago in this earlier post on the subject. I don’t know what the inspiration is for the recent resurgence of his “creative juices” beyond the apparent desperate necessity to reestablish his career and finances. I would imagine though there were a lot of little cute Bahrainian boys running around the estate of Michaels Bahrainian prince friend, at right about the time his now fired Bahrainian lawyers announced he had restructured his finances in a deal with Sony. The result of this is that company now shares ownrship with him of his musical cataloque, including the Beatles songs.

Be that as it may, Micahel, like all the undead, may soon arise from the grave, reaching out to a child near you.

The Times They Have A'Changed

Neil Young has lately gone on record as bitching about the lack of “protest” singers, of current artists ready and willing to stand up to the evil ways of the Bush Administration. He has evidently been hanging around former Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young bandmates David Crosby and Graham Nash. Crosby has earlier bemoaned the lack of what he calls the “modern troubadour”.

I think all this is questionable myself. An acquaintance of mine has just recently explained to me, in voicing his agreement with Young, that this generation is just not “standing up”.

But what exactly is it they are not standing up to? What it seems to amount to is, when you get right down to it, Young wishes there were modern young rock artists who would devote the entirety of their careers to protesting the policies of the Bush Amdinistration. I mean,that has to be what he’s getting at, because there are certainly artists who have protested to some degree. You have not only the Dixie Chicks resurgence in popularity, but Green Day, and even the Rolling Stones, a band who at their height of creative influence and fame, in the sixties and early seventies, were not exactly known as protest singers, or for that matter even slightly socially conscous (though they did dabble a bit).

And outside the realm of music, you have of course other performers, the so-called Hollywood elite, who for the most part are obviously progressive or liberal, and as often as not self described as such. George Clooney, for example, has had no problem finding work in Hollywood, and last year saw two of his films nominated for Oscars-“Syrianna” and “Good Night And Good Luck”.

Nor do Hollywood artists seem to have any problem “standing up” on any various number of issues, for the most part liberal, but some conservative as well. Of course, I understand that Neil Youngs area of concern is that of rock music, but the plain fact is, this ain’t the sixties anymore. Meaning, most people don’t really care about political statements in art, in my opinion.

I should clarify that, though. It’s fine to make a political statement. But nobody wants to hear it all the time, neither from Hollywood film or television stars, or from rock musicians. Most people that like rock music, and top forties pop, want mainly to be entertained. They can appreciate a message song, or an issue oriented song, being included here and there. But to put it bluntly, they more often than not arent going to be influenced by it one way or another.

Nobody is likely to change their mind on an issue because their favorite artist pontificates on the subject. At best, their favorite artist might offer them validation for beliefs they all ready hold, and I guess in some cases they might sway somebody that is on the fence, or make somebody think about an issue they have previously not considered that much. And that’s fine. But that’s not what we’re talking about here.

The bottom line is, up and coming artists of today are concerned first and foremost with their careers, and they are going to put out what people want to hear. If they make it far enough up the ladder to where they have the option of creative control of their output, then they have obviously done something right, and they aren’t likely to tamper with success. They are doubtless going to grow creatively,and evolve, which is normal. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they are going to turn their music, their art, into a forum for political punditry or issue advocacy. The minute they do that, they are probably approaching the twilight of their careers, truthfully.

And before that career finaly ends, they will find themselves faced with an ever dwindling audience, as, in all truthfulness, they will have by their own design limited the scope of their appeal to a smaller audience. Now, no sensible group of people are going to get all that worked up about an artist who voices an opinion, however controversial, on any subject, either by word or by deed or by song. But again, that is not what I’m talking about here. And that is most certainly not what Neil Young seems to be talking about. What I am talking about, and what he seems to be talking about, are those artists who would base and revolve their entire careers on it.

I’m talking about the limited scope of artists who devote the entirety of their careers to protest and issue advocacy, or who are thought of as such. I can think of two examples, from the early days of folk and rock. One is Pete Seager. The other is Jonathon Edwards, who in the early seventies had a hit song called “Sunshine”, from what is only one album in what has been described by one reviewer as “the best of a miserable body of work”. Yet, to hear “Sunshine”, it is obvious Edwards was talented as a singer and songwriter, yet despite a pretty voluminous output, this was his one sole hit. And this as much as anything had to do with the way he put himself across, which, to paraphrase the same reviewer, amounted to a sanctimonious preachiness that heaped scorn on anyone who did not agree with the aritsts views.

The same could be probably said for folk artist and icon Pete Seager, who never made it beyond the scope of his chosen genres limited appeal, and who was considered outside that world as self righteous and sanctimonious as they ever came. Yet, to the folk music crowd, he is practically a god. Yet, these are the same people who turned on Bob Dylan, the penultimate protest singer, because he dared to branch out, which offended their sense of folk music purity.

Yet, though they disdained Dylan for this, he achieved a degree of success that went far beyond any of the purist crowd heroes ever has or will achieve. There are aritsts who have a talent that just can not be kept in bounds, and Dylan, like Springsteen, Lennon, and yes, Neil Young, belong in this category. Which makes it all the more surprising that Young would take this incomprehensible position. Does he or anyone seriously believe that he or any of the major artists I have mentioned would have lasted long if they had confined the majority of their output to political punditry or issue advocacy?

I think this is frustration speaking here, and a longing for the long gone, supposed good old days, which no longer exist, and in which artists influence were greatly exagerrated anyway. They were mainly preaching to the crowd to begin with, which in some cases was the reason for their appeal, in that they offerred a degree of validation. But the rock music fan of today is not the monolitihic entity it may have been in the sixties. Now, if an artist criticises Bush, he mght discover a good percentage of his fan base might not really care, or even actually not agree with him. A few of them might even think George Bush is the greatest thing since sliced bread. Therefore, again, why should they limit their audience appeal?

But more importantly, again, the bottom line is, people want to be entertained. They might at the same time appreciate some message songs every now and then-so long as the songs in question are good. But nobody wants to listen to an artist who utiizes the bulk of his or her creative output to sing the fucking editorial pages at them.

Flaming Flags

I guess you fucking idiots on the radical left are happy, now that the United States Senate has failed to pass a bill calling for a constitutional amendment to ban the burning of the American flag. It was close, though, it only came up one vote short. But for now, I guess the issue is over and done with as a partisan national issue, until, say, the day of the 2008 Republican Convention.

Until that day, you fucking morons, I have an idea. There are a few issues where I am in pretty much agreement with you on the left. I would like to see these issues put forward. And, though a lot of theAmerican public are skeptical, I think enough of them are on the fence that they might, if we approached it the right way, be convinced to come over to our side. With that in mind, I suggest we go all around to the different communities, hold rallies in support of our common issues, and when everybody gathers around to hear what we have to say-

WE BURN, DEFILE, OR OTHERWISE DESTROY A BELOVED NATIONAL SYMBOL!!!!

Yeah, that’s bound to get them on our side, you fucking half-wits. And that is exactly why this issue is going to stay an issue, everytime there is an election on or just this side of the horizon. And that’s why you never have to be worried, not in the least, that this constitutional amendment is ever going to become law.

Just look how this damn thing was set up for failure by the Republican Party. This bill was oppossed by no less powerful a Republican figure in the Senate than Senate Majority Whip Mitch McConell, the senior Republican Senator from Kentucky, who spoke out against it on the grounds that it would be an abridgement of the first Amendment guarantees of Freedom of Speech.

That, dear fools, is because, in my opinion, the Republicans had to make sure their bases were covered in case just enough Democrats crossed over in support of the bill, that it actually might pass, therefore depriving them of one of their number one bullshit issues. There are a few Republicans who can afford to take the position of spoiler, so long as the overall Republican position is solidly on the side of protecting “Old Glory”. Why?

Because if it ever passed, again, it’s no longer an issue. Therefore, if any of you flea bags ever decide, from that point on, to set flames to flag, your asses are going to jail, and no Democrat will jump to your defense. Their asses are covered, from that point on. But the way things stand now, McConnell and all the other Republicans know full well that, whenever the American public sees you engage in this infantile, moronic act of abject stupidity, they aren’t going to necessarily say, “hey, look at those commies. They must be members of that leftist Workers World Party. Or maybe Code Pink. Or maybe they’re just a bunch of leftist punks who just want to be a part of an “event”.

No, a substantial number of them, if not the majority, are going to be saying, LOOK AT THOSE FUCKING LIBERAL BASTARD DEMOCRATS!!

Then, after you are shown over and over again on the mainstream media, and Republican campaign ads, and presented as examples of “liberal” ideology, a large number of voters are going to run, not walk, to their polling places on election day and VOTE REPUBLICAN.

And so, in conclusion, my final request to you brain dead fucks is, the next time you decide to hold a rally in favor of gun control, or against the death penalty, or in favor of open borders and against strict enforcement of our immigration laws, please, by all means, do me the favor of burning the American flag. You have my blessing.

I Bitch Out Kentuckys Best

I used to know a lady in Cincinnati Ohio who used to talk to her cigarrettes. You would see her all over the place, in restaurants. White castles, Kentucky Fried Chicken, MacDonalds, etc., there she would be, at any given time, her pack of Pall Mall keeping her company along with her coffee. You never knew exactly what she was saying to them, despite the fact that sometimes she all but yelled at them. Then, she would go back to talking quietly. “Normally”. Then, she would start yelling again. Sometimes she would spank them. And, of course, she would smoke them. Nobody ever hardly said anything to her. I know I sure as hell wasn’t about to.

I heard once that years ago she set her apartment on fire, and then left her hsband and kids there, all who died as a result. According to this story, the veracity of which I cannot vouch for, she then went insane. I wonder sometimes if she is still alive. It’s been going on ten years now since I last lived in the Cincinnati/Covington area, though the last time I saw her, she seemed like she had actually started to get a grip. She seemed sane. But I will always remember her for those cigarettes, and the way she would sometimes jab her fist in her mouth suddenly, as if in realization of some sudden, sickening horror that was indescribable.

And so, in honor of “Crazy Betty”, I am now going to have a conversation with my cigarrettes. I am going to here transcribe the conversation. Just for posterity.

ME: God damn you. Why won’t you leave me alone? Will I never be rid of you?

KENTUCKYS BEST: It’s you who wont leave us alone. I’ve never seen you before you just waltzed into the store and bought me. I had no say in it. You must have me confused with another pack of Kentuckys Best cigarrettes. Like maybe the one you just finished smoking before you opened me up.

ME: Fuck you. You are a fucking pack of cigarrettes, you are all the same.

KENTUCKYS BEST: Bite me.

ME: Now I’m hooked on you and I can’t quit. All because the people who make you made you even more addictive than you would normally be, and the politicans used to support them. Now that I’m hooked the politicans have turned on me and other smokers and are trying to capitalize off our addiction. I hate them all.

KENTUCKYS BEST: Admit it, you love us, though.

ME: Yeah, right, according to the Surgeon General even your second hand smoke is dangerous to the other people I’m around. The no-good bastard is saying the science is now indisputable, supposedly. Soon, more and more people are going to ban smoking in indoor facilities. More and more states and municipalities are going to enact restrictions. No more smoking in restaurants, not even in bars. Not even smoking sections. No more smoking in any work places. And they keep making you more and more expensive, trying to make me quit, supposedly, yet deep down hoping I don’t so they can keep raking in the extra tax money for their stupid wasteful programs.

KENTUCKYS BEST: Come on, take a drag, you’ll feel better.

ME: It’s just wrong. It ain’t fair. I hate politicians. And I hate that lousy fucking Surgeon General. It’s all the fault of these motherfuckers who want to use politics to enforce their own values on the rest of us. Some employers are now going to more and more fire workers who smoke due to increased insurance costs. Before long they are going to try to ban it in your own home, suppossedly because it can harm your kids and other non-smoking relatives.

KENTUCKYS BEST: Can I ask you a question?

ME: All these motherfuckers should die. Hopefully from cancer.

KENTUCKYS BEST: I SAID CAN I ASK YOU A FUCKING QUESTION????!!!!!

ME: WHAT THE FUCK IS IT????!!!!!!.

KENTUCKYS BEST: WHY ARE YOU SO GODDAMNED PISSED OFF???? I’M THE ONE THAT’S GETTING FUCKING BURNED HERE!!!!!!

The Ugly Tourist

Joe Mikelik, the manager of the Minor League baseball team the Ashville Tourists, put on quite a show in Lexington Sunday when his team played the hometown Lexington Legends in the last game of a five game series. He objected strenuosly to a call on second base when one of his players, unable to reach third, tried to return to second, and was thown out. Mikelik thought he was safe. And that was when the fun began.

First he got all in the second base umpires face, in no uncertain terms. After some few minutes of furious, impotent ranting and raving, he dug the second base out of the ground. Then, he flung it as far into right field as he could. Then, he got in the umpires face again, then headed for home, where he got in the homeplate umpires face. Then, he decided to kick around homplate, which he eventually covered with dirt. Then, he went to the visting Ashville teams dugout, bitching and cussing all the while to anybody that happenned to be standing in proximity to him.

He was far from finished. He returned, with a pitcher of water, which he proceeded to pour over the mound of dirt that yet covered home plate. He then proceeded to kick at the muddy concoction, until the homeplate was now uncovered. I’m thinking that he might have been advised to uncover the plate he had covered with dirt, but maybe not. What happenned next, however, I’m reasonably sure he wasn’t advised to do by anyone. Having returned to the Ashville dugout, he then threw, one at a time, all the bats out of the dugout and onto the infield.

The Lexington Legends went on to win the game. It has been opined that Mikelik wil probably be fined and suspended for these actions. While that would certainly be appropriate, I hope the man doesn’t lose his job, and hasn’t ruined his career, over this stupid display of temperament and bad sportsmanship.

For one thing, I love shit like this. I especialy love it when an irate player opens a good solid can of whup ass on a particularly obnoxous fan, and think they should be rewarded for this if anything, certainly not punished. I love to see a good fight between oppossing players, so long as no one is seriously injured. And nothing is likely to make me roar with laughter more than did the hilarious site of Tommy LaSworda, in the playoffs I think two years ago, furiously throwing himself at a member of an oppossing team, who proceeded to dodge him while pushing him by his head on toward the gorund.

The only thing I hate along these lines is fans who start shit, and especially the parents of young child athletes who go ballistic. Them I want to see their asses kicked, right in front of their kids. But this was nothing I found reason to see objectionable. Neither did the Lexington area reporters who covered the story, all ofwhom really seemed as delighted as did I. Face it, there is something about this that is funny, and most people enjoy it. Well, I do anyway.

One thing though, if you ever get a chance to fuck Joe Mikeliks wife, you damn sure better hope he doesn’t walk in and catch you.

The Execution Of Angel Maturino Resendiz

Angel Maturino Resindez was finally put to death Tuesday night at 9:00 p.m., following a two hour delay necessitated by a last minute final appealed, that was ultimately denied. He was then put to death by lethal injection for a murder in Texas. He was also evidently responsible for a series of other murders throughout the country, as well as rapes, that he would commit near railroad tracks. He had a habit of travelling across the country by way of hopping freights, and I guess rape and murder was one of the ways he got his jollies, or relieved his tensions and frustrations, or both. Some people when they travel like to visit historic sites, amusement parks, recreational facilities, natural preserves, nightclubs, sporting events and regional performances. Other people like to visit brothels, crack houses, pornographic bookstores and theatres-or, like Reendiz, go that extra mile by committing various forms of mayhem.

I actually want to thank him for providing me with a few good laughs, for what it was worth. Before he was eventually caught, any neighborhood in the US that was near the vicinity of a railroad track was in the grip of varying degrees of terror, or at least some anxiety, wondering when next he might strike, and against who. This was especially true in Kentucky, where he had been accussed (though never tried and convicted) of killing one Lexington UK student and raping his girlfriend, who survived following a brutal beating, then went on to identify their assailant.

I used to keep a former workmate in tears teasing her about her habit of walking near the railroad tracks at night, after telling her I had seen a suspicous looking Hispanic male lurking around them, looking as though he were trying to avoid being seen. I would invite her to come along for an evening stroll by the tracks after work. Yeah, I know I’m an asshole, but I did put a stop to this inadviseable habit, which would be dangerous were Resendiz not within a thousand miles of the place. After all this is Covington kentucky we are talking about. At that time it was the third largest city in Kentucky and, just across the Ohio River from Cincinnati, is a major rail transportaion center. Now, due in part to it’s crime and economic stagnation, it has fallen to about fifth in population in this span of almost ten years to about fifth, behind Louisville, Lexington, Owensboro, and Paducah. It would have been a prime target for a character like Resendiz, who was already familiar with Kentucky.

But now, at any rate, he has gone to meet his long overdue reward, though at the last minute he offerred some kind of apology for the pain he had caused. Previously, he had described himself as “half man half angel”, which was a basis for his appeal by his atorneys on the grounds of incompetency. He had also made statements to the effect that after he was executed he would reappear, resurrected, three days later. Now Jesus Fucking Christ but I wonder where he got that from?

The most glaring omission on the NBC Nightly News of that night may have been (I missed the first ten minutes) it’s lack of coverage of Resendiz’s execution. Even though he was due to have been executed at 7:00 p.m. this last Tuesday night, this went without a word of mention from NBC anchorman Brian Williams (if someone knows different you are welcome to correct me). Nor, strangely enough, did I hear any mention about the execution from the usual suspects who haunt the grounds outside prisons during the inmates last few hours. No sign of The Ferrell Bitch, or any of the other hordes of celebrities or human rights activists who seem to have never seen a criminal whose execution they can justify or agree to, no matter how vile and malignant a tumor on the human condition they might be. But then again, I no longer receive Fox News or MSNBC, and CNN is most of the time all but unwatchable.

At any rate, I’m sure my point hasn’t escaped you bright souls. And that is, why should the anti-death penalty crowd stick to it’s vaunted principles? Could it be that most of these same people are the ones that support open borders between the US and Mexico, as well as amnesty for the more than ten million illegal immigrants, mostly from Mexico, that currently here reside? Could it be that they, as well as the generally sympathetic mainstream media, feel that drawing attention to Resendiz, by way of protesting the execution of this very possibly insane man, is just drawing ever more attention to the very real dangers of open immiration into the United States. Could they feel this could demonstrate the threat posed by those who for whatever reason feel it is not in their best interest to try to immigrate to this country in the legal manner? That it could fire up even more support for ever more stringent border security?

Oh, surely not. Surely these fine, loving, tolerant, progressive minded saintly people couldn’t be so cynical. Not great, caring, civic minded liberals like Ed AssNerd and “BlowJob Hunnicunt” Mike The Ferrell Bitch.

Me, I am glad that this human piece of shit was put to death, an attitude which I am proud to say has nothing to do with his country of origin, but solely with the crimes the committed, the lives he shatterred-and ended-and the grief he caused.

Still, I hope Mike Ferrell sees him every night, standing by his bed.

Primate Rules

It looks like the divide between Anglicans and Episcopalians, the American branch of the Church of England, threatens to grow ever wider, now that the Americans have named as their leader the former Bishop of Nevada, a woman, Katharine Jefforts Schori, who in addition to being female is an open supporter of gay rights, not only in society, but in the Church itself. This apparently includes the ordination of gays.

While there is evidently no problem with the ordination of women at the local parish level, the naming of a woman to such a position of authority is indeed controversial, and against traditional church doctrine and policy. This, then, would be the second crisis since 2003, when relations between the two branches became frayed over the Americans appoitment of V. Gene Robinson, an openly gay man with a live-in partner, to be the bishop of New Hampshire.

Anglican Church doctrine explicitly states that homosexuality is a violation of scripture. This, however, seems to be the minority opinion in the US, or Episcopal, branch of the Anglican Church. When the Anglican leadership demanded that the Episcopals elect no more gay bishops for now, Episcopal officials voted to agree only to call for “restraint”.

In order to forestall a permanent rupture of the churches, Archbishop Rowan Williams suggested the divided churches could stay together under a system in which members with non-traditional views on such issues as gay clergy could accept a lesser role.

“Some actions-and sacremental actions in particular-just do have the effect of putting a church outside or even across the central stream of the life they have shared with other churches”, he explained in a missive to the Anglican Communities 38 ironically named Primates-the leaders of the Church.

Me, I don’t see what the problem is, so long as a gay priest keeps his sexuality to himself. Though I can see how it might be a problem to some if a male priests male lover sits there making goo goo eyes at him through the service, or gets in a snit over a look another male parishioner gives the big boss man, or throws a hissy fit over some slight, real of imagined. Or if a gerbil suddenly comes scrambling out from under the priests robes. On the other hand, if it’s against official Church policy, there you have it-it is what it is. Yes, as you might have guessed, I think it’s funny.

So there you have it. And see, all this time you thought American Christians were all Bible thumping, hellfire and brimstone preaching, right wing social conservatives.

Thin As A Hog

Pagans have always been pig lovers, and pork eaters, one thing that always lead to our disdain amongst Jews and Muslims in the early days. The good thing about this story is, now we can hold our heads up high as lovers of the reviled swine. The bad news is, of course, we, along with Christians, will still be reviled by Jews and Muslims for at least this practice.

Still, there can be no doubt that the creation of a healthier cut of pork is welcome news, and this due to a special diet which farmers are encouraged to feed their pigs, and are actually paid a higher price to produce this leaner, healthier variety. In fact, not only is the trans fat and cholesterol content of this new breed of hog roughly the equivalent to that found in a skinless chicken breast, it has the added advantage of being higher in vitamins and minerals.

Of course, the reason for the ancient revulsion amongst Jews and Muslims for pigs has nothing to do with choleserol, the pig was just noted as an all around filthy animal, one that would, and will, eat anything. A story I heard once explains this quite aptly, dealing with a traditional German way of raising hogs.

They feed them corn. They shit out the corn. They eat their own shit, containing the corn. The corn is finally digested. You have a super fat, tasty, filling pork chop. Yes, you read all that correctly. They will not only eat their shit, they will wallow in it, as a means of keeping their bodies moist on hot days, due to an absence of sweat glands. Knowledgeable farmers therefore keep plenty of water availiable for their hogs, and feed them well, with what is commonly called “slop”, a vile concoction of field corn, with husks, apple cores, grains, and anything else imaginable that is biodegradble and non poisonous. They are not encouraged to eat their own or each others shit, though of course they still will do so given the opportunity, and the slightest hunger pangs.

So this, not some divine revelation as to the dangers of trichinosis, is the ultimate reason for the ancient Jewish revulsion for the meat of swines, especially considering that in these ancient days, pagans probably herded their swine the way we herd our cattle and sheep. Hence, the term “swineherd”. This condition enabled greater freedom for the pig, explaining the ability of the herd in the new testament to go bounding over a cliff into the ocean upon being possessed by the devils whom Christ exorcised into their bodues from that of the demon possessed man he cured.

Mostly, this made them easier to manage and to feed, as anything in their vicinity that died became food for them. By the same token, in some respects they may have been somewhat healthier than the tradfitionally raised American pig, in that this greater flexiility of movement helped lessen their cholesterol content, though at the same time trichinosis may have been even more of a problem, albeit an unknown one.

Now, of course, science may eventually breed the predisposition to trichinosis out of their systems within a few generations. This is great news altogether for us epicures, as I for my part generally love swine at least as much as chicken, and I absolutely despise skinless chicken, which is a violation of the civilization of the culinary arts, in my opinion.

Maybe they’ll even breed out of them the nasty inclination for eating shit. As long as they don’t do anything to ruin the taste though, that’s all that really matters to me.

Rush Limbaugh Makes It Harder

I never was a fan of Rush Limbaugh, and this has only a little to do with his political beliefs, actually when you get right down to it it has nothing to do with it. I just never really liked the man. He always struck me as arrogant. A better word would actually be pompous. He has always been, to me, a garden variety hypocrit who happens to be a brilliant marketer of ideas. That I will give him credit for, he sensed that the time was right to feed into the right wings dissilusionment with the political system and the media they felt, fairly or unfairly, preferred their opponents. He probably never honestly thought he would attain the degree of success that he has, but what he did was he moved far beyond the cottage industry and cult status he envisioned and into the stratosphere of broacasting success. He spawned a horde of imitators all in the span of ten years, and is still going strong.

But his life started to unravel when he was accussed of doctor shopping in order to feed a dangerous addiction to the highly addicitve pain killer Oxycontin. In one of the biggest ironies of the modern age, he was defended by the ACLU, who filed a firend of the court brief in order to ascertian the degree to which Limbaughs private patient information, his medical records, had been compromised by the prosecution by what they felt were overly zealous supporters of Limbaughs political rivals, and out and out enemies. They hated him and wanted revenge on Limbaugh, for just being Limbaugh.

His attorney, Roy Black, did an admirable job of arranging a deal whereby Limbaugh could be spared prosecution. But Limbaugh may have already violated the terms of his agreement by having in his possession a bottle of Viagra, that was not in his name. Come to find out, his doctor had prescribed the drug for the use of the treatment of erectile dysfunction, to himself, but for Limbaughs benefit, as a means of protecting Limbaughs privacy. A stupid move which insured that once Lmbaugh was searched at Palm Beach International Airport, and the bottle was found, the word would get out far and wide, even though this was evidently not a violation of Floida law. Still, Limbaugh is subject to specific terms. And so, had it been prescribed to him as it should have been, I would probably be typing a story right now about how hogs have been put on a special diet which makes their transfat, cholesterol, and other harmful content the same level as that of a skinless chicken breast.

But Limbaugh is taking the embarrassing situation as well as can be expected, laughing as he joked on his show that he wished he could tell his audience about the great time he had in the Dominican Republic. He also said that Customs officials didn’t believe him when he explained that he got the pills at the Clinton Library and were told they were blue M&Ms.

What he might have a harder time joking his way out of is how he has gone on record, on his own show, by criticising people that engage in sex to the extent of taking viagra, as an example of how we live in a “sex obsessed culture”.

Rush shoud really try some of that reduced fat pork, it might be better for his arteries.

Those Slutty Little Eight Year Old Girls

I’m hopeful that the latest news concerning the potential for a vaccine to prevent infection by a virus determined to cause cervical cancer in females will not be met with scorn by Rush Limbaugh as evidience of our “sex obsessed culture”, even though it is recommended that girls as young as eight receive these vaccinations.

No, Rush, this is unlikely to encourage little eight year old girls to go out and have sex. No, Rush, what ones might be inclined to have sex will not be discouraged if they aren’t allowed to have this vaccination. Yes, Rush, it might protect them if and when they do eventually get around to having sex, but no, giving it to them or not is not going ot have the slightest effects on the declining moral values of our society.

Take your viagra, Rush.

Bush Changes In Welfare Work Requirements

The Bush Administration has now provided guidelines for what qualifies as work for those now or in the future who might currently receive money or other aid from participation in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program-commonly known as “welfare”.

From now on, you can no longer qualify for this program simply by reading the “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” to fulfill the necessary work requirements. Nor does bed rest count as qualification, which apparently is used in some states as a medical excuse, one which is apparently abused. Nor will you be able to meet the work requirements simply by running errands for friends.

In other words, the Bush Administration is saying that a good many states are abusing their privileges in setting guidelines as to what qualifies as work, and there is evidently a wide range across the states. In many, caring for an invalid family member qualifies as work. In many it does not. The Bush Administration guidelines is supposed to provide a comprehensive synchronized set of requirements for all the states, which is probably a good thing.

There can be little doubt that welfare, though well intentioned when first conceived, quickly became a boondoggle as well as, possibly, a vote buying scheme. It got worse throughout the years, and became for a long time one of the Repulican Partys favorite whipping tools against the Democrats, along with “crime on the streets”.

Thanks to Bill Clinton and The Republican Congress, who fought tooth and nail with each other over the scope of the welfare reforms which both promised to enact (Clintons version for the most part won out, though this conflict temproarily was at least partially responsible for the infamous government shut down of 1995), the welfare rolls have now shrunk from the then 4.4 million families receiving government assistance to now less than 2 million families.

As part of the new guidelines, ten different categories of work will now be defined. This will include on-the-job training and unsubsidized employment, in addition to community service. As it stands now, the difference in work requirements that exist state to state make if difficult to determine which states do a better job of phasing recipients back into full time employment.

Any state that fails to meet these new guidelines risk lossing up to five per cent of their funding. It needs to be higher, but at least this is a good start. The threat of funding cuts is probably the best incentive to insure that workers will work their asses off to help people phase off welfare-as oppossed to keeping them on it forever.

The DeSegregation Of Jesse Jackson

Jesse Jackson is trying to organize a rally in Louisville over the still divisive issue of school desegregation, calling for a ten thousand person rally to “urge” the US Supreme Court to allow the local school district to use race in student assignment. He is afraid that otherwise black students would be concentrated in low income schools that often have fewer resources.

He is also worried that an adverse ruling of the court could affect years of civil rights progress. He feels that failing to consider race as a factor it would “set back a whole century of work”.

The challenge due before the Supreme Court is based on a Louisville mothers challenge to the districts racial assignment guidelines. Though the guidelines allow for some choice among schools, it seeks through these guidelines to keep black enrollment between fifteen and fifty percent at most schools. However, in the lawsuit, the mother copmplains that her son was denied entrance into his own neighborhood school based solely on the fact that he was white. If true, this is atrocous.

There are two ways to solve this problem. One, make sure all schools have the funds they need to ensure quality education, regardless of their location. The second one is obvious, and that is, in order to assure a minimum percentage of black students at all schools in such a way as not to limit the rights of white residents to attend their own neighborhood schools, there should be some method to expand these schools whenever possible to allow for the increase in the student body, when or where that becomes a factor.

And this can be all be paid for in part by the process of ending the atrocious policy of bussing students across the city. This is a drain on economic resources, to say nothing of energy resources. They and all schools should also look into the possibility of closing schools up during the coldest parts of the year, in adition to the hottest periods, as a further way to cut energy costs.

Black students could still attend white schools, and both they and white sutdents could be given extra credit for voluntarily attending schools in diverse neighborhoods. For the student bodies at large, this would probably improve school performance, and discipline. How many kids actually feel like putting a lot of effort into school when in a lot of cases they spend anywhere from two hours or more just waitng for and riding busses?

The Miami Seven

In the middle of onslaughts by the Left against various aspects of the “War on Terror”, such as revelations about the tracking of Americans overseas banking transactions as reported by The New York Times, and the just ultimately successful challenges to the legitimacy of Guantanamo Bay and, more to the point, the Bush Administrations prosecutions of terror suspects (The Supreme Court just announced by a vote of 5-3 that the Bush Administration has overstepped it’s legal bounds and advised it to follow Geneva Conventions guidelines) comes yet another assault on the legitimacy of a recent terror arrest involving seven suspects in the Miami area.

These suspects are accussed of seeking to initiate an affiliation with Al-Queda for the purpose of carrying through a plan to blow up the Sears Tower in Chicago, as well as FBI headquarters in Miami. The left is screaming “entrapment”. They might have a small point, though on the other hand, this has been an ongoing tactic of Federal prosecutors in it’s on-going war against organzed crime. Carlos Marcello, the former head of the oldest Mafia family in the United States, from New Orleans, was brought down in this fashion as long ago as the late seventies or early nineteen eighties, to the objections of no one outside his own legal defense paramaters.

Politicans as well have fallen prey to this brand of “entrapment”, such as the not so awful distant Boptrot scandals that nearly decimated the populaton of the Kentucky Legislature. This as well raised no serious eyebrows. Not even the near entrapment of Al Sharpton, videotaped attemtping to arrange for the purchase of cocaine, caused much of a stir when the information was released (he explained that he was conducting his own “undercover operation” into the drug trafficking in his area.).

Some of the Bush Administration opponents are crying foul and even characterizing the seven suspects as mentally challenged, and as mere “kids”. Actually, their ages range from 22 to 32, and their leader is a self-described self-employed father of four children of his own.

Some have pointed out that, as frequenters of a “Temple”, they are not Muslims, as Muslims frequent mosques, not temples. But actually, and incidentally, these seven practiced a Moorish form of Islam, called “Mohammedanism”, they do refer to their house of worship as a “Temple” (though the true Temple officials of their area have evidently disavowed their actions), and they claim as their holy scriptures and basis for their beliefs the Qu’ran.

Not that that matters. They haven’t been arrested on the grounds that they are Muslims-or Mohammedans. They were arrested on the grounds that they willingly plotted to blow up the Sears Tower, and sought the weapons and finances in order to accomplish this goal, a goal which their leader seems to have proposed to the undercover agent, who claimed to have been an Al-Queda operative.

As for the charge of “entrapment”, even that isn’t necessarilly factual. The investigation of this group of seven was initiated after some area residents complained that they were intimidated by the group, who maintained a private headquarters in a warehouse, where they conducted exercises of some sort. The investigators were really just following through on a complaint, and what seems to be neighborhood tips.

Even at this, it must be stated that these seven men are suspects, they have only been accussed, not yet convicted, and should be given, if only technically, a presumption of innocence. There is always the possibility that the investigators involved did step outside the parameters of their duties. But that will be, after all, for a court to decide.

Responsibility And Response

What started out as a ploy to gain the release of Palestinian women and children from Israeli jails has turned into an “Oh shit what the fuck have we done” moment. Now, the kidapped soldier has been offerred to be returned, evidently unharmed, to the Israeli governemnt, which refused to give in to the ill-advised Hamas extortion scheme, out of the obvious and understandable fear that this would only encourage more and ever greater scenarios.

As it stands now, the Hamas governemnt is about one third shy of Parliament members and cabinet officials, this great a number currently under arrest by the Israeli military, who are now once more occupying Gaza, and readying plans for more excursions into the West Bank if they feel the need. Or maybe if they don’t.

I found it insufferably hypcritical that a Hamas leader tonight demanded that Israel be held accountable by the world community for it’s illegal actions. In the meatime, two other Israeli citizens have been kidnapped and executed, in retaliation for the Israeli response.

Nor is even Syrian President Assad, a Hamas supporter, immune from the Israeli response, as Israeli fighter jets have flown over his palace. In typical Syrian braggadoccio fashion, the Syria state run television services have reported that the Israeli jets were “run off” from the area. Yeah, right.

My advice to the Palestinians, not that they asked, is as follows-return the Israeli soldier, alive and unharmed. The next time he is seen, it would be helpful to your cause if he had a great big smile on his face.

Otherwise, folks-this could be the big one.

Weapons Of Choice

Kofi Annan has recently attempted to reassure those who might feel they have reason to be suspicous of his motives, and that of the UN, that the organizations attempts to instigate an international ban on weapons sales is not aimed at limiting or ending the right of various countries citizens to bear arms according to their ownnational laws. No, he insists, it is merely an attempt to rein in illegal weapons trafficking, to keep them out of the hands of criminals, and is aimed primarily at intrnational trafficking. Well, if that was all it is, I could agree to that-maybe. But, as usual, I want to read the fine print.

For one thing, just what constitutes a criminal in the eyes of the UN. If the US were to become a signatory to this treaty, would I be obliged to hand in my firearms, no longer allowed to purchase one or the ammunition for them, if I were convicted of, say, sptting on the sidewalk. Or jaywalking. Or any kind of traffic violation of varying degrees of seriousness.

This is not an attempt at humor, I ask this in all seriousness. Remember, the main reason that marijuana will probably never be legal in this coutnry is due to the fact that, back in the 1930’s, or thereabouts, the US signed various treaties which, for all I know, are still in effect, and are legally binding, at least technically so. The brainchild behind this was the man who went on to become the founding director of the DEA, which went on to become what is arguably the most corrupt government agency in United States history.

In other words, international treaties are legally binding, for a variety of reasons, having mainly to do with trade and other aspects of international relations, and have long term ramifications that are not easily reversed. That is why US citizens should be very concerned at the prospect of this coutnry entering into any kind of international agreement that contains too many words to fit onto both sides of one postcard. After all, the main body of a treaty can often lead to other incidental, additional details, being overlooked. But these incidental details, though supposedly minor in nature, are every bit as legally binding as any other part.

Kentucky Needs FutureGen

There are twelve sites in seven states that are in the running for the site of the FutureGen plant, which, when completed, promises to utilize clean technology to produce clean electrical energy from coal. Kentucky is in the running for one of these sites, and has a lot to offer. Easy access to the Kentucky coal mines, in addition to access to transportation by way of the Ohio and Mississipp Rivers.

Despite this, Kentucly may be a long shot, as the tax incentives that it offers to lure the compay only amount to about 2.4 million dollars in tax incentives in addition to 215 acres of free land. Considerable- until you consider, that is, that Ohios incentive package could total as high as 160 million dollars.

It would be a shame for Kentucky to lose out on this deal, which amounts to a one billion dollar project. This is not some sweat shop factory that might employee fifty people for a few years while it wrecks the environment, pays no taxes, and reserves the best jobs for a few people whose families have “pull”.

This is a job whose incentives would pay for themselves in a few years, would add long term high paying quality jobs and provide economic revitalization to the state, in addition to cheap sources of clean energy. Kentucky may not be able to match the tax incentives packages of Ohio and some other states, but it might not need to, given it’s other benefits, which are sorely lacking in other areas.

It could also help Kentucky reestablish that proud tradition that it lost during the Civil War, and has never regained-it’s place of honor as a state of advancement of civilization, one of whose cities, Lexington, was once known as the “Athens of The West”. A chance to be the homeplace of a needed advancement in science and technology in the area of overall national energy independence deserves more than just a little over two million dollars and some free land.

Criminal Insanity

A number of things have become all too clear over the last few years concerning The Communities of Oakwood. a Pulaski County Kentucky based facilitie for the housing and care of the mentally handicapped. To reside there you have to be, of course, mentally retarded or similarly disabled.

To work there, you have to be a fucking sadist.

Just over the last few months, the following events have transpired:

• For his birthday, a resident was taken to a strip club in Lexington, after which he was encouraged to engage in sexual intercourse.
• On a scheduled and approved fishing trip, one resident was beaten when he resisted leaving at the appointed time.
• Just recently, one resident was beaten, at least twice, by at least three employees of the facility-with a broomstick.

And overall there have been numerous other similar allegations of abuse, both physical and mental, of such a serious nature that the facility has been sanctioned and fined, and placed on extended periods of probation. As a state accredited institution, it has been forced through a change of ownership, yet all evidently to no avail.

You have to wonder just what all else goes on there that hasn’t yet been made known, or if it ever will. How many deaths there can be possibly attibuted at least in part if not wholly to some for of abuse and/or neglect. I would imagine it would be substantial, and all this points to an obvious lack of supervision. The state of Kentucky should hold these people accountable with more than just words and empty threats. Failing that, the state of Kentucky itself should be held accountable. But if fines, probation, and change of ownership won’t change the situation, then what will? Should the federal governemnt step in? Would that be any better,or even as good? Or shoud lthe place just be shut down?

The obvious solution would be to pay to hire a better qualified, more extensively trained staff, and direct state supervision. To those who would point out this would increase the expense of running the palce, I would point out that the reusltant decrease in insurance fees, in addition to other austere cuts in unnecessary bureaucratic spending by way of streamlining, would go a long way towards making up the difference.

By the same token, the mentally handicapped don’t deserve to have to put up with this kind of treatment.

What Do You Want On Your Tombstone

I have an idea that may be controversial, and it may even seem unpatriotic, but if so, so be it. It is based on recent events involving the widow of one Patrick D. Steward, formerly of Nebraska, who was killed last year, on September 25, in Afghanistan, by a rocket propelled grenade. Stewart, a Sergeant, was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star and the Pruple Heart.

Yet, his widow, Roberta, has run into a problem with the Pentagon. They have refused to honor his and his widows wishes to put on his grave at Northern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetary, a pentacle, a symbol of his Wiccan faith. As of now, the widow has refused to allow the erection of even a temporary marker.

She has objected to the Pentagons politices to no avail though she has received support, both from the Americans United For The Seperation of Church And State, and from Christianity Today magazine. It has been turned into a politcal issue at the behest of Bush, who has gone on record as oppossing the recognition of Wicca as a legitimate religion, and by the typical hordes of right wing conservative religious fanatics who for now make up arguably the most influential base of the Republican Party (at least they are influential to Bush, and the Neo-Cons that surround him, when it is convenient for the latter-usually and especially around election time).

My response is simple, straightforward, and to the point. Any Wiccan or Pagan or military age should henceforth refuse to volunteer for military service. If they are already in the military, they should leave when their time of enlistment expires. In the meantime, it would be helpful if a substantial number of them could get together and issue a press release to the effect that all Wiccans and Pagans will be discouraged from joining any branch of the armed services until this issue is addressed, and decided completley in our favor. No compromises.

In the meantime, all Pagans and Wiccans who are parents of military age sons and daughters should issue a similar statement to the effect that, again, until this issue is resoved satisfacotrily, to us, they will strongly discourage any of their sons or daughters from joining any branch of the US military.

It may do precpous little good, but it will still make a statement on behalf of the substantial number of Pagans who have served, who are currently serving, and who have, like Sergeant Stewart, given their lives in the service of their country. If we’re good enough to risk life and limb to serve, then the least we can get in return is to have our basic constitutional rights, including Freedom of Religion, respected. If we can’t get that much, you can all-well, go to hell.

The original story on BeliefNet.com can be found in the link at the post title.