Bast Goes To Baltimore

A dialogue of sorts between Christians and a group that might very likely include some Pagans might have gone unnoticed by most, when the Northside Baptist Church of Baltimore agreed to allow the feeding of feral cats on property that it owns.

The cat advocates are of course not identified as pagans, and most of them are probably not, but I have a suspicion that at least some members of what has been described as a "trap and neuter program" are, and most certainly the mediator group between the two opposing forces in the debate, a national cat advocacy group known as Alley Cat Allies, based out of Bethesda, probably have a few pagans in their ranks as well.

It would be difficult not to sympathize with the church's problems, as described here-

Volunteers, part of a citywide trap-neuter-return program, have been feeding a colony of cats on the church's lot for two years. But a couple weeks ago, the church ordered the cat tenders to dismantle the feeding station. Church officials said the cats not only bother parishioners, they leave droppings all over their otherwise manicured lawn.

Thanks to the intervention of Alley Cat Allies, Northside Baptist has agreed to allow the other group to feed the cats, while Alley Cat Allies has promised to donate decorative stones for the church's flower garden, in addition to devices that will emit a high-pitched noise that will serve to drive cats back and away from more sensitive public areas.

In the meantime, it is worth noting that Baltimore has an estimated 185,000 feral cats. And probably very few rats and pigeons, at least in comparison to what they would have. So even feral cats are useful, for even if being fed, their natural instincts to hunt will lead them to continue to do so, even if they don't eat the slain carcasses. Cats, though, love the taste of hot blood.

Their hunting skills at leveling off rodent populations led to their worship in ancient Egypt, with their own patron goddess, Bast, probably the second most important feminine divinity in Egypt. Her center was in Bubastos. Her importance can not be overstated. After all, her charges very likely prevented famine on more than a few occasions. They were also popular as pets, and many families had their favorite cats mummified and entombed with them.

It is good to know that some Christians have learned the harsh lessons from the Middle Ages, when a superstitious fear of cats led to the attempt to exterminate them in an act that resulted in a horrific increase in the rat population, which in turn led to the bubonic plaque.

In honor of your cat, and it's value as a friend and companion, and possibly as a guardian against rodents and other pests, do not forget it this Lughnasadh. They are not that hard to please. A can of tuna, or the juice extracted from the can, will probably be the equivalent of a gourmet meal.

Hail Bast-

Ducati Streetfighter

Asatru Metal

Varg, German, Pagan/Black Metal band, Live at the yearly European Metal fest "Wolfszeit" in 2007.

Valhalla Rising

This is an Asatru event, I guess something of a Norse version of a Renaissance Fair, apparently, that I stumbled upon while searching YouTube. Actually looks fun. Well, in parts. The music kind of sets it off. This is just one of a big series of videos posted in a similar vein.

Beer Fest

So there you have it. The beer summit-

Barak Obama-Bud Lite.
Professor Gates-White Stripe (import from Jamaica).
Officer Crowley-Blue Moon, with a twist of orange.
Joe Biden-Some kind of non-alcoholic crap.

Well, nothing was cleared up in the way of race relations, nor did any teachable moments emerge. Two people pretty much agreed to disagree over what everybody else already pretty much knew was a load of shit. It was all really a rather silly, petty distraction.

On the other hand, one memorable thing did occur.

Barak Obama did the impossible.

The President of The United States managed to make the choice of Budweiser Lite seem pretentious as hell.

Holy Shit

Thanks to Kate of Ephemeral Thoughts for the following-

Taoism: Shit happens.
* Confucianism: Confucius say, “Shit happens.”
* Buddhism: If shit happens, it isn’t really shit.
* Zen Buddhism: Shit is, and is not.
* Zen Buddhism #2: What is the sound of shit happening?
* Hinduism: This shit has happened before.
* Islam: If shit happens, it is the will of Allah.
* Islam #2: If shit happens, kill the person responsible.
* Islam #3: If shit happens, blame Israel.
* Catholicism: If shit happens, you deserve it.
* Protestantism: Let shit happen to someone else.
* Presbyterian: This shit was bound to happen.
* Episcopalian: It’s not so bad if shit happens, as long as you serve the right wine with it.
* Methodist: It’s not so bad if shit happens, as long as you serve grape juice with it.
* Congregationalist: Shit that happens to one person is just as good as shit that happens to another.
* Unitarian: Shit that happens to one person is just as bad as shit that happens to another.
* Lutheran: If shit happens, don’t talk about it.

* Fundamentalism: If shit happens, you will go to hell, unless you are born again.
(Amen!)
* Fundamentalism #2: If shit happens to a televangelist, it’s okay.
* Fundamentalism #3: Shit must be born again.
* Judaism: Why does this shit always happen to us?
* Calvinism: Shit happens because you don’t work.
* Seventh Day Adventism: No shit shall happen on Saturday.
* Creationism: God made all shit.
* Secular Humanism: Shit evolves.
* Christian Science: When shit happens, don’t call a doctor – pray!
* Christian Science #2: Shit happening is all in your mind.
* Unitarianism: Come let us reason together about this shit.
* Quakers: Let us not fight over this shit.
* Utopianism: This shit does not stink.
* Darwinism: This shit was once food.
* Capitalism: That’s MY shit.
* Communism: It’s everybody’s shit.
* Feminism: Men are shit.
* Chauvinism: We may be shit, but you can’t live without us…
* Commercialism: Let’s package this shit.

* Impressionism: From a distance, shit looks like a garden.
* Idolism: Let’s bronze this shit.
* Existentialism: Shit doesn’t happen; shit IS.
* Existentialism #2: What is shit, anyway?
* Stoicism: This shit is good for me.
* Hedonism: There is nothing like a good shit happening!
* Mormonism: God sent us this shit.
* Mormonism #2: This shit is going to happen again.
* Wiccan: An it harm none, let shit happen.
* Scientology: If shit happens, see “Dianetics”, p.157.
* Jehovah’s Witnesses: >Knock< >Knock< Shit happens.
* Jehovah’s Witnesses #2: May we have a moment of your time to show you some of our shit?
* Jehovah’s Witnesses #3: Shit has been prophesied and is imminent; only the righteous shall survive its happening.
* Moonies: Only really happy shit happens.
* Hare Krishna: Shit happens, rama rama.
* Rastafarianism: Let’s smoke this shit!
* Zoroastrianism: Shit happens half on the time.

* Church of SubGenius: BoB shits.
* Practical: Deal with shit one day at a time.
* Agnostic: Shit might have happened; then again, maybe not.
* Agnostic #2: Did someone shit?
* Agnostic #3: What is this shit?
* Satanism: SNEPPAH TIHS.
* Atheism: What shit?
* Atheism #2: I can’t believe this shit!
* Nihilism: No shit.
* And of course we must add…Alcoholics Anonymous: Shit happens-one day at a time!

Bullshit Is Not Much Of A Policy And It's Damned Sure Not A Cure

People need to take a deep breath and relax. I know its hard to do, but there's some things that are just beyond the pale, even for politicians, and I am especially ashamed of Fred Thompson, who was actually my second choice for President during the last election cycle, behind Giuliani (and he actually quickly became my favored choice).

Yet, the nonsense being promoted by him and others, such as Rush Limbaugh, claiming that a new government medical policy would pressure senior citizens to opt to end their lives by denying themselves nutrition and hydration is just nuts. Never mind the idea that Democrats might or might not support such an idea. The plain fact of the matter is, it would be politically insane to promote such a policy, even behind the scenes in a small item buried in thousands of pages.

For another thing, no doctor or hospital would put up with that. In fact, not only would it be against the Hippocratic Oath, it would be going against their own financial best interests. It just doesn't make any sense.

There is one potential problem with senior care if the bill were to pass as is, but it revolves more around a one-size fits all approach to elderly care, especially regarding plans to establish government financed homes that would be staffed mostly by nurses. Of course, it might well turn into a bureaucratic nightmare, and probably would at the least be inefficient and expensive. But that's a far cry from an insane plot to knock off old people to save money. So unless there's something specific that might lead to such a policy, or encourage it in any way, conservatives need to tread lightly. There is such thing as political backlash. I would think they would not need me to remind them of such lessons they have already been taught numerous times just over the course of the last decade.

Besides, how bad can government run health care be? I have my own two ways of looking at it. Either it ends up pretty good, or with mixed results, in which case it can always be improved upon over time. Or, it can be a failure to one degree or another, in which case it can be revisited with a better set of policies once it contributes to a return to power of Republicans. But at least the groundwork is being set down, whatever the case.

I would prefer to see a system where doctors are relieved of their debts and insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies are not taxed, though still subjected to reasonable state regulations with federal oversight. Those things in itself would do more to reduce the cost of health care than anything currently on the table. As for reducing the level of bureaucracy that also adds to the expense, that would be a given. It would have to be reduced to make up the difference in lost tax revenue. Government would reform the medical system by getting out of it while expecting results. If the pharmaceutical and insurance companies, for example, don't keep prices low, or reasonable, there are always price-gouging and other such laws, and there can still be assistance for the disabled, elderly, and poor.

In fact, if businesses in general were not taxed, while all individuals were taxed at any equal rate-with no end of the year tax refunds for anyone-then over time the majority of our tax and economic problems would wither away, provided there was an understanding that minimum wage would have to be raised and certain regulations would have to remain in place, while certain others should be loosened or abandoned all together.

That is the kind of thing Republicans and conservatives need to promote. Leave the horror stories around the campfires and come back down to earth for a while.

HIV/AIDS Vaccine May Be Just Over The Horizon

Although you probably haven't heard much about it, if anything at all, we may be on the way to the development, finally, of a vaccine that might, depending on the results of the clinical trials now being conducted in South Africa, lead to the drastic reduction and hopefully the eventually elimination of HIV/AIDS. It's literally a matter of life and death for South Africa, the most infected country in all the developing world.

It doesn't take much more than a cursory glance at the article linked to discern the reason for this-politics, of course, which feeds on superstition and, more importantly, ignorance. For example, from the article-

South Africa launched clinical trials of the first Aids vaccine created by a developing country today, as its own scientists overcame deep skepticism from political leaders who had shocked the world with their unscientific pronouncements about the disease.

In the 1990s, South Africa's then-President Thabo Mbeki denied the link between HIV and Aids, and his health minister, Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, mistrusted conventional anti-Aids drugs and made the country a laughing stock trying to promote beets and lemon as Aids remedies.

I remember hearing once how AIDS and gay activists were responsible for the lack of research in the US for the creation of an HIV vaccine. They wanted the bulk of funding to go into finding cures, not something that would merely prevent the further spread of the disease. While this might be true to a point, it is worth pointing out that there might be yet another reason for the lack of vaccine research and development. That being, in order to conduct such a clinical trial, any person used in any experiment must risk actually becoming infected with the HIV virus in the event the tests are unsuccessful or have mixed results.

Yet, so dire are the circumstances now in South Africa, there seems to be no choice, nor lack of willing subjects where hundreds of people are infected daily, and an almost equal number succumb from the ravages of the disease-or more accurately, any of a number of those diseases the victim's immune system can no longer ward off.

At a ceremony in Cape Town's Crossroads shantytown, one of the first of 36 healthy volunteers was injected today before officials and journalists.

I suppose somebody somewhere decided they had better proceed with the trials while there were still a sufficient number of uninfected individuals upon whom to test the vaccine. Clinical trials are also currently being conducted in Boston.

American health officials manufactured the vaccine at the U.S. National Institutes of Health and have given further technical help and assistance to the South African researchers. Here's hoping the first fruits of these much needed clinical trials bear worthwhile fruit.

The Homecoming

Kaitee Page And Elyse Haran-A Drunken Revelry Of Music

This will be my last post until my Lughnasadh Sabbat posts on or near August 2nd. Until then, I hope you enjoy this video by one of my YouTube friends, Kaitee Page of the band Lunic. Check out her MySpace page and YouTube page.

In this video, she teams up with one of her friends, Elyse Haran of Elyse And The Aftermaths, who also has her own YouTube page.

It's not a show, it's just two friends jamming to Alanis Morissette's Joining You. The two of them were both drunk and obviously having a great time. I think this was actually recorded in somebody's bathroom. Regardless, it's very good, until a series of mishaps leads to the session pretty much falling apart. Quite funny. By the way, Kaitee is the one singing and playing violin.

Sarah Palin-The Truth

Well, by God that proves it. Shameless hussy Sarah Palin had the unmitigated gall to wear an Arctic Cat coat during a recent snowmobile race, knowing full well Arctic Cat was the sponsor of husband Todd's snowmobile team. Or something like that. I guess its a good thing they finally managed to run her out of office. Had such corruption been allowed to proceed unhindered, who knows how far she would have gone? Thankfully, somebody had the guts to file an ethics complaint about this outrage.

In fact, various people filed a total of nineteen ethics complaints, which according to Alaska state law had to be investigated by an independent investigator appointed by the governor in order to avoid any appearance of conflict of interest. Naturally, this necessitated enough court time and expense to the state that it threatened to keep legitimate government business perpetually bogged down. There was no end in sight to the frivolous charges and filings.

Naturally, none of the Palins critics, such as Frank Lupica in this hit piece in the New York Daily News, bothers to point out that fact when they talk about her recent resignation from the governor's office. The real irony is that it was Sarah Palin who, in one of her first acts as governor, signed a law which made it easier to file such ethics complaints. It was one of her signature issues, and a weapon which she wielded to great effect against her own party.

This was only one among many things that endeared her to the vast majority of Alaskan voters and helped lead to her choice as the running mate of much harried GOP presidential candidate John McCain, whose campaign by the time of the Republican National Convention was practically on life support, and sinking fast. For an all too brief time, until the financial meltdown, Palin breathed new life into his hopeless campaign.

John McCain was beaten by John McCain, of that you should make no mistake. Even at that, Palin came close to dragging the decrepit old bastard across the finish line on top, but it was just not meant to be. Even the most hardy of us can only drag so much dead weight for so long.

And it is worth noting that, since the election, the criticisms of Palin have continued almost non-stop. McCain is almost forgotten. Palin lives on in the fevered nightmares of every Democratic politician and strategist who fears her fund-raising ability and endorsement value, now that Obama's numbers are slipping dangerously toward negative territories.

But just who are these people who hate Palin so much they are willing to do anything possible to sabotage any potential she might have to achieve higher office or exert any degree of national influence?

You might be surprised to learn that a good many of them are Republicans, such as Andree MacLeod. The following snippet from a CNN report should be illuminative-

Although the governor and her supporters have criticized the investigations, Andree McLeod, who has filed four complaints against Palin, thinks they are entirely appropriate.

"I don't really care what other people think. I am holding the governor accountable. Other people's ignorance is not going to stymie me," McLeod told CNN, surrounded by stacks of state documents she has collected from filing information requests and ethics complaints.

"I am exercising my right to get these public records to discover what Sarah Palin is up to," McLeod said.

McLeod, a registered Republican, has filed four complaints, including one alleging a friend of Palin's was given preferential treatment in getting a state job. That filing was dismissed by a state board which investigates the claims.

McLeod has also filed two lawsuits, including one regarding whether it was appropriate for state business to be discussed using private e-mail addresses.

When ethics complaints are filed against the governor or her staff, the state has to hire an independent counsel to investigate the claims to avoid conflict of interest.

That an influential Republican of Alaska might be behind so many frivolous, expensive, time consuming ethics complaints might come as a surprise to outsiders, but of course it will come as no great shock to anyone who has the slightest familiarity with Palin's record as Governor of Alaska or as a candidate for the office.

The following, taken from the Alaska Dispatch, shines much light on Palin's relationship with her own party-

In early 2003, in a move reminiscent of a Greek tragedy, Murkowski paired Palin and Randy Ruedrich on the state's Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, an agency that oversees state energy industries.

Ruedrich was then, as now, the head of the state Republican Party, although he also holds a Ph.D. in engineering and has been involved in the oil and gas industry for 30 years. Besides running for lieutenant governor, Palin had been a Wasilla councilwoman for one term and Wasilla's mayor for two, and already was regarded as a rising star in the Republican Party of Alaska. She had the looks - the Frontiersman, her hometown paper, once called her "the most beauteous mayor in the world" - as well as the right conservative politics and religious convictions, and she'd campaigned hard for Frank Murkowski when he ran for governor. So she was loyal, apparently, and she'd be serving in a relatively low-profile position on the commission.

At least, that seems to have been the plan.

But in 2004, Palin ended up busting Ruedrich for conducting party business on state time, and for leaking a confidential memo to a lobbyist for one of the energy companies he was supposed to regulate. It was a big shiner for Murkowski's administration, one that still hasn't healed, and at the same time it cemented Palin's reputation as a squeaky-clean reformer.

A reformer who advocated for and signed into law the bill that would lead to her own downfall, it seems, with the moderate wing of her party more than happy to nail her to the cross. They have had plenty of eager and willing help, to be sure, but from whom?

Well, Democrats, of course, but that's just too simplistic. It's even too simplistic to point fingers at "The Left" or to the "Liberal Wing" (the flapping one) of the Democratic Party. The usual suspects of course have had their influence. The radical feminists, the Pro-Abortion advocates, gay activists, the anti-Second Amendment crowd, and of course anyone who looks with alarm at Palin and her expressed devotion to fundamentalist Christianity, have all joined in the chorus of condemnation, but I hold that the main ring-leaders of the virtually non-stop assault on Palin has been spearheaded, by and large, by environmental activists, concerned about her record and positions regarding Arctic drilling and her views on Global Warming. The above link details the following, from a post published in the environmental publication Grist-

Grist reports that Alaska Governor Sarah Palin strongly opposes the Alaskan gas tax, threw money at Alaskans to quiet their concerns over rising energy costs, and "recently sued the Interior Department over its decision to list the polar bear as a threatened species."

Ah,but here is another irony, in a press release from the Pew Report on Climate Change.


On September 14, 2007, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin signed Administrative Order 238, establishing the Climate Change Sub-Cabinet. The sub-cabinet will consolidate the state’s knowledge of climate change in order to recommend policies and measures to guide the state’s mitigation and adaptation efforts. It includes the commissioners of the Departments of Commerce, Community and Economic Development; Natural Resources; Fish and Game; Transportation and Public Facilities; and Environmental Conservation (Chair). The Administrative Order also directs the group to consult with the president of the University of Alaska and explore ways to promote development of renewable energy sources such as geothermal, wind, hydroelectric, and tidal resources. Governor also signed a letter adding Alaska as an observer to the Western Climate Initiative.

Is it possible that they feared that Palin's stance as what they might consider a moderate, hence technically a lukewarm, supporter of renewable energy and adaptation to climate change might in the long run make her a more dangerous foe than someone who was outwardly opposed? After all, this was a woman who expressed a belief in climate change, and the need to pursue policies to deal with it, while at the same time advocating for drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the construction of a natural gas pipeline from the North Slope, and other measures which might over time be difficult to resist. Oh, and of course she shot wolves and bears from helicopters in what was an admittedly non-politic way to encourage and promote a reduction an overabundance of these wild populations.

Every other complaint leveled against Palin has been almost as frivolous as the for the most part unbelievably stupid ethics charges filed against her. She is a Christian, she is Pro-Life, she is against gay marriage (supposedly), she wants to force a right-wing Christian agenda on the nation (she does not). Oh, and of course, that old chestnut that has been leveled against every nationally known Republican of note and influence since the days of Eisenhower-she is stupid. Yet, somehow, she is at the same time not only some kind of far-right wing radical, but an incredibly devious and manipulative one to boot.

Doesn't that all seem contradictory? It does to me, even more so than the idea of radical Alaskan and nationally based environmentalist wackos joining forces with RINO Republicans. But then again, that's not really a contradiction when you know the whole story. Remember, John McCain was an early and vociferous proponent, at the time of the election, of the Cap-And-Trade policies of the radical environmental activists, and his selection of Palin was as much as anything an attempt to heal the fracture within his party that was caused by his position on this issue, among others. McCain, in his delusion, simply forgot to ask the permission or the input of the oil companies and other big business enterprises who support cap-and-trade, not only because they see the hand-writing on the wall and hope to cut their losses, but even more importantly, because they have so much to gain in the way of a leg up on those competitors who might not be in as good a position to take the hit to their bottom line that such a policy might bring.

When you stop to look at the real under-handed, back-stabbing deviousness that passed these days for power politics in America, it is astounding that so many people are taken in by such relatively trivial issues as a person's religious beliefs, or their views on such a relatively inconsequential issue like abortion.

But that's just the world we live in-a world that needs all the Sarah Palins it can find. Don't count her out just yet.

The Orphan-Just One Evil Little Bitch

Recent criticisms of the horror movie The Orphan are for the most part, let us say, out of all proportion to the films artistic merits. In fact, they have little, if anything whatsoever, to do with the film's artistic merits, regrettably, and almost everything to do with sociological matters which are wholly irrelevant.

Anymore, if you find a film objectionable, take heart. All you have to do is search through Twitter and there’s a chance you will find any number of people who share your views, and will go all out to do their part to insure the movie in question crashes and burns on its opening weekend. One case in point is the recent Sasha Baron Cohen film “Bruno”, which was roundly trashed on Twitter, so much to the point that it might have been the main factor behind the film’s dismal showing. Its first night garnered sixteen million dollars. Based in no small measure on what is probably the first unholy alliance between the Christian Right and gay activists, the following night’s take plunged to less than half of that.

Is this a portent of things to come? We might soon learn, depending on the overall performance of the latest offering in the evil child/bad seed horror genre, The Orphan.

The first half of the film is a psychological thriller. From there, the second half veers into what some might regard as a typical slasher flick. Some have complained about the movie’s length, clocking in just at two hours. Others have complained about too great a reliance on the standard horror film clichés that have become almost trite-the running up the stairs, the sudden apparition of evil in the closing medicine cabinet mirror, the suddenly ominous soundtrack that leads to absolutely nothing but dashed expectations, etc.

Moreover, of course, some have complained about the so-called gratuitous violence and, especially, the role of the title character itself, some pointing out that the level of violence and language exhibited by a character portrayed by a preteen child might even rise to the level of child abuse.

Mainly, however, the vast majority of the complaints center not on these, many of which are valid enough criticisms of the film on its artistic merits, but on the idea that this film is exploitative not only of little Miss Fuhrman and the other child stars, but of the whole idea of child adoption. Some adoption advocates have even called for a boycott. In a seeming effort to take up their cause, a film critic for the Washington Post has written what amounts to about one half of one percent film review, while the bulk of the hit piece is basically an editorial about the sociological implications of the film, which she calls a “piece of filth”.

A more balanced review (among many others) is posted by Kurt Loder on MTV, and I am happy to note that in the latest MTV on-line poll, the majority favor the prospect of seeing “Esther” over the other weekend offerings, The Orphan drawing well over fifty percent of the vote. This might well be a case of backlash against what many with not a little merit feel to be an unfair propaganda campaign run by yet another would-be entitled special interest group-adoption advocates.

A good gauge of the films actual impact and worth might well be the IMBD comments to the review itself. Out of a considerable number of posts, the vast majority seem to like the film to one degree or another. I never read one in fact that described it as a bad film.


Esther, the title character played by eleven year-old (at time of filming) actress Isabella Fuhrman, is one evil little bitch, but she somehow manages to worm her way into the hearts of adoptive parents John and Kate, despite the suspicions of the couple’s older son, who advises them at one point that they should send Esther “back to retard camp”. Before long, a box-cutter held strategically to his genitals convinces the suspicious little boy to put his dislike of his newly adopted sister in perspective.

Before long, though, other things happen, including the near murder of a neighbor’s child, which induces Kate to start viewing Esther with a great and growing deal of alarm. One wonders well before this point why alarm bells did not go off upon learning that Esther was the lone survivor of a house fire that destroyed her previous adoptive family. On the other hand, Esther, in addition to being a prodigy, is a charming little devil, not at all the way she appears in the film’s trailers (at least not at first). She has John suckered in a big way, to the point he is blind to the obvious and growing signs that, indeed, something might be wrong with Esther.

Eventually, in fact, Esther, the charming little psychopath, makes an attempt to seduce her very adult albeit naive adopted father, who has previously had a tendency to stray from the confines of his marriage, especially following the stillbirth of the couple’s last child. This in fact is the event, portrayed at the movie’s beginning in a horribly grotesque and bloody dream sequence, which leads to Esther’s adoption. Due to Kate’s tendencies to engage in alcoholic binges, John blames her for the miscarriage, just as he blames her for the accident that lead to the near-deafness and muteness of their daughter Alex, due to an accident on a frozen pond that occurred while Kate lay passed out drunk.

John and Kate is in fact a delightfully dysfunctional couple, and they play their roles to the hilt, as do the film’s child stars. Another treat for fans of the old FX television series The Shield will be the appearance of an old friend, CCH Pounder, in the role of the nun who runs the orphanage from where our hopeful couple meets and adopts Esther.

Finally, while it is true that this at first glance seems to be a typical standard evil child movie, this film has a twist that should be so unexpected, it would leave you stunned, breathless and, yes, even horrified. Unfortunately, it is easy enough to find out what the plot twist is merely by browsing the internet. It is so devious, so calculatingly cunning and diabolical, it is all I can do to keep from shouting it out in bold all caps, but I will restrain myself.

I advise you to similarly restrain yourself from reading any spoilers and just go see the damn film. The character development and the acting (especially from Isabella Fuhrman as Esther) are on their own reason enough to see this film, but if you positively have to have a clue as to what the surprise twist of the film is, I will give you one hint, and one hint only.

There is a very good reason why no one can find any records pertaining to Esther’s birth and origins.

That’s all I can say, though I will add one observation for the sake of those adoption advocates who seem determined to read something into this film that just isn't there-that Esther, at least on some deep, subconscious, symbolic level, is somehow representative of your average adopted child. If you do happen to stumble across a prospective adoptive couple who might be swayed against child adoption by the subject matter of this film, I would advise you to refer them to a good animal shelter.

The Professor Henry Louis Gates Drinking Game

Just chug one down whenever you hear any of the following over the next few days, or weeks.

* We need to have a national dialogue on race relations
* We have come a long way in addressing the problem of racial prejudice, but we still have a long way to go
* There is still a lot of residual racism in this country

Feel free to chug-a-lug three anytime you hear this gem, my favorite one of all-

*It's time for all Americans to work together to put the specter of racism behind us.

Continue throughout the coming weekend and beyond. The object of the game is simple-

Get so ripping, roaring, falling down dog-ass drunk that eventually, whenever somebody spouts any of the above, you tell them-

SHUT THE FUCK UP!!

In the meantime, a tip of the mug to Professor Henry Louis Gates, the Harvard Professor who got the game going. I am almost sure it was not an accident. Him being such a close friend of the President and all, and probably frustrated at Obama's lack of addressing his pet peeve the way he thinks he should, I would almost bet he and his neighbor friend started this shit on purpose. Too bad for Gates and Obama he picked on the wrong stupid cop.

UPDATE: Professor Gates has cordially agreed to join in the drinking game. He said that he will have that beer with President Obama and Officer Crowley at the White House, adding-get ready for it now-

"I am pleased that he, too, is eager to use my experience as a teaching moment, and if meeting Sgt. Crowley for a beer with the president will further that end, then I would be happy to oblige," Gates said in a statement on TheRoot.com, an Internet newsletter he edits.

Gates said he hoped his arrest would help reduce racial profiling by law enforcement agencies.

CHUG-A-LUG-A-LUG-A-LUG-A-LUG-A-LUG-GURGLE

Yep, Professor Gates wants to get me smashed. Do these people have no sense of irony? On the other hand, they did have enough sense to wait until between seasons of Saturday Night Live to get this shit started. John Stewart doesn't do sketch comedy, does he?

I'm sorry, but there were just far too few prematurely exploding homemade bombs during the sixties.

Fun With Yahoo Answers

Yes, it's time once again to troll Yahoo Answers, this time with the following gem-

If me and my friends have sex with a woman after one of us drugs her are we all guilty of gang rape?

Okay here's the deal. Me and my best buddy I'll call him Chuck we got with some friends and went to a bar and picked up this girl. Okay now she was smokin hawt and she seemed eager and willing and high so we all had a go at her. I didn't find out til later that one of us had drugged her. I don't even know what it was but I noticed the second time I had a go at her she was really out of it. Now I'm really worried and would appreciate some advice. One of the guys turns out was her uncle though so I guess if she starts some **** at least we got that much on her. She was all over his *** before she really got out of it.

I have an idea I'm going to be catching a lot of hell here.

Just Another Day

I don't know why this never occurred to me before, but the Chappaquiddick Incident happened roughly halfway through the journey of Apollo 11 to the moon, where two days later Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin would be the first two humans to ever set foot upon it.

What is particularly ironic about all that is that it is Kennedy's late brother President John F. Kennedy who usually gets the credit for pushing the space program and setting as a goal the moon landing which would indeed take place within a decade of Kennedy's pronouncement to that effect.

And, although I don't put much stock in it, and in fact put it down to a problem with oxygen deprivation to the brain, Aldrin would later state that he saw a UFO sometime during the journey.

We may be going through the fortieth year anniversary of one of the pivotal times in mankind's history. Arguably mankind's ultimate achievement to date ran parallel to one of the darkest examples of the depths of human depravity to which a man could sink. Both of them without a doubt set the future course of American and world history. Three men at considerable risk to their lives achieved a dream millions had only imagined and billions never dared hope possible. One man displayed the ultimate craven contempt for his fellow man and so cost an innocent person her life and yet, in a brazen act of cowardly self-preservation, exhibited concern for nothing more than the protection of his political aspirations.

Ever since mankind rose out of the jungles and swamps and evolved to his current human form, he has tried to rise from the muck and the mud all the while being drawn and driven back towards it. In the meantime, during some point in time that counts as the morning on a strangely beautiful and faraway world, the earth will rise again, as always.

Band-Aids, Placebos, And Snake-Oil Politicians

Sure, something has to be done about health care. Agreed, it is a national problem, and indeed a disgrace. The question remains, what and how-and of course at what cost.

I find it interesting that, forty years after the Chappaquiddick Incident that derailed the presidential aspirations of Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, Kennedy penned a rather long and thoughtful, though arduous and yet somewhat simplistic article in the latest edition of Newsweek.

It is rather telling to peruse the comments section of the article. I know it can not be considered a scientific sampling of American public opinion on the issue, but at the same time, it bears mention that you practically need a divining rod to ferret out those who actually support the current proposal making its way through Congress. At last check, it was probably going about ten-to-one AGAINST.

I was very surprised at this, because I assumed Newsweek's readers to make up close to an accurate measurement of the political landscape in terms of percentages. If anything, I would guess their readership would be skewered more toward left-of-center. Nor is it very likely that this is a case of a concerted effort by far-right wingers to purposely skewer the discussion to their favor. Out of all the many comments that I perused-and they were a considerable number-only one mentioned the Kopechne case. That in itself is amazing seeing as to the timing of Kennedy's article, in which he waxes somewhat eloquently about the health problems of himself and various family members, and how this supposedly inspired him to work tirelessly on behalf of poorer families who could not afford the health care or insurance he himself enjoyed.

He goes out of his way to paint himself as a man willing to work with both sides of the debate to come to an accord, while admitting that no one will get everything they want.

Well, evidently not too many people want what Kennedy is selling, and they are getting more and more vocal about it. Will it be enough to derail the legislation? Probably not entirely. I am almost sure there will be some kind of bill, though it will undoubtedly be pared down considerably.

Note I said almost sure. When the governors of the states balk at your plan, you have the makings of a serious potential states rights revolt, with not a few Democrats joining in the fray opposed to any possibility of any more unfunded mandates, such as No Child Left Behind, another signature Teddy Kennedy "achievement".

It Was Forty Years Ago Today

Reprinted from the long ago, appearing originally in The National Lampoon, and gleefully stolen from Lemuel Calhoun of Hillbilly White Trash, the Pagan Temple is now proud to present a timeless work of art for your viewing pleasure, spiritual edification, and mirth-

In my opinion, Teddy never really killed this girl. If the truth was known, he probably attempted to rape her-and might have succeeded-after which the enraged Kopechne pushed him to the ground or possibly hit him. This would explain the one injury Kennedy sustained to his head in the aftermath of the Chappaquiddick affair. Kopechne then jumped into Kennedy's car, where the keys still rested in the ignition. The car was probably still running when she shot out away from the scene, and into eternity. Kennedy might not even have been aware that she ended up accidentally driving off the bridge into the tidal pond of Chappaquiddick.

Nevertheless, a worried Kennedy frantically contacted his friends and made several phone calls in a vain attempt to seek advice on how to protect himself and his political career from what he believed was a sure to come charge of attempted rape, or actual rape. Once they realized what really happened, they had to come up with as good an explanation as they could conceivably dream up on short notice.

The rest is now history, and Teddy Kennedy is forever more stuck with the story he gave, on pain of perjury.

Couldn't happen to a more deserving piece of shit. As for Kopechne, the irony is that even though she was probably every bit as much of a liberal as Kennedy, she is probably single-handedly responsible for the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980, and some would argue the saving of the nation.

Thanks to her, when Kennedy ran against Carter in the Democratic primaries in 1980, all he managed to accomplish was to split the Democratic Party, which as much as any other single factor led to Reagan's election. Had it not been for the wraith of Mary Jo Kopechne and it's presence throughout the primaries and convention, the result might have been somewhat different. In fact, if not for her, it might have been Teddy running for re-election that year.

No wonder the Left goes bat-shit crazy whenever the incident is brought up.

Sometimes the tree of liberty must needs by watered by the blood of patriots. Sometimes all it takes is the life of naive idealist who got in just a little bit over her head with somebody that was maybe nothing but a fucking creep.

The Dream That Should Die With The Dreamer

A one world government perversion of the Federalist philosophy of our Founding Fathers as enunciated by the late Walter Cronkite, who in this YouTube video clip pronounces his fealty to Alexander Hamilton and to Satan, and is then honored by then First Lady Hillary Clinton.

A Million Dollar Mistake

What kind of chump pays over a million dollars to build a home, and ends up building it not on his property, but city property. Luckily he managed to make a land trade to the city of Baltimore, but at the loss of one acre. Plus, he has to pay back rent. Dumb. Dumb dumb dumb.

Democratic Appointed Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Puts On A Happy Face

Here are the recent words of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, uttered in the course of an interview.

Q: Are you talking about the distances women have to travel because in parts of the country, abortion is essentially unavailable, because there are so few doctors and clinics that do the procedure? And also, the lack of Medicaid for abortions for poor women?

JUSTICE GINSBURG: Yes, the ruling about that surprised me. [Harris v. McRae—in 1980 the court upheld the Hyde Amendment, which forbids the use of Medicaid for abortions.] Frankly I had thought that at the time Roe was decided, there was concern about population growth and particularly growth in populations that we don't want to have too many of. So that Roe was going to be then set up for Medicaid funding for abortion....

Many on the left are defending Ginsburg on the grounds that she wasn't giving her own feelings, but what she assumed was the feelings of many others involved in the debate at the time the particular case in question was decided.

Naturally, Jonah Goldberg takes exception, and points out the long history of progressive support for the eugenics movement, from Margaret Sanger and Oliver Wendell Holmes (a former Supreme Court Justice, appointed by President Woodrow Wilson), and myriads of others.

It might surprise many to read that, even though I agree with Jonah Goldberg's assessment as to Ginsburg's true intent-she meant what she said, in other words-it is my intention to actually come to Miss Ginsburg's defense.

Yes, of course many if not most who believe in abortion rights do so as a means of controlling the populations of those they would prefer there not be so many of. And, so do I.

In fact, the great master plan, set in motion years ago by the great trickster gods of the universe rolls full steam ahead as we speak. Not a year goes by that tens of thousands of leftists, Democrats, and Republican RINOs take part in the plot that, if allowed to continue as it should, will lessen their numbers within the great human family. Seeing as how fully two thirds, at the very least, of babies that are aborted in the womb would otherwise over time come eventually to adopt the political beliefs of the parents that aborted them, I can only imagine the gods sigh with relief every time the procedure is performed.

As such, I call on the Republican Party and other conservatives to drop their opposition to the policy of abortion, though I certainly understand and to an extent sympathize with certain aspects of their opposition, such as federal funding of abortions, and any move towards a federal, one-size fits all rule that would allow abortions throughout all states, with no limitations as to the type or when during the pregnancy they are performed.

Look at it this way though. The more and more abortions that are performed on a yearly basis, then the more time goes by, as if by magic, the less and less will be performed, for the simple fact there will be less and less people born likely to take part in such a procedure, unless there is of course valid reasons to do so.

Before you know, abortion as a form of birth control will be a rarity-an extreme rarity.

As for you Democrats, Leftists, Greens, and others who are so determined to maintain your rights to butcher your progeny while they are still residing within the wombs of your women, I say to you-take heart. In this endeavor, you will always have my wholehearted support.

So much to the point that, if the Republicans should ever be successful in their long term stated goals to end the procedure, I will do everything I can to help you. Just let me know, and whatever you need-bicycle spokes, rusty coat hangers, quining, turpentine, you name it-I will do my utmost to see that you acquire whatever you need, unhindered and unmolested.

On this, you have my solemn vow. And as a true blue pagan that wants to see the world become a better place, regardless of what it takes to achieve that goal, you know that means something.