Strange Priorities

A few months ago, I posted (twice) about a school in Kentucky where the district had no problem with the football coach taking the kids, sans permission slips, to a Baptist revival, but required a signed note from mom and dad to watch President Barrack Obama tell the kids to work hard and stay in school.  Wait.  It gets worse (from The Political Carnival):

I Guess I’m Still Un-American

I am an unabashed liberal.  A progressive. I accept that federal, state, county and local governments can, and most often are, a social positive which can make the world a better place.   According to Bachmann, Beck, Limbaugh, et al., this means that I am not an American.  I don’t like paying taxes, but, when I look around at the benefits I receive, I am seriously under-taxed.

Part of that is that I see that actual connection between adequate funding and government services.  Some don’t.

A Magnifying Glass, a Sunny Day, and an Anthill

Some years back, I went on vacation (with the (((family))), of course) to Yellowstone (same destination described in a much earlier post, but a different year (and without the providential porta-potty))  On the first day, we drove to Janesville, Wisconsin and let the kids enjoy the fantastic city parks there.  Second day, we drove to Bismark, North Dakota.

As we passed through eastern North Dakota, the brilliant blue sky gave way to dark clouds.  And some really impressive thunder heads.  Coming over the high ground to the east of Bismark, we spotted some funnel clouds on the horizon.  We tuned in to the radio and listened to all the warnings.  And kept going into town.

Carnival of the Godless

Carnival of the Godless Number 129 is up at the Nonreligious Nerd.

Heterodoxy, Orthodoxy, Heresy and the GOP

Orthodoxy, heresy and heterodoxy, the idea that belief in certain things (as opposed to performing the correct ceremonies), pervades the ten thousand or so Christianities of the world.  For the most part, each sect teaches (and is taught) that they, and only they, have the one correct answer to life, the universe and everything.  Whether the unity of the trinity (or the trinity of the unity), the omnipresence of the holy spirit, whatever.  It sometimes seems that the smaller the disagreement, the bigger the verbal battle.

Happy Halloween

When I lived in Arizona, I loved Halloween.  We had small classes (I think that we had about 16 kids in my class) and, every year, it became a competition for the weirdest, most outlandish costumes.  Space aliens, zombies, train wreck victims, you name it.  Very few of the ‘plastic mask and plastic poncho’ cheapo costumes.  And, in a small town, trick-or-treating was really safe.  We could hit every house in the town.  Twice (one year my pals and I had two costumes).

Then we moved back to Maryland.  To the northern end of the Bible Belt.  To social conservative central.  To culture shock.

I’m Back

Hi, ya’ll.  Sorry for my absence.  I really thought that I would recover much more quickly from pneumonia.  I was wrong.  I really don’t think I’ve been this sick since I had mumps while in college (I went to the college health clinic, they told me I did not  have mumps;  two weeks later, an epidemic of mumps was sweeping the school).  Anyway, I’m ba-ack.

Hello, I am still here.

Really.  I am.  I have viral pneumonia brought about by a bout of the flu (?) or my fall mold-spore allergies (no, I take that back — that would be bacterial pneumonia which I do not have (so it would be influenza / rhinovirus related).  I am exhausted (and heavily medicated) and will respond when I am able.

Carry on.

Or carrion.

Take your pick.

A Few Pet Peeves

(((Wife))) has decided that, should we ever be stupid enough to acquire yet another pet (most likely a cat), the new pet would be named Peeves.  Here are a few random pet peeves of mine (all through personal experience):

More Mail: AFA Fundraising

More mail.  And this one came from an email farm server in Phoenix, so I can’t even blame anyone.  Actually, I can.  I blame myself for putting my email address out there on my blog.

Anyway, I got this in the email today and, well, shit.  Read it: