01/20/09 12:58 - 15ºF - ID#47460
What I learned from the inauguration
2) Aretha Franklin still has it and she isn't ever going to let it go
3) Rick Warren has such a gay beard, and I am not talking about his wife.
4) I now know why so many people like Rick Warren: he is an idiot
5) Poetry can still alienate, uninspre, and take far too much time.
6) John Williams, please stop. Just. Please.
7) Obama made the first shout out to atheists at an inauguration.
8) Jospeph Lowery's benediction was so good even non-believers gotta shout "amen!".
Permalink: What_I_learned_from_the_inauguration.html
Words: 93
Location: Buffalo, NY
01/18/09 08:52 - 20ºF - ID#47442
let America be America Again
Let America be America again.
Let it be the dream it used to be.
Let it be the pioneer on the plain
Seeking a home where he himself is free.
(America never was America to me.)
Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed--
Let it be that great strong land of love
Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme
That any man be crushed by one above.
(It never was America to me.)
O, let my land be a land where Liberty
Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath,
But opportunity is real, and life is free,
Equality is in the air we breathe.
(There's never been equality for me,
Nor freedom in this "homeland of the free.")
Say, who are you that mumbles in the dark?
And who are you that draws your veil across the stars?
I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart,
I am the Negro bearing slavery's scars.
I am the red man driven from the land,
I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek--
And finding only the same old stupid plan
Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak.
I am the young man, full of strength and hope,
Tangled in that ancient endless chain
Of profit, power, gain, of grab the land!
Of grab the gold! Of grab the ways of satisfying need!
Of work the men! Of take the pay!
Of owning everything for one's own greed!
I am the farmer, bondsman to the soil.
I am the worker sold to the machine.
I am the Negro, servant to you all.
I am the people, humble, hungry, mean--
Hungry yet today despite the dream.
Beaten yet today--O, Pioneers!
I am the man who never got ahead,
The poorest worker bartered through the years.
Yet I'm the one who dreamt our basic dream
In the Old World while still a serf of kings,
Who dreamt a dream so strong, so brave, so true,
That even yet its mighty daring sings
In every brick and stone, in every furrow turned
That's made America the land it has become.
O, I'm the man who sailed those early seas
In search of what I meant to be my home--
For I'm the one who left dark Ireland's shore,
And Poland's plain, and England's grassy lea,
And torn from Black Africa's strand I came
To build a "homeland of the free."
The free?
Who said the free? Not me?
Surely not me? The millions on relief today?
The millions shot down when we strike?
The millions who have nothing for our pay?
For all the dreams we've dreamed
And all the songs we've sung
And all the hopes we've held
And all the flags we've hung,
The millions who have nothing for our pay--
Except the dream that's almost dead today.
O, let America be America again--
The land that never has been yet--
And yet must be--the land where every man is free.
The land that's mine--the poor man's, Indian's, Negro's, ME--
Who made America,
Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain,
Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain,
Must bring back our mighty dream again.
Sure, call me any ugly name you choose--
The steel of freedom does not stain.
From those who live like leeches on the people's lives,
We must take back our land again,
America!
O, yes,
I say it plain,
America never was America to me,
And yet I swear this oath--
America will be!
Out of the rack and ruin of our gangster death,
The rape and rot of graft, and stealth, and lies,
We, the people, must redeem
The land, the mines, the plants, the rivers.
The mountains and the endless plain--
All, all the stretch of these great green states--
And make America again!
-Langston Hughes
Permalink: let_America_be_America_Again.html
Words: 651
Location: Buffalo, NY
01/15/09 02:10 - ID#47415
Not sure how to feel about this
There is a comedian with cerebral palsy who goes on this Norwegian weekly satire show and sings to famous songs with his own brand of lyrics.
On one hand, it is freakin' awesome that his guy is out there performing and making people laugh. On the other, what are they laughing at?
He is raising awareness of cerebral palsy, but it is very uncomfortable territory. He is making jokes about his condition. We shouldn't be afraid to laugh at the miseries of life, but that needs to be balanced by a certain respect so it doesn't become LOLtard crap. I am really not sure what to think of this guy, but I am pretty certain this sort of thing wouldn't fly in America. Ya, once the Kennedy's had put this issue to us and Corky was on TV. But the subsequent political correctness has pushed issues of size, race, gender, ability, etc to the side for fear we will offend.
Folks who know or work with people with disabilities, what is your opinion?
Permalink: Not_sure_how_to_feel_about_this.html
Words: 189
Location: Buffalo, NY
01/09/09 12:54 - 22ºF - ID#47339
Post-It Note!
The only thing I read in the New York Post is the pun for their leading front-page story. In fact, sometimes for fun I like to imagine what their headline would be for colorful historical events.
Trotsky: "Don't Pick Me!"
Louis XVI gets ahead of himself
Mishima spills guts to gov
But someone recommended yesterday's editorial and I was surprised.
"The state of our state is perilous," Paterson warned. New York faces its "gravest" challenge "in nearly a century."
No argument here.
Thing is, Paterson has said this before. And nowhere in his 63-minute speech did he suggest what to do about it.
Rather, he rambled on about what he termed an "epidemic" of childhood obesity - scarcely noting that New York's fundamental problem is its scandalously obese government.
We are in a financial crisis, no doubt. But currently New York ranked second among states with highest state/federal tax burden. How is it that other states are able to do just fine without the benefit of already taxing the shit out of people? Why did Patterson make this budget before the stimulus package hits the financial institutions who's poor year caused this financial crisis in Albany? With Medicare being gutted by the budget, is Patterson hoping that federal medicare dollars make up the difference? Why is Patterson against a millionaires tax that would cut the deficit in half?
The answer to all of those questions is 2010. That is when Patterson is up for election and by looking at some early poll numbers the governor has every reason to be concerned. He will face a primary challenger and he possibly will face Rudy Giuliani in the general and the poll numbers, compiled in November before the budget shit hit the fan don't look good for a man who had very good approval numbers just a few months before that. Patterson is going to need every Millionaire SOB to bankroll him instead of Rudy.
We know we are buried in a mess. I believe government can have a positive role in fixing the mess. But Patterson is not leading when we need it most. He is offering no vision for a new New York. This sort of politics is exactly why we are hemorrhaging people and companies every day and we can't stop the bleeding like this.
Permalink: Post_It_Note_.html
Words: 389
Location: Buffalo, NY
01/06/09 01:05 - 26ºF - ID#47306
Uncle Talk
The premise of the show is that a bunch of uncles sit around and talk about issues affecting uncles. This week very special guest Michael Cera was on. He was George Michael on Arrested Development and was in the movie Superbad among others. He was on promoting a new movie in which he goes to an exclusive high school for child prodigies. The school is across the country however and he must move in with his single uncle. Even though he is a child prodigy, he can't seem to see that his uncle is obviously a dirty uncle. A discussion about the film and the unfair treatment of uncles in films ensues.
Very pleased with my subconscious.
Permalink: Uncle_Talk.html
Words: 148
Location: Buffalo, NY
01/06/09 12:25 - 20ºF - ID#47299
Nothing left but drink
Lindsey Lohan has a myspace page. The content is pretty much what you would expect. But the comments. The comments. Oh sweet fucking god. Thousands of people, humbly prostrating themselves before the mighty Lohan. Offering words of encouragement at the latest rumors surrounding her relationship. Patting her on the back. Don't listen to those tabloids baby, you are top shelf no matter what they say. It is the diarrhea of star fucking.
Permalink: Nothing_left_but_drink.html
Words: 73
Location: Buffalo, NY
01/02/09 10:02 - 32ºF - ID#47249
Garfield RPG
Permalink: Garfield_RPG.html
Words: 13
Location: Buffalo, NY
12/28/08 06:47 - 34ºF - ID#47206
Thank you for being a friend
But, this made my day yesterday.
Permalink: Thank_you_for_being_a_friend.html
Words: 42
Location: Buffalo, NY
12/23/08 03:58 - 22ºF - ID#47155
Just how shitty can movies get
what the fuck?
Permalink: Just_how_shitty_can_movies_get.html
Words: 22
Location: Buffalo, NY
12/23/08 01:03 - 17ºF - ID#47152
Last Night....
I was on a talk show Uncle Talk: The Talk Show For Uncles, By Uncles. It was a rousing conversation about the issues that face uncles today.
But when I awoke and remembered this dram I couldn't shake the feeling that perhaps they were dirty uncles. In an instant a bit of surreal garbage becomes a day long creepfest.
I took a shower. But you can't wash that off.
Permalink: Last_Night_.html
Words: 75
Location: Buffalo, NY
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The playing field is more level than it has ever been, but a lot of people still get a giant head start.
So we can all avoid disappointment in the future - chances are the next inaugural invocation, and almost all of them in our lifetime, will involve a Christian preacher that will invoke God and possibly even Jesus directly.
What Lowery said, beyond doubt, was absolutely, 100% racist. (e:drew) I didn't expect you to think what he said was racist because you didn't think anything Rev. Wright was a racist, lol. You think it was untrue, I think it was a shocking and insulting thing to say, and was BY FAR the most divisive thing said during the inauguration. And, it was patently untrue - why? Because we don't live in the Rosa Parks era, and that is exactly what he was trying to evoke. Race baiters have no place in our society anymore. Does racism exist? Of course. But I will ridicule any attempt to suggest that the condition we're in is even close to what Lowery described, because the truth is that it is not.
This is a case of imagined divisiveness vs. quite authentic, real and blatant divisiveness. Rick Warren didn't speak one divisive word during the invocation and Lowery did so egregiously - and we're debating the possibility of Rick Warren's invocation being divisive because he invoked God and Jesus directly? This isn't even a contest, guys!
I did not say he had to call on specific deities by name. I said he should stick with the generic terms. That is inclusive and respectful of everyone's beliefs.
And blacks are not asked to sit in the back? Racism doesn't exist anymore you are saying. Really? Really?
Otherwise, all I can really say is that you clearly were wishing for something other than an invocation. What you are/were asking for isn't an invocation. During an invocation you don't invoke "more than God" or "the sum of our nation's history." Look, with all due respect - you're not understanding the purpose and the scope of an invocation.
"Warren failed when he called Jesus by name exclusively. Obama was able to call attention to Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, atheists and by extension all other faiths. Warren just named Jesus."
Obama is not an ordained Christian minister and Warren is, and he's an evangelical at that. What exactly did you expect? For him to have not mentioned Jesus would have been irrational and ridiculous. Not only that, but it has been done before by other ministers during inaugurations. Why the stink now? To think that a Christian minister, during an invocation, would invoke Hindu and Muslim deities is silly, (e:james). There really isn't anywhere else to go with this at this point.
Look, this is the bottom line. This sort of thing is a ginned up quasi-scandal that only a scant minority are bothering to discuss. It was an invocation not much unlike others that have occurred during inaugurations. Being mad that a Christian mentioned Jesus while giving an invocation is hilarious to me because of its sheer absurdity.
As for Lowery -
" 'Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get in back, when brown can stick around... when the red man can get ahead, man; and when white will embrace what is right. That all those who do justice and love mercy say Amen. Say Amen'"
This is shockingly racist, although I can perfectly understand how liberals would find this acceptable. This is 1960's civil rights lingo that isn't applicable any more. We don't live in a country where "blacks are asked to sit in back," and we certainly live in a country where "brown can stick around" etc. This preacher, while I'm sure is a fine man, was telling a lie and propagating racist division in this country even further by saying something like this. Rather than make an assumption I'll just ask - is the reason why you liked Lowery but not Warren ideological? Otherwise it makes no sense as to why you'd laud this guy and lampoon Warren.
I do like that the other prayer was more narrative, this is a re-emerging theological trend: ( :::link::: )
The theology, in my mind, is a good thing.
Now, maybe I missed why you extrapolated what I said in order to neatly categorize me as a lefty, atheist, and a Warren hater, but apparently I am missing brain cells and irrationally hate Christianity.
I did not say god does not belong in the invocation. In fact, I applauded Lowery's benediction for having god fit into a larger narrative which played out today. I said that we were invoking more than god, we were invoking the sum or our nations history. I felt Warren was simply able to conjure Jesus Christ.
Of course god belongs in an invocation. Warren failed when he called Jesus by name exclusively. Obama was able to call attention to Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, atheists and by extension all other faiths. Warren just named Jesus. That is certainly lacking and generic names like god, lord, or creator would have served perfectly well without alienating swaths of people. This isn't about what this one particular atheist wants (by the way, I don't speak for all atheists. They can speak for themselves individually thank you very much) this is about an invocation that paled in comparison to all other speakers that day with the exception of that anemic poet. That actual Warren haters have plenty of ammo, and calling his god by name isn't a big gun so much as a minor headache for them I imagine. I really have no idea as I am not one of them; something you failed to notice even though I explicitly said it.
Did I call for special Obama prayers written by god? Were any of the prayers written by god? Did anyone have the expectation that god would personally write these prayers? More so, would an atheist think that god would write a special Obama prayer? Rick Warren leads a giant mega-church and is a best selling author, he can write his own prayers and that is what was expected. If a prayer standard was called for the event then any guy with a prayer book could get up there and give one. No, when you are called to do the invocation for an event, any event, you write your own and you make it appropriate to the event. I have been to hundreds of public events and have heard Rabis, Catholic Priests, and Protestant Pastors give individualized prayers. I felt he failed at that. Again, he did not invoke history and nation, just Jesus.
And whether or not he was apologizing is moot. I didn't think he was apologizing for his stances as much as he was apologizing for the controversy he caused. That was just my reading of it. Perhaps I would feel differently if he invoked a little history and we can all apologize for our collective wrong doings as a nation: racism specifically.
Because there aren't special Obama prayers that God came up with for Barack Obama, and I suspect you have unrealistic expectations for what an invocation should contain. It isn't a secular event. The invocation does not serve some kind of different public function - it is religious in nature no matter how much you may feel that the religious aspect should be tampered down to focus on Obama. It wouldn't have been an invocation had that occurred. You also fell into the same trap that ABC did regarding Rick Warren mentioning Jesus. It is ridiculous to complain about it.
He wasn't apologizing for himself and his church. I'm puzzled as to why you'd think that he was apologizing! People don't apologize when they think they are right on a subject. He's not sorry for believing that gay people shouldn't marry, and he isn't sorry that he believes homosexuality is comparable to incest. Trust me, he wasn't apologizing.
I've lampooned and gently chided lefties for over a year now regarding how some of them get confused over the two, but c'mon. Is that the big gun the Warren haters have, the big complaint, that a preacher focused on God during the invocation? This is why I never entertain atheist thoughts about religious topics or religious discussions. It would be sort of like me participating in talks about how to advance the progressive agenda across America - I'd be similarly insincere and apathetic to the cause, therefore my participation would be pointless.
It gets even more over the top than this. Rick Warren mentioned - GASP!- Jesus Christ during the invocation! Imagine that, a Christian preacher, no different than any of the others that have given invocations during the past 200 years, mentioning Jesus during an invocation. Anyone that would be offended by that is missing brain cells, or is simply an irrational hater of Christianity, for whom there is no help. The reason why I mention this is that the coverage on ABC was disgraceful and atrocious when Rick Warren mentioned Jesus - whatever crusty old man was leading the coverage acted surprised and offended when Rick Warren mentioned Jesus. Being indignant over such a thing is beyond ludicrous - it is unreasonable and irrational.
If the atheists don't want an invocation then they should petition for it to be removed, rather than offer trite and silly complaints that likely wouldn't have existed anyway had someone other than Rick Warren given it.
Then there was the use of Jesus' name four times. Invocation serves a public function that is very different than a prayer he would offer in his church. That contributed to the cut/paste feeling I got.
Perhaps I was unclear about the focus on god. Lowery had god in his benediction, but he also had the man, and even more so, he had history in his prayer. Warren had mostly god and it was a god divorced from the event. That makes me ask, what is the whole point of doing it if the prayer seems more at home in Sunday service than it does at the inauguration of the 44th President of the United States?
I liked the forgiveness thing, too.
I also kinda expect a prayer to focus on God. If you're going to have an invocation (and that's a question worth asking) the focus should be on God, and not the man or the day. I kinda like that it would work for any President, because the eternal remains the eternal, regardless of who we elect.
I wouldn't have minded it so much were it not for Lowery. He had a great sense of history. He was able to capture the incredible historical moment and talk bring in god on that topic. Where Warren seemed disconnected from the event. He could have been delivered the same invocation for John McCain, but Lowery's could only have been delivered to Obama's.
Now, I am not a Warren hater. I recognize that he has done a lot of good and that he is very meaningful for a lot of people. But he seemed out of place. And when he said
"When we focus on ourselves, when we fight each other, when we forget you, forgive us. When we presume that our greatness and our prosperity is ours alone, forgive us. When we fail to treat our fellow human beings and all the earth with the respect that they deserve, forgive us."
he was making it all about himself. Forgive me America for the controversy I caused. Don't focus on me, really, don't, focus on something else, like that Obama guy or something. Though I do appreciate his asking for forgiveness.