Category: News & Politics

Found Poems, News & Politics, Poetry

No God is He

Shelly

This another found poem, this time from the Iliad, Book X (steal from the best, right?). One year 24 days 16 hours 48 minutes 14 seconds to go.

No God is He
(a found poem)

In his soul he found best counsel,
to contrive some right device
for the warding off of evil.

Then, over wide waters come,
and raised his strong hand
and as a god was honored
and glad the loud war-cry.

Good counsel help and save.

But none should undertake this deed
The ships have turned
and turned again
The sacrifices set
in his heart,
not in ours.

One man devised terrible deeds
Wrought on sons and daughters
No god is he.

Ladybusiness, News & Politics

Jesus Wept!

Shelly

I’ve always thought bras were torture devices, but apparently they are weapons, too.

“When I walked through, the gentleman said, “‘Do you have an underwire bra on?'” Plato said. “I said, ‘Yeah.’ He said, ‘You have to remove it.'”

But there was nowhere private to remove her bra, she said. The guards suggested she go out to her car to do it.

Instead, Plato who describes herself as “not petite” said she removed her bra while her husband tried to shield her from view of others in the crowded lobby by holding up his coat.

She said she had to put the bra on a conveyor belt and send it through an x-ray machine.

“After I got through the metal detector and waited for my bra to come through the conveyor belt, one of the security guards said, “‘That’s a girl,'” Plato said. She thought the guard was making fun of her.

Can you imagine having to remove an article of underwear in order to get through a security checkpoint? That’s really not okay. And the “atta girl” comment from the security guard should, by rights, have earned him a kick in the balls. Just sayin’. . .

Too bad Ms. Plato didn’t take off her bra and shirt and go about her business bare chested. That would have been fabulous.

Crankypantsing, News & Politics, Photography

Stumpside

Shelly

100_4047
Stump, Owen County, Indiana

Clean up, as I said, was kind of a bitch. More like friggin’ unbelievable, actually. The place was flea infested (and so is my apartment, now, thankyouverymuch) and filthy. More of a toxic waste site than a home. Dirty clothes, used dishes, and toys lay in an ankle-deep, wall-to-wall carpet on the floor. The beds reeked of urine and were covered with cigarette butts and ashes. The sinks and toilets were encrusted with a thick layer of grime that, in at least one case, had sprouted a colony of maggots. The electricity was shut off in early June, which meant there was no pump for water. The family–including three small children–was bathing in pond water. Thankfully, CPS stepped in when the kids got staph infections and told them they had to move out immediately.

It was like something out of a horror film. I think my skin is going to be crawling for the next few days.

As I was was bagging up trash, I came across a cache of used Pampers that had been tossed into a corner of the bathroom. I caught myself thinking, for the umpteenth time, that these people were disgusting pigs. And then I immediately felt horrible. No one–and I mean no one–deserves to live like that. These people desperately needed help. They were in over their heads and didn’t have the resources or skills to get out. Every time I hear someone complain about lazy welfare mothers getting pregnant just so they can scam the system, I’m going to think of this family, and about the stingy, judgmental assholes who insist that being poor is a moral failing.

Crankypantsing, News & Politics

Hate Crimes and Journalism

Shelly

From Frank James, blogging via the Chicago Tribune, on the hate crimes bill that just passed the Congress and the companion bill introduced to the Senate:

If you’re the sort of person who decides to pummel or kill someone because he’s of a different race, or transgendered, or walks with a limp due to a physical disability, are you really likely to be stopped because Congress put a federal law on the books making it easier for federal law enforcement officials to help local counterparts prosecute you?

We don’t have laws in order to deter potential criminals. That may be a desirable side-effect of laws, but the reason laws exist is so that

A) We all know which behaviors are socially acceptable and which are not, and
B) People who do things that society as a group deems unacceptable can be punished for their actions.

To argue that a law is unnecessary because people will just go ahead and break it, is ludicrous. People break laws all the time. That is in no small part why we have laws. If we were to employ Mr. James’ logic, we should get rid of them all, because they are just going to be broken, anyway.

Conservatives vigorously oppose the legislation because of what they say is the unequal treatment it would in the eyes of the law that would be afforded to some victims of crime versus others. For instance, the law could come down harder on someone who assaulted a gay man than someone who committed the same act against someone straight.

I suspect that very few straight men are threatened, beaten, or killed just for daring to be straight. When someone is attacked simply for being a member of a particular group, the violence is done to him or her in effigy. It is meant for the whole group; it is a form of terrorism.

Also, religious conservatives feared the new legislation could be used to criminalize a clergyman whose fire-and-brimstone against homosexuality might, inadvertently, spur a misguided believer to commit a hate crime.

Boo-fucking-hoo.

Was that load of excreta an example of what passes for journalism, or what passes for op-ed? Or is it a far right political blog flying under the Chicago Trib’s colors? I can’t tell, and that’s a huge problem. The line is so hopelessly blurred between journalism and opinion, that it’s no wonder people think that asswagons like Bill O’Reilly are actually journalists. Journalists, for fuck’s sake! What the hell is wrong with people? And when you have on-line news agencies embedding blogs in their websites, it just gets hopelessly muddled.

News & Politics

Cheap Entertainment

Shelly

If you are looking for an amusing way to waste time, check out Conservapedia‘s random page generator. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, it’s simultaneously better and worse than Cats.

Who else could distill Athenian democracy down to five sentences?

Tangent Alert!

I think I mentioned recently that, while in the shower, I couldn’t remember whether or not I’d already just washed my hair? Well, I had a similar experience this morning. As I was putting shampoo on my hair, I suddenly realized that I’d already washed it. Twice. Third time’s a charm, right?

Ladybusiness, News & Politics

Brought to You By…

Shelly

I watched 16 Children and Moving In last night. I’ve mentioned that I like a good horror story? Well, not only is the thought of having kids–much less 16 of ’em–horrifying, but the family the show was about squicks me out, too. The Duggars are ultra conservative fundamentalists, belonging to what is known as the Full Quiver, or Quiverfull, movement (Providentialism, if you’re Catholic).

Full Quiver proponents believe that children are a blessing from God, and that all forms of contraception–even NFP–are an abomination. Quiverfulls demonstrate their submission to God by maintaining “continual openness to children.” God alone has the power to “open and close a woman’s womb.” Any effort to interfere with his plans is a usurpation of his divine power.

Quiverfulls adhere strictly to biblical patriarchal values, wherein the male is the authoritarian head of household and the woman submits to him in all things. Women pursue traditional roles as homemakers, nurturers, and teachers. Quiverfulls–the mothers, anyway–commonly home school their children in order to limit their access to outside influences.

Quiverfulls believe they are raising an army for God. To them, children are weapons in a cultural arms race. They see it as their duty to out-breed the brown heathens of the world, and they’re not shy about making their motives clear. Quiverfulls fear a world in which white, Christian men are not at the top of the food chain, and they aim to make sure that doesn’t happen.

So, anyway, this is all a lengthy, round-about way of getting to my point: One of the sponsors of the show was NuvaRing. I about peed my pants laughing.

News & Politics, Pets

IM IN UR HOUSE PACKIN UR STUFF

Shelly

I and a bunch of other folks were at Ms. Lea’s last weekend, helping her pack up her life. She’s not finished, but we made a pretty impressive dent. It was hard work, but lots of breaks and giggle fests helped make the time go quickly and enjoyably. Who knew packing other people’s stuff could be so entertaining?

So, I thought I’d share more cats, in order to brighten an otherwise hideously dreary day.

One and Two.

Also,

Nancy Pelosi: I’m in ur house, impeachin ur doodz.