Jesus Christ, Part 2

[Brad] Stine's "GodMen" conferences aim to get men to "act like men": According to OneNewsNow, "Stine argues that many men are tired of what he calls a 'sugar-coated and watered-down' Christianity. To counter that, he says, the one-day 'GodMen' events challenge men to embrace the full character of Christ. He cites the example of what he describes as the 'table-tipping Jesus.'"

"[That's] the strong Jesus that really deals with masculinity, [an aspect] that men are oftentimes not taught," Stine explained. "We're taught one side of Jesus."

  Media Transparency

This guy's a comedian.

No, really. Well, that's how he's billed. And, seriously, I haven't noticed "Christian" men having any problem being aggressive, which Mr. Stine is trying to call "masculine".

Stine states, "The wussification of America is killing us by teaching us to censor ourselves from what we believe. That's why I want to see political correctness die in my lifetime, but first...I want to watch it suffer."

[...]

Paul Coughlin, the author of "No More Christian Nice Guy" and a keynote speaker at a GodMen event in Nashville, Tennessee last year said, "I believe that being a guy is a reason to be proud -- not a problem to be fixed. Unfortunately, most Christian men have been ordered to emulate 'Gentle Jesus Meek ands Mild,' a false caricature of Christ that has robbed the church of its vital masculine energy."

[...]

Dr. R. Albert Mohler, Jr., the president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary -- the flagship school of the Southern Baptist Convention and one of the largest seminaries in the world -- wrote that "The Christian church is experiencing a crisis with men... The church has been feminized in style and the manly virtues are depreciated. Christianity -- a faith predicated on truths for which brave men were willing to die -- has been transformed into a spirituality of mere feeling."

[...]

GodMen is "a place where men can discuss real issues such as passivity, isolation, and pornography 'in a safe environment.' The events, which include worship, have powerful sound systems and huge video screens showing he-man videos like martial arts displays and car chases."

Yes, what we really need is more tough-guys in this world.

Passivity, isolation and...pornography??? GodMen need a safe place to discuss pornography.

You know where all this anti-feminism, he-man shit goes. Violence against women. And, as I've said before, we're skating down the road to the dark ages.

Stine's new CD is, not surprisingly, called "Wussification". Should be a big hit in the Bible Belt.

Recorded live at The Clarion at Brazosport College in Lake Jackson, TX. [ed. next door to Galveston], his website describes the CD as "a no-holds-barred laugh riot that attacks political correctness at every turn. From lambasting witches for being over-sensitive to Brad's frustration with Christianity's own form of political correctness, Stine once again infuses his one of a kind style of comedy with equal inspiration for his Christian tribe in an album that is guaranteed to become a classic."

[...]

Stine has appeared on several stand-up comedy shows including A&E's "Evening at the Improv" and MTV's "Half Hour Comedy Hour," and has been a guest on a number of news programs including FOX News' "Hannity & Colmes," CNN's "Paula Zahn NOW" and "Glenn Beck," and the NBC Nightly News. He has also been interviewed on National Public Radio and has been featured on FOXNews.com and in Newsweek, the New Yorker, USA Today, and several other newspapers nationwide.

He was a featured performer for Promise Keepers in 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2007.

Oh, Lordy.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

No Clearer Metaphor

If you haven't yet found a story that depicts exactly what is wrong with the U.S. - nay, human - approach to human relations or how to change the world, I point you to W3IAI's Hiding in the Easter Basket.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

Immigration, Levitation, and Homosexuality

Oh, come on. Use your imagination. I'm just trying to clean up all these draft posts.

I have never gotten much further on immigration issues than, why in the world is it legal or illegal to live anywhere? Why are people treated as government property? By birth, I am a Missourian - a somewhat arbitrary boundary thing, as all man-made boundaries tend to be. But, I've moved enough times to also have been a Californian, a Washingtonian, and now, a Texan (although they say here on Galveston Island that we are south of Texas, and further, if you are not born on the island, you are not to claim to be from Galveston - something that doesn't bother me, because I'm pretty sure this isn't even my home planet).

I was never illegal in any of those areas. Why should I be illegal if I move somewhere further away? I just think the whole idea is bizarre. Like having a license to be married. What's with that?

Anyway, The KC Blue Blog is calling for Missouri's governor to fire his chief of staff, Ed Martin, for this comment:

"I'll tell you what's available to every developer in order to figure out who's illegal. When there's a bunch of Mexicans out there, there's probably some of them who are not legal."

Racial profiling taken to its logical conclusion, I suppose.

And my choice for inane positions today comes from Rudy Giuliani.

Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani said illegal immigration is not a crime.

[...]

"It's not a crime," Giuliani said Friday. "I know that's very hard for people to understand, but it's not a federal crime."

[...]

"I was U.S. attorney in the Southern district of New York," he said. "So believe me, I know this. In fact, when you throw an immigrant out of the country, it's not a criminal proceeding. It's a civil proceeding."

[...]

Illegal immigration shouldn't be a crime, either, Giuliani said: "No, it shouldn't be because the government wouldn't be able to prosecute it. We couldn't prosecute 12 million people.

[...]

He added: "My solution is close the border to illegal immigration."

  AP News

Close the border to illegal immigration? How do we do that, Rudy? Let me guess. Rudy has stock in fencing material.

And if it's not a crime, why is it called "illegal"? If it's true that it's not a crime, then maybe we need to start talking about this issue in different terms. Telling everybody that Mexican immigrants are illegal when it's not a crime for them to be here is hazing up the issue.

Oh, wait. Let's let Glenn Beck clear up that point.

[It's] not a crime. I know that's very hard for people to understand, but it's not a federal crime.

GLENN: It's a misdemeanor but if you've been nailed, it is a crime. If you've been nailed, ship back and come back, it is a crime.

  

"It's a misdemeanor, but if you've been nailed, it is a crime." Ahem. I think a misdemeanor is a crime to begin with.

Anyway, levitation and invisibility aren't just for Harry Potter.

Professor Ulf Leonhardt and Dr Thomas Philbin, from the University of St Andrews in Scotland, have worked out a way of reversing [the] pheneomenon known as the Casimir force so that it repels instead of attracts.

Their discovery could ultimately lead to frictionless micro-machines with moving parts that levitate But they say that, in principle at least, the same effect could be used to levitate bigger objects too, even a person.

[...]

Prof Leonhardt leads one of four teams - three of them in Britain - to have put forward a theory in a peer-reviewed journal to achieve invisibility by making light waves flow around an object - just as a river flows undisturbed around a smooth rock.

  UK Telegraph

And speaking of marriage...

With liberty and justice....

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

Zeno, Kid's Companion

You knew it was coming. And, hey, at an eventual target price of $200-$300, it's cheaper than another kid.

"It's a representation of robotics as a character animation medium, one that is intelligent," [creator David] Hanson beams. "It sees you and recognizes your face. It learns your name and can build a relationship with you."

  Yahoo

And, taken in context with the recent NY Times article about future computer programmers creating virtual ancestors, I think you can begin to see my point: some of you may not be real. And again, this could explain Washington.

And this could keep those GOP pedophiles out of trouble with the law, too, couldn't it? At least until we get to I Robot.

Prurient Interests

Does Southwest Airlines have a dress code for passengers? Recall that recently a woman was made to keep a blanket over her legs in order to stay on the flight. She's not alone. In another incident, a woman was made to wrap a blanket around her shoulders in order to fly wearing a halter-top dress.

Southwest -- which dressed its stewardesses in hot pants and called itself "the love airline" back in the 1970s -- relies on employees to decide whether a passenger's attire may offend other customers.

  CNN

And this ain't the seventies.

But what kind of policy is that? Allowing the employees to decide what the passengers can wear? Very bizarre. If it's what might offend the other passengers, then I'd suggest anyone caught in this predicament in the future demand to take a poll.

"We don't have a dress code. We rely on our employees to use common sense, good judgment and good taste," [Southwest spokesman Chris] Mainz said. "It's so rare for us to have to address a customer's clothing issue."

Apparently not. You've got some fashion nazis working your airlines, pal.

But really, this is the trend for the U.S. Our "war on terror" and the religious right's reach into politics is giving us a country of petty tyrants unleashed.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

Science Break

I will let you know right away that this wasn't an American study, although it could easily have been, so you don't feel that we're so alone. This came out of Germany.

When presented with a tube containing food or a toy, two-and-a-half-year-olds followed an experimenter's example to retrieve the prize, while the apes put all their energy towards simply biting or breaking the tube.

Maybe I've forgotten all my science experimentation points, but...doesn't biting and breaking the tube count as getting at the food or toy inside? (And why would an ape be interested in getting to a toy?)

As part of one of the social learning tasks, the researchers demonstrated how to pop open a plastic tube to retrieve the food or toy inside. The children watched and copied the researcher; the apes attempted to break the tube or pull it apart with their teeth.

Did somebody explain to them the importance of keeping the tube intact? I guess they had reason to think they could get into it that way, too. Perhaps, while the children were copying other humans, the apes were copying the other apes.

All of the subjects performed equally well in terms of the physical cognitive management of space, and in understanding concepts such as quantities and causality. However, the children were correct in three out of four of the social learning tests, while the two ape species were correct only one out of three times.

Now, granted, I don't know what those tests actually were, but considering the rest of the story (particularly the fact that they used toys inside the tubes), I'm going to hazard a guess that the "social learning tests" may have been set up based on human social activity.

According to the researchers, the results of the study support the theory that human social skills give humans an evolutionary edge. A second theory argues that humans differ in skill levels from apes as a result of being generally more intelligent.

Maybe the experiment was actually better laid out, had more detail, and conclusions were based on the evidence, but not from this report can we come to those conclusions. By this report, all we learned was that humans are better at human social skills than apes. Imagine that.

What a Difference a State Makes

BRATTLEBORO, VERMONT

Among the items on the agenda at last night's meeting of the Brattleboro Selectboard was a vote to permanently ban public nudity in the famously tolerant Vermont town. [...] The proposed ordinance--which defines nudity as "the showing of the human male or female genitals, pubic area or buttocks with less than a full opaque covering, or the showing of the female breast with less than a fully opaque covering of any portion of the areola"--was voted down 3-2. [...] Brattleboro's nudists will remain citation free.

  The Smoking Gun

In the words of [Brattleboro] Town Manager Jerry Remillard, if you're naked in public, and you're minding your business, you're legal.

  Boston.com

ATLANTA, GEORGIA

Baggy pants that show boxer shorts or thongs would be illegal under a proposed amendment to Atlanta's indecency laws. The amendment, sponsored by city councilman C.T. Martin, states that sagging pants are an "epidemic" that is becoming a "major concern" around the country.

[...]

The proposed ordinance states that "the indecent exposure of his or her undergarments" would be unlawful in a public place.

  Yahoo

We'll be waiting to see how that turns out. An "epidemic" that's becoming a "major concern" around the country. Because Atlanta has its finger on the social and moral pulse of the nation.

Indecent exposure of undergarments, indeed.

Councilman Martin ought to take a moment to think about this. If people want to dress in a manner that makes them look like fools and inhibits their freedom of movement, he should recognize the positive aspects. 1) You know immediately that you're dealing with someone whose sensibility is in question, and 2) if they happen to be into criminal activities, they can't run as fast as you while trying to hold up their pants, and they have only one hand free to attack with.

One of the funniest things I ever saw was a young man trying to pick himself up off the ground after falling off his skateboard wearing pants with the crotch hanging below his knees.

I'm not particularly concerned about what people wear, but I have to say that that is one fashion statement I thought wouldn't last, because how can it not be as uncomfortable as it is impractical? But it's lasted longer than any other "fad" I've seen. The first time I saw the baggy pants fashion was when I was living in Seattle about 15 years ago. I remember feeling sorry for the young man I saw, because I thought his family was too poor to buy him pants that fit and he was having to wear his father's clothes. (Yes, it's been over 15 years since I had any clue about what was fashionable or not.)

And don't even get me started on the fashion policing going on at Landscape Services back at the University of Missouri ten years ago. For the love of Pete, why do grown people think they need to make rules about how other grown people should dress themselves?

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

Oh wait... I have more. You know. You know there is an epidemic of plumber's crack in Atlanta that needs to be addressed.

Ooops wait again... I guess I wasn't thinking about spike heels when I implied that droopy drawers might be the longest running fashion that is both uncomfortable and impractical. Like droopy drawers, spikes make running difficult, but getting back up after a fall isn't as tricky. And both hands are still free. So I guess my vote is still droopy drawers for the most ridiculous long-running fashion. (Neckties can enter the running, but they'll stay in third place, and mostly they're just pointless. And I'm limiting this to western fashion, or we'd lose hands down. Or hands holding up our pants.)

Tribute to a Humanist

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

1922 — 2007

I always liked Vonnegut's interviews better than his novels. I think he must have been a rare and real human being. He made the world a better place.

I especially recommend Timequake.

Farewell, Kurt...

WWJD

Luckily, the feeder of 5,000 (with a few loaves and fishes) isn't around today, because, as noted by Left I: "[I]in some places in the United States, attempting to feed the poor is an arrestable offense."

Eric Montanez, of Orlando's Food Not Bombs, was arrested for violating a local ordinance against feeding more than 25 people in the park. He fed 30.

Eli at Left I wonders, beyond the ordinance itself, about the under cover cop whose job it was to keep count.

Jeb's Florida is serious about crime, eh?

Two thousand years apparently isn't enough for messages like "love thy neighbor" to really sink in.

Nearby in Georgia at prom time....

When the four [Ashburn, Georgia] senior class officers — two whites and two blacks — met with Principal Chad Stone at the start of the school year, they had more on their minds than changes to the school‘s dress code.

On April 21, they‘ll have their wish. The town‘s auditorium will be transformed into a tropical scene, and for the first time, every junior and senior, regardless of race, will be invited.

  Raw Story article

What year is this anyway?

America's Great Shame

The other one.

And, for Republican voters: it's not just a social issue.

Serious respiratory problems among the chronically homeless in a shelter are as common as beer guts at a racetrack. If an epidemic strikes, the susceptibility of the homeless will translate into an increased risk of exposure for the rest of us and, eerily enough, our public libraries could become Ground Zeroes for the spread of killer flu. Librarians are reluctant to make plans for handling such scenarios because we do not want to convey the message that America's libraries are anything but the safe and welcoming environments they remain today.

But here's the thing: It's not just about libraries. The chronically homeless share bus stops, subways, park benches, handrails, restrooms, drinking fountains, and fast-food booths with us or with others we encounter daily, who also share the air we breathe and the surfaces we touch. When sick or drunk, they vomit in public restrooms (if we are lucky). Having a population that is at once vulnerable to disease and able to spread microbes widely to others is simply foolish -- and unnecessary -- public policy, but in the library we focus on more immediate risks. We offer our staff hepatitis vaccinations and free tuberculosis checks. We place sanitizing gels and latex gloves at every public desk. Who would guess that working in a library could be a hazardous occupation?

[...]

We could solve the problem for less than it costs to manage it. In the meanwhile, they will cycle between the jail and the library. [...] From a taxpayer's perspective, however, it seems cheaper to warehouse them in the library, between stints in jail -- or simply to pay no attention to where they are at all.

What They Didn't Teach Us in Library School