Friday evening, the New York legislature passed legislation permitting same-sex marriage. As the sixth state (plus D.C.) to actually allow it, the occasion was an historic one inasmuch as it came under Republican control and required votes from that party. My audience is compromised of people who have deeply held convictions about this issue on […]
Category: cultural events
Laughing at the Prophets
The apocalypse came and went Saturday, harmlessly it appears. It’s natural and easy to make jokes. Twitter abounded with them. It doesn’t take any sort of clever wit of observation to cast Harold Camping and the Family Radio followers as either fools or charlatans or both. But, as between those who anticipate God’s plans and […]
To Keep Watch
There are a lot of reasons not to believe Christianity. And, there are a lot of reasons to prefer deism, agnosticism, and/or atheism. I constantly entertain them. The position without almost any colorable basis is the one that eliminates the right to consider it all, as a person of conscience b]]><![CDATA[efore the Creator/universe. Apparently, even […]
Backyard Battle Reenactments
Tomorrow, April 12, is the sesquicentennial of the start of the Civil War. As a resident of South Carolina and having been formerly and now, again, presently employed in Charleston, the memorial seemed appropriate. The first shots of the war were fired in Charleston, on Fort Sumter, then a failing Federal stronghold in the putative […]
Open Eyes
A difficult story in the first U.S. face transplant, performed on a Dallas Wiens. 25 years old and a father, Dallas lost nearly the entire topography of his face in a work related accident involving a high voltage line. The generosity of a donor has given him a miraculous shot at some semblance of human […]
Of Public Concern
The Supreme Court returned an 8 to 1 decision today, in Snyder v. Phelps, C.A. No. 09-751 (March 2, 2011), which held that members of the Westboro Baptist Church had the constitutional right to picket military funerals to express views of “public concern.” Public concern is a term of art used to describe highly protected […]
Guest Poet: Keep It Movin’
Sorry to all. I was on the road and I got trapped in a spot without WiFi to get this done. My man Wonder Brown pinch hit again today and had me the song last night, late, but I couldn’t get it posted. Serious logistical snafu. But, technically it’s still Thursday, so we’re all still […]
And the winner is . . .
pretty disappointed, to say the least. This is the song I had prepared to perform at the Grammy’s last night. But, no call — again. Embarrassing. I did get to see Lady Gaga emerge from an enormous costume egg, in which she had been incubating, though, and pretty much the most freaking awesome group ever, […]
Personals: man seeking dignity
Man, I hate this. Hate it. I hate the public shame of it all. A congressman resigned his post last night for having been ostensibly caught advertising himself on Craigslist, the infamous online and localized classifieds. I hesitate to even cover it but for the opportunity to make sure we keep some perspective. His acts […]
XLV
Super Bowl edition. The sound of 11 homeboys putting taped digits to the dirt, hearts in their throat. (Does anyone still tape fingers — what decade is this?) Another great game this year. Not to get all Star-Spangled-Banner on the post, and I certainly consider myself a World citizen, but if the Chrysler commercial regarding […]
modern personal publishing 