The Obligation of Joy

You wouldn’t believe it, On the screen
You walk away laughing, What a stupid scene
Who would have scripted, Such a terrible end
Well I saw that train coming
So this is the way it’s going to be
These enormous things are happening to me
As my days dissolve to memory
My treasures are lost in the Chemistry
The challenge of freedom, Can be unappealing
The obligation of joy
To an atom with feelings
There’s a shore left to reach
There’s a game to play
But our mad little tracks are made to fade.....
So this the way it’s going to be
These enormous things are happening to me
As my days dissolve to memory
My treasures are lost in the chemistry
Poetry is mystery
Don’t try to solve it
The obligation of joy…. Resolve it.
The obligation of joy The obligation of joy The obligation of joy The obligation of joy The obligation of joy The obligation of joy The obligation of joy The obligation of joy The obligation of joy The obligation of joy jjjjjjjjooooooooooyyyyyyyyyyy The obligation of joy The obligation of joy The obligation of joy The obligation of joy joy joy joy joy joy joy The obligation of joy The obligation of joy The obligation of joy

--oh my god

A Hero

A six year old gave his life for his neighbor.

Supreme Wimps

So, the Supreme Court decided to waste their time and tax payer money by allowing "under God" to remain in the constitution.

They decided that since the child's father in a custody fight that he is not her guardian. Fine and Dandy, but why on Earth did you all hear the case to begin with? You agreed to allow the case to come before the court. It was heard before the court, and you all wussed out on a real decision. Grow some nads.

This court needs some serious reshuffling. There are too many ideologues on the bench.

Whether you want to keep the "under God" in the pledge or not, don't we deserve a real decision. Pro or Con would have been better that this lame excuse.

Georgia On My Mind



RIP Ray

Ray Robinson Charles
1930-2004

Published

Check it out! I have a short little ditty published on CYSI Online!

Huzzar!

Flip Flop

George Bush has accused John Kerry of flip flopping on issues, and while some of it may be true, The Center for American Progress has a list 20 major Bush Flip Flops.

For a "war president" I think not concering one's self about the where abouts of the mastermind of 3,000+ murders is a little bit...um whats the word...yeah, how about dereliction of duty...

9. Osama Bin Laden

BUSH WANTS OSAMA DEAD OR ALIVE... "I want justice. And there's an old poster out West, I recall, that says, 'Wanted: Dead or Alive.'" [President Bush, on Osama Bin Laden, 09/17/01]

...BUSH DOESN'T CARE ABOUT OSAMA “I don't know where he is. You know, I just don't spend that much time on him… I truly am not that concerned about him.” [President Bush, Press Conference, 3/13/02]

1980s


You're a Spirograph!! You're pretty tripped out,
even though you've been known to be a bit
boring at times. You manage to serve your
purpose in life while expending hardly any
effort (and are probably stoned to the gills
all the while).


What childhood toy from the 80s are you?
brought to you by Quizilla



Thanks Tripp

Huzzah!

Mae is here!!!!


For whole Month!!!!


Huzzah!!!

Raaaaaaarrrrrrrrr


MONSTER ORIGAMI

Thanks Zannah

Scam!!!

If I hear one more thing about the "Low-Carb Craze" it will scream.

Sure, it works, but jeeze, it is such a scam.

Coke is coming out with C2. I has half the carbs Coke Classic. Gee that is fan-flippin-tastic. Only they already have a low carb cola out, and it has no carbs. It is called Diet Coke.

Same with all the low carb beers. Michelob Ultra...so what, Miller Lite has .01 more carbs.

URG...

Ladies, Pay Attention.

Ladies, please tell you husbands, boyfriends, and fiancés when you buy things from a baby store and have it shipped to your house.

Be ye warned, below is a tale of terror.

Yesterday, a friend of my got home from work and there was a package on his stoop. He thought it a tad unusual, but took it into the house, and opened the wrapper as it was addressed to the Finkle family (names changed to protect the victims). Upon opening of said package all blood rushed from the head of Bob, my bud. He almost peed his pants from fear. On the label of the box was the following:

Congratulation to the expectant mother, Lisa Finkle.

Well, needless to say, this is the first Bob had heard of the impending arrival of a little Finkle.

Hours later and a half bottle of Gentleman Jack later, Lisa comes home...

"Honey..."
"Hi, How are you?"
"Honey..."
"Yes?"
"Do you have something to tell me?"
"Um...hi?"
"Something else?"
"How was your day?"
"What about this?" (Shaking...handing the box to Lisa)
"Oh, good it came. It is something for Sarah's Shower."
"It...what?!"
"It's for Sarah's shower."
"But?! The Note...It...um..."
"I had to put my name on a mailing list..."
"You mean...um..."
(Laughing evilly and uncontrollably) "You thought...HA."
"I love you!"

So ladies, if you sign up for a baby shower gift and you don't want a puddle of pee in the front room, please tell your guys.

Thanks

Throwing Stones

My brother posted this on his blog. Check it out.

It brings up an interesting point. If you are going to throw stones, be prepared to be hit back. I am a sinner and know that and ask for forgiveness daily. But the sanctimonious people who use religion as a defense of marriage had better look at themselves in the mirror.

Jesus preached against divorce did he not? Well, almost all of the people posted on Josh's blog are guilty of it, and most of adultery. If you are going to preach about the holiness of marriage, you better have a clean slate.

So, If you are going to bring religion into the mix of the sanctity of marriage, you better be ready to be hit with some of your own stones.

And now, a segue.

I was going to post this yesterday, but never got around to it.

I think I have mentioned before that I believe the State has no place in defining what marriage is. I think that is the Church’s place. The State has a responsibility for declaring civil unions. The Church has the responsibility of blessing those unions.

I think what is done in some European countries would do well here. You have a civil union that is then blessed by the Church.

Thus, the civil union is recognized by the State as a binding contract and the blessing of the Church is the blessing of the union.

In the U.S. one of those steps is not necessary, because the clergy also serve as an agent of the State (a little odd?), but alas, couples are still obligated to sign the marriage contract that is held in a State office.

Rambling a bit, I know, but I needed to get that out.

Brown v. Board of Education

I am sure you all have heard that today is the 50th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education. For those who don't know it is the Supreme Court decision that desegregated the public schools in The United States.

NPR just had this story on the air. It is letters written to President Eisenhower after the decision was made. It is a very interesting listen.

"The law is an ass, a idiot"-Charles Dickens (Oliver Twist)


I got this in an email from a co-worker. Fair?

"100 days for manslaughter...

...v.s....

Life in prison for the following (eg: theft of razor blades)...

So much for equality being built into the constitution!"

McCain as V.P.

There has been a lot of chatter about John Kerry possibly picking Sen. John McCain for his vice-presidential running mate. Pundits have been bandying this about for months. Sen. McCain has denied interest, and Sen. Kerry on Imus in the Morning yesterday stated that he would like McCain for Secretary of Defense.

I think this would be a better option than having him as vice-president (although his hawkish ways are too far right for my tastes).

The reason I would not like to see Sen. McCain as vice president is a very simple and partisan one. He is a Republican. Plain and simple. He has stated that he would not switch parties, and even if he did I don’t believe ideologies really would have been changed.

You see, the pundits seem to have forgotten a major job the vice-president has, and that is being the tie breaking vote in the senate. Yup. President Kerry has a ground breaking bill approved by the house guaranteeing fair and balanced health care for every single one of us. The bill is now a full count in the bottom of the ninth with a tie game in the senate 50-50, remember if this passes you can go to the doctor of your choice and note go broke. The vote comes down to Vice-President McCain, a life long Republican, votes no because of ideological beliefs.

You see, the hypothetical situation above is exactly why Sen. Kerry should not have Sen. McCain as a vice-president. I am all for bipartisan cooperation in committee work of bills, but when it comes down to one vote I want someone on the good guy’s side casting the vote. And, believe me I would be saying the same thing if I were a Republican and my candidate was considering a Democrat for Veep.

A little help

Thoughts

Yesterday news hit the world of the brutal murder of Nicholas Berg. He was slaughtered by Islamic extremists. He was beheaded as retaliation for the heinous acts of soldiers at Abu Ghurayb prision. He was killed by militants in the name of God.

In my previous posts I have shown my disdain and anger at our own atrocities.

This, along with the brutal burning of four contractors earlier, is utterly despicable. Any violence perpertrated in the name of God/Allah is totally oppostite to any faith I can think of.

The actions of both the soldiers and militants bring bring to my mind much bigger qustions. Questions of faith and more importantly faith in action.

Using faith has been an excuse for murder for centuries. Ranging from the crusades to September 11, 2001. The Hebrew Bible is full of wars fought in the name of not only their God, but foreign gods, too. But the Christian New Testament is different.

Tony Campolo was on The O’Franken Factor yesterday and said something that has stuck with me. He brought up the fact that in the Christian New Testament we are commanded to love our enemies.

Luke 6: 27-36

27"But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. 30Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. 31Do to others as you would have them do to you.
32"If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' love those who love them. 33And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' do that. 34And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' lend to 'sinners,' expecting to be repaid in full. 35But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”

Wow!

Ok. He pointed out that much of the resentment we are facing began the moment we forgot this.

For 11 years we, along with the UN, were guilty of totally denying this passage and central tenant of our faith. Had we followed the prescription above, don’t you think that the people would have more clearly seen that Saddam was the problem? They would have notice that food and medicines were coming from the Infidel. Saddam would have been gone long before these atrocities were a glimmer in anyone’s eye. I think so.

We are a compassionate nation, as show by the outcry against the actions of both the Islamic Extremists and the American Soldiers.

We are a people, Christian or not, who know how to love. It is my prayer that we work to end the cycle of redemptive violence encapsulates our entire world. We are taught as children not to hit. We tell our children that violence is not the answer.

Have you ever seen children playing? The do not know that because their playmate is African America, White, Jewish, Hindu, Christian or Islamic. They see a friend.

How about we live by the examples of our children?


P.S. Please know that this is 1 Christian's point of view. I know the Hebrew Bible and The Koran also preach non-violence. This is just one of many p.o.v.

Peace

Nice, Huh?

What do you think aboot the new template?

Let me know!

Peace

He's Back

I wrote almost 2 years ago about the Sax Man. Well, I don't know if who I now hear outside is him or not, but he is doing an impov based on the Sesame Street theme. It is awesome! Truly!

OK

So he apologized.


"I told him I was sorry for the humiliation suffered by Iraqi prisoners and the humiliation suffered by their families," Mr. Bush said.

That was in the rose garden after the meeting with King Abdullah.

So he told the King of a country neighboring the one we are "liberating."

Let's see, that was like the time I punched my brother. Mom told me to apologize. I said sorry to the neighbor kid and then told my mom I apologized. Not quite the same as saying I'm sorry to my brother.

I am stopping now before I start a rant.