What to Call This Time of Year

There is a thing going around on Facebook about whether to say "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays".  Mostly it is a "don't take the 'Christ' out of Christmas" meme.  Lawmakers in Rhode Island are upset with the Governor for calling the blue spruce erected in the Statehouse a "holiday tree" instead of a "Christmas tree".  He states that maybe the lawmakers "should focus their energy on feeding the poor."  (MSNBC.com)


But what is the month of December?  Obviously it is not just Christmas.  A Google search of "December Holidays" brings up a nice calendar that shows what holidays there are in December:  Islamic Ashura, Nat'l Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, Human Rights Day, Wright Brothers Day, Pan American Aviation Day, Hanukkah, Forefather's Day, Boxing Day, Kwanzaa and of course Christmas Day. (HolidaySmart.com)

So, perhaps the better greeting this time of year is "Happy Holidays."  Now, if you are a member of the Scottsdale Gun Club, perhaps there is no 'Christ' in Christmas.  Unless you think Christ would pack heat:

The Truth Hurts

Sometimes, it really does.  Maybe that is why Michelle Bachmann stays away from it so much?  She has told wonderful lies, a whole list of them shows up in a Google search:  "George Washington said 'So Help Me God' at the end of his oath of office." (TheNewCivilRightsMovement.com)  She has lied about the dangers of the HPV vaccine and then lied about saying it.  (Mediaite.com)  There are also a few things about her own past that she claimed that have been proven lies:

Not a Doctor
No Post-Doctorate Degree
Not Descended from a Long Line of Iowa Prairie Preachers
Not a Devoted Family Reunion Attendee
Not an Accidental Candidate
Not From a Swing District
Never in Charge of 23 Foster Kids at Once
(DailyPaul.com)

So, it is painful and true then that she is a "Lyin' Ass Bitch".  And when Jimmy Fallon's band played that song when she was on his show, they were just paying tribute to her true self.  But, she didn't like it much.  She wants NBC to offer an apology and fire the drummer of the band.  She says "if that song had been played for Michelle Obama, I have no doubt that NBC would have apologized to her."  (HuffingtonPost.com)

But, when has Michelle Obama lied?

People are Strange

And not just in the Doors version of it... It is amazing what some people will think.  From some GOP candidates thinking that being gay is a choice: Herman Cain: "I respect their right to make that choice. I don’t have to agree with it." (ThinkProgress.org) And others who think prayer is the answer:  Michele Bachmann with a Christian counseling clinic she co-owns with her husband Marcus offering "reparative" therapy to patients seeking to "cure" their homosexuality. (HuffingtonPost.com)


Now, in Peru, the mayor thinks that gay is in the water.  Huarmey Mayor Jose Benitez noted high levels of strontium in the tap water.  The water comes from Tabalosos, a town which a Lima-based television station once claimed was inhabited by 14,000 gay men.  (HuffingtonPost.com)  Dr. Robert Castro Rodriguez, dean of the College of Pharmaceutical Chemistry of Lima says that large amounts of strontium in the body eventually lead to bone cancer, anemia and cardiovascular complications –- but not homosexuality.

Then, right here in America - well, in Iowa - Michele Bachmann's new Iowa campaign Co-Chair, Tamara Scott says that legalizing gay marriage will lead to women marrying the Eiffel Tower.  (HuffingtonPost.com)With the phallic shape of the tower, though, that should be ok with Ms. Scott. 

Only straight women would want to marry it.

Lower Funding = Lower Standards

That is about all that can be said to explain the House GOP.  Now, this has nothing to do with the lowliness of the current House GOP... It all has to do with food.  The food that kids in school can get and the less money that the Government wants to pay for it.


Just like back in the hey-day Reagan years, when the USDA was tasked "with coming up with a solution that maintained nutritional requirements for school lunches in spite of the lower funding," the current House GOP is doing the same thing.  In 1981 the Secretary of Agriculture proposed classifying ketchup and relish as vegetables.  And today, Republicans have a bill that would allow the tomato paste on pizzas to be counted as a vegetable. (Pam's Houseblend)

So, the low standard is setting in.  Let's not give our school kids nutritional lunches and spend more money. 
Let's call pizza a vegetable.  Is that like calling a cat a dog?


Bet good ol' pizza man, Herman Cain is just thrilled to death.

Protect the Definition of Marriage

That is what the Catholic Bishops want to do.  There are some things wrong with that vow, however.  First, what is the definition of "marriage"?  "According to the Cain Lanamna, which is the Ancient Irish text dealing with marriage" there are several definitions of marriage, and "that marriage is contractual and it is set at a certain number of years before the contract lapses."  So it is a contract. (Lez Get Real)

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, then, want to protect a contract that will expire.  "There is a difference between civil marriage equality and religious marriage."  But, the USCCB wants everybody to live by the definition - their definition - of a religious marriage, and if you ain't a good Catholic, you can't get married.


Makes one wonder, though, if the Catholic church also wants to set the definition of pedophilia.  "Roman Catholic church's pedophile investigator jailed for possessing thousands of child porn images" was a Joe My God Headline of the Day.  The father-of-four was responsible for children's safety at 120 churches and community groups for nine years.  And police found 4,000 child porn images  on his church supplied computer.


Hmmm... what will the church try to define next???

Do They Know Who the Victims Really Are?

It is an interesting world we live in.  The people of this country (not all, but some) have the wrong vision of victims.  Children who are abused by a football coach.  Women who are harassed by a restaurateur.  Those are the true victims.  Not the coach or the restaurateur.  But obviously this is not apparent to the people in this country.


When another coach was let go because of the charges of sexual abuse on children while he was in charge, people went crazy.  There were "several violent scenes in which protesters flipped over a media van and destroyed other property."  (FoxNews.com) Doesn't sound right.


When the restaurateur was asked at a political debate about his involvement in the harassment accusations, the audience booed the moderator.  (Reuters.com)   He also "noted the issue had not dented voter enthusiasm for his campaign to face President Barack Obama." Maybe it should have.


We need to remember the real victims in these stories.

Do Away the Gay

It is surprising that none of the anti-gay, homophobes out there didn't come up with this great idea.  Maybe the fact that this story proves that homosexuality is natural in all species makes them shy away.  But all the gay-haters have to do is tell everyone that the human race is in jeopardy of extinction and then *presto* do away the gay.


So, at a zoo in Canada, there are these two penguins.  Pedro and Buddy were brought to the zoo to hook up with a couple of eligible females.  Instead the two male penguins bonded with each other.  Now, the zoo is going to isolate them from each other to see if they can get the "boys interested" in looking at the girl penguins. (TheNewCivilRightsMovement)


All that NOM and AFA have to do, then, is convince the world that the human population is going to go bye-bye if we don't stop all this gay-ness.  Make the gays and the lesbians all get together so that the world doesn't lose the wonderful human race.  But, wait!  Several of my homosexual friends have - or are going to have - babies...


Oh, and the Duggars are expecting their 20th baby... they won't let extinction happen.  (MSNBC)

My Mom Could Have Been Convicted of Murder

So, today the state of Mississippi is voting on the "Personhood" bill that would designate inseminated human eggs as legal persons from the "moment of fertilization."  This would make any end to pregnancy (they are pretty much saying abortion and the morning-after pill) legally equivalent to murder.  (MotherJones.com)  But there maybe more to this then meets the eye.


Let's take for example an ectopic pregnancy.  "In an ectopic pregnancy, a fertilized egg has implanted outside the uterus, usually in the fallopian tubes."  And when the fetus grows, the tubes burst and the fetus is lost.  (KidsHealth.org)  Some time ago, my mother had an ectopic pregnancy that led to a miscarriage.  According to Mississippi, that's murder... or maybe manslaughter.


What might be more scary, though, is not that a miscarriage could be considered murder in Mississippi.  Republicans in congress are endorsing three similar bills that would extend the rights of legal personhood—including equal protection under the law—to a zygote.  This would make it a Federal law, so no matter where you live, you'd be going to jail.


Maybe Mom will get past the statute of limitations...

The Right Sometimes Don't Think Right

For some, sexual assault would be a bad thing.  But for the potential Republican voters out there, allegations of sexual impropriety against Herman Cain aren't all that bad.  In an ABC News/Washington Post poll, 23 percent support Cain with 24 percent leaning towards Romney.  (ABC News)


Now in other right-wing inconsistency...  U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh announced Thursday that the Family Research Council Action committee commended him on his "support in defense of life and the family."  They did this because he "voted to repeal Obamacare, de-fund Planned Parenthood, end government funding for abortion within the health care law, uphold the Defense of Marriage Act, and continue support for school choice."  He has a "commitment to uphold the institutions of marriage and family."  (HuffingtonPost.com)


On the other hand, talking about his own family, his ex-wife sued him for $117,437 in allegedly unpaid child support.  Is that upholding the institutions of marriage and family?  A divorced, father of three who doesn't pay child support.  Don't think so.


Earlier this week, Walsh dismissed Cain's sexual harassment allegations, telling every body to grow up. He and the FRC have some growing up to do...

'Cause That is What God Would Do!

Of course God is a bully, right?  An overbearing person who habitually badgers and intimidates smaller or weaker people.  It must say that somewhere in the Bible.  Maybe in Leviticus?  Well, that is what the Michigan GOP want you to believe.


"Michigan Senate Republicans have passed bill that actually gives license to bully."  (New Civil Rights Movement)   Yep, that's right.  The bill allows anti-gay bullying if you can provide a so-called religious or moral reason.  So you can bully a gay kid into suicide as long as you are doing it for God.  Because really, that is what God wants, right?


The other bad part about this bill? It is named for Matt Epling, a young man who killed himself in 2002 after being bullied.  His father calls the bill "Government-sanctioned bigotry."


Thank God the religious right can continue to bully people to death...

It's the "Christian" Thing to Do

At least that is what the Christians have started doing. And yes, it is just some Christians, not all of them. These particular "Loving Christians" have sent threats and hateful words to a San Diego-area high school because the students voted two lesbians in as the Homecoming King and Queen.  Not sure where in the Bible that is ok.


The school superintendent interrupted a news conference on the district's financial troubles to comment on it.  "What is essentially disappointing is that adults who have contacted the school, many not even San Diego residents, are demonstrating such a lack of tolerance and such a negative role model for children with their hateful comments."  (JoeMyGod.com)


The haters are saying that allowing this is wrong.  Although, saying some of the things they said, is even more wrong.  Hypocrisy.  "This is disgusting. It’s deviancy on display, and our kids have been trained to approve." "The Principal should be brought up on charges and be made to register as a sex offender."  "Children who attend godless socialist schools will learn to think and reason godlessly!"


Who is being godless now?