Purging the evil

"We are doing a poor job of fighting the terrorists at home if we continue to allow Muslim immigrants, especially from Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen, into America. We won't win this war if we permit the uncontrolled construction of mosques, as well as Islamic schools, some of which already have sown the seeds from which future terrorists will be cultivated. We won't win this war if we continue to permit the large-scale conversion to Islam of prison inmates, many of whom become radicalized and upon release enlist in al-Qaida's army. We must purge the evil from among us, or else. " -Cal Thomas

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When war rages within ourselves , and will not be acknowledged; we require an external enemy to engage. The conflict between our simplistic worldview, and the complex reality that overwhelms our understanding creates a fear that torments; a fear that requires mitigation lest it destroy our will to live. The temptation to trade truth for certainity may engulf the best intentions, and, in a desperate bid to master the dread of unpredictability, lead to creation of straw demons; respositories of rage and revulsion.

Thus, the outside influences of evil loom eternally, shadowing our lives and darkening our minds and hearts. One adversary falls, and another rises up to cast the pall of menace; this dimness obscures the truth of inner dissonance and leads to an continual crusade against those who reflect the evil that eminates from ourselves.

We must first purge the evil within before we can hope to deal with the evil without.

SB1070

I, for one, am not surprised to see a materialistic motivation behind the current legislation. Pandering to public paranoia for private profit seems to be a far more likely explanation for SB1070 than any longing for the love of law and order. For many years here in Arizona, the exploitation of workers for less than minimum wage was a popular and accepted practice; despite the hardships caused by unregulated border crossings and unprotected employment.

Now that the economy has declined, the more expedient form of exploitation has become scapegoating; many social ills are charged to a group little able to defend themselves, thus neatly diverting anger from the financial disaster created by political/business manipulation of the Arizona economy.


As was pointed out by a local columnist in the Arizona Republic, the same sort of hoopla surrounded the passing of the Legal Arizona Workers Act (AZHB 2779), the "E-verify" act. It was purported to end the incentive of hiring workers without current legal standing in the US by imposing stiff penalties upon any employer who was in violation of its regulations. Its failure is evidenced by the new law, which I fear will do little to fix economic problems, but will prove invaluable to the aspirations of many a reactionary politician.

Hiding hate and ignorance beneath the halo of judicial reverence and good citizenship seems to work well for many here in Arizona; I wish I could say that such attitudes were confined within our borders.

dithering about differences

"In the discreet white-collar realm, men and women are interchangeable, doing the same, mind-based work. Physicality is suppressed; voices are lowered and gestures curtailed in sanitized office space. Men must neuter themselves, while ambitious women postpone procreation. Androgyny is bewitching in art, but in real life it can lead to stagnation and boredom, which no pill can cure.

"Meanwhile, family life has put middle-class men in a bind; they are simply cogs in a domestic machine commanded by women. Contemporary moms have become virtuoso super-managers of a complex operation focused on the care and transport of children. But it’s not so easy to snap over from Apollonian control to Dionysian delirium.

Nor are husbands offering much stimulation in the male display department: visually, American men remain perpetual boys, as shown by the bulky T-shirts, loose shorts and sneakers they wear from preschool through midlife. The sexes, which used to occupy intriguingly separate worlds, are suffering from over-familiarity, a curse of the mundane. There’s no mystery left." - Camille Paglia,

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"In the discreet white-collar realm, men and women are interchangeable, doing the same, mind-based work. Physicality is suppressed; voices are lowered and gestures curtailed in sanitized office space. Men must neuter themselves, while ambitious women postpone procreation. Androgyny is bewitching in art, but in real life it can lead to stagnation and boredom, which no pill can cure."

People are certainly comparable, but the characterization that they are simply interchangeable parts in the machine of industry is shallow and simplistic at best, and ignorantly delusional at worst. Each individual brings a differing and diverse interpretation to their allotted tasks, even in the most menial office drudgery; and the ability to recognize and appreciate these variations lies behind the progression of the employment environment.

Far more injurious to the spirit than some sort of demonically imposed androgyny is the dehumanizing pall of materialism; the slavish pursuit of wealth that debilitates both the unique moral and personal expressions of a company's wage earners. The devitalization of empathy accompanying the mad scrabble for assets and the nullification of feelings that might inhibit ravenous acquisition seem far more likely to enfeeble individual displays of passion.

"Meanwhile, family life has put middle-class men in a bind; they are simply cogs in a domestic machine commanded by women. Contemporary moms have become virtuoso super-managers of a complex operation focused on the care and transport of children. But it’s not so easy to snap over from Apollonian control to Dionysian delirium."

If middle-class men find themselves in a "bind", it is one of their own creation; they are far more hobbled by the chains of consumptive conformity than by the demands of the family. Rather than blame women as the emasculating task masters of domestic machinery, it is more realistic to see them as architects of the supportive structures of kin and kind that allow men the opportunity to embrace their full potential. Raising children is more than just the care and transport of potential products; at best, it is the fulfillment of human potential and the realization of mature adulthood.

Family provides benefits for all its members; provided the short-sighted nature of individual egotism can be overcome, and the value of loving relationships is appreciated. Far from "Dionysian delirium", a more balanced sharing of parental responsibilities to include female decision-making insures the children have training in creating and sustaining the symbiotic spousal relationships necessary to a healthy household. In this environment, trust and intimacy may flourish.


"Nor are husbands offering much stimulation in the male display department: visually, American men remain perpetual boys, as shown by the bulky T-shirts, loose shorts and sneakers they wear from preschool through midlife. The sexes, which used to occupy intriguingly separate worlds, are suffering from over-familiarity, a curse of the mundane. There’s no mystery left."

Ascribing the lack of female arousal to the casual attire sported by the men in their leisure hours may have an appeal to the shallow minded person in search of a scapegoat,
but physical attraction based on primarily on wardrobe speaks more to a vacuous mindset of consumerism than any lack of sexual intrigue. Mundane trappings are overshadowed by the extraordinary attraction of the individual; store-bought facades are no substitute for the erotic enticements of an exceptional mind and spirit.

Whenever we limit ourselves to the purchased personalities hawked by the vendors of banality; the destruction of sensuality looms. Putting on the guise of another demolishes the voluptuous nature of distinct humanity, and relegates it to hollow, hideous imitation of itself.

The true source of desire derives its mystery from the unique nature of autonomous expression, and the ability to express it freely in an atmosphere of of acceptance and appreciation. Stagnant gender roles drape unflatteringly about the body modern; only by discarding these ill-fitting garments of convention can the display of true passion emerge.

House Divided

Anti-Gay Family Values GOP Rep. Mark Souder To Resign Over Affair With Staffer

CHRISTIAN, n. One who believes that the New Testament is a divinely inspired book admirably suited to the spiritual needs of his neighbor. One who follows the teachings of Christ in so far as they are not inconsistent with a life of sin.
--Ambrose Bierce

Thus, another public figure embraces the morally abhorrent behaviors he condemned in others. When political expediency prompts an individual to proclaim their religious beliefs as justification to abuse others, it is much more difficult to empathize with their failings; indeed, using God as a tool of exploitation creates an exceeding foul form of blasphemy.

Here, by all accounts, was a man perfectly willing to debase gay people under the guise of preserving the public good, while simultaneously engaging in private debauchery. The sword of divine judgment, callously brandished against convenient scapegoats eviscerates the wielder just as effectively, and such acts evoke contempt towards those eager to embrace ostentatious piety.

Transmuting religious belief into a weapon may be an ancient art, but age by no means mitigates the foul stench of this putrid practice. If one can not display their faith though actions, words of religiosity mean nothing; and serve only to create a shaky sepulchral edifice, filled with corruption. Such a house, divided against itself, stands on the flimsiest of foundations; ever in danger of eminent collapse.

Let the ruins not prompt gloating; just the acknowledgment of faulty blueprints and a deluded builder.

Capable of anything

• Wilson: "You can be a real jerk sometimes, you know that?"
  House: "Yeah. And you're the good guy."
  Wilson: "At least I try."
  House: "As long as you're trying to be good, you can do whatever you want."
  Wilson: "And as long as you're not trying, you can say whatever you want."
  House: "So between us, we can do anything. We can rule the world!"
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The ability t0 do anything translates most commonly to the ability to do anyone. The lack of personal control is seen as unnecessary when one possesses the power to control everyone else.

The irony of an incapacitated conscience is that it allows the capacity for unbridled atrocities; fueled by the inability to recognize the difference between one's perception and reality. Whenever the limited abilities of any individual is coupled with (nearly) unlimited power, the devastating consequences point out the capability for evil that accompanies all collective action.

What we say and do should be not "whatever we want", but instead the best of which we are capable; this mandates that we trying not to rule the world, but to rule ourselves.

rape of the frock

http://joemygod.blogspot.com/2010/03/virginia-christians-tell-women-dress.html

So instead of using their time and energy to solve the rape crime problem; they instead abrogate any responsibility by bearing false witness against their neighbors. Accusing others of instigating sin releases them from any accountability, and makes them accessories to the sin and the felony. Expedient and convenient, but in no way just nor moral.

This not the act of a love, but of a fearful, cowardly hate. The proper response to this is "It isn't my attire that causes sin, but the hearts that embrace it. Rapists don't need a reason, just an excuse... and by providing them with one, we see where your true sympathies lie".

q and or a

1. Does President Obama seem to be generally more supportive of Trans folk than he seems to be of GLB folk?

2. If corporations can spend money on elections, then that means that LGBT folks can form corporations (which are fairly cheap to do) and spend money on elections as well -- stepping outside the realm of 501c3 and c4 orgs and free of the reporting requirements that burden them.

3. On the presumption of Perry making it through the full 9th cicuit -- will that overturn amendments in the other states, and if so, will it allow for a window of opportunity before SCOTUS puts a hold on it?

4. How would you define sexual orientation? Given the attempt by the defense in the Perry Trial to show that it changes and is hard to pin down, what criteria would you use to describe it?

5. How would you feel if a politician stood up and said that they were running on a platform to deny gay people the right to be in communal showers with other persons of the same sex on the grounds they could assault them? How would you feel if every major organization was suddenly silent about it?

1. Does it matter? The amount of support for GLB seems so small, surpassing it inspires little comfort.

2. Hooray. Now the financially challenged can compete with the financially grossly over-endowed without any burdensome reporting requirements. I'll be rushing out to take advantage of that real soon.

3. Doubtful, although one can hope. More likely, even a favorable outcome would be suspended while waiting for the Supreme Court to strike down equality in the name of "precedent".

4. Sexual orientation depends on one's particular location, and the points that supply both a foundation and opportunity for growth. I'd start with the criteria that promote happy, healthy and productive relationships irrespective of their correlation to gender attraction.

5. I'd feel disgust but little surprise. Politics seems based on expediency, not morality; so unless the two can be intertwined I feel little hope for policy based on the second value overriding the first.

please say something

Please Say Something - Full Length from David OReilly on Vimeo.