Infidels of Every Denomination

BUNNY!

OK, I looked around a bit to find evidence that this is a huge 'net prank, but so far it looks legit:

Giant pink bunny erected on Italian mountainside

An enormous pink bunny has been erected on an Italian mountainside where it will stay for the next 20 years.

...

And Gelatin members say the bunny is not just for walking around - they are expecting hikers to climb its 20 foot sides and relax on its belly.

OK, that thing is going to be unbelievably disgusting in about two days (let alone twenty years-- like there'll even be a shred of it left by then!) but in the meantime-- GIANT PINK BUNNY!!! Oh, the cuteness!!

Professor Olds Regrets

Wow...just read this. It's an open letter in The Nation to First Lady Laura Bush from poet and professor Sharon Olds, explaining her reasons for declining Mrs. Bush's invitation to read from her work at the National Book Festival this Saturday:

But I could not face the idea of breaking bread with you. I knew that if I sat down to eat with you, it would feel to me as if I were condoning what I see to be the wild, highhanded actions of the Bush Administration.

...

So many Americans who had felt pride in our country now feel anguish and shame, for the current regime of blood, wounds and fire. I thought of the clean linens at your table, the shining knives and the flames of the candles, and I could not stomach it.

Kind of reminds you that some of history's most passionate dissidents and opponents of tyranny have been poets...

Happy Birthday Autumn!

My personal calendar of holidays observed is, you might say, eclectic. I was definitely influenced as a baby-pagan by the Wiccan wheel of the year (Samhain, Yule, Imbolc, Ostara, Beltane, Litha, Lammas, Mabon), but having always been more of a mystic wanderer and eclectic than a die-hard adherent to any one path, I didn't feel a need to celebrate all of them. I honor Diwali and the Day of the Dead alongside Samhain; I still essentially celebrate Christmas because it's a family holiday; Valentine's Day has a special place alongside Rosalia and the Inebriety of Hathor in my heart; and as an American Pagan, Independence Day does have a deeply spiritual side for me. When I learned somewhere that many tribes of Rom tend to adopt the holidays of the cultures they travel through as it feels meaningful to them, I completely understood that. (It doesn't hurt that I'm glad of any excuse for a party!)

The autumn equinox, also called Mabon or Harvest Home by some modern Pagan traditions, has always been meaningful to me on a rather instinctual level. It affected me before I was even Pagan, and I cherish it in a way I can't really describe, one that has little to do with established Pagan tradition and much more to do with a wordless inner state.

The celebration of the equinox in many cultures and religions around the world centers on the conclusion of the harvest, the gathering of the grapes for wine, the preparation for winter, in some cases (as in Japan) the honoring of the dead. It is the dawning of the sun in Libra (my birth sign-- maybe that's what draws me!), the balance of light and dark following the first harvests of the sun in Virgo the grain maiden. Given that few of us in modern Western culture do any serious farming outside of perhaps tending a small garden, most modern Pagan tradition around the autumn equinox is symbolic-- the pause in labor to celebrate accomplishments and give thanks for the year's "yield" be it financial, artistic, domestic, industrial. Because Samhain is widely recognized as the Pagan new year, the equinox calls for introspection, assessment, the tying-up of loose ends. (See also The Wildhunt Blog for a roundup of commentary on Equinox and its meanings and traditions.)

Immune to Shame

Somehow "the Teflon Pontiff" just doesn't roll off the tongue.

But the Vatican's just slippery as a greased-up jackhammer jesus these days, innit? They're refusing to help track down an accused Croatian war criminal who is believed to be in hiding from a UN war crimes tribunal in a Catholic monastery. Yes, when it comes to horrible crimes amongst their own, Vatican policy is all about sheltering the perps and stonewalling justice.

Which brings us to the Justice Department's decision that the Pope has immunity as a head of state against a Houston lawsuit accusing him of conspiring in a coverup of the molestation of three boys by Catholic clergy. Attorney Daniel Shea is challenging the constitutionality of this decision on the grounds that the Pope is the head of a church, not of a state. Think about this-- can you imagine the Justice Department blithely granting immunity to an Islamic leader who was responsible for hiding from justice followers who committed crimes against American children? It's high time we stopped assuming that a leader's holiness is in direct proportion to his Christianity. This idea that the Pope is beyond the realm of human justice is simply ludicrous.

But really, who can possibly think that the Vatican isn't totally committed to purging its clergy of child molesters? I mean, they are going to make sure that no gay men are allowed to become priests, whether or not they are faithfully celibate, in order to "restore credibility" to the church in the wake of scandals. They're going to scour seminaries, rooting out teh gay.

Church officials and their conservative backers said it would be irresponsible not to look at the role homosexuality might have played in the high rate of abuse by Catholic priests.

...even though homosexuality has about as much to do with child molestation as any particular race has to do with raping women. See? The God Squad's on it! Why don't we all just stop persecuting them?

Meanwhile, in Mexico, a Catholic bishop can't understand why anyone would find it disturbing that his church knowingly accepts money from criminal drug rings:

On Monday, the bishop said money can start out being dirty but "can be transformed" when it enters the church, Mexican news media reported.

Yeah, and that's exactly what Jesus said when he caught those money changers in the temple. Or, you know, he kicked them out on the principle that in the church, financial ends don't justify the means.

Hmmm...of course...this might just be a clue! Maybe the rationale for all those molestations is that an underage penis can start out being dirty but can be transformed when it enters the church servant.

Is there ever a point at which the Vatican practices the Catholic rite of reconciliation and simply takes responsibility for its own sins and failings? I was raised in the Catholic church and you know what, I'm glad I left at the first opportunity, because it would disgust me to belong to a religion whose leaders think it is better to hide and shelter known criminals than to protect the children in its flock, and that is more concerned with maintaining a death grip on power and privilege and money than on doing the right thing. I feel sorry for the many, many good people who are Catholic and the many decent and honorable priests and nuns who deserve much more strength of character and purity of spirit in their leaders.

Once More Into The Breach...

It's been an unusually busy couple of weeks, and frankly I'm still building the stamina to keep up with the level of crazy horseshit that comes down the pike every day, so a little break was in order.

I see I've missed all kinds of fun outrage. Time to break out the hip waders!

Good news, good stuff

Something to help with the midweek blahs:

Here's a site dedicated to spreading happy news. 

And a Live Journal community that all about the good stuff.   

Enjoy.

ESA- not so "failed" after all

Just finished reading a wonderful article in Smithsonian about the many successes of the Endangered Species Act.  Not only did it give the lie to many critics of the act (who claim it's done little or nothing to save endangered species), but it also showed the nuanced approach that enforcement often takes:  through the Safe Harbor provisions, property owners can negotiate easing of certain restrictions if they act in positive ways to preserve the species.

Many times, it's simple things- changing the mowing patterns along utility lines, delaying pesticide applications until winter- that produce the best results.  It shouldn't come as any surprise that protecting one endangered species often has a positive ripple effect on a large number of others.  But I also found it encouraging that species protection can lead to economic benefitsfor the surrounding communities.

Besides, the image conjured by a description of testing a "grizzly-proof" dumpster was priceless.  They're thinking of taking grizzlies off the list (in the lower 48, they've been doing fine in Alaska), by the way; bald eagles, too.  How cool is that?

National Day of Prayer

September 16th has been designated by Bush as a National Day of Prayer and Remembrance for Katrina victims. (You know, in case you were living under a rock, or were on vacation or working for FEMA and therefore missed the news.)

Certainly, it is hardly unusual for any political leader in America to call for a day of prayer, particularly in the wake of tragedy. What IS unusual is how often Bush designates them, and frequently for no particular reason (though I'm going to guess lagging poll numbers).

As a spiritual person myself, I know what comfort prayer can bring when one is grappling with grief and confusion. Those of us who believe in such things find it important to offer aid and solace and support to the suffering on a spiritual level in addition to a physical one. I think that everyone who is inclined to should spend however much time they wish in prayer for Katrina's victims; I think it is an appropriate time for spiritual leaders to gather their congregants and for groups to seek time together with their members, and to call privately for prayer or meditation or ritual.

But I find it extremely inappropriate for public leaders to do the same. (In that, I find myself in the company of some pretty cool guys.)

BAGging the Bushies

I'm a big fan of BAGnewsNotes in general because I'm fascinated by the analysis of photographs, and the work there is always thought-provoking and often startling. These two recent posts, though, I felt merited particular mention:

In Laura: Just Say N.O., a series of pictures of the First Lady "comforting" victims of Katrina gets dissected to show how imperial and patronizing she comes across in even official White House photos. I noticed this post particularly because the first image was one that had struck me when I first saw it attached to a news item about how "disgusting" Laura Bush thinks it is that anyone would suggest her husband was a racist or that it has anything to do with how he handled the aftermath of Katrina. I thought it was interesting, given the content of the article, that not only did the photo make her look cold and remote from the people she's supposedly consoling, but also that she is wearing all *white* while sitting amongst black people in dark clothes. I'm not suggesting it was intentional, but rather that it seems ironic that in a piece about her dismissing claims of racism, she looks about as cluelessly patrician and as photo-negative from the people around her as it is possible to be.

The second, 9/11 All Over Again, shows an image presumably from the imperial propaganda march held to pimp the war comemmorate the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Great analysis including another racial element, but what struck me was a fairly small (size-wise) detail that got picked out in this post-- the memorial display beside Bush shows a fireman's badge upon which has been placed a Christian cross. It's not clear who placed the display, but visually it does reinforce Bush and the right's constant, often insidious push for theocracy.

Lots of great stuff over at BNN-- go check it out!

Brownie, You Did A Heck of a Job

Michael Brown is resigning from FEMA. It's about damn time, just too bad he didn't get fired first. I'd be more excited, except that he's just going to be replaced by some other resume-padding underqualified flunky per Bushco policy. Is it that Bush is so incompetent that he can't bear to appoint anyone in a position who might show him up by actually being good at their job?

And I loved this:

The president ducked questions about Brown’s resignation. “Maybe you know something I don’t know. I’ve been working,” the president said to reporters on an inspection tour of damage in Gulfport, Miss.

Oh, excuse US, your highness. And, it's about time you got cracking. What, you aren't due for another vacation yet? Hasn't it been like a week already?