St. Pat's New Steeples

St. Pat's downtown will finally get steeples after 100 years in the waiting...

Religious Right Backlash Against Santa Claus?

I'm wondering why there isn't a backlash against Santa Claus among the religious right. They rail against Halloween as a pagan holiday. While Easter and Christmas are clearly pagan holidays that were conveniently adapted to Christianity (Feasts for the changes of seasons...I think in Roman times it was Saturnalia and Lupercalia but I lack the wherewhithal to look it up right now.)

If he (Santa) sees you when your sleeping, knows when your awake, and knows when you've been bad or good, he's either a member of the NSA or some sort of omniscient god. Since it's probably not the NSA thing, I'm going with the latter.

If it's the latter, then Santa Claus is either the GOD or "a" god. Doesn't this go against the monotheistic claims of Christianity? The religious right certainly takes a more literal reading of the bible, and I don't think there are any claims about gift-giving, mall-habituating, red-coated elders that fly reindeer from here and yon. Clearly then, Santa Claus screws up the whole monotheistic tenet of Christianity. Why haven't I heard Bill O'Reilly or Mike Huckabee decry Santa Claus? Sure it's fine when there's a specter of witchcraft involved, as with Halloween. But, I would contend that getting reindeer to fly is certainly witchcraft.

Yes, I'm being hyperbolic and cynical, but again all I want is consistency. I wonder how many Christian children ask about the relationship between God and Santa, and I am especially curious about the responses given by the evangelicals. It may be easier with Catholics, because there is a trace of paganism intrinsic to the religion...worshipping of saints and whatnot.

It seems the truth is that Santa Claus is all about marketing, just like Valentine's Day. Some merchant in New York City read some stories from Europe and the U.S. and concocted what we now know as Santa Claus.

In 1863, a caricaturist for Harper's Weekly named Thomas Nast began developing his own image of Santa. Nast gave his figure a "flowing set of whiskers" and dressed him "all in fur, from his head to his foot." Nast's 1866 montage entitled "Santa Claus and His Works" established Santa as a maker of toys; an 1869 book of the same name collected new Nast drawings with a poem by George P. Webster that identified the North Pole as Santa's home.

Not noted was that this was in the middle of the American Civil War (which is the only "war" to outlaw slavery...every other nation seemed to figure out slavery was wrong without a war.)

I have no children, except cats who could give a shit about Santa Claus, but how does an avowed monotheist justify Santa Claus? For those that are not literalist Christians, it seems like a fun thing for kids, but for the hardcore Christians, I wonder how they can justify this? Rudolph's nose is clearly deviltry.

S-T Article on Our Friend in Baghdad

I'm certainly no war-mongering neo-con Cheney zealot, but I admire my friend Steve for making a decision to make some sacrifices to be part of the solution in Iraq rather than sit here and complain. Here's an article on him from yesterday's Star-Telegram.

More Polls

As a feller with quite a bit of statistics under his belt, I'm compelled to keep adding polls now that I figgered it out. However, as a feller with quite a bit of statistics under his belt, I realize I got me a serious issue with sample size and the resulting confidence intervals I can use to infer actual preference (along with some pretty serious demographic issues). Fuck all that. I encourage all readers to vote just for the hell of it. It's anonymous and interesting, and I can do some mild inference based on this blog's demo.

Consistency Found!

I'm always prattling on about consistency and hypocrisy. There's finally an organization that I can applaud for "Outstanding Consistency in 2007" award. And the winner is...Blackwater.

Blackwater shot the NY Times' dog after the dog refused to comply with their orders. Outstanding consistency. They treat everyone the same whether Iraqi civilian or canine. I have a feeling they view them both about the same, and both have the same command of the English language. Way to go, Blackwater.

It's five A.M. and I'm obviously idealistic, naive, and delusional

I was speaking with a friend the other day that is a died-in-the-wool advocate of supply-side economics that is knowledgeable enough to correct my misconceptions about the Laffer Curve. He told me that it was necessary that our government reduce the tax rate on corporations lest they would all relocate to Caribbean tax shelters, thus diminishing our revenue.

I haven't really thought about it until just now...a sleepless night, and I'm lying in bed thinking about the relative effect of tax rates on government revenues, what a life a mess can be. Back to the story, he's promised me statistically inviolable evidence that cutting taxes increases revenues, by the way. I hope to share that with you good people. But that's not what's been eating at my craw while I lie awake in bed.

What's eatin' at me is the constant assault on the patriotism of individuals and small groups coming from the likes of Bill O'Reilly and his Fox cohorts. A lack of patriotism for one or two folks while traditional (that's a key word here) American companies dive for the nearest tax shelter or overseas headquarters to avoid paying American taxes to fund the programs that they have lobbied to enact. If patriotism is so damn important to these Fox people, why don't they apply the same standard to the people that really have their hands on the wheel? (Answer: because they know who butters their bread.)

It's no secret that our government is run by corporations that pay huge amounts of money to K-Street firms to write legislation that increases their bottom line or eliminates their liability. But they do this while employing teams of lawyers and accountants to take advantage of every loophole and offshore opportunity to duck paying the taxes that pay for their legislation.

O'Reilly gets his ratings on a kind of traditional populism. He's a classic patriotic flag waving fear monger that is willing to shred the constitution if it means killin' terrorists. He conducts "War on Christmas" campaigns to rally the bigoted elderly Christian majority against the sometimes equally repugnant far left multiculturalists (that he labels Secular Progressives). It's a pretty easy fight considering his major demographic is the seventy plus crowd.

Well I've got a storyline for you Mr. O'Reilly. Stop being a hypocrite and start some true populism. Rage against the machine (that owns you). If O'Reilly were true to his populizm, he should demand that corporations that are profiting from war pay their taxes. Likewise, corporations benefiting from lenient regulations garnered through lobbying should pay their taxes. Corporations based in Nassau should lose their lobbying privileges (in the US, that is. They are welcome to lobby the government of Bermuda for anything they like.)

In conclusion, it's five A.M. and I'm obviously overwhelmed by idealism, naivety, and delusional thinking. I'll return to my normal cynicism sometime tomorrow (today) or the next day (tomorrow).

Speaking of Food...

I darkened the door of Lili's for the first time today at lunch. I've read and heard reports that I was missing out on the best new thing to hit the hospital district. They were doing a land office business so it took us a while to get in, but get in we did. Man, did I throw down on the Lili's Burger. This was a sloppy burger, because of the gorgonzola dressing, bounded by two jalapeno buns (that may have been biscuits.) It was a rare nap-inducing treat. Of the table of four, the CFS was also highly recommended, with the King Ranch Casserole and the Lettuce Wedge/Grilled Chicken garnering only middling reviews. They should have known to go straight for the burger. Soup was good too.

The environment at the joint seems equally suited to hipsters, business types (we saw a lady being interviewed), and your run-of-the-mill Joe...although it'll cost you eight bucks for a burg. High female-male ratio.

I may have illegally parked at Panther City Bikes, so I apologize for any lost sales I may have caused.

On a Lark...Adding Voting to the Page

Just for the hell of it, I decided to try out blog voting. To start out with, I picked the ever-contentious topic of food - namely Italian (or, in some cases, what passes as Italian).

So for the love of everything Stromboli, vote! I just want to see if this sumbitch works.

I guess I could have been more controversial and asked which type of music do you like best...country or western?

Ownership Society

I was reading an article earlier about how Greenspan and Bush were defending themselves against accusations that they enabled the sub-prime crisis because of their Orwellian "Ownership Society".

Then in this article about Iran shutting down Internet Cafes, I realized an entire new level of ownership society. Witness the following quote:

"Our people want their women to be able to go in the streets with respect and want their dignity to be protected," senior Iranian cleric Ahmad Khatami told worshippers in Tehran on Friday. "Our people want the society to be morally clean."

The keyword in the quote above is the first "their". Women are still property over there. I bitch quite a bit about about the erosion of freedom in this country, and I'm shocked that women have only been enfranchised for 87 years, but I really feel sorry for people with no freedom.

Which is reason enough to protect the rights we have. There are plenty of people in America that are willing to shred the constitution to make America "morally clean" in their eyes.

I urge support Chris Dodd's filibuster of the Telecom legislation that pretty much holds them harmless for their illegal collusion with the Bush Administration on wiretapping. I anxiously await what Sens. Clinton and Obama do to support Dodd's actions (I have a feeling I know how Ron Paul would vote).

Speaking of Bush's dint for Orwellian titles, I think the name of the legislation in question is the Protect America Act or some such.

Progress in Iraq?

You can't swing a cat without hitting three or four people trumpeting all of the success we're now experiencing in Iraq and what a great strategy we have in the "surge". I find all of this unsuprisingly short-sighted given that the "surge" was supposed to be about abating violence to foment political reconciliation and progress. No less a surge advocate than Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said this back in September:

"What we do can affect the outcome. But if we don't see progress on two of the three big issues -- oil revenues, de-Baathification, provincial elections -- in the next 90 days, it may not happen. And Iraq could be a failed state."

Last I checked, no political progress along these lines has occurred? Is Sen. Graham (for whom I have some respect for his independent thinking and tough questioning) ready to make a pronouncement? Or do we just keep dragging it along...?

Will on Subprime Crisis

Here's a quote from George Will on the subprime crisis that I find particularly salient:

Perhaps Washington's intervention in the subprime problem reveals the tiny tip of an enormous new entitlement: People who voluntarily run a risk, betting that they will escape unscathed, are entitled to government-organized amelioration when they lose their bets. The costs of this entitlement will include new ambiguities in the concepts of contracts and private property.

I like the analogy of an ARM to a bet, because that's basically what it is.

Scat Lounge Question + Whisky tasting

I have it on pretty good authority that there's no cigar smoking inside the Scat Lounge. Can anyone from the W&C community confirm? I can see both sides, but a few of our readers (and the writer) enjoy a good smoke now and then.

By the way, I attended a very good scotch and cigar tasting at Bar 9 tonight and heard that there will be another one next week on Wednesday about six. Scotch is provided by local distributors and smokes by my good friends at Tobacco Lane downtown (in the Sinclair Building at 5th and Main).

New Oil Maps

I love these new maps that show the relative importance of areas according to criteria. Here's a map that depicts countries by size according to their oil production. Click on the map to take you to where I found this on Andrew Sullivan's site.

Christmas Season - Political Jokesterism

From an email I received:

For my Democrat friends:

Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, nonaddictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all.

I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2007, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great. Not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country nor the only America in the Western Hemisphere . Also, this wish is made without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wisher. By accepting these greetings, you are accepting the aforementioned terms as stated. This greeting is not subject to clarification or withdrawal. It is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for herself/himself/others, and is void where prohibited by law and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher.

This wish is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first, and warranty is limited to replacement of this wish or issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher.

For my Republican friends: Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Big Fort Worth Doings

Some interesting new developments here in Cowtown. Check out the opening night review of the Scat Jazz Lounge downtown and a comprehensive list of what's about to happen on W. 7th Street. Both on the West and Clear website which is becoming a really first rate local blog with some great photography accompanying the verbiage.

Churchin' Up

Scary.

Government may have dropped the ball in modern American society, but religion dropped it first, Gov. Mike Huckabee told Southern Baptist pastors Sunday night. "The reason we have so much government is because we have so much broken humanity," he said. "And the reason we have so much broken humanity is because sin reigns in the hearts and lives of human beings instead of the Savior."

Stones in FW 1978

Here's a video I ran across that claims to be from the infamous 1978 Rolling Stones show at the Will Rogers Theatre. My brother Bruce attended that show...can Bruce authenticate this vid?

Question to the Grammarians

No, not a book from the old testament...I have a legitimate question for the grammarians in the audience. My Strunk & White is in a box somewhere, so I'll defer to more professional writers. When ending a sentence with a quotation, what is the proper use of a period or a question mark? Should it be inside the quotes or outside the quotes? Example:

Marie said, "Steve is a crack-dealin' no-good sonofabitch." or
Marie said, "Steve is a crack-dealin' no-good sonofabitch".

I've always operated with the former, but I've run into situations where it's not so clear. Is there a definitive answer?

Gift Ideas

I'm channeling Martha now, so stay with me...

For pet owners that have shedding issues, I highly recommend "The Furminator." This is a serious hair remover that works. If you look at their website, you'll see a Golden Retriever sitting in a mound of hair. I thought it was bullshit, but I bought one and it works. I have not been paid by the Furminator Syndicate, but I believe in their product. They offer them in varying widths, depending on the size of your beast. Since we're overrun with cats, we have the smallest model.

As far as the "Best of 2007," you're getting a sneak peek at the esteemed "Best Pet Hair Removal Device" category.

Blazin Hazen

I don't really know how to describe this. I guess if you are feeling lowdown, check this out and you'll realize that you're not that big of a douche.

If you can hang on long enough, look for the line, "My dancin' will cause the floor to cook."

Austin in Top Ten Drunkest Cities

Let's hear it for Austin (with honorable mention to Lubbock) for making it into the top ten dangerously drunk cities in America. I've certainly been dangerously drunk in Austin, but you can say that about most places I've been.

My Kind of Restaurant Review Site

This post will be of interest to anyone visiting the Nation's Capital anytime soon. To sum up their approach to reviews:

Too often, restaurant reviews focus on the trifling aspects of a meal, such as presentation and ambience, and omit vital facts, like whether the food will cause you to shit yourself.

My View on the Mortgage Bailout

Two words: caveat emptor. If people aren't smart enough to know that an adjustable rate mortgage may "adjust," they should be renting.

Earth Lights

NASA has a great page of images of the earth taken from space. I liked this one the best. Click image for a full-size picture. In the large image, check out the Nile River and see if you can locate the Trans-Siberian Railroad.

Best of 2007 Contributions

It's time we started collecting contributions for the Best and Worst of 2007. I say "contributions" instead of "votes" because this is a monarchy (similar to our presidency) and I'm the decider (plus there ain't that many of us.) I'm open to any categories, but please email me here with your contributions (I'd hate to spoil the surprise for the folks that have been waiting anxiously all year for this moment.) For those of you that care to reminisce, here's my last end of year list from 2005. Here's some category ideas, but, again, I'm open for new ones:

Remember, Best AND Worst:

In memoriam:
Song/Album that you dug the most (doesn't have to be released this year):
Book:
Accomplishment:
Prescription Drug:
Recipe (I'm going all Martha on your ass):
Technology:
Shoe Store:
Clothing Store (Men):
Clothing Store (Women):
Grocery Store:
Place to get a haircut:
Place to get a massage (the societally accepted variety):
New Purchase:
Pet:
Reunion (heh):
Movie:
TV Show:
Infomercial:
Spanish Language show that you watch but don't understand:
Home Improvement Project:
Thing you've subbed out (i.e. lawn mowing, plumbing, etc.):
Game:
Team:
Addiction:
Malady/Disease/Infection:
Sore that won't go away:
Gripe:
Vacation:
Cigar:
Bar - day:
Bar - night:
Nightspot:
Live Music Joint:
Drink:
Regret (kinda goes with drink, eh?):
Hangover Cure:
Patio/Al Fresco Dining:
Restaurant - Lunch:
Restaurant - Dinner:
Entree:
Appetizer:
Soup (the most anticipated category):

I'll also take:
Biggest fuckup:
Most embarassing moment:
Public nudity (could be combined with above):
Crimes that are beyone the statute of limitations:
Feats of cowardice:
Public crying:
Public fighting:
Any trips to jail:

Thanks for your participation!

McDavid Studio

Anybody been the McDavid Studio? I'd be interested in the Brave Combo show on December 21. I haven't seen them since my wedding. Friday night, I believe.

Israel - I'm missing something

JimL mentioned in a reply to a previous post that with respect to Islam I need to "(b)ear in mind, they want ISRAEL dead too." Judging by the caps, it sounds like Israel is another third rail in our political system. I'm very curious about the geopolitical ramifications of Israel. What do I not understand about strategic importance of Israel (compared to say France or China?)

• I think it goes without saying that they are a huge net importer of American goods because we pretty much subsidize their existence, including the arms to occupy the West Bank.
• I don't know what, if any, their strategic exports are? Do they have any natural resources that are important to us?
• How valuable is Israel as a compliant democracy in the midst of tyranny?
• How much influence does AIPAC have in our government?
• Do they have huge investments in our economy compared to China or Japan?
• Is it the presence of the IDF and the Mossad that provide a strategic advantage?
• Is it that if we weren't there to protect Israel, given the large Jewish population of the US, they would be overrun by their neighbors and thus we protect them to prevent another Jewish genocide?
• Why are they not subject to the free market? We fund the IDF. Why can't they pay for their own defense?

(n.b. I'm aware that the British are ultimately behind the creation of Israel and two-facedly granted this land to the Jewish diaspora AND the Palestinians through the Balfour Declaration and other promises during the first half of the last century.)

An Encounter with Christianity

Some background...

As most readers know, I am an atheist. I am not a proselytizing atheist, because I hate being the subject of missionary zeal, and, therefore, do not seek to dish it out. Maybe I'm just a "live and let live" atheist. I'm not afraid to engage in religious discussion, but never do I attempt "conversion."

Now to the story...

I ran into a fellow this evening at the cigar store. I'd shared a smoke with him many times before, but all conversations had been bereft of religious discourse. How we got onto the subject of religion, I do not know. He presented possibly the most compassionate view of Christianity that I've ever encountered. The man spoke of Jesus, God, and the Holy Spirit and how they are the agents of love, not hatred. Passionately the man spoke of judgement, especially eternal judgement, and how it was singularly not up to him to decide. That's God's job, he said, and I'm just here to love all people.

I was gobsmacked. Here's a full-bore Southern Christian man preaching against judgement and prejudice. Here's a religious man I can deal with, I thought to myself. He was not bothered by my atheism, but spoke of how he enjoyed my company and sought to treat me as Jesus would have wanted him to treat me.

I guess this was because I was white and straight. As the conversation proceeded, I prompted him on slavery in the bible. "Oh, that's what they did back then, " he said. Slavery in America wasn't stopped until about 150 year ago, I said. "Then the black folks didn't have it that bad, " he retorted. "The Jews were slaves for thousands of years. Blacks in America didn't have it near that bad." Uh, oh. I thought.

And then to gayness. He told me about how the bible explicitly forbade homosexuality and that he, for one, could never have a gay friend. "What happened to not judging and loving all people as Jesus wanted?" I asked. He remarked that it was against God's will. I asked about the condonement of slavery being God's will. That's different. "That's just what was done back then, " he repeated.

This man is, to me, a very nice fellow and, coincidentally, in a business not at all foreign to homosexualism. I've enjoyed his conversation in the past, on more blase subject, and I assume I will in the future. I departed with an "enjoyed talkin' to you about religion without breaking out into a fight" collegial handshake. So goes my latest brush with Christianism.

Consistency, people. That's all I want. I'm an avowed relativist and I'll accept "it depends" as an answer. Please don't tell me that your an absolute literalist and then pick the parts you like.

NIE Stuff

The National Intelligent Estimate on Iran was released yesterday. The NIE represents the combined wisdom (?) of all the U.S. intelligence agencies. It said that Iran had ceased their nucular weapons program like four years ago. Of course, the Bush administration was very aware of this and has been actively sitting on the information while actively rattling sabers about airstrikes on Iran and talking about WWIII.

I'd like to be able to conjure up a cogent syllogism to define why this may have happened but I can't seem to figure it out. Here's all I can figure:

1. It's better for the Republicans to be on a war footing because they feel it helps them politically.
2. Republicans, especially Cheney, hates and distrusts the CIA.
3. There is some precedent for not trusting the CIA, especially as it applies to WMD in the Middle East.
4. Releasing the report could make the Bush administration look silly, given all the saber rattling.

What I don't get is that the administration knew the report would eventually be made public, so why the runup to WWIII which is only likely to stir memories of them charging into Iraq under false pretenses...and all of this in the middle of a presidential election? Has their political acumen been so far reduced by the resignation of Rove? Do they really think that the public will buy the "we don't trust the CIA" rubrik? Why didn't they trumpet this to high-heavens when they found out about it, thereby equating Iran with the likes of Libya as a nation that was cowed into submission by their brilliant invasion of Iraq?

This just doesn't make sense to me.

Am I Biased?

I was hit the other night with a claim that I was biased, despite my claims that I am an independent. I'd love to criticize Democrats, but a pig has to eat and he goes where the food is.

I've been sketching out posts about two notable stories that are out:

1. Karl Rove said the war is the Democrats fault, based on his comments in an interview with Charlie Rose. Bush Chief of Staff Andrew Card completely repudiated this claim. There's also plenty of text and voice that absolutely disputes this claim. I checked right wing blogs and never saw this mentioned.

2. Giuliani charged the taxpayers for his dalliances with his current wife Judith, while he was Mayor and married to Donna Hanover. The evidence seems to be quite conclusive that Giuliani paid cops to cover him while he was diddling sweet Judith. Does America care? I checked right wing blogs and saw this deep down on Drudge's page. Never saw it on the National Review Online.

3. Hillary planted a gay General at the YouTube debate. This is currently addressed, as far as my research shows, on all left wing blogs. Front page top story at talkingpointsmemo.com.

Answer...yeah I'm biased because I hate these fucking idiots that are running my country. And so does everyone else....

Giuliani Troubles

We need to address what the right-wing cares about most...did Giuliani ever get a blowjob from his mistress in Gracie Mansion?