Category: Politics

Thoughtful

I’m having a Niebuhr kinda weekend – Niebuhr being a forebear name, and also the name of Reinhold Niebuhr, the prominent theologian of the last century.  He’s the dude wot wrote the Serenity prayer.

In its original format, the first part of the prayer goes like this:

God, give us grace to accept with serenity
the things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things
which should be changed,
and the Wisdom to distinguish
the one from the other.

Alas, everybody and his dog, including AA, got hold of the prayer.  It has been stuck onto all kinds of consumer goods and started a song by Sinead O’Connor…. her version:

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I can not change
Courage to change the things I can
And the wisdom to know the difference

Niebuhr’s daughter Elisabeth Sifton wrote a book called “The Serenity Prayer” and I URGE anybody who’s interested in social justice to read it.  The dragging down of Germany into Nazism is detailed from a theological perspective, and there were so many times I put the book down and said, “But this is what’s happening in the US right now!” I became quite sad.  The book is amazingly well written.

Another Conservative government

and really low voter turnout.  Canadians are sheep, you know that?

Oh well.  Here’s some Nathan Fillion porn to make it better.  No, it’s not really porn.  But it’s funny (fwd by Robof9).

Apparently Katie has never memorized my phone number (%$#^%!) so… she called her dad to tell him she’s okay, and she’s all broken up with Daxus because he prevented her from going to school.  Or something.  She can only miss ten days of school or she can’t graduate.  And she’s going to go get her phone back.  That should work out well.

This next paragraph was written in rage and backspaced over with coffee.

Isn’t it funny how we dignify worry with a word like prayer….?

recovery mode

Watching Sarah Palin struggle to assemble an English sentence while Joe Biden marshalled his talking points and droned through them was just about the most painful thing I ever subjected my eyes to.  Nor have my ears quit sulking.  Honestly I’m going to take a fresh look at Adam Sandler, I may have misjudged his talent.  The low point was “Her reward is in heaven” which just about had me barfing up my guts.  Biden wasn’t nearly as embarrassing but the idea of him being president after an assassination is just wretched.  The comments about marriage had Patricia muttering “Coward” to Biden.  I writhed in uncontrollable embarrassment and dismay (I do that, causing Patricia to ask me repeatedly if I was okay) but got through it in time to realize that two measly beers and the BEST DAMNED SMOKED GRUYÈRE evah were enough to put me in a sort of tryptophan coma and I slept for a couple of hours until I realized, on groggily awakening, that I wasn’t at home (strange cats closely inspecting my feet helped).  Then P called me a cab and I went home and – amazing! – changed into my jammies and then fell into bed like a downed Douglas fir.

Let me describe the Gruyère.  It was cave aged and smoked.  Little crystals of intense cheesiness blended into a smooth authoritative but restrained crumbly heavenly aroma and mouth feel.   The whisky cheddar was good; the incredible Port Salut almost liquefied.  And those crackers!  God, those are the best cheese crackers, I have to get some and then figure out where I store them so I don’t eat every single one as soon as the box comes home.  The cavalcade of cheese â„¢ abides in the West End – all is right with the world.  There is no political problem that cheese can’t solve, I tell you.

Tonight, The Con.

Ow ow ow part 435

Get your war on has something to say about making rape victims pay for their own rape kits.  Jeff sent me this.

Speaking as somebody who accompanied a woman for a post rape exam, I say right the **** on.  I personally have never been raped.  That’s luck and smarts, but mostly luck.  (Note – the rape victim commented afterwards that the rape exam was in some ways harsher than the rape.  I was horrified.  Her response was, “I was drunk when I was assaulted, and I was sober for the exam.”)

I think I have to take a walk now….

Hymn Sing

So we made with the churchy ballads at Tom and Peggy’s last night, and it was wonderful fun.  Paul and Keith had come over earlier to have a low key birthday celebration for Paul; we watched The Bucket List and I made tortillas.  Then I made pork fried rice for Jeff so he’d have some dinner, and I made lentil soup to take to the hymn sing.  Keith came along too… I nearly lost my eyes when I saw him eating lentil soup.  He really is pushing the envelope on food these days, which makes me extremely happy.

Katie is here, boiling up eggs and making a healthy lunch.

It’s bizarre to be watching the Civil War documentary at the same time as following the American election.  I feel like a whole bunch of people need to be reminded that it was a Republican president who issued the Emancipation proclamation.  Democrats are talking about Republicans as if they are brain dead traitors, and Republicans are talking about black people as if the Civil War had never happened.  It’s disgusting.  It has nothing to do with the glory of the Constitution.  Oh my neighbours, a house divided… will you never learn?

I am really glad I’m Canadian, and I learned how to seethe gently without taking up arms.

I did all my laundry this weekend, and put it all away, and cleaned my room.  It’s completely changed the acoustics in there.

What’s with Toronto this summer? + added politics, movies

So much boomage.

I saw Thin Red Line last night, it being one of the lifetime list movies.  I really liked it; it sure was paced in a strange way.  Parts of it moved so fast that it was hard to maintain some understanding of the action, and parts were so slow that I felt like I was moving into glacier time.  The casting was great and I can see why Jim Caviezel’s performance made Mel Gibson think of him for Jesus six years later for the Passion of the Christ.

It was so nice having Keith here last night.  On the way out the door he told a joke that had me laughing so hard I cried.  Keith can do that do me.  I responded with, “Did you notice how McCain said Fight with me the other night in his speech?  I know he meant fight WITH me but when I read the headline I thought, Jeez, John, I may be a dumpy fifty year old woman with a bad back, but I’m going to kick the snot out of yaz.  By your invitation even.

I liked this commentary on the Republican National Convention.

Yippeeeee!  David Emerson is NOT running for office again here in this riding.  Excuse me while I’m thrilled; now I have to figure who to vote for to keep Harper’s Conservatives out.  Not a fan so far; the war drums, the social conservatism and the expletive insanity about DRM – which, may inertia be thanked, will died on the order table ‘fore the election – the smarmy letter I got in response to my complaint about the peacetime initiative to allow American troops on Canadian soilunder special circumstances’ = or whenever the Canadian government feels like asking them – oh yeah, not thrilled with the Conservatives.  That another political party would piss me off as bad in different ways is par for the course, and what a depressing prospect, etc.

Woo hoo!  Jerome/Shannon are getting married today!  I think I have to  bring a chair.  It’s happening outdoors rain or shine, so I wonder if I’m getting wet this afternoon.

No sign of Katie.  I just texted her.  It’s annoying but I suppose that’s an improvement, it used to be scary.