And now for something completely different....

Sleevefacing!

A Poem of Obvious Political Import

I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.

Tomorrow,
I'll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody'll dare
Say to me,
"Eat in the kitchen,"
Then.

Besides,
They'll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed--
I, too, am America.

- - Langston Hughes

Shame on the Mormon Church.

The Official Mormon Church is a bunch of Sissies!

The Mormon church has been hiding behind its membership to avoid taking responsibility for the passage of proposition 8. They say in an official statement:

"It is disturbing that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is being singled out for speaking up as part of its democratic right in a free election. "

The Mormons provided Just over 50%(updated numerous times--trying to get it right here) of the funds and most of the actual effort to get Prop. 8 passed (also updated). An amazingly well-run campaign. Non-alcolhoic champagne all arround. You should be proud! Why this whine? You did it. Step up to the plate and admit it.

What a bunch of sissies! Grow a pair, boys, (and they're all boys, so it's at least a theoretical possibility). Why this sudden unwillingness to take credit? The sudden realization that the 18,000 people whose marriages you just destroyed might be just a tad upset?

(Grammar conodrum; "are a bunch of sissies?")

A Senate Seat For Franken?

The recount has not started yet, but already election officials in Minnesota say:

The difference between Coleman and Franken, which stood at 725 votes in Coleman's favor Wednesday morning, has changed several times since then as county officials have checked results, and was 221 by Friday evening.

Norm Coleman, the incumbent, is involved in many scandals:

This one's the creepiest-sounding Coleman scandal, and, if true, the worst.Houston businessman Paul McKim, formerly the CEO of an oil-rig servicing company half-owned by Nasser Kazeminy, introduced a lawsuit accusing Kazeminy of -- get this -- forcing him to funnel $75,000 to Coleman ( the Senator's wife) through the Minnesota insurance firm she works at. Juicy detail: McKim alleges that Kazeminy told the oil-rig servicing company's CFO that "U.S. senators don't make [expletive deleted]" and that was why he was ordering payments to the Minnesota firm.
On the dirty-trick side of the evidentiary ledger: Its too-perfect timing, as well as rumors flying around that the suit has been or will be withdrawn (as of this writing, it still stands). On the this-is-legit side: McKim is apparently a Republican donor, not a Democrat; he's retained serious Houston counsel (unlike, say, Obama tormentor Larry Sinclair, whose disbarred, kilt-wearing lawyer did not cast, er, a respectable sheen on his lawsuit); and Coleman initially reacted fearfully to the suit, briefly cancelling some campaign stops.

A Franken victory would increase the Democratic majority even closer to that 60 seat majority, so let's keep our fingers crossed.

Marijuana, cancer, prohibition, and you.

About one out of eight people in prison is there solely for Marijuana offenses, costing the government 9 billion dollars a year. However, marijuana is not addictive--unlike alcohol and cigarettes--is not a gateway drug, and seems to be bizarrely good for you.

What do I mean by that? Compounds in Marijuana protect against lung cancer, and block cancer growth in leukemia, lymphoma and cancers of the breast and skin. Why?

This study discovered that pot use "reduces the invasiveness of cancer cells." Here's a study, from Harvard, that finds that it "cuts lung cancer tumor growth in half and significantly reduces the ability of the cancer to spread." In fact, it seems to be the magic bullet that researchers have been looking for--it looks like it kills the malignant cells without harming healthy cells.

But, the US has not allowed any human trials of this most promising cancer drug, because the war on drugs has trumped the war on cancer. Go Drugs.

A main reason for marijuana prohibition is that it is said to be a gateway to harder drugs. The opposite seems to be the case. A recent comparison of drug use in Amsterdam where Marijuana is legal, and San Francisco, where it is not, showed very similar rates and patterns of marijuana use in both populations; however pot smokers had a much higher use of other, harder, drugs in San Francisco.

So, counterfactually, decrimilization of marijuana would appear to not change marijuana use, but would lead to lower rates of all-around drug use. Not only that, duh, people don't commit crimes, (other then the obvious one) when they smoke up. Perhaps we should pass out joints to violent offenders.

Anyway, the point of this post, which seems to have gotten away from me, is that there were 10 marijuana decriminalization initiatives in the US this election cycle, and 9 of them passed!

Maybe in another twenty years or so, we can start with the cancer cures.

A family church for very small values of family.

Or, the wrong side of History.

22 some-odd million dollars, out of a total of roughly 35.8 Million dollars for Proposition 8 (that changed the constitution in California to outlaw gay marriage) was contributed by Mormons (2% of the population), plus a bonus 6.7 Million was contributed by Mormons to ensure that partners with the wrong set of genitals can't marry in Arizona, either. In 2004, Prop. 3 in Utah ensured that same sex couples couldn't have any rights AT ALL.

I'm very sorry, my family, and random mormons, I adore you; I have known so many painfully sweet, kind, decent mormons. Then this. The institutional church itself worked very hard to link a "yes" vote--a vote that will disallow the wrong kind of family--with being a moral person. A family church for very small values of family.

(Updated the amounts of money spent)
(Also updated to state that Mormons believe in a strict hierarchy. Their Prophet, Thomas Monson, told them to vote for Prop 8, and donate to Prop. 8. For many Mormons, this is the equivalent to a commandment from God; thost that voted "Yes" could very well have no animus toward Gays at all. This is why I am so pleased to see that Equality Utah is introducing five bills into the new Utah legislative session that would give some legal protections for gay families--the exact set of civil protections the Mormon Church said they didn't mind. Let's see if they pass.)

Love,
Djinn, spinning gently

Punk Rock Friday! The Monks.

(Pay no attention to the fact that it is actually Friday, please.) Imagine Sonic Youth crossed with, uh, the Sex Pistols before they figured out how to play. I sense, perhaps, a problem here.

Anyway, as the story goes, these are four American servicemen in Germany circa 1965 who shaved the top of their heads. (Tonsures? on Monks? Get it?) Also check out the totally groovy keyboard. It looks like something from an especially cheezy Dr. Who episode. I love them. So, perhaps, beware......

The song is Monk Chant, and the only downside is you don't get to see the punk Banjo. I leave it as an exercise for my dear listerner(s). Plus bonus German "dancing."

Finally, my favorite song of 2008

This is Julie Fowlis, a native Gaelic speaker, stunning voice, singing the Beatles "Blackbird," in Gaelic. Just video, but well beyond worth it.

Nobody expects the Mormon Inquisition

On Thursday, the LDS Church called on those involved in the debate over same-sex marriage to "act in a spirit of mutual respect and civility toward each other. No one on either side of the question should be vilified, intimidated, harassed or subject to erroneous information."

NOBODY expects the Mormon Inquisition!
Our chief weapon is vilification...intimidation and harassment...intimidation and vilification....
Our two weapons are vilification and intimidation ... and erronous information....
Our three weapons are vilification , intimidation , and erronous information...
and an almost fanatical devotion to the Prophet....
Our four... no...
Amongst our weapons... Amongst our weaponry...
are such elements as vilification, erronous information...
I'll come in again.

(Exit and exeunt)

Innocent, though gay, bystander:
I didn't expect a kind of Mormon Inquisition.

Protesters at the Westwood temple in LA

New Thanksgiving Recipes!

For the ultimate experience of that warm and cozy Thanksgiving repast, consider the possibility of the entirely felt feast! Yes, that's right, the following pictures are all of food made entirely of wool felt. (Not recommended if you or a loved one has frequent trouble with hairballs.)


Notice the perfect lattice work on the pie, and no floury kitchen mess!


The turkey can be completely white or dark meat, you choose the wool!


That's right, all the trimmings from pats of butter, (so much lower in fat!), to cranberry sauce, (no messy stains!), can be crafted from felt. Low carbohydrate mashed potatoes and buns are another benefit. These recipes are so light that no one will leave the table feeling over stuffed. Guaranteed!


Make sure to enlarge the images to see these creations in all their fuzzy glory.


But I would stick to wax candles; felt can really catch on fire!


(All these images were snapped by me, kerfuffler, on a fact-finding mission in Portland, Oregon. Unfortunately, I lost the name of the knitting store that had this wonderful display. Kudos to them for what looks like a marvelously flaky crust.)

Difficult Questions

Where do Teddy bears come from? We all dread the day when our youngsters demand information, but help is finally here for those who wish to give sensible, scientific yet comforting answers. Let these pictures help guide your discussion.
(Check out more of the artistry of Stephanie Metz!)

The Shirt Off Her Back

From the Huffington Post

Reporting from Phoenix -- Sarah Palin left the national stage Wednesday, but the controversy over her role on the ticket flared as aides to John McCain disclosed new details about her expensive wardrobe purchases and revealed that a Republican Party lawyer would be dispatched to Alaska to inventory and retrieve the clothes still in her possession...

The repo man better look in Piper's closet for the expensive Louis Vuitton bag. (Can anyone hazard a guess how much one of that size costs?)

OPERATION LEPER

Palin fans at Redstate are working now to silence McCain campaign staffers who have juicy tidbits about Palin:

Wednesday, November 5, 2008 at 10:43PM CST

RedState is pleased to announce it is engaging in a special project: Operation Leper.

We're tracking down all the people from the McCain campaign now whispering smears against Governor Palin to Carl Cameron and others. Michelle Malkin has the details.

We intend to constantly remind the base about these people, monitor who they are working for, and, when 2012 rolls around, see which candidates hire them. Naturally then, you'll see us go to war against those candidates.

It is our expressed intention to make these few people political lepers.

They'll just have to be stuck at CBS with Katie's failed ratings.

Initial list:

1. Nicolle Wallace
2. Steve Schmidt
3. Mark McKinnon

P.S. ...... We are rooting for Sarah Palin. Don't make us add you to our list. Do you really want to be next to Kathleen Parker in the leper colony?

So, the far right conservatives are telling the staffers that they'd better not cut off their noses to spite their faces, because if they do, they'll be treated like lepers.
Palin's people operate in just the petty, vindictive way I always expected they would. I'm so glad she's not VP. And I sure hope this doesn't dry up the stories we are waiting to hear.

Shadow Dancer

A rose by any other name would not be as spectacular as this one! (Shadow Dancer) Check her out. Now I just need to figure out where to put this ravishing beauty. I saw one at the rose garden in Portland , Oregon, and it was even prettier than in this picture. Of course, roses do better there than here, (upstate NY).

But shadow dancing has been around longer than this new-fangled rose.
It is unusual art form well represented here by the antics of that revolutionary dance troupe, Pilobolus.

Sarah Palin vs. Alaska

Sarah Palin is not coming home to adoring supporters in Alaska. According to mudflats.wordpress.com (a wonderful site for all things Sarah) the democratic support for Witch-free spice is pretty much nonexistent after her loverly rallies inspiring fans to yell the somewhat less than comforting phrases "Kill Him" and "terrorist" about our president-elect, whose safety I (and I suspect Alaskans as well) have been rather obsessively worried about since he began his run. And I'm sure they're thrilled about her spending spree--with the implication that if the Governor is such a hilbilly, what's the rest of the state like? "Alaska-we're not as idiotic and grasping as our Governor. Really." How's that for a state slogan?

Plus, her approval ratings appear to have tanked.

As "Africa is a country Spice" (too long, you think?) reminded us in her interview with Katie Couric, "Alaska isn't a foreign country, where it's kind of suggested, 'Wow, how could you keep in touch with what the rest of Washington, D.C., may be thinking when you live up there in Alaska?" Believe me, Alaska is like a microcosm of America.'" I guess there's news up there too.