What's So Odd?

Enough of the politics and religion. Let's just stare at some weird shit. Found these labeled "odd."











Yep, those are certainly odd.

Have a great weekend!

More New People? Yay!

I've got that lovely little box on the right that shows me a smattering of the last few people who have decided to publicly follow me. And I like to take time out and say hello. Why? Because I'm motherfucking friendly, that's why.


(for purposes of this post, everyone after 9/1/10 is a n00b)

I see Rawknrobyn
and Dave who runs Dave's Travel Corner and others
and Genny Yarnbomb
and Sally at Between Here & There
and Silliyak
and Matt at Shadow of Iris
and Molly who's Just Pleasantly Floundering Around
and lunamother at Queen of the Universe

Cheers and link juice to you all!


...I'd like to have a Superman day...

Van Mural ...Thursday: Pedobear & WTF?

No good rape van is complete without a Pedobear mural.




Yep, this would be the WTF part.

In Short: Republican Humor & Muslims

Rut-rho! Human Events has launched its 365 Ways to Drive a Liberal Crazy (from book by James Delingpole). Awww, based on how humor and conservatives have mixed in the past (oil and water), this is gonna be good.

#5:
Pop 'round to your nearest extremist mosque with a bottle of Pepsi. Say to the Imam:

"Look I know you guys say you love death more than you love this stuff. But have a sip—you might just change your mind."

Hahaha. Wait. WTF? What does that even mean?

But they did get one thing right: Blatant examples of ignorance and intolerance drive me crazy.

I guess I'll be getting one of these every day. I'll pass on any others of note.


UPDATE: Huge thanks to On Smash in comments for giving us a nice reference simultaneously explaining #5 and proving how fact-deficient conservatives are.

That Lying Malkin and Catholic Hospitals

Michele Malkin, like most of the right-wing conspiracy nuts, is more than pleased to stretch the truth and leave out inconvenient facts in order to drive the "ACLU is the Devil" and "War on Religion." This past week on GOPUSA, she penned an ignorant rant entitled The ACLU's Unholy War on Catholic Hospitals. Malkin writes:

Civil liberties activists have a particular vendetta against devout Phoenix Catholic Bishop Thomas Olmsted, who recently revoked the Catholic status of a rogue hospital that performed several direct abortions, provided birth control pills and presided over sterilizations against the church’s ethical and religious directives for health care.

Through all her blathering, Malkin got one thing right: there is an Unholy War on Catholic Hospitals. But that war is coming from the Catholic Church itself.

Let's take a look at the actual facts of the story of St. Joseph's:

• Founded in 1895 by Sisters of Mercy (yeah, not exactly "rogue")
• Performed an abortion as a last resort to save the life of a mother - who already had 4 kids - because severe symptoms of pulmonary hypertension would have killed her.
• The child could not have survived out of the womb, i.e., would have died either way: due to abortion or because the mother was dead.
• Bishop Thomas Olmsted excommunicated the nun involved in the decision.
• Bishop then stripped the Catholic status of the hospital based on this one event.

Malkin is out of touch and a liar. Bishop Olmsted is a sanctimonious moron.

As opposed to this being a story about the ACLU, this is a story about how far removed from reality the patriarchy of the Catholic Church is in our world. A lot of people in the Catholic Community are upset about this event, and not because an abortion was performed. On the contrary, Catholics nationwide are wondering how a bishop could choose doctrine over life, could publicly say that in the eyes of God it is better that a woman and her unborn child die and leave four children motherless than make the best of a terrible situation. And on top of it? Let's damn a nun to hell. Nice.

Catholics are splintering off, creating their own congregations, or simply no longer attending church because more and more people are realizing that in the arcane structure of the Catholic Church the Rules of Man take precedence over the Grace of God, that volumes and volumes of guidelines lose the most basic tenets of the simplest things Jesus ever said. "Treat others the way you would like to be treated." "It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of the needle than for a rich man to get into heaven." Stuff like that.

So that's the story, Michele. I realize that anything that comes from the right is suspect, but this was just deplorable. It's not the ACLU or Barack Obama or George Soros or lefties or Democrats that are in the wrong here; it is the Catholic Church.

Holidays Remix

And so I'm back, from outer space...

As I mentioned in my last post, we had a bit of a rough holiday. In 4 quick steps:

• I ended up going back to Cleveland early for my godmother's funeral the day before Xmas. Pancreatic cancer is a nasty thing.
• Just after the funeral, my 4 year old niece took a header off a small trampoline to land teeth-first on the edge of the round base of a papasan chair. She needed stitches in the side of her mouth, chipped 3 teeth, fractured the front 2 above the gumline, and bled for over 24 hours. My brother-in-law did not make it to NY where he was planning on spending Xmas with his family.
• My mother-in-law unexpectedly passed away Sunday night, right after Christmas. Service was Wednesday. I don't think it's fully sunk in yet for me, and I'm just planning to be here for Mrs. Shambles when the full gravity hits her.
• Thursday a close friend of the family turned blue and almost choked to death at the dinner table. Luckily my sister's a medic.

At this point, while only symbolic, I'm glad we're done with 2010.