LEAVE IT TO PEEVER

 

Odd is good

 

— Bumper sticker of the week: The Christian Right is neither.

— Quotes of the week: ŌAny life, no matter how long and complex it may be, is made up of a single moment

— the moment in which a man finds out, once and for all, who he is.Ķ Jorge Luis Borges

ŌItÕs like, at the end, thereÕs this surprise quiz: Am I proud of me? I gave my life to become the person I am. Was it worth what I paid?Ķ Richard Bach

— This land ainÕt our land: The Supreme Court puts a new twist on home ownership. If your property happens to be in the way of new development, itÕs history. The concept of Ōeminent domainĶ has always been suspect . Now it becomes a Supreme Court sanctioned criminal act. For almost any reason, a developer or development agency, like GREEDA, can have your homestead declared officially in the way of progress and have it removed. What once was yours is now theirs. ItÕs all so simple. The Supremes, watching out for the rich man. DonÕt bend over.

— Speaking of bending over: The Supremes rule on displaying The Ten Commandments in publicly owned places. Or rather, fail to rule. They managed to stir up the waters more than Moses did when he reportedly parted the sea. Some of these black-cloaked nitwits arenÕt about to offend their right-wing Christian brothers. They clearly demonstrate that the law is often ambiguous and almost always arbitrary, depending on who you do or donÕt want to offend. Personally, IÕm blaming it on them all being lawyers. What a ridiculous qualification for a Supreme Court Justice. Diana Ross would be much better.

— Have you ever sat down and thought about where itÕs all headed? What itÕs all coming to? God, thatÕs scary.

— Bullshit: I just read an entire book about bullshit. I could have wrote that. Another lost opportunity.

— Bush continues to cry, Ō9/11 made me do itĶ: Liar, liar, I wish his pants would catch fire.

— The labyrinth: I see some of our local right-wingers have been expounding on the labyrinth. I just love to see it when a person has it all together and knows just exactly whatÕs good for all of us. I should invite the boys over to the house. They would marvel at the skull, crystals, medicine wheel, and yes, labyrinth. IÕm sure it would convince them that, yes, there are still pagans amongst us, and as good Christian soldiers, we must always be ready to stomp them out at a moment's notice. Or, on the lighter side, we could drink some of Christ's blood and baptize one another in the pool.

— Now letÕs review:

1. I am the proud owner of a home that can be taken from me, if, in the eyes of a developer or development company, it is standing in the way of them making a profit.

2. I may or may not see the Ten Commandments displayed on publicly owned property, depending on God only knows what.

3. I can be sued for downloading music, or making it available for download by others. I wonder if I can sue some of these people who make music, tempting me to break the law rather than paying a ridiculous price to buy it legitimately?

4. For reporters, the days of anonymous tips are rapidly coming to an end. The government hates a squealer. They want us to report our sources. My guess is there will be a lot of reporters doing jail time. Investigative reporting relies on the integrity of the reporter, and anonymity. When one or the other, or both, are compromised, itÕs good night Irene: Welcome to the world of government-owned media, where you hear what they want you to.

5. That whole backyard thing was a joke. And a tasteless one at that. If youÕre a right-wing Christian, I apologize. I didnÕt mean to cast aspersions on the way you worship. I only meant to point out that some of the things you do are a bit odd, even by my standards. But as we say in my backyard, odd is good. It shows your willingness to mingle with the absurd.