“I” woke up this morning with Garbo on one side of my pillow and Ruby on the top against my head. LOL. I wish I could have taken a picture, it was so cute. Anyway, Seth and Jessica came home today, so I’m sleeping alone again. I had a good time with the dogs as usual. Here are a few photos:
They always need a vacation after leaving the Hotel Careyfornia
I taught Garbo & Ruby a new trick this week. It’s called “Pretend you’ve been shot by Sarah Palin“:
Lisa thinks I’ve been wasting too much negative energy on Sarah Palin of late, but I respectfully think that we must remain vigilant, so that Governor Avon Lady never gets so close to the presidency again. Bill Maher really sums up my feelings perfectly here. “I’m trying not to be mean, but I’m sorry, I can’t…” It’s worth watching to the end:
If only she went away this easily:
This bit about Prop 8 appeared on the same Bill Maher show, and brings up some good points about the “elephant in the room (Religion…you can’t poke in the naughty place…)” at about 2:35.
So yes, it is a new day…but we still have a ways to go!
Andrew Sullivan wrote this on his blog today, and it’s worth clicking through to read the whole thing:
Heart-breaking news this morning: a terribly close vote has stripped gay couples in California of their right to marry. The geographic balance shows that the inland parts of California voted for the Proposition and the coast and urban areas voted against it.
Yes, it is heart-breaking: it is always hard to be in a tiny minority whose rights and dignity are removed by a majority. It’s a brutal rebuke to the state supreme court, and enshrinement in California’s constitution that gay couples are now second-class citizens and second class human beings. Massively funded by the Mormon church, a religious majority finally managed to put gay people in the back of the bus in the biggest state of the union. The refusal of Schwarzenegger to really oppose the measure and Obama’s luke-warm opposition didn’t help. And cruelly, a very hefty black turnout, as feared, was one of the factors that defeated us, according to the exit poll. Today this is one of the solaces to a hard right and a Republican party that sees gay people as the least real of Americans. Read more…
I received emails about this all day long from friends all over the world. They were shocked and dismayed that this could happen on such an otherwise historic day in America. Tonight however, the citizens of Los Angeles decided to march. I’m dog-sitting for Garbo & Ruby this week, and since the march was right outside my home, I decided to let the dogs witness a little history!
WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. (CNS) — The Los Angeles Police Department declared a tactical alert Wednesday night in an attempt to handle opponents of Proposition 8, who marched from West Hollywood to Hollywood to protest the passage of the initiative defining marriage as between one man and one woman. Read more…
Here’s a short video I took as I marched with the dogs down the middle of a closed off Santa Monica Boulevard:
And some of my photos:
The intersection of Santa Monica Blvd. and La Cienega. One of the busiest in the city.
When Halloween is on a Friday, it makes for a very long weekend. After surviving several assassination attempts on Friday night, I headed up to Oxnard to photograph Claudio, Ryan, Julia and Susan’s transformation into Abba! Ryan made the boy’s outfits, and he really outdid himself.
The GRAND entrance….Take a chance on them…They even did better than me!!
Luckily, the Sarah Palin at the party on Saturday night came with her own moose, so she didn’t have to shoot me!
More dancing, featuring The Spice Girls, Abba, Sarah Palin & friends, performing
such classics as Xanadu, Dancing Queen, It’s Raining Men and more.
I went out to lunch today alone. There were 2 people sitting next to me within earshot, and they were talking about the election. Specifically they were talking about a Proposition 8, a measure on the ballot here in California that would eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry, essentially defining marriage only between a man and a woman.
The two people I was eavesdropping on were coworkers, both in uniform, for a cleaning company. The man, was trying to explain to the woman that one of the arguments conservatives were making in favor of Prop. 8 was wrong. Specifically, that if the measure passes, first graders would be taught about gay marriage. He was actually articulating it quite well. Maybe he read this article in the LA Times on Saturday:
Prop. 8 battle rages over whether gay marriage would be taught in schools
Proponents
say defeat of the measure would lead to such lessons. Foes cry
fear-mongering and say there’s no mention of marriage in the ballot
item. The reality is complicated.
By Jessica Garrison, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
9:23 PM PDT, October 18, 2008
It
was supposed to be a 90-minute excursion, a noontime field trip for a
group of San Francisco charter school students and their parents to see
the kids’ lesbian teacher marry her partner in a wedding performed by
Mayor Gavin Newsom.
But after the event was reported in the San Francisco Chronicle and
picked up by cable television and the Internet, the first-graders at
Creative Arts Charter School found themselves at the center of the
hottest battle in the campaign over gay marriage: the question of
whether failure to pass Proposition 8 would result in widespread
classroom discussions of same-sex unions.
Supporters of the constitutional amendment, under which marriage would
be defined as only between a man and a woman, contend that if
Proposition 8 does not pass, gay marriage will be taught in public
schools. “We are already seeing that happen,” said Frank Schubert,
campaign manager for Yes on 8.
The opposing side insists that this is fear-mongering and notes that
there is no mention of schools or curriculum in the language of the
proposition.”They just made something up in order to scare people and change the
subject,” said Shannon Minter, legal director for the National Center
for Lesbian Rights.
To buttress their case, Proposition 8 supporters point to a legal
decision out of Massachusetts, where same-sex couples have been able to
wed since 2004. After a second-grade teacher in Lexington read a book
to her students that included two princes marrying, the parents of a
child in the class sued the school district.
The parents, devout Christians who oppose gay marriage, contended that
the teacher had read the book to her class “for the express purpose of
indoctrinating them into the concept that homosexuality and marriage
between same-sex partners is moral.” This, they said, intruded on their
“right to direct the moral upbringing of their own children.”
A federal court dismissed the case, finding it without merit, and
earlier this month, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal of
the dismissal, letting the lower court’s ruling stand.The child’s parents will be featured in a new Proposition 8 ad that will begin airing this week.
The new ‘Yes on 8′ ad on the left, the new ‘No on 8′ ad on the right.
School districts and the California Department of Education, meanwhile,
are getting a steady stream of calls from the media and parents wanting
to know whether gay marriage will be taught in schools if Proposition 8
is defeated.
The answer, it turns out, is slightly more complicated than can be
captured in the 30-second television advertisements put out by both
sides. There is nothing in the state education code that requires schools to
teach anything about marriage. Even the decision about whether to offer
comprehensive sex education is left up to individual school districts.
What state law does require is that districts that offer sex education
“teach respect for marriage and committed relationships.” Districts have taken different approaches. The Los Angeles Unified School District offers ninth-graders a “Life
Skills” class that deals with a variety of issues, including personal
identity and relationships. A district spokeswoman said marriage is not
a specific part of that curriculum but could come up as part of
classroom discussion.
In Fresno, meanwhile, district policy is that teachers do not address
the subject of gay marriage in the classroom; students who ask about it
are told to raise the issue with their families, according to district
officials.
Hilary McLean, spokeswoman for Jack O’Connell, the state superintendent
of public instruction, said she was unaware of any district that had
changed its curriculum as a result of the California Supreme Court’s
May ruling allowing same-sex marriage.
Still, recognizing how politically potent the issue is, the Yes on 8
campaign has made it the center of its television advertising campaign. “Mom, guess what I learned in school today?” a little girl says in one spot. “I learned how a prince married a prince.”
As the girl’s mother makes a horrified face, a voice says: “Think it
can’t happen? It’s already happened. . . . Teaching about gay marriage
will happen unless we pass Proposition 8.” In response, the No on 8 side put out an ad called “Proponents of Proposition 8 Are Using Lies to Scare You.” As television screens flicker Big Brother-like in the background, a voice says: “Prop. 8 will not affect teaching in schools.”
To counter that, the Yes on 8 side issued a blast e-mail last week
titled, “Who Is Really Lying,” which accused the No on 8 side of
wanting gay marriage to be taught “at the youngest possible age.” In San Francisco, Newsom said he didn’t know the schoolchildren would
be attending their teacher’s wedding, and a spokesman for the mayor
said he does not endorse the idea of children leaving school to go to
weddings — no matter who is getting married. “First-graders should be in class during the day,” said Nathan Ballard, communications director for Newsom.
I myself have never been a huge proponent of gay “marriage” per se. I’m more concerned with equal rights, and could personally care less whether same sex couples call it a marriage or a civil union. That said, if Prop. 8 does pass, it would set back years of advances in gay rights.
The fact that blue collar workers are discussing this at lunch I think is positive. Even my own family here in California has questions about this issue, and they’re far from being homophobic. The fear tactics in use here though are really quite absurd. Gay marriage won’t be taught in schools. And even if it were, reading a book about two princes marrying, will not make a child gay. You can’t make a child gay. That’s not how it works. And by the ninth grade, kids these days certainly have this stuff figured out. Unfortunately, I feared all along that this issue would be damaging in a presidential election year. This article by Farhad Manjoo on slate.com confirms my worst fears. Here are a few excerpts.
Obama vs. McCain vs. Gay Marriage In California, the presidential race is taking a back seat to gay marriage.
By Farhad Manjoo Posted Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2008, at 4:00 PM ET
No one doubts that Barack Obama will win California by a double-digit margin
this year. In some northern counties, he may well hit 90 percent. Yet
politics in this nonswing blue state still defy prediction.
California’s 2008 ballot is a thicket of closely contested, closely
watched social issues. And on some of the biggest questions, blue
voters—in one case, the very same voters that Obama is counting on—look
ready to swing red.
Among other state initiatives, Californians will vote on a measure to
ban gay marriage; to require parental notification for abortions for
minors; and to institute a program of rehabilitation, rather than
incarceration, for nonviolent drug offenders. Even the beasts have a
stake in the election: Proposition 2
requires that cows, pigs, chickens, and other farm animals “be allowed,
for the majority of the day, to fully extend their limbs or wings, lie
down, stand up and turn around.” (The New York Times has come out in favor of the measure, while a number of local papers, including the Los Angeles Times, oppose it on grounds that it’ll damage the state’s huge agriculture industry.) In surveys, a large majority of voters say they’ll pull the lever in the animals’ favor.
But on the question of whether human beings will be allowed to lie down
and extend their limbs with whomever they please, Californians are much
more uncertain. In 2000, residents voted overwhelmingly
to ban same-sex marriage. The state Supreme Court struck down that
initiative this spring, saying such a ban required a change to the
state constitution, and gay couples up and down the coast have been
marrying ever since. Now comes Proposition 8, which would enshrine a
ban on same-sex marriage into the California Constitution.
Early polls
showed the measure tanking. Liberals were buoyed: Not only were they
going to win the White House; they would also see their neighbors
repudiate the 2000 vote and embrace an unmistakably libertine (if not
strictly “liberal”) social policy. But over the last month, proponents
of Proposition 8 have pulled in more campaign cash (40 percent of it from Mormons) and launched an aggressive TV ad campaign. Now the anti-gay-marriage measure looks likely to pass. Says Yvette Martinez, political director of No on 8: “I think maybe we got a little complacent.”
There’s an interesting demographic wrinkle to the debate over Proposition 8. Obama has come out against the measure—but
his supporters are another matter. The Democrat is expected to bring a
surge of black and Latino voters to the polls on Election Day. This spells trouble for gay marriage; in some surveys
(PDF), minority voters have expressed much greater support for banning
same-sex marriage than have whites. Chip White, a spokesman for the pro-Proposition 8 campaign,
stopped short of saying that Obama’s presence on the ballot will help
the measure. But he did point out that the campaign plans a big push in
minority communities, especially through churches and other religious
networks. “Traditional marriage initiatives have historically been
supported by African-Americans,” he says. “We think this one will be no
different.”
Late last month, the Proposition 8 campaign hit on what seems to be its
most effective argument against gay marriage: that if the court’s
ruling stands, kindergartners will be “indoctrinated” into the gay
lifestyle. They’ve pushed the message in a couple of goofily creative TV ads
now blanketing the airwaves. The more outrageous spot features a girl
who comes home from school to show her mother a book her teacher has
given her—King & King,
a fairy tale about a young prince who doesn’t show much interest in
getting together with a princess. “I learned how a prince can marry a
prince and I can marry a princess!” the girl in the ad tells her
mother. An announcer declares that under California law, schools are
required to teach kids about marriage, and that even if parents object,
“teaching children about gay marriage will happen here unless we pass
Proposition 8.” The Proposition 8 slogan: “Protect Our Children.
Restore Marriage.”.
The first time I saw these ads, I thought Proposition 8 was sunk: Is
this the best the anti-gay marriage side can muster? An obviously
tangential “Think of the children!” campaign? What’s more, the ad is misleading: Although state law offers health-education guidelines for school districts to follow, it does not mandate a curriculum, and it explicitly allows
parents to pull children out of any health classes they may find
objectionable. In the summer, when the Proposition 8 campaign attempted
to add language about schools teaching gay marriage on the statewide
ballot pamphlet, a Sacramento Court found the claim “false and misleading.”…
From afar, California is often seen as a liberal haven. Sure, Bill Clinton won the state by 14 points
in 1992, and ever since, the state’s electoral horde—55 votes, 20
percent of the threshold necessary to win the White House—have been a
lock for Democrats. Yet between 1952 and 1988, the Golden State burned bright red,
voting for a Democratic presidential candidate only once (Lyndon
Johnson in 1964). Nixon and Reagan—homestate boys—won handily, and in
1988, George H.W. Bush eked out a respectable margin.
And voters here have a history of passing conservative ballot
initiatives. Yes, we’ve legalized medical marijuana and funded stem
cell research; but we have also severely restricted property taxes, denied medical services to illegal immigrants, prohibited affirmative action at public universities, and forced sex offenders to wear GPS tracking devices.
Californians have twice rejected measures to require minors to inform
their parents before seeking abortions, but polls suggest that the
proposal will pass this year….
Fact: Not one word in Prop 8 mentions education, and no child can be
forced, against the will of their parents, to be taught anything about
health and family issues at school. California law prohibits it, and
the Yes on 8 campaign knows they are lying. Sacramento Superior Court
Judge Timothy Frawley has already ruled that this claim by Prop 8
proponents is “false and misleading.” The Orange County Register,
traditionally one of the most conservative newspapers in the state, says this claim is false. So do lawyers for the California Department of Education. Spread the word!
Martin Luther King Jr,’s niece, Donzaleigh Amernathy introducing Della Reese who sang “Touched By An Angel”.
The event was hosted by Joely Fisher, (from Desperate Housewives) who was very funny and charming. We were lucky to get free tickets to the concert, but there was a catch:
Dear
Friends,
The GMCLA is offering FREE tickets for youth (ages
14-24) and their adult chaperones for their next engagement at the Disney
Hall on Aug. 25th.
For FREE TICKETS
please contact Jeff Morris (See Attached Flyer for contact information). I know there are many
of you who meet the age qualifications as a youth. I hope you can make
it. For the rest of you, this
is a great opportunity for the youth that you serve to be treated to a
fabulous concert and a tour of the Disney Hall.
Sincerely,
Stephen
Educational Equity Compliance
The “rest of you“? The “youth that you serve“?? Sheesh! I’m going to be 43 next week and it’s already starting. LOL. But hey, a free ticket is a free ticket, so I’m glad Vivek is 21. LOL. Anyway, here are a few photos from the evening:
The rolling sails of the Walt Disney Concert Hall, winter home to the LA Philharmonic.
Why can’t strangers ever take good pictures?
The less than enticing press line/red carpet, which we bypassed. LOL
This is the city…
The Bank of America building in the foreground and the U.S. Bank Tower (the tallest building in the U.S., west of the Mississippi, which was incidentally blown up in Independence Day), back left.
The last time I was at the Disney Concert Hall, it was for the American Idol Gives Back Concert, where we saw everyone from Annie Lennox to Kelly Clarkson (see link). The acoustics in the building are great and it’s pretty small, which makes it quite intimate. We sat on the side last night, and still had a great view. Speaking of American Idol, am I the only one who thinks the stage at the Democratic Convention in Denver this week looks like the Idol stage??
Hillary’s speech was great tonight. She’s obviously gotten over the latest portrait of her husband (look carefully):
Tyson and I had dinner at the beach in Santa Monica tonight. He may be moving to another state soon, which would would be a bummer for me, but I hope he gets the job he wants. It’s funny, but had I never met Tyson, I wouldn’t have started my Xanga. The only reason I opened an account here was to comment on his blog. And had I not first seen Tyson on the reality show Beauty & The Geek, a few years ago, I wouldn’t have ever gotten to know him. (LOL, I just found out that he was the “Geek of the Week” on this website, geeksugar.com last year. What a hoot:)
Wonder where Will Smith picked up his impressive Rubik’s Cube skills in The Pursuit of Happyness? Thanks to one of the world’s top competitive Rubik’s Cube champions Tyson Mao, Smith was able to learn how to master the mind-boggling cube for his leading role.
When Mao’s younger brother Toby taught him how to solve the cube inJuly 2003, it was only a matter of time before Mao could solve thepuzzle faster then his brother…that is in less than two minutes-blindfolded of course. When not covering their eyes, Tyson and Toby are’speedcubing’ wizards, solving the cube in less than 20 seconds andtaking part in competitions all over the country. Twenty-two year oldSan Franciscan native Mao has only been beat by two of the world’s top3x3x3 blindfolded Rubik’s Cube competitors. This and the fact that hewas one of the ‘geeks’ in the hit reality show Beauty and the Geek last year, makes him a perfect geeksugar geek of the week.
Now that Tyson’s moving away, I guess I need a new reality show friend. Who should it be? Danny Noriega or Christian Siriano?? As Jad so artfully illustrates here, they’re both bottoms…which is more than I can say for Tyson. LOL
Christian was on Ellen yesterday, and Danny was on today. I recorded both, but haven’t watched yet. It would have been fun to see them on together, don’tcha think? LOL I also saw on YouTube that Ellen tried to call that idiotic Oklahoma representative Sally Kern, who made news recently by proclaiming that gay people were more dangerous than terrorists:
“I would like Sally Kern to move up in government, because if she thinks that homosexuality is a bigger threat than terrorism, then maybe she’ll get our troops out of Iraq and they’ll go invade West Hollywood! Anything to get our troops home!”
But wait, it gets better! Apparently, salacious Sally has a big ole’ GAY SON! As reported by Queerty:
At any rate, I still have American Idol (I suspect I’ll have another bottom to add to the mix…a gay stripper to boot) and Top Chef to watch tonight, so, back to reality.
Well, this election just keeps getting more and more exciting. I’m secretly hoping for a Clinton/Obama ticket, though that seems unlikely. I do still stand by what I said a few weeks ago. Although, on the surface it appears that America has a new black friend, last night proved (in Texas and Ohio of all places) that we’re not quite yet ready to hit the delete button on Hillary.
Speaking of the Lone Star Asylum (sorry James), I had a conversation yesterday with someone from Texas who told me they could never vote for a black Moslem. (Yes, Moslem, not even Muslim.) The conversation ended when the person insisted that George W. Bush had done his job by keeping us safe the past 8 years. I kid you not. This is the kind of thinking we’re up against!
Even Obama’s gay ad didn’t help him in Texas! Hmm, I wonder why??
Enough about politics though. The only election most Americans care about of course is the election of the next American Idol. Is it my imagination or is this the gayest season yet (even more than last year!)? Danny Noriega makes Clay Aiken (Gayken) look like Bruce Springsteen. Ryan Seacrest actually sounds butch next to some of these guys.
Gay friends have already emailed me “fan fiction” depicting a love affair between David Archuleta and Jason Castro that isn’t exactly blog friendly. LOL. That said, Jason’s was my favorite performance last night (minus the cheesy intro). I’ve always loved this song (though Damien Leith covered it better on Australian Idol last year).
He needs to cut the stoner act though. It will get old, just like David Archuleta’s giggling.
It’s late…my guests are fast asleep and I’m heading out of town again for a week. I don’t have time to do a “post Oscar post” tonight. You can see how I did in the pool by my picks yesterday. The best part of the Oscars this year though, was Jimmy Kimmel’s post show. His long awaited response to his girlfriend f**king Matt Damon has finally arrived. And everyone from Brad Pitt to Harrison Ford is thrilled. (Even Robin Williams, Cameron Diaz, McLovin, Pete Wentz, Perry Farrell (from Jane’s Addiction), Huey Lewis, Josh Groban and Macy Gray weigh in on this latest Hollywood coupling). I’m out of here early tomorrow morning. I hope everyone has a great week!
I had to be in Orange County today, so I had dinner at Pei Wei in Lake Forest tonight with my cousins Lisa & Dar.
When I drove back to Hollywood, I decided to stop by the Kodak Theater (home of the Oscars) where tonight’s Democratic Debate was held. I thought I might catch Barack having a milkshake at Johnny Rocket’s or Hillary shopping for lingerie at Victoria’s Secret, LOL. I was also hoping to run into Anderson Cooper before he hit the gay bars in West Hollywood but he was probably tied up.
The streets were still blocked when I parked, and Jimmy Kimmel was celebrating his 5 year anniversary show across the street from the Kodak. The network crews were readying themselves for the 11:00 news broadcasts and I took a few photos:
When no one was looking I went around the police tape and waited by a locked service entrance until a CNN worker came out. I stuck my foot in the door and slipped in quietly (no Secret Service in sight).
These are the same stairs Angelina and Brad will be climbing in a a few weeks
I went into the theater and took a few photos, and asked one of the guys who was disassembling the stage to take my picture in the candidate’s chairs. He gladly obliged.
The stagehand took a picture of me in 2 chairs, but the the one in Hillary’s chair didn’t come out. Is this a sign I should vote for Obama on Tuesday??
The Kodak Theater gave us a Kodak moment — a post debate embrace that included beaming smiles — that transcended the two hours of talking that preceded it. This was the first time the two leading candidates were alone on the stage, and the first time that you could see the two of them running together. The most engaging part of the debate had to be the extended, sometimes contentious, exchange over Iraq. It was the most effective sequence for Obama, and the most important for the country – bringing Iraq off the backburner, placing it front and center, and highlighting the significant differences not only between Obama and Clinton but also between the Democrats and the Republicans. Read more…
CalTech University today hosted a debate on what are arguably two of the most important questions in the culture wars today — Is Religion a Force for Good or Evil? and Can you be Good without God? — the conservative Christian author and cultural scholar Dinesh D’Souza and the libertarian skeptic writer and social scientist Michael Shermer, squared off to resolve these and related issues, such as the relationship between science and religion and the nature and existence of God. This event was one of the liveliest ever hosted by the Skeptics Society at Caltech, mixing science, religion, politics, and culture. The debate was co-sponsored by Athens and Jerusalem, a website dedicated to the debate on reason and revelation.
Tyson and I attended this debate at CalTech today. It was very interesting. I could write ad nauseam about the actual debate, but others have already done a much better job than I could. Tyson went into it with a lot of clearly formed perceptions before it even began. I had seen D’Souza on The Daily Show and Bill Maher, as well as many other news talk shows several times. He is articulate and telegenic, but it was extremely clear that Shermer won this debate hands down. Both men play well to an audience:
“Winston Churchill once said, “You can always count on Americans to do the right thing – after they’ve tried everything else.” The same is true with Christians.”
“As Christopher Hitchens says about Catholic priests, it’s not “No child left behind” it’s “No child’s behind left”.
I have to give D’Souza credit for coming to one of the most esteemed technical universities in one of the most liberal enclaves in the country to defend Christianity. D’Souza actually concedes much of Darwinism, but fell quite short when discussing homosexuality in the Bible (talk to the Jews…it’s Leviticus after all) and the “power” of prayer (“Why do we pray to God to cure cancer, yet we don’t pray for amputees to grow limbs?”, Shermer asked). I took a bunch of video if anyone is interested. Most of the material can already be found on YouTubeand other sources however. Here are a few photos I took today:
I thought the ceiling was pretty
I think that says, “To Carey with best skeptical “wishes”"?? I was too embarassed to ask. LOL
One of my favorite D’Souza videos comes from Crooks & Liars. (Why do gay people love to eat maggots? LOL) It’s a clip from when he came on The Colbert Report to promote his new book, The Enemy At Home: The Cultural Left and Its Responsibility for 9/11. In that screed, D’Souza, according to Publishers Weekly’s review, “roots the blame for the 9/11 attacks in the left wing’s ‘aggressive global campaign to undermine the traditional patriarchal family‘.” D’Souza’s logical (and factual) inconsistencies are too numerous to list so have at it in the comments.
You may remember, that it was D’Souza who was the guest on Politically Incorrect shortly after 9/11. This conversation that Bill Maher had with D’Souza is what got Maher fired:
D’SOUZA: Bill, there’s another piece of political correctness I want to mention. And, although I think Bush has been doing a great job, one of the themes we hear constantly is that the people who did this are cowards.
MAHER: Not true.
D’SOUZA: Not true. Look at what they did. First of all, you have a whole bunch of guys who are willing to give their life. None of them backed out. All of them slammed themselves into pieces of concrete.
MAHER: Exactly.
D’SOUZA: These are warriors. And we have to realize that the principles of our way of life are in conflict with people in the world. And so — I mean, I’m all for understanding the sociological causes of this, but we should not blame the victim. Americans shouldn’t blame themselves because other people want to bomb them.
MAHER: But also, we should — we have been the cowards lobbing cruise missiles from 2,000 miles away. That’s cowardly. Staying in the airplane when it hits the building, say what you want about it, it’s not cowardly. You’re right.
Why do people see the Virgin Mary on cheese sandwiches or hear demonic lyrics in “Stairway to Heaven”? Using video, images and music, professional skeptic Michael Shermer explores these and other phenomena, including UFOs and alien sightings. He offers cognitive context: In the absence of sound science, incomplete information can combine with the power of suggestion (helping us hear those Satanic lyrics in Led Zeppelin). In fact, he says, humans tend to convince ourselves to believe: We overvalue the “hits” that support our beliefs, and discount the more numerous “misses.”
I read today that “GodTube“, the Christian YouTube is the fastest growing site on the net! With content like this, it’s hard to understand why. Yet, millions of people eat this crap up!
Author’s Post Script: Thanks for all the comments. This post obviously touched a nerve with some, which is always a good way to spark dialogue. I did want to make a couple of clarifications though. If you read this post carefully, I offer up very few of my own opinions. I say that I think Shermer won this particular debate. I question the popularity of the GodTube video and I point to many other people’s opinions of D’Souza, while intentionally leaving my true beliefs to myself. Also, it was not I, that took the “poke” at Catholic priests. I only included the Hitchens’ quote because I think it is hilarious. I myself, had nothing but positive experiences with all of my Catholic priests while growing up. I also would never condemn anyone’s religious beliefs, as one of my commenters “Carutherste” does. Finally, as Mr. Shermer, and indeed my friend Tyson pointed out yesterday, I believe the burden of “proof” (not that it’s necessary for those with “blind” faith), lies with the “believer” not the “know-er”. I know with 99.9999999% (give or take) accuracy, that I can’t get up from the chair I’m in right now and walk through my office wall. What science can “prove”, religion, in most cases, cannot. The reason I attended the debate yesterday was to broaden my knowledge of both sides of a divisive issue. I’m not a great debater myself, therefore I posted enough “linkage” to let the experts duke it out! Incidentally, the title of the post comes from the Shermer video I posted, as well as the GodTube video! Thanks again for adding to the discussion! Peace!–Carey
I wonder what these people would think of what Cenk Uygur wrote in the Huffington Post a while back that posits “If you are a Christian, Muslim or Jew – You are wrong”:
Right now as you read this, there are ignorant, hateful Muslims teaching other ignorant Muslims how to put on a suicide belt. There are orthodox Jews telling other Jews how they must never leave their “holy land” no matter what the consequences are to other human beings. They assure their followers — remember, they are not the chosen ones, we are. If we crush and oppress them, don’t worry, God will excuse it, and even desires it, because He is on our side.
There are maniacal Christians who are praying for the end of time. Who are hoping that most of the world’s population is wiped off the face of the Earth by their vengeful and murderous God. Whom they believe is, ironically, a loving God. Unless, of course, you make the fatal mistake of not kissing his ass and appeasing him, in which case he will slaughter you and condemn you to eternal torture. What kind of sick people believe this?
The kind who live next to you. The kind who voted for George Bush. The kind who send their religious leaders to the White House to argue against even-handedness in the Middle East because it would prevent their sick prophecy. The kind who have undue influence over how we use the greatest and most lethal army ever built by man.
If you don’t want to be called ignorant or misinformed, then get informed. Learn the real nature of our universe and put aside old wives tales about resurrected Gods, omniscient prophets and a guy who could split the Red Sea but couldn’t find where he’s going in the desert for forty years.
On the way home, Tyson and I debated the finer points of telling children that there is no Santa Claus, but that’s a blog entry for another day.
I had a good time with the dogs as usual. Here are a few photos:
![IMG_0001 [640x480]](http://x61.xanga.com/28ec151740d31161901353/m121945825.jpg)
![IMG_0006 [640x480]](http://x24.xanga.com/07bc0b05d7333161901356/m121945828.jpg)
![IMG_0008 [640x480]](http://xde.xanga.com/d36c141140d31161901362/m121945834.jpg)
![IMG_0011 [640x480]](http://xb3.xanga.com/66cc331740d33161901368/m121945840.jpg)
![IMG_0010 [640x480]](http://xda.xanga.com/73bc0a0537330161901365/t121945837.jpg)
posits “If you are a Christian, Muslim or Jew – You are wrong”:
The kind who live next to you. The kind who voted for George Bush. The kind who send their religious leaders to the White House to argue against even-handedness in the Middle East because it would prevent their sick prophecy. The kind who have undue influence over how we use the greatest and most lethal army ever built by man.
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