…yeah I know you did not ask!
We start off life with time moving a snail’s pace. We end life with it achieving hypersonic speeds, passing so quickly it all becomes a blur.
And Another Thing I Do Not Understand
And another thing I do not understand is this. Why do Evangelicals always quote scripture to you like that is the final authority on everything? Obviously, if you are a non-believer, that is a logical argument of the dog chasing his own tail variety.
This branch of religion (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) has it roots in nomads who could not figure out for 40 years how to cross the Sinai Desert to get from Egypt to Israel. The distance is less than 500 kilometers. The piece de resistance is that while they wandered for 40 years in this barren place, food rained down from the heavens upon them. I can think of many places today that this would be a blessing indeed. I’ve yet to see it though.
Once they finally figured where the heck Israel was, they went on a genocidal tear to take the land from the inhabitants that were already there.
Then we get into Jesus, a religious figure with no historical record. It just seems improbably to me that a personage of this import would not put at least a minor verifiable page into history. All we really have is mythology. This puts him in the same company as Zeus, Thor, and Shiva.
Put that hound on a trail that I can see, feel, smell or otherwise sense, then get back to me.
Will Ferrell and Baby Jesus
Okay…I’m trying to understand a couple things that happened the other day.
I walked in a conference room at work. There were a group of folks gathered around a computer monitor. On the monitor was a YouTube clip from Talladega Nights, Will Farrell’s salute to NASCAR. There were 4, 5 or 6 folks watching the clip which was a scene where Farrell’s character, Ricky Bobby, is praying over a white trash dinner about to be served. He is praying to “Baby Jesus”. Shortly Ricky’s wife takes exception with his praying to Baby Jesus. Ricky’s partner pipes in about a partying Jesus.
There were several folks laughing heartily. One was nearly falling out of his chair. Let me be frank. I do not understand Will Ferrell’s popularity. In my universe he is the un-funniest man in America. That is the first thing I do not understand. Why is this man even working in show business.
I know for a fact that all of these folks but one would classify themselves as religious. A couple I would classify as seriously religious. Now I am an agnostic trending Continue reading “Will Ferrell and Baby Jesus”
Rev. Joe’s Random Thought # 9,610
…yeah I know you did not ask!
Was Wal-Mart the lead lemming or the Pied Piper in the plunge we all took over the cliff when we moved our manufacturing offshore?
Jesus Closes the Deal
Jesus does business with the money changers
Smoking Gun Aimed at OWS
A lobbying group, Clark Lytle Geduldig & Cranford, put out a memo to one of their clients, the American Bankers Association about “constructing a negative narrative about Occupy Wall Street”. I’m not sure it is really a smoking gun as most of this falls into the realm of “common knowledge”. I do think that most folks believe this is how our sick system really works. It is, however, very scary to see this in print.
From an article on CommonDreams.org gleaned from MSNBC:
According to the memo, if Democrats embrace OWS, “This would mean more than just short-term political discomfort for Wall Street. … It has the potential to have very long-lasting political, policy and financial impacts on the companies in the center of the bullseye.” Continue reading “Smoking Gun Aimed at OWS”
Want to Live Forever?
I met a fairy today who said she would grant me one wish.
“I want to live forever,” I said.
“Sorry,” said the fairy, “I’m not allowed to grant wishes like that!”
“Fine,” I said, “then I want to die after the U.S. Congress gets their heads out of their asses.”
“You crafty bastard,” said the fairy.
Strategy Masquerading as a Tactic
We were sitting around the table the other night playing cards (well Phase 10 – which is almost a card game). For some reason the question came up as what the difference was between strategy and tactic. We hashed it around a while, and we came to a consensus.
A few days later I was listening to NPR and they were doing a story on Newt Gingrich. They said of an exchange he had with a reporter that it was “a strategy masquerading as a tactic’. He was turning the tables on the political press. The reporter asked him a long winded question that was essentially of the type “so how long since you stopped beating your wife.” Mr. Gingrich flipped it on the reporter and asked him when he was going to stop asking “gotcha” questions.
From the NPR print version of the story I heard By Attacking The Media, Gingrich Built A Following here is the actual exchange: Continue reading “Strategy Masquerading as a Tactic”
A life lesson from a volunteer firefighter
My Fair Lady
I’m not a huge show tune fan, but I do enjoy some. I definitely enjoy musical theatre, and the occasional musical film from days of yore. One of my favorites is My Fair Lady starring Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison. I am sure that everyone knows the tale; it is a retelling of the Greek myth of Pygmalion. Who better to retell this tale than Bernard Bernard Shaw?
I watched the movie again this weekend. It had been years since I had seen it. I enjoyed the acting, the music and the movie. While I could not sing all the songs like Robin, I did recognize all the tunes.
The film is from 1964 and the Shaw’s original play was written in 1912. These are certainly different times when it comes to the relationship between men and women in the Western world. I say this because I had forgotten the ending. As it turned out it was very unsatisfying to me. Continue reading “My Fair Lady”