Questions for Fundamentalsits; An Open Letter to George W. Bush:

Dear President Bush,

Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God's Law. I have learned a great deal from you and understand why you would propose and support a constitutional amendment banning same sex marriage. As you said "in the eyes of God marriage is based between a man a woman." I try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind them that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination... End of debate.

I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some other elements of God's Laws and how to follow them.

1. Leviticus 25:44 states that I may possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can't I own Canadians?
   
2. I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?
   
3. I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanness - Lev.15: 19-24. The problem is how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense.
   
4. When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord - Lev.1:9. The problem is, my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?
   
5. I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself, or should I ask the police to do it?
   
6. A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination - Lev. 11:10, it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don't agree. Can you settle this? Are there 'degrees' of abomination?
   
7. Lev.21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle-room here?
   
8. Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev. 19:27. How should they die?
   
9. I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?
   
10. My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev.19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? Lev. 24:10-16. Couldn't we just burn them to death at a private family affair, like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14)
    

I know you have studied these things extensively and thus enjoy considerable expertise in such matters, so I am confident you can help.

Thank you again for reminding us that God's word is eternal and unchanging.

Yours truly,
Christian

A Post Election Note from Manny:
From: "Manny Celnick"
Subject: The Blue States Strike Back Cursing

Fuck the South. Fuck 'em. We should have let them go when they wanted to leave. But no, we had to kill half a million people so they'd stay part of our special Union. Fighting for the right to keep slaves - yeah, those are states we want to keep.

And now what do we get? We're the fucking Arrogant Northeast Liberal Elite? How about this for arrogant: the South is the Real America? The Authentic America. Really?

Cause we fucking founded this country, assholes. Those Founding Fathers you keep going on and on about? All that bullshit about what you think they meant by the Second Amendment giving you the right to keep your assault weapons in the glove compartment because you didn't bother to read the first half of the fucking sentence? Who do you think those wig-wearing lacy-shirt sporting revolutionaries were? They were fucking blue-staters, dickhead. Boston? Philadelphia? New York? Hello? Think there might be a reason all the fucking monuments are up here in our backyard?

No, No. Get the fuck out. We're not letting you visit the Liberty Bell and fucking Plymouth Rock anymore until you get over your real American selves and start respecting those other nine amendments. Who do you think those fucking stripes on the flag are for? Nine are for fucking blue states. And it would be 10 if those Vermonters had gotten their fucking Subarus together and broken off from New York a little earlier. Get it? We started this shit, so don't get all uppity about how real you are you Johnny-come-lately "Oooooh I've been a state for almost a hundred years" dickheads. Fuck off.

Arrogant? You wanna talk about us Northeasterners being fucking arrogant?

What's more American than arrogance? Hmmm? Maybe horsies? I don't think so. Arrogance is the fucking cornerstone of what it means to be American. And I wouldn't be so fucking arrogant if I wasn't paying for your fucking bridges, bitch.

All those Federal taxes you love to hate? It all comes from us and goes to you, so shut up and enjoy your fucking Tennessee Valley Authority electricity and your fancy highways that we paid for. And the next time Florida gets hit by a hurricane you can come crying to us if you want to, but you're the ones who built on a fucking swamp. "Let the Spanish keep it, it's a shithole," we said, but you had to have your fucking orange juice.

The next dickwad who says, "It's your money, not the government's money" is gonna get their ass kicked. Nine of the ten states that get the most federal fucking dollars and pay the least... can you guess? Go on, guess.

That's right, motherfucker, they're red states. And eight of the ten states that receive the least and pay the most? It's too easy, asshole, they're blue states. It's not your money, assholes, it's fucking our money. What was that Real American Value you were spouting a minute ago? Self reliance? Try this for self reliance: buy your own fucking stop signs, assholes.

Let's talk about those values for a fucking minute. You and your Southern values can bite my ass because the blue states got the values over you fucking Real Americans every day of the goddamn week. Which state do you think has the lowest divorce rate you marriage-hyping dickwads? Well? Can you guess? It's fucking Massachusetts, the fucking center of the gay marriage universe. Yes, that's right, the state you love to tie around the neck of anyone to the left of Strom Thurmond has the lowest divorce rate in the fucking nation. Think that's just some aberration? How about this: 9 of the 10 lowest divorce rates are fucking blue states, asshole, and most are in the Northeast, where our values suck so bad. And where are the highest divorce rates? Care to fucking guess? 10 of the top 10 are fucking red-ass we're-so-fucking-moral states. And while Nevada is the worst, the Bible Belt is doing its fucking part.

But two guys making out is going to fucking ruin marriage for you? Yeah? Seems like you're ruining it pretty well on your own, you little bastards. Oh, but that's ok because you go to church, right? I mean you do, right? Cause we fucking get to hear about it every goddamn year at election time. Yes, we're fascinated by how you get up every Sunday morning and sing, and then you're fucking towers of moral superiority. Yeah, that's a workable formula. Maybe us fucking Northerners don't talk about religion as much as you because we're not so busy sinning, hmmm? Ever think of that, you self-righteous assholes? No, you're too busy erecting giant stone tablets of the Ten Commandments in buildings paid for by the fucking Northeast
Liberal Elite. And who has the highest murder rates in the nation? It ain't us up here in the North, assholes.

Well this gravy train is fucking over. Take your liberal-bashing, federal-tax-leaching, confederate-flag-waving, holier-than-thou, hypocritical bullshit and shove it up your ass.

And no, you can't have your fucking convention in New York next time. Fuck off.

On the Arafat Legacy

Yesterday, after reading more than I cared to read about the passing of Yasser Arafat, I wondered aloud how long it would be before the Palistinians started shooting each other. I got my answer today.

The Associated Press reports:

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip Nov 14, 2004 — Gunfire erupted Sunday at the tent set up for mourners of Yasser Arafat just after his successor as PLO leader arrived, and one Palestinian policeman was killed and five other people were wounded, witnesses and hospital officials said.

Gunmen fired in the air about five minutes after Mahmoud Abbas, Arafat's longtime deputy chosen over the weekend as his successor, arrived in a motorcade. Abbas' bodyguards also fired in the air, the witnesses said.

Associated Press Television News footage showed a group of about 20 men entering the mourning tent where Abbas, Gaza strongman Mohammed Dahlan and other key Palestinian leaders had come to mourn for Arafat, who died Thursday.

The gunmen, clad in green, shouted, "Abbas and Dahlan are agents for the Americans!"

Where is the outcry among the moderate Mulsims? When are they going to demand an end to killing. It seems the Islamic answer to all issues is to kill someone.

ABC News: Kerry Accuses Bush of Incompetence

It seems to me there's a significant difference between an accusation and an observation. I believe Kerry was merely articulating an observation of a highly demonstrable fact rather than accusing Bush of something that may or may not be true.

Scotsman.com News - Latest News - 'Kerry Would Put U.S. in Danger' - Bush

WE'RE ALREADY AT RISK.

We're already in danger. We're in danger either way and Bush has done nothing to alleviate the situation. The administration roots the belief that they have killed or captured "75%" of the al Qaeda leadership as if those people have not been replaced. They confront al Qaeda as if it were a monolithic structure when, in fact, the organization is diffuse, decentralized and organic. And it's not just al Qaeda. Since the invasion of Iraq and the (justified) war in Afghanistan, al Qaeda has become a role model for 1,000 different, unconnected groups throughout the world.

Bush says Kerry doesn't understand the war on terror? I don't think Bush has much of a clue, either.

New York Daily News - Politics - Kerry out of bounds on Cheney daugther: Bush: "Cheney daughter off limits: Bush


President Bush gingerly waded into the controversy over John Kerry's remarks about Vice President Cheney's lesbian daughter yesterday."

These guys are reacting as if Kerry had said something diaparaging about Cheney's daughter. He lauded Cheney and, in responding to the question, "do you think homosexuality is a choice", suggested one should ask Cheney's daughter. He ventured trhat I didn't think she would characterize her sexuality as a choice.

If it's OK to be homosexual, how come Cheney and his family are being so defensive? Are they suggesting it's OK for their daughter to be homosexual as long as it's never mentioned in public? Are they so ashamed in reality that they want to hide it?

Boston.com / News / Politics / AdWatch: Bush turns Kerry's words around:

"In an interview with The New York Times magazine on Sunday, Kerry said the country has 'to get back to the place we were, where terrorists are not the focus of our lives but they're a nuisance.' Kerry also suggested that terrorism, like prostitution, illegal gambling and organized crime, will never be eradicated but can be reduced so 'it's not threatening the fabric of your life.'

Seizing on those comments, the Bush campaign took some of Kerry's words for an ad that tries to suggest the Democrat is unfit to lead the nation during the war on terrorism. The ad also argues that the country would be less safe with Kerry at the helm.

The commercial keys on comments Kerry has made in the past during interviews. However, it doesn't include the context in which the comments were made."

Here's Bush, a guy who is universally recognized as being severely challenged when it ocme to assembling a coherant sentence in English interpreting what someone elase is saying. Irony?

MSNBC - Bush rips Kerry on 'global test' remark: "President Bush said Saturday Democrat John Kerry's debate remark that U.S. preemptive military action should be subject to a 'global test' would give other nations a veto over American national security decisions. Meanwhile, Kerry, speaking in Florida, accused Bush of 'serious misjudgements' on the economy as well as the war in Iraq."

Obviously Bush doesn't understand what a "global test" is all abut. Were I to try to explain to the block head what it means, I would point out that one must consider the global ramifications of any action and, if in the light of the effect one's actions have throughout the world - does it benefit the US more than it harms the US; does it strengthen us on a global scale rather than weaken us on that scale - then an action would pass a "global test". On the other hand, as with this ill advised invasion of Iraq (on par with Roosevelt invading Mexico in response to Pearl Harbor) - the action has cost us significantly more than it's benefited us.

I thought Bush was supposed to be an MBA. Surely if he was paying attention in class (rather than being the subject of a social promotion thanks to daddy) he'd understand cost/benefits analysis.

Lessons from the CBS News failure: "But, adds Bob Steele, the Nelson Poynter Scholar for Journalism Values at The Poynter Institute, 'No matter what CBS News does, CBS, and to a great degree Dan Rather, will wear a Scarlet Letter.'"

Weapons of Mass Distruction?
Iraq Ties to al-Qaeda?
The Iraquis will welome us with roses?
Exporting jobs is good for this country?
Didn't use family influence to dodge the draft?
Tax cuts arren't targeted for the wealthiest 1% or the population?
No child left behind? (left underfunded)
We support our troops (while cutting their benefits)?


It seems Dan Rather is not the only one who should be wearing a Scarlet Letter ... There may be others who should be wearing several of them!

Where is Osama?

We've looked all over Iraq for him and he's not there. We vowed never to rest until he was brought to justice. It's been three years now. We swore that we'd bring him in dead or alive. Where's Osama?

At a recent press conference, when that question was asked, the response was, "I don't focus on him that much."

Mission accomplished? Where's Osama?

Who cares about a couple of missed meetings?

Nobody cares about the missed National Guard meetings. I wonder if the people asking that question aren't the same people who took Bill Clinton to task over the Monica thing. They were the ones who were quick to point out that it wasn't about having an affair with a consenting adult in the past. It was about the lying about it NOW. I don't care that Bush missed a couple of meetings. What I care about is that he has lied about it since the 1990s. He's hidden facts, avoided the truth, obfuscated, prevaricated, and misdirected the American people. THAT's what concerns me ... Not a couple of missed meetings!

You can fool all of the people some of the time and some of the people all of the time - but you can't fool all of the people ALL of the time, George! Or maybe you can.

What do you learn about art when you live with it for a lifetime? Where do talents come from?e know them when we see them ... at least we think we do.

I'd always thought I would end my days in a small town making picture frames or some such thing. Perhaps it's premature to think I've finally come to rest after rolling around the country for all these years but it seems I've rolled into a corner; an urban corner, to be sure. I AM making picture frames. At least this time they are for me.

I've done some costing and it seems I have to sell the framed photographs for something on the order of $200 a piece, somewhat lower if I'm over estimating the gallery take at 50%. Rumor has it the co-op gallery will be looking for about 40%. Still, tht doesn't have much of an effect on the retail line.

I framed the protrait of Ali yesterday; the one I took when we were at the old Mission while she was here last December. It looks better than I expected it would.

Politics News Article | Reuters.com: "Veteran Backs Off Attack on Kerry's War Record"

Invariabley, the accusations are front page news and the retractions are buried.

More of the mundane: I met our new neighbor across the street while I was taking out the trash and recycles. His name is Tom and he works for America On Line (AOL). He's a shooter - but unlike my camera, he favors pistols and rifles and does his own re-loads. He's teaching himself welding so he can make a re-load bench that doesn't twist from the torque that results when he processes his reloads. They're pleased to have us here. It seems the former owner's teenagers had friends who drove and Tom was tired of trying to back his pickup "through 40 odd vehicles to get out of the garage".

He told me he'd seen us a number of times and started to wave. I told him I'm getting older and don't see as well as I used to.

An embarrassment of wealth: I got an e-mail invitation from a local photographer to shoot with him. I have no idea what his motivation is - though I did do a critique of one of his shots on MuseCube within the previous 24 hours. Maybe that had something to do with it. In any case, I think it's a great idea and I responded so. We'll see where that goes.

Ally called yesterday. She is getting her car back. She found the title ... in the box of important papers, of all places. She'd never thought to look there! My daughter! In any case, I guess things are ging a little better for her. I want to send her some money to buy an airline ticket out here. The last time she visited was in December, so I think it's about time .. maybe a little past time. I miss her very much and I think of her often.

Maybe it was time for use to touch base, I'd just mailed a letter to her last Friday. It hadn't arrived yet. I told her about the prints I'm making and my plans to get gallery representation.

Two more short (29" high) book cases to assemble nad the office is furnished abut as far as I can go with it. There simply isn't room for anything else. The book cases are in the garage and ready to go. I just couldn't summon the energy yesterday after we picked them up.

Sunrise. Electric pink puffs of clouds over the Rincons. I can see the mountains from my office window. It's not the view that I wanted, but It;s great to have this much! You have to pay extra for the view ... a lot extra.

I really wonder if we haven't passed our zenith as the light of the free world. We have a ton of petty political bickering, we're preparing for the last war and we're unbelievably vulnerable. For the last century we have lived with two friendly neighbors to the north and south and vast oceans to the east and west. Defending the USA has been, for that last ceentury, somehting that we do "over there". Now the attacks are here as of 9/11. Our ports, out railroads, our container based shipping system are virtually unprotected. Our entire emphasis is on the air transport system because we've been hit there. The situation has an almost slap stick comedy quality about it.