Tuesday, July 1, 2008
These Days
I had a kick-ass dream the other night where a friend (not a real one, just a dream friend) introduced me to a friend of hers. This friend of our friend invited us to crash at his dirty little house, but best of all, was equipped with an endless amount of acid. Each hit was in a small tablet form and attached to a band-aid, fully wrapped. He gave me a heaping handful.
Where are these people in real life, dammit?
I'm way too sober these days.
As I probably already mentioned, I've been submitting my poems to all sort of contests - it's annoying that to do so one must pay a fee to enter, especially considering I don't have a very good chance at winning any of them. Nonetheless, it's good to keep the cycle going - garbage in, garbage out.
Sean is taking a drawing class at Stanford on Monday nights, so I have a little alone time at my disposal. Last night I spent it making enchiladas. I tend to eat at least two fudgey popsicles for dinner when left to my own devices. Just pathetic.
Have you read Obama's speech on faith? I'm not a believer at all, but one can't discount the fact that a large percentage of our population claim to be. It's disgusting that Muslim is now being bandied about by the right as an indictment and drafting public policy based on narrow "faith-based" ideologies is beyond stupid. So, it's awfully refreshing to hear anyone, presidential candidate, or otherwise, suggest a pragmatic way to allow the church and state to remain separate, but not mutually exclusive:
"Now, make no mistake, as someone who used to teach constitutional law, I believe deeply in the separation of church and state, but I don’t believe this partnership will endanger that idea – so long as we follow a few basic principles. First, if you get a federal grant, you can’t use that grant money to proselytize to the people you help and you can’t discriminate against them – or against the people you hire – on the basis of their religion. Second, federal dollars that go directly to churches, temples, and mosques can only be used on secular programs. And we’ll also ensure that taxpayer dollars only go to those programs that actually work."
That last sentence particularly delights me - am I the only person who fees utterly irate when churches engage in political rhetoric, yet don't pay taxes? As the late, great George Carlin said (loosely quoted) "why not make them pay their fucking admission fee like everyone else!"
If believing in God is the only thing that can convince people they should give a shit about one another (why general feelings of humanitarianism aren't enough, I don't know why) then we should definitely work toward partnering them with government action. Ideally it should all go toward the common cause: universal good, you know?
Where are these people in real life, dammit?
I'm way too sober these days.
As I probably already mentioned, I've been submitting my poems to all sort of contests - it's annoying that to do so one must pay a fee to enter, especially considering I don't have a very good chance at winning any of them. Nonetheless, it's good to keep the cycle going - garbage in, garbage out.
Sean is taking a drawing class at Stanford on Monday nights, so I have a little alone time at my disposal. Last night I spent it making enchiladas. I tend to eat at least two fudgey popsicles for dinner when left to my own devices. Just pathetic.
Have you read Obama's speech on faith? I'm not a believer at all, but one can't discount the fact that a large percentage of our population claim to be. It's disgusting that Muslim is now being bandied about by the right as an indictment and drafting public policy based on narrow "faith-based" ideologies is beyond stupid. So, it's awfully refreshing to hear anyone, presidential candidate, or otherwise, suggest a pragmatic way to allow the church and state to remain separate, but not mutually exclusive:
"Now, make no mistake, as someone who used to teach constitutional law, I believe deeply in the separation of church and state, but I don’t believe this partnership will endanger that idea – so long as we follow a few basic principles. First, if you get a federal grant, you can’t use that grant money to proselytize to the people you help and you can’t discriminate against them – or against the people you hire – on the basis of their religion. Second, federal dollars that go directly to churches, temples, and mosques can only be used on secular programs. And we’ll also ensure that taxpayer dollars only go to those programs that actually work."
That last sentence particularly delights me - am I the only person who fees utterly irate when churches engage in political rhetoric, yet don't pay taxes? As the late, great George Carlin said (loosely quoted) "why not make them pay their fucking admission fee like everyone else!"
If believing in God is the only thing that can convince people they should give a shit about one another (why general feelings of humanitarianism aren't enough, I don't know why) then we should definitely work toward partnering them with government action. Ideally it should all go toward the common cause: universal good, you know?
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