Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Finally we can rid the world of evil

We all know what the nuns used to call the "hand of the devil" or LEFT handed folk... Don't we?

Well... They finally found the gene that may cause "Left-handedness." (Article from the BBC)

I love this one:
    "The Oxford University-led team believe carrying the gene may also slightly raise the risk of developing psychotic mental illness such as schizophrenia."
See???? Lefty's really ARE infected by the Devil!

Note: I am being sarcastic. If you don't know me, you may think that I'm being serious. That would be wrong. I am NOT being serious. Okay? I'm not. Thank you for your understanding of irony. Or at least... You're attempt at understanding irony.

My uncle was a Lefty. The nuns tried to 'change him...' It was all a bit strange, that. Anyhoo... They don't do that anymore. At least I hope not. I'm not actually sure that they don't still try to 'change' a Lefty into a 'Righty' in today's age... I mean... How many kids actually still have nuns teaching them? By the time I was in High School... (A long time ago) I only had two nuns as teachers. Everyone else there was a lay-person-type-Catholic School teacher. Even when I recently taught at a Catholic high school, there was a nun. But only one still teaching.

It's really sad, actually. I mean... Kids today just don't have the fun of the ruler on the knuckles, or the rules about black-patent leather shoes... ('cause they reflect UP) or my personal favourite, told to me by my mother (a life-long Catholic school girl) that girls should never say the word 'guts' to a boy, 'cause it would make him think she was a dirty-nasty type of harlot.

(After hearing this, my mother supposedly went up to one of her brother's friends, and said, "Guts, guts, guts, guts, guts... Well... Am I a loose woman?" To which the friend replied: "Um, no. Uh... What?")

((This was back in the mid 60's, and I'm fairly certain the friend was a bit 'altered' as it were...))

Back to the story... Obviously, since they found the gene, entire generations of nuns in heaven are singing the praises of scientists on Earth, for discovering the "Satan Gene" and now we can screen against it, and make sure no more children are infected by the Devil.

Great news, huh?

-- Tuckmac

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Monday, July 30, 2007

You ever want to vomit?

Sometimes reading the news is really depressing... Like this particular article in the BBC:

Retailer in the U.S. to sell 'faith-based' toys.

Why, as the western world becomes more secular, does the U.S. seem to get more and more spooky and fundamentalist?

It's so weird, as our 'enemies' are fundamentalist, that we keep circling the drain of religion as well. Wouldn't it behoove us to set ourselves apart from the screaming barbarity of fundamentalism, and settle into a comfortable, quiet, less 'in your face', sort of religious personality?

Wouldn't it?

Gah.

--T

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Sunday, July 29, 2007

Hmm... Been a while, no?

I've been spending a bit of time catching up on my friend's, and other's blogs.

{time has passed. About four hours}

Okay, so I was going to talk about how long it's been since I've written, or since my fellow friendly-bloggers have written.

I planned on a long drawn out 'cheese-sandwich' blog.

I hoped to catch everyone up with all the Ex²-pat news from St. Paul, Minnesota.

But.

I got busy. And I have to get going now. So there's nothing here.

I'm sorry.

Basically, to sum it all up... I haven't written, 'cause I've been really freakishly busy. And on the one day I thought I had time to write here, I found out that I do NOT have the time to do so.

Therefore, I'm signing off without really saying much of anything...

But I miss ya all!

Smiles,
Tuckmac

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Tuesday, July 10, 2007

A weird tale...

As I've been really serious lately, and I HATE always being serious, I have this story... But first, a quote/teaser...
    "When you're a little kid and you're holding a helium balloon, it has to cross your mind,'' Couch told the Bend Bulletin.
Okay, are you ready now? Great! Here's the story.

Enjoy!
--Tuckmac

Edit: 07/17/07 - I just found out the link was broken. It's fixed now.

Thursday, July 05, 2007

Okay, I know I'm a bit lapsed...

But...

I just came across this article, and thought to myself: Man, this guy really IS the Nazi Pope.

I guess, I'm all for bringing back the Latin Mass in the Catholic Church. But, can't we sort of, I don't know... Update the 'politics' of the Tridentine Mass? I don't think you should go around 'Jew Bashing' during a regular Sunday Mass, whether it's in the local language or in Latin.

Nazi.... Nazi.........

This guy is a freak!

-- Tuckmac

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

A really nice editorial

If you don't read it, you should start doing so. Especially if you're from the U.S.

"What is it," you ask?

The International Herald Tribune.

It's an international newspaper, started by the "New York Herald" to be a paper run from Paris. Through several years, buyouts and trades, the paper is now owned by the same company that owns the New York Times, but it retains it's individuality and verve.

The NY Times is a wonderful paper. However, for a truly 'global' perspective, there can be no better 'English-language' paper than the International Herald Tribune (IHT).

Okay, 'nough preamble... On with my commentary:

Today there was a fabulous editorial in the IHT... The British Way. This editorial was so biting against the United States, well... I just had to link to it, and draw you're attention to it's more salient points.
    "Yet even though British authorities had fortune on their side, their rapid and coordinated response still offers an example of how a liberal democracy can work to prevent and punish terrorism - without operating outside the law or sacrificing individual liberties."
It's the key: "without operating outside the law" bit that really resonates with me.

I mean, Scooter likes being outside the law and stuff, right? Yeah, I couldn't let the Scooter Libby/ Bush's butt-buddy, thing go without ONE snarky comment. However, many folks are writing better screeds against Bush than I. So... I'll keep on with my other topic.

The editorial in the IHT didn't let Britain off the hook when it comes to 'vaguely dodgy actions' in it's 28 day without charge law...
    "The British approach is not without its questionable features. Under a controversial legal change instituted after the 2005 bombings, police may hold a terrorist suspect for 28 days without issuing an indictment."
Oh... 28 whole days? Just how many years have the folks been held at Gitmo? FOUR PLUS YEARS??!?!?!?!?!!??

Anyhoo... The article does a wonderful job of summing up Britains "Liberal Democracy", it's toughness on Terror, whilst still KEEPING it's rights, responsibilties and freedoms, that America seems to have abandoned. The editorial mentions how a 'populous is being frightened with visions of the apocalypse' which immediately makes me think of Fox News for some reason...

I don't know.

People keep asking me why My Lady and I want to return to live in Britain. And it's hard, you know? I'm NOT anti-American. I love my country. I love the landscape, most of the people, and the fact that I can live in a really big flat and own my own car. But my country has turned against ME, not the other way around. I spent almost three years living in Europe, and during that time I also defended (rightly) my country against nay-sayers. I will continue (in the future) to defend my country against all comers. However, it's my COUNTRY that is making it hard to continue to do so.

The U.S. is a wonderful place for rich people. It's a grand place for elites. It's a super place for folks from families that have lived here for over a hundred years.

Is it so great for immigrants, poor people, workers, caretakers?

No. Not really. Not anymore.

I keep hoping that the climate of fear and terror doesn't destroy my country. However, it is.

Not 'cause crazy asshats are blowing stuff up, in my country. No. It's because my country has decided that in order to keep the Islamist Terrorists from 'winning' it must fight against them using THEIR methods: Torture, law-breaking and attacking the innocent.

Nice.

I'm going to go sob now. Ta.

-- Tuckmac

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Sunday, July 01, 2007

Blog Against Theocracy - Returns



As before, I've decided to take this opportunity to join the 'blogswarm' against Theocracy found in my country.

Okay, after that brief preamble, I would LOVE to introduce this post with a brief remembrance of my childhood.

I went to Public School (State School to my Brit friends) for grade-school, and transferred to a Catholic parochial school for high school (a-levels/highers).

The thing that really stands out to me, looking back on those 13 years of my life, is the strange dichotomy that I experienced in dealing with religion, and religious identity.

Whilst attending grade school, we were forced to start every day with the "Pledge of Allegiance" and quite often a 'patriotic song' of some sort, you know: "Star Spangled Banner" or "God Bless America" or "America the Beautiful" or any other number of rather dripping with angst type tunes.

The Pledge (as we called it) is spoken thusly:
    I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America; and to the republic, for which it stands: one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
And you know what? It's scary, as I was able to reproduce that, without resorting to 'Google'.

Anyhoo.... You'll notice that little "under God" bit, which was added LATE (1954) to basically set us apart from the "Godless Communists" with whom we were then participating in the Cold War.

(My goodness, where's Tuckmac going with this)

I'm getting there, I'm getting there...

The phrase in question, "under God" caused a bit of a sticky wicket, actually... You see, there were two kids in my class in grade school, who didn't stand to give the Pledge. Wow! Were they weird! I mean... Who is so 'anti-American' and blatantly communistic? (Notice that I'm older, and this was 'pre-evil-doer' land... The Commies were the bad guys, not Middle-eastern Muslims.) But I digress...

One kid, it turned out, had parents who were atheists. The other kid was of some religious sect that didn't allow one to use God's name in conjunction with a pledge of a "State" or something like that.

Now, (yeah, here's where I get down to it), these two kids fit in just fine in school. They were allowed (after parental notice to the school) to not participate in the Pledge of Allegiance. And, you know what? No one really cared. I mean, they both got a bit of 'ribbing' and we never actually knew why they didn't have to do the "Pledge" but... All in all, kids just don't care.

I find it rather disturbing that one can't Pledge Allegiance to the Flag of America without believing in a monotheistic god.

Next point:

All the way through grade-school, I was inundated with religion. Oh, it was creepy. It crept into discussions, it showed up in our school choir's concerts... It was weird, looking back, just how much the Christian religion was wrapped into the school system.

Strangely enough, it was in my Catholic high school, were I realised that State and Church are separated for a REASON in America, and how that's a very important right to not only the 'secular' folk, but also to the Church's community itself. And I discovered this in, rightly enough, Church History class.

See there was a big hullabaloo when JFK was running for President of the U.S. Why? 'Cause he was Catholic. "Oh my goodness," said the WASP majority in Washington D.C., "The Pope is going to run America from behind the President's chair!"

In the famous line from Ghostbusters, "Dogs and cats, living together, it'll be mass hysteria!"

Well, obviously the Pope didn't run anything during J.F.K.'s term.

'Cause the Pope is religious. The President is not supposed to let his/her beliefs interfere with his/her Job.

Until, of course, lately. (Anti-choice, anti-stem-cell research, taxes going towards church programs, etc...) Thanks Bushie.

Man, I have GOT to finish this point... Um... Read read read, change that, move this... Keep it together Tuckmac... Get to the point...

Oh yeah...

Church History class...

The leaders of Europe were controlled from Rome for a long time in history. However, forgotten, is the days when Frankish Kings in present day France controlled the POPE. Forgotten is the day that the Holy Roman Emperor controlled Catholicism. Forgotten was the schism of Eastern and Western Catholics... Forgotten is the...

You get the point. The fact was and IS still, that Politics and Religion make a mess of ones country. At times the State has controlled the Church, and vice versa. And in ALL of that time, there were religious wars, 'witch' burnings, torture, Inquisition, et al...

Not a good time to be a person trying to eke out a substandard existence in bad soil.

America's Founding Fathers KNEW history. They supported a framework of separation between the Church and the State, and set the stage for the first TRUE democracy of the modern era.

Allowing the last 20 years of politicians to try to change that, is wrong.

Write a blog. Write your congress-person and senator. Hell, write to the White House!

Make sure our politicians know that WE THE PEOPLE of the United States of America:

"Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to this republic, for which it stands: ONE nation, under many gods, one god, or none, INDIVISIBLE (regardless of creed/race/colour) for liberty and justice for all.

And that is what America, and the WEST should be about.

We can't let the commies terrorists win!

-- Tuckmac

Please view First Freedom First for more information on this rather important topic. Cheers!

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