The Pope has a Major Image Problem- NSFW

All hail alternative energy

What would you prefer-this:













Which kills fish, birds, coral reefs and pollutes the water. Or this:
















Which produces clean energy and looks kind of cool. Your choice.

Thought for the day

"People slowly accustomed themseleves to the idea that the physical states of space were the final physical realities. "
Albert Einstein

And Some People Think I have a Poor Grip on Reality

I read about this courtesy of Dan Savage and it is the funniest thing I have ever read. There are people who believe every word of the Bible is true, there are people who believe in the Easter Bunny then there is Eugene Delgaudio. I have been accuse of not having a good grasp of reality but this fruit cake takes the prize.

Viva la Difference

People love to point out differences. Size, shape, color- especially color as in “that person is a different color and therefore something to be feared”- we can’t get enough of that. Pointing out differences in a pejorative way these days is considered Politically Incorrect and branded as racist.

There have been studies that concluded that we tend to identify with those with similarities rather than differences. It appears that preference is built in as a survival mechanism from our hunter gatherer days when our lives depended on being able to tell the difference between a friend, enemy or a bear looking for lunch. We couldn’t be too careful about who was approaching us. Who is that? Can I trust them?

It turns out, white folks really do look alike to black folks and vice versa. I noticed this phenomen immediately when I was in Japan, a very homogeneous country, where a foreigner sticks out big time.

This instinct is not as racism (though there is plenty of that going on) but a outdated prejudice carried over from our caveman days. The fear of “others” rears it’s ugly head when a dominant culture feels threatened by minorities. It’s not really their fault, i.e. the commies, gays, blacks, Mexicans, Jews, Moslems, Christians Serbs, Armenians, etc. Such reactions are a reflex response to, when the going gets rough, blame “those people”.

The Industrial Revolution and urbanization reenforced this with standardization- sameness over different. We feel safer when everyone and everything is the same, constant, and unchanging. Guess what, that’s an illusion, nothing stays the same. We have forgotten that differences stimulate thinking, creativity and diversity- our most important advantage- that allows us to adapt to change.

We need to stop being petty about differences in culture, race, ideology and drop the guilt trip on ourselves when we react to differences in others, it’s okay.

Living in boring white bread Eugene Oregon, I miss living in San Francisco where everyone came in different sizes, colors, languages and cultures- it was so much fun and broadened my mind. It’s time for us to celebrate and embrace our differences.

Love One Another Right Now

I was reading about the controversy surrounding the show South Park and it’s parody of Mohammed. Needless to say an extremist group based in Brooklyn, took offense at the satire and threatened the creators with death. Many more were not amused by their reaction so Revolution Islam had their site hacked with the incendiary cartoon of Mohammed drawn by a Dutch artist. Undeterred, the leader of the pack went on the usual long winded rant about American’s trying to destroy Islam blah, blah. He finished off by describing us as "Darwinist faggots who are as despicable as the rest, walking around eating your Triscuits."

Interesting description, it reminded me of another controversy involving a recent edition of Charles Darwin's Origin of Species with a 50 page introduction written by Ray Comfort refuting the theory, was distributed in November 2009 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the book's publication. 50,000 copies of the 304-page rewrite is being distributed free, to 50 college campuses around the country, and not just Christian universities.

So I think we need to spread the love around and send a copy of said edition to the head of Revolution Islam along with a box of triskets. Enjoy.

And Now For Something Completely Different.

Work can make one crazy. When I find myself overwhelmed with work stress I stop to look out the window and let my mind drift as far away as possible. I escape the tedium with a daydream and being a writer they often turn into stories. I would like to share a small portion with you, gentle reader.

Meet the Pickerings

Martin and Heather Pickering were the eponymous Southern Californians. That’s why their neighbor Mr. Del Monaco hated them with a zeal normally reserved for one’s favorite football team. They were free loving, tolerant liberals who probably did drugs and were proud of it. They were simply too damn nice and as a life long Republican it was his duty to put a stop to it. He refused to give in to their pleasant entries as they waved hello whenever they saw him watering the lawn or trimming the bushes. He scowled at their friendliness.

Martin was a bisexual porn filmmaker and Heather was a successful romance writer-disgusting vocations, Del Monaco shuddered as he came out to the kitchen to prepare his second cup of daily coffee.

Martin was always dressed in tight shorts and tee shirts that showed off a ridiculously athletic body and Heather would often be seen taking out the trash or picking up the newspaper off the lawn wearing pajamas. First it was the friendliness then the loud parties with the street clogged with parked cars that annoyed him but the final straw was the flagrant infidelity.

For nearly a month Del Monaco noticed a cable repair truck parked in the driveway every day at noon. A well built fellow would leave the house soon afterwards looking very satisfied and drive off. He was scandalized. Was she having an affair? The brazen slut, he thought, his eyes narrowing at this new bit of gossip. Was he being cuckold? It was obvious. This was damming as Martin was always so affectionate with Heather. He would have to tell Martin. It would crush him, possibly destroying their marriage and they would move away. He liked that idea, but before he could reveal this dreadful information to Martin at just the right moment, the situation became worse than he ever imagined.

One day he spotted the cable guy and Martin standing at the side door talking when they suddenly kissed fiercely. It took Del Monaco longer than expected to realize that it wasn’t the wife balling the cable guy. All he could think of that revelation was”Eww”.

“Let He Who is Without Sin Cast the First Stone.”

Critics of the Catholic Church and their mishandling of the current sex abuse scandal are understandably full of righteous anger. Andrew Sullivan among others, speak of their horror at how the institute covered up the actions of the perpetrators.

They would never allow such behavior to occur, they say with justifiable disgust. How dare the church be more concerned with their image than with the welfare of the victims. How could they do that? How can bishops, cardinals and the pope sleep at night knowing what they knew?

It’s very easy, really. The French recently recreated a famous experiment as a game show to demonstrate how people go along with authority. The subjects in the test, the experimenters and critics were surprised at how easily the crowd mentality took over personal convictions.Whenever someone joins a collective there is an unwritten rule that it must be protected at all cost- no matter what. Individual thought is replaced by group think and the survival of the collective depends on everyone protecting it.

Every one of us is susceptible to this thinking despite our deepest belief that we would never sink so low. Police departments, medical professionals, school administrators, politicians and sports coaches have all engaged in shameful cover-ups. They have always done so, why are we surprised the church is doing it too? They are doing the same thing any of these other fraternal groups have done for centuries.

Shame, denial, fear of retribution or lose of face. These are the reasons fraternal groups to close ranks and protect their own. It’s dishonorable, it’s despicable and all too human. Before we start hurling stones at the guilty let us remember that we are all capable of doing the same thing.

I’m Not Insensitive I Have Asperger’s

After fifty years of temperamental behavior, chronic depression and lack of sociability I have discovered what me tick: I have Asperger’s Syndrome, a fancy term for high functioning autism.

Autism , there’s a scary word. In the 60’s there was a minor epidemic of Rubella and my mother had it when she was pregnant with me. It caused birth defects including retardation. My family assumed as much, as folks did at that time, but they never spoke about it. As a child, I was tested and tested and I guess the obvious conclusion was that I was not retarded I was just a weird kid. Mom brought up the subject once when I was 15. When she said I was autistic as a child I freaked. Mind you, we didn’t know that much about it then (they still don’t understand what causes autism) but my image of it was kids rocking back and forth or sitting in a corner waving their arms, fucking vegetables. Needless to say we never mentioned it again.

I never heard of Aspergers’s Syndrome until I tripped over the term while recently trying to figure out the cause of my chronic depression. Now suddenly everything made sense. The description fit me perfectly. I don’t make friends easily. I tend to get frustrated by the simplest things to the point of being enraged. I can become fixated on a subject to the exclusion of all else. I don’t connect cause and effect when it comes to dealing with people, which pisses them off and leaves me confused. I come off as tactless, aloof and disinterested in sharing with others. I can be insufferable. I don’t mean to be difficult and but I am unable to change, which leads to more frustration. What’s wrong with me? What did I say or do wrong? I have no idea. I feel like like I’m driving through unknown territory without a map.

I can’t get a job because having to talk to a total stranger when I barely have a clue how to interact with people I know fills me with panic. So I fail at such things and get depressed about how inadequate I am at something everyone else manages just fine. I dread new social situations so I’m alone most of the time. I never had a long term relationship because I don’t understand how to be intimate. Not to mention being a pain in the ass.

I’m not stupid. People with Asperger’s are usually quite smart but I lack the ability to pick up on non verbal social cues or misinterpret them. Now that I understand why I act the way I do, maybe there’s a chance for me to be sort of- normal. I say maybe because this has gone undiagnosed for so long and my upbringing only made things worse. It may be too late for me to undo the effects of Asperger’s but at least I have a way to find my way through the landscape of life.

It's Not Just a Catholic Church Problem

I wrote about the holy fraternity before and according to a recent study of the Catholic Church abuse scandal has made the same observation:

"The dioceses did respond to many cases of abuse. . . However, their responses focused primarily on priests rather than the victims. Their overwhelming focus was to find a resolution for the priests. . . . While the diocesan leadership showed concern for the well-being of the priest there was little evidence of concern for the well-being of the victims."

The study also pointed out that their reaction to the accusations are not different than society in general.

According to Terry and Smith, the Catholic experience -- contrary to popular belief -- may be of wider relevance because it seems to fall in line with what is known about abuse in society over that period.

"We have not found that the problem [the sexual abuse of minors] is particular to the church," Smith told the bishops. "We have found it to be similar to the problem in society."

Now I can say I told you so.