the next constitutional amendment?

the gospel of Matthew, chapter 19 verse 24, quotes Jesus as saying, in an incredibly direct manner:

"And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God." (King James Version)

very few of Jesus' edicts are as plainly spoken as that. why, then, isn't being rich illegal in our country? are we careening down a path toward pure evil? Jesus never issued any such straightforward edicts against practicing gay sex, for example. i propose that in order to fully accept the true spirit of the gospels, and to return our morals to god's and nature's true way, we must concentrate on getting this amendment into every state constitution, as well as the federal one.

once we try to embrace Jesus’ true spirit in our constitutions by making it illegal to have material possessions, only then should we turn our attentions to the issues of the obvious evils of shared human love and compassion.

wishlist

(not to be confused with that great song from Yield)

as i watch my dreams of an x-mas in sunny (or at least summery) BsAs slowly fade into a dark, gray blustery Chicago reality, i can't help but think of all the places i'd like to go. (and i somehow remember a greenish purplish orangish monster thingy promising me a future filled with diverse locales in poetry with fake words that rhyme with other fake words.)

so, in the spirit of that "poetry," here is a current expression of places i wish i were, (or will soon be, real or imagined):

be it Paris or London or ancient Rome,
the Sahara or Gobi or the Kara Kum,
i'd like to go there, i don't really care where;

by the Yangtze or Nile or piranha-filled Amazon,
i can't think of the soil that my feet fear to tread-upon,
i'd like to go there, i don't really care where:

India, Pakistan, Armenia, Georgia,
Uzbekistan, Khazhakstan, Turkmenistan, Torja,
Peru and Nepal, Liechtenstein,and Latvia,
Scotland and Whales and Ireland and Hot-n-totvia.

no continent, kingdom or city or hill,
can escape my desires or my travelling will,
i'd like to go there, i don't really care where.

up a snow white mountain into cavern deep as night,
if i only think hard enough i can muster my might;

through rivers and oceans and brooks in a fen,
i'll go there and love it, just tell me where and when.

yes, i'd like to go there, i don't really care where.

poor gay James Buchanan

. . .just read an article by Richard Reeves that summarized a poll taken of American Historians about where Bush II would rank among our presidents. Previously, the rumored-to-be-gay and only bachelor president ever, James Buchanan, had been ranked as our worst, because of things like his unintentional contributions to the start of the Civil War, for instance.

but, it seems, the historians feel that Bush II may surpass Mr. Buchanan in this dubious distinction, and be remembered as our worst president yet. (at least Buchanan had only one term.)

the highlights:

"This is what those historians said -- and it should be noted that some of the criticism about deficit spending and misuse of the military came from self-identified conservatives -- about the Bush record:

He has taken the country into an unwinnable war and alienated friend and foe alike in the process;

He is bankrupting the country with a combination of aggressive military spending and reduced taxation of the rich;

He has deliberately and dangerously attacked separation of church and state;

He has repeatedly "misled," to use a kind word, the American people on affairs domestic and foreign;

He has proved to be incompetent in affairs domestic (New Orleans) and foreign (Iraq and the battle against al-Qaida);

He has sacrificed American employment (including the toleration of pension and benefit elimination) to increase overall productivity;

He is ignorantly hostile to science and technological progress;

He has tolerated or ignored one of the republic's oldest problems, corporate cheating in supplying the military in wartime."



At least now there's hope that it won't be the poor gay president that gets the worst rap. . .

faded and grainy but still smiling

the older i get, the more this is true.

i do have so much to smile about: a good family (both chosen and given), a good job, a good bill of health, a warm place to stay.

sometimes, though, i'm blinded by the light of life, barely able to see the importance of anything. it's tough to filter it out, but i'll keep working at it.

now, back to work.