Appeals Court: DOMA Unconstitutional (Next Up, SCOTUS?)

Three judges–two Republican appointees and one Democrat appointee–have issued a narrowly defined ruling, saying that the Defense Of Marriage Act unconstitutionally deprives gay men and lesbians of the rights afforded to heterosexuals. It does not address the legality of same sex marriage at a national level, but it is a start.

In celebration, a verse I wrote for New Hampshire, the first day its Civil Union law came into effect. Since that verse, NH has legalized same sex marriage; with any luck, the Supremes will put the cherry on top with federal recognition as well…

[Read more…]

Headline Muse, 5/29

He’s a tool, he’s a fool, he’s a chump
He’s the hairpiece with feet, Donald Trump.
The Donald’s a birther—
A modern flat-earther
And clearly as dumb as a stump

Headline: Blitzer and Trump go at it over Trumps ‘birther’ claims

On CNN’s “The Situation Room” Tuesday, Trump maintained that Obama’s birthplace is a matter of opinion, rather than fact.

“Everybody’s entitled to your opinion,” he said. “You know my opinion and you know his opinion and that’s fine. We’re entitled – as he said yesterday in the airplane – we’re all entitled to our opinions and he’s entitled to have his opinion. I don’t happen to share that opinion, it’s wonderful.”

Blitzer presented Trump with newspaper announcements of Obama’s birth from 1961.

Trump interrupted, “Can you stop defending Obama?”

“Donald, you’re beginning to sound a little ridiculous, I have to tell you,” Blitzer replied.

I’m crushing on Wolf just a little right now.

If I Didn’t Have God

If I didn’t have God as my guide to what’s right,
I would probably hold up a drugstore tonight—
I’d rob it at gunpoint, and then shoot the clerk,
Kill all the customers; just go berserk—
I’d take out my rage on whoever’s in sight,
All the innocent people, just getting off work…
And I’d torture a puppy, with taser or prod
Because that’s what I’d do… if I didn’t have God. [Read more…]

Great-Grand-Dad In The News

A comment yesterday points to this story, of the discovery of fossilized squid ink, which they say is essentially identical in composition to the ink of modern cuttlefish.

“The whole machinery apparently has been locked in time and passed down through succeeding generations of cuttlefish. It’s a very optimized system for this animal and has been optimized for a long time.”

This may or may not be the same story I wrote about before–if it isn’t, it’s close enough. The hook last time, though, was that they actually reconstituted some of the ink, and used it to draw an illustration of the squid itself.


I have a small bottle of sepia ink
Which I use for particular writing.
The feel of a quill-pen is special, I think,
And I find the whole process exciting.

I read in the news, of an interesting find,
Of a well-preserved cephalo-fossil
(The paleontologists gladly remind,
What we learn may be truly colossal!

See, soft-tissue fossils are rare, as a rule,
So an ink-sac was quite unexpected—
This cephalofind was the coolest of cool,
As a rock that can still be dissected!)

The scientists ground up the fossilized sac
To make ink for its own illustration—
Some see this as fitting, while others attack
It as cruel (in unique presentation!*)

Myself, as his great-great-great-great-great-great-great
Great-great-grandson, I want his return.
His repatriation to Cuttle-Estate,
To his burial inkwell—er, urn.

*Anyone who does not follow this link and read the whole thing is a complete gooberhead. Just sayin’.

Cuttlecap tip to Karen–Thanks!

Jesus Christ On A Popsicle Stick! (No, Really!)

There is nothing so distressing
As an “inadvertent blessing”
Which can leave an artist messing
With the sacramental wine
But Sebastian Errazuriz
Made a Christcicle, which sure is
Bound to piss off any purist
Who considers Christ “divine”

Is it art, or bad behavior,
Making light of our dear Savior
Though his crucifixion gave your
Life its meaning, don’t you know?—
Jesus loves you—this he shows in
How his sacrifice was chosen,
Now a popsicle, that’s frozen,
As a treat, at ten below. [Read more…]

Annular Eclipse Sunday, Western US

If you live within driving distance (this link has a map of the range of the eclipse), and aren’t already planning on seeing the eclipse, allow me to urge you to do so. An annular eclipse is so much more beautiful than a full eclipse; the quality of the light is such that the entire world seems dipped in silver, shimmering and dancing.

Unless you have the proper equipment (welder’s goggles, eclipse glasses, or a properly filtered scope of some sort), you can’t (or rather, shouldn’t) look directly at the sun. With an annular eclipse, you really don’t want to, in my opinion. Instead, find a spot in the woods, where the leaves are sparse enough to let light through, but thick enough that the light comes through in patches. This is where you want to be for the eclipse.

It will get dim, but not really dark, almost as if the sun had been blocked by a cloud. But while a cloud will diffuse the light, the eclipse transforms it. There are not beams of light; there are circlets, shining rings. As the wind moves the leaves, the circlets dance, coming together, drawing apart, larger and smaller depending on how high the leaves are. It is stunningly, breathtakingly beautiful.

And then it is gone. And won’t be back for over a decade. The last one in the US was in 1994, on May 10th–I remember it well. It was a big day. Nelson Mandela was sworn in as president of South Africa. John Wayne Gacy was executed. I remember both, but I remember them because of the eclipse.

What I’m saying is, this is a memorable and worthwhile event. Go see it if you possibly can.

I Guess I’m Just Too Offensive

Near as I can tell, the good people at Christianpost.com deleted a comment because they didn’t like my verse.

Not my comment, mind you, so I can’t be certain. But I was following links, and have my suspicions. After the jump:

See, this story tells of a terrible tragedy miracle, in which four people died, but one survived.

Hannah Luce, daughter of Teen Mania founder Ron Luce, is continuing to improve as she recovers from a plane crash last Friday. She was the sole survivor among the five on board.

“The fact that Hannah is here with us is a miracle, and while I am overjoyed and so thankful to God that she’s here, I am also deeply saddened at the loss of Austin, Stephen, Garrett and Luke,” Ron Luce wrote Tuesday on his blog. “I can’t even begin to understand the pain their parents are feeling right now.”

It’s a terrible thing. At this point, I would be overjoyed to have my daughter survive, but I can’t quite wrap my head around people other than the parents calling it a miracle, claiming that God had a hand in saving one, without taking any blame for killing the other four. I have no qualms with the parents calling this a miracle–any port in a storm–but the commenters don’t have a stake, and if they are going to claim miracle, they can be expected to have that claim questioned.

And it seems they can and will delete posts that do question this miracle. Including, apparently, one that quoted one of my verses. The verse was about a previous miracle, a case in which a man survived a fall from a skyscraper, with only 10 broken bones (both legs, right arm, multiple ribs, vertebrae). His brother was killed in the accident. Come to think of it, it seems a very similar situation to this current tragedy miracle.

I always found it rather odd
When people think to credit God;
The doctors helped, at least a bit,
The rescue workers didn’t quit,
The strangers there, who saw him fall
And made the first responder call
So many people did so much
But still we see His Holy Touch–
You see, it seems the signs are there
That show this man has seen God’s care:
The shattered ankle, broken shin
The shards of bone that pierce through skin
The massive bleeding in his gut–
Yes, every fracture, every cut–
This is the way that God Above
Displays His omnipresent Love.
And just in case He’s still denied
Remember, this man’s brother died.
Such agony makes Man aware
Of just how precious is God’s care
And when Humanity forgets,
God has a way to hedge His bets:
He’ll find a patsy, just some guy,
Like this Moreno, way up high–
When disbelievers start to scoff
God simply pushes this guy off;
With bleeding, pain, and broken bone,
God shows us that we’re not alone,
With just a little Godly shove,
He gets a chance to prove His Love.