We Hold Their (Un)Truths To Be Self-Evident…And Obvious
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There are plenty of fundamentally, inherently stupid people in the world, as we all know, especially in politics (hello Queen of the Morons Sarah Palin and greetings Ol’ Crazy Eyes Michelle Bachmann – who, BTW, still refuses to debate 16-yr old Amy Myers after a tsunami of idiotic “facts” spewed from Bachmann resulted in Myers’ [...]
For The Bible Tells Me So…
...for the bible tells me so...
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The hypocrisy of the rampant maniacal religious enmity that pollutes this great America has been so remarkably covered, in the most scissor-like detail, that it’s astounding that anything else needs to be – or could be – said to debunk the fiery hatred that seethes from the pores of the perpetrators. Especially when it comes to the basic human rights of gay men and women.
The almost weekly exposition of the ungodly acts of so-called godly men and women can always be found on many, many websites, and my favorite is Joe Jervis’ great Joe My God. And Joe not only exposes the false virtue of the religious right (and left), the anti-marriage hate-mongers, and religion overall, but also the mendacity of the wacko Conservatives and Tea Bagger movement (how come it thrills me still that a political movement has unknowingly named itself after a gay sex act? Oh, the irony!!!)
A few years ago, I updated the famous “Dear Dr. Laura” meme that spread throughout the Internet (do people still use the term “internet”?) after her risible remarks about homosexuality became national headline news. You can read my alteration HERE).
But I realized, only today after coming across fellow Tweeter Corbin’s twitpic posted above, that perhaps the decades-long fight for human rights could’ve been avoided if only this simple lesson plan would’ve been taught in every pre, middle and high school for decades.
How simple chalk and a blackboard makes the most complex of issues.
Music Box: Howl-le-lu-ya
See. Religious people are retarded.
Religion Is Child Abuse
‘Nuff said.
Texas: United State Of Hate
In one of his many brilliant NEW RULES segments last year, Bill Maher stated (and I paraphrase), “Of course not all Republicans are racist – it would be stupid to say that. But if you are a racist, you’re probably Republican”. It was astoundingly simple and absolutely true (and I’ll reiterate his thoughts – OF COURSE not ALL Republicans).
But the term RACIST could be interchanged with HOMOPHOBIC, or the word HATEFUL, in general.
“Of course not all Republicans are HOMOPHOBIC. But if you are HOMOPHOBIC, you’re probably Republican.”
“Of course not all Republicans are HATEFUL. But if you are HATEFUL you’re probably Republican.”
I’ll give the Republican Party this – at least they’re BOLD with their hatred for their fellow countrymen. What irks me is COWARDICE. If you hate, then EMBRACE YOUR HATE, and stop the mendacity about NOT being filled with such hate. Reading through Texas’ 2010 STATE REPUBLICAN PARTY PLATFORM, you’ll find segments seeped with such vitriolic enmity. Yet, ask any Republican politician and they’d never admit such animosity. Cowards.
Once upon a time, hating your fellow man in politics was fringe-based – politicians weren’t so obvious. These past few years, it’s out in full force more powerfully than ever before.
If Texas Republicans have their way, we’ll have to rename America THE UNITED STATES OF HATE:
Their Satanic Majesties Request
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I just need to get something off my chest. Again.
It infuriates me that this sick, perverted, evil, Nazi hasn’t been arrested yet for his crimes against humanity. LOVE is dangerous? Commitment is insidious? But the systematic RAPE of thousands of children and YOUR covering it up is A-OK? I’m not a believer in heaven or hell, but I will say this – if there is indeed a lake of eternal fires, bring your flame-retardant swimming trunks, Ratzy baby.
And while I’m at it, let me ask his retarded followers this (and yes, I’m calling YOU mentally damaged if you support this man. End of story!): if the principal of your child’s school knew about his staff raping little boys, and once he found out about it did nothing but transfer that teacher to other schools instead of calling the proper authorities, what would you say? What would you do? IT’S THE SAME FUCKING THING!
Shame on you if you support this vile debased creature of hell.
Pope says gay marriage is ‘insidious and dangerous’
The Pope condemned same sex marriage as a “dangerous and insidious” challenge to society in an address to half a million Catholic faithful.
In a strongly worded attack, Benedict XVI insisted that marriage should be founded on the “indissoluble” marriage between a man and a woman.
Addressing a huge crowd at the shrine of Fatima at the climax of his four day visit to Portugal, the 83-year-old Pope said that same sex marriage and abortion were among the “most insidious and dangerous challenges that today confront the common good.”
He expressed his “profound appreciation” for anti-abortion campaigners, who he praised for defending the right to life and the “recovery of people wounded by the drama of abortion”.
The Vatican regards being homosexual as a “deviation” and an “irregularity” and the act of homosexual sex as a sin.
In December a leading Roman Catholic cardinal reinforced the message, saying that homosexuality was an “insult to God” and that homosexuals and transsexuals will never go to heaven.
In remarks which outraged gay rights groups, Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan, 76, claimed that people were not born homosexual, but chose to embrace homosexuality of their own free will.
The Pope himself angered homosexual groups in December 2008 when he suggested that the need to save humanity from the harmful blurring of gender roles was as critical as conserving the world’s rainforests.
Stonewall, the British lesbian and gay lobby group, condemned the Pope’s remarks.
“Some might say that it’s dangerous and insidious for the Pope to spend so much time publicly belittling gay, lesbian and bisexual people,” said Derek Munn, director of public affairs.
Left-leaning MPs in Italy have proposed various kinds of legislation for some kind of homosexual union in recent years.
But the measures have gone nowhere in the face of stiff opposition from the Vatican, which continues to wield enormous influence over Italian politics.
The Pope’s remarks carried particular resonance for his host country – three years ago Portugal decriminalised abortion and it is now on the verge of legalising homosexual unions.
A law allowing same-sex marriage was passed by parliament in February.
President Anibal Cavaco Silva, a practising Catholic, is expected to sign the bill into law by May 17, three days after the end of the papal visit.
His ratification would make Portugal the sixth country in Europe to allow same-sex marriages after Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Norway.
In Britain, same sex marriage is not legal, but since 2005 homosexual couples have been allowed to enter into civil partnerships, which carry the same rights and responsibilities as marriage.
One of Christianity’s most important pilgrimage sites, the shrine of Fatima consists of an enormous white basilica marking the spot where three Portuguese shepherd children allegedly witnessed a series of apparitions of the Virgin Mary in 1917.
The Pope’s visit commemorated the anniversary of the first apparition – May 13.
He was greeted with cheers and applause when he arrived at the steps of the basilica in his bullet-proof “Popemobile”, with pilgrims from more than 30 different countries chanting “Vivo o Papa” – Portuguese for Long Live the Pope.
Ratz In A Cage
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It’s no secret my disdain for religion, but especially the Catholic Church, the Vatican, and the malevolent Pope Benedict. Well, in light of the ever-more prevalent crimes against humanity that have been brought to life in recent weeks, I felt the need to revisit this classic moment in TV.
I literally cheered Sinead O’Connor then and always will, for her steadfast truth, her honesty, her powerful conviction – and for one of the supreme moments in the history of TV; castigating the despicable Pope John Paul and the cesspool of debased humanity known as the Vatican for their crimes against children and their millions of stupid, foolish sheep. She was castigated, she was maligned, her career halted in its tracks…and she was right.
The satanic forces of the Catholic church, the Pope and the Vatican as a whole, historically – and still today – has been a purely evil institution, whose sole purpose of existing is to thwart the free will of their blinded flock, to rape their children, to pillage their bank accounts, to pass judgment and condemnation on humanity via archaic tomes they themselves created, while having no morality themselves. Harsh? No. Truth.
I dedicate this to the current, wicked Pope AKA Joseph Alois RATZinger AKA Pimp Benedict/Beelzebub. Finally – FINALLY – his participation in these crimes is coming to a light brilliant enough to brighten the darkest caverns of time.
Fight the real enemy? FIGHT THE REAL ENEMIES!
Music Box: On The 8th Day Of (Jeffrey)Christ-mas…
…Jeffrey gave to you…Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s “The Power Of Love”.
Yeah, I’m cheating here, I know, because when the song was released on FGTHs debut WELCOME TO THE PLEASUREDOME album back in 1984, I’m not sure the birth of Jesus Christ was on the minds of the same songwriters whose first hit single from the album was the world-wide #1 (banned in the U.K.) gay sex anthem “Relax” (the anti-war “Two Tribes” was their second consecutive #1).
But, make no mistake, “The Power Of Love” is one of the great love songs of the 80s, and it became one of the great Christmas songs of all-time almost by fiat. Master video pioneers Godley & Creme (whose classic “Cry” video immortalized the morphing technique later popularized by Michael Jackson’s “Black Or White”) shortened the original album track by two minutes, added a nativity theme to commemorate its December #1 status, and a Christmas classic was born.
The staggering sweep and scope of the song itself lends well to the ideal of the holiday, although lyrically, it’s a head-scratcher to juxtapose (but in the world of music video, how often is the text paralleled to the visual?)
Lead singer Holly Johnson’s opening lines of the song were cut from the video, yet are kept within the song (the hauntingly beautiful imagery of “I’ll protect you from the hooded claw, keep the vampires from your door…”). At times broad-voiced and nasal, his odd vibrato mixed with an unwavering passionate yearning – he propels the ballad into classic territory on aesthete alone. His delivery is chill-inducing.
I can’t imagine that Frankie Goes To Hollywood ever resented “The Power of Love” becoming synonymous with Christmastime; while it was their third #1 smash in as many releases, it could have lived and died at that, to be scattered amongst the thousands of #1s throughout history as a fond memory (also, I’m not sure who else besides me elevate this to ‘classic love song’ status). But, thanks to Godley & Creme, this near-perfect masterpiece is an annual seasonal staple.
Music Box: On The 2nd Day Of (Jeffrey)Christ-mas…
- The Christian ~ D’Onofrio Residence, December 2008
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…Jeffrey gives to you…something he, himself, is totally bamboozled by – Mariah Carey’s “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing/Gloria (In Excelsis Deo)”.
It’s a personal opinion, of course (and for years I was in the minority, though not so much anymore), but there hasn’t been a listenable album in the whole of Mariah Carey’s archives – she morphed from Mrs. Tommy Motolla’s conservatively-clad fembot with a piercing, wheezing voice millions mistook for a prodigious range, to a scantily clad hip-hip earwig, selling her breast implants and porn tics to the masses with nary a memorable hook in earshot (I re-christened her curiously heralded ”comeback” THE EMANCIPATION OF MIMI as THE ATTACK OF THE SCREAMING MIMI).
It’s actually no real surprise that the only memorable CD in her catalogue is her wonderful MERRY CHRISTMAS anthology, released back in 1994 while still under the influence of her Svengali husband. If nothing else, Motolla kept Carey’s public image thwarted of the overt sexual histrionics (not that sexuality is a negative, of course) that would plague her post-divorce output. MERRY CHRISTMAS is chock full of exhilarating holiday staples and wondrous originals; her composition “All I Want For Christmas Is You” stands tall with the most ineradicable holiday classics and was going to be my (Jeffrey)Christ-mas Day 2 selection.
But the one track I am continually drawn back to – hence its inclusion here – is her interpretation of “Hark!” which is, in a word, magnificent. She doesn’t allow the self-infatuation with her own voice to negate the beauty of the arrangement, instead allowing it to be the vessel for the song’s exquisite simplicity. The song ends when it should, with no typical Careyisms, no vocal acrobatics, no diversion from the melody to belabor her usual solipsism. MERRY CHRISTMAS is a treasure trove, and “Hark…” one of its most shimmering pieces.
Music Box: The 12 Days Of (Jeffrey)Christ-mas
Another year, another Christmas. My feeling about the holidays always border on mercurial. Mostly, I bask in the beauty of the spirit, but there are those moments in time when I could feel the soul of Ebenezer creep in. Such is human nature, I surmise, but more often than not, I love the spirit that ’tis the season and find myself bathed in its emotional pull.
Okay, I’ll admit it. When it comes to the holiday and holiday music, I’m a big fat sap.
Which, as a logician, and thus a non-believer, puts me in an odd situation. Some decry or belittle my passion for Christmas and its seasonal tunes – I’m often accused of hypocrisy; “How? You’re an atheist – a non believer!! Blah blah blah!!!” Fair enough (those same town criers say the same because of my love of gospel), but as I alluded earlier, it’s the spirit (yes) but also the ideal of the holiday, and what it should bring out in mankind. It often fails, apparently, but there’s no harm in the yearning. So, I love religious carols too, despite the doctrine. Oh well, it is what it is.
Which brings me here. Because of my unabashed joy of the season, I decided to bring to you these next 2 weeks the 12 Days of (Jeffrey)Christ-mas…a fête, if you will, of some of my favorite carols and canticles, religious and secular, holly and jolly, happy and bittersweet. Now, these selections are not always sung by the most obvious of artists, and not necessarily performed by household names, and a few might or might not be standards, while others have been played to death.
But all hold a special place in my soul – and that is the common denominator.
As a footnote, I will say this – I could easily have written the 20 Days of (Jeffrey)Christ-mas, or even the 30 Days of (Jeffrey)Christ-mas. There are literally hundreds of other songs I could have posted and the aesthete would have been the same.
Happy holidays to you all, believers and non-believers alike.
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On the First Day of Christmas, Jeffrey gave to you…Darlene Love singing “Christmas Baby (Please Come Home)” live from last year’s David Letterman appearance. It’s been a tradition for many years – Letterman invites Love on his show to perform this seminal seasonal classic from what is arguably (or inarguably, if you ask me) the greatest Christmas CD of them all, A CHRISTMAS GIFT TO YOU FROM PHIL SPECTOR. Forget U2s smarmy version (Bono? Smarmy? Noooo!!), the Love original – or any live performance thereof – are the only readings of this song you’ll ever need to hear.
Her canon is rich with some of the most indelible Rock and Roll classics, and her voice has held up better than most women half her age – the most amazing thing about Love is that year after year she never loses her innate joy in her recitals and you realize that the thrill isn’t only in our listening. Like the song, Love remains eternal…
