"Our Job is to Ask Questions, Her Job is to Answer Them"

Listen to what a brilliant man has to say about Sarah Palin, Obama, the conservative movement, religion, and the role of journalists:



I don't always agree with Sullivan, but I respect his intelligence very highly.

Shoppers Beware: Cowboy Scam

A female friend sent this one:

Stocking Stuffers

A public service from your Head Trucker:  some gift ideas for those hard-to-buy-for people on your Christmas list.  First, for all ages and sexes:

City Slickers, 1991.  One of my all-time favorites.  Just saw it again last night, and it's still as hilarious as ever, with the wisecracking Billy Crystal at the top of his form.  Jack Palance is a trip as the scary, grizzled trail boss Curly.  And then there's Crystal's sidekick, the late Bruno Kirby, who has a studly stache and a spunky guy-next-door persona that winds my crank.  $13.99 at TLAvideo.com.

TLAvideo review:

An often hilarious and heartwarming farce about three adventure-seeking Manhattanite buddies who sign up for an "authentic" Western cattle drive. Along the way, they confront their fears, unfulfilled childhood fantasies, and their respective mid-life crises. This may sound like a recipe for cheap sentimentality, but thanks to solid performances and razor-sharp, quick-witted dialogue, the film is a fun-filled and poignant examination of the disillusionment of middle age. Palance (who won an Oscar) steals the show as the real-life cowboy who leads the round-up. (Sequel: City Slickers II)

Quote:  Women need a reason to have sex.  Men just need a place.

Or, for that mature gentleman on your list you'd like to, um, get to know a little better:

Hoyo de Monterrey Double Corona cigars, medium-full body, 6.75 x 48, pack of 5, $15.75.

JRCigars.com review:

Hoyo de Monterrey is a legendary Cuban marque, however, since the early 1970's, this brand has been crafted in Honduras by Villazon's master maker, Estelo Padrón, and it has become a legend in its own right. Beginning with tobacco seeds smuggled out of Cuba in a diplomatic pouch, this was the first true Habana-style cigar made outside of Cuba. For three plus decades, this full-flavored, earthy smoke has been the cigar of choice for those who crave old-world-style Habanas.

Hoyo de Monterey is a fine brand any cigar man would appreciate.  Add a miniature bottle - or two - of brandy in his stocking, and you'll probably end up at the top of his list to get stuffed in return.

He probably already has these if he's a cigar aficionado, but it wouldn't hurt to add a cigar cutter and a cigar punch, both available for just a penny apiece from JRCigars, one of the country's leading cigar sellers.

If you'd like to get into cigars yourself, but aren't sure how to begin - it's pretty easy to get the hang of, actually, just take it slow and don't inhale - for some great tips, check out howtosmokeacigar.com.  Woof.

"Gays Are People Too"

Joy Behar interviews "gay icon" Levi Johnston:



Levi might be a "fucking redneck" as he described himself on his Facebook page, but he's cool with the gays.  "More fans, that's great."

The kid just might turn out to be a decent guy after all, ya think?

Lovelight: Stars and Midnight Blue

Sunday Drive: O Come, O Come Emmanuel

Advent II

The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: "Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.  Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God."

Those who sowed with tears will reap with songs of joy. Those who go out weeping, carrying the seed, will come again with joy, shouldering their sheaves.

Second Gay Episcopal Bishop Elected

From the Los Angeles Times:

The Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles today elected the first openly gay bishop since the national church lifted a ban that sought to bar gays and lesbians from the church's highest ordained ministry. Clergy and lay leaders, meeting in Riverside for their annual convention, elected the Rev. Canon Mary D. Glasspool, 55, who has been in a committed relationship with another woman since 1988. Another gay candidate, the Rev. John L. Kirkley of San Francisco, withdrew late Friday.

Glasspool’s election to fill one of two openings for bishops of the diocese followed the selection Friday of the Rev. Canon Diane Jardine Bruce, 53, the rector of a San Clemente church. The two became the first women elected as bishops of the diocese in its 114-year history.  But it was the endorsement of Glasspool that riveted much of the convention as well as the worldwide Anglican Communion, of which the Episcopal Church is the U.S. branch. Glasspool is the first openly gay priest to be elected bishop since the ordination of the Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire in 2003. . . .

Glasspool and Bruce were elected to fill two openings for the position of suffragan bishop, who assist a diocese's primary bishop. The two women must be confirmed by a majority of the national church's bishops and of diocesan standing committees, which include clergy and lay representatives.

LGBT Orgs Slam Congress for ENDA Delay

Twenty-two LGBT advocacy organizations have written a joint statement expressing our community's outrage and disappointment that ENDA will not be passed this year by Congress (emphasis mine):

In light of continuing delays in the House of Representatives, we must state clearly and unequivocally: Passing basic job protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people must happen now. At a time when our government is deeply focused on the critical issue of employment, it is inexcusable to delay action on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). Each and every job lost to prejudice based on sexual orientation and gender identity needlessly compounds the unemployment challenges facing our nation. We call on Congress for the immediate passage of ENDA.

For decades now, we have called upon Congress to pass legislation to address the basic right of LGBT people to work free from discrimination at our jobs, and now Congress tells us we must wait another year. In 29 states, it remains legal to fire people based on sexual orientation and in 38 states, discrimination based on gender identity remains legal. In failing to take swift action to pass ENDA, our government allows unfettered bigotry to go unchecked, leading to the loss of jobs, fear in the workplace, economic instability and personal hardship, while allowing employers to lose competent experienced workers. ENDA is urgently needed by our communities.

The majority of Americans consistently state their support for employment protections and voters have affirmed similar state and local measures. There is absolutely no reason for Congress to continue to delay this noncontroversial bill or drop LGBT issues to the bottom of their agenda. We will not be denied basic rights any longer. Nothing is more important than protecting people's jobs so ENDA must pass now. Further delays are absolutely unacceptable.

You'd think that in a time of economic crisis and rising unemployment, the people you sent to Congress, as well as to the statehouse, would be concerned about protecting every American who still has a job, wouldn't you? 

How secure is your job?  Lots of folks are living in a dream world about that; I chatted online with a guy from Texas a while back who wasn't concerned about being out at work because he blithely assumed we gays had some state-level protections here in the Lone Star State. 

Wrong.  Check out the employment laws map (pdf) from HRC here and find out how things stand where you live.

If keeping a job is important to you, let your elected reps at both the state and federal levels know how you feel about this issue here.

Honk to Pam's House Blend

WTF: Dreams

It's only right that you should play the way you feel it . . .

The mind is a strange and curious thing.  Funny, isn't it, how it often scoops up the stray experiences and thoughts of a day and weaves them into an elaborate narrative in the night.  Sometimes bizarre, sometimes scary, sometimes funny, sometimes - well, sometimes they make you pop right up in bed, don't they? 

You truckbuddies recall that post I made the other day about my very infrequent, um, thoughts about women.  And then I had the strangest dream.  You wouldn't believe me if I told you; but I think it only right that I draw the veil of modesty over a scene that would never, ever have occurred to me in my waking moments.

Man, I can hardly explain late last evening.  Oh brother, a magical adventure.

Let the reader understand.

Don't even ask me to explain that one.  Sometimes I amaze myself, you know?   Grin.

Give a Damn, Give a Goat

Does the commercialized mania of Christmas get your goat?  Are you tired of pigging out at Christmas parties?  Do you duck out of shopping sprees?  Do you wish you could chicken out of climbing that roof one more time to string yet another row of lights around the eaves?

Then maybe it's time to rethink your whole approach to the holiday season.  Historians tell us that the custom of giving Christmas gifts arose in imitation of the Magi who brought gifts to the infant Jesus - albeit they arrived a good while after he had outgrown the manger, contrary to the popular depiction; go read your Bible and see.

Yet the Magi were not giving gifts to each other, but rather offering them to the manifestation of God made flesh; at least such is the Christian interpretation of the story.  But whether you are preparing to celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwaanza, Solstice, or something else, or nothing at all - is it not true that "it is better to give than to receive"?

Instead of loading your nearest and dearest down with a lot of expensive crap that they really don't need, please think about making a gift to someone you will never see, but who will benefit from your small act of generosity in many ways for years and years to come.

Give a goat - for only 80 bucks, the price of a movie and dinner at a nice restaurant for two, you can provide a family in Africa or elsewhere with a source of milk, cheese, and even manure for farming.  Or for a hundred bucks, a pig; or if you can't squeeze that into your budget, how about a duck or a chicken? 

These and many other life-sustaining, life-saving gifts are available through the Gifts for Life Catalog at Episcopal Relief and Development, formerly the Presiding Bishop's Fund of the Episcopal Church.  ERD has a four-star rating from Charity Navigator, the highest rating that organization bestows; you can see a breakdown of ERD's revenues, expenses, and operational efficiency here.  Of course, ERD is just one of many fine outfits that do much good work in the world; you can review others at Charity Navigator as well.

I well recall watching Mother Teresa's funeral over in India in 1997; and I was struck by the fact that, as one high leader after another of India's many religions took a turn at eulogizing her - they expressed their thoughts in different words, of course, but one and all said essentially the very same thing:  "This woman, though she was not of our faith, lived up to the highest precepts of our belief - that to treat others as you would want to be treated, to care deeply and work steadfastly for the good of those who cannot help themselves, is the noblest path of human life, and the most sublime service to God."

We are so very rich in this country, and we take it for granted most of the time.  Nowadays, even the poor people in America, I would say perhaps 90 percent of them or more, have electricity, running water, including hot water, a refrigerator, a microwave, a color television, even central heat and air, many of them - and closets full of clothes.  Which is not to say that poverty is not a concern to be taken seriously - after all, it's no good having all these conveniences if you can't pay the light bill - and your Head Trucker in his time has seen many days like that - but the point is, the vast majority of us have no idea what true poverty is.

My own little grandmother was born in a two-room log cabin with dirt floors, way to hell back in the woods.  When she was married and my grandfather went off to seek work in the city, she plowed the fields herself with a team of oxen, and filled the crib with so much corn, they had to knock the roof off.  Until the children were grown, she used to do all the family laundry in a cauldron of boiling water out in the yard, scrubbing the clothes on a scrubboard until her knuckles bled.  Yet now I, her grandson, live in comfort at 70 degrees year round, and I get pissed because I have to carry my wet laundry from the washer out to the garage, where the dryer is - until I think of all that Grandma had to do, and did do for eight decades, and I feel ashamed of myself.

Yet millions and millions of folks around the world live on less than a thousand dollars a year, without electricity, without running water, without even windows or doors.  And you're going to be pissed if Santa doesn't bring you exactly the right pair of Gap jeans?  Please, Mary - think about someone besides your fabulous self for a moment.  Whether you are religious or not, give a damn, give a goat - or whatever you can afford - not to yourself, and not to somebody who will pay you back with a present in return. 

But give it to somebody who can never, ever repay you - offer it to whatever your concept is of the Ultimate Good in the universe - which we mortals can only ever see clearly when we look into the face of another human being:  a spark of God made manifest in flesh.

Happy holidays.

Jefferts Schori Condemns Ugandan Antigay Bill

Katharine Jefferts Schori, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church - the American branch of the Anglican Communion - has condemned the the proposed antihomosexual bill now pending in Uganda's parliament.  Full statement here.  Excerpt:

The Episcopal Church joins many other Christians and people of faith in urging the safeguarding of human rights everywhere. We do so in the understanding that "efforts to criminalize homosexual behavior are incompatible with the Gospel of Jesus Christ" (General Convention 2006, Resolution D005).

This has been the repeated and vehement position of Anglican bodies, including several Lambeth Conferences. The Primates' Meeting, in the midst of severe controversy over issues of homosexuality, nevertheless noted that, as Anglicans, "we assure homosexual people that they are children of God, loved and valued by him, and deserving of the best we can give of pastoral care and friendship" (Primates' Communiqué, Dromantine, 2005).

The Episcopal Church represents multiple and varied cultural contexts (the United States and 15 other nations), and as a Church we affirm that the public scapegoating of any category of persons, in any context, is anathema. We are deeply concerned about the potential impingement on basic human rights represented by the private member's bill in the Ugandan Parliament. . . .

Finally, we note that much of the current climate of fear, rejection, and antagonism toward gay and lesbian persons in African nations has been stirred by members and former members of our own Church. We note further that attempts to export the culture wars of North America to another context represent the very worst of colonial behavior. We deeply lament this reality, and repent of any way in which we have participated in this sin.

We call on all Episcopalians to seek their own conversion toward an ability to see the image of God in the face of every neighbor, of whatever race, gender, sexual orientation, theological position, or creed. God has created us in myriad diversity, and no one sort or condition of human being can fully reflect the divine. Only the whole human race begins to be an adequate mirror of the divine.

What I say:  Thank you, Bishop Katharine.  Your history of standing up for the full human rights of gay people as beloved children of God is encouraging and a welcome contrast to the hateful speech and actions of some other church leaders I could name.

Now where are those other religious leaders?  Where, in the name of God, are all the good folks - politicians as well as ordinary citizens - who love to proclaim far and wide how proud, how very proud they are to be Christians ("love your neighbor as yourself") and Americans ("all men are created equal, with the unalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness")? 

When will they get around to expressing outrage and indignation, condemning this American-fundamentalist-inspired attempt at a Final Solution in Uganda?  And when will our President find the time and the courage to speak out clearly and forcefully, as Bishop Katharine has?

When indeed?  What would Jesus do, eh?