News, politics, religion, and pets...

Notes from the news...

In light of the current times in which we live when a 5-4 Supreme Court generally follows the mandate of "government of the corporations, by the corporations, and for the corporations," the Obama Administration deserves praise for going to the U.S. oil reserves in order to increase the oil supply and drive down the gasoline prices...and end the institutionalized robbery of the record profit-making oil companies upon the middle class of America. A thumbs-up to Obama on that one.

A thumbs-down to Obama on the war speech that was previously noted in this blog. A few additional statistics for that issue: The Afghanistan War has cost the lives of more than 1,000 soldiers, 10 years, and $443 billion. Some are predicting the United States will spend $1 trillion on the so-called training of Afghani troops to take over before the U.S. involvement is done. That's a terrible waste! And that's not even counting the expense in lives and money for the Iraq War. Wars are dumb morally, economically, and politically. The age of the war, for any competent and successful democratic power, has come to an end.

A thumbs-down to Obama on his "evolving" claim about whether or not he supports gay marriage. Oh, come on. It's marriage equality, as commentator Ron Reagan said recently. If you don't want a gay marriage, then don't get one. But don't discriminate in the meantime. If you are a progressive, Mr. Prez, then you believe in civil rights. Period. If not, you're probably playing dishonest political games for vote purposes. Some people on TV have said that Obama's conflict is a reflection of the conservative nature of the "black" church. That doesn't truly make sense to me, except again in a dishonest political fashion, because Obama comes from the Congregational Church (the church where I was baptised) and it is a liberal church and it came to terms with the issue of gay marriage years ago like the Unitarian Church and other churches. Maybe the first lady Michelle Obama comes out of the conservative black-church setting, but the president doesn't, according to his pre-presidential church history. It is both annoying and amusing when these churches, filled by minority groups who have been discriminated against, decide to discriminate against other groups. But it's about political viewpoint within churches. The liberal churches don't discriminate. The conservative churches discriminate. So, there are previously persecuted minority groups gathered into conservative black churches discriminating against gays, in Mormon churches discriminating against women and gays, in Catholic churches discriminating against women and gays, in Islamic mosques discriminating against women and gays. The fact of the matter is that when people choose their faith, they are often choosing their political attitudes as well. But I would suggest that all church-goers and politicians and evolving presidents read Frederick Douglass' biography to better understand when a church can be "wrong" and on the wrong side of history.

The worst news coming out of Missouri this month had to be the story about the baby who lost seven fingers after a loose pet ferret in the household chewed them off. Some animals are wild creatures generally...and then there are dogs. Most dogs make good pets. Goldfish are gentle enough, but aren't the best pets. Dogs make good pets when they are in the company of good people. Wild, undomesticated animals don't generally make good pets. A recent TV report noted that there is a large number of people who actually have lions and tigers at their homes or ranches in Texas. Wow, again, I just don't think lions and tigers are pet material. Here are some other Sage Street blog recommendations for non-pet status: wolverines, grizzly bears, whales, crocodiles, badgers, ticks, and pythons.