Christopher Macintosh’s Interesting Tidbits

Here’s a link to a commentary by Andy Rooney on 60 Minutes in which he comments on President Eisenhower’s warning about the rise of the military-industrial complex. Very far-sighted man, Eisenhower.

I was going through some memorable quotes from my favorite TV show, The West Wing, and ran across this conversation between President Bartlet and a Dr. Laura clone. It’s priceless!

President Josiah Bartlet: Good. I like your show. I like how you call homosexuality an abomination.

Dr. Jenna Jacobs: I don’t say homosexuality is an abomination, Mr. President. The Bible does.

President Josiah Bartlet: Yes it does. Leviticus.

Dr. Jenna Jacobs: 18:22.

President Josiah Bartlet: Chapter and verse. I wanted to ask you a couple of questions while I have you here. I’m interested in selling my youngest daughter into slavery as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. She’s a Georgetown sophomore, speaks fluent Italian, always cleared the table when it was her turn. What would a good price for her be? While thinking about that, can I ask another? My Chief of Staff Leo McGarry insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly says he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself or is it okay to call the police? Here’s one that’s really important because we’ve got a lot of sports fans in this town: touching the skin of a dead pig makes one unclean. Leviticus 11:7. If they promise to wear gloves, can the Washington Redskins still play football? Can Notre Dame? Can West Point? Does the whole town really have to be together to stone my brother John for planting different crops side by side? Can I burn my mother in a small family gathering for wearing garments made from two different threads? Think about those questions, would you? One last thing: while you may be mistaking this for your monthly meeting of the Ignorant Tight-Ass Club, in this building, when the President stands, nobody sits

Pope Benedict XVI has decreed that homosexuals cannot enter the priesthood. Here is an article from the International Herald Tribune about the decision. One would think the ambiguities and contradictions of the Bible would make it difficult for an ostensibly rational person to make such a declaration, but religion and rationality are seldon on the same side.

When Jerry Flawell declared that 9/11 was God punishing Americans for liberalism, abortion, and homosexuality, and Pat Robertson expressed agreement, people were outraged. Even some non-Pharisee Christians spoke out against his abominable statement.

But, that kind of thinking has resurfaced. Read this to understand how that dangerous kind of thinking is more common than you might suspect and why we must be vigilant against Christian militants.

An official of the Bush Administration and a friend of House Republican Leader Tom DeLay has been arrested on corruption charges and for lying. Here’s the New York Times article!

He is a link to Janet’s Blog- The Official Al Gore ‘08 Campaign Blog. The Al Gore ‘08 site is not Gore’s official site, so this is not simple self-promotion. These are dedicated volunteers who seek to persuade the former Vice-President to run and to persuade the American electorate to support him.

I know that many younger and/or “in-your-face” LGBT people like to refer to themselves as “queer,” but as a gay man who was beaten almost every day in junior high and who faced almost daily abuse at home from intolerant bigots, I find the term offensive. I would no more use the word “queer” than I would “nigger,” “spic,” “kike,” or “wop.” It is a debate within the LGBT community and here is an interesting discussion from the student newspaper of the University of Kansas. What are your thoughts?

This is interesting. We might have some interesting and beautiful auroras over the next few days as well as a few problems with communications. It might serve to remind us that we aren’t completely in charge of the universe. Space.com

Here is a GREAT critique of cable news from Slate.

Yet more evidence of global warming in this Associated Press story about CO2 levels in British soil.

It is such a typical story in America that hysteria and over-reaction to a few truly heinous crimes results in the crime described in this story. In civilized countries, sex-offender lists are left to law enforcement, not paraded around the public, inviting the sort of vigilantism we see in this Los Angeles Times article.

William F. Buckley, Jr., believe it or not, has a very profound and compelling column in National Review entitled Fighting Despair. I think it is something to ponder.

This is a very interesting comment from the British newspaper, The Independent with some quite elegant and eloquent commentary on the American spirit and the vapidity of American television news.

Is it possible the increase in destructive hurricanes during the last few years could be the result of the early stages of global warming? The Germans are asking that question in this article in Der Spiegel.

MSNBC reports that the Army Corps of Engineers is demoting the whistleblower who revealed the no-bid contract given to Halliburton to provide services in Iraq. Check out more evidence of Bush Administration dishonesty and corruption.

Rarely, if ever, do I agree with Pat Buchanan on anything, but this is a column that appeared in the right-wing scream-site Worldnet Daily, a site I read only to see what the theocratic jingos are thinking. I was surprised, however, to find that Buchanan makes some points that are worth considering in this column about the crisis of illegal immigration.

The Washington Blade reports that the Rev. Jerry Falwell has come out in support of basic civil rights for gay Americans during an episode of The Situation with Tucker Carlson on MSNBC and finds nothing wrong with the news that Judge John Roberts once argued a pro-gay rights case as a private attorney. The article includes part of the program transcript.

Der Spiegel laments the American style superficiality of the current German election campaign in The Americanization of German Politics. Personally, I don’t blame them for being worried!

A transcript of the August 21, 2005 CNN Presents: Dead Wrong, in which evidence is presented that the Bush Administration ignored intelligence questioning the premise of WMD as a justification for the war in Iraq.

Bill Press comments on August 25, 2005 about Pat Robertson’s not-so-Christian call for the murder of the President of Venezuela.