Words Like Locusts Flew From Her Fingers

Another View of the Marquette “Adopt A Sniper” Controversy

McCarthyism at Marquette : “…Marquette University is not committed to serving God or the Catholic Church. It is committed to advancing the policies of the Democratic Party. Clearly, the true purpose of your university has not been revealed to potential students at Marquette. Instead, they have been fraudulently induced into paying $22,950 per year in tuition under the false promise of, among other things, academic freedom. Accordingly, I hereby demand a tuition refund in the amount of $23 million. This refund should be distributed to the 1000 members of the College Republicans at Marquette immediately. Since you are the 124,873rd person to receive this letter from me, it is likely that others will be calling upon you (at 414.288.1412) to do the same. If, for some reason, you refuse to refund the full amount in 30 days, I will ask the CRs to stop engaging in right wing or, as you say, “provocative” tactics, such as the organization of an Adopt a Sniper benefit. Instead, I will urge them to engage in more liberal tactics. Specifically, I will urge the 1000 members to overtake your office with a sit-in, just like the radical leftists did on campuses in the 1960s.”

(The links above will take you to a “non-framed” version of an article that appeared in the “framed” version of the Students For Academic Freedom web site.)

This excerpt is taken from a piece written by Mike Adams, a criminology professor at the University of North Carolina. He’s also a regular columnist for Townhall.com. You all remember Townhall.com, don’t you? Right-wing nut-jobs? Yeah, that’s them. Anyway, you can also read the article on Mike’s own web site, DrAdams.org.

First, let me get the requisite personal insults out of the way:

How on earth can a person have spent as much time in academia as this guy has and still be so goddamned stupid?!? This guy’s a fucking kook.

And what’s with him referring to himself as “Dr. Adams”?? Doesn’t that just scream ‘I am deeply insecure about how people perceive me! I really really REALLY need people to take me seriously!’

And he has one section where he responds to people’s “hate mail” (much of which isn’t particularly hateful), gleefully reproducing all of the writers’ typos and misspellings. Only, instead of putting “sic” in brackets like you’re supposed to, he puts it in parentheses. All things considered, that really is pretty gosh-darned amusing! Heh, heh…heh…ah…

And that picture on his web site… Jeesh! What a pencil-neck! And with the American flag and all…LOL!

Okay, the crack about his pencil-neck was a cheap shot. Sorry. And, I suppose it’s cruel of me to point out his obvious insecurities. Kindness and respect, right? I know, I know… But it’s so hard sometimes. And, anyway, God told me it’s okay to make fun of “Dr. Adams” because (and this is a direct quote) “He’s an idiot and I don’t like him very much.”

If you wander on over to the DrAdams.org site, you’ll see that Mike has strong opinions on pretty much everything BUT criminology–the one subject he’s actually qualified in. Now, maybe I’m just being unnecessarily intelligent, but doesn’t it make sense that you wouldn’t play up qualifications that have nothing to do with what you’re saying? It’s like if I were to crow about having a degree in Mathematics while I’m explaining to people (on my “American Housewife” site) how to properly make a bed. It’s just sort of sad.

Anyway, this is how Mike wraps up his letter to Marquette University’s Dean: “Finally, Dean McCarthy, I apologize if the title of my letter suggests a comparison between you and Senator Joe McCarthy. Such a comparison is unfair. Senator McCarthy’s patriotism and love of country were beyond question.”

Doh!

Okay, do I even need to point out that McCarthy’s patriotism and love of country are irrelevant? The issue is that Joe McCarthy’s actions were misguided. Deeply misguided. Perhaps coincidentally, this is the very same argument that can be made against that whole stupid “Adopt a Sniper” program with its “One Shot, One Kill, No Remorse, I Decide” motto. The College Republicans at Marquette may very well love their country and consider themselves patriotic. That doesn’t change the fact that their actions–promoting remorseless killing–were inappropriate.

Obviously, you don’t have to be a professor of criminology to figure this out.

And Speaking of Plush Cthulhu…

Tales of the Plush Cthulhu

The horror…
The horror…

Super big winner seeks girl winner

DC Craig’s List: “I am a winner. I win. I set goals and I reach them as all winners do. When I walk into a room, people murmur to themselves, ‘there goes a real winner.’ Guys strive to be like me. Women get weak-kneed. I have what everyone wants: success, looks, winning-ness.”

This guy’s hugely winning self is such a turn on to me that, if I weren’t already married, I’d be stalking him. Um…unless that would make me look like a loser. That would be bad.

(Really. Read this “rants & raves” entry on the DC “craig’s list” site. It’s most excellent. It’s so…winning!)

The Platypus

In these difficult times, many people are looking for divine guidance and answers to difficult questions. Not surprisingly, readers have already begun submitting questions for God. Here’s one of them.

Anonymous asks: What about those platypuses?

GOD: I’m very glad you asked about this. (And I know who you are, being omniscient and all, so be assured that a small gold star is being afixed right next to your name on the Big List.)

First of all–and I want to stress this–contrary to what you may have heard, the platypus was not a mistake or a joke.

The strange form of the platypus came about through the process of evolution. Yes, you read that correctly. Evolution. The platypus evolved into its unusual form because of the unique environment in which it has lived over the ages. Pretty cool, huh?

What, you thought God and evolution were mutually exclusive? You’ve been listening to those kooks on television too much. Turn that thing off, for Pete’s sake! Especially that…what’s that fool’s name?…James Kennedy. That guy irritates the hell out of me. [Laughs] Well..figuratively speaking! He’s such an egotist! He thinks humans are the center of everything! Ha! Not!

Listen. Evolution is Me at my finest. Evolution is one of the most important ways in which My creative Self is manifested. I don’t want to go getting all metaphysical on you but… Evolution is IT, kiddo. It’s what I do. Well…when I’m not creating new elements and strange dimensions and stuff.

So, the next time you think about the platypus, think of evolution. And then think of the beautiful Divine Power of Creation.

That’d be Me.

Exclusive Interview with The Almighty!

With all of the controversy over gay marriage, God agreed to a rare interview to discuss the issue. He spoke with Rebecca Hartong by phone from His vacation home in northern Minnesota.

REBECCA HARTONG: Good morning, God!

GOD: Good morning, Rebecca. First of all, before we get started with the other, I want to address this whole thing of people referring to me as Him or He. I don’t have a gender. I’m an entity, okay? I’m not male. I’m not female. I just am. It’s okay for you to refer to me as Him as a matter convenience. Just realize–I’m not a guy and I don’t have any preference for males over females. Okay. Let’s continue.

RH: Thanks for clearing that up. Okay… A lot of people who oppose equal rights for homosexuals base their opinion on religious beliefs. What’s your reaction to that?

GOD: It really pisses me off when people try to use ME as a reason for why homosexuals shouldn’t enjoy the same legal rights afforded to heterosexuals. Like I really give a rat’s ass how humans do the whole gender thing! I’m creating new universes, people. I don’t care about homosexuality. I don’t care about transgendered whatcha-ma-call-it stuff. I DON’T CARE ABOUT THIS SHIT!!! I care about people treating one another with kindness and love. That’s it. There’s no big mystery, Rebecca. I’m a GOD of love. End of story.

RH: Well, what about that whole “be fruitful and multiply” thing? Doesn’t that sort of imply that people should only be engaging in heterosexual–reproductive–sex?

GOD: Why do people insist on quoting me out of context?? No. That’s not what “be fruitful and multiply” means. First of all, you need to understand that I said that back when the world was still relatively new. I like humans–for the most part–so I wanted to see your species be successful. That’s why I encouraged you all to start reproducing. I never meant to imply that it was somehow wrong if some of you weren’t into the whole reproduction thing. No, no, no. And–since you bring it up–YOU ALL CAN STOP BEING FRUITFUL NOW. There are enough of you already. And too many of you are really stupid. You’re messing up the planet and killing off a bunch of my other creations–which, incidentally, makes me very angry. Cut it out. Or else. And if you think I’m joking, just try me. You think I won’t let you wipe yourselves out? I’ve got no problem with that. I can easily start over somewhere else. So cut it out right now.

RH: Okay. How about all those rules against homosexuality in Leviticus and some of the other Old Testament books?

GOD: [Laughing] Oh man! Those guys who wrote Leviticus! What a bunch of tight-asses!! No, no… I didn’t write that stuff. Understand, some of the rules those guys came up with do make sense. It’s a good idea to bathe regularly. It’s a good idea to make sure your food is clean. Most of that stuff, though….hoooo-eee! [Laughing again] Those guys took themselves WAY too seriously!

RH: In regards to homosexuality, do you have any message for the world’s religious leaders?

GOD: Thank you, Rebecca. Yes, I do. Here’s my message: I love all people equally. I don’t care if men are having sex with other men or women are having sex with other women. What I do care about is that everyone should treat each other with love and respect. Most of you have only recently figured out that it’s wrong to discriminate against people whose skin is a different color from yours. Listen! It’s just as wrong to discriminate against people whose sexuality is different from yours. I’m telling you right now. It’s not a choice. But even if it WERE a choice, it would STILL be wrong for you to discriminate against them. Quit being such jerks! Don’t make me smite you.

RH: Thank you, God.

GOD: And thank you, Rebecca. I hope we have a chance to chat again. I have some messages I’d like to pass along to humanity on topics like environmentalism, politics, and factory farming.

RH: I’d be delighted to interview you again on the topic of your choosing! Just let me know when you’re free.

GOD: I’m always free–being essentially outside the contraints of time and space–so… Get a good night’s sleep and we’ll talk again in a day or two. Bye-bye!

————————————————

Rebecca Hartong lives in Fairfax, Virginia with her husband, four cats, and one elderly dachshund. She’s a a musician and an internet maven. She regularly speaks with God. Readers are invited to submit their questions to God for possible inclusion in future interviews. Submit your question by clicking here.

The Fruits of a Twisted Imagination

Salon.com Books | Master of disgust

“‘Shrieking, slithering, torrential shadows of red viscous madness chasing one another through endless, ensanguined corridors of purple fulgurous sky … formless phantasms and kaleidoscopic mutations of a ghoulish, remembered scenes; forests of monstrous overnourished oaks with serpent roots twisting and sucking unnamable juices from an earth verminous with millions of cannibal devils; mound-like tentacles groping from underground nuclei of polypous perversion … insane lightning over malignant ivied walls and daemon arcades choked with fungous vegetation …’”
–H.P. Lovecraft
“The Lurking Fear”

Salon.com writer Laura Miller has written an interesting piece on H.P. Lovecraft. Do be sure to check it out. (As usual, you’ll need to view an ad first if you’re not a salon premium member.)

I read pretty much everything Lovecraft ever wrote back when I was in my late teens and early 20s. I think that’s the best time in a person’s life for Lovecraft. Lovecraft is all about existential angst and intense feelings of alienation.

I still have some of the paperbacks I bought back then. Some of them–published by Ballantine Fantasy–have really great cover art by John Holmes. One, for example, has a picture of a greenish looking guy with shards of glass poking out of his head and the bottom half of his face apparently being dissolved by acid. On another one, a guy has big worms crawling in and out of holes in his head and the bottom part of his face appears to be cut into puzzle pieces. They’re really quite awful–and quite wonderful!

Anyway–youth and angst. Been there.

Miller goes on to write: “In the Freud-crazed ’50s and ’60s it became fashionable to denounce Lovecraft’s fiction as “neurotic,” to which the only conceivable reply is: Duh. How could anyone think of presenting such an observation as an insight when neurosis lies palpitating on the surface of the work? These tales are veritable carnivals of anxiety, repression and rage; that’s the source of their appeal.”

As a proud alumnus of Miskatonic University, I can only concur.

Incidentally, this salon article mentions a few web sites that need your attention. One features a plush Cthulhu that I really think I need.

Keep Riley With His Family

Riley is the foster son of a Melissa and Mandy. This letter is re-printed with their permission.

I thought it was important to update everyone about where things are at for our little Riley.
 
Since the last update, things got pretty stressful for everyone here. So we are just finding time to update everyone. To briefly recap the situation; our son Riley has been with our family since his birth. His biological mother and father asked us to adopt him when he was 12 months old. We, of course, agreed without hesitation. He was/is an important part of our family and we always had the sense that he was meant to be a permanent part of it. Riley is a very intelligent, aware little boy (now age 19 months). We hired a lawyer and the biological parents signed to terminated their parental rights so that Mandy and I could adopt him. It was a fairly straight forward adoption, given that we had two biological parents in agreement and he had been with us his entire life. However, upon learning that lesbians would be adopting Riley, the biological mother’s very religious, soon to be ex husband went into court and asked the court for custody of Riley based on a law that states that children born into a marriage are considered marital children and despite biology the marital father has a right to stop the biological father from acting as a father IF it is in the best interest of the child (generally this law is applied when the marital father has been raising the child and has acted as a father in every way). However, this man was in no way biologically related to Riley, had never lived with him, had no relationship with him and had not been together with his biological mother for four years (but refused to give her a divorce during that time because he is a very religious man and wanted her to “come home and be his wife”).

Generally GAL’s are deeply trusted by the court to do what is in a child’s best interest. Judges tend to rely on a GAL to lead them to the best decision for a child. In our case, however, Riley’s GAL did not even bother to meet him, do home visits in either of our homes or do any investigating of the man asking for custody of Riley. In fact, she stated that none of that mattered because she believed Riley should simply go with the man who was his “legal father”. In many ways she fought even harder than the bio moms soon to be ex husband. She ignored the fact that this man had a long history of drug and alcohol abuse, domestic violence, a well documented problem with violence, which included being given a dishonorable discharge from the Marines for anger management issues, basically no job or income, lived in a tiny trailer, way out in the country, with no phone and attends an extremist church that teaches the importance of disciplining children through frequent spankings to keep them in line. His rap sheet alone (which included several violent acts) should have eliminated him as an option for raising a little boy that was unrelated to him. But in the GAL’s mind, he was better than two loving mothers, who had been raising him since birth and were recognized by his biological parents as the best parental option, simply because we were lesbians.
 
As most of you remember, on August 25th, the court ruled that this man could act as Riley’s father. Since then, we have been forced to send Riley with this man for overnight visits, which ultimately ended up amounting to Tuesday afternoon through Monday mornings every week.
 
Since I last updated you, the bio mom has filed an appeal with the clear goal of eliminating this man from the legal picture and having her son returned fully to his adoptive family. The county filed a motion to remove him entirely from our care pending the conclusion of the appeal. We fought that motion and won. So where things stand today is that on January 25th (exactly five months after the decision was made to allow this man to act as a father to Riley, despite biology), the court ruled that pending the conclusion of the appeal, Riley can be with us Monday mornings through Tuesday afternoons.
 
Boring legal details for those interested:
For those of you that want to know, the way that things work at the appellate level in Wisconsin, is that they assign the case to either one judge or three (our case was assigned a three judge panel) and the judge(s) take the typed transcripts from the original decision and determine whether or not the law was followed in the lower court. We don’t go before the judges and make legal arguments. They rely on just the facts already presented at previous hearings and the law.
 
As to legality of our case, the “no best interest hearing after paternity testing” standard was challenged last year by a marital father (Randy AJ) that had been raising his little girl since birth, having no idea that he might not be her father, when her biological father began fighting him in court (she was 15 months old at the time). He had paternity tests performed, because it was possible that he was his little girls father (unlike our son) and it turned out that he wasn’t. Despite his reasoning for having the tests performed, it was concluded by both the WI Appellate Court and the WI Supreme Court, that a best interest hearing could not be held after paternity testing had been performed. It is this law that our appeal is based on. In our case, the lower court judge allowed this man to argue what was in Riley’s best interest, despite the law. As a side note, in the Randy AJ case, while they did rule CLEARLY that a best interest hearing cannot be held after paternity testing is done, they did rule that that little girl could stay with her marital father, based on the fact that the mother had deceived him and he therefore, had reasoned that he was her father and acted accordingly (equitable estoppel existed). In our case, no such deception occurred and the transcripts of their divorce proceedings clearly demonstrate that.
 
The important thing to note today is that we expect to win on appeal. It is highly unlikely that the appellate court will uphold the decision that the lower court made, given the blatant disregard for the law.
 
When the appellate court judges make a decision, they have four options; they can affirm the lower court’s decision (meaning they agree with it, and do not intend to change it), reverse the decision (which means they state exactly what laws were ignored and make a ruling that orders what should be done instead), remand the lower court’s decision (meaning to send it back to the lower court with instructions about wh
at laws were ignored/broken and instruct the lower court to follow the law this time, as they make their new decision) or any combination of the three above options. For obvious reasons, we are hoping that the appellate court will fully reverse the decision, leaving no room for the lower court to again ignore the law.
 
Here’s where things are at with the appeal. The appeal was filed in October. It was filed by the bio mom’s lawyer, as the decision was made in the divorce proceeding (another argument in our appeal is that the decision and standard should have been made in the Termination of Parental Rights case, according to the law). The bio mom’s lawyer filed her memo brief (letting the appellate court know what the legal standing was in the appeal) in December. The court of appeals accepted the case and the bio mom’s lawyer filed her first full legal brief at the end of January. The opposing lawyer and the guardian ad litem have their response briefs due March 2nd. Following their response briefs being filed the bio mom’s lawyer has 14 days to file a final response brief. Then all transcripts of prior court proceedings and the filed briefs are given to the three judges and they comb through all the documentation and make their decision based on the law.
 
Back to the more interesting details:
Essentially, we expect the appellate court to make it’s ruling sometime by the middle/end of summer. And if all goes well, we will be able to go pick our son up and bring him home for good. That is the good news.
 
The difficult news rests in the meantime. Riley is having a very difficult time. He resists going with this man, every week. He cries and kicks and screams and even verbalizes “no dada, MAMA, no dada, MAMA!” (Riley learned by way of instruction to call this man dada). He gets distressed when we get him ready to go anywhere, for fear that he is getting ready to go back with this man. His central nervous system was initially compromised by cocaine exposure in utero and this separation trauma has created major obstacles in his ability to cope with basic day to day life situations. We have worked hard to help him develop coping skills. It is simply terribly unfair to him that he has to suffer for the prejudice of adults that are supposed to be protecting and serving him. But for now, he has no choice.
 
Our family is also struggling to cope with this situation. For months we have been worried that Riley would be removed from our care pending the conclusion of the appeal and have to live with the trauma attached to having us disappear and then reappear months later. We are eternally grateful that this did not happen. There are no words to describe how elated we are that we have the time that we do have with our son, while we wait for the appellate court to decide who his permanent family will be. But even with our gratitude comes the reality that five days apart from Riley each week is painful beyond words. Watching him do everything he can to get us to understand that he doesn’t want to leave his family each week, is devastating. Our hearts break every time he flinches as we reach for him, when he is doing a typical toddler action that needs redirecting, because he assumes we are going to hit him. It is unimaginable what it has been like to watch his suffering and be able to do nothing about it. Further, our legal bills are currently at just under $43,000.00. This has created an unbelievable amount of stress. We pay more than twice what we pay for our home each month, toward Riley’s legal bills. We expect that he will be about seven when they are completely paid off. We are BTW, eternally grateful to those of you that have contributed with loans and gifts. Your contributions have paved the way for us to continue the fight to bring our son home. It is impossible to put a price tag on a child’s life. Every dollar spent could be multiplied by a million and it still would not reflect his worth. A mother’s love cannot be measured in dollars and cents. And how much more is that true for the love of two mothers for their son.
 
Day to day, we get through by encouraging one another with our hope that Riley will be home for good, soon. The light at the end of the tunnel is shining and we are beginning to see it. There are no words to describe how much we appreciate the work the attorneys have done to keep Riley with his family. They are worth every penny they have billed us and a million dollars more. Our gratitude to everyone that has expressed their support through prayers, letters, financial contributions and phone calls is immeasurable.
 
Please continue to hold Riley in your thoughts and prayers. Above all, we want him to know that he is wanted, cherished and loved. His security is our first priority. We believe that he is coming home. We intend to do everything we can in the meantime to help him know that we love him and want him home with us, permanently. Words cannot express how grateful we are that Riley has come into our life and touched it so deeply. He is a magical child. He is a cherished member of our family. Please hold him close to your hearts as he struggles to get through these next several months. And please pray and believe with us for his safe and swift return to his family. And thank you again for holding us up as we walk along this difficult path. We have learned the true meaning of family and friends. You are appreciated.
 
Love,
Melissa & Mandy

Donations can be by check or credit card to:

The Law Center for Children and Families
Atten: Carol Gapen
434 S. Yellowstone Drive
Madison, WI 53719

608/821-8200

(Make a notation: “Keep Riley with His Family”) 

Or to Melissa & Mandy

Deja Vu All Over Again

Microsoft Issues 8 ‘Critical’ Software Patches (washingtonpost.com): “Microsoft Corp. today released a dozen software patches to cover 16 security flaws — half of which it deemed ‘critical’ — in all versions of the Windows operating system and a broad range of popular Microsoft applications such as its Internet chat and media player products.”

Didn’t they just patch all of their “critical” problems a few months ago with Service Pack II?

If you’re sick of the Microsoft bullshit, you know what you need to do.

One word: Mac.

What’s In Your Wallet?

Become a card-carrying member of the American Civil Liberties Union like me!

The ACLU has been doing tons of good stuff since 1920. Zow! They need your support to continue their good work to:

• Preserve religious liberty
• Restore liberties that have eroded as the result of the USA PATRIOT Act and other government actions in the “war on terror”
• Protect freedom of speech, including the free flow of information and the right to dissent
• Prevent government tracking of private communications, activities and affiliations, and
• Safeguard reproductive rights

On that last one about reproductive rights…well, the ACLU and I don’t exactly see eye-to-eye on it. I think the best way of safeguarding reproductive rights is to make safe and effective contraception available FREE for anyone who wants it. The ACLU is more interested in keeping abortion legal. I won’t bore you with a re-hash of my views on abortion, but… well, you know.

Another issue the ACLU is involved in is ensuring legal marriage as an option for all gay/lesbian/transgendered couples and that’s certainly something I can get behind them on.

All things considered, they’re doing really important work.

Help ‘em out. Join the ACLU and get one of these nifty cards for your own wallet!

God Bless the Jesuits

Marquette Tribune:: Online Edition:: ‘Adopt a Sniper’ display taken down: “‘In the context of the university’s Jesuit, Catholic mission, we could not allow fundraising in the student union for a group whose rhetoric regarding snipers could be widely misinterpreted as having a cavalier attitude toward the taking of a human life,’ [director of university communication, Brigid] O’Brien said.”

Marquette University students who donated at least $5 to the “Adopt a Sniper” program would receive a dog tag with the US Marines slogan:

“One Shot, One Kill, No Remorse, I Decide”

Charming, no?

The “Adopt a Sniper” program supplies special body armor and equipment to American snipers in Iraq, according to Brandon Henak, chairman of the College Republicans. College Republicans is the group that had sponsored the display at Marquette.

Even considering that the US is spending about a gazillion dollars a day on this war, it still wouldn’t surprise me a bit to learn that snipers really are inadequately protected. Look at those guys who got in trouble for refusing to drive an un-armored truck into a dangerous area in Iraq. If I recall correctly, they got off fairly easy because it was proven that they were, in fact, being exposed to more risk than was necessary. Still… This is kind of like cops having to pay for their own kevlar vests. It just shouldn’t be necessary, you know? How about the government cuts back on something else and uses that extra money to pay for decent equipment for soldiers and cops? I’m sure if I did a little investigating I could come up with all kinds of ideas about what could be cut.

At any rate, young Brandon is apparently a bit of a dim bulb. As “cool” as a dog tag with a motto that glorifies remorseless killing might be, did he really think it would go over well at a Catholic university?

This part is especially amusing. The Marquette article goes on to say:

“Henak said the decision was a tactic to stifle the voice of the College Republicans. “It’s obvious that they have liberal leanings — that’s a Jesuit trait,” Henak said. “They don’t believe in what the snipers are doing and so they don’t support our program.”"

[snicker!] Gee Brandon…‘ya think???

What a dope. The Republican Party must be so proud!

On an only marginally related note: My husband, a Lutheran, is a great admirer of the Jesuits. He’s often said that if I die before him, he’s going to sell all his belongings and join the Society of Jesus. I keep explaining to him that you have to be a Catholic first before you can join a Catholic religious order. Details, details…