Words Like Locusts Flew From Her Fingers

The Star Wars Personality Test

Yes, it’s stupid. And yet, I am amused. My personality type:

Darth Vader You scored 62% airiness, 26% squishiness, and 68% edginess!

According to our patented JawamaticTM technology, you are most like Darth Vader in personality. Vader, being a merciless Dark Lord of the Sith, is a black-hearted autocrat. Beyond that, he’s an expert tactician, using his abstract reasoning skills to quickly assess a situation and anticipate his opponent’s next move. He would make an excellent chess player. Vader is, in a word, strategic. (The polar opposite of Darth Vader is Chewbacca.) The eight profiles are as follows: Han Solo Yoda Chewbacca Threepio Artoo Darth Vader Luke Skywalker Princess Leia

Where Have All the Flowers Gone?

Bush Appointee Said to Reject Advice on Endangered Species – washingtonpost.com
A senior Bush political appointee at the Interior Department has rejected staff scientists’ recommendations to protect imperiled animals and plants under the Endangered Species Act at least six times in the past three years, documents show.

This just makes me so angry and frustrated and sad that I hardly know what to write about it. It occurs to me that maybe that’s the secret root of the entire Bush administration policy: Do so many things that are unjust and horrible that people will be too overwhelmed by it all to say or do anything about it.

FUCK the endangered species.

FUCK the melting ice caps.

FUCK the vanishing wilderness.

FUCK planet earth.

And, most of all, FUCK YOU, Average Citizen. What really matters to the Bush administration is funneling money to their friends at Halliburton and Exxon.

Science? They don’t need science at the Bush Whitehouse. They’ve got plans… oh, yes. They’ve got big plans. Tear down the wilderness and sell it off to the highest bidder. That’s the Bush way of doing things.

Surfin’ USA

Okay, so you probably wouldn’t want to surf on Lake Superior in October. But my point is that you could. The image above is from this afternoon courtesy of the Allete LakeCam in Duluth, Minnesota. Click on the picture to go to the live cam. I hear they’ve got a gale warning out for the lake today so… it might be worth checking the cam throughout the day to see if anything interesting comes of it.

Something, perhaps, like this:

Separate Legal Marriage From Religious Marriage

Same-Sex Marriage – washingtonpost.com
On November 7, 2006, Virginians will vote on a proposed constitutional amendment. Supporters say the amendment is clear: marriage can only exist between a man and a woman. Opponents say the language goes beyond that and could lead to legal discrimination against all unmarried couples. As marriage has traditionally represented not only a civil union but a religious one, the dialogue about what is right contains both legal and moral implications.

One way of approaching this problem is to do what (I’m told) the French do: completely separate the legal contract from the religious rite. If a couple wants their union to be recognized by the government for legal purposes, they will need to appear before a government official, take the appropriate oaths, and sign the appropriate documents. People who desire a religious marriage can, of course, have one of their choosing — but a religious minister will not be able to declare that people are married in the legal sense. This sort of approach would go a long way, I think, towards eliminating some of the nonsense we’re currently seeing in Virginia.

There are clearly two aspects to marriage — a legal one and, for those who believe, a religious one. Religion and government really should be entirely separate anyway. Thus, religious figures should not be permitted to perform “legal” marriages.

Catholicism and Gay Marriage

Va. Catholics Pushed to Support Same-Sex Marriage Ban – washingtonpost.com
“When Catholics are presented with our church’s perspective on the nature of marriage, its relationship to the common good of society and the importance of the proposed amendment for children and families . . . they will be much more likely to support the amendment,” said Jeff Caruso, executive director of the Virginia Catholic Conference.

Uh, no, Jeff — they won’t.

Many Catholics are Catholic because they value the Church’s long history of social justice activism — and the right for gay people to marry is nothing if not a social justice issue. Gay marriage provides the same benefits to society as marriage between heterosexuals. It strengthens families and protects children.

Many Catholics — like me — love the Church and believe that, at its best, the Roman Catholic rites lead most reliably to an experience of the Divine. That doesn’t mean we think the Church’s leadership is always right about everything. They’re wrong about people who are gay, for example. It’s not sinful. Not evil. It’s just one end on a continuum of normal human sexual preference between heterosexuality and homosexuality. Big deal. My eyes are blue. Yours are brown. Should we forbid you from marrying because of that?

Joseph Strada, president of the Brent Society, a lay Catholic group of the Arlington Diocese, noted that only about one-third of U.S. Catholics go to Mass at least once a week. If they don’t go, they won’t be properly informed about gay marriages, civil unions and other issues, he said.

Gee Joe… do you really think those Catholics who are okay with gay marriage don’t know what the Church teaches? I’m sorry, but… that’s just dumb. Of course we know the Church is against it! We also know the Church has been wrong about things before. We’re not sheep, Joe. We’re capable of understanding when a Church ruling is based in fear and superstition. (Consider how long it took the Church to admit that maybe the Earth really isn’t the center of the universe!)

Yeah, Dana’s Again

These pictures from Dana’s are sort of especially neat because, different as they are, they’re only separated by 15 minutes. The first is with the sun approaching the horizon and, in the second, the sun is below the horizon.

March to a Different Drummer

How Would Jesus Vote On the Virginia Marriage Amendment?
After slavery was abolished, most people came to realize how bad it had been. As women were given equality with men, most people came to realize how bad it had been. As mentally ill were treated humanely, most people came to realize how bad it had been. But the heroes to me were those who saw the evil when it was in place and took a stand against it then. Those are the ones in favor in my eyes and I would imagine in God’s. I think there will be a time in the future when two adults in a loving committed relationship will be celebrated whether that be a traditional husband-wife or a same sex couple. Enlightened peoples, enlightened countries, and in America, enlightened states and religions, are today seeing the truth to this.

Amen, brother.

This morning I’ve been enjoying Bill Garnett’s blog: March to a Different Drummer. He’s a fine writer and I recommend you spend some time at his site.

Recipe: Squash and Not-Sausage Wontons/Tortellini

I made up this recipe myself and, darned if it isn’t really quite good! There are actually two ways to serve it — I’ve tried both and they’re both yummy. The first way is as a fried wonton. The second way is boiled as a tortellini sort of thing. I’ll describe both ways at the end of the recipe.

First, you’ve got to understand that I didn’t actually make any…um…notes while I was whipping up this dish. I just put in the amounts that seemed right. (If you cook a lot you can usually sense what would taste good.) So, the quantities given are only a guess.

Ingredients
1 cup roasted butternut squash *
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/3 tube “Gimme Lean” sausage flavor
1 medium sized shallot, finely minced
1 tablespoon green pepper, finely minced
1/2 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely minced
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
salt and pepper to taste

Fresh wonton wrappers (I used Nasoya brand)

* First, if you don’t know how to roast a butternut squash… Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (Fahrenheit). Use a big chef’s knife to split the squash in half. Scrape out and dispose of the seeds and stringy stuff. Lightly oil the cut side of each squash half. Bake, cut side down, on a foil-lined baking sheet for about 1 1/2 hour or until the squash is completely soft at its thickest point and edges are beginning to brown. Let the squash cool completely and then peel off and discard the exterior skin. (This can be a little messy.) Put the squash pulp in a big bowl and mash it by hand with a potato masher until it’s a fairly smooth puree. You will have more than you need for this recipe. The rest of it may very well be enough for a pie or some muffins or bread.

Okay, now you’re ready to make your wonton/tortellini filling!

Heat the olive oil in a non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Add the “Gimme Lean” and break it up into fairly small chunks while it browns. When the “Gimme Lean” is almost finished browning, add the shallots, the green pepper, and the jalapeno pepper. Stir in the poultry seasoning and the salt and pepper and cook, stirring frequently, until the vegetables just begin to get soft. Finally, add the squash and stir the whole works up to mix it well.

Remove the filling mixture from the heat and let it cool to room temperature.

Next comes the artistic part — creating the wontons (or tortellini)! I’ve been told it’s a good idea to keep the unused wonton wrappers under a sheet of plastic wrap so they won’t dry out while you’re building wontons. I just left them in their plastic package and there was no problem.

The way I did this whole thing was by keeping a small bowl of water near my work space and using my right index finger as the “water sealing” finger. Fill the wontons one at a time. Each wonton gets about one teaspoon of filling placed in the center of the wrapper. Dip your finger in the water and “paint” water all along the perimeter of the bottom half of the wrapper — basically, just “paint” a water line all around the filling. Fold the wonton down over the filling and seal it by pressing the edges together with your fingers. You don’t want any of the filling to squeeze out. If that happens, use less filling. After the first fold-and-seal operation, may people will do another fancier sort of fold and seal on the edges. It’s up to you. Experiment!

Once your wontons/tortellinis are all made you’ve got to decide how you’re going to eat them.

To serve as wontons:
Pour enough vegetable oil into a large frying pan to fill it up about half an inch. Heat the oil over medium-high heat. Only after the oil is completely heated, add the wontons one at a time using a slotted spoon. You’ll want to cook several at a time, but don’t crowd them. If they’re freshly made, it won’t take them long at all to cook. Truly, maybe a minute per side at most. Once a wonton has browned on one side, carefully flip it over to brown the other side. Remove the cooked wontons from the oil with a slotted spoon and let them drain on some layers of paper towel. Of course, they’re going to be very hot when they first come out of the oil! Let them cool a few minutes before eating. These are especially good served with a plum sauce.

To serve as tortellini:
Let the wontons/tortellinis sit out on a plate on your kitchen countertop for a few hours to dry. You will need to turn them over a few times to be sure they dry on both sides. Actually, it just occurred to me that if you have a cooling rack (like for pies), that would work really well for drying these. Drying them will help them keep their shape when you boil them. When you’re ready to eat, bring a big pot of water to a boil. Add the tortellini to the water — gently! You might want to use a slotted spoon for this operation. Reduce the heat on the stove so the water is only “gently” boiling. If the tortellini are fresh, it may not take more than about five minutes for them to cook. I removed them from the water using the same slotted spoon. I served them with just a little olive oil, some crushed garlic, and some grated parmesan cheese. I have to say it: They were really good!

I haven’t frozen these but I would imagine you could. You’d probably want to spread them out on a baking sheet and put them in the freezer that way so they don’t freeze all stuck together. Once they’re completely frozen, you could put them in a plastic bag or container of some kind. They’ll take longer to cook from a frozen state, of course.

Lisey’s Story

Art of Darkness – washingtonpost.com
Admit it: You’ve been a horrible snob about Stephen King. You’ve rolled your eyes at passengers on the Metro reading Pet Sematary. You’ve told your son to put down Salem’s Lot and get a real book. When King won a lifetime achievement award from the National Book Foundation, you gleefully quoted Harold Bloom’s crack about this new “low in the shocking process of dumbing down our cultural life.”

Yeah, well, Harold Bloom is an idiot.

Stephen King is a fine writer — a true genius at capturing the feel of everyday life. King understands what’s horrifying. Really horrifying. It’s not dark creepy castles in Transylvania. It’s a child-killing thing with the face of a circus clown living in the sewers of your own suburban neighborhood.

I’ve been reading Stephen King’s books since he first began publishing. Yikes… that’s a long time ago now! Now he’s got a new one out. Looks like I’ll be needing to visit the book store this weekend!

Many Virginians Wish to Impose Their Personal Religious Beliefs Upon All

As Campaign Days Dwindle, Marriage Issue Heats Up in Va. – washingtonpost.com
The hundreds of Sunday congregants came to their feet as the Rev. Mark Becton, of Grove Avenue Baptist Church outside Richmond, finished his sermon. “Believing that God ordained marriage as the institution between one woman and one man . . . I’m voting ‘yes’ for the marriage amendment,” he exhorted, referring to the state constitutional amendment that will be on the Nov. 7 ballot. “I’m voting ‘yes’ to restate what I know God intended and what I believe our founding fathers understood: Marriage is the union of one man and one woman.”

As Reverend Becton makes so very clear, the belief that marriage is something ordained by God is a religious belief. Now me — I don’t think that’s what God is all about. Reverend Becton is entitled to his personal religious beliefs though and, in fact, I fully support the idea that he shouldn’t be required by law to perform wedding ceremonies for gay couples. However, that doesn’t mean that our government — which is supposed to protect the rights of all people, regardless of their religious beliefs — shouldn’t recognize gay marriages.

We’ve gone through this quite a few times already, folks, so I’ll summarize for those of you who are new here:

• The American Psychological Association, the American Psychiatric Association, and the National Association of Social Workers have all concluded that homosexuality is not a chosen behavior. The best experts in the world have learned that sexual preference is established early in life and is, most likely, the result of genetic and environmental factors. (And by “environmental factors” they also mean the environment within the womb when a fetus is developing.)
• These three august professional organizations also agree that homosexuality is not an “illness” and that it is, rather, a “normal” (though relatively uncommon) variant of human sexuality.
• People fear what they don’t understand. They fear what is different. Just as ancient people once believed those suffering from convulsions were possessed by demons, so too they believed homosexuality was sinful. We’ve come a long way since then but some folks are taking a little longer to get up to speed.

Reverend Becton claims to know what God intended. Can you believe that? What an arrogant person. If God really was a big guy up in the sky, he’d reach down and smack Reverend Becton up side the head.

Keep religion out of government! Keep government out of religion! THAT is what the founding fathers wanted for our country.