My Whatever World in Maine

Congrats, Ellen

Ellen DeGeneres has decided to join the millions of America who have decided to tie the knot (around their neck, as Prof. Higgins would say) with longtime partner Portia de Rossi. I've heard it rumored they will be doing so in the set of Ellen's TV show now that gay marriage is legal again in California. Well, good for her. I'm not a big fan of Ellen's in general-afternoon talk shows bore me-but if she wants to get married and do so in a public forum, more power to her. It's her show, after all, and she should be allowed to marry a monkey there if she feels like it.

What is alternately amusing and pathetic is all the righteous indignation that has once again stirred up amongst some of those those who call themselves "conservative Christians" (and probably Muslims, too, although as Richard Land reminds us time and again, "we are a Christian nation." So, fuck the Muslim indignation). They are utterly convinced that the god of their bible (who, in his name, enables ethnic cleansing, commits infanticide, and throws his own son under the bus) gets all riled up over who we have sex with or marry. It's just insanity, especially when in general they base their antipathy on a couple of passages from the Holiness Codes in Leviticus and the letters of Paul-very conveniently ignoring the fact that the Holiness Codes also contain indications that, according to god, a field can't be harvested to the edge, tattoos are forbidden, and you can't weave two types of yarn into the same cloth. Bigamy, however, is ok. Christians also tactfully overlook the fact that Paul himself had some long and, shall we say, apparently quite intimate relationships with men a bit younger than himself. They probably weren't really very bright, but oh, they had great pecs and long eyelashes.

Hypocritical garbage. Bottom line? It's really all bullshit, more about mind control and the control of sexual behavior than religion. Besides, conservative Christians, isn't Ellen going to hell for this anyway? Shouldn't that be punishment enough for you all?   

From My Inbox

Oprah Winfrey Highlights Horrors of Puppy Mills
Tune in Tomorrow

Dear Lisa,

I invite you to watch an extraordinary hour of television tomorrow (Friday, April 4): "The Oprah Winfrey Show" is scheduled to air a special episode highlighting the cruel realities of puppy mills.

Millions of "Oprah" show viewers will be shocked when they learn of the underhanded tactics and deplorable practices used to mass produce purebred puppies and designer dogs, as seen in an investigative report by Lisa Ling. Animal lovers nationwide will also see what impact these “factories” have on pet overpopulation.

I’ll be a guest on the show, sharing the expertise of The HSUS and our campaigns to stop puppy mills and end pet overpopulation. 

Check here to find out when "The Oprah Winfrey Show" is on in your area.

You've previously signed our pledge to help stop puppy mills. Thank you so much. Now, please tell your friends to watch "The Oprah Winfrey Show" on Friday, April 4, and ask them to sign our pledge.

Thank you for all that you do for animals.

Sincerely,

Wayne Pacelle
President & CEO
The Humane Society of the United States

Chance of a Lifetime?

Got this in my email today....what do you think? is it legit???

From: <flossie@maine.rr.com>

Sent: Saturday, February 23, 2008 2:56 AM

To: none

Subject: PRESSING ISSUE

Good day,

I am Mr. Liu Yan a transfer supervisor operations in investment section in Bank of China Ltd,Hong Kong.I have a obscured business suggestion for you.

Before the U.S and Iraqi war our client General Mohammed Jassim Ali who was with the Iraqi forces and also business man made a numbered fixed deposit for 18 calendar months, with a value of Nineteen millions Five Hundred Thousand United State Dollars only in my branch.

Upon maturity several notice was sent to him, even during the war early this year. Again after the war another notification was sent and still no response came from him. We later find out that the general and his family had been killed during the war in bomb blast that hit their home.

After further investigation it was also discovered that General Mohammed Jassim Ali did not declare any next of kin in his official papers including the paper work of his bank deposit. And he also confided in me the last time he was at my office that no one except me knew of his deposit in my bank. So, Nineteen millions Five Hundred Thousand United State Dollars is still lying in my bank and no one will ever come forward to claim it. What bothers me most is that according to the to the laws of my country at the expiration 5 years the funds will revert to the ownership of the Hong Kong Government if nobody applies to claim the funds.

Against this backdrop, my suggestion to you is that I will like you as a foreigner to stand as the next of kin to General Mohammed Jassim Ali so that you will be able to receive his funds.

Please endeavor to observe utmost discretion in all matters concerning this issue. Once the funds have been transferred to your nominated bank account we shall share in the ratio of 60% for me, 40% for you.

Kind Regards
Mr.Liu Yan

When you hit "reply," it isn't to a maine.rr.com address but to a yahoo.com.hk (Hong Kong?)

When I first got one of these emails several years ago, the decedent a was Nigerian national who had been killed with his family in a plane crash, but it has been updated (apparently so that we won't feel guilty ripping off the rightful heirs of a general in Saddam's army). I've been getting one variation or another of this for about six or seven years. I think of myself as a pretty compassionate person and I have a lot of sympathy towards those who are taken by con men but I really gotta wonder...who falls for this stuff? Who in their right mind thinks that they're going to come onto possession of eight million dollars just by answering an email that swears you to secrecy but is addressed to "none"? I remember looking at the very first one I got about this and thinking if you fall for this crap, you deserve to get ripped off.

It's sad, but as The New Yorker described a couple of years ago (and this is a fascinating article), these things still flourish and claim victims. Why? Essentially because no one is honest anymore. "Every swindle is driven by a desire for easy money; it’s the one thing the swindler and the swindled have in common."

C'mon, people. Smarten up. This is what your spam folder was designed for.

Our Dying Oceans

Found on MSNBC (you can read the whole sad story here), this global map shows cumulative human impact across 20 ocean ecosystem types. The map is color-coded to show very high impact (red), high impact (dark orange), medium high impact (light orange), medium impact (yellow), low impact (green) and very low impact (blue). Forty-one percent of the area has experienced medium high to very high impact, scientists say.

The map was shown at the annual meeting of American Association for the Advancement of Science.

From the Mouths of Chicks

The Best Line Ever in A Blog Award is bestowed upon fellow Red Sox lover and Brokeback Mountain fan, The Red Sox Chick:

"If there is any justice in the world, Fred Phelps will protest John Gibson's funeral someday. - and then get hit by a bus."

Way to capture a moment. I could not have said it better myself, Cyn. Rock on.

RIP, Madam Prime Minister

Benazir Bhutto died in Pakistan today, and that makes me very, very sad. Say what you will about her tenures in office and ability to use her governance effectively, she was nonetheless an enormously influential, powerful female figure in a male dominated-nay, overtly chauvinistic-society. When I was younger I had her on quite a pedestal-she was a Muslim Deborah in my eyes (another one of my feminist icons), and certainly a woman possessed of intelligence, conviction, and leadership. She also knew, when she left the good life in London, that it was likely she would die for the cause of freedom and democracy in her country. Bhutto was important in my life because to me she represented a feminist triumph over oppression. I remember thinking, when she first came to power-this is Islamist Pakistan where this is occurring! How can it be that the Pakistanis can elect a woman to the highest office in the land and it's still such a far off notion here, in the land of the so-called free? Still is, really, when you consider Robert Novak chuckling with glee on "Meet the Press" over the leading Democratic presidential candidates being "a woman and a black man." I watched the coverage yesterday and was awed by the outpouring of grief at her death, by the young men who just wanted to touch her casket. This was some woman.

Bhutto was shot by a "Muslim extremist" who then blew himself up, killing many of her supporters as well. This kind of begs the question: is it only in this country that being a "secular progressive" is such a lethal sin? Would O'Reilly and his ilk be willing to go RIGHT NOW to Pakistan or Afghanistan and tell the seculars there that they are unpatriotic, that they're dishonoring the foundation upon which their country was founded, or that they are working to actively persecute the real people of God in their midst?

RIP, Benazir. May you find the peace in the next world that eluded you in this one.

Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grade Civics Teacher?

Soooo...how much attention were you paying these past twelve months? Do you know what's going on in the world? You can check here and find out, in a news quiz MSNBC says is "tougher than usual." Eh. I got 80% right, but of course I'm a news junkie. Here's one of the questions I got wrong, and I still can't believe the actual answer:

48. An instance of dangerous product from China made headlines when a toy called Aqua Dots was recalled after it was found to cause a serious injury to children. What was the problem?
		The beads in the toy contain a chemical that turns into a powerful “date rape” drug when eaten, can induce unconsciousness, seizures, drowsiness, comas or even death
		The tiny beads, which can be fused with water to make colorful designs, expand when placed in the mouth, causing potential blockages in children’s throats
		The beads constantly change color and flash, inducing epileptic attacks in children prone to seizures
		The beads dissolve into a mushy substance that can cause children to slip and fall

What's even scarier is I got this one right:

26. Scientists have backed up the concept of “gaydar” – the ability to detect a man’s sexual orientation by identifying a particular aspect of his behavior. What did the researchers point to in their study as likely to identify a man as being homosexual?
		The way he sits
		The way he talks
		The way he walks
		The way he holds his hands and arms

Good luck!

Speaking in Maine

I must admit, before the advent of streaming video and audio, I was pitifully ignorant and uninformed. Oh, I read the paper and Newsweek, and often had on CNN or some other 24 hour news, so I thought at the time I was up on current events. However, the ability to go online and search through a program like, say, Frontline , and catch interesting shows and stories I would otherwise have not heard about or not had time to watch has opened my eyes to how much I was missing. For example, I have always been a semi-regular NPR listener, but have just recently gotten hooked on an hour long midday show MPR runs a couple times a week during it's Public Affairs segment called "Speaking in Maine," in which "speakers of diverse perceptions are recorded speaking across Maine." I love it, I haven't been able to get enough of it. A lot of onteresting, diversified topics, all presented here in our won beautiful state-Tom Allen on Iraq, a conversation about the prevalence of diabetes in the state, Bob Woodward in Orono talking about "State of Denial." etc.  A link to one I was just listening to is here,  an international relations professor speaking in Camden on the question, "Is the U.S. in a Long War Against Islam?” It's an hour long, so don't turn it on now unless you've got some time, but I'd really recommend the show. I've certainly enjoyed it!