"The Extraterrestrial Is My Brother"

This from Yahoo news today...and I have a lot of questions for this Rev. Funes. For example, why is the extraterrestrial necessarily male? Is the little green gal his sister? What if she happens to be a big ol' dyke who wants to be a cardinal? What if Brother ET is already among us in the form of, say, a parasitic worm? Does brotherhood really extend that far? Uhhhh....

Vatican: It's OK to believe in aliens

By ARIEL DAVID, Associated Press WriterTue May 13, 4:07 PM ET

Believing that the universe may contain alien life does not contradict a faith in God,the Vatican's chief astronomer said in an interview published Tuesday.

The Rev. Jose Gabriel Funes, the Jesuit director of the Vatican Observatory, was quoted as saying the vastness of the universe means it is possible there could be other forms of life outside Earth, even intelligent ones.

"How can we rule out that life may have developed elsewhere?" Funes said. "Just as we consider earthly creatures as 'a brother,' and 'sister,' why should we not talk about an 'extraterrestrial brother'? It would still be part of creation."

In the interview by the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, Funes said that such a notion "doesn't contradict our faith" because aliens would still be God's creatures. Ruling out the existence of aliens would be like "putting limits" on God's creative freedom, he said.

The interview, headlined "The extraterrestrial is my brother," covered a variety of topics including the relationship between the Roman Catholic Church and science, and the theological implications of the existence of alien life.

Funes said science, especially astronomy, does not contradict religion, touching on a theme of Pope Benedict XVI, who has made exploring the relationship between faith and reason a key aspect of his papacy.

The Bible "is not a science book," Funes said, adding that he believes the Big Bang theory is the most "reasonable" explanation for the creation of the universe. The theory says the universe began billions of years ago in the explosion of a single, super-dense point that contained all matter.

But he said he continues to believe that "God is the creator of the universe and that we are not the result of chance."

Funes urged the church and the scientific community to leave behind divisions caused by Galileo's persecution 400 years ago, saying the incident has "caused wounds."

In 1633 the astronomer was tried as a heretic and forced to recant his theory that the Earth revolved around the sun. Church teaching at the time placed Earth at the center of the universe.

"The church has somehow recognized its mistakes," he said. "Maybe it could have done it better, but now it's time to heal those wounds and this can be done through calm dialogue and collaboration."

Pope John Paul declared in 1992 that the ruling against Galileo was an error resulting from "tragic mutual incomprehension."

The Vatican Observatory has been at the forefront of efforts to bridge the gap between religion and science. Its scientist-clerics have generated top-notch research and its meteorite collection is considered one of the world's best.

The observatory, founded by Pope Leo XIII in 1891, is based in Castel Gandolfo, a lakeside town in the hills outside Rome where the pope has a summer residence. It also conducts research at an observatory at the University of Arizona, in Tucson.

But really. It's great that the Vatican is echoing Jodie Foster's line from Contact that if we're the only ones in the universe, it's an awful waste of space.

Right up there with the Chevy No-va....

This from my friend Logan, who posted it on Facebook:

Shop pulls "Lolita" bed for young girls
Fri Feb 1, 2008 2:01pm EST

LONDON (Reuters) - A chain of retail stores in Britain has withdrawn the sale of beds named Lolita and designed for six-year-old girls after furious parents pointed out that the name was synonymous with sexually active pre-teens.

Woolworths said staff who administer the web site selling the beds were not aware of the connection.

In "Lolita," a 1955 novel by Vladimir Nabokov, the narrator becomes sexually involved with his 12-year-old stepdaughter -- but Woolworths staff had not heard of the classic novel or two subsequent films based on it.

Hence they saw nothing wrong with advertising the Lolita Midsleeper Combi, a whitewashed wooden bed with pull-out desk and cupboard intended for girls aged about six until a concerned mother raised the alarm on a parenting website.

"What seems to have happened is the staff who run the website had never heard of Lolita, and to be honest no one else here had either," a spokesman told British newspapers.

"We had to look it up on (online encyclopedia) Wikipedia. But we certainly know who she is now."

Woolworths said the product had now been dropped.

"Now this has been brought to our attention, the product has been removed from sale with immediate effect," the chain said.

"We will be talking to the supplier with regard to how the branding came about."

(Reporting by Peter Apps, editing by Paul Casciato)

Freakin' Out the Kitty Cat

J & I just decided we needed a good laugh, so watched the Kitty Cat Dance for what must have been the hundredth time--and in the spirit of killing time, we clicked on a few more links, ranging from the hilarious to the truly bizarro. Maddie didn't enjoy these nearly as much as we did, though.

Listen to Tiresias (at the end)...



Gizmo Flushes...



Homage to Gizmo...



and--Creepy. Too Creepy, Man, Too Creepy.



I know some of you out there are waiting for me to write more about Ireland--somehow, I haven't had the energy for much of that (though plenty of energy for other things). But never fear--one of these days....

Might as Well Wear Hanes...

...in Atlanta, because it'll be against the law to show off your underwear if current legislation passes. Check out this article about changes to Atlanta's decency laws.

Here's what the sponsoring city councilman has to say about the idea of racial profiling:

"The purpose of the paper is to generate some conversation to see if we can find a solution," Martin said. "It will be like all the discussions we've had around the value of the hip-hop culture. We know there are First Amendment issues ... and some will say I'm just trying to put young black men in jail, but it's going to be fines."

Errrr....

(Sorry, Rob--once again, I think I've beat you on the "What the Fuck Friday" feature ;-)

Feckin' Eejit

Here's the New York Times quotation of the day:

"She gave me a look that only a mother could give a child."
--PRESIDENT BUSH , on the reaction of Queen Elizabeth II after he nearly said she had visited in 1776.

I do not know what to say.

Because It's All About the Bottom Line

From this morning's New York Times:

Healing has been hastened in part by a spike in school spirit.

At the Campus Emporium on North Main Street here, workers struggled to handle the backlog of 400 orders for Virginia Tech coffee mugs, footballs, teddy bears, clothing and other gear. On campus, the University Bookstore sold a season’s supply of VT lapel pins in two days last week.

The chants, banners and slogans typically associated with Virginia Tech sports have gained a more emotional currency. At a convocation the day after the shootings, the rousing student chants filled Cassell Coliseum. The nickname for the university’s athletic teams, Hokies, has become a kind of shorthand for a unity that many students said they felt. “After what happened, we chanted, and at that moment, I really felt like I’m a Hokie,” said Ingrid Ngai, 19, a native of Hong Kong.

I don't know what to say.

The full article is here.

Various & Sundry

(Or--From the Ridiculous in One Way to the Ridiculous in Another)

First, I received a spam message this morning entitled "Big drops of rain fell among them making individual sounds when they struck." Hands down, this one wins the prize for Most Likely To Become a Haiku. Or something. Whatever they're advertising (I didn't check), it's a refreshing change from "Affordable Mortgage!" or "Meet HOT Christian Singles Here!" and all the creatively-spelled entreaties to enhance one's sexual performance with One Little Pill.

Come to think of it, "Big drops of rain fell among them making individual sounds when they struck" has the same sort of ring to it as "Her Golden Hair Hung Down In Ringlets." Maybe there's a tune in there someplace.

Next in this morning's Inanity Report, from this article in today's NYT:

A spokesman for the rifle association declined to comment Friday on the legislation, but Mr. Dingell said the measure could prevent future tragedies.

“It resolves some serious problems in terms of preventing the wrong people from getting firearms,” he said.

The article discusses how state and federal law about gun sales don't match up in letter, although they do in intent, and so some would-be ineligible gun buyers (like Cho) slip through the system and are allowed to purchase firearms. Because of course all guns in the country are registered and change hands legally. I don't even need to rehearse all the arguments here, but the point is--they've found a culprit to expend legislative energy on, and now can ignore the real problems:

1. The anti-gun control stance is outdated and dangerous, and attempts to keep gun out of unfit hands (which hands are fit?) are largely ineffective.

2. By pathologizing Cho as mentally imbalanced, we ignore the complaints he (and others) make about society. I'm not saying he was justified--far from it. For a more extended treatment of this than I can give at the moment, read this article (same one I pointed to yesterday via Rob's blog).

Now--time to go read before I head up to the CUNY grad student music conference (GSIM) and the Irish studies conference (ACIS). Too much stuff to do....

Googlicious

As y'all know, I had been expecting lots of hits from people searching "Virginia Tech" on Google Blogsearch--but have not, as far as I can tell, gotten a single one...yet the "P---y P--n" hits keep coming. I can only imagine that the sheer volume of Tech stuff out there is overwhelming, even to the most obsessed blogtrawler....

In other news, J and I have begun teasing Maddie that we're going to get her a kitten to play with. That could be a very good idea...or a very bad one--and it's impossible to figure out which without trying it. In any case, we won't follow up on that idea until after the summer.

Bizarro!

Sophie, this one's for you. Bizarro!

My Sweet Jesus

J sent me the link to this article. What I wonder is, would there still be a fuss if he'd had on the loincloth, or does the sacrilege have to do with chocolate (which could conceivably melt during the time of the exhibition, if we were having seasonable April weather...never mind the color of the chocolate), or with the crucifixion pose. And more important, is he hollow like an Easter bunny?

News Flash!

Lots of successful classical musicians are Chinese! Who knew?!?!? The New York Times really has the scoop on that story! The full article is here in all its inanity, but what I can't get over is this:

One mother, Czrina Suen, stopped to chat with members of the parents association. A former flight attendant, she had moved from Hong Kong with her daughter Poony Poon, 10, to give her the chance to study piano at Juilliard, where she has a scholarship.

“They are the best in the world,” Ms. Suen said. “In Hong Kong she can’t find a suitable teacher.” Poony, a tiny girl in a fluffy white coat, plopped into a chair.

Poor kid. Poor, poor Poony Poon.



(picture comes from this website...a hoot on its own....)

Sad.

I just took another silly time-wasting quiz that confirmed what I already knew:

You Are 92% Burned Out

You are extremely burned out. You work too hard, and you're not getting the results you deserve. It's time for a life change, as soon as you can manage it. You're giving away most of your energy to something you don't even enjoy.

Are You Burned Out?

Alas.

Dire

In the immortal words of Beavis and Butthead, "This suckth like nothing has ever suckth before."

Ireland has chosen its entry to the Eurovision Song Contest. Follow the links here on the RTE website to watch a video clip of Dervish singing it. Dire, dire, dire. I won't even go into all that's wrong with this--not, mind you, because I think this is beneath Dervish. I don't think it is, and yes, I do think the song is shite, and I'll leave it there. It's just a conglomeration of badness that makes me wonder if this isn't a "My Lovely Horse" situation...a Father Ted episode when Ted and Dougal's ridiculously awful song is selected to make sure Ireland loses the contest to avoid the expense of hosting the next year's awards. Sure, viewers supposedly select the winner, but if all the choices are bad....



Here's a sound clip of Dougal and Ted writing the song.


And how about the haircut on Cathy Jordan?!?!? Ick city.