… in 2013.

The Boy Scouts of America has decided to delay a decision on lifting its archaic ban on gay members and volunteers in order to more comprehensively review their policies.

Suuuurrrrrrrrre.

Some, including former Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum, have argued the change could destroy scouting. Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention said the change could be a “catastrophe.”

“What they’ve said to us and to other religious leaders is that they are doing this under pressure, and we’re going to give people what basically amounts to a local option,” Land said. “You can’t have a local option of a core conviction.”

Changing the policy against having openly gay leaders or Scouts “would be a grave mistake,” the conservative Family Research Council and dozens of other groups said in a half-page ad in USA Today this week.

The message called on the Boy Scouts to “show courage” and “stand firm for timeless values.”

They are actually caving, even if only a little, to the frothy-mouthed ravings of the lunatic religious right who believe that gays are hell-bound sinners who should not ever be in close contact with those dear young boys.

Catholic Church priests? Sure, That’s A-OK! What we they ever do to young boys?

Anyhow, I do hope that the Scouts have the guts to follow through on this and put aside as mere noise, the backward voices telling them not to do so.

  (82)

Trashy,
Ottawa, Ontario

Arm firefighters?

This is so tragic. But what can you expect when you allow its citizenry to arm itself to the teeth?

I’m so glad that my family and I live in Canada.

  (136)

Trashy,
Ottawa, Ontario

in America.

But they are tumbling toward the precipices of other cliffs as well.

How about the “sanity cliff” or maybe the “culture cliff”?

Or the “society cliff”…

After reading about how this news guy (rightfully) called a gun-toter and “unbelievably stupid man”.

LONDON — More than 31,400 people have signed a petition calling for British CNN host Piers Morgan to be deported from the U.S. over his gun-control views.

Morgan has taken an aggressive stand for tighter U.S. gun laws in the wake of the Newtown, Conn., school shooting. Last week, he called a gun advocate appearing on his “Piers Morgan Tonight” show an “unbelievably stupid man.”

Now, gun-rights activists are fighting back. A petition created Dec. 21 on the White House e-petition website by a user in Texas accuses Morgan of engaging in a “hostile attack against the U.S. Constitution” by targeting the Second Amendment and demands he be deported immediately.

Deport. Really. For stating the obvious.

After what I have written about the American far right, I think it would be wise for me to stay on this side of the border, permanently. After all, there are at least 31,400 unbelievably stupid people down there who might try to have me shipped to Gitmo! (451)

Trashy,
Ottawa, Ontario

…propaganda machine shift into high gear!

President Obama’s speech at the Newtown vigil was very, very good. One might even declare it to be great.

But what will come of it?

Will there be action on gun control in the States? Real action? Like banning assault weapons so they do not fall into the hands of whack jobs?

Yes, I am well aware that this is a complex issue – especially for Americans and their so-called “gun culture”. And the talk over the past few days about the need for better mental health care is all good and true. However, it is time to change this “culture”.

Don’t be distracted, my American friends, because surely the NRA and other cold and faceless organisations will try their best to keep you from thinking that guns aren’t the problem. They ARE the problem. The gun lobby doesn’t care about your children and their safety. All that concerns them are their balance sheets while they cowardly hide behind their claims of Second Amendment “rights”.

Neither Rush Limbaugh nor his vile and disgusting Tea Party compatriots care about your kids. Not one iota.

The shooter in Newtown might have still gone on that senseless rampage. Yet, if there were stricter controls on the possession of firearms, he may have been armed only with a hunting rifle or a shotgun. Yes, their may still have been deaths, but not so many. Lives would have been spared. It is certain.

So email and call your Senator, your Congressperson, Councillor, Alderman, Mayor, Governor! Contact anyone who has any measure of influence in your part of the country and DEMAND that they support your President’s call for “some to be done”.  Because if things stay as they are, there may sadly be more Newtowns and Auroras.

Can we honestly say that we’re doing enough to keep our children, all of them, safe from harm?

Can we claim, as a nation, that we’re all together there, letting them know they are loved and teaching them to love in return?

Can we say that we’re truly doing enough to give all the children of this country the chance they deserve to live out their lives in happiness and with purpose?

I’ve been reflecting on this the last few days, and if we’re honest with ourselves, the answer’s no. We’re not doing enough. And we will have to change. Since I’ve been president, this is the fourth time we have come together to comfort a grieving community torn apart by mass shootings, fourth time we’ve hugged survivors, the fourth time we’ve consoled the families of victims.

And in between, there have been an endless series of deadly shootings across the country, almost daily reports of victims, many of them children, in small towns and in big cities all across America, victims whose — much of the time their only fault was being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

We can’t tolerate this anymore. These tragedies must end. And to end them, we must change.

  (106)

Trashy,
Ottawa, Ontario

As a father, I cannot come close to imagining what those parents are going through right now.

No, I’m not going to rant about gun control. That can wait.

I just want to express my profound and utter despair about how fucked-up this world can be.

And spare some thoughts and some tears for the innocents and their families. (282)

Trashy,
Ottawa, Ontario

Unscripted.
Cares.
Warm.
Praised by GOP Governor Christie.
Firm leadership.
Sincere.

Words written around this pic today.

First time a hurricane has propelled a President back into office, I reckon. (101)

Trashy,
Ottawa, Ontario

Is this is good news from south of the border? You betcha!

Young Americans in particular are beginning to think for themselves and critically analyse the belief systems held by their parents and grandparents. I think this may be a function of better education but it is also the fault of the in-your-face evangelicals whose fanaticism turns off a good segment of the population; especially people who are turned off by moral ultimatums.

Scholars have long debated whether people who say they no longer belong to a religious group should be considered secular. While the category as defined by Pew researchers includes atheists, it also encompasses majorities of people who say they believe in God, and a notable minority who pray daily or consider themselves “spiritual” but not “religious.”

Still, Pew found overall that most of the unaffiliated aren’t actively seeking another religious home, indicating that their ties with organized religion are permanently broken.

It is the bolded phrase that strikes me as being the most significant of these findings.

The religiosity class of ministers, priests and evangelic extremists should be afraid. Very afraid. (97)

Trashy,
Ottawa, Ontario

…crazy as batshit.

(229)

Trashy,
Ottawa, Ontario

… in his song “Country Roads”?

Country Roads, take me home
To the place I belong
West Virginia, mountain momma
Take me home, country roads

Is “mountain momma” a metaphor for a goat?

Note to self – don’t dress as a goat if visiting West Virginia…

Yuck.

(85)

Trashy,
Ottawa, Ontario

My eight year old daughter.

She’s worried about how the US President’s girls are doing.

Nice concern. (129)

Trashy,
Ottawa, Ontario