The Tory Tornado KO's Himself

The Huffington Post in the UK has reported that David Davies, the Conservative MP for Monmouth, has responded to accusations of homophobia following an interview he gave to BBC Radio Wales yesterday. On the radio, he said that:

"I think most parents would prefer their children not to be gay, knowing most parents want grandchildren if nothing else."

This was the comment that engendered the accusations. Personally, my first thought was to send him a turkey baster, and a copy of this article from the New York Times. However, in his defence, Mr. Davies pointed out that during his amateur boxing career he once fought a gay boxer. Apparently he posted a vid of the fight as proof. That makes total sense:  how to prove one is not a homophobe - show everyone a film of oneself punching a homosexual in the face. Nice one, Dave!

Piglet Magritte

It's dragging towards 4 pm on a dreary Monday. If you get a kick from cute pics of puppies and kittens, this is the page for you. I'm diabetic so that's no good for me. When I find myself in times of trouble, E. H. Shepard comes to me ... it's time for a Piglet picture!

Piglet was visiting the Magritte Museum in Brussels, when he noticed this mirror in a shop window.

A Time for Miracles

We are approaching the day of the winter solstice, when the sun is at its lowest in the sky (for those of us living in the Northern hemisphere) and the darkness of the night reaches its peak. Many religions and cultures have rituals and festivals of light at this time, as if by making and celebrating light we will bring the sun back up into the heavens. If we believe, we may perform this miracle. Don't knock it, it hasn't failed us yet! So Happy Advent, Chanukah, Diwali, Kwanzaa & St Lucia's Day!!

Speaking of miracle workers, what about this chap here:

Mr. Redknapp has arrived at QPR at a time of great darkness. We are looking to him to deliver us, and to bring the light back into our footballing lives. He is aware of the depths in which we wallow. In a recent interview, he noted that:

"Joe Royle sent me a message today, but I've never read the Bible, and it was about turning fish into whatever - a miracle is what he meant."

If Billy the Fish is available in the January transfer window, we hope Harry will sign him. Otherwise, we just hope Harry knows his tactics and man-management better than his Bible. Meanwhile, we wish him luck, because what we need now is defo a miracle.

Rant Rant Rant: Fingernails!

Fingernails are lovely things. Most of the time. You can paint them, scratch itches with them, turn the page with them, and use them to get difficult crumbs out of your keyboard. Eventually, unless you are Howard Hughes, you will need to cut your nails. You may hire someone to take care of your feet, such as the lovely Bastien Gonzalez (we love him because he once took on the almighty challenge of the feet of the father of ravaj). Fingernails are much easier, though, and usually you cut them yourselves. Or clip them.

Here comes the rant:  since when has it become the custom to clip one's nails in public? It's not that the act itself is vile, but rather that the clippings are allowed to lie where they fall. For example, just this week I saw a woman across the aisle on the plane, this morning it was the woman next to me on the Tube, and  the other day there was a woman on the top deck of the bus; all of them tending to their nails with no concern for their debris. It was utterly disgusting.

When I was young, Rabbi Hugo Gryn z"l told me that he would collect his nail-clippings and burn them, because his grandmother had told him that all the rubbish undisposed during his life would be waiting for him after death. I don't know about that, but Google did give me a couple of suggestions for the reuse of fingernail clippings:

1. they are compostable (as long as you remove the polish), since they are rich in protein.
2. if you cannot afford a Brillo pad (steel wool), put them in the foot of an old pair of tights and tie off the end. Voila - an inexpensive pot scrubber.
3. send them to Tim Hawkinson, a man who makes sculptures out of them

Ultimately, whatever you do with them, for goodness sake please do it at home. Thank you.

The Vatican Fights Back

Reuters news agency reports that in the wake of the U.S. states of Maryland, Maine and Washington extending the right of marriage to same-sex couples via a popular vote, the Vatican has responded by pledging never to stop fighting attempts to "erase" the privileged role of heterosexual marriage, which it called "an achievement of civilisation." The chief spokesman for the Vatican - Father Federico Lombardi - made the standard and expected arguments on behalf of the Roman Catholic Church. Unfortunately, he also decided to perpetuate a popular canard by suggesting that if same-sex marriage is acceptable, "... why not contemplate also freely chosen polygamy and, of course, not to discriminate, polyandry?" (as quoted by, among others, the Chicago Tribune newspaper).

I still don't get why it isn't as clear as a clear day that those of us who wish to get married are utterly supporting the institution of marriage, not undermining it. Otherwise, why would we fight for it?! Furthermore,  it's not as if we are trying to deny the heterosexuals their right to marry. If marriage is so threatened, surely the first people to target are those hets who are daring to live together as husband and wife without the sacrament of marriage? Sigh.

Thank [your Deity of choice. Or not] that everyday people are using democracy to create equality.  I'm so happy that those Americans voted for equality, and I'm delighted that the blinkered religious hegemony has been thwarted. Onward we go!

PS  For a look at how the LGBT situation has developed in the USA, there's an interesting article here by Michael Lindenberger in this week's Time magazine.

United States Elections 2012 (i)

Awwwww.

Having lived abroad for the last 3 years, my perspective of the United States of America is once again coloured by a European filter. Nevertheless, I am still a registered Democrat, and last week faxed and posted my absentee ballot to be counted at the City Hall in Waltham MA.

The choice for me was not difficult. The Republicans generally seem so far to the right these days that a vote for them would be voting for my own death sentence. It's just so sad that so many are voting against a particular candidate instead of for someone. As my blogroller Echidne of the Snakes wrote recently:

"How should I put this best? Voting for Barack Obama is like choosing shingles. Voting for Mitt Romney is like choosing a terminal illness. I prefer the former, though naturally I'd love to feel perfectly healthy. But we are all going to have one of those two conditions, and in my view the Obama-condition is much more bearable and less dangerous."

It is also a bit scary that the entire election may rest on the way that the candidates respond to Hurricane Sandy. If Barack is Presidential, he may gain voters; and if Romney is not, he will sink. O well, at least it's a better basis for choice than who has the best hair (in London last weekend, Margaret Cho suggested that elections are often won by hair, e.g., JFK vs Nixon, Clinton vs Bush 1 and Ross Perot).

Thinking of those currently victims of the hurricane ...

Savile Scandal

Jimmy Savile was a DJ and broadcaster in the 1960's and 1970's. He was incredibly popular, and known to my generation as a weird but charitable man who made people's dreams come true in his show "Jim 'll Fix It". It turns out that he was a sexual predator who may have abused myriad young girls. A television programme recently revealed the alleged crimes of the star, who died one year ago today, and there has been intense media frenzy ever since.

We are shocked and disgusted by Jimmy Savile's behaviour, all the more so because we thought he had been a positive force in the charity world, e.g., raising c. £40 million for various organisations. What I don't understand is the hysteria engendered by this discovery. This weekend, the Guardian reported that dozens of celebrities are frightened that they will be implicated in the scandal. Also, the Catholic Church of England,

"... has contacted the Holy See to ask if the papal knighthood awarded to (Savile) could be removed"
(the rest of the article may be found here.)

How many priests within the church have committed similar crimes? Where are the public requests to the Holy See for action against those men? Do the leaders of the Church believe that making a big deal about one public figure will be compensation to all the victims of the everyday non-famous perpetrators? For crying out loud, turn that energy and interest to the parishioners who need your protection and support!

Meanwhile, what about publicist Max Clifford's comment in the Guardian article:

"I am hoping that the real predators are the ones we are going to find out about ... not people that were randy young pop stars in the 1960s, 70s and 80s even, that had women throwing themselves at them everywhere they went, because that is a whole different area and a whole different situation. No one had heard the word 'paedophile' in those days"

Since the women were "throwing themselves", the men had no power to resist? Ok, we know about rock culture, groupies, etc. I do get uncomfortable, though, with the inference that the women wanted it so that made it ok. It's not a question of my being overly PC here. It is to do with the current and past lack of protection for vulnerable people who come into contact with the entertainment world. It has always been the case that fame and celebrity seem to breed indulgence when it comes to immoral behaviour. There are no 'real' and 'unreal' predators. If lives have been damaged and destroyed by those "randy young pop stars", and speaking out about it might bring healing, why not? Except of course that is an utterly naive and idealistic perspective, since what will probably feed a call for such revelation is more likely to be the economic aspirations of the tabloids.

Support for Anat Hoffman & Women of the Wall

In Jerusalem, at the Western Wall aka the Kotel, a Jewish woman was arrested last week for the crime of singing the Shema, i.e., praying. Her name is Anat Hoffman. She is currently the Director of the Israel Religious Action Center aka IRAC.

Click to learn what is actually illegal according to Israeli law

Background to the issue of a pluralistic group of women praying at the Wall may be found here.
There is also a 2009 story in the NY Times here.
An American perspective from the Jewish Journal may be found here.

Here are some links to the latest part of the struggle for egalitarian status in prayer at this site:

Why I was arrested for praying at the Western Wall via Huffington Post
Anat Hoffman after arrest in Haaretz
Police shackle Anat Hoffman for saying Sh'ma at the Kotel by Debra Nussbaum Cohen in the Jewish Daily Forward

Rabbi Laura Geller talks about Anat and Henrietta Szold
A view from the Velveteen Rabbi
Who has the right to pray at the Western Wall by Rabbi Daniel Brenner
What is the textual source of Kol Isha? by Rabbi Judith Abrams

There was a live webcast with Anat this evening. The most popular question for her was - how may we help to support her and the work of Women of the Wall? She replied with the following suggestions:

1.  sign the petition to liberate the Wall on the IRAC website.  The link is here.
2.  visit the Women of the Wall website
3.  buy the WOW tallit - Anat used some of the funds to pay her legal fees, and said that she loved the idea that the subversive act of wearing a tallit also supports the struggle in Israel
4.  Organise a Rosh Chodesh service outside the Israeli consulate in your home town
5.  Write your sentiments in the Jewish and the Israeli press
6.  Persuade your Israeli relatives to vote for measures to change the situation in Israel
7.  Donate financially whatever you can!

@kungfujew18 trawled the Twitterverse for us to bring this selection of Tweets sent during the webchat

You can join in also via projects such as
Hear O Israel: The Global Sh'ma Flashmob
Reclaim and Liberate the Kotel

btw, there were two other women arrested alongside Anat!

Colosseum Piglet

It's been a while, Piglet fans. Here is a shot from his recent visit to Rome. It was his first time there, and the first thing he did on his first day was to check out the most iconic place in the city - the Colosseum.

NB it's totally worth 30 Euro for a 3-day pass called the Roma. Not only do you get free travel on bus and train, but also it lets you walk past the 2-hour queue to get into the Colosseum and enter immediately!

Gotcha!

O Obama! It hurts, y'know. Look at him in this pic - he's laughing in our faces. Those of us who put our trust in you cannot understand how general opinion after the first debate is clear that Romney "won". Since there seem to be myriad citizens of our country that cannot see how utterly bonkers he is, we need you to be strong.

It breaks my heart that people will make such an important decision as the choosing of a President based on surface impressions, rather than listening to what is being said and figuring out what is true and what is a lie, what is factual and what is spin. Your guys gotta get your into shape here, c'mon!

Yom Kippur 5773

This may be a cheesy jpeg I found via Google, but at the same time it does convey a lot of my thoughts and feelings as I prepare for Yom Kippur.

I suspect that the foundations of peace and happiness are to be found in our selves. As we do the work that heals our emotional wounds, we have fewer issues to act out upon others, and more energy to put towards positive thoughts and deeds.

Thus may I wish us all the strength to make necessary adjustments in our attitudes and behaviour so that the next days and months may be different from those that are done.

with all best wishes for a Shana Tova

We Wuz Robbed! Again.

Tough time to be a QPR fan. Still in the Premiership. New players signed from teams like Inter Milan. Ale Faurlin back early from his cruciate injury. Problem is, we just cannot win a match. O well, early days ...

Nina Bawden R.I.P.

The author Nina Bawden died last month. Most of those who know her remember her novel "Carrie's War"about children evacuated to Wales during WW2. The obit in the Telegraph is as interesting as usual, and may be read here. If you have neither the time nor the inclination to enjoy it, at least please peruse the following paragraph:

"She won another scholarship to Somerville College, Oxford, where she switched from French to read PPE. There she went out to tea with the 17-year-old Richard Burton, then an RAF cadet on a twe-term short course, and "would have flirted more enthusiastically if it had not been for the horrid boils on the back of his neck"."

Boris Johnson is Out4Marriage

You may think that a man who in 2001 wrote in his book "Friends, Voters, Countrymen":

"If gay marriage was OK ... then I saw no reason in principle why a union should not be consecrated between three men, as well as two men; or indeed three men and a dog."

would not necessarily be someone to highlight in our campaign. On the other hand, is it not possible that Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson may have evolved since then? And the current Mayor of London is an important person to have on our side. So welcome, Boris, to Out4Marriage!

Fringe Funnies

Each year a host of one-liners from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival are voted upon and a Top Ten published. This year there appears to be one token funny woman. That sucks. The chosen few are:

10. My mum's so pessimistic, that if there was an Olympics for pessimism ... she wouldn't fancy her chances. (Nish Kumar)

9.  I waited an hour for my starter so I complained: It's not rocket salad. (Lou Sanders)

8.  I saw a documentary on how ships are kept together. Riveting! (Stewart Francis)

7.  Pornography is often frowned upon, but that's only because I'm concentrating. (George Ryegold)

6.  I took part in the sun tanning Olympics - I just got Bronze. (Tim Vine)

5.  I'm good friends with 25 letters of the alphabet ... I don't know why. (Chris Turner)

4.  You know you're working class when your TV is bigger than your book case (Rob Beckett)

3.  I was raised as an only child, which really annoyed my sister. (Will Marsh)

2.  Last night me and my girlfriend watched 3 DVDs back to back. Luckily I was the one facing the telly. (Tim Vine)

1.  You know who really gives kids a bad name? Posh and Becks. (Stewart Francis)

My favourite is defo number 5, but then it's the most subtle :-)   . Followed by number 3, for obvious reasons!

btw I presume that the only reason the winning joke works is because so many people know the names of the children. Otherwise, I would offer up Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London.  His children are called:

Lara Lettice
Milo Arthur
Cassia Peaches
Theodore Apollo

Next to these names, I think that

Brooklyn Joseph
Romeo James
Cruz David
Harper Seven

look a bit tame, actually!

A Brief Mention of the Olympics

Ok, so Boris went a little over the top yesterday when suggesting that the Olympo-mania Geiger counter just went zoink, but the Games do begin tonight and it's kind of a big deal when it's in your home town.

So no complaints today about the transport system, or lack of ticket availability, or spoiled athletic officials. Instead, just watch this brief, informative and cheery history of the Olympics. Hurrah for the greatest show on earth!

Out4Marriage Continues to Campaign

With the news yesterday that Scotland is ready for gay marriage, and David Cameron's speech at 10 Downing Street in which he said once again,

"It's something I feel passionately about and I think if it's good enough for straight people like me, it's good enough for everybody and that's why we should have gay marriage and we will legislate for it"

you'd think enough already with the campaigning. However, it's precisely because Out4Marriage and its partners continue to keep speaking up that more and more public figures are aligning themselves with those working for equality in marriage!

I do have a particular concern, and that is the small percentage of women involved in this project. I would love to see more of us making videos, and cannot figure out why we are not. The guys fuelling the project with their energy and determination would love our input, support and leadership. If there is something about Out4Marriage that is not welcoming, and we're not getting it; please somebody let us know so we may learn and improve. Thank you.

Unspeakable Sadness

The heading says 'unspeakable' and then I try and say something. Israeli tourists blown up by terrorists in Bulgaria. Batman fans shot down in a Colorado movie theatre. We have no power to stop such things or heal those who suffer from them. And while ours heads know that compassion is what should be expressed, the impact of such deeds is more likely to engender fear for ourselves and a sense of our own powerlessness.

Time for that Yeats quote I think:

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

Wherever it is we look to for strength and hope, now is as good a time as any to ask. We must not live in fear. And we must find ways to have hope for our communities and ourselves.

Celeste Holm R.I.P.

ah, Celeste Holm. 95 is a bloody good innings. Most of the obituaries note that she really rose to fame as the original Ado Annie in Oklahoma, although Gloria Grahame got to play that role in the movie version. The Telegraph obit recalls Holm's audition:

"She was to sing before the composer, Richard Rodgers, and her agent advised her not to attempt any of his songs lest she get them wrong, nor any by his rivals lest she drive him wild. That narrowed the field alarmingly. So she resolved to sing Who Is Sylvia? which could not possibly offend. Sweeping up to the microphone, she tripped on the wire and ended in an undignified heap on stage. “Could you do that again?” Rodgers called. And that was how she landed the plum comic role in what was to be the most influential musical of its time."

She remains in my memory, however, for two reasons. She's the best thing in the film High Society (a glamorous remake of the Philadelphia Story, but who could ever remake something starring Cary Grant/Katharine Hepburn/James Stewart at their most elegant?). And she won an Academy Award for best supporting actress in Gentleman's Agreement. Actually, that film made me so mad. It's clear that Gregory Peck should end up with her character, but instead they make his antisemitic fiancee reform so he can stay with her. Should've married Celeste!

Thank you for the joy your performances continue to give to me, and may you rest in peace.

Understanding Anger

“I recognised the connection between my anger and my will to live. My anger was my will to live turned inside out. My life force was just as intense, just as powerful as my anger, but for the first time I could experience it as different and feel it directly. In that first moment of surprise, I had a glimpse of something fundamental about who I am; that at the core of things I have an intense love of life, a wish to participate fully in life and to help others to do the same. Somehow this had grown large in me as a result of the very limitations that I had thought were thwarting it. Like the power of a dammed river. I had not known this before. I also knew that in its present form, as rage, this power was trapped. My anger had helped me to survive, to resist my disease, even to fight on, but in the form of anger I could not use my strength to build the kind of life I longed to live. And then I knew that I no longer needed to to it this way. I knew with absolute certainty that my pain was nobody’s fault; that the world was not to blame for it. It was a moment of real freedom.”

from 'Kitchen Table Wisdom' by
Rachel Naomi Remen MD