Bishop Gene and the Inauguration + More

You have no doubt heard by now that Bishop Gene Robinson (TEC) was asked to give the opening invocation at the Presidential Inauguration Concert. Wow. For more (and believe me, you would have to be near death not to have heard about this by now!), go to the Lead, here. Pretting dang interesting news.

Obama's SEC (Security and Exchange Commission) nominee, Mary L. Schapiro, is being sued. Worth a read at the NY Times.

And the most important news (on the domestic front): Welcome Spike and Harry!

Obama Commits to Abolishing DADT (Don't Ask, Don't Tell) +...

On DADT, watch what Obama's incoming Press Secretary Robert Gibbs says in this video (this short topic begins at about 4:25/5.00 in the video) if you want to fast forward. The several questions addressed are the result of input to change.gov, round 2. Previously, Obama had said he would get to this (likely in a hoped-for second term). Go here to read on his expression of delay on the matter from November 21, 2008. Here is a piece from 365 on this and at the end, a para on DOMA.


DADT is also addressed in this short piece.

Rev. Susan Russell writes on Rick Warren's recent (eh-hem) offer to orthodox TEC churches (in this case, schizmos only, in the wake of the recent CA Supreme Court decision on their theft of TEC property) to temporarily home them as he is in solidarity with them. Now, is Warren's offer and statement just a slap at TEC in general? Well, yeah! And is it also a slap at the lgbt community (AGAIN!)? Well, yeah! Read it here. I don't attend this parish, but it is quite close, as is Warren's church to me. I find Warren's recent action as disgusting as his more recent thoughts on Prop 8, etc. And least you think I am alone, try googling Rick Warren and TEC. Some are lgbt and some straight. A LOT of them are mighty miffed. I am one.

News For the Day: Warren Offers to Help TEC Schizmos

Update: (hate tip to dr primrose at Friends of Jake) The New York Supreme Court has ruled in favor of TEC in the NY property case. Read here. James writes on the issue here with links.

Palin is back in the news whining, as usual. Not to mention the fact that she doesn't GET political humor, read Tina Fey. I refuse to link it as this woman just tires me, but there is a video out there on You Tube should you desire to listen to her whining and largely incomprehensible speech. Also. Too.

Rick Warren has also offered his mega-church to the TEC schizmos. Hardly surprising given he has been arm-in-arm with them in the past. Disgusting, though. Read it here. Mark Harris writes on it here.

Nine Gay Men/HIV activists have been sentenced to prison in Senegal. Read it here. More here from the Huff Post.

On the Pittsburgh TEC issue, some interesting reading here.

On St. Luke's La Crescenta (one of the now-Ugandan churches) whose case has not been heard in Los Angeles Court of Appeal, go here.

In Uganda, here's an interesting take about those leading the gay-hate. Be sure to click the link to the BBC article.

I just have to say ONE thing. Warren, until recently, got a pass on his HIV abstinence-only work in Africa. ONLY when progressive journalists--then the "evil" bloggers--got on the issue did it even come to the fore. Don't you wonder how the so-called "liberal" main-stream media managed to miss this?

GLADD Takes MSM to Task for LGBT Media Bias

The mainstream media (MSM) guides many, many people in this country. To counter the disinformation the MSM provides, there are many, many groups formed to challenge biased media reports which can be anything from a comapletely one-sided report, to factual error.

This isn't necessarily a conservative or liberal problem, though I do have to say that allegations that the media runs left is sheer fantasy. One can count on their left toes the number of liberal radio outlets, Air America being the only relatively large one I know of. Add if you have another.

GLADD is a group that watches gay/lesbian issue media for bias. They describe themselves this way:

The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) is dedicated to
promoting and ensuring fair, accurate and inclusive representation of people and events in the media as a means of eliminating homophobia and discrimination
based on gender identity and sexual orientation.

With this in mind, I offer to you this, their 2008 worst anti-gay defamation stories list.

Many of us who are straight need to read this because sometimes the bias is subtle, and sometimes it is not. As we join hands with our lgbt brothers and sisters to fight for equal rights, we need to be well versed on subtlety. Our letters to the editor need to call it out when we see it in our community papers.

Enjoy. It is actually some really interesting reading... if a bit yucky in spots.

Warren and AIDS Work In Uganda

For those of you that contacted me privately, yes I am feeling a LOT better today. Cried myself to sleep, finally. It is just grief and I just have to wend my way through it, and thank you for your support and concern.

*****

Now, on to Rick Warren.

This is a great piece on Warren, his support of abstinence-only AIDS funding (earmarking), and his connection to the vitriolic and, in my opinion, extremely dangerous anti-lgbt Ugandan pastor Martin Ssempa. It is a well written piece with links. On the same topic, this is also a powerful piece.

Then, here, Dr. Kenneth L. Samuel, Senior Pastor of Victory for the World United Church of Christ in Stone Mountain, GA, writes about the disconnect between Warren, Dr. King and lgbt civil rights. It, too, is an excellent well thought through piece, in my opinion, and well worth the read.

Yesterday and today have been big news days and now that I have my head back on somewhat straight, I find some of it quite remarkable. More later.

I'm Depressed Music.

Maybe if I listen to enough of this I will cheer up. I can't sleep. The house energy is all wrong. I miss my Hopi. I tried drinking, that didn't work. Never does. I should know better. (And yeah, I like Dylan. I hope you can adjust.)















Okay. It really is four in the morning now. I still feel lousy. I will now indulge in some sleep and see if that works.

Author Bob Barr on DOMA: Folks, this is interesting

I am going to bed. Just beat to crap, emotionally, after the whole of the week and need to rest and dream some solutions to problems. And I need to hug my dogs.

But this did give me a bright spot to dream about.

What do you think?

Hopi is Gone. RIP Dear Hopi.

You know, there are just some weeks I wish I had never gotten out of bed. This was one.

This morning, the vet said Hopi was looking a bit worse... still not eating, and she had thrown up again. She was on pain meds and an IV off/on since Saturday. We decided to giver her barium and see if it would pass through her system. She threw up some of it, and apparently, the x-rays showed just a bit leaking into her intestines. She was not strong enough for surgery and had a heart murmur to boot.

Today as I traveled home from my mom's 95th birthday lunch (I stopped to see Hopi on my way there), my vet called to tell me Hopi had gone seriously down hill and now was the time to let her go. So I did.

This is the ONLY dog I have not been right there with in probably 20 years, and this was MY personal dog. I feel terrible about that; it is just so wrong. Yes, she came in as a rescue, but she had so many things wrong with her, medically, I wouldn't release her. She quickly became a part of the family and the very gentle alpha dog.

Hopi was (is) a delight. She loved all other living things, was trustworthy to the extreme, obedient to near perfection, thoroughly enjoyed long walks (even if she walked slowly), was terrific in the car, dependable, curious, well mannered, often funny and gently kept everyone here on the straight and narrow. GSDs are very bright, and she was no exception.

I just adored this dog and she was perfect for this rescue house, for me and for the others.

Please say a wee prayer for this wonderful dog, Hopi, to ease her on her way. I hope God has a very special place for her.

Tomorrow, I will pick Hopi up from the vet, leave her for cremation and pick up Joy's ashes. I was never counting on being on a first name basis with the secretary at the cremation business. When I left Joy to be cremated, I picked up Artie's ashes. They have been there a while. Artie passed while we were evacuated in the last wildfire. He was an 18yo doxie and a FABULOUS dog.

For years, I have kept the ashes of all of my personal dogs and others who have passed in my care. If and when the local 320-acre ranch is purchased for wildland open space--a effort I have been working on for almost 25 years--that is where their ashes will rest, except for a little pouch of them to accompany me on my own way when my day comes. I will never be without a dog, even in death.

This is a photo of Pete (a once feral dog) who passed away several years ago. He lived with me for almost nine years after the ranch was sold to the current (Nevada) speculator (we have been in court now for six years) and they threatened to have Pete impounded. And this is the entry to the ranch.

Someday, I hope to be scattered with my dogs on the rear left highest peak.

In the spring, the "bowl" of the property is a gorgeous bright yellow, filled with wild mustard which is part of the Crucifera (cross) family. The property has several endangered species, including one that was declared extinct in this area in 1989, but is now likely winter habitat for this species.

This is a picture of the property from an adjacent ridge deep in winter, as the green shows. The following photo is the basin just as it is beginning to bloom in the spring.

We used to walk on the ranch until the speculator put barbed wire across the frontage (you can see the posts in the second bloom photo) and "No Trespassing" signs. For the last two years, they have had around-the-clock security living on the site. Only in the last two months has that ceased. I'm sure they did this to break our hearts, and they succeeded to some extent.

My best friend owns part of the ridgeline to the right (and just out of view) of the overview photo. It is funny, every time we use it, the Sheriff gets called. Hehehe.

When they bulldozed the historic buildings, which was HEARTBREAKING for the community, Pete, the dog, died. He died the second day of it while I was trying to stop it and did, but only temporarily. I came home to find him dead.

The buildings were (documented) very important in terms of Orange County history. This made no difference.

Who cares, right? Better to forget about the past, sock everything under 12" of concrete, grade almost one million cubic yards of dirt to plop down some McMansions behind a guarded gate on land the Juanenos consider sacred.

But I digress. Sort of. I am very tied to this land, as was Pete, Luke, Dax (the latter two born there, Pete was their father) and every personal dog I have ever had up until the barbed wire went up. I have walked every channel and canyon, every animal and ridge trail, collected fossils (the property actually produced a surprising aminite about twenty years ago), watched deer and bob cats, taken plaster prints of mountain lion tracks and seen a huge variety of birds. One can almost feel the spirits of the Native People on this land.

I will work harder now. Hopi belongs on this ranch. So do Dax, Luke, Artie, Katie, Kaweah, Flopsy, Chips, Duke, Ralph and me. Pete, especially, belongs here.

Everything is related.

I Didn't Catch This at New Years...

This is just GREAT! Don't ya just love humor?

CA Supreme Court Unanimous in Favor of TEC

UPDATE 2: You might find this discussion interesting!

UPDATE: This is priceless, and what we all have maintained from the start:

As stated in one of the out-of-state cases involving the same Episcopal Church, “[t]he individual defendants are free to disassociate themselves from [the parish and the Episcopal Church] and to affiliate themselves with another religious denomination. No court can interfere with or control such an exercise of conscience. The problem lies in defendants’ efforts to take the church property with them. This they may not do.” (Protestant Episc. Church, etc. v. Graves, supra, 417 A.2d at p. 25.) --Los Angeles Times

Just in: The CA Supreme Court today unanimously upheld the entirety of the lower court (appellate) opinion granting the Diocese of Los Angeles the rights to properties of three break-away churches.

Read more here.

We can all breathe, now.

Hopefully, this will have a chilling effect upon the on-going San Joaquin litigation.

Interesting News of the Day

I'm trying to keep my wits about me in the face of Hopi's illness, so wanted to post. What an incredibly bad day.

But the news has some very interesting pieces, today:

Laura Douglas-Brown, writing for Californians Against Hate, writes: The Atlanta Black LGBT Coalition last week called on Ebenezer Baptist Church, the historic church where Dr. Martin Luther King served as pastor, to remove Pastor Rick Warren as the keynote speaker for its upcoming MLK Day service. Warren is scheduled to speak at Ebenezer the day prior to the presidential inauguration where he will be giving the opening prayer.

This article found on Beliefnet is interesting though i don't necessarily follow the line of thinking. What I personally found interesting is that, for instance, the Obama transition team has met with the United Methodists (and others?) a dozen times. I just have to wonder if they have visited that same interest upon TEC and if so, who it is that is representing us, and what the discussions have been. Also, if you click on the link to George Bush (religious liberal) his early Episcopal training seems to show. Mmm.

This Tuesday, January 5, 10am, it is expected the California Supremes will issue their judgement on the various California TEC property litigations, case S055194. You can go here on Monday to see if that is, in fact, the case. I'm not much of a gambler, but I am (figuratively) betting on the Los Angeles Diocese winning these cases.

Hopi Needs Your Prayers--BAD Day

My God, what a dreadful day. My GSD, Hopi, 13yo, was rushed to the vet this morning with some kind of stomach or intestinal blockage. I dropped her off at the vet with the cat, George, and headed for the crematorium to have Joy Joy cremated, then dashed back to the vet. Right now, they are keeping her and trying to IV her system into passing whatever it is. This is Hopi, taken earlier this month, after a long walk in the rain with myself and Boots.
Hopi was an abandoned dog, found on the main highway by a friend almost bald from mange (and with a severe skin infection), still with milk (she was probably bred repeatedly and that is just a disaster in oh so many ways), and was found to be BOTH hypothyroid and very ill with haemolyic anemia (a horrible, often lethal immune disorder).

After about $6K, three years and four vets, her anemia resided (and never returned again), we got her thyroid levels regularized (she was on so much medication it was hard to do) which also kept her ears clear of infection (this is common with hypothyroidism), and I finally found a vet that took one look at her and knew exactly what to do for her skin that refused to completely heal.

Even at her age--and as the x-rays showed today, full of arthritis in her sternum, back, tail and with her left acetabulum and joint socket a mess--she is the (gentle) alpha dog here and is just fabulous with anything that breathes from kids to cats. She absolutely adores going for walks and meeting all the people and dogs.

I am pretty beside myself. I dearly love this dog and she has been here for a long time.

We cannot figure out what happened, and she is in real danger. The vet isn't sure she could stand the surgery (given her age, heart murmur and slightly enlarged heart). I will know more tomorrow morning about 11am (Sunday, PST).

Please say a prayer for her (and me).

I don't want to hold on to her too tightly, for she isn't mine, she belongs to God. At the same time, I am not emotionally ready to let her go. I want what is best for her, but my heart is just breaking.

With Hopi's absence and Joy Joy gone, the dog dynamic feels chaotic and the dogs all know something is seriously wrong. Little Timmy is sleeping with his head on my foot, and Boots keeps coming to me while I am typing here and laying his head on my lap--not something he ever does. I am sure they can feel my deep tension.

Thank you so very much, and I so appreciate your help for Hopi and me.

Joy-Joy is Gone, RIP

Our beloved, blind cocker spaniel, Joy-Joy, rescued from a Los Angeles shelter three years ago at an estimated 14 years of age has just passed.

Joy was inseparable from Mo-Mo, a neurologically challenged chihuahua mix, one part sheep, one part lion, rescued from the Bakersfield shelter. This photo was taken on New Years Eve, 2007.

Mo quickly learned to love Joy and would never leave her side. No matter where she was, he was there. Here, he is asleep with Joy as she passes with us around and the big dogs not far away. He will be lonely.

Joy was (is) an exceptional dog. Blind when coming here, she quickly learned the routes to water and outside and nose to the floor, never lost her path. She was quick to wag her tail and loved to be held. Sleeping was a sport.

Three months ago, when being groomed, Joy had a heart attack on the grooming table. The groomer rushed her to the vet where she was medicated and stabilized. This is the kindest and most gentle and loving groomer you can imagine. She was traumatized. She grooms all our rescue animals at no cost to us, many of which we acquired from her sister who is a shelter puller (an extremely hard job) who pulls from a despicable shelter in San Bernardino. Both women are extremely gentle and extraordinarily kind.

Many of our animals, if not in pain, die at home here without the stress of car rides, veterinary technicians, stainless steel cages, needles, tubes and other bothersome things. So it is with Joy. I wish it was possible for them all.

I have a statue of St. Francis holding a cat with a dog standing up on its hind legs upon his leg. The dog looks like Joy perhaps when she was younger and could see.

Hear our humble prayer, O God, for our friends the animals, especially for animals who are suffering;
for animals that are overworked,
underfed and cruelly treated;
for all wistful creatures in captivity that beat their wings against bars;
for any that are hunted or lost or deserted or frightened or hungry;
for all that must be put to death. We entreat for them all Thy mercy and pity, and for those who deal with them we ask a heart of compassion and gentle hands and kindly words. Make us, ourselves, to be true friends to animals, and so to share the blessings of the merciful.
--Albert Schweitzer

Should you feel inclined, you can light a candle for Joy Joy here.

Peace be with her. And thank you for your prayers.

We are sad and will miss her.

2008 Roundup Ala Padre Mickey

Here are the rules.

Take the first sentence of the first post for each month in 2008 and combine them into a para.

Here we go!

While listening today to an older Joan Baez album, a flood of memories returned about that period in my life. The democratic primary has been a true example of fight it out to the absolute head-shaking, mind-bending end. The recent GAFFcon Kings (no, no queens in that bunch) have developed a new set of rules to discern whether one is in or out of their brand spanking new Communion within the Anglican Communion now called the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (FOCA). Pinnie made her second return to the veterinarian today, and all the news is good! There are things in this world--odd things--that test our ability to weigh right and wrong, that help us to decide which way to go on an issue. Of course I will be watching, but I have to say this: I am not looking forward to it. Sarah Palin has become the poster child for hypocrisy. Oy... after computer problems, I am finally back.

These Have Nothing To Do With Anything!

But they just might make you smile:)

Hope you all had a lovely New Years Day!

Happy New Year Everyone!

I have no clue what happened to my sidebar... will figure that out tomorrow. For now, getting ready to go to a neighbors for New Years where other neighbors will also gather and we'll eat, drink and be merry!

Blessings to everyone in the new year!

Pew On Religious Makeup of Congress

The Pew Forum published some really interesting data on December 19 which annotates the religious makeup of Congress (and divides it into House/Senate) by religion. Pretty interesting stuff and useful politically.

So for you Piskie types here, I just want to alert you to something you might not be aware of: There are MORE republican Piskies in Congress than dem Piskies. Yep, sad, but true.

So any of you liberal leaning to liberal socialist types, get out there and run for office, would ya?

And for FranIAm... hey girl, your folks win in numbers.

Bishop Robinson on Rick Warren + Life Stuff

Update: The Nation has an article running entitled, Episcopal Church Splits Over Gay Equality. Read it here.

From Beliefnet, read it here.

*****

On a personal note, the exterior of my house is now done. You have no idea how extraordinary that is after nine years or so! I am sure my very kind and patient neighbors are delighted. In fact, I know they are:) They have had a nifty view of every color or tarp, in various sizes, for years.

Now I just need to seal the boxed eaves with silicone (helps with fireproofing, these are what they call 45 minutes eaves... LOL... giving a burn time just sounds so weird), then screen the three vents to keep embers out (fire batt chief friends have told me what to do, oddly, not required by code yet this is the most common way homes catch on fire from embers), then in the spring, paint... and NO I am not going to paint myself. I will try a few colors first, then make a decision, but that's as far as this ol dog goes with painting.

My version of painting? Get the sprayer and anything that gets in the way, animal, vegetable or mineral, gets it. Trust me. Me painting should be outlawed.

Now I have to find the electrician and see how much he will charge me to finish the electrical which scares the hell out of me here. Only about 1/2 of my house, right now, has electrical and we have no heat other than little heaters and they drive me crazy with the animals and are energy inefficient.

Then the windows... oooo. Windows. I have windows in almost all the house, but one room doesn't. Screen, yes. Dual pane (the only thing you can put in here), no. Some, for privacy reasons, will be stained glass. I am designing one with a religious theme so anyone knowing sites that have info on religious symbolism, please share!

Then heat. Then work on inside... tearing the interior walls out and insulating, finishing the bathroom and kitchen. Then rebuilding and extending the deck. I might sneak a second bathroom in while I am at it, but this will all take several years.

Then flooring, which is the hardest part of all given the animals. Still trying to decide on whether hardwood or linoleum. Probably the former except in the kitchen (probably will tile with mex tiles) and bath (the entire thing will be tile, for the most part).

The last (and my fav part) is re-landscaping. I can hardly wait. I LOVE to work with plants. The dogs are a terror on them, so I have to consider that plus consider toxicity. Should be interesting and I have already begun research, just because, well, it's neato.

Of course, in the meantime, I have taken on the great storage area... argh, and I already have four trash cans full of STUFF. Not even usable stuff. Just stuff. And a pile of stuff to go to the toxics dump... paints, unlabeled liquids (fertilizers, probably, but who knows). When the x left, he left a LOT of stuff and I have no clue what some of it is. Then, I attack the area under the house (this will be awful... we have a ton of every kind of vermin here in the wild lands imaginable) so it's a full breathing mask situation. Dreading that.

And as far as the herd of minions goes...

Still struggling with the lost Spencer's brother, Chuck, trying to get him on his feet. S L O W process, and he is not out of the woods. Please keep Chuck on your prayer list, would you?

George and Bambi, the two 15yo all black fosters who are hyperthyroid, are getting meds but George isn't responding yet. He gets a blood test in about another 2.5 weeks and then we readjust the meds as needed. In the meantime, we have put him on a higher protein (and, I might add, incredibly expensive) food.

Kahn (pic above)has lost four pounds! Yeah! He is a foster for a woman in drug/alcohol rehab. He weighed 21 pounds when he came in. He will go to the vet next week for another looksie and we will set another weight goal. His brother, Kezo, has lost two pounds. GREAT! Poor Kahn was so fat he couldn't groom himself and was literally a slug. He's doing a lot more moving around now (no doubt trying to scout out the illusive former open-feeding bowl... haha, that won't happen here! Open feeding is a No!- No!). As you can see, he is a character. This is one of my favorite pics of him... especially considering what he chose to pose on.

Whaler has lost 8 pounds. He weighed 25 pounds when he came in and was incredibly sick. Talk about a food thief:) Have to put THAT boy in a dog crate while feeding he is such a food vacuum. He's going in for blood work, too.

Two ear infections, one in a cat, one in a dog... weird. Just showed up out of the blue. My med charts are getting quite long.

And... ARGH... I found my first tick of the season. Gads I hate those things, and I found it on ME... GRRRRRR. Tick season never really leaves here, given the wild lands, but we tend to get a short break in the fall for some reason. Early for ticks, so I am not a happy camper.

So much for the news here at For Pete's Sake! Rescue.

Hope all is well with each of you!

Axelrod on Warren, Thoughts on Prop 8 and More

Obama's advisor David Axelrod defended Obama's choice of Warren at inauguration as a "healthy thing". Read it here. Apparently, bigotry is healthy and good now.

*****

Kos diarist hahne writes on the problems with the no on 8 campaign. Worth reading, and has links to other postmortem diaries. This is one person's perspective, but give it a read. I am not being critical, but I do believe it is important to look back and see what could have been done better.
*****
Now all this said, this 60 Minutes section really outlines Obama's rise. It is excellent.


Watch CBS Videos Online

Really Neat Photos of Polar Bear and Huskies

I refer you here.

Wow is all I can say.