Friday, February 29, 2008

God...are you there?

Ever wanted to chat with God?

Here's your chance.
He happens to be online now.

http://www.titane.ca/concordia/dfar251/igod/main.html

Just try it.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Barfday

All I have picked out to wear are these:
They are my fucking dancin' shoes.







Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

If your "God hates Reno', Then we did something right.

Your HATE is not welcome in my city....I will stand in your way.

RENO (AP) — The Kansas-based church that protests at the funerals of U.S. soldiers, claiming the servicemen are dying because God hates gay people and America’s tolerance of them, has decided that God hates Reno too.

“Reno is a dangerous place to be, with the curse of God upon Reno,” the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., said in a news release this week. “God hates Reno, Nevada.”

Police Chief Michael Poehlman called the church’s statement “despicable,” especially because it begins with references to Brianna Denison, a 19-year college student who has been the target of a search since police believe she was abducted from a Reno home on Jan. 20.

“If Brianna Denison dies, blame the corrupt Reno Police,” the church’s statement said, adding that church members will “picket her funeral, in religious protest & warning.”

Shirley Phelps-Roper, an attorney and member of the church, said Wednesday they targeted Reno because local law enforcement officers failed to protect three church members who picketed a memorial service here Saturday for staff Sgt. Sean Gaul, who was killed in Iraq on Jan. 9.

The group says its protests are intended to highlight their belief that God is killing U.S. soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan to punish America for condoning homosexuality.

The Reno Gazette-Journal reported that the protesters — carrying signs that read “Don’t waste your tears on fallen soldiers” and “God Hates Fags” — were encircled by about 150 people, including members of the Patriot Guard Riders, a group of motorcycle enthusiasts who support fallen soldiers.

“They had a little bit of talking back and forth, nothing loud,” Washoe County sheriff’s Lt. Dean Spurr. “I thought it was very peaceful.”

But one of the protesters, Phelps-Roper’s 21-year-old nephew Joshua Phelps, said the group tried to push him and the other two protesters into a barbed wire fence. He said one man cut an American flag out of his hand with a knife and another man punched his cousin in the back several times.

“The police stood by and not only didn’t do anything to keep the peace and make them obey the law, but helped choreograph the mischief,” Phelps-Roper told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from Topeka on Wednesday. “They let those bitter bikers lay hands on our people.”

So is Reno the only city that God hates?

“Oh no, hon,” Phelps-Roper told a reporter. “God hates America, but you guys (in Reno) have got a special wrath upon you for what those men did.”

The group’s Web site notes that God also hates Sweden, Canada, Ireland and Mexico.

Phelps-Roper said Reno also is on God’s bad side because of the community’s “filthy manner of life” — including gambling and “policies of divorce and remarriage, which the lord Jesus Christ says is adultery.”

“Now, like you didn’t have enough trouble already, you raised your hands against the servants of God,” she said.

Jeff Lockhart, national communications officer for the Patriot Guard Riders, said his group works in cooperation with law enforcement agencies and has a strict policy against any interaction with the church’s protesters. He said the church routinely accuses his group of engaging in confrontations that never occurred.

“I will not officially respond to baseless accusations that are simply fabricated to gain an additional 15 minutes of press time,” Lockhart said in an e-mail to AP.

Washoe County Sheriff’s spokeswoman Brooke Keast said Thursday the protesters walked past two deputies after the incident and made no complaints about the way they were treated.

Poehlman said police made sure the church’s protesters were allowed to exercise their right to peaceably protest away from the actual memorial service.

“I think they just had sour grapes because they didn’t get what they wanted out of that event,” Poehlman said. “I know they were very upset that we would not allow them to be front and center at the funeral.”

Poehlman said violent crime has declined in Reno in each of the past two years. He condemned the group’s reference to Denison, adding that the “terrible situation” regarding her disappearance “doesn’t mean Reno is any less safe than any other community.”

“I think it is despicable for someone who says they are Christians, a church affiliated with Christian beliefs, to any way cause greater suffering to this family,” he said.

A spokeswoman for the Denison family said they had no comment.

Monday, February 4, 2008

To Write Love on Her Arms

The truth is that according to the World Health Organization, depression is one of the leading causes of disability, with approximately 121 million people suffering with depression worldwide. The National Institute of Mental Health states that approximately 18 million people suffer from depression in America alone. Depression does not discriminate across age, race, gender, or class. Among teenagers it is estimated that 20 percent will suffer from depression at some point by the time they reach adulthood. There are also as many as 8.3 percent of teens suffering from depression for at least a year at a time, compared to 5.3 percent of the general population.

With the support of TWLOHA (To Write Love On Her Arms), an organization created to spread awareness for teen depression, self-injury, and suicide, we are coming together to make sure the whole world knows. We are not directly affiliated with TWOLHA, but are in great support of their work To find out more about TWLOHA visit their Facebook Group here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/To-Write-Love-On-Her-Arms/8529136956.

During the time of year that suicide rates are at their highest, we chose February 13, the day before Valentine's Day, as our opportunity to start showing people how much they are loved. We will physically write the word LOVE on our arms (with a sharpie, or whatever other ink suits you best). If someone asks you what it’s for, tell them about TWLOHA. Tell them they are loved, that they are important. And ask if you can write LOVE on their arm as a symbol of that. Don't be afraid to reach out to those who need love, those who you often walk right by every day. They need our care.

There is NO set time, there is NO set location. Where you are, when you are there, speak out.

We want you to share whatever love is strongest for you. Depression has no boundaries, but neither does our love.

Stop the bleeding. Rescue is possible

Sunday, February 3, 2008

Elementary Kindness

The very least you can do in your life is figure out what you hope for.
And the most you can do is live inside that hope.
Not admire it from a distance but live right in it, under its roof.
What I want is so simple I almost cant say it: elementary kindness.
Enough to eat, enough to go around.
The possibility that kids might one day grow up to be neither derstoyers nor the destroyed.
That's about it.
Right now I'm living in that hope, running down its hallway and touching the walls on both sides.
-Barbara Kingsolver