The Progressive Puppy

Lonesome George Bites the Dust, Last Chance to See

The last of the giant tortoises living on La Pinta, a small island in the Galapagos, has died.  Conservation icon Lonesome George was approximately a hundred years old, and the only remaining member of his subspecies.  From Reuters via HuffPo:  Lonesome George was found in 1972 and had become a symbol of Ecuador's Galapagos Islands, which attracted some 180,000 visitors last year.  "This morning the park ranger in charge of looking after the tortoises found Lonesome George, his body was motionless," the head of the Galapagos National Park, Edwin Naula, told Reuters. "His life cycle came to an end."  ...  The giant Galapagos tortoises, which can live up to 200 years old, were among the species that helped Charles Darwin formulate his theory of evolution in the 19th century.  The Galapagos National Park is considering embalming George's body so that it can be displayed in the park, Naula said...  Scientists had been trying to get George to mate since 1993, when they introduced two female tortoises of a different subspecies into his pen. They laid eggs twice, but they were infertile.  (Did nobody consider extracting George's semen when he was in his prime and saving it for just such an occasion?  Perhaps they'll at least harvest George's DNA for cloning.)  

Not long ago, I read a fascinating book about endangered species called Last Chance To See, written by Douglas Adams (of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy fame) and Mark Carwardine.  Although the book was originally published back in 1990, it's as fresh and timely in the 21st century as genetically modified blackberries.  As they hop across the globe in search of animals which will soon be lost to us, Adams and Carwardine mix sharp observations with some whimsical humor.

The chapter "Heartbeats In The Night" deals with a species of flightless parrots found in New Zealand.  Fewer than 150 are currently living in the wild.  The Kakapo (eerily reminiscent of the Dodo, hunted to extinction in the late 1800s) is flightless because it never had to deal with predators.  It's also alarmingly heavy, probably for the same reason. 

From Last Chance To See: 

"Until relatively recently - in the evolutionary scale of things - the wildlife of New Zealand consisted of almost nothing but birds...  No dogs, no cats, no ferrets or weasels, nothing that the birds needed to escape from particularly.  And flight, of course, is a means of escape.  It's a survival mechanism, and one that the birds of New Zealand found they didn't especially need. Flying is hard work and consumes a lot of energy. Not only that, there's a trade-off between flying and eating.  The more you eat, the harder it is to fly.  So increasingly, what happened was that instead of just having a light snack and then flying off, the birds would settle in for rather a larger meal and go for a waddle afterward instead.  When eventually European settlers arrived and brought cats and dogs and stoats and possums with them, a lot of New Zealand's flightless birds were suddenly waddling for their lives. 

"Of these the Kakapo is the strangest... If you look one in its large, round greeny-brown face, it has a gaze of innocent incomprehension that makes you want to hug it and tell it that everything will be all right, though you know it probably will not be.  It is an extremely fat bird (and) its wings are just about good for waggling a bit if it thinks it's about to trip over something - but flying is out of the question.  Sadly, it seems that not only has the Kakapo forgotten how to fly, but it has also forgotten that it has forgotten how to fly.  Apparently, a seriously worried Kakapo will sometimes run up a tree and jump out of it, whereupon it drops like a brick and lands in a graceless heap on the ground."

There there, poor sweet baby.  Everything will be all right.

Retribution from the Right over Marriage Equality in New York

Apparently that turning-the-other-cheek thing is an alien concept to groups that claim to promote "Christian values." 

Miranda Leitsinger reports for MSNBC:  One year after New York lawmakers voted to make same-sex marriage legal in the state, opponents of gay marriage are pledging to unseat the Republicans whose support was key to the law's passage, saying they want to send a message to other legislators that there are “consequences” to their votes.  The National Organization for Marriage, which opposes gay marriage, says it is funneling $2 million into the state to oust three state senators who voted to support the legislation.  All three, Sens. Roy McDonald, Stephen Saland and Mark Grisanti, are facing primary challenges. A fourth GOP senator, Jim Alesi, already has said he won’t seek a ninth term due to local opposition over his pro-gay marriage stance...  Brian Brown, executive director of NOM, doesn't shy away from the fact his group is hoping to intimidate wavering lawmakers into opposing gay marriage.  “The message is clear, that supporting same-sex marriage is a losing issue, not a winning issue,” Brown told msnbc.com. “You could lose your career over supporting same-sex marriage.”  ("Revenge is ours!" sayeth the homophobes.)  NOM has spent $400,000 on issue ads, billboards, automated calls and direct mail as well as made direct donations through its New York PAC. It is planning to spend another $1.6 million to try to unseat McDonald, Saland and Grisanti as a result of their gay marriage votes.

It's astonishing that NOM can think of no better way to squander its members' cash donations than on what is essentially a strategy of political vengeance.  Of course, what else should we expect from religious cons who believe loving same-sex couples are unworthy of the same rights and protections enjoyed by their heterosexual counterparts.

When Marriage Equality became a reality in the Empire State last summer, Tara Siegel Bernard reported on the New York Times:  While New York had already recognized same-sex marriages performed elsewhere, that recognition didn’t extend to state income taxes. Now, couples who marry and live in New York will be able to file their state tax returns jointly. Wealthier couples may end up paying more in taxes, but families with lower incomes may owe less.  Couples who decide to marry will also be first in line to inherit their spouses’ assets, even in the absence of a will. They’ll gain an array of smaller benefits as well, down to the ability to transfer a lobstering license.  “There are hundreds of different protections and benefits under New York law,” said Susan Sommer, director of constitutional litigation at Lambda Legal, a legal advocacy organization for the gay community.  Of course, there’s still a long list of federal benefits that will remain out of reach. Since the federal Defense of Marriage Act — which defines marriage as between a man and a woman — is still being enforced, gay couples in New York will still need to file separate federal tax returns. They will not be eligible for Social Security spousal or survivor benefits. And they will continue to owe extra income taxes on their spouse’s health insurance benefits — a cost that opposite-sex married couples don’t have to pay.

One wonders if the bigots at NOM, the Family Research Council, American Family Association, NARTH, et al. ever stop hating gays and lesbians long enough to, say, volunteer at a soup kitchen?  No, I suppose two million dollars worth of petty revenge is time and money better spent.  Isn't this what Jesus would do?

Conservative Christian Compassion - The Tough Luck Club (video)

Squeezing Conservatives Through the Eye of a Needle

Conservative Christians not only pick and choose which Bible passages to follow, there's often a litmus test for their good deeds.  Ask the next homeless man you see what he has to endure to quality for "Christian" charity.  Really.  Ask him.

Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council has a new plan to end poverty:  Make sure children are only raised in homes with a mother and a father.  Households with single mothers cause poverty, Perkins says, and of course gays and lesbians are bringing the nation to ruin.  When he's pressed about evangelicals obsessing over same-sex marriage at the expense of impoverished Americans, Perkins stammers and becomes practically incoherent.  He finally declares that programs to help the poor should be the responsibility of local communities (read: churches that dispense largesse conditionally) ... 

"We don't think government is (the) solution for dealing with poverty.  We believe that the American people who are generous in their giving, local communities who can address not just the material povery but the spiritual poverty as well...  My family goes to the local homeless shelter here in Baton Rouge because we meet not only the physical needs but we share with them the spiritual needs that they have."  (The hungry and vulnerable must listen to preachifying before they're given their crust of bread.)  "That's what churches do.  That's what the religious community does when they're empowered to do so."  (via MSNBC's Martin Bashir)

In an opinion piece on the Oklahoma Daily,  Trent Carson talks about filthy rich Republican politicians:  I’m often told that these men, and almost all people like them, give to charity and contribute to foundations that benefit the poor every single year; that programs like welfare should be handled by charities, not the government. The church should take care of this, they say, rather than the government forcing us to be charitable by taxing us and spending our money on programs for the poor.  I believe this was actually Ron Paul’s answer to a debate question. It seems obvious to me that we have charities, churches and a welfare system, and many people still can’t afford to meet a basic standard of living in this country. Removing the welfare system and placing the burden solely on charities and churches seems like a pretty obviously bad idea. The donations from the rich wouldn’t come close to meeting the basic needs of the poor, which was of great concern to Jesus, and cutting programs like welfare would leave many of the poorest people in America to die and many of our greatest cities surrounded by slums. 

Here's a quote from St. Francis of Assisi: "Where there is charity and wisdom, there is neither fear nor ignorance." 

Well, that certainly leaves out the Vatican and fundamentalist pastors.  (Painting, above right, by Dan Gheno)

Related Post:  Tea Party Charity
Related Post:  Three Churches Withdraw Charity Over Gay Inclusiveness
Related Post:  Catholic Church Threatens:  Overturn Gay Rights or No Charity for Kids

Sugar's Rainbow - Friday Edition

John Aravosis at AmericaBlog reminds us that Southern Baptists, who didn't renounce slavery until 1995, are refusing to accept gay rights as civil rights.  The widow of Martin Luther King Jr. disagrees.  There's an in-depth report of the SBC's intolerant stance on ClaarionLedger.com.  Says Stan Buckley, former senior pastor at Jackson's First Baptist Church:  "The convention believes that while culture is going to constantly change, the truth of Scripture does not change."  (Except in matters of slavery and shellfish and murdering disobedient children and women remaining silent in churches.)

NOM and the Family Research Council have resurrected one of FRC's old pamphlets that compares same-sex nuptials to bestiality.  This is how they plan on attacking Maine's latest push for marriage equality.  Jeremy Hooper at Good As You connects those dots.  (If nothing else, the propaganda of hate groups is predictable.)

Three exhaustive posts on Box Turtle Bulletin refute that recent "study" by University of Texas professor Mark Regnerus which suggests kids raised by committed gay and lesbian couples don't fare as well as those brought up in traditional households.  Regenerus bristles at the avalanche of criticism he's received for slipshod methodology.  Jim Burroway observes:  "His response so far has boiled down to this: don’t pay any attention to how he used his tools. Just look at how shiny and expensive they are. But as every craftsman will tell you, it’s not the tools that make the better product, but the care of the craftsman who uses them wisely."  (The ex-gay "therapists" at NARTH are rushing to defend Regnerus' fundie-friendly conclusions, which are countered by three decades of credible - and contradictory - research.)

Minnesota's anti-gay zealots are organizing statewide rallies to persuade consumers to "Dump General Mills" because the cereal giant promotes tolerance.  Zach Ford walks the dog for Think Progress.

Country music star Carrie Underwood is having to defend herself from fans bigots over her remarks about equality.

On Pam's House Blend, Alvin McEwen provides videos that contradict professional homophobe Matt Barber's "Christian" outreach to "average everyday homosexuals."  It's a hoot. 

Learn why Ohio's gay community is optimistic about the future on the Chicago-Sun Times.  (Among other things, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan and Cook County Attorney Anita Alvarez will not be defending the state's gay marriage ban.  They have referred to the 16-year old law as unconstitutional.)

The gay dads featured in JC Penney's ad campaign will be marching with the company during Sunday's NYC Pride.

Kids cutting out their demons, snake handlers, and more! (videos)

1)  A Christian teacher takes her kids on a field trip and orders them to cut their skin to release demons.
2)  At the "Signs and Wonders" Bible camp, kids learn how to perform miracles. Throw away those crutches!

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3)  Bill Maher discusses the recent death of a snake handler.
4)  Behold!  There's a new generation of snake-handling evangelicals.

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AFA's Bryan Fischer Yearns for the Gay Bashing of Yesteryear

Religious fanatics at the American Family Association continue to issue outrageous statements maligning LGBT Americans.  They raise cash for Republican politicians, they encourage anti-gay hate crimes, they initiate laws restricting women's reproductive choices and protecting school bullies, they reject teaching science in public schools, they boycott businesses that support equality, and they produce videos boasting about their prejudice.  Head fanatic Bryan Fischer yearns for the "good old days" when citizens denounced gays and lesbians - and he equates sexual orientation with pedophilia, a shopworn talking point of fundies.  Proclaimeth the Fischer of Bigots:  "A generation ago, our entire society said the same thing about homosexual behavior that we still say about pedophilia."  (Hat Tip: Kyle Mantyla at RW Watch)

"If gays are granted rights, next we'll have to give rights to prostitutes and to people who sleep with St. Bernards and to nailbiters."  - Anita Bryant, anti-gay activist and born-again Christian of yesteryear