Devi: I’m not a big Kobe Bryant fan. There was a lot of hype about how incredible he was, but I don’t think he ever became as great as anyone said he was going to become.
This isn’t a post about Dr. James Dobson’s comments yesterday about Barack Obama’s biblical inaccuracy (for more about that read: love, devi). This is a post about CNN’s inaccuracy. Click here to read this headline:
Evangelist accuses Obama of ‘distorting’ Bible
Alright, CNN, here’s a quick rundown in terminology:
e·van·ge·list [i-van-juh-list] – noun
1. a Protestant minister who serves as an itinerant or special preacher, esp. a revivalist.
2. a preacher of the gospel.
e·van·gel·i·cal
[ee-van-jel-i-kuh
1. Also, evangelic. Pertaining to or in keeping with the gospel and its teachings.
2. belonging to or designating the Christian churches that emphasise the teachings and authority of the Scriptures, es. of the New Testament, in opposition to the institutional authority of the church itself, and that stress as paramount the tenet salvation is achieved by personal conversion to faith in the atonement of Christ.
An evangelist is a person who serves the function of preacher of the gospel in the church. It is a position. James Dobson is under no circumstances an evangelist. No evangelical considers him an evangelist, and I guarantee he would not consider himself an evangelist.
For the five of you who still read this, greetings.
I can’t believe that half the year is almost gone. I can’t believe I haven’t blogged in so long. I can’t believe I haven’t taken photos of the caramelised pear and walnut cake or apple and sultana teacake that I baked all by myself. I can’t believe I no longer work in a call centre. I can’t believe that 13 weeks from today I will be leaving Australia. can’t believe that Hillary Clinton is not going to be the Democratic nominee.
Ok, I really can’t believe that last one. I keep expecting to wake up to find out that the last month has been only a sweet dream and that Hillary is the Democratic nominee with Bill as her VP. Hillbilly 2008. High on the hill was a lonely goatherd…
I’m going to stop myself.
Friends, it has been an incredible last few months. So incredible in fact, that very little of it I can share, mostly because it is too difficult to articulate and also because it is too personal for the internet. I hope my usual list of highlights will do:
Cooking – I’ve been baking of late, and everything turns out nicely. I am getting to the stage where I feel uncomfortable telling people that I can’t cook because I am shocked to find out that I actually can.
New job – I have one. I’m working for the Victorian government as a writer. It has been fun, and so far, I’ve had two morning tea opportunities with scrumptious cake-type things. I hope for more before I leave.
Reading – C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia keeps me company these days. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe was the only book I read in the series, and while it is (so far) the best book, the rest of the set are magical.
Media – I am so tempted to watch Return of the Zohan because I love terrorist jokes, but I will withstand this momentary lapse in reasoning and judgment because Adam Sandler movies are typically disappointing. I watched Helen Hunt’s Then She Found Me. It was moving and meaningful. I think I’m one of 20 women in the world who didn’t see Sex and the City. Ok, maybe there are a few more than that given the number of women around the world who have no access to cinemas.
Politics – Go away, leave me alone.
Blogging – I started a new blog – love, devi. I’m in the process of developing it. I’m not sure yet if I will discontinue this one, but love, devi is where I’ll be doing my blogging when I start traveling in September. The format will be letters written to people I know and those I don’t know (yet). Also, you must check out a.r.ceology by Amy Carter. Best new blog I’ve read recently.
New blog is here
Can someone please tell me why I keep getting e-mails with the subject line Christian Singles from Daters Wanted? How do these people know that I’m a Christian and single? And in what manner could I tell them that I would only be interested in online dating if the sky fell down AND I lived in a castle in the sky?
Overheard in the kitchen
Dharshi: When we were kids, did we ever just scream at each other?
Amma: I can’t remember.
Appa: I remember having to tell one of you to stop hitting the other one.
Dharshi: It was probably Devi.
Appa: Yeah, it was.
So this is what Shakespeare meant.
I don’t understand the Florida, Michigan, caucuses, superdelegates, superheroes, and whatever else it takes to get the Democratic Party nomination. So here I am, shamelessly taking stuff from Andrew Sullivan’s blog, The Daily Dish about some of Hillary Clinton and her campaigns shenanigans moves. It is well-worth reading especially if you are a superhero or person of significance in the Democratic Party. And if you are such a person and you are reading this blog, I would make an excellent speech writer. Hire me.
Desperate to get attention for her cause to seat Florida and Michigan delegates, Hillary Clinton compared the plight of Zimbabweans in their recent fraudulent election to the uncounted votes of Michigan and Florida voters saying it is wrong when “people go through the motions of an election only to have them discarded and disregarded.”
“We’re seeing that right now in Zimbabwe,” Clinton explained. “Tragically, an election was held, the president lost, they refused to abide by the will of the people,” Clinton told the crowd of senior citizens at a retirement community in south Florida.
– CBS News
So how did Hillary end up with the Florida and Michigan situation?
From The New York Times in September 2007
PORTSMOUTH, N.H., Sept. 1 — Three of the major Democratic presidential candidates on Saturday pledged not to campaign in Florida, Michigan and other states trying to leapfrog the 2008 primary calendar, a move that solidified the importance of the opening contests of Iowa and New Hampshire.
Hours after Senator Barack Obama of Illinois and former Senator John Edwards of North Carolina agreed to sign a loyalty pledge put forward by party officials in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York followed suit. The decision seemed to dash any hopes of Mrs. Clinton relying on a strong showing in Florida as a springboard to the nomination.
“We believe Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina play a unique and special role in the nominating process,” Patti Solis Doyle, the Clinton campaign manager, said in a statement.
Analysis of the Florida and Michigan situation
This gambit by Clinton is simply an attempt to steal the nomination. It’s obviously not going to work, because Democratic superdelegates don’t want to commit suicide. But this episode is very revealing about Clinton’s character. I try not to make moralistic characterological judgments about politicians, because all politicians compromise their ideals in the pursuit of power. There are no angels in this business. Clinton’s gambit, however, truly is breathtaking.
If she’s consciously lying, it’s a shockingly cynical move. I don’t think she’s lying. I think she’s so convinced of her own morality and historical importance that she can whip herself into a moralistic fervor to support nearly any position that might benefit her, however crass and sleazy. It’s not just that she’s convinced herself it’s okay to try to steal the nomination, she has also appropriated the most sacred legacies of liberalism for her effort to do so. She is proving herself temperamentally unfit for the presidency.
I don’t know much about infidelity, and I don’t know much about running for president. But I would imagine that enduring my husbands public, gratuitous infidelity and sexual harassment would be significantly more damaging than losing a presidential nomination. Surely if she can get through that, she can put her head down now, bow out somewhat gracefully, keeping in mind of course that a gracious bow out should have happened a month or two ago at the latest.
Actually, that’s a terrible idea and also illegal because I’m not a citizen of the United States. But for what it’s worth, I think Barack Obama needs to go with an old white guy. He does not need to appease the numbers of female voters who came out of the kitchen to vote for Hillary by selecting a female vice presidential nominee. Women will vote for Obama anyway because he’s tall and cute. Doesn’t the tall guy always win? Isn’t John McCain, like, so short?
Try to keep from hate e-mailing me, ladies, but I’ll stick my neck out and say it again. Women will vote for Barack Obama over John McCain with or without a female running mate. They’ll do it because they prefer his positions on abortion, because he is likeable and because he is attractive. All sad reasons, yes, but reasons none the less. Please note: I am not saying that women won’t vote for Barack Obama for other, more valid reasons. I’m just saying that the women who are nuts for Hillary, meaning nuts for the idea of a female president, those women will vote for Barack Obama even if – or when he – beats Hillary for the nomination.
I say it’s going to be Sen. Chris Dodd or Joe Biden.
Our receptionist received this yesterday in her work e-mail inbox.
Hello my name is Natalia!!!
I write you this letter for the purpose of creation serious relations with you.
I am a lonely woman, I am 29.
I search for the man for creation seriuos relations.
I wish to meet a polite and kind man. I hope to meet on the Internet,
such a man who is also as lonely as me, and like me he dreams about family.
I live in Russia. I am a Russian girl.
I work in the city hospital as a doctor-therapist. Russia is not a stable country,
Therefore I wish to create a family in another country.
I want my family to be very happy.
I hope, that you won’t be against creation of serious relations with a Russian girl.
I have many friends. But among them, there is no man to whom I can entrust my heart,
Therefore I have decided to try to find a man in the Internet in another country.
I hope to meet a man and to fall in love with him.
I can tell about my character,
I am a romantic person, I do not love cruelty. I am a cheerful and sociable girl.
I like to listen to the music, but I do not go to clubs, my hobby is sports.
I go in for sports when I have free time. I like to swim in the pool and to do jogging in the mornings.
I often do aerobics. I do not smoke. I drink only light alcohol, champagne or white wine.
I love children, but I don’t have mine, I have never been married.
My e-mail address is: [removed]
I will wait for your letter. Please, answer me.
If you write to me, I will answer you and tell you about myself, and I will send the photos.
I will be also very glad to see your photo. Please, send me if it is possible.
I am lonely and I hope to meet the person with whom I can be happy.
I am interested in you.I wait for your letter on my personal electronic box:
[removed]I wait for your letter. I wish you a good day.
Natalia
So who else thinks that Fall Out Boy and John Mayer’s version of “Beat It” is awesome? Yeah, me too. Of course I’m not a Michael Jackson fan, and I do not care if he’s a musical genius.
My latest cooking adventure involved beetroot. Any veggie that tastes great out of a can should be given a vegetable medal. Or something. This was beetroot soup from – what else? – “Delicious” magazine. My most favoritest magazine EVER.
It’s one of the most beautiful soups I’ve seen, a light fuschia colour with bright green chives sprinkled on top. But more importantly it was simple.
Sautee an onion, carrot and potato in butter, add a few bay leaves, a litre of vegetable stock and a cup of water and let it boil. Then add a 450 gram can of chopped beetroot. Cook some more. Then blend. Add chives and cream if you want it. Finit.
Would You Like Salt With That? 