Barrel of Monkeys: Genesis in Reverse

Maurice Sendak - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2013-06-10T13:42:00.001-04:00

Maurice Sendak - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: Maurice Bernard Sendak (/ˈsɛndæk/; June 10, 1928 – May 8, 2012) was an American illustrator and writer of children's books. He became widely known for his book Where the Wild Things Are, first published in 1963.[1] Born to Jewish-Polish parents, his childhood was affected by the death of many of his family members during the Holocaust. Besides Where the Wild Things Are, Sendak also wrote works such as In the Night Kitchen and Outside Over There, and illustrated Little Bear.

Sendak mentioned in a September 2008 article in The New York Times that he was gay and had lived with his partner, psychoanalyst Dr. Eugene Glynn, for 50 years before Glynn's death in May 2007. Revealing that he never told his parents, he said, "All I wanted was to be straight so my parents could be happy. They never, never, never knew." Sendak's relationship with Glynn had been mentioned by other writers before (e.g., Tony Kushner in 2003). In Glynn's 2007 New York Times obituary, Sendak was listed as Glynn's "partner of fifty years". After his partner's death, Sendak donated $1 million to the Jewish Board of Family and Children's Services in memory of Glynn who had treated young people there. The gift will name a clinic for Glynn.

Sendak was an atheist, and stated in a September 2011 interview with Terry Gross on National Public Radio's Fresh Air that he didn't believe in God. He went on to elaborate, and said among other things, "It [religion, and belief in God] must have made life much easier [for some religious friends of his]. It's harder for us non-believers."

UPDATE 1-Mothers are breadwinners for growing share of U.S. families | Reuters

2013-05-29T14:01:00.001-04:00

UPDATE 1-Mothers are breadwinners for growing share of U.S. families | Reuters: The so-called "breadwinner moms" are split into two camps, with married mothers who have a higher income than their husbands accounting for 37 percent and 63 percent consisting of single mothers, the Pew study said.

It said married women who out-earn their husbands tended to be slightly older, disproportionately white and college-educated and much better paid than single mothers, who were younger, more likely to be black or Hispanic and less likely to have a college degree.

Single mothers now make up one-quarter of all U.S. households with children and women make up almost half of the U.S. labor force.

According to the Pew study, the employment rate of married mothers with children has jumped from 37 percent in 1968 to 65 percent in 2011.

In a public opinion survey examining the impact of mothers working for pay, Pew Research found last month that about two-thirds of Americans recognized clear economic benefits for families in the gains moms have made in the workplace.

But the survey found that 74 percent of adults said the increasing number of women working for pay had made it more difficult for parents to raise children, and half said it made it harder for marriages to succeed.

As Eagle Scouts return medals, gay ban still firm - Houston Chronicle

2012-08-05T10:54:00.001-04:00

As Eagle Scouts return medals, gay ban still firm - Houston Chronicle: "The Scouts do matter. They do a lot of good for a lot of families and boys," said the Journal's editorial. "But their influence and relevance will wane if they continue to go against a society that's becoming more inclusive, not exclusive."

Some critics of the ban say it endures because religious organizations sponsor about 70 percent of the Boy Scouts' units nationwide — and these church groups generally support the membership policy.

Among the mainline Protestant denominations that sponsor large numbers of Scout units — the United Methodist Church, the Episcopal Church and others — the picture is less clear.

Pressure grows for Weiner to resign - CNN.com

2011-06-08T11:22:00.000-04:00

Pressure grows for Weiner to resign - CNN.com: "'I wish there was some way I could defend him, but I can't,' Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, told reporters Tuesday. Asked what he would say if Weiner sought advice, Reid smiled and responded: 'I'd tell him to call someone else.'
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-California, who called for an ethics investigation Monday, released a letter Tuesday detailing her formal request for the inquiry.
Weiner publicly apologized Monday for sending flirtatious messages and images on Facebook and Twitter to six women over the past three years and then denying it for a week."

New Mexico billboard accuses woman of having an abortion | Reuters

2011-06-07T22:04:00.000-04:00

New Mexico billboard accuses woman of having an abortion Reuters: "According to Holmes, when Fultz and his girlfriend, who was then 18, found out they were going to have a baby, she wanted to get married. Fultz refused, Holmes said, and during a church camping trip there was a 'discussion about an ultimatum. Either you marry me or I'm not going to have this baby type of thing.'"

Married... with Children - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2011-05-23T16:09:00.000-04:00

Married... with Children - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "The show follows the lives of Al Bundy, a once-glorious high school football player (who scored four touchdowns in a single game for Polk High School) turned hard luck salesman of women's shoes; his tartish, obnoxious wife Peg; their attractive but dimwitted and sexually promiscuous daughter Kelly; and Bud, their unpopular, girl crazy, oily but comparatively smart son (and the only Bundy who ever attended college). Their neighbors are the upwardly mobile Steve Rhoades and his wife Marcy, who later gets remarried to Jefferson D'Arcy, a white-collar criminal who becomes Marcy's 'trophy husband' and Al's sidekick. Most storylines involve a scheming Al being foiled by his cartoonish dim wit and bad luck. His rivalry and loathing for Marcy play a significant role in most episodes."

CDC Warns Public to Prepare for 'Zombie Apocalypse' - FoxNews.com

2011-05-19T11:06:00.000-04:00

CDC Warns Public to Prepare for 'Zombie Apocalypse' - FoxNews.com: "'It's kind of a tongue-in-cheek campaign,' Daigle said Wednesday. 'We were talking about hurricane preparedness and someone bemoaned that we kept putting out the same messages.'
While metrics for the post are not yet available, Daigle said it has become the most popular CDC blog entry in just two days.
'People are so tuned into zombies,' he said. 'People are really dialed in on zombies. The idea is we're reaching an audience or a segment we'd never reach with typical messages.'"

Bin Laden’s Death Won’t End Toll on Taxpayers - Bloomberg

2011-05-12T02:27:00.001-04:00

Bin Laden’s Death Won’t End Toll on Taxpayers - Bloomberg: "Along with the dollars-and-cents toll, bin Laden has left behind a less quantifiable imprint on American life. Thousands of families have suffered grievous loss from the Sept. 11 attacks and the two wars. U.S. government buildings in Washington and around the world have grown to resemble fortified bunkers. And the line between government power and individual liberty was redrawn as agencies gained new powers to combat a novel threat."

Bin Laden’s Death Won’t End Toll on Taxpayers - Bloomberg

2011-05-12T02:27:00.000-04:00

What We Can Learn from the Schwarzenegger-Shriver Split – TIME Healthland

2011-05-11T08:30:00.000-04:00

What We Can Learn from the Schwarzenegger-Shriver Split – TIME Healthland: "This is particularly true for wives, says Steve Stosny, therapist and author of Love Without Hurt. 'The husband typically withdraws from the grieving or ailing wife, making her feel isolated in a time of vulnerability,' he says. 'Once she recovers on her own, she sees no point to the relationship where the man has just proven to her that he won't be there for her when she most needs him.'
As a rule, men prefer to deal with stress differently, in isolation. Sharing it makes them feel inadequate as protectors, as, says Stosny, does a wife's long-term grief. 'Men in general cannot bear to see their wives distressed or depressed, especially when it goes on for a while,' he says. 'They can handle short-term, acute problems where they can respond like heroes, but over the long haul, they are not so good at nursing.'"

Antichrist - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2011-05-11T05:43:00.000-04:00

Antichrist - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "Armilus is an anti-messiah figure from late period Jewish eschatology. He is described as bald, partially maimed, and partially deaf.[30]"

Antichrist - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2011-05-11T05:42:00.000-04:00

Antichrist - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "Bernard McGinn described multiple traditions detailing the relationship between the Antichrist and Satan. In the dualist approach, Satan will become incarnate in the Antichrist, just as God became incarnate in Jesus. However, in orthodox Christian thought, this view was problematic because it was too similar to Christ's incarnation. Instead, the 'indwelling' view became more accepted. It stipulates that the Antichrist is a human figure inhabited by Satan, since the latter’s power is not to be seen as equivalent to God’s.[27]
Several American evangelical and fundamentalist theologians, including Cyrus Scofield, have identified the Antichrist as being in league with (or the same as) several figures in the Book of Revelation including the Dragon, the Beast, the False Prophet, and the Whore of Babylon.[28] Others, for example, Rob Bell, reject the identification of the Antichrist with any one person or group. They believe a loving Christ would not view anyone as an enemy.[29] Technically seen the antichrist is John's prophecy of an other religion that would spring up out of the old one, exactly and explicitly negating what Christ in the perception of christians is. As John said: He who does not believe Christ came into the flesh as Son of God, is the antichrist."

Second Coming of Christ - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2011-05-11T05:36:00.000-04:00

Second Coming of Christ - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "Judaismis sometimes against the idea of his Second Coming. Many Jews believe that Jesus failed to fulfill specific Messianic prophecies. They often claim that, among other things, Jesus' death and failure to redeem the world[citation needed] after his first coming are proof that he could not be the Messiah. Rabbi David Wolpe believes that the Second Coming was 'grown out of genuine disappointment' and invented by Christians to theologically compensate for Jesus' death.[55]"

Second Coming of Christ - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2011-05-11T05:33:00.000-04:00

Second Coming of Christ - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "The Second Coming or Advent of the Christ is not in a physical body,[39] but in the new soul body of each individual in the etheric region of the planet[40] where man 'shall be caught up IN THE CLOUDS to meet the Lord IN THE AIR.'[41] The 'day and hour' when this event shall be, as described in the Bible, is not in the human knowledge domain.[42]"

Going to Heaven May 21? Atheists offer to take care of your pets | News To Me with George Mathis

2011-05-11T05:21:00.000-04:00

Going to Heaven May 21? Atheists offer to take care of your pets News To Me with George Mathis: "The folks that will tend to Christians’ four-legged friends are Centre’s chosen ones. They love animals and don’t love Jesus.
“These are people not likely to be Raptured under any circumstances,” Bart said in The Washington Post. “Not that we think anybody is going anywhere anyway, which we make perfectly clear on our website.”
Business isn’t exactly booming, but he does get a lot of phone calls from atheists looking for work and Christians who say Jesus would never make the devout leave their pets behind.
“God didn’t take care of the animals during the flood,” says Centre, who does not believe in God or Biblical floods"

Ethical Principles

2011-05-11T04:43:00.000-04:00

Ethical Principles: "Members of the Emory community in positions of authority carry a particular obligation to exercise care and compassion, and appropriately confidential or personal information must be safeguarded."

Ethical Principles

2011-05-11T04:41:00.000-04:00

Ethical Principles: "Members of Emory are expected to strive for the highest degree of integrity. The University’s resources, both natural and fiscal, are entrusted to us for the common good and for future generations; the University and we its members are expected to exercise wise stewardship over these resources and to guard against their misappropriation or misuse. All conflicts of interest and of commitment are to be promptly addressed, and all possible steps are to be taken to eliminate the conflicts or to manage them to ensure that they do not undermine the integrity of our institution or ourselves."

James W. Wagner

2011-05-11T04:37:00.000-04:00

James W. Wagner: "Reviving an Emory tradition, President Wagner has delivered the address at each of the baccalaureate services for graduating seniors since his arrival at Emory. An elder in the Presbyterian church (in which his wife, Debbie, is a seasoned professional Christian educator), he has found particularly attractive Emory's blend of rigorous intellectual inquiry and ethical engagement."

James W. Wagner

2011-05-11T04:35:00.000-04:00

James W. Wagner: "Along the way, President Wagner has won high marks for rolling up his sleeves and engaging very deeply with faculty, staff, and students-occasionally rehearsing with student a capella groups (he's a former barbershop singer himself), meeting regularly with faculty leadership and departments, and winning approval for his openness to the concerns of faculty and staff."

James W. Wagner

2011-05-11T04:10:00.000-04:00

James W. Wagner: "He also has had significant experience in raising funds from private philanthropic sources. All of these notes resonated with the priorities of the institution in 2003."

Can Christian Men Succeed in the Workplace? How to Succeed as a Christian Man at Work

2011-05-09T18:32:00.000-04:00

Can Christian Men Succeed in the Workplace? How to Succeed as a Christian Man at Work: "The strongest work ethic you can develop is to imitate Christ. You spend half your waking life on the job, so if you leave Jesus at home when you go out the door, you’re only a part-time Christian. Laws may prevent us from evangelizing in the workplace, but you can’t go wrong if your example is so attractive that others want what you have. At the end of your career, you won’t be carrying your money with you into eternity, but you will be able to take your Christlike character. That’s the real meaning of success."

Can Christian Men Succeed in the Workplace? How to Succeed as a Christian Man at Work

2011-05-09T18:27:00.000-04:00

Can Christian Men Succeed in the Workplace? How to Succeed as a Christian Man at Work: "Over the years, my favorite coworkers were the ones I could have a laugh with. Not only does laughing relieve stress, but it improves teamwork. Laughing on the job is not wasting time. It’s keeping work in its proper perspective and treating colleagues like human beings instead of tools. A relaxed group of workers is much more productive than a tense, scared group. If you try to hide your personality on the job and are overly concerned with appearing 'professional,' you’ll only come across as stiff and phony. It’s hard to beat the feeling of coming home from work tired, yet satisfied because you and your coworkers accomplished something worthwhile during the day and had fun doing it."

How Bristol Palin Was Criticized on 'DWTS' Gallery - The Hollywood Reporter

2011-05-09T16:07:00.001-04:00

How Bristol Palin Was Criticized on 'DWTS' Gallery - The Hollywood Reporter: "'She accepted the challenge. ...She's willing to put herself out there, and she's in the finals ...The left can't stand this, and her mother's TV show on TLC's getting higher ratings than any cable news network show. They can't stand it. And throughout all of this character assassination, throughout every attempt to destroy this family ...they're laughing, they're smiling, and they're having a good time. They're enjoying life as Alaskans and as Americans. It just ticks [the left] off to no end. And that's what makes it enjoyable,' Rush Limbaugh said on The Rush Limbaugh Show in support of Palin, seen here in the Oct. 11 episode when the season's nine remaining couples danced the Rumba or Argentine Tango in-the-round for the first time in the show's history."

I'm not sure I know what Rush is talking about. I do remember some fussing that the Tea Party were organizing call-in-voting for Bristol Palin. I can see why the left might fuss. It would be unfair to the other celebrity dancers; left, right or in between. That's not character assassination. Not for Bristol anyway from what I saw. In fact, her monkey routine had me wondering if maybe an act of rebellion against her Mother's religious beliefs.
"They're laughing, they're smiling, and they're having a good time."
Again I'm not sure what Rush is talking about. They all were! The Tea Party ...remember....stayed home!

Islam Needs Reformists, Not 'Moderates' - WSJ.com

2011-05-09T12:09:00.000-04:00

Islam Needs Reformists, Not 'Moderates' - WSJ.com: "I closed by suggesting that moderate Muslims join moderate Jews and Christians in admitting to the nasty side of all our scriptures. The following week, a Muslim acquaintance emailed me. Peeved that I would 'go after moderate Muslims,' she curtly counseled me to 'wash laundry in the backyard'—that is, to discuss our internal affairs privately."

Emory University Mission Statement

2011-05-09T11:50:00.001-04:00

The University, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church, cherishes its historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. While Emory's programs are today entirely nonsectarian (except for those at the Candler School of Theology), the University has derived from this heritage the conviction that education can be a strong moral force in both society and the lives of its individual members.

University Mission Statement: "While being a comprehensive research university, Emory limits its academic scope to those fields in which, by virtue of its history and location, it can excel. Hence its academic programs focus on the arts and sciences, business, law, theology, and the health professions. These disciplines are unified by their devotion to liberal learning; by cooperative interdisciplinary programs; and by the common pursuit of intellectual distinction."

Word Origin & History

theology
mid-14c., from O.Fr. theologie "philosophical treatment of Christian doctrine" (14c.), from L. theologia, from Gk. theologia "an account of the gods," from theologos "one discoursing on the gods," from theos "god" (see Thea) + -logos "treating of."

"Theology moves back and forth between two poles, the eternal truth of its foundations and the temporal situation in which the eternal truth must be received." [Paul Tillich, "Systematic Theology," 1951]