PittsburghThoughts

It's anniversary day. We, my wife and I, were married 35 years ago today. Yesterday, 3 years ago our granddaughter, Gracie was born and tomorrow will be the 3 year anniversary of my liver transplant. Also on this day in 1994 one million people gathered in New York City to celebrate the Stonewall Rebellion: http://gender.eserver.org/stonewall-history.txt and later, on this day in 2003 the Supreme Court ruled that states cannot prohibit private homosexual activity. If I were prelate I would declare June 26th "All Queers Day."

The astronomy picture of the day from Astronomy Picture of the Day Archive is a good one, it wasn't seen with a telescope and photographed like most of the awe inspiring quasars, Red Giants or White Dwarfs etc., but it was seen and captured nonetheless. You could call it a picture of an alternate universe recreated through other means.

                   Starry Night, Vincent van Gogh

The USCCB - (NAB) - June 26, 2006 (United Conference of Catholic Bishops) warns us in it's suggested reading for today: 2 Kgs 17:5-8, 13-15a, 18 that Israel serves a jealous God, one who allowed Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, to attack Samaria, in the ninth year of Hoshea, king of Israel and deport the children of Israel to Assyria for venerating other gods and following the rites of the other nations

Also, in their suggested Gospel reading we are reminded in Mt 7:1-5 that Jesus requires us to
“Stop judging, that you may not be judged. For as you judge, so will you be judged."

Politically, today there's a lot of democrats slapping their foreheads and mumbling, "Those assholes,"
reacting to General Casey's revelations calling for troop reductions in time for November elections.  Democrats Cite Report On Troop Cuts in Iraq and after the republicans and some democrats in the senate voted to scuttle a timetable for withdraw. Senate Rejects Democrats' Calls For IraqTimetable John McCain said about the democrats timetable, "These amendments literally risk disaster for our intervention in Iraq," and, "the Iraqi security forces are clearly unable to maintain security on their own." 

Christopher Shays of Connecticut, a Republican who has frequently expressed concern about the war's effect on his prospects this year, said he favored a path that could be called "staying the course, or learning from our mistakes and now doing it right." Mr. Shays echoed other Republicans by saying, "I would strongly oppose any premature departure from Iraq to help me or anyone else win election."

So, today on June 26th, in the year of our Lord 2006: homosexuals were set free, God revoked Israel's bragging rights about being set free by taking vengeance on them for disrespecting him, Jesus, advises us not to judge even though God the father was clearly a major league Judge (maybe that's why we're encouraged to be Christlike and not Godlike), the republicans are both, or either, for or against withdrawal depending on who says what and how it effects their reelection prospects and long after most dems and republicans are forgotten people will still gaze at Van Gogh's wistful masterpiece and dream of a different world.   Gene