Good Samaritan in a G-string?

Luke 10:25-37:

There was a scholar of the law 11 who stood up to test him and said, "Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

Jesus said to him, "What is written in the law? How do you read it?"

He said in reply, "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself."

He replied to him, "You have answered correctly; do this and you will live."

But because he wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"

Jesus replied, "A man fell victim to robbers as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho. They stripped and beat him and went off leaving him half-dead.

A priest happened to be going down that road, but when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side.

Likewise a Levite came to the place, and when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side.

But a Samaritan traveler who came upon him was moved with compassion at the sight.

He approached the victim, poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them. Then he lifted him up on his own animal, took him to an inn and cared for him.

The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper with the instruction, 'Take care of him. If you spend more than what I have given you, I shall repay you on my way back.'

Which of these three, in your opinion, was neighbor to the robbers' victim?"

He answered, "The one who treated him with mercy." Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise." (Taken from www.usccb.org)

Here's the story via Breitbart;

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) - A strip club in Ohio has raised $1,000 for Haitian earthquake relief during what was billed as "Lap dances for Haiti."

Marilyn's on Monroe in Toledo donated the $10 cover charges collected Saturday to ISOH (I-S-O-H)/IMPACT, an organization based in suburban Perrysburg that provides food and clothing for Haiti.

Marilyn's general manager Kenny Soprano says his establishment had been looking for a reason to hold a charity fundraiser even before the quake, as a way to improve its image. He says you don't hear much about strip clubs giving back to the community.

ISOH/IMPACT CEO Linda Greene doesn't have a problem with where the money came from. She says her group appreciates any donations to help Haiti.

Well the tale of the Good Samaritan never spoke of him converting to Judaism or giving up what was viewed by the listeners of Christ as a sinful life. It only emphasized his greater compassion than those who refused to help, that compassion being more in line with Christ's teachings than the actions of the others.

So maybe theres some lap dancers in Heaven, who knows?

The wife and I recently rented "A Man For All Seasons" which tells the story of St. Thomas More and his refusal to approve the divorce of Henry VIII from Catherine of Aragon and subsequent marriage to Anne Boleyn.

In one exchange the character of St. Thomas declares his refusal to judge the motivations and conscience of any other man, claiming it isn't for him to do but for God.

Not a bad sentiment when you think about it.

That might seem to be at odds with most of the posts here, but in a hamhanded way I'm trying to state we should never lose sight of the basic humanity all share. That would include a nature prone to sin and wrongdoing and a possibility of redemption for anyone. Anyone includes militant gays, rabid Islamists, quisling politicians, man hating feminazis, spineless appeasers of all persuasions and any other scum I've neglected to mention.

We're all capable of either damnation or salvation.

And a $10 cover charge? That sounds kind of steep, but honestly I really wouldn't know.

Palin and "handgate"

Now some of the MSM are crawling all over Palin for referring to notes written on her hand and used shortly after she'd referenced B.O.'s almost constant use of a teleprompter. Noted.

When she starts needing a teleprompter to speak to middle school kids (http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/slideshow/photo//100119/480/9131bc77c7534185bdbf267bb4ab8497/) let me know. Until then, I really don't care.

What a difference a year can make...

In the last year we've seen the apparent demise of "cap and trade", the setback of "comprehensive" health care reform, a complete silence on the Freedom Of Choice Act (FOCA), the rapid growth of the Tea Party, and loss of complete one-party rule in the Senate. The trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was scheduled to take place in NYC and is now being relocated/put off for the foreseeable future. The wheels of the Obama Bus are generally flying off in all directions. Been awhile since any schools renamed themselves after him.

The Global Warming crowd is now busily trying to make us believe the nonsense of their skewed information at East Anglia University in the UK is irrelevant. Meanwhile the UN tries explaining away the fact their data on melting glaciers was based on the opinions of professional snow bunnies.

The proabort crowd has made complete fools of themselves over a very mild prolife Super Bowl ad, embryonic stem cell research is fast fading into the sunset in places like California at the same time that Prop. 8 passed in the Bear Republic.

Life is by no means a bowl of cherries now. We've had the Ft. Hood massacre and the politically correct driven thinking about the Pedophile Prophet and his followers continues. It might take another 9/11 style incident to wake the knuckleheads in Foggy Bottom up on that score.

On that same topic, I don't know whether to laugh or scream about the "BVD Bomber" who only succeeded in making himself a eunuch on Christmas Day. At the very least more attention is being paid to the joke air travel security has become. Hopefully it'll all work out for the best. But I'll not be flying in the forseeable future.

Iran promises to continue developing nukes, Israel will undoubtedly do whatever is necessary for it's own survival. WWIII could very well become reality over that alone.

Despite setbacks, the militant gays and their supporters continue pecking away at the education system, the institution of marriage, and our kids are more at risk for moral corruption paid for by the public's tax dollars than before. The epidemic of porn and it's acceptance continues with no real end in sight as our culture becomes indistinguishable from an overflowing cesspool.

But things don't look as bleak as they did last year, at least from my own limited perspective. I'm reminded by the few items I've listed and several personal events (that will stay that way) of an old saying I'd come across when I initially got sober.

It goes along the lines of, "When you see ten disasters barreling down the road of Life towards you, the chances are that at least nine will go into the ditch before becoming a real problem."

How true that can be. Time gives a different perspective in more than one way.

Excuse me now, gotta go make up a gratitude list.

R.I.P. Pfc. Scott G. Barnett

Army Pfc. Scott G. Barnett
Died January 28, 2010 serving during Operation Iraqi Freedom

24, of Concord, Calif.; assigned to the 412th Aviation Support Battalion, 12th Combat Aviation Brigade, Katterbach, Germany; died Jan. 28 in Tallil, Iraq, of injuries sustained while supporting combat operations.

(Taken from www.mercurynews.com of Jan. 30, 2010) CONCORD — A 24-year-old Concord soldier was killed Thursday in Iraq, the U.S. Department of Defense announced Friday evening.

Army Pfc. Scott G. Barnett, 24, died from combat injuries in Tallil, which is in southern Iraq.

Barnett was assigned to the 412th Aviation Support battalion, 12th Combat Aviation Brigade.

According to his MySpace page, he attended Concord High School and Olympic Continuation High School. He enjoyed traveling, hunting and playing video games.

He is survived by his wife, Nikki.

Chicken hawk clerics, pedophile teachers and cultural immorality

During the intense coverage and outrage over the sexual abuses perpetrated by Catholic priests I always found my eyes rolling in exasperation when someone mentioned public school teachers with a seeming, "but they do it too" mindset. Two wrongs don't make a right, and at the time the focus was very deservedly on the chicken hawk clerics and their enablers (IMO they deserve a special part of Hell reservedly solely for them).

That said, there IS a lack of attention paid to lecherous teachers in our public schools. This isn't a regional problem, it's nationwide and has been going on for decades. As an example of it's longevity; in my own high school a year after my graduation in 1970, one of the track coaches was busted for supplying pot to teenage girls who he was seducing. This happened at the same time the assistant football coach was banging one of the cheerleaders. The high school was no inner city snake pit but set in a middle class rural area of the Mojave desert. Yet anyone who knew would at most just shake their heads and move on.

As I said, it's been happening for decades. Here's one of the latest examples, found via Lucianne.com at the New York Post website; http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/queens/head_of_the_crass_qWrc4xPXr5UxSo8Npym2vO

IMO, the teacher mentioned here should be tarred and feathered. Preferably at a school assembly. Do it as often as necessary, everytime those feathers start falling off.

New York and it's schools don't exist in a vacuum separate from the rest of the nation. I'd bet a dollar to a donut that anyone reading this post knows of similar incidents in their own area.

But the media silence is deafening, probably due to lack of a conservative ox to be gored but also (and more importantly) due to a lack of outrage found in our culture today. We've become numb to the scandal involved in a teacher taking advantage of his students. So much so that a major city school district and it's union find it more expedient to continue paying a pedophile educator rather than give him the boot.

It's a marker in the road our culture passed a long time ago. We need to backtrack and start taking the road less traveled, the one that encourages us to hold ourselves and each other to higher standards. The road that teaches us to disregard accusations of "being judgmental" when dealing with each other. Criticizing one another with the understanding that personal redemption is always possible is different from offhandedly condemning someone to wear a scarlet letter for life. That distinction has been lost in an eagerness to exercise "compassion" and "understanding". Compassion and understanding can be a part of honest criticism, we've forgotten that. Used improperly it also contributes to the original problem.

Our morality took a nosedive long ago, a lot of my fellow travelers would say it started in the 1960's but I'd place it 40-50 years before that. Whatever.

We need to get back to a sense of decency. We need to regain our sense of outrage over stories like the one I've linked to. Failure to do so only furthers our slide into the complete anarchy of a culture thats lost all sense of right and wrong.

One of the first steps would be an increase of parental involvement in the local school systems. Even for someone who may be homeschooling their kids this would be important. Your kids are affected by the general tone of the culture in your area, no matter how large or small that be. A prime purveyor of the popular culture is found in the schools and if your children's friends who attend public school aren't being bombarded with messages from that culture I'll eat this keyboard. Your tax dollars support that school system, don't you deserve your money's worth for it?

Parental involvement at school board meetings, talking to the teachers on a regular basis, etc. makes the education administration more sensitive to a feeling of accountability. From the experience of being involved (however marginally) with the schooling of my 26 year old son from a former marriage I'll attest to that. No one at the school LIKES having an irate parent in their face, believe me when I say that particular squeaking wheel will be greased!

This is a part of personal responsibility for our children's welfare. Sitting in the recliner and bemoaning the lack of morality today does nothing except wear out the recliner. We're either a part of the problem or a part of the solution.

Just my opinion.

R.I.P. Sgt. Carlos E. Gill

Army Sgt. Carlos E. Gill (No photo available)
Died January 26, 2010 serving during Operation Enduring Freedom

25, of Fayetteville, N.C.; assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment, 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Lewis, Wash.; died Jan. 26 at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, D.C., of an illness. He was evacuated Dec. 19, 2009, from Kandahar Air Field, Afghanistan, where he was supporting combat operations.

(Taken from www.legacy.com) FAYETTEVILLE - Sgt. Carlos Gill was born April 4, 1984, in Fayetteville, the son of Cheryl Victoria Walker and retired 1st Sgt. Clarence E. Gill.

Carlos received his formative religious training at Eureka Chapel Church, where he accepted Christ at an early age. He was an active member in the church. He served in the following capacities in the church: Youth usher, a percussionist, youth choir, male chorus, gospel choir and a trustee.

He was a 2002 graduate of Pine Forest High School, where he was on the track team and a member of the band. He attended Fayetteville State University, where he was also a member of the Bronco Band.

He entered active military service on Nov. 9, 2005. After completing basic training and advanced individual training, he was assigned as a signal support system specialist in Yongsan, South Korea. He was deployed overseas in Korea from June 27, 2006 to June 27, 2008.

His most recent assignment was at Fort Lewis, Wash. as a forward signal support non-commissioned officer. Sgt. Gill is a graduate of the Warrior Leader Course. Sgt. Gill's awards and decorations include the: Army Commendation Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Korea Defense Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon and the Overseas Service Ribbon.

Carlos leaves many love ones to cherish his fond memories, his parents, his grandparents, Mrs. Ruby Evans, and Mrs. Mary Gill of Gadsen, Ala.; his fiancee, Rhea Irineo, his 21-month old daughter, Kamora Victoria; his brother, Christopher Gill; and numerous aunts, uncles, relatives and friends.

He was preceded in death by his grandfathers, Mr. Norris Evans Sr. and Mr. Lawrence Gill.

R.I.P. Sgt. David J. Smith

Marine Sgt. David J. Smith (No photo available)
Died January 26, 2010 serving during Operation Enduring Freedom

25, of Frederick, Md.; assigned to 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 4th Marine Division, Marine Forces Reserve, based out of Camp Pendleton, Calif.; died Jan. 26 from wounds received Jan. 23 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.

(Taken from www.militarytimes.com) A California-based reservist has died from wounds suffered in Afghanistan, the Pentagon reported Feb. 1.

Sgt. David J. Smith, 25, of Frederick, Md., died Jan. 26. He was wounded three days earlier while supporting combat operations in Helmand province.

Smith, who enlisted Dec. 29, 2003, was assigned to Company B, 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, out of Camp Pendleton, Calif., and served as a light armored vehicle crewman.

He deployed to Iraq from 2006-07 and was on his first deployment to Afghanistan.

His awards include the Combat Action Ribbon, Selected Marine Corps Reserve Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Sea Service Deployment Ribbon and the Armed Forces Reserve Medal.

No other information was immediately available.

(Taken from the Associated Press) FREDERICK, Md. — A 25-year-old Marine from Frederick who was mortally wounded in Afghanistan will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

The Pentagon says Sgt. David Smith died Jan. 26 at a military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany, of wounds suffered Jan. 23 in Helmand province, Afghanistan.

A funeral service will be conducted Feb. 9 at 9 a.m. at the Frederick Christian Fellowship Church Complex. Burial at Arlington will start at 3 p.m.

On getting smart about politics...

According to this New York Daily News article ( http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2010/02/05/2010-02-05_tea_party_convention_starts_with_racially_incendiary_remark_literacy_tests_to_vo.html ) from Lucianne.com, former Rep. Tom Tancredo was the opening speaker for the first National Tea Party convention in Nashville.

Tancredo was just as scary to me during the preelection campaigning as B.O. . He's a rabblerouser who plays on the emotions of the voting public. A one trick pony, his strong suit was exploiting the widespread discontent over our immigration problems. On more than one blog (not of the tinfoil hat variety either) I was informed that all "real" Americans should support the man. Noted. I was in favor of Duncan Hunter so I guess I don't qualify in the "real" category even with 22 years of military service.



IMHO this is the sort of man we should be wary of when it comes time to replace the present Chief Executive. Our nation has already proven that it will elect the man holding the nuclear football on the same criteria used for choosing a prom queen. Yep, we can be just as stupid as any Third World country. Time to get smart.

We need to wake the Hell up and be careful about our "leaders". That goes for both sides of the aisle.

R.I.P. Lance Cpl. Zachary D. Smith

Marine Lance Cpl. Zachary D. Smith
Died January 24, 2010 serving during Operation Enduring Freedom

19, of Hornell, N.Y.; assigned to 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.; died Jan. 24 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.

(Taken from www.canisteovalleynews.com of Jan. 29, 2010) Lance Corporal Zachary D. “Zach” Smith – 19 – of Hornell died in combat on Sunday, January 24, 2010, while serving his country with the United States Marine Corps in Afghanistan.

A native & life resident of Hornell, he was born April 2, 1990 and was the son of Chris & Kim (McDaniel) Smith.

Zach was a graduate of Hornell High School (class of 2008) where he was a member of the football & golf teams. Immediately following graduation, he followed his lifelong dream and enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. On October 3, 2008 graduated from Recruit Training in Parris Island, SC. He completed the Marine Corps School of Infantry and was then assigned to the 2nd Platoon C Company 1st Battalion 6th Marines based out of Camp Lejeune, NC. On December 17, 2009 was deployed to Afghanistan.

He was a member of Our Lady of the Valley Parish and a communicant of St. Ann’s Church. Zach was an avid golfer and was a member of Twin Hickory Golf Club and also the Hornell Golf Club. He enjoyed watching sporting events and especially liked to root for the New York Giants, New York Yankees and the Syracuse Orangemen.

Zach had a way of touching the lives of everyone that he met. He had a wonderful sense of humor; a contagious laugh and the most genuine smile that God ever gave a human being. He was always ready with a good joke or a humorous story. He will be sadly missed by his family, friends, the Hornell community and everyone that had the pleasure of knowing him.

He was married on July 25, 2009 to the former Anne Deebs who survives. Also surviving are his parents, Chris & Kim Smith of Hornell; 1 brother, Nathaniel “Nate” Smith of Hornell; 1 sister, Grace Smith of Hornell; his grandparents, Sid & Alice Smith of Hornell and Darrell & Donna McDaniel of Hornell; his mother-in law and father-in- law, Mike & Andrea Deebs of Hornell; his in-laws, Michael, Patrick, Mary, Brendan, Grace and Andrew Deebs; several aunts, uncles, nieces & nephews.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Wednesday at 10:00 AM at St. Ann’s Church with burial in St. Mary’s Cemetery with full military honors.

Zach’s family graciously request that instead of sending flowers, friends help to keep his memory alive by contributing to the Zachary D. Smith Memorial Scholarship Fund, c/o Regi Gambino, 17 Elmwood Place, Hornell, NY 14843. Memorial forms will be available at the Dagon Funeral Home.

Vaccines and autism

I've two autistic sons. The wife, being an RN, would shoot down any notion I might conceivably voice about vaccines being related to autism. Not that I buy into conspiracy theories of that sort, I don't.

I play taxi driver twice a week to the therapist's office and kill time in the waiting area with other parents. Some of the other kids would make a statue weep, they're that dysfunctional. The parents talk to one another so I'm exposed to a lot of theories and guesses as to what causes autism. The fact is, no one knows for certain. Not officially anyway and until theres proof to the contrary I'll go with the official word.

Still, those other parents quite often want more of a definite answer. If you look too close into their eyes you'll see a soul writhing in agony over their child's condition. They all want to know why their child will never be independent of caregivers and able to live happily on their own. Just some reason that makes sense as to why their loved ones got screwed by seeming chance.

Not living independently for autistics in our society today can mean being placed in the custody of the State once "Mom & Dad" grow too old. My youngest boy is just getting ready to turn five and I'm 57. That particular worry cuts pretty close to the bone with me.

So having all this going on 24/7/365, the following article found via Lucianne.com at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/ holds special interest for yours truly.

Theres a special place in Hell for assholes like these, i.e. the scientist who initiated the scare and the press that kept on spreading it;

How a zealot’s word led us astray on autism

A dozen years ago, a British physician named Dr. Andrew Wakefield published a paper in the prestigious medical journal The Lancet that did immeasurable harm to children.

Wakefield, who back in 1998 was working at London’s Royal Free Hospital, claimed in the article that the vaccination of 12 children with measles/mumps/rubella (MMR) vaccine had caused a reaction in their bowels that caused autism.

At a press conference shortly after the paper came out, Wakefield urged parents not to give their children the combination vaccine.

The British press went crazy over the report. The word and the fear quickly spread around the world.

Since the controversial paper was published, British parents abandoned the vaccine in droves, leading to a resurgence of measles. Vaccination rates for measles have never recovered, and there are outbreaks of the disease in the U.K. every year.

And across the globe, millions of parents who choose to follow their own doctors' advice and vaccinate their children have had to face the anxiety of an alleged link to a dread disease.

All this despite the fact that no scientists were ever able to replicate Wakefield's findings.

Yesterday, The Lancet, after years of investigations, lawsuits, press complaints and accusations, took the unprecedented step of withdrawing this 12-year-old article as misleading and false.

Why did The Lancet finally act? Because the British board that licenses doctors recently concluded that Wakefield had “shown callous disregard” for the children in his study and had “abused his position of trust” in doing his research. In language I have almost never seen from a disciplinary body, the General Medical Council added that Wakefield acted "dishonestly," was "misleading" and "irresponsible" in the way he described the findings of his tiny study about the danger of MMR vaccine in The Lancet.

As it turns out, for the study Wakefield took blood samples from children at his son's birthday party, paying them 5 pounds each.

The language was probably not strong enough. The Wakefield paper killed children and left others deaf and disabled from preventable diseases as their parents, in an effort to avoid autism, left them unvaccinated.

Vaccination has always had its critics. Using needles to put things into children’s bodies has always left some parents uneasy. And the epidemic of autism has left other parents searching for some cause, some agent, some substance that might be to blame.

Vaccination became a prime suspect because it occurs so close to the time at which autism used to be first diagnosed. And Wakefield’s paper was all the ammunition anti-vaccinators needed.

Wakefield’s study was both tiny and flawed. Nearly all of his 13 other co-authors eventually bailed out on the article. Still, the press could not resist from spreading the scary news over and over again, even though no one could get the same findings as Wakefield did. And Wakefield himself, supported by a fanatical anti-vaccine lobby that to this day cannot let go of the vaccine-autism connection, continued to spread fear of vaccines right up to the time of his disciplinary hearing.

Some will try to portray Wakefield as a martyr, sacrificed for the profits pharmaceutical companies make from vaccines. But the profit from childhood vaccination has always been a very small part of Big Pharma’s big profits. The companies still in the childhood vaccine business generally stay there from a sense of duty to the public health not greed.

Wakefield is no martyr. He is a scientist who would not give up on his theory no matter how much evidence accumulated that vaccines are not linked to autism. And that makes him guilty of letting his zealotry blind him to the harm avoiding effective vaccines did to many vulnerable children.

The bitter lessons of the decision to expunge the Wakefield paper from medical history are clear. No single, small study should ever be taken as the basis for a massive change in anyone’s behavior when it comes to your health and that of your family. And the desire to find some reason, any reason, for the plague of autism should not blind us to the fact that the evidence clearly shows that vaccination is not the culprit.

The author of this article, Arthur Caplan, is director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania.

Damn them. Damn them all to Hell for the agony they've caused and the lives they've ruined in their arrogance.

Gays in the military...

One question that comes to mind; if it's a problem for straight men to sleep in the same quarters as women, why is there nothing wrong with having gay men sleeping in the same quarters as other men? The whole issue is about sexual attraction/desire, right?

That same question would apply to lesbian women in the military.

As for showering together, I'll leave that alone for now.

That stench is coming from your television...

The things you become unaware of by not watching TV. We stopped watching ours after Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction". So in terms of what been happening in Videoland, we've been fairly clueless.

This article, taken from www.usatoday.com and found via Lucianne.com, wakes me up to the fact that the cultural cesspool has backed up and is spilling over into our living rooms. I'm posting it in it's entirety because 1) Quite often newsites like USA Today will delete posts like this after a short while. If I want to reference back to it in a few months, it'd be nice to have something there. 2) Some of the statements are so off-the-charts unreal that I felt it necessary to prove I'm not exaggerating anything if I quoted them. So it's better to copy & paste the entire thing.

WARNING: Don't read the following immediately after eating!

If sex sells, TV programmers are adding inventory to an already humongous sale.
Viewers are about to see full-frontal male nudity, heterosexual, homosexual and group sex, and graphic scenes rarely — if ever — seen on mainstream TV. And that's just on pay-cable Starz's fornication-heavy, 13-episode Spartacus: Blood and Sand (premieres Friday, 10 ET/PT), a 300-meets-Caligula epic about the Roman Empire's notorious slave/gladiator.

MTV plans a June launch of The Hard Times of RJ Berger, a scripted comedy about a nerdy 15-year-old whose cool quotient heats up when his anatomical gift is accidentally exposed. And basic-cable network Spike's just-launched raunchy college-sports comedy Blue Mountain State (Tuesdays, 10 ET/PT) showed a masturbating school mascot on the Jan. 12 premiere, while last night's episode featured a scene suggesting oral sex between a coed and jock before the opening credits.

"You need to get eyeballs. You need to be loud," says Spike programming chief Kevin Kay, who is pairing Blue Mountain with reruns of HBO's sex-centric Entourage. "Our viewers are experiencing content on other cable channels or the Web. Movies and video games are going after this audience, too."

TV's latest sexually charged offerings add to the current wave of attention-seeking — if less visually explicit — reality and scripted programs filled with frank themes and content, such as MTV's hookup-focused reality hit Jersey Shore.

ABC's Cougar Town — which had a memorable scene that implied Courteney Cox's character administering oral sex to her date — premiered last fall. Also new in the past year: HBO's Hung, a dramedy about a well-endowed teacher moonlighting as a prostitute; National Geographic TV's adult-themed documentary series, Taboo; and VH1's titillating Sex Rehab With Dr. Drew.

"You can definitely see an arms race," says FX programming chief John Landgraf, whose groundbreaking series such as Rescue Me and Nip/Tuck set new standards for mature content on basic cable.

Established shows are amping up, too. Nip/Tuck is wrapping its sixth and final season with boundary-pushing themes centered on its often sexually compulsive plastic surgeons, and ABC's Desperate Housewives has cast former Dexter star Julie Benz as a stripper for the series' fifth season.

Showtime's Secret Diary of a Call Girl returns Monday with hooker Belle (Billie Piper) looking for source material for another book through new sexual experiences with clients.

Showtime's aptly titled Californication recently ended its third season with sex-addicted Hank Moody (David Duchovny) getting more booty than ever — juggling three women while pursuing a fourth. Moody's best friend and manager (Evan Handler) grappled with an ex-wife and randy boss (Kathleen Turner), while guest star Rick Springfield, playing himself, had several solo and group conquests.

A long history

The subject of sex has been part of the medium almost since its start. But displays of sex, intimacy and even body parts, for the most part, have been evolutionary, not revolutionary.

In the 1950s, TV couldn't show married couples sleeping in the same bed. In the '60s, exposing the bellybutton of I Dream of Jeannie's Barbara Eden was verboten. Braless jiggles on Charlie's Angels were considered daring in the '70s. But by the '90s, the expanse of adult-themed content on premium channels such as HBO and sex-infused music videos on MTV made baring the derriere of a hefty NYPD Blue cop acceptable to the masses on ABC.

"It's funny what's considered risqué these days," says Audrey Landers, whose sexpot image, burnished by eight seasons on '80s hit Dallas, led to a Playboy pictorial in 1983. Last year, the actress, singer and fashion designer was developing a cable reality show, which was rejected for its tameness. "They suggested my mother, 18-year-old niece and I sex things up by posing for Playboy," says Landers, 53.

Critics such as the Parents Television Council decry the mushrooming sexual content. "It's become downright ubiquitous," says council president Tim Winter. "Families are under siege, teenage girls are under siege. You don't know what the cultural impact will be down the road."

Others, such as Fordham University media observer Paul Levinson, say TV merely mirrors life. "It sounds radical, but this is healthy for popular culture," Levinson says. "Mainstream TV has been frozen in a very puritanical position by Congress, the FCC and the Supreme Court — all who don't seem to understand the First Amendment. Sex is part of life. If people are offended, there's a simple remedy: Don't watch."

Taste standards and broadcast guidelines aside, sexual content — and where to push boundaries — is largely established by programmers seeking traction among fickle viewers, then benchmarked by others who want to push the envelope.

"When advertising dollars are down you have to cut through — you have to get attention," says JD Roth, producer of NBC reality hit The Biggest Loser.

ABC programming chief Steve McPherson says he has faced no pressure to edge up content but acknowledges late prime-time slots offer opportunities. "If you can get a loud broadcast-acceptable 10 p.m. show, it's a time to take chances," McPherson says.

Moreover, broadcast executives acknowledge that premium-channel and basic-cable-channel rivals are altering the TV landscape.

"We don't want to be out of touch with the way society is going," says NBC's Angela Bromstad. "At the same time, you have to be careful what you put on air."

Says Doug Herzog, president of MTV Networks entertainment group: "The line moves every day, so you got to move with it. You can't put the genie back in the bottle."

'Spartacus': Roman hands

Initially pitched to NBC in tamer form, Spartacus: Blood and Sand oozes explicit content.

"The whole thing was pushing the boundaries on pretty much every level," says co-executive producer Robert Tapert, who is married to Spartacus star Lucy Lawless. "Once we wound up on (premium pay cable), we were able to really push the envelope."

Lawless portrays a conniving social climber who is nude in some scenes, commits adultery in others and uses sex to manipulate frenemies and family. One episode shows Lawless' character and her gladiator-camp-owner husband (John Hannah) manually stimulated by slaves before having sex. Upcoming episodes feature orgies and a gladiator whose large endowment ultimately leads to his downfall.

Noting the potentially off-putting content, the former Xena: Warrior Princess star concedes Spartacus isn't for everyone: "Pretty quickly, the audience has to realize they aren't in Kansas anymore. There will be (viewers) who are truly horrified and switch this off."

Of course, Starz executives hope for the opposite effect, and they believe Spartacus' underlying sex-and-gore themes will be provocative attention-grabbing devices to bolster viewership. They've already ordered a second season.

"People are going to stop in their tracks and say, 'Wow, that's something really different' — whether they approve of it or not," says Starz programming chief Stephan Shelanski. Starz is comfortable with content such as full-frontal male nudity because it has become more explicit in theatrical releases that eventually arrive on premium cable, such asBorat and Sex and the City , and on premium-cable originals such as HBO's Tell Me You Love Me.

Ironically, Showtime (The L Word , The Tudors , Weeds ) and FX, whose programming helped pave the way for harder-content offerings on rival networks, say they're pulling back on sexually provocative shows and stories.

"In terms of edginess, our content is less edgy today," Landgraf says. "Nip/Tuck is the edgiest show we've ever had, and we just haven't found a program to replace it with. Sons of Anarchy is less edgy than The Shield. At the end of the day, what makes a show like The Shield work is the quality from a storytelling standpoint. You watch because it's compelling, because it's good."

Says Showtime's Bob Greenblatt: "We're not trying to do things just to get attention and sell subscriptions. I'd say the network is a lot less sexy than it used to be. There's very little on United States of Tara, Nurse Jackie and Dexter. For me, its really just about having the freedom to go to those places if the stories and characters demand it."

'Natural evolution of things'

Californication creator Tom Kapinos says there'll be consequences for the central character's sexual rambunctiousness next season, and perhaps more of an attempt to keep his pants zipped. "I don't know how much further you can push things," Kapinos says. "But this is still a show about a single guy in L.A. There's a lot of trouble to get into."

Greenblatt notes Spartacus could raise the bar — or lower it — when it comes to both the pervasiveness and explicitness of TV sex. "I'm sure after Spartacus, there'll be more," he says. "It's the natural evolution of things."

Blue Mountain State producer Brian Robbins, whose credits include Smallville and One Tree Hill, says he's not surprised by the explicit sex on air these days.

The irony isn't lost on Robbins, perhaps best known as the long-haired lothario Eric Mardian on ABC's '80s sitcom Head of the Class. "I was the stud on that show, but I didn't get to do anything," Robbins says. These days, "anything goes."

And as far as Blue Mountain State? Says Robbins: "I'd be way too embarrassed to sit in a room with my mother watching it."

The wife was talking about wanting to get the cable reactivated to our house the other night for the Super Bowl. I think I'll let her read this, that should kill that idea.

R.I.P. Lance Cpl. Timothy J. Poole

Marine Lance Cpl. Timothy J. Poole

22, of Bowling Green, Ky.; assigned to 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii; died Jan. 24 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.

(Taken from http://bgdailynews.com of Jan. 27, 2010) Lt. Cpl. Timothy J. Poole Jr., 22, a 2007 graduate of Warren East High School, was killed Sunday during combat operations in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, according to the Department of Defense.

Poole served with the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force based in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. He grew up in Jacksonville, Fla., and moved with his family to Bowling Green in October 2005. After Poole enlisted, the family moved back to Jacksonville, where Poole will be laid to rest in Jacksonville National Cemetery.

He attended school in Bowling Green for just a short while, but he was remembered by many who knew him as a quiet, polite young man who wanted to be Marine.

Warren East agriculture teacher Dan Costellow taught Poole in two classes.

“I remember him as a nice kid who wanted to go into the military. I was happy for him and felt like it would help him figure out what he wanted to do with the rest of his life,” Costellow said. “Anytime you hear about a soldier being killed for us, it is sad, but this young man was my student. This is just terrible and upsets me a great deal.”

“Our hearts go out to his friends and family and all those who knew him,” said Cindy Beals, Warren East High School principal. Beals was an assistant principal at the school at the time Poole attended. “It is just a terrible thing,” she said.

Warren East Assistant Principal Edwin Moss remembers Poole, who attended the school for less than two years during his junior and senior years. “Some kids just have a presence and you remember them, and he did,” Moss said. “He was a nice young man, very mannerly. His desire at the time was to become a Marine. He just stood out.”

Sgt. Joel Extine, a Marine Corp. recruiter from Bowling Green, signed Poole up in 2007 following his graduation. “He was an excellent young man,” Extine said. “He came in that day with his dad and brother, was very polite and quiet. He said he had always wanted to be a Marine. He had the heart of a Marine and could run like the wind. He was the kind of kid we wanted to enlist.”

Poole attended Lee High School in Jacksonville before moving to Kentucky. He returned to Jacksonville in November before going back to his base in Hawaii and leaving for Afghanistan, telling family that if he died in action it would be in service to his country, a sacrifice he was willing to take, said Mike Lyons, assignment editor for WTLV/WJXX in Jacksonville, who spoke with Poole’s father, Timothy Poole Sr., as he was headed to Dover, Del., on Tuesday to await the return of his son’s body. Poole Sr. was not available for comment by deadline Wednesday.

Lt. Col. Matthew Baker, Poole’s commanding officer, was quoted by the New York Times as stating that Poole had stepped on an IED - an improvised explosive device.

Funeral arrangements are incomplete but the family has asked that expressions of sympathy be made to the Wounded Warrior Project, Jacksonville, 7020 A.C. Skinner Pkwy, Suite 100, Jacksonville, FL 32256; www.woundedwarriorproject.org.

"Who dat?" gets resolved...sorta.

For anyone as clueless as I was, here's a background story with a video on the post;

http://www.nola.com/saints/index.ssf/2010/01/who_dat_belongs_to_the_ages_no.html

Louisiana's attorney general said Monday that local T-shirt makers don't need the National Football League's permission to sell shirts with the phrase "Who Dat," as long as they don't make other references to the New Orleans Saints or NFL.

Attorney General Buddy Caldwell said he had a conference call with the NFL's general counsel to discuss cease-and-desist letters some Louisiana T-shirt makers received from the league. The letters demanded they stop selling shirts featuring the phrase that's part of a popular cheer by Saints fans, citing trademark infringement.

"They've conceded and they've said they have no intention of claiming the fleur-de-lis, which would be ridiculous, or the 'Who Dat,' which would be equally ridiculous," Caldwell said in an interview. The fleur-de-lis is a traditional symbol of New Orleans that's featured on Saints helmets.

The NFL is only objecting to shirts that are marketed or presented as an official Saints or NFL product, Caldwell said. Shirts that are black and gold and say "Who Dat" can be sold, he said, if they don't purport to be Saints gear and don't include the team logo.

The chant — "Who dat say dey gonna beat dem Saints" — is often shortened to "Who Dat" on shirts and signs and has been a mainstay at the Superdome in New Orleans since the 1980s.

"People can use Who Dat all they want if it doesn't include NFL and Saints trademarks," said NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy, in an e-mail. "We explained that we would contact merchants only if a Who Dat item also contained NFL or Saints trademarks or if it is falsely claimed that an unauthorized item is affiliated with the Saints or NFL."

The "Who Dat" spat has outraged many Louisiana residents and merchants, who argued the NFL couldn't claim ownership of a saying or symbol that predates the Saints, who will make their very first Super Bowl appearance Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts. Gov. Bobby Jindal asked Caldwell to look into a possible lawsuit if the NFL was attempting to declare ownership rights of the phrase.

Lauren Thom, owner of the Fleurty Girl T-shirt shop in New Orleans, said she's changed the product description of her "Who Dat" shirts after getting a letter from the NFL demanding she quit selling them. She's sold out of her stock and is now managing back orders.

"Yes it disrupted business, but it's been kind of great as well. We've had lines of people waiting to buy our merchandise," Thom said. "One lady told me she wanted to buy anything in the store that was not NFL-licensed. I told her 'that's everything in the store!"'

"What started out as a letter that scared the bejesus out of me, has turned out to be the best thing ever for my business," she said.

The thing is, "Who Dat?" has been around a VERY long time. I know this because my old man back in the late 50's would occasionally go into a routine involving "Who Dat". It always sounded like something out of an "Amos & Andy" show he might have seen so I never thought about it. It was only in the last few days when this thing surfaced that my memory started working.

Back in WWII the fatherly one had been stationed for a time in Louisiana, putting two and two together makes me think he got the routine from some Cajuns he ran into down there. Small world.

"Who dat? Who dat say who dat? Who dat there say who dat when I say who dat? Who dat there say who dat there when I say who dat say who dat?"

Did I mention he normally had a few toddies for the body before belting out this little ditty?

On our way to open borders...

Sometimes I get speechless while reading the news, this comes close. Taken from www.azcentral.com and found via Lucianne.com

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama's proposed 2011 budget would cut the border patrol by 180 agents and trim spending on a "virtual fence" along the nation's Southwest border. (This would be the virtual fence that was proposed in place of an actual wall. The fence takes pretty pictures of incoming illegals, by the time the Border Patrol gets going it's a game of catchup. It's still better than nothing (nothing really sucks) but now even that is being removed.)

Homeland security officials confirmed the proposed cuts Monday during a budget briefing for reporters. They said no border patrol agents would lose their jobs. Instead, the positions would be cut through attrition as agents retire or leave.

Remaining agents would be better paid as part of a plan to increase the salaries of experienced frontline officers. (And this does exactly what in the interests of public security/safety?)

Senior Obama administration officials said they do not expect the proposed cuts to reduce the effectiveness of the border patrol, which has doubled in size during the past five years to more than 20,000 agents. (Of course they don't expect it to reduce effectiveness, and I have some waterfront property in Florida I'll sell real cheap. Meet me at low tide to take a good look at it.)

The reduction is part of an effort by the White House to trim the federal budget, but it is expected to meet resistance from Congress, which must approve the budget, in an election year. (Time to break out the keyboard and start nagging my representatives in Foggy Bottom.)

The president's proposed budget also would slash funding by nearly $226 million for an electronic "virtual fence" system along the border. The virtual fence, known as "SBInet," is made up of cameras, radar and sensors placed on towers. (Hey Juan & Jose, smile for the camera as you sprint into the land of milk and honey.)

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano last month ordered a reassessment of the $8 billion program after continuing delays in constructing the system near the Arizona border with Mexico. (This would be the same Janet Napolitano who loves the idea of open borders. Why am I not feeling warm and fuzzy right now?)

While cutting some border programs, the administration is seeking an additional $10 million to create Border Enforcement Security Task Forces in Honolulu, San Francisco, and Massena, N.Y. (You know there are a lot of illegal aliens coming into Wakiki Beach and The Fisherman's Wharf.) These multi-agency teams work to identify and stop criminal organizations that transport drugs and other contraband across U.S. borders.

The administration also is seeking more than $103 million to improve the Internet-based E-Verify system that allows employers to check whether job applicants are in the United States legally and are eligible to work. The goal is to improve fraud detection and make the system easier and more reliable to use, homeland security officials said. (Noted. And any employer bold/stupid enough to try screening his applicants for their immigration status will be slammed to the mat by the ACLU and other assorted wingnuts.)

Time to stock up on a bit more ammo, when this border state starts getting overrun I may need it.

Abstinence works...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A new study released today finds abstinence education effective in reducing sexual activity among youth while comprehensive sexual education flops. Students participating in an eight-hour abstinence program showed a one-third decrease in their rates of sexual activity compared to non-participants.

The study, involving black middle-school students, appears in the February 2010 Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, a publication of the American Medical Association.

It found the students in the abstinence program showed lower levels of sexual activity even two years later.

The National Abstinence Education Association tells LifeNews.com that the study shows positive outcomes for high-risk, African-American, middle school students.

"The study shows that a high-risk population of 6th and 7th graders receiving abstinence-centered education reduced sexual initiation, reduced the number of sexual partners (a crucial determinant in acquiring an STD), and further showed that abstinence instruction did not deter the use of condoms (a common charge brought by anti-abstinence critics)," NAEA's Valerie Huber said.

Of particular note, students were significantly less likely to initiate sex with the abstinence-centered approach than any other sex education strategy

“If we are serious about reaching teens with the skills they need to resist sexual activity, the findings supporting the effectiveness of abstinence education should not be ignored," she said.

The study authors provide insight that these findings are important because the abstinence-centered approach is preferred in many communities throughout the country.

"The need to provide American parents with choices regarding the type of sex education their children are offered not only respects local control but underscores the fact that abstinence-centered education is an important response to the complex issue of teen sex," Huber said. "Federal funding guidelines require all abstinence-centered education to be theory-based, medically accurate, and focused exclusively on health - the very tenets that describe the studied abstinence program."

While the studies authors say abstinence education is the primary approach funded and promoted by the United States, Huber says the opposite is true.

She said that, during the last ten years, comprehensive sex education received four times the federal dollars as abstinence education.

"The Obama Administration completely eliminated abstinence education from the 2010 budget, a rash and imprudent decision that jeopardizes the sexual health of America’s youth," she said. "The positive outcomes of this study provide President Obama important data for his 2011 budget recommendation to Congress. We urge a crucial course adjustment in funding so that abstinence-centered education can continue to work to reach teens."

Conservative writer Robert Rector also commented on the new report at National Review.

While abstinence helped students, he wrote: "By contrast, safe sex (promoting only contraceptive use) and comprehensive sex ed (teaching both abstinence and contraceptive use) programs didn't affect youth behavior at all. Students in these programs showed no reduction in sexual activity and no increase in contraceptive use, in either the short or long term."

"Employing state-of-the-art evaluation techniques, the study used random assignment to place students into four groups: a group that received instruction solely in abstinence; a safe-sex group instructed in contraceptive use; a comprehensive, or mixed message, group taught both abstinence and contraceptive use; and a control group that received health education unrelated to sex," he noted.

Students in the abstinence program were one third less likely to initiate sexual activity when compared to students in the other three groups. They also were not less likely to use condoms if they did become sexually active.

"By contrast, safe sex and comprehensive sex-ed classes had no effect on student behavior; students in these classes did not reduce sexual activity nor increase contraceptive use when compared to the control group," Rector said.

The study was conducted by Drs. John and Loretta Jemmott of the University of Pennsylvania.

"Prior to the current study, there had been 15 scientific evaluations of abstinence education, 11 of which had shown that abstinence programs were effective in reducing sexual activity," Rector noted. "However, the new Jemmott study is the first evaluation showing positive results which employed full random assignment. As a result, it cannot be dismissed on methodological grounds."

Whaddaya know? Teach kids not to have sex and the pregnancy rate goes down, who'd a thunk it?

R.I.P. Sgt. Daniel M. Angus

Marine Sgt. Daniel M. Angus

28, of Thonotosassa, Fla.; assigned to 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.; died Jan. 24 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.

(Taken from www.tampabay.com of Jan. 27, 2010) TAMPA — The flag waved at half staff in front of a Thonotosassa family's home Tuesday — signifying the loss of their son, Marine Sgt. Daniel M. Angus, in Afghanistan on Sunday.

Sgt. Angus, 28, was on his third tour of duty in the Middle East when he and two other Marines were killed during combat in the Helmand province, according to the Department of Defense.

Also killed were Lance Cpl. Zachary D. Smith, 19, of Hornell, N.Y., and Lance Cpl. Timothy J. Poole, 22, of Bowling Green, Ky.

Angus' father, William, lowered the flag to half staff before the family left to claim the sergeant's remains at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, said Carroll Hanson, 28, a close friend of Sgt. Angus'.

"That his father lowered the flag is amazing to me. I can't imagine how difficult it must have been to do that," he said.

A next-door neighbor's flag had also been lowered in honor of Sgt. Angus.

Angus and Hanson graduated together in 2000 from Armwood High School, and had been friends since the second grade.

"He was practically an adopted son of my family," the special education teacher recalled. "He ate dinner at my house four nights a week during high school."

After graduation, Angus spent about six months finding his way in life.

"He was on an unsure track for a while, and when he went into the Marines it really made him a beautiful human being," Hanson said.

Angus met his wife, Bonnie, in Tennessee through a mutual friend. The couple has a young daughter he loved dearly, Hanson said. They also were at Dover Tuesday night with his parents.

Not much for organized sports, Angus preferred outdoor activities.

"We hiked, canoed … we would go out and play at war, and he would show me what he knew," Hanson said.

In December, as his unit was departing for Afghanistan, Angus spoke with a reporter from CCTV, a Chinese television outlet.

"It's a jump and run kind of thing. You never know when you are going to go," he said. "It is not my first Christmas away from home. It is not going to be my last."

CCTV reported Angus's 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force of Camp Lejeune, N.C., was the first wave in the surge of 30,000 military personnel heading for the country.

"Soldiers from the 1st Battalion are heading for Helmand Province in Afghanistan where they are expected to face a bloody fight with the Taliban insurgency," the news station wrote.

Hanson said Angus was well known for his dependability — a quality that made him a great friend.

"He was a light in the darkness," Hanson said. "He always made sure you believed there was a light in the darkness too."

Funeral plans have not been finalized.