Rants in a minor key

More rants, labeled as being in a minor key because they are relatively minor. Still, they be buggin’ me.

• Bush says domestic spending — except defense and national security– needs to be frozen or cut. This seems to point to gaps in my religious education. I recall discussion of feeding the hungry, caring for the sick and the like. I evidently missed that part of the Bible talking about turning plowshares into swords. Maybe the Christian Right that elected this guy can point us to those religious sources.
• Another part of the Bible I missed has to do with Christmas lights. A mile or two from my house is a huge Christmas display. The house and adjoining lot are covered with lights, including spelling out “Happy Birthday Jesus” in probably 3 or 4-foot letters on a large cedar fence. I don’t recall any part of my religious education about stringing up lights in anticipation and celebration of Dec. 25. I know it’s Grinchy, but I can’t help but wonder how many tons of coal or barrels of oil are burned to power this obsession.
• I continue to be amazed at how authors and reputable publishers undercut their work by horrible fact-checking. For example, I recently read a biography of Frank Zappa written by Barry Miles (author of numerous other biographies) and published by Grove Press, associated with Atlantic Monthly Press. When the book makes it to print saying Strom Thurmond was the U.S. Senator from South Dakota, you have no choice but to question the reliability of the rest of the book.
• The recent news from Iraq, the Bush administration’s economic incompetence, masking another attack on civil liberties in the recent intelligence reform bill, the cost of an inauguration in a “time of war” fully reinforces something Frank Zappa said: “I don’t think I’m getting more cynical. I’ve just got more evidence to back up my cynicism.”