From Iraq Body Count: A Reminder of What the Invasion Has Cost in Human Lives

A reminder at Common Dreams today that over 162,000 people--mostly civilians--have been killed in Iraq following the U.S. invasion of that nation in 2003.  The data are from Iraq Body Count.

And We're Off! 2012 GOP Primary Underway

The picture (taken by Win McNamee for Getty Images) is by way of Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish site, as Sullivan reports on the Bachmanns' worship yesterday at Jubilee Family Church in Oskaloosa, Iowa, on the eve of the Iowa GOP primary vote.

And, yes, I did intend the ambiguity in the phrase "we're off."  Just a l'il bit.

The Turning Year: Looking Back, Looking Forward, Finding a Place for All

A new year's reflection about the importance of remembering, as we chart our (shared human) course for the future: 

In the vast, detritus-strewn wreckage that we call history, in which everything and everyone eventually becomes lost, Daniel Mendelsohn thinks that it's still possible (it's still imperative) to remember those "little" people whose lives were monumentally important to themselves and to others, though their memory is quickly obliterated by the sheer overwhelming mass of history and all it contains: 

2011: A Turning Point for Human Rights of LGBTQ Community

Both NPR and the new blog at the GLBTQ site offer good end-of-year summary articles about the strides made in the area of gay rights in the U.S. in 2011.  The NPR program, hosted by Rebecca Scheer, finds the year "extraordinary" due to the forward movement gay rights advocates made on a number of fronts in 2011.  

It's 2012, and the 2011 Coughie Award Goes To . . .

Father Charles Coughlin

It's 2012, and this year's annual Coughie Award goes to . . . Dr. William Anthony Donohue!  This prestigious designation is awarded every new year by Catholic activist-blogger Frank Cocozzelli (who is one of the best things the American Catholic church has going for it).  As Frank notes, here's what you have to do to be in the running for a Coughie (which is named for Father Charles Coughlin, "the notorious radio priest of the 1930s who is the role model for today’s Religious Right radio and television evangelists and other conservative media personalities"):

It's 2012: "And the Bible Prophesied It!"

Because it's a new year.  And fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly, and preachers gotta preach.

Happy 2012, y'all, from those who live in the nation with the soul of a church.

The First Lesson of New Year's Day: Love Always, Love Better, Love More

And so this was our new year's eve--part of it, at least.  At 6 o'clock sharp, a neighbor calls.  She calls first on our land line, but because we don't recognize the number, we don't answer, assuming that if it's a bona fide call, the person calling will leave a message.  But when my cell phone begins ringing right after that with the same number, I realize this is someone we know, and I answer.