The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly (12.20.09)

Sifting through the headlines on MSNBC this afternoon, there are 3 stories that automatically stand out to me. I'll call them The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly.

The Good
An evangelical church in Denver (my favorite city) has opened its doors to gays - or as they prefer to be called, queers. The opening welcome includes the phrase, "queer or straight here, there's no hate here."

What a welcome change! Of course, if Christianity wishes to somehow stem the mass exodus from their ranks (and therefor their coffers) they are going to have to "open up". Imagine, sharing in God's love with ALL your brothers and sisters, instead of fostering hate and judgment of the same.

This church isn't only accepting of queers within services, they're condoning homosexual behavior and even gay marriage. Kudos to the Highlands Church of Denver!

The Bad
The Senate democrats seem committed to passing this turd of a health care reform bill on Christmas Eve. Never mind that it's a huge boon to the Insurance industry because it requires almost all Americans to purchase a policy and will subsidize those companies for people who can't afford the policy. All it does is guarantee MORE money from middle class Americans AND the U.S. Treasury to companies that are based on paying as little as possible for actual health care for their customers.

Hey, Harry Reid: FAIL!

The Ugly
It seems the blue collar workers who depend on the coal industry are becoming increasingly threatened by the efforts of environmentalists who want to shut down coal. What do poorly-educated laborers do when they feel their livelihood is threatened? They threaten violence and murder.

That's right. They've taken to battering environmental protesters and threatening them verbally and online with extreme violence and even murder. They seem to be unable to pull themselves out of the issue and realize that the elimination of their jobs isn't the primary objective of the protesters. Stopping climate change created by the carbon dioxide released when coal is burned so as to preserve the environment for future generations is the primary objective, and a laudable one.

I, for one, hope things don't get any uglier. I hope the municipalities of Appalachia can organize and figure out a new industry or two to replace the jobs that need to be lost when the coal industry indeed does collapse. We don't want those workers or their families to suffer. But their jobs are unfortunately less important than the future of Earth's climate. I hope they can learn to be objective and realize this truth.

The Overlooked
It might be obvious that I stayed away from the untimely death of Brittny Murphy. I am saddened to hear of this story, but I don't think it has any import beyond the lives of her and her family and friends. Plus, we don't know anything at this point other than she had a heart attack. I'm confident we'll all be sick to death of this story within two days, a la Heath Ledger and Michael Jackson. I don't need to weigh in.

Peace, love, and light to all.
TB