Babe of the 20th Century, Marilyn Monroe, (allegedly) smoking a joint with some of her posse and giggling.

In the 300,000 pollen-bearing plant species on Earth, there are 300,000 different forms of pollen. The great variety in colors, shapes, and textures of the grains has evolved in accordance with each plant’s biological particulars. Beetle-pollinated plants tend to have smooth, sticky pollen, the better to adhere to the lumbering beetles’ backs. Plants pollinated by fast-moving bees or flies may have spiny pollen that lodges easily between the insects’ hairs. Plants pollinated by bigger animals, such as bats, sometimes have bigger pollen, though not always — perhaps not even most of the time. In the details of pollen’s variety, more remains to be explained than is understood.

via Nat Geo

The struggle for the fate of Christianity – in motion since the earliest times – has often devolved into a fight about whether Christians should seek worldly power or eschew it. It is a question constantly faced by Jesus in the Gospels himself, and it is one always resolved in Jesus’ case by using love. Jesus had no politics. He sought no earthly power. But humans who live in a fallen world must live with power and under it. And in this fundamentalist age, where Christians and Jews as well as Muslims have embraced the power of government and law and war to reimpose their literalist beliefs, the battle is intense.

The defining element of Christianism is the pursuit of worldly power -  which is why I refuse to give these politicians and operators the term “Christian.” The move into politics was a decision made by the Christianist right two generations ago. Its main vehicle is the Republican party, but it is not entirely partisan, as the remarkable story of “The Family” by Jeff Sharlet reveals.

“The Family,” we now learn, is now part of a war to launch new anti-gay laws in Uganda that resemble legislation that preceded mass killings in Rwanda and Serbia in recent years (and, of course, the Shoah before that):

continue reading here

Following a three-year investigation in the Dublin Archdiocese, the country’s largest, the report concluded that four archbishops routinely protected abusers and failed to inform police of the allegations. One priest admitted to sexually abusing over 100 children, while another confessed that he had abused on a fortnightly basis over 25 years.

“The volume of revelations of child sexual abuse by clergy over the past 35 years or so has been described by a Church source as a ‘tsunami’ of sexual abuse,” said the report….

The judicial probe discovered that the archbishops did not report abuse to police until the 1990s as part of a culture of secrecy and to try and avoid damaging the reputation of the Church.

The report said: “All other considerations, including the welfare of children and justice for victims, were subordinated to these priorities”.

It found children who complained “were often met with denial, arrogance and cover-up and with incompetence and incomprehension in some cases. Suspicions were rarely acted on”.

This is Ali, a six month old baby in Southern Russia.

It’s a miracle! Every Monday and Thursday, fresh quotations from the Quran ‘magically’ appear on his legs, belly, or arms when he’s home alone with his mommy and daddy, and then the pilgrims show up in the thousands to give the happy family lots and lots of attention. I simply can’t imagine how red marks might appear on the delicate skin of a young baby while under the care of doting, attentive parents, or why anyone might cheat and fake a miracle…can you? The only possible explanation is that the omnipotent, omniscient master of the entire cosmos occasionally gets bored overseeing the fusion of hydrogen in stars, and just has to come down to visit Ali and dickishly inflame small regions of his epidermis. I can understand that; if I had the power to end a wasteful war in the Kizlyar region, I’m sure I’d just use it to torment babies instead. But hey, I’m an atheist. What’s God’s excuse?

One Nation Under God

It’s actually kind of fun to move the mouse over the picture and read the Mormon perspective on the American landscape. Look at the greedy lawyer counting his Jew gold! And Liberal News Reporter!!! DAMN THEM!!

Notice the rather out of place black male in the bottom left is holding a book by noted Mormon author and Glenn Becks personal mentor; Cleon Skousen.

The book is titled 5,000 Year Leap and according to an article from Salon is “a heavily illustrated and factually challenged attempt to explain American history through an unspoken lens of Mormon theology. As such, it is an early entry in the ongoing attempt by the religious right to rewrite history.”

It seems Christianity is being pushed out into the periphery of the conservative ideology and being replaced by Mormonism, whether Christian conservatives would like to admit it or not. Mormonism is exciting for “gimmemycountryback” republicans and Glenn Becker’s because it combines Jesus with America, and makes America and White Americans the chosen place of the chosen people. Mormonism does what Christianity, with its middle east Abrahamic origins, has been unable to do despite recent evangelical efforts; takes Christ from the land of pesky Jews and transplants his white-ass right here in the good ol’ USA. Missouri, to be exact.

More from Salon… “Anyone who has followed Beck will recognize the book’s title. Beck has been furiously promoting “The 5,000 Year Leap” for the past year, a push that peaked in March when he launched the 912 Project. That month, a new edition of “The 5,000 Year Leap,” complete with a laudatory new foreword by none other than Glenn Beck, came out of nowhere to hit No. 1 on Amazon. It remained in the top 15 all summer, holding the No. 1 spot in the government category for months. The book tops Beck’s 912 Project “required reading” list, and is routinely sold at 912 Project meetings where guest speakers often use it as their primary source material. At one 912 meet-up I attended in Florida, copies were stacked high on a table against the back wall, available for the 912 nice price of $15. “Don’t bother trying to get it at the library,” one 912er told me. ‘The wait list is 40 deep.’ “

Fun Game: See if you can find Satan! Hint: (Right border, next to Mr Hollywood, naturally)