Rhinos are killed for their horns, which are falsely believed to be a powerful aphrodisiac. Knocking off RINOs, or Republicans in Name Only, is proving an intoxicating political sport of its own.
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Tag Archives: Scott Bates
Rhinos and RINOs, Both Endangered
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Rhinoceros Poem", Endangered Species, Nature, politics, sex Comments closed
Summer in the Glen
Scott Bates tells us that when we give ourselves over to the universe of which we are a part, then we escape the entrapment of self.
Queen of the Animals Quiz
In “Song for the Queen of the Animals,” Scott Bates celebrates the female life force while presenting the reader with a literary puzzle.
Religion and Self Love
In “Gospel Song,” Scott Bates sees self-interest entering into the motivations of even the holiest of men—King David, Daniel, Jesus and Moses.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Daniel, Francois de la Rouchefoucauld, Jesus, King David, Moses, Religion Comments closed
The Cosmic Meaning of Flushing Flies
I don’t know how deep my father’s qualms go about flushing a fly down a toilet bowl. At the very least, the prospect makes him think twice and look for a larger message, as he does in the following comic poem.
Take Me Out to the Orgasmic Experience
In his poem, Scott Bates fastens on the fact that the baseball diamond and the outfield, in their intersection, resemble a mandorla. An almond-shaped figure of mythic significance, the mandorla has been seen to symbolize “the interactions and interdependence of opposing worlds and forces,” such as spirit and matter or heaven and earth.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "B Is for the Baseball Mandorla", Baseball, Sports Comments closed
Ah, the Stench of Spring
The news has been so grim recently that I offer up a bit of comic verse at midweek to give you a breather. Think of it as a celebration of the stench of spring—which is to say, of the fertilizer that the farmers are spreading on their fields as the season of growth begins. The […]
7 Reasons We Help Others
Spiritual Sunday If I want to generate a spirited ethical discussion in a class, all I have to do is ask my students whether altruism derives from a higher moral sense or from enlightened self-interest. It is one of those questions that theologians, philosophers, biologists, anthropologists, psychologists, and others can debate for hours. They draw […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Seven Charitable Chimpanzees", Altruism, Ethics, Spirituality Comments closed
Happiness Is a Warm Gun (Shoot, Shoot)
Following the Columbine High School shootings, outrage against permissive gun laws led, not to tougher gun laws, but to pushback by the National Rifle Association. The NRA went on to help George W. Bush squeak by Albert Gore in the 2000 elections and has since become so bold that the 2006 Congress was afraid to extend […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Ballad of the National Rifle Association", guns, violence Comments closed