Flying Spaghetti Monster takes up residence at TN county courthouse

http://www.crossville-chronicle.com/homepage/local_story_084161126.html

By Gary Nelson / gnelson@crossville-chronicle.com

Among the county's historic directional sign post, farm equipment and gazebo stand several monuments and expressions of free speech. The displays include an Iraq and Afghanistan Soldier's Memorial, Statue of Liberty, chainsaw-carved monkeys and bears, Jesus carrying a cross, and the most recent display added — a Flying Spaghetti Monster.

Several onlookers and tourists have stopped to take pictures of the sculptures.

The Flying Spaghetti Monster is the latest display to a slew of others that have been erected on the lawn over the past year. Several marches and demonstrations have also taken place on the courthouse grounds.

A free speech zone?

Cumberland County Buildings and Grounds Committee Chaiman Harry Sabine explained the committee has deferred all decisions on displays and handling of the courthouse grounds to County Mayor Brock Hill.

"I think at some point this may become ridiculous. I'm not so sure if now is the point or not. My concern is about what could or may go up there ... I mean the committee could ultimately decide to remove all displays, but at this point we haven't. I think a time limit on the displays may need to be enacted, though. I do think that too many of these displays tend to detract from the beauty of our courthouse lawn. I think our courthouse lawn is among the prettiest in the state. I hate to see that sacrificed," 1st District Commissioner Harry Sabine said.

On her Web site, www.itlovesyou.blogspot.com, a blog explaining the Flying Spaghetti Monster, Crossville artist Ariel Safdie states, "We are lucky enough to live in a country that allows us, its citizens, the freedom of speech. I have chosen to put up a statue of the Flying Spaghetti Monster to represent the discourse between people of all different beliefs. The many faiths, ethnicities and backgrounds of Cumberland County’s residents make our community a stronger richer place. I respect and am proud that on the people’s lawn, the county courthouse, all of these diverse beliefs can come together in a positive dialogue. Here, we are all able to share the issues close to our hearts whether it is through a memorial to the soldiers killed fighting for our country, the Statue of Liberty honoring our nations welcoming promise to all, a group’s fight to stop homelessness, or powerful symbols of faith. I greatly treasure this open forum between everyone in the community."

Although it may seem silly to some, Safdie adds, "The Flying Spaghetti Monster is a pile of noodles and meatballs, but it is meant to open up discussion and provoke thought. Being able to put up a statue is a celebration of our freedom as Americans; a freedom to be different, to express those differences, and to do it amongst neighbors — even if it is in a noodley way."

Safdie was not available for comment at press-time.

County Mayor Brock Hill said, "We are basically operating it as a freedom of speech venue. We don't deny the constitutional rights of anyone, but we certainly don't endorse all the displays. I feel the Flying Spaghetti Monster is an effort on the part of non-Christians to try and minimize Christianity and the images that have been placed there. I'll go as far as to say that I think it's an attempt to minimize and ridicule the good intentions of Christians in Cumberland County, but I don't deny their right."

Hill said there have been some requests for displays which have been turned down and each request is looked at on the merit of the display.

On Good Friday a chainsaw-carved statue of Jesus carrying the cross was placed on the lawn, along with the Flying Spaghetti Monster and a play of the Stations of the Cross was acted out by the Cumberland Countians for Peace and Justice.

"This is a group of various denominations brought together to bring awareness to the injustices of today," said Joe Gittings.

Gittings said the group also hosts peace displays or demonstrations at the courthouse each Wednesday from 4 to 5 p.m.

Gittings said he appreciates the opportunity the county is allowing.

Anyone wishing to erect a display is required to go to the county mayor's office and fill out a building and grounds committee application for use of the courthouse grounds. The applicant must be a Cumberland County resident. The application is reviewed and then either approved or rejected by the county mayor.

"We decided to do it this way because it seemed silly to have to meet all the time in order to approve these applications. The committee does have the right, though, to ultimately reject all of them if it decides," Sabine said.

Over the past year, a chainsaw-carved nativity scene has been there as well as a massive carving of the Last Supper.

The free speech zone began in 2006 after the American Civil Liberties Union in Nashville sent the county a letter asking if the display of a Moses statue meant the county was creating a free speech zone.

The displays by various people and organizations have continued since. Hill said unless the situation gets out of hand, he feels the current policy will continue.

List of unusual personal names

From Wikipedia: List of unusual personal names

Gay scientists believe they have isolated the cause of Christianity

cute video:

Gay scientists believe they have isolated the cause of Christianity

and the discussion on Fark

drugs...don't flush em

today the Indiana Poison Center, Marion County Health Department, Clarian and Marsh are teaming up to have a "Clean Out Your Medicine Cabinets" day, to get people to safely dispose of unused and/or expired medications. i wish they would do this more often, because people don't think of the ramifications of just flushing their extra pills.

recently a story hit the media, "Prescription drugs found in drinking water across U.S.", and while it may be a bit sensationalistic in that these are very minute amounts in the water supply, they're still there and it's something that we need to be aware of before it becomes more of an issue.

i must say, i wonder what happens to those pills that get dropped off - how do they "safely dispose" of this stuff?

lol

adam sent me this, made me laugh:


Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net

rough week...

got into an accident on Monday - feeling weird behind the wheel, i stopped the car...but i wasn't aware enough to pull up the emergency brake, and rolled into a car that was behind me. neurologist thinks it was triggered by low blood sugar. now i'm dealing with the joy of insurance and repair shops and all those festivities...whoo hoo!

being sick sucks...

especially when this is a month that i'm trying to refrain from going to the doctor because of that god-awful spend-down. sniffling, coughing, hacking up nasty stuff - not fun.

Munching Apples: The First "Apples To Apples" Fan Site

cool find - Munching Apples: The First "Apples To Apples" Fan Site

Apples To Apples is, hands-down, my favorite party game...stumbling upon this page (and the Wiki page for Apples to Apples) makes me wanna have another games night sometime in the near future...we'll see...

freaking out...

up at an ungodly hour - spent the last couple tossing and turning in bed...not sure what woke me up, but then i got medicaid on the brain and it's been freakout ever since. this spend-down thing's got me really freaked out - how the hell am i supposed to live on what social security gives me MINUS FORTY PERCENT? six hundred a month is gonna be ROUGH. so i'm trying to think of all these ways to milk the system - doc visits and med refills at the beginning and end of one month, then none the next month - to save money and it's just causing a freaking anxiety attack. and that's just presuming i can keep it together enough to contain my expenditures to every other month - we know i have a tendency to have things pop up, be they seizures or strange mental things...

the New Year's Resolution i made @ Douglas & Dan's party to ring in 2008 was to be more positive - right now it's not feeling too attainable, i'm feeling really negative...grrr...

i wish the extra xanax i just took would kick in - i just wanna go back to sleep...

No change...

just heard from my medicaid caseworker - that $385 spend-down is not gonna change. she also informed me that i would've had a spend-down before, but that my previous caseworker didn't submit the proper information. thankfully, i'm not gonna be penalized for that. this system is all sorts of screwed up.

Volunteering at Hunger, Inc.

on today's agenda: my shift for volunteering at Hunger, Inc. - a food pantry down here on the south side of Indy. not sure what sort of crowd to expect today, with the snow we've had, and the fact that it's the middle of the month, the numbers may be down - the end of the month is usually the busiest time of the month. i actually prefer it when it's busier - the time goes faster and it's not as easy to dwell on how depressing can get at times.

Can you at least pay for the lube, Medicaid?

the new year brings a reaming from Medicaid. the annual cost-of-living increase in my Social Security Disability by $24.00 means that i now must pay $385.00 PER MONTH of my healthcare expenses before Medicaid will pay for anything (it's called a "spend-down"). the magic number is $1022.00 - make under that, NO spend-down - last year i made $1014.00. the new year came and Social Security gave me an increase to $1038.00 - now i make $16.00 more than the limit so i have a spend-down. what i don't understand is how that extra sixteen bucks makes it so that close to FORTY PERCENT of my disability check has to go to healthcare now.

i'm sending some paperwork to my caseworker to hopefully try to lower the spend-down, but she warned me that we're taking a chance - it could actually increase...but that's a chance i guess i have to take

restarting the ol' blog...

i think it's time to get back into the blogosphere...this area under construction...

Which Lolcat Are You? Test

My score on The Which Lolcat Are You? Test:

Cheezburger cat

(65% Affectionate, 53% Excitable, 62% Hungry)

Sure, you deserve one. You helped popularized lolcats from a running gag to an online sensation. Now mainstream media writes asinine columns on this 'phenomenon', students write theses on the topic, programming languages adopt the grammar, and losers write tests about them on dating sites. Now take your cheezburger and never touch the internets again.

To see all possible results, checka &dis.

Link: The Which Lolcat Are You? Test
(OkCupid Free Online Dating)

What Brady Are You?

You Are Jan Brady

Brainy and a little introverted, you tend to think life is a lot worse than it actually is. And while you may think you're a little goofy looking, most people consider you to be a major babe.

What Brady Are You?

What Donut Are You?

You Are a Boston Creme Donut

You have a tough exterior. No one wants to mess with you. But on the inside, you're a total pushover and completely soft. You're a traditionalist, and you don't change easily. You're likely to eat the same doughnut every morning, and pout if it's sold out.

What Donut Are You?

Heidi....HO!

so, Heidi's all moved in and things are going well - i'm really on the fence about crating her though. her wimpering just makes my heart ache, and she doesn't counter surf or anything, so i guess i don't see the need for it. adam says i should do it though, and he's got lots more basset experience than me. *shrug*

getting ready for the roomie!

that's right - i'm gonna have a roommate. she's probably gonna move in next weekend. her name's Heidi, she's tri-racial (black, brown, and white) and has four feet. yeah, she's a doggie! a Basset Hound, to be more specific. i'm so excited!! more info to come...

pink!

that's the color of my hair now! used manic panic's Wildfire after bleaching my hair out...came out pink, with a few blondish streaks...so we used some more red - this time it was Pillarbox Red - still pink, but it's pink consistently. i like it. i'm dye-ing (har har) to get to a place with blacklight, cuz it supposedly glows in blacklight.

Wii!

i've now joined the section of the human race that owns a video game system - this weekend i managed to get my hands on a Nintendo Wii. playing with Adam's while i was doggy-sitting made me want one, and i finally managed to see one in the Target ad and get there early enough to get one before they ran out - whoo hoo!