Tea at this hour?

You won’t believe I’m drinking tea as I write this. I used to avoid the stuff at all costs. That was when I was a one-cup-a-day-coffee-with-six-sugars addict. And mostly Coke (and not the diet kind).

It all changed about two weeks ago, and will explain why I haven’t written anything since.

I got sick. A double whammy. The flu trying to convince me it was a bigger deal than that awful pain in my stomach. The doctors at the hospital eventually decided that the pain in my stomach was a bigger deal… after I’d eventually managed to drag my ass out of bed after two days of torture, and drive myself there.

Turns out my gallbladder was seriously inflamed and harbouring some fugitive stones – nasty looking fuckers. I’d actually had this pain for a few years and chose stupidly to ignore it. My gall bladder’s time had come… to protest in the most violent manner possible.

Wikipedia

Up to that point, I had no idea that it was possible to live without a gallbladder, so when the surgeon told me it hd to come out, I was somewhat taken aback. But, but, but…

“Oh, nothing to worry about,” said the bladder butcher, “we do tens of thousands of these every year.” And they all live happily ever after, mostly. Seems that the gallbladder just stores excess bile before releasing it into the small intestine to break down fatty acids and such during digestion, and does pretty much fuck-all else. No real need for it at all…

And so it had to come out. The procedure known as a cholecystectomy is pretty simple – anesthetic, and well… that’s all I remember. It’s only later I discovered four minor cuts and feeling a little sore. And oh yes, two days of physiotherapy which involved breathing exercises and walking about. Yep, all pretty straightforward.

However I’d have to make a few lifestyle changes. No more fatty foods and caffeine. That means NO MORE COFFEE AND COKE. Sob! Eat more fruit. I hated fruit.

That’s where the tea comes in. Who knew it could taste good, and without any fucking sugar too. Luckily I discovered this brand with ginger, orange and honey in a supermarket without having to look too hard.

I’m hoping to steal a drink or two of coffee and Coke some time next year when my body has forgotten that it doesn’t have a gallbladder. Maybe a nice fatty steak too. Aaahhhh! Something to live for at least.

In response to a bigoted Christian politician…

It’s not often that men of the cloth admit to the follies of the Church and religious scripture. But when such a man does speak out against the crass wrongs perpetrated on society by the religious or political establishment, he deserves praise, not condemnation.

So you can imagine my consternation at reading this disgusting letter by one Thamsanqa Enoch Bam in an online publication, in response to Archbishop Desmond Tutu who spoke out against the vile and draconian anti-gay bill being proposed in Uganda. Tutu earned the ire of Bam by likening the hateful legislation to South Africa’s apartheid laws.

Bam, who also proclaims himself as the President of the People’s Party (a recent addition to the absurdly long list of insignificant South African political parties), asserts that the Archbishop was “going against” God’s Laws by condoning homosexuality. His conviction, unsurprisingly comes from the bible and is backed up by the quotation of a few hand-picked scriptures which I won’t repeat, such is my revulsion.

Is there a more revolting blend than a politician and a religionist?

Bam asks how the Archbishop could miss such clear scripture [referring to the revolting quotations I earlier sidestepped like a pile of steaming horeshit]. Off course, we would not be allowed the courtesy of asking how this cretin [Bam, and others of his ilk] misses with unerring conviction, all the other contradictory and hateful biblical scriptures that don’t confirm his/their prejudices.

This letter in the Times Live appears to be an extract from a lengthier blog he wrote, which also condemns gay marriage, and confoundingly professes support for the dreadful ANC [ruling party], if they “made an about turn and ended their duplicity, corruption, mismanagement and disregard of the poor masses.” And to add further insult, he concludes that the ANC’s manifest incompetence would be solved if the “country goes back to God.”

And like all fundamentalists he is off course intimate with God’s will:

As a Christian, I pray that gays and lesbians will eventually see their folly, repent, and turn away from their abominations. That is the will of God.

What a slimeball? The will of this atheist is that you change the name of your political party to Asshole’s Party, because you will never represent the people, just bigoted assholes like yourself.