Eye on Faith: January 2017

Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Bryce Dallas Howard: None the worse for wearing

BDH in 2010 (Photo by aphrodite-in-nyc)

Okay, so it’s not a Salvation Army cast-off, or even a Wal-Mart special. Nevertheless, the $309 gown that Bryce Dallas Howard wore to this year’s SAG Awards is a giant step in the right direction.

No need to be dressed to the hilt for acknowledgement as a fine actress. Howard’s performances in Netflix’s Black Mirror should rate higher than chiffon and lace.

The red-sequined Dress the Population gown that Howard wore was not only affordable, but also ethically aligned. Dress the Population donates 50% of the proceeds from one garment a month to charity. Although Howard’s dress was not the one chosen this month, she popularized the charitable enterprise by association.

Resources

http://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/celeb-style/bryce-dallas-howard-rocks-dollar309-gown-at-sag-awards/ar-AAmo4cB?OCID=ansmsnnews11

Monday, January 30, 2017

Cock-a-doodle-doo!

Struttin' his stuff! (Photo by Andrzej Barabasz)

The only thing more feisty than a rooster is a fire rooster.

In Chinese astrology, January 28, 2017 marks the beginning of the fire-rooster year. Whereas regular roosters tend to be extroverted, fire roosters are even more outgoing.

Fire also lends a spark to the rooster’s already independent, motivated and perfectionistic streaks. All this makes for an “extraordinary work ethic and excellent organizational skills.” After all, who else would be raring to go every single morning?

Nevertheless, there's a downside to even the best of situations. Roosters can be brutally blunt. Their sharp wit can cut to the quick, disemboweling friends and foes alike. Their passion can burn all in its path.

Many cultures acknowledge the rooster’s strength. Cockfight rituals are still “a popular form of fertility worship among almost all Southeast Asians.” The Khasi people of North India believe that when a rooster is sacrificed, it “bears the sins of the man.”

African Yoruba stories tell of an ancient rooster who helped to create “the original sixteen kingdoms” by scratching a palm seed into dirt. In ancient Babylonia, the constellation Orion was thought to be accompanied by the Rooster, “their divinely ordained role to communicate messages of the gods.”

Resources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rooster

http://www.georgetangchineseastrology.com/chinese-fire-rooster-year-2017/

Sunday, January 29, 2017

Donald in Wonderland

As I was saying... (Public Domain)

If it seems as though America has gone through the looking glass recently, that’s because Trump has been dallying in Wonderland for decades.

David Barstow of The New York Times reports that Donald has long been “a serial fabulist whose biggest-best boasts about everything he touched routinely crumbled under the slightest scrutiny.” Since inhabiting the White House, Trump’s assertions have been curiouser than ever.

Fact checkers published a dirty dozen “of the most misleading claims” made by the rookie president “during his first White House interview.” These included false reports of Chicago shootings and incorrect data regarding Philadelphia murders.

For those in the know, such “truth mangling” is all too familiar. Trump’s falsehoods allegedly serve a twofold purpose: to massage his fragile ego, and to bolster his professional brand. Such “truthful hyperbole” might have played well on reality TV, but will it shatter the delicate scales of justice?

Resources

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/%e2%80%98up-is-down%e2%80%99-trump%e2%80%99s-unreality-show-echoes-his-business-past/ar-AAmlWUm?li=BBnbcA1&ocid=BHEA000