Along the driveway.
Candy's favorite color.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
State Senator Ernie Chambers Sues God
TheOmahaChannel.com
2:42 p.m. CDT September 17, 2007
OMAHA, Neb - State Senator Ernie Chambers is suing God. The lawsuit, which was filed on Friday in Douglas County Court, seeks a permanent injunction ordering God to cease certain harmful activities and the making of terroristic threats.
The lawsuit admits God goes by all sorts of alias, names, titles and designations and it also recognizes the fact that the defendant is "Omnipresent".
In the lawsuit Chambers says he's tried to contact God numerous times, "Plaintiff, despite reasonable efforts to effectuate personal service upon Defendant ("Come out, come out, wherever you are") has been unable to do so."
MSNBC Source here.
2:42 p.m. CDT September 17, 2007
OMAHA, Neb - State Senator Ernie Chambers is suing God. The lawsuit, which was filed on Friday in Douglas County Court, seeks a permanent injunction ordering God to cease certain harmful activities and the making of terroristic threats.
The lawsuit admits God goes by all sorts of alias, names, titles and designations and it also recognizes the fact that the defendant is "Omnipresent".
In the lawsuit Chambers says he's tried to contact God numerous times, "Plaintiff, despite reasonable efforts to effectuate personal service upon Defendant ("Come out, come out, wherever you are") has been unable to do so."
MSNBC Source here.
Monday, September 17, 2007
On Doing the Work of god
New York Times
LA PLATA, Argentina, Sept. 10 —
A simple wooden cross hanging from his neck, the Rev. Rubén Capitanio sat before a microphone on Monday and did what few Argentine priests before him had dared to do: condemn the Roman Catholic Church for its complicity in the atrocities committed during Argentina’s “dirty war.”
“The attitude of the church was scandalously close to the dictatorship” that killed more than 15,000 Argentines and tortured tens of thousands more, the priest told a panel of three judges here, “to such an extent that I would say it was of a sinful degree.” The panel is deciding the fate of the Rev. Christian von Wernich, a priest accused of conspiring with the military who has become for many a powerful symbol of the church’s role.
The church “was like a mother that did not look for her children,” Father Capitanio added. “It did not kill anybody, but it did not save anybody, either.”
Father Capitanio’s mea culpa came nearly a quarter century after the junta was toppled in 1983 and democracy was restored. But in some ways, it occurred at just the right time. Through the trial of Father von Wernich, Argentina is finally confronting the church’s dark past during the dirty war, when it sometimes gave its support to the military as it went after leftist opponents.
More ...
Pedophiles ... now accessories to murder and torture. Just like the old days of the Inquisition ... nothing has changed.
LA PLATA, Argentina, Sept. 10 —
A simple wooden cross hanging from his neck, the Rev. Rubén Capitanio sat before a microphone on Monday and did what few Argentine priests before him had dared to do: condemn the Roman Catholic Church for its complicity in the atrocities committed during Argentina’s “dirty war.”
“The attitude of the church was scandalously close to the dictatorship” that killed more than 15,000 Argentines and tortured tens of thousands more, the priest told a panel of three judges here, “to such an extent that I would say it was of a sinful degree.” The panel is deciding the fate of the Rev. Christian von Wernich, a priest accused of conspiring with the military who has become for many a powerful symbol of the church’s role.
The church “was like a mother that did not look for her children,” Father Capitanio added. “It did not kill anybody, but it did not save anybody, either.”
Father Capitanio’s mea culpa came nearly a quarter century after the junta was toppled in 1983 and democracy was restored. But in some ways, it occurred at just the right time. Through the trial of Father von Wernich, Argentina is finally confronting the church’s dark past during the dirty war, when it sometimes gave its support to the military as it went after leftist opponents.
More ...
Pedophiles ... now accessories to murder and torture. Just like the old days of the Inquisition ... nothing has changed.
Some Guy with a Website
Examining the constant urge from right-wingers to brand everything opposing them as an act of cowardice.
Click image for the full 'toon.
Click image for the full 'toon.
Who's bowling when it thunders?
Steven Colbert at his best ... thoughts on Mother Teressa.
"Table for one please ... is there anything by the lake of fire?"
The video clip is here, too.
... and god is my co-pilot
Airline sacrifices goats to appease sky god
Nepal's state-run carrier makes offering after technical problems with 757
KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Officials at Nepal's state-run airline have sacrificed two goats to appease Akash Bhairab, the Hindu sky god, following technical problems with one of its Boeing 757 aircraft, the carrier said Tuesday.
Nepal Airlines, which has two Boeing aircraft, has had to suspend some services in recent weeks due to the problem.
The goats were sacrificed in front of the troublesome aircraft Sunday at Nepal's only international airport in Kathmandu in accordance with Hindu traditions, an official said.
No ... I'm not kidding. You can't make this stuff up.
Maybe a couple well wrung chicken necks will put the sub-prime market back together? Eric, John, are you getting this?!?!? Get naked, start dancing and wring them chicken necks!!!
Any one want to play virgins and volcanoes?
Nepal's state-run carrier makes offering after technical problems with 757
KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Officials at Nepal's state-run airline have sacrificed two goats to appease Akash Bhairab, the Hindu sky god, following technical problems with one of its Boeing 757 aircraft, the carrier said Tuesday.
Nepal Airlines, which has two Boeing aircraft, has had to suspend some services in recent weeks due to the problem.
The goats were sacrificed in front of the troublesome aircraft Sunday at Nepal's only international airport in Kathmandu in accordance with Hindu traditions, an official said.
No ... I'm not kidding. You can't make this stuff up.
Maybe a couple well wrung chicken necks will put the sub-prime market back together? Eric, John, are you getting this?!?!? Get naked, start dancing and wring them chicken necks!!!
Any one want to play virgins and volcanoes?
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Mr, Giuliani joins the ranks
... of Republicans who support wars but manage to avoid serving in them.
"During his years as an undergraduate at Manhattan College and then at New York University Law School, Giuliani qualified for a student deferment. Upon graduation from law school in 1968, he lost that temporary deferment and his draft status reverted to 1-A, the designation awarded to those most qualified for induction into the Army. At the same time, Giuliani won a clerkship with federal Judge Lloyd McMahon in the fabled Southern District of New York, where he would become the United States attorney. He naturally had no desire to trade his ticket on the legal profession's fast track for latrine duty in the jungle. So he quickly applied for another deferment based on his judicial clerkship. This time the Selective Service System denied his claim. That was when the desperate Giuliani prevailed upon his boss to write to the draft board, asking them to grant him a fresh deferment and reclassification as an "essential" civilian employee. As the great tabloid columnist Jimmy Breslin noted 20 years later, during the former prosecutor's first campaign for mayor: 'Giuliani did not attend the war in Vietnam because federal Judge Lloyd MacMahon [sic] wrote a letter to the draft board in 1969 and got him out. Giuliani was a law clerk for MacMahon, who at the time was hearing Selective Service cases. MacMahon's letter to Giuliani's draft board stated that Giuliani was so necessary as a law clerk that he could not be allowed to get shot at in Vietnam.'"
The elite club of draft dodgers includes:
Frankly, it's easier to find pro-war Republicans who didn't serve than it is to find members of the Republican leadership who actually did serve. It's easy to be for war when someone else has to fight it.
"During his years as an undergraduate at Manhattan College and then at New York University Law School, Giuliani qualified for a student deferment. Upon graduation from law school in 1968, he lost that temporary deferment and his draft status reverted to 1-A, the designation awarded to those most qualified for induction into the Army. At the same time, Giuliani won a clerkship with federal Judge Lloyd McMahon in the fabled Southern District of New York, where he would become the United States attorney. He naturally had no desire to trade his ticket on the legal profession's fast track for latrine duty in the jungle. So he quickly applied for another deferment based on his judicial clerkship. This time the Selective Service System denied his claim. That was when the desperate Giuliani prevailed upon his boss to write to the draft board, asking them to grant him a fresh deferment and reclassification as an "essential" civilian employee. As the great tabloid columnist Jimmy Breslin noted 20 years later, during the former prosecutor's first campaign for mayor: 'Giuliani did not attend the war in Vietnam because federal Judge Lloyd MacMahon [sic] wrote a letter to the draft board in 1969 and got him out. Giuliani was a law clerk for MacMahon, who at the time was hearing Selective Service cases. MacMahon's letter to Giuliani's draft board stated that Giuliani was so necessary as a law clerk that he could not be allowed to get shot at in Vietnam.'"
The elite club of draft dodgers includes:
- GW Bush - who served in the Air National Guard. I was around for the draft in the 60s and I know what a desirable way out the National Guard was at that point in history. Bush also decided that a six-year National Guard commitment really means four years. Still says that he's "been to war."
- Dick Cheney - who says he had other priorities.
- Karl Rove - avoided the draft, did not serve.
- Former Speaker Newt Gingrich - avoided the draft, did not serve.
- Former Att'y Gen. John Ashcroft - did not serve; received seven deferment to teach business ed at SW Missouri State.
- Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-KY - did not serve.
- enate Assistant Minority Leader Trent Lott, R-MI - avoided the draft, did not serve.
- Senate Republican Conference Chairman Jon Kyl, R-AZ - did not serve.
- National Republican Senatorial Committee Chair John Ensign, R-NV - did not serve.
- House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-OH - did not serve.
- House Minority Whip Roy Blunt, R-MO - did not serve.
- House Republican Conerence Chair Adam Putnam, R-FL - did not serve.
- House Republican Policy Committee Thaddeus McCotter, R-MI - did not serve.
- National Republican Congressional Committee Chair Tom Cole, R-OK - did not serve.
- Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani - did not serve.
- Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney - did not serve in the military but did serve the Mormon Church on a 30-month mission to France. NOW THAT'S serving one's country!
- Former Senator Fred Thompson - did not serve. Fredrick of Hollywood is running for president this time around.
- Senator John McCain - McCain's naval honors include the Silver Star, Bronze Star, Legion of Merit, Purple Heart and Distinguished Flying Cross. Why did the Bush campaign smear him so in 2000? At least Senators Cleland (D-GA), Kerry (D-MA), Kerrey (D-NE), Robb (D-VA) and Hagel (R-NE) defended him.
- Former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert - avoided the draft, did not serve.
- Former House Majority Leader Dick Armey - avoided the draft, did not serve.
- Former House Majority Leader Tom Delay - avoided the draft, did not serve. "So many minority youths had volunteered ... that there was literally no room for patriotic folks like himself." (You've GOT to be KIDDING!!)
- Former House Majority Whip Roy Blunt - did not serve
- Former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist - did not serve. (An impressive medical resume, but not such a friend to cats in Boston.)
- Rick Santorum, R-PA, formerly third ranking Republican in the Senate - did not serve.
- George Felix Allen, former Republican Senator from Virginia - a supporter of Nixon and the Vietnam war, did not serve.
Frankly, it's easier to find pro-war Republicans who didn't serve than it is to find members of the Republican leadership who actually did serve. It's easy to be for war when someone else has to fight it.
When even your own party can't stand the smell - Part 2
Alan Greenspan speaks:
"I am saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: the Iraq war is largely about oil."
-- Alan Greenspan (lifelong Republican) - September 2007
"The Republicans in Congress lost their way. They swapped principle for power. They ended up with neither. They deserved to lose."
-- Alan Greenspan (lifelong Republican) - September 2007
"Bush's collaborate-don't-confront approach was a major mistake --- it cost the nation a check-and-balance mechanism essential to fiscal discipline."
-- Alan Greenspan (lifelong Republican) - September 2007
"I am saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: the Iraq war is largely about oil."
-- Alan Greenspan (lifelong Republican) - September 2007
"The Republicans in Congress lost their way. They swapped principle for power. They ended up with neither. They deserved to lose."
-- Alan Greenspan (lifelong Republican) - September 2007
"Bush's collaborate-don't-confront approach was a major mistake --- it cost the nation a check-and-balance mechanism essential to fiscal discipline."
-- Alan Greenspan (lifelong Republican) - September 2007
Blowing Your Morning Coffee All Over the Monitor
An insight into how the war in Iraq is being run.
The Spoils of War: Billions Over Baghdad
By Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele
Vanity Fair
October 2007 Edition
Between April 2003 and June 2004, $12 billion in US currency - much of it belonging to the Iraqi people - was shipped from the Federal Reserve to Baghdad, where it was dispensed by the Coalition Provisional Authority. Some of the cash went to pay for projects and keep ministries afloat, but, incredibly, at least $9 billion has gone missing, unaccounted for, in a frenzy of mismanagement and greed. Following a trail that leads from a safe in one of Saddam's palaces to a house near San Diego, to a P.O. box in the Bahamas, the authors discover just how little anyone cared about how the money was handled.
Reposted on TruthOut.org.
See also:
Defense, Homeland Security Can't Pass Audits
The Associated Press
Friday 14 September 2007
Disorganized records leave big-budget agencies vulnerable to waste, fraud.
Article here.
Now, aren't you glad you voted for that Yale MBA for president in those last two elections? If you voted for him, this is your legacy.
The Spoils of War: Billions Over Baghdad
By Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele
Vanity Fair
October 2007 Edition
Between April 2003 and June 2004, $12 billion in US currency - much of it belonging to the Iraqi people - was shipped from the Federal Reserve to Baghdad, where it was dispensed by the Coalition Provisional Authority. Some of the cash went to pay for projects and keep ministries afloat, but, incredibly, at least $9 billion has gone missing, unaccounted for, in a frenzy of mismanagement and greed. Following a trail that leads from a safe in one of Saddam's palaces to a house near San Diego, to a P.O. box in the Bahamas, the authors discover just how little anyone cared about how the money was handled.
Reposted on TruthOut.org.
See also:
Defense, Homeland Security Can't Pass Audits
The Associated Press
Friday 14 September 2007
Disorganized records leave big-budget agencies vulnerable to waste, fraud.
Article here.
Now, aren't you glad you voted for that Yale MBA for president in those last two elections? If you voted for him, this is your legacy.
The "Theory" of Intelligent Design
fails to meet the test of being a theory.
To proponents of intelligent design, saying that evolution alone accounts for the wonders of biology is like proposing that sandstorms created the pyramids of Egypt. An intricate organ like the eye relies on specialized parts, none of which work without the others. It's hard to imagine, they say, such a system evolving by natural selection (although the work of scientists like Stephen Jay Gould and Richard Dawkins provides some ideas on how it might happen). Their preferred explanation: an "intelligent designer" who drafted the blueprint for life. Naysayers, including most of the scientific community, say the term — popularized by the 1989 school textbook Of Pandas and People — is just a way of dressing up religion in the argot of science. And since it can't be tested, they add, it's not a theory at all.
- Wired Magazine / Geekipedia
To proponents of intelligent design, saying that evolution alone accounts for the wonders of biology is like proposing that sandstorms created the pyramids of Egypt. An intricate organ like the eye relies on specialized parts, none of which work without the others. It's hard to imagine, they say, such a system evolving by natural selection (although the work of scientists like Stephen Jay Gould and Richard Dawkins provides some ideas on how it might happen). Their preferred explanation: an "intelligent designer" who drafted the blueprint for life. Naysayers, including most of the scientific community, say the term — popularized by the 1989 school textbook Of Pandas and People — is just a way of dressing up religion in the argot of science. And since it can't be tested, they add, it's not a theory at all.
- Wired Magazine / Geekipedia
When even your own party can't stand the smell
Bill Maher: Isn’t a dirty trick on the American people when you send a military man out there to basically do a political sell-job?”
Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE): It’s not only a dirty trick, but it’s dishonest, it’s hypocritical, it’s dangerous and irresponsible. The fact is this is not Petraeus’ policy, it’s the Bush’s policy. The military is — certainly very clear in the Constitution — is subservient to the elected public officials of this country.. but to put our military in a position that this administration has put them in is just wrong, and it’s dangerous.”
The video clip is here.
Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE): It’s not only a dirty trick, but it’s dishonest, it’s hypocritical, it’s dangerous and irresponsible. The fact is this is not Petraeus’ policy, it’s the Bush’s policy. The military is — certainly very clear in the Constitution — is subservient to the elected public officials of this country.. but to put our military in a position that this administration has put them in is just wrong, and it’s dangerous.”
The video clip is here.
There goes the neighborhood
Xenu Goes Uptown
Scientology makes a major move into Harlem. But why?
by Chloe Hilliard / Village Voice
Recently, the Church of Scientology announced that it was purchasing three buildings on East 125th Street for an estimated $10 million. Since 2003, the controversial religion had been running a mostly overlooked storefront on Third Avenue between 122nd and 123rd streets, but the new expansion marks a major move into Harlem. The buildings will be fully renovated and turned into not only a church, but a community center with the usual Scientology programs: job training, literacy and drug rehab. Media reports about the announcement, however, failed to ask a key question:
What's the mostly white Church of Scientology doing in a mostly black part of town?
Although gentrification is bringing increasing numbers of non-African-Americans to the uptown neighborhood, Harlem is still largely made up of black people who tend to have strong mainstream Protestant and Muslim identities. Other groups have targeted the area for recruitment—young Mormon missionaries can be seen walking up and down 125th Street, and Jehovah's Witnesses are a common sight in train stations.
Find out more about Scientology in Harlem (and in general) ...
Scientology makes a major move into Harlem. But why?
by Chloe Hilliard / Village Voice
Recently, the Church of Scientology announced that it was purchasing three buildings on East 125th Street for an estimated $10 million. Since 2003, the controversial religion had been running a mostly overlooked storefront on Third Avenue between 122nd and 123rd streets, but the new expansion marks a major move into Harlem. The buildings will be fully renovated and turned into not only a church, but a community center with the usual Scientology programs: job training, literacy and drug rehab. Media reports about the announcement, however, failed to ask a key question:
What's the mostly white Church of Scientology doing in a mostly black part of town?
Although gentrification is bringing increasing numbers of non-African-Americans to the uptown neighborhood, Harlem is still largely made up of black people who tend to have strong mainstream Protestant and Muslim identities. Other groups have targeted the area for recruitment—young Mormon missionaries can be seen walking up and down 125th Street, and Jehovah's Witnesses are a common sight in train stations.
Find out more about Scientology in Harlem (and in general) ...
In the name of a peaceful god of love and mercy
Al Qaeda offers bounty on Swedish cartoonist
CTV.ca News Staff
Al Qaeda in Iraq's leader has offered a bounty on the head of a Swedish cartoonist who recently satirized the Prophet Muhammad.
"We are calling for the assassination of cartoonist Lars Vilks who dared insult our Prophet, peace be upon him, and we announce a reward during this generous month of Ramadan of US$100,000 for the one who kills this criminal," Abu Omar al-Baghdadi said in a statement posted Saturday to an Islamist webside.
That amount would be increased to $150,000 if Vilks was "slaughtered like a lamb," Baghadi said.
Read more about people who know what's on god's mind ...
CTV.ca News Staff
Al Qaeda in Iraq's leader has offered a bounty on the head of a Swedish cartoonist who recently satirized the Prophet Muhammad.
"We are calling for the assassination of cartoonist Lars Vilks who dared insult our Prophet, peace be upon him, and we announce a reward during this generous month of Ramadan of US$100,000 for the one who kills this criminal," Abu Omar al-Baghdadi said in a statement posted Saturday to an Islamist webside.
That amount would be increased to $150,000 if Vilks was "slaughtered like a lamb," Baghadi said.
Read more about people who know what's on god's mind ...
Civil War
noun
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Lets start by saying there ain't nothin' civil about a Civil War.
It's the international equivalent of the beat cop's bane; domestic dispute. Every beat cop knows that walking into a domestic dispute is one of the most dangerous parts of the job. You run the risk of both sides attacking you. One minute everything will seem to be going fine, and then you get blind sided.
"Some folks" don't see it as a civil war in Iraq. "Some folks" ignore the Sunni versus Shiite animosities that have led to daily car bombings, suicide bombers in mosques and vigilante militias patrolling neighborhood streets.
And then there are the various groups within the Sunni and Shiite camps, fighting for power within their respective groups.
Unfortunately, the "some folks" who ignore this 85% share of the issue in Iraq are our leaders. There are none so blind as those who will not see. (The functional word in that is "will".)
The bottom line is, you can't win someone else's Civil War!
Anyone who suggests for a moment that there is a way to win someone else's Civil War is naive at best and dangerous at worst.
Unlike a domestic dispute where the cop and separate the parties involved and enforce a cooling off period - civil wars are domestic disputes that are out of control. The best strategy in a civil war is to let both sides duke it out and talk to the last one standing.
"But what about the neighbors?", you say. In this case they may support one side or the other - as the Iranians support the Shiite factions and the Saudis support the Sunnis - but ask yourself this - are they any less likely to find themselves in an untenable position if they intervene directly in the Iraqi civil war than we have found ourselves?
- A war between factions or regions of the same country.
- A state of hostility or conflict between elements within an organization: "The broadcaster is in the midst of a civil war that has brought it to the brink of a complete management overhaul" Bill Powell.
- Civil War The war in the United States between the Union and the Confederacy from 1861 to 1865. Also called War Between the States.
- Civil War The war in England between the Parliamentarians and the Royalists from 1642 to 1648.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Lets start by saying there ain't nothin' civil about a Civil War.
It's the international equivalent of the beat cop's bane; domestic dispute. Every beat cop knows that walking into a domestic dispute is one of the most dangerous parts of the job. You run the risk of both sides attacking you. One minute everything will seem to be going fine, and then you get blind sided.
"Some folks" don't see it as a civil war in Iraq. "Some folks" ignore the Sunni versus Shiite animosities that have led to daily car bombings, suicide bombers in mosques and vigilante militias patrolling neighborhood streets.
And then there are the various groups within the Sunni and Shiite camps, fighting for power within their respective groups.
Unfortunately, the "some folks" who ignore this 85% share of the issue in Iraq are our leaders. There are none so blind as those who will not see. (The functional word in that is "will".)
The bottom line is, you can't win someone else's Civil War!
Anyone who suggests for a moment that there is a way to win someone else's Civil War is naive at best and dangerous at worst.
Unlike a domestic dispute where the cop and separate the parties involved and enforce a cooling off period - civil wars are domestic disputes that are out of control. The best strategy in a civil war is to let both sides duke it out and talk to the last one standing.
"But what about the neighbors?", you say. In this case they may support one side or the other - as the Iranians support the Shiite factions and the Saudis support the Sunnis - but ask yourself this - are they any less likely to find themselves in an untenable position if they intervene directly in the Iraqi civil war than we have found ourselves?
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