Bio
- okami
- former US Marine, retired police; in other words, professional babysitter. "Ah's jes' th' ign'nt sonuva po' ol' shahcroppah, yas ah is. . ."
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20100430
A pregnant crack addict holds a crack pipe as she walks in the ... http://ping.fm/s9Fkwhttp://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Most-Emailed-Photos/ss/1756/im:/100428/ids_photos_wl/r204765582.jpg
Crosses mark the burial site of unclaimed people, mostly victims ... http://ping.fm/9KhHShttp://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Most-Emailed-Photos/ss/1756/im:/100429/ids_photos_wl/r3386105770.jpg
A goat performs wire-walking with a monkey on its back at a ... http://ping.fm/wQ6mvhttp://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Most-Emailed-Photos/ss/1756/im:/100428/ids_photos_wl/r984693627.jpg
The grave marker of James Parks, the great-grandfather of Wayne ... http://ping.fm/O1Qnnhttp://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Most-Emailed-Photos/ss/1756/im:/100420/480/urn_publicid_ap_org3a4b2f0ca438439bbb44e6926ac70a92
An Army carry team carries the transfer case containing the ... http://ping.fm/DewA5http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Most-Emailed-Photos/ss/1756/im:/100425/480/urn_publicid_ap_org4540a5ceaebd45589829dce09f0aefd9
FILE - In this April 1969 file photo, a South Vietnamese woman ... http://ping.fm/QnB3Qhttp://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Most-Emailed-Photos/ss/1756/im:/100428/481/urn_publicid_ap_org94725cd9d604476ea879e9f314039732
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin (C) assists in polar bear ... http://ping.fm/zoly8http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Most-Emailed-Photos/ss/1756/im:/100429/ids_photos_wl/r2263328442.jpg
A state police officer searches near vehicles used by human ... http://ping.fm/ZTrSdhttp://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Most-Emailed-Photos/ss/1756/im:/100429/481/urn_publicid_ap_org_d11754ef9cf54872a8095e250d2ed75c
John Lennon's handwritten lyrics to "A Day in the Life", ... http://ping.fm/FCjpnhttp://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Most-Emailed-Photos/ss/1756/im:/100429/ids_photos_en/r3066544455.jpg
An unearthed Vietnam war era bomb lying on ground near houses ... http://ping.fm/Nitxrhttp://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Most-Emailed-Photos/ss/1756/im:/100429/photos_wl_pc_afp/fae3c76c11e013a57b0b51b3f41f09dc
If the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor looks as welcoming ... http://ping.fm/iQfDuhttp://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Most-Emailed-Photos/ss/1756/im:/100430/photos_ts_afp/01476e788f2f62e8d2dfa8b6cf220075
At 7th Anniversary of 'Photo Op': Mission Still NOT Accomplished
The only reason the Iraqi surge 'succeeded' was that we had already caused a religious civil war between Shia and Sunni, which had already killed or removed members of the opposing sect in a given area. The surge, in and of itself, only mopped up the dregs of what was left after Shia and Sunni had ethnically 'cleansed' each other.
It also explains why the current 'surge' in Afghanistan will not work. There are Afghan Taliban, Al Qaeda (virtually non-existent, to be sure) Pashtun, urban Afghans (where 'government' holds sway) and the remainder of the population, over which the goverment has no control. There has been no 'cleansing' or similar dilution as there was in Iraq, so that the problem is far worse. And, beyond that, there are the influences oo Pakistani Pashtun and Taliban, as well as the complicating influences of the ISI and Pakistani government.
About Afghanistan
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost
Duncan Hunter: Deport Illegal Immigrants' Children Who Are Natural-Born Americans
One of the reasons the Democratic Party has always had trouble elucidating a clear message is due to its diversity in makeup, thought and mission. One could theorize that they've tried to be everything to everybody; in doing so, there's no clear focus and their efforts become diffused. Also, being more representative of the American public (at least at this time), adherents might hold to one or more of the opposing party's ideals without abandoning the overall Demcratic platform. This also tends to detract from a solidarity of viewpoint and action. Republicans are in much more agreement with their basic belief structure and ideology, which allows them to focus decisive action through their leadership.
However, in the Cheney Administration we saw more and more reaching out to extremist bases. The US has always been a racist society, albeit sublimated in the past few decades. Once Obama was elected, all bets were off. And the Republicans themselves were no longer unified. In other words, they've created a monster they can't control, and the Republican Party is ideologically self-destructing.
About Immigration
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost
Ignorance appeared like dust and like the scum of the sea. And the vain supposed it was great and were its child, but the wise understood and meditated and were unpolluted in their meditations, for they shared the mind of the Lord. They laughed at those in error and spoke truth
breathed into them by the Highest One. - The Odes of Solomon, Ode 18
breathed into them by the Highest One. - The Odes of Solomon, Ode 18
20100429
Shakira visits Phoenix over tough immigration law
(AP) http://ping.fm/AvyJghttp://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100430/ap_en_mu/us_shakira_immigration_enforcement
(AP) http://ping.fm/AvyJghttp://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100430/ap_en_mu/us_shakira_immigration_enforcement
Journals by Philip K. Dick to be published in 2011
(AP) http://ping.fm/9qdOthttp://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100430/ap_on_en_ot/us_books_philip_k_dick
(AP) http://ping.fm/9qdOthttp://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100430/ap_on_en_ot/us_books_philip_k_dick
20100428
Russian court bans neo-Nazi group
(AP) http://ping.fm/pBAEEhttp://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100428/ap_on_re_eu/eu_russia_neo_nazis_banned
(AP) http://ping.fm/pBAEEhttp://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100428/ap_on_re_eu/eu_russia_neo_nazis_banned
Tancredo’s Conspiracy Theory: Obama Hides His Birth Certificate To Stir Up The Right And Make Us Look Crazy http://ping.fm/0uvLA
After torture claims, Iraqi PM says prisoners ‘burned themselves’ with matches to fake abuse http://ping.fm/NZELB
Laura Bush blames car and ’small’ stop sign for alleged ex-boyfriend’s death http://ping.fm/Yxci2
Conservatives' bogus attacks on Obama's appeal to minorities: "Race card," "Southern Strategy," "racist" http://ping.fm/BU40v
"I'm not in politics": Fox News president Ailes defends his network by pushing falsehoods http://ping.fm/u1nZS
White House Press Can't Stop Complaining Long Enough to Win Any Sympathy [Media] http://ping.fm/6qmM4
20100427
Tea Party Protesters - Peaceful .. Latinos attacking a White man & Cops, in Arizona http://ping.fm/FtcSJ
Robert Downey Jr. returns to superhero mode for "Iron Man 2"
(Reuters) http://ping.fm/20eEehttp://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100427/en_nm/us_ironman2
(Reuters) http://ping.fm/20eEehttp://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100427/en_nm/us_ironman2
S.Korean is first woman to scale world's highest peaks: TV
(AFP) http://ping.fm/r7Lb7http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100427/en_afp/skoreanepalwomenclimbingrecord
(AFP) http://ping.fm/r7Lb7http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100427/en_afp/skoreanepalwomenclimbingrecord
Robert Downey Jr. returns to superhero mode for "Iron Man 2"
(Reuters) http://ping.fm/eviNLhttp://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100427/en_nm/us_ironman2
(Reuters) http://ping.fm/eviNLhttp://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100427/en_nm/us_ironman2
Sinead O'Connor: Accountability Would be for the Vatican to Admit Cover-up Orchestrated by Central Command http://ping.fm/NXIxz
S.Korean is first woman to scale world's highest peaks: TV
(AFP) http://ping.fm/6LCpPhttp://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100427/en_afp/skoreanepalwomenclimbingrecord
(AFP) http://ping.fm/6LCpPhttp://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100427/en_afp/skoreanepalwomenclimbingrecord
Tea Party Protesters - Peaceful .. Latinos attacking a White man & Cops, in Arizona http://ping.fm/jHqX1
Canadian sci-fi writer avoids jail time in Mich.
(AP) http://ping.fm/IKce0http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100427/ap_en_ot/us_writer_arrested
(AP) http://ping.fm/IKce0http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100427/ap_en_ot/us_writer_arrested
National Archives puts Civil War vaults on display
(AP) http://ping.fm/E0s9Ohttp://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100427/ap_en_tv/us_civil_war_archives
(AP) http://ping.fm/E0s9Ohttp://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100427/ap_en_tv/us_civil_war_archives
National Archives puts Civil War vaults on display
(AP) http://ping.fm/NSYCbhttp://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100427/ap_en_tv/us_civil_war_archives
(AP) http://ping.fm/NSYCbhttp://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100427/ap_en_tv/us_civil_war_archives
National Archives puts Civil War vaults on display
(AP) http://ping.fm/7O0Zvhttp://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100427/ap_en_tv/us_civil_war_archives
(AP) http://ping.fm/7O0Zvhttp://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100427/ap_en_tv/us_civil_war_archives
Congress Announces Plan To Hide Nation's Porn From Future Generations - General News http://ping.fm/FtBOn
20100426
Survey: 72% of Millennials 'more spiritual than religious' http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/usatoday-NewsTopStories/~3/kyYd2wxMOEU/2010-04-27-1Amillfaith27_ST_N.htm
20100425
PC Alert: Rev. Franklin Graham Banned by the Pentagon for Telling the Truth About Islam http://ping.fm/KnqQ7
PC Alert: Rev. Franklin Graham Banned by the Pentagon for Telling the Truth About Islam http://ping.fm/R0vfV
Numerous Fox Newsers embrace and defend racial profiling aspect of AZ immigration law http://ping.fm/2nK1b
The most outrageous thing about the Texas judge who slept with the prosecutor in a death-penalty case. http://ping.fm/ka9zK
Thai PM vows to retake Bangkok protest site
(AFP) http://ping.fm/G61hVhttp://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100425/wl_asia_afp/thailandpoliticsprotest
(AFP) http://ping.fm/G61hVhttp://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100425/wl_asia_afp/thailandpoliticsprotest
Hubble Telescope turns 20! Here's 10 space targets you can spot without the Hubble.
http://ping.fm/Rcl6B
http://ping.fm/Rcl6B
20100424
Extreme Conservatives versus the Military and National Security Leaders on Nuclear Policies
http://ping.fm/3gLRF
http://ping.fm/3gLRF
20100423
Here we go again, folks. . .White supremacists arrested in raids after booby trap attacks on California police
http://ping.fm/06Zp8
http://ping.fm/06Zp8
I see the zombie terrorists have returned. . ."Recycled al-Qaeda: Ayyub al-Masri 'killed' on Sunday, captured in 2008" http://ping.fm/4evxO
20100422
Lindsey Graham Gay? Conservative Group ALIPAC Demands Senator 'Admit Homosexuality'
THE SPIRIT OF JOSEPH MCCARTHY IS ALIVE AND WELL IN THE UNITED STATES. . .
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost
Lindsey Graham Gay? Conservative Group ALIPAC Demands Senator 'Admit Homosexuality'
That's it: the conservatives are imploding.
It doesn't matter one damn whether Graham is straight, gay, or bisexual.
I don't agree with many of his views, but he has tried consistently to at least attempt bipartisanship. He hasn't always succeeded, and sometimes he never tried at all. In other cases, he's gone against his party to be fair.
He bucked against Bush on several of the more controversial policies during the last adminuistration. And he attempted to work with liberals against unfair use of the filibuster.
His sexual orientation is his life. It's his business. It doesn't impact anything else. It's as if they were demanding to know whether he was a Christian or a closet 'infidel'.
The fact that this is going on reveals that there is a purge of conservatives going on; at least, those that don't toe the far-right extremist line.
I'd rather Graham was gay--whether he said it or not--than hear about all the other hypocrisies of present conservatives and right-wingers.
I thank God Almighty that at least he's not Palin, Beck, Hannity or Limbaugh.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost
Lindsey Graham Gay? Conservative Group ALIPAC Demands Senator 'Admit Homosexuality' http://ping.fm/MPVfu
20100421
Protesting McDonnell’s Confederacy proclamation, VA lawmakers wear black ribbons to remember slaves.
http://ping.fm/kWmA8
http://ping.fm/kWmA8
Short of General War: Perspectives on the Use of Military Power in the 21st Century
http://ping.fm/AgpM6
http://ping.fm/AgpM6
Arizona legislature demands immigrants and President of the United States verify their status
http://ping.fm/9hyiO
http://ping.fm/9hyiO
Google's New Transparency Tool: A Window Into Government Surveillance
http://ping.fm/7HdZl ( http://ping.fm/vUQwY )
http://ping.fm/7HdZl ( http://ping.fm/vUQwY )
Texas On the Potomac: "Perry named one of worst governors by national ethics watchdog group"
http://ping.fm/iNBGv
http://ping.fm/iNBGv
“South Park” Creators Poke Fun at Muhammad, Threatened by New York-based Radical Islamic Group
http://ping.fm/mlUPU
http://ping.fm/mlUPU
Stewart Fires Back At Fox With "Go F--k Yourselves" Gospel Extravaganza (VIDEO) http://ping.fm/bKjiR
Pentagon Continues to Use "Personality Disorder" Discharges to Cheat Veterans out of Benefits
http://ping.fm/PUyn1
http://ping.fm/PUyn1
20100420
Right-Wing Media Distorts Clinton’s Oklahoma City Speech To Claim He Wants To Muzzle Dissent
http://ping.fm/iVwDz
http://ping.fm/iVwDz
Limbaugh: Volcanic eruption in Iceland is God’s reaction to health care’s passage. (VIDEO)
http://ping.fm/3DiJs
http://ping.fm/3DiJs
Christian College Group Bans Gays and People Who Have Premarital Sex — Is it a Set Up? http://ping.fm/dBE0K
20100419
What About the Girls? Boys aren't the only victims of the Catholic Church's sex-abuse scandal.
http://ping.fm/7j70Z
http://ping.fm/7j70Z
Elderly Gay Couple Separated By Sonoma County Officials, Ignoring Couple's Express Wishes
http://ping.fm/hfyoF
petition at http://ping.fm/7r66K
http://ping.fm/hfyoF
petition at http://ping.fm/7r66K
The Texas Curriculum Massacre
http://ping.fm/RjF7Z
(We're not all conservatives; really, we're not. . .)
http://ping.fm/RjF7Z
(We're not all conservatives; really, we're not. . .)
TODAY IN HISTORY: The American Revolution begins, The Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building explodes, & Branch Davidian compound burns
http://ping.fm/jKgUV
http://ping.fm/jKgUV
20100418
Sheikh to Terrorists: Go to Hell. . .
A Pakistani cleric declares jihad on suicide bombers. And the story is just beginning.
http://ping.fm/eFkJw
A Pakistani cleric declares jihad on suicide bombers. And the story is just beginning.
http://ping.fm/eFkJw
20100417
A Different Take On 911 (originally ‘A New Take On 911’)
%5B2%5D.jpg "911 i will not forget (2)")
Forget everything you know about 911. Never mind the government statements, never mind the conspiracy theories, never mind anything else on either side of the fence.
There are only two simple words that need to be considered: BUILDING SEVEN.
Around 430 that evening, Building Seven came down. It was a perfect textbook example of a planned demolition. The building itself was half as tall as the twin towers, three times the size of the largest building in my town (a coed university dorm).
40-50 stories is not an insignificant building height. Maybe in New York City; not in most of the country.
The man in charge of the complex* stated--and this was shown on a PBS NOVA special--that they "had decided to bring the building down".
(Run with me on this--I'm going by memory, which is as imperfect as the rest of me--so I don't have names and dates. But there are plenty of websites and such that HAVE documented this, and have copies of the info.)
Now, let's use the brain cells God gave us for a change; after six or so years, it might finally be possible. God's already disappointed in humans because they won't use them, anyway. . .
To provide minimal disruption and maximum safety, explosive charges must be very carefully measured and defined. It takes a definite amount of time to do this. Numerous calculations and measurements have to be made; they will be checked and rechecked, over and over, until they are right.
A group of specially qualified explosives technicians/engineers/whatever must locate the precise points in the building in question, in order to safely place the charges. I've also no doubt that each time a building is demolished, all types of bureaucratic paperwork has to be filed to comply with local, state and federal regulations and laws, not to mention the alerting of all emergency services. It couldn't be otherwise in a metropolis. And there's probably even more to it.
Hell, I used to have such problems workin' at my police department just dealing with water crews having to dig to repair leaks, and getting natural gas lines cut off during those repairs. Going through questions of explosives use, traffic disruption and such usually took longer than the actual repairs. That's in a city of about 5,000 (not counting University population).
Then you think about bureaucracy in New York City.
Before anything can be done to demolish a building like this, paperwork and communications would of necessity have to be filed with a great many agencies; again, in New York City, most likely filed with local, state and federal agencies, dependent on the nature of the building. It would of necessity be different for a building on Wall Street or the WTC than for a run-down slum on 2-room shack.
Days or weeks of preparation would be necessary in selecting a firm to perform the demolition (including bidding & contracting). This would be followed by the firm selected surveying the building, locating the right stress points--again, depending on location and type--and calculating and placing the amounts of explosives to be used. Blueprints would of course be accessed, but not decisive on their own; pictures at inception don't show what's happened over 2-3 decades.
And you're telling me that all this was done within six or seven hours of the fall of the Twin Towers? If that's the case, it only proves my point: Americans are the most ignorant, fearful, frightened, paranoid & reactionary culture in the world, and cows and sheep have infinitely more will and intelligence.
. . .I don't have to mention anything else about the entire incident; those two little words are enough: Building Seven. . .
The charges could not have been put in place on that day unless Jesus hissef did it with a snap of the fingers. And some people probably would believe that, considering the nature of our culture.
I call 'em as I see 'em, and I'm fully aware that I can be wrong. I've been wrong a helluva lotta times before, and I'll be wrong a lot more 'fore God decides it's time. And I expect anyone, from anywhere, to slap me down when I am wrong.
But there is no way that Building Seven could have been taken down without preknowledge, in New York and Washington, of what was going to happen. Even if a buncha Federal offices (CIA, FBI, etc) weren't in Building Seven, its nature was such that DC would still have to be informed.
Flatly stated, the United States Government at minimum knew what was going to happen, and let it happen. At maximum--God help us--they caused it.
And I don't like either choice.
What occurred on 911's the perfect precipitating incident the neocons needed for the overthrow of the entire Mideast (see The Project for the New American Century **), and trying to succeed where the French and British failed after WW I. It was the perfect excuse for doing away with the United States as it exists, a federated republic with limited representational democracy.
(Read the Federalist & AntiFederalist Papers, among others. If that's too much, try the Constitution. If it's still too much, go read a Harry Potter or romance novel, because you've reached your level of political incompetence.)
911, as an event in these spacetime coordinates, became a perfect way of concentrating all power in the Executive branch, when the Founders (like 'em or not) had envisioned Congress as the premiere branch of government.
It's also a perfect example of one of our perennial wartime strategies: let someone else strike the first blow (check yer history).
And with the recurring religious hysteria Americans are prone to, which usually cycles every 25 years of so, ya got lotsa sheep & lotsa cannon fodder to be manipulated. Religion's a great damned way to manipulate people, because if it's used right, people won't be able to think--just feel.
And feelings can be channeled very easily. Reason's basically a one-to-one relationship, but emotion can affect an entire group simultaneously; mob hysteria's not an urban legend. Been done for thousands of years, but agin, ya'd haveta read yer history.
And, of course, almost everyone fell for it.
Notice that I've said nothing about the Twin Towers, nothing about the films, videos, reports; virtually nothing from either side of the controversy. I only focused on the "smoking gun", the one rose in a field of crabgrass.
Now. . .whatcha gonna do about it?
(* I have not yet reviewed the PBS documentary for his name.)
originally posted as a comment to news story http://www.care2.com/news/member/964698695/447634 -
"9/11 Commission Ignored Firefighter's Account of Explosions Inside WTC"; reposted on Saturday, September 08, 2007 at http://www.tagworld.com/mattukenobaka/PostDetail.aspx?id=6248f4ad-80cc-4048-a0bd-ea061d05f318
(** The Project For The New American Century was taken down by its personnel; archived copies of the site and associated information may be found at the Wayback Machine and Wikipedia.)
A Voice From The Past: Robert Anson Heinlein, 1907-1988
During the 2004 election, Bush & Kerry agreed on only one thing: the greatest danger in the world is "nuclear terrorism".
Wrong. Wrong. WRONG.
The worst danger in the world is religious fundamentalism. Through its behavior, evils such as nuclear terrorism follow as a matter of course.
Religious fundamentalism gave us the obliteration of almost every early Christian denomination prior to 300AD, leaving only the Roman Catholic Church. Since they'd gained the power of the Roman Empire, they turned on their spiritual brethren and mercilessly stamped them out, as well as anyone else who got in the way.
Read your history.
Religious fundamentalism gave us the purges and slaughters of Asoka against the Buddhists of India, until the day his eyes were opened.
Religious fundamentalism gave us the Crusades and the suicidal Witch hysteria which blanketed the whole of Europe, and still recurs, now and then, today. Protestant or Catholic doesn't matter; it was embraced by both equally. Martin Luther and John Calvin hated quite a lot of people, as is amply shown through a perusal of their own writings.
Now and then, up to the 1900's, religious fundamentalism led to the outright purges of Catholics, Mormons, Jews and others in the United States. The early Puritans were good at driving out or killing anyone who didn't accept their theocracy, Indian or white, Christian or not.
So much for "freedom of religious thought".
And I'm not even talking about what we did to the Native American tribes.
In Japan, religious fundamentalism led to State Shinto and the direct worship of the Emperor as a living god, leading to an Imperial Military which saw the lives of millions of their own people as sacrifices to the glory of the Emperor (and their own power).
The Japanese people were led to believe that such a death was the greatest gift that could be given to them, since the Emperor was a living god (and his ministers and military demigods by default). Hundreds of thousands of Japanese civilians and soldiers died in battle or committed suicide due to their indoctrination, and caused in turn the needless deaths of thousands upon thousands upon thousands of innocents.
The Nazi Holocaust against the Jews is another example, and is always in the forefront of religious persecution. The fundamentalism of Nazism was reared mostly in pagan and neomystical faiths, and perverted the respected ancient symbols of other faiths (such as the swastika and Norse runes).
However, the Jews weren't the only victims of Nazi religious fundamentalism: careful reading will show that the regime--Hitler in particular--also had a particular hatred of Christianity, Catholics and Protestants alike. Among Christians, Catholics suffered the worst. Before his fall, Hitler enacted laws had been enacted to replace Bibles with copies of Mein Kampf. Churches were destroyed; clergy and followers were sent to concentration camps.
This doesn't count his hatred of other groups: Poles, Russians, Slavs, blacks, gays. . .Hitler sounds a lot like the people I grew up around.. . .
Oh, and we can't forget what I consider the worst crime ever committed against humanity: The destruction of the Library of Alexandria, Egypt, and the murder of the last Librarian, Hypatia, by the Christian Bishop of that city, 'round 'bout 323 AD.
(This woulda put it close to the Council of Nicea, where people--NOT GOD--decided what "Christians" would believe in; but that's another story. . .I have decades of bitterness over both.)
That one crime, alone, set the world into spiritual and intellectual darkness for centuries. No other human incident, to my knowledge, has been so profound in its consequences.
. . all that vast knowledge gone. . .a small fraction was held by the Christian Church, but the vast majority of surviving information was preserved and protected by an enlightened Muslim culture. If not for the Muslims--in this instance--I believe we would still be living in even more ignorance than at present.
The violence and bigotry of the Bible makes the Koran look like a bedtime fairytale for toddlers. Problem is, people don't read either. If you have the guts, buy a copy of the Koran and read it. Then open up the Bible and read the Book of Judges, especially the last two chapters
After that, go to the New Testament and study the hatred of "Saint" Paul, cursing anyone who doesn't believe in his version of Jesus; or, for that matter, his upholding of slavery and dehumanization of women.
. . .go ahead. . .I'll wait. . .
Then try to explain to me how evil the Koran is.
(Ahem.)
People conveniently tend to forget--or never notice--that when you point a finger at someone, the other fingers are pointing right back at you.
And, of course, I include myself. I'm damn sure no better than anyone else.
But then, the delusional aspect of humanity includes the fact that humans will question every belief and proposition, save those held most dear to the heart. Religion is usually one of those beliefs.
At this time we have quasi-theocracies springing up everywhere, including the United States. A thinking person, using the brains granted by God, should be able to see it. And recoil.
If not, I guess it's proof intelligence isn't a survival trait after all.
I have always been of the opinion that there have been only two authors of worth produced in the United States, and both of them were from Missouri. One was Samuel Langhorne Clemens, also known as Mark Twain. The other was Robert Anson Heinlein.
Like Clemens, Heinlein was practical, yet imaginative; somewhat distant, but noble and affectionate. Heinlein found his forte in writing science fiction, and in doing so inspired generations of scientists. His books on space travel, fiction or nonfiction, paved the way for the Apollo Program. He also wrote a good amount concerning politics and the political process.
His tales were peopled by individuals, not cookie-cutter reflections with painted smiles and plastered attitudes. Probably the most astounding thing about his characters was that they were competent people. This is something usually unheard of, especially nowadays.
Shortly after beginning his writing career, Heinlein started plotting a series of stories bound together as a common projected history of humanity. He based this "Future History" on two basic types of story: "What If?", and "If This Goes On. . ." The latter type became itself the title of a rather important story.
"If This Goes On---" turned out to be a story unlike any other at the time. It posited a world in which The United States had become a theocracy. Religious fundamentalism had taken over the country, and the United States of America had ceased to exist as a republic. Religion in the name of the Holy Prophet overshadowed everything.
Sound familiar? I ain't talkin' 'bout Muslim countries. The "Christian Embassy" has loads of influence in the Pentagon, RIGHT NOW. We're kidnappin' people from other countries and puttin' them to work in Iraq; that is, SLAVERY. Earlier today I posted a news story which shows we got Jim Crow back in gear.
I live in a redneck backwoods part of the country, and it seems to me that people tend to think religion is showing up for church and agreeing with a mouthpiece, not to mention suckin' up to whoever says they're in charge. Thank God for the University here or there'd be no intelligent conversation at all; even at that, sometimes it's a problem.
In 2004, Bush & Company came close to stopping the elections because of "national security" concerns with terrorism. There'd been doubt they'd even be held at the time. This year they're already building prisons for protestors at the political conventions. You can bet there'll be other fun tricks up their sleeves.
Sounds a helluva lot like Heinlein, a helluva lot like "If This Goes On---".
The story itself is available in the omnibus Future History volume, The Past Through Tomorrow. Some years later it was subdivided into other volumes; I have it in front of me now, from the book Revolt In 2100 - Methuselah's Children.
I'd definitely invite each of you to read the story, at least. I have the book turned to his Timeline in the front of the book, written in the latter 1930's-early 1940's. It's notable that directly after the year 2000, under Sociological changes, he listed "rise in religious fanaticism" taking place, followed by "the new crusade". After "rebellion and independence of Venusian Colonies" (the story "Logic of Empire", dealing with slavery), he notes the rise of a "religious dictatorship in US".
You can't make this crap up, folks, these books have been around for decades. If you look carefully at his timeline, you'll see that he perceived an initial space program (including moon landings), followed by decades of neglect in space exploration, only to be finally opened up again.
In view of what's been going on the past seven years, I've been meanin' to post Heinlein's own thoughts on the matter. The following (at length) is taken from "Concerning Stories Never Written: Postscript", in the aforementioned Revolt in 2100 -Methuselah's Children (1939,1940; reissued 1999 by Baen Publishing, paperback, pages 264-266).
So, I'll shuddup and let the Master speak. . .
"I am aware that the themes of the unwritten stories linking the second and this the third volume thus briefly stated above have not been elaborated sufficiently to lend conviction, particularly with reference to these notions; the idea that space travel, once apparently firmly established, could fall into disuse, and secondly the idea that the United States could lapse into a dictatorship of suspicion. As for the first, consider the explorations of the Vikings a thousand years ago and the colonies they established in North America. Their labors were fruitless; Columbus and his successors had to do it all over again. Space travel in the near future is likely to be a marginal proposition at best, subsidized for military reasons. It could die out--then undergo a renaissance through new techniques and through new economic and political pressures. I am not saying these things will happen, I do say they could happen.
"As for the second notion, the idea that we could lose our freedom by succumbing to a wave of religious hysteria, I am sorry to say that I consider it possible. I hope that it is not probable. But there is a latent deep strain of religious fanaticism in this, our culture; it is rooted in our history and it has broken out many times in the past. It is with us now; there has been a sharp rise in evangelical sects in the this country, in recent years, some of which hold beliefs theocratic in the extreme, anti-intellectual, anti-scientific, and anti-libertarian.
"It is a truism that almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so, and will follow it by suppressing opposition, subverting all education to seize early the minds of the young, and by killing, locking up, or driving underground all heretics. This is especially true whether the faith is Communism or Holly-Rollerism; indeed it is the bounden duty of the faithful to do so. The custodians of the True Faith cannot logically admit tolerance of heresy to be a virtue.
"Nevertheless this business of legislating religious beliefs into law has never been more than sporadically successful in this country--Sunday closing laws here and there, birth control legislation in spots, the Prohibition experiment, temporary enclaves of theocracy such as Voliva's Zion, Smith's Nauvoo, a few others. The country is split up into such a variety of faiths and sects that a degree of uneasy tolerance now exists from expedient compromise; the minorities constitute a majority of opposition against each other.
"Could it be otherwise here? Could any one sect obtain a working majority at the polls and take over the country? Perhaps not--but a combination of a dynamic evangelist, television, enough money and modern techniques of advertising and propaganda might make Billy Sunday's efforts look like a corner store compared to Sears-Roebuck. Throw in a depression for good measure, promise a material heaven here on earth, add a dash of anti-Semitism, anti-Catholicism, anti-Negroism, and a good large dose of anti-"furriners" in general and anti-intellectuals here at home and the result might be quite frightening--particularly when one recalls that our voting system is such that a minority distributed as pluralities in enough states can constitute a working majority in Washington. . ."
"Impossible? Remember the Klan in the 'Twenties--and how far it got without even a dynamic leader? Remember Karl Marx and note how close that unscientific piece of nonsense called "Das Kapital" has come to smothering out all freedom of thought on half a planet, without--mind you--the emotional advantage of calling it a religion. The capacity of the human mind for swallowing nonsense and spewing it forth in violent and repressive action has never yet been plumbed."
'nuff said.
(originally posted Monday, August 06, 2007 at
http://www.tagworld.com/mattukenobaka/PostDetail.aspx?id=4a32bc16-c302-401e-aa73-5054e4b2b731)
20100416
KWWL.com: video of Meteor flashing through Wisconsin caught on police car videocam
http://ping.fm/ysJaw
http://ping.fm/ysJaw
20100415
Memories of Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California
This summary is not available. Please
click here to view the post.
20100414
American Family Association To Muslim-Americans: Convert To Christianity Or Leave
http://ping.fm/cbVld
http://ping.fm/cbVld
David Gregory Is Really Excited About Meet The Press's New Furniture
Oh joy. . .interior design is more important than the fate of the nation. . .oh, be still, my beating, throbbing heart. . .
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost
Hutaree Militia Raided: Guns, Knives, Drugs, Gas Masks, Nazi Propaganda Uncovered, says FBI
http://ping.fm/LjuRc
http://ping.fm/LjuRc
20100413
20100412
20100411
20100410
International Criminal Court Doesn’t Need Power over ‘Aggression’ (says former Bush official) http://ping.fm/wY6mg
20100409
Prayer returns to the classroom: Teachers' union prays for Gov. Christie's death | Washington Examiner http://ping.fm/gxlET
To All Non-American Readers Of This Blog. . .
i realize that there are many readers of this blog aren't Americans. some aren't even 'real' Americans.
in hopes that you might understand us a little bit better, i offer the following, which i recently posted concerning a political news story:
====================================================================
A Canadian says:
April 6, 2010 at 7:31 am
What is wrong with you Americans?
-------------------------------------------------
okami says:
April 8, 2010 at 7:36 pm
sorry.
we’re a manic-depressive nation, with tendencies towards collective psychosis every now and then. there’s often more than a touch of good old paranoia involved, along with the need to let somebody else do our thinking for us.
There's also a sublimated undercurrent of racism, which tends to explode into the open at times of crisis.
we’re particularly susceptible to propaganda (political or religious), depending on the amount of education we’ve failed to receive.
this is not to mention the fact that we're forgetful and very inattentive. in order to bring a problem to our attention, it's necessary to whack us in the face with a 2-by-4; and then we usually respond by doing the wrong thing.
our strength is in our diversity. if any set of groups–say, religious–banded together, we’d be a full theocracy in two seconds flat. or a fully fascistic society, if political groups banded. . .which may yet happen with the Teabaggers and the Republicans.
our diversity in race, religion, opinion and such keeps that from happening.
our weakness is also in our diversity. we’re schizophrenic. there’s one hell of a lot of voices that we’re hearing. for instance, Mary appears in a taco, Jesus on a windshield, and suddenly we’ve got to take action against the infidels and heretics.
usually the conflicting confusion of the voices in our national 'head' keeps us from taking action at once, while we let the voices argue themselves out.
But if you’re already crazy (like me), you can survive these periods of instability, and alternate between laughing at it all, or crying about the waste of it all.
Iraq War Vet: "We Were Told to Just Shoot People, and the Officers Would Take Care of Us"
http://ping.fm/JQTVA
http://ping.fm/JQTVA
20100408
20100407
When Scientists Pick a Fight with the Law: Researchers Call for Access to the FBI’s DNA Database http://ping.fm/iYTH2
I urge everyone to check out these videos; they're fantastic works of nature and art: http://ping.fm/v5iVR
5 dead Afghan civilians? Join @winwithoutwar and tell Pres. Obama to investigate the Baby Shower Raid http://bit.ly/dcD090
tell me something i didn't know. . .People Primed With Christian Religious Words More Likely To Express Racial Prejudice
http://ping.fm/DOtbV
http://ping.fm/DOtbV
Bow Your Heads: Henry Edward Roberts, credited with inventing the PC, dies at 68 http://ping.fm/SCYXK
DNI BLAIR ADDRESSES THE
BIPARTISAN POLICY CENTER'S CONFERENCE
ON THE "STATE OF INTELLIGENCE REFORM" http://ping.fm/Zgfqu
BIPARTISAN POLICY CENTER'S CONFERENCE
ON THE "STATE OF INTELLIGENCE REFORM" http://ping.fm/Zgfqu
one of the most consistently informative and beautiful image sites: Earth Observatory http://ping.fm/y4la9
20100406
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