The Corporate Oligarchy rules. Heil to the Corporate Oligarchy!

The Corporate Oligarchy rules in these 50 states and thanks is largely due to the United States Supremes who made a decision not so long ago called "Citizens United" which basically gave away the political power in this country to those who have all the money...the corporate oligarchs!

Today, the Supremes went further:

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday struck down Montana's century-old limits on corporate political spending, putting an end to the state's resistance to Citizens United and effectively expanding that controversial ruling to the state and local elections."

The State of Montana had a law in place to counter unlimited corporate spending on elections in that state.  No more.

A dictatorship may arise from several different sources and for different reasons.  A dictatorship run by oligarchs is just as bad as a dictatorship run by any other person or group.  Money and power is what it's all about and money and power are the twin goals, fueled by greed, of the corporate oligarchs.  

Hundreds of millions of dollars are being spent in this 2012 election by ultra-rich, right-wing persons who, in cahoots with the corporate oligarchs, are committed to do whatever is necessary to bring President Obama down.  The GOP nominee-to-be, Willard Romney, is or soon will be, meeting secretly with a number of the richest people/corporate representatives in the country to devise further strategies to elect persons who will destroy Obama and fulfill their dreams of total control.

This cabal of nogoodniks have very successfully convinced millions of Americans that the president is working against their best interests when, in reality, the reverse is true.  Although it is hard to believe, a majority of Republican voters, still insist that Obama is a Muslim.  Much of the credit for that must be laid at the feet of FAUX News and other sources funded by the Corporate Oligarchs.

Last evening our local NBC outlet aired an interview with Marco Rubio, the Republican nogoodnik from Miami (who once infamously claimed he and his family were part of those "poor" Cubans who snuck out of Cuba by the skin of their teeth, when in fact he came from a very well-to-do clan that had no problem bringing their wealth into the United States and who also seems to be a prime candidate for Mr. Romney's second-in-command) in which Rubio told lie after lie about President Obama with complete impunity!  NBC, you see, is one of the Corporate Oligarchies!

Read the entire sad story as to how the majority of the U.S. Supremes (at least the ones appointed by G.W. Bush and his father) have sold out and are now controlled by the Corporate Oligarchy in this country and around the world.  I say, "around the world," for we are not an isolated country in any sense of the word; we are tied tightly to most, if not all, of the countries, and the Corporate Oligarchs' reach extends through their business and financial holdings into the world of every Tom, Dick, and Mary in the United States and everywhere.  U.S. Corporate Oligarchs are wedded to the Corporate Oligarchs in every other country!

What the Supremes have done is open a floodgate of secret funding of elections in the United States.  U.S. Corporate Oligarchs are now able to buy any election they so desire.  Corporate Oligarchs from, say Saudi Arabia, or perhaps Iran, are now able, through secret financial donations, to influence and perhaps control our voting booths.  

The end result of this chicanery, set in motion by a majority of the U.S. Supremes, is yet to be discovered.  You can, however, bet your last dollar (and it may well be your last dollar unless you're one of the 2% in this country) that you're not going to like it.  

This may sound melodramatic - as did resistance to Hitler in the 1920s and early 1930s - but the American democratic experience is over.  Our country is no longer "of the people, by the people, for the people," or however you want to express the fact that our Constitution invests the power of self-government in the nation's citizenry.  Our country has been fundamentally changed from government by the people to government by the Corporate Oligarchy.  As we write these words, representatives of the Corporate Oligarchy are writing laws for members of Congress to pass which provide them with the benefits they most desire.  As we write these words, representatives of the Corporate Oligarchy are spending millions upon millions of secretly-donated dollars to promote the destruction of President Obama and more importantly, the country that we know and love.d

Lest you think the American corporate Oligarchy would never stoop so low, remember that during our war with the Nazis, known as World War II, the Ford Motor Company, General Motors, and IBM were among the American companies that provided technology, machines, and support for the Nazi war effort!  The Holocaust as we know it would not have been possible without the assistance of International Business Machines!  Remember that the head of the General Motors corporation devised several secret efforts to bring down the president of the United States during those war years!

The decision of the Supremes to strike down the Montana law is the latest example of how the Corporate Oligarchy rules.

Heil to the Corporate Oligarchy!

[Read all about the Montana decision here.]

The Speech Obama Must Deliver...

This is a special post written by my friend, Art Woodstone.  It is a speech he believes President Obama needs to deliver.  Here's his preface:

"The speech Obama will never deliver, but unless he does, the way it looks today, he'll lose, in which event, we all lose."

And now, what Obama needs to say:

You out there:  The Republicans have a plan:  Get rid of the opposition once and forever, and that includes me.  Their other plan--that especially brilliant second plan--calls for austerity: cut back sharply on government expenditures and give still more of a tax break to the one-per centers who, magically, will voluntarily share the money they save with the rest of us in order to create jobs and 'stimulate the economy.'

We're still waiting, waiting for over thirty years for the big moment.  To use the phrase the Republicans now shy from using in their speeches because it's so embarrassing--waiting for this largesse to 'trickle down.'

Why are we waiting?  Because it's a myth the Republican Party embraced in 1980 so they could elect a Republican to the White House.  Within four [check that] months, the man who brought trickle down [also known as supply-side economics] to Ronald Reagan's attention publicly confessed it was a political gimmick--and that's all it every was.  There was no reason to believe it would ever work.

So I ask you to think about this--think very hard about this--why do Romney and the Republican brain trust still insist that 'supply-side' is the magic cure-all for our profound and dangerous economic and employment ills?

The answer:  there must be a few Republican politicians and some Democrats who honestly believe this is the solution, but to them, it can be no more than an article of faith rather than fact.  It does sound so good.


That's the only complicated part of the explanation.  The other part is very clear and simple:  there are politicians, most of them, who know it's a cynical, useless plan but, as cynics, they also know you were raised almost from infancy to believe them because you and they belong to the same political party.

That's no way to vote and that is definitely no way to run a government, not in this country.  Some Republicans in Congress have made it as clear as can be: their first objective is not to cure anything but instead to wipe out the Democratic Party 'forever.'  That includes the likes of me; if you believe them, I wasn't even born in America.

It's one thing to believe in God, to believe in our church or temple or synagogue, it's quite another and quite frightening to blindly place your faith in a political party, any political party, convert from a party into a religion just because it has been your party and perhaps your father's party most or all of your life:  Republicans are always in the right; Democrats always in the wrong.  You can justifiably reverse that formula if you want, although the Democrats I know are a bit more forgiving...[smile] some of them, some of the time.

The saddest and most undemocratic part of all this is that today's Republican candidate for president and today's Congressional Republicans are determined to take absolute control of both houses of Congress as well as the White House.  They want all the marbles, power for the sake of power.


They, the Republican candidate and his Congressional colleagues [many of whom dislike him but loathe me] insist that in the three and a half years I've occupied the Oval Office I have failed to improve the economy.  That's a big wow, a whopper that so many of those who can reliably be counted on to vote Republican blindly accept as the one and only truth worth discussing.

Okay, let's discuss it.  This shouldn't take long.  A President, no President can turn things around all by himself.  No one man, no one President, especially in these complex and critical times can turn government around.  Not without the support of Congress.  And that's as it should be...but isn't.


This is no longer one nation indivisible.  Sadly, it's them against us; it's all-out war.

I haven't had the support of Congress--thanks to the intractable Republican members of the House and Senate who, for the most obvious and ill-tempered reasons of all, reject even items on the agenda that they once supported...merely because I now support them.  I can anticipate the sneers and the accusations of me whining when they know full well how they have deliberately and maliciously stopped cold any progress toward solution of our enormous social and economic problems.

In the Senate, the opposition no longer has to exhaust itself filibustering.  Under present rules, all Republicans have to do is threaten to filibuster--and legislation dies before it is born.  Congress comes to a screeching half.  That's been true throughout my presidency.

As to the House of Representatives, now controlled by the Republicans, they don't have to threaten.  They are in charge and they don't want the opposition to have any say in governing...so long as they can help it.   And it seem they aim to help it forever.

Reelect a Republican majority to the House but should they be displeased enough to see me re-elected as president, the likelihood is the nation will be treated to a lot more of nothing of items of life that over the last fifty years or so have proved vital, even precious.

Actually, if Mr. Romney replaces me, you can count on their voting at last...to diminish or destroy Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, welfare and a fair wage.  And, God help this nation, the Republicans, controlled by the right-wing of the party, will get their way unless you help stop them.


They've been lying all along about how 'unAmerican, how socialist, how communist' Social Security, Medicare, fair wage and now unions are.

Because of your blind faith in one party, you will probably go along with these wild claims...until it's too late to realize how seriously you've damaged your own futures.

Let's look at this a slightly different way:  let's say you elect Mr. Romney and put a Republican majority in both Houses.  It is safe to assume that they will enforce heavy government cutbacks; that means heavy government layoffs.  Hundreds and thousands of layoffs.  Do you think, as they claim, that will lessen our debt?

You'd be wrong:  thousands, tens and hundreds of thousands of newly discharged government employees will be entitled to unemployment insurance, money that comes directly out of government coffers--directly out of your pockets--and when that runs out?  One of two conditions will prevail.  The worse?  These unfortunate government employees, fired too early to qualify for adequate retirement benefits, will end up receiving welfare that they too would rather avoid as they would the plague.  But, as a practical and humane matter, you've got to feed and house your family somehow.


Others laid off might have been prudent enough to have put something aside to assure minimun survival.  But--BUT--they will no longer have the kind of expendable income needed to feed the economy.  Net result, less economic recovery rather than more.

As for me, I have been wrong, at times terribly wrong,  trying to accommodate a stubborn and unified band of men and women from the other party in my naive belief that they have the public interest foremost in mind when they act.  My nature and upbringing made it impossible for me to believe they were not acting in good faith--not until now--not until now when it has become impossible to ignore that my opposition is far more enthusiastic in pursuing absolute power that in pursuing the health and well-being of the American people.  I've had three and a half years to gather the evidence and it has finally sunk in.

I've been a wimp and maybe weaker than I should have been but, from now until Election Day, I shall make it my business to tell the naked truth about them, making it as clear as humanly possible that in opposing this White House's practical proposals in favor of lies, distortions and empty promises they are doing great harm to America and to democracy itself.


I beg you to put aside blind faith in one political party or the other in favor of using the common sense God did mean for you to use.

On Climate Change - Required for Republicans and science-challenged persons

Texas new speed law

When the Texas State Legislature did something really stupid, we used to say, "Only in Texas!" But that's no longer the case. With Repugnicans under the control of the Koch brothers and ALEC, the rich and the religious right, really stupid laws are being passed in almost every state!

But let's start with Texas. A 2011 law, passed by the Texas legislature, allows for a speed limit of 85 mph on some highways. It appears that will be the limit chosen for a new toll road currently under construction.

This is about as stupid as stupid gets. When 3,000 of our citizens were killed by religious nutcases in Manhattan highrises in 2001, the nation went into deep mourning - which has yet to abate completely. But we kill over 30,000 of our citizens EVERY YEAR on our nation's highways and nobody gives a damn!

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, "Speeding is a factor in about one-third of all fatal crashes, killing 900 Americans every month in 2009."

In this country, people drive too damn fast!  In the 1950s, Phillip Wylie, in his book, "Generation of Vipers," came down very hard on speeding drivers. A car is a missile, he said, and we have all kinds of morons, idiots, incompetents, bumblers, and haters pointing these missiles down the road creating piles of carnage.  Today, speeding in the United States murders, on our highways, 10 times those killed by the religious nutcases who flew into the Twin Towers!

And murder it is! If you are exceeding the posted speed limit, or if you are driving too fast for local conditions, no matter what the speed limit, you are a criminal. You are disobeying the laws of the land! If we had enough highway patrol personnel, you'd be arrested. And if you run into another car and people in that car are killed, you are a murderer.

But speeding is "fashionable." Speeding is just what most people do. Try driving the speed limit on I-75 or any other Interstate Highway! The majority of drivers will drive by you so fast, you can't even make out the make of their cars!  That's hyperbole, but you get the point!

And I'll bet a lot of these folks are good, religious folk who think the laws of the land should be obeyed. In fact, on a lot of these speeding cars, I see bumper stickers about "keeping Christ in Christmas," or I see the ubiquitous fish symbol which is an acronym identifying the occupants of the car as followers of Jesus.  I'll bet many of these speeders are fine, upstanding Repugnicans who worry themselves sick over the nation's deficit or the non-existent voter fraud they're always blubbering about!  Bah, humbug!  Their religion is a sham, and their posing as concerned citizens is a cover for their own hypocrisy!

Speeding cannot be taken lightly. Speeding is not a joke. It is a serious and flagrant violation of not only the law but of common sense. Why would anyone with a sane mind direct a 4,000 pound missile down a road at 80-90-100 miles per hour. The slightest mistake, the slightest pull on the wheel, the slightest bump in the road can easily cause the driver to lose control and cause a catastrophe (NOT an accident!) in which people are killed.

If you crash because you are speeding, that is not an accident. If people are killed in that crash, you are a murderer!

But the great State of Texas, which has already dumbed down its educational system so that it's the laughingstock of the nation, is now about to allow people to drive even faster on their highways which means only one thing for sure: more people will die; more people will be murdered by speeders on Texas highways.

I'd suggest, if you must drive on Texas highways, you be very, very careful.  Don't end up a mess on the highways of Texas!

The Ed Show and the End of the MIddle Class

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Planned Parenthood's Anti-Romney Ad

Here we see the real Romney!

The Wages of Syntax

Thanks to Atheist Cartoons.

The Colbert Report - The Donald, the Birther

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Early Christian Socialists

Christian fundamentalists declare their faith that their Bible is the holy, inspired word of God and that it is inerrant in every respect.

By and large, Christian fundamentalists in this country do not represent either the Jesus of the Synoptic Gospels nor the Jesus of the Gospel of John (there is a large dichotomy between the between the Synoptic Jesus and John's Jesus.)  Christian fundamentalists in this country are basically ultra-rightwing members of the Republican Party.

As such, one of the economic philosophies they hate the most is "socialism."  Why this is so is an enigma, for the Jesus of either the Synoptics or John would have soundly denounced the Republican vision of the "good life" as it is presented today.  For example, Jesus castigated rich people.  In fact, he said explicitly that rich people don't have a chance in hell of getting into heaven!  Jesus did not care about politics.  He said to give to Ceasar what was due Ceasar (in other words, pay your damn taxes and stop complaining!) and get about the tasks he gave his followers - heal the sick, help the poor, visit those in prison, make sure that the children are cared for (universal healthcare, perhaps?), and tell everyone that there is a father-like God who loves them.

Interestingly enough, some early followers of this Jesus figure, tried to do those things.   The New Testament book, the "Acts of the Apostles," is purported to have been written by the same person who wrote the Gospel of Luke.  Probably not.  Acts has all the characteristics of a book written more near the middle of the 2nd century, C.E.  One sign is the fact there are many disagreements between Acts and the letters of Paul, the latter being written some 100 years earlier and to particular communities in the Mediterranean area.

Acts describes some of what went on in Jerusalem as the early disciples gathered together and tried to figure out what they hell they were going to do.  Jesus had not shown up like he had promised.  But they had heard tales that he had been resurrected and had floated off into the heavens and would come back soon and many people saw and knew about these things, but that didn't help them much because he had not returned to earth.

All of these early followers of Jesus were Jews.  There was a certain amount of animosity between them and Jews who had neither heard of Jesus nor particularly cared to "follow" him.  So Peter and others were said to have preached in the city of Jerusalem and many of the "Jews" were converted to this new faith and accepted the Jesus figure as the Messiah.  In fact, one legend says that about 3,000 were "added to their number that day."

But what else did these early Jesus folks do?  Here's what the writer of Acts says:

"They met constantly to hear the apostles teach, and to share the common life, to break bread and to pray."

Notice they shared "the common life."  Sounds pretty suspicious, doesn't it?  Especially to patriotic Americans who hate Communism and Socialism!

"A sense of awe was everywhere, and many marvels and signs were brought about through the apostles."  Like most legends, you will note the lack of specifics in that phrase.  But now for the best part!

"All whose faith had drawn them together held everything in common:  they would sell their property and possessions and make a general distribution as the need of each required.  With one mind they kept up their daily attendance at the temple, and, breaking bread in private homes, shared their meals with unaffected joy, as they praised God and enjoyed the favour of the whole people.  And day by day the Lord added to their numbers those whom he was saving."

Ok, so the author of Acts went a little overboard.  It is not the least likely these early Christians "enjoyed the favour of the whole people," especially when the Gospels report that this "whole people" not long before cried out for the head of Jesus!

But, notice they were COMMUNISTS!  The "held everything in common."  The sold their stuff and gave the money to everyone as it was needed!  My God, if that ain't Communism, it sure is Socialism!

Actually, it is more like socialism.  Communism is a political system.  Socialism is an economic system.  Acts is talking about an economic system in which the people took care of one another.  Just think if we had that kind of a system in this country today!  Think of all we could do.  We wouldn't have One Percent of the people owning most of everything and 99% out of the loop financially!  We wouldn't have 45 million people uninsured.  We wouldn't have millions of kids go to bed hungry every night.  We'd have decent schools and good teachers because we'd all chip in (especially the rich) to make that happen.  We'd have good roads and bridges and cops and judges and politicians and doctors.   

And so forth.

But who the hell believes the Bible these days?  Sure isn't the Christians!

[Biblical quotations are from Acts, Chapter 2.  You might also read Acts, chapter 4, beginning at verse 32, which describes further how "everything was held in common," how "they had never a needy person among them, because all who had property in land or houses sold it, brought the proceeds of the sale, and laid the money at the feet of the apostles; it was then distributed to any who stood in need."  All Biblical citations are from The New English Bible.]

Bush, the Neocons and the clamor for war

Politicians, by nature, lie.  It must be part of their DNA.  I dare say such a thing because the lies of politicians occur daily and are duly noted, if lamely, by the so-called "Lamestream Media," most of whom are employed by corporations which provide their personal politicians the means whereby they can remain in office and continue to lie.

Georgi W. Bushki once commented to the effect it's better to err on the side of life (see photo above).  Today, after thousands of American soldiers were killed via his orders, and multiple thousands of Iraqis lost their lives, we know Mr. Bushki to be an enormous liar.  We know his concern was never to err on the side of life, but rather on the side of those who would control the oil reserves of the Middle East.  Any contrived contriteness on the part of Mr. Bushki for those who died as a result of his illegal and immoral militaristic adventures was just that - contrived and phony:  his tears were crocodile tears!

Currently, many of the neocons who clamored for invading Iraq and Afghanistan, are once again beating the drums for war - this time with Iran.  Iran has lots of oil.  Iran is engaged in becoming a nuclear power.  For peaceful purposes, of course.  Or so the Iranian leaders claim.

The neocons have no problem with India having the bomb, or Pakistan, or Israel, or Russia (which appears to be metamorphosing into the old Soviet Union), or China, or...  So, what's the problem?  Why pick on Iran?  Is Iran more of a threat to the United States than these other countries (not counting Israel, of course)? 

In case you have any doubts about this resurrected neocon vision for another war, just Google "Neocons want war with Iran."

Neocons lie!  All of them.  Especially neocons holding public office.

If they get their way, thousands, perhaps millions of human beings will die.  And you can bet your life neither the neocons nor members of their family will be in the front lines.  They'll happily send you, your wife, your children and your grandchildren into the maelstrom, but they'll hide out in D.C. bars, swizzling martinis while their apocalyptic vision of death by firestorm is carried out and your flesh and blood are seared beyond recognition.

Georgi W. Bushki lied.  The neocons lie.  They lie, we die.

How can this happen when the people oppose such action?  Consider this quote; you may have read it before but it has become particularly pertinent in mid-2012:

"Of course the people don't want war.  But after all, it's the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it's always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it's a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship.  Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders.  That is easy.  All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger."

         --Hermann Goring at the Nuremberg Trials

The history of life on earth

Most home-schooling is of a religious nature.  Home-schooling is for fundamentalist Christians (for the most part) a means of indoctrination, not education.  What especially curls the hair of the fundies is the belief that Evolution is a valid method of understanding the history of the earth and its creatures.

Home-schoolers believe the Bible.  Anything they deem contrary to the Bible must, ipso facto, be false!

In many states, a form of Creationism is being taught, often called Intelligent Design.  This, in spite of the fact that the courts have struck down such teaching as religion is disguise!  Nowhere is this misguided teaching more prevalent than in the Lone Star State.  The majority of the Texas Board of Education are fundamentalist Christians who care little for education but are intent on indoctrinating young Texans in the mythologies and legends of the Bible.  Thus Texas children are taught the earth is 6,000 years old, that humans walked with dinosaurs, that Adam and Eve were real people, etc.

And this is a cause for lament as well as legal action.  The youth of Texas are heading into a world ill-prepared to compete because they lack fundamental knowledge of the nature of life and how life has evolved through literally millions of years!

Obey all the laws of God

[Thanks to Atheist Cartoons]

I've seen this particular piece on several occasions and although there is an attribution for it, I'm not sure exactly where it originated.

Having said that, however, I thought it serves as a valid reminder of the fact that the Bible is filled with all kinds of nonsense and also of the fact that people who proudly claim to be "Bible believers" and insist the Bible is God's inerrant word for all time are delusionary.  

These fundamentalist Christians cherry-pick through the Bible just like all other professing Christians.  Passages they dislike or find discomfiting, they simply ignore.  

In our world, the Bible does not provide answers.  It confuses people and too often leads to hatred and the denigration of human beings for reasons unrelated to reality.  Sin is a religious concept.  It has no basis in fact.  How many Christians and Jews work on the Sabbath, which is expressly forbidden by God in his Word, the Bible?

The Sabbath prohibition against "work," for almost all people in the Hebrew and Christian traditions, is ignored because we understand that it is nonsense; to disobey the commandment is "sinful" only within a religious construct which we no longer accept and thus is of no value in our modern world.

Today, fundamentalist/evangelical Christians spend much time and energy railing against homosexuality and gay marriage, citing several Biblical passages.  It is strange, though, that they do not get exercised about all the other commands in the Bible which almost no one takes seriously today.

As you will see from the following:

* * * *

In her radio show, Dr Laura  Schlesinger said that, as an observant  Orthodox Jew, homosexuality is an abomination  according to Leviticus 18:22, and cannot  be condoned under any circumstance.  The  following response is an open letter to Dr. Laura,  penned by a  US resident, which was posted on  the Internet.  It's funny, as well as  informative:


Dear Dr.  Laura:

Thank you for doing so much to  educate people regarding God's Law.  I  have learned a great deal from your show, and try  to share that knowledge with as many people as  I can.  When someone tries to defend the  homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply  remind them that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it  to be an abomination ... End of  debate.

I do need some advice  from you, however, regarding some other elements of  God's Laws and how to follow  them.

1. Leviticus 25:44 states  that I may possess slaves, both male and female,  provided they are purchased from neighboring  nations.  A friend of mine claims that this  applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians.     Can  you clarify?  Why can't I own  Canadians?
 
2. I would like to  sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in  Exodus 21:7.  In this day and age,  what do you think would be a fair price for  her?
 
3. I know that I am  allowed no contact with a woman while she is in  her period of Menstrual uncleanliness - Lev.15:  19-24.  The problem is how do I tell?  I  have tried asking, but most women take  offense.
 
4. When I burn a bull  on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates  a pleasing odor for the Lord - Lev.1:9.  The  problem is my neighbors.  They claim the  odor is not pleasing to them.  Should I smite  them?
 
5. I have a neighbor who  insists on working on the Sabbath.   Exodus 35:2 clearly states he should be  put to death.  Am I morally obligated to kill  him myself, or should I ask the police to do  it?
 
6. A friend of mine feels  that even though eating shellfish is an  abomination, Lev. 11:10, it is a lesser abomination than  homosexuality.  I don't agree.  Can you  settle this?  Are there 'degrees'  of abomination?
 
7. Lev.  21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of  God if I have a defect in my sight.  I have to  admit that I wear reading glasses.  Does my  vision have to be 20/20, or is there  some wiggle-room here?
 
8.  Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed,  including the hair around their temples, even  though this is expressly forbidden by Lev.  19:27.  How should they  die?
 
9. I know from Lev. 11:6-8  that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me  unclean, but may I still play football if I wear  gloves?
 
10. My uncle has a  farm.  He violates Lev.19:19  by planting two different crops in the same  field, as does his wife by  wearing garments made of two different kinds  of thread (cotton/polyester blend).  He also  tends to curse and blaspheme a lot.  Is it  really necessary that we go to all the trouble  of getting the whole town together to stone  them? Lev.24:10-16.  Couldn't we just burn  them to death at a private family affair, like we  do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev.  20:14)
 
I know you have studied  these things extensively and thus enjoy  considerable expertise in such matters, so I'm confident  you can help.
 
Thank you  again for reminding us that God's word is eternal  and unchanging.
 
Your  adoring fan.

James M. Kauffman, Ed.D.  Professor Emeritus,  Dept. Of Curriculum, Instruction, and  Special Education --  University  of  Virginia

P.S. (It would be a damn shame if we  couldn't own a Canadian  :)

 

Bill Maher gets it right: Liberty University is not a REAL school

Liberty University, founded by the notorious nogoodnik, Jerry Falwell, is NOT a real university, says Bill Maher.  Bill is absolutely right!  Liberty is the opposite of a real university.  In a real university, students are not spoon-fed religious/political crap but are given information and taught to think things through for themselves.  At Liberty, students are taught, not to think, but to believe!  Liberty is a propaganda machine!

And that's too bad, because if Liberty's diplomas are accepted as valid, that cheapens diplomas from real universities.  

Jane Lynch fills in for Rachel Maddow

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The evil that men do...in the name of righteousness...

...is almost beyond comprehension.  The Republican Party and its backers are now officially relegated to the sewers of political history!

GOP Super Pac planning dastardly attack on President Barack Obama!

Which leads the average person to wonder what can possibly be done to counter the avarice of these profiteers who have sunk to the bottom of the pond, lower than scum, to obtain their goals and increase their riches?

Please read this article from The New York Times.

European History in 3 1/2 Minutes

Bible-believing Christians, homosexuality and slavery

A fundamentalist christianist, in a recent  rant against homosexuals and Bible-believing Christians who maybe don't think homosexuality is such a big evil deal, wrote that, to God, sin is sin and must be punished, blah, blah, blah.

Furthermore, Bible-believing Christians must believe what God says in the Bible about homosexuality and homosexuals and homosexual behavior and to buttress his arguments, he quoted from both the Hebrew Bible and the Christian New Testament.

Certainly, one can find passages in the both of those mythical treatises which would imply that the Hebrew Yahweh and the later Christian version of Yahweh doth find homosexuals and their behavior a reason to get any deity worth his or her salt royally pissed.

And if one wishes to believe this nonsense, written by ancient persons who were wrapped in the ignorance of their times, that's fine.  Well, it's really not fine, for it leads to all kinds of hateful superstitions and religious superstitions usually lead to action that is despicable and ultimately lethal .  In fact, I've heard fundamentalist christianists pray to their god that he smite those who disbelieve with his mighty hand and send them to eternal hellfire for their comeuppance.

When push comes to shove for some of these folks, their god turns out to be just as blood-thirsty as the worst of other pagan gods!


My point, however, is this:  As a learned bishop (Lutheran) once told me, the Bible is a very dangerous book and every evil cause on the face of the earth has been defended on the basis of the Bible.  The attitude of many fundy christianists proves his point.

You can find justification for almost every one of your most cherished mythologies and traditions in the Bible if you look hard enough and have a creative enough mind to "accurately decipher" the scriptural language.

All Bible-believers, especially the fundies, pick and choose the passages they wish to "believe" and ignore whatever does not fit into their sadomasochistic theological schemes.  Thus, they seek out biblical passages to buttress their fundamentalist perversions.

But they ignore other commands/prohibitions of the deity because these are no longer considered of value in the current culture.  So, we don't hear anyone (that I know of) who pulls out the biblical exhortation to stone one's children to death for not obeying the Sabbath (which, my christianist friends should realize, is not the 1st day of the week but the 7th!).

Nor do present day fundies support slavery (well, maybe they do, but I haven't heard of any).  Yet, slavery was a valued institution in the legends of the Patriarchs and also in the 2nd century of the Common Era, and beyond.  It is said that the venerable Apostle Paul was a supporter of slavery as one might gather from the quotation posted above.

So, how does the christianist decide one biblical passage has validity for all time and another has used up its validity?

The phrase, "Bible-believing Christians," is an oxymoron.  A fundy, like every other person, believes only what he/she wants to believe.  And that's OK, because the Bible is so contradictory and filled with so much nonsense, that to do otherwise would drive one crazy.

Aha, there it is!

Deepak Chopra on why he will vote for President Obama

[Image from Oprah.com]

In a recent article for The Huffington Post, Deepak Chopra (with whom I have some serious religious differences) explains his belief that while Mitt Romney has "emerged from the contentious primary season in a damaged state," he may benefit from the trap in which President Obama finds himself.

The trap has to do with the lies of the Republicans who will say and do anything to bring Obama down.  Chopra spells out the situation this way:

"Acting as the only adult in the room should have gradually shaken some sense into his critics.  Obama doesn't name call of falsify the facts.  He exhibits tremendous intelligence, flexibility and a cool head in a crisis.  Most economists would say that his policies saved the economy from a meltdown, and at this point, even with a sluggish growth rate of 2.2% (still three times higher than the growth projected for Germany), the country has done better under Obama than it could possibly have under John McCain."

Chopra then lays out some major Republican lies which tend to resonate with frustrated and angry voters... such as -

* Obama's economic policies failed.  Not so.  The party of "no" effectively blocked almost all of his initiatives.

* TARP was a failure.  Not so.  Most of the TARP money has been paid back, and Detroit was brought back from the grave, etc.

* Obamacare is no good.  Not so.  What has already begun under Obamacare has been a huge blessing for millions of people and is very popular.

There's much more.  It's good stuff.  Read it all here.

Jon Stewart-The Daily Show and the Battle for the War on Women

The Daily Show
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Don't every apologize, Jon, to those 16th-century Catholic ignoramuses!

Ruminations on Marriage, Gays, and God's Rules

This is a guest post by my good friend, Bob Poris.

I think the next amendment to the Constitution of the US and of each state should be a real defense of marriage. All divorce should be banned and adultery should be punished by stoning, (not the same as getting stoned). Then what God has joined together, no man or women can separate in any way. Then nothing gays can do will affect marriage. I would assume all religious people would like that as it follows what they tell us is God’s will.

Not being schooled in religious rules, I wonder if Adam and Eve were married and how they became parents? Did they formalize any rules given them by their Creator so that future generations could follow them? How did they know how to create a new life if both were alone in the world and both virgins? Since both derived from the same body originally, weren’t they related genetically? When did they determine what the rules were as to marriage, incest, procreation, sex and when did they learn which sexual practices were acceptable to God, the Father?

I was married almost three years when my wife became pregnant and I begged her not to tell her father as I did not think he would approve of us having sex. He was not only a tough guy, he was a prude. Imagine what went through Adam's and Eve’s minds when they did not have ministers and priests around monitoring their morals. Even if they had written rules, where did they keep stone tablets with the rules, as they had no pockets and fig leafs were pretty small and didn’t cover much.

Neither history nor the biblical book of Leviticus have much to say as to how all the rules were made and enforced starting with Adam and Eve. They did not have the arguments over contraception then, so that was not an issue.

I have lots of other questions but think it best to start at the simplest level first. In later years humans had to contend with clothing, pockets, sex as we know it now, but without pornography or portable pictures, all sorts of rules and laws in an age when brides were very young and abstinence was the rule.

If anyone out there is privy to these things I would appreciate them sharing their vast knowledge with me.

Thank you.

The Ten Commandments - The Basis of Our Laws and Morals

By Nonstampcollector

Prayer: What Does The Science Say?

Prayer: What Does The Science Say?

h/t to John Loftus at Debunking Christianity

The Book of Job

h/t to Dwindling In Unbelief

Mormons ain't Christians - Ev'rybody knows that! From the Daily Show

                       

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Mormon, Mo' Problems
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The GOP is made up of morons, and some Mormons.  A few self-described Republican "leaders" are pious Baptist preachers who live in a world unrelated to reality and who believe the most god-awful stuff (like the world was created in 6 days by a god up in the sky; a god who got really pissed at his creation in a very short time, so killed every living thing on earth in a vengeful moment (except for two of each kind, or was it seven of each kind?), and then a few thousand years later had his son born of a virgin after he impregnated her himself disguised as a holy spirit (which reeks of incest if you ask me) and then insists, like all ancient gods, that his son [who was also himself in disguise] had to be sacrificed to satisfy his blood lust and everyone must believe this or when they die this "loving" god will send to them to a hell where they will burn in eternal torment), yet have the gall to decry Mr. Romney's Mormonism, which is also full of god-awful and ridiculous beliefs!



More importantly, one wonders if these clowns have ever heard of the "no religious test for political office" clause in our Constitution?

I think Mormonism is idiotic.  I cannot understand how any rational human being can be a Mormon.  But then, I feel the same way about Roman Catholicism and fundamentalist religion of whatever stripe.

I dislike Romney intensely, believing him to be a liar and a fraud and without an ethical or moral base who will say and do anything to achieve the presidency.  But I don't give a damn about his religion so long as it does not impact the oath of office that the president takes to, above all else, uphold the Constitution of the United States!  

The religious kooks that appear in this video, including Billy Graham's son, are fanatics who would shove the Constitution under the bus in order to force their religious beliefs on the people of the United States.  That becomes very clear as they swish and sway and say that, while Mr. Romney is a Mormon, and thus not a Christian (which is really bad), Mr. Obama, being a lover of abortion, is a worse person than Romney.  Or,  as Mr. Stewart points out, "They hate Obama more than they love Jesus!"









                      

Oklahoma law would ban male masturbation - Jon Stewart Show

                       

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Jon Stewart discusses Palin on Today

                       

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Keep your religion out of my life!

[The following was borrowed from Dan Barker's new book, The Good Atheist.]

"More wars have been fought in the name of religion than any other cause.  More people have been persecuted, reputations ruined, and fortunes plundered and murders committed in the name of religion than any other enterprise.  And more everyday bigotry and prejudice is founded on what a person follows than any other factor ... Forget believing in God.  How about thinking for yourself on any subject!  Bottom line---I don't care what you believe, or what church you attend, or how religion-oriented your private life it.  Keep it out of my government.  Keep it out of my laws.  Keep it out of my bedroom.  And keep it out of the war rooms at the Pentagon!"

--Harvey Fierstein

Thank god we've evolved

Thanks to Atheist Cartoons.

Ten Signs You Are a Christian Fundie

[Disclaimer:  This was sent to me by a friend.  I do not know the name of the author.  I have made minor editorial adjustments.]

Here are the top ten signs you might be a Christian Fundamentalist:

10.  You vigorously deny the existence of thousands of gods claimed by other religions, but become outraged when someone denies the existence of your god.

9.  You feel insulted and "dehumanized" when scientists say that people evolved from lesser life-forms, but you have no problem with the Biblical claim we were created from dirt.

8.  You laugh at polytheists, but have no problem believing in a trinitarian (three gods in one) god.

7.  Your face turns purple when you hear of the "atrocities" attributed to Allah, but you don't even flinch when hearing about how your G-d, Yahweh/Jehovah, slaughtered all the babies of Egypt in "Exodus" and ordered the elimination of entire ethnic groups in "Joshua," including women and children, and even trees.

6.  You laugh at Hindu beliefs that deify humans, and at Greek claims about gods sleeping with women, but you have no problem believing that a "holy spirit" impregnated Mary, who then gave birth to a man/god who was soon crucified only to come back to life and ascend into the sky.

5.  You are willing to spend your life looking for small loop-holes in the scientifically-established age of the earth (4.55 billion years) but find nothing wrong with believing dates recorded by pre-historic tribesmen sitting in their tents and guessing that the earth was only a couple of generations old.

4.  You believe that the entire population of this planet with the exception of those who share your beliefs -- though excluding those in all rival Christians sects - will spend eternity in an infinite Hell of Suffering.  And yet you consider your religion to be the most "tolerant" and "loving".

3.  While modern science, history, geology, biology and physics have failed to convince you otherwise, some idiot rolling around on the floor speaking in "tongues" is all the evidence you need to prove the truth of Christianity.

2.  You define 0.01% as a "high success rate" when it comes to answered prayers.  You consider that to be evidence that prayer "works."  And you think that the remaining 99.99% FAILURE rate was simply the will of god.

1.  You actually know a lot less than many Jews, Muslims, atheists and agnostics do about the Bible, Christianity, and "church" history, but still call yourself a Christian.

A Graphic Demonstration as to what's wrong with FAUX (FOX News)

Most folks reading this blog recognize that FAUX (FOX) News is an ultra-rightwing propaganda machine that has as its mission the health and well-being of the Republican Party and the corporate elites who are actually in control of the United States.

Most folks reading this blog will also agree that FAUX News has little concern for truth and goes out of its way to slant the "news" to further its mission.

A friend sent me this picture which dramatizes very graphically what's wrong with FAUX News and why FAUX News should not be considered a real news source but rather as the mouthpiece for the Republican Party, the corporatists and the Christianists!

Please click on picture to enlarge it.

Disclaimer:  I have not checked the authenticity of this picture, but from what I've seen of FAUX News, it's quite accurate as to the methods of their reporting!

Man Bites Dog or Christians help Atheist

It's the old man bites dog thing all over again, this bunch of Christians helping an atheist.  Who would think such a thing could happen?  Especially in Texas?

The irony is that a headline like "Texas Christians Raise Money To Pay Medical Bills for Atheist Protestor Patrick Greene," should be so commonplace that it wouldn't raise an eyebrow.  Isn't that the kind of things Christians are supposed to do routinely and without question.  Didn't their Jesus of the Gospels say "Love your enemies"? 

The reality is that such a headline is newsworthy because Christians are usually spewing hatred and bile at those they see a threat to their faith and their god.  I read a lot of Christian Right material and I'm constantly amazed at the vile rhetoric and the lying that is commonplace.

The storyline here is that Patrick Greene from Henderson County, Texas, may go blind in one eye because of a detached retina.  He had to retire and is looking at a huge pile of medical bills.  Greene is also an active atheist and has tried to have religious symbols barred from government property - one in particular being a nativity scene.  At one point he filed suit to achieve his goals but had to drop the suit due to his lack of finances. 

Some Christians heard about his condition and wrote Greene a check for $400 to help with his living expenses. 

These Christians said they did it because that's what "real" Christians are supposed to do. 

They are right but sadly, they are a minority amongst the Christian tribe!

Rachel Maddow takes on Willard "Mitt" Romney for his lying!

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Santorum, the scumbag!

"Saintly" Santorum is reaching deeper into the depths of his depravity!  He is truly a scumbag in the same mold as the worst scumbags in history!

This horrendous video is the first of an 8-part miniseries - Santorum's desperate attempt to frighten Americans living in smaller communities in the heartland.

It is common knowledge that the vilest people on earth often wrap themselves in religious clothing.  Santorum, who claims to be an upstanding Roman Catholic, provides an appropriate example.   He has proven in this video that he has no morals, no ethical values, no concern for the truth.  He will do literally anything to get elected.  Nothing is beneath him.  He has sunk into the slime.  He is indeed a scumbag!

Pat Robertson's Jesus gonna get you!

I can't imagine anyone taking Pat Robertson seriously.  The man is a complete dolt and one of the nastiest christianists of all time.  Every time tragedy strikes, anywhere in the world, Robertson weighs in with some comment about it being his pissant little god's punishment for "sin."  9/11, said Robertson, occurred because there were too many gay people in the U.S.  Robertson's god can't abide "gayness." Being gay is sinful.

The big tragedy now, in the mind of this mental midget, is that poor Tim Tebow, Jesus' ambassador to the NFL and possibly the universe, got traded to the New York Jets.  Robertson thinks this is a terrible travesty because Tebow, the Jesus freak, did the Broncos so much good this past season and through Tebow, all the players in the NFL might become born-again!

Robertson, of course, has a right to his opinion even if he is a crazy old fool who believes he knows the mind of the deity.  But why would anyone care about his opinion?  Are there people who still watch the 700 Club and think this dodo has anything worth saying at all?

The worst of it is that Robertson's opinion involves his god punishing the Denver Broncos by injuring Peyton Manning.  If Manning got injured, opines the christianist kook, it would serve the Broncos right!  

Robertson's god is filled with hatred and revenge.  Robertson's god is a vicious, easily-offended god; a god who continually demands obeisance and sacrifice!  What's sad is Robertson's god does not even exist; the deity is merely a creation of his fevered mind.

I don't give a rat's ass about professional football, but at this point I'd say, "Long live Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos!"

The Republicans - how far they have sunk

In 1960, I lived in Phoenix, Arizona where the Goldwater family ruled.  The Republican Party contained a number of crazy fools then, too.  In fact, many of us thought Barry Goldwater, who is now credited with the birth of conservatism in the Republican Party, was the craziest fool of all.  He was a loose cannon.  People drove about in Arizona with bumper stickers that said, "Goldwater, my [picture of a donkey]".

And no one around in those days will forget his resounding cry that "...extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice, and moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue."  That simply clarified for most of us that Goldwater was dangerous and might very well start a nuclear holocaust with his simplistic view that we could use nuclear weapons to defeat our enemies in the same way as we had used conventional weapons.



But once in awhile, this rich, Republican, Jewish, Episcopalian heir to the Goldwater fortune said some things that made sense.  Like this:

"Mark my word, if and when these preachers get control of the [Republican] party, and they're sure trying to do so, it's going to be a terrible damn problem.  Frankly, these people frighten me.  Politics and governing demand compromise.  But these Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can't and won't compromise.  I know, I've tried to deal with them."

Mr. Goldwater's fears were well-founded. 

h/t to my friend Art Woodstone for the above quote and the inspiration for this post.

Science vs. Religion

Science flies us to the moon.

Religion flies us into buildings.

-- Victor J. Stenger in his new book, "God and the Folly of Faith"