Michele Bachmann, Ignorance, and the End Times

Why anyone would give a rat's ass what Michele Bachmann thinks about anything these days is a foul mystery.  Unfortunately, there are many people in the U.S. who are as screwed up as is Ms. Bachmann.  Steeped in ignorance and paganism, they tear the Bible to shreds as they attempt to give credence to their political religiosity.

Most all of these people despise President Obama.  These are the "birthers," the ones who call him a Muslim, a socialist, a Marxist, or worse.  But all of that is merely to disguise their racism.  They hate Obama because he is only half-Caucasian, or more importantly from their point of view, half-Black.

Bachmann's pronouncements become "news" because she is not alone.  The United States, during the years that I've been alive, has become a nation of pious, pompous ignoramuses - people who vote for the totally unqualified, George W. Bush for example; people who think Mr. Trump would be a good president; people who ignore Ben Carson's inane nonsense; people who would vote for Christy, or Santorum, or Jeb Bush, or Mario, or any other of the creepy-crawlies who have lined up to seek the golden ring.  There are millions of Bachmanns by other names!


Just recently, Bachmann did an interview on a Christian right-wing radio program.  Bachmann has a history of warning that Obama's actions are going to bring about the "end times."  If he plays a round of golf, takes a walk on the beach, or reads a book, Bachmann will find a reason (and a Biblical passage) to "prove" these actions are the catalyst for the "end times."

Ironically, scientists have recently concluded that there will, indeed, be an "end times."  But it has nothing to do with pagan prophecy or deluded ex-Congresspersons, or Israel, or the U.S., or Russia, or Slovakia.  Scientists have determined the universe is dying.  It won't happen for eons, but the death throes have begun!  

Bachmann and her minions, however, worry not about the universe for their world is encompassed by the small empty areas of their brains.  As reported by Right Wing Watch, in this radio interview, Bachmann proclaimed that the Iran nuclear agreement is "proof" that we're living in the "end times."  The vote by the United Nations Security Council was "the most important national security event of my lifetime" and a fulfillment of Zechariah 12:3 where the prophet sees the nations of the world uniting against Israel, says this moron.

She went on to say, proving again how dense she is, that God would use "heaven's armies," which includes "groups like AIPAC to defeat the deal in Congress and in doing so 'prove to the world His power and His strength.'"

If God's going to defeat the deal, then the "end times" must certainly be delayed or postponed.  So we won't be living in the "end times."  Consistency has never been one of Bachmann's strong suits. 


It's all nonsense, of course.  Bachmann is neither Jew nor Christian.  Maybe she's Paulinian.  Her religion is light years away from what Jesus taught.

Zechariah, along with Haggai and Malachi, constitute a triad - the last of Israel's prophets.  The book of Zechariah derives in part from "the early years of the reign of Darius I (522-486 BCE)."  It is concerned with "the restoration of community in the Persian period ... and legitimizes the rebuilding of the Temple."  It emphasizes repentance and urges the people to follow God's will so they can "avoid the fate of their ancestors."

It looks forward to an "ideal future in which the remnant of Israel will grow and prosper, Jerusalem will take its proper place, the Temple will become the focal point of worship for the entire world, and the kingship of the Lord [Yahweh, not Jesus] will be recognized by all nations."

Zechariah is not about the "end times" or the "Rapture."  It's about "future glory" for Zion.  The prophet sees much turmoil, a "cosmic upheaval" even, which will result in a new Jerusalem.


But there's more.  Many scholars are quite certain that originally, the book of Zechariah included only chapters 1-8, and that at a later time, the rest - chapters 9-14 - were added to give the book its current arrangement.  Each of these two sections are by different authors and the latter chapters derive from the Hellenistic period

While Christians early on interpreted certain messianic passages as applying to their Christ, they did so wrongly and do so wrongly today.  The writers of Zechariah knew not of Jesus or any other particular messianic figure.  And while many in the rabbinic community felt these texts may have referred to a messianic time of the future -a time when the Lord (Yahweh) would rule and Jerusalem would be the center of the world - this messianic time was not thought to be, in any sense, the "end times" but the beginning of a new time!

Zechariah chapter 12 begins with a poem which is a prophetic "word of the Lord":

"The utterance of the Lord,
Who stretched out the skies
And made firm the earth,
And created man's breath within him:

Behold, I will make Jerusalem a bowl of reeling for the peoples all around.  Judah shall be caught up in the siege upon Jerusalem... [verse 3] when all the nations of the earth gather against her."

But this again has nothing to do with the "end times" and in fact, will be a joyous time, for the Lord says, "I will make Jerusalem a stone for all the peoples to lift; all who lift it shall injure themselves."  There's more along those lines but the end result is that those who fight against Jerusalem will be "devoured" and "Jerusalem shall continue on its site, in Jerusalem."


None of this has anything whatsoever to do with current events, or the United States, or Iran, or Canada, or Turkey, or Iraq, or Syria, or Greece, or Obama, or the United Nations, or nuclear war or my cat, Cleopatra!

The UN Security Council vote does not fulfill "the prophecy of Zechariah."  

God and "heaven's armies" (e.g. AIPAC) will not be used by God to defeat the Iran deal in Congress.


Ignorant flakes like Bachmann and all the other non-Christian con artists - Mike Huckabee, Pat Robertson, Jim Bakker, Rick Perry, Jindal, Jeb, Santorum, etc. - are, well, full of crap!  They massacre the Bible and especially the prophets for their own misguided and sick political ideologies.

You may safely ignore anything and everything they have to say.

It is impossible to be a Christian and a member of the Republican Party

 [Jesus and the rich young ruler]

Paul Krugman, the erstwhile economist, noted that during that so-called debate last week between the Republican wannabe pretenders to the throne, our economic problems were referred to 10 times while God was mentioned 19 times.

Many, if not most of these suits who wish to sit in the Oval Office, claim to be Christians and they're damn proud of it!  Mike Huckabee, maybe the least Christian of the bunch, is a Southern Baptist preacher, among other things.  Jeb! is a Roman Catholic.  Mario was a Catholic, then a Mormon, then a Baptist, and I think he's again given his fealty to the papacy.  Whatever religious garb they wear, they wear it with pride and often use their religion to bolster their political views.  Everyone of them is homophobic and can quote chapter and verse where the Bible says homosexuality is an "abomination."

The stories of Jesus that appear in the New Testament frequently call attention to his animosity toward the Pharisees.  Even if the story of Jesus is factual (there's no evidence to support such a claim), the men who cobbled together their stories from the first writer Mark, (who, in turn, cobbled his story from an unknown source), all make note of the difference between Jesus and the religious leaders of the time. 

This is suspect, because, in fact, the Pharisees were the good guys of the first century, doing the work of God to the best of their ability.  The priests were the ones who tended to climb over the common folk on their way to the temple.  Because the gospels were written many long years after Jesus was supposed to have walked the dusty trails of Palestine, the writers had some problems determining just what was the religious situation in Jesus' day.  And it is likely none of them were Jewish!  None of the gospel writers had met him or knew him but simply copied and modified material which had been put together in a rather shaky attempt to give a history to the Christ to which Paul and others referred. 

We don't know who wrote the gospel stories.  The names are fictitious.  Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, could just as well have been Samuel, Joseph, Nathan and David.  And by the 2nd Century, there had developed a good deal of animosity between the Christians and the Jews.  That animosity is reflected in many of the gospel tales.

It would be reasonable to conclude that if Jesus had been real he would not have been in conflict with the Pharisees.  They were devoted to keeping the law, as was he.  Jesus was a teacher (rabbi) as well as a healer and a prophet.  If Jesus had been real he would have worked with the Pharisees, not in opposition to them, as they mirrored his love for God and the Law.

Nevertheless, the gospels are adamant about a spiritual conflict between Jesus and the Pharisees.  Now the Pharisees were human beings, just like the rest of us.  I'm sure there were good ones, some not-so-good ones, and a few rascals.  The rascals are the ones that got Jesus' attention for they were often hypocritical, calling for obedience to God and his Law, while flouting it in their own lives.  Jesus said they liked to stand in the middle of the street and pray loudly believing that others would think more highly of them for their spirituality.  Jesus said they were hypocrites and his followers should not do that but should shut themselves in a closet when they pray!


Jesus said many other things, most of which, if not all of which, the Republican Party and its leaders pretend to believe but disavow in their principles and their actions.  One thing I've mentioned numerous times on this blog is the fact that Jesus had no use for riches or the wealthy and in fact said it would be almost impossible for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

And speaking of prayer:  The Republican Party continues to fight to force our public institutions to allow Christian prayer, in classrooms and public venues.  Rick Perry, the hypocritical former governor of Texas, was one of the leaders of a huge public prayer service in Houston a few years ago.   This was exactly the opposite of what Jesus taught!

The Republican Party is founded on greed and fed by the rich!  The Republican Party lives to make the rich richer and the poor poorer.  And they do this while claiming to be good Christians.  How can this be?  They invoke the old fears of "socialism" and "communism" and they wring their hands because so many of our problems are brought on by immigrants and the minorities.   Racism is always blatant in the Republican Party!

The Republican Party refuted the election of a black president.  This was purely racial.  We've not seen the likes of such hatred and non-cooperation.  The Republican Party, from the moment Mr. Obama was elected, swore to do everything in its power to bring him down, and welcomed into the Party all those teapot crackpots and other nuts who fearlessly proclaimed any lie about President Obama that came to their demented minds.  Even today, many in the Republican Party can't bring themselves to say Mr. Obama is a citizen of the United States!  Even today, many claim he is a Muslim!


The Republican Party in 2015 stands in open opposition to almost everything the Jesus of the Gospels taught.  Jesus taught us not to judge others, to turn the other cheek, to give our cloaks to those who are cold, to walk the extra mile, to feed the poor, to take care of the sick, to visit those who are in prison.  

The Republican Party in 2015 is a war party.  It is homophobic, judging homosexuals as deviants designed to hell.  It doesn't turn the other cheek, it puts on the gloves.  It doesn't take care of the poor, it figures out new ways every day to screw the poor and put more people in prison and then privatize the prisons so the rich can get richer!  Millions of Americans do not have health care.  The Republican Party has fought any attempt to provide health care for those without and continues to do so.  Today, Republican leaders are vowing to fight Obama's agreement with Iran, even if it leads to war and the deaths of millions of people!


It is impossible to be a Christian and a member of the Republican Party!


Note:  These thoughts were crystallized from an article in Daily Kos, "You Cannot be a Republican and a Christian."

What Would Jesus NOT Do?

Women in the World 2012: Meryl Streep's Tribute to Hillary Clinton

Israel ¡Seeing is Believing!

1 Corinthians 13

So You Want a Day Off?

A Day Off

[This is an email response from the boss to an employee when the employee asked for a day off.]


So you want a day off?  Well, let's take a look at what's involved in such a request.

There are 365 days per year available for work.  There are 52 weeks per year in which you already have two days off per week, leaving 261 days available for work.  Since you spend 16 hours each day away from work, you have used up 170 days, leaving only 91 days available. 

You spend 30 minutes each day on coffee breaks that account for 23 days each year, leaving only 68 days available.  With a one-hour lunch break each day you have used up another 48 days, leaving only 22 days available for work.

You normally spend two days per year on sick leave.  This leaves you 20 days available for work.  We offer five holidays per year, so your available work time is down to 15 days.  We also generously give you 14 days vacation per year which leaves you only one day available for work and I'll be damned if you're going to take that day off!


[Source unknown]

The People Who Own and Run the United States

There are many rich people who have their hooks into the American people.  Two of the most important are the Koch Brothers who are brilliantly creating a new country in their own image through the use of a variety of front groups and paid hacks and organizations like ALEC.

Daily Kos has a most enlightening article on our new plutocracy.  Here's a piece of it:

These are the groups that own the Republican party. And let's be clear, in point of fact they are the Republican Party.  The McConnells, the Inhofes, the Tea Party ilk who vote in lockstep at their bidding are really nothing more than paid-off stand-ins. These organizations, ALEC in particular, are made up of industry lobbyists, executives and  corporate lawyers who will actively and eagerly sell us all down the river in a heartbeat if it means more profits. When you cut to the bone of what the Tea Party really is, it's this: a group of fat and irate fossil fuel corporations who will pay any price to stop the U.S. government from checking their endless thirst for increased profits, increased drilling, increased mining. More than anything else, this shows why the Supreme Court's Citizen's United decision was such an abomination: it allowed people just like this to take over our country by buying out our political system. This time, however, what they're doing has life-altering consequences for us all. And right now there is only one person stopping them from doing that--the guy in the Oval Office.
What is ALEC? This is ALEC:

ALEC is not a lobby; it is not a front group. It is much more powerful than that. Through the secretive meetings of the American Legislative Exchange Council, corporate lobbyists and state legislators vote as equals on ‘model bills’ to change our rights that often benefit the corporations’ bottom line at public expense. ALEC is a pay-to-play operation where corporations buy a seat and a vote on ‘task forces’ to advance their legislative wish lists and can get a tax break for donations, effectively passing these lobbying costs on to taxpayers. Along with legislators, corporations have membership in ALEC. Corporations sit on ALEC task forces and vote with legislators to approve “model” bills. They have their own corporate governing board which meets jointly with the legislative board. (ALEC says that corporations do not vote on the board.) Corporations fund almost all of ALEC's operations.

Participating legislators, overwhelmingly conservative Republicans, then bring those proposals home and introduce them in statehouses across the land as their own brilliant ideas and important public policy innovations—without disclosing that corporations crafted and voted on the bills.

This is what Democracy has come to in the United States of America.  There are a lot of words for it, Oligarchy, Corporatocracy, Plutocracy. Whatever you want to call it, their already-organized response to the President's proposed EPA Rulemaking fits the bill:


Please read the rest of the article here.






  

Caitlyn Jenner - Republican Elitist Snob

It must be difficult to feel out of place in your own body, to feel that you've been screwed, gender-wise, and in Caitlyn's case to feel that you're not a male but a female even though by all outward appearances, you look male.

It must be even more difficult when you head into middle age with a wife and family and even more of a problem when you have become famous and rich as a male athlete and Reality Teevee star.

So, I have a certain amount of sympathy for the former Bruce Jenner, now known as Caitlyn, during this transition period.

I am, however, sick and tired of hearing about it.  I'm sick and tired of looking at her picture every single day when I turn on my computer.  [Note:  I see the hypocrisy in posting the photo above!]  But that's not necessarily her fault.

Now, it turns out there is reason to be frustrated and angry with Ms. Jenner.  She's a Republican.  That, in and of itself, isn't worthy of hell, but she's a right-wing Republican.

She doesn't like poor people; people who, she claims, game the system to get free government money so they don't have to work.  And like the typical Republican she has nothing to say about the huge amounts of corporate welfare expended by the government, or the fact that many of the rich pay little or no taxes, often avoiding their fair share by hiding their money in off-shore accounts. 

What is it with these wealthy Republicans?  They seem to have no capacity for either sympathy or empathy.  Anyone who isn't rich is obviously a slacker and not worthy of our attention or help.

So, Ms. Jenner, I don't give a damn whether you're a man, woman or frog.  But I do care that you're an elitist, selfish, uncaring human being.  Of course, these days, that qualifies you to run for president under the Republican flag!

What might have been!

Some people say there's no difference worth mentioning between Republican and Democratic politicians.  They're equally bad. 

These are usually people who don't like tension or confrontation or dealing with ambivalence.  It's much more convenient to dream up a false-equivalency between the two major parties.  It relieves them of any responsibility if the wrong group gains power.

There is a difference, however.  What is that difference, ah, I have it now.  It's the intelligent look on the face of the cow.  Oh, wait, that's another story my dad used to tell about girls chewing gum.  He was not a feminist. 

But consider this:  Almost every single piece of progressive legislation - legislation which provided assistance to the people of this country over the past 50 years - has been enacted by members of the Democratic Party!  Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, business regulations to keep the bankers honest, FDA regulations to keep your medicines safe, environmental regulations to save your national forest and parks and keep our water safe to drink and our air safe to breathe.  Regulations to keep our food safe to eat.  Legislation to protect and improve our public schools.  Laws protecting the right of workers to unionize and bargain for fair treatment and pay.  Laws protecting the right to vote.  And much more.

This is the truth:  The Republican Party has fought every single one of these legislative efforts and every one of these regulatory actions!  If the Republican Party had had it's way, there would be no Social Security, no Medicare, no Medicaid, no welfare for single moms and dad, no protection for workers, no health care for anyone (except themselves), and today it is the Republican Party that is trying to destroy our public schools, privatize our prisons, deregulate just about everything, and chainsawing the right to vote for millions of our citizens.  And significantly, it's the Republicans who have fought tooth and nail any attempt to deal with what is most likely the most serious challenge we have ever faced as a nation and as a world - that of climate change and global warming!


The presidency is where the difference between a Democratic president and a Republican president becomes most clear, even when a Democratic president, such as Barack Obama faces intense hatred and hostility.

Think of what might have been if the duly elected president of the United States had been allowed to take office in 2000.  Al Gore won the popular vote!  But Florida Governor Jeb Bush and his cronies were able to game the system to such an extent that the matter went to the U.S. Supreme Court which handed the presidency to the loser, his brother, George W. Bush.  And what a loser he was.

If Al Gore had taken his rightful place in the Oval Office, we would not have gone to war with Iraq.  The billions of dollars wasted in that effort would have been put to much better use.  The thousands of our service men and women killed for no reason whatsoever, would still be here serving their country.  The many thousands maimed and forever damaged by that war might well be providing many much-needed services and enjoying life with families and children.  And the hundreds of thousands (some say millions) of Iraqis who lost their lives would still be alive to love and be loved.  We would have given no cause for offense in the Middle East which led to the rise of various terrorist groups.  And torture would not have become national policy!

If Al Gore had been president, the budget surplus left by President Clinton would likely still be intact.  There would have been no recession which has caused so much heartache for so many millions of Americans.  We would have reined in the vast illegal Wall Street conspiracies which devastated our economy.  And one of the most important issues - that of climate change - would have been faced and actions taken to mitigate the damage which is already upon us by rising seas.

Finally, if Al Gore had been president, we would not have a Supreme Court controlled by unrepentant oligarchs [appointed by George W. Bush] who bow, not to the Constitution, but to the rich and the powerful.  The rich and the powerful would not be able to buy elections as they do today.  It is reported that the Koch Brothers alone, through their various phony organizations, plan to spend over $800 million to get "their man" in the White House!  That would not have been possible if Al Gore had been president.


Jimmy Carter is, I think, basically a good man, although he has made some outrageous statements relative to Israel for which I think he should be ashamed and somehow do penance.  Israel is not now, nor has it ever been, an apartheid state.  He knows better!

But having said that, I must say that his latest word on the current situation in our nation is worth listening to and heeding.  Carter says outright we are no longer a democracy!  The average person in this country has no influence whatsoever.  We are run by the rich and the powerful.  We have become an oligarchy in which the very wealthy have gained control of our government on most every level.

Any further pretense of being a democratic country is futile.

Which makes this next election so damn important.  Just take a look at the 17 bozos riding in the Republican clown car.  There isn't one of them who should get anywhere near the Oval Office.  Not one of them is remotely qualified to be the president of the United States.

Hell, most of them aren't qualified to run a McDonalds!

Christian Apologetics: Hitler can't help you.

Chuck Norris vs. HIllary Clinton

Chuck Norris, that erstwhile action hero of movies and teevee, is a born-again Christian.  Maybe that's why he's full of hate and lies.

Mr. Norris is claiming that Hillary Clinton will win the election because she somehow will manage to engage in massive voter fraud.

That would be funny if it wasn't so sad.  And as they say, sometimes what a person complains about it exactly what that person is involved in doing.  When we talk about voter fraud, we think not of the Democratic Party.  We think of the Republican Party, which started a smear campaign claiming that voter fraud is an epidemic in this country and therefore we need stricter laws to keep the frauds from voting.

What they meant is that there were certain demographics that were voting for the Democrats.  So they invented voter fraud and passed a series of voter ID laws which were not meant to stop voter fraud but rather to stop certain people from voting:  Blacks and other minorities; the young and the old; all of which tend to vote Democratic.

Now, Norris probably knows all this which makes him not only a liar but a hypocrite and proves his religiosity is fraudulent and hell is just around the corner!

What's Happening - July 31?

If you haven't been to Disney World in Orlando for a few years, be prepared for sticker shock.

An adult ticket to just the Magic Kingdom for one day is now $105.  A child's ticked is $99.

It's a little cheaper at Epcot:  $97.  Yikes!


AOL does such a good job.  Not!  Here are the "local" news events according to AOL for my central Florida city:

• Boston's bummer summer: Sox slump, Olympics snub, Brady out
• Germany wins 2nd straight world title in 5k team event
• Hikers drawn to geological gem along Arizona-Utah border
• Judge to consider fate of convent Katy Perry wants to buy

The world's most dangerous countries for travelers:  Nigeria comes in first.  That's not surprising.  Colombia is way up there because of terrorism, crime and violence, although it is said to be improving and has lots of cheerleaders.  Other dangerous countries include Yemen, Pakistan, Venezuela and Brazil.

Stay home and watch TV.


Two gangs in the Los Angeles area are said to have started a contest.  The first gang to kill 100 people wins.  What the hell is going on here?  Civilization is not improving, we're going backwards, fast!

I can't help but wonder what part our movies and TV shows play in the killings (many of which are random) we read about every day.  I'm appalled when I see ads for movie after movie that features killing and violence and the same goes for TV shows.

In all these cases, the value of human life is pictured as nil.  Nothing.  That's got to have an impact on people - especially the young and those whose minds are already messed up.

Amorality is another issue often featured in TV sitcoms, "The Middle," and "Fresh Off the Boat,"and "The Goldbergs."  In each case the female lead has no morals, but will do just about anything to get her way.  That's not funny, that's sad.  It tells our kids that ethical behavior is of no consequence.


Police in Manhattan captured a 2-foot alligator wandering the city streets.  How it got there is anyone's guess.  Alligators can't live that far north.  Maybe it got tired of Florida and hitchhiked to New York.  Maybe it decided to retire in that great city.  Sounds good to me.  Florida has welcomed a lot of New York "animals," so we're glad to return the favor!


Some scientists in the UK are warning of a solar explosion event which would be catastrophic here on earth, disrupting satellite systems, bringing down airplanes, etc.  And we are woefully unprepared for such an event.

The thing is though, that the likelihood of this solar explosion hitting the earth is very small.  Back in 1859, something like that happened; it was called the Carrington Event.

There's a 1% chance of that happening again.  Do you think this might be more of a media event than anything else?


The other day, we mentioned the Minnesota dentist who killed Cecil, the famous African lion.  There has been a tremendous backlash against the hapless dentist who did what some people think macho men are supposed to do - kill hapless animals.

There have been protests and he's had to shut down his practice.  Now PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) has weighed in on the controversy.  This is from WRAP:

"Hunting is a coward's pastime," PETA President Ingrid Newkirk said in a statement Wednesday. "If, as has been reported, this dentist and his guides lured Cecil out of the park with food so as to shoot him on private property, because shooting him in the park would have been illegal, he needs to be extradited, charged, and, preferably, hanged."

Whew.  Talk about an eye for an eye.  While I'm all for the ethical treatment of animals, I'm having a hard time distinguishing between Palmer's action and Newkirk's suggestion.  Perhaps she was using hyperbole to get across a point.  If not, then she's lost her case on moral grounds!


The City of Los Angeles has just outlawed the sale of high capacity gun magazines.  Yea!  Maybe we still have a few adults in leadership positions in this country who don't confuse their manhood with a gun.


A message for our hypocritical "pro-life" politicians:

"I do not believe that just because you're opposed to abortion, that that makes you pro-life. In fact, I think in many cases, your morality is deeply lacking if all you want is a child born but not a child fed, not a child educated, not a child housed. And why would I think that you don't? Because you don't want any tax money to go there. That's not pro-life. That's pro-birth. We need a much broader conversation on what the morality of pro-life is."

--Sister Joan Chittister
Benedictine Nun, Author, Speaker

h/t to Daily Kos


Saw a story yesterday about a group that put together a list of the 35 "best" sandwich shops in the U.S.  How the hell could they know that?  There must be a million sandwich shops or more across the country.

Well, they pulled names of places they already knew, invited some experts to give their opinions, divided the country up, disregarded chain shops, and voila! they came up with their 35 "best."

What a crock.  Their selections may be great sandwich shops, but don't try to claim they're the best in the entire country.  I've also found that food experts and I don't often agree.  Gourmet be gone!  Furthermore, sandwich shops can change from day to day.  One day their Philly Cheesesteaks may be phenomenal.  They next day you couldn't sell them in Miami!


From GrindTV: 

A massive Burmese python large enough to ingest deer and alligators was captured by a permitted python researcher in the Everglades National Park in Florida recently, CBS Miami reported Tuesday.

The python, found along a tram road at Shark Valley on July 9, measured a whooping 18 feet, 3 inches and was only five inches shy of the largest snake ever captured in Florida. An 18-foot, 8-inch Burmese Python was caught in Miami-Dade in 2013.

Read more at here.

Yikes!  Shark Valley is a national park about 20 miles west of Miami.  My wife and I have often ridden our bikes on that tram road - a 15 mile loop out into the Everglades and back.  One day we counted 150 alligators either in the road or on the side of the road or in the canal next to the road.  We've seen a number of deer also.

But we have never seen a Burmese python of any size.

 

If teachers were as important as sports' heroes

What's Happening - July 30

Berlin.  Funeral home.  Refrigeration room.  Screaming.  Woman, 92, who was declared dead in a nursing home, is alive and terrified.  A doctor declared her dead.  She was transported to the funeral home.  Can you imagine?  This is one of my nightmares.  I'm going to be declared dead although I'm not.  I wake up just as they're going to throw me into the furnace.  Aargh!


The British Army is waging war against rape amongst its service men and women.  The headline I saw called it a "controversial" campaign.  What?  The British Army shows pictures of people who were raped.  The British Army says consent is always necessary.  What the hell is controversial about that?  Maybe some think officers have the right to take any enlisted person they wish.  They are considered "superior," after all!


Have you seen these ghastly TV commercials about the dangers of smoking?  They show men and women with all sorts of horrible disfigurements; it's enough to make one gag.  I know smoking is one of the major causes of cancer, but it's unlikely that people will be so frightened by these commercials they will voluntarily quit.  You can't scare someone into heaven or out of hell.  The churches have been trying that for a couple of thousand years.  Hell, not even the clergy or Vatican officials let the fear of hell stop them from a variety of activities which have been labeled as mortal sins.


Here's some rich irony for you.  As everyone is aware, many, if not most of the Republicans in Congress either don't believe in climate change - specifically global warming - or they claim it's not caused by human activity so nothing can be done, or they do believe in it but refuse to act to stop it because their rich benefactors would be unhappy with them.

The irony is in a recent study which shows that Washington, D.C., is sinking and will be in grave danger in the future as the seas continue to rise!  Isn't that funny?  Maybe that's the "Poof" I mentioned yesterday?  I'm not sure of the timeline to doomsday, but as we have learned the scientists have been consistently wrong about how fast global warming is creating problems.  So, I'd recommend that every Congressperson have a kayak ready just in case they're caught having a late night in the office with an intern or other some such and need a way out of town.


Local news for my central Florida city from AOL:

• California Guard uses drone to in search for missing teacher
• Autopsy: Victoria Siegel died of accidental drug toxicity
• Disneyland Paris under investigation for overcharging foreigners
• Mia Farrow faces Twitter backlash for lion dentist's address   

Mark Rubio is really a scumbag.  His history is enough to make a decent person cringe.  I'm talking about his lies about how and when and why his family came to the U.S. from Cuba.

But his religious history is interesting, too.  As I recall, he was originally a Catholic, then jumped over to the Mormons, then a Baptist, and now I believe he's back in the Catholic fold.

You may recall Pope Francis saying something to the effect that Catholics should let up on the abortion, contraception crap and worry about feeding the hungry, taking care of the sick, visiting people in prison; you know things Jesus talked about.

Not Rubio.  He conflated the dentist lion killer with Planned Parenthood.  He tweeted:  "Look at all this outrage over a dead lion, but where is all the outrage over the planned parenthood dead babies."

Now, it has been shown clearly that that Planned Parenthood sting video was doctored and not legitimate.  It has been shown clearly that Planned Parenthood does not profit from fetuses but these fetuses are used, and have been used for years, for scientific purposes.

I'm guessing Rubio knows all that, too.  But he will do anything or say anything to get elected.  Maybe scumbag is too nice a word?


Just when you think you heard it all, another Republican decides to run for president.  The former guv of Virginia, Jim Gilmore, wants to reside in the Oval Office.  Why would he do that?  Who knows?  The guy is 65 years old.  It's time to retire.  If he's bored, go play golf, or swim the Atlantic, or climb Mt. Rushmore and weep about lost opportunities.

That's makes 17 nogoodniks running as fast as they can to catch the Repugnican nomination!


According to The Huffington Post, there have been 132 "pro-Confederate" flag rallies since nine black churchgoers were gunned down in Charleston, SC, on June 17.  Another 29 are currently being planned.

Which dumbass Supreme Court judge said race was no longer a problem in the US?


This also from The Huffington Post:  "Athletes competing in next year's Summer Olympics here [Rio de Janeiro] will be swimming and boating in waters so contaminated with human feces that they risk becoming violently ill and unable to compete in the games..."

I'd recommend the athletes watch carefully the food they eat, also.  Maybe just drink beer.


Our final note:  If you tend to fart a lot in public, you might want to buy jeans from Shreddies, a United Kingdom company which has already sold fart-filling underwear.  Now they've got jeans and pajamas that will do the same thing.

Maybe we could get the Republican candidates to wear them:  most of what they say is indistinguishable from a really awful fart!

What's Happening on July 29?

The Donald, appearing on Palin's MamaGrizzRadio, when asked if he had any ideas about a place in his administration for the dweeb from Wasilla, said if he was elected Prez he just might appoint Sarah Palin to some important office.  Don't laugh.  She could work at home keeping an eye on what's going on in Russia!


You have to wonder what goes on in the minds of people who consistently vote Republican.  Compare the liberal, progressive state of Minnesota, under a Democratic governor, which is doing very well in almost every category, and is rated the number one state for business by CNBC, with the state of Wisconsin under the Republican Scott Walker, which has a tanking economy and is doing poorly in almost every category.

The people who vote for these Republican clowns are like the person who has cancer and goes to the doctor saying "Give me more cancer!  Please!"


Did you hear about the movement to put a woman on the $10 bill?  I guess this is a nod to the feministas, and that's a good thing.  But $10?  That's kind of an insult, don't you think?  Is that all a woman's worth, $10?  If we're serious about treating women as real people of value, let's move up to the $100 bill at least.  Or maybe back down to the $20.  And the reason is that $20 bills see a lot of action - more than $100 bills do - so if a woman's face was on the $20, more people would see it and probably want to make sure women get the same pay as men for equal work.


The Republican Party is not only in disarray, but is disintegrating!  Good to see.  One example:  Rep. Mark Meadows, an ultra-conservative from North Carolina, has filed a resolution to "vacate the chair" held currently by Speaker of the House, John Boehner.  That's sort of like kicking your dad out of the house 'cause you disagree with him on how late you can stay out at night.  The resolution will probably not go anywhere but gives an idea how widespread right-wing nuttery is in our Congress.

Hopefully, one of these days will see and hear a big "Poof!" and voila, the Congress will be emptied of Republicans and we can get back to some kind of normalcy.


Have you ever seen a beer-guzzling Venezuelan?  If you get a chance anytime soon, grab it, as Venezuela may soon be faced with a shortage of beer.  There's some complicated economic reasons for this but it's quite serious as 400,000 jobs are involved.

We have lots of beer in this country.  Maybe we could send them some?  We'd call it "foreign aid" and the government could write it off as a business transaction.


This is from The Freethinker:

EVANGELICAL pastor Valdeci Sobrino Picanto hit on a crafty way of getting blowjobs. He convinced his followers that his semen was “holy milk” and, according to one of his flock:

He has convinced us that only God could come into our lives through our mouth and that’s why he would do what he did. Often, after worship, pastor Valdeci would take us to the where the funds were kept at the back of the Church and asked us to have oral sex with him until the Holy Spirit would come through ejaculation.

Picanto said after his arrest that he intended sharing his sacred semen with fellow inmates.

What a prick!


Moving from low to high:  Gov. Christie, the grifter guv of New Jersey, vowed that when he becomes prez he will shut down all that Mary Juana stuff.

From Mock, Paper, Scissors:

      “If you’re getting high in Colorado today, enjoy it,” said Christie, a 2016 presidential candidate, during the town hall meeting in New Hampshire, according to Bloomberg. “As of January 2017, I will enforce the federal laws.”

I don't think this is the best way to garner votes.  But maybe he smells something the rest of us don't smell.  He's from New Jersey, ya know. 


Every once in awhile, I see a notice about "Candidly Nicole."  What the hell is that?  I checked it out.  It has to do with a Nicole Richie.  There are a series of videos where she talks, flirts, acts strange, funny, dumb...

Who cares?  Why would something like this mess up our beautiful Internet?  

Let me be very candid, Nicole:  Go get a job.  Get out of our faces.  Stop degrading the Internet.  If "Lost" comes back, please sign up.


Lastly but not leastly the beastly John McCain has stuck his foot in it again.  He's called the agreement between the U.S. and Iran re nuclear weapons to be a "shopping spree."  What?  Poor John.  His head just ain't working too well anymore.  A shopping spree, Mr. McCain, is when you go to the mall and buy whatever the hell you want.  

That doesn't sound very much like an agreement to keep Iran from building nuclear weapons, does it?

Sad to say but I think you've gone from spry to spree.  Not a pretty picture! 

What's Happening?

So what's with AOL these days?  You can be sure if the headline reads "The 10 Best New Cars" you'll get a long article about buying used cars.


My "home town" is in north central Florida.  Here's a few items AOL provided as my "local" news:

     "Wisconsin Assembly approves Milwaukee Bucks arena deal
     "Orlando Predators defensive back took the long route to football
     "If USOC finds a new city, Boston debacle could be forgotten."


Then there's this "news" item:  Seniors are looking for pot-friendly states in which to retire.  Really?  Like the most important factor for deciding where to retire for seniors is whether they can get legally high!  Sheesh!


Did your hear that Mark Cuban, billionaire owner of the Dallas Mavericks, is very excited about Donald Trump's candidacy for the Oval Office?  Isn't it nice when billionaires cozy up to one another?  Trump, in turn, has said he likes Cuban's team.  I wonder if they get together for coffee just to reminisce about the many rungs on their respective ladders to success?


The Arizona Cardinals just hired Jen Welter to be their coach - the first female coach in the NFL.  Can you imagine Ms. Welter running around the field during Cardinal training sessions, right in the middle of 300 pound behemoths?  What could go wrong?  And from what I've been reading in the media the past few years, some NFL players get their kicks beating up on women.  Be very careful, Ms. Welter!


This was a big news item on AOL today.  Blake Shelton moved wife, Miranda's, "stuff" out to the front porch!  Holy Crap!  Are you as tired as I am of hearing about Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert's "He cheated, no she cheated" marriage problems?  Divorce already and shut up!


Walter Palmer is a dentist from Minnesota.  He's also a killer.  He's killed big game all over the world.  It gives him a thrill.  And he does it legally with all the necessary permits and guides so everything is OK.  Not long ago he killed one of Africa's most famous lions, Cecil; with a bow and arrow.  Just for the hell of it.  Fun and games.  Hey, Walter, that lion was your cousin, you stupid jerk!


Have you noticed that fruit is smaller this year?  I didn't think so.  But evidently that is the case, due in part to the ongoing drought in California.  Smaller fruit is sweeter, though, but that has not translated into bigger sales.  Evidently Americans like their fruit big, like their cars, houses, boobs and most everything else.  One good thing out of all this though, is there may be fewer fruitcakes given out next Xmas!

Jon Stewart mocks Huck

ODE TO YAHWEH (with 43alley)

From the Sources - 3

FTS 3

We begin with a reminder for our fundamentalist Christian friends:  If you pick one verse from the Hebrew Bible and claim that whatever it says applies to us today, then you must give the same credence to all the other verses in the Hebrew Bible.

The author of Leviticus, known to scholars as the Priestly writer, was very concerned with the minutia of daily life.  In the 11 chapter of the book of Leviticus, Moses and Aaron, after receiving the word from the Lord, specified to the people what they could eat and what they must abstain from eating.

So far as "land animals: any animal that has true hoofs, with clefts through the hoofs, and that chews the cud--such you may eat.  The following, however, of those that either chew the cud or have true hoofs, you shall not eat:  the camel--although it chews the cud, it has no true hoofs: it is unclean for you; the daman--although it chews the cud, it has no true hoofs: it is unclean for you; the hare--although it chews the cud, it has no true hoofs: it is unclean for you; and the swine--although it has true hoofs with the hoofs cleft through, it does not chew the cud: it is unclean for you.  You shall not eat of their flesh or touch their carcasses; they are unclean for you."

So far as sea creatures:  "you may eat of all that live in water: anything in water, whether in the seas or in the streams, that has fins and scales--these you may eat.  But anything in the seas or in the streams that has no fins or scales, among all the swarming things of the water and among all the other living creatures that are in the water--they are an abomination for you ... Everything in water that has no fins and scales shall be an abomination for you."

The Priestly writer goes on and on describing all the "abominations" - creatures the Israelites cannot eat, including eagles, vultures, sea hawks, cormorants, pelicans, storks and herons of every kind.   Other abominations include the mole, the mouse, great lizards...lots of abominations! 

The Lord God is holy and "you shall not make yourselves unclean through any swarming thing that moves upon the earth."

[Note:  The quotations above are from The Jewish Study Bible - Tanakh Translation.]


Summary:  Fundamentalist Christians argue that every word in the entire Bible is true and is valid and is from God and must be obeyed.  They obviously don't believe that as they certainly do not follow the dietary laws as spelled out in Leviticus 11. 

They do like the word, "abomination," though, and use it frequently in regard to homosexuality, for as we shall see, the Lord thinks that not only is shrimp an abomination but so is same sex stuff.  What makes shrimp okay in the eyes of Christians and gayness not?  And if you're going to make homosexuals out to be "bad" guys (and gals) then you better do the same with shrimp eaters, and those who insist on bacon with their eggs!


Let's now go back to the 5th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, written toward the end of the first century of the Christian Era by an unknown author.  The name, Matthew, was attached to the gospel, but no one knows who wrote it.

In the 29th verse of the 5th chapter, Jesus is quoted as saying:  "If your right eye is your undoing, tear it out and fling it away; it is better for you to lose one part of your body than for the whole of it to be thrown into hell."  He also said to do the same with your right hand if that's giving you trouble.

I know of nobody today who takes that literally.  Jesus, they argue (liberals and fundamentalists alike) was using hyperbole to get across a point.

But then Jesus says "If a man divorces his wife for any cause other than unchastity he involves her in adultery; and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery."

Oh boy, the fundies and the Catholic hierarchs love that one.  How many people have been shunned or excommunicated because of adultery? 

But why take this literally when you don't take the previous verses literally.  Jesus never says "I'm exaggerating for effect, you don't really have to pluck out your eye".  Maybe he was winking when talking about adultery and whoever wrote this book didn't see the wink?


Matthew, chapter 6, has some delicious words directly from the Lord about hypocrisy which needs to be read and re-read and re-read by our pious politicians and pulpit pretenders and people who sit in the pews Sunday after Sunday.

But that's for RTS 4.