When people hate your kind, they often want to control your reproductive issue. We have found this to be true, of poor, immigrants, Jews, Hispanics, African Americans, Native Americans ---Homosexuals, and if I had more coffee, no doubt I could create quite a list.
I won't lie and tell you I am above making the joke about who should be having babies. That bumper sticker---"Stupid People Shouldn't Breed!" is one of my favorites. I am mostly joking.
What got me on this subject was a story from Cnn about the Gay Baby Boom.
First of all, I hate the use of the made up word, "Gayby." That is fucked up. You cannot bemoan the fact that people are stigmatizing Gay Couples who want to have and raise children, or the children who are raised by Gay couples, and then call them "Gaybies."
Its unbelievably tacky. On behalf of all those School Children out there who are from Gay Household, I would like to thank CNN for the mass publication of the *word "Gayby" so that they could find that scrawled on bathroom walls next to their phone numbers and e-mails. Or have it yelled at them from moving vehicles as they walk home from school.
Anyhow back to the point.
There are Americans who hate Gay People so much, who fear their Gay-Contamination, that they will deny homosexual couples and individuals, the right to have children, or to even maintain ties with children already produced in past heterosexual marriages or relationships, and most especially the right to adopt children or interact with children on any level. All that is missing is a can of anti-Gay Spray. The Catholic Church set a shining example by scapegoating Homosexuals for their internal problem with Priest-Pedophiles.
But what these Homophobes do not understand is that they are promoting two very disturbing things:
Eugenics--As in who is allowed to breed based on the perception of inborn qualities.
Eugenics is "the study of, or belief in, the possibility of improving the qualities of the human species or a human population by such means as discouraging reproduction by persons having genetic defects or presumed to have inheritable undesirable traits (negative eugenics) or encouraging reproduction by persons presumed to have inheritable desirable traits (positive eugenics)."[2]
Many Gay people, and their straight supporters and sympathizers understand that yes, being gay is innate. It's not strictly a learned behavior or a choice.
and
Cultural Genocide---meaning that those "Gays" who slip through the cracks and make a baby anyway, or adopt children, should be prevented from raising their children, for fear that they might indoctrinate their children into Homosexuality, and normalize homosexual cultural values.
Article 2 of this convention defines genocide as "any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: killing members of the group; causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life, calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; [and] forcibly transferring children of the group to another group."[1]
It's those last two statements: Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; [and] forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
The only way to stop the spread of the "Gay Illness" is to stop Gays from having or adopting children and to remove children from Gay Households.
I doubt that Homophobes think of it that way. But Gays do. Or at least educated homosexuals do. Think of the source of the Pink Triangle. Homosexuals reclaimed the Pink Triangle from it's Nazi past. You see when Nazi's weren't forcing Jewish folk to sew yellow Stars on their clothing, they were making homosexuals sew pink triangles on their clothing.
Every generation of homophobes really believe that they are onto something new. But really it's just an old, old practice. Gay Bashing, taking their children away, firing them from jobs, vandalizing their homes, and private property---old hat for homosexuals.
As for why the children of Gay households, Gay Couples, might feel ashamed? Is it because their Parents are Gay? Or is it because of how their peers and others in society at large treat Gay People, and treat the children of Gay People?
Every child is embarassed by their parents at some point. That is a normal part of growing up. Its part of the process by which a child rebels and defines their individuality.
But when dealing with the stigma of Gay parents, that normal process is magnified. Lots of children have mixed feelings about their interacial parents, about their family's poverty or immigrant status, or their parent's extreme conservative or liberal values. There are lots of ways that children can feel stigmatized by their parent's identity. Gay is simply one of many possibilities in that respect.
Children are not stupid. They see on television how we portray Gay People. They see the news, they see the Mathew Sheppards of the world, and they know on some level, they should be careful with their parent's identity because hatred is involved.
So lets call this spade, a spade.
What Conservatives really want is for Homosexuals to stop being visible, and for them to be disallowed the right to reproduce or to raise their own children. They want Homosexuals to die out. It's pretty simple. They want Homosexuals to die.
We just watched Gran Torino--we rented it from the local movie place. The ending was surprisingly poignant. I have always enjoyed Clint Eastwood movies and this was no disappointment.
I really like the two Confession Scenes: One for the Priest and One for Karma. Even though Catholicism plays into this movie strongly, I observed that the underlying motif was Karma.
There are a lot of racial epithets in this film. A lot of language. I don't suggest watching this movie with young children.
Walt's disappointment in his children and grandchildren in the movie say a lot about the Boomer's perception of the Affluenza and sense of entitlement that the current generation perpetuates in their children.
Its a really great movie. Not just entertaining but thought provoking.
Okay, what would you assign this person, if you say these credentials?
undergraduate degree in physics from CalTech and a PhD in economics from MIT
So this person has a BA in Physics, and a PhD in Economics.
Honestly, not that you cannot be an expert in a lot if issues, but I would think this person would be working at the Wall Street Journal, or perhaps teaching Economics at some college somewhere. Maybe he got the BA in Physics to expand a bit. But then Physics can cover a lot of ground, Electricity, Hydrolics, etc., and so on. Its a basic set of rules that govern the mathematics behind a lot of different disciplines.
So I know, lets put this guy in charge of Climatological Reports at the EPA!
Really?
Carlin has an undergraduate degree in physics from CalTech and a PhD in economics from MIT. His Web site lists papers about the environment and public policy dating back to 1964, spanning topics from pollution control to environmentally-responsible energy pricing.
So this guy is a Public Policy Geek. mmmmmm, and yet he wants to determine our Climatological Policy based on his BA in Physics and his PhD in Economics. Pardon me Carlin, but I prefer Climatologists and Meteorologists, and Geologists and Oceanographers ---you know, those people who actually have their expertise in authentic Earth Sciences to determine our Climate Policy. I dunno call me silly.
Most of his papers appear to be Cost Efficiency related. Fine. So why is his report being used by Republicons to challenge current attempts to reduce our impact on the planet that if left unabated could lead to our own extinction and generations of misery before we get there?
there is this other issue. The interconnectedness of Pollution and Global Warming. Lets just play devil's advocate shall we? Lets pretend that Global Warming is a myth. That its not going to come to pass. Fair Enough. The main cause of it is Pollution. If Global warming isnt happening, then big polluters can use that as the perfect excuse to stop controlling their pollution--their run off, their smoke stacks, their outgasing and lagoons.
Global Warming is a myth, so if our clouds of toxic gas cause deadly Smog in your community, who the fuck cares, it's not Global Warming! So we can pollute til our heart's content.
The real issue here, the heart of it, isn't global warming, it's pollution and the expense of cutting back pollution, and the expense of cleaning up industrial messes.
But Pollution isn't that big of a deal right? I mean its just some industrial site that just sits there and looks ugly. We can reroute traffic around it, so that people don't have to see it, and they only smell it when the wind is right, right? No biggee.
Millions of people living in nearly 600 neighborhoods across the country are breathing concentrations of toxic air pollutants that put them at a much greater risk of contracting cancer, according to new data from the Environmental Protection Agency.The levels of 80 cancer-causing substances released by automobiles, factories and other sources in these areas exceed a 100 in 1 million cancer risk. That means that if 1 million people breathed air with similar concentrations over their lifetime, about 100 additional people would be expected to develop cancer because of their exposure to the pollution.
Sounds like a fucked up kind of lottery right? Your chances, 100 in 1 Million. Sounds pretty good? Til its you or your kid that has cancer. Then those odds disappear and are replaced with feelings of helplessness and doom. And of course a HUGE hospital Bill just before your insurance company dumps you on your ass--assuming you could afford it in the first place. or
PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. -- A United States senator has asked two federal agencies to investigate a cancer cluster in Palm Beach County. U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., sent letters Thursday to both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Environmental Protection Agency asking for an immediate investigation. Paulette DeCarlo is part of a group of concerned parents in The Acreage wondering why their children, who all live within a few miles of each other, developed brain tumors.
Ultimately what we are dealing with are the plethora of effects caused by Pollution. Whether its bleaching dying coral reefs, brain cancer clusters, or other environmental diseases, poisoned water, unbreathable air, dying water sheds, etc., and so on. Ultimately it comes down to big Corporations that need to do more to control their polluting activities for the health and safety of us all.
They want to reduce their overhead, and so they do, they sacrifice our lives and health for a bigger profit. And the moment the people get together to challenge that toxic sense of entitlement, these companies fight back with lobbyests, with their own "Independent reports" and "Findings" that support their goal of making more money.
I am very skeptical of this story, but I have no doubt that ever reich winger out there will latch onto this like a drowning man on a life preserver.
The fact is Corporate America has been telling American Citizens {as if it were anything other than an authority on profit} to not prepare for the future and spend spend spend. Keep up that disposable lifestyle, nothing bad will happen. What's one more piece of trash in the landfill that takes 200 years to break down?
Because the more we live that disposable lifestyle, the more we support their investors and we keep their profit margins in the black. Whether that is big oil, plastics, or what have you.
The end result is Pollution affects you directly.
It affects you, your pregnant wife, your unborn child, your college age student, and everyone else who is still drinking the water on this planet, and still breathing the air. You can set a price on those things. In fact we already have. A lot of us though are fighting to take that price off.
My Lungs , my heart and my Liver are no longer for sale.
My children's are no longer for sale.
My unborn grandchildren's epigenetics are no longer for sale.
We found that during the Bush Administration the EPA was declawed and defanged. That Big Oil called the shots---all of Bush's old Cronies, and Rice's and Cheney's and Rumsfeld's buddies called the shots. Money Money Money. They could buy enough property with a well, mineral and water rights and all, that they would probably not have to worry about the things I worry about-.
I saw quite possibly the fifth or sixth most fucked up scene ever this morning while I was scanning the news. I watched a video of a group of Christians exorcising the Demons out of a young Black man. He was laying on the floor of this church, and it was dramatic and heart breaking.
Maybe he felt he really needed the exorcism. I will say this. If he did, it is because he has been told repeatedly via the culture war, that homosexuality is a condition to be cured, and not a modality, an inborn trait. And that makes me very sad for him. Because if that is the case, then he was begging these people to cut the offensive part of his soul off, so that he could now, fit into their narrow box of heterosexism.
This desire was a cry, that he felt his essential nature made him unloveable and irredeemable in the eyes of some judgemental deity. What a profoundly self destructive statement that is. How this young man must be filled utterly with self loathing and stark emotional pain. I know a bit about that, but won't address it here on this blog. But I understand how one can take such short sighted and bigoted messages, and merge with them, so that the hate from without, now screams at a soul from within.
The crazy lady on the video defending this despicable and unethical was a piece of work. She was fairly filled with her own spirit of judgement and deception, oozing her version of righteousness all over the camera lense as she preened over this prideful act of reifying this catastrophic soul loss, this child was suffering from.
I was sickened and had to turn away. I thought that I had emailed myself the video URL but apparently not. Perhaps I just imagined I did, just before I repressed this awful memory of what I just witnessed. I have no doubt, if ever confronted with authentic demonic entities, these people would run like rabbits. Homosexuality is hardly demonic. I mean not unless you believe that the Almighty makes mistakes. And that opens a whole other can of theological larvae.
NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) – A U.S. pastor defended a video posted on YouTube of an exorcism of a gay man, saying the Manifested Glory Ministries church does not hate gay people, it just does not believe in their lifestyle.
Ah yes, hate the sin, but not the sinner? Yes, well we all know how well Hate serves everyone in our everyday lives. How it blinds one to realities that are uncomfortable and complicated. Hate is a handy thing to invoke when one is looking to make sacrifices on the altar of expedience.
Pastor Patricia McKinney said the man told the church "he did not want to live this way."
Of course not. Because society has told him that he is innately something [note thing] to be ashamed of. I mean that self loathing doesnt occur in a vacuum. It has to come from somewhere and he is awfully young to generate that level of self disgust.
They should be invoking Agape, not self inflicted homophobia.
Today a former radio talk show host who is also a blogger and according to MSNBC, a White Supremacist Harald (Hal) Turner threatened Judges on his blog for their rulings regarding Gun Control.
A white supremacist blogger was arrested at his New Jersey home Wednesday and charged with threatening to assault or murder three Chicago-based judges who refused to overturn local ordinances banning handguns...Prosecutors quoted a Turner Internet posting as saying: "Let me be the first to say this plainly: These judges deserve to be killed." The posting included a map showing the Everett Dirksen Federal Courthouse, where the three judges are based. It said a map showing the judges' homes would later be added. The posting also referred to the murder of the mother and husband of Chicago-based federal Judge Joan Humphrey Lefkow in February 2005 - a crime that sent shock waves across the nation.
Now I do believe that this was prudent action considering the nature of the threat. But what I want to know is why those people who commit similar acts against Doctors and health care workers who perform abortions or otherwise work at family planning clinics, are not treated similarly? Shades of Dr Tiller.
Something must be in the water folks, cause check this little bit I picked up over at Crooks and Liars
I have never been a big fan of Michael Savage, because years ago, I heard him talking about how Date Rape wasnt Real Rape. That was my first exposure to Mr Savage on the Savage Nation. And you could almost hear his frothy spittle hitting the microphone in the studio. So his Nasty Comments about all these other issues come as no surprise to me.
Once again, I believe that the host of this show has a great question: "What Does Michael Savage Expect his Followers to do when they receive the photos and personal information on the employees of Media Matters?
This is more of that "Shut the Fuck Up" crap from the Reich Wing. "Shut the Fuck Up, or the Reich Wing will kill you or in the very least Threaten to." I will say, that Michael Savage gives Conservatism a very bad name. I know some Conservatives and we agree to disagree about a lot of things. They however, have too much class to act like this clown. He doesnt do much for the face of Judaism either. I guess he is like Judaism's Jerry Falwell or Pat Robertson, only even less attractive and more rabid.
Anyhow this is message I get from Savage and others like him who make these threats.
Coming from a woman who openly supported a man who participated in the S. African Witch Hunts, um, Palin's ethics have been problematic for me from the start. Considering the fervor that she whipped up anti-Obama sentiment wherein the audience chanted "Kill Him" while calling him a traitor and a terrorist, well, I figured that just cinched it. Her Running Mate was sure horrified.
But my favorite part was her use of the word feminism, while she tried to push the rights we have fought for, for over a hundred years in an attempt to pull a Phyllis Schafely style Bait and Switch. But then that would require all of us, to be profoundly dumber than she is.
The Rest of Christianity should slap this bitch down for being a talking Jackass taking your Lord's name in vain. This story was also covered at Ironicus Maximus.
There are a lot of cheesey petitions out there. Some of them suggest things that are improbable and unlawful. But I believe that if enough people are outraged by this, that this particular petition could create a new and pertinent facet in the National Dialogue on the cost of Healthcare for the average person.
"It's simple logic. Members of Congress who are elected to represent the interests of all of us have excellent health care benefits. Why shouldn't the rest of Americans?"
Congress uses the same healthcare services as Veterans and Military Members, however their care is of a better quality. As one signer pointed out, getting rid of this could free up quality medical services for our service members and veterans and their family members. Right now, the VA is approaching it's 1 Millionth Health Care Claim. So every little bit helps at this time.
The Veterans Affairs Department appears poised to hit a milestone it would rather avoid: 1 million claims to process.The milestone approaches as the agency scrambles to hire and train new claims processors, which can take two years. VA officials are working with the Pentagon under orders from President Barack Obama to create by 2012 a system that will allow the two agencies to electronically exchange records, a process now done manually on paper. Meanwhile, veterans, some of whom were severely wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan, continue to endure financial hardship while their claims are processed. They wait more than four months on average for a claim to be processed, and appealing a claim takes a year and a half on average.
Doctors that might normally be sequestered to treat people on the hill---could be recirculated throughout the DoD system, which would also include VA hospitals. Even though on paper these two entities are treated as separate, never forget that they are inextricably intwined with each other for a variety of reasons.
We could save millions of dollars because we aren't footing the bill, and their money {they would then have to pay into the health care industry} could help Stimulate the economy, instead of being a drain on it. Why would I even consider this suggestion serious? Because of this MSNBC Story:
WASHINGTON - Medical bills are involved in more than 60 percent of U.S. personal bankruptcies, an increase of 50 percent in just six years, U.S. researchers reported on Thursday.More than 75 percent of these bankrupt families had health insurance but still were overwhelmed by their medical debts, the team at Harvard Law School, Harvard Medical School and Ohio University reported in the American Journal of Medicine."Using a conservative definition, 62.1 percent of all bankruptcies in 2007 were medical; 92 percent of these medical debtors had medical debts over $5,000, or 10 percent of pretax family income," the researchers wrote. "Most medical debtors were well-educated, owned homes and had middle-class occupations."
Lets recap that:
1. 60 % of US Personal Bankruptcies are strongly influenced by exorbant medical bills.
2. 75% of those families were Insured but still could not afford their medical debt
3. 62% of Bankruptcies in 2007 were Medical.
4. 92% of these people had debts over 5,000$ or 10 percent of pretax family income.
AND5. ---Most of these Medical Debtors were White Collar Homeowners {Middle Class}
"Unless you're Warren Buffett, your family is just one serious illness away from bankruptcy," Harvard's Dr. David Himmelstein, an advocate for a single-payer health insurance program for the United States, said in a statement.
Her insurance carrier precertified her for a double mastectomy and hospital stay. But three days before the operation, the insurance company called and told her they had red-flagged her chart and she would not be able to have her surgery.
We don't see outraged politicians bemoaning the fact that the Health Care System is playing Fuck Fuck games when they are dealing with potentially deadly diseases and conditions.
But if they did have to deal with the health care system from this perspective, how fast do you think things would change? What would it be like if they had to go back to paying for medical and dental like the rest of us, for themselves and their whole family. Most people make the equivalent of a Mortgage Payment to keep insurance that might not be worth a shit--should they come down with a serious illness, and they pay into this for years only to be screwed when it means life or death.
I say deport the Insurance CEOs without their money to some third world country and put them to work vaccinating people for Marburg virus.
So what are the Benefits for politicians that Skye is talking about? According to the Senior Citizen's League:
Why not scrap Medicare in favor of something better? I refer to the cost-effective health plan enjoyed by all of Congress. I understand it includes prescription drugs. I've asked my Congressman, Joe Hoeffel (D-PA) to spell out what's in his health plan, what he pays and how it is funded. He has ignored my requests. I've heard it referred to as the Rolls Royce health care plan. This seems like a good idea for everybody instead of trying to fix the damn-near broke Medicare.-T.M, Plymouth Meeting, PA
Whoooa Dogey--Rolls Royce, well aint that Fancy. I bet they gots indoor plumbings and a cement pond too!
The government (meaning taxpayers like you and me) pays 72% of the average premium but not more than 75%. Your Congressman saw the remaining 25% deducted from his $12,500 monthly paycheck (also paid for by you and me). This is similar to the amount the government pays under Medicare. Under Medicare, the government pays 75% of the Part B premium and the other 25% monthly premium is deducted from your Social Security check (which is much, much less than $12,500 per month).
Kinda puts a whole new spin on that joke about the definition of Poly-Ticks don't it?
It makes for a compelling stump speech. And the leading Democratic candidates for president are all saying pretty much the same thing: adapt the health care program that covers Congress and offer it to the 47 million Americans currently without insurance.The American people should have access to the same array of health care choices and benefits as the senators and representatives they elect,” Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton said as she introduced her health care plan last month.
This story was posted in 2007--hence the reference to Hillary Clinton.
The story shoots this idea down, not because it might "Socialize Medicine" as many panicked chicken GOP littles have been crowing, but because it would be too expensive. I guess that leaves some room for pairing down healthcare service costs in general. Maybe if recent medical school grads didn't leave with over 100,000.$ in college loan debt, then they wouldnt have to charge us so much for the services we need.
The only way to fix this problem is to make healthcare affordable, so that coverage is no longer an issue. We will still need medical records transcriptionists, but the others that work in that industry may need to be retrained in some other field. Quite frankly I dont believe I should have to die in order to pay a bureaucracy that is only going to let me die anyway. The rest of us have to contend with possibly working at Burger King, what the fuck makes the employees of private insurance bureaucracies so goddamn special?
The idea of using the federal plan as a model for the larger population is hardly new, having been floated periodically for well over a decade by politicians from both parties.
healing is a vocation. It should be service based. And not dependent on the Bottom Line--$$$ We need more doctors and nurses and midwives working fewer hours at a respectable wage so that Americans can have the personal treatment/relationship by medical professionals that good healthcare requires.
That being said, Why Should Congressional People get a Rolls Royce when the rest of us can barely afford to pull a little red wagon? If even that?
For a run down of the tired old arguments against attempts to reform healthcare so everyone has meaningful access in this country, check out this video. First seen on Have a Great Day. Go over to my blog Roll and check it out!
Here is my responses to these cock and bull answers:
1. Takeover. Our healthcare system has already been taken over by insurance bureaucracies. We pay for their house, their kid's college bill, and keep the heat on in the winter. really they should send us all a big fat Thank You card to all of us unwitting investors.
2. RATIONING: We are already Rationing our Health Care due to cost. People Ration their pills, because they cannot afford refills on their perscriptions. And people regularly ration their visits to the doctor because they cannot afford that bill in addition to their premiums {remember someone's snot nosed kid needs to go to an Ivy League School!} Preventive Care? That's for Warran Buffet and the CEOs of AIG and Chrysler on their private jets while they beg for more bailout money. Rationing is what the rest of us mortals here on earth do.
3. BUREAUCRACY: Um, we already deal with that too. If you have ever had to jump through your own little pink asshole to see if a procedure is covered by your plan or if a doctor or specialist is in your network, then you have already encountered the bureaucracy. If you have ever gone through what the women quoted earlier in this story did, which involved having her coverage rescinded when she was about to go in for Chemo and Cancer surgery, then you have encountered that Bureaucracy. If you have ever been billed for a procedure you didn't get and could't find the right person to talk to, to clear that problem up, then you have dealt with the bureaucracy.
4. Socialized Health Care: Just like the Vets and the Military Gets--I guess that its not good enough for regular Americans, then why the fuck do we impose this on our vets? Or is that its similar to what Politicians get for coverage and they just don't want to share?
Republicons want to "Protect us" from "Health Care Hell." The only problem is that these fuctards are so far removed from the life of the average American reality, that they don't realize that WE ARE ALREADY THERE!
ATTENTION REPUBLICONS, AMERICA IS ALREADY IN HEALTHCARE HELL. AND WE ALREADY SUFFER THE IMPOSITION OF THE THREATS YOU SAY WILL COME TO PASS IF THE GOVERNMENT TAKES OVER.
I am hopped up on goofballs right now even as we speak. My allergies have kicked in, as have the whole family's, and I have taken drugs to allow me to breathe air. Unfortunately, being a person who doesnt normally take drugs, means that occasionally, they kick in at odd hours. Like now. And there is nothing worse than lying in bed, tired, but unable to sleep, and thinking. All sorts of things roll through my head.
For instance:
Sometimes I hate the state I live in. And not too long ago, that was pretty much all of the time. Now it makes me feel bad. As I slowly venture out into the world, and meet people who are not ogres, it causes me to reconsider this hatred. That being said, it didn't spring from my head fully formed and armored. I came by it honestly.
Many moons ago, I fought city hall, and my state over a dispute regarding eminent domain. And during that time I was shocked by the attitudes and toxic sense of entitlement I encountered in the halls of power. It was an eye opening experience and it left me bitter and unfortunately at that time, I already had enough bitterness for two people, so that made my response all the more potent and lingering.
I had moved back to my home state after an absence in the military. I bought a house, my first house. A humble little place out in the country, where I could hear the birds sing, and have a garden. And one day I was approached by a neighbor who told me that the state and possibly other "forces of darkness" wanted to build a highway over my home. Or near my home, either way, my place along with my neighbor's homes might be condemned.
I went to work investigating this claim, both on the internet and through city council meetings. I discovered that unrepentent dicks ran my town. They held it against me, that in the 110 years they had run this area, that I had not magickally transported myself to every city council meeting through my awsome powers of teleportation to contribute something worthwhile to the town. I was a Johnie-Come-Lately who had taken up with some real trouble makers. I was just a homeowner, so what the fuck was I thinking? Showing up with an opinion and an objection and things of that nature?
Seems kind of harsh doesnt it? But in all honestly there is nothing worse than going to a city council meeting for the first time in a new place, and having the officials there literally ooze disdain from the stage while they all but draw a picture for you, why THEY are the chosen ones of god and you are just some piece of shit that got stuck to their shoe. And that is literally how they treated me, and just about everyone else who attended these meetings who were opposed to having their property swiped "at fair market value" for our own good of course.
Someone on the local radio compared yours truly to a terrorist. I have to say as someone who has never had anything more serious than a speeding ticket, that was a shocker. It hurt my feelings and it contributed to this feeling of being unwelcome in my own town. When I was followed around by the cops, well that sort of cinched it for me.
We--the locals threw a monkey wrench in that project. I didn't maintain any friendships after that with the people I met during that time. I just pulled away from everyone. If I have a problem, I never call the local police. I am not sure they would show up. I have had consistent problems getting even information on waste management issues out here, like flyers or phone numbers. There are local restaraunts I do not go into, because knowing who patronizes these establishments, I am not sure there wouldn't be spit in my food.
There are festivals that I avoid. I simply do not feel welcome, so why bother. Before I started to homeschool, I even fretted over whether this issue that happened a decade ago, would affect my children's social lives.
All in all, this was the end result of people who abused their power and influence in a small town. The effects still linger to this day. I have to live here. It doesn't matter to these people that I keep my lawn cut. That I look out for my neighbors, that my family earns honest wages. Those things that should matter don't. The only things that figured into this equation for these people, was that I opposed them in something that could make them lots of money and win them lots influence. How dare I opposed this "progress" because it would have cost me my home and maybe more than that. I acted like I mattered and what was up with that? My house might not be a mansion, but it's what I could afford and it's mine.
I put this out here, because sometimes I meet people and all they see is the After-shot. They don't see the events that lead up to my isolation. They don't see the events that fed some very negative feelings about where I live, about the people who live around me, or even how I feel about myself in the context of this place. I am not sure if I really "Won" anything. I mean I am financially stuck here. I have been trying to make a life for myself and my family, but always this is on the back of my mind. When things go wrong out here I always wonder:
"Did it go wrong just because it went wrong? OR Did it go wrong because this is one more petty stab at my back these people can take from afar?"
The kind of ugliness and intimidation that this bred was distasteful and dissapointing and ultimately undermined my confidence in the leadership of my town, and my state. I think that I bring this up now, because it's very much indicative of larger patterns I see nationally.
Gone are the days when people said, "You do what you need to do, and I will do what I need to do, and may the best person win."
No one says to themselves anymore--"I don't care for your politics, but you are still my neighbor and you are still a citizen."
There are no more worthy opponents.
There are no more clean victories or team work.
All we have left it seems is bitterness, and a desire for revenge; even if it means wasting one's life on generating the energy to always be ready to take that shot, however small, even if its a long one. After all, No rest for the ones we deemed wicked.
I guess I should feel thankful. At least I am no longer afraid to leave my pets outside.
And they wonder what it is that drives the Party of Tin Foil Hats? Well here is one shining example of a local and possibly state government that suffers from Cranial-Rectalitis. It's something so bad, that it makes me want to wear a tin foil hat!
Apparently if you want to work in Bozeman Montana, you are to turn over your information for all networking accounts, e-mail accounts, usernames etc., So that that Bozeman, can make sure, that YOU---YOU are not like a child molester or chronic masturbator, or salad tossing freak who hires adult guinea pigs for a night of drinks and duct taping.
Escusa--but I must raise the bullshit flag now and waive it vigorously at this outrageous requirement for a job. I still think that Random Drug Testing for nonMilitary or Non First Reponders is a bunch of shit. I mean, if you don't have probable cause and are not weilding a badge or a judge's gavil then shut the fuck up is what I say. But heck, what's a little invasion of privacy between friends right?
The Rocky Mountain city instructs all job applicants to divulge their usernames and passwords for "any Internet-based chat rooms, social clubs or forums, to include, but not limited to: Facebook, Google, Yahoo, YouTube.com, MySpace, etc."
A background check? You mean like the average Background check just won't do it? I am sorry but asking for access to my computer to see if I am up to unlawful activities OR I am not allowed to apply for a job. Hmmmmm. Let me think about that. No Thanks. I mean isnt that what the Fifth Amendment is all about. The right not to incriminate yourself? Or does that only count when you are in the orange jump suit or testifying to a congressional fact finding commission? Inquiring minds what to know.
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.[1]...[AND]...The fifth amendment protects witnesses from being forced to incriminate themselves. To "plead the Fifth" is to refuse to answer a question because the response could provide self-incriminating evidence of an illegal conduct punished by fines, penalties or forfeiture.[3]
So now State Governments acting as Corporate Entities can do what the Judicial Branch cannot? Huh?
"Shame on us if there was information out there available about a person who applied for a job who was a child molester or had some sort of information out there on the Internet that kind of showed those propensities and we didn't look for it, we didn't ask, and we hired that person," Winn said. "In many ways we would have let the public down."
Yes, you should be ashamed Bozeman. See, this is the weakest fucking arguement I have ever witnessed from a potential employer. And there is nothing guaranteeing that the potential employee will be punished {not hired or worse yet, blackballed} for political speech, religious speech, ideological stances, hypothetical speculation on any subject considered forbidden or sensitive, painful life confessions, regrets, boasts, or anything else that could be considered in poor taste.
Of course *they said they would not play "Taste Police" but you know I just don't think that I can trust a potential employer who cannot let law enforcement do their job, if I am in fact a potential criminal.
There are a tremendous number of what ifs here.
What if I {as potential employee} did visit porn sites? Which ones would indicate to the person making this call, that I am likely to be a pedophile or some kind of dangerously sexual deviant?
Leather Fetish Swinging Sex Toys Homosexual acts BiCurious or
What if you found nothing on me, but just couldnt put your finger on whatever it was about me, that you felt maybe indicated I was some kind of dangerous pervert? What then?
And do you think that with state and federal laws which end in mandatory jail time and registration as a sexual offender that then affects how and where one can live and work, that any pedophile in their right mind that hasnt been caught is going to reveal him or herself to YOU?
The fact is, its my right to lie to you about my personal affairs that are otherwise not in violation of the law. Because you pry. You presume too much. Its none of your damn business.
It sickens me that Bozeman officials have drank this KoolAid that somehow we have to anticipate criminality by depriving people of their privacy, even innocent, law abiding citizens who are entitled to their private adult lives, thoughts, fantasies and subcultures--whatever they might be, inside the boundaries of the law.
Tracking, identifying, and indicting Pedophiles is the job of law enforcement. Period. Not Employers.
Regular Background checks might be imperfect, but it is that imperfection, that contributes to a free society. Or at least it used to.
I object to being Investigated to this degree when I have committed no crime. Innocent Until PROVEN Guilty.
Its not up to employers to determine guilt or innocence, or to prove either.
Employers are not the law. And the moment they become THE LAW, then this country will be in such deep shit, we will all need snorkels just to watch the news and get the mail. This all smacks of McCarthiestic Loyalty Oaths and Morality Oaths we force Public School Teachers to take. Its the main reason I am not a teacher, and why I believe that it attracts such mediocre and unimaginative types to the job. Anyone who was vaguely interesting would have quarks that would disqualify them from the job in this current climate of ideological bigotry. It also reminds me of the Patriot Act, and opening up people's library records for book checkouts and websurfing habits.
Much of what has driven this blog as my horror at seeing the American Dream Squelched between the twin nightmares of Corporate Power Grabs, and Supremacist Ideologies--specifically Christian Supremacist which to me is a unique combination of Christian Identity, White Supremacy, Anti-Government Hysteria, all combined and basically in control of the Big Tent Party of Republicanism.
I am tired of seeing people's lives ruined by catastrophic health care costs, that put profit over the life of a citizen.
I am tired of watching my friends and family put off doctor visits, because they simply cannot afford even one visit AND keep the lights on or buy groceries.
All of these hardworking American Citizens in a first world country, and they cannot afford to see a doctor or a dentist when they need to. So that they leave small medical problems, or manageable problems to become big medical disasters, that will eventually deprive them of their lives, and their families of anything that even looks like financial security.
We pay more for shitty treatment. I know. I have bought perscriptions for friends and family because they couldnt afford to pay. I have paid for ER bills, and electric bills, and groceries, and gasoline, because the hospital trip was catastrophically expensive.
And these people are not rich. Many are older, they own a house that is paid off, but no longer have regular jobs. They live on fixed incomes. And yet, the ownership of a jalopy car and an old house is construed as "Wealth" when the hospital considers their status for charity.
No one should have to give up their primary means of transportation. Especially in a rural area where public transportation is spotty. No one should have to loose the roof over their heads for getting sick. The roof over their family's heads.
I see all this whining about Socialization of our Medical Care Nationally. And you know what. That is the kind of care American Military Soldiers and their families get. That is the care that Veteran's Get and the elderly.
YOu all seem okay with that. But then you say such plans are not good enough for you?
Why not? You eat eggs and they come out of chicken's ass. If such plans are good enough for our soldiers and vets, then it should be good enough for the rest of America.
CNN had this story to remind *We the People, what we are fighting against:
The witnesses charged that insurance applications are purposely long and confusing, and that companies look for any discrepancy to avoid covering expensive treatments.
It is easier ladies and gentlemen, to get your insurance to pay for damage on your car, than it is to pay up on an illness or injury on your body. WTF?! Over!
You have cancer growing iside of your body and they want to put you off. Not to get your paperwork straight--oh now. Lets just lay it all out there. The insurance companies put you off, hoping that you will kill over dead, go terminal and qualify for hospice before they have to pay up for treatment options that could save your life or extend it. After all, some investor's snot nosed kid needs a new pony.
If this doesnt piss you off, then check your pulse.
Insurance companies argue rescissions are relatively rare, but Waxman said the practice saved the companies $300 million over the past five years. Waxman said he and the insurers agree the solution to the rescission problem is to pass comprehensive health reform legislation.
Rare? Each Rarity is a human life ended.
This is the fundamental disconnect right here. Health Care is not like going to Walmart and buying new underwear, it is not like buying a new car. Health care is a quality and quantity of life issue. Every Citizen should be able to get health care, just like every citizen should have access to water, food, clothing and shelter.
You cannot claim that medical care is a humanitarian service, and then price it out of reach for your citizens. Especially not when I see calls for people to go to "poor" nations to give it away when people here cannot even get that. For the price of a cup of coffe we could feed some kids overseas, or could we care for some kids or their parents here in the U.S.?
America is either a first world country and it will provide for its citizens accordingly, or we are not--and we should own that too.
Don Hamm, the CEO of Assurant Health, said his company regrets the "necessity of even a single rescission."
really? You regret that Mr Hamm? If we had a service based medical system and not a profit based system, then rescissions would be immaterial. But then that might make your multimillion dollar job obselete, and you might have to sell that summer home in the Hamptoms. I understand that this proposal carries some "Hardship" for you and your kind too.
Hang on, I think I can squeeze out a Crock Tear or two.
Basically Health Care Insurance has become a Bureaucratic tick on the ass of America. And it's sucking us dry. 300 million dollars is a lot of money.
He said the company has a fair rescission investigation process: When the company becomes aware of a pre-existing condition that was not disclosed on a person's application, a senior underwriter reviews the information to determine if the omission was "material" to the underwriting decision.
But therein lies the rub. Insurance Companies want to Insure Only Healthy People, because it cuts down on COST--$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ So what does it feel like to be rare? When you are that 1 percent, does it feel like 1 percent? Does death feel like 1 percent?
Everyone has pre-existing conditions according to Epigenetics. Medicine should be a civic service that is offered to all citizens. Insurance should be for movie stars who want bigger titties and tighter cooters, and hairless backs.
There also are multiple opportunities for a person to appeal -- including by means of an independent review panel, he said.
Yes, All those days and weeks waiting to hear about your appeals process while your cancer grows, Gosh that makes me feel so fucking grand about it all. Gee Thanks Mr Hamm! You're a swell pal!
Members of the subcommittee grilled the CEOs on their rescission policies -- including the fact that some companies will not take on clients who have had insurance rescinded in the past -- but the companies maintained that rescission is not about cost.
Wow that's like hookers saying their job isn't about getting paid. Don't try to bullshit the bullshiters here gentlemen. Your company is all about cost. You are providing a service for payment. You are not unpaid volunteers.
Asked if they would commit to never rescinding a policy unless it was intentionally fraudulent, all of the CEOs said no, noting that a commitment like that does not coincide with the state laws and regulations they follow.
Yes, because that would cut into their profit margin and increase the COST! DOH!
"Doesn't it bother you that people are going to die because you insist on reviewing a policy that somebody took out in good faith and forgot to tell you that they were being treated for acne?" Barton asked the panel of CEOs.
Not enough to make them voluntarily change their policies. Apparently as long as the law allows them to do this, then they can blame the state, After all, they have to comply right?
"Yes sir, it does, and we regret the necessity that that has to occur even a single time, and we've made suggestions that would reform the system such that that would no longer be needed," Hamm replied.
Boo Hoo. I can almost hear these Leaders of Industry playing My Heart Bleeds for You, on the world's tiniest violin.
Elvis has landed. I repeat, Elvis has landed! I just found this on CNN.
Apparently Von Brun didn't commit murder at the Holocaust Museum. Yes, our lovely and idiosyncratic collection of lovable crazies {note Sarcasm} have decided that this was an elaborate Plot staged by Jewish Midgets stacked on top of each other--dressed as Von Brun, making it appear he committed this crime.
They say the June 10 shooting at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum may be a "false flag" operation. The incident could have been staged by one group, perhaps what they describe as the Jewish-controlled U.S. government, to make it appear to be the actions of another group -- in this case, von Brunn and others who believe Jews exercise too much control in the United States.
And we all know how THEY are.
For those Greenhorns out there, "False Flag" is code for " Reverse Reverse Psychology." They know that we know, that they know, and so on and so forth.
Being the experts in disguise that Jews are, of course everyone was completely fooled by this incredible and complex "operation."
EGADS!
How was it that these stalwart souls were not hoodwinked into drinking the proverbial Semitic kool-aid?
Maybe you should ask them.
And from the same people who brought you the SSDD version of the Protocol of the Elders of Zion, here is a service announcement to help you negotiate the upcoming New World Order.
So remember Jewish Big Bro is making a list and checking it twice. So keep your tin foil Yamakas handy so we know who really has the covenant with the Almighty, and who is really just the spawn of Satan plotting to frame you in the next staged fake hate crime against Black People who are really only collateral damage---Extras in the game of life.
My thoughts are: Authenticity is a key component in many "isms" we see currently.
"Real Man" "Real American,"
a simplistic view of the issue of authenticity. Authenticity is about the feeling of groundedness, of being valued by community and peers and of a feeling of control over many aspects of a person's life in a way that reifies their status and position.
Some of the women in past news stories who killed their children often suffered from an overt form of mental illness, such as post pardum psychosis or some form of schizophrenia in the very least.
Is it possible that the men in question here, might also have similar conditions, but hid their symptoms better?
Asking for help, means relinquishing even the appearance of control and that could be conceived as a sign of weakness and a lack of indpendence or self sufficiency by the man in question as well as by his friends and family.
Men learn the art of being a man from their fathers or other important male role models. We know this to be a major factor in Domestic Abuse, because living under a roof where that abusive behaviors are prevalent normalizes abuse--for the children. It tells girls that its okay to be hit and it tells boys that its okay to hit girls or children. Women take the blame for not creating the ideal circumstances that the male feels he needs to be successful and in control, and Men blame the girls for those lacks. In this scenario neither person is taking responsibility for their life or decision. One relinquishes control and the other "looses" it in order to gain it.
Killing the family and the Self ---is Punishment.
Who is the man punishing? Is it the family? or the Extended Family? Or the Employer, its the ultimate expression of "I'll show You." or the old chestnut, "SEE what you made me do!."
And it is still the man not taking responsibility for his thoughts, actions and life. In his attempt to be a Manly-Man--An Island all to himself, all that really happens is he throws a deadly temper tantrum because for whatever reason he is not or does not feel mature enough to verbalize his feelings or take real control and responsibility for his life--whatever that means in that moment to that individual.
I have witnessed this many times over in friends lives who eventually leave their spouses. It's sad. And it goes far beyond the normal problems that married couples face.
If a woman is powerless and worthless {as abusers often assert} then how can she possibly have the power to determine his success or failure, or ensure he can control everything? In this abuser gets his cake and eats it too. She is both powerless to resist him or oppose him, and she is the author of his every failure--real or imagined. She is nothing more than a diaper to catch his psychic shit, til she finally falls off--unable to hold even one more ounce of excrement.
I believe that killing the kids is punishing the kids. It is an act that shows us what how he really felt when she became pregnant. It would fall in line with the increased possiblity of abuse the moment a woman becomes pregnant. The birth of children ruined his life and forced him to feel responsible for their care.
I also believe that killing the kids is punishing the woman. Men cannot bond with children the way that women can. Killing a child is the ultimate psychological pain a person can inflict on a parent. It reverses the natural order of things. And if she gave up a career or an outside life to take care of those kids, killing the children erases her greatest accomplishment in life in his eyes and maybe in hers too. Gestating, birthing and raising children is labor intensive, time consuming, and not very appreciated work. I believe that killing the children is also punishing the grandparents and other family members. If he feels he didnt get sufficient "help" from the rest of the family, then this could be a big factor driving this behavior.
Killing the wife is punishing the children. Killing mommy--and its punishing her parents, and any other friends or relatives he may have felt took her side in any matter that still eats on him. Abusive people will hold a grudge til it dies of old age--so the reasons could be varied and go back for years.
Every act, is an attempt to break the bonds of love and support so that each victim living or deceased feels as isolated, helpless and as full of despair as he himself is at the time of the planning and the execution of the murders.
Killing himself is punishing the community and the familiy by denying them the closure of an interview--to find out why, and of a trial for indictment and punishment.
This sort of crime is a defiant middle finger to everyone. I believe this should be closely lumped in with crimes where the Father Kills the Children but doesnt kill the mother as well, for the same reasons. Its all about vigilantiism, and punishment.
This post is in response to a discussion and post over at Zirgar's Fresh Brain Squeezings. To give it some context.
I am not a thin person. You will probably not see me wearing high fashion, because even when I was "Thin" for me, I couldnt get one thigh in that stuff. I do not have tiny ankles, or small fingers or dainty wrists. While I was better looking in my youth, it wasn't because I looked like Snow White or Barbie, or any of that bullshit. I have always been literally big boned. The fact that periodically I pile the fat on top of that is just more of me to love. Me and line Backers have a lot in common. I have always been physically strong even for a woman, and some men, and I have loads of stamina. I can carry heavy weight for miles--even to this day. Just don't make me run and like any good draft horse, we will get along just fine.
The Fashion world has never really been a friend to me as a result of my essential build. Though I do have an hour glass figure, I am thick. I have always been Full figured. My broad shoulders ensured that few ladies blouses under the pluss sizes could accomodate my frame. There just wasnt enough room between the bust and the shoulders, not enough width in the neck nor would the arms be long enough. Women's clothing always looked 2 sizes too small, not because of fat at that time but simply due to proportion. It always made me feel like a space alien. Add to that, that I am whiter than most white folks, and I stick out like a turd in a punch bowl. I looked like a blonde ghost, a big one too. Oh yea and I have big, wide feet. A friend who visits Africa said I have Bush Woman Feet. That means that before I had kids, I had problems finding shoes that fit. After, when my feet got even bigger--I live in flip flops or work boots.
I made due with mens clothes all those years. Even in the military I would cheat and buy men's uniform shirts because they fit right in the shoulders and arms and few people noticed that they buttoned on the wrong side for a female.
Enter Pregnancy. I had my kids in my 30s. Call me a late bloomer. And I have to say carrying babies and having them at that age is hard on a person. The first one I bounced back okay. The second kid took the starch right out of my shorts and left me with a bad case of sciatica and a big fat ass. My Greek Statue Mesamorph figure turned to mush after that. And I have fought like hell for the last 3 years trying to loose that weight and get something back that looks like energy to move.
Its been an uphill battle. I can hear the stares people give me. I weigh over 200 lbs. Something I thought could never happen to me. And yet here I am. When I look in the mirror, I am shocked everytime. When I see pictures people take of me, its even more shocking. Where is my face? Why do I look like a great lump of flesh? Surely that is not me?
Then I contemplate whether I want to be outside where people can see me. My kids always want to go swimming in the summer. And it takes everything I have within me to let people see me in a bathing suit. I never wear shorts even if its over 100 degrees outside. I have to ask, what people are supposed to do, if they are unwilling to pay 40$ or more for a modest swimsuit like a speedo or Nike, because the suits they sell at HellMart, are cut for Supermodels and sized for fat chicks. They look terrible, your boobs pop out, and they floss your ass. WTF HEllMART? Or those cheesey ass skirted suits. Why not make the old fashioned suits with the shorts build in? But I digress.
I exercise when I can. I have a toddler though and that one doesnt always cooperate. And contrary to popular belief, if you lock them in the closet or tape the to the ceiling, well lets just say that local authorities get upset. Every since having the second baby, my energy has been very low. I have went to the doctor many times. I have normal thyroid functions. And surprising to the docs, my Cholestral is outfuckingstanding and my blood sugar is fine {no diabetes}. And yet, even with diet and exercise, I have problems loosing the weight and raising my personal energy levels. People stare at me sometimes. Not like they would If I weighed 300 or 400 lbs, but its obvious I am not thin or even just chubby anymore.
I hate X-mas. I go to visit inlaws who I think secretly want me to be fatter. I am trapped in a rural home where nothing but fudge, sweets, and pies are out all the time and not much else. I know you think I should have willpower. Whatever. I feel hungry all the time. its only just recently that I have started to look into low blood sugar. That seems to be helping. Only time will tell. Many people like me literally fight their weight all their lives. Some eventually get tired of the bullshit and quit.
Its exhausting thinking about it all the time. Obsessing on it as if this really matters.
Enter the fashion world.
I would love to skin fashinistas alive with a dull butterknife. Sound Harsh? Not as harsh as they are on me. Remember even before I got fat, I couldnt buy the pretty clothes because I was built more like a line backer and less like twiggy. Those fuckers can go fuck themselves, the shoe makers too.
Whoever in their right fucking mind thinks that with my huge ass, that I want huge-ass-Hawaiian prints? I swear they pick out the least flattering cloth and prints for fat people. They make us look like moving Casino hotel carpet. Some of them try to cut fat clothes like they do for skinny clothes. Those horrible low rider jeans and cleavage bearing shirts.
Fat chicks have boobs, might as well show them off right? Wrong. I am not desperate for sex, therefore I don't need to send a message with heaving white bosoms to the male side of the populace. Honestly. I like plane colors, clean cuts, and modesty. But between the hotel carpet prints and the plunging neck and butt lines that almost never happens.
So I go back to the mens Aisle. At least I can find a tent over there to cover me up.
Then I go to buy shoes. Just on the offhand chance I do find a nice outfit to wear somewhere. I have to get shoes to go with it. I have size 11 double E feet now after having the babies. Technically after breaking a foot, one of them is a triple E-width foot. Most ladies shoes ANYWHERE only go up to a size 9 maybe 10w if you are lucky.
That means men's flip flops, or work boots. My favorite pair of boots I have now are steel toed Wolverines.
When I do find ladies shoes "in my size" they are boats. Often covered with the same pukey hawaiian prints, or with those dumbass bows on the toe, no heel or 6 inch fuck me pumps--nothing in between. Nothing tasteful, elegant or understated. I guess people like me are incapable of being tasteful, elegant or understated--so you save the da-glo prints for my big ass, just in case someone on the planet or in the space shuttle missed the fact, that yes, I do have a big ass. All that's missing are black light runners on the bottom of my shoes.
Buying Bras are a problem too. Thank the Gods for Lane Bryant. Because when you have big boobs, whether you are fat or thin, they can cause problems if they are not properly supported. Victoria's Secret can suck my ass for eternity for being the traitorous whores that they are. I used to shop there when I was thinner, after I had the babies, I discovered that they don't make nice bras for my kind. Us fat chicks have to shop at Walmart.
A lot of women who are large, wear whatever is available at the store. And they get the business for it too. Its not fair. How can you punish us for this when that is what is available: Man Clothes or whatever passes for designs somewhere else. The cost is higher too. Fat Ladies clothes are very expensive. Not just because there is extra cloth involved. But because its considered a niche market.
It think we should call it the Fat Tax. This is just another way in which Society punishes us for not being the perfect Size 7 or 9. We have to pay a hell of a lot more for fucking ugly clothes. It pisses me off to the point where I will wear my man-clothing til it rots and falls off. I hate shopping that much.
Right now I am living off of Vegetarian Smoothies. The good news is, I feel okay with that. I am not making myself do it. Regular food, esp fast food makes me feel so bad that the smoothies are a welcomed respite. Whenever I eat meat or high starch anything, I just feel like someone poured sugar in my gas tank. We also bought a bow flex used. I use the rowing machine for now. I do a lot of reps not much weight because I dont want to irritate my sciatic and end up in the bed for another 3 to 6 months.
Before I had been at YMCA cycling classes when that happened. I had lost 40 lbs, I gained about 30 of it back because of the Sciatica. I cried for months in frustration and became very depressed.
No one looks at me though and says, "I bet she has sciatica." They just look at me and think, "Damn Bitch You're fat!" I used to go walking, with the kids, but we have been having a problem with people dumping their large mean dogs like pit bulls out here. Its not always safe to do that. I had to throw my kids over a neighbor's fence one day because someone's large bird dog came at us menacingly. We live in a rural neighborhood. Which means you have some people who respect leash laws and others who just tell you to fuck yourself while their 100lb mutant dog runs about eating cats and chickens.
There are no bike lanes out here. And you still get people who think its funny to fuck with people on bikes. Its getting better, but I cannot take the kids on these country roads on their bikes.
We work out in the garden, we go to the YMCA in town, we go to the parks with other homeschool families. We go hiking around the lake for several miles.
Putting this fat on in my late 30s is a lot of the problem. Loosing weight at this age is a lot different than when you are 18. But you know those 20 somethings arent very understanding about it, and wont be til it happens to them.
I used to be able to do a 100 situps in less than 2 minutes. Now with the sciatica, I cannot even do one. I cannot even do crunches, or I will end up on pills in bed. Even speed walking is hard because of that nerve damage. Having babies for some people is easy. But for others, not so much. It wasnt easy for me or on me. And it left its mark. Sometimes I feel like I am in a stranger's body. This is nothing like my life before I had children.
I do what I can do. And then I hope for a little understanding.
Okay I thought it would be funny when I wrote about this, but not so much. I guess I am still bummed out by it all.
Today was not a good day. Today, I could not find my swim suit. Actually today I could not find either of my swimsuits and I had small people running about in utter chaos, begging to go to the pool.
"But Moooooommmmmmy you Promised!"
So I spent most of the day looking for two rather large one piece bathing suits, and did not find them in any drawer, nor in any closet. Clearly the elves have been to visit my house to borrow my sexy swimsuit.
I finally found it, actually one of the little people found it inbetween the folds of a comforter on my bed. I have no idea how it got there. I still do not know what happened to my NEW one, it has been tranported to another alternate universe I suppose. What started out as a good day involving harvesting the last of my potatoes and the garlic, and planting carrots and radishes and okra---turned into the frustrating day from hell. What topped it off for me was a visit to National Public Radio and witnesses what I can only describe as Jew-Baiting or Blaming as one poster put it.
I am going to get all nostalgic now. I used to love NPR. I used to love it for the fact that everyone else didn't necessarily love it. It was the sane, coherent, answer to the Rusholes of the world. It was intellectual. They did long story pieces that went indepth in a way that one rarely witnesses on television. And a lot of people didn't listen to National Public Radio because it was NERD HEAVEN!
I WANT MY NERD HEAVEN BACK.
NPR has changed. I used to go there and the news there would be weeks ahead of anything else on the Tabloid sites. But now? Now its just like going everywhere else. NPR has been taken over by the Pod People. It has become part of the Borg-News-Nation in which Resistance is futile. The God of Nerds has fallen prey to the Popular Kid's games and its tone has been changing ever so little not to the left or the right, but to the shallow ever since.
I see fits and starts of resistance from some of the Old Heads at NPR. And today I saw one of those people, Scott Simon torn down piece by piece by a bunch of wannabe Rusholes. And it occured to me, that the New NPR should go the way of NEW COKE! As away. I like NPR Classic better.
I liked it when there was no forum after every story where just anyone {and I use that term loosely} could get on there and stink it up with their reich wing diatribes of idiotic fuctarded-ness.
NPR was a haven for my mind. It was my safe place during the Shrub years where I could get something that looked like a balanced indepth treatment of the issues that mattered. And those issues were not: Whether or not Britney Spears was wearing undies or had gone round the bend when she shaved her head. It was not focused on stupid shit that seemed to dominate mainstream media every fucking day when it was clear that the American People needed to be paying attention to something important.
It just really bummed me out. I want my old NPR back without those forums so those rusholes are forced to blog angrily away from some psuedo-anonymous location, and not be able to basically take a big shit right there where each story is located.
Anyhow I did finally find my suit. Back to the point. The friend did remind me that even though shit looks bad, that in reality, Women in particular among other minorities are still better off than ever. She said to be patient. That the nutters like Von Brun and Roeder and others will shoot themselves and their brethren into a corner. {That self fullfilling prophecy I harped on forever} This from someone who survived a similar attack---like the one at the UU church many years ago by yet another reich wing nutter.
I worry because I worry for my kids. I feel like I am a bad parent for not sending them to Joes House of Ninja Skills to protect their virtue from all the weirdos out there who will want to either defile them or use them for breeding stock. Or both. That somehow if I dont teach my kids how to shoot everything that fires a bullet I am doing them a disservice, not to protect them from other races, but to protect them from their own--people raised to be in agreement with the Roeders and Von Bruns. I feel like I have to teach them Tax Law, Weapons management, Hand To Hand fighting skills, birth control [natural and allopathic] Midwifery skills, disease prevention, defensive driving, sky diving, hunting skinning, animal husbandry, organic gardening, butchering, electric wiring, NBC survival skills, and on and on and on. Because days like today, months like this month [hell--life experience] make me doubt that they will be able to count on anyone for anything. Either because most of the people will not be educated enough to help them more than they will be able to help themselves, or because people will be so goddamn hateful and paranoid that there will be no point in asking, because the price of help will be too high.
But it's still better than it used to be that's true. I suspect that is why we are suffering this huge backlash.
I know she says things are hopeful. I just ain't seeing it today. If only I could get my shit goggles off. Then maybe I might see it too. Maybe I'm concentrating too hard.
This last week, I have had the dubious pleasure of dealing with the following AGGRESSIVE advertising techniques from the new BING page.
1. Having my browser Hijacked after {AFTER} typing in the exact webpage URL that should have taken me straight to the following pages: The National Weather Service. The IRIS Seismic Net CNN and National Public Radio. Probably there were others because quite frankly its happened to many times to count. This pisses me off a lot when I am looking up something and I am in a hurry.
Here is a fucking clue makers of BING: If I type in the URL where I need or desire to go, then I dont need your stupid fucking search engine to ask me if I am sure I know where I am going.
2. Being on what would normally be considered mainstream websites like CNN, MSNBC, and the like only to have small windows with BING advertisements that come up, but that will not allow you to close them while they block your view of whatever page you are attempting to read.
Now BING, explain to me why this would somehow make me WANT to use your service? Because I must say, that these high handed tactics are really just pissing me off, so that anything that has BING on it, causes me to immediately shut the window and move on.
I don't need help making decisions. In fact, I believe that the biggest problem facing this nation, is the death of Critical Thinking Skills and a ridiculous fear of committing to a decision because {it may be wrong} and you know if you are wrong, your penis will fall off.
So BING--Please stop hijacking my browser. If I want to use your services, I can, independently make that decisions without help, to go find your page online and do my search there. And if I choose not to, then that is my decision too.
Basically any program that hijacks your browser is using spyware, which probably means that BING is using my search parameters to improve their program.
A lot has been flying about in the news lately, discussing the "Radicalization" of Veterans in order to unleash them upon their own, as domestic terrorists--Cases in Point, Timothy McVeigh, and Von Brun.
Both were prior military and associated with Fringe Reich groups and both committed violent crimes.
It scares civillians when they realize that just because you get out of the military, that the military rarely just get's out of you. Your training sticks with you, whether that is pushing papers and flying a desk, driving a bus, taking pictures, or the expert use of firearms and urban combat techniques, or even evasive and survival skills.
Should you be concerned?
Sure. You should always maintain a certain amount of concern for for some Veterans. Some Veterans do not fare so well for a variety of reasons, and may have issues with abiding by the law. It would be the same concern to some degree that one might have towards police officers.
Let's face it, there are a variety of careers out there, where a person could be trained in a skill in which at any time, they could use those skills to sabotage fellow citizens, and even cause maiming and death.
Now comes to the hard part.
The military has for a long time, been a place where we sent ne're-do-wells to get "Straightened Out" and learn "Discipline" and grow up. It wasn't so long ago, that it was a very common practice, in which a person might get in trouble with the law, in the commission of even some serious crimes, and be given an ultimatum by the judge.
"Go to Jail, OR Enlist in the Military."
That still sort of happens. To my knowledge taking that particular act is no longer legal, but due to periodic manpower shortages in a variety of wars, the military in general at times "relaxes" it's standards.
What that usually means is that people with minor offenses or first time offenses can request to be allowed to join, and in doing so, sign a waiver acknowledging their past crime, and usually stating something to the effect that they promise not to commit that crime or similar crimes again in the future, for the privilege of enlisting in the military.
Next issue: Recruiting in poor neighborhoods. It's no secret that in many communities striken by chronic poverty, that many young men and women turn to life in gangs to survive and even thrive under what many might consider to be deplorable life-choices. And it is also no secret that some of these men and women are able to leave these communities and escape that gang-life, by joining the military and creating an entirely new life, that is full of respectability, job training, educational opportunities, and a kind of personal security that simply does not exist in gang-ridden neighborhoods.
On many levels the Military Offers a variety of people, the opportunity to start a new life, to get out of circumstances that can only be described as Socially, Economically, and Educationally stuck.
I know that as pissed off as I get at the military for a variety of reasons, that if not for that, I would have been stuck in some pretty shitty circumstances, probably a dead end job in a shithole appartment and no ability to attend college at all.
With all that, there are people who join the military, not to escape or end their life of crime and start anew. They join specifically for the training the military offers them, so that they can refine their leadership and criminal skills when they return to their life in a gang after their enlistment is up.
This is the real problem right here. This is what you should be concerned about as a citizen. Because these people don't need to be radicalized. They are already there. These folks are just biding their time, soaking up the info like a sponge, so that they can be unleashed upon an unsuspecting populace. Hiding behind the title of "Military Vet" or even "Hero" but with no regard for the people or the country our the laws they are allegedly sworn to protect against all enemies foreign and domestic.
My observation is that they simply transfer their auto-pilot loyalty to the military temporarily from their gang. They have to operate within the military, and will take steps to not be discovered which could include apparent acts of heroism. But in the end, they go back to groups who do not respect the law, who victimize the weak, who deal drugs, and run prostitution rings, and who run guns---I have very little respect for this sort of use of the military and military training.
I noticed my last 2 years in, that this had become a problem--the Oklahoma City Bombing had just taken place. And the military was scouring its ranks for more Timothy McVeighs and Militia Members. Shortly after that, new regs were being proposed for symbols in tattoos. Gang Members {including those in White Supremacists Movements} were being ferretted out.
The Pentagon hopes that the conviction this week of a former paratrooper at an elite unit for a brutal double racial killing will send a powerful signal that white supremacism and neo-Nazism have no place in the US Army...The December 1995 shootings led to an investigation of US troops worldwide to discover the influence of skinhead and other racist groups. The phenomenon was not widespread, with 100 of 7,600 army soldiers admitting they had links with white hate organisations.Three per cent claimed to have been approached to join after they had enlisted, and the whole affair is doubly traumatic for an institution that has prided itself on being one of the first to break down the barriers of racism in American society.
So this has been a growing problem. You will note these soldiers said they were approached after enlistment. Not as vets, but as Active Duty Soldiers.
Some racist organizations were so bold as to post recruiting billboards right outside a major army base--Ft Bragg. This NYTIMES story was written in 1995. My last year in the service.
And Samuel K. Kaplan, director of the Anti-Defamation League's regional office for Virginia and North Carolina, said that earlier this year the National Alliance posted a billboard near Fort Bragg that said: "Enough! Let's start taking back America." The billboard included a toll-free telephone number.
I personally found this to be despicable. While active duty I encountered a lot of disrespect towards women, most of it driven by religious beliefs in some oddly non-religious scenarios, I once roomed with a young African American Woman who was a Black Separatist, who was very hostile. And I encountered a lot of hints towards racism by Whites, but nothing so bold as what is portrayed in this post above. The worst I witnessed in terms of White Racism, were some low brow characters who told racist jokes. I complained. And it caused me problems. Not big ones, but it didn't make me any friends. I did serve with a person who had been a skinhead as a civilian, who was given that old ultimatum---Join the military or go to jail. This person picked the military. I did not serve with them long enough to see if their views changed or not.
When this subject came up again, recently and the Reich Wingers threw their fit over even suggesting the possibility that this was happening, well, I knew first hand that their reaction was calculated bullshit. This has been a problem for a very long time. When the regulations have to be rewritten to address the intricacies of tattoo symbolism, then you know there is something big, and deep and insideous going on.
The last time I read the regulations for active duty folks, it had added the Celtic Cross and the Triskele to its list of prohibited symbols. Because the Swastika has been hidden inside of both symbols. Also included 4 leaf clovers.
Who knew that the Celtic Cross, the most recognizable symbol of Christianity, Catholic Ireland--CATHOLIC---except for maybe the 3 and 4 leaf clovers, would be verbotten for American Military Tattoos because they are associated with White Supremacists, who traditionally were anti-Catholic, and if it were 100 years or so ago, would have been anti-Irish too. Its funny how things change, how some people still remain dumb as rocks. It makes me giggle it does!
Domestic Skinhead groups are recruiting U.S. military members. They’re looking for “ghost skins”—personnel without records of white supremacist activity or overtly racist tattoos.
Other Gangs are doing this as well, but the reason that the White Power types are getting all the attention right now, is because they are interested in acts of domestic terrorism, and are specifically politically motivated. They are associated with other groups who wish to violently overthrow the government and split this country up into several smaller Nation States, while simultaneously committing acts of ethnic cleansing to clear the land for Whites.
In 2006, the leader of a Texas-based skinhead organization called the Celtic Knights attempted to obtain guns and explosives from a soldier at Fort Hood, Texas, who had served in Iraq and was a member of neo-Nazi group the National Alliance.
Shocked yet? As you read the whole article at In These Times you will note that the previous Secretary of Defense did nothing about this serious issue. I personally do not even have to wonder why. To me it is obvious.
What is truly ironic, is that: Military regulations disqualify members of hate groups from enlisting, but there is no specific ban on members of street gangs. Sgt. Juwan Johnson's family says such a prohibition is long overdue.
The Pentagon mandates that “military personnel must reject participation in organizations that espouse supremacist causes; attempt to create illegal discrimination based on race, creed, color, sex, religion or national origin; advocate the use of force or violence; or otherwise engage in efforts to deprive individuals of their civil rights,” Chu said, citing a Department of Defense directive.
However
Once a servicemember takes “active participation” [in a gang] — such as publicly rallying, fundraising, recruiting or training members — they are legally culpable.
Four U.S. Marines – who proudly snapped pictures of each other – were recruiting local kids, some as young as 13, into the Crips street gang. The leader was a lance corporal...CBS News has learned that military police have briefed local authorities in major cities, including New York, about the rising danger that gang members in the military could share their skills with gangs on the streets. That could include combat, logistics, and even emergency medical skills.CBS
Just one more bunch of nutters who WANT to bring about some sort of Apocalypse.
Gang members with military training pose a unique threat to law enforcement personnel because of the distinctive military skills that they possess and their willingness to teach these skills to fellow gang members. While the number of gang members trained by the military is unknown, the threat that they pose to law enforcement is potentially significant, particularly if gang members trained in weapons, tactics, and planning pass this instruction on to other gang members. (See Table 1.) In addition, gang members currently serving in the military sometimes take advantage of their positions to engage in criminal activities such as trafficking weapons and drugs.
So criminal gangs post a big threat. But White Power Gangs are politically motivated which changes the nature of their targets--from simple acquisition of territory and goods, to, the active, purposeful destabilization of our governments, local, state and federal through terroristic acts. Keep in mind that they would also attack rival non-White Gangs just to create more mayhem to cover for their more conventional targets.
And lets revisit this idea of Ghost Skins. Racists who are willing to organize secretly, while serving in the military--covertly, and the reason they are not recognized, is the fact that they have NO Prior Police Record for criminal activity. They are SLEEPERS.
Sleeper agents are spies who are placed in a target country or organization, not to undertake an immediate mission, but rather to act as potential assets if activated at a later point in time.
Spies? Sure, They are there to gather information that will be valuable to the organization they actually represent and show loyalty to, which is not the United States military. See Also MOLE
I have a lot of other thoughts on this issue. But I will come back to this later. This is already long and involved. Like most of my posts.
As if this insanity with White Supremacists and Rabid Republicons weren't enough. Now we have a whole other issue to contend with.
Sarah Palin was the poster child for the motto: "Drill Baby Drill."
Well I would like to share with my readers what happens when drilling comes to an aquifer near you.
Fracking is a term that describes the use of Liquids, Sands and the like injected into the earth at an extremely pressurized rate in the hopes of fracturing rock barriers and forcing Natural Gas out of the ground to be used for our Fuel.
The only problem.
Well lets not get ahead of ourselves, there is way more than one problem.
Huge Numbers of American Citizens in multiple states, including but not limited to Texas, New York, and Colorado complaining that their water wells are made so toxic that the water is not useable because tests by local Water Quality Agencies indicates a high level of Choloride, and Methane, and solvents pushed into the wells. Some apparently exploded after a build up of methane, one such explosion took a house with it. The water is so toxic, that rural Americans, some of whom are part of our agricultural industry loose livestock, or are unable to irrigate their crops with what passed for the water that is pushed out of these festering holes that used to be their wells.
Currently the town of Cleburne Texas has hired seismologists to investigate if the use of Fracking is responsible for swarms of microquakes in their immediate area. That is in addition to the host of water shed problems residence are reporting.
Five small temblors this month have some people pointing the finger at technology that drilling companies use to reach deep into the earth to shatter rock and release new stores of natural gas -- the same technology that has made many of the locals rich.Thousands of wells have been drilled in the past five years. Now, a wave of small earthquakes is leading some residents in the north Texas town to link the two developments and some seismic experts to wonder about the cause.
Of course the drilling industry says that no causal connection can be made between the quakes and Fracking. Well, that may be true. But who the fuck cares, if they fucking ruin our nation's drinking water! I mean What the fuck over?!
The push to put a widely used oil and gas drilling process under federal oversight could gain ground with a new administration in place and concerns about the development of huge gas fields in the East.
If any of you read things like Mother Earth News, or Countryside, then you know that the East is quickly being reclaimed by Organic Farmers. So what this does to the drinking water is catastrophic for anyone, but it makes Organic Farming IMPOSSIBLE. When it's not killing livestock that is.
Democratic Reps. Diana DeGette of Colorado and Maurice Hinchey of New York plan to reintroduce a bill that would repeal a ban on regulating the process, called hydraulic fracturing, under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act.The exemption was part of the 2005 energy bill and followed an Environmental Protection Agency report that found there was little or no threat to underground drinking water from the process.
Oddly enough part of this exemption is known as the Haliburton Loophole. That's right the same company that lets it's female employees be raped overseas, and then forces them to undergo arbritration so that her attackers are never brought to justice. The same company that had some really sweet nobid contracts that has been implicated in a variety of scandals--Like the electrocution of troops in showers in the Mid East-well I know, we should all pretend to act surprised right?
Halliburton's major business segment is the Energy Services Group (ESG). ESG provides technical products and services for oil and gas exploration and production.
"I think it's a worthwhile thing to note that in 60 years of use, there are no studies tying hydraulic fracturing to contamination," Tucker said. Gwen Lachelt of the Colorado-based Oil and Gas Accountability Project, which works with communities across the country, said there are no documented cases of contamination because nobody's investigating.
Where is Erin Brokovich when we need her?
DeGette said during a conference call Thursday that chemicals known to have been used in fracking include diesel fuel, industrial solvents and benzene, known to cause cancer.
FYI for those who do not handle hazardous materials, all of these items are accompanied by what are called MSDS sheets, Material Safety Data Sheets, and these are as per OSHA--When you spill any of these items it is considered a hazardous waste spill. Solvents {including fuel} when you are exposed to the fumes or consuming the agent, can cause chronic damage to the liver, and nervous system for starters. Some are Mutagenic or Carcinogenic, meaning that they are cancer causing agents. There is a reason that we are advised to have adequate ventilation when working around solvents or fuel, and that is to ensure that the mixture of fumes and air is hopefully adequate to give your body and brain more air than fuel. And people and their children and their livestock are DRINKING THIS SHIT! And Watering their plants with it!
Whether you are left or right, this issue affects us all. We all drink water. And clean potable drinking water is already at a premium on this planet that has more people than habitat. Don't let Haliburton or any oil and gas company turn this country into a wasteland of undusable water wells and aquifers that smell like ass and taste worse---while they contaminate you and prime you and your livestock and your children for sickness.
Check this out. Very reminiscent of PFOA Lagoons that killed livestock in the East as well. You will know PFOA as the main ingredient for NonStick cookware. Anyhow back to Fracking Contamination:
The scene of a cow pasture in south caddo parish Wednesday was calm, uneventful and peaceful. But, that was not the case a week ago. A spill from a natural gas well caused at least 20 cows to drop dead. "Think of the well sites as friendly, people friendly, life friendly, water friendly, which is a bunch of hockey," Caddo Parish resident C.C. Canday said. C.C. Canady is head over the United Neighbors for Oil and Gas Rights in south Caddo Parish. Canady says other animals have died near this site before, and they've had problems with the oil and gas companies for quite some time.
If the contaminants will do that to an animal that weighs at least 6 times what a person does. What will these contaminants do to people? Even if "Greatly Diluted?"
The blogs linked to in this post are meant to be informative and thought provoking and does NOT indicate that any of the authors of those blogs would be in agreement with me on any issue posted here previously or in the future.
Liz Cheney says that what happened at the Holocaust Museum isnt a political act. And that we--silly reactionary Americans should be careful with how we throw that word, "Terrorism" around. Yes, like the way your daddy threw it around everytime there was an election at stake? Or evertime the Shrub Administration was trying to ram some new unconstitutional bullshit down our throats?
Yes, I think I will take that under advisement.
Um, This guy--Von Brun thinks that Jews run the government--And I quote:
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The 88-year-old white supremacist charged with killing a guard at the Holocaust Memorial Museum left a note proclaiming President Obama a tool of "Jew owners," according to court records released Thursday.
And:
A notebook found in his car after the shooting declared, "You want my weapons -- this is how you'll get them," according to investigators."The Holocaust is a lie. Obama was created by Jews. Obama does what Jew owners tell him to do. Jews captured America's money. Jews control the mass media. The 1st Amendment is abrogated --henceforth," von Brunn wrote, according to an FBI agent's affidavit.Previous online postings attributed to James von Brunn promoted the claim that Obama has no valid U.S. birth certificate, a debunked theory rejected by U.S. courts and refuted by a certified copy of his birth certificate from the Hawaii Department of Health.
Now, lets recap this MMMM-Kay?
Obama is a black man, which Von Brun has professed to hate over the course of his lifetime. In fact one news report with a former roommate and a former wife indicated that he hated Blacks and Jews with about the same intensity--which is to say ALOT!But that if given the choice he hates Jews more.
And this man, now lives in a country where many of his elected public servants--the leadership, including but not limited to the POTUS are Black or Bi-Racial. And the Shooter made it clear that he believed intensely that the Government was Run by Jews.
Statements issued above indicates Von Brun had an immiment fear that his guns would be removed by force or coercion. Even though he had illegally acquired firearms in spite of his felony convictions due to prior criminal acts.
Von Brun believed that our Financial System had collapsed. Artifically propped up to serve its Jewish Masters {ahem--note sarcasm, everybody knows it's the Masons that run the country DUH!}--Check his mattress for gold and silver coins!
That our government was and is corrupted by a Secret Jewish Theocracy {talk about beating Power hungry WASPs to the punch!}
He believes that Black People are inferior and that they get special treatment, and that Jews are the spawn of Satan, and are evil--according to the latest literature that oozes out of the White Power Movement.
That the Holocaust is a ruse that is meant to inspire sympathy for Jews, so no one will be able to publically criticize Jewish political and financial machinations--which by the way is organized and all-encompassing. {see Secret Chiefs 500 feet beneath New Delhi}
So Von Brun attacked a Highly Symbolic structure---in his mind symbolic of the Political Corruption he perceived in our National Government all the way to the Highest Office. The Holocaust Museum. He was sending a message to President Obama and Obama's "Jew Handlers or Owners" that he knows what the score is, and that he is coming for them and he is not the only one.
That he got to Shoot a Black Man at a Jewish Themed Museum, in his world that is like quadruple points for this asshole. A windfall of mayhem. Because in Von Brun's mind, an alliance between the "Black" and the "Jew" is like the most super-concentrated form of social and political evil one could ever face.
So Liz--Pull your head out your ass and get the sacred clue phone already.
Scott Aulbach, the son's former roommate, said von Brunn "didn't like anything about the government" and "was really prejudiced against blacks and Jews."
"Terrorism is a policy or ideology of violence[1] intended to intimidate or cause terror[2] for the purpose of "exerting pressure on decision making by state bodies."[1] The term "terror" is largely used to indicate clandestine, low-intensity violence that targets civilians and generates public fear. Thus "terror" is distinct from asymmetric warfare, and violates the concept of a common law of war in which civilian life is regarded. The term "-ism" is used to indicate an ideology —typically one that claims its attacks are in the domain of a "just war" concept, though most condemn such as crimes against humanity."
He was sending a Message to the Nation but also to his *brethren in the White Power and Anti Government groups. He also sent a message of validation to the Birthers {people who still think Hawaii is not a state in the Union}.
Terrorism is more commonly understood as an act which is intended to create fear (terror), is perpetrated for an ideological goal (as opposed to a materialistic goal or a lone attack), and deliberately targets (or disregards the safety of) non-combatants.
So Liz--He seemed to have fullfilled his goals.
And just so you know *Girlie---The White Power folks who agree with his actions are calling Von Brun a POW now, A Prisoner of War, for being arrested for this act of violent political dissidence. If Von Brun gets the death penalty, then he will become a Martyr for their cause.
David Gletty, who infiltrated white supremacist groups for the FBI, said younger members of the movement considered von Brunn "a POW" for his prison time. "That's a badge of honor to these people," Gletty said. "They look up to that as if, you know, if you're military, you get the badges of honor, like the Medal of Honor and so on."
In case you dont know what that big D-Word means, here is a definition for you.
A dissident, broadly defined, is a person who actively challenges an established doctrine, policy, or institution. When individual dissidents unite in a common cause they may become known as a dissident movement.
And like Roeder, Von Brun had a record of "encounters" with the Government over Politics:
Von Brunn served a federal prison term for a 1981 attempt to kidnap members of the Federal Reserve's board of governors, triggered by anger at what he called the "treacherous and unconstitutional" acts of an institution he called Jewish-controlled.
So I want to know why I should ever take anything seriously that Liz Cheney says again seeing how it appears she is an idiot.
Thanks to Crooks and Liars--that is where I first viewed the unfortunate Liz Cheney interview.
Von Brun and others are hoping to bring that Race War to come to pass, by taking swipes at our current president and his administration, and any perceived supporters and allies.
Holy Fuck People, do I have to spell it all out for you?
Here we go! Please keep your hands and feet in the ride at all times.
A shooting at our National Holocaust Museum was committed by--You Guessed It--A NeoNazi.
So lets everyone give a great big golf clap out there to Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, Sarah Palin and others of a similar ilk, who have been fanning the flames of hate and extremism in order to serve their own political careers or financial status.
Why on earth would I say such an ugly thing? Because it's all interconnected. There ain't no escaping the simple fact that when it comes to how things of this nature work in America, that the Head Bone is Connected to the Ass Bone.
You see I monitor the news. I don't just go to one site. I scan dozens of sites several times a day, in addition to scanning the blogosphere, comment sections, forums, etc., And I notice trends. I get e-mails from left wing and right wing friends, on a variety of subjects full of the best and juciest bullshit internet rumors of the day or week. I also receive e-mail alerts from various organizations on the left and right. So I get a big fat picture. I am an eye in the sky as far as I am concerned and so from that perspective it is perfectly obvious when patterns start to form and emerge from the relative chaos of American Life.
Since Barrack Hussein Obama has been a candidate, the presence of Hate Groups has begun to ooze out of American Culture, out of the pressure cooker that is the Republican Party, and become so obvious, so stark against the backdrop of normal Americans, that it cannot be ignored.
And increasingly these individuals involved in threats of domestic terrorism, as well as those who act on those threats who are caught in the act; we find that they are members of several groups--showing the religious extremism ties that bind these various ideologies of the reich, together.
Just a little note. I don't honor the Republicans or the Christians with the term "Right" because that frames the debate in terms of their alleged, and automatic correctitude. Which has been shown that many lack. The only term I can think of that fits this mentality of extremism is Reich. As in Third Reich. Some of these people happily embrace this themselves, and others still lying to themselves that they are only fiscal conservatives who happen to blame all liberal Jews, Gays, Women, Blacks, and Muslims or NonChristians, that their blame isn't based on a sense of racial or ethnic or religious superiority.
Hey, Whatever you have to tell yourself to get you through the night. Throughout this all, the reichwingers have been accusing the center and left of center folks and our candidates of being "like Hitler."
You know I always find that amusing. You see, the Democratic Party doesn't {to my knowledge] have factions who wear Swastikas, Sig Heil each other, or pray that they buy enough ammo before the big Race War.
In fact the Democratic Party is targeted as the Party of Liberals, that happily allows all races and religions, and creeds, etc., to co-exist within it's ranks. And affords each person the same rights and responsibilities as any other American Citizen without hesitation over these *identity issues. {no pun intended to you Christian Identity Folks}. And how does the reich respond to that? Well lets examine the image below:
Ah, Liberals it seems are not considered *authentic American Citizens, nor even authentic human beings, so it's okay to make jokes about shooting them. Isn't that special? "But it's just a joke?" really? Tell that to the victims of the UU Shooting in 2008 or the family of Dr Tiller, all the fatalities and survivors in these two attacks were in church by the way--Christian Churches. Mmmmm. Apparently liberals are not *authentically religious either or else their sacred spaces--their churches--would be off limits to this new "Hunting Season." Of course finger pointing abounds, but from my perspective as a person who walked away from this "New Republicanism" I happen to see things much like this cartoonist whose work I found while researching antiSemitism.
This is of course overlayed over a general hatred of Women, Blacks, Mexicans, Homosexuals, and anyone else who has been classified as basically a nonConformist by the standards of the general Reich Wing Republican party. And all these NonConformists are viewed a clear and present danger to their personal freedoms, to their financial independence and/or to the "moral" fabric of American Culture. Some of you say, Big Whoopity Doo! What is the big deal, so someone doesnt like you or people who think like you---get over it whiner!
I would except I keep seeing this image popping up over and over and oddly enough it's timing coincides with certain violent crimes commited against what Reich Wingers would call, "my kind."
It just keeps popping up, this motif about blowing people's [read Liberal's]brains out.
Does anyone here think that I would find this fucking Funny? You know, I have dealt with stalkers and the like before. And the most common bullshit line they {because I have dealt with more than one} ever brought up was, "It's just a joke." really? Scaring the shit out of people is just a joke? I mean this isn't rubber dog doo in your lunch box. This isn't a potato in the tail pipe, or a fake parking ticket.
This is threatening the lives of millions of people with the potential [apparently hilarious] graphic threat of GUN VIOLENCE, and the rest of us are supposed to automatically be able to discern which of you fuckers is really kidding and which of you are right round the bend--locked and loaded. So I will tell you what I tell other groups that get caught up in their own fucking stupidity.
Dont Make Me Guess. I will Err on the Side of Caution, and just so we are clear, that side, is not YOUR side.
And so after I have survived the last 8 years after stolen elections and unprecedented attacks on our First Amendment Rights, and we finally elect someone who gives a flying fuck on a rolling doughnut about someone or something other than himself and I see, in addition to the Threatening Images above, more depctions like this:
You will have to pardon me if I have a very poor reaction to this bullshit. While some of you out there think that you only posted *one image online as a joke, to me, who sees this shit constantly from a variety of sources, its all cumulative.
To me this is a barrage, a pile of threats by people who are connected to each other by a common, vitriolic hatred. And I am not the only one paying attention.
For the last 12 years, actually longer if you count the years of the Moral Majority, I have had to listen to unbelievable tripe in which people who call themselves Americans, who claim to have some passing knowledge of our institutions and laws, have dialogue about other Americans, and their alleged lack of authenticity. Labeling Liberals and Democrats, "UnAmericans," Terrorists, unPatriotic, etc., Some of those spawning the debate are fucking elected public servants. People who if they had a fucking brain in their head would understand that even with regards to their party affiliation, that they themselves are supposed to represent a much broader constituency than just the assholes that agree with them.
If you consider someone UnAmerican, is it okay to shoot them? Is it okay to hunt them like animals? Are they even human? When you consider the pictorial evidence above, one does begin to wonder. And how does this fuel the hatred spewing at the grass roots Level?
How far would this woman go? If she had a gun in her hand and I identified myself as a Liberal Democrat, would she shoot me? I don't know. Can I afford to take that chance? No. I don't bluff, and so from my limited perspective, I cannot afford to wait and find out if this crazy bitch bluffs or not. She might just be talking smack, or she may be cuckoo for coco puffs. It's hard to tell these days. I mean what constitutes frothy anger, and rabid death dealing hatred?
Let's ask the members of that Tennessee Unitarian Church? That man, left a letter blaming liberals for all his troubles. Troubles that errupted during a conservative administration, but still somehow Liberals, people who were not in charge, who were routinely fired from high ranking positions purely on the basis of ideology, were still somehow powerful enough to deprive this man of his dignity and his money. {Yea that doesn't sound trite and paranoid at all}
This past Friday evening, the PBS broadcast of Bill Moyers Journal looked at the aftermath of the shootings. They quoted the Rev. Chris Buice, minister of the church, saying that:The man who walked into this sanctuary on July 27th was armed with a gun but he was also armed with hatred, he was armed with bitterness, he was armed with resentments, he was armed with indiscriminate anger. He was armed in body and spirit.[3]I was proud of my colleague, who was filmed preaching to his congregation in the weeks after this tragedy, addressing the pressing issues of evil, hatred, and healing.The Moyers program looked at the question of how the hate speech and hate literature against liberals might have contributed to this murderous rampage. Police have reported that Adkisson had publications in his apartment including
If this man had displayed similar images as the ones shown above and then said it was a joke before committing these acts, would you be laughing? This man killed fellow Americans at a church, during a Children's Play.
Timothy McVeigh blew up a Federal Building that contained a Childcare Center.
Roeder shot his victim inside of a church where presumably people were unarmed, and in the act of religious worship.
What do all these people have in common? They are ideologically connected to Reich Wing philosophies and groups in America. They believe that Liberals and the Government are in cahoots together to specifically deprive them of their rights and freedoms.
Of course it completely escapes their notice that Liberals are just as frustrated and disenfranchised as anyone else. That our perfect vision of American life is never realized either. That we have to comprimise over issues we also hold sacred if we too want to get any work done. Are we running this country on Solar and Wind? Not really. We still have sweet heart deals for Ethenol even though it actually uses more fossil fuels for production and is about as green as a landfill full of computers and Cathode Ray Tubes. Do we have affordable Day care for all Women? No, not even close. Do we have affordable comprehensive medical coverage? No, once again not even close. Are women getting equal Pay, do we have access to comprehensive medical care specific to our needs as women? Only if you are a rich woman. Did we ratify the Equal Rights Amendment? No. Are rich people still able to get a more Fair hearing in our courts than poor people? Does a bear shit in the woods? Did Tiller's clinic stay open? No, Operation Rescue is trying to buy it.
So basically from my point of view, it's same shit different day. Two steps forward 4 steps back, but to hear the Reichwing-Republicons say it, the end is nigh, liberals are in charge, and they are going to destroy America.
My response:
Step away from the Crack Pipe.
Right now the National Debate is sliding back to about where it was 6 months ago when Obama first won the nomination. We are seeing a spike in crazy-activity, especially involving guns.
Basically the Tiller Murder, the UU attack and all the vitriolic rhetoric coming from the talking asses on the Right, are priming the pump for shit like this:
ST. LOUIS, Mo. - On a recent Saturday afternoon, hate was on the march in St. Louis. About 85 members of the National Socialist Movement (NSM), the nation’s largest neo-Nazi group, gathered in the shadow of the famed Gateway Arch for a march and rally celebrating its 35th anniversary.Clad in all black, with their pants tucked into tightly laced combat boots, the group carried swastika flags and signs urging immigrants to leave the country. They chanted “Sieg Heil,” a popular rallying cry in World War II Germany, accompanied by a Nazi salute: one arm outstretched, fingers tightly joined, palms facing down.
The National Socialist Movement. You know like the one in the third Reich. And what is driving this all time high in the rise of American Hate Groups? Immigration issues, the economic downturn, and the election of the first Black POTUS. You will note that the first two issues have been ongoing since long before Obama set foot into the White House. But don't let the facts get in your way. It's easy to forget that we had a national surplus that Bush divided amongst the tax payers and sent back to them. Saving's Account? We don't need no stinkin safety nets!
The elderly man who allegedly triggered a fatal shootout today at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington has a long history of racist and antisemitic anger, but is also an artist with a special fondness for ducks, according to people who know him.
Well how nice for the ducks.
He said he has been a member of Mensa, and he has six chapters posted from a book he authored, "Tob Shebbe Goyim Harog," which translates as "To Kill the Best Gentiles!" and claims to outline a Jewish plot against society.
Really? I thought only Liberal Elites could be capable of adopting the Nazi ideology. He must have liked what he saw during this service in WWII. But this wasn't the only time he had been in trouble with the law. In addition to posting his hate all over the internet at various White Power Sites, one of his posts stated the following:
On the site, he claimed he unjustly received an 11-year jail sentence, of which he served 6.5 years, when he was arrested at the Fed after entering the building where the board of governors was meeting, carrying a camera and with weapons hidden under his trench coat. Von Brunn argued the Fed was not allowed to exist under the Constitution and claimed it was a Jewish means of controlling the U.S. government.
You kow I happen to know some Jewish people. Some of them quite prominent in their communities. If they were as powerful as all this, then I doubt they would have to live a normal life like the rest of us mere peons, dealing with piddly things like parking tickets, bills, or even having to fill out Resumes` for jobs. I mean if you are in like Flynn the way this man describes it, then why bother hiding the fact? Why not live large and let the chips fall where they may!
Just another Lone Wolf Act from the same people who brought us Leaderless Resistance.
I remember the 1990s and before when Talking Heads for the Moral Majority and the Christian Coalition were still Anti-Semitic, openly, and went out of their way to publish all kinds of crap that is only just now emerging in the mainstream, and it's coming from the Party O' god. It's all there bubbling like shit stew.
I just saw this at Leftist Grandpa, and I believe this is very apropo for this post. So I leave you with these parting observations and when you are done, go click on my blogroll and read Leftist Grandpa's take on this mess. Meanwhile I agree with the Fox News Media person here {Who knew that was possible LOL} That this is a reactionary craziness due to the fact in the last 8 years, we have had Jewish, Black, Female and Green Candidates running for office. If only we could get a Candidate who is a Real Religious Minority not in the Abrahamic Triad--or an Atheist, or a doctor who has performed abortions, and these people would just fly like crazed lemmings over a cliff's edge--like they had been shot from a potato gun.
Keep in mind that that threat isn't just for people who provide what normal people define as Abortion NOW, but that this will also eventually go for pharmacists and doctors and nurses who distribute birth control, tie tubes, or insert IUDs in the future. Because all Birth Control Methods make Jesus Cry and are considered abortificants by the Nutbag Movement of Pro-Birthers.
"WICHITA, Kan. June 8, 2009, 03:29 am ET · The man charged with murdering a high-profile abortion doctor claimed from his jail cell Sunday that similar violence was planned around the nation for as long as the procedure remained legal, a threat that comes days after a federal investigation launched into his possible accomplices."
AS LONG AS THE PROCEDURE REMAINED LEGAL. WEll aint that special.
Translation:
"Give Me My Way or I will blow your ass up or pop a cap in yo-ass Doctors and Nurses."
However the story also says:
But a leader of the anti-abortion movement derided the accused shooter as "a fruit and a lunatic."
Really? You mean like the lady that had him on twitter, whose name and number appeared on a note on the dash of his car, who is part of the leadership of OPERATION RESCUE? Sounds like there are enough Fruits here in this movement to make a Salad.
Anyone who hears voices {even if they call that voice god} that tells them to harass women and doctors and nurses over what essentially is a personal private issue IS a fucking lunatic and a Fruit.
Nancy Keenan president of NARAL-Pro-Choice America, said Roeder's comments "continue to escalate that kind of activity, that kind of violence. Quite honestly, I think it's imperative for anti-choice groups to tone down that rhetoric and keep the more extreme elements in their movement form copying Scott Roeder."
Yes, Roeder has put out his Fruit Call for other Fruits and Lunatics to Copy Cat this murder.
The crimes of the Pro-Birther--Anti Choice Anti-Woman movement are:
Political Stalking. In which these individuals stalk doctors and nurses and women who attend family planning clinics for any reason {abortion being but on of many} and attempt to frighten their targets into changing their mind not only about the immediate decision at hand. But also to change their political affiliation in word if not in deed, and that is with the implication of a threat {bombings, shootings, and following people home to their private residences in order to bomb them, shoot them or harass their family and neighbors {and follow them to church}.
Sexual Harassment: This is all about the desire to control women's sex lives by making Pregnancy a punishment for open, female sexual activity and desire, even if that sexual contact that ended in pregnancy wasn't consensual.
Religious Bigotry: The desire to punish people who do not accept the doctrinal authority of pastors and churches who wish to impose punishment for open honest female sexual desire and independence, as per their unique interpretation of holy scripture--a violation of the woman's civil rights via the First Amendment and the Right to Privacy. {basically the Mysogynistic Version of the God Hates Fag Church ran by Phelps}.
Terroristic Threats: All groups are responsible for using more extreme groups and individuals {like Roeder} as a cat's paw, to make, and make good on those terroristic threats, while other organizations pretend plausible deniability in the public eye, even though in actuality they encourage these Lunatics and Nuts to commit violent crimes and to threaten violence in the name of this cause.
Hmmmm. I know for a fact that there will be much wailing and gnashing of teeth by the religiously skeptic out there. I can hear it now!
"OMG! Crystals and Reiki? WTF?!"
Okay so lets get some things straight shall we?
Crystals are not medical therapy unless they are vibrating in something like a diode or a transistor or whatever latest generation of crystal resonance frequency generator we use in microelectronics these days.
Reiki, the manipulation of psychic energy, is also not a medical therapy.
Both of these practices are better catagorized as Spiritual or Religious practices such as the Christian practice of "Laying on of Hands," and "Prayer Warrior Sessons."
I really with all my heart that Journalists would take a fucking minute and consider how fucking stupid they sound when they repeat this shit like they know what they are talking about.
Acupuncture is an alternative medical therapy in this country, because it is a 3000 year old medical model from Asia that actually has a proven track record.
Chiropractors are an alternative medical therapy since they lost the first fight with allopathic doctors in the early 1800s in the U.S.
Herbalists and Midwives are alternative medical practitioners also with proven effficacy when allowed to practice on people who either do not like allopathic medicine or who do not respond properly to allopathic medicine.
So, Herbalists, Massage, Midwives, Acupuncturists and Homeopathy are alternative medical practices.
Crystals, reiki, laying on of hands, space rays from the Pleides, etc., are Spiritual Methods that may or may not work for a variety of reasons. But in the end, success and failure reside in the unverifiable personal account area of anecdotal data.
And Herbalists, Midwives, Acupuncturists, Homeopaths, and Chiropractors to some extent compete with Medical Doctors for business.
The others, not so much.
Some conditions can be helped with spiritual support. Having a serious or chronic medical condition can be very scary and frightening. Certainly being fearful to that degree can make the world seem a very strange place and so doing things with crystals and energy might seem to make perfect sense. And that's okay, its in its own way right up there with prayer. In the end, it is that desire for you to get well and to feel better that seems to boost the spirit.
But please please please, stop catagorizing Nutritional and Herbal Supplements with Crystal healing-- because its not fair and its not accurate.
Drug companies cannot patent natural substances. Therefore they have to synthesize these substances so they can be patented and sold as pharmaceuticals. These items are synthesized from a variety of plant and animal materials. And the great wealth of information drawn upon is often ethnic herbal medicines used as folk remedies by peoples the world over.
So MSNBC, Get your facts straight and keep your language straight so that we can actually have a discussion about these issues, rather than just fighting over semantics because alternative therapies as used in the article in question is too broad a brush and implies a lot of silliness when nothing could be further from the truth.
Currently I am reading the Mommy Myth by Susan J. Douglas and Meredith W. Michaels. The Idealization of Motherhood and How it has undermined Women.
I found it at Biglots for 5$
I love it when I find what appears to be a damn good book for a low price. Its probably been out for a while--(c) 2004.
So far favorite Excerpts:
" Both working mothers and stay at home mothers get to be failures. The ethos of intensive mothering has lower status in our culture {"stay at home mothers are boring"}, but it occupies a higher moral ground {"working mothers are neglectful"}. So welcome, to the latest media catfight: the supposed war between working mothers and stay at home mothers. Why analyze all the ways in which our country has failed to support families while inflating the work ethic to the size of the Hindenburg when you can, instead project this paradox onto what the media have come to call, incessently, "the mommy wars"...pp12
and
"Plus many of us, having left a child home in the care of a man to return to find the kid eating Slim Jims and marshmallows for dinner, and the floor covered with spilled coke, dirty socks, and guinea pig excrement, have concluded that men can't do it, so we shut them out and do it ourselves." pp13
{They just described my early childhood--replace guineapig excrement with toads and snakes}.
What I really really like is how this books opens up my eyes to a really fucked up and {should have been obvious} hyposcrasy.
Upper Class {read White} women are expected to drop everything and stay home with children. Otherwise we are neglectful Mommy Dearests who are raising the next Ted Bundy or Jeffrey Dahmer.
But when Poorer, blue Collar {read Black or other nonWhite} women stay at home, they are Welfare Queens raising the next {fill in the blank with Racist stereotype about poor nonWhite blue collar people}
Things that make me go Hmmmm.
I am not very far into the book. So I don't know how well this book will end, but so far it has my attention which is an excellent start.
Fox Nation likes to Point Guns at Leader's Heads. You will note that they are all black leaders in this post. Interesting. And that the Rifle is pointed at the president's head, which is the weapon of choice for snipers the world over.
Very interesting.
Thanks Crooks and Liars!
I am also interested in the headlines beneath these pictures. "Obama Drops Atomic Bomb on Wall Street, and "That's Racist" next to Holder's picture.
All that's missing is Hannity's survey on what kind of violent bloody revolution Americans want to have to overthrow the current stealth Muslim government.
Take that top entry: Why Are Gun Sales Surging, well lets follow the Bouncing Rifle, It's pointing at Obama, the main reason that individuals have invoked as the reason for their personal endeavor to buy up as many guns and bullets as possible. And what do you do to the guy that dropped the Atomic Bomb on Wall Street? I dunno lets ask the magic rifle that is pointed at his head.
The second entry, The Handgun Ban Stands in Chicago? Next to Georgia only wants Citizens voting, Holder Says that's racist. And what do we want to do to people who invoke the race card? Lets ask the magic hand gun. Eric Holder is the first African American Atty General. And he was the Senior Legal Advisor for Obama's Presidential Campaign. It is no secret that Holder wants to reinstitute the Assault Weapons Ban. So hmmmmmm.
Apparently a high ranking officer of the Operation Rescue organization had regular, recent contact with Roeder. And that person spent time in jail for an attempted bombing of a clinic in the 90s.
And there were plenty of laws on the books to bring Roeder and others in, prior to the Tiller Murder.
It seems though that this political stalking has been treated like many other stalkings. If there is no arterial blood involved in that report, very little happens. "Just Ignore them" is the message I got out of this video. And how is that working for us?
In addition to the Tiller Murder and all the unsatisfactory, and shocking replies that have come from the extreme-reich implies, we have another turd floating up to the surface. This story is a little more obscure, but interesting nonetheless.
In San Diego California, there is a Pastor who has been in a horn lock with local officials over whether or not he can hold weekly bible studies in his home. The story is presented as one about First Amendment Rights. The Reich likes to present it that way anyhow, and refuses to address the issue of traffick and parking, and neighborliness.
The whole case seems a bit contentious to me. As if a certain amount of piousness is being presented more for appearances rather than substance. I was having this debate with a friend who has different feelings about this story than the ones I present here. So I did some digging in the course of our discussion and this is what I found:
""The county employee notified the couple that the small Bible study, with an average of 15 people attending, was in violation of County regulations, according to Broyles."
Now most counties have such regulations on the books. These rules regulate things like protests, and assemblies and marches and parades, and things of that nature. One might ask why such things would be necessary since its clear that the First Amendment insures freedom of religion, speech, press and assembly.
Well, that is because we now have more people than ever crammed in the U.S. and in places like San Diego, if you don't regulate such things, there are people who inevitably take advantage of their neighbors by not respecting things like Keeping the Peace, or parking spaces or thru-traffick issues.
I kept digging up more accounts of this story because I knew there had to be more.
""If the county thinks they can shut down groups of 10 or 15 Christians meeting in a home, what about people who meet regularly at home for poker night? What about people who meet for Tupperware parties? What about people who are meeting to watch baseball games on a regular basis and support the Chargers?" Broyles asked."
Well that depends. Are these Tupperwear parties and poker nights blocking thoroughfares? Or creating other hazards or preventing other residence from finding reasonable parking in front of their own home? Are these meetings too noisy too late? Or otherwise disruptive to neighbors? Got to say, most poker games have fewer than 10 people, and most tupperware parties are not weekly events, Superbowl parties are once a year and weddings, once in a lifetime or maybe every 5 years for serial monogamists.
Furthermore: Having hosted and attended similar events, I can tell you that we rotated our meetings, and adjusted their location when the number of people attending became an issue. It rarely did, but we understood that even having 5 cars parked up and down a narrow, short street, could cause some problems and just piss people off who lived there. To me, this looks like an issue about what it means to be a good neighbor.
Can't you just imagine the neighbors phone conversations?
Better get here before 630 or the Bible Study people will get all the parking spaces. And I can't let you park on the grass or the housing association will have me by the short ones!
Because this was a weekly event. Most of the initial storys stuck to the average of 15 participants. But another story indicated that it could be as many as 27 or as few as 5 people. Now lets explore that parking issue. Because they keep focusing on people, when really, they should be focusing on cars.
If everyone carpooled and only 15 people showed up, that would be 3 or 4 cars. And this took place in a cult de sac, so that means that there are about 3 or 4 houses in the arc there. A large to midsized vehicle would be parked in front of every house, minimum. If everyone didnt car pool, even with only 15 people showing up and not 27, you could have 8 to 15 cars. That is a lot of cars parked on one street.
Further digging turned up this story which certainly shed some light on this problem:
"The County’s Chief Administrative Officer, Walt Ekard, has since backed away from the threat to close down the Bible study group.He said: “I deeply regret that a routine code enforcement issue has transformed into a debate over religious freedom in San Diego County.”He said the County “has never tried to stifle religious expression and never will.”“This is a land issue,” he said, and not an issue of religious liberty.According to reports, the investigation was sparked after a neighbour had complained about traffic and parking issues resulting from the weekly Bible study.Pastor Jones believes the complaint was prompted when a Bible study member hit a car belonging to his neighbour’s visitor. Mr Jones paid for the car repairs.But Mr Jones’ lawyer, Dean Broyles, believes the parking issue may be a smokescreen."
So no matter how nice the people that attend this Weekly Bible study are, or how nice the people are who host it; it could very well be that the parking issue has been a point of silent contention with their other neighbors. If you have ever had a problem with neighbors, you know its more common to just get an anonymous complaint than it is to get a straight on polite confrontation on almost any matter. Whether its cutting your grass, or a noise or pet issue or whatever.
I have to say, though the Tin Foil Hat Prize goes to the World Nut Daily for it's treatment of this subject. That site created an elaborate conspiracy theory that explained why this story is tied into that whole "Obama is going to close down all the Christian Churches and outlaw the Bible," rumor, and while that is pretty damn crazy, I have to say, they take to an even crazier place.
If this story is to be believed, then this is part of some larger conspiracy to allow the government access to mind control powers via the flat screens in mega-churches. How quickly the mighty have fallen. Just two years ago, Mega Churches were the salvation of the blue collar family, and now they are reprogramming centers that instill communist and socialist values via the Bible.
Seriously, I can't make this shit up!
'"The Western Center for Law and Policy is troubled by this draconian move to suppress home Bible studies," said the law center in a statement. "If the current trends in our nation continue, churches may be forced underground. If that happens, believers will once again be forced to meet in homes. If homes are already closed by the government to assembly and worship, where then will Christians meet?" "
Really? We are talking about [whole]churches now and not just one lone dude having a simple bible study in his home? What current trends? I don't see any RFID dispensors implanting *Beast Chips into regular Church Goers. So what trends are they talking about? Since When? Where I live, I couldn't swing a dead cat without hitting a church. And not a Satanic Church or a Church of the SubGenius, but Christian Churches. This place is like the Baskin Robbins 31 flavors with a different denomination on every corner--Even Mormon Churches! In fact I have had two new Churches built within 3 miles of my house, on Methodist and one some flavor of Baptist. And I know people who host regular Bible studies too.
"On a personal note, Broyles added, "I've been leading Bible studies in my home for 13 years in San Diego County, and I personally believe that home fellowship Bible studies are the past and future of the church. … If you look at China, the church grew from home Bible studies. I'm deeply concerned that if in the U.S. we are not able to meet in our homes and freely practice our religion, then we may be worse off than China." "
Broyles! If you look at Pagan Rome, that is how the Church grew there too. There is actually a technical term for this. Its called a CELL CHURCH. Its one of the reasons that Pagans laugh at Christians when they are accused of meeting in secret in small groups to practice their religion. Pagans had to learn it from somewhere. And since at that time Christianity was a religion of slaves, and not very popular given that it was created by a political dissident Jew known as Jesus, the adherents of that faith met in secret to avoid political persecution.
I think what bothers me most about this quote, especially when coupled with the quote before it is this obvious attempt to portray the General Body of Christ as being politically Persecuted. Now right now, Reich Wing Extremists who also happen to be Christians are potential targets of legal prosecution.
Case in point, the Murder of Dr Tiller in a Church in Kansas. And there are Christian Identity, and Patriot Groups that are regularly under surveillance. But in all honesty that is because they are violent groups who hope to overthrow the government and institute a Racist and Mysogynistic Theocracy. That they are Christians and use that Theology as both a shield for honest social criticism of their antics and as an excuse to commit violent acts is incidental. It is important only because that knowledge gives law enforcement insight into their belief systems and social constructs, but their religion is not the reason for their prosecution and surveillance. It is their political aims and past and potential crimes that causes normal, sane Americans to keep an eye on them.
I would like to point out that by invoking China is Dog Whistle Politics for Pro-Birthers AKA Anti-Choicers. China is used to create the image of Christianity being made illegal by the government, which in turn will also force women to abort babies. So oddly enough they are bringing up several things indirectly:
The Fear that Obama will outlaw Christianity--and the bible a common internet rumor spread during his campaign.
And the unrealistic fear that somehow the government is going to start forcing women to abort babies in some American Version of the One Child plan common to China.
And the innate fear of socialism and communism--since most Reich Wingers cannot tell the difference, they use those two terms interchangeably.
Its a little more obvious in this quote:
"... that oppressive governments, such as communist China or Nazi Germany, worked to repress home fellowships, labeling them the "underground church" or "subversive groups," legally compelling Christians to meet only in sanctioned, government-controlled "official" churches. "
You know its funny. Once again, Faith Based Initiatives, that other creepier FBI---was all the rage, but now! Now that there are not shrubs in office or their clones, that FBI is more a threat less a validation.
So to all you Megachurch members who thought you were right of center---Think again. The people at the World Nut Daily think you are a bunch of Brain Washed Demoncrat RINOs.
I did a whole series of entries as to why Women's Rights are essentially considered, "Special Rights." This installment is about the attempt to get rid of Birth Control. This piece was originally posted on April 9th 2006.
4th Installment: Special Rights
The next issue is access to contraceptives. We know by the last installment, that if we cannot prevent access to contraceptives, then at least the promiscuous women have a high likelihood of contracting at least one potentially deadly sexually transmitted disease, specifically HPV. But contraceptives are used to prevent pregnancy, and through this allow a woman to temporarily disrupt her reproductive cycle, either by creating a physical or chemical barrier to implantation of a fertilized egg into the lining of the uterus, or by denying sperm access to the egg. Only some contraceptives also protect their users from sexually transmitted diseases.
It has been my observation that many people who were ambiguous about a woman's right to abortion services never really considered that the Christian Supremacists were also targeting a woman's access to contraceptives.
It is very hard to awaken people to the threat says Gloria Feldt, the former president of Planned Parenthood. Because who can believe that something so accessible can be at risk? Salon.com. The Battle to Ban Birth Control. Jain, Priya. March 20, 2006, available online March 25, 2006. http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2006/03/20/anti_contraception/index.html
When it was mentioned in my presence, in the past, those individuals who gave voice to such pie in the sky paranoia were dutifully silenced for the conspiracy theorists that they were. To all you paranoid BC conspiracy theorists, my deepest apologies for ever doubting you.
In 1960 birth control pills were approved for use in the U.S. and they were made accessible to the public in 1961. So to us young-uns, it seems that the pill has been available since dinosaurs ruled the earth. The issues we face now, in which pharmacists are refusing to fill contraceptive perscriptions, are nothing new.
In Griswold v. Connecticut, the Supreme Court declares that married couples have a right to birth control based on their right to privacy. Rosen, Ruth. The World Split Open, How the Modern Women's Movement Changed America. ppxviii.
At the time of this ruling, only married women it seemed had a right to privacy conveyed by the cloak of marriage [i.e. the clock of her *owner-husband]. Eventually all women were afforded the right to privacy, though lately it seems that regardless of one's marital status, that some pharmacists can refuse to fill your birth control perscriptions. Not that I support this practice if only single women are targeted, but this is a testament to how far and fast we are sliding backward, beyond the mentality that was so pervasive in the 1965 court case, and into the dark ages of women's rights. I reiterate, no distinction is made between married women and single women, and that means that all women are being targeted for the loss of personal sovereignty.
Every Sperm is Sacred, Every Sperm is Great, If a Sperm is Wasted, God Gets Quite Irate. Monty Python's Completely Useless Website. Monty Python's The Meaning of Life. Every Sperm is Sacred. Lyrics by Michael Palin and Terry Jones. http://www.intriguing.com/mp/_scripts/sperm.asp
Anti-choice proponents are going back to the ancient argument that sex is solely for procreation. Apparently in their minds, every sperm should have a name, and even if you or I might want a little nookie, the sex police on the other hand are looking to make sure we pay if we score! These so-called [s]experts want to...
...prove that the pill and the IUD cause health problems and destroy women's fertility, that condoms lead to the spread of sexually transmitted diseases...that contraception destroys marriages by rendering sex an act of pleasure. Salon.com. The Battle to Ban Birth Control. Jain, Priya. March 20, 2006, available online March 25, 2006. http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2006/03/20/anti_contraception/index.html
Written like someone who is not qualified in couple's counceling. And I have more bad news for you sunshine, all medical devices and drugs {even over-the-counter purchases} have the potential to cause side effects and injury in some users, especially to those who do not use these items properly. So those arguments are red herrings, a scare tactic meant to instill fear into the ignorant and doubt into the inexperienced.
If actual sex education were taught, rather than abstinence only programs and other mis-informative tripe, perhaps more people would be able to use these devices and drugs {or not} after making an informed decision on the matter. Oddly enough we never hear of these folks wailing about the number of tylenol overdoses, the number of car accidents related to ambien use, or why on earth I once read an informational poster in a doctor's office that stated, bug repellent spray does not make a good female, sexual, lubricant. But then these psuedo-medical arguments against contraceptives are products of selective memory and selective listening. With the invention of the HPV vaccine, the main argument against contraceptives {read condoms} that do not prevent sexually transmitted diseases, flies right out the window, so that these arguments are little more than emotive rantings based on a highly subjective, personal theology.
It's bad enough that pharmacists and doctors are being allowed to deny women their contraceptive perscriptions, but in addition to all that, some women do not even receive coverage through their insurance plans for these items anyway. I the very recent past, that meant that while your male neighbor got his Cialis, or Viagra tablets filled at the pharmacy, which was covered by his insurance, you on the other hand had to pay the entire cost out of your own pocket for contraceptives, assuming that is, that your pharmacist would even fill the order.
So I have a question. Is Cialis and Viagra for having sexual pleasure or are they for the sole and holy purpose of reproduction? And it is the former and not the latter, then why oh why aren't these same self-righteous boobs going after those sinful hard-on pills?
In all fairness, in 2006, a bill was passed that ended medicaid coverage for viagra and similar products, supposedly so that more money could be spent on efforts to rebuild in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. But there is a catch,
Under medicaid, the state-federal problem for the poor, states will still be allowed to subsidize Viagra and other impotence drugs if they determine such drugs are medically necessary. But they will no longer receive matching federal grants. Fox News. Congress Cuts Funding to Viagra in Favor of Funding For Katrina Relief. Oct 19, 2005, available online March 26, 2006. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,172818,00.html
So this is sort of the same issue that women face now. If it can be proven that birth control pills prevent some other medical problem other than pregnancy, then some women will have access to the pill through their insurance, but how do these states justify the difference between a medically necessary erection as opposed to just a plain old boner? I am a little confused by that one. And has anyone out there ever heard of a pharmacist refusing to fill a prescription for drugs to treat Erectile Dysfunction?
Would that be a legal issue regarding discrimination and failure to apply the religious objection fairly? If a woman who had been refused access to her perscription of birth control pills could prove that the same pharmacist had also sold E.D. drugs, or condoms, lubricants etc., would that be cause to call their religious convictions into question?
After all, isnt the sin of fornication as great for men as it is for women?
Just a thought. _______________________________
In honor of the Death of Dr Tiller, I am going to be reposting some of my favorite musings from that old Feminist Blog. I want to show you, the reader, just how long this bullshit attack on women's rights has been going on, and just how ridiculous it has gotten.
Seriously, is there such a thing as a *holy Boner? Or are all boners holy? Pun intended; Are Boner's untouchable?
Now don't get all excited, this is sort of G-Rated.
I keep farm animals, and pets. And I control their reproductive cycles. I have female cats spayed and male cats get their little nuts chopped off. I have hens and roosters, and I gather eggs everyday because I don't want any baby chicks. Because inside each egg, is what is known as a blastocyst, that could turn into a new baby chick if properly incubated. My neighbors have horses. They keep their mares away from stallions because they don't want any foals.
Now comes the lesson.
Opponents of Women's Reproductive Self Determination--through their actions and words are likening all women to farm animals and pets who must be bred by their owners and not allowed to control their own cycles. I should not determine my own time or season, but instead allow someone else to determine that for me. I don't know ladies. Does that Piss you off? It pisses me off for several reasons. Beyond the most obvious reasons, is that these fuctards [and they are fuctards] are too stupid and arrogant to see how insulting their stance is to adult women everywhere.
Women are Either:
Free or Women are not Free--meaning that they [unlike men] are subject to special rules and laws that are specific to their unique role as breeders and as sexual playthings.
Its simple
Women are either free or Women are not free.
There are no ands ifs or buts in this discussion. The KISS rule applies. And the Anti-Choice dongers will dance and dance around that discussion, never addressing that directly, giving us exegetical explanations that would make a contortionist breathless-- Twisted and Turned back on themselves.
Its real simple:
Women are Free or Women are not Free.
If you insert a but in there, then it's the latter. Women are not free. They are subject to special rules and laws that hinge directly on their unique status as incubators, baby making machines, and sexual playthings.
And thus is has always been. Women's Freedom has always been in opposition to her status as a breeder and/or a sexual plaything, and a domestic slave. That's right, I used the "S" word, Slave.
I don't care what church you go to. I dont care what your scriptures say. A man's words called the inerrant word of some god are still a [mere mortal]man's words. I didn't see the burning bush, I didn't stand on the temple mount or accept the 10 commandments. Men did that and always in the absence of women--Why? Is it because you have something to hide? That God didn't really tell you those things, but they are in fact political constructs created solely to govern peoples, and to subjugate your breeders?
On a good day, it might not seem like that. But his last week, there is no ignoring the simple fact of the matter that religion is invariably political, and organized religion doubly so.
Women figure so little into the Abrahamic Writings, that the Bible switches around the order of birth so that Man is created from Adam's rib and does not in actuallity pass through a woman's vagina--that is how Adam was born without sin don't ya know. You Betcha! Yep, completely free of pussy juice--Sin Free, and low carb!
Some of these pieces starting to come together for you? How about in Genesis when God sent Adam into the Garden of Eden to find a suitable Mate, BEFORE HE CREATED EVE?
Really?
Yes, really.
Women hold power between their legs. Its true. And in their minds. And for a millenia in cultures both east and west, we have suffered as a result. Women hold the gates of heaven in their thighs, they can make life, and they can make food for that life from their own bodies. They bleed without dying. A man will always wonder about his paternity, but with women, not so much. She holds the keys to so much. And if she chooses to exercise that power, then woe be to her. Doubt me?
Ask Eve or a Prostitute. Both will tell you. In the moment, men are thankful for the gifts women offer, but when that moment is over, in the eyes of the customer, their humanity flies out the window forever, til that is they need another fix or another child. Where do you think the age old question/cliche` of "Will you Respect Me in the Morning?" came from?
Ultimately this dialogue about abortion is really a dialogue about a woman's humanity and her innate power. Both are forbidden subjects. Those who have held sway over these items for so long are loathe to let go of those powers. Even those among the opposition that are women. After all we have all heard of Stockholm syndrome. If they weren't so obsessed with power, then why do these people become so obsessed with matters that should be private?
Because if they control you in private, what other goals will they go after--to consolidate that power over you and your children?
These are the same people who have been trying to get rid of Birth Control too, and relabeling that as abortion as well.
Women tied to a baby are women who don't have time to work, to achieve, to be politically active, especially in this culture that doesnt support women or babies after the birth. This is a concerted attempt to cripple the left by removing this massive part of the membership with one simple thing. Forced Pregnancy.
Women have brought many reforms to this culture--Reforms that these people want to roll back.
Very cultish--in the most destructive sense. and Offensive.
WICHITA, Kan. - The slaying of a Kansas abortion doctor put the anti-abortion movement on the defensive Monday with prominent leaders delicately distancing themselves from the accused killer while positioning their stand as one shared by a majority of Americans.
I don't see how they can delicately distance themselves from an In Church Shooting by a Rabid Christian Supremacist who worshipped these organizations openly online.
Did these organizations do anything to turn this guy in?
No?
Well then that makes you cuplable. Stating that you thought the guy was a loony while doing nothing about it just supports the Leaderless Resistance Theory. Sure he is a loony with a gun--Perfect, he can get the job done and then WE--the Abortion Foes, will have Plausible Deniability.
I have seen some posters online complaining that this particular story is being Grandstanded.
Um, This Doctor had been shot in both arms before this, and had his clinic bombed and been stalked consecutatively for years, even his family was harassed. And then finally you guys shoot him IN A FUCKING CHURCH NO LESS! and you think I or anyone could make that bigger than it is?
It's like the Anti-Choicers Shat in their own boot, but are blaming the Pro-Choicers for the Smell.
That don't make no damn sense at all. I got this message from on high today for Anti-Choice Terrorists!
Authorities have isolated what they believe to be the suspect in the Dr Tiller shooting inside Tiller's own church where he was performing duties as an Usher.
Matt Roeder--age 51, who has no ovaries or a uterus with which to carry a child is the big fat suspect in this crime.
Right now law enforcement speculates that he acted alone--yea, that is what we call Leaderless Resistance and Lone Wolf Mentality. Its a tactic used by many unlawful organizations to train or otherwise incite violent acts while keeping their paws, "Technically clean" in order to maintain plausible deniability.
Leaderless resistance (or phantom cell structure) is a political resistance strategy in which small, independent groups (covert cells) challenge an established adversary such as a government. Leaderless resistance can encompass anything from non-violent disruption and civil disobedience to bombings, assassinations and other violent agitation. Leaderless cells lack bidirectional, vertical command links and operate without hierarchal command.[1] While it lack a central command, the concept does not necessarily imply lack of cooperation.Given the simplicity of the strategy, leaderless resistance has been employed by a wide-range of movements, from terrorist and hate groups through to social movements such as the animal rights movement and radical environmental movement. It has also been used by anti-corporate and anti-abortion activists.
...Plausible deniability refers to the denial of blame in loose and informal chains of command where upper rungs quarantine the blame to the lower rungs. In the case that illegal or otherwise disreputable and unpopular activities become public, high-ranking officials may deny any awareness of such act or any connection to the agents used to carry out such act.
Either activity plays into the Lone Wolf mentality.
According to the Anti-Defamation League, the term "lone wolf" was popularized by white supremacists Alex Curtis and Tom Metzger in the late 1990s:On Curtis: Curtis encouraged fellow racists to act alone in committing violent crimes so that they would not incriminate others. He called for the elimination of nonwhites by "whatever means necessary" and promoted assassination, illegal drug sales and biological warfare as useful strategies. He popularized the so-called "5 words" - "I have nothing to say" - which he urged extremists to use whenever questioned by police as a highly effective means of obstructing prosecution.[1]On Metzger: One of the most influential aspects of Metzger's right-wing activism has been his advocacy of the "lone wolf " or "leaderless resistance" model of extremism, which favors individual or small-cell underground activity, as opposed to above-ground membership organizations.[2]
Why do I put it like that? Because this hit was desired by a great many people. People who probably talked about incessantly in private conversation in hopeful tones, letting the universe, fellow nutbars, and wannabe martyrs know that "If you should do this, we will love you--support you, but disavow all knowledge of your acts or motives FOR the cause of course."
For too long Extremists have been shielding themselves behind the first amendment while they stalk individuals who hold a different point of view, following them to their place of work and to their private residences, where they harass family and friends and employers of these political targets---And they call it Free Speech.
I call it Stalking and Harassment.
Stalking is a term used to describe unwanted attention by individuals (and sometimes groups of people) to others. Stalking behaviors are related to harassment and intimidation...Meloy (1998) as well as Stieger, Burger and Schild (2008) used the following definition: To be categorized as a stalking victim a person has to report at least two different intrusive behaviors, which had to last for at least two weeks and also provoke fear.
I believe these people belong in the following stalking category:
Resentful stalkers pursue a vendetta because of a sense of grievance against the victims – motivated mainly by the desire to frighten and distress the victim.
They pursue vendettas against doctors, nurses, and others who support pro-choice and access to birth control, family planning and abortion, and they do so by committing numerous intrusive acts such as but not limited to following people home, displaying bloody pictures of who knows what--, and ranting in religious-extremist, crazy-talk in the sole hopes of intimidating their targets or the people around the target in order to get the target to abandon both their political views and their job.
That doesn't qualify as free speech anymore than a man beating his wife could qualify that act as a political statement of protected speech.
apparently I am not the only one who observes this distinct category of stalker:
The 2002 National Victim Association Academy defines an additional form of stalking: The Vengeance/Terrorist stalker. Both the Vengeance stalker and Terrorist stalker (the latter sometimes called the political stalker) do not, in contrast with some of the aforementioned types of stalkers, seek a personal relationship with their victims but rather force them to emit a certain response favourable to the stalker. While the vengeance stalker's motive is "to get even" with the other person whom he/she perceives has done some wrong to them (i.e, an employee who believes is fired without justification from their job by their superior), the political stalker intends to accomplish a political agenda, also using threats and intimidation to force his/her target to refrain and/or become involved in some particular activity, regardless of the victim’s consent.[10]
The people who followed Tiller to church, home and to work, and those organizations that supported these acts of political stalking, if not promoted these behaviors should be prosecuted for Criminal Menace.
Stalking can be a terrifying experience for victims, placing them at risk of psychological trauma, and possible physical harm. As Rokkers writes, "Stalking is a form of mental assault, in which the perpetrator repeatedly, unwontedly, and disruptively breaks into the life-world of the victim, with whom they have no relationship (or no longer have). Moreover, the separated acts that make up the intrusion cannot by themselves cause the mental abuse, but do taken together (cumulative effect)."[4]
If the groups and individuals still claim "Free Speech" then how praytell could this man, Tiller be capable of pursuing Happiness in this country if he constantly had to look over his shoulder? He had already been shot twice, and had lived through bombings and repeated stalking--HE AND HIS WHOLE FAMILY! Children were invovled. But you know, that's all okay because Jesus said it was.
Persecution is considered part of the Crimes Against Humanity. And Tiller was being persecuted on religious grounds due to his political views. Ironic isn't it? Its just like the Reformation---Christians Persecuting Christians.
Hate crimes (also known as bias-motivated crimes) occur when a perpetrator targets a victim because of his or her perceived membership in a certain social group, usually defined by racial group, religion, sexual orientation, disability, ethnicity, nationality, age, gender, gender identity, or political affiliation.[1]
And what was Tiller's big Crime? According to CBS News:
Tiller, one of only a handful of doctors in the country performing late term abortions - when the mother's health is at risk - is being remembered by his wife, four children, and 10 grandchildren, who called the shooting an "unspeakable tragedy."
Yes those unfortunate souls who have high risk pregnancies, The kinds of problems that if you have ever been pregnant, are the stuff of nightmares. Of course a gravid woman in such dire straights will be eternally grateful for asshole boy, killing the only medical doctor that could save their lives. But it's just a split tail that dies, so who cares!
Roeder--the suspect is a member of the Freemen Group in Montanna. He certainly has an interesting rapsheet that follows him around.
For those who don't know, the Freemen were a Christian Patriot Group. If all elements of this case hold together then I would say it would safe to assume that by Constitutional Reconstructionists, that these folks were really only referring to White Christian Males as covered by the Constitution. So it would make perfect sense to me, why he felt justified in stalking, harassing and otherwise threatening people who offered women the tools to reproductive freedom.
See Posse Commitatus {the movement not the law} Christian Identity, Ruby Ridge, Waco Seige, Militia Movements, and the OKC Bombing. Can we say, Domestic Terrorists? You know I get pissed off at the government too, but I have discovered there are ways to legally fight that shit. I don't have to use civilians as collateral damage in a violent terrorist act to make my point.
Once again:
The Montana Freemen claimed to believe in the doctrine of individual sovereignty as expounded by the Sovereign Citizen Movement, and rejected the authority of the United States federal government. As a result of these claimed beliefs, they attempted to set up their own parallel systems of government ("Justus Township"), common-law court, banking, and credit. They became publicly known during their 81-day-long standoff with U.S. Marshals from March 25 through June 13, 1996.
The Doctrine of Individual Sovereignty would preclude the need to kill any other American for committing any act, such as performing abortions or getting an abortion, because those would be personal acts considered part and parcel of Individual Sovereignty. Unless of course you limit that to only a certain gender--penis toters, and a certain religious belief {your unique brand of Christianity} and people who fit YOUR limited definition of a Citizen.
But there I go--Making Sense again. As a Sovereign Individual Woman, I tend to do that. Silly me.
CBS reported that:
The ex-wife of the man accused of killing a renowned Kansas doctor who performed late-term abortions said she was "not surprised" by the shooting, and that she believed he wanted to be a "martyr" for the cause, reports CBS News correspondent Jeff Glor.
Can we make him a Butthead for the Cause instead? I like that term better in this case.
Back to the stalking point:
Church members said anti-abortion protesters have shown up outside the church on Sundays regularly."They've been out here for quite a few years. We've just become accustomed to it. Just like an everyday thing, you just looked over and see them and say, 'Yup they're back again.'"
Yes, show up for years, hoping that one of the fellow protesters would crack and do what everyone is thinking but knows better than to say out loud. No one thought these assholes would shoot into a church, but I guess we now know, that terrorists don't give a damn about that. Not even terrorists who pretend to worship the same god you do.
When asked why Dr. Tiller continued his practice despite the repeated threats and assassination attempts, Monnat said, "Both Dr. Tiller and his family continually asked the question, if Dr. Tiller is not here to serve a woman's right to choose, who will be here to do it? There are only a handful of late-term abortion providers that remain in the United States, and in the world. Most of them have been terrorized and run off by the protesters."
So President Obama, When are you going to call a spade a spade and label these assholes as Domestic Terrorists who stalk and harass people in an act of religious persecution for a political end?
Civilized discourse on this matter can only take place in the absence of threats of death and maiming and I don't see that happening. What I see are a bunch of politiicans whistling passed the graveyard, letting these emotionally immature domestic terrorists run amok in this great land in the name of religion, when its really all about control.
These assholes want to control women.
There is no compassion here. No care here, no understanding.
Only a desire to control by any means necessary. Because if they can control women with fear, then their fearful faith is justified and they are never forced to examine their motives or beliefs, or the consequences of their actions on women and those that support Free Women. They cannot even control themselves and yet they seek to control Women.
Funny Funny assholes.
The last killing of an abortion doctor was in October 1998 when Dr. Barnett Slepian was fatally shot in his home in a suburb of Buffalo, New York. A militant abortion opponent was convicted of the murder.
When is the government going to stop moaning like a bunch of pussies and call these assholes on the carpet for stalking, harassment and persecution? This last doctor was shot in his place of residence--one of them followed him home, as it had been for months while this man had to wait for what he knew was coming. An attempt on his life. Will I die tonight while I am at the dinner table, or perhaps while I am in the shower, or maybe like Elvis, on the toilet.
Oh how I remember the days when I could mow the lawn and just go out my door with no plan in mind, with no body guard, when I could spend a moment alone on a walking path in a public park. And here I am, waiting to die on my toilet, in my shower, at the dinner table or maybe leaning over the couch picking something up.
Hello Stalkers!
I do not believe that Operation Rescue or any of these other Anti-Choice organizations are anything other than Fronts for extremists. They should all be disbanded and sued for stalking, harassment, and threats, intimidation and domestic terrorism and terroristic threats.
Women are either free or They are not Free Mr President.
You need to make a choice so I know what my next step is, because this playing in Fields of Limbo-bullshit is for the birds.
Any church has the right to make the prerequisites for membership. They can choose not to accept women who participate in Premarital sex, who use birth control, who have had or might have an abortion. That is their first amendment right.
BUT
Those churches have no right to impose those prerequisites on me as a citizen, who is not an adherent of their church. I have no desire to sell my soul for that kind of acceptance. They are free to believe whatever, And I am free to disagree and to eschew if not rebuke their fucked up beliefs. And if they cannot hold onto women parishners because they treat them like shit, then so be it. They cannot have their cake and eat it too.
Which is to say, that they cannot demand that we all be defacto Christians or suffer their wrath. That totally upends the first amendment among other things and if the government of this nation turns a blind eye or in some cases actively supports it, then the government is favoring religion over non-religion, and is favoring a very specific form of Extremist Abrhamic beliefs. In which case we are no longer a Democracy but a Theocracy.
Shit or Get off the Pot Obama.
A little morality moment for those who are capable of critical thought:
Other Views on this subject can be found at these blogs:
Although on this subject, these bloggers hold similar views to the ones expressed here. Posting these links doesnt mean that they are in agreement with me on all things nor should they. Their content is their own, as are their thoughts and views.
It's time to end Domestic Terrorism in the name of Jesus. It's time to end the stalking and the harassment in the name of Jesus. Jesus didn't hold hostages. And even if he did, that wouldnt make hostage taking, threats and intimidation acceptable acts.
We are a nation of laws and a nation of diversity.
...Everything outside it is no longer a cosmos but a sort of "Other World" a foreign, chaotic space, peopled by ghosts, demons, "foreigners" {who are assimilated to demons and the souls of the dead}.
Mircea Eliade. The Sacred and the Profane pp29
Honest Weblog Award
From Dr. Zaius at Zaius Nation
What Kind of Liberal Am I?
My Liberal Identity:
You are a Social Justice Crusader, also known as a rights activist. You believe in equality, fairness, and preventing neo-Confederate conservative troglodytes from rolling back fifty years of civil rights gains.
The Consitution Party--Sponsoring Reverend Chuck Baldwin for President in 2008:The details were sketchy, aside from the fact that the national chairman of the staunchly anti-government, anti-abortion, anti-gay, anti-immigrant third party — the only political entity listed as a "Patriot" group by the Southern Poverty Law Center — had approached Moore about quitting the GOP and mounting an anti-Bush candidacy.--The quote was referencing the infamous Judge Roy Moore in this story from 2004
“Witchcraft is a sad reality in many parts of Africa, resulting in scores of deaths in Kenya over the past two decades. Bishop Muthee’s blessing, then, was simply a reflection of his cultural understanding of evil. While others are not obliged to accept his interpretation, all can be expected to respect it. More than that—Muthee should be hailed for asking God to shield Palin from harmful forces, however they may be manifested. And for this he is mocked and Palin ridiculed? Qtd by People for the American Way, Blog Right Wing Watch. Referencing Catholic League, Bill Donahue
"I really believe that the Pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians, ... the ACLU, People For the American Way - all of them who have tried to secularize America - I point the finger in their face and say 'you helped this [terrorist attack] happen." Jerry Falwell, 700 Club, 2001-SEP-13. qtd by ReligiousTolerance.org
David Kuo, former deputy director of the White House’s Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, wrote a book revealing that political operatives in the White House, led by Karl Rove, cynically used the “faith-based” initiative to energize its Religious Right base and help favored candidates. Kuo’s Tempting Faith: An Inside Story of Political Seduction reported that the White House faith-based office was used in 2002 primarily to help elect Republican candidates in tight races. Kuo said White House strategist Rove and other Republican leaders staged a series of supposedly non-partisan events around the faith-based initiative in states with tight House and Senate races. According to Kuo, 20 events were held, and Republican candidates subsequently won 19 of those races. Americans United
2007 April 23 ACLU CALLS FOR CONGRESS TO REJECT ATTEMPTS TO REWRITE LONG STANDING CIVIL RIGHTS PROTECTIONS FOR HEAD START TEACHERS ... The American Civil Liberties Union strongly urges you to oppose any attempts to repeal longstanding critical civil rights protections that explicitly prohibit government-funded employment discrimination based on religion in Head Start program. ACLU
2005: The Senate Actually passes a Resolution to Protect Christmas. “During 2005, Representative Jo Ann Davis (R-VA), supported by twenty-five Republican representatives, no Democrat and no Independent representatives, submitted House Resolution H. Res. 579 for debate and a vote. It is titled: "Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the symbols and traditions of Christmas should be protected." When attempts to add the symbols of other Winter Seasonal Holidays from nonChristian religions, Jo Ann Davis refused. ReligiousTolerance.org
2005 Nov 10: Pat Robertson Prognosticates Disaster of Biblical Proportion in Dover PA if locals fail to uphold the use of Disclaimer stickers in Biology text books where evolution is discussed. ReligiousTolerance.Org
1997 Sept 17: Washington, D.C. -- In a speech that raises serious legal questions, Christian Coalition Chairman Pat Robertson told a closed-door session of the group's state leaders his plan to control the Republican presidential nomination in 2000. Speaking at a Sept. 13 breakfast for state leaders at the Coalition's "Road to Victory" Conference in Atlanta, Robertson said he will recommend a candidate in private correspondence and urge Coalition leaders to unite behind the candidate. The Virginia Beach religious broadcaster also outlined a precinct-based political strategy for electing federal, state and local officials and compared the Christian Coalition to the notorious Tammany Hall political machine. Americans United
1981 Kirchberg v. Feenstra, 450 U.S. 455, 459-60 (1981), overturns state laws designating a husband “head and master” with unilateral control of property owned jointly with his wife. {The Learning Place}
"If you're a Christian, you cannot support a candidate like Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton," Booth said. Pastors to Preach Politics from the Pulpit by B.B. Hagerty--NPR 2008
