http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editoria ls/la-ed-chavez24aug24" title="http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editoria ls/la-ed-chavez24aug24" target="_blank"http://www.latimes.com/news/o...,0,7842833.story?coll=la-news-commen t-editorials

From the above Op-Ed piece:

It's not likely many people in the United States took Robertson seriously Tuesday when he stated on his religious broadcast "The 700 Club" that Chavez was a "terrific danger" to the U.S. and that American forces should "take him out." Robertson is notorious for remarks of questionable sense or even sanity, such as his conclusion that feminism "encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians." But South Americans may see things differently, causing considerable damage to the United States' already poor reputation in the region.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9047102/" title="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9047102/" target="_blank"http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9...

Robertson apologizes for Chavez comment
Televangelist urged Venezuelan leader's assassination 'out of
frustration'
 
Aug. 24: The televangelist is apologizing for his comments suggesting
that the U.S. government should assassinate Venezuela President Hugo
Chavez.
 
Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson apologized Wednesday for calling
for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, only hours
after he denied saying Chavez should be killed.

"Is it right to call for assassination?" Robertson said. "No, and I
apologize for that statement. I spoke in frustration that we should
accommodate the man who thinks the U.S. is out to kill him."

Pat Robertson almost never misses an opportunity to make a fool of himself.  While watching The 700 Club might be difficult and almost painful at times, getting through the more nauseating parts is worth it when Pat lets a doozy slip like:

They scream, "First Amendment." Of course, the First Amendment, as you and I both know, is a restriction on Congress.... So it really doesn't have anything to do with what you say or what I say, one way or the other.(December 10, 1990)

or

There is never in the Constitution at any point, anything that applies that to the states, none at all. The Supreme Court has done it over repeated attempts by Congress which have been beaten back to do such a thing. (April 11, 1986)

    & nbsp;   &n bsp;   &nb sp;   &nbs p;     ;          and one that makes me feel like vomiting

We have a court that has essentially stuck its finger in God's eye and said we're going to legislate you out of the schools. We're going to take your commandments from off the courthouse steps in various states. We're not going to let little children read the commandments of God. We're not going to let the Bible be read, no prayer in our schools. We have insulted God at the highest levels of our government. And then we say, "Why does this happen?"
     Well, why it's happening is that God Almighty is lifting his protection from us. (July 15, 2003)

There are bunches more quotes than the ones I selected (at random - these are far from the craziest things Robertson has uttered).  Googling "Pat Robertson Insane Quotes" http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&" title="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&" target="_blank"http://www.google.com/search?...;q=Pat+Robertson+Insane+Q uotes has over 48000 hits and entire websites dedicated to little more than transcribing Pat's bizarre fits of verbal diarrhea (http://www.sullivan-county.com/news/pat_quotes/" title="http://www.sullivan-county.com/news/pat_quotes/" target="_blank"http://www.sullivan-county.co... is my favorite so far)

Overheard on CNN, Pat is following his usual routine after being recorded on camera saying something batshit insane and the widespread reaction from the public is displeasure bordering on furor.  He claims to have been misquoted by the Associated Press, and then hems and haws over what his words really meant.  To paraphrase him loosely: by taking him out, I meant kidnapping or something else other than killing.  Sure, Pat - what you really meant was that you thought a CIA spook should take Chavez out on the town and show him a good time, some dinner and dancing, maybe even a blowjob provided he showers first and keeps his mouth closed while he chews his food.  

Watching that jug-eared preacher of hate pretend that what he said was completely reasonable and that he's a victim of the "liberal" press.  Anyone surprised at what Rev. Robertson said either never watched his show, or they have selective deafness, or they're lying.  Robertson is a social parasite, living off of money other people have earned and providing nothing in return but hate-filled spew disguised as a message of love & salvation.  Tax-free, of course.

http://news.google.com/nwshp?hl=en&" title="http://news.google.com/nwshp?hl=en&" target="_blank"http://news.google.com/nwshp?...;tab=wn&ncl=http://www.voanews.com/englis...

So far, 342 different media outlets have picked up the "Pat Robertson, Christian Televangelist, Calls For Assassination" story.  There isn't a single mention of this on the 700 club website, and Chavez http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/12442 528.htm" title="http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/12442 528.htm" target="_blank"http://www.miami.com/mld/miam... doesn't appear to be even slightly fazed. 

Chavez is no hero of mine, but anyone who gets Pat Robertson's panties twisted into knots gets a "job well done" from me.  I wonder how much Chavez' chumminess with Fidel Castro is sincere and how much is just to piss off the U.S.  Chavez not having a sense of humour about the attempted coup is understandable, but not even making an attempt to smooth things over afterwards is a diplomatic blunder on the U.S. part.  The guy was democratically elected twice now, a fact that annoys certain ideologues to no end....

Pictures and more in-depth stories at eleven.

Newsflash!  Chavez responds http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/americas/0 8/23/robertson.chavez.react.ap/" title="http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/americas/0 8/23/robertson.chavez.react.ap/" target="_blank"http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD... through a spokesman - "This man cannot be a true Christian. He's a fascist."

Oh, the "no true Scotsman" fallacy again.  Alas.  The "fascist" part is probably true enough - reading up on Dominionism http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&" title="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&" target="_blank"http://www.google.com/search?...;q=dominionism confirms this.  Name-calling isn't going to help solve this dispute.  Too bad at least one side weren't behaving like adults.

But at least Chavez didn't call for Robertson's assassination. 

     Across the street and two houses down from mine lives a family of outwardly-religious evangelical Christians.   They have two kids and occasional knockdown/drag-out screaming fights that the local constabulary must intervene in when they go on past ordinary bedtime hours.  During these fights, they call each other the foulest names: "You stupid fat motherfucker!" is among the less offensive screams heard over the (by now) well-loudened television.  It's been a couple of months since the last fight, so we're overdue for one - my prediction is that sometime this weekend they'll scrap, hopefully while I'm out of town.

     But that's extraneous information and mere background.  Because my wife and I don't attend church, eventually they became curious enough to ask why.  We believed that answering honestly was the best policy.  Days later, their children were forbidden from even speaking with mine.  Not too long afterwards, one of their kids notched an arrow and drew back on his bow, aiming at my daughter and I while we were out walking the dog.  He didn't shoot at us - not that it mattered to the police, ready to arrest him for assault and felony menacing.  I dropped the charges, thinking that showing mercy and forgiveness might help them see us as human beings.   If only it were that simple.

     The nails thrown in my driveway eventually led to a pair of flat tires - not an inexpensive thing to replace on my car.  We've seen the father-guy sneaking over at night, make a tossing motion and heard the tinkling of metal on concrete.  He denies this, naturally.  I made him deny it to the sheriff, which should have been at least a little bit humiliating, and it hasn't happened since my costly tire replacements. 

     All of this wasn't nearly as disturbing as overhearing their (excessively-loud) conversation where they clearly said "Who cares? They're atheists" and then laughed over it.  They had to have known we could hear. 

     So to them, whatever they do to annoy or harrass us is OK because of what we don't believe.  Discrimination against atheists remains one of the last widely-acceptable biases I've encountered.  For many, atheism and communism are inseparably interwoven - as if being an atheist and a communist were mutually inclusive, and being one automatically made you the other.  It's utter nonsense, and guilt through association at its worst. 

     The For Sale sign hasn't gone up yet (our realtor apologized, and promised it'd be up no later than tomorrow afternoon) but it's safe to assume the loonies down the street will be pleased as punch to see us go.  Not that I hold their opinions in much regard, because I don't.  They'd be equally pleased to see our home burn down, I'm sure. 

     They've inspired me more than they'll ever know - without their help, I don't know if we'd be looking so far away for a new place to live.  It's almost like I owe them a little bit.

     But I won't give that thought too much credence, not until I get reimbursed for two rear tires... that evil little nail-tossing prick.  They get no credit for my own principles and good sense.

http://mediamatters.org/items/200508220006" title="http://mediamatters.org/items/200508220006" target="_blank"http://mediamatters.org/items...

From the August 22 broadcast of the 700 Club, hosted by Pat Robertson.

ROBERTSON: There was a popular coup that overthrew him [Chavez]. And what did the United States State Department do about it? Virtually
nothing. And as a result, within about 48 hours that coup was broken;
Chavez was back in power, but we had a chance to move in. He has
destroyed the Venezuelan economy, and he's going to make that a
launching pad for communist infiltration and Muslim extremism all over
the continent.

You know, I don't know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he
thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought
to go ahead and do it. It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war.
And I don't think any oil shipments will stop. But this man is a
terrific danger and the United ... This is in our sphere of influence,
so we can't let this happen. We have the Monroe Doctrine, we have
other doctrines that we have announced. And without question, this is
a dangerous enemy to our south, controlling a huge pool of oil, that
could hurt us very badly. We have the ability to take him out, and I
think the time has come that we exercise that ability. We don't need
another $200 billion war to get rid of one, you know, strong-arm
dictator. It's a whole lot easier to have some of the covert
operatives do the job and then get it over with.

A man who describes himself as Christian on a show he hosts that is described by its producers as Christian goes before a camera and openly calls for someone else's death.  Naturally, Pat wants the dirty deed done by someone else.  Besides, how can God love this Chavez character if Pat Robertson wants him croaked? 

Strange how the democratically-elected leader of another country becomes a "strong-arm dictator" and - despite him not being a Muslim to the best of my knowledge - gets linked to Islamic terrorism by a U.S. religious leader.  At least Pat considers himself a leader of some sort, and he considers his opinions important enough to broadcast on a television show.  But since when does Pat get to decide who gets the exploding cigar, so to speak?  I don't remember voting for Pat...

Can you feel that Christian love?  Where are the public rebukes? 

http://mediamatters.org/items/200508160009" title="http://mediamatters.org/items/200508160009" target="_blank"http://mediamatters.org/items...

The face of a man who sent his maid out with a cigar box full of cash to buy illegal drugs.

Limbaugh baselessly compared Cindy Sheehan to Bill Burkett: "Her story is nothing more than forged documents"

Sure this point was brought up already, but reading the words he used makes me remember a time when viciously attacking the mother of a dead soldier would have resulted in an ass-beating.  I'm not sure of the precise date when slandering a grieving mom became a patriotic thing to do, but since Rush is a super patriot and all it must be all right.

LIMBAUGH: I mean, Cindy Sheehan is just Bill Burkett. Her story is nothing more than forged documents. There's nothing about it that's real, including the mainstream media's glomming onto it. It's not real. It's nothing more than an attempt. It's the latest effort made by the coordinated left.

So she's making it all up - her son must be alive and well and in hiding so as not to foil his mom's ruse.  Or maybe she never had a son at all in the first place.  She faked his birth, his infancy, his childhood, his adolescence - all of it, simply her imagination and reinforced with ersatz birth certificates and report cards. 

And now for an ad hominem moment: Rush Limbaugh is a walking, talking sack of excrement devoid of class and couth.  Only an insensitive dolt high on hillbilly heroin would say something so utterly cruel and delusional and mean.  That's his entire shtick - being a vociferous agitator unafraid to cheat and lie if that's what it takes to win.  If taking a shit on his mother's chest was what it took to climb the ratings chart, then Mom would be tied up and Rush'd be a-squattin'. "How low will he crawl?" becomes a meaningless question, always answered by "As low as it takes."

Rush is a goddamned liar.  Suggesting that Mrs. Sheehan's son was fictional is an insult beyond insults - it was uncalled-for, unreasonable, and a total lie.  Limbaugh knows no shame, and he represents everything wrong with America. 

1 Kings 7:23  And he made a molten sea, ten cubits from the one brim to
the other: it was round all about, and his height was five cubits: and
a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about.

So, the circumference equals 30 cubits and the diameter is 10 cubits, and the object described is circular (notice the word "round.')

By definition, the number pi is the ratio of the circumference of a circle divided by its diameter. The biblical calculation of pi is three.  Not 3.14159 or however many digits your patience allows you to calculate.  An even three-point-zero. 

The notion that the bible is totally without error and always factually correct continues despite copious contradictory information, passages with barbaric and repulsive suggestions, and the occasional irrationally bizarre statements that leave non-believers aghast and agape.  I'm astounded that bronze age goat-herders still influence society today through their transcribed superstitions and myths, and I'm a little more than disturbed that narrow-minded zealots want to use these ancient beliefs as a basis for modern laws.  The Republican party, for the most part, has been hijacked by evangelical dominionists (q.v.) whose wet-dream fantasy is to bring about Armageddon and long to be Raptured up so they can look down upon and laugh at the infidels in unending torment.  The lip service being paid to supporting teaching "Intelligent Design" in public schools by the pResident and Bill "Diagnose Via Videotape" Frist heralds this strange alliance between greedheads and biblethumpers. 

So which is it?  Both values of pi can't be correct. 

Ooo, but those evil fuckheads at the DEA can really frost my ass sometimes.  From http://www.emeryseeds.com" title="http://www.emeryseeds.com" target="_blank"http://www.emeryseeds.com (where you can read about it for yourself), DEA and RCMP agents monitored and intercepted incoming and outgoing mail for Emery's seed boutique.  Then, the fuzzy little shitheads sent a bogus letter to seed customers asking them to send in an extra $50US or so - this is for legal purposes, because it's next to impossible to arrest someone for ordering seeds in the US.  Technically, ordering cannabis seeds through the mail is a federal crime (astute High Times readers know this from the page margins of advertisements for, well, cannabis seeds).  Proving beyond all arguments that someone requested and paid for cannabis seeds through the mail to a jury is a fool's errand in most cases.  Whomever gets one of those "blue" letters asking for additional moneys should (a) discard this bogus, ham-fisted LEO letter in the trash bin and (b) forget about getting whatever seeds were ordered. 

I'm amazed that US customers were still using Emery's seedbank in the first place, after all the buyers who got burned back in the 1990s.  It's a long and ugly tale involving a semifictional character calling him/herself "G.Sanders" and a whole lot of people either getting no seeds or pale immature nonviable seeds or seeds that grew into mostly hermaphrodites.  There were loud and frequent complaints - many of which I'm convinced helped forge the online seedbank business into what it is today.  Today, every commercially-available strain of cannabis can be obtained in seed form from oodles of reliable, professional distributors with customer service departments and rapid, dependable delivery.  An order for two packs of AK-47 and Matanuska Thunderfuck (actual marijuana strains - both are jaw-droppingly potent as well, from personal experience) placed on a Thursday can arrive the following Monday or Tuesday in a package that looks like ordinary mail.  In some parts of the world, clones/cuttings can be ordered much the same way. 

But back to Marc Emery http://tinyurl.com/97yxp" title="http://tinyurl.com/97yxp" target="_blank"http://tinyurl.com/97yxp - it sounds like he's in pretty deep shit.  He's long been a thorn in the DEA's side, and they've salivated for years over the prospect of extradicting him to the US.  Because Emery had the nuts to sell seeds openly - not a crime in Canada - US drug prohibitionists wanted to string him up by his ankles.  Someone could, in theory, take a short drive from Seattle to Vancouver and return home with seeds bred by professional Amsterdam companies.  Prosecutors can handle law violators much better than those who mock them openly out of complete disrespect - annoying the powers that be is far more dangerous than breaking any law. 

Only a sick asshole like Nixon could have created an organization like the DEA.  Fuck each and every one of them who waste time and money fighting a flower that has killed no one, ever. 

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat?bid=1&a mp" title="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat?bid=1&a mp" target="_blank"http://www.thenation.com/blog...;pid=13737

From the above, last paragraph:

The supporters of this war have run out of convincing lies and effective emotional appeals. Now, they are reduced to attacking the grieving mothers of dead soldiers. Samuel Johnson suggested that patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel. But, with their attacks on Cindy Sheehan, the apologists for George Bush's infamy have found a new and darker refuge.

The smear campaign is well underway.  Already, the usual hatchet-men frothing away with typical bile and venom - Oxycontin fan Rush Limbaugh has said "(Sheehan's) story is nothing more than forged documents. There's nothing about it that's real...", FOX harpy Bill O'Reilly says that Mrs. Sheehan "...is in bed with the radical left...including the 9/11 Families."  David Horowitz spews his usual lie-filled invectives.  The target: a Gold Star Mother, Cindy Sheehan. 

I can only wonder how it must feel to cast insults at a grieving mother.  That seems like something only a classless asshole would do, but what do I know about morals today?  The rightwing clones get their orders, and if their superiors say to hurl slime at a dead soldier's mother then they take out their slimebuckets and get to work straight away.  Everyone is supposed to forget about all the pre-invasion lies repeated ad nauseam in the mainstream media (Judith Miller, currently incarcerated, was one of many reliable stenographers for this administration in the run-up to war).  Now we're bringing Democracy since the Weapons of Mass Destruction thingy didn't work out so well.  The goalposts have been moved so frequently that no one seems to mind anymore.

Meanwhile, fighting in Afghanistan intensifies http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/ world/12406811.htm" title="http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/ world/12406811.htm" target="_blank"http://www.mercurynews.com/ml... .   A pair of suicide bombings and beheadings have taken place there, just like Iraq.  But it's all under control - Afghanis are free now, right?  

Iraq is in similarly dire straights - ://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2 005/08/17/Baghdad_bombs20 050817.html Lethal bombings are a daily occurrence, this one killing 43 (which included police and paramedics).  Opposing groups seeking autonomous regions within a country almost assures a civil war once the occupying forces are withdrawn. 

And now it's ok to call a dead soldier's mom vicious names. 

It's official: the world has gone crazy.

A scant three days from now, my house hits the market and my realtor assures me I won't have a long wait at all.  Compared to what this place looked like when we first moved in, it's a completely different house.  For starters, the previous owner was such a cheap bastard that he had only a pair of window a/c units to cool the entire house.  In Tampa Bay, central a/c is an absolute must-have (the "feels like" temperature hit 106F/41C yesterday, typical Florida weather).  Installing one of those was the first major investment I put into this place.  After that, a new septic tank, replacing every leaky jalousie (sp?) window & door came next - that was an ungodly huge job.  Thinking about all the work I put into this house, asking only three times what I paid is a goddamn bargain. 

I'd consider coming down a bit for the right buyer, though.  Maybe a family of practicing Wiccans, or a multifamily/multigenerati onal group of Muslims - for no other reason than to annoy the piss out of the evangelicals down the street.  Ten or twenty grand would be a small price to pay just for the look on my shithead neighbors' faces...   Fuck those clowns: they're miserable enough without any help from me. 

So what happens next?  I still have far too much superfluous stuff.  It's got to go one of three ways: garage sale, donation (to a secular charity), or in the dumpster.  I've whittled down my book collection to the absolute essentials: Mencken, Hunter Thompson, Bertrand Russell, Bukowski, Henry Miller, Douglas Adams, Poe, some others.  Convincing the missus to get rid of the strings of x-mas lights was like talking her out of a kidney  - "I have it on good authority that lights like these are sold in Canada," I argued.  If I have to give up two hundred pounds of books, it's only reasonable that she scale down her light collection...

By my reckoning, two weeks notice for all parties involved is sufficient.  Any more than that exceeds what anyone deserves.  When has an employer been kind enough to give two weeks notice prior to terminating some poor sap's job?  I've never seen it happen down here, not once.  "Union" is in the same category as "motherfucker" and "Jesus Shitcrackers" spoken aloud - the people here like groveling at the boss' feet; they've been on their knees for so long they forget what standing up is like.  They'll fight to the death to defend their right not to organize, the weird fuckers.

Anyhow...

Other than my in-laws, I see no potential snags.  They'll try talking us out of moving away, and that'll be about as successful as their attempts at convincing me of God's existence (i.e. - not successful at all).  Which is strange, considering that we only see them during holidays and funerals - it should make no difference if we live ten miles or ten thousand miles away.  I'm not worried about it.  The worst that could happen is that they write us out of their respective wills.

I should explain: my in-laws are wealthy.  They're wealthy because of the family patriarch (now deceased), who became rich almost accidentally.  He controlled others through monetary favors and withholding monetary favors, and the habit continues after his death.  They have an enormous palatial house on a huge plot of land in a rural area about an hour's drive north of us.  They own expensive new vehicles, and they take vacations to exotic locales (Hawa'ii, hunting trips to Africa, ad nauseam).  Like many wealthy Southerners, they have a less-than-charitable view of blacks; the now-dead patriarch once told my wife that she'd be "...the first one in this family to marry a nigger."  He was a right bastard every moment he drew breath, and I'm glad not to own anything that he touched.  Withholding that tainted money from me is no threat. 

And if you're wondering, no: I'm Irish-Welsh.  But I was a Catholic when my wife and I first met, and that's about as bad as being black to this clan.  I was Catholic, but now I'm better.  I'm unsure which they consider worse, though. 

They'll get pissed, they'll huff and puff and stomp their feet, they'll yell and swear and get red in the face.  And then they'll get the fuck over it.  I keep telling my wife that, but she's still hesitant about saying a word about it to them.  Wait long enough and they'll figure it out: "The number you have reached is no longer in service" and all the returned mail....

Q: Did a Jesus of Nazareth, described in the New Testament, actually exist?

A: Short answer - No. 

Long answer - there were plenty of Jesi (plural of Jesus), but not the "greatest story ever told" one.  Since Nazareth didn't exist prior to the second century and Galilee was not a Roman province, it is plainly obvious that the biblical Jesus is a made-up character.  The fictional Jesus is probably an amalgam of any number of beliefs, borrowing heavily from the Mithra (q.v.) story.  Mithra, a cult deity said to have been born of a virgin human female and a god, was said to have died on his worshippers' behalf (so that heaven would be open to them) and rose from the dead after three days; Mithra's birthday was celebrated on December 25th.  Since the Mithra cult predates Christianity by almost 200 years, only a seriously self-deluded fool could ignore and dismiss the similarities.

Q: What secular evidence is there which suggests that the Jesus of the bible lived?

A:  None.  Zip.  Nada.  Nil.  If such evidence existed, then no one would hear the end of it.  Not even that ossuary-thingy ( http://www.livescience.com/history/reason_ossuar y_050112.html" title="http://www.livescience.com/history/reason_ossuar y_050112.html" target="_blank"http://www.livescience.com/hi... ) could stand up to scrutiny. 

It's not a sexy answer, but common sense points towards humans inventing gods rather than the converse.  I would advise anyone even slightly curious to steer clear of the innumerable varieties of Christian death-cults.  They're a waste of time and money.

More on the subject can be found here -->http://www.jesusneverexisted.com/Mithraism.html" title="http://www.jesusneverexisted.com/Mithraism.html" target="_blank"http://www.jesusneverexisted.... 

Now onto far more interesting subjects....

http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/LondonFreePr ess/News/2005/08/16/11747 60-sun.html" title="http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/LondonFreePr ess/News/2005/08/16/11747 60-sun.html" target="_blank"http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand...

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N161 79436.htm" title="http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N161 79436.htm" target="_blank"http://www.alertnet.org/thene...

Source: Reuters

By Caren Bohan

CRAWFORD, Texas, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Antiwar protester Cindy Sheehan, whose son was killed in Iraq, is moving her camp closer to President George W. Bush's Texas ranch.

The piece of private property was offered by a relative of a man who had a fired shotgun in frustration over the protests, a source in the Sheehan camp said. The property owner is also a veteran.

(major snippage)

According to the source, the land offered to Sheehan is owned by Fred Mattlage, who is a distant cousin of Larry Mattlage, a man who fired a shotgun over the weekend in frustration over the commotion caused by the vigil.

(more snippage)

In the latest sign of tension, a man in a pickup trunk on Monday night ran over crosses at Sheehan's campsite.

Some 800 white wooden crosses, bearing the names of soldiers killed in Iraq have lined the road near the area where Sheehan has pitched a tent. Witnesses said they saw a truck dragging a pipe and chains drive over some of the crosses.

Larry Northern, 46, of nearby Waco, Texas, was arrested and charged with criminal mischief in connection with the incident.

 _____________end fair use quote______________________

What are the odds that two chromosome-deficient dingbats named "Larry" would do something batshit insane in response to a grief-stricken Gold Star mother?  Surely there must be one more Crazy Larry in Waco willing to make a complete fool of himself.  Who's laying odds on the Larry Trifecta?

How long, I wonder aloud, before one (or both) of these tactless assholes will become darlings of the right-wing circuit?  Who will host PostBailForLarrys.org?

I don't know which is more embarrassing: the president or his neighbors.  So far, the behavior of both haven't inspired much confidence - Fred Mattlage excluded, of course.  I'd trade both Larrys for one Fred.

Fuck both the Larrys.  Prison seems too good for them.

It's about time I've gotten around to writing this.  Between a prospective expatriate and a new life abroad stands mountains of paperwork and procedures that,at first glance,  seem insurmountable.  Obviously, it's not impossible to get there from here, else there wouldn't be scads of ex-pats found living on nearly every continent.

Step 1: If you haven't already, get your US Passport.http://travel.state.gov/passport/passport_173 8.html" title="http://travel.state.gov/passport/passport_173 8.html" target="_blank"http://travel.state.gov/passp...  At the time of this writing, a passport isn't necessary to enter Canada but that could change at any time.  The usefulness of the passport is in filling out the seemingly-endless paperwork, where the passport number is required information.  Getting the passport way ahead of your departure time is a very good idea - mine took eight weeks to arrive.  Express service is available, but people unfortunate enough to need this are metaphorically ass-raped with fees.  I paid $93US apiece for my wife's and mine, and $83 apiece for those of my young-uns. 

Step 2:  Got a home?  Sell it before the market goes belly-up.  Right now is probably a good time - I just listed my house, bought six years ago, for almost 3X the purchase price.  Depending on which part of the country you live, a similar profit might be realized (or maybe I'm just lucky).  US citizens purchasing a home in Canada need to be ready to put down up to 40% of the purchase price.  A Canadian realtor explained that this is because the prospective ex-pat hasn't acquired a Canadian credit score. 

Step 3: Find a place to live.  Vancouver, BC appealed to me because of its mild weather, beautiful scenery (mountains, beaches, and rain forest!), economy, the primary language being English and high educational standards.  Like any large city, property values are outrageous within city limits and become more reasonably-priced proportional to the distance from the city.  Their public transportation system beats any I've seen in the States, with the exception of Portland, Oregon (arguably).  Make a list of what's important to you (and your family, if applicable) and then search around for a place that fits your requirements.  Talk to people in the ex-pat community there and ask as many questions as you can.  Realtors and rental agents in the area you want to relocate often have very helpful and practical information - don't be shy about contacting them.

Step 4: Make an exit plan and execute it.  Give adequate notice to employers, schools, family, friends, physicians - and get certified copies of your records to bring along with you.  If you have pets, find out what immunizations they might need.   Everyone relocating with you will need to have their immunization records handy, so pack them in a place easily-accessi ble and plainly-labeled. 

Four easy steps, right?  It's a bit more complicated than that, depending on individual circumstances.  Too frequently, Canada buckles under to U.S. demands (see http://www.reneeboje.com/" title="http://www.reneeboje.com/" target="_blank"http://www.reneeboje.com/ for a prime example), and those fleeing either a military draft or involuntary participation in Wars of Military Conquest^TM won't find a safe haven in our friendly northern neighbour (although my doors will be open) as occurred during the Vietnam-era.  Anyone with a criminal record will have a difficult time crossing the border (and remaining there).  Like most things, having a fat wad of cash usually helps to grease the passage anywhere.  The rules really are different for the rich, so if you haven't already accumulated a small fortune as I have, it's a good idea to get started immediately.  I'm not bragging: most of what I have can be attributed solely to luck. 

And I'd rather be lucky than smart, any day...

The face of delusion

http://tinyurl.com/7m9ko" title="http://tinyurl.com/7m9ko" target="_blank"http://tinyurl.com/7m9ko

http://tinyurl.com/93na5" title="http://tinyurl.com/93na5" target="_blank"http://tinyurl.com/93na5

Two links, both to stories which provide clear examples that Rumsfeld has gone bugfuck insane.  From "Rumsfeld Predicts Rising Violence":

WASHINGTON — With a constitutional referendum approaching in Iraq, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld on Tuesday delivered the grim prediction that has become the Bush administration's standard message before each political milestone there: Violence will soar as insurgents try to derail the march toward democracy.

At a Pentagon briefing, Rumsfeld said Americans should expect an increase in guerrilla attacks before the Iraqi vote on a new constitution, scheduled in October. Iraqi politicians face a deadline Monday for drafting the charter.

But Rumsfeld also painted the picture of an increasingly desperate foe. Though avoiding pronouncements that the insurgents were losing steam, he likened them to Japanese kamikazes and the Nazi SS in the waning months of World War II. He said the increased violence should "not necessarily be considered an accurate gauge of the enemy's future," given the political progress in the country.

Rumsfeld's comments echoed those made by Bush administration officials before previous political milestones in Iraq. In the weeks before the June 2004 hand-over of power to Iraqis and the January 2005 parliamentary election, officials predicted that guerrillas would step up attacks but that Iraqi political progress would eventually cripple the insurgency.

------------------------- ----end quote-------------------- ------------------------- ----------

How many times will the American public be told that bullshit about "the desperate insurgency" whose successful bombing campaigns being carried out pretty much at will are evidence that "we're winning the War on Terror^TM"?  No, wait - scratch that: it should be "global struggle against extremism" or some such misnomer.  Rummy could have gotten his teeth kicked in, both eyes pounded shut and a week's worth of lunch money taken from him during a schoolyard beating, and he'd cite these injuries as proof that he was winning the War on Bullies.  Time and time again, bombings and shootings are twisted into evidence of "progress" and "imminent victory."  How is this not like Vietnam again? 

On to the next article, "US-Iran Relations Deteriorate," where our batshit-crazy Secretary of Defense is quoted as saying "It is true that weapons clearly unambiguously from Iran have been found in Iraq. It's a problem for the Iraqi Government, it's a problem for the coalition forces, it's a problem for the international community. And ultimately, it's a problem for Iran."

Uh-huh.  And those weapons were found where - in the area around Baghdad and Tikrit, to the East, West, North and South somewhat?  This entire administration has credibility problems; until and unless whatever weapons Rummy is bleating over are shown and independently verified by an unbiased source, I refuse to believe a single word coming out of that Brylcreemed anal-retentive gasbag's lying mouth.  When asked how he knew for certain these were Iranian weapons, Rummy resorted to his usual verbal diarrhea: "How can you know? You only know what you know. It's a big border, and it's notably unhelpful for the Iranians to be allowing weapons of those types to cross the border."  Such wisdom - "you only know what you know."  Had Rummy not given us that gem, the world would be a much more confusing place.  Maybe next time he can tell us not to chew on aluminum foil.

Rummy and the rest of his delusional buddies http://www.newamericancentury.org/" title="http://www.newamericancentury.org/" target="_blank"http://www.newamericancentury...  would have been put face-first against the nearest wall in a rational country.  They honestly see nothing wrong with engaging in a succession of wars - Iran and Syria have been on their "to-do" list for a long time - provided neither they nor their immediate families have to participate in the actual fighting.  Were Iran and Syria to form an alliance (they've already discussed doing this -  http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/42708 59.stm" title="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/42708 59.stm" target="_blank"http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/mi... ) and adopt the neocon "preemptive warfare" philosophy, then our forces presently on duty in Iraq would be in deep, deep shit.  The U.S. doesn't have enough forces to pacify Iraq, let alone defend against the combined forces of two unscathed nations.  Their unshakable reliance upon technology and a "transformational doctrine" is unrealistic - the best jet fighters are useless against guerilla urban warfare and suicide bombers. 

Why some grieving parent hasn't at least taken a swing (or worse) at Rummy completely perplexes me.  This entire war-loving administration is tainted by the blood of 1,842 dead U.S. military personnel (so far).  How many more have to die before victory is declared and the troops are brought home?  If experience is any teacher, that number is just over 58,000. 

Each and every lost life is a shameful waste.  People would be rioting in the streets if anyone gave a shit. 

I don't think I'm going to miss this place very much at all.

http://www.venganza.org/index.htm" title="http://www.venganza.org/index.htm" target="_blank"http://www.venganza.org/index...

If Intelligent (cough) Design is to be taught in public schools, then the Flying Spaghetti Monster (q.v.) needs to be taught alongside it. 

Damn straight!

As a recovering Catholic and unrepentant lifelong smartass, finding utterly ridiculous and insane biblical passages has long been a hobby of mine.  There's too much material to cover in a single 'blog entry, and some astute bloggers (Kupov, e.g.) practically use the bible as their sole subject - most often to demonstrate how ludicrous the beliefs associated with religions are.  I've yet had a fundy of any stripe leave his/her mental droppings in the "leave comment" section in any laugh-at-the-bible sessions I've held here but I'm looking forward to the possibility of the amusement I'd derive from such an exchange. 

Make no mistake about it: I have no respect whatsoever for the superstitious nonsense composing religious beliefs or for the devoutly religious.  I see no reason why anyone should expect to have others automatically treat with reverence every weird-assed taboo and tenet they have.  "We should respect the other fellow's religion," wrote H.L. Mencken, "but only in the sense and to the  extent we respe ct his theory that his wife is beautiful and his children smart."  I couldn't think of a better way to phrase it myself.  Now, allow me to pluck a few biblical gems for your amusement and mine.  And by all means, check my work.  I'm making none of this up: it's all there in the bible.

Genesis 4:17 discusses Cain's son Enoch while failing to mention one minor detail: just where the fuck did Mrs. Cain come from?  The writer just throws in this new character without bothering to mention how she came to exist in a world where only a few other human beings have been "created" and expelled from Paradise on Earth.  Hints like this let you know the whole text is completely made-up bullshit and that, from this point onward, you can ignore everything else. 

Earlier in Genesis (1:27), the God-character goes about creating human beings in his own image.  Since both a male and a female were created, it only stands to reason that this god is a hermaphrodite.  The previous passage (1:26) states " Let us make man in our image," with the plural noun implying plural gods (or a single schizoid-like delusional sort of god).  Even as a forcibly-believing child, I had trouble with these parts: it made no sense parsing the sentences.  Priests I asked about the difficulty I had with Genesis confused me with semantics and Jesuit sophistry, convincing a far younger me to overlook these passages to see the "bigger picture" and not to get distracted by such unimportant details as Genesis 25:1-6 sanctioning the keeping of mistresses. 

Sure, Genesis has its share of hoot and knee-slappers, but Ezekiel 4:12-15 remains my all-time favorite.  It is the true gullibility test, and anyone who can read past this without feeling like a chump is a chump and deserves losing every dime they hand over to their church.  Contained therein is a unique bread recipe which I strongly recommend the faithful prepare and consume themselves - with double rations for Pastors and Priests.  That's one "shit on a shingle" recipe I'll never try... 

And that's just the Old testament, and barely scratching the surface.  The New one contains plenty of chuckle-material.  Luke 14:26, quoting Jesus directly: ""If any man come unto me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple."   Later on, Jesus contradicts himself in Matthew 15:4, "...He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death."  So either way, you're fucked.  Another possibility could be that the authors of Luke and Matthew had no idea what Jesus really said, and were only repeating what someone said what Jesus might have said.  Since not a single book was written during Jesus' lifetime, there is no compelling reason to believe a word of it. 

What no pastor or priest or imam or religious person of any kind will admit is that they honestly have no idea what their god wants everyone to do.  They're specialized salespeople, and I must admit their scam is a pretty good one: they peddle their superstitious pap ad infinitum, and the suckers push and shove one another to get it first.  No true believer can say that they've honestly studied each and every word of their holy canons - there's no way anyone could have sincere belief in a god who instructs them to eat shit-bread, keep a harem, and hate their parents.  If the bible is evidence for the truth of Christianity, then it's completely unconvincing.  It's a difficult read, and any helpful advice is overshadowed by ridiculous (and sometimes outright stupid) suggestions.  I can find little use for the writings of 2000 year-old goatherders and astrology-believers other than as an example of how unhelpful and impractical religions are to modern life.

Towards any god - Zeus, Apollo, Jehovah, whomever - I have absolutely no feelings, neither good nor ill.  I find their followers, almost as a rule, damn near intolerable much of the time. 

http://tinyurl.com/daqqn" title="http://tinyurl.com/daqqn" target="_blank"http://tinyurl.com/daqqn

This tragic story concludes with bittersweet irony: a newborn baby makes her entrance to the world as her mother makes her departure.  It's not just a story, it's someone else's life for christsakes... and maybe they should have kept it private but for whatever reason it's in the public domain.  From the above link:

Susan Torres, a 26-year-old researcher at the National Institutes of Health, lost consciousness from a stroke May 7 after aggressive melanoma spread to her brain.

Her husband, Jason Torres, said doctors told him his wife's brain functions had stopped.

Jason Torres quit his job to be by his wife's side, and last month her fetus passed the 24th week of development -- the earliest point at which doctors felt the baby would have a reasonable chance to survive, the brother-in-law said.

A Web site to help raise money for the family's mounting medical bills had received about $400,000 in donations from around the world as of two weeks ago, Justin Torres said. The family said it must pay tens of thousands of dollars each week that insurance does not cover.

Torres was about seven months' pregnant when the child was delivered. Doctors had hoped to hold off on delivering the child until 32 weeks' gestation. A full-term pregnancy is about 40 weeks.

------------------------- ------------------------- ------------------------- ------------------

Well, now what happens for Susan Torres?  The baby is no longer an issue, and now we have the mother.  She has metastatic melanoma, having succumbed to a stroke caused by the disease, and whatever treatment that could be offered for her is almost certainly futile.

But that's not the point - Terri Schiavo's condition was similarly futile, but that didn't stop an army of the self-righteous from descending upon Terri's deathbed to wave placards and bedsheets stenciled with their pleas and their insults in what could charitably be described as a media circus.  Not a single one of the protesters outside the Pinellas Park hospice honestly gave a shit how Terri, described by her family as "shy,"  might honestly think about having her brain-damaged image appearing in countless media outlets all over the world, or how she might feel about the horrible things they said about her husband Michael.  All those people thought they knew better than anyone else involved in the case but the terrible thing is the media covered this moron shitmonkey show as if their fringe opinions mattered and deserved massive airplay it got.  It didn't, and the public deserved better than that. 

But I'm asking for some consistency here.  Just because this woman has a caring, loving, devoted husband doesn't mean that the zealous Schiavo-frea k crowd can't find some reasons to loathe him.  Why aren't they demanding that everything be done to preserve Susan's life?  After all, nothing is being done to make sure she lives.  Ways to keep her alive are readily available, so those cretins who thought they knew better than Michael Schiavo need to break out the colored markers and posterboard, and get Randall Terry on the phone, chop-chop!  Demand Susan be given every chemotherapy, radiation therapy, every possible cancer surgery - why not go for alternative therapies and experimental therapies as long as you're making unreasonable demands?  Come on, all of you "life is precious" dipshits, ever so certain of your god's clear instructions: why aren't you shrieking for this woman's right to live?  Why can't you irrational fucks ever be morally consistent, just once? 

Jason Torres has my deepest sympathies - it's bad enough he has to go through this, but to endure what he's facing in the public eye is unthinkably stressful.  I honestly hope none of those freaks bother him, but there's bound to be one or two who follow their moral code strictly and interpret hospice care as near-murder...   Hospital security should deal with anyone stupid enough to try interfering, and I hope the treatment is rough.  Anyone who bothers someone experiencing tragedy deserves to be beaten severely (are you listening, Reverend Phelps?http://www.godhatesfags.com" title="http://www.godhatesfags.com" target="_blank"http://www.godhatesfags.com )

Wherever the creeps who picketed the Woodside ho spice have slithered away to is unimportant - they're from all around, and their numbers were exaggerated by the camera angles.  Poll after poll showed that overwhelmingly, the American public sided with Michael Schiavo.  A very loud minority somehow managed to use the court system to delay the removal of Terri's feeding tube, and then tried to use the system to re-insert the feeding tube after its removal.  

Religious extremists aren't interested in compromise.  They won't meet you halfway, or waste time seeking common ground.  What they want is for their religious beliefs to be made into law.  Anyone who has read the bible knows it is a terrible basis for both law and punishment.  The punishments given by the bible run contrary to the American concept of "cruel and unusual," and the whole idea contradicts "...mak(ing) no law respecting the establishment of a religion" in the first place.  Religious fundamentalists, no matter of which stripe - Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Jew, Scientologist - are utterly un-American in their ideas and in their wants.  They'd happily censor "immoral" books and movies, ignoring the First Amendment whenever their panties got a knot in them - and that's just one of too many un-American things they'd do if only given the chance. 

Interfering with the lawful business between a husband and wife is un-American.  Call it what it is, and call them what they are.  The next event, whatever tragedy that gets unfortunately exploi ted by religious loonies, I won't hesitate to say that they're Un-American pieces of shit.  In the interest of accuracy, it's the right thing to do. 

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005- 08-02-bush-firm-stem-cell s_x.htm" title="http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005- 08-02-bush-firm-stem-cell s_x.htm" target="_blank"http://www.usatoday.com/news/...

Excerpted from the above article found at USA Today:

Bush firm on limiting stem cell research