Another story from the "No Shit, Sherlock" file is this lovely article.     

  James/Jeff Guckert/Gannon, gay male prostitute and former White House correspondent given near-unfettered access to the President, is seen on the left at a pro-war/pro-death/to hell with the troops-let 'em rot in Iraq rally held as a counterpoint to the anti-war rally held this past Friday.  According to the police (who always report a lower-than-actually-happe ned turnout) approximately 100,000 anti-war demonstrators showed up; my sources put the number at between 300,000 - 500,000.  Those marching with the prostitute-cum-journalist (cough) numbered - at most - 400.  That's all - just four hundred fuzzy little shitheads is all the whiz-kids at FreeRepublic could manage.  Say: isn't Gannon/Guckert acquiring quite the paunch?  He won't be able to charge the full $1200 for a weekend if he keeps packing on the pounds.  Maybe Pat Robertson's Magic Weight Loss Milkshakes would do the trick!  Someone should write ol' Jeffy a note and let him know - the last I heard, he could be reached at HotMilitaryStud.com (or some such address) since Talon News went belly-up.  If that doesn't work, perhaps leaving a message at the White House switchboard might...

   "Liberal media" my balls.  Had Clinton entertained a gay male prostitute in the White House, the media would have beat him with it like an unwanted stepchild. 

   In case there were any doubts about the Bush administration being irreparably corrupt, this bit of news should dispel them completely.  Michael Brown, the former chief of a horse club and FEMA (in sequential order), has been re-hired as a consultant for the organization he was clearly unfit to run.  There is no way possible to be cynical enough these days...  Incompetence, endemic cronyism, and hubris: practically a list of ingredients for bringing down a once-great country, and none of these are in short supply today. 

   Pat Robertson, an obscenely wealthy religious dingbat with his own television network who recently called for President Hugo Chavez' assassination, now has his own diet shake business.  See what I mean about the "you can't be too cynical these days" bit?  It's not enough that he makes money hand over fist as a religious flim-flammer (and later, in the illicit "blood diamond" trade in Africa ), now Pat wants to help you shed those unwanted pounds with his "age-defying" magic milkshake.  It's a natural move for a bullshit peddler: in between selling tickets to the Invisible Sky Palace, pushing cellulite-melting shakes to his lard-assed followers makes perfect sense. 

   In the "no shit, Sherlock" file, I located this doozy: religious beliefs are positively correlated with rising murder rates, increasing numbers of abortions, elevated sexual promiscuity, and suicide.  According to this study, done at a Catholic (!) university, belief and worship are associated with the above negative attributes, dispelling the oft-repeated "religion is necessary for a healthy society" maxim.  As I've repeated over and over, religion is unnecessary to have good morals and to live a good life.  Since ridding myself of religion, I've been a much happier person.  My secret suspicion is that people like Pat Robertson are closet atheists themselves, and they're only in this business because it beats real work. 

   Near the place where Frank Little was murdered in Montana, a massive ecological nightmare resides called the Berkeley Pit.  This pit, a leftover from the copper mining heydays of the Anaconda Mining Company when open-pit mining was a preferred technique, filled with acidic groundwater over the years.  Copper, arsenic and other toxic metals leached into the pit as well.  An excellent film about Frank Little, the Anaconda Mining Company, and the Berkeley Pit called An Injury to One tells the story better than I could describe - if you get the chance to see the movie, don't pass it up (I caught it on Sundance Channel a few months ago) 

   Our president asked for donations from Americans to help rebuild Iraq has netted a grand total of (drumroll, please): six hundred bucks.  So much for the majority of the U.S. being steadfast supporters of the war.  Asked to open up their wallets and dig deep, only $600 was collected.  It'd be funny, were there not so much carnage and destruction.

   Thirty-four days - I can hack it.

   Scarcely ten minutes ago, I shooed away the bank's appraiser who had been going room to room in my house taking digital photos and scribbling notes onto a goldenrod notepad.  He was a portly gent, with a shiny bald patch covering the better part of his head and bifocals perched on the tip of his bulbous nose, and he wanted to make idle banter with me.  It was probably the better alternative to venturing out into the Hurricane Rita-generated rainstorm, but I wasn't interested.  "If that'll be all," I stated bluntly while motioning towards the front door, "I have some errands to run."  He blinked furiously, as though I had woken him from a mid-morning nap, shook my hand while wishing me good-day and finally left.  Since this was the last time I'd have to suffer a stranger poring over my private life, I saw no reason to prolong it with unnecessary small talk.  I put on the tea kettle and rolled a joint with the remainder of the hydro bud left over from last night's smoke-out session.  It was supposed to be a Silver Haze hybrid, but its density and acrid odor betrayed its mostly indica heritage. 

   I needed a good buzz in order to deal with the customer service department at the insurer who had just cancelled our hurricane insurance policy.  After successfully navigating a touch-tone menu almost certainly designed to discourage technophobes and the impatient, ten (or maybe twenty?)  minutes of hold time awaited; an endlessly-looping recording of elevator music played, interrupted by an annoying nasal-toned woman's voice insisting that "...your call is very important to us; please continue holding."  Finally, a human voice at the other end explained that our insurer was "reducing its overall exposure."  Eh?  What's that mean, I asked.  It seems that this hurricane season was just too much for these clowns, and they'd rather cancel the policies of customers like me - who've never filed a claim and always paid their premiums on time, every time - than assume the associated risk.  It's been almost a hundred years since the Tampa Bay area has taken a direct hit, and almost no one remembers what that was like.  Back then, there was little development and only a fraction of today's population.  Being on the West side of the State makes it difficult for those angry swirling storms to hit us.  But no matter - now, we have no coverage and just under three weeks to sweat it out before this becomes Someone Else's Problem. 

   This is among the other bullshit I'll not be missing anytime soon.  Insurance companies in this State are only loosely-regulated, treated with kid gloves by the law.  Since living here, we've gone through a different insurer almost every year - they collect their premiums and then they split.  They're among the most risk-averse sissies on two legs, the sort of whiny dweebs you'd never want to take gambling.  But no matter - sixteen, seventeen days from now, and this will be only an unpleasant memory.  What are the odds another hurricane will plow through?  I'd rather not consider it. 

   Every now and again, WingNut Daily shits out a column so laughably ridiculous that I can't resist the impulse to point at it and heap upon it the scorn it so richly deserves.  Lifted from today's article:

There's nothing rational about it. It's a visceral hatred and rebellion by people who can't live within the parameters of their Creator.

So they deny He exists.

How can one seriously deny God exists?

Let's say you come across a beautiful, gold watch. Do you consider that this timepiece possibly was the result of a series of random circumstances and came together over billions of years by chance?

No. No one in their right mind would consider that a possibility.

If you walk through the woods come across a building, do you consider the possibility that it came together naturally with no intervention by any creator?

No. None in their right mind would consider that possibility.

Yet there are people - lots of them - who look at our world and see no Creator.

There are people - lots of them - who look at man and see no Creator.

There are people - lots of them - who look at the Bible, the inspired, inerrant Word of God, and conclude that it is the work of man.

People see what they want to see, and don't see what they don't want to see.

Why is it that we recognize buildings had builders and watches had watchmakers, but we don't all recognize that much more sophisticated creations had a Creator?

Because some people - many people - don't want to face the truth. They don't want to recognize they are accountable to someone other than themselves. They don't want to recognize they are in denial. They don't want to recognize they are lawbreakers. They don't want to recognize they are in a state of sin that will damn them for eternity.

  Some days, the news is so weird that the paperboy drops off the morning edition without looking me in the eye and who can blame him?  Scarcely days apart, our Governor's son got himself locked up in a Texas hoosegow on public intoxication and resisting arrest charges, and a very recently-resigned senior White House official was swept up in the scandalous Abramoff fiasco.  A copy of young Jebby Jr.'s arrest report can be viewed here .  In the meantime, our dear leader's poll numbers show his popularity circling the drain, so to speak. 

   I cringe when that approach gets used on me because it means proselytisation is just around the corner, and the implication that my lack of belief is less than sincere.  If religion and theism work for you, then that's great.  Credo consolans roughly translates to "I believe (because it) comforts" and roughly approximates the depth of the religious beliefs I used to (but no longer) have.  Modern life is often frightening, and believing that an all-powerful being overlooks each and every aspect of your life might be a comforting - if not creepily voyeuristic - thought for some people. 

   Only after long and careful deliberation did I conclude that I lacked belief in gods.  Being raised in a religious household, it was difficult and often painfully disturbing to examine these beliefs critically and honestly.  Throughout my religious education and upbringing, I was taught - repeatedly - that the absolute worst sin of all was to deny the existence of God, and only after getting far past that taboo did it become clear to me that this boundary was put in place and continually reinforced to prevent me from honestly questioning the "gospel truth."  The unanswerable questions came forth in a torrent: how is it that Zeus and Odin are false, yet the Christian god is real?  If it is omnipotent and can do anything, then why hasn't it ever spoken to me?  Why did it allow the Holocaust, the Khmer Rouge, and countless other atrocities to occur?  If the Adam & Eve story is nothing but a fable, then what about Original Sin?  And on & on & on...   The imaginary constructs came crashing down, all at once.  For me, God wasn't merely dead - he never existed, and never could have existed in the first place. 

   Letting go of beliefs like those is liberating but painful all at once.  It was not unlike the way I felt as a kid when it dawned on me that it was my parents, not Santa Claus, leaving presents under the tree on Christmas.  When I tried passing along this knowledge, I encountered stubbornly-resistant kids my age who'd refuse to acknowledge "Santa isn't real" as truth; some of them nearly became violent, and some stopped being friends with me.  It's pretty much the same today - not too many people enjoy spending time with others who don't share their religious beliefs, and even fewer will spend time with the openly atheistic.  I'd wager that most would get offended hearing their religious beliefs compared to belief in Santa Claus.  Most Santa-believers would be likewise offended at the comparison, I'm sure. 

   Maybe someday, it was suggested to me recently, I'd embrace religion again and (to paraphrase my far too-religious brother) "get things right with the Lord."  Such a suggestion is offensive to me because it suggests that I'm less than sincere about not believing in all things religious.  Putting the shoe on the other foot: maybe someday you, as a theist, will come to your senses and realize that atheism is the only rational way to live.  Offended?  You should be.   No one likes being told - or having it suggested, implied, or bluntly stated - that their lifestyle or beliefs are "wrong" and that they should follow the "right" path.  My life is satisfying and full and exciting just the way it is, and I see absolutely no reason to change.  I'm happy being me and finding my own way. I prefer using my own intellect and my own moral code.   

  What a beautiful, comforting insignia - just what any citizen suffering from a catastrophic natural disaster wants to see right after watching their homes fill with noxious polluted water and their neighbours drown.  It could have been lifted from an SS standard-bearer's flag...

  Once the buyer's bank appraises our house, the sale is all but a done deal.  The closing takes place at the midpoint of next month.  We're contracturally bound to sell the house to the buyer, and he's likewise bound to buy at the mutually agreed-upon price - my realtor has given us assurances on the latter part, despite my nagging sense that last-minute haggling will take place regardless.  No matter: less than a week elapsed from listing to a concrete offer to buy, and I have absolutely no doubt that we'd have even the slightest bit of trouble finding another one in a similarly short amount of time.  Previously, when the buyer's realtor tried making us budge over our selling terms by threatening to withdraw the offer, we said "fine" and "good luck."  Before lunchtime, we had an apology and assurances that such game-playing would not occur again.  I'd prefer not to sell to a rich guy who's just buying this place as a gift for his spoiled son - if I had my dithers, I'd sell only to someone with kids.  Alas.

   On an unrelated note, I again restate my assertion that - outside of the bible - no evidence supporting the existence of Jesus Christ exists.  Were such proof available, we'd never hear the end of it.  Examples of beliefs and myths from religions/cults bearing uncanny resemblance to those seen in Christianity are either discounted as irrelevant or ignored altogether.  Not that it should matter to believers since they're supposed to base their religion upon faith instead of reason - although it's clear why comparative religion classes aren't as popular as they should be.

  The note reads:   "I think I may need a bathroom break? (sic) Is this possible?"  The author - the President; the recipient - Condi Rice.

   Written by the guy who's supposed to be in charge.

    Just when I think I'm too cynical for my own good, something occurs to remind me that it's impossible to be cynical enough.

   Nothing in Biology makes sense except when seen with the light of Evolution  &nbs p;  - Theodosius Dobzhansky, Geneticist & Evolutionary Biologist

   The Daily Show with Jon Stewart is covering the "controversy" (in name only) of evolution this week in a series they're calling "Evolution, Schmevolution."  While they're poking fun at both "sides" (science vs. Creationism), there is no raging debate in the scientific community regarding the veracity of evolution because no contradictory evidence exists while there is an abundance of evidence supporting evolution. 

   It is ridiculous that there is any ongoing discussion at all about evolution in this country, which is supposed to be a scientific giant in the world.  Cranks like the ones at the Discovery Institute (misnomer personified) have given rise to the mistaken idea that "theory" is synonymous with "wild-assed guess" when nothing could be further from the truth.  Their alternative, Intelligent Design, is a far cry from a scientific theory: there is absolutely no supporting evidence for ID, ergo ID is not a theory.  No tests confirming ID exist.  Intelligent Design is an unnecessarily verbose and obtuse way of saying "God Dunnit." 

   My distillation of the evidence supporting evolution:

     1.  The fossil record: a temporal order of taxa, with many examples of transitional species from ancestral to derived forms (although far from complete, explained by the relative rarity of the conditions which permit fossilization to occur).

     2.  Structures which make no sense in terms of functional design: vestigial structures (e.g. - the vermiform appendix and coccyx in humans), pseudogenes, non-coding DNA, synonymous base pair substitutions, features which appear briefly during embryonic development.

     3.  Characters shared by disparate organisms: mitochondria, chloroplasts, homeobox genes, the universality of DNA and RNA coding, L-amino acids alone incorporated into proteins.

     4.  Phenomena predicted and explained by evolution: coevolutionary "arms races" between antagonistic species (predator vs. prey, parasite vs. host), mimicry, harmful interactions between members of the same species (e.g. - siblicide, infanticide), transposable elements ("selfish genes")

     5.  The causes of evolution being documented by experiment and observation: genetic drift, isolation and gene flow, artificial selection.

   This is hardly an exhaustive list, and a better educated biologist could compile a far better and more persuasive series of arguments than the ones given here.   There are literally entire bookshelves in libraries devoted solely to the subject, and go into far more detail than I am capable.  My four year degree in Biology doesn't make me an authority on evolution, but it does give me an appreciation of its workings not shared by the average person.  At every step along the way, in every class, evolution played a vital role in explaining the two most important questions a scientist must ask:  (1) What am I seeing?  and (2) Why am I seeing it? 

   It  ;frustrates me that far too many people haven't moved past the Scopes Monkey trial yet, and it's frightening to consider that a well-funded effort to get the myths of the Book of Genesis into public school science class is underway.  Creationism should have been left to die and rot on history's scrapheap a long time ago.  Proponents of this ridiculous movement make this country an international laughingstock.

   Rush Limbaugh, a braying loon for the radical right, said about Cindy Sheehan - a Gold Star Mother whose son, Casey, was killed in action in Iraq -

   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.

   Limbaugh spewed this verbal diarrhea back on 15 August, and I wrote about it five days later.  You can listen to Limbaugh saying the above paragraph in his own words through this Media Matters link using QuickTime.

   Exactly as one would expect a man devoid of conscience or ethics, Limbaugh now denies ever saying that bit about Cindy Sheehan.  He has had the quote removed from his website and insists he was misquoted, or that he's the victim of a liberal smear campaign and that his Sheehan quote is an out-and-out fabricated lie. 

   In addition to having an Oxycontin habit of such magnitude that it would shame the average pill-freak, Limbaugh is a pussy afraid of taking responsibility for his own words.  How anyone claiming to have a speck of self-respect could admire that creep escapes explanations.

   Unreported in U.S. media, this story should have been a source of national outrage and disgust.  Emergency officals in New Orleans confirmed its veracity, although I'd like nothing more than for this story to be proven untrue.

    Doctors at an unnamed hospital, upon understanding that rescuers and evacuation assistance would not be forthcoming, were forced to make the unconscionable choice to euthanize some of their patients.  Although these were the sickest of the sick, most of them all but certain to die within days if not sooner and the majority having "Do Not Resuscitate" orders, their healthcare providers gave them lethal overdoses of morphine to hasten their demise.  They saved the patients deemed healthy enough to survive, and euthanized the ones too sick.

    Those interviewed by the Telegraph (also reported by the Daily Mail) gave their accounts only under the condition of anonymity.  Euthanasia is (not surprisingly) illegal in Lousiana, and doubtless some overweening prosecutor would see to it personally that those responsible would lose their professional licenses at the very least, possibly even insisting on imprisonment.

    In the event either myself or someone I love is terminally ill with a degenerative and painful disease, I'd want euthanasia available as an option for my family to decide.  At no time, however, should a healthcare provider be put into the position of having to decide whether to apply euthanasia for a patient.  I strongly believe that only the patient him/herself and their loved ones should get to decide when to euthanize.

    Things like this aren't supposed to happen in the United States.  It's surreal considering that it did happen, and it happened here.  It should be a national shame, were it reported here.   

Undoubtedly much to the chagrin of fundamentalists and the superstitious, Michael Newdow won yet another court case challenging the Constitutionality of the Pledge of Allegiance.  His previous case where he sued on behalf of his non-custodial daughter was thrown out by the Supreme Court, which determined he had no standing to sue.  Not this time - this time, he is acting as legal cousel for three unnamed families.  Watch for the religious kooks to use this as a rallying cry to the faithful to send in cash by the bucketful, completely ignorning the history behind the Pledge.

Originally composed by Francis Bellamy (an avowed Socialist) in 1892, the Pledge was first published in a children's magazine.  The "under God" part wasn't added to the Pledge until 1954 during the McCarthy "Red Scare" Era, one of the more embarrassing and shameful parts of American history.  The reasoning at the time was that all atheists must also be communists, ergo forcing schoolchildren to recite the magic words "one nation, under God" would eradicate this distasteful political philosophy. 

Newdow is absolutely 100% right, and that's why he won his case.  The Supremes were cowards not to consider the case on its merits, choosing to dismiss it on a technicality.  Making schoolkids acknowledge a deity was wrong in 1954 and it's wrong in 2005 - it'd be just as wrong to make them say "one nation under NO gods," not that religious dingbats can understand it. 

So good going, Newdow.  Keep fighting, and keep on winning.

  No, not the short story collection penned by Salman Rushdie that led to a fatwa issued by a less-than-amused Ayatollah Khomeni.  I'm referring to the actual verses later removed from the Koran when it was "discovered" they were inspired by none other than the pitchfork-wielding red suit-wearing arch badguy Satan.  The story goes something like this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Satanic_Vers es" title="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Satanic_Vers es" target="_blank"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... Mohammed really, really wanted to make Islam appealing to the inhabitants of the city of Mecca.  One day, Satan tricked Mohammed into amending a Koranic verse which, after a bit of infernal editing, ended up incorporating three popular Meccan goddesses into his otherwise monotheistic religion.  Have you thought of al-Lat and al-'Uzza and Manat the third, the other (pre-edit) These are the exalted Gharaniq, whose intercession is approved (added post-edit).  After the including the mention of their three favourite goddesses, the citizens of Mecca now had a more accepting view of Mohammed and his new religion.  Later, the angel Gabriel informed Mohammed of this most grievous error and (so the story goes) the Satanic bits were expeditiously removed.

   It's a silly story, but Muslim scholars become understandably incensed at the mere mention of it (just ask Mr. Rushdie) since it begs the question "are there other parts of the Koran that Satan tricked Mohammed into writing?"  Well, as an atheist, that's not the first question that comes to my mind - for me, it's obvious that the inclusion of these goddesses (provided this story has basis in fact) was done to bring the Meccans into the fold and, quite possibly, to save Mohammed's and his followers' asses.  Prior to their conversion, the people of Mecca were openly hostile to Mo & his posse.  Giving a nod and a wink to the three pagan goddesses was preferable to, let's say, death and utter rejection. 

   That young Muslims memorize the entire book while head-bobbing like mental patients gives me a serious case of the creeps.  That as recently as 1989 a death warrant was issued just because someone alluded to a silly story about the devil tricking its author into inserting bits about polytheism is positively horrifying.   You'd think that if the all-powerful being was so insulted, he'd do something about it himself: having to rely on earth-bound followers to carry out his will seems less than omnipotent.

   The sooner inhabitants of the Earth come to understand that their invisible sky-buddies exist only in their imaginations, the better off everyone will be.  Whatever useful purpose religion served, it's no longer needed.   

With grateful acknowledgement to W.C. Barwell, taken from alt.atheism:

IS THERE A GOD?
Strong Atheism's answer.

A BASIC DEFINITION OF GOD.

The general overarching definition of god as per
the major religions of the world is:

A. God is personal, God has will and conciousness.
B. God has free will.
C. God is the creator of all.
D. God is omnipotent.
E. God is omnibenevolent.
F. God is omniscient.
G. God is that which nothing more powerful
   can be imagined.
  
These are the basic attributes that can be claimed for
the god of orthodox Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and
Hinduism.

Omnibenevolence and omniscience are actually logically
derivable from the claimed attribute of omnipotence and
so aren't not truely independent attributes, and may be
considered special aspects of omnipotence.

There are other attributes of god, that he is the only
such god, that he is is immortal and that god has always
existed that are not important for this discussion and for
now, can be ignored. They are secondary arguments and in
no way are foundational or truely necessary, except those
that can be logically derived from the attributes listed
above.
 
A CLASS OF GODS

It is important to note here that this is a definition
not for a particular god, but an entire class of gods.
Sub-theories about god are not important here.  Christianity
claims one may attain salvation only through Jesus, Islam
claims the Christian dogma that Jesus was the son of god is
blasphemous. Ideas like this though, are of little importance
to the overarching and general claims made for a personal,
creator, omni-everything god.  I have coined a term,
The Grand God of Grand Theologies for this sort of god.
Grand theologies are those theologies that have adopted this
class of god as their basic attributes concerning the nature
of god. But it is important to remember here that what is
being discussed here is a class of gods, not particular gods.

THE FOUR GREAT THEOLOGICAL TRADITIONS

Again, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism hold
to this basic Grand God and are typical Grand Theologies
holding to this basic class of god as their basic
definitions of what god is at god's most basic level.

A big problem with this class of gods is, it collapses
rather easily into internal self contradiction.

THE PROBLEM OF EVIL.

The problem of evil was first written down by Epicurus
in about the third century BCE.

Today's formulation is:
A.  God is defined as omnipotent;
B.  and as omnibenevolent.
C.  Evil exists.
D.  God therefore, is not omnipotent as claimed.
E.  Or God is not omnibenevolent as claimed.
F.  Or god is neither omnipotent or omnibenevolent.
G.  Or god is not existant.

THE FREE WILL DEFENSE

The free will defense of the problem of evil goes back
to St. Augustine who popularized it.  It is still popular,
and is championed most notably today by Alvin Plantinga.

God gave man free will.  Man freely chooses to do evil.
Ability to do evil is less evil than lacking free will.

THE FREE WILL DEFENSE DEBUNKED.

God has free will.
God is omnibenevolent, he has a good nature incapable
 of doing evil.
 
A. If god can have free will, and a good nature, this good
   nature is not allowed to cound againts god's free will.
B. Nor is god's lack of ability to do evil
   allowed to count against god's omnipotence.
C. Likewise, man could easily have a god like
   free will and a god like good nature.
D. Inabilty then to do evil would no more count against
   man's free will than it does for god's free will.
E. If so, it also counts against god's free will and god
   does not have free will as claimed.
F. If god does not have absolute and total free will, thus
   free will is not a true necessity at all.
F. If god is omnipotent and omnibenevolent, and can give
   man a god like free will and a god like good nature
   incapable of moral evil, god must do so or god is not
   moral, not omnibenevolent.
G. Evil exists because he allows it to.

So free will does not exist, or it does and we can have
a god like free will and a god like good nature.
Either way, free will cannot explain away the existance
of evil. This free will defense then, is a failed argument.

OMNISCIENCE VERSUS CREATORHOOD OF GOD

God is defined as creator of all in most religions.
And god is claimed to be omniscient, all knowing.
 
A.  God created the Universe and all in it.
B.  God is omniscient, all knowing, he knows all in
    the Universe and he knows the future of the Universe
    and its contents.
C.  If god creates a Universe, he will know that in 13 billion
    years this Universe will have a man named John Smith in it.
D.  If John Smith is good and saved, or evil and damned, God
    will know that.
E.  As he knows that the Universe in its present state will
    have a John Smith, god may then contemplate the future state
    of Smith and decide if he will tolerate an evil Smith.
F.  If yes, Smith will be evil only because of a specific personal
    and will choice made solely by god.
G.  If Smith is evil, then evil exists solely because of a choice
    made by god. In fact all moral evil done by creations of god
    will be evil and do evil only because of personal and willful
    creations of god allowing evil acts to be done, by direct
    decision of god.
H.  If evil exists in a world with an omniscient creator god, it is
    solely and only because god allows evil.
I.  If evil exists solely because of personal choices of god, god
    then is not as defined, omnibenevolent.
J.  Man and any other sentient being in such a Universe cannot have
    any free will, not even in principle. A Universe with a god
    that creates all and knows all precludes free will for all
    beings god creates in the strongest possible manner.
   
    The Grand God of Grand
    Theology is thus self destroying, it is incoherent
    and contradictory as a theory.
   
THE SITUATION SO FAR.

1.  A minimalistic class of gods is defined, this Grand God,
    has been defined here with as few terms as possible. 
2.  The problem of evil dooms such a claimed god.
3.  The attempted defence, free will is fatally flawed.
    God's good nature and free will doom claims free
    will makes evil necessary for man to have free will.
4.  Omniscience and creatorhood of god further doom claims of
    god's omnibenevolence and man's free will  Free will cannot
    exist for man. All evil is the direct and knowing creation
    of god contradicting claims of omnibenevolence.
5.  Since Free will for man is totally impossible, free will
    cannot be a good quality, much less neccesary.
   
Here, the Grand God of Grand Theology has collapsed. As has Grand
Theology. As pointed out, this destroys the claims and viability
of an entire class of possible gods, all secondary and tertiary
claims for such a god of this class also fail, as do dogmas or
secondary claims.

If a these Grand Gods cannot exist as defined, specific gods
cannot, nor can claims such as this or that Grand God sent this
or that relevation to man or some prophet.

1.

   - End of List -

   Disappointment - in a word, how I felt right after learning how someone I had looked up to had taken a cheap shot at Fahrenheit 9/11.   Penn Jillette, co-host of Bullshit! on Showtime, did so in an interview he gave to my local newspaper promoting his own film The Aristocrats.  He hoped out loud that March of the Penguins would overtake F9/11 as the top-grossing documentary, describing the former as a "..movie based on love" and the latter as one "based on hate."

   That's his opinion, and so what?  I don't expect those I admire to think exactly as I do.  Maybe he didn't see the same film I did; maybe he honestly believes that the war in Iraq is a noble undertaking worth the loss of life and limb our military personnel continue to suffer two years hence.  Whatever his problem with Michael Moore or his film, I can only wonder.  Describing F9/11 as "based on hate" truly perplexed me: I re-screened the movie twice and looked closely for this hate.  Contempt, I found.  Total disrespect for a man occupying a post he clearly does not deserve - that was present as well.  Righteous anger was palpably obvious.  But hate?  Nope.  Hate makes no attempt to hide itself - were the film truly inspired by hate, then there would be unnecessarily cruel and baseless attacks upon its subject.  F9/11 is painstakingly documented, and I found only one occasion where Moore might have crossed the line (playing the opening riffs to the instantly recognizable song Cocaine when discussing Dubya's failure to take a TANG drug test) but even that is debatable. 

   Since reading that interview, I've been troubled by Penn's barb and by the goofy penguin documentary itself.  Too many self-identified "conservatives" (who, curiously enough, don't believe in conservation) have thrown their weight behind Penguins, including the netkooks at World Net Daily (q.v.)  And then I read this at the New York Times http://tinyurl.com/837h3" title="http://tinyurl.com/837h3" target="_blank"http://tinyurl.com/837h3 :  

http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=3838714&" title="http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=3838714&" target="_blank"http://www.wistv.com/Global/s...;nav=0RaPeQEJ

So that's that - Brownie handed in his name badge, cleaned out his desk and set off for greener pastures.

It's about goddamn time, the lying piece of crap...

Too bad no one actually qualified for the job will get it.  Some loyal bootlicker will either get promoted or appointed to the position, and the American people will be no better served as a consequence.

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0 " title="http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0 " target="_blank"http://www.time.com/time/nati...,8599,1103003,00.html

   Michael "Brownie" Brown clearly lied on his resume.  Apologists might argue that he "stretched the truth" or maybe told a "little white lie" here and there, making light of the plain facts before them.  There's no getting around it - he deliberately misstated his qualifications and experience, and that alone should be reason enough to tender his resignation.  His bungled handling of Hurricane Katrina's aftermath only strengthens the argument that Brown never should have held the #1 position at FEMA in the first place.

   When George O'Leary was found to have lied on his resume, he immediately resigned his position as head football coach at the University of Notre Dame and gave public apologies on behalf of his now-embarrassed former employer for having sullied their integrity.  http://www.cnnsi.com/football/college/news /2001/12/14/oleary_notred ame/" title="http://www.cnnsi.com/football/college/news /2001/12/14/oleary_notred ame/" target="_blank"http://www.cnnsi.com/football...  There is no such classiness seen in Michael Brown or in his superiors.  Rather than demand he clean out his desk, Brown was simply relieved of his command and made to return to Washington.  No one, it seems, will take responsibility for FEMA's delayed and inadequate response: insisting those in charge take responsibility when things go awry is now called "playing the blame game" or "playing politics."  

   Meanwhile, http://www.sundayherald.com/51690" title="http://www.sundayherald.com/51690" target="_blank"http://www.sundayherald.com/5... political appointees-turned-lobbyis ts continue to rake in taxpayer-funded cash by the wheelbarrowfull and the world turns foolishly on.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/articl e/2005/09/09/AR2005090901 930.html" title="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/articl e/2005/09/09/AR2005090901 930.html" target="_blank"http://www.washingtonpost.com...

   Some lawmakers are still struggling to find the sympathetic but diligent tone that a disaster such as Hurricane Katrina -- and the lagging government response to its victims -- would seem to call for.

   The latest elected official to step into the swamp was Rep. Richard H. Baker, a 10-term Republican from Baton Rouge. The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that he was overheard telling lobbyists: "We finally cleaned up public housing in New Orleans. We couldn't do it, but God did."

    Taken from Rep. Baker's site:http://baker.house.gov/html/news_item.cfm?id=463" title="http://baker.house.gov/html/news_item.cfm?id=463" target="_blank"http://baker.house.gov/html/n...  “Today I am taken aback and perturbed by a comment wrongly attributed to me. For almost two decades I have fought for New Orleans public housing residents, touring Desire and other housing residences many times, conducting field hearings, and requesting HUD Inspector General investigations over the poor conditions. One of those inquiries concluded that the housing authority in New Orleans squandered hundreds of millions of dollars and that the families were forced to live in substandard, indecent conditions, and led to an actual takeover of the housing authority by federal authorities. With that as background, what I remember expressing, in a private conversation with a housing advocate and member of my staff, was that ‘we have been trying for decades to clean up New Orleans public housing to provide decent housing for residents, and now it looks like God is finally making us do it.’"

http://tinyurl.com/8frso" title="http://tinyurl.com/8frso" target="_blank"http://tinyurl.com/8frso

"I am no fan of Mr. Cheney because of several reasons," Marble wrote. "For those who don't know, Mr. Cheney is infamous for telling Senator [Pat] Leahy 'go fu** yourself' on the Senate floor. Also, I am not happy about the fact that thousands have died due to the slow action of FEMA, not to even mention the wrong war in the wrong place at the wrong time, i.e. Iraq."

So Marble, who was wearing an old Mr. T "I Pity Da Fool" t-shirt since he was sifting through the wreckage, asked a couple of police officers if he and a friend could walk down to Cheney. They told him Cheney was "looking forward” to talking to “the locals.”

"So we grabbed my Canon digital rebel and my Sony videocamera and started walking down the street," Marble wrote. "And then right in front of the destroyed tennis court I used to play on Dick Cheney was giving a pep rally, talking to the press. The Secret Service guys patted us down and waved the wands over us, and then let us pass."

As he stood about 10 feet away from Cheney and his friend and some camera operators from CNN and other media filmed the scene, Marble suddenly yelled, "Go fuck yourself, Mr. Cheney! Go fuck yourself, you asshole!"

Hey, at least Marble was polite. After all, he referred to Cheney as “Mr. Cheney.”

"I had no intention of harming anyone but merely wanted to echo Mr. Cheney's infamous words back at him," Marble wrote. "At that moment, I noticed the Secret Service guys with a panic-stricken look on their faces, like they were about to tackle me, so I calmly walked away back to my former house."

His friend videotaped a little bit longer and then came back to Marble’s house. As they were salvaging a few things from Marble's home, two military police waving M-16's showed up and said they were looking
for someone who fit Marble's description who had cursed at Cheney.

"I told them I was probably the person they were looking for, and so they put me in handcuffs and 'detained' me for about 20 minutes or so," Marble wrote. "My right thumb went numb because the cuffs were on so tight, but they were fairly courteous and eventually released me after getting all my contact info. They said I had NOT broken any laws so I was free to go."

(snip)

   The actual videotape shot by Dr. Marble's friend is for sale here http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&" title="http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&" target="_blank"http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayIS...;item=7712354660&rd=1 &sspagename=STRK%3AME SE%3AIT&rd=1    E-Bay has pulled it a couple of times, and at last viewing the bidding had reached just under $300 (if memory serves). 

   Despite losing so many things and then getting roughed up by the goon squad, it must have felt good to be able to tell Cheney to fuck himself to his face.  Maybe you have to be on the Senate floor not to get handcuffed by M-16 toting swine.  Clicking on the above link reveals an e-mail address which I used to send him a brief message of support.  

   "Sometimes, the proper intellectual argument is FUCK YOU!"  -- Abbie Hoffman  (paraphrased)

http://tinyurl.com/awv3q" title="http://tinyurl.com/awv3q" target="_blank"http://tinyurl.com/awv3q

Five of eight top Federal Emergency Management Agency officials came to their posts with virtually no experience in handling disasters and now lead an agency whose ranks of seasoned crisis managers have thinned dramatically since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

FEMA's top three leaders -- Director Michael D. Brown, Chief of Staff Patrick J. Rhode and Deputy Chief of Staff Brooks D. Altshuler -- arrived with ties to President Bush's 2000 campaign or to the White House advance operation, according to the agency. Two other senior operational jobs are filled by a former Republican lieutenant governor of Nebraska and a U.S. Chamber of Commerce official who was once a political operative.

(snip)

     This kind of incompetence is absolutely indefensible.  Getting your friends and bootlickers comfy jobs is one thing, but putting them in charge of agencies responsible for handling mass casualties and catastrophic disasters is inexcusable.  Michael "Drownie" Brown couldn't handle a horse-judging club, let alone being the chief of FEMA.  No one, except a deaf-dumb-blind partisan loyalist, could read the above story and find nothing wrong. 

     Along with starting an unnecessary war that directly and indirectly led to making America less safe, if this isn't an impeachable offense, then nothing is.  Why there aren't throngs of torch-bearing angry masses filling the streets and demanding the heads of those responsible, I haven't a clue.  The collective bullshit threshhold hasn't been breached yet, I suppose, and whatever bu mbling misstep it is that finally pushes the populace over the brink is too horrible for me to consider. 

   My bullshit threshhold reached its limit long ago.   

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/page1/3346041" title="http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/page1/3346041" target="_blank"http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/s... 

(snip)

While on the tour of a shelter with top administration officials from Washington, including U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao and U.S. Treasury Secretary John W. Snow, DeLay stopped to chat with three young boys resting on cots.

The congressman likened their stay to being at camp and asked, ``Now tell me the truth boys, is this kind of fun?''

http://money.cnn.com/2005/09/08/news/econo my/katrina_wages.reut/" title="http://money.cnn.com/2005/09/08/news/econo my/katrina_wages.reut/" target="_blank"http://money.cnn.com/2005/09/...

   Hurricane devastation is no reason to take time off from union-busting.  After all, isn't $9 per hour too high of a wage?  Think of the stockholders and the CEOs, and how they'd be affected were laborers paid the prevailing wage - that's $360 per week, per laborer.  The same arguments are used against the minimum wage, and they're just as lame.

   A guy who has never had to do physical work for a living thinks $9 an hour is extravagant.  Un-fucking-believable...

   One more example of compassionate conservatism in action. 

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/12585 180.htm" title="http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/12585 180.htm" target="_blank"http://www.miami.com/mld/miam...

NEW ORLEANS - The Port of New Orleans, one of the five busiest in the nation, is out of commission, and that threatens a mushrooming crisis for many U.S. industries.

  Farmers in the Midwest depend on it to ship their wheat, corn, soybeans and other grains. The Mississippi River links to the Ohio, the Illinois and the Missouri rivers, and manufacturers from across the Midwest depend on vast fleets of inland river barges to carry chemicals, steel, rubber and other cargoes to world export through New Orleans.

  Before Katrina, about 60 percent of the nation's exports of raw grains floated down the Mississippi, but Katrina brought the grain trade to a near halt. Grain elevator operators had been holding inventory for months because of low world prices. Now, as the approaching harvest season for corn and soybeans creates increased demand for empty storage silos, a grain-export crisis looms.

(SNIP)

   So, in addition to causing vast human suffering and widespread property damage, the failure to shore up and reinforce the New Orleans levee system will lead to crises far beyond the immediately affected areas.  Funds which would have been used for the purpose of levee reinforcement went instead to pay for the Iraq war, an unnecessary war of choice.

    Thus far http://icasualties.org/oif/" title="http://icasualties.org/oif/" target="_blank"http://icasualties.org/oif/, this war has cost the U.S. 1895 dead military personnel, 14265 wounded, approaching $200 Billion, and the port of New Orleans.  Maybe, some partisan loyalist might argue, reinforcing the levees wouldn't have helped at all.  Maybe, indeed - a moot point, since it's already clear the results of  not reinforcing the levees.  Operating a major port is impossible without the surrounding city, and that has far-reaching effects.  As the article above points out, 60% of exported grains travelled via the Mississippi and the hurricane aftermath has brought that traffic to a halt.  Grains had been stockpiled due to low prices, but now the port is closed and there's no way to get the grain to market - and the storage currently occupied by grain is needed for other crops. 

   At the time, cutting the New Orleans levee maintenance budget may have seemed like a good idea to people accustomed to ignoring the pleas of experts who warned of the damage a hurricane making landfall in that area.  The same people who brought us "Iraqis will greet our troops as liberators" bring us this disaster.  Compassionate conservatism in action.

  In other news, http://tinyurl.com/9taqs" title="http://tinyurl.com/9taqs" target="_blank"http://tinyurl.com/9taqs Tom DeLay has his tits in a wringer.  Texans for a Republican Majority, an un-democratic sounding PAC spawned from DeLay's twisted mind has been indicted by a grand jury for accepting illegal corporate donations.  DeLay hasn't been indicted himself - yet -but he is said to be "cooperating" with the grand jury investigation.   How much longer, Tom?  How long until you make the perp walk in jailhouse orange scrubs?

   May you live in interesting times - a Chinese curse.

   These times are far too interesting for my tastes.  I'd like a little boredom, please.

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9248064/" title="http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9248064/" target="_blank"http://msnbc.msn.com/id/92480... Mexico sends first ever aid convoy to U.S.

Updated: 10:28 a.m. ET Sept. 8, 2005

LAREDO, Texas [AP]- A Mexican army convoy crossed into the United
States on Thursday to bring aid to hurricane victims, becoming the
first Mexican military unit to operate on U.S. soil since 1846.

The 45-vehicle convoy was carrying water treatment plants and mobile
kitchens to San Antonio, where the soldiers apparently planned to feed
and provide other help for evacuees from the New Orleans area.

The first green trucks, with Mexican flags attached to the sides,
crossed the international bridge at Laredo at about 8:15 a.m.

    & nbsp; (SNIP)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4227974.stm" title="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4227974.stm" target="_blank"http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/am...

   Separation of Church & State, my balls!  Prayers did nothing to prevent the hurricane, or to minimize the damage it caused, or to save a single life (human or otherwise).  Ten prayers or ten million prayers won't make the slightest bit of difference - people talking to imaginary friends has never solved a single problem, ever. 

   If this idea were kept in churches - where it belongs - I'd have no qualms whatsoever.  But it's not - the fucking president announced it on live T.V., and that demonstrates official bias towards religion.  There is no secular equivalent - no "National No-Prayer Day."  It is a slap in the face of non-believers, which is likely its intent.  The respect non-believers are expected to show towards the religious is far, far from mutual in this country. 

http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_3004197" title="http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_3004197" target="_blank"http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci...

   "They've got people here who are search-and-rescue certified, paramedics, haz-mat certified," said a Texas firefighter. "We're sitting in here having a sexual-harassment class while there are still [victims] in Louisiana who haven't been contacted yet." 

   Firefighters say they want to brave the heat, the debris-littered roads, the poisonous cottonmouth snakes and fire ants and travel into pockets of Louisiana where many people have yet to receive emergency aid.
    But as specific orders began arriving to the firefighters in Atlanta, a team of 50 Monday morning quickly was ushered onto a flight headed for Louisiana. The crew's first assignment: to stand beside President Bush as he tours devastated areas.    (SNIP)

If you read "World Net Daily" and think that it's a reliable source of factual information, then you really should know something: everyone else is laughing at you. 

World Nut Daily - or Wing Nut Daily, if you prefer - is a well-known depository of outrageous utter bullshit and haven for cranks and crackpots.  Discrediting them is far too easy.  Joseph Farah, who runs the damn site, is a King Loon http://atheism.about.com/b/a/134683.htm" title="http://atheism.about.com/b/a/134683.htm" target="_blank"http://atheism.about.com/b/a/... who has earned all the scorn and ridicule amply heaped upon him.  For starters:  "The primary reason I believe [in creationism], of course, is because the Bible tells me so. That's good enough for me, because I haven't found the Bible to be wrong about anything else."  And that's far from the craziest thing Farah has said - he goes much further down the path to kookiness than that.  Googling "Farah Kook Quotes" http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&" title="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&" target="_blank"http://www.google.com/search?...;q=Farah+Kook+Quotes gets 407 hits, and even the goons at Free Republic join in on the dogpile.

Just knowing someone links to Wing Nut Daily makes them a kook until proven otherwise, in my judgement.

http://makeashorterlink.com/?V6DF32DBB" title="http://makeashorterlink.com/?V6DF32DBB" target="_blank"http://makeashorterlink.com/?...

In a segment at the top of the show on the surge of
evacuees to the Texas city, Barbara Bush said: "Almost
everyone I’ve talked to says we're going to move to
Houston."

Then she added: "What I’m hearing which is sort of
scary is they all want to stay in Texas. Everyone is
so overwhelmed by the hospitality.

"And so many of the people in the arena here, you
know, were underprivileged anyway, so this--this (she
chuckles slightly) is working very well for them."

(Emphasis mine)

Is my judgement off here, or is Barbara Bush an asshole of megalithic proportions?  It's a misattribution (supposedly), but similar remarks from a similar priveledged bitch are supposed to have led to the French Revolution.  The more things change, the more they stay the same.

http://www.thecrimson.com/today/article508401.html" title="http://www.thecrimson.com/today/article508401.html" target="_blank"http://www.thecrimson.com/tod...

Bush Nominates Roberts for Chief Justice

By ADAM M. GUREN
Crimson Staff Writer

President George W. Bush nominated John G. Roberts Jr. ’76 to be the 17th Chief Justice of the United States Monday. If the Senate confirms him, Roberts will become the first graduate of Harvard College or Harvard Law School (HLS) to serve as chief justice.

An alleged quote:

"I fear the opposition to Justice Owen from the abortion lobby is not at all about abortion rights, because abortion rights are not affected by a mere notice statute. The opposition to Justice Owen is not really about abortion rights, it is about abortion profits. Simply put, the abortion industry is opposed to parental notice laws because parental notice laws place a hurdle between them and the profits from the abortion clients--not the girls who come to them but the adult men who pay for these abortions. These adult men, whose average age rises the younger the girl is, are eager not to be disclosed to parents, sometimes living down the street. . . . At nearly one million abortions per year, the abortion industry is as big as any corporate interest that lobbies in Washington. They not only ignore the rights of parents, they also protect sexual offenders and statutory rapists." - Orrin Hatch (R)-Utah

    My mistake, upon reading this quote, was assuming that the guy who had posted it on his blog did so to point out how bugfuck crazy Orrin Hatch has become.  Seriously - what sane person would claim that some shado wy cabal of trenchcoat-wearing perverts and for-profit abortion industry reps are responsible for thwarting parental notification laws?

     Military service can do that to a person, you know.  Practically every moment spent in uniform, Republicanism is preached round-the-clock by nearly everyone of superior rank.  From the first drill instructor encountered, recruits are given steady, heavy doses of Republican propaganda and are all but ordered to vote a straight Republican ticket. 

    & nbsp;So I can understand how someone could, given enough programming, buy into bullshit l ike the kind Orrin spews with such regularity.  Letting someone else do your thinking for you is easy, especially when there are so many pre-formatted opinions reduced to simplistic and easy-to-swallow bites.  Finding your own sense of self takes work and time, and not everyone is up to that challenge.  Not everyone can deprogram themselves and develop their own bullshit filter.  Cognitive dissonance is tough to overcome.

     Orrin's weird take on parental notification laws gave me the distinct impression that he had been huffing some diethyl ether (or that he was overcompensating for some bizarre skeletons in his closet - too awful to consider).  Parents aren't routinely notified of their minor childrens' abortions in some (but not all) States because of medical privacy laws.  Strange as it sounds, a minor is considered an adult once pregnant (in my State, anyway) but only with regards to decisions made about their pregnancy.  Only a small, unimaginitive mind could fail to envision cases in which parental notification would be foolish or even dangerous. 

     In a perfect world, every pregnancy would be a happy occasion and children would never get pregnant.  Our world is far from perfect, but I'll wager that an unholy alliance of pederasts and greedy abortionists aren't to blame for parental notification laws being struck down.  Not that this matters much, seeing how the rightwing religious nutballs in this country are hell-bent on making abortion illegal under every conceivable (pun intended) circumstance.  Abortions will still take place, of course, only under far less hygenic conditions and at higher risk of complications.

    & nbsp;I looked high and low for attribution for this Orrin quote and found none.  It could be a total fabrication, for all I know, but it sounds goofy and bizarre enough to be real.  Compared to some of the crazier shit I've seen from religious nuts, that quote seems tame.  I can understand why he wouldn't want that one printed in the mainstream press, if it is real.  I have my doubts.

     In other news, Iran converted some of their yellowcake uranium into about seven tons of uranium hexafluoride gas http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/nat ion/12557592.htm" title="http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/nat ion/12557592.htm" target="_blank"http://www.thestate.com/mld/t... .  UF₆ can be centrifuged and made into enriched uranium; coincidentally, I'm sure, about seven tons are needed to make a single nuclear bomb.  Iraq looks like it's becoming West Iran, or at least an undistinguishable Islamic theocracy. http://www.journalstandard.com/articles/2005/08/30/o pinion/opinion01.txt" title="http://www.journalstandard.com/articles/2005/08/30/o pinion/opinion01.txt" target="_blank"http://www.journalstandard.co... 

     Yep - things are most definitely seriously fucked up right now.  Last I checked, one US dollar gets you $1.19 Canadian and the rates are only worsening.  Madness.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/02/katrina .response/index.html" title="http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/02/katrina .response/index.html" target="_blank"http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09...

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- Diverging views of a crumbling New Orleans emerged Thursday, with statements by some federal officials in contradiction with grittier, more desperate views from the streets. By late Friday response to those stranded in the city was more visible.

"Diverging views" is a polite way to say "somebody's lying."  In this case, the liars are easy to identify - they're the ones who have consistently described rosier conditions than actually exist.  Listening to FEMA chief Michael "Brownie" Brown tell it, things are just peachy - the hospitals are nearly completely evacuated, everyone has plenty of food and water, there are no bloated and rotten corpses on the streets, and no civil unrest exists.  It reminds me of a Richard Pryor routine: who are you going to believe - me or your lying eyes?

Ideology trumps facts, science, and even common sense here. 

If you haven't already, please donate generously to reputable relief organizations.  http://www.redcross.org" title="http://www.redcross.org" target="_blank"http://www.redcross.org is a excellent choice doing immeasurably valuable work in the affected areas.

Moments ago, CNN correspondent and Cheney look-alike Bill Schneider ass-kissed his way through an uncharacteristically-scat hing assessment of the inadequate federal response at the unfolding human tragedy in New Orleans by anchor Daryn Kagan.  The president, holding a briefing in a Mobile, AL hangar with helicopters and their crew posing as backdrops, took time to congratulate "Brownie" (better known as FEMA director Michael Brown) for the (paraphrasing here) wonderful job he has done and is doing.  Following a round of applause and the president excusing himself from the cameras, Kagan was aghast by the cheery and upbeat commentary and said so.  Schneider blathered on about the "leadership" and "courage" the president has demonstrated.

Meanwhile, back in reality  , headlines like "New Orleans Dissolves into Despair, Lawlessness" abound.  At present count, over 1600 stories with similar dire themes ;tab=wn&ncl=http://khon.com/khon/displayS...%3FstoryID%3D6890 are the norm, along with descriptors within the stories like "bloated corpses," "thwarted rescues," and "widespread lawlessness."  So, way to go, Brownie. 

And then, news like this emerges http://www.politicalaffairs.net/article/articleview/1 777/1/32/" title="http://www.politicalaffairs.net/article/articleview/1 777/1/32/" target="_blank"http://www.politicalaffairs.n... , where it is reported that federal funding for levee maintenance and repairs were cut by as much as 80% - after being damaged by the 2004 hurricane season - in order to pay for the invasion and occupation of Iraq.  Once more, a concrete example of how this unnecessary war has made the U.S. less safe is demonstrated.

The damage has already been done.  Pointing fingers and assigning blame, the scolding ones will say, is just playing politics with tragedy.  No one has accepted responsibility yet for not taking actions which could have mitigated and minimized the harm.  Even New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin has taken to pleading for help on the airwaves in between lashing out at the lack of response. `I keep hearing `it's coming.' I say to that, B.S. Where is the beef?,'' Nagin said yesterday on CNN http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=1000008 7&" title="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=1000008 7&" target="_blank"http://www.bloomberg.com/apps...;sid=awu6DLv3ZhQE&ref er=top_world_news

Among the organizations recommended by the American Atheists http://www.atheists.org/" title="http://www.atheists.org/" target="_blank"http://www.atheists.org/ for Hurricane Katrina relief :

http://www.handsonhumanity.org/" title="http://www.handsonhumanity.org/" target="_blank"http://www.handsonhumanity.or...  http://www.redcross.org/" title="http://www.redcross.org/" target="_blank"http://www.redcross.org/  http://www.hsus.org/" title="http://www.hsus.org/" target="_blank"http://www.hsus.org/

Please give generously, but make certain the charity/charities to whom you donate are legit.  There are way too many bottom-feeders who'd gladly use this tragedy as an excuse to scam a buck.

Hannity & Colmes News Flash: The Reason For Looting In New Orleans Is Not Enough "God" In School

Sean Hannity asked Franklin Graham tonight why "on the one hand" some people have risked their lives to help the hurricane victims while "on the other side, we have looting, shooting, rape and mayhem."

Graham answered, "Of course, Sean, this happens in a country when we have taken God out of our schools and God out of our society. We don't have a moral standard and we need to put God back into our schools."
http://www.newshounds.us/2005/09/01/hannity_col mes_news_flash_the_reason _for_looting_in_new_orlea ns_is_not_enough_god_in_s chool.php" title="http://www.newshounds.us/2005/09/01/hannity_col mes_news_flash_the_reason _for_looting_in_new_orlea ns_is_not_enough_god_in_s chool.php" target="_blank"http://www.newshounds.us/2005...

Of course!  That's the explanation for the widespread looting - not hunger, thirst, or abject poverty, or mob dynamics.  Had these misguided souls been forced to recite prayers in school, there'd be no looting.  It's so simple!  Which kinds of prayers would have been most useful as looting prophylaxes - something from the Baghavad-Gita, or the Koran? 

Whenever a simplistic solution is offered to a complex, multifaceted problem, odds are that it came from someone in the god-business.  That Billy Grahams' offspring uttered this stupidity doesn't surprise me at all; it wouldn't be out of character in the slightest had he blamed homosexuals for inciting God's wrath in his next breath.

What does continue to surprise me is that people keep sending their money to cretins and hucksters like the Graham family. 

    Positively prophetic. 

From the Scientology watchers of alt.religion.scientology:

 A SPECIAL MESSAGE FROM:
 
 TOM AND KATHY STEINER, BATON ROUGE MISSION
 
    By now you have undoubtedly heard  about the cataclysmic natural disaster that has struck the city of New Orleans and nearby Gulf  States. This hurricane is among the largest natural disasters to hit   the US in our lifetime. The devastating effects, at this moment in time, are unknown, as while I am writing this, it is not possible to get into some of the areas of New Orleans that have been flooded, to  assess the damage and loss of life.
 
   It is safe to assume that the damage is horrendous. Having just  experienced Hurricane Katrina, I can tell you everything you have read  in the newspapers or on the internet doesn't even come close to the  reality of the full impact.

    Tom and I along with the Mission Holder Lafayette and all staff are organizing up a huge VM Relief Effort to get some much needed help to  the peoples of this area. Much of New Orleans and the highways into the area are completely flooded, with water reaching up to and above the rooftops of houses. Right now, people are being rescued by boat.

    There are 9,000 people taking refuge in the Superdome, as well as in many other shelters throughout the area. Thousands have no electricity, air conditioning and are running out of useable (sic) restrooms, food, fresh water and all of the day to day items we take for granted that make (sic) life easier.
 
    We have VMs coming from New York, Nashville, Tampa, Chicago, Charlotte, Los Angeles, Orlando, Atlanta and the list is growing.. The Scientology Disaster Response Team is forming in Louisiana! But this is not enough. We need your help.

   What we need from you is the  following.$75,000 to mobilize the VMs and start supplying help to the people..500 VMs now., Way To Happiness Booklets, Assist Booklets, and Solutions to a Dangerous Environment Booklets . We need thousands of these ( ½ million of each).

(What is this nonsense?)
(Assists)
 http://www.scientologyhandbook.org/sh6_4.htm" title="http://www.scientologyhandbook.org/sh6_4.htm" target="_blank"http://www.scientologyhandboo...
(Dangerous Environment)
 http://www.scientologyhandbook.org/sh6_4.htm" title="http://www.scientologyhandbook.org/sh6_4.htm" target="_blank"http://www.scientologyhandboo...
(Way to Happiness)
 http://www.whatisscientology.org/Html/Part10/Chp31/pg0 534-a.html" title="http://www.whatisscientology.org/Html/Part10/Chp31/pg0 534-a.html" target="_blank"http://www.whatisscientology.... 

 I know I can depend on you to help  with this effort.This is a very real situation. We need your help and together we will seize the day..

 Love,

 Tom and Cathy Steiner


 The first VM staging area will be in Louisiana at the Baton Rouge Mission. If you can help in any way in this relief effort, please contact Aenetta Apodaca, VM I/C West US at 323-953-3340.


 Dawn Chaban
 CSDR Los Angeles Area Coordinator
 (323) 377 - 6689

............................

As if another example were needed, once more the futility of prayer is demonstrated.  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/articl e/2005/09/01/AR2005090100 153.html" title="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/articl e/2005/09/01/AR2005090100 153.html" target="_blank"http://www.washingtonpost.com...  Prayer did nothing to stop the hurricane, yet these poor devastated fools believe their sky daddy will ease their sufferings with the proper supplication.  Either the great invisible space pixie was unwilling or unable to help- or, more sensibly, no space pixie existed in the first place.  It's sad and maddeningly frustrating all at once to see fellow humans still embracing bronze-age myths in the 21st century.  

And then there are these assholes... http://www.repentamerica.com/pr_hurricanekatrina.html" title="http://www.repentamerica.com/pr_hurricanekatrina.html" target="_blank"http://www.repentamerica.com/...

HURRICANE KATRINA DESTROYS NEW ORLEANS
DAYS BEFORE "SOUTHERN DECADENCE" 8/31/05

PHILADELPHIA - Just days before "Southern Decadence", an annual homosexual celebration attracting tens of thousands of people to the French Quarters section of New Orleans, Hurricane Katrina destroys the city.

"Southern Decadence" has a history of filling the French Quarters section of the city with drunken homosexuals engaging in sex acts in the public streets and bars. Last year, a local pastor sent video footage of sex acts being performed in front of police to the mayor, city council, and the media. City officials simply ignored the footage and continued to welcome and praise the weeklong celebration as being an "exciting event". However, Hurricane Katrina has put an end to the annual celebration of sin.

On the official "Southern Decadence" website (www.SouthernDecadence.com), it states that the annual event brought in "125,000 revelers" to New Orleans last year, increasing by thousands each year, and up from "over 50,000 revelers" in 1997. This years 34th annual "Southern Decadence" was set for Wednesday, August 31, 2005 through Monday, September 5, 2005, but due to massive flooding and the
damage left by the hurricane, Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco has ordered everyone to evacuate the city.

That's Christian love for you. 

"Oh, but those aren't true Christians."

Uh-huh.  Listen closely - are those...bagpipes I hear?  http://atheism.about.com/od/logicalfallacies/a /notruescotsman.htm" title="http://atheism.about.com/od/logicalfallacies/a /notruescotsman.htm" target="_blank"http://atheism.about.com/od/l...

They're just as Christian as the across-the-street neighbours who throw roofing nails in my driveway.  They're as Christian as Fred Phelps http://www.godhatesfags.com" title="http://www.godhatesfags.com" target="_blank"http://www.godhatesfags.com and who-knows-how-many kooks and dingbats of every size and shape imaginable. 

Have fun with the Dominionists http://www.yuricareport.com/Dominionism/Directory RiseOfDominionismInAmeric a.html" title="http://www.yuricareport.com/Dominionism/Directory RiseOfDominionismInAmeric a.html" target="_blank"http://www.yuricareport.com/D...    They just can't seem to keep their superstitions to themselves...