British Prime Minister Tony Blair starts coming down from his really bad trip, maaaan, that he got from that bad acid he got from George Bush, man.
Unfortunately for what's left of American foreign pol . . . . Wait! There's NOTHING left of American foreign policy!
Well, what the hell, then! Tony Blair started to get straight in an interview with David Frost, acknowledging the Iraq war was a "disaster."
ON AL JAZEERA!HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHA!!!!!!!
That's RICH!
Let's pick up the story from the Daily Mail in London:
In his frankest admission about the war to date, Mr Blair admitted that Western forces have been powerless to stop the descent into violence.
The Prime Minister stopped short of accepting the blame for plunging Iraq to the brink of civil war -- blaming instead the insurgent uprising that has killed 125 British troops. But his admission in an interview with the Arab new channel Al Jazeera will be seen as an historic climbdown for Mr Blair, who has always fought to put a positive gloss on often disastrous events.
Challenged by veteran interviewer Sir David Frost that the Western invasion of Iraq has "so far been pretty much of a disaster", Mr Blair said: "It has." His words were last night seen as an olive branch to other states in the Middle East and his critics at home.
But critics will be angered that Mr Blair still refused to take the blame for the failed planning for the aftermath of the war, which has seen rival Sunni and Shia Muslim militias take control of the streets.
The Prime Minister went on: "You see what I say to people is why is it difficult in Iraq? It's not difficult because of some accident in planning, it's difficult because there's a deliberate strategy - al Qaeda with Sunni insurgents on one hand, Iranian-backed elements with Shia militias on the other -- to create a situation in which the will of the majority for peace is displaced by the will of the minority for war."
In the quest to produce a hybrid creature neither dog lovers nor cat fanciers will like, some Brazilian folk say their pets have found love and brought into the world the first known dats. Or would they be cogs?
I have no idea. But I lean toward "dats," myself. If the genetic tests pan out, that is. Read the Reuters story about the alleged conception and birth of the animal kingdom's first self-loathing member here.
Cassia Aparecida de Souza, 18, said her cat Mimi had given birth to the three puppies as well as three kittens, which did not survive. And she, her husband Rogerio Jorge da Silva, 26, and several others in the town believe a neighborhood mutt named Dog is the father of Mimi’s pups. When news of the spectacular claim spread in the Brazilian media, some local newspapers accused the poor couple, who are expecting their first child in a few months, of fraud and said they were simply trying to make money off a hoax. “I feel indignant at such accusations,” da Silva said. Pacheco said he was asked by a local newspaper to conduct the chromosome test, which should yield results on Tuesday. “It’s not uncommon for mammals to nurse young from another species. The cat gave birth in a field and she likely inherited the puppies from a nearby female dog who had recently given birth,” he said.
Michael Spencer (a.k.a. The Internet Monk) has some really, really important observations about American Christianity, as opposed to Jesus Christianity:
It’s impossible to know and talk with these Chinese students without catching their conviction in the superiority of their communist culture. As something of a student of Asian history, I understand how our Chinese students differ from other Asians in their cultural interactions with others. They do have a historical conviction of the superiority of their culture, and they see little need to demonstrate that to outsiders. To the Chinese, there is little doubt that their culture will be proven to be superior to all others.
Further, it is impossible to know these students without seeing that the Chinese communist revolution -- with all its many, many failures and evils -- is producing a generation of young people who have remarkable values, ethics, loyalty and devotion to their culture. I see little evidence in these students of much for a resistance movement to work with.
All of these students are atheists, and none are familiar with Christianity, but when we do talk about the area of core beliefs, they are quick to witness to the influence of their families and their country. They want to return to China and live for the benefit of their families and country. They are endlessly grateful to their country and, unlike some internationals, have no reluctance to say where they want to return and live.
I’ve concluded that Mao may have been a poor communist, but he was a brilliant Confucian. Our Chinese students demonstrate so many of the virtues of Confucius, and are clearly bemused at what they see in our American culture. No longer are they in awe of the capitalism of our country. Our students come from strongly capitalistic areas. (I took one student to a sub shop, and he said the sandwich was good, but far too expensive.) They want to make major contributions to their society and to find materialistic success, but they are not enamored with the vices and immaturities of their peers in the declining youth culture of America.
In many ways, these Chinese students are a revelation of American decline and a preview of future Chinese cultural success. China may not be our military equal, and their government may be repressive, but the products of a culture are an indication of where things are going. These 8 Chinese students will not go to college and run up credit cards, wreck the car, stay drunk, fail classes and waste their time. They will soon be engineers, pilots, doctors and scientists; leaders in their field.
And I doubt, very seriously, that they will be Christians. Not because I haven’t tried to live, teach and preach the Gospel. I have, and will continue to do so as will all of the Christians on our campus.
I doubt they will become Christians because they are seeing American Christianity, and it’s far more American than Christian. They’ve helped me to see my own cultural religion, and it’s been a disturbing revelation.
When they attend chapel, they frequently hear moralistic preaching. Their own Confucian and Maoist culture gives them morals and moralism, and produces a far more moral person than their typical American peer. They hear sermons on being a good person, staying off drugs, not having sex and staying in school. They were doing all this when they came here and will do it when they leave.
They see American Christians without a Bible most of the time. We have few spiritual disciplines and are hungry and thirsty for the things our culture values more than the gifts and callings of Christ. They hear us talk about Jesus, but the Jesus we talk about is not compelling enough to cause us to live truly sacrificial or revolutionary lives. I’ve noticed this with other Asians as well. When they hear us talking about our religion, they expect to see the same holiness and devotion they see in Buddhist monks, but in American Christians they simply see another American, with a slightly different set of consumer interests. Same American. Different t-shirt slogan. Our spirituality is clearly inferior.
There are 2,852 Americans just freakin' ecstatic, I am confident, to be dead so their countrymen might have the right to dress like pimps and hos in camo, then drink themselves silly. I am sure their loved ones are thrilled about this as well.
We're proud of the men and women who have risked their lives to protect our American freedoms. The right to free speech, to vote, to bear arms -- and get naughty!
Dress in your sexiest military gear (camouflage is always hot) for the military bash at Naughty Lounge, 10730 Pacific St.
The club has dubbed every Thursday as military appreciation night with happy-hour specials until closing. Cover is $3. A military ID gets you in the door for free.
For more information, call the club at 614-3407.
Nothing good comes of a licentious society defended by a neo-Hessian military (commanded by King George, no less). If more of those in their "sexiest military gear" were dodging AK-47 rounds and IEDs as part of a conscript military -- instead of driving their SUVs to the Naughty Lounge to unleash their inner Lynndie Englands -- they might find more compelling reasons for getting blown to Kingdom Come than the right to "get naughty."
Not to mention that American politicians might be far less careless with lives far more likely to be those of brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews . . . and children.
And the budding barflies -- with many family members (and potentially themselves) at risk for becoming yet another insurgent's ticket out of a Middle Eastern dung heap and into a virgin-stocked Paradise -- might be propelled toward at least the tiniest twinge of guilt at how cavalier be their debauchery.
In this case, the rancor surrounding the video of soldiers in Iraq duct-taping a female comrade to a post slams right into an address by Bishop William Skylstad to his brother prelates at a meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
In an opening address, the leader of America’s Roman Catholic bishops called his colleagues to fight against a coarseness that he said was infecting the church and society at large, and to unite in promoting human dignity through faith.
captainlaredo (4 hours ago) All those of you who think this video is "disturbing" and "could escalate into something else quickly" need to get your heads out of your asses. It's people like you that outlaw Tag and Touch Football in schools. Why don't you do the world a favor and off yourselves?
Bishop William Skylstad said “debasing personal attacks” have replaced healthy public debate, and that popular culture and the news media have degraded human dignity with violence and vulgar depictions of sex.
CasaNegraEnt (2 hours ago) Don't think for a minute they didn't gangbang her after this.
“There is a mocking reduction of sexuality, debasing it from God’s beautiful gift of creation to little more than casual chemistry and inconsequential recreation,” said Skylstad, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. “Sometimes it seems that people are no longer seen as children of God but as little more than a disposable commodity.”
metr0man (6 hours ago) PS - I bet that woman would be a fun lay, seems like she might be into some kinky stuff.
Skylstad, of Spokane, Wash., said he has also detected a cruelty in discussions within the church, among people who “presume the worst of intentions or motivations of others.”
Jupiter1tx (6 hours ago) obviously for some of you liberal SCUMBAGS out thereit's not ok for soldiers to have fun sometimes BUTyou sure don't complain when the enemy is having FUN beheading and burning our people, you hypocrites march against Bush and proclaim he is hitler, when is the last time you marched to protest the beheadings by these muslim pigs??? you never have you hypocrite Scumbags
ACCORDING TO THEYouTubedescription: "this is what happens in iraq (sic) when there are no hummers (sic) to fix and your (sic) the only chick in the section...AND the only yankee (sic) in a Louisiana unit! ... "
Flash forward to a military commander's office for the Article 15 hearing:
"Specialist, do you have anything to say for yourself before I pass sentence on you?" "Yes, sir." "Very well." "Well, we was just havin' some fun with that gal, and everbody was laughin' an' havin' us a high ol' time, but then somethin' happened." "And what was that, specialist?" "Bubba put that damn video on YouTube." "Alright, then I order loss of rank and 30 days in the brig. I only wish I could dishonorably discharge such a sorry specimen as yourself after completion of your confinement." "But why 'dat?" "This Army has enough problems without retaining soldiers as bat-$#!+ STUPID as you, son. SERGEANT! Bring in the next Louisiana dumbass for his fair hearing before I look at the video again and find him guilty."
Then again, Bubba (a.k.a. wickedharleyluva) probably didn't think sexual harrassment or blatant hazing could be anything anybody would get exercised about in the least, considering the kinds of shenanigans and/or scoundrels Louisianians haven't thought twice about since, oh . . . 1699. Like oft-elected, oft-indicted Gov. Edwin Edwards, now a guest of the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Bubba was wrong.
Apart from how bad this looks to, say, the world,there's nothing to be worried about, except that it's just this kind of idiotic horseplay that usually A) gets out of hand and B) gets somebody hurt. Like if, suddenly, there were incoming mortar rounds. Or any one of the myriad ways Iraqi insurgents have to kill Americans, not to mention their fellow Iraqis.
And there's the sexual-harassment thing.
Then, there's the niggling little detail that the female soldier is somebody's daughter. If, say, she were MY "Yankee" daughter, those Louisiana soldiers had better pray that an IED got them before I did.
And there's the sexual-harassment thing.
Of course, there's already the "These yahoos have embarrassed the Pentagon" factor. Said the Drudge Report:
A top Pentagon source expressed concern over the video late Sunday.
"Excuse me, I am not laughing," said the official, who asked not to be identified.
And there's the sexual-harassment thing.
OK, we have a "professional military" in lieu of a draft. Here's what "professional" is: You act like a professional, which means if this happened in your average "professional setting" and management found out, Boudreaux, Junior, Tank and Bubba would be looking for new jobs.
If the morons videotaped it and that video got onto YouTube, thus embarrassing the company, the suits upstairs also would make sure Boudreaux, Junior, Tank and Bubba never found any new jobs.
And, frankly, ain't this video just the positive PR needed by a state already at the top of all the bad rankings and at the bottom of all the good ones. Obviously, one of the bottom-feeding rankings is education, what with high-school graduates (Presumably in this case. I mean, in Louisiana, there's a 60-percent chance of that, right?) who don't know the difference between "your" and "you're" or that "Iraq," "Hummers" and "Yankee" are proper nouns and, thus, need to be capitalized.
UPDATE (11/13, 12:09 PM): The description on the video's YouTube page has been changed. I wonder why.
In the UK's Observer Music Monthly (language alert: F-bombs abound), the Scissor Sisters' Jake Shears chats with Sir Elton John about "what it means to be a gay star, just what constitutes a gay sense of humour - and why everyone is welcome in their world. "
Except religious people. They're not welcome in Sir Elton's World. He's absolutely Stalinist on the point, actually:
We should all be together. I've got this really naive idea of what life should be like - it's an idealistic idea but it's completely integrated. We can't keep thinking of gay people as being ostracised; we can't keep thinking of Muslim people as being [ostracised] because of the fundamentalism that occurs in Islam. Muslim people have to do something about speaking up about it. We can't judge a book by its cover.
From my point of view I would ban religion completely, even though there are some wonderful things about it. I love the idea of the teachings of Jesus Christ and the beautiful stories about it, which I loved in Sunday school and I collected all the little stickers and put them in my book. But the reality is that organised religion doesn't seem to work. It turns people into hateful lemmings and it's not really compassionate.
The world is near escalating to World War Three and where are the leaders of each religion? Why aren't they having a conclave; why aren't they coming together? I said this after 9/11 and people thought I was nuts: instead of more violence why isn't there a [meeting of religious leaders]. It's all got to be dialogue - that's the only way. Get everybody from each religion together and say 'Listen, this can't go on. Why do we have all this hatred?'
We are all God's people; we have to get along and the [religious leaders] have to lead the way. If they don't do it, who else is going to do it? They're not going to do it and it's left to musicians or to someone else to deal with it. It's like the peace movement in the Sixties -- musicians got through [to people] by getting out there and doing peace concerts but we don't seem to do them any more. We seem to be doing fundraisers for Africa and everything like that but I think peace is really important. If John Lennon were alive today he'd be leading it with a vengeance.
WE SHOULD ALL BE TOGETHER.Check. All God's people.Check.Religious leaders have to lead the way. Check. Love beautiful stories about teachings of Christ.Check.
And let's ban religion because it turns people into "hateful lemmings."Huh????????????????
OK, let me use the Elton John Logical Thought Process. Here we go . . . hang on, my children:
Elton John is an irrational and hysterical twit. It must be the gay thing. Therefore, homosexual tendencies turn you into irrational and hysterical twits. Gayness reduces one's thought processes to the level of immature 12-year-olds . . . as opposed to normal 12-year-olds. Let's ban homosexuals from our midst because homosexuality makes people stupid and insane.
Ouch. Thinking like Sir Elton makes my brain hurt. I don't know how he does it.
Oh . . . I thought I would show you what a religion-fueled "hateful lemming" who's "not really compassionate" looks like:
Irony is, sometimes, a humongous case of what goes around comes around . . . at the hands of the recipient of Goes Around.
In this case, it is well possible that don't-let-the-Pentagon-door-hit-you-in-the-arse, soon-to-be-ex-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld could be facing war-crimes charges in . . . the German courts.
Just days after his resignation, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is about to face more repercussions for his involvement in the troubled wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. New legal documents, to be filed next week with Germany's top prosecutor, will seek a criminal investigation and prosecution of Rumsfeld, along with Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, former CIA director George Tenet and other senior U.S. civilian and military officers, for their alleged roles in abuses committed at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison and at the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The plaintiffs in the case include 11 Iraqis who were prisoners at Abu Ghraib, as well as Mohammad al-Qahtani, a Saudi held at Guantanamo, whom the U.S. has identified as the so-called "20th hijacker" and a would-be participant in the 9/11 hijackings. As TIME first reported in June 2005, Qahtani underwent a "special interrogation plan," personally approved by Rumsfeld, which the U.S. says produced valuable intelligence. But to obtain it, according to the log of his interrogation and government reports, Qahtani was subjected to forced nudity, sexual humiliation, religious humiliation, prolonged stress positions, sleep deprivation and other controversial interrogation techniques.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs say that one of the witnesses who will testify on their behalf is former Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski, the one-time commander of all U.S. military prisons in Iraq. Karpinski — who the lawyers say will be in Germany next week to publicly address her accusations in the case — has issued a written statement to accompany the legal filing, which says, in part: "It was clear the knowledge and responsibility [for what happened at Abu Ghraib] goes all the way to the top of the chain of command to the Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld."
A spokesperson for the Pentagon told TIME there would be no comment since the case has not yet been filed.
Along with Rumsfeld, Gonzales and Tenet, the other defendants in the case are Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence Stephen Cambone; former assistant attorney general Jay Bybee; former deputy assisant attorney general John Yoo; General Counsel for the Department of Defense William James Haynes II; and David S. Addington, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff. Senior military officers named in the filing are General Ricardo Sanchez, the former top Army official in Iraq; Gen. Geoffrey Miller, the former commander of Guantanamo; senior Iraq commander, Major General Walter Wojdakowski; and Col. Thomas Pappas, the one-time head of military intelligence at Abu Ghraib.
Germany was chosen for the court filing because German law provides "universal jurisdiction" allowing for the prosecution of war crimes and related offenses that take place anywhere in the world. Indeed, a similar, but narrower, legal action was brought in Germany in 2004, which also sought the prosecution of Rumsfeld. The case provoked an angry response from Pentagon, and Rumsfeld himself was reportedly upset. Rumsfeld's spokesman at the time, Lawrence DiRita, called the case a "a big, big problem." U.S. officials made clear the case could adversely impact U.S.-Germany relations, and Rumsfeld indicated he would not attend a major security conference in Munich, where he was scheduled to be the keynote speaker, unless Germany disposed of the case.
The day before the conference, a German prosecutor announced he would not pursue the matter, saying there was no indication that U.S. authorities and courts would not deal with allegations in the complaint.
In bringing the new case, however, the plaintiffs argue that circumstances have changed in two important ways. Rumsfeld's resignation, they say, means that the former Defense Secretary will lose the legal immunity usually accorded high government officials. Moreover, the plaintiffs argue that the German prosecutor's reasoning for rejecting the previous case — that U.S. authorities were dealing with the issue — has been proven wrong.
Late in September, Baton Rouge Magnet High School's two student-run radio stations earned some well-merited attention from Louisiana Public Broadcasting. Here's the story. (Note: Large download; QuickTime needed for playback.)
It was cool to watch the kids having so much fun committing radio. I know the feeling, having been in their shoes at WBRH almost three decades ago.
I well remember what one girl described -- the joy of discovering that what you previously had derided as "old people's music" was pretty good after all. For her, it was her parents' music.
For me, it was my parents' music, and I learned to appreciate it while doing the late-afternoon big-band shift at 'BRH. The only difference is her parents' music . . . would . . . be . . . my . . . music.
Rock, soul, R&B. Old people's music. Old . . . people.
NOW WHEN THE HELL DID THAT HAPPEN!?!?
Seeing those kids, in those studios where I spent so much time back when it was just WBRH-FM, 20 blazing watts at 90.1 on your FM dial -- and when KBRH-AM was still WAIL, a commercial station spinning the rock 'n' roll hits at 1260 AM -- well, it just made me feel good.
And it made me so proud of them that they've achieved what they have at an old school that's been so neglected and is, in places, crumbling around them. Achievement in such a physical environment is no small feat. There really is such a thing as an environment conducive to learning (which Baton Rouge High no longer is), as evidenced by this excerpt from a five-part study released by the Baton Rouge Area Chamber of Commerce in August:
Another aspect of school climate—and a frequently cited determinant of student achievement—is the state of physical facilities. Research shows that higher achievement is associated with newer buildings and overall facility conditions, as is improved health and attendance. In particular, studies show a 5 to 17 percentile point difference between achievement of students in poor buildings and those students in “standard” buildings, even when the socioeconomic status of students is controlled. Quality of facilities has also been linked with improved student behavior, fewer discipline problems, and more positive attitudes and relationships among teachers and students in general. In fact, research has linked the quality of facilities to the ability to retain teachers; in one study, this factor was even more important than teacher compen-sation to their decision to remain in a given school or district.
Of the seven in-school factors reviewed in our research, the quality of physical facilities was the only one where the Baton Rouge area apparently trails its peer regions by a substantial degree. Low investment in facilities appears to be a statewide trend. In fact, the Baton Rouge area fares relatively well when compared to the Louisiana average. For facility maintenance and repair, Louisiana schools spent approximately $133 per student per year, while districts in the Baton Rouge area spent an average of nearly $350. The average in our area is bolstered by high expenditures for facility repairs and maintenance in EBR ($578 per student), compared to only $160 in Livingston and $93 in Ascension. Nevertheless, the average age of facilities in EBR is greater than 40 years, and many lack adequate electrical systems, roofing, HVAC systems, and learning equipment/materials. Even after the most critical facility needs are addressed by ongoing capital improvement programs, approximately $600 million in additional identified needs in EBR must be addressed for facilities to meet official specifications.
The cost of maintenance, repair, and construction for schools throughout the country is rising annually due to higher enrollment, increased technology demands, and aging facilities. Construction and repair is primarily a local responsibility, which can lead to wide variations in funding and costs across school districts. Experts note that districts with low property wealth, numerous competing needs, and debt limitations face particular constraints in raising the necessary resources for improving school facilities.
It's almost enough to make you pull for al Qaida -- almost, I said -- being that Western hypermaterialism has just completed its merger with modern unseriousness . . . nay,modern rank idiocy.
Corporate America, however, eats this Dumb and Dumber crap up with a straight face. It's Screwtape's oldest and best trick -- get idiot humans to debase what is beautiful (in this case, U2's "One") and worship what is ugly . . . or at least what is really, really stupid. This level of mammon worship and corporate moronity is definitely enough to make you understand why there are Marxists in the world. Not that the Marxists have the answer to anything, but you can understand the "why" of it all.
All I can say is if you must do business with a global banking conglomerate, go with Chase.
I couldn't tell you exactly, but it probably has something to do with God loving the Devil, despite everything. At any rate, things will all work out in The End.
Nevertheless, Christians -- particularly pro-lifers -- keep acting like they don't have a clue about why God doesn't just kill the Devil, as they keep trying to outlaw sin. And yet again, it didn't exactly work out, what with the South Dakota abortion-ban referendum going down in Hellfire.
South Dakota voters on Tuesday firmly rejected a law banning nearly all abortions, but supporters of the measure vowed to continue pushing to further restrict abortion in the state.
With 91 percent of the state's precincts reporting, 55 percent opposed the abortion ban while 45 percent supported it.
Tuesday's vote ended a heated campaign that had drawn extensive national attention while dividing the state's medical and religious communities. Campaign spending trying to sway voters totaled nearly $4 million.
The South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families, the group that forced the measure onto the ballot, called the bill's defeat a victory for reproductive rights.
"I think most importantly it sends a strong message to our Legislature," said Kate Looby, South Dakota state director of Planned Parenthood. "South Dakotans have had enough abortion legislation."
Earlier this year, the Legislature overwhelmingly approved the ban. A court battle would have been inevitable had the ban passed, as it was designed to pose a direct challenge to Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion.
As the votes stacked up against the ban Tuesday, abortion opponents vowed not to stop their battle to end abortions.
Republican state Rep. Roger Hunt said it's too early to predict the next steps for the anti-abortion movement in South Dakota but said more restrictions could be proposed.
"We're going to take it a day at a time," Hunt said. "There are a number of things that can be looked at."Hunt said the state's health department is now considering placing specific regulations on abortion clinics in South Dakota. The state's only clinic is Planned Parenthood in Sioux Falls.
"I saw a copy of that a few weeks ago," Hunt said of the potential regulations.Campaign manager Leslee Unruh said the Vote Yes for Life on Six campaign succeeded in changing the rhetoric in the anti-abortion movement by emphasizing that "abortion hurts women." She said she expects similar campaigns against abortion to take place in states including West Virginia and Texas.
"They're never going to win, and we're never going to quit," Unruh said. "Women are being heard all over this nation and it started here in South Dakota."
Now, all of you Christian political activists out there, tell me again how America is really pro-life, and how it's just them mean old nasty Democrat judges that's holding back all us sanctified folk from saving every endangered child in the womb?
Listen, y'all. You couldn't even outlaw abortion in SOUTH DAKOTA, for Norma McCorvey's sake. What, pray tell, does that tell you about how "pro-life" the rest of the country is?
Of course, some sin -- like intentionally killing children in the womb, for example -- ought to be against the law. Unfortunately, abortion isn't against the law because, under our small-R republican system, Americans are OK with a woman having the right to decide her child must die.
I know you've had delusions this is not the case. But it is, and I hope South Dakotans have disabused you of that fatuous notion.
So, in selling your souls to the political right -- a bunch whose true passion is Mammon, not maternity -- so "we can get the judges," so "we can outlaw partial-birth abortion," so "we can get that Human Life Amendment passed" . . . well, haven't you just been putting the cart jes' a little in front of the horse?
Or elephant, as the case may be.
See, in a democracy, the majority -- more or less -- rules. And you ain't in it.
The Republicans, who aren't totally stupid, well know you ain't in the majority. Now, they want you as part of their majority, so they've been blowing smoke up your collective wazoo. That, however, does not change the fact that they KNOW -- even if you don't -- that you ain't in the majority.
Ergo, they haven't exactly been going all out to rid these United States of the scourge of in utero child homicide. Fetuses don't vote, and I don't know of any politician who relishes being the target of the absolute s***storm that would arise from taking away "a woman's right to choose . . ."
. . . to kill her baby.
Folks, you were at the dead end of the political road the minute you started down it.
To paraphrase fellow Louisiana native James Carville, "It's the culture, stupid!"
Be salt. Be light. Be teachers. Be servants.
Take all the money you otherwise would be flushing down the political crapper and build more crisis-pregnancy centers. Set up social-welfare societies for poor mothers and poor children.
Infiltrate the Eeeeeeeevil Democrats (TM)and be vocally pro-life in that context. And be nice to those who aren't.
Even if they're not nice to you.
See, you waged political warfare over a dubiously popular proposition, and you've gotten nothing but your asses handed to you. And the more you get your asses handed to you, the more you keep marching -- in perfect formation, I might add -- right into the Culture of Death's line of fire.
It's like the British in 1916. Or like Rumsfeld in Iraq. You know, the whole "Definition of insanity being doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results this time" thing.
The good -- but years late -- news is on MSNBC today:
WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld stepped down as defense secretary on Wednesday, one day after midterm elections in which opposition to the war in Iraq contributed to heavy Republican losses.
President Bush said he would nominate Robert Gates, a former CIA director, to replace Rumsfeld at the Pentagon. The three were expected to appear in the Oval Office at 3:30 p.m. ET, according to NBC News.
Asked whether his announcement signaled a new direction in the war that has claimed the lives of more than 2,800 U.S. troops, Bush said, “Well, there’s certainly going to be new leadership at the Pentagon.”
Bush lavished praise on Rumsfeld, who has spent six stormy years at his post. The president disclosed he met with Gates last Sunday, two days before the elections in which Democrats swept control of the House and possibly the Senate.
Military officials and politicians dissatisfied with the course of the war had called for Rumsfeld’s resignation in the months leading up to the election. Last week, as Bush campaigned to save the Republican majority, he declared that Rumsfeld would remain at the Pentagon through the end of his term.
Source: Cheney stuck by Rumsfeld
But sources told NBC News’ military analyst Bill Arkin that prior to the election, Vice President Dick Cheney argued with other politicians over whether Rumsfeld should stay. White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and others said Rumsfeld should be removed, the source said. Both sides agreed the decision would be made after the election, when Bush would make the final call based on how Republicans did.
According to the source, Bush agreed Rumsfeld should be removed after seeing election results favoring Democrats. Cheney then lost another argument, protesting Gates’ nomination as Rumsfeld’s replacement.
Rumsfeld, 74, was in his second tour of duty as defense chief. He first held the job a generation ago, when he was appointed by President Ford.
Lt. Col. Paul Finken diedbecause we went to war because Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and were going to use them against the United States and its allies because Iraq had close ties with al Qaida and the 9/11 attack on America to establish a liberal Western democracy where once there was tyranny to stop the slaughter of Kurds and Shiites to stop the slaughter of Sunnis because we had to whack somebody?
For oil. Yeah, that's the ticket.
Lt. Col. Paul Finken died so you can fill up your effing SUV with under-$3-a-gallon gasoline. Hey, the president said it.
In Lt. Col. Paul Finken's home state, no less. From George Bush's campaign rally remarks in LeMars, Iowa:
Imagine a Middle East where the radicals and extremists were able to use oil to say to America, we're going to run your price of oil up unless you abandon your allies such as Israel, or we're going to run your price of oil up unless you just totally withdraw and let us be. And you couple all that with a country which doesn't like us having a nuclear weapon, and 30 years from now, people are going to look back and say, what happened to them in 2006? How come they couldn't see the impending danger? What clouded their vision?
But I thought we didn't go to war for oil. Either now or back in 1991.
I can't even begin to imagine what the lieutenant colonel's wife and three daughters are thinking right now. God bless them all. And God rest Lt. Col. Finken.
UK scientists have applied for permission to create embryos by fusing human DNA with cow eggs.
Researchers from Newcastle University and Kings College, London, have asked the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority for a three-year licence.
The hybrid human-bovine embryos would be used for stem cell research and would not be allowed to develop for more than a few days.
But critics say it is unethical and potentially dangerous.
Liberal Democrat MP Dr Evan Harris -- a member of the Commons Science and Technology Select Committee -- said: "If human benefit can be derived by perfecting therapeutic cloning techniques or from research into subsequently-derived stem cells, then it would actually be immoral to prevent it just because of a 'yuck' factor."
Stem cell research is one of the most promising areas of medical science.
Stem cells are the body's master cells and five-day-old embryos are packed with them -- each with the potential to turn into any tissue in the body.
It is this ability which scientists want to harness to treat diseases such as Parkinson's Disease, strokes and Alzheimer's Disease.
To do that, they need to have access to thousands of embryos for research.
Short supply
The problem is that human eggs for research are in short supply and to obtain them women have to undergo surgery.
That is why scientists want to use cows' eggs as a substitute.
They would insert human DNA into a cow's egg which has had its genetic material removed, and then create an embryo by the same technique that produced Dolly the Sheep.
The resulting embryo would be 99.9% human; the only bovine element would be DNA outside the nucleus of the cell.
It would, though, technically be a chimera -- part-human, part-animal.
The aim would be to extract stem cells from the embryo when it is six days old, before destroying it.
Ironic, isn't it, that when we banish all thought of God -- or the traditional humility granted to us through the notion of The Fall -- it is at that moment, in an intoxicating fit of rebellion in the name of "science," in the names of "reason," "freedom" and "breaking the shackles of oppressive constructs," that we render ourselves implausible and inevitably predestine our upcoming prominence on the Endangered Species List.
I don't know about you, but I've just become a devoted Chick-Fil-A man.
Some semi-random thoughts about the Fall of Ted Haggard, and Christians, politics and idolatry. But let me give you a proper setup from The Associated Press:
The Rev. Ted Haggard has been fired amid allegations of gay sex and drug use, but the evangelical leader can still be seen at the height of his powers _ preaching to thousands and condemning homosexuality _ in the documentary "Jesus Camp." In one scene of the film, which follows a group of children as they develop evangelical Christian beliefs, directors Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady visit Haggard's 14,000-member New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colo. He tells the vast audience, "We don't have to debate about what we should think about homosexual activity. It's written in the Bible." Then Haggard looks into the camera and says kiddingly: "I think I know what you did last night," drawing laughs from the crowd. "If you send me a thousand dollars, I won't tell your wife." Later, another joke for the filmmakers: "If you use any of this, I'll sue you."
(snip)
"Jesus Camp" is playing in several cities and expands to more on Friday and throughout the year. Ewing and Grady said that when they shot footage for the film at the New Life Church in October 2005, they were struck by how enraptured Haggard's followers looked.
"Pastor Ted, they were so proud of him. They thought he was hip, young, he didn't have that stodgy James Dobson feel," Ewing said Monday, referring to the Focus on the Family founder. "They all really adored him, that's the first thing I thought -- those people, those faces, they hung and took notes on every word he said -- I can't imagine what those people must be feeling."
Pastor Ted was pretty damn full of himself, wasn't he? Unfortunately for Pastor Ted's career -- but fortunately for his eternal salvation, perhaps -- Jesus Christ absolutely knew what "Art from Kansas City" did last night or, more appropriately, a few months ago.
OK, first things first.
BEWARE personality cults. DO NOT attend a church just because "Pastor So-and-So" or "Father Great Guy" is, well, such a seemingly great guy. (Another description to beware of: "Dynamic.") And FLEE any church or parish where "Pastor So-and-So" of "Father Good Guy" has his smiling mug plastered on every document, web page, publication and wall capable of holding a picture frame.
Anyone with an ego that big does not see himself as unfit to even untie Christ's sandals (Luke 3:1-17). And he, in his heart of hearts, probably thinks that foot-washing thing is bass-ackwards (John 13:1-17).
So, pastors, it's not about you. And, people in the pews: It's not about him; it's about Him.
And if you see your Mighty Favog's ugly-ass picture all over theRevolution 21website, etc., stop listening. It will have all gone south.Anyone in the media who fancies himself a public servant ought to strictly limit how much they put their smiling "glamour shot" out there.Because, after all -- once again -- its not all about me. Or you.
Just like in church, where I am more inclined to trust Father "Oh Crap, They Want a Picture and All I Have Is My Driver's License" over Father Dash Riprock any day of the week.Besides, though a great and Mighty Favog, your humble potentate is a pretty big bastard much of the time. He's about as good idol material as Ted Haggard was.
Which leads me (there's gotta be a link here somewhere) to this whole "Religious Right" thing with the Republicans. I don't get it.
I mean, it's starting to look more like a postmodern Nuremburg rally than it does "bringing Christian values" into politics. Particularly this election cycle, and particularly with some "religious leaders'" unwavering support of getting American soldiers and Iraqi civilians blowed up good for . . . excuse me, Mr. President, but what were this week's reasons for being in Iraq again?
I'll know it absolutely HAS become a postmodern Nuremburg stiff-arm party if some brother or sister in Christ sees this and yells "He's a Jew!"
Or "terrorist supporter" . . . I forget.
Is it really because they have nowhere else to go politically that so-many Christians buy the GOP/Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld line, or would they still be spouting the corporatist, pro-torture, "Cheap labor! More cheap labor!" party line even if abortion, the Supreme Court and gay marriage were political non-issues?
Is it REALLY because they have nowhere else to go politically that so many Christians feel they have to buy into so much that's so un-Christian because the Democrats are so "ungodly"?
Frankly, that's nuts. You don't fight Moloch by selling your soul to Mammon. Or to Militarism Without a Clue.
But there we are. There far too many professing Christians are.
Maybe it's just a Power Thang(Wall Street Journal article excerpted on TedHaggard.com):
The weekly conference call with the White House lets Mr. Haggard, 48, give the administration "the pulse of the evangelical world," he says. One recent Monday, he says, the discussion centered on Sen. Kerry's post-convention polling (participants were delighted there was no large "bump"). "It's useful to communicate," he says.
Mr. Haggard is also trying to boost evangelical voter participation. On Sept. 19, he will co-host a two-hour broadcast encouraging viewers to make it to the polls and to call their congressional representatives in support of the Federal Marriage Amendment, which would ban same-sex marriages. The show will be carried on three Christian television networks and as many as 1,500 Christian radio stations.
Meanwhile, Mr. Haggard makes no secret of his support of President Bush. Of the three framed pictures hanging outside his office, two are of himself and the president. (The other is of himself and Mel Gibson, who pre-screened "The Passion of Christ" at a conference organized by Mr. Haggard.)
Hell, I'll bet that if some political candidate took every Red Letter out of the New Testament and turned them into policy papers, God Is a Republican, Inc.(TM) would call him a commie and ship him off to a Blue State.
For all y'all dropping in because of tonight's Revolution21 podcast, welcome! And click on the poster to read all about what so vexes your Mighty Favog .
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- The Rev. Ted Haggard admitted Friday that he bought methamphetamine from a male prostitute but said he never used it.
The admission came as the self-professed prostitute flunked a lie detector test about having sex with Haggard. Haggard stopped his pickup to talk to reporters camped outside his Colorado Springs home Friday and confirmed allegations that he bought meth from a Denver man but says he never had sex with him.
"I called him to buy some meth, but I threw it away. I was buying it for me but I never used it," he told reporters. "I was tempted. I bought it. But I never used it."
Haggard, 50, said he never had sex with Mike Jones, a 49-year-old Denver man who raised the allegations this week. Haggard said he received a massage from Jones after being referred to him by a Denver hotel.
Haggard, who was leaving his home with his wife and three of his five children, said he bought the meth because he was curious. He was heading to meeting of outside church leaders who wanted to discuss the scandal with him.
On Thursday, Haggard resigned as president of the 30 million-member National Association of Evangelicals association. The executive committee of the association's board scheduled a conference call Friday and planned to release a statement, the association said. Haggard had been president since 2003.
Haggard initially denied the allegations, which included claims that he used methamphetamines during the sex, but a church spokesman later said Haggard admitted to some of the allegations. Haggard -- an outspoken opponent of the drive for gay marriage -- also stepped down as senior pastor at his 14,000-member New Life Church pending an investigation by a church panel, saying he could "not continue to minister under the cloud created by the accusations."
Haggard said he was referred to Jones for a massage by a hotel in Denver. The minister said he travels to Denver to write books.
Haggard drew a silent stare from his wife when he told the gathered reporters that he received a massage from Jones.
Jones, who describes himself as a former prostitute failed a polygraph test administered Friday morning in Denver, when questioned about sex with Haggard.
The polygrapher, John Kresnik, said the results "indicated deception" but he also believed the results may have been skewed because Jones, was suffering from a migraine and didn’t get much sleep.
"I’m disappointed with myself," Jones said on Peter Boyles’ morning talk show on KHOW radio after taking the 90-minute polygraph. "I feel like I’ve disappointed a lot of people. I initiated it and I’m willing to accept the consequences of it."
However, Jones said he "would not back down" from his original accusations. He also said — at the prompting of Kresnik — to take two more lie detector tests after he got some sleep. Jones said he only got two hours of sleep.
The reason for the two tests, Kresnik said, was because there are two separate accusations being made — that Haggard sought gay sex from Jones and also asked Jones to be the middle man in an attempt to get methamphetamines.
Jones said he never got drugs for Haggard, but said he knew people who could get drugs. Jones said Haggard liked the drug because it "enhanced" the sexual experience.
Sitting in the radio station studio, Jones looked weary and his lips drew tight when Boyles played tape snippets of Haggard denying the allegations.
Kresnik said he asked six questions on the polygraph test and there were two relevant questions — both involving sexual contact with Haggard. Kresnik said those were the ones Jones failed.
"All I can do is call them as I see them," Kresnik said.
KUSA-TV reported Thursday night that a voice analysis expert compared a voice mail recording provided by Jones to a recording of Haggard's speech and that they matched.
Jones said he felt sorry for Haggard, who stepped down from his position as president of the National Association of Evangelicals and took leave from his post as pastor of the 14,000-member New Life Church in Colorado Springs.
Haggard, 50, initially denied the allegations, telling 9News Wednesday night that "I’ve never had a gay relationship with anybody, and I’m steady with my wife. I’m faithful to my wife."
Who knows, apart from Haggard and Jones, whether they did the big nasty? But you have to work hard not to laugh bitterly when the guy says he's been faithful to his wife and never had gay sex with Jones, but that he did get a massage from the ex-male prostiture and, yes, he did BUY METH but never used it.
And, according to the phone message, wanted to buy more after -- says Haggard -- not doing the first batch of meth he got.
Uh huh.
I guess Pastor Ted really does "luuuuuuv Catholics." He's -- allegedly . . . seemingly -- trying to be just like some of the worst, and most notorious, clergy that we've got.
I know that if Will had worn his uniform and walked into almost any bar in New York City, where I live, he would have been surrounded by people buying him drinks.
I believe that most Americans support the troops, even if they don’t support this war. It’s just that a lot of Americans don’t know any of the troops. And because so many of them don’t know a single person in the military, it’s really easy to go through the day at home without a single thing to remind you that there is a war going on.
A friend in New York -- an Army colonel -- described standing in his dress uniform in the lobby of the Waldorf Astoria hotel. He said four people, all Americans, came up to him to ask for directions or help with their bags, thinking he was a porter.
When he suggested to a woman whose son was interested in the military that she send him to West Point, she was horrified. "But I’m glad we have you people to do that," she said.
Are memorials too sensitive for Americans to see? Deaths too sensitive to talk about? The war too sensitive to be covering?
