regent university: Ekim 2012

13 Ekim 2012 Cumartesi

Arkansas Grand Lodge officers said to have resigned

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Update, May 5: The resignations of Bros. Weatherall and Jones have been confirmed by an officer of the Grand Lodge of Arkansas. I am awaiting his permission to publish his email on The Taper.

The Masonic backchannels are buzzing with unconfirmed reports that the Grand Secretary James Weatherall and Grand Treasurer Gary Jones of the Grand Lodge of Arkansas, F&AM, both tendered their resignations on Saturday, effective June 1. Both men have served in their respective capacities since the early 1990s, my sources say.

If true, this is a most interesting development in light of the recent brouhaha over the Prince Hall license plates, the upcoming trial of Bro. Derek Gordon, and the many stories over the years that have alleged a general sense of vindictiveness and overt racism in the Grand Lodge.

If you have more information or official documentation, please post it in the comments section, or contact The Burning Taper via email. Your identity will not be disclosed.

Masons | Masonic Trial | Small Town Freemasonry | Freemasonry | Grand Lodge of Arkansas | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Not your grandfather's Freemasonry

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Bro. Fred Milliken has written an excellent piece titled "I Resign."

Though the information presented about Bro. Derek Gordon's ordeal with the Grand Lodge of Arkansas is interesting and enlightening, the real meat to the article is Bro. Fred's summary:

This is no longer your Grandfather’s Chevrolet... er, Grand Lodge. Freemasonry must stop living in the past as West Virginia and Arkansas are doing. Instead it needs to adapt to the mores of present day society.

Running a closed society that allows no freedom of expression and muzzles its members is antithetical to Freemasonry of the Enlightenment.

Operating a society with laws, rules and regulations that conflict with civil law and civil rights is not only not in the spirit of Freemasonry but also blatantly immoral.

An organization in this day and age, especially a nonprofit volunteer one, cannot realistically force a person against his will to remain a member. It should be the option of any Freemason to simply resign from any Grand Lodge.

Making up silly and vindictive rules such as prohibiting members from using the Internet or any electronic means to discuss Freemasonry is unbecoming and un-Masonic.

It’s been almost 50 years since Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights movement transformed America. It is past time that Grand Lodges reflected that change.

It is painfully evident that Grand Lodges can no longer operate as they have done in the past. This is the 21st century with new ways of looking at different lifestyles and morality. Grand Lodges are now in a public-private partnership yet they refuse to recognize their duty to civil law and their new commitments. Failure of Freemasonry to operate within the framework of present day moral, societal and political civil practice could be very costly to the Craft.

'One battle over, but the war continues,' by Bro. Derek Gordon

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The following is reprinted from the website of Bro. Derek Gordon.

One Battle Is Over, But The War Is Not

A great man and Mason, who was overshadowed by the three-term Franklin D. Roosevelt administration, stated: “Carry the battle to them. Don’t let them bring it to you. Put them on the defensive and don’t ever apologize for anything.” Harry S. Truman, a native of Missouri, was not from a political elite family. In fact, this pivotal man came from a farming family. He achieved an end to World War II after approving the use of two nuclear weapons on the Rising Sun of the Empire of Japan.

Many of us don’t realize how much power we have by defying the status quo and standing up for what’s right in life. We come from all sorts of families; I grew up in a blue-collar household. Certainly, we don’t grow up thinking we can drop a figurative nuclear weapon. But, there are times when each one of us must stand strong to shine that bright spotlight on those harming what we all stand for.

However, when we are leading a resistance, it is futile to continue a long battle that will continue to degrade into a slanderous quagmire. There would be nothing to gain from doing so. And, it would hinder one’s own desire to introduce change of disgusting policies designed to destroy those who defy the corrupt leaders; and it would bring about a notion that the fight isn’t as righteous as it truly is.

I stood down against the Arkansas Oligarchy in an effort to allow change to foster. Unfortunately for the time being, the reaction from the leadership is to portray me as a liar, a cheat, and a scoundrel. Some will believe their shallow attempts, but many will see the holes in the points they make. Every comment I made I offered proof. Each comment their cronies made have been backed up with more libelous statements.

A post below discussed that I resigned and did not expel myself. Accusations are rampant that I hid information. I would appreciate it if the oligarchy would provide the documentation. Further, I requested written documentation from the U.S.P.S. that there were not attempted deliveries between April 14th, 2010 and May 3rd, 2010. A phone call confirmed this; however, I feel such documentation added atop my continually-growing pile would be a wonderful addition.

The war against the evil lurking at 700 Scott St. in Little Rock will continue as the deep-rooted unprofessional ideologies are perpetuated by the leadership. There are many more abused Arkansas Masons who are just realizing how important it is to speak out. Once again, I point to the article detailing my life as a Mason in Arkansas and the provided phone logs. I’ve tried civil and professional means and have continually offered to let the issue end. I tell you, Grand Lodge, you still are playing a game that you miscalculate and under appreciate the importance of. I challenge those in charge to meet on neutral ground to end the matter professionally, orderly, and most important, as Masons “meeting on the level” would expect.

“It is important to fight, and fight again, and keep fighting, for only then can evil be kept at bay, though never quite eradicated.” — Albus Dumbledore; J.K. Rowling, The Half-blood Prince

Masons | Masonic Trial | Derek Gordon | Freemasonry | Grand Lodge of Arkansas | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Is Freemasonry 'just as good' as Christianity?

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The Burning Taper received the following email a few days ago. Anyone like to take a shot at answering this woman's questions?

sir, as a Christian I've always been troubled with the mason being "yoked"as it would seem to non believers, which (to me) would give the non believer the inference that his religion is just as good as Christianity. The "all roads lead to the top" line would sorta fit in that category also would it not?.. Unless Jesus lied, His way is the only way to heaven, so why would the Craft allow the impression that there's more than one way? As such, how could a Christian remain in the bond with non believers without abandoning his stance on wittnessing,contending for the faith etc.?? curious.Appreciate any response. Because late in life my uncles ,for instance, finally had great difficulty remaining in the lodge ,especially, after their dedication to the church/knowledge increased.

Masons | Christianity | Freemasonry | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Guess who's coming to dinner?

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It seems many rank-and-file Masons, in many locales, are becoming more and more fed up with the actions of Grand Lodge leaders.

This short article was sent to The Burning Taper recently. The author wishes to remain anonymous, for fear of retribution for reporting events and expressing his opinion.

Arizona Grand Lodge Annual Communication began with the Royal Banquet on Wednesday evening, June 2, 2010 prior to the official opening of proceedings on Thursday morning.

The Head Table consisted of Arizona Grand Lodge officers and their wives. Seated near them were the visiting dignitaries representing various Masonic grand lodge jurisidictions. There were 13 listed on the list handed out to all attending members. Most were "line" officers representing their State or jurisdiction with two currently sitting grand masters.

The two grand masters attending the Banquet were Most Worshipful Martin E. Warren, Grand Master of Masons from the Grand Lodge, F&AM of Arkansas, and Most Worshipful Lewis R. Brent, Grand Master of Masons from the Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Arizona. They were not seated at the same table.

When the Grand Lodge opened in Due Form in the 3rd Degree on Thursday morning the MW Lewis R. Brent from Prince Hall was present, but the MW Martin E. Warren was conspicuously absent. He was not seen in any of the subsequent tiled lodge meetings all day Friday or on Saturday.

It is the custom of the Grand Lodge that, when a pedestal officer (Grand Master, Senior Warden and Junior Warden) leave their stations during the proceedings that they place the Jewel of their office on one of the brothers in the room.

Several times during the proceedings on both days, the Senior Grand Warden Brook Cunningbrook chose a highly decorated Phoenix policeman, who is a member of one of the Arizona F&AM lodges and had been shot in the line of duty, to sit high on the chair located on a pedestal in the West to replace him temporarily. He is black.

There were two other black members of Arizona F&AM lodges present and the Senior Grand Warden had them also replace him in the West. It is quite an honor to do this.

In this case, in my opinion anyway, it was kind of an "in your face" type of gesture to some of the members of the Arizona jurisdiction who have moved to Arizona from one of the 10 states that do not recognize Prince Hall and have complained about having to sit in a lodge with a black man. Whether it was directed towards the Grand Master of Arkansas, I can only speculate.

What's interesting about this is that the Grand Master of Arkansas spent the money to fly to Arizona only to have dinner. Since it is customary for Grand Lodges to pay for the travel expenses of their grand masters, I wonder if the brethren of the Grand Lodge of Arkansas got their monies worth. Since he did not attend any of the business meetings by sitting in a tiled lodge with a black man but only attended the social functions, it seems to me that he spent a lot of money just for a free dinner and drinks, even if the cost came out of his own pocket.

This obviously was an example of the kind of “Imperial Leadership” prevalent in many jurisdictions and is not restricted to Arkansas alone.

Masons | Masonic Racism | Prince Hall Freemasonry | Freemasonry | Grand Lodge of Arkansas| Grand Lodge of Arizona | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

12 Ekim 2012 Cuma

The Mark of the Stupid

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I find it odd that superstition and ignorance still rule our lives. Take the case of Moss Bluff Elementary school which is trying to implement a biometric palm reader to manage it school lunch program. Local Christians are protesting. They think it is the biblical Mark of the Beast.

Nutball Mamie Sonnier

Concerned mom Mamie Sonnier, I proclaim you an official nutball! Welcome to the club.

Sonnier says she's against the palm vein scanner because of her beliefs.
"As a Christian, I've read the Bible, you know go to church and stuff," said Sonnier. "I know where it's going to end up coming to, the mark of the beast. I'm not going to let my kids have that."
He says the system isn't on campus yet, so students' palms won't be scanned any time soon. But Sonnier says if the program comes to campus, her children aren't participating and won't be around it either.
"I'd probably pull them out of the school, and transfer them to another school," said Sonnier.

So here is the thing… biometric hand scanning devices are an effective why of linking people to an event. The most common use is in time clocks. Let’s call it a ubiquitous option which has been available for years. It requires no extra hardware, no badges, and does not even touch the participant. You simply establish a baseline image, and then scan against it. It’s very much like the lunch lady remembering your face when you pass her in line, only the device does not make mistakes.

Come on people. There is no Mark of the Beast in this story, there is the Mark of the Stupid instead.

Technorati Tags: Nutballs,Christians,Idiocy.

Will You Resist The Mark Of The Beast? (mychristiancoffeeshop.wordpress.com)
"Mark Of The Beast" - First Official TV Commercial (pakalertpress.com)
General Conspiracies - Palm Vein Scanners Rolled Out At Elementary School (disclose.tv)

Pastor Jeffrey Mackintosh arrested

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I missed this arrest from July.

Jeffrey Mackintosh

Jeffrey Mackintosh, 46, now of Phillipsburg, was arrested at his home Thursday and charged aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault, and endangering the welfare of a child, the prosecutor's office said in a statement.

Source: Child Sex Assault

The alleged victim was 12 years old. Mackintosh was the pastor of Glad Tiding Assembly of God in Perth Amboy.

I found this odd review for the church.

I'm sorry, but this church was terrible! The songs were the only thing I liked. This poor Maiden of Dawn had to play all of the songs on the piano, with NO OTHER INSTRUMENTS! I felt so bad. Then they made me stand up and say my name, I felt like I was being forced. The pastor's rough ways of moving the service; I was there when a woman was denied access to the pulpit when her mother saw an angel in the sanctuary. In my opinion, it must have left after that. The people in the church suffer under this pastor's iron fist and obbsession with ORDER. The spirit of the LORD can't live in that place. Micaicah.

Do people really see angels? What a crock.

Technorati Tags: Clergy Sexual Abuse,Pedophiles

Rev. Petroske, “I’m embarrassed”

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Thank gawd for the internet. Otherwise how would we get to make fun anybody?

Rev Peter Petroske, profiled here, was charged with two misdemeanors. He had this to say about driving around naked.

“I was uhhh ... hot ... I like to drive around naked,” Petroske said, according to the report, then adding, “… I don’t know what to say. … I’m embarrassed.”

We’ve all been there. Well, perhaps not naked and drunk behind the wheel of a car, but we’ve all been embarrassed a hell by something we’ve done. I’m for cutting Petroske some slack. He’s not my normal target.

The church is doing the right thing.

The Archdiocese of Detroit released a statement Tuesday confirming that Petroske had been indefinitely suspended, including the mandate that he is not to be on school or church grounds during the ongoing investigation.

Technorati Tags: Catholics,Clergy Misconduct

Link love and other rants

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At this stage in my blogging career I’ve come to realize a few things. The first is simple. I am not a joiner. I prefer blogging because it’s just me. I’ve written almost six thousand posts over the years on all manner of subjects. I don’t join in the wider movement by participating in atheist and free thought events because I’m antisocial by nature. I have to work at being social. I spent most of my energy being social at work. I have little energy left to give once the work day is done.

What few events I have attended are usually populated by jackasses like Bruce Gleason, whose Backyard Skeptics is tearing up bibles down at the Huntington Beach Pier this weekend. Bruce has an agenda I do not understand and appears to be focused on gathering as much media attention to his hateful antics as possible. Plus, every event I attend seems to be a backhanded fund raising effort, even simple meet ups. I just want to have a beer and talk to a few other atheists without the added burden of a hidden agenda.

I keep plugging along though. I plan on having a few beers with a bunch of brucesless atheists next week. It should be a hoot.

Another thing I’ve learned is that I hate politics and dissention, which seems to be the only thing happening in the free thought movement at the moment. It’s a shame too. I’m a huge fan of Freethought blogs and Skepchick, I died a little inside over the whole Thunderfoot insanity, and a little bit more of the sexual harassment blow up at TAM. What the fuck people? Are we seriously debating the need for a policy? A policy is required along with whatever else is needed to ensure the misogynists among us do not ruin everything. And by ruin everything I mean silence the voices of our intelligent and insightful female atheists and free thinkers. I want to hear their voices, so do a lot of other people. To quote the late Rodney King, “Can’t we just all get along?”

Freethought blogs puts out a lot of good content. I love good content. Take the recent post, Fuck you, Florida by Crommunist. It made me angry over the stupidity that passes for Republican strategy in Florida. Making me angry is a good think… it feeds my desire to write.

The campaign against Amy Davis Roth by Jason Thibeault is another great post and one that makes me scratch my head in wonder. Why is it that we are feeding on ourselves? How does this craziness help the movement? I had thought Ross a wonderful voice for reason until the whole DCMA takedown affair was linked to her. Now I’m on the fence. Her efforts feel wrong.

Anyway… it’s Sunday I should be playing discgolf.

Technorati Tags: Rants,Atheism

A freethought conference in Dallas (freethoughtblogs.com)
Atheists Using DMCA Complaints to Silence Other Atheists (atheistrev.com)
Source of DMCA Complaints Revealed (atheistrev.com)
Another Burnt Out Atheist (patheos.com)
The Freethought Bullies Meme (atheistrev.com)

Peeping pastor Kelvin Lambert arrested

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Baptist pastor Kelvin B. Lambert was arrested for invasion of privacy and trespass. Lambert was caught peeping into a bathroom window while a woman may have been showing.

Kevin Lambert

According to court documents, Platte County Sheriff’s Department deputies were called to the Timber Park neighborhood near Platte City at 6:20 a.m. Tuesday. A witness had reported a man running between houses.
The witness told authorities that she saw a man standing on a plastic lawn chair peering into the bathroom window.
Source: Pastor accused of peeping

Lambert is the pastor at Second Baptist church in Platte City. Oops… there goes another stellar pastoral career.

Technorati Tags: Baptists,Clergy Misconduct

11 Ekim 2012 Perşembe

How much is too much?

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For Gawd's sake, this kind of thing pisses me off, and if it doesn't piss you off I submit that there is something fundamentally wrong with you.

A little tidbit from Robert Reich at the Huffington Post: The Super Rich Get Richer, Everyone Else Gets Poorer, and the Democrats Punt

"Charles and David Koch, the energy magnates who are pouring vast sums of money into Republican coffers and sponsoring tea partiers all over America, each gained $5.5 billion of wealth over the past year. Each is now worth $21.5 billion."

Let me put that in perspective for those of you who aren't already pissed off enough just by that blunt factoid. $21.5 BILLION is a shitload of money. More than you'll see in your lifetime, I would wager. I'll even give you odds.

The median American household earns something just above $50,000 per year. That's HOUSEHOLD, not person. Nowadays most families can't get by without two wage earners, and unless they're both lucky enough to have full-time jobs with benefits, this could actually mean the earnings from 3 or even 4 part-time "McJobs."

So sticking with that number, how many households does it take to earn 21.5 BILLION in a year? That would be 2.15 X10^10 divided by 5X10^4, which works out to an astonishing 430,000 households. Almost half a million FAMILIES!!

Let's take into account now that the average household is just above 3.1 persons (Astonishingly low! Back in the '70s it was around 4.5. I guess people simply can't afford to have 4 or 5 kids anymore.) You're now talking about the money that 1,333,000 people of median income live on, enough people to populate a city the size of Dallas, Texas. Which by the way is ninth on the list of largest cities in the US. If you take the worth of both Koch brothers as your starting point, you're somewhere between the size of Chicago and Houston, which are 3rd and 4th respectively.

The Republican party and a significant number of Democrats, Blue Dog and otherwise, don't want the Bush tax cuts to expire. Obama wants to extend them only for people who make less than $250,000 per annum. That's fewer than 2% of the population. Putting that into perspective, someone making a cool quarter of a million a year gets a paycheck of nearly $10,000 every two weeks -- which is about equal to someone working for $10/hr makes in 6 months at 40hrs/wk.

One comment at the HuffPo post asked a simple, pointed question; "How much inequality in wealth can a democracy tolerate?" I of course can't quantify that as easily as I can compare the Koch's wealth to the rest of the country. But I do know this -- the tolerable level has long been passed. America's system of government is a sham, a democracy in name only -- a demock-racy. It should be revolting enough to cause a revolution. The fact that it hasn't is cause for concern.

Here's a New Meme

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Here's a meme that progressives should make use of. It just occurred to me, and I'd like to pass it on.

Being born rich has no intrinsic value; it is in no way productive, useful or desirable. Most rich people contribute far less to society than do ordinary factory workers, bus drivers and janitors. Therefore, living off of ancestral wealth made by Daddy, Grand-dad, or Great-great-great to the nth degree going back to pre-Civil War plantation days is no more ethical than living off of welfare. In many cases it's far less ethical. So here's the meme:

Let's start calling that condition Ancestral Welfare, and bring up the term every time people who were actually brought up by nannies complain about "The Nanny State." The term goes hand-in-hand with the already familiar terms Class Warfare and Corporate Welfare, and is intimately connected to both.

Class warfare couldn't exist if it weren't for the scions of the last generation living off of the avails of their parents. And most of those inheritances are in trust funds tied into holdings of corporate stock.

Nobody with an ounce of sense believes that prominent heirs like Rush Limbaugh or Charles Krauthammer's points of view are anything but self-serving. The idol bloated bloviaters have not only stolen America's wealth, they've also dominated any conversation concerning wealth. So whether you're talking about social benefits, education, health care, or the structure of the tax system, you'll always get only the opinions of those who can well afford those things without any help from government.

What is the solution? Start taxing capital gains at a rate at least as high as that levied against money that is actually earned. And set the estate tax to something that promotes the American ideal of all men being created equal instead of eroding it.

The estate tax should be 0% for the 1st $1 million, and 99% for anything above that. If you are survived by a wife and six kids you'd be allowed to leave a legacy worth $7,000,000. That's not too shabby when you think about it.

Anybody who can't turn a million dollar inheritance into a pretty comfortable life has demonstrated an inability to compete in any kind of economy, especially a capitalist one. With $1 million you could buy a nice house or a platinum education or you could open a small business. In fact you could probably do any two of those things with $1 million and have considerable change left over. So anyone who says their children can't make it unless they get a billion dumped in their lap is really implying that their children are drooling idiots, fit only for wasting away in a hammock.

~~~~~~~~

On a more general note, it is lamentable that the so-called 'left' in America can't come up with counters to the memes put out by The Powers That Be, even when they're staring them in the face. If you're going to change the way things are going, or even halt the slide into modern feudalism the first step is going to be to change the tenor of the conversation. If you fight the battle on the other side's terms you don't have a chance.

TAGS: Capitalism, Leads to, Oligarchy, Every. Bloody. Time.

Obama Demands Egypt Respect Human Rights

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...That the USA Totally Disrespects

Hypocrite much?

U.S. demands immediate end to Egypt's emergency law

"The United States on Tuesday set out four steps Cairo must take to end Egypt's crisis, telling its ally to stop harassing protesters and immediately repeal an emergency law allowing detention without charge."

This news story comes on a day that a vote was held to extend the USA PATRIOT Act. Among other things the Act has allowed detention without charge. Some inmates at Guantanamo are still being detained even though it is acknowledged that they are never going to be charged and that there is no credible evidence upon which to base a charge. AND the US government has said that they will continue to hold some detainees even if they are cleared of all charges in a court of law. So how could it get any worse than that?

THIS JUST IN: The vote, which required a 2/3 majority under a special house rule, FAILED, with a 277-148 result. You can bet it will pass when voted on again using the usual process.

Sic semper tyranni.

Practical Suggestions

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..For Reducing Federal Spending

Rachel Maddow opened tonight's show with a piece on Republicans' eagerness to reduce the number of federal employees.

Fair enough, tough times require tough measures.

Let's start with this: Maybe 20 or 30 Republican Senators could relinquish their high-paying jobs, along with 40 or 50 in the House of Representatives. Not only would a heap of money be saved, but things would start getting done. They're all for efficiency, right? This move would free up more money than laying of hundreds of mid-level workers.

Better yet, it has been proposed that PrezBO increase the number of Supreme Court Justices to eleven to help balance the court. What he should do instead is ask for the resignations of some of them. I nominate Scalia, Alito, Thomas and Roberts to return to the private sector they love so much. I'm pretty sure that 5 justices could do just as good a job or better than the current 9.

Then fire all the grads from the Regent so-called "university" who were hired illegally anyway by Monica Goodling a few years ago. I haven't noticed any increase in the amount of justice that's been produced in that department since they were put on the payroll, so they can't be adding much value.

Finally, if there are still Secret Service personnel on the payroll protecting Bush, Cheney, Rummy or any of those criminal conspirators, for gawdsake lay them off!

Slow Reactor Reactions

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Sometimes a headline says it all, like this one from the BBC.

Japan to Scrap Stricken Nuclear Reactors

OK, it's been nearly 3 weeks since the Fuckyoushima power plant was damaged by the earthquake and tidal wave. Every day has brought worse news of loss of cooling, explosions, reactor vessel breaches, workers fleeing the site, workers being brought back to a control room that doesn't seem to be in control of anything, workers being sent to hospital, environmental contamination.. .. ...

So NOW they announce that they're going to decommission 4 of the 6 reactors at the Fuckyoushima site?!? What this says is that up until now the effort has been to save the plant, not the people or the environment around it. Sure, it's worth $BILLIONS, but hasn't it been evident almost from the start that things were not recoverable? And that's using information that the company TEPCO that runs it has deemed to release - all of it as seen through rose-coloured glasses.

Some day in the future it's going to come to light that the environmental impact of this disaster was made many times worse by TEPCO's lying and managing things as if their efforts could miraculously save their investment. I guess they have to say that to appease the stockholders. But when that information does become available, the lawsuits are going to sink the power corporation. Anybody want to hazard a guess as to how much a twenty mile exclusion zone is worth? Over 600 sq. mi. of real estate in Japan? Holy shit!! I imagine it's way more than even a nuclear power plant is worth. (though with most of the buildings already flattened it's worth a lot less than it was before the tsunami. still..)

I imagine there are executives at TEPCO right now ruing the Japanese tradition of Seppuku - ritual self-disembowelment. If anyone in the history of that nation ever deserved such a punishment, it would be them. You can almost hear the snick snick of little knives being sharpened.

TAGS: Fuckyoushima, Tsunami aftermath, Nuclear disaster, Seppuku

10 Ekim 2012 Çarşamba

Arkansas Grand Lodge resignations confirmed

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Below is a recent email from Doug Simmons, Past Deputy Grand Lecturer and Past District Deputy Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Arkansas, published with his permission:

Your post referencing the resignations of the Grand Secretary and Grand Treasurer of the Arkansas Grand Lodge has all the trappings of the best of the "Tabloids," taken completely out of context, and devoid of any facts researched before publication...

Grand Secretary James Weatherall has been carefully planning his retirement for the last 4 years, due to culminate in the Spring of this year;

Grand Treasurer Garry Jones has been urged by his doctors to permanently curtail his activities due to on-going and increasing health problems. Knowing he would not want his medical history discussed with strangers, I will not elaborate.

I have known both of these honorable gentlemen for over 20 years, and have spent many, many hours in pleasant conversations with both of them, on personal and Masonic levels. Their resignations have nothing whatever to do with any current dealings of the Grand Lodge or any of its officers.

Doug Simmons

Not your grandfather's Freemasonry

This is no longer your Grandfather’s Chevrolet... er, Grand Lodge. Freemasonry must stop living in the past as West Virginia and Arkansas are doing. Instead it needs to adapt to the mores of present day society.

Running a closed society that allows no freedom of expression and muzzles its members is antithetical to Freemasonry of the Enlightenment.

Operating a society with laws, rules and regulations that conflict with civil law and civil rights is not only not in the spirit of Freemasonry but also blatantly immoral.

An organization in this day and age, especially a nonprofit volunteer one, cannot realistically force a person against his will to remain a member. It should be the option of any Freemason to simply resign from any Grand Lodge.

Making up silly and vindictive rules such as prohibiting members from using the Internet or any electronic means to discuss Freemasonry is unbecoming and un-Masonic.

It’s been almost 50 years since Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights movement transformed America. It is past time that Grand Lodges reflected that change.

It is painfully evident that Grand Lodges can no longer operate as they have done in the past. This is the 21st century with new ways of looking at different lifestyles and morality. Grand Lodges are now in a public-private partnership yet they refuse to recognize their duty to civil law and their new commitments. Failure of Freemasonry to operate within the framework of present day moral, societal and political civil practice could be very costly to the Craft.

'One battle over, but the war continues,' by Bro. Derek Gordon

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Is Freemasonry 'just as good' as Christianity?

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The Burning Taper received the following email a few days ago. Anyone like to take a shot at answering this woman's questions?

sir, as a Christian I've always been troubled with the mason being "yoked"as it would seem to non believers, which (to me) would give the non believer the inference that his religion is just as good as Christianity. The "all roads lead to the top" line would sorta fit in that category also would it not?.. Unless Jesus lied, His way is the only way to heaven, so why would the Craft allow the impression that there's more than one way? As such, how could a Christian remain in the bond with non believers without abandoning his stance on wittnessing,contending for the faith etc.?? curious.Appreciate any response. Because late in life my uncles ,for instance, finally had great difficulty remaining in the lodge ,especially, after their dedication to the church/knowledge increased.

Masons | Christianity | Freemasonry | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Guess who's coming to dinner?

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9 Ekim 2012 Salı

Convictions 1.1

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The following list is a collection of clergy convictions from the previous week or convictions that I have missed. Here we go.

I’m closing out an old case with this first entry: Pastor Charles Michael Abdelahad, profiled here, was convicted of physically assaulting a female parishioner. His followers had been sure he had done nothing wrong. It turns out he likes to kick and bite the women he was trying to help. To quote one apologist for this scumbag:

Are you joking me?
You don't even know this man! And the articles ALL fail to talk about the 'victim' in this case and how she is crazy. She has been hospitalized many times for mental illnesses, her kids were taken away from her because she was deemed unfit to live with them, and she has accused her ex-husband AND husband of rape before.
I'm pretty sure the victim here is not the woman at all, but the priest being accused of all of this!

I hate it when Christians blame the victim. Especially where there is clear evidence of abuse. This victim in this case deserves better.

Youth pastor Ronald Asplund will die in prison after being convicted of molesting two young boys. His sentence was 11 years and four months to life in prison. Considering his doctor gives him one to three years to live, it is a fair bet that we will never see this pedophile pastor again.

Msgr Willam Lynn was sentenced to three to six years in prison for his part in covering up the Catholic clergy sexual abuse scandal in Philadelphia. Lynn was shuffling priests around to hide abuse. He was convicted of endangering the welfare of a child.

Pastor Kenneth L. Miller was convicted for aiding and abetting the flight of Lisa A. Miller and her daughter Isabelle Miller-Jenkins in 2009. Miller thought he was doing the right thing by helping a woman flee a lesbian child custody dispute. He was wrong. He faces up to three years in prison. I hope he serves his full sentence.

That’s it for this week. If you know of a conviction and would like to help, please post about in the comments or send me an email.

Technorati Tags: Clergy Sexual Abuse,Hypocrisy

Youth pastor Corey Weatherford arrested

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Youth pastor Corey Ray Weatherford, a Baptist, was arrested for sexually assaulting two teen girls in Arkansas. Weatherford is a youth pastor for Reynolds Baptist Church. As usual, there is no mention of the arrest on the website.

CoryWeatherford

The probable cause affidavit said Weatherford, of 2904 North 4 1/2 Street, served as head counselor at the camp and his two alleged victims, ages 16 and 17, respectively, were youth junior counselors. Weatherford reportedly engaged in sexual activity with the 16-year-old once and deviant sexual activity with the 17-year-old on two occasions, according to the affidavit.

Source: Youth minister arrested for sexual assault

The age of consent in Arkansas is 16 if the perpetrator is above the age of 20. There must be an exemption for professional clergy. Yes. I found it. If you are an professional listed under Arkansas code 12012-507(b), then you are treated differently.

Any clergy member, which includes a minister, priest, rabbi, accredited Christian Science practitioner, or other similar functionary of a religious organization, or an individual reasonably believed to be so by the person consulting him or her, except to the extent he or she:

It looks like Arkansas is getting its act together. Which is great given there are people like Corey Ray Weatherford out there preying on our kids.

Miss. Church Apologizes for Barring Black Marriage (abcnews.go.com)
Black Collar Crime Round-Up: August 17, 2012 (home.conservativebabylon.com)

Hypocrite pastor Grant Storms convicted

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Hypocrite is a strong word, but pastor Grant Storm, profiled here, deserves the title. Storms would march through New Orleans’ with a broom demonstrating against homosexuality and other obscenities. It was his thing. He was a Christian Patriot. Whatever the hell that is. Now he’s a convicted sex offender.

GrantStorms

Storms, 55, who lives in Metairie, declined to comment after the conviction. Judge Ross LaDart of the 24th Judicial District Court, who presided over the daylong trial because Storms waived a jury, did not even break to deliberate. He promptly found Storms guilty of the single count of obscenity. He sentenced Storms to three years of probation, citing no evidence of a criminal history.

Source: Rev. Grant Storms, critic of Southern Decadence, convicted of obscenity for public masturbation

The judge was careful to make it clear that Storms was not a pedophile, and I agree. I’ll call him a pervert, liar and hypocrite instead. He likes to masturbate in parks. That’s pervert material for sure.

Technorati Tags: Clergy Sexual Misconduct

'Rev' Grant Storms: More Pastoral Misconduct (and Hypocrisy) (zwingliusredivivus.wordpress.com)
LOUSIANA: Anti-Gay Pastor Grant Storms Convicted For Jerking Off Near Playground (joemygod.blogspot.com)
Self-Loving, Gay-Hating Pastor Grant Storms Convicted Of Obscenity For Public Masturbation (queerty.com)
Antigay Minister Who Opposed Southern Decadence Convicted of Obscenity (advocate.com)

I want a powerful Wiccan name

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Convicted child murder Charles Jaynes has seen the true and become a Wiccan. His fellow Wiccans are not so happy about this because child murders don't fit their nature worshiping social profile and Jaynes is a bad man. He is serving a life sentence for the 1997 slaying of Jeffrey Curley. I can't understand why other Wiccans would object. Especially since he is trying to change his name to Mannasseh-Invictus Auric Thutmose V. I prefer Willowblower Sunlove Hornbiter III, but nobody asked me.

Dana Corby, a Wiccan priestess and teacher of 40 years, said that if a Wiccan changes his name it is often a private thing kept separate from their personal lives.
“On the basis of my education and experience, I know that Charles Jaynes is either completely ignorant of Wicca or trying to pull a fast one,” said Corby.

Do you really think Jaynes is trying to pull something? Well duh…

Youth pastor Eric Manual convicted

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EricManuel

Eric Manuel, a former youth pastor, pleaded guilty to a charge of child molestation. He tried to corrupt a 15-year-old boy by offering money in exchange for sex acts. Manuel also stands accused of sexting with 17 other teen boys while pretending to be a teen girl.

Manuel faces 10 years to life in prison. I’m guessing we will not see this freak for a very long time.

Manuel can best be described as a newly minted youth minister. He passed muster because his criminal background check was just that; a criminal background check. I’m not a fan of simple checks. A reference check is required. I tell churches that hiring a youth pastor is like hiring a person to work on a secret project. Applicants must pass a reference check if they are to work on the project. There is no better way to determine the character of an applicant than by talked to those have interacted with them in a different setting. When I went through the process, they even talked to my high school teachers. A criminal background check is required, but it is not enough. A reference check is required. There was ample information available in this case. The Catholic Dioceses of Lafeyette did the bare minimum.

Manuel, a 2008 graduate of St. Thomas More High School in Lafayette, attended seminary for about one month before he voluntarily withdrew, according to information provided earlier this year by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lafayette.
He had volunteered with youth ministry programs at St. Thomas More and Notre Dame High School in Crowley and participated in youth retreats and a mission trip, according to information from the Diocese.
Source: Man accused of coercing boys

Technorati Tags: Clergy Sexual Abuse,Catholics

8 Ekim 2012 Pazartesi

Prop 8 youth volunteer arrested for child molestation

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There are few things worse than a vitriolic hater of all things gay, committing unthinkably amoral acts on children while hiding behind his faith. I can't help but pity the man. Caleb Hesse is a hypocrite and hater who has admitted to molesting a number of young boys in his capacity as a youth volunteer at the Evangelical Free Church of Yucca Valley.

According to KTLA, the incidents occurred mostly during Hesse’s overnight volunteer trips with the church. Hesse allegedly met many of his underage victims during these outings. Authorities believe the most recent crimes occurred as early as last week.
Held on a $2.5 million bail, Hesse has been charged with four felony counts of lewd acts with a child and was due in San Bernardino Superior Court on August 20.
Source: Caleb Hesse, Anti-Gay Activist and Prop 8 Donor, Arrested for Sexually Assaulting Boys

I've had several conversations with a member of the First Evangelical Free Church of Fullerton, the parent church of the Yuca Valley branch. His church has a progressive approach to clergy sexual abuse, one in which an overnight outing with Hesse the hypocrite would be inconceivable. I wonder if the Yucca Valley branch of the church follows the same policies? I'll have to pull some strings and get a copy of their polices.

In an interesting twist, the church did the right thing after discovering the problem.

Bill Wilcox, pastor of Evangelical Free Church, said he drove Hesse to the sheriff’s station in Joshua Tree Wednesday morning after Hesse gave Wilcox “something of a confession.”
Source: Youth Volunteer, Teacher accused of molestation

I am happy that pastor Wilcox drove Hesse to the police. It was the right thing to do. I have questions though. Was Hesse's confession spontaneous? Or, as I suspect, was the church investigating a sex abuse allegation? If it is the later, then investigating a charge inside the church (excluding law enforcement) is not something I support. It places the victim at risk and exposes the members of the church to a violent response from the accused. I understand that the intent is to protect the church, but the focus must be on protecting the victim. Take the allegation to the police first. Let the professionals deal with the issue.

Technorati Tags: Clergy Sexual Abuse, Hypocrisy

WTF Spain?

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I realize that one must have a thick skin to be in politics, but some behavior is beyond the pale, like photoshopping Michelle Obama's face on the torso of a bare breasted slave. I'm not sure if it's a political statement or supposed to be humors, but I can tell you that I am offended. I cannot imagine what our President and First Lady think.

For its part, the magazine lauds Michelle Obama as the "gran mujer" (great woman) behind her powerful husband."In the shadow of the U.S. President is a person whose popularity ratings exceed those of Barack’s own. This person is none other than his wife Michelle… To find out how Michelle has managed to seduce the American people . . . [we] detail the secrets of a woman has not [just] only won the heart of Barack Obama," an except reads.

WTF Spain?

Technorati Tags: Politics, 2012 Elections

More charges for pastor Lewis

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AndreaLewis

Pastor Andrea Lewis, profiled here, was arrested again for child molestation after two more victims came forward.

Lewis was pastor at Act on Faith Ministries, a nondenominational church. It wasn't immediately clear if Lewis had an attorney.
The alleged victims are adults now, and said they were abused over a period of time when they were juveniles.

Source: Shreveport pastor charged with molestation

Lewis is already facing charges stemming from his alleged sexual abuse of another young girl from his "church".

Technorati Tags: Clergy Sexual Abuse, Hypocrisy

Chris Christie

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I watched Chris Christie's speech last night at the Republican National convention. Besides this weird feeling I had that he was speaking to a future audience, I was mystified by this quote, "Our ideas are right for America and their ideas have failed America." I pay close attention to politics these days. As of today I can truly say that I do not know what "our ideas" mean. On the important issues, all I hear are sound bites with no depth. It's impossible to look closely at Republican ideas because what they talk about is conceptual. There is no plan, or at least no plan that they are sharing. With Obama I know what the Democrats are planning. I may not agree with the plan, but at least I'm able to think about it. Why is it that Republicans don't want me to think?

Technorati Tags: 2012 Elections, Politics

Mistaking thinking for praying

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For lunch today, I stopped a Carl’s Jr. for quick meal. I’m fighting an entrenched battle with my waistline, so I’ve been carful to make choices consistent with my paleo lifestyle. In this case, I ordered a chicken breast sandwich served protein style with no sauce and a side salad, plus an iced tea. It’s boring, but I view weight loss one battle at a time. I won this one. When I add in breakfast, snacks, and dinner, I managed to win all my battles today. Good for me.

I’m practicing something called mindful eating. It’s one of many small changes I’ve made towards my relationship with food. In this case, I allow myself one bite of the salad to start, then spend a minimum of two minutes thinking about my meal before I eat it. I have a checklist on my phone that I use to run through a series of questions. Questions include:

Is there anything in the meal I should discard before resuming the meal (croutons)
Is the meal prepared the way I ordered it?
How much of this meal should I eat?

The lists also includes prompts to help me get all Zen about my meal by thinking about what my first bite tastes like, reminders to eat slowly, and most importantly, a reminder to ask myself if I am sated.

I know this sounds corny, but to be honest, my relationship with food is horrible and I need these little changes to make the big changes happen.

And now for the odd part, While in my self-imposed two-minute break, a man who had been studying the bible at a nearby table stood up and said, “It is beautiful to see a fellow Christian praying over their food.”

“The hell you say.” was my response. “I’m thinking here.”

“I was watching you. You were praying.” says the Christian.

I was miffed at this point, but try to be polite. “Listen. I don’t pray. Can we leave it at that?”

The Christian backed off and returned to his table. A few minutes later he left the restaurant. A few minutes after that he return with a small New Testament. He dropped it on my table and said, “I think you might need this.” Then he left.

Lunch ruined. Mindfulness forgotten. I threw his gift away with the remains of my meal.

he says a word
I say a word
Autumn deepens

- Kyoshi Tarahama

Food Choices and a Positive Mindset (projectwhitespace.com)
Battles with Food (missionabspossible.com)

7 Ekim 2012 Pazar

Orwellian, Kafka-esque, You Name It

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This one is so nuts it jolted my long-numb outrage nerve back to life.

From the New York Times: Guantanamo Detainees' Lawyers Can't Use Wikileaks Files

So here's what the government's been arguing:
-People locked up in Guantanamo, some for almost a decade now, are there because they are "the worst of the worst" Al-Qaeda terrorists.
-We could prove it, but it would risk giving away state secrets that would aid and abet the terrorist cause.
-That's why we can't have such niceties as civil trials and, you know, silly things like evidence and so on.
-But they are really, REALLY bad men. Trust us.

However, the files that have been leaked reveal that the government long ago determined that:
-The majority of detainees were sent to Guantanamo for no reason at all.
-Many were innocents rounded up in Afghanistan because the US offered large rewards.
-Some were mere children, others senile old men.

Now they're saying that the detainees' lawyers can't even look at the leaked documents because they remain classified.
They're public knowledge now, but they're still, you know, top secret. Hush hush. Loose lips and all that.

So even if a document is out there that shows that US military "intelligence" (*snort*) found out 8 years ago that your client is completely innocent of whatever he's been accused of, (if they've even bothered accusing him of anything) you can't use that document to have him released.

If you think this kind of government over-reach will never be applied to you because you're an American citizen or not brown, could I just drop a couple of names? Jose Padilla. Bradley Manning.

I could comment at length on how batshit crazy this really is, and how much of a threat to democracy and human rights, but I think in this case the facts speak for themselves. I will however award this story the coveted Les EnragÃ©s Maximum Bullshit Award.

TAGS: The Security State, Batshit Crazy
No seriously, these people are nucking futz
Welcome to Amerika, land of the ~~free~~

Remember: On this day in 1970

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Those who cannot learn from history
are doomed to repeat it.
-- George Santayana --

How many more? My heart goes out to the families of the victims, and I hope that someday the truth will be revealed and America will wake up to the horrors imposed upon them by the Powers That Be and the Military Industrial Complex. Only by confronting the ugliest truths will we ever make a better society.

Please visit the Kent State Truth Tribunal, kept alive by Allison Krause's sister Laurel and others, and show your support.

TAGS: Kent State Massacre, Military Industrial Complex

RIP Jack Layton

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Canadian political satire show This Hour Has 22 Minutes had Jack Layton on last spring, doing a faux cooking show. Host Geri Hall suggests an improvement to the recipe. "A little NDP magic?" No problem. The Right Honorable Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition goes into an impromptu rendition of "Legalize It."

"I don't think the Conservatives would ever put that in there."

TAGS: Jack Layton, NDP Magic, Legalize it!!

What caused the 2008 Economic Collapse?

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And without Keynesian intervention,
how can we rationally hope to avoid a second,
much worse collapse?

"The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness."
~ John Kenneth Galbraith

“Capitalism is the astounding belief that the most wickedest of men will do the most wickedest of things for the greatest good of everyone.”
~ John Maynard Keynes

In this video clip Alan Greenspan pretty much admits that the cause of the financial system collapse in 2008 was his ignoring that Keynes truism. Quite a blind spot considering that the most wickedest of men were also his best friends!

"Political economy came into being as a natural result of the expansion of trade, and with its appearance elementary, unscientific huckstering was replaced by a developed system of licensed fraud, an entire science of enrichment."
~ Engels, Outlines of Political Economy (1844)

"A developed system of fraud" -- aka banksterism.

TAGS: Economics, Banksters, Alan Greenspan, Ayn Rand

Sorry about that!

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To anyone who is still trying to visit this site: I'm so sorry that it has been allowed to go fallow. I'm FURIOUS with the asshats at Echo for having lost all the excellent comments you've contributed. They were the best part of the blog IMHO.

I got an email from Echo (who bought haloscan and all its accounts and promptly fucked the interface over) advising me that the interface would be shut down in October of 2012. So I went to the site to check and found that it had already been pooched. Fucquers, as we call them up here in Canada. Furthermore the interface to blogger itself has changed dramatically, so I don't even know how to revert to the old clunky default comments. I don't think Blogger even supports the old 'template' style anymore - just the 'layout' drag-and-drop that I refused to convert to because it would have destroyed a lot of my (I thought) clever customizations.

I'd delete the whole thing but I think there are some great posts here that deserve to be archived for posterity. Thanks to all participants for your creative efforts and your desire to help make this a better world by opposing the fascist takeover.

I am so very sorry that it's had to end. I would have liked to re-activate it what with the election cycle coming up again. Any little bit of counterpropaganda we can hurl from the Trebuchet of Truth is a bit of ratwanger shite that hasn't gone unchallenged.

I am QUITE active on Facebook, so please friend me or subscribe to my posts there: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000513798283
Or send me an email - unruly1 AT sympatico DOT ca

If you've been using a monicker here, please let me know what it is/was so I know who I'm talking to. A lot of you maintained your anonymity to the end.

See you on the flip side.

6 Ekim 2012 Cumartesi

Pathological Lies from Paul Ryan

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The hypocrisy of Paul Ryan is matched perhaps only by Mitt Romney's shameless dishonesty and willingness to lie on almost every topic. Ryan's latest round of batshitery involves his claim that Barack Obama and the Democrats are engaged in class warfare against the wealthy even though its Ryan and his party who seek to implement a reverse Robin Hood form of society: take from the poor and middle class and give even more to the already very rich. Worse yet, he claims that its the Democrats, not the policies of the GOP that impede social mobility in America which has fallen markedly over the last three decades. Apparently, Ryan hasn't pulled his head out of his ass lately and noticed that Europe now has more upward social mobility than the USA. Nor has he noticed that the wealthy are currently paying the lowest tax rate in roughly 60 years. Why let the truth get in the way of one's demagoguery. Here's Ryan's factually backwards comment on social mobility:

"We should not shy away from class warfare," Ryan said. "We should take this head on, which is, the president is preying on the emotions of fear, envy and resentment, and he's speaking to people in America as if they're fixed in some class. That's the European model. That's the model our ancestors left to come create an opportunity society, equality of opportunity, equal protection of the law -- not equality of outcome. Government's role is not to equalize the results of our lives. And we should take that on in a moral way and defend the system of upward mobility."

Oh, a did I mention that Ryan opposes equal protection for LGBT citizens among other minority groups. The man is a douche bag and the antithesis of what Catholic social teachings is all about. Even the utterly corrupt and morally bankrupt Catholic bishops have condemned Ryan's budget policies and reverse Robin Hood policies. Here's some more commentary from Huffington Post:

Republicans have long accused President Barack Obama of engaging in class warfare, citing his effort to scale back the Bush tax cuts for the nation's wealthiest. Frustrated defenders of the president have long called on Democrats to make the case that the true class warriors are the ones looking to slash entitlements and inevitably expand income inequality by cutting corporate taxes, busting unions and pushing through trade deals that ship blue-collar jobs offshore.

Dividing the country between those who are receiving government assistance and those who aren't are familiar themes for Ryan and Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney.

In a 2011 speech, Ryan suggested that 30 percent of Americans are "takers." "Seventy percent of Americans want the American dream. They believe in the American idea. Only 30 percent want the welfare state," he said.

Jobless Numbers Fall - GOP Conspiracy Claims Rise

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It is almost entertaining to watch the spittle and bewilderment emanating for Romney/Ryan and the usual demagogues of the GOP as the react to the latest unemployment figures which show improvement notwithstanding all of the efforts of the GOP to destroy the U.S. economy in the hope of defeating Barack Obama. All those efforts of total obstruction and throwing millions of Americans down the financial toilet and yet the economy is improving. They simply cannot deal with it and as a result are claiming that somehow Obama conspired to cook the numbers. To me, it's yet the latest example of how low and untethered to reality today's Republican Party has become. The GOP would rather see the nation in a depression rather than see Obama re-elected. Pretty f*cked up priorities in my book. The Washington Post looks at yesterday's jobs report and why the GOP demagogues are so flummoxed. Here are highlights:

For Mitt Romney, it was the number that proved everything. Since the very first speech of his campaign, the Republican candidate has used a simple figure to bolster his argument that President Obama couldn’t fix the U.S. economy: 8 percent. For Romney, any number above 8 percent proved he was right and Obama was wrong.
Obama had promised, Romney told audiences repeatedly, never to let unemployment get that high. Instead, Romney said, the jobless rate blew past 8 percent and got stuck there. Until Friday.
The 0.3 percent dip in unemployment in September, from 8.1 to 7.8 percent, deprived Romney of one of his central campaign themes. It was enough to put him on the defensive just as he was basking in the afterglow of his debate performance Wednesday . . . . the economy had crossed a threshold that Romney had implied it would never cross without him.
The political importance of the 8 percent threshold was driven home, in a backhanded way, by a few conservatives who floated a conspiracy theory that Friday’s dip had been engineered to give Obama a boost.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics, a branch of the Labor Department, uses two main sources. One is a survey of 141,000 businesses. The other looks at 60,000 households, asking if the people in those households were working or looking for work in the last month. The household survey captures data that the business survey doesn’t, such as people who are self-employed or who work on farms.
The September survey of businesses indicated a relatively modest gain in hiring: Payrolls rose by about 114,000. But the household survey indicated a much greater boost in hiring, with about 456,000 people no longer unemployed.
Later in the day, Welch told MSNBC’s Chris Matthews that he had no hard evidence that the data had been fudged. But he said he stood by his suspicions. “I don’t want to take back one word in that tweet,” Welch said. “These numbers defy logic.”

It is truly frightening that Republicans want to see the economy in decline and more Americans in dire straits solely so that they can be political opportunists. It is truly sickening. But then, the GOP leadership doesn't care about nearly half the population anyways. Romney said so himself and said it wasn't his job to worry about such citizens.

13 Ekim 2012 Cumartesi

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