2008-12-29

con•tra•dic•tion



I was scanning the newest additions to the Bible Belt Group. I was contemplating removing some non-related photos, but decided to let them be. Came across a tard holding a sign. (I can never stop laughing at these people)

I had to look up the verse again, and I noticed that it, being contradicting to other parts of the bible, you know, that unshakable book of "truth".

Lets read what it says about gays in Leviticus:

Leviticus 20:13

"If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them."


So if you are gay, the bible says you should be put to death. And if you kill them it won't be wrong, and you won't get in trouble cause their blood is upon their hands. Such a great moral code to live by!


Contrast that with Corinthians:

1 Corinthians 6:9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,

6:10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
It doesn't mention gays specifically, but it lists off a lot of other people - which are

  • fornicators (a HUGE list, if compiled would empty 70% of the churches in the south)
  • idolaters (ok, so anyone who owns a crucifix you are gonna BURN!)
  • adulterers (goes in line with the first one)
  • effeminate (possibly a mention of gays, I honestly can't figure this one out -Ted Haggard, can you help me out here?)
  • abusers of themselves (Wondering if this is talking about masturbation.
  • thieves (see below)
  • covetous (90% of Americans who keep up with the Joneses are goin to hell!)
  • drunkards (would empty a whole shitload of church pews)
  • revilers (this one actually makes sense. Something that you shouldn't do as a human being. (gay bashing bible nuts, can you take some notes here?)
  • extortioners (again, actually a good idea to not do this. As with anything in the bible, only 10% of it makes sense -is practical and has good rules to live by. While the other 90% is garbage.
So back to number six. Have a read of


Mark 15:27
And with him they crucify two thieves; the one on his right hand, and the other on his left.

Luke 23:32-43
And there were also two other, malefactors , led with him to be put to death.
.....
And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.
And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.
So can thieves get into heaven? No one knows for sure.

2008-12-24

Oh hell no

I had to replace that bandaid that the Dr. placed on it this morning. After the insane pain I had taking off the gauze pad Friday. I didn't want to take any chances. The absorbtion of the gauze made it stick to the foot and it made removal painful. Band aids make better bandages because they do not stick to the wound. So after the 1.5 miniute consultation I was free to go. I noticed the same smiling Oprah staring at me as I put my shoes back on. The first thought in my head was "oh yeah this motherfucker is coming off" (the bandage he put on). So in the above photo you have the new bandaid on it. Explanation of the title of this post: I didn't want to have a bandage on that was going to stick. (apologies, this was written from my mobile phone. )

2008-12-23

Prayer



Its always a nice gesture to offer prayer to someone. It shows empathy. But here's one thing it doesn't do. It doesn't actually work. I have often been offered prayers and politely smile and nod and say thank you. But I think praying offers false hope to someone who is in a real-world struggle for their life. Cancer victims for example.

I read the horrifying yet false story that demeans people and guilts them into being a "real Christian". I had to offer my thoughts.

Propagating the myth that is that "atheist girl story" Is the ass-hattery of John Michael Montgomery and his song "The Little Girl".

2008-12-20

Something is wrong with this picture



The AFA, a hate filled hate-speech promoting, religious organization, are asking for "Tax deductible" donations. Why do these morons still have tax exempt status. They promote a political agenda. In one breath they condemn "homosexual promotion" by Campbell's Soup company and in the next ask for a tax deductible donation.

I get their emails to snoop on them. Also so I can use their form to "send a letter" to these companies letting them know how much I appreciate them for standing up to the religious right. I used their "send a letter telling them how outraged you are" links several times to send a letter of thanks. I encourage every one to do this.

Its incredible, in an email dated 27th Nov. They accuse the "gays" of "launching a hate attack" on the Mormons.

Its pretty entertaining to read this stuff. If you can stomach it.

Ow

Word of the day: Owwwwww. Day after the forceful slicing of my toenail by an unapologetic and methodical Dr. Ok, I'm exaggerating. But it kind of hurts. So there really is nothing for me to do except watch Rocketboom and Geek Brief and video podcasts. Kind of taking it easy.

2008-12-19

Priorities Out Of Order

I don't get how its a good idea to build a special road for a sporting venue (NASCAR) but when it comes to the commerce of this state, we can't have the final plans of 840 completed. I'll admit ignorance to the details of the reason why the north corridor of 840 failed, but in my humble opinion politics should take a back seat to the needs of the people. (i.e. the taxpayers, i.e. the people who pay their salary) just my opinion of course.

2008-12-18

Laughing my ass off

Sorry about the bad audio quality here but this is hilarious!

Bringing it back

The CNN crawler rant reminded me of this gem:

Good for the side of buildings, bad for TV



Pre 9/11 you never saw that crawler bar at the bottom of news channels. Somehow someone thought it was a good idea to start having a ticker at the bottom. I think this is STUPID! I am going to steal Lewis Black's line : The reason I watch TV is so I don't have to read. MSNBC have done the smart thing during their prime time shows (Olbermann & Maddow) by removing that stupid crawler.

Can we just get rid of it already?


iPod charging at work

After deleting a shit load of pictures off my phone and staring at the screen I am starting to feel a little nauseated (disoriented) at having to tilt my head down for so long. First drawback to mobile blogging : no spell check :) I admit I use it but you will also notice I dont always use it. There is no spell check on my phone though. We certainly have come a long way from 2004 though.

Expect more blogging :)

Yes. I am so glad this works I am currently typing this on my LG VX9100M and will send it via MMS to blogger to be published and then subsequently tweeted via Twitterfeed. (coolness). now to kill that flickr stream twitterfeed. (kind of a pain). Well call me stuck behind the times, I like to think of myself as an early adopter. Here using this, I can blog up to 1000 characters and still have them post to twitter. Smart. I recommend go.blogger.com

Our Churches Welcomes you

Ok. I am testing out this sending MMS to Blogger thing. I thought as I took this photo the other day, of how this should have already been set up. So here is a real test. "Our churches welcomes you" LOL :)

2008-12-11

Review: CablesToGo iPod Compatible RCA Audio/Video to Dock Connector Cable



I cracked this open with glee and instantly hooked up my iPod. As it says on the back of the box it is compatible with "iPod Nano 2nd Generation (aluminum). I plug it in to the TV and to my surprise.

It doesn't bloody work.



Conclusion: It sucks. Don't buy it. Now I have to go through the process of returning it. I may have to suck it up and pay some Apple Fanboy tax and get the genuine Apple ones. They are $50 but include the premium Apple power adapter (a $30 Apple fanboy value) .

:(

Jury Duty



I was pondering why courts are so sensitive on who they allow as jurors. For example I have heard rumors that if you say you are for or against the death penalty, abortion, religion etc. then you will be kicked out of a jury. Is there any proof to this? Has anyone else had first hand experience with this sort of bias? In my opinion, a person should be disqualified if they lack the critical thinking skills that would help them as jurors. Am I discriminating against stupid people?

Anyway, the gate swings both ways. You can have a "get out of jury free" card if you claim membership to the ffrf and, if the claims are true, people will benefit from this because they don't want to serve on a jury. But isn't that discriminating against people because of their beliefs?

Shouldn't we place anti-death penalty jurors in with pro-death penalty jurors? Isn't that a strong case against the death penalty anyway?

Thoughts

Buford Mathias


Funny
Originally uploaded by Chris1051
When driving East out of Memphis one morning a colleague and I stopped in a truckstop and ate some breakfast at 6 AM and this was sitting next to the register as I paid for my meal. Hilarious. With a very fitting name to boot for that part of the state.

2008-12-10

Re-writing history



I was watching Keith Olbermann on my iPod today and could not find myself agreeing more with what he was saying. In case you missed it, I linked the program in bit.ly earlier. (file is a .m4v) and twittered it before Crooks and Liars could transcript it today.

So I will re-post the transcript here. In order to get the full effect I recommend watching the video. The chopped version from crooks and liars or the full version of the show (skipped ahead to 26 minutes 58 seconds). To those not in the know in the last 8 years it will seem like a huge blur, (probably because Keith was working with a time constraint as well.)

This whole "legacy" makes me mad, but what really makes me mad is the audacity of the right wing to claim that they are on the side of the troops (as if people who dissent against the government's decision to send troops off to their deaths are "against" our troops) when it is their failed policies and Bush cheer leading that gets them killed. I believe in Liberty and American freedom and the need for self defense which, incidentally does not include preemptive invasion of sovereign countries.

Rush Limbaugh angered me when he was defending Donald Rumsfeld's arrogant remarks regarding body armor and Vehicle armor. Remember "As you know, you go to war with the army you have, not the army you might want or wish to have at a later time." ? That fat bastard Rush Limbaugh was actually defending Rumsfeld. I was completely turned off of the right wing by this. We have these people demanding that we go to war and then they defend an arrogant prick like Rumsfeld when he says that troops can't have armor that will save their lives and prevent casualties. This happened before Abu Ghirab.

To effectively document the wrong that was the Bush administration you would need more than I care to type out or Ctrl + C and Ctrl + V. But the commentary from last night gave a very good abbreviated feel for why so many of us are displeased with Bush.

President Bush tells interviewers he does not care how history will portray him. But in our third story tonight, the Los Angeles Times has obtained an internal White House memo giving cabinet members talking points for painting history a rosy portrait of Mr. Bush even though his image will only get worse, as new, damning facts emerge. What does the memo say? And how are we obliged to correct its bizarre claims?

To start, it says Mr. Bush, quote, "...promised to raise standards and accountability in public schools -- and delivered the No Child Left Behind Act," an act so poorly received, that the Times points out it became a standard applause line this year... for Democrats.

Also from the memo: he curbed AIDS in Africa. Its spread has slowed, and Mr. Bush has won praise for this but he has not won any praise for withholding funds from groups that promote condom use, a proven life-saver in favor of abstinence-only programs, which have also failed in this country. Also, Mr. Bush's foreign-aid puritan, Randall Tobias quit last year after patronizing an escort service linked to prostitution.

Also from the memo: Mr. Bush lifted the economy with his tax cuts and, quote, "responded with bold measures to prevent an economic meltdown." In 2005, Mr. Bush told a 57-year-old single mother of three, one of them mentally challenged, that it was "fantastic", "uniquely American" that she had to work three jobs unlike half a million people who have no job as of November... in the first presidency for decades during which family earning power fell, and income disparity continued to rise. The "meltdown" he "prevented" now having claimed several Wall Street institutions which had weathered 1929, and 9/11... but not 43.

And, of course, the old standby, quote, he "kept the American people safe"...Not counting twenty percent of his first term, January 20th, 2001, until September 11th, 2001. On 9/11, he sat reading "My Pet Goat" for seven minutes after learning America was under attack. Then covered up environmental dangers at Ground Zero, and failed to provide for the health of rescue workers. Helped bin Laden's family flee the country. Opposed the 9/11 Commission, the Department of Homeland Security. Tried to outsource America's port security to Dubai. Did not keep us safe from the shoe-bomber... alert passengers and crew did that...Did not keep five Americans safe from anthrax... and never caught their killer. Still hasn't caught the killer of 17 sailors aboard the USS Cole. Still hasn't caught the killer of 3,000 on 9/11... outsourcing that to Afghans... turning that country into a narco-state, giving bin Laden a safe haven in the region of Waziristan by literally endorsing a truce that Pakistan signed with the Taliban there. And most of all, not keeping safe 4,200 Americans dead in his war, a war that made us less safe, invading a country that posed no grave or gathering threat, provided a check on Iran... then igniting insurrection by disbanding the Baathist Party, creating a Muslim theocracy purged of its moderate intelligentsia. One in which freedom has marched backward for women. And Lebanon, too, elected a Muslim theocracy... run by Hamas, no less. Keeping us safe? Terrorism is rising worldwide. The still-thriving enemy has claimed Pakistan's Benazir Bhutto... And thousands of people in India... including 200 in Mumbai last month. Russia can now invade U-S allies without fear of retribution. And Mr. Bush failed to prevent Kim Jong Il from joining the ranks of nuclear powers. Despite even more ample warning than he received prior to 9/11, he lifted not a finger to keep a major American city safe from wind and water.

And what, finally, of the claim in the talking points... that Mr. Bush has always upheld, quote, "the honor and the dignity of his office"? You must define dignity downward to find it in a lie. The lie of "Mission Accomplished." Of upholding the Constitution... or protecting habeas corpus. That we do not eavesdrop without warrants... do not eavesdrop on Americans. The lie that we do not torture. That we do not play politics with justice... that we do not use the wheels of justice... to crush dissent. That we do not betray those who serve us in secret. That we uphold, rather than commute, the penalties for those who do. That we do not stage fake news conferences, do not censor science... do not plant propaganda in Iraqi newspapers... nor pay US columnists to write it in American newspapers. Or push respected Americans to vaporize their honor and dignity with lies to the world. Or lie about the causes of the credit crisis, high gas prices, or even that he watched the first plane hit the North Tower on TV. Where is the honor in vowing a crusade? Of daring those who would kill American troops to "bring it on?" Of promising to care for the troops after you put them in harm's way, without body armor or up-armored vehicles? Where was the honor, the dignity in giving a dead soldier's mother a presidential coin and telling her "don't sell it on eBay."?

His memo, revealing yet another lie.

He does care how history will portray him.

And now... he knows.

2008-11-25

Just plain wrong



Just when I was fuming about the CEO's of the Big 3 auto makers sailing into Washington, D.C. in their 3 separate $8,000 per hour, $50,000,000 private jets hands out begging us for money, there was an apparent back room deal going on. "Oh Hey lets just give citibank $20,000,000,000 without question."

This is wrong on so many levels. Are these banks going to turn that money into loans for us? No.

And lets take a look back at the auto industry again. They are bleeding money into these stupid failed vehicles that they make and are shoving down America's throat. Big inefficient SUV's. They have opposed MPG standards, opposed emissions standards.
On top of that, they mismanaged their companies into the ground whereby workers' pensions are threatened. Hard-working blue collar people. Why is no one looking into this mismanagement? If people's pensions are threatened that means -through mismanagement, money set aside for pensions HAS BEEN STOLEN! And these idiots need to pay for it out of their own fat, bonus-filled pockets. Its easy for me to see whats going on here. Its thievery. We taxpayers and hard working labourers are being ROBBED BLIND.



Its wrong. I have already been pissed off about GM, Ford and Chrysler begging for money but The recent news about this sweet Sunday back room deal with citibank really pisses me off.

2008-11-21

Bailing out

The auto industry has now got their hand out asking us for money.

EDIT: The auto industry flew to Washington, D.C. in their 50 million dollar private jets with their hands out asking US taxpayers for money.

I was watching K. Olbermann and John Talbot Author of "Obamanomics" was on talking about this subject. He brought up some excellent points:

  • The American auto industry has been the worst industry for decades.
  • We as taxpayers are being asked to fork over cash before any restructuring and we are expected to give that cash to the worst management.
  • This is an industry that opposed airbags, seat belts, MPG standards, and the clean air act.
  • When the American auto manufacturers introduced hybrids they decided to start with BIG ASS SUVs like the escalade and the Denali bringing their MPG up to an impressive 20 MPG
  • These idiots are still selling $20,000 pickups for $35,000 and $30,000 SUVs for $55,000

The game is over.

I was watching Friday's Real time With Bill Maher and Ashton Kutcher made a great point (although he fell flat when he was talking about the Mars missions).

He said the oil industry should bail out these American auto manufacturers. And he makes real sense. The auto manufactures have had a symbiotic relationship with the Oil industry since there was an auto industry. Its these crooks that have been making record profits that need to bailout these failed companies not us.

Lastly there needs to be some kind of fat trimming. No more multi-million dollar bonuses for fat cats, no more resort trips around the world.

I was against any form of bailout without restructuring and organization. Nancy Pelosi finally said "Show us your plan before we show you the money" I wish she had said that to the banks before we decided to hand over one trillion dollars.

Dennis Kucinich had a great line that said -and I am paraphrasing here - "none of us doubt whether you are working hard or not. What we want to know is who you are working for" to Neel Kashkari.

Watch it here

2008-11-06

You still have people who hate

been reading stories of redneck dumbasses in Texas hanging a noose to a tree under an Obama yard sign fire. You have people saying nasty things on twitter and flickr. Lets just hope the advancing zeitgeist will wash these people into the history books.

2008-11-05

The Straight talk express lost a wheel

John McCain's bus on Church on TwitPic

I did up a really great blog post and for some reason (error 400) Windows Live Writer is taking a crap on it so until it starts working again You will have to deal with this :)

Ahh what to say, I am so glad the people in this country have spoken. We have sent a clear message to the elitists like John McCain with their multiple mansions, planes, cars, and rich wives.

rt: #nashdebate on TwitPic

We didnt do it here in Tennessee enough to make a difference, but Ohio, Penna, FL, Colorado, INDIANA! I love that big middle finger the people of Indiana gave last night.

And the speech was truly phenomenal. I had to wipe a few tears from my eyes at times.

We did it. And now we are going to need two terms maybe more to fix the tragedy that Bush has created. I was reading the reactions and statements of world leaders. I was overjoyed by reading front pages of newspapers around the world.

I feel great today. Its a bright sunny autumn day. Now I noted, that 19.1.09 is Martin Luther King day. And on 20.1.09 is the day that President Obama is sworn in. And our long national nightmare will be OVER

2008-11-04

Fear mongering email from the AFA + Rant

(my comments interlaced in italics. language warning)

Read this before you vote

America's future and the future of our children are at stake

You betcha!

November 3, 2008

Dear Chris,

The election of senators and representatives is very important. If the liberals win enough seats to kill a filibuster in the Senate, then there will be no stopping the damage they can do in just two years. Do we want that much power in the hands of liberals?

Oh hell yes! It would be more so undoing the damage of the last eight years of Bush though. America has had enough.

Activist justices who will be appointed to the Supreme Court for 20 to 40 years can make any law they wish, or override any law they wish.

Unfounded malarkey. As opposed to the activist judges installed by the right wing fueled by evangelical asshatery to reverse Roe V. Wade?  And I call bullshit on the "they can make any law they wish" statement. No they can't And no they wont. This is just fear mongering at its worst.

The liberals are already planning to remove every law prohibiting abortion, make homosexual marriage legal, and take away our religious and First Amendment freedoms.

Not that that would be a good thing?

  1. Abortion was deemed legal by the supreme court in 1973.
  2. Homosexual marriage is a non issue. Its a State issue. It has already been deemed legal in three states. If you want to ban it in that shining example of progress Alabama, (the same state that bans the purchase of dildos) be our guest.
  3. I would like to see proof that Obama intends to revoke the first amendment. If you are talking about the dumbosity that is govt. advocated prayer in public schools, I suggest reading up on some Thomas Jefferson. Then get back with me. Also no one has done more to erode constitutional freedom than Bush & Co. a la the Patriot act, spying on Americans? any of that ring a bell? Guess not. Must be in that delusion that so many Bush apologists get into. Much like the delusion of religion.

A veto-proof Senate would guarantee that every bill the liberals want to pass, they can. In two short years, the liberals can undo every law that it has taken conservatives 40 years to accomplish.

Said as if they are going to undo every law. How about lets just undo the disaster that was Bush and his congressional majority from 2002-2006? I have tried to make this a family safe blog but this pisses me off. Fuck these assholes! They have been in charge for eight years and the country is currently fucked in case you haven't noticed! Its time to fire the liars.  Remember this? Oh Being a Christian is so holier than thou. Spare me the bullshit! 96,000 Iraqis DEAD and 4,190 US troops DEAD for a FUCKING LIE! You can bitch all you want about the bailout (which I oppose and disagree with Obama on) but $2,760,000,000,000.00 is an awful lot to pay for a made up war.

War

 

When you vote for a senator, be sure that you keep this in mind! The election of one conservative senator could make the difference!

Sincerely,
Don
don

Donald E. Wildmon,
Founder and Chairman
American Family Association

Damn right! Lets fire these bastards!

2008-11-03

We're just one day away from change



Abridged message from Barack Obama:

Election Day is tomorrow -- Tuesday, November 4th.

Right now, I'm asking you to do one last thing -- vote tomorrow, and make sure everyone you know votes, too.

When this campaign began, we weren't given much of a chance by the pollsters or the pundits.

But tomorrow, we can make history.

Watch the video, find your polling location, and get everyone you know involved on Election Day:

http://my.barackobama.com/nov4


With your vote, and the votes of your friends, family, and neighbors, we won't just win this election -- together, we will change this country and change the world.

Thank you,

Barack

Zero views?


happy Halloween
Originally uploaded by Chris1051
come on people...

2008-10-31

Obama's Pastor

In a last ditch effort they are bringing up as many "Obama Links" as possible. Rev. Wright keeps coming up. Rev. Wright pales in insignificance to the Pastors of John McCain and Sarah Palin.

While digging up the vimeo video in the last post from my gmail, I notice that Bruce Wilson had a series of new videos. This one needs to be broadcast far and wide.

And so it continues:

This should be revisited

In Richard Dawkin's book "The God Delusion", I was reading (well listening - I have it on audible) of an inspiring quote from one the conservative movement's founding father. Barry Goldwater.

I am sick and tired of people today saying we are a Christian nation. If Obama is an atheist it should not matter. It shouldn't have to be political suicide to come out as an atheist It shouldn't be a smear as evidenced in the Elizabeth Dole special bag of dirty tricks.

Many of the rabid right wing try to emulate Goldwater.

They continue to excavate the poor tired bones of Ronald Reagan. The Republican party has been hijacked by the religious radicals.

With that I bring you the quote of the day.

However, on religious issues there can be little or no compromise. There is no position on which people are so immovable as their religious beliefs. There is no more powerful ally one can claim in a debate than Jesus Christ, or God, or Allah, or whatever one calls this supreme being. But like any powerful weapon, the use of God's name on one's behalf should be used sparingly. The religious factions that are growing throughout our land are not using their religious clout with wisdom. They are trying to force government leaders into following their position 100 percent. If you disagree with these religious groups on a particular moral issue, they complain, they threaten you with a loss of money or votes or both.

I'm frankly sick and tired of the political preachers across this country telling me as a citizen that if I want to be a moral person, I must believe in A, B, C, and D. Just who do they think they are? And from where do they presume to claim the right to dictate their moral beliefs to me? And I am even more angry as a legislator who must endure the threats of every religious group who thinks it has some God-granted right to control my vote on every roll call in the Senate. I am warning them today: I will fight them every step of the way if they try to dictate their moral convictions to all Americans in the name of conservatism.

bgSenator Barry Goldwater
Congressional Record, September 16, 1981

 

So what do we get in they year 2008? Sarah Palin and her "Be gone ye witchcraft" whackos.

 

You get people banging on five gallon water bottles who are horny for the end of the world and the "rapture".

 

Reflect on this, and then vote your conscience. I will never stop saying it because I love my country - a country that was founded in secularism and freedom. Not theocratic bullies, fascism, and jingoism.

Ignorance is preferable to error; and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing, than he who believes what is wrong.

And let us reflect that, having banished from our land that religious intolerance under which mankind so long bled and suffered, we have yet gained little if we countenance a political intolerance as despotic, as wicked, and capable of as bitter and bloody persecutions.

Millions of innocent men, women, and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined, and imprisoned; yet we have not advanced one inch toward uniformity. What has been the effect of coercion? To make one-half the world fools and the other half hypocrites. To support roguery and error all over the earth.

And placing greatest emphasis on this last one:

Because religious belief, or non-belief, is such an important part of every person's life, freedom of religion affects every individual. Religious institutions that use government power in support of themselves and force their views on persons of other faiths, or of no faith, undermine all our civil rights. Moreover, state support of an established religion tends to make the clergy unresponsive to their own people, and leads to corruption within religion itself. Erecting the "wall of separation between church and state," therefore, is absolutely essential in a free society.
We have solved, by fair experiment, the great and interesting question whether freedom of religion is compatible with order in government and obedience to the laws. And we have experienced the quiet as well as the comfort which results from leaving every one to profess freely and openly those principles of religion which are the inductions of his own reason and the serious convictions of his own inquiries.

-All from Thomas Jefferson

2008-10-28

Twitter is for baddies like us

The scaremongering flowing from the army is disgusting.

"Twitter has also become a social activism tool for socialists, human rights groups, communists, vegetarians, anarchists, religious communities, atheists, political enthusiasts, hacktivists and others to communicate with each other and to send messages to broader audiences,"

So... we should watch out for all of those... baddies? Can I just say WTF?

The underlying agenda here is more fearmongering. Oooh the baddies, the bad terrorists... Scaring poor old grandmas in Missouri. And they way they named off all of those labels as if they were villains.

He's a n*gger!

If you can stand to listen to the voice of Sarah Palin for two minutes and 38 seconds, listen to another of her rabid right wing supporters shout out the words "He's a n*gger!"


Some people are too stupid for their own good. I'm sorry But I find this kind of behavior inexcusable. If they needed any more reason to have their asses handed to them on Nov 4th (9% of Americans think the country is headed in the right direction as helmed by George W. Bush), this should be it. The "He's an Arab", "He's a Muslim", "He was named after Saddam Hussein"  flaming that has been going on is inexcusable.

Let's also not forget the "B-grade" actress Ashley Todd.

atodd

Who said she was attacked by one of those "big black guys".

The racism that is alive and well in all corners of this country is appalling.  When I first ventured into the American south - and the deep south I could not believe what I was hearing. As it turns out this isn't just limited to the American south. Views of the confederate flag are one thing, but when you have redneck dumbasses questioning you if you are "one of those dirty Mexicans" or "one of those Eskimos" on a construction site* - you start to feel a little uncomfortable. Especially when this person hits you on the head with a pipe wrench (I had a hard hat on).

I can only hope (praying to an invisible man in the sky does no good, we already established that) that Barack Obama wins next week. I would love to see the look on all these racist fuckers' faces. I would fear for Obama's safety and I would hope that threats like what we have seen yesterday are nothing more than weak attempts by less intelligent persons of racist persuasion. (Yes these idiots were from Tennessee).

*I worked a very short job on a construction site in 2000 and - a few of my fellow employees couldn't place my race. Although I had "one of those Mexican's" surnames I spoke coherent English, they used some not very impressive logic that I wasn't Mexican (I actually am half Mexican) but had to be something else like Eskimo maybe because I still had my Alaska license plate on my car. They did deduce that I was not 100% whiteboy.

Bears repeating

 

You've already seen it but it bears repeating. I HATED the old ad campaign of the wassup - it was annoying and stupid IMO. But here we have these guys who wanted to use their creativity (albeit -probably originally the advertising company's idea to start out with) and hopefully drive home an important message.

2008-10-13

Healthcare UR doin it wrong

lolcatgwb

 

I have about had it UP TO HERE with the BS that is the American healthcare system. I actually do have health insurance which I pay a pretty penny for and it still isn't worth a shit. I am on the highest plan available through my work. And me and  my employer pay out the ass for it too.  There isn't enough time in the day for me to write a sufficient rant about this healthcare system that is confusing and -well lets just say bullshit. I would like to remind anyone who still says that this is the greatest country in the world (ask if they have ever been to another country for any length of time) about the awful tragedy that is our healthcare system. Its sad cause you read about poor people in the south not being able to see a doctor - people with no insurance - dying because they can't afford healthcare. These same poor people are being brainwashed by right wing hate speech that universal healthcare is socialism and communism and everything else all rolled into one.  I am saying it right here, these right wing bigots like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity are spreading this misinformation when they themselves are immune to the sting in the wallet that comes with medical bills. That fat bastard Rush is out driving a Maybach sucking down Oxycontin I am sure he doesn't care about some puny medical costs. Or Sean Hannity - Employed by FNC & ABC radio I am sure he really knows what little people like us are going through when we get billed $600 for a single visit.

Again, its the end of the day and I need to hit the road. I am just plenty pissed. In an already F'd up country this is just another weak leg in an already broken table.

2008-10-11

Message to rich people:

Every 5 seconds, a child dies from starvation somewhere in the world, and the cost to have fed that child a nourishing meal is only 19 cents per day (source: World Food Program).

Chew on that.

Not so good @ liveblogging

For what its worth I am going to copy/paste what I had typed out using my N810 while at Obama camp hq in Nashville during the Nashville debate. I didn't get to type much due to wanting to pay attention to the debate and the flood of tweets. A lot of this is echoed in my tweets for that night.

Here it is:

Lots of media.
18:17 i came by here earlier looking for yard signs and they were out. they said they ran out as soon as they got them in. Ok i have just bought my yard sign. I had to go back to the truck to put the sign in the truck. I shed my sweater.
18:34 - food is served. Long line.
18:35 - plopped my ass down in a chair near the end of the line waiting for it to die down. This N810 is giving me so much comfort. I'm in my little bubble. LOTS of people & its hot.
18:41 - ch 4 is broadcasting. BBC world is uploading content.
19:45 having an interesting discussion with BBC World staff.
20:05 - fire the liars
20:07 - he is talking about energy ugg
20:10 - yes we need to help the middle class 95%!
20:13 - fannie may and freddie mac mccain ties :(
20:23 - a planetarium a waste? McCains antiscience showing.
20:26 - talk about thw war! We need to leave Iraq yesterday! Healthcare ! Yes
20:29 - yes tell us about those earmarks John.
20:35 - tax cuts for the rich :( bad idea
20:36 - wealthy: 250000 +
20:39 - 95% will not get a tax raise
20:40 -CEOs for mccain
20:45 - the "my friends" thing is getting old.
20:47 - excellent counter point to the "drill baby drill"
20:54 - i think the obama plan makes more sense re:healthcare
20:59 - obama knocked it out of the park re: healthcare
21:02 - Iraq = nothing to do with 9/11 pow!
21:09 - going into Iraq = causes more Jihadists want to kill us than before 9/11
21:16 - we do NOT want to go into Iran!
21:19 - Iraq will be the Republicans undoing.
21:21 -news flash : Putin not the president of russia
21:26 - stinking rotting corpse = mistranslation
21:34 - mccain knows hard times with how many houses again?
21:36 -its over Obama did a good job held his own. Trashed the whole "elitist" accusation rather well.
21:46 - the pundits at msnbc are saying Obama won it

2008-10-08

Coming out of the woodwork

rel

I will come to the debates (which I have to get to still) later, but I wanted to make a post regarding this film I saw on Friday. First, the trailer:

Now being interviewed on the women's program "The View":

And his appearance on Larry King:

I believe to be a non-believer in America is an uphill battle. Even evidenced by this film. Look at the number of screens its being shown on versus all of the other top 10:

boxofficemojo

I have made it easier for you to see:

screens

only 502 screens across the country.

I think the most important message in the film is, we don't need people in possession of the nuclear (yes that's nuclear not nucular) codes who want to expedite the "end times" and the second coming of Jesus.

rap

Why does religion have to dominate our elected officials? Why - when this country was founded as a secular republic by our founding fathers - does someone need a "I'm a Christian" punch card? I have said it before and I will continue to say it. The founding fathers would be appalled. They wrote the constitution with language that was simple, and easy to understand. They mapped it all out in 1787 right there. They did NOT mention God or Jesus or this being a "Christian Nation" at all. They didn't say you have to be a Christian in order to be President. Let's have a read:

No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States, at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained to the age of thirty five years, and been fourteen Years a resident within the United States.

The only place it even so much as mentions religion is in the Bill of Rights - 1791

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Let's reiterate the relevant part:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion

Get it now? Its written in the constitution. I thought that the constitution still meant something. In an era where our rights are being stripped away from us, I guess they figure if they can tear one part of the constitution, they can tear another part. I have a problem with someone who is supposed to be representing me in government and gets his direction and guidance from talking voices in his head. There comes a time when the rational minority must stand up to the bullying. Bring this country back to how it was intended. This is NOT a Christian nation! With Bush the religious nuts who say we are a Christian nation came out of the woodwork.

nuts

You should recoil in horror when you see this type of garbage. I support the FFRF. They had got handed to them a religious smackdown after their billboard efforts were met with vitriol and an anti campaign.

kro

%12 of Americans are rationalists. Think of that number for a while. 98% of scientists say evolution is a fact. I say there should be no more of this privileged status that religion holds. People always tend to shut their ears and play the hurt feelings card when you talk about religion. I do respect your right to practice your religion - as per the first amendment as outlined above. I am not obligated however, to respect your religion itself. In other words, you can have an imaginary friend, an invisible man in the sky who can simultaneously hear the murmurs of billions of people at the same time, and also act on them, but don't expect you should be immune to ridicule because your feelings are hurt. You leave it open to ridicule when you start talking about global floods, walking on water, raising the dead, and the talking snake. This should not be a taboo subject.

Credits: Rapture by Marc Nozell. Vote Responsibly by Jacob K. Creative Commons attribution 2.0

.

Keep Religion out of politics by FFRF.

2008-10-03

What they wont say

More evidence Sarah Palin is not qualified

I watched the second half of the debate - I only have time to make a few quick points.

She refused to answer questions directly.
She hammed it up to the camera.
She made the SHOCKING revelation that she wants to see constitutional powers of the Vice President EXPANDED - WTF!!!
She attacked the shit out of Joe Biden.
She mocked him.
She said NOTHING of substance.
I applauded when Joe said John McCain was not a maverick.
If she or John McCain says maverick one more time I am going to go apeshit.
Joe was handcuffed. If he so much as made any counter attack he would be viewed as a bully.
She used that to her advantage and attacked the shit out of him.

Just some thoughts. I will post my live blogging efforts for all debates when I can get them complete. Right now I've got too much on my plate. Stay tuned.

2008-10-02

Hilarious email spam propagation

From our friends at the AFA.

Please help us get this information into the hands of as many people as possible by forwarding it to your entire e-mail list of family and friends.

Fed up with the extremely bias reporting on the presidential campaign by ABC, NBC and CBS? Do something about it!

Take The Viewers' Pledge! Our goal is one million pledges.

October 1, 2008

Dear Chris,

Are you tired of the extremely bias reporting by ABC, NBC and CBS? Do something about it! Tell the networks you are fed up with their attack on conservatives. Join other Americans who are tired of these networks promoting Barack Obama and attacking Sarah Palin. Take the pledge to not watch ABC, NBC or CBS until after the November elections! When the networks lose viewers, they also lose money. If viewers aren’t watching their promotion of Barack Obama and their trashing of Sarah Palin, they are losing money!

Send a message! We are sick and tired of your bias reporting, and we are not going to watch it anymore!

We will keep you informed on the progress of The Viewers’ Pledge.

Results will be given to ABC, NBC, and CBS.

The Viewers Pledge’ simply states, "I pledge not to watch any news programs on ABC, NBC and CBS until after the November elections."

Take the Pledge Now!

Please help us get this information into the hands of as many people as possible by forwarding it to your entire e-mail list of family and friends.

Sincerely,
Don
Donald E. Wildmon,
Founder and Chairman
American Family Association

I am always laughing at anyone who thinks they can make an impact by boycotting (Bill O'Reilly's hilarious call to boycott France in 2002) without significant numbers. This AFA boycott will have little impact thankfully. Its not like those days of segregation in the south, where blacks boycotted the buses successfully. You know why? its cause they had numbers. Idiots who think they can hurt the French economy by not buying French wine or cheese (the same idiots who call French fries "freedom fries"), or turning off the TV (meaningless unless they are Nielsen metered homes) are living in a delusion.

So when a small band of fundamentalist Christians think they can move the needle on the big three you gotta laugh. I am reminded with each new email, why I signed my name to the AFA "alerts" - for some good morning entertainment. And also so I can be quick to debunk it when confronted with the "Obama is a Muslim" malarkey. (notice the grammar errors dotted throughout the email heh heh.)

I am a bit angry with this group because of the opening plea:

"Please help us get this information into the hands of as many people as possible by forwarding it to your entire e-mail list of family and friends."

No we do not want any more bloody stupid email forwards thank you.

2008-09-25

can we please end the lying?



I am no financial expert by any stretch but I would think that a dollar amount equivalent to what we have spent in Iraq in a single swoop to bailout some fat cat sleezeballs is a bad idea. Why do you have these jerkwads getting bailed out by us? Why do you get someone like McCain who is quick to do some finger wagging at the bailouts but says nothing about Carly Fiorina and her $42M severance package? and goes on to continue lying?

enough!

Wacky Sarah Palin Church - Take III

witchcraft

You can't help but laugh at this type of stuff. I saw this article and had to share.

Palin blessed to ward off 'witchcraft' in church ceremony

Published Date:  25 September 2008
By DAVID GUNN
US vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin is seen being blessed in church by a pastor praying for her protection from "witchcraft" in a video that appeared on YouTube.
The video shows Republican candidate Ms Palin standing before Kenyan bishop Thomas Muthee at the front of the Wasilla Assembly of God church, in Alaska, holding her hands open as he asked Jesus Christ to keep her safe from "every form of witchcraft"

I just have a question. I know they guy is African but what is up with his voice?

Cool + Discovery

 

While reading this article I went over to Google maps to have a look at the building. Let me just say that that is a really cool story and very interesting. But what is also weird is the little Google map man for street view looks like he has a party hat and balloons. What is going on? (click photo to embiggen)

190bowery

Damage Control

 

Ouch! Looks like its spiraling out of control for McCain. Its kind of sad cause I like the guy. (I like him I don't like his policy) Here is video of David Letterman ripping him a new one. Ouch! (CBS may rip this off the web soon)

 

Quick morning post

Thanks to triple b for pointing me to this website. Its a bit of fun. But one of those posters really stood out above the rest and it made me laugh:

 

anewhope

2008-09-24

I still don't buy it

Hurricane Ike blew through and I noticed the blatant price gouging immediately on the evening of the 12th. That afternoon, I was enjoying gas (petrol - hereafter referred to as gas) at $3.499 per U.S. Gallon. I came home that night and stopped at a station and took this picture:

GasPrices

So the price had jumped $0.80 in a matter of hours. But still there was no shortage. Its been pretty much the same since this whole thing blew up sometime in 2005. Lies, counter-lies and misinformation. We see the price of oil jump to an incredible and record-breaking amount and then fall almost as quickly. It appears as if one of the driving factors for this is conflict in Iraq (both in 1991 and in 2003-present):

wtrg

 

While the rest of the country including California was enjoying a decrease in gas prices due to oil going down to $100 a barrel, we here in the mid south were getting the highest prices in the country. Reports of $5 per gallon were not uncommon. I frequented nashvillegasprices.com for updates and insight. I see across the board how cities in this area have a spike after Ike and cities in Missouri and Texas have no such spike as demonstrated in the below graph comparison of Nashville and Austin:

nashvilleaustin 

I see recently people in Laredo enjoying gas at $2.959:

laredo

 

So as luck would have it -I thought the Ike gouging would be over with and we could all get back to our lives with the price bumpy- but ever increasing. I can deal with that. I realize that gas is never going to get below $2 a gallon again and I accept this.  I just went about my normal business on Thursday (18th) and then by Friday (19th) I was down to a 1/4 of a tank. I thought nothing was amiss as I walked to lunch. I figured I would fill up on the way home or that afternoon. With the power of hindsight, I now see that this was a very stupid mistake. Here it was 5 PM and I was going to be stranded. I realized that afternoon that there was no gas anywhere and the stations that did have gas were going to run out very quickly with lines of cars hundreds deep - the line extending on to the interstate. It took my boss - to drive home get the 1.5 gallons out of his gas can for his lawnmower and pour it into my truck's tank for me to get home. I drove 50-55mph on the interstate with my emergency flashers and no air con but I made it.

Then CNN wrongly reported it was because of people hoarding due to a rumor. The local news outlets followed suit. Finally admitting Monday that there actually was a shortage.  I don't buy any of this crap that there was a rumor. No one seems to be able to come up with any source of this rumor. Here's how I think it went down:

  • Some stations started running dry. Those stations that had gas even limiting sales to $10, $20, $25.
  • Less supply = more demand. The lines grew longer.

The house of cards collapsed. It just shows how dependent we are on this petroleum. Made from dead dinosaurs and plants. America's heroin. Oil. We live every day and the cogs of industry and society survive by hanging on a single thread.  We can see what happens when that thread breaks. Chaos and anarchy on an apocalyptic scale. This begs the question. When this happened in the 1970's, Why didn't we look at alternatives THEN?!?!  Why are we only just now, in 2008 coming out with cars like the Chevy Volt? Why do we still sell brand new cars that get 7 mpg? What year do we live in? Why are we still pouring petroleum based fuels into our vehicles in the year 2008? A fuel that took millions of years to come into existence. A fuel where 2/3 or more is wasted in heat and only 1/3 is actually used to chuck the car down the road.  We have cars that can run on air. We need to find out Who killed the electric car, try them and make them bust rocks for the rest of their lives. We need to ask questions like "Why do these bastards make RECORD PROFITS and still try and downplay their right to print money.

oilbastards

Here's an idea. STOP giving these crooks tax breaks! Is McCain going to do this? No.

2008-09-23

Trying out Windows Live Writer

Ok I was convinced by a few people to download and install this software. I had to sift through the usual "make windows live my default search engine" crap. And also had to selectively choose which components of this program I should use. I of course only am using it to create content for the blog, which is neglected. I don't even really take blogging seriously anyway, but with this I may. It may be (so I have heard) a better editor than the tried and tested firefox, notepad, windows explorer.

Ok lets just go down the list here. The first tool I see in the UI on the right is "Insert Hyperlink". It may be a surprise but I am subscribed to the AFA's email newsletter - to see how bigoted and narrow-minded these people are, and also to have a laugh. Well a nervous laugh. I came across this bit of hilarity. Its a "voters guide" filled with misinformation and misguiding lies about Obama.

hate

Not that we really care, as people who are subscribed to AFA's nonsense legitimately are a shoe-in vote for the right anyway. It is slightly annoying when you see lies and misinformation but for what its worth, the AFA are crackpot homophobic bigots, Who propagate hate speech, so I am not too worried.

Using the other features of this editing tool. I am going to drop a map of where the Westboro Baptist Church is:

Map image

Meanwhile you have people who claim that in order to be moral you need the bible. Yet we later find out that they are either closet gays, or run kiddie pr0n operations.

So there it is my first attempt at Windows Live Writer. Lets hope that this thing will be worth keeping and not become a piece of bloated useless software.

We are hurting

New Ad

2008-09-19

Today is...




International Talk Like a Pirate Day

Just keeping you informed.

"an authentic historical rendering of the Holy Land and the Bible"

Spit-take of the morning. This is what the mayor of the town of Lebanon, TN said as he was describing the Bible Theme Park.

They stressed the $175 million park will be non-denominational

Mayor Don Fox said, "So this is not a religious park per se, this is an authentic historical rendering of the Holy Land and the Bible."


So these asshats are more worried that Baptists and other breakaway churches are going to be offended by it than the people who live here who are non-Christians. I find it incredibly hilarious that he says its "an authentic historical rendering of the Holy Land and the Bible" and the news site shows example renderings of what the park plans - a photo of the parting of the Red Sea. This is beyond ludicrous.



The mayor is probably a young Earth Creationist who doesn't believe in dinosaurs and actually believes the Red Sea was parted! Actually believes that the flood happened.

Hopefully the town of Lebanon will have elected some more rational people to their city council, people who don't believe in the talking snake. Council members who at least will vote for the people instead of voting because they believe in an invisible man in the sky who sent a pillar of fire to separate the Red Sea.