Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent.
Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able, and willing? Then whence cometh evil?
Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?
No person who denies the being of God, or a future state of rewards and punishments, shall hold any office in the civil department of this State.
I am a child of indoctrination. Growing up there wasn't a question of whether or not I was going to church, there was a question of what tie I was going to wear to church. If I dared speak opposition or requested to not attend church, I was met with harsh punishment and lecturing, and a few hours of bible study for good measure.
Growing up in that part of the country that isn't traditionally Bible Belt-ey (Puget Sound, WA) I had questions from the age of 12. The bible and Christianity didn't make sense to me. It was contradictory, and filled with violence and human suffering.
I was very apathetic towards Christianity even until recently. I believed in evolution and science (I have always been a fan of science) but I wasn't very vocal about arguing with religious nutters about evolution until lately. I figured I would just let them believe what they want to believe in. It wasn't until I moved into the south where I noticed a particular brand of evangelism that brought back painful memories of childhood. Its that in your face brand of preaching that I found particularly annoying. From 2005 onward (been living in Tennessee since 2005 now) I was bombarded with public displays, signs and also over the airwaves, tv and radio. All conveying the same message "If you don't believe in God, you will burn in HELL!" I said to myself enough was enough. I would start documenting this with photos.
If you are annoyed with the constant barrage of Christian fundamentalism being shoved down your throat, this group is for you. It can be an excellent tool to see fundamentalism wherever it raises its ugly head. There is no restriction on where the photos can be taken The "Bible Belt" can be anywhere. Billboards -makeshift or professional, Bumper stickers, Church signs that condemn you to eternal damnation. If you witness these or similar bible belt-isms in your local area, take a snap of it and share it with the group. It may be quite entertaining and scary at the same time.
My purpose in writing the book is to make people aware that Christians are being silenced all across America:
in the political debate,
the public square,
the schools,
the workplace, and even in the sanctuary of their own churches.
Defendant: Melissa Calusinski
(Lincolnshire Police Department photo / January 16, 2009)
Charge: First-degree murder and aggravated battery of a child
Melissa Calusinski, 22, of Carpentersville is charged in the death of 16-month-old Benjamin Kingan,who died after she allegedly threw him to the floor of a day-care center, cracking his skull, on Jan. 14, 2009. Authorities alleged she was frustrated because he was noisy.
Police said Calusinski, an employee at the Minee Subee in the Park day-care center in Lincolnshire, left the child to slowly die as he crawled to his chair. The day-care center has since been closed.
I had to drive by Cambridge yesterday, they had I-93 NB blocked coming from the airport ... at 2pm on a weekday! Madness!I once had to go to Detroit, Michigan and come back on the same day. This was back in March, they had I93 blocked off going into East Boston so I had to go an a really bad detour. But This was at 5am and 1am -I can understand dismantling the old Green decks at night. But Yesterday I was driving back from the airport -they didnt say I-93 was blocked before the tolls, no they would rather collect money on the tolls and wait for me to emerge on the other side of the Sumner Tunnel pissed off- hell they already got their money! If I had known they would have blocked I-93 NB I would have just taken Route 1A. Anyway sorry for bitching but what normally would have been a 15 min ride turned into 45min. Cause once I got on 93 (in Somerville) there was NO traffic. But these idiots had me driving all throughout Boston, with poor detour signs that are posted right AT the place you are supposed to turn so I had to drive like a jackass cutting in front of people etc, pissing a score of people off.
So yesterday I had a shedload of bags I had checked on my flight from Detroit and so I had to buy one of those rent-a-cart things for $3 and since I had that cart I had to take the elevator. I flew Northwest Airlines so I was in Terminal E (International terminal) The best terminal at Boston, but when I came back yesterday, it was at the same time loads of Trans-Atlantic flights were coming in, so there was a line to get on the elevator. I had no choice but to use it, (again because of the rent a cart thing... I couldn't take the escalator or I would have) but some people were just holding their bags, and didn't even need to use it, (They could have easily used the escalator) so anyway this one lady was in front and kept hitting the button to go up. There was a total of 2 elevators, with 2 lines formed. Once the other elevator opened up to let those people on, they all loaded up and the doors were closing, but this lady failed to realize that if you hit the button while the other elevator's doors are open, -even if they are1 cm away from being shut -the other elevators doors are just going to re open and re open and stay. So I told her what the deal was and she got bitchy with me-I wanted to say something else to her but I kept to myself -don't want any trouble. She finally got in and when it came time to tell the person next to the buttons which floor this broad says "We all are going to 3" when in fact, I was not I was going to 4 (The walkway to Central parking) The elevator stopped at 3 and she got off. As soon as she got off I could tell she had gotten off at the wrong level and she probably meant to get off at 4. It looked as if she was picking up her dad from a flight. Some oblivious looking around and she started to come back to the elevator as the doors were closing. The elevator had emptied out a bit and I was at the front now next to the "Door open" button. The doors closed completely before they could get to the door. (revenge is sweet)
Anyway I got back to my car in Central Parking, paid the $66 to have my car there for 2.4 days and drove off and then you know the rest of the story.
Southernboy. I just got kicked of flickf. I am trying to find old friends and contacts, Thanks Bill
"ACORN is "under federal indictment for voter fraud," but the stimulus bill nevertheless gives ACORN "$5 billion."
"The Census Bureau will report directly to the White House. Hey, for a community organizer-in-chief, that is the mother lode of all data, so that he can redraw all of the redistricting lines, so that democrats can control by a wide majority, every congressional seat across the country."
"So now we'll have a national rationing board, and your doctor will no longer be able to make your health-care decisions with you. Now a rationing board will be making those decisions."
Dear Mr. A..,
Thank you for contacting my office to share your concerns about the proposed economic stimulus package, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Your input is important to me, and I appreciate the time you took to share your thoughts.
I agree with you the stimulus package introduced in the Senate will have little benefit for our economy and I voted against this bill. I am disappointed that we have chosen to spend nearly $1 trillion and still have not solved the issues that created this economic crisis - credit and housing.
To turn our economic crisis around, I believe our priority should be to address the problems in our credit markets and get banks lending again. Additionally, we need to take steps to improve the challenges in the housing market. Unfortunately, the proposal considered by the Senate would borrow hundreds of billions of dollars and spend this money on government programs, many of which will clearly not help us address the two challenges I mentioned above. Until the housing and credit markets are dealt with in a serious and real way, anything else we do for the economy is just throwing good money after bad.
I know right now our country is experiencing tremendous economic turmoil and people are hurting. My heart goes out to all those who find themselves in financial situations that in many cases are beyond their control. I assure you that the difficulties being faced by Tennesseans during these times of economic uncertainty and hardship are of the utmost concern to me, and my staff and I will be using all the resources and options at our disposal to help in the months ahead.
Thank you again for your letter. I hope you will continue to share your thoughts with me.
Sincerely,
Bob Corker
United States Senator
Dear Chris,
I am writing to alert you to efforts underway this morning to zero out a large portion of the science funding from the Senate American Reinvestment and Recovery Act as a part of a $77.9B reduction effort led by Senators Ben Nelson (D-NE) and Susan Collins (R-ME).
As you know better than most, science and technology are responsible for half of the economic development of the United States since WWII and yet, if current trends hold, some, such as the Business Roundtable, have predicted that 90% of all scientists and engineers will live in Asia within 5 years.
The United States simply MUST renew our investment in the single greatest economic engine this country has ever known. Small federal investments in scientific research have helped produce things like the internet and the transistor that have consistently delivered multi-trillion dollar economies.
The United States is at a critical juncture, and if this concerns you we suggest now would be a time to contact your Senators and urge them to support science funding. Here is what is being proposed to be cut from the bill, according to TPM:
NASA exploration $750,000,000 = 50%
NSF $1,402,000,000 = 100%
NOAA $427,000,000 = 34.94%
NIST $218,000,000 = 37.91%
DOE energy efficiency & renewable energy $1,000,000,000 = 38%
DOE office of science $100,000,000 = 100%
Collins-Nelson Group Staff Paper Potential Cuts -- $77.9 Billion
02-05-2009
1. WHAT TO DO: call and email your two U.S. senators. Contact from a constituent on a wonky issue like this will have enormous influence. Calling is better than email, but do both if you can.
Go here to find your Senator, and select your state in the drop down box in the upper right hand corner:
http://www.senate.gov/
Tell them in your own words to reject the reduction
effort in the stimulus bill led by Senators Ben Nelson (D-NE) and Susan Collins (R-ME) when it comes to science.
Note that most Senator's web pages contain a form (e.g. - CONTACT ME) that you can fill out to contact the Senator. Also, use your own words since identical
messages get rejected by the Senators' staff. You can adapt language from my previous email or from below, but be sure to personalize it.
2. TALKING POINTS:
A) Science & technology have produced half of the economic growth of the United States since WWII.
B) Spending on basic research is the single greatest economic engine this country has ever known.
C) Funding to federal granting agencies is about as "shovel-ready" a stimulus as you can get. If the granting agencies lower their score thresholds for awards across the board the money will be flowing within months, leading to rapid hiring and increased purchasing from technical service and supply companies that are largely American, and creating thousands of the kinds of high-quality jobs the country needs.
Father 'suicidal' after girl thrown from bridge
Posted Thu Jan 29, 2009 5:19pm AEDT
Updated Thu Jan 29, 2009 7:48pm AEDT
The father of a four-year-old Melbourne girl thrown from a bridge this morning was suffering from acute psychiatric distress and was suicidal, a court has been told.
It is alleged the 35-year-old Hawthorn man threw the girl off the Westgate Bridge in Melbourne this morning and he has been charged with her murder.
Police say witnesses reported seeing a man stop his white Landcruiser near the top of the bridge and throw the child over the side about 9:00am AEDT.
About 10 minutes later, water police pulled the girl from the Yarra River near the Scienceworks Technology Museum, close to the Spotswood pumping station.
Paramedics then spent 45 minutes trying to revive her on the riverbank. She was flown to the Royal Children's Hospital, where she later died.
The man did not appear in the dock of the Melbourne Magistrates Court and the court heard he was suicidal and suffering from acute psychiatric distress.
He was remanded in custody to reappear in court in May.
'You just shudder'
Police say when the man was arrested he was with two other children, aged six and eight, and was visibly distressed.
Detective Inspector Steve Clark says the mother of the dead girl has been informed.
"It's a dreadful set of circumstances, and often you think you've seen it all but you haven't," Detective Inspector Clark said.
"It's particularly distressing obviously for family members but for the witnesses who saw what occurred, a number of those people are upset and I've got a number of police here who have young children themselves, who have had to deal with it."
Police want witnesses to the incident to contact them.
Victorian Premier John Brumby says the incident is a terrible tragedy.
"It's such a horrible thing to happen to the child," he said.
"As a father I think, what are the circumstances that could possibly bring this about? I just shuddered when I heard about it ... you just shudder, you just think, how can that happen?"
Police found notes inside the house in which the gunman referred to "job and work-related issues," police said
By Andrew Blankstein, Richard Winton and Ruben Vives, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
10:09 AM PST, January 27, 2009
Five children under age 10 and their mother were fatally shot inside a Wilmington home this morning, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
Police said that the assailant appeared to be the children's father and that he apparently committed suicide after calling a news media outlet. The organization, which was not immediately named, then contacted authorities, police said.
The LAPD was dispatched to the 1000 block of McFarland Avenue at 8:22 a.m. Officer Sam Park said the man apparently committed suicide.
"He called 911 and said his family was dead inside," Park said. "We responded. We have multiple victims inside of the house, and at this point we don't know how many."
Police said the children were an 8-year-old girl, a set of 5-year-old girl twins and a set of 2-year-old boy twins. Deputy Chief Kenneth Garner said police found notes inside the house in which gunman referred to "job and work-related issues."
"This was a financial and job related issue that led to the slayings," Garner said. "I these tough economic times, there are other options. In my 32 years, I've never seen anything like this."
The bodies were found around the house and were shot with a revolver.
LOUDON - A mother accused of neglecting her dying daughter by turning to prayer instead of medicine took to the witness stand Monday clutching her defense in her hands.
"I decided to turn to Jesus Christ, my lord and savior, for her healing, believing in this word," Jacqueline Crank testified as she held up the Bible she brought with her to Loudon County Criminal Court.
She expects to carry that same Bible all the way to the state Supreme Court, where nearly everyone involved in this landmark Tennessee case of prayer versus medicine agrees it will wind up.
Crank and her two children, including 15-year-old Jessica Crank, were living communal style with Jessica's self-professed "spiritual father," Ariel Ben Sherman, and other members of a branch of the Universal Life Church in Loudon in May 2002 when Crank took her daughter to a clinic because the girl had a large tumor on her shoulder.
Clinic personnel advised Crank to take her daughter to the University of Tennessee Medical Center. She didn't. Jessica later died from a rare form of bone cancer known as Ewing sarcoma.
Crank and Sherman wound up charged. Much legal wrangling followed. The case now has been whittled down to its core issue: Is Tennessee's law allowing parents to put their faith - and their children's health - in God's hands too vague to be valid?
Defense attorney Gregory P. Isaacs and Sherman's attorneys, Donald A. Bosch and Ann Short-Bowers, contend the law is silent on when a parent relying on faith can be held criminally responsible for that decision.
"Our state does not delineate whether you can try to heal your child of the common cold through prayer alone but you cannot try to heal your child of Ewing sarcoma through prayer," Isaacs argued.
Assistant District Attorney General Frank Harvey tried to steer the argument toward wording in the law that allows parents to follow the tenets of a "recognized" church headed by a "duly accredited practitioner."
Harvey contends Sherman is not a minister but a cult leader, an allegation Sherman has faced for decades in a host of states where he has set up house with followers but has steadfastly denied.
"The religion in question is Christianity," Bosch countered.
Isaacs echoed that argument with a reference to Christ and his disciples.
"I wonder if 12 people having supper with someone they consider to be the messiah who were not part of the establishment, the Sanhedrin, would that be considered a cult?" he said.
Judge Eugene Eblen declined Monday to dismiss the charges but is allowing an emergency appeal to the state Court of Criminal Appeals. In his view, it will take a decision from the state's highest court to determine whether Crank and Sherman can be tried under Tennessee law.
The pair now live in South Carolina with Crank's teenage son and at least four of Sherman's parishioners.
Jamie Satterfield may be reached at 865-342-6308.
© 2009, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
"Religion is an insult to human dignity. With or without it, you'd have good people doing good things and evil people doing bad things, but for good people to do bad things, it takes religion."
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."
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,It doesn't mention gays specifically, but it lists off a lot of other people - which are
6:10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
Mark 15:27So can thieves get into heaven? No one knows for sure.
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.
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.
