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August 31, 2006

Hidden Messages: They're Back(ward)!

Anyone who was active in the fundamentalist Christian movement during the 1970s will remember the hype about "backward masking" – the supposedly intentional demonic messages that one could only hear by playing popular songs backwards. I remember listening to "Stairway to Heaven" backward on a reel-to-reel and hearing, "Here's to my sweet Satan." Christian teens everywhere burned their Led Zeppelin tapes and records.

Did you ever wonder what became of the whole "backward masking" nonsense? Believe it or not, it appears to be making a comeback. Today it is called "reverse speech" and people with apparently nothing better to do than listen to recordings played backward are finding all sorts of what they believe are secret messages.

Before the Desert Storm was officially announced American troops were conducting operations in the gulf, entitled operation Desert Shield. During the time I was analysing public statements on President Bush and Defence Secretary Cheney. I kept on finding one word that appeared several times. The word was “Simoon.” It appeared in a complete phrase on President Bush saying, “Simoon, Simoon in the sands.” I later found that this was Arabic word meaning a “dust storm in the desert” or Desert Storm. I went public with this information in several radio interviews and was stunned when “Operation Desert Storm” was eventually announced. Reverse Speech had found the name of the operation before it was officially announced.

We had another success in finding the names of military operations in reverse several years later while Bill Clinton was in office. I found a reversal on weapons inspector, Scott Ritter, that said “Our wrath won’t shake the fox”, referencing Saddam Hussein. Shortly afterwards President Clinton announced fresh missions in the gulf and Iraq, entitled Operation Desert Fox.

On the subject of Bill Clinton, I began finding reversals of a sexual nature on Bill Clinton halfway into his Presidency. One phrase in particular said, “Had sex with an Oregon Madam.” I played this and other reversals on several media outlets and was accused of bias by some commentators. Imagine my surprise when the eventual sex scandals went public and it came to light that Monica Lewinski had gone to college in Oregon. Reverse Speech had got it right again!

The most recent triumph of reverse speech is their amazing discovery that confessed child-killer John Karr was faking it. They figured it out before investigators did, if you can believe that. Because, of course, the rest of us didn't have a clue.

I'd just like to know how those secret messages get in all those public statements. Is there a band of evil techies who work in television stations all over the country and slap the messages on before broadcasting them? Have all these people figured out how to talk backwards and forwards at the same time? Is it some sort of display of unconscious extra sensory ability? Are demons toying with their evil prey by sneaking incriminating messages into their statements as they speak, so they will unwittingly give themselves away?

Or could it be that many people have the potential to be complete nut cases even while appearing sane and are able to convince themselves of all manner of ridiculous things, including that random coincidences of sound actually have meaning?

Posted by Becky at 10:23 AM |

Paul Craig Roberts Slams the "Five Morons"

Paul Craig Roberts, former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan administration, former Associate Editor of the Wall Street Journal editorial page, and Contributing Editor of National Review, has just ripped the Bush Administration a new one. In an article entitled, "They're Even Dumber Than We Thought: The Five Morons Revisited," Roberts writes:

When the neocons launched the Bush administration's invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq and announced plans for invading Syria and Iran, I labeled Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, and Rice "the five Morons." With the passage of time I see that I over-estimated their mental capabilities.

Roberts calls the war in Afghanistan and Iraq "pointless," and says it has "achieved nothing but death, destruction, and hatred of America." He shakes his head at the effort to start a war with Iran and Syria. And with wonderful sarcasm, Roberts chides Rumsfeld for his complaint that the success of terrorists at "manipulating the media" is keeping him up at night.

Now I get it. When Fox News' Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilley assured us that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction that would be used against us if we didn't strike first, they were being manipulated by Osama bin Laden, who used America to get rid of the secular Saddam Hussein and to create a new training and recruitment ground for al Qaeda and fundamentalist fanatics.

When the New York Times let Judith Miller serve as a propagandist for war with Iraq, the Times was being manipulated by Muslim terrorists, not by neocons.

When CNN, the networks and columnists like Ann Coulter and Michelle Malkin reassure us that we will win the war unless we pull out prematurely, they are being manipulated by terrorists. Finally I understand what the Weekly Standard, National Review, the Wall Street Journal editorial page, AEI, and the online site Frontpage are all about.

The terrorists are so clever at manipulation that Americans cannot perceive that we have been sucked deep into a war that is creating the Islamic fundamentalism that we so desperately fear.

Obviously, I misjudged Rumsfeld's intelligence. Anyone who can figure out the Muslim conspiracy is off the charts. What I can't figure is why Rumsfeld is willing for America to continue to be sucked in. Don't tell me that terrorists are manipulating Rumsfeld, too!

I keep waiting for the money appeal from AIPAC. I already know what it is going to say: "Although AIPAC is undisputedly the most powerful lobby in America and can determine with impunity the fate of every elected official, we cannot match the terrorists' ability to manipulate the media. Polls show that terrorists' manipulation of the US media is causing American support for the war to dwindle away. Please send more millions to counter the terrorists' control of the American media. We are winning in the Middle East but losing at home."

The rest is far more biting criticism about Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Olmert and the mess they have made in the Middle East. And as Americans are increasingly recognizing, and Roberts so eloquently states, "[t]he only hope is that Bush and Olmert miraculously turn into grown men." Considering the consequences of owning up to their mistakes and the fact that Bush is a moron, however, I think the ending of this madness will only come about when we the people put an end to it.

Posted by Becky at 06:24 AM |

August 30, 2006

Katie Couric Gets Photoshopped

Why is it that CBS thinks Katie Couric, at age 49, must have the body of a 20-year-old?

Posted by Becky at 12:51 PM |

Theocracy Proponents Prepare Fall Campaign Push

If you have never heard of the Family Resource Council or its non-profit, tax-exempt legislative action arm, FRC Action, you might want to start paying attention now. The "education and lobbying organization" is feverishly working to legislate Christian morality and stack the bench with biased judges who will further impose Christian views on such matters as abortion, gay rights, school prayer, and more. This is part of a concerted, partisan effort to move the country toward a Republican-controlled theocracy, and the movement is taking important steps in preparation for the Fall campaign season.

FRC Action has just announced that Sean Hannity, co-host of "Hannity & Colmes" and host of "The Sean Hannity Show," (and demonstrable idiot) will speak at its first annual Values Voter Summit in September. Other speakers will include FRC Action President Tony Perkins, Dr. James Dobson (who founded the FRC), Gary Bauer (who now runs the FRC), Don Wildmon (head of the American Family Association), Ann Coulter, Newt Gingrich, Bill Bennett, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, Gov. Mitt Romney, Sen. George Allen (recently exposes racist), Sen. Sam Brownback, and Gov. Mike Huckabee, among others. FRC Action also plans a series of "Stand for the Family" rallies throughout the Fall to activate voters who will support like-minded candidates. Additionally, the group is actively working with churches to frame the issues and affect voter decisions.

If you are a conservative Christian, you may wonder why people are concerned about this so-called "family values" agenda. You should recognize that while you would likely feel perfectly comfortable under theocratic rule, many Americans would find the imposition of Bible-based laws oppressive and authoritarian. They value their freedom to choose their own belief system and, so long as others are not harmed, to live their lives as they see fit. They look to rational thought and science for guidance rather than to faith or dogma. And often, the very values that Christians hold dear are undermined when imposed legally on an unbelieving society.

The abortion issue provides an excellent example of this reality. Under pro-choice President Clinton, education about birth control and safe sex was emphasized and abortion rates declined because unwanted pregnancies were more effectively prevented. Under pro-life President Bush, Bible-based morality guided public policy, and education about birth control and safe sex was replaced with abstinence instruction. People still had sex, but either because their reliance on abstinence left them unprotected in a moment of passion or they did not know how to obtain and use contraception, unwanted pregnancies have increased and so has the rate of abortions.

As I stated above, the Values Voters Summit is part of a partisan effort to move the country toward a Republican-controlled theocracy. If the list of speakers is not enough to convince you of the partisan bias, then look at the organizers.

Connie Mackey, who has of late been extremely focused on the matter of putting the "right" judges on the bench, has a lengthy career as a political insider. She was a consultant to John Ashcroft's Senate campaign, the Senior Deputy Campaign Manager for Gary Bauer's 2000 presidential campaign, Director of Finance for Pat Buchanan's presidential campaign, a Bush Sr. appointee at the Immigration and Naturalization Service, and President Reagan's White House Director of Student Correspondence.

Tony Perkins has been the primary organizer of Justice Sunday I & II, and has convened high-level Republican strategy meetings attended by Tom Delay and Bill Frist. His Pastors' Outreach program is very effectively turning the pulpit into a political arm for the Republican party. His focus, like Mackey's, is on taking over the Judicial Branch with Christians who will legislate according to the Bible.

More disturbing is his apparent support for white supremacists. He has addressed the Louisiana chapter of the Council of Conservative Citizens, which is the successor of the anti-integration White Citizen's Council. He also purchased former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke's mailing list.

I recommend reading this article as a beginning step toward understanding this movement.

Posted by Becky at 11:43 AM |

August 29, 2006

Nazi Baiter Rumsfeld

Just when you think that they've crossed every line that can be crossed, Rumsfeld opens his fat trap.

Take your Nazi references and your myopic murdering of our American soldiers and kiss my lilly white liberal ass, Rummy. Your twisted "morality" and lack of conscience are an offense to all clear-thinking citizens.

Maybe there aren't any lines. Maybe we've become so jaded to Republican messages that the lines don't exist..or maybe they never did. Like the Spoon Boy in The Matrix,
its not the line that bends. It is only ourselves..

I hate that.

Posted by Carla at 07:33 PM |

TABOR Debate Soap Opera

I'm really flabbergasted at the misplaced arrogance of the proponents of Measure 48 today. In response to yesterday's challenge by Gov. Kulongoski of Howard Rich, and Rich's subsequent refusal to debate, Don McIntire is now challenging Tim Nesbitt, who McIntire says is the real governor of Oregon, to debate the measure.

I've seen Tim Nesbitt debate, and the man is good at it. He's smart, he doesn't resort to juvenile tactics, and he knows his facts. And I've seen Don McIntire debate, at a time when I was rooting for him, and he is really out of his depth in that sort of situation. That is not to say he isn't entertaining or that he can't come up with some witty statements – quite the contrary. He does a good job of that. But when it comes to appealing to the intellect, understanding the key points that must be emphasized, and responding to tough questions, he just doesn't cut it. Tim Nesbitt would clean his clock.

If a formal debate is necessary, let me make the outrageous assertion that the proponents of Measure 48 would do much better to put Bill Sizemore at the podium. There's a man who can put forth the bullshit like nobody's business and make you believe it. I've never seen anyone so quick on his feet or so capable of recognizing what is blocking someone from accepting his position and cutting straight to that point.

To see the complete inability of McIntire to understand the issues being brought forward by the measure's opponents, one must only take a cursory read of his letter to Nesbitt:

Thank you for your letter, which offers yet another reason for Oregon voters to support the Rainy Day Amendment. It reveals, after all, the fact that Oregon's Governor has no clue as to what's going on in his own state.

I think the Governor has actually hit the nail square on the head with this one. Whether he continues to do so is something I am anxiously waiting to see.

McIntire continues his letter by offering some "facts" to the Governor. One of these facts is the smoke and mirrors statement that over 300 local donors have given to the campaign, implying that Howard Rich isn't really responsible for the measure. What is interesting is that even though Rich went to great lengths to disguise his involvement, and even though you will not find his name on the contribution list for this measure, now that the cat is out of the bag McIntire says, "We're thankful to Howard Rich for helping us get our campaign off the ground." You know, it was all our idea, just like term limits and eminent domain, and it's purely a coincidence that a dozen other states are running the same batch of ballot measures at the same time and all are funded by Howard Rich.

Another "fact" McIntire points to is that Colorado's TABOR measure "was a smashing success." As I explained in a previous post, the measure had both positive and negative results, but in the end, the negatives outweighed the positives. State government debt per capita rose dramatically, schools were beginning to suffer, and the poor were paying a bitter price. Colorado voters decided to put the measure on hold for awhile to help stop the bleeding.

The next "fact" McIntire cites is this doozy:

The Rainy Day Amendment won't cut a single penny of government spending. It allows spending to grow every year - by at least $2.6 billion in the first two years alone. Look it up, Governor. And, no offense, but if you can't understand simple math, why should the voters trust you with a $45 billion budget?

First, the notion that the state budget is "simple math" is ridiculous. That sort of simplistic thinking is very telling. It's the sort of thinking that leads McIntire to state, "You don't care about the future of Oregon--you care about your own, taxpayer-funded paycheck and your kickbacks."

As to the statement that the measure "won't cut a single penny of government spending," McIntire is playing a game of semantics. An analysis published by the Oregon Center for Public Policy demonstrates very clearly that this is not true. Their figures show that if the measure had passed in 1990, state spending today would be 25% lower. That's a pretty sizeable cut in spending – a cut equal to eliminating all state funding for K-12 education, Oregon Health Plan payments, the Department of Corrections, (including prisons), and services provided by the Department of Agriculture, the State Plice, and DEQ – combined!

I strongly urge you to go read the piece at the OCPP website and to download the full report so you know the real facts about this measure. In the mean time, try to enjoy the ongoing idiocy from the pro-"Rainy Day Amendment" crowd.

Posted by Becky at 10:20 AM |

Poking a Stick at Saddam

Am I the only one who is offended that US Marines are forcing Saddam Hussein to repeatedly watch the South Park episode that featured him as Satan's gay lover? No doubt people are going to snigger over this one, but is it really alright?

If someone is in prison and is a bad person, does it follow that it is acceptable to torment them? Isn't there enough misery in the world without us piling it on even more? Isn't it enough that the man is safely locked away where he can't hurt anyone ever again, and that he will likely be put to death for his crimes? Do we really need to be cruel, to poke through the bars at the captive dog with a stick? That some find this behavior acceptable says something very disturbing about our culture, in my opinion.

Posted by Becky at 09:01 AM |

HypoChristians in the midst of us (1 year ago today)

Actual office conversation, Monday morning, August 29th, 2005:

Jeff: "Somebody reminded me about Hurricane Georges -- remember that one? They had opened the Superdome as a shelter, but a bunch of people in there thought they would be not only sheltered but fed, and entertained -- "

Lee: "Georges?"

Trish (raised eyebrows, bemused look): "Entertained?!? and fed?"

Jeff: "-- so there was a lot of damage, furniture stolen out of offices and so on..."

Randy: "Well maybe -- if the Superdome got washed away, it wouldn't be any great loss..."

Lee: "Yeah, they could just turn on the gas, y'know...!"

(laughter; then, as I walked out)

Lee: "Jeff had to leave on that one -- !"

Jeff, over his shoulder: "Lightning might strike, y'know, not takin' any chances!"

Lee was joking, I know that; he said as much later. Randy's comment -- not too sure. And he was the one gushing about W's "compassionate" hug-the-9/11-girl photo-op. Libertarian, you say? HypoChristian, I say. [This guy's last day working here is Thursday -- hurry up and GTFO, I say.]

Reported yesterday 8/28/05 on CNN:

Dozens of families have returned to what is left of their homes and found, lying amidst the mold and the wreckage, a body, forgotten, abandoned. Maybe it's their mother or their grandmother, sometimes even their missing child. The state called off searching house to house in New Orleans well over a month ago. They said they completed the job.

(snip)

There was no joy for Paul Murphy in this homecoming. When he walked into his house in New Orleans' Ninth Ward last month for the first time since Katrina, it was shock and anger.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, I'm thinking that, OK, I was going to come and salvage a few pictures or something. And I walk in here. I found my grandma on the floor dead.

(snip)

It is a disgrace that this is happening in America. This is the country that took great pains to recover every little bit of human remains at Ground Zero after 9/11. Now we won't even bother to search homes in which we know bodies remain. This is not a matter of time or resources. The authorities simply chose not to take the time or allocate the resources to Do the Right Thing.

Well maybe, if Jesus were here, he'd remind you:

On the last day, Jesus will say to those on His right hand, "Come, enter the Kingdom. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was sick and you visited me." Then Jesus will turn to those on His left hand and say, "Depart from me because I was hungry and you did not feed me, I was thirsty and you did not give me to drink, I was sick and you did not visit me." These will ask Him, "When did we see You hungry, or thirsty or sick and did not come to Your help?" And Jesus will answer them, "Whatever you neglected to do unto one of these least of these, you neglected to do unto Me!"

And there's this: "For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land." Deuteronomy 15:11 (KJV)

Today, Frank Rich tells us about W's return to the scene of the crime:

Douglas Brinkley, the Tulane University historian who wrote the best-selling account of Katrina, “The Great Deluge,” is worried that even now the White House is escaping questioning about what it is up to (and not) in the Gulf. “I don’t think anybody’s getting the Bush strategy,” he said when we talked last week. “The crucial point is that the inaction is deliberate — the inaction is the action.” As he sees it, the administration, tacitly abetted by New Orleans’s opportunistic mayor, Ray Nagin, is encouraging selective inertia, whether in the rebuilding of the levees (“Only Band-Aids have been put on them”), the rebuilding of the Lower Ninth Ward or the restoration of the wetlands. The destination: a smaller city, with a large portion of its former black population permanently dispersed.

Forgive? Maybe. Forget? Never. Thanks to Ben Greenberg for his updates on the Gulf Coast's vital signs.

Posted by Jeff at 07:44 AM |

Poor Rumsfeld Can't Sleep Because of Terrorist Propaganda

Donald Rumsfeld, whose Secret Pentagon "roadmap" on war propaganda was publicly revealed in January, said yesterday he is kept awake at night by terrorist groups' successes at "manipulating the media" to influence Westerners.

"What bothers me the most is how clever the enemy is," he continued, launching an extensive broadside at Islamic extremist groups which he said are trying to undermine Western support for the war on terror.

"They are actively manipulating the media in this country" by, for example, falsely blaming U.S. troops for civilian deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan, he said.

"They can lie with impunity," he said, while U.S. troops are held to a high standard of conduct.

Well, isn't that interesting. Because, of course, Rumsfeld has never lied with impunity.

The pot didn't call the kettle black just once yesterday. He gave the same sorry excuse for a speech again later to another group, and this time the whining was downright embarrassing.

"The enemy is so much better at communicating," he added. "I wish we were better at countering that because the constant drumbeat of things they say - all of which are not true - is harmful. It's cumulative. And it does weaken people's will and lessen their determination, and raise questions in their minds as to whether the cost is worth it," he said alluding to Americans and other Westerners.

You see, the biggest problem Rumsfeld and the rest of the Bush Administration are facing right now is that even though the media has been uncommonly good to them, the truth still seems to get out to the American people and we are increasingly angry at our leaders over what has gone on. Instead of changing course in service to this country's desires and interests, the Bush Administration has responded to criticism by engaging in a war on the media and doing everything possible to undermine people's faith in what they read about the war.

And there is just one reason for it: the media is the last hope for freedom in this country. If they do their job and keep the people informed, the people will respond appropriately and the government will be held accountable. That is an intolerable state of affairs for an authoritarian like Donald Rumsfeld.

Posted by Becky at 06:33 AM |

August 28, 2006

Oregon GOP Shuts Out Hispanics

Wow, this is interesting. Apparently, the Oregon GOP, after passing a resolution back in July calling for English to be the official language of the Oregon Republican Party, removed the Spanish language portion of its Website.

Republican Chairman Ken Mehlman just last year proudly announced the national Republican Party had a new Spanish language website. A GOP news release at the time stated, "GOP en Español is another mechanism that encourages more Latinos to get involved, expands the party’s reach, and attracts new Hispanic faces and voices."

“Since becoming RNC Chairman in January, I have traveled across the country, speaking with Hispanic audiences,” said Chairman Mehlman. “I have asked Hispanics to ‘give us a chance and we’ll give you a choice.’ This is part of a genuine commitment to offer real opportunity to all Americans through a Republican agenda that is working to create jobs, ensuring our country has a strong national defense, demanding accountability in the classroom, and offering equal opportunity to everyone.”

So what's up with the GOP here Oregon? Much of the activist culture on the right in Oregon is of the extreme right variety, and the state party is well-known for bashing "RINOs." The party platform reads like a theocrat's wish list. It all seems very odd in a state known for its secular and liberal views, particularly when much of our economy relies on migrant labor. One would expect the Ken Mehlman view to be rather popular here. I, for one, am baffled.

Posted by Becky at 03:13 PM |

You Weren't Supposed to Hear That

Katherine Harris, who last week gave an interview in which she said the separation of church and state was "a lie" because "God is the one who chooses our rulers" has clarified her comments. After being criticized for her statements to the Florida Baptist Witness, she explained she had been "speaking to a Christian audience, addressing a common misperception that people of faith should not be actively involved in government."

Oh, I see. She didn't frame her message for secular ears; that frank talk was only meant for fellow believers. I guess we have nothing to be concerned about, then, do we?

Posted by Becky at 02:07 PM |

The Ballot Measure Funding Saga Continues

For those who have been following the saga of libertarian funding for spending limit, term limit and eminent domain ballot measures and their relationship to Rick Berman's Union "Facts" advertising campaign, the following new chapters have been added:

Sandlapper's entry at Daily Kos: Rick Berman's ads `in short grass with bad camouflage'.

Ed Waldo's most recent addition to his running expose: Unlimited Terms of Endearment Part XIV: The Hoop Snake.

Of particular interest to me is the disclosure that the efforts have been partially funded by a Chicago gentleman named Barre Seid, whose generous giving totaled nearly $18 million to conservative groups between 1998 and 2003, and is still running strong. Recipients included $839,689 to the Heartland Institute, $740,000 to U.S. Term Limits, $422,618 to the Cato Institute, $170,000 to the Illinois Taxpayer Education Foundation, $165,000 to the Competitive Enterprise Institute, $150,000 to LEAD Foundation, and much more. He has also given $2,212,000 to the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, which is focused on dergulation, particularly in the area of the environment, and was founded by Rich Fink, executive vice president of Koch Industries (no surprise here) – which itself, of course, is linked through the Koch brothers to a vast libertarian network that includes Cato, Citizens for a Sound Economy, and all of Howard Rich's groups. In other words, Seid is a heretofore unexamined player in this underground libertarian coup attempt, and one to whom a bit more attention should be directed.

UPDATE: Carla at Loaded Orygun has broken the news that Governor Kulongoski has issued a challenge to Howard Rich to debate him on the merits of Measure 48. I would be surprised if the challenge was accepted, but it is a great move on the part of the Governor.

Posted by Becky at 09:02 AM |

Carla steeps herself in liberal Hollywood excess and gets all pruney

I watched last night's Emmy telecast in a rather half assed manner. Usually for an event such as the Oscars or Golden Globes or Emmys, I'll have mixed a pitcher of an adult beverage and demand that my household keep things down to a dull roar.

But I was still doing dishes and running loads of laundry at 7PM Pacific Time when the damn thing came on. This domestic thing is the pits. And so far I haven't won the lottery so the lifestyle to which I'd like to become accustomed is eluding me.

The first hour wasn't the real Emmys anyway. It was the arrival show. And it was awful.

Nancy O'Dell and Billy Bush are adequate if not annoying suckups to the freeflowing ego mass pouring itself from the line of limos. But that Maria Canudos (or whatever it is) and Tim Gunn of Project Runway were really, really terrible. If I hear "make it work" one more time I'm going to literally reach through my television and throttle that man.

Apparently there's also a tempest in a teapot brewing over host Conan O'Brien's opening skit. The skit included a plane crash segment a la Lost which some folks considered insensitive given the plane crash in Kentucky.

I watched it and didn't find it insensitive at all. It was obviously an homage to Lost and nothing more. Would that this same group get up in arms over being lied to about war or the government's ongoing inept response to Hurricane Katrina. But I digress.

Other than that..it was a pretty standard show, as awards shows go. Calista Flockhart is still way too thin. Ellen Pompeo is right there with her. Jeremy Piven looks ridiculous in an ascot..as does everyone who wasn't born before 1782. Purple shouldn't be the new black even if a stylist says it is. And there is such a thing as too much bling and somebody needs to tell that to Cheryl Hines.

Posted by Carla at 08:25 AM |

Literally Over The Edge

Leonard Pitts of the Miami Herald writes a wonderful piece today about the dangers of taking the bible literally.

First Baptist Church of Watertown, N.Y., fired Mary Lambert for being a woman. They say the Bible told them to do it.

Nothing against women, says the Rev. Timothy LaBouf. The church is just trying to obey 1 Timothy 2:11-14, which says, in part, ``A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent.''

It's not my business as to whom the First Baptist Church has teaching its Sunday School classes. I just find it interesting that, after 54 years of this woman teaching this class, they finally discover this passage. Is it new? Didn't they know about it before? Or is it just that they wanted to get rid of her, and searched their Bible for a "Godly" reason?

But wait, there's more

Allow me to share by way of example an e-mail I received last week from a gentleman named Al who took exception to a column I wrote condemning capital punishment. Said Al, ``When one criticizes the death penalty one criticizes God's judgment in the matter, as scripture ordains death for numerous crimes. It is not wise to criticize God.''

I shot back a note pointing out that among the crimes for which scripture ordains death are cursing your parents (Lev. 20:9) or committing adultery (Lev. 20:10). Did Al really believe those misdeeds should be treated as capital offenses?

''Only if one wishes to accomplish God's will in the matter,'' said Al.

So this is the type of thinking if we continue to go down the path of "bringing God into our government" - or schools - or wherever else the fundamentalists want to push their power.

Mr. Pitts sums it up well.

Or has no one else noticed how literally some Christians interpret those Scriptures that give them license to condemn, yet how elastic and liberal their readings are when dealing with Scriptures that convict their personal behaviors? Meaning that it's always a little more difficult to catch people being literal about turn the other cheek, do not store up treasures on earth, do not turn away the borrower, love your enemy.

I'd be interested to find a fundamentalist Church that takes the whole Bible to heart, and how they explain away the contradictions. But I'm not counting on it. The reality is that they just want to control their parishoners. It's not about God at all.

Posted by Alan at 05:01 AM |

August 27, 2006

Catholic Charities Defies Vatican

Catholic Charities of San Francisco has found a way around the Vatican's call to keep foster childern out of same sex households.

In an adroit end-run against a Vatican ban on granting adoptions to same-sex couples, Catholic Charities of San Francisco will launch a new project in coming weeks that experts say will lead to the placement of hundreds of foster children around the state every year.

While the agency will no longer directly place children in homes, it will provide staff and financial resources to connect needy children to adoptive parents, expanding from 25 placements a year to assisting in the adoptions of as many as 800 children annually, say those involved in the program.

Good for them for finding a way to do what is right without embarassing their church. But it makes me wonder, just how long will American Catholics stick with a church leadership that is so far out of step with their spiritual beliefs?

Posted by Alan at 01:06 PM |

August 26, 2006

18 years ago today...

... I entered an inpatient drug rehab program a cocaine and methamphetamine addict. It was a blistering hot spell of Oregon weather and nobody bothered to tell me that the blistering hot coffee I kept sucking down for the first three days in the sweltering heat was decaf! The bastards... LOL

I am pleased to report that by the grace of a loving God as I understand him that I have now gone 18 years without using cocaine or meth.

I'll share one story from rehab, just to illustrate the insidious nature of addiction.

Everyone quickly became accustomed to seeing the odd person slowly suffling down the hallways from time to time. We called it doing the "Lithium Shuffle" because they were invariably either extreme alcoholics or heroin addicts who for very real medical reasons had to go thru detox before they could enter the actual program. As they slowly got weaned off their drug of choice they were pumped full of alternate drugs such as lithium and once they were able to do so they were allowed to go pace the halls. Which was about all they were capable of doing in that state.

Anyway, I remember this huge Native American guy doing the Lithium Shuffle from time to time. Like everyone who did the Lithium Shuffle, he could look at you but it was immediately apparent that there was really only enough brain function to do that. So nobody ever talked to them because they never talked back...

Before the detox patients were released into the general population they were weaned off of the intermediate drugs. Usually the alcoholics didn't have much of a problem with this because alcohol was their drug of choice, not perscription pills. Heroin addicts on the other hand sometimes resisted being weaned off the drugs.

There was a recreation room in the rehab facility (which was located in the corner of a small local hospital) with TV and chairs and a ping-pong table which was very popular because one of the patients happened to be the son of a former Tiawanese female ping-pong champion and everyone wanted to try to best him. Off to the side was a closet with board games and some barbell weights and other assorted things with which patients could spend off time engaging themselves with.

One day we were all gathered around the ping-pong table and in walks this Native American guy, obviously much more lucid. He didn't say a word to anyone. He just walked in, went straight to the closet and grabbed the heaviest barbell weight he could find. He comes out of the closet with this weight in one hand and walks up to a lightstand table, lays one thumb on the table and proceeded to obliterate his thumb with the weight, knowing full well that they'd give him pain meds if he did enough damage.

We never saw him again. But several years later I was watching the local news and they ran a segment on some Christian-based drug and alcohol recovery group modeled along the lines of Alcoholics Anonymous but being much more explicitly centered on Biblical Christianity and the guy who had built it up. I was genuinely surprised when the camera footage panned over to this guy and it was that same Native American guy. But this time it was readily apparent that he was clean and had been clean for sometime. Truly a testament to the power of the 12-step program.

Posted by Kevin at 12:07 PM |

Bishop To Be Prosecuted For Cover Up

Sonoma County, CA is considering pressing charges against a Catholic Bishop who covered up sexual abuse by a priest who has since fled the country.

The Sonoma County Sheriff's Office has recommended criminal charges be filed against Santa Rosa Bishop Daniel Walsh for failing to timely report evidence of sexual abuse by a Sonoma priest who has since fled the country.

"Based upon our investigation, the evidence indicates that this case is worthy of district attorney review," Lt. Dave Edmonds said in a written statement released Friday. It is up to the Sonoma County district attorney's office to decide whether it can prove Walsh broke the law and whether there is "sufficient evidence and circumstances to sustain a conviction," Edmonds said.

I, for one, hope they are able to go through with it. It's about time the heiarchy of the Catholic Church had to face up to its responsibility for their actions.

Posted by Alan at 07:20 AM |

Will Cantwell Bore Her Way To Re-Election?

The Seattle P-I does a write up today about Maria Cantwell and the lack of, well, snap in her campaign.

When Cantwell finally staged a whirlwind multi-city campaign kickoff tour during her August recess, it turned out to be rather subdued and anticlimactic. Rather than a traditional rah-rah fly-around or marathon series of flashy events to stir the troops and get the attention of the sleepy electorate, this down-tempo tour had the wonky feel of Senate field hearings.

Apparently, the writer thinks that this should be cause for concern. The reason he's so worried? Because she's discussing issues like Social Security, Medicare, Energy, and Health Care. And she's not bashing Bush or talking up Iraq. The horror.

But later in his article he gives a number of reasons why she should be fine against Mike! McGavick.

It's true that she's a Democrat, a woman and an incumbent in a state that tends to vote for all three.

She leads in the polls and unless retired insurance executive McGavick dumps millions more of his personal wealth into his campaign coffers, Cantwell should have the upper hand in the money department.

She's been up on television for several weeks with breezy blue-collar ads, including one that portrays the high-tech millionaire as a former waitress who supports tax cuts. She will air commercials until Election Day. She has a snazzy campaign Web site, is advertising on newspaper Web sites and in the blogosphere, and has papered the state with placards.

Sounds to me like her campaign is on pretty solid footing. I guess the question is - can a candidate win re-election when they aren't running the type of campaign that the press thinks they should?

Posted by Alan at 06:50 AM |

August 25, 2006

Moral relativity and the "war on terrorism"

Last night Nancy Pelosi told David Letterman that "(s)tay the course is not a strategy–it’s a slogan..." And she's absolutely right. Likewise, the oft repeated Bushite explanation that "they hate our freedom" is about as reality based as the whole "stay the course" psychobabble meme. Only it's more of an Orwellian meme because the exact opposite has been true too often.

Lebanese recover from Kafkaesque trip to Israel is a piece about five alleged Hezbollah members taken into custody by Israeli troops three and a half weeks ago, which was reported by media outlets worldwide. Only it turns out that not a single one of them were Hezbollah members.

The Israelis dumped all five on the Lebanese border this past Monday after twenty days of imprisonment, interrogation and minus a few teeth (but don't call it torture...). No apology. No explanation. Nothing.

Tortured And Innocent is a piece about an innocent Turkish man imprisoned and tortured by American forces in Gitmo for four years before being released.

Since none of these individuals had any demonstrable connection to any terrorist organization a reasonable person could argue that they at least did not "hate our freedom" so much that they were willing to associate with or join a terrorist organization. But how many reasonable people could survive false imprisonment and torture and then be released with zero apology from their torturers and not come away from the whole experience with some pretty darn good new reasons to hate the perpetrators of such a travesty of justice?

Rightwing freaks like Neal Boortz insisted that Rep. Cynthia McKinney should apologize to the Capital Hill police officer she'd had an altercation with earlier this year. And why? Because she'd slapped him.

Apparently in the twisted world of rightwing freaks slapping someone requires an apology but busting out the teeth of a perfectly innocent Lebanese or torturing an innocent Turk, not to mention their imprisonment, is something that those particular victims ought to just suck it up over, be glad that they eventually regained their freedom and to hell with apologizing to them.

But hey... ignore the man behind the curtain. Just forget that the king is stark naked. Accept the proffered trite pacifiers and go on about your business believing that staying the course and that terrorist hate us because of our freedoms actually mean something and were spoken by honest men. Send your sons and daughters off to die in strange lands while Dick Cheney's continued severence installments are guaranteed by the massive profits Halliburton has made scamming both American taxpayors and Iraqi civilians.

If our government can imprison and torture an innocent man for four years and not offer explanation nor apology, what makes you think you'll get anything more out of this government?

Posted by Kevin at 01:24 PM |

Matt Drudge: Neocon Propagandist

Matt Drudge today is showing his true colors as a propagandist for the neocons by headlining a story that clearly implies in its title that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said he would sacrifice half of Iran's population to destroy Israel. The problem is, the headline doesn't fit the article. It is simply intended to reinforce the growing conviction among the American public that we must attack Iran immediately before they manage to secure a nuclear weapon.

The article in question, published in the Jerusalem Post (which certainly could not be biased against Iran, could it?) actually discusses a statement made by Giora Eiland, Israel's former national security adviser. It wasn't Ahmadinejad who said he would sacrifice half his country's population to destroy Israel. It was Eiland who said it. It was just his opinion.

Eiland spells out three options available to the U.S. in response to Iran. The first two won't do any good, he says, and the third – a military option which would have to be undertaken within months – lacks the support of the American people. What better way to win that "necessary" support than to imply Ahmadinejad wants to utterly destroy our ally Israel at any cost?

Posted by Becky at 10:22 AM |

Kathryn Harris Wants a Theocracy

A new interview with Kathryn Harris confirms the fears of many who fear a coming theocracy. Harris, a member of Calvary Chapel in Sarasota, believes that Christians must impose their faith on the country through the passage of biblical-based laws. She says it herself:

What role do you think people of faith should play in politics and government?

The Bible says we are to be salt and light. And salt and light means not just in the church and not just as a teacher or as a pastor or a banker or a lawyer, but in government and we have to have elected officials in government and we have to have the faithful in government and over time, that lie we have been told, the separation of church and state, people have internalized, thinking that they needed to avoid politics and that is so wrong because God is the one who chooses our rulers. And if we are the ones not actively involved in electing those godly men and women and if people aren’t involved in helping godly men in getting elected than we’re going to have a nation of secular laws. That’s not what our founding fathers intended and that’s certainly isn’t what God intended. So it’s really important that members of the church know people’s stands. It’s really important that they get involved in campaigns. … [W]e need the faithful and we need to take back this country. It’s time that the churches get involved. Pastors, from the pulpit, can invite people to speak, not on politics, but of their faith. But they can discern, they can ask those people running for election, in the pulpit, what is your position on gay marriage? What is your position on abortion? That is totally permissible in 5013C organizations. They simply cannot endorse from the pulpit. And that’s why I’ve gone to churches and I’ve spoken in four churches, five churches a day on Sunday and people line up afterwards because it’s so important that they know. And if we don’t get involved as Christians then how could we possibly take this back?

In response to a later question as to why Baptists and other people should care who is elected in Florida, she states that Florida sets the tone for the rest of the country, and continues:

If you are not electing Christians, tried and true, under public scrutiny and pressure, if you’re not electing Christians then in essence you are going to legislate sin. They can legislate sin. They can say that abortion is alright. They can vote to sustain gay marriage. And that will take western civilization, indeed other nations because people look to our country as one nation as under God and whenever we legislate sin and we say abortion is permissible and we say gay unions are permissible, then average citizens who are not Christians, because they don’t know better, we are leading them astray and it’s wrong. ...

I think someone needs to sit this poor dear down and set her straight on what the Founding Fathers actually intended for this country. She's taking her beliefs about what applies to the family and the church and applying them to the entire country, which was never what was intended. Thankfully, she's a marginalized candidate who is highly unlikely to win; however, she is clearly spreading her views to a willing audience and the danger in the future that Christendom will endorse and accept theocratic rule in the United States should cause grave concern.

Posted by Becky at 10:13 AM |

Make Your Brain Happy

Daniel Levitin, a former rock and roll music producer, has spent the past 16 years working in academia and studying music and the brain and is now seen as one of the foremost experts in the field. His new book, "This Is Your Brain on Music," looks at how brains process and react to a variety of music and why music makes us feel good. And it sounds absolutely fascinating.

For example, did you know that people with musical talent do not have something different in their brains from other people? Rather, a combination of a lot of different traits seems to predispose people to better understand music. Levitin points to traits like patience, eye-hand coordination, the ability to predict what comes next in a sequence, rhythm, pitch, etc. Levin says:

I think of the brain as a computational device: It has a bunch of little components that perform calculations on some small aspect of the problem, and another part of the brain has to stitch it all together, like a tapestry or a quilt.

And have you ever wondered why rock stars, no matter how ugly or rude they are, always seem to get the hottest girlfriends? Levin describes the various theories:

One theory is that music is an evolutionary accident, piggybacking on language: We exploited language to create music just for our own pleasure. A competing view, one that Darwin held, is that music was selected by evolution because it signals certain kinds of intellectual, physical and sexual fitness to a potential mate….

(Research has shown that) if women could choose who they'd like to be impregnated by, they'd choose a rock star. There's something about the rock star's genes that is signaling creativity, flexibility of thinking, flexibility of mind and body, an ability to express and process emotions -- not to mention that (musical talent) signals that if you can waste your time on something that has no immediate impact on food-gathering and shelter, you’ve got your food-gathering and shelter taken care of.

And perhaps most interesting, though not surprising to those who love music, is the fact that music has a physical effect on the brain that makes it happy:

Music activates the same parts of the brain and causes the same neurochemical cocktail as a lot of other pleasurable activities like orgasms or eating chocolate -- or if you're a gambler winning a bet or using drugs if you're a drug user. Serotonin and dopamine are both involved.

People have long suspected that music can have a powerful effect on the mind. Levitin's research would appear to not only confirm that suspicion, but also explain why. Another book to add to my future reading list …

Posted by Becky at 10:11 AM |

The Personal Side Of The Episcopalian Split

Its easy for us to watch the train wreck that is the split up of the Episcopalian Church from afar. But the reality is that this is effecting communities around the nation.

As a moderate Episcopalian in the conservative Diocese of Dallas, Dixie Hutchinson doesn't find her strength in numbers.

Soon, she may find herself even more isolated.

Dallas Bishop James M. Stanton is among the leaders of seven Episcopal dioceses who have rejected the authority of the denomination's incoming national leader, Nevada Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, as the debate over the Bible and gay relationships tears at the church.

But its not all Southern fire and brimstone groupthink going on in Dallas. It seems very apparent that there is a lot of anxiety about the upcoming split - especially because so many people will be asked to leave a church that they have worshipped in for years.

And even though the Diocese of Dallas is overwhelmingly conservative, anxiety about what's ahead is apparent throughout its 77 churches.

Via Media Dallas, which represents liberals and moderates including Hutchinson who want to remain part of the denomination, issued a statement from 15 local priests who say they will not participate in any "disassociation" from the actions and leadership of the church.

Splitting from the national leaders would create spiritual orphans throughout the region — moderates and liberals who may have to leave the churches where they worshipped for years.

This isn't the first time that a denomination has split up. The Lutherans have done it, the Baptists have done it, right on down the line.

And it will continue to happen as "church leaders" fight over the "one true word of God", and the power that leading that church brings.

Best of luck to those that are caught in the middle.

Posted by Alan at 06:10 AM |

August 24, 2006

Daniel is Wrong

An interesting discussion is going on over at the Portland Mercury about the harassment of Mexican laborers by a group called Oregonians for Immigration Reform. Featured in the discussion is one Daniel Miglavs, whose apparent split personality is confounding the people who are posting on the subject.

The so-called "split personality" has to do with the fact that he is married to a Latina woman and is rabidly anti-illegal immigration. He also has a history of involvement in the 18th Street gang. And people say I've done a philosophical 180. Perhaps if Daniel didn't look like a skinhead, this argument wouldn't be given any credibility - after all, it is possible to be against illegal immigration without being a racist.

Daniel is a blogger, mostly writing about illegal immigration these days, but he has for some time been an active, outspoken right-wing Republican. I can't say I have ever read anything he wrote that I agreed with. But then, I don't read his posts that often. He just strikes me as an extremist and that sort of thinking annoys me to no end. But I do find it fascinating that one of his more outspoken critics at the Mercury accuses Daniel of being a hater and then calls him a "fucktard," all in the same breath. We're all blind to our own faults, I suppose.

As I've written before, the immigration issue is fracturing the Republican party power structure. But in what I would consider a big but unreported story, it seems Democrats are fractured by this issue, as well. I've talked with Democrats who think Pat Buchanan, as odd as he is, makes a lot of sense on immigration (he makes a lot of sense to me, too). On the other hand, no small number of Democrats see those who want to enforce immigration laws as barely closeted racists (I think in some cases that is true). And if you really want to have your brain twist up, consider this: The founder of Oregonians for Immigration Reform is an environmental activist. The point is, this issue is damned complicated and the usual categories don't apply here.

Here's where I part ways from Daniel and Oregonians for Immigration Reform. I would never get in the faces of these laborers and try to intimidate them because if I was Mexican, I'd be coming here, too. People pursuing freedom and a better life are not at fault for taking advantage of the situation that currently exists. We might think they could come legally, but the facts contradict that. I actually know well an illegal Mexican immigrant family who are truly assets to this country and who love the United States.

A lot of our political leaders would have us believe we have two choices - either enforce existing laws or come up with new laws, and they have succeeded in convincing too many activists to march in the streets for one view or the other. As I see it, however, such things as NAFTA, tax policies, and anti-worker policies have us so badly mired in muck that no easy solution exists.

In other words, Daniel is wrong.

Daniel's goals would probably much better served if the generous donors funding Oregonians for Immigration Reform paid for him and the other picketers to fly to Washington, DC and protest in front of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. where they could get in the face of George W. Bush. From there, they could head over to the Capitol with their video cameras and, a la Michael Moore, ask members of Congress what they plan to do, rather than using their camera to document police harrassment and accusatory counter-protestors.

Instead, their protests, whether motivated by hate for brown people or love of country or both (or neither), are succeeding only in bringing out more hate and distracting people from a very serious issue, one that I personally find very internally conflicting and would like to rationally discuss a lot more with thinking people.

Posted by Becky at 08:25 PM |

The GOP and what Army?

Apparently the press isn't doing a good enough job of fear mongering the American people into a whipped up frenzy over Iran:

Some senior Bush administration officials and top Republican lawmakers are voicing anger that American spy agencies have not issued more ominous warnings about the threats that they say Iran presents to the United States.

Some policy makers have accused intelligence agencies of playing down Iran’s role in Hezbollah’s recent attacks against Israel and overestimating the time it would take for Iran to build a nuclear weapon.

The complaints, expressed privately in recent weeks, surfaced in a Congressional report about Iran released Wednesday. They echo the tensions that divided the administration and the Central Intelligence Agency during the prelude to the war in Iraq.

The criticisms reflect the views of some officials inside the White House and the Pentagon who advocated going to war with Iraq and now are pressing for confronting Iran directly over its nuclear program and ties to terrorism, say officials with knowledge of the debate.

It would seem that the learning curve for the "Iraq has WMD and are a bunch of terrorist loving-America haters" crowd is pretty steep. And while the intelligence community seemed more than willing to be cowed into trumping up bullshit on Iraq to appease the GOP--they don't appear to be so accomodating with Iran.

Some dude known only to NY Times readers as a "senior United States official" even goes all Clinton on us:

Some policy makers also said they were displeased that American spy agencies were playing down intelligence reports — including some from the Israeli government — of extensive contacts recently between Hezbollah and members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. “The people in the community are unwilling to make judgment calls and don’t know how to link anything together,” one senior United States official said.

“We’re not in a court of law,” he said. “When they say there is ‘no evidence,’ you have to ask them what they mean, what is the meaning of the term ‘evidence’?”

Maybe I'm going out on a limb here, but I'd imagine the word "evidence" means the same to the intelligence folks as it means to me and Webster's:

Main Entry: ev·i·dence

Pronunciation: 'e-v&-d&ns, -"dens

Function: noun

Etymology: Medieval Latin evidentia, from Latin, that which is obvious, from evident- evidens clear, obvious, from e- out of, from + videns, present participle of videre to see

: something that furnishes or tends to furnish proof; especially : something (as testimony, writings, or objects) presented at a judicial or administrative proceeding for the purpose of establishing the truth or falsity of an alleged matter of fact —

I'm thinking its that whole "fact" thing that's throwing them off. It sure must suck when people start holding politicians to them.

For the politicians, that is.

Posted by Carla at 10:13 AM |

Norquist Takes Dirty Money to Local Politics

It looks like we have another crooked Republican hiding behind a Christian label. This time it's Maryland State Sen. Alexander X. Mooney. Mooney has accepted more than $18,000 in contributions from Jack Abramoff and his associates since 1998, and refused to return any of it. Two of Abramoff's associates, Grover Norquist and Edwin Buckham (former Chief of Staff for Tom DeLay), even held fundraisers for Mooney in their homes. Which prompts the question, why would these gentlemen have an interest in a state senator?

Norquist has said his support of TABOR ballot measures is part of his effort to make government spending a vote-moving issue. Additionally, Norquist is increasingly focusing on building state coalitions that will rile up the grassroots and get them to the polls. Clearly, his support for Mooney, who is outspoken on known vote-moving issues, is part of this plan, and likely Mooney isn't the only recipient of his largesse.

Mooney's acceptance of dirty money is bad enough, but surely his Christian constituents would be interested to know that he is also taking a lot of money from sources that I doubt very much they would approve of. Though Mooney has been very outspoken on gay marriage, abortion, gun control and gambling, he has accepted $10,000 from gambling interests, $1,550 from tobacco companies, $3,250 from liquor companies, and significant sums from companies that favor unions and gay rights (some of which was laundered first through Tom DeLay's ARM PAC).

Mooney's predictable response: "What does it matter where the money comes from? What matters is how you vote." Sounds familiar. Like what the TABOR ballot measure backers are saying now that DeLay associate Howard Rich's funding scheme has come out into the open.

Posted by Becky at 09:31 AM |

Christian Coalition Losing State Affiliates

The Alabama, Iowa, and Ohio chapters of the Christian Coalition of America have become so disgusted with the focus of the organization under its post-Ralph Reed leadership that they have severed their ties with the organization. These former state affiliates are not upset with the national group for what you might expect, however, that being the scandalous behavior in which its leadership has engaged. Rather, they are upset at the lack of attention being paid to abortion and same-sex marriage, the focusing of too much attention on lobbying for "net neutrality" and, in the case of Alabama, the campaigning in favor of a tax increase.

This underscores for me the reality that the Christian Coalition is merely another arm of the corrupt modern Republican Party machine. Like the machine's hub, Grover Norquist, the local affiliates are only concerned about vote-moving issues like abortion and gay marriage and have abandoned any interest in promoting Christian values.

Posted by Becky at 09:21 AM |

August 23, 2006

RFID to Replace Soldiers' Dog Tags?

Americans instinctively recoil in horror at the thought of the government having the ability to track the movements of every citizen. There was initially outrage over the notion of Social Security numbers for that very reason. Now we're talking about the science fiction possibility of a required radio frequency identification chip implanted in every citizen. If you try to explain the aversion to the idea, you sound like a paranoid conspiracy nut. But we just know it is a bad idea.

Unfortunately, it looks as if our 1.4 million servicemen and women might well become guinea pigs in the first stages of a grand social experiment. VeriChip Corp. wants to replace dog tags with RFID chips and is lobbying the Pentagon to make that transition.

The company, which the Examiner notes has powerful political connections, is "in discussions” with the Pentagon, VeriChip spokeswoman Nicole Philbin told the Examiner. "The potential for this technology doesn’t just stop at the civilian level,” Philbin said. Company officials have touted the chips as versatile, able to be used in a variety of situations such as helping track illegal immigrants or giving doctors immediate access to patient’s medical records.

How does this feel to you? And how does it feel to know that former secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, Tommy Thompson, sits on the board of directors of VeriChip? Are there any "checks, balances, and safeguards" that could possibly be put into place sufficient to ease your concerns?

After watching the Bush Administration abuse its power to access personal data, and knowing what I do about Hitler's use of IBM databases to sort out his victims, my answer is a resounding NO. And if that means I have to wear a tin foil hat, then so be it.

Posted by Becky at 12:05 PM |

On-Line Community Easing Pedophiles' Guilt

Every parent should take some time to read this article about the growing influence of the on-line pedophile community.

What started online almost two decades ago as a means of swapping child pornography has transformed in recent years into a more complex and diversified community that uses the virtual world to advance its interests in the real one. Today, pedophiles go online to seek tips for getting near children - at camps, through foster care, at community gatherings and at countless other events. They swap stories about day-to-day encounters with minors. And they make use of technology to help take their arguments to others, like sharing online a printable booklet to be distributed to children that extols the benefits of sex with adults.

The article goes on to say that the catharsis of belonging to the on-line community is easing pedophiles' guilt over having sex with children. This story offers a chilling example of the sort of mental gymnastics the human mind is capable of performing in an effort to justify whatever a person desires to do. The ability to justify harmful behavior is precisely why society must not allow itself to be too sympathetic with criminals. Our sympathies more rightly should be placed with their victims, and punishment meted out accordingly.

Posted by Becky at 11:50 AM |

To Stay or Not to Stay? That is NOT the Question

Like most Americans, I have arrived at the conclusion that I do not trust either the Republicans or the Democrats to handle the war situation in Iraq. But unlike most Americans, I'm not ambivalent about what I believe the solution is.

Republicans are saying we should "stay the course." Democrats are calling for immediate withdrawal. Both are wrong.

We cannot withdraw now or we will leave a horrid mess behind that will be worse for us than if we had never begun. But staying the course is only working to increase the country's internal strife, embolden terrorists, increase hatred of the U.S., and bankrupt our country.

Now maybe I've got my head up my ass, but I think it's time to withdraw the independent contractors, put the Iraqi people to work rebuilding their own country, and use their oil revenues to pay for it. This will get the Iraqi people personally invested in their country's success and remove their incentive to fight each other and us. Our forces should remain only to train them to police their own country and to provide security for the rebuilding effort. When that job is done, then we should get the hell out and let them enjoy the freedom and democracy we promised them when we toppled Saddam's regime three years ago.

Posted by Becky at 11:23 AM |

August 22, 2006

Forgive me Father for I have sinned...

Lust, to be specific.

Price tag? The Steed Sintaur will set you back a paltry $40k

Check it out... no guages!. They're the LED displays you see in the rear-view mirrors.

No, it's not a Harley Davidson. Not even the motor is. It's a Steed and is American made.

Posted by Kevin at 07:31 PM |

Union Facts Campaign Relying on Caricatures

A couple of days ago, I wrote about the connection between the Union "Facts" campaign and TABOR advocates. Today, the Eugene Register Guard has an article addressing the connection, as well.

The Center for Union Facts, based in Washington, D.C., is spending about $1 million to place print, radio and TV ads in Oregon and three other states: Michigan, Montana and Nevada. All four states have initiative measures on their November ballots that resemble the TABOR, or Taxpayer Bill of Rights, law enacted and later suspended by Colorado voters.

Those ballot measures "were a factor but not the controlling factor" in deciding which states to place the new ads in, said businessman and lobbyist Richard Berman, the Center for Union Facts' executive director.

"It seemed more attractive to do public education in a state where the public has a hand in voting" on such matters, Berman said.

So we're supposed to believe this is an independent effort, not a coordinated one? Should we ignore the fact that the ads were screened at this past weekend's Americans for Limited Government Action Conference in a session entitled "Understanding the Opposition" and moderated by Paul Jacob? Independent, my ass.

If you want a glimpse at how the right views public employee union members, just look at the stereotypical caricatures this campaign is presenting:

An initial ad in today's Register-Guard depicts a scowling bureaucrat in a Department of Motor Vehicles office, beneath the words " `Service' like this doesn't come cheap."

Or download this lovely flyer called "The Inquisitor" from the ALG website.

In Montana, the group's media ads claim that "union chiefs have greased the system".

One TV ad … suggests that public employees are lazy clock-watchers who waste away the day chatting to each other about their generous vacation and sick-time benefits, while a frustrated line of people waits to license vehicles.

It makes me wonder whether Montana voters will ever have the opportunity to find out what this million-dollar campaign is NOT telling them - that most of the people who work in Montana's vehicle registration offices make about $19,000 a year, and a few make $23,000.

The Nevada version of the media campaign has run into some trouble over pronunciation of the state's name:

No sooner did we have the "Club for Growth" exposed as a conservative PAC, now we have "Nevada Union Facts" dissing the Nevada "educational unions." Gee, how do we know it's not from Nevada? Because every time they have it on TV, the gal says "NeVAHda." You'd think those people would learn.

I suppose we can always hope they screw up at some point and say "OryGONE" in their ads here.

Posted by Becky at 12:50 PM |

Ridiculous Righty Response to TABOR Concerns

Daily Kos contributor "sandlapper” has been working hard to chronicle Howard Rich’s “reach into our states and into our lives,” something which I have also been following closely, as has Ed Waldo at Boregasm.

But not everyone appreciates his work. He has raised the ire of "Save the GOP" (which erroneously sees Rich, et al as conservatives rather than libertarians) and now is in their "Daily Kos Stupidity" file. How charming.

The first thing that struck me was: “Holy cow, you mean national Democratic activists have an issue with a conservative policy activist mounting a nationwide effort, yet the DKos involvement in Connecticut, et al is somehow ok with them?”

Typical conservative response when they're nabbed doing something shady: "But they did it first!"

If you've read all the posts about this issue, you will readily see how this person seeking to "save the GOP" is mischaracterizing the many concerns that have been raised by responding to a very small quote from Sandlapper's post regarding Rich's nation-wide effort:

Nation-wide efforts of Daily Kos? Who cares! MoveOn.org? George Soros? Hey, as long as they are progressives they can pour their money into any issue whatsoever! Sandlapper also imitates Emeril (Bam!) for added theatric effects and describe the effort to do the sinister act of protecting taxpayer revenues as “Conspiracy, not coincidence. Agenda, not mere generosity.” …

Markos Moulitsas (the man who said “screw ‘em” when several American workers in Iraq died) must not be questioned, but Howard Rich is an eeeevil conservative activist who must be stopped at all accounts. Moreover, allowing voters to have some control over their state’s purse strings will bring about chaos, liberal betwetting, and the injury of puppies.

He then goes on to describe what the "conspiracy" really is by merely explaining the Colorado TABOR law, which incidentally nearly everyone involved in this year's crop of ballot measures is desperately trying to run away from.

Never mind the layers of obfuscating astroturf organizations laundering money to hide its source. Never mind the illegal petitioning practices. Never mind the heavy-handed forcing of an agenda on local activists and pushing aside of local concerns. Never mind the unwanted LIBERTARIAN agenda being foisted on unwitting voters. Because those awful liberals engage in national, coordinated efforts, it's apparently no holds barred for everyone else.

This is precisely the sort of uninformed, closed-minded thinking that is getting Republicans in trouble right now. And it is precisely the reason why I remain a registered Independent. I simply will not be associated with people who tolerate illegal and unethical behavior, refuse to use the brains God gave them, and act like children.

Posted by Becky at 11:59 AM |

American-Supplied Cluster Bombs Wreaking Havoc on Civilians

Israel and Lebanon may have gone into a temporary cease-fire mode after 33 days of fighting, but that doesn't mean an end to war-related injuries. This story explains how unexploded bombs are still injuring and killing Lebanese civilians, including some heartbreaking stories of children and an elderly woman who were simply going about their daily business.

The south is carpeted with unexploded cluster bombs, innocuous looking black canisters, barely larger than a torch battery, which pose a deadly threat to villagers stumbling back to their homes. Mine-clearing teams scrambling across the region have logged 89 cluster bomb sites so far, and expect to find about 110 more. Meanwhile, casualties are being taken into hospital — four dead and 21 injured so far. Officials fear the toll could eventually stretch into the thousands…

The bombs are ejected from artillery shells in mid-flight, showering a wide area with explosions that can kill within 10 metres. But up to a quarter fail to explode, creating minefields that kill civilians once the war is over. … In Tibnin, 210 bombs were found around the town hospital.

Unfortunately, these cluster bombs were provided to Israel by the U.S. Americans may not realize our country is responsible for this sort of weaponry, but the victims know it.

Posted by Becky at 09:44 AM |

It's all about the ideology

The National Pro-Life Action Center is angry with Bush over his implied support for Plan B as an over-the-counter drug. But their rationale fails the most basic test of logic.

Stephen G. Peroutka, Esq., NPLAC chairman, stated:

"President Bush’s implied support of OTC status for the abortion-causing drug Plan B is a betrayal of the pro-life principles he claims to support. If this dangerous drug is made available over-the-counter, it will give adult male predators another weapon in their arsenal against young women.

"I agree wholeheartedly with Mark Crutcher, president of Life Dynamics, Inc., when he states: 'Granting Plan B over-the-counter status will usher in a golden age for those who seek to sexually exploit young girls. If sales of Plan B were tracked for the first five years of OTC sales, I guarantee that the #1 purchaser will be adult men. The pro-choice agenda is now becoming a get-out-of-jail-free card for men who prey upon underage children for sex.'"

Essentially what they are saying is that there are legions of men just waiting for Plan B to be made available OTC so that they can then start preying on young girls. Implied in their argument is that Plan B not being available OTC is preventing child rape, which is absurd.

Posted by Kevin at 07:12 AM |

August 21, 2006

I ask you, which one best reflects Christianity?

Chucrallah Nabil Hage, the Maronite Christian archbishop of Tyre: "The Christian message is the same everywhere: a message of peace, a message of love and a message of tolerance," he said. "Even if we have different beliefs, it doesn't mean it should lead to conflict."

American Evangelical rightwing freak: The people of Lebanon and all other Arab countries are against America and have repeatedly said they want to kill us. Why do we need to be so concerned about their civilians and why do we have to consider them to be innocent when they help hide the terrorists from us?

Jesus: “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place.” John 18:36

Posted by Kevin at 02:50 PM |

Minister's Stance on Women Not the Public's Business

A Watertown, NY fundamentalist minister's decision to relieve a Sunday School teacher of her position because she is female is threatening to spill over into his public life as a member of the town's City Council after the offended woman refused to follow the church's grievance process and instead took her story to the media.

The First Baptist Church dismissed Mary Lambert on Aug. 9 with a letter explaining that the church had adopted an interpretation that prohibits women from teaching men. She had taught there for 54 years.

The letter quoted the first epistle to Timothy: "I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent."

The Rev. Timothy LaBouf, who also serves on the Watertown City Council, issued a statement saying his stance against women teaching men in Sunday school would not affect his decisions as a city leader in Watertown, where all five members of the council are men but the city manager who runs the city's day-to-day operations is a woman.

"I believe that a woman can perform any job and fulfill any responsibility that she desires to" outside of the church, LaBouf wrote Saturday.

Mayor Jeffrey Graham, however, was bothered by the reasons given Lambert's dismissal.

"If what's said in that letter reflects the councilman's views, those are disturbing remarks in this day and age," Graham said. "Maybe they wouldn't have been disturbing 500 years ago, but they are now."

Labouf has released a statement to the public about the matter. In it, he speaks directly to the concerns of the public at large as to how the matter relates to his role as a member of the City Council:

I am fully aware that not everyone ascribes to my view of the scriptures but I would never vilify them for having a different religious view and I would hope that if you do hold a different view that you would extend to me the same courtesy. I want you to know that my desire is to not hurt anyone or to belittle anyone but only to ensure that the scripture is upheld in our church and not compromised. … Many have drawn conclusions as to how this issue applies to my role as a Watertown City Councilmember. My belief is that the qualifications for both men and women teaching spiritual matters in a church setting end at the church door, period. Now let me explain my position of the role of women in society especially because that is where many of the discussions have centered and some false accusations have been made that need correction. I believe that a woman can perform any job and fulfill any responsibility that she desires to. …

Now I know it's a lot of fun to poke at antiquated fundamentalist beliefs, especially if you feel like I do about sexism, but I think this man ought to be left alone. Transitions with churches are always difficult. I once belonged to a church that had been an older, dying traditional church that was sort of taken over by a younger, more charismatic crowd. A lot of the older members left. Such matters are things the members must work out between themselves. Lamberton does not have to continue to be a member of that church, seeing as she is unhappy with the changes the new minister has brought. She has the right of free association, as do all the members.

The public should be concerned with what happens in the public realm, not start being thought police. This minister has not applied his belief that women should not have authority over men in the public square; therefore, it is none of the public's business. Disapproval of his religious beliefs, where those beliefs are not being imposed on the public, is not sufficient to justify the public's interference with his service on the City Council.

Posted by Becky at 12:24 PM |

Scandal in Oklahoma Reveals Much

Heather Wilhelm, Director of Communications for Americans for Limited Government and US Term Limits, has created quite a stir, especially with Christians, with her story of how eminent domain is being used to take a church in Oklahoma so that the evil city can have the property used for something that generates taxes. In her piece, she pumps the great work of a group called "Protect Our Homes Oklahoma," which is working to pass a measure that would ban the use of eminent domain for economic development (and impose just compensation laws far more strict than Oregon's Measure 37, though proponents conveniently don't mention that).

Fortunately for the people of Oklahoma, in May, the Oklahoma Supreme Court outlawed the use of eminent domain for economic development. That decision didn't touch the compensation portion of ALG's (oops, I mean Protect Our Homes Oklahoma's) ballot measure, however. And as someone who supports Measure 37, I'm offended both by the dishonest use of the eminent domain cover and by the extreme nature of the compensation portion. Rumor has it that Oregon's own Dave Hunnicut was hired to write all of ALG's eminent domain ballot measures this year. He is very familiar with Oregon's single subject rule, so he should also be well aware that despite Wilhelm's claims that the two are "really a comprehensive initiative that will protect private property," they are really two separate subjects and ought to be considered separately.

Wilhelm's op-ed about the dangers faced by churches in the climate of heartless greed that fills city halls neglects to inform readers that it is her own group that is funding and managing the efforts of Protect Our Homes Oklahoma. In fact, back in September of 2005, when asked about her group's involvement she said, "From what I understand, that is a local issue." And she has repeatedly said her group just wants to lend a helping hand to local grassroots efforts all over the country. "[W]e have people from around the country e-mailing us for help," she says. "We're definitely happy to help any group that is doing this great work in any state." "[I]t's in our mission statement to help grass-roots groups get it on the ballot."

"Stop Overspending Oklahoma" is another group working on a ballot measure – this one a Colorado TABOR spin-off. Of course, this group, too, is home-grown and not at all part of any national effort, just like "Stop Over Spending Montana," "Stop Overspending Nebraska," "Stop Overspending Missouri," and "Stop Overspending Michigan", all of which are also receiving funding from Americans for Limited Government. Which, of course, is always happy to help grassroots efforts.

For those who have been following this story, none of this is news. We've known for several weeks now about Howard Rich, Paul Jacob, Eric O'Keefe, and their paid mouthpiece, Heather Wilhelm and the group's efforts to pass extreme property compensation, TABOR, and term limits in about a dozen states. But I do have a bit of new information that further undermines Heather Wilhelm's assertions that the group is just trying to help all these independent grassroots groups who have been emailing ALG asking for money. In fact, I have in my hot little hand proof that this group actually managed the signature drives in Oklahoma, a smoking gun that they did the same in the other states, as well.

In Oklahoma, the signature collection process for both Protect Our Homes Oklahoma and Stop Overspending Oklahoma (both of which are being run by Oklahomans in Action) were contracted out to National Voter Outreach, whose President is Susan Johnson. One would expect that if this truly was a grassroots initiative campaign, it would be the local Chief Petitioners or the head of Oklahomans in Action who would be the point-persons in these signature gathering campaigns. But that is not what happened. Instead, Susan Johnson reported signature counts, gave updates, and issued funding increase requests to Paul Jacob.

In case you have forgotten, Paul Jacob is not only the head of US Term Limits and a Senior Fellow at Americans for Limited Government, he is also Howard Rich's brother-in-law. It's all very cozy.

So about those emails. I'll give you a few excerpts so you know what I mean.

On September 12, 2005 Susan Johnson sent an email to Paul Jacob.

The delays have put us in a difficult position. A 90-day, 293,000-signature campaign at the "regular" rate was possible, we stated, because of our ability to take advantage of Election-Day recruiting (two weeks prior to the election) and working the Fair season. The first opportunity has passed and it seems less likely each day that the committee will form, deposit & contract will be executed, lawyers will agree on the wording, the petition format will be checked by myself and the state, and that we will have paper in time to recruit and train and be in force at the State Fair by the 15th (3 days).

This is not a complaint. Flexibility is a necessity and so frequently coordinating all the elements is like shooting at a moving target. But there also has to be an understanding of how this may effect [sic] the budget. Please be prepared to deal with this issue once we are into the first few weeks of the drive. We will be better able to determine our signature-growth momentum at weeks three and four. As it stands, I think that the budget may require an additional [redacted] if start-up recruitment doesn't happen quickly enough.

Big Ads broke in the paper on Sunday; our offices and phones are secured. Management is waiting for the paper. The printer is on standby. I'm still looking for the contract, draft petition & final deposit. Please keep me posted on the time frame as you get a handle on it. I need to coordinate two dates with Kathy Jekel [of the Secretary of State's office]. My people are calling me a couple times a day for updates.

Note that at the time this coordination is taking place, Susan says they are still looking to form a committee, so obviously the local grassroots group that supposedly generated this campaign that ALG was so happy to help achieve their local goals had not even formed yet.

In a memorandum to Paul Jacob on October 4, 2005, Susan reports that she has collected 14,272 signatures. Her October 11 field report to Paul Jacob provides a signature update, expresses concern at the rate of growth in momentum, and discusses the advertising efforts to draw in petitioners, including outreach to "the fast-food industry workers."

On November 11, Jacob emails Johnson and asks her, "Can you get me a total on what OIA has paid in OK? I'm trying to decipher what's in Rick Carpenter's bank account." Johnson replies, "Is there any word about the Missouri project? Inquiring minds want to know …"

At this point, her email gets very interesting. Oklahoma law absolutely prohibits the circulation of petitions by non-residents. Organizers for National Voter Outreach knowingly brought in "pros" – people who circulate all over the country. Susan writes:

We have 7 pro's [sic] coming in thus far. We have three pros in town leaving for 10 days. We are still actively recruiting. However there are two petitions paying a total of $2.25 in CA. Which has wide open access. Don't know how far this will take us, but we will bill you as we get them and as they produce. You can expect a pro report with your regular weekly update.

I will bill you for pro expenses as they are billed to me. I want to switch over the team bonuses to bringing in pros if we can. If we get enough of them it will cost less money in the long run. So pro's [sic] coming in earn [redacted] for expenses on [redacted] signatures a week and an additional [redacted] from NVO on the other bonus program for [redacted] a week. We hope that will keep the pay inspiring as we try and work out the Access problems. …

Look forward to seeing you on Tuesday. Get me your flight schedule and I'll pick you up.

Her November 29 field report to Paul Jacob complains about how the holiday (Thanksgiving) hit the effort hard and that blockers were out interfering with signature gathering at parades and other events by distributing leaflets asking people not to sign the petition. This, she said, caused her crew to collect half as many signatures as expected. "I am thinking there may be a mobilized union effort," she wrote.

Our pros are also having trouble with access. Our Missouri crew of 6 (one dropped) that arrived on Wednesday has collected just 1500 signatures over their first 4 days circulating. That is an average of 62 signatures per day each. These are people who are used to collecting 150-200 per day. …

We have just three weeks left. I have 12 pro's [sic] confirmed still in town today. Three of those were not here over the weekend and not one has reached bonus numbers. … We need to discuss our next move. I think it's time to consider a rate increase across the board and leave in place production bonuses. I will continue to try and bring in additional pro's [sic] using the recruiting bonus plan instituted last week.

Paul Jacob's reply is interesting: "This is shaping up to be a disaster where we pay for 250,000 signatures and fail to make the ballot. Should we pull the plug on SOS?"

December 2, Jacob writes to Johnson about a contract they have put together to hire Michael Rhodes to recruit petitioners to produce 10,000 signatures by December 18:

Here is the Michael Rhodes agreement. He let me keep my socks, that's about it. Obviously, we're agreeing to pay NVO this amount for hiring Michael according to this agreement. There is still time if I left something out. Let me know.

For those concerned about the illegal use of non-resident petitioners in Oklahoma, Johnson's December 8 email to Jacob is perhaps the most indicting:

We have commitments from 62 pro's [sic] to be in the state by Friday. I am continuing to encourage others to come. Reports are that California ends tomorrow. Many are already here and working.

These are discussions a contractor has with the person who has hired them. Obviously, that person was not the head of Oklahomans in Action. It was Paul Jacob of Americans for Limited Government, the group that is providing funding for similar measures across the country. Perhaps that is why ALG's recent Action Conference program listed a Friday, 8/18/06 agenda item at 8:00 pm entitled The impact of our initiatives across the country by Eric O'Keefe, also of ALG. Just to be sure you are clear as to these individuals' association with ALG, the next day, Saturday, the Action Conference featured a Q&A session with an "ALG panel" that included John Tillman, Paul Jacob, Eric O'Keefe, and Bob Costello.

One final bit of interesting information as to the motivations of these individuals behind the TABOR ballot measure is found on the agenda for the 33rd Annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in 2006:

CPAC06-22: Reining in Spending: Starving the Beast: John Berthoud, PhD., Tom Schatz, Rep. Todd Tiahrt, John Tillman, Moderator: John Fund

Now let's all watch as Howard Rich's and Paul Jacob's local puppets swear up and down that it was all their idea, all their locally-initiated effort, and it really truly is grassroots, but it doesn't really matter where the money came from anyway, and those union thugs are so awful, and [stomping feet on the floor] why won't we just debate the issues!

Posted by Becky at 09:34 AM |

August 20, 2006

Siding with Goliath

Long-time conservative attorney Kelly Clark has filed an elections complaint asking the Oregon Secretary of State to kick Constitution Party Mary Starrett off the ballot. The reason: he cannot find any evidence that the Constitution Party filed the required legal notice of its June 3 nominating convention in a general circulation newspaper. That's his story, and he's sticking to it.

Clark swears it has nothing to do with anyone's fears that Starrett will be a spoiler and take votes away from the Republicans' lukewarm candidate, Ron Saxton. No, of course not. And it was not done in conjunction with the Saxton campaign. A few voters who just happened to support Saxton were so terribly concerned about the potential that the little ol' Constitution Party might be violating election law that they were compelled to fork over the dough to hire Mr. Clark to do something about it.

Starrett isn't buying it. She is accusing the Saxton campaign of "reenacting the Tanya Harding saga – with Starrett as Nancy Kerrigan – while Kelly Clark plays the goon!" And apparently she also, somewhere that I have been unable to locate, brought up the poor man's status as a sex offender. For which some are calling for Starrett to apologize for saying something that is "just plain mean."

For a long time now, Clark has been cultivating the image that he's helping little David's take on big bad Goliaths. Doing things that matter in the big picture of life. I've just got to ask, how can Clark reconcile that image with his current picking on Mary? Could it be that when this former gay-rights advocate decided to work to stop gay marriage he wasn't displaying "disgust with the misuse of power," as he claimed, but rather a willingness to take up a cause that came with a paycheck? Could that be why he's siding with Goliath now?

Posted by Becky at 08:33 PM |

Liquid Bomb Plot Impossible

Next time you have to stand in line at the airport for two hours waiting to have your toothpaste, shampoo, and bottled water confiscated, remember this.

Posted by Becky at 04:34 PM |

August 19, 2006

Gitmo: a shameful part of our nation's history

Over at Mahablog, Barbara informs about a new piece in this month's Harper's magazine by Eliza Griswold. Rather than excerpt it here, I encourage you to click over and read it over at Maha's place.

The piece entitled "American Gulag: Prisoner's Tales from the War on Terror" cites information taken from those once held at Guantanamo Bay, their attorneys and their family members.

Apparently the article is not yet available online. But the details are shocking and if true, are perhaps among the worst things ever done by an American government.

The details are seriously horrible. Its a reminder that its incumbent upon us as Americans to take charge of our government and demand oversight.

More importantly, we must demand accountability.

Posted by Carla at 07:11 PM |

Immigration Issue Fracturing the Right

I saw an article a couple weeks ago on how the immigration debate has split conservatives. I knew there were internal conflicts on the right over immigration and I knew it was important, but didn't know quite what to make of it. Tom Barry is writing about it today, and it has reminded me again that this is a most curious thing. Because the thing is, it would appear that the immigration issue is splitting apart coalitions that one might never have thought would split apart. I mean, you have former fellows fiercely at odds all of a sudden.

On the one side are those who call for a hard line on enforcement of immigration law because of the war on terror. They believe that until we enforce existing law we have no business debating other solutions to illegal immigration. On this side are Newt Gingrich, William Bennett, Thomas Sowell, Robert Bork, Daniel Pipes, David Horowitz, Ward Connerly, William F Buckley, Rich Lowry, Phyllis Schlafly, Paul Weyrich, Peter Collier, David Frum, Michael Ledeen, John O’Sullivan, Kathryn Lopez, and Jonah Goldberg, among others.

On the other side are 33 pro-immigration conservatives who believe other solutions must be explored because enforcement isn't enough. These conservatives include Jack Kemp, George Schultz, Grover Norquist, William Kristol, Jeff Bell, Linda Chavez, Steve Forbes, and Max Boot.

Tom Barry thinks this split on the right is a battle over how to best position the party at election time.

In part, it's a battle over contending right-wing ideologies. It's also a high-stakes race to determine which approach to the immigration crisis will win the most votes for Republicans.

Perhaps he's right, but somehow I don't think so. The first group seems to me to be true believers who, though perhaps a bit nutty and extreme, are patriots nonetheless, while the second group seems more to be more the just-plain-evil, snake-oil salesman, secret-society, world-domination types. You know, members of the Council on Foreign Relations, Skull and Bones, or the Project for a New American Century (PNAC).

One exception to this is Frank Gaffney, one of those who has sided with the enforcement-first group, but who also is a PNAC signatory. But I can't help but like the man because he is also the person who revealed Grover Norquist's dangerous ties to Islamic terrorists. Maybe that is why he has sided as he has - Norquist is with the more open borders group. Or maybe it's the true patriot thing that has pushed him to that position.

It is all very curious. I'll be pondering it for quite awhile, I think.

Posted by Becky at 01:52 PM |

Libertarian Movement Not Dead Yet

Considering how many states are currently facing multiple ballot measures written and funded by libertarians hell-bent on circumventing the legislative process by scamming the public into passing self-destructive laws, I am flabbergasted at Michael Lind's declaration that the libertarian movement is dead.

The most epochal event in world politics since the cold war has occurred – and few people have noticed. I am not referring to the conflict in Iraq or Lebanon or the campaign against terrorism. It is the utter and final defeat of the movement that has shaped the politics of the US and other western democracies for several decades: the libertarian counter-revolution.

His thesis is based on the libertarians' unsuccessful efforts to sell the American public or our lawmakers on their belief in eliminating the "welfare state." That much is true – Americans have rejected the libertarian philosophy. We have rejected the privatization of Social Security. We have rejected the dismantling of public education. We have rejected the abolition of the minimum wage.

But I believe Lind has underestimated the financial resources and the wily tactics of the proponents of libertarian philosophy. Howard Rich and his cohorts are small potatoes compared to the puppet masters at the Cato Institute. They still have their eye on Social Security privatization, privatization of education, and the removal of hard-fought protections for workers. And they have discovered how to use things Americans do support - low taxes and property rights - to achieve their more extreme goals. This year's crop of ballot measures will strip legislatures of experienced individuals, strip away all ability of government to regulate the use of private property, and limit government revenues so severely that states will have no choice but to dismantle social programs and education altogether. Meanwhile, they are launching an anti-union disinformation campaign to undermine people's trust in both their government and the unions working to protect their rights.

Are libertarians playing out their last gasp right now, or are they on the verge of a major coup? In my opinion, that depends entirely on whether adequate resources can be brought to bear to educate the public about the dangers to our way of life should these underhanded libertarian efforts be successful.

Posted by Becky at 10:49 AM |

August 18, 2006

Union "Facts" Campaign Linked to TABOR

As usual, Mr. Piccolo at NW Republican is off on an ignorant rant about "union thuggery." This time, he's breathlessly calling attention to an organization that tells all about union corruption – the Center for Union Facts. I actually heard about this group's planned advertising attack on unions yesterday and decided to check them out.

Their website is actually very unusual. It lists no history on the group, no Board of Directors, no staff (aside from Sarah Longwell), no street address, and no information about what type of organization it is (PAC? Non-profit? Foundation?). Fortunately, this is not the first anti-union attack launched by the Center for Union Facts, and others have already figured out who the group is.

Sourcewatch offers a fair run-down on the basics of the group. It is – gasp – an industry front group, headed by libertarian anti-environmental, anti-consumer, anti-worker lobbyist Rick Berman. He has a few other front groups, as well. Like Howard Rich and the rest of that nest of snakes involved in Cato, the Heritage Foundation, Americans for Tax Reform, etc. Helps them more effectively launder money and create the illusion of massive support for something that is really only supported by a few people with an ungodly amount of wealth.

David Sirota wrote a nice little overview of the group back in February.

Townhall.com - the official headquarters of the fringe right - sent out an alert today telling folks about the new so-called "Center for Union Facts." The site is so skewed, so over the top, so dishonest, I just had to check out who is behind it. Though UPI notes that the group is refusing to disclose who its donors are (shocker!), its executive director is none other than Rick Berman - one of the biggest corporate shills working in politics today.

Want to know a little bit about Mr. Berman? Here, chew on this:

HEAD OF NEW UNION BASHING GROUP IS LONGTIME ANTI-UNION CORPORATE LOBBYIST: "Berman has a history of representing tobacco firms, restaurant chains or beer distributors in fights against labor unions, consumer-health groups and efforts to raise the minimum wage." [Source: Detroit Free Press, 2/24/05]

HEAD OF NEW UNION BASHING GROUP FOUGHT AGAINST ANTI-DRUNK DRIVING LAWS: "A national campaign -- called MADDatGM -- has been launched with the backing of 17,000 bars, taverns and liquor stores to attack the automaker and Mothers Against Drunk Driving, mostly for their efforts to lower legal blood-alcohol levels...'We want to stop GM from contributing to MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving). We have a problem with GM money going to criminalize social drinkers. GM needs to recognize it is attacking legitimate businesses,' said Rick Berman, the high-powered Washington D.C. lobbyist running the MADDatGM campaign." [Source: Detroit Free Press, 2/24/05]

HEAD OF NEW UNION BASHING GROUP WAS CORPORATE UNION BUSTER: "Bensinger even received a handwritten note from Rick Berman, a powerful Washington lobbyist who used to plan union avoidance strategies at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce." [Fortune, 9/28/98]

So basically, the head of this new group is a corporate lobbyist so bought off he's willing to go out and attack Mothers Against Drunk Driving on behalf of his corporate clients. That's the kind of wild-eyed right-wing lunatic the conservative movement is breeding - people solely focused on using the nexus of money and politics to cash in, no matter how extreme and distasteful they have to behave in public. With American workers having highly-paid extremist enemies like this roaming the nation's capital, it is no doubt that ordinary citizens' economic interests are regularly steamrolled in Washington, D.C.

Berman is behind several groups, such as ActivistCash.com (a website that works to smear consumer protection activists and protect companies who are producing unhealthy products), the Center for Consumer Freedom (another anti-consumer protection site that scoffs at "the Nanny Culture" that calls attention to health concerns associated with big corporate-produced foods), The Employment Policies Institute (which opposes any increases in the minimum wage), and the American Beverage Institute (whose arch-enemy is Mothers Against Drunk Driving).

Researching Berman is like opening a can of worms. So rather than going into all the myriad of issues related to his lobbying history and scandal history and connections,