Rants
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Rants
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Weltanschauung
12/18/2003 farrago n : a motley assortment of things [syn: odds and ends, oddments, mélange, ragbag, hodgepodge, mishmash, mingle-mangle, hotchpotch, omnium-gatherum] I think this is great, I got this from a friend in England... I wonder what it's going to take for the American Public to wake up to what the Media is doing to us. The manipulation by the corporate moguls in charge of what we get to see as "News" is so blatant that it seems impossible to imagine that everyone isn't aware of what's going on. When I talk to my Conservative Right Wing Loony friends (who are legion) they are just as convinced that the media is controlled by Liberal Whacko's, and my Liberal Whacko friends are convinced the Media is controlled by Big Business and the Administration. Personally, I believe the media is controlled by the Profit Incentive. They are going to say and promote what ever their marketing research says they should. The media is a huge and insatiable whore.
Subject: Re: This and that According to the TV and the papers over here GW won the hearts and minds of the British People with his trip to visit the Queen... He's just been misunderstood and maligned by the Liberal press... Oh, there might have been a few small demonstrations by the loony left but, overall, the British are very supportive... I must be on a different planet! We saw the biggest peacetime protests ever - against anything! We had middle-aged, middle-class people out on the streets here who wouldn't be seen dead in a demonstration of any kind - but there they were, hundreds of thousands of them. He didn't come anywhere near Derby (thank God!), but we still had a large demonstration in the town centre attended by thousands of thoroughly respectable people who were really hacked off about (a) the visit and (b) the cost of all that ridiculous security to protect somebody who should be shot in any case. He was about as welcome as a kosher ham & cheese sandwich at a Jewish wedding! Our local Special Branch (roughly = FBI) came to the airfield with a gun-carrying bum who had been foisted on them by Blair's cronies to 'advise' local airfields on security. It gave me a lot of pleasure to tell the SB boys, who I know and get on with very well, to go and do whatever they wanted on the airfield, as usual, but that the foreigner with no legal powers was banned from the private premises - as I didn't allow guns. I also mentioned in his hearing (deliberately!) that SB had 80 years of fighting 'high quality' terrorists - the IRA - and there was no chance that a tyro like him could teach them anything about it but, if he wanted to learn, I was sure they could get him up to entry standard - given time! The grin on their faces, behind his back, told me what they thought about the whole thing! From his attitude, I don't think he was entirely used to being told to piss off. Big deal. Wrong country, mutt-head! I've since been told that the two other local airfields did exactly the same (well, I did ring them and warn them what was happening!) and that our joint attitude wasn't appreciated by the shit-heads back at SB headquarters. Much more importantly, it was appreciated by the SB lads who do the hard work - and that's what really matters! They are the ones I work with on a day-to-day basis. I'd add that they are a pleasant and very clever bunch who do their best to fit in and not be a nuisance. J. 2/10/2003 I got another e-mail, the part in black is the e-mail, the blue (as if you need to be informed) is my reaction to it... Dear Americans.... Dear Americans, Why do you try to destroy the country of my choice, the land I served in three wars? Who the hell are you talking to! Who the hell are you? Why is this diatribe unsigned? Where do you get off talking to me like your contribution was greater than mine, or that your opinion has more value than mine. In World War II, I fought for you and earned a medal for valor. I wish you had stated which medal you won, I can’t find a “Medal of Valor” anywhere but many soldiers and sailors received medals for Valorous conduct. Their actions demand respect and honor, but their opinions bear no more weight than any other Americans. The America I fell in love with as a youngster was peopled by smart, tough, and compassionate individuals. I imagine my America was peopled by the same folks, they weren’t all smart, tough and compassionate though. Some were hypocritical, arrogant, rude and narrow minded… more than a few. When I was growing up in there were lynching's in the south, Anti Semitic Nazi murders in Illinois, Joe McCarthy’s thrust for power crippled the country… I could so on and on, it wasn’t all Ozzie and Harriett… it wasn't all good then, and it's not all bad now... You stood out head and shoulders above other nations. You worked your way into and out of the world’s worst Depression; fought and won history’s biggest war; But we didn’t win it alone, lots of French, English, Turkish, Greeks, Australians lost their lives too. built the greatest prosperity ever for the largest numbers; Yup, lots of rich folks in America, I even know one or two of them… and went to the Moon and the Stars! Well, we went to the moon… shot a few computers into oblivion but we haven’t actually been to the stars yet… Oh… sorry, that was a metaphor wasn’t it… sorry. Your ancestors-refugees from penury and persecution-created a unique culture of Liberty after crossing the storm-tossed ocean. Penury, hardly, most of them were actually fairly wealthy, some were poor but not destitute, and the persecution was real enough, but the ones who were persecuted brought a lot of their harsh and unforgiving ways with them and persecuted others in their turn. Most folks came over here to make a buck, opportunity was the selling point of America, and you know what, as near as I can tell it still is… You made a place in the Sun for the helpless and the hapless! Yup, still do, in spite of the “I got mine, you stay the hell out.” Isolationists who think it’s time for the country to lock the doors so they can reap their bounty. Now we see a national mood where duty is considered optional, You want to tell the young men and women surrounding Iraq and their families that their duty is optional? honor is relative, And while your at it the boys in Somalia, Afghanistan and Iraq and their parents that honor is relative? country is minimized, Minimized?… what does that mean, ? and God is mocked. Where is God mocked? And by whom? And so what… is God threatened, Is your faith so weak that you are threatened? God has been mocked for an eternity, he’s a big boy, he can take it… “Sticks and Stones…” Now I see you racked by self-doubt while your children are taught to disdain your America. Now who are you talking to? Me or America? What would you teach my children about America, where are they taught distain, or have you deemed their tendency to question to be distain, their willingness to stand up and be counted... is that distain?, is protesting distain, or, must they agree with you to be “True Americans” are we to tell our children to follow unquestioningly like Hitler Youth. I need a little clarification here… Your common language-the Language of Liberty-is under attack in your America. The Language of Liberty? Ohhh you mean English? How is it being attacked… is there a law that demands that an Americans speak English, should there be such a law? … Americans speak French in parts of Maine and Louisiana, Norwegian & Swedish in some communities in Minnesota, German in parts of Ohio and Wisconsin and Navajo in Arizona… do you feel threatened by them? I don’t, I feel stronger, diversity makes us strong and flexible and gives us energy to grow. America, the helpless giant, muscle-bound by laws, hog-tied by treaties too nicey-nicey to defend herself? And you and I voted in the SOB’s that made the laws, bout time we voted them out… don’t you think? We are threatened with mega-murder from bio-chem attacks by foes in our midst! Yup by golly, George W. Bush told us so, so it must be true… George has no reason to lie… does he? We are at War with Terrorists, A’Quada, FYI....there were no Iraqi’s on those planes, the Anthrax most likely came from one of our own right here the Good Ol USofA… Throw the BALANCED budget at them? Might as well, we don’t have any money any more, the National debt is up to $6.8 Trillion… we don’t have any money, we owe ourselves (Or somebody) $6.8 Trillion… Who among the political class would sacrifice the survival of our children and grand-children at the altar of political partisanship? Partisanship n : an inclination to favor one group or view or opinion over alternatives Devoted to or biased in support of a party, group, or cause: partisan politics. Well I don’t know where you are coming from on this but it seems to me that there are only two or three politicians in our government that aren’t afraid to speak out, the rest are perfectly willing to follow their party blindly. I don’t know, but it looks like we are about to throw our children and grand-children’s lives on the altar of cheap oil. Will our grand-children revere us or damn us? Time will tell won’t it… one of us is right, I hope you are right and when they count the bodies in Iraq and we bury our dead, that they died for more than your right to cheap gasoline, or as a means for George to keep the country’s mind off the Economy After 80 years of child-rearing experts, ” how much authority have you got left? Your kids have you by the, uh earlobes! Comfortable? No, I’m not happy, who are you blaming for this!!! Think about it you sanctimonious SOB, these are your grandchildren you are talking about! The children of your sons and daughters, you were perfectly willing to blame every other parent in the world but yourself, where were you when the teachers were turned into babysitters, where were you when the Judges appointed by the Politicians you elected condemned us to this Politically Correct world we live in… it didn’t happen without your involvement. Today’s Americans: gluttons-for -guilt. And Thank you very much for that too… VietNam, Cambodia, Bay of Pigs, Grenada, Slavery, Segregation, Genocide, Anti-Semitism, we ARE gluttons, we consume more, waste more, pollute more than any other country ever in the history of the planet… are we supposed to be proud of that? Are we supposed to forget it happened, are we supposed to wallow complacently in our privilege or is it permissible for some of us to feel like it’s time to act like Human Beings, residents of the Planet Earth not some privileged Uber Race with the Devine right to tell the rest of the world what to do. Don’t ever fret: Why do they hate us so? Let them reply to this: Why come you by the millions? Would you have them stay in their own countries and be grateful to be allowed to glue Nike’s together for $0.35 cents a day, sell their coffee and oil and tin and for pennies so that businessmen in America can make a profit… Politically correct? (Politisch richtig: Dr. Goebbels, 1938). Is he alive and well on American campuses? It's not the trachers fool, it's the Politicians and the media... try this... "The rank and file are usually much more primitive than we imagine. Propaganda must therefore always be essentially simple and repetitive. In the long run basic results in influencing public opinion will be achieved only by the man who is able to reduce problems to the simplest terms and who has the courage to keep forever repeating them in this simplified form, despite the objections of the intellectuals." Josef Goebbels, This is what I hear from FOX NEWS and GW Bush; Weapons of Mass Destruction… Poison Gas… Biological Weapons… Saddam is EVIL… Iraq is a threat to America, Weapons of Mass Destruction… Poison Gas… Biological Weapons… Saddam is EVIL… Iraq is a threat to America, Weapons of Mass Destruction… Poison Gas… Biological Weapons… Saddam is EVIL… Iraq is a threat to America Weapons of Mass Destruction… Poison Gas… Biological Weapons… Saddam is EVIL… Iraq is a threat.. to America You are the hard-working taxpayers and voters. We did vote, 51% of us voted for Gore… look who’s presumptuous ass is in the Oval Office You have the clout. Use it! Meet threat again with strength! Counter doubt with firm determination! Well that’s just crazy… “Counter doubt with determination?” Where did you learn that? When in doubt forge ahead anyway? When you encounter someone that questions you or your motives just knock him out of your way? Might makes right!!! America, Love it or leave it.? Sorry dude, that’s not the America I pledge allegiance to. That’s just being a bully. Defeat evil again with right! Which Evil? Your evil or mine? Which right? Yours or mine? I think it is Evil to attack a country that hasn’t attacked us, I think it is Evil to allow one man to build mansions with the money he stole from investors, I think it is Evil to do a lot of things you will probably not agree with… Erase lies again with the truth! RECLAIM PARENTAL CONTROL! Talk about Politically Correct Idealism… sorry fella, the pendulum you started swinging in the 50’s when you refused to let the teacher swat your kids butt has swung too far. Go ahead, get control of your kid, swat his skinny butt ,tell him to shape up or ship out…and see how may prosecutors fight each other to use your ass for traction… it can’t be stopped… sorry, I’ve tried. People like you make me ill, it’s the other people’s kids that are rotten, it’s all those other parents not slapping their kids around that is the problem. Wake up, we are all in the same boat, hamstrung by the laws and mores that were imposed by YOU...and me! You can again walk the way-of-right! I am getting confused again, which way is “Right” , Why do I suspect you mean a Kill Saddam, God-fearing, Christian, Republican, Ditto Brain, sort of Right,. Not the help the needy, have compassion for the underprivileged, help the single mom, cure AIDS, spend more money on education than you do bombs sort of Right. Do all that and you will be free and fortunate. Free to follow? Fortunate not to be killed? Screw that… “Protest” and “Dissention” and “Rebelliousness” and “Who do you think you are to tell me what is right and wrong.” …is what created this country and it’s what will kept it free. Do you believe in US? If US is United States then you’re damn right I do, and I will not let anyone define it for me… sorry. It’s my country too. Sincerely yours in Freedom, a Concerned Citizen Pete Daggett, Another Concerned Citizen and Liberal, Hippie (wannabe), Pragmacrat, Vietnam Vet, Son, Husband, Father of 10 Who the hell are you?
1/31/2003 Forwarded by a friend, My comments... Subject: FW: I AGREE This says it all!
Not Quite… After hearing that the state of Florida changed its opinion and let a Muslim woman have her picture on her driver's license with her face covered this is an editorial written by an American citizen, published in a Tampa newspaper. He did quite a job; didn't he? Read on, please! Not exactly true, the lady was a 41 year old woman who wanted a Florida ID, not a drivers License, she was a devout Muslim (Not against the law in this country yet) and when she was told that that would not be possible she removed enough of her veil to satisfy the authorities. It happened all the time at the Florida DMV but with headlines being usurped by 9/11 some reporter at Channel 12 decided to sensationalize it. Another lady filed a complaint when she was told she had to remove her veil for her Drivers license picture and her complaint was denied, she was told she could remove her veil and get her License or she could leave without it… she left. No one in Florida has a Drivers License with a picture of them with their face covered. >IMMIGRANTS, NOT AMERICANS, MUST ADAPT. I am tired of this nation worrying about whether we are offending some individual or their culture. Since when… there is no law that says anyone has to adapt, many Americans chose not to surrender their beliefs and live peacefully with their decisions, from Mormons to Amish to Norwegian communities in Minnesota to African communities of the coast of Carolina… You have to Adapt in Israel in Iraq and China and in many other places…but not here! Since the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, we have experienced a surge in patriotism by the majority of Americans. However, the dust from the attacks had barely settled when the "politically correct" crowd began complaining about the possibility that our patriotism was offending others. For instance? In another one of these 'patriotic' rants they cited the Librarian who told her workers to remove decals, she apologized and continues to apologize. They also cited the flags being removed from fire trucks in San Francisco… they were placed there after 9/11 and the fire chief asked to have them removed because of anticipated anti-war protests. Past experience told him that it would only cause trouble when protestors miss interpreted their symbolism, he also said that any fire truck that had a flag on it prior to 9/11 could keep it… none did. We mustn’t forget the American Citizens of Indian heritage that were beaten by ‘Patriots’ the stores that were vandalized by "patriots'… the lie-mails on the Internet written by 'patriots'. To me Patriotism is action not flags and rhetoric. I am very suspect of anyone who wears their patriotism on their sleeve. They are the first to demand that you adhere to their vision...
Whoa mama“diluted by the mongrel races” that talk makes me want to puke…it’s KKK speak… we are a multicultural country… that is our strength not our weakness… that is the sort of isolationist talk that feeds the militia groups that spawned McViegh and Nichols to blow up the Federal building on Tulsa…it’s time rational people put a stop the “America Right or Wrong” “Whites Only” “Conform or Get Out” crap… As Americans, we have our own culture, our own society, our own language and our own lifestyle. Really, and what would that be, we don’t have a National culture or a National language or even a very well defined society… that’s another aspect of what America is all about … isn’t it? Each region has it’s own culture from New York City to Ashland Maine and San Francisco to LA, Seattle, Dallas, Phoenix, Saint Louis, Chicago, New Orleans all have their own culture and each of those cultures has their own sub cultures that’s what makes it vibrant…
This culture has been developed
over centuries of struggles, trials, and victories by millions of men and women
who have sought freedom.
We speak all those languages… and are the stronger for it. And by the way, you left out Italian, French, Navajo, German, Polish, Lithuanian, Croatian, and on and on… "In God We Trust" is our national motto. Not actually, our national Motto was deemed by our founders to be “E Pluribus Unum”… In God We Trust was imposed during the McCarthy era, July 30, 1956 This is not some Christian, right wing, political slogan. We adopted this motto because Christian men and women, on Christian principles, founded this nation, Not exactly true, the founders were for the most part Humanists $ called themselves Free Thinkers, some were Agnostic and some outright Atheists… and all but two were adamant about separating their young government from the pressures of religion on decisions. The first wave of Americans fled Religious persecution (by Christians I might add) many came here and imposed their own religious intolerance. In Salem, Massachusetts they even burned people and pressed them under stones… that was not lost on the founders. Interesting quote: "The founders of our nation were nearly all Infidels, and that of the presidents who had thus far been elected [Washington; Adams; Jefferson; Madison; Monroe; Adams; Jackson] not a one had professed a belief in Christianity.... The Reverend Doctor Bird Wilson, an Episcopal minister in Albany, New York, in a sermon preached in October, 1831, and this is clearly documented. Where? It is certainly appropriate to display it on the walls of our schools. If God offends you, then I suggest you consider another part of the world as your new home, because God is part of our culture. Approximately 11% of this country is Athiest or Agnostic, there are more people proclaiming “No Religion” in this country than there are Jews, Muslims, Bhudists and Unitarians put together.
Our country was founded out of Protest and it is our mandate to dispute what we feel is wrong, that keeps us strong…It's the freedom to speak our mind and our responsibility to vote our conscience and protest what we feel is wrong that keeps us free. We are happy with our culture and have no desire to change, and we really don't care how you did things where you came from. This is OUR COUNTRY, our land, and our lifestyle. Our First Amendment gives every! citizen the right to express his opinion and we will allow you every opportunity to do so. But once you are done complaining, whining, and griping about our flag, our pledge, our national motto, or our way of life, I highly encourage you take advantage of one other great American freedom, THE RIGHT TO LEAVE. This is the same sentiment expressed in the 30’s over in Germany and in recently in Afghanistan and Iraq… this is exactly the attitude we, as Americans, are sworn to condemn.
If you agree or disagree please don’t delete it SAY SO!!! If you think anything productive can come of this pass it on if you think it is narrow minded and Un-American please explain your point of view… Am I the only one who thinks this sort of arrogant, grandstanding rhetoric is unproductive, divisive and insensitive… this is not a “Christian Country”, it is a “Free Country”
12/12/2002 I noticed this in the Rootsweb Newsletter: To Myra V. Gormley, Editor, Rootsweb Review newsletter: I wrote this tongue-in-cheek and put it on my webpage but thought I would also run it by you to see if you might want to edit it for your newsletter. Pete Daggett
Americans: Watch Those Kinships I sort’a took it personally and wrote: Ron ...because that would be boring, and besides, we’re just a loose bunch of folks over here in the Bush Papacy. Without taxing my unstable brain it seems I can recollect that I have heard the word “Cousin”, used to denote Friend, Neighbor, Stranger, Insignificant person, person sharing or who has shared an experience. Actually, by definition (see below), any person sharing any commonality with you at all is a cousin,. Please note the phrase; “Our European Cousins” or “Our Canadian Cousins”, and let's not forget Apes, our cousins in the Animal kingdom. The meaning of 'cousin' depends entirely on the context that it is being used. Come to think of it, the least of what “Cousin” means to me is, “Child of ones Uncle or Aunt”. Restricting ‘cousin’, or any word for that matter, to one particular use is just tiresome. I am well aware of the fact that there are purists who want to reserve words for that which they were originally coined. I love words, I cringe every time I hear a word misused. For example, people who use the word 'Mute' when they mean 'Moot' make me bite my tongue till it bleeds, but I figured out a long time ago that it's just pathetically unrealistic to think that complaining is going to do anything but demean the offender and make me appear petty.... Incidentally, why did you choose to be upset about “Cousin” anyway, why not Brother, Sister, Father, Mother, Dad, Aunt or Uncle. Mom or Pop. Now, as a genealogy enthusiast I don’t ever recall seeing or hearing anyone claim cousinship (If that’s not a word it should be) who wasn’t a bona fide cousin. And finally, of all the things in this world to be in a huff about in this age of contention and animosity why ‘Cousin’? Cousin Pete PS; just checked my dictionary and found that though your definition is correct you chose to neglect a few meanings: \Cous"in\ (k?z"'n), n. [F. cousin, LL. cosinus, cusinus, contr. from L. consobrinus the child of a mother's sister, cousin; con- + sobrinus a cousin by the mother's side, a form derived fr. soror (forsosor) sister. See Sister, and cf. Cozen, Coz.] 1. One collaterally related more remotely than a brother or sister; especially, the son or daughter of an uncle or aunt. [Middle English cosin, a relative, from Old French, from Latin cnsbrnus, cousin : com-, com- + sbrnus, cousin on the mother's side; see swesor- in Indo-European Roots.] Cous"in\, n. Allied; akin. [Obs.] --Chaucer. 1. A child of one's aunt or uncle. Also called first cousin. 2. A relative descended from a common ancestor, such as a grandparent, by two or more steps in a diverging line. 3. A relative by blood or marriage; a kinsman or kinswoman. 4. A member of a kindred group or country: our Canadian cousins. 5. Something similar in quality or character: “There's no mistaking soca for its distant Jamaican cousin, reggae” (Michael Saunders). 6. Used as a form of address by a sovereign in addressing another sovereign or a high-ranking member of the nobility. 7. A title formerly given by a king to a nobleman, particularly to those of the council. In English writs, etc., issued by the crown, it signifies any earl.
8.
One collaterally related
more remotely than a brother or sister; especially, the son or daughter of an
uncle or aunt. Of course, my dictionary is only the presumptuously titled: American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 2000 and (Note, items 7 & 8) are from Webster's Revised Unabridged 1996
11/15/2002 I put this up a few days ago and my friend John suggested that it might require some explanation... it's simple really. I just thought it would be an amusing statement to lead off a web page. I loved this whatever it is (Curse, Warning…?) it appears to be all the poor desperate fellow had to protect his work; Copyright’s must not have been a concept much in vogue in 1511.
Hold! You crafty ones, strangers to work, and pilferers of other men's brains. Think not rashly to lay your thievish hands upon my works. Beware! Know you not that I have a grant from the most glorious Emporer Maximilian, that no one throughout the imperial dominion shall be allowed to print or sell fictitious imitations of these engravings? Listen! And bear in mind that if you do so, through spite or through covetousness,
not only will your goods be confiscated, but your
bodies also placed in mortal danger.
Selected from
And still another response to a popular e-mail Well I was going to just shine this on and delete it but the sanctimonious challenge at the bottom of it: No one will know that you did. But if you discard this thought process, please don't sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in! made that impossible and spurred me to compose this: If I deem myself to have any integrity I need to stick up for my beliefs and respond honestly… First of all, according to the transcript of the broadcast, the part of the interview related to 9/11 on the CBS Early Show consisted of:
…Clayson asked, "I've heard
people say, those who are religious, those who are not, if God is good, how
could God let this happen? To that, you say?"
"I say God is also angry when he
sees something like this. I would say also for several years now Americans in a
sense have shaken their fist at God and said, God, we want you out of our
schools, our government, our business, we want you out of our marketplace. And
God, who is a gentleman, has just quietly backed out of our national and
political life, our public life. Removing his hand of blessing and protection.
We need to turn to God first of all and say, God, we're sorry we have treated
you this way and we invite you now to come into our national life. We put our
trust in you. We have our trust in God on our coins, we need to practice it." Now, to be honest this e-mail did get me thinking, I think about the person that sent this to me without verifying it, I think about the motives of the person or persons who modified and perverted an honest sentiment by Ms. Anne (Graham) Lotz. By melding an old tirade I have seen many times into what she actually said in order to anger people and create dissent when a rational person would want to promote compassion and understanding. The e-mail and my response's...:
Subject: Think about it.doc I am thinking….
Billy Graham's daughter, Anne Graham, was interviewed on the Early Show See above, this is a corruption of what she actually said, it is essentially the same sentiment so I can’t figure out why it was modified.
In
light of recent events -- terrorists' attacks, school shootings, etc., I School shootings and terrorist attacks are Madeline Murray O’Hare’s fault?… give me a break. School shootings (or the equivalent) and terrorism has been going on since recorded history. The worst one I have read about was a school that was dynamited in Michigan killing 80 children back in the 1930’s… and terrorism in recent years is a direct result of the fact they believe that God is on their side and they are acting in His name. PS: Madeline was murdered because someone thought she had money not her atheism…
Then
someone said that you'd better not read the Bible in school. (The Bible Not “Someone”, the Law says that inflicting your beliefs on others is unconstitutional; the intent being that there will be no Law, Rule or Regulation that forces people to participate in a declaration of religious beliefs contrary to their own. The Bible says many contradictory things about killing and theft, it seems to me the Old Testament God did a hell of a lot of killing, and promoted the theft of land and property to further whatever the goals of the “chosen people” of the moment were.
Then
Dr. Benjamin Spock said that we shouldn't spank our children when they Pretty cold… First, Dr Spock’s son’s are still alive, it was his grandson who committed suicide, Dr’s Spock’s tried to live up to his own ideals but had to deal with his wife’s alcoholism and drug abuse, and demands on his own popularity… The bottom line of all of Dr Spock writing and speeches is and was, "treat yourself and your children with respect", if that is a foundation for evil then we are in big trouble… read his book! Damn, it has been modified and edited 8 times…and he never said “Don’t spank” He said, “Trust your judgment”
Then
someone said that teachers and principals had better not discipline our Come ON!!! Damn. Think about what you’re saying! Who does the suing!!! Teachers and administrators didn't sue themselves!... It has been my observation that the parents of the perfect little darlings instigated the changes in schools and education not the administration or the teachers… Be honest, what would you do to a teacher that whacked your kid on the knuckles today?, or put a dunce cap on your child's head of or any child for that matter, you would get a lawyer and sue!… this is so lame… how in the hell can anyone say that the government or administration conspired to take power away from teachers… silly… it was parents, religious groups, PTA’s, ad-infinitum. Teachers and School Administrations are not responsible for the changes in discipline in schools… you and I and our neighbors are…
Yup, we did, and thank God!!! children were aborting themselves and dying… Children were being turned out into the street by their sanctimonious parents… children were having babies they couldn’t care for… children were murdering their children because they couldn’t cope… wake up and smell the coffee! I wonder how many children the writer of this self-righteous diatribe has adopted?
Condoms don’t promote sex… that’s just stupid. Does anyone still think that your sons and daughters are going to stop having sex with one-another because you took their condoms away… stupid.
Then
some of our top elected officials said that it doesn't matter what we I happen to think they are right, but there is no way to argue this particular statement with people who think it is perfectly alright to hold others to standards that they don’t apply to themselves or their friends…
Then
someone said let's print magazines with pictures of nude women and call There was pornography written and drawn on the walls of the pyramids and in caves in France… I am sure prudes found it offensive back then too. Folks who can’t see the difference between Venus de Milo and Bondage, Bestiality, and Hardcore Porn need psychiatric help.
And
then someone else took that appreciation a step further and published Bullshit! it is NOT legal to do that, it is not labeled Free Speech in any country that I am aware of… Pedophiles of any ilk are universally despised and hunted down by people on the Net, the law and anyone with a conscience anywhere and everywhere… read the papers! Damn…
Then
the entertainment industry said, let's make TV shows and movies that Again… Bull!!! The entertainment industry doesn’t promote anything, it is a business, it creates what you and your children will pay to see and hear… just that simple… take away the demand and you will take away the product. Good luck...
Now
we're asking ourselves why our children have no consciences, why they Hmmm My children have lots of problems but they know right from wrong, they have consciences and to the best of my knowledge they haven’t killed any strangers or classmates… yours seem to need some help…
Probably, if we thought about it long and hard enough, we could figure it Absolutely… the first thing you (Whoever you are) have said that I can agree with.
It's
funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the Seems to me Timothy McVeigh, Reverend Jim Jones, the perpetrators of the WTC atrocity, the Vatican, Mussolini, the Reverend Jerry Fallwell, have all said pretty much the same thing… But… it also seems to me that most of the “God Trashing” is done by one religion to discredit or put down another… Atheists couldn't care less.
It's
funny how we always believe what the newspapers say, but always Huh? I am really beginning to wonder who the “We” are that he is referring to… sane people don't believe anything verbatim... why do you suppose you were provided with a brain?
It's
funny how you can send jokes through e-mail and they spread like I am not going to delete this, I think I will keep it so I can go back and refer to it when I need to be reminded how biased, shallow and narrow minded some peoples vision of reality can be...
It's
funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through Damn, this is a scary person… I’ll bet they live for the days the doorbell rings and they can talk to a Jehovah’s Witness… personally I have no interest what so ever in anyone’s perception of their personal religion than they have in mine… that has to be the most irrelevant bit of information in the world! Are you laughing? No, but I’m smiling…
It's
funny how, when you forward this message, you will probably not send it I wish I knew who wrote it so I could… I obviously do know who sent it to me and to be honest I will not return this to him, it would serve no fruitful purpose. He has proven in the past that he is only interested in promoting his own opinion and has no interest in mine aside from providing him with an opportunity do say I am wrong... besides, he will only get mad at me.
It's
funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us Yup, damn shame isn’t it that folks care less about their family, friends and neighbors than they do about trying to rationalize their religion isn’t it.
Pass
it on if you think it has any merit. If not, then just discard it. I will know…
... it is my belief that many of the problems in the world are a direct result of fanatical religious beliefs that preach misunderstanding, intolerance and hatred. OK?
12 August, 2002 BRIAN ROBIN LIKES TO PERUSE THE HILARIOUSLY irreverent, progressive Web site Bartcop.com. One Sunday night in July, in the privacy of his Lancaster home, Robin came upon an item about an appearance by Congressman Bill Thomas (R-Bakersfield) on CNN, where he repeated the Republican Party mantra that blames the year's corporate criminality on Bill Clinton. Robin couldn't let Thomas, a career politician who wields great power as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, get away with it. Robin put together an e-mail, with the opening salvo "Surely you can't be that stupid," and went on to compare Clinton's achievements to Bush's and Cheney's various business failures and wrongdoings. Along the way, he took a swipe at Thomas himself: "I'm not a morally bankrupt Republican congressman who opts for partisanship ahead of truth." And then, says Robin, who covered high school sports and golf for two years for the L.A. Times community edition in Ontario, "I brainfarted." His personal e-mail server wasn't working, so he sent his critical message on his company's e-mail system. Two days later, he got a phone call from Thomas' office simply asking him to confirm that he worked at the Times. He did so. Later that day, he was summoned by Tom Johnson, lead editor of the Times' community sections, and suspended; a week later, he was terminated. "I knew when I was called in on the 23rd that I would be fired," he says. "My boss went to the mat for me on it, but it was clearly a done deal." "It was a stupid thing to do," says the 37-year-old sportswriter. "I knew that sending that out on company e-mail was wrong, and I deserved a suspension. But I never dreamt that the Times would fire me over this. Maybe a slap on the wrist or a reprimand, but I have a pristine employment record over the two years I worked there. "It's like using a bazooka on a butterfly." The Times' policy, as written in the employee handbook, is that the company e-mail system is not to be used for personal reasons. (That's nice, but it's hard to imagine that Times employees don't e-mail friends and spouses, or occasionally book airline fares online. Doesn't everybody?) My phone message seeking comment from editor John Carroll eventually made it to Times spokesman David Garcia, who said he cannot discuss personnel-related issues. You can't blame them for ducking on this one. Robin said he couldn't find out exactly what transpired after Thomas' office got his e-mail. Did Thomas himself play a role in getting the sportswriter fired? No one is saying at the congressman's office one way or the other. "I contacted Thomas' office in Kern County, and they referred me to the D.C. office," Robin said. "I tried to call his chief of staff and left two unanswered messages and was referred back by one of the people in the office to my own congressman (Buck McKeon). My wife talked to them, and they suggested looking into the House Ethics Committee." Calls to Thomas' office and his press secretary Jason Poblete didn't elicit much. Both gave a terse "no comment at this time." When asked who reviewed the congressman's e-mail, Poblete repeated: "No comment." For now, the father of two young children is worried about his future. "I would love to be able to confront Bill Thomas and ask him why he or his staff are so thin-skinned and ask them why they did this to my career and my family. And I'd also like to ask them if they'd have contacted the Times if the e-mail had been some complimentary thing. All I did was exercise my right of free speech, and it got completely blown out of hand." It's not only the congressman or his underlings who blew the transgression out of proportion. You have to wonder why the Times caved in, and erred in its heavy-handed treatment of Robin.
The Offending
E-Mail Congressman Thomas, Surely, you can’t be that stupid. I mean, even for the standards of the current Republican Party, which has turned from the party of Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt into a hateful, dogmatic and uncompromising group (except in the case of big business, when you become the party of Stepin Fetchit), your comments on CNN are so completely out of line, they defy logic. To blame Bill Clinton (our last legally elected president) for the current corporate shenanigans completely flies in the face of truth and logic. The president you and your ilk impeached for lying about oral sex presided over a country that lowered teen pregnancy rates 22 percent, dropped the crime rate by roughly the same amount and knocked nearly half the welfare recipients off the rolls. While those numbers were dropping, so were the numbers in divorce, teen drinking, teen suicide and abortion. But that doesn’t jibe with your partisan rantings. Everything’s Clinton’s fault, from your faulty perceptions about this country’s moral laxity to the state of the military — which was cut to pieces by George Bush I and his secretary of defense — Dick Cheney ( news - web sites). Without a scintilla of regret or moral thought, your party has embraced corporate crooks, polluters and other moral rot. It wasn’t Bill Clinton who cooked books at Enron, Global Crossing, WorldCom and who knows how many other companies. It wasn’t Bill Clinton who engaged in accounting fraud while working as the CEO of a Fortune 500 company (see Cheney, Dick). It wasn’t Bill Clinton who engaged in insider trading while leading yet another company into bankruptcy (see Bush, G.W.). It was Bill Clinton who lied about a blow job. Somehow, I don’t see the comparison. Then again, I’m not a morally bankrupt Republican congressman who opts for partisanship ahead of truth.
Brian Robin 7/15/2002
Another response to a popular e-mail (Black = E-Mail, blue = me) I sat in a movie theater watching "Schindler's List," and asked myself, "Why didn't the Jews fight back?" Now I know why. I sat in a movie theater, watching "Pearl Harbor" and asked myself, "Why weren't we prepared?" Now I know why. On September 11, dozens of capable airplane passengers allowed themselves to be overpowered by a handful of poorly-armed terrorists because they did not comprehend the depth of hatred that motivated their captors. Not sure of your point here guy, are you saying that if you were on that flight out of Boston you would have fought back? The passengers on the flight that crashed in Pennsylvania fought back and died heroically because they knew their fate, the others didn’t have a clue, for all they knew it was just another hijacking, an inconvenience, to condemn them for not fighting back is ludicrous at best, cruel and insensitive to the surviving relatives at worst... what happened to them was unprecedented… we know now, it won’t happen again. On September 11, thousands of innocent people were murdered because too many Americans naively reject the reality that some nations are dedicated to the dominance of others. Not sure what you’re trying to imply here, are you saying that you were expecting this attack? That there was something the “naïve, unsuspecting Americans” could have done to prevent it? That you knew it was inevitable and tried to warn us but we wouldn’t listen… ? Many political pundits, pacifists and media personnel want us to forget the carnage. What has caused you to come to this conclusion? Seems like the politicians and media don’t miss an opportunity to remind us when it furthers their agenda. I won’t forget, no one who lived through that horrible morning will. Who cares what the media or politicians do, they are in business… we won’t let them forget. They say we must focus on the bravery of the rescuers and ignore the cowardice of the killers. They are right though, the rescuers were heroic. As to the terrorists, it was unconscionable what they did, their bravery or cowardice is just a matter of perspective and bordering on irrelevant, to my mind, to dismiss them as cowards is to underestimate their threat. Those people were bombs, human bombs, we need to exterminate them like cockroaches, what we need to find is the real cowards who financed, trained, armed and sent them here. They implore us to understand the motivation of the perpetrators. Seems like a logical plea, shouldn’t we know and understand their motivation, how can we find and stop them if we don’t? Major television stations have announced they will assist the healing process by not re-playing devastating footage of the planes crashing into the Twin Towers. Hmmm is there something wrong with that? Are you afraid you will forget? Can you put yourself in the minds of the thousands of friends and family who would rather not see their loved ones slaughtered every night on the evening news? I will not be manipulated. After reading this it appears that being a manipulator apparently doesn’t bother you? I will not pretend to understand. Pretend to understand what? I will not forget. Either will we… I will not forget the liberal media who abused freedom of the press to kick our country when it was vulnerable and hurting. What “Liberal Media”? What happened, what did I miss, who was kicking us when we were down, besides Jerry Fallwell and his buddy Buchannan telling us we got what we deserved because we were all abortionists and fornicators and didn’t let GAAAWD ino out hearts… seems like the MEDIA did a pretty good job to me… who have you chosen to listen to? I will not forget that CBS anchor Dan Rather preceded President Bush's address to the nation with the snide remark, "No matter how you feel about him, he is still our president." OVER 50% of the voting citizens think Bush’s Presidency is illegitimate… Rather is a jerk but still, I think the statement was not meant to be snide, it was a legitimate comment, and an honest plea to give GW a chance… I will not forget that ABC TV anchor Peter Jennings questioned President Bush's motives for not returning immediately to Washington DC and commented, "We're all pretty skeptical and cynical about Washington." I happen to agree with Peter Jennings, I am not sure I would fault Bush for not returning to DC but I would have preferred that he didn’t hide. And I will not forget that ABC's Mark Halperin warned if reporters weren't informed of every little detail of this war, they aren't "likely - nor should they be expected - to show deference.." He’s a reporter, he isn’t a Marine, what would you expect him to say? I will not underestimate the intelligence of our adversary who patiently planned and meticulously orchestrated a devastating act of war. (You seemed to earlier in this diatribe but I will let that pass) You may not but Bush has…we’ve spent Billions and all we have for sure is a yuppie from Marin County, and we caught him by accident… I will not forget that the terrorists desire a world society where women are chattel and freedom is forbidden. We don’t know what the terrorist’s want, which is part of the problem… but I doubt that a desire to subordinate women had much to do with 9-11. I will not isolate myself from my fellow Americans by pretending an attack on the USS Cole in Yemen was not an attack on the United States of America. I am not sure what you are saying here… who says it wasn’t an attack on the United States? I will not forget the Clinton administration equipped Islamic terrorists and their supporters with the world's most sophisticated telecommunications equipment and encryption technology, thereby compromising America's ability to trace terrorist radio, cell phone, land lines, faxes and modem communications. The Clinton (CIA) provided aid and equipment to “Freedom Fighters” who were helping the United States fight Russians in Afghanistan and Iraq. You need to condemn Eisenhower for aiding Castro when he was fighting the Batista’s and Wilson for supporting the Third Reich and Reagan for trading missiles for captives, Nixon for supporting … hell… using 20 20 hindsight to condemn the decisions of others is pretty chicken-shit. I will not be appeased with pointless, quick retaliatory strikes like those perfected by the previous administration. Naw, all out war with a bunch of poppy farmers and drug lords in Afghanistan is more satisfying I suppose. Bush’s War has sent the al Qaeda underground, dispersed them all over the world, made them more resolute, what has been done so far is like hitting mercury with a hammer, it hasn’t destroyed anything, just makes it harder to pick up. The billions spent to annihilate Afghanistan would have been better spent on a an international team of anti terrorist specialists who had the autonomy to hunt them down and kill em, no fanfare, no nothing, just have terrorists turn up dead in the morning with their throat’s cut. The experts figure that there are less than 400 al Qaeda in the world, but they have thousands of supporters, maybe millions now… it is not the Muslims who are our enemy, it’s terrorists, al Qaeda is only one of hundreds, there are Japanese like the Red Army, German like the Red Hand, Philippine Abu Sayyaf Group, there are terrorists in Cambodia, Peru, Ireland, Germany, Russia, India, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Hell, American Militia Meatheads present a real threat too, have you forgotten about the Oklahoma Bomb, Anthrax poisonings, Olympics bomb? Religious and Political Fundamentalists of all sects and persuasions are our enemy, How is mobilizing the troops going to stop them?… I will not be comforted by "feel-good, do nothing" regulations like the silly "Have your bags been under your control?" question at the airport. Amen!!! I will not be influenced by so called, "anti-war demonstrators" who exploit the right of expression to chant anti-American obscenities. Perhaps you should read some history; our country was founded by English Colonists rebelling against the established regime… Protest is your right as an American because of Protestors… I will not forget the moral victory handed the North Vietnamese by American war protestors who reviled and spat upon the returning soldiers, airmen, sailors and Marines. I heard about that, I was one of the returning vets but I never experienced it,… I have asked my guys down at the VFW if they had had any trouble coming home and only one said he was lectured by some pimply faced teenager at LAX once, but the kid was stoned… don’t condemn a whole generation because of the misguided insensitivity of a few pinheads, any more than you can condemn all soldiers because of MyLai and Kent State… I will not be softened by the wishful thinking of pacifists who chose reassurance over reality. But why feed the paranoia… I will embrace the wise words of Prime Minister Tony Blair who told Labor Party conference, "They have no moral inhibition on the slaughter of the innocent. If they could have murdered not 7,000 but 70,000, does anyone doubt they would have done so and rejoiced in it? There is no compromise possible with such people, no meeting of minds, no point of understanding with such terror. Just a choice: defeat it or be defeated by it. Amen again And defeat it we must!" I will force myself to: hear the weeping feel the helplessness imagine the terror sense the panic smell the burning flesh experience the loss remember the hatred. I sat in a movie theater, watching in quiet reverence as the blood of young soldier's turned the sands of Normandy beach red in "Private Ryan" and asked myself, "Where did they find the courage?" Now I know. We have no choice. Living without liberty is not living. AMEN!!!
7/11/2002 A friend asked for my comments on this... Prayer
in Kansas .... I am responding to this presuming that when Brother Joe said “we come before you today” “We” equals himself and the members of the “Senate” he was addressing… as I am sure most of the Senators did. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values. My values have remained true, my spiritual equilibrium seems just fine to me, who the hell is he pointing his oratorical finger at? You? Me? The “Senate”? Society? Himself? We confess that we have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word and called it Pluralism. I had to look it up to be sure that I knew what Plurality
means… 1. The condition of being multiple or plural. a. A condition in which numerous distinct ethnic, religious, or cultural groups are present and tolerated within a society. b. The belief that such a condition is desirable or socially beneficial. 2. Ecclesiastical. The holding by one person of two or more positions or offices, especially two or more ecclesiastical benefices, at the same time. 3. Philosophy. a. The doctrine that reality is composed of many ultimate substances. 4. The belief that no single explanatory system or view of reality can account for all the phenomena of life. I think that using Pluralism as an “accusatory word” is a little frightening… I believe that the survival of humanity and civilization demands that we question and test our beliefs. I believe that all things gain strength with unity, unity demands that we respect the rights of all of the members to decide who, what, when and how they worship. Setting up One Nation, or one race, or one church or one man as the absolute “One Truth” is the personification of arrogance. What the hell does “absolute truth of Your Word” mean? That sort of arrogant presumption turns me off. I read that to mean that people with opposing opinions are impugning this particular preachers arbitrary right to define of what “Gods Word” is, he has imbued himself with the right, insight and spirituality to pass judgment on what is Gods Word and what is not. He also implies that there is only one way to interpret the Bible, and that’s a crock, every Christian cult from the Roman Catholics, through the 27 major Baptist sects to the Branch Dividians defines itself by it’s unique interpretation of the Bible… what power has given him the divine insight to say what the absolute truth is. We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery. The Lottery exploits everyone, if the voting public denies tax increases there aren’t many avenues left to governments… I agree that of all the options, Lottery is probably the least desirable. But, I wonder if he bothered to ask the poor if they felt exploited by the lottery? Buying a lottery ticket gives them the illusion of hope, not a bad purchase for a buck. I buy a lottery ticket occasionally, thoughts of spending my winnings wisely put me to sleep at night… beats agonizing over how I am going to pay my bills… ant it only cost me a buck. We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare. Bull, do you know anyone on welfare? I do, and the people I know are not lazy, they are desperate; to label Welfare recipients as unworthy or lazy is arrogant elitism, not to mention pretty damn petty and un-christian of him. Sure there are welfare abuses and they are attended to for the most part. There are lazy deadbeats on welfare for sure but I would bet my life that the overwhelming majority of the people receiving assistance would rather be independent and off of it. Husbands leave young mothers, Jobs are getting harder to get and even harder to hold onto, people get sick, there is a unique reason for every person on welfare… Bashing people on welfare is a cheap-shot, they are always the ones to be labeled losers and unworthy, welfare always takes the first cut, then it’s the children, then the elderly, the people who are the least politically empowered take the first hit in any fiscal battle. We have killed our unborn and called it choice. (You may have read this before, it’s on my website) What would he deem to be choice? I don't choose to pass judgment on Pro Life vs. Pro Death or Pro Tyranny vs. Pro Choice ... I am Pro Adoption... when I see 60,000 unwanted, un-loved, children in Foster, Residential and Out Of Home Care in Los Angeles County alone, I wonder when are the Pro Life / Pro Choice advocates going to put their money where their mouths are and do something constructive. There are thousands of children waiting for someone willing to adopt them. We have all taken different paths to get where we are, no one has a corner on truth, the things that we believe and get passionate about are conclusions drawn from the experiences of a lifetime and of perspective. Because we disagree doesn’t make either of us right or wrong. When will preventing unwanted pregnancies take precedence over arcane religious dogma... is inflicting a 14 year old girl with an unwelcomed pregnancy and an unwanted child the right thing to do? Is setting a child up for abandonment, physical or sexual abuse the right thing to do? Is allowing the birth of an encephalic child the right thing to do? A woman, a pregnancy, a birth, and all decisions pertaining to them are the sole responsibly of the woman involved, no one has the right, Devine or otherwise to impose their will on them or to pass judgment on their decisions. We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable. “We” in this particular instance would be the Christian Ultra Looney Right? (Surely he isn’t accusing the State Senators… is he?) I doubt that any of the legislators in that room could identify with that accusation. As a matter of fact, if you take this “Prayer” (political statement) personally, and I am sure many of the legislators did, I would have been pretty pissed too, who the hell does this self-righteous putz think he is. We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem. Go ahead, discipline your child… see what happens. You will be crucified by every pin-head with authority and an opinion… We have abused power and called it politics. Duh We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition. Was there ever a time in recorded history that this wasn’t the case… We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression. Yes, we have, and unfortunately the solution is to restrict speech and self-expression. The problem with that being, who gets to pass judgment on what is acceptable? Imagine what this world would be like if Brother Joe were the final arbiter in deciding what was proper thought (self expression) and speech, I think we already know what would become of art. If it aint a picture of a smiling Jesus on black velvet it aint art. Once you dictate the limits of “art” you have completely missed the point. When it comes to Art, in all of it’s forms of self expression I deal with what is offensive to me by not paying to go see it, not buying it, or by writing a diatribe like this to express my opinion. If it’s against the law arrest them, if it isn’t, change the law or mind your own business. We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment. Which time honored values is that? The values that permitted slavery? The values that preached the annihilation of heathen Indians? The values of intolerance, bigotry, that terrorized the south from the turn of the century till 1968? The hypocritical arrogance and greed that virtually destroyed this country in 1929? Ad infinitum….
Search us, Oh,
God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin
and
set us free. Which men? The ones you just accused of being murders, abortionists, lax, abusing their power, thieves, polluters, profane pornographers…? Once I analyze this I think the thing that disturbs me the most is that only one Senator had the guts and moral fortitude to get up and walk out, flipping off Reverend Joe in the process.
The response
was immediate. A number of legislators
(One)
walked out during Also, it turns out, this isn’t the actual text of the “prayer”… here is what he actually said… Heavenly Father, we come before you to ask your forgiveness. We seek your direction and your guidance. We know your word says, "Woe to those who call evil good." But that's what we've done. We've lost our spiritual equilibrium. We have inverted our values. We have ridiculed the absolute truth of yo |
