Nice rant once again by Keith Olbermann who says it so well.
This is a must-see.

“Mr. President, the war isn’t about you — or golf”

Olbermann: Bush’s claim he gave up game to honor dead GIs is ludicrous

Part one


Part two

We originally wrote about this story here and was reported on here.

Praise human goodness:

Gay Iranian wins deportation battle

LONDON (AFP) – A gay Iranian who says he faces death if forced to return home has won a deportation battle and been granted asylum in Britain, officials said.

Mehdi Kazemi, 19, came to London to study English in 2005 but later said he had discovered that his boyfriend had been arrested by Iranian police, charged with sodomy and hanged.

Authorities refused his asylum application last year, as did Dutch authorities, but in March Britain agreed to reconsider the case after “new circumstances” came to light.

The UK Border Agency said Tuesday it had decided to grant him asylum.

“We keep cases under review where circumstances have changed and it has been decided that Mr. Kazemi should be granted leave to remain in the UK based on the particular facts of this case,” said a spokesman.

“The UK Border Agency considers each case on its individual merits and will continue to provide refuge for those asylum seekers with a genuine need for protection,” he added.

Liberal Democrat MP Simon Hughes, who championed the Iranian’s case, welcomed the decision.

“Like Mehdi and his family in Britain, I am delighted to hear of the Home Office decision to let him stay in this country. This is great news for a very decent man,” he said.

“As I have argued over the last 18 months, the Home Office should not send gay and lesbian people back to countries where they will be at risk of persecution, torture or death.”

EU lawmakers at the European Parliament in Strasbourg called on Britain in March to look favourably on Kazemi’s attempts to secure asylum, saying he would be executed if he were deported to Iran.

The Iranian authorities “routinely imprison, torture and execute homosexuals,” the lawmakers said in a resolution.

Trust in God is a religious concept and has no place in our secular government. Churches are for god slogans, private property or businesses owned by individuals are free to display their god slogans, but ‘In God We Trust’ does not belong on federal or state, or town buildings and land. It does not belong on Federal currency, documents, etc.

However, blatant violation of the U.S. Constitution and Separation of Church and State is allowed to happen in many places across our secular nation. And now, members of the Lancaster, Calif., City Council recently approved unanimously a resolution ordering the display of “In God We Trust” on the back wall of the council chambers.

Divisive Display: When ‘Trust in God’ Becomes a Political Wedge

One of America’s greatest achievements is the separation of church and state — and the subsequent religious liberty it guarantees each of us. In the United States, you can believe in any religion you like and still be a patriotic American. You can join one of the hundreds of Christian denominations or you can be a Jew, a Muslim, a Buddhist, a Hindu or anything else your conscience tell you to. (Heck, you can even come up with your own religion; more than one American has.)

But just as importantly, you can reject all religious beliefs and follow no spiritual path at all. Millions of Americans do that today, and they’re just as patriotic as Councilwoman Marquez and her colleagues – maybe more so.

I’ve never looked at a fish in a sexual manner.

From Paul Walsh of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune:

“Seems that one person’s smut is another person’s morning latte.

A Christian group based in San Diego found grounds for outrage over the new retro-style logo for Starbucks Coffee.

The Resistance- (warning: utter Ron Paul, holocaust denying fuckwittery with this click!) says the new image ‘has a naked woman on it with her legs spread like a prostitute,’ Mark Dice, founder of the group, said in a news release. ‘Need I say more? It’s extremely poor taste, and the company might as well call themselves Slutbucks.’”

Well, Mark, while the mermaid on the logo does reveal she’s a member of the IBTC- if you don’t know, I ain’t telling), those spread legs you so loath are not legs at all but tails, two of them. Did I mention she’s a mermaid, Mark? You do know that mermaids don’t exist, right? Then again, I suppose if Gob exists to this douchebag, mermaids aren’t much of a stretch.
It kind of relates back to KA’s devil of a previous post. These folks are looking for attacks from every direction. The devil- and his ubiquitous temptations- must exist because, otherwise, well, they’d just be good ol’ fashioned paranoid.

Living here in Cincinnati, I get a little misty eyed with nostalgia for the good old days of the satanic logo used by Proctor & Gamble(based right downtown in the Dolly Parton Towers) and the company’s reputed ties to the Satanic Church. This urban legend started back in the sixties and though thoroughly debunked raised it’s head again as late as 2005. P & G even won a lawsuit against Amway for knowingly spreading the same rumor to boost their cult’s sales- theoretically competing products and all.

Aside from their pathetic delusions, we live in a free society. With freedom comes responsibility and, quite frankly, not everyone takes that responsibility seriously. Inevitably, someone is gonna expose your children to vulgarity of one sort or another, someone will stretch the bonds of decency all out of shape, someone will offend your sensibilities even as you offend someone else’s. We all know what falls outside our personal codes of conduct and ethics. We know this is how far we’ll go and no further.

Nothing that goes on in this big old world holds any sway over how I live my life, over what I believe or don’t believe. Sure, the beliefs can evolve over time with new information and new perspective, through conversation and debate but, at the core, they are strong enough to survive intact in any world I find myself in. From all the available evidence, christinsanity just doesn’t measure up. It’s constant imaginary persecution from every direction, it’s the constant fear that this world will capture the children because either their god is so weak- or their faith in him is, that totalitarian legislative stopgaps and privileges are all that stand between them and, gasp, godlessness. Fuckers. Old Scratch’s favorite… …peanut butter logo>

One of the more..irksome habits of debating the religious online, one that drives me to the edge of bug-fuckery (luckily, not beyond!), is this insane need to see invisible hands behind everything. It’s usually this ‘theory’ (I’m using definition number six here – ‘a wild conjecture’) that makes me abandon Formosa’s law altogether.

The idea of old Scratch hisself having his hand up my ass is, well, fairly laughable but somewhat insulting as well (hey, Lucifer! Can ya check fer polyps, and nip a few while you’re at it?).

So one day at work, I did a bit of searching on ’satan’s hand puppets, atheism’ (hey! I remembered how I got to this one! Aintcha all proud o’ me?), and, sure enough, found another blazing crazy to taunt at and amuse you all.

This website is entitled ‘Satan’s Government’, and yes, the Internet has provided outlets for all the looneys who scribbled their little lunacies in their precious journals – one can only hope that ridicule might fire the proper synapses.

A pipe dream, I know. But one can dream, no?

I will only target the intro, because there’s a limit to my lunatic libations.

This book is written from a religious viewpoint. The basic assumption on which the book is based is that the bible is the Word of God and that the bible applies to our modern day and age.

There we go – honest presuppositionalism.

There are no human solutions presented in this book. The reader should know that the only solution the author will present is the solution which the bible presents – the return of Christ.

Already relegated to the 1.99 bin – a thousand years from now, our ancestors will shake their heads sadly.

What then, is the purpose of the book? It is a warning intended to show the reader how the events and trends of this age are leading to certain disaster.

Where have I heard this swan song before? Oh yeah – “The Earth is degenerating today. Bribery and corruption abound. Children no longer obey their parents, every man wants to write a book, and it is evident that the end of the world is fast approaching.”
Assyrian tablet, c. 2800 BCE

There is a danger in the present material comfort we enjoy. This comfort tends to allow us to over look signals and signs which should be making us change our lives. Earthquakes, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, terrorism, bombings, wars, chemical and biological weapons. These things are a serious threat, and yet the present system we live in grinds along without any changes. There is a reason for this: The system we live in is engineered to destroy us. The system of governments, banks, corporations, media agencies, computer technology, and even the modern education system, is an intelligent, coordinated effort to destroy us.

Yeesh! Paranoid much? I already gave away the punch line, no?

 And it is orchestrated by Satan the devil, through occult and secret societies, who conduct the affairs of the world through unwitting politicians and corporate profit agendas.

What was that battle cry in the old Marvel comic books? ““Hail HYDRA! Immortal HYDRA! We shall never be destroyed! Cut off one limb and two more shall take its place! We serve the Supreme Hydra, as the world shall soon serve us!” I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: these people live in a comic book.

This is not a statement which will make it through the paradigm filters of the average reader. Talk of Armageddon, conspiracies, satanic cults, etc., are all classified by society’s collective mind as the fringe, the paranormal.

Ummm…my guess is that you ‘occultic governmental conspiracy theorists’ are usually among the top five percentile of the walking wounded? Couple that with the chomping-at-the-bit desire to see society collapse, well, they’re just not…well.

Real life consists for most people of far more immediate threats, like paying the bills, advancing in one’s job, passing school exams, and getting a good parking spot at the office.

Call it reality, chum. Something you obviously struggle with on a daily basis.

Unfortunately, the time is upon us when none of these things will matter. All the “sensible” concerns of everyday life are about to become totally meaningless.

Gloom and DOOM is predicted! Head for your bomb shelters! Or better yet, reach for your bible!

 As it is written:

Oh joy. It’s been reached for.

They will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will be an unclean thing. Their silver and gold will not be able to save them in the day of the LORD’s wrath.

Ezekial 7:19

Bloody well can’t even spell Ezekiel properly.

It is difficult to envision that the seemingly stable North American culture could be overturned. That is because for most of us, we have not been exposed directly to war and disaster. Such things are only images on TV. They happen to other people in far away places.

Only rational thing he’s said thus far.

But we are about to be consumed by the most horrifying and violent events in history. These events are foretold in the bible.

So it is written. Oh wait: these ‘prophecies’ (which were entirely topical) never came true anyways.

This book describes what is wrong with our world. I feel that no book or documentary in modern times has addressed the question of what is wrong with the world from a spiritual viewpoint.

Mostly because this ’spiritual viewpoint’ is about as useful as mental masturbation.

Every discussion of world problems seems to be focused on very narrow subject matter, such as the economy or environmentalism for example. I do not feel that such limited discussions are useful, and I think they actually obscure the real issue, which is this: Who is in control of the present age and what is the agenda driving the events of this world?

Quoth the Church Lady: “Could it be SATAN?”

I have never read any book or heard any speaker address this question from the standpoint of religion combined with an analysis of technological and economic factors.

Because religion gets it all wrong, maybe?

 That is the aim of this book. I want to discuss what is fundamentally wrong with the world, and show how every modern development of our age is used to further an agenda which can be traced back to the fallen angel who is Satan the devil.

So now technology is a tool of Shaitan, the great Deceiver? Porch light’s on, but it’s flickering.

I struggled for years with the question of whether it was even possible to write such a book, given the enormity of the subject.

Or the irrevelance?

There are so many historical developments and social trends which play a role in the story. How can such a story be organized and told in a cohesive manner? Finally I decided to go ahead with the project based solely on my faith in God and my gut instinct. The result is the book you are reading.

Time better spent actually learning something of use, I’d say.

The basic premise on which I base my work can be found in one simple scripture:

“No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit.”

Luke 6:43-44

Allegory. It’s the mental crack of the right hemisphere, all right.

The words are those of Christ. The concept that we can determine the merit of something by the results it produces is the basis of my whole investigation, research and writing.

I could go on at length about the results produced by Christianity, but for the sake of brevity, I shan’t.

I believe that we have allowed ourselves to become trapped by a system which takes away the joy from our lives and forces us to live in an unnatural and unfulfilling way. I believe that this unnatural form of life is being reinforced through the media, for the purpose of maintaining the dominant position of the government, banks and large corporations, who work together for a common and sinister goal. I do not believe that we live in a democratic, free market economy, but rather our economy and “democratic process” is manipulated in every respect, and the illusion of democracy and a free market is created and sustained by those in power. This triumvirate of banks, government and large corporations has complete control over the media, which is used to maintain the illusion of a free society.

I might go along with some of that, but this invested occult crap is hardly what I’d term a resource.

A person chooses to believe whatever they want to believe.

 A momentary glimmer of reason.

You can choose to believe the version of reality which is displayed on the news, or you can question it.

Another one! Hmmm…

 This book is written for those who question the standard, mainstream, scientific version of reality which is flogged in newspapers and on CNN. You then, have a choice to make.

I hear the echoes of Ben Stein in that, for some reason.

 Do you want to understand truth, which Christ has promised will set you free (John 8:32), or do you want to believe the comfortable lies which now surround you, which caress you gently and rock you to sleep at night? The awakening to truth is not comfortable, just as it is often uncomfortable to get up on a cold dark morning, but life awaits those with the courage to face each day. It is the unknown which you must resolve to assault.

Wait: assault on the unknown? What?

 You must resolve this to such a degree that you are even prepared to die for it, since, once you know what is really going on in this world, you become an enemy of this world, and your life will never be the same.

So we’re pawns in some cosmic chess game between a deity and demiurge? That doesn’t sound crazy how?

I’m already deemed an ‘enemy of this world’: I’m an atheist. People won’t let me marry their daughters (well, maybe Jewish folks: most of them don’t get all lathered up over un-belief), I can’t get custody of my kids in some states, can’t get elected to office in those same states, there’s a quite a list on that one, believe you me.

So then, make your decision.

How long halt ye between two opinions?

- 1 Kings 18:21

My (humble) opinion is that this loon gets some therapy, toot sweet.

His TOC lists titles I’ve not delved into, but pretty easy to guess at content – the anti-gun agenda, the anti-gun agenda, the alien agenda, alien abductions and the CIA, etc. Only thing left out was crop circles.

This has been the Apostate, reporting from la-la land, thanking the genetic lottery that I wasn’t infected by this slavish silliness.

Till the next post, then.

http://www.internetweekly.org/

Don’t these fundies have better things to do like feed the poor, help the homeless or some earthquake survivors or something? Or maybe go take a few U.S Government courses at the local community college for a refresher on what separation of church and state actually means.

Religious Right activists want to see their religious perspective on marriage imposed on everyone.

From Joseph L. Conn at Americans United:

Marriage Spat: Calif. Supreme Court Decision Sparks Church-State Discussion

The California Supreme Court decision in favor of same-sex marriage has opened an important discussion about the relationship between religion and government. The justices in the court majority made it clear that they were ruling in favor of civil-marriage equality and not religion. Religious communities will remain free to perform same-sex marriages or not, as their theology dictates.

A lot of people rightly see that as an important expression of judicial respect for the separation of church and state.

*snip*

According to Baptist Press, the Rev. Barrett Duke, vice president for governmental affairs for the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, said he was “saddened for the people of California.”

“The California Supreme Court ruling not only overruled the very clear will of the people, it also proposes to overrule God’s design,” Duke said. “These judges may think they know more about marriage than the rest of us, but I am confident they don’t know more about marriage than God. Marriage is the union of one man and one woman….That’s not only my opinion and the opinion of most of the people in this country, it’s God’s opinion, and His opinion overrules the opinion of any judges.”

The Rev. Clyde Grubbs, pastor of the Pasadena’s Throop Unitarian Universalist Church says:

“Our religion is in favor of (gay) people getting married, and they are saying that under someone else’s religion, that is wrong,” said Grubbs. “There is no secular reason for that position, so it must be a religious test and a violation of the First Amendment.”

The Religious Right needs to give this up and just let people live their lives.

With all the problems in the world, do the Religious Right get out there and actually roll up their sleeves and do something? No, they are stomping their feet because they can’t have their way with trying to mix religion and government again, as always.

LOST WEEKEND: RELIGIOUS RIGHT SEEKS TWO-DAY TEN COMMANDMENTS CONFAB

Rob Boston writes:

Bill Murray, chairman, founder and possibly the only member of something called the Religious Freedom Coalition, is carping because House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid won’t schedule a vote on a resolution authorizing a Ten Commandments Weekend that lauds the Decalogue as the source of our country’s laws.

“But [boo hoooo] with Nancy Pelosi in charge of the House and Harry Reid in charge of the Senate, we can’t have a voice, [booo hoooo (my emphasis)]” Murray groused to One News Now. “We can’t get these out and open and celebrate the Ten Commandments.”

Why not? If members of Murray’s church want to celebrate the Commandments and erect them for all to see, no one’s going to stop them. He could even stick them up in his back yard or make tiny versions into paperweights. Be creative. Knock yourself out, Bill.

But like Rob says, it’s never enough with these fundie types.