Sunday, October 17, 2010
Sarah Palin Finds Her Groove
HAT TIP: Rufus
Momma Grizzly must have taken Obama seriously on the fired up thingy because she was smoking hot in Anaheim. I especially enjoyed some of her better tweaks at the usual suspects. It was a clever speech, well written and masterly delivered.
You will have to watch to find them.
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She has that Reagan/Thatcher appeal and she holds to the same ideals that they held to.
ReplyDeleteHer positive "can-do" message is exactly what the country needs to hear.
She represents traditional American values and doesn't hide her pride in American Exceptionalism. She is pro business, small government. She believes the government serves the people.
She is exactly what American people need to hear. An antidote to the sour socialist nanny-state usurpers who currently hold the majority in D.C.
She delivers a unifying message as opposed to the class dividing, race dividing, business hating message of the left.
I don't know whether the GOP can or will deliver if they're returned to power in '10 and '12. One thing is for certain, the Dems will not and if the GOP doesn't, we can turn them out too.
If nothing else, Sara Palin's serves to uphold the Reagan message and ideals. She's rock steady and carries the banner until a new Reagan emerges.
ReplyDeleteOut of fear, the left has done everything in their power to neutralize her, yet she's still standing. You gotta give her that.
They said that she is a lightweight, know nothing, an airhead but let me ask you, having seen Obama for more than two years now, how do you think she compares to him? Honestly, do you think the man who takes teleprompters into kindergarten class rooms is any better?
Obviously, this was a GOP event. Palin has a strong identity within the GOP and the Tea Party movement. This is a good thing because the movement must act within an established party in order to achieve success.
ReplyDeleteThe GOP is on notice. No more business as usual. Time to clean up their business and return to Reagan ideals. No more "Democrat-lite" in order to get elected.
.
ReplyDeleteDitto.
If nothing elese this election could prove to the American people that nothing is set in stone and that they have the power to force change.
It may take a few elections to get back to the direction we want to be moving in but this election can prove to the public that 'de facto' term limits are possible for those who deserve it.
.
NEW YORK: "Get lost" was what the US officials in Islamabad told the young Moroccan wife of 26/11 accused David Headley when she informed them that her husband was planning a terror attack in India with the help of LeT.
ReplyDeleteLess than a year before 26/11 attack, one of Headley's three wives, Faiza Outalha, had two meetings with American officials in Islamabad in which she told them that her husband had friends in the Lashkar-e-Taiba and his business trips to India never amounted to much, according to The New York Times.
"I told them, he's either a terrorist, or he's working for you," she recalled saying to American officials at the US Embassy in Islamabad. "Indirectly, they told me to get lost."
"I told them anything I could do to get their attention," she told the NYT. "It was as if I was shouting, 'This guy was a terrorist! You have to do something.'"
US officials told me to 'get lost', says Headley's wife - The Times of India
'Netanyahu is killing Gilad Shalit by failing to secure his release'
ReplyDeleteHa'aretz - Gilad Shalit -
Zvi Shalit, grandfather of the abducted IDF soldier, counters PM's remark according to which Israel has resumed contacts with Shalit talks mediator.
America's man in Pakistan was scout for terrorists
ReplyDeleteSebastian Rotella, Washington
October 18, 2010
US FEDERAL officials have acknowledged that David Coleman Headley, the US businessman who confessed to being a terrorist scout in the 2008 Mumbai attacks, was working as a Drug Enforcement Administration informant while training with terrorists in Pakistan.
His American wife told investigators that he told her he started training with Lashkar in early 2002 as part of a secret mission for the US government.
ReplyDeleteA federal official said Headley's work as an informant appears to have lasted until some time between 2003 and 2005. Another federal official said Headley was a DEA informant in ''the early 2000s''.
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''I couldn't say it continued into 2005, but he was definitely an informant post-9/11,'' the official said.
Headley was well known both to Pakistani and American security officials long before his arrest as a terrorist. He went to an elite military high school in Pakistan, whose graduates went on to become high-ranking military officers and intelligence operatives.
Headley's relationship with the US government is especially delicate because the investigation has shown he also had contact with suspected Pakistani intelligence officials and a Pakistani militant named Ilyas Kashmiri, who has emerged as a top operational leader of al-Qaeda.
ReplyDeleteIsrael in talks with Hamas over soldier-prisoner swap
ReplyDeleteIsrael has resumed negotiations with Hamas that could see up to 1,000 Palestinian prisoners released in exchange for the release of an Israeli soldier.
That would show the world how little a threat those 1,000 Palestinians really were and still are not, to the security of Israel.
Iran's president is welcoming a new round of talks with world powers on Tehran's nuclear program.
ReplyDeletePresident Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke Sunday in the northwestern city of Ardebil. He said Western nations had no choice but to talk to Iran, but the president also warned that his government would not give up any of Iran's international rights.
...
European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton proposed the meeting last week, offering to speak on behalf of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and Germany. The group -- also known as the P5+1 -- had recently expressed a desire to re-establish dialogue with Tehran.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteIt would seem, at least to me, that Mr Whit does not believe that the Federal Governmant represents the people of the United States.
ReplyDeleteEspecially considering his "usurper" comment that leads off this thread.
Usurper - one who wrongfully or illegally seizes and holds the place of another
Much the same way I do not consider the Government of Israel to represent Judaism.
I think that the Israeli Government, with 60 years of masterful propaganda has wrongfully usurped the mantle of representing Judaism.
I wonder how whit thinks the elected majority in Washington has usurped authority, through what wrongful or illegal methods?
I heard she and her family have inked some TV deal to portray their lives in Alaska.
ReplyDelete...as opposed to the day to day lukewarm droll of life in postmodern America.
I Don't Even Know Your Name
ReplyDeleteWhit has it exactly right. This election will be an "empowering" event for Americans. They will see that they really can control their government through the ballot box.
ReplyDeletePalin has been a big part of that. She has inspired a lot of Americans to "get active." She deserves a lot of admiration, and gratitude.
What to do?
ReplyDeleteAssume you are well into the money on the November Apple 300 calls.
Earnings will be announced after the market closes on Monday.
The options went up $9.35 a share on Friday alone. There are 34 days left on the options.
What would you do?
Report: FBI Warned Ahead of Mumbai Attacks
ReplyDeleteVoice of America reporting
A bird in the hand, it is worth two in the bush.
ReplyDeleteHow about three in the bush?
ReplyDeleteAs defining as the election of Richard Nixon, when he crushed George McGovern?
ReplyDeleteAs defining as the GOP defeat of 1982 where the GOP lost 26 seats?
As defining as the 1994 election where the Dems lost 52 seats?
Will it be more "defining" or less?
As none of those landslide elections changed a thing.
The Federal Leviathan marched on, growing with each step, regardless.
Are you 100% sure that they'll get out of that bush and into your hand?
ReplyDeleteDid it start out as a "trade" or an "investment"?
Be careful of being trapped in the balloon of euphoria. It is very easy for a good trade to become a bad investment.
As defining as the 2000 election, which, according to Mr Rove, was going to secure Republican dominance over the Federal government for many cycles to come?
ReplyDeleteMr Rove, he was counting those birds as always being for Bush.
ReplyDeleteThey never reached his out stretched hand. Though he was sure that he could not miss, those birds slipped his grip.
Sell off, down to the point that the remainder equals the original purchase amount.
ReplyDeleteTake the short term profit, while letting the balance ride to the next level.
Securing the gains, limiting possible loss.
Little Man
ReplyDeleteIf Demint and the newly elected call the shots, who knows?
ReplyDeleteLimbaugh says the old dudes in DC don't see it that way:
They told him they expect Obama to follow Clinton and change his stripes.
Good fucking luck.
McConnell won'teven give up earmarks.
The electorate will respond:
WTF?
Both Ruf and I noticed the new strength in her voice, very confident.
ReplyDeleteShe is coming into her own.
I've only gone out of my way to meet her, no other politician.
But when I was watching the other people interacting with her before my two minutes of fame, she seemed totally sincere and very focused.
If she hadn't noticed--and she wouldn't if she were not focused--my U of Idaho sweater on, I'd have been able to ask her the questions I had in mind.
Sidetracked, and trying to put my life in a few words for her, I came away with the feeling "she's the real deal."
None of these politicians really know anything, they can't do higher math so to speak, but of the lot, I think she has the best heart.
My wife worries that when in D.C. her husband will get corrupted, like letting a lonely rich good looking housewife, unescorted, out into a political convention.
A house wife with too much time on her hands, and given to blogging.
But that almost gets out into muzzieland,
Stand Against Earmarks Grows Lonely as Home State Sees a Need
ReplyDeleteBut then I don't know any rich good looking house wives blogging, as my wife doesn't blog at all, just reads books.
ReplyDeleteBut she is rich and good looking---like the old song says, hush hush, don't you cry, your papa is rich, and your mother is good looking---she's both,
"Securing the gains, limiting possible loss."
ReplyDeleteSend the proceeds to me, I'll handle it for you.
If I ever get any big money, instead of raw land, I'm sending it to the Cleaning Lady to look out for.
ReplyDeleteWhat was that parable in th Bible?
It's amazing, and even a little scary, as Joe Campbell might have say, who is a little different than you might imagine, how far a woman can get int this country, on a wink, a smile, and a really well delivered speech.
ReplyDeleteBut that's the glory of America.
It makes us free.
ReplyDeleteWhat was that parable in th Bible?
ReplyDelete"Pride goeth before the fall."
It was about investing, but it had a spiritual meaning.
ReplyDeleteShe's great, isn't she?
That was a hell of a good speech.
Even I got fired up, and I learned long ago, stay away from speeches, and riots, and women with multiple blogs.
Hat tip Rufus:
ReplyDeletePalin rejects European Style Obamacare.
I don' know no apples from no oranges. Do what you want; it's fifty/fifty. :)
ReplyDeleteAs for Sarah-baby, she's starting to get some good "handlin'." That appearance (and speech) was well put together.
So, it seems, Mrs Palin is as qualified to be President as Mr Obama.
ReplyDeleteThey can both read a speech and fire up a crowd.
Golly gee wilikers.
Market based "rationing"
ReplyDeleteVersus top down RATIONING,
Rufus:
When services are free, services are WASTED.
Doug, let me be clear; this election is all about kicking incumbents out of office. A national hissy-fit, if you will.
ReplyDeleteA good house-cleaning is good for the soul. And the attitude.
I don't expect I will agree with a Lot of what the Republicans want to do. But, we really need some "fresh eyes" on the problems. Desperate times call for desperate measures. And, I'm afraid "times" are about to get pretty damned desperate.
Sarah is "one of us".
ReplyDeleteShe didn't grow up in Indonesia, but right here in North Idaho, and Alaska.
She has never said "When the political winds change, I'll stand with the muslims."
Good speech.
ReplyDeleteStill feels like the GOP is setting everyone up for another sucker punch.
Until SS, Medicare and defense are discussed specifically to reduce the debt, nothing will change. McConnell and Boehner do not strike me as capable - nor committed - change agents.
The American people hate socialism, until it's their piece of socialism someone wants to cut back.
"The American people hate socialism, until it's their piece of socialism someone wants to cut back."
ReplyDeleteAn amoral doctrine exploits human nature.
There's some livingdeadfuck just left of Palin in the background:
ReplyDeleteChecking his watch, ala Bush I just before the conclusion of her speech.
Good stagecraft, Assholes!
I wonder how whit thinks the elected majority in Washington has usurped authority, through what wrongful or illegal methods?
ReplyDelete60 years of masterful propaganda has wrongfully usurped the mantle of representing traditional American values.
The American people hate socialism, until it's their piece of socialism someone wants to cut back.
ReplyDeleteBrother, ain't that the cold, hard truth?
It's amazing how quickly people will forget about ideals when it comes to economics.
Therein lies the danger. People will trade freedom for security.
Still feels like the GOP is setting everyone up for another sucker punch.
ReplyDeleteThey might think so and they might try or succeed in landing another one but after that, it will be the French Revolution all over again.
They might think so and they might try or succeed in landing another one but after that, it will be the French Revolution all over again.
ReplyDeleteWe're not that far gone, and I hope we never are.
When that time comes--I hope it never will--I'll probably just head for the hills.
Revolutions are----a bloody mess.
I'd much rather watch Dancing With Stars----or, The Young and The Restless.....
Sarah did a great job...
ReplyDeletedesert rat> I think that the Israeli Government, with 60 years of masterful propaganda has wrongfully usurped the mantle of representing Judaism.
ReplyDeleteThe interesting thing folks?
I think Desert Rat is a Israel hating anti-semite. Who know nothing of what he doesnt get directly from the PLO mission in Washington DC.
Dear Rat,
Your opinion on Israel, all things Jewish et al are worthless.
You have proven to us all though the thousands of posts you have a black hearted hated of Israel and all thing actually Jewish.
Your sad attempts at being a mouth peace for Hamas has grown thin...
Fuck off....
...it will be the French Revolution all over again.
ReplyDeleteRelax, bob, I meant it figuratively.
Apple is approaching Exxon in market capitalization - $300B versus $330B.
ReplyDeleteEssentially the same for back of the envelope.
Wasn't looking for it, but
ReplyDeleteFast Money says Buy.
There was some propaganda, here in the US, whit. No doubt of that, propagated by both sides of the political aisle.
ReplyDeleteThing was and continues to be, here in the US, Federal elections every two years that validated the movement of the "center".
The placement of the Federal government, here in the US, right where the electorate wants it to be, within a matter of degrees.
There was nothing "wrongful" or "illegal" about the propaganda that moved the "center". It was well within the bounds of the political game.
Propaganda is not wrongful or illegal. It is free communication, which we know you disapprove of, by your actions.
In the case of the Israeli usurping their representation of Judaism there never was a public validation. Never a public election by the Jews of the world, making Mr Netanyahu the face of global Judaism.
Was there?
If my opinion on the State of Israel carried no weight, it would not continue to be the central plot line of the Story of "o".
ReplyDeleteScrutinizing the Elite:
ReplyDeleteHe said he had found that a privileged upbringing did not matter as much as generally thought. Nor, he said, did many of the top leaders inherit large sums of money. While many went to top colleges and a large number attended Harvard Business School, the biggest determining factor of whether someone moved into the elite was an early career opportunity.
Being able to look beyond their specialty early — as opposed to being highly specialized their entire career and then thrust into a leadership role — distinguished great leaders more than any inherent advantage in their upbringing, he said.
And the bad news:
His concern is what the concentration of wealth means for American society in the future. He said he wondered whether the post-World War II era in America — as defined by prosperity and rising income levels — was a historical anomaly and was coming to an end.
He cited data showing that the United States now had the second-lowest level of intergenerational income mobility in the world, after England.
“If we lose this truly American thing — that you can become anything if you just work at it — then you’re really going to lose what makes America America,” he said. “It already appears that it will take a tremendous amount of time for people to bring their families out of poverty and for the wealthy to fall from the advantages they have.”
If it was easily invalidated, censorship, and libel would not be required.
ReplyDeleteAn intellectual case could be made that would dissuade the reader.
But that has never occurred.
Exemplified again, just yesterday.
But if there were to be a Revolution, I think I might opt for a system of Princes.
ReplyDeleteTeach 'em a little respect.
ReplyDeleteBut I don't know if I'm serious.
Sarah Palin Finds Her Groove---and without a teleprompter.
ReplyDeleteThe "elites" damned near put us all on food stamps, with no one to pay for the food.
ReplyDeleteThey gotta leave, now.
I don't think this is a two-year story. I wouldn't be surprised if a bunch of Pub elites get Primaried in 2012. The people is really pissed, Bubba. Really pissed.
desert rat said...
ReplyDeleteIf my opinion on the State of Israel carried no weight, it would not continue to be the central plot line of the Story of "o".
Your opinion is that of a Jew hating piece of garbage.
It stinks up the place...
Fuck off...
desert rat said...
ReplyDeleteIf it was easily invalidated, censorship, and libel would not be required.
An intellectual case could be made that would dissuade the reader.
But that has never occurred.
Exemplified again, just yesterday.
There is no discussing the matter with a jew hating, Israel hating piece of crap like you.
You should be censured.
You should be in a prison.
Why anything you type is allowed to stay is beyond me.
That old saw about "It took way more than 2 years to get into this mess; it's going to take more than 2 years to get out" is, unfortuntely, dead-on, here.
ReplyDeleteThese here intertubes are finally starting to make a difference. O'Donnell wins her primary; Rove, Krauthammer, and all the other "elite" republicans dump all over her, and she gets a "Money Bomb" from the folks for $2.5 Million.
ReplyDeleteThat could never have happened 4 years ago.
They had Sarah-baby killed, but Facebook brought her back to life.
The times, they really might be "a'changin."
The founding of the United States, the popularity of the revolution amongst the people, directly attributable to a propagandist,
ReplyDeleteThomas Paine.
Propaganda was part of the political scene in the United States, before there even was a United States.
I am not in prison, never been been indicted, let alone tried for any felony.
ReplyDeleteWhen the Congress investigated the general activities that I was involved with, as a contractor for the Federals outside the United States, Ollie North took the hot seat.
Walked away clean. In fact he even ran for the Senate, from VA I do believe.
As close to an American hero as we get, now-a-days, old Ollie North. A favorite on the FOX News Network.
All the "names" that were indicted and convicted, Cap Weinberger comes to mind, were pardoned by President Ford.
Mr Weinberger going on to work for Steve Forbes as the publisher of his business magazine. Steve Forbes, of course, a GOP candidate for the Presidential nomination, as a Republican.
If folks are to be judged by the company they keep.
ReplyDeleteSo, of all the folk, the one that spent time actually working the "Reagan Revolution" across the breadth of Central America is called a criminal and "hired Killer", by the Elephant Bar patrons.
ReplyDeleteWhile they extol the virtues of that era of Presidential politics.
Really funny stuff, beyond comical.
If folks are to be judged by the company they keep.
ReplyDeleteThat may make us the two best dudes here, Rat, as we are both on the company shit list.
I don't mean that seriously either.
But Thomas Paine didn't create, win or conclude our fight with the Brits.
He helped.
Social needs create the opportunity, desire, and demand for propaganda.
Not the other way around.
the General Activities that I was involved with, as a contractor for the Federals outside the United States
ReplyDeleteah, that's not a general Buddhist way of life....or a Christian one, or a Taoist one, or Jewish one...
May be necessary sometimes, for the better good of all but it's very easy to become The Ugly American.
Thomas Paine dies an infant, and I doubt there is an American Revolution. Take out Thomas Paine, and Sam Adams, and I know there's no revolution.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was down in Wells or Ely, forget which, and an obvious McDonald's little higher up, was using and marking a big sheet about the performance of the employees....who were ALL Spanish speakers...
ReplyDeleteI asked him
"Taking tabs?"
"Exactly"
"Are they all illegals?"
He had to think about this...
then
he said
"They all have Green Cards"
Meaningless....
Which the company must have instructed him to say.
He did say something true...
"If I could find a Caucasian that would last more than two weeks, I'd love to hire them"
Now I think about this, this was up in Hailey.
But the thought came to my mind, then, going out to the car, if they work harder than us....
They are going to WIN.
In my singularly unlearned opinion. :)
ReplyDeleteDuring the "Great Depression", bob, there was need for social change.
ReplyDeleteThat need was seen prior to that, back in 1860's, by Mr Lincoln and the nascent Republican Party.
They were the primary drivers of the Land Grant programs, based upon their desire for social change within the United States.
Their granting of public lands to individuals, instead of selling them, revolutionary and "un-American" at the time. So much so it took a Civil War before they could institute that program.
Public education, schools funded by tax dollars, surly a form of socialism that was not part of the Founders world.
While there is great hue and cry that the system has been subverted there is little doubt that it was done to achieve social goals.
Those that control the schools are, at least were, local. If the System has be subverted, it was done on the local level, nearest to the electorate. With their approval, at least acquiescence.
The 16th and 17th Amendments, pushed through by Republicans, during their Progressive era. Starting with Grover Cleveland, and William McKinley moving onto the administrations of Teddy Roosevelt and Mr Taft leading that charge. Mr Wilson only getting his time in the White House due to Republican infighting.
Mr Wilson's term an aberration that ended with the election of Calvin Coolidge and then Herbert Hoover.
It is not until the post WWII era that the Democrats achieved electoral equality. To charge that they are and were "un-American" usurpers, brought to US by wrongful propaganda, beyond comical.
Not when, in the modern era, there has been a history of divided government.
To say little of the factional infighting within the Democratic Party. Exemplified best by their convention, in Chi-town, in 1968.
that's not a general Buddhist way of life....or a Christian one, or a Taoist one, or Jewish one...
ReplyDeleteNor bob is the a "general Islamic" way of life, either.
They are not the exception in all the whirled.
Thank you for making my equivalency case, for me.
I don't think so, Ruf, all the conditions were there.
ReplyDeleteNo propagandist could have prevented the Chinese Revolution. Or started it...all the conditions were there.
Any more than you could have prevented the settling of the West.
All the conditions were there...
Watch out....particularly if jealousy is there.
There is that old saying....of those in love, but caught up in a big deal...>This is bigger than you or me".
I don't actually blame you yourself, though I used it as an argument when you attacked my wife.
ReplyDeleteIt's an easy argument, death vs voting in Ohio.
Puts you in the worse light.
I may have supported your behavior myself.
I'd really have to think about it.
She did have a legal right to vote in Ohio, at that time.
Pretty near half of the population of the Colonies were not in favor of Revolution against the King, but took an apolitical stance.
ReplyDeleteWhile Loyalist to the King numbered about 20% of the total population.
Wiki tells us that 20% of New York's population emigrated after the Yorktown and the defeat of the Kings' forces, there.
So one could assume that, at least in New York, the number of Loyalists was substantially higher than the number that left the country.
Some 70% of the colonial population did not favor revolution, would not actively participate in the politics or the fighting that ensued.
ReplyDeleteWho were the "real" Americans, then?
The 20% against, the 30% in favor, or the 50% that wanted nothing to do with either side?
Nor bob is the a "general Islamic" way of life, either.
ReplyDeleteBut there is, cause their book says, in no uncertain terms--"kill the unbeliever".
And they have stuck with it, all these generations, while inbreeding.
Their book says----"Women are not equal".
They are a real threat.
Ask Putin, a killer himself.
He's dealt with them.
Always the same.
Go read your Tolstoy.
Which exemplifies the importance of Mr Paine's propaganda in galvanizing the 30% of the population that stood up to the British authorities.
ReplyDeleteEspecially in the era of the Valley Forge winter encampment.
And the Christian book says
ReplyDelete"Love thy neighbor"
Which we know full well is not part of the "real" program.
Most Christians cannot even love those in their own families. As anyone that has been part of a family enterprise can attest to.
As you yourself have noted, bob.
The "Book" is just that, a book.
Eye for eye, that's in the "Book", too.
Rendering unto the Government what is due the Government, in there as well. Many Christians that I know do not follow that part of the scripture.
Same holds true for Islamoids, too.
Some 70% of the colonial population did not favor revolution
ReplyDeleteMay be, may be not....they didn't have Gallop back then...,
but having read about Revolutions, I can tell you... the conditions are there...and the 'intellectuals' of the day take advantage of that, and they are always in the minority.
I support our society, with all its meaningless elections, because it keeps this kind of major upset down.
Crap! Not a single photo of THE Billboard
ReplyDeleteYou dumbass, Bob:
ReplyDelete9-11 was our fault -
The Islamists say so,
Liberals say so,
Marxists like Barry and the Rev Wright say so,
and you know who, too:
Get with the program, man!
Bob, Intellectuals have never, in the history of the Universe, caused, or carried out, a Revolution.
ReplyDeleteTo have a Revolution you have to have the "shit-stirrers," and the "fighters."
Getting the fighters is pretty easy if you have "World-Class Shit-Stirrers." Thomas Paine, and Sam Adams were "World-Class."
Oh, and you need "Foreign" money. The French, Spanish, and Dutch supplied that. You also need Cannons, and gunpowder. See above.
Constantine knew the deal.
ReplyDeleteHe invented modern Christianity.
His agents edited the books of the New Testament. Choosing what it was to be Christian and what was to be deleted.
The bishops of Italy became the heirs of the Roman Senate, and the bishop of Rome became the Emperor's successor. Throughout the Empire, Catholic bishops used monks (communist ascetics) as terrorists to enforce their rule:
"Bands of monastic vigilantes, led by Schenudi of Atripe (died c. 466) patrolled the towns of Upper Egypt ransacking the houses of pagan notables for idols. In North Africa, similar wandering monks, the Circumcellions, armed with cudgels called 'Israels,' stalked the great estates, their cry of 'Praise be to God' more fearful than the roaring of a mountain lion" (Brown, p. 104). [And we wonder where the Muslims got the idea for their war cry, "Allah Akbar."]
"The Christian bishop," Brown reports, "now ruling large congregations and backed by the violence of the monks, had come to the fore. The Emperor Theodosius committed the bloodbath of Thessalonica [massacring the residents of the city in 390] … yet he went down to history as Theodosius the 'Great,' the exemplary Catholic monarch" (Brown, p. 106).
With its legal establishment, the Catholic Church became wealthy as well as bloody:
"Wealth might be used to cover the costs of an acquittal at the Last Day…. From the fifth century onwards, this rich flood welled into the Christian Church 'for the remission of sins.' The rise of the economic position of the Christian Church was sudden and dramatic: It mushroomed like a modern insurance company. By the sixth century, the income of the bishop of Ravenna was 12,000 gold pieces; the bishop of a small town drew a salary as great as that of a senatorial provincial governor" (Brown, p. 109).
The time-honored, traditional Roman system of exploitation of inferiors by superiors, with all the hierarchy exploiting the people, had been adopted by the Catholic Church-State. This exploitation was possible only because the Catholic Church had already rejected the Gospel of salvation by free grace. The Catholic Church's rejection of the Gospel of justification by faith alone made all its subsequent errors and atrocities not only possible, but inevitable.
Sun Oct 17, 04:49:00 PM EDT
ReplyDeleteShe's still a flake and a shitty candidate, Rufus, and looks like she's gonna lose.
Like Obama, everything is about her, including, sadly her campaign.
A good candidate/campaign would be taking on her opponent, not whining about her flakey ass self.
Constantine: Builder of Christendom
ReplyDeleteYou miss read the book....it's actually a long saga with a wave motion....up and down....written from a propagandist point of view.
ReplyDeleteWhen the Jews are winning, all is well....when losing...not so well....after two thousands years of exile they have reclaimed their heritage.
They are now on an upsurge.
Their book is much, much better than the Koran, which I can't stand, and almost think should be burned.
And my aunt was a librarian.
See the Canadian author, what's his name, N. Frye, Northrope? about literature and meaning...
there is a deep denial of depression there, accepting all of it, all of life, like in Shakespeare.
And sometimes I'm called a despicable, deplorable meaningless old fart.
In 324, after defeating Licinius, Constantine proclaimed himself head of the Catholic Church and summoned bishops to Nicaea for a council in which he himself would preside. Two hundred fifty obeyed. In another summons he wrote: "such is the regard I pay to the lawful Catholic Church that I desire you to leave no schism or division of any kind anywhere."
ReplyDeleteNot only would the Emperor permit no disagreement (for there must be unity of doctrine to match the political unity of the Empire), he also began to subsidize the Catholic Church:
"Inasmuch as I have resolved that in all provinces, namely Africa, Numidia, and Mauretania, certain named ministers of the lawful and most holy Catholic Religion should receive some contribution toward expenses, I have sent a letter to Ursus, the Eminent Finance Officer of Africa, informing him that he must arrange the transfer to Your Steadfastness [Caecilian, bishop of Carthage] of 3000 folles in cash [an enormous amount in that time]. Your task on receipt of this sum of money will be to see that it is distributed among all the persons named above according to the schedule supplied to you by Hosius [bishop of Corduba and religious adviser to Constantine]. If later you find that you still lack means to carry out my intentions in this matter in respect of them all, you must not hesitate to ask Heraclidas our treasurer for whatever you find necessary. I have given him orders in person that if Your Steadfastness should ask him for any sum, he is to arrange for its transfer to you without question" (Eusebius, The History of the Church, Book 10, chapter 6).
In 315, Constantine issued an edict making it a crime for Jews to proselytize. His goal in all this was to ensure that the "proper cult of the Catholic Religion" would be observed throughout the Empire. So much for every man being permitted to practice his religion as he chose. A century later, the penalty for Jewish proselytizing was made death.
Sunnis in Iraq Allied With U.S. Rejoin Rebels
ReplyDeleteHelluva good investment.
Brought to us by lifers in DC and the Ivy League officer corps.
All the Books of Abrahamic religions justify killing others, in the Name of God.
ReplyDeleteFrom the Canaanites to the Aztecs, all non-believers are "fair game".
To be robbed, raped and pillaged as can be gotten a way with. In the Name of the One True God.
Per the scribes of Constantine or Moses or Mohamed as the case may be.
To have a Revolution you have to have the "shit-stirrers," and the "fighters."
ReplyDeleteYes, that is what I am saying.
But the shit stirrers need a little leadership, which comes from the 'intellectuals' Quote--Unquote
But the conditions have to be there.
Or the 'intellectuals', being what they are....will just go with the KING, which is, usually, the easiest way.
Gen Garner and that Light Colonel must shake their heads and say WTF? a lot.
ReplyDeleteThat Iraq deal, doug-o, was called for what it was, years ago.
ReplyDeleteAn attempt not at victory but to reduce violence. Those two items, not one and the same.
Though Mr Bush and Mr Obama would both have let us believe otherwise.
As would the professional military men in our employ.
All the Books of Abrahamic religions justify killing others, in the Name of God.------
ReplyDeleteThat is absolutely wrong, The New Testament, which comes from the best parts of The 'Old' Testament, does not.
That is wrong.
The scholarship on the Gospels is unending...
The original message is there, but kinda deeply buried at times....like some, sadly, maybe even most, human relationships.
After all, that is what it is about...human life...in its glory and sadness.
A new Pew survey indicates that if you want to know something about religion, ask an agnostic or atheists. The survey by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life found atheist and agnostic Americans fare more knowledgeable about religion than their religious neighbors.
ReplyDeleteFor example, the majority of Protestants did not know that Martin Luther started the Protestant Reformation and four out of 10 Catholics were clueless on the meaning of transubstantiation.
Alan Cooperman, the forum’s associate director for research, is quoted as saying that agnostics and atheists have simply given such matters more study and thought: “These are people who thought a lot about religion. They’re not indifferent. They care about it.”
The invasion and destruction of the Canaanites was justified, even ordered by God, bob.
ReplyDeleteThe followers of Moses, under the command of Joshua, killed every man, woman and child that stood in their way.
Was the command to exterminate the Canaanites a justifiable act on the part of God, who ordered it, or on the part of people, who partially, at least, obeyed it?
ReplyDeleteWas the episode at variance with the character of God and his people?
That it was inconsistent and unjustified both on God's side and humanity's has been so often asserted, that a consideration of the moral and religious character of the Canaanites is a question of utmost importance in solving the supposed theological difficulties that are commonly adduced.
Professor H.H. Rowley, for example, claims that the divine command to destroy the Canaanites in general, or Jericho and its inhabitants in particular, and similar episodes in the Old Testament are contrary to the New Testament revelation of God in Christ, and involve the erroneous thoughts of the writers or characters in question about God, which we can now no longer accept as true. Moreover, Rowley claims that such incidents of wholesale destruction contain that which is "spiritually unsatisfying" and involve "dishonoring God."
So, this divine command to exterminate from the face of the earth all men, women, and children belonging to the seven or eight nations of Canaan is one of the most frequently raised objections to seeing God as just and loving in the Old Testament. How can God's fairness and mercy be seen in such blanket and wholesale condemnation of entire nations?
Quartz Hill School of Theology
Fifteen centuries after the birth of Christ, little had changed in Western Europe but the names of the gods worshiped. The Western Europeans of the fifteenth century still lived in an enchanted world—a world of magic and miracles.
ReplyDelete* Instead of the twelve gods of ancient Rome, there were the cults of the twelve apostles, whose relics could cure diseases, control the weather, and inflict harm on those who opposed them.
* Instead of the departmental deities of ancient Rome, there were the departmental Saints of papal Rome.
* Instead of the cult of Diana, Queen of Heaven, there was the cult of Mary, Queen of Heaven.
The holidays (in pre-Reformation Germany, there were 161 days of holy fasting and abstinence each year), processions, sacrifices, and rituals continued; the apparitions, pilgrimages, relics, and shrines remained; the gladiatorial contests were replaced by autos da fe at which the religious would chant the Psalms and pray the liturgy. Laing wrote, "though there is a notable difference in the character of the supernatural beings that in the fourth century succeeded to the multitudinous functions of the old departmental spirits, there is little or no change in the attitude of mind …."
The founders of the Catholic Church-State "were keenly interested in winning the pagans to the faith, and they succeeded. But undoubtedly one element in their success was the inclusion in their system of the doctrine of the veneration of Saints. They seem to have felt that in order to make any headway at all, it was necessary for them to match the swarms of spirits available for the pagans with a multitude of wonder-working Saints and Martyrs. How far they were prepared to go is indicated by their favorable attitude toward the pagan veneration of Virgil that amounted almost to deification …. The Saints succeeded to the worship of the dead just as they had succeeded to the cult of the departmental deities and to the little gods of the Roman household ….
A new Pew survey indicates that if you want to know something about religion----
ReplyDeleteO bullshit....if you want to know something about religion...
READ!!!!
Who is to make up this definition of what it is to "know"
something about "religion"?
Quirk and I had that out the other night.....
The answer was.....even Kant and Campbell agree, we agreed with Valery, the only final guide is the leanings of the human heart.
That is all there is...when you die....
I'm tired---can't somebody but up some enthusiastic music?
ReplyDeleteThe followers of Moses, under the command of Joshua, killed every man, woman and child that stood in their way.----
ReplyDeleteI know all that, Rat.
The real facts are....it was probably a slow inflilltration....by better farmers and workers.
Like in Haily.
I learned it by heart.
It was a change of cultures, which is what the muzzies need, signifying the end of human sacrifice.
Reflected in their literature.
The Jewish literature.
I need an Ipod.
And some good music!
Please!!
Somebody!!!!!
The way I remember it it was, basically, a series of battles strung out over a rather long time.
ReplyDelete(I don't remember how long, and I don't care enough to look it up. In fact, I can't even believe I typed this.)
You can't take literature that literally.
ReplyDeleteA major, major mistake.
It's not about that.
Let the historians write history.
This is STORY, where the human heart regardes.
That's what priests do, and Lutheran Fundamentalists....let them all roast in hell....
night
Doug, nobody gives a flying flip if O'Donnell wins. 'cept maybe O'Donnell. It's just for shits, and grins. The Pubs will have the house; Nobody much cares if the Dems have the senate.
ReplyDeleteYou see, Doug, we're pretty well fucked. They ALL assholes, and I don't think three out of the hundred have a clue what's getting ready to hit us. At least, I haven't seen any evidence that any of them do.
They don't understand how badly we're screwed with China, and they sure as hell don't understand how we're, completely, and totally, screwed with our corporate tax policies.
And it's a double, triple damned absolute certainty that none of them understand what the next couple of years are going to bring on the "energy/oil" front. If they did they wouldn't be running for office.
Bob, I think Rat Was referring to "History."
ReplyDeleteWhat were you referring to? Fairy Tales?
Ruf, I 'know' that 'history' better than you.
ReplyDeleteIt did not happen like that.
The Jews came, probably very slowly, and had a 'higher' morality than that reflected in their opponents, which was reflected in their lit.
They may have 'won' because of it.
I didn't get a goddanmed lit degree for nothing.
night
IT IS STORY
end of story
I seriously doubt that, Bob. Good storytelling doesn't necessarily equate to superior morality.
ReplyDeleteBob, if you think ANY large "organized" group of people has ever been personified by "high morality" you're a bigger fool than I thought.
ReplyDeleteAnd, a "Religious" group, at that.
ReplyDeleteYou really must be a "powet."
The Koran, bob, is just a story, too.
ReplyDeleteSome Muslims take it at face value, some do not.
There is a wide range of believers, in that 1.2 billion Islamoids.
Just as there are in the divinity of Christ.
Perhaps we'll get a chapter from the Story of "o", discussing whether the Walls of Jericho came tumbling down, or if it is just a myth, fabricated whole clothe.
Betcha he believes the walls came down. Betcha he believes his folks were promised the land of Israel by God and they can take it and use it, because of that Biblical promise.
I doubt he thinks that the Old Testament is a myth. I could be wrong, maybe he will enlighten us.
Myself, I believe that Moses told his folk what he needed them to hear. He may have spoken to G-d, aliens or made it up, whole clothe.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Joshua led his army into Canaan and took what he could, killing those that stood in his way.
Using the "Word of G-d" as the moral justification. The Bible, the Old Testament more than the "New" is history.
Pretty accurate history.
Watch the "Naked Archaeologist", Simcha Jacobovici, a Canadian Jew travels northern Arabia, both in Israel and Jordon, to prove the validity of the Biblical tales with archaeology.
Quite informative entertainment, I never miss a show. Digital recording is great, for that.
It is history, bob, because perception creates reality.
ReplyDeleteIf the reader thinks that the story is true, the divine word, then it is.
At least for that particular reader.
Your friend mat, he thought the Old Testament to be divine. Transcribed from G-ds mouth to man's ear. With out a single vowel.
That the work that Moses brought down from Mount Sinai the revealed word of G-d.
Simcha Jacobovici, he found the mountain. Matches the Biblical description to a "T". No doubt of its' location or description, it all matched up. Not a fantasy, or a myth, but a historical reality.
In general, out of the whole population, it's only the gang-bangers, and some of the Veterans that know what a group of men is capable of doing to a group of the "others."
ReplyDeleteJack Nickelson's Colonel in a few good men was right: "you really don't want to know."
Frye
ReplyDeleteHe did great work.
It is history, bob, because perception creates reality.
ReplyDeleteNo it doesn't.
That would say your perception creates reality, which it does not.
That's nuts.
Perception may create reality, or a rendering of reality, in a way, a living informing growing loving way, like in some of this newer thought, which is really old Hindu thought, but it most certainly doesn't create an adequate rending of history, what actually happened.
Not even Israeli archeologists have been able to account for what happened two or three thousand years ago.
And I don't recall Mat ever really saying anything like that.
He did recommend a good tooth paste for me though.
It is history, bob, because perception creates reality.----
ReplyDeleteIf perception created ALL of reality---
You might as well be
A CRAB!!!!
Got you there, didn't I, dumb shit?
ReplyDeleteThe states are in place forever, the human being passes through.
Blake
Always something more.
The dove flies in the darkness...
Finally getting it?
It's....metaphor.
Myth is the only reality we will ever know.
ReplyDeleteCause we make it up.
Then, we know it.
Frey
ReplyDelete"Melody" is out with "Quirk"....The "Cleaning Lady" is out in the closet...."Trish" has vanished, and I'm here talking to the "Wall."
ReplyDeleteAnd have been banished, with no music.
Which makes more sense than talking with you.
God Save Me, you've come back!!!
ReplyDeleteBut I'm really getting tired, and the drugs aren't working.
That's the Abrahamic religions for you, bob, it is nuts.
ReplyDeleteFolks that believe that stuff, they really are nuts, just as you say they are.
ReplyDeleteI knew i could get you to tell them all of that reality.
The Don Henley-Glenn Frey split was acrimonious. Frey produced one post-Eagles CD that I rather liked. The Heat is On is from his Long Hot Summer album (1992). Funky and moody.
ReplyDeleteWhat other living myths do we have now?
ReplyDeleteTo actually live by?
Because you can't live without them.
The knowledge of the ages.
I'd just as soon take "Rufus" as God.
The "scientist have even given up".
I thinking I'm going to bed now.
Metaphor.
Which you still don't understand.
night
Law punishing fake war heroes could go before Supreme Court
ReplyDeleteDENVER — The Justice Department is battling to save a federal law that makes it illegal to lie about being a war hero, appealing two court rulings that the statute is an unconstitutional muzzle on free speech.
The fight could be carried all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, where it would face an uncertain fate, legal analysts said.
"This is a Supreme Court that is friendly to parties asserting speech rights and skeptical about restrictions on those rights," said Kannon Shanmugam, a former Justice Department official.
Supporters of the law take the opposite view.
"It could wind up being the kind of landmark decision that the Supreme Court is going to have to give very serious and very broad consideration to, and I think they'll come down on our side," said Doug Sterner, a military historian.
The Stolen Valor Act makes it a crime punishable by up to a year in jail to falsely claim to have won a military medal, whether or not an impostor seeks financial gain.
Actually, that's a pretty horrible song.
ReplyDeleteNow that I listen to it again.
I may have to switch sides on the Henley-Frey debate.
What a difference a decade makes.
Even a lost decade.
rat ponders:
ReplyDeletePerhaps we'll get a chapter from the Story of "o", discussing whether the Walls of Jericho came tumbling down, or if it is just a myth, fabricated whole clothe.
Betcha he believes the walls came down. Betcha he believes his folks were promised the land of Israel by God and they can take it and use it, because of that Biblical promise.
I doubt he thinks that the Old Testament is a myth. I could be wrong, maybe he will enlighten us.
Betcha you dont HAVE A CLUE about what I believe or not..
But I will say this...
The Jews of Israel have JUST as much right to have a nation state as any other real nationalist people, if not more.
God or no G-d...
1948 the UN created Israel with the Jews living on the land...
in 1948 the Arabs tried to destroy it, and REFUSED to accept the UN ruling, they lost the war they started.
Israel IS....
Israel will be...
To those that seek it's destruction?
Fuck off....
Painfully...
Really, die a painful death....
.
ReplyDeleteCrazy
.
.
ReplyDeleteBob Style Crazy
.
That was good. Thanks, Deuce.
ReplyDeleteI always thought she was kind of a dummy but...
Rufus said it a long time ago. Obama's going to give us another Reagan.
Crazy Train
ReplyDeleteActually, Quirk, that's not me at all. I'm an older gentleman with a suit, lost no hair, still very good looking, as my wife testifies, gave up the coveralls long ago, when the bank mortgage was finally paid off, and never listen to rock music, just really have a soft, and I hope, understanding heart.
ReplyDeleteMy libido is still up, and I don't need the modern drugs for that.
Which might kill me.
Blood pressure and all.
Taking a proper piss has become a problem.
But I used to dance.
But it was a good first effort.
Your style of crazy?
I have no idea, other than to go back to Hunter Thompson.
Taking a proper piss has become a problem.
ReplyDeleteI hope you noticed the alliteration.
And, I stood out in the cold for Sarah when you didn't.
ReplyDeleteWe do have a Mustang just like that, though it belongs to my daughter.
ReplyDelete.
ReplyDeleteTaking a proper piss has become a problem.
I hope you noticed the alliteration.
Alliteration?
Hmm.
Pardon, but it's pretty piss-poor prose, pal, a peculiar picayune parody of passible parlance, mere perfunctory patois, perspicuous but rather pedestrian and prosaic and peforce lacking in pep.
A pitiable piffle. And you a piffler.
I would purge the post.
.