COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Sunday, May 17, 2015

From The Huffington Post

Thirteen Things I Learned in Iran

Posted: Updated: 

TEHRAN














Istanbul, Turkey -- I just experienced the blessing of visiting Iran for the first time. Here are some things I learned.

1. If you are visiting someone's office and you appear very sleepy, you may be asked if you want to take a nap. If you say yes, a comfortable place to take a nap may be immediately prepared. I want to state categorically for the record that no country in which you can take a nap any time you want should ever be bombed by anyone. 
2. Any American who wants a hero's welcome in Iran right now should compare the Saudi bombing and blockade of Yemen to the Israeli bombing and blockade of Gaza. An American sporting a "Saudi Arabia = Israel" button could get invited to any party in Iran right now. 
3. There is a tower in the middle of Tehran from the top of which one can see the whole city. Wow! Which way is north? The mountain with snow on top. 
4. If you hang out at the top of the tower, little Iranian schoolgirls may greet you in English and then run away tittering, as if they've just proved their bravery on a dare. What a delight!
5. Drivers in Tehran need never fear that another Tehran driver will "cut them off." The reason for this is that the concept of "cutting someone off" apparently does not exist in Tehran driving culture. That which might be characterized as "cutting someone off" on an American street is apparently 100 percent normative Tehran driving behavior. However, unlike Cairo drivers, Tehran drivers do apparently believe in the existence of stoplights. 
6. Tehran taxi GPS: ask any available pedestrian for directions, including small children. Repeat as necessary. 
7. Counter-intuitively, taking a taxi from Isfahan to Tehran can take almost twice as long as taking the bus. See #6. 
8. There is a Jewish community in Isfahan. Who knew? Maybe that's why the locals say Isfahan nefse jahan, "Isfahan is half the world." My French traveling companion and I visited a local synagogue. My companion thought it might be a profound souvenir to purchase a mezuzah produced in Isfahan. When queried about this idea, the woman who appeared to be the day-to-day boss of the synagogue asked - quite sensibly, I thought - "Don't you have mezuzahs in France?"
9. If the imam at Isfahan's Islamic Technical University finds out that you are Jewish, he may ostentatiously kiss you on both cheeks in front of the congregants. What a delight!
10. Students at Isfahan's Islamic Technical University aren't the least bit shy about aggressively questioning a speaker during a presentation. When the translator told me that I sounded to the students like John Kerry, I said: listen, I was for diplomacy with Iran before John Kerry was. I am not copying John Kerry; John Kerry is copying me. When I said this, the students laughed without waiting for the translation into Farsi. Aha! I said triumphantly. So you do understand English! 
11. A diligent and persistent American tourist can, in fact, find t-shirts in the bazaar that have both Farsi and English. 
12. Former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs 
Richard William Murphy walks the talk on engagement. He agreed to debate me on Press TV regarding the Camp David summit between the US and Persian Gulf Arab monarchies. When Ambassador Murphy complained that Gulf Arab monarchs still felt aggrieved that during the Iranian revolution Iranian leaders had called the Gulf Arab monarchs "blasphemous, incompetent, and corrupt," I noted that while on the charge of blasphemy, the US has no dog in that race, it is a commonplace observation in the US that the Gulf Arab monarchs are incompetent and corrupt, including among US government officials. When he complained that Iran was "destabilizing" the region, I asked him if it was an example of such "destabilization" when Iranian and Iraqi government officials joined together to complain that the Saudi assault on Yemen blatantly violated international humanitarian law. 
13. Cappucino at Imam Khomeini International Airport: just don't do it. I'm afraid that they have not yet received the memo. Stick to tea, a local specialty, where the locals have the comparative advantage of hundreds of years of production experience. The Iranians responsible for enriching uranium have nothing on the Iranian tea producers.

147 comments:

  1. From The GOP Likuds Force:

    Associated Press By Associated Press
    on May 16, 2015 at 10:34 PM, updated May 16, 2015 at 10:38 PM




    IOWA CITY, Iowa — Republicans wooing Iowa's most active party members called Saturday for a stronger presence in the world but ran the gamut in tone and just how tough to get with America's enemies.

    On Armed Services Day — and a day the Obama administration reported killing a senior Islamic State leader in Syria — most of the nearly dozen GOP presidential prospects at a state party dinner called for a more confrontational stance toward Iran.

    Former Sen. Rick Santorum’s answer for handling Iran, one of four countries on the U.S. list of nations accused of repeatedly supporting global terrorism, was to “load up our bombers and bomb them back to the seventh century.”

    Earlier in the day, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush praised U.S. commandos who had reportedly killed the IS leader, described as the head of oil operations for IS. Bush gave no credit to Obama, whom Bush accused of allowing the rise of IS by pulling back U.S. forces from Iraq.

    "It's a great day, but it's not a strategy," Bush told reporters in eastern Iowa.

    Although Bush joked lightly about the confused statements he made in recent days about whether he would have ordered the attack in Iraq in 2003, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul told the GOP gathering Saturday night that it was a "valid question" to ask presidential candidates whether they would have invaded Iraq and toppled Saddam Hussein.

    "We have to question: Is Iraq more stable or less stable since Hussein is gone?" asked Paul, who espouses some of the hands-off foreign policy of his father, former Texas Rep. Ron Paul.

    South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham tried to reject any assertion that the existing problems in Iraq were the result of the Republican president who ordered the invasion, Bush's brother George W. Bush.

    "The person I blame is Barack Obama, not George W. Bush," said Graham, who criticized Obama for keeping a campaign promise to withdraw combat troops from Iraq. Of George W. Bush, Graham said, "He made the best decision he could."

    Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, as did others, accused Obama of not taking the threat of Islamic State militants seriously. Perry pointed to claims by the militant group, disputed by terrorism experts, that it was behind the assault on a Texas cartoon contest that featured images of the Prophet Muhammad.

    "You see ISIS showing up in Garland, Texas," Perry said. "You realize this is a challenging world we live in."

    Aside from the nuances on Republican policy toward Iran and IS militants in Iraq, the GOP presidential prospects were united in taking jabs at Democratic candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton. They linked Clinton to Obama and mocked her for not fielding more questions during her campaign events.

    Former business executive Carly Fiorina said that if Clinton is going to run for president, "she is going to have to answer some questions." Paul joked about whether Clinton "ever takes any questions." Earlier in the day Bush said he had taken between 800 and 900 questions, compared to a handful by Clinton.

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    1. In one of the more specific broadsides against Clinton, Fiorina said the former first lady must not be president because "she is not trustworthy, she lacks a track record of leadership and her policies will crush the potential of this nation."

      Others who spoke at the Des Moines event, which roughly 1,300 Iowa Republicans attended, were former surgeon Ben Carson, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, former New York Gov. George Pataki, businessman Donald Trump and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker.

      Walker, who appeared at an afternoon fundraiser for a Des Moines area county official, called for a stepped-up fight against terrorism.

      Having recently visited Israel and met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Walker called the Obama administration's foreign policy to "draw a red line in the sand and allow people to cross it." Instead, he suggested that the United States “take the fight to them.”

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    2. .

      Of George W. Bush, Graham said, "He made the best decision he could."

      :o)

      Well, I can't argue with that. Although, I'm not sure I view it in the same way Lindsay-Lou does.

      .

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    3. .

      Former Sen. Rick Santorum’s answer for handling Iran, one of four countries on the U.S. list of nations accused of repeatedly supporting global terrorism, was to “load up our bombers and bomb them back to the seventh century.”

      Santorum is a nut job but at least he has the balls to really say what he thinks. The rest of the GOP bitch and complain about current policy, talk tough and vote to increase the defense budget, but as in so many other areas they never quite get around to stating specifically what 'they' would do.

      .

      Delete
    4. Exactly like yourself !

      And Deuce too !

      You mumbled around for three or four long paragraphs and then came out more or less to do as Obama is doing, which is nothing.

      Deuce has never even tried to answer the question to my knowledge, and he was the guy that said 'we must do something'.

      Stick with your 'Low and Slow' Quirk, you ARE a hell of a pilot.

      Delete
    5. .

      You mumbled around for three or four long paragraphs and then came out more or less to do as Obama is doing, which is nothing.

      You are a simple man, Obumble. I have explained my position a number of times. You read but you don't understand. You suffer a monochromatic worldview untroubled by nuance. In truth, you are just a silly old gaffer.

      .

      Delete
    6. :)

      Not bad, you old fraud and advertising man.

      In truth, you are just a silly old duffer.

      Delete
  2. What I remember about Iran from my Fox News Tours there is Neda getting shot in the guts by the Iranian Basij Police thugs and dying on camera staring at the sky with blood gushing from her mouth down both cheeks.

    Remember Neda ?

    If not, this might help -

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76W-0GVjNEc&bpctr=1431848745

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    1. Fuck the mullahs and their theocratic dictatorship.

      Delete
    2. I do recall, the young girl protesting an unjust government and I also recall the Noble IDF , The Israeli soldier running over a young American girl Rachel Aliene Corrie with a bulldozer while she was protesting an unjust government.

      I don’t need your help asshole, I did three posts on it. Like Rufus requests , please keep you ignorant hayseed ass off my posts.

      Delete
    3. "asshole"

      That's personal. You always go personal when you are frustrated.

      Crazy isn't personal. It can be determined objectively.

      I didn't call you an "asshole", I didn't get personal.

      Three posts ?

      You have done 300 against your hated Israel in the last two years alone.

      "The Iranians are fighting for civilization."

      THAT is crazy.

      Delete
  3. The permanent War Party, The Bible Thumping Christian Republicans. Going to war with Jesus as their guide.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Southern Baptists to open ranks to missionaries who speak in tongues

    BY GREG HORTON AND YONAT SHIMRON
    Religion News ServiceMay 15, 2015

    After decade-long resistance, the Southern Baptist Convention will admit missionary candidates who speak in tongues, a practice associated with Pentecostal and charismatic churches.

    The new policy, approved by the denomination's International Mission Board on Wednesday, reverses a policy that was put in place 10 years ago.

    Speaking in tongues is an ancient Christian practice recorded in the New Testament in which people pray in a language they do not know, understand or control. The practice died out until Pentecostalism emerged around the turn of the 20th century. In Pentecostal churches it is considered one of many "gifts" of the Holy Spirit, including healing and the ability to prophesize.

    Allowing Southern Baptist missionaries to speak in tongues, or have what some SBC leaders call a "private prayer language," speaks to the growing strength of Pentecostal churches in Africa, Asia and South America, where Southern Baptists are competing for converts and where energized new Christians are enthusiastically embracing the practice.

    "In so many parts of the world, these charismatic ex

    periences are normative," said Bill Leonard, professor of church history at Wake Forest Divinity School. "Religious groups that oppose them get left behind evangelistically."

    Read more here: http://www.sunherald.com/2015/05/15/6229375/southern-baptists-to-open-ranks.html#storylink=cpy

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  5. Your neighbors and your fellow travelers in the GOP are the sane ones speaking in tongues to each other.

    ReplyDelete
  6. .

    The latest assault on American culture and mores: sexual fluidity and spectrum.

    One of the nation’s largest public school systems is preparing to include gender identity to its classroom curriculum, including lessons on sexual fluidity and spectrum – the idea that there’s no such thing as 100 percent boys or 100 percent girls.

    Fairfax County Public Schools released a report recommending changes to their family life curriculum for grades 7 through 12. The changes, which critics call radical gender ideology, will be formally introduced next week.


    http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2015/05/15/call-it-gender-fluidity-schools-to-teach-kids-there-s-no-such-thing-as-boys-or-girls.html?intcmp=latestnews

    The way the US is moving it will soon become a country of Eloi. That is Eloi in the sense used by Marc Steyn in his book After America.

    I'm a little too old to buy into the crazy bullshit. While I could care less how consenting adults conduct themselves, I find it objectionable to force propaganda on to school children. The motivation for all of this stuff is political not scientific.

    .

    .

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    1. I agree with you, Quirk, you old duffer.

      The public schools these days aren't worth the trouble.

      It's why the Clintons, the Obamas, the everyones that can afford it send their kids to private schools.

      Delete
    2. Even an on-line degree in advertising is much more valuable than a public school degree.

      Delete
  7. Crazies to the left, crazies to the right, crazies on the firing line.

    Pentecostalism

    Within the Pentecostal movement, Christians sought direct personal experience with God through the baptism with the Holy Spirit. Pentecostals emerged in the early 20th century as an outgrowth of the 19th century Holiness movement. They believed the end times were near and that spiritual gifts would be renewed before Christ returned. Pentecostalism helped spawn early televangelists like Oral Roberts and Rex Humbard who, according to the Financial Times, popularized television as a medium for spreading religious messages.

    Christian Fundamentalism

    Christian fundamentalists first emerged early in the 20th century in response to mainline Protestant denominations liberalizing Biblical teachings. Fundamentalists saw the Bible as the inerrant word of God and took a radically conservative approach to interpreting it. Christian fundamentalists became a major political force late in the 20th century when several fundamentalist groups began supporting Republican candidates who took conservative stances on key social and political issues.

    Charismatic Movement

    Charismatic Christians believe that the gifts of the Holy Spirit – such as healing, visions, prophecy and speaking in tongues – are available to believers in modern times. This movement arose in the 1960s and gave birth to neo-charismatic churches like the Vineyard Movement and led to the rise of mega-churches, with tens of thousands of members, across the nation. More than 300 million Christians worldwide identify with the Charismatic movement according to the Pew Forum.

    Read Latest Breaking News from Newsmax.com http://www.newsmax.com/FastFeatures/christian-history/2015/05/07/id/643292/#ixzz3aNa86Zlv
    Urgent: Rate Obama on His Job Performance. Vote Here Now!

    ReplyDelete
  8. You better eat your oatmeal


    Christian fundamentalism was invented in an advertising campaign, according to a new book by historian Timothy Gloege. The all-American brand of “old-time religion” was developed by an early captain of consumer capitalism—who wanted to sell pure Christianity like he sold breakfast.

    In his fascinating narrative of the origins of modern evangelicalism, Gloege traces its close relationship to modern marketing back to the founder of Quaker Oats, Henry Parsons Crowell.

    If you asked people for a short list of the most important religious figures in the early 20th century, Henry Parsons Crowell probably wouldn’t be on it. Who was Crowell and why was he important?

    Henry Parsons Crowell was a purveyor of oatmeal. He is best known by business historians as the president and founder of Quaker Oats, one of the pioneers of the branding revolution. He used a combination of packaging, trademark and massive promotional campaigns and transformed oatmeal from a commodity into a trademarked product.

    Crowell took oatmeal that used to be sold out of large barrels in your general store, put it into a sealed package, slapped a picture of a Quaker on it and guaranteed it pure. Now it no longer mattered who you bought your oatmeal from, only what brand you chose.

    A company’s reputation was once rooted in its owner, but the trademark created this virtual relationship with consumers that was pure fiction. The trust that is engendered by a Quaker has no relationship to the company itself. There are no Quakers involved in that. Crowell was a Presbyterian. He bought the trademark, a very small mill had the trademark and he said, “oh, this engenders trust, so I’m going to use this to sell my oatmeal.”

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      This was quite controversial at the time, though today that’s just how things are done. Quakers sell oatmeal and friendly animated lizards sell us car insurance.

      One of the key arguments in the book is that he is using similar strategies in religion as well. As president of Moody Bible Institute, Crowell pioneered the techniques of creating trust in a pure religious product, packaging and trademarking, as it were, old-time religion.

      They’re cultural twins. They’re both drawing from the same set of ideas about the nature of self and society that was, frankly, new in the days after the Civil War. These are the idea of the individual being the basic unit of analysis, that individual choices are really what matters, that’s how you create yourself.

      Whereas older ideas would see society as more of an organic unity, they see it as a collection of individuals.

      One of the main points of my story is that the particular arrangement we see today of evangelicals’ alignment with business is not a new phenomenon. It can be traced back, specifically to the Gilded Age and Progressive Era. It was not there before. And it did not start after World War II. It really started here.

      I’m also arguing against the idea that American Protestantism has always been guided by the logic of the market. That’s not true. There was a shift in American Protestantism which is connected to this other shift in economic history.

      What shifts in the business world is there’s an underlying assumption that I make my economic decisions out of my own self interest, that everybody is doing that, and society is better off as a result, rather than have to make business decisions in light of how it might affect society—that’s not the question. It’s all about me and my rational choices and other people’s rational choices, which makes it into a game of sorts. And this isn’t always the way that it was.

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      In the same way, religious experience is re-conceptualized as individualistic.

      In the traditional, “churchly” model—if I can make a generalization here—when you had individual Bible reading, the person who is superintending your interpretation of the Bible and saying whether you’re believing the right thing or the wrong thing is your minister. And your minister knows what’s correct based on going to seminary. That belief is then superintended by a theological tradition that precedes that credentialing. All these things bear on what the proper interpretation of the Bible is.

      But in the evangelical context, it is all about you and God.

      This is the fiction evangelicalism is predicated on: there is this plain reading of the Bible and anyone who sincerely sits down and reads the Bible, regardless of their education, regardless of their background, can get it. But you end up getting problems. People end up interpreting the Bible in ways that disrupt society. They start thinking that miracles are a common occurrence, so they decide they don’t need to take medicine, don’t need to give children medicine. And children end up dying. They read the Bible and see that men are married to more than one women, so they are challenging established family norms.

      And you have people who are reading the Sermon on the Mount, and Jesus’s talk on money, and they say modern capitalism is evil and abhorrent to God.

      There is an ideal of what will happen when evangelicals read the Bible, but it doesn’t always work out. There’s a dynamism that comes with plain reading, but in tension with that is the threat of disorder. So it’s vitality versus disorder.

      What happened historically in American Protestantism is that you would go in an evangelical direction, you’d have revivals, you’d revitalize the faith. Then things would start to go a little nutty and at least respectable middle class Protestants would swing back in a churchly direction. They would turn back to tradition. They would turn back to church and say these things are important and reimpose order with church.

      What Crowell did, and what makes Crowell important to my mind, is that he created a way to continue the evangelical movement without having to resort to a churchly mode of imposing order.

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      How did he do that?

      The first step was to create a new standard of orthodoxy. Traditionally, you had a Presbyterian orthodoxy, a Methodist orthodoxy, an Episcopal orthodoxy, and so on. There is no such thing as just “conservative Protestantism.”

      So that was the first job that Crowell had to do, was to create this fictional orthodoxy, this conservative Protestantism, this set of fundamentals that anyone, any conservative of any denomination [could] ascribe to and could use to differentiate themselves from liberals.

      The way that he does this is through the publication called The Fundamentals. It is the publication that gives the fundamentalist movement its name—a 12-volume set of theological treatises written by various scholars that claim to put forward these fundamentals of the faith.

      Most people do not read The Fundamentals. When you do, what you find is that there are huge gaps in what would be a traditional creed. There are any number of points of theology that, actually, most of Christians would see as essential—ideas about who God is, what is the nature of salvation, all of these things—are not brought up. Because they would be too controversial among conservatives. And, when you look at the subjects that are brought up, articles regularly contradict each other. There is no unified creed in any sense.

      What The Fundamentals is doing, if not laying out a precise creed, is creating the impression of an orthodoxy.

      It was successful mostly in bringing together conservatives in all these different denominations who were feeling embattled by liberalism, who were feeling like a minority, and who felt like they were alone. The Fundamentals ended up reaching over 300,000 subscribers, at the height. The publication, as a publication, creates this nation-wide imagined community that cuts across denominational lines.

      It is more imagined than real, though. If you were to ask these people what constitutes this inter-denominational orthodoxy, they would come up with very different lists. But for Crowell, his background is in consumer products—”fundamentalism” is a label and functions like a brand.

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      Crowell does this at the helm of Moody Bible Institute. If we back the story up, how does Dwight L. Moody, the famous evangelist, fit into the history of American capitalism?

      The importance of Moody is in making the initial links between economic identities and religious identities. Prior to Moody, those things were much more distinct. These were not models that were really used.

      It’s important to remember that Moody was born and raised completely outside of orthodox Protestantism. He was raised a Unitarian. He had a grade school education. He had no theological training whatsoever. He started going to church because he had to as a requirement of his job. He didn’t enjoy it or get anything out of it.

      Then a Sunday School teacher came to him at work and told him that Jesus loved him—that was it, he converted.

      Moody started to understand his relationship with God using the things he knew best, which was his life in business—in sales, specifically. When Moody decided to become a full-time revivalist—without any sort of theological training, mind you—he was God’s salesman, inviting his listeners to enter into a personal relationship with God.

      He started to conceptualize the authentic believer in terms of being a good Christian worker. What mattered wasn’t what you believed, it was, are you submitted to God? Moody gets his idea of the ideal worker from his industrialist friends in the Gilded Age who want their workers to be submissive, hard workers and pragmatic problem solvers: he conceptualizes the Christian worker in those terms. He infuses his ideas about faith with metaphors of work.

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    5. ...
      How does Moody Bible Institute come to be led by a captain of industry, this oatmeal man who is an expert at branding?

      Crowell started at Moody Bible in 1901 and was basically in charge starting in 1904, 1905—a time when the Institute was in crisis. The major problem was that Moody Bible Institute was not converting the masses and restoring social order. It was reaching a very small portion of working class people, and, at the turn of the 20th century, those working class people who were reached were not becoming respectable members of the middle class—instead they were getting involved in the Populist movement, which was using the Bible to critique capitalism and critique professionalization.

      These working class people were also getting involved in the Pentecostal movement and transgressing racial boundaries. There is even an earlier incident where Ruben A. Torrey, the most prominent evangelist working with Moody, got involved in faith healing because of his “plain reading” of the Bible.

      Torrey has a similar business-metaphor interpretation of the Bible to Moody, but he gives it his own particular spin. Torrey said very boldly that prayer is a God-ordained way of people getting things—the Bible becomes a catalog, a practical catalog of God’s promises.

      The big problem, of course, is that answers to prayer don’t happen consistently. For Torrey, there was a tragic event where one of his daughters had diphtheria and he believed God was calling him to pray for her healing. This was in 1898 when there was a well-known anti-toxin for the treatment of diphtheria, but he refused to call a doctor and instead relied solely on prayer. He had a change of heart, but was too late and his child died. What do you do with that? This becomes the problem.

      Throughout the 1890s amid growing populist discontent, groups of working class and lower middle class evangelical radicals were using beliefs and practices similar to Torrey’s to challenge the rising professional classes and in some cases the entire capitalist order.

      So, this message of Moody’s and Torrey’s that was supposed to bring social order starts to bringdisorder.

      By 1901, everybody was bailing on Moody and they were losing their financing. They needed new business supports and eventually brought Crowell in, who had been influenced quite a bit by a teacher who was teaching at Moody Bible at the time.

      What Crowell did—and what makes him so important to my mind—is that he solved the problem that had plagued individualistic, evangelical religion since it first emerged during the First Great Awakening in the eighteenth century. (When things started to go a little nutty, respectable middle class Protestants swung back to an emphasis on church and tradition.)

      Crowell figured out a way to impose order on evangelicalism, but without having to resort to churchly guardrails. He used the techniques of consumer capitalism that he knew so well, packaging and trademark and massive promotional campaigns.

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      How has Crowell shaped the modern religious landscape?

      The Moody Bible Institute pioneered a means of generating a reputation of being a purveyor of pure religion. Today these business techniques are everywhere. The biggest churches in America have no denominational affiliation, and they are filled with respectable, middle-class people. This would not have been the case in the early 19th century, where a denominational identity was a normal part of a middle class identity.

      In Crowell’s business experience, purity is at the foundation of his business success. Quaker Oats became what it was because he was able to make people suspicious of the oatmeal you would shovel out of a barrel, and his sealed box with the picture of a Quaker on it was the pure alternative. In every single advertisement that he created in the first 30 years of the company’s existence, the Quaker was always holding a scroll and the single word “pure” was written across it. That was a central idea, for Crowell.

      He looked at religion in the same way. There is pure religion and there is impure religion. His question was “how do you make the religion I know is pure appeal to the consuming public?”

      The solution he found, to promote modern evangelicalism as “old-time religion,” has worked for a century.


      http://www.salon.com/2015/05/13/christian_fundamentalism_is_a_capitalism_invention_the_secret_history_of_american_religion_partner/

      Delete
  9. Is there any hope? Maybe but probably not:

    The U.S. remains an overwhelmingly Christian country. That hasn’t changed, but a new survey shows a significant drop in the number of Americans who identify as Christian.

    The survey was done by the Pew Research Center. It showed that, in 2007, 78 percent of Americans identified as Christian. By last year, the percentage had dropped to under 71 percent. Those years have seen a dramatic rise in the number of Americans who say they are religiously unaffiliated, from 16 to nearly 23 percent.

    The largest drop was in mainline Protestant denominations, but the number of Catholics also fell. Several non-Christian religions, Islam and Hinduism, saw modest gains. Among the youngest millennials, 36 percent are unaffiliated, whereas, in the country as a whole, it’s down 23 percent. Among older generations, it’s a much smaller percentage.

    http://www.netnebraska.org/node/973494

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    1. .

      Of course, there's hope for you.

      See my post at QuirkSun May 17, 03:39:00 AM EDT

      .

      Delete
    2. Lapsed Catholics are idiots.

      Delete
    3. And your new Pope is truly befuddled.

      Delete
    4. He wants us to fight ISIS because he is afraid they might well blow up the Vatican, but wants a 'Palestinian State', whose ultimate desire is exactly the same thing.

      I call this seriously befuddled.

      Delete
    5. I can't recall the last time some wayward Christian shot a young beautiful girl like Neda in the streets and let her bleed to death, can either of you ?

      Delete
    6. The Iranians were doing it as a matter of policy, and Obama didn't even raise a voice in protest.

      We should all be ashamed of that.

      Delete
    7. And what's this non sense about some 'entity' emerging from a well, and paradise being brought on by world war and pure chaos, or some such?

      The Pentacostals, seeking direct personal experience with God, seem quite sane compared to this, to me.

      They don't seem to be looking to a big world chaos to-do about things.

      They just seek the inner light.

      Which makes perfect sense to me, if not to you.

      Delete
    8. Makes sense to my Hindu Niece, too.

      In her outlook - Tat Tvam Asi

      Get that, you got it all.

      Right there in yourself, regardless of what happens 'out there'.

      Delete
  10. And I do remember the posts about Neda.

    You also put up a truly wonderful post showing the forward and back surging of the crowds in Tehran against the State Police Apparatus there, and comparing it to, I think it was, horned water buffalo, surging to and from against some encroaching lions in Africa.

    This gained universal praise around this place for its insight and unique way of looking at the two situations, side by side.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Governor Walker, he made an important trip this last week, traveling across Israel on a “listening tour.” Walker says he was taken by helicopter across the country with a former general of the Israeli army.

    "You see in a small area like that here they had Hamas in the Gaza Strip, they have Hezbollah in Lebanon, they have ISIS and others in Syria," Walker said. "You can understand why for many in Israel, security like we felt on the day after 9-11, many of them feel like that just about every day. So it really put that in perspective."

    When asked what the trip brought to his job as Governor of Wisconsin, Walker said he tried to learn more about entrepreneurship in the country.

    "I talked with not just Netanyahu, which we did with government leaders, but one day in Tel Aviv we spent a day with a number of entrepreneurials (sic) and a number of entities that help scale up and start-up businesses and it was really interesting to see how they did that," Walker said.

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  12. Former technology executive Carly Fiorina also announced she’s running for president, but both candidates will begin the race as underdogs in a campaign expected to feature several seasoned politicians, among them former Florida governor Jeb Bush, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, all of whom have already professed their undying support for Israel.

    Carson, who has occasionally been criticized as a foreign policy lightweight, has worked intensively in the past year to emphasize his pro-Israel credentials. There is already little daylight between most Republican contenders on Israel, and Carson’s enthusiastic support for Israel will not add much additional dimension to a pro-Israel field.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Any Republican will do the bidding of Israel and get us into another war in the Middle East. It is as obvious as the nose on your face.

    ReplyDelete
  14. The Republican Party is The GOP Likuds Force.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Your Mantra.

      You can't accept it, but most Americans like Israel, want to support Israel, and don't much like the Moslems, for the obvious reason that most of them are totally against our way of life and our freedoms.

      Delete
    2. So too, Robert "Draft Dodger" Peterson, are the ISraeli.

      They attack a ship of the US Navy, killing US sailors in the process.
      The ISraeli attack commercial shipping in the Med, flagged by our NATO ally, killing US citizens in the process.
      The ISraeli have developed an apartheid system of governance, denying basic human rights to over four million people, a third of the residents of their country.

      The ISraeli are an anathema to the way of life and freedoms of US citizens.
      The ISraeli have proven it, time and again.

      Delete
    3. Jack is the blog's spiritual nazi....

      He has proven he is incapable of telling the truth.

      Delete
  15. Of all the things Republicans hate, and they hate nearly everything, it is non-compliance with Israel’s agenda they regard as throwing Israel under the proverbial bus.

    They also hate any religious leader that fails to support their neo-conservative economic and social agenda. Recently, although Republicans love the Vatican’s support for opposition to equal rights for women and the LGBT community, there has been growing enmity over the Pope’s opposition to income inequality and anthropogenic climate change. The Pope finally went too far this past week when he failed to comply with Israel’s agenda that Palestine will never be a sovereign state.

    When Pope Francis announced on Wednesday that the Vatican, as an independent sovereign state, would be signing a treaty officially recognizing the “state of Palestine,” it bolstered the growing international support for Palestinian sovereignty since negotiations have been paralyzed by Israeli obstinance. In fact, while Republicans and Israelis were claiming Papal betrayal and expressed outrage at his humanitarian sensibilities, Palestinian leaders celebrated the Vatican endorsement due to the Pope’s international standing and popularity.

    Israelis are offended because Francis allegedly has a close relationship with Jews dating back decades, and because Christians, particularly Republican Christians, are crucial support for Israel’s continuing inhumane enterprises targeting Arabs in general, but Palestinians in particular. As a senior Palestinian foreign-affairs official, Husam Zomlo, noted, “The Vatican is not just a state. The Vatican represents hundreds of millions of Christians worldwide, including Palestinians, and has vast moral significance.” Official or not, the Pope’s endorsement does not grant Palestinian Statehood, but it was important not only from a religious leader, but from another sovereign State.

    The idea that the Vatican is a “State” is lost on Republicans who regard the Vatican, and the Pope, as a powerful Christian ally to use as a legislative and judicial weapon against American women and the LGBT community. It is curious that Republican Representative Jeff Duncan (SC), a Christian hawkish defender of Israel, said “It’s interesting how the Vatican has gotten so political when ultimately the Vatican ought to be working to lead people to Jesus Christ and salvation, and that’s what the Church is supposed to do.” If Duncan is correct, and he is not; then why in dog’s name do Republicans use the Vatican for their un-Jesus-like political assaults on women and gays? Every time this new Pope announces Jesus-like policies, Republicans go ballistic and cry religious foul. Obviously, recognizing the Palestinian State as a means to expedite a peaceful resolution to the Palestinian homeland issue will go a long way toward peace in the entire region; it is another Christ-like approach by Pope Francis.

    ReplyDelete
  16. You must understand that Christlike approaches are anathema to Republicans and Christians.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Christlike approaches must be the way of the Moslems......

      Stop it.

      Just stop it.

      It's beyond silly.

      Delete
  17. Deuce ☂Sun May 17, 06:59:00 AM EDT

    Of all the things Republicans hate, and they hate nearly everything

    **********

    O for God sakes.

    Stop it.

    I'm glad I've got to get busy now, or you'd drive me crazy.

    Cheers !!

    out

    ReplyDelete
  18. SUNDAY, MAY 17, 2015 06:00 AM EDT

    Obama, Bush and Carson believe this nonsense? Our faith-addled, God-fearing leaders need to put superstition aside
    We expect dimwits like Huckabee to buy into the fire and brimstone. Must President Obama overindulge the faithful?


    JEFFREY TAYLER

    CNN might wish to rename its show “This Week in Politics” as “This Week in God”; it’s getting that bad. Just in the days between May 1 and May 7, for example, the Seventh-Day Adventist evolution-denier Ben Carson announced his intention to seek the 2016 Republican nomination, as did the Southern Baptist and onetime pastor Mike Huckabee. The Episcopalian-turned-Roman Catholic Jeb Bush has puzzlingly refrained from following in their footsteps, but that he gave this year’s commencement address at that stronghold of unreason and superstitious darkness, the Jerry Falwell-founded Liberty University, the site of the Southern Baptist Ted Cruz’s announcement in late March, augurs ill for rationalists and other sane folk. Bush will announce, it’s just a question of when.

    I note the religious affiliations of these potential contenders for the presidency because all are flaunting their faith, rather than keeping it a private matter of conscience, which in any other developed country it would be. The gist is, unless you profess a piety befitting the mullahs of the Islamic Republic of Iran, things are going to get much, much more unpleasant for you before one or another God-coddler enters the White House in January 2017 to replace President Obama.

    {...}

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    1. {...}

      But I won’t deal with the faith-imbued cretinism of the Republicans in this essay. What concerns me now is what President Obama has just wrought to insult that most aggrieved (yet steadfastly growing) American minority, the advocates of reason, those who insist on evidence before accepting the truth of a given proposition, especially grand propositions about the origins of the universe and our species. On Wednesday, President Obama marked the deeply pathetic traditional outrage to rationalism that is the National Day of Prayer (since 1988 the first Thursday of May) with a proclamation bearing the stark, yet somehow comically august, title “A PROCLAMATION.” Ecumenically irrationalist, he urges us to pause and immerse ourselves in incantations addressed to a magical celestial despot, be He Judaic, Christian or, presumably, even Muslim, and thank Him for the fruits of our labor and for fortuitous events that have proved conducive to our contentment.

      Actually, I’ve just translated Obama’s words into rationalese. In the original his verbiage sounds mostly like boilerplate pol-speak and preacher-talk, but it is troubling nonetheless, and merits attention, if not for the reasons he intended.

      After a bland preface, Obama reminds us that we Americans “cherish” religious liberty at home, and exhorts us to “recommit to standing up for religious freedom around the world.”

      I have no problem with these words per se. The Constitution guarantees freedom of religion, and the precepts of the Enlightenment endorse it as fostering comity among nations. Centuries of faith-fueled warfare and persecution in Europe convinced the Founding Fathers that a batty belief in an invisible “divine” Tyrant (and attendant, equally batty, equally invisible “Sons” and spirits and prophets and so forth) deserved no place in our government; it would be too divisive and subject to exploitation as a tool of repression. Hence the First Amendment.

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    2. {...}
      But there is a contradiction inherent in Obama’s act of “proclaiming” from the White House on National Day of Prayer; namely, that such a day should not exist, but since it does, the president should not avail himself of it to militate for the cause of faith. In 1952, in the depths of the Cold War confrontation with the atheist Soviet Union, Congress birthed the noisome basilisk of a law establishing the NDOP, which the Freedom From Religion Foundation valiantly (but unsuccessfully, of course) challenged in 2008 on (obvious) First Amendment grounds. Fresh challenges should be mounted until the NDOP goes the way of Jim Crow. To do my part in the fight for true secularism, I hereby contest the constitutionality of Obama’s issuance of Lord-positive declarations from his podium as the chief officer of our officially godless republic, if only because such declarations menace the mental health and intellectual development of children. After all, in 1962 the Supreme Court decided against allowing prayer in public schools, so how is it that the president can use his office as a platform to call on us to beseech the “Almighty”? Children might be exposed to such corrupting speech and suffer the same retardation religion has historically inflicted on science and education. If nothing else, the White House Web page displaying the Proclamation should carry the warning “CONTAINS RELIGIOUS SPEECH — NOT SUITABLE FOR MINORS.”

      The Proclamation’s subsequent palaver provides opportunities for parody, head-shaking and outright guffaws that no rationalist in need of levity can pass up. “For many of us,” Obama declares, prayer is “an essential act of worship and a daily discipline that allows reflection, provides guidance, and offers solace.” In what sense does murmuring petitions to a fictitious heavenly autocrat in the hope of procuring favorable outcomes constitute a “discipline”? Science is a discipline, the study of philosophy is a discipline, judo is a discipline, even meditation is a discipline. Appealing to an inexistent supernatural being is not a discipline, but, rather, an apotropaic ritual worthy of study by anthropologists and mental-health professionals. Moreover, any “guidance” received as the apparent result of such dark conjuring should cause grave alarm and prompt a visit to the local psychiatric ward. And any “solace” bestowed by such behavior is based on a false premise, and may provoke, ultimately, a crisis when and if the conjurors awaken from their self-induced trance, or just grow up.

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      Obama then informs us that prayer “gives us the strength to do God’s work: to feed the hungry, care for the poor, comfort the afflicted, and make peace where there is strife.” Tell that to secular aid organizations such as Oxfam, USAID and the United Way (for more, see here), where, incidentally, no one spends donor money on proselytizing pamphlets or other venues for indoctrinating vulnerable people in occult dogmas. No need to drag mysticism into humanitarian work. Moreover, it is indisputable that religion (and especially Catholicism and Islam) does much to ensure the persistence of poverty and hunger across the globe. The Catholic Church, in forbidding condom use in AIDS-ravaged Africa, among other places, has helped bring about 11 million orphans. The Islamist aversion to educating women deprives entire populations of the intellectual potential of half their inhabitants, which hinders their societies’ rise out of poverty through the one proven effective way — the empowerment of women, as the theoretical physicist Lawrence Krauss has observed.

      As for religion’s “making peace where there is strife,” Obama has it exactly backward. Mass conversion to atheism would serve us all better than atavistic attachment to polarizing dogmas and macabre fables inscribed in ancient books. Look at those stoking the world’s most lethal conflicts today — ISIS, Boko Haram, al-Qaida and its many affiliates. They slaughter on a sectarian basis. One magic book isn’t better than another. All are injurious to the commonweal. To solve our problems, we need to reason out solutions and work together, not obey dictates found in antiquated texts.

      Obama then announces, and certainly without license from his rationalist constituency, that “In times of uncertainty or tragedy, Americans offer humble supplications for comfort for those who mourn, for healing for those who are sick, and for protection for those who are in harm’s way. When we pray, we are reminded that we are not alone — our hope is a common hope, our pain is shared, and we are all children of God.”

      It goes without saying that nonbelievers do not “offer humble supplications for comfort” to any fictitious deity, nor do we consider ourselves its offspring, nor would we resort to Voodoo liturgies to console mourners or heal the sick or save the imperiled. In any case, however much you wish to help the ill, don’t pray for them, or you risk actually doing them harm, as a well-known study has shown. And don’t bother praying for victims of repression, either. The escaped slave and abolitionist writer Frederick Douglass put it most trenchantly, in words that can be adapted to fit the circumstances: It would be “infinitely better to send them a pocket compass and a pistol.” Those in dire straits require concrete assistance, not, again, Voodoo mumblings and the like.

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      Yet Obama is just warming to his soterial task. “Millions of individuals worldwide,” he says, “are subjected to discrimination, abuse, and sanctioned violence simply for exercising their religion or choosing not to claim a faith . . . . Communities are threatened with genocide and driven from their homelands because of who they are or how they pray.” That sectarianism may lead to genocide should prompt not more prayer, given that such supplications are futile, and, among the besieged themselves, only entrench insoluble differences between faith groups. Calls for peacemaking and attempts at reconciliation are in order.

      “The United States,” Obama then tells us, “will . . . work to . . . protect religious freedom throughout the world,” and also “take every action within [its] power to secure” the release of “prisoners of conscience — who are held unjustly because of their faiths or beliefs.”

      Well and good. So what action will the Obama administration take to free the brave, ailing blogger Raif Badawi, imprisoned by its longtime U.S. ally Saudi Arabia on charges of apostasy since 2012 and subject to public lashings? It should be noted that Badawi would hardly benefit if the brutal theocracy destroying his life became even more devout.

      “Prayer,” Obama says, “is a powerful force for peace, justice, and a brighter, more hopeful tomorrow.” On the basis of what evidence does he dare make this sweeping statement? There is none. It is pablum meant for those deluded souls disposed to waste their time on a fruitless ritual that makes them feel good, instead of actually doing something useful.

      Winding down, Obama evokes our joining “together in fellowship,” and our efforts “to see our own reflection in the struggle of others, to be our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers.” The unpleasant evangelical code word “fellowship” aside, these noble notions may be realized without recourse to intrinsically contentious ideologies. They are part of the morals that we evolved as clan-forming primates; without them, without cooperation, altruism, and empathy, we could not have survived as a species.

      Then comes the jarring prelude to the peroration:

      I, Barack Obama, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim May 7, 2015, as a National Day of Prayer. I invite the citizens of our nation to give thanks, in accordance with their own faiths and consciences, for our many freedoms and blessings, and I join all people of faith in asking for God’s continued guidance, mercy, and protection as we seek a more just world.

      There we have it: the president of our secular republic citing the Constitution as legal sanction for his promotion of religious activity. In case it’s unclear, “giving thanks” requires an addressee, which a reasonable individual would have to conclude is none other than the Lord Himself. “Blessings,” too, invokes God.

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    5. {...}

      His closing lines elicit a sad, protracted bout of head-shaking:

      “In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this sixth day of May, in the year of our Lord two thousand fifteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-ninth.”

      Whereof? Hereunto? Set my hand? The spelled-out numerals and the “year of our Lord?” Such turns of phrase suit the sermon of an 18th-century Puritan pulpiteer, or at best the ramblings of some pious, bien-pensant pedant, not a statement from the 21st-century commander-in-chief of the world’s most powerful country. Such hokey “Olde English” speaks exactly to how inapposite his preceding godly musings sound nowadays, at least to rationalists, all the more so since they come from a Harvard-educated former lecturer in constitutional law. To modify the maxim of the physicist Steven Weinberg to fit the occasion: It takes religion to make serious people do ridiculous things.

      One assumes some scribe in the White House press service composed the Proclamation, not Obama himself, but that does not matter; he signed his name to it, and thereby helped give another breath of life to a harmful, antiquated phenomenon that is slowly but surely fading away in the United States, just as it has diminished in Western Europe. Obama needs to get with the program, not pander to the superstitions of far too many of his fellow citizens.

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    6. {...}

      Leadership here is crucial. Religion is not some metaphysical conceit concerning only those who profess it; it menaces our national well-being and is dumbing down our people.

      Faith has always stood on the wrong side of the quest for truth, starting most egregiously with Christian theologians objecting to “heresies” that posited nature following laws (an infringement on God’s “omnipotence”), the earth orbiting the sun, or humankind sharing kinship with other primates. The last two “heresies” are alive and well: one out of five Americans believe the sun circles the earth, four out of 10 think God created humankind less than 10,000 years ago, and only 28 percent of teachers consistently teach evolution. Surely a generation of heavily faith-polluted home-schooling plays into this, but so does God-friendly prattle proffered by politicians – including, of course, our Panderer-in-Chief and his Prayer Day Proclamation – an outrage to rationalists everywhere who expect the United States to set an example. As a purely practical matter, time spent puzzling over the Bible’s myriad obscurities would be better and far more gainfully employed doing almost anything else, from having (biblically uninhibited) sex, to reading Kant to enjoying Beethoven. Doing anything, in short, but trying to fathom the unfathomable idiocies of one or another Abrahamic religion.

      It’s long past time for Obama, and the pack of faith-mongering pols clambering to replace him, to realize this, and help America join the rest of the civilized world.

      H. L. Mencken once wrote of the “graveyard of the dead gods” and listed all those deities, from Resheph to Baal, Tezcatilpoca to Huitzilopochtli and dozens more, now forgotten. Yet in their day, “To doubt them was to die,” noted Mencken, “usually at the stake. Armies took to the field to defend them against infidels: villages were burned, women and children were butchered, cattle were driven off.”

      It’s time to dig one more grave – and fill it.

      Jeffrey Tayler is a contributing editor at the Atlantic. His seventh book, "Topless Jihadis -- Inside Femen, the World's Most Provocative Activist Group," is out now as an Atlantic e-book. Follow @JeffreyTayler1 on Twitter.

      Delete
  19. No one believes for a second that Obama believes a single word off the that banal tripe.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Polemics aside, I am continually amazed, and saddened, by US politicians need to invoke religion in order to survive in politics.

      "God Bless America"

      Delete
    2. A religious movement put together by an oatmeal salesman.

      Delete
    3. America is not the United States, Ash.
      God, in its many forms, should bless our hemisphere.

      While the government of the United States has plainly stated it is not religious.
      It did so while the Founders were still in charge.
      ... receiving ratification unanimously from the U.S. Senate on June 7, 1797, and signed by Adams, taking effect as the law of the land on June 10, 1797.

      The Treaty of Tripoli, was never rescinded.

      Article 11 reads:

      Art. 11. As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquility, of Mussulmen [Muslims]; and as the said States never entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mahometan [Muslim] nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.


      Is not Christian and has no dog in any sectarian fight.

      Delete
  20. Russia-US special consultation on Syria due in Moscow May 18

    Russia May 17, 11:36 UTC+3

    MOSCOW, May 17. /TASS/. The U.S. Special Envoy for Syria Daniel Rubinstein is arriving in Moscow on Sunday to participate in the Russia-U.S. special expert consultations on Syria due on May 18, Press Attache of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow William Stevens confirmed to TASS on Sunday.

    He did not rule out the meetings on Syria in Moscow may continue to Tuesday, May 19.

    Earlier, a source at the Russian Foreign Ministry told TASS about possible special consultations on Syria between Russia and the U.S.
    "The parties hope to discuss deeply and in more details the issues related to political settlement of the Syrian crisis," the source said.
    The U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland arrived in Moscow on Sunday, and her official programme will begin on Monday, the U.S. embassy said.

    Nuland is expected to meet with senior Russian government officials to discuss the next steps aimed at implementing the Minsk agreements following her visit to Kiev on May 14-16 and also the meetings held by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Sochi.
    She will also discuss bilateral issues with Russian officials and meet with civil society representatives, the U.S. Department of State said in a statement released on Saturday.

    Earlier this week, Nuland traveled to Kiev, where she held meetings with Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk and President Pyotr Poroshenko. “Coordinating our actions with the United States is vitally important," Poroshenko said following talks.

    After a visit to Kiev, Nuland said Washington was willing to expand its participation in ensuring the implementation of the Minsk agreements, together with the EU and the "Normandy Four" countries. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov has told TASS that the United States is showing interest not only in the "Normandy Four" format, but also in the Contact Group on Ukraine. However, the Russian Foreign Ministry sees no point in that.

    He also said the negotiations at the Foreign Ministry in Moscow will be devoted to “the Russian-American relations and to the situation in Ukraine."

    “At the Foreign Ministry on May 18, Victoria Nuland will have a meeting with Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin and me," the diplomat said.

    The visit will be the second trip of a senior U.S. diplomat to Russia in a week. On May 12, the U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry held talks with Russia’s top diplomat Sergey Lavrov in Sochi and was later received by Russian President Vladimir Putin. "The two sides exchanged views on virtually all key issues of present-day international agenda," Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov said following talks. “Of course, the Ukrainian issue was high on the agenda," he noted.

    TASS has information that Nuland will several more meetings with Russian officials.

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  21. Deuce, you post on Iran is thrilling, you as an Iranian cheerleader must be gushing with pride of those 13 fun filled facts of about the Islamic Republic of Iran. I am sure the Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, would welcome Americans to come and visit and vacation in their paradise.

    Iran's tolerance for Jews, Bhai's, Christians, gays, LGBT and Canadian reporters is legendary. In fact I hear that Iran's mullahs personally host a party for the Transgendered in a monthly party that would make a Roman orgy look tame. When Islamic Mullah host sex parties they HOST sex parties. I hear tell that some of the he-shes even show their ANKLES!!!!!!!

    Those that claim, like me, that Iran hates Jews and Israel are just wack a doodles, after all, Iran does keep in a few Jews on display for tourists to see and play with, (so what if iran hold in prison family members and routinely executes them to keep the Jews in line) Iran is a progressive fun filled country that is on the verge of proving to the world what a islamist state with an active nuclear bomb program can accomplish!!!

    Your funny comparison of Neda and Rachael Corrie is quite amusing! After all Rachel had every right to protest the bulldozing of a terrorist's empty home, by throwing herself in front of a bulldozer (that had no way of seeing her) she stood for the rights of all terrorists to enjoy their homes while trying to murder Jews, that is HER god given right after all, besides, Don't all Jew hating gals from Seattle have a right to travel 9000 miles to protest against Israel?

    Neda? She was a whore. She deserved to be shot in the gut, she showed her FACE in public to protest, peacefully protesting Iran's duly constituted, by ALLAH, government...

    Rachael is and was a saint, Neda was a slut, whore, tramp, infidel.... Need got what she deserved, standing on a corner showing off her ARMS for god's sake...

    Now Rachael? Or shall I call her her new Sainted name?

    Sure

    St Pancake, of Rachael, will be canonized by the Francis the Pope, with his new best buddy, the celebrated, newly minted, ANGEL OF PEACE Abu Abbas soon at the Newly recognized State of Palestine!!!!!

    Get your tickets soon!!!

    They will be selling out....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Poor little "O"rdure ...

      So wrapped up in his hate, he fails to comprehend that the "Synagogue of Satan" cannot stand.
      Those that have embraced the "Holy Book of Babylon" are not Judaic.

      The lies he was told as a child, they have turned his mind to mush., just as was planned by Nebuchadnezzar.

      Delete
    2. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

      Delete
    3. Once again, you show your true colors.

      No need to split hairs with your absurd bullshit.

      Wormtongue you are…

      A liar. Jew hater and inventer and poster of nonsense.

      You spin and wiggle and twist.

      But the truth is easy to see…

      A Jew hating, Israel trashing, Judaism slandering, Zionist bashing troll of a man.

      simple really.

      Embrace your self honestly, you are a spiritual nazi.

      Delete
    4. I deleted this by mistake:

      What is "Occupation"Sun May 17, 10:16:00 AM EDT
      Once again, you show your true colors.

      No need to split hairs with your absurd bullshit.

      Wormtongue you are…

      A liar. Jew hater and inventer and poster of nonsense.

      You spin and wiggle and twist.

      But the truth is easy to see…

      A Jew hating, Israel trashing, Judaism slandering, Zionist bashing troll of a man.

      simple really.

      Embrace your self honestly, you are a spiritual nazi.

      Delete

      Delete
    5. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete

    6. Apartheid, that is "Occupation"

      Delete
    7. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    8. To Jack:

      Once again, you show your true colors.

      No need to split hairs with your absurd bullshit.

      Wormtongue you are…

      A liar. Jew hater and inventer and poster of nonsense.

      You spin and wiggle and twist.

      But the truth is easy to see…

      A Jew hating, Israel trashing, Judaism slandering, Zionist bashing troll of a man.

      simple really.

      Embrace your self honestly, you are a spiritual nazi.

      Delete
  22. Here are five things the Israeli government or the Israeli people have done to maintain this racial makeup.

    1. No-Sex Contracts: In 2003, an Israeli company importing Chinese workers required them to sign a contract agreeing not to marry or have sex with any Israelis. No legal action was taken against the company, as Israel has no laws protecting workers from such demands.

    2. Birth Control Without Consent: For years, the Israeli government was injecting Ethiopian Jewish immigrants with birth control, “often without their knowledge or consent.” When the practice was exposed in 2013, it was ordered to be halted.

    3. Deporting Non-Jews: Anyone in the world with Jewish lineage can move to Israel and claim citizenship. But if you're not Jewish, things can be dicey. Many refugees from African conflicts have fled to Israel to claim asylum. Israel has locked many of them into massive camps in the desert. It has granted asylum to 0.07% of those seeking it, deporting many others. NPR recently did a story on some refugees who were deported, only to be slain by ISIS.

    4. Stripping Palestinians of Land Rights: The Israeli Supreme Court recently laid out two decisions essentially allowing Israel the right to demolish Palestinian communities within Israel itself—not the Occupied Territories—to clear land for Jewish Israelis.

    5. Discriminatory Marriage Laws:In the United States, marriage is one of the ways a spouse can gain legal entry through a green card and citizenship. Israel prohibits its citizens from marrying Palestinians in the territories, by refusing to recognize their spouses as citizens. Israel also has no civil marriage law, leaving the institution in the hands of religious clerics who work to prevent interracial marriage.

    6. Right Of Return, For Jews Only:The most systematic policy designed to maintain a Jewish majority is the Law of Return. Under this law, Jews can come to Israel from anywhere in the world and claim citizenship, but Palestinians expelled after various wars from homes that were in Israel cannot. The double standard was expressed by Ghada Karmi and Ellen Siegel, a Palestinian woman and a Jewish woman who met in London in the early 1970s. They have posed multiple times with these signs over the years:

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    1. I would like to see The GOP defense of that.

      Delete
    2. ... on their yearly mission to Israel.

      Delete
    3. Here are five things the Israeli government or the Israeli people have done to maintain this racial makeup.

      Nice "qualifier" there....

      or the Israeli people...

      LOL

      weak

      Delete
    4. 1. No-Sex Contracts: In 2003, an Israeli company importing Chinese workers required them to sign a contract agreeing not to marry or have sex with any Israelis. No legal action was taken against the company, as Israel has no laws protecting workers from such demands.


      AN Israeli Company... Now that is an inditement..

      Delete
    5. 2. Birth Control Without Consent: For years, the Israeli government was injecting Ethiopian Jewish immigrants with birth control, “often without their knowledge or consent.” When the practice was exposed in 2013, it was ordered to be halted.


      Order Halted? So a wrong was corrected? Cool, Now in America it is LEGAL for our Government to support Planned Parenthood that has aborted 73 MILLION babies since Roe v Wade, with he MAJORITY of them going to POOR BLACKS, Margaret Sanger would be so proud...

      American Democrats have supported a Klan supporting program called "eugenics" since the 1910's to keep the colored folks under control...

      Of course we could speak to the medical experiments using LSD on blacks by the American government as well...

      One standard for Israel and no standards for anyone else.

      Delete
    6. 3. Deporting Non-Jews: Anyone in the world with Jewish lineage can move to Israel and claim citizenship. But if you're not Jewish, things can be dicey. Many refugees from African conflicts have fled to Israel to claim asylum. Israel has locked many of them into massive camps in the desert. It has granted asylum to 0.07% of those seeking it, deporting many others. NPR recently did a story on some refugees who were deported, only to be slain by ISIS.


      Nice slanting of the actual truth...

      In early May 2010, it was estimated that 24,339 undocumented workers resided in Israel, of whom the number of Sudanese and Eritrean refugees who are not deportable under international law was 18,959: 5,649 Sudanese and 13,310 Eritreans. 16,766 of them received a special visa (ס 2א 5) granted to illegal immigrants who are non-deportable asylum seekers. Officially, the visa allows them only to stay in the country, but in practice the state also allows the refugees to work and avoids imposing fines on the Israeli employers who employ them.


      So the actual story? tens of thousands of ILLEGALS do live and work in Israel, they do not have legal status but the last majority still live and work in Israel. JUST like the USA many illegals technically are not allowed to be here but do STAY..

      One standard for Israel no standards for anyone else?

      Delete
    7. 4. Stripping Palestinians of Land Rights: The Israeli Supreme Court recently laid out two decisions essentially allowing Israel the right to demolish Palestinian communities within Israel itself—not the Occupied Territories—to clear land for Jewish Israelis.


      There are illegal ARAB communities and illegal Jewish communities INSIDE Israel. Typically they are tents with sheet metal "communities" that are filled with squatters...

      Jack, the blog's jew hating queen, reported at least 100 times about an arab community "destroyed" by Israel in Israel 57 times in 36 months... LOL Tents are now considered a town.

      Illegal structures are illegal in Israel and guess what IN THE USA....

      Try creating a community on State or Federal lands in America...

      LOL

      One standard for Israel no standards for anyone else?

      Delete
    8. 5. Discriminatory Marriage Laws:In the United States, marriage is one of the ways a spouse can gain legal entry through a green card and citizenship. Israel prohibits its citizens from marrying Palestinians in the territories, by refusing to recognize their spouses as citizens. Israel also has no civil marriage law, leaving the institution in the hands of religious clerics who work to prevent interracial marriage.


      Any Israeli may marry a Palestinian from the territories, but they, as a couple may not live inside Israel, however they can live inside the Palestinian controlled lands of their newly minted state... Or can they?

      Israel will not assist terrorists from the territories from using a cover of marriage a way to get inside israel.

      As for the control of who marries who INSIDE of Israel? If you do not like the rules? Do what many others do, simply marry outside of israel and their marriages are then recognized by the state.

      Delete
    9. 6. Right Of Return, For Jews Only:The most systematic policy designed to maintain a Jewish majority is the Law of Return. Under this law, Jews can come to Israel from anywhere in the world and claim citizenship, but Palestinians expelled after various wars from homes that were in Israel cannot. The double standard was expressed by Ghada Karmi and Ellen Siegel, a Palestinian woman and a Jewish woman who met in London in the early 1970s. They have posed multiple times with these signs over the years:


      Israel is the Nation State of the Jewish people. Jews have an inherent RIGHT to come home to Israel.

      Israel, to remind you, is but 1/900th of the middle east. the Arabs control 899/900th of the middle east.

      there is one Jewish state. there are dozens of Islamic nations and over 22 arab nations....

      If you are an arab or a moslem? there are numerous places to live free as a moslem... Go and be free.

      Now Israel DOES have 20% arab/moslems as citizens. It's not the JOB of Israel to GROW the moslem population of the Jewish state... However if it really sucked for the arabs of Israel? They are free to leave at any time.... but they don't... and they won't... But Israel has a right to decide who becomes citizens... certainly not those that seek it's destruction...

      LOL

      Delete
  23. The same Republicans and Democrats that give an annual $3.5 billion check to Israel for security, must surely be as concerned about the safety and security of Americans. For sure, well maybe not:

    WASHINGTON -- Senate Republicans had planned to propose spending cuts and reforms to Amtrak this week, but after the derailment on Tuesday that killed at least seven people, the announcement of the proposal is on hold, Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., told International Business Times.

    “We were going to roll something out this week, and I think now is a time to be respectful of the families and maybe I’ll talk about policy going forward,” said Wicker, a member of the Senate Committee on Science, Commerce and Transportation, which oversees Amtrak. “But clearly we will not be rolling anything out today.”

    Established by the government as the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Amtrak is government-owned and exists thanks to more than $1 billion in federal funding every year. It also receives assistance from a number of states for operating rails within their borders. So while it’s not a traditional government agency, it is subject to the same oversight and control as a federal entity would be. For example, last year Congress capped the amount of overtime an Amtrak employee can receive and criticized food service losses.

    Got to love the Bible Thumping Republicans, billions for Israel and cold oatmeal for Americans.

    ReplyDelete
  24. ...but rest assured every Republican heart and prayers are with the families.

    ReplyDelete
  25. God fearing motherfuckers that they are.

    ReplyDelete
  26. The Republicans are especially Christ-like Christians one and all when it come to feeding the multitudes. Surely that is so. Maybe not:

    Wisconsin Republicans are pushing legislation to restrict what poor people can buy with food stamps.

    On Wednesday, a public benefits committee of the Wisconsin State Legislature approved a bill that would require food stamp beneficiaries to use two-thirds of their monthly allotment on healthy foods approved for a separate and much smaller federal nutrition program that serves pregnant women and moms with new babies. The bill would also prohibit them from buying "crab, lobster, shrimp, or any other shellfish."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The new Republican job creation initiative could be to place basket checkers in every supermarket . FSA (food security agency) for the Homeland of course, God be with them.

      Delete
    2. "crab, lobster, shrimp, or any other shellfish."

      Those foods are forbidden to the faithful, in Leviticus 11:12.
      The GOP wants to place religious standards on the assistance the government provides ...

      It is a slippery slope towards Authoritativeness.

      Delete
  27. Jack writes in his 2nd language. (english)

    It is a slippery slope towards Authoritativeness.



    LOL

    Funny when his Arabic gets in the way)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's Entertainment

      Murdering Palestinian children, that's "Occupation"

      Delete
    2. No Jack.

      Murder is the intentional killing of a specific target.

      By your definition?

      Hamas MURDERS Palestinian children....

      I guess they "OCCUPY" the strip?

      Hamas said to have executed dozens of tunnel diggers

      Anyone they suspected might transfer information to Israel on the tunnels was killed by the military wing,” a different source said. “They were very cruel.”

      In 2012, a Journal of Palestine Studies article claimed 160 Palestinian children were killed while working on Hamas’s tunnel system.


      Wow...


      Murdering Palestinian children, that's "Occupation"

      LOL

      Delete
  28. George Soros dumps another of his ISraeli investments ...

    George Soros's hedge fund Soros Fund Management sold all its holdings in Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.

    While AIPAC tries to make boycotts illegal ...

    Aipac Wants Congress to Criminalize BDS
    http://www.politico.com/story/2015/05/trade-bill-israel-aipac-117815.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      Another reason to vote down TPP.

      .

      Delete
    2. Canada is making BDS criminal, Germany is doing so as well...

      the world is waking up...


      BDS are spiritual nazis and are criminal enterprises....

      Delete

    3. The pressure is mounting on the economy of ISrael, the real existential threat to fascist Zionism in Palestine.

      Despite the denials of "O"rdure, AIPAC's actions tell the us the truth.
      The Boycott, Sanctions and Divestiture movement has the Zionists scared.

      Denial of Palestinian legitimacy, that is "Occupation"

      Delete
    4. There is no such place called ISrael.

      Your constant posts proves you are a spiritual Nazi.

      You advocate for the genocide of Jew, you call them frauds.

      You seek the deaths of millions.

      Now as for the FAKE national identity called "Palestinian" Go for it...

      By the way, it is FUNNIER than SHIT that there is NO P in arabic...

      Naming yourself a people who can't even PRONOUNCE it's own NAME.....

      Even the Crips and Bloods can pronounce their names...

      LOL

      Delete
    5. Germany is doing so as well...

      The Homeland of real NAZI, "O"rdure wants US to us as a model...

      Delete
    6. go ahead, Jack, SAY PALESTINE.....

      what you say?

      F? instead of P?


      Now that's funny..

      Delete
    7. Jack, when you can't respond you change the subject...

      you are a coward and a pussy...

      Delete
    8. LOL

      Jack "I can't say P" Hawkins....

      Palestine...

      LOL

      An invented group who can't even say their own name...

      Delete
    9. Jack says:

      Denial of Palestinian legitimacy, that is "Occupation"


      Denial of Israel's legitimacy is being a NAZI.

      Delete

    10. The Homeland of real NAZI, "O"rdure wants US to use as a model...



      Lies and Deceit as instrument of government policy, that is "O"ccupation"

      Delete

    11. Denial of ISraeli legitimacy is in line with UN Resolution 181.

      Acceptance of ISraeli legitimacy is an acceptance of Apartheid.
      Acceptance of ISraeli legitimacy is an acceptance of Colonialism.
      Acceptance of Israeli legitimacy is an acceptance of Fascism.

      Delete
    12. Jack, defers as he cannot respond.

      LOL

      Pussy...

      Delete
    13. Jack I say it again...

      LOL

      Jack "I can't say P" Hawkins....

      Palestine...

      LOL

      An invented group who can't even say their own name...



      Can you pronounce the word PALESTINE?????


      LOL


      FFFFFFFF

      FFFFFFFF


      FFFFFFFF

      Delete
    14. Jack we are waiting, how is that P coming along?

      Delete
  29. AN Israeli Company... Now that is an inditement.

    All six of those points would be illegal in The US and most of Europe.The point is that the proposition that Israel is a western style democracy is nonsense. Almost all of the European Israelis came from countries that never had any functioning democracy, so why would anyone expect them to value it? That there exists a US/Israeli parity on social or governance is pure fiction. Israel should be a non-starter for US interests on a par with Paraguay.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. But is it ILLEGAL in the middle east?

      Delete
    2. All six of those points would be illegal in The US and most of Europe.

      So what?

      gay marriage was illegal in the USA until recently....

      Delete
    3. Almost all of the European Israelis came from countries that never had any functioning democracy, so why would anyone expect them to value it?

      Almost 60% of Israelis came from arab occupied nations of the middle east and they too didn't have a functioning democracy.


      But you have never been to Israel and to see how the nation does work for all it's citizens.. It aint perfect, nor is any european nation and certainly not the USA

      Delete
    4. Deuce speaks of legalities..

      Sets Europe and the USA up as a standard.

      Deuce picks the issue and the time to hold the line.

      What was the legal status of women and black in America for most of it's history?

      Was it legal in most european nation and arab nations to consider jews 2nd class states for the majority of history? (yep)

      Delete

    5. Denying over 4 million residents citizenship, then claiming the country to be democratic, is a lie.

      Delete
    6. Denying over 4 million residents citizenship, then claiming the country to be democratic, is a lie.

      It's 12 million and it's the USA

      LOL

      retard

      Delete
    7. Jack, Palestine is a Nation, 127 countries have recognized it.

      How racist of you to think they should be Israelis...

      Delete
    8. No one makes any pretense that the US is like Iraq. Jordan, Syria, Egypt, Turkey, Iran, or Saudi Arabia. If they did, I would reject it. I reject that there is some innate commonality between Israel and the US. Israel is the most costly and dangerous so-called-ally we have. It is a severe constant liability , detrimental to real US interest and to Americans without convicted loyalties.

      Delete
    9. If the Zionist allowed ISrael to be democratic, allowed all it's 'natural born' to vote, the Zionists would lose control of the government.

      They will not allow that, it is against the precepts laid out in the Babylonian Holy Book of the "Synagogue of Satan", the Talmud

      Delete
    10. No one makes any pretense that the US is like Iraq. Jordan, Syria, Egypt, Turkey, Iran, or Saudi Arabia. If they did, I would reject it.

      Mighty WHITE of you deuce.

      Delete
    11. Deuce: I reject that there is some innate commonality between Israel and the US.

      ignorance of the innate commonality doesn't nullify it...

      GO visit Israel and learn. There still is time.

      Delete
    12. Deuce: Israel is the most costly and dangerous so-called-ally we have

      How can you even try to quantify such a loaded statement.?

      What is a cost? What is an ally let alone a "so called" ally?


      Broad, nonspecific accusations just serve to increase hostility and not solve anything.

      Delete
    13. Deuce: It is a severe constant liability , detrimental to real US interest and to Americans without convicted loyalties.

      How dare America stand against tyranny and totalitarianism?

      What is in America's REAL interests? To support the Mullahs of Iran OR Saudi Arabia? The dictators of Syria and Russia? the Terrorists called Hezbollah and Hamas?

      is that in America's interest?

      Who decides what is in America's interest?

      Delete
    14. Deuce: Americans without convicted loyalties.

      Sounds like Joe McCarthy....

      Wow

      Let's ask the same question of arab and moslem americans.....

      Are catholic americans loyal to america or to the pope?

      Are Somolias? Ethopians? Iranians? Irish?

      Delete
  30. "Bless those who curse you"-Jesus

    I cursed Jesus and God and Moses too.

    My god is Truth, and the Truth doesn't change or bless me or curse me.
    It just abides as it is.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My truth lies in Hubble. Hubble is truth. Hubble is revelation and what it reveals is magnificent beyond time and place.

      Delete
    2. We now know that you can stand below the nighttime sky, place your hand above you and hidden behind that hand are 500 million galaxies spread over 13 billion light years. Our own galaxy has 300 billion stars, each of those three hundred billion solar systems have planets.

      Delete
    3. You're full of shit.

      The One breaks into the Many, always and inexplicably.

      Deuce is the perfect moniker for you.

      You can't see past duality.

      It is why the Buddha is represented as mediating backwards, against time, back to the source, to the One.

      Duo, Deuce, Duality, Diablo, Duplicitous, etc etc......our language recognizes a truth you don't comprehend........

      (taken from The Perennial Philosophy)

      Poor kiddo. So full of his existential angst.

      Delete
    4. Go kill something that won’t shoot back.

      Delete
  31. Jack HawkinsSun May 17, 11:15:00 AM EDT

    Denying over 4 million residents citizenship, then claiming the country to be democratic, is a lie.



    Jack points his bony finger at the USA gets the number wrong.....

    but so what he's still trying to SAY PALESTINE

    ffffff
    fffff
    ffff
    fff
    ff
    f


    oh what the hell Jack says...

    ReplyDelete
  32. That is the essence of "O"rdure's case, that recognition equals legitimacy?

    North Korea maintains diplomatic relations with 165 states.
    If that is what make a government 'legitimate', well then, North Korea is 25% more legitimate than Israel.

    I would deny the government of NorK is a legitimate one, though I would not deny its existence, nor its ability to subjugate the people under its control..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. you need to go back and read the English again....

      LOL

      Delete
    2. It is the subjugation of the people under the government's control that causes the loss of legitimacy,
      The recognition of a government's control of a country is not to be conflated with a recognition of its legitimacy.


      Delete
    3. It is not about Jack Hawkins, "O"rdure.

      Your attempts to move the discussion from the actions countries to spelling by fictional characters, infantile.


      Denial of basic human rights to the subjugated people, that is "Occupation"

      Delete
    4. But then again, when you have no other arrows in your quiver ...

      Harvard Law School professor Alan Dershowitz shares with his students a strategy for successfully defending cases.

      If the facts are on your side, Dershowitz says, pound the facts into the table.
      If the law is on your side, pound the law into the table.
      If neither the facts nor the law are on your side, pound the table.

      http://www.weegy.com/?ConversationId=206A0BA6


      Delete
    5. Yep you lack English reading comprehension....

      Go back to school Jack...

      Delete
    6. When Jack doesn't like the facts and argument?

      Change the subject, answer another question that was NOT asked...

      LOL

      Delete
  33. .

    I was up late last night and am too tired to get into the subject at the moment but in scanning today's screed on the irrationality of religion and the benefits to be brought by atheism, I noticed one line about how religion was detrimental to children and it suddenly occurred to me that the atheists have now adopted the same formula that has worked so successfully for the gay community over the past six decades. [See: QuirkSun May 17, 03:39:00 AM EDT The latest assault on American culture and mores: sexual fluidity and spectrum.] The analogies are striking, the propaganda techniques identical, the talking points strikingly similar, all designed to transform what can only be described as aberrations from the 'norm' into the 'normal'.

    [Note: When I use the word 'aberration' I intend its basic meaning as in 'deviating from the ordinary, usual, or normal type' rather than suggesting any moral or derogatory implications. When I am ready to lay out the question, I will try to make it a 'rational' discussion of the propaganda and techniques involved.]

    .

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Deuce posted an entire story of how propaganda and marketing techniques were used to make "Christian Fundamentalism" the 'norm'.

      What passes for the 'norm' is pretty fluid and as technological innovations in communication advance it will become ever more fluid.
      This fluidity, the 'progress' is what is being fought over, all around the world.

      The 'norm' in the United States once included slavery, it no longer does.


      Delete
    2. The most interesting part, to me ...

      ... the idea of the individual being the basic unit of analysis, that individual choices are really what matters, that’s how you create yourself.

      Whereas older ideas would see society as more of an organic unity, they see it as a collection of individuals.


      A grand shift in what was the cultural 'norm'.
      One not yet accepted in many areas of the world, or even by many contributors, here.

      Delete
    3. .

      Rat, you are merely being pedantic. Saying something just to be saying something.

      Deuce posted an entire story of how propaganda and marketing techniques were used to make "Christian Fundamentalism" the 'norm'.

      So what? I will be talking about the similarities between the techniques used by atheists and those used by the gay rights movement. They differ from those described in Deuce's post on fundamentalism.

      If you want to do a post expanding on techniques used to promote fundamentalism do it.

      To the rest of your statement, again, so what?

      What passes for the 'norm' is pretty fluid...

      Nonsense, the norm is and should be quantifiable. Propaganda techniques are often used to try to make you think 'the norm is pretty fluid'. Evidently, they work.

      What I think (hope) you mean is that the norm changes over time which is true enough. However, you have to differentiate between growing trends and the norm. Regarding, your comment on fundamentalism, there is no doubt that the movement is growing rapidly but I certainly wouldn't call it the 'norm' at the moment just as I wouldn't call 'spiritualism' the norm although some argue that 'percentage-wise' it is the fastest growing 'religion' in the world right now.

      .

      Delete
    4. .

      I will get back to this subject after I take a nap and watch the end of the Tigers game with St. Louis.

      It looks like a timely topic given Deuce's recent posts by Jeffrey Tayler (a man deserving of a post devoted solely to him) and the Ron Reagan commercials currently flooding the airways promoting atheism. Gee, when was the last time you saw Ron.

      It looks like pledge week on the Atheist Channel.

      .

      Delete
    5. We should all pay upright attention to our marketing expert.

      He knows.

      Delete
    6. The 'norm' is not at all "quantifiable", Legionnaire.

      Any attempt to make it so, why that would be an interesting read.

      Delete
    7. As to what Deuce posted on the marketing used to make 'fundamentalism' the norm and it's relationship to gay rights and atheism, all tied to the rise of "Individualism" as opposed to the 'organic unity' of the past.

      Perhaps you missed that, I wouldn't be surprised that you had.

      Delete
  34. Most Iraqi troops have abandoned their positions in Ramadi as Islamic State (IS) militants advances further into the city, officials have told the BBC.

    IS has taken control of a key compound used as the provincial military command centre, they said.

    The prime minister called on troops not to desert their positions, while telling Shia militias to prepare to deploy to the heavily Sunni area.
    IS claimed to hold the entire city in a message posted online.

    The message, which has not been independently verified, said militants had captured the 8th Brigade army base as well as tanks and missile launchers.

    Muhannad Haimour, a spokesman for the provincial governor, also said "Ramadi has fallen" to IS, AP news agency reported.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Sen. Rand Paul considers questions about Iraq and how to handle “secular dictators” like Saddam Hussein "important" and should be posed to all of the leading presidential candidates.

    Responding to a question about how former Republican Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida dealt with a week of queries about whether he would've gone into Iraq to overthrow Saddam Hussein, Paul responded, "I don't think it's something that's a hypothetical question. I think it's a recurring question in the Middle East. Is it a good idea to topple secular dictators, and what happens when we do?"

    He also took it a step further saying that Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton should be forced to answer similar questions about her role in overthrowing the former leader of Libya Muammar Gaddafi.

    "I think the war in Iraq was a good question and still a current question, but so is the question of, 'Should we have gone into Libya?'" the Kentucky Republican senator said.

    And Paul repeated that toppling Saddam Hussein is one of the causes of the extreme turmoil in the Middle East. "We are more at risk for attack from people who are training, organizing, and fighting in Iraq than we were before ... ISIS is more of an aberration than even Hussein was," Paul claimed.

    — Shawna Thomas

    “Jeb"

    ReplyDelete
  36. You must have been for this adventure yourself, because back in those days you were saying 'any Republican over any Democrat'.

    You voted for McCain, did you not ?

    You voted for Bush, did you not ?

    Come clean, I know you did. Rufus did as well.

    You were either an idiot then, or are an idiot now.

    It is the latter.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I recall how Rufus wrote in right after voting for McCain "Northern Mississippi secure, Boss".

      I recall how you Deuce, made a mention, maybe a post, about Michael Savage's late hour endorsement of McCain, after I mentioned it.

      Whichever way the wind blows, I guess. Just go with the wind.

      Delete