Self Promotion
How's the Moon?
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2006
2005
--MacBeth V.v.
“Where they have burned books, they will end in burning human beings.”
/|\
I stumbled on the Fred Phelps wikipedia entry. Man, does this guy sound like a closeted homoesexual or what?
...By Phelps's own admission, he never dated [in high school], and had no interest in members of the opposite sex....He became close friends with another boy, John Capron, with whom he spent most of his time...
...Phelps received national attention for the first time when he was featured in an article in Time Magazine for his street-ministry efforts to outlaw kissing on campuses in the Pasadena city limits...
...Phelps began encouraging his congregants to beat them if necessary; he was once forced to bail one of his parishioners out of jail after counseling the man to punch his wife in the face until she became "subjugated."...
And the kicker?
Two years after his disbarment, Phelps would begin his anti-gay picketing crusades. (Perhaps in an attempt to compensate for his arrest in Canada on an Obscene Conduct charge (with another man) and prove to himself that he didn't have bi-sexual tendencies).
Wow. If you read the whole biography, he turns out to be the most despicable human being on this earth possibly ever.
posted by Mary, 2:55 PMIran, China Close to Signing Major Oil Deal
Which, let's face it, is bad for the US and Europe if we decide to attack Iran.
posted by Mary, 2:40 PMThere are a lot of reasons I wouldn't want to live in Texas: the climate, the landscape, and I really wouldn't fit in with the culture. But here's a new, really really big reason not to move there:
Police chief wants surveillance cameras in Houston apartmentsHouston's police chief is suggesting putting surveillance cameras in apartment complexes, downtown streets and even private homes.
Chief Harold Hurtt today said it's another way of combatting crime amid a shortage of officers.
Texas: The Land the Constitution Forgot.
posted by Mary, 2:40 PMDidn't realize this, but Archbishop Paul Marcinkus, one of the architects of the Vatican banking scandal (and who I still think had something to do with John Paul I's death) died this week. No doubt he'll be sitting next to Alfonso de Borgia (aka Pope Callistus III) in hell.
I don't think many Americans are actually familiar with the Vatican banking scandal, which is sad because it's not only a "good story", but it shows the despicable ties made between the Mafia, the Vatican, the CIA, NATO, the Freemasons, Latin American despots and drug lords. Peel back the layer of Banco Ambrosiano going under, and you find all the festering wounds of the 20th century. For once, a real conspiracy that makes all your Illuminati stuff look like the crap it is.
Apparently, there are five people finally coming to trial for the murder of Roberto Calvi, head of Banco Ambrosiano, in 1982.
posted by Mary, 11:20 PMCool Stuff: New Moons for Pluto
Hubble Confirms Two New Moons of Pluto.
Personally, I think they should be named Cerberus and Prospertina.
posted by Mary, 11:10 PMDon't Buy Any Maps for a Few Years
Cause the borders are going to change.
Imams are being killed, and according to NPR, even the police forces are getting in on the sectarian violence.
Here's one paragraph from the NYT that stands out to me:
Sunni Arab politicians broke off talks with Shiite and Kurdish leaders over the formation of a new government, saying they would not engage in discussions until those responsible for the attacks on Sunnis had been brought to justice.
What are the chances that the Kurds say "the hell with this" and try to form an actual Kurdistan? What are the chances that Turkey sits by and lets it happen? And what are the chances that Iran sits by and lets Sunnis kill Shiites? Especially if the US doesn't seem to be able to deal with it?
The Bosnian War broke out when I was a kid. I remember my mother saying, "Tito may have been a dictator, but at least he kept them united."
Well. As bad as Hussein was, at least he didn't create a civil war.
On the other hand, I think it can also be blamed on the British colonial forces, creating the nation of Iraq out of three very different religious and ethnic groups. Same stuff the Europeans did in Africa; same results.
And really, what can anyone do but let it burn itself out? Let the civil war happen, I guess. Which sounds awful, sounds heartless. But what answer is there? What, live together? Since when has that ever worked?
posted by Mary, 12:30 PMMore on the Port Deal
Or, as Jim Baker Once Said,
"Fuck the Jews"
Why am I thinking of Baker? Well, he is famously quoted as saing "fuck the Jews, they don't vote for [Republicans] anyway." In other words, if you're not a constituant, who cares what happens to you? Understandable for a local politician, but for national politics, it's disgusting, regardless of who you're "fuck"ing--black, white, Christian, Jewish, etc.
So I find it interesting that the port deal is in predominately Democratic cities--New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Miami, and New Orleans. So what if they get blown up, Bush and his cronies say, it's not like they voted for us anyway.
Now, that's despicable enough. But here's what I didn't know, via Corrente: specifically that Treasury Secretary John Snow stands to make a lot of money from this deal. Which, you know, is great since the deal is being made with VERY good friends of Osama bin Laden, who've even visited him in Afghanistan.
Scared? Oh, but like Bush said, he doesn't even care if bin Laden is ever found, so why should you be scared?
posted by Tlachtga, 4:10 PMBecause anyone who doesn't think there is one is nuts.
Blast Destroys Golden Dome of Sacred Shiite Shrine in Samarra:Insurgents dressed as police commandos detonated powerful explosives on Wednesday morning inside one of Shiite Islam’s most sacred shrines, destroying most of the building, located in the volatile town of Samarra, and prompting thousands of Shiites to flood into streets across the country in protest.
The golden-domed shrine housed the tombs of two revered leaders of Shiite Islam and symbolized the place where the Imam Mahdi, a mythical, messianic figure, disappeared from this earth. Believers in the imam say he will return when the apocalypse is near, to cleanse the world of its evils.
Hmm. Calling the Mahdi mythical is like calling Jesus mythical. Nice job, NYT, nice job.
Anyway, blowing up something important to Shiites isn't just bad for Iraq; I can only imagine this helping to escalate the tension between the US and Iran, a Shiite-controlled nation whose new president is a fervant believer in the Imam Mahdi, and who apparently believes the Imam will come back any day now. This is the equivalent of trying to blow up the Mount of Olives so that Jesus can't descend there.
posted by Tlachtga, 9:35 PMIf only it were just a Nell Carter sitcom...
Bush Threatens to Veto Any Bill to Stop Port Takeover:
President Bush said this afternoon that he would veto any legislation seeking to block the administration's decision to allow a state-owned company from Dubai to assume control of port terminals in New York and other cities. Mr. Bush's rare veto threat came as Republican leaders and many of their Democratic counterparts called up today for the port takeover to be put on hold. They demanded that the Bush administration conduct a further investigation of the Dubai company's acquisition of the British operator of the six American ports. "After careful review by our government, I believe the transaction ought to go forward," Mr. Bush told reporters who were traveling with him on Air Force One to Washington, according to news agencies. "I want those who are questioning it to step up and explain why all of a sudden a Middle Eastern company is held to a different standard than a Great British company. I am trying to conduct foreign policy now by saying to the people of the world, 'We'll treat you fairly." '
So, Mr. Bush, how much money do you have riding on this deal?
You wanna know why this scares me? One of the ports is Philadlephia, my home town. Now, I don't usually see Philly as high on the terrorists' target lists, but this changes things a little. So yeah, I'm biased, because I DON'T WANT MY CITY BLOWN UP.
posted by Tlachtga, 5:00 PMSometimes that's what it takes to get me to start talking again.
I've been incommunicado for a lot of reasons, and it's also affected my ability to get any news about the outside world, other than the big stuff (Iran, Iraq, Cheney shooting a lawyer, etc.)
Well, imagine my surprise to see this in a newspaper left on the train:
Storm rages over ports dealMenendez and other lawmakers say they are worried that the sale could leave key U.S. ports vulnerable to terrorists. At least two Sept. 11, 2001, hijackers were from the United Arab Emirates, and the country was a conduit for a top Pakistani scientist's shipments of smuggled nuclear components to Iran, North Korea and Libya, according to U.S. lawmakers.
The controversy centers on the sale of London-based Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co. to Dubai Ports World in the United Arab Emirates. In addition to Philadelphia, the company has major commercial operations in New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, New Orleans and Miami.
The Bush administration says it found no security risk in the deal but would not elaborate, saying the details are classified.
During a stop in Alabama yesterday, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said the administration had a "very extensive process" for reviewing such transactions.
Oh yeah? Like what? How much money it'll make Bush and his Arab buddies? The Bush family has a long history of working with any government it wants, regardless if it's against the nation's interests: from Prescott Bush's work with Nazi Germany to George Sr. AND Jr.'s deals with the Saudis, this family cares less about the security of the nation than they do about their bank accounts.
This is scary. Look, I wouldn't even farm this job out to an ally, like Britain or even Canada. No other nation should be given a contract to look after the security of this nation. There is no excuse for this.
posted by Tlachtga, 2:00 PM