From Slate.com and an article about Why Germany hates Secientology... http://www.slate.com/id/2171218/nav/ais/ <--- click to read
"Some German officials believe Scientology's ideology is rooted in a kind of political extremism—a bit of a sensitive area for Germany since World War II. They also argue that Scientology is not a religion but a business, since local churches operate like franchises of the main organization. "
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My two cents...
I truely believe all religions should have the right to practice their belief, even Scientology. After all, who is to say they aren't totally correct and we're all wrong? But arguing that Scientology is a "business" and not a "religion" totally misses the mark for excuses not to call it a "religion"!
Come on, crowd! Look at any religion and, in spite of all the ritual and faith and belief structure, they are ALL businesses! The Baptists send money to the HQ like any other franchise and, although they claim the individual churches are "independent", if they screw up enough, they are ostracized by the leadship of the HQ. Same with Methodists, Lutherans, Episcopal, etc.
But, of course, it's the Catholic Church that is a best example of a franchising operation. All decisions come down from Headquarters (the Pope and the Vatican) and that includes every nook and cranny of the Catholics' world. Even the professors at Catholic Universities are under the HQ's thumb. Teach or write outside the dictates of the Central Office and boom... no job.
So, if you're going to pick on Scientology for being a business, you must go after ALL the other religions. They are ALL businesses and at their core, their interest is money, money and more money, like like McDonalds, KFC, Pizza Hut, etc.!
Friday, July 27, 2007
Saudi Problems!
From the NY Times... http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/27/world/middleeast/27saudi.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin
Basically, the stuff is hitting the fan with George the Witless' robed buddies. Someone's figuring out that his former playmates are really just terrorists of another ilk. Rather than fight us directly and risk losing the revenue from their oil, they support the Islamic extremists and play both end against the middle so they don't offend anyone!
George is caught in the middle because he's handholding buddies with the Saudi prince Bandar and because his Daddy and other family members are in business (deeply) with the Saudi's and King Abdullah. So, he has to tread lightly when it comes to representing US interests to these former goat herders.
But now and then some truth comes to light and... well, this is one of those moments.
The solution? Get as far away from middle east oil as we can through alternative fuels (make that our National Priority!) and get out of the middle east and let them kill each other if they must.
-Devon
Basically, the stuff is hitting the fan with George the Witless' robed buddies. Someone's figuring out that his former playmates are really just terrorists of another ilk. Rather than fight us directly and risk losing the revenue from their oil, they support the Islamic extremists and play both end against the middle so they don't offend anyone!
George is caught in the middle because he's handholding buddies with the Saudi prince Bandar and because his Daddy and other family members are in business (deeply) with the Saudi's and King Abdullah. So, he has to tread lightly when it comes to representing US interests to these former goat herders.
But now and then some truth comes to light and... well, this is one of those moments.
The solution? Get as far away from middle east oil as we can through alternative fuels (make that our National Priority!) and get out of the middle east and let them kill each other if they must.
-Devon
The New White House Cat!
From Charlotte.com, an intriguing article about a cat who can sense the next to die in a nursing home. (Click here to read it). It seems the cat curls up with the patient and within a couple hours, they pass away.
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I think this cat needs to visit the next Presidential Cabinet meeting. I suspect it'll head right for Attorney General Gonzales!
-Devon
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I think this cat needs to visit the next Presidential Cabinet meeting. I suspect it'll head right for Attorney General Gonzales!
-Devon
Cornyn's Day's are Numbered!
An atricle from Rio Grande Guardian...
(click here to read it) carries news of the entry of two Democrats into the race to take the Senate seat of John Cornyn, R-Texas, in the 2008 election.
One of the candidates is State Rep. Rick Noriega from Houston. Noriega is a five-term member of the Texas House. A lieutenant colonel in the National Guard, he served one year in combat in Afghanistan. His connections to Laredo and the Valley are strong thanks to his service in the National Guard. In Laredo, he was sector commander for Operation Jump Start for five months. He has been in the operational cell for three Operation Lone Star projects. And, he has worked closely over the years with the 3rd Battalion, 141st Infantry at Weslaco.
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and, of course, my two cents...
If this is the sort of candidate we're going to field in 2008, then it sure looks like Texas is turning BLUE as the people realize their current representation has been nothing more bagman and bagwoman for the Bush Regime.
As Noriega put it, his intention was to “speak truth to power” over the coming months on behalf of millions of Texans who have not had proper representation in the U.S. Senate for the past six years. “This senator (Cornyn) decided early on to represent one Texan – the President of the United States. He has carried George Bush’s brief case. He has not represented the 22 million people that live in the state of Texas,” Noriega said.
I can't wait until Texans can scream, "FREE at LAST! Free at Last!"
-Devon
(click here to read it) carries news of the entry of two Democrats into the race to take the Senate seat of John Cornyn, R-Texas, in the 2008 election.
One of the candidates is State Rep. Rick Noriega from Houston. Noriega is a five-term member of the Texas House. A lieutenant colonel in the National Guard, he served one year in combat in Afghanistan. His connections to Laredo and the Valley are strong thanks to his service in the National Guard. In Laredo, he was sector commander for Operation Jump Start for five months. He has been in the operational cell for three Operation Lone Star projects. And, he has worked closely over the years with the 3rd Battalion, 141st Infantry at Weslaco.
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and, of course, my two cents...
If this is the sort of candidate we're going to field in 2008, then it sure looks like Texas is turning BLUE as the people realize their current representation has been nothing more bagman and bagwoman for the Bush Regime.
As Noriega put it, his intention was to “speak truth to power” over the coming months on behalf of millions of Texans who have not had proper representation in the U.S. Senate for the past six years. “This senator (Cornyn) decided early on to represent one Texan – the President of the United States. He has carried George Bush’s brief case. He has not represented the 22 million people that live in the state of Texas,” Noriega said.
I can't wait until Texans can scream, "FREE at LAST! Free at Last!"
-Devon
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Worse than Nixon?
from MSNBC.com
WASHINGTON - President Bush is a competitive guy. But this is one contest he would rather lose. With 18 months left in office, he is in the running for most unpopular president in the history of modern polling.
The latest Washington Post-ABC News survey shows that 65 percent of Americans disapprove of Bush's job performance, matching his all-time low. In polls conducted by The Post or Gallup going back to 1938, only once has a president exceeded that level of public animosity -- and that was Richard M. Nixon, who hit 66 percent four days before he resigned.
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My two cents? Jesus! What can I say that this doesn't already say?
-Devon
WASHINGTON - President Bush is a competitive guy. But this is one contest he would rather lose. With 18 months left in office, he is in the running for most unpopular president in the history of modern polling.
The latest Washington Post-ABC News survey shows that 65 percent of Americans disapprove of Bush's job performance, matching his all-time low. In polls conducted by The Post or Gallup going back to 1938, only once has a president exceeded that level of public animosity -- and that was Richard M. Nixon, who hit 66 percent four days before he resigned.
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My two cents? Jesus! What can I say that this doesn't already say?
-Devon
Thursday, July 19, 2007
The Perfect Analogy
from MSNBC.com article regarding US troops picking up garbage in Baghdad...
The rotting waste presented enormous dangers not just for Iraqi trash collectors and for local residents exposed to the risk of disease, but for U.S. troops. Corbin said many of his unit’s civil affairs missions in Baghdad were connected in some way to the city’s garbage problem.
“If we didn’t pick up the garbage, then al-Qaida would put explosives in the garbage to kill us,” he said. “And if the streets are full of trash, the Iraqi people are going to be upset and blame us. … Everything is linked.”
I think that's the perfect analogy to the situation our Troops are in. It's a shame. If they don't do what the Iraqi's should be doing, they either get complaints or blown up! It's a total no-win situation and that's why we have to pull back to the fringes and let the Iraqi's do what needs to be done within their own country.
We shouldn't be risking our troops lives to pick up someone else's garbage. George, if you think it's necessary for us to be there, hire Halliburton to do it with your own money. The Republican National Committee should be able to loan you some money!
-Devon
The rotting waste presented enormous dangers not just for Iraqi trash collectors and for local residents exposed to the risk of disease, but for U.S. troops. Corbin said many of his unit’s civil affairs missions in Baghdad were connected in some way to the city’s garbage problem.
“If we didn’t pick up the garbage, then al-Qaida would put explosives in the garbage to kill us,” he said. “And if the streets are full of trash, the Iraqi people are going to be upset and blame us. … Everything is linked.”
I think that's the perfect analogy to the situation our Troops are in. It's a shame. If they don't do what the Iraqi's should be doing, they either get complaints or blown up! It's a total no-win situation and that's why we have to pull back to the fringes and let the Iraqi's do what needs to be done within their own country.
We shouldn't be risking our troops lives to pick up someone else's garbage. George, if you think it's necessary for us to be there, hire Halliburton to do it with your own money. The Republican National Committee should be able to loan you some money!
-Devon
Congress needs to grow some "Big Ones"
There's a excellent article at Slate.com about "Executive Priviledge" and how Congress should respond to the White House in this matter. Click here to read it.
The author offers a idea involving the formation of yet another layer of technology to combat the abuse of executive power but that's adding another layer to the problem rather than peeling away a layer to solve the current problem. As a technician, I'm always wary of "adding another layer" because it tends to complicate matters more often than solve them.
The solution to the abuse of Executive Priviledge is for Congress to grow some "Big Ones" and assert it's oversight authority. After all Congress has the powers granted to it by the Constitution which include oversight and, yes, the I-word, Impeachment. Congress has the authority and responsibility for oversight. For five years, they dropped the ball and let it bounce around while the White House cast a blind eye to its actions which included getting the US involved in the Iraqi Civil War and Occupation. Subsequent to the 2006 elections, the hearings have begun but many are too late to hope for any good to come of their efforts. Meanwhile, the core of the problem lies within the offices of the Vice President, the Senior Adviser, Karl Rove and the Justice Department's head, Alberto Gonzales. And the biggest problem has been the reluctantance of Congress to move forward with some action of disapproval. There are many possible actions but it's time to consider the big one: Impeachment!
Ever since the Clinton Impeachment, I believe the Democrats, especially, have been uncomfortable bring this up because they don't want to look like they are abusing it as the Republicans did against Clinton. They see it as a very serious alternative and wish to reserve it for the most appropriate moment. However, there is a tool available to Congress that could come before Impeachment and will trump the flaccid argument of Executive Privledge. It is called Inherent Comtempt. Congress can compell the testimony of anyone it wants and hold court within its chambers to prosecute anyone it wants, including those mentioned above, to force them to testify of be jailed for comptempt... impeachment to follow, I am sure. It's currently considering Contempt charges against Harriet Myers for not complying with the subpoena to appear. But this is BB-shot compared to what it really MUST do.
If there is any basis for Impeachment in the US Constitution, the actions of the Bush Regime have certainly warranted such action. They've been bold in their resistance to the requirements to report to Congress when requested and lied when they did. They have subverted law and law and skated on the edge of laws, flauting their spirit, if not their letter. Nothing in US history can compare to their absolute disrespect for the Congress, Laws, Traditions, Sanctity, and People of the United States as this adminstration! Nothing! If Congress does not move to Impeachment against Bush, Cheney and Gonzales then they should just "whiteout" the references to it in the Constitution and wait until January 2009 for the nightmare to be over.
The author offers a idea involving the formation of yet another layer of technology to combat the abuse of executive power but that's adding another layer to the problem rather than peeling away a layer to solve the current problem. As a technician, I'm always wary of "adding another layer" because it tends to complicate matters more often than solve them.
The solution to the abuse of Executive Priviledge is for Congress to grow some "Big Ones" and assert it's oversight authority. After all Congress has the powers granted to it by the Constitution which include oversight and, yes, the I-word, Impeachment. Congress has the authority and responsibility for oversight. For five years, they dropped the ball and let it bounce around while the White House cast a blind eye to its actions which included getting the US involved in the Iraqi Civil War and Occupation. Subsequent to the 2006 elections, the hearings have begun but many are too late to hope for any good to come of their efforts. Meanwhile, the core of the problem lies within the offices of the Vice President, the Senior Adviser, Karl Rove and the Justice Department's head, Alberto Gonzales. And the biggest problem has been the reluctantance of Congress to move forward with some action of disapproval. There are many possible actions but it's time to consider the big one: Impeachment!
Ever since the Clinton Impeachment, I believe the Democrats, especially, have been uncomfortable bring this up because they don't want to look like they are abusing it as the Republicans did against Clinton. They see it as a very serious alternative and wish to reserve it for the most appropriate moment. However, there is a tool available to Congress that could come before Impeachment and will trump the flaccid argument of Executive Privledge. It is called Inherent Comtempt. Congress can compell the testimony of anyone it wants and hold court within its chambers to prosecute anyone it wants, including those mentioned above, to force them to testify of be jailed for comptempt... impeachment to follow, I am sure. It's currently considering Contempt charges against Harriet Myers for not complying with the subpoena to appear. But this is BB-shot compared to what it really MUST do.
If there is any basis for Impeachment in the US Constitution, the actions of the Bush Regime have certainly warranted such action. They've been bold in their resistance to the requirements to report to Congress when requested and lied when they did. They have subverted law and law and skated on the edge of laws, flauting their spirit, if not their letter. Nothing in US history can compare to their absolute disrespect for the Congress, Laws, Traditions, Sanctity, and People of the United States as this adminstration! Nothing! If Congress does not move to Impeachment against Bush, Cheney and Gonzales then they should just "whiteout" the references to it in the Constitution and wait until January 2009 for the nightmare to be over.
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