Irregular Times Diaries: Unfit Discussion

Catch a load of this one: George W. Bush went further out into fantasyland yesterday, when he suggested that the killing of civilians by Israel in Qana over the weekend was “part of a larger struggle between the forces of freedom and the forces of terror”.

Please, will someone explain this to me? Will someone explain to me why the “forces of freedom” took part in the killing something like 30 children, and adult civilians as well?

Were those children part of the forces of terror? Is that it? What, were they terrorizing neighborhood cats or something? Does Bush think that Muslims shouldn’t be allowed to breed, and those children were the next generation’s terrorists? Better to nip it in the bud, Mr. Bush? Is that it?

What fucking twisted kind of freedom is it that the people of Lebanon are getting? Is it the kind of freedom you get only after you’re blown to bits first? What do they call that? The freedom to have your vital fluids soak into the ground to fertilize the soils of future generations?

Blood! Bloody! Bloody doublespeak!

Straight people of the world this post is for you, it is in no particular order and just a little informational piece that you might find interesting. Numerous court hearings have been held on the issue of same-sex marriage recently both in the United States as well as over seas. In light of these events I thought you might like to know what your government has said about you.

I’ll start with New York as it is my home state and I would like to address my fellow New Yorkers for a few moments. In New York State the highest court voted down same-sex marriage by a vote of four to two.

“. . .the Legislature could rationally decide that, for the welfare of children, it is more important to promote stability, and to avoid instability, in opposite-sex than in same-sex relationships. Heterosexual intercourse has a natural tendency to lead to the birth of children; homosexual intercourse does not. . .The Legislature could also find that [heterosexual] relationships are all too often casual or temporary. It could find that an important function of marriage is to create more stability and permanence in the relationships that cause children to be born. . .” - NYS Court of Appeals Decision (pages 5 and 6)

So lets take a look at that, shall we? The New York State Court of Appeals more or less says that heterosexual men are so careless and frivolous that they require a legally binding contract in order for them not to abandon the women who they will ineviably get pregnant and their offspring. As for heterosexual women, the court apparently believes that they are so free with themselves that they are all too likely to casually have kids (perhaps the nine month waiting period was removed without my notice). In addition the court finds that heterosexual people exist almost solely to produce offspring. Therefore, if you are unable to have children, uninterested in having children, or too old to have children you do not matter in the eyes of New York State. Don’t worry, you have a lot of company (For instance the one million plus New Yorkers who identify as LGBT lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender).

In Indiana a similar decision was handed down.

“The Plaintiffs assert that there are three possible, but ultimately unreasonable, reasons for the legislative classification: to promote procreation and child-rearing by both natural parents, to promote the traditional family unit, and to promote the integrity
of traditional marriage.” - Indiana Court of Appeals

But wait! Traditional marriage? How do we define this “traditional marriage”? If what I’ve read is correct traditional marriage was an institution in which African American couples couldn’t marry, inter-racial couples could not marry, and women had no rights? Hey, if it works for all of you it works for me, but somehow I
think there might be a few people with something to say about traditional marriage, just a hunch.

Other rulings against same-sex marriage have come down in Georgia, London, and Washington. Washington State recently upheld a DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act) which is a piece of legislation that defines the words “marriage” and “spouse” to exclude same-sex couples. With a vote of five to four. By 2004 33 states had amended their constitutions and passed these acts (as written by B.A. Robinson of Religious Tolerance.org).

DOMA bills are extremely important to the straight community because being gay is just so much fun that if same-sex marriage was legal all of you heterosexuals would say “To hell with opposite-sex marriage, I think I’m going to go out and do that!” (Not that I can blame you with a divorce rate of something like 50% and celebrities like Brittany Spears getting married and then getting it anoled the next day, if that was my choice would probably explore my other options as well). It’s a good thing we have DOMA bills to uphold the sanctity of marriage and keep all you frivoulous, lechers, nymphos, and machines of procreation on track. Otherwise the human race would die out like the dinosaurs. Of course, we could focus on teens who have babies in bathrooms and throw them in trash cans but hey, we have more important things to think about, like stopping homosexual marriage which is threatening the children and the straight people of the world.

(age 18)

There is a campaign in my area promoting Instant Run-off Voting (IRV). From what I am able to understand, it is supposed to be better in that it makes candidates show majority rules, promotes clean campaigns, in that, candidates have a wider audience and will have to focus on the issues and policies and not the “slander” type ads/discussions. It is also supposed to eliminate the “wasted vote” because the voter will vote regardless but not for the lesser of two evils or not at all for that particular office.

True? Not True? Will a system give us a better government?

Thanks

Laurie O

Two stories came out today. Rumsfeld, Rice OK plan to train Lebanese army http://msnbc.msn.com/id/14171553/ and Military must have proper equipment to be effectivehttp://starbulletin.com/2006/08/03/editorial/editorial01.html.

Most of the Nat’l Guard troops in this area, are either waiting for their Korean/Vietnam era vehicles to be replaced, or the ones that they already took to Iraq once to come back from being gone over in Kansas, Oklahoma, or some other God forsaken Army parking lot in the middle of no where. The reason for this is because the Army doesn’t have the money to ship it to the NG Unit or the State doesn’t have the money to have it shipped.

Anyway enough of that temper tantrum. Why must we be the world’s savior when we can’t take care of ourselves. When the war in Iraq started and the possibility of my husband going was great, I said to myself “Okay, finish the job.” then when the first group of Nat’l Guard members from our area went and this nation went up in arms because they/we were lied to, I thought to myself “They are doing good things over there, water systems, schools, clinics, hospitals up and running. Help to get mayors elected and more.”. The more bad that came out of Washington, the less I had to hold on to as to how I was able to stand behind that uniform. I could stand behind the man…….He’s a good man, my husband ,and so are his guys, my guys. But I can not find a reason for us (US govt) to sink further into this.

Jim talked about clarity today. I used to know what my job was as a military wife and mom. Now what? My husband and son aren’t defending this country’s freedom. They are plastic GI Joe’s in some huge sandbox run amuck. They aren’t defending America, border patrol could do that if these guys were home. There never was a good guy in this war(s).

Don’t give me it’s my patriotic duty, or that I knew this when I married him and all that bull crap. I am very clear where I stand on that. Our president and his seven horseman are sending our men and women to their deaths, sending Middle Eastern women and children to their deaths, and diverting funds to pay for all this from our states and sending more women, children and elderly to their deaths.

Thanks for listening

Rock Island Argus
Wednesday, August 2, 2006

In his July 29 editorial “No president is above the constitution,” John Beydler makes an important point about the “signing statements” President Bush has added to his signature on over 800 bills: “They’ve all been blatantly unconstitutional.”

I agree, and support Republican Senator Arlen Spector, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, in his call for judicial review of the president’s actions.

However, the damage this president is doing to our system of government cannot be adjudicated. Trust cannot be mandated by the Supreme Court.

When the President of the United States intentionally ignores the Constitution, the bedrock our democracy rests upon, the one thing that he swore to preserve, protect and defend, he is no better than the policeman who takes a bribe, or the teacher who abuses a student. Each has violated the public trust in our leaders, our institutions, our way of life.

May the United States, First Home of Democracy, survive this president’s systematic attempts to undermine the very foundation of our house.

Frank Mullen III
Aledo, IL

O, I love it. Stephen Colbert has been on that show of his encouraging people to go visit Wikipedia and make things up, like “George Washington did not own slaves.” I think this is a great idea. We should all go to Wikipedia and change something, just to make it up. That’s how George W. Bush does it. He just says something and it becomes true because he says it is. Like that he did not smoke cocaine. We should call it Bushipedia, or maybe say that Bush is the Wikipresident, or something like that. And the stupid liberals do the same thing, making up baloney like that you can really starve in America. Come back here after you are done and tell everybody what you did to change reality. Who needs reality when you have extremist politics? Let’s forget moderation and just fly completely off the handle, pretending that was isn’t real really, really is. That way, we can be completely unprepared when something outside of Wikipedia comes our way, like the Bird Flu or something. That way, all we stupid people can die off, leaving the lumberjacks to repopulate the planet.

I saw this linked from one web site I frequent to another that I visit less often, and I felt it was worth showing to everyone here. When I saw where this happened, I arched an eyebrow but in truth I wasn’t surprised. I have the misfortune of living in the same state so I know quite well what these people are like.

But, without farther adieu, I present you with the story written by Chester Smalkowski along with a foreword from the American Atheist News editor.

The original post can be found here.

JUST ANOTHER SALEM
by Chester Smalkowski

Web Posted: July 8, 2006

From the AANEWS Editor: Below, we are reproducing, “as is” and
un-edited, the account circulating on the internet and the
democraticunderground.com web site penned by Chester Smalkowski and
aptly titled “Just Another Salem.”

It is his personal story about the ordeal he and has family have been
swept up in after their daughter, Nicole, refused to join a prayer
circle during a basketball game at their local high school. Nicole,
instead, recited the “godless” Pledge of Allegiance.

From there, events went out of control. Chester Smalkowski and family
members attempted to hold a conversation with the high school
principal. That turned into a physical altercation, Mr. Smalkowski was
arrested under a battery of charges, and the authorities offered to
dismiss the case if the Atheist family fled the state.

monthly special American Atheists joined in the subsequent criminal
case, and Chester Smalkowski — battling incredible “Bible Belt” odds
in the courtroom — was found innocent of the charges. News of that
can be found on the American Atheists web site..

Edwin Kagin (ekagin@atheists.org), National Legal Director for
American Atheists, is preparing a federal action which will touch on a
number of issues in the Smalkowski case including violations of this
Atheist family’s civil rights.

Chester Smalkowski vented his thoughts about this experience on a
blog. AANEWS is reproducing this story for the benefit of our readers,
unedited and in its original format. This conveys the honest,
emotional, “from the heart” sentiments of Mr. Smalkowski, and
constitutes one man’s recollection of an agonizing experience due to
religious intolerance and fanaticism.

American Atheists welcomes support so that we may continue our efforts
on behalf of Chester Smalkowski and his family.

There are lessons to be learned. Perhaps the most important, though,
is that “it can happen here,” in America, in the year 2006.

— Conrad Goeringer,
AANEWS - American Atheists

JUST ANOTHER SALEM

The bailiff took the piece of paper from the foreman of the jury and
handed it to the Judge. He opened the paper and while staring at it he
nodded. The courtroom was silent and the jury stared straight ahead.

I have been in many situations where my life or limb were on the
line but I was still in the game and had a hand to play. But not here,
here I just sat waiting for the verdict.

Though I worried about being sent away for five years on bogus
charges, my dread was the Christian mob. They knew I must be found
guilty in order to slow or stop the civil case being filed in Federal
court. Since the start of my daughter’s stand against the public
schools disregard for the law of the land, it was imperative to run us
out of the county to make any civil action non valid. With me in jail
for five years running my family out would be a whole lot easier, or
so they might have thought.

The courtroom was packed for it is the Bible belt. There was no
love in this courtroom.

The loving Christians brought their children to hear the verdict.
They brought the town. They brought ministers. I even saw another
Judge in the back of the room. The Judge who in an earlier hearing
while slapping an inch thick stack of papers on his bench saying with
a list of witnesses this big you had better be a good boy. It was lies
then, it was lies now and the DA knew it! (She was later forced to
hand over a written statement she denied for over a year existed!)
People prayed openly for a conviction. Many holding their bibles.
During the trial the Prosecutions side of the courtroom was packed.
Only my son and Edwin Kagin’s wife, Helen sat behind me, but now there
was not enough room in the whole courtroom.

Yet now the so-called victim, the 325 lbs victim, the ex Marine,
hurrahs, was nowhere to be found. Neither was the woman assistant
district attorney anywhere to be found. Whose vindictive, bogus case
this was from the start.

What sort of place is this?

Well this is not the place for a little debate in a coffee shop
with the sweet salt air rolling up from San Francisco bay. This is a
place where the children write on their schoolbooks the south will
rise again. This is a place where they say that black people caused
slavery! Where they burn rock CD’s. Mormons are the tools of Satan.
That my daughter is gay cause only homosexuals vote for Kerry and
Christians vote for Bush. Atheists worship Satan! Where religious
fanaticism is fused with political rhetoric and political leaders
pander to this madness. This place has a sickness, a malignant disease
and it is spreading. Edwin saw it first hand.

There has not been many a trial with a Not Guilty verdict in this
county for years. The head DA is good friends with the self-righteous
in the courtroom and greets them all by name. You know the type.

Many old women in the courtroom are taking notes. Others have been
taking notes at every hearing for the past year and a half! They
strain to listen not wanting to miss one juicy word. With the pens and
pads they write continuously. The pads shaking with every push of the
pen. Even writing down what my children spoke amongst themselves.

Blue gray haired old Christian spinsters bitter for wasting all
those fruitful years now just waiting for those pearly gates. These
are truly the wicked. You have seen them before. With their bogus
self-righteousness they strut and sneer. How far we have not come.

Others had walked out into the hall and warned a police witness
saying that justice must be served, that justice better be served. The
judge called a hearing on the threat.

He warned the crowd that if it happens one more time he would have
no choice but to throw out the case. He was between a rock and a hard
place. He knows my lawyers are watching and the loving Christians are
out for my blood, and they are watching too. The law, elections and
politics were all in play. The Judge left the court for his chambers
and stayed away for a quite awhile.

The Christians, the loving Christians! Praying to a God whose wings
are dripping in the blood of innocent men, woman and children down
through the ages. Truly hypocrisy is one of their commandments and the
blood of the innocence one of their sacraments!

Christian against Christian, Christian against Moslem, Christian
against Mormon. Basically Christian against anyone or anything that
challenges their pathetic little fairy tale.

Go to any Indian reservation and see the lies and broken promises
by a country with “Under God” in their pledge.

I assume I need not have to explain about the loving hymns sung in
church on Sunday and beatings of black slaves on Monday. But on Monday
night the good old Master has a little tippy toe over to slave huts
for a little brown sugar. While the queen of the manor is in the
master bedroom past out on an opium tonic. Praise the Lord!

Well that was then but now the court was about to hear the verdict.
There was a feeding frenzy about to begin with the dirty little
atheist and his family put in their place with him in jail and the
family run out of town. Like the teacher told my daughter “This is a
Christian country and if you don’t like it get out!”

I could hear my heart beat in my ears and I dreaded the cheers from
the righteous mob that were about to begin. The pain of having my
family being in the front row to witness this swirling cesspool of
hatred come to its inevitable end with my head on a pike, sucked the
air right out of my lungs.

It was truly just another Salem. Different time and place. Same
characters with new names. Oh, no gallows or big oak tree this time.
But if they could they surely would. How far we have not come. I know,
I already said that but do you really understand what a tragedy it
means? The whole universe is ours if we want it but instead we must
gravel in the dirt having to debate the obvious.

I have been standing against injustice most of my life. It is my
nature. I am a child of the 60’s and proud of it. But what of my poor
family? They stood so proud and strong. They are tougher than I will
ever be. I had told them do not cry. Do not give these bastards any
satisfaction. I told my wife if I see you cry I will surely loose it.
I said it is in the Federal courts we will set things right and send
that wall higher than it has ever been. On the wall behind us was a
painting of the signing of the Declaration.

The judge handed the verdict to the clerk. The only sound was the
paper. The paper in the clerk’s hands with the hand written words that
spelled my doom, my family’s fate and the inevitable cheers from the
Christian mob.

With my guts in my throat and no air to breathe. The court clerk
read the decision of the jury.

We the jury find the defendant:

On the charge of Aggravated Assault and Battery:
Not Guilty!

On the charge of Assault and Battery:
Not Guilty!

On the charge of Assault:
Not Guilty!

On the charge of Battery:
Not Guilty!

Not a word, not a sound. The lynching had been cancelled. I took my
first free breath in almost two years. I looked at the jury and mouth
the words thank you. I gazed at the floor as floodgates opened, I
dared not move my head that others might see. Charley don’t cry, but
free air has its effects.

With all their praying, lies, crooked cops, warning that justice
better be done, packing the courthouse with their followers, Even a
teacher on the jury who had taught at the Hardesty School. (Our motion
to take her off the jury denied.) Not guilty was still the outcome.
The evidence was obvious. This was a bad case. And 12 men and women
had the guts.

From the start of this legal fight my lawyers said Atheism must be
kept out. That it was a no go in the Bible belt. I was just adamant
that Atheism be brought in. For it is the reason. It was the motive
for all the lies and hate. I felt it was about time that this dirty
little secret of hate, persecution, Christian madness and hypocrisy is
brought out into the light of day. When I told my lawyers this they
all gave me the same bewildered stare.

So one by one, I dropped one lawyer then two. Then I had a hard
time in finding another one. My third lawyer was still trying to
convince me to keep my atheism out even up till the day of the trial.
I still said no. Somewhere along the line I talk to the ACLU out of
San Francisco. Who let me know my first civil lawyer was not telling
me the whole story. I was advised by them and many others to complain
to the Bar about him.

You see he never told me that the prayer in itself is illegal. That
the schools in this area were not following the state and federal
funding guidelines. When I asked him after finding out from the ACLU.
He said yes it is against the law.

I told him I want to have it stopped. He told me he would not for
he was a Christian and he believed there should be school prayer. His
statement floored me for it bordered on madness. I said what you
believe and what you do for a client is two different things and that
you took an oath. He still refused.

It did not matter to him that I had already given him $10,000
dollars. He knows we are not rich. So I wrote a letter to him to
complain about his refusing to take my daughters civil case where it
should have gone from the start. And I asked for my money back. He
sent me a bill for another $5000 saying it was the charge for reading
my letter and wasting his time.

In my search for a civil attorney it became clear that no one would
touch this case. In all of Oklahoma I could not find an attorney. My
criminal attorney said he would look at it but only after I paid him
his $15000 for the criminal case. He sent me a letter that the funds
for the criminal were coming too slow and suggested that I seek other
counsel for the civil matter. But even after he got his $15000 he
would only take it if I paid him more. (Now that I have won the
criminal case he wants on the civil. Suffice to say he is off the
civil!)

Eventually I contacted the American Atheist, which was referred to
me by Edward Tabash, who was referred to me by a Mr. Robert Tierman. I
told them my problem in finding an attorney willing to take church and
state case in which the people are blatantly breaking the law. Yet no
one will take it. American Atheist, being out of another state, could
not refer me to anyone. But they said they would try to help. The ACLU
out of Oklahoma City refused. They sent me some standard letter. It
really hurt that I did not even rate a return call or a reason. I felt
betrayed, lost and confused.

Was this the United States? Where freedom reigns?

The whole family was under constant stress. Police trying to get
search warrants to the property by having ex-employees file false
statements. Other cops trying to hire ex-cons to beat me up. The whole
town knows of it! The Sheriff trying to have my bond pulled by the
bail bondsman when there was no legal way to do it. My kids have been
out of school since November. Principal’s son saying should he get a
gun when he sees my daughter and my son. DA has yet to reply to our
concerns. The Department of Human Services comes to my place saying
they received a complaint that I starve my kids. It was even obvious
to them the charge was bogus.

We have become very good at using back roads. The police follow us
around. Traffic tickets that when challenged were dropped in court.
Not to mention the stares and whispers, the betrayal from employees,
one of my healthy dogs dying. Brush fires starting up upwind.

An FBI agent even said, “You aren’t kidding”. When it was obvious
someone followed us and was watching our meeting out in the middle of
nowhere. I was told about a few things. All I can say is that some of
the crooks out here now charged with crimes wore badges and guns! But
he could not help my family and me. Not without witnesses willing to
come forward. One scared witness left the state. The last words she
spoke to me were, Chuck I don’t want to end up dead in a ditch!

Just what you would expect life to be like out here in the Bible
belt!

The roller coaster of emotions we went through every minute, every
day. It was truly a hell. There were days we spoke little. Other days
we spoke late into the night. You get to a point you become numb, but
it doesn’t last. For it is all aboard and you are on the roller
coaster again.

My poor family. They were standing tall. But they would not even be
in this place if it were not for me and my bright idea about
centralizing our business. We all missed the desert. The free open
Mojave Desert. My family did not ask for this. They deserved better. I
saw them all suffering.

Many a night I would sit in the barn alone with a pint of scotch
and look at the high beams and the rope on the wall.

Then out of the blue my wife received a call from Ellen Johnson who
said they had a lawyer that can help us, an Edwin Kagin who is their
legal director. Well I called him up, and our civil case is up and
running.

Edwin Kagin also by my request came to my criminal case for the two
cases are obviously interrelated. There were also other reasons.

Simply stated without Edwin Kagin, Ellen Johnson and American
Atheist I would be in jail now, or worse. Without them, we would have
no federal case on separation of church and state. The only group, the
only lawyer that would stand with my family and me to protect the wall
and not cringe at me wanting to put atheism as part of my defense.

In Edwin’s opening statement American Atheist magazine was shown.
The crowd almost rioted. He explained that Atheism was not a dirty
word and that it was a conclusion. That my family and I are not devil
worshippers. We just have no Gods. It was the basis of the case. It
was the danger. It was the truth. Yet the only lawyer to go there
freely was Edwin Kagin.

In a world where superstition is the norm and those who seek
another path are ridiculed or worse. Being an atheist takes guts.
Freedom is never freely given. The good fight is always there.

Oh you can hide yourself in the latest sitcom or have one or two
more scotch and waters but the good fight is still there. You can run
to your malls and buy yourself crazy with credit card frenzy. But the
good fight is still there. You can look away and deny allegiance. But
the good fight is still there. These are the times that try men’s
courage. You can debate till you’re blue in the face. It will not
change a damn thing.

Our forefathers are on our side in this fight. Trust me. From Adams
to Madison to Jefferson and Paine they all knew the dangers of a
Theocracy. They wrote the Constitution to assure it. And within the
federal courts we can protect this nation from a Theocracy.

The wall between the church and state must stand. But the wall is
being battered and cracks now appear. The Christians are at the gate
attempting to breach the wall and send us back down the road to an age
of darkness, bloodshed and fear. My family and myself are willing to
stand and fight the good fight. If we lose some skin, so be it. We
have no more else to give. We are financially done. Thanks to American
Atheist, Ellen Johnson and Edwin Kagin for the first time we do not
fight alone.

Please stand together with us and fight the good fight. The fight
that our forefathers began. Lets make the wall so high between Church
and State that they who wish to tear it down will know better and be
content with staying in their churches.

For freedom has never been free! There can be no freedom for all if
the wall does not stand.

The wall must stand.

Chuck, Nadia, Nicole, Czeslaw and Bridgette Smalkowski

Help Us Grow

Apparently in order to be able to work for the government in any capacity especially in our military it is necessary that people be straight. Recently (as many of you I’m sure have heard) an Arabic linguist was dismissed from the military because he was gay. What is perhaps the most ridiculous and offensive however were some of the absurd questions that were asked in uncovering this (fairly unimportant) piece of information, for instance whether or not he had ever been involved in community theatre.

Quite frankly I don’t care if our men and women in the service are tap dancing to Hairspray in their spare time as long as they are pointing their guns at the right people. I’m quite curious as to why the military is perpetuating an absurd stereotype that has more basis in fantasy than fact. For those of you who stay up on the news in New York, or just happen to be fans of the LOGO channel you might of also heard of Rhonda Davis, a wonderfully sweet kind woman who was dismissed from our military because of her sexual orientation.

Perhaps the military should spend less time investigating their soldiers’ personal lives and more time investigating their soldiers’ actions, such as the rape of an Iraqi woman and the murder of her family by American soldiers. Or perhaps the notorious mistreatment of captured prisoners. But no, that is unreasonable. How could anyone suggest that we should pay attention to what is relevant and actually affecting our country as well as other countries and our image world-wide? Instead why don’t we stab ourselves in the back by getting rid of good soldiers for something as irrelevant as sexual orientation. Et tu, America?

A Person who posted here within the past thirty days,

You know who you are. What you wrote was read by others. I will not say who those others are. You can probably guess. Your actions here and elsewhere continue to be monitored. You know why. You know who you are. Think about it.

I am so sick of all these liberals who say that we ought to pull out of Iraq before achieving our mission. Would they have said that we should just run away when King George the Seventh told our country that we could not be independent? They would have just handed over all North America to the red Indian instead of defending their homes. Cowards!

Well, I am reminded of those times when America did not cut and run. Like World War II. Now that was a man’s war!

But the leftists silly patsies can’t help but complain. They say that we should not have bombed the homes of those kamakaze loving Nippon supporting Emperor worshipping chinks in Hiroshima and Nagaski. They say that the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were “victims”. Victims!

Let us never forget that those so-called victims in Hiroshima and Nagasaki made the decision to be born in Japan. They were given the chance to live elsewhere, but they chose the rising sun, soaked in American blood!

So, I remember that we had no choice but to use the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We saved those ungrateful Japanese from the terror of an American invasion, and they had the nerve to complain about a little radiation. Hell, my supermarket uses radiation to sterilize my sirloin steak, and I don’t complain!

We should follow the great example of World War II now. If the liberal squiberals want to pull our soldiers out of Iraq, fine! Let’s redeploy our soldiers to the Persian Gulf, where they can watch as we send nuclear missiles raining down on Baghdad and Fallujah to wipe them off the face of the Earth forever!

This will be a merciful act, saving American lives and Iraqi lives too. No more war! A peace will settle down upon Iraq after we obliterate their cities, and then they’ll never complain again that our liberation isn’t good enough for them.

Today, I’m going to say something that the marching stormtroopers with pencils in the great Liberal Media know is true but are afraid to say: The only problem with Iraq is that there are too many foreign fighters there.

You know who I’m talking about. I’m talking about Terrorist Abdul, who doesn’t even come from Iraq, but goes there in order to fight the infidel and spill blood. How dare these people have so little disrespect for the sovereignty of Iraq?

I support the mission in Iraq, to purge Iraq of all foreign fighters. That’s why I support our good red-blooded American soldiers in Iraq, who are fighting to get all those foreigners out so that the Iraqis can live in peace, again. My friend Joe was born and bred right here in New Jersey, but he’s gone over to Iraq because he believes in the work of our people over there.

Americans belong in Iraq. Foreigners do not! It’s as simple as that, Phil Donahue, so get out your pencil and start writing!

In every home across America, New England scions are hanging their heads in shame. Ned Lamont is a communist surrender monkey class traitor! We promised him a place in the club, isn’t that good enough?

Not for Ned. Ned had to go and defeat the only good Democrat in America, Joe Lieberman. The Democrats in Connecticut wanted to keep Lieberman in office, but that wasn’t good enough for the liberals, who turned out to vote for Ned Lamont. It just lets you know how depraved the Democratic Party has become that the most Democrats just aren’t willing to pay attention to what the majority of Democrats want anymore.

Well, Joe Lieberman knows what being a good Democrat is all about, even if none of the Democratic voters are willing to admit it.

I don’t live in Connecticut, but Lieberman has my vote this fall.

First here are some facts about Cynthia Mckinney:

* Congresswoman representing the 4th District of Georgia, DeKalb County
* Member of the radical Progressive Caucus
* Voted to legalize the killing of babies after they are born
* Voted against a resolution supporting Israel in the War on Terror, but refused to vote for a resolution condemning the anti-Semitic statements of a disciple of Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan
* Told a Saudi prince she would accept his offer of $10 million that New York Mayor Rudi Giuliani rejected because it came with anti-Semitic strings attached
* Provided propaganda for Communist FARC guerrillas in Colombia
* Voted against school vouchers for black parents in Washington, D.C.
* “We know there were numerous warnings of the events to come on September 11. What did this administration know and when did it know it, about the events of September 11th? Who else knew, and why did they not warn the innocent people of New York who were needlessly murdered?….What do they have to hide?” — Rep. Cynthia McKinney
* “Ms. McKinney is a racist and anti-Semite of the first rank. If she were white and male, she would be David Duke.” — Peter Swartz, Professor Emeritus, Cornell University
* “She is a racist. She bases everything on race. Everything bad that has ever happened to her is because she’s black. She’s anti-Semitic, that’s who she is.” — Rep. Tom Delay (R-Texas)

Members of her party on national television where taped calling people “crackers” and “Uncle Tom” her body gaurds where members of the new Black Panthers, This is not just an every day American this is a Government offical and and Anti-War supporter, who is suppose to be setting an example for Americans. Less we forget the beating of a capitol gaurd with her cell phone. Now heres my question this is what Anti-War people do? this is how they behave this is the example they are suppose to be setting. Give me a BREAK! this is exactally the kind of officals we need running this country oh yeah definatly! If I was an Anti-War supporter this womans actions alone would make me ashamed to be a Anti-War supporter, so go ahead come back here and write post trying to back her up and her cause youd be supporting racism, anti-semitic, and hatred for capitol gaurds i guess maybe even cell phones i guess she doesent like those either. yeah Thank God I’m not on her side!

Orange Alert! Orange Alert! Whoop! Whoop! Whoop! Report to Stations! Orange Alert! Whoop!

What’s that you’re saying? “I don’t have a station to report to?” Nonsense! This is a War on Terror, people, which means your battle station is right here on the Home Front! Your job, people, is to find the terrorists in our midst. None of this namby-pamby liberal hand-wringing, now. It’s inexcusable in these dangerous times. YOU, YOUR FAMILY, YOUR DOG are under direct attack by the communist terrorists, the homosexual foreigners, the marauding moonbats. So here’s what you need to do:

1. Get up on your feet, and to everyone you meet, say “Hello, Hello, Hello, Hello.”
2. Look for that squinty, shifty look in your neighbor’s eyes. Also look for brown skin and lack of crucifixion jewelry. Does your neighbor carry a liquid substance (explosive)? Do they fail to mow their lawn? Do they eat organic food?
3. If you encounter any of the above, call 1-800-FL-CHIPS and tell the good people at Frito-Lay about your neighbor’s involvement with terrorism. I’m sure they’ll appreciate your diligence and let the nice people at Homeland Security know right away.

Yes, friends, it’s up to you to stop the wave of terror that laps at our ankles, like a kiddie pool brimming with pee, like a dog that’s figured out you spilled mustard on your legs, like your boyfriend that one time, back in ‘93, when he tied you up and… at any rate, you know what I’m saying here: UNLESS YOU FREAK OUT and GET PARANOID, the terrorists win! So report on your neighbor today: call 1-800-FL-CHIPS and let the snack food industry know about the threat on your block.

Orange Alert! Now more than ever. United We Stand. Semper Fi. These Colors Don’t Run. Have You Forgotten?

I’ve been starting up a worm composting bin in my basement, and I’ve had a problem with fruit flies. Lots and lots of fruit flies. Fruit flies in my coffee. Fruit flies up my nose. Fruit flies, fruit flies, fruit flies!

The Recycling Council of Ontario suggests a beer trap:

Pour a half-cup of beer into a small glass jar. Place a plastic bag over the mouth of the jar with one corner reaching down into the jar. Poke a small hole in the corner of the bag with a pencil. Secure the bag around the rim with a rubber band. Fruit flies will be attracted by the beer, make their way through the hole, and be unable to get out.

This sounded pretty fishy to me, but in my desperation I decided to give it a shot. And by gum, it works! Overnight, scores of fruit flies met their end in a cup of hefeweizen. What a sight. Who needs religion for amusement when you’ve got deadly beer?

How I wish I could have written it myself:

After reading the bio on her strengths and weaknesses I came to the conclusion that she is the Antichrist. Opinions can never be libelous so don’t sue me.

Hillary is a foul-mouth, racist bitch. I’m well aware that I just contradicted myself by listing vulgarity as a negative quality then swearing myself, but it was done with ironic intent. Supposedly, as the article cites many creditable sources, Hillary’s “potty mouth” during Chelsea’s impressionable years, is the reason that Chelsea is so god-damn ugly.

I believe that one of the Antichrist’s powers is the ability to persuade and make delusional the masses. Hillary Clinton is doing that right now. I can’t believe that women respect and want to be this woman who obviously doesn’t put out enought to keep her man at home and then sticks with him when he cheats on her in front of the nation. Talk about a role model for our youth.

I mean, yeah! That’s Hillary Clinton’s man problem as a Democratic Party candidate: that (unlike we good-tempered holy folk) the fucking bitch can’t put out enough for her man, swears all the god-damn time, and turns her daughter into an ugly tramp whore sperm receptacle. I think that disqualifies her from the presidency! We need more family-respecting, clean-mouthed, moral politicians that reflect the loving Christian community. And I say, if Hillary Clinton won’t step down from the stage to let someone more morally upright take her place in the presidential contest, then FUCK HER, the potty-mouthed bitch!

World Peace & Removal Of Terrorism

There are two route causes for the entire chaos and terrorism in this world. One is the thirst for earning money and the other is the religious fanatic. Due to money, people are quarreling. Whereas due to religion, countries are quarreling. Unless these two route causes are eradicated we cannot achieve world peace. The tree will not die by cutting leaves and branches. It dies only by cutting its roots. There is no use in earning the extra money. Due to excess money, quarrels, mental worries and several other problems arise. Finally, it ends in loss only and not in any profit. You have to leave all this extra money here only and quit this world alone. Your issues may lose that money given by you. Such sinful extra money brings problems not only to you but also to your children. Neither yourself nor your children will be happy and peaceful. This entire world is the property of God and take whatever is required from it. This is said in Gita, (“Yavanartha….”).

In these days, buffet system is followed during feasts. In this system, large vessels contain various food items and people take food from these vessels according to their requirement. Similarly, God created this entire world and you can take the wealth from it according to your requirement. People are not following the same system when they are taking wealth from this world. The peculiarity is that most rich people follow this buffet system in the feasts but do not follow the same when it comes to earning the money. ‘Esavasya Upanishad’ says that one should return back this extra money to the Lord. Otherwise, the Lord will give the troubles.

In buffet system, if one takes extra food in his plate by over ambition and ignorance for a moment, he returns back immediately before starting eating. Veda says that you must return back the extra money for the God’s work if taken by ignorance. In the buffet system if you eat the extra food, you will suffer from diseases. Similarly, if you enjoy the extra money, God will punish you in several ways.

In this world, people belonging to any religion think that their religion only is the true religion. They think that the God of their religion can alone give the salvation and the worship of that God should be according to their religion only. They also condemn other religions and invite people to convert people into their religion. They do lot of work to establish their religion only in the entire world which shows their ambition. It is just like Alexander’s ambition to make the entire world his kingdom. Alexander wanted to extend his kingdom. But, even he returned back after fighting with Porus (Purushotama) on seeing the loss of life in the battle. But, the ambition of religious fanatics is not subsided on seeing any amount of loss of life. Religion is considered to be backed with spiritual knowledge and the religious people are expected to be free from ambition. We can excuse ambition of any ignorant person like Alexander.

The heart of a religious fanatic will not change by any amount of kindness or love expressed in the appeals. Such appeals can change only the heart and the change in the heart is always temporary. Change in the intelligence brought by knowledge based on logic is always real and permanent. Intelligence (Buddhi) is considered to be the driver of this body, which is like a chariot running by the senses, which are like the horses. If the driver is convinced, the entire chariot along with the horses is in the correct path. The terrorist will not change by love or kindness shown to him. He becomes the terrorist due to the wrong knowledge that enters his brain. He was convinced by that knowledge. That knowledge can be changed only by the right knowledge. A diamond can only be cut by another diamond. Similarly, one type of knowledge can only be replaced by another type of knowledge. Then only, he will be convinced and changed forever.

So far, the trials made to change the terrorist were beating around the bush and therefore, they did not have much effect. Today, SRI GURU DATTA is giving the right knowledge to remove the religious conservatism.

At the Lotus Feet of His Holiness Sri Dattaswami

Anil Antony

www.universal-spirituality.org
Universal Spirituality for World Peace
antonyanil@universal-spirituality.org

Only one God created this entire Universe!!

Hindus say that Brahman is the creator, Muslims say
That Allah is creator, Christians say that the creator is
Jehovah, all say that the creation is this entire world.
If Hindus say that Brahman created India, and if
Muslims say that Allah created Arabian countries and
If Christians say that Jehovah created the western countries,
The problem is solved, there can be three Gods together,
Who have created the three parts of the earth separately.

But this is not so, each religion says that their God only
Created the entire world, unfortunately there is one world!
One world only! Come on, all of you sit together here
And give me the final conclusion after debate, otherwise,
The scientists are laughing on all of you! Shame to all!

They criticize that these religions do not have even
The basic logic, which is the fundamental common sense.
Because of you, the greatest God is also mocked by them
They say that the religions are rigid conservatisms!
Even a small boy is putting this question to all of you.

Stop all your discourses and first answer this question.
If you want to say that God created the entire world,
You have to accept that there is one God only always
And that His names are all the above three names.

We see in the world a single person having three names.
If there is one God, He only created this entire world.
All the human beings are invariably His children only.
No Father is partial to a single child and therefore
He must have preached the same knowledge to all
In different languages and in different methodologies
To different levels, this is Universal Spirituality.

At the Lotus Feet of His Holiness Sri Dattaswami

Anil Antony

www.universal-spirituality.org
Universal Spirituality for World Peace
antonyanil@universal-spirituality.org

How to overcome worry

Try to enjoy the worry
When worry is inevitable, enjoy it and be wise
Even continued happiness leads to mental worry
Thus happiness and worry must be alternative
If you are worried by the continued happiness
You are worried at the cost of the result of your good effort

Instead of this it is better to get worry at the cost of your sin
Let the sin give some trouble and then you worry out of it
In this way the result of the sin is spent and the not the result of good effort
The loss in your present worry may be compensated in the future
But the time lost in your past worry cannot be compensated
Because the life span of any human being is fixed

Your loss may be compensated by million times in the future
But even one second of your lost time can never be compensated
Therefore, understand this and think about the value of the time
This knowledge of the value of time is called as ‘Kala Janana’
Which means the knowledge of the future that you should know,

Which provides the possibility of the compensation of all the loss
Except the loss of time, therefore, time is the most precious.
You may waste anything that can be again procured in the future,
But never waste the time, which you can never compensate.

There are two ways to escape the mental worry in this world
The first way is by obtaining the peace, which is zero
The second way is by achieving the bliss, which is plus
Worry is minus, peace is zero and bliss is plus
To escape minus, either you should be in zero or in plus

Bliss can be obtained only from the Lord in this world
Since Veda says that the Lord alone is bliss “Anando Brahma”
Veda also says that the Lord alone can give you the bliss
“Esha Hyeva Anandayati” this is quite logical in fact
The water is alone cool and so it alone can give coolness
Whatever is said in the Vedas, it is always logical

At the Lotus Feet of His Holiness Sri Dattaswami

Anil Antony

www.universal-spirituality.org
Universal Spirituality for World Peace
antonyanil@universal-spirituality.org

Why this depression?

Let Me answer your question straight with a simple example
You have caught a hot iron rod with your hand and you are weeping
You are asking Me to remove the heat from the rod and give you happiness
For this you are constantly praying the Lord to use His special power.
I have to laugh at this situation because the easiest solution is to remove
Your hand from the rod to be happy, which you are not doing at all
You cannot get rid of your attachment to the rod, but you pray the Lord
To cool the rod using His Maya, is this prayer justified in any way?
Why don’t you get detached from your family bonds and be happy?
The hand with which you have caught your family members is your mind
You detach your mind from the bonds of your family members
And be peaceful always and there is no need of praying the Lord for this
When the solution is in your hand why do you ask the Lord for it?
When the solution is out of your hands there may be justice in asking the Lord

In the first stage you detach your mind from them and be worry less
In course of time when your detachment by mind becomes complete
You will spontaneously leave your duties also and attain bliss
The detachment from the family comes by your attachment with the Lord
As the bond with the Lord becomes more and more strong, your family bonds
Become weaker and weaker and finally all the bonds disappear
In this state you are left over only with the bond with the Lord
This state is called “Eka Bhakthih” in Gita or the single pointed devotion
Devotion means love and this is related to the plane of mind
As the faculty of intelligence becomes more and more sharp
By the knowledge preached by the Lord, the devotion to Lord
Becomes more and more strong, thus knowledge is acting as
Both fertilizer as well as pesticide on both the sides simultaneously
It acts as a fertilizer for the bond with the Lord, which is like a plant
The plant grows slowly and becomes a huge tree by this fertilizer
The family bonds are like the insects that attack this devotion plant
For those insects this divine knowledge acts as a pesticide also
The knowledge is also the generating factor like the water for the seed
Only by the knowledge of the Lord, the devotion is generated
Devotion is the love or attraction towards the Lord to attain Him
It ends in agony or Vedana as told by Ramanuja, thus knowledge is
The generating factor, the fertilizer and the pesticide simultaneously
When Rukmini heard all the details of Lord Krishna from sage Narada
She developed intensive attraction for the Lord and that is devotion
Sankara emphasized on the knowledge and Ramanuja on devotion

Knowledge is the generator of devotion and devotion is the cause
For the achievement of the Lord, by the devotion of Rukmini only
The Lord came and married her, thus devotion ends in the achievement of the Lord
Gita says the same “Bhaktya tvananyaya”, now when the devotion is full
The family bonds are completely broken; Rukmini did not care for her
Brother and parents and even the tradition, therefore, as the devotion grows
The family bonds are cut simultaneously, without the attachment to Lord
The detachment from family is impossible because only after tasting
The divine nectar, one can leave all the worldly drinks spontaneously
Attachment of one thing should lead to the detachment of other thing
Simple detachment from the family without the attachment to the Lord
Becomes impossible, even if achieved does not stand permanently
Without tasting the divine nectar, if you leave the worldly drinks
It is meaningless and one day or other you will run to the worldly drinks
Finally, the real devotion is proved only by the selfless service
Rukmini served the Lord after attaining Him, she constantly pressed
His divine feet and her aim was not to become the queen of Dwaraka
Madhva shows this service as the real proof of the true love

In the beginning you should try for the detachment from the family
By withdrawing your attraction or mind slowly from these worldly bonds
This can be achieved once you start binding yourself with the Lord
The attachment to the Lord is directly proportional to the detachment
From the worldly bonds, but don’t think that you have been detached fully
The full detachment by mind from the worldly bonds can be tested by you
As the mind gets detached, the concentration in the duties is diluted
Don’t fear that this may spoil your duties. No! Never! Be sure!
Because your detachment from the duty is due to your attachment to the Lord
The Lord will take care of your duties, in fact that is far below to His level
His servants like Hanuman will take care of the success in your duties
If your duty is diluted due to your laziness or diversion to some other
Worldly affair, then your duty will be definitely spoiled, but if you become
His devotee, will the Lord keep silent if your duties are failing?
This is the real point of the faith on the Lord, practical field is real
Devotees say that they have full faith in the Lord, but they fail in practice
Their faith is only theoretical, when practical comes they slip tremendously
Some people say that their mind is fully dedicated to the Lord and
Just they are doing the duties externally, this is a complete hypocrisy
Because the duty is always proportional to the attachment of the mind
By the will of the mind only you can do anything, if the mind is not willing
You can do nothing, therefore your action is a mirror of your mind
When you are doing the worldly actions or duties, your mind is certainly
Absorbed and concentrated on the worldly affairs only, don’t fool the Lord
Can the omniscient Lord be fooled by your hypocrisy? Then whom you are fooling?
Are you fooling the public? What is the use of it? Finally it means that
You are fooling yourself, therefore be sincere and truthful in the spiritual path
When your mind is fully absorbed in the Lord then your duties fully disappear
That shows your full faith in the Lord and so your duties are done the best
By the servants of the Lord and this stage is the final ripened stage
Sankara left His duty of serving the old mother and went for the mission
The mother of Sankara was permanently granted the divine abode of the Lord
May be, she might have faced some temporary inconvenience in her last life
But that is nothing compared to the divine fruit she got from the Lord
See the faith of Sankara on the Lord who left His old mother and He was only
One son to her, she was not helped by anybody since she was abandoned
By her relatives and lives outside the village in a small hut.
You cannot expect that final state to day itself, i.e., the final goal
You must try to reach that goal everyday and try in every minute
Slowly one day or other by the grace of the Lord you will surely reach the goal.

At the Lotus Feet of His Holiness Sri Dattaswami

Anil Antony

www.universal-spirituality.org
Universal Spirituality for World Peace
antonyanil@universal-spirituality.org

Convincing Atheist

The logic of atheists is based on perception (Pratyaksha Pramana), which was propagated by the sage Charvaka. Perception means the knowledge derived from the observation with the naked eyes. In fact in the logic (Tarka Sastra) all the means of knowledge are based on perception only. In the inference (Anumana) also, the fire on the hill is inferred by its smoke. But the relationship between the fire and smoke is perceived with the naked eyes only. Similarly other means of knowledge are also based on the perception only. Thus Charvaka forms the basic of the entire logic and without logic there is no knowledge. The statement that the God is above logic must be proved only by perception. The divine miracles performed by the human form of Lord prove that there is a power above the logic. These miracles are seen by the naked eyes. The atheists must be allowed to prove whether the miracles are simply magic tricks. When they cannot prove, they must accept the existence of super power above the logic. If they do not accept this they are contradicting their own basis, which is the perception. The divine miracles are experienced by the devotees and the experience cannot be contradicted. If the experience is contradicted, the experience of the atheists is also contradicted. Therefore atheists must be open-minded and should not be conservative. If they are conservative they have no right to criticize the religious conservatism.

The theory of Vedas and Bhagavath Gita never contradicts the perception and therefore the logic of atheists becomes the basis of the spiritual knowledge. The Lord comes in human form and this human form is perceived by the naked eyes. Even the miracles performed by demons establish the existence of super power. Therefore to convince the atheists the miracles of the Lord are not necessary. When they are convinced about the existence of the Super power (Maya), the possessor of the Super Power, the Lord, coming in human form must be also accepted because the form is seen by the naked eyes. The salvation is breakage of the bonds in this world. Since the bonds of this world exist based on the perception, the salvation is also existing based on the perception. Since the family members and the money are perceived by the eyes, the bonds with them are also perceived. Thus the salvation (Moksha) must be accepted by the atheists. A single bond with the human form of the Lord is called ‘Saayujya’ or ‘Kaivalya’. Since the human form is perceived, Sayujya or Kaivalya is also perceived and must be accepted by the atheists. The Bliss is derived by the devotee from the divine knowledge of the human form of the Lord. Therefore the Bliss is also true according to atheists. Thus the goal, the means to please the Lord (Sadhana) and the fruit of Sadhana (Moksha and Kaivalya) are perceived and exist in this world itself. Veda says ‘Yat Saakshat Aparokshaat’, ‘Pratyagatmana Maikshat’ which mean that the Lord in human form is perceived by the naked eyes. Veda also says ‘Ihachet Avedeet’, which means that everything is true as seen in this world itself. This is called ‘Jeevanmukthi’, which means attaining the salvation while one is alive and not after death. The salvation after the death is not true because that has no basis of perception. Thus if the atheists are little bit patient and leave their aggressive nature of criticism, they are best fitted in the true spiritual knowledge of Vedas. In fact Swami Vidyaranya included the philosophy of Charvaka in his book as one of the logical philosophies (Darsanaas).

At the Lotus Feet of His Holiness Sri Dattaswami

Anil Antony

www.universal-spirituality.org
Universal Spirituality for World Peace
antonyanil@universal-spirituality.org

Well, what do you think you’re doing reading this on a Sunday? You have something better to do: get off the computer and go pray! You heard me, shoo!

After posting this on this other website I frequent, I felt it was too much for me to keep it only on one site. I’m reposting everything I’ve written there with just a few alterations that address that board specifically.

Before logging on, I had to sit for a while and seriously consider whether or not to post this. It’s a link to a flash video and I feel I should give Echolette credit because she sent me this a long time ago after she and I had a discussion about Pit Bulls, more specifically American Pit Bull Terriers, and back then I couldn’t watch it without crying.

I know, it’s unmanly for me to admit that I cried when I saw it but fuck all that shit, it’s the truth.

I bring this topic up because recently my dad and I adopted two stray dogs off the streets, the first of which was a female American Pit Bull Terrier whom my dad named Leona.

I feel I should tell the story of how we came about to adopting her.

For a long time (all my life, in fact) I had been bugging my parents for a dog. I’ve always been a cat person, always loved cats, always will love them. However, I had always felt that I was missing out on something when it came to cats and dogs and I’d always wanted a pet dog. I have three favorite breeds and I came about them in different ways and at different times.

My first love has been the Siberian Husky. The first time I saw it as a little kid that breed struck me as the most beautiful on earth. Everything about them was gorgeous from their eyes to their coats. I’ve been around a few of them and I’ve found them to be a good dog to have as a pet, so long as you don’t own other small animals and have a fence that’ll go down a few feet.

The second dog I’ve got on my favorites list is the German Shepherd for many of the same reasons as the Siberian Husky. But I think the real reason I was drawn to that type of dog was from watching the movie K-9 with Jim Belushi and Jerry Lee. That dog cracked me up. Recently my dad took me to one of his friend’s and he and his wife owned a pure blood German Shepherd named Queen. That dog was a goof, as long as you threw her tennis ball she’d adore you.

My third favorite dog was the Pit Bull. My friend Tim owned a Pit Bull named Dro and I had been around them off and on for a long, long time. The first time I met Dro I was scared shitless, not because I had heard all the bad news about Pit Bulls but because here’s this 80 pound mass of drooling dog and he’s wantin’ to jump on me. Being still in my early to mid teens I was scared shitless of that dog for a long time. The first time I’d met him, Tim opened the door and I swear it would have turned into a scene right out of Marmaduke if he hadn’t caught Dro by the collar. In all the years that I knew him he never once tried to bite me and only bit one person, that being a woman who surprised him at the wrong moment.

After my initial shock it took me a long time to keep from tensing up when I’d see him. How long you ask? Days? Weeks? Heh, try years. At first it was a grudging pet once in a while but he was persistent and so lovable that I finally started playing with him. Yes, that old dog won me over and it damn near became that I’d spend more time with that dog than I would with Tim.

He had a few quirks that made him lovable, one of which was this one time he took Tim’s mom for a drag down 19th street. I’m not talking walking along and tugging her after him, I’m talking she was off her feet and he was dragging her along behind him. You might be thinking “Oh, that’s not right” but all Tim’s life I never looked at her as a good mother so I was busting up when I heard about that little stunt.

Another of the things he would do that was so endearing was that he would start howling whenever we would sing “Happy Birthday” or when Tim would play “Beautiful” by Christina Aguilera. That dog had some since in him after all.

Now Tim’s uncle had been at war with his neighbors for a long time for whatever reason and normally I wouldn’t mention that had it not been for the fact that Tim was living with his uncle during this time. One day, Tim was coming home from his friend’s place when he saw everyone was out back and there was an animal control truck out front. He went into the backyard and found Dro in the neighbor’s back yard, cowering in their dog house with blood running down his face. The neighbors had called in saying he was a mad dog and because my state has a No Tolerance law, all a dog (Pit Bull) has to do is be accused of being rabid or trying to attack someone and it’ll be put down. To this day we are convinced that his neighbors attacked Dro then had him put down.

I think the bloody pipe laying by his neighbor’s back porch had something to do with that suspicion. To this day I miss Dro, but he was the dog that won me over into liking Pit Bulls.

Now, a few months ago my dad told me about a stray dog in the neighborhood that was scared of it’s own shadow. I asked what kind it was and he said he didn’t know. The way he kept talking he made it out to be a small dog and with a rare exception, I hate small dogs. Most of them are toe biters to me. After I asked him about it, he was saying “No, no, it’s a large dog. Looks kinda like a boxer.”

Anyway, I hadn’t seen this dog at all for about a week or two after dad told me about it until one day we were leaving and I saw this black dog in our next door neighbor’s yard looking curiously over at me. First second I saw it I said to myself “That’s a Pit Bull.” I told my dad this and he refused to believe me and I kept pressing the subject because I knew I was right, damn it. He kept telling himself and everyone else that it was a boxer/lab mix and I just gave him a look like that let him know I wasn’t buying it and would say that he was full of shit. After a few weeks of drilling it into his head he started saying “She might have some Pit Bull in her” and I was just thinking “duh.”

It wasn’t until one of his friends who had raised Pit Bulls said that she was a Pit Bull without a doubt and that was all it took to convince him and here I am sitting here furious and thinking “WHAT THE FUCK HAVE I BEEN SAYING FOR THE LAST TWO FUCKING MONTHS?!” Just…motherfuck, he won’t listen to me just because I’m his son. I guess in his eyes I’m still a little baby shitting my diaper and don’t know what I’m fucking talking about so I have to tell his friends to tell him.

But this is not a rant post.

The first time I saw this dog it was clear she had been abused. She was all skin and bones, terrified of everyone, and had even chewed her leash in half to run away and was dragging it behind her when she came to our block. Everyone on our corner took pity on her. The Vietnamese people who live on the corner let her stay in a dog house in their back yard. My dad took to putting some of our cat food out for her at night because it was during the closing winter months when she came to us and was still kinda chilly. He had taken to befriending her and it took a month before she warmed up to him. I took her a week to get used to me.

After a while we had not only coaxed her into our yard but also onto this old couch we have outside.

Heh, that couch was her first real security zone and once she got on it you couldn’t get her off short of picking her up and carrying her off. She was also curious about new places and really enjoyed seeing our jungle of a back yard.

After that, it took her another month and a half before she would even stick her nose inside the door. She was terrified of about everything, but she eventually came inside and staked out a spot by the front windows.

For a long time that was her spot and she’ll still go over there from time to time.

I think it was around then that we’d officially adopted her.

But since then she has come a long way from when we’d first met her. She’s still a little skittish around people, but she won’t bolt at the first sight of them. She can also be fairly lazy and a regular couch potato when inside. She’s taken to sleeping in the recliner I enjoy sitting in (that hussy) and she’s really good with kids.

People are drawn to her to such an extent that it’s really a sight to behold.

Now some of you may be wondering why I’m posting this on a political website but I feel that the subject of Pit Bulls are very much a matter of both personal beliefs and politics since the introduction of Breed Specific Legislation.

BLS is a law that will restrict or ban pit bull type dogs and list them as “vicious animals.” People say that it’s in their nature to be mean. They say that they’ll just suddenly snap without warning or that they’re more prone to biting than any other dog. This is an image that has been trotted around in the media and is largely untrue. This has become so prevalent that San Francisco has enacted a mandatory spaying/neutering of Pit Bull type dogs and Denver has enacted an outright ban and started seizing Pit Bulls from their owners and having them put to sleep.

People miss identify all sorts of dogs and will call them Pit Bulls because of their general appearance. People have said right and left that Leona looks like a boxer but the only reason she does is because her ears and tail haven’t been cut off. Because of that, more often than not people will think she’s some other breed. It is the flip side of this reason that people lump all these different dogs into the Pit Bull heading.

I have come to find out that Pit Bulls were bred to be aggressive towards other animals but friendly towards humans. However, when raised around other animals they’ll generally be a sweet and even tempered kind of dog.

Now I come to the original reason I created this topic.

I’ve been telling you all about my experiences with American Pit Bull Terriers so you can understand my point of view as an owner of one of these dogs and maybe get an idea of my own experiences with this breed.

When I created this post I did so after watching again that flash video Echolette sent me so long ago. For me, it has become even more…relevant.

I want to pass it along to everyone here but I feel the need to warn you, if you have the same attitude towards these animals as Echo and me, this video and the images in it will be burned into your memory for a long time. I urge you to see it, but if you’re squeamish go ahead and click the back button on your browser.

The Pit Bull Problem

It’s official: Stuart Rothenberg can now be counted as one of the inside the beltway crazies. Catch what he said about Ned Lamont supporters in Connecticut: He called them “bomb throwers”.

Bomb throwers, huh, Stu? Uh, Ned Lamont won, Mr. Rothenberg, so where are all the bombs going off in Connecticut now, huh? Gee, there are none.

So how is it that Stuart Rothenberg can call antiwar activists “bomb throwers”? I mean, a huge number of Ned Lamont’s supporters are pacifists, for crying out loud! How are they, in any sense of the term, throwers of bombs?

Oh, well, good old insider Mr. Rothenberg, who seems about as out of touch as a prisoner in a Guantanamo Bay solitary confinement cell, meant it metaphorically.

Metaphorically, huh? Well, what was the bomb throwing a metaphor for? Oh, yeah, it was a metaphor for Democratic voters going to the polls to choose who represents them in their own political party. For Stuart Rothenberg, democracy is like throwing a bomb.

Woo hoo, Stuart Rothenberg’s gone off the crazy, loopy, I never get outside of D.C. deep end, folks!

Hey, Stooie, let me send you a clue telegram: In Iraq, they really throw bombs. Yeah, real bombs, like, ones that explode and KILL PEOPLE!

So get off your high horse, Rothenberg, and talk about who’s the candidate that’s really brought about a bunch of real bomb throwing: Joseph Lieberman. Lieberman voted for the war, Rothenberg. The war. You know, the one with bombs going off. And killing people.

So how come you support the Lieberman bomb throwers, Rothenberg, hug?

Man, you’re just another beltway looney.

Sam Hughes: That name will ring in your ears, in the last seconds before you die!

He seems like just an ordinary guy, at first. He likes pub crawls, and anime. How very ordinary, you think. But then, you come across his Plan to destroy planet Earth!

This is the mission statement of Sam Hughes, and his little troop of Earth destroyers:

“For the purposes of what I hope to be a technically and scientifically accurate document, I will define our goal thus: by any means necessary, to change the Earth into something other than a planet. Any of the following forms could represent success: two or more planets; any number of smaller asteroids; a dust cloud; a more exotic object such as a quntum singularity.”

You think I must be joking. You think I’m nuts. Well, if I am crazy, isn’t that the point? I’m not the one writing this stuff! Sam Hughes hasn’t cooked up just one plan to destroy the Earth. He’s got several! Here’s one which involved sucking the Earth into a microscopic black hole. He starts his plan by saying:

“You will need: a microscopic black hole. Note that black holes are not eternal, they evaporate due to Hawking radiation. For your average black hole this takes an unimaginable amount of time, but for really small ones it could happen almost instantaneously, as evaporation time is dependent on mass. Therefore your microscopic black hole must have greater than a certain threshold mass, roughly equal to the mass of Mount Everest.”

This guy is running around England concocting plans to suck the Earth into a black hole or pull the ground out from underneath us as the planet is wrecked apart by tidal forces. And yet, all the British government can do is worry about whether someone is taking a tube of toothpaste onto an airplane? My goodness, what’s wrong with us all!

Can’t you see that we’re on the verge of planetary catastrophe, courtesy of Sam Hughes, and no one is doing anything to stop him? Wake up! We’re all going to die!

You know, I have just about had it up to here with my fellow conservative commentators in the media. Cal Thomas refers to Connecticut voters as Taliban Democrats for picking Ned Lamont and calls them religious zealots — as if there’s anything wrong with religious zealotry! Ho hum. Our Vice President Dick Cheney calls Lamont supporters “Al Qaeda types,” which is a nice sentiment, but the use of “type” makes it seem as if Lamont supporters were born that way, when it is clearly a lifestyle choice. John Gibson calls such voters “Khmer Rouge Democrats” and says they stack skulls up in piles. Now that’s warming up a bit, but we could do better than that, I think.

The h-e-double-toothpicks with moderate, easygoing epithets like these, I say! Literally! I suggest we go for the most realistic label we can find, the destination for the Taliban, Al Qaeda and the Khmer Rouge: Beelzebub himself. These Democrats are “Beelzebub Democrats,” endorsing the Horned One in their voting behavior, casting America into a lake of eternal fiery torment, and dooming virtuous God-fearing Christians such as myself to a six year term of thoroughly undeserved annoyance on the evening newscast with that Frenchy LaMont. Beelzebub Democrats it is!

This morning, just before I woke up, I had a dream that I was trying to organize a bunch of my friends into a group of MoveOn activists to do volunteer telephone calls for this autumn’s congressional campaigns. A very attractive woman came to the meeting, I think that she was even some kind of movie star or other celebrity. Just then, I realized I didn’t have a shirt on. I hurried upstairs to my huge mansion with hundreds of feet of plate glass windows, and searched through huge racks of shirts for just the right one.

That’s when I felt a tickling feeling going up and down, up and down my side. I looked down, and saw a wasp walking up and down my skin, back and forth, eating the salt left by sweat on my skin.

I realized that I couldn’t put on a shirt while the wasp was there, because it would sting me. But, no matter how long I waited, it wouldn’t leave my skin. So, I finally swatted the wasp and killed it, put on the shirt, and went downstairs to the meeting.

The latest silly explanation for why Republican Senator George Allen is calling people of non-European descent macaca monkeys: They say that the term macaca doesn’t refer to a monkey at all, but that macaca is a Republican“neologism”.

Today, US District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor ruled that President George W. Bush violated the Constitution and broke the law when he set up and executed the program to spy on Americans’ telephone calls without a search warrant or the legally required approval of a FISA court.

I’m reading through her ruling to see exactly what she has to say on the case. It’s great reading, in spots, reminding us about what makes this case so important.

Judge Diggs Taylor chose a particular quotation from, written by Justice Earl Warren, in the case U.S. v. Robel in 1967, to conclude her ruling. In doing so, she is sending a clear message to the citizens of the United States of America. Will we listen?

“Implicit in the term ‘national defense’ is the notion of defending those values and ideas which set this Nation apart. . . . It would indeed be ironic if, in the name of national defense, we would sanction the subversion of . . . those liberties . . . which makes the defense of the Nation worthwhile.”

Tucker Carlson last Wednesday on MSNBC (My Special Neighbor, Bishop Carlson):

It is wrong, blasphemous, and sinful for you to suggest, imply or help other people come to the conclusion that the U.S. government killed 3,000 of its own citizens, because it didn’t!

I am incredibly grateful to Bishop Carlson for his new edict, but in relating it to my friends and neighbors, I need a bit of theological backing. I need to find is the Biblical passage in which dissent against a government identified as blasphemy. I figured Exodus would be the one, or maybe Leviticus, but no luck there. Can you help me in my exegesis?

What is this a picture of? Do you think it’s a radar map of the surface of that new, not-a-planet, dwarf planet Pluto thing? We should be so lucky. It’s a picture of disaster, right here on Earth!

This is a radar image of a gigantic crater in Wilkes Land, an area of Antarctica. This crater is 300 miles wide. The meteorite that made it would have had to have been 30 miles wide. Think about that - a 30 mile-wide rock of death hurtling toward your home!

The impact that made this crater destroyed 90 percent of all life on Earth. The rapid expansion of life afterward brought us all the basic forms of life that we now know - creatures with backbones, squids, corals, arthropods, you name it. This time of dramatic evolution was called the Permian Explosion.

Unicellular life evolved into multicellular life during the Permian Explosion. So, what would happen now, if the Earth were hit by another 30 mile wide monster meteor today?

We almost all would die, that’s for sure. 90 percent of life would be incinerated, or poisoned, or frozen, or starved to death. But then what?

Afterwards, if the Permian Explosion is an example, the surviving populations would be transformed through the forces of natural selection into a new order of life, something with a higher level of complexity. Were talking about colonial, collective minds. We’re talking about human individuality being stripped away to be absorbed into a group consciousness that makes each person its slave.

Impact, flaming destruction, then evolution into a planetary organism that cares for us as little as we care for one of our skin cells that sloughs off and dies, unnoticed! That’s what this image shows is in our future!

After thousands of years of testing, it is time for religious people to face the facts about prayer. It doesn’t work. The only power of prayer is the power to keep someone trying something over and over again long after it’s proven to be ineffective.

A case in point: Yesterday, the New York Times detailed the story of the nun who calls herself Sister Mary Pia. The nun has been praying for an end to the power of Hollywood, which she calls “the Babylon of the U.S.A.”, for 56 years.

If prayer had any power to effect the world, then surely a 56 year-long prayer vigil would show some signs of success. Yet, after two generations of anti-Hollywood prayer by Sister Mary Pia, Hollywood is stronger than ever, and the sisterhood to which Mary Pia belongs has grown weaker.

Facts are facts. Sister Mary Pia’s pointless life of sitting around doing nothing but praying is just one example that proves that prayer doesn’t work.

Here at the Irregular Times Diaries, many people have been making fun of me for predicting a series of disasters that will destroy humanity. Well, tonight, I’ve been vindicated. ABC News is right now broadcasting a special report entitled Last Days On Earth

In this special report:

“The world’s top scientists, including Stephen Hawking, considered the foremost living theoretical physicist, describe seven riveting scenarios detailing the deadliest threats to humanity.”

We’re talking black holes, asteroids, super volcanoes, super-intelligent robots killing us one by one, and more!

I’m not making this up. This may be your last warning. Would ABC News lie to us all? Could Stephen J. Hawking possibly be wrong? Oh, no! We’re all gonna die!

As I write this, I’m standing in the United terminal at the Chicago O’Hare airport, waiting for my suitcase. I’ve been waiting here for 45 minutes, after walking out from behind security, and then going past chain link fences to another terminal from where I arrived, avoiding puddles with suspicious slicks and stinky garbage.

The whole airport seems to be under construction. The thing is that O’Hare has been under construction for years now. It will be ready for renovation when the construction is done, at this pace.

The flight was two hours late, but I wasn’t surprised at that. Flights going into and out of O’Hare are nearly always late.

The seat was cramped, and wouldn’t stay up straight, even though I never pressed the button for it to go back. I could hear the guy in back of me grumbling about it.

I never used to check my bag, but now, out of fear of terrorist attack, I have to choose between traveling without the basics that keep me human and putting my bag below. It seems that I lose either way.

I’ve been waiting for the bag for an hour now, and the conveyor belt upon which my bag is supposed to arrive has just been turned off. It doesn’t seem that anyone from my city will be getting their bags any time soon.

In the background, I can hear the announcement, over and over again, that the Department of Homeland Security has raised the alert level to orange.

Whatever happened to the idea that flying on an airplane is a glamorous thing? I wish I’d taken the train.