Happy New Year!

More Australian new year pics here.

Comic Relief: USS Moonbat

(Roughly to the tune of Gilligan's Island theme song)

Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale,
A tale of a fateful trip
That started from this Israeli port
Aboard this tiny ship:



The moonbat was a crazy activist,
The apologists insane and blunt.
Sixteen passengers set sail that day
For a political stunt, a political stunt.



The IDF started getting rough,
The tiny ship was tossed,
If not for the bullshit of the moonbat crew
Their "Dignity" would be lost, their "Dignity" would be lost.



The ship got rammed in a nighttime raid of this blockaded conflict zone:
With Journalists
The Moonbat too,
The Activists and their Strife,
The Apologist Goons
The Political Stunts and Human Sheilds,
Here by the IDF pwn3d!

Enter the Nutters

As we have yet another flare up in the Israel/Palestine conflict, the ultimate goal of Palestinian belligerents inevitably comes to the forefront: to provoke an Israeli action that will result in international outcry/pressure/support for the strategic goals they cannot accomplish through direct military action.

And fortunately for them, there are plenty of idiots in the media, and who'll take to the streets to help them:





Israel's strategic goals in "taking the bait" after all of this time of absorbing indiscriminate rocket/mortar attacks without so much as a disinterested yawn from the international media: significantly reduce the ability of Hamas to maintain power and continue to funnel Gaza resources to these provocative attacks.

If successful they can sit back and hope for a more rational power structure to emerge in Gaza that they can deal with on the disputes that have plagued the peace process.

If unsuccessful, Hamas will be able to use their response in the typical baiting fashion to make some gains in international support towards their goals, or at least be able to dig in a little bit harder to continue the stalemate. Once again they'll probably be almost entirely left off the hook for any culpability in their intentional strikes against civilian targets and using human shields... while Israel will be blamed for overreacting against their strikes against civilian targets and be blamed for human shield related deaths.

And the international community will continue to mirror the idiocy of mister "death to juice" dude... though with better spelling, to be certain.

Fortunately for many of the other useful idiots of the pro-Palestinian organizations, they printed out plenty of spell-checked protest signs to ensure that not all of the anti-Israeli protesters looked like complete nimrods.



One marvels at the rationalizations necessary for "peace protesters" to actively aid the efforts of one of the belligerents in a conflict.

With Israel proclaiming an extended campaign, should be plenty of idiocy to go around for the next few weeks.



Ugh.

(hat tip: LGF)


-- UPDATE 7:23 AM - Added some additional pictures and the following --

Just in case there was any confusion that these protesters aren't aiding genocidal nutters:



As zombietime notes on the meaning of the expression:

In case anyone reading this is not familiar with the phrase "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free": it is an overt call for the destruction of Israel. The "river" in the statement is the Jordan River, and the "sea" is the Mediterranean; thus, the slogan states that all the land between the Jordan and the Mediterrean [most of which is now the territory of Israel] should be included in the proposed nation of Palestine.

Yeah, they're that fucked up.

Disproportionate Outcry

As the Israelis prepare to invade Gaza after a weekend full of precision strikes against Hamas targets in that territory, we get the usual routine in the US press:

Disproportionate Response!

I know I'm not alone in wondering how a "proportionate response" would be not only absurd, but also get the same international outcry. Imagine this headline: "Israel launches inaccurate and random missile/mortar attacks on Gaza!"

Where was the media outcry on the disproportionate action of launching attacks on Israel while Israel did nothing in response? Now Israel is supposed to do as little as possible, and one can only imagine only the least effective response possible to avoid scrutiny? No nation would put up with these acts of war for so long and not try to do something that would effectively stop them... let alone give a damn that they might be too effective.

And once again the international outcry blames the responder for the use of human shield tactics instead of the assholes using those tactics and intentionally putting civilians in harms way.

And once again the international media outlets have been regurgitating the press releases of the belligerents as factual news... aiding their propaganda campaigns... and in turn working for the belligerents and not doing their fucking job as supposedly objective journalists.

A conspiratorial mind might be inclined to assume the media wants this conflict to continue to ensure more filler to report and is actively working to help continue the bloody stalemate. A less conspiratorial mind might just appreciate that they gain from the sensational headlines their otherwise idiotic reporting affords them and have little incentive to change.

Disgusting.

The fact is: The anti-Israel belligerents are waging a propaganda campaign for international support in a conflict they cannot win militarily/directly... and the media is complicit in aiding them in their efforts.

Zombie Time had a revealing expose on the tactics employed by anti-Israel belligerents and how the media ate it up every time. That article here.

War on Christmas: Taliban Edition

Some our British comrades had their holiday celebrations temporarily interrupted this year. From The Sun:

The Fight Before Christmas



The troops, from 40 Commando Royal Marines, were attempting to bring a touch of British normality to war-torn Helmand Province when their festive service was interrupted by enemy gunfire.

Hurling aside hymn sheets, they rushed to grab their weapons and – still in their Santa hats – loosed off round after round of mortar fire to see off the enemy.

Then, as the Taliban retreated and with no injuries to the British troops, our heroes resumed their carol service before tucking into turkey for Christmas lunch.

The extraordinary pictures were captured by soldier and amateur photographer Capt Euan Goodman. They illustrate the relentless call of duty experienced by the thousands of British servicemen and women spending Christmas on the front lines.

Taliban loses this round.

But due to the unexpected and obviously unannounced visit they may have instigated some of the best "War on Christmas" web images this year:





Prophetic image for next year's "War on Christmas" O'Reilly Factor special?

White Girl In Trouble News

Oh the joys of infotainment. Now that one missing white girl in trouble story seems fairly resolved with the discovery of bone bits in the endless Anthony soap opera... CNN has opted to fill in the airtime gaps with a special on still unsolved missing white girl in trouble Jonbenet Ramsey:

JonBenet: After 12 years, still a mystery

It is one of the most notorious unsolved cases in recent memory: A 6-year-old child beauty queen found dead in the basement of her home the day after Christmas 1996. The strangulation of JonBenet Ramsey is also among the coldest of cases. Twelve years have passed, but there are no solid leads. CNN.com and Nancy Grace are bringing fresh eyes to cold cases.

Now, a quick search of the National Center for Missing and Exploited children has reams upon reams upon reams of missing kids... from the last month alone there are quite a few.

The infotainment industry would like us to believe they're doing a public service by sensationalizing a handful of these to help authorities get more information. Of course that becomes a bit unbelievable if they're still rehashing a case that you'd have to have lived in a cave to be unfamiliar with. What about the other cases? More current ones? Not cute enough? Not dramatic enough? No help needed?

And why is it that it seems hopeless the infotainment yahoos will never report on stories where the kids look, I don't know...



...a little less in tune with their audience, perhaps?

For some reason they don't think these kids help with the ratings enough to deserve attention. Funny, that.

Comic Relief: ShoePGs

Happy Solstice!

For all the heathens:

2Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.

3For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.

4They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.

5They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.

At least biblical writers can admit they stole this holiday season from the heathens, even if their revisionist minions refuse to.

Put up a tree, decorate it, and enjoy the new year as the days grow longer. Celebrate with reason, not with blissful or deliberate ignorance of it.

A very happy solstice to humanity!

Sunday Morning Blasphemy

This week's edition: Differing opinions and free speech, ie Grinch-like behavior in the War on Christmas... also, the rabble are roused over Rick Warren, of Saddleback fame, tapped by Obama for inauguration invocation... also, some fun alternative holiday ideas with special thanks to the Flying Spaghetti Monster... a modern version of the Scarlet Letter... and in case there was any doubt, Sean Hannity, Ann Coulter, and Jim Cunningham are still hatemongering dipshits.


Grinch Watch 2008

The Culture and Media Institute, a self-appointed protector of Christmas, has released it's ultimate Grinch list for the year. Topping the list:

• Playboy "depicting its December cover girl as the Virgin Mary in the Mexican version of the magazine."

• Washington State's Governor for "hiding behind the First Amendment to allow attacks on Christmas"

• And the American Humanist Association for "Using a beloved Christmas song in an ad attacking Christmas" in their ads in Washington D.C. asking, "Why believe in a god? Just be good for goodness’ sake."

• And of course numerous diabolical infractions of saying happy holidays where something involving Christmas may be going on.

Though they couldn't come up with any examples of any individual not being allowed to practice Christmas traditions, nor any church or churchgoer being forced to accept or display contrary views on their lawns/property/etc, nor any examples of anything other than the horrendous crime of other people not doing and saying things they like or in the way that they like... they apparently feel quite justified in their delusion that Christmas is under attack, being stolen by grinches!

Have a differing opinion? Well stop it you Christmas Killer!



Saddleback Sores:

For some odd reason, there are a lot of people who do not like Rick Warren in spite of the very nice way he goes about preaching intolerance and spreading hateful stereotypes to demonize those he disagrees with.

Obama tapping him for the inauguration invocation has some groups a bit more than ticked at the selection.

For gay rights activists who oppose the special status the government gives to heterosexual relationships and recognition of sanctity of those relationships dislike warren as his anti homosexual views and anti gay marriage stances are antithetical to one of the most important, in not the most important, issues that concern them. While he hardly comes across as one of the more intolerant preachers out there, the end result are views along the lines of other anti-gay preachers who support government policy that deny equal rights to them and their loved ones. As Warren put it, he can't think of where he differs in views of the notoriously anti-gay James Dobson in anything other than mere tone.

Putting a friendly face on prejudice isn't helpful. If anything it is more dangerous that upfront prejudice that's less of a snake in the grass.

And while any religious preacher in general is unlikely to agree with an atheist on matters of religious philosophy, evangelicals like Warren have this funny way of going beyond mere disagreement and jump head first off the cliffs of hypocrisy when defending religion over its troubled history. From a Newsweek debate between him and an atheism advocate:

WARREN: I don't feel duty-bound to defend stuff that's done in the name of God which I don't think God approved or advocated. Have things been done wrong in the name of Christianity? Yes. Sam makes the statement in his book that religion is bad for the world, but far more people have been killed through atheists than through all the religious wars put together. Thousands died in the Inquisition; millions died under Mao, and under Stalin and Pol Pot. There is a home for atheists in the world today—it's called North Korea. I don't know any atheists who want to go there. I'd much rather live under Tony Blair, or even George Bush. The bottom line is that atheists, who accuse Christians of being intolerant, are as intolerant—

Gotta love the use of the same tactic he claims to dismiss as irrelevant as he tries to use the same tactic to smear atheism as being responsible for the crimes of authoritarian regimes, yet ignoring that the problem was the government having the power to force ideology and punish those that didn't agree... as he supports with some of his own theocratic views.

Harris' response, while unapologetic about his view of religion, notes that the intolerance atheists generally seek is intolerance to government having the power to enforce religious or even non-religious ideology:

HARRIS: How am I being intolerant? I'm not advocating that we lock people up for their religious beliefs. You can get locked up in Western Europe for denying the Holocaust. I think that's a terrible way of addressing the problem. This really is one of the great canards of religious discourse, the idea that the greatest crimes of the 20th century were perpetrated because of atheism. The core problem for me is divisive dogmatism. There are many kinds of dogmatism. There's nationalism, there's tribalism, there's racism, there's chauvinism. And there's religion. Religion is the only sphere of discourse where dogma is actually a good word, where it is considered ennobling to believe something strongly based on faith.

But therein lies the rub. Evangelicals like Warren consider attempts at secular government to be little different than a slippery slope to communist authoritarianism or other horrors of history. He pushes the idea that lack of government support for his religious ideology and policies that could enforce it are on par with oppressing people of faith.

Without evidence or hesitance he tries to paint secularists as trying to oppress the religious and demonizes such ideas with the most extreme examples of governments whose most destructive nature had little to nothing to do with secularism as it did with their authoritarianism. His mind boggling suggestion of atheists moving to North Korea is absurd as suggesting the religious move to Iran or some theocracy... either way the authoritarianism is what makes those places hell holes, far more than the religious or lack of religious faith generally held.

He may be the friendliest face among the agents of intolerance the religious far-right has to offer... but that is hardly any sort of valid excuse to legitimize his intolerant views by tapping him for the invocation of this national event. It may be a smart political move by Obama to put on a bipartisan or non-radical show for the religious right, but in the end the complaints by those groups who actively supported Obama, and who Warren preaches intolerance towards and government policy to treat as second class citizens, are fully justified in their dissatisfaction or outrage.

Warren may have a nice tone about his intolerance, but in cases of intolerance Obama should remain tone deaf.



Touched by His Noodly Appendage:

From a comic relief post earlier this week:

Another strike in the War on Christmas... this time by the Pastafarians:

Some more interesting holiday ideas for devout followers of the Flying Spaghetti Monster available here. Some notable ones:


A Pastafarian nativity scene (yes they're also obsessed with pirates):




More holiday lighting:





The Scarlet Letter revisited:

Just when you thought it was safe to leave a church because you discover it's run by total nutters... from Fox News:

Hancock learned that her private sessions with her mentor hadn’t been so private after all, when in October her mentor pulled her aside in church and asked her come into another room.

“In the room, there were several women that I never told my business to. And they proceeded to tell me about my business and what I was doing and what a sinner I was — just persecuting me.” Hancock said. “One of the ladies was even saying ‘I was at your house when you didn’t come home all night.’"

It was then that Hancock said she decided to leave Grace Community Church.

...

Almost two months later, Hancock received the letter from the elders of Grace Community Church, explaining that she had left them no choice but to continue the disciplinary process.

“Your refusal to repent and be restored in your relationship with God and His Church leaves us with no alternative than to carry out the third step of the discipline process,” the letter explained. “In accordance with Matthew 18:17, we intend to ‘tell it to the church.’”

Darrell L. Bock, a research professor for the Dallas Theological Seminary, said that public admonishment is not uncommon in churches that focus on discipline but added, "Most churches would handle this much more privately than this particular community is choosing to do."

So far there doesn't appear to be any sign that the church is changing any plan to go ahead with the public humiliation they find Biblically justified. A local paper described this supposedly deserving heathen as a "social worker and lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserves." Truly the epitome of evil.

Wonder how long she'll have to wonder if agents of the church are stalking her nocturnal movements to save her soul through intimidation and humiliation... nothing like joining a "loving community" to help expose the dangers of unhinged cults.



Trifecta of Dumb - Or Playing Dumb So Well Nobody Can Tell the Difference?

Obama's decision to use his full name in his inauguration has Hannity and his allies on this particular subject feeling justified in their campaign tactics to emphasize Obama's middle name at every opportunity to push xenophobic fears among their fans and listeners.

Here is the transcript of Ann Coulter and Hannity attempting to justify their xenophobic smear campaign and deny any of the blatant and obvious malicious intent. That was a few days ago.

The stupefying stupidity peaked with Ann Coulter stating that not only was Obama going to swear in with a Koran... that he was also an atheist.

In a more recent show, one of the yahoos they were defending in the previous episode, Jim Cunningham is exposed as an equally ignorant doofus, or at least playing dumb so well as Hannity and Coulter as to be indistinguishable from retarded.

And as Hannity sat back defending his good friend, Cunningham's other word games of changing McCain's name into Spanish to show his contempt of McCain's immigration policies was thrown at him, in which he sat exposed as an all around hatemongering stooge.

And while the xenophobic nitwits and evangelical extremists who demand exclusive favor of their views and traditions may find ignorant bliss in this kind of fearmongering to save America from the heathens and the brown people who are obviously bound to sell out America's interests... the rest of us aren't amused.

At least not even these nimrods could keep a straight face through all of their dumb playing. The people who eat this crap up hook, line, and sinker often can't bring themselves to realize what utter tools they are and believe their evangelical masters on faith and propaganda.

What a scary lot they all are.

Dr. Phil on VA Failings

VA Watchdog.org has the full episode broken up over 6 youtube clips here.

The earlier clips detail some of the frustration both wounded vets and families of wounded vets faced when their service connected injuries and ailments led them to the VA's door and the resulting delays and apathy the bureaucracy presents to many.

It asks some pointed questions from the Democratic leader of the committee in the US House of Representatives and a military analyst that seemed determined to push other political agendas with the veterans issues as a trump card, which seemed less than helpful.

And it also, as this final clip points out, had a reason for the one sided nature of the episode... the VA and DoD backed out of presenting the other side, and instead offered a statement that claims the problems are rare exceptions, in spite of the statistics showing that they're not, and hiding behind claims of superior health care while avoiding the key problems with access, the widespread alteration or destruction of claims evidence (among other scandals), and the mind boggling wait times that often cost lives:



The add-on ads are a bit more than obnoxious, especially if you watch the full series of clips, but unfortunately the show's website doesn't appear to have the episode available otherwise, with or without commercials. So this appears to be the best available now. The other clips are available here.



Following up on these older posts:

Bombshell: The VA Shredder Scandal reveals a depressing peek into what lows the bureaucracy will sink at the expense of disabled veterans.

Pentagon Disorder Update: Finally some action to tackle the personality disorder scam to defraud veterans of their earned benefits.

Pentagon Disorder: Part II: More of the personality disorder scam stories and a PBS special giving the issue more public attention. Still no action.

Shhh...afting Veterans: VA employee caught red handed suggesting that her staff misdiagnose PTSD patience in order to save money.

What's More Disgraceful?: New stories of the military misdiagnosing service connected ailments as a pre-existing Personality Disorder, and the denial of benefits that result.

Psychological "Friendly" Fire: Veterans struggling with the VA claims backlog and bureaucracy and how the misconceptions and deceptions pushed by the Pentagon are making it even harder for returning veterans to deal with the VA bureaucracy.

Pentagon Disorder: The Personality Disorder Scam. The DoD takes service connected disabled vets and says they have pre-existing mental problems that get the government off the hook for paying for benefits for their war time and service connected disabilities. A real travesty.

More Vet Funding But...: Some good improvements on Vet funding, but still no movement on the Personality Disorder scam being used to deny benefits to veterans.

Comic Relief: Bush is The One

This was the ytmnd I was waiting for:



Click on link above to get the full ytmnd experience.

Comic Relief: Pastafarian Mercenaries

Another strike in the War on Christmas... this time by the Pastafarians:

Comic Relief: Life Imitates Art

From the Chicago Tribune's 'Blago and Me' pictorial:



Yes, that's one of his 2006 campaign signs... leading right into the shitter.


Runners up:

This one was submitted with the note: "My wife met the Governor at work at the CBOT and got his autograph. Pretty prophetic message, eh?"




This one had the caption: "The Gov's neighbor, Dean Roeser, age 7, in his 2008 Halloween costume outside Rod's house. Who knew it would turn out to be an unwitting precursor to Rod's arrest. Dean's handcuffs are just out of sight below the photo."

Duhmocracy

For the most part it seems like people just aren't interested enough (or have the time) to factcheck everything they read. On issues that get them really riled up they might put in extra effort, but often seek out sources that confirm their point of view.

One great example would be factcheck.org... both campaigns cited them as a source when disputing some misleading claim of the other side... but avoided it like the plague on articles showing their guy was equally as misleading on other issues, if not more so. This tendency trickled down to individual supporters.

Factcheck.org has released its post election polling information exemplifying why campaigns have a strong incentive to remain heavily misleading, even with easy access to factchecking sources:

Our Disinformed Electorate
December 12, 2008 - by Kathleen Hall Jamieson and Brooks Jackson

We saw more aggressive fact-checking by journalists in this election than ever before. Unfortunately, as a post-election Annenberg Public Policy Center poll confirms, millions of voters were bamboozled anyway.

• More than half of U.S. adults (52 percent) said the claim that Sen. Barack Obama’s tax plan would raise taxes on most small businesses is truthful, when in fact only a small percentage would see any increase.

• More than two in five (42.3 percent) found truth in the claim that Sen. John McCain planned to "cut more than 800 billion dollars in Medicare payments and cut benefits," even though McCain made clear he had no intent to cut benefits.

The first falsehood was peddled to voters by McCain throughout his campaign, and the second was made in a pair of ads run heavily in the final weeks of the campaign by Obama.

These aren’t isolated examples. One in four (25.6 percent) of those who earned too little to have seen any tax increase under Obama's plan nevertheless believed that he intended to "increase your own federal income taxes," accepting McCain's repeated claims that "painful" tax hikes were being proposed on "families." Nearly two in five (39.8 percent) thought McCain had said he would keep troops in combat in Iraq for up to 100 years, though he’d actually spoken of a peacetime presence such as that in Japan or South Korea. Close to one in three (31 percent) believed widely disseminated claims that Obama would give Social Security or health care benefits to illegal immigrants, when in fact he would do neither.

We’re not surprised. As we wrote in "unSpun: finding facts in a world of disinformation," the same thing happened in 2004 when majorities of voters believed untrue things that had been fed to them by the Bush and Kerry campaigns.

One reason is obvious: Political ads run thousands of times and reach far more people than articles on FactCheck.org. On our best day, we were read by 462,678 visitors. By contrast, the Obama campaign aired two ads claiming that McCain planned to cut Medicare benefits a total of 17,614 times at a cost estimated to be more than $7 million – which is several times more than FactCheck.org's entire annual budget.

...

The article continues here.

The results of this widespread and one-sided (regardless of which side) acceptance of disinformation is hardly the "eternal vigilance" required to keep our government in check with the democratic influences our system maintains. No greater example of that lately is our own corrupt governor of Illinois whose 2006 supporters are shocked, shocked I say, to learn that he was corrupt... and that's just the party leadership and the future Obama Administration who helped him defeat both his primary and general election opponents running against his corruption, examples of which had already been made public, as was the federal investigation those examples instigated.

That denial has trickled down to their various supporters who honestly believe that their favored candidates were oblivious to the corruption they helped to minimize during the last election.

The end result? Politicians both here and nationally have little incentive not to mislead their supporters or the general public as it continues to pay off. We'll continue to get the government we deserve by our one-sided accountability. With much irony, both sides will happily cite the same factchecking sources when it helps them, but ignore the same sources out of hand when it questions the inaccurate beliefs they've come to accept.

Sunday Morning Blasphemy

This Weeks Edition: Bush the religious moderate and the War on Christmas continues with a two-parter: "The Word" and World War C!

First things first...


Bush doesn't take the Bible literally and believes evolution is proven:



From ABC News Nightline interview.

This had some media outlets surprised and wondering if Bush is actually a religious moderate:

With his time in office running out, Bush has been discussing what religion means to him. Here's the précis: he does not believe in the literal truth of the Bible, did not invade Iraq because of his Christianity and does not believe his faith is incompatible with evolution. Bush will not even assert that the Almighty – who, he believes, is much the same one as is worshipped by other religions – chose him to become president.

And some of the true nutterbutters are pissed (picture added myself though):

I'm fed up with people saying the Bible doesn't mean what it says.

It means exactly what it says and it says what it means.

And just in case you never heard the Good News, here it is:

God is coming back to put an end to this nonsense.

He will raise people out of their graves, granting eternal life to many to administer the kingdom of God – the actual government of God – here on Earth.

He'll finally oust the unseen reason behind this mess: the devil, the current "god of this world," "prince of the power of the air," "father of lies" and "spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience."

Mr. Bush, I pray you realize one day the message of the New Testament is a lot more than "God sent a son."

Yes, change is coming. A regime change the powers that be don't want.

The kingdom of God is on its way.

In that same article demanding that people accept the Bible means what it says, he also notes that it advocates the death penalty for homosexuality. Not to show how absurd the Bible is, but in a serious argument to take it literally. Just makes me want to mockingly note, "Not that there's anything wrong with that."

Cute, eh?

Makes one really wonder about the motivations of the Bible literalists in their quest to dominate American politics... especially with their quest to stomp out the 'homosexual agenda.'

The Christian Broadcasting Network even chimed in, though a bit less insanely, that these comments put him in league with Democratic secularists:

Well here’s the good news for President Bush. At least he doesn’t have to worry about winning the socially conservative base anymore because with comments like that, he’d have to go into damage control mode.

Just asking: put politics aside for a moment. Philosophically, how are President Bush’s comments about God and Jesus different from what Barack Obama is saying? It sounds very similar doesn’t it? The policies and politics are different but they sound awfully close in how they view God.

At least there wasn't any implicit support of homo-cide (pun deeply intended) in their surprise. It does make one wonder how many of the truly deluded evangelicals out there are criticizing oppression of homosexuality in Islamic states, such as Iran, less out of revulsion than jealousy. Given I've run into a few who openly admitted that the Iranians have the right idea, it certainly begs the question how many keep that to themselves due to their views being unpopular... or as they would put it, 'oppressed.'

As it stands they seem to generally believe that unless the government helps prop up their religious beliefs and traditions they're a half-step away from being tossed into lions dens. So who knows what other madness lurks behind the facade.

Speaking of madness and facades...


The War on Christmas: Satire Edition

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

The Word - The Unbearable Lightness of Supreme Being

Colbert at Christmas
Colbert Christmas DVD

Green Screen
Bill O'Reilly Interview

I liked the "Mac start-up chime" idea for sunrise. Probably more convincing however would be a sky-wide blue-screen of death from time to time.



To the mac fans, this might be a whole new level of blasphemy... hrmm...

Moving on...


World War C: The War on Christmas Around the World

Today's stop: A school in Essex:



A school was told that a choir event had to cut some Christmas carols over religious themes. From the Daily Mail:

A school choir was forced to withdraw from a Christmas event because organisers branded its carols 'too religious'.

Around 60 children aged between seven and 11 had spent six weeks practising favourites including Once In Royal David's City and Silent Night for the Corringham Winter Festival.

But they were let down at the last minute when their headteacher was informed their programme did not 'dovetail' with the festival's theme.

The event ended up going ahead last week with non-religious music and displays from an Irish school of dancing and performing arts students.

The snub was widely criticised by furious parents and religious leaders who accused the organisers of pandering to the politically correct brigade.

Ah, the politically correct brigade strikes again!


(above image lifted from evangelicalright.com here)

It's not like religious folks are trying to push religious viewpoints though. The article continues:

The Prayer Book Society, said 'winter festivals' were threatening traditional Christmas celebrations.

Chairman Prudence Dailey added: 'These politically correct winter festivals seek to make Christmas part of a 'multi-faith' mix and hark back to pagan winter solstice observance.

'They see Christmas as merely a local seasonal event and miss its central religious significance at the heart of national identity.

'Perhaps organisers would benefit from reading the Book of Common Prayer and discovering what winter festivities are in fact about.'

On second thought maybe they are trying to ensure they have exclusive religious support of the reasons they celebrate at this time of year.

How dare people try to steal the season back for solstice... the Christians stole that fair and square, dammit! (not to mention Yule celebrations)

For a website with a brief overview on solstice and yule traditions dating long before the Christians fudged their calendar to get the heathens on board with their baby Jesus celebration, here's a good start: solstice and yule.

Which brings us to those pesky yuletide carols. While the Christians believe that these carols must include support of their Christian beliefs, they do so by forcing it on a seasonal celebration, yule, that predates their tri-mono-theism... or is it mono-tri-theism... whichever it is, it predates Jesus, aka Christ, aka their whole "reason" for the "season" that was celebrated just fine without him or them before.

But that doesn't stop some people from demanding their particular religious myths get the respect they don't deserve. From the same article:

Last year the Bishop of St David's in Pembrokeshire, the Rt Rev Carl Cooper, warned political correctness was destroying the meaning of Christmas.

'Teachers and other public servants have become paralysed with fear and political correctness. They need to regain confidence in our culture and traditions,' he said.

It's a dangerous world for a major religion. Especially in areas where that religion has overwhelming majorities. Without the government helping to prop up their religious views, their oppressed and hobbled religion and religious traditions will cease to exist! Erm... somehow.

But hey, it gives me another opportunity to post a photoshop of my new favorite christmas storybook:



Cracks me up every time!

Comic Relief: The Clean Candidate

From CNN in the primaries:

Biden called Obama first "clean" African-American candidate

...

"I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy," Biden said. "I mean, that's a storybook, man."

Was Biden being racist? Or just laughably wrong? I guess it depends on what he meant by 'clean.'

Blame Game

As the Illinois Governor seems well on his way to join our former governor in prison, people have been pointing fingers endlessly as to who is to blame for Illinois being in this unfortunate but all too typical (for Illinois) mess. From frustration at the conservatives who stayed home instead of voting for that Republican-In-Name-Only (RINO) to the voters in general for not heeding the warnings that couldn't have been more clear during the election:



and



So do conservatives have only themselves to blame for staying home? Are the voters of Illinois just stupid? Here's my take:


Number Crunching

After the 2006 election where Blago was re-elected, with strong support of Democratic leadership, and continued endorsements from his Chicago cronies (Obama included), in spite low popularity among voters that drove a relatively strong Green Party showing by defecting Dems:

Overall the GOP had over a 14% drop from their previous governor vote totals.

Blagojevich had a 6% drop.

The number of people who actually voted for governor only dropped 1.5%. The explanation was the relatively strong showing by the Green Party candidate, Whitney, who more than tripled the 3rd party showing from 2002 even before figuring in the others. Blagojevich came up over a 110,000 votes shy of his earlier totals and a more liberal 3rd party candidate picked up over 360,000 votes. Meanwhile the GOP bled off more than 220,000 votes.

A county by county breakdown showed the most dramatic percentage drops of Republican support in traditionally conservative counties, and though the Chicago area is generally considered liberal, it also contains a significant portion of the Republican voters too, the Chicago area bled a great deal of Republican voters as well. Here's a map showing the shift (most dramatic shifts in yellow/green for clarity):





2006 was a double hit against the IL GOP with the national backlash against Republicans having a coattail effect in State/local elections, but worse with a further "RINO" effect against Topinka who had some notoriously socially liberal views. And even worse in that Topinka was smeared for her association with George Ryan directly in attack ads... which increased the doubts that a Republican would be less corrupt, especially as Ryan, the last Republican governor, was on his way to prison.

2006 was the year the IL GOP lost every state-wide office to the Dems and the Dems gained a supermajority in both houses of the General Assembly here.

Not sure if anything could have changed the 2006 general election results. Everything was working against the GOP that year. It doesn't get the Democratic leadership off the hook for swinging their support to Blago over Eisendrath in the primaries though. Eisendrath actually had a fairly decent showing under the circumstances (no dem leadership support and running against an incumbent of his own party).


Blame: Eeny Meeny Miny Moe...

The Democratic primary in 2006 was, for all intents and purposes, the governor election that year, and Democratic leaders demonstrably backed a well known corrupt yahoo they didn't like that much out of fears they wouldn't achieve a full strangehold on power. Instead they didn't get the power (Blago, as expected, continued to run his office as a petit dictator in spite of their desires for policy) and they got themselves a far more embarrassing corruption black eye.

Granted, I was frustrated by the GOP infighting in the general election, given how much I despised King Rod, but while that was a significant factor, that infighting was driven by frustrations with the national party and previous problems with the State party as well. The primary blame must be laid at the feet of the Democratic leadership, especially the Chicago machine politicians and those in bed with them, who looked the other way or personally gained (or at least hoped to) at the expense of our State's image and prosperity.

Wednesday Night Blasphemy

Mid-Week Edition (Hey, there's Wednesday night church, why not Wednesday night blasphemy?): Festivus joins the competition for public display in the on-going 'circus' at the Washington State Capitol and a new form of rain dancing.

Festivus First:



The Christians who fought to open up the government's public spaces to their religious viewpoint, apparently motivated by the idea that the implicit government stamp of approval would benefit them, continues to backfire in glorious new ways. From the Seattle Times:

Capitol holiday-display controversy turning into "circus"

Things have taken a bizarre turn since the Freedom From Religion Foundation, a group for atheists and agnostics, put up an anti-religion sign in the state Capitol. The sign was stolen, then turned in to a Seattle radio station. Now the Capitol will host protests, countersigns, and maybe even a Festivus pole.

By Janet I. Tu
Seattle Times religion reporter

The state Capitol hosts a Nativity scene and a 25-foot "holiday tree." The nearby atheists' sign that sparked a nationwide furor was back in place Friday after being stolen and then dropped off at a country-music radio station.

And joining those displays soon could be a 5-foot aluminum pole in celebration of "Festivus for the Rest of Us." Not to mention a protest, a balloon display and even more signs, this time supporting religion.

"It's a circus and we're the center ring," said state Sen. Pam Roach, R-Auburn, who wants the atheists' sign moved farther from the Nativity scene and the governor to establish firmer guidelines on displays.

One of the Fox and Friends commentators this morning declared the Festivus Pole move an insult to Christianity. She reminded viewers that Jesus wasn't amused.

As much as I hate to potentially incur the wrath of fictional deities, I think it's friggin' hilarious. If for no other reason than the blatant irony that this was all made possible, the circus, the mockery of their faith, etc by people who fought to open up the government space to promote religious views... apparently assuming that they'd get exclusive right to do so by popular fiat and intimidation.

Nice try! As cute as it is, it's just not possible, from their own efforts for the government to limit the space to just them. That would be a clear cut case of respecting an establishment of religion. It's as if they think they own this time of year and nobody can criticize that ownership or intrude upon it in ways they don't approve of.

As the above article makes clear:

[Governor] Gregoire, a Democrat, and state Attorney General Rob McKenna, a Republican, issued a statement after O'Reilly's first show, explaining the state's position.

"The U.S. Supreme Court has been consistent and clear that, under the Constitution's First Amendment, once government admits one religious display or viewpoint onto public property, it may not discriminate against the content of other displays, including the viewpoints of nonbelievers," the statement said.

The Christians opened the door... and now they want to close it... to everyone but them. Sorry kids, no special rights for you.

Moving on...


Praying for Rain (Raining Money):

From earlier this week: SUVs on the Alter of Desperation:

SUVs at altar, Detroit church prays for a bailout
By Kevin Krolicki and Soyoung Kim - Sun Dec 7, 2008 6:41pm EST



DETROIT, Dec 7 (Reuters) - With sport-utility vehicles at the altar and auto workers in the pews, one of Detroit's largest churches on Sunday offered up prayers for Congress to bail out the struggling auto industry.

"We have never seen as midnight an hour as we face this week," the Rev. Charles Ellis told several thousand congregants at a rousing service at Detroit's Greater Grace Temple. "This week, lives are hanging above an abyss of uncertainty as both houses of Congress decide whether to extend a helping hand."

Local car dealerships donated three hybrid SUVs to be displayed during the service, one from each of the Big Three. A Ford Escape, Chevy Tahoe from GM and a Chrysler Aspen were parked just in front of the choir and behind the pulpit.

Ellis said he and other Detroit ministers would pray and fast until Congress voted on a bailout for Detroit's embattled automakers. He urged his congregation to do the same.

...

"It's all about hope. You can't dictate how people will think, how they will respond, how they will vote," Ellis said after the service. "But you can look to God. We believe he can change the minds and hearts of men and women in power, and that's what we tried to do today."

One might recommend a lobbyist with a better track record in their 'mysterious ways' of influencing the power players in Washington. If the saying holds that the lord helps those who help themselves, no better example of such helping themselves could be found but in our typically self-serving congress critters when it comes to the perks, both official and unofficial, of their position. The parishioners may be a bit more literal than others than taking a prostrate position for acts of Congress though.

But on a related note: is it just me or does it seem like the biggest threat to Christmas this year is coming in the form of layoffs, not atheists declaring their disagreement?

Just a thought.

Not the Governor He Knew

ABC is already reporting that Obama is shifting the official story on his relations with Blago:

Asked what contact he'd had with the governor's office about his replacement in the Senate, President-elect Obama today said "I had no contact with the governor or his office and so we were not, I was not aware of what was happening."

But on November 23, 2008, his senior adviser David Axelrod appeared on Fox News Chicago and said something quite different.

While insisting that the President-elect had not expressed a favorite to replace him, and his inclination was to avoid being a "kingmaker," Axelrod said, "I know he's talked to the governor and there are a whole range of names many of which have surfaced, and I think he has a fondness for a lot of them."

They also go on to note that both men didn't just enthusiastically endorse each other and pull strings for their election support... Obama was a key figure in Blago's original run for Governor, as was Rahm

And, it should be pointed out, Mr. Obama has a relationship with Mr. Blagojevich, having not only endorsed Blagojevich in 2002 and 2006, but having served as a top adviser to the Illinois governor in his first 2002 run for the state house.

...

Emanuel told the New Yorker earlier this year that he and Obama "participated in a small group that met weekly when Rod was running for governor. We basically laid out the general election, Barack and I and these two."

Is this going to be another case of yet another close political ally that is "no longer the man he knows." Granted, Obama has distanced himself fairly well from Blago during this last election cycle... but before, that distance wasn't anywhere near as apparent.

There may be no dirty dealings, at least none with such dramatic evidence that will ever be known, of any involvement by Obama in any of the matters that are being investigated in this particular case. There is a definite link between Obama and Rezko, and there is also a definite criminal link between Rezko and Blagojevich. Just as Rezko was a key player in Obama's rise to power from the early days of his Chicago political career, Obama was a key player in Blagojevich's run for governor, as was Rezko. The exhaustive election campaign revealed that Obama's dismissal of ties to Rezko were both politically expedient and exagerated... but such ass-covering deception is normal in politics and not proof of criminal callusion.

The Republicans are understandably licking their chops at an opportunity to say "we told you so!" and knock Obama off the pedastal his supporters have almost religiously placed him upon. But so far there isn't anything public from this that confirms much beyond what they already suspected. And that's what this all comes down to: suspicion. Obama's associations have always caused some concern about what is real motives and ideology may be, and certainly cast a negative light on his claims of being a new kind of politician as he quite blatantly used unsavory machine politics/politicians to catapult his career at breakneck speed.

So far they still lack the proof that Obama shares the more damning qualities of these associations though. Whether it be the more shocking racist and hateful views of Wright, the militant radicalism of Ayers, or the criminal power brokering of Rezko or Blagjevich... there is little evidence that Obama shares or has engaged in the same. It's clear he has benefited from their support in his rise to power, but so far as the evidence reveals, only as strange political bedfellows or cunning cutthroat political maneuvering.

What's also clear is that Obama has been able to effectively distance himself from these folks when their associations, past or present, become a political liability. His supporters gladly rationalizing his minimizing of relationships that contradict the record and his own prior descriptions. He's maintained a degree of plausible deniability with some of their most notorious and damning activities, and it remains plausible that he was merely using them to catapult his career. It very well could be that he avoided direct corruption, no matter how close to the action he may have been.

On the other hand, if he was involved in some of these criminal enterprises, he should probably be fairly worried. This criminal case is littered with his old friends and allies in the corrupt Chicago political machine... from a governor he played a key role into getting into that office, who until recently supported even after the federal investigation became publically known... to the financier who helped launch his own career and was criminally tied with the same governor during his years of wheeling and dealing with Obama... to what Obama described as a political mentor in the IL Senate whose connections and dealings with the governor are highly suspect as well, even as he was playing king-maker with Obama... to all of the other Chicago machine politicians who are rumored to be involved in this mess.

The squeelers, both legitimate and not, are going to start coming out of the woodwork to cover their own asses, regardless of their prior loyalties. Depending on what gets exposed to the public, Obama, even if never found of actually engaging in criminal activity, could face a great deal of scrutiny over his shady associations in his rise to power that could diminish his credibility beyond just his ideological opponents.

Considering that this investigation has been on-going for years, it could continue to be a high profile source of corruption allegations throughout Obama's first term. Especially if more of his old allies are exposed over time by new investigations and whistleblowers.

Should be interesting.

Blago Chavez Arrested

(Hat Tip to IlliniPundit.com) - From the Chicago Tribune on-line:

U.S. attorney's office spokesman Randall Samborn said both Blagojevich and his chief of staff John Harris were arrested today. Authorities aren't yet releasing details about those charges.

The stunning, early morning visit by authorities to the governor's North Side home came amid revelations that federal investigators had recorded the governor with the cooperation of a longtime confidant and had begun to focus on the possibility that the process of choosing a Senate successor to President-elect Barack Obama could be tainted by pay-to-play politics.

Blagojevich was taken into custody hours after the Tribune reported that the investigation into allegations of pay-to-play politics within his administration had been expanded to include his pending choice of a Senate replacement for Obama. The Democratic governor has said he expects to make a decision on the state's next senator in weeks.

Sources told the Tribune that investigators intensified their investigation into Blagojevich amid concerns that the process of choosing a new senator could be tainted. The actions by federal authorities came a day before Blagojevich's 52nd birthday.

Might be Blago's birthday... but Illinois is getting the gifts here.

Finally!


-- UPDATE 10:12 AM --

"...nothing but sunshine over me." - Blago Chavez, Yesterday



I <3 YouTube


-- UPDATE 11:54 AM --

An oldy-but-goody photo from the 2006 Blago campaign:



Indeedy!


-- UPDATE 3:12 PM --

The Illinois Republican Party is already running ads on drudge capitalizing on the indictment:



That was quick. Wonder if they've been saving that one for the inevitable...

Comic Relief: War on Christmas

Noticed that the outcry has continued over this atheist display:



Mainly due to it being allowed near holiday displays of other religions (though the Nativity scene is the one that gets the most mention as contrast) at the Washington State capitol:

Crowd rallies against atheist sign
By ERIC WILKINSON / KING 5 News - 06:03 PM PST on Sunday, December 7, 2008

OLYMPIA, Wash. - Christmas in the Northwest - the lights, the pageantry, the judgment?

On Sunday at the State Capitol, there was a less than jolly gathering of Christians outraged by the atheist display in the capitol building that reads, in part, "Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds."

“When it comes to disparaging my faith on public property, that's where I draw the line,” said rally organizer Steve Wilson.

Organizers pleaded with the crowd to keep their messages positive, but there were still signs portraying Gov. Chris Gregoire as a Grinch. Even scheduled speakers took political pot shots.

That last bit struck me as a bit ironic given the message of the atheist sign takes a different approach than "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas!"

But it got me thinking of a potential revision of the Dr. Seuss classic:



Sometimes I just can't help myself.

Obama: Employee of the Month

Record gun sales continue in spite of Obama's promises, that ring quite hollow to gun owners, that he has no intention of banning their firearms. They ring hollow since almost every advocate of bans has used the term 'reasonable restrictions' and claimed support of the 2nd Amendment, even though, as Obama has done, they support bans on the firearms we own. (Obama in particular has supported bans of every firearm I've ever owned.) From yesterday's Chicago Sun-Times:

As gun sales shoot up around the country, President-elect Barack Obama said Sunday that gun-owning Americans do not need to rush out and stock up before he is sworn in next month.

"I believe in common-sense gun safety laws, and I believe in the second amendment," Obama said at a news conference. "Lawful gun owners have nothing to fear. I said that throughout the campaign. I haven't indicated anything different during the transition. I think people can take me at my word."

But National Rifle Association spokesman Andrew Arulanandam said it's not Obama's words — but his legislative track record — that has gun-buyers flocking to the stores.

...

Nationally, background checks for gun purchases jumped nearly 49 percent during the week Obama was elected, compared with the same time period last year, according to the FBI's National Instant Background Check System.

Anecdotally, gun dealers around the country have reported spikes in sales. The Illinois State Rifle Association Reports gun sales for November were 38 percent higher than last year.

But in recognition of his feat of instigating a boom in the firearm industry out of fears that his typical rhetoric will have the same typical results, there is apparently a new trend in gun shops across the country:



Making him employee of the month.

With some elections, the weirdness doesn't end on election day.

Sunday Afternoon Blasphemy

This week's edition: Homeland Supernatural-Security and a city getting in on atheist sign removal action...

First, atheists sue Kentucky to rely on reality instead of mythology for their homeland security offices:

Law's use of God challenged
Security bill subject of suit

By Peter Smith - December 2, 2008

Ten Kentucky residents and the national American Atheists Inc. are suing to overturn Kentucky legislation "stressing the dependence on Almighty God as being vital to the security of the Commonwealth."

The suit says the legislation, passed with little notice in 2006 to create the Kentucky Office ofHomeland Security, is "grossly, and outrageously, at variance with" with Kentucky and U.S. constitutional bans on government-sponsored religion.

In addition to seeking to have the legislation overturned, the plaintiffs are seeking financial damages, saying they "suffer anxiety from the belief that the existence of these unconstitutional laws suggest that their very safety as residents of Kentucky may be in the hands of fanatics, traitors, or fools."

Full article here.

Logically speaking it'd be a bit odd for a homeland security office to depend on one of the world's greatest terrorists for it's success. A bit odd since god may still be wanted for questioning for his involvement in the terrorist attacks on Sodom and Gomorrah, not to mention the global drowning incident caused by what we can only assume was some sort of James Bond villain style weather machine, with similarly dubious plots.

If found, I wouldn't be surprised if the Egyptians want him extradited. His biological attacks and mass murder of their first born might still be a sore subject, even if beyond normal statute of limitations. Problem with being the alpha and omega, it's hard to make such statutes of limitations apply.

In his defense, the lord's supporters claim his mass killings, biological attacks, and other nefarious actions were all aimed towards the greater good. A defense that, at least historically speaking, has been considered less than compelling.


Atheist Sign Removal: Larger Scale

In related news, it appears that the atheist sign wars have continued elsewhere. This time the sign wasn't merely stolen by some angry ideologue, but was removed and destroyed after a government body got tired of complaints over a private billboard advertisement. From the LA Times:

Imagine ... no free speech

Billboards, atheism, Rancho Cucamonga, lawsuit, First AmendmentWith all the irritating billboards out there -- the garish illuminated ones, the ones for cholesterol-dealing fast food and CDs with lyrics guaranteed to offend someone, the wallpaper billboards of dubious legality plastered over the entire side of a building -- this is the one that ticked off Rancho Cucamonga so much that it got not only taken down, but destroyed?

The billboard was up for one week alongside Route 66, the Mother Road. It bore these words: '''Imagine No Religion.'' Okay, certainly a conversation-starter, but surely no more so than it was 37 years ago when John Lennon put it on his ''Imagine'' album.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation, the group that put the billboard there as it has in eleven other states, is now suing Rancho Cucamonga and its redevelopment director, who supposedly contacted the billboard company to report residents' complaints and to ask whether anything could be done.

Lawsuits a plenty in this year's War on Christmas. I think it may be safe to assume that we've entered the silly season.


-- UPDATE 2:00 PM --

Just got sent a link to Roger Ebert's review/skewering of Ben Stein's Expelled propaganda piece on intelligent design. Quite satirical and humorous, though it seems to still get the message across with appropriate disclaimers on bias. Probably the key issues he hits upon is that many of this movies 'fans' tend to despise the same tactics Stein uses when Michael Moore uses them... and that Stein has sunk to lows beyond the pale in employing them. Enough to get criticized by the Anti-Defamation League.

But as disgusted as I am with Stein at the moment, and as much as even a mention of this propaganda hit piece annoys the living daylights out of me, at least this mention had some great humor:



Indeed.

Reminder

Today's Sunday Morning Blasphemy has been delayed to remind everyone who was planning to help out with today's local Christmas care package event, that it is today. From an older announcement post:

Toys for Troops: 2008 Christmas Gifts to Soldiers

Packing boxes in 2007

It's been 48 hours since the Thanksgiving boxes were shipped! Enough! Time to get off our duffs and starts focusing on Christmas boxes! Chop chop, we have a lot to do!

If you're on the Toys for Troops mailing list, or in my e-mail contacts, you've already received two notices from me today. If you are on those lists, then this is the third time you're hearing this from me:

TOYS FOR TROOPS
Christmas Gifts to Soldiers

Sunday, December 7, 2008

VILLAGE INN PIZZA PARLOR

(corner of Springfield
and Mattis, Champaign)

We mean to send everyone on our list a box of great holiday goodies! CDs, DVDs, t-shirts, socks, games, letters, and gourmet foodies.

YOU can help by:

• Purchasing a gift for a soldier, and bringing it to the event or dropping it in one of our drop boxes
• Baking some cookies or other treats
• Showing up on the 7th with Christmas wrap, scotch tape, scissors, and a smile
• Clicking on the button on the right, and sponsor the cost of shipping 1 box

I have downloadable, printable flyers if you are interested in learning more, or sharing this information with your coworkers, church, scouts, VFW, or any other organization.

As always, if you're not from Central Illinois, you can still participate in the merrymaking: If you'd like to send a box of gifts to a soldier, we'll give you a name, address, some gift ideas, and shipping advice. Many from around the U.S. have already started their boxes.

Today is also the anniversary of the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, an apt reminder of the sacrifice demanded of those that serve in uniform, and an even stronger reminder for their need to have the support of their countrymen, regardless of politics.

The holidays can be some of the toughest times to be away from home, let alone away from home in a war zone. Do what you can to support them, their families, and the veterans who often struggle with disability and other hardships when they return. But don't do nothing.

The Grinch Who Stole the War on Christmas

Got sent a link to a controversial atheist sign that was causing some controversy in Washington State... but a little while later I noticed the headline on CNN had been updated as it having been stolen:

(CNN) -- An atheist sign criticizing Christianity that was erected alongside a Nativity scene at the Legislative Building in Olympia, Washington, has disappeared, the co-founder of the organization sponsoring it said Friday.

"I thought it would be safe," Freedom From Religion Foundation co-founder Annie Laurie Gaylor told CNN. "It's always a shock when your sign is censored or stolen or mutilated. It's not something you get used to."

The sign, which celebrated the winter solstice, had some residents and Christian organizations calling atheists Scrooges because they said it was attacking the celebration of Jesus Christ's birth.

"Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds," the sign from the Freedom From Religion Foundation said in part.

The sign, which was at the Legislative Building at 6:30 a.m. PT, was gone by 7:30 a.m., Gaylor said.

The incident will not stifle the group's message, Gaylor said, adding that a temporary sign with the same message would be placed in the building's Rotunda. Gaylor said a note would be attached saying, "Thou shalt not steal."

"I guess they don't follow their own commandments," Gaylor said.

The sign, which infuriated local religious groups, apparently brought out some wonderful hypocrisy on their first amendment views as well. The nativity scene was added to the public display on top of the Christmas tree after a lawsuit on first amendment grounds. Apparently a sign they disagreed with was taking the first amendment too far?

The theft seems to have gotten instant coverage though, and even while trying to type this up, the CNN frontpage has been updated with this local news link saying the sign was found:

Anti-Religion Sign Missing From State Capitol Turned In
Friday, December 5, 2008 – updated: 10:40 am PST December 5, 2008

OLYMPIA, Wash. -- The controversial anti-religion sign in the state Capitol Rotunda was turned in to a Seattle radio station after it disappeared Friday morning.

An employee of the country radio station KMPS in Seattle said the sign was turned in to the station by someone who found it in a ditch.

The sign was at the Capitol at 6:15 a.m. Friday, but by 7:30 a.m., it had disappeared, the Capitol building manager told the Olympian.

Turned in to a radio station?

Found in a ditch?

Seems odd. Sounds more likely that the bandits also noticed that the theft was already getting high profile attention... maybe even by listening to a certain radio station on their car radio. Oops!

I guess this battle on the War on Christmas ends up being a draw.

PsyTunes

I was having what Apple's marketing staff would refer to a dilemma in need of an app.



My problem though was I don't have this particular gizmo, nor the app that goes with it. Nor would it have done me a bit of good because I heard the damn song on the radio while driving.

What I needed was PsyPhone or PsyPod app that could have read my mind... or at least one that could find the song by humming the tune or some such thing.

What intrigued me about this little dilemma of mine as I scoured the interwebs for a song whose name I couldn't remember by the time I was searching, and the lyrics of which had evaporated from my brain almost entirely. I had a partial electric drumbeat in my head and the cadence of the lines, but only remembering one and half words. "Any-" and "you"...

Fortunately I also had context! I remembered the video of the song back sometime in the 90s... and I never heard of the band again. 90s one hit wonder! The Google is strong with this query.

Scouring the list of potentials from lists of 90s singles of the genre, lists of one hit wonders of those years, and even lists by people complaining about how nobody remembers the songs they used to like... and comparing them to iTunes snippets, I finally got a hit. Not with a search, but with my noggin'... or Noogle?

Long story short, the name of the band/song, once I saw it again led to acquiring the song and even finding the old video on youtube:



A catchy little jingle taking a cynical take on love that is no longer torturing my brain with 1.5 words and a few beats of an electric drum set.

But the interesting part was the process to find it... all with text searches. As the above iPhone ad shows though, we're getting closer and closer to tricorder style searches with sounds, and someday visual information, that I had to work around with context to limit the scope of my otherwise brute force cracking of the mystery.

We've developed the technology to store endless amounts of information and have that information at our fingertips wherever we go... the ability to access that information efficiently and quickly comes down to the technology that allows us to search the various sources of information plugged in to those interwebs. The political ramifications of this have been exemplified by the methods of dispersing both information and disinformation in political campaigns, often by independent supporters and detractors.

2004 was the election of google. Contradictory quotes and positions and websites dedicated to destroying opposition candidates, dug up from the news sources searchable on the web and by the information from off-line sources uploaded to become accessible to anyone. But as both sides learned, the access to information is, like a gun, a tool that can be used for good or evil. As the election got more and more brutal the information superhighway started to look like the 'disinformation superhighway.' But if you wanted the video of flip-flopping Kerry videos over the years, the RNC offered a free DVD they'd send to your home...

2008 is, without a doubt, the election of youtube. Video, equally easy to manipulate to strip context and distort, but far more striking to the audience, especially when framed by other imagery, audio, etc to evoke an emotional response or other more dubious psychological technique already employed by marketing geniuses. In combination with google, fueled by independent bloggers and the growth of other personal pages that help boost the ranking of videos that had the most political value, either due to the information being stunning over its accuracy or its value politically regardless of its accuracy.

We have another few years of advancement to bring information and disinformation to more people, faster, and with all the biases and distortion that technology will afford those who seek to mislead the public at all costs. Will the people live up to the challenge to scrutinize the information that will be at their fingertips... will they begin to challenge what is thrown at them and question their own responses, both emotional and psychological, regardless of veracity... most importantly when it agrees with their own preconceived notions or bias?

If this last election is any guide, there is still a great deal of cultural progress to deal with manipulative info/disinfo-rmation peddling. And from my general impressions of the information and disinformation put out during the last few elections, the amount of distortion hasn't changed... but the access to the accurate information and distorted information has accelerated. One would hope that the information available to fact-check the rest being equally available would help keep some balance with the proverbial force.

Unfortunately the accurate information takes work. It takes a willingness to accept that the accurate information will contradict one's biases. It takes a lot more work than just believing what the distorted information you got in your e-mail depicts when it fits in with what one already believes. And for those who don't really have time to understand all this political stuff... the disinformation gets to them faster and more often with them doing little work, while their interest and time generally limit their willingness and ability to scrutinize the disinformation.

So far there seems to be little change on that front coming. Without the voters taking their civic duty seriously, democracy will be threatened. A misinformed vote is a threat to democracy, not fulfilling a civic duty. They'd better serve their nation and countrymen by staying the fuck home.

Sadly our culture focuses more on "getting out the vote" than civics education and encouraging scrutiny of information even when it agrees with our biases. 2012 is looking to be an even bigger information superclusterfuck.

Perhaps we'll all have PsyPhones and PsyPods that provide accurate information when our subconscious has reason to doubt the information it just implanted in our subconscious? Who knows?

At least I'll be able to find that song stuck in my head and be a good consumer.

Nuclear Free Zone

A neighboring city has an ordinance declaring itself as a 'nuclear free zone,' a practice I've always found entirely pointless if not bordering on hippy-dippy madness.

But it got me thinking, traffic implications...



I mean, what if I wanna buy this one e-bay?

4 SALE: 1983 DeLorean mods, inc flux cpctr, nuclear reactor, time crcts like BTTF. Mint xept for slight dmg by Libyan trrsts. Pls c eBay auction; meet reserve OBO. Sorry, OUTATIME plates not inc. Free Huey Lews + News CD 4 buyer

It could happen dammit!