Deep Thoughts: October 2008

Friday, October 31, 2008

How to Use Twitter to Report Voting Problems

I'm always looking for good ways to use Twitter. I think tracking voting problems with Twitter is a fantastic idea. They even have have the process linked to Google Maps. I wonder what else Twitter can be used for?

When millions of Americans go to the polls on Tuesday, there are bound to be problems. A grass-roots, non-partisan initiative to call them out via the Internet has been launched; it utilizes Twitter, the popular microblogging service.

The Twitter Vote Report is urging those with Twitter accounts to report voting issues by adding #votereport to a Twitter update. The resulting tweets flow to the site's home page, and will also be plotted on a Google map

Source: How to Use Twitter to Report Voting Problems & Conditions

I'll be watching for action come Tuesday because Buena Park is such a hot bed of voter fraud.

Technorati tags: Voting, Twitter, Voter Fraud

R.I.P. Studs Terkel

American Author Studs Terkel (May 16, 1912 - October 31, 2008) died today. He lived a long and vibrant life. I should be so lucky. I am a reader. Terkel was a writer. Over the years, I've read most of his books. I also gave a few away as gifts.

I found a photo essay about his life at the Chicago Tribune. Enjoy

Technorati tags: Obituaries, Studs Terkel

Nutball Alert: Elizabeth Dole

I just do not understand Elizabeth Dole. Is she completely blind to the diversity of our country? As atheists, are we not allowed a voice in politics? I sincerely hope she looses.

Kay Hagan needs our support. You can donate here.

Technorati tags: Politics, Elizabeth Dole, Kay Hagen, Atheism

Banning books in not only for fundies

Image by mojoey via Flickr

Sometimes people with no sense of humor get in on the act. Take Taffey Anderson of Portland, Or. She wants to ban The Book of Bunny Suicides. Why you ask? She does not think it's funny. Apparently she is a thief and a vandal as well.

...In fact, she reportedly plans to burn the book.

Two weeks after students at the school discussed the First Amendment as part of Banned Book Week, Principal Julie Knoedler said Anderson’s challenge is timely if not frustrating.

“I understand her feeling very strongly about her rights, values and responsibility as a parent,” Knoedler said. “But I’m disappointed that she is forcing us to buy another copy before we can review the book.”

Source: Mom wants to ban, burn 'Book of Bunny Suicides'

When people try to push their beliefs off on me or my children I get mad. This is exactly why when fundies do the same thing I start writing blog posts and emails. It is simply wrong. There are so many other things to worry about.

Technorati tags: Book Burning, Culture

Pastor found guilty of indecency

Would you leave your children with this man? He is a pastor, or was a pastor... By now, I would have to say it is a bad idea. Never leave your children unsupervised with a pastor. Ever!

Rodolfo Sosa, 50, was convicted on all counts against him — five counts of indecency with a child by contact and one of indecency with a child by exposure. He faces up to 20 years on each indecency by contact charge and up to 10 years on the remaining charge. Senior state District Judge Jon Wisser will sentence Sosa on Nov. 21.

Source: Former pastor found guilty of indecency

Since this is Texas, he will ether get off with a slap on the wrist, or the will put him away for life. We'll have to wait until Nov. 21.

Technorati tags: Rodalfo Sosa, Hypocrisy, Clergy Sexual Abuse, Texas

Pastor charged in assaults on girl, 14

Another Baptist pastor has been arrested for sexually assaulting a 14 year old girl. Alan R. Sienkiewicz is the pastor at Christ Independent Church in Lavelle and Grace Baptist Church in Ashland.

***Update***

Sienkiewicz, who is 60, was not able to make bail. He will wait for his trial in prison.

Technorati tags: Alan Sienkiewicz, Pennsylvania, Clergy Sexual Abuse, Rape, Sexual Assault, Pedophilia

New milestone for Deep Thoughts

I passed 500,000 page views today. I average 540 page views a day with 400 unique visitors. I have a few hundred people who subscribe by email, and the same number who read by a news reader. It's all good, and a little hard to believe.

This milestone should earn me another $100 from Google. Wow, at this rate I will be able to afford a good dinner with the proceeds from my blogging hobby. I'm planning on a big juicy steak.

Technorati tags: Blogging

Happy Halloween

Halloween is not my favorite holiday. It happens to coincide with the return of the Santa Ana winds. For me, this means a month long headache culminating with children ringing my doorbell all night long. I try to get away from it all, but often fail. Like tonight. I'm sitting here alone in a dark house with a cold cloth pressed to my eyes. I know little goblins will start ringing my doorbell soon. My excitable little dog is already barking.

One of my friends has it worse. He's working from his home tonight down in Venice Beach. He must monitor a month end financial closure process which is critical to his company's operation. He must do his monitoring in the dark. If the trick-or-treat crowd knows he is home but he does not offer treats, his house will be egged. It's happened every year for the last ten years. Poor guy.

Technorati tags: Halloween, Holidays

Discovering an atheist

My aunt Pat is a crusty old battlewagon. She's in her 90s and in declining health. She's recently moved from a senior living facility to a rest home where she can receive constant medical supervision. I don't know how long she has left. She is nearing the end of her story. She is the last of her generation and knows the end is near. It could be months, or it could be years. Her days have number. The number is short.

She is my great aunt. The dark sister of my deceased grandmother. I say dark because for everything my grandmother did right, aunt Pat did wrong. As I child I knew her to be an alcoholic chain smoking floozy who was as unreliable as they come. As she aged I spent less time with her. I occasionally spent a family holiday with her, but little else. I've seen her maybe five times in ten years. It is my fault. I've been partially estranged from my family for almost 30 years.

I spoke with my mother this morning. She and my sister had visited aunt Pat at her rest home. In the course of the visit, Pat asked about my sister's relationship with me. My sister said that it was all good except for that I was an atheist and she was not. I guess my aunt dropped an unexpected bombshell with her next comment. She said she was an atheist too. She went on to say that we are all the result of an evolutionary process. I am so proud.

Technorati tags: Atheism, Family

Monday, October 27, 2008

He will come again

A friend dropped this on me: Heaven the Game.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Feed the muse: LSD inspired art

Image via Wikipedia

Whoa... this takes me back to the 70s. LSD is a powerful experience (or so I hear). It's effect can be seen in a series of drawings produced in the 50s during a government experiment. The artist was dosed with LSD and then monitored while he made a series of drawings. The digression is amazing. I think it closely parallels the faulty yet inspired thinking which occurs while on acid. The connection with truth one feels closely parallels the connection with God Christians claim as uniquely their own. It is not unique, you just need a microdot.

Technorati tags: LSD, Art, Inspiration, Religion

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Kiwis, hypocrites, and bestiality, oh my!

The Canterbury Atheists writes about two cases of sexual abuse involving Christians, children, and... dogs. It seems that the clergy sexual abuse problem is a little more complex in New Zealand.

....what the hell was wrong with sheep the rest of us Kiwis manage to get by with, eh?!

I ask you, what's the country coming to, when sheep have to play second fiddle to dogs in our children's Sunday School Classes?

I've checked my archives. I'm pretty sure this is a first.

Technorati tags: clergy sexual abuse, New Zealand, rape, child abuse

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Oak Grove Disc Golf

I've been driving the freeways of Southern California this week in pursuit of new disc golf courses. This shot is from the 5 near San Diego.

I played Oak Grove yesterday. It is located near JPL in Pasadena. It is an expensive part of of town. I was nearly alone on a hot dry day. It was dusty as hell. Check out the aerial map for an overview of the course.

Oak Grove is the place where it all started, it is the first disc golf course ever created back in1975. I played my first game of disc golf that same year. It was a church youth group activity then. I think it might be the only thing that remains from my days as a Christian.

I played a +1. The course fits my style of play. I have a short game (the longest I drive is about 350 feet), but I am accurate. The course favors left handed players, so I had some difficulty. However, most the holes were an easy lay up. The hardest hole is on the back nine, hole 13. You must throw over a gully. I would guess its 250 to 300 feet across a snake filled (at least in my imagination) 75-foot-deep gully that the course map calls it a lake. I made it by inches.

I birdied hole 14. My drive landed a few feet from the hole, which is amazing considering I could not see where I was throwing.

I'm playing again in the morning. It's been a fine vacation so far.

Technorati tags: Disc Golf

Vote No On 8

Proposition 8 is the very definition of why I write this blog. Christians are pushing a social agenda under the guise of protecting the family. It's all BS, lies, and hyperbole. This is what Prop 8 does.

It eliminates the rights for same-sex couples to marry. Prop 8 would deny equal protections and write discrimination against one group of people—lesbian and gay people—into our state constitution.

Another issue related to this ghastly initiative is that my alma mater has been smeared by association with a pro 8 commercial. I received this explanation by email.

Dear Pepperdine Alumnus:

Many members of the Pepperdine community have voiced opinions over a TV ad regarding Proposition 8. The ad features a Pepperdine professor and currently includes reference to his affiliation with the University.

We’d like to stress that the professor does not represent a Pepperdine University-endorsed position, as the University does not advocate for/against political candidates or ballot propositions.

The professor in the ad was not advocating a Pepperdine position, but his own personal position.

We have received confirmation that our request to have the reference to Pepperdine University deleted from the ad will be honored. We have been assured that the ad will be revised, perhaps by today.

Jerry Derloshon
Executive Director
Public Relations
Pepperdine University

Pepperdine is a Christian university. There is a big cross overlooking the campus. They by live their Christian values. The one thing I can bank on is their integrity.

Vote NO on Proposition 8.

Technorati tags: Gay Marriage, Gay Rights, California, Prop 8

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Marcus McDowell goes to prison

Former Pepperdine professor and pastor Marcus McDowell was sentenced to prison yesterday. One of his victims posted this in the comment thread of a previous post.

sentence is 3 years, 4 months plus the five years probation sex offenders get, plus he has to register as a sex offender and pay for our therapy.

i have never been so happy to see anyone walked away in cuffs.

thank you to all those that supported us through this.

The family of the first victim in this case was kind enough to invite me to dinner last night. I could not go because of my vacation travel plans, but I was there in spirit. I want to thank the victim for coming forward. It took a great deal of personal integrity to stand up and hold this man accountable for his crimes. I hope the sentence will help you heal with some sense of justice.

Technorati tags: pedophilia, clergy abuse, pastoral abuse, molestation, youth pastors, Pepperdine

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

A visit to San Diego

I drove to San Diego today. My mission was to play disc golf at Morley Field. I hooked up with a local and play a good first round at 8 over. Their are way too many trees!

I was lucky enough to play behind course legend Snapper Pierson. It was amazing to watch this man throw a disc. I told my wife it was like watching the difference between me shooting baskets and Michael Jordan dunking. We don't even play the same game.

I shot this on the drive down.

I stopped at a foggy rest stop to shoot a few shots. I love the fog.

It's hard taking my camera around with me everyplace I go. However, when I get the chance to shot something memorable, I can't help but think it is worth it.

I put a few other shots from my trip today up at my flickr account.

Technorati tags: Disc Golf, Photography

Random encounter with the homeless

Image by mojoey via Flickr

I was approached by a homeless man yesterday. I was in the parking lot of Tommy's in Westminster taking a phone call because my Bluetooth earpiece was dead. I've already been pulled over twice for talking on my cell phone with out the damn thing. I'm not going to press my luck any further. Anyway... I was deep in conversation with a friend when somebody knocked on my window. It was a homeless man.

My hearth skipped a beat when he knocked. I put up a finger to tell him I was busy. He waited. A few minutes later I asked him what he wanted while knowing it was going to be cash. He asked for food instead. He said he was hungry. I offered to buy him something from Tommy's. He agreed.

I figured that guy would go for a large meal when I told him to order whatever he wanted from the menu. He surprised me by ordering a small coffee and a breakfast muffin with egg and chili. I ordered a diet coke. The food at Tommy's is epic, but it kills me to eat it.

I sat with him while he ate his meal. The interesting part of this story happened next. He asked me if I was going to talk to him about Jesus. I asked why he thought I would do that. His response bothered me.

The only time people buy me food and eat with me is when they want to save my soul. You know, Jesus love you...

I promptly replied that I did not give a damn about his soul. I told him I was an Atheist and felt that it was my moral responsibility to help people when they are in need. I don't give cash, but I will buy food. He did not respond with words. He just smiled and finished his coffee.

Technorati tags: Atheism, Homelessness

Not So Buena #9

Info

Title: Melted Graffiti
By: Mojoey
Where: Buena Park, Ca., on Knott south of the park.
When: October 14, 2008 at ~ 7:30 AM
Equipment: Nikon D300 - 1/800 @ f14

Notes

I spotted this yesterday while driving near my home. Some wayward youth had tagged a truck. It's owner made a halfhearted attempt to remove it and then gave up. It fits my city.

This photo is an entry in the Not So Buena photography project hosted here at Deep Thoughts. If you would like to participate with photo's from your own city, see the instructions for submitting photos on this post.

Technorati tags: Photography, Photography Projects, Buena Park, freeways photodriving

Monday, October 20, 2008

New friends

I played a round of disc golf at the course in Huntington Beach. It is supposed to be a hard course. I played well. I played par on the front nine, and four over on the back. It was a good round for me despite blowing hole number 11 with a triple bogey. For those of you who do not play, imagine trying throw a disk in a forest of tree trunks. I think I hit every tree.

I met Travis on the course while looking for the tee box on the tenth hole. We've met once before while I was shopping for discs at Discovering the World. He remembered me right away.

One of the reasons I play the game is the social interactions. People like Travis are friendly and open. You walk up, say hi, and start playing. I've met dozens of new people this way. We all share a love for the game which transcends race and class.

I asked Travis why he played. He told me he loved to walk in the park so that he can be close to nature, and, like me, he liked to watch the flight of a well thrown disc.

Technorati tags: Disc Golf, Huntington Beach

The joy of vacation

I am on vacation this week. I plan to play some of the best disc golf courses in the State of California. I'm playing a round at Huntington Beach this morning, and then I'll walk the park with my camera. For my friends in the cold parts of North America, It's sunny and warm here, perfect weather for a day in the park. I don't know how much blogging will happen over the next week. I don't expect much.

I'm also planning to visit a few photography exhibits and at least one museum. I also plan to look at what remains of murals in the LA River. I rarely have time to indulge my interests. Since this is a solo vacation, I will be able to do as I please, so... cigars, disc golf, art, drinks, eats. Perfect!

That's my friend Kenny in the picture.

Friday, October 17, 2008

Ex-pastor drops lawsuit

It is the tales of the absurd which amuse me. Take Pastor Leon Harris for instance. You might remember his as the pastor who secretly filmed women and children using a bathroom at the Baptist church where he was the pastor. He was filming toilet shots of women and children as young as five.

Harris filed a wrongful termination lawsuit after he was arrested and convicted on four counts of sexual exploitation of a minor.

Leon Harris, 56, filed a civil suit in Superior Court in July, claiming Rose Hill Free Will Baptist Church and the Central Convention of Free Will Baptists violated his contract when they fired him in 2005.

He dropped the suit voluntarily Thursday.

Harris entered an Alford Plea in July 2007 to four counts of sexual exploitation of a minor in connection with the videotaping charges.
As part of that plea, 48 counts of felony secret peeping were dropped. The Alford Plea means that while Harris did not admit guilt, he conceded prosecutors had enough evidence to likely convince a judge or jury to find him guilty.

I don't think his case had any chance of succeeding. Now we need to watch for Leon Harris to pop up as the pastor of another Baptist church. The mans got to make a living... right?

Technorati tags: Clergy Sexual Abuse, Leon Harris, Hypocrisy, Baptists Pedophiles

Pastor sentenced to 15 years

I typically focus on pastors who sexually abuse their flocks. Pastors commit many other crimes. Take Pastor Neulan Midkiff, who liked to be called by the lofty title of "apostle". Midkiff is a thief. He participated in a scam the bilked 519 people out of $390 million. In retrospect, he feels bad about what he did.

Midkiff, 66, wept as he apologized for his part in the scheme, although he said that he did not realize at the time he was committing fraud.

Of course, he still claims he did not realize he was stealing, which is not exactly the same as admitting your sins. He has 15 years to think about it.

For the record, "Neulan Midkiff was found guilty August 1st of eight counts of mail fraud, eight counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, and four counts of failure to file tax returns."

The things people will do for money blow my mind. It is so sad. Where is the vaulted Christian morality in this story?

Neulan Midkiff Found Guilty

Technorati tags: Neulan Midkiff, fraud, hypocrisy, morality, crime

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Another Pastor accused of molesting girl

James M. Wilson is the principle of Terrill Road Christian Academy and also a pastor. He was arrested for fondling a 16-year-old student in a motel room.

The girl said Wilson checked into a motel room and he and the girl stayed in the room watching cartoons, according to the probable cause statement. Wilson allegedly threw the girl down on the bed, unbuttoned her shirt, kissed her and touched her breasts.

The victim then told Wilson to stop because he was married, and Wilson stopped and apologized, according to the statement.

The girl was lucky. It could have been so much worse.

Technorati tags: Clergy Sexual Abuse, Pedophiles, Child Molestation, Hypocrisy

A little GOP inspired racism

Gleaned from the morning news...

From San Bernardino, the local equivalent of Central Ohio, GOP Women's Group Decides Obama Should Be on Foodstamps, Along with Fried Chicken and Watermelon. After reading the article, I had to ask, "When is a letter of resignation appropriate?" Diane Fedele, I hereby call for your resignation.

- - -

Al-Jazeera pointed a camera and a microphone at people who were attending a Sarah Palin rally in Central Ohio. The resulting footage should win and award for exposing racism. Take this quote from an old lady "Obama and his wife, I’m concerned that they could be anti-white. That he might hide that.”

I don't know what to say. I am so ashamed. These people are idiots. But... I find it hard to trust Al-Jazeera to tell the truth, so watch it with your BS detector set to full power. You can watch the whole video at Prose Before Hos or at YouTube.

Technorati tags: Barack Obama, GOP, Sarah Palin, Racism, Al-Jazeera

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Weezer - Time ( Pink Floyd Cover )

I went to the Weezer concert last night at the Forum in Los Angeles. The show was amazing. My favorite moment was Weezer's cover of Pink Floyd's Time & Home Again. 10,000 people sang along with the band. It was a magical moment and a feeling that I can only achieve while enjoying live music in a large crowd. I felt connected... like I used to feel when I prayed as a Christian a very long time go.

I found a version from a show on October 10th. Enjoy.

Technorati tags: Weezer, Pink Floyd, Music

A dirty window

Yes! I am the strange man with a camera in the truck behind your dirty car on the 5 Freeway near Los Angeles. Now hold still so I can take a picture.

I'm sure this is illegal in Texas.

Technorati tags: Photography, photodriving

Canadian pastor guilty of sex assault

I don't know what to say. This small paragraph encapsulates why I make these painful pedophile pastor posts.

A self-described Montreal pastor who says a so-called marriage to a 10-year-old girl gave him the right to have sex with her has been found guilty of sexual assault.

Source: The Canadian Press: Self-described Mtl pastor guilty of sex assault against child he claimed as bride

I mean... what kind of twisted fuck of a pastor rapes a ten-year-old girl?

Daniel Cormier, ...who headed the now-defunct Church of Downtown Montreal and who once ran for mayor of Montreal, showed no emotion as Durand read her ruling in court, staying two other charges of sexual touching and invitation to touching.

Let's make this a short story. Cormier opened an evangelical church that catered to the dregs of society. With no one looking over his shoulder, he promptly started to abuse the very people he was trying to help. And that is the very definition of a hypocrite.

Technorati tags: Pedophiles, Clergy Sexual Abuse, Canada, Daniel Cormier, Sexual assault

Things I don't understand

A girl under the age of 12 was violated by an adult male named James Patten. In this case, Patten is just a regular guy, a custodian in fact. The girl tells her mother about the abuse right after it happened. This is a good thing. It is what I would expect my children to do given the same circumstances. What happens next is what I do not understand. The girl's mother goes to her pastor for advice. The pastor is a decent man and does the right thing; he advised her to report the abuse. What I don't understand is why the mother went to a pastor before reporting the crime and seeking medical attention for her child? If the pastor had said "pray about it", what then? My assumption is that James Patten would not be in jail awaiting trail on sexual battery charges.

Can somebody tell me how a pastor figures into this?

Technorati tags: Child abuse, sexual battery, Christians

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Not So Buena #8

Info

Title: Underpass
By: Mojoey
Where: Buena Park, Ca., at the 5 and 91 freeways.
When: October 14, 2008 at ~ 7:30 AM
Equipment: Nikon D300 - 1/200 @ f9

Notes

My city is bisected by the 5 and 91 freeways. This detail is part of an enormous interchange. I wanted to show the gray bleakness of it all. It is just so damn ugly - yet is it beautiful at the same time. On a side note, a 75-year-old security guard could not understand why I would want to take this picture. When I told him it was a compulsion, he said, "you mean a drug thing?"

Technorati tags: Photography, Photography Projects, Buena Park, freeways photodriving

In her own words:

Hi! I'm Candace, Writer, Atheist, Pet lover, Left-of-center Boomer, Occasional person of interest. Welcome to Forte Étude, Study of the Strongest Point. This name came about because the theme of my stories (and my life) is fortitude. This was unconscious at first. Heh. Sneaky subconscious.

Atheism is truly the last closet. More and more of us are coming out, heeding the call of "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" to keep silent no longer after 9/11. I feel I've been too quiet for too long. The election's coming in just over a month, with polls showing an extremely tight race. It is conceivable that a foaming-at-the-mouth Fundie could wind up being President of the United States sometime in the next four years, and she could be far worse than Dumbya, the dry drunk who switched from booze to Jesus endorphins.

My blog won't change a thing one way or another about the election, but at least it's a place where I can express myself more fully.

"I say quite deliberately that the Christian religion, as organized in its churches, has been and still is the principal enemy of moral progress in the world." - Bertrand Russell

(Of course, this was a pre-9/11 observation.)

We've already seen the "morality" of Dumbya's reign, and boy did the Fundies eat it up. McCain's scary enough, but imagine what could happen if Palin took the highest office.

Oh wait; someone has:

Welcome to the Atheist Blogroll Forte Étude. I hope some of our members will drop in and welcome our 809th blog to the team.

Technorati tags: Atheism, The Atheist Blogroll, Blogging

Monday, October 13, 2008

~Homeless ~gasoline ~murder

I have a few Google news filters that are odd. Take this one for instance... ~homeless ~gasoline ~murder. I added it a year ago after a homeless man told me Asian gangs were trying to burn him alive. I laughed at his story, and then I bought him a few cheeseburgers. I added the news filter a few days later. There have been a few nasty hits on this combination of search terms since then, but none as disturbing as this story.

Then last week, someone threw gasoline from a red canister on the homeless man who seemed rooted to the corner of 3rd and Berendo streets, in a densely populated, diverse neighborhood west of downtown. Neighbors rushed to save him in the Thursday night darkness. But his body had been charred, and he died.

On Sunday evening, more than 200 people crowded the sidewalk and spilled over into 3rd Street for a memorial to McGraham. Many of them wept as dozens of votive candles glowed on the concrete. McGraham's sister Susanne McGraham-Paisley brought pictures of her brother.

It is a nasty world we live in. This is barbaric.

Technorati tags: Murder, Homelessness

Sunday, October 12, 2008

I support possummomma

I was reading The Calladus Blog when I came across a post regarding possummomma and her blog Atheist in a Minivan. I was traumatized to learn that her blog has gone dark. She's been intimidated and stalked to a point where she felt it was better to stop. You can read all about it here.

Mark, of the Calladus Blog, produced the Possummomma graphic as a way for our fellow blogger to show support. I've added The Calladus blog to my top blogs list to show my appreciation for his effort.

*** Update ***

The Atheist Experience blog is collecting messages of support for possummomma:

Several folks have left comments at the previous post, offering their well-wishes. But consider this an open comments thread where the idea is that you post a message directly to Possummomma herself, as if she were reading it (which she will, because I'm emailing her the link to this post). If her blogging has impacted you — and it's impacted many of us — let her know.

Drop in and let her know how you feel.

Technorati tags: Blogging

The skool of hard knocks

...before anyone writes me, skool is an intentional misspelling.

The Wooster Collective is an art blog I follow. They have an interesting take on graffiti called The skool of hard knocks from above. I like the result.

Technorati tags: Art, Graffiti

Fence art - who knew?

I've never been a fan of chain link fencing. But I could get used to it if somebody cared enough to do this.

Technorati tags: Art

More racism in the presidential campaign

As the campaign nears the end, McCain supports are starting to show their racist predilections. it can be as subtle as shouting "off with his head" - OK, shouting "off with his head" is not exactly subtle, but compared to some of the things we've see recently, it's small potato's.

Digg and Reddit are full of the Obama Monkey story. I've watched the YouTube video of a nutball supporter wave his Obama Monkey in open racial contempt for Barack Obama. I've watched follow-up footage of the same jackass trying to hide his stupidity. I am sure some who read this will point out this is a single data point, except it's not. There is ample video evidence showing supporters saying all sorts of stupid nasty things.

Racism has no place in politics. These people are trying to roll back the clock. It is simply wrong.

The truth is... I like my monkeys on cupcakes. Racism has no foothold in my life.

Technorati tags: Obama, McCain, Politics, Racism

Well this pisses me off

A billboard in Missouri makes me ashamed to be an American - and proud at the same tiem.

Ashamed - racism is alive and well. I don't understand it. It pisses me off beyond words. I want to tear the damn thing down. But I won't...

Proud - we have the freedom to speak our minds here, even if the words flow from the minds of a cretins.

Technorati tags: Missouri, Obama, Politics, Racism

Say what?

I try to be nice, I really do. Even when my friends send me "important" editorial emails like this Letter to the Editor from the Lompoc Record. Seriously now - what is she talking about?

It's quite hilarious that people have such a problem with “in God we trust.” People saying things such as “it's a melding of church and state.”

Do these people have any idea of our history? And how we became a nation? They don't seem to have any problem spending or taking money that states “in God we trust.” I haven't heard that it is a problem of melding church and state or forcing Christian beliefs on anyone?

People need to see and realize when this nation started failing. It wasn't just eight years ago, as people would like to believe. It was when we, as a nation, allowed such people as these to take God out of our nation.

Soon there won't be any protection for us. I thank my God that I am, and always will be safe in His hand.

Kelly Masi - Lompoc

Try as I might, I'm not sure what Kelly's letter is all about. Is it really funny that people find a problem with mixing church and state? And what does she mean about history? And what is her point about spending money with the words "in God we trust" imprinted our coins and currency. Do we have a choice?

I'm sure Kelly will frame her letter, I'm more inclined to wipe my ass with it. What absolute drivel, what rubbish, what poppycock.

Technorati tags: Christians, In God We Trust

Not So Buena #8

Info

Title: Palm Trees
By: Mojoey
Where: Buena Park, Ca., at Buena Park Mall
When: October 10, 2008
Equipment: Nikon D300 - 1/250 @ f8

Notes

Living in Southern California has it advantages and its disadvantages. One of the disadvantages is the use of palm trees as decorative features on commercial property. I actually hate it almost as much as I hate houses that use tar paper and white rocks as roofing material (don't ask, it's irrational). The parking lot at the Buena Park Mall is palm tree anarchy. It's urban ugly at its worst.

This photo is an entry in the Not So Buena photography project hosted here at Deep Thoughts. If you would like to participate with photo's from your own city, see the instructions on this post.

Technorati tags: Photography, Photography Projects, Buena Park , smoking, photodriving

St. John's Priest Arrested On Porn, Sex Charges

Catholic Maze Father Charles Plock, a chaplain at St. John's University in Queens is accused of sending sexual internet messages to a child. Plock is also a youth pastor. He is alleged to have made pornographic videos of himself and then emailed them, along with sexually graphic messages, to a 13-year-old boy.

Quote of the day:

"This keeps happening with different priests in different places. It's outraging in a lot of ways and I'm catholic, so this gives my religion a bad name. - freshman Corey Danis.

Amen Corey, amen.

Technorati tags: Charles Plock, Catholics, Clergy Sexual Abuse

My god is bigger than yours

A pastor opened a campaign event with an odd prayer. He wants god to grant McCain a big win.

Before McCain spoke, a Christian pastor offered a prayer that seemed to ask for divine intervention on his behalf. "There are millions of people around this world praying to their God -- whether it's Hindu, Buddha, Allah -- that [McCain's] opponent wins for a variety of reasons," Pastor Arnold Conrad said. "And, Lord, I pray that you would guard your own reputation, because they're going to think that their god is bigger than you, if that happens.

Source: John McCain and Sarah Palin try new tactics - Los Angeles Times

I am reminded of the immortal words of the Talking Heads.

I got a girlfriend thats better than that
She has the smoke in her eyes
Shes moving up, going right through my house
Shes ginna give me surprise

The only surprise will be if McCain wins.

Technorati tags: John McCain, Religion, Politics, Prayer

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In her own words:

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