9/11 Deniers Speak

Warning - this video will piss you off. My friend Richard sent me this a few days back. It pissed me off so much I waited to post it until I became a little more objective. These 9/11 deniers are sick twisted people - they laugh at the pain of those who died or suffered a loss. They are the very definition of a nutballs. Thanks Rich.

More video:
Episode 2
Episode 3
Episode 4
Episode 5

Technorati Tags: 9/11 Deniers, Video, Terrorism

Third party candidates - well sort of

In looking at the campaign websites of California Libertarian candidates for the November 06 election cycle, I am troubled by the wide range and quality of candidate information, it is like there are not standards, no plan, nothing beyond putting up a site. A website can be so sketchy as to offer a name and contact information only, which is essentially useless, to offering acute insight into the a candidates sexual proclivities.

For example:

Dan “Frodo” Litwin, a Lord of the Rings fan running for Congress– (Seriously, what is going on here.)

Frodo’s platform:

Destruction of the Ring: Power is what politics is all about. But Power Sucks, and absolute power sucks absolutely. So I will soon introduce a new site: PowerSucks.com, to address this issue fully.

Pulling the rug out from under terrorists: Terrorism is actually being helped by the two parties' politics. Terrorism is being enabled, enriched, and inspired. I have a plan that would disable, defund and deflate terror, saving lives and money right away. Go to PeaceIsPossible.com to see what I mean and to read more about my position on this issue.

Or - how about Herb Peters for Congress: Herb wants the economy to be “more better” – Of course, it could be he just doesn’t like them taxes. Oh yes – I would vote for this guy. His website possesses only the most amateurish content – he does not exist in the press or on the internet. He has no position on anything relevant. I am willing to bet he gets 23 votes tops.

Art Olivier does Herb Peters one better, the Olivier campaign is invisible. Art Oliver is running for Governor – it might be a lost cost. At least I know the name – he replaced the Druid Spitter who ran for Governor last cycle.

But the worst of the worst so far is Kelley Ross – Kelly has a few extreme views, none of which are germane to the current political cycle. I’m going to list what he’s in favor of below, there is no need to look at what he is against, by the time you get through list below, you will have a solid understanding for why this guy is unelectable.

Kelly Ross is for: Abortion, Pornography, Drug Legalization, Legalized Gambling, Legalized Prostitution, Gay Marriage, Nude Family Recreation, RuPaul, Jerry Spinger, Strippers, and Las Vegas. (How the hell can you be for Las Vegas?)

What does any of this have to do with the current California political climate? Nothing at all! This is why libertarian are ridiculed as nutballs. This is why everything they do is marginalized. This is why they only make the “oddball” section of newspapers, and oddly enough, this is why I like watching them. They are endlessly and hopelessly out of touch with reality. As my friend said today, many libertarians inhabit the fourth floor of a mental hospital and think it is the Ritz. They spend time arguing with each other, all the while thinking the people walking by on the street below are paying attention.

I am a libertarian – but not anything like these people. They need help, lots of help.

I will have something positive to say in my next libertarian post - I promise

Technorati Tags: Libertarian, California Politics, LPC, Libertarian Party of California, Art Olivier, Herb Peters, Kelly Ross, Dan Litwin

They blame the goats

i was listening to NRP on the drive in this morning when John Hendren Iraq Still Manages to Shock. Hendren mentioned that in Iraq, Islamic Sharia Law is leading to the murder of Shepard’s who don't put diapers on their goats. Apparently, the goats are blamed for causing sexual tension in the local repressed population. Can you imagine a diaper on a goat? What are they thinking? Henren goes on to describe how local Imams have authored instructions for how to arrange vegetables so that they will not be seen as sexually suggestive. The penalty for failing to diaper your goat or arrange your vegetables properly is death. It is religion gone mad. Listen for yourself here.

Religious fundamentalism causes this kind of excessive response to otherwise normal behavior. It is not restricted to Islam; witness the lynching, book burnings, and abortion clinic bombing of our past. Fundamentalism breeds extreme behavior and must be confronted when and where it happens. The next time a religious based hate crime happens, like the synagogue shooting in Washington, outrage must be real and action swift.

We are failing in Iraq – when people die because their goats don’t wear a diaper, American style open tolerance for diversity is not catching on. Our efforts should at least try to teach this, anything else leads to civil war and anarchy.


Technorati Tags: Iraq, fundamentalism, religion, NPR

This is disturbing

The Sunday Times reports on Iran's plot to mine uranium in Africa: If this is true, it is further proof that Iran is seeking to build nuclear weapons. Does anybody really believe that Iran is a force for peace? I suspect that their manifest hatred of Israel will drive them to using these weapons. We must act to thwart their efforts. To do anything less would be appeasement.

***Update***
LGF has picked up this article. It was my first LGF hat tip. Yay for me!

Technorati Tags: Iran, Islam, Israel,

Hezbollah’s Psych-Ops

Clifford D. May writing form NRO published Hezbollah's Psych-Ops on August 4. He observed that Hezbollah has painted Israel into a corner with carefully planned responses to Israeli war efforts. By hiding amoung civilians, Hezbollah’s contributes to their death. By firing rockets from parking structures, Hezbollah invites the destruction of nearby buildings. By continuing to fire rockets into Israel, Hezbollah invites Israel to cut off its supply lines. Bridges and roads are destroyed. Lebanese children suffer. The press publicizes Israel’s “excessive response” while Hezbollah is painted as freedom fighters. Hezbollah cannot lose – yet they must.

Many people have asked me about the war. I have not made up my mind yet, but here is what I am thinking so far. Israel has been under continuous rocket attack for at least a year. Hezbollah, with the tacit approval of Lebanon, Syria, and Iran, has been gradually raising the stakes. Israel is a sovereign nation with the right to protect her borders. Israel’s actions are just. The United States should stand by its ally, no matter what the cost. Peace is a better option, but with Hezbollah, Syria, and Iran hell bent on removing Israel from the map, is this really an option?


Technorati Tags: Hezbollah, Israel, Syria, Iran, War,

Every now and then I get the chills

I was surfing anarchists websites when I found a link to The War on Photographers. I clicked the link and got a chill. A picture very much like one I took a few years ago was staring back at me. It seems that on April 17, 2005 Jim McKinniss did the same thing that I had done. He stopped his car, stood on a public sidewalk, and photographed a moving industrial landscape. Only he was arrested.


Now, as my friends know, I am usually the one to be arrested, or at least hassled. But not this time, it looks like a dodged a bullet. What did McKinniss do that was so wrong? I dunno – maybe his picture, or the thousands of others just like it, could be used by some terrorist hell bent on damaging some oil equipment. It all seems so absurd.

There is a difference between Jim McKinniss and myself. I know my rights. I would have given the cops hell, been beat down, and then have an even better story to tell. Oh well, a missed opportunity I suppose.

A couple of notes: I took this picture in the afternoon during peak traffic times. The picture is taken from a sidewalk near a bridge. I was standing in the City of Carson, not Torrance, when I took this shot. The picture was taken 11/23/2004 and published on Deep Thoughts in January of 2005. I had often thought about shooting a picture of this structure at night, but opted not to because the area is unsafe.

Technorati Tags: photography, WOT, Terrorism, Carson

Jesus Is an Anarchist

The above title may seem like strong words, for surely that can't be correct? Jesus an anarchist? One must be joking, right? (care of CaptainA at digg)

James Redford, a self-described free-market/libertarian anarchist, that is--otherwise what is called an anarcho-capitalist, authored this lengthy piece in an attempt to prove that Jesus was an Anarchist. Read it and despair. By the end, I only wanted to speak a few unkind words directly to his face. Few people are more annoying than card-carrying libertarians are. At the far end of the libertarian spectrum are libertarian anarchists.

He promises much

It is the purpose of this document to demonstrate the above claim, and if you are a Christian then I submit that it should be your task to honestly consider what is presented here, for if the above claim comes as a surprise then I will show that what you thought you knew about Jesus was not the whole story: Jesus is far more radical than many would have you believe, and for good reason--it threatens the status quo.

He delivers little other than the normal crazy libertarian rant, except that he blames it all on Jesus.

But lastly, many unjust government actions have been supported by self-professed Christians, such as with Prohibition and the War on Drugs, even though such unjust laws are completely unjustifiable from a Biblical perspective and indeed very anti-Christian in the most literal sense of the word. As well, such government actions as taxes are also completely anti-Christian. Thus, in clearly demonstrating how Jesus was nothing if not a perfectly consistent libertarian…

I am a libertarian atheist myself, a small ‘L” libertarian that is. Free markets and limited government, plus a desire to see my personal liberties maintained. Redford is at the other end of the spectrum, a Christian libertarian anarchist. I did not know there was such a thing.


Technorati Tags: Jesus, Libertarians, Nutballs
read more | digg story

Religion and Politics

The Article VI Blog is a website dedicated to promoting the presidential campaign of Republican conservative and devout Mormon, Mitt Romney. The writers seem intent on separating Romney from his religion in much the same way that President Kennedy was separated from his Catholicism. Romney faces a tough road trying to convince the conservative evangelical republican base that he is playing for the same team. Many evangelical churches still believe they are in competition for souls with a religion traditionally viewed as a cult. The packaging of Romney as a man of conservative values consistent with those held by evangelicals will be a difficult task. All the more so as Mormons attempt to defend their flavor of Christianity in the public debate that is sure to surround Romney’s candidacy.

Article IV has a telling post on the subject of Mormon Apologetics. “I also have noticed with dismay that some Mormons seem to blur Romney’s candidacy with a perceived need to defend or explain Mormonism. Although I think that’s regrettable and wrong-headed, I also think it’s only natural, since it was not Mormons who raised Romney’s religion as an issue in the first place.”

It is interesting to note that Article IV of the constitution refers to: "No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States." I am willing to bet that if Mitt Romney were an Atheist with strong conservative values, then this very same website, and thousands of others like it, would be dedicated to his defeat.


Technorati Tags:
Mormons, Religion, Nitt Romney, Politics

Westboro Baptist nutballs v. Fox news

…and the nutballs loose, I think so anyway. This is an amazingly disturbing video, with hate and crazy ideology at its worst. These Westboro Baptist are pure fringe nutballs.

Hat tip Godless Wonder.

Technorati Tags: Video, Nutballs

Time wasters

the essence of Q-Bert and the whole ytmnd experience.

Oliver Laric Clip Art masterpeice.

Watching time.

Digg Labs Swarm - visual crack.

play this stupid game

Or, Dice Wars - an even dumber game. (I've never lost!)

If you are lonely try this.

or last longer that 116 seconds on this - I dare you.

Or get higher than 23 on this. (RG - I dare you)


Technorati Tags: Games

Random Stencils

I walk the streets with my head down. I’m fascinated by these damn stencils. I found this first one near Tito’s Taco’s over the weekend. I don’t even know what it is. It looks like a tree and maybe a flock of birds or a cloud.

The thing is, somebody knows what it means. Somebody took the time to put it there. Why, I don’t know. They just did it. I imagine some kids say something like, hey, “lets go paint stencils. That would be cool” – whatever.



I figure this one is a skull. I am sure it means something. I found it a further along the same street as the picture above.

As I stopped to take this picture said "you an artist or something - hell, I can take pictures of that crap too". Lovely - I am sure he could.







Technorati Tags: Photography, Stencils, graffiti

Castro and the price of cigars

I know that I am a mercurial capitalist bastard when my first thought on hearing that Castro had transferred power to his brother was; what will Castro’s death do to the value of my Cuban cigars? Quickly followed by, perhaps the US can drop the blockade and start importing some fine Cohibas and Partagas cigars again soon.

Not a single thought regarding Castro's health - only a vague concern that his brother looked just as old and frail as Fidel did. And, I wondered when communism become dynastic?

I smoke Partagas No. 10 when I can get them. They are such fine cigars, and difficult to get here in the States.

Technorati Tags: Cuba, Castro, Cigars

What Mormon Theology Is Really All About

A Christian group made this hilariously melodramatic short back in the 1970s to debunk the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (Did I mention I love digg?)

Back in the day (the 70s) I handed out bible tracts, worked for the Bible Answer Man, and tried my hardest to fight what my church called “the most dangerous cult in America” - the Mormons. In a completely misguided effort to save missionaries from their own religion, I worked tirelessly to covert missionaries to my particular non-denominational former Dutch Reform version of hippy Christianity. It was all such an insensitive waste of time. On the off chance that any of you 1970 era Mormon Missionaries read this – I humbly apologize.

This film was the cornerstone of my church's effort to minister to the Mormons. I had not thought about it in years. It brings back such conflicted memories. I actually knew that what I was participating in was wrong, but I did it anyway. Zealotry and youth are a bad combination. I did not develop my backbone until much later in life.

I can remember sitting in a meeting room with a bunch of teens watching this movie and taking notes (which I still have someplace). I developed complex arguments all designed to plead my case to those unsuspecting do-gooders. However, I never got past first base – and I alienated many lifelong friends along the way. Oh, the folly of a misspent youth, I could have actually done something of value, like study harder or learn to spell.

The movie is a hoot – enjoy.

Technorati Tags: Religion, Mormons, 1970s, Christianity
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Rude Boy - Oh really!

No matter how hard a fat guys tries - cool is out of reach.

Before you start with the crass comments - please keep in mind that I know what I'm talking about.


Technorati Tags: photography, Street Photography

Are These the End Times?

I first heard about "The End Times" in the 70s when Hal Lindsey made a million dollars predicting the end of the world because of the crisis in Middle East, the UN, the Oil Crisis, and the bla, bla, bla. Now a new millionaire, Tim LaHaye, sees the End Times in every current news headline. Tim LaHaye is a flimflam man profiting from the ignorance and superstition of millions of unwitting Christians. Why do people believe him?

John Gillmartin of redbluechristian says it best: For the sake of discussion, let’s assume the “ten lost tribes” of Israel are back in Zion at this time, that I’m-in-need-a-job, Iran’s pipsqueak leader, is “the man of lawlessness,” and that Nazrallah is “the little horn”; let’s also assume the UN is one world government bandied about, and Islam is the global religion … how do we fit in a reconstituted Roman Empire and the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem, along with a Levitical priesthood and all that jazz?

Translation - it is all just a bunch of speculative hooey

Are these the end times? Nope - they might be the hot times, and... I still have to go the work in the morining.

Technorati Tags: War, End Times, UN, Middle East