The Gay Divide - Part 2

This is part 2 of 2 about Homosexuality. Specifically about the particular perniciousness of homosexual acts and what they mean.

It should be clear from the start that it is inappropriate to categorize or define people by their sinful acts. We are all children of God who should be encouraged to repent and become better people. We should love all of God's children no matter what sinful acts they may have done and invite them to come unto Christ.

This is part of the problem with the Gay activists, they simply chose to and embrace defining themselves by their sinful acts.

Because of the subject matter, mature language will be used in as tactful a way as possible without avoiding the issues.

First, some scriptures.
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Matt. 19:5-6: ". . . For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder."

Mark 10:7-8: "For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife; And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh."

Similar statements are found in Gen. 2:24, Moses 3:24, Abr. 5:18, and D&C 42:22.

There are commands to "multiply and replenish the earth" and related statements in Gen. 1:28, Gen. 9:1, Moses 2:28, Moses 5:2, and Abr. 4:28.

"Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain," Gen. 4:1
"And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch" Gen. 4:17
"And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth" Gen. 4:25
See also Moses 5:2, 16, 42, and 6:2

And they rose up in the morning early, and worshipped before the LORD, and returned, and came to their house to Ramah: and Elkanah knew Hannah his wife; and the LORD bremembered her.
Wherefore it came to pass, when the time was come about after Hannah had conceived, that she bare a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, Because I have asked him of the LORD.

1 Samuel 1:19-20.

Judah impregnated his daughter in law, Tamar (thinking she was a harlot), and when it became public knowledge, it says that "he knew her again no more". Gen. 38:26.

Speaking of Jephthah's daughter's virginity, it states "she knew no man". Judges 11:39.

In reference to a gang rape of a concubine, it stated "and they knew her, and abused her". Judges 19:25. She was later cut up into 12 pieces (hopefully she was dead already).

King David was getting old and was not warming up and in an effort to warm him up they found a young and fair damsel to lie in his bosom that he may get heat, "but the king knew her not." 1 Kings 1:1-4.

People are also familiar with the phrase "carnal knowledge" as a substitute for "sexual intercourse".

"The Law of Chastity states that men and women should have no sexual relations except with the person to whom they are legally and lawfully wedded."

But whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do evil, and believe not in Christ, and deny him, and serve not God, then ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of the devil; for after this manner doth the devil work, for he persuadeth no man to do good, no, not one; neither do his angels; neither do they who subject themselves unto him.

Moroni 7:17
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It is clear that from the beginning down until now, sexual relations are to only be between male and female and only when they are married. The purpose is to bond husband and wife together and to have children. Just because some married couples are infertile does not invalidate these commands nor does it lessen the importance of their marriage.

It should also be clear that "knew" is a common substitute for "sexual intercourse" as well as being used in the common vernacular in scripture.

So what makes homosexual acts so pernicious? Why are they so bad?

Imagine if you were Satan, the enemy of all righteousness. Of course you want people to break the commandments, but what would really be cool would be if you could get people to actively listen to you (not in a yielding to temptation sort of way, but seeking to obey you sort of way) and then to have them do the exact opposite of a commandment from God.

One of the first commandments was for Adam and Eve to be married, to have intercourse as a married couple, and to have kids. A deviation from this command might be adultery, but to do the opposite would be to have sexual relations not just with someone not your spouse, but with someone of your same gender. Homosexual acts are the opposite of the command of God to obey the law of chastity.

There is a certain amount of disturbing symbolism in male homosexual acts. Men have been blessed with a body with male parts. The male parts are there as part of the power to procreate (and for elimination of bodily waste). A male homosexual act is done for the purpose of gratifying lust, and it involves placing the symbol of the male power to procreate in excrement. This is like you are saying that the power to procreate, a gift from God, is only worth sticking in excrement. It is a shameful and evil act.

Most people who engage in these acts probably haven't really thought through it all and probably don't really have a testimony of God and His Plan of Happiness and may not really know what they are doing. It is somewhat like kids in foreign countries that have memorized the sounds of some American music and can repeat the lyrics quite well but have no concept of the meaning of those words, but it's cool to do.

Satan first introduced these deviant acts to Cain. From Moses Chapter 5:

Cain hearkened not unto the Lord(v. 16). Cain loved Satan more than God and made an offering to God at the command of Satan(v. 18). Cain's offering was not accepted because he did it to obey Satan and Cain was upset that God did not accept the offering (v. 21). Cain was warned by God that he could either listen and do well, or not listen and forever be bound to Satan and would rule over Satan (v. 23-25). Satan approached Cain and proposed a Secret Combination and Cain accepted it, saying "Truly I am Mahan, the master of this great secret, that I may murder and get gain." (v. 29-31). Five generations later, Lamech killed someone for the sake of the secret combination instead of run of the mill murder for gain (v. 42-50)

51 For, from the days of Cain, there was a secret combination, and their works were in the dark, and they knew every man his brother.
52 Wherefore the Lord cursed Lamech, and his house, and all them that had covenanted with Satan; for they kept not the commandments of God, and it displeased God, and he ministered not unto them, and their works were abominations, and began to spread among all the sons of men. And it was among the sons of men.
53 And among the daughters of men these things were not spoken, because that Lamech had spoken the secret unto his wives, and they rebelled against him, and declared these things abroad, and had not compassion;
54 Wherefore Lamech was despised, and cast out, and came not among the sons of men, lest he should die.
55 And thus the works of darkness began to prevail among all the sons of men.
56 And God cursed the earth with a sore curse, and was angry with the wicked, with all the sons of men whom he had made;

These scriptures indicate that homosexual acts were part of the secret combination and their covenants. Because Satan perverts and imitates everything good, it would make sense that in addition to promising to be secretive and to murder for gain (instead of helping each other), that Satan's counterfeit "Law of Chastity" would be a "law of homosexuality".

It would seem obvious that the serious followers of Satan would know each other by a secret handshake or something (Hel. 2:7) but to add that they "knew every man his brother" in v. 52 when just ten verses before it talks about Cain having "knew his wife". How else would an Old Testament author have described homosexual acts?

The LDS Church agrees with this reading of Moses Chapter 5. It ties Moses 5:51-53 to Genesis 19:1-11 which is about Sodom and Gomorrah, under the Homosexuality entry in the Guide to the Scriptures.
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So there's the problem. Homosexual acts are Satan's counterfeit to God's Law of Chastity.

Most of the people who engage in such acts are probably not aware of its' origins or what it may mean symbolically.

We should not just stand by and let this pernicious evil continue to infiltrate our society. What exactly we should do about it is up to you. Remember that in moving forward we need to invite people to repentance in a loving and kind way. We need to stand firm that people should not be defined by their sinful acts and differentiate between the sins and the sinner. God paid for all of our sins and loves all of us. We should try to share that love.

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The Gay Divide Continues

This is part 1 of a 2 part series regarding Homosexuality and related issues. The next article deals with the perniciousness of homosexual acts from an LDS point of view.

The Anglican/Episcopalian Church is having problems. There are liberal and a conservative wings of the church. In the past, some highly visible people left the Anglican Church when they began to ordain women in the early 1990's.

The latest split is over acceptance of openly gay priests and lay members of the Anglican Church.

Deep down, most people who are sinning know that they are sinning. In quiet moments, one on one, you can generally get someone who is living with but not married to someone to admit that they do know that it is wrong but they do it anyway. Most people who are living a homosexual lifestyle are likely in this category.

There are a few people so dedicated to their lifestyle that they will try to justify it to everyone else and even write articles about it. Libby Purves wrote such an article trying to say that homosexuals can be excellent Christians too. (Either that name is a joke or she was unfortunate enough to be named something reminiscent of "Liberal Perverts"). In an article worthy of her last name, she paints Anglican Church leaders as perverts for their focus on sex. The article is titled "Pray lift your eyes above the belt - The Churches' sexual obsession makes me despair".

This is an interesting rhetorical tactic. The deviants calling the righteous perverts because of their insistent injunction against unnatural and sinful acts. It makes sense that someone who has turned away from what is good or true or morally right would also decide to twist the meaning or sense of what a religious injunction against sinful sexual acts really mean.

From the article:

it will be the illiberal, genitally-fixated wing of Anglicanism that sidles towards unity with Rome. It will do this because it thinks — accurately, more’s the pity — that Rome is where you find the most intolerant attitudes towards homosexuality.

Not that there's anything wrong with that. Libby Purves further perverts the truth with this gem:

all I can express for now is frustrated rage at both Churches’ incurable obsession with genital sexuality. It cripples every good intention, impedes every good work.

She wants you to believe that the Churches' issue is only about what kind of genitals are touching each other and for them to be focused on it is some failing in the Churches' leadership, or something.

The article goes on to opine with no authority higher than herself about what is really wrong with adultery, pedophilia, rape, promiscuity and prostitution, and it's not about the sex:

It would be refreshing if the Churches would step back from this stance, and make it clearer that the evil in adultery is not the sexual act but the betrayal of trust, the cruelty, the endangering of children’s happiness. The deep wickedness of rape and paedophilia is not about desire but about misuse of power, invasion, oppression and injury. The sinfulness of promiscuity and prostitution is not about sex but about using another human being for transient pleasure without caring for the physical and emotional damage you do. The Church’s ministry to gays could preach only honesty, gentleness, and commitment, rather than agonising about genital practices. Christianity could just grow up, and stop treating sex as if it were innately toxic or radioactive and yet irresistibly interesting. . . . Being gay can, without doing any violence to the Gospels, be accepted as a potential route to holiness.

"The lady doth protest too much, methinks".

The problem with inappropriate sex acts is part of the same problem with murder. God is the Creator and shares that power in a limited way by granting us the power of procreation. We should not murder because it is taking away the life that God has granted people. Doing things that are related to the creation or taking away of life are strictly governed by God's laws. That is why adultery is second place to murder which is only below the shedding of innocent blood or denying the Holy Ghost.

Libby Purves' philosophical understanding of the sinful nature of some acts is wrong. It is about the sexual acts and every other issue she lists would still be a sin absent the sexual aspect of the sin.

Maybe Libby needs to grow up and let Christian Churches decide what Christianity is really about. Libby did leave the Catholic Church, and now she can't leave it alone.

Next Posting: Was Homosexuality part of Satan's covenants with Cain?

Comments Welcome.

Plans for Attacking Iran

The BBC has discovered plans for the U.S. to Attack Iran, beyond just nuclear facilities.

BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner says the trigger for such an attack reportedly includes any confirmation that Iran was developing a nuclear weapon - which it denies.

Alternatively, our correspondent adds, a high-casualty attack on US forces in neighbouring Iraq could also trigger a bombing campaign if it were traced directly back to Tehran.

We may be going to war with Iran, or at least bombing them into submission, or something.

Iran also refuses to quit enriching Uranium. It is possible that they may only have peaceful reasons for enriching Uranium as it is the required fuel for atomic power plants.

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The Longest (and Least Deadly) War

I love history. There are so many interesting things that happen.

For example, during the English Civil War, the Netherlands declared war against the Scilly Islands and then did nothing about it because the resolution of the English Civil War settled the problem. This was in the 1600's. In the 1980's a historian had heard about the story and wanted to verify that it was true. As a result of the historian efforts, there was an end to the 335 year [non] hostilities when a peace treaty was signed on April 17, 1986. No shot was ever fired in prosecution of the war.

A war lasting approximately 38 minutes and for sure less than one hour was prosecuted in 1896. That is the record for the world's shortest war.

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A $1.6 Trillion Overseas Trust Fund? No Way!!

Or as others might say, No Wai.

People are too gullible. Way too gullible. It is too easy for people to get sucked into scams because people always want a quick buck.

A group of con-men will be going to jail. They preyed upon religious people and exploited their beliefs. One of their scams was that Joseph Smith had an overseas trust fund worth $1.6 Trillion and they just needed some money to get the funds over here. No way. Not by a long shot. This sounds much like the old Nigerian 419 scam. [Here is a humorous site of Nigerian Scam baiters, may contain some inappropriate language.]

Both of these scams, the Nigerian 419 and the trust fund are also known as advance fee fraud or the Spanish Prisoner.

If you are ever asked to send someone money via Western Union and you do not know them, be either very cautious or ready to part with the money with nothing to show for it in return. The transaction is not traceable and the money can be picked up anywhere in the world, even with fake ID.

Another common scam is the overpayment.

You sell something on E-bay and you have the payment method through PayPal. You sell a nice rare book for $110 (including shipping) and they "mistakenly" pay you $210. Oops. No problem they say, just send the extra $100 back to me, thanks for the book. Being an honest person, you send the money. A couple of days later, Paypal informs you of some discrepancy or difficulty with the $210 transfer and that you don't really have that money anymore. You just mailed someone a book and sent them $100 too.

This happens with check deposits, wire transfers, and other transactions. The key is to wait until the transaction is cleared completely before sending any money back. Be especially careful if they overpay and ask you to send the money back via Western Union.

According to this man with a radio show and books, you may unwittingly be creating your own Chapter 13 Bankruptcy, or sometimes a Chapter 7, without ever setting foot in court or paying an attorney.

If you hire a service to pay your bills for you and you just pay them a lump sum once a month it could appear on your credit and may be treated like a Chapter 13 repayment plan. If you use a debt negotiator that will "settle" and reduce your debts with credit card companies, that is treated like a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy. These are services offered to "help" you but may do more harm than good.

There have been advertisements that under the U.S. Code, you can consolidate and reduce your debt!! They were really offering Chapter 13 Bankruptcy.

There are too many scams out there and there are more every year. 12 Daily Pro was shut down by the SEC, and it sucked in many saps from BYU A dean at the school said that students may be removed from school for participating. (The news story did not say, but it may be that the reason the students may be removed from school is because they have already proven themselves too dumb to complete school and they want to save the students the embarrassment of flunking out.) 12 Daily Pro offered a 44% return every 12 days, or a 3000% return per year. Not very likely. It is even less likely that these people will get their money back from 12 Daily Pro.

Be careful out there. Your money belongs to you.

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"Missing" versus "Taken"

So yesterday I was writing about our culture that is too busy to care about important things that will actually affect your life. Like "missing" defense spending.

I am not so sure anymore that it really is missing. I have sort of incidentally been looking into some additional arguments about the money. It is on too large a scale to really be just by accident. I am sure that some of the money was actually mishandled but it appears that a great amount of the money is probably "missing" in the same sense that my kid with chocolate smears on her face "doesn't know what happened" to the chocolate chip cookies they were supposed to leave alone.

As a matter of sleight of hand and having a successful lie, we are brought up on stories of government waste and incompetence. We are taught that the government isn't good at doing anything. It is emotionally easier to believe that the money simply was mismanaged and is unaccounted for than to think that by design the money was taken and given to the right people. Corrupt government officials take advantage of a confusing time when accountability is practically nonexistent so they can rob people blind. This has been going on for a very long time at the local, state, and national level.

This way of doing business is easier for people to stomach (if they quit following the stories about who fathered Anna Nicole Smith's baby) than to think that the money is being given to friends of the administration. Whoops! We lost $30 Billion in Iraq! War sure is confusing! is a much easier line to want to believe than to think, "they have given $30 Billion to their friends and associates and used the Iraq war as cover for it". It just doesn't seem plausible that anyone would really be so incompetent and just lose that much money that fast without some kind of assurance that they would not be accountable for those kind of mistakes. People have gone to jail for mishandling less money than that.

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Some facts to consider:

The U.S. flew in over 360 tons of cash into Iraq. A C-130 cargo plane is a military staple for cargo shipments. Their average capacity is around 34,000 lbs. to 36,500 lbs. for normal shipping. With an average of 35,000 lbs per shipment, to send 720,000 lbs of cash would require 21 plane loads. This money was shipped on pallets. Someone must have been keeping track of that shipment.

There was over $20 Billion in money from Iraqi Oil money and frozen assets released to the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) in power until the Iraqis could set up a government of their own. The following quotes are all from the article linked immediately above.

Exactly how many billions of additional dollars were squandered, stolen, given away, or simply lost will never be known because the deliberate decision by the CPA not to meter oil exports means that no one will ever know how much revenue was generated during 2003 and 2004.

and . . .

Considerable fraud has been alleged regarding American companies, much of which can never be addressed because the Bush administration does not regard contracts with the CPA as pertaining to the U.S. government, even though U.S. taxpayer dollars were involved in some transactions.

and . . .

Halliburton, Vice President Dick Cheney’s former company, has a no-bid monopoly contract with the Army Corps of Engineers that is now estimated to be worth $10 billion. In June 2005, Pentagon contracting officer Bunny Greenhouse told a congressional committee that the agreement was the “most blatant and improper contracting abuse” that she had ever witnessed, a frank assessment that subsequently earned her a demotion.

and . . .

The undocumented cash flow continued long after the CPA folded. Over $1.5 billion was disbursed to interim Iraqi ministries without any accounting, and more than $1 billion designated for provincial treasuries never made it out of Baghdad. More than $430 million in contracts issued by the Petroleum Ministry were unsupported by any documentation, and $8 billion were given to government ministries that had no financial controls in place.

and perhaps the worst part of all . . .

The educated and entrepreneurial [the leaders!] are leaving the country in droves, as is most of the beleaguered Christian minority. Huge government appropriations are approved by Iraqi lawmakers and then simply disappear. Meanwhile, life for the average Iraqi does not improve, and oil production, water supplies, and electricity generation are all at lower levels than they were when the U.S. took control in 2003. The only thing that everyone knows is that all the money is gone and daily life in Iraq is worse than it was under Saddam Hussein.

I don't know how to even evaluate claims like that or even how to verify that they are true and here is why: there is almost a complete media blackout about what is really going on in Iraq. There is no way to get a comprehensive view of what is going on because it is too dangerous and reporters have no protection to report on anything outside of areas not already controlled by the U.S. or the U.K. military.

The Green Zone is a very small area in Baghdad where it is "safe". There are military media minders and the media only has access that they are given and provided by the military. If they go out of those closely guarded areas, their lives may be in danger.

This Video with footage from the BBC shows British SAS soldiers possibly inciting violence as they pretended to be Arabs.

Estimates of Iraqi dead from the invasion range from 300,000 to almost 1 Million. These numbers do include deaths from starvation and disease, not just the violent ones.

Here is part 1 of 4 of a BBC documentary regarding Jessica Lynch and her recovery from the hospital. The Pentagon did not release any additional video to help clear up any confusion. It also looks at the difficulties of media coverage in a war zone with military media minders. Part 2 of 4. Part 3 of 4. Part 4 of 4.

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It would not be hard in such an environment for money to just be given into the right hands and no one can be the wiser. There is no single person to blame, and all the right palms get greased.

It also appears that knowing how to take bribes, even if you get caught, makes you qualified to serve on a Homeland Security Panel as a Congressman.

It appears that the money was taken, not just missing.

Maybe I should go back to watching TV.

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At Least He Was a Former Bishop

http://kutv.com/local/local_story_046163444.html

"Man Pleads Guilty in Naked Snowmobiling Case"

Actual Headline. It seems that this is irresponsible journalism. The guilty party is a 62 year old man taking teenage boys for rides on a snowmobile. Naked. The last two paragraphs state:

He will not receive jail time but must undergo a mental evaluation and complete any recommended treatment. He must write letters of apology and avoid unsupervised contact with minors.

The two counts of lewdness could be erased if he meets the conditions. Lamb was a bishop of a Mormon church ward in Hyde Park from 1991 to 1997.

I guess if you want to paint a religion with a broad brush, that is the way to do it. What the article failed to mention is that he will probably also be a former member of the church if he isn't already relieved of those covenants.

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I am 7% Idiot.

In a very non-scientific test from this site:

I am 7% Idiot.

I am not annoying at all. In fact most people come to me for advice. Of course they annoy the heck out of me. But what can I do? I am smarter than most people.

Take the
Idiot Test
@ FualiDotCom

Fahrenheit 451 and Today

This is a great book worth reading. It describes a dystopian future and the dangers possible in a non-literate society obsessed with television.

In Fahrenheit 451, a future is described where a "fireman" is a person who goes and causes fires for the purpose of burning books. 451 degrees is supposed to be the temperature at which paper burns and hence, the title of the book! ;) The population learns only from television. They watch TV for everything, and live in apartments where regular walls have been replaced with television screens so that people can be filled up with information all the time.

I see some similarities with radio, internet access, television, PDA's, text news to your phone, phone internet access, crackberrys, and even getting advertising at the gas pump on that little screen. Why burn books when you can make society accessible enough for people who can't read? Let the laziness take over and you have won half the battle. With the consistent dumbing down of curricula and other methods of communication that de-emphasize the written word, we are rolling merrily down that path of the extinction of printed material. Ratings are our new king.

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Just a sampling of some news in the media:

Anna Nicole Smith died recently, and it appears that people are slow to reveal her cause of death. There has been an autopsy and toxicology tests. It is possible that she choked on her own vomit. The news coverage makes a big deal out of finding no illegal drugs in her system, although she had access to methadone (legal!) which is used to get over a heroin addiction. There were apparently many problems leading up to her death.

Britney Spears has shaved her head and is partying out of control. Her cut hair may sell for $1 Million. Hopefully she is not on the Anna Nicole Smith fast track.

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We live in a celebrity worship culture. It appears that coverage of Ms. Smith's death for two days comprised a full 50% of the programming on CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News. It comprised 21% of the programming for the week with the Iraq War getting 15% and the '08 Presidential Election Coverage getting 10%. There were four Marines killed in Iraq and a sixth helicopter in three weeks was shot down in Iraq on the same day Ms. Smith died. (Arguably this isn't really news either because we are in a state of armed conflict in Iraq.) It appears that we have some sort of morbid fascination with body counts and celebrity.

[Run-on sentence warning.] What I don't understand is why so many people care whether A-Rod and Derek Jeter are friends (no, but they can still play together on the field), or whether Tom Cruise really is gay and if Katie Holmes is his beard (no comment, but I have my suspicions), or why celebrities pick strange names for their kids (Sly Stallone named his kid Sage Moonblood?!?), or whether celebrities can even have kids, or whether they are expecting. (Jon Heder/Napoleon Dynamite has a girl on the way.)

People are focused on the wrong things and TV ratings are driving the problem. With money to be made in advertising, ratings driven "news" coverage is the rule of the day.
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Fahrenheit 451 also touches on the problems of demanding ratings. The main character is on the run as a fireman who has (Gasp!) actually seen some printed words on a page of a book before it was burned! NOOOOOOOOOOO!! He is being chased by a mechanical hound with paralyzing drugs and other methods of subduing a target. The fireman's inevitable capture has been trumpeted and broadcast so now he must be caught. His face has been on TV and there are over 20 Million people who have seen his face. He is able to find protection and sanctuary with hobos that have a portable TV to know what the rest of the world is doing. The outcasts/hobos are committed to remembering books they have read and hold themselves out as a living library. As they are listening there is live news coverage with an announcement that the fugitive fireman will be captured shortly which causes some amount of tension on the part of the fireman and the hobos. As the TV coverage continues the hobos see that the mechanical hound is no where near where they are and that an innocent person is actually the person being apprehended. The person's face was blurred out at the end to make the deception complete. Society feels safe again. Shortly after the capture, the power goes out just a few seconds before the bombs start falling in atomic war leaving the outcasts to build the future.

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People feel safe in their news cocoon. The news is familiar and we spend our time following the lives of people who have no more power over our lives than the man in the moon. We don't have to think about difficult things that may actually affect our lives. For example, military spending. A standing army can be used against the people. Art. I, Sec. 8 of the U.S. Constitution only allows funding for the Army two years at a time.

After Hurricane Katrina, the National Guard was mobilized and used to disarm residents. In a video I can't post here, but is contained in a larger production found here, a National Guard troop is taped saying that he never thought he would be doing this in America. Neither did I.

The money comes from the people of the United States of America. In what seems to be a near-regular story that no one seems to care about, the U.S. lost track of $9 Billion in Iraq funds in a story dated 1/31/2005. There is a story about coalition forces losing track of $8.8 Billion in Iraq dated 2/12/2006 and stories of contractor malfeasance. Or how about the Pentagon (not just the part of the Iraqi fog of war) not being able to track $2.3 Trillion in transactions? This last story was from 2002 and frankly admits that the Pentagon cannot track approximately 25% of what it spends. Call it a hunch, but I bet that the missing $167,450,000,000 of the $669,800,000,000 in the 2006 Defense Budget is not going to widows, orphans, the homeless, education spending, or anywhere even remotely near the taxpayers who are on the hook for that money. The "missing" money is probably going into the pockets of people who are corrupt and evil.

Maybe I should go back to watching TV like a good citizen.

**** UPDATE ******
A story dated 2/15/2007 just came out about Pentagon wasteful spending, again. Some of the highlights:
- $10 Billion wasted in Iraq.
- "Defense and State department officials condoned or otherwise allowed poor accounting, repeated work delays, bloated expenses and payments for work shoddily or never done by U.S. contractors."
- "Layers of subcontractors, poor documentation and lack of strong contract management are rampant and promote waste even after the GAO first warned of problems 15 years ago."
- "more than $2.7 billion were charged by Halliburton Co., the oil-field services firm once headed by Vice President Dick Cheney."
- 1 in 6 of the dollars audited is suspect, according to the Pentagon. (apparently they have been unable to audit all of the expenditures).

This does not appear to be by accident. (Really, 15 years!?!)

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How to Not Make Friends and Influence People

Gay Marriage.

There are few things that people are more passionate about than this. Abortion may be one of them. Because some Supreme Court has justified traditional marriage on the basis of marriage generally being for procreative purposes, an activist group is attempting to do something stupid.

Gay Marriage activists are actually attempting to get a ballot measure that would require couples to first prove they are medically able to have children and then to have children within three years or have their marriage annulled.

This is specifically to semantically poke a finger in the eye of religious opposition to gay marriage, specifically "'social conservatives who have long screamed that marriage exists for the sole purpose of procreation.'"

They need to get at least 224,800 signatures by July 6 to put it on the November ballot.

Hopefully there are not 224,801 people who agree with this.

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You probably aren't paranoid enough yet.

ECHELON

is a program used by government agencies to spy on civilians. Naturally, they can't listen to every single communication, but they do monitor all the communications they can.

This would include e-mail, faxes, phone conversations, everything.

There are many sites that refer to this program. Here is a Google search. It returns sources from the BBC, the Telegraph, and other news agencies. There has been a lot of noise made about the U.S. not being allowed to spy on its' own citizens. Some people think that this has been circumvented by a secret agreement between the USA and the UK for us to spy on them and for them to spy on us using shared technology and hardware and then to share the results and presto! the U.S. does not spy on its' citizens.

While we are told that this serves a national security purpose to monitor for certain watch words, this program has been used for commercial espionage and the European Parliament (starting with page 136) actually recommends encryption in sensitive communications to protect their commercial interests.

According to three Insight Magazine articles from 1997, the U.S. Government has already been used to gain commercial secrets for the benefit of large contributors to the DNC. There was a large scale operation to completely saturate with surveillance the activities of an economic conference in 1993 in Seattle for the Asia Pacific Economic Conference.

The second article shows how the individuals involved were lied to:

One reason is that most of the intelligence agents involved in the spy operation had no idea where the end product went. They all were told it was a national-security mission and that the surveillance was to protect the 15 or more leaders of nations attending the conference. Never mind that the targets were rarely the leaders of the nations, but their assistants and staffers, referred to as "secondary people," because that's who cut the deals.

In the third article about the APEC summit, there is some interesting/sickening information provided by former Washington insiders. To provide context, some FBI agents providing surveillance of the conference were witnesses to underage male prostitution and were ordered to do nothing about it for reasons of national security.

The boys are believed to have been 15 to 17 years old. As shocking as this may be, some say it's routine. A former Bush economic adviser observes, "The sex? That's done all the time. If a foreign diplomat wants a companion, the State Department provides it. It doesn't matter if it's a man or woman. They have a special fund set up for that." Another former NSC official who requested anonymity says other countries also do it. "I was offered every sexual favor you can imagine. I turned it down all the time. After a while they left me alone and stopped offering me."

It is not so comforting for me to think that these same people are or ever have been in power. Are you paranoid enough yet?

Comments Welcome

Baptisms, Mormons, and Popes, Oh My!

Will Pope Benedict Become a Mormon After He Dies?

I hope he decides to become a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints before he dies, but if he waits until after he dies, that's up to him too.

Actually, this article is about baptisms for the dead and how these ordinances are performed for many famous deceased people. The article does not clarify it, but I believe that Mickey Mouse was not baptized even though the name appeared in the IGI (International Genealogical Index) for a short time.

The article mentions but does not quite get to the point that there is a fine line between database policing, integrity, and ease of access. The IGI is maintained and people can submit information from all over the world and the accuracy of the database cannot be guaranteed without independent verification. Sometimes inaccurate information appears, such as some former Popes having wives.

Sites like Wikipedia.org suffer from the same problem.

The LDS Church is in the process of reducing duplication of ordinances for the same person but I am unaware of any kind of technical fix that will prevent the improper entering of names. The LDS Church is working to prevent ordinances being done for Holocaust Victims and there are ongoing discussions to resolve the issue.

The article was in general very balanced and had both sides of the issue presented.

Well done.

Comments are welcome.

Why we cannot fix World Hunger.

Africa is one of the most difficult places to provide humanitarian aid to.

There is a massive amount of corruption and thuggery going on and the food is never really fairly distributed to the people it is intended to help.

Zimbabwe is an example of this problem.

White farmers are being forced out of the country by fiat and the farms are then given to friends of the president of Zimbabwe, Pres. Mugabe (pronounced MOO-GAH-BAY). According to several accounts, the farms are far less productive and causing food shortage problems in the country. Pres. Mugabe blames the problem on drought and sanctions against his country.

According to the article:

Last year, some 700,000 people lost their homes or livelihoods in a government demolition campaign aimed at street vendors, market stall holders and allegedly illegal housing.

I blame Pres. Mugabe and his like-minded minions for the problems they are having. With the continued oppressive actions of his government, it is hard for the economy to grow and help his people.

What about in the United States?

Real Headline: Orlando: Please Do Not Feed The Homeless, Law Limits Feeding Large Groups Of People In Parks.

Cities are trying like crazy to attract money more than anything. Nothing like having government coffers full of tax money to do whatever the heck it is that governments do with money.

In efforts to keep the city ship shape for investors, Orlando has increased the number of ordinances designed to drive out the homeless. Now groups seeking to feed the homeless with their own dollars are required to have permits to feed more than 25 people. These permits will only be issued to the same applicant twice a year.

I guess it is easier to just drive out all the homeless than to crack down on the most obnoxious ones. [e.g. public urination, trespassing, public drunkenness, etc...]

Comments Welcome.

Happy Friday

[Note: Some of the links to the government web page change regularly, or are randomized or something and may not work. If they don't work, you can go to this page, select which congress you are searching [the current congress is the 110th] and enter "universal national service act" into the search box to find the information I have referenced. This bill was introduced in the 109th and 108th congresses as well.]


It has been suggested that I blog on a happy thing on Fridays, or at least once a week.

Here is something happy.

Nancy Pelosi is opposed to a bill that would reinstate the draft.

This idea was introduced in 2003 as HR163. It had 14 co-sponsors, introduced by Charles Rangel. It was killed by a roll-call vote of 402-2. It was called the "Universal National Service Act of 2003", with required service for two years, no declaration of war necessary. [HA-HA!!!! Get it?? REQUIRED SERVICE!!!! Orwellian language just kills me!] It included all people, men and women included aged 18-26.

It also had a companion bill in the Senate. S89 had no co-sponsors and the bill died in committee.

In 2004, Mr. Rangel gave the bill a well-deserved rest. Presumably because it was an election year and he didn't want to draw any more bad press than was necessary. Well, that and the prior defeat by a roll call vote of 402-2.

The Universal National Service Act of 2005 (HR 2723) had one co-sponsor, was introduced on 5/26/2005 and died in committee. [Killed on the same day it was introduced!] It only required 15 months of service this time, was gender neutral, no declaration of war, could be military or civilian service, and was for 18-26 year olds.

After such a successful campaign to compel 18-26 year olds into national "service" of some kind, Mr. Rangel was feeling romantic I guess. As a gift of love to the nation, on St. Valentine's Day in 2006, [with no co-sponsors!] Mr. Rangel introduced the Universal National Service Act of 2006. It was referred to committee nine days later, never to return. It returned to a two-year requirement of service and this time reached out to offend an even broader audience because it would require service from all 18-42 year olds.

On January 10, 2007 Mr. Rangel again picked up the fight without co-sponsors or the support of the Speaker of the House and introduced the Universal National Service Act of 2007, HR393. The current status is that it has been referred to two committees where one of them will probably kill it again (if past performance of this bill is any indicator of future performance of this bill). The new provisions still require service from 18-42 year olds, in either a civilian or military capacity, but now only if there is a declaration of war, or if the Executive Branch just feels like it. While on its' face not being a universal requirement of service regardless of armed conflict, the conditions to activate the provisions of the bill are so simple to satisfy that there really is not protections in the new bill at all.

While the current and prior bills refer to "Service", it is not really service because people even when drafted still get paid. Paying the draftees would keep the bill from running afoul of the 13th Amendment eliminating "involuntary servitude" although it would be an interesting court challenge.

This bill will probably die in committee too.

Happy Friday!

Comments Welcome

Outrage at the Capitol

The times, they are a changin'.

According to this article, about 300 anti war protesters were marching on the capitol building last Saturday. The Capitol Police (regulated by the U.S. Congress) were present to block their progress toward the capitol. The police chief ordered the officers on hand to back off, let the people through and not arrest any of them while they sprayed graffiti on the capitol steps.

The steps were cleaned up after the protesters left. A few of the protesters were at least prevented from entering more sensitive areas or entering the capitol itself.

This shows a disregard for the property of the capitol on the part of whoever told the police chief to not arrest any of the protesters that were vandalizing the capitol steps.

This also shows that congress cares more about the areas they access regularly (the inside of the building and other sensitive areas) than the areas the public accesses. This may be a case of protection for me but not for thee.

So to sum up: Capitol Police officers were ordered to stand by and watch as the capitol was vandalized and no arrests were permitted to be made. Enforced lawlessness is not a good sign of the management of the capitol.

Maybe I will find a story of congress actually setting fire to a pile of cash while the taxpayers who paid it are watching.

Comments Welcome

Are we becoming French?

In Boston, on January 31, 2007, a panic ensued because of an advertising campaign for a new movie c0ming out in March of this year.

The Cartoon Network wanted to promote a new animated film about the "Aqua Teen Hunger Force". It is an "adult swim" cartoon shown late at night.

They hired an ad agency that put up unique signs in ten different cities, including Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Seattle, Portland (Oregon), Austin (Texas), San Francisco and Philadelphia.

These signs were made out of circuit boards, batteries, wires, and LED's in the shape of one of the main characters of the cartoon.

Like any conscientious ad agency, they put the signs up in high traffic areas such as roadways, bridges, and subway stations.

Two men responsible for putting up the signs in Boston now face over 20 years in prison if the Mayor has his way.

Think about that. In nine other cities, not one complaint or problem has been reported. In Boston the city is shut down and now the men involved may go to jail for a very long time. From Forbes.com:

Boston Mayor Thomas Menino said the city was prepared to take civil or criminal action against those responsible. "This is a heavy penalty, imprisonment, two to five years for each one of them," he said. "When it comes to public safety, we are throwing everything at them."

Varying reports indicate up to 24 of the ads were placed. CBS news reports that the men were only charged with one count of disorderly conduct and one count of placing a hoax device. They were each granted bail of $2,500. A picture of one of the devices and a video are available at the CBS site linked above.

It appears that the ads were in place for 2-3 weeks before panic engulfed Boston yesterday. It seems that the fine inhabitants of Boston overreacted. But, according the Governor of Massachusetts, "It's a hoax — and it's not funny,".

The mayor of the fine City of Boston (CBS link) said as well:

It is outrageous, in a post 9/11 world, that a company would use this type of marketing scheme," Mayor Thomas Menino said Wednesday. "I am prepared to take any and all legal action against Turner Broadcasting and its affiliates for any and all expenses incurred during the response to today's incidents.

It seems that the Governor and the Mayor do not have a sense of humor, or proportion. There was a group of people protesting outside of the court house:

Fans of the show mocked authorities for what they called an overreaction.

About a dozen fans gathered outside Charlestown District Court on Thursday morning with signs saying "1-31-07 Never Forget" and "Free Peter."

"We're the laughing stock," said Tracy O'Connor, 34.

"It's almost too easy to be a terrorist these days," said Jennifer Mason, 26. "You stick a box on a corner and you can shut down a city."

This would be a humorous story if it were not so serious for a couple of reasons.

These ads were unreasonably mistaken for bombs and identified as hoax devices and mass panic ensued. One person commenting on the story had this to say:

I'm sorry, but if you can't see that this is nothing but a circuit board with a bunch of LEDs on it, you're a moron.

The terrorists have won. Completely. The sight of a lite-brite cartoon character is all that's needed to shut down a city. How utterly stupid and cowardly.

The reason there hasn't been any terror attacks since 9/11 is that we have become experts at terrorizing ourselves. Politicians promote fear, the media amplifies it, and we eat it up... big steaming piles of paranoia. There's nothing that al-qaeda could do that would top the level of fear we're producing on our own.

The goal of a terrorist organization is to instill terror and disrupt their targets way of life. Mission accomplished. We, as a nation, could have said "No, we will not surrender to fear." Sadly, we chose the opposite. Pathetic.

While I disagree with the choice of words, I agree with the sentiment. What I am even more concerned about is if the day comes when we really do have bombs placed here and there. The United Kingdom and Israel have had to deal with bombings on a far more regular basis and they keep going. [I will be the first to admit that the situations are markedly different and that other cultural effects also contribute to the differences, but they still handle themselves better].

The second major problem seems to be that the prosecution may just be an effort to save face on behalf of government officials. Nine other cities did not have a problem with the advertisements and Boston did not either for over two weeks. One day of panic later and the Mayor of Boston is ready to sue the Cartoon Network and to throw two men in prison for up to five years. I don't know the motivation behind the prosecution, especially where there is no clear violation of the law when people in nine other cities did not have a problem.

Common Sense Surrenders.

Comments Welcome