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GOPers Over the Line … Again (and again)

A “Halloween-themed email” from the Loudoun County, Va., Republican Committee featured an image of “a ghoulish-looking President Obama with a bullet hole through his head.”

“Apparently, some individuals have interpreted an image of Barack Obama that appeared within the email as intending to portray the President as a victim of a violent crime.  Nothing could be further from the truth. We deeply and sincerely apologize to the President and anyone who viewed the image if that was the impression that was left.”

So: The way it works is, you do something deeply offensive — deliberately — then offer a lame not-pology and act like it never happened.

And again, all those of us on the other side of this line have to ask:

“If this had been an official Democratic Party representative, making this “joke” about George W. Bush … do you think we’d hear the end of it sometime in the next 50 years?”

Not on your life.

In 3 … 2 … 1 …

Cue Rush Limbaugh and the Fox News talking heads …

… to blame the Democrats …

… and Liberals …

… and “liberal media” …

… for “over-reacting.”

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Seven Billion Peeps: Thank You Jesus — and Oh, Shit!

[ Still feeling like hell, but I couldn’t keep away … ]

Here’s a personal reaction to a recent bit of news:

(And look at this BBC Where Do You Fit In? calculator. )

When I was born, there were 2.6 billion humans on the planet. Today there are 2.6 TIMES more.  World population is expected to tip over 7 billion in the next few days.

Speaking as an environmentalist (someone who cares about the ecosystem of Planet Earth), and a humanist (someone who loves human beings, and wants them to do well) I do not see any way in which this is happy news. Continue reading “Seven Billion Peeps: Thank You Jesus — and Oh, Shit!”

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Are We There Yet? Well, Yeah. Pretty Much.

“The Rapture” — by Robert Bissell

I was in a Schmuckapalooza supermarket in my hometown in upstate New York, at 6 p.m. on May 21, 2011, when I realized the end was coming.

I remember it exactly because a Christian minister, Harold Camping, had predicted that precise time and date for the Rapture. According to Camping, 200 million Christians would be spirited into Heaven at just that moment. The rest, the left behinds, would live out their days on an increasingly violent Earth until the entire planet was destroyed just 5 months later. Continue reading “Are We There Yet? Well, Yeah. Pretty Much.”

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Thank you, Occupy Wall Street

I lived through the Vietnam Era.

Just a few of the consequences of that war:

It killed 58,220 U.S. soldiers. More than 150,000 were wounded, at least 21,000 were permanently disabled, and 830,000 suffered symptoms of PTSD. In addition, about 50,000 American servicemen deserted, and an estimated 125,000 U.S. citizens of military draft age fled to Canada.

Besides that, about 20 million gallons of Agent Orange and other herbicides were sprayed over Southeast Asia, resulting in more than 4 million human victims of dioxin poisoning, and uncountable numbers of non-human ones. Continue reading “Thank you, Occupy Wall Street”

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Brutalized, Simply BRUTALIZED for Their Faith

In a country filled with a strong majority of Christians — 85 percent or so, last I checked — the “downtrodden Christian” meme still resonates with epic appeal.

Loosely, the reasoning behind the thing seems to be:

 

I am a devout Christian.
Christians are savagely threatened for adhering to their faith.
Therefore, I am a hero.

Anita and Rick Perry, Downtroditorians from Texas, have now brought the meme to the Republican presidential race. Continue reading “Brutalized, Simply BRUTALIZED for Their Faith”

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Killing Kids for Luck, Money … and the Word of God

There are times I wonder “How does anybody even GET such ideas?”

From the BBC, a report from Uganda:

Schoolchildren are closely watched by teachers and parents as they make their way home from school. In playgrounds and on the roadside are posters warning of the danger of abduction by witch doctors for the purpose of child sacrifice.

The ritual, which some believe brings wealth and good health, was almost unheard of in the country until about three years ago, but it has re-emerged, seemingly alongside a boom in the country’s economy. Continue reading “Killing Kids for Luck, Money … and the Word of God”

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Book Burning 2011

This Cracked article leaves me … well, ALMOST speechless.

For the past year or so, part of my job has been to walk through library warehouses and destroy tens of thousands of often old and irreplaceable books.

Gah.

Imagine holding a beautiful, dusty, illustrated volume of Shakespeare printed in the 1700s, a calligraphic message from its long-dead owner inscribed on the inside cover, and throwing it straight in the trash. I’ve been there, more than once. I could have kept it and maybe gotten a few hundred dollars for it on eBay, if my supervisor wasn’t watching with specific orders to prevent me from doing that.

Um …

Sure, it’s one thing that libraries are forced to shred their collections because of an implosion in the economy. That’s depressing, but understandable. But what about when thousands of turn-of-the-last-century books and newspapers become landfill because the library wants to install a coffee shop?

Ack.

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Mohammad Sucks Big Sweaty Donkey Balls

Sorry. Had to be said.  After all, it’s Blasphemy Day International. (Wikipedia)

In fairness, I feel the same way about Christianity. About all religion, actually, but also about superstition, and even about the donkey-ball-sucking broadcasters who pour out all this recent ghost-hunter swill on TV.

If cigarettes damage your health, and now require warning labels, shouldn’t things that damage your ability to think have warning labels too? Continue reading “Mohammad Sucks Big Sweaty Donkey Balls”