The Plutocrat & The Equestrian

The 400 richest Americans have more wealth than the bottom 150 million of us. I don't have a problem with their wealth - more power to them. I do however take exception to the fact that I pay more in taxes than these fat cats ...

So Romney made 47% remarks at the home of an investor (Mark Leder) who wrecked a company (Friendly's) to shift its pension obligations to the Federal Government. Why are people surprised? Mittens is a wealthy plutocrat married to a known equestrian ...

Mittens took a $77,000 tax deduction on his wife's horse. Alot of people in this country don't make that kind of money in a year, two years, three years, four years ... You get the point I'm trying to make. In case Mittens hadn't thought of it while he was speaking, which is more often than not, retirees paid for their 'entitlements' long ago, long before he was born.

The majority of seniors who I speak to at the call center are so afraid that Romney/Ryan will turn Medicare into a "voucher" program. Can you blame these poor people?

Justice Louis D. Brandeis

Pamela Karlan of Stanford Law School, one of the nation's leading voting-rights litigators, reminded a Washington audience a few years ago of Justice Louis D. Brandeis's famous warning against fear. "Men feared witches and burnt women," Brandeis said in a famous dissent. After Crawford, among the first Indiana voters turned away from the polls was a group of nuns in their 80s and 90s.

"We fear terrorists and disfranchise nuns," Karlan said.

Feeling Better than Ever

It's been 5 months since my last post. My right forearm feels pretty good after my 6th surgery back in May, but I have to be careful with regard to overuse. I'll try to limit my typing, but alot is happening with the upcoming presidential election in November. I'm a volunteer with the Obama campaign. Patience and I canvass door-to-door when my schedule permits. I'm at the call center in Media on Monday and Tuesday nights. The past three weeks I have been going in on Sunday afternoons to make calls. My friends and family ask me, "Arent't you tired?" Sure, I'm tired, but too much is at stake in this election.

We have come too far after 8 disastrous years under a Republican administration to turn back ... President Bush destroyed our economy and our standing in the world. We can't turn back to the same old same old that got us into this mess in the first place. The majority of Americans continue to trust President Obama on the economy because they have finally come to the realization that voodoo economics (trickle-down theory) just doesn't work. We've been there - done that - which led to the worst financial meltdown since the Great Depression. You cannot simultaneously cut taxes and fight two wars without paying for same. It's simple math.

Could things get worse? Yes, under another Republican administration. I wouldn't trust Romney/Ryan with a 10-foot pole when it comes to the economy. I wouldn't trust them on alot of other issues - more on those in another post.

Voodoo Economics

The banking dominoes will start falling by this summer ...

Rumor is Morgan Stanley - another Lehman Bros in size - has a LOT of exposure to European banks via derivatives. So if there is a run on the European banks - or they just go bust before a run - its 2008 all over again and time for another TARP. Why not? It worked the LAST time, right.

What do you call it when taxpayers are used to bail out Capitalism? Surely not Socialism or Communism and it most certainly cannot be called Capitalism. So that leaves Fascism - using middle class tax money to bail out the upper class as necessary to maintain the status quo ...

The way you get out of a deep recession or depression is spend, current policies of austerity just drive the economic ship into deeper water. And some of you want to drill more and bigger holes in the bottom, idiocy. We have had 35 plus years of voodoo economics, cutting taxes, running up ever greater deficits and we are to get out of it by cutting more taxes, more jobs, again idiocy. Running major wars while cutting taxes, reducing protections against bank speculations and other stupidity, all this is beyond idiocy - it verges on treason. These are in fact, acts of treason, in the name of big business and the criminal class of talking faces owned by their (the wealthy) think tanks and foundations. Ever since Reagan we have been told that if we cut taxes the economy would be the better for it, that the growth in wealth would trickle down, well it does not trickle - it goes to the wealthy and there it sits, more idiocy ...

So all you 'game show host' (Mitt Romney) supporters out there - be it now or a hundred years from now - the trickle will still be 'any day' now ... You have fallen for a con job, your head has run into the same wall over and over and you still believe that the Republicans help the economy ... This goes beyond idiocy into the realm of the moronic.

End the Fed

Those blaming the working class and the backbone of any economy for the economic woes of the country or for the world for that matter have no clue how money is created and used in our society.

Once a person understands the Federal Reserve and its fractional reserve banking system (if they have half a brain) know it is the most corrupt institution on the planet and it is by design a system that causes economies to fail.

These are the same people who have us playing the Democrat/Republican blame. They keep us in fear, divided, and distracted while they steal our wealth, civil liberties, and security. It is idiotic at best to think if we change parties in the White House that things will change. Our political system has turned into a two-headed one party system serving their masters the banksters/Federal Reserve and Wall Street.

Greece is in trouble like all countries who are tied into the Federal Reserve and their fractional reserve banking system. Greece's troubles started when Goldman Sachs helped them fudge their economic numbers to get into the Euro zone. They went off their currency the Drachma to the Euro which is part of the European Central Bank/Federal Reserve.

The Federal Reserve system is designed to cause economies to fail and be subservient to them. The Federal Reserve (a group of mostly European banksters) which is neither Federal nor a reserve creates money out of thin air and charges interest on it insuring a debtor economy. Who died and made them the lords of our currency? It was the Federal Reserve Act of 1913!

If someone loans you two dollars to run your economy and expects three back for the loan and interest how are you going to pay the third back? You can’t unless you borrow more dollars which puts you in perpetual debt and in a constant borrowing cycle to pay off the debt. This design is not accidental ...

Here’s the clincher - once the Federal Reserve/banksters have you struggling to pay off your interest, they send in their loan sharks - the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The IMF will loan you money to cover your ever-burdening interest payments but they attach a provision that if you default, you will have to give them your assets in what they call privatization (foreclosure).

Since the interest is exponential, you will default and the banksters will come in and try to foreclose on your country, like Greece (Spain is next ...) They are being told to sell off their own country to pay back the people who caused the mess to begin with. This allows the elite to steal your intrinsic valuable assets because they gave you paper (loans/debt) and the interest on the debt that is systematically impossible to pay back. It has been the corrupt political and business leaders who have made the decisions to allow this to happen. It’s all about greed, power, and corruption folks.

In the United States case, it doesn’t have to be that way. In our constitution, in Article 1, Section 8, it stipulates that we can 'coin money' as a nation and avoid the Federal Reserve’s interest (fee charged on loans) black hole.

The Federal Reserve has a 100 year charter and it is up in 2013. We have to stop these banksters from gaining an extension by our corrupt paid off politicians. If we can stop the extension, we will take control of our currency and our income taxes will drop dramatically! End the Fed!

Austerity Measures

Everyone in the financial sector knew that the austerity measures put in place by Greece, would not last, they were just buying time to try to force the Central Banks to come up with a new stimulus package; it did not materialize since all the central banks are tapped out, and any more stimulus will send inflation into the stratosphere. I mentioned in an older post there would be riots in the streets of Greece as a result of the austerity measures ... Greece will collapse into a monetary disaster within 6 months, followed by Spain, Portugal, Ireland, Italy ... Guess who is next?

"Euro zone paymaster Germany has warned there would be 'consequences' to an anti-bailout vote and the EU and IMF insist whoever wins the election must stick to austerity if they want to receive the aid that keeps Greece afloat."

So, the paymaster is demanding that Greece continue "austerity" measures that plunged the country into economic collapse? I don't blame the Greek people for being outraged just as Americans should be outraged at the Republican "austerity" political agenda.

The term "austerity" really means transfer of wealth from citizens to rich barons and corporations. It didn't work in Europe and it won't work in America. Just about any economist knows that you don't cut spending in a depression, quite the opposite is required to spur growth.

Here in America the only reason employment is still high is because Republican governors are cutting government jobs across the nation. The jobs report shows that private sector jobs have made a good rebound and the lackluster jobs numbers reflect steep job cuts in public jobs. This is part of an agenda to undermine government and the economy so they can turn around and blame Obama and the 1% can cash in, yet again.

Let Greece and the rest of Europe be a lesson for those that insist that cutting stimulus will somehow boost growth or cut the deficit - it will do the opposite.

The German banks loaned Greece money so they could afford to buy German products. Its not anybody's fault that THEY decided to scrape the bottom of the barrel for loans but THEIRS ... I hope Greece takes them for every mark they can and THEN goes bust. Why? Because, haven't you heard, greed is GOOD!

Bye Bye Sarkozy!

President Nicolas Sarkozy just told his supporters in an address that he called François Hollande to congratulate the Socialist candidate on his victory.

France has crowned Hollande as its first Socialist president in nearly two decades, marking a swing to the left at the heart of Europe and heralding a fight-back against German-led austerity.

Conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy, swamped by anger at a surge in unemployment during his five-year term, is the 11th euro zone leader to be swept away by the European economic crisis.

Homeless Greeks

The homeless begging in Greece ...

Since the first memorandum vote and the introduction of austerity measures, more and more people now live on the street. The number of desperate, unemployed, homeless and/or drug addicted people has increased. The economic crisis has become a social crisis ...

Greeks and French rise up!

You can push people only so far before they rise up ... What is remarkable about both the French and Greek elections is that people are voting against their parties. Greeks are voting for leftists parties because they have had it with the two parties who have been in power for over 50 years - New Democracy and PASOK. The French backed the socialist Hollande because they have had enough ...

Greeks hope Hollande will bring change in Europe. Not surprising since the German agenda is deeply unpopular across Europe. A 72-year old lady voted in both the French and Greek elections. "Enough is enough. There is too much austerity," 72-year old Maria said as she cast a ballot for Socialist Francois Hollande at the French consulate in Athens, before heading to a Greek polling station to back a leftist party.

Like many Greeks angered by the economic hardship imposed in exchange for an international bailout, the bi-national pensioner hopes Hollande will turn Europe away from a German-led agenda focused tightly on cutting debt.

That agenda made Germany extremely unpopular and pushed voters in Greece's parallel poll today away from the two biggest parties, which support the bailout, and towards a host of small groups opposing it.

Wouldn't it be nice to hear Hollande's first phonen call to Merkel!

Wall Street - All Eyes on European Elections

After Wall Street's worst week of the year, U.S. stock investors will now be taking a closer look at the election outcomes in Greece and France.

Markets worldwide have closely watched developments in Europe for the past several months, with calls for austerity seen as positive for stocks as they seek to prevent a credit crisis in the region that could take down or deeply hurt the global economic recovery.

But an economic slowdown throughout the region has resulted in a change of direction.

Hollande's win now is a hurdle to the German-led drive for austerity in Europe. The French voters have spoken ...

French Elections 2012

Flunked Euro history? Maybe we will relive it - Golden Dawn leader Michaloliakos warns: "Be afraid, we're coming." The fascists are coming to France too ...

Breaking News: Hollande beats Sarkozy by 51.9 percent to 48.1 percent in French runoff vote: Harris Institute Projection ...

Socialist Francois Hollande can expect a left-wing parliamentary majority. Why? Because the far-right National Front has shaken Nicolas Sarkozy's conservative UMP party to its foundations!

Voters will grant Hollande a working majority in legislative elections on June 10 and 17, as they have each time a new president has been installed.

Sarkozy's UMP party, the dominant force in French politics for a decade, cracked under pressure from a resurgent far-right as factions feud over whether to shun or embrace backers of Marine Le Pen's anti-immigration National Front (FN).

Xenophobia in France ... It's amazing how history has a way of repeating itself.

Panic in the streets of Greece ... Panic in the streets of France ...

Golden Dawn (Nea Avgi) - 1936 again?

I came, I saw, I beat the shit out of anyone who looked different. Veni, videi, vici screams Golden Dawn leader in press conference ... Shame on you shithead. Xenophobia is introduced in my beloved country. The circus has come to town in Greece ...

(3 May 2012: Waiting at a bus stop in the center of Athens, an African immigrant looks at the political advertisement of one of the two far right parties.)

Entry of neofascist Golden Dawn into Parliament is a shock but was not entirely unexpected. With a 50% unemployment rate in Greece among 18 to 54 year olds what did they expect?

So the Neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party is set to get 14-23 seats in Greece's 300 seat parliament. The biggest shock is SYRIZA beating PASOK into 2nd place and likely to make a New Democracy - PASOK coalition government a no-no ... If there is no clear outcome, Greece has until May 17th to form an interim government or call a second election.

What I find very troubling though is that half of Europe is blaming foreigners for it's troubles. It was wrong in 1936 when Hitler came to power and it's wrong in 2012. History is repeating itself again ...

We will have to see what happens in Spain, Portugal, Ireland and Italy. The euro and EU are going down when Spain goes bust so why not get out now and start anew sooner rather than later. Rumor has it a Spain default is inevitable as their banks get downgraded and tax revenues fall further due to recession, austerity measures and deflation.

At this point, Greece's election is an indication of what's in the horizon for pro-austerity parties across Europe.

Looking forward to the results of France's election (the numbers) ... bye-bye Sarkozy!!!

Greek Elections 2012

It's now just after 5 pm in Greece and within a couple of hours the voting will have finished and the first exit polls will be published. Unlike many other elections the outcome of today's vote is far from clear. The largest party is most likely to be the conservative New Democracy with about 20-25%. This is in sharp contrast to the 2009 national elections in which New Democracy and PASOK got the lion share of the vote with 78% combined, reflecting the stranglehold they have had over power since the late 70's.

(A rally for the candidate of the New Democracy party, Antonis Samaras, who is likely to head a coalition government as prime minister.)

Our Greek flag held by thousands of Greeks at New Democracy rallies. Where is the Greek flag at the leftist rallies?

On the other hand many other smaller parties are picking up support from disgruntled New Democracy/PASOK voters and that is really the joker in the pack, threatening to overturn the political status quo that was created in the aftermath of the fall of brutal Regime of the Colonels in 1974. Some parties such as the rightist Independent Greeks are new creations whilst others such as the Neo-Nazi Golden Dawn have a longer, if more savage lineage, either way they are attracting votes at a rate that would have been inconceivable even a couple of years ago.

On the left of the spectrum the old school communist party KKE has gained ground as have other leftist parties such as The Radical Left (SYRIZA) and the newly minted Democratic Left with some estimates saying their combined share of the vote may pass 40%. The one thing that unites such disparate groups is their opposition to the austerity package imposed by Greece's creditors, however what else could possibly bring them together remains a mystery.

I'm going to put my money where my mouth is and say that I believe that the polls will produce a three party coalition government including PASOK, New Democracy and possibly Independent Greeks party. I base this prediction on nothing more than a hunch and past experience of Greek politics. The thing to remember when analyzing politics in Greece is that ideological labels often count for little when power is concerned and so a coalition will be based on mutually aligned interests rather than political overlap.

If such an alliance does take power I believe that it is destined to fall apart as the political cost of yet more job cuts and tax hikes takes its toll. So quite possibly Greece will be going to the polls once more before September.

Getting By

We stuff our credit cards deeper into the drawer. We lose our jobs and call it "going freelance." We lie to our parents and tell them we still have health insurance. We see protesters mingle with people who have been without a home or a job for a long time - a really long time - and we wonder if they're on the same spectrum. We don't ask that question out loud. We respect that everyone has a side hustle. A side hustle to the side hustle. Survival, we come to realize, is its own form of activism. We buy less crap. We make dinner at home. We hold out hope that our projects will become paychecks. We share. We rely on each other. We get through it together.

Oughts and Shoulds

She craves attention because she is large, yes, she is big. I am mocking her size (I am not thin, but then again I am not incredibly obese). Yes, she is obese, but it has taken me some time to finally realize how 'small' this person really is. She is full of contradictions and is infected with misery. Her attachment to her isolated existence is a manifestation of her fear of happiness. Unfortunately, 'unhappy' in this person's life has virtue attached to it. Failed relationships, multiple breakdowns, suicide attempts - it is not happiness that she should crave, but the pursuit of it. The chase is the aim.

The King James version of the Bible appeared in the same year as the first advertised performance of The Tempest. This is what I tell people who feel the need to tell me how 'good' so-and-so is ... Please - give me a break! Didn't you attempt to kill yourself because of this crass individual! (See The Façade.) Married, divorced, and then remarried to the same man again (part of the working-class men who want their women at home) - by your own admission 'for financial reasons' ... There is nothing wrong with marrying your ex again, but don't bitch non-stop about how he makes you sick. You're tired of his bullshit. You were tired when you were married to him the first time around, what made you think things would be different the second time?

Happiness is not a luxury, or an option, or for a select few people in this world. Happiness is a state of mind. Get the hell out of the house and do something! It isn’t a hiding place. It is a finding place. Break out of the predictable confines of your existence - rid yourself of "oughts" and "musts" and "shoulds" - live everyday as if it will be your last. Doing the same things every day, repeating the same routines day after day, worrying about the future (that isn't here yet), etc. is not going to make you feel better.

I know what it feels like to be depressed. It prevents you from enjoying and living your life to the fullest, it affects your mood, enthusiasm - you miss out on the sun, the moon, the stars, the sky, etc. Please don't make excuses. It is what it is. It shouldn't take you a whole weekend to wash two dishes ... it was Friday when you mentioned your cousin passed away (not Wednesday). Losing all sense of time (not knowing what day it is) ...

It helps to look at depression as a gift because it forces you to work on yourself ...

Do-gooders doing good ...

I was asked recently (during holy week), "Irene, don't you fast?" My reply, "No, I do not fast for 40 days. Does fasting make you a 'better' person? Does my decision not to fast make me a bad person?"

I did not receive a reply to my reply ...

“After all these years, I see that I was mistaken about Eve in the beginning; it is better to live outside the Garden with her than inside it without her.” ― Mark Twain, The Diaries of Adam & Eve

I get a kick of these do-gooders. You know - the 'pious' types ... Sanctimonious Jesus fans. Holier than thou assholes whose main concern in life is virtue or religious devotion. When I die, and - hopefully - get an opportunity to meet Jesus - I will ask him what his opinion of do-gooders is ...

Do-gooders doing good. Why do hypocrites feel the need to announce their deeds? There are many people who do good without having to tell everyone (only those who donate to charities anonymously can relate to what I am talking about).

These religious fans are the fans that Jesus seems to have the most trouble with. Fans who will walk into a restaurant and bow their heads to pray before a meal just in case someone is watching. Fans who won't go to R-rated movies at the theater, but have a number of them saved on their DVR at home. Fans who may feed the hungry and help the needy, and they make sure they work it into every conversation for the next two weeks. Fans who make sure people see them put in their offering at church, but they haven't considered reaching out to their neighbor who lost a job and can't pay the bills. Fans who like seeing other people fail because in their minds it makes them look better. Fans whose primary concern is what other people think. Fans who are reading this and assuming I'm describing someone else. Fans who have worn the mask for so long they have fooled even themselves ...

The Façade

I love musicals. One of my all-time favorites is Jekyll & Hyde (based on the novel by Robert Louis Stevenson). Stevenson stated that the central problem is Jekyll's hypocricy. It's an excellent parody of the Victorian Era because of its piercing description of the 19th century - outward respectability and inward lust - as this period had a tendency for social hypocrisy.

The story explores the psychopathology of the split personality in Dr Jekyll, whose development of a potion to separate good from evil transforms him into the murderous Mr Hyde. Good and evil ...

Below are the lyrics to the beautiful number Façade ... While we are not living in the Victorian Era, social hypocrisy still exists.

Façade

There's a face that we wear
In the cold light of day -
It's society's mask,
It's society's way,
And the truth is
That it's all a façade!

There's a face that we hide
Till the nighttime appears,
And what's hiding inside,
Behind all of our fears,
Is our true self,
Locked inside the façade!

Every day
People, in their own sweet way,
Like to add a coat of paint,
And be what they ain't!

That's how our little -
Game is played,
Livin' like a masquerade
Actin' a bizarre charade -
While playing the saint!

But there's one thing I know,
And I know it for sure:
This disease that we've got
Has got no ready cure!
And I'm certain
Life is terribly hard -
When your life's a façade!

Look around you!
I have found
You cannot tell, by lookin' at the surface,
What is lurkin' there beneath it!
See that face!
Now, I'm prepared to bet you,
What you see's not what you get -
'Cause man's a master of deceit !

So, what is the sinister secret?
The lie he will tell you is true? -
It's that each man you meet
In the street
Isn't one man but two!

Nearly everyone you see -
Like him an' her,
An' you, an' me -
Pretends to be
A pillar of society -
A model for propriety -
Sobriety
An' piety -
Who shudders at the thought
Of notoriety!

The ladies an' gents 'ere before you -
Which none of 'em ever admits -
May 'ave saintly looks -
But they're sinners an' crooks!

Hypocrites!
Hypocrites!

There are preachers who kill!
There are killers who preach!
There are teachers who lie!
There are liars who teach!
Take yer pick, dear -
"Cause it's all a façade!

If we're not one, but two,
Are we evil or good?
Do we walk the fine line -
That we'd cross if we could?
Are we waiting -
To break through the façade?

One or two
Might look kinda well-to-do -
Hah! They're bad as me an' you,
Right down to they're boots!

I'm inclined to think -
Half of mankind
Thinks the other half is blind!
Wouldn't be surprise to find -
They're all in cahoots!

At the end of the day,
They don't mean what they say,
They don't say what they mean,
They don't ever come clean -
And the answer -
Is it's all a façade!
Is it's all a façade!
Man is not one, but two,
He is evil and good,
An' he walks the fine line
We'd all cross if we could!

It's a nightmare -
We can never discard -
So we stay on our guard -
Though we love the façade -
What's behind the façade?
Look behind the façade!

Robertson (Christian Hypocrite/s), Part II

Gee ... when I saw the headline I thought Pat was finally going to come out.

What does Pat Robertson think Jesus was doing for all those undocumented years between ages 12 and 30 and then going about selecting only men to hang out with him, encouraging some to even leave their wives? Wasn't Jesus single too? It's possible, who really knows, but Robertson just might be calling Jesus "demonically possessed" ...

Let's pray - Call my Prayer line (Code for, "Give me your money") ...

Everything Jesus stood for is against everything the church does stand for. He would have a fit if he saw how things are today in the church that presumes to tell people this is what he would have wanted. The church is just a con, perpetuated on the masses to keep them meek, to control them, and to keep the donations pouring in ... Just like any other cult.

All this bible mumbo-jumbo just bores the immoral hades out of me. It's so full of hatred, contradictions, (read the Old Testament), etc. that it's ridiculous.

Thomas Jefferson wrote of Christianity, "Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burned, tortured, fined and imprisoned. What has been the effect of this coercion? To make one half the world fools and the other half hypocrites; to support roguery and error all over the earth ... "

Robertson is a - Ted Haggard / Paul Barnes / Lonnie Latham - that hasn't been caught. (There are many other hypocrites desguised as preachers that I could list, but I am getting a little tired of typing). For those of you who never heard of Ted Haggard, Paul Barnes or Lonnie Latham, see below (for entertainment purposes):

Ted Haggard

Ted Haggard was the pastor of the New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado and was the president of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) from 2003 until November 2006. Haggard's position allowed him occasional access to President George W. Bush. In 2006 it was alleged that Haggard had been regularly visiting a male prostitute who also provided him with methamphetamine. Haggard admitted his wrongdoing and resigned as pastor of New Life church and as president of the NAE. The high-profile case was significant also because it immediately preceded the 2006 mid-term elections. In January 2009, Haggard admitted to a second homosexual relationship with a male church member on CNN-TV and other national media, and when asked, would not directly answer a question about his other possible homosexual relationships. This asshole recently started a new church.

Paul Barnes

Paul Barnes is the founder and former senior minister of the evangelical church Grace Chapel in Douglas County, Colorado. He confessed his homosexual activity to the church board, and his resignation was accepted on 7 December 2006. This scandal was notable because it was similar to Ted Haggard's (above), it occurred in the same state (Colorado) and around the same time (late 2006). This asshole was in charge of this church for 28 years.

Lonnie Latham

In 2006, Latham, the senior pastor of South Tulsa Baptist Church and a member of the powerful Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee, was arrested for "offering to engage in an act of lewdness" with a male undercover police officer.

Truth or Consequences

"In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our responsibility." - Eleanor Roosevelt

Present: ... someone that others have the 'misfortune' of working with is disliked by many people at work.

I often ask myself, what motivates people? What motivates the 'disliked' co-worker? Is it money? I believe so. We all want to make money, but at what cost? Is it worth it? We could all do with a bit more money, but again - is it worth it?

"It's good to have money and the things that money can buy, but it's good, too, to check up once in a while and make sure that you haven't lost the things that money can't buy." –George Lorimer

What are some of the things that money can't buy? Your dignity, reputation, pride, etc.

In the past 25 years, I have noticed that the workers who are disliked the most are 'brown-nosers' ... They are the individuals who try to collect as many 'brownie points' as possible in an effort to further their career, make more money, etc.

After I am finished asking myself, what motivates people, the second question that I often ask myself is, does this person realize that every choice he/she makes has a consequence? If we make good choices, the results are almost always positive. If we make bad choices, the results are always negative. I believe every day is a learning experience. If we make bad decisions, it's okay - as long as we learn something from same ...

I have made some pretty bad decisions that had terrible consequences. But I learned valuable lessons. Nobody is perfect. We are entitled to make mistakes in life. However, if we keep repeating the same mistakes over and over again, then there is something wrong. After a while it gets old ...

Only time will tell ...

Robertson (Christian hypocrite/s), Part I

Pat Robertson, the holier-than-thou preacher and host of the 700 Club is at it again. In his most recent broadcast, he proposed that homosexuality is related to a type of "demonic possession." I am convinced more every day that these "preachers" who are always yammering about homosexuals are fighting it in themselves. Otherwise they might find some much worse sins to preach against.

One cannot simultaneously claim to live a pious, all loving, Christian life while spewing hate for one group of people. Mr. Robertson, you are a hypocrtite and a very poor representative of the Christian faith. Aren't you the asshole who got his start by fooling old ladies into handing over their meager savings so you could enrich yourself?

Robertson's claim came during a segment about a man who, according to Robertson, "trolled the streets" for seven years looking for "cheap sex with other men" while his wife sat at home "completely clueless." In response to the man's story, Robertson says:

"The world today says 'OK, so you are gay, you want to have affairs with men -- that's cool. You have an absolute right to do that, why not?' That's not the right attitude. The attitude is that this is sin. It's wrong. And [this man] realized it was wrong but couldn't control it. But that type of conduct is wrong … he is obsessed. He has a compulsion. I would think that it is somehow related to demonic possession…" Even assholes have opinions ...

I welcome anyone to quote/translate any passages from the bible - feel free to leave a comment. If you do, my response (in advance) is below:

A) Yet another "translation" of a book that's supposed to be immutable. Lie.

B) We no longer live in a nomadic desert tribe and we no longer believe that the male gamete* is solely responsible for new life and that it is a finite resource. Mosaic Law is not applicable to modern society. If it were, you couldn't have enjoyed that last trip to the salon, Hair Cuttery.
{*gamete - from the Greek gamete "a wife" and ... gametes "a husband"}

C) Paul is not the basis of Christianity. You are not a Paulian.

D) John is not the basis of Christianity. You are not a Johnite.

E) CHRIST never said anything about it. Read your big black book of bippity-boppity-boo again instead of just quoting it at people. Adherence to Mosaic Law was a point of contention in early Christianity because early converts were largely Greek gentiles that had never observed Mosaic Law, which is WHY Christ got rid of it.

F) Not everyone believes the same way you do. It is NOT your job to judge anyone or to tell them how to live their lives. Period. End of story.

Below is a beautiful quote by Christoper Hitchens (see prior post R.I.P. Hitch):

"Nothing optional - from homosexuality to adultery - is ever made punishable unless those who do the prohibiting (and exact the fierce punishments) have a repressed desire to participate. As Shakespeare put it in King Lear, the policeman who lashes the whore has a hot need to use her for the very offense for which he plies the lash."
- Christopher Hitchens, God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything

Hey Pat, uh ... Mr. Robertson - are you dreaming of little boys again? Why don't you do what your good friend Jimmy Swaggart did? Why don't you go to a gay bar (or your church), pick up a man, and get it over with. Your facination with homosexuality can only lead people to believe that deep down inside you would like to have some fun with a man. Pat, do you remember what happened to your friend and fellow hypocrite Jimmy?

A detective tracked Swaggart to a sleazy motel (along Airline Highway), alerted Gorman (another preacher/hyprocrite) to the situation and then let the air out of one of Swaggart's tires to slow his getaway. Gorman found Swaggart fixing the flat. "He was wearing a sweat suit," Gorman was quoted as saying, "so that kind of does away with the theory that he was ministering to somebody."

That was a theory Swaggart didn't even try to float. Confronted by pictures of himself and a prostitute, he reportedly admitted, in a 10-hour session with church elders, at least this much: that he had paid her to perform pornographic acts, and that he had had a fascination with pornography since childhood.

A member of Swaggart's church put it well, "How could he stand up there in the pulpit and preach against adultery and promiscuity when he was doing that kind of thing all this time? I think he ought to stay out of the pulpit." (Swaggart did not confess to any specific transgression but did admit to an encounter with a New Orleans prostitute.)

Mr. Robertson, Mr. Swaggart, Mr. Gorman (and all Christian hypocrites), shut the f#@k up assholes!!!