Day: July 15, 2005

‘Christian Exodus’ Plans to Take Over South Carolina

Jon Ponder

As if there weren’t already enough Christians in South Carolina, now comes word that a group called Christian Exodus intends to take over the Palmetto State by over-running it with religious extremists who will convert it into a new evangelical Promised Land.

You have to give them credit for going after low hanging fruit. There is no redder state than South Carolina, and “values voters” dominate the state’s conservative base .

The Christian Exodus plan is to recruit like-minded true believers all over the United States to relocate to South Carolina. They intend to stage a rebellion at the ballot box, with Christian voters overwhelming nonbelievers to elect Christian officials into every state and local office – a democratic coup.

According to a local Fox TV affliate, a lot of South Carolinians would welcome the Christian jihadis:

“I think it’s fantastic, I think we need more of that actually. I don’t know which direction our government is heading in, but I think they need Christian influence, it would go a long way, I really think so,” says Mauldin resident, Reggie Brown.

Percy Croft of Greenville agrees, “America was founded on Christian principals…people with different views about Christianity, you have them getting into the elected positions and they don’t want to see this country stay the way it is, they want it to change…They’re getting away from what they were founded on.”

The challenges Christian Exodus faces is formidable. The population of South Carolina is over 4 million. Their plan could require up to 3 million new residents. Where will all these new people work or go to school?

Fortunately, Christian Exodus is starting small.

The Group says they plan on having 2500 Christians moved to South Carolina by September 2006, and will begin several political campaigns at that time. They hope to have a major impact on State government by 2014.

Ultimately, Christian Exodus believes that when Americans in other states witness the miraculous transformation of South Carolina under their taliban-style rule, they will elect Christian governments too. But if the other Americans refuse to see the error of their ways, the Christian state of South Carolina will vote to secede from the union. Again.

This time, we should just let them go.

Parents Need Camp Too…

Pensito Editors

The ABC network debuted its latest contribution to the world of reality tv this week. “Brat Camp” examines the reasons why nine kids, boys and girls between the ages of 14 and 17, are shipped off to the wildnerness at the pleas of desperate parents. These chosen youngsters have serious problems ranging from compulsive lying and anger issues to drug addiction and stealing.

How has this happened? How does an entire population of adolescents become so self-absorbed? I blame it on parents. That’s right. I said it. Parents aren’t doing their jobs.

Hmmmm….brat camp. Love the concept. As a sixth grade teacher of English, reading, and world history, I can think of quite a few of my students who could benefit from 40 days in the wilderness. Forty days without their handheld video games, portable cd players, cell phones, and skateboard/dirt bike/hip-hop magazines. In addition to their poor reading and writing skills, today’s “tween” generation lacks serious social skills. These kids have no respect for authority, be it in parent or teacher form. They have obvious apathy for everything that does not pertain to them.

How has this happened? How does an entire population of adolescents become so self-absorbed? I blame it on parents. That’s right. I said it. Parents aren’t doing their jobs. With that in mind, I believe that while their children are off dealing with their various issues, the parents should be also be engaged. I envision crash courses in parenting. They could learn to communicate with their children in a way that involves actual dialogue. They could learn to put down THEIR cell phones, PDAs, and remote controls long enough to listen to their kids. Parents that claim their little angels slowly became monsters over the years have to learn to intervene. You cannot be your daughter’s or son’s best friend. Put your foot down!! When your 11-year old is caught smoking pot or drinking, you deal with it right then and there. Kids have to know that there are boundaries, some bigger than others, that they cannot cross. Allowing the behavior to continue only allows it to fester into worse habits or mindsets. Be a parent and PARENT! And in the meantime, check out “Brat Camp” on ABC, Wednesday nights at 9 p.m.

DoD: Gitmo Treatment Not ‘Inhumane’

Buck Banks

It sometimes amazes me what the Department of Defense releases through its American Forces Press Service. Take, for instance, the story it just released on Congressional hearings where the Army claimed that only a small number of the allegations of detainee abuse at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, violated DoD policies.

Even those actions were not severe enough to be called “inhumane,” however, according to what a general investigating the allegations told Congress Wednesday. Note that the allegations of inhumane abuse came from FBI agents on the scene.

A U.S. Southern Command investigation into allegations FBI agents made that detainees at Guantanamo were being treated inhumanely found that one particular high-value detainee was subjected to up to 20 hours of intense interrogations on most days over a period of nearly two months. An unclassified summary of the reports findings stated that long interrogations and other techniques used were not violations of DoD policy in themselves but that the cumulative effect was “degrading and abuse” to this individual.

“I do not, however, consider this treatment to have crossed the threshold of being inhumane,” Air Force Lt. Gen. Randall Schmidt, the senior investigating officer, told members of Senate Armed Services Committee. Schmidt commands the Air Force component of U.S. Southern Command. SOUTHCOM chief Army Gen. Bantz Craddock appointed him as senior investigating officer in February.

If interrogating someone for 20 hours a day for two months ain’t inhumane, I’ll eat your yellowcake plutonium.
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Bestiality A-OK in Florida

Trish

Florida, which has laws against gays adopting children, oral sex between adults of either gender, and erections that show through a man’s clothing, has no law whatsoever against people having sex with animals.

The recent arrest of a blind Tallahassee man accused of forcing sex on his guide dog highlights this egregious shortcoming.

Tallahassee Democrat:

…Alan Yoder, 29, originally was charged with felony animal cruelty, but court records show that charge was dropped last Friday and replaced with a misdemeanor – disorderly conduct.

Yoder now is charged with a “breach of the peace, by engaging in sexual activity with a guide dog,” according to a court document.

Wouldn’t you think, with all this attention to non-reproduction inspired sex, on people who have non-reproduction inspired sex, and on never, ever seeing evidence of one of the two components needed for reproduction inspired sex, that someone would have thought to outlaw frickin’ bestiality? Not in Florida.

The article doesn’t give the kind of details you’re looking for but it does tell how the asswipe got arrested.

…Yoder, who lives in a local apartment complex, last month asked a female acquaintance to join him in a sex act with the dog, a male yellow Labrador named “Lucky.”

She demurred, but later told a friend about it. That person called a social worker, who called police.

Investigators spoke to Yoder on June 16, who admitted performing certain sex acts with the dog, even going into detail with them, but denied doing others. He was arrested and booked June 22, charged with animal cruelty.

It’s not like this has never come up before. Florida’s had plenty of time to get its act together.

Last year, an Ocala man pleaded no contest to felony animal cruelty after being charged with having sex with his then-fiancee’s female Rottweiler, according to the Pet-Abuse.com Web site.

A judge withheld adjudication and ordered five years of probation and a psychological evaluation. He also prohibited the 27-year-old man from “owning pets of any kind while on probation and from having unsupervised contact with other people’s pets,” the site said.

I can’t begin to think what would make any man (in both cases) do this to any animal but how horrible is it in the Tallahassee case to do to a service dog — a dog that has been trained to do nothing but help, be loyal and trusted, and keep its lousy, rotten, disgusting owner out of harm’s way, even at its own peril?

In Florida, a 19-year-old who has sex with a 17-year-old has to wear a GPS unit for life, be pictured in the paper with every relocation, and not live within however many feet of a school, park, etc. But we do absolutely nothing to protect animals from deviants who are beyond the pale. I’m pissed.

Luskin Makes Some Calls, Or the Case of the Leaking Leaker’s Leaking Leaker

Jon Ponder

An unidentified source made calls to major news outlets last night attempting to spin the CIA agent leak scandal story to benefit Karl Rove. In course of the spin, however, the source may have inadvertently outed the fact that Rove spoke with rightwing pundit Robert Novak when Novak was writing his infamous column in which the name of secret CIA agent Valerie Plame was revealed.

Let’s see. A “lawyer involved in the case” who was “officially briefed” on Rove’s testimony. Why didn’t they just say, “and whose initials are “Robert Luskin.”

The Associated Press described the leaker they spoke with as “a person briefed on the testimony.”

The New York Times described the leaker as ” someone who has been officially briefed on the matter.” And said, “[the] person who provided the information about Mr. Rove’s conversation with Mr. Novak declined to be identified, citing requests by Mr. Fitzgerald that no one discuss the case. The person discussed the matter in the belief that Mr. Rove was truthful in saying that he had not disclosed Ms. Wilson’s identity.”

The Washington Post received a call, too, whom they described as “a lawyer involved in the case.”

Let’s see. A “lawyer involved in the case” who was “officially briefed” on Rove’s testimony. Why didn’t they just say, “and whose initials are “Robert Luskin.”

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