Blind Freddy Knew They Violated International Law

"Blind Freddy" knew they violated international law.

From : ~ The Yellow Doggerel Democrat ~ This Could Be Huge

WASHINGTON, June 29 — The Supreme Court on Thursday repudiated the Bush administration's plan to put Guantánamo detainees on trial before military commissions, ruling broadly that the commissions were unauthorized by federal statute and violated international law.

More Links: ~

• Supreme Court Blocks Guantánamo Tribunals
• Supreme Court blocks war crimes trials for Guantanamo detainees
• High Court Blocks Bush, Gitmo War Trials
• Supreme Court Rules Bush Overstepped His Authority At Guantanamo
• Origin Of The Australian Term "Blind Freddy"
• A Newer World ~ The Very Definition of Tyranny

The Sleep Of Reason Produces Monsters

Goya, Francisco "El sueno de la razon produce monstruos" ~ The Sleep Of Reason Produces Monsters 1797-98

From : ~ The Rambling Taoist ~ Send God Packing

"Religious fanaticism in all its forms leads inevitably to bigotry, hatred, and, too often, violent confrontations. Let's end it like reasonable human beings. How many more Crusades, Jihads, Holy Wars, whatever you want to call them, must we live through to see the light? Let's put belief in a personal God, who tells us that only we are right and that everybody else is wrong, on a dusty top shelf, out of reach, where it belongs."

More From The Original Source: ~ Intervention Magazine ~ God Has Got To Go

"Many people associated with the Religious Right in America would have us believe that the United States was founded as a Christian nation. They foster this lie because they want to force their narrow-minded religious beliefs down our throats. They would like us to envision that Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and James Madison are standing with them shoulder to shoulder when they spout their distorted views on abortion, contraception, gay marriage, school prayer, evolution, etc.

But to assert that the U.S. is a Christian nation is clearly un-American, if we define "American" as holding dear the precepts and values handed down to us in the Constitution by the Founding Fathers. The framers of the Constitution had no intention of defining our country as Christian. On the contrary, they were deeply concerned about preventing any kind
of religious tyranny." By Joseph Smigelski

Republican Congressman Doesn't Know The 10 Commandments

From: ~ Stardust Musings and Thoughts for the Freethinker: Westmoreland co-sponsors bill on the Ten Commandments and can't even name them

Watch on Youtube the interview between Westmoreland and Colbert.

Rough transcript of the interview as posted at Stardust Musings:

Colbert: You have not introduced a single piece of legislation since you entered Congress.

• Westmoreland: That's correct.
• Colbert: This has been called a do nothing Congress. Is it safe to say you're the do nothingest?
• Westmoreland: I, I, ..Well there's one other do nothiner. I don't know who that is, but they're a Democrat.
• Colbert: What can we get rid of to balance the budget?
• Westmoreland: The Dept. of Education.
• Colbert: What are the Ten Commandments?
• Westmoreland: You mean all of them?--Um... Don't murder. Don't lie. Don't steal Um... I can't name them all.

Emailer Ruth asks: Does this guy deserve a $3,300 pay raise?
The guy co-sponsors a bill about the Ten Commandments and doesn't even know them.
Priceless.

LINKS: ~

• OneGoodMove: Ten Commandments
• Lynn Westmoreland
• Better know a district ... and the Ten Commandments
• Which TenCommandments?

Internet Trolls

From Chimera's Cavern : ~ How To Debate Like A Troll

Original Source: ~ Dilbert.Blog : ~ Results of Why I’m Stupid

How To Debate Like A Troll: ~

When one person makes any kind of statement, all you need to do is apply one of these methods to make it sound stupid. Then go on the offensive.

• Turn someone’s generality into an absolute. For example, if someone makes a general statement that Americans celebrate Christmas, point out that some people are Jewish and so anyone who thinks that ALL Americans celebrate Christmas is stupid. (Bonus points for accusing the person of being anti-Semitic.)
• 
  Turn someone’s factual statements into implied preferences. For example, if someone mentions that not all Catholic priests are pedophiles, accuse the person who said it of siding with pedophiles.
• 
  Turn factual statements into implied equivalents. For example, if someone says that Ghandi didn’t eat cows, accuse the person of stupidly implying that cows deserve equal billing with Gandhi.
• 
  Omit key words. For example, if someone says that people can’t eat rocks, accuse the person of being stupid for suggesting that people can’t eat. Bonus points for arguing that some people CAN eat pebbles if they try hard enough.
• 
  Assume the dumbest interpretation. For example, if someone says that he can run a mile in 12 minutes, assume he means it happens underwater and argue that no one can hold his breath that long.
• 
  Hallucinate entirely different points. For example, if someone says apples grow on trees, accuse him of saying snakes have arms and then point out how stupid that is.
• 
  Use the intellectual laziness card. For example, if someone says that ice is cold, recommend that he take graduate courses in chemistry and meteorology before jumping to stupid conclusions that display a complete ignorance of the complexity of ice.

More Links: ~

1. Internet Trolls by Timothy Campbell
2. Internet Troll From Answers.com
3. Beware The Troll

Top Ten Reasons Why Men Should Not Be Ordained

From Maggi Dawn: Top Ten Reasons Why Men Should Not Be Ordained

Top Ten Reasons Why Men Should Not Be Ordained: ~

• 10. A man's place is in the army.
• 9. For men who have children, their duties might distract them from the responsibilities of being a parent.
• 8. Their physical build indicates that men are more suited to tasks such as chopping down trees and wrestling mountain lions. It would be "unnatural" for them to do other forms of work.
• 7. Man was created before woman. It is therefore obvious that man was a prototype. Thus, they represent an experiment, rather than the crowning achievement of creation.
• 6. Men are too emotional to be priests or pastors. This is easily demonstrated by their conduct at football games and watching basketball tournaments.
• 5. Some men are handsome; they will distract women worshipers.
• 4. To be ordained pastor is to nurture the congregation. But this is not a traditional male role. Rather, throughout history, women have been considered to be not only more skilled than men at nurturing, but also more frequently attracted to it. This makes them the obvious choice for ordination.
• 3. Men are overly prone to violence. No really manly man wants to settle disputes by any means other than by fighting about it. Thus, they would be poor role models, as well as being dangerously unstable in positions of leadership.
• 2. Men can still be involved in church activities, even without being ordained. They can sweep paths, repair the church roof, and maybe even lead the singing on Father's Day. By confining themselves to such traditional male roles, they can still be vitally important in the life of the Church.
• 1. In the New Testament account, the person who betrayed Jesus was a man. Thus, his lack of faith and ensuing punishment stands as a symbol of the subordinated position that all men should take.

Sorry, I missed Church Because...

~

Image From MISSC

~

I Missed Church Because:

• I was busy practising witchcraft and becoming a lesbian.
• I missed church because I had to go fishing.
• I missed church because I was listening to a sermon on the radio.
• I couldn't go to church today because I had a flat on the car and didn't think we could all fit in the truck.
• I missed church because I just had this feeling I shouldn't be there.
• I missed church because church gives me gas.
• I missed church because I belong to the 700 club, so that is good enough.
• I missed church because my familiy can get me into heaven after I am dead.

Please add to the list by leaving a comment and be as creative as you wish.

LINKS:~

• Carry A Big Sticker
• Sorry We Missed Church
• Top Ten Reasons Why Men Should Not Be Ordained
• Church Going
• A Fresher Perspective

The Bible Is Not Inerrant

From Catholic Church No Longer Swears By Truth Of The Bible

“We should not expect to find in Scripture full scientific accuracy or complete historical precision,” they say in The Gift of Scripture.

Of the notorious anti-Jewish curse in Matthew 27:25, “His blood be on us and on our children”, a passage used to justify centuries of anti-Semitism, the bishops say these and other words must never be used again as
a pretext to treat Jewish people with contempt.

The bishops say: “Such symbolic language must be respected for what it is, and is not to be interpreted literally. We should not expect to discover in this book details about the end of the world, about how many will be saved and about when the end will come.”

These are now considered literally untrue:

• UNTRUE
  Genesis ii, 21-22
  So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept he took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh; and the rib which the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man.
• Genesis iii, 16
  God said to the woman [after she was beguiled by the serpent]: “I will greatly multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children, yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.”
• Matthew xxvii, 25
  The words of the crowd: “His blood be on us and on our children.”
• Revelation xix,20
  And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had worked the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshipped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with brimstone.”

LINKS:

1. The Passion Of The Atheist
2. INERRANCY: Is the Bible free of error?
3. Biblical inerrancy
4. Uoy Sevol Natas

The Universe IS meaning

From: don't drop that atomic bomb on me! and "Why I Can't Embrace Buddhism

Horgan concludes that, "all religions, including Buddhism, stem from our narcissistic wish to believe that the universe was created for our benefit," while "science tell us that we are incidental, accidental." "This is not a comforting viewpoint," he says, "but science, unlike religion, seeks the truth regardless of how it makes us feel."


LINKS:

• Why I Can't Embrace Buddhism
• Why I Am Not A Christian by Bertrand Russell
• John Horgan

What Do You Think Caused Your Heterosexuality?

From Fizzlesticks's Überrambly Rambles a Sociology Quiz

• 1. What do you think caused your heterosexuality?
• 2. When and how did you decide that you were a heterosexual?
• 3. Is it possible that your heterosexuality is just a phase that you may grow out of?
• 4. Is it possible your heterosexuality stems from a neurotic fear of others of the same sex?
• 5. If you've never slept with a person of the same sex, is it possible that all you need is a good gay or lesbian lover?
• 6. To whom have you disclosed your heterosexual tendencies? How did they react?
• 7. Why do you heterosexuals feel compelled to seduce others into your lifestyle?
• 8. Why do you insist on flaunting your heterosexuality? Why can't you just be what you are and keep quiet about it?
• 9. Would you want your children to be heterosexual knowing the problems that they'd face?
• 10. A disproportionate majority of child molesters are heterosexual. Do you consider it safe to expose your children to heterosexual teachers?
• 11. With all the societal support marriage receives, the divorce rate is spiraling. Why are there so few stable relationships among heterosexuals?
• 12. Why do heterosexuals place so much emphasis on sex?
• 13. Considering the menace of overpopulation, how could the human race survive if everyone were heterosexual like you?
• 14. Could you trust a heterosexual therapist to be objective? Don't you fear (s)he might be inclined to influence you in the direction of her/his own leanings?
• 15. How can you become a whole person if you limit yourself to compulsive, exclusive heterosexuality, and fail to develop your natural, healthy homosexual potential?
• 16. There seem to be very few happy heterosexuals. Techniques have been developed that might enable you to change if you really want to. Have you considered trying aversion therapy?

(No. I am not a lesbian, or bisexual. I just enjoy annoying the religious rightwing.)

LINK: Sexual orientation

Richard Dawkins Stands Up

Professor Richard Dawkins

"Time to Stand Up" by Richard Dawkins from Stardust Musings and Thoughts for the Freethinker: Time to Stand Up

"My respect for the Abrahamic religions went up in the smoke and choking dust of September 11th. The last vestige of respect for the taboo disappeared as I watched the "Day of Prayer" in Washington Cahedral, where people of mutually incompatible faiths united in homage to the very force that caused the problem in the first place: religion.

It is time for people of intellect, as opposed to people of faith, to stand up and say "Enough!" Let our tribute to the dead be a new resolve: to respect people for what they individually think, rather than respect groups for what they were collectively brought up to believe."

Bravo Richard

MORE LINKS:~

• Julia Sweeney's "Letting Go of God"
• Promise a young man that death is not the end and he will willingly cause disaster
• The Freedom From Religion Foundation

"I Have All Heaven's Riches Thanks To All You Stupid Bitches."

For Great T -Shirts And Poster Designs Like This One Go To SWEATSHOP PRODUCTIONS

~

WATCH: The Chaser's Version Of A Hymn At Hillsong Church.

"The Chaser" has done it again, and good for them! "The Chaser" is a satirical television show on Australian television which is part of the CNNNN network. (Yes, count the "Ns".) One of the comedic targets of "The Chaser" has been Hillsong Christian Church. Hillsong is the largest fundamentalist christian church in Sydney, Australia.

From Hillsong's true believers:~

In Sydney's bible belt, Hillsong is an evangelical church with political muscle and business acumen is attracting thousands of supporters.

And when it comes time for the offering, parishioners are reminded they can pay by cash, cheque or credit card.

More than 18,000 people flock to the Baulkham Hills and city Hillsong churches to hear The Word each weekend.

LINKS:~

1. The Chaser Takes The War To Religion.
2. The Chaser's War On Everything
3. The Chaser Decides
4. Battle Of The Cashed-up Cults Part 1: Hillsong Inc
5. Welcome To Hillsong
6. Hillsong's True Believers

Rumsfeld: Thou Art Weighed In The Balances, And Art Found Wanting.

"Picnic" Oil on canvas by Iraqi artist Muayad Muhsin

LINK:~ The Galloping Beaver: Rumsfeld in oil

Muayad Muhsin was both inspired and enraged by a photo of US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld slumped on an airplane seat with his army
boots up in front of him.

"It symbolised America's soulless might and arrogance," said Muhsin, whose similar painting of Rumsfeld will be unveiled in an exhibition opening in Baghdad on Monday.

"Rumsfeld's boots deliver a message from America: 'We rule the world,"' Muhsin, 41, told The Associated Press in an interview. "It speaks of America's total indifference to what the rest of the world thinks."

MORE LINKS:~

• Why this article is called, "Rumsfeld: Thou Art Weighed In The Balances, And Art Found Wanting."
• Painting Captures U.S. Arrogance, Artist Says

The (liberal)Girl Next Door: The Gloves Are Off

FROM LINK: ~ The Gloves Are Off

Christians are destroying the fabric of our society. Just listen to Ann Coulter spew her hatred toward the widows of 9/11, Pat Robertson call for the assassination of a foreign leader, Jerry Falwell blame feminists and gays for 9/11 and it becomes very clear that Christian activists are using God to spread hate and create divisions that serve their narrow personal agendas at the expense of American society.

Ask Not For Whom The Creationism Bell Tolls

"Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankind; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee." ~ John Donne 1624

Nearly Half of Americans Believe in Creationism

Almost half of Americans believe that human beings did not evolve, but were created by God in their present form within the last 10,000 years or so, results from a new Gallup Poll revealed.

Analysts also found a strong correlation between the level of education and the response. About three-quarters of those with a post-graduate degree said humans developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life, compared to just 22 percent choosing the “created in present form” option.

Oh dear....(whimpers in disbelief)

Please tell me I am dreaming.

Marilyn Manson: The Art And Philosophy Of The Grotesque Burlesque

Warning: This article contains adult concepts. Censor yourself.



View Marilyn Manson's Version Of "TAINTED LOVE" On Youtube.

“When you're taught to love everyone, to love your enemies, then what value does that place on love?” Marilyn Manson

~

Ok, no more Ms Nice Girl.

I LIKE MARILYN MANSON!

In Fact, I think MM is truly brilliant.

Marilyn Manson is the precociously intelligent, only child of Hugh Angus Warner and Barbara J. Warner. Born as Brian Warner, he is an artist who challenges our perceptions as to what makes the visually and auditorially unnusual >> beautiful.

~

Marilyn is in a continual chameleon state of investigative aesthetics. As an artist he challenges traditional societal concepts with his music and persona. His artistic persona is that of the combination of Marilyn Monroe and Charles Manson.

~

The name Marilyn Manson combines the disparate and discrete concepts of beauty/ugliness and good/evil within the name. "Marilyn" is borrowed from Marilyn Monroe, the archetypal beautiful female form and sexual stereotype. "Manson" is borrowed from Charles Manson, the archetypal epitome of incarnate evil. What is also interesting about this is that neither Marilyn Monroe nor Charles Manson were their given names either.

The music and persona of Marilyn Manson deliberately questions traditional concepts of:~

• love and hate
• beauty and ugliness
• good and evil
• faith and disbelief
• fear and acceptance

That is, the band's video clips surgically tear open societal expectations, culture, and superstitions to the light of skeptical enquiry. Here they can be examined, and critically analysed.

The videos are an exploration of the beautiful INHERENT IN the ugly; the exposition of the concepts of flawed beauty; and an investigation into the controversial and confronting attractiveness of "evil".

Can idealised beauty remain beautiful? Or does it become a parody of itself; a weak and ineffectual doppleganger of the concept that was originally sought to be visually encapsulated?

In Marilyn Manson's version of "Tainted Love," it is the investigation into what LOVE really is. Is it still love if it is flawed/tainted? What does it mean logically for something which is supposedly pure to be tainted?

(Shameless segue into Shakespeare: "Love is not love which alters when its alteration finds, or bends with its remover to remove "... etc etc. Sorry, back to the topic minus shameless segue so I could mention Shakespeare.)

So, the major questions posed as a result of this particular video clip are:~

• Are our concepts of love flawed?
• Does religion encourage/exacerbate these flawed love concepts?

The juxtaposition of the stereotypical, cheerleader character with the macabre, socially unacceptable, politically incorrect Marilyn Manson is confronting and controversial. It becomes an exploration of the fascination with the macabre; a fascination with the "Grotesque Burlesque."

By the time I got to the end of the clip, I was unsure as to which leading character (the cheerleader or Marilyn), was the less macabre. Which just might have been the point. :)

Marilyn Manson's philosphical/artistic comments mimic George Orwell's political comments on the totalitarian state in "1984" where:~

• "War is peace."
• " Freedom is slavery."
• "Ignorance is strength."

In other words, the ability to hold two "two contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them" which Orwell coined as "Doublethink."

(By the way, George Orwell wasn't HIS name either. It was Eric Arthur Blair.)

I would suggest that it is a case of Doublethink, to accept that the concept of "Tainted Love" is a logical proposition.

~

Marilyn Manson should have the last words:~

• “The burden of originality is one that most people don't want to accept. They'd rather sit in front of the TV and let that tell them what they're supposed to like, what they're supposed to buy, and what they're supposed to laugh at.”
• “I view my job as being someone who is supposed to piss people off. I don't want to be just one-of-the-guys. I don't want to be just a smiling face you see on television presenting some vapid kind of easily-digestible garbage.”
• “I feel like someone who I wouldn't let my own daughter fuck, and I also feel like someone who, if I was that daughter, would want to fuck more that anyone else.”
• “In the end we're all Jerry Springer Show guests, really, we just haven't been on the show.”

LINKS:

1. Marilyn Manson on Letterman 2003
2. Marilyn Manson - Personal Jesus (requires login to youtube or watch another version here)
3. MansonPL OnAir - episode 1
4. MansonPL OnAir - episode 2
5. MansonPL OnAir - episode 3
6. MansonPL OnAir - episode 4
7. Marilyn Manson Timeline
8. Soft Cell - Tainted Love
9. The Pussycat Dolls - Tainted Love
10. The Golden Age of Grotesque
11. PHANTASMAGORIA: The Visions Of Lewis Carroll by Marilyn Manson

God And Abortion

From Jesus And Mo

God Performs Abortions:~

• Exodus 21:22: "If men quarrel, and one strike a woman with child, and she miscarry (accidental abortion) indeed, but live herself: he shall be answerable for so much damage as the woman's husband shall require."
• Exodus 21:23: "But if her death ensue thereupon, he shall render life for life,"

(Only if the woman dies because of the abortion does the perpetrator deserve death. In other words, the accidental abortion is not considered killing a person. If it had been, when the woman miscarried, the perpetrator would be punished equally, "life for life." The Bible, however, differentiates between the resultant miscarriage and the death of the mother.

• Numbers 5:11-31: The Adultery Test: In this particular situation, a man, if he suspects his wife has cheated on him, can take her to a priest where she will be given a liquid concoction which aborts the fetus. If she is guilty of this trespass, "may he (the Lord) make thy thigh to rot, and may they belly swell and burst asunder. Let the cursed water enter into thy belly, and may thy womb swell and they thigh rot." (15:21-22)

The "cursed water" is designed to cause a spontaneous abortion. This could be both punishment for cheating, and assurance for the husband that the children born by his wife will indeed be his seed. Either way, the fetus is aborted - and by a priest.

This sounds ok to many christians, and no doubt muslims have similar chapters in the quran. But then the god of the torah/bible/quran has only ever been a man-made invisible alpha-male with delusions of supernatural grandeur.

This disguised supernatural patriarch is the primitive male's perception of the ultimate and absolute alpha-male. And it could be also suggested that female goddesses were the perception and conception of the ultimate and absolute alpha-female. It is the alpha male god which lesser humans are not supposed to question. Especially females. We are to know our place. Our place is lower on the hominid ladder. The alpha-male monkey god has decreed this.

Personally, I think that sometime in human evolution, and understanding, males recognised the connection between the deposition of seminal fluid in the female and a resultant pregnancy. From that moment on, (in their minds), they became the creators of life. The all powerful ones who deposit seed. And having no or little scientific knowledge about females making eggs, the males took credit as being primarily responsible for the creation of life. This is also, I suggest, why the god concepts from then on became primarily male. They became the primary King Kongs of the human religious kingdoms. Gods in their own minds. Gods because of their penises. (ROFL)

It also explains why men continue to worship at the altar of their own penis. And why they have religious rituals associated with their penis. (Think judaism/islam and christianity and the religious rituals associated with male circumcision.) Quite an extreme way to join a cult.

But if you want to be the "ultimate boys' club", set up mainly to support a male hierarchy; you make the joining ritual something only males can do. And if your male dominated religion supports female circumcision, you make it a ritual which manipulates who, when and how those females can breed. Thus ensuring the concept of inheritance and lineage along male genetic lines.

Anyway, I seem to have strayed off topic slightly, but I have enjoyed the straying. If you are male and/or religious and you find this offensive. Too bad. :)

If you are female and/or religious and you find this offensive. Too bad, plus grow a brain. :)

Disbelief Is Not A Belief

With thanks to Stardust Musings and Thoughts for the Freethinker for this cartoon.

I have heard this sort of argument quite often from theists/religious people. The argument goes something like this:~

"Your act of not believing in jesus/allah/muhammad/yahweh/the bible/the quran/ganesh/buddha is a belief, so nerner nernerner atheists have a belief in the non-existence of these things."

For some reason known only to themselves and their own lack of logic, they see a lack of belief or a disbelief in a concept/idea as a BELIEF.

I sometimes counter with a comment like this:~ "So, you have a belief in the non-existence of invisible, miniature, yellow teapots which rotate around mars?"
This question seems hardly fair, but some of them actually get the point if you ask a question as pointedly insane as this one is.

PS:~ Claiming atheism is a belief is like saying that abstinence is a form of sexual activity, that "nil by mouth" is a style of eating, and that paralysis is a form of movement. It is AN ABUSE OF LANGUAGE.