Effor.com

In case anyone is interested, here’s a link to the search warrant for David Adkisson’s home.  It’s linked from WBIR’s site, as the Knoxville News Sentinel is once again way behind the other local media in publishing up to date information.

Warrant #1

Warrant #2

I also have copies of the warrants stored locally in case WBIR is forced to remove them.  As these are public documents, they shouldn’t be made unavailable to the public, but not much surprises me regarding the local government anymore.

gk

The Knoxville News Sentinel deleted a lot of comments on its’ story during the day Sunday.  I left a few comments regarding deleting the comments and their coverage of the story in general.  Guess what - my comments were deleted….  Here’s what they posted as a reason this morning:

Posted by KNSemily on July 28, 2008 at 11:18 a.m.

Hi everyone,
My inbox is getting slammed with flagged comments and I’m going to start being pretty strict with this as we are on a national stage right now. So heads up: if KNS staff finds your comments to be off-topic, “unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, invasive of privacy or publicity rights, vulgar, obscene, profane, pornographic, or otherwise objectionable”, as stated in our user agreement, they will be deleted. Please be nice. This is a terrible thing that happened in our backyards and we should be supporting each other, not insulting or discrediting each other’s religious beliefs, etc. I am going to interpret “off-topic” very broadly.

Comments which have since been deleted (I know because I continually monitored the site yesterday) included religious views, facts about the church policy regarding gays and lesbians, and many that criticized the News Sentinel for being the last website in town to provide updates.

Not one that I remember could be construed as meeting their criteria for deletion.   Unless they simply considered it “objectionable” because they didn’t like the content.  I’d be willing to bet that they found a lot of it “objectionable” because they “objected” to someone saying that their coverage sucked yesterday.

Sure, there were many ignorant comments posted by ignorant people - how will deleting them ever help these people become less ignorant?  How will the rest of the community ever understand the hate (from some) that lingers under the surface, just waiting to explode into violence?

Ummm - isn’t that what happened here yesterday?.

Speaking of objectionable, check out the headline on this story in the News Sentinel tonight.

Given the News Sentinels’ proclivity in deleting information, I’m copying it here.  Verbatim.

Bill O’Reilly, Michael Savage, Sean Hannity on accused shooter’s reading list

4-page letter outlines frustration, hatred of 'liberal movement'

Here’s an excerpt:

Inside the house, officers found “Liberalism is a Mental Health Disorder” by radio talk show host Michael Savage, “Let Freedom Ring” by talk show host Sean Hannity, and “The O’Reilly Factor,” by television talk show host Bill O’Reilly.

None of the national media I checked tonight (CNN, NY Times, Washington Post, FoxNews, etc) mention this - and they’re right not to bring it up.  Any well-read person is going to have a wide variety of books in their home.  I have two copies of the Bible, a Book of Mormon, and a Koran in my house.

I also have books by Robert Heinlein, Ayn Rand, a 13 volume “Story of Civilization” by Will Durant, Rachel Carson, Dave Barry, and lots of others.

Right-wingers think I’m a liberal because I support the ACLU, legalizing drugs and prostitution; those on the left think I’m a conservative because I support the NRA, Constitutional Law, and fiscal responsibility.  Guess what - I’m a Libertarian and neither of those labels apply to me.  Live and let live is what I’m all about.

There are probably 1500 books in my house right now - I guarantee that some of them are “objectionable” to someone.  Does that make me anything - other than well read?  Is that motivation for me to shoot up a church?  I don’t think so!

There’s lots more, but if you’re looking for coverage of the shooting at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church (TVUUC) in Knoxville, I suggest WBIR.com or pick one from this list at Google News.

I may add to this later if I read something else that ticks me off!  :-)  My posts are normally carried as part of the Knoxville Blog Network on the News Sentinel - let’s see if they have the guts to include this one….

gk

George Carlin died yesterday.  I for one will miss him.  From providing cutting social commentary, to setting legal precedents, to forcing people to question things they were taught as children - George enlightened millions.

I find it curious that the news stories about George Carlin (that I read) all - without exception - talked about the Supreme Court decision regarding his “Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television” skit.  Some of the stories mentioned that the decision (FCC v. PACIFICA FOUNDATION, 438 U.S. 726 (1978)) established the rules for broadacst “decency” that we still use today.

But not a single one actually mentioned ANY of the “Seven Words”.  I thought we’d come further than that.  And by not mentioning the words, they missed the point of the skit entirely. 

Words are merely names we give to thoughts and things and actions.  In and of themselves, words mean nothing.  A word is simply a sound - why are some sounds ok and others “filthy” or “dirty” or “obscene”? 

In keeping with the spirit of Carlin’s intent, here is the original, unedited transcript - straight from the Supreme Court decision at FindLaw.  Ever wonder why it’s ok to print (or say) these words on the Internet?  It’s (in part) thanks to George Carlin. 

Here we go - enjoy! 

gk

(All that which follows is pure George - straight from the Supreme Court transcript.)

Aruba-du, ruba-tu, ruba-tu. I was thinking about the curse words and the swear words, the cuss words and the words that you can’t say, that you’re not supposed to say all the time, [']cause words or people into words want to hear your words.

Some guys like to record your words and sell them back to you if they can, (laughter) listen in on the telephone, write down what words you say. A guy who used to be in Washington knew that his phone was tapped, used to answer, Fuck Hoover, yes, go ahead. (laughter)

Okay, I was thinking one night about the words you couldn’t say on the public, ah, airwaves, um, the ones you definitely wouldn’t say, ever, [']cause I heard a lady say bitch one night on television, and it was cool like she was talking about, you know, ah, well, the bitch is the first one to notice that in the litter Johnie right (murmur) Right. And, uh, bastard you can say, and hell and damn so I have to figure out which ones you couldn’t and ever and it came down to seven but the list is open to amendment, and in fact, has been changed, uh, by now, ha, a lot of people pointed things out to me, and I noticed some myself.

The original seven words were, shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker, mother-fucker, and tits. Those are the ones that will curve your spine, grow hair on your hands and (laughter) maybe, even bring us, God help us, peace without honor (laughter) um, and a bourbon. (laughter) And now the first thing that we noticed was that word fuck was really repeated in there because the word motherfucker is a compound word and it’s another form of the word fuck. (laughter) You want to be a purist it doesn’t really - it can’t be on the list of basic words.

Also, cocksucker is a compound word and neither half of that is really dirty. The word - the half sucker that’s merely suggestive (laughter) and the word cock is a half-way dirty word, 50% dirty - dirty half the time, depending on what you mean by it. (laughter)

Uh, remember when you first heard it, like in 6th grade, you used to giggle. And the cock crowed three times, heh (laughter) the cock - three times. It’s in the Bible, cock in the Bible. (laughter) And the first time you heard about a cock-fight, remember - What? Huh? naw. It ain’t that, are you stupid? man. (laughter, clapping) It’s chickens, you know, (laughter)

Then you have the four letter words from the old Anglo-Saxon fame. Uh, shit and fuck. The word shit, uh, is an interesting kind of word in that the middle class has never really accepted it and approved it. They use it like, crazy but it’s not really okay. It’s still a rude, dirty, old kind of gushy word. (laughter) They don’t like that, but they say it, like, they say it like, a lady now in a middle-class home, you’ll hear most of the time she says it as an expletive, you know, it’s out of her mouth before she knows. She says, Oh shit oh shit, (laughter) oh shit. If she drops something, Oh, the shit hurt the broccoli. Shit. Thank you. (footsteps fading away) (papers ruffling)

Read it! (from audience)

Shit! (laughter) I won the Grammy, man, for the comedy album. Isn’t that groovy? (clapping, whistling) (murmur) That’s true. Thank you. Thank you man. Yeah. (murmur) (continuous clapping) Thank you man. Thank you. Thank you very much, man. Thank, no, (end of continuous clapping) for that and for the Grammy, man, [']cause (laughter) that’s based on people liking it man, yeh, that’s ah, that’s okay man. (laughter) Let’s let that go, man. I got my Grammy. I can let my hair hang down now, shit. (laughter) Ha! So!

Now the word shit is okay for the man. At work you can say it like crazy. Mostly figuratively, Get that shit out of here,  will ya? I don’t want to see that shit anymore. I can’t cut that shit, buddy. I’ve had that shit up to here. I think you’re full of shit myself. (laughter) He don’t know shit from Shinola. (laughter) you know that? (laughter) Always wondered how the Shinola people felt about that (laughter) Hi, I’m the new man from Shinola. (laughter) Hi, how are ya? Nice to see ya. (laughter) How are ya? (laughter) Boy, I don’t know whether to shit or wind my watch. (laughter) Guess, I’ll shit on my watch. (laughter) Oh, the shit is going to hit de fan. (laughter) Built like a brick shit-house. (laughter) Up, he’s up shit’s creek. (laughter) He’s had it. (laughter) He hit me, I’m sorry. (laughter) Hot shit, holy shit, tough shit, eat shit, (laughter) shit-eating grin. Uh, whoever thought of that was ill. (murmur laughter) He had a shit-eating grin! He had a what? (laughter) Shit on a stick. (laughter) Shit in a handbag. I always like that. He ain’t worth shit in a handbag. (laughter) Shitty. He acted real shitty. (laughter) You know what I mean? (laughter) I got the money back, but a real shitty attitude. Heh, he had a shit-fit. (laughter) Wow! Shit-fit. Whew! Glad I wasn’t there. (murmur, laughter) All the animals - Bull shit, horse shit, cow shit, rat shit, bat shit. (laughter) First time I heard bat shit, I really came apart. A guy in Oklahoma, Boggs, said it, man. Aw! Bat shit. (laughter) Vera reminded me of that last night, ah (murmur). Snake shit, slicker than owl shit. (laughter) Get your shit together. Shit or get off the pot. (laughter) I got a shit-load full of them. (laughter) I got a shit-pot full, all right. Shit-head, shit-heel, shit in your heart, shit for brains, (laughter) shit-face, heh (laughter) I always try to think how that could have originated; the first guy that said that. Somebody got drunk and fell in some shit, you know. (laughter) Hey, I’m shit-face. (laughter) Shit-face, today. (laughter) Anyway, enough of that shit. (laughter)

The big one, the word fuck that’s the one that hangs them up the most. [']Cause in a lot of cases that’s the very act that hangs them up the most. So, it’s natural that the word would, uh, have the same effect. It’s a great word, fuck, nice word, easy word, cute word, kind of. Easy word to say. One syllable, short u. (laughter) Fuck. (Murmur) You know, it’s easy. Starts with a nice soft sound fuh ends with a kuh. Right? (laughter) A little something for everyone. Fuck (laughter) Good word. Kind of a proud word, too. Who are you? I am FUCK. (laughter) FUCK OF THE MOUNTAIN. (laughter) Tune in again next week to FUCK OF THE MOUNTAIN. (laughter) It’s an interesting word too, [']cause it’s got a double kind of a life - personality - dual, you know, whatever the right phrase is. It leads a double life, the word fuck. First of all, it means, sometimes, most of the time, fuck. What does it mean? It means to make love. Right? We’re going to make love, yeh, we’re going to fuck, yeh, we’re going to fuck, yeh, we’re going to make love. (laughter) we’re really going to fuck, yeh, we’re going to make love. Right? And it also means the beginning of life, it’s the act that begins life, so there’s the word hanging around with words like love, and life, and yet on the other hand, it’s also a word that we really use to hurt each other with, man. It’s a heavy. It’s one that you have toward the end of the argument. (laughter) Right? (laughter) You finally can’t make out. Oh, fuck you man. I said, fuck you. (laughter, murmur) Stupid fuck. (laughter) Fuck you and everybody that looks like you. (laughter) man. It would be nice to change the movies that we already have and substitute the word fuck for the word kill, wherever we could, and some of those movie cliches would change a little bit. Madfuckers still on the loose. Stop me before I fuck again. Fuck the ump, fuck the ump, fuck the ump, fuck the ump, fuck the ump. Easy on the clutch Bill, you’ll fuck that engine again. (laughter)

The other shit one was, I don’t give a shit. Like it’s worth something, you know? (laughter) I don’t give a shit. Hey, well, I don’t take no shit, (laughter) you know what I mean? You know why I don’t take no shit? (laughter) [']Cause I don’t give a shit. (laughter) If I give a shit, I would have to pack shit. (laughter) But I don’t pack no shit cause I don’t give a shit. (laughter) You wouldn’t shit me, would you? (laughter) That’s a joke when you’re a kid with a worm looking out the bird’s ass. You wouldn’t shit me, would you? (laughter) It’s an eight-year-old joke but a good one. (laughter) T

he additions to the list. I found three more words that had to be put on the list of words you could never say on television, and they were fart, turd and twat, those three. (laughter)

Fart, we talked about, it’s harmless It’s like tits, it’s a cutie word, no problem. Turd, you can’t say but who wants to, you know? (laughter) The subject never comes up on the panel so I’m not worried about that one. Now the word twat is an interesting word. Twat! Yeh, right in the twat. (laughter) Twat is an interesting word because it’s the only one I know of, the only slang word applying to the, a part of the sexual anatomy that doesn’t have another meaning to it. Like, ah, snatch, box and pussy all have other meanings, man. Even in a Walt Disney movie, you can say, We’re going to snatch that pussy and put him in a box and bring him on the airplane. (murmur, laughter) Everybody loves it. The twat stands alone, man, as it should. And two-way words. Ah, ass is okay providing you’re riding into town on a religious feast day. (laughter) You can’t say, up your ass. (laughter) You can say, stuff it! (murmur) There are certain things you can say its weird but you can just come so close. Before I cut, I, uh, want to, ah, thank you for listening to my words, man, fellow, uh space travelers. Thank you man for tonight and thank you also. (clapping whistling)

I can’t believe that just a few months after letting one kid die, these religious nutcases have let another child die.  I’m not kidding - it’s the same group! 

After I disagreed with what the state did in Texas (the state couldn’t prove a damn thing and had no reason for taking the kids away from their parents) I’m on the other side in this one.  I can’t believe that after parents have been charged with manslaughter for letting a 15 month old kid die,  the state allowed the same church to withhold treatment from other kids - and now a 16 year old is dead.

It’s time to put these idiots into a chair and watch the smoke disappear into the sunset as they fry….  How many of their kids will we allow them to kill before the kids are removed from this insane environment?

gk

As I said before, Texas had no right (and violated several amendments in the Bill of Rights) ro take children from their parents who are members of the FLDS.  At last they are being returned to their homes.

CNN says a Texas judge issued an order Monday allowing parents of hundreds of children seized from a polygamist sect to begin picking up their kids.

With one exception, Judge Barbara Walther told the Department of Family and Protective Services to allow parents to pick up the 440 children starting 10 a.m. Monday.

It’s about time!  What business is it of the state to determine the type a relationship consenting adults wish to have with each other?  IMHO, none. 

Polygamy should be legal, as should homosexual marriages.  I have a hard enough time with one wife - I would probably go insane with two, but it’s no skin off of my back if someone wants to get married.  I don’t care who they get married to.

gk

Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good.  Especially regarding news stories and commenting about them…. 

Regarding the FLDS polygamy case, it was just yesterday I said ”the state has based their entire case on anonymous “calls” that may be a hoax.”   I then listed the many Constitutional issues that I saw with the case, and related it to the rights we’ve seen eroded in the “war on terror”.

Today, a Texas State Court of Appeals ruled that the state had no right to remove the children.  Better late than never, but that’s little consolation to those parents and children who were wrongfully separated back in April.

A CNN story tonight says “Flanked by the FLDS mothers represented in the case, Balovich said authorities considered the YFZ Ranch one household, an assertion with which the appeals court did not agree.

Therefore, proving that there was abuse in one household did not mean the state could apply that behavior to the entire ranch.”

Balovichs’ statement makes sense to me.  Imagine if one person in your subdivision was suspected of abuse, so they took everyones’ kids away.  It’s the same thing.

The CNN story also has this little tidbit: “Police have alleged that a family shelter crisis line received multiple calls March 29 and 30 from a caller claiming to be Sarah Jessop Barlow, age 16.

At least one of the telephones used by “Sarah Barlow” has been traced to a Colorado woman. Police say Rozita Swinton is a person of interest in connection with the reports of abuse at the ranch, but she has not been charged. She does, however, face a charge of providing a false report to authorities in a Colorado case.”

In other words, the facts so far publish are indicating that the entire case is made up.  Someone in Colorado evidently made up the story and called a hotline, so hundreds of kids and parents have been uprooted and falsely accused.  

How many millions of tax dollars has the state wasted on this case so far?  How much money has gone to pay foster parents, to pay for temporary shelter and meals for the women, etc?

Will people in Texas eventually stand up and say “enough is enough”?  Will they prosecute (or sue) the people behind this fraud?  Will they eventually say “go away and leave me the hell alone!” to the state?  One can only hope….

gk

I haven’t said anything about the Texas state raid of the “polygamist compound” but I read a story tonight on FoxNews that kinda ticks me off.  When I get ticked off I need to say something about it, so here goes….

The story is about a supposedly underaged girl who gave birth while in state custody.  The state immediately took the child away and placed it in foster care.  Is this standard in Texas?  Does the state take all children born to underage mothers away from the parents?  I sure hope not!

Another aspect of this case is that the supposed “underage” mother claims to be 22 years old.  Her attorney said “She is 22.”  Shouldn’t the state be required to show some evidence (or at least probable cause) before taking kids from their parents?

But this is the part of the story that ticked me off: 

Child welfare officials and state troopers raided the FLDS’s Yearning For Zion Ranch in Eldorado after a domestic violence shelter received calls from someone claiming to be an abused 16-year-old girl. The girl has never been found and authorities are investigating whether the calls were a hoax.

In other words, the state has based their entire case on anonymous “calls” that may be a hoax.  From what I can tell, Texas has violated the:

Fourth Amendment: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrents shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.  (Who issued the warrant without having the “16-year-old girl” testify “by Oath or affirmation?”)

Fifth Amendment: No person shall be held to answer for any capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.  (These people have been deprived of liberty and their property - even their kids! - taken away with no “due process” that I’ve seen.)

Sixth Amendment: In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district where in the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense.   (What have these people been charged with?  Who are the witnesses?  Have they been allowed to “confront” (question) the witnesses?)

Eighth Amendment: Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.  (Why haven’t these people been released on bail?  I know they can’t be released on bail - because they haven’t been charged with a crime.  Yet the state is holding them against their will without charging them with a crime.  And if taking your kids away with no reason given isn’t “cruel and unusual punishment”, what is?)

Hmmm….  Sounds kinda like Gitmo….   All of you who don’t think it’s a problem to hold people indefinitely without charging them with a crime, raise your hands….  Now, I want all of you with your hands raised to spell Lettre de cachet.

Question: Why is this any different than the people we’re holding in relation to terrorism? 

Answer:  It’s not.  What goes around comes around - when Bush decided it was ok to hold even one person without following the Constitution, we all lost our basic rights.  I hope someone sues the state for this.

gk

I was pretty much aimlessly surfing the web tonight when I read this on FoxNews.  I have to admit that I really don’t surf “aimlessly” it’s more like “actively looking for something that’s interesting” if that makes sense.

Anyway, I find the arguments around the scientists vs religion question somewhat silly - because it really doesn’t matter to me.  Science doesn’t even attempt to explain “why” something happened.  Science is only concerned with “how” it happened.

If you want to postulate - like Newton - that God provides an initial “push” to get things started, then he backs off and watches the planets orbit around the sun, fine.  I won’t argue with you, but since you are the one who is proposing that God exists, the burden of proof is on you.

Prove it.  Until then, I’m sitting on the sidelines in this debate.  If you want to debate how or why the government should be involved in religion, bring it on.  That’s a different story, and I’ll play that game.  But I will insist that you first read the First Amendment.  Still have an argument?  Show me what you got bro.

gk

It’s about time!  As I wrote in a previous post, I think these religious nuts who refuse to get medical care for their kids (they think that God will cure them - no need for doctors or medicine) should be charged with murder. 

It looks like that’s going to happen.  According to FoxNews, Parents who prayed as their 11-year-old daughter died of untreated diabetes will be charged with second-degree reckless homicide, the Marathon County district attorney said Monday.

Dale and Leilani Neumann are clueless.  Leilani Neumann, 40, told AP previously she never expected her daughter to die. The family believes in the Bible, which says healing comes from God, but they are not crazy, religious people and have nothing against doctors, she said.

Ok, she says they’re “not crazy religious people” but what would you call it when someone in California knows that it’s severe and calls an ambulance before the parents do anything except pray as their daughter dies?

According to the story a daughter-in-law in California, who called police on a non-emergency line to report the girl was in a coma and needed medical help. An ambulance was dispatched to the home shortly before some friends in the home called 911 to report the girl had stopped breathing, authorities said.

They are facing up to 25 years in prison, but I think they should fry.

gk

Ok, here’s the lead in:

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. —  Struggling to confront a worsening homicide rate, the mayor of Birmingham asked pastors and citizens Friday to don burlap sacks and ashes Friday in an Old Testament-style sign of biblical repentance.

What can you say to that?  Is the mayor a total idiot - or is he simply pandering to idiots?  Maybe a few quotes from the story will clarify what I mean.

Since he took office last year, Langford has held three prayer rallies as a way of addressing crime and violence. Bibles were handed out at one of the events.

“This city needs to humble itself,” said Langford, a professing Christian.

So far this year 27 people have been killed in Birmingham, compared to 19 at the same time last year. 

So how’s that prayer thing working for you Mayor?  From looking at the numbers (I know, facts don’t mean much to people who believe in fairy tales) it looks like you’re focusing on the wrong thing. 

May I humbly suggest that arresting the criminals would work much better?

Another quote: Mayor Larry Langford said his “sackcloth and ashes” rally at Boutwell Auditorium was inspired by the Book of Jonah, where residents of the ancient city of Ninevah wore rough fabric and ashes as a sign of turning away from sin.

A pastor who helped organize the rally said Langford purchased 2,000 burlap bags that will be handed out at the event.

I don’t think the mayor would be this stupid, but I’m wondering who paid for the “2,000 burlap bags?”  If he used public funds (or he’s using a public facility without paying for it out of private funds) he’s an idiot.  That would also mean he’s also violating the US Constitution.

Birmingham city officials have turned to prayer in the past to cope with the city’s crime problems.

The former chief, Annetta Nunn, promoted the idea of turning people toward God to quell the violence in the city’s neighborhoods, and she instituted a Bible-based plan of civic responsibility for cleaning up rundown neighborhoods.

I’ll ask the question again - how’s that prayer thing working for you?  And once again the answer (based on the numbers) is that it’s making things worse, not better.

The current police chief, Langford appointee A.C. Roper, has a lengthy resume that includes being an ordained minister. He was in the military and worked with the Hoover Police Department for nearly two decades.

Roper supports the repentance rally, but he said law enforcement cannot stop there.

Oh really?  C’mon!  God is all powerful, God is all knowing, and God is omnipotent - it says so right there in your Bible.  So why haven’t your prayers to your God been answered?  I suppose the thought that maybe there isn’t a God never crossed your mind….

I don’t mean to offend those who believe in an omnipotent God who oversees everything on earth, but get real.  IF (and that’s a very large if) there is such a G/god, why do you think H/he cares what what the hell happens in Birmingham Alabama?

Again, I have absolutely nothing against religious people (I do have a lot of reasons why I’m against organized religion though!) and the intent of this is not to piss them off - although I’m sure that’ll happen too. 

My point is that there is no way that public time, money, or resources should be spent on this modern day witch hunt.  If you want to gather on the street (or in your own church or home) and do this - fine.  Just keep it from being sanctioned by the government.

Is that clear?

gk

I just saw this story on FoxNews before going to bed.  The headline says Mom Kills Daughter Because She Thought She Was Possessed By a Demon 

There aren’t many details in the story, but it says “An Illinois mother told police she fatally stabbed her daughter because the 6-year-old was possessed by a demon.”

What it should say is “Psycho religous nut case kills own daughter - watch her fry in public demo of electric chair tomorrow at noon”.

gk

It appears that the original link to the short film Fitna that I posted doesn’t work any longer.  But my original link directly to the video is still working. 

So if you go to my previous post and click the play button on the video, you will be able to view the movie.  If you not able to view it, send me an email requesting it - I have it in a 25mb  .wmv file and I’ll either email it to you or send you intructions on how to access it via this site.  Let me know how you’d like to access the file.

Due to the enormous demand for it, I cannot afford to make a link available publically - I would go broke paying bandwidth overage charges.  :-)  But if you take the time to send me a request, I’ll get it to you.

BTW:  I only have the english language version.  If you need another version, you’ll need to look for it somewhere else.

gk

In reading some of the articles from major media sources regarding Obama’s “historic” speech, all I can say is thank God for the First Amendment!  To give you a sample of what I’ve seen online, take a look at this article from the San Francisco Chronicle.

The article says Obama’s “historic” speech has “elevated the discussion about the issue to the point where it has worked itself into the pews and pulpits of Bay Area churches.”

Now I don’t have a problem with churches espousing a particular political view, and I don’t have a problem with the government staying out of regulating what can be said in churches, but I do have a problem when churches want it both ways.  Churches want to be able to talk politics in church, but they also want to remain tax exempt.  Pick one.

Go ahead and endorse candidates and issues from the pulpit if you want - but you should lose your tax exempt status.  Stick to religion and there’s no problem.

I remember back in 1984 (when I still went to church) the Catholic church I attended issued “voter guides” comparing Reagan and Mondale.  The guide looked at various issues such as where the candidates stood on abortion, the death penalty, welfare, etc.  So far so good….

The problem was that the voter guide made it crystal clear which candidate the Catholic Church wanted to have as president.  From reading the voters guide, it was obvious that the Catholic Church was endorsing Reagan.

They have obviously gotten a bit smarter regarding the political processsince then, as the Catholic Church now has a guide to allowable political activity published on their website.  I would hope that any church (of any religious denomination) would do something similar.  If they cross the line, then they are no longer tax exempt.

You can’t have it both ways - either you stay out of politics (in return for the government staying out of your business) or you go into politics and the government gets to go into your business.

This distinction is not a theoretical argument - it’s what separates this country from all others in the world.  We were the first to GUARANTEE religious freedom to our citizens.  Look at what’s happening today in Tibet, Iraq, even Denmark to see what happens when the government is allowed to interfere with religion.

But you can turn that argument around too - look at what happens when religion gets involved in politics.  Iran, the Balkins, Afghanistan, and most of the Middle East are repressive regimes where you can be legally killed for worshipping - or not worshipping - at the wrong altar.

I posted my views on the Second Amendment a few days ago, and my views on the First Amendment are similar.  The Constitution does not in anyway restrict the rights of the people - it delegates certain rights to the government.  Read the First Amendment:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Seems pretty clear cut to me.  I wonder if the monks in Tibet wish they had something like that as a guarantee….

gk

According to a story on FoxNews, Oregon is charging a couple with manslaughter after letting their 15 month old daughter die.  They’re another couple of religious fanatics who thought that God would make their daughter well if they prayed for her.  But they also anointed her with oil, so maybe that counts as medical treatment….

I think Oregon should charge them with murder, then execute them.  There’s no excuse (except self defense) for killing someone, and if you take a life, you’ve forfeited your right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. 

Carl and Raylene Worthington are just as bad as any serial killer.  If they ascribe everything that happens to God, did they ever wonder who made their kid sick? 

gk

The film “Fitna” was released on the web today.  It’s here if you want to view it.  A story about it (and the controversy around it) is here on FoxNews. 

Here’s another link to the movie.

Personally, I think way to many people are way too uptight about religion in general.  God speaks to too many people - and He seems to say something different to each one.  I wish He’d get his story straight so we could stop killing each other because He said different things to different people. 

Ok, that’s the polite way of saying it - here’s another way: All you people who are listening to voices in your head that you think are messages from God/Jesus and/or Allah/Muhammad - get a medical checkup before you blow up someone else.

gk

Here’s a story on FoxNews that just ticks me off.  The headline reads: “Wisconsin Parents Didn’t Expect Daughter to Die During Prayer.”  Duh.

It’s a story about an 11 year old girl (I have two girls ages 10 and 11, so I can relate to the the parents) who hasn’t seen a doctor since she was 3.  She had a treatable form of diabetes, but the parents “did not know her daughter was terminally ill as she prayed for her to get better.”

Here are a few other quotes from the story - and my comments. 

Her mother, Leilani Neumann, told The Associated Press that she never expected her daughter, whom she called Kara, to die. The family believes in the Bible, and it says healing comes from God, but they are not crazy, religious people, she said.

Ah, that makes it all ok - her parents never expected her to die, because they beleive in the power of the Bible, and that God would take care of them.   Somehow they think that qualifies them as “not crazy religious people.”  Ok, I’ll bite - what does that qualify them for?  They’re certainly not rational, intelligent people.   Read this entry from the mother for proof.

Every time I hear about someone who believes that God will take care of them, I’m reminded of a joke I read in Readers Digest years ago.  It went something like:

Heavy rains came and the flood waters started rising around a house.  The police drove down the street in a boat and urged the family to evacuate, but they said they weren’t leaving, because “God will take care of us.”  The flood waters kept rising….  Soon the waters were up to the 2nd story of the house. 

Another boat came by and urged the family to climb in and get away from the danger.  Again they refused to evacuate, saying “God will take care of us.”  But the waters kept rising….

The family had to move to the roof of the house to stay above the raging waters.  A helicopter came by to rescue them, but again they refused to leave, saying “God will take care of us.”   A few minutes later the flood waters washed the family away and they all drowned. 

When they stood before God at the pearly gates they were upset.  They complained that even though they had great faith, God let them die in the flood.  They asked why God didn’t take care of them.

God replied “I sent you two boats and a helicopter - what more do you want?”

Of course the moral of the story is that God helps those who help themselves, and that we should use our God-given abilities as best we can. 

Humans are the only species on earth that NEED to make things to survive.  We survive by using our minds, our ability to reason, our ability to make the things we need to live. 

How did the family eat?  Where did they live?  What did they wear for clothing?  God didn’t give them any of those things - why would any sane person believe that God would cure their sick child?  If you believe in God, why would you not think that he gave us the ability to make medicines in order to cure disease?  (Of course that begs the question of why God would create diseases that needed to be cured, but that’s a topic for another day.)

Another quote from the story: “Officers went to the home after a relative in California asked police to check on the girl.”  A relative a thousand miles away knew something was wrong, but the parents were too stupid to know what was happening.  I’m sorry, but they need to be charged with murder, and their other kids need to be taken away from them immediately.

“Our lives are in God’s hands and whatever we go through we are just going to trust him,” she said. “We need healing. We are going through the healing process.”

No, your lives are in the hands of the courts now, and you’ve demonstrated that you aren’t able to make rational decisions.  We (as a society) will not allow you to withhold treatment (and the example of rational thought) from your other children, so you can’t keep them any longer.

Now I hate to say the above, because I absolutely despise government intervention in private lives, but children are considered children because they have not yet reached the age of reason.  They can’t decide things for themselves yet, so parents need to protect and teach them until they can make important decisions on their own. 

If you’re over 18, you can do whatever you want to yourself.  Don’t go to the doctor, go ahead and shoot up heroin, smoke crack, snort cocaine, starve yourself to death, drink too much, smoke all the cigarettes you want, or whatever else you want to do - as far as I’m concerned that’s your right.  But you can’t do that to others.

By the way, one of my favorite “more accurate than the dictionary” definitions is the definition of the word “believe.”  I don’t remember where I read it, but it goes something like “believe: to have confidence in the existence or truth of something despite any evidence to support the conclusion.” 

gk

“Absolutely no religious rites of any kind, relating to any religious faith, should be associated with my funeral.”  

 There are a lot of posts today about Arthur C. Clarke, but take a look at what I think is one of the best. 

I only have one other thought to add: for some reason whenever I watch the movie “Contact” I think the charactor of the evil industrialist Hadden was based on Arthur C. Clarke.  His manner of speaking, his genius, his wide knowledge, and the lack of religious rites when he died, all make me think of Clarke.

Arther C. Clarke, Robert Heinlein, Ray Bradbury, and Isaac Asimov were the giants of science fiction.  Pretty much everyone who has written any science fiction in the last 50 years has stolen part of it from one of them. 

I need to write a post sometime about the influence each of them has had on me, but it would take a long time to write, as all of them were originals, and all had a part - for better or worse - in making me who I am today.

Arther C. Clarke was the last of this group of titans to leave us.   The thinkers of this world will long remember him.

gk

I ran across this today while checking out the news.  It’s a story about Huckabee, his creationist views, and how it affects things in Texas.  The story talks about his supporters and says “Maddox, who declines media interview requests, has posted his writings on the web at sites like the Institute for Creation Research and has called Charles Darwin’s work “pre-Civil War fairy tales.”"

Just one question: If evolution is a “pre-Civil War fairy tale”, what do you call intelligent design and creationism?  How about “post-Enlightenment fantasies”?  Or better yet - bullshit.

Please stop trying to force your biblical creation stories  into public schools.  Teach it to your kids if you want to - they’ll be the next generation of dumbasses - hey, someone has to be there to receive welfare!  Just teach it in your religious schools, Sunday schools, or at home.   Don’t dumb down my kids because of your beliefs.

BTW - There’s a reason it’s called a “belief”.  You have to have faith to believe it because there’s ZERO facts to support it.  Words written in an incorrectly translated book from 2000 years ago don’t carry much weight with me.  Humans have been through the dark ages - and the reason they’re called the dark age is because religion ruled. 

I can give hundreds of examples of people who were killed (burned at the stake) and/or imprisoned because they dared to think something that wasn’t in a religious book.  Why do you think Copernicus didn’t publish his theory until he was on his deathbed? 

Get a life and leave mine alone.  Go back to living with plagues, smallpox, and leprosy.  Go back to censorship of books and words.  Go back to subsistence farming on your feudal plots of ground.  Go back to being helpless when a crop failed and millions starved because there wasn’t any transportation system to get the food to you.  But you can count me out.

gk