Open thread 12/23

Thread_2

77 Comments

  1. Herbert West III
    Posted December 23, 2007 at 1:40 am | Permalink

    Check me out at http://www.wen2k.com > I Publish there regularly. I have about 126 articles/posts/opinions there. I Published a fuel saver idea, a Casino idea,my case pending in Miami County Courts is published there. I have recipes there. I hope to hear from people as to there opinion on my posts. I do appreciate that this kansas.com site is liberal and fair and allows posts. Most media/sites I have found to be censored and very impolite. http://www.kansas.com is too be commended. Herbert West III, Publisher/Journalist west.herb@yahoo.com http://www.wen2k.com

  2. writerdog
    Posted December 23, 2007 at 6:57 am | Permalink

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7156394.stm

    US faces sanctions for gaming ban The US faces $21m (£10.6m) in annual trade sanctions as a result of its online betting ban, the World Trade Organization has ruled.
    Antigua and Barbuda was awarded the right to impose sanctions that target US services, copyrights and trademarks.
    Laws passed in the US in October 2006 effectively made it illegal for foreign internet gaming firms to trade there.
    But in March the trade body delivered a final ruling saying that the US online betting ban was illegal.
    Antigua had hoped to impose $3.4bn in retaliatory measures against the US and the amount awarded was described as a token gesture, given the massive size of the US economy.
    The US said that Antigua’s claim was excessive and more than three times the size of Antigua’s entire economy.
    “The United States is pleased that the figure arrived at by the arbitrator is over 100 times lower than Antigua’s claim,” said Sean Spicer, a spokesman for U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab.
    Antigua, a former British colony of about 80,000 people, had been promoting electronic commerce as way to end the country’s reliance on tourism, which was hurt by a series of hurricanes in the late 1990s.
    Piracy risk
    The Caribbean nation is the smallest country to litigate a case successfully in the WTO’s 12-year-history.
    The case had drawn the attention of US industry because Antigua has threatened to target US trademarks and copyright, which could make the nation a safe haven for intellectual property piracy.
    The ruling could “establish a harmful precedent for a WTO member to affirmatively authorise what would otherwise be considered acts of piracy, counterfeiting or other forms of … infringement”, the US said.
    The US and Antigua cannot appeal against Friday’s decision.
    Mark Mendel, the lawyer who led the case for Antigua, said that the country was unlikely to violate US copyrights.
    “Antigua doesn’t want to negate American intellectual property rights. They don’t want to sell … DVDs and copies of Microsoft Office.”
    Unequal laws
    Last year the US stopped US banks and credit card companies from processing payments to online gambling businesses outside the country, effectively killing off the market for overseas gambling firms.
    About half of the world’s online gamblers are based in the US, and the market is estimated to be worth $15.5bn.
    The WTO ruling said the US was breaking trade law by targeting online gambling firms, without equal application of the rules to US firms offering online betting on horse and dog racing.
    Earlier this week, the EU said the US would offer its member countries trade concessions as compensation for its refusal to lift internet gambling laws

  3. writerdog
    Posted December 23, 2007 at 7:03 am | Permalink

    Bible bashing dying out in Kansas
    By Justin Webb
    BBC News, Washington

    There is an American expression for something that is utterly obvious but not, for some reason, noticed.

    “Hiding in plain sight”, the Americans call it, and the expression came to my mind as I sat in Kansas City airport waiting for an ice storm to pass.

    Hiding in plain sight in this state is a revolution in American Christendom, a change of heart that could see American Protestant churches looking increasingly like their European equivalents.

    The state of Kansas gets a bad press. It is huge and empty and mostly flat.

    In the summer it is uncomfortably hot and prone to tornadoes. In the winter it can be bitterly cold.

    Its big cities are not very big and rather grey. It is not in the culinary avant garde.

    In the airport cafe they have introduced nutritional advice next to their meals: the fresh strawberries are described as containing no trans-fats – which is a relief, I suppose – but only in Kansas could it be a surprise.

    A million Kansans will be taking their Bibles to church in the coming week but they will not be bashing them

    Kansas has also long been home to religious revivals and eccentric preachers, a few of them deeply wacky, to put it mildly.

    Creationists, for instance, keep up a constant low-level guerrilla war in this state and, if that is insufficiently odd for you, try going to Topeka to see the Reverend Fred Phelps and his flock at the Westboro Baptist Church.

    ‘God’s punishment’

    They entertain themselves by turning up at public events with placards saying: “God hates gays”.

    Their campaign against homosexuals came to national prominence when they protested (and this really did happen) at the funerals of soldiers who had been killed in Iraq.

    Mr Phelps still grabs horrified attention from foreigners and Americans alike

    The sexual orientation of the individual soldiers was not the issue.

    According to the church, all Americans who die there are part of a punishment God is visiting on the United States because of his profound dislike of homosexuality in this country.

    The point is that Pastor Phelps and his followers are not much liked by anyone inside or outside Kansas. The “burning at the stake” wing of America’s Christian churches – the wing that stresses vengeance over love – is in trouble.

    The gentle, Nativity-scene crowd are the ones on the up.

    Mr Phelps still grabs horrified attention from foreigners and Americans alike but most religious Kansans (and that means most Kansans) are becoming steadily less aggressive: not less religious but less intolerant.

    Opinion polls suggest that younger evangelical Christians are falling out of love with the “big causes” their churches have championed in recent years, in particular with opposing abortion and supporting the Iraq war.

    Fire and brimstone

    This change is nowhere clearer than in Wichita in southern Kansas.

    The Reverend Terry Fox is a man you would have considered until recently to be a typical Wichita preacher: a fire and brimstone merchant.

    His sermon, delivered in staccato bursts, with heavy breathing for effect, concentrates on sin, in particular the sin of murdering babies in the womb.

    “I am proud to be called the religious right,” he blasts. “I am religious and I am right!”

    On the day I met him there was “good news”: hundreds of thousands of foreigners had just been converted to Christianity including many Muslims.

    You would expect the Rev Fox in God-fearing Kansas, to be preaching in a mega-church, an establishment big enough to cope with the crowds.

    And until recently he was: the Immanuel Baptist Church near the centre of town was his.

    It was easily spotted because of the huge, tubular, white cross, 100ft (30 metres) high and heated from the inside so that it does not freeze and topple over.

    But the Rev Fox’s cross is all that is left of his ministry at the old place.

    He tells me it was time to move on but most locals think he was thrown out for being too dogmatic, too extreme, even in Wichita.

    Major change

    To see Rev Fox in action, I had to go to the Best Western hotel out among the tattier motels and gas stations on the far outskirts of town.

    They clear a central atrium for him, they turn down the muzak, they put away the tinselly plastic Christmas trees, and several hundred turn up for a cheerful haranguing.

    Rev Fox is not about to be run out of town but he is metaphorically, as well as literally, on the outskirts now.

    His hatred of abortion, his contempt for gay rights, his support for the Iraq war have all led him to his current predicament.

    At his old church, the new pastor tells me sniffily that he has never had the pleasure of meeting Rev Fox.

    The concerns of his ministry are, he said, human rights and the environment.

    Golly, this is a big change.

    I have come to town to speak to these people about whether they still support the Republican Party but that is a minor issue, it seems to me, compared with the much bigger question of how they still support God.

    Hidden in plain sight this Christmas, is the softening of evangelical America.

    A million Kansans will be taking their Bibles to church in the coming week but they will not be bashing them.

  4. writerdog
    Posted December 23, 2007 at 7:20 am | Permalink

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/bsp/hi/elections/us/08/issues/html/democrats.stm

    This page provided by the BBC allows you to compare the Democratic candidates stances on different issue. BUT only Obama, Clinton and Edwards, I had worked my way through to illegal immigration. But found that I could not agree with any of their stances on the illegal aliens, they all read like if someone breaks into your house. As long as they pay “rent” they are allowed to stay.

  5. stumper
    Posted December 23, 2007 at 7:34 am | Permalink

    Sorry, HW III, I tried your URL and found it to be way to busy, you have to sign in just to read anything, and not really worth the effort. Try getting rid of about 90% of the page, and let people read something prior to joining. Tacky.

  6. Door King
    Posted December 23, 2007 at 7:39 am | Permalink

    Watching the Mex news on teevee the other night. Seems they have a big immigration problem, from San Salvadore, and Hondurance.

  7. Herbert West III
    Posted December 23, 2007 at 7:46 am | Permalink

    Go to the top 25 section. Then read the top 25 articles. Then register and surf the rest. You can go directly too http:www.wen2k.com/tell.php?Id=952 . You can also go to http://www.wen2k.com and click onto the top25 and read them. Thanks HLWIII. west.herb@yahoo.com

  8. writerdog
    Posted December 23, 2007 at 7:57 am | Permalink

    “Watching the Mex news on teevee the other night. Seems they have a big immigration problem, from San Salvador, and Hondurance“.Posted by: Door King

    OK I just can not wait, I know it is coming and before the day has ended I would read it!I can almost read it now, this is like I am just copying and pasting. But since I knew it would be said and we just need to get it out of the way…Mexico is having immigration problems …. Because…..wait….wait…here it is! BECAUSE THE U.S. SUCKS!!!!!Now I need a cigarette…..

  9. XXX
    Posted December 23, 2007 at 8:09 am | Permalink

    Many conservatives have insisted that the Democrats’ wins in the 2006 midterm elections, as well as their recent pickups in some 2007 races, were mere blips. They wish. Political, ideological, demographic and economic trends are all leading toward durable Democratic majorities in Congress, control of most statehouses and, very possibly, the end of the decades-old GOP hammerlock on the electoral college.http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/21/AR2007122101415.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

    Read it and weep, republicans. We’re tired of you. You have become the party of excess.

    There’s only two ways republicans can win.1. Steal the vote.

    2. Stage another terrorist attack.

    Neither tactic would surprise me.

  10. writerdog
    Posted December 23, 2007 at 8:26 am | Permalink

    December 20, 2007, 6:00 a.m.

    Liberty! Liberty!Why I’m for Ron Paul.

    By John Derbyshire

    You can waste a lot of time in my line of work, noodling around on Internet search engines to not much effect. If the matter is sufficiently pressing (translation: remunerative), when the Internet has comprehensively failed you, you can head to your library. If that fails, you can head to the nearest university library; and if that fails, to some mega-resource like the New York Public Library. If the matter isn’t that pressing, you give up and think of something else to write about.

    I got into one of these whirlpools a few months ago, at the time of the Scooter Libby conviction. The thing I couldn’t get past was Libby’s being the vice president’s chief of staff. Why (I wondered) does the vice president need a chief of staff? Or even a staff? Where is that in the Constitution? Yes, this is going to be a Ron Paul piece. Patience, please — I’ll get there.

    My touchstone in these matters is of course our late, great vice president, Calvin Coolidge. From Claude M. Fuess’s mesmerizing biography:

    As Vice President of the United States, Coolidge occupied a position which paid him a salary of $12,000 a year. In addition to this, he was allowed his own automobile and chauffeur, his own secretary, page, and clerk, and his private telegraph operator. His chief duty was to preside over the Senate; and he was entitled to a room in the Senate office building but also to one in the Capitol, directly behind the Senate chamber. In the Senate proceedings he had no vote except in case of a tie. He was also ex officio President of the Smithsonian Institution. His actual duties, beyond these, were not numerous, and he had plenty of time to himself.

    (Pop quiz: From which of the three branches of government does the vice president draw his salary?)

    That, of course, was then (1921), and this is now. The office of vice president has expanded some in the past 86 years. Wikipedia gives an outline account of the process. For quite some time, though, the Vice Presidency remained a poor stepchild of the federal-legislative apparatus. Presidential biographies fill in the details. When Richard Nixon moved from the Senate to the vice presidency in 1953, for example, his staffing allowance dropped from $70,000 as a Senator to less than $48,000 as veep. Nixon seems to have held on to all 13 of his senatorial staff members somehow; but he never appointed anyone chief of staff.

    So to the present. Scooter Libby was of course the current vice president’s chief of staff until he resigned. David Addington now fills the post. And … how many other persons are on the vice president’s staff?

    Try finding out. That was the whirlpool I bailed out of those months ago. (Can you bail out of a whirlpool? Whatever.) I see I still have some scattered notes from my inquiries. The United States Government Manual for 2007/08, published by the Office of the Federal Register, lists 17 names under “Office of the Vice President,” with titles from chief of staff to executive assistant.

    That can’t be the whole story, though. Only three of those names have titles containing the phrase “national security” — four if you include “homeland security” — yet we know that in 2004 Dick Cheney had 14 staff members dealing with national security. (Al Gore had managed with five.)

    There are 40 names listed on the Legistorm website; the overlap between this list and the one in U.S. Government Manual is only six names. So: how many people are on the vice president’s staff? I repeat: Try finding out. What’s his staff allowance? Same answer.

    What has been the value-added in advancing from Silent Cal’s chauffeur, secretary, page, clerk, and telegraph operator, to Dick Cheney’s battalions of assistants to deputy assistants? You don’t need to sign on to leftist Cheney-pulls-the-strings hysteria to believe that it was in part the research and counsel supplied by all those busy beavers on the vice president’s payroll that gave us the misbegotten Iraq war. Cal’s telegraph operator performed better service to his country.

    No offense to the current vice president, who seems to me to be a very charming and capable man. (I still cherish the recollection of his 2000 debate with Joe Lieberman — the one that made everyone say: “Ah! Here are the grown-ups at last!”) This isn’t personal, nor even really political; it’s systemic. How did the office of the vice president get so much power? And so many people? Heck, even the vice president’s wife has a chief of staff! Where is that in the Constitution?

    * * * * *

    Which brings us back to Ron Paul, and the appeal thereof. How on earth did we arrive at this point of vast, bloated, and secretive government, in which the wives of inconsequential federal officials (the office of the vice presidency used to be a byword for inconsequentiality — “bucket of warm p***,” etc.) have chiefs of staff, whose actual staffs and actual budgets are undiscoverable by a reasonably intelligent citizen?

    The other day I got an e-mail from a reader. I get lots of e-mails from readers, of course, but this one stood out. A man’s death, said China’s Grand Historian, may be lighter than a feather, or heavier than Mount Tai. I feel kind of the same way about reader e-mails. This one landed in my in-box with an almighty house-shuddering thump. It’s from a reader in the Mile High City.

    Mr. Derbyshire,

    I saw your post on The Corner that one hundred dollars of the now nearly $16 million dollars Ron Paul has raised this quarter are yours. I’m up to $150 dollars, in twenty five dollar increments, plus another thirty something dollars for yard signs. I donate online and man, do I love hitting that send button.

    The first vote I ever cast was for Ronald Reagan in 1984. Today, I look at the Huge Government Republican establishment in Washington D.C., and read its enablers … and I have no idea who these people are, or what happened to the GOP I signed on with.

    I’m in construction and get paid by the hour, so a twenty five dollar donation to Dr. Paul is roughly one pre-tax hour of my labor.

    So here’s the deal: for every two weeks that Ron Paul is in the race, he gets the fruit of an hour of my time and effort. And every time another member of the conservative intelligentsia disparages Dr. Paul’s campaign for a limited and constitutional government, it will just make hitting the send button that much sweeter.

    I don’t know that I can say any more about my reasons for supporting Ron Paul than my reader said right there. I, too, like my reader, have no idea who these people are, and don’t even seem to be able to find out (see above). Probably they are all, like Dick Cheney, very nice people, taken as individuals: but that they are all toiling away in anything I recognize as the national interest, I cannot believe.

    To the degree that I can say anything more, I have already said it implicitly, in columns like this one, and this one, and yes, this one. From the first of those:

    As the elites pull away from the rest of us, and the rest of us become more atomized and disorganized — “a heap of loose sand” in Sun Yat-sen’s memorable phrase about the late-Imperial Chinese — we may be headed for the kind of intractable elite-commoner hostility predicted by Michael Young in his 1958 book The Rise of the Meritocracy. I don’t think it is fanciful to see an element of this in the current widespread anger towards the political class — the president’s approval ratings down in the 30s, and Congress’s even lower.

    Some of that is anger at particular policies — Iraq, the immigration bill. Much, though — a rising proportion, I believe — is systemic: a feeling that the elites are now running the show for their own interests, Latin-America-style, with not much regard for ours. As [one of my readers] correctly observed: “The low paid politician has vanished. The surest route to wealth is politics, followed closely by government service.”

    Here is Paul Johnson in Modern Times:

    Like FDR, he [i.e. John F. Kennedy] turned Washington into a city of hope; that is to say, a place where middle-class intellectuals flocked for employment.

    What I am seeking is an anti-JFK — a candidate who will transform our nation’s capital from a city of hope for middle-class intellectuals, into a city of despair for them. The despair of those intellectuals, I am increasingly convinced, is the hope of our nation. Looking at all but one of the Republican candidates (and, it goes without saying, all but none of the Democratic ones) I see nothing in prospect but a new draft of office-seeking intellectuals, primed and eager to bring us new expansions of federal power, new pointless wars, new million-strong reinforcements for the Reconquista, new thousand-page tax loopholes, new inducements for idleness and crime, new humiliations for the saps who follow rules and obey laws. Sadly and reluctantly at last, I include the S.O.B. in that “all but one.”

    * * * * *

    From Kimberley Strassel’s piece in the Dec. 14 Opinion Journal:

    Paul rallies heave with voters waving placards and shouting “Liberty! Liberty!”

    Are those supporters crazy, as some colleagues tell me?

    Perhaps they are, to be shouting for liberty in 2007, after decades of swelling federal power and arrogance, of proliferating taxes, rules, and interests, of gushing transfers of wealth to politically connected elites from working- and middle-class grunts, of the college and teacher-union scams, of the metastasizing tort-law rackets, of ever more numerous yet ever more clueless intelligence agencies, of open borders and visas for people who hate us, of widening cracks in our sense of nationhood (“Press one for English …”), of speech codes and race lobbies and judicial impositions.

    If those people are crazy, though, I want to be crazy with them. I’m for liberty, too. That’s why I’m for Ron Paul. And why do we have 75,000 soldiers in Germany?

  11. writerdog
    Posted December 23, 2007 at 8:35 am | Permalink

    IF RON PAUL IS TO BECOME PRESIDENT.I do see where there might be a problem kind of like being the only one with a wallet in a room full of pick-pockets. His best strength also could be his greatest fault, being a strong Constitutionalist and having written in to the Constitution. There are limits to the executive branch, these have been ignore and violated often in the last forty years. He will be confronting those in Congress that would try to run over him and use he limits against him. There maybe far more Neo-conservatives in the Congress then even I suspect. Least we forget, the Neo-conservatives are not limited to only the Republican party. They have been around for the last fifty years and only when they populated the White House had anyone really noticed them outside of D.C. Paul is a breath of fresh air, but that breath is in the pollution of Washington D.C. One breath may not be enough to continue the survival of this nation. It will really all depend on how many of those in Congress are true Americans. Both Republican and Democrats who still believe in the foundation of this country. I have hope, but I am aware that those that believe in this country left in Congress seem to lesser and lesser everyday.

  12. Posted December 23, 2007 at 8:37 am | Permalink

    Hey XXX,

    Who do you like for president next year? Which one of the democrats are you hoping for?

    I read the book “The Emerging Democratic Majority.” It was of course tedious for a conservative like me but interesting.

    It seemed to miss the point a little. When republicans run a conservative they win. Democrats have to run left in the primary then try and get to the right of the republican in the general.

    I think we have a chance if the democrats nominate Hillary. I also think that Romney has a pretty good chance against anyone the democrats put up.

    Who are you for?

  13. ksfarmgrrl
    Posted December 23, 2007 at 8:46 am | Permalink

    Heh! Just thought I’d drop in and mention that it will be in the low seventies and sunny today in liberal Austin, Texas. I think I’ll have coffee at the Stevie Ray Vaughn memorial on Town Lake after a nice stroll in shirtsleeves around the lake.

    Sorry, I just couldnt resist.

    *WEG*

  14. Mary Caruso
    Posted December 23, 2007 at 8:47 am | Permalink

    As a conservative Christian you’d really vote for a Mormon, Hank?I do believe you’re right about Hilary, if she gets the nomination, the Democrats don’t have a chance…what a bunch of idealistic morons.If Gore had run, the democrats would win hands down, but they don’t have anyone electable running for the nomination.

  15. Posted December 23, 2007 at 8:47 am | Permalink

    Czech-born U.S. climatologist Dr. George Kukla, a research scientist with the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University expressed climate skepticism in 2007. “The only thing to worry about is the damage that can be done by worrying. Why are some scientists worried? Perhaps because they feel that to stop worrying may mean to stop being paid,” Kukla told Gelf Magazine on April 24, 2007. “What I think is this: Man is responsible for a PART of global warming. MOST of it is still natural,” Kukla explained.

    http://www.gelfmagazine.com/archives/an_unrepentant_prognosticator.phpKukla “said that the accelerating warming of the Earth is not caused by man but by the regularities of the planets’ circulation around the Sun,” according to a June 4, 2007 article in the Prague Monitor. “The changes in the Earth’s circulation around the Sun are now extremely slow. Moreover, they are partially being compensated by the human impact on the climate. I think we will know more in about 50 years,” Kukla said. Kukla is viewed as a pioneer in the study of solar forcing of climate changes.

    http://directory.ei.columbia.edu/displayuser.php?userid=453

  16. Posted December 23, 2007 at 8:59 am | Permalink

    Hey Farmgirl!

    Merry Christmas!

    We’ve got snow and I love it! Have a great holiday, we’ll see you when it’s ’salsa season’ here in Kansas.

  17. Posted December 23, 2007 at 9:01 am | Permalink

    Hey Mary!

    I have problems with the Mormon religion. I don’t have a problem with a Mormon that is a principled, God fearing family man that has dedicated his life to his faith, family and country.

    Do I want him as a candidate? No, but it would be fun to see him debate the Hildabeast!

  18. Posted December 23, 2007 at 9:03 am | Permalink

    Darn you kfg! grrrr….

    Enjoy your time in the sun KFG.

    Eat some good ol’ Texas ‘cue for me and grab of few of those pecan pies!

    Have a happy holiday and a Merry Christmas!

  19. Mary Caruso
    Posted December 23, 2007 at 9:05 am | Permalink

    What difference does it make? We should clean up the earth and stop our dependance on fossil fuels just because it’s better for our environment and our health. It would be great to go into a big city after rush hour and NOT see a brown streak across the sky due to the fuel emmissions.Did you hear that Walmart is going to start selling electric cars in the near future? They take the Mini Cooper or a PT Crusier, yank out the engine and sell it back to the company, then convert it into a lithium battery powered car…the Mini can go from 0-60 in about 5 seconds and will travel 120 miles between charges. The cost is about $35,000, but I think the price will come down when the technology gets more competitive. Even at that price, it would be worth it to me because I drive so much and what I wouldn’t be paying in gas would offset the difference in price.It doesn’t matter if global warming is man made or not, we still need to clean up our act regardless.

  20. Mary Caruso
    Posted December 23, 2007 at 9:08 am | Permalink

    Have a great Xmas, Ksfmgrl! Enjoy the sunny weather!I’ll be slipping and sliding around on the roads trying to get to my patients today.

  21. ksfarmgrrl
    Posted December 23, 2007 at 9:59 am | Permalink

    …and RAMEN to you all as well!

  22. poster
    Posted December 23, 2007 at 10:00 am | Permalink

    Bible bashing dying out in KansasBy Justin Webb
    BBC News, Washington

    There is an American expression for something that is utterly obvious but not, for some reason, noticed.

    “Hiding in plain sight”, the Americans call it, and the expression came to my mind as I sat in Kansas City airport waiting for an ice storm to pass.

    Hiding in plain sight in this state is a revolution in American Christendom, a change of heart that could see American Protestant churches looking increasingly like their European equivalents.

    The state of Kansas gets a bad press. It is huge and empty and mostly flat.

    In the summer it is uncomfortably hot and prone to tornadoes. In the winter it can be bitterly cold.

    Its big cities are not very big and rather grey. It is not in the culinary avant garde.

    In the airport cafe they have introduced nutritional advice next to their meals: the fresh strawberries are described as containing no trans-fats – which is a relief, I suppose – but only in Kansas could it be a surprise.

    A million Kansans will be taking their Bibles to church in the coming week but they will not be bashing them

    Kansas has also long been home to religious revivals and eccentric preachers, a few of them deeply wacky, to put it mildly.

    Creationists, for instance, keep up a constant low-level guerrilla war in this state and, if that is insufficiently odd for you, try going to Topeka to see the Reverend Fred Phelps and his flock at the Westboro Baptist Church.

    ‘God’s punishment’

    They entertain themselves by turning up at public events with placards saying: “God hates gays”.

    Their campaign against homosexuals came to national prominence when they protested (and this really did happen) at the funerals of soldiers who had been killed in Iraq.

    The sexual orientation of the individual soldiers was not the issue.

    According to the church, all Americans who die there are part of a punishment God is visiting on the United States because of his profound dislike of homosexuality in this country.

    The point is that Pastor Phelps and his followers are not much liked by anyone inside or outside Kansas. The “burning at the stake” wing of America’s Christian churches – the wing that stresses vengeance over love – is in trouble.

    The gentle, Nativity-scene crowd are the ones on the up.

    Mr Phelps still grabs horrified attention from foreigners and Americans alike but most religious Kansans (and that means most Kansans) are becoming steadily less aggressive: not less religious but less intolerant.

    Opinion polls suggest that younger evangelical Christians are falling out of love with the “big causes” their churches have championed in recent years, in particular with opposing abortion and supporting the Iraq war.

    Fire and brimstone

    This change is nowhere clearer than in Wichita in southern Kansas.

    The Reverend Terry Fox is a man you would have considered until recently to be a typical Wichita preacher: a fire and brimstone merchant.

    His sermon, delivered in staccato bursts, with heavy breathing for effect, concentrates on sin, in particular the sin of murdering babies in the womb.

    “I am proud to be called the religious right,” he blasts. “I am religious and I am right!”

    On the day I met him there was “good news”: hundreds of thousands of foreigners had just been converted to Christianity including many Muslims.

    You would expect the Rev Fox in God-fearing Kansas, to be preaching in a mega-church, an establishment big enough to cope with the crowds.

    And until recently he was: the Immanuel Baptist Church near the centre of town was his.

    It was easily spotted because of the huge, tubular, white cross, 100ft (30 metres) high and heated from the inside so that it does not freeze and topple over.

    But the Rev Fox’s cross is all that is left of his ministry at the old place.

    He tells me it was time to move on but most locals think he was thrown out for being too dogmatic, too extreme, even in Wichita.

    Major change

    To see Rev Fox in action, I had to go to the Best Western hotel out among the tattier motels and gas stations on the far outskirts of town.

    They clear a central atrium for him, they turn down the muzak, they put away the tinselly plastic Christmas trees, and several hundred turn up for a cheerful haranguing.

    Rev Fox is not about to be run out of town but he is metaphorically, as well as literally, on the outskirts now.

    His hatred of abortion, his contempt for gay rights, his support for the Iraq war have all led him to his current predicament.

    At his old church, the new pastor tells me sniffily that he has never had the pleasure of meeting Rev Fox.

    The concerns of his ministry are, he said, human rights and the environment.

    Golly, this is a big change.

    I have come to town to speak to these people about whether they still support the Republican Party but that is a minor issue, it seems to me, compared with the much bigger question of how they still support God.

    Hidden in plain sight this Christmas, is the softening of evangelical America.

    A million Kansans will be taking their Bibles to church in the coming week but they will not be bashing them.

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/7154551.stm

  23. XXX
    Posted December 23, 2007 at 10:11 am | Permalink

    Hey XXX,

    Who do you like for president next year? Which one of the democrats are you hoping for?Posted by: Hank | December 23, 2007 at 08:37 AM

    Boy Hank, that’s a tough one. I like Hillary because I know she drives conservatives nutz. I think if she was elected we get a two-fer. With her guts and Bill’s brains, we’d have an unstoppable team. My problem with Hillary is, can we elect her? If Hillary is the candidate, that’ll turn conservatives out to vote like abortion and gays never did. It would be pretty dumb for Democrats to turn out the republican base, huh?

    I like Obama, but I think he needs a little seasoning. Still, I think he would be an agent of change, and that’s something we need in the worst way. Are we ready for a black president? You tell me. But Obama seems to be a fairly honest sort and he has the added bonus of giving us a reason to accuse republicans of racism every time they use one of their dirty tricks. Conservatives are generally racist anyway, but they don’t like to be called on it.

    Of the top 3, I think I like Edwards best. So far, all republicans have been able to come up with regarding Edwards is hair cuts and the fact that he’s a lawyer. The lawyer thing is the height of hypocrisy, but that’s to be expected.

    On the republican side, I have a grudging respect for Romney. I’ll say right up front that I’m uncomfortable with his religion. There’s a branch of my family that’s Mormon and let’s face it; they’re a little cracked. I dated a Mormon lady for a while before I met Mrs XXX and she was pretty cracked, too. That said, I think Romney is an intelligent and honest man. An honest man in politics these days is a thing to be respected.

    Huckabee impressed me at first. I have no problem with a good Christian in the White house, but he may be a little too evangelical for my taste. And after doing some research, Huck comes across as a little thin-skinned. Also, I’m not convinced he’d put the nation’s interests above his own. I think if he winds up being the republican candidate, you get creamed in the election.

    And of course, there’s Ron Paul. Now that guy can really stir it up! While there’s some things I disagree with, I respect that he’s up front about it.

    I detest Rudy. I don’t like northeast Yankees to begin with. Rudy has too many things in his past that just don’t smell good.

  24. JWink
    Posted December 23, 2007 at 10:15 am | Permalink

    Hey Ksfrmgrrl: Enjoy the weather down there in Austin. Presume you will be returning to Kansas soon to rejoin the battle to save Kansas’ aquifer water from politicians like Governor Sebelius, Senator Brownback and some state legislators, all of whom should know better.

  25. CapnAmerica
    Posted December 23, 2007 at 10:19 am | Permalink

    Anybody notice that our “allies” in Turkey have stepped up their bombing campaign against our “allies” the Kurds.

    Exactly what we anti-war activists were warning about in the months leading up to the invasion and continued occupation.

    Worst. President. Ever.

  26. Posted December 23, 2007 at 10:23 am | Permalink

    Those particular Kurds are outlaw groups Capn. They don’t represent the whole of the Kurdish people.

    Just because a group carries a nationalistic name, doesn’t mean their intentions or actions are pure.

  27. Posted December 23, 2007 at 10:23 am | Permalink

    Good morning Capn.!

    Who’s your favorite presidential candidate so far?

  28. MonkeyHawk
    Posted December 23, 2007 at 10:36 am | Permalink

    You asked “CapnAmerica” and not me, “Hank” –

    But I remain strong for Edwards. I’m a populist and believe he’s got what it takes to refocus America’s priorities both dometically and overseas.

    Similarly, Barak Obama would bring an inspirational vision to a White House that has been weakened by the arrogance, incompetence, and contempt for the Constitution personified by George WMD Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, et al.

    I still believe Senator Clinto best serves the nation in the Senate. One of the dirty little secrets about her Senate career is how much she’s respected by her congressional colleagues… on both sides of the aisle. She would, I believe, be a good President but she’s not the strongest candidate given the Republicans’ virulent Clinton-hating. I think the 2008 general election will be a “change” election and plenty of people, for better or for worse, do not see a second Clinton presidency as enough of a change.

    Last time I asked you, “Hank,” about your favorite presidential candidate you refused to answer. I think, in the meantime, youv’e expressed your support for Romney. Is that still the case?

  29. Posted December 23, 2007 at 10:53 am | Permalink

    “Heh! Just thought I’d drop in and mention that it will be in the low seventies and sunny today in liberal Austin, Texas.”

    Bastid!

    Other than that, Merry Christmas, kfrmgrrl!!!

  30. Posted December 23, 2007 at 11:01 am | Permalink

    Hey MonkeyHawk,

    I’ve expressed my choices a couple of times.

    I’m currently backing Huckabee. I liked Fred until he officially entered the race.

    Now I’m starting to be a little disillusioned with Huckabee. I believe he’s a good man but I think he’s getting a little wishy washy. Romney is not my favorite candidate but he’s my favorite to win against what ever liberal wannabee the dems decide on.

    If I could pick a president it would be Duncan Hunter. I don’t think he has a chance. Unfortunately I seem to be the only one I know that knows his name.

  31. Posted December 23, 2007 at 11:03 am | Permalink

    If I was a betting man, and I am, I’d bet it will be Romney vs Clinton with Romney winning.

  32. J R
    Posted December 23, 2007 at 11:12 am | Permalink

    If this nation elects Willard Romney or ANY Republican after what the Republicans have done to us I shall have to consider renouncing my America citizenship.

  33. stumper
    Posted December 23, 2007 at 11:17 am | Permalink

    Hank,I am well versed on Duncan Hunter. I lived in San Diego for twenty years, and claim california as my home state.

    I have a problem with Hunter’s voting record on just about everything: his stance of criminal rehibilitation; his stance on the environment; his stance on the Iraq war; some of his stance on free trade; and most of his stance on energy.

    He sides with bush in just about everything, and I think that is the wrong direction to take, as these past years of bush have been anything but progressive.

    Edwards may be the only electable democrat, but I think Hillary would be the best President. If she’s nominated, I will vote for her. Obama does, as XXX says, need seasoning.

  34. Hank Price
    Posted December 23, 2007 at 11:28 am | Permalink

    Hey stumper!

    You’ve made my point!

    However, Hunter departs from the president on several issues. The president ran as a conservative but governed like a centrist. I support him in the war on terror and not a whole lot more.

    However, since national defense is the most important issue to me Bush is my man.

    If Hillary wins, I think she would govern a lot tougher than a lot of liberals would like when it came to national defense.

    I don’t have a warm fuzzy about Romney but I think he can win.

  35. Hank Price
    Posted December 23, 2007 at 11:29 am | Permalink

    We’re going to miss ya J R. Unless of course you become a Mexican citizen, stay here and get a job!

  36. XXX
    Posted December 23, 2007 at 11:31 am | Permalink

    If I was a betting man, and I am, I’d bet it will be Romney vs Clinton with Romney winning.

    Posted by: Hank | December 23, 2007 at 11:03 AMHank,IIRC, your record hasn’t been that good on political bets. That you would take the above position bodes well for Democrats.

    I’m not particularly a betting man but if I were, I’d bet that republicans get turned out in droves next year. Not that republicans are all that bad, but I think BushCo has “poisoned the well” so to speak. We’ve had 2 terms of all that’s worst about the GOP.

    I hope you and yours enjoy the wilderness; I predict that it’s where you’ll be for about the next 20 years.

  37. Nathan
    Posted December 23, 2007 at 11:36 am | Permalink

    XXX,

    While you plan on voting for the left, I hope you have plans for your guns when they start trying to take them away again.

    I guess I just don’t see what issues it is you hope to advance by voting for Hilary or Edwards.

    Edwards is one of the most vocally socialist candidates we have had in a long time that is doing this well.

  38. MonkeyHawk
    Posted December 23, 2007 at 11:38 am | Permalink

    “Hank” –

    A Romney vs. Clinton choice would pit the two candidates with the highest possible negatives. Which, given recent elections, may be par for the course. I dunno.

    As we’re seeing in Iowa, evangelicals are loathe to vote for a Mormon and that’s likely to bite Romney in the butt come general election time. The evangelicals couldn’t bring themselves to vote for Bob Dole in 1996, after all, and look what happened to the Republic Party coalition.

    There will be plenty of dyed-in-the-wool Republic Party adherents to oppose any Democrat elected in 2008, of course, but 20 years of Clinton-hating will energize opposition to a second President Clinton. Either Obama or Edwards will likely help this nation to recover from the devisiveness in Washington that is the legacy of Newt Gingrich, Tom DeLay, Karl Rove, and George WMD Bush.

    All the crap Republic Party advocates tried to carp about President Clinton in the 90s — that he was a small-state governor with no gravitas worthy of a national platform — will come back to haunt a Huckabee candidacy. When the Huch told Don Imus, “I don’t know much about foreign policy, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night,” you and most Republic Party regulars must have cringed. Huck’s record of raising taxes in Arkansas has already got supply-siders in a frenzy and his liberal attitude (fueld by Arkansas-based Wal-Mart, no doubt) toward immigration isn’t gonna play well in the general election unless Senator Clinton is the Democratic nominee and offers red-meat opposition to Clinton-haters.

    You seem to me, “Hank,” to be a yellow-dog Republic Party voter. You’ll figure some way to rationalize your ultimate support for anyone who’s the Republic Party candidate. Fine. I’m pretty much that way about any of the Democratic front-runners.

    The difference, as I see it, is that there is no Republic Party candidate who ebraces the so-called principles advocated by conservatives and the Republic Party. All three (really, all eight) of the Democrats in the race represent philosophies and programs that have drawn me to the Democratic Party.

    Believe me, since Newt Gingrich’s “Republic Party Revolution” on 1994, and George WMD Bush taking (literally) the White House in 2000, most Americans have come to the realization America needs all the Democratic Party we can get.

  39. Posted December 23, 2007 at 11:59 am | Permalink

    Ah the love affair with Hillary Clinton by the left.

    Walmart you say? Yep, Hillary Clinton served on the Walmart Board. This board had the biggest anti-union attitude around in the corporate world.

    Rose Law Firm – Yep Hillary R. Clinton worked there too. Also one of the most anti-union law firms around.

    Hillary “Never met a Campaign Donor she didn’t Like” Clinton also loves to spend other people’s money. Pulling in $530 million dollars in earmarks for her buddies makes Clinton quite popular with some Corporate elite. But you know, she’s for the little people being anti-union and giving away pots of money to the Corporates.

    Senator Clinton is anti-military right? Maybe that’s why she tucked in a few million in earmarks for the N.Y. based companies like:

    “Clinton secured $6 million for the AN/SPQ-9B radar; New York-based Telephonics, which won $5 million for a standardized aircraft wireless intercom system for the National Guard Black Hawk helicopter fleet; Plug Power Inc., another New York state company, which got $3 million for fuel cell power technology; and Alliant Tech Systems (ATK), which won $3.5 million for the X-51 B robust scramjet research.”

    Or perhaps Hillary’s compassion for the poor? That’s why she secured $1 billion in government-backed financing, for a Syracuse, NY project – “mega-shopping mall complete with 10 Broadway-style theaters, an indoor river, a Tuscan village and a 39-story luxury hotel sheathed in green solar panels shaped like giant blades of grass.”

    Since taking office in 2001, Clinton has delivered $500 million worth of earmarks that have specifically benefited 59 corporations. About 64% of those corporations provided funds to her campaigns through donations made by employees, executives, board members or lobbyists, a review by the Los Angeles Times shows.

    Because of her perch on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Clinton has been able to earmark $1.4 billion for defense contractors in New York state since she arrived in the Senate, including $140 million this year, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense.

    Clinton has raised more than $270,000 for her campaigns from defense companies with New York operations that have received federal money with her help.

    Of course Hillary Clinton is playing by the rules, she saw to it that the “earmark rules” weren’t changed so drastically she couldn’t play her campaign dollar for earmark trading scheme. Obama sought to change the rules, although no one can figure out why as he obtained 90.4 million in earmarks for his district.

    Follow the money…you’ll find Hillary at the end of the road.

  40. writerdog
    Posted December 23, 2007 at 12:13 pm | Permalink

    http://www.davidbellavia.com/

    I watched the interview with the co-author David Bellavia “House to House” an epic memoir of war.The book is not a sugar coated, dress up heroic account of war in Iraq. Bellavia is honest in his action and emotions. freezing fear, brutal at times and perhaps very honest about how killing another human being effected him. Going from one day and witnessing several people killed in the most horror-able ways and not feeling anything. Then the following day killing a sixteen y.o. boy who was on a roof with an AK47 and it causing him to question if he will ever be able to be a human being again.

    Of being on patrol and believing all the hype about them being there as “liberators”, then suddenly the lights in the houses start to go on and off then a whistle blowing that echoes up and down the street. Noticing men on balconied with rifles and thinking they were there to honor them. Then the suddenly confusion when the men started shooting them! Standing in bewilderment as what to do now? should we be shooting back? Should someone be ordering to open fire?

    The second invasion of Al Fallujsh and the house to house fighting there. This is not a political book, it is an accounting of a soldier’s view that may surprise you at time. May stop your breath at time and cause you to think about what really is happening to our troops. How it feels to actually be in combat and what they feel during those battles. The thousands of misfire message all coming at once, quite a time to be thinking of the meaning of your life.

  41. MonkeyHawk
    Posted December 23, 2007 at 12:16 pm | Permalink

    By your analysis, “Kansas” –

    Hillary is the best Republic Party candidate possible.

  42. writerdog
    Posted December 23, 2007 at 12:19 pm | Permalink

    LOL Kansas after reading your post. It left me wondering if you are trying to talk the liberals out of voting for her. Or trying to talk yourself into it? Damn you keep talking like that even Econ will have a “Clinton in 08″ bumper stick on his car!

  43. Posted December 23, 2007 at 12:31 pm | Permalink

    Hey boy,

    When you working? Mama wants to know.

  44. Posted December 23, 2007 at 1:00 pm | Permalink

    “… Kukla told Gelf Magazine on April 24, 2007…. according to a June 4, 2007 article in the Prague Monitor.”

    Posted by: Hank | December 23, 2007 at 08:47 AM

    Wow Hank!!! Those are both very prestigious peer-reviewed scientific journals. /sarcasm OFF

  45. J R
    Posted December 23, 2007 at 1:03 pm | Permalink

    Readers, friends and others.

    The next few days will be hard on the birds. The snow cover will make it difficult for them to find food. Do something to help them won’t you?

    Then you can say you did your part to prove that J Rs posts were for the birds.

  46. Posted December 23, 2007 at 1:30 pm | Permalink

    “Dr. George Kukla, a research scientist with the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory…”

    Posted by Hank

    The Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory says,http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/research/ocean-climate-physics/about-ocp“Understanding the natural variability of Earth’s climate is complicated enough, but more than ever, human activities are introducing powerful stresses on Earth’s delicately balanced climate system….Increasingly, these recent climate changes are attributed to human activities.”

  47. stumper
    Posted December 23, 2007 at 1:35 pm | Permalink

    “Do something to help them won’t you?”

    Posted by J R.

    They show up really well against the white background, so you really can’t miss them with a 12 gauge:-)

  48. XXX
    Posted December 23, 2007 at 1:37 pm | Permalink

    XXX,

    While you plan on voting for the left, I hope you have plans for your guns when they start trying to take them away again.Posted by: Nathan | December 23, 2007 at 11:36 AM

    Nathan,Those kind of scare tactics don’t work with me. I don’t really care if they ban howitzers, automatic weapons, and even assault weapons. But are you really dumb enough to believe that Hillary is going to take ALL guns away? I don’t really think they can do that. And there’s only one way they’ll get my guns…

    But I’m more than a one issue voter.

    Un-doing the damage republicans have wrought in the past 7 years is what’s important to me.

  49. Rev Jim
    Posted December 23, 2007 at 1:43 pm | Permalink

    I wonder what repubs will do if Rudy or Mitt get elected neither of them are exactly gun friendly

  50. Max
    Posted December 23, 2007 at 2:13 pm | Permalink

    For you conservatives out there, take note in some recent very positive news from a variety of sources about Fred Thompson.

    From the The Weekly Standard:

    http://news.yahoo.com/s/weeklystandard/20071222/cm_weeklystandard/thompsonswaterlooiowa

    From the Quad City Times:

    http://www.qctimes.com/articles/2007/12/22/news/local/doc476b55df08a74129685177.txt

    From USA Today:

    MASON CITY, Iowa — Even his harshest critics would likely concede that Fred Thompson had a good campaign swing through Iowa this week.

    http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2007-12-22-thompson-iowa_N.htm

  51. Max
    Posted December 23, 2007 at 2:32 pm | Permalink

    To the Conservatives, there are two basic reasons why I like Fred Thompson:

    1. He’s a consistent conservative.

    If you look at what he has done (his voting record, his working career), and what he has said, he has maintained the same even conservative keel. There’s no changing from day to day based on the latest polls. Like him or not, he has sound principles that are never changing, and you know where he stands.

    His WORDS today are consistent with his ACTIONS of the past. Can you say that is true for any other candidate for President?

    You can predict with a high degree of certainty how Senator Thompson will make decisions, and what legislation he will or will not support.

    2. I’d rather our President be a soft-spoken country lawyer like Thomspon, then a fast-talking big city lawyer like Giuliani.

    That’s a big factor for me. I’ll take the speak-softly southern gentlement type any day, over a fast-talking New Yorker.

    Thompson’s not born with a silver spoon, he’s been a working man all his life, and he can relate to hard working Americans more so then any other candidate.

    I like Giuliani. I’ve met him several times. But he’s a big New York City lawyer politician type. And he’s liberal on some issues.

    Thompson is solid, down-to-Earth conservative, always has been conservative, and always will be.

  52. CapnAmerica
    Posted December 23, 2007 at 4:41 pm | Permalink

    Huckabee implied that his rise in the polls was because of “divine intervention.”

    I wonder then about all the churches that got cancelled today, the last Sunday in Advent, was that God’s will too?

    I think it is. That’s why my church wasn’t cancelled but Kansas’s church was.

  53. CapnAmerica
    Posted December 23, 2007 at 4:44 pm | Permalink

    My favorite candidates–

    1. Edwards (”people vs. corporations”)

    2. Obama (”hope, not fear”)

    3. Kuchinich (”end the war now”)

    4. Clinton (well . . . she’s better than Bush. Of course, Hoover would have been better than Bush.)

  54. Herbert West III
    Posted December 23, 2007 at 5:25 pm | Permalink

    If the other Candidates are alot like Bush, why would we even consider them over Barack Obama?? If he annd Bush were to be running against eachother who would you vote for Barack or Bush?? Anyother Candidate against Bush and he might get a 3rd term?? SCAREY!!! Barack will probably end up being the First President too be the favorite for a 3 term and be Man and American enough to refuse a 3rd term and continue to support us, the American Citizens, with a 8 year legacy of, “True American Rights, Humanity, and World Peace/Prosperity”!! Vote for Barack and breath easier and “FREE” for 8 years!!! Herbert West III, Publisher/Journalist, http://www.wen2k.com west.herb@yahoo.com

  55. Mrage
    Posted December 23, 2007 at 5:40 pm | Permalink

    Democrat Barack Obama:

    _The Nashua Telegraph in New Hampshire endorsed Obama as the best choice for Democratic voters. “There’s plenty of experience in Washington. What’s lacking is inspired leadership that can speak directly to the people over the heads of the partisan politicians and craft a national consensus not seen in decades.”

    _The Dallas Morning News also endorsed Obama, calling him “our choice because of his consistently solid judgment, poise under pressure and ability to campaign effectively without resorting to the divisive politics of the past.”

    _Iowa’s Burlington Hawk Eye endorsed Clinton as the most impressive of the Democratic candidates. “In person, she’s calculated yet personable. On issues, she’s not a clone of her husband. She’s an independent thinker with progressive ideas.”

    _The Quad City Times in Davenport, Iowa, also chose Clinton. “Hillary Clinton passes test after test after test. This Clinton arrived for the caucus campaign with much, much more experience than the first Clinton to stump across Iowa.”

    Republican John McCain:

    _The Quad City Times chose McCain, calling him “a leader whose life experiences, personally, politically and heroically, have tested his mettle for the nation’s top job.” The paper said it disagrees with McCain on Iraq and ethanol subsidies, but said “America can benefit from an honorable man with a hero’s record.”

    Republican Mike Huckabee:

    _The Dallas Morning News chose Huckabee, saying that while he is not an “ideal candidate,” he “is the change agent the nation most needs.”

    Republican Mitt Romney:

    _The Sioux City Journal of Iowa endorsed Romney. “Romney combines an outsider’s new face with a proven track record of success as an executive in both the private and public sectors. …Personally, he is engaging, even charming, he has shown an ability to reach across partisan divides, and he is passionate on the campaign trail. In terms of leadership qualities, he possesses ‘it,’ and the importance of ‘it’ should not be diminished.”

    _The Concord Monitor of New Hampshire broke with political tradition, telling readers why they should not vote for Romney instead of whom they should support. It called Romney a “disquieting figure” who looks and acts like a presidential contender but “surely must be stopped” because he lacks the core philosophical beliefs to be a trustworthy president.

  56. Herbert West III
    Posted December 23, 2007 at 7:09 pm | Permalink

    The Daily Iowan Endorses Barack Obama. They are at http://www.dailyiowan.com They endorse him because, “he represents a people not a party”. Thi s is at there site as above. They also endorse McCain as the Republican choice. Herbert West III, Publisher/Journalist west.herb@yahoo.com Congratulations to Candidate Obama.

  57. The Phantom
    Posted December 23, 2007 at 7:14 pm | Permalink

    If you want to get tough with China poison imports, vote for Obama. While bush has been looking the other way, Obama has been trying to get a bill passed!

    http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071223/pl_nm/usa_politics_obama_toys_dc_1

  58. Billy Bob
    Posted December 23, 2007 at 10:30 pm | Permalink

    Yah man, that’s who I want as my president, a muslim who won’t respect the flag or national anthem. Makes me wonder if he respects the U.S., the citizens, or any of the other non-muslim religions and faiths. Of course who are the alternatives, a lesbo who can turn a 1000 into 100000 with a history of death and destruction in her wake, or another right wing frat boy. Could we get better choices than dumb and dumber. Merry Christmas.

  59. political_mama
    Posted December 23, 2007 at 10:59 pm | Permalink

    Hillary will be the Dem Candidate, and she will win.

    I promise. Despite the right’s best efforts to dismantle her, there are to many just sick of the Republicans.

  60. political_mama
    Posted December 23, 2007 at 10:59 pm | Permalink

    By the way, Happy Festivus!

  61. Posted December 23, 2007 at 11:13 pm | Permalink

    I wish people would stop their blasted lying about Obama’s religion!! He is a Protestant Christian, in a mainline denomination, that has its roots in the days of the Reformation!!

    His Church is Trinity UCC – Chicago

  62. Posted December 23, 2007 at 11:14 pm | Permalink

    And a Happy Festivus to you too, PMama!! :-)

  63. Stu Meckle
    Posted December 23, 2007 at 11:21 pm | Permalink

    Heading West on US54 from Webb Road I discovered a FUBAR of city planning. Wanting to stop at the Barnes & Noble at Eastgate, heading west on US54, I took the exit that stated ‘Frontage Road’. This exit occurs approx. 1/4 mile before Rock Road & US54. I thought, “How convenient”, access to the frontage road that runs along Eastgate shopping center. This was not the case. Yes, there is an exit, and yes it gives you access to the frontage road which runs parallel to the undeveloped north side of US54. This exit does not get youo access to Eastgate. I am blown away by this obviously poorly thought street layout. Yes, you can travel many blocks of residential street but it is extremely inconvenient and hazerdous to have shopping traffic running through residential streets. After finding no solution I got back on US54 heading west to Rock Road street where, ta da, there is a no left turn sign. So, where the hell do we need to go to get access to Eastgate. I submit I do not know because:1) I took an illegal left turn onto Rock Road.2) Then I took another illegal left turn off Rock Road into the Eastgate area, near the Toys R Us.Until this is addressed I will no longer shop in Eastgate and I will encourage others to boycott this dumb arrangement as well.

  64. Posted December 23, 2007 at 11:21 pm | Permalink

    Pmom, I’m with the Cap’n on this one. Exactly.

    http://blogs.kansas.com/weblog/2007/12/open-thread–20.html#comment-94666360

    Happy Festivus to all!

  65. Baldy
    Posted December 23, 2007 at 11:23 pm | Permalink

    Thanks Chas for that intro to the church Obama belongs to. Below is their mission statement. Sound like a man who wants to be the prez of the whole US would come from this church.

    “About Us
    We are a congregation which is Unashamedly Black and Unapologetically Christian… Our roots in the Black religious experience and tradition are deep, lasting and permanent. We are an African people, and remain “true to our native land,” the mother continent, the cradle of civilization. God has superintended our pilgrimage through the days of slavery, the days of segregation, and the long night of racism. It is God who gives us the strength and courage to continuously address injustice as a people, and as a congregation. We constantly affirm our trust in God through cultural expression of a Black worship service and ministries which address the Black Community.

    The Pastor as well as the membership of Trinity United Church of Christ is committed to a 10-point Vision:

    A congregation committed to ADORATION.
    A congregation preaching SALVATION.
    A congregation actively seeking RECONCILIATION.
    A congregation with a non-negotiable COMMITMENT TO AFRICA.
    A congregation committed to BIBLICAL EDUCATION.
    A congregation committed to CULTURAL EDUCATION.
    A congregation committed to the HISTORICAL EDUCATION OF AFRICAN PEOPLE IN DIASPORA.
    A congregation committed to LIBERATION.
    A congregation committed to RESTORATION.
    A congregation working towards ECONOMIC PARITY.
    Click here to read about Dr. Wright’s talking points for Trinity United Church of Christ its Web site and the Black Value System.http://www.tucc.org/home.htm

  66. Baldy
    Posted December 23, 2007 at 11:29 pm | Permalink

    “We are a congregation which is Unashamedly Black”

    How many churches would be able to say we are ‘ Unashamedly White’?

  67. Herbert West III
    Posted December 23, 2007 at 11:32 pm | Permalink

    Name one person with a “Free Will” who knows what they are as too Religion. As a child I studied alot of different religions. No chlid is whichever Religion there family is. They are predisposed of course to their families Religion. Too blame or point the finger at Barack Obama is not fair. He has stated he is Christian. He has general understandings in most Religions. And for the record too the dumbass “Billy Bob”!! Question, “If Bush is so “White Boy Christian, Why is he too be trusted for forcing our Troops to teach Muslims the American Military Tactics”"? Iraqis are Muslim, correct? Bush is forcing our Christian Troops too teach Muslims, who you seem to hate and mistrust!! He disrepects our National Anthem and removed prayer from our schools. He is the exact type of person whom you are trying to say is like Barack Obama. Where has Barack Obama refused the National Anthem, or disrespected any American Traditions??? You state Merry Christmas, in reference to Christ. Christianity is in reference to Christ. Why would Barack Celebrate Christmas if he dinot believe in Christianity?? Billy Bob, you are a “Fool”!!! Also, I dislike Clinton, but she is not a Lesbo. I don’t trust or like her, but she is not a Lesbo. In this you are calling her husband a “Dyke”. You called a President a “Dyke” and a First Lady a “Lesbo”. Again, you are an idiot. Herbert West III, Publisher/Journalist, Baptist, west.herb@yahoo.com . Yea a Honky who believes in equality. I respect all ethnic backgrounds and dont hold them beneath me. “YOU”???

  68. Baldy
    Posted December 23, 2007 at 11:49 pm | Permalink

    HWII what were you thinking with that last rant? I didn’t call Hillary anything and I just showed a link that Chas introduced as being Obama.

    My question how could someone who believes in the supremacy of any race be presidential?

    Would a man/woman who belongs to the white supremacay church be leader quality?

    I think not. And how does calling Hillary a lesbo make Bill a dyke?

    Not logical.

  69. Herbert West III
    Posted December 24, 2007 at 12:06 am | Permalink

    To: Billy Bob. If we celebrate St. Patricks Day are we denying or defying America in celebrating Ireland?? What about Octoberfest?? Honkys can be proud of their Heritage and Roots yet Blacks are supposed to continue to Bow because whites run everything?? Am I an Anti-American because I study my Indian heritage and some of its beliefs? Are Mexicans told to go to hell because they are in tune with their Heritage? Whites are pissed off because their way of life is in danger. No more burnings, hangings, rapings, or free labor because your lazy. Those Honkies in the American Express Commercials who went to Ireland and then found out they were Scottish and traveled are allowed because they are Honkies? If I see Indians getting the shaft how dare I step up because I should continue to Bow to your honky ideals? B.S.!! I am Indian, and African. I am Chickesaw and Commanchie. A “Sp![K N!ge% in your honky eyes. My roots are African thru the southern channels of Earth up thru Brazil and Mexico and into what is know America. Stolen by Honkies like Christopher Columbus.!! And to this day you and your Honkie Brotheren are upset because you have no roots or Heritage. You have no motherland. You have no place to look into your Heritage. All you have is hatred and reminders by people of indifference who remind you that your weak a$$, doesnt own anyone. Again, are you different from us, or are we different than you? I dont hang, beat, rape and attempt to own another humanbeing. We are different!! We just dont agree on who is the exceptable norm, as an example for others to gauge their humanity and idiotic honky ideals . Bigotry still lives!! Herbert West III, Publisher/JOurnalist, west.herb@yahoo.com

  70. Herbert West III
    Posted December 24, 2007 at 12:08 am | Permalink

    She is the only female candidate and he is her only husband, dumba$$!!! Herb West III, west.herb@yahoo.com

  71. Herbert West III
    Posted December 24, 2007 at 12:09 am | Permalink

    Sorry Billy Bob I read it wrong. It is Baldy who is a Bigot!! Herb West III west.herb@yahoo.com

  72. Posted December 24, 2007 at 12:40 am | Permalink

    “Heh! Just thought I’d drop in and mention that it will be in the low seventies and sunny today in liberal Austin, Texas.”

    Oh, right, rub in our faces, KFG!

    Do you know just how TERRIBLE the weather’s been in Tucson? Surely you saw it on the news! It’s so COLD–as low as the 30s! Brrr!

    And the precipitation! We had cold rain last week, which stopped, but now it’s so cold we have to scrape FROST off our car windows! (Well, okay, only in the early morning and late evening–but it’s a hassle!).

    You Wichita people can’t possible imagine what it’s like!

    Sniff. . .the HORROR! THE HORROR!********

    Sorry, Doodah folks; like KFG, I couldn’t resist!

    Lived there most of my life, so be assured I’ve been there, done that (though I only saw the thunder/lightning thing once–weird!).

    But we desert folks pay for our mild winters with a tedious, 6-month-long, yearly bake. . .

  73. J R
    Posted December 24, 2007 at 1:06 am | Permalink

    My Christmas message?

    And I’ll have a few more.

    From Dickens: Marley to Scrooge, “Mankind was my business!”

  74. Posted December 24, 2007 at 11:04 am | Permalink

    HERE YA GO “BALDY” >>>

    “• To have a church whose theological perspective starts from the vantage point of Black liberation theology being its center, is not to say that African or African American people are superior to any one else.

    • African-centered thought, unlike Eurocentrism, does not assume superiority and look at everyone else as being inferior.

    • There is more than one center from which to view the world. In the words of Dr. Janice Hale, “Difference does not mean deficience.” It is from this vantage point that Black liberation theology speaks.”

    [Trinity UCC Website]

  75. Baldy
    Posted December 24, 2007 at 11:27 am | Permalink

    “We are an African people, and remain “true to our native land,” the mother continent, the cradle of civilization.”

    Chas why would someone with a mission statement like this want to be the president of the USofA?

  76. Posted December 24, 2007 at 11:36 am | Permalink

    The UCC is one of the most secular churches in the U.S.

    The UCC’s “religious faith is so tied to this-worldly concerns for justice and political progress that the political is religious to them,” said Michael Cromartie, an evangelical and vice president of the Ethics & Public Policy Center, a conservative Washington think-tank.

    It’s worth noting that the UCC may not be turning people away, but its members are fleeing in droves. The denomination has lost 23 percent of its membership in the past 15 years, reports the Associated Press. This is not a denomination that needs crowd control.

  77. Sperry
    Posted December 25, 2007 at 12:01 am | Permalink

    “The UCC is one of the most secular churches in the U.S.”

    Why is this a problem?I don’t get it.