another week closer to the eschaton…

Sectarianism, bigotry, and its horrible descendant, fanaticism, have long possessed this beautiful earth. They have filled the earth with violence, drenched it often and often with human blood, destroyed civilization and sent whole nations to despair. Had it not been for these horrible demons, human society would be far more advanced than it is now. But their time is come; and I fervently hope that the bell that tolled this morning in honor of this convention may be the death-knell of all fanaticism, of all persecutions with the sword or with the pen, and of all uncharitable feelings between persons wending their way to the same goal.
     — Swami Vivekananda, Chicago, 9/11/1893

maybe this isn’t exactly the right question to be asking at the moment, but: has anybody seen مُعَمَّر القَذَّافِي recently?

Dominionists Deny They Want a Theocratic State: Don’t Buy It – “This is the god of the Dominionists. He’s a god whose followers can be considered above the law simply by claiming to act in his behalf. He’s a god who has no respect for the “inalienable rights” held so dear by the founders of this country – people who were fleeing from a government they viewed as oppressive to their own rights. A government ruled by a sovereign who claimed to act based on the “divine right of kings” – based on the will of a god who establishes monarchs, not democracies.”

Obama: War is peacePeace Prizes for War Presidents, Missile Tests on Day of Peace – escalation of US offensive missile strategy — launching an ICBM Missile across the pacific on World Peace Day… 😐

Military officials ignored Cheney’s 9/11 shoot-down order – there were two men who wanted to make the 9/11 disaster worse: osama bin laden and vice-president dick cheney.

The Police Are Now Empowered As Art Critics – Police Chief Jim McDonnell has confirmed that detaining photographers for taking pictures “with no apparent æsthetic value” is within Long Beach Police Department policy.

Poll: OK to trade some freedoms to fight terrorism – “Those who would trade their freedoms for the illusion of security SHOULD be beaten up.” Paul Rubino, 20-OCT-2001. also, Why People Are Unmoved By TSA Abuses

Complain About Being Sexually Assaulted By A TSA Thug? THEY’LL SUE!The Advice Goddess got raped by a TSA goon, who has demanded that T.A.G. pay her $500,000 for her distress at being called out. 😛

Is Texas A Ponzi Scheme? – while social security has very little in common with a ponzi scheme, one could make the case that the state of texas itself has a whiff of pyramid scheme about it…

Space junk at tipping point – my impression is that there’s got to be a lot of “cleanup” which we don’t currently have any idea how to do, before any more than a select few are capable of inhabiting space for any length of time.

Nearly 40 percent of Europeans suffer mental illness – if it’s 40% in europe, i’m gonna bet that it’s over 80% in the united states.

Tea Party Owes More to the Church of Satan Than to Jesus – this is probably why i never really got into LaVey’s philosophy that much…

Colombian High Court Re-Legalizes Drug Possession and Police State Roundup: 15 Reasons Why I Choose Not to Live in the USSA – this makes me want to get out even more than i did before… 😛

Does Marijuana Make You Stupid? – short answer: no.

Gibson Guitar raid part of government effort to extinguish American workforce, outsource remaining jobs to foreign countries – 😮