Saturday, December 30, 2006

On the Occasion of the Death of Saddam Hussein

death

The old year is dying fast. What a special year it's been, too: a year of recurring thanatological celebration. So what better way to ring out the old year than to...kill something else? And what better way to send a message of our continuing, unwavering support toward current allies, than to celebrate the death of an old one?

Because as history has repeatedly shown us, nothing solves a problem like death.

In fact, the more dying there is, the better the world gets.

And if the media can make a few bucks off some medieval displays of that death, and desensitize the paying masses even further into Romanesque barbarity, why, surely God will love us even more. Now, I know there are some wet blankets out there who worry about a backlash now that Saddam is dead, but, really, people. Even if there was, how would we know?

I can hardly wait to see what awaits us in the new year.

Thursday, December 21, 2006

Goode Will Toward Men

turkeyAh. It must be Christmas. The tree is up and somewhere a turkey is simmering:
Rep. Virgil H. Goode Jr. (R-Va.) is coming under sharp criticism for lashing out against the decision by Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), who will become the first Muslim member of Congress next month, to use the Koran during a swearing-in ceremony.

In a recent letter to constituents, Goode, a five-term congressman from Rocky Mount, wrote that he does "not subscribe to using the Koran in any way" and added: "The Muslim Representative from Minnesota was elected by the voters of that district and if American citizens don't wake up and adopt the Virgil Goode position on immigration, there will likely be many more Muslims elected to office and demanding the use of the Koran."
No, this kind of hate-and-fear campaign couldn't just die an ignominious death after Dennis Prager's booboisie tirades. No, it had to pick up steam and become a rallying cry for every bigoted, ignorant lout who thinks his religion is better than your religion. Let's hear some more of that Christ-like forbearance we've come to expect from His followers, crying out in the extremity of their persecution at the hands of the unsaved:
“I fear that in the next century we will have many more Muslims in the United States if we do not adopt the strict immigration policies that I believe are necessary to preserve the values and beliefs traditional to the United States of America and to prevent our resources from being swamped,” said Mr. Goode, who vowed to use the Bible when taking his own oath of office.
You can read the full text of the letter, blessedly short as it is so as not to tax small minds, here. Mind you, this creature sounding the alarm against people who don't look or pray like he does is the same toad who took plenty of money from Mitchell Wade's MZM, Inc. employees, to the tune of $48,551, to plant a military center in Goode's district and have Wade's company run it. Wade, identified as a co-conspirator in the Randy "Duke" Cunnigham scandal. But then, graft and corruption in the pursuit of mammon is the only real god that counts with these people, who then hit the churches on Sunday to assure themselves they are righteous in their greed.

And like any true believer, Goode is proud of his hate and ignorance, and defies anyone to try to make him say otherwise:
Goode's press secretary Linwood Duncan said, "He has no intention of apologizing and he stands by the letter."
Merry fucking Christmas.

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Christmas Thoughts To Keep You Warm While You're Trolling For PlayStation 3

poverty_mapFrom the US Conference of Catholic Bishops' Poverty USA page, these statistics pull a brittle skin of numbers over the grinning skull of impoverishment that waxes over Bushland:

For the fourth consecutive year, the poverty rate and the number of Americans living in poverty both rose from the prior years. Since 2000, the number of poor Americans has grown by more than 6 million. The official poverty rate in 2004 (the most current year for which figures are available) was 12.7 percent, up from 12.5 percent in 2003. Total Americans below the official poverty thresholds numbered 37 million, a figure 1.1 million higher than the 35.9 million in poverty in 2003. (U.S. Census Bureau, Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2004)

On average, more than one out of every three Americans - 37 percent of all people in the United States - are officially classified as living in poverty at least 2 months out of the year. (U.S. Census Bureau, Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2004)

The number of Americans living in severe poverty - with incomes below half of the poverty line - remained the same at 15.6 million. (U.S. Census Bureau, Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2004)

Since 1999, the number of poor Americans suffering from "food insecurity" and hunger has increased by 3.9 million - 2.8 million adults and more than one million children. In 2002, 34.9 million people lived in households experiencing food insecurity - that is, not enough food for basic nourishment - compared to 33.6 million in 2001 and 31 million in 1999. (U.S. Department of Agriculture, Household Food Security in the United States, 2002, October 2003.)

The American Midwest and South saw the greatest numbers of people entering poverty in 2004; the number in the Midwest rose from 6.9 million to 7.5 million, while the South rose from 14 to 14.5 million people. Yet the two regions stand at the opposite ends of the percentage of people living in poverty for all regions in America. In the Midwest and Northeast, 11.6 percent of all people live in poverty, compared to 12.6 percent for the West, and 14.1 for the South – the highest of all. (U.S. Census Bureau, Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2004)
tour But stats don't really bring home the nuts and bolts of the daily grinding fear that people in poverty have to grapple with, day after day. View the USCCB's short (2 minute) movie, here, to get an idea of how difficult it can be. And then re-visit this old post of mine, where I break it down in print.

More on this later.