Brain Dead Sara Palin Tells Canada to Dismantle its Public Health-Care System to Allow Private Enterprise to take over.

Nothing is more dangerous that a self absorbed, egotistical cretin who does not recognize their own mental and talent limitations. Today this dangerous phenomenon is best embodied by Sarah "Bible Spice" Palin who at times seems to be lucky if she has an IQ of someone who is trainable mental retarded. The women has no frigging clue of which end is up yet loves to hear the sound of her own voice which to me sounds like a cat with its tail caught in a meat grinder. Her latest case of verbal diahareaha, Palin denounces Canada's health insurance program that covers all citizens. But that is only the biginning. Not only is Ms. Palin an idiot, but apparrently so are her staff members - remeber when the Canadian radio DJ called her pretending to be the president of France? Now, the Canadians have struck again and this time Bible Spice spouts off to Canadian comedienne and news personality Mary Walsh,who interviewed Palin as part of her comedy show This Hour Has 22 Minutes, which is a parody of the nightly news. With over 45 million Americans without health insurance coverage, one cannot help but wonder what Palin has been smoking if she thinks private enterprise can provide a better safety net that Canada's health program. Here is some video footage of Bible Spice showing her stupidity:

Equally troubling is the fact that as Palin travels the country selling her book tellin a fictionalized version of reality she is doing so on a private aircraft apparently owned by a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization run by a son of Billy Graham. Daily Kos has these details:

*
Franklin [Graham] runs an organization called "The Samaritan's Purse." Purse claims on their website to be an "International Christian relief and evangelism organization that provides spiritual and physical aid to victims of war, poverty, natural disaster, and disease." Right. Of course, an "international christian relief organization" can't function without a fleet of corporate airplanes.

*
And that brings us to Sarah Palin. In her book tour, Palin claims that she's just like the rest of us, riding her tour bus from town to town. BULLSHIT. Samaritan's Purse is flying Sarah around in one of its aircraft. She lands near her next book rally, gets on the bus, and rides into town on the bus. Palin is flying around in a Beechcraft/King Air 300tail number N262SP (multi-engine, 11 passengers). The SP does not stand for Sarah Palin -- the plane is owned by Samaritans Purse.
*
This means that donations to SP are being used to haul Palin's carcass around. Wonder what the donors think of that? Hmmm. Does this violate Samaritan's Purses 501c(3) status? And -- get this -- I tried to check the flight activity for this airplane (N262SP) at Flightaware.com. The flight activity for this plane is blocked by the owner. Guess he doesn't want anyone to know where he is flying. This is deceit and lies on so many levels it makes my head hurt to think about it. But, then, you expected something different from a gang of biblethumpers??

Los Angeles Times Condemns The Manhattan Declaration

Fortunately, a number of major media outlets have condemned the so-called "Manhattan Declaration" - authored in part by convicted Watergate felon Chuck Colson (pictured at right) which among other things urges far right Christianists to engage in civil disobedience and ignore laws that run contrary to Christianist bigotry. As regular readers know, I view far right Christianist extremist - a term that increasingly includes the U.S. leadership of the Catholic Church - to constitute a danger to the rule of law and constitutional government. Now the Los Angeles Times has joined the chorus of those condemning the newest Christianist Manifesto. Here are some highlights:

*
Few today would criticize civil rights activists, including the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., for participating in or condoning the violation of laws that perpetuated white supremacy -- with the understanding that they would face punishment for their actions. But such civil disobedience is rightly regarded as the exception that proves that the proper redress for unjust laws lies in legislation or in court rulings based on the Constitution.
*
That cautious approach has been thrown to the wind by Christian religious leaders who, even as they insist on their right to shape the nation's laws, are reserving the right to violate them in situations far removed from King's witness.
*
Last week, a group of Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox leaders released a “declaration” reminding fellow believers that "Christianity has taught that civil disobedience is not only permitted, but sometimes required." Then, after a specious invocation of King, the 152 signers hurl this anathema at those who would enact laws protecting abortion or extending the rights of civil (not religious) marriage to same-sex couples.
*
Strong words, but also irresponsible and dangerous ones. The strange land described in this statement is one in which a sinister secularist government is determined to force Christians to betray their principles about abortion or the belief that "holy matrimony" is "an institution ordained by God." The idea that same-sex civil marriage will undermine religious marriage is a canard Californians will remember from the campaign for Proposition 8, as is the declaration's complaint that Christian leaders are being prevented from expressing their "religious and moral commitments to the sanctity of life and to the dignity of marriage as the conjugal union of husband and wife."
*
This apocalyptic argument for lawbreaking is disingenuous, but it is also dangerous. Did the Roman Catholic bishops who signed the manifesto consider how their endorsement of lawbreaking in a higher cause might embolden the antiabortion terrorists they claim to condemn? Did they stop to think that, by reserving the right to resist laws they don't like, they forfeit the authority to intervene in the enactment of those laws, as they have done in the congressional debate over healthcare reform? They need to be reminded that this is a nation of laws, not of men -- even holy men.

*

Sadly, I fear that we are nearing a point (1) where the Christianist extremists of all denominations will need to be confronted and forced to respect the civil laws, and (2) the civil authorities must reject the Christianist efforts to destroy the separation of church and state. These people are lunatic extremists that cannot be reasoned with.

Irish Leader Seeks Justice for Catholic Church Child Sexual Abuse Cover-Up

It will be interesting to see whether Ireland does a better job of holding senior members of the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy accountable for their malfeasance in covering up the sexual abuse of minors and protecting predator priests. Sadly, in the USA both the federal government and the mainstream media are too cowardly to take on a major denomination like the Catholic Church no matter how despicable the actions of its leadership may be. It is hardly being "anti-religion" to prosecute those who were accessories to or who covered up crimes against children and youth. Yet most of the 2/3's of Bishops who covered up for predator priests got ff scot free, some even being promoted to higher office (e.g., now retired Cardinal Egan of New York City) Here are some highlights from the Daily Record:
*
IRISH premier Brian Cowen told yesterday of his shock at the 30-year cover-up of child abuse by the Catholic church. He demanded that those responsible for shielding paedophile priests be brought to justice. Cowen said the Murphy Report into child sex abuse in the Dublin Archdiocese was a crushing verdict that the good name and standing of the Church was placed above the basic safety of children. He added: "It was a betrayal of trust and a complete abandoning of duty.

The report revealed hundreds of allegations of child sex abuse were kept hidden by senior churchmen, who were obsessed with secrecy and upholding the reputation of the Church and their assets. It found the main loyalty of bishops, who moved abusive priests from parish to parish, was to the Church.

[Irish Prime Minister]Cowen added that "there must be no ambiguity about the fact that all institutions and individuals are answerable to the law of the land, whatever their status".

More Sunday Male Beauty

Catholic News Site Endorses Scott Lively's Take on Uganda Gays

By happen stance I checked out Box Turtle Bulletin this morning and to my horror I saw Timothy Kincaid's piece about LifeSiteNews carry a story largely endorsing the views of Scott Lively, one of the most deranged and hysterically anti-gay bigots on the planet. As Kincaid notes, LifeSiteNews must be read with the understanding that it has a strong sectarian slant and is perhaps best viewed as an unofficial lay voice of the Roman Catholic Church. Its Editor, John-Henry Westen (pictured above right), interviewed Scott Lively and echoed without question his statements about homosexuality in Uganda and the current effort underway to pass legislation to execute HIV positive gay people, incarcerate other gay people for life, and jail those family, friends, or acquaintances who do not report suspected gay people to the government. While Westen’s biases make him ready to believe the worst about gay people, however irrational, it was surprising the extent to which Lively’s word was taken as unvarnished truth. Here is how Kincaid describes Lively (about whom I have written in the past and with whom I had a few nasty e-mail exchanges):

*
Scott Lively is an unusual anti-gay activist. He does not stop at moral concern, cultural discomfort, or objection based in ignorance, stereotype, or unfamiliarity. Rather, Lively travels the world marketing in anti-gay lies and myths and seeking to inflame hatred and instigate outrage and social oppression of gay people on an international scale.
*
Lively is the author of The Pink Swastika, a book whose premise is that the Nazis were primarily a homosexual organization and that gays were responsible for the Holocaust. While this is a laughable assertion dismissed by historians and holocaust groups, it is read, believed, and treasured in countries where animus against gay people is strong and an excuse to hate gay people is welcomed without question.
*

That the Catholic Church is unofficially endorsing the bat shit craziness of Lively is shocking even for the morally bankrupt Church hierarchy. Here's a sampling of the parroting of Lively being put out on LifeSiteNews:

*
While a proposed and much-criticized anti-homosexuality law in Uganda is definitely too harsh, the law comes as a direct response to the heavy-handed pressure from international gay-activist politicians on Uganda to accept homosexuality as normal, according to one Christian expert who was recently in the African country to testify against the current wording of the bill. In fact, as Dr. Scott Lively, the President of Defend the Family pointed out, the preamble to the bill, and the bill itself contain numerous references to stopping international pressure on Uganda to accept Western sexual values that are abhorrent to Ugandan culture.
*
Dr. Lively, a pro-family activist and attorney based in California was in Uganda in March to testify before Ugandan legislators now considering the legislation. In an interview with LifeSiteNews (LSN), Dr. Lively explained that the impetus for the bill was "a lot of external interference from European and American gay activists attempting to do in Uganda what they've done around the world - homosexualize that society." One of their main concerns, explained Lively, "are the many male homosexuals coming in to the country and abusing boys who are on the streets."
*
While the Catholic leadership in the nation has not yet responded publicly to the proposed bill, they have consistently expressed outrage at the attempts of the West to impose acceptance of homosexuality on the country. Last month at the Synod for Africa at the Vatican, bishops from all over the continent noted their grave concerns over the international anti-family pressure.
*
Summing up the discussions, the Cardinal Archbishop of Cape Coast, Ghana, Peter Turkson, said that the Synod had "described in various ways a ferocious onslaught on the family and the related fundamental institution of marriage from outside Africa and attributed it to diverse sources." The bishops, he said, "vigorously denounced the ideology and international programs which are imposed on African countries under false pretexts or as conditions for development assistance."
*

As for Lively's purported expertise, he holds a Doctor of Theology degree from a small Bible college and a law degree from the far right Catholic and non-ABA accredited Trinity Law School in California. Because Trinity Law School is not accredited, its graduates can only be licensed in California and are not eligible to take the bar exam in other states. The Catholic faith has sunk to new lows if Lively is taken as a legitimate "expert." Why not quote a tribal witch doctor as an expert on brain surgery?

UPDATE: Damning Report Released in Ireland on Catholic Church Sex Abuse Cover Ups.

All too typically I received a comment on a prior post on this topic accusing me of seeking new witch hunts against the Roman Catholic Church in the the USA. Needless to say, the comment was not published. Believe me, I'm not seeking witch hunts - just accountability and consequences for heinous malfeasance by the high clergy. I literally know of no other institution where such widespread callous disregard for the safety of children and youths would not have resulted in mass resignations and/or firings. Yet with the Church, all one gets is mealy mouthed apologies and strenuous efforts to avoid paying victims compensation for what the Church hierarchy allowed to happen and sought to cover up. The Church continues to inflict needless guilt and self-loathing on many and on gays in particular. Any institution that wants to label people as "inherently disordered" and a threat to society's structure in my view had damn well be squeaky clean itself. Copies of the Dublin Diocese report can be found here and here. I urge readers to check them out and then decide if accountability is not demanded.

*

If the Church wants to interfere with CIVIL law matters as it did in California, Maine and elsewhere such as is currently the case in Washington, D.C., then the FULL truth about the Church needs to be aired so that elected officials understand full well the fact that the Church leadership is in no position to lecture anyone about anything so long as its own house is harboring those who enabled and covered up rampant sexual abuse of children and minors. Ditto for the crap that the Church continues to disseminate to LGBT Catholics on celibacy and reparative therapy - on several occasions I have thrown the booklets in the trash when I see them in a Catholic church. The poison needs to be eradicated. Plain and simple.

Virginia Clubs and Restaurants Going Smoke Free

On Tuesday a new ban on smoking in restaurants and clubs goes into effect and the only way that smoking will be permitted is outside or in a separate, separately ventilated area. Nights of coming home from dinner or a club and smelling the stink of cigarette smoke on your clothes will not be missed - especially by those of us who have allergies to the smoke or who wear contact lenses. There have been many people whining about the ban, yet New York and other areas have had bans for some time and the world did not end. Personally, I see inflicting your second hand smoke - a know cause of cancer - on others as the height of selfishness. I for one welcome the ban. My favorite local dance club in Norfolk will have no smoking indoors. Here are some highlights from the Virginian Pilot on the ban that kicks in on December 1, 2009:

*

Businesses such as White's [The Rainbow Cactus in Virginia Beach] that serve food have these options under Virginia's new smoking ban: prohibit lighting up in their restaurants; designate outdoor areas for smoking; or set up a smoking room that is walled off and ventilated. Private clubs are exempt from the ban.
*
Gov. Timothy M. Kaine signed the legislation in March. According to the Virginia Department of Health, about 66 percent of the state's bars and restaurants were smoke-free before the legislation was approved. After approval, the number rose to more than 70 percent.
*
Yet, some local businesses don't want to take the risk of going totally smoke-free. . . .Dennis Doughty, co-owner of The Banque in Norfolk, gave up his spacious office to create a smoking room in his country-western nightclub. . . . ."We want our customers to be happy," said Doughty, a nonsmoker. "So, I'll give up my office to make them happy." On Tuesday, contractors installed a ventilation system and plumbing fixtures, Doughty said. After completion, the smoking room will have a flat-screen TV for smokers to view the dance floor, he said, and a glass aquarium along the wall.
*

For all the woory that customers may stay home, the number one reason I hear from people who avoid the clubs is the cigarette smoke. Owners may be surprised that the ban helps business rather than hurt it. Either way, it will make for a healthier atmosphere for nonsmokers.

Sunday Male Beauty

Sleepless Anxiety

As the prior post indicated, I'm in a pissy mood, having awakened around 2:30AM suffering an anxiety attack about financial issues and a sub current of sadness that I heard nothing from either of my two older children over the holiday. Thoughts drift to the bottle of Xanax that the boyfriend has hidden so that I can't "get tempted" by all the pills. Frankly, I hate the holidays. And I hate year end business transactions that need to close notwithstanding all the lost days for the Thanksgiving and Christmas weekends. I know I should be (and I am grateful) for having the boyfriend in my life and that my youngest daughter remains loyal to me. Yet at times, I am simply so tired and find it hard to think in a positive way. The ongoing payments to the ex-wife are killing me ending insult to the way in which I was f*cked in my divorce by a judge who, in my opinion, needs to be removed from the bench for his blatant homophobia.

*

Meanwhile, the boyfriend and I have been working like dogs the past two days on renovations to his hair salon: taking up and painting trim and laying a new floor in the styling area of the salon and assembling new styling chairs, etc. It is going to look great when we are done, but I may be crippled in the process. He has done so much for me and loves me more that I believe anyone ever has - certainly more than the former wife - so I am happy to be able to give back something to him. The other reward will be that he's taking me to Key West again in January.

Food Stamp Usage Across the Country and Mortgage Relief Nonexistent

As Congress and President Obama dither after bailing out Wall Street's for its reckless greed - but nobody else - food stamp usage is soaring to record levels. Meanwhile, only a tiny fraction of distresses homeowners have had their mortgages permanently restructured. True, Obama and the Democrats did not set the stage for this mess - that was done by the Chimperator and the GOP Congress. However, Obama and the Democrats are proving too gutless to govern and make need changes. Yes, the birthers and teabaggers are insane, but it's not just their imagination that things are seriously off track in the nation. Obama was elected on his promises of change and as each passing day goes by, it seems that all we are seeing is the same old crap - plus Obama wants to send more troops to Afghanistan, not learning from the experience of the British or the Soviets. The LGBT community is indeed not the only one that's been thrown under the bus. Here are some highlights from a New York Times story on the soaring food stamp usage that now feeds 1 out of 4 children:

*
With food stamp use at record highs and climbing every month, a program once scorned as a failed welfare scheme now helps feed one in eight Americans and one in four children. It has grown so rapidly in places so diverse that it is becoming nearly as ordinary as the groceries it buys. More than 36 million people use inconspicuous plastic cards for staples like milk, bread and cheese, swiping them at counters in blighted cities and in suburbs pocked with foreclosure signs.
*
Virtually all have incomes near or below the federal poverty line, but their eclectic ranks testify to the range of people struggling with basic needs. They include single mothers and married couples, the newly jobless and the chronically poor, longtime recipients of welfare checks and workers whose reduced hours or slender wages leave pantries bare.
*
From the ailing resorts of the Florida Keys to Alaskan villages along the Bering Sea, the program is now expanding at a pace of about 20,000 people a day.
*
There are 239 counties in the United States where at least a quarter of the population receives food stamps, according to an analysis of local data collected by The New York Times. . . . . These places with soaring rolls include populous Riverside County, Calif., most of greater Phoenix and Las Vegas, a ring of affluent Atlanta suburbs, and a 150-mile stretch of southwest Florida from Bradenton to the Everglades.

*
This is the first recession in which a majority of the poor in metropolitan areas live in the suburbs, giving food stamps new prominence there. Use has grown by half or more in dozens of suburban counties from Boston to Seattle, including such bulwarks of modern conservatism as California’s Orange County, where the rolls are up more than 50 percent.
*

Meanwhile, on the residential mortgage front, the alleged programs to help restructure loans is proving to be a bust. Lenders are incompetent in handling the applications and many just seem to disappear into a black hole. Try calling a lender for information and one can be on the telephone for hours, transferred countless times and still end up nowhere. The result is more foreclosures which keep the housing market spiraling downward, taking the rest of the economy with it. Our severe Northeaster two weeks ago was a boon for construction trades that have been withering without work. Here are highlights on this serious issue:

*

The Obama administration on Monday plans to announce a campaign to pressure mortgage companies to reduce payments for many more troubled homeowners, as evidence mounts that a $75 billion taxpayer-financed effort aimed at stemming foreclosures is foundering.
*
"The banks are not doing a good enough job,” Michael S. Barr, Treasury’s assistant secretary for financial institutions, said in an interview Friday. “Some of the firms ought to be embarrassed, and they will be.” . . . From its inception early this year, the Obama administration’s program, called Making Home Affordable, has been dogged by persistent questions about whether it could diminish a swelling wave of foreclosures.

*

Some economists argued that the plan was built for last year’s problem — exotic mortgages whose payments increased — and not for the current menace of soaring joblessness. Lawyers who defend homeowners against foreclosure maintained that mortgage companies collect lucrative fees from long-term delinquency, undercutting their incentive to lower payments to affordable levels.
*
Last month, an oversight panel created by Congress reported that fewer than 2,000 of the 500,000 loan modifications then in progress had become permanent under Making Home Affordable. . . . Populist anger has been fanned by a growing perception that the Treasury has lavished generous bailouts on Wall Street institutions while neglecting ordinary homeowners — this, in the midst of double-digit unemployment, which is daily sending more households into delinquency.
*
“We’re seeing a failure by some of the bigger banks on execution,” Mr. Barr said. “We’re going to be quite focused and direct on particular institutions that are not doing a good job.” The banks say they are making good-faith efforts to comply with the program and provide relief.
*

Having spent hours assisting clients in dire need of loan restructuring several things strike home: incompetent lender staff, too few personnel for the volume of files, and a don't give a damn attitude. Add to this the fact that the banks have received tons of money, yet there is no consequence if they do not use it as directed to help homeowners. These properties are peoples' homes and their loss sends families spinning into further financial decline.