04 Oct 2006
Are you a casualty of the class war?

A lament for the late, great American middle class, soon to be no more.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average has hit an all-time high and Wall Street firms are posting some of their best earnings ever. For the first time in our nation's history, the Forbes list of the 400 wealthiest Americans includes only billionaires. In fact, having only a billion dollars means you're not on the list. As a group, the Forbes 400 has a collective net worth of $1.25 trillion.

(link) [CNN.com]

14:11 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link

Girl's grandpa: Forgive those who trespass against us

Well, this probably won't be a real popular viewpoint right now, but I've got to take advantage of this opportunity to highlight a very deep and important theological difference betwixt Christianity and Heathenry... you see, heathens are not under any moral injunction to forgive.

I have many friends among the Amish community here in west central Indiana, and to a man they're a hard working decent lot. Many of their ideas and attitudes are commendable, but there's still an underlying difference that just makes me wince, and it has nothing to do with their Luddite proclivities:

Sam Stoltzfus, 63, an Amish woodworker who lives a few miles away from the shooting scene, told The Associated Press that the victims' families will be sustained by their faith.

"We think it was God's plan, and we're going to have to pick up the pieces and keep going," he told AP. "A funeral to us is a much more important thing than the day of birth because we believe in the hereafter. The children are better off than their survivors."

My gut reaction was "Well, if your god's planning to of your kids, I'd like to suggest you get another god. The one you've got sounds like bad news!"

You see, we heathens have no theodicy, nor do we need one. Evil is evil, and it needs be rooted out and destroyed, not forgiven and blathered about. Pacifism of any stripe is idiocy with another moniker, but Christian pacifism, with the acknowledgment that evil deeds are part of their omnipotent gods "master plan" strikes me as especially ludicrous. If I thought that the Master Creator and Controller of the Universe actually had a hand in such things I'd be doing my level best to thwart his evil plans!

In this instance I feel nothing but sympathy for this killers own wife and kids - they've been made his victims as surely as the children he slaughtered. But I have no feelings of forgiveness, pity or sympathy for the killer himself. Turning the other cheek to this clown while he was still alive would've undoubtedly resulted in getting it blown off, too. I see no reason whatsoever to give him any anything resembling compassion, dead or alive, just because he's a sicko murderer and child molester. He's more than deserving of our hatred - may his ancestors and descendants scorn him and his name, and may he wander the outer darkness forever.

I guess the bottom line is that it just baffles me that folks can actually believe this "turn the other cheek" nonsense.

Let me close with a warning: we heathens don't care a whit for such lunacy, and if you're a criminal planning on harming my family don't expect me to turn the other cheek: I'll be too busy reloading...

An Amish man, standing by the body of his slain granddaughter, told young relatives not to hate the gunman who killed five girls in their classroom, a pastor said on Wednesday. Simple funerals are being planned for the victims, while their families work to forgive the killer, neighbors say.

(link) [CNN]

14:09 /Asatru | 0 comments | permanent link

Foley alleges clergyman abused him as teen

Given my religious predilections, you can imagine the rather low opinion I have of the whole Catholic priest - alter boy scandals of recent years. In fact, I couldn't think of anything remotely more despicable than a priest molesting a child. Until I read this.

Think about what this bonehead is really saying here: "It's not my fault! Father Blowhard made me do the nasty 40 years ago, so now I have to do the same thing! It's the only way I know to have sex! It made me gay!".

In one fell swoop, he's laid the blame at the door of a large, amorphous institution (the church), implied that all the victims of sexual abuse by priests are nascent molesters themselves, and also managed to insult gays by implying that they're "caused" by abuse and thus probably abusers themselves!

Out of one side of his mouth comes the words "I accept full responsibility..." and a resignation letter from Congress. Out of the other side comes this shameless dodge of any personal responsibility and insult to countless thousands of innocent people, many of them victims of sexual abuse.

If Mr. Foley escapes jail for this series of lewd solicitations of children I will lose all faith in our system of justice, for it will be obvious that there is no justice - as long as you've been elected to Congress.

Former Rep. Mark Foley was molested as a teen by a clergyman, his attorney says. David Roth added the admission was made as part of Foley's recovery program at a treatment center. The growing scandal erupted Friday when Foley quit amid questions over e-mails allegedly sent to a former page.

(link) [CNN]

Update:Fox News has magically transformed Foley into a Democrat! Go figure ...

09:59 /Politics | 1 comment | permanent link

Beer drinkers beware: U.S. hops crop burns

Ah, the joys of business concentration in agriculture! Three quarters of our total hop production comes from 40 families in the Yakima Valley... doubtless for ease of sale and shipping. Unfortunately, this convenience makes the crop equally easy to destroy, nearly in toto.

Of course, other materials could be used in lieu of hops, but we couldn't allow that, now could we?

Federal investigators were set Tuesday to begin an investigation into a fire that ruined about 4 percent of America's yield of hops, used as flavoring in the brewing of beer and ale.

(link) [CNN]

07:40 /Agriculture | 1 comment | permanent link

'Impostor lobster' makes senator crabby

Yet another truth in labeling issue. If the folks who set the standards for such things don't get some sense, pretty soon it'll be perfectly possible (and legal) for me to sell you a "cow patty" on a bun: as a "meat" product!

What's in a name? For Maine lobstermen, tens of millions of dollars, says one senator.

(link) [CNN]

07:31 /Agriculture | 0 comments | permanent link