And In the End...

...all the anti-choice, anti-woman right has done, is set us back a single step. They have gained no ground, and have brought themselves TWO steps closer to being identified as the amoral domestic terrorists that they are.

Nebraska physician vows to keep Tiller clinic OPEN.

THEY HAVE GAINED NOTHING.

It's heartbreaking that Dr. Tiller had to lose his life in such a manner, and that his family, friends, and patients had to have such a dedicated and caring man wrenched so brutally from their lives. But his loss was NOT THEIR gain.

Nor has it set back those of us who value a woman's sovereignty, who value her RIGHT to choose when, and how often, she reproduces - or to choose NOT to reproduce at all. It has not set back those of us who view women as MORE than simply walking wombs, ready to churn out the next generation of Bible-thumping cannon fodder. It has not stopped us, and can only slow us down but for a moment. In the grand scheme of things, this... is but a temporary stumble, NOT a total knockout, and no reason to lose hope or give up.

As long as there are people like Dr. Tiller, who value the lives and rights of women, his death will not be in vain. But, for the anti-choice movement, as long as they are represented by, and supportive OF, domestic terrorists like Dr. Tiller's assassin... it will simply lead to a harder backlash against them in the end.

And, oh, what a sweet end that will be.

You have to be fucking kidding.

... I pride myself on my ability to remain calm in the face of right wing insanity, but this? This manages to send me into a blind rage each and every time.

Things like this? Are only supposed to be exaggerations in movies, or Onion articles. You know? Satire.

But there it is. Large as life, and twice as real. At least Canada forced them to apologize. Even if it was just a shitty FauxNoise non-apology apology.

Abysmal Stupidity Results In Deadly Explosion

From: A nameless idiot on a site called Wajas

"McCain isn't much better. But he's certainly a break from either side from the past, the corrupt Bushies in power now, and the Big-Government left trying to muscle their way up to the trough."

I think it's funny that people accuse Obama of being "big government," and then turn around and claim that McCain is any better, or any different than the administration we're currently under (when McCain voted WITH Bush 90% of the time. Some "maverick.") It shows that they're uneducated on the matters, and just buying into the propaganda being fed to them by Fox News and the far right.

Newsflash: Some government control is NECESSARY for things to function as they should. Deregulation is BAD. Massive tax cuts for big corporations (especially those that ship our jobs overseas) are BAD. Not having a solid, sensible economic plan IS BAD.

Would Obama's policies "fix" everything? No. At this point, only the world's biggest miracle could do that (thanks to eight years of cronyism, deregulation, "trickle-down economics," and Bush Administration policies that favor Big Business and the super-wealthy top 5% over middle- and lower-class consumers.) But they would do far, far less harm than McCain's shoddy proposals, which read like four more years of Bush, Jr. Plus, his tax plan is more sensible and sustainable, giving MORE back to 95% of all Americans, as opposed to catering solely to the super-wealthy in the mistaken belief that THEIR prosperity will "trickle down" to make the rest of us wealthier.

Not to mention "conservatives" like McCain want to EXPAND government to intrude upon Americans' personal lives - phone tapping, domestic spy programs, intrusion into your bedroom and personal relationships through "legislated morality" and Constitutional amendments set up to DENY personal freedoms, etc. How is THAT not "big government"?

Also, Obama's running mate isn't a power-mad, borderline psychotic religious zealot/country bumpkin who hobnobs with violent secessionists (who, in turn, associate with Chechen separatists) while claiming to be "country first!", as well as has ties to militant Christian hate groups (see Joel's Army) whose ultimate goal is to engage in worldwide mass murder of everyone who doesn't side with them. Also, Biden's idea of foreign policy experience is NOT "I can see Russia from my house!"

Yeah. I think I'll take Obama/Biden's sensibility and SANITY over what's being served up by the Republican party this go-round.

"Get the Obama signs off your property—now,"

"Failure to obey this order will result in the immediate death of all family members."

Don't believe what you just read?

Believe it. People are getting DEATH THREATS for supporting Obama now.

Two supporters of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama found handwritten death threats in their mailboxes Thursday and reported them to Villa Park police.

A 74-year-old woman and a 46-year-old man with Obama signs in their front yards near the 600 block of South Villa Avenue received similar letters that had a Villa Park Village Hall return address. "Get the Obama signs off your property—now," the letter reads. "Failure to obey this order will result in the immediate death of all family members." Both residents said they will not remove their signs, though the man, who had voted Republican for 25 years before switching parties this year, said his wife is worried about letting their 7-year-old son play alone outside.

Village President Joyce Stupegia said she has not heard about any other letters.

"I'm quite troubled," she said. "It's obviously a person who's a little nutsy getting carried away. But it's unacceptable."

So, McCain.... Are you still "proud" of your supporters? Are you going to come out and condemn this action as the despicable criminal behavior that it is? Are you going to stand up, take the HIGH ROAD for once, and say "This is NOT what the Republican party stands for, and I will not tolerate this sort of behavior from people who claim to support me"?

Of course not. Whatever it takes to either win the election, or burn the country down after losing, right?

Seriously, now. I wonder if the fucknut who wrote those letters would have been even half as bold if those signs had read "Gun Owners For Obama". And it's people LIKE that, that are making me seriously think about getting a big, fierce-looking German shepherd and a .35mm for personal safety - just BECAUSE people like that seem to be becoming more and more common, and more and more unhinged, thanks to McCain/Palin's stirring up of hatred and violence.

This is what the Republican party has sunk to, people - Not ALL, but ENOUGH - violence, vandalism, and death threats. And then they have the nerve to call themselves "freedom-loving", "Pro-America", and "Christian"....

An Open Letter

Dear American Female Voters...

Or, more specifically, "Hillary supporters who plan to vote for McCain just because of Sarah Palin."

I have a newsflash for you. If you don't like it, tough, this is LIFE.

But if you vote for McCain JUST because he picked a woman for a running mate... JUST because of Sarah Palin... then you were NEVER a Hillary supporter to begin with. Why do I say that, you ask? Oh, reasons, let me enumerate thee.

1. This is a desperation move by McCain, as well as one of complete arrogance. He thinks you're STUPID - SO stupid, in fact, that you'll overlook his promise to continue the Bush Administration's tactics, in favor of fawning over the boobs on his running mate.

2. Palin has even less political experience than Obama. Not to mention she's the POLAR OPPOSITE of EVERYTHING Hillary Clinton ever stood for - she's extremely conservative, anti-choice, pro-war, pro-death penalty, pro-big oil (her husband is an oil exec, for crying out loud!) and pro-big business - which means she would have no problem with outsourcing even MORE of our jobs, thus costing YOU money, in order to pad her buddies' bottom lines.

3. Did I mention that she's the exact polar opposite of EVERYTHING Clinton stood for?

4. Oh, yeah - and she kills puppies, too. That's right. Earlier this year, Palin allowed the Alaska Department of Fish and Wildlife to ILLEGALLY kill 14 young wolf pups in their dens (Alaskan state law - Regulation 5AAC 92.110(i) - prohibits the killing of pups in the den as part of "predator reduction" efforts.) And she supports the brutal and inhumane practice of aerial hunting, defeating an initiative that would have banned the practice with help from the "trophy hunting" club, Safari Club International. There's a reason she's called the "Panderbear," no doubt.

SO WAKE THE FUCK UP. Stop fixating on a politician's chest and using that as your basis for voting. It's their BRAIN that allows them to make decisions, not their BOOBS.

THIS IS WHAT CONSERVATIVES ACTUALLY BELIEVE

Re: Yesterday's church shooting: Affidavit: Man admits church shooting, says liberals should die

A man accused of fatally shooting two adults and wounding seven others at a Knoxville church told police the church's liberal teachings prompted him to attack, according to court papers.
Jim Adkisson said liberals should be killed because they're ruining the nation, according to an affidavit.

Jim David Adkisson told investigators all liberals should be killed and admitted he shot people Sunday morning at Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, according to a search warrant affidavit obtained by CNN affiliate WBIR.

But remember, according to Instaprick and Cornfed Yankoff, the guy was obviously an anti-Christian liberal who hated God.

This is what happens when you inundate people with hate. This is what happens when you tell them that gay people are sub-human. This is what happens when the inmates run the asylum.

Oh, and the terrorist's choice of reading material?

"Still seized three books from Adkisson's home, including "The O'Reilly Factor," by television commentator Bill O'Reilly; "Liberalism is a Mental Disorder," by radio personality Michael Savage; and "Let Freedom Ring," by political pundit Sean Hannity."

No surprise here. The hate tomes of O'Reilly, Weiner, and Hannity: Mein Kampf for a new generation of murderous, hateful terrorists. Yes, I stand by that statement. Godwin be damned.

ATTN: THOSE OF YOU WITHOUT PENISES

US DHHS Proposes Selling Out to Religious Extremists
And even those WITH them.

You might want to read this.

In a STUNNING move pandering to the Armageddon-worshiping anti-woman Religious Right, THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES IS ENTERTAINING A PROPOSAL TO DEFINE CONTRACEPTION AS ABORTION.

I truly, honestly think that I'm going to be sick.

Just... read it. Oh my god, READ IT NOW. And SPEAK UP!

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
200 Independence Avenue, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20201
Telephone: 202-619-0257
Toll Free: 1-877-696-6775

HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt
Office Phone: 202-690-7000 or 202-205-4708
Email: mike.leavitt@hhs.gov
Fax: 202-690-7203
Correspondence Secretary: 202-690-6392

I have no words. Just no words for this. But even if it takes hitting up the military surplus stores in the area, I am not going to sit idly by and watch these INSANE OLD RICH MEN try to reduce ME to a walking incubator!

More Proof That Rightards Have No Shame

From Pandagon:No shame: Republican’s FL billboard features burning Twin Towers

Businessman Mike Meehan, who paid for the ad, says he’s “only trying to help Republicans.” The billboard also carries a link for Meehan’s website, TheRepublicanSong.com, at which he says, “I claim to be a man of God” and promotes his political song and video.

Meehan’s song, which appears to have racist overtones, begins, “The Democrat secular progressive move, political correctness is killing us too. They want to take the money from the hard working man, and give it to the lazy folks that don’t give a damn.”

Even Republicans have found the billboard “inappropriate,” and many residents want it to come down. “I’m thinking about the Twin Towers, all the families that were killed there,” one woman told local TV affliate WFTV.

Wanna send the little shitbag a letter? Go ahead. I did. Don't bother being civil; the little turd has already crossed that line twice.

Oh, and a question for the conservatives who want to exploit 9/11 like this troglodyte: Who was in office on 9/11? Who ignored the warnings? Who ignored the briefing entitled "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S."? Here's a hint: It wasn't Clinton, or his penis.

No shame. None at all.

Murderer/Thief Gets Manslaughter Conviction Instead of Murder Because of "Gay Panic" Defense

Verdict in Steven Scarborough case: Guilty of voluntary manslaughter of Victor Manious

Hat tip to Pam of Pandagon and Pam's House Blend for bringing me this infuriating story.

GRAND RAPIDS -- A Tennessee native was found guilty today of voluntary manslaughter in the slaying of Victor Manious, a Gaines Township man whose body was found in the trunk of his own vehicle, parked on a downtown street.

Steven Scarborough, 22, was accused of luring 62-year-old Victor Manious to a friend's apartment to rob him. The prosecution said he then struck Manious in the head with a blunt force object before dragging him down stairs to Manious' car, stuffing the victim in the trunk.

Scarborough testified in his own defense, saying he was knocked out by Manious when the victim arrived at his friend's apartment. He woke to find Manious sexually assaulting him, he testified, so he hit the older man over the head with a baseball bat.

Scarborough had been charged with felony murder and faced mandatory life in prison without parole. Manslaughter carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison.

This worries me to no end, as well it should. First, this man admits to trying to get the victim to his apartment for the sole intention of robbing him. Then, probably when it went wrong, he hit the man with a bat and locked him in his trunk, leaving him there to die while he used the victim's credit cards to buy shit.

Brinkman said medical experts will testify that if Manious had received treatment for his wounds right away, he could have survived rather than dying in the trunk of the car dressed only in his underwear.

Brinkman says that while Manious' body remained undiscovered for days, Scarborough used his cell phone and credit cars to pay for shopping sprees, gas and a plane ticket to Texas, where Scarborough was eventually arrested by police.

And what was Scarborough's defense? "He knocked me out (even though I didn't have any signs of being attacked) and when I woke up he was trying to spread TEH GAYQUEERHOMODISEASE to me! And since I'm a gay-hating Southern Baptist who goes to gay bars to find people to rob, I'm obviously justified in killing someone!"

Yeah, seriously:

Scarborough testified that Manious asked for Robinson, then the 62-year-old Egypt native hit the younger man in the head and knocked him out. Scarborough said he woke up to find Manious in his underwear, on top of him, sexually assaulting him by oral sex.

Scarborough testified that he was so unnerved by the assault, which violated his beliefs as a Southern Baptist, that he grabbed a nearby bat and hit Manious in the head.

And to make it worse, the spineless worm of a defense lawyer the murderer picked out made the victim look as sinister as possible, saying that Manious was "living a secret gay life and was 'on the prowl'". Oh, and it's also not his fault because he was just doing what someone else wanted him to do.

“(Scarborough) is not Albert Einstein,” Denenfeld said. “He is more of a follower than a leader.”

He was just following orders, don't you know? Yeah, there's a defense that always works.

That's the value of a human life if that human was gay - it's not murder to lure him to your apartment to rob him, hit him with a bat, lock him in a trunk to die while you shop with his credit cards, and then claim some ridiculous story about how someone three times your age overpowered you, knocked you out without any signs of a struggle, and tried to make you TEH GAY.

If Manious had instead been some blue-eyed, blond-haired, pretty, rich, spoiled college girl who had something like this happen to her, would the jury have let a murderer get away with a much lesser charge? I seriously doubt that. But since you can invoke Gay Panic and get away with murder in today's society (since, you know, all gay people are out to force everyone else to be gay and will rape you if they know you're straight), we know that not everyone deserves equal justice under law, it seems.

Excuse me. I have to go throw up now. This whole thing makes me fucking sick to my stomach.

"Freedom of Religion" My ASS

Wisconsin Parents Murder 11-Year-Old Daughter
Child was ill with Type 1 Diabetes, died over the course of 30 days of ketoacidosis - AND WAS NEVER TAKEN TO THE HOSPITAL

Yes, it's from Faux News, but this is one of those rare occasions when they get it RIGHT.

WESTON, Wis. — An 11-year-old girl died after her parents prayed for healing rather than seek medical help for a treatable form of diabetes, police said Tuesday.

Everest Metro Police Chief Dan Vergin said Madeline Neumann died Sunday.

"She got sicker and sicker until she was dead," he said.

Vergin said an autopsy determined the girl died from diabetic ketoacidosis, an ailment that left her with too little insulin in her body, and she had probably been ill for about 30 days, suffering symptoms like nausea, vomiting, excessive thirst, loss of appetite and weakness.

The girl's parents, Dale and Leilani Neumann, attributed the death to "apparently they didn't have enough faith," the police chief said.

They believed the key to healing "was it was better to keep praying. Call more people to help pray," he said.

The mother believes the girl could still be resurrected, the police chief said. [WHAT.]

Telephone messages left at the Neumann home by The Associated Press were not immediately returned.

The family does not attend an organized church or participate in an organized religion, Vergin said. "They have a little Bible study of a few people."

The parents told investigators their daughter last saw a doctor when she was 3 to get some shots, Vergin said. The girl had attended public school during the first semester but didn't return for the second semester.

Officers went to the home after one of the girl's relatives in California called police to check on her, Vergin said. She was taken to a hospital where she was pronounced dead.

The relative was fearful the girl was "extremely ill, dire," Vergin said.

The girl has three siblings, ranging in age from 13 to 16, the police chief said.

"They are still in the home," he said. "There is no reason to remove them. There is no abuse or signs of abuse that we can see."

The girl's death remains under investigation and the findings will be forwarded to the district attorney to review for possible charges, the chief said.

The family operates a coffee shop in Weston, which is a suburb of Wausau, Vergin said.

And what's worse?

IT'S LEGAL TO DO THIS IN WISCONSIN! Yep, that's right, you heard me correctly - in Wisconsin, under State statute 948.03(6), it is LEGAL TO KILL YOUR CHILDREN as long as it's under the guise of denying them professional healthcare "IN TEH NAME OF GAWD!!" If you do it like that, the police and social services can't touch you.

God, I'm SO proud to be an American. /sarcasm

Hate is Great! ...Not!

You know, I was going to make my first post here on Geraldine Ferraro's inane assertion that she was being attacked "Because she was white!" (You're not, by the way, you ignorant old cur. You're being "attacked" - read: vehemently disagreed with - because you're a close-minded, bigoted old hag.)

But I found someone even MORE ignorant, bigoted, and close-minded.

And what's worse is, she's not even being reported on by the mass media - despite the fact that she's encouraging violence against gays...

...AND SHE'S THE OKLAHOMA STATE LEGISLATOR!

IN HER WORDS, for the sake of those who, for whatever reason, cannot listen to the audio:

"The Homosexual Agenda is destroying this nation. 'Kay? It's just a fact.

...Not everybody's lifestyle is equal, just like not all religions are equal.

Y'know, the very fact that I'm talking to you like this, here today, puts me in jeopardy. Okay? Uh... And I, I'm not anti - I'm not gay-bashing, but according to God's word, that is not the right kind of lifestyle. It has deadly consequences for those people involved in it. They have more suicides and they're more - more discouraged, there's more illness, their lifespans are shorter... Y'know, it - it's not a lifestyle that is good for this nation. Matter of fact, studies show that NO society that has totally embraced homosexuality has lasted more than, y'know, a few decades. So it, it's the death knell for this country.

I honestly think it's the biggest threat, even - that our nation has, even more so than terrorism, or Islam, which I think's a big threat, 'kay? 'Cause what's happening now, they're going after in - in schools, two-year-olds! You know why they're trying to get early childhood education? They want to get our young children into the government schools so they can indoctrinate them! I taught school for close to twenty years, and we're not teaching facts and knowledge anymore, folks, we're teaching indoctrination, okay? And they're going after our young children, as young as two years of age, to try to teach them the the homolec... homosexual lifestyle is an acceptable lifestyle.

Y'know, gays are infiltrating city councils. Did you know? Eureka Springs, anybody been there? For the Passion Play? 'Kay, have you heard that the city council of Eureka Springs is now controlled by gays? 'Kay? There are some others, uh... Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania... Tacoma, uh, Maryland... Kensington, Maryland... *unintelligible* Oregon... West Palm Beach, Florida, and a lot of other places in Florida. What's happening? And they are winning elections.

One of the things I deal with in our legislature, I tried to introduce a bill last year that would notify parents... uh, schools had to let parents know what clubs their students were involved in. And the reason I did that bill, primarily, was this: we had the Gay/Straight Alliance coming into our schools. Kids are getting involved in these groups, their lives are being ruined, their parents don't know about it. So I introduced a bill that said, you have to notify ALL clubs and things. And one of my colleagues said, "You know, we don't have a gay problem in my community, and that's why I voted against that bill." Well you know what? To me, that is so dumb. If you've got cancer or something in your little toe... do you just say "Well, you know, I'm just gonna forget about it, 'cause the rest of me's fine?" It spreads! 'Kay? And this stuff is, is deadly and spreading, and it will destroy, uh, our young people, it will destroy this nation."

And she. Was. APPLAUDED. This vile, evil CREATURE was applauded by her fellow (Republican, it should be noted) Legislators.

...There are just no words. None. Except for "WHY HASN'T THE GODDAMNED MEDIA PICKED THIS UP?" If it were as "liberal" as so many people piss and moan about, you'd think it'd be all over this story like white on rice!

Well, they're not. So I am. I am bringing this to your attention because CNN/MSNBC/Whatever other news outlet you listen to or read WON'T.

This is hate speech, pure and simple. Comparing gays to TERRORISTS? To CANCER? Painting them to be child predators? Excuse me, Mrs. Kern, I think you forgot to don your LITTLE WHITE HOOD before you got up there to make your little screed. Why hasn't she been censured? Or recalled? Why hasn't she been brought up on charges of inciting violence? Because that's exactly what her words are meant to do - incite violence against homosexuals and the people who support them. And the fact that she hasn't been brought to heel kills what little faith I dared to have in the intelligence of the American people.

WAKE UP, CITIZENS OF OKLAHOMA! This woman is not serving YOU like she was elected to do! She is serving HERSELF, and trying to force HER personal hatreds on you as law!

(Though I have the strangest feeling that, if Mrs. Kern were a Democrat, this would be EVERYWHERE and she would have been forced to resign by now...)

And better yet? SHE HAS VOWED NOT TO APOLOGIZE FOR HER COMMENTS.

Now, I don't think she should be getting even one death threat. But I DO think this miserable excuse for a woman (and a Republican, and a Christian) should be censured to the fullest extent of the law, recalled from her position, and never allowed to run for public office ever again. No one who promotes such HATRED should ever hold that kind of power in this nation. EVER.

The continuing circling of the vultures.

5 shot dead, including gunman, at Northern Illinois University

The fact that this happened is depressing enough. But that's not what has me truly mired today. No, what's really eating at me is the vultures. I know they're circling, waiting to descend.

How long before the gun nuts start declaring that forcing everyone to carry guns would have prevented this?
How long before anti-gun nuts start declaring that these things would never, ever happen if guns were outlawed?
How long before some "Christian leader" declares this proof that "God has turned his back on us" and we need to force everyone to be like them?
How long before psychopathic bigot Jack Thompson claims that the gunman "trained on 'murder simulators'"?
How long before Fred Phelps and his hateful little cult come to picket funerals because he thinks this is "God's punishment for accepting 'fags'"?

How long before these shooters realize that they ought to be shooting the vultures rather than innocent people?

It just never stops: More daddy-state insanity

Gee, and just when I thought my rage would subside, Pandagon comes along to remind me of why I'm so very fucking pissed.

This is your police state - woman violently strip searched


The police state continues: quadriplegic dumped from wheelchair


And one brought to me through Pandagon's commenters, without a story: A power-tripping cops assults and batters a 14-year-old for skateboarding, then threatens him repeatedly.


I just wonder why we we even bother with the pretense of rights these days. We're already so mired into a Father-Knows-Best state that things like this are happening all the time.

This shit isn't fucking America. This is Stalin-era Russia. This is Nazi Germany. This is fucking madness.

This is why, sometimes, it ought to be acceptable to take the law into your own hands, when the law fails to do its job.

The Podium: One libertarian's View.

This week/whenever I do one of these. Ron Paul.

As as a Libertarian, I've had people make the assumption I would support Ron Paul. After all he's a former Libertarian candidate for president, a principal supporter of smaller government, and lower taxes. What's not to like for someone of a more conservative fiscal slant, such as myself?

Answer: Quite a bit.

While I shall not lie to our dear readers, neither about my political leanings, nor my ideas in the forum of economics - I for one cannot, will not and encourage everyone out there NOT to give two rat's asses about this man. An economic view that I agree with means nothing in the face of the proposed destruction of this nation's social structure. Nor do I accept this fear that has became rampant of our economy being on the brink of complete desolation - unless of course we elect our man Ron! No sir, sell that crazy elsewhere.

I do however fear what could happen to the social structure of our nation under the hand of Ron Paul -not that the man has a snowball's chance - and even if elected, I doubt he could strong arm his ideas through. I am most thankful for that. However the concepts he puts forth are most dangerous, and I would like a moment to discuss just a few with you, our dear readers.

I could go on about his idea of repealing Roe v. Wade, but what Republican worth his salt in Fundy-dollars hasn't pressed that issue? Let's instead focus on his more unique ideas.
(All quotations from RonPaul2008.com)

1: "End birthright citizenship. As long as illegal immigrants know their children born here will be citizens, the incentive to enter the U.S. illegally will remain strong."

This is not only a poor idea, the concept of removing our 14th Amendment, but a DANGEROUS one. This Amendment came about because States were refusing citizenship to freed African slaves, thus preventing them from being recognized as citizens of these United States. It is dangerous to forget that we as a people have not always been so welcoming to those who live within this country - and that humanity could take a turn for that direction if allowed. I wish it were not so, I prefer the notion of self-management, but it's simply unrealistic at this point. It only takes the corrupt getting power for a few years to turn us on our heads, lets not give them the weapons necessary to screw us.

2: "Years of centralized education have produced nothing but failure and frustrated parents. We can resurrect our public school system if we follow the Constitution and end the federal education monopoly."
and
" I will veto any legislation that creates national standards or national testing for home school parents or students. I also believe that, as long as No Child Left Behind remains law, it must include the protections for home schoolers included in sec. 9506 (enshrining home schoolers’ rights) and 9527 (guaranteeing no national curriculum)."

What precisely does this mean? It means that as his voting record shows, he does not support national testing of students. Couple this with his love of home-schooling and idea that a home schooled student showed be regarded the same as a non-homeschooled student (And this is coming from someone who WAS homeschooled for several years.) and we're going to see students who are not getting anywhere even NEAR a proper education. "The stupid shall inherit the nation." Not a concept I particularly enjoy. What can I expect? His particular brand of crazy only works on the uneducated masses, so let's work to further those numbers. UGH.

3: "I have always supported the Second Amendment and these are some of the bills I have introduced in the current Congress to help restore respect for it: H.R. 1096 includes provisions repealing the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act and the Federal Firearms License Reform Act of 1993, two invasive and unconstitutional bills."

The Brady Act? THE FUCKING BRADY ACT. I am personally for gun control revision, as I think it's confusing, and could be greatly simplified with a little thought to what does and doesn't work. But this? This is pure madness. How many people really need a gun RIGHT THE FUCK NOW? Think about it, there is no reason to not have a waiting period. None. It prevents people who are upset and working from rage and impulse from doing something stupid. It allows for checks to ensure that a dangerous individual isn't handed a life-threatening weapon. It's a GOOD IDEA. Insanity.

I could go on. But I'm running long as is, in short - from this (l)ibertarian's perspective Ron Paul combines the worst aspects of Neo-Conservatism with the dark-side of Libertarianism and creates a beast that should not be supported.

To steal from the War on Drugs: Just say no.

/Phage out./

Off-Duty Officer Proves What Was Said About Him.

Officer Guns down 6 at party - 7th injured.

Twenty-year-old Tyler Peterson had gone to the party early Sunday to make amends with his ex-girlfriend, a friend of Peterson's told The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Peterson lost control after people called him a "worthless pig," Mike Kegley told the paper.

Peterson left and got a police-style AR-15 rifle from his truck, forced his way back into the apartment and fired about 30 rounds at about 2:45 a.m. (3:45 a.m. ET). Six people were killed; one person survived and is hospitalized, Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen said at a Monday news conference.

"They called me a worthless pig... WAIT! I know, I'll kill them all! That'll teach them I'm not worthless!"

Worse yet, the extreme and nasty voices slowly rising on the far right in approval of his actions. Facism is a terrible thing folks, and those that would approve of such a course of action are just that. Totalitarian Facists.

A loop from which we never seem to escape

Right now, I'm watching coverage of the protests in Jena, LA. I find it amazing that I don't remember seeing anything like this and feeling so strongly about it. Some part of me wonders if this is what it felt like to watch the civil rights movement of the 60s and want dearly for equality.

But another part of me, a very angry, bitter part, wonders "Why?" Not to my other feelings, but to why this even has to happen. It's not the 60s anymore. We shouldn't have to see things like this happen. We should be better than that. As Felis Domina told me only a few minutes ago, "This should have been done and over with in the 1960s and '70s. But I guess some people are just happy living 50 years in the past."

Sometimes I think we live not on an ever-moving bullet of time, but in a loop, from which we can't escape.

State of Texas plans to execute a man RECOGNIZED BY THE COURTS as INNOCENT

FEED HIM TO THE SHARKTICONS!

On August 30, the state of Texas is going to EXECUTE a man that the courts recognize as innocent. Why? Because he was in the AREA when someone he knew murdered the victim.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/thenation/20070810/cm_thenation/4221949

In less than three weeks Kenneth Foster, an African American man sentenced to death in 1997 for the murder of Michael LaHood, is scheduled to be executed in Texas.

LaHood's actual killer, Mauriceo Brown, was executed in 2006. Foster, who was in a car about 100 yards from the crime when it was committed, was convicted under the controversial Texas state "law of parties", under which the distinction between principal actor and accomplice in a crime is abolished. The law can impose the death penalty on anybody involved in a crime where a murder occurred. In Foster's case he was driving a car with three passengers, one of whom, Brown, left the car, got into an altercation and shot LaHood dead. Texas is the only state that applies this statute in capital cases, making it the only place in the United States where a person can be factually innocent of murder and still face the death penalty.

Foster maintains that he did not know that Brown would either rob or kill LaHood. According to an Amnesty International investigation, there is evidence not heard at trial that the murder was an unplanned act committed by Brown, as the latter himself claimed before his execution.

In 2005, a federal district judge found a "fundamental constitutional defect in Foster's sentence" and ruled that Foster's jury had not been asked to determine if he had any intent to kill LaHood, and that this failure represented a misapplication of the law. However, the state of Texas appealed to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which overturned the decision.

The crazy thing about this case is that no one argues that Foster killed the victim. As the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's award-winning columnist Bob Ray Sanders wrote, the case "is further proof of how cruel, capricious, unjust and utterly insane our death penalty laws have become....Because of this tainted system, whether you believe in capital punishment or not, a man who did not plan or commit a murder will die August 30 unless somebody -- a judge, the Board of Pardons and Paroles and/or the governor-- has the heart and the guts to stop it."You can help these folks get up the guts at freekenneth.com. Find updates on the case and urge members of the Texas legislature to stay Foster's execution and ask for a re-trial based on new evidence.

If everyone who reads this would PLEASE go to freekenneth.com and petition the State of Texas to save this man - and REPEAL this evil, unjust, and unConstitutional law - we may be able to force the hand of the Texas legistlature and save a life. This man committed NO crime worthy of the death penalty - if he committed any crime at ALL, it was simply in failing to prevent the murder from happening.

So petition, please. Have your friends and family petition. The more voices that can be raised in outrage over this GROSS miscarriage of justice, the better. Kenneth Foster - a total stranger to us, but a human being nonetheless, who stands to be executed for a crime that the courts ADMIT that he is factually innocent of - NEEDS OUR HELP.

So, please, help us do something. Help save an innocent life.