The Victorious Opposition

I am the Papi Chulo in my parts. Have no kids, but I am a father figure to many. All I can do is offer my advice to some of the moms around. One mom is an Armenian mom, whose son is now someone interested in art. Look, I’m not one to chide grammar and spelling. In point of fact, I know many here who could just simply copy and paste my errors. However, I am not a teacher. The person who penned this email is, though:

Hallow Mrs. *******ian,
L**n is in my Drawing and Painting 3 class. He needs a sketchbook, drawing book, drawing pencils (HB, 2B, and 4B). We are planning to work with watercolor and acrylic paints. Oil paint is optional. It’s only if the student is whiling to experiment that medium. There are no art supplies in our student store at GHS. Art stores, Office Depot, Staples, and Michaels are the places for you to purchase materials mentioned. I appreciate your E Mail. Contact me please if you have more questions. My extention is ****.

Yes, this is one hundred percent accurate, and from a bonafide government worker here in California. I’m willing to bet that this person makes a shit load of money, and I am even more willing to bet that he’s probably getting kick backs from the companies he’s telling my surrogate kid to run to. Go Gummint!!

Not content with being the contaminant in the water, these tapeworms actually filched people for flushing.

Bell - The Bell City Council is holding a special meeting this morning after revelations that Bell residents have been overcharged hundreds of thousands of dollars in sewer fees.

That’s the latest scandal to hit the Los Angeles suburb.

An audit by the state controller found that property owners overpaid nearly $622,000 after sewer fees were increased in 2007without voter approval. Some people were paying 2 1/2 times the allowable maximum rate.

The city says it’s reviewing the finding but there’s no word on whether anyone will get a refund.

The finding comes several weeks after auditors found that Bell residents were overcharged nearly $3 million in taxes to fund pensions for city workers.

The city’s finances are under investigation after revelations that City Council members and top officials earned massive salaries to govern a city of about 40,000 people.

I would say these “people”, but the slugs who ran Bell are not deserving of the title of humanity. They’re less than human. However, this chunder that comprised Bell seemed to get a kick out of serving the public blompkens for sewer charges. Unfortunately California has legalized government workers to get away with full blown felonies, something that the police stories I read about daily verify. The shit stains that line the City Halls of this state are pretty much the worst criminals that were ever aborted.

As California edges toward bankruptcy, I just want to let you all know something. If California defaults on its loans, all of the shit stain corn riddled turds that are the “government workers” will schlepp this obligation onto the feds, meaning that you all in another state will be obligated to all of these sewer rats. And they are making some serious dough. And they’re all democrats shit stains that raise taxes, fire teachers and cops to pay themselves raises, and act criminally to suit their needs.

Paying a cop 500,000 dollars a year will soon be a Federal concern. As with any business that has no way to control itself, California is quickly heading towards all players being CEOs, and really, with the salaries I’ve posted.. How many of you honestly think that anyone other than a CEO deserves to make 100K+ a year? Well, the state workers beg to differ, and they’re willing to bet the state on it.

I was reading through some of the match ups for tomorrow’s games through the weekend, starting with the pre-season rankings.

1 Alabama .9978
2 Texas .9433
3 Cincinnati .8878
4 TCU .8836
5 Florida .8637
6 Boise State .8106
7 Oregon .7568
8 Ohio State .6568
9 Georgia Tech .6471
10 Iowa .6180
11 Virginia Tech .5675
12 LSU .5375
13 Penn State .5319
14 Brigham Young .4531
15 Miami (FL) .4419

Okay, all I’d really like to focus on with these rankings is how in the hell did Boise Fucking State get on even the top twenty list? They’re in a bullshit conference, and are largely untested, and even if they had a perfect season this year would get trompled by any team in the SEC. I am hoping that Virginia Tech chews them up and spits them out, they’re a blight to all of the other teams in the top twenty. They’re the BCS’s new sweetheart nobodies, that much like adding Ohio State to anything legitimate only degrades the integrity of any other pick they make.

Best case scenario: They get their ass whipped in the first couple of games and drop off the top twenty, thereby saving them a little dignity.
Worst case scenario: They actually coast through another season, only to get eaten for breakfast by any team in the SEC.

SEC! SEC!

Alright, VO armchair quarterbacks, let’s get some picks on all these games.

I’ve been enduring a massive attack of allergies in the past week.  It’s left me either too miserable to think clearly or too stoned on antihistamines to write so I’ve missed out on blogging about a few stories in as timely a manner as I would have liked.  Let’s just put them all together.

First, I noticed last week that House Republican Minority Leader John Boehner demanded that Obama fire his economic team for the obvious reason that it sucks.  Boehner obviously feels that Geithner & Co. has not demonstrated any leadership in a time of crisis and has supported spending billions of dollars to little effect.  Of course, I have many of the same complaints about Boehner and am already dreading the fact that the House GOP will still be led by him next year and that they will be the majority.

Murkowski was defeated by a Tea Party candidate in Alaska partly thanks to her support of TARP and Boehner had voted against a majority of his own party to support it as well.  I like to see these Tea Party candidates winning nominations against RINO’s but if we’re going to have the same borrow-and-spend Republican leadership in charge at the end of the day, it’s not going to matter.

Conclusion: Fuck Obama’s economic team.  Fuck John Boehner too.

The next story I missed out on while in a Sudafed haze was that the CIA has begun identifying Yemen and Somalia as the big al-Qaeda threats.  Well, I’ve mentioned before that I consider the Somali threat to be overrated.  Yemen, on the other hand, is a bona fide haven for AQ and the CIA is right to focus on it.

Allow me to take this opportunity to point out that we’re still pouring blood and treasure into Afghanistan for no apparent reason, despite knowing full well that AQ is in Pakistan and Yemen.  Realistically, the Taliban is no more and no less a threat to us than al Shabaab in Somalia.  In the countries where AQ is, we either scale back our military forces (Iraq) or we use targeted drone strikes (Yemen, Pakistan).  In those countries where AQ isn’t we send a hundred thousand troops to promote women’s suffrage and forbid them from shooting at anyone.

Conclusion: Fuck Afghanistan.

Finally, The State Department released its report on Human Rights Violations in the United States to the UN.  You know, that awesome organization for good that places countries like Libya on Human Rights committees, accepts kickbacks from Saddam’s regime in the Oil-for-Food scandal, and sends peacekeeping troops to rape hell out of every impoverished female they can get their hands on.

The Obama Administration partly based its findings on the existence of the Arizona immigration law that is extremely popular with Americans.  Notably, the DOJ did NOT sue Arizona on account of human rights violations but on a constitutional technicality.  If that state is a human rights violator, then I suppose that we should be nation-building in Arizona with a multi-national force.  Damn it, we will bomb them into modernity!

This is the kind of thing that isn’t just going to doom Obama in 2012.  It has the potential to permanently shut Democrats out of the Presidency for the remainder of our lifetimes.  Look at America right now: have we ever been this afraid for the future of our country?  I don’t mean like in the Civil War or Great Depression; I mean in your lifetimes?  Right now, our national self-esteem sucks and the last thing we need is our jackass president wriggling on a bunch of dictator’s jocks while giggling about how the US is filled to the brim with a bunch of lowlife bigots.  It’s not true.  Further, we are morally superior (not just equivalent or inferior as Obama believes) to the vast majority of nations within the UN and certainly more so than the completely hopeless UN organization itself.

After this stunt, it’s impossible to imagine that anyone will make the mistake of comparing Obama with Reagan or Lincoln ever again.  It was always bullshit, of course.  That Obama does things like this and then wonders aloud why more and more Americans think he’s different and that he has other interests in mind above those of the wellbeing of the US is probably the most amazing aspect of all.

Conclusion: Fuck Obama.  Fuck the State Department.  Fuck the UN.

Let’s talk about the future.  I think we should throw out our best predictions of future events and then check back six months from now to see how we all do.  It’s all open for divination: Politics, Sports, Foreign Policy, Economy, Celebrity Encounters with the Criminal Justice System, etc.

Who’s in?  We’ll be a bunch of regular Nostradumbasses.

Here are my predictions of the world to come within the next six months:

Democrats lose the House, hang on to a shrunken majority in the Senate.

Obama remains defiant; won’t move to the center but does start to lay off the Bush bashing.

AG Holder will announce his upcoming resignation.

The lame duck Democrat Congress will rapidly renew the Bush tax cuts except for those they deem to benefit the “super-rich.”  GOP will grudgingly go along with it.

Nobody will militarily interfere with Iran’s nuclear weapons development.

Consumer spending will be weak during this Christmas season and the double-dip recession will have arrived.  Obama will still gleefully announce that unemployment is down, knowing full well that his Labor Department is counting seasonal workers.

There will be a successful terrorist attack on US soil probably on the scale of the Ft Hood shooting.

This Winter will be milder, less harsh than the 2009-2010 season.

There you go.  It’s time to prophesize.  Shake the Magic 8-Ball and tell me where you see us in 6 months.

UPDATE: Another one just came to me in a vision: The Cordoba House developers will back down and announce that they are not going to build their Victory Mosque.  The usual suspects will attribute it to American Islamophobia.

First watch this:

Then watch this:

I was a little late to the game on this, but noted that “they rapin’ everybody!” Oh, and the auto tune version is available on Itunes.

I’ve been listening to the pros and cons argument over the last couple of weeks and I am really wondering if helping Pakistan is worth it.

(1) Build trust in governance and institutions. This is a part of the world where the government is mistrusted and often despised, which fuels public support for the insurgents who are seen as a preferable alternative. As both Dawn’s Huma Yusuf and journalist Amil Khan explain, the Pakistani government’s insufficient flood response has both reiterated and worsened the mistrust in institutions that fuels so much of the regional militancy. This is part of why the Pakistani military spy service sponsors some Taliban factions: It fears that it cannot compete with Taliban influence due to the state’s weak hold. If the government could step in with our help and aid flood victims, it would give the state both credibility and sovereignty in regions where it has little of either.

(2) Counter anti-Americanism. In much of Pakistan, especially the troubled border regions, predator drones and Blackwater are the face of America. A recent Pew survey reported 93 percent of those aware of the U.S. drone program call it “bad” or “very bad” and 90 percent say they kill too many innocent civilians. Only 17 percent of Pakistanis view the U.S. favorably. However, 64 percent want improved relations. The U.S. recently pledged $500 million in additional aid to Pakistan, but this is our chance to give Pakistanis a more tangible sign that the U.S. commitment to Pakistan goes beyond blowing up the occassional wedding party.

(3) Show that the Taliban doesn’t have Pakistani interests at heart. This is one of the best ways that the world undermined al-Qaeda: Showing Muslims that the terrorist group doesn’t care about the people they purportedly fight for. This was especially effective in Iraq, where even virulently anti-American community leaders such as Moktada al-Sadr learned that their interests aligned much more closely with the U.S. than with insurgents. However, the opposite approach—standing by idly and allowing extremist groups to spearhead relief—is how the world allows terror groups like Hamas and Hizbollah to become stronger and more popular. A relief effort led by the U.S. and Pakistani governments would do much to convince Pakistanis to reject groups like the Taliban.

(4) Counter Baloch extremism in Iran. Much of the flooding is in Balochistan, an unofficially semi-independent ethnic region spanning Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran. Humanitarian disaster in Pakistani Balochistan would send many fleeing across the Iranian border, where Baloch insurgent groups are already at a state of undeclared war with Iran. An influx of angry and desperate Balochs would worsen the Baloch violence in Iran, which in the past has led the regime to strengthen its already oppressive police state. This would be a setback for the long-held international push for Iran to liberalize, which is expected to increase the influence of U.S.-friendly politicians and to reduce the regime’s desire for nuclear weapons, which is driven in part by its insecurity. Preventing a humanitarian crisis in Balochistan would make convincing Iran to liberalize much easier.

These antiquated reasons for helping out Pakistan aren’t really reasons to me. Please allow me explain why I wouldn’t favor any of the above line by line.

1 and 2. Building trust in governance/dismantling Ant-Americanism. Why should we as Americans be interested in this? the first thing that comes to mind is Pakistan’s nukes, and we probably would have a vested interest in securing those. However, how can we hope to abolish an idea that is instituted in the religion most Pakistanis adhere to anyway? For many Pakistanis, nothing short of a strict religious governance will be acceptable, and I don’t think there’s much we could do to influence that. Our presence will most probably be viewed as Western meddling, or at the very least reiterating the idea that the Pakistani government is in cahoots with the evil westerners.

There’s something to be said about quelling militancy, but our drone operations would do more to prevent than we could ever hope to gain through aid to the region. I’d be interested to see a case where our continued aid to a region, military intervention or otherwise would help relations. Our aid to Korea has only really fueled Anti Americanism in that region. Our intervention in Kosovo didn’t really pan out very much, Mogadishu was a disaster, et cetera. “Winning the hearts and minds” seems to me to be something out of a fable. Meaning, it sounds good in a fairy tale, but that’s where the story ends.

3. Discrediting the Taliban. This one really takes the cake as far as things that we can’t really achieve. Our Western mindset would have us believe that the Taliban, since we’ve declared them a terrorist organization, can be thwarted with humanitarian aid. What I don’t think many people are willing to talk about is why the Taliban is considered credible by the people of Pakistan in the first place. I would place my bet on the religious aspects of the Taliban, and what they represent in the region.

The Taliban is considered (now) less corrupt than the Kharzai government in Afghanistan, and the people of Pakistan probably believe that the Taliban is less corrupt than the government of Pakistan, for reasons outlined in the first blurb. I’ve read that the Taliban has said they’re probably going to target foreign aid as well. If that’s the case, leading aid as lambs to the slaughter doesn’t seem like a wise use of resources. We’d be much better off publicly announcing that we have to stay out due to the presence of the Taliban, and see how the Pakistani people react to that development. Would they care more to receive aid, or sit idly by while the Taliban threatens to shoot aid out of the sky?

4. The Baloch argument. This seems to be a new development, as I’ve never really heard of it before. Again, I would air on the side of caution making any new fair weather friends out of anyone who might or might not be terrorists given the circumstances. Using them as puppets to anger Iran sounds charming, but what to do with Iran is a bigger picture plan than sending in aid to someone who might rebel against them. The Iranian elections showed all Twitter users that these regimes don’t really give a fuck about what the rest of the world thinks of them, and are perfectly capable of smacking down a resistance movement on live television.

If we ratchet up an Iranian rebellion would we be compelled to help them in an armed conflict? If we didn’t we’d immediately be branded the enemy ourselves for not helping them, and that would be the real danger to me. I can’t envision us getting into a full blown war with Iran over some angst ridden tribe in Southern Pakistan anymore than our interventions in, say, Georgia as it would pertain to a full scale conflict if we did. Saying we’re there to “help” these people because they don’t agree with a government we don’t like is a recipe for disaster.

Should we come to the aid of people strictly for humanitarian reasons? Sure. It’s the right thing to do. However, Pakistan doesn’t seem to me to be the nation in the region that we would benefit from for doing so. I would favor delivering aid to the Pakistani government and monitoring where it goes. As for putting our soldiers and foreign aid workers into the line of fire for some feel good purpose of warming relations; that’s a really bad idea.

After a weekend that drew hundreds of thousands to the National Mall for Glen Beck’s ‘Restoring Honor’ rally, and on a day of commemoration of the devastation of Hurricane Katrina five years ago, the themes of this week’s Sunday programs was more domestic in nature.  Enjoy your Sunday Morning Roundup for August 29, 2010:

This week’s link goes out to Cee Lo. I’ve followed him since Goodie Mob, but he’s really just blossomed into a crooner of the highest degree.

How dare they? There are no manners in society anymore. What the hell happened to opening a door for a lady, pulling out the chair for grandma, telling mom you love her?

Here’s the themes for today:

• Loss of civilty
• Getting to the edge
• Going overboard

Cheers, I think this one could be awesome!

Check this sheeyot out.

For those of you who don’t know, Justin Wong is ranked as one of the top players, if not top player in Street Fighter in the states. He got his ass whipped not once, but twice in a row to be eliminated by people playing characters not seen in tournament play. Street Fighter, for anyone who doesn’t play, is a game that is based on technical skill and timing. A lot of thought goes into the mechanics of each player, and they all compensate for areas they are weak in with strong aspect of others. Some characters, however, a built into what are called “God Tiers” which, to the people who follow the games, are pretty much cheese dick choices when playing.

For the last version of Street Fighter, Sagat and Zangeif were placed on this tier, which meant that any player without any real proficiency in the game could pick them and button mash to victory. The game isn’t meant to be played this way, it’s more a game like Gran Turismo which relishes in the well timed technics of the game.

With the release of Super Street Fighter 4, many of the “God Tier” characters have been nerfed so that they are not too far distant from other characters, but you still have a set that are pretty consistent in American tournaments. The character Justin is using in the above is pretty much one of those typical choices. His name s Rufus, and some of the other staples are either Ryu or Ken. What made Gamerbee shine was his proficiency with a character that was “off the radar” to most American entrants, and you can visibly see Justin getting frustrated about midway through the tournament battle. A toast to Gamerbee for coming to the states and teaching this smug little egoist a valuable ass whip lesson in being lazy. I love seeing a guy with a strong work ethic beat the odds and teach the favorite a lesson in humility, and what better way to do it than in a Street Fighter match up.

As for the geek, do any of you have a video game that you’re passionate about? I am a big fan of Street Fighter, Grand Theft auto (San Andreas is my favorite), Red Dead Revolver, and Katamari (hey, don’t judge me until you’ve played it). Here’s how I tier my favorites:

1.) Street Fighter: Ass whipping someone online with solid technical skills is more satisfying than doing it in real life must be.
2.) Grand Theft Auto: Where else can you sequester a hooker, bump uglies and then beat her up to get your money back?
3.) Super Mario Brothers: I can’t let go of my childhood, and Nintendo game mechanics were the greatest.
4.) Infamous: It just seriously kicks some real ass. It’s comic book and Grand Theft Auto rolled into one.

As for San Andreas, it’s a close second because the devil is in the details. In the game you start out as a lowly street thug in Los Angeles (San Andreas) and then slowly work your way north to San Francisco before sitting high on the criminal empire hog in Las Vegas. In Los Angeles the police you encounter are more brazen and like to taunt you as they kick the shit out of you for being a scum bag.

However, as with most of our Bay area counterparts, they know what’s best for us all here in the Tragic Kingdom and dole out their punishment in a much more faggy and feel good way. They regularly ask you to get in touch with your feelings, pull you out and discuss therapy options for corrective behavior.

You can’t make that up, follks. Maybe you have to live here to appreciate those details, but it’s fucking hilarious, and one of the things I appreciate from Rockstar. So, what are your favorite video games? we all know dwex and pfluffy are WoW buffs, are there any that you appreciate and why?

A couple of years ago someone on “that other blog” called me an authoritarian. If that is someone that believes in the rule of law, that the consent of the governed permits that authority over us and that we as citizens are required to follow the rules and obey the law, then yes, I guess I am. But we as citizens should always be vigilant in monitoring that authority, to keep it honest and keep it limited only to what we allow it to do. A blind unfettered faith in the government is a recipe for disaster and not in keeping with our spirit of a limited government.

The Fourth Amendment, part of the Bill Of Rights states:

The Fourth Amendment (Amendment IV) to the United States Constitution is the part of the Bill of Rights which guards against unreasonable searches and seizures. The amendment specifically also requires search and arrest warrants be judicially sanctioned and supported by probable cause. It was adopted as a response to the abuse of the writ of assistance, which is a type of general search warrant, in the American Revolution. Search and arrest should be limited in scope according to specific information supplied to the issuing court, usually by a law enforcement officer, who has sworn by it.

Essentially it says that the police need something first, probable cause, a reasonable suspicion based on articulated facts, something tangible that points to a commission or a crime, even if it is something in plain sight that they viewed from a place where they had a lawful right to be, but no fishing expeditions. We do not allow them to stop cars or people just to shake the tree to see what falls out. People and their possessions are protected by the Fourth Amendment, domiciles (a man’s home is his castle) and vehicles (although less protected due to their mobility) are also covered.

And even though police surveillance and detection methods have evolved (camera’s, phone lines, recorders, GPS, satelites) the rules have not changed and protections have remained in place, for now:

Government agents can sneak onto your property in the middle of the night, put a GPS device on the bottom of your car and keep track of everywhere you go. This doesn’t violate your Fourth Amendment rights, because you do not have any reasonable expectation of privacy in your own driveway — and no reasonable expectation that the government isn’t tracking your movements.

That is the bizarre — and scary — rule that now applies in California and eight other Western states. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which covers this vast jurisdiction, recently decided the government can monitor you in this way virtually anytime it wants — with no need for a search warrant.

First off, how is it possible that the Ninth Circuit court (the most overturned judicial body in the history of jurisprudence) continually and consistently gets everything wrong? Even here, where the dissenting judge (a conservative) blasts his fellow judges for turning our nation into a totalitarian regime.

There are two issues here, where you do and do not have an expectation of privacy (where you are protected and where you are not),and does the government have the authority (devoid of any proof to substantiate) to GPS your vehicle, to track everywhere you go, just to see where it might lead?

Before we continue, it should be pointed out that all these landmark police action cases (yes, this will go to the Supreme Court so we can call it landmark) all start out with scumbags as defendants. There is no doubt that Juan Pineda-Moreno was dirty. Guys like Miranda, total jerk offs, and it is hard to feel sorry for losers like these, but their constitutional protections are no less applicable here, the understanding being that if protections are not afforded to all, then nobody has them.

First, the expectation of privacy issue. Being that the car was parked in plain view but on a private driveway on private property, I would say that it does apply. If you have to trespass to access the car, then yes, there is a certain level of expectation here, and if the car was say parked in front of the house but on the street, a place where everyone has a legal right to be, then that would be a whole different kettle of fish, so here I think the court got it wrong, with the clear acknowledgment that case law over the years has always allowed police a certain level of subterfuge (they can lie to you and tell you things that are not true).

The other issue is the GPS:

The court went on to make a second terrible decision about privacy: that once a GPS device has been planted, the government is free to use it to track people without getting a warrant. There is a major battle under way in the federal and state courts over this issue, and the stakes are high. After all, if government agents can track people with secretly planted GPS devices virtually anytime they want, without having to go to a court for a warrant, we are one step closer to a classic police state — with technology taking on the role of the KGB or the East German Stasi.

Here, I agree as well. I like the use of GPS devices. They are part and parcel to all other forms of surveillance (telephoto lenses, wire taps, video cams) as long as they are done within the lawful constraints provided. You can’t set up a video cam in someone’s house or tap their phone unless you have some probable cause that a crime has been committed and you get a lawful warrant from a judge. If all these bars are lawfully navigated then sure, plant that GPS and let the dirtbag lead you right to his marijuana fields. But in this case, they had a suspicion (whatever the hell that means) and without doing any other police work to confirm that suspicion, they planted the GPS device, hoping that it would lead them to pay dirt. But let’s assume for a moment that this guy was clean, some vindictive girlfriend makes stuff up to the police because he was banging her sister, the GPS device gets planted and the police, for a certain period of time, follow him around where ever he goes. After a week or so nothing pans out so they break it off, never telling the poor guy btw that he was being followed. Was any of his rights been violated?

Plenty of liberals have objected to this kind of spying, but it is the conservative Chief Judge Kozinski who has done so most passionately.

We have not heard the last of this issue, but on it’s face, this seems smarmy to be, it is lazy police work and not in keeping with the spirit of the Fourth Amendment, that the rights of the people can only be broached under very limited conditions and not at the whims of mere suspicion.

When Thrill and I began discussing the “is Obama a Muslim apostate?” I got a question asked that I do have an answer to. The question was “Is Obama a Muslim apostate because his father is a Muslim?” The short answer is no. He is not simply a Muslim because his father was. I have a pretty good analogy to liken it to, and it comes from Christianity. Becoming a Muslim is very similar to being confirmed.

Confirmation is a rite of initiation in Christian churches, normally carried out through the laying on of hands and prayer, and possibly also anointing, for the purpose of bestowing the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. Confirmation is seen as the affirmation and sealing of the covenant made in Holy Baptism. In some denominations, confirmation also bestows full membership in a local congregation upon the recipient. In others, such as the Roman Catholic Church, confirmation “renders the bond with the Church more perfect”,[1] but a baptized person is already a full member.[2]
Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, and many Anglicans view Confirmation as a sacrament. In the East it is conferred on infants immediately after baptism, but in the West it is usually administered later at the age of reason or in early adolescence.
In Protestant Churches, the rite tends to be seen rather as a mature statement of faith by an already baptised person. It is also required by most Protestant denominations for membership in the respective church, in particular for traditional Protestant faiths. In traditional Protestant faiths (Presbyterian, Methodist, Lutheran, Evangelical etc.) it is recognized by a coming of age ceremony. Confirmation is not practised in Baptist, Anabaptist and other groups that teach believer’s baptism.
Several secular, mainly Humanist, organizations direct “civil confirmations” for older children, as a statement of their life stance that is an alternative to traditional religious ceremonies for children of that age.
Some secular regimes have as a matter of policy fostered the replacement of Christian rituals such as confirmation with non-religious ones. In the historically Protestant German Democratic Republic (East Germany), for example, “the Jugendweihe (youth dedication) gradually supplanted the Christian practice of Confirmation.”[3] A concept that first appeared in 1852, the Jugendweihe is described as “a solemn initiation marking the transition from youth to adulthood that was developed in opposition to Protestant and Catholic Churches’ Confirmation.”[4]
Another celebration known as “Confirmation” is used in Reform and Conservative Jewish synagogues as a rite of passage for young Jewish men and women around the age of 16

So, as in my congregation, if your parents are Muslim, and you are born of them, it doesn’t necessarily make you a Muslim. There are obligations yet to be fulfilled. You need to commit yourself to the covenants of Islam, out loud, and in a mosque that is sanctioned by Saud Arabia. Otherwise, you (like myself) might find yourself in a pickle entering Saudi Arabia for a Hajj vacation. You need to do a little more shit to get yourself in the “incrowd”.

Much like Christians aren’t running around with a price on Bill Maher’s head, the same holds true for Obama. He’s not a Muslim unless he completes all of the tenets of Islam, goes to a sanctioned mosque, and gets an Imam to sign off on his affirmation of faith. Not too different from Christian.

I have my reservations about Islam, and I blatantly state it’s not my faith. However, let’s get it right if we’re going to opine on it.

With all the cooking shows on cable (seriously, does anyone ever watch these, and who the hell is Rachael Ray?) I guess the art of cooking is big business. I have always been a firm believer in paying for services rendered by the experts over me trying to muddle through it myself, so we eat out a lot. But after seeing this, what’s all the fuss about:

Makes your mouth water just watching that.

I’ve done my share of Swede jerking over the years (my wife is Swedish so I’ll never pass up the opportunity) but in salad tossing, they are fricking geniuses. And if Paul Newman was still alive, he would pay big bucks for this guy’s dressing recipe.

mycket bra

This morning, while the Thrill household was getting ready for work/day care, we were running a little late.  I got into an argument with three-year-old Thrilla regarding which shoes she needed to wear: shoes or sandals.  See, I hate it when she wears the shoes because we have to put on socks and her favorite pair has goddamn laces instead of Velcro.  I tried to talk her into wearing sandals because she can quickly take them on and off.  Well, she wasn’t going to be reasoned with.

She fought me and tried to take the sandals off as fast as I was putting them on her.  That’s when I gave her the first warning: “If you take off those sandals, you’re going to be in trouble!”  In response, I get her typical defiant reaction.  The one in which she looks me in the eye and slooooowly starts taking the sandals back off to see if I’m kidding or not.  I picked Thrilla up and turned her over my knee like I was about to spank her.

“Do you want to get spanked?”

“NOOOOO!”

“Are you sure?”

“Don’t ‘pank me!”

“Keep your sandals on or I’ll spank you.”

“Okay!”

So she sits back down—crying by now—and takes off one of the sandals as soon as I put it on.  I swooped her up, turned her back over my knee, and gave her one good whack.  The sandals stayed on and we left.

I got spanked as a kid when I screwed up.  My mother’s spankings were these rapid, furious “shock and awe” affairs that were more terrifying than painful.  Normally, ass whippings were in response to breaking something or pissing in the attic (don’t ask why I thought that was a good idea, I don’t know).  My stepfather was the kind of guy who would grab any blunt instrument he could get his hands on (belt, whiffle ball bat) and just attack.  Most often, I got in trouble with him over school problems.  When I was under eight and my sister was a teenager, she watched me during the day and had the authority to spank me, but I could outrun her every time.  Oddly, she is absolutely anti-corporal punishment these days.

My own rules for corporal punishment are pretty consistent:

1. I will spank for defiance and physically aggressive behavior.
2. For defiance, I always give fair warning and try to resolve the problem without having to spank.  When we’re at home, we generally send Thrilla to her room or withhold privileges long before we get to the point that spanking is even suggested and it typically works.
3. For physically aggressive behavior, I never give a warning.
4. I never use weapons.
5. I give one good solid strike to the ass.  No smacking the face and no repeat-pummelling
6. I try to be as dispassionate as possible when doing it (as opposed to enraged).  Discipline should be done out of love, not anger.

I’m curious to see how you guys view spanking as a disciplinary tool; non-parents included.  Is it in your toolbox or too barbaric to use?  If it is something you are willing to do, are your “rules of engagement” more stringent or looser than mine?  Don’t give the non-parents a hard time for having a viewpoint on this, guys.  Many of them will one day have kids and they’re more than free to have their own attitudes now for when that day comes.

Saw this over at Dana Loesh.

As you see in the video the man simply standing and videotaping the rally is assaulted and attacked by the crowd who grow into a jeering angry mob. One of the most unbelievable things I’ve ever witnessed.

What was that about opening dialog? #Fail.

The funny thing about this is that the guy with the video seems like a supporter of the cause….......at first. But then, like clockwork, the conniving Joos get brought up and blamed, they are the reason for the wars, Gee, where have I heard that before? The lady then leaves, fed up,and now Mr. video guy decides to speak up, big mistake when you are in the company of progressives. Those champions of free speech and tolerance will fight to the death (well, not quite) your right to speak your mind,as long as that mind is simpatico with their nonsense, and any deviation there of will garner swift and immediate retribution, like this poor guy found out. Notice how quick these “enlightened” folks turned primal, and violent, at the drop of a hat. It was a good thing that the cops were in such close proximity or those brave supports of the religion of peace would of gone jihad all over this guy.

See, this is why I think most progressives are pinheads.First,you have Ms. Deeply In My Heart spouting off, so if you feel something deeply enough, gosh darn,it has to be genuine and have truth written all over it. Notice also how many times the term “racists” was used, do they even know what the word means? They go to it so easily, so often, and with no circumspection whatsoever. Then you have the dipshit that compares what is going on to a pogrom, how insulting and ignorant can he be?

A pogrom is a form of violent riot, a mob attack, either approved or condoned by government or military authorities, directed against a particular group, whether ethnic, religious, or other, and characterized by killings and destruction of their homes, businesses, and religious centres, property

Yep, a whole bunch a that going on, preach it , brother.

The times really are changing. Over the years I have witnessed first hand dozens of protests,mostly in the Bay Area but some in L.A., and although passions always ran high, I could usually count of folks to behave themselves and act like adults, now days,  there are no rules and no real decorum, events can turn on a dime and turn ugly, 0 to 60, in nothing flat.

And yelling “racists” is now the new ,“Morning, how’s it going?”