UPDATE: "Faith Fighter 2" Just Released!

In the wake of yesterday's announcement that Italian gamers Molleindustria have pulled their online game "Faith Fighter" following pressure from the OIC, Saudi Arabia-based Islamophobia Observatory of the Organization, today The Times Online is reporting that the gamers have uploaded a more loving version of the game: Faith Fighter 2.

Here's Molleindustria's description:

Faith Fighter 2 is the sequel of the infamous game that outraged over 1.3 billions of muslims from 57 countries. The scandal resulted in a ban from all the internets!

We regretted the use of irony and violence and this time we want to offer you a positive, nonviolent educational game that teaches the universal values of tolerance and respect. This is a very simple game that can be played by children of all ages, religious leaders and even journalists!

Faith Fighter 2 says that players must love all the figures equally in order to survive.

The first version of Faith Fighter featured Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha, God, and Ganesha fighting each other with kicks, spheres and thunderbolts a la cartoons. The accompanying guide read: "Choose your belief and kick the s*** out of your enemies. Give vent to your intolerance!" The gamers intended the game to be an ironic commentary on religious intolerance.

The Times Online added this from the gamers: "In few hours this statement generated a way more heated reaction than the release of the game. We are not "bowing to the fundamentalists", we have no sympathy for any religion but we are aware that Muslims are victim of widespread racism in the western world."

Progressives: Finding Humor In Their Hypocrisy

Ah, I need to visit The People's Cube more often! They're always good for some belly laughs. Check out this lovely item I found today ...

15 DOs and DON'Ts of New Progressive Order

By Opiate of the People
1/7/2009, 10:37 am

How to comply with the new Progressive order and achieve a happier life while avoiding jail time:

DO buy vehicles from GM, Ford and Chrysler because it helps our UAW friends the economy DON'T drive them as they pollute the environment and cause global warming DO insist that nationalized, single-payer government provided health insurance is the solution to our health-care crisis DON'T mention that a government health care bureaucracy is just like a private insurer's healthcare bureaucracy except that with the former, you don't get another choice

• DO condemn smoking in public and private venues because it is filthy and selfish and increases health care costs
• DON'T stop buying tobacco products because the collective needs the tax revenue

• DO despise elitist wealthy fat-cats like CEOs of Wal-Mart and other companies that do useful things
• DON'T despise elitist wealthy fat-cats like the Sulzbergers, the Kennedys and the Hollywood celebrities who do useless things

• DON'T fight terrorism with military action, treat it as a civilian police matter
• DO hamper police investigations at every turn in the name of civil rights

• DO denounce oil companies for their "excessive" profits whenever the world markets drive the price of oil up
• DON'T allow them to drill for oil in the US or do anything else that might reduce these prices

• DO rail against the loss of American factory jobs to China, India et al
• DON'T stop increasing the environmental, labor and other regulations that make it impossible to open any kind of factory in this country
  

• DO demand fairness in hiring, lending, college admissions and other circumstances
• DON'T mention that the dictionary definition of fairness bears little resemblance to the political concept

• DO despise war and demonstrate constantly for peace, violently if need be
• DON'T hide your glee when the US or one of its allies, like Israel, is losing

• DO require bi-partisanship in government and that the rights of the minority party be respected
• DON'T make us laugh when we're in the majority

• DO politicize science by bullying and cajoling everyone into believing the AGW myth
• DON'T fail to accuse real scientists (who have facts to disprove the myth) of politicizing science

• DO holler about the need for more government programs to help the poor
• DON'T notice how much these programs actually benefit politically-connected hacks and crooks who are not poor

• DO continuously harp on the main vice of capitalism, the unequal distribution of its benefits
• DON'T ever mention the only virtue of socialism, the equal sharing of its miseries

• DO emphasize the Progressive commitment to preserve individual choice when it comes to aborting a pregnancy
• DON'T emphasize the Progressive commitment to prevent individual choice when it comes to everything else

• NEVER even think about the fact that on the Progressive farm, some animals are more equal than others

Obama and Uncle Sam's Plantation

Here's a very powerful commentary written by Starr Parker, founder of CURE -- Coalition for Urban Renewal and Education. Parker is founder of this organization, a 501c3 non-profit think tank, that "provides a national voice of reason on issues of race and poverty in the media, inner city neighborhoods, and public policy." She is a Christian conservative who believes that our nation's current crisis is caused by the wrong people "making the wrong decisions for too many years." Parker, currently a social policy consultant, was formerly a single mother on welfare who had returned to college to earn her degree in marketing. When the '92 Los Angeles riots destroyed her business, she turned the setback into "a springboard for her focus on faith and market-based alternatives to empower the lives of the poor."

In February, Parker published an attention-riveting commentary. [Source]. Emphasis added ...

Uncle Sam's plantation beckons again

Commentary

By STAR PARKER
Syndicated columnist

Published: Monday, February 9, 2009 at 4:01 a.m.
Last Modified: Monday, February 9, 2009 at 8:58 a.m.

Six years ago, I wrote a book called "Uncle Sam's Plantation." I wrote the book to tell my own story of what I saw living inside the welfare state and my own transformation out of it.

I said in that book that indeed there are two Americas. A poor America on socialism and a wealthy America on capitalism.

I talked about government programs like Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training (JOBS), Emergency Assistance to Needy Families with Children (EANF), Section 8 Housing and Food Stamps.

A vast sea of perhaps well-intentioned government programs, all initially set into motion in the 1960s, that were going to lift the nation's poor out of poverty.

A benevolent Uncle Sam welcomed mostly poor black Americans onto the government plantation. Those who accepted the invitation switched mindsets from "How do I take care of myself?" to "What do I have to do to stay on the plantation?"

Instead of solving economic problems, government welfare socialism created monstrous moral and spiritual problems. The kind of problems that are inevitable when individuals turn responsibility for their lives over to others.

The legacy of American socialism is our blighted inner cities, dysfunctional inner city schools and broken black families.

Through God's grace, I found my way out. It was then that I understood what freedom meant and how great this country is.

I had the privilege of working on welfare reform in 1996, passed by a Republican Congress and signed into law by a Democrat president. A few years after enactment, welfare roles were down 50 percent.

I thought we were on the road to moving socialism out of our poor black communities and replacing it with wealth-producing American capitalism.

But, incredibly, we are going in the opposite direction.

Instead of poor America on socialism becoming more like rich American on capitalism, rich America on capitalism is becoming like poor America on socialism.

Uncle Sam has welcomed our banks onto the plantation and they have said, "Thank you, Suh."

Now, instead of thinking about what creative things need to be done to serve customers, they are thinking about what they have to tell Massah in order to get their cash.

There is some kind of irony that this is all happening under our first black president on the 200th anniversary of the birthday of Abraham Lincoln.

Worse, socialism seems to be the element of our new young president. And maybe even more troubling, our corporate executives seem happy to move onto the plantation.

In an op-ed on the opinion page of the Washington Post, Mr. Obama is clear that the goal of his trillion-dollar spending plan is much more than short-term economic stimulus.

"This plan is more than a prescription for short-term spending-it's a strategy for America's long-term growth and opportunity in areas such as renewable energy, health care and education."

Perhaps more incredibly, Obama seems to think that government taking over an economy is a new idea. Or that massive growth in government can take place "with unprecedented transparency and accountability."

Yes, sir, we heard it from Jimmy Carter when he created the Department of Energy, the Synfuels Corporation and the Department of Education.

Or how about the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 - The War on Poverty - which President Johnson said "... does not merely expand old programs or improve what is already being done. It charts a new course. It strikes at the causes, not just the consequences of poverty."

Trillions of dollars later, black poverty is the same. But black families are not, with triple the incidence of single-parent homes and out of wedlock births.

It's not complicated. Americans can accept Barack Obama's invitation to move onto the plantation. Or they can choose personal responsibility and freedom.

Does anyone really need to think about what the choice should be?

Star Parker is an author and president of CURE, Coalition on Urban Renewal and Education (www.urbancure.org). She can be reached by e-mail at parker@urbancure.org.

Wow! Pretty powerful words from someone who has lived and worked to reform the plantation mentality of our government ... and specifically liberal Democrats.

Derivative Markets: A Tutorial

[Thanks, J, for this little beauty! I wish I knew the author.]

Heidi is the proprietor of a bar in Detroit. In order to increase sales, she decides to allow her loyal customers - most of whom are unemployed alcoholics - to drink now but pay later. She keeps track of the drinks consumed on a ledger (thereby granting the customers loans). Word gets around about Heidi's drink now pay later marketing strategy and as a result, increasing numbers of customers flood into Heidi's bar and soon she has the largest sale volume for any bar in Detroit. By providing her customers' freedom from immediate payment demands, Heidi gets no resistance when she substantially increases her prices for wine and beer, the most consumed beverages. Her sales volume increases massively.

A young and dynamic vice-president at the local bank recognizes these customer debts as valuable future assets and increases Heidi's borrowing limit. He sees no reason for undue concern since he has the debts of the alcoholics as collateral. At the bank's corporate headquarters, expert traders transform these customer loans into DRINKBONDS, ALKIBONDS and PUKEBONDS. These securities are then traded on security markets worldwide. Naive investors don't really understand that the securities being sold to them as AAA secured bonds are really the debts of unemployed alcoholics.

Nevertheless, their prices continuously climb, and the securities become the top-selling items for some of the nation's leading brokerage houses who collect enormous fees on their sales, pay extravagant bonuses to their sales force, and who in turn purchase exotic sports cars and multimillion dollar condominiums.

One day, although the bond prices are still climbing, a risk manager at the bank (subsequently fired due his negativity), decides that the time has come to demand payment on the debts incurred by the drinkers at Heidi's bar. Heidi demands payment from her alcoholic patrons, but being unemployed they cannot pay back their drinking debts. Therefore, Heidi cannot fulfill her loan obligations and claims bankruptcy. DRINKBONDS and ALKIBONDS drop in price by 90%. PUKEBONDS performs better, stabilizing in price after dropping by 80%. The decreased bond asset value destroys the banks liquidity and prevents it from issuing new loans.

The suppliers of Heidi's bar, having granted her generous payment extensions and having invested in the securities are faced with writing off her debt and losing over 80% on her bonds. Her wine supplier claims bankruptcy, her beer supplier is taken over by a competitor, who immediately closes the local plant and lays off 50 workers. The bank and brokerage houses are saved by the Government following dramatic round-the-clock negotiations by leaders from both political parties. The funds required for this bailout are obtained by a tax levied on employed middle-class non-drinkers.

Finally an explanation we can understand...

Global Warming: The Drums Are Beating Again

Amidst all the worry surrounding the economy, tax payers made even more nervous with Big Government wanting to resurrect the social medicine debate, headlines filled with threats from North Korea and Iran's nuclear appetites, being chased down with a hard swallow of swine flu, we have to have "Nobel laureate" (gag!) Al Gore fueling the fires yet again surrounding global warming.

I find it eerily coincidental that back in 2007 when Gore and the MSM were pushing that there was a "consensus" among world scientists regarding man made global warming. The night that that "big story" broke on several major networks, it overshadowed what should have been the lead story -- Kim Jong Il threatening to fire rockets over the Sea of Japan. Now, Al Gore and his minion are rearing their heads again -- just in time for Al Gore's next book due out in the fall. USAToday reported last month that Gore's next book, "Our Choice," will be released in November on 100% recycled paper. (Gee, I wonder how much flying he'll do in his private jet to promote the book.)

In obvious cahoots with Gore, MSNBC has a four-part series about global warming: "Future Earth: Journey to the End of the World." (A bit dramatic, isn't it?) Luckily, a weatherman with 30 years of experience is taking on the challenge, blogging about the fail points of global warming on WOOD-TV's website. (WOOD-TV is a CBS affiliate.) Here are Bill Steffen's points:

MSNBC is running a four-part series entitled Future Earth. On their website they say you can “find out why Earth’s climate machine — the North Pole — is melting alarmingly fast. Learn about our planet’s future, and how you can stop its decline.” First, the North Pole is not “Earth’s Climate Machine”. There is far more heat and area in the Tropics than at the North Pole. Second, YOU can’t stop it’s decline (assuming it’s declining)! Nature is big - you personally are insignificant compared to nature. Don’t you wish you had the power to control icecaps! If you don’t mind some profanity, check out George Carlin’s take on “Saving the Planet”. Third, MSNBC does not know “our planet’s future”. The scenario they portray in this piece is about as remote a possibility in the near future (and more than likely the very far future) as the Lions going 16-0 next season.

The Antarctic icecap (which is much bigger than the Arctic icecap) has been growing. In Sept. 1979 (first year of satellite data) the Antarctic icecap was 18.4 million sq. km. In Sept. 2008, the Antarctic icecap was at 19.2 million sq. km. That’s a 30-year trend. By comparison, Michigan is 151,586 sq. km, so that’s an increase in icecover of over five times the area of Michigan. MSNBC could instead be doing a story on the trend of cooling in Antarctica and possible falling sea levels due to ice accumulation in Antarctica. Keep in mind that if the Polar icecap (without Greenland) melted…it would hardly cause sea level to rise, because the icecap is currently displacing water in the Arctic Ocean. The Antarctic icecap is over a land continent, not floating over an ocean. Significant ice accumulation over the land of Antarctica would cause sea level to fall. The Arctic icecap did decrease significantly (yes, very significantly) from 1979 to 2007. To do a fair piece on Arctic ice…MSNBC or anyone would have to note this. However, to also be fair…they should also tell what’s been going on in the Arctic since 2007. Please, CHECK OUT THIS GRAPH from the National Snow and Ice Data Center. Note that the current icecap has grown significantly and is now much closer to the 1979-2000 average than it is to the low level of 2007. There are meteorological reasons for this increase (PDO - Pacific Decadal Oscillation going negative, etc.) that have nothing to do with CO2. Some scientists predicted there would be no icecap this summer. It’ll actually be bigger than last summer. Al Gore predicted last year that “the icecap will be gone in five years!”.

I would be willing to not only bet Al Gore but also give him 100 to one odds that there will still be a polar ice cap in 2013. One last point, MSNBC is owned by General Electric. GE is already making money off the issue with their Carbon Credit Master Card (link from “Treehugger”, no less). Here’s CNN’s story on the new credit card. Interesting note: In the fourth quarter of 2008 as GE/NBC stock fell 30 percent, GE spent $4.26 million on lobbying — that’s $46,304 each day, including weekends, Thanksgiving and Christmas. In 2008, the company spent a grand total of $18.66 million on lobbying.” Reviewing their lobbying filings, GE’s specific lobbying issues included the “Climate Stewardship Act,” “Electric Utility Cap and Trade Act,” “Global Warming Reduction Act,” “Federal Government Greenhouse Gas Registry Act,” “Low Carbon Economy Act,” and “Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act.” Do you think this “big business” is just concerned about the environment? Well, check out this column from the Politico, which says: “Several of the companies would gain a commercial advantage after a cap and trade was established. General Electric has an “ecoimagination” line of green appliances and equipment. Robert Stavins, a professor of business and government at Harvard University, said a cap and trade program would be fantastic for GE and other companies that sell products that consume power. He said that if energy costs go up as a result of the regulation — something he believes is likely — a wide array of products from appliances to power plants would become prematurely obsolete and need to be replaced with greener models.” That would mean big money for GE (parent company of NBC and MSNBC). Take a moment and read my previous post on polar ice…check out the graphs and charts…they speak for themselves.

ONE LAST ADD: Check out this website with pictures of submarines in open water at the North Pole. Also: The Weather Channel is now owned by NBC, so they will have a similar policy.

I wish we had more scientists who had the cojones to stand up and voice their opposition to the global warming scam.

Faith Fighter: Mohammed vs. Jesus

FoxNews and the AP today are reporting that the Saudi-based Organization of the Islamic Conference, representing most Muslim nations, has persuaded Molleindustria to remove its online game "Faith Fighter" in which various gods are depicted fighting each other.

From the news story:

In the game "Faith Fighter," caricatures of Jesus, the Prophet Muhammad, Buddha, God and the Hindu god Ganesh fight each other against a backdrop of burning buildings.

God attacks with bolts of lighting and pillars of fire while the turbaned Muhammad can summon a burning black meteorite.

The OIC's complaint was "The game was incendiary in its content and offensive to Muslims and Christians. ... The game would serve no other purpose than to incite intolerance."

Molleindustria has the following statement on its website:

Today after an official statement by the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) we decided to remove the game Faith Fighter from our site.

Faith Fighter was meant to be a game against intolerance that used over the top irony and a cartoonish style to express the instrumental use of religions.

Faith Fighter depicted in a mildly politically incorrect way all the major religions as a response to the one-way islamophobic satire of the Danish Mohammad cartoons.

If a established organization didn't understand the irony and the message of the game and is claiming it is inciting intolerance, we simply failed.

The game has been released more than a year ago, it got international news coverage and has been played by millions of players on the Internet and it has been exhibited in several artistic venues around the world. Reviews have been generally positive and we only received two letters of complaints by two catholic players.

We suspect that people at OIC never played the game and only referred to the article on Metro UK that successfully manufactured this controversy.

According to Molleindustria's site, it is composed of "an Italian team of artists, designers and programmers that aims at starting a serious discussion about social and political implications of video games." One should question, however, how this team invited "serious" discussions given their other "games": "Pedopriest," which mocks the Catholic Church's recent scandals, "Queer Power," where the inhabitants of Queerland do not have "fixed sexual orientations" but rather fornicate with whomever with whatever whim, and "Oiligarchy," where you as the oil baron can explore and drill, corrupting politicians and suppressing alternative fuels as you go.

One could perhaps argue that Molleindustria showed some cultural sensitivity in giving the game a "censored" option, which blocked out the face of Muhammad ... But, it is unlikely that one could get very far with that argument.

Town Hall For Hope: Dave Ramsey's Views on Today's Economic "Crisis"

Last night I attended a local live viewing of Dave Ramsey's "Town Hall for Hope" broadcast. I am nowhere near an "economic whiz" nor possess any in depth understanding of economics. I have lived long enough, however, to have experienced our MSM's psychopathic fixation on tragedy, hyper exaggeration, and generating fear. I have also lived long enough to remember prior recessions in the 70s and 80s.

I was relieved to hear Dave Ramsey, host of a nationally syndicated radio talk show and author of several books on debt relief and personal finance, voice similar concerns that I have. He, too, is staggered by the constant gloom and doom reporting of the economy and the way the MSM and other financial "geniuses" harp on how bad times are.

Some of these "geniuses" have attempted to liken it to The Great Depression. Ramsey was quick to point out that the current situation isn't even close. He rattled off statistics of the Depression, as well as two other recessions from the 70s and 80s. Today's recession is still not as bad as those two.

Here's a brief comparison of the four economic challenges our nation has faced so far:

The Current Recession:

• The stock market experienced a 57% drop. (Interestingly, Ramsey pointed out that the stock marked has rebounded some 20% in the past seven weeks. It has recently risen from a low of 6400 to over 8000; but, the press isn't reporting this. Why???)

• Mortgage rates are at a 30-year low of 4 3/8%.

• 0% inflation (zero!)

• Unemployment: 8.5%

• No energy crisis, as was the case in the 70s

The 70s Recession: The political situation was extremely rocky with the resignations of President Nixon and Vice President Agnew. This occurred during a serious energy crisis that many of my colleagues and friends (of course, the MSM, too) have somehow forgotten. In 1973-1974 we were in a serious recession. Other facts:

• Unemployment: 15%

• Inflation: 10+%

• Stock market dropped some 50% (took 61 months to recover).

• Energy crisis: gas lines snaked around the block, and inflation became "stagflation": inflation in a stagnant economy.

The 80s Recession: The nation came off the coat tails of Carter and Reagan came on the seen to deal with the economic problems of the day. There was a similar 50% drop in the stock market.

• Inflation was over 10%

• Unemployment was over 10%

• Interest rate reached 17% on home mortgages

Now, let's compare these recessions to The Great Depression (most figures from 1938-1940):

• Stock Market dropped 89%

• Unemployment grew to over 17%, peaking at 25% in 1933

• Bread lines .... real bread lines .... were everywhere (Ramsey quipped that today's executives flying to D.C. in Gulfstreams looking for bailouts hardly compare.)

So, as you can see from the above information, today's recession pales in comparison to the two prior recessions, let alone when held up to the Depression.

Here's a little reality check on those home foreclosures: 60% of those were in 5 states (CA, AZ, FL, MI ... and missed the 5th one. Sorry!) There are 35 counties involved. Compare that to the remaining 40% of foreclosures spread out among the other 45 states.

Here are some issues the audience brought up that Ramsey addressed:

• Gold: he called this the "snuggie of investment." He really poo-pooed this as an investment strategy. According to Ramsey, gold is very volatile and, contrary to what you hear the gold ads that are everywhere, has not been used as a standard in failed economies since the days of the Romans. He gave New Orleans/Hurricane Katrina as an example: goods and services and bartering were used in that "failed economy" setting. No one was running around with little bags of gold. From 1833 to 2001, the compound annual growth rate was 1.54% -- not much return for your investment.

• A good time to start up a new business? He said it very well could be. He listed several highly successful companies, still performing well, that were started up by individuals in the 70s and 80s recessions: MicroSoft, Hobby Lobby, Dell, the Weedeater was invented and was super successful. In 1946, the Chick-fil-a company was started.

• Will we become a "cashless society?" Will the dollar be replaced as the world standard? Ramsey really doubted this and chalked such fears up to the "gloom & doom folks."

• Unemployment: Ramsey emphasized that jobs going down is a symptom of the economy slowing down. Making up jobs won't fix it. As the economy corrects, jobs will go up.

• FDR ended The Depression? Ramsey went back to the history of the day -- something that today's financial "geniuses" fail to factor in. Ramsey asserted that FDR had adopted the economic strategy of John Maynard Keynes (pronounced "Canes") of England -- "The Father of Deficit Spending." However, it wasn't Keynesian economic theory that saved the U.S., but rather World War II. That historic event is what dropped the country's unemployment rate down to 1% brought on by the astronomical demand for goods. Ramsey pointed out that Milton Friedman, who won the Nobel Prize for economics in 1976 for his theories on capitalism and free markets, thus shooting down Keynes' theories.

Ramsey ended the evening with recommending that the public not buy into the fear being generated by the press. Instead, he invited people to follow his three steps: 1) get up and take action; 2) don't participate in "loser talk", and 3) start giving. Please go to Dave Ramsey's site for tons of information and advice: Town Hall for Hope.

The St. Louis Tea Party Was A Success!!

My friends and I had a great time at Wednesday's Tax Day Tea Party Protest. It was announced that the Park Service estimated the crowd to be 5,000-7,000 people, which sadly was under reported by Channel 5 during their 5:00 a.m. newscast the following morning. (Sadly, too, for Channel 5, the Tea Party Protest didn't come in the line-up of stories for about the first 10 minutes or so ... following a brief update on the Blues hockey team. Shameful.)

We had enthusiastic and inspiring talks from such people as Jim Hoff of Gateway Pundit, talk show host Dana Loesch, and blogger Bill Hennessy (Loesch and Hennessy were the main organizers). My favorite speaker was Kevin Jackson, who proudly spoke of being a Black Conservative. (He has a great blog at The Black Sphere. Soon his book "Rants from a Black Conservative" will be out.)

I wasn't so quick to write my "review" of the event, since I spent a lot of time watching TV and reading online about how this event was covered by the MSM. From what I surmise, the majority of news outlets under reported, slanted, and slandered the 500 protest tea parties around the country, some networks even getting on a vulgar level with their remarks. Some networks claimed the FoxNews was behind the events. Gee, and you wonder why FoxNews does beat the beejeebers out of all the other networks combined. (See Gateway Pundit's post today about how FoxNews beats CNN, MSNBC, and Headlines News -- combined.)

Other networks downplayed the anger expressed by protestors such as The New York Times and NPR. Here are some excerpts from the Times' story the following day (note the low numbers in the crowd estimates, which do coincide with those reported by those who attended):

It was hard to determine from the moderate turnout just how effective the parties would be. In Philadelphia, a rally in Center City drew about 200 rain-soaked participants.

Several hundred people showed up in Lafayette Park opposite the White House, until the park and parts of Pennsylvania Avenue were cleared while a robot retrieved what the Secret Service confirmed was a box of tea bags.

In Pensacola, Fla., about 500 protesters lined a busy street, some waving “Don’t Tread on Me” flags and carrying signs reading “Got Pork?” and “D.C.: District of Corruption.”

In Austin, Tex., Gov. Rick Perry energized a crowd of about 1,000 by accusing the Obama administration of restricting states’ rights and vaguely suggesting that Texas might want to secede from the union.

In downtown Houston, there were some in the crowd of 2,000 that poured into the Jesse H. Jones Plaza who also wanted Texas to secede.

Some networks got downright nasty in their reporting. The main, non-cable networks ABC, CBS and NBC attempted to discredit the protesters' efforts, mixing in accusations of right-wing extremism and anti-immigrant sentiments -- the usual PC tactic of labeling in order to shut down open debate. According to NewsBusters.org:

The broadcast network evening newscasts on Wednesday provided prominent coverage of the “Tea Party” rallies across the nation with time for the views of participants, but they tried to discredit the protests as a front for “corporate interests” or a “fistful of rightward leaning Web sites” -- a concern for motives and hidden agendas the same programs lacked when championing the 2006 pro-illegal immigrant marches. All three also cited polls to undermine the premise the public shares the concerns on taxes and spending espoused by the “tea party” protesters.

Cable networks resorted to low-level, sexually suggestive "humor" to ridicule the efforts of the Tea Party protesters, calling attenders "tea baggers", using the term "teabagging", with CNN's anchor Anderson Cooper quipping "It's hard to talk when you're teabagging." From FoxNews (the supposed catalyst behind the nationwide event):

For thousands of Americans, Tax Day was a moment to protest what they see as bloated budgets and a pile of debt being passed on to their children.

For CNN, MSNBC and other media outlets, it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to use the word "teabagging" in a sentence.

Teabagging, for those who don't live in a frat house, refers to a sexual act involving part of the male genitalia and a second person's face or mouth.

So when the anti-tax "tea party" protests were held Wednesday across the country, cable anchors and guests -- who for weeks had all but ignored the story -- covered the protests by cracking a litany of barely concealed sexual references.

CNN anchor Anderson Cooper interspersed "teabagging" references with analyst David Gergen's more staid commentary on how Republicans are still "searching for their voice."

"It's hard to talk when you're teabagging," Cooper explained. Gergen laughed, but Cooper kept a straight face.

MSNBC's David Shuster weaved a tapestry of "Animal House" humor Monday as he filled in for Countdown host Keith Olbermann.

The protests, he explained, amount to "Teabagging day for the right wing and they are going nuts for it."

He described the parties as simultaneously "full-throated" and "toothless," and continued: "They want to give President Obama a strong tongue-lashing and lick government spending." Shuster also noted how the protesters "whipped out" the demonstrations this past weekend.

It's amazing the misinformation that our MSM continues to put out regarding the Tea Party participants a few days following the nationwide, 750-cities event. Today , in fact, Chicago Sun-Times columnist Neil Steinberg dopily claimed that Tea Party goers were actually protesting against the military by protesting taxes. He wrote: "Of course, they didn't think they were speaking out against our military and our vets -- they hadn't really thought it through at all. They were under the impression they were condemning federal taxes. But where do federal tax dollars go? By far the largest chunk -- more than a quarter -- supports our military and takes care of aging vets" [Source]

Such an idiot! First of all, at the Tea Party I attended, one of the speakers asked for a show of hands of those who had served in the military. As maaaaany hands shot up in the air, applause and cheers broke out from the crowd as an expression of gratitude for their service. Something tells me that these people are the ones that characteristically support funding of the military, rather than the budget-slashing Democrats during the Carter and Clinton administrations or the nitwit Democrats in Congress who last year were "playing chicken" with funding the war in the Iraq, to use the words of The One himself.

Isn't it amazing how shabbily the MSM treated this event. I dare them to do the same for other protests and gatherings. Picture it: the MSM making similar vicious attacks on people who participate in such events as The Million Man March, anything to do with Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton, the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, Earth Day, Arbor Day, March of Dimes ...

Am I An Extremist?

As I was e-mailing my friends back and forth yesterday and last night, firming up our plans to attend the big Tea Party in downtown St. Louis tomorrow, I was sharing with them how FoxNews would be broadcasting live from various venues all day tomorrow. In fact, if you see below at my last post with the info from FoxNews, I joked about how the MSM would portray us.

Well, my friends, the attacks are apparently starting already. Ironically, our local FoxNews affiliate Channel 2 had one of its reporters claiming that "extremists" would be rallying.



I got the tip from one of my favorite bloggers GatewayPundit. However, it appears that Channel 2 has deleted the story and link, but luckily the video link via GatewayPundit works fine. Perhaps Channel 2 wised up and realized it's insane to assume that everyone attending tomorrow's rally is some radical extremist. Oh, I'm sure there will be a handful of the embarrassing kooks, but I believe the majority of us will be pissed off taxpayers from every part of the political spectrum.

I guess in the eyes of the MSM, that makes us "extremists." Well, then an extremist I shall be. (Oh, did I mention I'm going with a friend, and the two of us are bringing our mothers? Sounds pretty radical, doesn't it? I guess this extremism must be in our DNA.)

Barack the Barbarian: Some SNL Humor

Thanks to Newsbusters.org for posting this little diddy! Nice little cheap shot at Chris Matthews ... O's biggest fan and most impartial reporter.

Tea Party: FoxNews Doing Live Coverage

Gee, I wonder if any of the other networks will be reporting on this ... and will we be portrayed as a bunch of wackjobs, or will some serious discussion of the issue take place?

Easter Reflections

After spending several weeks in Lent, reflecting on the Passion of Christ, it is so joyous to now be in the season of Easter!!! The past week -- Holy Week -- brought me time to contemplate a bit more deeply the Gift of Salvation.

I took Good Friday off from work as a personal day. (For some time now, it is politically incorrect to have Spring Break tied with Easter.) I began the morning first by taking my dog (aka "THE BEAST") to the vet for her annual check-up and shots. Then, I went with two friends to a special Good Friday event at my "new" church. It was like the 12 Stations of the Cross, but in a modern light. Later that evening, my friends and I sang at the "old" church's Good Friday services. Saturday was filled with long rehearsals in preparation for Easter services.

For several years, I have joked about my being "spiritually ADD." I continue attending church, although with about as much enthusiasm and passion as one does with regards to a fitness regime -- I do it, because it's good for me. But, this past year, I've been taking steps to bring me more focused on my faith in and relationship with God. I figured that, like any relationship, if you want to save it and improve on it, you have to take an active role.

My spiritual malaise started years ago when I got divorced. My faith got me through the initial shock and recovery, but the whole ordeal left me feeling like the survivor of a shipwreck who finds himself washed up on some shore of an island -- exhausted, bruised and battered, nearly drowned, but grateful to be alive. I have continued on, always with God on my mind, but so terribly distracted by things in life and wanting to be in control. I have likened myself to a little toddler in her Daddy's arms. I know God holds me close, but I am always looking and reaching for other things, ignoring His protective and loving embrace.

Luckily, my new church has given me the push I needed. Being in a new environment and no longer faced with those I found frustrating and uncaring at my old church home, I feel freer and more open. Having gone through the new members' class, which included a bit of a "recovery session" for those burned by previous church experiences, I did a lot of "soul searching." At the same time, the weekly sermons brought home some very deep insights. And, again, the Good Friday event brought home more insights for me.

What I've learned these past few weeks:
1) Holding on to anger and not forgiving is not only exhausting, but is also like poison to the soul;

2) I am much like the handicapped man lying alongside the pool of Bethesda (John 5). The man was so obsessed with getting into the pool to be healed, that he missed The Healer standing right in front of him. Or, picture the Roman guards who cast lots for Jesus' robe, not realizing who hung above them. I, too, become so fixated on things, that I surely must be missing God right in front of me;

3) Perhaps my biggest barrier to a deeper faith is fear -- Am I afraid that the Bible will, like other things in my life, turn out to be yet another lie? Will I be horribly disappointed ... again?

But, my optimistic nature always comes through in the nick of time and saves me from whenever I start down this road of negativity, or what I call my "Tasmanian Devil spin", corkscrewing myself down into the ground with worried, frustrations, and fears. I know this "spirit of joy" that I have is a gift from God. It never fails to pull me out of an emotional tailspin and set me back on a path of reason, ration, and gratitude. And, this spirit of joy reminds me that it is better to live a life full of joy and hope than to be a miserable and selfish person.

Oh, and here's another insight I had this past week: We are all faced with terribly difficult decisions to make. I know my life is a fairy tale compared to others', but I have had my tough moments and gut-wrenching decisions to make. But, now as I look back on those times and choices, I am grateful with how things turned out. And I learned soooooo much during and from those times. I pray that I will do equally well in future conflicts.

I frequently repeat the words of the father who brought his demon-possessed son to Jesus for healing: "I believe, Lord. Help my unbelief!" (Mark 9:24)

Tea Party: Are You Ready For This Wednesday?

Don't forget!!! This Wednesday, April 15th -- Tax Day -- is the nationwide Tea Party to protest the out-of-control and out-of-their-freakin'-minds spending that our politicians are doing and proposing.

Here are some details for those in the St. Louis area [source]:

Where
Kiener Plaza. Kiener Plaza lies in the shadow of the Old Courthouse bounded by Broadway on the East, 9th Street on the West, Chestnut and Market Streets. Parking is available in in Kiener Garage West on Chestnut and in the Stadium garages on Broadway and on 9th Street.

When
Six-thirty p.m. is the official start, but you are welcome to arrive early. To prevent opposition groups from obtaining your personal information, we will give you guidance on how to identify official Staff members and approved groups and organizations. We urge you to pay close attention to these instructions. We will not disclose these identifiers in advance so that the opposition groups cannot mimic them.

Why
Our government has grown beyond its means and well beyond the consent of the governed, as Ronald Reagan said in his first inaugural address in 1981. Since Reagan left office, government’s insatiable appitate for power and money has grown exponentially. Except for a short period after Newt Gingrich’s mini-revolution in 1994, you and I have lost liberty and treasure to the monster of a metastasizing government every day of our lives.

We’re not lying down anymore!

What
Bring non-perishable food for the food drive. Local area food agencies will park trucks on Chestnut Street near 9th to collect your generous donations. We want to show the world that we care about our neighbors in need. While a few cans or boxes of food or few dollars is small sacrifice, it’s our down payment on a society that takes care of its brothers and sister instead of allowing government to confiscate our wealth to redistribute as it wishes. Government programs cost a fortune to operate and often misallocate resources. Fixing a meal for a neighbor in need gets the problem solved quickly, efficiently, and with love.

We’re doing charity our way from now on!

We Won’t Be Detered
Vince Lombardi said, “Fatigue makes cowards of us all.” Between now and next Wednesday, baseball practice, hockey games, work, the economy, and a million other little hobgoblins will try to talk us out of our duty to peaceably assemble in Kiener Plaza. Ill-informed opposition groups will try to frighten us away from our appointment with destiny. But do not listen to that devil’s voice when it tells you, “you’re too busy,” or “there’ll be plenty of others.”

You are America, sons and daughters of liberty. You were conceived and born free, answering only to God and to your neighbors. That freedom and those unalienable rights are under a relentless assault from politicians, greedy for money and hungry for power. In the past six months, the government has stolen $4 trillion of your future earnings, risked your children’s and grandchildren’s prosperity. That government has apologized in and to foreign nations for the very principles that make us America.

You need to remind our leaders that everyone of us escaped the very nations to which they now apologize. We came here to escape the arbitrary rule of other men. We came to this land to establish a government of our choosing, to limit that government to specific tasks, and we did so because we know that when a government becomes destructive of those ends it is the right and the duty of human beings to oppose it, even to the point of severing ties.

These Tea Parties serve as a shot across the bow of government, a warning to repeal their irresponisble, pork-packed legislation and cut our onerous taxes, or we will remove them from elective office in the largest Congressional housecleaning in American history.

The American Revolution will never end. It stands athwart tyranny, yelling no. And it needs every voice.

"Opposition groups" trying to possible get our personal information? What in the world??? I guess the event will perhaps also draw those who want to have more taxes ... freeloaders, maybe?

Oh, and if you're interested in acquiring some lovely tea partyware, you can go to CafePress. I just made my purchase -- shirts and bumperstickers. FoxNews is reporting today that the nationwide Tea Party is creating a sales boom for online makers and marketers. Here's an excerpt from the story:

Move over, coffee: It's teatime in America. Just be sure you're sipping your Earl Gray from an official Tea Party mug when April 15 rolls around.

Grassroots organizations have produced a cottage industry of Tea Party-themed products that are funding nationwide protests of government spending and bailouts -- and they're generating a mini-stimulus to boot.

Online retailers are recording hundreds of thousands of dollars in sales of mugs and sweats, buttons and bumper stickers, with much of the proceeds going toward organizing the tax-day tea parties, takeoffs on the original 1773 protest of British taxes.

Some protesters, in addition to trying to sway opinion, also seem interested in moving products -- though they're not likely to end up in Boston Harbor any time soon.

Custom online retailer Zazzle said tea party products have been flying off its presses at an "obscene" rate, propelling them into the top sphere of items it sells online.

... "Pro-Obama merchandise had been popular all of last year. In the last couple of months we've seen anti-Obama products begin to increase in popularity and sales numbers," Kang told FOXNews.com.

Well, I made an "obscene" purchase today by going ahead and paying extra for one-day shipping, so I'll have my gear for Wednesday's protest.

Hmmm ... "anti-Obama products" might be my next purchase.

Islamic Law's Growing Influence ... In America?!?

I've read in the past about Sharia Law gaining ground in the legal world of the UK. (See this post from September: Sharia Courts in the UK.) After reading of such incidents, I've worried about our own homegrown, PC-brainwashed kooks going down this route of insanity here in The States. As you can imagine, I wasn't too pleased to read this article (emphasis added):

Islamic Law's Influence in America A Growing Concern

FoxNews [source]

By David Lewkowict

As America's Muslim population grows, so too does the influence of Islamic law, or Shariah, in daily life of the U.S.

"Shariah Law is the totality of the Muslim's obligation," said Abdullahi An-Na'im, a professor of law at Emory University in Atlanta. According to An-Na'im, Shariah is similar to Jewish Talmudic Law or Catholic Canon Law in that it guides an adherent's moral conduct.

"As a citizen, I am a subject of the United States," An-Na'im said. "I owe allegiance to the United States, to the Constitution of the United States. That is not inconsistent with observing a religious code in terms of my own personal behavior."

While many view this as a testament to the "great American melting pot," others see Islamic law's growing influence as a threat. Shariah's critics point to cases such as the airport in Minneapolis, where some Shariah-adherent taxi drivers made headlines in 2006 for refusing to pick up passengers they suspected of carrying liquor. The drivers' aversion to alcohol stemmed from a verse in the Qur'an that describes "intoxicants and gambling" as "an abomination of Satan's handiwork."

Last year, a Tyson Foods plant in Shelbyville, Tenn. replaced its traditional Labor Day holiday with paid time off on Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim festival — marking the end of fasting during Ramadan. A labor union had requested the change on behalf of hundreds of Muslim employees— many of them were immigrants from Somalia. But public outcry over the decision to dismiss Labor Day quickly prompted the company and union to negotiate a new contract that makes accommodations for both holidays.

In 2007, the University of Michigan installed ritual foot baths to accommodate Islamic tradition. "These things are beginning to percolate up as Shariah-adherent Muslims insist that their preferences and practices be accommodated by the rest of the population," said Frank Gaffney, founder and president of the Center for Security Policy — a Washington think tank.

Gaffney predicted the U.S. could soon face problems similar to some Western European countries, where the religious values of Muslim immigrants sometimes clash with their highly secular host cultures.

But Professor An-Na'im believes it will be different in America. "The variety of American secularism — which is much more receptive of public displays of religion and a public role for religion — is, in fact, more conducive for Muslims to be citizens and to be comfortable with their religious values and citizenship than European countries," An-Na'im said.

I wonder what that receptiveness, that Professor An-Na'im talks about, could lead to. Could that receptiveness make life more comfortable for Muslims, not making them feel so isolated and oppressed by general society, thereby keeping tensions lower than in Europe? Or, could that receptiveness lead to Islam spreading like wildfire at a much more accelerated pace than it has had in Europe?

How bad is the economy?

Cats are so dramatic!

Look Familiar? It's Deja-Vu All Over Again!

This is an interesting forward I received today from my friend J. I'm not sure about it, but it does look authentic. I notice there is a 1934 copyright at the bottom by The Chicago Tribune.

The situation surely does look and sound familiar. I guess it's the old proverbial history repeating itself.

White House Replaces ‘War on Terror' With Symbol: Acquires Cryptic Icon From Funk Rocker Prince

The White House today announced today that it would no longer use the phrase "war on terror" and would instead replace it with a cryptic symbol once used by the funk rocker known as Prince.

The new symbol made its first appearance today at a White House press conference in which spokesman Robert Gibbs answered a question about the war on terror by holding up a picture of the newly acquired icon.

Mr. Gibbs said that the White House had decided to replace the phrase with the symbol after determining that its first-choice euphemism, "overseas contingency operations," was too much of a mouthful.

"In the years that Prince used the symbol, it was totally confusing and no one knew what it meant," he said. "It should work perfectly for us."

To acquire the rights to the symbol, however, the White House had to outbid an unlikely suitor, the insurance giant AIG.

The embattled company, which recently stripped its corporate headquarters of its logo in the hopes of throwing protesters off its scent, had intended to replace it with the mysterious icon coveted by the White House.

It was hoping to rebrand itself as "The Insurance Giant Formerly Known as AIG," a company spokesman said.

AIG Chairman Edward Liddy was philosophical about being outbid by the White House for Prince's symbol: "All of our efforts were a total and abject failure, but on the plus side, that means we're entitled to a bonus."

[Thanks, C!!!!]