Sue Myrick Wants To Shoot You In The Face

North Carolina: not quite as insane as South Carolina, but sometimes you would think they want to be. The idea of our politicians carrying guns around like we live in the old west is a little disconcerting, to say the least. Recently, NC Rep Heath Shuler (D) and NC Rep Renee Ellmers (who yo may remember as running on a “say-no-to-the-terrorist-mosque” platform, as if it has anything to do with North Carolina) have decided to start packing heat just in case they are confronted with a Tuscon-like scenario.

A Charlotte Observer review of N.C. county records for the entire delegation shows that Shuler and Ellmers are the only two members with permits. U.S. Rep. Sue Myrick, a Charlotte Republican, doesn't have a permit now, but said she had been thinking even before the shooting in Tucson of obtaining one.

Well isn't that lovely. Now, these two characters have shamed NC Rep Sue Myric (R) into joining the congressional SWAT team. Rep Myric is one person from this state that is unstable enough to carry a gun and “accidentally” shoot an innocent bystander.

Perhaps these Wyatt Earp wannabes should read a little further into what happened in Tuscon. AZ Rep Giffords was shot in the back of the head. She never saw if coming. If she had been carrying a .50 cal, she would have still been shot in the back of the head and would have never seen in coming. Carrying a gun will not stop a crazy person from coming out of the woodworks and attempting assassination and it won't stop them from succeeding.

That is the answer to all of our problems in the US though, isn't it? If we don't understand something or are worried about something, just pick up a gun. Scared and panicked people have never made a mistake while handling a weapon.

CAIR: Appologizing For Obstruction Of Justice

As much as I hate to use Fox News as a reference for anything, I thought this story deserved some attention. It seems that our friends at the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) are sponsoring a conference that is meant to inform the Muslim community of their rights when it comes to the FBI. The conference is called “FBI Raids and Grand Jury Subpoenas: Know Your Rights and Defend Our Communities.”

I have no problem with educating a community on their rights. Here is what I do have a problem with.

The poster, which appeared on the website of CAIR’s California chapter, features a sinister-looking FBI agent with the headlines “Build a Wall of Resistance” and “Don’t Talk to the FBI.” The poster was designed in the late 1970s or early 1980s and has been reproduced by various groups and activists since then in response to alleged harassment by the FBI and to protest grand jury subpoenas.

You know how to make everyone think that you are doing something sinister? Put out a call for all of the members of your community to not talk to law enforcement. I have many problems with the law enforcement system in this country, but refusing to talk to them isn't going to help anyones cause. By encouraging a group of people not to talk to a law enforcement agency does nothing more than set them apart from the rest of the country that they supposedly love. We all have to abide by the same rules and laws no matter how stupid or ridiculous they are.

If someone feels they or their community is being singled out, then that is a issue for the courts. File a lawsuit and let the public know what is going on. Silence is not a good option though.

I don't buy for one minute the line from CAIR about not knowing about the content of the event and just being a sponsor. How many politicians and groups have been crucified in this country for sponsoring an event that had content that was less than flattering? It happens every year. I do not believe them for one second.

Come on CAIR, stop trying to bullshit people. You went from being a group that was actually fighting for the liberties of Muslims in America to a group that is apologizing for everything that happens in the Muslim community no matter how stupid it is.

Dr. Oz Is A Quack? Say It Ain’t So!

Ok, so I already knew he was a quack. However, he has taken it to a new level.

Dr. Issam Nemeh, the local doctor who holds faith healing services at Catholic churches, has ardent supporters as well as skeptical detractors.

He can count two well-known doctors as supporters.

Cleveland Clinic Wellness chief Dr. Michael Roizen and TV doc Mehmet Oz say they're amazed at several cases in which patients appear to have been healed after Nemeh treated them. Roizen and Oz collaborate on the "You" self-help books, such as "You on a Diet."

Nemeh and two patients will be featured on an upcoming Dr. Oz television show, currently scheduled for February. The show was taped in December.

So a quack is giving air time to a fraud. Unheard of! Maybe Dr. Oz and Dr. Roizen can collaborate on a new book called “You, dead after entrusting yourself to a faith-healer.”

Jailed For Placing Daughters In Better School?

Kelley Williams-Bolar, a single mother who lived in Akron public housing, was convicted of lying about her residency in order to send her two daughters to a highly ranked school. Her sentence, which inflamed emotions in the community, was 10 days in jail, and two years probation according to reports, and is due to end this week.

You’re probably thinking “I would do the same thing.” We all want the best for our children. We want them to have the best of everything in life so they can go on and do well if not better than us. So who wouldn’t fib a little to gain an edge for their children to a substantially better school?

People do this all the time whether its to join a YMCA closer to home, or to get in state tuition rather than an out of state. I have done things like this to gain an edge. Who wouldn’t as long as they felt like the cause was just and the odds of being caught were slim?

So isn’t this mom just like the rest of us? Only unfortunate to have been caught. Yes, she is exactly like the rest of us.

We all have broken the law. Difference is she got caught and now she has had to pay the price. Fact of the matter is she falsified official documents and used taxpayer money of which she contributed nothing. Granted her cause was noble but her actions none the less against the law.

Neither she nor the girls actually lived within the boundaries of Copley-Fairlawn. They lived in Akron public housing. Instead it was Williams-Bolar's dad who lived in Copley-Fairlawn. Which meant she should have paid about $30,500 in tuition. So she and her father faked the kids' residency, using his address.

Copley-Fairlawn Superintendent Brian Poe said the district has lost hundreds of thousands of dollars because of children illegally enrolled in its schools. The cases are usually resolved by parents proving they live in the district, taking their kids out of the schools or paying tuition of about $800 a month.

Some are saying she is just being picked on to make an example. You’re absolutely right she is. The school investigated about 100 other families doing the same thing, they either plead guilty, proved residency or stayed and agreed to pay tuition. Williams-Bolar was the only one to challenged the school district in court, had she had decided to not challenge the findings you wouldn’t know her name just like the hundred others involved. She made herself an example.

In the end she placed her current job and future carrier in jeopardy and was sentenced to 10 days in jail and 2 year probation. Not really a bad wrap considering she owes the schools about thirty five thousand dollars. She is an example that if you break the law you should be held accountable for your actions.

Jesus Hates Children

Many of us wonder why, if there is a god, would he let disease and illness be so prevalent in our society. Some, like Pat Robertson and the good people at the Westboro Baptist Church, say that it is because he is punishing us. Of course, the answer is that there is no god and the problems we have are due to our genetic make-up. However, there is a new story as to why children have dysfunctions, particularly in this case Down Syndrome. Prepare to be disgusted.

In the fictional novel The Clowns of God by Morris West, Jesus comes back to earth, and some people think it's Him while some don't. At one point, Jesus is at a school for children with Down syndrome, and He is holding a little girl. Jesus says:

"I know what you are thinking. You need a sign. What better one could I give but to make this little one whole and new? I could do it, but I will not. I am the Lord and not a conjurer. I gave this mite a gift I denied to all of you — eternal innocence. To you she looks imperfect — but to me she is flawless, like the bud that dies unopened or the fledgling that falls from the nest to be devoured by ants. She will never offend me, as all of you have done. She will never pervert or destroy the work of my Father's hands. She is necessary to you. She will evoke the kindness that will keep you human. Her infirmity will prompt you to gratitude for your own good fortune... More! She will remind you every day that I am who I am, that my ways are not yours, and that the smallest dust mite whirled in the darkest spaces does not fall out of my hand... I have chosen you. You have not chosen me. This little one is my sign to you. Treasure her!"

The Jesus that is described her is nothing more than a bully. What kind of person would have the power to heal someone and not use it? A sociopath, that’s what kind. There aren’t many things more disgusting than the idea of someone having the cure for something at not using it, only to say nothing more than “I work in mysterious ways.” Mysterious or not, they are loathsome ways. Why would anyone worship someone who obviously has no regard for the health of the people he claims to love?

It should also be noted that children with Down syndrome are not “eternally innocent”, they are sick. Essentially, Down syndrome is when a person has either part of, or a full extra chromosome. This can cause multiple problems on top of actually having Down syndrome such as congenital heart disease, thyroid disease, leukemia, Hirschsprungs disease, epilepsy, and a host of other disorders. That doesn’t sound like a “flawless child,” that sounds like a child that is suffering terribly.

This entire story was written as an anti-abortion piece. There are parents out there who chose to terminate a pregnancy when they learn that the fetus is deformed, has a disorder, etc. There is nothing wrong with that. It is horribly selfish of someone to know that a fetus is sick and still bring it into this world so that the person that the fetus turns into can suffer for its entire life. The shame does not lie at the feet of the parents who chose to terminate a sick fetus, it lies at the feet of people who bring sick children into the world and then try to shame everyone else who doesn’t want to make that decision.

It is up to the parents if they want to have a child that is ill or to wait until they have a healthy fetus. To write a book on the joys of having a sick child is demented and using an imaginary person (who would shoulder the blame for the sickness if he were real) is absurd. I am sure that the people deciding to terminate a pregnancy are not going into the process willy-nilly. It takes a lot of heart-break, sorrow, tears, and thought.

But if Jesus wants us to all have some sort of disease because it will teach us about the mysteries of God and faith, then we should all smile and be happy at our horrible disposition.

Religion By Infomercial

Say Hebbo! from Torvakian on Vimeo.

Am I crazy or does this look like every religion out there, especially Scientology? It's funny because it's true.

¡Viva la Revolución!

I hope everyone is watching what is going on in Tunisia with the intensity that I am. I cannot stress enough how important this “Jasmine Revolution” is. For those of you who don’t know, I recommend reading everything you can about this revolution.

Tunisia is a perfect example of what happens when you take rights and freedoms from people and force them to live in a state of poverty and fear. The situation in Tunisia was, and still is, dire. The people, tired of living under the crushing weight of poverty and restricted access to information, rose up and took back their government. It is sad that it took a young man setting himself on fire to bring about this revolution, but desperate times require desperate measures. Imagine being in a place that your only recourse is to set yourself ablaze.

What makes the situation so volatile now is the danger of a military regime taking over the country. General Rachid Ammar released the following statement:

... he would uphold “the revolution” that brought down the government, and he promised that the military would guarantee stability until the interim government held elections, witnesses said.

Don’t buy what this guy is selling. We have seen this movie before. The military will maintain peace and then continue maintaining that peace by taking over the government. The last thing Tunisia needs is military junta at the helm. The African continent has seen its fair share of military dictators. I don’t think they need another one.

Another reason that this is important is that it shows the rest of the world how bad it has to get before someone does something. How disenchanted with your government do you have to get before you take to the streets in protest? In most places that isn’t really a problem (i.e. the student protests in the UK, workers riots in France, etc) so this message is really directed at the American people.

Are we going to let it get this bad in the US before we take action? What is it going to take to get the populace off of their asses and out on the streets protesting issues like the continued war in Afghanistan, and continued occupation of Iraq, the billions spent on the military every year, and the lack of jobs all while the cost of living continues to rise, healthcare is becoming more and more unattainable for people who aren’t millionaires, jobs pay less if you can find one, and people continue to suffer in poverty? My guess is it is going to take something drastic to get people moving.

Americans have just become too soft. We are comfortable with our central air, our big screen TV, our fridge full of meat, and our counter full of donuts. We continue to drive gas-guzzling pollution machines almost in spite of the science of our deteriorating environment. Well, isn’t that the American way? Maybe when people are too poor to eat at McDonald's and gas is $13.00 per gallon people will wake the fuck up.

Our situation is nowhere near as bad as Tunisia, but why should we let it get that bad before we make real change?

So He Hates Non-Christians

Alabama, you are one of the worst states in the union, somewhere between South Carolina and Mississippi. We all know you are full of inbred, redneck, racist, homophobic asshats, but you really didn’t have to go out and elect the asshat. I am speaking about your new Governor, Gov. Bob Bentley of course.

''But if you have been adopted in God's family like I have, and like you have if you're a Christian and if you're saved, and the Holy Spirit lives within you just like the Holy Spirit lives within me, then you know what that makes? It makes you and me brothers. And it makes you and me brother and sister."

Bentley added, ''Now I will have to say that, if we don't have the same daddy, we're not brothers and sisters. So anybody here today who has not accepted Jesus Christ as their savior, I'm telling you, you're not my brother and you're not my sister, and I want to be your brother."

I honestly don’t care what this guy says. I prefer him not consider me any part of his family. He can stand at the podium and scream about the Christian State of Alabama and how he hates everyone who isn’t a white Christian man. I actually appreciate this guy’s honesty. He has a conviction that all non-Christians are not part of his “family”. I am glad he had the balls to stand up and say it out loud.

Here is the catch: this guy is a douchebag. He loves feeling superior to everyone else and thinks that he is in good company, so why not say it? Well, let me tell you why. The reason that Alabama is a horrible state is because they keep electing bigots like this guy. This guy is just a representation of what the people of Alabama are like: old, white, and bigoted. I don’t think that Gov Bentley is to blame. That would be too easy. It is the people of Alabama who are to blame. They voted this guy in because he best represents the values of Alabamans.

To be fair to Gov Bentley, he did apologize… to a rabbi. I am shocked and surprised that he went that far.

Title Censored By Your Friendly Saudi Government

Saudi Arabia has enacted stringent new regulations forcing some bloggers to obtain government licenses and to strong-arm others into registering. In addition, all Saudi news blogs and electronic news sites will now be strictly licensed, required to “include the call to the religion of Islam” and to strictly abide by Islamic sharia law. Effective January 1st 2011 Blogs are classified as “electronic publishing” and news blogs (the term is not explicitly defined in the Saudi law) are now subject to the same legal regulations as newspapers.

The law specifies that under the regulations, any operators of news blogs, mobile phone content creators or operators of news sites in Saudi Arabia have to be Saudi citizens, at least 20 years old and possess a high school degree. That’s not all, detail in the new Saudi regulations is a provision requiring all news bloggers to provide the Saudi Arabian government with detailed information on their hosting company. This could easily allow the Saudi Arabian government to block access to a particular website across domains or to even force hosting companies to take dissidents' websites offline. Source: Fast Compay

This is a ridiculous case of oppression, in an effort to control everything they are now even reaching out to control the internet, that one free means exchange ideas of any one from any background could use to express their thoughts. Is now regulated and no longer free just a tool to push religion.

The scariest part of this is if can be done here it can be done anywhere. Even here in the US there is Senate bill 3480 the Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act of 2010 the bill will allow the president to order internet service providers to disconnect the American Internet from all traffic coming in from another foreign country. Source: Popular Science Feb. 2011 issue.

Does any one have any idea how hard it would be to turn the internet back on? Some financial networks could be out of service for awhile, a long while. That should help us all feel more safe and secure. I know I do.

The internet is not something to be toyed with it’s our one last true breath of freedom we as people have no matter where we come from. It should always be free. Never a tool used by any government for using citizens as your kingdom’s personal P.R. program or making people call to your religion against their will.

Some of you are still upset that the internet was unleashed to the masses. I think it was one of the most significant events in all of history. It has furthered education and communication into a realm some never would have though possible. Sure it has caused its fair amount of trouble but for those of us that respect it and understand how to use it, it has done far more good than bad. It’s a wonderful tool for furthering out own education and understanding of this world. It needs to remain the free world that it was intended to be.

On This Martin Luther King Jr Day

Never forget those that came before us that sacrificed so much.

UK, You Are Doing It Right

Remember the guy who was fired from his job at the Scottish Football Association because he circulated a joke about the pope? Well, the British National Secular Society is demanding that he get his job back. I don't think he should get his job back. I think he should sue the SFA for a religiously motivated firing, but the only thing I really know about British law is what circulated around the Simon Singh case.

While the Catholic Church described the e-mail as "deeply offensive" and supported the sacking of the SFA's head of referee development in November, the National Secular Society insisted yesterday that it was "a light-hearted joke"

Well Catholic Church, you know what I find deeply offensive? Raping kids. However Keith Woods, the director of the NSS, made this point directly to the church.

Keith Porteous Wood, executive director of the NSS, has written to the SFA following its decision last week to reinstate three of the five individuals sacked last year during a disciplinary hearing that was called after they circulated the e-mail containing a joke linking the Pope to child abuse.

The three members of staff were reinstated on Friday, following negotiations between the SFA and the GMB union, and are expected to return to their posts later this month after what a union official described as "a wee hiccup" on the workers' unblemished records of service.

In the letter, Mr Wood said the sacking of staff by the SFA was "disproportionate", and that, while the organisation was pleased that three members of staff had been reinstated, it called on the football body to give the remaining two, Mr Dallas and another employee who had not appealed, their jobs back.

Mr Wood then launched an attack on the Catholic Church. He wrote that it was in "no position to lobby and deprive others of their jobs over such a trivial joke, given its own misdemeanours, conducted on a much larger scale for so long and so widely".

He added: "It is a matter of public record that the Catholic Church itself has not sacked, nor indeed reported to prosecuting authorities, thousands of its own employees it knew to have abused children in its care.

"Had it done so, rather than moving these employees to unsuspecting parishes to abuse again, many more victims' lives would have been spared damage."

Now that is how you verbally bitch-slap an institution.

Catholics In The UK Are Babies

So I am going to summarize this article and this article:

UK Secularists: We don't want children to receive religious indoctrination at school.

UK Catholics: Why are you making fun of us?! Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

Although, I would trade all of your crazy Catholics for a Ray Comfort and Ken Ham.

The 3 State Solution

Israel is becoming more and more schizophrenic. A recent poll from the Geocartography Research Institute found that 61% of Israelis think that the haredim should live separately. The haredim are the ultra-orthodox, rest-of-the-world-hating, wife-abusing, violent people in Israel that don’t pay taxes and also don’t have jobs. They are supported strictly by the government.

The question that the president of the Geocartography Research Institute, Prof. Avi Degani, posed to 500 Jewish Israelis – haredim, religious, traditional and secular – last week was whether they agreed with the notion that it would be better if haredim were to live in separate haredi locales, and would not be involved in the secular populace, for the benefit of both populations.

That’s only going to benefit one population. You know, the one that isn’t bat-shit religiously insane. If you let these people disengage from society, they are going to do nothing but become more and more radical. Expect nothing but violence from these already-violent people.

However, they have started to allow the haredi women to serve in the military… separately from everyone else.

The Israeli Army Intelligence Corps has approved the enlistment of 10 married ultra-Orthodox Jewish women, a military official said.

The women will be permitted to take their young children to the bases where they serve, Israel Radio reported.

The women will serve in intelligence units, including the 8200 Unit (an intelligence information and code-gathering operation), as well in computer engineering and other electronic functions, the radio said.

They will be completely segregated from male soldiers in accordance with their religious requirements, the report said.

Keep this shit up Israel and you are going to need a 3-state solution.

No Money For You.

Brown told the Journal he doesn't believe HIV/AIDS patients should be covered for diseases caused "by the way they live," saying that any patients who contracted such illnesses "sexual behavior or drugs" should pay the full cost of treatment themselves. - The Charlotte Observer.

You have got to be kidding me.

Ok lets just go for the obvious here, you can’t just pick one or two disease caused by lifestyle choices to not offer assistance for. The standpoint of ‘No coverage for something you did to yourself’ is all inclusive not pick and choose. The short list of diseases for which funding should be removed in cases where lifestyle was the direct cause. 

Cancer - Are you a smoker? Were you exposed to caustic chemicals? Bummer, no money for you either you had a choice and decided to expose yourself. No money.

Obesity - Did Little Debbie hold a gun to your head and make you eat all that mass produced crap food that is so cheap and mass marketed to you and tell you not to exercise? Nope. No money tubby.

Diabetes - You again tubby? Shame on you. You mean to tell me someone made you drink all that high sugar soda? I don’t think so you could have had a vitamin water. No money. (And I hear that diabetic testing stuff is expensive. Good luck!)

Heart Diseases - You again! Tubby you really need to stop asking. So now you want me to believe all that crap you ate clogged up your arteries, now your heart doesn’t work to well? Oh well no one made you eat it. No money

You  get my point, we can’t just cut state funding for a programs or medications because odds are lifestyle of the sick lead them there. Sure, they did it to themselves, whatever. Doesn’t mean we leave them in the gutter to die. You take them in, place them in programs to help them get better so they can live a productive rest of their time. Hopefully sharing their experience to educate and help prevent these things from happening in the future.

Cutting the funds and turning people away will just lead to huge death tolls. People can’t afford the treatments they need. Plain and simple, people count on those in charge to help take care of them. Brown’s plan for the great state of North Carolina will be sitting back watching people perish.

I just wanted to mention this in the spirit of being fair. A lot of articles I have read are calling Brown’s comments on the subject; “hateful rhetoric” In this case, I don’t think so. Yeah, he hates gays, but he hates a lot of other things too. it’s not fair to say just because a man made comments that included the words "queer" and "fruit loop" that every decision he makes is based on his hate of gays. I think sometimes people forget he's a person, He has plenty of other things to hate he doesn't spend every second of every day plotting against just gays.

He was quoted saying; because of… "sexual behavior or drugs" Statements like ‘sexual behavior' or 'perverse lifestyle' are all encompassing, straight or gay. I asked an openly gay friend of mine to read the article and give me his thoughts on it. Here is what he had to say.

“It’s exactly this kind of hypocrisy that's going to kill us. One has to think of it like this: if his reasoning is correct, then how many other medications should we cut funding for because of lifestyles that cause illness? Should we stop funding Diabetes medication and research because high sugar and fat intake can cause it? Should we stop should we stop funding blood pressure medications? Cholesterol meds? Sure, not all cases of the above are always a result of fucking up somewhere in our lives, but quite a few are. For every glandular problem there are going to be 10 people who compulsively eat. For every infected blood transfusion there may be 10 promiscuous people. Oh well. It is not on us to judge why or how. It's our job as people to show compassion and help them anyway, like it or not. Money is replaceable. Our lives are not.”  - Mark Bryan

Yes, we have the same name. Anyway my point is, an openly gay man saw no “hateful rhetoric” which is not to say he didn't notice any of the underlying tone of Brown's anti-gay feelings, but rather that he was able to focus on the real issue at hand. So for all you groups out there tearing this apart to help promote your cause give it up, it discredits you and your organization by taking focus away from those who might lose necessary medical assistance. Tackle the issue at hand, not the one that supports your cause.

Was Jared Loughner's Act Political?

Originally posted by Cenk Uygur of the Young Turks. For all links referred to in the original post, please check out the article here.


Was Jared Loughner's act in shooting Rep. Giffords political? Apparently this is what's being debated with a straight face now. Is this a joke? He shot a politician in the head. He called it an "assassination." What part of that was unclear?

He didn't shoot Gabrielle Giffords randomly and it turned out she just happened to be a politician. He sought her out, targeted her and then tried to kill her based on the fact that she was a politician. He thought the government was the problem and it was unresponsive to his psychotic demands on grammar and currency.

So, is Loughner a psycho? Obviously. And that's not just because he shot all of those innocent people, but also because it is abundantly clear from his writings and videos that he has significant mental issues.

But why does the act have to be either psychotic or political? It's obviously both. It was a psychotic act driven by his political beliefs. What's so hard to understand about that?

Then, the next question is whether both sides are equally at fault. Again, I'm confused by this question. What the hell did the Democrats or liberals do here? Nothing, except get shot. How can the media possibly attach false equivalency to this? Are the Democrats equally culpable for getting shot as the conservatives are for shooting them?

Loughner shot a Democrat. Gee, I wonder which side he was on? He hated the government and thought they were out to get us. Gee, I wonder which side he was on?

I thought conservatives said liberals love big government. But now some have the audacity to claim Loughner was a liberal . But if one thing is obvious from Loughner's political writings, it was that he hated the government. So, which one is it -- do liberals love or hate the government?

Come on, this is all a smoke screen to make sure people don't see what's going on here. In the last two years, there have been dozens of attacks and shootings aimed at government officials and political organizations. Every single one of them was directed at liberals, Democrats or the government. Now we're to believe that's the world's largest coincidence?

The conservative hate-mongers don't create psychos. We get that there will always be disturbed individuals out there. But the right-wing directs these lunatics to a source. They channel their fear, anger and paranoia -- and they point them toward the Democrats. They use them as hate seeking missiles.

They load them up them up with violent imagery, whether it's talk of cross-hairs or second amendment remedies or the tree of liberty being refreshed with blood. Then when they get a violent reaction they pretend to be surprised and outraged that anyone would suggest they were the least bit culpable. The reality is that it is a simple formula -- violence in, violence out. Violent imagery in, violent results out.

If pretending this isn't political or that somehow it is both-sided doesn't work (which they shouldn't worry about because so far it has worked perfectly in white-washing their culpability in the media), then they say it's political exploitation to point out what they have done.

How the hell are we supposed to point out the problem if we can't mention the issue for fear of being charged with political exploitation? Would it be exploiting the tragedy of the BP oil spill to point out that maybe we should be a little careful about oil drilling? Or are we not supposed to make the most obvious points so that we don't offend the other political side's delicate sensibilities?

You know who exploited a tragedy for political gain? George W. Bush and the entire Republican Party. They used 9/11 as a gimmick to get re-elected. Then they exploited it to attack a random country that had nothing to do with 9/11. It is nearly impossible to exploit a tragedy anymore than they did with 9/11. And maybe that's why they level the charge against us now, because they know that's the first thing they'd do.

But pointing out that conservative commentators and politicians have been inciting their followers isn't done to get anyone elected. I don't even know whose election this would theoretically effect. This isn't done to press some policy agenda (again, outside of gun control, I can't even think of what agenda we are supposed to theoretically be pushing for). This is to point out an obvious fact that is getting people killed -- if you incite violence, you get violence.

To pretend that isn't happening all across the country everyday on talk radio, etc. is to be willfully blind to reality -- and to allow it to happen again. And trust me, next time they'll also say no one could have seen it coming and that whatever we do we mustn't talk about it. Preventing another tragedy like this would be such terrible exploitation. Better to be quiet and let them do it again.

Watch The Young Turks Here

Clarifications:

I didn't think these clarifications were necessary, but apparently they are for some. So, here it goes.

1. I am not saying all conservatives are responsible. I got an e-mail from a conservative saying I am blaming him for breathing. I am not blaming him at all (unless he had a national platform and talked about "targeting" liberals, Democrats, etc.), let alone for breathing.

2. I don't believe the proper remedy is limiting anyone's freedom of speech. I never suggested that. In fact, I am sure if anyone passed such a law, not only would it be unconstitutional, but it would be almost exclusively used against the left.

2A. Of course, I don't mind Rush Limbaugh or Sarah Palin attacking Democrats. That's their job. I am asking them to use some caution in how they frame their attacks and not to use violent imagery that eggs people on.

On the show, I was very specific on what kinds of language I was referring to (I also have a link in the story above to examples). Here is the video where I list some of the examples of conservatives using violent imagery.

3. I don't think that Jared Loughner necessarily listened to an episode of the Glenn Beck show and then went and did this (although others, like Byron Williams did specifically do just that). I am saying that these conservative leaders are purposely creating an environment in which this type of violence festers.

4. Lastly, I am not saying that these conservative leaders celebrated this news or wanted this specific outcome. I assume they are still human. But they knew, or should have known, that they were creating the environment that led to this kind of violence -- and they didn't give a damn.

What did you think was going to happen when you kept telling people to grab their guns, the government was endangering their family and way of life and that they should defend themselves? This was going to happen. Don't pretend otherwise.

The Winter Blunder Land

My neck of the woods has been shut down since Monday morning. Just as Southerners do, we see three flakes and loose our minds. People flock to the stores to buy up all of the bread, milk, and eggs (two of which will go bad as soon as the power goes out) and then lock themselves inside of their compounds. Well dammit, not me! I have to work!

Yesterday morning I got up at 5 am, as usual, made my obligatory cup of coffee (decaf) and a bowl of Cream-of-Wheat. I packed my lunch and headed out the door and immediately regretted my decision. 7 inches of snow, snow still falling, -8° C, and my work vehicle has no visible doors. No problem, I am a trooper, a man's man!

I broke my door open, kicked the snow off of my shoes, and started driving... at 5 KPH (yes, I know the US uses degrees Fahrenheit and MPH, but I feel better being in line with the rest of the world). I made it 5 K from my house before i spun around in the road several times. After making it through that patch, I made it another 5K before sliding into a ditch. Luckily, a good Samaritan pulled me out and got me back on the road... to my house. Work canceled.

I tell this story to illustrate a few things. First, Southerners don't know how to drive in the snow because we never get snow. So all of you Yankees out there who bitch and moan about the city shutting down because of a few inches, there is I-77 and I-85 that head north. Pack up your shit and go home.

Second, the cities here are out of money. The reason that the means roads where not clear is because there wasn't enough cash to have them going as soon as the powdery stuff started falling. So we ended up with the main roads being nothing but a sheet of ice and me in a ditch. But guess who just got a huge tax cut? I don't think it needs to be said. Thank you, austerity measures.

Third, because my work closed for the day, I did not work. Normally, that wouldn't be a bad thing. However I am not a salaried worker, so due to no fault of my own, I missed a day of work with no pay. Today isn't looking any better, and to be quite honest, I am not exactly rolling in the dough. Like many in the US, I live paycheck-to-paycheck with very little savings. The company I work for is the third-largest privately owned company in the US. Way to take care of your workers, guys.

Well, hopefully I will have something to do today. I can't really afford another day off. However, it's 10am and no one has called yet. I guess masturbation is always an option.

All Kinds Of Gay-Crazy!

There is going to be an earthquake in California. I know, I know. It’s kind of like predicting a hurricane is going to hit Florida or the Panthers are going to have a losing season. It’s definitely going to happen. However this earthquake is going to be caused by… wait for it… Gay People!

Yesterday, January 4th, I was called by a key intercessor in Santa Ynez. (Please note as you proceed, yesterday was the same day prop 8 was sent to the California Supreme Court) She reported two visions from separate individuals in the area:

A pastor of a large Nazarene Church had a dream of a very large earthquake on the central coast. He shared this at the Christmas gathering for all the Santa Maria Pastors and 5 cities area. Because of the destruction and intensity of the quake he thought he should tell the Pastors so they could pray into it.

Another intercessor in the area had a dream and saw a map of California. She noticed on the map how Pt. Conception juts out into the water. As she looked she saw an 8 with a circle beside it in the waters off Pt Conception.

So remember California, when Prop 8 is repealed and then an earthquake hits (they didn’t give a specific timeframe, but believe them, it’s coming), you can feel safe in blaming it on the gays. It’s true, God said so.

Chick-Fil-Anti-Gay

As if we needed any other reason to boycott Chick-Fil-A, they have partnered with an anti-gay group in Pennsylvania to sponsor an anti-gay event.

The February event co-sponsored by Chick-Fil-A is called "The Art of Marriage," and it's intended to be a launching point for Pennsylvania to return to "the biblical definition of marriage." Given the work of the Pennsylvania Family Institute, it's hard not to see where this event is going to go -- straight for the jugular of anyone who supports marriage equality for same-sex couples.

Ah yes, the Biblical definition of marriage between one man and 2000 women. I am sure that is the definition they are talking about. How does a business that promotes hatred and bigotry stay in business? Is it not enough that they only hire Christians, which is discrimination (and should be punished by the government, but they are too scared to take on a religious company). Now they are just coming out and saying that they hate gay people.

I wonder why they don’t ask for sexual orientation and religion when you go through the drive-thru? Oh right, because they need the money of their customers to fuel anti-gay hate groups like the Pennsylvania “Family” Group. Think about that the next time you hit up Chick-Fil-A and think that it will all be OK.

I do not eat at Chick-Fil-A. I don’t eat meat and the rest of their food sucks. Many people do, though. I think everyone should keep this story in the back of their mind the next time they want a chicken sandwich. The money you spend on your food is going to contribute to hatred and discrimination.

But I am sure that the customers of Chick-Fil-A are OK with that.

Do You Come Here Often?

Jesus is just popping up everywhere! Now, he is hanging out in a fireplace in Glasgow, Scotland. Check out the picture at The Sun Scotland. Now, tell me if it doesn't look like Sauron from Lord of the Rings. You know what else it looks like? A smudge of soot.

You know, if I were the son of gawd, I think I could be more likely to appear in the sand on a beach in Jamaica or on the shower wall of either the Hawaiian Tropics Bikini Team or the FKH8 calender shoot models locker room. Just sayin'.

Pour Some Sugar-Saturated Blood On Me

I thought the disgusting act of symbolic cannibalism was as far as Christians went in their clinically insane actions, now they want to be covered in blood. Not only do they want a big ole’ bucket of Jesus’ blood poured over their naked bodies, they want to advertise that fact on their cars with these wonderful car magnets.

The messages will be displayed on two (2) different car magnet shapes. Interested ones will, also, have three (3) messages to choose from. They can choose: 'Covered With The Blood Of Jesus!' and/or 'I Am Covered By The Blood Of Jesus!' and/or 'Trust God, Not Man!'

What in the hell kind of point are they trying to make with this? I guess that they are savage cannibals that want to have blood dumped all over them. I wonder if they all take their clothes off and have a “Jesus Orgy” while guys in robes pour blood over them. Does anyone else think this sounds like any other random ritualistic cult?

Please Christians, tell me if this is what you want to look like?

South Carolina's New List Of Businesses I Will Not Visit

Oh South Carolina, you never cease to amaze me with your pointless religious idiocy. We have found a couple of rubes from York County who want to start a Chamber of Commerce. What’s that you say; York County, SC already has a chamber of commerce? Oh, I forgot to mention that this would be a Christian Chamber of Commerce.

As proposed, the Christian Chamber of Commerce would have many of the benefits secular chambers offer: marketing assistance, mentoring, networking and educating business owners through speakers and seminars.

What would be different is the accountability and encouragement that comes from a community of believers, he said.

"As a business owner, if you have a problem, you have to make it happen," Barry said. But with a Christian-centered business, your concerns are directed to God. "If God wants it to happen, he will pull it together," Barry said

I didn’t know God was in the business of business. Is he going to bail out businesses that are failing, or is it one of those “if you fail, it’s gawds will”? If it is the former, then maybe God can do something about the unemployment rate. If it is the later, then WHAT FUCKING USE IS IT?

If nothing else, this will be a list of businesses for me not to visit. Thanks for making it easy, South Carolina.

He Who Smelt It Dealt It

I’ve got to call it on the Christians: “He who smelt it, dealt it.” In a move that is basically the church standing on a corner screaming “I am not gay, I hate cock, I don’t like oily anus”, the National Organization of Marriage (NOM, or NAMBLA) has put up some billboards in Tennessee that look like this:


Wow. Original. I am glad that these guys don’t have a problem with gay people. You know, letting people live their lives as they please and be peaceful is just too much to handle. But why stop at the billboard? Maybe they should also recommend that people turn their kids into dysfunctional homophobes.

“I just thought this billboard was a marvelous idea,” Lois Irby said. “You hear so much about same-sex marriage on TV, and it's so readily accepted by the public. Children, unless they have some kind of religious training at home, are taught to accept it and not question it or feel that it's wrong. I think God's word needs to be inserted as often as possible to reaffirm that homosexuality is wrong. It doesn't need to be presented in a glorified light.”

I guess I was wrong. Good luck Tennessee. I hope you can pull your collective heads out of your collective asses.

A Call And A Survey

I received an interesting phone call on Friday. I am not sure who referred this man to me or how he got my cell phone number (maybe Jesus gave it to him), but that is really beside the point. This guy called and wanted to talk to an atheist. I am thrilled that I am the representative for atheism to this guy.

He told me that he had been tasked with his preacher (oh, no) to find an atheist and talk to him (yes, him, not her) and find out why he (being me) does not believe in a god, specifically the Christian God. Then he was to give me his conversion story and get my response to it. I didn't really have anything better to do at the time, so I said "Sure, what do you want to know?"

We actually had a nice conversation. He thought that I was going to argue with him, which I told him that I don't argue. I get my point across, and if the other person doesn't like it, they can move along. So we had some rules right off the bat; no one was going to argue.

He started by asking me why I don't believe in God when there is so much evidence for him in the Bible. I told him that for starters, I could write a book that said I was the creator of the universe and use that as evidence of me being the creator of the universe. This is called circular reasoning. Then I went into the type of being that would have to exist that was described in the Bible would be either a contradiction in itself, or would exist outside of our physical reality which would render it useless for our universe.

He also asked me about the origins of the universe and people, how I grew up, and if I had ever read the Bible. I think I had some pretty good answers for him, and I answered the personal questions honestly. I have read the entire Bible through numerous times, just as I have read the Koran through completely. It is kind of hard to argue with someone when you don't know what they believe (even though he admitted he had never read the entire Bible). We even had a short side conversation about the death penalty and how it doesn't jibe with his view that God is the only judge. If you can't tell, I am against the death penalty.

He called me again this morning to say that he enjoyed our conversation and was wondering if he could send me a short survey that he could use in his Bible study class on Monday. Why not? This is a first for me. So here are the questions that he sent me. After reading over them, I had to say that there were no short answers for most of these questions. I know it hurts Christians heads when we can't give them a one-word answer for the nature of the universe, but the universe is a complicated place. How would you answer these?

----------------------------------------------------

1. How do you believe we arrived here? Were we, as the Bible says, created by God and Jesus?

2. You commented to me that technology has proven that the Bible is not true. My response is that technology was not existent when we were created. In your opinion, what is it that technology has proven? (Just a quick note: I did not say that technology made the Bible a lie. I said that that the people, as described in the Bible, believed what they believed because they didn't have any other mechanism to find out the truth, i.e. science)

3. What are your thoughts on heaven and hell? According to the Bible, we have a choice.

4. Describe your father's ministry - ultra conservative, liberal? What denomination?

5. Explain your views on the word "reprobate."

6. As Christians, we know that Jesus is our shepherd, and we can trust that he will protect us, provide for us, and guide us in our everyday decisions, etc. As an Atheist, do you feel pressure and stress knowing that you are alone in your thoughts and decisions, and have complete control of your destiny?

Threatened By Somalia

Oh no. We have been warned.

A leader of Somalia's Islamist insurgency threatened to attack America during a broadcast speech.

"We tell the American President Barack Obama to embrace Islam before we come to his country," Fuad Mohamed "Shongole" Qalaf said Monday.

Well, I guess we should all get on that. I am surprised that the right-wing hasn't lost their mind about this yet. Isn't Obama supposed to be a Muslim already? I guess this would just be further proof that he isn't, and we know how the right-wing feels about proof.

Seriously, I think this threat should be taken seriously. We can make fun of Somalia all we want and ask questions like “How large is your Air Force” and all, but remember, it only took 19 dirt worshipers to take down the World Trade Center.

The 70's Caused Catholic Priests To Rape Kids

Over the insanity of the holiday, I missed this horrific, stupid, and disgusting story about our favorite head-pedophile, Pope Benedict. The problem of pedophilia in the church was not due to an environment that put men in too much control of children while telling them that they can't have sex. No no, it was due to the society of the 70's.

Victims of clerical sex abuse have reacted furiously to Pope Benedict's claim yesterday that paedophilia wasn't considered an “absolute evil” as recently as the 1970s.

In his traditional Christmas address yesterday to cardinals and officials working in Rome, Pope Benedict XVI also claimed that child pornography was increasingly considered “normal” by society.

“In the 1970s, paedophilia was theorised as something fully in conformity with man and even with children,” the Pope said.

I am going to try to remain calm here. Fucking children has never been considered normal by modern society. It hasn't been considered normal to anyone accept the whole child-raping lot of priests who made it normal in their own cloistered lives. There my have been free love in the 70's that spilled over from the 60's, but it didn't translate to children. What kind of society does the pope live in? Oh, that's right; he is the head of the whole child-raping institution.

This man is a ghoul. Instead of taking responsibility for the string of abuse scandals, the Pope has decided to shift the blame from one thing to another. “It's the 60's. No, it's the 70's. No, it's because of atheists.” Tell me, what part of 70's society makes you want to rub your penis on a child? Was it the Vietnam War, the Nixon Administration, the flattening of the economy, the massive loss of jobs, or the oil shortage?

You had better find somewhere else to shift the blame, because the press is coming for you.

The latest controversy comes as the German magazine Der Spiegel continues to investigate the Pope's role in allowing a known paedophile priest to work with children in the early 1980s.

I know it will never happen, but how awesome would it be to see this guy put on trial for facilitating a known child rapist?

Donating To Religious Institutions

Recently my wife and I had to get rid of some old furniture from our daughters room after doing a little holiday remodeling. The furniture sat in our dining room for a few days while we tried to find a place that helped the needy that was also secular. Easier said than done.

In Gastonia, NC, I am convinced that the only secular place in the area is my house. There are a few places around that help the needy, but they are all religiously oriented. I can't justify driving 30 miles to Charlotte just to drop two car loads of good off. The price of gas and the environmental impact of unnecessary driving is reason enough.

After checking a few of the local places out, I found one place that gives goods to needy families and the only way you can tell that the place is religiously oriented is the name and the Bible verse that is scrawled on the back wall in a sad, lazy fashion. No one proselytizes or asks you where you go to church. All they seem to care about is helping other people.

Would any of you give anything to a religiously oriented charity organization if it was either that or the trash? I am sure that some people would rather throw the furniture away than to let a Christian group dole it out, but I would rather someone get some use out of the stuff that could use it. What would you do?

Grab Your Erasers, Kids.

Because if you don't like the way a classic literary art work is written, you can just re-write it. Literally.

 Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a classic by most any measure—T.S. Eliot called it a masterpiece, and Ernest Hemingway pronounced it the source of "all modern American literature." Yet, for decades, it has been disappearing from grade school curricula across the country, relegated to optional reading lists, or banned outright, appearing again and again on lists of the nation's most challenged books, and all for its repeated use of a single, singularly offensive word: "nigger." - Publishers Weekly

I don't like or condone the use of the word 'Nigger' out of context as a derogatory racial slur in life. But in literary work like Huckleberry Finn its a different story. However these two 'scholars' seem to disagree with me. And have decided to grab their pencil and eraser and go to work editing the source of "all modern American literature." Unacceptable. I say.

...two scholars are editing Mark Twain's classic Adventures of Huckleberry Finn to eliminate uses of the "N" word and replace it with "slave," Publishers Weekly writes.

As PW says, "for decades, [Huckleberry Finn] has been disappearing from grade school curricula across the country, relegated to optional reading lists, or banned outright, appearing again and again on lists of the nation's most challenged books, and all for its repeated use of a single, singularly offensive word."

One of the scholars, Alan Gribben of Auburn University, tells PW that "this is not an effort to render Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn colorblind. ... Race matters in these books. It's a matter of how you express that in the 21st century." NPR: New Edition Of 'Huckleberry Finn' Will Eliminate Offensive Words 

Mark Twain defines a Classic as "a book which people praise and don't read." Well I've read it, and it needs to be left alone. 

If anything needs to be changed it's the schools curriculum. Do they really believe that keeping things from children is a good way to educate them? Hiding things and keeping kids away from information will only lead to misunderstanding and actual inappropriate use of that information when they do get a hold of it. You should use this opportunity to explain it the appropriate controlled way.

There are countless comments on various accounts of this story that say the book taught them about how the word 'nigger' was innapropriate and not to be taken lightly.

"Learning the 'N' word from Huckleberry Finn taught me not to use it because it was improper, so.. why the change?" - Unknown Tweeter.

This is ridiculous, no matter how you look at it. It's no better than when Kirk Cameron and his buddy Ray Comfort decided to 'add a few pages' to The Origin Of Species. There is no good justification for the editing of any literary work. I wouldn't even dream of editing the bible. Even as an atheist. I don't like it or its message, but it's not mine to screw with. 

What do you think? The two have said they hope to get the book in more hands this way. Is that an acceptable excuse?

The Revised copy is set to be published sometime in February.

Muslims Plot To Kill Danish Newspaper Staff

The Muslims just won't quit about the goddamned cartoons that were posted in the Danish newspaper, the Jyllands-Posten in September 2005.

Danish and Swedish police said yesterday they had foiled a potentially devastating terrorist attack after arresting five suspected Islamic militants who wanted to "kill as many people as possible" in the offices of a Copenhagen newspaper that published cartoons of the Prophet Mohamed.

Denmark's intelligence service said it arrested four men in two raids in the suburbs of the capital and seized an automatic weapon, a silencer and live ammunition. Swedish police said they arrested the fifth suspect, a 37-year-old Swedish citizen of Tunisian origin who was living in Stockholm.

You've got to be kidding me. All of this over a cartoon of a old nomadic pedophile that happens to be worshiped by roughly 1.8 million morons. Someone draws a picture of this buffoon and the easily offended followers of the Religion of Peace plot to kill as many people at the office of the paper as possible.

You know what doesn't help the image of your religion? Shit like this. Islam is not a religion of peace, so why do we continue to treat it like it is? People should take note of this: the fundamentalists of any religion are out to silence anyone who doesn't believe like they do, especially when it comes to Islam.

Bill James Is A Homophobic Douchebag

For those of you who were wondering, hate is still alive and well in North Carolina.

Anti-gay, Republican Mecklenburg County Commissioner Bill James on Monday said gays are “sexual predators” in an email to his colleagues on the board.

James’ remarks were made in response to County Commissioner Chair Jennifer Roberts’ request to send a letter thanking some members of the Charlotte-area congressional delegation for their “yes” votes on “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) repeal this month. Roberts was to send the letter to U.S. Reps. Larry Kissell and Mel Watt and U.S. Sens. Richard Burr and Kay Hagan. President Barack Obama last week signed the repeal act into law.

This guy is beyond repulsive, and I am not just talking about his resemblance to a hybrid of the guy from Mask and Porky Pig. So to get the personal attacks out of the way, No, Bill James. There isn’t one guy on the planet that would fuck you. I am not sure there is one woman on the planet that would fuck you, and we all know how notorious women are for having bad taste in men. You are like a bag of smashed assholes that has been mixed with a bucket of dicks and a quart of bullshit. What a hideous cake you would make. Moving on.

“Homosexuals are sexual predators,” James wrote in one email from a string of several between county board members, Roberts and County Manager Harry Jones, and provided by James to qnotes. “Allowing homosexuals to serve in the US military with the endorsement of the Mecklenburg County Commission ignores a host of serious problems related to maintaining US military readiness and effectiveness not the least of which is the current Democrat plan to allow homosexuals (male and female) to share showers with those they are attracted to.”

OK, from the comments you can guess that this philistine has never served in the military. Had he served in the military, he would know that there have always been gay people in the military. The military is one of the gayest organizations I have ever been involved with. Men are showering with other men as we speak and not engaging in a rape fest. The repeal of DADT is going to go ahead with or without the OK of the Mecklenburg County Commission. I think one of the serious problems with the military is assholes like Bill James acting like they know anything about the military.

Want some more info about the character of Bill James?

James’ anti-gay comments following the Christmas holiday are not the first time the public official has spoken out strongly on LGBT issues. He often uses derogatory language or slurs to describe LGBT people in debates or communication with fellow public officials and constituents. During debate last December on domestic partner benefits for county employees, James leaned over to his Democratic colleague, Vilma Leake, and called her son a “homo.” Leake’s son died from AIDS in the 1990s.

I can only guess that the good people of District 6 are as hate filled and backwards as Bill James because they keep voting this guy into office. Maybe I should start taking bets on how long before we find Bill James balls-deep in some male prostitutes ass.

Do Not Define Me, You Arizona Dirt Worshiper

One thing that pisses me off a great deal is when other people try to tell me what I believe. The ideas that they have in their thick, Neanderthal-like skulls all sound the same and sound like something from a Chick Tract. It came as no surprise to find that this letter that was posted to a news paper came from Arizona, a land replete with morons and the super-religious (same thing).

Follow the link and read the letter. I shall not sully my blog with its vapid contents. All I have to say is ATHEISM DOESN’T MAKE ANY STATEMENTS. Atheism is simply a lack of belief in a deity. Now, if this dirt worshiper from Arizona would like to debate the origins of the universe with an evolutionary cosmologist or debate the intricacies of biogenesis with, I don’t know, a biologist, perhaps he should do just that. Something tells me the conversation would be very confusing for one of the participants.

A person can be an atheist and not have a degree in biology or quantum physics. It doesn’t take Einstein to see how stupid the idea of a creator is. However, since we are defining each other here and making demands, I want to know where Steve Miller’s (the author of this letter) proof is for a 6000 year old universe? What papers has he written to prove that Adam and Eve gave birth to the world population? I am pretty sure he would have a hard time finding proof outside of the Bible.

I know we say it often and it pisses of the mental midgets of religion, but when you make a claim, you had better have some goddamned evidence to back up that claim. Atheism doesn’t make a claim. Religion on the other hand is nothing more than a series of claims with either no evidence or evidence to the contrary. I’ll stick with atheism.

Keep Your Voices Down, Lest We Wake The Baby Stig.

Top Gear. (My favorite television program of all time) has caused a religious outcry. “They‘re picking on me.” The three amigos known as Jeremy Clarkson, James May, & Richard Hammond the hosts of the UK’s BBC2 television program have upset two different religious groups in a recent episode.

In the episode the trio was issued the task of making the exact same journey across the desert that the supposed wise men had taken to see the new born king. I have not yet seen the episode as here in the US we are always about a season or two behind the UK. But I do know that two scenes in question observe. 

Clarkson and Hammond dressed in Niqabs, a version of the burqa covering everything but the eyes, while filming a segment in the Middle Eastern country of Syria. 9News

In this scene from the show's Boxing Day special, presenters Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May step into the nativity to present the baby Jesus with gifts. When the blanket in the manger is removed, the presenters are shocked to see the baby dressed in a racing helmet and jumpsuit in the style of Top Gear regular The Stig. 9News

There you have it. What do you think? Did they cross any lines?. Let’s see what the critics think…

"The burqa is a symbol of our religion and people should not make jokes about it in any way," he was quoted by the Daily Mail as saying. "It would have been equally bad even if they'd not been in a country mainly populated by Muslims."  - Controversial Islamic activist Anjem Choudary

“I can see Muslims have a right to complain about the light-hearted treatment of burqas, but what about Jeremy Clarkson pretending to be Jesus Christ and having a nativity scene with The Stig as the baby Jesus," - Viewer Tony Stephens

Muslims have never been able to take a joke so their reaction isn’t really all that shocking. You Christians on the other hand, I’m seriously disappointed in you. The baby Jesus was only a baby Stig. He could have been Stillborn baby Jesus. Now that would have been offensive.  The Stig is an iconic character from the program who is held as a hero and loved by all. If there is a Jesus, I bet he gets it. He thinks its funny too.

When you’re a scheme as big as Christianity you have to acknowledge and be prepared for parody, and as far as parody goes this one really isn’t that bad. I would have honestly thought you were the bigger person if you have embraced the joke for what it is, a joke. Its funny and hardly offensive. It’s not supposed to discredit you or what you believe, there is enough of that in the bible. This was a just a surprise ending that had huge merit with us Top Gear diehards. And on that bombshell it is time to end.

A Compromise Worthy Of Obama

Remember the rabbis in Israel that signed a letter stating that no one should rent or sell to a non-Jew? Well, one of their own has decided to try to come up with a compromise. Wait, What? How do you compromise with people who are only interested in driving non-Jews out of Israel and taking over their homes, which requires force in many cases?

He said his draft opens by expressing reservations about the letter's call for "what sounds like" discrimination against Arabs. It then declares Israel to be "a Jewish state, the place of the Jewish people" and says the state must safeguard Jews' right to their country by "acting against hostile elements that seek to exploit the principle of equality ... to exercise the 'right of return' and expel us from our country."

No, it doesn’t sound like discrimination, it is discrimination. It is fucking racism and is disgusting to see Jews, of all people, to be participating in such vile acts. If Israel is a Jewish state for Jewish people, then all funding needs to be cut off immediately. Perhaps they can find strictly Jewish money to fund their country. If you have a group of Palestinians driven from their homes, there should be nothing but a right of return. A person losing their mind over losing their home to invaders is not an exploitation of equality, it is justice. How many Jewish neighborhoods have been razed and taken over by Palestinians? I would guess that at the rate of construction and how fast the Gaza Strip is shrinking, not too many.

Israel needs to start being treated like Apartheid South Africa, because that is exactly what it has become.