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?