What a circus. Reminds me of the horror film, "Carnival of Souls."

Michael Weinstein, an Air Force Academy graduate and head of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, brought up an interesting point: if Khodor Shami and his two confederates really did the things they claim to have done, why aren't they being held at Guantanamo? Or, why haven't they been deported?

And, if they didn't commit these acts, they've spent years defrauding the people who have employed them or who have paid them to speak. That's a crime, too.

Funny how conservatives seem to lose their taste for holding people legally accountable when those people cloak themselves in Christianity.

By Romney and Ryan (one via video, one in person) appearing at this hardcore anti-Islam "Values" gathering, they both have indicated that they condone the killing of members of our diplomatic corp in Libya, and the earlier incident in Egypt when Secretary of State Hilary Clinton's motorcade was attacked. In both incidences, inflammatory anti-Islam statements (or an inflammatory anti-Islam film released here in the United States by a deceptive and hardcore anti-Islam "Values" right-winger) preceded them.

Connect the dots. A peaceful Sikh temple shot up and people killed by a "Values" shooter who mistook Sikhs for Muslims. Muslim mosques continue to be targets for "Values" arsonists here in the U.S.. What will these right-wing "Values" folks think up next to get American citizens killed, here at home or overseas, some "Values" lie or propaganda meant to defame another religion and incite violence?

Frank "Values" Gaffney spread a rumor on-line before Secretary Clinton's visit to Egypt, a rumor claiming that the U.S. government (that is, the Obama administration and Hilary Clinton) backed the Muslim Brotherhood in Egyptian elections. Her motorcade is attacked, she could have been killed. Sam "Values" Bacile releases excerpts from a duplicitous anti-Islam film on-line and diplomatic personnel in Libya are killed. Connect the dots.

I'll put this bluntly. Romney and Ryan just made appearances at a right-wing terrorist gathering (no, not "former terrorists," but those "Values" right-wingers who are actively promoting, practicing and preaching terrorism right now) And these "Values" right-wingers, with their terrorist agenda, are hiding behind First Amendment protections, not caring one whit if their actions and rhetoric, meant to incite violence, get other American citizens killed. Connect the dots. These "Values" folks are NOT Christian, they do not follow what Jesus Christ said at all, they do not even obey the Ten Commandments. They are all followers of the anti-Christ, the Prince of Lies.

And Romney and Ryan just indicated that they are sympathizers of these folks, that they support the terrorist activities and agenda of these fellow Republicans. What next? An assassination attempt against President Obama by one of these "Values" folks? (Note: President Obama has no doubt received more death threats since he became president than any previous president, and probably all of them combined. The inflammatory, and often lying, right-wing rhetoric directed at him has spawned right-wing "death threat" industry, one that will continue as long as he's president, and possibly long afterward). No other duly-elected American president has faced such a coordinated hatred campaign, especially not one launched and coordinated, if not silently condoned, by top leaders of the opposing political party. These Republicans are the American al Qaeda.

These are the same people who watch "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo" each week what else would you expect? Even Mittens says he loves Snooky. In my book that shows him to be certifiable. Of what? Your choice.

I guess this will be the last Jewish High Holiday greeting from Barak Husein Obama. Instead of "Next year in Jerusalem" the Yom Kippur prayer serivce will end with "Next year in Mecca"

Barry Goldwater

"On religious issues there can be little or no compromise. There is no position on which people are so immovable as their religious beliefs. There is no more powerful ally one can claim in a debate than Jesus Christ, or God, or Allah, or whatever one calls this supreme being. But like any powerful weapon, the use of God's name on one's behalf should be used sparingly. The religious factions that are growing throughout our land are not using their religious clout with wisdom. They are trying to force government leaders into following their position 100 percent. If you disagree with these religious groups on a particular moral issue, they complain, they threaten you with a loss of money or votes or both.
I'm frankly sick and tired of the political preachers across this country telling me as a citizen that if I want to be a moral person, I must believe in "A," "B," "C" and "D." Just who do they think they are? And from where do they presume to claim the right to dictate their moral beliefs to me?
And I am even more angry as a legislator who must endure the threats of every religious group who thinks it has some God-granted right to control my vote on every roll call in the Senate. I am warning them today: I will fight them every step of the way if they try to dictate their moral convictions to all Americans in the name of "conservatism." Speech in the US Senate (9/16/81) {See Above}
"On religious issues there can be little or no compromise. There is no position on which people are so immovable as their religious beliefs. There is no more powerful ally one can claim in a debate than Jesus Christ, or God, or Allah, or whatever one calls this supreme being. But like any powerful weapon, the use of God's name on one's behalf should be used sparingly. The religious factions that are growing throughout our land are not using their religious clout with wisdom. They are trying to force government leaders into following their position 100 percent. If you disagree with these religious groups on a particular moral issue, they complain, they threaten you with a loss of money or votes or both.
I'm frankly sick and tired of the political preachers across this country telling me as a citizen that if I want to be a moral person, I must believe in "A," "B," "C" and "D." Just who do they think they are? And from where do they presume to claim the right to dictate their moral beliefs to me?
And I am even more angry as a legislator who must endure the threats of every religious group who thinks it has some God-granted right to control my vote on every roll call in the Senate. I am warning them today: I will fight them every step of the way if they try to dictate their moral convictions to all Americans in the name of "conservatism." Speech in the US Senate (9/16/81) {This disqualifies him from being a Republican today}

Looking at the "reaction" of activated Muslim's across much of the globe, I'm to understand that this massive display of anger and violence is due to the fact that another nutcase made this weird, rude, disrespectful, and insulting grade F movie about The Prophet. There's been a number of other displays of mob protest and killings due to Muslim/Islam insulting books, cartoons, and so on. Like Hillary said, everybody gets insulted, right? Do the Buddhist's burn buildings because bastards blatantly belittle Buddhism? No, they don't. So, I'm wondering what makes these folks so special? You know, like they can't take some insulting they have to go off the charts? I hate to think of what they would do if they got a steady stream of cartoons, F grade movies and the like on a daily basis through a full year? Would they finally turn on themselves and go crazy or would they finally calm down, like a baby who has been crying after being put-to-bed so it can rest and restore itself to normalcy.

Saleem reminds me of the never-funny Dennis Miller: a con artist looking for an audience too stupid to realize what he is.

update from the "values" forum ...buzzfeed reports

"We will never have the media on our side, ever, in this country," Rick Santorum told the audience at the Omni Shoreham hotel. "We will never have the elite, smart people on our side."

He also said,"When it comes to conservatism libertarian types who say, oh, well you know, we don't want to talk about social issues... without the church and the family, there is no conservative movement, there is no basic values of America."

http://www.buzzfeed.com/rosiegray/rick-santorum-says-smart-people-will-never-be-on

It is really scary to think.. who are these republicans targeting, I mean who would vote for their vague/dog whistle filled ideas? 1) rich corporate types 2) small govt true believers/ evangelicals who believe christianity is under attack, both are crazy. 3) people who pay no attention to news except to hear what they want and who absolutely hate Obama maybe because he is black, smart, articulate, or just because so many really love him. I like to think I know what I'm talking about and let me say here in Alabama the number of those who fit in catagory 3 is absolutely scarier than the events unfolding around the embassies. That there are so many who want Obamacare repealed yet they can't tell you what it does, that are on medicare and believe the republicans will save it, that literally cannot back up one single opinion with a fact and when you tell them the facts call you a liar. We live in a dark time.

Want to share something positive out of Libya.

From Libyans themselves, here.

Most disconcerting is that the Republican nominees for President and Vice President are on the guest list; freightening; exercise your citizenship and vote; help get out the vote!

Why does anyone take these people, Romney, Ryan, et.al., seriously?

Definately, the Republican Right have been abducted and injected with alien juice from another planet. They would clap even if the speaker said the sky was falling. They be hypnotized or better yet stupified.

Why is it that female religious leaders speak out from a perspective of compassion and the crazy ideas only seem to come from males? There have got to be reasonable male religious leaders out there. It would be nice to see them speak up.

Cartoonthenews --- ref Koran 3:141 as one example; thankfully, the majority of Muslims don't follow this now; however, radical Islam is growing rapidly, more so now that we have a weak President.

"They want to go back to the same old policies that got
us in trouble in the first place." It is a typical talking point of
democrats that only works if you don't actually know why we are in this mess.
There are three reasons why we are in this mess: 1) Housing crisis, 2) Social
security is a mess and 3) Medicare is a mess.

For starters, let's take a quick look at social security and Medicare. Over the
years, the trust funds for SS and Medicare have been mismanaged by BOTH
democrats and republicans. HOWEVER, both programs were started by democrats.

Now let's look at the big reason why we are in this mess - the housing crisis.

When Bush took over 1/20/2001, the economy was in a recession and the stock
market was in the middle of a free-fall that started in March of 2000 and
lasted until October of 2002. To stimulate the economy, Bush offered tax cuts
and the fed cut interest rates to all-time lows. The recession ended shortly.
HOWEVER, with such low interest rates, the banks started offering interest-only
loans to people to buy houses. These were very stupid loans where the interest
was fixed at a low rate for 5 years and then adjusted after that. People making
$40,000 a year were getting approved for loans of $400,000 with no money down.
Why were banks making such stupid loans that no one in their right mind would
ever make? It wasn't because interest rates were low, IT WAS BECAUSE FREDDIE
MAC AND FANNIE MAE WERE GUARANTEEING THE LOANS AND BUYING THEM UP UNDER THE
LOW-INCOME HOUSING POLICY OF THE DEMOCRATS!!! THIS POLICY WAS STARTED BY CARTER
AND GIVEN STERIODS UNDER THE CLINTON ADMIN. (In a nutshell, the policy was the government
told banks to lend money to people that they normally wouldn’t lend to, so
those people could buy houses. The banks
were told not to worry because the government would guarantee the loans under
the full faith and credit of Fannie and Freddie.) This low-income housing policy sounded nice,
but it led to the housing bubble because it increased demand for housing which
drives up housing prices. Unfortunately, after about 5 years had passed, the interest
rates started going up because the 5 year fixed period ended on these loans.
Suddenly, people couldn't afford their mortgage payments because they suddenly
went from paying $1,000 a month to $2,500 a month. So, people started selling
their houses. The people who got in early and got out early did fine. However,
the people who got in late and got out late lost money and ended up vacating
instead of selling because the house was worth less than the loan. The selling
and vacating caused housing prices to crash. To make matters worse, all of
these stupid loans had been packaged up into securities and sold to Wall Street
firms. So when people stopped paying,
the securities started losing value and this all led to the stock market crash that
started September 15, 2008. Especially
had hit were the stock prices Fannie and Freddie, of course. (You may even recall the chairman of the
Senate Banking Committee, Democrat Barney Frank, tried to assuage investors by
falsely stating on 9/10/2008 (just 5 days before the collapse) “These two entities,
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, are not facing any kind of financial crisis.” He said this because, as Chairman of the
Senate Banking Committee, he was the one spearheading the low-income housing
policy and, for obvious reasons, was hoping that the truth wouldn’t get out. But it did…five days later.

To be clear, I am not placing all the blame for this on the
democrats. HOWEVER, the low income housing policy was their policy.

So when Obama says we don't want to go back to the same
policies that got us into this mess in the first place, he might want to stop
and consider just whose policies he is talking about.

Somebody call out this ambassador Richard Williamson about his phony criticism of this administration's lack of leadership in Foreing Policy!!! He was an adviser om FP for W. (for W.!!!)

Saddened to watch the ceremony of coffins containing the remains of dead service persons arriving in America from my vantage point here in Australia, where such ceremonies have been televised for many years.

Even sadder to hear both Clinton and Obama invoke the name of "god" -- how @!$%#ing infantile! They may as well invoke the name of Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy, for all the good it does.

The imaginary entity they call god had nothing to do with the tragedy of these deaths, and everything to do with the perfidy and sick mentality of the miscreants who sent these brave people to their doom.

It's about time these emotional and intellectual cretins took responsibility for their actions.

I like both Obama and Clinton, but their mealy-mouthing of "god" leaves me stone cold embarrassed.

At the Values Voters Summit Paul Ryan said the following and I picked it up from Bob Abernathy's PBS show sponsor by the Lilly Foundation. I did not realize that it was the same forum that featured the looney fake terrorist Rachel spotlighted last week.

"For most of us it was set up long ago, that our rights come from nature and nature's God and not from government."

FROM THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

(When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security.)

It is assumed that Congressman Ryan was referring to our sacred Declaration of Independence which proposed the dissolution of our political bonds with the royal government of George III and assuming a separate but equal station. This assumed station, it is clear, is equal to the royal station; it is a newly instituted government, not "changed for light and transient causes."

I would submit that if the Honorable Congressman desires to receive his right directly from nature, as Ayn Rand would have wished, or the God of nature, he would need to bypass the entire functioning United States of America because it is one of the two governments which devolved from the Jeffersonian declaration. The first of these governments was the confederacy and perpetual union styled "The United States of America" by The Articles of Confederation; the second was the present day "more perfect Union" established in the American Constitution with its bill of rights and amendments granting further rights and regulations.

Furthermore, Mr. Ryan should resign his office if he does not wish to participate in a government from which people receive rights and proceed to function as an anarchist; anarchists are those who believe they get all rights directly from Mother Nature or Father God. But first he needs to clear this with the Ordinary of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Madison.

Saleem needs a padded room, that room may be difficult to find due to the already high occupancy by other Repukes.

how do you change a terrorist ? introduce him to Jesus. talk fast, before you lose your head.

Saleem sounds a lot like Jerry Falwell, the hateful, racist and ultra conservative fanatical TV-priest of the 80's and 90's that had an unsually high influence on the American government. The evilness that Falwell spread all over American citizens with a different religion, sexual preference, or political ideas, along with the hatred for all the things foreign, tore this country apart and created one of the worst foreign views of America in the history of this country.

Saleem, as Falwell, has received the support of many right-wing "celebrities":

"..Republican presidential nominee, the Republican vice presidential nominee, two sitting Republican governors, two sitting Republican U.S. senators, and six sitting Republican U.S. House members, including the House Majority Leader."

Falwell's terrible influence on the Reagan's and Bush Sr.'s administrations was, without a doubt, directly responsible of the death of millions all over the world (AIDS, wars, famine, etc.) for at least 12 years (from 1981 to 1992.) He picked and chose who to help and who not to, inside and outside the USA. Let us pray that Romney and his band of haters don't ever reach the White House, and that wackos like Saleem never again control the minds and the hearts of our leaders.

Read the link briefly, the one that's most odd "bloody terror in Israel", sorry but if this were/is true, Moussad would have his hide drying on the side of some barn in the Sinai.

getting back to subjects that belong in a "twig" thread

Cash-strapped officials in Europe are looking for a way to ease their financial burden by upending centuries of tradition and seeking to tap one of the last untouched sources of wealth: the Catholic Church.

Thousands of public officials who have seen the financial crisis hit their budgets are chipping away at the various tax breaks and privileges the church has enjoyed for centuries.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/financially-troubled-cities-in-spain-consider-taxing-church-properties/2012/09/13/3b62c736-f842-11e1-8398-0327ab83ab91_story.html?wpisrc=nl_cuzheads