Speaking of child abuse, here’s a photo taken by one of my coworkers at the Fred Phelps protest the other day :

Photo by Mario Zavala

The rhetoric of Rev. Fred Phelps and the rest of the bastards at Westboro Baptist Church is some of the most awful hate-speech you can possibly imagine. Here’s a few examples from their homepage, godhatesfags.com :

“WBC to picket opening of sodomite whorehouse masquerading as Harvey Milk High School — first high school exclusively for filthy little teenage fags & dykes”

“The Constitution of The United States is now A Covenant with Death and An Agreement with Hell! (Isaiah 28:15)”

“Matthew Shepard has been in hell for 1782 days.”

It’s times like these I hope I’m wrong about this whole religion thing and that there’s a hell for people like Rev. Phelps to rot in. I’ve read most of the Bible and I have a really, really hard time understanding how anyone who claims to be a follower of Jesus could be this filled with hate. The last time I checked, Jesus didn’t say a single word about homosexuality in any of the gospels. Sure there are some mentions in the Old Testament and Paul denounces it a number of times in the New Testament, but I have yet to see anyone wearing a “What Would Paul Do?” shirt. Of course, that hasn’t stopped Rev. Phelps from picketing funerals and harassing the families of the dead.

Before you think Fred Phelps is just a lone nutcase, consider these quotes from Pat Robertson :

?When lawlessness is abroad in the land, the same thing will happen here that happened in Nazi Germany. Many of those people involved in Adolph Hitler were Satanists. Many of them were homosexuals. The two things seem to go together.?

“[Homosexuals]want to come into churches and disrupt church services and throw blood all around and try to give people AIDS and spit in the face of ministers.”

?It?s one thing to say, `We have rights to jobs…we have rights to be left alone in out little corner of the world to do our thing.? It?s an entirely different thing to say, well, `We?re not only going to go into the schools and we?re going to take your children and your grandchildren and turn them into homosexuals.? Now that?s wrong.?

?Since our nation was founded, we have discriminated against certain things. We discriminate against kidnappers. We discriminate against murderers. We discriminate against thieves…There are laws that prohibit that kind of conduct. And there have been laws since the founding of our country against what are considered unnatural sex acts, sex between members of the same sex.?

As much as I’d love to think that Rev. Fred Phelps is just a crazy, bigot whose views don’t represent mainstream fundamentalist Christianity, the homophobic views of Pat Robertson and others make me think that fundamentalists tacitly approve of the activities of Westboro Baptist Church the same way that many on the left approved of the Earth Liberation Front’s Hummer firebombings.

By the way, in case you missed it, here’s another picture from Rev. Phelps’s Bob Hope flyer :

Is this picture supposed to be funny or do they really believe in a sneering, red-faced devil complete with horns and a forked-tongue? This picture looks more like something a teenage metalhead would draw on his frayed jean-jacket, than a dire warning about the hellfire awaiting those who don’t hate homosexuality.

Today is “Flood the Zone Friday”. For those of you interested in participating, this week’s topic is Bush’s horrible environmental record. For instructions and talking points, check out this post at NotGeniuses.

For what it’s worth, here’s my letter (which is adapted from this post) :

Bush’s Crappy Record on Global Warming

What the heck is it going to take to convince George W. Bush that global warming is a serious problem that needs to be addressed? In the spring of 2001, despite a report released by the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that warned “emissions of greenhouse gases and aerosols due to human activities continue to alter the atmosphere in ways that affect the climate system”, George Bush unveiled a global warming plan that shunned the Kyoto Treaty and called for more research. At the time, it was disappointing, but not entirely surprising. After all, this is what Bush had to say about global warming in the 2000 debates :

“I think it’s an issue that we need to take very seriously. But I don’t think we know the solution to global warming yet. And I don’t think we’ve got all the facts before we make decisions…What the heck. I — of course there’s a lot — look, global warming needs to be taken very seriously, and I take it seriously. But science, there’s a lot — there’s differing opinions. And before we react, I think it’s best to have the full accounting, full understanding of what’s taking place.”

So in June of 2002, when the Environmental Protection Agency delivered his report on global warming, the results once again weren’t to his liking. Fast forward to a year later, in June of 2003, the EPA released a comprehensive report on environmental problems that was two years in the making. In the final version of the report, the section on global warming was heavily trimmed in order to support the Bush Administration’s predetermined conclusions about climate change. As the New York Times reported :

“The editing eliminated references to many studies concluding that recent warming is at least partly caused by rising concentrations of smokestack and tailpipe emissions and could threaten health and ecosystems. Among the deletions were references to the conclusions of a 2001 report by the National Research Council that the White House had commissioned and that Bush had endorsed in speeches that year.”

So here we are now. It’s been almost three years since Bush pledged to get more information about the causes of global warming (despite the fact that the rest of the world has concluded for decades that human activity is the main cause). What’s the next step for Bush on the environment? More research! Just last month the Bush Administration proposed a ten year plan to study possible causes of global warming, despite the fact that every major scientific study has drawn the same conclusions! So, rather than distract us with the annual “We need more research” speech, they’re just going to embark on a 10-year project to study a phenomenon that we already understand. How many times does Bush need to be told the same conclusions before they sink into his head? Ten times? Twenty times?

Kos thinks Hillary might join the presidential race :

Can this be the reason that Clark has delayed his announcement into mid-month? Rumors are flying fast and furious that Hillary is contemplating a White House bid now that Bush looks “beatable”.
. . .
When Bush seemed invincible, she was content to sit back, let some hapless Dem take the fall in 2004, and run in 2008. Now that the Dems look increasingly likely to take the prize, she suddenly wants in on the action.

(Incidentally, I have been hearing rumors the past few weeks that Hillary’s money people would push her to enter the race if Clark chose to stay out. I discounted the rumors, though some came from solid sources. Quite frankly, they seemed ridiculous. Looks like I judged too quickly.)

Y’know, I like Hillary Clinton. I haven’t been following her senate career or anything, but I think she could have a shot at winning the election. And she might even make a pretty good president.

But, the last thing the Democratic party needs is a return of Clinton/Gore leadership. With a candidate like Hillary Clinton, we’d be seen as a party that’s stuck in the past. Al Gore saw this and realized that he should sit out this election. Hopefully Hillary will come to the same conclusion. If she’s really serious about becoming president, she should spend some more time in the senate and have some legislative experience to run on as well as her name recognition.

Here we are in the 21st century and there are still people who are so ignorant that they think a little boy’s autism is demonic possession :

Medical examiners ruled the death of an 8-year-old autistic boy a homicide after an autopsy showed he was asphyxiated during a church service in which participants held him down while praying to expel “evil demons” they believed caused his disorder.
. . .
The minister who led the prayer service at the Faith Temple Church of Apostolic Faith has been in police custody since the weekend. It was the ninth service conducted for the boy over a three-week period in the now shut storefront church.

An official at the church said the 5 foot 7, 150-pound minister sprawled across the boy Friday night “to keep him from hitting his head on the floor, because he was bucking.”
. . .
Terrance’s father said in a telephone interview that when he saw his son’s body in the ambulance Friday night, there were bruises on his arms and he was told there was skin under the boy’s fingernails, which he took as signs that Terrance had struggled.

“It’s like he was fighting for his life,” said Terrance Cottrell Sr.

Now I’m sure that autism can be incredibly hard for a parent to deal with. The frustration can probably lead to someone taking some pretty desperate steps. But this goes far and beyond that. Like Christian Scientists who would withhold medicine from their children in favor of prayer, this is child abuse. Fellow blogger Dwight Meredith, who has chronicled his own son’s battle with autism on his blog P.L.A., makes an important point about the overly-religious views of autism :

If Torrance Cantrell died as the result of intentional cruelty on the part of the members of the Faith Temple Apostolic Church (and I very much doubt that is the case), them they richly deserve whatever fate awaits them both at the hands of justice system and upon the judgment of God.

I suspect, however, that the church members sincerely believed that Torrance was inhabited by evil spirits and that the Bible commanded the methods used to drive those spirits out. That belief is no justification for harming a little boy.

Torrance Cantrell died in Milwaukee in 2003 not in the Salem of 1692. Autism is a neurological condition. It results from a defect in the functioning of the brain, not the soul. There is really no excuse for a group of adults to restrain a child and then take turns beating and whipping him. Only a seriously twisted view of God can possibly begin to justify such actions.

I once had a fundamentalist Christian friend and co-worker tell me that Bobby?s autism was God?s way of drawing me closer to Him. I was repulsed by that idea. I would want no relationship with such a God. Any God who would sanction the beating and whipping of a little boy is not worthy of worship.

In an effort to raise money for whoever gets the senate nod for the 2004 Presidential election, my friend Tom Neely has designed a line of “Whistle Ass” merchandise :

By clicking on the image above, you can go to The Talent Show’s CafePress shop where you can get “Whistle Ass” Shirts, Mugs, Steins, Lunchboxes, Tote Bags, etc. For every item you buy, every penny of the profits goes towards making sure George W. Bush isn’t reelected in 2004. That’s $5 per item sold. If you’d like to donate any more, you can donate to the senate ePatriots fund by clicking on the Bush logo in the upper right corner of the homepage or clicking here.

Also, if you’d like to hire Tom to do any animation, comics, record covers, or other commercial art, you can contact him at his site, I Will Destroy You.

And these guys are supposed to be more patriotic than us?

The US Republican Party now has a band of young and enthusiastic fund-raisers in Noida and Gurgaon.
. . .
This is the first time such a project has been handed out to a company outside the US. The market research and public relations companies engaged by the party usually undertake such projects.

HCL eServe has put in place a team of 75 people to work on the project out of its call centres in Noida and Gurgaon. According to industry sources, the number of seats could be ramped up depending on the success of the campaign. These operators are required to call up people in the US seeking their support for President George W Bush and a donation for the Republican cause.

How can Bush talk about “job growth” all the time and move jobs overseas? This should make it obvious to even the most ardent Bush supporter that at the end of the day, Bush and his cronies care a lot more about saving money than helping the American people. I wouldn’t trust a leader who outsources even one job overseas to defend the American people against the rising tide of unemployment.

I’m sure by now you’d all heard the disturbing news : Britney, J. Lo, and Madonna are going to sing together at the VMA’s tonight. Okay, just kidding.

Seriously, authorities in New York are set to release the 911 calls from 9/11 :

Nearly two years after the Sept. 11 attack on the World Trade Center, authorities prepared to release transcripts Thursday of emergency calls made from inside the twin towers.
. . .
The victims who identified themselves in the emergency calls and radio transmissions or whose voices were recognized by co-workers include 19 Port Authority police officers, 14 civilian Port Authority workers and three people who did not work for the agency, the newspaper said.

Catherine Pavelec, the Port Authority’s manager of administration and protocol and a survivor of the attacks, said the tapes give “a very real sense of how many people needed help and how short a period of time we had to help them.”

I have a feeling this is going to reopen a lot of old wounds. My hope is that in reminding the public of how desperate the rescue situation was, that the media takes a hard look at how much has been done in the last two years to help make us safer. At the very least, I’d like to see some stories like this one getting more attention :

The firefighters? union president raged at President Bush Wednesday for blocking an extra $150 million in FIRE grants and millions more in 2002 emergency funding for first responders, but other fire service leaders are taking the loss in stride.

The funds, part of a $5.1 billion 2002 emergency appropriations bill, were likely lost forever with a stroke of President Bush?s pen on Tuesday.
. . .
In addition to the FIRE Grant funding, Bush blocked other homeland security funding earmarked for first responders, including $90 million for long-term health monitoring of emergency workers at Ground Zero; $100 million for interoperable communications systems for firefighters, police officers and EMS personnel; and $82 million to enhance the FBI’s counterterrorism technology.

“Don?t lionize our fallen brothers in one breath and then stab us in the back by eliminating funding for our members to fight terrorism and stay safe,” [International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) General President Harold} Schaitberger says. Bush had already agreed to approve the $5.1 billion, and he “reneged on his promise. And in the process, he killed millions of dollars in funding for firefighter health and safety and other critical fire service initiatives.”

As Bill Maher said in his most recent “comedy” special, “They’re our heroes, remember? Or is that why they’re our heroes, because they work cheap?”

So I’m sure by now you’ve heard about today’s shooting in Chicago. In case you haven’t, here’s the details :

A fired worker hunted down and shot to death six employees of an auto parts supply warehouse on Wednesday, then refused to surrender and was killed by police, authorities said.

“From the scene, it appears he went throughout the supply warehouse shooting them,” acting Chicago Police Superintendent Philip Cline said. “They all suffered fatal gunshot wounds.”

The gunman, identified by authorities as 36-year-old Salvador Tapia, had been fired six months ago for poor performance at Windy City Core Supply Inc., and recently made threatening telephone calls to one of the owners.

In case there’s any doubt about what contributed to this tragedy, the Police Superintendent made it clear :

Tapia had been arrested a dozen times in the past 14 years on various charges, including illegal possession of a weapon, domestic battery and assault. He was convicted in 1989 of illegal possession of a gun and received a year’s probation.

“The problem here is easy access to a firearm,” Cline said. “I mean here’s someone who never should have had a gun, that had a gun, and it’s tragic results from it.”

Yeah, yeah, I know “Guns don’t kill people, blah, blah”, but when was the last time you heard about a disgruntled worker going on a stabbing spree? Guns may just be a tools, but they’re a tool specifically for making it really easy to kill human beings. Considering how many violent and untrustworthy people we have in our society, why is it such a controversial idea that guns should be really hard to obtain?

Oh. My. God. Those ignorant assholes from Westboro Baptist church are across the street from my work right now picketing a Bob Hope Memorial at the Academy of TV Arts & Sciences. Here’s part of the flyer they’re circulating on their website :

So far, I’ve seen people carrying signs that read “HOPE IS IN HELL” and “GOD HATES FAG ENABLERS”. Oddly enough, I haven’t seen anyone carrying a sign that says “Love thy neighbor as thyself” or ” He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone”. I’d think since both of those saying actually appear in the Bible, that they’d be more popular. Oh well….

As Fair and Balanced MJ just pointed out the the comments for this post, The Talent Show is the first result in a Google search for “whistle ass”. It feels nice to know that I’ve made it to the top, despite all the whistle asses out there who have tried to keep me down. I feel a linguistic revolution coming on. If we keep this up, “whistle ass” will be the biggest thing to hit the English language since “Da Bomb”. Years from now, when etymologists are tracing the history of “whistle ass”, there will be a lot said about the triumvirate of myself, Sally Baron (R.I.P.), and George W. Bush (the original whistle ass). Of course, all of this should take a back seat to fulfilling Sally’s dying wish of removing Bush from office. In 2004, let’s win this one for Sally! (Remember, the Dubya stands for “Whistle Ass”)

I was just forwarded a press release that outlines one of the best media pranks I’ve ever seen :

8/26/03

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NEGATIVLAND PRANKS CLEAR CHANNEL,FORCES RADIO FORMAT CHANGE

An online media prank has changed the programming of a major market Clear Channel FM radio station.

Seattle’s KJR-FM, a Clear Channel radio affiliate, quickly and quietly altered its playlist, following an amusing online tirade accusing the station and its Program Director of “false advertising.”

Negativland, known for their media-critiquing music collage and culture jamming hoaxes and pranks, outed KJR-FM on charges that it played at least 114 different songs from the early to mid-1980’s, despite marketing themselves as being a “Just the Greatest Hits of the ’60’s and ’70’s” radio station. Negativland members noticed that it was virtually impossible to listen for even a short period of time without hearing hits from such quintessential 80’s artists as Huey Lewis and the News, Air Supply, Men at Work, Cyndi Lauper, and many others. KJR recently pushed the envelope further by adding “Kokomo,” a 1988 hit by The Beach Boys.

In a moment of maniacal inspiration, Negativland decided to point out this ridiculous deception by sabotaging the public’s perception of the station. The group created an online rebuffing of Clear Channel, KJR-FM, and KJR Program Director Bob Case, in a tabloid-style internet magazine parody, complete with damning evidence and scathing audio commentary. Disguised as the abrasive, misguided and over-the-top outlaw media journalist “Jack Diekobiscz”, Negativland cited Clear Channel’s contempt for its listeners and willingness to lie and re-write music history for profit. Negativland claims their stunt was an obtuse and funny way to draw attention to Clear Channel’s much-criticized involvement in the general dumbing-down and homogenization of radio as the company, with the blessings of the FCC, continues to gobble up station after station across the USA.
. . .
Negativland’s dubious association with KJR and Clear Channel is nothing new. One year ago, Negativland was invited to contribute audio material to a massive microradio invasion of the Seattle airwaves as part of “Reclaim The Media,” an event sponsored by the Seattle Indy Media Center that was scheduled to take place at the 2002 National Association of Broadcasters Convention being held at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center in Downtown Seattle. Rather than composing a predictable narrative criticism of Clear Channel, Negativland decided to strike out with a more engaging approach that would hit local radio listeners where they lived. The strange absurdity of a Clear Channel station that refused to stay true to its own heavily marketed identity seemed an obvious way to showcase the company’s attitude toward its listeners.

Utilizing KJR’s own canned liners and jingles, Negativland produced a convincing 24-minute recording that simulated a telescoped version of KJR’s format. Host “Jack Diekobiscz” ranted against Clear Channel and named KJR’s program director, Bob Case as responsible for the misrepresentation, as he played one 1980’s hit from KJR’s playlist after another. For the duration of the NAB convention, six pirate microradio stations across the FM dial streamed anti-Clear Channel programming, including repeated performances of the Negativland/Diekobiscz show, sometimes playing in a 24-minute loop for seven hours at a time. Despite some bad publicity and a flurry of e-mails, Clear Channel and Bob Case refused to remove the songs from their playlist until hit with the events of last week.

I’ve noticed this quite a bit myself. I remember a few years ago the oldies station I listened to started sneaking 80’s songs into their format. The last time I tuned in, almost a third of the songs they played were from the 80’s, but they hadn’t changed the format. Where I was just annoyed by the whole thing, the guys in Negativland seem really pissed (You can listen to the full 24 minute loop that they played during the broadcasters convention by clicking here.) The press release also pointed out that there are better reasons (ie. media monopolization & payola) to hate Clear Channel, than obnoxious playlists, but this is pretty damn funny.

This is a really, really bad sign of things to come :

Car bombs exploded at a crowded jewelry market and a historic landmark in Bombay on Monday, killing at least 44 people, wounding 150 others and shaking buildings in India’s financial capital.

The bombs, hidden in the trunks of two taxis, blew up within five minutes of each other, police said. Several people were being interrogated, including one taxi driver.

Police were focusing their investigation on Muslim militant groups.

“There are many jehadi groups out, let loose by the enemy country,” said Ranjit Sharma, a police commissioner. Jehadi groups are operated by Islamic militants.

The “enemy country” was a clear reference to Pakistan, India’s longtime rival. Such an accusation could threaten to increase tension between the nuclear-armed neighbors, though Pakistani officials quickly denounced the attack as “wanton targeting of civilians.”

The hatred between India and Pakistan is every bit as intense as the tension between Israel and Palestine, except in this case, both sides have nuclear weapons. What’s so sad about all this is that it’s all about some religious nonsense :

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the lunchtime bombings, which came hours after the release of a long-anticipated archaeological report on a religious site in northern India claimed by both Hindus and Muslims. The dispute has been linked to previous bombings.
. . .
Police say those bombings were in retaliation for the 1992 destruction by Hindus mobs of the 16th-century Ayodhya mosque, and to avenge Muslim deaths in riots that followed. A bloody attack on Hindus who want to build a temple at the site of the destroyed mosque set off revenge rioting in western Gujarat state that killed more than 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, in early 2002.

Some Hindus claim the mosque was built centuries ago on the ruins of a Hindu temple that marked the birthplace of their supreme god, Rama.

The report, issued by the government archaeological agency, indicated there had been some sort of ancient structure at the site, lawyers for both sides said, though they disagreed on whether it said there had actually been a temple.

Is something as silly as religion really worth killing for? Just imagine how many millions of lives would be saved of everyone just gave up their territorial and xenophobic superstitions and started playing nice. America’s recent turn toward religious fundamentalism makes me wonder how long it will be before our citizens start blowing themselves up for God.

Before you get too depressed about the state of the world, here’s some pictures of an all-dwarf Kiss tribute band to cheer you up :

I’ve found myself spending a lot of time on George Bush’s new site lately. Among my favorite finds is this quote on his downloadable wallpaper :

“When government and landowners and conservationists and others work together, we can make dramatic progress in preserving the beauty and the quality of our environment.”

-President George W. Bush

In his entire career in public office (as short as it is), was that honestly the best quote they could find? It reminds me of all his responses to the “What’s your plan for ___?” questions during the 2000 debates that were pretty much like this :

“It’s a complicated issue, ______. We need to get beyond the rhetoric and get some real work done. They’ve had eight years to fix _____ and it’s still not working. When I’m president, I’m going to get all the best minds in a room together and we’ll come up with a plan to get some work….uh….get….get some answers for the American people. We’re going to come up with a plan, we’ll formulate it, and then we’ll execute it.”

After three years of being president, he should have a better environmental plan than “we’ll come up with a good plan”.

I bet there’s going to be a line of people waiting to dance on this guy’s grave :

John J. Geoghan, the former priest and convicted child molester killed in a Massachusetts prison Saturday, was followed into his cell just after lunch by a fellow inmate who bound and gagged him before strangling him with a bed sheet, according to a union representative for prison guards.

The attacker, whom authorities identified as Joseph L. Druce, jammed the electronically operated cell door to prevent guards from opening it. He tied Geoghan’s hands behind his back with a sheet and gagged him. He then repeatedly jumped from the bed in the cell onto Geoghan’s motionless body and beat the defrocked priest with his fists.

I don’t like the idea of celebrating anyone’s death, but considering that this guy raped one hundred and fifty kids, it’s hard to not think that he deserved this. In a perfect world, this asshole wouldn’t have been allowed to have a second victim, but I guess this is what you get with a combination of children too scared to come forward and a priesthood that likes to protect its own. I just don’t know why every Catholic official that helped cover this stuff up wasn’t sitting in jail with him. If this were a bank robbery, would they be letting all the getaway drivers off this easily?

There’s been a lot of chatter about how low property taxes are in California. How low are they? Here’s an example from Warren Buffet (via Uggabugga) :

Billionaire financier Warren Buffett, an adviser to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s campaign for California governor, suggested in an interview with The Wall Street Journal published Friday that the state’s property taxes should be higher.

But he used his own properties to illustrate an example.

Buffett’s home in Omaha, Nebraska is valued at about $500,000, and recent yearly property tax on the home totaled $14,401, he said in the report.

He paid $2,264 in annual property taxes on his $4 million home in Laguna Beach, California — about 16 percent of the tax he paid Nebraska for a much cheaper property.

Buffett said in the interview that taxes on his Nebraska home grew by $1,920 this year, while those on the California home rose by only $23, thanks to limitations on increases in property tax established by Proposition 13.

For those of you who don’t want to do the math, Uggabugga’s provided that as well :

Property tax in Nebraska: 2.88 %
Property tax in California: 0.05 %

With property values as high as they are in California, raising the property tax could probably bring in billions. Of course there’s an argument to be made that Prop. 13’s low tax rates have led to an artificial inflation of those property values. I dunno if it’s a bubble waiting to burst or not, but it’s clear that the minuscule property tax is in need of some sort of “correction”.