DOES THE FOLLOWING "PROPAGANDA" VIDEO SOUND RATHER FAMILIAR IN MESSAGE--only with homosexuals replacing Jews as the Enemies of the Nation and Our Children?

"As a matter of fact, studies show that no society that has totally embraced homosexuality has lasted more than, you know, a few decades. So it's the death knell for this country. I honestly think it's the biggest threat our nation has, even more so than terrorism or Islam."

This reads like it was lifted straight from the boilerplate rhetoric of the Watchmen on the Walls, an international coalition of anti-gay militants based in Latvia that has a strong presence on the West Coast of the United States. Watchmen leader Alexey Ledyaev has repeatedly claimed that gays are taking over the West in order to prime the culture for an even more radical conquest by Islamic terrorists.

"Did you know that the city council of Eureka Springs [Ark.] is now controlled by gays?"

Earlier this year, the anti-gay American Family Association released "They're Coming To Your Town," a 28-minute DVD that purports to show how the resort town of Eureka Springs, Ark. [pop. 2,350] was taken over in a homosexual coup. "Using deceitfulness and lies, homosexuals maneuvered themselves into positions of power and then used those positions to promote their agenda," reads an AFA press release promoting the DVD.

"They [gays and lesbians] have more suicides, they're more discouraged, there's more illness, their life spans are shorter, you know, it's not a lifestyle that is good for this nation."

"This stuff [homosexuality] is deadly and it is spreading. It will destroy our young people and it will destroy this nation."

Though she doesn't cite specific data, Kern's claims about the deadly lifestyle and shortened life spans of gays and lesbians are probably fueled by the pseudo-scientific reports of crackpot psychologist Paul Cameron, a popular speaker on the anti-gay lecture circuit of the Christian Right who portrays gays and lesbians as dangerous, diseased perverts whose average life span is only 45 years. Cameron's work has been thoroughly discredited by mainstream social researchers. One of his most infamous studies found that "lesbians are 300 times more likely to die in car accidents than heterosexual women."

Which, all in all, begs the question of whether this is essentially a rehashing of the same anti-Semitic canards and platitudes which the Nazi regime pushed as fact, thanks in large measure to Julius Streicher's pornographically lurid tabloid Der Sturmer (as discussed previously in my Open Letter to Bill O'Reilly), with homosexuals replacing Jews as the Enemies of the People (especially so children and Other Vulnerable Elements of Society).

Never mind where the GLBTQ community may be lacking in material similar to the Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion as can be cited in "evidence" to such an International Conspiracy (the Protocols, in fact, have been repeatedly discredited as forgery serving crude and debauched anti-Semitic purposes).

(As if to reinforce this notion, John Aravosis of AMERICAblog has this interesting side-by-side comparison so you can judge for yourself.)

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IF YOU THOUGHT L'AFFAIRE SPITZER ENDED WITH THE NEW YORK GOVERNOR'S SHOCK RESIGNATION YESTERDAY, you may probably be wrong: Methinks Your Correspondent is of the belief that the GOP may have set up the whole thing to cast discredit or contempt on the Democratic Party for purely electoral purposes vis-a-vis Indecision 2008.

(Come to think of it, the involvement of the Pseudoreligiopolitical Right in seeking out an "imminent moral collapse" angle to the story ought not be ruled out.)

And it's probably not out of the question for the GOP to start getting paranoid about the likelihood of Democratic "payback" @ the GOP convention in the Twin Cities (as in having @ least one prominent and powerful GOP and/or Religiopolitical Right leader caught in Pantsdown Parade).

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AND YOU THINK IT'S WE "MORALLY SUPERIOR" AMERICANS AS ARE FACING ELECTORAL BEDLAM AND CONFUSION EXCLUSIVELY--welllll--!!!

• Following the collapse of the Serbian government over Kosovo's Unilateral Declaration of Independence last month (aided and abetted by nationalist Prime Minister Voislav Kostunica losing a no-confidence vote in the parliament), the Belgrade government has now been formally dissolved and new elections called for 11 May--which, incidentally, coincides with the 150th anniversary of Minnesota's statehood.
• Ahead of elections in Zimbabwe next month, Prime Minister Robert Mugabe once again called for "meddling foreign observers" to stay away, fearing such was one with "unlawful interference in Zimbabwe's internal affairs and soverignty" (and, inevitably, raising questions that said elections would be neither free nor fair)--but then again, welcoming low-level GOP PsyOps operatives to act in a "stealth" capacity to find ways to further manupulate Indecision 2008, and excuse such as being for G-d and Country.

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IF THIS SOUNDS LIKE TRYING TO PREVENT A PLAGUE BY FIRST KILLING OFF THE GERM, USW.: Health officials in Hong Kong have announced that the Easter school break will start a week earlier than usual to help contain a flu outbreak as has led to several deaths among elementary-school students and their schools closed for cleaning and decontamination.   

FOR THOSE AMONG YOU LOOKING FOR EFFECTIVE, YET PEACEFUL, WAYS TO DEAL WITH THE "EDUCATIONAL" PROTESTS from the so-called "Westboro Baptist Church" of Topeka @ the funerals of real or suspected homosexuals and Other Deviant Elements, whose acceptance (or so Rev. Fred Phelps thinks) by the American People and Nation are causing Grave Moral and Spiritual Harm and Calamity, as manifested in the likes of casualties from the ur-RAHOWA Against International Terrorism, one I could think of could be to use a portable tannoy and direct the protesters' attention to Certain Interesting and Worthwhile Poems of Robert Burns (Scots; 1759-1796), delivered all the while in unmistakable Scots brouge as marked Rabbie's poetry.

And is being kept alive by the likes of Oor Wullie and The Broons.

One such I could recommend to arouse the ire of these inbreds as call themselves the "congregation" of "Westboro Baptist" would have to be "Holy Willie's Prayer," as thus:

Argument.

Holy Willie was a rather oldish bachelor elder, in the parish of
Mauchline, and much and justly famed for that polemical chattering, which ends
in tippling orthodoxy, and for that spiritualized bawdry which refines to
liquorish devotion. In a sessional process with a gentleman in Mauchline-a
Mr.Gavin Hamilton-Holy Willie and his priest, Father Auld, after full hearing
in the presbytery of Ayr, came off but second best; owing partly to the
oratorical powers of Mr. Robert Aiken, Mr. Hamilton's counsel; but chiefly to
Mr. Hamilton's being one of the most irreproachable and truly respectable
characters in the county. On losing the process, the muse overheard him
at his devotions, as follows:-

O Thou, who in the heavens does dwell,
Who, as it pleases best Thysel',
Sends ane to heaven an' ten to hell,
A' for Thy glory,
And no for ony gude or ill
They've done afore Thee!

I bless and praise Thy matchless might,
When thousands Thou hast left in night,
That I am here afore Thy sight,
For gifts an' grace
A burning and a shining light
To a' this place.

What was I, or my generation,
That I should get sic exaltation,
I wha deserve most just damnation
For broken laws,
Five thousand years ere my creation,
Thro' Adam's cause?

When frae my mither's womb I fell,
Thou might hae plunged me in hell,
To gnash my gums, to weep and wail,
In burnin lakes,
Where damned devils roar and yell,
Chain'd to their stakes.

Yet I am here a chosen sample,
To show thy grace is great and ample;
I'm here a pillar o' Thy temple,
Strong as a rock,
A guide, a buckler, and example,
To a' Thy flock.

O Lord, Thou kens what zeal I bear,
When drinkers drink, an' swearers swear,
An' singin there, an' dancin here,
Wi' great and sma';
For I am keepit by Thy fear
Free frae them a'.

But yet, O Lord! confess I must,
At times I'm fash'd wi' fleshly lust:
An' sometimes, too, in wardly trust,
Vile self gets in:
But Thou remembers we are dust,
Defil'd wi' sin.

O Lord! yestreen, Thou kens, wi' Meg-
Thy pardon I sincerely beg,
O! may't ne'er be a livin plague
To my dishonour,
An' I'll ne'er lift a lawless leg
Again upon her.

Besides, I farther maun allow,
Wi' Leezie's lass, three times I trow-
But Lord, that Friday I was fou,
When I cam near her;
Or else, Thou kens, Thy servant true
Wad never steer her.

Maybe Thou lets this fleshly thorn
Buffet Thy servant e'en and morn,
Lest he owre proud and high shou'd turn,
That he's sae gifted:
If sae, Thy han' maun e'en be borne,
Until Thou lift it.

Lord, bless Thy chosen in this place,
For here Thou hast a chosen race:
But God confound their stubborn face,
An' blast their name,
Wha bring Thy elders to disgrace
An' public shame.

Lord, mind Gaw'n Hamilton's deserts;
He drinks, an' swears, an' plays at cartes,
Yet has sae mony takin arts,
Wi' great and sma',
Frae God's ain priest the people's hearts
He steals awa.

An' when we chasten'd him therefor,
Thou kens how he bred sic a splore,
An' set the warld in a roar
O' laughing at us;-
Curse Thou his basket and his store,
Kail an' potatoes.

Lord, hear my earnest cry and pray'r,
Against that Presbyt'ry o' Ayr;
Thy strong right hand, Lord, make it bare
Upo' their heads;
Lord visit them, an' dinna spare,
For their misdeeds.

O Lord, my God! that glib-tongu'd Aiken,
My vera heart and flesh are quakin,
To think how we stood sweatin', shakin,
An' p-'d wi' dread,
While he, wi' hingin lip an' snakin,
Held up his head.

Lord, in Thy day o' vengeance try him,
Lord, visit them wha did employ him,
And pass not in Thy mercy by 'em,
Nor hear their pray'r,
But for Thy people's sake, destroy 'em,
An' dinna spare.

But, Lord, remember me an' mine
Wi' mercies temp'ral an' divine,
That I for grace an' gear may shine,
Excell'd by nane,
And a' the glory shall be thine,
Amen, Amen!

And, for the sake of thoroughness, the "Epitaph on Holy Willie:"

Here Holy Willie's sair worn clay
Taks up its last abode;
His saul has ta'en some other way,
I fear, the left-hand road.

Stop! there he is, as sure's a gun,
Poor, silly body, see him;
Nae wonder he's as black's the grun,
Observe wha's standing wi' him.

Your brunstane devilship, I see,
Has got him there before ye;
But haud your nine-tail cat a wee,
Till ance you've heard my story.

Your pity I will not implore,
For pity ye have nane;
Justice, alas! has gi'en him o'er,
And mercy's day is gane.

But hear me, Sir, deil as ye are,
Look something to your credit;
A coof like him wad stain your name,
If it were kent ye did it.

(Could you also imagine "Holy Willie's Prayer" being an effective weapon of disrupting Religiopolitical Right rallies and conclaves tending to cross the line into overzealous fanaticism?)

===TO BE CONTINUED===

Enter the ICHC online Poker Cats Contest!

A number of media outlets have picked up on John McCain's embrace of fringe televangelist John Hagee, although (thanks in part to the Catholic League's efforts) the focus has been on Hagee's anti-Catholic sentiment rather than the pastor's far-right political views or his obsession that Israel must be defeated by a Russian-Arab military alliance, perhaps preceded by a U.S. invasion of Iran, in order to usher in Armageddon and the second coming of Jesus.

But few have paid attention to the other far-right televangelist McCain embraced last week, Rod Parsley.

You won't hear Parsley rail against Catholics, but you will hear him rail against gays, abortion, Islam, judges, and People For the American Way. And in Ohio, he has built a political machine of partisan "Patriot Pastors" who will turn their churches into get-out-the-vote campaigns.

Another interesting weapon for to "swift boat" John McCain with, no?

glitter-graphics.com    

TELL ME THIS ISN'T EXACTLY DOUBLETHINK:

On the one hand, His Fraudulency's Great Within is still insisting on energy self-sufficency as an article of faith, even if it means wasteful and unproductive exploratory drilling in areas as are unlikely to see major oil and gas production.

But, on the other hand, his misadventures in Iraq otherwise known as the ur-RAHOWA Against International Terrorism have seen the NYMEX price for a 55-gallon barrel of oil rise from $39/bbl. when the ur-RAHOWA got underway in 2003 to a record $110/bbl--a net increase of 282% over five years.

No wonder the Zealots and True Believers of hyperconservatism don't exactly get it on energy policy in the Real World.

Witness these comments from Melanie @ the NewsHounds blog, dedicated to monitoring Fox News, about a rather bombastic prediction so made recently:

Last Friday (March 7, 2008), one of the guests on Fox's "premiere business news" show, Your World w/Neil Cavuto, was Kevin Kerr of Kerr Trading International. Echoing Fox's the-liberal-media-only-reports-the-bad-news theme, Kerr proclaimed that oil is "set to drop $80.00 by mid-May."

Cool, huh? $25.00 for a barrel of oil come May!

I made a note in my calendar. I'll be back with an update. Meanwhile, don't worry. Be happy.

My comment and prediction? Oil will never, ever, in the history of the planet, fall to $25.00 a barrel again.

Which begs the question of whence comes this notion in a 72% drop on the NYMEX crude oil price by the Memorial Day Long Weekend.

As if such an irrational notion wasn't stupid enough, consider this recent editorial from the soon-to-go-online-exclusively Capital Times of Madison, WI:

We've long maintained that George W. Bush doesn't pay attention to the details.

The most obvious example was his swallowing, unquestionably, the intelligence propaganda fed to him by the neocons installed in the Pentagon by Vice President Dick Cheney. They were then leading the country into a war that was based on those falsehoods.

Not paying attention, especially if you're the president of the world's most powerful nation, isn't a good thing.

Now comes the embarrassing revelation that the president of this country doesn't know that prices for gasoline are skyrocketing. He expressed amazement the other day when a reporter asked him what he thought about gas prices nearing $4 per gallon.

"What did you just say?" he asked the questioner. "You're predicting $4-a-gallon gasoline?"

The reporter replied that no, he wasn't predicting $4 gas, but national oil experts were.

"That's interesting," Bush responded. "I hadn't heard that."

Hadn't heard that? His entire constituency is fuming and fulminating over rising gas prices. The economy is getting hit unmercifully. People are canceling vacations because they can't afford to pay for the gas. And their president is oblivious?

What, pray tell, does this man do all day?

Enter the ICHC online Poker Cats Contest!

ACKNOWLEDGING SERIOUS LAPSES IN FEDERALLY-MANDATED SAFETY INSPECTIONS BEING CARRIED OUT @ REGULAR INTERVALS, Southwest Airlines has announced where it has grounded 41 of its Boeing 737 aircraft for the time being to carry out safety checks after hairline cracks were discovered that were not detected in previous inspections.

Which, for an airline as has this arrogant repute for cheap fares and frequent flights, should be enough to shame them into recognising our complacent air-mindedness as a "morally superior" society.

And, for once, ought be enough for us to start rethinking this complacent air-mindedness, especially with fuel prices now rather dear (in fact, the NYMEX crude price is @ a new record of $110/bbl--and you can blame it, in large measure, on His Fraudulency's misadventures in the guise of a War on Terrorism based on flimsy evidence.

(Evidence now shown to be all the more flimsy after new evidence confirms lack of His Fraudulency's interconnexion between the Saddam Hussein regime and al-Qaeda.)

Go figure....