On Tuesday, May 27, George W. Bush raised the nation's debt limit to 7.83 trillion dollars. That's $7,830,000,000,000.00. It bothers me that the country seems apathetic to the ever spiraling federal budget deficit, and to the fact that the Bush Recession (yes, Virginia, Bush has been in office more than two years, the Recession started two months after he took office, his party controls both houses of congress and a majority of governorships, so they can't blame this on Clinton) means less money is flowing into state coffers, so most states are under the deficit crunch as well. Meanwhile, another tax cut is being signed, which will only lead to greater deficits.
This certainly blows the notion of the Republicans being the fiscally responsible party out of the water. Since 1981, deficits have grown most rapidly when the White House was under Republican control. How many times do you have to hit yourself on the head with a hammer before you realize you'll feel better when you STOP?
Although eventually the Democrats will be elected to clean up the mess (as they usually do, Democrats have been relairing the damage Republicans have done since the 1930s) there is no doubt that the American people will be paying for Bush's fiscal policies for the rest of our lives.
Congratulations, Patriotic Republican Americans (including the skank with the "I support George W. Bush" bumper sticker who cut me off yesterday) you just screwed your children.
Wednesday, May 28, 2003
Saturday, May 17, 2003
Saturday, April 12, 2003
Friday, April 4, 2003
There He Goes Again...
Another news item with my comments in parentheses...
Vatican says homosexuality is "without any social value" (does this include homosexual priests?).
A new Vatican dictionary describing homosexuality as a condition "without any social value" was denounced by an Italian gay rights leader Monday as insulting and cruel. The Vatican published the 1,000-page Lexicon of words and phrases like reproductive rights, gender, and other terms dealing with sexuality in an effort to clarify what it says are neutral-sounding terms that can mask meanings contradictory to Roman Catholic teachings (i.e. religious propaganda).
Lexicon reflects Vatican teaching that homosexual acts are "intrinsically disordered," and Pope John Paul II has said such acts are "contrary to natural law." (One wonders what the Pope's definition of Natural Law is. Animals have homosexual sex, so homosexuality is clearly part of the natural world. What is truly UNNATURAL, however, is the practice of requiring priests to squelch their natural sexual drives, leading ultimately to the pedohilia scandal currently rocking the Catholic church.) The church, however, says homosexuals should be treated with compassion and dignity. The dictionary counsels against "stigmatizing" as homophobic those who raise questions about homosexuality. (So, in other words, the Pope doesn't want gays bashed physically, just verbally.)
But leading gay rights activist Franco Grillini said the dictionary makes plain "the pathological homophobic obsession of the Catholic Church.... In my opinion, it's almost racist, and it is at the limit of cruelty." Grillini wrote on his Web site Sunday that Lexicon moves "from homophobic invective to insult against homosexuals and homosexuality."
Earlier this year Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo said the Vatican decided to compile the work after hearing complaints from nongovernmental organizations about "ambiguous" terms used at the United Nations and other international organizations (those damned Liberals are at it again). The Vatican long has been at odds with the United Nations over policies it believes contradict church teaching. For example, the Vatican often opposes U.N. documents concerning sex education and the use of condoms as a way to prevent HIV infection (don't want to prevent people from making more babies who can grow up to fill the church's coffers].
Vatican says homosexuality is "without any social value" (does this include homosexual priests?).
A new Vatican dictionary describing homosexuality as a condition "without any social value" was denounced by an Italian gay rights leader Monday as insulting and cruel. The Vatican published the 1,000-page Lexicon of words and phrases like reproductive rights, gender, and other terms dealing with sexuality in an effort to clarify what it says are neutral-sounding terms that can mask meanings contradictory to Roman Catholic teachings (i.e. religious propaganda).
Lexicon reflects Vatican teaching that homosexual acts are "intrinsically disordered," and Pope John Paul II has said such acts are "contrary to natural law." (One wonders what the Pope's definition of Natural Law is. Animals have homosexual sex, so homosexuality is clearly part of the natural world. What is truly UNNATURAL, however, is the practice of requiring priests to squelch their natural sexual drives, leading ultimately to the pedohilia scandal currently rocking the Catholic church.) The church, however, says homosexuals should be treated with compassion and dignity. The dictionary counsels against "stigmatizing" as homophobic those who raise questions about homosexuality. (So, in other words, the Pope doesn't want gays bashed physically, just verbally.)
But leading gay rights activist Franco Grillini said the dictionary makes plain "the pathological homophobic obsession of the Catholic Church.... In my opinion, it's almost racist, and it is at the limit of cruelty." Grillini wrote on his Web site Sunday that Lexicon moves "from homophobic invective to insult against homosexuals and homosexuality."
Earlier this year Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo said the Vatican decided to compile the work after hearing complaints from nongovernmental organizations about "ambiguous" terms used at the United Nations and other international organizations (those damned Liberals are at it again). The Vatican long has been at odds with the United Nations over policies it believes contradict church teaching. For example, the Vatican often opposes U.N. documents concerning sex education and the use of condoms as a way to prevent HIV infection (don't want to prevent people from making more babies who can grow up to fill the church's coffers].
Friday, March 21, 2003
Monday, March 17, 2003
Human rights
If the mainstream news media is so "liberal," why didn't they report this? (My commentery in parentheses.)
A criminal court in Egypt sentenced 21 men to three years in jail Saturday on charges stemming from a suspected gay sex party in a case condemned by Egyptian and international human rights groups (human rights groups, those damned liberals!) as persecution of gay people. Officials told the Associated Press that another 29 men were acquitted in the retrial, which began in July following an order by Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak. (And we court this guy as an ally?) The officials said the defendants were not in court to hear the verdicts, but their lawyers attended. The 21men were sentenced to three years in jail on charges of practicing debauchery, the officials said.
The defendants are among 52 men arrested in a May 2001 police raid on a Nile riverboat restaurant on suspicion they had taken part in a gay sex party. (Notice that there's no proof, just SUSPICION of being gay is enough to get you thrown into the slammer in Egypt.) The Emergency State Security Court initially sentenced 23 of them in November 2001 to jail terms ranging from one to five years. The rest were acquitted. Mubarak, in his capacity as Egypt's military ruler, last May ordered 50 of the men--including the 29 acquitted--to be retried on the debauchery counts before a lower court, annulling the original verdicts (in America, this is known as Double Jeopardy, and is unconstitutional) because the emergency courts did not have the jurisdiction to hear the charges.
Human rights groups and the international community (those damned quiche-eating Liberals) have denounced the trials and condemned Egypt, where homosexuality is met with zero tolerance. Homosexuality is not explicitly referred to in the Egyptian legal system, (Talk about the Love that Dare not speak its name!) but a wide range of laws covering obscenity, prostitution, and public morality are punishable by jail terms.
A final thought:
Not too long ago, homosexuals, along with Jews were persecuted and exterminated by the Nazis. Don't think it can't happen again. There are those, especially some of our so-called "Allies" in the Middle East, who would love nothing more than to rid the world of Jews, Homosexuals...and Christians.
In today's world, one can basically judge the human rights record of a country by the way it treats three groups: religious minorities, women, and sexual minorities--i.e. gays, lesbians and the transgendered. By that measure, Egypt measures somewhere below Cuba and above Saudi Arabia
Our government needs to reexamine its priorities and stand for something more than Oil and Commerce.
A criminal court in Egypt sentenced 21 men to three years in jail Saturday on charges stemming from a suspected gay sex party in a case condemned by Egyptian and international human rights groups (human rights groups, those damned liberals!) as persecution of gay people. Officials told the Associated Press that another 29 men were acquitted in the retrial, which began in July following an order by Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak. (And we court this guy as an ally?) The officials said the defendants were not in court to hear the verdicts, but their lawyers attended. The 21men were sentenced to three years in jail on charges of practicing debauchery, the officials said.
The defendants are among 52 men arrested in a May 2001 police raid on a Nile riverboat restaurant on suspicion they had taken part in a gay sex party. (Notice that there's no proof, just SUSPICION of being gay is enough to get you thrown into the slammer in Egypt.) The Emergency State Security Court initially sentenced 23 of them in November 2001 to jail terms ranging from one to five years. The rest were acquitted. Mubarak, in his capacity as Egypt's military ruler, last May ordered 50 of the men--including the 29 acquitted--to be retried on the debauchery counts before a lower court, annulling the original verdicts (in America, this is known as Double Jeopardy, and is unconstitutional) because the emergency courts did not have the jurisdiction to hear the charges.
Human rights groups and the international community (those damned quiche-eating Liberals) have denounced the trials and condemned Egypt, where homosexuality is met with zero tolerance. Homosexuality is not explicitly referred to in the Egyptian legal system, (Talk about the Love that Dare not speak its name!) but a wide range of laws covering obscenity, prostitution, and public morality are punishable by jail terms.
A final thought:
Not too long ago, homosexuals, along with Jews were persecuted and exterminated by the Nazis. Don't think it can't happen again. There are those, especially some of our so-called "Allies" in the Middle East, who would love nothing more than to rid the world of Jews, Homosexuals...and Christians.
In today's world, one can basically judge the human rights record of a country by the way it treats three groups: religious minorities, women, and sexual minorities--i.e. gays, lesbians and the transgendered. By that measure, Egypt measures somewhere below Cuba and above Saudi Arabia
Our government needs to reexamine its priorities and stand for something more than Oil and Commerce.
Saturday, March 8, 2003
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