Rest in peace, Mr. President

This is a man who sacrificed is political career to bring the country together, and is probably the last republican I liked. Have fun in the big golf course in the sky, Mr. President.

Video game: Convert Muslims and Jews, or kill them

Left Behind Games (named after the mega-successfult series of books) came up with a game called Left Behind: Eternal Forces where the players can play on the side of Christianity, or join the antichrist. If they are playing on behalf of christianity, they can convert non-christians, or kill them. Sure, there is no blood, but the player is shooting with a gun, and his victims are dying. So in the land of "life, liberty pursuit of happiness" it's OK to kill people because they are of a different religion?

BTW, Wal-Mart is selling this game (they refuse to carry some video and music because of language). If the following disturbs you, you might want to call Wal-Mart and politely explain why they should not carry this violent game that teaches xenophobia.

Tara Raddhol
1-479-277-7589
Tara.Raddhol@wal-mart.com


The SF Chronicle reports:

"It's an incredibly violent video game," said Stevens. "Sure, there is no blood. (The dead just fade off the screen.) But you are mowing down your enemy with a gun. It pushes a message of religious intolerance. You can either play for the 'good side' by trying to convert nonbelievers to your side or join the Antichrist."

The Rev. Tim Simpson, a Jacksonville, Fla., Presbyterian minister and president of the Christian Alliance for Progress, added: "So, under the Christmas tree this year for little Johnny is this allegedly Christian video game teaching Johnny to hate and kill?"

...

In Left Behind, set in perfectly apocalyptic New York City, the Antichrist is personified by fictional Romanian Nicolae Carpathia, secretary-general of the United Nations and a People magazine "Sexiest Man Alive."

Players can choose to join the Antichrist's team, but of course they can never win on Carpathia's side. The enemy team includes fictional rock stars and folks with Muslim-sounding names, while the righteous include gospel singers, missionaries, healers and medics. Every character comes with a life story.

When asked about the Arab and Muslim-sounding names, Frichner said the game does not endorse prejudice. But "Muslims are not believers in Jesus Christ" -- and thus can't be on Christ's side in the game.

"That is so obvious," he said.

America's holiest book(s)

David Kuo, ex-chief of the Whitehouse Faith Based Initiative who wrote a book on the topic, says about the Karl Ellison-oath-on-Koran manufactured controversy:

So, a Muslim is coming to the United States House of Representatives and he wants to be sworn into office with his hand on a Koran and not on a Holy Bible. Some conservatives have decided this may well be the end of American civilization. One columnist writes, "He should not be allowed to do so -- not because of any American hostility to the Koran, but because the act undermines American civilization." Some people's election loss grief counseling isn't going well.

The writer, Dennis Prager, goes on to argue that this all comes down to "multicultural hubris." After all, "What Ellison and his Muslim and leftist supporters are saying is that it is of no consequence what America holds as its holiest book; all that matters is what any individual holds to be his holiest book."

So the Bible is America's holiest book? Was there a vote? Did Oprah decide? Was it Jefferson? And if so was it his version of the Bible? Does that mean it is true of every American citizen? Even Kevin Federline? And if it is true then America, with its indifference to the poor and lust for money and power, would be seriously backsliding and in need of spiritual counseling.

No, the Bible isn't Ameirca' holiest book. America doesn't have a holy book. It does have two holy documents, however. One is called the Constitution. The other is known as the Declaration of Independence. That's it. Book study finished

The Diminishing Dollar: Another Bush legacy

The right-wing's favorite bogeyman, George Soros, made his billions by betting against the British pound, making the Bank of England fight for the survival of its treasury (the event is also known as the "Rape of the old lady on Threadneedle Street)

Now, both the British Pound and Euro are at a new high against the dollar. Robert Kuttner writes in the Boston Globe:

The dollar just hit a 20-month low against the euro. It now costs $1.32 to buy one euro, and the dollar is falling against other currencies as well.
...
If any other country ran such a deficit, foreigners would lose confidence and its currency would crash. That's what happened to Mexico, Argentina, even to Britain in the early 1990s. The United States has avoided that fate thus far, because Asian central banks keep the dollar propped up, and that reassures private investors.

But this game can go on only so long. This past week's decline of the dollar against the euro is rather like the seismic tremors that precede a major earthquake on a fault line. We don't know whether this is the big one. We just know that the big one is coming sooner or later.

No less than former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker put the odds of a dollar crash at 75 percent within five years. He said that more than two years ago.
...
The precarious dollar is also weakened by the big federal budget deficits and the increasing role of hedge funds, which operate like a herd and exaggerate normal swings in currency markets. But Paulson wants even more tax cuts and more financial deregulation.

The dollar dilemma is the Republicans' economic Iraq. It has no easy solution, and could be one more disaster on the watch of George W. Bush.

The Oath of Office for a Congressman

Keith Ellison is a recently elected congressman from Minnesota. He is a religious person, and he is devout. The problem, for some people, is that he prays to a different God: he is a Muslim. When the incoming congress takes its oath of office, he wants to swear to uphold his duty on the Koran, which is God's word to Mr. Ellison. Sounds fair so far?

But in the land of the wingnuts, that is a threat to the American way of life. According to right-wing radio host Dennis Prager Mr. Ellison's act will, apparently:

He should not be allowed to do so -- not because of any American hostility to the Koran, but because the act undermines American civilization.

I kid you not. One man's expression of his belief undermines a whole civilization? Then it gradually gets worse:

Forgive me, but America should not give a hoot what Keith Ellison's favorite book is. Insofar as a member of Congress taking an oath to serve America and uphold its values is concerned, America is interested in only one book, the Bible. If you are incapable of taking an oath on that book, don't serve in Congress. In your personal life, we will fight for your right to prefer any other book. We will even fight for your right to publish cartoons mocking our Bible. But, Mr. Ellison, America, not you, decides on what book its public servants take their oath.

I want to make it clear: there is no rule requiring people to swear on the Bible or any other holy book. Some congressmen do it on their own, and that is allowed. As ThinkProgress states: "Right-Wing Radio Host Fabricates Controversy to Attack First Muslim Congressman"

But Prager’s column is based on one other glaring error: the swearing-in ceremony for the House of Representatives never includes a religious book. The Office of the House Clerk confirmed to ThinkProgress that the swearing-in ceremony consists only of the Members raising their right hands and swearing to uphold the Constitution. The Clerk spokesperson said neither the Christian Bible, nor any other religious text, had ever been used in an official capacity during the ceremony. (Occassionally, Members pose for symbolic photo-ops with their hand on a Bible.)

Have you no shame, Mr. Prager?

Prez hopeful Mitt Romney: Illegal aliens tended his gardens

Political ambition is a strange thing; and now a major case of "do what I say, not what I do" First he was for the gays before he was against them, and now the Boston Globe breaks a story that the landscaping company Mitt used employed illegal aliens. The whole country knowns illegals work in the landscaping business. And Mr. "700-mile fence" didn't think of checking once?


I think this campaign will collapse before it can begin.

As Governor Mitt Romney explores a presidential bid, he has grown outspoken
in his criticism of illegal immigration. But, for a decade, the governor has
used a landscaping company that relies heavily on workers like these,
illegal
Guatemalan immigrants, to maintain the grounds surrounding his pink
Colonial
house on Marsh Street in Belmont.

The Globe recently interviewed four current and former employees of
Community Lawn Service with a Heart, the tiny Chelsea-based company that
provides upkeep of Romney's property. All but one said they were in the United
States illegally.

...

The worker in Copado said a state trooper stationed in Romney's driveway once
inquired about his immigration status, about six months ago. Saenz, the company
owner, who was at the property at the time, told the trooper that the worker was
in the country legally, but had forgotten his papers, the worker told the Globe.
The trooper never inquired again, said the worker, who repeatedly returned to
the governor's property but avoided the trooper. Saenz told reporters he did not
recall the incident.

Then there is an interesting twist. Did someone ask the trooper to not ask about this any more?