Would Jesus Occupy Wall Street?

"[T]he tents, the damp sleeping bags, the communal kitchen. . . the occupiers, who have been derided by their opponents as a ragtag group of tax evaders, interested only in sex, drugs and rock and roll?. . .

The Jesus of history would love them all. What Jesus really said, and what he meant, are the subjects of culture’s greatest controversies, but one thing is sure. Jesus gave preferential treatment to society’s outcasts. Lepers, tax collectors, prostitutes — all would attain heaven before the ordained elites. Jesus believed that God was about to right the world’s wrongs with a great upheaval — soon — and at that time, a radical reversal of the social order would occur. As he says in the gospels, the meek will inherit the earth.

Jesus would have sympathy, too, with the occupiers’ first complaint: that in America, the poorest have too little and the richest too much. In first-century Judea, a powerful ruling class held nearly all the wealth and most people lived at subsistence levels.

'Jesus believed the whole system was corrupt,' says Bart Ehrman, a professor of religious studies at the University of North Carolina. 'The people who ran things were empowered by the evil forces of the world, and his followers had to work against these powers by feeding the hungry, housing the homeless and caring for the sick.' Jesus had a fit when he saw the money changers in the Temple and turned over their tables — a dramatization, Ehrman says, of the reversal that was imminent. . .

If the Jesus of history could wander the precincts held by the occupiers, 'he’d see his people,' says Marisa Egerstrom, a graduate student at Harvard University who organized a posse of chaplains to volunteer at Occupy sites. 'I think he would be pretty pleased.'"

Read the Washington Post, Jesus at Occupy Wall Street: 'I feel like I've been here before'.

Local Republi-Con Fiscal Conservative Hypocrisy

UPDATE III: Read the Pensacola New Journal, Commissioners vote for investigation; Gibbs to be removed from job.


UPDATE II: Our own local 'I am not a crook' moment. Read the Pensacola News Journal, County Commissioner Robertson: 'I am a man of ethics'.

As I said earlier, Commissioner Robertson should resign and save the voters the trouble of voting him out of office.


UPDATE: More stores. Read the Pensacola News Journal, Wilson Robertson, partner hit with code violations for land used by Forrest Gibbs, Escambia Commissioner Robertson in on internal meeting, and Grover Robinson: Gibbs' hiring 'invalid', which includes this backstory:

"In April, county commissioners created an Equestrian Center marketing and promotions coordinator position with hopes of eliminating the subsidy of the facility.

The job was publicly advertised online from May 27 to June 30, with a salary range of $44,803 to $51,521. The lower amount was more than people in eight other comparable jobs across the state earn, according to the county's survey.

Applicant Forrest Gibbs listed County Commissioner Wilson Robertson as a reference. Gibbs' work background is in road construction and heavy equipment sales; he has virtually no marketing or promotions experience. . .

Assistant County Administrator Larry Newsom, one of three selection committee members, said Robertson contacted him to advocate for Gibbs while applications were still being received. . .

The committee interviewed the candidates during the last two weeks of July, then on Aug. 2 notified Gibbs that he was the No. 1 choice.

Gibbs said the salary range was too low and asked to be paid $75,000. During August and part of September, the committee haggled over how much to pay him and whether it was legal to go over the advertised range.

On Sept. 12, Gibbs was offered the job for $63,000, plus $17,000 in benefits. Newsom made the final decision. . .

Robertson and a real estate partner, Lamar Brazwell, own an undeveloped piece of land on Nine Mile Road from which a pile of milled asphalt is being sold. The asphalt is owned by Brazwell and Gibbs; a sign on the property gives Gibbs' cellphone number for delivery of the asphalt. Robertson and Brazwell are paid $1,250 per month in recent by Gibbs to store the asphalt on their land.

On Sept. 20, County Code Enforcement cited Brazwell and Robertson with code violations because the pile must be screened with a 6-foot, opaque fence or vegetative buffering."

Do Republi-con politicians go to the same school for corrupt stupidness? You may remember this:

In Wisconsin, Republi-con Gov. Scott Walker says that "the state is broke and public employees are overpaid." So what does he do, hire a 20-something year old with "no college degree, very little management experience and two drunken-driving convictions" as the Department of Commerce bureau director of board services, a job that paid $64,728 a year.

Next convert the Department of Commerce to a public-private hybrid and give the young man a pay raise of more than $16,500 a year after only a couple of months with the state.

But this was no 'ordinary' young man, he is the son of an important campaign donor.

Now here locally, we have reports of similar nepotism. Read the Pensacola News Journal, County's new hire for Equestrian Center rides high, Ties to commissioner bring Equestrian Center pick -- and his high salary -- into question and Commissioner Robertson's push for Gibbs not new, Robertson lobbied for Gibbs in 2009, county staff member says.

More proof that "the instinct to favor family [and friends] never disappears and will reassert itself whenever possible."

Be that as it may, Commissioner Robertson should resign and save the voters the trouble of voting him out of office.

Class Today at NoBullU on WEBY

Listen to the voice of wisdom and reason in a wilderness of partisan rhetoric -- No political insanity, no conservative hypocrisy, no liberal foolishness -- Just straight talk, straight at you, and that’s no bull!!

NoBullU will broadcast today from 4:05 to 6:00 p.m. at 1330 AM WEBY and on line.

Topics:

Local Business/Event Shout-Out: TBD.


Follow-up: see below;


Fact-free fantasies of the shrieking hatemongers of right-wing rhetoric and partisan hackery: a statement was made this morning the British 'foisted' slavery on America, all part of the fundamentalist subculture of ignorance that embraces 'discredited, ridiculous and even dangerous ideas'

One was gays in the military, funny thing, the world's still turning, not even a hurricane, earthquake or an oil well

Coincidentally enough, the end of the world, again, just after the Fact-Free Friday Show with our so-claimed viral Pastor

And don't be duped by the Birthers, including our very own Pastor Dred Scott (you may remember the infamous Dred Scott decision of 1857, which asserted that African Americans were "beings of an inferior order" who "had no rights which the white man was bound to respect." That ruling declared that African Americans could never be U.S. citizens and therefore could never be President),

See The Fogbow, "your best resource for debunking the lies of the 'birther' movement and discussing the birther antics" and WhatsYourEvidence.com, there is even a Birther Case Scorecard, 0-80 for the birthers;


Local and regional: hasta la vista, when do I get my hurrican insurance refund, and local Republi-Con fiscal conservative hypocrisy;


National and international: I'm waiting, where's the balanced budget, don't hold you breath because the Republi-CONs Con the Tea Party, there'll be no $100 billion budget cut, and let's admit the obvious, the Republi-CONs are not serious about deficits, and who's responsible for the debt

To balance the budget, do nothing

Republi-CON Congressional spending bills hypocrisy, not to be confused with Republi-CON constitutional authority hypocrisy, or Republi-CON laissez-faire hypocrisy

Facts v. Republi-CON tax myths

Where are those 'invisible [Republi-CON] bond vigilantes'

Our politically induced economic stagnation, part of the Republi-CON war on the middle class

Hello globalization, goodbye jobs

It's China, stupid

Told ya so: economic stimulus

The Republi-CON stimulus myth

The myth of expansionary austerity

Let's play the Republi-CON game of 'spot the contradiction', can you explain the Republi-CON contradiction as regards the economy, the debt ceiling, or deficits, or national security, or health care costs, or or even jobs

About the Republi-CON war on the middle class

More on the Republi-CON war on the middle class

Better, not just less, government

The Republi-CON 'taxes and regulations are killing business' myth, now it dwarf tossing, what next, baby juggling?

Republi-CONs in their Delusion-land

Is the 'Great Recession' God's punishment for American greed?

Beware federal pensioners, your day of reckoning is coming

The Great Stagnation' and our broken political system

The EuroMess


Great quote on so-called government wisdom

And courtesy of Tammy, a great quote on politicians and their corporate overlords


And the Republi-CON Race is cont., to find America’s Not-Mitt

Still searching for the ideal Republican candidate: conservative, interested, electable

Does faith matter?

A NoBullU prediction: Romney-Cain in 2012

About the Republi-CON war on the middle class

Republi-CONs might start with those Solyndra half truths

Did the tea so-called party debate pass the test of 'limited government, free markets, and fiscal responsibility'

The Republi-CON 'social security is a ponzi scheme' myth and The Republi-CON I'd be a millionaire if it wasn't for social security myth

The Republi-CON 'Obama's a socalist' myth


Does Palin have a point about the corrupt crony capitalism

Moral confusion and public health illiteracy


2 to 1 in the COA, health care lawsuit update

Why the individual mandate, because Ron Paul is a hypocrite


and

Am I a felon?

Did Steve Jobs' faith in alternative remedies kill him?

Those not so good ol' days

Big brother is watching you,

The myth of voter fraud


Fun stuff: Why dogs hate Halloween, Just in time for Christmas, Humor for English majors, and Punnies


and


Donate to a good cause: read "the story of a 9-year-old girl who teaches us adults about maturity truly renews our faith in humanity" at The New York Times, Rachel’s Last Fund-Raiser.

I'll discuss anything, but expect a no mercy take down if you are a shrieking hatemonger of right-wing rhetoric and partisan hackery, pandering to fear, anger and hatred, because the truth sure makes it hard out there for the party pimps.

So tune-in, call-in, but only if you can handle the truth and some ass kickin' discussion of politics and current events.

The World's Still Turning

I would have thought that according to Pastor Truthiness (formerly known as Pastor Poppins), all sorts of horrible events attributable to God's wrath would have befallen the country by now. (Presuming, of course, that if is after October 21, 2011 the world didn't end.)

But DADT ended September 20, 2011 and I bet the world is still turning, no matter when you read this. Read Yahoo! News, Active duty gays say coming out has been nonevent.

Another Republi-con myth bites the dust.

Does Faith Matter?

UPDATE: Perry discussing Romney’s Mormonism: "And this country is based on, as Newt talked about, these values that are so important as we go forward, and the idea that we should not have our freedom of religion, to be taken away by any means.

The whole First Amendment thing might be a little complicated for a governor whose State Constitution prohibits anyone who doesn’t believe in God from holding public office. This is not a joke."

Article. VI., Clause 3 of the Constitution states: "The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States."

Nevertheless, should voters consider 'a candidate’s faith.' Read the Washington Post, Why a candidate’s faith matters.

Some think not. Read the Washington Post, Romney and America’s promise of religious freedom.

It's China, Stupid

UPDATE IV: "A bill that could impose tariffs on Chinese exports would trigger a trade war and distract the United States from the real issues it faces." Read The New York Times, Imagined in America.

Maybe, but China must allow free trade in its currency.


UPDATE III: "Ask yourself: Why is it so hard to restore full employment? . . .

The answer is that we used to run much smaller trade deficits. A return to economic health would look much more achievable if we weren’t spending $500 billion more each year on imported goods and services than foreigners spent on our exports."

Read The New York Times, Holding China to Account.


UPDATE II: Finally, someone sees the economic benefit of "crack[ing] down on China’s currency practices." Read the Washington Post, The China stimulus.


UPDATE: Want to know how 'Made in China ' is displacing North American made goods big time? The Emma Maersk. I first posted about this impressive weapon in the war against the middle class in April 2009 and I recently got another email about her, which reminded me:

"This monster transports goods across the Pacific in just 5 days!! This is one of three ships presently in service, with another two ships commissioned to be completed in 2012.

These ships were commissioned by Wal-Mart to get all their goods and stuff from China . They hold an incredible 15,000 containers and have a 207 foot deck beam!! The full crew is just 13 people on a ship longer than a US Aircraft Carrier (which has a crew of 5,000.)

A documentary in 2010 on the History Channel noted that all of these containers are shipped back to China , EMPTY. Yep, that's right. We send nothing back on these ships. What does that tell you about the current financial state of this country? Just keep buying those imported goods (mostly gadgets) until you run out of money.

Then you may wonder what the cause of unemployment (maybe even your job) in the U.S. and Canada might be????

'Nuff said ??"

Over the weekend, in a statement full of irony, China, the "largest foreign holder of American debt . . . lecture[d] Washington to get its fiscal house in order."

But, as the Wall Street Journal notes, "who are the Chinese kidding with their chest-pounding economic nationalism?"

China "is ignoring that America's real problem is sustained international trade imbalances." Read The New York Times, U.S. Debt Is Not the Culprit, which notes that the "root of global instability still lies in trade imbalances and currency values, and the need for adjustments in both Asia and the United States."

There is an easy way to resolve our government budget woes, end unfair trade practices, including Chinese currency manipulation.

Those Not So Good Ol' Days

For those who pine for the good ol' days, read The New York Times, Is Violence History?, which notes "that our current era is less violent, less cruel and more peaceful than any previous period of human existence." It also explains why homicide rates are "higher in the southerly states of this country than in northern ones."

Am I a Felon?

UPDATE: What if I was lying, not about my age or weight on an Internet dating site, but about receiving the Medal of Honor? Read the Washington Post, Supreme Court to review free speech issue on lying about military honors.

"Imagine that President Obama could order the arrest of anyone who broke a promise on the Internet. So you could be jailed for lying about your age or weight on an Internet dating site. Or you could be sent to federal prison if your boss told you to work but you used the company's computer to check sports scores online. Imagine that Eric Holder's Justice Department urged Congress to raise penalties for violations, making them felonies allowing three years in jail for each broken promise. Fanciful, right?

Think again. Congress is now poised to grant the Obama administration's wishes in the name of 'cybersecurity.'"

Read the Wall Street Journal, Should Faking a Name on Facebook Be a Felony?

More Republi-CON Family Values Hypocrisy

UPDATE: An update on a Republi-con hypocrite. Yes, I know, another tautology, like criminal Republi-con or narcissistic politician or stupid politician.) Read The New York Times, G.O.P. Freshman’s Fiscal Message Clashes With His Finances.

"Freshman U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh, a tax-bashing Tea Party champion who sharply lectures President Barack Obama and other Democrats on fiscal responsibility, owes more than $100,000 in child support to his ex-wife and three children, according to documents his ex-wife filed in their divorce case in December." Read the Chicago Sun-Times, Tea Party Rep. Joe Walsh sued for $100,000 in child support.

Help Save Congressional Campaign Contributions

From the Washington Post: Why tax the rich?:

Professor Failure

You often "have to fail to succeed." Read the Washington Post, How we succeed by failing.

"In order to succeed, you must first be willing to fail." -- Anonymous

Great Quote On Politicians and Their Corporate Overlords

Tammy found this quote on politicians doing the bidding of their corporate overlords:

"The only difference between the Republican and Democratic parties is the velocities with which their knees hit the floor when corporations knock on their door. That's the only difference."

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Sub Today at NoBullU on WEBY

Usually on Thursdays you can listen to me, the voice of wisdom and reason in a wilderness of partisan rhetoric -- no political insanity, no conservative hypocrisy, no liberal foolishness -- just straight talk, straight at you, and that’s no bull!!

But I can't make it today. I'll be back next week to deprogram you.

Big Brother is Watching You

UPDATE III: As I've said for years, big brother is watching you. Read MSNBC, German officials admit using spyware on citizens, as Big Brother scandal grows.


UPDATE II: The government doesn't even need location data from cellphone towers if it uses 'a little known cellphone-tracking device.' Read the Wall Street Journal, 'Stingray' Phone Tracker Fuels Constitutional Clash.


UPDATE: "In a series of rulings on the use of satellites and cellphones to track criminal suspects, judges around the country have been citing George Orwell’s '1984' to sound an alarm. They say the Fourth Amendment’s promise of protection from government invasion of privacy is in danger of being replaced by the futuristic surveillance state Orwell described. . .

Last month, Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis of the Federal District Court in Brooklyn turned down a government request for 113 days of location data from cellphone towers, citing 'Orwellian intrusion' and saying the courts must 'begin to address whether revolutionary changes in technology require changes to existing Fourth Amendment doctrine.'

The Supreme Court is about to do just that. In November, it will hear arguments in United States v. Jones, No. 10-1259, the most important Fourth Amendment case in a decade. The justices will address a question that has divided the lower courts: Do the police need a warrant to attach a GPS device to a suspect's car and track its movements for weeks at a time?"

Read The New York Times, Court Case Asks if 'Big Brother' Is Spelled GPS.

Should a warrant be required before the government can monitor your movement? Read DailyTech.com, Obama Administration Fights to Allow Warrantless GPS Tracking.

Which Candidate Fits Your Views Best

Take the 2012 Presidential VoteMatch quiz and find out.

Humor For English Majors

Once again, the Washington Post has published the winning submissions to its yearly neologism contest, in which readers are asked to supply alternative meanings for common words.

Some winners:

1. Coffee (n), the person upon whom one coughs.

2. Flabbergasted (adj), appalled over how much weight you have gained.

3. Abdicate (v), to give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach.

4. Esplanade (v), to attempt an explanation while drunk.

5. Willy-nilly (adj), impotent.

6. Negligent (adj), describes a condition in which you absentmindedly answer the door in your nightgown.

7. Lymph (v), to walk with a lisp.

8. Gargoyle (n), olive-flavored mouthwash.

9. Flatulence (n) emergency vehicle that picks you up after you are run over by a steamroller.

10. Balderdash (n), a rapidly receding hairline.

11. Testicle (n), a humorous question on an exam.

12. Rectitude (n), the formal, dignified bearing adopted by proctologists.

13. Pokemon (n), a Rastafarian proctologist.

14. Oyster (n), a person who sprinkles his conversation with Yiddishisms.

15. Frisbeetarianism (n), (back by popular demand): The belief that, when you die, your soul flies up onto the roof and gets stuck there.

16. Circumvent (n), an opening in the front of boxer shorts worn by Jewish men.

The Washington Post's Style Invitational also asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition.

Here are some winners:

1. Bozone (n): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.

2. Foreploy (v): Any misrepresentation about yourself for the purpose of getting laid.

3. Cashtration (n): The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period.

4. Giraffiti (n): Vandalism spray-painted very, very high.

5. Sarchasm (n): The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.

6. Inoculatte (v): To take coffee intravenously when you are running late.

7. Hipatitis (n): Terminal coolness.

8. Osteopornosis (n): A degenerate disease. (This one got extra credit.)

9. Karmageddon (n): its like, when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's like, a serious bummer.

10. Decafalon (n): The grueling event of getting through the day consuming only things that are good for you.

11. Glibido (v): All talk and no action.

12. Dopeler effect (n): The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.

13. Arachnoleptic fit (n): The frantic dance performed just after you've accidentally walked through a spider web.

14. Beelzebug (n): Satan in the form of a mosquito that gets into your bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out.

15. Caterpallor (n): The color you turn after finding half a grub in the fruit you're eating.

And the pick of the literature:

16. Ignoranus (n): A person who's both stupid and an asshole.

ShakesPalin Hired By Hedgehod News 'Cause She Was Hot and Got Ratings'

Does anyone know how many Nobel Prize winners work for Hedgehog News (which falsely uses the name FOXNews)? Read the Washington Post, Fox News's Roger Ailes: 'I hired Sarah Palin because she was hot'.

Punnies

From an email:

If electricity comes from electrons... does that mean that morality comes from morons?

A man's home is his castle, in a manor of speaking.

A pessimist's blood type is always B-negative.

My wife really likes to make pottery, but to me it's just kiln time.

Dijon vu --the same mustard as before.

Practice safe eating--always use condiments.

I fired my masseuse today. She just rubbed me the wrong way.

Shotgun wedding--a case of wife or death.

I used to work in a blanket factory, but it folded.

I used to be a lumberjack, but I just couldn't hack it, so they gave me the axe.

A man needs a mistress just to break the monogamy.

Marriage is the mourning after the knot before.

A hangover is the wrath of grapes.

Corduroy pillows are making headlines.

Is a book on voyeurism a peeping tome?

Dancing cheek-to-cheek is really a form of floor play.

Banning the bra was a big flop.

Sea captains don't like crew cuts.

A successful diet is the triumph of mind over platter.

Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.

A gossip is someone with a great sense of rumor.

Without geometry, life is pointless.

When you dream in color, it's a pigment of your imagination.

Reading whilst sunbathing makes you well-red.

My wife has manopause--she keeps stopping me from starting.

Sub Today at NoBullU on WEBY

Usually on Thursdays you can listen to me, the voice of wisdom and reason in a wilderness of partisan rhetoric -- no political insanity, no conservative hypocrisy, no liberal foolishness -- just straight talk, straight at you, and that’s no bull!!

But I can't make it today. I'll be back in two weeks to deprogram you.

Only Eleven

"America needs to rally.

Jobs are pitifully scarce. Incomes are falling. The U.S. government, like many American families, has taken on too much debt. The hangover from a brutal recession now looks like it could last for years, with the once-dominant U.S. economy sliding into a chronic state of disrepair.

During pivotal moments in the past, Congress has helped steer the nation back toward prosperity with bipartisan action like the tax reforms of 1986 and the welfare reform that passed a decade later. In 2008, Congress passed emergency bank-bailout legislation that turned out to be unpopular, but probably saved the nation from a financial meltdown and the first depression since the 1930s.

These days, however, Congress has lost its mojo."

Read U.S. News, 11 Things Wrong With Congress.