Militarized Religion or Religionized Military

O Lord our God, help us to tear their soldiers to bloody shreds with our shells; help us to cover their smiling fields with the pale forms of their patriot dead; help us to drown the thunder of the guns with shrieks of their wounded, writhing in pain; help us to lay waste their humble homes with a hurricane of fire; help us wring the hearts of their unoffending widows with unavailing grief; help us to turn them out roofless with their little children to wander unfriended the wastes of their desolated land in rages and hunger and thirst... ~ Mark Twain, The War Prayer

Fault Lines: Religion in the military



After completing MCT (Marine Combat Training) in early 2001, the SOI Bn CO LtCol regaled the young marines (and me since I wasn't so young) with tales of life in the Corps and the brotherhood we had joined and were taking our nascent steps towards. We had spent (most of) the last 17 days in the field learning the absolute basics of military tactics, just enough to understand we knew nothing. After which we had the opportunity to take a shower for the first time in 2 weeks and clean the grime and mud off.

Getting back to the LtCol, at the end of his speech he informed the Marines they now had the duty to clean the showers we had just used because a good Marine always leaves equipment and quarters in as good a condition as the way he found them. However, an offer was made. If the Marines wanted to stay and listen to the LtCol he would tell them the truth of Creationism and debunk the lies of Evolution using a treatise he had written and self-published and of which he had available copies for the Marines to take with them.

I was stunned. I left with the group assigned to clean the mud coated showers and befouled shitters. My reasons were partially because I don't shirk duty but mainly because I was upset over rank ignorance being forced down the mouths of tired and impressionable young men by a Marine in a position of Authority.

Thinking about the situation later I realized I should have stayed and grabbed a copy.

Mark Sanford, Republican Scum

"You're a lying member of a no good race." ~ Sean Connery's tough Chicago Street Cop Malone from The Untouchables

Ah the Republicans, you will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. Sanford's actions are part and parcel of the lying, cheating, hypocritical cowardly Chicken Hawk Pro Human Pain and Suffering Party of Deferments.

The ridiculous hypocrisy is the most galling component. And when a Cowardly Republican Liar (like John Ensign) is caught in an affair his being caught is somehow cause for his championing (read the ignorant and nauseating Kathyrn Jean Lopez Ensigns Road to Redemption as an example), especially if he talks up protecting marriage and chastises others for the "sin" of infidelity. Evil Liberals must be pilloried.

For example here is the moronic moral coward Sean Hannity declaring how lying, cheating, hypocritical cowardly Chicken Hawk Pro Human Pain and Suffering Party of Deferments Republican John Ensign reminds him of a liberal democrat. Hail to Media Matters!



But it's Sean's job to lie to the Fox news watchers. And it's Fox's job to label all disgraced Republicans as... Democrats (From Crooks and Liars).

Of course, as long as everything is consensual and with age limits, I don't care with whom Sanford (or anyone) has relations, but the hypocritical sanctimonious scumbag unfaithful Newt Gingrich Republican Party of Chicken Hawks have duped their ignorant supporters into voting for a group of cowards who want the American people to work themselves to death. Who fight to obliterate Unions, Social Security, Healthcare, Restrictions on Pollution and work to destroy all the hard won progressive achievements and force Americans to fight with workers in Nigeria and Laos over wages which would roll back the standard of living for Americans to the bronze age.

The goal of the Republican Party is to make sure most Americans die young having worked themselves to death in War or Industry supporting and advancing the Party.

Update:
They don't get it. She Who Shall Not Be Named 2 does not understand. She labels Sanford a Bastard. The Redstaters petulantly demand You Do Not Get To Judge. Why because the Right Wing Extremist Moral Morons hate people. They are the Righteous Ones! They deem who is worthy and who is not. And this is the problem they are demonizing Sanford for sex. Sanford's crime is not sex it is the same as the Republicans and their toxic followers the hating and devaluing of people.

The great Bertrand Russell laid bare the Toxic Rights' irrational hatred of humanity and demonization of human nature in his essay Our Sexual Ethics.

Update 2:
Ha ha, Erick Erickson, of the site RedState which angrily declared to Democrats on June 24thWe Police Our Own and You Do Not Get To Judge, sent emails to Sanford on June 23rd hoping to help cover up the affair. According to uncovered emails Erickson related the following: “I wasn’t trying to be a reporter. I wanted to curtail the story.” Republicans are so Sucktastic!

Does anyone need

another report to tell them soldiers embrace alcohol as a self-medication?

Nearly twice as many US army soldiers today are either alcoholic or engage in damaging behavior such as binge drinking than six years ago, and experts blame the rise on repeated tours in war zones.

Admiral Michael Mullen, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, told the national daily that he believed eight years of combat were at least partially responsible for the rising number of US soldiers with alcohol disorders.

Actually, I'm sure the young college Republicans and the 'Never Served and Never Will' Chicken Hawk Pro Human Party of Deferments does need to be told this since they have no idea what a combat tour is...

Why hasn't there been an upswing in enlistment by the Republicans, the Toxic Fox Commentators, the Neocons and their children in order to be sure to be front and center in the liberation of Iran for which they are cawing for daily.

I hate my lawn and your lawn, but...

please mow your grass as a sign of community.

Lawns take a large amount of time, care, fuel (oil+gas), treatment and water to "properly" maintain. They are an outdated status symbol which until I get 3 youngsters running around or throw weekly backyard soirees remains a green hole of life suckage, though it looks pretty. Whiskey Fire gets it with the eloquent post, I Hate Mowing My Fucking Lawn.

However, there is a curious effect happening thanks to the Piss Down Your Back Tipsy Canoe Recession; there are a large number of empty foreclosed homes with overgrown lawns and towns are reducing budget and laying off public workers, so village boards see grass height scofflaws as a potential source of revenue.

Mow or Pay:

Municipalities are finding it increasingly difficult to keep tabs on all their unkempt yards. Many, including Arlington Heights, Northbrook and Lake Forest are taking steps to hold property owners accountable.

Additionally, the Seatlle-esque rains we've been receiving are a boon to the growth of yards everywhere,

"The majority of grass grown in the Chicago area is Kentucky blue, which is a cool weather grass," said Marvin Ganek, a master gardener at the Chicago Botanic Garden. "In addition, it needs moisture, and we have had plenty of that. I can tell you it has been growing better this year than it has in a number of years."

Gasp! More big government socialism encroaching upon the individual! Quickly man the Crying Freeman Glenn Beck Ramparts! Except it really isn't. While less leniency and a more stringent enforcement of the fines may be a crass attempt at generating revenue for the towns, living in a Chicago suburb necessitates the person understand the rights of others and the responsibility of community. If you live in a community you have, unfortunately, accepted the burden of being a good neighbor.

If you want to live like a Randian Superman with a wild overgrown prairie of a yard move out to McHenry or Boone County and allow your lands to grow wild grasses.

Now of course it's difficult to move to those Counties. McHenry has been devastated by the Republican Economic Crash and living that far out costs too much if you want to drive into the city since the corrupt Bush Regime allowed their Corporate Oil Masters to inexplicably and capriciously raise the price of gas to whatever they deemed fit and since funding an improvement to the much maligned Chicago Roadways would have been socialism at work, better to allow them to flounder.

"Excellently observed," answered Candide; "but let us cultivate our garden."

Update:
In light of Father's Day I do have fond memories of mowing my Grandfather's yard, drinking lemonade and eating McRib's which he would get for me and then pull up into the driveway just as I finished.

The Loss

“Bill Mazeroski, I hate him,” says Calogero. “He made Mickey Mantle cry. The papers said the Mick cried.”

“Mickey Mantle,” says Sonny. “That’s what you’re upset about? Mantle makes $100,000 a year. How much does your father make? . . . If your dad needs money, go ask Mickey Mantle. See what happens. Mickey Mantle don’t care about you. Why care about him”

“From that day on, I never felt the same about the Yankees.” Calogero ~ from A Bronx Tale

Spurred on by a conversation I had en route to a Kane County Cougars game a discussion came about concerning sports fandom. I informed the interested parties I (am/was) a Cubs fan. However, as the years have passed my emotional investment into Chicago sports teams has all but vanished. I never had A Bronx Tale epiphany it's merely been the acquired loss of interest over the slow years of reaching adulthood and the desire to not board the emotional roller coaster of sports teams fortunes and failures.

A large amount of this has to do with being a lamentable Cubs fan. For me the most crushing defeats were 1989 and 2003. 1984 was my initiation into Cubs woedom but I was still to young to be cognizant of the pitiful Cubs history and wary of the despairing Cubs future. By High School and the 1989 Cubbies I had full on Cubs Fever and was stoked to watch the World Series with Ryno, The Hawk, Mad Dog (1), The Shawn-o-meter, Gracie, Red Beard, ROY Walton and the rest! Sadly, the Cubs encountered the Will Clark playoff ban saw and then the 90's would be wasteland of steroid abusing cheaters, bad teams and mostly forgetable players.

My un-journey became complete in 2003 as I left the US for Afghanistan with the Cubs leading the Marlins 3-2 and arrived at my assignment having learned the Cubs lost after being 5 outs away.

Last year when the 2008 Cubs were winning 97 games I didn't even make it out to beautiful Wrigley Field. And predictably the 2008 Cubs lost 3 straight and Cubs fans said oh well wait until next year, just like they said in 2007, when they choked in the playoffs as well. However, Post-Playoff failure there was a fan backlash as Cubs fans decided to auction off their loyalty and 670 The Score received a number of calls in which the callers declared they were done watching the Cubs. Most of the Score hosts decried these statements as hyperbole and chastised the callers telling them they would be back watching the Cubs in 2009.

So now the 2009 Cubs are a miserable team having made several questionable player moves to deflect criticism over the 2 playoff collapses. Yet I have the cold comfort of having divested myself of the emotional trauma of worrying about millionaires I shall never be friends with, let alone even speak to...

6.16 Infernal Day of Slayer 2009

Close your eyes
Look deep in your soul
Step outside yourself
And let your mind go ~ Slayer, Seasons in the Abyss

The Infernal International Day of Slayer 616. The Rules are simple:

Listen to Slayer at full blast in your car.
Listen to Slayer at full blast in your home.
Listen to Slayer at full blast at your place of employment.
Listen to Slayer at full blast in any public place you prefer.

Global Warming is Baloney!

I have no idea if man made pollution can cause, contribute or affect climate change. However, it is of interest those who decry Global Warming also think Evolution to be false.

What I do know is under the Bush Regime protections for the enviroment were ignored or cut so companies which support The Toxic Republican Party could dump massive amounts of toxins, garbage and pollutants into our water, land and air.

BP acknowledged that for the last six years its Whiting refinery violated federal pollution limits on benzene, a highly toxic chemical linked to leukemia and other health problems.

BP reported that it had processed too much benzene at the refinery's sewage treatment plant, about 15 miles southeast of Chicago.

Last year alone, the company processed more than 95 tons of benzene waste -- about 16 times the amount allowed. BP also violated the 6-ton limit from 2003 to 2007.

This isn't the first time the Whiting Refinery has violated U.S. and Indiana EPA regulations. In October 2008,

Federal regulators say BP PLC violated the Clean Air Act by beginning to make modifications at its Indiana oil refinery along Lake Michigan to process Canadian crude without the proper permit.

The EPA said in November the modifications caused "significant increases" in sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, particulate matter and carbon monoxide emitted from the refinery.

So during the Bush anti-science Regime BP felt comfortable in violating the EPA standards and the Clean Air Act. It's no secret why because the bureacrats who care about maximizing profits had the Toxic Pro Human Pain and Suffering Party of Deferments morons using their power and position to declare any curbs on pollution is the equivalent of kissing Al Gore's butt.

Update:

Right Wing Extremist RESPONSIBILITY

Do any of you people know who Charles Whitman was?

...

None of you dumbasses knows? ~ Gunny R. Lee Ermey from the Famous and oft misinterpreted Full Metal Jacket.

Ultimately, everyone themselves must be accountable for their actions. Responsibility is not a political issue. Of course, in the hyper drive to have control of the government in order to enforce your will on every other American everything is an issue.

There have been three highly covered and intensely partisan terrorist attacks in America in the last two weeks; The murder of a Doctor, an American Soldier and now a Security Guard. Lost in the major network coverage has been the spike in violence and murder all across the nation, especially in my neighborhood Chicago land area.

What has not been lost is the Republican Toxic Defenders immediate propaganda response to shift the blame away from themselves and their American terrorist fomenting rhetoric and minimize the DHS Right-Wing Extremist report, which rightly warned and predicted of the Right's Terror Campaign.

The Right's rhetoric theses days is akin to the trainers of suicide bombers. Their demagogues spew forth a constant stream of hate-filled vitriol designed to set up a cascade of mental dominoes in their ignorant and brain washed followers. Who then respond with acts of violence after which the toxic commentators rush to bellow about their innocence and non-culpability as the deadly fields of violence they have sown are reaped by the terrorists they train...

Usually those in power have no qualms about setting the lesser classes of Americans against one another. But, it so happens with the Toxic Republican Pro Human Pain and Suffering Party of Deferments collapsing as a viable political entity they are more than willing to ratchet up the violent inciting speech. This is always done with the sheen of plausible deniability hanging about so when someone does follow through Hannity, Glenn Beck, Jonah Goldberg, She Who Shall Not Be Named 2 and the rest can affect their wide-eyed stance of, well of course i didn't mean for my mouth breathing followers to actually murder those troop hating, American destroying, socialist liberals who deserve to be dealt with someway (wink wink)...

However, these extraordinary acts of Republican motivated political violence and bloodshed still do not worry me as much as the ordinary murder and bloodshed being visited upon normal decent everyday Americans, until now that the Toxic Republican Pro Human Pain and Suffering Party of Deferments continued Call for Jihad is turning the extraordinary right wing political terror campaign into ordinary everyday occurrences.

So the Toxic Right will continue their plan to Blame Barack for absolutely everything continue to push the go out and get a gun the liberals are destroying America bombast and hope and pray for another foreign terrorist attack on America.

Update:
Watch video of Ed Schultz correctly declare "Absolutely" to Joe Scarborough that Dick Cheney "wants Americans to die in a terrorist attack so he can regain a political advantage".