Daily Topics - Monday August 23rd, 2010
By shawnt56
Quote of the Day: "We base all our experiments on the capacity of mankind for self-government." James Madison
Hour One: Should Roger Ailes be in Guantanamo for supporting terrorism? Thom has a rumble with Televangelist Bill Keller, Founder-LivePrayer.com, and proprietor of the forthcoming 9/11 Christian Center at Ground Zero www.911christiancenter.com
Hour Two: When will America wake up and adopt Swedish socialism? Thom mixes it up with John Berlau, Director of the Center for Investors and Entrepreneurs at the Competitive Enterprise Institute www.cei.org
Hour Three: With people literally committing suicide because the economy is tanking, how can the right keep screaming about a community center next to a strip club near Ground Zero? Thom confronts Scott Wheeler of the Republican National Trust PAC http://nationalrepublicantrust.com/
Comments
#2
"Victory mosque"? Can any right-wing people explain why they call it this, beyond it being obviously emotional wording designed to incense people? And why do people fall for it, time and time again?
#3
9/11 Christian Center? Wouldn't St. Paul's Chapel, part of the Trinity Episcopal Chuch be just that? You can actually see the WTC site from it's grounds. And, St. Peter's Catholic Church (the oldest Catholic parish in NYC)is also in the area.
http://www.trinitywallstreet.org/congregation/spc/
"Opened in 1766, St. Paul's Chapel is Manhattan's oldest public building in continuous use - a place where George Washington worshiped and 9/11 recovery workers received round-the-clock care. Part of the Episcopal Parish of Trinity Church, St. Paul's is a center for worship and the arts, a community of reconciliation, and a place of pilgrimage for all people"
#4
One of Thom's guests talked about saving souls. People, we must focus on saving our soul first before we can save someone else's soul.
#5
Zionism
We have heard that Zionism is a movement that seeks a utopia for Israel. I recall some fifty years ago that Zionism seeks to spread its views across our planet in an attempt to dominate the planet. I do not want any one nation to dominate our planet. Zionism is similar to the Islamic movement to control all nations on this planet. I can respect Islam because the Muslims will do their dirty work. Israel on the other hand attempts to have her puppet the United States of Numb Nuts doing her dirty work.
One of the verses at the three readings had the words of Jesus, “Some who are last will be first and some who are first will be last.” Israel or the Jews were God’s chosen people for centuries before the birth of Jesus Christ. When Jesus came on the scene and spread His messages, He shook up people from their comfort zone. The above verse is directed at Israel or the Jews. Israel or the Jews could no longer claim to be number one; they had to work at being number one.
Israel is quickly becoming last through her genocidal efforts to eliminate the Palestinians.
Is Israel emulating Germany from 1933 to 1945? Is Israel the Fourth Reich and not the United States of Numb Nuts? Is this Israel’s Utopia?
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Israeli-Academic-Freedom-a-by-Stephen-Lendman-100821-485.html
Hail Netanyahu! Hail mine furor of Israel!
A Modern Day Crusade
We keep hearing that we are involved in a war on terrorism. No one will call it like it is. We are actually involved in a modern day crusade to complete the genocide of all the Muslims in the world. The goal is not to spread democracy. The goal is complete extermination of all the Muslims.
A Brief and Yet Powerful Formula
I want to give you a brief and yet powerful formula for justice and peace in our world.
Live each day practicing the Golden Rule! “Do unto to others as you would want them to do unto you!”
Obey the Eleventh Commandment that Jesus gave us at the Last Supper! “Love one another as I have loved you!”
Seek Sacramental Moments (good deeds) each day in helping people!
“Love the poor and your life will be filled with sunlight and you will not fear the hour of death.” - St. Vincent DePaul, the first social worker
“I shall pass this way but once, any good that I can do let me do it now, because I shall not pass this way again.” – St. Ambrose
#6
Unitarian-Universalist might be an analog to Sufi.
#7
Hatred is spreading across America.
#8
There was a super cannon the Army wanted (project cut) that was called "The Crusader."
#9
Three basic problems!
#10
Americans are going insane.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/The-Insanity-of-Our-Times-by-Elayne-Clift-100820-43.html
#11
Is Israel seeking to cleanse the Middle East by eliminating Muslims from the area?
http://www.opednews.com/articles/The-secrets-in-Israel-s-ar-by-Jonathan-Cook-100821-24.html
#12
More than a tad hypocritical. Have you ever asked a Fox News listener about it?
#13
Why are Muslims looking to build in that spot 2 blocks from "Ground Zero"? Why not?
I think right-wing people are actually most fearful about the culinary school that will be housed in the community center. Because they don't want Muslims to be known as better cooks than Americans. That makes more sense to me than anything else.
#14
#15
Obviously. ---------------------
Thom, if I may point out the obvious: none of this insanity would be going on if people just had JOBS!
They'd be too busy working to attend these ridiculous protests if they were working. But angry, unemployeed people are always looking for someone else to blame for their lot in life. And no group is better at harnassing this hate than the GOP.
(Idea: Start calling it "the Ground Zero YMCA", because that's what it is.)
#16
John Berlau is right--Sarbanes Oxley is the problem! Stop regulating business now! Let the "free market" prevail! I don't know anything about Taiwan or Hong Kong, but I would be willing to bet that they had a lot of regulation.
#17
Thom,
Check the origin at the end.
religion |riˈlijən|
noun
the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, esp. a personal God or gods : ideas about the relationship between science and religion.
• details of belief as taught or discussed : when the school first opened they taught only religion, Italian, and mathematics.
• a particular system of faith and worship : the world's great religions.
• a pursuit or interest to which someone ascribes supreme importance : consumerism is the new religion.
PHRASES
get religion informal be converted to religious belief and practices.
DERIVATIVES
religionless |riˈlɪdʒənləs| adjective
ORIGIN Middle English (originally in the sense [life under monastic vows] ): from Old French, or from Latin religio(n-) ‘obligation, bond, reverence,’ perhaps based on Latin religare ‘to bind.’
#18
What would the Founders say about a gymnasium called Park 51?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/parvez-ahmed/what-will-our-founding-fa_b_686742.html
#19
Did I just hear that guy from CEI praise HONG KONG's economic structure? Of course! Put the vast wealth of our nation into the hands of a few billionaire oligarchs, and the rest of us can work for $1 an hour! No surprise why he likes that as a blueprint for America.
Still, thanks alot, Thom. Now I have to wipe the coffee I spit out, off my computer screen...
#20
Some say Sarbanes & Oxley had a role in City of £ondon replacing Wall $treet as the global financial capital. This may in turn have been why the British bank bailouts were much larger (per capita) and more extensive.
Another side effect, of course, is companies 'going private.'
#21
What would the Founders say about a vessel christened 'Privacy?'
#22
REPOSTED YET AGAIN FROM 08/17/2010:
Holy crap Gerald . . . Drop knee-jerk, mindlessly hyperbolic rhetoric about Israel.
Israel does not seek the genocide of the folk who label themselves “Palestinians.” In fact since the Arabic neighbors of the “Palestinians” abandoned all support of Gaza and the West Bank, the major of support for the “Palestinian” territories has come from Israel. The “Palestinian” territories remain a huge/gigantic drain upon Israel’s resources and Israel craves peace in the region so they can get on with own business.
The running issue is the sovereign nation of Israel is being forced to attempt to make peace with a marketing gimmick composed of flesh and blood humans, designed with the specific intention to destroy it. Financial backing of the “leadership” comes from folk whose rhetoric for the last 60 plus years has been the destruction of Israel. Peace is difficult to obtain when that folk cross the table shoot thousands of missiles at your civilian population every time you stand down. The “leadership” of the “Palestinians” has zero interest in peace or anything remotely looking like it.
You exhibit a marked tenancy to toss about NAZI references about nearly everything but they are offensive to folk with any relationship to that period of history and have no relationship to the topic at hand. The Christ that you go on about so often would mostly likely consider your characterization of this subject dramatically outside of Halakaic parameters . . . SO please show restraint and refrain from being . . . well . . . yourself on any posting you make regarding this topic
#23
@gerald RE: “Hatred is spreading across America”
Have you read your posts of late?
#24
Muslims are a foil. The issue is control through fear. The "brown" people are attacking! Remember roaches? They're brown! We hate roaches. We, by some creative but perverted logic, hate brown people because they're the same color as roaches.
#25
Man, the Republicans hate gay people, black people, muslims- women who have to make the tough choice of either not having children as in abortions, or killing them after their born because they can't feed them....because the Republicans call them lazy and hate them......they hate fair trade....
#26
OK; freedom of religion is diminished when the government is called upon to identify "legitimate" religions.
I suggest "Superstition," by Robert Park.
#27
Here is the answer for the community center. Have Republicans tear down the building, put in a memorial park! But, the conservative crazies won't spend the money because it may break the budget.
#28
Haven't read Obama's books, but think it's logical to say "I will stand with ..." to show that he supports (whomever is being attacked) because it's the right thing to do.
#29
Targeted assassinations!
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Targeted-Assassinations-C-by-Stephen-Lendman-100805-103.html
#30
Republicans are not interested in being statesmen. McConnell, Boehner, Gingrich and their ilk are only interested in power and stroking their egos.
#31
How about a real (as opposed to fictitious) place of worship, christian and explicitly dedicated to military victory, just across Broadway from the WTC area and purposely convenient to Wall St. ...
<cite> http://www.nycago.org/Organs/NYC/html/OurLadyVictory.html
Church of Our Lady of Victory (Roman Catholic) 60 William Street at Pine Street New York, N.Y. 10005
"established in 1944 by Francis Cardinal Spellman, Archbishop of New York and <em> Military Vicar of the Armed Forces"</em> </cite>
Could be the rube out-of-towners confused their address and religions ? Wouldnt be the first time.
#32
#33
@Thom: There is no "cow" in Moscow. Prounounced "Mosco." Kind of like a corporate moniker.
#34
My remark to Scott Wheeler would be:
All your apparent 'concern' & outrage about whether or not President Obama is Muslim, & that Muslims are threatening us by building a cultural center 2 blocks from Ground Zero, leads me to one conclusion:
Your efforts to spread paranoia & fear are dangerous. You have no real desire to honor & defend the Constitution. You are indefferent to the rights of all people here in America. Nor does your defense of such a position amount to anything more than opportunistic bigotry & jingoism.
I ascribe to the contrary: Nothing would show the world better that America is above the inflammatory & divisive rhetoric & actions of religiously biased nations, by accepting & even embracing the creation of a mosque. Even ON Ground Zero, for all I care.
#35
Such irony accompanies the idea of fighting a war to prevent a war. We have stripped the population of the ability to think.
#36
Keeping the middle class is a must.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lincoln-mitchell/the-middle-class-how-we-g_b_677343.html
#37
I call it Moskva. Mosco soands like Moscow with a Canadian accent.
#38
If Muslims need to wear a patch declaring that they are Muslims, our politicians must wear NASCAR patches to let Americans know who bought them for money.
#39
this Muslim community center issue may back fire on the republicans.....as just about everyone knows a Muslim. this may be the further death of the republican party And the death of the mainstream media- as folks like myself turn our attention to solutions of getting the basics to survive.
#40
Religious Leaders' Statement on Christian Zionism
"We Stand for Justice. We Can Do No Other"
JERUSALEM, AUG. 30, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Here is "The Jerusalem Declaration on Christian Zionism" released Aug. 22. The statement was written by Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah of Jerusalem and other local heads of Churches in Jerusalem.
* * *
"Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God." (Matthew 5:9)
Christian Zionism is a modern theological and political movement that embraces the most extreme ideological positions of Zionism, thereby becoming detrimental to a just peace within Palestine and Israel.
The Christian Zionist program provides a worldview where the Gospel is identified with the ideology of empire, colonialism and militarism. In its extreme form, it laces an emphasis on apocalyptic events leading to the end of history rather than living Christ's love and justice today.
We categorically reject Christian Zionist doctrines as false teaching that corrupts the biblical message of love, justice and reconciliation.
We further reject the contemporary alliance of Christian Zionist leaders and organizations with elements in the governments of Israel and the United States that are presently imposing their unilateral preemptive borders and domination over Palestine.
This inevitably leads to unending cycles of violence that undermine the security of all peoples of the Middle East and the rest of the world.
We reject the teachings of Christian Zionism that facilitate and support these policies as they advance racial exclusivity and perpetual war rather than the gospel of universal love, redemption and reconciliation taught by Jesus Christ.
Rather than condemn the world to the doom of Armageddon we call upon everyone to liberate themselves from the ideologies of militarism and occupation. Instead, let them pursue the healing of the nations!
We call upon Christians in Churches on every continent to pray for the Palestinian and Israeli people, both of whom are suffering as victims of occupation and militarism. These discriminative actions are turning Palestine into impoverished ghettos surrounded by exclusive Israeli settlements.
The establishment of the illegal settlements and the construction of the Separation Wall on confiscated Palestinian land undermine the viability of a Palestinian state as well as peace and security in the entire region.
We call upon all Churches that remain silent, to break their silence and speak for reconciliation with justice in the Holy Land.
Therefore, we commit ourselves to the following principles as an alternative way:
We affirm that all people are created in the image of God. In turn they are called to honor the dignity of every human being and to respect their inalienable rights.
We affirm that Israelis and Palestinians are capable of living together within peace, justice and security.
We affirm that Palestinians are one people, both Muslim and Christian. We reject all attempts to subvert and fragment their unity.
We call upon all people to reject the narrow world view of Christian Zionism and other ideologies that privilege one people at the expense of others.
We are committed to non-violent resistance as the most effective means to end the illegal occupation in order to attain a just and lasting peace.
With urgency we warn that Christian Zionism and its alliances are justifying colonization, apartheid and empire-building.
God demands that justice be done. No enduring peace, security or reconciliation is possible without the foundation of justice. The demands of justice will not disappear. The struggle for justice must be pursued diligently and persistently but without violence.
"What does the Lord require of you: To act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God." (Micah 6:8)
This is where we take our stand. We stand for justice. We can do no other. Justice alone guarantees a peace that will lead to reconciliation with a life of security and prosperity for all the peoples of our land. By standing on the side of justice, we open ourselves to the work of peace -- and working for peace makes us children of God.
"God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation." (2 Corinthians 5:19)
Patriarch Michel Sabbah
Latin Patriarchate, Jerusalem
Archbishop Swerios Malki Mourad,
Syrian Orthodox Patriarchate, Jerusalem
Bishop Riah Abu El-Assal,
Episcopal Church of Jerusalem and the Middle East
Bishop Munib Younan,
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land
#41
I HAVE BEEN READING ABOUT VARIOUS FORMS OF FASCISM AND THEIR EFFECTS ON POPULATIONS. (SEE FOR EXAMPLE www.teabaggersblog.com ) When you see what is going on with the immigration law in Arizona and the mosue in lower manhattan, you would run out into the street screaming about how your life has changed and is being challenged. There is a group that is deliberately denegrading hispanics, molems and blacks in the form of the black president by minimalizing and demonizing him as a non American and a Muslem. By the way, religion should not be an issue since by the constitution there can be no official religion and no religious test for any office including that of the president.
#42
Therefore, no matter how dissappointed you may be with what, or was not done in the breif 18 months of this administration, DO NOT, I REPEAT, DO NOT VOTE FOR ANY, I REPEAT ANY, REPUBLICANS OR TEA BAGGERS UNLESS YOU DESIRE TO BE "REVISITED 10 TIMES WORSE" LIKE THE VENGENCE FROM HELL UPON YOU, YOUR CHILDREN, YOUR GRAND CHILDREN AND GREAT GRAND CHILDREN. I HAVE SEEN THEIR PLANS AND THEY INTEND TO TAKE WHATEVER YOU HAVE LEFT AFTER THEY HAVE ALREADY TAKEN US FROM A HUGE SURPLUS UNDER THE DEMOCRATS TO A HUGE DEFICIT UNDER THE REPUBLICANS - NOT BY ACCIDENT, NOT BY JUST LACK OF OVERSIGHT, BUT BY DESIGN TO REDUCE AND SQUELCH THE ACQUIRED POWER OF THE DEMOCRATS UNDER THE CLINTON YEARS. IF YOU VOTE FOR REPUBLICANS, YOU WILL WREAK THE HAVOCK AND HELL ON EARTH AKIN TO THOSE WRITTEN IN BIBLICAL TIMES. See again, www.teabaggersblog.com
THIS IS NO JOKE AND IS NOT AND DEFINITELY WILL NOT BE A LAUGHING MATTER. HISTORY IS THE CLEAREST PREDICTOR OF THE FUTURE AND THE PAST 8 YEAR HELL HOLE SHOULD HAVE BEEN BURNED INTO YOUR BRAIN FOR ALL TIME. YOU HAVEN'T LOST YOUR JOBS, YOUR HOMES, YOUR RETIREMENTS, YOUR SAVINGS, YOUR HAPPINESS BY ACCIDENT - IT WAS DELIBERATE AND WELL PLANNED. TEA BAGGERS, YOU ARE THE SHILLS AND JUDAS GOATS TO TAKE YOURSELVES TO YOUR OWN SLAUGHTER BINS. REMEMBER THAT WHEN YOU GO TO VOTE.
#43
That's exactly what I thought: an Islamic YMCA, or perhaps "YMMA" would be more proper.
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