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Wednesday, April 20, 2005

Don't Forget The Forum!

Like I said in the update email, I've moved the Calvinism etc. thread over to the forum. As of now, the link to it is just to the right of this message. It has two talk bubbles and "Click Here" on it. Or you can just click this link too.

I'd really like to see some good discussion going on in the forums. Due to my friends with any intellectual ability all having jobs while i'm asleep, I don't have much time for good in depth conversation.

So let's all help one another and be so groovy.

RM


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The Love And Inclusion Of The Catholic Church, From The Words Of The New Pope

The document excerpted below was written, almost wholly by then Cardinal Ratzinger.


VATICAN CITY, Sept 5 (Reuters) (Condensed)

- The Vatican on Tuesday rejected the concept that other religions could be equal to Roman Catholicism and ordered its theologians not to manipulate what it called the truth of the faith.

The Vatican's restatement of its position was outlined in a complex theological document, the English title of which was ``Declaration The Lord Jesus -- On the Unicity and Salvific Universality of Jesus Christ and the Church'' .

The document repeated Church teachings that non-Christians were in a ``gravely deficient situation'' regarding salvation and that other Christian churches had ``defects,'' partly because they did not recognise the primacy of the Pope.

At a news conference to present the document, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the Vatican's doctrinal head, said some theologians were ``manipulating and going beyond the limits'' of tolerance when they put all religions on the same
plane.

``Therefore, there exists a single Church of Christ, which subsists in the Catholic Church, governed by the Successor of Peter and by the bishops in communion with him,'' it said."



So, if we don't recognize the ultimate supremecy of the Pope ( whose "primacy" is based on nothing more than tradition and power seeking) we're all doomed to hell.

John Paul II was a good man, and I respect what he did. Benidict 16 is a reclusive scholar type, hardset in every little teeny weeny ,often irrational, piece of Catholic dogma.

Regardless, neither reign supreme. And if it takes worshipping the Pope to get in to heaven...I'll see you all in Hell.

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Tom Delay on Supreme Court Justice Kennedy

"... We've got Justice Kennedy writing decisions based upon international law, not the Constitution of the United States? That's just outrageous," DeLay told Fox News Radio. "And not only that, but he said in session that he does his own research on the Internet? That is just incredibly outrageous."

Tommy boy is so fun. I hope they don't run him out of office too soon. But it is coming, mark my words. Mark em with a Sharpie.

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Jon Stewart Coming To Hattiesburg

Or at least the Daily Show is. They'll be somewhere off of Adeline St. this thursday interviewing...dun dun dun.. Rick James! Amazing how a funny (but getting old) comedy sketch turns out screwing up some bumpkin's campaign down here in lil ole Mississippi.

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Friday, April 15, 2005

Vote Rick James...bit**es!

Hattiesburg candidate pissed at Chappelle

Yahoo News Story

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Wednesday, April 13, 2005

Grey v 1.0b

This is the first installment of what I intend to be semi-frequent postings on politics etc in Black White and Grey.

There is so much absolutism in this country today, and I believe that is one of our biggest problems. Liberals are always evil; Conservatives always hate the environment; Democrats/Republicans are always correct, the other side is always wrong. Etc. You get the idea.

Now I’m not saying that there is no room for absolutes in the world. Absolutes and seeing things in perfect Black and White certainly have their place in society. But all too often they simply congest political discourse like a cancer.

For tonight, we will ponder the issue of Pro-War or Anti-War (re: Iraq) and the assumed “facts” about one if he admits to being one or the other. If you’ve not been asked the question of “Pro or anti war?”. I would imagine that you’ve still heard or seen it posed. The question in itself presents an obvious problem. It asserts that one HAS to be completely FOR or AGAINST the war. Is there no middle ground? Well, let’s see.

I will use my personal stance as our example. I was strongly against the sending of troops into Iraq. There was no direct threat and no other reason for us to preemptively strike. When I say no other reason, yes I know that there were many reasons stated: WMD, Saddam was evil, etc. To elaborate, there were no other reasons cited that, to my knowledge, had been used by the US previously to enter a war. I could be wrong here, but that is what I understood and understand to be true.

So we invade Iraq. Ok. Like I said, I was not in favor of attacking Iraq. Further, since we’ve invaded, there are many, many things that were either done horribly in the execution of this war or were not done at all. Troop strength, tactics, infrastructure planning (the whole reconstruction attempt in general actually), strategy and planning missteps, ad absurdum.

Now, having said all that, let’s get to my other side. I am 100% in support of our troops. Now that we’re there, I want nothing but the best for them. I want them to fully complete their mission in safety, and I want them to come home when possible. I have sent letters telling our soldiers that we fully behind them here and that we’re thinking about them. I’ve sent care packages as well. I don’t say these things to brag, only to show that I am sincere in my support. I don’t believe they are war criminals. I don’t believe that they’re violating laws as a matter of course (but it is war, so things happen sometimes). I also think that they get paid crap. Their families death benefits are pitiful compared to what the 9-11 families got (many became instant millionaires) or what the families of the “heroes” who died when the space shuttle disintegrated. Aparently just being in a war, getting shot at everyday, and trying to do your part for your country doesn't make you a hero anymore. But I digress...

So then, I ask you, am I Pro-war or Anti-war? Am I a treasonous, traitorous Liberal commie?

Or is it possible, that maybe, just maybe, there is some middle ground?

Think about this sort of thing next time you watch the idiots on TV yelling their talking points at one another. Black vs. White. Left vs. Right. All or nothing. Is that REALLY the way things are?

Goodnight.

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Sunday, April 10, 2005

I Need A Little Help

Ok, I need a favor from you guys. I’m trying to get a free PSP. I checked it all out, and it’s legit. Even Wired.Com and TechTV say it’s cool, so I’m taking their word for it as well. I need at least 5 of you to follow the link below:

http://www.FreePSPs.com/?r=17175651


Go through all the sign up crap and just complete 1 ONE of the free offers. First it says some crap about a short survey with a bunch of yes or no questions at the top of the screen. Answer no to all of them so they won’t send you useless crap. You’ll then get to a screen showing a bunch of links going down the screen. Pick one of the free offers, and complete the sign ups, and that’s it. You just need to do one. And you can get free stuff too!. Don’t use any of the credit card offers though, because it takes weeks to get “credit” on this site for completing the offer. The other ones are instant.

And if any of you got the email and did it, please do it again using the link above. They sent me the link i sent you in the email, and now they said use this link. Both should work, but just to be sure, please do it again.

And don't forget, when you do this, YOU'RE SET UP TO GET FREE STUFF TOO!!!!

I promise, this is totally legit. You know I don’t spam, and I don’t fall for scams on the net. So PLEASE help me get free stuff. Then when YOU sign up, I can help YOU get FREE stuff! THANKS for the help. I love you guys…

RM


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Wednesday, April 06, 2005

Statement On The Senate Floor By Senator John Cornyn

Sen. Cornyn made the following statement (as part of a larger speech that can be found here) on Monday:

Finally, I don't know if there is a cause-and-effect connection, but we have seen some recent episodes of courthouse violence in this country -- certainly nothing new; we seem to have run through a spate of courthouse violence recently that has been on the news. I wonder whether there may be some connection between the perception in some quarters on some occasions where judges are making political decisions yet are unaccountable to the public, that it builds up and builds up to the point where some people engage in violence, certainly without any justification, but that is a concern I have that I wanted to share.

Now, I know this is not precisely what he said, but he seems to be implying that the judge who was murdered and the judge whose family was murdered brought this on themselves. This is patently absurd. The judges involved in the recent violence did not make "political decisions" they were simply criminal court justices.

On top of the absurdity of his suggestion, let's say that these judges who suffered violence WERE these "activist judges" that this man hates so much. Let's say it was Judge Greer or something (the principle judge in the Schiavo case). Is he to suggest that this would be reasonable? I understand that he is not condoning it, but to suggest that it would somehow follow a logic if, say, a 5th Circuit Court justice were to be killed because of his/her "activist" status is simply moronic.

Brilliant man. I am so glad he's on the judiciary committee.

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Saturday, April 02, 2005

God Welcomes Home A Good And Faithful Servant

As you all know, Karol Wojtyla, Pope John Paul II, died this afternoon. As a non-Catholic, I hold no reverence to the man, and I believe he was no more than a man. But he was a man on a mission. He helped end communism in Eastern Europe, he gave momentum to the Polish Solidarity movement, he helped to end Apartheid. He spoke and worked to bring about a veneration for life and its inherent value.

As Pope, he reached out to the Jewish community in a way the Church never had, and he was able to bring them into the best relationship they had ever shared.

The man led a life to be admired. He was on the correct side of almost every major political and moral issue of our time, though there are notable exceptions.

In general, he set a good example for his following and, for that matter, a good example for most anyone desiring to leave a positive mark on this planet.

I know many people mourn Wojtyla’s leaving, but I believe that God is celebrating his arrival.

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Friday, April 01, 2005

Writing

Today I came across an, um, interesting post on a writer's forum I'm in. Check out the guy's website, The Working Man's Poet ? Inspirational poetry to help cope with life's situations, if you'd like a further idea of this fellow.

Anyway, here's what he wrote on the forum. I thought I had to share it. Oh, and this is all direct cut-and-paste. I'm not making any of this up. Nor am I making up the fact THAT HE ACTUALLY HAS A BOOK PUBLISHED! GAH! On with the shoooow.



Need feed back on this article I wrote
before I summit it
Yes summit it
no do not summit it
and how did it make you feel


Christians today

Why is it that today’s Christians do not support each

Other. Is it because they think every one else is wrong?

Is it because it might take up some of their time .Yes!

We live in the land of the free, free to just sit back and

Do nothing. Yes there are a few that help volunteer,

And live what they believe. Seems most are just Sunday

Christians. Content to do nothing and complain about how

Things are. If they see someone that needs help they rush bye

And hope no one sees them. If they hear of a good cause they

Say I wish I had though of that, but I don’t have time right now

To help, my show is coming on. And please do not ask Christians

To help. They just believe they don’t really act .

Christians today have let our government

take prayer out of schools, stop the pledge

Of alliance and if they want to take God off of our money

That’s ok as long as we don’t have to do anything. It seems

We are only Christians in name but don’t call me one out loud

Some one may hear it and ask me a question or for some help.

The government did not do this to us, we did. We can complain

All day long but that’s a lot of hot air and will not change a thing

Now that you are all mad at me, think what help did you give this week?

Or was this not my week to be a Christian? How many times

Did you take the time not in church but home or work?

To pray for some one? Yes I said get down on your knees

Turn off the TV and pray? Is being a Christian a part time thing?

If you are truly a Christian you will not have to keep telling

People you are. They will see it .God gave his only son,

Jesus died for you. Good thing I did not have to depend

On today’s Christians to get into heaven!


Author


David Bayes

AKA the working
man’s poet

Home—the united states of
the offended



That was his post and the "article" he wants to "summit".

Look, I'm no Steinbeck, but wow, THIS guy has a BOOK? He can't grasp spelling and punctuation, let alone things like flow, plot, word play.

If this was just some poor guy sitting in a bus stop writing or something, there's no way I would rip him. But this fellow's put himself out there as a "serious" writer, and I just think it's wrong.

I'll leave you with a poem from his site, which is sad unto itself.

Our flag

To see our flag
It sends chills through me
Each color stands for liberty
The red for the blood
That was shed for me
The white for the pure
In the hearts that I see
And last but not least
The color of blue
For it stands for freedom
For me and for you



I'm really hoping that this will turn out to be a joke. Maybe it's a 3rd grade kid pretending to be this 50 yr old man. I hope.

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