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August 2010
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08/17/2010
The Constitution and the Mosque
8-16-2010
President Obama showed his understanding of the Constitution, and his respect for the American people, last week when he defended the right of a Muslim community group to build a mosque and Islamic center two blocks north of ground zero in Lower Manhattan.
Mr. Obama’s words at a White House dinner celebrating the Muslim holy month of Ramadan were simple and forceful. “Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as everyone else in this country,” he said.
Republican ideologues, predictably, used his statement as one more excuse not only to attack the president but to spew more of their intolerant rhetoric.
Newt Gingrich, who has been beating this drum for weeks, accused the president of “pandering to radical Islam” and said the mosque would be a symbol of Muslim “triumphalism.” We were hesitant about repeating those comments here. But the country ignores such cynicism and ugliness at its own peril. Make no mistake, the rest of the world is listening.
Like President George W. Bush before him, President Obama warned against linking all followers of Islam to terrorists. “Al Qaeda’s cause is not Islam - it is a gross distortion of Islam,” he rightly said. It is our tolerance of others, he said, “that quintessentially American creed,” that stands in contrast to the nihilism of those who attacked us on Sept. 11, 2001.
We wish he hadn’t diluted the message the next day, telling reporters that he wasn’t commenting on “the wisdom of making the decision to put a mosque there. I was commenting very specifically on the right people have that dates back to our founding.”
He would have done better if he had explained the wisdom of going ahead with the project, which developers said is intended to bring Muslims and non-Muslims together. In addition to a place of worship, it would have a pool and performing arts center. They also have said they want the board to include members from other faiths - a promise they should take care to keep.
Too many Republican leaders are determined to whip up as much false controversy and anguish as they can, right through November. Some Democrats will cave. We were disturbed on Monday when a spokesman for the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, said that Mr. Reid “thinks that the mosque should be built someplace else.”
Mr. Obama and all people of conscience need to push back hard. Defending all Americans’ right to worship - and their right to build places to worship - is fundamental to who we are.
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Let them build their mosque. Our country is founded on religious tolerance to all faiths, and they should be allowed their rights. If not two blocks from Ground Zero, then how many blocks away would it have to be for it to be okay? All Muslims didn't attack us on 9/11, just the terrorists did. We shouldn't discriminate against the Muslims or any other peoples.
08/15/2010
Gay Marriage Debate Goes to Court
Gay marriages could be allowed in California, as early as this Wednesday. That is when a U.S. District Court Judge finalizes his ruling—that banning same sex marriages was unconstitutional.
Reporter: Mariana Hicks, August 14,2010
Earlier this month, U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker ruled that the ban on gay marriage was unconstitutional. His ruling will not be finalized until Wednesday at 5 p.m. that is when supporters of the ban must have their appeal filed.
In the meantime, the group that sponsored “Proposition 8” has asked the Ninth Circuit Court to suspect any gay marriages while the appeal is pending.
However, folks we spoke to at the Reno Gay Pride Festival say they are hopeful a decision comes quickly.
"The feeling is that the 9th Circuit Court,” Pam Whitley, Regional Director of P-FLAG explained, “If it does go there will uphold the ban on Prop 8 and the next step would be the United States Supreme Court. Nobody knows how they''re gonna do it."
At the same time, there’s a move to resume gay marriages now. County clerks across California have been gearing up for it. Depending on how the court rules, gay marriages could start up as early as the close of business on Wednesday.
"18,000 couples were married during that period of time last year,” Whitley said. “And we''ve got probably as many more that want to get married."
While he is no longer in a relationship, Shane Terwilliger from Susanville says every couple, straight or gay, should have the same rights.
"I was in a relationship for five years,” Terwilliger said. “Love is love. Why can''t we get married?"
While Carissa Ridgway said, the government should have no say in people’s personal lives.
"If they want to get married,” Ridgway said, “They want to get married--it''s up to nobody but them and politicians should have nothing to do with it. The government should have absolutely nothing to do with it."
Five other states have legalized same sex marriages. Those are Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, Iowa and the District of Columbia. Gay marriage is not legal in Nevada, although the state does have domestic partnership agreements.
According to the latest poll conducted by the Las Vegas Review Journal and KLAS-TV in Las Vegas, 46% of people opposed gay marriage, 35% supported it, and the rest were undecided.
08/14/2010
08/13/2010
ROLLING STONES - Let It Bleed
(M. Jagger/K. Richards)
Well, we all need someone we can lean on
And if you want it, you can lean on me
Yeah, we all need someone we can lean on
And if you want it, you can lean on me
She said, "My breasts, they will always be open
Baby, you can rest your weary head right on me
And there will always be a space in my parking lot
When you need a little coke and sympathy"
Yeah, we all need someone we can dream on
And if you want it, baby, well you can dream on me
Yeah, we all need someone we can cream on
And if you want to, well you can cream on me
I was dreaming of a steel guitar engagement
When you drunk my health in scented jasmine tea
But you knifed me in my dirty filthy basement
With that jaded, faded, junky nurse
Oh what pleasant company
We all need someone we can feed on
And if you want it, well you can feed on me
Take my arm, take my leg, oh baby don't you take my head?
Yeah, we all need someone we can bleed on
Yeah, and if you want it, baby, well you can bleed on me
Yeah, we all need someone we can bleed on
Yeah, yeah, and if you want it, baby, why don'cha bleed on me
All over
Ahh, bleed it alright, bleed it alright, bleed it alright
You can bleed all over me
bleed it alright, bleed it alright, bleed it alright
You can cum all over me
Lightning Strikes Multiple Houses In Alamance County Subdivision
By Justin Quesinberry, 8/12/2010
Graham, NC -- Lightning hit four homes in Alamance County Wednesday evening. All of them were on the same street. The lightning damaged wiring, blew things off the roof and walls, and even struck gas lines, but no one was injured.
It happened in Coble Estates on Mattie Florence Drive, just outside of Graham and Swepsonville town limits. Fire Marshal David Leonard said the neighborhood was the only one he knew of in the county that was hit Wednesday evening.
"I call this the bubble that we live in, it doesn't rain here a whole lot," said resident Gary Cline.
"Usually we miss the storms," he said.
That bubble burst close to midnight.
"Whatever it was, it decided it liked my house," he said.
Lightning singed and twisted metal trim, knocking it off of Cline's house.
A hole is noticeable where neighbors believe the lightning hit.
The cover of Cline's telephone utility panel completely blew off.
"Goodnight, yes. All the way, yea, it's in the driveway," he said.
Inside his house, light switches were blown out of place.
"You could see where fire had just shot out from that area," Cline said.
A cracked wall, and broken lightbulbs, show the power of the lightning.
"Everybody I've talked to said this much damage, the house should've burned down," he said.
Cline's home was one of four on his street hit by lightning at the same time.
"When we came into the kitchen, we smelled a burning smell, and heard a hissing sound, which turned out to be gas," said neighbor Alan Lambert.
He said lightning followed his gas line inside, creating a hole in the line, and leaving burn marks on the stove and sheetrock.
"It would almost burn you, just touching the sheetrock," he said.
"I was afraid the house was going to explode. There was a hissing sound, gas was coming out, my kids are in bed asleep. I was afraid the house was going to explode," Lambert said.
The Clines are moving out until they get their wiring restored.
"Don't really know the full extent of it because we don't have power," Cline said.
"I run my business from my home, so once again, I'm all up in arms, going how do we make this work?"
"I'm sure the first couple of thunderstorms are going to, we're going to be on edge a little bit," he said.
Lambert said he never thought about lightning hitting his gas line, but Drew Sharpe, fire chief of the Swepsonville Fire Department, which responded to the strike, said lightning will follow any line like that made of metal.
He said homeowners can install a lightning arrestor at the meters on their home, which is supposed to stop lightning from entering your house. Of course, that depends on how strong the lightning is, he said.
According to information from the National Weather Service (NWS), lightning rods don't prevent your home from being struck, but are supposed to direct the current to the ground instead of to the house.
Typical surge protects will not protect equipment from a lightning strike. The NWS urges people not to unplug equipment during a thunderstorm.
For more information on lightning, visit the National Weather Service's website.
Article courtesy of WFMY News 2
----
That neighborhood is just a few blocks down from where I live. The thunder here sounded like a bomb going off. Well, I imagine that is what a bomb sounds like.
08/10/2010
08/06/2010
Gingrich Outraged At Overturning Of Proposition 8
Newt Gingrich: Gay Marriage Ruling 'Outrageous'
Wednesday, 04 Aug 2010
In a statement released on his website late Wednesday, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich blasted a federal judge's decision overturning California's Proposition 8 ban on same-sex marriage.
"Judge Walker's ruling overturning Prop 8 is an outrageous disrespect for our Constitution and for the majority of people of the United States who believe marriage is the union of husband and wife. In every state of the union from California to Maine to Georgia, where the people have had a chance to vote they've affirmed that marriage is the union of one man and one woman. Congress now has the responsibility to act immediately to reaffirm marriage as a union of one man and one woman as our national policy.
"Today’s notorious decision also underscores the importance of the Senate vote tomorrow on the nomination of Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court because judges who oppose the American people are a growing threat to our society.”
----
That clown needs to shut his pie hole. No one wants to hear what he says execpt homophobic bigots, like himself.
08/04/2010
Happy Birthday, President Obama!!
Wishing you a Happy Birthday, Mr. President and may you have many more!!
http://www.sodahead.com/united-states/happy-birthday-mr-president/blog-394225/
08/03/2010
08/02/2010
Star Blazers - Ep.1 - The Battle at Pluto
In this first episode, it was Captain Avatar’s loss against the Gamilons
at the Battle of Pluto that caused Avatar’s best soldier, Alex Wildstar
(Derek’s brother) to stay behind and hold off the marauding Gamilons so
that Avatar could get his spaceship back to Earth. Even Captain Avatar
himself was dying, as the radiation from his many trips into deep space
caused him to suffer from terminal radiation poisoning, and there were
questions as to whether he could survive the long journey of this
crucial voyage.
- We're off to outer space
- We're leaving Mother Earth
- To save the human race
- Our Star Blazers
- Searching for a distant star
- Heading off to Iscandar
- Leaving all we love behind
- Who knows what danger we'll find?
- We must be strong and brave
- Our home we've got to save
- If we don't in just one year
- Mother Earth will disappear
- Fighting with the Gamilons
- We won't stop until we've won
- Then we'll return and when we arrive
- The Earth will survive
- With our Star Blazers
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