Friday, September 30, 2005

To the Enviromentalists who complain about Kyoto

Lets look at some facts

from Canada


Even within government departments, she said, Ottawa had no policy of buying environmentally sound products.

"The government wants Canadians to do their part in greening their daily activities. It should ask of others only what it is prepared to do itself."

Environment Minister Stephane Dion unexpectedly agreed with Gelinas' criticisms.

"What we have achieved is not at the level of what we have committed," he acknowledged, pledging to do better. "We need to be sure we will be at the end as strong as we claimed we would be at the start."


So Canada who says they are behind Kyoto doesn't support industries who meet their standards with government money.

UK

As Mr Blair told the global challenges conference organised by former US president Bill Clinton, China and India "are not going to find it satisfactory for us in the developed world to turn around and say, "look, we have had our growth. You have now got yours so we want you to do it sustainably, even if we haven't".

Like US President George W Bush, Mr Blair now believes the key to reducing carbon emissions is the development of non-polluting technology.

"The truth is no country is going to cut its growth or consumption substantially in the light of a longterm environmental problem".


and Also on the same Site New Zeeland

When New Zealand stood to gain $500 million by selling carbon credits earned by foresters to bigger polluters, ratification came at little cost and offered a potential windfall.

But, with officials now estimating compliance will cost half a billion dollars a year, it is time to develop an exit strategy.


So do you admit the US congress had a point enviromentalists? that instead of signing off on something that looks good but doesn't work we should try to do something that works?

But to those people who are enviromilitants things would be ok if that EVIL US did their share.

and yeah you yellow, brown, and black people... you can't have a developed economy.

Kyoto was a horrible idea from the start. Accept it people and move on.

All Animals are equal

Howard Dean

"Are these the values of the Republican Party and its conservative allies?" Dean asked. "If not, President Bush, Ken Mehlman and the Republican Leadership should denounce them immediately as hateful, divisive and worthy only of scorn."


Also Howard Dean

Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean dodged a question yesterday about whether Rep. Charlie Rangel should apologize for saying that President Bush is the 21st century version of notorious 1960's segregationist Bull Connor.

Asked about Republican Party chief Ken Mehlman's demands that Rangel apologize, Dean told the New York Sun, "I think the chairman of the RNC ought to be embarrassed for what his party has done to America the last five years."

"It ought to be Mehlman that's apologizing to the people of New York City." Dr. Dean insisted, ignoring Rangel's comments altogether.


Also Howard Dean

“We must ... come to terms with the ugly truth that skin color, age and economics played a deadly role in who survived and who did not,” Dean said.


When did Howard Dean gain the right to comment on ANYONE's ability to talk about issues of race?

Howard Dean is a demagouge

case closed

I saw this as a headline from Al-Reuters

Sheep, two-day parties enliven remote Falkland isles


I don't need to see anything more

Now out of my New BASEOP

Government Stupidity HO~!

"I don't think it would be fair to single out the kids and our drivers," said Karen Strickland, Hillsborough's transportation director. "If it was an overall endeavor of every government agency to turn off their air conditioning, that would be different.

"But some kids are on a bus more than two hours a day, and our drivers put in a lot of miles. I want them to be comfortable."

Not all students ride in air-conditioned buses, which many districts began purchasing between 1999 and 2002.

About 45 percent of Hillsborough's 1,300-plus school buses have air conditioners, close to the statewide average


Ok...... So what about the students who don't get the air conditioned buses now... Screw them right?

It is a LUXURY and a LUXURY that can be suspended. In Pasco county according to the article they only air condition the Chair Lift Buses... and I am cool with that.

But... sadly the stupidity of justifying this grows deeper
Stars twinkled in the dark morning sky and the temperature was about 75 degrees when Anthony Verderosa boarded a school bus bound for Tarpon Springs High School about 6:25 Tuesday.

The Palm Harbor senior said the bus had its air conditioner running needlessly during his 30-minute trip.

"We never need the air conditioning in the morning, but it's always on," Verderosa said.

Bay area school districts do not have rules governing air conditioner use while drivers transport students.

Drivers are permitted to use their air conditioners regardless of the temperature or whether students are on the bus -- and windows are allowed to be open at any time.


So lets review

Running AC when the windows are open...... NO!
Running AC when their are no students on the bus NO!
Running the AC in the early AM when it is cool NO!

Unless you are in government. Then that is ok

Maybe then Hillsbrough county can give us back some of the toll and gas tax money since they want to pound our money down a rat hole

Pat Hines has picked a good one.

Pat over at Ankle Biting Pundits Came up with the Judge Elihu Smails Award for some one really stupid. Rarely does Pat's choice hold such transcendent value of stupidity as the choice for this week

Who is this award named for? Judge Elihu Smails, the character in the film Caddyshack who asks of the obnoxious but lovable Al Czervick (played by Rodney Dangerfield), “Good Lord, what has this buffoon done now?”


And I want to Second what Pat has to say here before going into the stupidity of this

Please don't think that we believe evidence of "torture" should not be given to the American public, or that the government has a right to hide information. However, in this case, the photos being released add nothing new to the stories about Abu Ghraib that have already been written (over 50 times on the front page of The New York Times) about, and we have seen similar pictures already. It's not as if this is a new case of torture at some other location. Quite simply it's just overkill, that could end up getting Americans killed.

Plus, let's be honest here, the people seeking the release of these photos (ACLU, International Red Cross) are doing so solely for the purpose of harming the war effort, especially in Iraq, which they viscerally opposed to begin with. It's really not hard to cut through the crap they spout about upholding "American values" and openness and holding the government accountable for "torture" (of terrorists by the way).


There is no REAL point at all.

So lets see this great legal mind

5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(3). The relevant statute, 10 U.S.C. § 130c, authorizes the withholding of
“sensitive information” to the extent such withholding is requested by a foreign government or
international organization. See 10 U.S.C. § 130c(a). Section 130c provides that if the
information was “provided by, otherwise made available by, or produced in cooperation with”
the foreign government or international organization, and certain other criteria are satisfied, the
information may be exempted from release by the United States government. In particular, the
national security official concerned must determine each of the following:

Yes because this violates the GENEVA CONVENTION

but apperently the basic english of this section of the US law was not good enough for this Jurist.... as he goes on into minutae of other legal avenues to justify releasing information that will not
#1) Aid int he prosecution of any criminal acts of wrong doing
#2) Expose new acts of wrong doing
#3) or help a victim redress grievences in ANY way

this is horrendous actions by a horrendous judge

Ya know people......

There is no way the beef can be this good

no way

(Las vegas Review Journal)

A survey of top eateries reveals the most expensive steaks this side of New York City, if not even higher than there.

Granted, many of the jaw-dropping prices are the result of more Kobe beef being served. Take Shintaro, the Japanese eatery at Bellagio, where the 10-ounce Washugyu Kobe tenderloin is going for $190. Shintaro's 12-ounce sirloin commands $170.

Over at Bradley Ogden, the high-end restaurant at Caesars Palace, the 8-ounce Kobe steak goes for $175.

Also cracking the $100 barrier: Craftsteak at the MGM Grand, with a 10-ounce Kobe filet mignon price at $100. On the cusp: a 14-ounce Kobe ribeye for $98.

So much U.S. beef has topped the $50-a-steak mark that we couldn't count them. Among the highest: Michael's at the Barbary Coast offers a 20-ounce New York prime aged Black Angus sirloin for $75, and filet mignon for $68.


Ok.... Now, I can get some pretty good steak in my store and cook it at home for far less then this.

I think these restaurants need to do something value added.

and since Vegas unlike the rest of the state of Nevada prohibits prostitution I don't see what they could do

Some new folks who popped over to my blog

The folks from Stop The ACLU found me. I plan to add them to my link list now that I have discovered it has some limits in size. ( I can remove some now that I am not in Sarasota proper)

and to put it this way. The choice of exposing those photo's serves no one but the terrorists. Not justice, not exposing the truth... No one.

And according to Senator Kyl of Arizona we will get to see Lindie "thumbs up" porn with her boyfriend.

Which might not be bad if the media showed it... but they will only show "the troops" as sadists not the "these people are sickos" reality of the scandal

Gathas: Song 14.7

And Wise One, let one listen to it through good mind.

Let one listen to it through righteousness. You too hear it, Lord.

Which friend, which relative abides by laws,

and provides a good guidance to the community?

(Gathas: Song 14.7)

Remember folks.....

Messianic Judaism is a completely legitimate Jewish movement

Right.... ( hat tip to the Sun Sentinal)

The Anti-Defamation League is objecting to the Southern Baptist Convention executive committee's decision to ask its missionary boards to study the possibility of recognizing the Southern Baptist Messianic Fellowship as ``an evangelistic mission to Jewish people.''
The fellowship is made up of about a dozen congregations in the United States. Its Web site says its mission is ``to encourage Jewish believers that their ethnic and historical heritage need NOT be lost upon their commitment to Yeshua (Jesus).''


As I always say Jews for Jesus aren't really Jews

Bit of Internet weirdness

Both Mapquest and google maps won't tell me the street address of the federal government building in Tampa.

Is this some kind of weird post 9-11 thing?

more things from my email box

The Greatest Story Never Told
The Relationship of the Gentile and the Torah
By Ariel Bar Tzadok


The Sin of Urbanization

Urbanization is a unique act of the human species. Urbanization is the building of collective habitats which are inclusive of all needs of human society. The urban society is a man made attempt to control his nature and environment. Urbanization and its foundation technology are an attempt by mankind to use human intelligence to develop and manifest mastery over the world of nature and nature's creator, G-d, the L-rd.

The original sin of Adam in the Garden of Eden was to partake of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, Good and Evil. Adam did partake of this knowledge. The Bible clearly says that his eyes were open and he did become like G-d. He did not become G-d, but like G-d in that Adam too could now use his mind to create an environment in his own image, even as G-d created one in His.

The creations created by mankind are expressions of the unique human knowledge, that was received by Adam upon partaking of the forbidden fruit. Therefore, since the beginning of modern human history dated from Adam, all human development is an expression of the knowledge which is, in and of itself, blemished. Remember the Tree of Knowledge gave forth fruit that was both good and evil. Human technology, the byproduct of our knowledge, therefore, is a two edged sword which can be used as either a blessing or a curse.

Cain violated his High Priest birthright by not offering the proper sacrifice to G-d. He added insult to injury by murdering his brother. G-d banished Cain from living in the world that He created. This was the meaning of Cain's banishment from before G-d. Cain would no longer be able to live in harmony with nature, for the blessings of nature, symbolically called "the face of G-d" was concealed from Cain. He would never again experience the blessings of what nature has to provide. Cain, therefore, created his own nature, he used the evil side of the knowledge of the Tree and created an environment which by its intrinsic nature was a manifestation of his own evil.

The city which Cain built and every city thereafter manifest at their psychological core an expression of knowledge which has its source in the evil side of the original forbidden fruit. Urbanization and the technology that comes forth from it, therefore, is man's attempt to create an alternate nature other than what G-d had originally ordained. This was the first form of rebellion against G-d. Yet, it must be remembered that the sin of banishment and the rebellion that came forth from it was not placed upon all mankind but only upon Cain and those descended from him.

Cain, however, was not the only one of the children of Adam to have gone astray. The children of Adam and Eve's third son, Seth also followed a path away from G-d. The difference was that the path followed by Enosh, the son of Seth, was not overtly a rebellious path, but rather was followed mistakenly, similar to the mistake and confusion of mother Eve in the
Garden.

Hmmm Looks like I ran out of room on the blogger list -o- links

So what I am going to have to do is set up multiple blogrolling lists to try and fix that problem

Hey RINO types

Is the RINO blog rolling list down for you guys?

Some Masonic Eduaction: from my email box

THE SPIRITUAL SIGNIFICANCE OF SOME OF OUR SYMBOLS
BY BRO. F.V. MATARALY

(This Paper is reproduced in our Transactions by
permission of the Worshipful Master and Brethren of
The Lodge of Living Stones No. 4957).

“The old time Masons were religious men and as such
sharers in the great human experience of Divine
things, and did not need to go to hidden teachers to
learn mysticism. They lived and worked in the light of
it. It shone in their symbols, as it does in all
symbols that have any meaning or beauty. It is, indeed
the soul of symbolism, every emblem being an effort to
express a reality too great for words. So then,
Masonry is mystical as music is mystical, - like
poetry, and love, and faith, and prayer, and all else
that makes it worth our time to live; but its
mysticism is sweet, sane, and natural, far from
fantastic, and in no wise eerie, unreal or unbalanced.
Of course, these words fail to describe, as all words
must, and it is therefore that Masonry uses parables,
pictures, and symbols.”

“The Builders” - Fort Newton.

This Paper is an attempt to discover the significance
of some of the allegories and symbols which pervade
our Ritual. There is no pretence at endeavouring to
assess how the symbols crept into the Ritual, but at
trying to interpret certain parts of the Ritual as it
is this day for the benefit of fellow Masonic
students. As it is practically impossible to consider
the subject apart from its relation to mysticism, a
few words regarding the origin of this word will nit
be out of place by way of introduction to its
connection with Freemasonry.

Illumination or “muesis,” although sometimes used, as
we in the Craft use “initiation,” to denote the whole
process of spiritual regeneration, was the technical
term in the ancient Greek mysteries for the second
stage of the work; the first being “catharsis” or
purification, and the third “epopteia” or mystical
union. A “mustes” (mystic) is one who has been, or is
being, initiated into some esoteric knowledge of
Divine things, about which he must maintain silence;
one who is not yet an “epoptes.” The adjective
“mustikos” was used of something seen through a glass
darkly, some knowledge purposely “veiled in allegory
and illustrated by symbols.” The safeguard of
mysticism is the belief that we have not merely to
renounce the world of ordinary experience, but to find
its deeper and more spiritual meanings and so to
advance in the knowledge of God, the world, and
ourselves, that every aspect of our experience may be
exalted and consecrated together.

All who are acquainted with the literature of
mysticism, the study of which has come greatly to the
fore in recent years, will know that the mystic makes
his life’s aim to be transformed into the likeness of
Him in whose image he was created. Just as Freemasonry
is a quest for “Light,” so the mystic quest is the
pursuit of ultimate objective truth, the journey of
the soul by an inner ascent to the presence of God and
immediate union with Him. The mystic loves to figure
his path as a ladder reaching from earth to heaven,
which must be climbed step by step. This “Scala
perfectionis” is generally divided into three steps.
The first is called the purgative life; the second the
illuminative; while the third, which is really the
goal rather than a part of the journey, is called the
unitive life or state of perfect contemplation. It is
a fundamental mystical doctrine that, while
purification removes the obstacles to our union with
God, our guide on the upward path, the true hierophant
of the Divine mysteries, is LOVE. In our Masonic
system we have, as a connecting link between heaven
and earth, the symbol of Jacob’s Ladder (definitely
identified at one point in the Ritual with the
“infallible P.R.,”) with its many staves or rounds,
but it is significant that there are “three principal
ones” corresponding to the three stages of mysticism,
the “third and last” comprehending the whole being
designated by the term “Charity” understood in “its
most ample sense” i.e. LOVE.

The notion of purification or purgation - “catharsis”
- runs through our three Degrees very insistently. We
have to purify our physical and moral nature in the
First Degree, our mental and psychic nature in the
Second, and our spiritual nature in the Third. In each
degree there is also a measure of illumination, (fresh
access of light, or enhancement of consciousness), and
of union; (we become united to all others on the same
rung of the ladder). While each degree considered
separately thus consists of purification,
illumination, and union, it is true to say that the
First is more especially the Degree of purification,
the “rough ashlar” stage when we are given two W.T.’s,
in order “to knock off all superfluous knobs and
excrescences,” so that “our words and actions may
ascend pure and unpolluted” and became acceptable to
T.G.A.O.T.U. The Second Degree is that of illumination
and knowledge, where we are exhorted to study the
“liberal arts and sciences.” The Third is the Degree
of union, - after a mystical death we are raised to a
“reunion with the companions of our former toils.” We
experience symbolically the death unto sin which must
necessarily precede the new birth unto righteousness,
and learn the significance of the “f.p.o.f.”

This may suffice to show that our Masonic ceremonies
have a very real affinity with the well-trodden mystic
way, of which we read in literature from the earliest
times, 500 B.C. at least, and a proper understanding
of this seems to me to be necessary if we are to
“distinguish and appreciate the connection of our
whole system and the relative dependency of its
several parts.” One of the first definitions we give
our Candidates is that Freemasonry is “a peculiar
system of morality, veiled in allegory and illustrated
by symbols,” and it is this aspect that I wish to
develop a little in the present Paper, - to consider
the mysticism of the Craft as exemplified in some of
its “Geometrical” symbols. Now, it is a tendency of
all symbols to petrify or to evaporate, and either
process is fatal; for in the former instance the
recitals of explanations become dry and meaningless
through constant repetition, and in the latter case
the explanations become dry and meaningless through
constant repetition, and in the latter case the
explanations are so divorced from reality that, having
become fantastic, they cease to have vital
significance.

We learn from the Old Charges, and also from the
Ritual itself, that Freemasonry is founded upon
Geometry, and in fact is Geometry. IN our charge to
the F.C. we say that the Science of Geometry “is
established as the basis of our Art.” It was a saying
of Pythagoras that “all things are in numbers; the
world is a living arithmetic in development, - a
realized Geometry in repose.” Plutarch attributed to
Plato the saying that God is always geometrising, and
Henry Fabre, the great naturalist, in one of his
books, makes the following remark: - “Geometry, that
is to say, the science of harmony in space, presides
over everything. We find it in the arrangement of a
fir-cone, as in the arrangement of an epeira’s living
web; we find it in the spiral of a small shell, in the
chaplet of a spider’s thread, and in the orbit of a
planet; it is everywhere, as perfect in the world of
atoms as in the world of immensities. And this
universal geometry tells us of a Universal
Geometrician, whose Divine compass has measured all
things.”

Even the modern astronomer, Sir J.H. Jeans, says that
“from the intrinsic evidence of His creation
T.G.A.O.T.U. now begins to appear as a pure
mathematician.”

In short, “geometry,” as applied to the science of
Freemasonry, is not to be construed in the narrow
sense of mathematical limitation, but in the much
wider sense in which it was understood by the
Antients, namely an enquiry into the source of all
things, and a knowledge of the secrets of nature and
science through the whole of God’s creation, including
the innermost essence of man himself.

In dealing with these transcendental matters we must
never forget that our comprehension is of necessity
very limited. The created cannot compass the Creator,
any more than a stream can raise higher than its
source. As Evelyn Underhill, a well known Writer on
mysticism, says, “If the reality of God were small
enough to be grasped, it would not be large enough to
be adored.” In particular we, with our limited
intellect and intuition, know little or nothing in
regard to origins; we can only speculate as to
probabilities. We cannot conceive that space and time
are either limited or unlimited. we are, however,
aware that certain things are independent of, or
rather transcend, space and time, e.g. Life, Mind,
Goodness, Truth, Beauty, Wisdom etc., and all the
imponderables. The mystical doctrine is that the
material creation is everlasting and its Creator is
eternal, and although we do not know the “how” of the
process, we must accept the fact that by some means
the “many” have arisen from the “One.” While,
therefore, we cannot hope to attain any finality in
discovering how the material world of space and time
came into being from the Absolute, we can take life as
we know it, and endeavour to construct a mental
picture of the relation of God to the world, which
will serve until a better and nobler takes it place.
Faith has been defined as the resolution to stand or
fall by the noblest hypothesis.

A good starting point in our enquiry is the “POINT.”
It is stated in the Hebrew “Zohar” (“Book of
Splendour”) that, “when the Concealed of all concealed
wished to reveal himself, He first made a single
Point. The Infinite was entirely unknown and diffused
no light before this Luminous Point violently broke
out through the vision,” (i. 15); and again, “the
indivisible Point, which has no limit, and which
cannot be comprehended because of this purity and
brightness, expanded from without, and formed a
brightness which served as a covering to the
indivisible Point, yet it could not be viewed in
consequence of its immeasurable lights” (v. 20) As
regards the first of these sentences it may be
relevant to point out that the most complex living
creature starts it career on this earth as, in effect,
a point, round which the physical-form gathers in
accordance with the guidance of the underlying reason
principle, or Logos.

A very old mystical saying has it that, “God is a
circle whose centre is everywhere and whose
circumference is nowhere.” A point has position but it
is without magnitude. This saying is thus another way
of indicating that God being eternal is above space
and time, but at the same time is present, or
immanent, at every point in space. This is the first
point in our Masonic ontology, for the “point within a
circle” is one of the most important symbols, and at
the moment the emphasis is on the point. This
particular point is then a symbol of God. It is the
point from which we all come and to which we all
return. It is the centre where all knowledge resides
and where we shall find the lost grand secrets. Until
we arrive at the centre we must perforce be content
with substituted secrets, for as Isaac Pennington
says, “All truth is a shadow except the last. But
every truth is Substance in its own place, though it
be but a Shadow in another place. And the Shadow is a
true Shadow, as the Substance is a true Substance.”

The idea connoted by the “centre,” which is itself an
adequate subject for a complete Paper, not merely a
passing reference appears variously in our Ritual as
“the All-seeing Eye,” the “Sacred Symbol,” in the
centre of the building,” “the Blazing Star or Glory in
the centre,” and by certain Hebrew Characters related
to the Middle Chamber of the Temple which are depicted
on the Second degree T.B. by the letter “G”. In the
Platonic dialogue known as the First Alcibiades it is
plainly declared that “to know oneself is wisdom and
the highest virtue of the soul; for the soul rightly
entering into herself will behold all other things and
Deity itself; laying aside multitude and the variety
of all manifested powers which she contains she
ascends to the highest watchtower of beings.”

I used also to be said that, when the Almighty wished
to create the Universe, He described a circle. Now the
instrument we use for this purpose is the Compass -
the emblem of restraint and limitation - so that the
idea behind this old saying is evident; creation in
space and time is a limitation of the Divine Essence.
We recollect, of course, that the Compasses will do
their work properly only when one point is fixed, thus
making the other point free to range over infinite
space. The fixed point is a vital condition of their
proper activity. Just as the point can be anywhere, so
the circumference is unlimited.

The Lectures tell us that the proper subjects of
Geometry are Magnitude and Extension, or a regular
progression from a point to a line, a line to a
superfices, and a superfices to a solid, i.e., 1 to 2,
2 to 3, and 3 to 4. This progression in ancient
Geometry was known as the Pythagorean Tetractys, and
was represented by ten dots arranged in the form of an
equilateral triangle with four dots in the side - and
this has a deeply mystical meaning. The single dot
carried the significance just accorded to the centre,
and was regarded as the Active principle in Nature, or
SPIRIT. The two dots represent the Passive principle,
or MATTER, and here it is pertinent to notice that in
these modern times matter is regarded as consisting in
the last resort of a combination of protons and
electrons, positive and negative charges of
electricity, something we know nothing about except in
its manifestations. The three dotes denoted the
combination of the active and passive principles or
physical form; and the four dots denoted the
perfection of nature. The whole was thus a glyph of
the perfection of the Deity in manifestation.

From another angle this regular progression referred
to the tetrahedron, the first of the Platonic solides,
of which we read in the “Timaeus.” The apex, the line,
the equilateral triangle, and the solid itself. More
poetically we can refer it to the seed, stem, leaves,
and fruit, the whole symbol signifying the perfection
of the complete entity. I would like to develop the
mystical significance of this regular progression of
1,2,3,4 in a slightly different way.

The underlying meaning of the ONE has been indicated,
but by no means exhausted, in the foregoing references
dealing with the point. The ONE, or the Absolute, is
beyond space and time, the world of becoming, and
perhaps even beyond Being. It, or He, is in mystical
literature called the No-Thing because He is all
things - the foundation of all being, - and can only
be described by saying “not this; not that; but
something more.” The One is the particular theme of
Neoplatonism, and union with it was the goal of the
Ancient Mysteries, - the flight of the alone to the
alone.

When the One manifests in space and time, it
necessarily becomes “tow” or dual, positive and
negative, and everyone is familiar with the pairs of
opposites which pervade creation; light and dark, heat
and cold, and so on. In the Craft we have B. and J.,
which we are told referred to the “pillar of Fire”
which gave light and the “pillar of Cloud” which
proved darkness. B.J. therefore clearly correspond to
the two our of progression. Just as positive and
negative charges of electricity in the modern theory
of matter unite in a stable manner to produce chemical
elements and the bricks of the material world, so in
Freemasonry we learn that “Strength” (power or
positive activity) when conjoined with something
“Established” (or passive) produces “Stability.” Of
the two as a line I will deal later on in this Paper.

We now come to three, the first number which has a
beginning, middle and end, and which has been known as
the first perfect number. You will recall the many
trials in our Ritual, which is a symphony in three
movements upon the number three. The threefold idea
runs through the whole with great insistency, but the
particular triad I am concerned with at the moment is
that of the three Grand Pillars which support a
Freemason’s Lodge, - Wisdom, Strength, and Beauty. In
the first T.B. they are definitely called Divine
attributes, and the passage wherein they are
described, After dealing with their Application to the
individual, continues with their cosmic significance
as follows:-

“The Universe is the temple of the Deity whom we
serve; Wisdom, Strength and Beauty are about His
throne as the pillars of His works; for His Wisdom is
Infinite, His Strength omnipotent, and Beauty shines
through the whole creation in symmetry and order.”
Wisdom, Strength and Beauty thus lead us to
Omniscience, Omnipotence, and Omnipresence, and all
are attributes of the Deity in the eternal sphere of
the Divine Mind above space and time, that spiritual
world which the Neoplatonists called the intelligible
world which is intermediate between the One and the
Soul world. They have a very close affinity to the
three great Platonic values of Goodness, Truth, and
Beauty.

The three as an equilateral triangle is a glyph of the
spiritual world, and this symbol refers to the
three-in-oneness of the Divine Nature, an idea by no
means restricted to the Christian religion.

The addition of the fourth point completes the
tetrahedron> Image the solid standing on its base. Any
plane parallel to the base will contain a perfect
tetrahedron above it. The apex corresponds to the
ineffable Godhead - the One; - the three lines
radiating therefrom represent Wisdom, Strength and
Beauty, and the equal sides of the base correspond to
B.J. (action and reaction) and the result of their
conjunction - balance, harmony, and stability. There
is an infinite number of bases to which the apex and
the three radiating lines are common.

Bearing in mind that tetractys, and now the
tetrahedron, represent the perfection of the Deity in
manifestation, we are now in a position to consider
the application of this glyph to the building of King
Solomon’s Temple, which in the First T.B. refers
symbolically to the creation of the Universe. Has not
the First T.B. been aptly called the description of
the Cosmic Temple? “The Universe is the temple of the
Deity whom we serve.”

We find in the first Lecture that the materials for
Solomon’s Temple were brought from afar off and the
whole erected in silence. Also we learn that when the
material came to be put together, “each piece fitted
with that exact nicety that it appeared more like the
work of T.G.A.O.T.U., than of human hands.”
Penetrating below the literal surface meaning this
seems to refer to the activity of the Divine
Intelligence, or Logos, building up the temple of the
material universe in space and time out of the
material prepared in those far off days when what we
now know as matter was crystallised out of the nebulae
from which our stellar and solar systems arose. We
need no reminding of the essential “silence” of the
natural processes of growth. “I am not in the habit of
speaking,” Plotinus makes Nature say.

The two outstanding features about the building of
Solomon’s Temple were:-

a) The two Great Pillars

b) The fact that there were three Grand Masters who
bore sway, neither of whom could carry on without the
consent and co-operation of the other two.

I have already alluded to the two Great Pillars when
referring to the dual nature of matter, or the
material of the Cosmic Temple, which is symbolised by
B. & J. and the stability of their union. It should
now be noted that the three Grand Masters are
specifically identified, in the Lecture on the First
T.B., with Wisdom, Strength, and Beauty; “S.K.I., for
his Wisdom, H.K.T.for his Strength in providing men
and materials, and H.A.B., for his curious and
masterly workmanship in beautifying and adorning the
same.” In terms of individual activity, wisdom is
shown forth by thought or intellect, strength by will
or action, and beauty by feelings, emotions and
desires; in other words, by those three facets of the
complete personality otherwise known and described as
head, hand, and heart. Here we may perhaps be able to
resolve an apparent inconsistency in the Ritual and
the Traditional History, for it will be recollected
that whereas in the actual ceremony the representative
of our Master is slain and raised by the three
principal Officers of the Lodge, in the narrative of
the Traditional History the offence is committed and
the body raised by three workmen.

Now, H.A.B., as we have seen, corresponds to the
Divine attribute of Beauty, the principle which
“shines through the whole of the creation in symmetry
and order,” and which is thus responsible for Form.
But Beauty is further stated “to adorn the inward
man,” and this individual reference serves to show
that H.A.B., also typifies the hidden man of the
heart, the Divine spark in everyone, which lighteth
every man that cometh into the world, and which
shineth in darkness though the darkness comprehendeth
it not until it is sought for and its light diffused
over all being. This spark which the Cambridge
Platonists called the seed of the deiform nature,
cannot sprout or grow to full perfection until we
purify our whole nature, intellect, will and feelings;
our workmen, so to speak; good servants when
disciplined, but bad masters when allowed to run
riot.At the same time, these activities when purified
to become the principal officers of our personal
“Lodge,” are the self-same means by which we can, by
constantly orienting them towards Wisdom, Strength,
and Beauty respectively, raise our Master from his
imprisonment and restore him to his rightful place in
the scheme of things.

Our Master is slain by three great knocks,
representing the rebellion of our workmen, intellect,
will and feelings, who have misused their working
tools, i.e., thoughts, actions and desires. By three
knocks at the door of our personal Lodge we commence
the great work of raising him to the mastership of our
personal being.

In the foregoing discussion we have dealt more
especially with points. The first development of a
point in space is a line, and I would like to draw out
the symbolic significance of some of our lines.

A single vertical line represents the Plumb Rule, and
the Working Tools. Two vertical lines, parallel,
refer to B. & J. but when we consider that the
significance of B. & J., is that of a pair of
opposites, in particular from their ascribed meanings
of activity and passivity, we shall find their
ascribed meanings of activity and passivity, we shall
find that it will be more appropriate for one of the
lines to be vertical and the other horizontal. We
actually meet two pairs thus in Lodge on the Wardens’
Ps. with exactly this meaning.When these two lines
are conjoined we have a glyph of the level, if the
vertical rises from the mid-point of the base, or of
the square, if from either end, another intimation
that B. & J., when conjoined denote stability,
harmony, or balance.

There is another more covert reference to these two
lines at right angles, for if you consider the Signs
of the Three degrees you will find that the right hand
moves in the Three degrees in such A way as to come to
rest in the third in the position denoting perfect
balance, at the centre of the body.

In the Ritual these tow lines occur combined in the
former manner under different circumstances and with a
correspondingly different meaning - in the three
regular steps. I have referred earlier to the fact
that the three degrees refer respectively to the
purification of our physical, mental, and spiritual
natures. In each case before we are entrusted with the
Secrets of the Degree or the rewards of our continued
progress, we are required to take a special step,
which from the instruction given is specifically in
the form of a Tau Cross. This cross has been the
emblem of Life in all ages, and in its grosser aspect
refers to the baser parts of our nature, which require
to be disciplined before we attain our goal of
spiritual regeneration. These regular steps symbolise,
therefore, the necessary work of treading underfoot
the baser elements of our physical, mental, and
spiritual natures at each stage of our progress
towards the light. As we step into each charmed
circle, the left foot forms a chord of that circle and
the right foot bisects it at right angles, pointing to
the centre. In passing it may be mentioned that there
seems to be a distinct, though somewhat hidden
reference to the Tau Cross in its highest aspect in
the Third Lecture, where we are told that the
candidate is raised from a superficial flat to a
lively perpendicular; also that the gavels, the
emblems of power wielded by the Master and Wardens,
are shaped in the form of the Tau, and their use is
the prerogative of the Rulers in the Craft.

The next time we see three Taus in conjunction is on
the Installed Masters’ Apron, where they replace the
rosettes, the feminine emblem of submission. This
seems to indicate symbolically that an Installed
Master having completed his journey in a Craft Lodge
is deemed to have effected the work of purifying his
three-fold nature, and is in fact the “just man made
perfect.”

So far in dealing with these three Taus we have been
concerned with the individual in his progress from the
“rough ashlar” stage to the perfect ashlar stage; but
there is implicit in the Ritual a further more
elaborate symbol which in its development will link up
with that portion of the earlier part of this Paper
which dealt with Masonic ontology and with the Cosmic
Temple of which we are all living stones.

We are told in the Lecture on the First T.B., that in
all “regular, well formed, and duly constituted
Lodges, there is a point with a circle round which the
Brethren cannot err.” This centre is bounded “between
N. and S. by two parallel lines, the one representing
Moses and the other King Solomon; on the upper part of
the circle rests the V. of the S.L., unfolded.: Now,
Moses symbolises STRENGTH - was he not the strong man
who led Israel out of Egypt “with a high hand and
outstretched arm”? Solomon, moreover, symbolises
WISDOM, while the V.S.L., refers to the BEAUTY of
holiness and the divinity which pervades all things,
so that we have a covert reference to the three Great
Pillars. When we consider that the Compasses, And by
implication the circle, are emblematic of that
restraint which keeps the Freemason within due bounds,
we can see that from the point of view of the
individual, when we open our personal Lodge on the
centre, we are bound by Wisdom, Strength, and Beauty,
the ultimate terms of thought, action, and desire,
respectively. The individual reference in the First
T.B., Lecture you will remember, is “Wisdom to conduct
us in all our undertakings, Strength to support us in
all our difficulties, and Beauty to adorn the inward
man.”

We are, however, given a Cosmic reference in the same
Lecture, to which I have already alluded; “His Wisdom
is infinite (Omniscience); His Strength Omnipotent
(Omnipotence); and Beauty shines through the whole of
the creation in symmetry and order (Omnipresence).”
If, therefore, we draw the radii from each of the
tangents to the centre of the circle we find a
three-fold Tau, a very adequate symbol of the Most
High and the conjunction of the three Divine energies,
which are three yet one. The following quotation from
the “Book of the Wisdom of Solomon” will perhaps serve
to illustrate this truth, but examples could be
multiplied:- “wisdom is more moving than any motion;
she passeth through all things by reason of her
pureness. For she is the breath of the power of God,
and a pure influence flowing from the glory of the
Almighty; therefore can no defiled thing fall into
her; for she is the brightness of the everlasting
light, the unspotted mirror of the power of God, and
the image of His Goodness. And, being but one, she can
do all things, and, remaining in herself, she maketh
all things new; and in all ages entering into holy
souls, she maketh them friends of God and prophets,
for God loveth none but him that dwelleth with Wisdom;
for she is more beautiful than the Sun and above all
the order of the stars ... she is privy to the
mysteries of the knowledge of God and a lover of His
works.”

The next step is form a line to a superficies. So far
we have confined ourselves to the point, the line and
the circle. I would like now to consider the triangle
and the square, and to develop an ordered sequence of
ideas embodying their use. In the old days when the
earth was thought to be flat and square, the Square
(or quadrangle) was the emblem of the earth, and
later, of the earthly element of man, and matter
generally. The triangle on the other hand, and
especially the equilateral triangle, came to refer to
the perfection of the Divine nature, and therefore
Spirit. When applied to the individual, the triangle
and the Square have come to refer to his spiritual and
physical natures respectively.

We first encounter these two geometrical figures in
conjunction in the E.A.’s Apron, which in many
workings is worn with the flapup, its five-pointed
form thus symbolising that the E.A. possesses a
material and an immaterial part, but that the latter
has not yet succeeded in controlling the former, or in
coming into proper relation with it. The spirit is as
yet only brooding over the face of the waters, so to
speak.

In the F.C.’s Apron we have a change. The triangular
flap is turned downwards on to the square, implying
that the work of subdual of the physical or lower
nature by the spiritual or higher nature is in
progress. Two rosettes also appear in this Degree,
and this leads us to consider the two-fold nature of
the immaterial part of our make-up, and its symbolical
representation.

The triangle can be drawn with the apex pointing
upwards or downwards. These were known in medieval
Kabbalism as the triangles of fire and water
respectively. Symbolically the triangle of fire refers
to the spiritual nature, and the triangle of water to
the mental or psychic nature; one meaning of the
interlaced triangles being the perfection of manhood;
spirit and soul in perfect balance. Returning to the
F.C.’s Apron, the water triangle of the mental or soul
nature is evident in the flap, but there is only an
adumbration of the triangle of fire. The triangle of
fire here consists of points only instead of lines,
and the apex is hidden, indicating that in this
Degree, the spiritual is as yet half concealed and
half revealed. The F.C. is in the midway of
Freemasonry.

In the M.M.’s Apron the third point has become
visible, and the two triangles have become partly
interlaced. We must wait until later on before we
arrive at the symbol of really perfect manhood or of
Divine Humanity - the interlaced equilateral triangles
with a point within and the whole surrounded by a
circle.

“From a superficies to a solid” is the last step of
our progression. The three solids we meet with in a
Craft Lodge are the parallelopipedon, the rough and
the perfect ashlars.

Brethren will remember the symbolical significance of
the first of these solids as explained in the lecture
on the First T.B. In the Craft the stone of true die
or square is the symbol of mature manhood “after a
life well spent in acts of piety and virtue.” It has a
correspondence with the other symbol just mentioned,
the interlaced triangles, for whereas this has twelve
points and six lines, the cube has twelve lines, or
edges, and six surfaces. The cube is such that its
sides coincide with three planes at right- angles; it
is the first of the Platonic solids to which this
applies. The cube is thus in its structure triadic,
and is a peculiarly apt symbol for the human
personality with its threefold nature, hand, heart,
and head; intellect, will, And feelings; thought,
actions, and desires; body, soul, and spirit. To apply
this idea still further, consider on a point of a
cube. From it radiate three lines, which correspond to
the components of the triads just mentioned. In the
rough ashlar these are rough and irregular. By the
exercise of the three Working Tools, a straight- edge,
a chisel (also represented by a line), and a gavel
(represented by two lines at right angles), the rough
material is wrought into due form and the perfection
of the whole brought into manifestation. So in the
individual, the material is rough, albeit sound,
stone; else he would not have been accepted as a
candidate, but by the exercise of the Working Tools of
the personality, purified thought, action, and desire,
the individual is wrought into due form and the hidden
Master brought to light. This can be exemplified by
opening the perfect cube up into the form of a Cross,
when the hidden man of the heart, represented by the
middle square, will be seen surrounded by the other
five perfect squares, which correspond to the five
purified senses. The upright line of spirit - B -
conjoined with the horizontal line of matter - J -
indicates that in the perfect man balance and harmony
has been attained, and as these lines form a Cross, we
have an adumbration of the method by which such
balance is necessarily attainable, the Cross having
always been regarded as the gateway to fuller and more
abundant life.

Before leaving the three lines radiating from the
point of a cube, there is a further point which may
not be without interest. Just before an E.A. is
entrusted with the Secrets of the Degree he is told to
stand “perfectly erect, feet formed in a square,” his
“body thus being considered to be an emblem of” his
mind, and his “feet, of the rectitude of his actions.”
It will be evident that his body and feet are thus
aligned along the three edges of a cube, which were
equated above with intellect, will, and feelings,
among other things. The upright line refers to
intellect (or mind), and the other two lines, will and
feelings, the mainsprings of actions. Incidently it
may be remarked that the erect body refers in a hidden
way to the Plumb Rule, the feet to the Square, and
from this position the candidate advances to the first
regular step which is in the form of the level. He has
just been told that all Ss. Ls. and Ps. “are true and
proper signs by which to know a Freemason,” but there
is also a suggestion here of the Working Tools of the
Second Degree, which the candidate learns more about
when he becomes a F.C.

The whole glyph thus indicates the progress from the
rough ashlar to the living stone. You will no doubt
recall that St. Peter in one of his Epistles exhorts
his readers in this strain: “Be ye living stones,
built up into a spiritual house,” and you may also
have heard the exhortation of Cornelius Agrippa, one
of the medieval alchemists: “Be ye transformed from
dead stones into living philosophical stones.”

Our goal is to become living stones fit for the
habitation not made with hands, eternal in the
heavens, the Heavenly Jerusalem, of which Solomon’s
Temple with its middle chamber, containing “certain
Hebrew characters, alluding to God, T.G.A.O.T.U.,” and
also our Masonic Lodges are earthly types. In the
vision of the Apocalypse at the end of the V.S.L.,
this city had twelve gates, it was four- square, and
the length, breadth, and height were all equal; its
wall was 144 cubits, the measure of a man who is an
angel, square man, the perfect man. There was no
temple, but the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb were
the temple of it. The City had no need of Sun or Moon,
because the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb
was the light therefor. (In our earthly Lodges we have
lesser lights - “the Sun, the Moon, and the Master of
the Lodge”). From the temple flowed a river of living
water beside which was the tree of life, whose leaves
were for the healing of nations. (In our earthly
Lodges we depict “an ear of corn, near to a fall of
water”)

I will end this section by showing how the tetractys
can be combined with the triangle, the perfect ashlar,
and the centre, into a comprehensive glyph of the
Masonic process of regeneration, The tetractys
referred to the perfection of nature as a
manifestation of T.G.A.O.T.U. Joining the three outer
points we get the equilateral triangle representing
the over-arching realities of Wisdom, Strength, and
Beauty, the trine attributes of Deity, which are the
ultimate terms of human activity; within is the
centre, the point from which creation commences in the
physical world. BY drawing the three radiating lines
from the centre, the perfect ashlar emerges
symbolising the perfection of manhood bounded by
Wisdom, Strength, and Beauty.

In conclusion, I would like to emphasize that in many
respects this study represents an individual point of
view, the acceptance of which is obligatory upon no
one. It may be likened to a bunch of flowers culled
from many gardens; I have merely supplied the cord
binding the whole together, at the same time taking
the liberty of adding a few blossoms of my own. I put
it forward with all sincerity in the hope that it may
assist Brethren, not only to appreciate some of the
hidden implication of our Ritual, but to make the
Ritual and all it stands for, a living issue for us
all.

SO MOTE IT BE.

Thursday, September 29, 2005

Sully gets Godwin'd

Not a good day for Sully as he decides to call anyone who disagrees with him ( by inferance) of thinking like hitler.

Ace calls Godwin's Law on Sully's talking about torture.

There is a tradition in many Usenet newsgroups that once such a comparison is made, the thread is over, and whoever mentioned the Nazis has automatically lost whatever argument was in progress. Godwin's law thus practically guarantees the existence of an upper bound on thread length in those groups. Many people understand Godwin's law to mean this, although (as is clear from the statement of the law above) this is not the original formulation.


Under USENET rules Sully has now lost his arguments on torture

More Wonderful news for the Dutch people.....

Now it is easier for them to Kill their Patients. Yes in a state where the doctors get paid by the government the doctors now have more leway to pressure people who might cost the state a lot of money to just "give it up and die"

It will take us a while before the islands of American Euthanasia become that progressive. Last I heard the state of Oregan was fighting for the rights for people on Medicare and Medicaid to be euthanized.

I just thought people would have learned with HMOs... never give people the power to pay for your care and decide when you can live or die.

especially when those people are your government

To Answer Sully's question....



GAY VERSUS GAY ON IRAN: Why has the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) been so silent and craven with regard to the Iranian government's brutal suppression of gay freedom? Principled leftist Doug Ireland wants to know - and he deserves great credit for pursuing this story so assiduously.


Sully
Sully Sully

the answer is obvious.

IGLHRC hates the "neocon" philosophy about foriegn policy

If they tried to raise awareness about what was going on in Iran they would have to advocate something would be done to stop it.

To do that they would have to support some one like George Bush. And they would rather have sex with a woman ( the gay males.. not the lesbians) then do that.

IMAM asked to sit in the corner

Hat tip to the Lizoid Army at LGF

A spanish Judge decides telling people how to beat their wives can be punished by 22 days in jail and a civics class

ADRID -- An imam who wrote a book on how to beat your wife without leaving marks on her body has been ordered by a judge in Spain to study the country's constitution.
The judge told Mohamed Kamal Mustafa, imam of a mosque in the southern resort of Fuengirola, to spend six months studying three articles of the constitution and the universal declaration of human rights.
Mr. Mustafa was sentenced to 15 months in jail and fined about $2,600 last year after being found guilty of inciting violence against women.
A judge released him after 22 days in jail on the condition that he undertake a re-education course.


and where did the Judge get this Insane idea

two words "Socialist Government"

The Spanish government has set up a commission to find ways for the Muslim community to regulate itself. A central recommendation is that imams speak Spanish and have a basic knowledge of human rights and Spanish law.


Yes because -Clearly- Education has helped to stop terrorism and brutal sharia islamism in Palestinian communities

oh wait it hasn't

Screw the ACLU

Ya know... the ACLU gets a bad rap most of the time but this is not one of those times.

Hellerstein ordered the release of 74 pictures and three videotapes from the Abu Ghraib prison, potentially opening the military up to more embarrassment from a scandal that stirred outrage around the world last year when photos of abuse became public.

The photographs covered by Thursday's ruling were taken by a soldier. A military policeman who saw them turned them over to the Army. Some may be duplicates of photos already seen by the public.

An appeal of Hellerstein's ruling is expected.

Gen. John P. Abizaid, commander of U.S. Central Command, said that releasing the photos would hinder his work against terrorism.

The American Civil Liberties Union sought release of the photographs and videotapes as part of an October 2003 lawsuit demanding information on the treatment of detainees in U.S. custody.


Ya know... UNLESS you have evidence that these pictures show abuse before or after the time already admited to by the US government, what is the point?

The point is to make the photos public and slap the administration in the face which has been probably the most anti-aclu administration in some time.

This is the kind of stunt that gives creedence to the stories about the ACLU being part of a communist front to destroy america

stop this garbage unless the photo's are relevant or be worthy of the contempt of all right thinking americans

Still not buying the "sham prosecution" card

But this story over on National Review about D.A Earle allowing a film crew to follow his hunt of Delay makes me wonder

The resulting film is called The Big Buy, made by Texas filmmakers Mark Birnbaum and Jim Schermbeck. "Raymond Chandler meets Willie Nelson on the corner of Wall Street and Pennsylvania Avenue in The Big Buy, a Texas noir political detective story that chronicles what some are calling a 'bloodless coup with corporate cash,'" reads a description of the picture on Birnbaum's website, markbirnbaum.com. The film, according to the description, "follows maverick Austin DA Ronnie Earle's investigation into what really happened when corporate money joined forces with relentless political ambitions to help swing the pivotal 2002 Texas elections, cementing Republican control from Austin to Washington DC."


I still think Delay should resign but he may have a point

We made the middle east safe for democracy... now europe

More good stuff from Brussels Journal.

"No. The constitution has to be approved. We just have to wait for a new French president [expected in 2009]. Mr. [Atzo] NicolaĂŻ [Minister of European affairs of the Netherlands], told me that the constitution is not dead in the Netherlands. The Commission should give positive signals instead!"


These wonderful words are from the EU commission president

read about how EU parlimentarians reacted to some of his fun words

Hate to say I told you so......

To all you folks who say that Gay Marriage and Gay Civil Unions won't lead to normalized polygamy ( which if we are going to go ahead and give gays all that stuff I don't see any reasons we leave the poly folk out) take a look at this pioneer in gay rights ( Hat tip to Michelle Malkin who I would marry in a trio if she let me.)

The Netherlands and Belgium were the first countries to give full marriage rights to homosexuals. In the United States some politicians propose “civil unions” that give homosexual couples the full benefits and responsibilities of marriage. These civil unions differ from marriage only in name.

Meanwhile in the Netherlands polygamy has been legalised in all but name. Last Friday the first civil union of three partners was registered. Victor de Bruijn (46) from Roosendaal “married” both Bianca (31) and Mirjam (35) in a ceremony before a notary who duly registered their civil union.



But when asked how he deals with what any sane man should hate having two women p!$$ed off at you this sage advice was offered

Asked by journalists to tell the secret of their peculiar relationship, Victor explained that there is no jealousy between them. “But this is because Mirjam and Bianca are bisexual. I think that with two heterosexual women it would be more difficult.” Victor stressed, however, that he is “a one hundred per cent heterosexual” and that a fourth person will not be allowed into the “marriage.” They want to take their marriage obligations seriously: “to be honest and open with each other and not philander.”


So not only did the first US court cases for Polygamist rights come out after the major push of Lawrence V Texas... now we see in europe the same door that was first opened to gays no letting in Polygamy.

does ANYONE now see that those people who say it opens the door for all kinds of odd relationships had a point?

UPDATE
and looks like some other folks got on the same gimmic as me

Ace
also seems to be caught up on the bisexual angle so i think he might have gotten this from me....NIF: Serenity picks it up from ACE ( and if they have a track back I can't find it) and hubs and spokes also picks up on the continuation of the slippery slope.

So did I inspire these or did Ace pick it up off of Malkin and get surprised in similar ways to me "the world may never know"

A quiz that's political

Whom is my best canidate for the high court

this is what this quiz says

bam

JUDGE ALICE BATCHELDER
JUDGE ALICE BATCHELDER
U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit, appointed by
G.H.W. Bush, 61 years old
An Ohioan, well regarded and respected for her
intellect and judgment, Batchelder could be a
nominee meant to stifle Democratic criticism.
Batchelder is considered a nominee who could
appear as thoughtful, charismatic and
intelligent in Senate hearings as Judge Roberts
was.


New World Man presents: My favorite candidate for the Supreme Court
brought to you by Quizilla

IT IS NOT REAL

The Came for our violent cartoons.... and you were not with us then. They came after the smokers... you were not with the smokers then.

But this Shkite has gone to to far now people.

An AFA spokeswoman in Washington said the unions worry that moviegoers will take away impressions that will make it more difficult for flight attendants to "earn the trust and respect of passengers."


It is a movie.... It is not real

Because in the real world Jodie Foster didn't invent a plane

Nor was she an FBI agent

those things happen in MOVIES

Brad Pitt is not an international Con Artist, nor is he the delusion of a Domestic Terrorist group leader.

These things are not REAL.

Back in the bad old days of the 50s and 60s the sexy stewardess stereotype evolved.... and that is the way things came out. But it evolved because stewardesses were usually very attractive people.

This is different

This is a movie which if you've seen the Preview you've pretty much seen 2/3rds of the movie is clearly... A MOVIE

you are not exposed to stories of flight crews kidnapping people why

because that doesn't happen in the REAL world.

Nor do most kids think if they shoot some one with a gun like the cartoons used to do that they will be ok.

Insane people do... but we don't make rules for insane people

well... Unless your in a Union

teacher Teacher (kick it ok cupid style)

Hand-Raiser
You are 57% Rational, 57% Extroverted, 28% Brutal, and 28% Arrogant.
You are the Hand-Raiser, that annoying kid in class who always had an answer for everything. No doubt, as a child you probably sat in the front of the class, anxiously waving your hand back and forth in the air while your teacher desperately tried to avoid calling on you because you were the ONLY fucking kid that answered her questions. Clearly, the key traits of your personality are your rationality and your extroversion. You are like a little talkative calculator, in other words. You also tend to be rather gentle and less arrogant than most people. So what is your defect, then? Well, you're boring, and when you're not boring, you are just plain annoying with your ultra-logical responses and constant need to talk to others. So keep waving that hand in the air, son. I'm still not calling on you. You are too logical, you talk too much, and your humility and gentleness only makes me hate you more, because they make me feel like I almost SHOULDN'T hate you. But I do. Big time.

To put it less negatively:

1. You are more RATIONAL than intuitive.

2. You are more EXTROVERTED than introverted.

3. You are more GENTLE than brutal.

4. You are more HUMBLE than arrogant.

Compatibility:

Your exact opposite is the Brute.

Other personalities you would probably get along with are the Braggart, the Haughty Intellectual, and the Robot.

*

*

If you scored near fifty percent for a certain trait (42%-58%), you could very well go either way. For example, someone with 42% Extroversion is slightly leaning towards being an introvert, but is close enough to being an extrovert to be classified that way as well. Below is a list of the other personality types so that you can determine which other possible categories you may fill if you scored near fifty percent for certain traits.

The other personality types:

The Emo Kid: Intuitive, Introverted, Gentle, Humble.

The Starving Artist: Intuitive, Introverted, Gentle, Arrogant.

The Bitch-Slap: Intuitive, Introverted, Brutal, Humble.

The Brute: Intuitive, Introverted, Brutal, Arrogant.

The Hippie: Intuitive, Extroverted, Gentle, Humble.

The Televangelist: Intuitive, Extroverted, Gentle, Arrogant.

The Schoolyard Bully: Intuitive, Extroverted, Brutal, Humble.

The Class Clown: Intuitive, Extroverted, Brutal, Arrogant.

The Robot: Rational, Introverted, Gentle, Humble.

The Haughty Intellectual: Rational, Introverted, Gentle, Arrogant.

The Spiteful Loner: Rational, Introverted, Brutal, Humble.

The Sociopath: Rational, Introverted, Brutal, Arrogant.

The Hand-Raiser: Rational, Extroverted, Gentle, Humble.

The Braggart: Rational, Extroverted, Gentle, Arrogant.

The Capitalist Pig: Rational, Extroverted, Brutal, Humble.

The Smartass: Rational, Extroverted, Brutal, Arrogant.




My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:
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You scored higher than 33% on Rationality
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You scored higher than 58% on Extroversion
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You scored higher than 27% on Brutality
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You scored higher than 19% on Arrogance
Link: The Personality Defect Test written by saint_gasoline on Ok Cupid

Sully we hardly knew thee...

Over on Prism Warden we get to watch the train wreck that was once one of the bright eyes of the blogosphere Andrew Sullivan.

. . every moment we spend obsessing about the enemy within is one moment not spent spreading the message without. The thrill of exposure, the momentary feeling of self-righteousness and power that outing brings, may often surpass in excitement the daily grind of changing minds and witnessing to the truth. But only the grind moves us forward. And everything else ultimately takes us back.


Old Sully

DREIER PUSHED ASIDE: Any bets that James Dobson and Karl Rove vetoed? Any bets why?


New Sully

Sully has turned his hatred of the Republican's "anti-civil rights" position on gay marriage into something that makes him logically bling.

Blunt has been building his way up for the post of HML for some time now... starting to get out pac money to the right people

that could be a good reason.

The implication of sully is truly sad. And it is the ideological Kin of outing... especially when he has no reason to know if it is true

and Ace is with me on this one

Nicknames of the Bush Clan....

Some you know some you don't and some are just scary (thanks to Barry @ enrevanche for the hookup)

Fred Barnes-Barney


He's nick named prominent reporter Fred Barnes after the evil little dog who is the real mastermind of the vast right wing conspiracy

Highly informative

Maureen Dowd-Cobra


are we talking the G I Joe comic book cobra, the first cartoon incarnation of cobra or the stupid cobra la version?

Alberto Gonzales-Fredo


**must not think of the god father....**

Ben Nelson - Nellie, Benny, Benator


**must not think of Ben Affleck**
Fred Upton-Freddo


two Freddo's?

a meme from RINO land

Respectful Insolence ( one who knows of the power of the flying spaghetti monster) has brought out a fun meme for Banned Books week

The titles that are colored are the ones I have read

1. Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz
2. Daddy’s Roommate by Michael Willhoite
3. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
4. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
5. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
6. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
7. Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling
8. Forever by Judy Blume
9. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
10. Alice (Series) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
11. Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman
12. My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
13. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
14. The Giver by Lois Lowry
15. It’s Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris
16. Goosebumps (Series) by R.L. Stine
17. A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck
18. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
19. Sex by Madonna ( I am ashamed to say)
20. Earth’s Children (Series) by Jean M. Auel
21. The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
22. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
23. Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
24. Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers
25. In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
26. The Stupids (Series) by Harry Allard
27. The Witches by Roald Dahl
28. The New Joy of Gay Sex by Charles Silverstein
29. Anastasia Krupnik (Series) by Lois Lowry
30. The Goats by Brock Cole
31. Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane
32. Blubber by Judy Blume
33. Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan
34. Halloween ABC by Eve Merriam
35. We All Fall Down by Robert Cormier
36. Final Exit by Derek Humphry
37. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
38. Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
39. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
40. What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Girls: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Daughters by Lynda Madaras
41. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
42. Beloved by Toni Morrison
43. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
44. The Pigman by Paul Zindel
45. Bumps in the Night by Harry Allard
46. Deenie by Judy Blume
47. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
48. Annie on my Mind by Nancy Garden
49. The Boy Who Lost His Face by Louis Sachar
50. Cross Your Fingers, Spit in Your Hat by Alvin Schwartz
51. A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
52. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
53. Sleeping Beauty Trilogy by A.N. Roquelaure (Anne Rice)
54. Asking About Sex and Growing Up by Joanna Cole
55. Cujo by Stephen King
56. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
57. The Anarchist Cookbook by William Powell
58. Boys and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
59. Ordinary People by Judith Guest
60. American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
61. What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Boys: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Sons by Lynda Madaras
62. Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
63. Crazy Lady by Jane Conly
64. Athletic Shorts by Chris Crutcher
65. Fade by Robert Cormier
66. Guess What? by Mem Fox
67. The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende
68. The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline Cooney
69. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
70. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
71. Native Son by Richard Wright
72. Women on Top: How Real Life Has Changed Women’s Fantasies by Nancy Friday
73. Curses, Hexes and Spells by Daniel Cohen
74. Jack by A.M. Homes
75. Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo A. Anaya
76. Where Did I Come From? by Peter Mayle
77. Carrie by Stephen King
78. Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume
79. On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer
80. Arizona Kid by Ron Koertge
81. Family Secrets by Norma Klein
82. Mommy Laid An Egg by Babette Cole
83. The Dead Zone by Stephen King
84. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
85. Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
86. Always Running by Luis Rodriguez
87. Private Parts by Howard Stern
88. Where’s Waldo? by Martin Hanford
89. Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene
90. Little Black Sambo by Helen Bannerman
91. Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
92. Running Loose by Chris Crutcher
93. Sex Education by Jenny Davis
94. The Drowning of Stephen Jones by Bette Greene
95. Girls and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
96. How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell
97. View from the Cherry Tree by Willo Davis Roberts
98. The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
99. The Terrorist by Caroline Cooney
100. Jump Ship to Freedom by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier


man I sure read a lot

I wonder what Sean Hannity Et. Al will say

Over on Gayorbit I saw something that reminded me of the movie snakeyes. Nicholas Cage plays a semi-dirty cop who does the right thing, and the celebrity status of it exposes his prior sins to the world.

Well this woman who was halled out by all the "Cultural Conservative" pundits has proven to be a tad less wellll.... Culturally conservative.

“Suddenly, looking down at my drug pouch,” Smith wrote, “I realized that I would rather have died in my apartment than have done those drugs with Brian Nichols. If the cops were going to bust in here and find me dead, they were not going to find drugs in me when they did the autopsy. I was not going to die tonight and stand before God, having done a bunch of ice up my nose.”


All those folks talking about her christ driven convictions.... I bet they feel a nice kidney punch to their integrity right about now.

But somehow I doubt many of them will be talking about this

Over in Raging RINO land

We came up with the idea of a "watering hole" something where we would try to focus the POWER OF OUR BLOGGING on a single topic.

So, I designate our fearless leader the Commissar as the second Watering Hole, and the subject is Ronnie Earle and Tom Delay. Glad to see the Majority Leader get his comeuppance? Think he's being set up? Is Ronnie Earle a partisan hack or a man of principle? Will the Republicans spend the next 3 years in a cloud of scandal? Let us know what you think.


So let me answer those questions in order

#1) Glad he got smacked with his hand in the cookie jar yes... not sure that counts as come upance. I hate olde school political slimyness in my leaders and that fits Tom Delay to a T
#2) kinda sorta... i think the prosecution is setting up an easy case to try to put him in jail ( but his actual criminal conduct is much more nebulous) I think they may have info of something bigger and just can't prove it... so they are doing it this way.
#3) I say its a little of collum A and a little of collum B. I think he is using this for his own political gain
#4) Dude.... where you been for the last 5 years now ;-)

-Mark Coffey with the questions-

Mark brings up a powerful point in his own blog

There have been some notable missteps, though, the biggest in 1994 when he went after GOP Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison for allegedly misusing state telephones for political business. At a pretrial hearing, the judge questioned the admissibility of the prosecution’s evidence and Earle declined to present a case. That led to Senator Hutchison’s acquittal, and many saw the DA as an amateur.


and IIRC 94 was when Kay Bailey had just given the texas Democrats a nice black eye....

So he Earle does have some political hackery in his past to give the charges legs.

The Commissar himself still has his grand jury out.

So I think its good we get sum of the sliminess and porkiness out of the gop leadership in the house

Oy

A thank you to Al-Press

A new sign when you are leaving brooklyn says Oy Vey

;-) this is high comedy to me.

It came from the email box ( a rebuttal of replacement theology III)

B"H

The Greatest Story Never Told
The Relationship of the Gentile and the Torah
By Ariel Bar Tzadok



The Universal Laws as Given to Adam

Now that you have an understanding of the legitimacy of the Oral tradition, I will now introduce you to a Rabbinic method of Biblical interpretation. This method takes a text and reads into it certain things which do not appear obvious on the surface. A reader who is unaware of Rabbinic tradition might argue that anyone, therefore, can interpret anything one wants from any verse of scripture. This is totally untrue. The holy Rabbinic Sages never made anything up. On the contrary, they only spoke what they were allowed. Permission from Heaven had to be received in order to reveal the Divinely ordained rules of the Oral tradition.

According to our Sages, the six universal laws of social morality were all commanded to Adam concealed within the meaning of the Hebrew words that G-d spoke to him when forbidding him to eat of the Tree of Knowledge, Good and Evil. Being that prior to the fall Adam was of a far greater spiritual stature than we his children are today, he understood G-d's concealed meanings within every Divine Word spoken.

In Genesis 2:16-17, it is written, "And the L-rd G-d commanded Adam, saying: Of every tree in the garden you may surely eat. But from the Tree of Knowledge, Good and Evil you may not eat of it, for on the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.

The holy Rabbis have revealed that the statement, "And the L-rd G-d commanded" through Biblical exegesis (on Hosea 5:1) shows that the word "commanded" is used with regards to the forbiddance of idolatry. So, with one holy Word of the Torah, G-d is implying the complete forbiddance of idolatry.

The simple mention of the Name of G-d in this verse is said to be related to a similar mention of the holy Name in Lev. 24:16. Just as that reference forbids blasphemy, so here is the same prohibition discreetly concealed.

The word "commanded" refers to the prohibition against murder. A similar mention of the word is used in Gen. 9:6 where the prohibition against murder is spelled out.

The word "saying" is also used in Jeremiah 3:1. There it is used with regards to the prohibition against immorality. So it is interpreted to mean the same here.

The prohibition against theft is clear and obvious. The Tree of Knowledge and the entire Garden belonged to G-d. For Adam to violate the commandment not to eat of the Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge means that he stole that fruit.

By using the double Name of G-d (L-rd G-d, HaShem Elokim) there is a reference to the universal attribute of justice, symbolized by the Name Elohim. This Name is usually translated as "G-d" but the Bible also uses the word to refer to a judge (ref. Exodus 22:27). Therefore, the mere mention of this Name in this verse teaches us the prohibition against injustice.

Now, I do not claim that this manner of Biblical interpretation is the most easy and clear path to follow. Even my own logic and rationale can pick apart this interpretation and claim that the Rabbis have read into the text something that is not there. Yet, I do not do this, for I have faith in the word of G-d and in the words of G-d's servants, the Rabbis.

I have already mentioned previously that Rabbinic interpretation is not some haphazard work that the Rabbis perform so as to prove an agenda. On the contrary, the only agenda that Rabbis have ever had is to remain as unswervingly faithful to the original meanings of the Bible as is humanly possible. The foregoing understanding of Gen. 2:16 might seem far fetched for those of you not familiar with how G-d conceals giant matters within each and every word and letter of His holy Torah. Nonetheless, for those of you with a spiritual mind and heart, you can come and see the glory of the wisdom of the L-rd.


The History of the Sins of the Pre-Flood Children of Adam According to the secret tradition of the holy Rabbis, i.e., the Kabbalah, prior to the fall Adam was a far greater person than he was afterwards. Prior to the fall Adam was more of a spiritual being than a physical one. He included within him all the souls of mankind. This does not only mean that all souls would come forth from him, but rather that each and every cell of his body was an individual, conscious soul. Adam was thus the collective soul of all mankind. It is of no wonder then that the Hebrew word for mankind and the name of the father of mankind is one and the same: Adam.

Awareness of the essential unity of all souls is important to truly understand what happened to mankind, as a race, due to the act of Adam. Mankind, together, suffered Adam's fate, not as his progeny, but as part of his collective soul. The sin that blemished Adam's collective soul caused that collective soul to fragment. Each soul, therefore, became an independent entity. Each newly independent soul now individually had the responsibility to return to G-d. Adam's sin was more of a blemish than a fall. Adam lost his original spiritual stature, but he never lost his communion with G-d. This is very clear in the Bible. In fact, we see that both Cain and Abel had a very living relationship with G-d. The only thing that changed this was their individual actions. Therefore, the Christian concept of "original sin" which damns all souls to Hell unless they are "saved" has no true Biblical foundation.

The blemish in Adam's soul affected everything around him. The Rabbis teach that as a result of Adam's blemish, not only did he cause himself to have a physical body which eventually would die, he also introduced to the entire world the absolute dichotomy of body and soul, wherein which both would exist simultaneously for only a while, later to separate. The result of Adam's blemish led to the breach of harmony and unity between the spiritual and physical dimensions. Originally they existed together as one. Now, due to Adam, they could only exist side by side, but never fully joined together as one. The holy Rabbis teach that Adam blemished all six days of creation. Therefore, the effects of his blemish was to last for 6,000 years. At this time, his blemish would be fully healed and a new era of mankind would begin. This is the meaning of the coming of Mashiah (the Messiah). From the beginning then, until now, mankind's purpose has been to rectify the world, bit by bit, bringing us eventually to the dawn of the new era.

Originally, after Adam's banishment from the Garden of Eden, the souls of all mankind were to serve as G-d's priests to collectively work to rectify the now blemished world. Cain, the first born, by right of birth was destined to be High Priest before G-d. Yet, although Cain offered a sacrifice of his heart, from the toils of his labor with the earth, G-d, nonetheless, rejected Cain's sacrifice for Cain did not offer what G-d had commanded. And Cain knew this very well! G-d had cursed the earth and its fruit. Cain knew this, but didnÕt seem to care. He made the mistake of thinking that what was in his heart was more important than the Word of G-d in his mind. What was in Cain's heart might have been well and good, but G-d demands of us to give what He commands, not what we decide to give. This is the test of faith.

It is the younger brother Abel that brings the sacrifice that G-d Himself has ordained, the sacrifice of life and of blood. Remember, that when Adam and Eve were banished from Eden G-d clothed them in animal skins. Nowhere does the Bible imply that these skins were specially created for this purpose, rather the impression is that the skins must have come from animals. The implication is that these animals were sacrificed. As it was done for Adam so did Abel follow suit. Cain should have done the same and prior to his brother Abel doing so. Nonetheless, Cain felt that the offering of his own heart and labors would be acceptable before G-d. This is, after all, many a time the case. G-d, however, rejected Cain's sacrifice. Cain, in turn, rejected G-d and proceeded to kill his brother Abel as an act of revenge. The one who was to be the High Priest had fallen from his esteemed status and had become an agent of evil.

As punishment for his crime, G-d, who Himself has ordained organized capital punishment (ref. Gen. 9:6), decrees that rather than the death penalty, Cain is to live in exile, banished from the face of G-d. Abel's blood is not to be avenged with the death of Cain for another seven generations.

Cain took his wife and moved to the other side of the earth. Just who this wife was and where she came from the Bible does not mention. Jewish tradition, however, does mention the origins of Cain's wives. These women are said to be the twin sisters that were born both with Cain and Abel.

The Bible teaches that after Cain had his first son, he built the first city. It is interesting to note that the first act of exile was the development of urbanization. There is obviously a connection here between the development of urbanization and the original state of banishment from the face of G-d. This connection needs to be explored.