US Department of Justice

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

I never thought I'd live to see the day my own government became the insidious, sneaky criminals they have under GW Bush. Forget George Orwell's '1984' indeed. That has nothing on GW Bush's '2008'.

Not content with the manipulation and propagandizing of the news media, the US government under the control of George W. Bush appears completely determined to REWRITE THE ACTUAL FACTS anytime they displease the powers that be - true or not. With the Bush crowd, truth is definitely not a parameter.

Certainly your might expect such a thing in a place like Red China, but the US? Under this administration? Oh my yes indeed:

WIKIPEDIA

And don't forget the folks at the US Department of Justice are the very same boys who wrote letters validating and authorizing the use of torture of prisoners. For the first time in US history I might remind you. Shameful indeed.

On the other hand, the George W. Bush administration has set MANY historic 'firsts' and all-time records - and not a single one of them to be proud of or brag about. NOT ONE.

But, at least they wrote letters to excuse themselves on the torture thing, while Saddam Hussein or Robert Mugabe didn't need to bother. But then, GW Bush likes to cover his ass.

And, of course when caught red-handed, GW's folks claim that the 'editing' , even tho' done during business hours, and from government computers was the fault of 'individuals' and not the government departments involved. This useful denial tactic is apparently very contagious and has bled over into the activities of our erstwhile allies in the 'Global War On Terror' in Great Britain, who claim their own editing on such topics was,

'not authorized'.

Oh but, of course not!

Where will it end? Who knows? But, FAIR WARNING - it's getting pretty darned late in the game already.

Mormonry and Lots of Wives

Mormonry has been much in the news of late with the raiding of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) compound near Eldorado, Texas. Being a Mormon and having lot's of young wives seems it might be a pretty good deal for a lusty guy, right? Outside the fact that sometimes ONE wife is too much for some folks, there is more than one way to look at this . . .

Just in case you are a guy, and figure it would be pretty cool to have a whole bunch of young wives, you may want to rethink that. In order for there to be a large enough supply of girls to turn into multiple wives for the lone male FLDS'ers, MOST of the young men must be, and are excommunicated and expelled from the cult at puberty: FLDS Logistics

So, not only do they not get even ONE Mormon wife, they are also damned to Hell for eternity! For once you are expelled from the Mormon church, you are guaranteed to go to eternal damnation. What kind of deal is that?

Brigham Young himself, in the words of Bernard De Voto of Ogden, Utah, "conquered the wilderness and, neighboring with the coyote, brought forth a state (Utah). And so on - - the recital is familiar. Yet he did all this without humor and without imagination - - did it with poverty-stricken realism, and above all, with an intangible smugness, a bucolic megalomania, a self-righteousness which assured him that the Lord God Jehovah, whose hinder parts Moses and Joseph Smith had seen, watched over all his business and made them sound."

In fact, generally there does not seem to be much fun in being a Mormon, most of whom regard levity as a sin against the Holy Ghost. Of Mormons in general, De Voto said, "And then, a man who can believe in the pathological god of Joseph Smith and who must worship him after the mercantile manner of Brigham Young, such a man has little understanding of beauty or refinement and no patience with them. They do not pay."

"The Man of God, Son of Thunder"

I think my favorite Mormon story is about Brigham Young's murderous emissary and enforcer, Orrin Porter Rockwell, AKA 'the Destroying Angel of Mormondom', reputed to have killed over 100 persons, mostly 'in the name of the Lord'. Rockwell once said 'I never killed anybody who didn't need killing'.

An ordained Mormon Elder, Rockwell believed - or at least publicly claimed - that his union suit underwear (fundamentalist Mormons are commanded to wear long underwear, every day of the year) 'would turn bullets' because it was blessed by Brigham Young himself.

One day, a pint-sized, but very drunk Irishman named Flannigan accosted Rockwell in the street and asked him, 'Are ye Port' Rockwell?"

When Rockwell allowed as how he was, Flannigan replied, ''Well then by God, ye are the man whose underwear will turn bullets, and I've been called by God to put it to the proof! 'Tis a revelation ye understand, so to speak according to Mormon."

Whereupon Flannigan produced a large pistol and stuck it in Rockwell's mouth, thereby immediately inducing him to begin proclaiming many and varied obscenities concerning Brigham Young's person and ancestry at Flannigan's persuasive insistence and urging. Alas, Rockwell did not seem to have the total and complete confidence in the protective underwear to actually put it to the test for the ten minutes of so of his very public ordeal. So much for the "Man of God, Son of thunder' as Rockwell was often called by other Mormons.

The Fancy Barouche

Another story which is illustrative I believe, concerns Brigham Young's fancy barouche. Ol' Brigham in his high haughtiness had a fancy carriage built back east - a 'barouche' it was called - and shipped to him in Salt Lake City. Young, regally nodding to his worshipers, loved to parade around town in this splendid equippage, marked with the carved & gilded, all-seeing Mormon eye on one side and the Beehive of Deseret on the other.

'Gentile Kate' (Mormons call Christians 'gentiles') - was a brothel owner and the Madame Supreme of Salt Lake City, whose uncompromising credo was 'Never lend money to a Mormon'. Kate ran a large and successful bordello in Salt Lake City and was well-known for her generosity to the downtrodden, often lending money (at interest) to her clients and others.

A disaffected Mormon ex-plural wife wrote a sensational autobiography accusing Young himself of running a 'percentage Hoar house' and devising a plot to trap Kate purportedly to stifle competition. This was never proven, but what is known and recorded is that Kate successfully sued Young for $150,000 and claimed his personal property to settle the debt.


A typical barouche.


After the obese Prophet Brigham Young ate himself to death, his personal effects were auctioned off. The day after Young died, Kate herself appeared haughtily rolling through the streets in old boy's barouche, sans the carvings. This of course outraged the saintly Mormons - but it certainly must have been very satisfying for Kate!

No matter who you are, you must admire this woman's chutzpah if not her orneriness.

Mormonism & me?

Me? I think I'm gonna stick with the Easter Bunny . . . .

The Republican War On People

First, let me say I am not a Democrat. Or Libertarian, or Green or whatever. I am 'unaffiliated' and always have been. In fact I am a 'conservative' person (in the true sense of the word) and have probably voted for more Republican candidates over the years than any other party, or even a combination of 'all others'.

But, no more. The Republicans of today are not the Republicans I used to know and love.

Why? Simply because it has become glaringly obvious to me the folks who call themselves 'Republicans' today are not friends of 'the people'. Instead, they are supporters of business and not one thing else - unless it be war for the benefit of business. Every time the interest of the people come in conflict with 'big business', the people lose, each and every time. Guaranteed.

The Republicans running things trip over themselves to support the lessening and defeat of regulations designed to protect PEOPLE, the environment, etc., you name it - ranging from petty to the very large. As a side note, their propaganda machine succeeds in mobilizing a large number of people in support of their depredations. The very folks who will suffer the damage.

Tragic really.

The following is a great example in graphic subterfuge (image borrowed from Scientific American September, 2007):

(Click on image to expand)

Image on the left came out in 1992 and was reasonably easy to understand.. Image on the right replaced this in 2004, and the 2005 is an enhanced version of that. (View for your self at): http://www.mypyramid.gov/

The 2005 version advocates 'more exercise', but hides what the pyramid actually consists of - unless you take the trouble to look it up for yourself - and that takes digging into the site at least two more clicks. The right hand image was developed with the 'help' of food industry lobbyists - who not surprisingly think folks should eat more - not necessarily the best thing for one's health. The 'exercise' component is apparently thrown in to help offset the ensuing damages).   This is deceit and favoritism at its most basic level.

And we are left to wonder why our young people are going through an obesity epidemic?

This is our 'benevolent' and 'people friendly' government under Bush and his legions of special interests. The health and welfare of citizens always takes a back seat to the need for making ever more dollars from them. The danger for the Neocons is that 'the people' are beginning to notice the duplicity and corporate favoritism.

And, let's don't even talk about energy costs except to say it is well worth remembering that average gasoline prices were $1.46 per gallon when our War President took office! Even after adjusting for inflation, gasoline prices at the pump are now almost $1.00 more per gallon than when our "Uniter' took his oath of office.

Am I missing something here?