Who was it said that you can't buy Loyalty?
Well, there's another old saying, "If you want a job done right, do it
yourself".
A true democracy is when all members of a group roll up their sleeves
and actively participate. Even a Republic works when the people
selected to represent the majority, actually represent the majority.
But in an Oligarchy, the Ruling Class has most of the marbles and
simply pressures and buys enough of the People's representatives to
maintain their power.
We need to forget about who is busting into who's email, and turn our
attention to throwing out all DC lobbyists. Our representatives must
come home to public forums to get their instructions from the People.
At the same time we must take money out of the election process.
Establish free Radio and TV channels dedicated to anyone running for
office. Eliminate the negative slick commercial-like campaign ads.
If we do not do these basic changes, we will continue to be ruled by
money instead of ruling ourselves.
Carl Jarvis
On 6/29/17, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@optonline.net> wrote:
> C First Look Media. All rights reservedTerms of use
> Heather Podesta, a lawyer and lobbyist based in Washington, D.C., mingles
> in
> the crowd at an event hosted by Politico during the 2016 Democratic
> National
> Convention in Philadelphia, PA on July 27, 2016.
>
> Photo: T.J. Kirkpatrick/Redux
>
> Prominent Democratic Fundraisers Realign to Lobby for Trump's Agenda
>
> Lee Fang
>
> June 23 2017, 8:00 a.m.
>
> After President Donald Trump's upset election victory, Democratic insiders
> who worked on Hillary Clinton's failed presidential bid weren't necessarily
> relegated to the sidelines. Many, in fact, are cashing in as lobbyists - by
> working to advance Trump's agenda.
>
> Lobbying records show that some Democratic fundraisers, who raised record
> amounts of campaign cash for Clinton, are now retained by top telecom
> interests to help repeal the strong net neutrality protections established
> during the Obama administration.
>
> Others are working on behalf of for-profit prisons on detention issues,
> while others still are paid to help corporate interests pushing alongside
> Trump to weaken financial regulations. At least one prominent Clinton
> backer
> is working for a health insurance company on a provision that was included
> in the House Republican bill to gut the Affordable Care Act.
>
> While Republican lobbyists are more in demand, liberal lobbyists are doing
> brisk business that has them reaching out to fellow Democrats to endorse -
> or at least tamp down vocal opposition to - Trump agenda items.
>
> "These cases are clear, disturbing examples of the gulf between the
> interests of many of the Democratic Party's big-money donors and those of
> the party's progressive base and America's working families," said Kai
> Newkirk, co-founder of Democracy Spring, a progressive coalition.
>
> The net neutrality debate is a case in point. The biggest fundraisers for
> the Clinton campaign - Democratic lobbyists such as Ingrid Duran, Vincent
> Roberti, Steve Elmendorf, Al Mottur, and Arshi Siddiqui - are now lobbying
> on behalf of AT&T, Verizon, or Comcast on net neutrality. These companies
> dominate the telecom industry, which is working with the Trump
> administration to unwind one of President Barack Obama's biggest
> accomplishments.
>
> In 2015, the Obama administration, with great fanfare, reclassified
> broadband services as a utility using Title II of the Communications Act.
> In
> doing so, the reclassification avoids court challenges, paving the way for
> strong regulations that require internet service providers to treat all web
> traffic in the same way. The principle is known as net neutrality, which
> advocates say is crucial for the internet remain open to the free flow of
> information and innovative services.
>
> Ajit Pai, a former Verizon attorney appointed by Trump to serve as chairman
> of the Federal Communications Communication, is attempting to rollback the
> Title II reclassification and have companies simply commit to a voluntary
> form of net neutrality.
>
> "The industry supports strong consumer protection rules but Title II is an
> over the top, archaic regulatory framework," said Mottur, a Democratic
> lobbyist, in a brief interview with The Intercept explaining his work.
>
> Mottur raised $95,606 for the Clinton campaign. Now, as a lobbyist for
> Comcast and the National Cable And Telecommunications Association, Mottur
> is
> supporting the Trump administration's effort to undo net neutrality.
>
> In April, when the FCC decision was announced, Mottur tweeted in support of
> the plan, claiming a roll back of Title II reclassification will "lead to
> more capital investment in telecom sector and boost economy." Pai, the FCC
> chairman, liked the tweet.
>
> Net neutrality advocates have expressed concern about the growing reach of
> the telecom lobby.
>
> "The only way big phone and cable companies can get political support for
> such unpopular policies like killing net neutrality is by hiring powerful
> party operatives - Democrats and Republicans alike," said Joe Torres of
> Free
> Press, a nonprofit that advocates for net neutrality. (Free Press receives
> financial support from the Democracy Fund, which is funded by Pierre
> Omidyar. Omidyar founded The Intercept's parent company, First Look Media.)
>
> "Hopefully elected officials will reject the industry talking points being
> made by these hired operatives and look out for the communities they claim
> to represent," Torres added. "Opposing net neutrality would harm
> communities
> of color and other marginalized groups by silencing their digital voices
> and
> their ability to speak for themselves in fighting for a more just society."
>
> Other Democratic lobbyists did not respond to requests for comment, but
> many
> of their lobbying disclosures demonstrate a realignment in support of
> Trump's policy agenda.
>
> A well-known lobbyist who runs in powerful Democratic circles, Heather
> Podesta, volunteered for Clinton during the New Hampshire primaries. She
> collected at least $407,000 for the campaign. In recent months, Podesta has
> tweeted from the Center for American Progress Ideas Conference, an event
> billed as a platform for the "Resist movement," and has continued to give
> cash to congressional Democrats.
>
> Podesta, however, whose New Years Resolution was to "Make Lobbying Great
> Again," has adapted to Republican rule by rebranding her lobbying firm from
> "Heather Podesta + Partners" to "Invariant," a name change to reflect "an
> expanding bipartisan team" with ties to the Trump administration.
>
> Records show Podesta has lobbied this year on behalf of financial
> management
> and insurance giants Prudential and New York Life on the fiduciary rule,
> the
> regulation fought for by the Obama administration that was designed to
> require financial planning companies to act in the best interests of their
> clients. Early in his administration, in a decision cheered by the
> industry,
> Trump ordered a delay in the implementation of the rule.
>
> Other Democratic lobbyists have found that their corporate clients'
> interests align with the Trump administration. Some, like Podesta, are
> taking financial planning industry cash to work on the fiduciary rule.
>
> Steve Elmendorf, a former senior advisor to Clinton's 2008 run, maintained
> a
> high-profile role with Clinton's 2016 run, raising $341,000 for the
> campaign. He is now one of the most prominent corporate lobbyists in
> Washington, D.C. Records show that Elmendorf, too, lobbied on the fiduciary
> rule. His client, the Securities Industry and Financial Markets
> Association,
> a trade group for firms like Prudential, has made delaying the rule a major
> goal and celebrated Trump's move to delay implementation.
>
> UnitedHealth, the health insurance giant, is also an Elmendorf client.
> Filings made to ethics officials on Capitol Hill reveal that Elmendorf is
> helping UnitedHealth work on issues related to the Affordable Care Act,
> including the health insurance industry tax, a provision of the ACA that
> UnitedHealth has made clear it seeks to repeal or delay. Congressional
> Republicans have said that, if they are successful with their overhaul of
> the law, the tax will be gone.
>
> A former Democratic National Committee fundraiser from Bill Clinton's days
> as president, Richard Sullivan, served as a major fundraiser for Hillary
> Clinton's campaign last year. He bundled at least $345,218 for the
> campaign,
> according to Federal Elections Commission records. Sullivan is also
> registered lobbyist for the public relations and lobby firm Capitol
> Counsel,
> where he works on behalf of private prison giant Geo Group to convince
> lawmakers of the "benefits of public-private partnerships in the delivery
> of
> secure residential care in correctional and detention facilities."
>
> The Florida-based Geo Group is particularly close to the Trump
> administration; it was one of the few firms to donate corporate money to a
> Trump SuperPAC during the election, finance the inauguration, and openly
> celebrate Trump's decision to vastly expand the detention and removal of
> undocumented immigrants. The firm was among the first private companies to
> win a contract from the Trump administration for a federal immigrant
> detention center, a deal worth $110 million.
>
> Lobbyists often use their ability to bundle cash for candidates and party
> organs as a way of win an audience with lawmakers on behalf of their
> clients. As The Intercept has reported, lobbyists for Goldman Sachs and the
> Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, the trade group,
> raised big money for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, using
> their sway to pressure the party to adopt policies favorable to their
> industries and to abandon economic populist messaging that targeted the
> financial sector.
>
> Trump's election has been called a "bonanza" for Washington lobbyists, as K
> Street seeks to enrich itself by harnessing the administration's zeal for
> rewarding corporate allies. For many Democratic insiders, there is fortune
> to made even in electoral defeat.
>
> The Intercept spoke to several progressive activists who expressed outrage
> that leading Democratic Party officials are now advancing the Trump agenda,
> but were reluctant to comment on the record, for fear of angering powerful
> Democrats. But a few activists, like Democracy Sping's Newkirk, decided to
> speak on the record.
>
>
> Becky Bond, an activist and former Bernie Sanders adviser who also spoke
> out, said, "When Democratic insiders team up with Comcast and the private
> prison industry, they make it pretty difficult to see how the party can
> rebuild relationships with the voters it needs to bring back into the
> fold."
>
> "Destroying the internet and maximizing the profitability of mass
> incarceration," she added, "is not what I would call a winning strategy for
> Democrats who want to take back power in 2018."
>
> Top photo: Heather Podesta, a lawyer and lobbyist based in Washington,
> D.C.,
> at an event hosted by Politico during the 2016 Democratic National
> Convention in Philadelphia, on July 27, 2016.
>
>
>
>
>
>
Friday, June 30, 2017
Sunday, June 25, 2017
Fwd: Problem of Christianity
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Carl Jarvis <carjar82@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 25 Jun 2017 07:59:34 -0700
Subject: Re: Problem of Christianity
To: Mostafa Almahdy <mostafa.almahdy@gmail.com>
Dear Mostafa,
I agree with much of what you say. But before you smile and thank me,
let me hasten to say that in agreeing, I can replace the word,
"Christian" with the title of any religion, past or present.
Beginning with the predecessors of the Greek Gods to the creation of
single Deities, we humans have expressed over and over again our need
for an Almighty Crutch. In my early adulthood, I read the King James
version of the Bible from cover to cover, including several versions
of the New Testament. I say, "read the Bible from cover to cover",
meaning that I studied the text as if I were involved in a college
course. But that was reading enough. It's an interesting book, full
of myths and unsupportable proclamations. It is a book filled from
cover to cover with the fingerprints of Men. Men created a God who
then took his rib and made Woman, always subject to Man. Not a bad
attempt, but silly at best. We Humans come, like all living things,
from common stock. But we Humans, above all other Life, Have learned
to dominate this planet, creating a false world, a material world, in
which we anointed ourselves as Lords and Masters. No other life forms
were allowed to vote.
But this is not just some Christian malarkey. All Faiths have made
the same basic error. They all simply dress it up in their own
culture and go forth believing that it was Divinely inspired. All
religions lack the same basic ingredient. Proof! Proof is always
lacking. No one can demonstrate that their Deity's exist anywhere
other than in the complex place called the Human Brain. No other life
form has this direct link to some God.
We choose to close our eyes to the facts, choosing to cherry pick
sentences in our Holy Book that support our version of this man Made
Myth. There can be no God more Holy or more powerful than others, or
that God would have taken better care of Its planet. A perfect God
would never have turned the Keys to this Earth over to Man, knowing
that Man would devastate all life through his greed and stupidity.
The sooner we come to our senses and understand that our Salvation is
in our own hands, the sooner we might begin to work with, rather than
trying to dominate, Nature.
But even as I write this, I see in my mind that you are setting in
place your arguments that you believe will prove to me the error of my
ways. So we come to a Standoff. Neither of us will concede to the
other. Neither of us will give thought and study to the subject in an
objective manner, and come to the agreement that the other of us is
right. My Christian friends love to bombard me with Bible quotes in
order to prove that God does exist. That is like quoting the White
Rabbit in "Alice in Wonderland" in order to prove to me that there is
a rabbit hole in an old stump through which I might drop down into
Wonderland.
My Jewish friends tell me that if I read and listen to their version
of the God they have created, I will understand who God really is. I
have very few Muslim friends, only because I live in a region where
few Muslims live, but I can assure you that they would take the very
same approach as you have laid out in this post. I do have visits
from Jehovah Witnesses. These folks travel from door to door in
pairs, attempting to discuss their brand of Faith. Like the Mormons,
they believe that their God demands that they go forth and spread the
Word. These good folk want to engage me in a discussion as to why the
Bible is wrong, and they are worshiping the Real, Honest to Goodness
God. But they lose interest when I thank them for stopping by, but
that I find the Christian Bible just as full of Myths as I find in
their Holy Book.
Religion is the base from which all Man's wars begin. We use our
particular brand of God to justify why we must turn on our neighbors
and violently murder them. Always in the name of our God. I refuse
to even pretend that such a God exists. But I don't tell my 91 year
old Mother-in-Law that there is no Heaven awaiting her. She was born
and raised a Catholic. Currently she is living with Cathy and myself,
two Agnostics, because none of her Catholic friends care enough to
even wonder why she no longer tends to the church gardens or the
cleaning of the church. Each day she watches the Holy Mass on our TV,
and says her rosary and reads her daily readings and says her prayers.
She believes she is headed for a wonderful life in the Hereafter. Why
would I try to convince her otherwise? But if what she does is what
it takes to get next to God, then I'll take my chances that there is
no Hereafter. I watch so many capable young men and women wasting
their lives kneeling at their Man Made Alters, praying into empty
space, hoping to get in good with God, so they will have a place in
Heaven. And what they accomplish is to do nothing to make Earth a
better place. Right now, as I am writing to you, and right now, as
you read this, millions of humans are starving to death. Millions of
Humans are crouching in the corners of their bombed out hovels,
frightened over the return of the bombs. Bombs often made in the USA,
and sold to anyone who has the money to buy them. This USA in which I
live is not a Christian nation. And despite protests to the contrary,
the USA is not spreading Peace and democracy through this mass murder.
But instead of rising up and seizing power and taking the ill gotten
wealth of the Ruling Classes around the planet, and spreading it out
among the "Have Nots", instead of that, we rush into our various
houses of worship and pray for God to intervene. And for how many
thousands of years have we done this? And what are the results?
There is an old saying that Insanity is doing the same thing over and
over, hoping for different results.
Mostafa, unless we all come together and agree that we are all members
of a very complex Life System, and set about restoring this Planet
Earth, and learning to live as members of this Earth System instead of
ravishing it, we are doomed to become extinct. And then what will our
Almighty God do? He, too will die, for He exists only in the minds of
Man. Whatever life form comes along after us, they will not know or
understand the God Worship that brought us to such an end.
Finally, if you have read to this point, I want to thank you for your
posts. They do stimulate my mind and help me clarify what I do
believe.
As always, I remain your friend,
Carl Jarvis
On 6/25/17, Mostafa Almahdy <mostafa.almahdy@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hello. In this classical editorial, I will attempt to summarise the
> problem of Christianity. First off, doctrinal problem. Christian faith
> is essentially based on a belief called original sin. Original sin is
> a sin said to be inherited by all descendants of Adam. Thus, God
> demanded to forgive that mass cynicism. But, he could not forgive us
> omnipotently. Therefore, he demanded to sacrifice someone in order to
> redeem our sin. Jesus in Christianity never sinned and his mother was
> cleansed with the holy spirit. So, she did not inherit what we
> inherited. There are two major problematic factors with this belief.
> First, it seems that the divine is not able to perfectly forgive our
> sin unless he relies on someone who is mortal to do so. If this is the
> case, it then breaches providential measureless omnipotence. Second,
> if Mary was cleansed with the manifestation of the holy spirit as it
> is taught in Christian theology, why aren't you forgiven with the same
> path as devout devotees? There is another problem with this teaching.
> I caught God twice forgiving Israelite in the Old testament without
> either the revelation of the holy spirit nor the alleged Crucifixion
> of Christ. As for the averred apotheosis of Christ, it has never been
> expressed explicitly. It has constantly been equivocated. As for
> scriptural authority and what pastors preach, it is based on
> multiplied translations. No one reads the scripture in its original
> text. Consequently, it consistently subjugates textual authenticity to
> incertitude. If someone brought me the Koran in English, I will
> certainly have to trace possible errors. I expect to find errors
> because the translation of this sacred text is based on human
> contribution. Therefore, it won't ever be utterly inerrable. I even
> have to carefully proofread Koran copies before they are prepared for
> publication to avoid incidental misspell or erratum. I once suspended
> the publication of Braille Koran because it contained multiple errors.
> How did I know it had errors? Well, I first of all, memorise the Koran
> jot for jot and dot for dot. Second, I could easily refer back to the
> Koran in its initial rhetoric and compare. I am not unaware of the
> Koran language. It is noticeable to millions of people. Therefore,
> textual inconsistencies are easy to be captured. There is a story told
> about a Jew who printed the Koran and purposely added one letter to
> the text. Well, a child who memorised the Koran easily detected that
> error. As for the Christian community, they are disreputable of
> incessantly enacting drama queen. Despite where they reside, they
> often complain about being suppressed or deprived. It is true that in
> some regions, Christians are subjected to persecution to some extent.
> I perceive though, that they deliberately leave themselves vulnerable
> to impairment so they could yell. It is a psychological state
> influenced with the fundamental concepts of crucifixion and redemption
> which they hold up to as premiss tenets. Christians in general tend to
> base their faith on emotional embellishment. Therefore, their faith
> looks so appealing to people who unpleasantly have been traumatised.
> Christians beguile new quakers with emotionalisation, greed and
> aphrodisiac. I also noticed, that those who convert from Islam to
> Christianity tend to ignominiously assault their former faith for fame
> and temporal gains. Instead of attempting to represent their new faith
> properly, they walk into public galleries to dramatically vociferate,
> demonise and terrify. Why converts to Christianity must depart to the
> States and endorse Zionists? I hope this concern is taken seriously.
> Why converts to your faith have to boost for Israel? I urge you to
> attain sufficient courage to confront this fact. I am personally
> convinced, that Christians and Protestants in particular are basically
> servants to Zionist agenda. I have seen this accusal attested
> respectively. Despite the terrible things Jews say about Jesus whom
> Christians consider somewhat deified, they categorically certify and
> insistently fund them militarily. Well, I just thought Christians are
> genuine advocates for peace. Um, except when it comes to Israel and
> its military status, they then boost for warfare. As for ordained
> clergy and what they incorporate of instrumental elements to their
> regular worship, what theological corroboration do you hold for this?
> As for biblical devotion, why pastors are selective of what to read to
> their congregants? Lay Christians are not ordinarily known for reading
> the Bible cover to cover. As Muslims, we typically recite the Koran at
> least once a year in Ramadan. Christians though, are not popular of
> reading their book cover to cover. They just follow what the pastor
> reads. I honestly see nothing appealing in this religion unless what
> is emotionally prettified in a counterfeit manner. Southern
> Christology apologists may have periodically repeated the following
> phrase. My life is a witness to Christ. I just wonder about the
> practicality of this often recounted statement. Having they already
> abandoned the law which Christ said he was sent to confirm and
> complied to Pauline doctrine? It is quite convenient to chant
> Christological sentiments. It is conspicuously notorious that bigoted
> Donald Trump is enormously seconded by evangelists and their
> communities. They are fanatically tended to endorse him to their
> utmost capacity. Christians of the United States are appurtenant to
> Trump more than they are to their Christology ebullience. Why are they
> keenly infatuated with Trump? Well, there are primarily two major
> reasons. First, Donald Trump vividly reflects Christian Zionism.
> Second, he easily won fools and brainwashed them with his incendiary
> rhetoric. There is another problem with Christendom. When they go on
> mission abroad, they often opt nations that are desperate in
> impoverishment such as Hayti, African countries and so on. They take
> advantage of their hapless condition. They methodically allure refugee
> camps with welfare and provision to make them gradually attracted to
> Christianity. They do the same thing here in Egypt. They visit poor
> villages and substantially ingrain them with financial sustenance to
> again, attract them to convert to Christianity. They do not force them
> but, they unethically take advantage of their susceptible condition.
> They take advantage of their nescience and deprivation to massively
> proselytize. I would rather be situated in equal level playing field.
> Instead of taking advantage of someone's desperateness, I would rather
> engage with him in a mutually deferential scrutiny. Christianity is in
> constant trouble attempting to emotionally embellish what has proven
> to be interpolated. I won't ask anyone to hasten in responding to this
> piece. My primary objective is to rectify this distorted assumption in
> your minds. I intend to resemble clarity and correction. I rationally
> and monotheistically contemn the concepts of crucifixion and
> redemption. They won't earn a considerable deference unless insipidly.
> I have been asked on multiple occasions to ponder and reflect on what
> the Bible articulates. I didn't find the term original sin explicitly
> particularised, it all depends on preoccupied interpretation and
> unsound fathom. Furthermore, Jesus Christ isn't barely mentioned in
> what is recognised in Christian theology as the Old Testament unless
> you derive conclusions implicitly and complicatedly. Don't you see
> this a bit problematic? Religion doesn't need overbearing
> intelligence. It rather needs decipherable and straightforward
> rationale. The innocent shouldn't bear the iniquity of the sinner, not
> even optionally. I am Muslim and I give sufficient thought to what
> Allah has made us with. He made us with a rational head to use not to
> dispose. Who do we seek for worship? Isn't He the divine sovereign of
> earth and heaven? How does he bear a son be that as it may, He just
> made everything? At its inception, He said to everything, be and
> everything came into being. He created this existence, so how could he
> be part of it? Please, lent me your ears for just a moment. We
> certainly don't need to equivocate, we rather ought to elucidate. In
> Islam, the term monotheism doesn't need inscrutable explanation to be
> fathomed, it is crystal clear. In Christianity, however, apologists
> tend to relentlessly beat around the bush hitherto, they aren't
> discerned. You have to respectfully admit your failure to cope.
> Christian apologists tend to palter about theological subjects. This
> is why I am critical of Christian apologists. They typically lie about
> their doctrines and their scriptures. Christians do not like to hear
> that. Islam threatens their eminent aristocracy. As you are reaching
> to speak to your congregation this Sunday morning, you may ask
> yourself the following questions. What makes Islam broadly embraced
> despite prejudice? What attracts Muslim converts to Christianity?
> Religion for unfeigned faithfuls is far beyond being just easy. It is
> essentially based on strict devotion and consignment. Christianity
> doesn't necessarily demand this level of allegiance. It bases its
> major tenets on mere emotionalism. What brought music to Church
> service? Did Jesus worship at the Synagogue or did he build his own
> Church? I ask these questions with innocent intent to refute various
> misconceptions about Jesus's genuine ministry. Throughout the
> centuries, saints and their apprentices have unenviably altered
> Jesus's theology. Thus far, his initial message is gravely flummoxed
> with what others have added. I quite discern that I am addressing
> people who have honourable passion to Christ. They may have just been
> misguided. Unlike what many Christian apologists would do, I won't
> ever demonise Christians. Even while I believe they do not follow the
> true religion, I am surely convinced that many of them have good
> hearts. I just attempt to incite cerebral determination. I do not
> intend to draw condemnation. I just repudiate disgraceful acts. To
> those of southern laity who received this unsolicited post, I urge you
> to think carefully before you respond. I urge you to give what I
> proposed proper thought. I am constantly available for invaluable
> conversation. I wish you a substantially spiritual experience this
> Sunday morning. I believe in edification as the curtest path to
> mutual deference. I apologise if I incidentally provoked your offence.
> Thank you for reading, Mostafa
>
>
> --
> (Seeking knowledge is compulsory from cratle to grave because it is a
> shoreless ocean.)
>
From: Carl Jarvis <carjar82@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 25 Jun 2017 07:59:34 -0700
Subject: Re: Problem of Christianity
To: Mostafa Almahdy <mostafa.almahdy@gmail.com>
Dear Mostafa,
I agree with much of what you say. But before you smile and thank me,
let me hasten to say that in agreeing, I can replace the word,
"Christian" with the title of any religion, past or present.
Beginning with the predecessors of the Greek Gods to the creation of
single Deities, we humans have expressed over and over again our need
for an Almighty Crutch. In my early adulthood, I read the King James
version of the Bible from cover to cover, including several versions
of the New Testament. I say, "read the Bible from cover to cover",
meaning that I studied the text as if I were involved in a college
course. But that was reading enough. It's an interesting book, full
of myths and unsupportable proclamations. It is a book filled from
cover to cover with the fingerprints of Men. Men created a God who
then took his rib and made Woman, always subject to Man. Not a bad
attempt, but silly at best. We Humans come, like all living things,
from common stock. But we Humans, above all other Life, Have learned
to dominate this planet, creating a false world, a material world, in
which we anointed ourselves as Lords and Masters. No other life forms
were allowed to vote.
But this is not just some Christian malarkey. All Faiths have made
the same basic error. They all simply dress it up in their own
culture and go forth believing that it was Divinely inspired. All
religions lack the same basic ingredient. Proof! Proof is always
lacking. No one can demonstrate that their Deity's exist anywhere
other than in the complex place called the Human Brain. No other life
form has this direct link to some God.
We choose to close our eyes to the facts, choosing to cherry pick
sentences in our Holy Book that support our version of this man Made
Myth. There can be no God more Holy or more powerful than others, or
that God would have taken better care of Its planet. A perfect God
would never have turned the Keys to this Earth over to Man, knowing
that Man would devastate all life through his greed and stupidity.
The sooner we come to our senses and understand that our Salvation is
in our own hands, the sooner we might begin to work with, rather than
trying to dominate, Nature.
But even as I write this, I see in my mind that you are setting in
place your arguments that you believe will prove to me the error of my
ways. So we come to a Standoff. Neither of us will concede to the
other. Neither of us will give thought and study to the subject in an
objective manner, and come to the agreement that the other of us is
right. My Christian friends love to bombard me with Bible quotes in
order to prove that God does exist. That is like quoting the White
Rabbit in "Alice in Wonderland" in order to prove to me that there is
a rabbit hole in an old stump through which I might drop down into
Wonderland.
My Jewish friends tell me that if I read and listen to their version
of the God they have created, I will understand who God really is. I
have very few Muslim friends, only because I live in a region where
few Muslims live, but I can assure you that they would take the very
same approach as you have laid out in this post. I do have visits
from Jehovah Witnesses. These folks travel from door to door in
pairs, attempting to discuss their brand of Faith. Like the Mormons,
they believe that their God demands that they go forth and spread the
Word. These good folk want to engage me in a discussion as to why the
Bible is wrong, and they are worshiping the Real, Honest to Goodness
God. But they lose interest when I thank them for stopping by, but
that I find the Christian Bible just as full of Myths as I find in
their Holy Book.
Religion is the base from which all Man's wars begin. We use our
particular brand of God to justify why we must turn on our neighbors
and violently murder them. Always in the name of our God. I refuse
to even pretend that such a God exists. But I don't tell my 91 year
old Mother-in-Law that there is no Heaven awaiting her. She was born
and raised a Catholic. Currently she is living with Cathy and myself,
two Agnostics, because none of her Catholic friends care enough to
even wonder why she no longer tends to the church gardens or the
cleaning of the church. Each day she watches the Holy Mass on our TV,
and says her rosary and reads her daily readings and says her prayers.
She believes she is headed for a wonderful life in the Hereafter. Why
would I try to convince her otherwise? But if what she does is what
it takes to get next to God, then I'll take my chances that there is
no Hereafter. I watch so many capable young men and women wasting
their lives kneeling at their Man Made Alters, praying into empty
space, hoping to get in good with God, so they will have a place in
Heaven. And what they accomplish is to do nothing to make Earth a
better place. Right now, as I am writing to you, and right now, as
you read this, millions of humans are starving to death. Millions of
Humans are crouching in the corners of their bombed out hovels,
frightened over the return of the bombs. Bombs often made in the USA,
and sold to anyone who has the money to buy them. This USA in which I
live is not a Christian nation. And despite protests to the contrary,
the USA is not spreading Peace and democracy through this mass murder.
But instead of rising up and seizing power and taking the ill gotten
wealth of the Ruling Classes around the planet, and spreading it out
among the "Have Nots", instead of that, we rush into our various
houses of worship and pray for God to intervene. And for how many
thousands of years have we done this? And what are the results?
There is an old saying that Insanity is doing the same thing over and
over, hoping for different results.
Mostafa, unless we all come together and agree that we are all members
of a very complex Life System, and set about restoring this Planet
Earth, and learning to live as members of this Earth System instead of
ravishing it, we are doomed to become extinct. And then what will our
Almighty God do? He, too will die, for He exists only in the minds of
Man. Whatever life form comes along after us, they will not know or
understand the God Worship that brought us to such an end.
Finally, if you have read to this point, I want to thank you for your
posts. They do stimulate my mind and help me clarify what I do
believe.
As always, I remain your friend,
Carl Jarvis
On 6/25/17, Mostafa Almahdy <mostafa.almahdy@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hello. In this classical editorial, I will attempt to summarise the
> problem of Christianity. First off, doctrinal problem. Christian faith
> is essentially based on a belief called original sin. Original sin is
> a sin said to be inherited by all descendants of Adam. Thus, God
> demanded to forgive that mass cynicism. But, he could not forgive us
> omnipotently. Therefore, he demanded to sacrifice someone in order to
> redeem our sin. Jesus in Christianity never sinned and his mother was
> cleansed with the holy spirit. So, she did not inherit what we
> inherited. There are two major problematic factors with this belief.
> First, it seems that the divine is not able to perfectly forgive our
> sin unless he relies on someone who is mortal to do so. If this is the
> case, it then breaches providential measureless omnipotence. Second,
> if Mary was cleansed with the manifestation of the holy spirit as it
> is taught in Christian theology, why aren't you forgiven with the same
> path as devout devotees? There is another problem with this teaching.
> I caught God twice forgiving Israelite in the Old testament without
> either the revelation of the holy spirit nor the alleged Crucifixion
> of Christ. As for the averred apotheosis of Christ, it has never been
> expressed explicitly. It has constantly been equivocated. As for
> scriptural authority and what pastors preach, it is based on
> multiplied translations. No one reads the scripture in its original
> text. Consequently, it consistently subjugates textual authenticity to
> incertitude. If someone brought me the Koran in English, I will
> certainly have to trace possible errors. I expect to find errors
> because the translation of this sacred text is based on human
> contribution. Therefore, it won't ever be utterly inerrable. I even
> have to carefully proofread Koran copies before they are prepared for
> publication to avoid incidental misspell or erratum. I once suspended
> the publication of Braille Koran because it contained multiple errors.
> How did I know it had errors? Well, I first of all, memorise the Koran
> jot for jot and dot for dot. Second, I could easily refer back to the
> Koran in its initial rhetoric and compare. I am not unaware of the
> Koran language. It is noticeable to millions of people. Therefore,
> textual inconsistencies are easy to be captured. There is a story told
> about a Jew who printed the Koran and purposely added one letter to
> the text. Well, a child who memorised the Koran easily detected that
> error. As for the Christian community, they are disreputable of
> incessantly enacting drama queen. Despite where they reside, they
> often complain about being suppressed or deprived. It is true that in
> some regions, Christians are subjected to persecution to some extent.
> I perceive though, that they deliberately leave themselves vulnerable
> to impairment so they could yell. It is a psychological state
> influenced with the fundamental concepts of crucifixion and redemption
> which they hold up to as premiss tenets. Christians in general tend to
> base their faith on emotional embellishment. Therefore, their faith
> looks so appealing to people who unpleasantly have been traumatised.
> Christians beguile new quakers with emotionalisation, greed and
> aphrodisiac. I also noticed, that those who convert from Islam to
> Christianity tend to ignominiously assault their former faith for fame
> and temporal gains. Instead of attempting to represent their new faith
> properly, they walk into public galleries to dramatically vociferate,
> demonise and terrify. Why converts to Christianity must depart to the
> States and endorse Zionists? I hope this concern is taken seriously.
> Why converts to your faith have to boost for Israel? I urge you to
> attain sufficient courage to confront this fact. I am personally
> convinced, that Christians and Protestants in particular are basically
> servants to Zionist agenda. I have seen this accusal attested
> respectively. Despite the terrible things Jews say about Jesus whom
> Christians consider somewhat deified, they categorically certify and
> insistently fund them militarily. Well, I just thought Christians are
> genuine advocates for peace. Um, except when it comes to Israel and
> its military status, they then boost for warfare. As for ordained
> clergy and what they incorporate of instrumental elements to their
> regular worship, what theological corroboration do you hold for this?
> As for biblical devotion, why pastors are selective of what to read to
> their congregants? Lay Christians are not ordinarily known for reading
> the Bible cover to cover. As Muslims, we typically recite the Koran at
> least once a year in Ramadan. Christians though, are not popular of
> reading their book cover to cover. They just follow what the pastor
> reads. I honestly see nothing appealing in this religion unless what
> is emotionally prettified in a counterfeit manner. Southern
> Christology apologists may have periodically repeated the following
> phrase. My life is a witness to Christ. I just wonder about the
> practicality of this often recounted statement. Having they already
> abandoned the law which Christ said he was sent to confirm and
> complied to Pauline doctrine? It is quite convenient to chant
> Christological sentiments. It is conspicuously notorious that bigoted
> Donald Trump is enormously seconded by evangelists and their
> communities. They are fanatically tended to endorse him to their
> utmost capacity. Christians of the United States are appurtenant to
> Trump more than they are to their Christology ebullience. Why are they
> keenly infatuated with Trump? Well, there are primarily two major
> reasons. First, Donald Trump vividly reflects Christian Zionism.
> Second, he easily won fools and brainwashed them with his incendiary
> rhetoric. There is another problem with Christendom. When they go on
> mission abroad, they often opt nations that are desperate in
> impoverishment such as Hayti, African countries and so on. They take
> advantage of their hapless condition. They methodically allure refugee
> camps with welfare and provision to make them gradually attracted to
> Christianity. They do the same thing here in Egypt. They visit poor
> villages and substantially ingrain them with financial sustenance to
> again, attract them to convert to Christianity. They do not force them
> but, they unethically take advantage of their susceptible condition.
> They take advantage of their nescience and deprivation to massively
> proselytize. I would rather be situated in equal level playing field.
> Instead of taking advantage of someone's desperateness, I would rather
> engage with him in a mutually deferential scrutiny. Christianity is in
> constant trouble attempting to emotionally embellish what has proven
> to be interpolated. I won't ask anyone to hasten in responding to this
> piece. My primary objective is to rectify this distorted assumption in
> your minds. I intend to resemble clarity and correction. I rationally
> and monotheistically contemn the concepts of crucifixion and
> redemption. They won't earn a considerable deference unless insipidly.
> I have been asked on multiple occasions to ponder and reflect on what
> the Bible articulates. I didn't find the term original sin explicitly
> particularised, it all depends on preoccupied interpretation and
> unsound fathom. Furthermore, Jesus Christ isn't barely mentioned in
> what is recognised in Christian theology as the Old Testament unless
> you derive conclusions implicitly and complicatedly. Don't you see
> this a bit problematic? Religion doesn't need overbearing
> intelligence. It rather needs decipherable and straightforward
> rationale. The innocent shouldn't bear the iniquity of the sinner, not
> even optionally. I am Muslim and I give sufficient thought to what
> Allah has made us with. He made us with a rational head to use not to
> dispose. Who do we seek for worship? Isn't He the divine sovereign of
> earth and heaven? How does he bear a son be that as it may, He just
> made everything? At its inception, He said to everything, be and
> everything came into being. He created this existence, so how could he
> be part of it? Please, lent me your ears for just a moment. We
> certainly don't need to equivocate, we rather ought to elucidate. In
> Islam, the term monotheism doesn't need inscrutable explanation to be
> fathomed, it is crystal clear. In Christianity, however, apologists
> tend to relentlessly beat around the bush hitherto, they aren't
> discerned. You have to respectfully admit your failure to cope.
> Christian apologists tend to palter about theological subjects. This
> is why I am critical of Christian apologists. They typically lie about
> their doctrines and their scriptures. Christians do not like to hear
> that. Islam threatens their eminent aristocracy. As you are reaching
> to speak to your congregation this Sunday morning, you may ask
> yourself the following questions. What makes Islam broadly embraced
> despite prejudice? What attracts Muslim converts to Christianity?
> Religion for unfeigned faithfuls is far beyond being just easy. It is
> essentially based on strict devotion and consignment. Christianity
> doesn't necessarily demand this level of allegiance. It bases its
> major tenets on mere emotionalism. What brought music to Church
> service? Did Jesus worship at the Synagogue or did he build his own
> Church? I ask these questions with innocent intent to refute various
> misconceptions about Jesus's genuine ministry. Throughout the
> centuries, saints and their apprentices have unenviably altered
> Jesus's theology. Thus far, his initial message is gravely flummoxed
> with what others have added. I quite discern that I am addressing
> people who have honourable passion to Christ. They may have just been
> misguided. Unlike what many Christian apologists would do, I won't
> ever demonise Christians. Even while I believe they do not follow the
> true religion, I am surely convinced that many of them have good
> hearts. I just attempt to incite cerebral determination. I do not
> intend to draw condemnation. I just repudiate disgraceful acts. To
> those of southern laity who received this unsolicited post, I urge you
> to think carefully before you respond. I urge you to give what I
> proposed proper thought. I am constantly available for invaluable
> conversation. I wish you a substantially spiritual experience this
> Sunday morning. I believe in edification as the curtest path to
> mutual deference. I apologise if I incidentally provoked your offence.
> Thank you for reading, Mostafa
>
>
> --
> (Seeking knowledge is compulsory from cratle to grave because it is a
> shoreless ocean.)
>
Tuesday, June 13, 2017
An interesting article containing a theory about our Oligarchy
An interesting article, which I only post for discussion.
Carl Jarvis
*****
How America Became an Oligarchy
Posted on April 6, 2015 by Ellen Brown
block quote
The politicians are put there to give you the idea that you have
freedom of choice. You don't. . . . You have owners.
— George Carlin,
The American Dream
block quote end
According to
a new study from Princeton University,
American democracy no longer exists. Using data from over 1,800 policy
initiatives from 1981 to 2002,
researchers Martin Gilens and Benjamin Page concluded
that rich, well-connected individuals on the political scene now
steer the direction of the country, regardless of – or even against –
the will of the
majority of voters. America's political system has transformed from a
democracy into an oligarchy, where power is wielded by wealthy elites.
"Making the world safe for democracy" was President Woodrow Wilson's
rationale for World War I, and it has been used to justify American
military intervention
ever since. Can we justify sending troops into other countries to
spread a political system we cannot maintain at home?
The Magna Carta, considered the first Bill of Rights in the Western
world, established the rights of nobles as against the king. But the
doctrine that
"all men are created equal" – that all people have "certain
inalienable rights," including "life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness" – is an American
original. And those rights, supposedly insured by the Bill of Rights,
have the right to vote at their core. We have the right to vote but
the voters' collective
will no longer prevails.
In Greece, the left-wing populist Syriza Party
came out of nowhere
to take the presidential election by storm; and in Spain, the
populist Podemos Party appears poised to do the same. But for over a
century, no third-party
candidate has had any chance of winning a US presidential election. We
have a two-party winner-take-all system, in which our choice is
between two candidates,
both of whom necessarily cater to big money. It takes big money just
to put on the mass media campaigns required to win an election
involving 240 million
people of voting age.
In state and local elections, third party candidates have sometimes
won. In a modest-sized city, candidates can actually influence the
vote by going door
to door, passing out flyers and bumper stickers, giving local
presentations, and getting on local radio and TV. But in a national
election, those efforts
are easily trumped by the mass media. And local governments too are
beholden to big money.
When governments of any size need to borrow money, the megabanks in a
position to supply it can generally dictate the terms. Even in Greece,
where the
populist Syriza Party managed to prevail in January, the
anti-austerity platform of the new government is being throttled by
the moneylenders who have
the government in a chokehold.
How did we lose our democracy? Were the Founding Fathers remiss in
leaving something out of the Constitution? Or have we simply gotten
too big to be governed
by majority vote?
Democracy's Rise and Fall
The stages of the capture of democracy by big money are traced in a
paper called "The Collapse of Democratic Nation States" by theologian
and environmentalist
Dr. John Cobb. Going back several centuries, he points to the rise of
private banking, which usurped the power to create money from
governments:
block quote
The influence of money was greatly enhanced by the emergence of
private banking. The banks are able to create money and so to lend
amounts far in excess
of their actual wealth. This control of money-creation . . . has
given banks overwhelming control over human affairs. In the United
States, Wall Street
makes most of the truly important decisions that are directly
attributed to Washington.
block quote end
Today the vast majority of the money supply in Western countries is
created by private bankers. That tradition goes back to the 17th
century, when the
privately-owned Bank of England, the mother of all central banks,
negotiated the right to print England's money after Parliament
stripped that power from
the Crown. When King William needed money to fight a war, he had to
borrow. The government as borrower then became servant of the lender.
In America, however, the colonists defied the Bank of England and
issued their own paper scrip; and they thrived. When King George
forbade that practice,
the colonists rebelled.
They won the Revolution but lost the power to create their own money
supply, when they opted for gold rather than paper money as their
official means of
exchange. Gold was in limited supply and was controlled by the
bankers, who surreptitiously expanded the money supply by issuing
multiple banknotes against
a limited supply of gold.
This was the system euphemistically called "fractional reserve"
banking, meaning only a fraction of the gold necessary to back the
banks' privately-issued
notes was actually held in their vaults. These notes were lent at
interest, putting citizens and the government in debt to bankers who
created the notes
with a printing press. It was something the government could have done
itself debt-free, and the American colonies had done with great
success until England
went to war to stop them.
President Abraham Lincoln revived the colonists' paper money system
when he issued the Treasury notes called "Greenbacks" that helped the
Union win the
Civil War. But Lincoln was assassinated, and the Greenback issues were
discontinued.
In every presidential election between 1872 and 1896, there was a
third national party running on a platform of financial reform.
Typically organized under
the auspices of labor or farmer organizations, these were parties of
the people rather than the banks. They included the Populist Party,
the Greenback
and Greenback Labor Parties, the Labor Reform Party, the
Antimonopolist Party, and the Union Labor Party. They advocated
expanding the national currency
to meet the needs of trade, reform of the banking system, and
democratic control of the financial system.
The Populist movement of the 1890s represented the last serious
challenge to the bankers' monopoly over the right to create the
nation's money.
According to monetary historian Murray Rothbard,
politics after the turn of the century became a struggle between two
competing banking giants, the Morgans and the Rockefellers. The
parties sometimes
changed hands, but the puppeteers pulling the strings were always one
of these two big-money players.
In
All the Presidents' Bankers,
Nomi Prins names six banking giants and associated banking families
that have dominated politics for over a century. No popular third
party candidates
have a real chance of prevailing, because they have to compete with
two entrenched parties funded by these massively powerful Wall Street
banks.
Democracy Succumbs to Globalization
In an earlier era, notes Dr. Cobb, wealthy landowners were able to
control democracies by restricting government participation to the
propertied class.
When those restrictions were removed, big money controlled elections
by other means:
block quote
First, running for office became expensive, so that those who seek
office require wealthy sponsors to whom they are then beholden.
Second, the great majority
of voters have little independent knowledge of those for whom they
vote or of the issues to be dealt with. Their judgments are,
accordingly, dependent
on what they learn from the mass media. These media, in turn, are
controlled by moneyed interests.
block quote end
Control of the media and financial leverage over elected officials
then enabled those other curbs on democracy we know today, including
high barriers to
ballot placement for third parties and their elimination from
presidential debates, vote suppression, registration restrictions,
identification laws, voter
roll purges, gerrymandering, computer voting, and secrecy in government.
The final blow to democracy, says Dr. Cobb, was "globalization" – an
expanding global market that overrides national interests:
block quote
[T]oday's global economy is fully transnational. The money power is
not much interested in boundaries between states and generally works
to reduce their
influence on markets and investments. . . . Thus transnational
corporations inherently work to undermine nation states, whether they
are democratic or
not.
block quote end
The most glaring example today is the secret twelve-country trade
agreement called the
Trans-Pacific Partnership.
If it goes through, the TPP will dramatically expand the power of
multinational corporations to use closed-door tribunals to challenge
and supersede domestic
laws, including environmental, labor, health and other protections.
Looking at Alternatives
Some critics ask whether our system of making decisions by a mass
popular vote easily manipulated by the paid-for media is the most
effective way of governing
on behalf of the people. In an interesting Ted Talk, political scientist
Eric Li makes a compelling case
for the system of "meritocracy" that has been quite successful in China.
In America Beyond Capitalism,
Prof. Gar Alperovitz argues that the US is simply too big to operate
as a democracy at the national level. Excluding Canada and Australia,
which have large
empty landmasses, the United States is larger geographically than all
the other advanced industrial countries of the OECD (Organization for
Economic Cooperation
and Development) combined. He proposes what he calls "
The Pluralist Commonwealth
": a system anchored in the reconstruction of communities and the
democratization of wealth. It involves plural forms of cooperative and
common ownership
beginning with decentralization and moving to higher levels of
regional and national coordination when necessary. He is co-chair
along with James Gustav
Speth of an initiative called
The Next System Project,
which seeks to help open a far-ranging discussion of how to move
beyond the failing traditional political-economic systems of both left
and Right..
Dr. Alperovitz quotes Prof. Donald Livingston, who asked in 2002:
block quote
What value is there in continuing to prop up a union of this monstrous
size? . . . [T]here are ample resources in the American federal
tradition to justify
states' and local communities' recalling, out of their own
sovereignty, powers they have allowed the central government to usurp.
block quote end
Taking Back Our Power
If governments are recalling their sovereign powers, they might start
with the power to create money, which was usurped by private interests
while the
people were asleep at the wheel. State and local governments are not
allowed to print their own currencies; but they can own banks, and all
depository
banks create money when they make loans, as
the Bank of England recently acknowledged.
The federal government could take back the power to create the
national money supply by issuing its own Treasury notes as Abraham
Lincoln did. Alternatively,
it
could issue some very large denomination coins
as authorized in the Constitution; or it could nationalize the
central bank and use quantitative easing to fund infrastructure,
education, job creation,
and social services, responding to the needs of the people rather than
the banks.
The freedom to vote carries little weight without economic freedom –
the freedom to work and to have food, shelter, education, medical care
and a decent
retirement. President Franklin Roosevelt maintained that we need an
Economic Bill of Rights. If our elected representatives were not
beholden to the moneylenders,
they might be able both to pass such a bill and to come up with the
money to fund it.
_________
Ellen Brown is an attorney, founder of the
Public Banking Institute,
and author of twelve books including the best-selling
Web of Debt.
Her latest book,
The Public Bank Solution,
explores successful public banking models historically and globally.
Her 300+ blog articles are at
EllenBrown.com.
Listen to "
It's Our Money with Ellen Brown
" on PRN.fm.
Carl Jarvis
*****
How America Became an Oligarchy
Posted on April 6, 2015 by Ellen Brown
block quote
The politicians are put there to give you the idea that you have
freedom of choice. You don't. . . . You have owners.
— George Carlin,
The American Dream
block quote end
According to
a new study from Princeton University,
American democracy no longer exists. Using data from over 1,800 policy
initiatives from 1981 to 2002,
researchers Martin Gilens and Benjamin Page concluded
that rich, well-connected individuals on the political scene now
steer the direction of the country, regardless of – or even against –
the will of the
majority of voters. America's political system has transformed from a
democracy into an oligarchy, where power is wielded by wealthy elites.
"Making the world safe for democracy" was President Woodrow Wilson's
rationale for World War I, and it has been used to justify American
military intervention
ever since. Can we justify sending troops into other countries to
spread a political system we cannot maintain at home?
The Magna Carta, considered the first Bill of Rights in the Western
world, established the rights of nobles as against the king. But the
doctrine that
"all men are created equal" – that all people have "certain
inalienable rights," including "life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness" – is an American
original. And those rights, supposedly insured by the Bill of Rights,
have the right to vote at their core. We have the right to vote but
the voters' collective
will no longer prevails.
In Greece, the left-wing populist Syriza Party
came out of nowhere
to take the presidential election by storm; and in Spain, the
populist Podemos Party appears poised to do the same. But for over a
century, no third-party
candidate has had any chance of winning a US presidential election. We
have a two-party winner-take-all system, in which our choice is
between two candidates,
both of whom necessarily cater to big money. It takes big money just
to put on the mass media campaigns required to win an election
involving 240 million
people of voting age.
In state and local elections, third party candidates have sometimes
won. In a modest-sized city, candidates can actually influence the
vote by going door
to door, passing out flyers and bumper stickers, giving local
presentations, and getting on local radio and TV. But in a national
election, those efforts
are easily trumped by the mass media. And local governments too are
beholden to big money.
When governments of any size need to borrow money, the megabanks in a
position to supply it can generally dictate the terms. Even in Greece,
where the
populist Syriza Party managed to prevail in January, the
anti-austerity platform of the new government is being throttled by
the moneylenders who have
the government in a chokehold.
How did we lose our democracy? Were the Founding Fathers remiss in
leaving something out of the Constitution? Or have we simply gotten
too big to be governed
by majority vote?
Democracy's Rise and Fall
The stages of the capture of democracy by big money are traced in a
paper called "The Collapse of Democratic Nation States" by theologian
and environmentalist
Dr. John Cobb. Going back several centuries, he points to the rise of
private banking, which usurped the power to create money from
governments:
block quote
The influence of money was greatly enhanced by the emergence of
private banking. The banks are able to create money and so to lend
amounts far in excess
of their actual wealth. This control of money-creation . . . has
given banks overwhelming control over human affairs. In the United
States, Wall Street
makes most of the truly important decisions that are directly
attributed to Washington.
block quote end
Today the vast majority of the money supply in Western countries is
created by private bankers. That tradition goes back to the 17th
century, when the
privately-owned Bank of England, the mother of all central banks,
negotiated the right to print England's money after Parliament
stripped that power from
the Crown. When King William needed money to fight a war, he had to
borrow. The government as borrower then became servant of the lender.
In America, however, the colonists defied the Bank of England and
issued their own paper scrip; and they thrived. When King George
forbade that practice,
the colonists rebelled.
They won the Revolution but lost the power to create their own money
supply, when they opted for gold rather than paper money as their
official means of
exchange. Gold was in limited supply and was controlled by the
bankers, who surreptitiously expanded the money supply by issuing
multiple banknotes against
a limited supply of gold.
This was the system euphemistically called "fractional reserve"
banking, meaning only a fraction of the gold necessary to back the
banks' privately-issued
notes was actually held in their vaults. These notes were lent at
interest, putting citizens and the government in debt to bankers who
created the notes
with a printing press. It was something the government could have done
itself debt-free, and the American colonies had done with great
success until England
went to war to stop them.
President Abraham Lincoln revived the colonists' paper money system
when he issued the Treasury notes called "Greenbacks" that helped the
Union win the
Civil War. But Lincoln was assassinated, and the Greenback issues were
discontinued.
In every presidential election between 1872 and 1896, there was a
third national party running on a platform of financial reform.
Typically organized under
the auspices of labor or farmer organizations, these were parties of
the people rather than the banks. They included the Populist Party,
the Greenback
and Greenback Labor Parties, the Labor Reform Party, the
Antimonopolist Party, and the Union Labor Party. They advocated
expanding the national currency
to meet the needs of trade, reform of the banking system, and
democratic control of the financial system.
The Populist movement of the 1890s represented the last serious
challenge to the bankers' monopoly over the right to create the
nation's money.
According to monetary historian Murray Rothbard,
politics after the turn of the century became a struggle between two
competing banking giants, the Morgans and the Rockefellers. The
parties sometimes
changed hands, but the puppeteers pulling the strings were always one
of these two big-money players.
In
All the Presidents' Bankers,
Nomi Prins names six banking giants and associated banking families
that have dominated politics for over a century. No popular third
party candidates
have a real chance of prevailing, because they have to compete with
two entrenched parties funded by these massively powerful Wall Street
banks.
Democracy Succumbs to Globalization
In an earlier era, notes Dr. Cobb, wealthy landowners were able to
control democracies by restricting government participation to the
propertied class.
When those restrictions were removed, big money controlled elections
by other means:
block quote
First, running for office became expensive, so that those who seek
office require wealthy sponsors to whom they are then beholden.
Second, the great majority
of voters have little independent knowledge of those for whom they
vote or of the issues to be dealt with. Their judgments are,
accordingly, dependent
on what they learn from the mass media. These media, in turn, are
controlled by moneyed interests.
block quote end
Control of the media and financial leverage over elected officials
then enabled those other curbs on democracy we know today, including
high barriers to
ballot placement for third parties and their elimination from
presidential debates, vote suppression, registration restrictions,
identification laws, voter
roll purges, gerrymandering, computer voting, and secrecy in government.
The final blow to democracy, says Dr. Cobb, was "globalization" – an
expanding global market that overrides national interests:
block quote
[T]oday's global economy is fully transnational. The money power is
not much interested in boundaries between states and generally works
to reduce their
influence on markets and investments. . . . Thus transnational
corporations inherently work to undermine nation states, whether they
are democratic or
not.
block quote end
The most glaring example today is the secret twelve-country trade
agreement called the
Trans-Pacific Partnership.
If it goes through, the TPP will dramatically expand the power of
multinational corporations to use closed-door tribunals to challenge
and supersede domestic
laws, including environmental, labor, health and other protections.
Looking at Alternatives
Some critics ask whether our system of making decisions by a mass
popular vote easily manipulated by the paid-for media is the most
effective way of governing
on behalf of the people. In an interesting Ted Talk, political scientist
Eric Li makes a compelling case
for the system of "meritocracy" that has been quite successful in China.
In America Beyond Capitalism,
Prof. Gar Alperovitz argues that the US is simply too big to operate
as a democracy at the national level. Excluding Canada and Australia,
which have large
empty landmasses, the United States is larger geographically than all
the other advanced industrial countries of the OECD (Organization for
Economic Cooperation
and Development) combined. He proposes what he calls "
The Pluralist Commonwealth
": a system anchored in the reconstruction of communities and the
democratization of wealth. It involves plural forms of cooperative and
common ownership
beginning with decentralization and moving to higher levels of
regional and national coordination when necessary. He is co-chair
along with James Gustav
Speth of an initiative called
The Next System Project,
which seeks to help open a far-ranging discussion of how to move
beyond the failing traditional political-economic systems of both left
and Right..
Dr. Alperovitz quotes Prof. Donald Livingston, who asked in 2002:
block quote
What value is there in continuing to prop up a union of this monstrous
size? . . . [T]here are ample resources in the American federal
tradition to justify
states' and local communities' recalling, out of their own
sovereignty, powers they have allowed the central government to usurp.
block quote end
Taking Back Our Power
If governments are recalling their sovereign powers, they might start
with the power to create money, which was usurped by private interests
while the
people were asleep at the wheel. State and local governments are not
allowed to print their own currencies; but they can own banks, and all
depository
banks create money when they make loans, as
the Bank of England recently acknowledged.
The federal government could take back the power to create the
national money supply by issuing its own Treasury notes as Abraham
Lincoln did. Alternatively,
it
could issue some very large denomination coins
as authorized in the Constitution; or it could nationalize the
central bank and use quantitative easing to fund infrastructure,
education, job creation,
and social services, responding to the needs of the people rather than
the banks.
The freedom to vote carries little weight without economic freedom –
the freedom to work and to have food, shelter, education, medical care
and a decent
retirement. President Franklin Roosevelt maintained that we need an
Economic Bill of Rights. If our elected representatives were not
beholden to the moneylenders,
they might be able both to pass such a bill and to come up with the
money to fund it.
_________
Ellen Brown is an attorney, founder of the
Public Banking Institute,
and author of twelve books including the best-selling
Web of Debt.
Her latest book,
The Public Bank Solution,
explores successful public banking models historically and globally.
Her 300+ blog articles are at
EllenBrown.com.
Listen to "
It's Our Money with Ellen Brown
" on PRN.fm.
Sunday, June 11, 2017
The following article raises the question, If we're not living under
an Oligarchy, what would we call it? When a government carefully
controls the Media so the news is slanted toward the interest of the
Corporate Class, then we can not say that we live in a Free Land.
Carl Jarvis
*****
Mondoweiss
A tale of two parades: how a New York governor throws Puerto Ricans under
the bus while reaffirming his commitment to Israeli apartheid
Amith Gupta on June 9, 2017 2 Comments
Governor Andrew Cuomo at the Israel Day Parade in New York City, June 4,
2017. (Photo: Andrew Cuomo)
Being a governor is often seen as a stepping-stone in the United States for
the presidency. While the current and former U.S. Presidents are exceptions
to that rule, nobody's behavior embodies that tradition more than Governor
Andrew Cuomo of New York. The Governor has never missed an opportunity to
promote himself, including around issues that have almost nothing to do with
New York state politics - from conducting his own foreign affairs to
partisan grandstanding against Donald Trump's most illiberal policies.
Given that a wannabe president like Cuomo might be expected to constantly
promote his own brand, it raises eyebrows when a politician refuses to show
up at a parade for one of his state's most vibrant demographics. But that's
exactly what Cuomo did when he publicly rebuked the organizers of the Puerto
Rican Day Parade. Accusing the Puerto Rican Day Parade organizers of
engaging in a "political mess" by choosing to honor revolutionary leftist
and former political prisoner Oscar Lopez Rivera, the Governor joined
several mega-corporations in refusing to respect the organizers' autonomous
decision to honor Lopez Rivera.
Lopez Rivera has been ruthlessly attacked in right-wing press as little more
than a terrorist, in part because of his connection to the Fuerzas Armadas
de Liberacion Nacional (FALN). The FALN was an armed group involved in a
string of bombings aimed at ending American colonial rule over the island of
Puerto Rico. Founded by the children of Puerto Ricans who migrated to the
U.S. mainland in the 1940s and faced racism and police violence through the
1950s and 1960s, the FALN was established in 1974.
Adamantly anti-imperialist and socialist in outlook, the FALN carried out
attacks aimed primarily at government institutions and corporations that
were invested in the U.S. occupation of Puerto Rico, and by extension, the
campaign of violent repression carried out on that island. Although
right-wing press portrayed the FALN as mindlessly violent, analyses of the
actual armed campaigns waged by the FALN indicate that few of these attacks
- none of which involved Lopez Rivera - were intended to kill at all. In a
2008 article, sociologist Michael Gonzalez-Cruz points out that out of one
hundred and twenty actions carried out by the FALN, there were casualties in
only two: a reprisal attack on Wall Street that killed four, and an attack
on a Chicago police station in response to a lynching, which killed two. Per
Gonzalez-Cruz, 95 percent of the attacks carried out by the FALN were not
aimed at killing people at all, but were various forms of symbolic violence
aimed at the destruction of property.
Lopez Rivera, who was never accused of involvement in any of the FALN's
bombings, was nonetheless arrested and jailed for sedition due to his
campaign against American rule over Puerto Rico. Lopez Rivera's political
activism until his arrest was characterized by traditional grassroots
organizing: he founded a school and a community center for Puerto Ricans in
Chicago, campaigned for bilingual education and affirmative action in
schools and universities, and sought an end to police brutality against
Puerto Ricans. Ironically, one of the few times that Lopez Rivera engaged in
armed combat was when he served in the U.S. military during the Vietnam War,
where he was awarded a Bronze star.
Uniquely principled, Lopez Rivera refused clemency when offered by Bill
Clinton in 1999, because it did not come with the release of other members
of his organization. President Obama, responding to overwhelming support for
Lopez Rivera among Puerto Ricans and others, finally pardoned him before
leaving office last year. The same overwhelming support culminated in New
York City councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito choosing to honor him with an
award at the parade - sparking an immediate right-wing backlash that mirrors
the sort of mischaracterization that took place against the FALN in the
1970s and 1980s. Cuomo alleged that this backlash was too much of a
distraction from other issues in Puerto Rico, such as its economic malaise -
as though support for a jailed comrade and the long history of American
control over Puerto Rico that Lopez Rivera confronted could be meaningfully
separated from the present-day financial crisis in Puerto Rico.
But political violence, bombings, needless casualties, boycotts, and
controversy has not, and never has, created too much of a distraction for
Cuomo to attend another national parade. Carrying an Israeli flag and draped
in a sash labelling him an "Honorary Grand Marshall," Cuomo joined the
"Celebrate Israel Day Parade" on June 4. Funded by Zionist billionaires,
banks, lobbying initiatives, and the government of Israel itself, the
Celebrate Israel Day Parade was attended by an assortment of Zionist
community organizations and their constituents. Men, women, and small
children donning light blue shirts spent the entire day, alongside Cuomo,
whitewashing the systematic dispossession of another nation of people as
they celebrated a state that has just completed 50 years of U.S.-funded
military occupation - an occupation that has killed more innocents in the
last month than the FALN killed during the entirety of its existence.
Speaking at a breakfast meeting the morning of the parade, Cuomo read out a
proclamation dubbing June 4th "Shimon Peres Day" after the late Israeli
President. Cuomo gushed his uncritical support for the Israeli state as he
sought to tie New York to Israel, while other speakers celebrated Israeli
conquest during the 1967 war. Cuomo specifically attacked the movement to
boycott Israel, invoked the September 11th attacks to justify Israeli policy
while misleadingly tying them to Palestinian uprisings, and cited New York's
Jewish population as a justification for his views on what is clearly a
foreign policy matter. In doing so, Cuomo not only dehumanizes the
Palestinian population that makes up a significant portion of his own
constituency, but also erased the long-standing tradition of dissent on
Israel within the U.S. Jewish community.
Outside this morbid celebration, a small group of Palestinians and
supporters held a counter-protest marked by Palestinian flags, one of few
apparent signs that the colonization of Palestine is not a dead letter.
Groups like American Muslims for Palestine, Al Awda New York, Samidoun, the
New York City Students for Justice in Palestine, Jews for Palestinian Right
of Return and others mobilized a small but passionate group of supporters as
they protested what was little more than a grotesque celebration of the
ethnic cleansing of Palestine.
Palestinians and supporters protest the Israel Day Celebration in New York
City, June 4, 2017. (Photo: Joe Catron)
This tale of two parades is remarkable in that it is very much a microcosm
of politics in a state that is often reduced to little more than a bastion
of liberalism. In an America in which Donald Trump is the standard for what
does and doesn't constitute progress, it is easy to miss the deep-seated
differences that characterize the politics of a supposedly left-leaning
state.
But the demonization of Oscar Lopez Rivera on the one hand, and the
mirroring, unbridled whitewash of Zionism on the other, tell the story of
the limits of liberalism in New York. While Cuomo felt comfortable lecturing
the Puerto Ricans among his constituents when they chose to celebrate
someone widely viewed as a hero, he had no qualms celebrating the unbridled
state violence and regime of apartheid that Israel has carried out against
the Palestinian people in violation of even the lowest standards of
international humanitarian law. Indeed, whether he is marching at the
parade, reaffirming his support for Israel during the 2014 Gaza Massacre, or
penalizing boycotts of Israel, Governor Cuomo has made it very clear which
communities count - and which do not - in this supposedly liberal bastion.
And the response is mutual. While establishment press has sought to
aggressively downplay the growth of Palestine solidarity, the Palestinian
community in New York and its allies continue to make inroads where Cuomo
has exited. For example, the National Lawyers Guild, which has condemned
Cuomo's attempt to repress solidarity with Palestine, has been outspoken in
its support for Lopez Rivera. Similarly, Samidoun, a group focused on
Palestinian prisoners rights that spearheaded the counter-rally against the
Celebrate Israel Day Parade, has long considered Lopez Rivera and Puerto
Rican dissenters to be allies against unjustified U.S. aggression. As Cuomo
shuns Puerto Ricans and Palestinians alike through his parade habits,
perhaps there is an opening for greater unity and blossoming solidarity
among communities that remain excluded from New York's establishment
politics.
an Oligarchy, what would we call it? When a government carefully
controls the Media so the news is slanted toward the interest of the
Corporate Class, then we can not say that we live in a Free Land.
Carl Jarvis
*****
Mondoweiss
A tale of two parades: how a New York governor throws Puerto Ricans under
the bus while reaffirming his commitment to Israeli apartheid
Amith Gupta on June 9, 2017 2 Comments
Governor Andrew Cuomo at the Israel Day Parade in New York City, June 4,
2017. (Photo: Andrew Cuomo)
Being a governor is often seen as a stepping-stone in the United States for
the presidency. While the current and former U.S. Presidents are exceptions
to that rule, nobody's behavior embodies that tradition more than Governor
Andrew Cuomo of New York. The Governor has never missed an opportunity to
promote himself, including around issues that have almost nothing to do with
New York state politics - from conducting his own foreign affairs to
partisan grandstanding against Donald Trump's most illiberal policies.
Given that a wannabe president like Cuomo might be expected to constantly
promote his own brand, it raises eyebrows when a politician refuses to show
up at a parade for one of his state's most vibrant demographics. But that's
exactly what Cuomo did when he publicly rebuked the organizers of the Puerto
Rican Day Parade. Accusing the Puerto Rican Day Parade organizers of
engaging in a "political mess" by choosing to honor revolutionary leftist
and former political prisoner Oscar Lopez Rivera, the Governor joined
several mega-corporations in refusing to respect the organizers' autonomous
decision to honor Lopez Rivera.
Lopez Rivera has been ruthlessly attacked in right-wing press as little more
than a terrorist, in part because of his connection to the Fuerzas Armadas
de Liberacion Nacional (FALN). The FALN was an armed group involved in a
string of bombings aimed at ending American colonial rule over the island of
Puerto Rico. Founded by the children of Puerto Ricans who migrated to the
U.S. mainland in the 1940s and faced racism and police violence through the
1950s and 1960s, the FALN was established in 1974.
Adamantly anti-imperialist and socialist in outlook, the FALN carried out
attacks aimed primarily at government institutions and corporations that
were invested in the U.S. occupation of Puerto Rico, and by extension, the
campaign of violent repression carried out on that island. Although
right-wing press portrayed the FALN as mindlessly violent, analyses of the
actual armed campaigns waged by the FALN indicate that few of these attacks
- none of which involved Lopez Rivera - were intended to kill at all. In a
2008 article, sociologist Michael Gonzalez-Cruz points out that out of one
hundred and twenty actions carried out by the FALN, there were casualties in
only two: a reprisal attack on Wall Street that killed four, and an attack
on a Chicago police station in response to a lynching, which killed two. Per
Gonzalez-Cruz, 95 percent of the attacks carried out by the FALN were not
aimed at killing people at all, but were various forms of symbolic violence
aimed at the destruction of property.
Lopez Rivera, who was never accused of involvement in any of the FALN's
bombings, was nonetheless arrested and jailed for sedition due to his
campaign against American rule over Puerto Rico. Lopez Rivera's political
activism until his arrest was characterized by traditional grassroots
organizing: he founded a school and a community center for Puerto Ricans in
Chicago, campaigned for bilingual education and affirmative action in
schools and universities, and sought an end to police brutality against
Puerto Ricans. Ironically, one of the few times that Lopez Rivera engaged in
armed combat was when he served in the U.S. military during the Vietnam War,
where he was awarded a Bronze star.
Uniquely principled, Lopez Rivera refused clemency when offered by Bill
Clinton in 1999, because it did not come with the release of other members
of his organization. President Obama, responding to overwhelming support for
Lopez Rivera among Puerto Ricans and others, finally pardoned him before
leaving office last year. The same overwhelming support culminated in New
York City councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito choosing to honor him with an
award at the parade - sparking an immediate right-wing backlash that mirrors
the sort of mischaracterization that took place against the FALN in the
1970s and 1980s. Cuomo alleged that this backlash was too much of a
distraction from other issues in Puerto Rico, such as its economic malaise -
as though support for a jailed comrade and the long history of American
control over Puerto Rico that Lopez Rivera confronted could be meaningfully
separated from the present-day financial crisis in Puerto Rico.
But political violence, bombings, needless casualties, boycotts, and
controversy has not, and never has, created too much of a distraction for
Cuomo to attend another national parade. Carrying an Israeli flag and draped
in a sash labelling him an "Honorary Grand Marshall," Cuomo joined the
"Celebrate Israel Day Parade" on June 4. Funded by Zionist billionaires,
banks, lobbying initiatives, and the government of Israel itself, the
Celebrate Israel Day Parade was attended by an assortment of Zionist
community organizations and their constituents. Men, women, and small
children donning light blue shirts spent the entire day, alongside Cuomo,
whitewashing the systematic dispossession of another nation of people as
they celebrated a state that has just completed 50 years of U.S.-funded
military occupation - an occupation that has killed more innocents in the
last month than the FALN killed during the entirety of its existence.
Speaking at a breakfast meeting the morning of the parade, Cuomo read out a
proclamation dubbing June 4th "Shimon Peres Day" after the late Israeli
President. Cuomo gushed his uncritical support for the Israeli state as he
sought to tie New York to Israel, while other speakers celebrated Israeli
conquest during the 1967 war. Cuomo specifically attacked the movement to
boycott Israel, invoked the September 11th attacks to justify Israeli policy
while misleadingly tying them to Palestinian uprisings, and cited New York's
Jewish population as a justification for his views on what is clearly a
foreign policy matter. In doing so, Cuomo not only dehumanizes the
Palestinian population that makes up a significant portion of his own
constituency, but also erased the long-standing tradition of dissent on
Israel within the U.S. Jewish community.
Outside this morbid celebration, a small group of Palestinians and
supporters held a counter-protest marked by Palestinian flags, one of few
apparent signs that the colonization of Palestine is not a dead letter.
Groups like American Muslims for Palestine, Al Awda New York, Samidoun, the
New York City Students for Justice in Palestine, Jews for Palestinian Right
of Return and others mobilized a small but passionate group of supporters as
they protested what was little more than a grotesque celebration of the
ethnic cleansing of Palestine.
Palestinians and supporters protest the Israel Day Celebration in New York
City, June 4, 2017. (Photo: Joe Catron)
This tale of two parades is remarkable in that it is very much a microcosm
of politics in a state that is often reduced to little more than a bastion
of liberalism. In an America in which Donald Trump is the standard for what
does and doesn't constitute progress, it is easy to miss the deep-seated
differences that characterize the politics of a supposedly left-leaning
state.
But the demonization of Oscar Lopez Rivera on the one hand, and the
mirroring, unbridled whitewash of Zionism on the other, tell the story of
the limits of liberalism in New York. While Cuomo felt comfortable lecturing
the Puerto Ricans among his constituents when they chose to celebrate
someone widely viewed as a hero, he had no qualms celebrating the unbridled
state violence and regime of apartheid that Israel has carried out against
the Palestinian people in violation of even the lowest standards of
international humanitarian law. Indeed, whether he is marching at the
parade, reaffirming his support for Israel during the 2014 Gaza Massacre, or
penalizing boycotts of Israel, Governor Cuomo has made it very clear which
communities count - and which do not - in this supposedly liberal bastion.
And the response is mutual. While establishment press has sought to
aggressively downplay the growth of Palestine solidarity, the Palestinian
community in New York and its allies continue to make inroads where Cuomo
has exited. For example, the National Lawyers Guild, which has condemned
Cuomo's attempt to repress solidarity with Palestine, has been outspoken in
its support for Lopez Rivera. Similarly, Samidoun, a group focused on
Palestinian prisoners rights that spearheaded the counter-rally against the
Celebrate Israel Day Parade, has long considered Lopez Rivera and Puerto
Rican dissenters to be allies against unjustified U.S. aggression. As Cuomo
shuns Puerto Ricans and Palestinians alike through his parade habits,
perhaps there is an opening for greater unity and blossoming solidarity
among communities that remain excluded from New York's establishment
politics.
Tuesday, June 6, 2017
Just one man's opinion
Hi All Opinionated People Everywhere!
Did you ever read Howard Zinn's, "A People's History of the United
States"? In the first chapter he quotes from the notes and diary of
Christopher Columbus, and others, telling of how the Bishops had the
local chieftains strung up above piles of fire wood. They were told
that they could accept the Lord and burn to death and go to Heaven, or
refuse and burn to death and go to Hell.
"But," my Christian friends admonish me, "that was then and this is
now". And I suppose that they have a point. It is no longer, just
the Christian Thing to do, it is the driving force behind the entire
approach to the Law and Order World of the American Oligarchy. Or if
you pleas, the American Corporate Empire(ACE). As it struggles to
become the International Corporate Empire(ICE) the ACE has refined
that early use of pain, suffering and agonizing death as its number
one deterrent in its battle for control over the Working Classes
minds. And it appears that presently the Oligarchy and its "Hanger
ons" are winning the day. Around the Globe, violence as a deterrent
is wiping out thousands of people the Oligarchy feels are of no value.
Here in America, the Oligarchy is more selective regarding who they
murder, and so we have a growing Private Prison Industry, housing the
largest incarcerated population of any nation on Earth.
The list of proposed punishments and tortures is too long to post
here, but I will mention the rapid closure of Women's Clinics across
the nation. All in the name of saving the precious lives of unborn
fetus'. Women's well being is being sacrificed in order to bring all
the new little babies into a world where they will have the privilege
of growing up and becoming cannon fodder for the War Machine of the
Oligarchy. Or they may end up living in back alleys and earning a
meager living as prostitutes. They will be gobbled up by the Drug
Lords. They will be driven away from the safe places, into the
horrors of the ghettos.
And all the while we will be told that the Swamp is being drained, and
we are on the road back to when America was Truly Great.
"Oh here's to Donald Trump. A mighty man is he.
His Tweets go out across the Land, from Sea to shining Sea.
He tells us all the real truth, the truth that's really true.
He says the Media tells us lies, and mixes witches brew.
He promises that by getting tough, we'll be a safer nation.
and safe we'll be, as he builds his walls, for our incarceration.
Carl Jarvis
Did you ever read Howard Zinn's, "A People's History of the United
States"? In the first chapter he quotes from the notes and diary of
Christopher Columbus, and others, telling of how the Bishops had the
local chieftains strung up above piles of fire wood. They were told
that they could accept the Lord and burn to death and go to Heaven, or
refuse and burn to death and go to Hell.
"But," my Christian friends admonish me, "that was then and this is
now". And I suppose that they have a point. It is no longer, just
the Christian Thing to do, it is the driving force behind the entire
approach to the Law and Order World of the American Oligarchy. Or if
you pleas, the American Corporate Empire(ACE). As it struggles to
become the International Corporate Empire(ICE) the ACE has refined
that early use of pain, suffering and agonizing death as its number
one deterrent in its battle for control over the Working Classes
minds. And it appears that presently the Oligarchy and its "Hanger
ons" are winning the day. Around the Globe, violence as a deterrent
is wiping out thousands of people the Oligarchy feels are of no value.
Here in America, the Oligarchy is more selective regarding who they
murder, and so we have a growing Private Prison Industry, housing the
largest incarcerated population of any nation on Earth.
The list of proposed punishments and tortures is too long to post
here, but I will mention the rapid closure of Women's Clinics across
the nation. All in the name of saving the precious lives of unborn
fetus'. Women's well being is being sacrificed in order to bring all
the new little babies into a world where they will have the privilege
of growing up and becoming cannon fodder for the War Machine of the
Oligarchy. Or they may end up living in back alleys and earning a
meager living as prostitutes. They will be gobbled up by the Drug
Lords. They will be driven away from the safe places, into the
horrors of the ghettos.
And all the while we will be told that the Swamp is being drained, and
we are on the road back to when America was Truly Great.
"Oh here's to Donald Trump. A mighty man is he.
His Tweets go out across the Land, from Sea to shining Sea.
He tells us all the real truth, the truth that's really true.
He says the Media tells us lies, and mixes witches brew.
He promises that by getting tough, we'll be a safer nation.
and safe we'll be, as he builds his walls, for our incarceration.
Carl Jarvis
Did you ever read Howard Zinn's, "A People's History of the United
States"? In the first chapter he quotes from the notes and diary of
Christopher Columbus, and others, telling of how the Bishops had the
local chieftains strung up above piles of fire wood. They were told
that they could accept the Lord and burn to death and go to Heaven, or
refuse and burn to death and go to Hell.
"But," my Christian friends admonish me, "that was then and this is
now". And I suppose that they have a point. It is no longer, just
the Christian Thing to do, it is the driving force behind the entire
approach to the Law and Order World of the American Oligarchy. Or if
you pleas, the American Corporate Empire(ACE). As it struggles to
become the International Corporate Empire(ICE) the ACE has refined
that early use of pain, suffering and agonizing death as its number
one deterrent in its battle for control over the Working Classes
minds. And it appears that presently the Oligarchy and its "Hanger
ons" are winning the day. Around the Globe, violence as a deterrent
is wiping out thousands of people the Oligarchy feels are of no value.
Here in America, the Oligarchy is more selective regarding who they
murder, and so we have a growing Private Prison Industry, housing the
largest incarcerated population of any nation on Earth.
The list of proposed punishments and tortures is too long to post
here, but I will mention the rapid closure of Women's Clinics across
the nation. All in the name of saving the precious lives of unborn
fetus'. Women's well being is being sacrificed in order to bring all
the new little babies into a world where they will have the privilege
of growing up and becoming cannon fodder for the War Machine of the
Oligarchy. Or they may end up living in back alleys and earning a
meager living as prostitutes. They will be gobbled up by the Drug
Lords. They will be driven away from the safe places, into the
horrors of the ghettos.
And all the while we will be told that the Swamp is being drained, and
we are on the road back to when America was Truly Great.
"Oh here's to Donald Trump. A mighty man is he.
His Tweets go out across the Land, from Sea to shining Sea.
He tells us all the real truth, the truth that's really true.
He says the Media tells us lies, and mixes witches brew.
He promises that by getting tough, we'll be a safer nation.
and safe we'll be, as he builds his walls, for our incarceration.
Carl Jarvis
Did you ever read Howard Zinn's, "A People's History of the United
States"? In the first chapter he quotes from the notes and diary of
Christopher Columbus, and others, telling of how the Bishops had the
local chieftains strung up above piles of fire wood. They were told
that they could accept the Lord and burn to death and go to Heaven, or
refuse and burn to death and go to Hell.
"But," my Christian friends admonish me, "that was then and this is
now". And I suppose that they have a point. It is no longer, just
the Christian Thing to do, it is the driving force behind the entire
approach to the Law and Order World of the American Oligarchy. Or if
you pleas, the American Corporate Empire(ACE). As it struggles to
become the International Corporate Empire(ICE) the ACE has refined
that early use of pain, suffering and agonizing death as its number
one deterrent in its battle for control over the Working Classes
minds. And it appears that presently the Oligarchy and its "Hanger
ons" are winning the day. Around the Globe, violence as a deterrent
is wiping out thousands of people the Oligarchy feels are of no value.
Here in America, the Oligarchy is more selective regarding who they
murder, and so we have a growing Private Prison Industry, housing the
largest incarcerated population of any nation on Earth.
The list of proposed punishments and tortures is too long to post
here, but I will mention the rapid closure of Women's Clinics across
the nation. All in the name of saving the precious lives of unborn
fetus'. Women's well being is being sacrificed in order to bring all
the new little babies into a world where they will have the privilege
of growing up and becoming cannon fodder for the War Machine of the
Oligarchy. Or they may end up living in back alleys and earning a
meager living as prostitutes. They will be gobbled up by the Drug
Lords. They will be driven away from the safe places, into the
horrors of the ghettos.
And all the while we will be told that the Swamp is being drained, and
we are on the road back to when America was Truly Great.
"Oh here's to Donald Trump. A mighty man is he.
His Tweets go out across the Land, from Sea to shining Sea.
He tells us all the real truth, the truth that's really true.
He says the Media tells us lies, and mixes witches brew.
He promises that by getting tough, we'll be a safer nation.
and safe we'll be, as he builds his walls, for our incarceration.
Carl Jarvis
Friday, June 2, 2017
Fwd: [acb-chat] [ACB-chat] Intelligent choices....
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Carl Jarvis via acb-chat <acb-chat@acblists.org>
Date: Sat, 03 Jun 2017 04:17:10 +0000
Subject: Re: [acb-chat] [ACB-chat] Intelligent choices....
To: "General discussion list for ACB members and friends where a wide
range of topics from blindness to politics, issues of the day or
whatever comes to mind are welcome. This is a free form discussion
list." <acb-chat@acblists.org>
Cc: Carl Jarvis <carjar82@gmail.com>
Well said Abby,
For some reason I just can't get this subject out of my head. Maybe
it has something to do with having two sisters, and living at a time
when girls were literally second class. The things I and my buddies
could do? No girl would have been able to show her face if she dared
copy us. We drank. We screwed(pardon the expression, but it's what
we did, with impunity", we stayed out all night, too. And when I
married in 1960, my wife had to have my permission in order to buy
anything other than groceries. In those good old days, when America
was "truly great", back in the time Donald Trump would lead us to
again, husbands could walk out on their wives and children with no
penalty. I worked with many such women, in the drapery factory in
Seattle, where women were earning a dollar an hour and trying to make
deals with collection agencies, while buying enough food to keep their
children alive.
In later times, at least in the State of Washington, laws were finally
put in place rectifying these abuses. Sad to say, the laws at times
went above and beyond being reasonable. Men whined and bitched about
the outcome of court cases, but I had no ear for them. They could
have treated their wives and children fairly and avoided the need for
the Courts to intercede.
Today, women are still a long way from being equal to men. Now,
looking back on my life of male chauvinism, I must admit that I was
far, far, far more drawn to curvaceous, charming women, than I was
drawn to handsome, charming men. And Sex was definitely on my mind.
One of the hardest changes in my attitudes was this struggle to accept
women as my equals...and in the case of many, as my superiors(Cathy
comes to mind). In fact, Cathy was a large part responsible in my
learning that men and women could become partners, and still enjoy the
Glorious Differences between them.
Carl Jarvis
On 6/2/17, Chris Coulter via acb-chat <acb-chat@acblists.org> wrote:
> Stocks? Cat-o-nine-tails? Boy, I can't remember where I put the whip and
> those stocks must be very rusty from disuse by now. I didn't realize the
> purity pledge was now a requirement. I heard it was something very much
> desired by the schools that used it but not that it was required. I'm out of
> touch already and this makes it even worse. People just sign because it's
> against the rules not to. That doesn't help them become accountable.
>
> Chris
>> On Jun 2, 2017, at 12:11 PM, Carl Jarvis via acb-chat
>> <acb-chat@acblists.org> wrote:
>>
>> While I still stand on what I wrote, I am now doubly offended to learn
>> that public tax dollars are being used to support this negative,
>> pre-civilization "Education"! If it were my local school, I'd
>> organize an old fashioned Love-In right in front of the school.
>> Remember, it was our grand parents "teaching through public censure
>> and physical punishment" that got us where we are today. If we
>> honestly like the world as it now is, then let's double down and break
>> out the Cat O Nine Tails. Public Stoning is always good for a laugh.
>> And what about dusting off the good old Stocks?
>> God Bless us, Everyone!
>>
>> Carl Jarvis
>>
>>
>> On 6/2/17, Frank Ventura via acb-chat <acb-chat@acblists.org> wrote:
>>> Chris, that "purity pledge" is required of most junior high and senior
>>> high
>>> students these days. In charter and private schools it is mandatory for
>>> all
>>> students and in "normal" public schools it is carefully crafted in the
>>> fine
>>> print that a student must sign if they want to participate in
>>> extracurricular activities.
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: Chris Coulter via acb-chat [mailto:acb-chat@acblists.org]
>>> Sent: Tuesday, May 30, 2017 1:32 AM
>>> To: General discussion list for ACB members and friends where a wide
>>> range
>>> of topics from blindness to politics, issues of the day or whatever comes
>>> to
>>> mind are welcome. This is a free form discussion list.
>>> <acb-chat@acblists.org>
>>> Cc: Chris Coulter <forestelf2@comcast.net>
>>> Subject: Re: [acb-chat] Intelligent choices....
>>>
>>> Bob, Carl and the rest of the list,
>>>
>>> I am whole-heartedly a Christian and it breaks my heart to hear what the
>>> people who have corrupted the real following of Christ have done to that
>>> young girl. Just how hard was she pressured to sign that pledge? Just
>>> how
>>> much information did she have (or not have) about how strong sexual need
>>> is,
>>> especially when the one you need is also the one you might really love?
>>> I'm
>>> not saying that it's perfectly okay to bring a child into the world and
>>> raise that child without both Mom and Dad there to create a stable
>>> family;
>>> but it was also wrong of that administrator to say that the school had
>>> shown
>>> her the grace of God by not expelling her. What a thing to say after
>>> they
>>> have banished her from her graduation ceremony. I'm sure Jesus never
>>> meant
>>> people to be so cruel.
>>>
>>> Chris
>>>> On May 29, 2017, at 6:09 PM, Bob Hachey via acb-chat
>>>> <acb-chat@acblists.org> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Hi Carl,
>>>> I'm with you all the way here. I was raised Catholic and have been
>>>> questioning this whole religion thing since my parents told me that
>>>> we're
>>>> not supposed to eat meat on Fridays during lent.
>>>> There is no doubt in my mind that many if not all religions subjugate
>>>> women to roles lesser than that of men and they also tend to allow
>>>> women
>>>> to be treated horribly.
>>>> In my under-graduate studies, I recall reading a book entitled The Age
>>>> of
>>>> Religious wars. I often contemplate both the good and bad that religion
>>>> have brought to us and I'm inclined to believe that the bad outweighs
>>>> the
>>>> good. Seems to me that we humans should siphon off what is good in our
>>>> religions and toss the rest of it out. In terms of Christianity, good
>>>> things I see are the golden Rule and 8 of the ten commandments.
>>>> Bob Hachey
>>>>
>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>> From: Carl Jarvis via acb-chat [mailto:acb-chat@acblists.org]
>>>> Sent: Monday, May 29, 2017 2:29 PM
>>>> To: General discussion list for ACB members and friends where a wide
>>>> range
>>>> of topics from blindness to politics, issues of the day or whatever
>>>> comes
>>>> to mind are welcome. This is a free form discussion list.
>>>> Cc: Carl Jarvis
>>>> Subject: Re: [acb-chat] Intelligent choices....
>>>>
>>>> Believers call it, "God's Will". To my way of thinking, it is really
>>>> Man's ability to compartmentalize. The young woman in this story is
>>>> "held
>>>> responsible" for her indiscretions. Held responsible includes
>>>> humiliation
>>>> in front of her classmates, being ejected from her school even though
>>>> she
>>>> was allowed back after an appeal, and a final "lesson"
>>>> in not allowing her to be included in graduation ceremonies. The lesson
>>>> is
>>>> a simple one. Young girls, beware! If you are placed in a situation
>>>> where you become pregnant, God will single you out and punish you,
>>>> marking
>>>> you as an adulteress and a whore for the remainder of your life. And
>>>> that
>>>> child will be marked as a Bastard, and suffer the rest of His/Her life
>>>> for
>>>> your Sin. Oh yes, the other partner in this transgression? Well, he,
>>>> like God's favored Son David, gets a free pass.
>>>> And this is that All Knowing God of Mercy whom women have allowed men
>>>> to
>>>> inflict them with. That young woman, upon being ejected from school,
>>>> should have said, "You can't toss me out. I quit!" She should have
>>>> denounced those who sat in judgement over her, while ignoring the fact
>>>> that it still takes two to "create" new human life.
>>>> Of course, I am only familiar with Protestantism, having once been
>>>> "Born again and Baptized in the Holy Spirit". But I found the "Laws
>>>> of God" far too biased toward Men, at the expense of women and
>>>> children.
>>>> In the church I attended, God was top dog, then his Son Jesus. God's
>>>> son
>>>> Jesus was the head of God's church, and was boss of Man. Man was Boss
>>>> of
>>>> Woman and of their children. Man was told by God to be fair and kind
>>>> to
>>>> his wife and not to beat her with a rod larger than his thumb, but
>>>> nowhere
>>>> was Woman a Partner with Man. She was publicly stoned as an
>>>> adulterous.
>>>> But what did God do with the adulterer?
>>>> If we are not strong enough as a Species to deal with Life on our own,
>>>> then at least let's gather representatives from all corners of the
>>>> planet,
>>>> men, women, gays, blacks, whites, brown and all ages as well as
>>>> disabled,
>>>> and draw up a New God, created by Committee, and representative of All
>>>> People...and even better, of All Life on Earth.
>>>> Then we can toss out the old books that were crafted by men, for men,
>>>> and
>>>> draft a new book for all.
>>>>
>>>> Carl Jarvis
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On 5/26/17, Demaya, Diego via acb-chat <acb-chat@acblists.org> wrote:
>>>>> Just a quote from the piece below: ""You can't claim to be pro-life
>>>>> and be against the killing of babies, but then try to toss out the
>>>>> girl who decides to keep her baby just because the situation does not
>>>>> meet your standard,"
>>>>> she said…"
>>>>>
>>>>> After Shaming Pregnant Senior For Months, Christian High School Says
>>>>> She Can't Walk At Graduation The principal says the teen is being
>>>>> punished "because she was immoral."
>>>>> David Lohr</us/author/david-lohr>
>>>>>
>>>>> A Maryland Christian school has barred an 18-year-old senior from
>>>>> walking in next month's graduation ceremonies because she is pregnant.
>>>>>
>>>>> Maddi Runkles, who is a straight-A student, said she became pregnant
>>>>> five months ago. She said she expected some punishment, but also
>>>>> support from officials at the nondenominational Heritage Academy, in
>>>>> Hagerstown.
>>>>>
>>>>> "This has been more shame than punishment," Runkles told HuffPost.
>>>>>
>>>>> Runkles said in January, when she and her parents notified the school
>>>>> about her pregnancy, she was immediately dismissed. When her parents
>>>>> appealed the decision, they were told she could come back, but would
>>>>> have to continue her studies at home after spring break. A second
>>>>> appeal from the family resulted in the school's final decision:
>>>>> removing her from all leadership positions (she was student council
>>>>> president and vice president of the Key Club) and banning her from
>>>>> walking at her graduation ceremony.
>>>>> [http://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/scalefit_630_noupscale/5927305d1
>>>>> 5 0000210015b6d8.jpeg?cache=lbc9aqlqwg]
>>>>>
>>>>> Students for Life of America
>>>>> Maddi Runkles, who is a straight-A student and five months pregnant,
>>>>> has been barred from participating in her school's graduation
>>>>> ceremonies.
>>>>>
>>>>> Heritage Academy's strict policies require students to sign a pledge
>>>>> in which they agree to protect their bodies by "abstaining from
>>>>> sexual immorality and from the use of alcohol, tobacco, and illegal
>>>>> drugs,"
>>>>> according to the school's
>>>>> website<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__heritage-2Dacademy.net_&d=DwMFaQ&c=cBOA5YEoZuz9KdLvh38YxdrPtfJt83ckXekfBgq5xB0&r=CK8oOj7-JYZnTDmB5orNTVZXar6NrsnGtGHfQ5m79Do&m=ZdWVuN5v4jDwQa6OgO7gWFl7TWuuwGvB8S-wQbMwKQc&s=Ld6DFr6_rU-r1FClauk-gluvLatSoy1UeeIg8OuA5R4&e=>.
>>>>>
>>>>> David Hobbs, administrator at Heritage Academy, addressed recent
>>>>> criticism<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.ny
>>>>> t
>>>>> imes.com_2017_05_20_us_teen-2Dpregnancy-2Dreligious-2Dvalues-2Dchrist
>>>>> i
>>>>> an-2Dschool.html-3F-5Fr-3D0&d=DwMFaQ&c=cBOA5YEoZuz9KdLvh38YxdrPtfJt83
>>>>> c
>>>>> kXekfBgq5xB0&r=CK8oOj7-JYZnTDmB5orNTVZXar6NrsnGtGHfQ5m79Do&m=ZdWVuN5v
>>>>> 4
>>>>> jDwQa6OgO7gWFl7TWuuwGvB8S-wQbMwKQc&s=iUt81dfMxBGZJhgB67QoM_nbGXnHQlI5
>>>>> 4
>>>>> a9_xOTikpE&e=>
>>>>> in a
>>>>> statement<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__flii.b
>>>>> y
>>>>> _file_by16qa2zaqt_&d=DwMFaQ&c=cBOA5YEoZuz9KdLvh38YxdrPtfJt83ckXekfBgq
>>>>> 5
>>>>> xB0&r=CK8oOj7-JYZnTDmB5orNTVZXar6NrsnGtGHfQ5m79Do&m=ZdWVuN5v4jDwQa6Og
>>>>> O
>>>>> 7gWFl7TWuuwGvB8S-wQbMwKQc&s=8aAc7mdoD9b45xtz5zqE239AP0rjbcI6PctP_b30L
>>>>> f 0&e=> released earlier this week. According to Hobbs, Runkles was
>>>>> punished "not because she's pregnant, but because she was immoral."
>>>>>
>>>>> "Her immorality is the original choice she made that began this
>>>>> situation,"
>>>>> Hobbs wrote.
>>>>>
>>>>> Runkles counters that her punishment is much more severe than what's
>>>>> been doled out to others who have broken the pledge.
>>>>>
>>>>> "Sexual morality is not just limited to premarital sex," she said.
>>>>> "There's many different forms of it and there have been other kids
>>>>> committing forms of sexual immorality and they have never been treated
>>>>> this harshly."
>>>>> [http://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/crop_11_662_2563_2747,scalefit_6
>>>>> 3 0_noupscale/59273171150000470015b6df.jpeg]
>>>>>
>>>>> Students for Life of America
>>>>> "A bunch of families stood up for us and said, 'This is not right,'"
>>>>> Maddi Runkles told HuffPost.
>>>>>
>>>>> In his statement, Hobbs claims the school wanted to keep the matter
>>>>> private, "to protect: first Maddi, then Heritage." However, Runkles
>>>>> says Hobbs planned to notify students that she'd broken the rules.
>>>>> She said she didn't want her classmates to hear it from him, so she
>>>>> volunteered to read a prepared statement to her classmates.
>>>>>
>>>>> "It was before my parents and about 70 students ― my whole high
>>>>> school,"
>>>>> Runkles said. "I immediately started crying. I was embarrassed that I
>>>>> had to stand before all my peers and admit what I had done ... When I
>>>>> finished reading it, [Hobbs] got up and read off the punishments he
>>>>> saw
>>>>> fit."
>>>>>
>>>>> The father of her child attended a different school. He graduated
>>>>> last year and is attending college.
>>>>>
>>>>> In March, Runkles contacted the pro-life group Students for Life of
>>>>> America<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__studentsforlife.org&d=DwMFaQ&c=cBOA5YEoZuz9KdLvh38YxdrPtfJt83ckXekfBgq5xB0&r=CK8oOj7-JYZnTDmB5orNTVZXar6NrsnGtGHfQ5m79Do&m=ZdWVuN5v4jDwQa6OgO7gWFl7TWuuwGvB8S-wQbMwKQc&s=176hwnCrv2fsvbH1XtJe9rpommNwyj0qSS6p438xQhw&e=>.
>>>>> The organization's president, Kristan Hawkins, said after speaking
>>>>> with the teen and her parents she contacted Hobbs and asked him to
>>>>> reconsider letting the high school senior walk during the graduation
>>>>> ceremony, scheduled for June 2.
>>>>>
>>>>> "He basically said, 'This is a private decision [and] who are you to
>>>>> come in and try to change that,'" Hawkins told HuffPost.
>>>>>
>>>>> School administrators have ignored an online
>>>>> campaign<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__students
>>>>> f
>>>>> orlife.org_this-2Dhigh-2Dschool-2Dsenior-2Dgot-2Dpregnant-2Dand-2Dyou
>>>>> -
>>>>> 2Dwont-2Dbelieve-2Dwhat-2Dher-2Dchristian-2Dschool-2Ddid_&d=DwMFaQ&c=
>>>>> c
>>>>> BOA5YEoZuz9KdLvh38YxdrPtfJt83ckXekfBgq5xB0&r=CK8oOj7-JYZnTDmB5orNTVZX
>>>>> a
>>>>> r6NrsnGtGHfQ5m79Do&m=ZdWVuN5v4jDwQa6OgO7gWFl7TWuuwGvB8S-wQbMwKQc&s=9p
>>>>> p ZPMmV-z3LclENwMoIcN4r17KkUiUQ3zSoocAMvV8&e=>
>>>>> supporting Runkles and direct pleas from her parents, Hawkins said.
>>>>>
>>>>> Runkles' father declined to comment Thursday. HuffPost was instead
>>>>> directed to a Facebook
>>>>> post<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.faceboo
>>>>> k
>>>>> .com_rhonda.runkles_posts_10210453233101699&d=DwMFaQ&c=cBOA5YEoZuz9Kd
>>>>> L
>>>>> vh38YxdrPtfJt83ckXekfBgq5xB0&r=CK8oOj7-JYZnTDmB5orNTVZXar6NrsnGtGHfQ5
>>>>> m
>>>>> 79Do&m=ZdWVuN5v4jDwQa6OgO7gWFl7TWuuwGvB8S-wQbMwKQc&s=02I0fEQSbxHHPwSM
>>>>> 7
>>>>> 2SW0ewHrV0JS8PLSOR44L-kSnU&e=>
>>>>> attributed to him.
>>>>>
>>>>> "Despite what some may think, Maddi nor her mother and I have ever
>>>>> advocated that she not be disciplined for her actions," he wrote. "My
>>>>> daughter should be held accountable … but grace and love should be
>>>>> more
>>>>> prominent."
>>>>>
>>>>> The post criticized the school's decision to wait until the end of
>>>>> the year to fully discipline his daughter, given that her confession
>>>>> had been made months earlier.
>>>>>
>>>>> "To the detractors, ask yourself how restoration can take place when
>>>>> you put a student's punishment at the very end of their high school
>>>>> career," he wrote. "When do you plan to show Maddi the love and grace
>>>>> that is supposed to take place after discipline."
>>>>> [http://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/scalefit_630_noupscale/59272f971
>>>>> 6 00002100ddcde2.jpeg?cache=ixtwqwho6h]
>>>>>
>>>>> Students for Life of America
>>>>> Maddi Runkles holding a recent sonogram image.
>>>>>
>>>>> According to Hobbs, the school showed Runkles grace by not expelling
>>>>> her.
>>>>> She will still receive her diploma and is still permitted to attend
>>>>> graduation, she just can't participate.
>>>>>
>>>>> "We love Maddi Runkles," Hobbs said. "The best way to love her right
>>>>> now is to hold her accountable for her immorality that began this
>>>>> situation."
>>>>>
>>>>> But that explanation doesn't satisfy Runkles.
>>>>>
>>>>> "You can't claim to be pro-life and be against the killing of babies,
>>>>> but then try to toss out the girl who decides to keep her baby just
>>>>> because the situation does not meet your standard," she said.
>>>>>
>>>>> It also doesn't sit well with her supporters.
>>>>>
>>>>> "There's a lot of young men and women watching this transpire and
>>>>> they've set a really awful example," Hawkins said. "That's why it's
>>>>> important for us to make this stupid matter public to show every
>>>>> student this is not acceptable behavior and certainly not acceptable
>>>>> Christian behavior.
>>>>> Hopefully Christian campuses across the country will see this story
>>>>> and re-evaluate how they handle these things."
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
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From: Carl Jarvis via acb-chat <acb-chat@acblists.org>
Date: Sat, 03 Jun 2017 04:17:10 +0000
Subject: Re: [acb-chat] [ACB-chat] Intelligent choices....
To: "General discussion list for ACB members and friends where a wide
range of topics from blindness to politics, issues of the day or
whatever comes to mind are welcome. This is a free form discussion
list." <acb-chat@acblists.org>
Cc: Carl Jarvis <carjar82@gmail.com>
Well said Abby,
For some reason I just can't get this subject out of my head. Maybe
it has something to do with having two sisters, and living at a time
when girls were literally second class. The things I and my buddies
could do? No girl would have been able to show her face if she dared
copy us. We drank. We screwed(pardon the expression, but it's what
we did, with impunity", we stayed out all night, too. And when I
married in 1960, my wife had to have my permission in order to buy
anything other than groceries. In those good old days, when America
was "truly great", back in the time Donald Trump would lead us to
again, husbands could walk out on their wives and children with no
penalty. I worked with many such women, in the drapery factory in
Seattle, where women were earning a dollar an hour and trying to make
deals with collection agencies, while buying enough food to keep their
children alive.
In later times, at least in the State of Washington, laws were finally
put in place rectifying these abuses. Sad to say, the laws at times
went above and beyond being reasonable. Men whined and bitched about
the outcome of court cases, but I had no ear for them. They could
have treated their wives and children fairly and avoided the need for
the Courts to intercede.
Today, women are still a long way from being equal to men. Now,
looking back on my life of male chauvinism, I must admit that I was
far, far, far more drawn to curvaceous, charming women, than I was
drawn to handsome, charming men. And Sex was definitely on my mind.
One of the hardest changes in my attitudes was this struggle to accept
women as my equals...and in the case of many, as my superiors(Cathy
comes to mind). In fact, Cathy was a large part responsible in my
learning that men and women could become partners, and still enjoy the
Glorious Differences between them.
Carl Jarvis
On 6/2/17, Chris Coulter via acb-chat <acb-chat@acblists.org> wrote:
> Stocks? Cat-o-nine-tails? Boy, I can't remember where I put the whip and
> those stocks must be very rusty from disuse by now. I didn't realize the
> purity pledge was now a requirement. I heard it was something very much
> desired by the schools that used it but not that it was required. I'm out of
> touch already and this makes it even worse. People just sign because it's
> against the rules not to. That doesn't help them become accountable.
>
> Chris
>> On Jun 2, 2017, at 12:11 PM, Carl Jarvis via acb-chat
>> <acb-chat@acblists.org> wrote:
>>
>> While I still stand on what I wrote, I am now doubly offended to learn
>> that public tax dollars are being used to support this negative,
>> pre-civilization "Education"! If it were my local school, I'd
>> organize an old fashioned Love-In right in front of the school.
>> Remember, it was our grand parents "teaching through public censure
>> and physical punishment" that got us where we are today. If we
>> honestly like the world as it now is, then let's double down and break
>> out the Cat O Nine Tails. Public Stoning is always good for a laugh.
>> And what about dusting off the good old Stocks?
>> God Bless us, Everyone!
>>
>> Carl Jarvis
>>
>>
>> On 6/2/17, Frank Ventura via acb-chat <acb-chat@acblists.org> wrote:
>>> Chris, that "purity pledge" is required of most junior high and senior
>>> high
>>> students these days. In charter and private schools it is mandatory for
>>> all
>>> students and in "normal" public schools it is carefully crafted in the
>>> fine
>>> print that a student must sign if they want to participate in
>>> extracurricular activities.
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: Chris Coulter via acb-chat [mailto:acb-chat@acblists.org]
>>> Sent: Tuesday, May 30, 2017 1:32 AM
>>> To: General discussion list for ACB members and friends where a wide
>>> range
>>> of topics from blindness to politics, issues of the day or whatever comes
>>> to
>>> mind are welcome. This is a free form discussion list.
>>> <acb-chat@acblists.org>
>>> Cc: Chris Coulter <forestelf2@comcast.net>
>>> Subject: Re: [acb-chat] Intelligent choices....
>>>
>>> Bob, Carl and the rest of the list,
>>>
>>> I am whole-heartedly a Christian and it breaks my heart to hear what the
>>> people who have corrupted the real following of Christ have done to that
>>> young girl. Just how hard was she pressured to sign that pledge? Just
>>> how
>>> much information did she have (or not have) about how strong sexual need
>>> is,
>>> especially when the one you need is also the one you might really love?
>>> I'm
>>> not saying that it's perfectly okay to bring a child into the world and
>>> raise that child without both Mom and Dad there to create a stable
>>> family;
>>> but it was also wrong of that administrator to say that the school had
>>> shown
>>> her the grace of God by not expelling her. What a thing to say after
>>> they
>>> have banished her from her graduation ceremony. I'm sure Jesus never
>>> meant
>>> people to be so cruel.
>>>
>>> Chris
>>>> On May 29, 2017, at 6:09 PM, Bob Hachey via acb-chat
>>>> <acb-chat@acblists.org> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Hi Carl,
>>>> I'm with you all the way here. I was raised Catholic and have been
>>>> questioning this whole religion thing since my parents told me that
>>>> we're
>>>> not supposed to eat meat on Fridays during lent.
>>>> There is no doubt in my mind that many if not all religions subjugate
>>>> women to roles lesser than that of men and they also tend to allow
>>>> women
>>>> to be treated horribly.
>>>> In my under-graduate studies, I recall reading a book entitled The Age
>>>> of
>>>> Religious wars. I often contemplate both the good and bad that religion
>>>> have brought to us and I'm inclined to believe that the bad outweighs
>>>> the
>>>> good. Seems to me that we humans should siphon off what is good in our
>>>> religions and toss the rest of it out. In terms of Christianity, good
>>>> things I see are the golden Rule and 8 of the ten commandments.
>>>> Bob Hachey
>>>>
>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>> From: Carl Jarvis via acb-chat [mailto:acb-chat@acblists.org]
>>>> Sent: Monday, May 29, 2017 2:29 PM
>>>> To: General discussion list for ACB members and friends where a wide
>>>> range
>>>> of topics from blindness to politics, issues of the day or whatever
>>>> comes
>>>> to mind are welcome. This is a free form discussion list.
>>>> Cc: Carl Jarvis
>>>> Subject: Re: [acb-chat] Intelligent choices....
>>>>
>>>> Believers call it, "God's Will". To my way of thinking, it is really
>>>> Man's ability to compartmentalize. The young woman in this story is
>>>> "held
>>>> responsible" for her indiscretions. Held responsible includes
>>>> humiliation
>>>> in front of her classmates, being ejected from her school even though
>>>> she
>>>> was allowed back after an appeal, and a final "lesson"
>>>> in not allowing her to be included in graduation ceremonies. The lesson
>>>> is
>>>> a simple one. Young girls, beware! If you are placed in a situation
>>>> where you become pregnant, God will single you out and punish you,
>>>> marking
>>>> you as an adulteress and a whore for the remainder of your life. And
>>>> that
>>>> child will be marked as a Bastard, and suffer the rest of His/Her life
>>>> for
>>>> your Sin. Oh yes, the other partner in this transgression? Well, he,
>>>> like God's favored Son David, gets a free pass.
>>>> And this is that All Knowing God of Mercy whom women have allowed men
>>>> to
>>>> inflict them with. That young woman, upon being ejected from school,
>>>> should have said, "You can't toss me out. I quit!" She should have
>>>> denounced those who sat in judgement over her, while ignoring the fact
>>>> that it still takes two to "create" new human life.
>>>> Of course, I am only familiar with Protestantism, having once been
>>>> "Born again and Baptized in the Holy Spirit". But I found the "Laws
>>>> of God" far too biased toward Men, at the expense of women and
>>>> children.
>>>> In the church I attended, God was top dog, then his Son Jesus. God's
>>>> son
>>>> Jesus was the head of God's church, and was boss of Man. Man was Boss
>>>> of
>>>> Woman and of their children. Man was told by God to be fair and kind
>>>> to
>>>> his wife and not to beat her with a rod larger than his thumb, but
>>>> nowhere
>>>> was Woman a Partner with Man. She was publicly stoned as an
>>>> adulterous.
>>>> But what did God do with the adulterer?
>>>> If we are not strong enough as a Species to deal with Life on our own,
>>>> then at least let's gather representatives from all corners of the
>>>> planet,
>>>> men, women, gays, blacks, whites, brown and all ages as well as
>>>> disabled,
>>>> and draw up a New God, created by Committee, and representative of All
>>>> People...and even better, of All Life on Earth.
>>>> Then we can toss out the old books that were crafted by men, for men,
>>>> and
>>>> draft a new book for all.
>>>>
>>>> Carl Jarvis
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On 5/26/17, Demaya, Diego via acb-chat <acb-chat@acblists.org> wrote:
>>>>> Just a quote from the piece below: ""You can't claim to be pro-life
>>>>> and be against the killing of babies, but then try to toss out the
>>>>> girl who decides to keep her baby just because the situation does not
>>>>> meet your standard,"
>>>>> she said…"
>>>>>
>>>>> After Shaming Pregnant Senior For Months, Christian High School Says
>>>>> She Can't Walk At Graduation The principal says the teen is being
>>>>> punished "because she was immoral."
>>>>> David Lohr</us/author/david-lohr>
>>>>>
>>>>> A Maryland Christian school has barred an 18-year-old senior from
>>>>> walking in next month's graduation ceremonies because she is pregnant.
>>>>>
>>>>> Maddi Runkles, who is a straight-A student, said she became pregnant
>>>>> five months ago. She said she expected some punishment, but also
>>>>> support from officials at the nondenominational Heritage Academy, in
>>>>> Hagerstown.
>>>>>
>>>>> "This has been more shame than punishment," Runkles told HuffPost.
>>>>>
>>>>> Runkles said in January, when she and her parents notified the school
>>>>> about her pregnancy, she was immediately dismissed. When her parents
>>>>> appealed the decision, they were told she could come back, but would
>>>>> have to continue her studies at home after spring break. A second
>>>>> appeal from the family resulted in the school's final decision:
>>>>> removing her from all leadership positions (she was student council
>>>>> president and vice president of the Key Club) and banning her from
>>>>> walking at her graduation ceremony.
>>>>> [http://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/scalefit_630_noupscale/5927305d1
>>>>> 5 0000210015b6d8.jpeg?cache=lbc9aqlqwg]
>>>>>
>>>>> Students for Life of America
>>>>> Maddi Runkles, who is a straight-A student and five months pregnant,
>>>>> has been barred from participating in her school's graduation
>>>>> ceremonies.
>>>>>
>>>>> Heritage Academy's strict policies require students to sign a pledge
>>>>> in which they agree to protect their bodies by "abstaining from
>>>>> sexual immorality and from the use of alcohol, tobacco, and illegal
>>>>> drugs,"
>>>>> according to the school's
>>>>> website<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__heritage-2Dacademy.net_&d=DwMFaQ&c=cBOA5YEoZuz9KdLvh38YxdrPtfJt83ckXekfBgq5xB0&r=CK8oOj7-JYZnTDmB5orNTVZXar6NrsnGtGHfQ5m79Do&m=ZdWVuN5v4jDwQa6OgO7gWFl7TWuuwGvB8S-wQbMwKQc&s=Ld6DFr6_rU-r1FClauk-gluvLatSoy1UeeIg8OuA5R4&e=>.
>>>>>
>>>>> David Hobbs, administrator at Heritage Academy, addressed recent
>>>>> criticism<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.ny
>>>>> t
>>>>> imes.com_2017_05_20_us_teen-2Dpregnancy-2Dreligious-2Dvalues-2Dchrist
>>>>> i
>>>>> an-2Dschool.html-3F-5Fr-3D0&d=DwMFaQ&c=cBOA5YEoZuz9KdLvh38YxdrPtfJt83
>>>>> c
>>>>> kXekfBgq5xB0&r=CK8oOj7-JYZnTDmB5orNTVZXar6NrsnGtGHfQ5m79Do&m=ZdWVuN5v
>>>>> 4
>>>>> jDwQa6OgO7gWFl7TWuuwGvB8S-wQbMwKQc&s=iUt81dfMxBGZJhgB67QoM_nbGXnHQlI5
>>>>> 4
>>>>> a9_xOTikpE&e=>
>>>>> in a
>>>>> statement<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__flii.b
>>>>> y
>>>>> _file_by16qa2zaqt_&d=DwMFaQ&c=cBOA5YEoZuz9KdLvh38YxdrPtfJt83ckXekfBgq
>>>>> 5
>>>>> xB0&r=CK8oOj7-JYZnTDmB5orNTVZXar6NrsnGtGHfQ5m79Do&m=ZdWVuN5v4jDwQa6Og
>>>>> O
>>>>> 7gWFl7TWuuwGvB8S-wQbMwKQc&s=8aAc7mdoD9b45xtz5zqE239AP0rjbcI6PctP_b30L
>>>>> f 0&e=> released earlier this week. According to Hobbs, Runkles was
>>>>> punished "not because she's pregnant, but because she was immoral."
>>>>>
>>>>> "Her immorality is the original choice she made that began this
>>>>> situation,"
>>>>> Hobbs wrote.
>>>>>
>>>>> Runkles counters that her punishment is much more severe than what's
>>>>> been doled out to others who have broken the pledge.
>>>>>
>>>>> "Sexual morality is not just limited to premarital sex," she said.
>>>>> "There's many different forms of it and there have been other kids
>>>>> committing forms of sexual immorality and they have never been treated
>>>>> this harshly."
>>>>> [http://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/crop_11_662_2563_2747,scalefit_6
>>>>> 3 0_noupscale/59273171150000470015b6df.jpeg]
>>>>>
>>>>> Students for Life of America
>>>>> "A bunch of families stood up for us and said, 'This is not right,'"
>>>>> Maddi Runkles told HuffPost.
>>>>>
>>>>> In his statement, Hobbs claims the school wanted to keep the matter
>>>>> private, "to protect: first Maddi, then Heritage." However, Runkles
>>>>> says Hobbs planned to notify students that she'd broken the rules.
>>>>> She said she didn't want her classmates to hear it from him, so she
>>>>> volunteered to read a prepared statement to her classmates.
>>>>>
>>>>> "It was before my parents and about 70 students ― my whole high
>>>>> school,"
>>>>> Runkles said. "I immediately started crying. I was embarrassed that I
>>>>> had to stand before all my peers and admit what I had done ... When I
>>>>> finished reading it, [Hobbs] got up and read off the punishments he
>>>>> saw
>>>>> fit."
>>>>>
>>>>> The father of her child attended a different school. He graduated
>>>>> last year and is attending college.
>>>>>
>>>>> In March, Runkles contacted the pro-life group Students for Life of
>>>>> America<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__studentsforlife.org&d=DwMFaQ&c=cBOA5YEoZuz9KdLvh38YxdrPtfJt83ckXekfBgq5xB0&r=CK8oOj7-JYZnTDmB5orNTVZXar6NrsnGtGHfQ5m79Do&m=ZdWVuN5v4jDwQa6OgO7gWFl7TWuuwGvB8S-wQbMwKQc&s=176hwnCrv2fsvbH1XtJe9rpommNwyj0qSS6p438xQhw&e=>.
>>>>> The organization's president, Kristan Hawkins, said after speaking
>>>>> with the teen and her parents she contacted Hobbs and asked him to
>>>>> reconsider letting the high school senior walk during the graduation
>>>>> ceremony, scheduled for June 2.
>>>>>
>>>>> "He basically said, 'This is a private decision [and] who are you to
>>>>> come in and try to change that,'" Hawkins told HuffPost.
>>>>>
>>>>> School administrators have ignored an online
>>>>> campaign<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__students
>>>>> f
>>>>> orlife.org_this-2Dhigh-2Dschool-2Dsenior-2Dgot-2Dpregnant-2Dand-2Dyou
>>>>> -
>>>>> 2Dwont-2Dbelieve-2Dwhat-2Dher-2Dchristian-2Dschool-2Ddid_&d=DwMFaQ&c=
>>>>> c
>>>>> BOA5YEoZuz9KdLvh38YxdrPtfJt83ckXekfBgq5xB0&r=CK8oOj7-JYZnTDmB5orNTVZX
>>>>> a
>>>>> r6NrsnGtGHfQ5m79Do&m=ZdWVuN5v4jDwQa6OgO7gWFl7TWuuwGvB8S-wQbMwKQc&s=9p
>>>>> p ZPMmV-z3LclENwMoIcN4r17KkUiUQ3zSoocAMvV8&e=>
>>>>> supporting Runkles and direct pleas from her parents, Hawkins said.
>>>>>
>>>>> Runkles' father declined to comment Thursday. HuffPost was instead
>>>>> directed to a Facebook
>>>>> post<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.faceboo
>>>>> k
>>>>> .com_rhonda.runkles_posts_10210453233101699&d=DwMFaQ&c=cBOA5YEoZuz9Kd
>>>>> L
>>>>> vh38YxdrPtfJt83ckXekfBgq5xB0&r=CK8oOj7-JYZnTDmB5orNTVZXar6NrsnGtGHfQ5
>>>>> m
>>>>> 79Do&m=ZdWVuN5v4jDwQa6OgO7gWFl7TWuuwGvB8S-wQbMwKQc&s=02I0fEQSbxHHPwSM
>>>>> 7
>>>>> 2SW0ewHrV0JS8PLSOR44L-kSnU&e=>
>>>>> attributed to him.
>>>>>
>>>>> "Despite what some may think, Maddi nor her mother and I have ever
>>>>> advocated that she not be disciplined for her actions," he wrote. "My
>>>>> daughter should be held accountable … but grace and love should be
>>>>> more
>>>>> prominent."
>>>>>
>>>>> The post criticized the school's decision to wait until the end of
>>>>> the year to fully discipline his daughter, given that her confession
>>>>> had been made months earlier.
>>>>>
>>>>> "To the detractors, ask yourself how restoration can take place when
>>>>> you put a student's punishment at the very end of their high school
>>>>> career," he wrote. "When do you plan to show Maddi the love and grace
>>>>> that is supposed to take place after discipline."
>>>>> [http://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/scalefit_630_noupscale/59272f971
>>>>> 6 00002100ddcde2.jpeg?cache=ixtwqwho6h]
>>>>>
>>>>> Students for Life of America
>>>>> Maddi Runkles holding a recent sonogram image.
>>>>>
>>>>> According to Hobbs, the school showed Runkles grace by not expelling
>>>>> her.
>>>>> She will still receive her diploma and is still permitted to attend
>>>>> graduation, she just can't participate.
>>>>>
>>>>> "We love Maddi Runkles," Hobbs said. "The best way to love her right
>>>>> now is to hold her accountable for her immorality that began this
>>>>> situation."
>>>>>
>>>>> But that explanation doesn't satisfy Runkles.
>>>>>
>>>>> "You can't claim to be pro-life and be against the killing of babies,
>>>>> but then try to toss out the girl who decides to keep her baby just
>>>>> because the situation does not meet your standard," she said.
>>>>>
>>>>> It also doesn't sit well with her supporters.
>>>>>
>>>>> "There's a lot of young men and women watching this transpire and
>>>>> they've set a really awful example," Hawkins said. "That's why it's
>>>>> important for us to make this stupid matter public to show every
>>>>> student this is not acceptable behavior and certainly not acceptable
>>>>> Christian behavior.
>>>>> Hopefully Christian campuses across the country will see this story
>>>>> and re-evaluate how they handle these things."
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
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