JUST WHO IS STUPID HERE?

ST STUPID'S DAY 2007


I just got back from St. Stupid's Day celebrations...and boy are my knees tired.

As it was a weekend, where the vast majority of the revelers are Hereticks (sick) marching in the parad (sick) led by Bishop Joey and Others! of the First Church of the Last Laugh (truly Stupid People all of them),

I the POPE of the 5th Church of THE 23rd Laugh,
(ID provided on request),

Led the *One True Parade* on through the *Sacred & Holy Stations of St. Stupid*,

All the while doing our Charity Work for the Already Damned by directing Hereticks seeking directions to the false parad.


And why do we do it?

-Do what?

Take This Wholly Mission To Promote STUPIDity!
(well not exactly Mission: Market & NorthWestwards)


-That sounds stupid.

Not as Normal as you.

-What?

The people who attend the false parad ARE BEING STUPID.

But are they BEING STUPID ENOUGH?

-Isn't that sort of a value judgement?

SODOMY PRO SAPIENS

-How Dare you use such Language.
-What could you possibly MEAN by that?!

BUGGER ME IF I KNOW


But back to the *True Parade*:

The Traditional *Sacred & Holy Stations of St. Stupid* were visited where Prone Polymathic Polished Periwinkle Propitiating Rituals were Performed Perfunctorily;

The Tomb of Stupid was visited, but as is so often the case during the lunch hour, Stupid was out to lunch;

Money & Power were worshipped at the usual FED, Banks, Corporate HQs, Ad agencies, Sockbrokers;

A Free Lunch WAS Eaten;

Socks INDEED were Exchanged;

I Testify that I indeed SAW WITH MY OWN EYES A MIRACLE
on the final part our Path of the *Sacred & Holy Stations of St. Stupid* to the cold hard & dark Bankers Heart!

This Miracle that I attest two (sic) was the appearance of TWO HOLY TICKETS Miraculously appearing on the hoods of two Sinning Cars for the Transgression of parking in A White Loading Only Zone. How often must we BE REMINDED:


The White Zones Are For Loading And Unloading ONLY!

The White Zones Are For Loading And Unloading ONLY!

The White Zones Are For Loading And Unloading ONLY!


There were NO Meter Maids Seen! ?!!??!!!!?

CLEAR EVIDENCE for the Miracle of the Two Tickets!

"No Meter Maids seen!" says WITNESS.

Witnesses at the scene were Asked & They CONFIRMED the Miracle.

"No I never saw a Meter Maid put a ticket on that car" says Bystander AT THE SCENE of the Miracle.

Even though the very rare sighting of a Holy Meter Maid elluded us, we were touched by the Holy Presence.


Sin WAS Punished...Yet...Two Cars still have a Chance to Be Saved...Say GABBA GABBA HEY!


Praise Stupid, and thank Goddess for Kneepads!


We were also rewarded for our Faith by a chance to STEAM SOME CLAMS at Scientology Haedqurters (sick).

I Like to Sell e-Meters to Clams,
My Science is Bullshit,
SCAM I AM.


We ar...

-Who "We"?

Would you stop interrupting!

-OK.

So, as the *True Parade* approached the Belly of the Beast, which we rubbed to the appreciation of all engaged parties, we started to see Stupid revelers STILL GOING IN THE WRONG DIRECTION.

We yelled at them, "You're Going The Wrong Way", but they just wouldn't listen.

Finally we arrived at WshPk (sick) and NATURALLY FORGAVE the Consipiracy Duped false parad...urrz (sick) for their Conformism and had a wonderful afternoon enjoying WshPk.

Dinner was raw fish at Sanraku...then back on the Bus for 3 hours.

An absolutely DIVINE ST STUPID'S DAY.




Pictures will be posted soon, I hope.

WHAT IS FASCISM?

The meaning of Fascism can be defined in three simple words:

MIGHT MAKES RIGHT

When the President of the U.S. delivers his State of the Union Address to a joint session of Congress, he does it flanked by two golden Fasces.

These Fasces are mounted on the wall behind the Speaker's platform of the House of Representatives.

The Fasces, a bundle of wood rods and a headsman's axe bound with a ligature, remains an official symbol of the government of the U.S. (as well as being used by various other Modern Fascist movements).

The metaphorical meaning of the bundle of rods is the idea that the group is greater than the individual; that while one rod can be broken it would be very difficult to break the bundle.

The other, more direct, meaning of the rods is simpler & related to the axe. The rods are used to beat transgressors and the axe is used to kill them.

To expand on the might makes right concept; THE POWER OF THE STATE COMES FROM ITS ABILITY TO PUNISH & KILL ITS OPPONENTS. It is no coincidence that Executive power is based at the Capitol & Execution is Capitol Punishment.

The fasces was the symbol of Republican Rome; of the Senate & of the Army, predating Imperial Rome. Eagles were a favored symbol of Emperor & his Legions.

Fascism does not require a Dictator, what it requires is the unmatched power of the State against its own citizens.

I would contend that our Nation's first steps towards Fascism occured in 1794, during the Whiskey Rebellion, when the President of the U.S. led an Army against American Citizens. The Civil War was also an act of Fascism (I am neither pro-Confederacy or pro-slavery) due to the U.S. insistence of Union at any cost (despite the desire of the majority of the citizens of certain States for succession) and the application of violent force. The Confederacy was also essentially Fascist due to the use of violence against slaves & dissenting citizens alike.

Even though our record of protecting the rights of our citizens is mixed, we have been somewhat protected by the rule of law in this country. But recent events whereby fundamental principles of law (such as Habeus Corpus, coerced confession or inability to face one's accusers) are repealed or ignored bring us much closer to full blown Fascism.

SUPPORT OUR TROOPS?

I have quite mixed feelings re. the very concept of "supporting our troops".

I have no animosity or negative feelings towards my fellow citizens who serve in the military. I wish them all to be safe & well.

I do have serious misgivings about the fact that my country has, without question, the most powerful military apparatus in the history of the world. This at a time when there is no enemy/competitor who can effectively provide a counter to this force.

Even in Iraq, where our soldiers are dying daily; it is such an uneven battle that it provokes nothing but hatred & disdain by much of the world.

We have wasted the political capitol that a powerful military can provide a nation. We are showing ourselves as self-righteous invaders & mass murderers under the guise of "liberators".

We are sacrificing our own children while we create fanatics among the children of our "adversaries".

I would suggest that the way to honor our troops would be to:

1. Apologize for our arrogance & hubris to the victims of our acts. Admit we were wrong. Ask for forgiveness, not for our own sake, but so that they can move ahead & rebuild their lives.

2. CUT our losses and RUN as fast as possible from this quagmire of our own creation.

3. Take the vast supplies of weapons which we will leave behind and spread them among every household in Iraq so that during the chaos which will ensue upon our departure, some of its worse effects might be held off by an "equally" armed citizenry: as it is obvious that the disarming of Iraqi citizens (by both Saddam & ourselves) is a major cause for the success of the death squads; most of whom appear to be rogue police, army & militia members with access to weapons that prey on unarmed civilians.

While this is hardly a "good" solution, I doubt any solution could be "good". This might be the best solution possible. There is no question that we need to stop digging the hole we are in any deeper.

QUESTIONS re. 9/11 PENTAGON ATTACK

One thing that has always bothered me about the Pentagon attack on 9/11 is this: while it would be relatively easy for a person with minimal training to fly an airliner on an essentially level flight path into a tall building, as well as quite simple to fly it into the ground: it would be extremely difficult for such a novice pilot to fly an airliner into the side of the Pentagon. The reason for this is called ground effect. As an airplane approaches the ground, specifically at about a distance of half a wingspan above the ground (which in a 757 would be approximately 65 to 75 feet AGL), ground effect provides a sudden increase in the lift of the plane. The Pentagon is only 5 stories, or approximately 50 to 60 feet tall, well within the ground effect of an airliner.


As the training received by the 9/11 hijackers (according to all reports after the incident) specifically concentrated on flying planes rather than the take-off & landing of planes, I question how they would have dealt with the unfamiliar ground effect phenomena, which would have significantly increased the lift of the plane just before it struck its target. The majority of flight training is focused on take-off and landing procedures due to the variable effects on the airplane as it leaves or approaches the ground.


Even if take off & landing training had been practiced on a light plane, such as a Cessna 172, there would be a huge practical difference in the ground effect compared to the much larger 757. Ground effect would occur within only 12 to 16 feet of the ground on the trainer aircraft, and there is another huge difference in the effect of cutting back on the throttles between a small prop plane & a turbofan powered jet airliner; considering both the massive differences in the inertia of the two different planes and the much higher airspeed of the 757.


This particular task of hitting the side of the Pentagon would be close to an aircraft landing on a carrier deck: a process requiring the most intensive training of any type of flying.


One possible way would be to fly into a beacon at the Pentagon providing Glideslope (GS) and Localizer (LOC) information. In this case all that would be required is flying a path provided by the instruments on the airplane. This type of training is available on home computer programs and can be easily and repeatedly practiced. This would also eliminate the flinch factor; by flying the instruments & not looking outside the airplane's windows the tendency to involuntary movement (closing the eyes & jerking the controls) just before the crash would be eliminated.


Norman Mineta, then Sec. of Transportation, who was with Vice-President Cheney on 9/11 in the Presidential Emergency Operating Center, reported to the 9/11 Commission:

"There was a young man who had come in and said to the vice president, 'The plane is 50 miles out. The plane is 30 miles out.' And when it got down to, 'The plane is 10 miles out,' the young man also said to the vice president, 'Do the orders still stand?' And the vice president turned and whipped his neck around and said, 'Of course the orders still stand. Have you heard anything to the contrary?' Well, at the time I didn't know what all that meant."


GS & LOC are part of the ILS (Instrument Landing System); another part of which is called DME (Distance Measuring Equipment) which provides the distance from the location of the DME transmitter to the airplane's transponder (it also provides the speed over the ground of the airplane). This would provide a simple and realtime method to determine how far away A.A. Flight 77 was from the Pentagon. That information was obviously & immediately available. It seems unlikely that any other sources (such as Civil or Military Air Traffic Controllers or ATCs) could provide this data in this timely a fashion. Since the Pentagon is not an airport it would require at least some calculation (trigonometry) to extrapolate the distance of A.A. Flight 77 from the Pentagon as compared to location of the ATCs instruments. Since the plane was traveling at least 5 or 6 miles per minute, it seems difficult to provide such realtime data from an external site.


While it would not be impossible for novice pilots to fly an airliner into the side of the Pentagon, it would be very difficult to have so precisely hit their target without some external guidance. Such guidance could also explain Sec. Mineta's observations and (ominously) V.P. Cheney's remarks. Beacons on the WTC could also explain the accuracy with which A.A. Flight 11 and U.A. Flight 175 hit their targets: an easier but still difficult task for novice pilots.

IS THIS WAR?

Of course we are at war in Iraq.

It is an illegal war, violating international law as well as our own standards & laws as Americans.

It is a terrorist war, killing hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians over the past decade & a half for the purposes of "Shock and Awe" and to encourage "Regime Change".

But it is without question war, in the same way that our other "undeclared" wars, our "interventions" & our support of terrorist governments who warred upon their citizens (Panama, Grenada, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Mexico, Nicaragua, Chile, Columbia, Argentina, Guatemala, Libya, Lebanon, Phillipines, Somalia, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Taiwan, Indonesia, Iraq, Iran, Israel, Afghanistan, Turkey, and on & on.) are war.

Whatever "Pravda-like" name you want to call it ("Just Cause", "Restore Hope", "Iraqi Freedom", "Infinite Justice"), it is war. It is war to its participants. It is war to its victims. As honest Americans we should call it war.

THERE IS NO CENTER.

The only way to think there is a "center" in politics is to buy into the fallacy that there is a single continuum, a straight line, between "left" & "right" or "conservative" & "liberal".

Peoples' beliefs actually encompass a vast milieu of (often quite uncategorizable) ideas.

The people who believe most strongly that there is such a clear definition of beliefs are most likely REACTIONARIES. Despite the word reactionary having come to be misunderstood as being a person with extreme "conservative" beliefs, the so-called "knee jerk liberal" is also a reactionary.

The key to being a reactionary is having a "menu" of ideas which elicit a fixed reaction.

One example is found in the issues regarding "gun control". It appears that there are only two possible responses to the issue of gun control, the "NRA model" and the "Brady model", when in fact there are many ideas that could both decrease the needlessly high numbers of accidental & intentional gun deaths in this country and protect the rights of citizens to defend themselves against both criminals & government tyranny. I believe both of these are relevant & worthwhile goals.

The "one gun death is too many' reactionaries are unconcerned that gun deaths are actually a miniscule fraction of the unnecessary deaths caused by automobiles or that the only two so-called democracies that have survived for over a century, the U.S. and Switzerland, have laws providing for any law abiding citizen to possess firearms.

The "cold dead hands" reactionaries are opposed to the kind of licensing & competence testing that any dangerous device should require (again think of automobiles) as well as being contemptuous of the suffering of those whose loved ones have needlessly died by gun violence.

Only the reactionary ideas get expressed by media because conflict sells. This is true of both the so-called mainstream media as well as alternative media.

RELIGIOUS BUT NOT SPIRITUAL.

Although I am secular & I am human, I am not a “Secular Humanist”. I strongly agree with every one of Paul Kurtz’s statements of principles of “Humanism” TEXT except for the last. I can only hope for the fullest realization of the best & noblest that humans are capable of: I can not “Believe” in it.

I am an atheist; one of the few “-ists” that I accept to define myself. I have been an atheist since I was ten years old. In a world wherein people strongly define themselves and others by their relation to a monotheistic belief system, I find myself in opposition to the expected & accepted dogma. However, I am not in opposition to religion. I feel a powerful sense of religion in my life. This feeling is the opposite of the common self-description by many as “Spiritual but not Religious”. My beliefs are not spiritual. My religion is not based on “Spirits” or“Fairies”, the belief that the universe is run by & populated with magical creatures.

My religion is science; a process for the systematic examination of the material world which we all share. My faith is statistical: I have faith that the sun will appear to rise in the east at a specific time tomorrow. This is quite different from “Faith”; the belief that “Fairies” intervene in the behavior of the world.

The problem with rejecting the word “religion” is that it is an appropriate term to describe any person’s relationship to reality.

The word religion comes from the Latin: _ re_{prefix-backwards} _ lig_{verb-to bind} _ ion_ {suffix-making previous verb a noun}. Related to _lig_ are the root words _lex_{law, legal } and _legio_{levy}. The word legion referred to a form of Roman military organization, a cohort of large & variable number under formal discipline. When Roman citizens served in the army, as most men did during many years of Roman history, they were bound into legions (as well as smaller divisions) where everyone knew their place & task. So religion has three important components: first, it is what connects/binds us to the past; second, it reflects our understanding of our connections within society & with the external world; and third, it implies large & perhaps uncountable numbers.

Simply, religion is what connects us to existence, past & present, and to our peers; to all that is and has been. (And through the minor influence of our actions, to what will be.) Science fulfills all those requirements for being a religion.

For most people religion is bondage to dogma.

I have a powerful sense of awe, based on my limited but coherent understanding of the universe. I am awestruck by the absurdity, arrogance & willful ignorance of the beliefs of “Fairy Worshippers”.

Religion must not be limited to irrational beliefs. There is great value in understanding something about one’s place in the world, even if that understanding is limited & provisional.

ALTERNATIVE TO POLITICS & POLITICIANS

While reading “Two Cents” in the Sunday (10/22) S.F. Chronicle I was struck by one response to the question, “Tired of politics & politicians?” I think the sentiment, “Of course I am, but consider the alternatives”, is close to universal. What I do not believe is that any attempt is ever made to find reasonable alternatives. I would assume that tyranny is the only conceivable alternative to most people.

Let me suggest a simple, albeit radical, alternative to politics & politicians which would totally eliminate “lobbying” & “fund-raising”, words that we all know really mean manipulation, bribery & corruption. This alternative goes back to the inventors of democracy, the classical Athenians. We still call the present corrupted form by the same name, Jury Duty.

Why not consider a pure form of Jury Duty as an alternative to politics & politicians. This means that people would be chosen at random as our representatives. What could be less representative than our present system of selecting between “candidates” who only represent the powerful, wealthy & “influential”. Even “populist” candidates are beholden to their financiers & their particular political agendas, rather than the people they are supposed to represent.

How might this be implemented? Let me suggest a lottery based on Social Security Numbers, which are unique to every citizen. It would be a simple matter to create a simple, transparent & non-corruptible method to pick representatives. For example; you could have three separate & unconnected “drawings” to randomly choose three series of numbers which would be combined to create a SSN.

A list of such numbers would be generated. Starting at the top of the list; you would eliminate minors, convicted felons, and senile or otherwise mentally incompetent individuals. Only the elderly or severely physically handicapped could opt out of selection. No other excuses to avoid service would be allowed. This is of course different from current standards of Jury Duty where “challenges” & “excuses” are often used to eliminate the most competent & qualified persons.

To again refer to the original Athenian model; a chart or model of necessary legislative “slots” would be filled with the first qualified citizen whose SSN comes up. Designing this model to assure representation from all areas would be simple & based on census data.

I would envision a system of loose & overlapping districts rather than our present system of gerrymandering. This would mean that representatives would be picked from the first available selected citizens in a general area, filling the available slots until all slots are filled and all areas are represented.

It would be possible to maintain the present bicameral legislative format of Senate & House, despite the essentially anti-representative nature of the Senate: whereby States with small populations have more power than States with larger populations. However, if our legislators are truly representative of the population this would be neither necessary nor desirable. One truly representative deliberative body should work just fine.

You might ask how would this eliminate “lobbying” or corruption. First: all legislative business would have to be conducted & deliberated in public & broadcast to all citizens who are interested. Second: a open forum for any citizen to present ideas to the legislative body would be provided; not by whispering in the ears of legislators in the lobby. Third: any other attempt to influence the votes of legislators would be criminalized. Fourth: any legislator (or other citizen) who is so approached would be required to immediately & publicly report such attempts. Fifth: such attempts would be regularly made by undercover law enforcement agents in the same way that “stings” are performed at present. Failure to report these attempts would be criminal and likely to seriously discourage attempts to manipulate legislative issues. “Reverse” stings by authorized legislators towards businesses & “interest groups” could provide checks to the solicitation of bribes by corrupt legislators.

Citizens who are selected to be representatives should be paid well (but not extravagantly) for their services; with housing provided for them & their families. The concept of “financial hardship” as an excuse for not serving would be rejected.

Our tripartite system of our Government would be retained. Legislative reform would be taken care of by the previous suggestions. My suggestions for the Judicial branch would be limited to having all Judgeships, including the Supreme Court, be of fixed & limited duration. I would suggest a long term, perhaps ten years, without any further approval by legislators or the public (except in cases of criminal malfeasance) after their initial appointments by the legislature. This is so judges will be independent & focused on the Law rather than politics. Higher courts, such as the Supreme Court, would have overlapping terms for its members to provide for continuity.

But what about the Executive Branch? I would suggest that the polarizing popularity contest by which we now select a chief executive does not provide us with competent leadership. I see two similar processes with the potential to pick decent leaders. My preference would be for the sitting legislators to elect one of their own members at the end of their appointments. This would allow a group of people who have worked together for several years to (hopefully) choose the person who best demonstrates leadership ability. No favors could be bestowed by the new chief executive upon those who selected him/her for that position as they will no longer be in office. An alternative would be for direct elections by the citizenry of a representative who has been observed doing his work for the last 4/6 year term of the legislature. No campaigning would be allowed outside of an equal access format for debate & consideration of public records. This would allow citizens to feel they are part of the selection process, but do little to prevent a popularity contest as opposed to the selection of a competent leader.

When I say no outside campaigning, I mean absolutely none. No PACs or other interest groups would be allowed to buy any airtime or advertisements for any purpose that attempts to influence legislation. I do not consider this in any way an infringement of Freedom of Speech, which is rightfully & fully protected by our Constitution. It is a legitimate “Regulation of Commerce”. No one but a bald faced liar can describe political contributions as anything other than an attempt to manipulate the political process through money. Sadly we have many of those liars in positions of power & trust.

These suggestions would work not just on the National level but also on the State & local level. I do not think we can do much worse in selecting leaders & lawmakers than our present money driven & ideologically polarized system. Instead of hearing only a few loudly screaming voices this process would provide for all voices to be heard equally.

Of course these ideas will never even be considered as it would strip the power from the many “self-interest groups” which dominate our political process. The billions of dollars spent in each election cycle would also not stuff the pockets of the media giants & small fry who print & broadcast the slimey & pornographic “discourse” which is modern political speech.

THREE THOUGHTS re. "JESUS CAMP"

(1) What Jesus taught about peace:

Matthew 10.34, Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace on earth; I have not come to bring peace but division [a sword] . (Peshitta)

Matthew 10.34, Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. (KJV)


(2) What God says about the children of Babylon (Iraq):

Psalm 137.9, Blessed shall he be who takes and dashes your little ones against the stones. (Peshitta)

Psalm 137.9, Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones. (KJV)

So perhaps G.W.Bush really does talk to God, and God wants him to murder Iraqi babies. Moslems must also accept this as it is in the Peshitta, a holy text in Islam. Yes Christians, the (Aramaic) Bible is considered holy by Moslems.


(3) Personally, when someone tells me that they will pray for me, I tell them that I will masturbate for them. Prayer is nothing but spiritual masturbation: self stimulation that makes you feel good. Diogenes, whom Jesus plagiarized (1 Timothy 6.10), masturbated in the Agora to demonstrate that what he was doing was just as valuable as what everyone else was doing. He understood that most of human behavior is essentially masturbation.