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newsfare

Midwest Megachurches

So-called megachurches in the midwestern U.S. are ministering to an increasingly fundamentalist population.

The 4,000 members of Fairfield Christian are part of the growing evangelical Christian movement in middle America. In a March survey, a quarter of Ohio residents said they were evangelicals -- believing that a strict adherence to the Bible and personal commitment to the teachings of Jesus Christ will bring salvation.

The fastest-growing faith group in America, evangelical Christians have had a growing impact on the nation's political landscape, in part because adherents believe conservative Christian values should have a place in politics -- and they support politicians who agree with them.

In that March survey, more than 82 percent of the Ohio evangelicals who attend church at least once a week said they approve of bringing more religion into politics.

"Christians stepped back too far. I prayed in school but my kids can't pray in school," said volunteer Lisa Sexton, 42, a Bible school volunteer. "I should have spoken up earlier."

Political analyst John Green said evangelical growth has had a major political impact in Ohio, a key swing state that narrowly decided President George W. Bush's election victory in 2004.

Who needs madras schools and the Taliban? We have our own zealous "back to god" fanatics, eager to mix religion and government. In other words, fundamentalism is spreading all around the world.

So much for enlightenment and the spread of knowledge. It looks like a lot of people just want to bury their heads in the religious sand.

Oy vey!

Jul 17, 2006, 8:11 am | Permalink

Mob Funeral

Ken Lay was ushered into the next world by a coterie of worshippers paying their respects at the Shrine of Mammon. Apparently none of these guests had their utility bills jacked up when Enron ordered power plants to be shut down in California, nor lost their retirement accounts when Lay drove the company into the ground with false business dealings.

By Bruce Nichols and Matt Daily

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Houston's political and business leaders, including former President George H.W. Bush, turned out for Kenneth Lay's memorial service on Wednesday, less than a week after the Enron founder's sudden death.
...
Lay, who was 64, died while vacationing in Colorado on July 5, just six weeks after a jury convicted him and former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling of conspiracy and fraud in the 2001 collapse of the energy company.

Lay was found guilty of 10 counts of conspiracy, fraud and misusing personal bank loans on May 25 and was facing decades in prison at his sentencing, which was scheduled for October 23.

Lay was a longtime friend of the Bushes, contributing to their political campaigns and was nicknamed "Kenny Boy" by President George W. Bush.

The former president and his wife Barbara entered and exited the church by a rear exit and did not speak to the media.

Among the other luminaries at the service were former Secretary of State James Baker, former Secretary of Commerce Robert Mosbacher Sr., several corporate heads such as Reliant Energy Inc.'s Joel Staff, and baseball team owner Drayton McLane.
...
"He was a good person who did a bad thing. Justice was served by finding him guilty," said Marie Watkins, a former tax analyst who worked with Lay at Enron and Florida Gas for 27 years.

The Reverend Dr. Bill Lawson compared Lay with civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. and Jesus Christ, and said his name would eventually be cleared.

Yeah, they done him wrong, just like they done to Jesus. And remember too, Tony Soprano is such a great family man.

I guessed this guy greased so many people's palms they they can't afford to appear ungrateful. Once again Republicans prove they have no shame. They don't even try to hide their contempt for ordinary non-filthy-rich people.

Jul 12, 2006, 6:02 pm | Permalink

Five Weeks in an American Prison

America is supposed to be the greatest country in the world, right? And if you do not agree, you are a traitor, right?

I have been following the case of Carol Fisher, who was imprisoned last month for putting up anti-Bush posters in Cleveland, great state of Ohio. Now Carol has been released from prison after having her case accepted for appeal. On July 4th, not knowing she would soon be out of jail, Carol wrote the following:

Hi,

You asked for some particulars about the conditions here at Cuyahoga County Jail. The most troubling situation is with medical needs. Last night a woman had a grand mal seizure just because she was not given her prescribed medication. When she came in several weeks ago, she had her prescribed medicine — and a prior written order from the court requiring strict attention to taking her medication as a safety precaution to herself and others. Yet she was denied the meds for several weeks and then when she got them they still left out some, which led to the seizure, in the common room, collapsing on the concrete floor. This is typical. We watched as another woman declined into madness over the course of several days when she couldn't get her medication for bi-polar disorder. She was unable to sleep, and after 36 hours began to hallucinate and had no concept of where she was. After 3 days of this torture, allowing her to bang on the doors all night calling for attention, they carted her off to the psych ward — totally unnecessary suffering.

Medications are doled out three times a day. But most people say they are not getting what the need, or only partial treatment, and frequently not what they have been prescribed. If you have a health issue, you write your complaint and it is sent to the clinic. Unless it is an emergency, it takes 2 to 3 weeks to be seen. (I was called down sooner because my situation was brought to the warden's attention. But still there were no results for a comparatively simple request). No one has a good thing to say about the clinic or the doctors. One 20 year old woman complained of a sore throat and earaches, and the doctor's comment to her was, "oh, maybe it's because you are swallowing too much come?" This is the attitude you are met with, sick or well.

The last time (the third attempt) I tried to request my herbs and vitamins, I was told that there was "no pharmacological proof that these would be of benefit. It's all just touchy-feely stuff." I was told that a separate visit to the gyn doctor would be necessary for the yeast infection. That infection gave over to a possible bladder infection. I’m guessing that it will be a 2 or 3 week wait for another clinic visit.

There are charges for all medication and treatment. These fees are paid thru commissary. So if you have a medical emergency, like the woman who had the seizure, you can't purchase anything else thru commissary because first the $ go to pay medical fees (even if the emergency was caused by their malpractice).

The clinic is filthy. The health department should go inspect the 7th floor medical clinic. They have 2 holding cells where inmates wait to be seen. You night spend 45 minutes to an hour with other sick inmates in this area about 6'x12'. Bugs are flying in your face. The toilet/sink area in the holding cell stinks of urine and looks like it is never cleaned or disinfected — you might leave the clinic sicker than when you arrived.

Other big issues are the air and water. It’s typical for people to develop respiratory problems and skin problems a day or two after arriving. Bladder infections are also common. You get only 2 cups of coffee, 1/2 pt. milk and 1 cup of koolaid each day. The tap water tastes and smells like sewage — people avoid drinking it and get dehydrated.

Oscar Wilde was imprisoned for two years starting in 1895, and later wrote in his Ballad of Reading Gaol that the water in the prison was slimy. Wilde had terrible diarrhea for weeks after arriving at the prison. Obviously, in our great America, we have come a long way since 1895!

People are always hungry. The meals are what you expect for jail — mostly starch, small portions of processed meat and rotten iceberg lettuce. The fresh fruit is coveted.

Oddly, Wilde also mentioned that in Reading, everyone was always hungry. Of course he was at hard labor, which amounted to systematic torment every day and night. So rations there were intentionally kept short.

I am told that the jail is paid a certain amount of dollars per inmate — in the thousands — but can't verify that. They act like there is no money for anything. We are supposed to be issued t-shirts, socks, underwear but often as with me, there are no t-shirts, socks or even underwear available. Now they want you to buy it thru commissary, if what you wore in doesn't fit regulation. We went two weeks sharing 3 rolls of toilet paper between 30 women. The blankets are full of holes and the sheets are as thin as gauze. The towels are the size of dishtowels. There is no kleenex or paper napkins for meals.
There's no regard for due process or "right to a speedy trial,” or "right to contact your attorney." Those who are appointed public defenders often don't know their attorney's name or have any way of contacting them. If you don't have someone on the outside pulling for you, forget it. The only hope is thru the social worker who comes once a week. The majority of women in here are sitting and waiting for an unknown date for arraignment, for a hearing, for sentencing, or to be assigned a bed at an outside treatment center. People wait weeks and sometimes months even to be charged. When those with public defenders finally go to court they wait all day in holding cells with 2 to 8 others, often you get sent back upstairs with no results — hearing is rescheduled. Obviously you have no control over any of this.

When I told the women that WCW was interested in hearing about conditions inside, these are the main things they emphasized: They were encouraged to know that somebody is listening. Later that day I noticed that 2 women had been motivated to write complaints to the warden and got everyone to sign them — about the bad water and cold showers and lack of toilet paper.

Was Carol actuallly, unbeknownst to her, imprisoned in Mexico, or Albania, or Liberia? No, strangely enough, she was right here in the U.S.A., the greatest country in the world! The water just smelled and tasted like sewage because Carol is such a bad person. A traitor, as I mentioned.

She opposed our Unitary Executive! Think about that. And why? Simply because soldiers and civilians are dying every day, and a country is being destroyed, by Mr. Unitary Executive's stupid, obscenely expensive, completely immoral war for oil and military bases.

Jul 10, 2006, 1:10 pm | Permalink

Crier For Democracy

Catherine Crier anchors a weekday show on Court TV. Her recent comments about the Republican threat to our electoral system (video here, via Bradblog) appear to show that she and her network are not yet in the pay of the Bush administration. To boot, Crier seems to have a good head on her shoulders, and to care about the health of democracy.

Whether a few standout exceptions --- like Crier's commentary on stolen elections, or Keith Olbermann's disdain for the cavalcade of Bush lies --- should be taken to mean that unconditional support for Bush by electronic media empires is finally beginning to crack, I don't pretend to know. Both Crier and Olbermann have their own comments on the frequent concealment of bad-for-Bush stories by the big news outlets.

Though I am pessimistic about the near-term future of public information in the U.S., it is good to see that a few people in the public eye have not yet sold themselves body and soul for standing room on some dank and reeking bus plying the Road to Republican Riches.

Jul 7, 2006, 7:39 pm | Permalink

Supreme Defeat GOOD for Bush?

Notice that the following makes no sense.

By Patricia Wilson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats see the Supreme Court's Guantanamo ruling as repudiation of a power-hungry White House. Republicans say it shows how tough President George W. Bush is on terrorists and voters will eat it up.

This is a perfect example of a truly laughable interpretation of a major defeat for the current administration: "It will make Bush look stronger."

Republican consultant Scott Reed said the court's decision served to "remind everybody what it was like right after 9/11."

"I think in raw politics, it is a net positive for Bush to bring clarity and remind people we're in this war," he said.
Such absurd reasoning ought to inspire nothing but derision. Why, then, do we leftists --- or liberals --- or moderates --- or even real conservatives --- tremble to recognize it as a narrative that just might persuade voters?

The answer is so simple as to be generally ignored. Voters sometimes swallow such Wonderland logic when U.S. television commentators legitimize the farcical talking point by constant repetition. One of the key lessons of the Bush debacle is that a lie, repeated often enough, becomes true.

Check this assertion against lifelong indoctrination by the major religions, and many strange observations about human behavior suddenly start making sense.

"[Republicans will] throw the biggest chunk of mud that they can come up with," a senior Democratic official said. "That [Democrats] must be heartened by this ruling because we don't want to see any terrorists get prosecuted. That is just ridiculous."

Of course it's ridiculous. This asymmetrical war of interpretations highlights a key aspect of our current situation --- an aspect which I believe most of the world still fails to grasp. As long as prominent television personalities reiterate Republican propaganda during much of their air time, no one and no argument will be able to break the Bushite lock on electoral politics.

Jun 30, 2006, 8:23 pm | Permalink

Berkeley to Put Impeachment on Ballot

By Jim Christie

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Berkeley plans to give voters a say on a measure calling for the impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, the mayor of this famously liberal California city said on Wednesday.

"Famously liberal" fails to capture Berkeley's political climate. I lived there from 1969 to 1972, a time when "radical" was a term of praise among leftists.

For a comparison of those days with today's red/blue political slush, here is a summary of issues raised by campus politicians in Berkeley during my first year there.

Supporting, Critiquing, and Promoting Ethnic Studies

Current struggles for Ethnic Studies: Activism, Resistance, and Solidarity
Community Based Organizations and Ethnic Studies: Making/Sustaining Links
K-12 education and Ethnic Studies: Paradigms, Problems, and Practices
Regional Differences in Ethnic Studies: Conflict and Creativity
Marginalization within Ethnic Studies

Radical Critiques of Schooling in the United States

Schooling and Capitalism: Work, Profit, and Privatization
Prisons and Schools: Institutions, Disciplines, and Industries
Racism, White Supremacy, and the Distribution of Privilege
Sexism and Heterosexism in the School
Domesticated University: Containing Free Speech, Repressing Radicalism

Cultural Work as Political Resistance

Politics of Popular Culture Research
Hip Hop and Social Change
Visual Culture and Histories of Radical Struggle
Poetry and Spoken Word: Power, Ritual, and Insight
Bodies in Motion: Dance and/as Political Transformation

Radical Politics: Past, Present, and Future

Campus Activism since the Third World Liberation Front
Current and Historic Role of Students in Social Movements
Feminist and Queer Organizing Efforts On and Off Campus
Student Movements in International Context
Intergenerational Dialogues on Radical Politics and Possibilities
Multiracial/Cross-Racial Politics: Solidarity, Coalition, and Alliance

Most of the above might still be lively topics of debate in 2006 if our political system had not been suffocated by the radical right-wing politics of the Reagan administration and its successors. We were already familiar with Mr. Reagan, as he was running California at the time. And Governor Reagan's favorite institutional scapegoat? The University of California at Berkeley, of course. He cut our budget again and again, and constantly criticized the Regents in the press.

A number of local governments across the United States have passed resolutions urging impeachment. But the Berkeley city council wants to be the first to put the issue directly to voters, Mayor Tom Bates said in an interview.
"This is basically giving the people a chance to talk, to join the debate," Bates said. "The issues go way beyond impeaching the president. They go to safeguarding the Constitution."

Cheered on by Iraq war protester Cindy Sheehan, who has moved to Berkeley, the council voted unanimously on Tuesday to have the city attorney review the measure that would appear on the November ballot.

I'm glad to see Berkeley still leading the way.

Jun 29, 2006, 3:27 pm | Permalink

No British Guantanamo

The top U.K. court has refused to allow suspected terrorists to be placed under house arrest.

By Peter Graff

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's High Court ruled on Wednesday that "control orders" confining six terrorism suspects to partial house arrest breached their human rights, throwing out a key plank of Prime Minister Tony Blair's security policy.

Under the orders, terrorism suspects who have not been charged with a crime have been electronically tagged, confined to their houses for most of the day and banned from using computers and phones or meeting people without permission.

"The six control orders are incompatible with the respondents' right to liberty under article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights," said Justice Jeremy Sullivan.

"It follows that the Secretary of State had no power to make the orders and they must therefore all be quashed."

Blair rushed the new powers through parliament last year after courts rejected post-September 11, 2001 emergency measures that had allowed police to confine foreign suspected terrorists to high security prison indefinitely without trial.

The control orders apply to British citizens as well as foreign nationals and do not allow them to be jailed, but provide for a host of severe restrictions amounting to effective house arrest.

The new measures caused an uproar in parliament, where they triggered debate over the degree to which ancient and fundamental rights should be suspended to combat terrorism.

An uproar in Parliament. House arrest now ruled illegal. Evidently in Britain they do not use water boards, dogs, intolerably loud music, strobe lights, hot and cold rooms, deprivation of food and sleep, and "stress positions."

What kind of country is that?

Jun 28, 2006, 1:30 pm | Permalink

Atrios: Stand Up

Everyone who is reading this probably already saw it on Atrios's site, but I just think it bears repeating and remembering. Here Duncan's words sound just as alarmist as anything I've spouted over the past three years.

As treason charges against the New York Times (but not, oddly, the Wall Street Journal) are getting thrown around on various "respectable" news outlets by people working in "journalism" I think it's probably time for the serious reporters at those outlets to inform management that their resignations will be forthcoming if it doesn't stop.

Silly people like me have been trying to warn you for years - you created, cultivated, nourished, and promoted these people. They're one of you. Take a stand, because pretty soon it's going to be too late.

Thank you, Duncan. You have both brains and courage.

No regime can impose unfettered power onto a previously free populace without the use of force. The Republicans will either have to attempt that, or else back off. Their stupid foray into dictatorship is rapidly turning into a dirty public farce.

Jun 27, 2006, 10:36 pm | Permalink

Ohio Story

If you can handle any more gnawing despair, read this Daily Kos diary written by a lawyer who observed the 2004 presidential election as it unfolded in Cleveland. That election was stolen, and there is nothing we can do about it.

Everything I read in Kennedy's story I saw or heard about from my fellow volunteers that day: the long lines, the broken machines, the refusal of the BOE to respond, outrageous election challenges by GOP operatives, cars with bullhorns cruising minority neighborhoods warning people that police would arrest people who owed past due child care or parking tickets, names purged from voting rolls, last minute changes to polling places, refusals to hand our provisional ballots, violations of court orders prohibiting the use of GOP generated lists to deny the vote to legitimate residents, the banning of election monitors, the lockdown of some precincts while the vote was being counted, ballots being transported in unsealed containers by GOP part officials to where they were to be counted, etc. etc. etc. We took numerous affidavits of people regarding these and other abuses, argued with election official (sometimes successful, sometimes not) to stop unlawful practices such as requiring photo id for Spanish speaking and/or Hispanic looking voters, and documenting as well as we could the "atrocities."

What makes anyone think Rove and his organized crime syndicate won't steal the next election as well... and the one after that?

Jun 18, 2006, 6:33 pm | Permalink

Convention of the Willing

The recent YearlyKos bloggers' convention in Las Vegas was universally judged a big success by participants --- who were not all bloggers. This post by Christy at Firedoglake, quoting from the great Digby, offers an encouraging summary.

Jun 17, 2006, 10:34 am | Permalink

Peak Oil Update

At Energy Bulletin, Jeffrey Brown looks over the depletion picture and concludes that the world's supply of conventional oil is very close to peak production.

Dr. Kenneth Deffeyes, a former associate of Dr. Hubbert's, recently published a simplified method of predicting the total amount of oil that can be produced from a region. This method is commonly called "Hubbert Linearization," or HL. HL uses two known factors -- annual production and cumulative production to date -- to estimate the total recoverable reserves.

How reliable is the HL formula as a predictor? It shows us that the Lower 48 peaked when it was 52 percent depleted. Texas peak did not show up until our oil reserves were 57 percent depleted, but I suspect that can be explained by the Texas Railroad Commission's regulation of Texas oil production, which kept production equal to demand -- that is, below the maximum efficient rate of production.

Another example are the North Sea oil fields, where production has been falling steadily since peaking in 1999 at 52 percent of total recoverable reserves. North Sea oil production is now about one-fourth below its peak. The HL formula would have foreseen this, but the 10 major oil companies working the North Sea oil fields did not. Using the best engineers and technology available, they predicted just before what we now know was the peak in 1999 that North Sea production would peak around 2010. They were badly mistaken, but many of these same companies are now saying that world peak oil production is decades away.

The HL model says Saudi Arabia is 58% depleted and the world is 48% depleted. This is close to where Texas and the Lower 48 peaked and started irreversible declines in production. Based on the HL method and historical models, I believe that Saudi Arabia and the world are now on the verge of irreversible declines in conventional oil production.

Two legendary Texas billionaires, Boone Pickens and Richard Rainwater, who share a remarkable ability to profitably predict future trends--have looked at exactly the same regional and world data plots that I have looked at, and they have reached exactly the same conclusion that I have: that the world has used about half of its conventional crude oil reserves.

Brown's article is concise and to the point. Show it to your doubting friends. This problem is very real, and the largest petroleum user of all, the United States, will feel the pinch very strongly. Unfortunately, our country is presently in a kind of Disneyland denial phase. Next comes anger, then bargaining, sadness, and finally acceptance.

How long will it take for the U.S. to cycle through the phases and finally start taking action to conserve energy?

Jun 12, 2006, 11:26 pm | Permalink

Karen Hughes Helps U.S. Image?

If anyone still thinks there are limits to U.S. arrogance and ugliness spewing from top members of the Bush administration, think again.

By Jane Sutton

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The suicides of three Arab detainees at Guantanamo ignited new calls on Sunday for the United States to shut down the prison camp but a U.S. diplomat called their hangings a "good PR move" to gain attention.

Two Saudis and a Yemeni hanged themselves with clothes and bedsheets in maximum security cells on Saturday -- the first prisoners to die at Guantanamo since the United States began sending suspected al Qaeda and Taliban captives there in 2002.

And...

Saudi Arabia's Interior Ministry identified the two Saudis as Manei al-Otaibi and Yasser al-Zahrani but gave no further details. Pentagon documents show Zahrani was 21, meaning he was sent to Guantanamo as a teenager.

A young person faces indefinite detention with torture, and chooses death instead. Who among us can say for certain we would not have done the same at his age?

Colleen Graffy, U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for public diplomacy, told the BBC World Service the suicides were a "good PR move to draw attention."

"It does sound that this is part of a strategy in that they don't value their own life and they certainly don't value ours and they use suicide bombings as a tactic to further their Jihadi cause," she said.

Graffy coordinates efforts with Karen Hughes, a former top aide to President George W. Bush who is now a special envoy charged with trying to improve the U.S. image abroad, especially in Islamic countries.

Graffy's statement is an international disgrace. Both she and Hughes should resign or be fired, effective immediately.

Jun 12, 2006, 7:10 am | Permalink

>>> older articles <<<

Cached Jul 18, 2006, 12:44 am (all times Eastern US)

Reuters News

China to invest $175 bln
in environment clean-up

Indonesia
tsunami toll 105

World donors to pledge funds,
press Sudan, on Darfur

Novelist Mickey
Spillane dies at 88

Cheney wants security
to top election agenda

Court sentences ex-doctor
on steroid charge

San Diego home prices
dip as condo fever cools

Senate to consider $11.7
bln waterways bill

Rice intends to
visit Middle East

N. America avoids blackouts
amid record power use

Strip club assault charge
dropped against Eminem

US immigration law unlikely
soon, Bush tells Fox

Mexico crisis deepens with
civil resistance plan

Space shuttle
lands in Florida

Repair of post-Katrina
wetlands may hinge on oil

Tsunami on Indonesia's
Java coast kills over 100

Senate to vote on
three stem cell bills

Senate takes up stem cell
bill; Bush vows veto

Unplugged, Bush speaks
frankly on Mideast

Tsunami death toll
hits 104 in Java

Sweltering Midwest has
record power demand

Shuttle risks persist,
even with perfect landing

Suspected Sri Lanka
rebel ambushes kill 2

U.S-led forces under heavy
fire in Afghan south

Pregnancy centers mislead
girls, says congressman

Bayh calls for renewed
focus on middle class

House speaker Hastert
released from hospital

Castro sends Mandela
88th birthday cigars

Court halts pay of Canada
lumber duty to US firms

Chile reopens emblematic
rights case vs Pinochet

US sees widespread record
power use amid heat wave

Maoists storm Indian
government camp, kill 25

Bush, Putin concerned
Iran has not responded

Diabetes treatments may
help Alzheimers: meeting

Coalition soldier killed,
11 wounded in Afghan clash

NYC's biggest union, mayor
announce new contract

Nigeria, Clinton Foundation
in deal to fight AIDS

Small US farmers find
common cause with Africans

Saudi blames Hizbollah,
Hamas for Israel attacks

Shuttle lands in Florida
after 13-day mission

Foreigners flee Lebanon
by land and sea

Canadian terror suspects
face long road to trial

US defends rights record
to United Nations panel

Tsunami hits Indonesia's
Java, death toll nears 40

US sending ships for
Lebanon evacuation duty

Immigrant labor dilemma
hits California beach town

G8 hits N.Korea tests,
backs Russia atom fuel plan

Indian police raid Muslim
slums in bomb probe

Shuttle Discovery
touches down in Florida

Gunmen kill over 50 in
raid on town near Baghdad

Dutch court rejects
ban of pedophile party

Floods ravage south
China, kill at least 170

Israel denies manned
aircraft downed in Lebanon

Official New York sport:
Gripe, gripe, gripe

Fasten seatbelts! RV owners
don blindfolds at rally

Shuttle Discovery cleared
for Florida landing

Suicide bomber hits Afghan
govt compound, 3 dead

UK officers won't face
charges over metro shooting

Sudan, EU set for clash
over UN troops for Darfur