No Time for Trivia

But clearly too high up on the difficulty meter for this aspiring religious fruitcake.

Perhaps the only positive thing Scientology provides is balance?

But he has his moments of lucidity.

Here he decimated the Catholic Church’s infallibility:

He was followed by a Catholic apologist who clearly has the capacity to ignore nearly 2ooo years of history.  Especially in regard the Catholic Church generated anti-Semitism.  She resorts to the usual “few thousand” saved by some Catholic priests while apparently being unconcerned with the Pope at that time, Pius XII, and his support for Hitler as well as his hand in suppressing German Catholic dissent against him.  She also prefaced those comments with:

 ”Let us just look at the record of the Catholic Church when the Jewish community was under the most serious threat that it has faced in recent centuries.”

I suppose that because for upwards of fifteen centuries the Catholic Church was behind a significant amount of those threats she can only talk about the last few centuries.  From the Inquisitions that prayed on Jews in order to purge them and steal their property, the expulsion of all Jews from Spain and other countries, the ghettos, pogroms, torture and persecution of Jews for over a thousand years, having special taxes just for Jews to pay for the numerous Crusades where they Catholic Church went abroad to kill for Christ…the origin itself of anti-Semitism being the rabid preachings of Catholic bishops and popes which allowed that meme to grow in the first place…but in WWII a few thousand Jews were helped by the Catholic Church so Mr. Hitchens owes an apology?

And to the “abuse of children” issue is completely misrepresented altogether.  It is not a matter of pedophile predatory priests that is the main issue.  It is the fact that the Catholic Church has run interference into investigations of these sick fuckers, shuffled them around to other churches and allowed them to continue their serial raping of children, used threats and intimidation against accusers of these rapists and acted like a Mafia protecting its soldiers rather than a church seeking to work towards truth and a compassionate resolution. 

 The claim that the Catholic Church should have had some “unique insight” into the problem is ludicrous.  I would think that the problem has been ongoing for at least 1500 years.  I do not think it is a new phenomena and if one…gives the devil his due…that it is a new phenomena, it is not that new and after the first 10, 20, 50 cases or so it would seem that if the church was acting in good faith that they would have clamped down and driven these pervert predators out of their institution instead of providing them and underground railroad to escape only to pop up in another unsuspecting parish to abuse yet more victims.  In “retrospect” my ass.  The Catholic Church has still only paid lip service to its crimes. 

Christopher Hitchens nailed them to the cross and the rebuttal was weak, hollow and disregarded the entire history of Catholic malfeasance and crimes against humanity.  And it was done in a most obnoxious voice at that.

Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.

Lou Dobbs is leaving CNN.  I am not sure of the arrangements and whether it was Dobbs or CNN’s choice, but I am just glad to see his racist, faux populist right-wing propagandist ass moving on.  Of course, he will soon be appearing on Fox, the last refuge for rodeo clowns and aspiring hate mongers.  But he will at least be where he belongs. 

CNN has sunk so low since the days of Ted Turner.  Giving Glenn Beck a forum for so long, kowtowing to the right-wing in an effort to court their viewers after Turner was forced out, allowing Lou Dobbs to spew his racist, conspiracy theory crackpot gibberish nightly…the list goes on…But whatever the reason for Lou Dobbs leaving it elevates CNN another notch up the scale of respectable journalism.

If Fox does take on the obnoxiously reality challenged Dobbs I am sure the true side of his hateful and paranoid psyche will be unleashed on the Dittotarded Birthers and 9/12 Handjobs.  Then again, without the shackles of CNN perhaps he can finely get the truth out there to us all.

Yeah…that’s the ticket.

I got back from aikido Winter Camp in Florida Sunday evening.  I enjoyed myself immensely, got to see some old friends and have some stimulating early morning conversation with strangers on the beach….however, I did not get to test for my sandan. 

During one of the morning classes on Saturday I somehow managed to, as my doctor thinks and an MRI this Friday should confirm, tear my rotator cuff.  I was in the middle of throwing a fellow in a koshinage from ryotetori when something popped in my shoulder.  I iced it immediately and hoped that I would be able to still test if it was something minor, but within a couple of hours I knew I was screwed.  So….I got to watch all of the tests from a clinical rather than a hurry up because I want my turn perspective and saw some really good and really bad tests. 

Our dojo, Peachtree Aikkai had four nidan tests at the seminar and they rocked.  We definitely made a statement at this seminar.  I do not want to injure my other shoulder patting myself on the back, but…I think I would have had one of the better sandan tests of the fare that was presented.  There was one outstanding fellow that was smooth and proficient that I really enjoyed, but I kept asking myself where’s the otoshis?  I saw a few uki otoshis but that was it.  In my preplanned repertoire I had an otoshi, and sometimes two, for every attack called.  Maki ototshi, seoiotoshi, osototoshi, kata hiki otoshi, hiji otoshi,aiki otoshi…I had a killer ashi otoshi set to go for the randori portion, but it seems that the sandans were happy with the same old shiho, irimi, kokyu nages.

My friend in his nidan test hit a great kata garuma off of shomen uchi.  Here is a clip of that technique though it is not done by my friend nor as nice as his was.

So…for me it is get an MRI, determine if I need an operation, heal, continue to train in whatever way possible and…test another day.  So goes life.  I’ll take this in stride and place it in its proper place of importance in consideration with everything going on in the world and move on easily.  But when I do test I am going to give an otoshi clinic. 

Congratulations to all of Peachtree Akikai’s new nidans.   They owned the show that windy Saturday evening on a beach in Ft. Lauderdale.  I am glad I got to see them do it.

I’m heading down to Florida for the United States Aikido Federation (East) Winter Camp this morning.  Our dojo is bringing down five people who are testing for advanced dan (black belts) including myself.  Four will be testing for their nidan (2nd degree) and I will be doing my sandan (3rd degree) test.  We also have about ten to fifteen other people coming from our school that will be attending the seminar taught by Yamada Sensei, the head of the USAF, Sugano Sensei and Peter Bernath Sensei who hosts the Winter Camp.

I have been training very hard for this as have my fellow students and we should have some great tests.  I know they will be fun at least.  The test in aikido is not necessarily a done deal.  That meaning, just because one is testing it does not mean that one will pass.  I have seen people fail their tests, but then those were some pretty bad performance and they deserved to go back to the dojo and raise their level of proficiency and understanding.  But for the most part, when one does a dan test it should be a celebration rather than a “test.”  It should be a display of ones proficiency but also of ones spirit.  In the first and second dan tests the focus is on technical proficiency, repertoire, power and so forth.  On the sandan test you get to let yourself come out more in your aikido.  The control aspect is much more examined, but there is an expectation that the tester will have their own style and flair.  I am really looking forward to this opportunity to highlight our dojo and my particular “flair.”   And…the party afterwards.

I have had a lot of help in preparing for this test and in turn will help those getting ready for upcoming tests.  Preparing for a test is a community effort and the more people involved in assisting the testers the better the tests will be.  Our dojo took on a committed effort over the past several months to cater to the yudansha that are going to be testing tomorrow and I believe that effort will pay off huge dividends in giving the hundreds of people attending a look at some very dynamic and well performed aikido.  I am going to do my part to make that true.

Thanks to all that helped me and the rest of us testers.  It won’t be forgotten.  I will leave it with this clip of Kanai Sensei who helped our dojo so much and who passed away too early.

See you on the mat.

It is about time this type of speech is heard on the floor of the House and Senate.

The time has come to accept the facts of our failed mission in Afghanistan and the reality that we will not only never “win” there, but it is costing us a ridiculous amount of money that could be used to much, much better purpose.

Rep. Eric Massa, thank you for these comments.

I know, Halloween has passed us by.  But…one can never be too cautious and I may forget to come back to this next year so…you have been warned:

Jesus.  He does some strange shit to your head.

No, really.  They are looking at putting prayer in the health care reform bill.  Specifically tax payer funded prayer sessions for those that choose to mumble to their invisible friend rather than seek medical attention.  The Los Angeles Times:

Healthcare Provision Seeks To Embrace Prayer Treatments

A little-noticed measure would put Christian Science healing sessions on the same footing as clinical medicine. Critics say it violates the separation of church and state.

May a plague of atheists descend upon them and turn their bibles to confetti!

Backed by some of the most powerful members of the Senate, a little-noticed provision in the healthcare overhaul bill would require insurers to consider covering Christian Science prayer treatments as medical expenses.

The provision was inserted by Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) with the support of Democratic Sens. John F. Kerry and the late Edward M. Kennedy, both of Massachusetts, home to the headquarters of the Church of Christ, Scientist.

Ah…bipartisan  kowtowing to the howling mad on our dime.  This does not sit well with me.  I am not surprised at this by Orrin Hatch, but it gives me another reason to loathe John Kerry and to diminish my respect for Ted Kennedy.

The measure would put Christian Science prayer treatments — which substitute for or supplement medical treatments — on the same footing as clinical medicine. While not mentioning the church by name, it would prohibit discrimination against “religious and spiritual healthcare.”

So you are telling me that our tax dollars are going to support magic and witch craft?

Phil Davis, a senior Christian Science Church official, said prayer treatment was an effective alternative to conventional healthcare.

“We are making the case for this, believing there is a connection between healthcare and spirituality,” said Davis, who distributed 11,000 letters last week to Senate officials urging support for the measure.

Prove it.  Let’s see some data that corroborates that statement.  Oh yeah, there is none.  If people want to pray for their recovery or for the prevention of illness then by all means let them do so.  But to have tax dollars pay for “prayer sessions” are you effing kidding me?

And Christians wonder why atheists are tired of their crap?  Pray in a closet or pray in a church.  Just don’t pray on my dime.

And lo the Atheists descended on Pharoh…no..wait… Australia?

A Plague of Atheists Has Descended,  And Catholics Are The Target

Attacking Christians is not really clever, witty or funny

Ha!  Then this craven (no really, his name is Greg Craven) fellow is missing a lot of the good ones that do all three well.  But…and it may be just me, Sam Kinison was the best.

FROM time immemorial, this world has been troubled by plagues. From bogong moths in Canberra to frogs in biblical Egypt, unwelcome and unlovely creatures have the awkward habit of turning up in bulk.

Just now, we are facing one of our largest and least appealing infestations. Somewhat in advance of summer’s blowflies, we are beset by atheists. Worse, they are not traditional atheists. These tended to be quiet blokes called Algie with ancillary interests in nudist ceramics, who were perfectly happy as long as you pretended to accept a pamphlet in Flinders Lane.

Yes…tolerate the quiet milk toast variety. 

No, the new hobby atheist is as brash, noisy and confident as a cheap electric kettle. They want everyone to know that they have not found God, and that no one else should. Their particular target seems to be Catholics.

Ah…but don’t worry.  We won’t come after you with Inquisitions, witch trials and the ever enchanting auto de fe.  We will just point out your hypocrisy, power and profits over compassion and humanity and the fact that you run an organized pedophilia ring.

Frankly, the prime reason the average believer finds the common or garden atheist as appealing as a holiday in Birchip is because they consign them to that sorry category of individuals who spend their lives loudly congratulating themselves on their own intelligence without noticing that no one else is joining the chorus. Thus, as a Catholic, I do not normally sense in some tabloid atheist the presence of a supreme discerning intellect. I simply place him or her in much the same pitiable bin of intellectual vulgarians as the chartered accountant who cannot see the art in Picasso, the redneck who cannot admit of indigenous culture, and the pissant who cannot see the difference between Yeats and Bob Ellis.

Well said, sir!   Your pomposity is only matched by your willful ignorance.  Both traits leaving you with nothing but to attack the messengers as you cling to your ever-shrinking Church and all of its arcane superstitions and myths.  But right they do not make you.

The second wearying thing about the new atheism is that it is not new at all. It is so banally derivative of every piece of hate mail ever sent to God that I am amazed Satan has yet to sue for copyright infringement. No old chestnut is too ripe, rotten or sodden, especially when it comes to the Catholics as accredited suppliers of what apparently is the Christian equivalent of methamphetamine.

And the Catholics never tire of the trite and tried, “You’re going to burn in hell.”  Now there is some witty, clever and funny rejoinder.

In an average week of atheistic bigotry in the Melbourne media, we can expect to learn that Catholics endorse child molestation, hate all other religions, would re-introduce the crusades and the auto de fe at the slightest opportunity, despise women, wish to persecute homosexuals, greedily divert public moneys for their own religious purposes, subvert public health care, brainwash children, and are masterminding the spread of the cane toad across northern Australia.

Well, now….I don’t know from cane toads, but…

At the bottom, of course, lies hate. I am not quite clear why our modern crop of atheists hates Christians, as opposed to ignoring or even politely dismissing them, but they very clearly do. There is nothing clever, witty or funny about hate.

No, not hate, my very unclever, unwitty and desperately unfunny fellow.  It is a matter of fatigue and frustration.  It is the fatigue that comes from observing the never-ending posturing and assumptions of certitude that come from organizations such as the Catholic Church.  Assertions that have indeed taken the most barbaric forms.  The fatigue of waiting for mankind to cast off beliefs in patently false myths and move towards an understanding of our lives and cosmos from a perspective of reality rather than one based on wishful pining for an invisible friend that never shows His face yet is full of threats in the books that are supposedly His.  It is from a frustration of seeing the most outlandish assertions treated with credibility and given legitimacy because they are wrapped around religion.  It is the frustration of living in a real and palpable world while charlatans and rubes operate in a make-believe one where not only do they stroke each others egos and cater to each others needs, they also happen to try and legislate their interpretations of their invisible friends and step over an on the lives of so many.

And a point this fellow seems not to understand in his posturing as protector of Catholic sensitivity is that atheists do not have it out for Catholics.  All religions are fair game and equal targets of opportunity to thrust logic, reason and facts into.  The Catholic Church in turns sends out its dogs like Bill Donahue and, I suppose the author of the above piece, and spends untold millions on perception management and propaganda.  Atheists haven’t the networking nor the resources that they do, but it seems that a little logic and reasoning sure get their panties in a wad. 

Now let the plague wash over them.

Of course it wasn’t done here.  We believe in the practice of kidnap, secret prisons and torture.  The refutation of our CIA’s rendition program came in Italy.  The NYT reports:

Italy Convicts 23 Americans For C.I.A. Renditions

In a landmark ruling, an Italian judge on Wednesday convicted a base chief for the Central Intelligence Agency and 22 other Americans, almost all C.I.A. operatives, of kidnapping a Muslim cleric from the streets of Milan in 2003.

The case was a huge symbolic victory for Italian prosecutors, who drew the first convictions involving the American practice of rendition, in which terrorism suspects are captured in one country and taken for questioning in another, often one more open to coercive interrogation techniques.

We have performed who knows how many of these renditions, taken people to secret prisons and, it can be reasonably assured, tortured them ourselves or through our proxies.  All of the people convicted in this case in Italy were tried in absentia.  Fortunately they did not use extraordinary rendition to bring them to justice.  The convictions will mean nothing to those convicted unless one of them ever wants to go to Italy, but I am glad to see the resolve of the Italian judicial system to go forward with the case and to seek these convictions and make the statement that this is not acceptable.

The word “rendition” is fairly benign.  It doesn’t present  images of brutality yet the byproduct of the renditions to our allies that practice torture as a matter of course was brutality.  The fact that we bypassed our judicial system to kidnap “suspects” and fly them in secret to other countries, put them in secret prisons and allow them to be tortured is something that should matter to us.  Apparently it matters little to the United States, but the Italians have shown us what the proper response to this abuse is.