Aunty (anti) FOX

Herman Cain, who denied any knowledge of a sexual harassment suit, and continually swore it NEVER happened, suddenly remembered it, when presented with the details, which included cash a settlement. 'Oh yeah, we paid her 2 or 3 months salary, but it wasn't everything she asked for', Herman finally recalled, when shown the facts in evidence. Hard to take someone seriously, when they tell bald faced lies, until FORCED to tell the truth. Move over Sarah, Michelle and Rick, we got a new candidate. Herman Cain, just the latest in the 'parade of clowns', to lead the Repub presidential contenders.

'Under the Banner of Heaven', and was again amazed at the writing skills of Jon Krakauer. He can take a controversial subject, and through a series of well researched, scupulously documented historical facts, give the reader an overview that explains how and why things 'happened'. As a skilled author, his published works have been featured in Smithsonian, National Geographic Magazine, Rolling Stone, and Architectural Digest, as well as having several best selling books. His writing scares some small minds, especially when he writes about one his favorite subjects, organized religion, because it forces them to face facts they don't like, SO, they just deny, and belittle the messenger, who, in the case of Jon Krakauer spent over FOUR years researching this book. Again, I am not making a judgement on personal spiritual belief, because nobody can prove it either way, BUT, he and I have a problem when spirituality is packaged, along with a liberal amount of 'miracles...

based on lies about WMD, then signed agreements guaranteeing removal of American troops by the end of 2011, 10 Americans were killed in a suicide bombing yesterday, and Rick Santorum, in a typical example of Repub thinking, blamed those deaths on..... Obama, of course. Because Obama agreed to honor an agreement signed by Bush, removing troops after ONLY 8 1/2 years, he is OBVIOUSLY responsible for the bombing, in the strange world inhabited by Republican presidential candidates, who also blame Obama for the economy that just happened to implode after 7 years of George Bush at the helm. Strange world they live in, but the sheep eat it up.

(pic from 2008, I think) it's opening weekend of elk season, and I'm not hunting, in the mountains. Nate, Matt and Hunter are, though, and hopefully they're having a great hunt. Weather's perfect, which is always nice. Hopefully next weekend will be spent turning lean, organic protein into little white packages of burger, stew meat and loin. Does seem kind of strange not to be up there, but hopefully I'll draw next year, as I'll have a 'preference point'. If things are on schedule, this afternoon they'll be listening to the Bronco game while they fill coolers with a few hundred pounds of boneless meat. Hope they remember how to do it without me...

I can't imagine a better team to win the World Series. Got a bunch of buddies in the St Loius area, and the Cards deserve the win after pulling out one of the greatest games in the history of sports, last might. The fact they beat Bush's Texans is just icing on the cake.

'Under the Banner of Heaven', he explains how the Utah Supreme Court had to throw out the conviction of Ron Lafferty, although he brutally murdered a mother and her 15 month old daughter, after 'talking with God', and he admitted it. However, they ran into legal problems, whether he was sane or not, when they decided to re-try the case. Krakauer notes:  "This, after all, is a country lead by a born-again Christian, President George W. Bush, who believes he is an instrument of God and characterizes international relations as a biblical clash between forces of good and evil.  The highest law officer in the land, Attorney General John Ashcroft is…a follower of a fundamentalist Christian sect – the Pentecostal Assemblies of God- who begins each day at the Justice Department with a devotional prayer meeting for his staff, periodically has himself anointed with sacred oil, and subscribes to a vividly apocalyptic worldview that has much in common with key millenarian be...

'Under the Banner of Heaven', after reading 'Where Men Win Glory', the Pat Tillman story, I realize I'm gonna have to go back to fiction for a while, or at least take a break before reading 'Into Thin Air', or 'Into the Wild', because his books kind of bother me, knowing they are true, and truth is kind of hard to handle, sometimes. Some people though, however, just deny what they don't like to hear, and make snarky comments. Hopefully, I'll never sink to that level.

as the practice is called, involves having the 'Satanic' gov't of the US, pay for Fundamentalist Mormon upkeep, and is considered virtuous, by the practioners. Colorado City, AZ, which is nearly exclusively Fundamentalist Mormon, last year, had over 4,000 residents that were enrolled in state health care, reportedly costing the state about $8 million a year. An in-depth report published in the Daily Courier notes that about half of the fundamentalists in Colorado City receive food stamps, compared to five percent statewide, costing just over $3 million a year. The report continues, noting that a mere five years ago there were no Colorado City children getting child care assistance, but last year the number stood at about 200 – which cost the state another $600,000. These benefits are paid to care-providers who are related to the children, so sometimes one wife can get paid for taking care of another wife’s kids. In all, Colorado City gets back about eight dollars in benef...

was published, the main Fundamentalist sect of Mormons, known as the First Ward, had just lost heir leader, Rulon Jeffs, (dead at 92, though he had been prophesied to be immortal), and his son Warren had taken over. After meeting him while researching his book, Krakauer opined that he didn't think he'd last, because he was too strict, with no charisma, which is imperative for Mormon leaders. Seems he was right. Jeffs is currently serving 'life plus twenty', for a variey of crimes, including sexual assault on children.

from Anthony Storr's, 'Feet of Clay'. Quoted in 'Under the Banner of Heaven', by Jon Krakauer Religious faith is an answer to the problem of life. . . . The majority of mankind want or need some all-embracing belief system which purports to provide an answer to life’s mysteries, and are not necessarily dismayed by the discovery that their belief system, which they proclaim as “the truth,” is incompatible with the beliefs of other people. One man’s faith is another man’s delusion. . . Whether a belief is considered to be a delusion or not depends partly upon the intensity with which it is defended, and partly upon the numbers of people subscribing to it. ANTHONY STORR, FEET OF CLAY At least I think it's interesting.

in my own life (which gets me accused of 'bragging'), for my rocking chair diary, I also have a theme of calling 'bullshit' when I see those in authority taking advantage of the goodness, or naivety (gullibility) in people. Whether it is FOXNews pretending to be a 'real' news channel when they are nothing but the propaganda wing of the Repub party, or Fundamentalist Mormon leaders taking advantage of young girls, and other members of their 'flock', by promising eternal damnation if they don't submit, it just bothers me, and I write about it. Everything I write is, or can be, documented. I don't just 'make it up', like those that I rail against. If you don't like it, fine, don't read me. I really don't care.

but I do watch some sports on TV, when I can't find something better to do. Part of it is cuz I can relate to the intensity and combination individual and team effort needed to win. Not that winning is EVERYTHING, but it sure beats losing. That said, this week had two of the most amazing games I've ever seen. First, the Broncos won, after being down 15-0, with less than 3 minutes left in the game. NEVER happened before, in the long history of the NFL. Last night, the Cards beat the Rangers in the best, most exciting baseball game that I have ever seen. After being close all the way, in a game that could end the series if St Louis loses, the Cardinals had two outs and two strikes, and were two runs down, in the bottom of the ninth, when Freese hit a triple to score two and send it to extra innings, where Texas scored two in the top of the tenth, and St Louis was again down, with two outs and two strikes. They came through again, to send it to the 11th, where home...

had a field day, when a tiny number of scientists' e-mails had a bit of a problem, with some global warming facts. Less than 1%, but that didn't stop FOX and the Koch Bros, from jumping all over it, and the bros financed a huge study/campaign to debunk it. SURPRISE, the study showed global warming is real, to the surprise of NO ONE who actually pays attention to facts. Did FOXNews back off or admit anything? Of course not. These idiots play upon other idiots, and part of the plan is not to admit being wrong. FOXNews, nothing if not consistent, when lying to the sheep, who swallow, without question.

I had heard about the 'Mountain Meadow Massacre', where a war party of Mormons, along with some Paiute Indians, slaughtered 120 men, women and children. wiping out an emigrant wagon train traveling to California, in the spring of 1857. I always figured it was a religious war, which it partly was, but after plagues of crickets and an extended drought, the Mormons were in dire need of supplies and money. The leaders heard about the Baker-Fancher wagon train, that was rumored to be the richest group of that size to ever travel west, with vast herds of prize cattle, horses and a strongbox loaded with gold.  Gentiles, or non-Mormons, were considered evil, therefor fair game, for the 'Saints', which the Mormon leaders called the sheep. Bottom line, there was a 5 day seige and massacre that was originally blamed on the Indians, but was later proven to be the work of the 'Saints' from Salt Lake City. The seige ended when the Mormons of...

about Mormons and Mormonism, is that Steve Young, of the San Francisco 49'ers, is the great-great-great-grandson of Brigham Young, who took the reins of the Mormon church after Joseph Smith was killed by a mob of men, when it was discovered what he was doing to several of their young daughters. I just never put the 'Young' names together, though I knew Steve was the QB at BYU.

Was planning to go elk hunting, leaving tomorrow morning, even though I hadn't drawn a tag this year. Was gonna be the odd man out, of the pop-up that only sleeps 3, so I was gonna sleep in the back of my SUV, since I had earlier said I wasn't going, then I was, etc. Sorta doing a Mitt Romney. However, after actually rolling out my bedroll/pad, in the back of my MDX, and trying to get comfortable, I realized that it was gonna be a long, cold, uncomfortable place to spend 3 nights in the mountains, without even having the fun of a 'hunt', during the day. SO, I bailed out. Am already having 2nd thoughts, that will probably get worse, but good news/bad news, am not going elk hunting for the first time since I moved to Colorado in the early 70's. Good luck, guys.

in today's' news', the corporate shills came out in defense of the bloated military-industrial complex, that has made hundreds of billions of dollars at the expense of taxpayers and massive casualties. 'Defense secretary reportedly ready to slash up to $260 billion over five years — a move sure to cut deep into the defense industry at a time when job creation is critical to the U.S. economic turnaround.'  THE FOX article goes on to say how bad it will be for the economy, as the Bush wars, and military spending, winds down. Yup, we need those bomb making jobs REAL bad, for the economy. Not like it's a new argument. I grew up during a time when thousands were being killed and wounded in Viet Nam, but corporate America was loving the profits. Some things never change, thanks to the shills at FOXNews, and their ilk, the war profiteers.

GWBush and the Iraq war, as always, just follow the money. AOLnews, today, shows an entirely new way to fight a war (and steal $), as the Bushies sent 363 tons of US currency into Iraq, ($40 Billion in cash, mostly 100 dollar bills) and SURPRISE, a whole bunch of it is 'missing'. Check it out, here. http://www.cnbc.com/id/45031100

that I really feel strongly about, how Mormonism and other religions, warp reality and reason for their own ends, has struck a chord. My blog hits are again over a hundred per day, with many coming from Germany. Who'd a thunk?

Anonymous, the loose-knit web "hacktavist" group that has been associated with taking down MasterCard.com and attacking the Church of Scientology, is apparently planning on launching a coordinated attack on the Fox News website because of the way the network has covered the Occupy Wall Street movement, according to a video posted on YouTube."Anonymous intends on destroying the Fox News website because their continued right wing conservative propaganda can no longer be tolerated," a computer-generated voice says in the video. "They use words such as "filthy," "disgusting" and "dirty" to describe the protesters. Since they will not stop belittling the occupiers, we will simply shut them down." Supposed to happen on Nov 5. Will be interesting. Shouldn't have warned them.