<![CDATA[The Demon's Den - Three Things]]> http://www.dreamindemon.com/forums/ Politics, Religion and Money. Forum for discussing topics that usually always end up in a flaming heap. Read this before posting! en Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:36:53 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.dreamindemon.com/forums/images/kirsch/misc/rss.jpg <![CDATA[The Demon's Den - Three Things]]> http://www.dreamindemon.com/forums/ It should be legal to shoot self serving politicians http://www.dreamindemon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28082&goto=newpost Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:32:56 GMT Course we wouldn't have any if that was the case
Most are out for themselves and are more than willing to sell their vote to the highest bidder. All they really care about is their political power and future. Fuck the nation, fuck the people.
My rant isn't for or against the health care bill, but what we have to pay this bitch as a nation if we're interested in it. Guess blackmail laws don't apply to politishits



http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/200...ote.htmlmarrow

ABC News' Jonathan Karl reports:
What does it take to get a wavering senator to vote for health care reform?
Here’s a case study.
On page 432 of the Reid bill, there is a section increasing federal Medicaid subsidies for “certain states recovering from a major disaster.”
The section spends two pages defining which “states” would qualify, saying, among other things, that it would be states that “during the preceding 7 fiscal years” have been declared a “major disaster area.”
I am told the section applies to exactly one state: Louisiana, the home of moderate Democrat Mary Landrieu, who has been playing hard to get on the health care bill.
In other words, the bill spends two pages describing would could be written with a single world: Louisiana. (This may also help explain why the bill is long.)
Senator Harry Reid, who drafted the bill, cannot pass it without the support of Louisiana’s Mary Landrieu.
How much does it cost? According to the Congressional Budget Office: $100 million.
Here’s the incredibly complicated language: ]]> Three Things biteme http://www.dreamindemon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28082 Work site arrests of illegals fall dramatically http://www.dreamindemon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28022&goto=newpost Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:37:48 GMT Some of these articles are such bullshit You have one side take credit the other side blaming and the reality is probably neither Arrest are... Some of these articles are such bullshit
You have one side take credit
the other side blaming
and the reality is probably neither
Arrest are probably down due to less jobs, no construction and illegals going home due to lack of jobs instead of crossing the boarder in search of work


http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009...-dramatically/


Work site arrests of illegals fall dramatically
Arrests of illegal immigrant workers have dropped precipitously under President Obama, according to figures released Wednesday.
Criminal arrests, administrative arrests, indictments and convictions of illegal immigrants at work sites all fell by more than 50 percent from fiscal 2008 to fiscal 2009.
The figures show that Mr. Obama has made good on his pledge to shift enforcement away from going after illegal immigrant workers themselves - but at the expense of Americans' jobs, said Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas, the Republican who compiled the numbers from the Department of Homeland Security's U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE).
Mr. Smith, the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, said a period of economic turmoil is the wrong time to be cutting enforcement and letting illegal immigrants take jobs that Americans otherwise would hold.
"Those stolen jobs should be returned to out-of-work citizens and legal immigrants," he said. "The Obama administration should put citizens and legal immigrants first, especially when it comes to jobs." ]]> Three Things biteme http://www.dreamindemon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28022 Jesse jackson plays race card against black Congressman http://www.dreamindemon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28007&goto=newpost Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:11:20 GMT I've read the race card is how Jackson gets a lot of donations
basically companies pay him to NOT call them racist
It's all he's got so he'll obviously play it against anyone anytime
I think Jackson's a con artist out to make money any way he can
He should change his name to Jesse Jackass, after his last few Faux Pas



http://thehill.com/homenews/house/68...f-a-black-man=

Jesse Jackson: 'You can't vote against healthcare and call yourself a black man'
By Mike Soraghan - 11/18/09 05:42 PM ET

The Rev. Jesse Jackson on Wednesday night criticized Rep. Artur Davis (D-Ala.) for voting against the Democrats’ signature healthcare bill.
“We even have blacks voting against the healthcare bill,” Jackson said at a reception Wednesday night. “You can’t vote against healthcare and call yourself a black man.”


The remark stirred a murmur at the reception, held by the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) Foundation as part of a series of events revolving around the 25th anniversary of Jackson’s run for president. Several CBC members were in attendance, including Chairwoman Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), who’d introduced Jackson.

Davis, who is running for governor, is the only black member of Congress from Alabama. ]]> Three Things biteme http://www.dreamindemon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28007 Student Braves Controversy, Refuses to Recite Pledge http://www.dreamindemon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27924&goto=newpost Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:41:14 GMT
Quote:
"Liberty and justice for all?"

Will Phillips doesn't believe that describes America for its gay and lesbian citizens. He's a 10-year-old at West Fork Elementary School in Arkansas, about three hours east of Oklahoma City. Given his beliefs, he refused to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, specifically because that one phrase, "liberty and justice for all," he says, does not truly apply to all.

That did not go over well with the substitute teacher in his fifth-grade classroom.

The Arkansas Times reports that he started refusing to say the pledge Mon., Oct. 5. By Thursday, the substitute was steamed. She told Will she knew his mother and grandmother and they would want him to recite the pledge.

Will told the Times the substitute got more and more upset. She raised her voice. By this point, Will told the newspaper, he started losing his cool too, adding: "After a few minutes, I said, 'With all due respect ma'am, go jump off a bridge.'"

That got him sent to the principal's office. The principal made him look up information about the flag and what it represents. Meanwhile, there was the inevitable call to his mother.

At first, mom Laura Phillips told the Times, the principal talked about Will telling a substitute to jump off a bridge. When pressed, the principal admitted the whole incident was sparked by the boy exercising his constitutional right not to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.

Phillips suggested an apology was in order -- from the teacher. When the principal said that wasn't necessary, Will's mother started venting to friends via Twitter. Those friends, in turn, told the news media. And what would have been a minor classroom incident has people throughout Arkansas and beyond choosing sides.

As for Will, he continues to exercise his right to remain silent. It can be rough at times, he and his family admit. He has his share of supporters, however, his critics are louder and nastier -- especially because he took his stand to defend gay rights.

"In the lunchroom and in the hallway, they've been making comments and doing pranks, calling me gay," he told the Times. "It's always the same people, walking up and calling me a gaywad."

Nonetheless, Will told the paper, he is sticking to his convictions. A reporter for the paper asked Will -- with all this talk about patriotism and the pledge -- what he thinks it means to be an American.

"Freedom of speech," he responded. "The freedom to disagree. That's what I think pretty much being an American represents."

His mother is proud.
video at link:

http://www.parentdish.com/2009/11/13...cite-pledge%2F ]]> Three Things RaVen Blackehart http://www.dreamindemon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27924 Amelia, OH is scared of Christmas http://www.dreamindemon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27831&goto=newpost Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:04:56 GMT ---Quote--- Officials in an Ohio town canceled their Christmas parade this year to avoid huge legal fees in defending the tradition from possible...
Quote:
Officials in an Ohio town canceled their Christmas parade this year to avoid huge legal fees in defending the tradition from possible lawsuits by religious groups.

The legal hurdle surfaced when the private group that for 28 years had funded the parade in Amelia village recently announced it could no longer do so, prompting the village mayor to step in with public funds.

On a lawyer's advice, the mayor decided to change the name of the event from Christmas Parade to the more neutral "Holiday Parade" to avoid lawsuits and abide by constitutional rules about the separation of church and state.

"Even though it may seem silly," Mayor Leroy Ellington said, "the legal fees that the village would spend to defend 'A Christmas Parade' would be costly."

"There was the likelihood that we would be sued on a first amendment issue," he added, referring to the constitutional requirements for secular government.

However, the name change did not sit well with local church officials, who promptly threatened to boycott the event if it was no longer called "A Christmas Parade."

Faced with legal quarrels and logistical problems in organizing the parade, Ellington threw in the towel.

"As a citizen I want a Christmas parade, as a mayor I've an obligation to prevent the village from spending unnecessary tax dollars," he said on announcing that his office was dropping out of the organization drive.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091112...N0b3dubml4ZXNj
Thank you for destroying the holidays, fucktard religious zealots!

]]> Three Things backlash http://www.dreamindemon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27831 Soul Factory gets sued http://www.dreamindemon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27635&goto=newpost Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:43:28 GMT ---Quote--- Two former churchgoers say they were swindled out of a small fortune by the leaders of the Soul Factory, a large African American church...
Quote:
Two former churchgoers say they were swindled out of a small fortune by the leaders of the Soul Factory, a large African American church in Prince George's County -- accusations the church denies.

In a lawsuit filed against the church, the married couple, Jose and Yvette Strickland, say they lent nearly $900,000 under a verbal agreement to the Soul Factory so that it could open a satellite church in Atlanta. The church says the money was a gift.

"It was not a loan; it was a donation," said Timothy Obitts, a lawyer hired by the church. He said the church is in the process of filing a motion to dismiss the lawsuit.

The suit, filed Sept. 30, has surprised members of the Soul Factory, a popular church among young blacks in Forestville. The church is known for its use of hip-hop and pop culture and its contemporary plays, such as "Two Angry People in Love Going Thru Hell." It draws a few thousand congregants each Sunday.

According to the Stricklands, they began regularly attending the Soul Factory in 2000. In 2005, the church's founder and pastor, Deron Cloud, began courting Jose Strickland's financial help, the couple said, by inviting him to Wizards basketball games, on trips to Las Vegas and other activities and introducing him to top church leaders.

In 2006, the Stricklands say, Cloud asked Jose for $1.5 million to help open a satellite church in Atlanta. A few weeks later, Strickland, Cloud and other church leaders discussed financing the Atlanta church while in a private booth at a professional fight in Atlantic City, the couple said.

Months later, according to the lawsuit, Strickland gave the church $886,500, which Jose, a mortgage banker, and Yvette, a real estate agent, said they raised by mortgaging several properties they owned to a private lender.

The Stricklands said that Cloud and the church initially made nine payments to the private lender but stopped making payments in mid-2007. In their lawsuit, the Stricklands allege that the non-payments led to the loss of seven mortgaged properties to foreclosure and $6.8 million in financial losses. Both have filed for bankruptcy.

Obitts, the church's attorney, declined to go into detail about the lawsuit but said the church did not borrow money from the Stricklands. "This guy's allegedly a sophisticated businessman," Obitts said, "and yet he claims everything was done verbally. It doesn't make sense."

When asked why they gave the church such a large amount without any written agreement or contract or a structured loan, Jose Strickland said, "It was a trust situation, because they were a church, because we had a relationship."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...s=rss_metro/md
Give your money to Jesus, suckas! ]]> Three Things backlash http://www.dreamindemon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27635 Muslim ringtone defeats the purpose http://www.dreamindemon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27547&goto=newpost Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:24:57 GMT ---Quote--- Sacdiyo Sheeq used to love listening to Bollywood movie songs on her mobile telephone. But since hardline al Shabaab insurgents...
Quote:
Sacdiyo Sheeq used to love listening to Bollywood movie songs on her mobile telephone.

But since hardline al Shabaab insurgents seized the southern Somali port of Kismayu, the 25-year-old's life has changed.

"Al Shabaab wants our ringtones to be only a Muslim cleric reading the Hadith or Koranic verse," she told Reuters.

The heavily armed group controls much of the south and parts of the capital Mogadishu, and courts run by its clerics have ordered executions, floggings and amputations in recent months.

It has also banned movies, dancing at wedding ceremonies and playing or watching soccer in the areas under it control.

"We do not tolerate anything that may corrupt the people," al Shabaab's spokesman in Kismayu, Sheikh Hassan Yaqub, told Reuters by telephone. "We don't allow anything that goes against our religion, especially music and sexy videos."

Ali Mahamud Yusuf, 19, fled his home in Kismayu after he was whipped in public last week by al Shabaab gunmen who had caught him listening to music and watching videos on his phone.

"I am still suffering from the 25 lashes," Yusuf said. "They accused me of rejecting religion. I don't want to tell you where I am now for security reasons. I am scared."

Fighting has killed 19,000 Somalis since the start of 2007, and while some residents credit the insurgents with restoring a semblance of order in some areas, al Shabaab's strict rules have alienated many Somalis who are traditionally moderate Muslims.

But Kismayu residents said the rebel group's latest rules on mobile phone ringtones posed yet another dilemma -- since the faithful are not supposed to interrupt the Hadith (the word of the Prophet Mohammed), how are they supposed to answer calls?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20091103/...ingtones_odd_1


Maybe they don't want you to talk on the phone either? ]]> Three Things backlash http://www.dreamindemon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27547 Arlington National Cemetery may have messed up. http://www.dreamindemon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27534&goto=newpost Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:46:29 GMT Image: http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b6/jackonrye/9951b450.jpg ---Quote--- *For the first time in a generation, Arlington National...

Quote:
For the first time in a generation, Arlington National Cemetery has marked the burial of an unknown on its storied grounds. Only this time, 25 years since the last interment at the Tomb of the Unknowns, the identity of the body remains a mystery not because the ravages of war made identification impossible, but because in a bureaucratic error the cemetery lost the paperwork showing the identity of the remains.

Arlington recently installed a headstone marked "Unknown" above grave 449 in section 68 of the cemetery. "A grave marker has been placed at grave 449 in section 68 noting the remains as Unknown," Army spokesman Dave Foster confirmed to Salon in a statement.

This is the first time the cemetery has marked an unknown since 1984, when Arlington entombed the remains of a Vietnam veteran in the Tomb of the Unknowns in a ceremony rife with pomp and circumstance. Former President Reagan presided, posthumously awarding that service member the Medal of Honor. And that unknown soldier was supposed to be the last unknown interred in any U.S. military cemetery, given advances in DNA technology and a multimillion dollar effort to account for every soldier and identify all remains. A body that could not be identified was supposed to be a thing of the past.
Quote:
But Arlington's newest unknown, buried without special ceremony, is the exception to what was intended to be the rule. The cemetery buried someone in grave 449 -- likely relatively recently, since that section is an active part of the cemetery -- and then lost track of the paperwork showing the identity of the remains. In 2003, workers went to bury a newly deceased service member in that plot, only to find unmarked remains in the ground. Paper records had listed the plot as vacant.
Quote:
At first, Arlington denied any problem. Salon asked the cemetery last summer, "Has the cemetery ever dug a grave only to find there is already someone there, though the grave is unmarked?" Cemetery spokeswoman Kaitlin Horst responded, "We are not aware of any situation like that." Salon later produced internal paper records showing that the cemetery did not know the identity of the remains in grave 449.

That apparently caused Arlington to change its tune. "Arlington National Cemetery officials have known about this situation since 2003, when in the process of preparing for a burial, a casket was discovered in grave 449 in Section 68," Horst then admitted. "At that time, a review of records took place to locate the corresponding documents. The files could not be matched."

Horst insisted that this was the only mistake of its kind. "At this time," she said, "cemetery officials are not aware of any other instances."
I snipped quite a bit of this, the entire article can be read at this link:
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/20...gton_cemetery/




Quote:
On Jan. 28, 2008, the cemetery interred Grabe's cremated remains in the wrong plot, on top of the casket of another deceased service member. The Army then moved Grabe's remains without requesting permission from Nolte, her next of kin -- despite cemetery regulations urging efforts to obtain permission from family -- but later claimed to Salon that it had notified the next of kin. The official who moved Grabe without family approval is the same official who may bear primary responsibility for the poor record keeping at the cemetery, which has already resulted in at least one "unknown" grave, as previously documented by Salon, in a cemetery that is supposed to have no new "unknowns." And the mistake is part of a pattern of errors at the cemetery, where several current and former cemetery employees tell Salon there may be a large number of similarly misplaced remains.
Quote:
Arlington has more than 300,000 graves. Some cemeteries of similar size began tracking grave locations and burials years ago via electronic records and satellites. Despite paying nearly $6 million over the past decade to a clutch of contractors with ties to cemetery managers to create a similar system, Arlington has almost nothing to show for the money. As a result, the cemetery still tries to track around 30 burials a day with paper records and more than 100 paper maps. Preventable mistakes occur, current and former cemetery staff say.
Quote:
In a paperwork foul-up, however, cemetery officials forgot that a staff sergeant named Doe had previously been buried in Grave 2133 of Section 67. (Doe is a pseudonym; Salon knows the individual's name but is choosing not to use it.) His casket was 7 feet down, and engineers did not even see it when Grabe's urn went in the same spot, buried under 3 feet of earth. The cemetery buried Grabe directly on top of the unrelated staff sergeant.
Quote:
In Grabe's case, however, it was the relative of someone buried at Arlington who noticed a problem. On May 15, 2008, Staff Sgt. Doe's widow visited her husband's grave, 2133 in Section 67, but found Grabe's headstone there. In a panic, she visited the Arlington visitor center, where workers could not explain the situation. By the time she reached the cemetery's nearby administrative offices, the widow was in "full boil," according to one official familiar with the events of that day.
This is also very snipped and the full article may be read here:
http://www.salon.com/news/arlington_...ional_cemetery

Quote:
According to a cemetery source with intimate knowledge of Arlington's record-keeping problems, the mess is bigger than one misplaced master sergeant. " I hope you understand that the [Grabe] story," said the source, "while real, indicates that there may be thousands of these problems that they don't know about."
Here is another link that discusses the money spent computerizing these records :
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/20...ton_contracts/


I had to see what you all thought of this. It blows my mind. ]]> Three Things skeptik http://www.dreamindemon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27534 God gets Trevor Keezer fired http://www.dreamindemon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27359&goto=newpost Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:44:20 GMT
Quote:
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - A former cashier for The Home Depot who has been wearing a "One nation under God" button on his work apron for more than a year has been fired, he says because of the religious reference. The company claims that expressing such personal beliefs is simply not allowed.

"I've worn it for well over a year and I support my country and God," Trevor Keezer said Tuesday. "I was just doing what I think every American should do, just love my country."

The American flag button Keezer wore in the Florida store since March 2008 says "One nation under God, indivisible."

Earlier this month, he began bringing a Bible to read during his lunch break at the store in the rural town of Okeechobee, about 140 miles north of Miami. That's when he says The Home Depot management told him he would have to remove the button.

Keezer refused, and he was fired on Oct. 23, he said.

"It feels kind of like a punishment, like I was punished for just loving my country," Keezer said.

A Home Depot spokesman said Keezer was fired because he violated the company's dress code.

"This associate chose to wear a button that expressed his religious beliefs. The issue is not whether or not we agree with the message on the button," Craig Fishel said. "That's not our place to say, which is exactly why we have a blanket policy, which is long-standing and well-communicated to our associates, that only company-provided pins and badges can be worn on our aprons."

Fishel said Keezer was offered a company-approved pin that said, "United We Stand," but he declined.

Keezer's lawyer, Kara Skorupa, said she planned to sue the Atlanta-based company.

"There are federal and state laws that protect against religious discrimination," Skorupa said. "It's not like he was out in the aisles preaching to people."

Keezer said he was working at the store to earn money for college, and wore the button to support his country and his 27-year-old brother, who is in the National Guard and is set to report in December for a second tour of duty in Iraq.

Skorupa noted the slogan on Keezer's pin is straight from the Pledge of Allegiance.

"These mottos and sayings that involve God, that's part of our country and historical fabric," Skorupa said. "In God we trust is on our money."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33505354

I would bet he wouldn't have been fired if his pin said "I love money". ]]> Three Things backlash http://www.dreamindemon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27359 <![CDATA[Should "Fatism" be considered hate-speech?]]> http://www.dreamindemon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27236&goto=newpost Fri, 23 Oct 2009 16:32:47 GMT It's already banned in workplaces and housing throughout San Francisco. Now, Londoners (figures) are considering passing legislation that would classify slurs against fatties as criminalized hate-speech. Hell, I'd probably fined for the "fatties" in that sentence right there.

I'm sympathetic. I've struggled with weight issues for most of my life. Well, I wouldn't say "struggled", really. I'm either runnin' around and I'm skinny, or I'm loungin' and I'm fat. I haven't really cared either way. But I digress. I understand what it's like to be that guy who has to run 5k a day to maintain a reasonable weight, to gain 10 pounds just by thinking about french fries, to watch your 105lb friend eat an entire gallon of ice cream with no consequence and think, "Fuck, life's not fair."

I also know what it's like to be insulted for weight. Several years ago when I was in one of my "loungin'" phases, I was hanging out on the porch of my apartment with my little sister when some young east African men came by to patronize the drug dealer who lived upstairs. It wasn't long before one of them started kickin' some game. I repeatedly turned down his advances, citing the boyfriend who was "inside" (he was out with friends, but I wasn't about to tell this guy that). He was persistent, but when he finally realized he wasn't getting anywhere, that fucker called me "Jenny Craig"... to which I quickly replied, "Well, looks like you just got turned down by Jenny Craig. New low?" His boys ERUPTED in laughter, dragging him off so they could continue making fun of him elsewhere.

That's right, bitch - the fat girl will have the last laugh.

All of that considered, I just don't see how criminalizing fat comments will benefit society. Obesity is skyrocketing and is having some detrimental effects on society, especially the health care costs we're so worried about. But even beyond that, where are we crossing the line? We keep adding things to the no-no list, and eventually, insults will be criminalized entirely. Should peoples' feelings really trump free speech?

I don't like the idea of insulting someone over something they can't control (race, sexual orientation, etc.) any more than the next guy. But does weight really qualify?

Source ]]> Three Things Athena http://www.dreamindemon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27236