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Journal (The Ember Update)

Friday, November 15

Patriotic?

The USA Patriot Act does a marvelous job of destroying our Bill of Rights.

For example:

The new law, known as the USA Patriot Act, reaches into every space that Americans once imagined was private. For instance, police can now obtain court orders to conduct so called "sneak and peak" searches of homes and offices. This allows them to break in, examine and remove or alter items without immediately, if ever, presenting owners with a warrant detailing what they were entitled to do and where.

This seismic shift in the government's power of search and seizure also extends to the examination of records. Authorities can browse medical, financial, educational or even library records without showing evidence of a crime. The law overrides existing state and federal privacy laws if the FBI claims that the information is connected to an intelligence investigation.

Wunnerful. (More elsewhere.)

Thursday, November 14

A nice extended weekend

I just returned from six days away. First I attended a conference in Anaheim for work, and then joined the Looney clan for a family reunion. I had a great time at both.

The latter event happened at Skyland Lodge along Skyline Drive in Virginia. Since I've been gone and have a lot of catching up to do, I'll just share these photos with you (click to enlarge):

A - 77k	B - 35k	C - 28k	D - 70k

E - 66k	F - 36k	G - 44k

A. Sharon & James at Big Meadow
B. Alison describes the lifecycle of fern to Kristin
C. Skyland sunset
D. Jeff, James and Sharon
E. The Looney Clan (and me)
F. A caterpillar Rash discovered
G. James plays with Icehouse pieces

You can read more at Andy's description of the event.

Wednesday, November 6

Results

So lets see, Republicans gained Senate control and kept the House (which means a high chance of the continuation of our conservative Supreme Court for the next 20 years); Jeb Bush beat Bill McBride in Florida; in Maryland there's a Republican governor for the first time since 1966 (last time it was Spiro Agnew, who became Nixon's VP, and who—due to scandal—had to resign before Nixon); Mondale lost his bid for Wellstone's seat in Minnesota; and the marijuana ballot initiatives in Ohio, Nevada, Arizona and South Dakota failed (but passed in DC).

The Republicans certainly got out the vote, with Bush asking his supporters to encourage their conservative fellows (and "open minded Democrats") at church and at work to vote. Not to mention that the Republicans raised twice as much money as the Democrats.

Despite all that I woke up in a good mood this morning. I think I'll listen to a little John Denver and think about a better way to make a difference in this sad old world of ours.

Peace vs. the Religious Right

The other day I heard an interesting sequence of interviews on Fresh Air. Terry Gross talked with Christian novelist Tim LaHaye and Jewish journalist Gershom Gorenberg.

Tim LaHaye "is the co-author of the popular Left Behind series. The books are apocalyptic Christian thrillers. The tenth and latest book is The Remnant, which debuted at the top of the New York Times bestseller list. LaHaye is also the former co-chairman of Jack Kemp's presidential campaign, was on the original board of directors of the Moral Majority and was an organizer of the Council for National Policy which has been called 'the most powerful conservative organization in America you've never heard of.'"

Gershom Gorenberg "is an associate editor and columnist for The Jerusalem Report and a regular contributor to The New Republic. He's the author of The End of Days: Fundamentalism and the Struggle for the Temple Mount."

If you have a Christian background you're probably aware of this, but LaHaye described how the Apocalypse would arrive, how born again Christians would immediately ascend to Heaven, and how Christ would battle the anti-Christ for the remaining souls. Yeah, whatever.

But wait, this isn't just something one can discard as a myth or the hopes of the faithful! It's a very powerful belief, which has direct effect on our policies towards Israel. In one example, LaHaye and his powerful, secretive conservative group encourage Christian churches and other supporters to find ways—mainly through donations—to help Israel achieve the rebuilding of the Temple Mount. Now I don't have an opinion on the Temple per se, but rebuilding it would satisfy one of the requirements for the Apocalypse to happen. With the Apocalypse, the Jews will either have to become born-again Christians or be killed. How's that for being supportive?!

Not only that, but LaHaye described how the anti-Christ will have the guise of someone who is fighting to lead the world to peaceful co-existence, while in supposed actuality s/he will be trying to win souls for the devil. So this peace-promoting leader is the person Christ will be fighting.

Geez, with a theory of the future like that, espoused by the organization which controls the Hard Right, how can peaceful non-believers win? It's a very powerful spin the Religious Right can play: that people working for world peace are helping the anti-Christ.

Gorenberg provided a bit of a counter-balance to LaHayes' claims, but only in exposing some of the danger of the extreme Religious Right attitude, the theories the 10 top-selling books promote, and the long reach of the Council for National Policy.

LaHaye said he wouldn't be surprised if the anti-Christ isn't already among us. Amazing. Well, it certainly isn't warmongering George W, whose father has been a guest speaker for the Council for National Policy.

If you've read this far, you might be interested in listening to the interviews. Also, the Institute for First Amendment Studies is trying to make information available about the Council for National Policy, which in most cases won't even reveal who its members are. In fact, there are several organizations, including religious ones, who post warnings about this group.

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