Fear and dismay is tonight gripping North Devon’s famous ‘Little White Town’ as news arrives from London that the Satanic Forces of Atheism and Modernism are truly on the march across the Nation.
Any of the Godless who, by some freak, manage to insinuate themselves onto the Town Council will henceforth no longer have to bow the head to religious observance at Council meetings, but will be allowed to continue wallowing in the Slough of Ignorance, untouched by The Word of The Lord. So now, rather than being made to know their lowly status, Unbelievers will thus be given free rein to arrogantly display their pride, like the Heathen of Old.
Shame! Shame! Shame!
The hideous cackling of Lucifer’s minions must be reverberating throughout Devon and the whole of Great Britain on this Evil Day.
Showing posts with label politics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label politics. Show all posts
Friday, 10 February 2012
Sunday, 2 October 2011
Post Dialectic
There is a theory that the rise in extremist religiosity and fundamentalism is actually a form of fearful defensive reaction to the secular decline in the credibility of religious ideologies and belief systems.
At a time when the Saudi monarch is coming under carefully enunciated backlash for attempting even a slight loosening of restrictions against women there, religious fundamentalists in the US are regularly snatching headlines, and some police seem to be feeling that they have a kind of license to go around laying down dress codes for American women, not unlike the religious policemen of the Middle East.
But there is cause for optimism that, in the longer run, sanity will win out and the Taliban, Dominionists and neoCons alike are just the last desperate gasp of fanatics, and that the days of enforced institutional religious enthusiasm could indeed be numbered.
“The US is increasingly portrayed as a hotbed of religious fervour. Yet in the homeland of ostentatiously religious politicians such as Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry, agnostics and atheists are actually part of one of the fastest-growing demographics in the US: the godless. Far from being in thrall to its religious leaders, the US is in fact becoming a more secular country, some experts say. "It has never been better to be a free-thinker or an agnostic in America," says Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) …” Read more.
At a time when the Saudi monarch is coming under carefully enunciated backlash for attempting even a slight loosening of restrictions against women there, religious fundamentalists in the US are regularly snatching headlines, and some police seem to be feeling that they have a kind of license to go around laying down dress codes for American women, not unlike the religious policemen of the Middle East.
But there is cause for optimism that, in the longer run, sanity will win out and the Taliban, Dominionists and neoCons alike are just the last desperate gasp of fanatics, and that the days of enforced institutional religious enthusiasm could indeed be numbered.
“The US is increasingly portrayed as a hotbed of religious fervour. Yet in the homeland of ostentatiously religious politicians such as Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry, agnostics and atheists are actually part of one of the fastest-growing demographics in the US: the godless. Far from being in thrall to its religious leaders, the US is in fact becoming a more secular country, some experts say. "It has never been better to be a free-thinker or an agnostic in America," says Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) …” Read more.
Monday, 12 September 2011
Just Say Bollox
Abstinence Costs Lives and Money.
“The addiction treatment industry in America is expected to have revenues of $34 billion by 2014, an increase of 55% from 2005. The vast majority of that spending -- nearly 80% -- is underwritten by public funding, and the remaining portion paid for by insurance or private fees. There are are more 11,000 addiction-treatment centers in the United States, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.” DailyFinance.
Yet, “the typical detox/rehab system … has a success rate of less than 15% ... the response to failure is to put people through the same process again and again.”
How many more people have to die like Amy Winehouse before reality is faced up to?
Just like the “War on Drugs” and the ludicrous ideology-driven "just say no" abstinence campaigns that cost millions in taxpayer funds every year, it is the detox / rehab industry that is mad, bad, dangerous and completely counter-productive.
Stop it now!
“The addiction treatment industry in America is expected to have revenues of $34 billion by 2014, an increase of 55% from 2005. The vast majority of that spending -- nearly 80% -- is underwritten by public funding, and the remaining portion paid for by insurance or private fees. There are are more 11,000 addiction-treatment centers in the United States, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.” DailyFinance.
Yet, “the typical detox/rehab system … has a success rate of less than 15% ... the response to failure is to put people through the same process again and again.”
How many more people have to die like Amy Winehouse before reality is faced up to?
Just like the “War on Drugs” and the ludicrous ideology-driven "just say no" abstinence campaigns that cost millions in taxpayer funds every year, it is the detox / rehab industry that is mad, bad, dangerous and completely counter-productive.
Stop it now!
Tuesday, 7 June 2011
Graceful Illusion
A couple of very interesting reviews of Adam Curtis' latest offering, "All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace", one on The Politics of Well-Being and another over at Media Ecologies.
Sunday, 13 February 2011
Sunday, 2 January 2011
In Their Common Cause
Is corruption a “political right” ... wtf? says Kalsoom at Chup blog.
While over in Europe you might be forgiven for thinking that this guy had escaped from a Panto.
Oh no. He’s a Minister.
'Zero pointe' from Massimo for Minister La Russa then, while the hero of the performance, Luca Cafagna - when he can get a word in edgeways - puts his case, in devastating contrast with good-humoured dignity, while the Minister yells him down as "coward" :
“The event [December 14th] … was the 'expression of social rage of a generation that has always [been] kept out and that is not represented politically. We take to the streets to demand rights and the answer is always a turn away … there is a blockage at the institutional level, a separation between what happens in Parliament and what happens outside. … you can not talk about the reaction of a lunatic fringe, "The incidents that happened - he said - were, even by very young people who live this locked state.” Google translation.
And over the great divide, in Yankeeland here's senator Mike Pence proclaiming the Gospel that thesaintliest richest Americans must not, under any circumstances, relinquish the tiniest bit of their wealth to help poor Americans - we are all the same after all:
"The minimum that we have to do right now for Americans that are struggling in unemployment in this economy is make sure that no American sees a tax increase ..."
And to cap it off, before anybody thinks we're any better here, those clever MPs have discovered a new ploy:
“Some are earning thousands of pounds by letting out the second homes they bought with public funds, then moving into a rented third home nearby – and claiming Commons expenses on that instead.”
While over in Europe you might be forgiven for thinking that this guy had escaped from a Panto.
Oh no. He’s a Minister.
'Zero pointe' from Massimo for Minister La Russa then, while the hero of the performance, Luca Cafagna - when he can get a word in edgeways - puts his case, in devastating contrast with good-humoured dignity, while the Minister yells him down as "coward" :
“The event [December 14th] … was the 'expression of social rage of a generation that has always [been] kept out and that is not represented politically. We take to the streets to demand rights and the answer is always a turn away … there is a blockage at the institutional level, a separation between what happens in Parliament and what happens outside. … you can not talk about the reaction of a lunatic fringe, "The incidents that happened - he said - were, even by very young people who live this locked state.” Google translation.
And over the great divide, in Yankeeland here's senator Mike Pence proclaiming the Gospel that the
"The minimum that we have to do right now for Americans that are struggling in unemployment in this economy is make sure that no American sees a tax increase ..."
And to cap it off, before anybody thinks we're any better here, those clever MPs have discovered a new ploy:
“Some are earning thousands of pounds by letting out the second homes they bought with public funds, then moving into a rented third home nearby – and claiming Commons expenses on that instead.”
Monday, 18 October 2010
Best = Worst
“… [O]ne blogger decided to do a poll for the Top 100 Worst UK Political Blogs. I don’t know whether he actually published the results but a quick glance at the comments indicate that the worst blogs are the same ones as the best blogs. I would guess that this is because all the Dale faithfuls will vote for the opposition and vice versa. So it seems that traffic levels are not really that good an indicator of popularity. People may just be dropping by to see what garbage you are pouring out today and have a good laugh.” B21.
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