Vampire Queen Rejects Christianity and Hangs on to Christ

MoonHowler

Anne Rice of sensual vampire fame has rejected Christianity. She is still committed to Christ but said she is fed up with his followers. Interesting concept. From USA Today:

Novelist Anne Rice says she’s quit being a Christian but she’s hanging on to Christ. She’s just fed up with his followers.

The author, whose vampire books (i.e. Interview with a Vampire) were huge sellers long before Twilight and whose return to her childhood Catholicism dominated her more recent works, posted a series of comments on Facebook (confirmed by her publisher as authentic, according to Associated Press).

For those who care, and I understand if you don’t: Today I quit being a Christian. I’m out. I remain committed to Christ as always but not to being “Christian” or to being part of Christianity. It’s simply impossible for me to “belong” to this quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious, and deservedly infamous group. For ten years, I’ve tried. I’ve failed. I’m an outsider. My conscience will allow nothing else.

The mother of novelist Christopher Rice, who is gay, goes on to say:

I refuse to be anti-gay. I refuse to be anti-feminist. I refuse to be anti-artificial birth control. I refuse to be anti-Democrat. I refuse to be anti-secular humanism. I refuse to be anti-science. I refuse to be anti-life. In the name of Christ, I quit Christianity and being Christian. Amen.

In a USA TODAY profile of Anne and Christopher, Rice talked about growing up Catholic, drifting away as a teen and marrying an atheist. After the death of a young daughter, she began writing her vampire books,

…about lost souls looking for answers, so in a sense I was always on this journey back. I do get people saying, “How can you be such a fool to believe in God?” I sense many are young Goth kids who feel abandoned. I just say, look, you’re looking for the same things that I was, transcendence and redemption. I found what my characters were looking for.

Even now, as she tosses off organized religion, Rice posts that she’s still

… an optimistic believer in a universe created and sustained by a loving God … Christ is infinitely more important than Christianity and always will be, no matter what Christianity is, has been, or might become

.

Perhaps people who continually try to drag religion into public policy helped nudge Ann Rice to this position.

A Historical Look at U.S. Debt

MoonHowler

Interesting way to look at the debt, especially since debt rose under Saint Ronnie and decline under Bad-boy Bill. It seems to me if we cut the war business, the debt might not be such an issue.

It is difficult to balance 2 wars and pull out of an almost depression. Too bad Obama is getting all the blame. People that are placing all the blame on him really aren’t intellectually honest with themselves or with others.

Unbridled Corey Stewart Hypocrisy

MoonHowler

Guest Post by Fed UP

It is time for someone else’s point of view to be heard.

Disclaimer: All guest posts are the opinion of the poster and do not necessarily represent the views of moonhowlings.net administration. M-H

I remember watching Martin Sheen in “Wall Street” shake his head saying, “If you live long enough, you’ll see everything” as his deluded son was helping criminal conman Gordon Gekko try to cheat employees of an airline into selling it to him, just to be liquidated, along with their jobs. The son thought he was doing the right thing only to find out later how badly Gekko had conned and lied to him.

Prince William County has its own Gordon Gekko in the form of Corey Stewart. Many people who are sincere about addressing the problem of illegal immigration are following this con man, but at some point the scales will fall off their eyes; hopefully not before he can do much more damage.

Stewart is attempting another of his scams now. With one hand he is professing to be the champion of the illegal immigration cause and with the other playing sleazy tricks to help his developer buddies rape and pillage Prince William County.

Stewart has put the Avendale development rezoning back on the County agenda for its meeting next Tuesday. This development would generate a massive influx of illegal aliens to work the project and exponentially increase the problems of residential overcrowding and other symptoms of illegal immigration his supporters passionately oppose.

The offer of some useless land to the Gainesville Grizzlies, a large local sports league, in exchange for their support of the Avendale rezoning by Stewart and his developer, attorney and lobbyist friends illustrates further a fundamental disregard of the ethical and moral standards that guide the behavior of most people.

The plan is to bus the Grizzlies to the meeting at the County center to argue for the football fields Stewart and the developers are promising them. Their role will be to serve as stage props in the theatrics Stewart and his developer allies are choreographing. The land promised for football fields will be very difficult to grade for sports use, and neither Stewart nor the developers have offered any funds to build or maintain the fields. A classic Gordon Gekko move.

Stewart professes to support the Arizona immigration bill but omits its key sections cracking down on illegal employment (which the judge did not strike down) that would give his Virginia Rule of Law Act some real teeth:

Section 7 of S.B. 1070
A.R.S. § 23-212: amending the crime of knowing employment of
unauthorized aliens

Section 8 of S.B. 1070
A.R.S. § 23-212.01: amending the crime of intentional employment of
unauthorized aliens

Section 9 of S.B. 1070
A.R.S. § 23-214: amending the requirements for checking employment eligibility

Of course, he won’t include these provisions because his paymasters in the development community and Chamber of Commerce would object.

This charlatan is exploiting children and families in his own community to serve the interests of his campaign contributors. He is using and lying to people who want progress dealing with the problems of illegal immigration. At some point, the scales will fall off of everyone’s eyes but will it be before Corey Stewart can further rape and pillage Prince William County, or even the Commonwealth of Virginia if his ambition to be elected Lt. Governor in 2013 is realized?

Come to the McCoart Building in Prince William County next Tuesday at 7:30 if you want to raise your voice against this fraud help stop Corey Stewart before he can go any farther!

                                -Fed Up

Overcrowded Morgues as Desert Deaths Soar

MoonHowler

New York Times:

The increase in deaths has happened despite many signs that the number of immigrants crossing the border illegally has dropped in recent years. The number of people caught trying to sneak across the frontier without a visa has fallen in each of the last five years and stands at about half of the record 616,000 arrested in 2000.

Not only has the economic downturn in the United States eliminated many of the jobs that used to lure immigrants, human rights groups say, but also the federal government has stepped up efforts to stop the underground railroad of migrants, building mammoth fences in several border towns and flooding the region with hundreds of new Border Patrol agents equipped with high-tech surveillance tools.

These tougher enforcement measures have pushed smugglers and illegal immigrants to take their chances on isolated trails through the deserts and mountains of southern Arizona, where they must sometimes walk for three or four days before reaching a road.

“As we gain more control, the smugglers are taking people out to even more remote areas,” said Omar Candelaria, the special operations supervisor for the Border Patrol’s Tucson Sector. “They have further to walk and they are less prepared for the journey, and they don’t make it.”

Many different factors contribute to this increase in deaths.  A soaring heat wave is believed to be a main contributor to the morgue in Pima County, near Tucson, simply running out of room. Two weeks ago, the medical examiner had to bring in a refrigerated truck because there was simply no more room.   Many of the remains will go unidentified. 

Read More

The Wannabe Delegate

MoonHowler

 Corey Stewart is still hasn’t learned he isn’t a delegate to the General Assembly nor is he a state senator.  Perhaps he is going to run for either Senator Colgan’s seat or Del. Miller’s seat so he can introduce  his immigration reform.

The News & Messenger:

On Thursday, Stewart plans to announce multiple pieces of legislation for the General Assembly to con-sider, one of which is based on legislation passed recently in Oklahoma.

The first item would require all law enforcement officers in the state to check immigration status upon lawful detention if there is reasonable suspicion that the person detained is an illegal immigrant.

The second piece would be similar to legislation currently passed in Oklahoma that taxes international money transfers. The fee, which went into effect last July, is $5 on money transmissions up to $500, plus 1 percent of the amount in excess of $500. Consumers who file state tax returns can get a refund of the fees.

Businesses that fail to remit the fees to the Oklahoma Tax Commission face possible suspension of their licenses.

Stewart said this would adversely affect illegal immigrants who don’t have Social Security numbers and do not pay state taxes.

“A normal guy who pays state taxes, you are going to get money your money back,” Stewart said.

Read More

Who the Hell has ever heard of The Tides Foundation anyway?

MoonHowler

From Huffingtonpost.com:

On his Monday radio show, Glenn Beck highlighted claims that before he started targeting a little-known, left-leaning organization called the Tides Foundation on his Fox News TV show, “nobody knew” what the non-profit was.

Indeed, for more than a year Beck has been portraying the progressive organization as a central player in a larger, nefarious cabal of Marxist/socialist/Nazi Obama-loving outlets determined to destroy democracy in America. Beck has routinely smeared the low-profile entity for being staffed by “thugs” and “bullies” and involved in “the nasty of the nastiest,” like indoctrinating schoolchildren and creating a “mass organization to seize power.”

As Media Matters reported, the conspiratorial host had mentioned (read: attacked) the little-known progressive organization nearly 30 times on his Fox program alone since it premiered in 2009, including several mentions in the last month. (Beck’s the only TV talker who regularly references the foundation, according to our Nexis searches.)

So yes, Beck has done all he can to scare the hell out of people about the Tides Foundation and “turn the light of day” onto an organization that actually facilitates non-profit giving.

And guess what? Everybody in America would have found out about the Tides Foundation last week if Byron Williams had had his way. He’s the right-wing, government-hating, gun-toting nut who strapped on his body armor, stocked a pickup truck with guns and ammo, and set off up the California coast to San Francisco in order to start killing employees at the previously obscure Tides Foundation in hopes of sparking a political revolution.

Read More

Judge Grants Injunction Blocking Parts of AZ Law

MoonHowler

Getting the facts now…..Judge blocks police from determining immigration status.

Stay tuned. This post will be updated.

Key Portions Blocked:

*Officers to to check immigraton status
*Immigrants to carry legal papers at all times
*Undocumented worders not allowed to seek and perform work

Copy of Judge Bolton’s Ruling

From MSNBC:

PHOENIX — A federal judge on Wednesday blocked the most controversial parts of Arizona’s immigration law from taking effect, delivering a last-minute victory to opponents of the crackdown.

The overall law will still take effect Thursday, but without the provisions that angered opponents — including sections that required officers to check a person’s immigration status while enforcing other laws.

The judge also put on hold parts of the law that required immigrants to carry their papers at all times, and made it illegal for undocumented workers to solicit employment in public places. In addition, the judge blocked officers from making warrantless arrests of suspected illegal immigrants.

“Requiring Arizona law enforcement officials and agencies to determine the immigration status of every person who is arrested burdens lawfully-present aliens because their liberty will be restricted while their status is checked,” U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton ruled.

She ruled that the controversial sections should be put on hold until the courts resolve the issues. Other provisions of the law, many of them procedural and slight revisions to existing Arizona immigration statute, will go into effect at 12:01 a.m.

Reminder: This is a temporary injunction.

McDonnell Continues to Push for Sale of ABC Stores

MoonHowler

 

From the Richmond Times Dispatch:

 

Richmond, Va. —

Gov. Bob McDonnell indicated today that he will try to sell ABC privatization to the General Assembly as “a windfall for transportation.”

The proceeds from the auction sale of ABC licenses — the state expects to realize $300 million to $500 million — will go entirely for road maintenance, McDonnell said.

He appeared on Washington radio station WTOP’s “Ask the Governor” program.

Asked about a recent VCU poll which showed him with a 48 percent approval rating — low by gubernatorial standards — McDonnell said it reflects the people’s concern about jobs and the economy.

He also said there are no plans to proceed with phasing out the personal property tax on cars and trucks because of the state’s current fiscal situation. The 2002 General Assembly froze the phase out was frozen at about 65 percent of the assessed value of vehicles.

— Tyler Whitley

Apparently McDonnell believes in flash in the pan money.  What will he do to make up all the money that the sale of liquor brings in to the state annually?  This seems like a George Bush live for today, hell with tomorrow kind of scheme to me, rather than carefully planning out a course of action to guarantee certain finances we can count on. 

Some of us don’t want to look like Maryland or DC with a liquor store on every corner.  I sure hope a certain someone cornered the governor last night and gave him a piece of her mind about Virginia tradition.

Special Use Permits Take on Essence of Rat

MoonHowler

Sniff sniff sniff.  I smell a rat.  Last night the BOCS voted unanimously to deny Eric Finley a Special use Permit to build an asphalt plant in Bristow, VA, near the Victory Lakes, Sheffield Manor, and Saybrooke subdivisions.

At last, the asphalt plant question has been settled.  No asphalt plant for Mr. Finley, even though he was advised to purchase land in that area that had been  zoned as heavy industrial.  That zoning has been in effect for about 30 some years.   Last spring, all but one member of the planning council had voted to approve Mr. Finley’s request. 

The fly in the proverbial ointment seemed to be that the residents of Victory Lakes Community objected to having an asphalt plant so close to their homes.  That makes sense too.  NIMBY is a pretty common feeling, especially when one thinks about the possibility of being downwind from an asphalt plant.  It beats a pig farm but not by much. 

 In addition to smelling a rat, I also  see both sides.  Mr. Finley’s land was zoned for heavy industrial use.  Residents of Victory Lakes don’t want to live near an asphalt plant.  Let’s take this issue back a few approvals.  Why on earth would anyone build high density, expensive housing on a tract of land which butted up next to land zoned for heavy industry?  Where was the buffer zone?   Did the BOCS who approved the land for future homes in Victory Lakes have a clue that this might just become a problem? 

The one caveat in the whole deal and the one caveat that bit Mr. Finley in his hindquarters was that the aspahlt plant required a Special Use Permit on top of the correct zoning.  Apparently a Special Use Permit (SUP) is needed for all sorts of things like day care, large box buildings like a Lowes, churches, etc.  It’s the county’s way of maintaining a little control over what goes in where. 

I am not sure why the supervisors unanimously voted no.  One has to ask why they have a planning commission.  The planning commission voted to approve Mr. Finley’s request last spring.  I assume that panning commission, an appointed group, had checked things out pretty thoroughly. 

One has to ask why there is no buffer zoning between Victory Lakes and heavy industry zoning.  One also has to ask who advised Mr. Finley to buy that land.   Did he talk with anyone from the country, either elected, appointed or employeed? 

The schools also need to get into the act.  Are they not at all concerned about what is being built around them?  Were any school board members there at that meeting last night?  Victory Lakes Elementary is supposedly only a half mile from the former proposed alphalt plant site.  ?   Cheapest land isn’t necessarily the best land.   How about a peep or two from them.  Perhaps I missed it.  George Mason Univerisity weighed in, advising not to approve the SUP.  They cited traffic impact on  attracting high tech business as a major reason. 

Meanwhile, it was hard for me to take a side.  Mr. Finley appeared to be willing to do whatever was required of him by the county to keep the environmental impact at a minimum.  Why did he choose to buy land in that exact location?  Did he check out what hoops he might have to jump through before being allowed to build his plant? 

I can also see residential concerns.  Additionally there is the concern about 1 asphalt plant and then wondering what comes next.   An asphalt plant in close proximity can impact quality of life in ways seen (like huge trucks running you off the road) and unseen (environmental hazards, carcinogens, etc).   What kinds of checks and balances exist to hold any company to doing what is says it will do environmentally? 

Start asking the right questions and just watch the rats start to scurry.

Preliminary Story in News & Messenger

Vice Mayor of Phoenix Tells a Different Story

MoonHowler

Michael Nowakowski, vice mayor of Phoenix, paints a different picture of what is going on in Arizona. He also feels that sb 1070 is being used to parlay people’s fears into an election win for the current governor. He speaks of the crime rate being down in his state. He believes people being scared off and he is tired of the governor telling the nation that people are being beheaded in Arizona all as a political ploy.

Maybe the vice mayor isn’t running for re-election this cycle?   A ruling is expected today or tomorrow ruling whether the injunction to halt 1070  going in to effect is granted.

He’s Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack

MoonHowler

Thank goodness, Jon Stewart is back from vacation. I was afraid he had quit. Elena and I have been discussing how he was going to cover Shirley Sherrod without being outdated by a week. He managed and shed light on a topic I thought had been discussed to death.

He declared Breitbart the most honest player in the whole mess. He has Breitbart on video saying he wanted to be the one to take down the institutional left. (whatever that is)

Lost in Race

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c
Lost in Race
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

Open Thread Tues. July 27

MoonHowler

Much is happening in the world that I just don’t have the understand to discuss.  Let’s go with an open thread so the contributors will have a place to discuss all the wiki-leaks and Scotland-gate, Afghanistan, Senator Webb’s backlash.  That way we can keep the other threads on topic.  Here is the spot for the free for all.

CNN Spotlights PWC, sans Corey Stewart

MoonHowler

Finally, another look at PWC, three years later, without editorializing by Corey Stewart. Hear an immigrant, Latino businessman Carlos Castro, and Chief Deane three years after the Immigration Resolution was first introduced.

While this video shows the Prince William County story from a perspective that doesn’t involve Corey Stewart making a name for himself, we still aren’t seeing the whole story.

What is still missing from the discussion is that the initial Immigration Resolution is NOT in affect and it is NOT the same as sb 1070. Until this fact is brought out, the conversation really goes no where and the story is only half told.