Is Russia preparing a gay holocaust?

Seriously, every time I read a story about gays in Russia lately, it seems more dire.

I mean, let's add it up. Russia established a law against "gay propaganda" that essentially means gays can't admit their existence. And now they're working on taking children away from gay families! Can you even imagine the level of animus that motivates such a move?

This reminds me of the situation in Germany just before the holocaust. When we hear that a huge majority of the Russian population agrees with the government's position, that's saying something important. The holocaust couldn't have happened without the permission of German citizens. There's wind in this sail.

Please read the linked article, which recounts an interview with a lesbian in Russia who actually had to sit down with her ll-year old biological daughter to explain that Putin might take her away from her family.

Plus, as you know if you've been following the horror in Russia, the government literally encourages the beating of gay men by doing nothing when gays are tricked, kidnapped, humiliated and beaten by Nazi thugs (who are all closet cases, I'm sure). Many of these attacks were recorded and displayed on social media -- yet no one arrests the perpetrators. And if they had been arrested, I've read they'd only get three months for doing such a thing.

This is, I insist, a prelude to a gay holocaust. What will Obama do when Russia crosses that red line? It will be interesting, to say the least.

The whole world must rise up and revile Russia publicly for its inhuman pillorying of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. That's the only way to stop what's coming next.

Sound advice

Ed Brayton today:

Foreign Policy magazine published a report that included declassified CIA documents that showed that our government had helped Saddam Hussein use chemical weapons against Iran in 1988 and had then launched a propaganda campaign to blame it on Iran (a mostly successful campaign, by the way). The Vietnam War was justified by LBJ by the Gulf of Tonkin incident, which was completely fabricated. So our government has a history of lying to justify going to war and a history of lying specifically about who is responsible for using chemical weapons. So even if it’s true that Assad used the chemical weapons, and even if the evidence actually did support that, we have absolutely no reason to believe them when they say they have that evidence. 

Our government cannot be trusted.

Good news!

A wonderful thing is about to happen:

Madame Tussauds says its Washington location will start displaying wax figures of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge later this month.

Hooray! Now we can get rid of the originals. I'm sure the wax figures will be sufficient for all royal duties. I wonder if they'll also display a figure of little Prince Nit. If they do, we can toss him, too.

Shall we accept the pope's invitation?

Apparently, Pope Francis was greatly affected by the use of chemical weapons in Syria. He is a world leader, though not the kind I usually respect. So it's good that he's calling for peace. He even invited us -- atheists -- to join him in a symbolic gesture at St. Peter's Square on Saturday.

VATICAN CITY -- Pope Francis on Sunday condemned the use of chemical weapons, but he called for a negotiated settlement of the civil war in Syria, and announced he would lead a worldwide day of fasting and prayer for peace there on Sept. 7.

I know. Fasting and prayer. What good does that do? On the other hand, he's going to assemble a huge crowd -- and we're specifically invited.

Francis invited Catholics, other Christians, those of other faiths and non-believers who are "men of good will" to join him that evening in St. Peter's Square to invoke the "gift" of peace for Syria, the rest of the Middle East and worldwide where there is conflict.

"The world needs to see gestures of peace and hear words of hope and of peace," Francis said.

He's right about that last bit. If I lived in Rome, I might toddle by and see if there's a large atheist contingent in the group. In that respect, it could be interesting. Plus, having invited atheists to join in, I wonder if he'll try to avoid the usual Christian prayers and perhaps speak in a secular way that can reach everyone.

Whatever. Prayer is useless, and fasting accomplishes nothing outside of a prison setting. But I do like the fact that this is the second time Francis included "non-believers" in an invitation. Between this and his "who am I to judge" remark about gays, I have to say this pope is a big improvement on the last one.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/09/01/3599857/pope-announces-day-of-fasting.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/09/01/3599857/pope-announces-day-of-fasting.html#storylink=cpy

The real story is hidden behind a curtain

Well before Assad's use of chemical weapons, the Obama administration was looking for a reason to attack Syria. I'm sure they viewed Assad's slow collapse with trepidation, fearing that his formidable weapons would fall into the hands of "radicals", who would use them to attack Israel. I'll bet many on Obama's team cheered when the chemical attacks were launched. They wanted a reason to strike, and now they think they've got it.

That's why the war-mongering arguments we hear from Kerry and Obama sound ridiculous. It's because they are ridiculous. But they can't admit they wanted to destroy Assad's military capability and weaponry all along.

The most transparent administration ever is hiding its real intentions and goals. If this attack occurs, it could easily escalate into World War III.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: let's give Utah to the Israelis. After all, no one's using it. Once the entire population of Israel moves to Provost, the mid-East will settle down nicely. And there are lots of large, silly cathedrals there that the Israelis can use for temples. It's a win-win thing.

If only

The International Monetary Fund approved a $6.7 billion loan for the United States Pakistan on Wednesday in an effort to help the strategic country stave off an education economic crisis.

Let's revise the drone program

Artichoke Annie has a post up about the immorality of killing with drones. I think drone-killing is utterly disgusting and I'm ashamed that the US does this. But it does -- every day. Just think of those brave men and women, pushing buttons to kill people they've never met. What heroes. Their mothers must be so proud.

Anyway, I left this comment on Annie's post:

The definition of evil is pushing a button to make a drone kill people. It is so far removed from the basics of war -- where you're fighting someone who can also kill you. Drone-killing would be more equitable if one in ten button-pushes resulted in the button-pusher's death. And you'd never know which push would kill you. With some skin in the game, perhaps we'd be less prone to, you know, MURDER people.

And then I thought a bit more about it. Let's add a finishing touch to the new drone system: Every 25 pushes of the "kill" button should be performed by a Senator, member of the House of Representatives, the president, vice-president or chief of staff. They should all have to rotate in, without exception. The responsibility for every 25th push of the button would fall to them -- and no one would know when a push would result in electrocuting the pusher. (A random number generator chooses when to electrocute, and it's primed to do so with approximately every tenth push. No human would know which push would kill.)

Let's see how war-happy our congress and the president are with such a system in place. Something tells me there would be a lot less killing.

If you're going to kill, you must have skin in the game. It's the only "moral" way to do it.

This should be interesting

Let's see. First Obama refuses to meet with Putin because Russia is harboring Edward Snowden. And now this:

MOSCOW — Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights activists said Tuesday they have been invited to meet with President Barack Obama on the sidelines of this week's Group of 20 summit in Russia. 

What will Putin do? It's all so junior high, so tit-for-tat, when you get right down to it. Will Putin view Obama's meeting with gay reps as "propaganda" and arrest him? That would be fun. On the other hand, will Putin punish the gay reps afterward? I wouldn't like to see that happen.

But seriously, the whole thing is like a cartoon. The Russian president with a fixation on personal manliness goes after the gays. And the American president who promised the most transparent administration in history goes after whistleblowers with demonic vengeance. (And after receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, tries to start World War III -- to prove his manliness.)

These are cartoon times, for sure.

Believers say the strangest things about (gasp) atheists

Tony gets it right.

I'm always amused when I see religious people parroting the line that atheists, because they don't believe in gods, have nothing to live for. That's just so funny.

These people should visit atheist blogs -- like FreeThoughtBlogs or even my own humble blog, and check out the happiness level. We're wildly happy. We love our lives. And by the way, we're the smart, funny ones -- as opposed to the humorless dolts who believe in gods. (And we get satire while it goes right over their heads. Just saying.)

Nothing to live for?! The universe is startlingly beautiful. And, without the help of gods, scientists have been learning more and more about how the universe works. The discoveries are endless and awe-inspiring. Reality is much more beautiful and complex than a silly religious story. God is a tiny idea, a paltry idea, when compared to the glory of reality. Religious people should drink some espresso and read a few science books. (Oh, I forgot, they can't. Reading anything other than the bible makes their heads hurt.)

Religion teaches people nothing about reality. It's just a scam, a dreary list of tiresome, meaningless legends. I guarantee you that if you study theology for the rest of your life, you will learn absolutely nothing.

Unhappy atheists? Anyone who says that is wearing blinders. Wake up! There are no gods. And life is great! (Hopefully you read that last line with the proper Tony-the-Tiger voice.)

It's hard not to like Francis

No, not the mule. The pope. He's going to "lead a worldwide day of fasting and prayer for peace [in Syria] on Sept. 7". I can't help but like his style (though of course, he stands for a false god and a religion that denigrates women and gays; one can never forget this).

"I forcefully condemn the use of chemical weapons," he said. "I tell you I have impressed in my mind and heart the images of what happened in the last days." 

Usually soft-spoken, Francis raised his voice as he declared, "War brings on war! Violence brings on violence." 

And once again, he takes care not to stomp on atheists:

Francis invited Catholics, other Christians, those of other faiths and non-believers who are "men of good will" to join him that evening in St. Peter's Square to invoke the "gift" of peace for Syria, the rest of the Middle East and worldwide where there is conflict. 

He's a big improvement over that Nazi guy he replaced. What was his name? Oh, right: the popeyguy. Good riddance to her him. I hope for more good stuff from Francis. Maybe in the end, he can make the Catholic hierarchy less hateful. We can hope, anyway.