BEIJING (AP) - The flagship newspaper of China’s ruling Communist Party called Saturday for efforts to “resolutely crush” anti-government demonstrations by Tibetans, while Beijing urged people to turn in those on a “Most Wanted” list of 21 protesters.

As Chinese troops smothered Tibetan-heavy areas to avert additional unrest, U.S. presidential hopeful John McCain, a Republican, and House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, joined a growing international chorus of criticism against the crackdown.

The protests, which started in Lhasa on the March 10 anniversary of a failed uprising against Chinese rule, turned violent four days later and touched off demonstrations among Tibetans in three other provinces.

The movement has become the largest challenge to China’s control of Tibet since the 1959 uprising. It also has threatened Beijing’s attempts to project an image of unity and prosperity ahead of the Aug. 8-24 Olympics.

Full Story Here:
Chinese Media: ‘Crush’ Tibet Protests

China is once again showing the world how they deal with those that refuse to walk in lockstep with their communist regime, run over them with tanks, shoot them, whatever it takes, communism must rule…

And as much as the world tries to encourage the Chinese government to act otherwise, the Chinese refuse, and will continue to refuse until such time as they are forced to do otherwise, much like radical Islam…

And we support China, all of us, you, me, every American, we buy their tainted products, we buy anything they make and are willing to ship to our markets, and we do it because they, the Chinese, make massive amounts of whatever they make and they do it cheaply, forced labor works like that, and the Chinese government gets richer every day, not the Chinese people, the Chinese government, and by giving them the money to build a massive Olympics facility and stage the games, perhaps that facility, and the coming Olympics can be used as a weapon against the Chinese government itself…

Also in todays news, China may ban live Olympics broadcasts, so, why don’t we, the USA, completely boycott the Chinese Olympic games?? Our president is so concerned with freedom and political correctness, wouldn’t that be a way to lodge a strong protest, with some serious teeth in it, and give the Chinese government a reason to rethink their moods and attitudes??

And if The Bush were to encourage ALL free nations to do likewise, well, the possibilities are endless when you think of what a boycott like that could bring about, and if we, the American people, refused to buy the cheap and plentiful, albeit poisonous products of a nation that murders anyone that has the gall to stand against it, wouldn’t that be a real stand against human oppression and a blow FOR human rights on our part??

China is in morbid fear that the world will see them for what they really are, and it’s happening as we speak, but they can, and most likely will ban anything LIVE from leaving China as the killings in Tibet and any other place of protest continue…

All we have to do now is get the world, but most particularly the USA, over it’s apathy and break our Made in China addiction as we send a powerful message to the Chinese, if you cut off the money the Chinese receive from the citizens of the USA, their political and military economy falls into serious jeopardy…

As my good friend Bloviating Zeppelin says about the politics of the Republican party, “Hit em where it hurts, hit em in the wallet and get their attention, send money to ‘good’ causes, charities and so forth…”, the same applies to the Chinese government, take the money away and the power wanes, once that happens, if the Chinese people don’t have the will and/or desire to throw off the bonds of their oppressors, screw em, they aren’t worth saving anyway…

Trackback URL:
http://texasfred.net/archives/1030/trackback/

KABUL, Afghanistan — Gul Hussein was standing under a pale street lamp in a poor section of east Kabul when the entire neighborhood suddenly went black.

“As you can see, it is dark everywhere,” the 62-year-old man said, adding that his family would light a costly kerosene lamp for dinner that evening. “Some of our neighbors are using candles, but candles are expensive, too.”

More than five years after the fall of the Taliban — and despite hundreds of millions of dollars in international aid — dinner by candlelight remains common in the Afghan capital of Kabul. Nationwide, only 6% of Afghans have electricity, the Asian Development Bank says.

The electricity shortage underscores the slow progress in rebuilding the war-torn country. It also feeds other problems. Old factories sit idle, and new ones are not built. Produce withers without refrigeration. Dark, cold homes foster resentment against the government.

In Kabul, power dwindles after the region’s hydroelectric dams dry up by midsummer. This past fall, residents averaged only three hours of municipal electricity a day, typically from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., according to USAID, the American government aid agency. Some neighborhoods didn’t get any.

Full Story Here:
Power eludes Kabul despite global aid

Let me ask this, simply out of curiosity and a desire to hear the opinions of the readers, what do YOU think has happened to those hundreds of millions of dollars in international aid?? Most of which came from the pockets of U.S. taxpayers??

I have my own ideas, I am pretty sure it was nearly ALL stolen, that’s the Muslim, Arab whatever way of life and doing business, steal all you can before they notice and then try to throw up a half-assed effort to appease the money givers in hopes that they will continue to give…

Any ideas from you folks?? Comments are open, lets see what the readers think…

Trackback URL:
http://texasfred.net/archives/932/trackback/

NEW YORK (AP) - The Archdiocese of New York is handing out coloring and comic books that warn children about sex predators, the first such effort by a Roman Catholic diocese in the United States.

In the coloring book, a perky guardian angel tells children not to keep secrets from their parents, not to meet anyone from an Internet chat room and to allow only “certain people” like a doctor or parent to see “where your bathing suit would be.”

In a comic book version for children over 10, a teenager turns to St. Michael the Archangel for strength to report that two schoolmates are being sexually abused.

Joseph Zwilling, a spokesman for the archdiocese, said the have been distributed to about 300 schools and 400 religious education programs to use as a resource. They are also free online.

“It’s to help young people to know situations they should not get into,” he said. “How to be safe - but to try to do it in an age-appropriate and sensitive way.”

Full Story Here:
Catholic Comic Books Warn Kids of Abuse

On general principles I really like this idea, kids need to know about predators, perverts and pedophiles, ignoring them won’t make them go away and parents that won’t talk to their kids about perverts, predators and pedophiles aren’t helping the problem either, so, all in all I think this is a good thing, except for one small detail…

I am probably going to piss off a few Catholics with my commentary but that’s the way life goes…

It’s a damned shame that the Church feels obligated to do this because there are so many perverts, predators and pedophiles in the ministry of the Catholic Church itself, they do need to help in this educational process, but they need to make sure that they’re not a part OF the problem…

I have a very special place in my heart that’s filled with rage and hatred for ANY Priest or Nun, or ANY religious leader that would use their position of trust to lure a child into their perverted sickness, and I am still angry at the Church itself for not doing more to remove these perverts, predators and pedophiles from the ranks of the Church hierarchy as well…

And I am not venting rage in an effort to denigrate anyone that IS Catholic, I was raised in the Church and a few close friends already know this so, here it is for everyone to see, when I was 17 I had a pervert Priest try and make a pass at me, I was shocked, I was angered, I felt totally betrayed, but most of all I was consumed by rage, simply because I knew what he was trying to do was wrong, and I punched him, a roundhouse right that put an immediate end to his desires…

I was threatened with excommunication, I was threatened with arrest for hitting the SOB, I was ostracized by the local Catholic Church and I walked away, all because I was never the kind to slink away and not stand up for myself, so I decided that if the Catholic Church didn’t want me as a member, and if they wouldn’t believe me in my accusation that this Priest was a pervert, well, I didn’t need them either, and remember, this was in 1970 and no one believed that there were Priests that were perverts, except for those of us that had been their victims or attempted victims…

I was one of the lucky ones, it didn’t happen to me until I was old enough and big enough to stop it from happening, but there are many kids out there that aren’t that old or that big to stand up to some pervert and they MUST be educated about the dangers they face from perverts, predators and pedophiles, no matter if it’s the perv in the park or the Priest in the parsonage, a pervert is a pervert and ALL of them are sick and worthless individuals…

Now maybe some will understand why I am a supporter of Sues Warriors For Innocence and why I started Vigilante Justice, both sites are dedicated to finding, exposing, naming and warning responsible and decent people of the dangers these perverts, pedophiles and predators present to America and to our most valuable and precious resource, our children…

Trackback URL:
http://texasfred.net/archives/810/trackback/

BALTIMORE (AP) - Roman Catholic voters and lawmakers must heed church teaching on issues ranging from racism to abortion or risk their eternal salvation, U.S. bishops said Wednesday.

The bishops didn’t recommend specific policies or candidates in the 2008 election, and emphasized that “principled debate” is needed to decide what bests promotes the common good. But they warned Catholics that their votes for politicians and laws affect more than just civic life.

“Political choices faced by citizens have an impact on general peace and prosperity and also may affect the individual’s salvation,” the bishops said. “Similarly, the kinds of laws and policies supported by public officials affect their spiritual well-being.”

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops overwhelmingly adopted the statement, “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship,” as they ended the public session of their fall meeting.

Full Story Here:
Catholic Bishops Instruct Voters

Now the ultimate MEGA Church has been heard from, and we can hear the sound of ignorance as it echos all around the world, and once again we are reminded of WHY the founders of this great nation and the framers of our Constitution were wise in their belief that Church and State MUST be kept separate…

Catholics appear to be having their eternal salvation placed at risk, or at the least, called into question if they don’t heed the church and it’s teachings on issues ranging from racism to abortion, basic political issues, basic issues that a person should be able to resolve for himself??

The hypocrisy of that statement is beyond words, beyond any belief, almost inconceivable, don’t DO what I DO, do what I TELL you to do, free thinking will NOT be tolerated, and that IS the message being conveyed by the Catholic church…

This appears to me to be a dictatorial, one way edict that attempts to threaten the sacred and eternal salvation of Catholics thru political manipulation and what can only be looked at as simply strong-arm tactics, and if that isn’t the ultimate hypocrisy, I don’t know what is…

And before anyone goes off on me for being anti-Catholic, let me tell you this, my grandparents, on BOTH sides, were devout Catholics, my mother and father were BOTH Catholics, I was raised in the Catholic church until I was 17 years old, I attended church, and had served Mass as an altar boy until I had a son of a bitch pervert priest try to make a move on me, a move that was rewarded with him on the receiving end of a hard right hook, suffering a broken jaw and with me being threatened with excommunication and jail on battery charges as well as the condemnation of my parents because there was no way Father could have done such a thing…

By the time that incident had happened, I had already recognized the Catholic church for what it really was, this was just the final straw for me and I turned my back on them, their hypocrisy and their beliefs, I haven’t set foot in a Catholic church for 37 years except to attend the funerals of family members, and even then I refused to participate in their cultish acts of idolatry, I am anti-Catholic, the CHURCH itself, I make NO secret of that fact, and I don’t give a damn who knows it or who likes it, it’s called religious freedom, or, in my case, freedom FROM religion…

Any time I see something like this, the Catholic church trying to impose it’s will on their members by threatening them with excommunication, or, as in this case, their very salvation if they dare to not walk in lockstep with the church and it’s minions, I am even MORE relieved that I got away from them when I did…

Catholics make up one-quarter of the electorate nationwide, but do not vote as a bloc, and often do not follow the bishops’ political guidance.

And THAT is a good thing folks, very good, I don’t have a problem with the people that attend the Catholic Church, they have EVERY right to their beliefs and are entitled to their freedom to worship in ANY way they please, but when the princes of the Church issue such an incredibly ridiculous edict as this, I tend to go off, just a little…

The bishops urged Catholics to only use voter resources approved by the church.

And remember, ALWAYS let the Church do ALL of your thinking for you, one less thing to worry about, Forrest Gump would just LOVE that idea…

Trackback URL:
http://texasfred.net/archives/722/trackback/

(CBS/AP) Congress is looking into the collection boxes of some of the nation’s best-known televangelists.

Their tax-exempt ministries take in millions and now Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley, the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, is asking whether these churches really are non-profits.

Georgia megachurch pastor Creflo Dollar is one of the televangelists who was asked to provide financial information.

“We don’t have any problems complying to a valid request,” Dollar told CBS News’ The Early Show co-anchor Julie Chen.

But he questioned whether it was appropriate for the Senate Finance Committee “to become a tax examiner and to get involved in the information of private, nonprofit organizations when the IRS has already been assigned that responsibility.”

Asked about some specific assertions by Grassley, Dollar denied that two Rolls-Royces were purchased by the church for him and his wife.

“That’s not true. First of all, we don’t have two Rolls-Royces,” he said. “And secondly, the one Rolls-Royce that was purchased was purchased by the donors, or the members of the church, and it was a surprise to me. I had no idea they were doing it.”

Full Story Here:
Televangelist Defends Spending

Look, if the people that attend this guys church want to give their money to buy him and his wife a Rolls Royce, that’s their business, and I’m pretty sure it’s a nice ride, way the hell over rated in my opinion, but expensive, a show off, a lot like a trophy wife, that sort of thing…

Here’s something that I have to wonder about, wouldn’t a preacher be OK with living a normal, upper middle class lifestyle?? Wouldn’t that provide all the comforts needed?? Many of these mega-church guys are living an opulent lifestyle, one that could support MANY poor and underprivileged people, it seems to me that some folks, preachers included, are a lot more concerned with living a luxurious lifestyle in a palatial setting than they are with helping the less fortunate, and that’s good I guess, it’s their business and I am not trying to tell them how to live, IF they are rich themselves and paying for that lifestyle out of their own pockets from their own earnings, but I personally see it as pretentious to live that lifestyle as a preacher when the sole point of your ministry is to maintain that lifestyle for yourself…

I have nothing against anyone living a sumptuous lifestyle but when that person is a tax exempt organization, as these mega-churches are, well, it tends to throw up a few red flags for me, their leaders don’t have to live in abject poverty but living in the ostentatious style that many do just seems to project the wrong image in MY opinion…

They don’t have to live in poverty but don’t beg ME for money and then hang a new diamond necklace on your wife…

Trackback URL:
http://texasfred.net/archives/703/trackback/