tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66234322024-03-14T00:49:11.252-04:00The Nattering Nabob"Kick the darkness till it bleeds daylight." - Bruce CockburnIggyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08725276884099666317noreply@blogger.comBlogger4877125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6623432.post-15905853337559431242016-11-28T08:17:00.003-05:002016-11-28T08:22:07.110-05:00No, Jesus did not support guns just because he told them to take a sword.
The swords weren't for self-defense. Scripture says specifically that he told them that to fulfill a prophecy that he be numbered with the transgressors:
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"If you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one. It is written: ‘And he was numbered with the transgressors’; and I tell you that this must be fulfilled in me.” - Luke 22:36-37
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It says right there that the reason for him saying that was so the Scripture would be fulfilled that he be numbered with the transgressors. NOT for self-defense against the Roman army.
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"The disciples said, “See, Lord, here are two swords.” “That’s enough!” he replied" Luke 22:38
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Two swords are "enough" - so obviously they weren't for self-defense. In fact, they tried to USE them for self-defense, and he REBUKED them:
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'When Jesus’ followers saw what was going to happen, they said, “Lord, should we strike with our swords?” And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear. But Jesus answered, “No more of this!” And he touched the man’s ear and healed him.' - Luke 22:49-51
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And behold, one of those who accompanied Jesus put his hand to his sword, drew it, and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his ear. Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its sheath, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword." - Matthew 26:52
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I find it very strange when I hear American Conservatives make this claim, Because from the point of view of Christianity, the idea that Jesus wanted them to FIGHT the Romans when they came to arrest him as opposed to giving himself to be crucified actually sounds like blasphemy.
Iggyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08725276884099666317noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6623432.post-11867765099086338642016-07-15T08:38:00.003-04:002016-07-15T08:52:13.285-04:00Some thoughts on Sharia
Newt Gingrich just said that American Muslims should be asked if they believe in Sharia Law, and they should be kicked out of the country if they say "yes."
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Someone should ask Newt Gingrich if he knows what Sharia Law IS - because he obviously doesn't. It's like asking a Christian if he believes in the Bible. He will say "yes." But that doesn't mean that he believes in stoning someone to death for gathering sticks on a Saturday, even though that's in the Torah. Nor does it mean that he believes the Ten Commandment should govern American law.
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Sharia is the religious code of the Quran. Just as Christians all claim to believe the Bible, but disagree on what the Bible means and how it is applied, there is no single understanding of Sharia in Islam. Different Muslims disagree on what the Quran means and how it is applied, just as Christians disagree about the Bible.
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However, some Muslim fundamentalists do believe that there interpretation of Sharia should govern secular law. And such an idea would violate the 1st Amendment, and go against American secular values. But most American Muslims do not favor that. Part of the reason they came to the United States was BECAUSE of its secular values. Because they don't WANT the Quran to govern secular law.
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But isn't it odd is American Conservative Christian Fundamentalists - like Newt Gingrich - are so loudly critical of Sharia when they believe that the Bible - a religious text - should govern secular law? That is PRECISELY the same thing the extreme fundamentalist Muslims want with Sharia. And i every bit as much a violation of the 1st Amendment.Iggyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08725276884099666317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6623432.post-42474794952679070102010-01-13T20:41:00.001-05:002010-01-13T20:43:27.106-05:00http://twitter.com/ignatzzShould anybody still check this blog, I am now tweeting my little head off at <a href="http://twitter.com/ignatzz">http://twitter.com/ignatzz</a>Iggyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08725276884099666317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6623432.post-30866981431899502672009-03-20T22:29:00.002-04:002009-03-20T22:36:05.516-04:00Why are we so SURPRISED?<span style="font-family: verdana;">All this outrage over AIGs bonuses. People are FURIOUS at the behaviour, the greed, the theft, and the brazenness of these corporations.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">Where was it </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: verdana;">before?</span><br /><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jonathan-tasini/us-businesses-hiding-58-b_b_115635.html">June 29, 2008</a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: times new roman;font-size:130%;" ><br /></span><blockquote><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: times new roman;font-size:130%;" >Firms Owe Billions In Unpaid Payroll Taxes</span><br /><span style="font-family: times new roman;">By REUTERS </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: times new roman;">WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More than 1.6 million U.S. businesses owe the Internal Revenue Service more than $58 billion in unpaid taxes for Social Security, Medicare and unemployment insurance, a government watchdog agency said on Tuesday.</span><br /></blockquote><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">Did anybody seem to mind?</span><br /><br /><br><br><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/01/05/cbsnews_investigates/main2334784.shtml">January 5, 2007</a><span style="font-family: verdana;">:</span><br /><blockquote><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: times new roman;font-size:130%;" >Contractor Fraud Unchecked In Iraq </span><br /><span style="font-family: times new roman;">Jan. 5, 2007 </span><br /><span style="font-family: times new roman;">by Christine Lagorio </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: times new roman;">(CBS) The U.S. has currently spent at least $437 billion on the Iraq war, according to the Congressional Research Service. An estimated $100 billion will be spent in 2007. Much of that money is going to 60,000 civilian contractors involved in reconstruction and providing services to the troops.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: times new roman;">But recently, the Pentagon admitted it has a hard time accounting for how billions of your tax dollars are being spent and the billions that may be lost to contractor waste, fraud and abuse.</span></blockquote><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">Did anybody seem to mind?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">If you want to know why AIG seems completely surprised that people object to their ripping off millions from the taxpayers - it's because corporations have been doing it for YEARS. Openly. And it was considered completely OK. In fact, it was lauded and it was defended as the best way of doing business.</span>Iggyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08725276884099666317noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6623432.post-79061200195062615572009-02-23T09:51:00.000-05:002009-02-23T09:52:10.096-05:00<img src="http://i150.photobucket.com/albums/s104/IggysBlog/next-Post-cartoon.jpg">Iggyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08725276884099666317noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6623432.post-39953543864280954902009-02-15T20:30:00.001-05:002009-02-15T20:32:32.730-05:00My New DealSome Republicans are complaining that they don't support the stimulus package, but will have to pay for it anyway.<br /><br />So here's the deal: <br /><br />The $787 billion stimulus works about to about $2,623 per American citizen. Yes, that's a lot of money and if you don't support the bill, I agree, you should get that back. Agreed?<br /><br />Okay. I don't support the $5.7 trillion in new debt racked up by the Republicans for a war and tax cuts for the rich. That works out to $19,000 per citizen. So, the Republicans can write me a check for $16,377 and we'll call it even.Iggyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08725276884099666317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6623432.post-34564536644329227792009-02-15T14:47:00.001-05:002009-02-15T14:47:22.188-05:00<object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://widgets.nbc.com/o/4727a250e66f9723/49986a30520e138a/49983960e8c60732/24636ec0/-cpid/a63936a0aeb731b2" id="W4727a250e66f972349986a30520e138a" width="384" height="283"><param name="movie" value="http://widgets.nbc.com/o/4727a250e66f9723/49986a30520e138a/49983960e8c60732/24636ec0/-cpid/a63936a0aeb731b2" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /><param name="allowNetworking" value="all" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /></object>Iggyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08725276884099666317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6623432.post-68932152399785645112009-02-10T21:21:00.001-05:002009-02-10T21:22:35.302-05:00Ok.<br /><br />This is from the Onion News Network, and must be posted.<br /><br /><embed src="http://www.theonion.com/content/themes/common/assets/videoplayer/flvplayer.swf" allowScriptAccess="always" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" flashvars="file=http://www.theonion.com/content/xml/93143/video&debugging=true&autostart=false&image=http://www.theonion.com/content/files/images/SONY_FUCK_article.jpg&bufferlength=3&embedded=true&title=Sony%20Releases%20New%20Stupid%20Piece%20Of%20Shit%20That%20Doesn%27t%20Fucking%20Work" height="355" width="400" ></embed><br/><a href="http://www.theonion.com/content/node/93143?utm_source=embedded_video"></a>Iggyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08725276884099666317noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6623432.post-23171529829372239392009-01-21T19:44:00.000-05:002009-01-21T19:46:45.565-05:00This is NOT from the Onion<blockquote><span style="font-size:130%;"><a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1126136/Former-French-President-Chirac-hospitalised-mauling-clinically-depressed-poodle.html?ITO=1490">Former French President Chirac hospitalised after mauling by his clinically depressed poodle</a></span></blockquote><br /><br />And Stand-Up Comics everywhere are looking up to the heavens and saying "Thank you."Iggyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08725276884099666317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6623432.post-19664595012581743192009-01-21T18:53:00.002-05:002009-01-21T18:58:21.150-05:00Well, that's hitting the ground running<blockquote><a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/01/20/national/inauguration09/main4741434.shtml">(CBS/AP)</a> - The Obama administration announced salary freezes for White House employees making over $100,000 a year, placed new limits on lobbyists' White House access and had aides circulate a draft executive order that would close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay within a year. <br /><br />The new lobbying rules will not only ban aides from trying to influence the administration when they leave his staff. Those already hired will be banned from working on matters they have previously lobbied on, or to approach agencies that they once targeted.<br /><br />The rules also ban lobbyists from giving gifts of any size to any member of his administration. It wasn't immediately clear whether the ban would include the traditional "previous relationships" clause, allowing gifts from friends or associates with which an employee comes in with strong ties. <br /></blockquote><br /><br />This I'll believe when I see it. Bribery and graft (excuse me - "contributions") have become <span style="font-style:italic;">de facto</span> legal on Capitol Hill. He should also use his influence to push for its end in Congress.<br /><br />Quoth the Bush: "I have political capital, and I intend to spend it." It would be nice to spend it on something that's actually GOOD.Iggyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08725276884099666317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6623432.post-57360617465810725172009-01-21T18:34:00.001-05:002009-01-21T18:34:58.650-05:00Hillary is Secretary of StateVote was 94-2.Iggyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08725276884099666317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6623432.post-89953077355737356552009-01-21T13:18:00.000-05:002009-01-21T13:19:34.384-05:00How now, down Dow?The Dow.<br /><br />Bush takes office<br />$10578.20<br /><br />Bush leaves office:<br />$7949.09<br /><br />George W. Bush is the first President since Herbert Hoover to leave office with the market lower than when he took office. <br /><br />And it's a LOT lower than when he took office.Iggyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08725276884099666317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6623432.post-23117976691815804202009-01-20T10:52:00.001-05:002009-01-20T10:52:34.248-05:00<blockquote>"Well, Doctor, what have we got — a Republic or a Monarchy?"<br /><br />"A Republic, if you can keep it." - Benjamin Franklin</blockquote>Iggyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08725276884099666317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6623432.post-90117565471346516812009-01-20T10:50:00.000-05:002009-01-20T10:51:22.126-05:00I guess it's still there<img src="http://i150.photobucket.com/albums/s104/IggysBlog/thumb_26262_20090120_NewYork_01.jpg">Iggyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08725276884099666317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6623432.post-13873093063726062072009-01-20T10:48:00.001-05:002009-01-20T10:50:00.615-05:00From <i>the Onion:</i><br /><blockquote><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><b><u>Black Man Given Nation's Worst Job</u></b></span><br /><br />November 5, 2008<br /><br />WASHINGTON—African-American man Barack Obama, 47, was given the least-desirable job in the entire country Tuesday when he was elected president of the United States of America. In his new high-stress, low-reward position, Obama will be charged with such tasks as completely overhauling the nation's broken-down economy, repairing the crumbling infrastructure, and generally having to please more than 300 million Americans and cater to their every whim on a daily basis. As part of his duties, the black man will have to spend four to eight years cleaning up the messes other people left behind. The job comes with such intense scrutiny and so certain a guarantee of failure that only one other person even bothered applying for it. Said scholar and activist Mark L. Denton, "It just goes to show you that, in this country, a black man still can't catch a break."</blockquote>Iggyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08725276884099666317noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6623432.post-85158950068000696012009-01-18T10:34:00.001-05:002009-01-18T10:34:44.881-05:00Keith Olbermann - 8 years in 8 minutes<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/RtnE4C9Gv5U&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/RtnE4C9Gv5U&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Iggyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08725276884099666317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6623432.post-5090202071330798732009-01-16T13:43:00.003-05:002009-01-16T14:06:05.063-05:00Post mortem of the last eight yearsWhat really bothers me about Republicans isn't what they stand for. It's that they don't stand for ANYTHING. They have absolutely no principles and no core beliefs.<br /><br />See, they sometimes actually say stuff I <i>agree</i> with. But then, when push comes to shove, they don't mean a word of it.<br /><br />For years, they've been talking about the danger of Big Government, and how we shouldn't trust the Government. I agree totally. We shouldn't trust the Government.<br /><br />But once they got into power, they threw that right out the window, didn't they?<br /><br />Once Bush took office, the same people who said we shouldn't trust the Government sat supinely while the Government created "Free Speech Zones" and said that we only had First Amendment rights if we were too far away for the Government to hear what we were saying.<br /><br />When the Government said that they didn't have to respond to subpoenaes; that they didn't have to answer questions; that they should be allowed to operate in total secrecy and that what they did was none of the American Peoples' business - the people who once said we shouldn't trust the Government went along like docile sheep, and verbally attacked any American who had the nerve to say that we shouldn't trust the Government.<br /><br />When Bush tried to invest absolutely authority in himself with absurd legal mumbo-jumbo called the "Doctrine of the Unitary Executive," the same people who said that we shouldn't trust the Government said that we must place TOTAL trust in the Government, or we were traitors.<br /><br />The people who said we shouldn't trust the Government tried to stack the Government top-to-toe with partisan hacks who would do nothing but obey orders like automatons, and who would ask no questions and never differ. <br /><br />The people who said we shouldn't trust the Government tried to prevent the citizens of the United States from having any say in the Government.<br /><br />In the next four years, any time Republicans complain about the Government having too much authority, they should be laughed at and ridiculed as the hypocrites that they are. <br /><br />When the rubber hit the road; when it counted; when it actually might have cost them something, the Republican Party turned out to not believe ANY of the stuff they claimed to believe.<br /><br />They are the biggest lovers of Big Government and the greatest promoters of Absolute Government Authority in this nation. And they should not be allowed to pretend otherwise.<br /><br />How the hell do they justify their actions of the last eight years? How can they justify trying to hand over all authority to a SINGLE human being? How can they justify trying to strip the American People of having any say over their own nation? How can they justify trying to turn America into an Authoritarian Regime - a nation in which the Bureaucracy has absolute power and the people have none?<br /><br />Are they just going to pretend that it didn't happen?<br /><br />How must it feel to have gutted all your principles for the sake of a failed, unfinished, childish human being like George W. Bush?Iggyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08725276884099666317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6623432.post-32803189641523963102009-01-16T08:45:00.001-05:002009-01-16T08:45:30.501-05:00I am still alive, you know<img src="http://picayune.uclick.com/comics/nq/2009/nq090116.gif">Iggyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08725276884099666317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6623432.post-73039420597083335962008-12-31T17:04:00.000-05:002008-12-31T17:05:21.482-05:00<img src="http://i150.photobucket.com/albums/s104/IggysBlog/339079049_c809c28d2e.jpg">Iggyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08725276884099666317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6623432.post-25834896248059514352008-12-26T09:11:00.002-05:002008-12-26T09:15:43.154-05:00Pardon? What pardon?Bush pardoned a guy named Robert Toussie, and then took it back (can you IMAGINE how much that sucks if you're Robert Toussie?) See, Toussie's father had contributed to the Republican party, and Bush thought there might be the appearance of impropriety.<br /><br />So, in Bush world, pardon a guy who is related to someone who contributed to your party has the appearance of impropriety - but pardoning your <i>own Vice-President's chief of staff</i> doesn't?<br /><br />Oh, yeah - that makes LOADS of sense.Iggyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08725276884099666317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6623432.post-75234667140857274082008-12-25T07:36:00.001-05:002008-12-25T07:36:42.003-05:00<img src="http://s150.photobucket.com/albums/s104/IggysBlog/?action=view¤t=pogosxmasc.jpg">Iggyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08725276884099666317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6623432.post-6996124178695805202008-12-24T21:41:00.000-05:002008-12-24T21:42:32.300-05:00Merry ChristmasWarm out there.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/oqMrKuTZtNg&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/oqMrKuTZtNg&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Iggyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08725276884099666317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6623432.post-12576631417611374642008-12-24T18:21:00.001-05:002008-12-24T18:21:28.510-05:00<img src="http://i150.photobucket.com/albums/s104/IggysBlog/pogosxmasa.jpg?t=1230160832">Iggyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08725276884099666317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6623432.post-42429639841021993402008-12-24T18:16:00.001-05:002008-12-24T18:16:51.944-05:00<img src="http://i150.photobucket.com/albums/s104/IggysBlog/pogoxmas4.jpg">Iggyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08725276884099666317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6623432.post-7873790800137328632008-12-23T08:54:00.002-05:002008-12-23T20:45:52.476-05:00<blockquote>"History will note that the point of the Constitution is that the ends don't always justify the means -- and that nowhere in the document can be found the phrase 'so what?'" - <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/22/AR2008122201852.html">Eugene Robinson</a></blockquote>Iggyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08725276884099666317noreply@blogger.com0