If we wouldn't strip the above away from her mother, experiment on her, put her in a zoo, skin her alive for the hair on her head, or kill her for food, then how can we possibly do these things aforementioned to those below?

www.goveg.com for a good start, you might be surprised.

Are conservative Christian politics misplaced?

In their relentless omni-quest to suppress, demonize, and vilify homosexuals, conservative Christians, which are at the heart of nearly every bigoted attempt to subjugate in some way some being, have this time lost it. 'It' necessarily refers to clear-sighted sanity, i.e. rationality, which is so disgustingly visible I feel somewhat silly even typing this short diatribe.

The last tally was 47 million, 9 million of which are children, citizens of the most abhorrently wealthy nation in history do not have healthcare. Infants and 5 year olds are dying daily from vaccinable diseases merely because we're so infatuated with the idea of private enterprise that we can't pull our heads out of capitalism's ass long enough to see that the trivial gain in revenue comes at the expense of some child's life -who's only crime was being born to poor parents.

The planet is warming, which is the overall consensus of scientists world-wide, minus those in the "faith-based" offices set up by Bush to edit scientific documents, and by the by, what exactly is a "faith-based" office anyway? Is that some corner of the white house where religious zealots go to pray away the "evils" of the world? It seems quite convenient if so, for after all, forcing Big Oil out of business with all this 'global warming is a direct result of humans burning fossil fuels' business would sure have a nice alternative if we just left the remedy up to some guy in a black robe with cult like followers praying to an imaginary friend.

And what of, statistically, the 1/3 of women who read this, in America, that have been physically or sexually abused by a husband or boyfriend at some point in their lives? Or what of the 1/4 of women that have been raped or physically assaulted? It's staggering, before this day is over another 3 or more women in this country will have been murdered by their husband or boyfriend. And what about perhaps the most egregious: that the number one cause of death of pregnant or recently pregnant women is homicide by their intimate partner.

Yet, here we are, a gruesomely, disgustingly Christian nation worried about boys kissing; or so it seems, as politicians are debating to let Blacks serve as openly Black in the military, oops, I mean debating to let homosexuals serve as openly homosexual in the military (is there really any difference though between these two bigoted stances?), as is evidenced by the Pentagon's top general, Peter Pace, when he uttered the most retarded thing I, in my short 22 years, have ever heard: "I believe that homosexual acts between individuals are immoral and that we should not condone immoral acts. I do not believe the United States is well-served by a policy that says it is OK to be immoral in any way."
And then, to cap it "all" off, presidential candidate Senator Sam Brownback, ad hoc leader of Bigots United (which is better known under it's pseudonym, the Republican party), came out in full support of good ole boy Pace by saying "We should not expect someone as qualified, accomplished and articulate as General Pace to lack personal views on important moral issues. In fact, we should expect that anyone entrusted with such great responsibility will have strong moral views."

Moral of the story: forget the estimated 65,000 homosexual soldiers of imperialism who serve side by side with their heterosexual counterparts, piss on 47 million people and their health problems, eff global warming and the liberals who ring the alarmist bells, and screw abused women who wouldn't have been abused in the first place if they had just stayed home barefoot and pregnant with their mouths shut; we're the Christian right and not only are we in the right, but we're here to save the world from its most grave threat: the most evil, morally sinful and repugnant abomination man was ever seduced into, queerdom.


Any of these facts I've cited can be independently researched at www.endabuse.org/resources/facts or through the New York Times archive database.
Michael Griffin

Olympics

Mayor D.,
We should house the Olympics and this is why.

The Olympics always bring in money.
Chicago wants money in the city.
Therefore, Chicago will house the Olympics.
Sarah

lending mayor daley a rhetorical hand.

Rhetor: Mayor Daley
Audience: Chicago residents and taxpayers
Issue: Trying to convince Chicagoans to foot the bill for the 2016 Olympics (even though he said they wouldn't have to...)

Mayor Daley needs your help! Offer a BRIEF (one sentence) appeal that Mayor Daley can use to help persuade Chicagoans to open their pocketbooks - use ethos, pathos, logos, kairos, enargeia - you name it.

the rhetoric of the simpsons...

cletus-the-slack-jawed-yokel to his wife on tonight's "the simpsons" (after pimping out the kids to krusty for a variety show):

"clarice, you're supposed to be in iraq stopping 9/11!"

what sort of rhetorical appeal is this? and does it work?

When

Written by Wajeh al-Huwaider, memri.org, aafaq.org –this appeared in Thomas Friedman’s article in the NYT 3-2-2007 titled “The Silence That Kills.”

When you cannot find a single garden in your city, but there is a mosque on every corner -- you know that you are in an Arab country.

When you see people living in the past with all the trappings of modernity -- do not be surprised, you are in an Arab country.

When religion has control over science -- you can be sure that you are in an Arab country.

When clerics are referred to as "scholars" -- don't be astonished, you are in an Arab country.

When you see the ruler transformed into a demigod who never dies or relinquishes his power, and nobody is permitted to criticize -- do not be too upset, you are in an Arab country.

When you find that the large majority of people oppose freedom and find joy in slavery -- do not be too distressed, you are in an Arab country.

When you hear the clerics saying that democracy is heresy, but seizing every opportunity provided by democracy to grab high positions -- do not be surprised, you are in an Arab country.

When you discover that a woman is worth half of what a man is worth, or less -- do not be surprised, you are in an Arab country.

When land is more important than human beings -- you are in an Arab country.

When fear constantly lives in the eyes of the people -- you can be certain you are in an Arab country.

[Given the way Muslims, as a whole, are prone to dealing with dissenting ideas Mr. al-Huwaider, who is Saudi, will probably be hunted down and jailed or beheaded. Rhetorically asking, how is that a religion whose name means “peace” can be one of the most violently disturbing paradigms human-kind has ever created?]

Because Arab countries are certainly not alone in their irrational belief based oppressions, here is a parallel “when” poem I did for America, god bless us all.

When 47 million people don’t have health insurance, but there’s a church on every corner – you know that you’re in America.

When you see people longing for white life on the prairie in the face of the luxuries of modernity – do not be surprised, you are in America.

When religion supercedes science – you can be sure that you're in America.

When priests are referred to as “moral authorities,” “Dr.,” or “father” – don’t be astonished, you’re in America.

When you see the only requirement for a Congressional or Presidential candidate is to pass a religious litmus test – don’t be too upset, you’re in America.

When you find that a large majority of people oppose civil liberties and seek joy in intellectual slavery – do not be too distressed, you are in America.

When you hear priests rail against child abuse, homosexuality, and other “sins,” yet stand tall and silent when one of their own is exposed to be a meth-using, wife-beating, homosexual pedophile – do not be surprised, you are in America.

When you discover that a woman, a Black, a Jew, a Latino, a homosexual, an Asian, an anything-besides-a-white-male is worth less than a white male – do not be surprised, you are in America.

When profit-margin is more important than human beings – you are in America.

When sexual repression, moral proselytizing, and irrationality constantly live in the eyes of the people – you can be certain you are in America.

Nevertheless, god bless (the white heterosexual Christian males of) America, right?