Ideas and Oddities

14 Steps to Fascism

2012-04-22T14:01:00.002-07:00

Fourteen Defining Characteristics Of Fascism - By Dr. Lawrence Britt Source Free Inquiry.com 5-28-3 Dr. Lawrence Britt has examined the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia) and several Latin American regimes. Britt found 14 defining characteristics common to each:

1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism - Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.
2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights - Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of "need." The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.
3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause - The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial , ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.
4. Supremacy of the Military - Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.
5. Rampant Sexism - The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Divorce, abortion and homosexuality are suppressed and the state is represented as the ultimate guardian of the family institution.
6. Controlled Mass Media - Sometimes to media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.
7. Obsession with National Security - Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.
8. Religion and Government are Intertwined - Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government's policies or actions.
9. Corporate Power is Protected - The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.
10. Labor Power is Suppressed - Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed.
11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts - Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts and letters is openly attacked.
12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment - Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.
13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption - Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.
14. Fraudulent Elections - Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.

Lies and forgeries

2011-05-17T19:43:00.000-07:00

* At least 11 of the 27 New Testament books are forgeries.

* The New Testament books attributed to Jesus’ disciples could not have been written by them because they were illiterate.

* Many of the New Testament’s forgeries were manufactured by early Christian leaders trying to settle theological feuds.

religion.blogs.cnn.com

Happy 22nd

2011-05-12T10:47:00.000-07:00

A Conversation With Harold Camping, Prophesier of Judgment Day

End of the world

Dumb and dumber

2011-05-12T09:14:00.000-07:00

Boehner's Blather

2011-05-10T11:13:00.001-07:00

“Speaker Boehner should focus on controlling the level of violence in his own state before tarnishing the image of border communities that remain among the safest places to live in America. As his office asserts that Congress cannot consider reforming our broken immigration system until border violence is under control, the fact remains that the six largest cities in Ohio all have higher rates of violence and crime than every major city along the U.S.-Mexico border. In fact, the Speaker's own district in Dayton, Ohio saw more homicides in 2009 and 2010 than Texas' four largest border cities combined, despite the fact that Dayton's population of 141,500 is only about one-tenth of the size by comparison.”
Reyes.house.gov

THE ORIGIN OF THE BIBLE

2009-07-16T15:05:00.000-07:00

A few wandering families—poor, wretched, without education, art or power; descendants of those who had been enslaved for four hundred years; ignorant as the inhabitants of Central Africa, had just escaped from their masters to the desert of Sinai. Their leader was Moses, a man who had been raised in the family of Pharaoh and had been taught the law and mythology of Egypt. For the purpose of controlling his followers he pretended that he was instructed and assisted by Jehovah, the God of these wanderers.

Robert Ingersoll

Born Again American

2009-05-05T08:41:00.001-07:00

BornAgainAmerican.org

(Founded by Norman Lear)

Religious or Political?

USNews

Landover Baptist Church

2009-03-07T10:25:00.000-08:00

"We are a Bible believing, Fundamentalist, Independent Baptist Church. We are 157,286 members strong. Our Church Campus is located in Freehold, Iowa and rests on 35 acres of some of the most beautiful country you'd ever care to set your eyes upon. Our church holds 28 paid pastors, 131 paid deacons, 412 full time staff members, LCA (Landover Christian Academy), LCU (Landover Christian University), 11 fully equipped chapels, Four 2,000 seat sanctuaries, Three 5,000 seat main sanctuaries, the world's largest Christian Mall, a Christian Amusement Park (Landover Bible Theme Park and Red Sea World), A PGA 18 Hole Golf Course, 3 Fitness Centers, 4 Olympic sized swimming pools, Landover Village, Landover Towers, Landover Retirement Community, Center For 2 Churches On Every City Block Foundation, Leviticus Landing (An Exclusive Gated Executive Christian Community for Platinum Tithers™), Exodus Acres (Gold Tithers' Gated Community), *27 Developments, Landover All Purpose Multi-Temple, Spa and Resort Center, Fire Department, 100,000 seat amphitheater, 12 Television studios, 2 radio stations, A Christian Circus Camp, Retreat Center for Republican Candidates, 3 Corporate Christian Office Parks, hot springs, 8 cemeteries, and 243 fully certified Christian police officers."

Landover Baptist Church

This is good.

2009-01-10T10:51:00.000-08:00

This was at a Texas Tech Basketball game.

The two young ladies on the right are six years old. The two in the middle are seven and the one on the left is eight.

I miss this show.

2009-01-10T10:45:00.001-08:00

The West Wing

Condition: Critical,

2008-12-08T09:26:00.000-08:00

Referred from RocketBoom

Articles of Impeachment

2008-06-12T09:22:00.000-07:00

Years too late:

ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT OF PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH

Also see:
Dick Cheney-Henry Wirz

JesusLand

2008-05-31T11:46:00.000-07:00

(Jesus Proud, Is He?)

2008-03-27T09:47:00.000-07:00

Increases in Debt

Impeach the Crooks

2008-01-06T14:47:00.000-08:00

"As former representative Elizabeth Holtzman, who played a key role in the Nixon impeachment proceedings, wrote two years ago, "it wasn't until the most recent revelations that President Bush directed the wiretapping of hundreds, possibly thousands, of Americans, in violation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) -- and argued that, as Commander in Chief, he had the right in the interests of national security to override our country's laws -- that I felt the same sinking feeling in my stomach as I did during Watergate. . . . A President, any President, who maintains that he is above the law -- and repeatedly violates the law -- thereby commits high crimes and misdemeanors."

Nixon Was Bad. These Guys Are Worse

George McGovern

Corporate News

2008-01-02T10:48:00.000-08:00

"...back three years to the early days of the war in Iraq, when the bombs intended to evoke "shock and awe" were descending on Baghdad. Most of the Western press had evacuated, but a small contingent remained to report on the crumbling Iraqi regime. In the New York offices of NBC News, one of my video stories was being screened. If it made it through the screening, it would be available for broadcast later that evening. Producer Geoff Stephens and I had done a phone interview with a reporter in Baghdad who was experiencing the bombing firsthand. We also had a series of still photos of life in the city. The only communication with Baghdad in those early days was by satellite phone. Still pictures were sent back over the few operating data links.

Our story arranged pictures of people coping with the bombing into a slide show, accompanied by the voice of Melinda Liu, a Newsweek reporter describing, over the phone, the harrowing experience of remaining in Baghdad. The outcome of the invasion was still in doubt. There was fear in the reporter's voice and on the faces of the people in the pictures. ...

At the conclusion of the screening, there were a few suggestions for tightening here and clarification there. Finally, an NBC/GE executive responsible for "standards" shook his head and wondered about the tone in the reporter's voice. "Doesn't it seem like she has a point of view here?" he asked.

There was silence in the screening room. It made me want to twitch, until I spoke up. I was on to something but uncertain I wasn't about to be handed my own head. "Point of view? What exactly do you mean by point of view?" I asked. "That war is bad? Is that the point of view that you are detecting here?"

John Hockenberry is no longer at NBC. He's at MIT.

"You Don't Understand Our Audience"

God List

2007-10-21T16:27:00.000-07:00

Or just make up your own

"We have more Gods than you can shake a stick at. Godchecker's Mythology Encyclopedia currently features over 2,850 deities.

Browse the pantheons of the world, explore ancient myths, and discover Gods of everything from Fertility to Fluff with the fully searchable Holy Database Of All Known Gods."

GodChecker

Heil George

2007-09-22T08:14:00.000-07:00

"From Hitler to Pinochet and beyond, history shows there are certain steps that any would-be dictator must take to destroy constitutional freedoms. And, argues Naomi Wolf, George Bush and his administration seem to be taking them all"

Fascist America, in 10 easy steps

B-U-S-H Bush

2007-09-13T12:30:00.000-07:00

Besides never wanting to take a class from this woman, watch the dunce:

No Better than Scientology

2007-09-13T08:40:00.000-07:00

You may laugh at Pentecostals, Mormons, and Tom Cruise, but what about Catholics?

1. Stigmata
2. The Cilice
3. The Flagrum
4. Confraternities of the Cord
5. Relics
6. Indulgences
7. The Real Presence
8. Exorcism
9. Papal Infallibility
10. The Scapular

Top 10 Bizarre Aspects of Catholicism

The Emperor Hates dissent

2007-08-26T08:38:00.000-07:00

From Forbes magazine, hardly a left wing publication:

"One after another, the men and women who have stepped forward to report corruption in the massive effort to rebuild Iraq have been vilified, fired and demoted.

Or worse.

For daring to report illegal arms sales, Navy veteran Donald Vance says he was imprisoned by the American military in a security compound outside Baghdad and subjected to harsh interrogation methods.

There were times, huddled on the floor in solitary confinement with that head-banging music blaring dawn to dusk and interrogators yelling the same questions over and over, that Vance began to wish he had just kept his mouth shut."

Whistleblowers on Fraud Facing Penalties

Cheney tells the truth then

2007-08-14T08:55:00.000-07:00

Lies now

Liars All

2007-08-14T08:54:00.000-07:00

Twain the War

2007-08-01T16:02:00.000-07:00

Part one

Part two

War Film

"It was believed afterward that the man was a lunatic, because there was no sense in what he said."

The whole prayer

They are all cults!

2007-07-31T14:24:00.000-07:00

"Some extreme examples of destructive cults follow:

In 1978, 914 followers of Jim Jones died in a mass murder/suicide in Jonestown, Guyana. 274 of the dead were children.

On April 19, 1993, over 70 Branch Davidians, followers of David Koresh, died in a fire in Waco, Texas following a lengthy siege by United States federal law enforcement officials.

In 1997, 39 followers of the Heaven's Gate cult died in a mass suicide. Male members of the cult underwent castration in preparation for the suicide

Between 1995 and 1997 74 members of a cult called the Order of the Solar Temple died in mass murder/suicides.

Aum Shinri Kyo murdered 12 subway passengers with sarin gas in a Tokyo subway. Over 5000 others sufferred injury. The group still operates and has over 7,000 members, though it has changed its name to "Aleph".

And the there are the even greater numbers murders and other atrocities carried out by Christians, Jews, and Muslims. Sameo, Sameo.

Cults