The Right Reverend James W. Bailey, C.S.A. (Contemporary Southern Artist)* Born and Raised in the Great State of Mississippi * Born-again in the City of New Orleans
Monday, May 19, 2008
The Democractic Party's Leading White Nigger, Senator Robert C. Byrd, Endorses Obama
And you're worried about the C.I.A. using a Cray supercomputer at Sandia, nicknamed Red Storm, to crawl through the texts of your emails searching for your donations to Hamas?! Man, don't ever make the mistake of letting Tyler catch you writing about a dead gay artist without mentioning the artist's dick, what he did with his dick and how what he did with his dick inspired and informed his body of work.
Unfortunately for the legacy of Robert Rauschenberg, Tyler, by obssessing over Rauschenberg's sexual orientation, completely forgets to offer a cogent critical argument in support of the supposed greatness of this artist.
Or maybe it's that Tyler is just simply proferring the old school bullet-proof homosexual artist theory that suggests that a homosexual artist by virtue of being homoseuxal is a great artist and is therefore above heterosexual critique.
Sadly, one particularly revolting write-up filled this hetero-normalized void. At the end of a thoughtless semi-obituary, Roger Kimball included a subtle dig:
Along the way, there was no aspect of contemporary artistic culture that is not mocked, trivialized, or turned into some sort of joke [in Rauschenberg's work]. The only exceptions were the ghostly exposed blueprints that Rauschenberg did in 1950 in collaboration with his then wife, the artist Susan Weil. These were the only two works, out of several hundred on view [at a Guggenheim retrospective], that communicated any genuine aesthetic emotion. But these works were said to have been Susan Weil's idea, and they served chiefly to highlight the poverty of everything that surrounded them.
In other words: The only thing worthwhile in Rauschenberg's entire oeuvre is that which (Kimball claims) had its origins in the heterosexual.
Yep. Just as I suspected. It's the old stand-by gay-artists-are-bullet-proof-from-criticism theory.
I think the last time this theory was pulled off the shelf was when Andy Warhol died.
"New Orleans Motel Room #2" by The Right Reverend James W. Bailey
Evil Digital Photography
Image captured by Samsung Digimax S500 digital camera. Photographed on location at an undisclosed motel room in New Orleans. I want to thank my friend Hailey for posing for this photograph.
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Gates Calls for Faster Application of Warfighting Assets
The Defense Department needs to worry more about what warfighters need right now than what they may need down the road, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said last night.
In a speech to the Business Executives for National Security group, Gates said he will work for the remainder of his time in office to ensure the department fulfills its "sacred obligation" to support U.S. servicemembers now fighting on the front lines.
This means doing all that is needed to "see that they are successful on the battlefield and properly cared for at home," Gates said.
The secretary received the group's Dwight D. Eisenhower Award during a dinner here and spoke of the challenges he has faced since assuming the Pentagon's top position in December 2006.
Troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan need more intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets, the best possible vehicles, and proper outpatient care and support when they're wounded, Gates told the group. "These are issues I take seriously -- and very personally," he said.
"These needs require the department to focus on the reality that we are in the midst of two wars and that what we can provide our soldiers and commanders three or four years hence isn't nearly as important as what we can provide them today or next month," he said.
One of the many things I just love about liberal terrrorist appeasing propoganda artists like Shepard Fairey is that all these Israel-hating assholes think that the idea of their simplistic manipulative cult of personality imagery is original.
Obama sat in that church for 20 years listening to his pastor, his mentor, his inspirational friend, also known as the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, spew his blame-America-first AIDS conspriracy anti-Semitic hatred.
Obama had no complaints about Reverend Jeremiah Wright's "sermons" when he wasn't running for president.
Where's Shepard Fairey's poster of that Obama.
Better question:
Where in the hell is the Washington Post's reporting on that same Obama.
So, according to Obama Iran is not a threat.
The best that can be said of Obama is that he is a moron. An utter moron who has no grasp of history. Apparently, Reverend Wright didn't teach world history at his Wednesday night adult Bible study class.
The worst that can be said of Obama is that he's on the payroll of President Mahmud Ahmadinejad secret staff of covert foreign agents.
What else does Obama believe about Iran?
That Iran poses no threat to its GLBT community because there are no GLBT people that live there?
Filmed on location at the Walker Nature Education Center, an 80-plus acre nature preserve that was part of Robert E. Simon's master plan for Reston.
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The Culture Of The Throwaway Comment
Last week we looked at the giving of the laws known as the Ten Commandments or Decalogue. Exodus 20 ends with the people cowering because of the thunder and lightning, and the smoke on the mountain. Standing at a distance, they tell Moses, “You speak to us and we will listen, but don’t let God speak to us directly or we will die.” Moses agrees and tells them that God had come “only to test you and put the fear of God upon you so that you do not sin.” (Exodus 20:20)
What seems like a throwaway comment following the giving of the law explains a lot about religions that are rooted in law, rules and regulations. While there are a few more stories to be told in Exodus, much of the rest of the book, and almost all of Leviticus, the following book, is consumed with regulating people’s behavior. The rules seem endless and, frankly, sometimes pointless and petty.
Today, in a scientific world, we understand that certain laws—like dietetic restrictions—were developed to help people avoid certain illnesses and disease. At the time those laws were developed, however, there was no rational justification. The only means of enforcing them was to make them God-given and then to ensure that people feared incurring the wrath of God.
Many of the ancient stories of the Bible seem to serve no other purpose than to keep people afraid of the consequences of making God angry. Exodus 20 offers us an explanation for why natural disasters were interpreted by the priests and religious leaders as “acts of God.” On one level, it was a means of coercing people to do what was right—thou shalt not steal—and what was good for them—remember the Sabbath. As someone who has been known to don priestly garments, though, I probably also should acknowledge that some of the restrictions offered, then and now, were more about control. Religious leaders have a certain set of values that they think people should live up to, and they have never been reluctant to use fear to control behavior. Often it was God’s reputation that was damaged when religious types decided it was inappropriate for people to dance, or for a woman to show her ankle, or for people of different races to marry, or for the same gender to love.
Using fear to manipulate, coerce and control people is obviously not a technique invented by the U.S. government in the wake of 9/11. At least Moses/Exodus was up front about it. Blessings,
The cause of the seizure is that the Devil dragged this lying drunk driving murdering bastard underwater in his dreams so he could experience for just one painful secord what Mary Jo Kopechne felt when he left her to die.
It will be interesting to see how many paragraphs of Ted Kennedy's Washington Post obituary one has to wade through before the first mention of Chappaquiddick after the Devil finally drags this limosine liberal to the Room 666 of the 9th Circle of Hell, the room reserved for fat white rich elite liberal politicians who because of their wealth and position are allowed to get away with murder.
Ted, enjoy your earthly seizure. Where you're eventually headed you'll have plenty of time to sort out your jumble of emotions over the drunk driving murder you committed and were given a free pass from prosecution.
"Louisiana Women On Silent Film #13" by The Right Reverend James W. Bailey
an Evil Digital Photography slideshow
Images captured by Samsung Digimax S500 digital camera. I want to thank my friend Kristy for posing for these photographs. Kristy, orginally from St. Bernard Parish, was living in East New Orleans at the time of Katrina. Her apartment was destroyed and she lost her car and most of her belongings. She relocated to Atlanta, where she lived for about a year. She returned to New Orleans in late 2006. She works for a travel agency in New Orleans.
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Coalition, Iraqi Forces Expand Operations Into Qurnah
Coalition and Iraqi forces expanded their operations about 70 kilometers north of Basra, Iraq, into Qurnah today, as the Iraqi army continues to develop its capabilities for tactical maneuvers over long distances.
Operation "Charge of Knights," which began in March in Basra, launched in Qurnah with a drop of 100,000 leaflets over the small village encouraging residents' cooperation. The operation involves Iraqi security forces operating with coalition air and ground support. United Kingdom and U.S. military transition teams are embedded with their Iraqi counterparts.
In other operations in Iraq today:
-- Coalition forces captured a wanted man in Tikrit, about 100 miles north of Baghdad, suspected of being involved with helping foreign terrorists and other terrorist activities.
-- Five other suspects were caught further north in Beiji, and near the Hamrin Mountains north of Baghdad, forces caught five suspects while targeting al-Qaida in Iraq operatives in Diyala province.
-- Two men suspected of housing senior al-Qaida leaders in the country were caught in Mosul.
In operations in Iraq yesterday, U.S. soldiers killed three enemy fighters and recovered a weapons cache. Forces killed two men after they exploded a homemade bomb in northwestern Baghdad, and killed another man after he emplaced a bomb in New Baghdad. In separate operations, soldiers in West Rashid recovered a weapons cache consisting of five homemade bombs and two explosively formed projectiles, bombs designed to pierce armored vehicles.
Filmed on location at the Walker Nature Education Center, an 80-plus acre nature preserve that was part of Robert E. Simon's master plan forReston.
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DoD National Case Study Winner Announced
The Department of Defense announced today that a team from the University of Illinois at Chicago won the DoD National Case Study Competition. Students from more than two hundred and sixty colleges and universities participated in this nationwide competition.
The DoD National Case Study Competition challenged the creativity of America's students and gave them the opportunity to apply skills learned in an academic environment to real world DoD issues. Each team was required to develop a comprehensive recruiting strategy focused on identifying U.S. citizens who speak a foreign language and possess critical skills necessary to fulfill a variety of DoD civilian positions.
The top three teams made the final presentation of their case studies to a panel of DoD judges this morning at the Pentagon. The first runner-up was the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs and the second runner-up was Cascade College, located in Portland, Oregon. Elements of all the case studies presented could be used in a large-scale national recruiting program, which will be implemented by the DoD in 2008-2009.
The DoD, which hires some 80,000 civilian employees every year, is striving to meet current recruiting challenges, including the need for a younger and more culturally diverse civilian workforce. This requires approaching recruiting and community outreach in a new way, one that targets recent college graduates through means that they are most comfortable using as they conduct their job searches. In one example of this, the winning submission from the University of Illinois at Chicago team included a prototype recruiting pitch that they posted to YouTube. The DoD National Case Study Competition is just one innovative marketing and recruitment initiative used to attract America's best and brightest students to consider public service within the DoD.
Each of the commandments must be understood from the perspective of how they resonate in the heart of God. These rules are not arbitrary or punitive, but rather they reflect a vision of life in which every person is cared for.
The week has run out before we could unpack them all, but I invite you to do with the rest of the list what I did for the first one. Refuse to think of it as a rule handed down from above to coerce you into behaving upon the threat of hell. Rather, think of them as amazing principles offered from the God of Creation and Liberation whose only desire is a world in which all live lives are worth celebrating.
In that light, what do YOU think God had in mind?
Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
You shall not murder.
You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not steal.
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.
The list ends with an admonition not to covet that which belongs to our neighbors. Ultimately, what this list seeks to achieve is a life in which we are content with what we have and who we are. While other commandments address behavior, this one is about attitude. It seems to me that God’s vision for our life is that we, and all our neighbors, may live together in such a way that, in the end, we have enough and are content for ourselves and happy for our neighbors.
Hey, God is nothing if not an idealist …
Blessings,
The Right Reverend James W. Bailey
"Yet Another Method Mode Pose #32" by The Right Reverend James W. Bailey
Evil Digital Photography
Images captured by Samsung Digimax S500 digital camera. I want to thank my friend Melissa for posing for these photographs.
I Wonder What Our Fake American Cousins In Canada Think About Gay Marriage
Whenever America faces a situation that has, or is reputed to have, grave moral implications, rest assured that the infantile loudmouthed retards from both sides of the issue will take to the streets (that's a joke, actually, today they take to the blogs) and proceed to foam at the mouth.
America is the land of infantile loudmouthed retards.
Americans just love to scream and yell when there's a hot political potato in the oven.
Universal healthcare? Pro or con?
The infantile loudmouthed retards are locked and loaded for their talking head appearances on Anderson Cooper 360°, Hannity & Colmes and The Colbert Report.
The War in Iraq? Pro or con?
Can we even begin to count the number of blood vessels that have been popped by the legions of left-wing and right-wing American infantile loudmouthed retards over this issue.
White heterosexual infantile loudmouthed retards in America have created two institutions that I truly find amusing on many different levels:
1.) The Ku Klux Klan. Sorry but a bunch of fat white rednecks walking around in white robes that make them look 300 pounds more overweight than the 300 pounds they already are is just hysterical.
2.) Marriage American-style (which means marriage American-style with the possibility of being fucked over by divorce American-style.)
I personally don't understand the black man in America who would want to fight for the right to join the Ku Klux Klan. More power to any black man who wants to do such a thing, but I sure as hell don't get it.
I also don't get why so many gays and lesbians in America are so anxious to march hand-in-hand into the electric chair of America's draconian marriage laws and divorce courts. But, hey, more power to them as well.
Years ago I was especially entertained by a gay controversy that erupted in my homestate of Mississippi. It seems as though the Department of Motor Vehicles accidently authorized a three-letter license plate preface for Hinds County (which includes Jackson) that read as follows:
MISSISSIPPI
GAY 123 (pick a number)
Hinds County
The Magnolia State
Jesus H. Christ, did the shit ever hit the fan once the good straight God-fearing Christian folks of Hinds County figured out why they were being laughed at and/or threatened while driving down the backroads of the Magnolia State to attend Sunday services at their gay-hating country churchs.
The infantile loudmothed retards from the heteroseuxal Christian wing of whiners, moaners and complainers protested the GAY license plate to the high heavens.
The infantile loudmouthed retards from the GLB&T lobby wing of whiners, moaners and complainers decried the protestations as being a sign of rabid hate of homosexuals in Mississippi.
Eventually, the Department of Motor Vehicles agreed to yank the "offensive" license plate in question.
This is how America "debates" the issues of the day. People from both sides line up against each other and scream as loud as they can. And the loudest screamer gets his or her way.
Whenever these political hot potatoes are pulled out of the oven in America, I always ask myself the following:
What do the Canadians think about situation X?
Being that Canadians are fake Americans, that is, white people that are just whiter than your average white American, they generally tend to not become so enraged in their debates over issues of grave moral concern.
It's probably because, being as incredibly white as they are, fake American Canadians are very self-concious about how red their faces will appear to their fellow countrymen if they stupidly argue the way left-wing and right-wing infantile loudmouthed retard real Americans argue.
New Orleans Motel Room #1 by The Right Reverend James W. Bailey
Evil Digital Photography
Image captured by Samsung Digimax S500 digital camera. Photographed on location at an undisclosed motel room in New Orleans. I want to thank my friend Tara for posing for this photograph.
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Soldiers Secure Piece of Iraqi Religious History
Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers from the 4th Infantry Division's 1st Brigade Combat Team are safeguarding a piece of Iraqi religious history while operating from a combat outpost next to a Christian-based seminary in southern Baghdad's Rashid district.
Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers provide security outside the main chapel of the St. Peter Seminary of Chaldean Patriarchate in the predominantly Muslim community of Abu Tshir, Iraq. The chapel represents a piece of Iraq's cultural history in southern Baghdad's Rashid district.
The soldiers of Troop B, 7th Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment, ensure the preservation of the seminary, college and chapel that encompass the St. Peter Seminary of Chaldean Patriarchate in the predominantly Muslim community of Abu Tshir.
"Due to the proximity of the seminary to the COP, it became necessary to conduct clearance operations within the seminary and chapel to ensure it was not being used by criminals for attacks against coalition forces," Army Capt. David Lombardo, Troop B commander, said. "Also, 'Bulldog' Troop conducts scheduled patrols within the seminary grounds to lock access points and prevent vandalism."
The seminary opened in Baghdad in 1960; in 1991, the Pontifical Babel College for Philosophy and Theology was added to the compound.
Hopefully, with Megan at the top of the hottie sex ticket, the John Edwards (trans)IHEARTAMERICA'SFARMERS blowjob story - with her endorsement of Obama, Edwards has literraly transformed herself from a faux populist trangendered woman of the people back into what she really is: a rich white pampered elitist prima donna - will quickly blow over during the next 24 hour news cycle.
I'm publishing a recent semi-nude photograph of Ms. Fox below.
Beauty in contemporary fine art nude photography is all about fat old white men photographing young thin white girls who look like they're two to four years shy of finishing high school. Got it?
Jock Sturges must be the old bitch on her knees in front of John Edwards seen powdering the pampered nose of the rich thin white duke turned princess.
Filmed on location at the Walker Nature Education Center, an 80-plus acre nature preserve that was part of Robert E. Simon's master plan for Reston.
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The Cult of Narcissism
The commandments begin with the admonition that we give God the proper place in our lives. To me, this is very similar to Jesus’ teaching us to, “Seek first the Realm of God, and all things will add together.” (Matthew 6:33) To build a strong and healthy life, we must begin with the right cornerstone: the God of our Creation and Liberation.
As someone who lives in a culture of rampant narcissism, you don’t need me to point out what happens when this first principle is ignored and parents make children the little gods of their family life. A plethora of recent studies have shown that the “me-generation” is more unhappy than those who went before them. We don’t do anyone a favor by indulging their delusion that the universe revolves around them and will bend to their will. The Lake Woebegone world in which everyone is above average must ultimately give way to a society were you are just one more car on the freeway and one more body in line at the grocery.
Far from being a sign of God’s insecurity or egotism, the first commandments call us to order our lives with God in first place so that all the other parts will fit together properly. The injunction about taking God’s name in vain is not the censorship base for the FCC, but rather an invitation to consider what it is like to live in a world where nothing is sacred.
If the Source of life becomes a profanity then what of life itself? If God is most often invoked to bring forth damnation then who will bless? If we have so little regard for the Creator, how will we ever care for the creation? This list could go on, but it returns to the original point and purpose of these commandments. None of them are about God, but they are about how we can live life strong and healthy. That kind of life begins with God and radiates from there. While we liberals don’t want to impose our faith on others, we need to claim it fully for ourselves and offer it to those who are seeking our help in reordering their lives. No one is served when we try to help our family, friends or society put the wrong foundation stone into place. Sacred living must begin with the Divine. Regardless of the name we use, the One who is our God is our sacred starting place, and unless we reverence our source we will never respect the outcome.
File photos Randall Lee Smith (center) leaves the Giles County courthouse in 1982. He was convicted of killing Susan Ramsay and Robert Mountford on the Appalachian Trail in May 1981. In Memory of Susan Ramsey and Robert Mountford, this will be the only post published today.
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Bill Stables, a retired investigator with the Giles County Sheriff's Office who worked on the case, said many people were outraged by the plea agreement.
"If they had went on through with the trial, there's no doubt in my mind that he would have been convicted and two people wouldn't be shot today," Stables said Wednesday after hearing about the most recent incident.
James Hartley, a Pearisburg lawyer who defeated Osborne in the election that followed the plea agreement, said voters made the case an issue without his having to even mention it. "I think that was really one of the key things that cost him the election," Hartley said.
Osborne has since died.
Members of the Ramsay and Mountford families could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
In 1986, when Smith became eligible for release, they said in interviews with The Roanoke Times that they never thought he would serve such a short sentence.
"He's not even serving for one death, let alone two," said Robert Mountford Sr.
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A Commonwealth of Virginia Criminal Timeline For Murderers Who Want To Kill Two Hikers, Serve A Brief Period Of Time In Jail Before Being Released From Prison On Parole, Then Attempt To Kill Two More
May 19, 1981: Appalachian Trail hikers Susan Ramsay and Robert Mountford Jr., both 27-year-old social workers from Maine, were last seen at a Bland County store.
May 30-31, 1981: Ramsay’s and Mountford’s bodies were found buried near an AT shelter near the Giles-Bland county line. It was the first double homicide on the 2,100-mile Appalachian Trail.
June 11, 1981: Randall Lee Smith was charged in the killings after an incriminating note was found in his abandoned pickup truck in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
June 22, 1981: Smith was arrested after he was found hiding in a wooded area in Myrtle Beach .
March 23, 1982: Smith pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in both deaths and was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Sept. 27, 1996: Smith was released from prison on mandatory parole.
Sept. 26, 2006: Smith was taken off of probation.
Tuesday: Authorities said they apprehended Smith after he crashed a pickup truck that belonged to one of two fishermen shot in the Dismal Creek area of Giles County.
Dog Hikers react to Meredith Emerson's murder
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It's dangerous enough hiking some of the more remote wilderness trails in America. If you've ever accidently stumbled between of an angry black bear mother and her cub (which I have), or almost sat down on top off a timber rattler (which I have), or been chased bya wolf (which I was), then you know what I'm talking about.
Randall Lee Smith brutally murdered two hikers in 1981.
Susan Ramsay and Robert Mountford Jr., 27-year-old social workers from Ellsworth, Maine, had been hiking and camping on the popular trail. Ramsey was stabbed more than a dozen times in the back. Mountford was shot three times in the head.
And for this Randall Lee Smith served a mere 14 years in prison.
7 years per murdered hiker.
There are people who abuse animals that do more time than this.
Apparently, the Commonwealth of Virginia regards the lives of its nature enthusiates as being dirt cheap.
Personally, I don't believe in the death penalty - or at least the state-sanctioned version of it.
No, but I damn well believe in the jailhouse vigilante version of it.
Criminal assholes like Randall Lee Smith don't deserve the sanitized version of a death sentence.
They deserve the justice of a death sentence like the one meted out to Jeffrey Dahmer.
As a member of REI, the Applachian Trail Conservancy and the Potomac Applachian Trail Club, I encourage these three organizations to consider hosting a legal defense fundraiser for the person or persons who delt Randall Lee Smith his final blow. God knows that if Smith had been convicted of merely shooting his last victims (who survived) he'd probably have only been given a 90 day suspended sentence, along with a few hours of community service assisnged to helping to maintain spur trails and shelters along the Applachian Trail.
And, by the way, as a member of the N.R.A., I completely support the Bush administration's position on this matter:
WASHINGTON, DC, May 1, 2008 (ENS) – The Bush administration on Wednesday announced its intent to shoot down federal rules that prohibit individuals from carrying loaded firearms in U.S. national parks and wildlife refuges. The proposal would permit individuals to carry loaded and concealed weapons if permitted by state laws in the state where the park or refuge is located, a change many current and retired park rangers contend is unnecessary and potentially dangerous.
U.S. Interior Department officials said the proposed change would clarify conflicting state and federal restrictions. The 61 units of the National Park Service where hunting is permitted, as well as the public lands managed by the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management, follow state laws on firearms.
Concealed handguns would be allowed in national parks under the proposed regulation, if allowed in the state where the park is located.
"The safety and protection of park and refuge visitors remains a top priority," said Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne. "The proposed regulations will incorporate current state laws authorizing the possession of concealed firearms, while continuing to maintain important provisions to ensure visitor safety and resource protection."
Firearms were first banned in national parks in the 1930s in a bid to curb poaching. The current rules, implemented under President Ronald Reagan in the early 1980s, allow visitors to national parks and refuges to possess firearms so long as they are "rendered temporarily inoperable or are packed, cased or stored in a manner that will prevent their ready use."
"Much has changed in how states administer their firearm laws in that time," U.S. Interior Department Assistant Secretary Lyle Laverty.
Forty-eight U.S. states now have laws allowing for legal possession of concealed weapons.
The administration believes that management of national parks and wildlife refuges "should defer to those state laws," Laverty said.
But an array of park advocacy and law enforcement groups view the change as foolish and argue the administration is catering to the wishes of the U.S. gun lobby.
"This is purely and simply a politically-driven effort to solve a problem that doesn't exist," said Bill Wade, chairman of the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees. "There are no existing data that suggest any public interest to be gained by allowing visitors to parks to possess concealed handguns."
Seven former National Park Service directors sent Kempthorne a letter last month echoing that sentiment. Other parks groups, including the Association of National Park Rangers, the Ranger Lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police, and the National Parks Conservation Association have also urged the Interior Department not to change the current restrictions.
"Do visitors want other visitors with concealed handguns sitting next to them in park concession restaurants, or in park visitor center auditoriums during interpretive programs, or walking with them during ranger-guided walks?" asked Wade, former superintendent at Shenandoah National Park . "Will parks and concessionaires now have to install metal detectors at the entrances to lodges and visitor centers and other administrative facilities?"
Critics of the proposal contend these concerns would cause major headaches for the Park Service, adding that it is unclear what would be done in parks that have boundary lines in multiple states.
"The question we are asking is do the American people perceive a need to change a long-standing regulation or are they happy with the results of managing parks with regard to loaded guns," said Scot McElveen, president of the Association of National Park Rangers.
Parks are among the safest places in the country, according to advocacy groups, who contend the likelihood of becoming a victim of a violent crime in a park or wildlife refuge is one in 708,000.
Many state parks permit loaded and accessible guns. Here a hunting instructor reviews gun safety procedures with a young hunter before shooting practice in a Texas state park. (Photo courtesy Texas Parks and Wildlife) But the proposal is viewed a victory by the National Rifle Association and at least 51 U.S. senators, who began pressing Kempthorne to issue the new plan late last year.
One proponent of the change - Senator Tom Coburn, an Oklahoma Republican - threatened in January to try and force the new regulation by amending a public lands bill, but abandoned the effort once Kempthorne indicated his support for relaxing the gun ban.
Today, Senator Coburn's press secretary Don Tatro told ENS that even if a regulation allowing guns in parks is passed, the senator intends to reintroduce legislation this year because he wants to make the measure "permanent."
Supporters of the proposal contend the existing rule violates the constitutional gun rights of U.S. citizens and argue that law-abiding individuals should be allowed to carry weapons for self-protection.
"It is important that we provide consistency in firearm regulations and recognize states' rights in this matter," said Senator Mike Crapo, an Idaho Republican and leading advocate of the change.
Other lawmakers, however, remain unconvinced.
The proposal is "appalling" and would create "an incoherent, ineffective and inconsistent patchwork of policies," said Senator Dianne Feinstein, a California Demcorat.
"The American public consistently rates our national parks at the top of federal government programs that work well," Feinstein added. "There is no need to 'fix' a system that our citizens tell us is not broken."
The public has until June 30 to comment on the proposed rule change.
Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2008. All rights reserved.
Bring Me The Head Of A D.C. Radiohead Fan And Save The Life Of A Victim Of Cyclone Nargis
So, here's the deal: Mail me a box containing the head of a D.C. Radiohead fan and I'll donate $500 to a Soldier of Fortune outfit of retired Green Beret-trained humanitarian relief commandos who don't sit around like the U.N. with its big thumb up its ass waiting for brutal murderous thug ruling pissant junta generals in Burma to provide permission to save dying human beings.
I know. $500 is a cheap bounty for the boxed set head of an angry, sullen and alienated white male liberal D.C. Radiohead fan (BTW, aren't most of Radiohead's fans angry, sullen and alienated white male liberals?), but life is obviously much cheaper in Burma. Life is so cheap there, in fact, that $500USD could probably fund a regime-change revolution.
Our critic, Mehan Jayasuriya, was one of hundreds, if not thousands of concert goers who never made it inside the venue last night, and you can read Mehan's tale in full below the jump. We've also since heard from people who did manage to make it in to see the show, who told us that Thom Yorke expressed his condolences for the terrible weather thusly: "We know how tough today has been for you guys. Sorry. This is a nasty summer. It's not nice." Colin Greenwood wrote much the same thing on the band's web site today, lamenting what certainly feels like a curse between D.C. area fans and Radiohead concerts.
Of course, your typical D.C. Radiohead fan has to record every single painful minute of their horrendous suffering.
I've takent the liberty of interpolating the timeline of suffering for an average victim of Cyclone Nargis. Being from New Orleans, I have some experience to draw upon with this type of timeline.
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6 p.m.: We leave D.C. (14th & T St. NW) assuming a one-hour trip and hoping to see the Liars' set, which is billed as starting at 7:30. A little optimistic? Perhaps, given the rain. But certainly within reason.
6 p.m.: Irrawaddy Delta - Just realized my entire immediate family has drowned and disappeared.
6:30 p.m.: Once we hit I-66, it's clear that the rain is causing some serious slowdown. It seems that the further we go, the worse the rain gets, resulting in almost zero visibility at some points. We revise our arrival estimate to 7:30, hoping to catch the tail end of Liars' set.
6:30 p.m.: Just realized my entire extended family has drowned and disappeared.
7:30 p.m.: We arrive at exit 44, one of two exits that can be used to access the Pavilion. There's a line of cars waiting to exit the interstate. We queue up, revising our estimated time of arrival to 8-8:30 pm, depending on how long the line leading into the parking lot is. We probably won't get there in time to see Liars, but at least we won't miss the main event.
7:30 p.m.: Just realized that all the members of my village, as well as all their immediate family members and extended family members have drowned and disappeared.
8 p.m.: We finally make it off of I-66 and on to Lee Highway (US-29). The traffic on Lee Highway is bumper-to-bumper, moving only a few inches at a time. At least we we'll probably get in in time to see Radiohead, who we guesstimate will go on at around 9 p.m.
8 p.m.: Have been promised by the ruling junta that they are on top of the situation and will be providing immediate relief assistance.
8:30 pm: We reach the road that leads into the Nissan Pavilion. A large yellow sign on the side of the road reads "Right turn for Nissan Pavilion." When we reach the intersection, however, we see that the road has been completely blocked off by flares and police cars. A policeman waves us across the street, motioning for us to go straight instead of turning. We go straight, yet have no idea where we're going. We decide to follow a car ahead of us with Georgia license plates, which, we reason, must also be going to see Radiohead.
8:30 p.m.: The ruling junta is no where to be seen. Have been promised by the United States and the U.N. that they will not be deterred by the ruling junta and will move heaven and earth to provide immediate humanitarian relief.
9 p.m.: Still stuck in gridlock, on an unknown local road, we're starting to give up hope. We see a few kids leave their cars and wade into the wet grass at the side of the road, in order to relieve themselves. We briefly consider following their lead but decide to hold out for the (hopefully?) dry confines of the Pavilion's bathrooms.
9 p.m.: The United States and U.N. are being blocked from providing assistance by the missing in action ruling junta. The situation is critical. The weakest survivors and now dying in mass numbers of cholera and dysentery.
9:30 p.m.: Maybe Radiohead won't go on until 10? Right?
9:30 p.m.: Tens of thousands of bloated bodies are floating in the rice fields, hanging from trees and scattered across the roads. Have been informed that the ruling junta is going to insert its military finger in its ass and do nothing to help us.
10 p.m.: Inch-by-inch, we approach what looks like a major intersection. There are a number of police cars and officers at the intersection, directing traffic and setting down cones and flares. It looks like they're starting to close off the road, lane by lane, in preparation for the return traffic. This is a bad sign. Regardless, we manage to squeeze through before they close off our lane.
10:00 p.m.: Survivors are now at the critical desperation stage. People are killing each other for non-existent supplies of food and potable water. Have been informed that the United States and the U.N. are debating whether or not to violate Burmese sovereignty by providing direct humanity relief against the orders to not do so by the ruling junta.
10:15 p.m.: Fans can be seen walking along the side of the road, some with umbrellas and ponchos, some completely soaked from head-to-toe, seemingly impervious to the elements. It seems like some of them may have parked in the parking lot of a Best Buy that can be seen in the distance, in order to avoid the line leading into the venue's lot.
10:15 p.m.: The few relaltively healthy survivors are now dying in mass numbers. Have been informed that the United States and the U.N. continue to spin around on their fingers up their asses while debating the politics of saving us.
10:30 p.m.: Okay, this is getting ridiculous. We've been in the car for four hours, three of which have been spent waiting in line. We need a plan of action. We notice that a few cars are dangerously pulling a U-turn on the narrow road and jetting off in the opposite direction. We're decide that if we're not in the parking lot by 11, we should just cut our losses and turn back.
10:30 p.m.: Have been informed that a (1?!!!) cargo plane of relief supplies landed at the airport. However, the ruling junta is not allowing the relief workers to deliver these supplies.
10:50 p.m.: At last, we reach the main entrance of the parking lot. The entire entrance is blocked off by parking cones and flares and police are directing cars to turn around and head back toward the interstate. The car in front of us rolls down its window and waves a policeman over. The officer yells to them that they cannot enter the parking lot and must turn around. On the drive back, we see that police have completely blocked off all roads leading into the venue. We were, apparently, one of the last cars allowed through this roadblock, before being turned away at the entrance.
10:50 p.m.: (Last entry in the diary) There's no food or water. I'm vomiting constantly. There's no help coming. Have been informed that an earthquake has struck in China. China is more important than Burma to the United States and the U.N. The world community is not going to do anything for us. The world community has decided to put a nation's "sovereignty" before the lives of human beings.
***
Kriston Capps feels the punful pain of D.C. Radiohead fans from the front lines of the site of the weather-related disaster here.
Today in the Department of Defense, Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates provides remarks at the Heritage Foundation in Colorado Springs, Colorado at 10 a.m. EDT.
Secretary Gates participates in a ribbon cutting ceremony at U. S. NORTHCOM at 11 a.m. in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England has no public or media events on his schedule.
Army Col. Wayne Grigsby, commander of the 3nd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division will brief live from Iraq at 11 a.m. EDT, May 13, in the DoD Briefing Studio, Pentagon 2E579, to provide an update on ongoing security operations in Iraq. Journalists without a Pentagon building pass will be picked up at the North Parking Entrance only. Plan to arrive no later than 45 minutes prior to the event; have proof of affiliation and two forms of photo identification.
"Yet Another Model Pose #31" by The Right Reverend James W. Bailey
Evil Digital Photography
Images captured by Samsung Digimax S500 digital camera. I want to thank my friend Ellen for posing for these photographs.
Filmed on location at the Walker Nature Education Center, an 80-plus acre nature preserve that was part of Robert E. Simon's master plan for Reston.
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DoD Identifies Army Casualty
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Cpl. Jessica A. Ellis, 24, of Bend, Ore., died May 11 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when her vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device. She was assigned to the 2nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky.
There's an image of Barack Hussein Obama's extended black family floating around the internets that's supposed to shock racist white conservatives into the fear that the black Archie Bunker - better known as George Jefferson - and his up-from-the-ghetto brood of loudmouths are preparing to take over the White House.
This image is a pretty good piece of political propoganda.
That is, judged by the fact that it seems to be working pretty well.
But the real fear among racist conservative whites isn't that J.J. is going to be bringing on the Black Jesus Good Times gospel as Obama's Minister of Culture.
No, the REAL fear is that Obama is going to appoint to his cabinet a bunch of left-wing fast-talking bullshit wal
"I wanted the poster to be recognizable as my work, and to be appealing to a younger, apathetic audience, yet tame enough not to be seen as radical or offensive to the more mainstream political participants," Fairey explains. "You want to create the most flattering shapes. Strong in the face of adversity. How the light falls beautifully. It's idealized." -- Shepard Fairey 
Try To Keep Your Pecker In Your Pants
