The Rudicus Report

The New Rudicus Report

2006-07-25T14:44:00.000-05:00

Come see The Rudicus Report on our new site:

www.rudicusreport.com

The Rudicus Report Has MOVED!

2006-07-25T13:24:00.000-05:00

After much back and forth, The Rudicus Report has gotten it's own site and we will be continuing the same tradtion.

Please visit at:

www.rudicusreport.com

See you all there!

Rudicus: The Next Generation.

2006-07-14T06:43:00.000-05:00

The two new Rudicus sites are up and running.

I will be focussing on the fight for Gay Rights on my new blog True Persecution.

And taking on my old nemesis, Organized Religion on Disorganize.

Please stop by and visit when you have the time.

Your Tax Dollars at Work.

2006-07-07T08:35:00.000-05:00

Nothing says freedom better than secrecy, so in honor of that founding principle of our country, GW has decided to use your tax dollars to continue to fund his award winning "most secret government in the history of America."

That's right kiddies, we'll be paying a Texas Law school $1 million smackaroos to figure out ways around the Freedom of Information Act. You remember that one, it's the 40 year old law that forces the government to disclose or turn over information about it's practices to interested parties like the press or other groups so that they can make sure that the government is not a hot bed for fascists. Well you can see how this would put this administrations nose out of joint.

Now the argument made by the government is the FOIA allows terrorists and other potentially not helpful folks access to sensitive material that could threaten national security. So if that's true, then have an independent body oversee the release of information. But this administration has consistently and without apology withheld damaging public information in the name of national security, when it was nothing of the sort.

So let's review: Security blueprints for a nuclear plant = national security concern; Minutes and attendees of secret energy meeting with energy industry to craft U.S. energy policy and systematically rape the American People = not a national security concern.

And where is the oversight on this kind of spending? These are the people we left with the keys to the house. They use your own money to screw you and then tell you it's for your own good and you should be thanking them. The worst part is, most people buy it.

Bring it Back?

2006-07-06T14:21:00.000-05:00

Now that we are up and running over at Disorganize, I was thinking about what to do with The Rudicus Report, since Disorganize is now handling the religious commentary.

I was thinking of reviving the site and returning to it's roots as a political blog. Does anyone still stop by to visit? Any thoughts or comments?

Where's Rudicus?

2006-06-22T16:27:00.000-05:00

After a long hiatus, we are back in the south. Please come visit the new site:

Disorganize

It's still in it's infancy so please be patient.

Leave of Absence.

2005-11-04T08:45:00.000-05:00

I spent a lot of time thinking while I was moving and visiting Canada, and I realized that it may be time to take a break from The Rudicus Report and possibly go in a different direction.

I have been greatly enjoying writing The Rudicus Report, but I came to realize that I've been covering the same territory and there is not much more that needs to be said. By this time we all know my feelings about The Bush Administration, Christian Conservatives and other topics - and lately I've been feeling like all I am doing is commenting on the news - since I neither have the time nor resources to create news, it seems like I've already said everything I want to and any further stories on this topic are simply rehashes of old stories. So with that, I have decided to take a break from TRR while I decide what to do next.

Currently my ideas are as follows: (but I would love to get everyone's thoughts for other topics that you would like to see me cover)

Gay Rights - this would be similar to some of the things I've already written about, but it would be focused and more activist.

Interviews with Bloggers - this would be where I ask something like 10 questions of different bloggers about their blogs so people can get a sense of the people behind the blogs.

That's what I have so far - please let me know what you think and also if you have any other topics you think would be either in need of development or unique.

All The Proof You Need.

2005-10-25T10:45:00.000-05:00

You know how we've been talking about the whole Christian Conservative movement and how it is not based on real Christian values, but rather on values of hate and discrimination. We've talked a lot about this topic and showed many many examples of how these folks are very far from being true Christians, but finally we have uncontested proof that this movement is all about hate and discrimination.

You know the movement must be good when the KKK comes out in support of it. That's right, the KKK in Austin, Texas (Texas scores another point) is planning a rally as they put it...

"... to come and encourage people to vote for Christian Family Values and against legalized homosexual marriage in the state of Texas."

Christian Family Values...That says it all right there.

If the group, made world famous for hatemongering and intolerance, is supporting you, then you must be sharing a lot of the same beliefs.

They say you can tell a lot about a person by the company they keep. Christians and the KKK - they make a good team don't they?

If the KKK represents Christian Family Values then I guess we can close the book on this discussion and call it what it is. So does this make Christians a hate group too?

Maybe the KKK is simply jumping on the Gay-hating bandwagon. After all, people used to get upset when they plied their hate against blacks, latinos and jews, but in this day and age, we seem to be perfectly comfortable discriminating against Gays and no one but Gays seems to be upset about it, but who cares what they think anyway, they're Gay.

After spending a week in Massachusetts and then another in Montreal where Gays are protected and allowed to marry, it's nice to know that backwards-ass redneck faux-Christian stupidity is still going strong in Texas.

What's it going to take to get people to realize that hating gays is no different than hating anyone else? How can we continue to live in a country that not only condones this kind of behavior, but openly supports it and advocates for it?

You cannot continue to call yourself a free country or a free society if you are oppressing a segment of your population. Especially if all they want to do is live in peace and love whom they wish (sounds like a great threat to national security to me.)

I continue to love the fact that we are so ok with hate and discrimination, but don't seem to be getting at all outraged by the fact that significant members of our senate, house and executive branch are all under investigation or idictment.

Boy are our Christian Family Values out of whack.

Observations du Montreal.

2005-10-24T04:24:00.000-05:00

OK we're back sort of. As expected the move is not smooth, but I'm back enough to get back to reporting. Thanks for waiting.

In this time before everyone gets indicted and we report on all sorts of government and church hijinks - I thought it would be interesting to take a look at our experiences in Montreal, Quebec.

Priceline Rocks!: Say what you like about it, and I would never use it for plane tickets, but for hotel rooms - it can't be beat. I stayed here for $75 a night - rooms during the peak season can go as high as $300 a night. This was the most comfortable room I've ever been in and was right in the middle of everything.

Canadians hate George Bush as much as I do(hate in a political way, not in a secret service way, fellas): There was anti-bush graffiti everywhere. People were wearing anti-bush buttons, sported anti-bush stickers and were very happy to express their dislike about him the minute I mentioned I was American.

Canadian Burgers are better: Maybe it's the mad cows, maybe it's what they feed them, but every burger I had in Canada, was WAAAAY better than any I had in the states.

Schwartz's - DON'T BELIEVE THE HYPE: Everyone I spoke to about Montreal mentioned Schwartz's deli for their apparently world famous smoked meat. Not worth the hassle. It's OK and that's about all I'll give it. Supposedly famous people flock there and if you are Jewish, it's considered a must see. If you happen to be there, you can grab a quick bite for posterity, but if you are not, go get a burger at Boccacinos, you'll be much happier.

You Absolutely Can Get Lost In a City Park: Our trip to Mount Royal Park was awesome - great leaves, a nice hike up to the Chalet for a great view of the City, but on the way back down, the big staircase was closed for construction so we had to go around on the trails - which ultimately put us on the other side of the park - and continuing to go up instead of coming back down. It took almost another hour to find a trail that could get us off the mountain and back onto the street. Damn were my legs sore!

Women in Montreal Seemed to be bigger on the bottom: I will freely admit that this was not scientific, but I've walked around a lot of cities and my observation was that Women in Montreal had much thicker legs and back ends than I've seen before. They weren't fat by any means, they just looked stronger and a but wider - it might be from all the walking uphill in the snow.

If you don't speak fluent French, be careful when you use it: My French is mediocre at best, but I must be able to say Bon Jour without much of an accent because everytime we went into places and I started with this opening, I found myself reading the French menu or engaging in a French conversation that was out of my league. I heard and saw other people with bad French accents, but the people immediately switched to English for them. Damn you Rosetta Stone! However it did come in handy in the Belgian French fry place in the Latin Quarter where they were from Belgium and only spoke French.

Canada is fucking freezing! Especially if you are from Atlanta: I think this is the one thing that keeps Montreal from becoming a world class international metropolis - it's just too damn cold. I'll be honest, I liked this city so much that I would consider moving there despite the cold, so imagine if it was a little more reasonable?

You can be yourself in Montreal: More than any other city I've been in so far, I think you can truly be yourself in Montreal. If you want to be a n uptight business person, a punk skate kid, an annoying brat, a grandmother in a miniskirt and pink hair, a hip-hop Arab - you name it! I saw all sorts of people in this wildly diverse city and never saw anyone with a judgmental look on their face or treating anyone differently because of how they looked.

I'm sure I have skewed image of Montreal and there are probably a lot of things about the city that are not positive - but I have to say that I enjoyed that city far more than any other I've been in in the U.S.. I highly recommend going. In January they are enacting a smoking ban, so it will be even more enjoyable then. I'll be going back this summer when it's warmer!

The Rudicus Report Is Relocating!

2005-10-11T11:30:00.000-05:00

The Rudicus Report is moving. We are leaving Atlanta and moving to Massachusetts.

The move will take about two weeks and during that time we may have an interrupted publishing schedule.

We will be on the road the rest of this week and visiting Canada the week after that. I will try to get some Canadian stories up while I'm there, but in the meantime - it you have a story about the abuse of power or hypocrisy in government or religion and would like to contribute a piece to The Rudicus Report - please email me at rudicusreport@gmail.com and I will be happy to post it with all requisite links and fanfare.

See you all soon.

Another Quag"Miers" for Bush.

2005-10-10T08:30:00.000-05:00

Another day another controversy - nothing new in the Bush Regime. Bush took a break from patting his friends on the back as they went off to be investigated and appointed his personal lawyer to be the next Supreme Court Justice to replace Sandra Day O'Conner.

We all have friends, and if we can do so, we'd love to give them a nice job. Bush has certainly ascribed to this philosophy as he has gleefully appointed unqualified friends to various high level positions throughout the administration - often with disastrous results.

So it really came as no surprise when Bush aka "Captain Cronyism" appointed his own lawyer to the highest court, despite the fact that she had no judicial experience. But the more this appointment is discussed, the stranger it seems.

No one was really surprised with the appointment of John Roberts to the court, although his subsequent appointment as Chief Justice was a bit surprising. And while he could very well be a wolf in sheep's clothing - most people seem to think he'll be reasonable and fair, even if he does lean to the right - but that remains to be seem. However he doesn't appear to be a staunch ultra conservative like the right wing masses were promised, so they were expecting O'Conner's replacement to be the very hardline conservative freak they were hoping for, someone who could get this country back on the road to being a nice, wholesome Christian police state.

So it was with much dismay when Harriet Miers was appointed, since not only did she not have the conservative street cred that were hoping for, but some liberals actually thought the pick was OK, which certainly led to untold levels of bally-hooing by the right.

Did Bush dis his constituency? Did he suddenly grow a brain along with a pair of balls?

It seems very uncharacteristic for Bushy to think inclusively and moderately. As we speak, ultra conservatives are screaming bloody murder and calling for Bush to withdraw his pick. On the surface it looks like Bush has lost his conservative marbles. It could be, or he could be crazy like a fox.

It may not be John Roberts who is the double agent - it might just be Miers. What if she is the perfect pick? Not someone from the system, but Bush's personal friend and attorney - i.e. someone who will give him what he wants and will do what he says.

What if he made a deal with her to put her on the supreme court in exchange for her dismantling and eliminating all those pesky laws and rights that have prevented him from completely destroying the very fabric of our country?

Sound crazy? Maybe not. Apparently Focus on the Family founder James Dobson isn't concerned(and he's ALWAYS concerned). Rumor has it that he has had personal assurances from the White House, assuring him that Miers would oppose abortion.

And then Sen Arlen Specter (The Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman) expressed concern that Miers may have cut a back room deal with President Bush to overturn Roe vs. Wade.

Certainly the GOP and President Bush have a long history of secret deals and ethical violations to their credit, so this would come as no surprise.

Regardless of your position on abortion, do we really want to live in a country where we feel free to "fix" votes and stack a court with lifetime appointees for political and religious reasons? Are we now a nation run by people who will stop at nothing to shove their ideology down everyone's throat no matter how much they have to lie, cheat and steal to do it? Is that what we've become? Is that truth, justice and the American way? No, I'm afraid that something else.

It's called fascism. So bend over, here it comes again.

The Catholic Church Shocks The World!

2005-10-07T09:51:00.000-05:00

It looks like the Catholic Church must have been reading The Rudicus Report because they've finally come out with something that makes sense. Get a load of this whopper:

"The hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church has published a teaching document instructing the faithful that some parts of the Bible are not actually true.

The Catholic bishops of England, Wales and Scotland are warning their five million worshippers, as well as any others drawn to the study of scripture, that they should not expect total accuracy from the Bible."

Get out!

If you want to know how far to the right we've slipped as a nation - this document was published in response to the rise ofundamentalismsm in the U.S.

They go on to condemn fundamentalism for its "intransigent intolerance" and to warn of "significant dangers" involved in a fundamentalist approach.

"Such an approach is dangerous, for example, when people of one nation or group see in the Bible a mandate for their own superiority, and even consider themselves permitted by the Bible to use violence against others."

Wow.

I'm really shocked and awed by the concept of an organized religion thinking rationally. And while I still disagree with their belief system, at least they are drawing a line in the sand when it comes to science and religion and the inherent conflicts therein.

I think this is a great day for critical thinking.

In this publication the church admits that some parts of the Genesis story and Revelations as well as some other passages are either untrue (in terms of literal or historical accuracy) or need to be re-examined for a modern society.

"Such symbolic language must be respected for what it is, and is not to be interpreted literally. We should not expect to discover in this book[The Bible] details about the end of the world, about how many will be saved and about when the end will come."

"We should not expect total accuracy from the Bible in other, secular matters."

Well this is nothing short of remarkable from where I'm sitting and shows that given enough time and rational thought, dogma and rampant idiocy can be replaced by understanding and reality and hopefully someday convert thfundamentalistsdementalists into critical thinkers following a life philosophy instead of robots on their self-created mission from God.

This is exactly the reason why The Rudicus Report exists - it's nice to see some good happening - even if it is in other countries.

I DO wonder what will happen to Pope Eggs Benedict and his homosexual witch hunt in light of this, since it would be hard to rationalize why they are saying thSemiticanti-semetic curse from Matthew 27:25 which has been used to justify mistreatment and persecutions of Jews is no longer appropriate, but the anti-gay language from Leviticus, which has been used the same way, is still valid.

I suspect that this publiinitiallyill intially cause a lot more trouble - but it is a great first step - Bravo Catholic Bishops of England, Scotland and Wales.

You can read the full article here.

American Gestapo.

2005-10-06T09:37:00.000-05:00

The daily parallels between America under the Bush Administration and Nazi Germany should come as no surprise to anyone. With ever increasing regularity the lines between freedom and fascism blur until they are only discernible by a few ignored rights and civil liberties.

Here we go with another story of Nazi America.

In North Carolina a High School civics teacher assigned her students the project "to take photographs to illustrate their rights in the Bill of Rights,"

One student "had taken a photo of George Bush out of a magazine and tacked the picture to a wall with a red thumb tack through his head. Then he made a thumb's down sign with his own hand next to the President's picture, and he had a photo taken of that, and he pasted it on a poster."

Sounds like a statement of disapproval and a great example of free speech and dissent under the bill of rights. That is until the Secret Service (whose initials are also SS, not surprisingly) showed up. The SS came in while the teacher was out and confiscated the poster and sent it to Attorney General Alberto "Tortureman" Gonzales to determine if the student could be indicted.

While I'm not in any way clear how this constitutes a threat to the President, and further more is a clear violation of the students free speech rights. But how did the SS even get involved?

A employee in the photo developing department at Wal-Mart called them.

So not only do we have the SS confiscating and threatening a student who is exercising his constitutionally protected rights, but we even have citizens informing on other citizens. Does that sound familiar to anyone. Just substitute liberal for Jew and you've got it.

What the fuck has happened to this country when we have people calling the secret police on kids, just because they disagree with their opinions. And why was this even an SS investigation? Would it have made a difference if the student had tacked up the photo with Scotch tape?

If an innocuous high school civics project can trigger a Secret Service investigation, you can pretty much kiss whatever semblance of civil rights you used to have goodbye. Seig Heil!

And now it's time for our theme song:

Deutschland, Deutschland uber Alles...

The Daily Discrimination.

2005-10-05T08:53:00.000-05:00

Remember back in the good old days when Republicans were just rich business people who believed in lower taxes and small government?

It seems these days that the government is bigger than ever and is seeking to control every aspect of your life. We have already seen them get involved in how you treat your illnesses, how and when you choose to die if you are terminally ill and even whom you can love and marry. Well if Republican Sen. Patricia Miller has her way, the government will be able to tell you if you are allowed to have children.

You heard that right. In an compelling argument to prove that Republican = Nazi, Sen. Miller has put forth a bill in the Indiana Senate that would prohibit gays, lesbians and single people in Indiana from using medical science to assist them in having a child.

According to this bill the only acceptable parents for a child in Indiana are a married male and female couple. The married male/female couples are free to use assisted reproduction methods, but nobody else is.

Presumably gays, lesbians and single people CAN still be parents as long as they engage in traditional intercourse to do so, but would not be allowed to conceive through any other means.

While this woman is obviously a crazed lunatic, the part that scares me is that this bill is even being put forth. When do you get to in your head where you think this kind of tactic would be appropriate. And I guarantee you there are a vast number of people who also think this is a good idea.

Forget the fact that this is yet another form of government sponsored discrimination against homosexuals and now single parents, when did we become a nation so intolerant that we resort to the most medieval of laws to force our population to live only as one very small segment of the population sees fit.

I am curious as to how they would plan to enforce this. If they catch someone, wouldn't they then have to abort the baby? Or would they take it away? And then would you get a fine or go to jail? I don't see any way this would actually work.

I would sincerely hope that this bill will get shot down with extreme prejudice, but considering the fact that it will even be given a vote, should show how far we have fallen and how far some folks will go to control others. Viva la Revolucion!

Forget Detention, Just Tell Everyone You're Gay.

2005-10-04T09:20:00.000-05:00

It's been a little quiet in the ongoing battle between Texas and Florida for which state has the title of most intolerant and stupid population. Florida, who was already winning the homophobia category, put the final nail in Texas to win the 2005 top honors with this gem:

In an elementary school in Orange Park, FL, two 6th graders we're mouthing words to each other while the teacher was lecturing. Not an uncommon occurrence, about on par with passing notes and whispering, something each of us has done at one time or another. While it is often considered rude by teachers, usually students face admonishment, detention or in rare circumstances, a trip to the Prinicipal's office.

But not in Florida. No, teacher Larry Eager decided to really teach these kids a lesson, by making them get up in front of the class and tell everyone they were gay. That's right, this brilliant genius, who up until a couple of days ago was teaching children, thought it would be a good idea to get these kids up and make them sit closely next to each other with their knees touching and holding hands and announcing to the class that they were gay.

It goes without saying that this kind of humiliation technique is completely inappropriate for a teacher to engage in, as well as it being a little overboard for kids, who were probably not paying close attention, but also not disrupting class in anyway.

But the larger issue is the idea that being gay is some sort of punishment and should be considered a thing that was a threat or humiliation. It just goes to show how deep this kind of bigotry runs in this country.

Remember that guy(from Florida) who beat his 3 year old kid to death because he thought he was gay? Remember those other kids(in Florida) who burned down the home of two gay men? Where do you think that kind of mentality comes from? Right here in this school. This teacher was obviously way out of bounds, but for someone who is obviously educated enough to be a teacher to think that this kind of thing was OK, is wrong on so many levels.

This kind of thing maintains the idea that being gay is so horrible that you should be traumatized for life or killed because of it. It's absolutely outrageous that this teacher did this, but I also think it is even more outrageous and contemptible that the teacher resigned. Good riddance you say? You bet, but that means he wasn't fired immediately. He was put on 97-day probation. To me that says that the teacher was only disciplined because the students and their parents complained.

And that's at the heart of it. When the school, the community and the church do not openly condemn this kind of thing but conversely give it tacit approval by not responding with definite action and also turn around and preach discrimination and hated of gays in the houses of god and seats of government - where are people supposed to learn that this is wrong?

Can we really blame this teacher for taking his hatred of gays, just a step further than the church, government and community are comfortable with? Actually yes, because it's his non-thinking, prejudiced action that is at fault, but equal blame must reside with the society that not only allows it t happen, but clandestinely condones it.

This is not the kind of country I'd be proud to call home.

Public Enemy #1!

2005-10-03T11:57:00.000-05:00

We've all heard that Godless atheists and their friends the agnostics, Wiccans and other non-judeo/christians cannot hope to live a moral and ethical life without God telling them how to think, act, and be. We also have Pope Eggs Benedict telling us that Relativism is the single most dangerous thing threatening the world today.

You are being led to believe that living a Christian life in a Christian society would be heaven on earth with a blissful and morally righteous existence free of the evils caused by the aforementioned Godless relativists.

well speaking for the Godless Relativists, it turns out the Christians are wrong again.

The Journal of Religion and Society a US-based academic journal has recently come out with a study that shows that:

RELIGIOUS belief can cause damage to a society, contributing towards high murder rates, abortion, sexual promiscuity and suicide.

According to the study, belief in and worship of God are not only unnecessary for a healthy society but may actually contribute to social problems.

But the delusions run deep in America

"Many Americans agree that their churchgoing nation is an exceptional, God-blessed, shining city on the hill that stands as an impressive example for an increasinglyskepticall world.

"In general, higher rates of belief in and worship of a creator correlate with higher rates of homicide, juvenile and early adult mortality, STD infection rates, teen pregnancy and abortion in the prosperous democracies."

I know none of our regular readers will be surprised by this because we've been talking about this for sometime now, but it's always nice to be validated. I especially liked this part:

"The United States is almost always the most dysfunctional of the developing democracies, sometimes spectacularly so."

The study concluded that the US was the worldÂs only prosperous democracy where murder rates were still high, and that the least devout nations were the least dysfunctional. [The Study's Author] said that rates of gonorrhoea in adolescents in the US were up to 300 times higher than in less devout democratic countries. The US also suffered from 'uniquely high' adolescent and adult syphilis infection rates, and adolescent abortion rates.

Ouch.

"The study shows that England, despite the social ills it has, is actually performing a good deal better than the USA in most indicators, even though it is now a much less religious nation than America."

We suspected as much, but check this out:

"...the disparity was even greater when the US was compared with other countries, including France, Japan and the Scandinavian countries. These nations had been the most successful in reducing murder rates, early mortality, sexually transmitted diseases and abortion." [They also happen to be among the least religious of the developed nations]

Well now. I realize that the fact that this comes from a scientific study will pretty much invalidate it in the eyes of Christians in this country, because as we all know, this is just another theory based on documented evidence anevangelicallygelically inspired with absolutely no support in reality, thus rendering it invalid.

But let's look a bit deeper at this. If we take in account all the social ills that religion seems to foster rather than hinder - religion is not looking so good. But lets take it a bit further and see if Religion has helped in any other ways to cure societies challenges.

Nope.

In fact religion seems to be at the heart of almost every divisive issue currently facing the planet. Evolution & science, abortion, homosexuality, general sexuality and sex education,
law & society (ten commandments, pledge etc.), art & erotica, entertainment & humor, marriage & family, government, language, drugs, gender roles and a host of other issues.

Not to mention all the hot spots of unrest like Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Bosnia, Sudan, Israel & Palestine, Syria and all the associated war and terrorism - ALL stem from religion and religious dispute. You can even look at the Communists - what was our biggest complaint about them? They were Godless Atheists.

When you look at the facts and the true effect on society and the global community, I would say that Religion was public enemy #1. Unfortunately we can not separate religion from society without a revolution. The study that we were originally talking about also established this fact.

"... most Western nations would become more religious only if the theory of evolution could be overturned and the existence of God scientifically proven. Likewise, the theory of evolution would not enjoy majority support in the US unless there was a marked decline in religious belief."

And as we have already talked about, religious people will never give up their religion - even if it kills them. Thus, we are left with a conundrum. How do you get people to stop doing something that is bad for them? We have already seen that prohibition doesn't work, and laws only have minimal effectiveness - especially if you don't get public support from 85% of the afflicted people. What about education and awareness? Not going to work either - 2000 years of history have not changed any beliefs one iota regardless of how many things are disproven or shown to be harmful, contradictory or just plain wrong. You can't oppress it because we all know that leads right to civil war.

So how do you get people to change - especially when so many programs are designed to indoctrinate children at a very young age (just like advertisers and tobacco companies)? I don't think we can. We may simply have to wait for these folks to either kill each other or their societies collapse and just stay out of the way.

New Look

2005-09-30T08:07:00.000-05:00

It's been pretty quiet around her for the last week - must be vacation time.

So I figured we take a little break and let people catch up.

Anyway, you may have noticed we got a new look here at The Rudicus Report.

This killer design comes partly from an idea from yours truly and put together and made awesome by Cat over at Blogtogs (thanks Cat)

We wanted to give The Rudicus Report a cleaner more professional look, and boy did we get it.

Let me know what you think.

The Bush Mafia.

2005-09-28T10:30:00.000-05:00

When we think of organized crime we think of Gambinos, Gottis or even Sopranos. We don't usually think of the U.S. Government, but when we take a closer look at the Bush Administration we start to get an image of power and corruption gone horribly wrong when we consider how many Bush Administration officials and cronies are currently under some sort of investigation.

If they say you can tell a lot about a man by the company he keeps and the investigations they are under, I think Bush and his friends tell a pretty compelling story - let's take a look:

From the top down:

President George Bush/Bush Administration: Downing Street Memo and other intelligence failures and issues related to Iraq and 9/11, also Medicare for lying and possibly bribery of House Republicans. Voting irregularities and related voter suppression or oppression. Hurricane Katrina

Vice President Dick Cheney: Secret Energy Task Force, Haliburton, Valerie Plame outing

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist: under SEC investigation for possible insider trading.

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld: Abu Ghraib Prison Scandal, Iraq War Planning

Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice: 9/11 scandal, accounting irregularities in HUD

Presidental Advisor Karl Rove: Valerie Plame outing plus many connections to scandals currently under investigation

Attorney General John Ashcroft: Illegal Campaign contributions in excess of $100,000

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales: Abu Ghraib torture scandal

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay: Criminal fundraising schemes, Bribery, Intimidation, Abuse of Power - already admonished multiple times by house ethics committee. JUST INDICTED!

Lobbyist Jack Abramoff - currently under criminal investigation for a whole host of violations relating to illegal campaign contributions and other campaign finance issues - closely connected to entire Republican hierarchy.

Pentagon: Currently under multiple investigations ranging from no-bid contracts to Bush cronies to torture scandals to Iraq war and intelligence failure to intentionally slowing investigation of Bush appointees.

That's quite a list. And that doesn't include many other irregularities or investigations that would be opened if Bush hadn't blocked them.

What does this say about the country if most of our leaders are currently under some sort of investigation, often involving criminal acts or ethical violations? Is this the group we think represents good old American family values? Is this the self-righteous moral majority that tells what is right and wrong?

But I guess this is all just par for the course - we have been acting like third world fascist dictatorship for a while now, so I suppose you can't have that without all the corruption, manipulation and intimidation that goes along with it.

The best part is that if we weren't the ones doing the name calling, The U.S. would be part of the axis of evil from most other countries perspective. Go America!

The Great Commission.

2005-09-27T10:39:00.000-05:00

In all this talk about homosexuality and equality and discrimination we have seen no acceptance or tolerance or even willingness to discuss on the part of most Christians. I think I may have figured out why.

The Great Commission.

The Great Commission in a nutshell is this:

And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen. (Matthew 28:18-20)

Wow - that's pretty heavy.

But this isn't just some high-minded ideal, hundreds of thousands of people spend millions of dollars each year to bring the gospel to people all over the world, who were perfectly happy with their existing religion. At least they do it more subtly than their predecessors The Conquistadors.

So with this in mind, how can you possibly argue or even have an intelligent debate with someone who believes they have a mandate from God to literally convert every single person on the planet?

Puts a lot of things into perspective doesn't it?

The Great Commission is still in full swing, just last week a conference of missionary church groups was held in North Carolina - the conference title was "Finishing The Task" It was a call that began with Billy Graham, challenging people to step up their efforts to complete the Great Commission.

The conference attendees answered with plans to send even more missionaries and expend even more money to "witness" to people, preach the gospel and plant churches in all the major population areas of the world where the Christian Church doesn't currently have one.

So let's think about this. Your mission, which you have no choice but to accept, means that you have to convert EVERYONE. Not just a couple people here and there, not just your neighbors, but everyone.

What are the larger ramifications of this. Well beyond the staggering audacity needed to believe and actually act on this commission, there is the culture destroying and society changing effects of teaching people that everything they believe is wrong and everything you believe is right. It carries with it a fundamental disrespect and disdain for different cultures and different people if they engage in any behavior or beliefs that differ from the Christian teachings.

But apart from this, lets see how this person would interact with the world. This person would believe that there WAS only one right way to live and that it was their duty to convert everyone who believed anything different. As a result they would NOT be open to any opposing way of thinking or alternate viewpoints. It would be pointless to try and discuss the idea of equality or diversity or acceptance because if it is was not spelled out in the Bible 2000 years ago, it pretty much doesn't exist. So what you end up with is a large group of people filled with evangelical zeal, an unerring sense of self-righteousness, armed with an infallible dogma, a mandate for conquering the world in the name of Jesus and absolute authority to do so - transcending every sovereign nation and belief system.

Now if that doesn't scare you, I don't know what will. Because what I describe above is not a group of people telling other interested people about their philosophy, it's robots on a mission from God.

It's the Borg and you will be assimilated.

U.S. Sponsors Discrimination.

2005-09-26T11:39:00.000-05:00

More of our democracy and formerly "free" country got flushed down the toilet last week when the House of Republicans voted to allow states to freely discriminate against American citizens on the basis of religion.

That's right, we can already freely discriminate against gays in this country, now we can add religion to the list of the discriminated.

The Republican-led House approved a bill that lets churches and other faith-based preschool centers hire only people who share their religion, yet still receive federal tax dollars.

Yay! Free discrimination with no consequences - and the government will even pay you to do it!

That's right, Head Start Programs that are run by Catholics, now would have the right to refuse employment to anyone who is not Catholic. And the same would hold true for any faith. So what we have here is government funded discrimination. I'd love to see what would happen if a traditional company decided not to hire Christians because they disagreed with their religion - how fast would that company be slapped with lawsuits and lose any form of federal assistance or support?

This is just another case of theocratic policy making - letting the Christians have their cake and fuck everyone else. We've already seen the separation of church and state go away when Bush & Co. authorized the federal government to allow funds to go to faith-based organizations. Then we had that very enjoyable law that allows doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other healthcare workers to refuse to participate in treatment or prescribe or dispense medicine to people if they disagree with their lifestyles for religious reasons. Now we have the Equal Opportunity Laws being discarded in favor of hiring along religious lines.

This administration has gone out of it's way to spit and piss on every civil right or human right ever awarded and they have gotten a 100% approval rating on their goal of splitting the country along religious lines. America is now the most polarized nation in history that hasn't started a civil war...yet.

While we focus our attention on wars and hurricanes, our civil liberties are being carted out the back door. The Republicans are acting alarmingly like fascists and the Christians are acting surprisingly like The Taliban - and nobody is saying anything about it.

And while I am deeply troubled that our government has been systematically destroying our country both internationally and domestically, my undiluted ire is reserved for the stupid, lazy, self-centered and non-thinking American sheeple who are being anally raped each day, and who's only response is "thank you sir, may I have another."

So from everyone who has not bothered to say anything because it didn't affect them to those who blindly follow without thinking because someone told them to - I say, the day is fast approaching when no one will speak up for you.

And on that day I will look out upon you from my home in Canada and laugh as Christians are put in camps for not being Christian enough while others are jailed and robbed of their freedom, money and minds by the very people they selected to protect them. Let the games begin.

Australian Blogger Questions Zogby on Poll.

2005-09-23T10:40:00.000-05:00

Lukery, an Australian blogger at Wot Is It Good 4 has been on a campaign to have the issue of impeaching George Bush raised again with the American people in a Zogby poll.

In this post he discusses the entire issue at length – it is a great read and really highlights a side issue of the impeachment debate, which is the question of why MSM is not touching this story.

The Rudicus Report caught up with Lukery for the Impeach Bush Coalition to get his thoughts on this poll, the foreign perception of the U.S. and the power of blogging:

Rudicus: As an Australian, what made you want to take up the charge on the issue of Bush's impeachment?

Lukery: The Bush administration is dangerous to everyone. They are dangerous when they start wars, they are dangerous when they destroy the environment, and they are dangerous because they provide cover for other governments to mimic US policies - for example, stripping civil liberties, ignoring science, or justifying torture.

Rudicus: What do you think the impact of your activities will be? What would you like them to be?

Lukery: It looks as though we've already had an impact with this latest episode. Zogby wasn’t going to ask the question[about impeachment], and it appears that they've caved. Its going to cost us a few thousand dollars to get the impeachment questions asked again - but from the feedback I've received, it seems as though we should be able to raise that in $20 and $50 and $100 increments. If we can get the poll done, the next challenge will be to get the appropriate media coverage of the poll results. With luck, the coverage of the poll results will shift the narrative in the general media away from 'a president with some popularity problems' to 'a failed presidency'

I want the impact of all of our activities to be that America banishes crazy right-wing notions forever and that we see a true progressive movement - and that includes the Democrats. The Bush administration has been such a failure that I hope that I hope we also destroy the so-called 'centrist' notions of the DLC. I want America to be the light on the hill again - life liberty and ‘the pursuit of happiness’ and all that. I used to live in America - but now I wouldn’t travel there for fear of being arrested.

Rudicus: How do you feel Bush and his administration has impacted Australia?

Lukery: The Bush administration had been terrible for Australia (and similarly Britain where I also lived). Our Prime Minister is a Bush wanna-be - he loves the whole war thing and was one of the first to sign up for the “Coalition of the Willing”, and I think Australia has been the only country to keep increasing troop commitments in Bush's wars. Australia has also become a lot more racist, and there is a massive assault on civil liberties (much the same as Britain). We've also become a target - with the bombings in Bali which seem to have been largely directed at Australians, and an attack on the Australian embassy in Jakarta, and there was a recent 'Al Qaida' video threatening both Los Angeles and Melbourne. Similarly, we've also seen the rise of the religious crazies - with the associated threats to Women’s rights and the ID movement.

Rudicus: Do you think there is a conspiracy or coordinated effort in MSM to downplay or outright ignore potentially serious negatives regarding the Bush Administration? If so, do you think it is limited to U.S. based media?

Lukery: There is no doubt that there is a media 'conspiracy', although the exact mechanisms aren’t entirely clear - its a combination of both explicit and implicit elements. One of the most egregious examples (which didn’t get any attention) was when CNN printed Hans Blix's 'transcript' in his speech to the UN after Powell's disastrous pre-invasion speech. CNN purported to carry Blix's entire testimony, but they removed all of the paragraphs where Blix criticized Powell's 'evidence'.

[The media conspiracy] is not restricted to the US. [Rupert] Murdoch owns something like 50% of the press in Australia, and a similar amount in the UK - I think he also has significant holdings in China, India and Pakistan. Unfortunately, he seems to be really good at what he does. One of the other main problems, that is rarely mentioned - even in the context of media consolidation - is the concentration of the wire services. I would argue that the AP is more dangerous than Murdoch.

Rudicus: What do you think about the power of blogging and bloggers to force attention to be paid to issues that are ignored or swept under the rug by MSM.

Lukery: Blogging can be important - but mostly to the extent that journalists and politicians read blogs. Blogs are only useful to the extent that they can actually influence the other two - Bogs can exert a terrific influence when they don’t let journalists and politicians get away with fudging reality. Blogging is essentially about the collective mind - which means that anyone can make a difference if they get the correct 'hook'. Many of us blog and chat away in 'comments' to no avail. The thing I did with the impeachment story was to go to the source of the problem (Zogby) and keep asking till I got an answer - and then gave it to RawStory to follow up. They had the clout to get Zogby on the record and also to get the Washington Post to move the story at the same time. In the same day, the story was put out by Stephanie Miller on Air America. So blogging can be important - but its important to try to turn our ideas into actions, and secondly, every little bit helps.

The important thing is to keep trying to break through the noise - if there are sufficient numbers of us trying to break through, then some of us will - and the result is the important thing, [and in this case] and might actually result in Zogby asking the impeachment question again.

Please visit the Impeach Bush Coalition for more information.

Didn't Know I Was Unamerican.

2005-09-22T07:55:00.000-05:00

Today is the 200th post for The Rudicus Report.

Thanks for sticking around and reading the things I have to say.

For today's post I wanted to share a music video for a song by Ian Rhett

It pretty much sums up alot of what is going on with respect to the country as a whole.

Special thanks to our friend Deke for sending it.

Here is the Video.

Also check out http://www.sharedvoice.org/.

Happy 200th everyone!

Bush Declares War On Porn!

2005-09-21T09:24:00.000-05:00

Bush likes to declare war. Any time there is something that he thinks needs fixin', he declares a war on it. Now we can add a new war to the growing list of things we are at war with - The fabled War on Porn.

We're not talking child porn or snuff porn or some other illegal porn, nope this is just good old fashioned smut. The kind that everyone likes, well everyone except Bush apparently.

In a time when the various institutions of the Federal government are idly sitting around with nothing to do apparently, Bush has decided that now would be a good time to divert energy and resources away from less important objectives like protecting the country from terrorists, Iraq, hurricane Katrina, fixing the economy, curbing drug trafficking, decreasing global warming and pollution, addressing public corruption, poverty, healthcare, child abuse, organized crime, serial killers or just about everything else that is devastatingly wrong in this country and has chosen to focus on LEGAL pornography as the place to put the FBI's attention.

That's right, the FBI has decided to form an anti-obscenity squadron and internal communications have described the initiative as "one of the top priorities" of Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales.

The new squadron will divert agents, a supervisor and assorted support staff to gather evidence against "manufacturers and purveyors" of pornography -- not the kind exploiting children, but the kind that depicts, and is marketed to, consenting adults. WTF?

It's nice that the administration has infected every level of the federal government with it's warped and dangerous priorities and agenda. But don't take my word for it - here is some thoughts from real life FBI personnel in the field:

"I guess this means we've won the war on terror," said one exasperated FBI agent, speaking on the condition of anonymity because poking fun at headquarters is not regarded as career-enhancing. "We must not need any more resources for espionage."

Among friends and trusted colleagues, an experienced national security analyst said, "it's a running joke for us."

That's good. I can't imagine this kind of head-up-the-ass prioritization could have in any way led to similar colossal fuck-ups by this administration and it's buddies. No, thankfully they kept their collective eyes on the prize and stayed focused and successfully captured Osama Bin Laden, found a host of WMD's in Iraq, smoothed transition from the U.S. led occupation to a self sustaining government supported by the people, took care of the U.S. economy and the American people and was right on top of one of the most devastating national disasters in our history with well coordinated rescue and relief plans drawn up from the many reports warning of the disaster ahead of time. Oh wait, that happened on this week's re-run of Fantasy Island.

While the anti-obscenity squadron has the primary task of catching these super criminals who are engaged in, let me repeat this, COMPLETELY LEGAL activities - according the Attorney General Gonzales's mandate"All other field offices may investigate obscenity cases pursuant to this initiative if resources are available."

That's just fabulous. What's next? The highway department investigating to see if people are conspiring to drive the speed limit? Or perhaps we need to start an IRS investigation into people who pay their taxes in full and on time every year.

While this looks like one of the worst applications of public funds on record and smacks of a stupidity so stupid that stupid people are offended, there may be an ulterior motive at work. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is being considered as a candidate for the open Supreme Court position. Since Gonzales has been looked up with skepticism by the Christian Conservatives whose support he would need, some see this initiative as the exact kind of fascist, but ultimately insane and dangerous tactic that get Christian Conservatives toes all a-twitter.

But apparently it worked. Those previously skeptical CC's over at the Family Research Council have come out with a statement expressing "a growing sense of confidence in our new attorney general."

Isn't that special - I love the smell of political pandering in the morning...it smells like bullshit.

So while we are off on an ongoing crusade to waste taxpayer dollars and resources that we don't have on a witch hunt for people doing legal things, Rome continues to burn. Well with any luck the CC's can get a Supreme Court nominee who is willing to overturn the most important laws like Rowe v. Wade, The Establishment Clause and the First Amendment. Hopefully they'll put the rest of us in a nice gulag in San Diego. Welcome to the New America - Fascism or Bust!

Anti-Gay Re-education Camp Shut Down!

2005-09-20T08:29:00.000-05:00

(This is a photo Love In Action Director Rev. John J. Smid)

Score one for the good guys.

Remember this story about the high school student that was sent to a Christian re-education camp in Tennessee for admitting on his blog that he was gay?

Well, thanks to his story an investigation was opened by the Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities. And they are closing the camp down.

The department ruled that Love In Action International was violating state codes regarding the care and treatment of patients and was dispensing medication without a license. Unfortunately the state couldn't close down the camp for being brainwashing fuckheads, but we have to take what we can get.

This may or may not be the end of this camp since the group can apply for licensure with the state and re-open. But at least for now they won't be able to do any more damage.

Also it turns out that Director Rev. John J. Smid is not a reverend at all. He just pretended to be to help further dupe confused and scared gay kids and their stupid homophobic parents.

Lies, deception, manipulation and intolerance - those are the Christian values I remember from Sunday school. I think it was Jesus who said "Whatever you do to the least of my people, you do to me, unless that person is a dang queer and you should kick his ass because you think he's kind of hot and want get with him in the biblical sense, but you can't because you're scared, so by all means use my father's holy book to justify oppressing an entire culture of people and then play on the fears of others to make money for yourself and your friends, all because you were too much of a chicken-ass to admit that you found him attractive."

I may not have translated all of this correctly from Aramaic, but you get the idea.

Bush Will Be Taking Full Responsibility Until He Finds Someone Else To Blame.

2005-09-19T09:10:00.000-05:00

Just as Bush shocked the world by taking responsibility for Katrina, it may have just been another political parlor trick.

In an internal email obtained by the Mississippi Clarion-Ledger it turns out the Justice Department has been busy trying to find some link...any link to environmentalists, so they can shift the blame to them for the levee failure and subsequent catastrophic flooding in New Orleans.

Apparently the ignored warnings from models suggesting a category 4 or 5 hurricane would topple the levee and flood the city, were not responsible. Nor were the ignored warnings or weather specialists. Nor was the horrificly slow and inept recovery effort or the countless stories of bureaucracy hurdles, turf battles, pissing contests and possibly even racism or classism. No the blame apparently is hopefully to be laid at the feed of environmentalists.

"Has your district defended any cases on behalf of the (U.S.) Army Corps of Engineers against claims brought by environmental groups seeking to block or otherwise impede the Corps work on the levees protecting New Orleans? If so, please describe the case and the outcome of the litigation."

Well. That sure sounds like a fishing expedition to me. I guess no one should be surprised by double talk, fake assurances, secret internal memos and character assassination. I thought Bush didn't want to play the blame game - I guess just like laws, treaties, contracts and other legal issues the rules apply to everyone else and can be ignored if they are inconvenient.

People were up in arms as soon as news of this memo hit the streets causing a caustic response from Barbara Boxer of California, which she sent to our friends over at Raw Story:

"If the President is sincere when he says he accepts responsibility for the abysmal federal response to Hurricane Katrina, he should instruct his Justice Department to stop trying to smear environmentalists by blaming them for the government's failure to shore up the levee system in Louisiana," the California Democrat said.

"This smacks of a political witch hunt," Boxer added. "Instead of pathetic attempts to pass the buck by blaming groups who are looking out for the health and well-being of Americans, the Bush Administration should marshal the Justice Department to stand up for the victims against the con artists and U.S. taxpayers from unscrupulous contractors." (that would be Haliburton for you kids following along at home)

Now that this has hit the streets - be on the lookout for the cover-up that will surely ensue. Be on the lookout for someone to take the fall and have all the blame for this assigned to them and watch the Administration and all related officials absolve themselves of responsibilty and/or knowledge of this maneuver.

The worst part is that it is so much the M.O. of this administration to pull this kind of crap and I'm positive they will never ever get called on the carpet for it. I don't know what's worse, the fact that the justice department would be pursuing this action or that we'll never see anybody actually answer for the myriad of corrupt, dirty, manipulative and underhanded political nonsense that this administration engages in every day of the week.

We can only hope that someone will find the strength andfortitudee needed to take the country back from the brink and restore some semblance of honor, integrity and real responsibility by impeaching EmperorBush and sending him back to Crawford where he can't do anymore damage. Please visit the Impeach Bush Coalition for more info on saving the country.