There's such a thing on lake County and assumed Cook County, Illinois cable TV known as 'CLTV'; they say it means Chicagoland TV.
 
Yesterday morning, CLTV reported that those ragtag students who disrupted Easter services at Holy Name Cathedral had further squirted fake blood on the crowd; they are all being held on $35,000 bond each; they each could get five years in prison; oh, and THE only other thing CLTV said of them?
 
Well, ya see, these wacky kids per CLTV have gone over to the Episcopal Cathedral in Chicago, on allegation said Church is hanging banners listing all victims of Iraq war and letting it hang through the Pope's visit, and the wacky students are asking that Church to spring for bond money as the Episcopals want us out of Iraq too...no sir, no apologetics for Democrats or student terrorists or such there, I mean if one can't see there's Shiite-Sunni type strife in Christianity over ANY force....awwww, wait a minute!!! One of my brain cells just woke up!!!!
 
Hmmm...just recently, local news reported that Hizzoner, Richard Michael Daley, a Catholic, had for reasons known only to him wants to put up a Crucifix in Daley Plaza (the 33 story building being the first of six Municipal and other District Courts for Cook County), but gosh darn it, some lawyers opposed it, so ya can see that means there's big hatred of the Pope if not Christianity in general and... .
 
Well, every year around Thanksgiving, at said Plaza, Daley puts up Menorahs (common to ALL Jewish sects), Crescent Moons (common to ALL Muslims), and Christmas Trees (pretty popular across Christians)...maybe there aren't enough lawyers in Chicago to notice that, right outside their lair. For those who may not realize it, Catholics are the only ones who use a Crucifix for their main symbol, whereas most other Christian faiths use a simple Cross...on that dry fact alone, it would be technically correct to remove the inference that a single specific faith's, as opposed to a broad religion's, symbol was respected by a government at least supposed to serve all in its realm. And as a Catholic, I have no problem with such exact concept. I guess that only those who say "lawsuit over Crucifix proves hate for ALL Christianity" could explain that one, and even a Daley who might say the Crucifix lawsuit means say Durbin or Pelosi have better ideas on Catholicism could explain how they come to such parallel reasoning...having never even tried to put up JUST a Cross as the Papal visit nears.
 
As to Episcopals leading a New Reformation or Crusade against the Vatican, huh? It's hardly new that various clergy around the world are set against war period, but where are Episcopals saying "USA out, all fixed then, we have the promise of Laden etcetera he will kill no more and is righteous for what he HAS done and wants reserved rights to do again"? Gosh, CLTV certainly didn't say anything like that, and I haven't heard that on my own.
 
But there are also times in life when in a given scenario of any nature, something like this can happen: "Got a nice a religion here, Very Right Reverend! Hate ta see youse get hit wit a buncha lawsuits or abyoose claims, or soivice disruptions. My friend Bruno here and I was wonderin' if youse could spring some cabbage for our bail, and sign onto dem woids sayin' youse agree wit us dat da Pope and Bush is forcin' Daley and Democrats ta bring all dem ferreners in an' take care a dem with faith funds, dat da Pope is tryin' ta take over ALL religiosities, and dat Laden is speakin' fer all Muslims and is right ta hate da Pope and Bush, wit da USA gettin' outta EyeRack bein' da only ting wut can stop Mid East bloodshed. Is dat not right, Bruno?"; "Yeah, Tony, dat is da point!".
 
Lastly, CLTV nor anyone else has described what, if any, faith(s) the student disrupters come from; what their theology or world affairs involvement has been; nor what, if anything, their enumerated reason(s) would be as to why they think Laden is ALL Muslims, ALL Muslims hate the Pope, and appeasing Laden will bring world peace and quiet enjoyment of the whole globe, let alone Mid East.
 
In the pendency, I continue to say it's secular hogwash to suggest Islamic terrorism is geared only to Christians, that Laden and Qaeda kill only Christians and USA people, and thus who needs border security if L.A. offers his and other jihadists free money and homes (q.v., whole of USA Today story at http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-11-08-muslims_N.htm)  while the USA skedaddles out of the Mid-East?

Oh, and no duuuhhhh.....States Rights and/or amorphous elitists further reduce places WHERE one can be recruited, while stepping on the BRAC accelerator rducing places to put recruits. Duhhh, okay Bruno and Tony, dahhhh...if youse says so dem guys is dessertin' and beg fer da mercy of sweet Democrat-made defense and woild USA respect.

Recalling that neither Youtube nor other media nor political websites are awash in any manifestations of WHAT things faith-based initiative funds have directly been spent upon nor the need to have such funds at all when ELCA ministers, inter alia, are saying 100 million and growing USA residents are "unchurched"; recalling that the Becket Fund claims more and more Churches are eminent domained every day within the USA; recalling that ala HR 6 type and LOST type bills, anti-USA elitists including Hugo Frias Chavez are replacing Western Hemisphere governance with dictatorship in such way the USA simply cares for dictator victims abroad until they get here only in incidental economic effects for the USA in nature of a race to the bottom with dictators; thus, the within first above paragraph, and all following within paragraph, are text written by Numbers USA, and having read, understood, and agreed with said text, I respectfully wish to add my name in endorsement thereof via within Numbers USA fax, said text further being, to-wit:  

I cannot begin to describe my level of disbelief if the House turns its attention to bills that focus on foreign worker importation like the ones introduced by Representatives Smith and Giffords, while the SAVE Act is left languishing. If you want to help the economy, secure American jobs for American workers. The last thing we need right now are more foreign workers.

Let's face the facts: the majority of H-1B visa holders possess no special skills that their American counterparts lack. They are desired because they come cheaply. The average H-1B foreign worker is paid 20 percent less than a comparably-qualified U.S. citizens.

Furthermore, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found loopholes in the H-1B program, noting that USCIS has "neither the technology nor an operational methodology" to ensure that it issues only as many H-1B visas as the law authorizes. Nothing has been done to close these loopholes, probably for the same reason nothing has been done to make workplace verification systems mandatory.

When it comes to religious faith, or degrees thereof up to atheism, although I’m a Roman Catholic I don’t tell anyone else what to believe or not believe re God…I would publicly puzzle, however, why anyone expecting better accountability out of government and populations at large would vehemently protest not JUST the Ten Commandments even if not identified AS upon religious monument styled works, but a religion with diverse sects predicated upon light (wisdom, truth, accountability) coming into darkness (under-exposure, ignorance, deceit, ad infinitum) in a wholly peaceable way.

In such milieu, it would be awfully easy for anyone to blame others constantly for why they themselves do what they do when they have a choice not to, the velocity and depth of blame being exculpatory and thus not conducive to improvement.

Scanning the gamut of Democrat and republican themed rhetoric, it looks like THE 2008 pretense for super-charged emotionalism, while bands play on, which will by itself “change” all apart from Iraq, is: blame Churches as the tools of Conservatives and the GOP for mis-spending faith based funds through them, yes, even when spent to the tunes called by Democrat States and Towns as THEY distribute it, no Federal strings yet attached and upon suppression of fact they do receive and distribute such funds.

Whatever actual officials do or don’t say on the matters, the private cheering sections are rife with such elitist manipulations. Before anyone yells “Commie pinko!” or “Catholic Nazi!” or “GOP lickspittle!” at me, please know that in late 2002, in a National Review piece, famed Catholic/GOP/Skull & Bones/wealthy guy William F. Buckley, Jr., said of government funding of Church and charity that such things and the State needs lives of their own, I then and since concurring…especially since now so many amorphous elitists are globally involved in their own bailiwicks of State-religion partnering, in the case of Chavez resulting in little more than taking care of their whole populations for the dictator until the same care under same expectations can be transplanted elsewhere, and as the dictator uses his own resources to advance his own power globally. Surely, not that many of ANY officials truly supports de-constructing USA defenses and accommodating dictators as long as a few in private enterprise can profit therein with blind eyes to gathering foreign takeover ambitions. And the private interest political camps do appear to be urging such direction, some on precept from their own mouths they’ve “bought and paid for this or that party, so pay off!”.

Yesterday at my post office box, I received a six-page PSA from People For The American Way (PFAW), founded by Norman Lear, which PSA begins: “When you have folks from the Religious Right invoke God’s name to promote discrimination, undermine civil liberties, and limit free speech…do you think that’s not the America you believe in?”; perhaps that’s PFAW’s way of “explaining” how all immigration and fundings thereof are “used by religions to twist people around instead of talk about real issues common to all”. At page two of relevant PSA, bulleted point four says: “And, they’ve directed millions of taxpayers’ money into their own pockets and Churches under the guise of the Office Of Faith-Based Initiatives”, PFAW linking ONLY the GOP to same…see, per PFAW, either this isn’t going on in Democrat areas, or even 100% Democrat-run Illinois HAS to partake and so proceed due to a “Bush they’re afraid to say no to or talk about” if the obvious use of Democrat faith funding surfaces…the permanent status of “never-changing victim” does often get called the whole point of any blame game strategy, even outside politics.

Oh, ad damnum, GOP, ad damnum and mea culpa! But in Illinois, Democrat run entirely at the State level and home of Durbin and Obama and birthplace of Hillary Clinton, the use of State-directed faith funds and spending thereof by assorted faiths is such an orthodoxy unto itself, not even most Illinois Catholic Churches will say they have even one USA national parishioner who needs any nature of social justice themselves, nor will any such Churches normally even mention the existence of contrarian opinion channel EWTN (global Catholic network). Maybe the State Bogarts the Churches, maybe the Churches Bogart the State, maybe they Bogart each other; who knows, but a good example of why Church and State should be completely separate.

Something to think about, because politicians are famous for waffling so they always were “on the winning side” of everything in their careers, and some are saying that through HR 1955, LOST, and the Global Poverty Act, through appeasing current and future dictators through acting just like them,, the USA can be secure even economically and with a State/religion partnership undisturbed, all the globe’s people CAN under all this flourish beyond imagination.

Thus, good questions for ANY candidate arise: WHAT needs to be changed re faith funding in their own opinion; on WHAT should such funds be spent? After all, any President including Bush and his successor of any party will ex officio hand out such funds by Congressional mandate the President do so, any President thusly just a figurehead to such affairs.

After all, PFAW may come well-late to Buckley’s table insofar as separating Church/charity and State simple, yet exhortations to abominate GOD as the responsible party through his ministers as if THEY are pushing politics is not only totally off the mark, such exhortations forget to mention that PFAW colleagues are presently musing over ways to make the 100 million-plus and growing “unchurched” in the USA “of interest” for such non-attendance/non-belief(s) simple, and at the same time muse how those who DO attend, or as is the case of at least 80% polled at least have SOME faith, can be made “of interest” on grounds of PFAW types “ALL faiths are based upon non-Divine revolutionaries and disruptive rabble rousers”…in the latter case, again, and this would be the reason GOVERNMENTS fund them? In any event though, therein is still no tether as to how to change and progress, just blame gaming.

Karl Marx and his cronies used to say all religion was merely an opiate of the people, a way capital sustained itself; in their day, nothing could have been further from the truth, especially given the then manifest pro-people and democracy reliances and efforts of the once-massive Catholic Church.

But today, really, not even the ever-shrinking Catholic Church (nor other Christian faiths) depends on the public at-large or even corporations for its cash; like the USA, many nations aren’t much funding foreign aid and welfare through agencies like they used to, but certainly have been ceding foreign aid and welfare money and duties to religious clergy, yet on the same old same old grounds while officials don’t look the ones doing it, to avoid budget complaints and such while also looking good to shame anyone not going to Church. As a recent Colorado bill supports, religions will mete out as States direct even if such meting contrary to faith. Whereas Churches then represent non-capital, note high-salary officials can be seen as capital in the lopsided equation.

Before anyone yells “Yeeeaaaarrrrgggghhhhh!!!! Marx was right!!!!”, recall that he was wrong ab initio, and in fact his Soviet and other Communist followers actually invented such “fix things” State involvement with faith as a way for ANY nation wishing to manipulate foreign affairs through guise of God’s Will.

Such thinking could extrapolate to suspicion of the “unchurched” who happen to oppose the Global Poverty Act, which does not lower any officials’ salaries but does not only cede USA sovereignty to forces which would have proponents in Congress et al as the sole unitary USA governing authority and force on say-so powers, it rapidly diminishes assets for everyone else globally. If that were the case, then Dennis Kucinich would have been right in calling HR 1955 a mere quashing of freedom even if his own Democrat party tried to oust him for it.

It’s something to ponder, since e.g. EWTN, the global Catholic media network, has begun dripping into its programs a complete turnaround on the maxim: “idle hands are the devil’s playground”: it appears that as a Papal visit nears, yet without his command to do so, the Catholic media now espouse that everyone on earth should view Christ as a man who lived on dust and on air, so to emulate Him, come to re-think it, don’t seek to make the best of all in life within His strictures and with compassion and charity…let go of the material world, and sit naked on dirt staring at the sun all your days; scene missing why EWTN, clergy, officials, and anybody else they deem worthy still will need all the cash they can grab…assuming any others will be deemed fit over time.

I myself as a Roman Catholic, and despite this Lenten season of my faith fishing for voices to express to officials comments re faithful citizenship with concern for ALL people, my chatting about the within foregoing has placed me in status of tolerated persona non grata with my clergy yet sans allegation I’m bearing false witness. I’m now allowed only regular Reconciliation and Saturday Vigil/Sunday/Holy Day Mass attendance, no more fellowship or otherwise. And I faithfully believe in God and His Commandments, together with Christ and the Holy Spirit, whether the reader does or not as is their freedom. I believe God sees everything I do and will one day judge me by it with strict view of the Commandments, and I’m not going to hell for anybody. For same grounds, sans Reconciliation obviously, my wife civilly married to me 20 years has gotten the same persona non grata from her Lutheran Church, so it’s not just Catholics.

Although some in my faith support the Global Poverty Act, Pope Benedict still has proclaimed all persons must obey the laws of the nation they are in; my said faith leader has not found the United States Constitution nihil obstat, nor has he shown any interest in being any nation’s (beyond the Vatican) government.

For all these reasons, I submit my inability to understand how the terms of the Global Poverty Act, LOST, and similar bills protect, preserve, and protect the Constitution, its purposes, and intents regardless of who supports or opposes such bills; and I reiterate my endorsement of the American Conservative Union’s oppositions to any such bills.

One certainly HOPES that Dems in Los Angeles aren't still planning to give Islamic jihadists "full inclusion" and integration into their community, and that Berkeley City Council didn't endorse (then apologize to after reneging) Code Pink's anti-war demands just to appease would-be terrorists making threats; on the other hand, it's possible anyone could have hit the military recruitment center yesterday.

Either someone has an axe to grind in their own right against the military ala McVeigh or a disgruntled spouse/parent/similar of harmed serviceperson(s), or is a lone nut case ala Scorpio in Dirty Harry, or is working for one side or the other of the recruitment or Iraq issue(s) at some street/grassroots up to top level; it would seem best if all officials prudently followed up the incident, as it seems to have occured despite State, Local, and Federal DHS operation and thus makes it look like nobody can tell the difference between foreign and domestic assasins, or in alternative is paying much attention to anything at all/attention to anything with meaningful predictive content.

That aside, as a citizen, I am always abidingly interested in bringing such types of felons as bombers to justice and disruption of their apparatus re functioning as quickly as possible; if anyone could avail of even FISA type rules even if it turned out a citizen(s) involved, the goal should be to find the PRODUCT subjects do, not the subjects' origin(s)...only a loon would say "no, don't break a rule to prevent a much greater and provably probable offense(s) from occurring"...especially where ONLY a subject(s) actually appearing liable enough for trial at arraignment are ever taken into custody...I wouldn't assize the rights violation of peeking and disposing immediately of/never ever using otherwise Constitutionally protected data, where mass data ala Carnivore is analyzed to help find needles in haystacks.  

Note that differs from HR 1955, which merely authorizes State or local officials in gerrymander fashion to pick up whole neighborhoods just for traditionally campaigning against them, on grounds "Bush won't use PATRIOT against the unchurched like WE say!" or something equally incompetent for tracking more realistic problems...based on overly-broad: "Well, Laden didn't like apostacy or policy, even if he's like just one kind of a broad spectrum of terrorists most people aren't, and those who are have more specific and arcane conducts we COULD be following if we wanted".  

The Soviets, and to be sure not just them vis a vis Hitler, were renowned under Stalin and Kruschev for finding every unemployed, every needful, and every simply dissident voice to be against the social health of the State...thus, to make the State ail as those leaders of totalitarianism by any names said, these people all became open to say-so institutionalizing as a healing of the sickness of social health.

Now, the modern HR 1424 would do something similar. It would leave an easy door open, especially in presence of HR 1955 type agendas and a sentiment of some that failure to attend Churches on any grounds as same receive State money might signal fundamentalist terror or pro-Socialism bents, for officials to opine that just because someone has a physical ailment it is therefore a sign of mental incapacitation thus the State must intervene on the person's liberty and effect social health treatments known only to them.

Because HR 1424 could easily blur the line between what a simple and in fact commonplace ailment does and does not mean just by its presence, and thus is likely to future Court voiding anyway, I respectfully submit the within foregoing as additional reasoning as to why I urge voting NO on HR 1424.

It was a chuckle to watch local station CLTV this past weekend, which carried a story saying the Cook County, IL County Board wants to spike taxes; the on-camera official blurted out only that such spike…quote…”will create jobs”. Don’t ask him where, what they are, what salaries and benefits, when, or so on; but, at least it shows one pol is aware job scenes are so scary in the USA, just saying “create jobs” simple is enough to sweep you in ahead of all other candidates…planless as you ever are, save for HR 1955 ideations.

Then, I heard about an industry top ten mall chain store that just announced a company-wide, nationwide pay cut of 29% field and 50% administrative; the company says this is due to overall downturn in gross sales, and since their intent is to at least keep each and every employee working, obviously this chain doesn’t feel a single salesperson has engaged in failure to train others, be trained, or other industrial misconduct(s), or is a poor worker at salesmanship. Still, IDES is among unemployment agencies holding that evictions/repossessions/foreclosures/debt unpaid or underpaid are your own problems not caused by the employer…you quit if you went under, or the employer had to let you go due to your new tardiness, inability to bathe, or what have you, once you lost whatever due to big out of blue income cuts.

Now, consider that most salespeople at the relevant company make$9/hour or so and have had 40 hour weeks; even at that low rate, on an annual gross of $18,720 and new 29% pay cut (through hour shaving, salary cut, or both), such person this year will lose $5,428 in income…that $300 single/$600 married IRS stipend sure looks like it can really stimulate such person’s economy, doesn’t it? After all, such person is ONLY losing 18 times the stipend in pay if single, 9 times it if married; imagine that extrapolating through the economy as now even more folks have 29%-50% less income on top of tax spikes, and can’t patronize YOU or your employer like before.

As often is the omnipartisan case, the mostly Democrat pols of Illinois…just like they annually work with OSHA-riddled, unfixed amusement parks and such to hire South Africans and such for the summer rather than spend on repairs…have had rapid response to growing pay cuts: starting this week, area library reading rooms will be closed to the public so the State can hold interviewing skills junkets for first job teens only, and for April will glom onto library internet to train people so low skilled that in 2008…I’m serious…they’re finally going to learn how to do Google searches and make email accounts. Now that’s prolepsis…productively, in a green and progressive way, act in anticipation of “job creation opportunities” via salary cuts and attendant downturns sure to expand, and reach out pronto to make sure live-at-home kids and trailer/cave dwellers will be targeted with neo-online ads for jobs open due to “quits/fires” after cuts…who that’s been cut can really be expected to be hired from online anyway what with their new problems?

I therefore respectfully submit that since certain factors are treated as “anecdotal pockets of downturn” if mentioned by any pol at all, it seems confusing as to how an economic ripple effect can long be avoided absent deflation, and if it can’t why then are laissez-faire or totalitarian, HR 1955 Socialist collectivization the only possible solutions?