February 6, 2011 theskepticarena. Com huge rally in karachi, pakistan supports blasphemy laws

FEBRUARY 6, 2011 THESKEPTICARENA.COM

HUGE RALLY IN KARACHI, PAKISTAN SUPPORTS BLASPHEMY LAWS

TENS OF THOUSANDS OF DEMONSTRATORS HAVE MARCHED IN PAKISTAN'S LARGEST CITY IN OPPOSITION TO ANY CHANGE TO BLASPHEMY LAWS AND TO PRAISE THE MAN CHARGED WITH MURDERING THE PROVINCIAL GOVERNOR WHO OPPOSED THE LEGISLATION.
(MY COMMENT: IT IS DIFFICULT TO BELIEVE THAT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT AN EVENT IN THE 21st CENTURY. THIS IS SOMETHING I WOULD HAVE EXPECTED FROM THE MIDDLE AGES. CENTURIES PASS, YET EVOLUTION FAILS TO KICK IN.
ANY MODERN HUMAN WHO WOULD MARCH IN PRAISE OF A COWARDLY MURDERER DOES NOT DESERVE TO BE LISTED IN THE SAME SPECIES AS MODERN HOMO SAPIENS).
THE RALLY OF UP TO 50,000 PEOPLE IN DOWNTOWN KARACHI WAS ONE OF THE LARGEST DEMONSTRATIONS OF SUPPORT FOR THE LAWS THAT MAKE INSULTING ISLAM A CAPITAL OFFENSE.
(MY COMMENT: TO THESE SUBHUMANS, INSULTING A VIOLENT, BLOODTHIRSTY RELIGION IS A CAPITAL OFFENSE - BUT THE MURDERER DESERVES A STANDING OVATION.
HOW IS IT EVEN POSSIBLE TO THINK THAT BACKWARDS?
THESE PEOPLE DON'T JUST REPRESENT A DIFFERENT CULTURE, THEY REPRESENT A DIFFERENT SPECIES: MONKEYS WITH SHOES.
ACTUALLY THAT WASN'T VERY FAIR ... TO MONKEYS).
THE MARCH WAS ORGANIZED BEFORE PUNJAB GOV. SALMAN TASEER WAS SHOT DEAD LAST WEEK BY A BODYGUARD FOR OPPOSING SUCH LAWS. OPPOSITION POLITICIAN FAZLUR REHMAN TOLD THE CROWD THAT BECAUSE TASEER HAD CRITICIZED THE LAW, "HE WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR HIS OWN MURDER".
(MY COMMENT: OH GOOD, SO NOW WE CAN JUST CALL IT A SUICIDE.
IF THERE EVER WERE ONE RATIONAL THOUGHT IN THE BRAIN OF ANY ONE OF THESE PEOPLE, IT WOULD BE IN SOLITARY CONFINEMENT).
BANNERS AT THE EVENT INCLUDED SOME SUPPORTING TASEER'S KILLER, POLICE COMMANDO MALIK MUMTAZ HUSSAIN QADRI. SAID ONE BANNER, "MUMTAZ QADRI IS NOT A MURDERER, HE IS A HERO."
(MY COMMENT: THAT TELLS US EVERYTHING WE NEED TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR CULTURE - MURDERERS ARE HEROES.
YOU ONLY HAD ONE HERO IN YOUR DISGUSTING EXCUSE FOR A CULTURE, AND YOU KILLED HIM).
ANOTHER BANNER READ, "WE ARE READY TO SACRIFICE OUR LIVES FOR THE DIGNITY OF PROPHET MUHAMMAD (PEACE BE UPON HIM)."
(MY COMMENT: PEACE? PEACE? ARE YOU SERIOUS?
YOU PEOPLE HAVEN'T GOT A CLUE WHAT THE WORD MEANS; AND IF YOU EVER FOUND OUT, YOU WOULD OUTLAW THE WORD.
AS FOR THE "DIGNITY OF YOUR PROPHET" - HE LOST THAT WHEN HE FORNICATED A CHILD. YOUR PROPHET HAS NO DIGNITY; AND THE VIOLENT GHOST WORSHIPPERS WHO FOLLOW HIM HAVE EVEN LESS).
MEANWHILE, PRIME MINISTER YOUSAF RAZA GILANI, DURING A PRESS CONFERENCE IN ISLAMABAD ON SUNDAY, SAID HIS GOVERNMENT HAD NO INTENTION TO BRING FRESH LEGISLATION TO AMEND THE BLASPHEMY LAW.
(MY COMMENT: THAT IS EXACTLY HOW RELIGIOUS TERRORISM WORKS. THE PEOPLE ARE CONTROLLED BY THREATS AND ACTS OF BRUTAL VIOLENCE. IT WILL LIKELY BE A LONG WHILE BEFORE ANOTHER REAL HERO HAS THE COURAGE TO RISE UP AGAINST THE MASS OF SUBHUMAN GHOST WORSHIPPERS).
ACTIVISTS AT THE RALLY, WHICH HAS BEEN ORGANIZED BY RELIGIOUS GROUPS, CALLED FOR "JIHAD" OR HOLY WAR.
(MY COMMENT: I FEEL LIKE I'M WATCHING A SCIENCE FICTION MOVIE ABOUT ZOMBIES AND GHOULS. UNFORTUATELY THIS IS REALITY. OUR SCI-FI FLICKS CAN'T COMPETE WITH THE INHUMAN BARBARITY OF THESE VIOLENT PSYCHOS WHOSE MORALS HAVE BEEN PASSED DOWN TO THEM FROM ANCIENT UNCIVILIZED BRUTES ... THAT SHOULD SOUND VERY FAMILIAR TO CHRISTIANS AND JEWS).
THE PROTEST FORCED THE CLOSURE OF THE CITY'S MAIN ROAD AND ALL MARKETS IN THE TEEMING SOUTHERN METROPOLIS. CONTROVERSY OVER THE LAW FLARED WHEN FORMER INFORMATION MINISTER SHERRY REHMAN TABLED A PRIVATE MEMBER'S BILL IN NOVEMBER, CALLING TO END THE DEATH PENALTY FOR BLASPHEMY, AFTER A CHRISTIAN MOTHER-OF-FIVE WAS SENTENCED TO HANG.
RIGHTS ACTIVISTS ALSO SAY THE LAW ENCOURAGES EXTREMISM IN A NATION ALREADY BESIEGED BY TALIBAN ATTACKS.
(MY COMMENT: AFTER READING ABOUT WHAT THE MAJORITY OF PAKISTANIS BELIEVE; FOR EXAMPLE, THAT ADULTERERS SHOULD BE STONED TO DEATH AND THAT PEOPLE WHO LEAVE ISLAM SHOULD BE PUT TO DEATH, AND AFTER READING THIS ARTICLE, I CAN ONLY CONCLUDE, AS CRUEL AS THIS MAY SOUND, THAT PAKISTAN DESERVES THE TALIBAN.
UNFORTUNATELY GOOD MUSLIMS LIKE TASEER ARE TRAPPED IN A HUMAN CESSPOOL AND THEIR ATTEMPTS TO CLEAN UP THE FECES HAS SO FAR PROVEN FUTILE).
POLITICIANS AND CONSERVATIVES HAVE BEEN AT LOGGERHEADS OVER WHETHER PRESIDENT ASIF ALI ZARDARI SHOULD PARDON AASIA BIBI, THE CHRISTIAN MOTHER WHO WAS SENTENCED TO DEATH UNDER THE BLASPHEMY LAW.
(MY COMMENT: SOUNDS LIKE A CLASSIC BATTLE BETWEEN HUMANS AND SUBHUMANS).
PAKISTAN HAS YET TO EXECUTE ANYONE FOR BLASPHEMY, BUT BIBI'S CASE HAS EXPOSED THE DEEP FAULT LINES IN THE CONSERVATIVE COUNTRY. BIBI WAS ARRESTED IN JUNE 2009 AFTER MUSLIM WOMEN LABORERS ALLEGEDLY REFUSED TO DRINK FROM A BOWL OF WATER SHE WAS ASKED TO FETCH WHILE OUT WORKING IN THE FIELDS.
(MY COMMENT: THAT IS A PERFECT EXAMPLE OF WHAT RELIGION DOES TO ALL SOCIETIES. IT DIVIDES PEOPLE AGAINST EACH OTHER MAKING IT EASIER FOR THE RELIGION TO CONTROL POWER).
DAYS LATER, THE WOMEN ALLEGEDLY COMPLAINED THAT SHE MADE DEROGATORY REMARKS ABOUT PROPHET MUHAMMAD (PEACE BE UPON HIM).
(MY COMMENT: NOTICE HOW EVERYTIME THE PROPHET IS REFERENCED, THEY NERVOUSLY ADD "PEACE BE UPON HIM?"
MANY CHRISTIANS DO THE SAME. IN THEIR CASE THE PHRASE IS USUALLY SOMETHING LIKE "PRAISE JESUS" OR "THANK YOU LORD."
THESE PEOPLE ARE UTTERLY TERRIFIED OF THEIR INVISIBLE GHOSTS. BOTH RELIGIONS BELIEVE THAT THEIR GHOST IS LISTENING TO EVERY WORD THEY SAY. BOTH BELIEVE THAT THEIR GHOSTS HAVE THE POWER TO SEND THEM OFF TO ETERNAL TORTURE. THAT IS WHY THEY REPEAT THOSE NAUSEATING SUCK UP PHRASES SO OFTEN.
ISN'T THAT JUST THE GREATEST WAY TO LIVE YOUR LIFE? TREMBLING BEFORE SOME GHOST WHO ISN'T EVEN THERE; AND THEN GOING OUT AND KILLING PEOPLE WHO TALK TO A DIFFERENT INVISIBLE GHOST, OR WHO REFUSE TO SUBMIT TO YOUR GHOST. OR IN THE CASE OF TASEER, MURDERING ONE OF THEIR OWN WHO DARES TO TRY TO BRING REASON AND KINDNESS INTO THEIR RELIGION OF VIOLENCE AND DEATH.
THAT IS THE "SALVATION" THEY ARE OFFERING YOU).
BIBI WAS SET UPON BY A MOB, ARRESTED BY POLICE AND SENTENCED ON NOV. 8.
(MY COMMENT: "SET UPON BY A MOB." SOUNDS LIKE A SCENE OUT OF THAT FAMOUS HORROR FLICK, "DAWN OF THE DEAD."
IS ANYONE OUT THERE GULLIBLE ENOUGH TO BELIEVE THAT THIS ONE WOMAN STOOD UP AGAINST A MOB OF MUSLIM WOMEN AND INSULTED THEIR PROPHET, KNOWING WHAT THEY WOULD DO TO HER? REMEMBER, THEY WERE THE ONES MISTREATING HER; THEY WERE THE ONES WHO REFUSED TO DRINK WATER FROM THE VESSEL SHE BROUGHT.
I DON'T OFTEN SEE ONE PERSON ATTACK A MOB. IT'S USUALLY THE OTHER WAY AROUND (AND WHEN I SAY USUALLY, I MEAN 100%).
NO, I HAVEN'T THE FAINTEST DOUBT THAT SHE WAS NOT CRAZY ENOUGH TO INSULT THEIR PEDOPHILE PROPHET. IT IS CLEAR THAT THESE PEOPLE OF GOD WERE WILLING TO DO WHATEVER IT TOOK TO GET RID OF HER, UP TO AND INCLUDING SENTENCING HER TO DEATH).
MOST OF THOSE CONVICTED OF BLASPHEMY IN PAKISTAN HAVE THEIR SENTENCES OVERTURNED OR COMMUTED ON APPEAL THROUGH THE COURTS.
(MY COMMENT: BETTER NOT LET THE TALIBAN FIND OUT ABOUT THAT OR YOUR COURT SYSTEM WILL HAVE A SUDDEN RASH OF OPENINGS TO FILL).
RIGHTS ACTIVISTS AND PRESSURE GROUPS SAY IT IS THE FIRST TIME THAT A WOMAN HAD BEEN SENTENCED TO HANG IN PAKISTAN FOR BLASPHEMY.
(MY COMMENT: AND THE ONLY EVIDENCE OF HER GUILT WAS THE WORD OF A BUNCH OF FEMALE FIELD WORKERS DRESSED IN TENTS WHO HATED CHRISTIANS?
YEAH, THAT SOUNDS LIKE JUSTICE TO ME).
ONLY AROUND THREE PERCENT OF PAKISTAN'S POPULATION OF 167 MILLION ARE ESTIMATED TO BE NON-MUSLIM.
(MY COMMENT: GEE, I WONDER WHY THAT IS?
THIS ARTICLE PRETTY MUCH ANSWERED THAT QUESTION. THIS ARTICLE HAS ALSO MADE IT CLEAR WHY ISLAM IS GROWING. IN MUSLIM COUNTRIES ... YOU DON'T GET A CHOICE.
MY FINAL COMMENT. I HAVE BEEN VERY HARD ON THE SUBHUMANS IN THIS ARTICLE AND FOR GOOD REASON. HOWEVER, IDIOTS WILL DO WHAT IDIOTS ALWAYS DO AND ATTEMPT TO APPLY MY COMMENTS TO ALL MUSLIMS IN GENERAL.
MY COMMENTS WERE DIRECTED ONLY AT THOSE INVOLVED IN THESE TWO ATROCITIES - AND - TO THOSE WHO SUPPORT THEM. I HAVE NO DOUBT THAT MILLIONS OF MUSLIMS WERE AS OFFENDED AND SICKENED BY THIS ARTICLE AS I WAS.
AS FOR MY INSULTS AGAINST THE PROPHET, THAT IS SOMETHING WE HERE IN AMERICA HAVE A CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO EXPRESS. AS YOU MAY HAVE NOTICED, WE ARE JUST AS HARD ON JESUS AS WE ARE ON MOHAMMED (PEACE BE UPON HIM).
FOR THOSE OF YOU MORONS WHO THINK YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO COME TO OUR COUNTRY AND ENFORCE YOUR ANCIENT, BARBARIC, INHUMAN RULES AND MORALS ON US BY THREATENING US AND KILLING US, AS YOU HAVE DONE IN SO MANY COUNTRIES THROUGHOUT THE WORLD; AND FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO THINK YOU CAN TERRORIZE US INTO ABANDONING OUR HARD-WON RIGHTS TO FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND RELIGION, I HAVE JUST ONE THING TO SAY ... BRING IT ON.
MY GLOCK IS CLEANED AND LOADED, AND I LOOK FORWARD TO YOUR VISIT).

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THE SCIENCE SEGMENT

LICE DNA STUDY SHOWS HUMANS FIRST WORE CLOTHES 170,000 YEARS AGO

A NEW UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA STUDY FOLLOWING THE EVOLUTION OF LICE SHOWS MODERN HUMANS STARTED WEARING CLOTHES ABOUT 170,000 YEARS AGO, A TECHNOLOGY WHICH ENABLED THEM TO SUCCESSFULLY MIGRATE OUT OF AFRICA.
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR DAVID REED, ASSOCIATE CURATOR OF MAMMALS AT THE FLORIDA MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY, STUDIES LICE IN MODERN HUMANS TO BETTER UNDERSTAND HUMAN EVOLUTION AND MIGRATION PATTERNS. HIS LATEST FIVE-YEAR STUDY USED DNA SEQUENCING TO CALCULATE WHEN CLOTHING LICE FIRST BEGAN TO DIVERGE GENETICALLY FROM HUMAN HEAD LICE.
REED SAID HE WANTED TO FIND ANOTHER METHOD FOR PINPOINTING WHEN HUMANS MIGHT HAVE FIRST STARTED WEARING CLOTHING. BECAUSE THEY ARE SO WELL ADAPTED TO CLOTHING, BODY LICE OR CLOTHING LICE ALMOST CERTAINLY DIDN'T EXIST UNTIL CLOTHING CAME ABOUT IN HUMANS.
THE DATA SHOWS MODERN HUMANS STARTED WEARING CLOTHES ABOUT 70,000 YEARS BEFORE MIGRATING INTO COLDER CLIMATES AND HIGHER LATITUDES, WHICH BEGAN ABOUT 100,000 YEARS AGO. THIS DATE WOULD BE VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO DETERMINE USING ARCHAEOLOGICAL DATA BECAUSE EARLY CLOTHING WOULD NOT SURVIVE IN ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES.
THE STUDY ALSO SHOWS HUMANS STARTED WEARING CLOTHES WELL AFTER THEY LOST BODY HAIR, WHICH GENETIC SKIN-COLORATION RESEARCH PINPOINTS AT ABOUT 1 MILLION YEARS AGO, MEANING HUMANS SPENT A CONSIDERABLE AMOUNT OF TIME WITHOUT BODY HAIR AND WITHOUT CLOTHING.
IT'S INTERESTING TO THINK HUMANS WERE ABLE TO SURVIVE IN AFRICA FOR HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF YEARS WITHOUT CLOTHING AND WITHOUT BODY HAIR, AND THAT IT WASN'T UNTIL THEY HAD CLOTHING THAT MODERN HUMANS WERE THEN ABLE TO MOVE OUT OF AFRICA AND INTO OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD.
LICE ARE STUDIED BECAUSE UNLIKE MOST OTHER PARASITES, THEY ARE STRANDED ON LINEAGES OF HOSTS OVER LONG PERIODS OF EVOLUTIONARY TIME. THE RELATIONSHIP ALLOWS SCIENTISTS TO LEARN ABOUT EVOLUTIONARY CHANGES IN THE HOST BASED ON CHANGES IN THE PARASITE.
APPLYING UNIQUE DATA SETS FROM LICE TO HUMAN EVOLUTION HAS ONLY DEVELOPED WITHIN THE LAST 20 YEARS, AND PROVIDES INFORMATION THAT COULD BE USED IN MEDICINE, EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY, ECOLOGY OR ANY NUMBER OF FIELDS.
IT GIVES THE OPPORTUNITY TO STUDY HOST-SWITCHING AND INVADING NEW HOSTS -- BEHAVIORS SEEN IN EMERGING INFECTIOUS DISEASES THAT AFFECT HUMANS.
THE NEW RESULT FROM THIS LICE STUDY IS AN UNEXPECTEDLY EARLY DATE FOR CLOTHING, MUCH OLDER THAN THE EARLIEST SOLID ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE, BUT IT MAKES SENSE. IT MEANS MODERN HUMANS PROBABLY STARTED WEARING CLOTHES ON A REGULAR BASIS TO KEEP WARM WHEN THEY WERE FIRST EXPOSED TO ICE AGE CONDITIONS.
ACCORDING TO TEMPERATURE ESTIMATES FROM ICE CORE STUDIES, THE LAST ICE AGE OCCURRED ABOUT 120,000 YEARS AGO, BUT THE STUDY'S DATE SUGGESTS HUMANS STARTED WEARING CLOTHES IN THE PRECEDING ICE AGE 180,000 YEARS AGO. MODERN HUMANS FIRST APPEARED ABOUT 200,000 YEARS AGO.
BECAUSE ARCHAIC HOMININS DID NOT LEAVE DESCENDANTS OF CLOTHING LICE FOR SAMPLING, THE STUDY DOES NOT EXPLORE THE POSSIBILITY ARCHAIC HOMININS OUTSIDE OF AFRICA WERE CLOTHED IN SOME FASHION 800,000 YEARS AGO. BUT WHILE ARCHAIC HUMANS WERE ABLE TO SURVIVE FOR MANY GENERATIONS OUTSIDE AFRICA, ONLY MODERN HUMANS PERSISTED THERE UNTIL THE PRESENT.
THE THINGS THAT MAY HAVE MADE US MUCH MORE SUCCESSFUL IN THAT ENDEAVOR HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF YEARS LATER WERE TECHNOLOGIES LIKE THE CONTROLLED USE OF FIRE, THE ABILITY TO USE CLOTHING, NEW HUNTING STRATEGIES AND NEW STONE TOOLS.

BONUS SCIENCE STORY
BLACK HOLE FOUND TO BE MUCH CLOSER TO EARTH THAN PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT
AN INTERNATIONAL TEAM OF ASTRONOMERS HAS ACCURATELY MEASURED THE DISTANCE FROM EARTH TO A BLACK HOLE FOR THE FIRST TIME. WITHOUT NEEDING TO RELY ON MATHEMATICAL MODELS THE ASTRONOMERS CAME UP WITH A DISTANCE OF 7800 LIGHT YEARS, MUCH CLOSER THAN HAD BEEN ASSUMED UNTIL NOW. THE RESEARCHERS ACHIEVED THIS BREAKTHROUGH BY MEASURING THE RADIO EMISSIONS FROM THE BLACK HOLE AND ITS ASSOCIATED DYING STAR.
DUE TO THE MUCH LOWER ERROR MARGIN (<6%), ASTRONOMERS CAN NOW GAIN A BETTER PICTURE OF HOW BLACK HOLES EVOLVE. MOREOVER, AN EXACT DISTANCE IS IMPORTANT FOR MEASUREMENTS OF THE BLACK HOLE´S SPIN.
ASTRONOMICAL DISTANCES ARE MOST EASILY MEASURED USING THE SO-CALLED TRIGONOMETRIC PARALLAX, IN WHICH ASTRONOMERS MAKE USE OF THE ANNUAL SHIFT IN THE STAR'S POSITION AS A CONSEQUENCE OF THE EARTH'S ORBIT AROUND THE SUN (PARALLAX SHIFT). RESEARCHERS HAVE NOW APPLIED THIS METHOD FOR THE FIRST TIME TO A RELATIVELY NEAR BLACK HOLE AND ITS ASSOCIATED STAR, V404 CYGNI, IN THE CYGNUS CONSTELLATION. THE OUTERMOST LAYERS OF THE STAR ARE BEING DRAWN INTO THE BLACK HOLE. THIS GAS FIRST OF ALL ACCUMULATES IN A PLASMA DISC AROUND THE BLACK HOLE BEFORE IT DISAPPEARS INTO IT, A PROCESS DURING WHICH A LOT OF X-RAYS AND RADIO WAVES ARE EMITTED.
REEARCHERS COULD ACCURATELY MEASURE THE PARALLAX SHIFT OF THIS BINARY SYSTEM USING A COMBINATION OF TELESCOPES SPREAD THROUGHOUT THE WORLD, THE HIGH SENSITIVITY ARRAY. USING THIS APPROACH THE ASTRONOMERS COULD ESTABLISH THAT THE BLACK HOLE OF V404 CYGNI IS 7800 LIGHT YEARS FROM EARTH, SLIGHTLY MORE THAN HALF THE DISTANCE THAT WAS PREVIOUSLY ASSUMED. THE RESEARCHERS BELIEVE THAT THE PREVIOUS OVERESTIMATION OF THIS DISTANCE WAS DUE TO AN UNDERESTIMATION OF THE ABSORPTION AND DIFFRACTION OF INTERSTELLAR DUST THAT CAN GIVE AN ERROR MARGIN OF ABOUT 50 PERCENT.
FROM THEIR MEASUREMENTS THE RESEARCHERS COULD WORK OUT THAT THE BLACK HOLE DEVELOPED FROM A SUPERNOVA EXPLOSION, AND THAT IT MOVES THROUGH SPACE AT A RATE OF ABOUT 40 KM PER SECOND.
(MY QUESTION: 40 KM PER SECOND RELATIVE TO WHAT?).
THE BINARY-STAR SYSTEM ACQUIRED THIS VELOCITY DURING THE EXPLOSION. WITH THIS INFORMATION RESEARCHERS HAVE GAINED A BETTER IDEA ABOUT HOW BACK HOLES EVOLVE. FOR EXAMPLE, THEY HOPE TO BE ABLE TO ANSWER THE QUESTION AS TO WHETHER THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BLACK HOLES THAT EVOLVE DIRECTLY FROM THE COLLAPSE OF A STAR WITHOUT A SUPERNOVA AND BLACK HOLES THAT EVOLVE VIA A SUPERNOVA AND A TEMPORARY INTERMEDIATE STAR, A PROTO-NEUTRON STAR. THEY EXPECT THAT THE BLACK HOLES IN THE LAST GROUP CAN GET A KICK. BLACK HOLES FORMED IN THIS WAY COULD THEN MOVE THROUGH SPACE FASTER.

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POLITICAL NEWS

REPUBLICAN QUITS AMID THREATS FROM THE TEA PARTY

THE TRAGEDY IN TUCSON WAS THE FINAL STRAW FOR THE EMBATTLED REPUBLICAN PARTY CHIEF OF A PHOENIX-AREA CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT. ANTHONY MILLER, A FORMER CAMPAIGN WORKER FOR JOHN MCCAIN, SAYS HE WAS THE TARGET OF RELENTLESS ATTACKS FROM TEA PARTY SUPPORTERS AND HE FEARED THE TENSION BETWEEN REPUBLICAN FACTIONS COULD LEAD TO VIOLENCE AGAINST HIM OR HIS FAMILY.
MILLER WAS RE-ELECTED TO HIS POST IN NOVEMBER, DEFEATING A CANDIDATE BACKED BY A COALITION OF CONSERVATIVE GROUPS. "I WASN'T GOING TO RESIGN BUT DECIDED TO QUIT AFTER WHAT HAPPENED SATURDAY," MILLER SAYS. "I LOVE THE REPUBLICAN PARTY BUT I DON'T WANT TO TAKE A BULLET FOR ANYONE." SEVERAL OTHER PARTY OFFICIALS IN THE DISTRICT ALSO QUIT. "IT'S TOO BAD," SAID THE AREA'S REPUBLICAN STATE SENATOR. "HE DIDN'T DESERVE TO BE HOUNDED OUT OF OFFICE."
(MY COMMENT: WHAT THE ARTICLE DOESN'T MENTION IS THAT MILLER IS BLACK. BUT, OF COURSE, NO ONE WOULD EVER ACCUSE THE TEA PARTY OF BEING RACIST).
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FAMOUS QUOTES

THOMAS PAINE
"PERSECUTION IS NOT AN ORIGINAL FEATURE IN ANY RELIGION;

BUT IT IS ALWAYS THE STRONGLY MARKED FEATURE

OF ALL RELIGIONS ESTABLISHED BY LAW.

TAKE AWAY THE LAW-ESTABLISHMENT,

AND EVERY RELIGION RE-ASSUMES ITS ORIGINAL BENIGNITY."

"WHENEVER WE READ THE OBSCENE STORIES, THE VOLUPTUOUS DEBAUCHERIES, THE CRUEL AND TORTUROUS EXECUTIONS, THE UNRELENTING VINDICTIVENESS, WITH WHICH MORE THAN HALF THE BIBLE IS FILLED, IT WOULD BE MORE CONSISTENT THAT WE CALLED IT, THE WORD OF A DEMON THAN THE WORD OF GOD. IT IS A HISTORY OF WICKEDNESS THAT HAS SERVED TO CORRUPT AND BRUTALIZE MANKIND."