In Colorado, Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput and the state Catholic Conference are fighting several measures that would suspend or repeal the state’s civil statute of limitations on child abusers.
Charles Chaput is simply a politician who wears a funny hat and tells people what will happen to their immortal souls; let’s consign his opinions to the bin of history, shall we?
On September 22nd, 2008 I sent this to the local Liberal Candidate:
Good Day Ms. Gauthier,
I live in your riding and would like more information about your stance on Personal Freedom, Government Transparency, Nuclear Power, Culture and Entertainment, Unions and International Trade.
Thanks for your time,
Kevin Wardrop.
Straight forward and simple, I was looking for responses from the three Candidates in my riding who most closely resembeled my political leanings. The Candidates from the Green and NDP parties replied. Daniel O’Neail’s Green Party most closely resembles the majority of my Political Leanings (save their enviornmental stance, which I do not agree with) but Irene Mathyssen presented a more comprehensive and nuanced stance for the NDP. The Liberal Candidate has yet to reply and with just a few short days left, they have made my decision all the easier, as my arbitrary timer has lapsed and I won’t vote Liberal now, simply over a local matter. Stephan Dion’s “Democrat Light” approach to the Tories notwithstanding.
It falls to Jack Layton and Elizabeth May now to form an effective opposition to the Tories. I’ll be watching.
Here’s where things get a great deal more interesting on this whole “Prank”
Usually, when you are going to perform a redirect as a prank, you use an A record to redirect the request, so domainnamenamevariant.com is redirected to someotherdomain.com via an A record. In this case the redirect is a highly disrecommended CNAME or Canonical Nam pointing to an IP address the record reads like this VOTEFORTHEMILF.COM IN CNAME 64.203.107.149.
This IP, whether you go to it via http:\\64.203.107.149 or voteforthemif.com (which now seems to redirect to google in some cases) goes to a special Palin greeting.
All of this is kind of known, but I’m providing a summation that makes the “It was a prank” angle seem like a stupid bit of misdirection. How could the prankster have known that 64.203.107.149 led to a special palin message? 64.203.107.149 has no PTR record and is the A record of JOHNMCAIN.COM but NOT www.johnmcain.com.
The A Record for www.johnmcain.com points to an aliased address from his DNS hosting provider:
Name: edgecastcdn.net
Address: 72.21.81.132
Aliases: www.johnmccain.com
Johnmain.com does not
Non-authoritative answer:
Name: johnmccain.com
Address: 64.203.107.149
Visiting the IP of www.johnmcain.com in your browser http://72.21.81.132/ connects you to nothing.
Visiting the IP of johnmcain.com in your browser http://64.203.107.149/ connects you to a website.
Why would the webmaster of John Mcain’s website link a site to one IP and not the other? That’s more than odd. Here’s why, it’s the same amount of work to set it up, you can copy and paste one configuration to another and make it active so that WEB recquests for IP one and IP two will go to the same place, but in this case reqeusts initially bound for 64.203.107.149 end up going to a special palin greeting. How could the prankster have pre-knowledge that the greeting would be there? I mean, if voteforthemilf.com was a simple redirect to the IP, and the IP (in the case of the more popular www.johnmcain.com) does not connect to a configured website why would they imagine it would magically connect to a Palin related website?
This story is not over, not complete and the “prankster” isn’t giving up their secrets at all.
In the end, this is just a distraction, but it’s a fun tech mystery too, and what’s more fun on a Friday night than a fun tech mystery, right?
In conclusion, it is my opinion that we have between 75 and 120 days before the Middle East starts spinning out of control. If there was ever a time for fervent prayer, it is now. Prayer can change the course of history! The Bible says, “Seek righteousness, seek humility. … that you may be hid in the day of the Lord’s wrath.” “… the fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”
The believing prayers of tens of thousands of God’s people can change the hearts of the leaders of Russia and Iran. God can cause situations to arise which will save Israel. He is Almighty. With God all things are possible!
With that in mind, I urge you to fervently seek God’s intervention in the following areas:
- Pray that God’s mighty angels would surround and protect our nation in these perilous times;
- Pray for unity among the body of Christ as we intercede for our nation and our world;
- Pray that America’s leadership will seek godly wisdom as they face critical events in the weeks and months ahead;
- Pray for the Holy Spirit to sweep across the globe, preparing hearts to accept Jesus and enter God’s Kingdom before tragic events unfold;
- Pray for God to change the hearts of leaders in Russia, Iran, and other nations who wish to do harm to Israel.
Hopefully, our Lord will intervene and head off the disaster that seems to be approaching. Let us pray together. With God all things are possible!
http://www.patrobertson.com/pressreleases/PatRobertsonRegardingGeorgia.asp
Okay folks, here it is. The Pat Robertson Prayer Challenge, this is where the rubber meets the road on Christianity, Prayer and the Intercession of Faith.
As a Celebrant, you can say to the flock, “Pray for X or if you don’t U will happen” if X happens you can say “You Prayed well and have been rewarded” and if Y happens you can say “You didn’t show enough faith, next time you will pray harder or give more of yourself”. As long as X is easy “No Fire Demons come From the Sky” and Y is likely “Someone’s house will Burn Down” it means that the celebrant can effectively use statistics and basic common sense to look like a conduit for Gods words. When in all likelihood they are just an astute observer of statistics and human behavior.
Between today and January 1st, Pat Robertson says that the Middle East will erupt in chaos and a limited nuclear exchange may occur unless his followers pray for Russian and Iran to “back down” if they don’t he can say “See, your prayers saved Israel” and if they do he can say “You didn’t Pray hard enough” or if Barack Obama is elected President and they do he can say “It’s your fault for electing that man, this is your Punishment”
What about a Third outcome? What it American invades Iran and touches off a real war with Russia?
What if American forces step in among the Balkans?
What if Isreal bombs Iran?
Prayer against a massively negative outcome is easy, especially if it is unlikely. Praying that a comet won’t hit the world is easy, and likely to come true. Prayer that you won’t get wet on a rainy day is stupid, as you are going to get wet on a rainy day if you go out without rain gear on. So to is this prayer easy, it’s highly unlikely that either Iran or Russia would provoke a nuclear war “Just because” and let’s face it, if the rhetoric of our politicians was enough to provoke a real war, Iran would have bombed Isreal years ago.
If Prayer is REAL and the world is on the edge of massive nuclear war, then it is likely that it WILL happen, because as you know, America has fallen to the forces of evil already:
We have insulted God at the highest level of our government. Then, we say, “Why does this happen?” It is happening because God Almighty is lifting His protection from us.
Once that protection is gone, we are vulnerable because we are a free society.http://www.patrobertson.com/PressReleases/TerroristAttack.asp
FedUp Canadian Fri, Sep 26, 08 at 08:27 AM
Firstly – obviously she is not responsible, mentally stable and mature enough to take care of a child. Children having children. And who’s stuck paying the bill? Secondly, (3) hours! Come on people, use your heads!! Think for gosh sakes! Enough already. Yes everyone, it’s just that easy for the Police and RCMP – “Oh Please, can you give us the baby.” Get Real! What kind of a society are we living in when the average Canadian cannot see past their noses what’s really going on out there! For all you Smart As___ . why don’t you go out there and deal with what the Police and RCMP have to deal with. Good Luck. But then when it comes Your Turn and you need their help, don’t complain because they tasered the guy who’s holding you hostage and some of that shock may have inadvertantly transfered to your body. Rather that than they try shooting him and hit you instead. Or maybe they don’t respond immediately when your house is broken into because they are spending (3) hours trying to talk a 16 yr old into handing over a baby she shouldn’t have custody of in the first place. And where were the parents and grandmother when all this was going on? Never mind, where were they before the incident began? Why is it that in todays society, it’s always someone else’s fault? I was raised to take responsibility for each and every one of my actions!
oh please Fri, Sep 26, 08 at 08:17 AM
i am not sure what all the fuse is about. it is obvious from this story that a taser was used on the stun mode. they did not shoot barbs into her. there is an infant at risk in an out of control situation and this “poor” teen is refusing all direction given by the police officers to let the baby go. lets not forget that the mother defied a supervision order, refused to give the baby to the officers and now wants to play the victim pathetic
B. Fri, Sep 26, 08 at 09:00 AM
Sorry Ms. Peterson but you’re definitely in the wrong on this one. Do as a police officer tells you what to do and you won’t get hurt. You weren’t being reasonable at all. You seemed to have very little respect for what the officers were telling you.This is the WINNAR!
The backstory on this post is over here; essentially a young mother (16) wouldn’t let the police take her sick baby away from her. The police were (if the story is accurate) simply acting in the “best interest” of the baby, but that’s not the reason I’m interested in this story. It sucks that the girl was tasered, it sucks worse that the baby is going to have all this turmoil in their life and be sick (for the rest of their life). I’ll quote the article here so that the main thrust is apparent:
A teen who was Tasered by police as she clutched her one-month-old son just wants her baby back.
Misha Peterson, 16, said Vancouver police held her down on a bed and shot her with a Taser twice on Monday while she held her one-month-old son, Taige.
“Three or four cops were holding me down and they Tasered me twice in the neck until I let go of my baby,” said Peterson.
Peterson said social services were trying to take Taige because her 17-year-old boyfriend, Scott Michell, broke a supervision requirement.
Michell can’t see his child without adult supervision after an argument about Peterson moving back to her mother’s “got out of hand,” she said.
Some of the details in the original story are vague, it takes a neutral tone to a fault, making the whole situation kind of muddy and doesn’t really provide enough framing on an obviously emotional story to allow us to form an opinion either way. It’s good news, but a smart editor should have caught the kind of emotions it would provoke and tossed in some detail about the mother, the police and the whole situation to allow for fully-formed emotional responses rather than the knee-jerk ones we are treated to by the anonymous trolls I’ve quoted above.
It’s these trolls that I wish to address; I’m not referring to them as trolls in the internet sense (as in trolling for newbs, yo!) I’m referring to them in the (excuse the term) biblical sense, real trolls. They squat around the internet and look for their next moral target, blaming the victims of police or government over-exuberance for not “just laying back and taking it like a man”
This girl has done what the Trolls wanted, she birthed a baby when she clearly could not handle it and should have taken the sane option of simply aborting the fetus or giving it up for adoption. She clearly loves and wants the child. She has passed the “life is important test” which the right to life will tell you is the most important test of all. Why then, is she in a situation like this? Shouldn’t society be all over her? Making sure that both child and mother are in good shape? It certainly seems like the police are acting to enforce the will of society to “help” the child, but I would state that perhaps they were too exuberant.
It’s this very exuberance that the trolls on the page applaud.
Which makes me question their very humanity.
The debate on Friday was to focus on Mr. McCain’s perceived strength, foreign policy. Mr. McCain had not planned to devote large blocks of time to debate practice as did Mr. Obama, who was holing up with a tight circle of advisers at a hotel in Clearwater, Fla., on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday to prepare. Mr. McCain had a preparatory session on Wednesday afternoon at the Morgan Library in Manhattan, but advisers said it had been interrupted by his decision, announced immediately afterward, to suspend his campaign.
If you are up on the whole “Clambake” then you must know what Clearwater, Florida is, right? Let me remind you:
If you’re still here and you didn’t watch the video and am still not clear on where Clearwater is, it’s practically the center of the non-celebrity world of Scientology. Demographically, it’s a strange choice for the Obama campaign to appear there, what with the CoS’s somewhat tarnished public image. I’m going to have to do a little digging to look to see if any well-known CoS members are in the Obama campaign.
It appears I’m not the first person to question this
This is troubling to me, as I’ve been more and more concerned about how the CoS goes about defending itself from criticism in very aggressive and/or paranoid ways. In Fact, I’m sure that I’ll get a few hits over here just for this post.
So, what do you think, is there a CoS mole in the Obama campaign?
On Monday I posted that I would contact the local candidates in the Canadian Federal Election; Daniel McNeail responded on Monday (about an hour after I emailed him)
Irene Mathyssen responded today:
Dear Kevin,
Thank you very much for emailing. I appreciate constituents taking the time to contact me about the issues important to them. As the MP, one of the things I pride myself on is taking the time to provide personal responses to constituents when they email or write to me. An election does not change my commitment to constituents, and am pleased to be able to continue to answer constituents questions during the campaign.
First, let me respond to your question about “personal freedom”. I very much treasure the personal freedoms we have in Canada, and absolutely will stand in defense of those freedoms. Personal freedoms however come with personal responsibilities, something many people seem to forget all too quickly. When personal actions cross the line and cause harm to others, we must draw the line, personal freedom is then subject to restriction to protect the health and welfare of other citizens.
Many people are under the misunderstanding that the Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees “rights” that they feel they should have. In particular people have approached me thinking that they have “the right” to supercede property by-laws, or feel that they have the “right” to a driver’s license, for example. In the preamble of the Charter however, it is perfectly clear that all of our personal rights are subject to such restrictions as are reasonable in a free and democratic society.
On government transparency, I unequivocally believe we need far greater openess and transparency in our government. I voted with the Conservatives in support of the “Accountability Act”, because although the legislation is far from perfect, it was a positive step toward a more transparent government. Unfortunately, the reality is the Harper government has been less accountable or transparent than they promised to be. Even as a Member of Parliament, my office has had to submit dozens of “Access to Information” (ATI) requests to have federal government information released to me. From policy decisions to government spending, I believe we have a long way to go toward an open, transparent, and accountable government. I would invite you to visit: http://new.ndplondonfanshawe.ca/?p=495 to see some of the examples of abuse of public funds our NDP MPs discovered through ATI requests.
The NDP has a plan to move us toward great openess and accountability, developed by long time NDP leader Ed Broadbent. I have attached a .PDF copy of this plan for you to review if you are interested.
In regard to Nuclear Power, the NDP believes that the Atomic Energy Commission must be kept under public control, not privatized. Nuclear technology is obviously something which, given the current geo-political climate, must be carefully overseen. New Democrats, however, also believe that nuclear energy is not a direction we should be pursuing in terms of Canada’s energy needs. We have an existing “baseload” of nuclear power, but nuclear plants have never delivered the return on public investment which was promised. Nuclear plant construction and maintenance has consistently run over budget and over time deadlines. Nuclear facility construction itself is also highly polluting, and we do not yet have a satisfactory means of dealing with nuclear waste. We believe it is unacceptable to simply store the waste and leave the disposal problem to future generations. That kind of short-term thinking has contributed significantly to the climate crisis we are facing today, and we cannot continue to ignore the long-term consequences of our actions. Instead, New Democrats believe Canadians would be better served by a diversified and decentralized energy network that includes a stable mix of hydro-electric, geothermal, solar, wind, and other sustainable, renewable, clean energy sources. Our Greener Communities, Green Canada plan includes retrofitting all federal government buildings (and providing direct support for provinces and municipalities to also participate) for energy efficiency, and a “Made In Canada” procurement and investment strategy that would ensure the solar, wind, and other technologies purchased by the government of Canada are manufactured in Canada–creating Canadian jobs! New Democrats believe in setting a good example through our actions, which is why we announced this week that our headquarters in Ottawa will be retrofitted with a “green roof”. You can read more about this undertaking at:
http://www.ndp.ca/page/6907On culture, arts, and entertainment, the NDP has been very clear. First, we must reverse the recent Conservative cuts to arts and cultural programs. Quality of life is not simply a matter of profit and productivity, it is also about having the time and the means to enjoy music, theatre, film, and other art forms. Next, we must introduce modern copyright legislation, that protects both artists and consumers. As a consumer, you should have every right to copy a CD you purchase to an MP3 player, or to back-up your DVD’s to your computer. At the same time, we must recognize that artists need to eat and have a roof over their heads. They deserve fair compensation for their work. A strong, publicly funded CBC is also a component of the NDP’s commitment to arts and entertainment. While the arts and entertainment community should be funded in part by private contributions of patrons, public funding for the arts should be reflective of the benefits to our society of maintaining a strong and independant Canadian culture. Our commitment to Canadian arts and entertainment was announced publicly this morning and the details are available at: http://www.ndp.ca/page/6933
Finally, you asked about unions and international trade. New Democrats believe in FAIR TRADE, not Free Trade. We believe that Canadian agreements with foreign governments on trade matters must include standards for fair labour practices, environmental standards, and human rights. For example, the Conservative government has been aggressively pursuing a “Free Trade” deal with South Korea. However, this so called “Free Trade” deal is a one way street, providing unlimited access to Canadian markets for cheap Korean products without ensuring Canadian goods have equal access to Korean markets. I have tabled 3 petitions in the House of Commons on behalf of thousands of London-Fanshawe constituents who signed petitions opposing the government’s continued pursuit of this Canada-Korea deal. Earlier this year, NDP leader Jack Layton wrote to both Senator Clinton and Senator Obama indicating our willingness to reopen and renegoiate NAFTA to ensure trade fairness for both countries. For example, under current NAFTA rules, Canada must continue to supply the USA with a guaranteed percentage of our oil production every day–even if a supply shortfall or national crisis occurs in Canada. That’s not right, and we want to change it. This dialogue even attracted the attention of CNN in the USA, and Jack Layton appeared on the Lou Dobbs show on CNN to explain our “Fair Trade” position. You can watch this by visiting my website (www.irenemathyssen.ca) and clicking on the “Irene’s Video’s” button. It is currently the third video from the top–but new videos are being added during the campaign, so you may have to scroll down to find it.
The New Democrats are the only political party in Canada with a unionized staff. In terms of unions, now more than ever, working people deserve the protection and benefits of unionized workplaces. I recognize that not all unions are created equal, and not all are as helpful and effective as they could be. Having said that, the truth is that unions are like democratic governments, the more the membership of a union participates in union meetings, elections, and activism, the better representation they tend to get from their union. The same holds true for government, the more informed and actively engaged its citizens are, the more responsive and accountable our government will be.
I hope this fully answers your questions. Please do not hesitate to write again at any time.
All the best,
Irene Mathyssen, MP
NDP Candidate, London-Fanshawe– Show quoted text –
On Mon, Sep 22, 2008 at 9:06 AM, Kevin Wardrop <nitemayr@gmail.com> wrote:
Good Day Mrs. Mathyssen,
I live in your riding and would like more information about your stance on Personal Freedom, Government Transparency, Nuclear Power, Culture and Entertainment, Unions and International Trade.
Thanks for your time,
Kevin Wardrop.—
Irene Mathyssen Re-election Campaign
1700 Dundas St. Suite G
London ON, N5W 3C9
519-451-0099
www.irenemathyssen.ca
And My Response
Mrs. Mathyssen,
Thank-you for your nuanced and detailed responses.
They have given me a great deal to think about. Please accept my best wishes for your Re-Election campaign.
—
Kevin Wardrop
Wow, now that’s a detailed response. This is a great deal more in-depth than Mr. O’Neail’s response but feels less personal; which one woud expect from an experienced politician. I’m still much more in the “Green” category, as their views appear to coincide with mine and as always NDP always seems to be Liberal + Tory = Libertory Lite with some concilatory language to their traditional base the Unions.
I don’t think I’ll find a political soul mate on the nuclear matter though.
The last response will be from the Liberal Candidate, Jacquie Gauthie.
Mr. WardropI am afraid I do not currently have a website of my own, it is under construction. On the other hand my personal views on many subjects are public knowledge, and far better documented than any other local candidate as I have been writing a weekly column for Londontopic.ca for the last year.If you could take the time to go to londontopic.ca and then the opinion tab you will find all of my articles, my views of industry are available under the questions to the candidates on the front section, as well as the video at the London Free Press.If you have further questions please come out to one of the debates or email me and I will answer whatever questions you may have.The ECOspective articles are also available on facebook under the “fan of Daniel O’Neail” page.Regards and best wishesDaniel O’NeailKevin’s Note: Links added to text to make it easier to follow.
I’m at a loss here; what is the “Zen Car”? A google search turned up Zero front-page results on the matter and I might get myself pushed to the front page if I go on about the “Zen Car” in this post enough times. So I’ll avoid it. Mr. O’Neail mentions the Zen Car as a the type of export that Canada should focus on, but I can’t seem to find anything about it online. That’s not a substantive point if one can’t really learn anything about it online.
On the health care front, Mr. O’Neail is in line with the Greens, pointing out that preventative measures mean more than simple repair.
Mr. O’Neail also espouses local ownership of production facilities and resources. Something I can strongly agree with.
I don’t see anything about international relations, unions, personal freedom or nuclear power there. Oh Well.
Watch for more responses in the future
This is my election district: London-Fanshawe; Londoners might refer to the majority of it as “The Scary East End” or som variation of it. When I first came to London, I might have agreeed, having toured it while looking for a new home. I settled here mostly out of necessity but have been constantly surprised and pleased by the hidden nature spots and “close to the countryside” living that I have found out here on the ragged-edge of the riding.
I used “The Undecided” to figure out which party I agreed with more in this election and was surprised to find out that the Greens were top of the list (mostly due to my paranoid desire to have Health Care funded at 100% with magical healing properties and Cancer Cures for all). That aside, I contacted the Green Party Candidate in my Riding (Dan O’Neail) and asked for some information on his stances. I think I may do the same for the candidates for the Liberals and NDP. I won’t Vote Tory for any reason, no matter how great the local candidate is, if isn’t the party leader, one Candidate isn’t going to change a whole party. I’m not required to give some sort of even-handed approach to this, I’ve never claimed to be totally open-minded.And let’s face it, I’m never going to vote for anyone who claims to represent “Christian Heritage” I mean, seriously, “I take my lead from a 2000 year old Carpenter’s Son” that’s like advertising you really, really, really want to believe that local social problems can be solved through strong belief in Faries and Giants.
So, I’m going to ask the Liberal and NDP candidates the same question I asked Dan O’Neail:
Do you have a website where you discuss your platform?
I live in your riding and would like more information about your stance on Personal Freedom, Government Transparency, Nuclear Power, Culture and Entertainment, Unions and International Trade.
Thanks for your time,
Kevin Wardrop.
I’ll post the replies as they come in.
A Short Note about my previous attempts to speak with local government:
I’ve since deleted the email reply I received about “Recycling Containers”. It was a brusque “You can find them in any hardware store” which kind of blunted the question by being, well, blunt. I decided this lack of candor would be met with total dismissal.
Perhaps this time, things will go well.
To Draw it down to Numbers
Published by NiteMayr on October 23, 2008An American Carol Week Number One (1,639 Screens):
Sicko Week Number One (441 Screens):
There has been alot of noise about “Real Americans” and “Real America” these past couple of days. The McCain campaign makes much of the fact that their supports represent the silent majority or the moral majority of the Country. The Down-home Salt of the earth that make up the real body of the electorate. The Authoritarian Right would have you believe that Liberals make up a tiny black-hearted exceptional bump in the world, and that the Rock-Ribbed Conservatives are in the Majority (while simlutaneously telling us about how they are persecuted).
These discussions are sometimes referred to as culture wars, expressed in purchasing patterns and behaviors. I can think of no better illustration of how North American people are really split than their viewing habits. They have to pay to see these films, they sometimes have to drive over some distance to go there, more than television, movie habits reflect the will and tastes of the affluent west and these numbers don’t lie.
People in the Western World ARE Liberals. They are Liberals by choice and in vast numbers, and if anyone tells you otherwise, they are deluded and foolish. Now if only they could vote that way too.
Oh, and in case you don’t know, An American Carol lasted two weeks in Theatres and Sicko, 13.