text:
What treatments are available to help with erections?
The success rates of these treatments vary greatly, and you may have to try a few to find the one that works best for you. In many cases, some sexual counseling can help a couple discuss their options and plan how to make the new treatment a comfortable part of their sex life.
Sildenafil (Viagra), vardenafil (Levitra), and tadalafil (Cialis) are drugs that come in a pill form and are used to treat erectile dysfunction (ED). All of these drugs help a man get and keep an erection by causing more blood to flow to the penis. If you are having difficulty with erections, these pills are often the first type of treatment that's tried.
For men who have had certain operations that involve the nerves that help cause erections, using these pills at full strength may not be helpful in getting an erection in the year or so following the operation. These pills work with the nerves responsible for erections. And even with nerve-sparing surgery (saving the nerves responsible for erections that run close to the rectum and along the prostate), the nerves are still damaged and need time to heal. This healing process usually takes up to 2 years. While the nerves are healing, the pills may not work. In fact, men may find the pills don't work at all the first few months after surgery. Often by about 6 months after surgery, the pills may work a little bit and cause a little swelling in the penis but not nearly enough for an erection. A year after surgery, the pills may be more effective, but still may not produce an erection hard enough for penetration. At 18 to 24 months after surgery, the pills may be very helpful in getting a firm erection. If these pills are not producing a firm erection in the first months after surgery, it's important to try another treatment to help restore the blood flow to the penis. (See "Early sexual rehabilitation after surgery" in the "How pelvic surgery to treat cancer can affect erections" section for more on this.)
Many drugs are known to interact with pills that help ED. For example, nitrates (like nitroglycerin and other drugs used to treat heart disease) may interact to cause very low blood pressure – this can be fatal. Be sure your doctor knows about all medicines you take, even those you take rarely. You should only take these pills if they are prescribed by your doctor and come from a legitimate pharmacy. There's a large counterfeit market for pills for ED, so make sure you are buying them from a pharmacy you know and trust.
The most common side effects of ED drugs are headache, flushing (skin becomes red and feels warm), upset stomach, sensitivity to light, and runny or stuffy nose. In rare cases, these drugs may block blood flow to the optic nerve in the back of the eye. This could lead to blindness. Men who have had this problem were more likely to have been smokers or had problems with high blood pressure, diabetes, or high levels of cholesterol or fat in their blood.
Other medicines to treat ED are being studied. You might want to ask your doctor about any new medicines or treatments that might work for you.
Penile injections
Many urologists (doctors who specialize in conditions and diseases of the genitals and urinary tract) teach men to inject their penises with medicines that cause erections. A very thin needle is used to put the drug into the side of the shaft of the penis a few minutes before starting sexual activity. The combination of sexual excitement and medicine helps to produce a firmer and longer-lasting erection.
Penile injections are the most reliable treatment for erectile dysfunction (ED), and work in about 80 to 90% of men who try them. Many men are hesitant to try the injections because they're afraid they will be painful. But when men are asked to rate the pain of the injection on a 0 to 10 scale, where 0 means no pain and 10 means the worst pain you can imagine, the majority of men rate the pain as a 2 or less.
Penile injections work, but they can have side effects. Because of this, the first injection is usually done in the doctor's office. Rarely, a man may get an erection that will not go down. If this happens, he needs to go to an emergency room right away for treatment. Some men may develop scarring in the spongy tissue of the penis after repeated injections.
Vacuum constriction devices
Another treatment, the vacuum constriction device (VCD) works well for some men. With a VCD, the man places a plastic cylinder over his penis and pumps out air to produce a vacuum around the outside of the penis. The suction draws blood into the penis, filling up the spongy tissue. When the penis is firm, the man takes the pump off and slips a stretchy band onto the base of his penis to help it stay erect. The band can be left on the penis for up to half an hour.
Some men use the pump before starting sexual touching, but others find it works better after some foreplay has produced a partial erection. The erection from a vacuum device is usually firm, but may swivel at the base of the penis, which can limit comfortable positions for sex. It may take some practice to learn how to use a VCD. Most vacuum devices are prescribed by doctors, but some are available over the counter.
Urethral pellets
Another way to help with erections is a urethral pellet. A man uses an applicator to put a tiny pellet or microsuppository of medicine into his urethra (the opening at the tip of the penis). As the pellet melts, the drug is absorbed through the lining of the urethra and enters the spongy tissue of the penis. The man must urinate before putting in the pellet so that the urethral lining is moist. After the pellet is put in, the penis must be massaged to help absorb the medicine. This system may be easier than injections, but it doesn't always work as well and can cause the same kinds of side effects. Because the pellet may make some men dizzy, a test dose in the doctor's office may be needed. It can cause some burning in the urethra, too. Bits of the pellet may also enter the partner during sex and cause burning, itching, or other discomfort.
Penile prostheses or implants
Surgery to implant a prosthesis in the penis was the first really successful treatment for medical erection problems. Over the past 40 years, many of these operations have been done, and they work quite well to treat permanent erection problems. For men who have tried all the treatments listed above, and have not found one that works well, an implant may be an option to consider. Most men who have implant surgery are very satisfied with the results.
The penile prosthesis generally offers the choice of a soft or hard penis. It's a pump system placed entirely inside a man's body. Two tough inflatable silicone cylinders are put inside the penis. A balloon-shaped reservoir (storage tank) that contains a mixture of salt water and x-ray dye is tucked behind the groin muscles. (The x-ray dye is used so that the system can easily be checked for problems after it's in place.) A pump is placed inside the loose skin of the scrotal sac. All the parts are connected with tubing.
Usually, the salt water stays in the reservoir, leaving the cylinders in the penis empty. From the outside, the penis looks the same as it does when not erect, except that it's always a little fuller. When you are ready for sex, you stiffen the penis by squeezing the pump under the skin of the scrotum several times. This pumps the salt water into the cylinders and inflates the penis just like blood does in a natural erection. When you have finished sexual activity and no longer want an erection, you press a release valve on the bottom of the pump to deflate the cylinders. The salt water then returns to the reservoir, and your penis becomes soft.
If you are seriously thinking about prosthesis surgery, you might want to read the chapters on medical and surgical treatments in the books listed in the "To learn more" section. Implants carry some risk of complications, such as infection. Also, the devices with more parts are more prone to failure, which then requires a second surgery.
Learn as much as you can and ask your urologist questions about possible complications before making your decision. A man who is married or in a committed relationship should include his partner in any decision about implants. Your partner needs to understand the procedure and have a chance to discuss any fears or questions with you and the doctor. You also must be realistic about what a prosthesis can and can't do for you. Any penile prosthesis is just a mechanical stiffener for the penis. Having a penile implant can't solve any other problems, such as low sexual desire, lack of sensation on the skin of the penis, or trouble reaching orgasm. It can't turn a poor sexual relationship into a great one.
A couple needs to talk openly before they have sex after implant surgery. You may need to experiment with different kinds of touching or with different positions. Make sure you are truly excited before trying to have sex, rather than starting sex just because your penis is erect. Couples who have maintained mutual touching, even if an erection problem prevented penetration, tend to adjust more easily to the prosthesis.
Last Medical Review: August 19, 2013 Last Revised: August 19, 2013
American Cancer Society medical information is copyrighted material. For reprint requests, please contact firstname.lastname@example.com.
Sexuality for the Man With Cancer
- Cancer, sex, and sexuality
- How the male body works sexually
- How pelvic surgery to treat cancer can affect erections
- How pelvic radiation therapy can affect erections
- How chemotherapy can affect erections
- The psychological effects of cancer treatment on erections
- How cancer treatment can affect ejaculation
- How cancer treatment can affect fertility
- How cancer treatment can affect sexual desire and response
- How cancer treatments can affect sexuality and fertility
- Dealing with sexual problems
- What treatments are available to help with erections?
- When is sexual counseling helpful?
- Can testosterone restore sexual functioning?
- What about herbs or natural cures for erection problems?
- Is there a way to make orgasms as intense as they used to be?
- Special concerns linked to certain cancers and their treatment
- Feeling good about yourself and feeling good about sex
- Chemotherapy also changes the way you look
- Overcoming depression
- Dealing with grief and loss
- Good communication: The key to building a successful sexual relationship
- Overcoming anxiety about sex
- Rekindling sexual interest
- Sexual activity with your partner
- Keeping your sex life going despite cancer treatment
- The single man and cancer
- Men who have sex with men
- Frequently asked questions
- Professional help
- American Cancer Society programs
- To learn more
- References


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Australia will be desperate to end 26 years of Auckland hurt when they run out to face an ominous-looking All Blacks side on Saturday.
Australia will be desperate to end 26 years of Auckland hurt when they run out to face an ominous-looking Kiwi side in Bledisloe Two on Saturday.
Despite last week's defeat at ANZ Stadium being cushioned slightly for the Wallabies by the eight-point losing margin, it should have been more.
They were distinctly second best and lacked the cutting edge their visitors oozed. Cue criticism from an ex-coach and the return of Quade Cooper. Cooper is charged with igniting a spark out wide, but questions remain over how his temperament will hold up at a venue he did not enjoy in 2011.
The returning Reds fly-half was clearly in no mood for reminiscing about the World Cup in front of the press on Thursday as he was gone in just six seconds, revealing in a low-key tone: "I'm back. I'm fit, healthy – I'm ready to go. And I will see everybody at Eden Park." He then placed the mic on the floor and walked away. The puzzled faces of speechless journalists waiting to pose their teasers to him truly were a sight to behold as Cooper seems to be in a zone ahead of Saturday.
It is fair to say that some have had their knives out for both Cooper and Robbie Deans of late and it could be that a poor Rugby Championship might be the final straw in Deans's tenure. A defensive style is one facet that has been in the spotlight but that shouldn't be a major cause for concern this weekend as Cooper and Waratahs wing Drew Mitchell will offer a greater attacking threat than shifted team-mates Adam Ashley-Cooper and Berrick Barnes.
But will say a 20% improvement in performance be enough to overcome the All Blacks?
As former Springbok coach Nick Mallett put it over the weekend, it is now highly-likely that New Zealand will claim the inaugural Rugby Championship. Mallett's reasoning for what some might view as a premature statement was that the All Blacks should beat Argentina home and away and also pick up victory over South Africa at Forsyth Barr Stadium. Add in this weekend's expected result and that would give them five triumphs out of six. Job done.
The Boks will no doubt shake off such a suggestion, but their inability to pick up all five points at home to the Pumas might just come back to haunt them. Consider the rate at which injuries have mounted up after only one round (David Pocock, Tony Woodcock, Bismarck du Plessis, Juan MartÃn Hernández, Tatafu Polota-Nau and Sekope Kepu) and then weigh up teams' depth and it is likely that the later one faces Argentina, the better.
New Zealand will, of course, also not buy into the notion that the title is already sewn up as this is a wounded Wallaby side. And with Cooper set to return to the international fold for the first time since he was taunted by 52,000 All Black fans, there is now a growing subplot to monitor. A fine game from him and he was 'focused on the job at hand' whereas if there is a repeat of the nightmare he endured in that semi-final last year, one fears for such a talent.
Ones to watch:
For New Zealand: This could be the last time rugby union sees Sonny Bill Williams in a New Zealand jersey as after Saturday's fixture he moves to Panasonic Wild Knights before returning to rugby league. Williams scored the last try in his final game for the Chiefs and such is his class, there is a good possibility he will go out of All Black colours with a bang.
For Australia: Did you even have to ask? Quade Cooper returns to the Australian line-up and will be looking to prove a point. It's likely he will defend from full-back but if the Wallabies choose not to employ that tactic, expect Sonny Bill Williams and Ma'a Nonu to hammer his channel. One thing is for sure and that is it won't be a smooth transition from Super Rugby to Tests so how he responds from what will be a tough opening fifteen minutes is the key. Impressive young talent Michael Hooper is also one to watch at seven.
Head-to-head: What happens on the openside is sure to be intriguing. Richie McCaw got the better of David Pocock last week and the Australian's absence would in many corners be seen as a monumental blow. But do not write off Michael Hooper. He, along with Liam Gill, are two geniune talents coming up through the ranks and they won't take a step back.
Recent results:
2012: New Zealand won 27-19 in Sydney
2011: New Zealand won 20-6 in Auckland
2011: Australia won 25-20 in Brisbane
2011: New Zealand won 30-14 in Auckland
2010: Australia won 26-24 in Hong Kong
2010: New Zealand won 23-22 in Sydney
2010: New Zealand won 20-10 in Christchurch
2010: New Zealand won 49-28 in Melbourne
2009: New Zealand won 32-19 in Tokyo
2009: New Zealand won 33-6 in Wellington
Prediction: The Auckland rot will not end for Australia. New Zealand by 12!
The teams:
New Zealand: 15 Israel Dagg, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Ma'a Nonu, 12 Sonny Bill Williams, 11 Hosea Gear, 10 Daniel Carter, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (c), 6 Liam Messam, 5 Samuel Whitelock, 4 Luke Romano, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Keven Mealamu, 1 Wyatt Crockett.
Replacements: 16 Andrew Hore, 17 Ben Franks, 18 Brodie Retallick, 19 Victor Vito, 20 Piri Weepu, 21 Aaron Cruden, 22 Ben Smith.
Australia: 15 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 14 Drew Mitchell, 13 Rob Horne, 12 Berrick Barnes, 11 Digby Ioane, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Will Genia (c), 8 Scott Higginbotham, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Dave Dennis, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 Sitaleki Timani, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements: 16 Saia Fainga'a, 17 James Slipper, 18 Radike Samo, 19 Liam Gill, 20 Nick Phipps, 21 Anthony Fainga'a, 22 Kurtley Beale.
Date: Saturday, August 25
Venue: Eden Park, Auckland
Kick-off: 19:35 (07.35 GMT; 08.35 BST)
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant referees: Alain Rolland (Ireland), Lourens van der Merwe (South Africa)
TMO: Ben Skeen (New Zealand)
By Adam Kyriacou

subset: commoncrawl


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This weekend I baked my second annual batch of Rumnog Pecan Cookies (from Veganomicon). Though I love nutmeg, I suspect it's the rum that makes these such a hit: two tablespoons in the cookies themselves, and two more in the frosting. If getting tipsy on cookies appeals to you, The Washington Post published the recipe (it says adapted, but the ingredients are identical and the procedure merely paraphrased). I made this batch with gluten-y all-purpose flour and then disinfected my kitchen.
For a healthier alternative to the ubiquitous cheese platter and vat of meatballs, I made a red and green edamame salad. It's based on Veganomicon's Corn and Edamame Salad, with red bell peppers instead of corn, green onions and almonds tossed in, and a 1:1:1 ration of sesame oil, rice vinegar, and tamari. Simple, fresh, and quite filling.
What are your favorite holiday party dishes?


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Aug. 7 Olympics scenes: Day 11
Tuesday was a huge day for Needham, Mass. gymnast Aly Raisman. She capped off her Olympics with a gold medal in the women's gymnastics floor exercise event and a bronze in the beam. Earlier, she was part of the US team that took gold in the team competition. Next
Aly Raisman won the floor exercise gold with a score of 15.9, easily topping silver medalist Catalina Ponor of Romania (15.2) and bronze medalist Aliya Mustafina of Russia (14.9). Next
Aly Raisman won the bronze medal on the balance beam in the women's gymnastics individual event finals on Tuesday. She was initially placed fourth, but a judges inquiry led to an adjustment of her score. Next
Diana Taurasi and the US women's basketball team sailed into the semifinals with an easy 91-48 victory over Lizanne Murphy and Canada. Taurasi scored 15 points. Next
Australia's Sally Pearson (center) outran Canada's Jessica Zelinka (second from left) and Lolo Jones of the U.S. (second from right) during their women's 100 meter hurdles semifinal. Pearson went on to win the gold medal in the finals. Jones finished fourth. Next
The US women's water polo team defeated Australia in overtime to reach the championship game of the tournament. The US will face Spain in the final on Thursday. Next
The American beach volleyball team of April Ross and Jennifer Kessy defeated Brazil's Juliana and Larissa in a semifinal at Horse Guards Parade to set up an all-American final. Ross and Kessy will face Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings in the final on Wednesday. Next
Mexico defeated Japan 3-1 at Wembley Stadium in the first men's soccer semifinal game. Mexico will face Brazil in the final. Next
Foluke Akinradewo spiked for the US in its women's volleyball quarterfinal vs. the Dominican Republic. The Americans won in straight sets. Next
Brazil's Romulo celebrates his first goal with teammate Neymar during their soccer semifinal against South Korea. Brazil won 3-0 to advance to the final. Next
Bronze medalist Aly Raisman (left) was joined on the medals stand by gold medalist Linlin Deng of China and silver medalist Lu Sui of China after the women's gymnastics beam event. Next
Alistair Brownlee of Great Britain kicked off Day 11 of the London Olympics on Tuesday with a victory in the men's triathlon. Brownlee covered the course in 1 hour, 46.25 minutes and held off Javier Gomez of Spain and Jonathan Brownlee, Alistair's brother. Next
Jamaica's Usain Bolt began his quest for gold in the 200 in the preliminary rounds on Tuesday. Bolt won his heat with a time of 20.39 seconds. Next
Wallace Spearmon of the US was second in his heat of the 200 preliminaries and advanced to the next round. Next
Russia's Alexander Bryukhankov (left) and Australia's Courtney Atkinson led a pack of riders during the cycling portion of the men's triathlon. Next
Brothers Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee of Great Britain entered the transition area together after finishing the 43-kilometer cycling portion of the triathlon. The event concluced with a 10-kilometer run. Next
Christina Obergfoll of Germany competed in the women's javelin qualifications. She was second in Group A with a throw of 66.14 meters. Next
The triathlon began with a 1,500-meter swim. Next
Singapore's Li Jiawei played a return against South Korea as partner Wang Yuegu watched in the bronze medal doubles match.The Singapore team won, 3-0. Back to the beginning


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Gas Price War in Kennewick?
If you're looking to pay a lower price for gas, we have just the corner for you.
Both the Conoco and the Circle K Exxon at the corner of Edison and Canal in Kennewick are selling gas more than 30 cents below the area average.
Each station's price was at $3.17 a gallon late this afternoon. The USA station adjacent to the Albertson's at Edison and Clearwater is also at $3.17
AAA lists the average price in the Tri-Cities at $3.53 today.
One clerk tells us that it's unclear as to which station started it, but that there's definitely a bit of a price war going on.


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Epic CheerPerforming Arts Acrobats
5 Piper Dr, Ballina, NSW 2478
This business can travel to you.
Best match results for: CATEGORY = Drama Associations for Kids + LOCATION = the Northern Rivers
Results include related kids activities and neighbouring locations.
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5 Piper Dr, Ballina, NSW 2478
This business can travel to you.
16 Carrington st, Lismore, NSW 2480
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28 Caniaba Crs, Suffolk Park, NSW 2481
102 Fawcett St, Ballina, NSW 2478
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Ballina Rd, Goonellabah, NSW 2480
Lennox Head Community Centre, Mackney Ln, Lennox Head, NSW 2478
1 Bounty St, Lismore, NSW 2480
Cnr Keen & Magellan Sts, Lismore, NSW 2480
PCYC, Dawson Street, Lismore, NSW 2480
31 Arrowsmith Ave, Alstonville, NSW 2477
Perry St, St Joseph's School Hall, Alstonville, NSW 2477
Alstonville NSW, Alstonville, NSW 2477
Sally has been teaching me for 12 years, and under her tuition I have grown to love music, and have really enjoyed her friendliness but also admired her musicianship. I would never go to anyone else.
19 Main Street, Alstonville, NSW 2477
Main St, Alstonville Primary School, Alstonville, NSW 2477
Planet Music| River Street, Ballina NSW, Ballina, NSW 2478
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Unit 20| 1 Sirius Place, West Ballina NSW, West Ballina, NSW 2478
Lismore NSW, Lismore, NSW 2480


text:
Docs Wiki Roadmap
Please add appropriate items to the Roadmap and post all comments to the Docs Wiki Roadmap talk page.
Docs Wiki Roadmap
Short Term
- Identify documentation needs by user type better
- Beginners - need to be more targeted
- Easy Tutuorials - short and concise
- Beginners need targeted core ideas and methods (Too much information puts off)
- Easy to navigate and follow
Use of Header Tabs extension
- Installed! see example of use Hutchy68/Getting Started test page or Installing Joomla!
- Developers - more involvement, better method of involvement
- Projects - JDOC:Developer Tutorials Project,
- Better Event integration such as Pizza, Bugs and Fun. Doc's home page integration, upcoming events template.
- Web designers - target ease of design, better articles targeted towards CSS, Bootstrap
- Projects - need ideas
- Administrators - target common tasks with more detail
- Evaluators - ideas needed?
Recognition of contributions, work on wikicomplete, see Barnstar awards
- Home page - redesign is here but template specific
- Navigation
- Portal pages
Better documentation search - Google integration? Lucerne?
- Installed! Google CSE, GoogleCustomWikiSearch - implemented and being used.
- Improve structure (underway!) -Building menu system
- Namespace aliases for easier link building
- Help screen aliasing - All Joomla! 3.x series Help screens will alias to one set of Help screens
Custom extension to tag Namespaces
- Disambiguation pages
Spam control - multipage sign up. AntiSpoof, AbuseFilter together.
AbuseFilter (Tested! - see Talk page) - will automatically block and remove users based on rules, can be new user time sensitive running against only new users.
- Installed! and working now, see AbuseLog and AbuseFilter
- Clean up redundant and incomplete pages (what was started and never finished, or redundant) (Underway!)
Investigate 'Archive' namespace, would want an alias of 'A' to simplify link creation when needed(Completed - place to move out of date, historical doc pages.
- Installed! Archive namespace and J1.5 for Joomla! 1.5 articles now being tagged Archived (Underway!)
Long Term
- Increase developer contributions!
- Welcome new users on user talk pages! Give them some additional information, style guide, templates available, etc.
- Editor assistance
- Adopt an editor? Help new wiki users
- Wiki Doc Projects - "JDOC Projects" - Portal page:JDOC Projects
- Developers
- Designers
- Better tutorials, multipage, PDF's created for download
- Developer feedback
- Enhance styleguide
API integration with Platform and CMSsee http://api.joomla.org
- Help Screen development simplify
Focus on first STS, transcluded to subsequent STS versions, with a 'Final' for LTSRefer to https://github.com/joomla/joomla-cms/issues/5007 for information about automation of help screens
- Notices on support ended versions
- Better understanding for contributors, Help screens: how they work, why style guides are important
Nice to have eventually
VEL pageVEL now has its own subdomain, see http://vel.joomla.org. Improvement for editing by approved VEL members Searching Improved look Integration with administration for VEL notifications of installed Extensions.
Multilingual support (Investigation underway) Translate Extension.See Documentation Translators
Semantic Mediawiki - On hold, but proof of concept worked - API Generated Docs, from XML each page updated with a Doxygen API rebuild.
- Use of property values within articles/API (testing underway!)
Testing on a local MW install, use of Doxygen xml files to create API pages for documentation. Doxygen will not be the API generator.
- External data capture in XML or JSON (other formats also available)


text:
Lowest Price Guarantee
The Miken Coaches bag is the perfect sized bag for the coach or great to use as a duffle bag when traveling. The large main compartment is complemented by two smaller side pockets perfect for accessories. The outside smaller pocket is perfect for storing smaller items that you need sooner. Durable nylon carrying straps allow easy carrying and the detachable shoulder strap is perfect when the load is heavier.
- Heavy duty Nylon construction
- Large main compartment
- Two smaller end compartments
- Side accessories compartment with Miken logo
- Rubber feet on bottom for added durability
- Nylon carrying straps with velcro closure
- Extra padded shoulder strap attachment
- Heavy duty zippers
- Size: 25" x 12" x 12"


text:
Things to Do in September
From the start of fall foliage to Oktoberfest celebrations, September is full of events guaranteed to offer a memorable start to the season.
OktoberfestRaise a stein to Oktobertfest. This annual, 16-day celebration of all things beer kicks off in late September in Munich. Can't make it to Germany? Bring your taste for brewski to these US Oktoberfest events. 960 1280
Fall Foliage
Fall FoliageMark your calendars: The fall foliage season kicks off in the northern regions this month. Our top picks for New England fall foliage splendor include Vermont, Connecticut and Maine, where colors typically start to change around mid-September. 960 1280
Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival
Chinese Mid-Autumn FestivalCall it an excuse to party: Come Sept. 27, the 3-day Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival begins. In mainland China, the annual festival is the second biggest holiday of the year (right behind the country's spring festival). Experience Mid-Autumn fun yourself at Chicago's Moon Festival. 960 1280
Tai Hang Fire Dragon Dance (Hong Kong)
Tai Hang Fire Dragon Dance (Hong Kong)Top off Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations with the Tai Hang fire dragon dance. This 3-day-long event, held during the Mid-Autumn Festival, carries on a tradition that's more than 100 years old. In the Hong Kong community of Tai Hang, some 300 performers take to the streets, dancing, waving incense sticks and animating a 220-foot-long dragon. 960 1280
Braemar Gathering (Braemar, Scotland)
Braemar Gathering (Braemar, Scotland)Pull! A tug-of-war team competes during the Braemar Highland Games in Scotland. A tradition that dates back 200 years, the Braemar Gathering is the most famous of the Highland Games, attracting thousands of visitors to the small Scottish village of Braemar the first Saturday in September. 960 1280
New York Fashion Week
New York Fashion WeekSee what's current at New York Fashion Week. The semi-annual event, officially known as Mercedes-Benz FashionWeek. Top fashion designers showing their Spring/Summer couture include Carolina Herrera alongside relative newcomers, like the designers of the Tome fashion label. 960 1280
Kentucky Bourbon Festival (Bardstown, KY)
Kentucky Bourbon Festival (Bardstown, KY)Spirits lovers will want to head to Bardstown, KY -- the bourbon capital of the world since 1776. Every September, the small city hosts the weeklong Kentucky Bourbon Festival, which showcases more than 30 bourbon-related happenings, including the chance to sample the many different flavors of bourbon and whiskey, each sure to give you a nice kick in the gut. 960 1280
Texas State Fair (Dallas)
Texas State Fair (Dallas)"Our state fair is a great state fair." How can it not be when it's in Texas? Beginning the last Friday in September, the annual Texas State Fair unfolds over 24 days in Dallas, TX, with plenty of fun for the whole family, including the chance to ride this Ferris wheel – the largest in North America. 960 1280
Budapest Wine Festival
Budapest Wine FestivalSure, Napa Valley is great, but why not try something different this year? Held since 1991, the annual Budapest Wine Festival is the largest event of its kind in Hungary, attracting more than 50,000 people a year. Sip red and white vintages, while strolling the grounds of the historic Buda Castle, which dates back to the 14th century. 960 1280
Monterey Jazz Fest (Monterey, CA)
Monterey Jazz Fest (Monterey, CA)Give it up for great music at the 56th annual Monterey Jazz Festival. As the world's longest-running jazz festival, Monterey attracts more than 500 artists, on 3 stages, for 3 nights and 2 days. This year's lineup includes jazz legend Herbie Hancock. 960 1280
Ryder Cup (Perthshire, Scotland)
Ryder Cup (Perthshire, Scotland)The PGA Centenary Course at Gleneagles in Perthshire, Scotland, will host the 40th Ryder Cup, where the US team will make an attempt to win back the trophy from the European team. Designed by professional golfer Jack Nicklaus, the golf course is located in the heart of Scotland, and boasts beautiful landscape views of the Perthshire countryside. 960 1280
Malta International Airshow
Malta International AirshowSee jet-propelled acrobatic feats at the Malta International Airshow. One of the largest outdoor events on the Mediterranean island, this nearly 20-year-old airshow, held outside the capital of Valletta, offers a first-hand view of precision acrobatic demonstrations, like the Patrouille de France, the aerobatic team of the French Air Force, pictured here. 960 1280
Waikiki Roughwater Swim (Honolulu)
Waikiki Roughwater Swim (Honolulu)Take to the water in the Waikiki Roughwater Swim. Held in early September, this annual event, now in its 44th year, attracts about 1,000 swimmers competing in the waters off Honolulu's Waikiki Beach. In between competition times, enjoy some Waikiki family fun. 960 1280
College Football Kickoff
College Football KickoffAre you ready for some college football? It's kick-off time! Grab your buds and head to America's best college football stadiums, from Michigan Stadium (the largest football stadium in the US) to University of Tennessee's Neyland Stadium (the third largest stadium in the US). 960 1280
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Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Bad Theology and Crazy Politics (Why the Republicans Won)
Jerry Jenkins and Tim LaHaye's Left Behind series of sixteen novels (so far) represents everything that is most deranged about religion. It also is a reason and symptom of the hysteria that grips so many "conservatives" in the Republican Party. Frankly: to borrow from Jon Stewart they do believe that these are the "End Times" not just "hard times."
My late father, Francis Schaeffer, was a key founder and leader of the Religious Right. My mother Edith was also a spiritual leader, not the mere power behind her man, which she was. Mom was a formidable and adored religious figure whose books and public speaking, not to mention biblical conditioning of me, directly and indirectly shaped millions of lives and ruined quite a few too.
For a time I joined my Dad in pioneering the Evangelical anti-abortion Religious Right movement. In the 1970s and early 80s when I was in my twenties I evolved into an ambitious, "successful" religious leader/instigator in my own right.
I changed my mind for reasons I describe in my book Patience With God (just published in paperback). I no longer ride around with the likes of Mike Huckabee (who named my Dad's fundamentalist books his favorites) "saving" America for God, nor am I a regular on religious TV and radio these days.
I still see a religious connection in public policy though that I think a lot of commentators miss -- for instance, that lots of the energy behind this mid-term election came from the ghosts of the Religious Right.
The Left Behind novels have sold tens of millions of copies while spawning an "End Times" cult, or rather egging it on. Such products as Left Behind wall paper, screen savers, children's books, and video games have become part of the ubiquitous American background noise. Less innocuous symptoms include people stocking up on assault rifles and ammunition, adopting "Christ-centered" home school curricula, fearing higher education, embracing rumor as fact, and learning to love hatred for the "other," as exemplified by a revived anti-immigrant racism, the murder of doctors who do abortions, and possibly even a killing in the Holocaust Museum.
And now that the "death panel" republicans who also claimed Obama is the Antichrist are in power, maybe its time to take a look at the religious insanity that beats at the heart of their movement.
No, I am not blaming Jenkins and LaHaye's product line for murder or racism or any other evil intent or result. What I am saying is that unless you take the time to understand the End Times folks you will never "get" the mid-term election result.
Feeding the paranoid delusions of people on the fringe of the fringe contributes to a dangerous climate that may provoke violence in a few individuals. It's also one of the big reasons that the nutty fringe is now the "center." If you believe the Bible is literal and true and that this is the "End" then the crazies look sane and the sane look crazy. Welcome to the new congress.
And convincing folks that Armageddon is on the way, and all we can do is wait, pray, and protect our families from the chaos (or from the first black president) that will be the "prelude" to the "Return of Christ," is perhaps not the best recipe for political, economic, or personal stability, let alone social cohesion. Glenn Beck cashes in on this when he sells gold on TV and survivalist gear.
But this End Times cult may also not be the best philosophy on which to build American foreign policy! The momentum toward what amounts to a whole subculture seceding from the union (in order to await "The End") is irrevocably prying loose a chunk of the American population from both sanity and their fellow citizens.
Enter the "new" Tea Party candidates.
The evangelical/fundamentalists/Republican Far Right -- and hence, from the early 1980s until the election of President Obama in 2008 and now in the mid-term lashing out, the Religious Right as it informed U.S. policy through the then dominant Republican Party -- are in the grip of an apocalyptic Rapture cult centered on revenge and vindication. This End Times death wish is built on a literalist interpretation of the Book of Revelation. .
As I explain in my book Patience With God: Faith for People Who Don't Like Religion Revelation was the last book to be included in the New Testament. It was included as canonical only relatively late in the process after a heated dispute. The historic Churches East and West remain so suspicious of Revelation that to this day it has never been included as part of the cyclical public readings of scripture in Orthodox services. The book of Revelation is read in Roman and Anglican Churches only during Advent. But both Rome and the East were highly suspicious of the book. The West included the book in the lectionary late and sparingly. In other words, the book of the Bible that the historical Church found most problematic is the one that American Evangelicals latched on to like flies on you know what.
Given that Revelation is now being hyped as the literal -- even desired -- roadmap to Armageddon and an American End Times "future" controlled by Republican crazies who don't even believe we have a future(!), it's worth pausing to note that it's nothing more than a bizarre pastoral letter that was addressed to seven specific churches in Asia at the end of the first century by someone (maybe John or maybe not) who appears to have been far from well when he wrote it. In any case, the letter was not intended for use outside of its liturgical context, not to mention that it reads like Jesus on acid.
The Left Behind series is really just recycled evangelical/fundamentalist profit taking from scraps of "prophecy" left over from an earlier commercial effort to mine the vein of fearsome End Times gold. A book called The Late Great Planet Earth was the 1970s incarnation of this nonsense. It was written by Hal Lindsey, a "writer" who dropped by my parents' ministry several times in the 1970s.
Lindsey's The Late Great Planet Earth interpreted Revelation for a generation of paranoid evangelicals who were terrified of the Soviet Union and communism and were convinced that the existence of the modern State of Israel was the sign that Jesus was on the way in our lifetimes, as Lindsey claimed. According to Lindsey, Revelation was "speaking" about the Soviet Union and imminent nuclear attacks between the Soviet Union and the United States. When Mikhail Gorbachev became president of the U.S.S.R., Planet Earth groupies claimed Gorbachev was the Antichrist, citing the references in Revelation to the "mark of the beast" as proof because Gorbachev had a birthmark on his forehead!
After everything predicted in the book came to nothing, Lindsey rewrote and "updated" his "interpretations" in many sequels, in what must have been some sort of record for practicing George Orwell's idea of "doublethink" via editorial revision of ever-changing "facts." Trying to follow the prophecy party line eventually got confusing, even for the Lindsey followers, and Lindsey faded into well-deserved obscurity.
This would be amusing, if not for the lives touched by this crazy nonsense. For instance, a good friend of mine was dragged -- at age five -- to Alaska, where his parents huddled in an "End Times" commune, a place chosen to be out of the way of major cities so that when the bombs fell, his family (and some fellow "pilgrims") could await the Lord's return in safety.
My friend's life was almost destroyed by suffering through years of a cruel and bizarre lifestyle in which his family was reduced to eating their goats and bear meat hunted (with the many guns kept by the members of this particular cult) on the "mission's" garbage dump. Of course, school was not a big concern since Jesus was on the way! Discipline was harsh so that everyone could be found "pure of heart" at the Lord's imminent return. After five or six years of this, my friend's miserably duped parents dragged themselves back to a neighborhood near ours where it happened that my wife Genie and I got to know their utterly dislocated and severely damaged children, one of whom grew to become a close friend of ours.
Jenkins and LaHaye provide the ultimate revenge fantasy for the culturally left behind against the "elite." The Left Behind franchise holds out hope for the self-disenfranchised that at last soon everyone will know "we" were right and "they" were wrong. They are waiting for Jesus to do to the world what the Tea Party just did to America.
They'll know because Spaceship Jesus will come back and whisk us away, leaving everyone else to ponder just how very lost they are because they refused to say the words, "I accept Jesus as my personal savior" and join our side while there was still time! Even better: Jesus will kill all those smart-ass Democrat-voting, overeducated fags who have been mocking us!
Knowingly or unknowingly, Jenkins and LaHaye cashed in on years of evangelical/fundamentalists' imagined victimhood. I say imagined, because the born-agains had one of their very own, George W. Bush, in the White House for eight long, ruinous years and also dominated American politics for the better part of thirty years before that. Nevertheless, their sense of being a victimized minority is still very real -- and very marketable.
Now they have "won" the election, you'll see they will still cry "victim" against the "liberal elite" even when they are in charge again.
Whether they are winning politically or not, the mostly white underclass of religious fundamentalists nurture a mythology of persecution by the "other." Evangelical/fundamentalists believe that even though they are winning, somehow they lost. It's why Sarah Palin won't give interviews to the big bad "Them" in the media.
I used to be part of the self-pitying, whining, evangelical/fundamentalist chorus. I remember going on the Today Show with host Jane Pauley back in the late 1970s (or early 1980s). I debated with the head of the American Library Association about my claim that our evangelical/fundamentalist books weren't getting a fair shake from the "cultural elites." We Schaeffers were selling millions of books, but the New York Times never reviewed them. I made the point that we were being ignored by the "media elite," which was somewhat ironic, given that I had been invited to appear on Today to make that claim.
I dropped out of the evangelical/fundamentalist subculture soon after that Today appearance (years later I was back on Today in my secular writer incarnation, being interviewed about a book of mine on the military/civilian divide, but I decided not to mention that I'd been on the show about thirty years before in what seemed like either another lifetime or an out-of-body experience.)
Others carried on where I left off. The whole Republican mid term election victory was predicated on cashing in on years of Evangelical effort to sell the Right an image of being righteous outsiders.
A host of evangelical/fundamentalist Cassandras tour college campuses reinforcing their followers' perennial chip-on-the-shoulder attitude by telling fearful evangelical/fundamentalist students to hold fast against the secular onslaught. They tell their student listeners (and those students' even more worried parents) to not let "those people" -- professors, members of the Democratic Party, moderates, progressives, and such ordinary American men and women as Jews, gays, and members of the educated "elite" -- strip them of their faith. Hundreds of books by many evangelical/fundamentalist authors could be consolidated into one called How to Get Through College with Your Fundamentalist Faith Intact So You Won't Wind Up Becoming One of Them.
What just happened in this election is that the culturally left-behind hit back.
They won but will still claim they are victims of the "liberal elite." Actually they are victims of bad theology that has tutored them for generations to accept myth for fact.
It's no wonder that these folks believe lies more easily than truth. Sure the bad economy played a part in the mid-term results, but so did bad theology that has made a virtue out of being misinformed.
Frank Schaeffer is a writer and author of Patience With God: Faith for People Who Don't Like Religion now in paperback
34 comments:
- John said...
your analysis is so right on, and it baffles me that this is so invisible to the press. maybe you have to be on the inside to see it.
- November 3, 2010 at 6:29 AM
- Nichole Webb said...
Mr. Shaeffer,
I enjoy your recent works. I was home-schooled in the late '80s and early '90s and your family's books were a staple in our home. I remember being 13 and playing our own version of "end times" where we were the Christians hiding in the woods and stealing food from "the others." Our little minds came up with the game ourselves. Anyhow, I am now "straightened-out" lol and I resonate deeply with all of your pieces on religion and politics. Thanks for sharing!
- November 3, 2010 at 7:38 AM
- broschultz said...
I don't think your reasoning is correct. If people bought the imminent "end time" theory they wouldn't care who was governing. They would just fast and pray. Most Christians I know are deluded into thinking this is a Christian Nation and they have to vote "Christians" into office while I marvel at the lack of understanding of what a Christian would be and the emphasis we all place on worldly goods. You are probably better off then you were 30 or 40 years ago but I don't think you understand that many Christians are trying to raise children to be honest, caring and productive citizens while watching their children be exposed to a culture that accepts sin in all its forms as normal and in practice only uses sin to sell "news". This is a very difficult time for christians to follow Jesus. We want to feed the poor and clothe the naked but we don't want to be seen as approving of conduct that is clearly self-indulgent, whether it be slothful, greedy, gluttonous or lustful. I have never read any of your books but have read one of each of your parents. There's nothing wrong with following your heart and I pray that God blesses you in your journey towards Him.
- November 3, 2010 at 8:35 AM
- snseattle said...
@ Frank: Well done.
@ BroSchultz: "We want to feed the poor and clothe the naked but we don't want to be seen as approving of conduct that is clearly self-indulgent, whether it be slothful, greedy, gluttonous or lustful."
It seems the rational, naturally human thing to do is the feeding and clothing. Yet you harbor an extra layer of concern for how this might 'be seen.' By whom? The invisible eye in the sky? Equally confused neighbors?
Your lack of clarity is directly driven by the 'morality' within, and internally inconsistent logic of, your religious view.
This false conundrum is painful to watch, let alone be governed by, as it drives exactly the behavior that Frank explains.
Yet you seem not to see that your religious views of morality conflict directly with the growth of humane communities that enhance well-being simply by giving you pause to worry how your actions might look.
Your hesitation to support others for fears you have from reading a book and listening to like-minded mythologists clearly shows how illogical, harmful, and ultimately pathetic religion makes a believer look.
And in doing this, you not only supported the sins, but committed them - showing yourself to be a sloth unable to move to help another, greedy for his own gains, gluttonous with his food. No doubt lust is lurking somewhere nearby.
I urge you not to repent. Just wake up.
- November 3, 2010 at 3:26 PM
- FrGregACCA said...
I'm certainly not better off than I was forty years ago. I'm not better off now either than most of the adults I knew at that time either.
"And God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie." -St. Paul
"Don't judge so you won't be judged." - Jesus of Nazareth.
"Lend and don't worry about getting paid back." - Jesus of Nazareth
- November 3, 2010 at 3:46 PM
- Jay said...
Wow, if we could all just think like you the world would be awesome. There is a lot of generalization in this post yet I am sure that you sat down and discussed, at length, what these crazy folks are thinking within the Tea Party ranks and didn't rely on media reports or news broadcasts. You had to have taken the time to do that in order to speak so knowingly about what they think and what their motives are. If you could list their names and how long the conversations took place it would really help your credibility. Now, if by chance, you haven't taken the time to speak directly to a cross section of these folks, then I would hope you would hesitate to use such a broad brush. That wouldn't be very tolerant of you, would it? Seriously, why are you so angry? The Bible gives a clear directive: Love God, Love people. No caveats, no if, ands or buts. There will always be people walking different paths, trying to figure things out based on environment, experience and making tons of mistakes along the way. Just like you. Just like me. It saddens me when the ridicule and snarkiness from Christians overrides the love.
- November 4, 2010 at 6:34 AM
- FrGregACCA said...
Jay, I can't speak for Frank, but as for me, I'm angry and I'm sad because I grew up with these crazy people, was largely raised by them, and I don't want them running my country. Love them? Certainly? But love requires speaking the truth.
- November 4, 2010 at 7:41 AM
- constantinople said...
Frank -- what a deluded bunch of nonsense you spew. You have a vivid imagination, indeed, but to imply that the repudiation of Obama's big government policies are part and parcel of Rapture theology is a joke beyond telling.
G. Will says it best in his column today, "Is political power - are government commands and controls - superseding and suffocating the creativity of a market society's spontaneous order? On Tuesday, a rational and alarmed American majority said "yes." "
Its as simple as that.
- November 4, 2010 at 10:39 AM
- Fortyniner said...
Insofar as this post goes, you did not demonstrate much of your father's exegitical and apologetical capabilities. IMO you vastly over-estimated the numbers and influence of "end-timers", and compounded that error by assuming disconnected facts as to shared political POVs that are not in evidence.
Furthermore, your intellect seems fixated on the superiority of the culturally elite peers with whom you share life styles and values. Fundamental Evangelicals of my acquaintance have far different expectations and political goals than those you lay out here. We do not want to "rule" the country. Nor do we want the country to "ruin" us. As believers we vote each election for the least restrictive and best governance choices we believe are then available, but do little to shape those options. On those occasions our selection happens to disagree with your opinion you might consider "manning up" and actually talking with some of the unwashed to find out what we think and what we believe we are doing, before you assume so much. Or you could remain in your ivory tower and sulk.
- November 4, 2010 at 4:51 PM
- FrGregACCA said...
Well, constantinople, you and George Will are both delusional, at least on this point, and to the extent that those who voted Republican on Tuesday believe this as well, they are also delusional. I suggest you explore the history of the American economy prior to the postwar period, the former being the time when a "free market" really prevailed. The result? Constant boom and bust with the economy being in recession or depression about 40% of the time. An unregulated market is like a poker game: sooner or later, somebody has won all the chips, and then the game must stop.
Fortyniner: what makes you think the country will "ruin" you? And lots of fundamentalists want to run things or vote for people who will run things according to their liking, Constitution be damned. And where does the Bible specify "limited government"? Nothing from St. Paul about that in Romans 13.
As far as numbers go, at least 20 million Americans think that Obama may not have been born in the United States, may really be a Muslim, and indeed, may be the antichrist. Okay, well, maybe. But there is not a shred of evidence to support any of this, and plenty of evidence to the contrary (the antichrist is, admittedly, not really subject to evidence,at least in the abstract, but the antichrist of the apocalypse seems like a pretty authoritarian guy, more like a Hitler or a Stalin than like any American President. Ever). None. "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence." Again, there is not only no extraordinary evidence for any of this, there is no evidence at all.
- November 4, 2010 at 6:16 PM
- maddermusic said...
Ummmm...isn't it just possible that the Dems lost because most Americans don't like their policies and think they're doing a lousy job? Why the appeal to an implausible, paranoid vision of religious fanaticism?
I mean, what ever happened to Occam's Razor? You know, always opt for the simplest explanation that fits the facts? Here's the simplest explanation--most Americans disapprove of the job the Democrats are doing, and therefore voted them out in droves.
This explanation assumes that most citizens are reasonably intelligent, rational beings. Not perfect in knowledge or wisdom, but close enough to be fit citizens of a republic. I make this assumption for two reasons--one, because I think it's obviously true, based on my life experience, and two, because if it isn't true, self-government is an impossibility in any case and our civilization is doomed. Somehow I can't talk myself into believing that. Certainly not on the basis of a single election which made some of my fellow citizens unhappy.
- November 4, 2010 at 7:40 PM
- Kansas Scout said...
I thought your post pretty much nonsense. I know as much as you do about fundies and this election had nothing to do with that. Your point is absurd. As a now liberal Christian who was once a fundie Baptist I think your off the mark. I have been out of a job for TWO years now. I don't like the so called Health Care bill and the Dem's are spending us into very possible collapse. THAT is what the election is about. Your just as bad as the fundies
- November 4, 2010 at 8:08 PM
- FrGregACCA said...
Kansas, I don't what you really are, but you're not a "liberal," at least not politically.
- November 4, 2010 at 8:21 PM
- FrGregACCA said...
My political memory goes back to the Kennedy assasination, and although I was very young, I remember the election of 1964 clearly. This election is unlike any in my memory. What used to be called the far right "lunatic fringe" by serious conservatives such as William Buckley is now part of the Republican mainstream,and a significant number of these psychotic, paranoid nihilists have now been elected to the United States Congress. Even the late Barry Goldwater is spinning in his grave!
- November 4, 2010 at 8:24 PM
- Fr. John Whiteford said...
How do you suppose those rascally republicans managed to trick the democrats into taking the opposite side of so many issues that concern conservative Christians -- such as their pro-baby killing stance, pro-gay marriage, pro-pornography, anti-school choice, etc? Had they not tricked the democrats into this, conservative Christians would probably be evenly split between the parties, and none of these issues would likely be in the political debate.
- November 5, 2010 at 4:10 AM
- 49erDweet said...
FrGregACCA: OK. You asked "what makes you think the country will 'ruin' you"? My response: The government - not the country - following foolish and foreseeably faulty national financial policies - has succeeded in siphoning off about 40% of my net worth in the last three plus years. Further slippage may be likely. Since I'm old, retired, and physically unable to earn more by the sweat of my brow, if those policies continue [as the government seems to currently intend], and my share of the national debt escalates further, my nest egg could wither to the size of an M&M, and thus be unable to sustain my extensive family responsibilities - and me. That would be ruin. IMO. You'll note I'm not blaming our current president alone for this mess. Dumb politicians come in all sizes and colors, and all are not as obvious as maybe Congressman Frank.
It seems to me limited government is essential for true religious freedom to thrive, at least based on a few millennia of Judeo-Christian experience, so that's a personal choice. Reasonable men may differ but I see few successful examples of big government nurturing belief in God. History lessons from the Eastern Orthodox experience of combining governance with God certain bear that out.
I don't count myself among the 20 Million, but when you wrote "...there is not a shred of evidence to support any of this, and plenty of evidence to the contrary..." it almost made me spill my coffee. In my view there is insufficient, but certainly more than "a shred of", evidence to support a birther meme. In spite of that, what does concern me is the weird coincidence that, along with the assistance of a strangely incurious MSM, our current beloved leader was arguably the least "vetted" candidate for president in more than a century. What's up with that? That's what really worries me. And that he chooses to withhold "best evidence" proofs to the contrary adds to my concern. So IMO the issue has nothing to do with the legitimacy of his current office, but is a valid point for conjecture and discussion, and possibly illustrates something needing fixing in the future. But then that may not concern me much longer - not because I'm an end-timer, but because I'm ancient of days.
Thanks for the conversation.
- November 5, 2010 at 6:33 AM
- 49erDweet said...
FrGregACCA: It surprises me a man dedicating his life to representing Jesus would be as stuck on labels - see "lunatic fringe" - as you. Fortunately for us, our Savior sees us all as individual children, not in groups and clumps. I think you've been cloistered too long and need to be out and among the lunatics in this country for a spell. Might do wonders for your POV and your spiritual life. Or it may just be me.
- November 5, 2010 at 7:32 AM
- FrGregACCA said...
49er: Sorry you're dropping out of the conversation: Regarding Obama's place of birth: All the evidence that is needed has been released: an affidavit from the State of Hawaii that a certificate of birth is on file. Heck, when I contact the bureaucrats in Helena, Montana, for a copy of my "birth certificate," I get exactly the same thing. Add to that birth announcements from the Honolulu paper back in the day, and what else do you need?
Regarding his status as a Mulsim: regardless of what he did or did not do as a kid in Indonesia, he now confesses the Christian faith in an Evangelical way. See "Audacity of Hope" and all accounts indicate that has an active spiritual life, even if he doesn't attend services so often.
Regarding the debt: in relation to GDP, the situation has been blown way of proportion. Right now, the worst case scenario is that the debt is 100% of GDP. It is probably more like 80%. At the end of WWII, it was 125%.
Finally, regarding vetting: I have two answers, the first being that I don't think what you say is all that true. As I sit here and think about it, I probably know more about every phase of Obama's life than I do about, say, either of the George Bush's. The problem for many, I think, is that Obama's story is so unusual. Just to start, he is, of course, biracial. But then, not only is there the sojourn in Indonesia, but there is also the time in Kansas. Talk about contrasts! His story is indeed very unusual, but in many ways, that makes it all the more American.
- November 5, 2010 at 7:37 AM
- 49erDweet said...
FrGregACCA: Re: my 6:33 AM comment and "net worth" rant, honesty requires me to add the Lord has always provided for me and I need to acknowledge Him. His ways may seem obscure and ambiguous to me, but have always provided shelter and food, so I thank and trust Him for that.
Also, a certain portion of that "net worth" was admittedly based on an exaggerated evaluation of property just because of the unwise government policies mentioned, so to allow for that overage I must scale down the percentage of losses to about 18% - still significant to me, not not as severe.
Interesting comments about Goldwater - and Kennedy. In his day the media and elitists cast Goldwater as further right than today's "lunatic fringe", but he was not. Kennedy, for whom I had the honor of providing protective service, was portrayed as a saint even when he was at his most mortal and venal, but that's politics for you.
- November 5, 2010 at 7:59 AM
- 49erDweet said...
FrGregACCA: I'm trained in reading those birth records. They don't really say what you think they say, but that's not important. You casually omit mention of the Kenyan birth document, the record of the birthing hospital in Kenya and the eye-witness statement of his paternal Grandmother. None of those are overly compelling per se, but an honest intellectual has to be at least curious.
You and I seem to share the same POV regarding his professed faith.
Regarding "vetting", reasonable men may disagree, but I believe we know quite a bit about where he went, but extremely little about what or how he did once there. It seems to me there was four times the effort put into reconstructing #43's military record than #44's scholastic. But I could be wrong.
- November 5, 2010 at 8:29 AM
- FrGregACCA said...
49er: I've seen the document from the State of Hawaii. It looks exactly like mine from the State of Montana. Also, I don't hang out in ivory towers. I was raised in a very small town in Montana, surrounded by Birchites and fellow travelers, including my parents to some extent. I now sojourn in South Carolina. I am NOT an elitist. Above all, I am a small-d democrat when it comes to politics and economics.
Regarding the "evidence" you cite with regard to Obama's allegedly having been born in Kenya: these were reported where exactly? World Net Daily, or a similar outlet? Sorry, that doesn't fly.
Liberal media elite? Don't go there. I used to be a reporter. It's nonsense. The fact is, "truth has a liberal bias" as Stephen Colbert puts it. Goldwater was as far right as the mainstream could get in 1964. He got his butt kicked because people still remembered the Great Depression. Later, it was Ronald Reagan. Now??? OMG!
Regarding Kennedy's personal life: back then, nobody's sexual improprieties, regardless of party, got reported on. That was off-limits.
Regarding Obama's history: how far back do you want to go? He first came to prominence by becoming the first African-American to head the Harvard Law Review, and he was able to accomplish this by reaching out to members of the conservative Federalist Society. He also was a community organizer in Chicago. Well, you know, there's nothing wrong with that.
As for Junyer Bush: well, let's see: what HAD he really done that wasn't facilitated by daddy's money and/or power? I find it fascinating that so many of these latter-day hawks like Junyer Bush and Dick Cheney did not serve in Vietnam. Sure, lots of guys enlisted in the Guard or whatever, but they're now not insisting that we simply must invade places like Iraq.
We say that any American can grow up to be President, but when just any American does, especially an African-American, we freak out.
- November 5, 2010 at 9:29 AM
- FrGregACCA said...
Well, it is interesting that you raise those issues, Fr. John. First, regarding abortion: The Republicans haved loved to beat the drum on that every election cycle (not so much this time around, however). But what has changed? Nothing. Here's the problem: being anti-abortion and truly pro-life is directly contradictory to the underlying Republican ideology which is Randian, (who was "pro-choice, BTW) unrestained free market, social darwnistic capitalism. Father, have you read Matushka Frederica's book, "Real Choices"? If not, I highly recommend you do. (Conversely, being "liberal" is contradictory to being "pro choice". Thus, abortion represents the great contradiction in American politics.)
Now, concerning homosexuality: in 2008, it was new African-American and Hispanic voters, coming out to vote for the first time in order to vote for Obama, who also voted to ban gay marriage in California. Of course, there is also the issue of Republican hypocrisy on this. Not a week goes by, it seems, that another prominent Republican doesn't announce that he's gay. (Around here, we're waiting for Lindsey Graham to come out, but that's kinda beside the point.)
Finally, in general, I don't think that these issues had very much to do with what happened this time around.
- November 5, 2010 at 9:41 AM
- Fortyniner said...
FrGregACCA: You seem to be stuck on narratives, so I'm gonna pass on most of the opinions your 9:29 AM response engendered - except your final paragraph, which on a national level I strongly dispute.
Because of the current financial situation my bi-racial middle-school-aged grandson and his mother share our home. Of course they are both uncritical O supporters, but that's OK. However, because his father is deceased it falls to me to be the closest male parent figure concerned with his future.
My greatest personal fear all along has been the former junior senator from Illinois might fail his current job to such an extent he would become the last black president for generations to come. But after closely monitoring Tea Party and other conservative campaign activities throughout the country this past election, I can report back I no longer have that fear. In spite of the best efforts of a bankrupt media to paint his "enemies" as racist, blacks and browns of all persuasions seemed to thrive in that liberating campaign environment. So I have hope. I'm also encouraged by reading a regular dose of Thomas Sowell.
- November 5, 2010 at 12:06 PM
- FrGregACCA said...
Oh Lord! Thomas Sowell, Alan Keyes, Clarence Thomas, Tim Scott (I'm staying in SC-1 at the moment) and then, of course, THIS guy:
Sorry, but I'm afraid the psychopathology involved is way beyond my pay grade to explain.
- November 5, 2010 at 12:36 PM
- janotec said...
I think that the fundamentalist Christians, as pea-brained as they might be, have more in common with Orthodoxy than do one's new friends in the cultured despisers of Christianity. I am certainly not rightwing myself, and I have grown up, too, under the pall of rapture histrionics. But at least my father and mother and friends of my old dispensation were quite certain of the Holy Trinity, the divinity/humanity of Christ, the efficacy of the Cross, and the physical Resurrection. Moreover, they were not so reticent about the exclusive validity of Christianity. So they were a little bumpkinish -- still, they were a lot closer to the Nicene Creed than a lot of more open-minded, effete friends.
- November 5, 2010 at 1:45 PM
- FrGregACCA said...
Janotec, I'm sure you've asked yourself why there are so many of the those cultured despisers, and I'm pretty sure that you are aware of the piece at the following link which, while not a panacea, answers so many questions, or at least points to the answers.
As you also know, when one refuses to live by gestalt, one's position can be pretty lonely. Nevertheless, somebody has to be called to tell those cultured despisers that yes, there really is good news.
In any event, with regard to the various Augustinians, Calvinists, and especially, Anselmians, the words of St. Paul immediately come to mind: "the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you."
Interesting to encounter you in this forum.
- November 5, 2010 at 2:50 PM
- janotec said...
Yes, Fr. Greg, I'm very familiar with the link. Grace, or the Uncreated Light, is paradise to the repentant and corrosive to the unrepentant. If I fault Dr. Kalomiros at all, it is because I think that he minimizes the sternness of patristic calls to repentance, and to fidelity to dogma. There is more than a little warning of perdition in the Apostles and the Fathers. Our Lord Himself did not shy away from referring to the hellfire of judgment. Salvation, after all, must be worked out with fear and trembling.
Yes, the evangelical fundamentalists are abysmally stupid at best about dogma and asceticism. But at least they stay put on the divinity of Christ: cultured despisers of Christianity do not despise Christianity because of fundamentalists -- they despise Christianity because, as Metropolitan Antony Khrapovitsky once said, because they despise repentance.
As you know, I am not at all well received by the right wing community. But I do not agree with the sort of straw man debate that I see in these posts.
- November 5, 2010 at 4:58 PM
- DomainDiva said...
Here's hoping the rapture happens so all of these crazies will be out of here to leave the rest of us in peace.
- November 5, 2010 at 5:28 PM
- FrGregACCA said...
"...cultured despisers of Christianity do not despise Christianity because of fundamentalists -- they despise Christianity because, as Metropolitan Antony Khrapovitsky once said, because they despise repentance."
Well, I think it is both, in differing proportions, depending on the specific person. I think that Kalomiros makes the same point.
- November 5, 2010 at 5:43 PM
- FrGregACCA said...
Also, Janotec, in my experience, and I suspect yours as well, this despising of repentance is not confined to the cultured despisers. Indeed, all too often, a "form of godliness which denies the power thereof" provides the excuse one's conscience requires to avoid repentance. "Faith" as in "justification by faith" itself becomes an idol, an excuse to avoid walking the path of the cross that repentance requires, a path that simultaneously, in secular terms, cannot be undertaken without repercussions in all the categories of the "soft sciences: psychology, sociology, political economy, and so on (For all I know, the same must be said of the hard sciences as well. The experiences of the desert fathers, not to mention Saints like Seraphim of Sarnov, would tend to bear this out).
- November 5, 2010 at 6:41 PM
- Bob Ryley said...
Back in the early 70s I had a conservative friend who was both a "born again" believer and a member of the John Birch Society. His biggest frustration - and the biggest complaint of many Birchers at the time - was that most of the "born again" Christians distrusted politicians of every stripe. They generally didn't vote or get involved in supporting conservative candidates.
They believed in rapture "end times" religion. Politics didn't fit in to that picture. As born again Christians they were more into Christ's return than voting or anything political. In their world "good works" don't count.
Therein lies the underlying foundation of Falwell's Moral Majority and everything that's followed since. It was to take the "Born Againers" out of their religious focus and turn them into a huge voting block for Republicans.
That is exactly what's happened. The scariest part is that most of these people don't care about "real world" facts or anything else. If you are one of them you're OK no matter what you do. Think of the C Street Republicans and their sexual affairs.
Think of Bristol Palin and her child out of wedlock. She gets praised for having the baby and the incident is treated as a "no harm no foul' childhood mistake. If it were either of Obama's girls they would be branded as whores and tramps and he and his wife as lousy parents.
The fact that Republicans can generally count on a voting block that cares little about anything other than their fantasy world religious beliefs is a major threat to our political system.
- November 6, 2010 at 3:35 AM
- magnusojr said...
It's interesting to read this column as an outsider, with absolutely no familiarity of your past or present endeavors. There's a tremendous irony here, which of course, you're absolutely blind to. You haven't "changed," you haven't "grown," you haven't "matured." You're fundamentally the same person, in every sense of the word fundamental. Just as in your old incarnation, of which you are now so ashamed, you were dogmatic, closed-minded, and bigoted against those who didn't share your beliefs, so now, you easily dismiss all those who do not share your newly acquired religious and political positions as hateful, as ignorant, and as utterly beyond the pale of reasonable human thought. I doubt this will make you stop and think. In my experience, people as boorishly dogmatic as you appear to be in my limited (one visit) exposure to you and your ideas rarely are introspective, choosing to believe that they are the sole proprietors of all that is true and just in the world, and that those who oppose them are the comic book villains of yesteryear sprung to life. However, in this echo chamber of your own making, I just wanted to drop my own judgment. As you were in the beginning, so you are now, and ever shall be, world without end. Have a blessed day.
- November 8, 2010 at 8:43 AM
- Trinity2010 said...
I comment on this post last night and I am just checking in if it will be posted? Thanks a bunch.
- December 2, 2010 at 3:24 PM
- Ioannis said...
One thing is clear and it is always clear. We have need of repentance and of learning humility so that we might see others rightly. It is certainly easy to "drop in" to pass judgment. A friend who partly belongs to the fearful far right asked me yesterday how I tolerate being friends with people who are in different places on the religious and political spectrum. Now, I'm the last person to be giving advice but I told her what I try to do ... and that is simply to be true to God and myself as best I can and let others self-select out if they must. When I am busy doing what I'm supposed to be doing, there's not much time left for trying to figure out "what to do" with those bad people ... who are so much like me and give me discomfort thereby. Bearing our lifelong discomfort with ourselves is part of the straightening that accompanies penance. If Christ died for our sins and their sins, we and they are of worth.
- March 27, 2011 at 7:46 AM


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Transnational Armed Conflict: A 'Principled' Approach to the Regulation of Counter-Terror Combat Operations
Geoffrey S. Corn
South Texas College of Law
Eric Talbot Jensen
Brigham Young University School of Law
August 25, 2008
Israel Law Review, Vol. 42, p. 46, 2009
This article asserts that counter-terror military operations should be regulated by fundamental principles of the law of armed conflict. It builds on prior articles asserting an emerging category of transnational armed conflict: conflict between states and non-state groups outside the territory of the state. These prior articles have explained why such a category of armed conflict must be recognized and how the nature of the authority invoked by a state in the conduct of such operations reveals the existence of such armed conflicts. This article focuses on the key law of armed conflict principles that should apply in such situations to regulate the application of combat power and the treatment of non-combatants. It acknowledges that this is only the first step in developing a body of regulatory norms applicable to such armed conflicts, but also points out the correlation between this proposed process and the development of the law applicable to internal armed conflicts.
Number of Pages in PDF File: 34
Keywords: International law, the law of armed conflict, terrorism, extraterritorial law enforcement, national security law, military operations, the law of war, al Qaeda
JEL Classification: K10, K33
Date posted: September 3, 2008 ; Last revised: June 9, 2015
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HUNTINGTON-David D. Avery, age 55 passed away June 26, 2010 after a short battle with cancer. He was born Sept. 19, 1954 to Donald D and Josephine Nord Avery.
For many years dad was a remarkable heavy equipment operator, he also loved to work in his garage tinkering with anything he could find. He was an amazing man, great at building anything you asked him to. It had to be perfect or he would start over. Dad also loved being outdoors, hunting, fishing, or just riding around in his Rhino with his dog Dutchess.
Dad also loved his second job doing dishes at the cafe. He was always there to help out his kids and taught them how to fix or build anything.
He was a very loved man and he will be greatly missed by all who were lucky enough to meet him.
He is survived by his children: Jeremiah Avery of Huntington, Utah, Heather Avery of Huntington, Utah, Marissa Killpack of Ferron, Utah, Chelsey Rhodes of Cleveland, Utah, and Keith Thurgood of Clearfield, Utah; nine grandchildren: Courtlyn and Terryn Avery, Jordyn and Angel Turner, Shaielyn, Kavery, Jerie, and Brodie Killpack, and Kanyen Rhodes; brothers, Gary (Carol) Avery, and Bob (Penny) Avery; and one sister, Debbie (Norman) Bostain.
Preceded in death by his parents, Donald D. and Josephine Nord Avery.
Funeral Services will be held Wednesday June 30, 2010 at 11 a.m. at Fausett Mortuary (720 North Center Street-Castle Dale, Utah). Viewing will be Tuesday, June 29, 2010 from 6-8 p.m. also at the mortuary and on Wednesday from 10-11 a.m. prior to the service at the mortuary. Interment will be in the Huntington City Cemetery. Services are in the care of Fausett Mortuary. Friends and family may sign the guest book and share memories of David at www.fausettmortuary.com.


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Federal judge rules Pitt Co. school district meets 'unitary status'
PITT COUNTY - A federal court judge has decided that Pitt County Schools has reached the goal of providing equal education regardless of race, and will no longer get federal oversight.
Senior United States District Judge Malcolm Howard ruled Wednesday that Pitt County Schools has achieved "unitary status," meaning signs of past discrimination have been eliminated to the "extent practicable."
The decision means that federal oversight of Pitt County Schools, a practice that had been in place since the 1960s, will end.
Judge Howard said the following:
"It is not the function of this or any other court to assume the role of supervising our schools due to the prejudices of a few. The School Board has proven that the vestiges of state-mandated discrimination practiced over forty years ago have been eliminated to the extent practicable and that the School Board, as well as its predecessor boards, has complied in good faith with this court's desegregation orders and possesses a good faith commitment to the eradication of de jure discrimination in its schools.
(CLICK HERE to read the full document of Wednesday's ruling.)
The case began when a group of black parents, represented by the UNC Center for Civil Rights, asked the court to reverse a 2011 student assignment plan they say effectively re-segregated several county schools.