Poor? Got $20 In Your Pocket? YOU'RE UNDER ARREST!!

I know this seems unfathomable, but Minnesota lawmakers want to make it a crime for poor people who live on food stamps to have any more than $20 cash - FOR THE MONTH!!  So, be careful who you're giving money to on the street, he might get picked up by the cops for being too rich!!

Japan's Honesty: 10 Gloaters: 0

Anyone who has seen Big Bird in Japan knows the shorthand for Japanese culture: They're so honest and disciplined! They're a collective society! They value the group over the individual! Of course they're not going to steal anything after the most devastating natural disaster of their lifetimes—unlike those undisciplined thieves in post-Katrina New Orleans and post-earthquake Haiti. Even if they're desperate for food, the Japanese will still wait in line for groceries.
                                                                                                                 - Christopher Beam, Salon


I've just posted an article on members of the Christian Right gloating over prophecies ignored by Japan. The arguments range from "God punished Japan because of atheism" to "God shook Japan because it's shaped like a dragon." Thankfully, Japan has not listened to any of these inane comments. Japan is a self-confident and self-disciplined society and despite the tragedies, it has had very few instances of looting. 


Hmmm. Wouldn't an ATHEIST, GODLESS, BUDDHIST, CONFUCIAN country like Japan be in complete chaos with looters everywhere? 


The Gloaters are going to have a tough time explaining this one.

Because Gloating For God Is Soooo Good!: Jacobs, Joyner, Pierce and TamtamPam Delight in Japan's Tragedy

Righteous Indignation Update:


 - Cindy Jacobs thinks Japan's tragedy was warranted because it's shaped like a dragon.
 - Rick Joyner thinks that demonic forces have been unleashed by Japan's downfall.
 - Chuck Pierce simply says: "I told you so!"
...And TamtamPam comes clean, possibly too late.

I can't accuse Cindy Jacobs, Rick Joyner or Chuck Pierce (all prophets) of being what I call "God's Ambulance Chasers" simply because while insulting Japan during its recent tragedies they did not ask for donations of any kind in relief for Japan. They didn't rain Bibles upon the beleaguered country either. Instead, they cut right to the core of the matter and insulted Japan directly and without mercy by ... gloating.


They gloated about Japan not heeding warnings for its evil ways, its idolatry, its demonic Hello Kitty* They said that Japan's atheism, Buddhism, Confucianism and Shintoism, brought about the events in Japan just as surely as if Japan had directly asked for them from God.


Cindy Jacobs

I have personally felt that one of the reasons Japan was such a hard group for the gospel was the fact that they have had a direct link with the Imperial family and a direct link with the sun goddess, Amaterasu... this link with Amaterasu and sun worship was reinstated in a ceremony in which the new Emperor once again participated and "spent the night with the goddess" after eating the sacred rice.

On the other hand, if you look at it another way, this island, Hokkaido, looks like the head of a dragon with the body being the rest of Japan. The people of Asia have worshipped the dragon for 5,000 years.

This from a woman who sees herself as a latter-day Oracle of Delphi, babbling in "tongues" she can't interpret (and hopes no on else can either). 

What Jacobs doesn't seem to comprehend is that the Emperor of Japan's role in government is strictly symbolic and that the dragon symbolizes many things in Asia but has seldom been actually "worshiped."

Chuck Pierce went to Japan to put the fear of God into them in 2005 and God told him that Japan would be shaken and brought to its knees because it was a "stronghold of spiritism"** Nobody told Pierce that spiritism died out in Japan about 1920 although it was more plausible than, say, Scientology. 

Rick Joyner stated that the earthquake and tsunami will eventually unleash demonic Nazism in America, because in order to shore up its collapsed economy, Japan will call in America's debt and ruin America, catapulting the country into the talons of evil.

Joyner's visions (he once met with Jesus and the saints - although he couldn't tell which ones) have entertained people for years. He has not met with approval in Japan, however. 

People like Jacobs, Pierce and Joyner are not new to the nation-insulting scene: Pat Robertson capped a terrific career as an insulter with his - now iconic - Haiti-made-a-pact-with-the-devil statement. But at least he still requested aid for Haiti! These people don't even pretend to have any semblance of compassion for Japan. After God's Ambulance Chasers do their dirty work for them, they may deign to visit the Land of the Rising Sun and haughtily declare their august presence, ready to receive adulation as "prophets." 

Yes, we should send our apologies to Japan along with disaster relief. Just don't look for them in these unholy three.

TamtamPam

The video you're about to see below is one TamtamPam (screen name) who delights in "trolling" YouTube*** This video (as intended) riled a lot of people because: a. they thought the video was for real and hated the insults heaped upon Japan and its disasters and b. they found out it was a ruse to get them to feel that way. 

Parody is for the sake of laughter and comic release of tension. It is done with broad strokes to the character or situation. Sheer imitation, no matter how good, however, is not parody and should never think of itself as such. Pam's was a virtuoso performance in that she captured a person we knew could actually be like that: a dippy teenager so filled with righteous glee at the tragedy of others. She was like the offspring of people like Joyner, Jacobs, and Pierce. 

Had she properly labeled the video parody or done it in broader strokes (although one cannot see how much broader she could get in imitating such a dip), she might now be getting offers from Hollywood or Saturday Night Live. Her performance, however, backfired because the torrent of "flaming" she unleashed became too much. I don't know whether to applaud her or scold her for the video. I'll let you decide. A rather pertinent observation from one viewer:

If people ignored trolls, the trolls wouldn't get the attention. Without the attention there's no point in being a troll. I've riled people up for fun before and it is indeed fun. Seeing people rage over someone else's opinion, regardless of what it is, is amusing to almost no end. Rather crude to use this event to do it, but it worked; she's queen of the trolls now.

*Under the category of "I'm not making this sh*t up": Hello Kitty was believed to be created by a couple who made a contract with the Devil in order to save their daughter from cancer. 

**wikipedia: The main characteristic of Spiritism is its emphasis on the study and investigation of the Spiritist Doctrine in its triple aspects, scientific, philosophical and religious (moral).

*** wikipedia: Troll:  an internet term for a person who, through willful action, attempts to disrupt a community or garner attention and controversy through provocative messages

God's Ambulance Chasers Are Attracting Unwanted Attention

The number of hits our last article on GAC's has gotten a surprising amount of hits on OpEdNews. Again, does anyone out there know of any "faith-based" relief agency going to Japan to pummel the nation with Bibles and solar-powered Bibles?

"Send 'em To Siberia" NH Politician Resigns Due To "SLIGHTLY Unfavorable Publicity." Now NH Republicans Can't Prop Him Up In The House For Votes

“I was just getting the hang of it some, but with all the slightly unfavorable publicity I’ve been getting the last few days, I’ll never be an effective lawmaker,” Harty wrote. “So I hereby submit my resignation from the House. Sorry my big mouth caused this furor.”

The short, 60-day tenure of Martin Harty ended with an incredibly lame non-apology, leaving the New Hampshire Republican Party looking very bigoted, very racist, very inhumane and even a bit ... pedophile. 

Martin Harty, was the Republican New Hampshire state freshman representative, who, 91 years old, never held a public position before. He will probably never hold one again. That "slightly unfavorable publicity" comment is the understatement of the year: he "jokingly" told a community healthcare manage that the disabled and the mentally ill should be shipped off to Siberia.

Think Progress: Barrington Republican Martin Harty told Sharon Omand, a Strafford resident who manages a community mental health program, that “the world is too populated” and there are “too many defective people,”according to an e-mail account of the conversation by Omand. [...] Harty confirmed to the Monitor that he made the comments to Omand.

“I wish we had a Siberia so we could ship them all off to freeze to death and die and clean up the population...Hitler did something right, and I agree with (it).

Of course, the comments became viral within minutes, prompted Republican lawmakers to wince and immediately chorus "no comment."

Subsequent media coverage: The Concord Monitor (unfortunately) was able to get a hold of him in response. Harty said nature has a way of "getting rid of stupid people," and "now we're saving everyone who gets born."

Pro-lifers are now busy distancing themselves from Harty and proposing he's so senile, he has no clue as to what he's saying. This was not good. Pat Robertson pissed off a multitude of Christians with his Haiti-contract-with-the-devil comments. They tried to cover it all up with a kind of senility defense, but it didn't work. 

But wait, there's more ...

It was Marty Harty's 2008 statements for which he got elected:

Topic: Hate Crimes Legislation

Answer: mostly trumped up stuff

Topic: Punishment of companies who employ illegal immigrants

Answer: Who's going to pick the apples?

Topic: Education

Answer:  I think this country is dumbing down. Encourage vasectomies on the welfare people and put more______Jewish sperm in the sperm banks..let the welfare ladies have artificial insemination

Topic: Gun Control

Answer: I believe every sane Tom Dick & Harry should have guns and plenty of ammunition.

Topic: Emergency Contraception

Answer: the age of consent is way too high in this country a 13 year old girl well into puberty is more mature that most 19 year old boys. Victim, Hell. Ask any young girl to tell you what they honestly want in life Nature dictates the answer

So now the focus needs to shift to the New Hampshire Republicans who voted-in Harty for no reason at all other than he was very old and, let's face it ... Does it come down to the fact that Republicans very seldom vet anyone these days? Yes, it started with Sarah Palin, but when the hell is it going to stop? Or is it the fact that Barringtonians have demographically little or no serious relation to what matters to the rest of the country?  Then again, Sharon Omand may be simply a humanitarian in a developing sea of intense contempt for everyone else. True, the area is very, very small, so let us hope it is in no way representative of a larger trend. Wisconsin and Michigan, on the other hand...

My bet is that the Republicans pushed him in so that they could prop him up in a corner of the House chamber for that one crucial extra vote. So what now, Marty Harty? Hope your colleagues haven't taken you too seriously or else you'll be shopping for thermal underwear.

God's Ambulance Chaser Watch

I really want to declare this the official God's Ambulance Chaser Watch site. So, if people know about the antics of the Christian Right in Japan, Please let me know.


If you need a definition, this is the best I can come up with so far:

God’s Ambulance Chasers 

Definition:

Those individuals who follow natural disasters in order to win converts to Christianity.

Those individuals who knowingly proselytize to victims of natural disasters in addition to bringing relief supplies or instead of bringing relief supplies.

This term has been used by Rev. Dan Vojir of San Francisco to describe the relief efforts of such people as televangelist Pat Robertson and the late Jerry Falwell. Rev. Dan Vojir continues to monitor the actions of such organizations as Franklin Graham’s Samaritan’s Purse.

References:

Solar-Powered Bibles: Misguided Donations To Haiti or Spiritual Shysters? 

The Last of God's Ambulance Chasers: Pat Robertson Delights in Haiti's Hell! 

God's Ambulance Chasers

SNL & Julie Taymor: The BEST diversion today!

I laughed my head off!