Al Jazeera report: U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan
have Pashto Bibles, told to ‘hunt people for Jesus.’

post from Think Progress on 04 May 2009 08:35:00 PM. © Think Progress

A report by Al Jazeera English shows soldiers in Afghanistan passing around Bibles in Pashto and Dari, the languages of Afghanistan, presumably to be distributed. The chaplain leading the discussion acknowledges that “proselytizing” is against military rules, but one soldier says, “you can give gifts“:

But in another piece of footage taken by Hughes, the chaplains appear to have found a way around the regulation known as General Order Number One.
“Do we know what it means to proselytise?” Captain Emmit Furner, a military chaplain, says to the gathering.
“It is General Order Number One,” an unidentified soldier replies.
But [Sergeant Jon] Watt says “you can’t proselytise but you can give gifts“.

A military spokeswoman said the Bibles “were never distributed as far as we know.” The Al Jazeera report also shows Lt. Col. Gary Hensley, the chief of the US military chaplains in Afghanistan, telling a congregation of U.S. servicemembers that their job as Christian is to “hunt people for Jesus.” “That’s what we do, that’s our business,” he said. Watch it:

video details and more

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http://thinkprogress.org/2009/05/04/soldiers-hunt-for-jesus/

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Sestak Moves Closer to Primary Challenge

post from Open Left - Front Page on 04 May 2009 08:30:00 PM. © Open Left - Front Page

Joe Sestak's primary challenge to Arlen Specter becomes more likely with every passing day. First,[...]

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Idaho Militia Commander responds to my sniper
application

post from Jesus' General on 04 May 2009 08:07:00 PM. © Jesus' General

Yesterday, I responded to a "sniper wanted" ad placed by the Idaho Militia. Here's the commander's response:

JC Christian,

Greetings and thank you for your application. It is, however, incomplete as several items requested have been left out. If you would please fill in those items as listed on the contact page, it would be appreciated. You sound like a dedicated and qualified marksman but I need more background experience to consider you for this position. As noted in the job description, the field sniper would also be the Sergeant of Arms with expertise in many weapons and experience in running qualifications and marksmanship training. If you don't have this specific experience in training soldiers, and would like just to be a sniper, that's ok too.

Your letter impresses upon me a "lone ranger" tone so I need to make a few things clear. If you join the ICCM, I will be your commanding officer and you will obey the orders of myself and those appointed over you. My rank is determined by the size of the company size element I lead. One is not a general unless they have at least a couple brigades following them. Most applicants will enter at the rank of private, which is to say, that may be your rank. A military unit is operated by discipline and a clear chain of command. If you can't fit in to a military unit, we can't use you.

If I've gotten the wrong impression, I apologize in advance. If you are ok with these terms and willing to follow orders, start by providing the information requested. One more thing, please don't ever take God's holy name in vain again when writing; I would appreciate it.

In God we trust,

CPT James Ambrose
Idaho Citizens' Constitutional Militia
Commanding Officer

Here's my response:

Dear CPT Ambrose,

Thank you for responding to my application for the sniper position. Before I address your concerns, I must instruct you to address me using my rank until such a time as I have accepted the sniper position and the resulting reversion of rank. Frankly, I'm a bit stunned by your failure to adhere to basic military protocols regarding chain of command. Do it again and I will discipline you, myself, using an M-13A riding crop.

OK, now that that's out of the way, let's discuss my qualifications. In addition to being proficient with the Model 82A1 Barrett sniper rifle, I am a master marksman with the AR-15, SKS, and HK-SL8 assault rifles, all Browning and Mossberg shotguns, and the Ruger Super Single-Six side-arm (which as you know, is the most powerful handgun in the world when paired with CCI Stinger ammunition).

I am also proficient in the use of the M-73 nunchucks. Ask anyone in Tremonton. I demonstrate my proficiency every day at about 3:30 pm in front of Bear River High--I think the high school girls love it. And as I noted earlier, I am an artist with the M-13A riding crop.

But I have so much more to offer your unit than simply my vast knowledge of weaponry. I'll also bring Sherry and Sheila, my militia morale sheep, along with me. Gosh, how the men love them. They are an absolute boon to unit morale and cohesion; that is if you don't mind the fact that Sherry appears to have very large testicles and a bleat that sounds like a foghorn--it's nothing a pretty ribbon doesn't fix. And, the rumors about her spreading anal warts are just that, rumors. It was the latrines at Camp McVeigh that were the source of that infamous outbreak.

As for your "lone ranger" accusation. Yes, I do currently serve under the rank of General. I assumed that position in 1995 after taking leadership of all the militias commanded by colonels at that time. I will add the Idaho Citizens' Constitutional Militia to my command should you decline my application for sniper.

OK, here's the rest of the required info:

Name: Gen. JC Christian, Patriot
Address: RFD#1 Tremonton, UT
Phone number: Phones COMMUNIcate COMMUNIsm. I refuse to own one.
Alternate phone: Phones COMMUNIcate COMMUNIsm. I refuse to own one.
preferred email contact: Yes
Date of Birth and age I was birthed at home, but I believe I am 49.
Gender: I'm a man, an 11 on the manly scale of absolute gender.
Military branch (not required)
rank at discharge: General
military duties: Commanding
Boy Scout (not required): I do not have one.
Any other relative experience (not required): Sometimes, I dress in women's clothing and hang around in bars with lumberjacks for intelligence gathering purposes.
Why you are interested in the Militia? It's not because I have a small penis. I like big guns, big trucks, and joining militias for other reasons. I just can't think of them now.

Looking forward to hearing back from you.

Heterosexually yours,

Gen. JC Christian, patriot

Read The Full Article:
http://patriotboy.blogspot.com/2009/05/idaho-militia-commander-responds-to-my.htm
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Late afternoon/early evening open thread

post from Daily Kos on 04 May 2009 08:02:04 PM. © Daily Kos

What you missed on Sunday Kos ....

In Pandemic Lotto, DarkSyde detailed how viruses evolve and mutate--and exactly what transpires when first they "board and commandeer a host cell many, many times their size to survive and multiply."

In H1N1: Why Do Schools Close, And When Do They Open?, resident flu expert DemFromCT walked readers through the stages declared during a pandemic and what we can expect when institutions begin shutting down in order to slow the spread of disease.

In 2010: The Age of the Goposaurs, Jed Lewison compiled a marvelous video montage that looked at the deplorable state of the modern Republican Party through the lens of how its leaders reacted to the defection of Sen. Arlen Specter.

In Film Review: Blue Gold: World Water Wars, mcjoan discussed the new Sam Bozzo film, an examination of the global water crisis, which she called "a meld between Godfrey Reggio's 1982 documentary Koyaanisqatsi and Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth."

In Republicans: The Indulgent Parents, Dana Houle talked about the appalling metamorphosis of the GOP: "In American politics, the spoiled children struggling to deal with a reality they don't like and didn't expect are those voters who make up the rightwing of the Republican base. The indulgent parents of American politics are the leaders, elected officials and apparatchiks of the Republican party."

In His Fellow Philadelphian, Arjun Jaikumar looked at the historical record and brought to attention many party switchers along the lines of Arlen Specter--and hoped that Specter aspires to the liberal heights of icon Thomas Michael Foglietta.

In How Freedom Was Lost, Devilstower reminded us of the horrors of life before environmental regulation and safety standards were set and enforced by government--and how America's "freedom of the marketplace" to choose such tragedies has never really existed since the inception of the country. A truly remarkable piece of writing that's highly recommended.

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http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/lrFVxTfo2pQ/-Late-afternoon-early-
evening-open-thread

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Hunting People for Jesus: Growing Fundamentalism
in the U.S. Military

post from Crooks and Liars on 04 May 2009 08:00:25 PM. © Crooks and Liars

video details and more

After revelations that some American soldiers were given Bibles and encouraged to "hunt people for Jesus," the Pentagon on Monday denied allegations that the U.S. military allows its personnel to seek the conversion of Afghans to Christianity. But while the copies of the New Testament translated into Pashtun and jaw-dropping video from Bagram may seem like exceptions that prove the rule of American prohibition on proselytizing by the military, they are just the latest episodes in the disturbing rise in influence of Christian conservatives in the United States armed services.

As Jeremy Scahill detailed in the Huffington Post, the incidents first reported on Al Jazeera are an affront both to the U.S. military code of conduct and America's Afghan allies:

The center of this evangelical operation is at the huge US base at Bagram, one of the main sites used by the US military to torture and indefinitely detain prisoners.

In a video obtained by Al Jazeera and broadcast Monday, Lieutenant-Colonel Gary Hensley, the chief of the US military chaplains in Afghanistan, is seen telling soldiers that as followers of Jesus Christ, they all have a responsibility "to be witnesses for him."

"The special forces guys - they hunt men basically. We do the same things as Christians, we hunt people for Jesus. We do, we hunt them down," he says.

"Get the hound of heaven after them, so we get them into the kingdom. That's what we do, that's our business."

As it turns out, that has indeed been the business of Christian conservatives in the U.S. armed services since 9/11. In word and deed, evangelicals in recent years have aggressively boosted their visibility and influence within the American military.

An early warning came in 2003 in the guise of Lt. General William Boykin.

Boykin, who later became a deputy under secretary of defense, claimed during speeches to prayer groups and breakfasts that militant Islamists sought to destroy America ''because we're a Christian nation.'' General Boykin also explained to evangelical audiences that Muslims worship an ''idol'' and not ''a real God.'' While President Bush expressed his disagreement (noting Boykin "''didn't reflect my opinion" and "it just doesn't reflect what the government thinks"), Boykin remained on the job.

The U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs has been a hotbed of evangelical activism - and controversy. While cadets in 2004 distributed leaflets at dinner place settings for a screening of "The Passion of the Christ, football coach Fisher DeBerry displayed a sign in the team's locker room proclaiming, "I am a Christian first and last. I am a member of Team Jesus Christ." In May, 2005, Lutheran minister and Captain MeLinda Morton was removed from her post after warning evangelical Christians were trying to "subvert the system" in trying to win converts among cadets at the Academy. A June 2005 study at USAFA described other incidents of religious intolerance, insensitivity and inappropriate proselytizing, and concluded:

"Additionally, some faculty members and coaches consider it their duty to profess their faith and discuss this issue in their classrooms in furtherance of developing cadets' spirituality."

In the wake of the Brady report and complaints from Military Religious Freedom Foundation founder Mike Weinstein (himself a graduate of the Academy), the Air Force in October 2005 moved to withdraw a "code of ethics" document which permitted chaplains to evangelize military personnel who were not affiliated with any faith. ("I will not proselytize from other religious bodies," it read, "but I retain the right to evangelize those who are not affiliated.") Still, even that minor restriction produced an avalanche of opposition from Focus on the Family, the Christian Coalition and other groups which protested that the new guidelines abridged "the constitutional right of military chaplains to pray according to their faith."

Undaunted, the push to proselytize in the U.S. military continues. In 2007, an inspector general's report highlighted ethics violations among current and former officers, including two major generals, for appearing in uniform for a promotional and fundraising video for the evangelical group Christian Embassy. As the Washington Post noted, the report "offers a vivid picture of how inappropriately intertwined Christian Embassy had become with Pentagon operations by the time the video, with its extensive scenes inside the Pentagon, was filmed in 2004." Nonetheless, the New York Times reported earlier this year that military personnel were shown videos featuring football's Terry Bradshaw professing his Christian religion as part of an official military production dealing with depression, suicide and "the importance of faith."

The aggressive campaign for military converts is producing a climate of fear and intimdation in the armed forces. Specialist Jeremy Hall sued the Army after a superior officer interrupted his meeting for atheists and free-thinkers by proclaiming, "People like you are not holding up the Constitution and are going against what the founding fathers, who were Christians, wanted for America!" In another case, Army Specialist and Iraq Purple Heart recipient Dustin Chalker filed a lawsuit after being subjected to a mandatory ceremony that began and ended with a Christian prayer. As he put it:

"The Army enforces policies against racism and sexism, but doesn't bat an eye at these kinds of religious discrimination. Why is it acceptable that soldiers are unable to serve this nation without attending state-led religious practices they find offensive and false?"

Of course, it isn't acceptable, not under Central Command's General Order Number One and myriad other guidelines issued by the Pentagon before or since. Tragically, as the United States wages a global struggle against terrorists espousing a virulent strain of Islamic fundamentalism, fundamentalists in the ranks of the American military are betraying its values - and jeopardizing its mission.

(This piece also appears at Perrspectives.)

Read The Full Article:
http://crooksandliars.com/jon-perr/hunting-for-jesus-fundamentalism-miltary

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Not just #1 in health care

post from AMERICAblog News| A great nation deserves the truth on 04 May 2009 07:59:00 PM. © AMERICAblog News| A great nation deserves the truth

When I first arrived I didn't quite understand the slow pace of dining. As much as I liked to cook before, I was still used to the American pace of getting it over and done with quickly. Now I'm pretty used to the slow pace as restaurants without being chased out by waiters and I like it. I can't stand being rushed when I go to the UK or US. One of my first big meals here was a six hour marathon meal that featured same year Champagnes, white Burgundy and then red Burgundy. People in France love to have long meals and then debate anything and everything, sometimes simply taking a crazy position only to keep the debate going. Finding a quick solution isn't really part of the routine but then again, when you have beautiful food and lively discussion, who really cares? Reuters:

True to their reputation as leisure-loving gourmets, the French spend more time sleeping and eating than anyone else among the world's wealthy nations, according to a study published Monday.

The average French person sleeps almost nine hours every night, more than an hour longer than the average Japanese and Korean, who sleep the least in a survey of 18 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Now if only something could be done about the rising crime in Paris. I think I know the topic of debate for the next dinner.

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Generation O & Bloggers on the Bus

post from MyDD on 04 May 2009 07:48:41 PM. © MyDD

This could be interesting to follow. Newsweek has set up a Tumblr account called "Generation O!" But here, the blog was started 4 days ago and there's not a single post yet. "What is the "Obama Generation," you ask? We'd like to know, too." You[...]

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Generation O & Bloggers on the Bus

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The chickens have come home to roost

by Robert Lawrence, guest blogger

Although we call the big three automobile companies they have basically specialized in building trucks. This left them utterly unable to respond when high gas prices shifted the market towards hybrids and more fuel efficient cars.

One reason is that Americans like to drive SUVs, minivans and small trucks when gasoline costs $1.50 to $2.00 a gallon. But another is that the profit margins have been much higher on trucks and vans because the US protects its domestic market with a twenty-five percent tariff. By contrast, the import tariff on regular automobiles is just 2.5 percent and US duties from tariffs on all imported goods are just one percent of the overall value of merchandise imports. Since many of the inputs used to assemble trucks are not subject to tariffs anywhere near 25 percent -- US tariffs on all goods average only 3.5 percent -- the effective protection and subsidy equivalent of this policy has been huge.

It is no wonder much of the initial foray by Japanese transplants to the US involved setting up trucks assembly plants, no wonder that Automakers only put three doors on SUVs so they can qualify as vans and no wonder that Detroit is so opposed to the US-Korea Free Trade Agreement that would eventually allow trucks built in Korea Duty-Free access to the US market.

What accounts for this distinctive treatment of trucks? An accident of history that shows how hard it is for the government to withdraw favors even when they have no sound policy justification.

It all comes down to the long forgotten chicken wars of the 60s. In 1962, when implementing the European Common Market, the Community denied access to US chicken producers. In response after being unable to resolve the issue diplomatically, the US responded with retaliatory tariffs that included a twenty five percent tariffs on trucks that was aimed at the German Volkswagen Combi-Bus that was enjoying brisk sales in the US.

Since the trade (GATT) rules required that retaliation be applied on a non-discriminatory basis, the tariffs were levied on all truck-type vehicles imported from all countries and have never been removed. Over time, the Germans stopped building these vehicles and today the tariffs are mainly paid on trucks coming from Asia. The tariffs have bred bad habits, steering Detroit away from building high-quality automobiles towards trucks and truck like cars that have suddenly fallen into disfavor.

If congress wants an explanation for why the big three have been so uncompetitive it should look first at the disguised largess it has been providing them with for years. It has taken a long time -- nearly 47 years -- but it seems that eventually the chickens have finally come home to roost.

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Inhofe wrongly claims that a
‘majority’ of Americans think repealing DADT would hurt ‘unit cohesion.’

Yesterday, the New York Times’ Room for Debate blog hosted a conversation about how repealing the military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy banning openly gay men and women from serving would “affect the military ranks.” Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK), who supports continuing the ban, claimed that “a majority of the American people” agree with “section 571 of the 1994 National Defense Authorization Act, which states”:

The presence in the armed forces of persons who demonstrate a propensity or intent to engage in homosexual acts would create an unacceptable risk to the high standards of morale, good order and discipline, and unit cohesion that are the essence of military capability.

But Inhofe is wrong about the views of the American people. Last week, the Quinnipiac Polling Institute released a comprehensive poll showing that not only do a majority of Americans support repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, but 58 percent of Americans reject “the argument that allowing openly gay men and women to serve would be divisive.” This includes 56 percent of voters with family in the military. (HT: TPM DC)

Read The Full Article:
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/05/04/inhofe-dadt-majority/

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