Alan K. Henderson's Weblog

Quote of the Week: Union Democracy Edition."Larry runs the union like a dictator. He doesn't want his members to know the truth about how dues are spent." – David E. Bradley, newly elected member of the executive board of the Fresno Teachers Association, discussing FTA President Larry Moore. FTA reports 855 ballots were cast by an electorate of about 4,000 members. (November 16 Fresno Bee)

"It's a very hurtful thing for me to be told I'm not a member in good standing after paying my union dues all those years." – Belinda Boyd, New York City school aide who nominated Anthony Ferina for local chairman. Ferina was disqualified because the parent union claimed Ms. Boyd was not a member, despite her membership card, union voting record and seven years of dues payments. Out of 14,000 eligible members, only 27 voted in the election. (November 22 New York Times)

Peter and Nathan Petrelli are reunited, but a battle erupts between them. Matt Parkman and Hiro Nakamura are set up by Adam Monroe as Monica Dawson is captured by a street gang, and Micah Sanders turns to his mother Niki for help. Maya Herrera learns Sylar's true nature when he kidnaps Molly Walker and Mohinder Suresh. Elle plays the hero to get back into her father's good graces. The preview states two characters will die.

YUSUFALI: Fight them, and Allah will punish them by your hands, cover them with shame, help you (to victory) over them, heal the breasts of Believers,

And still the indignation of their hearts. For Allah will turn (in mercy) to whom He will; and Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise.

PICKTHAL: Fight them! Allah will chastise them at your hands, and He will lay them low and give you victory over them, and He will heal the breasts of folk who are believers.

And He will remove the anger of their hearts. Allah relenteth toward whom He will. Allah is Knower, Wise.

SHAKIR: Fight them, Allah will punish them by your hands and bring them to disgrace, and assist you against them and heal the hearts of a believing people.

And remove the rage of their hearts; and Allah turns (mercifully) to whom He pleases, and Allah is Knowing, Wise.

"The New World" is one of the oldest settled constitutional democracies on earth, to a degree "the Old World" can barely comprehend. Where it counts, Americans are traditionalists. We know Eastern Europe was a totalitarian prison until the Nineties, but we forget that Mediterranean Europe (Greece, Spain, Portugal) has democratic roots going all the way back until, oh, the mid-Seventies; France and Germany's constitutions date back barely half a century, Italy's only to the 1940s, and Belgium's goes back about 20 minutes, and currently it's not clear whether even that latest rewrite remains operative. The U.S. Constitution is not only older than France's, Germany's, Italy's or Spain's constitution, it's older than all of them put together.

I'm guessing that Parkman's dad has the ability to possess people, assuming he's the one who attacked Angela Petrelli last week. She said she attacked herself, which may be true - but who was making her claw at herself?

"Santas in Australia's largest city have been told not to use Father Christmas's traditional "ho ho ho" greeting because it may be offensive to women, it was reported Thursday.

Sydney's Santa Clauses have instead been instructed to say "ha ha ha" instead, the Daily Telegraph reported.

Jason missed the bus, but arrived at school
in time for Professor Montgomery's demon-
stration of the Laws of Thermodynamics.

The anti-Semitic slur is repeated.

Moreover, Paul seems to be playing a sly game with his conspiracy-minded fans. He does not explicitly endorse the crazier theories out there, but he hints at dark forces in the U.S. government threatening our liberties, he inveighs against the "neo-cons" (shorthand for Jews in some circles) and he gives aid and comfort to the paranoid by appearing on their favorite radio shows.

"Neo-conservatism" is a term almost exclusively used by the enemies of America's liberation of Iraq. There is no "neo-conservative" movement in the United States. When there was one, it was made up of former Democrats who embraced the welfare state but supported Ronald Reagan's Cold War policies against the Soviet bloc. Today "neo-conservatism" identifies those who believe in an aggressive policy against radical Islam and the global terrorists. It is a group identical to conservatives generally. Its opponents -- including most Democrats and all parties to the left -- would appropriately called "appeasers."

YUSUFALI: But when the forbidden months are past, then fight and slay the Pagans wherever ye find them, an seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem (of war); but if they repent, and establish regular prayers and practise regular charity, then open the way for them: for Allah is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful.

PICKTHAL: Then, when the sacred months have passed, slay the idolaters wherever ye find them, and take them (captive), and besiege them, and prepare for them each ambush. But if they repent and establish worship and pay the poor-due, then leave their way free. Lo! Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.

SHAKIR: So when the sacred months have passed away, then slay the idolaters wherever you find them, and take them captives and besiege them and lie in wait for them in every ambush, then if they repent and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate, leave their way free to them; surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.

Ron Paul does have white-sheet supporters. But then, everybody has nutbags within their support constituencies.

Why does he resonate with these sorts? I went to Stormfront's site (find the link yourself), and read the first post in the Ron Paul comment thread, linked plain as day at the bottom of the home page. The author, Charles Coughlin (not to be confused with, but most apparently inspired by, this guy[)] lifted certain quotes from the candidate's issues page:

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Debt and Taxes

Working Americans like lower taxes. So do I. Lower taxes benefit all of us, creating jobs and allowing us to make more decisions for ourselves about our lives. (more)

American Independence and Sovereignty

So called free trade deals and world governmental organizations like the International Criminal Court (ICC), NAFTA, GATT, WTO, and CAFTA are a threat to our independence as a nation. (more)

War and Foreign Policy

The war in Iraq was sold to us with false information. The area is more dangerous now than when we entered it. We destroyed a regime hated by our direct enemies, the jihadists, and created thousands of new recruits for them. (more)

Border Security and Immigration Reform

The talk must stop. We must secure our borders now. A nation without secure borders is no nation at all. It makes no sense to fight terrorists abroad when our own front door is left unlocked. This is my six point plan: (more)

Privacy and Personal Liberty

The biggest threat to your privacy is the government. We must drastically limit the ability of government to collect and store data regarding citizens personal matters. (more)

Property Rights and Eminent Domain

We must stop special interests from violating property rights and literally driving families from their homes, farms and ranches. (more)

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The common theme in these issues is a "leave us alone" attitude. Don't take our stuff, don't let the world meddle in our trade decisions, don't let foreigners criminally tresspass into the country, don't get us involved in wars irrelevant and/or harmful to national security. All of those sentiments are sane. Including the last one; I disagree with Paul's claim that Iraq is such an unnecessary and bad war.

Stormfront and its fellow travelers insert two additional attitudes that are not so healthy. First is xenophobia; white racialists seek a sort of cultural protectionism to insulate themselves from nonwhite groups. Second is whackball conspiracy theories that misplace the blame on real and perceived threats, and that misidentify the true intentions of various groups.

Good ideas can be used to serve bad causes, and the white-sheets find much that is useful in Ron Paul's political platform.

Yesterday (11/7/07), a "research study" was circulating on the internet which claimed to have found the "real" reason for global warming. Even though the hoax was quite elaborate, and the paper looked genuine, a little digging revealed that the authors, research center, and even the scientific journal the study was published in, did not exist. I sent an e-mail to Rush about the issue regarding the hoax, with a copy of the "research study". Unfortunately, my very brief note to Rush was not very clear, and he thought that I was calling global warming a hoax, rather than the study. Even though Rush has told me not to worry about it, and that "the buck stops here" with him, I just wanted to apologize to everyone for this misunderstanding, as I feel that better wording on my part would have prevented this from happening.

An anonymous Brit has now admitted in a brief interview that he wrote the fake global warming research paper which is claimed to have fooled some of us "global warming skeptics". His stated purpose was to "expose the credulity and scientific illiteracy of many of the people who call themselves climate sceptics".

I would argue that he has done just the opposite.

Several of us (scientists and non-scientists alike) were able, within a matter of seconds to minutes, to identify the paper as a fake. We then spread the word, warning others of the hoax. Therefore, we showed that we do not, as the hoaxer claims, "believe almost anything if it lends support to their position". We did exactly the opposite.

The IRS requires that pastors' compensation be "reasonable," depending on matters such as comparable salaries, church size and a pastor's value to the congregation.

IRS rules prevent pastors and other insiders from excessive personal gain through their tax-exempt work.

Kenneth and Gloria Copeland's Kenneth Copeland Ministries of Newark, Texas must explain church assets transferred to a for-profit company, Gloria Copelands's $1 million loan to that company, and Kenneth Copeland's $2 million gift marking the 40th anniversary of his ministry.

YUSUFALI: Say to the Unbelievers, if (now) they desist (from Unbelief), their past would be forgiven them; but if they persist, the punishment of those before them is already (a matter of warning for them).

And fight them on until there is no more tumult or oppression, and there prevail justice and faith in Allah altogether and everywhere; but if they cease, verily Allah doth see all that they do.

If they refuse, be sure that Allah is your Protector - the best to protect and the best to help.

PICKTHAL: Tell those who disbelieve that if they cease (from persecution of believers) that which is past will be forgiven them; but if they return (thereto) then the example of the men of old hath already gone (before them, for a warning).

And fight them until persecution is no more, and religion is all for Allah. But if they cease, then lo! Allah is Seer of what they do.

And if they turn away, then know that Allah is your Befriender - a Transcendent Patron, a Transcendent Helper!

SHAKIR: Say to those who disbelieve, if they desist, that which is past shall be forgiven to them; and if they return, then what happened to the ancients has already passed.

And fight with them until there is no more persecution and religion should be only for Allah; but if they desist, then surely Allah sees what they do.

And if they turn back, then know that Allah is your Patron; most excellent is the Patron and most excellent the Helper.

According to Ibn Abbas, Abu Al-`Aliyah, Mujahid, Al-Hasan, Qatadah, Ar-Rabi` bin Anas, As-Suddi, Muqatil bin Hayyan and Zayd bin Aslam, the statement that Muslims must fight until there is no more fitnah means that they must fight "so that there is no more Shirk." Shirk is the association of partners with Allah – i.e., calling Jesus the Son of God. [Refer to this article for a more detailed description of shirk - AKH] So this verse, although it was revealed in the aftermath of a seventh-century battle between Muslims and pagans, has a universal application: the Tafsir al-Jalalayn glosses it this way: "And fight them until sedition, idolatry, is, exists, no more and religion is all for God, alone, none other being worshipped…" Muhammad himself said: "I have been commanded to fight against people so long as they do not declare that there is no god but Allah, and he who professed it was guaranteed the protection of his property and life on my behalf except for the right affairs rest with Allah."