1390 - First trial for witchcraft in Paris.
1964 - A collection of irreplaceable gems, including the 565 carat (113 g) Star of India, is stolen by a group of thieves (among them is "Murph the surf") from the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.
COINCIDENCE? I think NOT!
The Bush Administration's Adopted Motto:
"If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State."
-- Joseph Goebbels
FROM THE CHURCH OF INEFFABLE STUPIDITY:
A) Aztec Hell Bak'Tun 13 Countdown
There are 1,513 days left in the present Age of Man, the fourth Age.
According to the Popol Vuh, a book compiling details of creation accounts known to the K'iche' Maya of the Colonial-era highlands, we are living in the fourth world.[8] The Popol Vuh describes the first three creations that the gods failed in making and the creation of the successful fourth world where men were placed. In the Maya Long Count, the previous creation ended at the start of a 13th b'ak'tun.
The previous creation ended on a long count of 12.19.19.17.19. Another 12.19.19.17.19 will occur on December 20, 2012, followed by the start of the fourteenth b'ak'tun, 13.0.0.0.0, on December 21, 2012].
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
The Chicago Field Musee has a new special show, the Aztec World. It is small, interesting, and has fantastic examples of art, silver, obsidian, gold, and more. As history lessons go, it suffers from one fault. The outrageous extermination of Aztecs, as a matter of christian policy, beginning in the mid 1550s.
Padres from Spain repeatedly criticized the Aztecs:
i. their writing is weird, we can't understand it, so let's burn it
ii. they have too much fun and sex. Let's make them christian and feel guilty instead
iii. They practice ritual sacrifice of their enemy's top leader. In order to stop this bloodthirsty event, let's exterminate 200,000 Aztecs
There are many similarities between the Spanish leaders of the 1500s and the current Bush Administration. Of course, the Aztec leaders had long predicted that a bunch of white men with beards would come across the ocean, and change their society. Hmmmm.
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b) Columbia University professor Rashid Khalidi
My, what a difference a few years make.
in 1998, John McCain, as chairman of International Republican Institute, he awarded this Palestinian more than $500,000.
This week, his campaign accuses Obama of a close association with . . . . wait . . . . wait . . . .
Columbia University professor Rashid Khalidi!
Obviously, this make Obama unfit for office.
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c) GROUND CONTROL TO MAJOR TOM:
No spaced oddity this. According to Politico, the Ultra-conservative, reich-wing of the GOP will meet after the election to pick up the pieces, assign blame, and point fingers. Pre-meeting sales of personalized kevlar jackets are rising.
Two days after next week's election, top conservatives will gather at the Virginia weekend home of one of the movement's most prominent members to begin a conversation about their role in the GOP and how best to revive a party that may be out of power at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue next year.
The meeting will include a "who's who of conservative leaders -- economic, national security and social," said one attendee, who shared initial word of the secret session only on the basis of anonymity and with some details about the host and location redacted.
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But, this source emphasized, the meeting will be held regardless of the outcome of the presidential race. "This is going on if McCain wins, loses or has a recount -- we're not planning for the loss of John McCain."
http://www.politico.com/...
That's not napalm you smell, that's desperation.
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d) VOTING RIGHTS and wrongs
200 years ago, british citizens had to prove that they owned land before they were permitted to vote. Those in debt were thrown in debtors' prison. Women had no right to be heard.
Today, the GOP complains about a federal court ruling that permits homeless people to register and vote, even if they list a park bench as their current address. GOP attorneys complained that there was nothing keeping that person tied to a particular bench.
Lest we be forced to point out the obvious, there is nothing keeping anyone tied their homes or apartments any more than keeping a homeless person tied to a bench. Of course, on election day, the GOP would prefer to tie the homeless to park benches with chains to keep them from voting.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - A federal judge in Ohio has ruled that counties must allow homeless voters to list park benches and other locations that aren't buildings as their addresses.
U.S. District Judge Edmund Sargus also ruled that provisional ballots can't be invalidated because of poll worker errors.
http://dispatch.com/...
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e) The Human Race is Hopeless. The End is Neigh!
A Chicago hospital reports that a truck driver, trying to deliver a shipment of GPS units to it, got lost.
We won't mention the one about criminals using GPS found themselves in front of a police station with a stolen car, because they put in the wrong address, nor the Polish guy who drove into a river because his GPS told him to "Turn now."
And let's ignore the 13 car pile up in Pennsylvania while a women tried to program her GPS in a dense fog.
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f) Windows Vista goes quietly into the night
Windows, finding massive unhappiness with its baby-sisting VISTA OS is quietly dropping it and rolling out Windows 7. Given Microsopht's history, it probably will be ready in 2017.
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"There was never a good war or a bad peace."
Benjamin Franklin