17 Mar 2004
In Diana Pan Opolis.

It seems as though we've a true nutcase in our midst:

A week ago Sunday, somebody drove a white Jeep Cherokee over the curb in front of the Eagles Lodge in Anderson...

In Indiana, destroying or vandalizing the Ten Commandments has become almost as much a state pastime as downing Ding Dongs or attending tractor pulls.

If history is an indicator, the usual suspect in this caper would be Stephen M. Schroeder, 42, Indianapolis. Indeed, he did damage this particular marker five times when it was on the Statehouse lawn, refusing to pay a $2,500 fine on principle and serving 90 days in jail.

Why would Mr. Schroder do this? Is he an "atheist activist"? Is he genuinely concerned for the maintainance of the seperation of Church and State? Alas, it seems not:

Schroeder did not hate the marker because he hates God. He doesn't. He hates pagans, and he maintains this marker was a sneaky pagan plot.

It did not include the commandment cautioning against graven images. That means it was Catholic, and therefore, he says, bad.

Also, it bore a hideous graven image, he says. "Right above the proclamation 'The Lord my God is One God' was a breasted sun god, a triangle with a crescent moon on top, an all-seeing eye with breasts. It was the same graven image on altars in Carthage." In other words, it was pagan all the way.

Schroeder contends the image was a Masonic symbol. Free Masonry, he says, is the biggest pagan religion there is. That's what offended him so about the marker.

I wonder what this loony would do if he knew about us real Hoosier Heathens? This is supposed to be a funny post, but that is certainly a scary thought ....

(link) [IndyStar.com]

00:00 /Humor | 0 comments | permanent link

Some stories need no comment -

Man treated after attempting to nail himself to cross

HARTLAND (AP) March 16,2004 — A Hartland man was treated at a Pittsfield hospital after he nailed himself to a cross. The 23-year-old man apparently was trying to commit suicide Thursday evening in his living room, the Bangor Daily News reported...

Police said the man appeared delusional and told them he had been "seeing pictures of God on the computer." He told them he had not seen the hit movie "The Passion of the Christ," which depicts the Crucifixion of Jesus.

Lt. Pierre Boucher said the man took two pieces of wood, nailed them together in the form of a cross and placed them on the floor. He attached a suicide sign to the wood and then proceeded to nail one of his hands to the makeshift cross using a 14-penny nail and a hammer.

"When he realized that he was unable to nail his other hand to the board, he called 911," Boucher said.

(link) [MaineToday.com] via PaganPrattle

00:00 /Humor | 0 comments | permanent link

Plan for Sharp Rise in Mad Cow Testing Gets Mixed Reaction

Gee, the logic here is rather astonishing! I wonder how the proponents in the industry would react to a similar plan if implemented in humans? Look at an example:

When you get a marriage license in Indiana you have to get a doctors certificate that you are free from STD's and TB. I'll bet we could save a whole bunch of money by only testing half of the folks applying for a license that show symptoms of infection, and then randomly testing less than 1% of everybody else. That'd reduce the spread of disease, right?

I'm glad out agriculture department doesn't run the Centeres for Disease Control ....

The plan, announced Monday, involves testing half the nation's 446,000 "downer" cows animals that cannot walk or that show signs of nervous system disorders.

(link) [New York Times: NYT HomePage]

00:00 /Agriculture | 0 comments | permanent link

Powell Reassures India on Technology Jobs

This insures at least one vote in Indiana for John Kerry - mine. Frankly, it wouldn't matter too much at this point if the Dems were running Micky Mouse - with a record deficit, military deployments so thick that there are some Gurad units that have been out for two years, my taxes actually going up (despite the vaunted Bush tax cut), and a President who seems more concerned about appeasing the religious right - well, I'm over it. No more protest votes or letters to the editor. Kerry simply couldn't do any worse.

Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said the Bush administration would not try to halt the outsourcing of technology jobs to India.

(link) [New York Times: NYT HomePage]

00:00 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link