2/21/2014::Extra, Extra,,,news

Organized Religion: A Tool for Ignorance, Power and Control

What “religion” is to me is a human-made concoction meant to promote the personal views of some while degrading the views of others.

Honestly the only reason I call myself a “Christian” is because it’s easier than saying, “I believe in the teachings of Jesus Christ and the values for which he stood. That being said, I oppose most things that have been written in the Bible as it is clear that much of the text has been influenced by the personal views of those in charge of translating the text through time.”

I’ve talked “religion” with Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, Jews, Atheists (yes I consider Atheism a form of religion) and it’s amazing how personally we’re all pretty much the same. Our core values as human beings are basically identical. Things like being a good person, helping the helpless and defending the defenseless. Generally just being good people.

And isn’t that what life is about? Isn’t that what we should all strive to be as humans?

UN Issues Damning Report Against The Vatican

On Wednesday, the United Nations issued a damning report — “unprecedented,” CNN termed it – that detailed the Vatican’s historical and continued opposition to assessing and addressing decades of sex abuse against minors by members of the Roman Catholic Church. While the sex abuse scandal first broke over a decade ago, and avalanches still, the report presented the most pointed criticisms against the network of cover-ups and obfuscation the Vatican has continued to purvey. The report also called for the Vatican to turn over known and suspected abusers who have remained within the church.

“The main finding of the committee was that the Holy See has adopted policies and practices which have led to the continuation of the abuse by and the impunity of the perpetrators,” Kirsten Sandberg, of the U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child, said in a statement.

Bachmann: Obama Was Elected Because Of White Guilt
This comment says it all: "Let's see, if vote for a black man, it's because of white guilt. If I vote for a woman, it's because of male guilt. If I vote for a gay politician, it's because of hetero guilt. If I vote for a lesbian of color, is it because I'm Catholic?  ...   I'm so confused.

“I think there was a cachet about having an African-American president because of guilt," Bachmann told conservative columnist Cal Thomas in comments flagged by the Huffington Post. “People don’t hold guilt for a woman."

Wal-Mart suffers lowered profits due to food stamp cuts in the federal budget

Wal-Mart Stores Inc forecast a lower full-year profit than analysts expect, as fewer food stamps, higher taxes and tighter credit erode its sales, news that sent its shares down 1 percent in premarket trading on Thursday.

The world’s largest retailer expects net sales growth this year to be at the lower end of its forecast range of 3 to 5 percent, Chief Financial Officer Charles Holley said on Thursday.

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A major factor in Wal-Mart’s U.S. performance was a “low-single-digit decline” in sales of groceries at stores open at least a year, which generate about half of its sales.

Environmental firm writing U.S. Keystone report studied pipelines for landowners

The consultants writing the State Department’s environmental report on the Keystone XL pipeline have reviewed other projects undertaken in recent years by companies including Keystone’s owner, TransCanada, according to a department official’s letter obtained by environmental groups opposed to the Keystone project.

But while environmental groups say that new details in the letter show a conflict of interest and assert that the consultants were working for the big pipeline companies, a State Department official said the consulting firm was working for landowners in these instances.

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The letter, which the advocacy group Sierra Club obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, also indicates that ERM passed up some energy-related contracts to avoid possible charges of conflicts of interest.

“We also note that ERM has determined on its own to forego potential work” for a client linked to TransCanada’s transmission line to Canada’s west coast, the letter said. The other project was in Alaska for a joint venture that included TransCanada.

Brent Bozell urges liberal media to ‘tell the truth,’ while he fibs about writing a column

THE TRUTH, but the Reston, VA-based press watchdog isn’t telling the truth about its own leader: Brent Bozell doesn’t write the syndicated column that appears under his byline. Brent Bozell (pictured here) wants the media to tell the truth

It is longtime MRC media analysis director Tim Graham who writes “almost everything published under [Bozell's] name,” a former MRC employee tells me in an email. “That includes his weekly column. Same goes for his books, which at least carry Graham’s name in a secondary billing, but also aren’t written by Bozell (but Bozell keeps 80-90% of the advance and all profits!)”

Two other people with ties to MRC confirmed that Graham is Bozell’s ghostwriter – and that Graham is not happy with the assignment.