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The Gathering Place Church
It's the mark of fools that when confronted with undeniable fact, they continue acting in the same manner, SG. This is the stupidity that "passes understanding". It makes everyone else in the world laugh at America, the land of the gullible. SG, do you believe in "creationism"? Do you follow the laws of Leviticus and Deuteronomy? Or isn't it true that your "faith" is so pathetic and malleable that you just pick and choose which bits of the book to follow? Otherwise, please tell us all about the last time you murdered someone for adultery, or how you ritually purify yourself with the slaughter of farm animals... I have to also assume, with your "faith" that you never go to a hospital, but rather treat all your ailments with prayer and fasting. No? Oh, I guess you don't really believe at all...do you? Time to put away childish things, and recognize that your "faith" and trust has been abused...just like children forced to sit through "lessons" that teach outright falsehoods every Sunday morning in your church.— March 1, 2009 4:54 p.m.
San Diego City Employees pension fund ailing
JF, (still an anonymous coward), why is it you continue to insist that only you and your fellow firefighters have a right to say anything about the state of San Diego's public services? Did you know that when the firestorms came, CERT volunteers were NEVER CALLED UP. So your vaunted volunteer program is a complete waste of time and money. It's not there when it's needed, and does NOTHING to improve the situation in an emergency because firefighters like you are too arrogant to use it. I don't want to scrub your floors to save you from doing anything at all in those long hours waiting for a call...I want to help the city in the time of an emergency. I'm already trained in how to do that, but because of your union's lobbying over the years it's ILLEGAL to help out. That's pretty disgusting, and trying to change the topic to "Fred has to be a volunteer firefighting before having an opinion" just shows your moral bankruptcy is as close as the city's financial bankruptcy. So why don't you: 1. Use your real name. As I said before, your excuse that you're frightened of the consequences is pure cowardice. We're in a crisis. Grow up and be a man. As far as I know, you AREN'T a firefighter at all. As far as I know you're a pathetic overweight twelve year old girl with too much time on her hands. Either way, you're clearly a sissy who is too scared to use his/her real name --- why? Because you might lose your incredibly lucrative position and never ever make the same money anywhere else. 2. Volunteer YOURSELF to work for no pay for the city...instead of continually claiming that unless you are paid 100k+ per year the city will burn down and mobs will run the streets. YOU are NOT above all the rest of us, and WE do NOT have to try to emulate you. In fact, the opposite is in order in times like these. WE pay YOUR salary to do your job. When we really need fire protection, like in the inevitable firestorms, you're unable to do the job and WON'T LET ANYONE ELSE EITHER. It doesn't take a firefighter to know it's time to change the way things are done in San Diego. It takes citizens like me with the guts to use his own real name and present the facts to the rest of the city. So why don't YOU start acting like a citizen, instead of demanding that citizens act like greedy public "servants" who truly consider themselves public "masters"?— March 1, 2009 4:06 p.m.
The Gathering Place Church
Russ, I've not answered your demand that I attend this church because it's irrelevant to anything. I don't have to live or work at Auschwitz to know it was a source of evil in this world...same goes for this ugliest type of "church" spewing hatred and falsehood into the community. Besides, if I WERE to go to this church, wouldn't you simply turn around and label me as a "disgruntled former member"? I'll stay out of that sort of trap, thank you. I spent enough time in churches of this ilk to know what goes on there and in the corrosive Sunday "School" indoctrination of young children. I read the article and commented on it. Didn't you read how this bunch of fools believe in faith healing and all the worst superstitions of Christianity -- yet delude themselves into thinking they're just good family folk? On your second point, claiming that TV and pop music are equivalently evil to religion, I'd like to point out that kids aren't taught that video games are "real"...but parents and church leaders DO teach kids that they literally come from a rib-woman who ate an apple she got from a talking snake, so THEREFORE all children are created inherently evil by the angry jealous sky god described in great detail in the bible. This is the church's official doctrine, and it's vile. It's a real and present danger to our society, originating from the worst ignorance and arrogance that religion provides. How can anyone look at the last eight years and deny that the influence of religion is evil in America. I'm sure you privately agree with me, and are entering into the debate out of a sense of fairness, to even the playing field for those who are clearly unable to say much in defense of their ongoing abuse of children. But really, there's no justification for what churches like this do to the world. It's the duty of all of us who believe in freedom and the advancement of the human race to oppose these idiots and expose them for the corrupt frauds they are. Joining in their services would do nothing to advance the truth. So, Russl, I'm sure you are simply trying to clarify things and will now join me in denouncing this cancer on our society, recognizing that exposing kids to the weird cult of this brand of "Christianity" is about the worst thing parents could do to impressionable youngsters. Best, Fred (P.s. SG, if this is your family, I feel very sorry for you. Some day you'll probably end up in a jungle drinking poisoned kool aid, wondering where you went wrong...the answer is that you joined this cult instead of listening to the tiny voice in your head that said "run away from these nut cases!" I wish you luck, but fear for the worst.)— March 1, 2009 3:41 p.m.
San Diego City Employees pension fund ailing
JF, you're overboard now. Address DeMaio on the issues. You can critique his misquoting figures, or jumping the gun...but of all the council only he and Frye seem to take our financial predicament seriously. You can disagree with what he's trying to do, but your blanket statements about his character aren't getting you anywhere. Yes, these tactics worked to rid the city of your nemesis Aguirre. Did that do a service to the people of San Diego? No way. In fact, the firefighters union along with the other entrenched special interests will forever be shamed by their participation in the Aguirre lynch mob. Now you're trying the same thing with DeMaio. Cut it out. You know it's both dishonest and destructive. Go after his numbers, his facts, his strategies, but at least recognize that this guy, unlike most of his peers and ANYONE from your union board is at least discussing these problems and proposing ways to deal with them. If I could pinpoint any single problem with San Diego it's that whenever someone has the guts to recognize troubles up ahead, they get gang-mobbed by people like you. Remember Bruce Henderson? Saathoff and his ilk tried to run him out of town for having actually READ the Chargers contract and raised the alarm. Same with those of us who opposed the ballpork giveaway. McGrory (another buddy of yours apparently, since you approve of his criminal activities while in office) had the nerve to tell the newspaper that anyone opposed to that scam was an "urban terrorist". Don Bauder has been warning of this situation for years, and look what he got for his trouble. You're perpetrating this RIGHT NOW and you should be ashamed. Be a man, JF (still too cowardly to use your real name) and work on finding the truth instead of attacking the character of those who make you uncomfortable. (just a few posts to 1000, at which point Reader Publisher Jim Holman is obligated to buy every commenter ice cream in Little Italy)— February 28, 2009 11:34 a.m.
Hat Trick
Magic, I'm gratified that someone got the double pun of genes and phat. Whew! I was concerned I'd gone right over everyone's heads (or below their waists...as the case might be.)— February 28, 2009 11:24 a.m.
Sheep and Goats: Unity Center
Ugh. More nauseating nonsense from the faithful. There's a simple test when some moron claims, "Your version of reality is an illusion. It doesn’t exist outside your head." Just punch them in the nose. Does it hurt? Oh, I guess reality really is real, huh...? I had a friend who worked for Chopra in La Jolla. He likes steaks and making gobs of money from the gullible. No serious scientist, theologian, or philosopher can read his books without either laughing or throwing them away in disgust. Read a bit more from Epictetus. The Enchiridion has a lot of wisdom in it...but it has absolutely nothing to do with what is taught by these folks. In fact, Epictetus had nothing to do with this "reality is an illusion" crap. Quite the opposite, he knew it exists and is real...he simply says that our attitude toward events is what is under our control. Today, we call this Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and it's proven to work. Religious mumbo-jumbo, on the other hand, has had thousands of years to do something. No positive results so far, but religion-fueld bigotry and ignorance sure does start a lot of wars.— February 27, 2009 2:55 p.m.
San Diego City Employees pension fund ailing
Hey, we're just a hand full of posts away from 1000! JohnnyPuppy, I believe it was McGrory who negotiated both deals. He was allegedly on the city's side for the Qualcomm swindle, and was already working for the Padres when it came to the Petco rip off. In both cases, he was the primary architect, with the connivance of union bosses like Saathoff.— February 27, 2009 2:32 p.m.
Hat Trick
"Honey, do these genes make my butt look phat?"— February 27, 2009 1:03 p.m.
San Diego City Employees pension fund ailing
Agreed. Arts are a better investment than sports. Yet at the moment, San Diego can scarcely afford either. Wouldn't you give up the opera subsidies if the city stopped giving away over $5 million to the Chargers and over $11 million to the Padres, year after depressing year? As you say, Don, it's about opportunity costs. By squandering our money on sports, we've given up the opportunity to invest it in something useful. I still say the unions could do the city a favor, and go after the criminals like John Moores who robbed San Diego blind. There's half a billion dollars waiting to be recovered, but the politicians are too cowardly to do it. The unions DID get shafted...because they colluded with Moores and Spanos and McGrory, vocally supporting the give aways. Now with Saathoff out and under indictment, the unions could regain the respect of the voters by demanding that the city sue to get its money back from these jerks.— February 27, 2009 11:48 a.m.
At Last, True Thai
Naomi, it's a shame you didn't cross the Mekong and spend some time in Laos. The larp there is far better than what you can find in Issan, as well as much cheaper. I love it when it's got mint leaves mixed in and hot as fire, washed down with the only beer worth drinking in SE Asia -- Beer Lao. The Lao people are more friendly, though less skilled in English than the Thai, and still suffer greatly under their corrupt and feudalistic government. That's what drives so many of them to seek a better life in Thailand, and leads them to be cruelly tricked into prostitution or worse. In the several months I was working in and around Vientiane I had two meals in Laos that were particularly memorable: 1. Ant soup. A special type of small red ants that feed on mango are added into a regular soup, giving it a wonderfully tangy taste...and floating dead ants on top. Weird, but good. 2. Fried field rat. You'd never want to eat a rodent that lives in water like the common rat, but field rats are just as healthy as rabbits (another type of field rodent). It was spitted on a stick and roasted over an open fire, then shared with the household -- everyone picking little bits off to go with the sticky rice. Quite surprisingly good. Now before anyone replies in disgust, you should know that when I gave some cheddar cheese to my Lao co-workers they politely accepted, put a small piece in their mouths and immediately spit it out as the most awful thing they'd ever tasted. When I told them how it's made, they turned white and vowed never to try that horrible and unhygienic stuff ever again. Thanks for your article, Naomi...it brings back memories.— February 27, 2009 11:05 a.m.