So I went to the antiwar rally today...

[Happy Monkey]

So I didn't go to the evangelical rally yesterday...

[richlevy]

Originally Posted by Urbane Guerrilla

-- notes the reason nobody thinks of the P.I. as having been annexed: that plans for colonization and annexation were given some thought and both dropped.

From dictionary.com

A movement for self-government, supported by liberal groups in Spain, grew in Puerto Rico during the 1880s. Finally, in 1897, largely through the efforts of the Puerto Rican statesman Luis Muñoz Rivera , Spain signed a charter granting the island some autonomy. The new form of government had little chance to operate, however, for a few months later the Spanish-American War erupted. U.S. troops landed at Guánica on July 25, 1898, and occupied the island without much difficulty. By the Treaty of Paris (Dec. 10, 1898), which ended the war, Puerto Rico was ceded to the United States.

Puerto Rico and the United States
Puerto Rico remained under direct military rule until 1900, when the U.S. Congress passed the Foraker Act, setting up an administration with a U.S. governor, an upper legislative chamber appointed by the U.S. president, and an elected house of delegates; the U.S. Congress was given the right to review all legislation. Meanwhile, a movement for Puerto Rican independence gained strength as pressures to define the island's political status grew. In 1917 the Jones Act stipulated that Puerto Rico was a U.S. territory whose inhabitants were entitled to U.S. citizenship. The act provided for election of both houses of the Puerto Rican legislature, but the governor and other key officials were still to be appointed by the U.S. president, and the governor was empowered to veto any legislation.

During World War I, U.S. holdings in Puerto Rico increased, and the change to a one-crop economy was completed. The island's territorial status gave Puerto Rican sugar a ready market within U.S. tariff walls; however, large corporations encroached on land where foods had been raised for subsistence, thus causing social upheaval in the countryside and necessitating greater food imports. Absentee ownership and one-crop culture aggravated the ills of overpopulation. Sanitary and health improvements under the U.S. occupation further accelerated population growth. Many Puerto Ricans criticized the American regime for its menace to the Hispanic roots of Puerto Rican culture. Criticism intensified when the sugar market dropped in the 1930s and many workers, always near the edge of starvation, became even more desperate.

A 'free state' where a foreign state appoints a governor? That's called a colony, as in colonialism. The one-crop economy is what devestated Ireland during the potato famine. I'd say we were acting very much like the British.

[richlevy]

Originally Posted by Happy Monkey

So I didn't go to the evangelical rally yesterday...

They had an interview with Palau on NPR. It was very interesting. He doesn't sound like the 'hate your neighbor' evangelicals who seem to pop up on the news. They did make an interesting point in that large coporations were very happy to advertise as long as the event was not televised nationwide.

It sounded interesting.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Seems God watered down the rhetoric considerably.
They can't blame the weather on anyone other than him.

[BigV]

"I'm not discouraged. I'm perplexed that the Lord would allow this rain to come and despite all our prayers -- it's still coming," Palau, 70, said in a midafternoon phone interview from the Mall. "I do not doubt the goodness of God. When we get to heaven . . . we'll find out why this happened."

From the link...

I find this phrasing presumtious. The part about "...despite our prayers..." If one believes that God is actively involved in their life to the degree that He controls the weather and He has their best interests at heart, how can one justify the voice here: despite our prayers? What about the little old lady in the neighborhood who was praying for rain for her tomato plants? How does God handle competing prayers? Shouldn't the conclusion be "We prayed for the wrong thing." It has a distrustful posture to it.

I don't believe God sent the rain on their parade for or against their prayers. Nor do I believe he sent the earthquake in Pakistan, or the tsunami in Indonesia or the rain on my yardwork yesterday. I think this is an ace away from scrying, reading tea leaves and divination.

I don't think God picked up the Bat-phone and gave GWB his marching orders, either.

[richlevy]

Originally Posted by BigV

I don't believe God sent the rain on their parade for or against their prayers. Nor do I believe he sent the earthquake in Pakistan, or the tsunami in Indonesia or the rain on my yardwork yesterday. I think this is an ace away from scrying, reading tea leaves and divination.

Well, somebody should tell
this asshole .

Senator: God judging U.S. with disastrous hurricanes -
Alabama Republican cites culture of 'gambling, sin and wickedness'
An Alabama state senator says the reason why the Gulf Coast is suffering from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita is because God is judging Americans in that region for sinful behavior.

"New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast have always been known for gambling, sin and wickedness," wrote Sen. Hank Erwin, R-Montevallo, in a column, according to the Birmingham News. "It is the kind of behavior that ultimately brings the judgment of God."

Erwin said he was awed, but not surprised after surveying the damage to hard-hit regions including Gulfport and Biloxi, Miss., and the fishing town of Bayou La Batre on the Alabama coast.

"Warnings year after year by godly evangelists and preachers went unheeded. So why were we surprised when finally the hand of judgment fell?" he wrote. "Sadly, innocents suffered along with the guilty. Sin always brings suffering to good people as well as the bad."

"America has been moving away from God," continued the former talk-radio host and now a media consultant and senator. "We all need to embrace godliness and churchgoing and good, godly living, and we can get divine protection for that point.

"The Lord is sending appeals to us," he said. "As harsh as it may sound, those hurricanes do say that God is real, and we have to realize sin has consequences."

So if this guy gets hit by a car sometime in the future, does this mean I can declare it G-d's judgement and that he must have been a closet serial killer?

[xoxoxoBruce]

So if this guy gets hit by a car sometime in the future, does this mean I can declare it G-d's judgement and that he must have been a closet serial killer?

Serial killer? Certainly not. He's a politician which is sufficiant reason for any god to smite him.