14 Steps to Fascism

Fourteen Defining Characteristics Of Fascism - By Dr. Lawrence Britt Source Free Inquiry.com 5-28-3 Dr. Lawrence Britt has examined the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia) and several Latin American regimes. Britt found 14 defining characteristics common to each:

• 1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism - Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays. 
• 2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights - Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of "need." The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc. 
• 3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause - The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial , ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc. 
• 4. Supremacy of the Military - Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized. 
• 5. Rampant Sexism - The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Divorce, abortion and homosexuality are suppressed and the state is represented as the ultimate guardian of the family institution. 
• 6. Controlled Mass Media - Sometimes to media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common. 
• 7. Obsession with National Security - Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses. 
• 8. Religion and Government are Intertwined - Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government's policies or actions. 
• 9. Corporate Power is Protected - The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite. 
• 10. Labor Power is Suppressed - Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed. 
• 11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts - Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts and letters is openly attacked. 
• 12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment - Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations. 
• 13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption - Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders. 
• 14. Fraudulent Elections - Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.

Lies and forgeries

* At least 11 of the 27 New Testament books are forgeries.

* The New Testament books attributed to Jesus’ disciples could not have been written by them because they were illiterate.

* Many of the New Testament’s forgeries were manufactured by early Christian leaders trying to settle theological feuds.

religion.blogs.cnn.com

Happy 22nd

A Conversation With Harold Camping, Prophesier of Judgment Day


End of the world

Dumb and dumber

Boehner's Blather

“Speaker Boehner should focus on controlling the level of violence in his own state before tarnishing the image of border communities that remain among the safest places to live in America.  As his office asserts that Congress cannot consider reforming our broken immigration system until border violence is under control, the fact remains that the six largest cities in Ohio all have higher rates of violence and crime than every major city along the U.S.-Mexico border.  In fact, the Speaker's own district in Dayton, Ohio saw more homicides in 2009 and 2010 than Texas' four largest border cities combined, despite the fact that Dayton's population of 141,500 is only about one-tenth of the size by comparison.”
Reyes.house.gov

THE ORIGIN OF THE BIBLE

A few wandering families—poor, wretched, without education, art or power; descendants of those who had been enslaved for four hundred years; ignorant as the inhabitants of Central Africa, had just escaped from their masters to the desert of Sinai. Their leader was Moses, a man who had been raised in the family of Pharaoh and had been taught the law and mythology of Egypt. For the purpose of controlling his followers he pretended that he was instructed and assisted by Jehovah, the God of these wanderers.

Robert Ingersoll

Born Again American

BornAgainAmerican.org

(Founded by Norman Lear)

Religious or Political?

USNews

Landover Baptist Church

"We are a Bible believing, Fundamentalist, Independent Baptist Church. We are 157,286 members strong. Our Church Campus is located in Freehold, Iowa and rests on 35 acres of some of the most beautiful country you'd ever care to set your eyes upon. Our church holds 28 paid pastors, 131 paid deacons, 412 full time staff members, LCA (Landover Christian Academy), LCU (Landover Christian University), 11 fully equipped chapels, Four 2,000 seat sanctuaries, Three 5,000 seat main sanctuaries, the world's largest Christian Mall, a Christian Amusement Park (Landover Bible Theme Park and Red Sea World), A PGA 18 Hole Golf Course, 3 Fitness Centers, 4 Olympic sized swimming pools, Landover Village, Landover Towers, Landover Retirement Community, Center For 2 Churches On Every City Block Foundation, Leviticus Landing (An Exclusive Gated Executive Christian Community for Platinum Tithers™), Exodus Acres (Gold Tithers' Gated Community), *27 Developments, Landover All Purpose Multi-Temple, Spa and Resort Center, Fire Department, 100,000 seat amphitheater, 12 Television studios, 2 radio stations, A Christian Circus Camp, Retreat Center for Republican Candidates, 3 Corporate Christian Office Parks, hot springs, 8 cemeteries, and 243 fully certified Christian police officers."

Landover Baptist Church

This is good.

This was at a Texas Tech Basketball game.

The two young ladies on the right are six years old. The two in the middle are seven and the one on the left is eight.

I miss this show.

The West Wing

Condition: Critical,

Referred from RocketBoom

Articles of Impeachment

Years too late:

ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT OF PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH

Also see:
Dick Cheney-Henry Wirz

JesusLand

(Jesus Proud, Is He?)

Increases in Debt

Impeach the Crooks

"As former representative Elizabeth Holtzman, who played a key role in the Nixon impeachment proceedings, wrote two years ago, "it wasn't until the most recent revelations that President Bush directed the wiretapping of hundreds, possibly thousands, of Americans, in violation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) -- and argued that, as Commander in Chief, he had the right in the interests of national security to override our country's laws -- that I felt the same sinking feeling in my stomach as I did during Watergate. . . . A President, any President, who maintains that he is above the law -- and repeatedly violates the law -- thereby commits high crimes and misdemeanors."

Nixon Was Bad. These Guys Are Worse

George McGovern

Corporate News

"...back three years to the early days of the war in Iraq, when the bombs intended to evoke "shock and awe" were descending on Baghdad. Most of the Western press had evacuated, but a small contingent remained to report on the crumbling Iraqi regime. In the New York offices of NBC News, one of my video stories was being screened. If it made it through the screening, it would be available for broadcast later that evening. Producer Geoff Stephens and I had done a phone interview with a reporter in Baghdad who was experiencing the bombing firsthand. We also had a series of still photos of life in the city. The only communication with Baghdad in those early days was by satellite phone. Still pictures were sent back over the few operating data links.

Our story arranged pictures of people coping with the bombing into a slide show, accompanied by the voice of Melinda Liu, a Newsweek reporter describing, over the phone, the harrowing experience of remaining in Baghdad. The outcome of the invasion was still in doubt. There was fear in the reporter's voice and on the faces of the people in the pictures. ...

At the conclusion of the screening, there were a few suggestions for tightening here and clarification there. Finally, an NBC/GE executive responsible for "standards" shook his head and wondered about the tone in the reporter's voice. "Doesn't it seem like she has a point of view here?" he asked.

There was silence in the screening room. It made me want to twitch, until I spoke up. I was on to something but uncertain I wasn't about to be handed my own head. "Point of view? What exactly do you mean by point of view?" I asked. "That war is bad? Is that the point of view that you are detecting here?"

John Hockenberry is no longer at NBC. He's at MIT.


"You Don't Understand Our Audience"

God List

Or just make up your own

"We have more Gods than you can shake a stick at. Godchecker's Mythology Encyclopedia currently features over 2,850 deities.

Browse the pantheons of the world, explore ancient myths, and discover Gods of everything from Fertility to Fluff with the fully searchable Holy Database Of All Known Gods."

GodChecker

Heil George

"From Hitler to Pinochet and beyond, history shows there are certain steps that any would-be dictator must take to destroy constitutional freedoms. And, argues Naomi Wolf, George Bush and his administration seem to be taking them all"

Fascist America, in 10 easy steps

B-U-S-H Bush

Besides never wanting to take a class from this woman, watch the dunce:

No Better than Scientology

You may laugh at Pentecostals, Mormons, and Tom Cruise, but what about Catholics?



1. Stigmata
2. The Cilice
3. The Flagrum
4. Confraternities of the Cord
5. Relics
6. Indulgences
7. The Real Presence
8. Exorcism
9. Papal Infallibility
10. The Scapular



Top 10 Bizarre Aspects of Catholicism

The Emperor Hates dissent

From Forbes magazine, hardly a left wing publication:

"One after another, the men and women who have stepped forward to report corruption in the massive effort to rebuild Iraq have been vilified, fired and demoted.

Or worse.

For daring to report illegal arms sales, Navy veteran Donald Vance says he was imprisoned by the American military in a security compound outside Baghdad and subjected to harsh interrogation methods.

There were times, huddled on the floor in solitary confinement with that head-banging music blaring dawn to dusk and interrogators yelling the same questions over and over, that Vance began to wish he had just kept his mouth shut."

Whistleblowers on Fraud Facing Penalties

Cheney tells the truth then

Lies now

Liars All

Twain the War

Part one


Part two

War Film

"It was believed afterward that the man was a lunatic, because there was no sense in what he said."

The whole prayer

They are all cults!

"Some extreme examples of destructive cults follow:

• In 1978, 914 followers of Jim Jones died in a mass murder/suicide in Jonestown, Guyana. 274 of the dead were children.
  
  
• On April 19, 1993, over 70 Branch Davidians, followers of David Koresh, died in a fire in Waco, Texas following a lengthy siege by United States federal law enforcement officials.
  
  
• In 1997, 39 followers of the Heaven's Gate cult died in a mass suicide. Male members of the cult underwent castration in preparation for the suicide
  
  
• Between 1995 and 1997 74 members of a cult called the Order of the Solar Temple died in mass murder/suicides.
  
  
• Aum Shinri Kyo murdered 12 subway passengers with sarin gas in a Tokyo subway. Over 5000 others sufferred injury. The group still operates and has over 7,000 members, though it has changed its name to "Aleph".

And the there are the even greater numbers murders and other atrocities carried out by Christians, Jews, and Muslims. Sameo, Sameo.


Cults

Dick Cheney – Henry Wirz

Which is which

"Convinced that the "war on terror" required "robust interrogations" of captured suspects, Dick Cheney pressed the Bush administration to carve out exceptions to the Geneva Conventions."

The Washington Post:
Angler: The Cheney Vice Presidency

November 10, 1865

The stockade commander of Andersonville Prison, Henry Wirz, was executed for mistreatment of prisoners of war. There are 12,884 graves at Andersonville.

The man did not look like the devil. William Marvel in his book Andersonville: The Last Depot describes Captain Wirz as "a stooped, frail fellow." Some said he had the demeanor of a rodent. His hair was dark, and he wore a full black beard. His hazel eyes betrayed the nervous energy within him. He tended not to wear his uniform coat, preferring a white linen shirt, white duck trousers and a gray army cap pulled down low over his brow. He never went anywhere without a sidearm, either a large, intimidating LeMat grape shot revolver or one of two Colt navy revolvers he owned. According to Marvel both of the Colts were "defective and would not fire."

Henry Wrz

Vets on the Street

"Perhaps the most surprising finding is the number of veterans who seem to be falling through the cracks. 18.7% of America’s homeless are veterans of war, and veterans are more than twice as likely to be homeless as those in the general population.

With 141,000 homeless veterans in America, there are more troops living on our own streets than serving in Iraq.

3000 new homeless in America

Scientology

** Panorama: Scientology and Me **

The battleground is You Tube and Scientology's weapon is a clip of Panorama reporter John Sweeney losing it.

Panorama: Scientology and Me

Falwell dies unsaved

He could have prayed

Bush Kills Again

In his haste to wipe out a generation, Bush sends troops into battle without training.

This from Editor & Publisher:

On February 9, the Savannah (Ga.) Morning News reported: "At least 143 soldiers joined Fort Stewart's 1st Brigade too late to participate in a final combat exercise before their units deployed to Iraq. Last week, one of those soldiers - Pvt. Matthew T. Zeimer, 18 - was the first from the brigade to be killed when he was hit by enemy fire in Ramadi, the stronghold of Iraq's Sunni insurgency.

"Zeimer arrived at Fort Stewart on Dec. 18 after basic training and deployed to Iraq just a few weeks later. He missed the brigade's intensive four-week mission rehearsal in October when more than 1,300 trainers and Iraqi role-players came to the post as part of the most realistic training program the Army offers for Iraq operations.

"The fact some of the brigade's 4,000 soldiers missed that training raises questions about how well the Army is preparing troops for war in the face of accelerated and repeat deployments."

Soldier In New Friendly Fire Case Did Not Get Full Training

Religion 101 Final Exam

You are the incarnated Son of the all-powerful and all-loving Creator of the universe. What would be a good way to demonstrate your compassion and power?

1. Cure cancer forever
   
2. Cause all the earth's deserts to bloom with food crops
   
3. Unite the world with a common language and an end to poverty
   
4. Conjure up a jug of wine and follow it up by walking on water

Since we can never "know" whether or not a God exists - it is fundamentally a matter of "faith" - it's best to be a believer since you have nothing to lose, but everything to lose if your disbelief is incorrect. Keeping in mind that the fate of your soul depends on the right choice, in which God should you place your belief? For extra credit, include a brief essay justifying your choice, along with the reasons why you reject the other three.

1. Zeus
   
2. Quetzalcoatl
   
3. Vishnu
   
4. The Holy Trinity

(*Note: The first choice assumes you were born around 400 A.D. or later, after the invention of the Trinity)

Religion 101 Final Examination

The American Destroyers

Quotes from the modern day Hitler Youth gang.

From Grandpa Bushy:

"I don't know that atheists should be considered citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God"

From the Queen of sleeze, Ann Colter:

"We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity. We weren't punctilious about locating and punishing only Hitler and his top officers. We carpet-bombed German cities; we killed civilians. That's war. And this is war."

"Not all Muslims may be terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslims."

"Being nice to people is, in fact, one of the incidental tenets of Christianity, as opposed to other religions whose tenets are more along the lines of 'kill everyone who doesn't smell bad and doesn't answer to the name Mohammed'"

The American Taliban

Bush kills over a half million

The 9/11 attack killed 2,973.

Bush has killed or maimed 655,000 Iraqi.

If it could be measured, which is the worst criminal?

Iraq Deaths

War has wiped out about 655,000 Iraqis or more than 500 people a day since the U.S.-led invasion, a new study reports.

Violence including gunfire and bombs caused the majority of deaths but thousands of people died from worsening health and environmental conditions directly related to the conflict that began in 2003, U.S. and Iraqi public health researchers said.

"Since March 2003, an additional 2.5 percent of Iraq's population have died above what would have occurred without conflict," according to the survey of Iraqi households, titled "The Human Cost of the War in Iraq."
The survey, being published online by British medical journal The Lancet, gives a far higher number of deaths in Iraq than other organizations

.

Guns Kill People

States With Higher Levels of Gun Ownership Have Higher Homicide Rates

"... states within the highest quartile of firearm prevalence had firearm homicide rates 114% higher than states within the lowest quartile of firearm prevalence. Overall homicide rates were 60% higher.

Harvard School of Public Health

Jesus Fake

"Who was the Son of the highest God, and the biggest healer in Antiquity? He healed the sick and even raised the dead. Hear and behold: former paralysed walked again, the blind could miraculously see again, and the deaf could listen and the mute speak after the Master's gentle touch! But he did not only heal the body, he also healed the soul. They called him Saviour and Redeemer, and he healed both rich and poor, men and women, young and old, slaves and free men, friends and enemies. In one occasion a paralysed man was brough to him in his bed, and took his bed and left walking after the Saviour had touched him. What was this Saviour's name?"

Asklepios

Original or Fake?

Christian Science is not

"Christian Science theology holds that one healing proves that Christian Science is a scientific system for healing all diseases. The church's healing claims encourage parents to take foolish risks with their children's lives. Furthermore, the church claims that legislators give Christian Scientists religious exemptions to child neglect laws because of these healings."

Children's Healthcare Is a Legal Duty (CHILD, Inc.) is a non-profit national membership organization established in 1983 to protect children from abusive religious and cultural practices, especially religion-based medical neglect. CHILD opposes religious exemptions from duties of care for children.

ChildrensHealthCare.org