Piloting an AC-130 Spectre

On Thu, 11 Jan 2007 18:37:36 -0800, Christopher Campbell
wrote in
2007011118373677923-christophercampbelldeletethis@hotmailcom:

One other thing you might want to think about before mouthing off again
about those 'conservative Mormons' you hate

I have no hatred of Mormons. It is irrational belief that I oppose.

On 11 Jan 2007 19:59:21 -0800, "Marco Leon" wrote
in . com:

Wow Larry, it only took the very next post for you to take the thread
off-topic commenting on none of Jay's aviation-related questions.

It was Mr. Honeck who expressed an erroneous statement, and I sought
to correct it. Would you prefer to read inaccurate statements or
truth?

On Fri, 12 Jan 2007 04:26:21 GMT, Orval Fairbairn
wrote in
:

It seems to me that we "turned the other cheek" too many times in the
past: Lebanon, Khobar Towers, Mogadishu, the embassy bombings, the USS
Cole, etc.

Can there be too many times? Aggression only spawns more aggression.
Isn't that the wisdom behind Christ's words?

IMHO, you have to "turn the other cheek" only once. If he hits you
again, you flatten him, which is long overdue.

That's not a very enlightened attitude, IMO.

On Thu, 11 Jan 2007 18:21:17 -0800, Christopher Campbell
wrote in
2007011118211750878-christophercampbelldeletethis@hotmailcom:

First, let me say, that from reading your articles over the years, I
would characterize you _personally_ as a warm, gregarious,
intelligent, knowledgeable, individual. Certainly, as a flight
instructor, you have my sincere respect and admiration.

But when I see someone embracing irrational beliefs, it angers me,
because they blindly choose to deny reality, and that very denial of
rational thinking ENABLES those in power to commit unpardonable acts
against humanity, much as the irrational religious beliefs of the
Muslims are used to whip them into an irrational anti-American frenzy.

I would no more make fun of a man's underwear than I would a cross, a
crescent, or any other sacred symbol.

Perhaps it's time you examined your reticence. It may be considered
polite to overlook irrationality, but it only serves to support it. In
my opinion, it is more noble to embrace truth at the risk of censure,
than remain silent in an effort to escape ridicule. Irrational belief
is an INSULT to those who would embrace the truth.

I would consider that bigotry.

I characterize exposing irrational beliefs, regardless of where they
are found, as a service supported by the fact, that if the 'Decider'
hadn't been blinded by his irrational beliefs:

According to Abbas, immediately thereafter Bush said: "God told me
to strike at al Qaida and I struck them, and then he instructed me
to strike at Saddam, which I did, and now I am determined to solve
the problem in the Middle East. If you help me I will act, and if
not, the elections will come and I will have to focus on them."

Bush would have followed the enlightened teachings of his savior,
instead of using his faith and irrational beliefs to cause
reinforcement of negative world opinion toward the US at this critical
time in history. Our nation would today enjoy the world's public
support, instead of it's fear and distrust, if Bush had heeded the
WRITTEN words of Christ, and been capable of appreciating the futility
of this war, instead of listening to the irrational VOICES IN HIS
HEAD.

His misconceived policies have directly caused our nation to expend
over three billion dollars a week to wage his hopeless vendetta, so
that your children and their children will be paying for his fiasco
long after you are dead.

What is viewed by the world as the "war president's" global
expansionism, at the very time when our nation has been left as the
world's last remaining superpower, gives the appearance to the world
of a megalomaniac desire for world domination. Instead of fulfilling
the leadership role appropriate to a nation that possesses unlimited
power and respects the dignity of human life, our nation is being lead
down the same unenlightened path that has plagued our species since
time immemorial. The world's people find Bush's actions frightening,
and fear breeds hate, hate directed toward our once noble nation.

And now that Bush has gone and "kicked the tar baby", and caused our
great nation to become mired in the butchery occurring in Iraq, and
the injustice of suspending judicial due process, and condoning
torture, and spying on our nation's citizens without benefit of legal
warrant, and ..., I am FORCED TO SUPPORT HIS FAILED POLICY or risk
even worse consequences. I'm not willing to sit quietly by any
longer, for to do so is to condone the transgressions against the
noble, enlightened foundations upon which our nation is predicated.

We must reclaim our nation from the influences of corporate greed such
as that committed by Bush's buddy Lay, the crimes of congressional
corruption such as that typified by DeLay and Cunningham, and the
powerful influence of irrational religious belief wielded by perverted
shamans, or face inevitable decline.

I'm tired of seeing our nation run by people who support the hypocrisy
of preachers Haggard and Robertson, and Baker, and Fallwell, and
Swaggart . I'm appalled by the sex crimes committed against the
children of their parishioners permitted to occur for decades by
Catholic shamans. Much as the irrational religious beliefs of the
Muslims is used to whip the faithful into an irrational anti-American
frenzy in the name of those same type of irrational beliefs, the
irrational religious beliefs of the people of our nation are used to
control us. Religious hypocrisy is not only a blatant fact, it has a
long standing history. Isn't it time we shrugged off the VOODOO of
our cave welling ancestors, and embraced TRUTH AND RATIONAL THOUGHT?
Please.

RATIONAL, THINKING PEOPLE ARE VICTOMS OF THOSE WHO ARE ABLE TO WIELD
THEIR POWER UNJUSTLY AS A RESULT OF THE IRRATIONAL BELIEFS HELD BY THE
SHEEP WHO SURRENDER THEIR COMMON SENSE TO CHARLOTINS.

Being made a VICTOM OF IRRATIONAL THOUGHT angers me, and I'm willing
to suffer public ridicule resulting from speaking against the
political-correctness used to silence the truth, and expose the lies
of irrational thinking wherever they present themselves. Today I am
able to do that, unlike Galileo who was persecuted by the clergy for
the truth he discovered and unselfishly wished to share with the
world. It's time rationally thinking people had the courage denounce
the irrational thinkers in our midst and speak out publicly against
irrational thought.

You are a bigot who cannot face the truth about himself.

Why is it that religion is so quick to mislabel anyone who threatens
their power with some negative epitaph? Next you'll be calling me a
heathen and heretic for exposing the truth. Don't feel threatened by
the truth; find the courage to embrace it. In the long run, there is
no other real choice but truth.

I was hoping to get your attention, and point out the fact that many
people possess irrational views even today. And it seems you may be
one of them.

I am OUTRAGED by our president's using a foundation of deliberate
lies, much like religious leaders do, to plunge our nation into a
quagmire from which it will take decades to extricate ourselves. And
this is at the cost of the lives of brave citizens and the trillions
of dollars that could better be spent on constructive things like the
improvement of our nations pathetic educational system.

That is something that would truly benefit our country and the world,
and permit our nation to slip the shackles of ignorance, and
benevolently lead the way to world prosperity and justice in the 21st
century. But the public funds necessary to accomplish constructive
good have now been and are being SQUANDERED on useless destruction.
Destructive war is a travesty, and it only begets more war. Christ
delivered that truth ("turn the other cheek") to the world, but those
who claim to follow him haven't _yet_ learned that important lesson.

To see someone inaccurately defending Bush amounts to a distortion of
reality, and dishonesty rooted in the same sort of irrational
religiosity currently engaged in by 90% of our nation's citizens. Wake
up man. Face the truth. The MAGICAL THINKERS are in control of the
world, and they're causing pain and death wherever they spread their
irrational lies. Cast off the archaic dogma, and embrace objective,
rational thought. You don't need dogma. You're too bright for any
more of that tripe! You're an enlightened citizen of the 21st
century. Think!

It is the power of irrational belief to ENABLE CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR that
I seek to expose.

/rant-

"Larry Dighera" wrote in message


/rant-

As I said: Predictable.

--
John T
http://sage1solutions.com/blogs/TknoFlyer
Reduce spam. Use Sender Policy Framework: http://openspf.org
____________________

Larry Dighera wrote:
On Thu, 11 Jan 2007 12:29:52 -0600, "Montblack"
wrote in
:

Who'll play. Who's next? How 'bout you fella?


http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/...in609489.shtml

Army Recruits Video Gamers

America's Army has surpassed even the Pentagon's expectations. It's
now the number one online action game in the country. The Army hasn't
seen a recruiting tool this effective since "Be all that you can be."

But psychology professor Brad Bushman of the University of Michigan, a
critic of violent video games, complains "America's Army" isn't real
enough.

"War is not a game," he says.

"The video game does provide a sanitized view of violence," says
Bushman. "For example, when you shoot someone or when you are shot you
see a puff of blood; you don't see anyone suffering or writhing in
pain."


One interesting thing about this game was that no matter which side you
played on you were the "Good Guys" with the US uniform or weapons.

In article ,
Larry Dighera wrote:

On Fri, 12 Jan 2007 04:26:21 GMT, Orval Fairbairn
wrote in
:

It seems to me that we "turned the other cheek" too many times in the
past: Lebanon, Khobar Towers, Mogadishu, the embassy bombings, the USS
Cole, etc.

Can there be too many times? Aggression only spawns more aggression.
Isn't that the wisdom behind Christ's words?

IMHO, you have to "turn the other cheek" only once. If he hits you
again, you flatten him, which is long overdue.

That's not a very enlightened attitude, IMO.

I think that it is a very enlightened approach -- it assures survival to
promote further "enlightened attitudes."

J.C. never mentioned what you do after the other guy hits you again.

Some people and groups respect only superior force.

On Fri, 12 Jan 2007 04:31:53 -0800, Larry Dighera wrote
(in article ):

On Thu, 11 Jan 2007 18:21:17 -0800, Christopher Campbell
wrote in
2007011118211750878-christophercampbelldeletethis@hotmailcom:

First, let me say, that from reading your articles over the years, I
would characterize you _personally_ as a warm, gregarious,
intelligent, knowledgeable, individual. Certainly, as a flight
instructor, you have my sincere respect and admiration.

But when I see someone embracing irrational beliefs, it angers me,
because they blindly choose to deny reality, and that very denial of
rational thinking ENABLES those in power to commit unpardonable acts
against humanity, much as the irrational religious beliefs of the
Muslims are used to whip them into an irrational anti-American frenzy.

My beliefs are neither blind nor irrational. I have very strong reasons for
believing what I believe.

I might point out that such "rational" atheists as Stalin and Pol Pot managed
to do a pretty good job at genocide, too. Even Nietzsche knew that
rationalism, as he knew it, was a dead-end road. And look at the horrors that
such rationalism unleashed on the 20th century.

My church leaders are unlikely to tell me to kill anybody. In fact, when I
was in the mission field, I was strongly discouraged from expressing any
political opinions at all. No one in the leadership of the Church has
expressed much in the way of political opinions in decades, except to say
that members should be involved in all the political parties of their
countries and should work for "just causes."

We are opposed to violence except in self defense or, if you are in the
military, then serving your nation as honorably as you can. As for the war in
Iraq and elsewhere, Church members freely express their opinion on whether
that war is for self defense or not. Some feel it is, others not. I am not
convinced that it is, for whatever that may be worth to you. We believe that
all violence and hatred are evil.

I am very sorry that you think I have a blind, irrational belief. But that
says a lot more about you and your beliefs than it does about mine. You have
crossed over a line by being personally insulting and mocking things I
consider sacred. That was not nice, nor was it rational, nor was it with open
eyes. I hope that someday you will find peace.

On Fri, 12 Jan 2007 16:10:33 GMT, Orval Fairbairn
wrote in
:

In article ,
Larry Dighera wrote:

On Fri, 12 Jan 2007 04:26:21 GMT, Orval Fairbairn
wrote in
:

It seems to me that we "turned the other cheek" too many times in the
past: Lebanon, Khobar Towers, Mogadishu, the embassy bombings, the USS
Cole, etc.

Can there be too many times? Aggression only spawns more aggression.
Isn't that the wisdom behind Christ's words?

IMHO, you have to "turn the other cheek" only once. If he hits you
again, you flatten him, which is long overdue.

That's not a very enlightened attitude, IMO.

I think that it is a very enlightened approach -- it assures survival to
promote further "enlightened attitudes."

J.C. never mentioned what you do after the other guy hits you again.

Some people and groups respect only superior force.

An alternative to combat must be found. The causes of Martin Luther
King and Gandhi prevailed without their resorting to barbarism. It
took _sacrifice_ and commitment to a noble ideal, but they would have
ultimately failed without the weight of public sentiment being brought
to bear in their behalf.

Isn't it time we outgrew our reprehensible past behavior, and learned
to walk fully upright?

If our species doesn't learn to respond passively to attack, the human
race is doomed to a life of war. Isn't that obvious?

On Thu, 11 Jan 2007 21:11:21 -0800, Montblack wrote
(in article ):

("Christopher Campbell wrote)
And above all, try taking a course on cultural tolerance.


I don't have a wife in this fight...
(Oh, come on. That's funny)

...but, it seems to me, not picking on you Mormie, people tend to turn the
volume up to 11 (immediately) when confronted. There is a distinct lack of
"proportionality"(?) going on these days - everywhere. "You diss'd my
shoes" - BANG!


You have not had people smearing your place of worship with human excrement,
breaking the windows and smashing thousands of dollars worth of AV equipment.
You have not had children come home crying from school because people told
them they had horns and tails. You have not received a failing grade in a
class because the teacher did not like 'Mormons.' You were not denied a PhD
and have your professor at Purdue tell you that you would never get a PhD or
any other graduate degree, no matter what you did, because of your religion.
You did not have your commanding officer in the military tell all of the
other men to stay away from you and tell you that he thought you were a
coward who would not fight because you were a 'Mormon.'

All of those things have happened to me or to my children.

One of my ancestors had her house burned down four times. She gave birth on a
sand bar in the middle of the Mississippi in the dead of winter with nothing
but a sheet to protect her because the governor of her state had ordered her
"exterminated," like an insect. Her brother was shot at Hahn's Mill, along
with 16 others, and 21 other unarmed men were wounded by mobs largely led by
so-called 'rationalists.'

Anther ancestor was beaten and forced to eat axle grease in the middle of
winter and left for dead. He never fully recovered and eventually did die. He
was saved only from immediate hanging by the leader of the mob, another
ancestor, incidentally.

No, Larry is a bigot. In my mind he is no different nor more enlightened than
any of these other people.

Bigoted? Hate?

How about silly and confused? That might show some tolerance for Larry's
...culture. I don't even want to know. g

http://www.exmormon.org/mormon/mormon013.htm
This is all new to me. This was the most "interesting" of the Google
returns.


Don't believe everything you read on the Internet. These people are just
strange. Some of them say things that make you wonder if they ever have had
any contact with the Church at all, like claiming to have been a "child
preacher," as one notable personality once did. The Church has no "child
preachers."


And to think, my entire elementary school had to eat fish sticks on Friday
because of us Catholic kids. Hehehe.


Actually, Iiked the fish sticks.

My plan for New Orleans - 2005:
Send in the National Guard?
Hell no. We're sending in the Mormons!
(It would halve cost 1/10th as much and gotten 10 times the results!)


Actually, they did. My own son recently was there on a volunteer work crew.


MontBlack and MontWhite :-) (-:
For the record: I am 100% in favor of polygamy ...and good luck to those
brave souls who try it.
(I call it: A Lawyer's Paradise)



No kidding. However, I could see certain advantages. More people bringing an
income into the household, more hands to take care of things, etc. My biggest
concern would be how long it would be before they figured out that they
didn't need me. :-)