The Atheist Mama

Ok, I admit it. I totally forgot about the last FWJ. I would have forgotten this week but we have a submission!!

This one is coming from Living the Scientific Life (Scientist, Interrupted). I think this is the first time I’ve visited this blog. It’s great (as are most of the blogs over at ScienceBlogs.

GrrlScientist writes a great piece entitled Audubon’s Aviary. She talks about her trip to the New York City Historical Society and the John James Audubon Exibition. Beautiful pictures, and great details on the paintings that really caught her eye!

Of course, next we have Girl Friday - #8: This Just In - War STILL On!. Jennie talks about her thoughts on the war in Iraq and how it is affecting wives, mothers, sisters, daughters and everyone else who is being touched by the conflict.

Jennie’s post on Iraq brings me to my own thoughts on Democracy. While listening to NPR this morning, I heard a man say that the exporting of democracy is undemocratic. Democracy is a government by the people. How is this something tha can be given to one country by another?? Isn’t this something that a country needs to accomplish on their own? Just a few thoughts on the subject…

I’ve been thinking of this a lot in the last few days, because of the past few posts and comments. So, what is tolerance?? I mean, I know what it is, but I decided to look it up and see what the dictionary had to say.

>tol·er·ance
n.

> 1. The capacity for or the practice of recognizing and respecting the beliefs or practices of others.

The above is just one of the definitions, and the one that is relevant to this post.

Tolerance is what is expected from people in today’s world. Once upon a time, that was certainly not the case.
Today, to be intolerant is to be bigoted, narrow-minded and hateful.

So where does one draw the line? Who decides what is to be tolerated? Isn’t the intolerance of one groups views, no matter what those beliefs are, being intolerant?

Right now in Ohio, DeWine is backing a Constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. Isn’t that intolerant? Of course it is. DeWine is a Roman Catholic, by the way. Being from a Catholic family myself, I know that the general beliefs of Catholics are anti-gay. They do no tolerate homosexuality. They also do not tolerate abortion, divorce, masterbation, pre-marital sex, etc. So why should I, as an atheist, tolerate their beliefs?

Evangelicals are intolerant of science, in my opinion. It is the tolerance of this that will damage our schools and ultimately the education of our children.

Does it all come down to morality? But then what is moral? What isn’t moral? In my opinion, morality is relative. What is considered moral to someone in, well, lets just say Iraq, isn’t at all moral here in the United States. But do we tolerate them? Do we tolerate acts that we consider crimes? Wouldn’t that be the PC thing to do?

Obviously, I don’t know the answers to a lot of these quesitons. This post is basically me, brainstorming. I’m very open to input and thoughts.

Actually, 2 of the more recent posts. The ones that I am talking about are here and here.

Let me share my thoughts and beliefs with you in regards to religion.

It is my belief that religion is nothing but a means for one group of human beings to control another group of human beings. I believe that this world would be much better off with out religion and the belief in a god, by anyone. Religion is no longer necessary in our world, and I think that it should be phased out. I don’t think that human beings need religion in their lives. Period.

Now, I get that now all atheists agree with me. You don’t have to! There are plenty of pro-life atheists out there. There are strong atheists, weak atheists, apathetic atheists, positive atheists, humanists, brights, agnostic - the list of names for people who don’t believe in god goes on and on.

In a comment in one of the previous posts was this:

>We will never improve our image as atheists and agnostics as long as some of us make such illogical and intolerant statements.

I understand what you are saying, but I can’t be someone I’m not… I do believe that religion is the “root of all evil” (or at least one of them).

If this makes me illogical and intolerant, well then so be it I guess. Not all atheists are as accepting of religion being forced down our throats as others are.

:-) That is all.

I guess I have “writers block” lately. I’ve also been pretty busy. We set up another fish tank (this one is downstairs). The upstairs tank has all goldfish. They’re beautiful. We’ve got a Black Moor, a Calico Fantail, a Calico Oranda, and another bright orange fan tail. The goldfish tank is a 29 gallon.
Here’s a picture of it -

The one that we set up downstairs is just a 10 gallon, with a couple of cat fish and a tetra.

There is some excellent news about my 3 year old and his medication intake, if you’re interested! :-)

We’ve been planning out the details of our trip to Hawaii coming up in 45 days, 13 hours and 45 minutes (gotta love countdown clocks). We are going to Oahu, but my husband really wants to go to Volcanoes National Park, so we’re trying to come up with a plan to get to the Big Island for a day while we’re there. Wooo Hooo!!

I’m going to be taking belly dancing classes starting tomorrow night. LOL!! I took some classes back when I was 15 and I loved it, but stopped for some reason. I’ve always wanted to do it again, but haven’t until now. I’m pretty excited. Here is a video of the woman that I’ll be taking lessons from. She’s beautiful and really talented.

Anyway, that’s all I have to say. :-) Life has been busy and good lately. I’m sure I’ll be back to my normal religion-bashing posts soon.

Tom of Who Hijacked Our Country brought this bit of good news to my attention in his comment here.

>I read that the Oglala Sioux Reservations in South Dakota might be opening an abortion clinic on the reservation. It would be legal since they’re sovereign and exempt from some state and federal laws.

So I went on the info search and found that this was absolutely true!! Here’s an article that I found:

>Giago: Oglala Sioux president on state abortion law
Tuesday, March 21, 2006

>”When Governor Mike Rounds signed HB 1215 into law it effectively banned all abortions in the state with the exception that it did allow saving the mother’s life. There were, however, no exceptions for victims of rape or incest. His actions, and the comments of State Senators like Bill Napoli of Rapid City, SD, set of a maelstrom of protests within the state.

>Napoli suggested that if it was a case of “simple rape,â€� there should be no thoughts of ending a pregnancy. Letters by the hundreds appeared in local newspapers, mostly written by women, challenging Napoli’s description of rape as “simple.â€� He has yet to explain satisfactorily what he meant by “simple rape.â€�

>The President of the Oglala Sioux Tribe on the Pine Ridge Reservation, Cecilia Fire Thunder, was incensed. A former nurse and healthcare giver she was very angry that a state body made up mostly of white males, would make such a stupid law against women.

>“To me, it is now a question of sovereignty,â€� she said to me last week. “I will personally establish a Planned Parenthood clinic on my own land which is within the boundaries of the Pine Ridge Reservation where the State of South Dakota has absolutely no jurisdiction.â€�

>Strong words from a very strong lady. I hope Ms. Fire Thunder challenges Gov. Rounds and the state legislators on this law that is an affront to all independent women.”

I looked around a little more and found that Kathryn had posted information on sending donations to Pine Ridge Reservation for the possible building of a Planned Parenhood. I looked a little further (and I’m glad I did because I’m just about to drop a check in the mail) and I guess there is some debate over the situation (I didn’t read all of these comments).

Hopefully over the next few days the air will clear and we’ll find out what is going to happen.

I really hope that President Fire Thunder makes this happen. It would be a better alternative to coat hangers, that’s for sure.

A member of the local Humanist group that I belong to brought this one to my attention via the Yahoo! Group. Thanks Dan!

Evangelizing is a terrible thing. As ridiculous as this new “law” is, they wouldn’t have to do such a thing if there wasn’t an effort to spread Christianity.
As much as a Christian would want to deny it, Christianity is still leading to death, persecution and oppression. Go ahead - Explain how I’m wrong.

>Algeria bans Muslims from learning about Christianity
Algeria, Politics, 3/21/2006

>The Algerian parliament has approved a law banning the call to embrace other religions than Islam.

>This law states to jail anyone “trying to call on a Muslim to embrace another religion,” in remarks to the Christianizing (evangelize) campaigns taking place in the country.

>The Algerian Ummah council (Senate) approved this decision on Monday. This decision which was approved by the national people’s council ( parliament) on March 15th is an attempt to withstand the Christianizing campaign which had witnessed a notable activity recently especially in al-Qabayel area east of the country.

>The ratified law stated to sentence imprisonment for two to five years and a fee between 5 to 10 thousands EURO against “anyone urging or forcing or tempting, to convert a Muslim to another religion.”

>The same penalty applies to every person, manufacturer, store or circulate publications or audo-visual or other means aiming at destabilizing attachment to Islam.

>The law also bans practicing any religion “except Islam” “outside buildings allocated for that, and links specialized buildings aimed at practice of religion by a prior licensing.”

>One official at the ministry of religious affairs said that the aim of the law is basically to “ban religious activity, and secret religious campaigns.”

>The Christian community constitutes the largest religious minority in the country. This community accounts for the time being to less than 11,000 after it was hundreds of thousands before Algeria’s independence in 1962 including 110 priests and 170 monks distributed all over Algerian lands.

All religions have got to go.

In case you haven’t heard, Abdul Rahman of Afghanistan is on trial for converting to Christianity (read more here).

Yup, I’m talking about Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and even those radical Pagans have got to let it go (ok, someone once told me that there were Pagan extremists who would one day succeed in taking over the U.S. - she was Wiccan - LOL!). I only mentioned a handful of the dozens (hundreds?) of religions out there. To accept religion, is to condone this type of bullshit. To be a moderate believer, is also to condone and accept these types of acts. If you asked me 5 years ago if I would be intolerant of religion, I would have laughed. But I have to say that I totally agree with Sam Harris when he says, “[…] that the very ideal of religious tolerance—born of the notion that every human being should be free to believe whatever he wants about God—is one of the principal forces driving us toward the abyss.”

Isn’t it about time we let go of the fairy tales and got on with our lives??

‘Nuff said.

>It has been three years since the beginning of the war that marked the end of Iraq’s independence. Three years of occupation and bloodshed.

>Spring should be about renewal and rebirth. For Iraqis, spring has been about reliving painful memories and preparing for future disasters. In many ways, this year is like 2003 prior to the war when we were stocking up on fuel, water, food and first aid supplies and medications. We’re doing it again this year but now we don’t discuss what we’re stocking up for. Bombs and B-52’s are so much easier to face than other possibilities.

>I don’t think anyone imagined three years ago that things could be quite this bad today. The last few weeks have been ridden with tension. I’m so tired of it all- we’re all tired.

Go read the rest over at Baghdad Burning.

Here’s the article:

>Public Smoking Ban Starts Friday

>By Shawn McGinnis, KTLA News

>March 15, 2006, 6:22 PM PST

>CALABASAS — A first of its kind ban on smoking in all public places goes into effect Friday in Calabasas.

>The city’s anti-smoking measure promises to make Calabasas the first virtually smoke-free city in the country by banning smoking on sidewalks, bus stops, parks, outdoor businesses, restaurant patios and condominium common areas.

>Smoking will be allowed only in designated areas at shopping malls or at work.

>Last month, California air-quality regulators became the first in the country to declare secondhand smoke a toxic air pollutant. The Calabasas ordinance cites 52,000 non-smokers killed each year by secondhand smoke, including 3,000 from lung cancer.

>But not everyone agrees with the new law.

>It will be the responsibility of Calabasas business owners to enforce the ban in their establishments. Many of them say they plan to look the other way. However, members of the general public may report breaches of the law to authorities.

>Violators could be fined up to $500, while repeat offenders could face jail time.

Ok, let’s start with the most absurd part of this new ban -
“Violators could be fined up to $500, while repeat offenders could face jail time.”

Jail time?? Do they have nothing better to do in Calabasas, CA?

I’ve been a non-smoker for 129 weeks, 2 days, 9 hours, 30 minutes, 12 seconds (and counting…). I like to breath clean air just as much as the next non-smoker, but give me a break. Secondhand smoke is not the only pollutant in our air.

The smoking ban in the city that I live in (Gahanna, OH) just recently took effect (it was passed by a vote of 64-36 percent). I voted against it. I really think that it should be the business owners choice. I used to think that smoking bans were good, but I really don’t like the government telling a person how to run their establisment.

Smoking may be bad for your health, but it shouldn’t be criminalized. The government doesn’t need a say in every aspect of our lives.

So, in about an hour and a half, BlogMad will be open for public beta. Not only that, it’ll be double credits for a day (I’m guessing 24 hours). Excellent.
So check it out if you haven’t already. It’s pretty cool.

…because sometimes I have nothing better to do.

So this year, I’ll be celebrating the vernal equinox by cleaning up puke. My youngest isn’t even keeping down water this morning. When I went into their bedroom this morning, I was greeted with that horrible stench and I knew instantly how my day was going to go. At some point last night, one of them (we think it was the oldest one because he’s been puking randomly for about a week) had thrown up. But there was no crying last night, no asking for help, nothing. So they were both sleeping in it (just happened to be a night that they slept in the same bed) and it was dry by the time I walked in.

At least I got to get outside and work in the yard some yesterday. Here’s the list of plants that I see popping up - tulips, hyacinths and crocuses (of course), lemon balm, salvia, rudbeckia, hollyhocks, and some of the chives that I had planted last year are coming back. I think I even saw some chamomile. I cleaned all of the dead stuff up yesterday. When it’s warmer out I’ll get out there and turn the soil. I have some great compost from last year ready to add. I can’t wait. If you didn’t know, I’m a plant lover and a gardener (when I can take the heat). My blog will probably really slow down once spring fever really sets in.

I came pretty close to driving on out to DC yesterday to visit my mother and check out the “Die-In” that’s going on today at the Pentagon. I thought that it would be a pretty interesting experience. My mother had plans to go into DC today anyway and may be stopping by, so hopefully she’ll come home with pictures. I’m glad I didn’t decide to go though, with the kids sick like they are.

So, that’s all I have for today. Have a great day. Consider yourself lucky if it’s warm where you are today.

Today in Columbus, there was a peace march and a really at the State House.

(the pictures you see may or may not reflect my personal beliefs)

It started at Goodale Park in the Short North. It’s a beautiful park, and it was a beautiful day, minus the cold and the wind!!

I showed up at around noon and there were only a few there at this point. I stood around and talked to a couple of people and ended up meeting a really nice girl named Michelle (who may come by here - if you do, say hello!!) who is also an atheist (and a mom).

People started showing up at around 1 pm or so.

This last picture is of the girl Michelle that I followed all afternoon. :-)

This was quite an experience for me. It’s the first protest/march/rally I’ve been to (except for the 4th of July Hemp Coalition Rally back in ‘92… or ‘93… that was fun).

I’m not sure how many ended up showing. I’m really bad at estimates when it comes to crowds, but there were a lot of freaking people!

Bring the troops home NOW?? Well, I don’t know… I have to say that if we were to bring them all home tomorrow, I would fear the fallout. What would happen to the people of Iraq? What would happen to us? Oh man, if the world doesn’t hate the United States now… Can you imagine what they would think if we were to abandon what we did to those countries?

I don’t know. But I do think that an exit strategy is necessary. However, I don’t think that the exit strategy should necessarily be Iran.

Forgot to add:

When the rally started, the speakers were all from religious groups. That was kind of disappointing. All of these people (most were Christian, I think) talking about peace in Iraq and pulling our troops out. It was kind of strange and backwards. We walked away just about as soon as they started.

Here was my FAVORITE sign of all today -

From a comment by Gratis on the previous entry:

>I personally think that Iran has a certain right to invest in nuclear energy and the U.S. should quit trying to police the world with “rules” that they make up as they go along.

So what about it? Does Iran have a right to invest in nuclear energy?
I am personally a bit torn on that one, I suppose…

I was talking to my husband about it for his take. I would say that he’s a Libertarian Centrist, and we really line up when it comes to our take on a lot of issues. Not all, but most.

He asked me this: “If we don’t stop Iran from obtaining nukes, who will?”

Of course, my answer at first was - No one! Why shouldn’t they be allowed to have nukes?? We do. China does. Several other countries out there do. Why not Iran?

His take is that Iran’s government is a theocratic republic.
According to this, 89% are Shi’a Muslim (that’s one of the sects involved in all of the crap going on in Iraq right now).
The citizens of Iran aren’t allowed to leave (ok, we both don’t know much about this one but this is what we have been told by an Iranian defector).

His thought is Iran + Nukes = disaster.

I think he has a lot of good points. I hate the fact that the U.S. tries to dictate what other countries do, but the idea that one of the sects involved in the sectarian violence in the middle east having nukes is kind of scary. These people are killing each other - their own neighbors - over religion.

Do you disagree?

[Link]
Doesn’t this sound familiar?? I could swear that I heard the same thing… Oh about 3 years ago or so… Was it Iraq?? Oh, oh, I know. Al Queda. Well, who ever it was, I think I heard something like this right before we bombed the hell out of them.

The National Security Strategy is now out for us to read.
In case you were wondering, September 11, 2001 was mentioned once, and September 11 was mentioned 7 times in the document. 9/11 wasn’t mentioned at all. Yes, I counted.

And it begins:

>My Fellow Americans,

>America is at war. This is a wartime national security strategy required by the grave challenge we face – the rise of terrorism fueled by an aggressive ideology of hatred and murder, fully revealed to the American people on September 11, 2001. This strategy reflects our most solemn obligation: to protect the security of the American people.

Also, there’s this:

>We may face no greater challenge from a single country than from Iran. For almost 20 years, the Iranian regime hid many of its key nuclear efforts from the international community. Yet the regime continues to claim that it does not seek to develop nuclear weapons. The Iranian regime’s true intentions are clearly revealed by the regime’s refusal to negotiate in good faith; its refusal to come into compliance with its international obligations by providing the IAEA access to nuclear sites and resolving troubling questions; and the aggressive statements of its President calling for Israel to “be wiped off the face of the earth.â€� The United States has joined with our EU partners and Russia to pressure Iran to meet its international obligations and provide objective guarantees that its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes. This diplomatic effort must succeed if confrontation is to be avoided.

(emphasis mine)

I guess Iran is next. Watch out everyone! The United States is coming. Make sure that Bush likes what he sees.

I haven’t had all that much to talk about lately, but a few interesting things have happend recently that I thought I would write down.

Today I was picking Jesse up from school. Jeremy and I were walking down the hall (I was holding his hand) and he dropped to the floor and his elbow snapped. Nursemaid’s elbow - second time, and probably not the last.
So we were off to Children’s Hospital Urgent Care.

While I was checking in, Jesse was sitting in a chair playing with a puzzle. So I was keeping the corner of my eye on him while I was holding Jeremy and filling out the paperwork.
I begin to hear children getting upset and I turned to find a little girl taking the puzzle pieces from Jesse. He wasn’t happy and started to “panic” (it’s a state that he gets into when someone threatens to take his stuff). The little girls mother went and grabbed her and all was good. I continued the paperwork and then sat down.

Well, as I sit down, I realize that the woman is talking to the woman next to her about Jesse. “What a little brat. What the hell was that mother doing. I’m glad my child don’t act that way…”

Blah, blah, blah. So I look at her and make eye contact. I held her eyes until she looked away and then I hear her tell the other woman, “Did you see dat bitch lookin’ at me like she’s all dat? I’ll slap dat bitch silly n den I’ll stick that mutha fucka. Just bring your ass on over here. I’ll kick that bitch’s ass.”

At this point, I’m in disbelief. WTF?? I stare at her again, but she didn’t even look my way. So I just started to play with Jesse and the puzzle.

Minutes later, the nurse comes out to see Jeremy and then tells us that we’re going back to a room. She tells Jesse that she’s going to help him bring the puzzle back and Jesse starts to get a little nervous. He didn’t know what she was doing with his puzzle and was beginning to cry.

As we’re walking back, I pass the woman and she says to her daughter (who is in her lap the whole time and is about 2 1/2), “I’m glad you don’t act like dat. I’d slap your ass if you were a brat like dat…”

At this point, I turned around and walked right up to her. I told her that he was special needs, and besides that HE’S 3!!! She gets up and starts yelling at me and telling me that she’s going to kick my ass. She’s not even making eye contact with me. She is looking clear over my head behind me (ok, I’m 5′1″, and she’s probaby about 6′). So I turn around and look behind me and then look back at her. I asked her, “Are you talking to me?” She told me that she was and, “who the fuck do you think I’m talking to, bitch?”

Remember, we are in the Children’s Hospital waiting room.

So I told her that she was looking behind me and that if she had something to say to me that she should try looking me in the eye.

Well, at this point, she took her jacket off and was about to pound me into the ground. I turned around and walked away. Hey, I had my kids with me, I’m in the hospital, and besides, I had no interest in getting my ass beat. When I was safely behind all of the nurses, I asked them to call security. She was still yelling at me, and everyone in the waiting room was standing and watching.

All of this took about 45 seconds to take place. LOL! Security was there within about 30 seconds and she ended up being removed from the property.

Jeremy’s elbow was fixed easily and he’s all better now. But when it was time to leave, I was nervous. Children’s Hospital in Columbus is in a pretty bad area, unfortunately. So I asked if I could have security escort me and the kids to my car. It’s a good thing that I did because she was waiting outside of the hospital for me in a car!!! The guy had to go to her car and stop her from getting out.

Man, that was scary.

Ok, the other thing I wanted to post about is Myspace. Have you ever gone there? I’ve heard about it, but I have to admit, I’ve only heard stories of teenagers getting in trouble with their parents for things that they’ve had on their Myspace pages. That’s all I’ve known about it. But I’ve come across a blog or two once in a while so I registered so that I could have more access (access is limited unless you register). Well, little did I know that everyone has a space at Myspace. It’s a regular freaking high school reunion. I’ve already been in contact with 4 or 5 people that I haven’t talked to in about 10 years since last night. I’ve also learned that a few of my cousins are there too. Amazing… It’s pretty cool if you can ignore all of the teenage girls putting pictures up of themselves half naked.

I found this interesting… Check out the synonyms. I bolded a few that stood out to me.
>[Link]
Main Entry: faithless
Part of Speech: adjective
Definition: disloyal
Synonyms: agnostic, anti-Christian, capricious, changeable, changeful, cheater, deceitful, dishonest, double-crossing, double-dealing, doubting, dubious, false, fickle, fluctuating, inconstant, perfidious, recreant, skeptical, tip, traitorous, treacherous, two-faced, two-timing, unbelieving, unconverted, unfaithful, unloyal, unreliable, unstable, untrue, untrustworthy, untruthful, wavering, witch

Well, this is a sad loss for the show! I had no idea that Chef was a Scientologist!
Oh well. I guess he can give it, but he can’t take it.

>[Link]
>ISAAC HAYES is giving “South Park” the shaft.

>Hayes, the longtime voice of Chef, has quit “South Park,” saying he can no longer stomach its take on religion.

>We mean Scientology.

>We’re not sure what he means.

>Hayes, who has played the school cook in the animated Comedy Central satire since 1997, said in a statement yesterday that he feels a line has been crossed.

>”There is a place in this world for satire, but there is a time when satire ends and intolerance and bigotry towards religious beliefs of others begins,” the soul singer and Scientologist said.

>”Religious beliefs are sacred to people, and at all times should be respected and honored,” he continued. “As a civil-rights activist of the past 40 years, I cannot support a show that disrespects those beliefs and practices.”

>Hmmmm…

>Back in 1999, “South Park” was taken to task by the Catholic League for an episode in which the boys meet a priest who discusses resurrection, and Kyle, whose dad is having sexual dysfunction problems, hears “erection” and the next thing you know Cartman is being hung from a cross to see if, when he dies, he has one.

>There was no sound from Isaac Hayes.

>And after a 2003 episode that had fun at the expense of the Mormons? Hayes said nothing.

>All the Satan references? No word from Hayes.

>What about “Passion of the Jew,” “Christian Hard Rock” and “Red Hot Catholic Love”?

>Oh, Isaac. We can’t hear you, Isaac.

>”South Park” co-creator Matt Stone said yesterday, “This is 100 percent having to do with his faith of Scientology… . He has no problem - and he’s cashed plenty of checks - with our show making fun of Christians.”

>But last November, “South Park” targeted the Church of Scientology and its celebrity followers, including actors Tom Cruise and John Travolta, in a top-rated episode called “Trapped in the Closet.” In the episode, Stan, one of the show’s four mischievous fourth-graders, is hailed as a reluctant savior by Scientology leaders, while a cartoon Cruise locks himself in a closet and won’t come out.

>Stone said he and co-creatorTrey Parker “never heard a peep out of Isaac in any way until we did Scientology. He wants a different standard for religions other than his own, and to me, that is where intolerance and bigotry begin.”

Does anyone actually believe this today?

Back on February 27, River at Baghdad Burning wrote:

>I’m reading, and hearing, about the possibility of civil war. The possibility. Yet I’m sitting here wondering if this is actually what civil war is like. Has it become a reality?

On March 11, Deb Riechman from The Associated Press wrote:

>”There are some people trying to, obviously, foment sectarian violence — some have called it civil war — but it didn’t work,” Bush said.

Over at Watching the Watchers, Lee Russ wrote that “Bush [is] confident about Iraq civil war…which is why I’m not.” He links to another AP story:

>The feared resumption of mass sectarian violence erupted Sunday in a Baghdad Shiite slum when bombers blew apart two markets shortly before sundown, killing at least 44 people and wounding about 200.

The Daily Star out of Lebanon says:

>Meanwhile, U.S. President George W. Bush launched a new public relations campaign Monday to convince Americans that Iraq is not sliding out of control and into civil war three years after the U.S. invasion.

Then there’s the story this morning on CNN.com -

>Authorities said at least 86 bodies were found in the Iraqi capital during a 30-hour period ending midday Tuesday, sparking fears that sectarian reprisal killings are continuing at a grisly pace.

These are just a fraction of the stories coming out of Iraq right now.
Forgive my ignorance, but what qualifies as a civil war?
Is there a certain number of people who are supposed to be killed in a day before it’s officially called a civil war?
What will the U.S. do when they decide to call the constant murdering of people a civil war?

In an Op-Ed piece on The Boston Globe online, Gary Hart said:

>If sectarian violence escalates further, US troops must be withdrawn from patrol and confined to their barracks and garrisons. Mass transport must be mustered for rapid withdrawal of those troops from volatile cities in the explosive central region of Iraq. Intensive diplomatic efforts must be focused on preventing an Iraqi civil war from spreading to Iran, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Syria.

>[…]

>The United States lost one war not too long ago in Vietnam. Conditions are taking shape that could result in the same outcome in Iraq. Not to plan now for this apocalyptic possibility would be tantamount to criminal neglect on the part of our political and military leadership.

So what’s the problem here? Why is the MSM not telling us that Iraq is infact engaged in a Civil War?? It sure as hell looks like it to me. If I’m wrong, of I’ve missed the news, let me know.

The second FWJ will be this Friday (March 17).
We have no host yet (other than here) so if you’re interested, let me know and I’ll fill ya in.
Entries are due anytime before Friday!

Added:
Send them to fwjsubmissions_at_ theatheistmama _dot _ com