Free Republic

> OMG - what a great screen name!! and perhaps pertenant to this discusion? nvrmind

I picked the handle "Gerbil" back in the days when I was posting messages on various BBS and FIDOnet groups. I wanted something other than what seemed to be the typical choice of tough-sounding nicknames like "Doom Bringer", "World Destroyer", "Flaming Dragon", etc.

So I picked the name of a small furry desert rodent that many people keep as pets in a cage at home.

Little did I know then that I would be forever being asked if I was gay. Took me a while to figure it out...

The Screaming_Gerbil handle is because the image I had in mind was this cute furry little rodent screaming at the top of his little lungs...

Not that he's screaming because he's being inserted into some place dark and foreboding...

> The problem you had sir, was with you, not pornography.

I see this article as a warning to avoid porn, rather than a call for a War On Porn...

> Porn sir, is not the problem. The problem is your personal inability to separate fact from fiction and your own willingness to allow your weaknesses to run your life. Blaming the product for your inadequecies will not make you a better person.

It doesn't seem he is blaming porn as much as telling guys they would be better served to stay away from it...

> Many more people are quite capable of enjoying porn when and where it is appropriate with no undue effects.

When is that? When you are single and lonely or when your wife is no longer sexually attractive to you?

> Now, you will have to excuse me, Ron Jeremey, Rodney Moore, and a few girls just came over for some coffee.

Better be sure to carefully wash the coffee cups and teaspoons wearing latex gloves afterwards.

Landing Ship Dock

Well, all the Federal Intelligence and Law Enforcement agencies could not stop a group of foreign terrorists from hijacking four airliners at the same time and trying to fly them into buildings on American soil.

Apparently, it's much easier (and safer) to trace down law-abiding gun-owners (most of who are middle-aged white males with decent jobs and stable home addresses) who register their purchases and who aren't prepared to die in a Jihad when the Federal agents come knocking to take aay their now "illegal" gun. So that's the sort of stuff they prefer to do.

I think they have their priorities screwed up exactly 180 degrees - but I don't accept the explaination that most people have - that they're stupid.

They are certainly not that stupid (if they were actually as stupid as they appear to be, they would not be able to get any convictions in court)...

Let me explain:

Any terrorist activity that kills innocent Americans (mostly civilians and whatever police and government employees happen to be in the immediate area), while causing a terrible amout of fear and grief, is not going to bring our country down economically, politically or militaritly.

Now, a whole lot of armed citizens who might decide to get uppity one day is another matter...

That is, I believe, why they still have their sights set on the "Domestic Right Wing Extremist" as the source for the Antrax letters mailed to Congress...

They full well know that some Joe six-pack redneck militiaman did not fly to Europe to mail some of those letters - but they want to have a reason to concentrate on who they believe is their real long term threat.

They have the solutions to terrorism - and it's all about less freedom for (the illusion of) more security. More and better guns for all of them, less and finally no guns for the citizens that they say they are trying to "protect".

They certainly don't want a bunch of people who think they have a better idea on how to run a country breaking away from the U.S. one day down the road saying something like "Come to Free America" - our pilots and flight attendants are armed - and since everyone can carry a gun anywhere, you won't have to submit to the random government checkpoints and government-mandated full-body cavity searches over here...

That is why I think we'll see further instances of terrorism - sure, the latest Semtex-in-the-tennis-shoe trick didn't work, but sooner or later someone is going to release Smallpox (or Ebola, or something that spreads fast and is fatal) or detonate a dirty nuke (hot radioactive waste material packed inside a van loaded with dynamite or similar explosive).

I'd suggest having of having a minimum of a 2 week to 2 month supply of food, water, medicines, toliet paper, etc. stored on hand, at all times because there's nothing you can do in those instances except stay inside in the hope of not getting a dose of the bug or the radiation going around...

I believe that more incidents are going to happen again in the future, because "they" who are supossed to "protect" us apparently care more about keeping us from having guns than about preventing further terrorist incidents...

" ...is it me, or is the World inching to a climatic catastrophe?"

Nothing to see here... Just move on...

" Our religious leaders are the real problem... And worst of all, most of them commit the Unforgivable Sin. They blaspheme the Holy Spirit, calling God's most recent miracles 'satanic deceptions'.

I am curious - What do you mean by "God's most recent miracles" which are being called "satanic deceptions??

> If it turns into all out nuclear war Pakistan will be wiped off the face of the earth, and India will have its 1 billion plus population "problem" significantly reduced.

> Show some respect to human lives. That 1 billion plus population "problem" has someone's father, mother, sister, son, brother.... If some issue doesn't impact your life, it doesn't mean you have right to be rude.

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I agree. If it was the elites up at the top who run things who suffered and died, it would be one thing. But the wealthy and political elites will be the most well protected - it will be the poorest at the bottom who will suffer most in such a war.

And the ones left alive will be stuck with the cleanup.

I would guess that her male working at a well to do hotel in San Francisco is a gay male in the typical carefree homosexual sense.

I think the point about her gay friend was that he would have insight into things which the average (non-gay) male would not.

And I think the comment about the arab males being gay would be homosexual in the predatory (won't take no for an answer if you're a male who is young and cute) sense.

The thought that the Saudis, even in America, are above American law because we need them for our oil really bothers me.

The thought that they fund Al Queda, but are not going to be dealt with because we need them for the oil bothers me a lot more.

Answered my own question by tracing the link to the picture provided by hole_n_one:

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http://www.oprylandhotelnashville.com/

Radio City Rockettes

Join Gaylord Opryland's 'A Country Christmas'

Something spectacular is coming to Opryland this holiday season! Direct from New York, the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, starring the world-famous Rockettes will appear at the Grand Ole Opry House for the first time ever November 22-December 30 with 54 spectacular performances!

Most famous for their eye-high kicks and precision dancing, the Rockettes have strutted their way into the hearts of millions and continue to be a holiday tradition. The 90-minute live production has dazzling lighting, scenery and costumes as well as a cast and crew of nearly 100 members, including Santa Claus himself!

In addition to eye-popping contemporary scenes such as "Christmas in New York" and "Santa's Gonna Rock-n-Roll," the show features such family favorites as the legendary "Parade of the Wooden Soldiers" and the awe-inspiring "Living Nativity." Time Magazine calls the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, "One of the Grandest Holiday Traditions in the U.S."

Fifty-two presentations of The Radio City Christmas Spectacular are scheduled in the 4,400-seat Grand Ole Opry House from Nov. 22-Dec. 30, 2001. Tickets are available by calling 1-888-OPRY-872 or visiting Ticket Master at www.ticketmaster.com !

> Last night I had the pleasure of seeing the Rockettes Christmas show. It was wonderful but even more so with the final scene.

> They actually honored and acknowledged the birth of Christ as being part of Christmas. The final scene was a lovely story of the Nativity and the impact that Christ had on the world. Blew me away, in this pc world we live in. Good for them

> If anyone has a chance to see this show, don't miss it it's wonderful

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Sound like a good idea - Where is it?

Thanks for your advice...

That's what I was planning to do, but nice to hear it confirmed...

Thanks also for the prayers.

People have to change by themselves - there's been entirely too much preaching and believing in this Prosperity doctrine that no matter what our sins or what irresponsible behavior we may engage in, God will just dump blessings on us (just keep sending in those tithes folks, the Lord will reward you seven-fold)...

With the events of September 11th and the beginning of what looks to be a serious economic downturn, I think we're beginning to see the start of God's serious wake-up call - even perhaps Judgement - for America.

(I do not believe that God does evil things, more that he removes his protective hand from the nation and allows things to happen... Something like the Holy Spirit being greived and withdrawing, only on a national scale)...

I WILL stand firm for the sake of my wife (we have no children) and parents. I may have to get power of attorney over my parents so they can't give their Social Security away, possibly also Personal Protection Orders so my Brother and Sister(s) can't call up and bother my parents... Oh joy...

I guess I should mention that Bro and Sis have "problems" which make them impossible to live with...

I'm steeling myself for it - I may very well lose my Brother and Sister to jail or starving or freezing in the streets (younger Sis is married and may survive - just barely - after losing everything)...

But I've resigned myself to doing what I have to do...

If we are indeed seeing the beginning of bad times for America, I fear that what I feel may be my situation may be played out among many, many people...

I have a question for anyone...

Any advice to someone like me who has played their financial cards very conservatively, but will soon have family members who have been finacially irresponsible coming begging?

I have a brother and two sisters - who have financially sucked my mother and father dry. When they all go bankrupt and lose their house / apartment and don't have a place to live, what do I do when they come calling me / knocking on my door?

From: http://www.nbc-med.org/SiteContent/MedRef/OnlineRef/CaseStudies/csgoiania.html

Case Study: Accidental Leakage of Cesium-137 in Goiania, Brazil, in 1987

In September of 1987, scavengers dismantled a metal canister from a radiotherapy machine at an abandoned Cancer Clinic in Goiania, Brazil. Five days later a junkyard worker pried open the lead canister to reveal a pretty blue, glowing dust: radioactive cesium-137. In the following days, scores of Goianian citizens were exposed to the radioactive substance. In a nuclear disaster second only to Chernobyl, the city of Goiania had one of the largest radioactive leaks on its hands and for a few days, they knew nothing about it.

History

In the early 1980's, "three doctors had owned the private downtown [Cancer] clinic...when they left [in 1985], the doctors simply abandoned the radiotherapy machine and left the building to deteriorate without windows or doors."i Two years later, the canister containing cesium-137 was found by scavengers. Accounts differ as to who found the canister and how it was opened. However, once the canister was pried open releasing its radioactive contents, tragedy ensued.

Radiation Contamination Facts

Radiation destroys the most rapidly dividing cells of the body the cells of the skin, hair, gastrointestinal tract, and bone marrow. Because the bone marrow gives rise to the blood cells, including those of the immune system and the platelets that staunch bleeding, radiation victims are susceptible to infections and hemorrhaging.

Cesium Facts

Naturally occurring cesium is entirely the nonradioactive isotope, cesium-133 Cesium-137 is useful in medical and industrial radiology because of its long half-life of 30 years...

When cesium comes into contact with plants and animals, it is absorbed into system by replacing potassium.

Goiania Facts

Goiania, city, capital of Goias estado (state), south-central Brazil. (1980) 702,858.

Case

Sometime around September 21, 1987, a lead canister containing 1400 curies of cesium-137 was opened launching the second largest nuclear accident after Chernobyl. The cesium from within the canister was a "luminous blue powder" which both children and adults rubbed on their bodies. Six year old Leide das Neves Ferreira "rubbed the powder on her body so that she glowed and sparkled." She later ate a sandwich tainted with cesium powder from her hands; "she reportedly received five to six times the lethal dose [of radiation] for adults." The cesium was later parceled out to friends and family, spreading the contamination from the junkyard to homes around the city, although mainly contained within a localized area. The radioactive substance continued to contaminate the population for a week before Devair Ferreira finally reported to health authorities.

On September 28, "Devair Ferreira went to the Goiania public clinic where a health care worker correctly diagnosed radiation illness and alerted authorities."ii When the Brazilian Nuclear Energy Commission dispatched a team equipped to handle a radiation accident they found:

244 persons to be contaminated, 54 seriously enough to be hospitalized for further tests or treatment. Thirty-four were treated and released. The next day the ten sickest patients...were airlifted to the Navy hospital, Dias, in Rio.

Upon realizing the severity of the accident, the Brazilian government requested help from the International Atomic Energy Commission (IAEC) which sent a team of doctors.

The medical team found the 20 most seriously irradiated victims had received doses ranging from 100 to 800 rads... Nineteen of the 20 had radiation-induced skin burns, from minor to major. And all 20 patients were internally contaminated, which meant that they were being continually irradiated from the cesium that they had inhaled or accidentally ingested. The patients themselves were radioactive.

Because the patients themselves were radioactive:

...the first task was to attempt to rid their bodies of cesium. For this, they administered Prussian blue, an iron compound that bonds with cesium, aiding its excretion. The problem in this case was the substantial delay-at least a week-from initial exposure to treatment. By that time much of the cesium had moved from the bloodstream into the tissues, where it is far more difficult to remove...the patients were also treated with antibiotics as needed to combat infections and with cell infusions to prevent bleeding.

Between six and eight (according to different accounts) of the most adversely affected patients were treated with an experimental drug called "GM-CSF, or granulocyte-macrophange colony-stimulating factor...one of at least five hormones that boot the production of white blood cells in the [bone] marrow."iv While a debate sprang around the experimental treatment used:

...the doctors injected GM-CSF into each patients vena cava, the central vein that leads to the heart. Within 48 to 72 hours, the white blood cell count increased in five of the six patients...within a week, four of the six patients had dies, overwhelmed by pneumonia, blood poisoning and hemorrhaging.

Six year old, Leide Ferreira was among the four who did not make it.

As the rest of the city was being decontaminated "technicians ...checked more than 34,000 people with Geiger counters at the city's soccer stadium."i However, the National Commission on Nuclear Energy had:

...underestimated the severity of the problem. At least 42 of its technicians did not wear protective overalls, hoods, gloves or boots while carrying out decontamination. And no one remembered for several days to decontaminate the ambulances used to take victims from Rio de Janeiro's Santos Dumont airport to the city's naval hospital- one of only two facilities for treating radiation sickness.

Decontamination efforts were lackadaisical at times, despite the use helicopters equipped with radiation detectors to identify hot spots and the decontamination of items such as furniture and money.ii The accident contaminated homes, businesses and soil. What could not be decontaminated was collected or dismantled and placed in concrete lined drums for disposal as nuclear waste.

Conclusion

It is clear that the city of Goiania and the country of Brazil were ill-prepared for medical treatment of a nuclear disaster, as are many nations. The lack of regulation surrounding the use of nuclear materials in Brazil, by both national and international regulation committees, as well as the abandonment of the radiotherapy machine was an accident waiting to happen. The best protection one can have against a large-scale nuclear disaster happening is two-fold: better regulation and better preparation. The lack of adequate response time and materials greatly contributed to the number of casualties and fatalities. Although it took a few days to report the radioactive leakage, the cause is also twofold. Primarily, the canister should never have been left behind. Secondly, the general public had no idea that they were handling a radioactive substance. The lack of regulation of nuclear substances, whether for medical purposes or electricity, remains a major factor in the possibility of future nuclear accidents.

The city of Goiania now makes money off of its tourism business and it will be many years before the effects of the nuclear disaster of 1987 will be fully realized. The "incubation" period for increases in radiation fallout related Leukemia increases is 9-10 years. It is only in 1996, that we are seeing a significant enough rise in Leukemia cases in areas surrounding Chernobyl, that doctors are considering the possibility of a correlation between the nuclear accident and the rise in leukemia rates.

Although the Goiania accident happened barely a year after the Chernobyl accident, the people of Goiania were able to benefit from decontamination and medical treatment efforts used there. Studies and the monitoring of Chernobyl victims continues to provide the most indepth information on the long-term effects of radiation exposure.

Will this President Bush actually allow the military to go in and finish the job in Iraq (remove Saddam from power) this time?

This may explain the broad definition of terrorist in the Patriot Act and the creation of the office of Homeland Defense. They very well know that Civil War Two is coming and are getting ready to deal with it...

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Actually, the list of the states mirroring California both demographically, environmentally, economically and politically, goes like this...

...The Rest of the Country 2035...

Considering that our biggest states will go first, and in light of the mass competition the country will face over the next 20 years ranging from the Islamic Empires to the Chinese Hegemon, as well as the mass de-industrialization and imported impoverishment of the country, the Union will most likely shatter completely and/or the Constitution cease in substance if not in form no later than 2020.

Who is the threat from Within?

Some people (well, not people n this website, but think in terms of the Socialist Liberal Left Wing) would say "Right Wing Fundamentalist Christian Militia Types".

And therein lies the danger. The opinions of those who are going to be enforcing the law may differ from what you and I think the intended targets should be...

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If G. W. Bush is a great man--if he is Mount Rushmore material--he will dispatch America's external enemies forthwith--and then direct his attention to America's internal enemies.

This could well mean the revocation of the Patriot Bill and its provisions--as a starter.

The threat from within is a far greater danger to the United States, to liberty, and to the people of the world, than is the threat from without.

The war on terrorism is childs play compared to the real challenge--the threat from WITHIN.

Americans must insist that George W. Bush understand this.

And Americans must assure that George W. Bush rises to the real challenge.

I will be getting ten days off for Christmas and New Years, so could come down then (will be coming from Michigan).

What is the best way to get to Ground Zero (which freeways, exits, where to park, where to stay, etc.?

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Everyone, and I mean everyone should come down here, and stand at this place. Anyone with a soul will be changed. There is nothing to be said about it. One really "gets" the gravity, the reality of human suffering and barbarity, when seen, paritcipated in, just by being here. Don't worry about being from out of town, or from another country...

I'll respond to your comment #30:

"If Kim's prophesy of one person in every home coming to salvation doesn't happen by October 4th, 2002, are you going to stone her to death, as G-d's Scripture commands be done to false prophets?"

"Yes, I will, as soon as you guys stone to death, as required in the Old Testament, all adulterers and homosexuals that you know of.

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I really don't think that with the present laws in this country, the police would allow anyone to get away with stoning either false prophets or adulterers or homosexuals, etc.

However, if the more specific prophecy at the end of the message: "There will be at least one person in every home in the United States of America who will come to salvation in the next 12 months. That’s a promise of the Lord!" doesn't come to pass, I would take that as a sure sign that she is a false prophet.

Maybe not someone to be stoned (the present law in this country won't allow it), but certainly someone to be ignored.

False prophets, making predictictions that are suppossed to be from the Lord, just give non-Christians something to make fun of Christians about, and sow seeds of doubt among impressionable Christians who are not secure in their faith.

False prophets making false prophecies do an extreme disservice to the Lord.

From http://www.kimclement.com/words/oct2001/oct28pm_2001.htm:

"The United states of America shall see a Christmas like no other Christmas it has ever had. It will be a Christmas of great celebration. It will be a where every household in this nation, even if they’ve called themselves atheist, even if they’ve called themselves agnostic. It shall be the greatest Christmas. And there shall be more salvations and more deliverances this Christmas than has ever taken place in the history as Christmas as you know it today…. Why? Because this nation will rejoice because of the victory they have attained. And God says, I will make you wealthy because there will be a surrender of oil. There will be oil that will be given to you because agreements will take place, says the Lord. And I will cause there to be an economic revival that will begin next year and shall carry you through to the year 2005. NASDAQ, NASDAQ where are you? For God says, I shall raise you up. And you shall be victorious because this nation is mine says the Lord.”

Well, let's see if it happens...