On The Third Hand

06/06/06 is short for 06/06/2006. Ok? Calm down. Sigh.

Hat tip to DailyPundit.

History News Network has a good list of Danish imports you can find while grocery shopping. (Didn’t realize those Danish butter cookies were actually from Denmark - I’ll have to look into that one!)

[Update] Lego is a Danish company… (via MikkelA at LGF, who has another list).

At least not any time soon.

Outside the Beltway has the news and the roundup.

Don’t ask me about the Pope, I’m not Roman Catholic and I know just enough about it all to know that I don’t know enough to pontificate on the Pontiff.

Via BuzzMachine, we have The Pope Blog, which is following updates on The Pope’s health very closely. If you are at work with no radio or tv and want updates, this looks like a good one. Check out the Buzz Machine link too, he has a large roundup of links to coverage and background information.

[update] Pope John Paul II has died. Requiescant in pace. (Thanks to MB for the comment. I was away from news and computer till just now. Hadn’t even turned on the radio yet.)

As the Philippines starts it’s annual celebration of Holy Week the population propagandists have taken the opportunity to spread a little “fertilizer” around the countryside. Human Life International (HLI), a pro-life group, have been holding a series of forums in country. Brian Clowes, research director of HLI, has used the opportunity to be critical of the Philippines efforts at population control. Not surprisingly, it’s all an evil plot cooked up by the United States. The evidence he cites is, to say the least, suspect:

He said the “Ligtas Buntis” program and the pending House Bill 3773, or the Responsible Parenthood and Population Management Act of 2005, can trace their roots back to the US National Security Memorandum 200 (NSM 200) issued by Henry Kissinger in early 1970, only declassified in the early 1990s, which stated that the “depopulation” of Third World countries should be the highest US foreign policy.

“What the document says is that the US needs a widespread access to lesser developed countries which could be jeopardized by a large population,” he said during the debunking the overpopulation myth forum at San Pedro Hospital yesterday.

As further “evidence” he says HB 3773 is not a Filipino bill because “reproductive health is mentioned 55 times and family planning 17 times, where are the Filipino values? Here, God was not mentioned at all.” I won’t waste time with this last statement except to say here, here and here are examples of God’s “terrestrial representitives” as they go about their business and the effect it has had on Philippine society.

Back to the 30 year old Memorandum 200 for a moment. Can anything be more absurd than dredging up this historical document as evidence for anything? The US has elected 7 presidents and 8 vice presidents since 1970, starting with Richard Nixon in 1969. Due to world events US foreign policy has had countless priorities in the last three decades yet Mr. Clowes wants the Filipino people to believe those set forth 35 years ago are still in effect - sadly, due to the pervasive nature of the Catholic Church here and some anti-US sentiment many will. It’s also obvious Clowes has chosen to ignore, or doesn’t understand his own propaganda, (Or worse, knows and believes his audience is so stupid they will believe it). The fact is, if this memo was “declassified in the early 1990s” as he states, and I have no reason to believe otherwise, it serves as proof the document is no longer in effect.

Until recently Ligaya Acosta has been the regional program manager for the governments Ligtas Buntis program. She has taken a leave of absense from that job in protest of the program. She joined the [HLI] group in touring the country to educate the public about Ligtas Buntis and HB 3773. She is an even more skillful propagandist than Mr. Clowes:

The timing of the Ligtas Buntis, she said, is also suspect because the program was only relayed to them on the third week of January but was implemented immediately on February1.

“It was meant to catch the Church off-guard,” she said.

She said the Philippines, with its 84 million population, is not as overpopulated as what the government wants the public to believe. “We have only 255 people per square kilometer, that’s much lesser than Singapore with 7,223 people per square kilometer,” she said. She added that Hong Kong has more than 5,000 per square kilometer, Thailand has 625 per square kilometer and the density of South Korea is 433 people per square kilometer.

There’s that word again, “Church,” and they are “off-guard” now. That’s an ugly proposition, and also irrelavant to the subject at hand. What is relevant is her incredulous method of determining population density. How can anyone with a lick of common sense use Hong Kong and Singapore as examples? They both share a relatively small area and exceptionally high urbanization with little open spaces. In short, they are the best examples of a “concrete jungle.”

The Philippines, by most measurements, is rated in the top 25 of all Southwest and East Asian countires in population density, (The Vatican, BTW is listed at #6 of the world’s cities with over 2000 people per square kilometer. Can you say pass the condoms please? end of snarky comment - ed).

The Philippine land mass is approximately 300,00sq kilometers. Much of that is uninhabitable. Not in the “desert sense,” but in accessability and availiability of infrastructure. It is the 21^st century, yet in 2001 the Congress of the Philippines enacted and President Arroyo signed into law Republic Act No. 9136 (pdf file). Part of that law under Section 1. DECLARATION OF POLICY, sub-para a reads: “To ensure and accelerate the total electrification of the country.” Four years later it’s still an ongoing project.

Add to that roads, access to clean water and education, and various other services the government should provide to it’s citizens and can’t because population is growing faster than the above named moonbats are willing to admit, or believe. Considering the religious origins of Human Life International and it’s many adherents, I offer this, which should be easily recognizable:

“…And Attai begat Nathan, and Nathan begat Zabad, And Zabad begat Ephlal, and Ephlal begat Obed, And Obed begat Jehu, and Jehu begat Azariah, And Azariah begat Helez, and Helez begat Eleasah, And Eleasah begat Sisamai, and Sisamai begat Shallum, And Shallum begat Jakamiah, and Jakamiah begat Elishama…” - The Bible, Chronicles

Who begat fanatics, moonbats and propagandists who will propagate any lie, misrepresentation, or perversion of the truth.

Cross posted within the Cranial Cavity

Ah yes, Holy week in the Philippines. The week when the “true believing” Filipinos have annually conducted reenactments of Jesus Christ’s crucifixion where a penitent is nailed to a cross. Keep in mind these “reenactments” are as real as they come. Complete with real crosses, real nails, real blood and a whole lot of real nut cases.

Case in point, Ruben Enaje has been crucified 18 times as of 2004.

San Pedro Cutud is a town in Pampanga province in the Philippines, approximately 70 kilometers north of Manila. It is known for annual re-enactments of the crucifixion of Jesus. During Holy Week each year, thousands of penitents arrive in the area to watch and take part in a pageant commemorating the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus, including the Good Friday flagellation and crucifixion rituals.

And thousands of tourists, mostly from Europe, Japan and Korea. The moment tourists land at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), they head for the information desk and ask: “Where can we find a crucifixion?” according to a longtime employee of the Department of Tourism (DoT).

Thanks to an adoring media that annually highlight the events the crush of tourists has prompted the local Department of Health to issue warnings to those watching and taking part.

Health authorities have cautioned penitents against traditional – but risky – Holy Week activities, such as crucifixion and flagellation.

“From the health aspect, we do not encourage them,” said Dr. Luningning Villa, head of the Department of Health’s infectious disease unit. Penitents planning to have themselves crucified or whipped risk getting tetanus, an infection that could kill victims in a matter of hours, she said.

The health department official also warned people against jumping in rivers after they are crucified, in the belief that they would be cleansed of their sins.

“Just imagine all the infectious agents in a river, not to mention those present in the nails and whips,” Villa explained. “They’re at risk for secondary infection.”

If penitents insist on being crucified or whipped, they should get the whip or nails properly sterilized, she said.

Anyone that has spent time here needn’t stretch their imaginations too far to understand the correlation between the local rivers and “infectious agents.” In fact in some areas getting within 10 feet of waters edge you risk having an “agent” jumping out and attacking you. As for Ruben Enaje and the many like him, good luck, you’ll need it. After 18 crucifixions his hands are so crippled he is unable to work.

Wonder if God has given him workers compensation?

Cross posted within the Cranial Cavity

Pope labels democracy ‘godless’

The Pope published a new book yesterday strongly attacking the “negative” society of the West, calling it a godless “anti-Gospel and new totalitarianism” masquerading as democracy.

Entitled Memory and Identity: Conversations Between Millenniums, John Paul II’s fifth book, printed first in Italian, blames the moral permisiveness of the West for undermining society with divorce, free love, abortion, euthanasia, and genetic manipulation.

Seems like he’s pining for the ‘good old days’ of theocracy.

Hat tip, once again, to wits0.

Hatewatch Briefing 2005-02-18

Alan Keyes’ Daughter Coming Out

She has my sympathy.

Religious War: East and West at Belmont Club.

Jeff makes a good point here about the difference between co-belligerent and ally… even if he doesn’t call them that. Read the first comment in his update. The person making it makes an even stronger point, using the two terms. I consider myself his co-belligerent… but in no way would I consider myself his ally.

Adult language (potty-mouth) warning.