Skateboard Hero Thwarts Quran Burning

Now it's news when someone DOESN'T burn a Quran/Koran. . .

Jacob Isom is a 23 year old Amarillo resident, and skateboarder.  He was skating along when he heard someone talking about torching a Quran.  Jacob grabbed away the holy book and told the would-be book burner, "Dude, you have no Quran!" before hashing away. 

This ought to be right up there with "Don't tase me, 'bro!"




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Poem: Indecision

By Jack Brummet

I'm not sure
If I am

Left or right,
East or west,

A "stakeholder,"
A helpless bystander,

A hostage,
Or, just the guest.
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Faces Drawing No. 187 - The Faculty Returns To Campus

Drawing by Jack Brummet - Click to enlarge

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Painting: Modern Bather

by Jack Brummet - Click to enlarge

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Alien Lore No. 181 - Grey caught on camera in Argentina?

[Thanks to Jeff Clinton for the link...]

According to Michael Cohen at allnewsweb.com, "UFO researchers have been taken by surprise by recent UFO/alien event that took place in South America."

On August 8th, a news crew was doing a live broadcast on TV in Santa Cruz, Argentina-- a "known alien hotspot," when a Grey appeared in the distance. 



The video was broadcast live on Argentina's Channel Two.  The Grey/EBE/alien is seen moving towards a woman being interviewed.

The crew and many viewers who recorded the broadcast say this was the same live film that streamed on TV and has not been edited or altered.

According to allnewsweb.com, "...Santa Cruz is a major UFO hot spot and this publication has reported many times on events in this area. Amazingly, last year staff at a local restaurant also saw and photographed what they thought was an alien watching them from a distance. These events suggest that a UFO base might exist somewhere in the area."
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Remembering the Vale Theatre (and the floods) in Kent, Washington

This is the theatre where I learned to love movies.  It was built in about 1946, roughly when this photograph was taken.  The only photo I could find was not snapped to show the theatre, but the annual flooding in the waterlogged valley where I grew up.

We went there most weekends. I remember that a ticket was thirty-five cents. It was not a first run theatre, but I remember seeing I Saw What You Did And I Know Who You Are, House of Wax, lots of bad comedy, The Thing, Gorgo, tons of Godzilla, Frankenstein, Three Stooges, The Birds, Night of the Living Dead, and many more.

 
When I was young, the Kent Valley flooded almost every winter...until the Howard Hanson dam was build far upstream on the Green River.  The dam was completed in about 1942.  Its completion led to the transformation of Kent from a fertile farming area to industrial use, and it eventually became one of the largest concentrations of warehouses in the world.  Historylink.org writes "the dam has changed South King County from flooded farmlands to a sea of warehouses, industrial plants, condominiums, and shopping centers."

The White River and the Green River flowed down from the mountains in the east into the valley and formed a confluence near downtown Auburn.  From there, the river traveled north and was met by the Black River (an outflow from Lake Washington that no longer exists) near Tukwila, where the combined rivers become the Duwamish River which flow into Elliott Bay in southwest Seattle.

As it turns out, the earthen dam was not built for the ages and has shown signs of deterioration.  Over the last few years, the Army Corps of Engineers has been frantically reinforcing the dam to prevent a breach and a King-Hell sudden flood of the valley.  My mom still lives there, and the last two winters were spent in a flood watch, and with the residents all buying flood insurance against the deluge they were assured would never happen again.

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Pablo Fanque and Mona Goldwater cancel the "2,000 Bible bonfire on a bed of American flag kindling" counterdemonstration after Dr. Terry Jones/Dove suspend their Quran burning party

They appear to be out of cell phone range at the moment, but Pablo and Mona left me a lengthy voice mail yesterday afternoon from "somewhere near Memphis," where they had just learned that the Quran burning in Gainesville, FLA had been cancelled. They had clearly been "celebrating" their apparent triumph.

You may remember that early in the week, Pablo loaded up a pickup with 2,000 Bibles, and fifty American flags ("for kindling") and began barreling toward Florida to mount a serious, and quite possibly, dangerous confrontation.

"a counteroffensive against the crackers, ass-clowns, and pinheads who are about to torch a stack of Qurans." - Pablo Fanque (All This Is That National Affairs Editor)

Pablo and Mona

Midway through the voicemail, Mona Goldwater took the phone and told me, slurring even more than Fanque, that they were drinking at a rest stop just outside of Memphis, and giving away their large stock of Bibles and American Flags to surprised fellow travellers.  "We'll sleep here overnight and get back on the road to Seattle at first light.  We did it! I mean, I get that it wasn't us alone, but I don't think even that publicity-whore Terry Jones wanted to see our Quran and American flag bonfire."

Two articles from earlier in the week on the Fanque/Goldwater road trip and demonstration:

Pablo Fanque, Mona Goldwater, and company on the road to "Burn a Koran Day" at Dove World Outreach Center in FLA


I plan to light up 2,000 Bibles on a bed of 50 American Flags in Florida on September 11th

"Dr." Terry Jones.  Bookburner

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Painting: Balance of Power

Painting by Jack Brummet - Balance of Power (click to enlarge)

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Pablo Fanque, Mona Goldwater, and company on the road to "Burn a Koran Day" at Dove World Outreach Center in FLA

By Pablo Fanque
All This Is That National Affairs Editor


Update from the flyover states.  Yes, we're on the road to Gainesville, FLA, as we mentioned, with a cargo of 2,000 Bibles, 50 American flags, and a gallon of kerosense.  As we mentioned here yesterday, we are heading to Gainesville, to the Dove World Outreach Center, where we perform a kerosene and Bourbon-fueled counter-demonstration during Dr. Terry Jones' planned "Burn a Koran Day" festivities. 

We made good time.  This morning we are Little Big Horn, and stopped to stretch at the battlefield where General Custer met his end.  900 miles down, and 2,000 to go to hit Gainesville!

We were stopped by the police just outside of Billings, Montana.  We had a burned out tail-light.  The state patrolman took an unusual interest in the bed of the pickup truck, raised the tarp, and saw the Bibles.

"What are these for?"

"We're going to give them away in Florida."

"Why would you do that," the trooper asked, "Isn't that a long way to go to hand out Bibles?"

"Officer, there isn't a law against interetstate transportation of Bibles, is there?"

"Get out of here, and get that light fixed at the next stop."

Today we hope to make it as far as Paducah, Kentucky.  Bourbon Country.

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I plan to light up 2,000 Bibles on a bed of 50 American Flags in Florida on September 11th

By Pablo Fanque
National Affairs Editor

I don't know, maybe it doesn't make much sense, but I plan to drive this afternoon to Florida in a pickup with a case of bourbon, a jar of criss-cross methamphetamines, 2,000 Bibles, 50 American flags, a gallon of kerosene, and as many of you as I can convince to go with me. As Preacher Jones ignites his Qurans, I will light up 2,000 Bibles on a bed of 50 kerosene-soaked American Flags.  I would prefer not to.  I never feel like burning things accomplishes much--draft cards, police cars, bras, flags, effigies. . .all it ever seems to really accomplish is to incite people.  Granted, people sometimes need to be incited, but not now, not this time, or about this "cause."

As Woody Allen once said apropos the First Amendment, "I think you should defend to the death their right to march, and then go down and meet them with baseball bats."

My message to The Rev. and his possibly millions of short-term and fair-weather friends is:  if you don't torch yours, I won't ignite mine.  If you do burn the Qurans, I have no compunction about lighting up the Bibles and flags.  If you go through with it, I feel like this  counterstrike, or ballast may at least let our brothers and sisters know that we too felt this was the misguided action of a misanthropic few.   Maybe this makes no sense at all, but I hope it may be some kind of balm for the outrage Dr. Jones and the laughably named Dove World Outreach Center provoke. 

Sorry Muslims...part of this democracy thing is allowing even deranged hatemongers to practice free speech; the first amendment is inviolable, but please don't confuse the Quran Burners and Tea Baggers (it would be interesting to see a Venn Diagram of the overlaps of these two groups) with real Americans.
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The bookburner "Reverend" Terry Jones' war on Islam

By Dr. Jack Brummet (PhD, Theology, Universal Life Church)
Ethics and Social Mores Editor

Research and fact checking by Pablo Fanque
National Affairs Editor

Until last week, really, Pastor Terry Jones ministered in much-deserved obscurity. A week later, he is talked about by General Petraeus and President Obama, and implored to abandon this senseless act.  Dove World Outreach Center, and the dingbat behind Burn A Quran Day have become front page in the old media, and fodder for thousands of blogs and websites.  Jones'  Dove World church numbers about 50 people.   If you want to read about the "reasoning" behind all of this, read the Doctor's own diatribe, Ten Reasons To Burn a Koran."

Jones calls himself "Doctor," which may or may not be true.  Jones says in a deposition that he received an honorary doctorate of theology degree from the California Graduate School of Theology  in 1983 (not unlike the degree I received in the mid 90's). The school is not unaccredited, and, so far, no one has confirmed whether or not Jones was actually awarded an honorary degree.

CBS News procured a transcript from a recent court case that shows Jones actually knows close to nothing about his incendiary cause. In a deposition, Jones described how he and his wife learned what they know about Sharia Law (the sacred laws of the Muslim religion)  by--get this!--watching YouTube videos.

Jones was asked "Do you know where Sharia law came from?"

"Not really, no," he said, "I think there's experts that say it came from the old Mosaic law. But no."


The lawyers asked Jones how many Muslims he knows. 


"I don't think I know any personally," he said, "I haven't interviewed any." 

Jones also said that he has not attended any interfaith discussions.  In fact, he said that he believes that such discussions are part of "our problem."

When asked why his church has shrunk dramatically in size, Dr. Jones hit it right on the head:

"I think mainly just because the things we're involved in are just really way too hot for your normal Christian and your normal person."

A normal person would steer clear of the Quran burnings.  We agree on that.

In a statement last week, General David Petraeus--US commander of the Afghan war--expressed concern that the planned burning of the Koran would be a propaganda coup for Islamic extremists and would ineluctably lead to further violence against Americans overseas.

Dr. Jones said he had given "serious" consideration to the concerns expressed by US commander General Petraeus over his plans to burn the Koran, but he remained adamant the event would proceed anyway. 

I've always been proud of being a Jones (I'm 50%).  And now this ass-clown has besmirched that great name.  Can he really believe his own drivel?  Is he trying to pump up his church's membership. . .or is he, perhaps, angling for a shot at Dancing With The Stars?

Burning books?  Burning Bibles and sacred scriptures?  Terry Jones seems more bent on emulating Adolph Hitler than on sending a message to the Muslim world.  It's popular among evangelicals to ask "What Would Jesus Do?"  One thing I think we all know is-- Jesus. Would. Not. Do. This.

Pablo Fanque, our national affairs editor has another take on this, which I believe he will be posting shortly...
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digital art: four slices

by Jack Brummet - click to enlarge

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