Westboro Baptist Church Membership List

The hackivist group Anonymous has been so kind as to leak the personal contact information of Westboro Church members.

#OPWestboro Membership List. updated October 22, 2012. Westboro Baptist Church 3701 SW 12th St Topeka, KS 66604 Phone: 785-273-0325 Email: wbclist@speakfree.net Email: info@phelpschartered.com Email: chockenbarger@cox.net http://www.godhatesfags.com/ Phelps Law Firm Phelps Chartered 1414 SW Topeka Boulevard Topeka, KS 66612 PO Box 1886 Topeka, KS 66601 Phone: 785-233-4162 Fax: 785-233-0766 Fax: 785-969-9017 Email: info@phelpschartered.com Email: slpr@cox.net Email: kjhoffice@speakfree.net http://www.phelpschartered.com/

— Abigail Phelps Lawyer Employee at SRS – Kansas Juvenile Justice Authority Born 1968 Daughter of Fred Waldron Phelps, Sr 3636 SW Churchill Topeka, KS 66604 Email: bgail@speakfree.net Home: 785-273-7262 work: 785-296-7709 — Barak Phelps-Davis Born ~ Mid-1980′s/Mid-1990′s Son of Rebekah Phelps-Davis — Benaiah Phelps Born ~ Mid-1980′s/Mid-1990′s Son of Timothy “Tim/Timmy” B. Phelps — Benjamin C. Phelps Born 1976 Son of Fred W. Phelps, Jr Wife of Mara Jones-Phelps 3632 SW Churchill Topeka, KS 66604 3636 SW Huntoon St Topeka, KS 66604 Email: idontreadthisemail@godhatesamerica.com Phone: 785-228-9239 Home: 785-233-4162 Phone: 785-228-9239 Phone: 785-273-0277 Phone: 785-273-1080 — Betty Joan Schurle-Phelps Lawyer at Phelps Chartered Born 1952 Wife of Fred W. Phelps, Jr 3600 SW Holly Lane Topeka, KS 66604 Phone: 785-273-0438 Home: 785-272-4135 Work: 785-296-3195 — Brent D. Roper-Phelps Human Resources Lawyer for NAIC Employee at Foot Locker Born 1963 Husband of Shirley Lynn Phelps-Roper 3640 SW Churchill Topeka, KS 66604 3636 SW Churchill Topeka, KS 66604 Phone: 785-273-0277 Phone: 785-273-7262 Phone: 785-273-1080 Phone: 785-273-3726 Home: 785-273-1445 Home: 785-273-0277 Home: 785-272-1619 Home: 785-273-0325 Home: 785-273-0325 Work: 785-233-4162 Work: 785-273-0068 — Carmen A Phelps Relative of Daniel F. Phelps 2621 SE Granger St Topeka, KS 66605 Phone: 785-267-5157 — Caleb Phelps Born ~ Mid-1980′s/Mid-1990′s Son of Timothy “Tim/Timmy” B. Phelps — Charles F. Hockenbarger Born 1974 Son of Karl D. Hockenbarger Husband of Rachel I. Phelps-Hockenbarger 1284 SW Hillsdale Topeka, KS 66604 3220 SW 17th St Topeka, KS 66604 Phone: 785-232-1570 Phone: 785-232-2485 Home: 785-271-1619 Work: 785-273-0325 — Charles William “Bill” Hockenbarger Member of Christian Identity Born 1953 Husband of Mary Hockenbarger 711 NW Page Topeka, KS 66617 3600 SW Holly Ln Topeka, KS 66604 Email: chockenbarger@cox.net Phone: 785-272-8569 Phone: 785-232-2485 Home: 785-246-1567 Work: 785-273-0325 Fax: 785-233-4162 — Chris Davis-Phelps Born 1955 Husband of Rebekah Phelps-Davis 1216 SW Cambridge Topeka, KS 66604 Phone: 785-272-7035 Home: 785-272-7741 — Daniel F. Phelps Born ~ Mid-1980′s/Mid-1990′s Son of Timothy “Tim/Timmy” B. Phelps 2621 SE Granger St Topeka, KS 66605 Phone: 785-267-5157 — Danielle Phelps Born ~ Mid-1980′s/Mid-1990′s Daughter of Timothy “Tim/Timmy” B. Phelps 3119 SW Randolph Ave #204 Topeka, KS 66611 Phone: 785-267-3253 — David Hockenbarger Born ~ Mid-1970′s/Mid-1980′s Son of Karl D. Hockenbarger — Davis R. Phelps Relative of Chris Davis-Phelps 1216 SW Cambridge Ave Topeka, KS 66604 Phone: 785-272-7741 Phone: 785-272-7035 — Deborah Kay Hockenbarger Born ~ Mid-1970′s/Mid-1980′s Wife of Karl D. Hockenbarger 1929 SW Lane Topeka, KS 66604 Home: 913-233-1848 Work: 785-296-3959 — Deborah Phelps-Davis Born ~ Mid-1980′s/Mid-1990′s Daughter of Rebekah Phelps-Davis — Elisha Phelps Born ~ Mid-1980′s/Mid-1990′s Daughter of Timothy “Tim/Timmy” B. Phelps — Elizabeth “Libby” Phelps Born ~ 1982-3-4 Daughter of Fred W. Phelps, Jr 2001 SW 2nd Street Topeka, KS 66606 Home: 785-234-9694 Work: 785-233-0822 — Elizabeth Marie Phelps Born 1962 Lawyer at Phelps Chartered Manager at Sheltered Living, Inc Daughter of Fred Waldron Phelps, Sr 2001 SW 2nd Street Topeka, KS 66606 Home: 785-234-9694 Work: 785-233-0822 — Fred W. Phelps, Jr Lawyer at Phelps Chartered Staff Attorney for Kansas Department of Corrections Born 1953 Son of Fred Waldron Phelps, Sr Wife of Betty Joan Schurle-Phelps 3600 SW Holly Lane Topeka, KS 66604 Email: fredjr@godhatesfags.com Phone: 785-273-0438 Home: 785-273-0529 Work: 785-296-3195 — Fred Waldron Phelps, Sr Founder of Westboro Baptist Church Pastor of Westboro Baptist Church Born 1929 Husband of Margerie “Margie” M. Simms Westboro Baptist Church 3791 SW 12th Street Topeka, KS 66604 Po Box 1886 Topeka, KS 66601 Email: wbclist@speakfree.net Email: info@phelpschartered.com Phone: 785-272-4135 Phone: 785-273-0325 Phone: 785-273-0338 Fax: 785-273-9228 — Gabriel Phelps-Roper Born ~ Mid-1970′s/Mid-1980′s Son of Shirley Lynn Phelps-Roper — George Stutzman Born ~ 1950′s/1960′s Fiance of Taylor Drain — Gideon Hockenbarger Born ~ Mid-1980′s/Mid-1990′s Son of Charles F. Hockenbarger Son of Rachel I. Phelps Hockenbarger — Grace Phelps-Roper Born ~ Mid-1970′s/Mid-1980′s Daughter of Shirley Lynn Phelps-Roper — Hezekiah Phelps Born ~ Mid-1980′s/Mid-1990′s Son of Timothy “Tim/Timmy” B. Phelps — Isaiah Phelps-Roper Born ~ Mid-1970′s/Mid-1980′s Son of Shirley Lynn Phelps-Roper — Jack Wu Born ~ 1982-83-84 Westboro Baptist Member 12400 W 161st St Olathe, KS 66062 Home: 913-897-0607 — Jacob M. Phelps Born ~ Mid-1970′s/Mid-1980′s Son of Jonathan Baxter Phelps — Jacob Z. Phelps Born ~ Mid-1970′s/Mid-1980′s Son of Fred W. Phelps, Jr — Jael Phelps Nursing Student Born ~ 1984-5-6 Daughter of Jonathan Baxter Phelps — James Hockenbarger Born ~ Mid-1970′s/Mid-1980′s Son of Karl D. Hockenbarger 1929 SW Lane Topeka, KS 66604 Home: 913-233-1848 Work: 785-296-3959 — Jennifer Hockenbarger Born 1977 Daughter of Karl D. Hockenbarger Wife of Samuel Phelps-Roper 1929 SW Lane Topeka, KS 66604 Home: 913-233-1848 Work: 785-296-3959 — Jonah Phelps-Roper Born ~ Mid-1970′s/Mid-1980′s Son of Shirley Lynn Phelps-Roper — Jonathan Baxter Phelps Lawyer at Phelps Chartered Son of Fred Waldron Phelps, Sr Husband of Paulette Phelps-Ossiander Born 1959 840 SW Watson Topeka, KS 66606 Work: 785-233-4162 — Joseph Phelps Born ~ Mid-1970′s/Mid-1980′s Son of Jonathan Baxter Phelps — Joshua F. Phelps-Roper Born ~ Mid-1970′s/Mid-1980′s Son of Shirley Lynn Phelps-Roper — Joshua M. Phelps Born ~ Mid-1970′s/Mid-1980′s Son of Jonathan Baxter Phelps — Josaiah Hockenbarger Born ~ Mid-1980′s/Mid-1990′s Son of Charles F. Hockenbarger Son of Rachel I. Phelps Hockenbarger — Karl D. Hockenbarger Member of Christian Identity Born ~ Mid-1970′s/Mid-1980′s Son of Charles William “Bill” Hockenbarger Husband of Deborah Kay Hockenbarger 1929 SW Lane Topeka, KS 66604 Home: 913-233-1848 Work: 785-296-3959 — Katherine Hockenbarger Born ~ Mid-1970′s/Mid-1980′s Daughter of Karl D. Hockenbarger 3642 SW Huntoon St Topeka, KS 66604 Phone: 785-783-7217 — Lauren Drain Born ~ Mid-1980′s/Mid-1990′s Daughter of Stephen “Steve” Drain — LeAnn Phelps-Brown Lawyer Employee of Shawnee County Sheriff’s Department Born 1966 Wife of Timothy “Tim/Timmy” B. Phelps 3743 SW 12th Street Topeka, KS 66604 Phone: 785-273-0365 Home: 785-273-4780 Work: 785-291-5100 Work: 785-233-4162 — Luci Drain Born ~ 1950′s Daughter of Stephen “Steve” Drain — Luke Phelps-Roper Born ~ Mid-1970′s/Mid-1980′s Son of Shirley Lynn Phelps-Roper — Lydia Phelps-Davis Born ~ Mid-1980′s/Mid-1990′s Daughter of Rebekah Phelps-Davis — Malachai Phelps Born 2005 Great-Grandson of Fred Waldron Phelps, Sr — Mara Jones-Phelps Born ~ Mid-1970′s/Mid-1980′s Wife of Fred W. Phelps, Jr 3120 SW Westover Rd Topeka, KS 66604 Phone: 785-235-6999 — Margerie “Margie” Marie Simms-Phelps Born ~ 1930′s Wife of Fred Waldron Phelps, Sr Westboro Baptist Church 3701 SW 12th Street Topeka, KS 66604 Email: wbclist@speakfree.net Email: info@phelpschartered.com Phone: 785-273-0325 Phone: 785-273-0338 Fax: 785-273-9228 — Margie Jean Phelps Lawyer at Phelps Chartered Employee of Kansas Department of Corrections Born 1956 Daughter of Fred Waldron Phelps, Sr 3734 SW 12th Topeka, KS 66604 Landon State Office Building 900 Topeka, KS 66612 Email: margiep77@cox.net Phone: 785-273-0365 Home: 785-273-7380 Work: 785-296-3128 Work: 785-296-3317 — Margy “Margie”/”Megan” Phelps-Roper Born ~ 1985-6-7 Daughter of Shirley Lynn Phelps-Roper — Mary Hockenbarger Child Care Provider Born ~ 1950′s Wife of Charles William “Bill” Hockenbarger 711 NW Page Topeka, KS 66617 Email: chockenbarger@cox.net Home: 785-246-1567 — Micaiah Phelps-Davis Born ~ 1991-2-3 Son of Rebekah Phelps-Davis — Noah Phelps-Roper Born ~ Mid-1970′s/Mid-1980′s Son of Shirley Lynn Phelps-Roper — Paulette Phelps-Ossiander Office Assistant at Phelps Chartered Born 1960 Wife of Jonathan Baxter Phelps 840 SW Watson Topeka, KS 66606 Work: 785-233-4162 — Rachel Hockenbarger Born ~ Mid-1980′s/Mid-1990′s Daughter of Charles F. Hockenbarger Daughter of Rachel I. Phelps Hockenbarger 3600 SW Holly Ln Topeka, KS 66604 Phone: 785-272-8569 Phone: 785-272-8559 — Rachel I. Phelps-Hockenbarger Lawyer at Phelps Chartered YMCA Fitness Instructor Born 1965 Daughter of Fred Waldron Phelps, Sr Wife of Charles F. Hockenbarger 1284 SW Hillsdale Topeka, KS 66604 3734 SW 12th St Topeka, KS 66604 1216 SW Cambridge Ave Topeka, KS 66604 3220 SW 17th St Topeka, KS 66604 Phone: 785-232-1570 Phone: 785-273-0365 Phone: 785-272-7035 Home: 785-271-1619 — Rebekah Phelps-Davis Lawyer at Phelps Chartered Born 1961 Daughter of Fred Waldron Phelps, Sr Wife of Chris Davis 1216 SW Cambridge Topeka, KS 66604 Home: 785-272-7741 — Rebekah Phelps-Roper Born ~ Mid-1970′s/Mid-1980′s Daughter of Shirley Lynn Phelps-Roper 1205 SW Polk St #5B Topeka, KS 66612 Phone: 785-783-3722 — Samuel Phelps-Roper Born 1979 Son of Shirley Lynn Phelps-Roper Husband of Jennifer Hockenbarger 3640 SW Churchill Topeka, KS 66604 3708 SW Churchill Topeka, KS 66604 Phone: 785-228-9287 Phone: 785-273-1080 Home: 785-273-1445 Home: 785-273-0277 Home: 785-272-1619 Home: 785-273-0325 Home: 785-273-0277 Home: 785-273-0325 Work: 785-233-4162 Work: 785-273-0068 — Sara Phelps Born ~ 1980-1-2 Daughter of Fred W. Phelps, Jr 3600 SW Holly Ln Topeka, KS 66604 Phone: 785-0273-0438 — Seth Phelps Born ~ 2003-4-5 Great-Grandson of Fred Waldron Phelps, Sr — Sharon M. Phelps Born ~ Mid-1970′s/Mid-1980′s Grand-Daughter of Fred Waldron Phelps, Sr 4128 SW 6th Ave #308 Topeka, KS 66606 Phone: 785-228-9323 — Shirley Phelps Born ~ Mid-1980′s/Mid-1990′s Daughter of Timothy “Tim/Timmy” B. Phelps — Shirley Lynn Phelps-Roper Lawyer at Phelps Chartered Born Oct. 10, 1957 Daughter of Fred Waldron Phelps, Sr Wife of Brent D. Roper 3640 SW Churchilll Topeka, KS 66604 Email: slpr@cox.net Email: kjhoffice@speakfree.net Email: th8asluf@godhatesamerica.com Email: brid1611kjv@bellsouth.net Email: info@phelpschartered.com Phone: 785-273-1080 Phone: 785-272-8559 Home: 785-273-1445 Home: 785-273-0277 Home: 785-272-1619 Home: 785-273-0325 Home: 785-273-0277 Home: 785-273-0325 Work: 785-233-4162 Work: 785-273-0068 — Stephen “Steve” Drain Born ~ 1950′s Husband of Luci Drain 3801 SW 12th St Topeka, KS 66604 Phone: 785-228-1623 — Stephen Hockenbarger Born ~ Mid-1980′s/Mid-1990′s Son of Charles F. Hockenbarger Son of Rachel I. Phelps Hockenbarger — Taylor Drain Born ~ 1991-2-3 Daughter of Stephen “Steve” Drain Fiance of George Stutzman — Theresa Davis Born ~ 1950′s/1960′s Family Member of Chris Davis 3632 SW 12th Street Topeka, KS 66604 Work: 785-291-7000 — Timothy “Tim”/”Timmy” B. Phelps Lawyer Employee of Shawnee County Department of Corrections Born 1963 Son of Fred Waldron Phelps, Sr Husband of LeAnn Phelps-Brown 3743 SW 12th Street Topeka, KS 66604 Phone: 785-273-0365 Home: 785-273-4780 Work: 785-291-5100 Work: 785-233-4162 — Timothy Phelps Jr Born ~ Mid-1980′s/Mid-1990′s Son of Timothy “Tim/Timmy” B. Phelps — Victoria Phelps Born ~ Mid-1980′s/Mid-1990′s Daughter of Timothy “Tim/Timmy” B. Phelps — Zacharias Phelps-Roper Born ~ Mid-1970′s/Mid-1980′s Son of Shirley Lynn Phelps-Roper

Domain WhoIs Information: — godhatesfags.com westborobaptistchurch.com beastobama.com godhatestheworld.com godhatesamerica.com priestsrapeboys.com blogs.sparenot.com jewskilledjesus.com signmovies.com godhatesislam.com godhatesthemedia.com Registrant: Westboro Baptist Church PO BOX 1886 Topeka, KS 66601-1886 US 785-233-4162 Domain Name: GODHATESFAGS.COM Administrative Contact: Phelps, Benjamin idontreadthisemail@godhatesamerica.com PO BOX 1886 Topeka, KS 66601-1886 US 785-233-4162 Technical Contact: Phelps, Benjamin idontreadthisemail@godhatesamerica.com PO BOX 1886 Topeka, KS 66601-1886 US 785-233-4162 Record last updated 09-16-2011 08:01:38 AM Record expires on 11-06-2017 Record created on 01-22-1997 Domain servers in listed order: NS1.ENTERPRISE.BLACKLOTUS.NET 204.69.234.1 NS2.ENTERPRISE.BLACKLOTUS.NET 204.74.101.1

Domain WhoIs Information:
phelpschartered.com
Registered through: GoDaddy.com, LLC
Domain Name: PHELPSCHARTERED.COM
Created on: 17-Apr-03
Expires on: 17-Apr-13
Last Updated on: 16-Jul-11
Registrant:
Phelps-Chartered
1414 S. Topeka Blvd.
Topeka, Kansas 66612 United States Administrative Contact:
Phelps-Roper, Shirley kjhoffice@speakfree.net
Phelps-Chartered
1414 S. Topeka Blvd.
Topeka, Kansas 66612
United States
7852334162 Technical Contact:
Phelps-Roper, Shirley kjhoffice@speakfree.net
Phelps-Chartered
1414 S. Topeka Blvd.
Topeka, Kansas 66612
United States
7852334162
Domain servers in listed order:
NS1.ZONOMI.COM
NS2.ZONOMI.COM
NS1.SPEAKFREE.NET
NS2.SPEAKFREE.NET
Registry Status: clientDeleteProhibited
Registry Status: clientRenewProhibited
Registry Status: clientTransferProhibited
Registry Status: clientUpdateProhibited
Port 80/Port 23 vulnerability
@JackHerer20

Thoughts on the Gun Control Debate

In the wake of the school massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, the ongoing national debate on gun control has flared up with a vengeance, everywhere from the 24-hour news networks to late night talk shows. Where I have noticed it most poignantly is on the social networking sites I frequent, where the discussion has quickly become vehement and personal. I am not going to come down on one side or the other of the debate here, except to note that I do believe a non-absolute right to own weapons has an important place in a free society. I have, however, been struck by what I consider to be very disturbing behavior from some other people in favor of gun ownership, and do want to share some observations about it.

* People posting in favor of gun ownership tend to be much less articulate than those posting against it. This is somewhat ironic, in that many of them explicitly or implicitly express a fear of minorities as their motivation for owning guns, because based only on their writing most people would assume many of them were members of the most illiterate, uneducated, and despised inner city minority populations. People who can only express themselves in broken pidgin English are products of some sort of cultural or intellectual degeneration and, whatever battle they are trying to win, they have already lost through their inability to clearly and fluently express themselves.

* The vast majority of people posting in favor of gun ownership identify themselves as conservative or Republican, and complain about the "liberals" that want to take their guns away from them. In point of fact, however, some of the most heavily armed people I personally know are liberals, Democrats, or even Greens, and in favor of laws that permit gun ownership -- but, for whatever reasons, they choose not to rant about it publicly.

* People posting in favor of gun ownership are much quicker than others to engage in emotional violence, profanity, incoherent rants, explicit or implicit threats, WRITING IN ALL CAPS TO SIMULATE YELLING, and other forms of intimidation. Plus, they have guns, too, right? Hahaha! What a way to come off as a complete, dangerous nut and end any kind of meaningful discussion.

* Individuals posting in favor of gun ownership seem to have an unhealthy fixation on firearms. Why is it no one posts pictures of their hammer collections, raves about their new socket wrench sets, or viciously attacks others who might dislike a particular brand of pliers? Guns are tools like any other and mentally stable people treat them as such, making sure they know how to use them, pulling them out when required, and not making big play of using them as needed.

* People posting about gun ownership tend to have a very poor sense of what we used to call OPSEC, or "operational security," when I was in the military, and publicly disclose a lot of information about their personal arsenals. In that almost all of them express fear of something as a reason for owning guns -- blacks, liberals, the federal government, the President of the United States, "Mexicans," Russians, U.N. black helicopters, whatever -- this is all the more baffling, because they are giving all those enemy peoples great intelligence that could presumably be used against them. And, in that many have collections that are not altogether legal, they have presumably put themselves on the radar of the governmental agencies they least want to be known to.

Comments are welcome from anyone who is a follower of this site and who posted under a real name! Anonymity and cowardice are not acceptable here, whether you own a gun or not.

A Union by Any Other Name, Part 4

The Moneyball Method

Regardless of the goals of any group, political or otherwise, one common thread repeats: garner the highest yield for any effort applied. The political struggles between unions and corporations are no different. Both are trying to capitalize on any gains they make and pick the battles they are most likely to win. Minimizing expenses and maximizing results is a tactic used by both sides and for the very same reasons. It is a strategy employed in nature and relies on the conservation of energy. After all, nobody, regardless of the situation, wants to get the least possible returns for their efforts. It is the surest way to drive oneself into extinction. For this reason, humans are no different. While we might enjoy the fruits of our labors as a species, we prefer to engage in leisure activities as much as possible as it means we have reached a point where our work nets us more than the minimum needed for a sustained existence.

In addition to the analogy to the natural world, corporations and unions act in a way that is analogous to the sports world. As the title of this section alludes to, the reference is to what the Oakland Athletics used in 2002 to tie the record for the longest winning streak. Though that was not the goal of the club, it is was the result of a strategy designed to get the most out of a budget that had little leeway and was seen as a course destined to failure. The analogy however works to lay out some of the basic issues between the unions and corporations as well as how they work. The Oakland Athletics are known as a “small market” team despite being based in the 47th largest city in the nation. Granted, it is nowhere near the size of San Francisco or Los Angeles, but its proximity to San Francisco and the surrounding communities of the San Francisco Bay Area, a Bay Area Rapid Transit station named after the stadium with an elevated walkway connecting to said stadium, and portions of the San Joaquin Valley being within driving distance gives the team a large enough fan base that one would think it is anything but a small market. The San Francisco Bay Area alone has 7.46 million residents.

An examination of the city might shed some light on why it stands out and the importants it plays in the shape of the club’s market status. Oakland is an industrial city with a port. These two industries have been the base of the local economy and have led to its recent troubles. Thus, it has been hit hard by the recession and the technological changes over the last twenty years. Though nowhere near Detroit’s unemployment levels, the city is not known for its residents’ buying power. Some jokes refer to Oakland as an inordinately large crack house and sections of downtown are known as “Oaksterdam” for its medical marijuana shops. It should come as no surprise then that attendance for home games is abysmal when compared to other teams in Major League Baseball.

Yet despite these drawbacks, Oakland has been able to challenge so-called “large market” teams like the New York Yankees and their massive payroll. The Yankees are known for their big name players and consistency in winning division championships if not the World Series. As New York plays host to one of the largest financial sectors around, there is another allusion to the corporation/union divide. This is because the city itself is as identified with Wall Street and finance in the way that Oakland is for its blue collar roots. Add to this information the population in the whole metropolitan area spans four states and encompasses 22.23 million people. That makes it roughly three times the size of the SF Bay Area and it too has two baseball teams. The Yankees, though, are the 800-pound gorilla of baseball. Burning through so much money to attract talent is how they have won so many championships. And with so many residents close enough to go to a game or buy team merchandise, it is easy to see how the team is able to garner so many division and league titles.

Baseball is no longer the national pastime with all the nostalgia of regionalism that it once was where players often played with the same team for their entire careers. For the fans this may still be the case, but not for the corporations that are the managing staffs for each team as well as the commission that oversees Major League Baseball. The game is largely built around money, hence the references to small- and large-market teams. Players now go where the money is, just like many clubs have, including the Athletics. They once played in Philadelphia before moving to Kansas City and then to their present location. Each of their previous locations now house teams of their own, showing just how large of a market they were for professional baseball. The trend is something that has also applied for workers. People once stayed with a company for their entire careers before retirement. Not anymore. The average person will have seven different careers over the course of his working life.

Free agency in sports is something we have come to expect as sports fans. Why would a player who is that talented want to stay with a club that has no discernible chance of winning a championship stay with a losing team if offered a larger salary with one that does have a shot at a title? Corporations play the same game with their employees and as a result, unions are cut out of the picture. No need for a fussy mess of a contractual system that hamstrings wages for other employees, incentives to stay on the floor and avoid a strike, or even long-term baselines for minimum compensation packages. Free agency for people in the corporate world comes down to who can offer the most attractive incentives in exchange for a person’s skills. Unions obviously lose out because of this as their goal is collective in nature, which does not favor varying salaries for employees who may have better negotiating skills than others in the worker pool. White collar workers are more likely to play the job market game as free agents than blue collar workers for many reasons; the most common reason is the nature of corporate jobs compared to manufacturing. Interpersonal skills go a long way in making connections within the company and the businesses that partner with it. Manufacturing does not offer frequent interactions as the focus is on making a physical product that can absorb the worker’s time.

The shift from a manufacturing base to one that is more services-based, which includes programming, has also had an impact on the unions. The shift favors the free agency strategy of employees as they do not have to worry about whether they will be subject to rules that may or may not favor them. Programmers might work as part of a team assembling new products, but they are hired for their talents, not their ability to ply a trade with precision and accuracy on what amounts to similar situations day-in and day-out. Unions also have a tendency to be overly protective of their current members, which discourages people from trying to get their foot in the door at the beginning of a career, not to mention union dues which can hamper a person’s living arrangements if the costs of living are not as equitable to the net pay before dues are assessed. Free agency is a much more promising method of making a living under such conditions and the new manufacturing base of electronics is peopled by workers who often go to college, which has been the traditional path of the white collar world. Free agency also favors and empowers corporations since they can negotiate compensation packages with an individual without worrying about a loss of power on their part.

The inflexibility of unions and that of corporations come down to the same thing: greed. This might sound shocking, but neither side is altruistic in their goals. As mentioned earlier, everyone wants to maximize what they get for the least amount of effort as possible. Unions try to leverage as much for their members as possible and do their best to lock out non-union employees so as to not have any competition for their power. This is an artificial system that, while it helps workers have agency when dealing with those who own the means of production, does not do labor any favors if it remains entrenched and opposed to a mixed workforce. Without competition, there is no innovation or even a way to maintain the flexibility critical to a sustained panel that can negotiate with the companies. Additionally, the inflexibility has often come at the expense of innovations which increase productivity because it can lead to the loss of union members. The automotive industry is a great example of how this has happened. The assembly lines have been automated, meaning fewer workers are needed to build cars, but those who are employed need more education that before in order to run the complex machinery that does the work more efficiently and safely than any human could. Allowing rapid change does not benefit the union, help it retain its power, or protect workers from losing their jobs.

Corporations do not want to give away anything more than they have to. It is probably an obvious statement, but nonetheless true. How else can the organization stay in business if it cannot make a sufficiently sized profit that allows it to expand or absorb unexpected expenses? The amount that is left over sometimes goes into someone’s pockets in the form of bonuses and salaries for those who manage to make the company so profitable that it has such financial stability, but a lot of it goes into expanding the organization or being socked away for the unexpected. The workers might keep the machinery running, but because they do not manage the human capital to such a degree as to expand the company’s reach they do not receive nearly as much in compensation. Whether this is fair or not is not the subject of this piece, however. The difference is mentioned inasmuch as it applies to the way both sides try to earn the greatest profits at the least cost.

Going back to the baseball analogy, the unions employ something akin to Sabermetrics. Unions do not buy the best team they can assemble; rather, they pay for the most consistent one through the compensation packages they can get for their employees and the dues they can charge. By maintaining that sustained output, the union is able to keep in the running with the corporations that employ union members since they have much larger resource caches. This is one of the ways collective bargaining helps unions secure guarantees for employees. However, unions have to pick their battles well. They cannot merely choose to go on strike to get attention; they need to ensure that there will not be a public – or political – backlash for employing the tactic. This is where consistency comes in handy since it is not a sprint, but a marathon that unions must run against corporations. They have to work through their special interest and lobbyist channels just like the corporations do. But, the unions offset the greater amount of lobbying corporations can engage in with some strategic areas of labor that they dominate, like government and various trades. Unsurprisingly, athletes have unions as well as referees who officiate the games so that the corporate offices do not determine wholly the value of the talent on the field. When untalented individuals are brought in to do the work of these seasoned professionals, it becomes clear just how skilled union members are at their jobs and how much of a value they provide. The replacement referees used by the National Football League at the beginning of the 2012 season made this painfully clear.

There are times when the tactics use by both sides show how manifestly greedy they truly are. A lot of what is done comes down to instilling fear with a healthy dose of intimidation thrown in for good measure. They are the same tactics used in political elections; just sometimes they go a little to the extreme as the tactics do not necessarily happen in public view the way political campaigns do. Take a look at the Teamsters in the 50s through the 70s. The influence of organized crime over that union shows how shady and corrupt the unions can become. Jimmy Hoffa is essentially synonymous with the problems that can surround unions. What better icon of fear and intimidation than the mafia?

Corporations are no saints either. There are the historical instances such as the Pinkertons at the Homestead Strike in 1892. Today, there are the influences of the Koch brothers and the US Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling. The net result is not unlike the Yankees trying to buy up all the talent their money can attract, a tactic that financial companies have used in the guise of bonuses and the like to attract employees. In regard to the Supreme Court ruling, the point is to ensure corporate power is unchallenged as much as possible by letting companies flood the media channels with more advertising than their opposition can muster. Yes, unions can benefit from the ruling as much as the corporations, but do they have the deep pockets of their competitors? Neither side wants to lose, but as they need each others to remain as honest as possible, they are stuck with one another. The two provide a checks-and-balances system necessary to drive competition between diverse industries as well as the future of the capitalist system just like the political parties are supposed to do with each other.

Given that much of the fight between the two groups happens in the political arena, unions and corporations have turned to the use of Political Action Committees. Yet, the traditional PACs are constrained by the rules that govern elections and the limits placed on contributions. The new free agents in the political arena where both groups can duel without restraint are the super PACs and other organizations that are not affiliated with any particular candidate. The amount of money they can spend is astounding, but again, where the corporation backed groups can blast the airwaves with their messages, the union groups have to target their messages and be more strategic about their placement, which usually follows a grassroots approach in communities. After all, the services most people rely upon to keep an orderly society in place all have unions: teachers, police, and firefighters, to name a few. If they went on strike or had a mass flu “epidemic,” it would adversely affect the community and shows how the steady consistency keeps the community on a sustainability winning streak. This is the same method that Oakland used to push itself to one game shy of making it to the 2002 postseason. The players Billy Beane selected were based on statistical analysis. One of the reasons why this approach was necessary is rooted in the slashing of the team’s operating budget. It went from one of the highest paid rosters in baseball in 1991 after it went to three consecutive World Series to one of the lowest.

Why the change? This is speculative, but the economics and population numbers for the city of Oakland most likely have something to do with it. According to the 2010 Census, Oakland has a population of 390,724 people. The current owners want to move the team to San Jose, the third largest city in California boasting a population of 945,942 people. It has twice the population of Oakland and sits in the heart of the Silicon Valley, a decidedly white collar region of the SF Bay Area and thus a significantly higher likely discretionary budget amongst its residents. The shift moves the team from a union heavy town to a free agency dominated city, which mimics the shift the country has experienced as a whole from one form of industry to another.

Much like the resistance unions have towards technological innovations that threaten their size and power, the city of Oakland, along with many fans, does not want the team to move. After all, it brings in revenue for the city and there is easy access to it by several public transportation lines. But, the stadium itself is not in the most ideal location for the team, not to mention the cash-strapped status of Oakland itself. The team owners are trying to follow the money like previous owners have done before. The San Francisco Giants also oppose the move because they have a minor league team, the San Jose Giants, in the area. There is a bit of protectionism going on from the corporate end in what is a form of NIMBYism. San Jose is seen as the corporate backyard of the Giants. Ironically, the tactic is out of the union playbook. The move to a new stadium would be innovative for the Athletics as they currently play in the only remaining dual use football/baseball stadium in the nation. Oakland is trying to build a new park for the team, but finding a place to put it and ensuring people would go there is not clear. However, the lure of San Jose’s higher salaries and population seems to be more important than where a new stadium is and if it is as innovative as needed for the franchise. Blocking any form of change towards the future is not characteristic of the corporate strategy, yet this shows a clear example that they as well do use the same tactics as their chief rival.

The move to greener pastures is essentially what a corporation tries to do when it outsources jobs to locations where unions have no say. If the case cannot be won to move towards free agency and empower the companies where they are, then it stands to reason that the capital can be spent to go somewhere else, preferably a location where right-to-work laws are strong or unions are nonexistent, thus lowering the threshold for wages, which is not unlike the proposed move of the Athletics to San Jose. The unions do everything to oppose such moves because it threatens their power base and their employees’ standards of living, all of which come down to the amount of currency and the leverage that that comes with and is what both sides work to accrue. The tactics are similar, but the methods are often not seen as the same even though they are. The underlying problem is greed at all levels of the game. Winning when the game is rigged against you is hard, but it can be done. Unions have shown that time and again, so have corporations. In baseball, Oakland almost did it this year with nineteen rookies, which keeps their payroll so low. Ironically, the corporate brand of the team is “green collar baseball,” echoing the city’s roots they are trying to escape. This is telling and shows that corporations and unions are not as different as they would like people to believe. They have similar beginnings, they have similar interests, and they use the same methods to get what they want.

Election 2012 Quotes

A lot of particularly fun and interesting things are being said in the run up to the 2012 election, and the staff of Religion, Politics, and Sex decided that we should post one of these each day! We hope you will enjoy and find them thought provoking. Feel free to make a comment with your own suggestions.

"My party, unfortunately, is the bastion of those people — not all of them, but most of them — who are still basing their positions on race. Let me just be candid: My party is full of racists, and the real reason a considerable portion of my party wants President Obama out of the White House has nothing to do with the content of his character, nothing to do with his competence as commander-in-chief and president, and everything to do with the color of his skin, and that's despicable." — Former Colin Powell chief-of-staff Col. Lawrence Wilkerson

"This well may be a generation-defining moment. What will America's future be? Will this still be a land of opportunity and freedom for all people or just for the favored few? Because we still hope, we endorse for president Barack Obama, whose heart — unlike his challenger — has not wavered nor his principles changed." — Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Oct. 28

“I’ve struggled with it myself for a long time, but I came to realize that life is that gift from God. And, I think, even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen.” — Indiana Senate Republican candidate Richard Mourdock

“Slavery was cruel, but as a result of slavery, we have African-Americans living in this country today who are living here in situations that are probably much better to endure than if they were living in Sub-Saharan Africa. If you had the choice knowing the lifestyle of people living in Africa and knowing the lifestyle of people living in the United States, which would you choose? Pure and simple.” — Jon Hubbard, (R) Arkansas State Senate

"All that stuff I was taught about evolution and embryology and the big bang theory, all that is lies straight from the pit of Hell. It's lies to try to keep me and all the folks who were taught that from understanding that they need a savior. ... I don't believe that the earth's but about 9,000 years old. I believe it was created in six days as we know them. That's what the Bible says." — Rep. Paul Broun (R-Ga.)

"I'm sorry, Jim, I'm going to stop the subsidy to PBS. I'm going to stop other things. I like PBS — I love Big Bird. I actually like you, too. But I'm not going to keep on spending money on things to borrow money from China to pay for it." — Mitt Romney to Jim Lehrer, on the importance of the cutting the 1/100th of 1% of the federal budget devoted to public broadcasting.

"I thought the format accomplished its purpose, which was to facilitate direct, extended exchanges between the candidates about issues of substance. Part of my moderator mission was to stay out of the way of the flow and I had no problems with doing so. My only real personal frustration was discovering that ninety minutes was not enough time in that more open format to cover every issue that deserved attention." — Jim Lehrer

"I believe in free enterprise. I don't think the government should be telling people what you pay and what you don't pay. I think it's about freedom." — Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.), on why it is OK for employers to pay women less than men

"I pick up Mitt Romney's trash. We're kind of like the invisible people. He doesn't realize ... the service we provide ... Picking up 15, 16 tons by hand, that takes a toll on your body. When I'm 55, 60 years old, I know my body's gonna ... break down. Mitt Romney doesn't care about that." — Richard Hayes

"I don't have the time. It would take me too long to go through all the math." — Paul Ryan, in response to a request he explain his tax plan

"I think my biggest concern obviously would just be for [Mitt's] mental well-being. I have all the confidence in the world in his ability, in his decisiveness, in his leadership skills, in his understanding of the economy. ... So for me I think it would just be the emotional part of it." — Ann Romney

"Only in America can you be pro-death penalty, pro-war, pro-unmanned drone bombs, pro-nuclear weapons, pro-guns, pro-torture, pro-land mines, and still call yourself 'pro-life.'" — John Fugelsang

"As the election approaches, many Americans, I am certain, are still struggling with the question of who they will vote for. Is Obama like Carter, a micro-managing school teacher who doesn't even carry a one wood, let alone hit the long drive? Is Romney like George Bush Sr., a white-glove, Wall Street handmaiden who wouldn't know a subway token from the buttons on a doorman's uniform?" — Alec Baldwin, Huffington Post

"When you have a fire in an aircraft, there's no place to go, exactly, there's no - and you can't find any oxygen from outside the aircraft to get in the aircraft, because the windows don't open. I don't know why they don't do that. It's a real problem. So it's very dangerous." — Mitt Romney

"Here at this site, Solyndra expects to make enough solar panels each year to generate 500 megawatts of electricity. And over the lifetime of this expanded facility, that could be like replacing as many as eight coal-fired power plants." — President Barack Obama

“Guess what, the cheerleaders in college are the best athletes in college. You think, I’m joking, they’re almost all gymnasts, the stuff they do on hard wood, it blows my mind.” — Vice President Joe Biden, Newport, N.H., September 21

"The thing about not having much money is you have to take much more responsibility for your life. You can’t pay people to watch your kids or clean your house or fix your meals. You can’t necessarily afford a car or a washing machine or a home in a good school district. That’s what money buys you: goods and services that make your life easier. That’s what money has bought Romney, too. He’s a guy who sold his dad’s stock to pay for college, who built an elevator to ensure easier access to his multiple cars and who was able to support his wife’s decision to be a stay-at-home mom. That’s great! That’s the dream. The problem is that he doesn’t seem to realize how difficult it is to focus on college when you’re also working full time, how much planning it takes to reliably commute to work without a car, or the agonizing choices faced by families in which both parents work and a child falls ill. The working poor haven’t abdicated responsibility for their lives. They’re drowning in it." — Ezra Klein, Bloomberg

"Who are these freeloaders? Is it the Iraq war veteran who goes to the V.A.? Is it the student getting a loan to go to college? Is it the retiree on Social Security or Medicare? ... The people who receive the disproportionate share of government spending are not big-government lovers. They are Republicans. They are senior citizens. They are white men with high school degrees." — Conservative columnist David Brooks, New York Times

Blue Texas — A State of Ambivalence

By Michael O. Varhola

Sometime in the coming years, for a variety of reasons, die-hard Red state Texas will almost certainly become a Blue state. That is, in fact, something I have been personally working to help achieve. It would be fair to say, however, that I have very mixed feelings about this imminent political sea change.

It bears mentioning that I am not now and never have been a Democrat per se; many years ago, I was actually registered as a Republican, and for much of the past two decades I have strived to be strictly apolitical and non-partisan, which I think behooves someone working as a journalist. I am, however, a liberal — perhaps even a radical liberal — and am also revolted by and strongly opposed to most of what the Republican party stands for these days, which I consider to be regressive and contrary to the interests of the majority of the citizenry. In short, liberalism is based on an informed view of the world and the value and rights of the individual, whereas conservatism essentially represents the inverse of these ideas. Because most "liberals" also happen to be "Democrats," those two terms are often used synonymously. This is problematic in any number of ways, however, as I have recently had brought to my attention.

Some of what I have seen in Texas from the Democratic party during the current election season is commensurate with the liberal ideal and some of it most definitely is not and has, consequently, given me some pause. Following are some of the negative and positive things I have recently experienced in this regard:

(-): In January, I received a many-times-forwarded email message with the subject “Congressional Reform Act of 2011” that appeared to be a typical piece of Tea Party/neocon invective containing a number of blatant lies and which otherwise reflected a rightwing ethos. What stunned me, however, was that this message originated with the chair of the Democratic Party of the county I live in! “While I personally do not fully agree with all of these suggestions, they are a good place to start,” this lady wrote at the beginning of the message. Concerned that Democratic leaders in our area have no idea what their own party stands for, I contacted her to let her know I was planning on posting an article about the message to this blog but was willing to talk to her about it first. She did not, however, respond to any of my attempts to reach her.

(-): After I posted an article about the message, I contacted nearly 40 people affiliated with the Democratic Party of Texas and that of the county I live in, including one who as at that time running for the Senate and is now running for Congress (and who had contacted me via Facebook after I posted the afore-mentioned article, which it turned out was about his wife; he cut off contact with me when I would not take what was apparently meant to be a hint about removing this piece). Even though I identified myself as pro-Democrat journalist who was concerned with the way the party was being presented, none bothered to respond, not a single one saw fit to dispel misconceptions associated with their party, to respond to misconceptions perpetrated by one of their representatives, or to bolster the efforts of a liberal blogger desperate to support their agenda.

(+) A few weeks ago, I attended a pro-Democratic event at the home of some people in my neighborhood and was grateful to them for hosting it and giving me the opportunity to meet other like-minded people. Pro-Republicans in this area are often publicly vocal about their views — something people with any beliefs in my former East Coast home would have considered rude and coarse and avoided doing — and it was nice to see that there are more people with a liberal bent living all around me than I would have imagined.

(+): At that event, I met and spoke with some of the Democratic political candidates in Texas, including John Courage, who is running for Texas State Senate District 25, and Rebecca Bell-Mettereau, who is running for a place on the State Board of Education District 5. Suffice it to say that I was impressed with their demeanor, intelligence, and sincerity and that they strengthened my resolve to support the Democratic cause in Texas and that I voted for both of them when I went to the polls on October 22. If they get elected I believe they will do everything they can to make Texas a better place for its citizens.

(-): Last week, I attended a training session organized by the Democratic Party in my county so that I could learn how to serve as a clerk at a polling station on election day. Without going into details that might seem overly mean-spirited, it would be fair to say that if the level of organization at this meeting was indicative of the party's efforts throughout the state in general then it is abundantly clear why a state that has as many Democrats as it does Republicans is still solidly Red. Nearly two hours after the session began, it ended without the training having been accomplished, with an indication that it would have to be held again at a future date, with promises that materials pertinent to it would be sent out via email (which, as of this writing, has still not happened).

Disorganization, confusion, and indifference in the Democratic Party in Texas notwithstanding, the Lone Star State will nonetheless ultimately shift from Red to Blue as the Hispanic population of Texas inexorably grows and achieves majority status. But one has to question whether it will truly be a victory for the Democratic cause to have the state turn Blue not because its citizens have become more enlightened, educated, or socially conscious, but merely because one ethnic group has become more predominant than another. We will not, in fact, come much closer to the Great Society envisioned by one former president from the state of Texas if all we do is swap out the political party favored by people who mostly look alike in one way for the political party of people who mostly look alike in another way. (Shown here is Rebecca Bell-Mettereau, one of the hopes for the Democratic cause in Texas.)

So, suffice it to say, I am ambivalent about the shift of the Lone Star State from Red to Blue. Overall, I am confident that Texas and America overall will be better off for this change and will continue to work for it — but it is sad to contemplate how much less meaningful that change will be than it could be.

A Union by Any Other Name, Part 3

By Richard T. Balsley

See Part 1 and Part 2 if you have not already!

The Use and Application of Labor
Offices and factories allow people to pool their efforts. This has the added bonus of multiplying the output of each individual as they specialize to handle key areas of the process to produce the product or service offered by the company. Having such proximity to one’s fellow workers makes it easier to cope not only with the stresses of the job, but it also helps to alleviate any sense of isolation between members of the same profession. Some of these concerns may have led to the guild halls for the same reason that people gather in offices or hold trade conventions today. As everything has a trade-off, there is a downside to the ability to congregate and perfect one’s skills on a daily basis.

The individual worker has no say in where he can perform his job nor does he have any input into the conditions of the facility. Government ordinances do, certainly, but they are outside the power of a specific person. These conditions are under the control of the person who owns the worksite. Additionally, most workers do not own the equipment necessary to do their jobs regardless of their level of skill. Herein lays the problem for the worker: having a desire to perform meaningful work for meaningful pay without losing access to the means of production where such criteria can be met. If the chief aim of the company is to provide a product for profit, then it behooves the board members to maximize earnings, but where to take the money is another question.

For good or for ill, all workplaces that employ groups of people are sites of labor extraction. There is nothing inherently wrong in this idea. Not only is it convenient and require less logistics, a centralized work location, and also a place where quality and safety controls can be instituted, but it is also a place where efforts can be coordinated. It is this last point where one can see the need for a supervisor. No longer burdened with teaching a new apprentice how to create the entire product, a supervisor or foreman can train a worker to perform a specific series of tasks along the assembly line style of industrialized production. The foreman likewise only needs to know how to do the jobs under his purview. Some of these changes between one job and the other are often minimal so that workers may graduate from one position to another in some industries. The purpose of this is nominally for standardization of quality.

Owning the sites of labor extraction and the means by which to do it is a central point of contention. In a truly communistic culture, the people who do the labor would own the site, giving them complete control over how, when, and the value of their efforts for whatever capital or other assets are exchanged to obtain what the workers produced. Whether it is a cultural or biological imperative for people to stratify themselves, the most likely result is the concentration of power in the hands of fewer people, not more. This is what capitalism does efficiently and effectively and why it is mentioned near the end of the last installment as a natural extension of feudalism. In a democratic republic, the people are legally equal in all respects. Within the site of labor extraction and the laws that govern how such labor may be extracted, this is not the case.

People are paid based not on the work they actually do in a factory or an office, but rather for what the company thinks the position each person occupies is worth. The individual is replaceable. As a result, the wages are deflated just enough to make the job enticing without making it too repellant and costing the company more money than what they would earn by paying the higher wage. Unions have helped keep the pressure on companies to provide benefits while keeping wages stable. Given the cut in profits that such wages and other forms of compensation unions work to secure in exchange for their members’ labor to be extracted, it is easy to see why both have an antagonistic relationship.

The disintegration of union power through right-to-work laws is not a bad thing in light of some of the problems that union control has had over the job market. Anyone attempting to enter a trade had to be a member of a union or be barred from work in a facility where the union oversaw employee relations with the company owners. Unfortunately, those very laws have given corporations more leverage in dictating what workers will receive in compensation for their labor. The rise and prominence of unions has been at times a barrier to the growth of any single business, but when strikes spread across several companies in support of work stoppages in other locales, it becomes harmful to the economy overall. Hence, there exists the need for balance in the legal system to prevent abuse by either organization.

The data for the past forty years or so shows a correlation between the decline of the middle class wage and the decline of the unions. Whether this is because corporations have worked so diligently to break the corporations or is in part a result of the changes in technology and the outsourcing of so many manufacturing jobs is not necessarily so clear. The increasing disparity between wages of blue collar and white collar workers, however, is. Unpacking the reasoning for this is beyond my purview, but what I can comment on is the mentality that defines the two sides of the argument and how that has helped lead to the entrenchment.

Essentially, the divide between unions and corporations comes down to a quasi-ritualistic structure that imposes a moral order on the thinking of the members of each group. The effect is a cultural indoctrination which Joseph Campbell described in The Masks of God, Volume 4: Creative Mythology as part of the ritual which serves “as the enforcement of a moral order: the shaping of the individual to the requirements of his geographically and historically conditioned social group” (p. 5). The result is the belief that the opposed group is the Other bent on eradicating the culture’s existence, and to some extent this may be true with all the legal wrangling that have informed both union and corporate culture. The strategies and tactics used by both groups are not so different, however; how they manifest is.

'It's Supernatural' TV Show Commentary

By Michael O. Varhola

When I saw "It's Supernatural" listed on the Daystar television network, the first thing that struck me was that the religious networks had joined Animal Planet, National Geographic, and just about every other basic cable network in tapping into the ghosthunting craze. The show's description, "Investigative reporter Sid Roth explores the supernatural," reinforced this impression (Roth is shown at right). I expected, naturally, that they would put their own spin on paranormal activity, and that everything would end up having an explicitly Christian justification. It was, in fact, not nearly so subtle, nor was it much like the references to angels and other phenomena in the opening credits suggested it would be -- or the narrator who intoned "It's supernatural" in his creepiest voice -- suggested it would be. Always nice when deception is the basis for a show on a religious channel.

Indeed, the studio audience format for the show was its "tell" and dispelled any hopes for haunted, ancient, exotic, or even interesting sites. No, our venue for "It's Supernatual" was instead a cheap stage set with a crowd of spillovers from "The 700 Club" (i.e., white, working class, baffled and slightly scared looking). That, of course, is the standard for a Fundamentalist show, and even when they are pretending to do something else they apparently can't resist falling back on this format that was tried and true by the time Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker perfected it as a device for fleecing the flock.

Once the show I watched started, it took the form of an "interview" between Roth and Craig Hill, an author who has written a book extrapolating his theory that the practice of Jubilee observed by the ancient Israelites explains the financial crisis we have experienced since 2008, the Great Depression, etc. What followed was pretty much an apologia of right-wing financial theory justified in Biblical terms. The studio audience liked it because the hosts kept using the words "Bible," "Jesus," and "salvation," but you could see from their glazed eyes that they really had no idea what they were talking about.

There was one thing that definitely made this show worth watching, and that was the revelation that Jews are successful because of magical techniques they unknowingly apply! Hahaha! Ah, scratch a Jew and find a wizard. But most of us kind of suspected that about Jews anyway, right? What Roth points out, however, is that the rest of us can also make use of these techniques to enrich ourselves.

Craig Hill does make what I consider to be the valid and interesting point that people should not work particular jobs just because they offer financial rewards and should instead be driven by a sense of vocation. This is all part of what I found to be a rather confusing mixed message, because the whole point of the show -- or at least this episode -- seemed to be how to achieve financial success. Such success is not achieved by worshiping Mammon through inappropriate jobs but rather through magical techniques that Roth and his guests can teach you: "God will supernaturally compress time in your life if you follow these principles." And the goods and services you need to learn those principles are advertised on the show and can, conveniently, be purchased though Roth's website!

Roth himself is, as his name might suggest, Jewish. So, basically, he is either an apostate who has abandoned the faith of his people, or he is a classic, amoral, and stereotypical Shylock. Ironically, to a Fundamentalist audience who sees Jews not as human beings but rather as devices for fulfilling prophecies, it does not matter which of these he actually is.

So, if you are looking for a new take on the paranormal, "It's Supernatural" is not going to be it. But if you are looking for 30 minutes of "Prosperity Christianity" and have some coin to drop as the price for buying into it, the wily Roth will be glad to accommodate.

A Wolf at the Door

By Michael O. Varhola

Recently, I received a mailing from the campaign of Congressman Frank Wolf asking me for my support and making the case for why I should do so. In this double-sided sheet that concludes with his signature, Wolf explains to me that "due to the once in a decade process of congressional redistricting," I now live in a different district, and then talks about the issues he is devoted to.

And Wolf makes an irreproachable case! His platform is, in fact, so generic and "common sense" that it would be hard to take exception to it. The bulleted items on his mailing include the following:

* "Get the Federal Budget Under Control"

* "Create Jobs and Help Business"

* "Get the Federal Budget Under Control"

* "Improve our Region's Transportation System"

* "Improve Education"

* "Protect Our Neighborhoods and Communities

Good stuff. Nothing there on social issues, but I would have to be a communist, a homosexual agitating to get married, a rape victim trying to dump a fetus, or some other undesirable to object to an inoffensive laundry list like that. And no matter what my own political leanings might be, I can't take offense at Wolf's party affiliation, because he opts not to include it in his mailing! Not even an examination of his campaign website, in fact, explicitly reveals whether he is a Democrat, Republican, Independent, or something else altogether -- although it does note that he has represented his district since 1981.

It would seem, in the current polarized political landscape, that the canny congressman believes he would repulse more people than he would attract by revealing this bit of information about himself. A sly Wolf indeed.

A little digging through third-party sources reveals that Wolf is, in fact, a Republican, but apparently not one of the more rabid members of that pack, and therefore quite possibly the kind of person I would want to vote for. As much as I might want to, however, I cannot support Wolf, for reasons beyond my control that I will reveal presently. I can, however, do him a favor -- and, perhaps more importantly, help out his profligate and inefficient staffers and any voters who may have given their hard-earned money to him.

In short, I cannot vote for Frank Wolf because he represents the 10th Congressional District of Virginia -- and I live in Texas. Yes, that is correct, I have been a resident of the Lone Star State for the past three-and-a-half years, but despite that staffers for Wolf's campaign nonetheless deem it appropriate to use the resources at their disposal to mail information to me about their candidate.

I have no idea how much money the Wolf campaign will save if this article prompts them to examine their mailing lists and purge the addresses of people ineligible to actually vote for their candidate, but I suspect it is more than any contribution I could afford to make would be worth. Maybe, as thanks for helping them out the way that I have, they will be kind enough to let me know.

America's Allied Wounded Warriors

By Michael O. Varhola

As a journalist, I have always been aware that the United States was not alone in the ongoing operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. Knowing that in theory, however, does not necessarily make one think about the non-American troops that are not just serving alongside U.S. military personnel, but being killed and maimed like them as well. I was exposed to this largely unknown phenomena and gained some insights into it when I visited the Czech Republic in July. Since then, I have been moved to begin writing a book on the subject with the working title Allied Soldier and to begin telling the story of the things I saw and the people I met. (Shown here is a Czech soldier guarding the presidential palace in Prague.)

There are, in fact, currently more than two-dozen nations serving with the United States in Afghanistan, including Great Britain, France, Germany, and the Czech Republic. This is, moreover, the first time the Czech Republic has been involved in hostilities since World War II and it faces many obstacles to providing adequate support for its soldiers severely injured as a result. One of these hurdles is that many of the nation's citizens do not understand the value of supporting either the war in Southwest Asia or the veterans wounded in it. Another is that the Czech government does not have either the resources or the breadth of experience of larger, wealthier nations like the United States, which can draw upon the lessons it has learned in the many conflicts with which it has been involved over the past six decades.

Two years ago, a number of concerned Czech citizens founded REGI Base Foundation, an organization dedicated to providing critical resources and support for wounded warriors that goes beyond what either the government or their families are able to do. Its centerpiece will be REGI Base I, a state-of-the-art medical facility currently under construction outside of Prague in the village of Svémyslice that, when it is completed, will be able to house up to 16 veterans undergoing treatment and serve the needs of up to 35 outpatients per day (the facility is shown here as it appeared during my visit). The intent of its founders is that it will include modern diagnostic equipment unavailable anywhere else in the region, be able to provide rehabilitative care onsite, and serve as a clearinghouse of information on physicians and clinics worldwide to which it can send wounded warriors in need of specialized care.

Inspiration for both the name of REGI Base and its mission is Chief Warrant Officer Jiří "Regi" Schams, a Czech special forces soldier who was horribly wounded on March 17, 2008 (shown here shortly before his injury). On that day, he was part of a 13-person multinational team that was conducting outreach operations to the civilian residents of a particularly dangerous province of Afghanistan when it was attacked by a suicide bomber. Four of the other personnel in the squad were killed outright, including two Danish civil affairs soldiers and the group's Afghani interpreter, and nine were wounded, including Schams, who was incapacitated by the blast. It initially appeared as if he had suffered some relatively minor injuries and a concussion. Before long, however, it became apparent that a piece of shrapnel had entered the back of Schams' head and burrowed its way through his brain almost to the front of his skull.

At first, there did not appear to be much chance that Schams would survive. But to the surprise of everyone — including his doctors and his family — the phenomenally tough special operations soldier managed to stabilize and pull through. That brought its own host of problems, however, for the injured veteran, who suffered extreme neurological damage and was thereby confined to a wheelchair, initially unable to speak, and plagued with vision problems that force him to perpetually keep one eye closed.

Following his return to the Czech Republic, Schams received the best medical care that his government could provide, and enjoyed the attention and support of his former comrades-in-arms and family members, particularly his mother. But resources available to him were inadequate for dealing with his condition, and his recovery was slow and very limited; for the first two years after he was injured, Schams believed he was in the middle of a nightmare from which he would eventually awake, something that severely retarded his progress.

In 2010, a Czech entrepreneur named Hynek Čech met Schams through a mutual friend and was horrified to discover that the wounded warrior was living alone in a high-rise apartment building that he could not even exit on his own (Schams is shown here with REGI Base co-founder Hynek Čech, right, and Kent Wills, author of a story about the wounded veteran titled a "A Soldier for Life").). His situation improved a little when friends would visit or take him somewhere, when he would stay with his mother on the other side of town, or when he would go for an annual two-week course of therapy at a nearby military hospital, but was still far from ideal. At both his and his mother's apartments, for example, the elevators are barely large enough to accommodate a wheelchair and can only be accessed via flights of steps — making it difficult for him to come and go even if someone is helping him. He also has trouble using the toilet or bathing without assistance.

Čech began looking into what could be done on behalf of Schams and other wounded warriors and soon came to the conclusion that the only thing that would work is a completely new, private organization that both supplemented the available treatment and services and went beyond them. It was this realization that prompted him to help conceive of and become one of the co-founders of the REGI Base Foundation.

One of the very first thing the fledgling organization did was to take Schams to a special neurologic clinic in the Black Sea city of Odessa, in the Ukraine, so that he could be tested by a top specialist in brain injuries (that doctor had, ironically, served in a Soviet military field hospital in Afghanistan from 1982-84, during that nation's ill-fated occupation of the country). After being examined and receiving additional CAT scans, the medical staff at the facility recommended that Schams be sent to a military rehabilitation center in the Ukrainian city of Saky. He spent six weeks at the facility and, as a result of the treatment he received there, his speech improved significantly.

That was the limit of what could be accomplished for Schams in either the Czech Republic or the Ukraine, however, and the staff of REGI Base realized they needed something better. So, in January 2012, Čech traveled to TIRR Memorial Herman in Houston, Texas (shown here), where a dozen Romanian soldiers had recently received treatment for traumatic brain injuries, and the costs for this had apparently been covered by the U.S. government. The best that hospital representatives were willing to do, however, was to give REGI Base a quote of nearly a half-million dollars to treat Schams — something that closed the door on help for this allied soldier.

Despite this frustrating setback, REGI Base has continued to move ahead in its attempts to provide help for both Schams and other critically-injured soldiers.

“Our fundamental idea is to create a unique complex that will combine rehabilitation, accommodation, and 24-hour assistance for soldiers who have returned from overseas missions but who cannot be adequately cared for by their families or friends," said Čech (shown here at his office in Prague). "Our first priority is to provide 365-day-a-year service to soldiers who cannot be fully treated at home or by the government. The Czech Republic currently has more than 500 soldiers deployed in Afghanistan and, as something tragic can happen at any time, we need to be ready to provide special care when it is needed.”

Čech also emphasized that, once it is established, it is his intent that the facility will serve as a regional rehabilitation center that serves the needs not just of military personnel from the Czech Republic but other nations as well, including the United States and other NATO nations. Ultimately, he said he would like REGI Base to have branches worldwide and to established reciprocal agreements that would allow military personnel to receive the treatment most appropriate to them at facilities in any of the participating nations. And going beyond medical care, Čech is also actively lobbying in his country for legislation that would help provide jobs for discharged Czech veterans and working on a project to provide special insurance benefits to them.

During my visit to the Czech Republic, I met with Schams and his mother; Čech and his staff; Schams former commander, Major Pavel Ruzicka, currently second-in-command of the Czech military police corps; Special Operations Group members who served with Schams (most of whom cannot be mentioned by name or photographed because they are still on active duty and involved in classified operations), and Deputy Minister of Defense Michael Hrbata (who appears with me here in his office at the Ministry of Defense). Hrbata in particular has been a champion of REGI Base, as has his boss, Defense Minister Alexandr Vondra — who gave the initial "green light" for the veterans organization — and the two of them have done everything in their power to garner support for it from the government and amongst the Czech people.

What really struck me during my visit, in fact, was how everyone concerned was doing everything in their power to help Jiří Schams and soldiers in a similar situation, but how so much more was needed (Schams is shown below as he appears today). REGI Base has got a handle on what those additional measures are, and when I visited the site of the clinic under construction and heard about all the great things the foundation wants to do, my response was, "Let's get this done! What do you need?"

As with almost anything big and complicated in the modern world, of course, what REGI Base needs is funding. It has thus far raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for its facility outside of Prague and, in the course of moving ahead with it, has just added a third level to the main building. It needs millions more, however, to complete construction, purchase expensive diagnostic equipment, and get treatment for Schams at TIRR Memorial Hermann in Houston. In the meantime, the war continues, billions of dollars go every day toward its prosecution, and, every week, more soldiers, allied and U.S. alike, join Schams among those who will need a lifetime of care as the price for their sacrifices.

Uniting Against the War on Women

By Terri Rodabaugh

We have been inundated lately with Representative after Representative trying to pass legislation limiting what women can and cannot do with their bodies. We are being made to have transvaginal ultrasounds before getting an abortion. Have you ever had one of these ultrasounds? I have ... several times, for reasons pertaining to the medication that I am on that helps to eliminate estrogen in my body so that cancer can't grow. It wasn't painful but I can imagine how degrading it would be to have to have that done to you. It seems to me to be a sort of torture, maybe even a form of rape because it is against the woman's consent. It is a form of control, of bullying, plain and simple.

Soon, mark my words, there will be lawsuits against the government for making a woman have to do this. I can assure you there are already women lining up at their local legal aide offices to file complaints. I know I would. And, if they are smart, they will.

What I see happening here is the need for us all to come together. We as women need to stand together and say "no more." Women need to forget all about what political party we are from and work side-by-side to not let these atrocities happen. What's next? Forcible castration? We might as well live in a Third World Country.

Recently, I read that Georgia Representative Terry England (shown here) is trying to pass legislation to make a woman carry a stillborn fetus to term. What the heck for? More control, that's what for. Make us all feel like chattle won't you? For a woman to carry a stillborn to term is very dangerous. The stillborn child starts to decay within the woman carrying it. It could kill her. Is that really where we want to go in this country? Where is the compassion for others. Why are we allowing this to happen? We shouldn't be.

And don't get me started about Rush Limbaugh. He is just the voicebox of many men out there and it is frightening to think that we are thought so less of.

On April 28, 2012, there will be a march on your state capital asking for the War Against Women to cease. We are fed up and it is time to stand together as one unit.

You can find the march in your area by going to the Unite Against the War on Women page on Facebook. Join the group, find out where members are meeting, and march with us. You men who love your women, march along beside us and show your support. The time has come.

But it also makes me wonder, why now? What are they covering up? I believe something is going down in this country. Something they don't want us to see so they make all this chaos. What is being done without our knowing? We will soon find out and God help us all.

"There is a special place in Hell for women who do not help other women," Madeleine Albright said in what has become one of my favorite quotes. Let's do this ladies ... it's time. We can't shut our eyes and think this will all go away. There is no going back to the Dark Ages for us. Let's blow the lid off this thing so we can start to see what is truly going on.