Month: October 2018

I
refrained from commenting on the migrant “caravan” as long as I could so I
could work in peace without interruption or distraction on my next novel, Flute. But the strings to say something
about the poor, poor migrants pull hard, and here I am

So,
here we are. Some 7,000 or more Central Americans are “walking” up to the U.S.
border to demand entry and a piece of the welfare state pie. The U.S. should
apologize to them for being so fascist and cruel, said an Objectivist
intellectual, Harry Binswanger, in a Forbes article.

Oh,
yes. The Hondurans are going to show us how it’s done.  They’re going to boost the economy 500%
with their advanced job skills. They’re going to discover the cures for cancer
and the common cold. They’re going to send a rover to Pluto,
and shame the accomplishments of the Mars rovers and the Huygens
Titan
probe and those snotty Japanese who’ve managed to land probes
on a mere asteroid! They’ve got
the ambition and the expertise and the unmatched talent, and the U.S. would
benefit if only they’d let the Hondurans, and Guatemalans, Salvadorans, and
Mexicans come in and not ask them any awkward questions or establish criteria! They
can soak up the housing market, and buy houses and estates in Newport Beach and
Laguna. To call them parasites and leeches is insulting, as insulting as
calling Muslim women “brood mares.” As offensive as calling Muslim men “dead
heads.” And it’s “racist” to point out that Somali Muslim women are uniformly
fat and ugly and a visual blot on the landscape.

They
can save the California economy and add billions of dollars to the state budget
so the state can finish the super
train and fund its civil
service pension program. They’re going to replace the U.S. flag with the
Mexican and Honduran ones and demand that white Americans learn Spanish as a
mandatory first language, and that companies make “speak English” the last
number to press to talk to banks and businesses or their doctors (no. 9). The
U.S. flag is “racist,” they say, and must be burned and gotten rid of. Refugees
no more! Full citizenship, and to hell with the fools who applied for it and
took civics lessons and waited for years! When they could just as well walked
across the border and claimed “asylum.”

Satire
aside: What have the closely packed migrants who are falling off of packed
trucks or collapsing from exhaustion during the trek to offer the U.S.? Not
much – except to become a greater weight on the welfare system, sustained also
by stipends from their various Soros and NGO beneficaries. It’s the powers
behind the alleged “caravan” that stand to gain the most. For one, George
Soros, who through his multiple connections or subsidies of “humanitarian”
charities, aided and encouraged by the State Department,  in turn fund every collectivist cause
imaginable, including “caravans” of the poverty stricken migrants, “yearning to
be free.” Or taken care of by the state and taxpayers and the damned gringos. Soros and
the Dems intend to do to America what what’s been done to Europe: cripple it
and dissolve it.

Are
they coming to the U.S. to seek asylum? No. They’re looking
for jobs. They say. They may be telling the truth. Still, they are ignorant
pawns of the elitists who seek to bring the U.S. down to the level of any Islamized
country in Europe, for example, the U.K.

Gatestone
reports:

More
than 100,000 British Muslims sympathize with suicide bombers and people who
commit other terrorist acts, according to a 615-page survey. Only one in three
British Muslims (34%) would contact the police if they believed that somebody
close to them had become involved with radical Islam. In addition, 23% of
British Muslims said Islamic Sharia law should replace British law in areas
with large Muslim populations.

So,
the U.K. Is being inundated with hostile Muslims. The U.S. has been “settled”
or “colonized” by hostile Muslims, and it is intended that it will be inundated
by equally ignorant and hostile Central Americans. It’s Obama “transforming”
our country. If that takes “caravans” or invasion armies, so be it. There will
be “collateral damage,” too.

 

Politifact
quoted Obama n February:

This
is all Obama’s usual yadda yadda. He’s never been interested in “creating” anything
except federally subsidized boondoggles, such as Solyndra.
By “transform” he means changing America into a nation of submissive, non-questioning,
obedient serfs who abide by the social justice warrior’s bidding.

This column might cost me a few readers.

I remember the days when I could go to a restaurant or a coffee shop for lunch, and have a smoke after my meal. I remember being able to smoke on the job. I remember flying and asking reservations for a smoking seat. And in a restaurant where I planned to spend more time than usual, asking for the smoking section.

Then, in 1988 Northwest Airlines ran an ad on TV in which the voice over announced that there would be no more smoking on its flights.

Following that, the hammer began to drop, all over the country. Airline after airline abolished smoking sections. State after state began to ban smoking in offices, restaurants, coffee shops, theaters, and even in pool halls. And then outside of buildings where smokers congregated but were banned because passersby might drop dead or have a crashing headache from the second-hand smoke. Before you knew it, many restaurants and other “public places” began to close; I remember so many places in Williamsburg and Newport News where I could repair for lunch or a meal and a smoke. But they’ve all disappeared or knuckled under the no-smoking laws. Ashtrays on tables and counters vanished.

One of my favorite places was the bar of The Polo Club on Jamestown Road. I went by there after out-going governor Tim Kaine (Hillary’s running mate) signed a law banning all such smoking in Virginia in a spate of virtue-signaling. I saw patrons standing outside because they could no longer smoke in the bar. The last time I checked the place had been gutted to a bare floor; a sign on the window said that an exercise salon was going to take the restaurant’s place.

The smoking bans effectively, and in fact, seized private property to benefit one group and prohibited what it deemed to be “public health” practices. What for? For an influential group and lobby that wanted smoking banned so that it could go wherever it wanted, so that “sensitive” non-smokers could avail themselves of private property that already existed, instead of having to start their own non-smoking venues. 

It was a continuation of the Progressive campaign to force everyone to conform to the “public good” in terms of health concerns. It was the authoritarian desire to rob people of something they enjoyed. It is a manifestation of hatchet-wielding Carry Nation and the Women’s Christian Temperance Union and their violent campaigns against bars and alcohol.

One reader’s comment on Reddit noted:

American tobacco companies put up to 599 extra ingredients into their cigarettes. So instead of burning just tobacco, paper and a burning agent (in the paper,) you are combusting a huge variety of chemicals, many of which are not approved for ingestion after combustion. Here are just the first several additives off of Wikipedia list of all 599: Acetanisole, Acetic acid, Acetoin, Acetophenone, 6-Acetoxydihydrotheaspirane, 2-Acetyl-3-Ethylpyrazine, 2-Acetyl, 5-Methylfuran, Acetylpyrazine, 2-Acetylpyridine, 3-Acetylpyridine, 2-Acetylthiazole, etc.

American Spirit cigarettes have 0 added ingredients. It’s just tobacco, paper and a burning agent in the paper.

….I also notice when I see a cigarette in a movie, 9 times out of 10 it is an American Spirit. My guess is they have actors smoke that brand for the same reason: so it does not provoke a negative reaction in the film crew. Of course, I have no proof of this. It’s just a guess.

Anti-smokers, who are, as a rule, against Columbus Day and claim that North American Indians were peace-loving people “victimized” by the European “invasion” of the continent, tend to overlook the fact that American Indians (the vaunted “indigenous peoples) introduced Europeans to smoking and tobacco. In England, King James, however, as rabid an anti-tobacco zealot as was Adolf Hitler, collected lots of revenue from the Virginia tobacco trade. Hitler also collected personal revenue from the trade in Germany, as well as from sales of Mein Kampf, and had cigarettes sold on the streets.

In fact, during the French and Indian War, Britain had a special arrangement with France, to export tobacco uninterrupted to France, which also benefited from the sales revenue. Tobacco from the colonies, especially from Virginia, had to “land” in Britain before going anywhere else. Mandatory shipment of all colonial produce to Britain was a fetter that tied the colonies to mercantilism, which was a contributing factor to the American Revolution.

The 17th century saw the organization of the tobacco trade and the implementation of new laws regulating the sale of tobacco. In 1614 Spain proclaimed Seville the tobacco capital of the world. All tobacco produced for sale in New Spain had to first go through Seville before moving on to the rest of Europe. France and England passed analogous laws. King James I of England was the first to tax tobacco while King Louis XIV was the first to make its distribution and sale a state run monopoly. Laws restricting the cultivation of tobacco to the Americas were passed during the second half of the 1600’s in an effort to insure a steady high quality supply. During this time period the Tionontati, an Indian tribe located in what is today south-eastern Canada, produced tobacco for sale in Europe and were known by the French as the tobacco people.

From Sparrowhawk, Book Three, p. 5 on the tobacco trade during the French and Indian War: (1754-1763):

Neither did the war affect Virginians much in the purse. The colony’s chief export, and the basis of its prosperity, was tobacco. While French and British navies and privateers preyed on each other’s sea commerce, British merchantmen were able to sail regularly, under a flag of truce, to French ports with cargoes of tobacco bought by the Farmers General of the Revenue, the French state tobacco monopoly, and the largest single buyer on the world market.  Both Crowns needed the revenue generated by that trade in order to prosecute the war.  The same concordia discors had been in effect during King George’s war, or the War of the Austrian Succession.

The rationale behind banning smoking in “public places” is that they are open to the public and anyone may enter them with the right to not encounter smoke or even second-hand smoke, as it may give them headaches or detract from the enjoyment of his meal. The subject of “public places” is dealt with in the second half of Sparrowhawk, Book Two, when members of the Society of the Pippin, a group of “freethinkers,” are arrested in a “public place” in London, and put on trial for uttering “blasphemous” words against the King during a private meeting. The judge trying them, Sir Bevil Grainger, delivers his finding (pp. 353-4):

“Gentlemen of the jury: I recommend that the accused, named Robert Meservey, Beverly Brashears, Peter Brompton, Daniel Sweeney, and Jacob Mendoza, members of a private club styled the Society of the Pippin, be on this day indicted for fractious and odious calumnies against His Majesty, George Rex the Third, our king and sovereign of his dominions, against our most perfect Church, and against the general and tranquil civil order of His Majesty’s dominions, calumnies uttered in a public place known as the Fruit Wench in this city  of  London, or the county of Middlesex, on any and all dates noted in their own recorded proceedings together with those noted in affidavits assembled by agents of the Crown.”

Grainger paused to catch his breath, then continued “—assailing and aspersing the veracity of Christianity and the Scriptures, the moral foundation of the nation, in such a quantity of statements, and in such evil terms, that to read them in this court would simply be to repeat the offense; and inadvertently, by the accused’s hands, or by the hand of an unknown party – it matters not which – making known these libels and blasphemies to the public by their utterance in a public place and by dissemination of them on posters put up in public places, consequently tending and intending to incite public dissatisfaction and a breach of the public peace.”

Little did I foresee, when I wrote Grainger’s deliberations at the turn of the century, that years later people could be sued, charged, and punished or censored for uttering “blasphemous” words on private venues against Islam. While censoring, or punishing people for “defaming” Islam is not the same as banning smoking on private property, the two actions share the same common root: a desire to control people’s actions by the state and to impose an arbitrary, unquestioning uniformity, by force or by crook. Americans have become inured to the bans, conditioned to them, so to speak, and think little of them now. Islam frowns on smoking and wages the same kind of propaganda war against it as the federal government wages.

ThoughtCo notes:

In more recent times, as the dangers of tobacco use have been proven beyond any doubt, Islamic scholars have become unanimous in pronouncing that tobacco use is clearly haram (forbidden) to believers. They now use the strongest possible terms to condemn this habit. Here is a clear example:

In view of the harm caused by tobacco, growing, trading in and smoking of tobacco are judged to be haram (forbidden). The Prophet, peace be upon him, is reported to have said, ‘Do not harm yourselves or others.’ Furthermore, tobacco is unwholesome, and God says in the Qur’an that the Prophet, peace be upon him, ‘enjoins upon them that which is good and pure, and forbids them that which is unwholesome. (Permanent Committee of Academic Research and Fatwa, Saudi Arabia). (Ayah a-A ‘raf 715)

The reasons Islamic scholars give to argue against smoking do not differ in substance from those offered by the government or by secularists. “Proven beyond a doubt”? Islam is not famous for its medical advice; i.e., female genital mutilation and drinking camel urine. Smoking is a private pleasure, and a private pleasure is discouraged by Islam because it does not wholly please Allah; one lives for Allah’s happiness and pleasure, and for nothing else.

All the heroes of my novels smoke.

I was not too surprised to read the short warning in the credits at the end of my DVD of The Darkest Hour that the film was not an endorsement of smoking (Churchill smoked his cigar virtually through the whole movie). I was not surprised either when the cigarette was air brushed from Humphrey Bogart’s stamp.

On the other hand –  Peace be upon the State?

So, in Star Wars Darth Vader destroyed Palpatine, Imperial Emperor of the Galactic Empire, and, on Earth Brett Kavanaugh defanged Diane Feinstein, almost driving her to tears.  She’s shattered, and has difficulty containing her emotions for having lost in her and Schumer’s efforts to bring down Kavanaugh. There is a very good analysis of her reactions and body language in the video of her and Schumer having a press conference about Chairman Grassley’s decision for cloture of the hearing. There’s no analysis of Schumer’s body language as he yadda-yadda’s on about how the Dems are dissatisfied with the seventh FBI report. He’s such a practiced dissembler that his body language isn’t obvious.

Roger Simon of PJ Media, noted about Senator Susan Collins’ speech, about how she would vote vis-á-vis the nomination and her condemnation of the hearing that :

Prior to her words, a good portion of the public could only nod their heads at Senator John Kennedy’s description of the Kavanaugh confirmation process as “an intergalactic freak show.”  That apt characterization could not help but carry over to the Senate in general, an entity — it’s hard to believe now — that was once called “the world’s greatest deliberative body.”

….This seems to have made little impact on the Democrats, at least on the surface.  They declined to applaud Collins after a more impressive speech than any single one of them, to my knowledge, has ever given.  I guess they couldn’t abide what she was saying toward the end, that she hoped that this hideous period of treating the rule of law like garbage was over and that Congress and the Court could learn to work together for the good of the country.

Collins’ speech followed the fiery and angry speeches of Lindsey Graham and Kavanaugh.

Now that Kavanaugh has been confirmed by the Senate Judiciary Committee, at a vote of 50 to 48, it only remains for President Trump to sign the judge’s  “commission” to be on the Supreme Court.

And then we’ll hear very little else from Diane Feinstein and her flying monkeys.

A measure of the Democrats’ insanity and their ingrained Trump/Kavanaugh Derangement is how committed the Dems are to defeating Trump and Kavanaugh.

The latest investigation was requested by Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., who voted along with the rest of his GOP colleagues to recommend Kavanaugh’s nomination to the full Senate on Friday. On Sunday, Senator  Jerald Nadler (/D-NY) called on Flake and other senators who requested the investigation to ensure the FBI had a “free hand” to investigate the allegations against Kavanaugh. President Trump gave the FBI free rein to investigate Christine Ford and Kavanaugh again. After getting the FBI report,

Feinstein said, “[W]hat I can say is that the most notable part of this report is what’s not in it. As we noted by the White House, the FBI did not interview Brett Kavanaugh, nor did the FBI interview Dr. Blasey Ford. What we’ve heard, from numerous people, over the last few days, seeking to provide information to the FBI, we have seen even more press reports of witnesses who wanted to speak with the FBI, but were not interviewed. Deborah Ramirez’s lawyer said he was unaware of any corroborating witnesses who were interviewed. Candidly, what we reviewed today, in a very limited time, I was there. I had to leave. The report is in parts, and I had the opportunity to read some, but not all of it. It looks to be a product of an incomplete investigation that was limited, perhaps by the White House. I don’t know.”

“What’s not in it” to Feinstein, is an FBI report on Kavanaugh’s sexual assault on a visitor from Pluto while in a state of severe drunkenness. The report is not “complete” because it does not contain information about Kavanaugh acting like a 17-year-old upper class twit.

Senator Blumenthal added, “The FBI is not responsible. I think that the blame lies with White House that straitjacketed this investigation.” Even though Trump said the FBI could ask anyone or look into anything.

Trump Train News reports:

The Investigation into Brett Kavanaugh that was requested by Jeff Flake is finally over and its details are out. The FBI investigation was requested by Flake as a condition for his vote to get Kavanaugh out of committee and his vote on Kavanaugh on the full senate floor. The investigation was primarily tasked with looking into the allegations of sexual assault from Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and the time that she alleges this all happened. Here are the real facts from the FBI’s report, no FAKE NEWS here.

The Dems are disappointed that the FBI found nothing new to report, nothing that could be exploded into scandalous or criminal behavior unbecoming a member of the Supreme Court of the United States. Such as:

That Kavanaugh ran a gang of perverts who took upskirt photographs of women in Wal-Mart stores and shared these pictures with each other online;

That in private, Kavanaugh regularly defamed Islam and at nights put slices of bacon on the front doors of local mosques.

Chairman Grassley and the Judicial Committee requested that Ford’s lawyers give them a copy of the notes from Ford’s therapy session. A simple request that you’d think the lawyers would be willing to submit to. But Ford’s lawyers, who were partially recommended by Feinstein’s office, were not interested in being compliant. They apparently saw this as an opportunity to further delay the Kavanaugh hearing and responded with an ultimatum.

The FBI came to the following conclusion after the interviews: “The Supplemental Background Investigation confirms what the Senate Judiciary Committee concluded after its investigation: there is no corroboration of the allegations made by Dr. Ford or Ms. Ramirez,”  the Judiciary Committee Republicans wrote.

The Dems don’t need no stinkin’ corroboration. Well, not any that can be denied by unreliable “witnesses.” Not any that can fold like Julie Swetnick and other potential “victims.” They made a mistake recruiting Julie Swetnick to swear on a stack of Bibles that she was there when Kavanaugh allegedly assaulted Christine Ford. The Guardian (Briton) reports:

The FBI will not interview Julie Swetnick, the third woman to accuse Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct, according to multiple reports and the Republican senator Lindsey Graham, highlighting the narrow scope of the agency’s supplemental investigation into Donald Trump’s supreme court nominee.

Swetnick has claimed, in a sworn statement, that Kavanaugh and Judge engaged in lewd behavior with young women at high school parties, and alleged the two placed drugs or alcohol in punch in order to inebriate women so they could be “gang raped” by other partygoers.

Swetnick swears that Kavanaugh’s parties were like Roman orgies. From 35 years ago, when memories have been dulled by time (and more liquor). But Ford remembers, somehow, that she had one beer. Ford the party girl remembers Kavanaugh’s “assault” on her with little or no certainty.

Most readers have been left mentally bruised by the almost nonstop coverage of the Brett Kavanaugh Judicial hearing, in which the Democrats opposed to him deliberately savaged Kavanaugh and made the nomination process akin to an attack by a herd of ravenous walkers or zombies from The Walking Dead. I don’t view the Democrats in the hearing any other way. They were out to destroy Kavanaugh, presuming he is guilty (treating the hearing as a trial) unless proven innocent, although innocence is a concept alien to their social view just as their notion of “justice” is simply a misnomer for vengeance.  They are not pursuing innocence.

Outside the hearing, the circus goes on.  Andrew West writes for Constitution, that the Democrats do not have a corner on the Trump/Kavanaugh Syndrome:

Georgetown University “distinguished associate professor” Christine Fair thinks all white Republican senators in the Brett Kavanaugh hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee ”deserve miserable deaths.”

Oh, and after they’re dead, the professor — who describes herself in her Twitter bio as an “inter-sectional feminist, pitbull apostle, scotch devotee, nontheist, resister” — thinks they should be castrated and fed to pigs.

Georgetown backed “Professor” Fair up, by citing her free speech rights. Katie Pavich at Townhall quoted the endorsement:

“The views of faculty members expressed in their private capacities are their own and not the views of the University. Our policy does not prohibit speech based on the person presenting ideas or the content of those ideas, even when those ideas may be difficult, controversial or objectionable. While faculty members may exercise freedom of speech, we expect that their classrooms and interaction with students be free of bias and geared toward thoughtful, respectful dialogue.”

Speaking of monsters from Georgetown U., in 1922 H.L. Mencken drew up a list of expired gods,  “Graveyard of the Dead Gods,” most of the deities bloodthirsty, bizarre in appearance and in powers, and absolutely twirly. Long ago, upon first reading Mencken’s article, I thought he had invented the names, and that the purpose of the piece was to mock religion. But, believe if or not, each expired deceased immortal has an entry in one or another encyclopedia, even in Wikipedia. The occupants of Mencken’s graveyard come from all the continents and from most cultures and eras. See my column “Casper the Unfriendly Ghost.”

Ayn Rand described the ubiquity of religion and the persistence of faith in “higher authorities”:

…But you must remember that religion is an early form of philosophy, that the first attempts to explain the universe, to give a coherent frame of reference to man’s life and a code of moral values, were made by religion, before men graduated or developed enough to have philosophy. And, as philosophies, some religions have very valuable moral points. They may have a good influence or proper principles to inculcate, but in a very contradictory context and, on a very—how should I say it?—dangerous or malevolent base: on the ground of faith.

For example, there’s Mullo:

Mullo (Muli: female, Mulo: male) is an undead, revenant, or vampire of Roma folklore. ‘Mullo’ means ‘one who is dead.’

A mullo is created when a person dies suddenly of some unnatural cause or the person did not have proper funeral rites. A mullo is described as having white clothes, hair that reaches to their feet, and one physical oddity (a trait which varies from geographic region to region). A mullo’s existence is in seeking out people it did not like in life and harassing that person.

There’s your origin of voodoo. And Adsalluta:

An altar dedicated to the deity of the river Sava Augusto) was found at Ščitarjevo (Andautonia).  The cult of Savus is evidenced on several monuments, all of them from the upper course of the river, from the

surroundings of Emona, as well as from Andautonia and Siscia. Several altars dedicated to a pair of deities, Savus and Adsalluta (a female deity of the Celtic Taurisci), were also found along the upper course of the

river. The name of the river deity Savus is also found on a lead tablet inscribed on both sides found in the Kupa at Sisak: it is a curse (defixio) demanding a punishment (drowning) of the individual that was the object of the curse.

And we can’t forget Ashtoreth:

Ashtoreth was the moon goddess of the Phoenicians, representing the passive principle in nature, their principal female deity; frequently associated with the name of Baal, the sun-god, their chief male deity ( Judges 10:6 ; 1 Samuel 7:4 ; 12:10 ). These names often occur in the plural (Ashtaroth, Baalim), probably as indicating either different statues or different modifications of the deities. This deity is spoken of as Ashtoreth of the Zidonians. She was the Ishtar of the Accadians and the Astarte of the Greeks ( Jeremiah 44:17 ; 1 Kings 11:5 1 Kings 11:33 ; 2 Kings 23:13 ). There was a temple of this goddess among the Philistines in the time of Saul ( 1 Samuel 31:10 ). Under the name of Ishtar, she was one of the great deities of the Assyrians. The Phoenicians called her Astarte. Solomon introduced the worship of this idol ( 1 Kings 11:33 ). Jezebel’s 400 priests were probably employed in its service ( 1 Kings 18:19 ). It was called the “queen of heaven” ( Jeremiah 44:25 ).

Perhaps we can forget Ashtoreth . But who the hell were the Zidonians?

Zidonians were the inhabitants of Zidon. They were among the nations of Canaan; left to give the Israelites practice in the art of war, (Judges 3:3) and colonies of them appear to have spread up into the hill country from Lebanon to Misrephothmaim, (Joshua 13:4,6) whence in later times they hewed cedar trees for David and Solomon. (1 Chronicles 22:4) They oppressed the Israelites on their first entrance into the country, (Judges 10:12) and appear to have lived a luxurious, reckless life. (Judges 18:7) They were skillful in hewing timber, (1 Kings 5:8) and were employed for this purpose by Solomon. They were idolaters, and worshipped Ashtoreth as their tutelary goddess, (1 Kings 11:5,33; 2 Kings 23:13) as well as the sun-god Baal from whom their king was named. (1 Kings 16:31)

The ancient Egyptians came up with some doozy gods, such as Osiris:

Osiris is the Egyptian Lord of the Underworld and Judge of the Dead, brother-husband to Isis, and one of the most important gods of ancient Egypt. The name `Osiris’ is the Latinized form of the Egyptian Usir which is interpreted as ‘powerful’ or ‘mighty’. He is the first-born of the gods Geb (earth) and Nut (sky) shortly after the creation of the world, was murdered by his younger brother Set, and brought back to life by his sister-wife Isis. This myth, and the gods involved, became central to Egyptian culture and religious life. Osiris was originally a fertility god, possibly from Syria (though this claim is contested) who became so popular he absorbed the function of earlier gods such as Andjeti and Khentiamenti, two gods of fertility and agriculture worshipped at Abydos. He is associated with the djed symbol and is often depicted with black or green skin symbolizing the fertile mud of the Nile and regeneration. He is also frequently shown as a mummy or in partially mummified form in his role as Judge of the Dead.

… He was also known as The Lord of Love, King of the Living, and Eternal Lord. After Isis, Osiris was the most popular and enduring of all the Egyptian gods. His worship spanned thousands of years from shortly before the Early Dynastic Period (c. 3150-2613 BCE) to the Ptolemaic Dynasty (323-30 BCE), the last dynasty to rule Egypt before the coming of Rome. It is also possible that Osiris was worshipped in some form in the Predynastic Period of Egypt (c. 6000-3150 BCE) and probable that he originated at that time.

…Where, when, and how Osiris was first worshipped is much disputed. It has been claimed that Osiris was originally a deified Predynastic king, a primitive vegetation spirit, a jackal god of an early royal necropolis, or a mother goddess. Even the etymology of his name is uncertain, though it may simply mean ‘The Mighty One’

…Although he is usually seen as a just, generous, and giving god of life and abundance there are also depictions of him as “a terrifying figure who dispatches demon-messengers to drag the living into the gloomy realm of the dead”

Abracadabra:You must believe! Or else!

There isn’t much in that vein that could be said of Allah. Allah is missing from Mencken’s list of deceased deities, possibly because he is such a ridiculous “god,” and one with no purpose (he did not represent fecundity or rich harvests) that the Baltimoran chose not to include him. Britannica notes:

Etymologically, the name Allah is probably a contraction of the Arabic al-Ilāh, “the God.” The name’s origin can be traced to the earliest Semitic writings in which the word for god was il or el, the latter being used in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament). Allah is the standard Arabic word for God and is used by Arabic-speaking Christians and Jews as well as by Muslims regardless of their native tongue.

Allah is the pivot of the Muslim faith. Islam’s holy scripture, the Qurʾān, stresses above all Allah’s singularity and sole sovereignty, a doctrinal tenet indicated by the Arabic term tawḥīd (“oneness”). He never sleeps or tires, and, while transcendent, he perceives and reacts to everything in every place through the omnipresence of his divine knowledge. He creates ex nihilo and is in no need of a consort, nor does he have offspring. Three themes preponderate in the Qurʾān: (1) Allah is the Creator, Judge, and Rewarder; (2) he is unique (wāḥid) and inherently one (aḥad); and (3) he is omnipotent and all-merciful. Allah is the “Lord of the Worlds,” the Most High; “nothing is like unto him,” and this in itself is to the believer a request to adore Allah as the Protector and to glorify his powers of compassion and forgiveness.

An apt description of the Supreme “Everything’s about Me” Narcissist.  

So much about Allah is literally incredible. “He perceives and reacts to everything in every place through the omnipresence of his divine knowledge. He creates creates ex nihilo and is in no need of a consort….” He is alleged to be both omniscient and omnipotent, contradictory attributes that defy reason. If he can change things, then he must have known beforehand before creating a thing that he would have changed it later.

And if he had no wife or female companion, and always existed, where did he get the idea of 72 virgins from? Well, he’s just an ex nihilo kind of guy. Like the Christian God, he can create things out of nothing, with no preconceived idea of what they are or will be. Loan him a rib!. The idea of a woman just popped into his head, anatomy and all.

Our Wonder Woman

Amil Imani asks Allah some rhetorical questions about Allah’s powers, about women, and about many other things.

Are you male, your lordship? Pardon me for asking a personal question. The reason I ask is that you have much against women. You stipulate that women are worth one-half of a man. You ordain that men are rulers over women and much more. I really don’t see that. My lifelong experiences with women have convinced me that women are every bit as worthy as men, if not even better in many respects. For one, women are the life-givers and nurturers of life. Men, by contrast, are forever in the business of life-taking.

Science tells us that women are as capable as men in every sphere other than those that require brute force. But machines are much superior to men in brute force and women can and do operate those machines as well as men.

Is there something inherently inferior or evil about women? If so, then, pardon me, your lordship. It is you who designed them that way. Didn’t you?

As you wander through the celestial cemetery, you might wonder why Allah’s tombstone is missing. Is a stonemason still carving it? No. It’s missing because Muslims stole it to prove that Allah really existed and that he was never a figment of men’s imagination. He is REAL! They want to confirm his existence by saying abracadabra and that because you can’t see him is a figment of your blasphemous mind and proof of his existence! Off with your head!