Opening Volley of Vitriol

America the Exceptional: Born from genocide, nurtured by chattel slavery, & continuing to this day to solve its problems through violence & bullying. As we type this from the Westwood Branch of the Los Angeles Public Library (overlooking the mini-cemetery where Marilyn Monroe & Frank Zappa molder while awaiting the rapture) we are surrounded by Mormon "missionaries," in their white shirts, dark neckties & name tags. Did you know that the Mormon "church" actually suggests how many piercings ladies should have (In their earlobes, of course!! You weren't thinking...gasp!!) & tells men whether or not to wear beards, etc.? Oddly enough, beards were cool in the 19th century, less popular as the outside ("gentile") world gave up on them. In other words, Mormons are the shallowest conformist dupes imaginable. (Hey, multi-billion dollar church, give your fucking lie-spreaders their own laptops, so they won't be using resources that are needed by people who work for a living or are w/o a living!!) And here's a lovely story about the real Mormons, not those whose desire for power & acceptability caused them to sell out many of the distinctive tenets of their oh-so-American religion (You know, pro-slavery, racist, etc. They still hate & fear women, that most common element of all religions: "Get your biscuits in the oven & your buns in the bed, we need a quiverfull!!") but those who still practice it more or less as Joseph Smith made it up from whole cloth.

State authorities raided a ranch owned by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a renegade Mormon sect, on April 3. More than 450 children are in state foster facilities from the raid.

The agency later released more information on its Web site, stating that: "Medical exams and reports by the children indicate that at least 41 children have had broken bones in the past. We do not have X-rays or complete medical information on many children so it is too early to draw any conclusions based on this information, but it is cause for concern and something we’ll continue to examine." "Based on interviews with the children and journal entries found at the ranch, we are continuing to look into the possible sexual abuse of some young boys."

As we typed above, it's really the plain old non-fundamentalist (Salt Lake City-based) Church of LDS that's the renegade sect. The FLDS (don't confuse it w/ FDS) is the one true church. And here's another good one:

FLDS spokesman Rod Parker called Cockerell's testimony "a deliberate effort to mislead the public."

As opposed to:

Cockerell also told a state legislative committee that mothers who stayed with their children in state custody launched a coordinated effort to stymie investigators, coaching their children to not answer questions.

Spare the rod & spoil the child, right Rod?

Church officials have denied that any children were abused at the ranch and say the state’s actions are a form of religious persecution. They also dispute the count of teen mothers, saying at least some are likely adults.

The true "religious persecution:"

On Monday, CPS announced that almost 60 percent of the underage girls living on the Eldorado ranch either have children or are pregnant.

Of the 53 girls between the ages of 14 and 17 who are in state custody, 31 either have given birth or were expecting, Azar said.

"If they're old enough to bleed, they're old enough to breed."