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                    __ _ / _|_ __ ___
           _____   / _` | |_| '_ ` _ \   _____
          |_____| | (_| |  _| | | | | | |_____|
                   \__,_|_| |_| |_| |_|
                   Another Foggy Moment

 These are the continuing adventures of a typical resident
 of the self-proclaimed center of the Pugetopolis universe -
 Seattle. Most are true stories but some are made of whole-
 cloth. I ain't the Mayor, the Governor or a Big Shot. Just
 another Working Stiff with a Bad Attitude.

    ------------------------------------------------
    WARNING: This is not a Child-Proof Neighborhood.
    If you're a kid - scram!, beat it! you little
    punk before your Old Lady catches you and calls
    the cops. They'll throw you in the Big House in
    Walla Walla and won't let you out until you're
    89 years old. There. Don't say I didn't warn you.
    -------------------------------------------------

                          - 140 -

 Didn't take long. No sooner were the blossoms on the Yoshino 
 cherry trees in U Dub's quad than the cameras came out and 
 people started lining up to use them as a backdrop for their 
 photos. All of them are Asians. It's curious how some things 
 here that have little or no meaning to the locals have great
 significance to people from outside. The trees do look lovely. 
 The blooming is a slow and gradual process.
                             *
 The legend of Judge Jimmy Doerty, Hooterville's Token Twinkie 
 on the King County Inferior Court bench grows. He made the 
 Washington Post and many other newsites this week with his 
 boneheaded move to indefinitely incarcerate that nice old guy 
 who tried to organize his Old Folks home. Judge Jimmy took 
 offence to the semi-retired former U Dub Journalism prof's 
 informational webpage (contracabal.net) and won't pop him 
 free until he removes it. Everybody is beginning to think 
 Judge Jimmy is playing a couple cards short of a full deck. 
 With all the first-rate Gay ambulance-chasers there are in 
 this town (and there are plenty), how is it we end up with 
 this inexperienced and fairly clueless former Family Court 
 babysitter? Public service in Washington state is becoming 
 synonymous with 'too stupid to get a job anywhere else'. 
                              *
 The number of rowers out in the Ship Canal has greatly increased
 with the early sunrise. Who else but a Yuppie would be retarded 
 enough to pay somebody to make them sweat? Tons of the Pig Boats
 are out there in the morning with their flabby occupants putting 
 their scrawny backs to the oars while some motor-mouth sadist in 
 a luxury motor craft taunts and torments them with a bullhorn. 
 I'm surprised the people living along the Montlake Cut part of the
 Canal don't complain about the racket. You get some muscle-brained
 jerk who's been popping steroids all morning screaming at a Pig 
 Boat not 10 feet away with a full-volume bullhorn that can be heard
 half a mile away at 6 in the morning and it is not a pleasant 
 scene. The older and wiser rowers are out in single shells quietly 
 enjoying the morning air and a bit of exercise. U Dub's rowing crew 
 is increasingly out there too now that the distractions of school 
 work are out of the way. They've got the Regatta races coming up 
 soon. 
                              *
 The first Condition Book of the year showed up in the mail last
 week. Camptown Racers sing this song...doo dah...doo dah. The
 ponies will soon be running out at Emerald Downs and old Uncle
 Foggy will be out there skin'n the Toteboard Rubes for all he's
 worth. Baby says she needs a new pair of shoes. April 19th is 
 opening day. That old Bull Ring up in Vancouver (BC), Hastings 
 Park, usually opens a week earlier. I'll be jogging back and 
 forth through the summer. Pretty much have to blow any Hastings 
 Park winnings on that side of the border. The Canadian Loonie 
 ain't worth squat around here. But the horses are generally of 
 better quality and the jockeys are amongst the best in North 
 America. Besides, I always like that guy in the grandstand who 
 yells at jockey Sam Krasner during the Post Parade, "HEY SAM! 
 DON'T FALL OFF YOUR HORSEY THIS TIME!"

 At least half the punters up at Hastings are Chinese veterans
 of the turf wars at Sha Tin and Happy Valley in Hong Kong. I
 just happened to be there around the time Hong Kong was handed
 back to the People's Republic. You'll recall there was much
 public wailing and gnashing of teeth from the Chinese community.
 Well, the PRC's ambassador to Canada dropped by the track that
 day for a visit and to inaugerate a new stakes race. When he
 was introduced on the tannoy I figured they'd boo the bum off
 the stage eh. Unh unh. He got a wild, cheering ovation. The
 inscrutable East at its best.
                             *
 On this Pesach as Jews around the world celebrate again their
 escape from Egypt what an irony it is that Israel herself has
 now become the enslaver. From the slaughtering of children to 
 herding Palestinians into state-sanctioned ghetto/concentration
 camps, Israel is hardly distinguishable from Nazi Germany. The
 same mentality. Given a choice between dying on their knees 
 like cowards or dying on their feet like warriors, Palestinians 
 have chosen the warrior path. If death is the only option then 
 they're going to take some Israelis with them. The Zionism that 
 spawned Israel is the same sort of pseudo-intellectual bullshit 
 as Nazism. No different. It wraps itself in the Star of David 
 but its Judaism is merely a convenience. Few nations are so 
 adept at generating indifference to their fate as Israel. It
 was meant at its inception to be a home to two people, not
 just one. Israel's stories have always ended in tragedy. This 
 one will too. 

 This ain't anti-semitism, this is anti-Zionism. The Zionists
 are hoping you're too stupid to know the difference.

......................................................................

   PUBLIC NOTICE AS REQUIRED BY LAW: Any use of this product,
   in any manner whatsoever, will increase the amount of
   disorder in the universe. Although no liability is implied
   herein, the consumer is warned that this process will 
   ultimately lead to the heat death of the universe.

   - from Physics Product Warnings
......................................................................

                     HOOTERVILLE HARD HATS

 The Great American Hard-Hat ain't what he used to be. As we saw 
 in the attacks on the World Trade Center Towers, most of what Mr.
 Hard Hat builds these days is crapola - cheap, poorly-designed, 
 sloppily built junk. All but a few of those who died in the attacks 
 died because of Mr. Hard Hat, not because of the Mad Muslm Bombers. 
 There's no way in hell those towers should have come down. The 
 Pentagon, made in a different era by men who knew how to build 
 things properly, didn't collapse when it was attacked in the same 
 way. Not even close. No doubt the Empire State Building would also
 have survived the attacks. Shoddy modern American workmanship is 
 the obvious reason why the WTC towers fell. No two ways about it.

 It's strange the way they practically set up a trailer park now
 whenever they start a building project. Everybody has to have
 their own trailer. Take a peek inside and you see why: pool
 tables, frigs full of 'refreshments', color TVs, etc. Goof'n
 off eh. Camp'n out.

 And that weird 'dress up' thing the Hard Hats have. They all
 look so Gay. Like something out of "Village People" - that Gay
 band from the 70's. Why else would you take a job involving
 almost all guys unless you like a little Man Meat occasionally.
 I wonder if they have Beauty Contests too to see who's the
 Prettiest Boy? I won't even mention those big cosmetics cases
 they lug around. Oh yeah. Those are lunch boxes. Wink. Wink.
 That must be how they sneak in their pantyhose and slinky, 
 tight-fitting strapless gowns for the 'inside work' eh.

 And slow?! Oi! I've been watching a bunch of them put up a simple
 3-story walk up a few blocks from where I live. They've been at
 it for 5 years now. No bull! They're milking that baby like its
 their pension check. Whatta freak'n joke.

 It hasn't always been like this. Once upon a time, in 1925 to 
 be exact, they set the world speed record for reinforced concrete 
 work in commercial buildings right here in Hooterville. An entire 
 floor was added to a block-long, existing two-story building in 
 four and half days flat - totally from scratch. I mean right from 
 conception to the last brick. It's a job that even then normally 
 took months to do. Nowadays, with all the goofing off they do, it 
 likely would take years. The building involved was the long-gone 
 Arena Building downtown that used to take up the entire block 
 between Seneca and University on 5th Avenue across the street 
 from the Olympic Hotel. It became the Olympic Garage in later 
 years before being torn down for the big office complex that sits 
 there now.

 The situation was this: only days before all temporary buildings 
 in the Metropolitan Tract were, by contract, to be torn down, 
 the owners of the Arena were informed that its 2-stories didn't 
 qualify it as a permanent building. It was only a temporary 
 building and would have to be torn down. It lacked a third story 
 to be considered permanent. This was a surprise to the owners. 
 Their Arena had been there for years and, while originally meant
 to be temporary, the contract was rewritten and the structure
 upgraded to be permanent. Or so they thought until now. This 
 was on a Friday of course. Ain't it always?

 What to do? Sue? Nah. That would take forever and their building
 would be history long before the courts even got around to it.
 Well then, how about the impossible - add a third floor to it
 over the weekend? Are you nuts!? Add a whole floor in just a few
 days? Why the paperwork alone would take weeks. In the absence of
 any other ideas and unwilling to just roll over and lose their
 building, they shrugged their shoulders, chuckled and said, 
 "Whatta we got to lose? Let's give it a try." And so they did.

 While one group dug out the original blueprints and rustled up 
 some engineers to immediately begin working around the clock 
 altering them to add the new floor, another group rushed over 
 to City Hall to pry loose the necessary permits before everybody 
 left for the weekend. And yet another group frantically began
 making the rounds of the Union Halls rounding up construction 
 workers,iron-workers and brick-layers. Still another bunch 
 went in search of the needed quick-drying cement, steel and 
 other materials.

 As downtown emptied out for the weekend, the strange crowd of
 workmen and engineers began gathering at the Arena and the big 
 lights for night-work went up. This would be an around-the-clock
 effort. No stopping for anything. They immediately set to work 
 prepping for the job of raising the roof as they awaited the 
 first blueprints.

 When people began drifting back into downtown on Monday morning, 
 they were surprised to see all the construction around the Arena. 
 There was nothing going on there on Friday when they left and 
 there was nothing in the newspapers about any new construction 
 scheduled for there. What the heck is going on? Then it slowly 
 began to dawn on them - say, didn't that used to be a two story 
 building? They were amazed to notice that the Arena had grown 
 a new and nearly complete third floor! 
 
 But, with only a day left, Murphy struck. That dirty bastard. 
 They ran out of cement. And they didn't have enough steel to 
 finish the job either. Oi! It looked like curtains. So close, 
 but no banana.

 Then someone noticed the freighter U.S.S. Iowan pulling into
 Elliot Bay. Hmmm. A little Birdie down at the docks whispered
 in their ears that she had on board many barrels of quick-drying 
 cement bound for the Navy's Puget Sound Naval Shipyard across 
 the Sound in Bremerton. Some sort of renovation work they were 
 doing over there. The Arena Boyz only needed a few barrels. So 
 someone approached the Skipper with an offer he apparently 
 couldn't refuse. A short while later they were rolling 150 
 barrels off the Iowan. And the Skipper was likely dreaming of 
 early retirement on some pleasantly warm, distant South Pacific 
 island. Meanwhile someone else had finally located more steel 
 in a forgotten litle warehouse near town. BINGO! They were back 
 in business!

 Literally with only a few hours to spare, they had done it. The
 Arena now had a completely new third floor added to it and was
 now officially 'permanent'. It was ready for the inspectors to 
 look at. And when they did, they found it was in fine order.

 Nobody's going to break that record - ever.

 [Inspiration "Denny's Knoll", Neal O. Hines, U. Washington Press,
 ISBN 0-295-95718-2] 
 
......................................................................

   The Boss giving you a hard time saying you gotta give more than
   100%? And you think it's impossible to do? Sorry Bucko but your 
   Boss is right - it is possible.   

   If you give every letter of the alphabet a value (A = 1, B = 2, 
   C = 3, etc. then...
   HARDWORK is 8 + 1 + 18 + 4 + 23 + 15 + 18 + 11 = 98%
   KNOWLEDGE is 11 + 14 + 15 + 23 + 12 + 5 + 4 + 7 + 5 = 96%
   ATTITUDE is 1 + 20 + 20 + 9 + 20 + 21 + 4 + 5 = 100%
   BULLSHIT is 2 + 21 + 12 + 12 + 19 + 8 + 9 + 20 = 103%

   So it stands to reason that HARDWORK and KNOWLEDGE will get you 
   close; ATTITUDE will get you there; but BULLSHIT will put you 
   over the top!

......................................................................... 

                      'OL YELLER'S TWAT
              (aka The War Against Terrorism)

 It feels a lot like the days when Newt ruled the Republican roost
 promising a Great New Republican Dawn. They thought they had a
 wrap on the whole thing. That poor fat hillbilly in the White
 House, President Bubba, actually had to remind everybody he was 
 still there - he was so totally ignored. Then WHAMO! Newt and 
 his buddies took it in the electoral teeth during the off-year 
 election and the their Great Dawn turned into a puny sunset. 
 President Bubba and the Demos never looked back after that.

 My guess is, that is pretty much what will happen this November.
 Yellowbelly's religious-nut right-wing extremism isn't even
 vaguely Mainstream America. The resentment towards him has always
 been there even if our News Nazis have refused to allow it a
 platform. The Republicans are going to get creamed this Fall.
 They'll lose the House and be left with nothing but their 
 retard in the White House to carry their agenda. Ain't gonna 
 work. And he ain't gonna last either. But he's got the better
 part of three more years and the full cooperation of the 
 Department of Defense to estrange us from any ally we've ever
 had and make the word 'America' synonymous with 'asshole'.

 I think many people expect that the Democrats will straighten 
 this whole mess out: TWAT, the Republican recession, etc. That's
 what people thought when they voted for Lyndon Johnson back in
 the sixties to avoid Barry "Nukem" Goldwater. And what did they
 get? Race riots, the Vietnam War, asassinations. The Democrats
 voted overwhelmingly for the Patriot Act and the war in Afghanistan
 just like the Republicans did. They did so in the expectation
 that they soon would be weilding those extra-Constitutional 
 powers themselves. That's the reason for their Conspiracy of
 Silence. And they will readily abuse those powers every bit as
 much as Yellowbelly is presently doing. Likely more.

 This thing has only begun. It ain't even vaguely close to over.
 Take a good look around you. It won't ever be this nice and
 peaceful ever again in your lifetime. 

.....................................................................

                          DA MUTTS

 It was Stray Dawgs week - they headed out on the road coming off
 their Finals at school.

 FIRST STOP: Wazoo - the Kountry Kuzins - for 2 early-week games.
 Wazoo is sort of the unofficial U Dub Junior Varsity team. Most
 of the players are from Western Washington which makes it look
 suspiciously like they're the guys who couldn't make Da Mutts.
 The Shawn and JayGar Show played to standing ovations in the first
 game - Woodinville's pitching wonder Shawn Cohen and the Kid from
 Kent Jay Garthwaite. The 'Killah' set 'em up and the JayGar Meister 
 shot 'em down. But Shawn is obviously slowly loosing his Stuff. In 
 the past 6 starts he's only allowed 3 bases-on-balls. He doubled 
 it in this game with 3 more. His previous start was a real stinker 
 too. Bad News when you consider he's the only real Heat they got. 
 Da Mutts most reliable saver, Colorado Mountain Boy Tyler Shepple 
 hauled Shawn's butt outta the fire with his fourth save. Da Mutts 
 win 7-3.

 In the second game JayGar picked up where he left off the day
 before Kick'n Wazoo Barnyard Booty with 5 more Ribbies. Redmond's 
 Kyle Larson, rumored to be Bill Gates' illegimate son and secret
 heir to the Microsoft Empire, matched JayGar with 4 Ribbies of
 his own and a slew of stock-options under the table. Best of all 
 though, Renton's Tila Reynolds finally began to show signs of 
 life. Quiet up until now, he's one snappy little sniper when he's 
 on his game and has been a prominent feature of Da Mutts hitting 
 game for the last couple seasons. Mutts win another one over the 
 Superfluous Sheep Shaggers of Pullman: 18-12.

 SECOND STOP: Arizona State - 3 game weekend series
 Traditionally they play in the nude down in Arizona which is
 why they can't show the games on TV. The Babes down there are 
 hot enough without that sort of gratuitous stimulation. Besides, 
 it's kind of embarassing when the well-tanned Adonis-like ASU
 boys take the field against our pale, sickly-white, anemic-
 looking Mutts with their skin all puckered up prune-like from
 months of rain. Makes for ugly TV. This was to be Da Mutts 
 first big Acidtest. ASU is one of the powerhouses of American 
 college ball. They're good even when they suck. They'll let
 you know in an L.A. snort exactly where you stand on the 
 ladder of Life.

 First Game:
 Predictably enough, the Mesa Camel Huggers came out swinging 
 while Da Mutts dragged their hairy butts around the field. 
 For the first 7 innings it looked to be shaping up into 
 another one of those 64-3 ASU blowouts that have occured so 
 often in the past. Then the JayGar Meister kicked into high 
 gear whipping the Purple Puppies into a frenzy. When the 8th 
 inning dust settled Da Mutts put 8 runs up on the Big Board 
 for the lead and never looked back. Mercer Island's Shawn 
 White kept the lid on for 7 innings and Mountain Boy Shepple 
 came in to slam the door in their faces. Da Mutts handed ASU 
 their ass 14-11.

 Second Game:
 Now older and wiser, the crafty Bedouins of our Southwest
 deserts sent in their top Ace, Mullah Mike Esposito, to nip 
 this thing in the bud. Even in the extreme heat of the desert 
 this guy sizzled to the tune of 17 K's in the game. Whoa Mama! 
 That's like 2 out of every 3 guys he faced! But you can't keep 
 a good Dawg down and Aberdeen's Greg Isaacson gave 'er the old 
 college try. Given a walk, he stole second and must have really 
 shook up Mullah Mike cuz the guy then gave Greg a free ticket 
 home with two wild pitches. Da Mutts scratched and clawed 
 themselves to a 3-0 lead on the little scraps Esposito was 
 feeding them. But this woke up ASU sluggers whose pride was 
 still smarting from game one. They promptly swatted the Purple 
 Puppies with a 4-run inning rolled-up newspaper to take a lead 
 they never gave up. Da Mutts lost 13-6.

 Game Three: 
 It finally happened. Shawn Cohen's 6-game winning streak came
 to a screeching halt as he picked up his first loss of the season.
 Mountain Boy Shepple tried to save his butt again but it was
 too late. Hope Shawn hasn't screwed up his arm. The JayGar Meister 
 snapped at the heels of their camels as best he could with a 2-run 
 homer plus a couple Ribbies off a double. And that other guy from 
 Woodinville, Mike Wagner, matched JayGar's 2-run homer with one of 
 his own. But it was not to be. ASU's bats shut 'em down late in the 
 game to walk away with the win. Da Mutts lose 14-11.

 They'll be back at the Montlake Boulevard Dawg House on Tuesday 
 and Wednesday for a couple evening games against Gonzaga before 
 heading to the exotic and mysterious east for a weekend series 
 in Missouri against U Mo. Maybe Coach Knutson can sneak out there
 a snag a few of those Mississippi River catfish while he's at it.

 BTW - Some of the games are being broadcast on KKNW (AM-1150). 

........................................................................

 Two nuns walk into a liquor store and stroll right up to the 
 clerk...
 NUN:   I'd like the biggest bottle of Irish Whiskey you've got
        young man.
 CLERK: Heck no Sister! You're nuns. You're not supposed to drink
        that stuff!
 NUN:   Well, my son, it's not for us you see, it's for Mother
        Theresa. [in a whisper] She has the constipations you know.
 CLERK: Oh well! In that case it's on the house Sister. Here's
        the biggest jug we've got.
 The nuns thank him and bless him and leave the store.
 A few hours later when his shift ended, the clerk walked out to
 his car in the parking lot and there were the same two nuns
 tottering around drunker than skunks, waving the whiskey bottle
 around and acting rowdy. So he walks over to them...
 CLERK: You ladies lied to me! You told me that whiskey was for
        Mother Theresa for her constipations!
 NUN:   [taking another swig from the bottle] Oh lighten up for
        Chrissakes buddy! You wanna know something? [in a whisper] 
        She'll sure shit when she sees us! [falls over laughing]

.....................................................................
  
                 -  MONDO VATICANO -

 The disaster that has been the Papacy of John Paul II seems 
 to be approaching it's climax. With the American Church reeling 
 under the institutionalized pedastry enabled by its Cardinals 
 and with Future-Super-Saint JP-2 now mentally and physically 
 incapable of providing leadership, matters have reached a head. 
 His Cardinals are publically pleading with him to step-down 
 before he permanently cripples the Church. But like Pharoh 
 facing Moses, God has hardened his heart and he is ignoring 
 their pleas and allowing the crisis to deepen. Like Pharoh, 
 he is inviting plague upon plague to be visted on his Church. 
 His corrupt, morally-bankrupt, inept American Cardinals, all 
 hand-chosen by him, continue to dig themselves ever deeper 
 into the pit. It's a self-destructive spectacle unlike any 
 the Church has seen in centuries. It literally is collapsing 
 from the accumulated putrid moral rot of two decades of John 
 Paul II in Peter's Chair. 

 If you've never seen an Act of God before, you're looking at
 one now. This whole improbable scenario has His fingerprints 
 all over it. Since the Vatican seems unwilling or unable to
 clean house, the Big Guy is doing it Himself. There can be no 
 denying that the Church NEEDED this. It is long, long overdue. 
 Cardinals and Bishops using the laity's children to pimp for 
 pedopiles was the last disgusting straw. Never mess with God's
 kids - he don't put up that kind of crap.

 While the focus has been rightfully on the welfare of the
 children who were assaulted, there was another betrayal by
 our Bishops no less profound: one of faith and tradition.
 For decades, hundreds of priests with souls as black as Hell 
 said Mass, consecrated and distributed the Holy Euchrist, 
 heard confessions and performed marriages. Cardinals Law,
 Egan, Mahony and George, plus many Bishops, deliberately 
 allowed the Sacraments to be desecrated. Their contempt for
 the Sacraments and our traditions is obvious. They have made 
 it impossible to have any confidence in the authenticity
 of the Sacramentals their priests administer. And yet, not
 a peep out of Future-Super-Saint JP-2, the ultimate guardian
 of those Sacraments. He does't care either. Just show him
 the money baby.

 The diocesean Church has been reduced to a glorified Social
 Club more valued for its schools than for its spirituality.
 The Vatican and its diocesean Bishops neglect and disinterest 
 has produced a laity that no longer goes to Confession, no 
 longer believes Christ's presence is in the Euchrist and 
 largely ignores Espiscopal advise. It has all but obliterated
 and adulterated the priesthood. About the only places where 
 the true and authentic Church remains is within some (not all) 
 Religious Orders. Discipline is stronger and standards are 
 higher. The Sacraments and our traditions are still treated 
 with respect there. The next Pope should rightfully come from 
 the Orders but since the electors are all JP-2's hand-picked 
 Corporate Butt-Kisses, I doubt if it happens.

			+	+	+

 A hundred years from now when historians look back on this time
 they will find little direct evidence of this catastrophe. The
 Vatican Spin Doctors have been carefully diddling history on
 the fly. The only official mention from Pope John Paul II will
 be those two tiny paragraphs at the end of his 22-page Easter 
 letter. That's it. Nothing more. It's possible no one will even 
 notice it. If noticed, it will be assumed to have been a trivial 
 matter of little consequence. For all intents and purposes, the 
 event that ended the priesthood as it has existed for many
 centuries and nothing on the books. Pretty slick eh. 

 The apology for massive sexual abuse in Oceania's Catholic
 residential schools swung in the other direction. Too much of
 a contemporary embarassment to give prominence to, they 
 concealed it with a trick - JP-2 emailed it. They then made a
 big to-do about the Old Fart sending an email hoping few would
 notice what the subject of the email was - the apology. Very
 few did notice.

 Lies, dishonesty and deception are a way of life in the Vatican
 of John Paul II. 

			+	+	+

 Fr. Neil Conway was a pervert priest. He Did 8 kids who were 
 in his care. He was defrocked and is no longer an active priest. 
 He lives alone in self-imposed exile in a little shack in the 
 Ohio countryside. He feels enormous remorse for what he did.
 He was willing to risk personal abuse and embarassment, possibly
 even physical harm, to Do The Right Thing. He literally hunted 
 down the eight young men he abused to personally apologize. Most 
 accepted his apology. But a few of them didn't and a couple sued 
 him. He understands. He only regrets that he has nothing for them
 to take away from him. What he doesn't understand is his obsession 
 for young men. It remains beyond his control. He is as abandoned 
 and shunned by the Church as his vicitms have become. And now
 he's left to sort it all out on his own. There is no 'cure'. Worse, 
 there isn't anyone who gives a damn. So he's trying to start up 
 a support group for other ex-priests in the same postition he is. 
 In the interim, he is doing his best to stay as far away from 
 temptation as he can. 
			+	+	+

 Judas Ish-Kiriot - the Betrayer of Christ. A young, learned Torah 
 scholar who sought out Christ as his Rabbi during the years of His 
 ministry in the north. It wasn't only the word of wonders performed
 that must have attracted him. Certainly rumors were afoot about
 the unusual young Rabbi in the north with no ties to the Jerusalem
 Temple. People whispered that it was as if Hillel had returned to
 life. But with a major difference: this Rabbi mysteriously hinted 
 ever so subtly at His Messiahood. Jews have waited patiently each 
 year for the arrival of the promised Messiah. Everyday they pray 
 that He may appear soon to deliver them. Many stand prepared even 
 at this very moment for His imminent arrival. It is that special 
 faith of theirs in HaShem that has endeared them to Him for all 
 time. 
 
 Given the Roman occupation of Israel, Herod Anti-Pater's profane 
 rule and the corruption of the Temple priesthood in Judas' time, 
 I'm sure many felt there could not have been a more opportune
 moment for the Messiah to finally appear. They desperately needed 
 Him. And as Judas followed Him looking for and finding more and
 more evidence to convince himself that this was indeed the promised 
 Messiah, his heart must have leaped with joy - He had arrived! 
 Words could not have described his ecstasy. And here he was 
 standing right at His very feet! He could reach out and touch the 
 promised Messiah! Most improbably of all - he had been accepted 
 as one of His chosen disciples! An impossible dream come true.

 And what a terrible, crushing shock it must have been for him to 
 eventually realize that this was not the Messiah promised to the 
 Jews, but one for the Gentiles. At the time, Jews were the only 
 people 'born in the spirit' as well as the flesh. With Abraham, 
 Isaac and Jacob as their fathers and the Torah as their mother, 
 they were unique amongst all the people on earth - God's chosen 
 people. And amongst all the riddles, parables and paradoxes that 
 Christ invoked, few was as puzzling as his insistance on the
 importance of being 'born again'. A physical impossibility, and 
 for Jews, a spiritually redundant one. Whatever could He mean? 

 Then it slowly dawned on some of them: Gentiles were born in 
 the flesh but not the spirit. They must be 'born again' a 
 second time - in the spirit - in order to become one of God's
 People. There were many other such allusions by Christ to His 
 true mission. Not the least of which was his choice of Galilee 
 for his ministry. Not only was it far from Jerusalem and the 
 Temple, it bordered on and was heavily influenced by the nearby 
 Gentiles. It's Jews, among the most ignorant of the Torah and 
 its laws of all Jews - crude, rustic bumpkins. His prophesy of 
 the utter destruction of Jerusalem was the exact opposite of 
 the triumphant deliverence they expected of a Messiah. His 
 advice to 'render unto Caesar' to the Jewish Zealots who sought 
 to overthrow Rome's occupation, made him in their eyes an 
 acomplice to that occupation. He clearly didn't come for them.

 As reveiled and despised as he is in Christian literature for
 his betrayal, as much as he has become the sterotypical Jew -
 willing to sell out Christ for a few pieces of silver - Judas
 was also absolutely crucial to events. Without his betrayal,
 there would have been no redemption. His treachery was to be
 the spark that ignited the crucial redeeming final events of 
 Christ's human life. In a very real sense he was Christ's 
 indispensible partner in the redemption. He was no accident. 
 Nor could his act be considered one of personal volition. He 
 did it because he HAD TO do it - it was the bitter portion 
 God had ordained for him.

 Poor Judas! Chosen and trusted by Christ as one of the handful
 of students to sit at His feet and serve Him. Witness to His
 many marvels, His ministry and one of the few scholars allowed
 intimate access to Him. Perhaps because just as most of the
 other disciples were valued for their ignorance of the Torah
 and its laws, Judas was valued for his knowledge of both and
 excessive Messianic fervor. He must have often explained the
 prophetic significance of Christ's acts to the others. He 
 would certainly feel deeply betrayed on discovering Christ's 
 true mission. To be able to see the promised Messiah and touch 
 Him, but to know that He was not HIS Messiah would likely have 
 been too much to bear. Judas didn't do it for the money. They 
 found it lying on the ground beneath his hanging body afterwards.

 The Church has always cast the betrayal of Christ as being
 the work of the Jews. In fact the only Jews involved were
 the hated Temple priesthood of the House of Hanan working 
 as agents of the most despised man in all Jerusalem - the 
 Roman procurator Pilate. They arrogantly and contemptuously 
 violated both Jewish law and tradition with a secret tribunal
 to deliver Christ to their Roman masters. Not only did they
 defy the sages and scholars, they defiled that highest of
 Holy Days - the Passover - to do it. 

 It wasn't the Jews who tortured, tormented, degraded and 
 finally murdered Christ: it was the Romans - the Wops. The 
 same Wops who have ever since so strongly promoted the 
 Jewish Blood Guilt most especially through the Vatican. 
 Just cynically covering their asses.

--------------------------------------------------------
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