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Wednesday, October 24, 2007

LA vs the Masons

History has shown that you don't mess with the Masons. For some time the City of Los Angeles has tried to prevent the charitable fraternity from renting its Scottish Rite Auditorium for non-Masonic events, such as concerts. However a recent court ruling may grant the order the same rights as a religious organization under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (RLUIPA), effectively shutting out the City's interference.

It should be noted that facility rentals are one way that Masonic organizations help to raise funds for its many charities, such as the Shriners Hospitals who have provided free medical care to needy children even before liberals latched onto to the idea.

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44 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Considering its location, I wonder why the orthodox Jews in the area, who keep making such a stink over using single family residences as places of worship, don't just lease it for Friday night, Saturday, and even weekly morning afternoon and night services.

This might solve that ongoing crises.

October 24, 2007 1:51 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

@1:51 Zoning laws, stupid!

It's a sad state of affairs when screwball court decisions must be used to circumvent the screwball City Council and enable beneficial, charitable Freemason events.

Well, at least now the Boy Scouts can lease and use public facilities without harassment by the City Council. They can claim "religious institution" status, in the same manner as the Freemasons.

October 24, 2007 6:39 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

"even before liberals latched onto to the idea."

You are such an asshole.

October 24, 2007 7:42 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Mayor Sam's Man Loses Another One

Boston Globe sez:

Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Once the top Thompson backer, now he's with McCain
In a sign of how serious the problems are in Fred Thompson's lackluster New Hampshire campaign the man who was slated to be his state chair not only left the campaign weeks ago, but today endorsed John McCain.

Dan Hughes, a former state Representative and Reagan official, has been upset with the lack any attention to New Hampshire from Thompson. During the summer, Hughes was the face of the Thompson campaign in the state....

http://www.boston.com/news/local/politics/primarysource/2007/10/once_the_top_th.html

Don't forget: Mayor sez Thompson's coot-loving trophy wife is one of the leading strategists in the GOP.

Such a dumbass.

October 24, 2007 8:29 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

love City interference.
they do it so well.
gotta give 'em credit.

October 24, 2007 8:56 AM  

Blogger Mayor Sam said:

I'm an asshole because the Masons (and tons of other groups) provided free, charitable medical care decades before LBJ's Great Society and subsequent socialized medicine schemes? Give me a break!

October 24, 2007 10:24 AM  

Blogger Mayor Sam said:

1:51 I think it depends on where the Jews live. For some of them the auditorium may not work. There is a limit as to how far from home they can worship. And again, what's wrong with letting them worship at home? No parking issues (they can't drive), noise (no amplified sound) and they're not drinking.

October 24, 2007 10:25 AM  

Blogger Mayor Sam said:

Are any local LA pols members of the Masonic Lodge?

October 24, 2007 10:27 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

1:51: Another case of fools shooting their mouths off without knowledge. Assume you're talking about the shul in Hancock Park which was NOT a single family residence, but a 400- student law school previously. IF that was okay with the neighborhood opposing a preschool makes no sense.

They're also across the street from a large public elementary school. It's hardly a quiet neighborhood. If that is the neighbor's problem, they should have checked moving in that that building was always used as a college or school.

The Shriners is a terrific group but the Masons are more a social group, as the silly Egyptian-themed secret principles were made up for fun and ritual, no one believes them. At least Scientologists and Mormons believe their unlikely stories.

October 24, 2007 10:51 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

'The Shriners is a terrific group but the Masons are more a social group, as the silly Egyptian-themed secret principles were made up for fun and ritual, no one believes them. At least Scientologists and Mormons believe their unlikely stories."

"secret principles were made up for fun and ritual"

The Masons have existed for over 200 years in this country and in Europe before that.

Look at your dollar bill. The Masons were instramental in designing the bill, the constitution and the freedoms from the British.

Almost every President was or is a member of the Masons. Where have you been?

October 24, 2007 11:47 AM  

Blogger Archie Bunker said:

11:47

Attaboy.

The problem with the jews especially the Liberal jews are that they love to give away genroisty and help as long as it's not coming from their pot of money.

They're all for public education, until they sneak their kids into Private school.

October 24, 2007 12:05 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

They say that history repeats itself. The City might be scared of the Masons. Many of our Founding Fathers, That revolted against the existing government,
were Masons.
ZD- If you don't like to read..
watch the Movie National Treasure.
The people that stood up for what they believed in won!

October 24, 2007 12:12 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

11:47: The issue is whether the Masons qualify as a religion, not how long they've been here. And I don't care who's in the group or how how long, it's a society based on made-up rituals that sounded exotic a couple of hundred years ago, when even the rich rarely traveled to places like Egypt.

If they're a religion, you might as well say the Egyptian Theatre is a church.

But logic is short among the clowns on this blog, keep gasing on to no purpose if you want.

October 24, 2007 12:41 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

The cholo Fabian Nunez against getting tough on gangs.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-initiative23oct23,1,7849551.story

Lawmakers push gang-crackdown initiative
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The husband-and-wife team who brought Jessica's Law to the state now seek dedicated funding for the battle. Some critics doubt the state can afford it.
By Patrick McGreevy, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
October 23, 2007
SACRAMENTO -- A year after bringing to California Jessica's Law, the crackdown on sex offenders, the husband-and-wife team of state Sen. George Runner and Assemblywoman Sharon Runner announced Monday a new initiative that would target gang members for tougher prosecution and dedicate nearly $1 billion annually to enforcement and intervention.

The Republican legislators from Lancaster hope to collect enough signatures to qualify the measure for the November 2008 ballot, and they have the backing of the father of the state's three-strikes law as well as law enforcement officials, including Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca.

However, the measure drew immediate opposition from other lawmakers, including Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata (D-Oakland) and Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez (D-Los Angeles).

October 24, 2007 1:02 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

"However, the measure drew immediate opposition from other lawmakers, including Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata (D-Oakland) and Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez (D-Los Angeles).'

Nunez would turn it down. He has at least 30 or 40 in his area.

October 24, 2007 1:08 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

"I'm an asshole because the Masons".....

You are an asshole because of your behavior and you "know everything" attitude. You work for the City of Los Angeles, for a Councilman... you should know better than to attack the constituants the way you do.

October 24, 2007 1:12 PM  

Blogger Mayor Sam said:

I work for a Councilman???? I may be an asshole but you're an idiot.

October 24, 2007 3:17 PM  

Blogger Mayor Sam said:

Coupla points about the Masons...

The Shriners are part of the Masonic order. To be a Shriner you have to be a Mason, in fact, its pretty much the highest level a Mason can reach (any higher and you're inside and know all the true secrets of how they run the world as only a select few know according to the conspiracy theorists).

The Shriners have just as much ritual as the Masons, its just that their "theme" is based on Arabia where the Masons' theme is based on the stone masons who built Solomon's Temple. And though the Shriners Hospitals are well known, the Masons have similar facitilies (in fact all the Masonic groups have some kind of big charity) as well as donate a lot locally.

They even have benevolent associations for their own members including homes for the aged. That's the kind of thing we used to have in this country before the government stepped in.

October 24, 2007 3:22 PM  

Blogger Mayor Sam said:

Oh yea - only about 16 presidents I believe were actually Masons. Several of the signes of the Declaration of Independence were i.e. Ben Franklin, Sam Adams, etc. I don't know all the Presidents who were Masons but I know Washington and Truman were big time Masons.

By the way, a number of Presidents have been Jaycees too. Nixon, Ford, Reagan, JFK, Daddy Bush, GWBush, BJ Clinton and Al Bore too.

October 24, 2007 3:25 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Bumper sticker seen in Hollywood: "Give Bush a blow job so we can impeach him"

October 24, 2007 4:19 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Do they Jaycees have secret rituals from handshakes to increasing knowledge of their deepest secrets as they go up in rank? Are they a "secret brotherhood" too?

Do they want to declare themselves a religion?

If the Masonic rituals give some guys a feeling of "belonging" and importance as they go up in rank, so much the better for them. And the Shriners Hospitals do good work and are well run -- these tend to be very conventional guys otherwise which is probably why they need this to express their creative side.

But it's still no more a religion than the Jaycees.

October 24, 2007 4:19 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

"That's the kind of thing we used to have in this country before the government stepped in."

Had a lot of hungry children and starving widows, too. And people dying 'cause they couldn't afford to see a doctor. And unemployed, desperate men selling apples for a nickel apiece.

Ah, for the good ol' "let 'em eat cake" days of laissez-faire!

The market cures everything, doesn't it?! ;)

Dumbass.

October 24, 2007 4:24 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Question

Do 501c3 orgs pay taxes?

October 24, 2007 5:05 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Hey why did Huizar only give his constituents one day and 1/2 notifying them of the Ad Hoc Anti Gang Violence meeting with Hahn, Cardenas, Reyes and the other idiots on the Eastside? Could it be Huizar didnt' want his people asking where the hell the so called Gang Czar has been? Has anyone seen Waldo Czar being paid a fortune yet no where in sight in the city.

October 24, 2007 5:10 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Who pays taxes on city leased property?

October 24, 2007 5:19 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

World-renowned chef Wolfgang Puck, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Los Angeles Councilwoman Jan Perry, children from LA's BEST ...
www.lasbest.org/resourcecenter/pressreleases/pressrelease.php?p=12

October 24, 2007 5:19 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

I am a third degree mason, and I know that masonry is not a religion.

It was isimply a club or union of real masons who could travel from place to place and find work with others in a new or strange place.

The rites are designed to identify each other so that one can be easily assured that the newcomer knows his business.

It is a way of guaranteeing bona fides.

So, all of you fools ought to relax a little. Freemasons helped build this country and make it strong.

People like ZD and Matt who do not work need not apply since they have no skills and cerainly do not seek gainful employement

October 24, 2007 5:45 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Mayor Sam

Forgive me. I didnt say YOU were an asshole I was referring to the other fool 1:51 who really has nothIng constructive to say...

"1:51: Another case of fools shooting their mouths off without knowledge.'

"as the silly Egyptian-themed secret principles were made up for fun and ritual, no one believes them.....

Anonymous 1:51 said...
"I'm an asshole because the Masons".....

I SAID!

You are an asshole because of your behavior and you "know everything" attitude. You work for the City of Los Angeles, for a Councilman... you should know better than to attack the constituants the way you do.

October 24, 2007 1:12 PM

SORRY FOR THE CONFUSION MAYOR SAM
everyone knows you dont work for the administration.

October 24, 2007 6:40 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

6:40: I agree- 10:51 is an asshole and he does work for a Councilman

October 24, 2007 6:50 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

6:40 i'm still confused

October 24, 2007 7:19 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

6:40: You're an even bigger fool than the person or people you're trying to rebut said you are. You're attributing comments to people they didn't make, so it's hard to tell.'

Who works for a Councilman? If not Sam, who? The one who points out that the Masons isn't a religion nor eligible for religious exemptions?

The one who points out that zoning laws apply, anti-semitic attempts to claim those Orthodox Jews in Hancock park turned a house into a school, when it was a bigger college, aside?

You must be one of the few who thinks zuma is a genius.

October 24, 2007 7:55 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Isn't saying "He's an asshole and works for a councilman" redundant on this blog?

After all, around here. every councilman is trashed at one time or another, and seldom does anyone say something even a little bit nice about a Member of the Council or an aide. And when they do, there is an immediate attack following on not only the member but a gratuitous attack on the Mayor, calling him the same stupid names like "Mecha" and "Midget", etc.

That gets old fast guys, and I for one overlook any post that includes those adjectives.

October 24, 2007 8:02 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Question

Do 501c3 orgs pay taxes?

October 24, 2007 5:05 PM

They can. The secret is how you position your money.

Most (90%) dont. They all claim to make less than the minimum to require long forms and pay.

October 24, 2007 8:04 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

10:51 is an asshole and he does work for a Councilman.

October 24, 2007 8:09 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Real Masons don't talk about it! But what the hell, you can read about it on Mayor Sam. This isn't a news worthy topic.

October 24, 2007 8:26 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Real Masons don't give passwords or signals away, but the ocncept of Masonry is easily discussed and discoverable.

If you are a Mason, you know and understand this.

Nut clearly, you're not, you're just another know nothing like ZD and Matt, out telling people what to do becuase Sam has given them the keys.

I blame Mayor Sam for the degeneration of this blog, due to the trash ZD has attracted to it.

What say you?

October 24, 2007 8:43 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Good dialogue!

October 24, 2007 9:55 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

"I blame Mayor Sam for the degeneration of this blog",

WHAT SAY I?
I blame YOU
for the degeneration of this blog"
"due to the trash YOU ARE

YOU CONTRIBUTE NOTHING!

October 24, 2007 9:57 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

1:52 I agree with your comment.

2:34 you are an idiot.

4:21 do you know what your talking about.

5:14 Get a life don't post stupid comments about Zuma.

6:34 I agree 2:34 is an idiot.

8:20 I already told 5:14 not to call Zuma names.

4:45, 9:34, 12:32 you are all idiots just like I told 2:34.

8:45 The Masons are just like described by 5:56, but 4:56 does not know anything about Masons.


10:45 The only asshole is you Mr. 10:45, well maybe 2:34 is also an asshole. But Mayor Sam is not an asshole like 5:56 said. I really hate all of 5:56 comments.

6:34 I agree I also get annoyed when 4:32 calls the Mayor a midget or Mechista. I lke call ing the mayor shady like Zuma.

October 24, 2007 11:39 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

None of your times match up with the posts.

What if Mayor Sam did away with Anonymous?

At least people would have to pick a name that was identifiable so other people could easily refer to them...

October 25, 2007 2:34 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

LOL @ 11:39 PM

October 25, 2007 6:07 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

About Anon:
People who work for the Councilmen and are know to be "very good at dirty tricks" would use another name. The real people still wouldnt be able to identify him. We know who he is. We just have to remember NOT TO VOTE FOR HIM when he is running for the Council.

October 25, 2007 9:20 AM  

Blogger Mayor Sam said:

If a politician did something good instead of trying to bamboozle, hoodwink, tax or cheat us we'd print it.

Find me some examples - oh and not AV or Lloyd Levine photo opps. Real shit.

Here's something! Find SOMETHING an elected has done that is GOOD that they DID NOT publicize or promote. I will praise them if you can do that.

October 25, 2007 1:58 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

I can think of one former NC President in the North Valley who is a Mason. I was shocked to learn that and didn't until I saw the logo in his home.

Go figure.

October 28, 2007 7:04 PM  

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