Breathe IN and Smile

Tags

atheists, Charles Grassley, denialism, elections, Elena Kagan, fundamentalism, gay rights, GOP, Mark Souter, Newt Gingrich, Rand Paul, SCOTUS

Truthfully, I feel a weight has been lifted. I, a few days ago, mentioned that I was done with arguing with fundies and atheists, finding it utterly unproductive, since both operated from some psychological need, on the closed mind theory. No controversial idea shall pass here!

And, as part of that commitment to sanity, I’ve rather ruthlessly deleted most all blogs of folks that adhere to such strangling ideology. A couple, I have hesitated, since they tend toward actual intellectual curiosity and I’m holding them a bit.

One, I thought might be worthwhile was a blog called SharperIron, mistaken by me with SharpIron, a very legitimate mainstream religious blog. Anyway, SharperIron was engaged in a multi-part series I wasn’t particularly interested in, and so, I was awaiting what might come next.

The next was a post about a tea party partisan, and I read it, and then thought to comment on a point or two. Going to the comments, I found I have to sign up–annoying but acceptable, so I clicked to do so, and then. . . well what a surprise. I was required to sign some oath that I believed in the utter inerrancy of the Word along with other such bull crap, and well, I deleted that blog rather soon after.

Just goes to show ya, I guess, just how closed a mind can be. No comments are allowed that don’t agree with the blog owner in principle at least. Some kinda dialog there!

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I read a delicious post on denialism yesterday, and you can read it at NewScientist.  The upshot was that it’s pretty much impossible to get them to listen. It’s all very psychological and such, which they don’t of course perceive in the first place. It gets all conspiratorial and then of course the leeches who pray on folks like this, fill them with all kinds of pseudo-science swill and we are then off to the races.  The best advice is to calmly make your case with truth and verifiable facts and don’t get personally involved in a debate.

A few great poster on FB especially have kept me adding one great blog after another to my reader, which has made it unmanageable in terms of size.  Which has led to a major clearing out it, discarding blogs I never read. I took the total down below 200 again, and that is somewhat manageable at least. Hopefully I can bring you the best in reliable links.

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The elections yesterday were interesting and frankly, I think the Dems are in pretty good shape. The Murtha seat was the critical won, and the Dem won handily there, which was somewhat of a surprise to the GOP I think. The Kentucky election, well, it seems the Teabaggers took that one, but Mr. Paul seems rather intent on destroying himself before November.

Guess our own Senator Grassley doesn’t quite get the message yet. He says voters are unhappy with their politicians, but not him of course. He claims his mail is generally not critical of what he has been saying and doing. Guess he doesn’t read mine.

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I’m surely not the only one who is highly pissed at the right wing attack on Elena Kagan for speculating on her sexual orientation. It has zero to do with anything, although they try to couch it in such. Don’t we have a right to know how her sexuality might impact her opinion on Don’t ask, don’t tell they whine? NO. No more than it would have been right to  burrow into the Negroness of Clarance Thomas, since he might have to look at affirmative action cases. It’s just an attempt to raise some public outcry from the homophobic right wing bigot machine, disguised as necessary inquiry. Shaddup already and crawl back under the rock please. Btw, Elizabeth Keaton has a great post on this today at her blog, Telling Secrets.

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Don’t know about you guys, but spring is in full swing, and we are busy planting everything not nailed down. Dogs and cats stay outta the way! We have nearly all the garden in, and I’m working on flowers. I bought 2 flats of assorted lovelies today and will plant Saturday. Getting a touch of rain tonight possibly and cool tomorrow, and then up into the 80’s! Hurrah!

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And the hypocritical ass award for the week goes to that great purveyor of abstinence only and anti AIDS info, homophobe,  and all around creationist nut: Indiana ReThug Rep. Mark Souter! (Drum roll, trumpets and all around clapping!). Doin’ the nasty with an aide, not his wifey. When will these self-styled “soooo goodly paragons of virtue” learn to shut the phuck up! And they wonder why the atheists have such a field day against ’em.

And speaking of which, Newt, the thrice married, twice divorced, I just discovered religion can be my ally in being important, Gingrich, has been vilified by those that usually like him. Seems his new book which just excoriates the Obama administration as a “secular socialist machine” heading straight for Nazi Germany, has enraged even the right.

And the oil slick still threatens to destroy the Gulf Coast and much of the marine life in the ocean. McCain continues to backtrack and support more and more repressive racist behavior in AZ. AZ keeps doing what its doin, which is hating everything not white. The sun keeps shining and the stars keep converting hydrogen to helium at fantastical rates. I’ll be back with more tomorrow, mostly likely. Meanwhile, listen to the birds and plant some radishes.