23 | September | 2011 | Existential Ennui

Tags

budget, Einstein, gay rights, GOP, Humor, justice, Michele Bachmann, morality, philosophy, physics, Sarah Palin, speed of light, teabaggers

Yesterday you were invited to watch the debates under a new game rule: look for the inappropriate audience response.

And as expected, those of you who watched saw just that.

That the GOP and the TeaNutz® are morbidly repulsed by gayness, is of course well-known. It’s against their self-serving interpretation of the bible.

Last night, a gay soldier asked the candidates what they would do given that DODT had been ended.

The response of the audience was a very loud bunch of booing, and then the usual Ricky (why won’t you give me a chance) Santorum response which is that “we shouldn’t be doing social experiments with those we need to protect our country.” See a complete transcript of the exchange at Pass the Doucheys on the Right, as well as appropriate biting comment.

Might I also note, that not a single one of the “candidates” bothered to thank Mr. Hill, who is serving in Iraq, for his service to the country, something all the GOP pushes and shoves to be first to say to prove their patriotism.

God, the GOP sucks.

Note also that Chauncey de Vega has a great piece on this event as well.

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You know, I’ve often alluded to the fact that our world, especially here in America is deeply out of whack. What I refer to is how we reward people in oddly weird ways over others. Huh? Okay let me clear it up.

We pay actors, who individually may be pretty much stupid as rocks, millions to make us laugh or cry, or applaud a fantasy life or event. We pay CEO’s millions for making a company wealthy, and at least a few stockholders a few bucks. We pay schoolteachers paltry amounts to teach our children whom we claim we worship and want the best for. We pay scientists next to nothing even though they discover the things that make our lives easier, healthier, and safer.

It’s called moral philosophy, and the king of the hill is one Harvard professor named Michael J. Sandel. His lectures were turned into a PBS series, and in Asia have prompted classes to mimic his ideas. His book, Justice: What’s the right thing to do?, has been a great hit. A NYTimes article about his success is linked here. Might be worth buying his book.

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When does the difference between 299,792,458 and 299,792,454 matter? Why that’s easy. Come on you know the answer. The first is the speed of light. And the second it the time it took some neutrinos to make the circuit. And that means that maybe the SOL is not what we thought it was.

And that means that Einstein was wrong, and somethings (neutrinos) can travel faster than the SOL, and that means something really really big and important, and it probably means that we can go to Arcturus by the end of next week.

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It’s the old chutzpah again. The GOP holds the disaster relief funding hostage unless the Democrats agree to funding cuts to the most job-producing programs going, and then accuses the Dems of holding up FEMA relief!

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I continue to hold out hope that our dear girl Sarah will jump into the fray. Her slavish knuckledraggers are sure hopin’ the same too, and took time after last night’s debate to hit her main target with all they had. From Conservatives4Palin:

Everyone here in Palinville who looks forward to good hard competition will be relieved to know that Gov. Rick Perry was NOT drunk at last night’s debate, all appearances to the contrary. It’s just that before taking the stage he inexplicably chose to receive a Gardasil shot, one of whose known side effects is mental slowness.

Given that our Sarah subbie, Michele (I am frakin’ dumber that her actually) Bachmann is unable to know fact from fiction and has slipped down the hill toward the black hole of oblivion, we have no choice but to wave a flag pin at the Palinator and hope hope hope she joins the increasing circus that is known as the “TeaNutz® on Parade” or “The Last Dance of the Dinosaurs” which ever you prefer.

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From Think Progress

On the Stove? Oh a new Chicken Enchilada recipe. I’ll post it if we decide we like it. So far, it seems to meet my objections to most Enchilada recipes: the turning to mush of the corn tortillas. I’m hopeful if this technique works, that it will be my new go-to method for both green and red enchiladas.