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abortion, economic theory, economy, GOP, John McCain, Lindsey Graham, Rand Paul, school prayer, teabaggers

The jobs numbers came out this morning. Everything is on the uptick. The upturn in the economy continues unabated. This in spite of the naysayers who of course claim that things would be even better if we would do things their way (the business way). They offer no proof of this, but they assure you that if you would just lower corporate taxes to zero and remove all regulations, boards of directors across the country would be voting to “hire as many as will fit in the building” and things will be rosy in no time.

This engenders the usual arguments between Keynesians and Hayekians. If you are not so sure you know who these men are, or what they stand for, well, I have a good place to start.

I am not sure when this came out on PBS, but it is based on the book of the same name written by Daniel Yergin and Joseph Stanislaw. That came out in around 2003 I believe.

It is not for the faint of heart. It’s a six-hour committment. But on the upside, it’s well done and satisfies all the usual desires of one watching a documentary. You can get the DVD or you can watch the entire thing online, and I’ll provide the links at the bottom.

Let me caution you that I don’t at all agree with much of what they say, or at least the inferences they, I think deliberately, urge you to draw. They have a very definite point of view and they avoid a few facts that might cut against their opinion. (Pay especial attention to who is promoting the show at the beginning). That said, it provides a pretty good explanation of what Hayek believed and what Keynes believed. It provides a good foundation to understanding the basics that you will need should you choose to really try to get a handle on what the Krugman’s of the world believe is best for the economy versus the now deceased Milton Friedman.

We’ve only watched the first part, so I’m leaving off any further comments lest I influence your viewing. I’ll post a piece on my views in a couple of weeks or so. So if you are interested, put your feet up and grab a beer or cuppa joe and begin watching. It is entertaining and informative, just not accurate in all respects in my view. Links at the bottom of the page.

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Republicans continue to waste taxpayer money on crap that has nothing to do with economic recovery. Over the Governor’s veto, Arkansas just passed a law making it illegal to abort a fetus after twelve weeks. That’s of course unconstitutional on its face and seems destined to offer the SCOTUS an opportunity to either overturn Roe or restrict it. Idaho’s twenty week law was just struck down by a federal district court.

Meanwhile, in Mississippi, another bastion of free thought, the senate has just passed a bill that would allow school prayer again, most especially before classes start (during morning announcements) and before athletic events. Students would also be allowed to freely discuss religious faith issues during class time. This is also unconstitutional on its face.

What is ironic here, is that the very people who support this crap are the same folks who are hellbent to tell you that Democrats and the present administration have no faith let allow adherence to the Constitution and are violating it every day. Of course, they are not. They are just redressing their grievances that the damn document doesn’t say what they want, and making sure that it’s altered to accomplish that.

It all depends, is their answer to “do you believe we should follow the Constitution as interpreted by the Supreme Court?”

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The water pressure dropped severely yesterday in Washington D.C. as John McCain and Lindsey Graham both spend a long time washing off the icky after finding themselves supporting the black guy in the White House against the strange man from Kentucky, Ru Paul, I mean Randy Paul on the drones issue. Two finer hawks were never born than McCain the man who continually drove planes into the ground, and the Lindsey, a man who one can’t begin to imagine in a uniform except as part of a sexual liaison in the bedroom.

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The best response to anyone who tries to tell you that homosexuality is a “choice” is to ask them what was the date when they “chose” to be heterosexual. What them sputter and try to get out of that dilemma.

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I think Romney’s the right choice for speechifying at CPAC. After watching his interview with Wallace the other night, it appears he’s still living in the delusions that caused his defeat. That should be right up the alley of the teabibbers doncha think?

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This just tickled me. John McCain was quoted as saying this:

“It’s always the wacko birds on right and left that get the media megaphone.”

I mean I hear the Oxford Dictionary calling to get that photo of John to place next to the word: IRONY.

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From Don of Massachusetts:

Our life is shaped by our mind; we become what we think. Suffering follows an evil thought as the wheels of a cart follow the oxen that draws it. Our life is shaped by our mind; we become what we think. Joy follows a pure thought like a shadow that never leaves.

– The Buddha

This seems a good place to say, HAVE A GOOD DAY!

Commanding Heights Pt 1

Commanding Heights Pt 2

Commanding Heights Pt 3

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• Conservatives Are Now Flipping Out At John McCain And Lindsay Graham (businessinsider.com)
• RINO Senators McCain, Graham Charge At Paul (personalliberty.com)
• Would Hayek Have Approved Obamacare? – Reason.com (politicalcrazyness.tumblr.com)

 

Oh I Love Me Some Good Advice

Tags

1st Amendment, 2nd Amendment, flag, fundamentalists, gun control, Humor, right wing evangelicals, satire, women's rights

You know, I was sitting around the other day, wondering, “what is wrong with me?”, a game I engage in all the time, since I am so very aware that most everything that is wrong with the world is because of me.

Lil ol’ me. WOMAN. Ever since that snake thing in the garden, I have been the scourge of humanity, always leading men astray. And everything that is wrong with a man–well just hunt up the thread on clothes and you can unwind that baby and I guarantee it will lead DIRECTLY to the cause of his wrongness–A WOMAN.

So, naturally, as I was spending my daily “how am I to blame” time, I went DIRECTLY to the man who can tell me exactly wherein I fail.

That man would be the perfect Christian pastor, one PAT ROBERTSON. I mean, he is legendary in his ability to nail a cause down to its basics. Hurricanes, terrorism? Oh they are usually caused by HOMOSEXUALS, but of course, when you follow the thread, you will find that the core cause is the MOTHER of a homosexual.

So, anyway, I am always sure to check in with him, and to look for his Ann Landerish advice nuggets. So, if your husband is spending a lot of time playing video games on the computer?

Now you know! So get that lipstick on, and those pearls adjusted, and those sling-backs polished girls. Your man awaits the girl he dreamed of. And you know better than to say a word about his torn Packer’s t-shirt, his funkie toe-jammy feet, and his belching bad breath. That’s a MAN! Which is always better than a sharp stick in the eye.

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Just a tiny thought. Like 80+% of all folks in the US approve of universal background checks for anyone wanting to buy a guy. So why exactly does the NRA oppose it and subsequently strangle off any agreement by the GOP? Me thinks it may have to do with terrorist watch lists. I’m thinking that being a member of a group designated as a terrorist group might, just might be a black mark against you on an application. And of course there are a few right-wing crazy groups out there that might well earn that designation. The Survivalist/WhitePower/Militia/Obamaisadictator groups? And does this strike a tad too close to home to the NRA, who depend upon these groups to buy all those crazy weapons.

So, background checks could nip at the heels of their membership and affect their corporate masters, the gun makers and sellers.

Am I off base here? Or have I struck on something?

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While I was seeking advice about what the Frook is wrong with me, I realized that I should get a little more advice about my lady parts. One can never have too much of that I can tell you, and as we all know, the GOP incoming freshmen Phil Gingrey from GA, proports to be a OB-GYN so he feels it best to advise that old Todd Akin was “partially right” in his “legitimate rape” claims. Gingrey tells me that a traumatic event can cause a woman not to ovulate and it’s right and good to distinguish between a “legitimate rape” and those other kinds–you know, the liars.

No word from Phil how best a woman can protect herself by no going forth into the world only when she is on the verge of ovulating, just in case she is “legitimately raped”.

Somebody get me a hammer.

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Something I ran across on Facebook the other day that just tickled me. The post was one of those “mock horror” posts about some teacher in South Carolina who had, to make a point, taken down an American flag and stepped on it, remarking that it was only a symbol, no different from a cross or other similar things. It represented an idea which we might well believe it, but the thing itself was just a thing. The teacher was suspended pending an investigation.

Now, of course, flag mistreatment is by and large constitutionally protected as speech. Burning, attaching other items to it, and presumably stepping on it to make a political point are universally upheld unless the state can prove a legitimate governmental objective, unrelated to the 1st Amendment, and the law is reasonably designed to effect that objective. In other words, don’t bother.

Still among the Christianist poster and her tiny band of followers the following was stated in response to the horror of such an unpatriotic” act.

One commenter suggested the teacher should be deported. First Amendment rights are  of no merit to this “freedom lover”, who of course had no clue where a citizen would be deported to. I doubt he doesn’t know that you can’t deport a citizen.

Another commenter suggested the event was tragic, but this post would get little traction because this page is “full of lefties”.

Something like 63% of the American public is against making it a crime to burn the flag. I rather think that the only places who would want such a law would be repressive regimes who are trying to stomp down public criticism. Oh, I guess that would be the opposite of what the “protecting our freedoms” folks would espouse, but. . . .stupid people generally can’t follow a logical train of thought.

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Make it a safe day out there!

Related articles

• Another Republican explains how ‘legitimate rape’ is sort of a thing. And he’s a doctor! (dailykos.com)
• Rep. Gingrey: Todd Akin ‘partly right’ about rape and pregnancy (thehill.com)
• How The NRA Became The Gun Industry Lobby (huffingtonpost.com)
• Was Hitler Really a Fan of Gun Control? (motherjones.com)

 

Move Over, I’m Coming Through

Tags

budget, Election 2012, gay rights, GOP, homophobia, Humor, Mitt Romney

Well another week has come to an end but there is no end to the political shenanigans of our favorite jackass, one Willard Romney.

Willard, you may remember, took off for Europe to show his bona fides as a foreign diplomatic expert, and fell flat on his face. Mostly, he courted the Jewish vote, nearly promising them to give up Mormonism in return for a few bucks and a vote.

And so it goes.

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So, an independent group scored out Willard’s tax plan and found the obvious–the rich get the breaks, the middle and working classes pay the bill. Now Willard screams that the they did it all wrong, because there’s lots of stuff he hasn’t actually made public yet. And this will make all the difference.

Except the analysis, aware of Willard’s propensity to not give “details” scored it by giving him the benefit of the doubt on every area where he was skimpy with details. And, um, well that’s how they got to the result they did. Now given that Willard’s real intentions are much more draconian than the bare-bones he admits to. . . .well you get the picture on how dark the actual picture will be.

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You have to laugh at the GOP and their crowd of indignant christianists. Why how rude, and totally against the spirit of the first amendment can you get to boycott a company that is blatant in its homophobia?

I mean really.

I mean the “million moms” (actually 723 women with empty-nest syndrome), were only saving America from the horror that Ellen DeGeneres would bring should she be a spokesperson for JCP. I mean that had nothing to do with the 1st Amendment. Nor the boycott against Starbucks, nor the boycott against that glitzy Dallas B*tches show, and on and on.

But hey, it was fun. Got to see old plastic-surgery marathon patient Pat Boone didn’t ya?

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The GOP, after having a leisurely rest for the entire month of August, will return to Washington and begin the chant that we have no defenses left if the sequestration rule goes into effect. The same rule they voted to impose, remember.

Oh, lawdy, there will be one less battleship to patrol the seven seas! I may faint, truly I may.

But nary a word to the cuts that will occur to social programs, cutting meals to kids, and food stamps, and well, just assume that if you are poor, you once again will be SCREWED or thread fastening deviced, as you wish.

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Did I use this one before?

If I did, sorry for the repeat.

It’s funny.

Not nearly funny to the poor guy who owns the field.

But hey, I bet you could spend a good long time working your way through that maze.

I’m giddy. It’s Saturday.

This picture always reminds me of Martin Scorsese, or Jack Benny.

Does it remind you of anyone?

I really don’t like people who dress up apes and monkeys and try to make them do human things.

Taking a noble creature (aren’t all animals noble?) and making fun of them for amusement.

Not right.

Given the amazing respect this man enjoys, don’t you feel just a tiny bit small when you claim that a few (largely misunderstood) lines in a religious tract mean you are supposed to deny rights to someone?

I mean, just a tad small?

Paul never MET Jesus if you recall. I have a problem with his words ( and many suggest they may not be his words) are used to trump Jesus’ who (what?) never said a word on the subject of same-sex love.

Well, not if I can help it, it won’t.

Isn’t it strange that I had a fairly decent opinion of Willard before I got to know anything about him.

Now I think that he is kind of an emotional creep of sorts, who has lived his entire life with “his kind” and hasn’t a clue what real people are like.

Further, he believes most deeply that “his kind” are the natural rulers of the world, and the “they” will paternalistically take care of us by forcing us to take our medicine–be happy you have a job, and don’t question the boss.

So, hey, wiggle your butt and crow like a duck, or whinny like a mule, or prance like a centipede, or slither like an otter. Makes no difference to me, but do have fun.

Ta ta.

Okay, So What’d I Miss?

Tags

1st Amendment, Bulger, children, Election 2012, Entertainment, FBI, GOP, Humor, Media, Michele Bachmann, murder, SCOTUS, video games

So the super Supremes (SCOTUS) has spoken. There shall be no video too violent for the tend eyes of our youth (or utes if you are from Brooklyn).

Having not read the opinion nor examined the basis of said decision, I shall refrain from comment. I am also not a parent, so this factors into my tiny bit of “I really don’t care” attitude. Being a fair facsimile of a human being, however, I am forced to care even though I don’t have a horse in the race.

That all being said, I still have no opinion on the rightness or its opposite of this decision.

What I am confluffled about is how it was treated by the mainstream media, or at least CBS which I was watching last evening.

CBS had occasion to examine this decision. California’s ban on extremely violent video sales to children was  struck down, the Court finding it in violation of the freedom of speech.  

What puzzles me is that CBS kept telling me that they could not show examples of the videos that could be sold to children because they were too violent for TV.

Who is this prohibition aimed at? Surely not children, since the SCOTUS has spoken. Senior citizens? Afraid to cause a coronary to some unsuspecting octogenarian? Prudish religious types? They are offended at virtually everything already including cartoon movies like the Lion King and Chronicles of Narnia. So I’m forced to conclude that excessively violent videos might offend the tender ears and eyes of our pets.

I get that. I’m constantly catching our dogs sneaking in to play Donkey Kong when nobody is looking. I’m sure you have the same problem with yours. But really, shouldn’t CBS just told us to “remove our pets from the room because some of which follows may be graphic?” I mean really.

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The bad news was that Michele Bachmann was in Iowa yesterday, trying to claim us as her own even though she hasn’t lived here in decades. The good news is that the media is determined to fact check the lady on everything, and of course she never fails to please.

After mentioning Iowa some twenty or more times, and how familiar she was with everything Iowan, she talked about how she and John Wayne were both from Waterloo. She was wrong of course, Wayne was born in Winterset, a hundred+ miles away. His parents before he was born, lived for a short time in Waterloo. John Wayne Gacy, serial killer was born in Waterloo however.

And now Michele (dull bulb), thinks that John Quincy Adams was a Founding Father. Michele is still trying to defend her Barton-induced belief that the FF “tirelessly worked against slavery”.

Bachmann remains the lyingest candidate by far among the GOP. And that’s according to Politifact.

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Am I the only one who is bored to tears and generally totally uninterested in the capture of James “Whitey” Bulger? I mean, it’s not like it’s the FBI’s finest moment, though they seem to think it is. And frankly, like other serial killers, and wife killers, husband, and child killers, there are plenty to go around.

Frankly I hate all the media frenzy over the likes of Ms. Anthony and over Scott whateverhisnamewas, who killed his wife. Once in prison, we move on to the next one. Such cases distort the judicial apparatus, exploit people who need no further notoriety, and play to our worst personal sentiments.

Don’t we have anything better to do?

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Don’t miss Political Irony‘s collection of the late-night comics take on the political scene. Always a few gems that bear repeating at the water cooler.

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 What’s on the stove? T-Bones, boiled taters and peas.

Related articles

• John Wayne & John Wayne Gacy Aren’t The Same Guy, Mrs. Bachmann (wzlx.radio.com)
• Michele Bachmann Says, ‘I’m Like John Wayne’ in Hometown of John Wayne Gacy (littlegreenfootballs.com)
• Michele Bachman Tries To Identify With a Serial Killer. (tinfoilhatman45.wordpress.com)
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In the Name of God

Tags

American Exceptionalism, founding fathers, God, Islamophobia, Politics, racism, religion, right wing extremism

The atheists have a powerful argument when they suggest that millions have died in the name of religion. They are right. From the beginning, humans fought over land each claimed was theirs by right, given to them by God.

It’s never ended. Down through all these millenia. We have continued to fight over land and control of populations, all the while upholding our efforts as the “will of God.”

It continues today in a war being waged between Jews, Muslims and Christians. All claim they are doing God’s bidding.

There is always a good argument that mankind would have been better off not listening to the small voice within that urges us to believe that we are destined for more than just a brief sojourn upon this planet only to return to dust.

The truth is, all these wars instituted to protect, promote, or to destroy a religion, are done in the name of religion. There is no objective proof that any of this is called for by God. The deeper you look, the more you see human motivation driving the crusade to install “our” God.

Any fair reading of the Old Testament raises a very obvious question. Isn’t it awfully convenient that God has been on the “side” of the Israelites, thus allowing them to then justify their genocide of whole towns and settlements? How convenient to declare that God has said, “why this land I give to you, so go and subjugate all those who oppose you taking their land.”

Muslims feel utterly justified in controlling the Holy Land, as do Jews, as do Christians. Over time, each has held sway for a time, and been more than willing to kill to retain power. All in the name of God. All in the name of an interpretation, that just might be a bit self-serving.

Religion versus religion, and religion versus secularism erupts in mostly non-violent war in this country today. It has been growing steadily, or resurging I should say. We can be sure that the US expansion into the West and our suppression of indigenous people, either red or brown, was done in some sense in the name of God. We are the City upon the Hill, and as such, God’s new chosen.

This convenient “American Exceptionalism” poisoned with religious righteousness, has justified in the eyes of its perpetrators all kinds of injustice, from genocide to land grabbing, and slavery.

For periods of time, we placed religion in mostly its rightful place–as a facet of each person’s life as they chose or not. Government stayed out of faith, and faith stayed out of government. Religion was a good place to develop ethical, moral, and just responses to issues of the day. It was not the only place however. Government did it’s best to cull the best of the just response and act upon it for the greater good of all, and so that minorities were not walked upon.

I was thinking of Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson, whatever his personal beliefs about God were, certainly believed that it was a personal issue, not one for the public square. Washington was so loathe to be seen as promoting a particular tradition that he didn’t go to church at all as president.

What must they think of the goings on today? One can only imagine. I suspect they would see it for what it is, shameless religiosity to justify what people want to do anyway. A serious segment of the religion right who intone  “marching in lockstep with Israel” do so only because they believe they are promoting their version of the end times. This of course is not lost on the Israelis, but they accept their friends where they can get them.

Herman, Step-‘n-fetch-it, Cain argues that in his uninformed mind, most Muslims are Sharia law followers, and as president he wouldn’t have time to ferret out the few who aren’t, so don’t blame him for not putting any Muslims in his prospective administration.

A segment of the religious right rejects Mitt Romney only because he is “not the right kind of Christian”. Warren Cole Smith, associate editor of the World, a right-wing magazine, argues:

Placing a Mormon in that pulpit would be a source of pride and a shot of adrenaline for the LDS church. It would serve to normalize the false teachings of Mormonism the world over. It would also provide an opening to Mormon missionaries around the world, who could start every conversation: “Let me tell you about the American president.” To elect a Mormon President is to advance the cause of the Mormon Church.

Non-Christians likely don’t care much about this point one way or the other. But for the Christian, this is a vital issue. One of the strongest warnings Jesus issues is to those who “lead little ones astray.” He said it would be better for that person if a millstone were put around his neck and he were cast into the sea. The validation of the false religion of Mormonism would almost certainly have the effect of leading many astray. Evangelical Christians should have no part of that effort.

This is no different from back in 1960 when a goodly sum of Protestants were pretty darn sure that electing a Catholic to the presidency would be tantamount to installing the pope in the White House, and for some, that was Satan himself.

The UCCB, the official spokesman for the American Catholic Church, has written a letter to Speaker John Boehner, basically condemning the Ryan plan and other GOP plans to gut Medicare as unfairly burdening the least able, while gifting the rich with more riches. Arguments go back and forth within the Catholic world as to whether or not voting for this person or that can be justified under definitions of intrinsic evil.

Exactly what Jefferson and the other Founding Fathers feared, has come to fruition. The public forum is now embroiled in an increasingly vitriolic war of words over whose interpretation of sacred scripture is controlling.

And underlying it all is the ugly raw truth. It still comes down to using God to justify why somebody’s vision of the world should be the one everyone else should be forced to live under. And it’s wrong, period.

End of rant.

Whatever He said. . . .I Say the Opposite

Tags

1st Amendment, Bryan Fischer, creationism, David Barton, economy, God, GOP, Individual Rights, Iowa, Libya, Muslims, Newt Gingrich, revisionist history, taxes, teabaggers, theology, unions, US Constitution, Wisconsin

This is the GOP mantra, and has been since the day after the 2008 election. Whatever the President says or does or doesn’t do, they immediately say the opposite. It’s the last part that keeps getting them in trouble.

Latest case in point:

Newty (the garden slug) Gingrich just can’t make up his mind on what to do about Libya. When we were doing nothing, he was for the US to step in. When we did, he was against it.

He said we could take care of the whole problem with air-power. Until we used air-power then he said it was a typical politician’s error to think that air power solves all problems.

In the end, Newt admits that his answers to these questions are simply “responses to what the President does.”

Ya see Newt, when the president doesn’t do something, and you say he should, it’s really bad form to then say he shouldn’t have. And then before he has done something, don’t tell him how he should do it, because when he does it, and does it that way, you end up saying he should know better not to do it that way.

Is this an Alzheimer’s moment Newt? Or are you just the hateful vindictive, wannabe that we really think you are?

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Help! Infection alert!

Decontamination areas are being set up all over Iowa in anticipation of the likely bacterial infection set to enter the state.

Tomorrow gadzillions (make that a few dozen) really creepy and crazy people are set to have a day-long conference in Des Moines about who should be the GOP candidate. All manner of sleaze is attending, including M. Bachmann (crazy eyes), H. Barbour (racism is behind me), H. Cain (uncle Tom’s cousin), N. Gingrich (garden slug), R. Santorum (wontcha love me again?), J. Bolton (the stash is my cash), and well others.

All rational humans are urged to get a shower and take the recommended dosage of Tylenol to forestall bouts of insanity. Symptoms include itchy skin, double vision and the uncanny feeling that you’ve been hijacked by aliens. See a veterinarian immediately if you have any of the above.

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I just love ‘strict constructionists. You know who I mean, those folks that want our country returned to its Founding Father principles, the C O N S T I T U T I O N. Now what they actually mean by this is something you might not quite get, if you ain’t one of them.

Cases in point:

Bryan Fischer, AFA leader and all around hater of everything not white and fundamentalist, claims that the 1st Amendment right to freedom of religion, does not include any rights for Muslims, since the FF could not have had them in mind. Why we don’t know, but he says that we give them rights as a “courtesy” only.

David Barton, pseudo-historian and all around wacko nutjob who shleps for the GOP and it’s business elites, has explained that the Declaration of Independence is “nothing more than a list of sermons” which might surprise Thomas Jefferson. Further the Constitution was written directly out of the Bible, and that all leads up to the fact that Jesus was and IS against the minimum wage and well anything that corporate America doesn’t find conducive to racking up profits.

Sadly, people actually get in their cars, travel to auditoriums, sit their skinny butts in chairs, and listen to this drivel, rather than say, pop popcorn and watch Monty Python’s Holy Grail. I kid you not.

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Texas has been in the business of late in revising the history of the US of A, to reflect whatever it wants to be the truth. This is not news. Bill Zedler, Texas Rethuglian legislator, introduces a bill to make it “illegal to discriminate against creationists.” Yes, and next he plans to introduce one that makes it illegal to discriminate against stupid people. In both cases that would be him.  [h/t to Crooks and Liars]

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Discover Magazine has an interesting article, entitled “Does the Universe Need God?” This is an excerpt from a larger article, and there is a link to that. This is a thoughtful reasoned argument, not the usual atheistic meanness that we’ve come to see from to many. I don’t agree with the argument, but I find it cogent and worth considering.

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Ever heard of William Cronon? I hadn’t. No reason I should. He’s a university professor at Wisconsin, and well-respected by his peers in his area of expertise, that being history. He recently did an op-ed piece in the NYTimes on the recent union issues in Wisconsin, and was critical of the Governor and Republicans who would try to take away long-standing collective bargaining rights of Wisconsin citizens.

Well, that pissed off the GOP, and it, the state GOP that is, has launched a legal action to get to his e-mails to uncover whether they can prove that he’s been active in protests. This all aimed to of course intimidate and discredit him. This is what I guess the GOP calls democracy. We call it Joe McCarthyism. How low can you limbo Wisconsin GOP? [h/t to Daily Dish]

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I know you all read Moe at Whatever Works, and I’m stealing this “entire” post, but she posts usually several a day, so please don’t miss her stuff. She does a great job of keeping us all aware of all the nefarious goings on, everywhere. But this is precious and so true:

“Other than telling us how to live, think, marry, pray, vote, invest, educate our children and, now, die, Republicans have done a fine job of getting government out of our personal lives.”
                                                         – Editorial Page, Portland Oregonian 

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It’s leftovers today!

Related Articles

• American Family Association’s Bryan Fischer: Deny First Amendment Rights to Muslims (littlegreenfootballs.com)
• “Obama derangement syndrome, Newt Gingrich edition” and related posts (mnpublius.com)
• Wisconsin university critic of Walker gets a Velderman. (preaprez.wordpress.com)
• My World’s Collide (talkingpointsmemo.com)
• Scott Walker’s Office Seeks Access to Critical Professor’s Email (blogs.forbes.com)

Your Guess is as Good as Mine

Tags

1st Amendment, GOP, Iowa, Libya, no-fly zone, nuclear energy, Randy Forbes, religion, teabuggers

I admit to being conflicted about nuclear energy. I prefer solar and wind energy, thank you very much. I recognize that nuclear is an alternative to the dirty energies of oil and coal.

I’m not ready to jump on the bandwagon that some are shouting from, that the Japanese have bungled their management of their reactors. I don’t know enough to make that judgment.

It would seem at first glance that a place where three tectonic plates intersect would not be a good place to build a reactor, but I’ve also heard that the area was considered “safe”.

In any event, certain folks in this country are pretty vocal that we should put the brakes on any further nuclear plant building until a “thorough study has been conducted.” Local TV here in Iowa is wont to tell us that the same GE design is present in our Palo reactor which is pretty close to where we live.

Politicians are good at this kind of stuff. Acting all “concerned for the public welfare” in times of “crisis.” That brought us such wonderful things as “freedom fries” and two extra months of daylight savings time, a move that saved not one tablespoon of oil as far as I know.

So I’m suspicious that all this talk of new studies and delay comes from  those who have some interest in oil and coal production. I have that suspicion.

I realize that nuclear energy can be dangerous. We have seen the evidence of that from Three Mile Island to Chernobyl and now in Japan. Yet, space travel is dangerous and we have the bodies to prove that. Crossing the Atlantic in small wooden ships was dangerous and many perished in that attempt. People died attempting to reach the North pole. People die in mining accidents (many of which are no doubt preventable), riding horses, and I am sure some poor soul died from sneezing.

Discovery and living both have their risks. As long as we do the best we can to do things safely, I’m not ready to pull the plug of nuclear energy because of an accident. What it should do, is lead us to make sure our existing plants are as safe as we can make them. That could also be considered “job creation”.  If you wish to read more of the technical side of the argument, go here. The article deals with our latest technology.

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The No-fly zone has begun with France taking the lead, claiming that their aircraft are in the air over Libya now. Qaddafi is predictably acting crazy, claiming he will die before surrendering. I guess my position is now that they must strike quickly and hard, and put an end to this. Otherwise Qaddafi will do as much murdering as he possibly can.

My reason for wanting this over quickly, is that atrocities are occurring in Yemen and in Bahrain, and very little is being said about it. These were peaceful demonstrations and the powers that be have decided to end them. The US is fairly quiet about the entire thing, other than to “abhor the violence.”

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We try to keep you aware here of bills introduced in state and federal legislatures. Here’s another phenomenal waste of time and taxpayer money. It seems that one Randy Forbes (R-VA) and teabugger backed, has introduced a bill that HAS MADE IT THROUGH THE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE FOR GOD’S SAKE, that would make it mandatory that all public buildings, public high schools, and political institutions, carry the words “In God we Trust” on the building. Crazy Randy also wanted the Congress to declare that the bible was the inerrant word of God.

This is where taxpayer money goes folks. Sigh. Anyone for nominating Crazy Randy to hand chisel all the signs for the entire country? Keep him busy and out of RATIONAL people’s hair?

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It’s been spring here in the meadow since March 1, since we like to divide the seasons properly. A sure sign is the sound of birds twittering a lot. It’s blessed music to my ears. It makes me smile. I hope you have some spring-like weather where you are. I’m starting to look around to see if some bulbs are starting to pop out. And the trees are getting red on the furthest extensions of the branches, and soon the buds will appear. *Smile.*

Related Articles

• Five myths about nuclear energy (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• What does Japan’s disaster mean for the global nuclear industry? (cnn.com)