I need a favor...

I'm helping my pal Erin and the students in the political science department at the State University of New York/Stony Brook (right up the road from me) with a survey they're doing. They're looking for a large sample and asked if I could help them rustle up some victims volunteers to take the survey. It only takes a couple minutes and you'll be helping our young people. I'll also be getting a copy of the results and I'll share them with you. I'll be putting a link in the upper left sidebar once Blogger decides to stop sucking monkey ass but here's the gist of it:

The Religion and Politics in American Life Survey

This survey is about attitudes towards religion and politics. Some people think that this country is becoming too secular. They want to see more people in government who share their values. Other people think that religious groups have too much influence in politics. They would rather keep religion and politics separate. We are very interested in your thoughts on this matter.What do you think about religion and politics in the U.S.?

Click here to take the survey:

If you have any questions about this survey, please contact Erin Cassese (Stony Brook University) at ecassese@ic.sunysb.edu.

So take the fucking survey already and help out my neighbors' kids. They're our future, you know. Thank you.

I should add that the medical students at the East Campus have put me back together on numerous occasions. Stony Brook is an excellent teaching university and I'm thrilled they asked me to help. If I hadn't been a juvenile delinquent, I probably would have gone there...well...I would have applied there. They have standards after all.

And another aside: If you're a blogger and could see fit to draw attention to this on your blog I'd be grateful.

Smackin' the hornet's nest

Station Charon has a good rant on how Rove et al are shittin' on our troops and ignoring the real problems that face our nation in their "gay marriage" panderpalooza to stay in power. Worth a read.

Smacking the hornet's nest of peckerwood nation has long been the bread and butter play for the fascist right and the corrupt crony capitalists in the perpetrating of their looting of the treasury and implementation of a surveillance state and it is expressed no better than in former Jack Abramoff aide Michael Scanlon's admission that they target regressive bible thumpers as dupes to support their agenda of thievery:

"The wackos get their information through the Christian right, Christian radio, mail, the internet and telephone trees. Simply put, we want to bring out the wackos to vote against something and make sure the rest of the public lets the whole thing slip past them."

And by God he is right and the pathetically ignorant 'values' crowd will once again pick up their pitchforks, rubber fetuses and foam rubber decalogues, make their pilgrimages to 'Roy's Rock' and get in line like the good little goosesteppers that they are, nothing is more enabling of totalitarianism than an angry mass without the slightest idea of what it is that really causes their anger. The morons of course will not be able to comprehend that if the gay marriage menace were such a threat to the very future of the planet that it would have been addressed by Rove and the Mayberry Machiavellis well before they spent nearly two years after Bush's most theft of a national election in bestowing gift after gift to their crony capitalist benefactors on Wall Street who have the real juice when it comes to driving the agenda.

[...] I caught on to their bullshit at a very early age in life when my parents packed me and my little sister off to the local Baptist church for Sunday school to get us out of the house. The Baptists would even send a nice gaily painted bus around the neighborhood trolling for young converts.

I remember that in addition to prayer a plenty we used to engage in sing-a-longs on that bus and one of the verses of the songs that I will always remember went something like this:

"You can't get to heaven with hippie hair cause the lord don't like that mess up there."

My young little mind must already have had the seeds of cynicism sown because lo and behold while our Sunday school teacher was leading us in song I noticed that he was standing in front of a picture of some dude with really long hair and a scraggly beard...

And it sure as fuck wasn't Ted Nugent.

I actually like "the Motor City Madman" for his stance on firearms, self-sufficiency, and his general attitude other than his wingnut politics. I tried shooting my own food once, but it took too long to pluck the birdshot out of my bucket of chicken.

Sorry, but...

I'll reserve judgment about this Canadian terror cell until all the facts come out. Why? Because it just strikes me there's something funny going on here. Pessimist asks the same question I've been since the news broke.

...

So why would Muslims want to target Canada???

That's when it hit me - this is all a setup.

...

We're desensitized...

To bullshit. Gord touched on it the other day. To wit:

...

And you know what's the worst part of this? No one really cares that much, no one that matters. "Oh, that's just Fox News, that's just O'Reilly, whaddya expect?" The level of bullshit, ignorance, bigotry, and malicious stupidity is so high we don't even notice it anymore. Worse, the stench is so bad and is so far over our heads already, we don't even notice when it's reached a new height.

But we're not done yet. If O'Reilly can keep his job - and he can and will - after smearing American WW II soldiers (as well as sending covert signals of support to all the David Irvings in America), then he will feel compelled to top that. Anyone care to predict the next O'Reilly outrage?

I don't. If you had told me that Bill O'Reilly could get away with rewriting Malmedy, I would have said you were mad. But what we do know is that the goal posts have moved and rightwing extremism is just a little less extreme than it was. [my em]

...

That's how Ann 'I don't need a strap-on' Coulter can get away with the shit she shovels too. When the outrageous is commonplace, the truly horrible doesn't raise an eyebrow. As Gord's post emphasized, had the 'pundits' on the Left said about Christians what Coulter says about everybody else, the Rethugs would drop the anti-gay amendment bullshit in a heartbeat to take up the cause of banning 'hate speech'. Tristero has a good idea:

...Let's call it the Neiwert Effect, in honor of the expert in how extreme rightwing memes get mainstreamed...

It's worse...

After five years of Bush, you know the situation is actually far worse than I previously mentioned.

...

[P]ersonal data on more than 2.2 million active-duty military personnel - not just 50,000 as initially believed - were among those stolen from a Veterans Affairs employee last month, the government said Tuesday

...

Yup, the 'party of security'. Is there anyone in this government who is not incompetent? If I did my job the way these assholes do theirs, Harry would have run me out of the shop years ago. If I managed my personal finances the way they do, I'd be living out of a refrigerator box under an overpass of the Long Island Expressway.

I don't know about you...

But I wish they had these when I was in. Freefall for 120 miles! And I thought the HALO jumps were fun. Ausgezeichnet!

You know, just thinking about it, aside from the fun ride, stashing it once you're on the ground might be problematic. I sure as hell ain't carrying it with me or bringing it back. A chute you can bury or hide easy enough and make it look like you were never there. I'd hate to have to try and hide that thing.

Tip o' the Brain to memeorandum.

Geez, that's a simple solution...

I got this in an e-mail from my pal Jo in L.A. and just had to share:

Win win situation.

Dig a moat the length of the Mexican border, take the dirt and raise the levees in New Orleans and put the Florida alligators in the moat.

Any other problems you would like for me to solve?

Well, that takes care o' that, I guess!

The real threat to marriage...

Pensito Review

The traditional media may be interested almost exclusively in the sex lives of Democratic politicians, but on the hypocrisy index, it is hard to score higher than Republicans pontificating about saving the institution of marriage while so many of their leaders are serial and long-time adulterers:

A list follows, with some sordid details. You may have heard of some of them, although some Republican sexual practices may be new to progressives and young folks. There's some oddball shit blows some of their skirts up, but who am I to judge? Moral values, you know.

Dubious Epidemics

Molly Ivins cuts through the crap yet again.

I believe what we have here is a difference over moral values.

The Republicans are worried about the flag, gay marriage and the terrible burden of the estate tax on the rich. The rest of us are obviously unnecessarily worried about war, peace, the economy, the environment and civilization. Another reason to vote Republican - they have a shorter list.

The Republicans have definitely figured out what appeals to the retards who vote for them. This time around, there may not be as many.

Update:

Bob Geiger on the same subject:

Whether or not any of these bills passes, the GOP is taking a giant gamble five months before the midterm elections: That when the polls open on November 7, Americans will believe that two men getting married, someone, somewhere burning an American flag or some yokel's right to have his Florida carry permit observed in New York has a damn thing to do with the daily, real-life concerns of their families.

They've won this gamble in the past. This time, they will not.

Gee, maybe I'm finally right about something!

Sacrifice

Remember, and think about the sacrifices made that day in a just war.

Quote of the Day*

And as Ron White, comedian and genius compared to these fools, says, "You can't fix stupid."

Go read Jaye's whole post over at Blondie's.

*Now becoming a semi-regular thing...or so it seems...

Dissatisfaction

It seems every day, more of my neighbors to the north are making their voices heard in support of Ned Lamont. I've probably mentioned it, but I lived in Connecticut for 18 months when I got out of the regular AF and joined the Reserves (Westover AFB, Chicopee MA, 59th Aerial Port Sqn.). I fell in love with the state then and I still enjoy going back to visit on one of Mrs. F's antiguing junkets. I wish nothing but the best for them and that means getting Holy Joe out.

He was reading a 2005 commentary in a national newspaper by U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman, in which the three-term incumbent wrote that Democrats who harshly criticize President George W. Bush on the Iraq War while the conflict continued "undermine presidential credibility at our nation's peril."

"That was the straw that broke the camel's back," [Bridgeport educator Maximo] Medina said of his fellow Democrat. "It was outrageous."

Medina has since emerged as one of the key supporters of Lieberman's Democratic challenger, Ned Lamont.

...

"He gives Bush political cover on many issues," Medina said of Lieberman, who often has been called the president's favorite Democrat. "Lieberman has become a national icon and he's become too big for his britches, and I find a lot of Connecticut folks have noticed that."

He said the time has come for an open dialogue on what it means to be a Democrat. "We want a strong debate on what Connecticut Democrats should be all about," he said.

...

Indeed. We should have that debate within the national party as well. I'm not saying Dems should be like Rethug automatons, spouting a party line regardless of the reality, but by golly don't give the Rethugs cover and credibility. It's one of the reasons I'm pushing Ned Lamont's candidacy so hard when I can't even vote for the man. This is more than a local race in one of the most beautiful states in the Union. Ned's our guy. A grassroots, Internet-friendly, progressive candidate for national office. Getting Ned elected will send two messages.

1. Incumbency doesn't mean your seat is guaranteed.

2. Never underestimate us (the netroots/grassroots) again.

Support Ned Lamont the only way we out-of-staters can.

Links thanks to My Left Nutmeg.

"Exceeding his Constitutional authority"

WASHINGTON -- The board of governors of the American Bar Association voted unanimously yesterday to investigate whether President Bush has exceeded his constitutional authority in reserving the right to ignore more than 750 laws that have been enacted since he took office.

...

William Sessions , a retired federal judge who was the director of the FBI under both Reagan and President George H.W. Bush , said he agreed to participate because he believed that the signing statements raise a "serious problem" for the American constitutional system.

"I think it's very important for the people of the United States to have trust and reliance that the president is not going around the law," Sessions said. "The importance of it speaks for itself."

...

The Chimp has been exceeding his authority since 9/11. It's about time these bottom feeders stopped counting their money for a few minutes to do something about this bullshit.

Great thanks to Maru for the link.

Lurch

Click to embiggen

This is our pal Lurch from Main and Central and Lurch's Page. He's on vacation, traveling around the country, and honored me with a visit today. He's visiting family in the Sierra foothills and made a coupla hunnert mile round trip to do so. Didn't cost him jack shit money-wise, either. He hit the jackpot at some Indian casino somewhere and left a bunch of 'em with nothing left but blankets to sit on! Sweet!

This is the first time that an entity hitherto known to me only in the disembodied typewritten word has presented himself in the flesh, so to speak. In other words, he's the first real live blogger I've ever actually met in person!

We sat on my deck with refreshments and chatted about everything under the Sun that we like: computers, cameras, cars, blogs, our respective locales, life in general - oh, did I mention politics? We dual-computed and showed each other pictures. I conned advised him on a lovely route to take when he heads back east. Death Valley is involved, so if we don't hear from in the next few weeks we'll go look for his bleached bones. Dibs on his Exploder.

He's a nice guy. We had a great visit and he's welcome back any time.

We correspond all the time over these internets with folks we don't know much about: what they look and sound like, where they live, etc. None of that really matters. We find folks far removed from us that are of like mind and intellect, a nation-wide linkage if you will, and we know from this that we are not alone in our thinking. To get to actually meet one of the best of 'em, not to mention actually liking him, was a big thrill.

If he isn't nice to me, I'll show you the other picture I took of him!

What?

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon has decided to omit from new detainee policies a key tenet of the Geneva Convention that explicitly bans "humiliating and degrading treatment," according to knowledgeable military officials, a step that would mark a further, potentially permanent, shift away from strict adherence to international human rights standards.

...

So how does this make us any better than the Taliban or the Janjawid? This is proof, if you needed any more, the United States has become a tin-horn dictatorship.

Hat tip: Dr. Attaturk

It's Florida...

No offense to the great Lefty bloggers from Florida but, like the military, it's sad commentary on the leadership of the state:

...

"I was watching in the living room, and they started showing the pictures of Mohammed Atta and then the others in those photographs," says Hiaasen. "I said, 'I swear to God, those are Florida driver's licenses photographs.' At least nine of them, I believe, and possibly more had lived and worked and trained for their suicide mission here in Florida."

"And I always tell people, 'You think that was an accident? Where's the one place in the United States where the bar of bad behavior is so high that nobody's gonna notice these guys?'" adds Hiaasen. "Nobody's gonna think twice when they walk into a flight school and say, 'I'd like to get on a 757 simulator, but I don't need the part about where you land it. Just teach me how to fly it around.' And pay it in cash, and they say, 'Oh, right this way, Mr. Atta. Sit over here.'

"You know, the one guy, he goes to Minneapolis, he goes to Minnesota to learn and he's in jail in about 25 minutes. First I was surprised, and then it all made sense. It all makes sense when you think about it. Why not? Of course."

...

Tip o' the Brain to C&L.

Home schooling

As most of you know, I got a problem with home schooling. Aside from the fact the Jesus freaks have appropriated it as a way to brainwash their kids in the ways of their Jesus (there is nothing more terrifying to me than to see a 6 year old quoting scripture from memory), but it also hinders social development and the development of interpersonal skills when kids aren't exposed to diversity. This story (via our pal John) points up the fact all too graphically:

WASHINGTON, DC - Ten-year old Katie Hulmich has spent most of the last year preparing for 79th National Spelling Bee, which finally got underway in the nation's capitol today. The pint-sized, tow-headed home-schooler has spent ten hours a day for the past eight months preparing for the spelling showdown, and can fire off twenty-five cent words from 'anastomosis' (the union or connection of branches) to 'zedoary' (the dried rhizome of a tropical Asian plant).

...

"We thought we had all of the words covered, but then they pull one out of the blue like that," says Katie's mother - and full-time home spelling coach - Beverly Hulmich. "The real challenge for the kids is when they come across a word that they just don't ever use in their daily life." [my em]

...

The word was 'friend'. The defense rests.

Update:

Okay, so it was 5 in the morning and I didn't get this was satire. My bad. I still have a problem with home schooling for the reasons mentioned. There are a lot of well-intentioned folks out there but it's still no substitute for the learning experience of just interacting with large, diverse group of peers.

Nothing better to do...

So they're gonna try and push through this gay marriage thing,

WASHINGTON Apr 30, 2006 (AP) - Former Sen. John Danforth says a conservative push to ban gay marriage through a constitutional amendment is silly, calling it the latest example of how the political influence of evangelical Christians is hurting the GOP.

Danforth, a Missouri Republican and an Episcopal priest, made the comments in a speech Saturday night to the Log Cabin Republicans, which support gay rights. He said history has shown that attempts to regulate human behavior with constitutional amendments are misguided.

...

that even moderate Repukes don't want, just to shore up the 'base'. It's not like we have any other priorities:

...

the now bankrupt government pension bailout program being inundated with private companies shirking their responsibilities.

the $6b a month we're spending in iraq. the $9b that just *poof* disappeared over there.

...

new york apparently having no monuments to protect against terrorists and so their homeland security funding was slashed 40%.

hurricane season being upon us again and we still haven't cleaned up the gulf coast from katrina and rita. people are still homeless, jobless and hopeless.

...

From the gay couples I know, the Repukes can learn a lot about family values.

Records...

And Ol' Joe-mentum has built up a stellar one over the past 18 years...if he were a candidate for the GOP. Lest we forget, my neighbors:

...

I had forgotten how he played the leading role in 1993 to thwart Democrats who tried to close loopholes allowing companies to cook the books on millions of dollars of stock options. Thus began the regulatory abandonment that spawned Enron and its sibling rip-offs.

...

How many Connecticut Democrats remember that their senator was one of only two Democrats who voted with Republicans in 1995 to kill a lobbyist-gift ban? Or that he called affirmative action "un-American?" Or that in August 1994 he voted in favor of a proposal by Republican Jesse Helms to cut off all federal money from schools that offer counseling to suicidal gay teens by referring them to gay support groups or in any way suggesting it's OK to be gay?

...

And there's much much more. Yes, Holy Joe has built a record any Republican would be proud of. Ned Lamont will build a record a Democrat can be proud of. Joe must go.

Thanks: Atrios

Well, that explains it...

A letter from Skelitor to Senator Clinton about the New York DHS funding cut. Karena's Blog:

George Bush has assured the DHS that NYC will not be a target for a terrorist attack this year. He's got too much on his plate right now whipping up fear in other states. He says that no one cares about the Empire State Building anyway except a few fans of that old movie, An Affair to Remember. Some King Kong fans care about the building, but the latest remake was pretty much a flop.

We will divert the money to Red States this year in an effort to get out the vote. Again, you have nothing to worry about, you are not on our radar screen this year.

Pretty close, I'd say.