Come on Libs and Dems. Don't destroy the party now!
You might have noticed that with the exception of congratulating Kerry and Edwards on their win in Iowa I have not written much about the Democratic primaries and the people running. See I decided early on that I would not write about it because ultimately I am not all that concerned with who wins as much as I am beating George W. Bush. And when I decided not to write about something, I don't do it in the wimpy way that Atrios does it (Sheesh why say you are not going to write on a subject when you write about it damn near every day?? Ok, ok, it's a joke.) I really don't write about it.
Yet last night I headed over to IRC to take part in a chat set up by "The Daily Kos" and after hearing the talk I decided to break my rule this one time. Basically because what I saw going on there was deeply disgusting and disturbing. People we are in danger of losing sight of the prize here.
As the results came in, the conversation turned to which Democrat was "unelectable". Well you know, it's a good thing Dean did so poorly because Dean is unelectable. Yeah thank God that Kucinich is fading fast because, you know, he is simply unelectable. Sure am glad that Clark is doing bad because he could never be elected. Funny thing is that when I asked why they were unelectable, people called me names, implied that I was stupid, asked if I watched the news...etc...etc...etc, but no one answered the question.
The best that anyone could do was assure me that if Dennis Kucinich (for example) lost Iowa and New Hampshire then that "proves that he can't beat Bush". This is what we call a "tautology". As I pointed out this must mean that if he ends up winning the primary then it is proof that he can beat Bush. Right?
Personally I think any of the Democrats can beat Bush, with the possible exception of Al Sharpton and Joe Lieberman. Unlike those I was talking to last night I can give you my reasons that I say this. Lieberman is nothing more than Bush lite. If there is one thing we should have learned from the 2002 election it is that democrats that run as republicans never win. Why vote for Bush lite when you can vote for Bush? Sharpton simply has too much baggage. I saw him on "Real Time with Bill Maher" this week. Ron Silver was also on and acting like a complete jerk, screaming at Al about what he would do about Saddam and such. Well of course he had to bring up Tawana Brawley. Sharpton used the very glib answer of "I believed a young women" but if it was not good enough for me, and I like Al, then it is not going to be good enough for the rest of the electorate. One thing I want to make very clear, there were a couple in there that were clearly trolls (one of them made the incredible claim that Al was more electable than Dennis!) and it was hard to tell the true Democrats from the Republican shills.
Still what worries me the most about what I experienced last night is just how fractious people are when it comes to their candidate. I have had no problem not writing about the candidates because I have no strong emotional ties to any of them. Don't get me wrong, I have my favorite, but I will vote for any of the candidates that eventually win the nomination. Hell even Al or Joe, strictly on the theory that they can't do any worse than the yahoos in charge now.
So come on Democrats and Liberals. I like to see passion about your candidate but please. Much more of this nonsense and we are going to end up electing Bush for another four years! And we will have no one to blame but ourselves!
Oh and once again congrats to Sen. John Kerry for winning the N. H. primary.
Edit: I can't believe I did not link to "The Daily Kos". Allow me to rectify that situation.
Yet another busy day for your host. Yet I feel horrid because yesterday I forgot to mention that the final nominees have been chosen for the Koufax Awards. Your's truly did not make the final cut, but as I said here, it was an honor to get nominated in the first place. I don't blog to win awards (or even to win readers), I blog because I love to write, though I will be the first to admit that the English language has had better friends than I.
Since there is not much happening here, why don't you spend the day reading the entries for the Koufax Awards and don't forget to vote for your favs.
When you're done, check back here...perhaps I will have something up by then.
Captain Kangaroo has left the theater and oh how he will be missed.
Growing up I did not have the benefit of Sesame Street. or Mr. Rogers. I was already too old when those shows started (Mr. Roger's debuted in 1968 where I was the grand age of nine, and Sesame Street a year later). So watching them was not the magical experience that my kids experience.
Captain Kangaroo was different. I can't remember a time growing up when Captain Kangaroo was not with me. From 1955 to 1985 I lived in Captain Kangaroo's treasure house, along with the delightful Mr. Green Jeans (played by Hugh "Lumpy" Brannum), the carrot loving Mr. Bunny Rabbit, a hand puppet that wore horn rimmed glasses, Mr. Moose, who's obsession was knock-knock jokes, Dancing Bear, the ever sleepy Mr. Grandfather Clock...well the list goes on and on. As a child I lived with every one of them, and love them too.
Robert James Keeshan was born in Lynbrook, Long Island, New York on June 27, 1927. After proudly serving in the U. S. Marines Keeshan started working as a page at NBC-Radio's Manhattan office. Bob Smith started offering him small acting parts on his NBC-TV show, Triple B Ranch, and then, subsequently, hired him as a special assistant for The Howdy Doody Show. It was not long before Keeshan move from behind the camera to the front, starring as the first Clarabell the Clown, a mute clown who communicated by honking a horn ala Harpo Marx. From there he moved to "Time For Fun" / "The Johnny Jellybean Show" where he performed as "Corny The Clown". It was there that you got the first taste of the type of children show Bob wanted to do with his refusal to air cartoons that were too violent or perpetuated racial stereotyping.
CBS was looking to put together a new type of children's show and approached Bob. He jumped at the chance. So October 1955, Captain Kangaroo made it's debut. What kind of show and what kind of host was he?
Keeshan not only vividly embodied the Captain, the friendly host of the Treasure House, but also played a central creative role on the daily series, supervising and actively contributing to the scripts and insuring the program's conformity to his conceptions of appropriate children's entertainment. Through encounters with Mr. Green Jeans and his menagerie of domestic animals, with the poetry-creating Grandfather Clock, the greedy Bunny Rabbit, the punning trickster Mr. Moose, and the musically-inclined Dancing Bear, the Captain opened several generations of children to the pleasures of learning. Unlike many other children's programs, Captain Kangaroo was not filmed before a studio audience and did not include children in its cast. Keeshan wanted nothing that would come between him and the children in his television audience and so spoke directly to the camera. He also personally supervised which commercials could air on the program, and promoted products, such as Play-Dough and Etch-a-Sketch, which he saw as facilitating creative play, while avoiding those he felt purely exploitative.
As his program's popularity grew, Keeshan took on an increasingly public role as an advocate for children, writing a regular column about children and television for McCall's and occasional articles for Good Housekeeping, Parade, and other publications. Keeshan wrote original children's books (as well as those tied to the Kangaroo program) and recorded a series of records designed to introduce children to classical and jazz music. He appeared at "tiny tot" concerts given by symphony orchestras in more than 50 cities, offering playful introductions to the musical instruments and the pleasure of good listening.
A few years after he retired they brought the Captain back. It was someone I had never seen before, and in truth it made me kinda angry. As if someone else was playing in the Captain's Treasure House, a stranger. He was amusing, no knock on him, but the deep love I felt coming from the Captain was missing. What made the real Captain special was completely lacking. Now to never be recaptured. What an incredibly sad day.
The passing of a kind, decent man is always a tragedy but even more so today, when there are so few of them around.
Woo Hoo! I did it. I actually found the time to clean up my blogroll. If you have a blog and it was on my roll, and now it is not, all you have to do is update the blog, drop me a line to let me know, and voila, you will appear again as if by magic!
Wow has the week past that fast? Apparently so, and this means it is time for another Blog Round-Up. Below are some of the articles I read this week of particular note.
Once again I implore you, if you write a blog, and you have an article you would like to see on the Friday Round-Up please send me some email with a link to the article. I will be more than happy to give it a read and consider it for a mention.
One last thing before I let you get on with your reading. I really do intend to clean up my blogroll this weekend. So again, if you notice you are no longer on the roll, just update your blog. Once it is updated send me a note and I will gladly restore your position on the roll.
First up this morning is "All Facts and Opinions with a small snippet of a study on Mass Extinction and Global Warming. Sometime this week I really must discuss this idea that Al Gore was crazy because he talked about Global Warming on one of the coldest days in New York history. Those that were impress with that show an ignorance on this subject that is down right scary, but more on it next week. For now head on over to FandO for a good start on the subject.
Akim of Empty Days covers the case of Maher Arar the Canadian citizen that we arrested and shipped to Syria, where he was roundly tortured with America's knowledge if not approval. I tell ya, if I were an American citizen that had ties to the Middle East, I would be very very scared.
Joe of "The American Leftist" informs us of the plight of Katherine Gun (cursor down, the permalink is froogy). What? You have never heard of her? Considering how much our media has broadcasted this story that does not surprise me. Go find out. Now.
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness."
-- John Kenneth Galbraith
This is how April of April Follies starts her fine essay "The Pragmatism of Compassion" I love think pieces and this is a good one. I have always thought that what separates conservatives from liberals is compassion and empathy. April manages to put my feelings into words.
Nathan Newman takes a closer look at the FBI & ACLU: Together v. Internet Deregulation. He noticed "how the Bush regime's deregulatory impulses are being undercut by its anti-terrorism police state tactics." Good stuff.
Last, but certainly not least, that crazy biology professor, P. Z. Myers, has developed a quiz to help you determine if you should really go after that PhD in Biology. Entitled 'Should I get a biology PhD?': The Quiz it's pretty funny stuff. Go take it and if you find you should get a degree in Biology, just tell PZ that Dom sent ya!
This CONSERVATIVE ALERT is a special message from RightMarch.com PAC:
Dear Dominion,
Believe it or not, right now, you and I have the opportunity to defeat a liberal Senator -- AND elect a "true-blue" conservative in his place -- even BEFORE this fall's general election!
You read that right. There's a sitting U.S. Senator who has a 42 percent lifetime rating from the American Conservative Union (ACU), which is exactly HALF the average for Republican senators.
This liberal Senator votes the WRONG way on everything from taxes, spending, and national security, to cloning, hate crimes, and labor law.
He's a supporter of abortion-on-demand no matter the circumstances, he advocates racial preferences, he's an opponent of much-needed tort reform, he's a firm friend of the United Nations' International Criminal Court... you name the left-wing pet project, and he's in favor of it.
Citizens Against Government Waste has even listed him in its "Pig Book" as one of the Senate's biggest pork-barrel spenders.
Who is this bastion of old-line, tax-and-spend liberalism, who helped slash the Bush administration's tax cuts by $250 billion in 2001?
Is it Louisiana Democrat John Breaux? No, his ACU rating is HIGHER than the liberal Senator we have in mind.
Is it Nebraska Democrat Ben Nelson? No, his ACU rating is even HIGHER still.
In fact...
... The LIBERAL Senator we're talking about isn't even a Democrat at all -- He's a REPUBLICAN. His name is Arlen Specter (R-PA).
That's right -- a 42% ACU rating, a staunch supporter of every liberal cause under the sun, and even an opponent of many conservative judicial nominees in the past (he even voted AGAINST impeaching Clinton)... Republican Sen. Arlen Specter is NO friend to conservative Americans. That's why conservatives all across America need to come together to help defeat his re-election bid:
In fact, a recent issue of "National Review", the leading conservative magazine, calls Sen. Specter "The Worst Republican Senator" and "one of the GOP's most liberal members." In the cover article by John J. Miller, the author explains why "Pennsylvania should get rid of Arlen Specter"; namely, that he is "the man who has done more to frustrate conservative goals over the years than perhaps any other member of his caucus."
Want a few examples of Sen. Specter's blatant liberalism? Take a look:
Specter helped the *Democrats* to "bork" Judge Robert Bork;
He was the *first* Republican to cross the aisle to vote for Clinton's "largest tax increase in history";
He sponsored the "Freedom of Choice Act" which would have *forced* religious hospitals to perform abortions;
He sponsored as many *Democrats* for federal judgeships as Republicans;
He voted to drastically *reduce* President Bush's tax cut;
And, he was the *only* GOP Senator to vote against President Bush's educational voucher initiative in the Washington, D.C. school district.
Add it all up, and you can see why the RightMarch.com Political Action Committee has chosen the GOP primary race in Pennsylvania as the target for its first official "RINO Hunt".
(As you probably know, a "RINO" is a "Republican In Name Only" -- someone elected on the GOP ticket, but who consistently votes a liberal line instead of voting conservative. And Specter sure does qualify!)
We have a chance NOW, *before* the 2004 general election takes place, to help DEFEAT this liberal Republican in the upcoming GOP primary. But we need YOUR help to make it happen:
This is no ordinary primary coming up in April. Unlike past primaries in Pennsylvania, this one pits a REAL, true-blue conservative -- Congressman Pat Toomey, who holds a 97 PERCENT rating from the ACU -- against the aging, liberal Specter. And there's good reason to think Toomey can pull it off:
It's a closed primary -- only Republicans can vote, which usually benefits the conservative candidate;
No matter what the issue is, when it comes to Specter's record, there's always something that will offend most Republicans;
In past elections, fully one-third of the primary voters voted to replace Specter, even when the only choice was challengers who were either single-issue candidates or no-campaign, no-name challengers;
Finally, Toomey already has a double-digit lead over Specter in his home district, even though Specter's been in office more than five times as long.
It won't be easy, though; Specter has already raised more than 9 million dollars for his campaign. It's going to be an uphill fight.
RightMarch.com PAC wants to help even the odds in that fight... with YOUR help.
We need to raise at least $252,152.00 by February 25th to have an effect in this ALL-IMPORTANT BATTLE in Pennsylvania for the heart and soul of the Republican Party. We want to reach EVERY SINGLE ONE of the 2,521,520 GOP voters in the state -- for only 10 CENTS EACH! -- with the FACTS about Arlen Specter... the same facts we've already shared with you.
We want to reach them, first and foremost, by using the most effective means available to modern man: the Internet. We plan to send HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of e-mails (going to opt-in lists of registered Republicans in Pennsylvania), run targeted ads on every website, and make it easy for tens of thousands of online activists to forward our Alerts to everyone in their contact list, to let Pennsylvania GOP voters know the TRUTH about Arlen Specter.
We also want to reach them with full page newspaper ads in every newspaper across the state... with hard-hitting radio ads that detail Specter's record... with mailings and phone calls providing much-needed information that the mainstream media won't tell them.
Even more importantly, we want to remind them of Sen. Specter's record when it comes to supporting -- or NOT supporting -- conservative issues: as National Review noted, "Specter votes like a Democrat until late in his term, when he remembers that he will need at least some conservatives on his side if he's going to win another six years."
And, at his age (if Specter wins a fifth term this election, he'll be 80 years old in 2010), if he knows he's going to retire and doesn't have to face any more election campaigns, conservatives may not even get the one or two years of fair treatment from him they've come to expect. He could be another Jim Jeffords... jumping ship when we need him the most.
Or even worse: should Specter somehow leave office in the midst of his term, Pennsylvania's DEMOCRAT Governor would get to appoint a DEMOCRAT to replace him!
We MUST NOT let this happen. NOW is the time for conservatives across America to come together and work for a REAL conservative majority in the Senate. It's doesn't do us any good to have a Republican majority there, if so many of those Republicans consist of liberals like Arlen Specter.
Please make a contribution TODAY -- whether it's $2,000, $1,000, $500, $250, $100, or even $50 or $25 -- your help is needed NOW to make the difference in finally getting "the Worst Republican Senator" out of office.
This is our chance. Let's take advantage of it NOW. Thank you.
Sincerely,
William Greene, President RightMarch.com PAC
P.S. Remember, we CAN win this! The Democrats in Pennsylvania have gotten Congressman Jim Hoeffel to run for this seat in the general election. Hoeffel has defeated every liberal Republican he has faced. When an election is between two liberals in PA, the *democrat* liberal usually wins. National Review, noting the fact that Pennsylvania's other Senator is none other than Rick Santorum (Specter even tried to recruit a liberal woman to run against Santorum!), reminds us that "true-blue conservatives can prevail in Pennsylvania if they invigorate conservatives and run respectably among the state's many Reagan Democrats."
We need to work together NOW to defeat this liberal Republican in the primary, get him out of the Senate, and replace him with a REAL conservative. If we can raise at least $252,152.00 by February 25th, we can have an effect in this ALL-IMPORTANT BATTLE in Pennsylvania for the heart and soul of the Republican Party nationwide. Please make your best contribution TODAY.
Once again Bush proves nothing but that he thinks he can pay for everything while the government collects no revenue. I come closer and closer to sharing the opinion of those that think he wants to bankrupt the country.
I'm going to bed. Perhaps when I wake up, I will find this has all been a horrible horrible dream.
So we are going to spend more money on the war on drugs. We are going to drug test school students. We are going to double the money we give to sex ed classes that stress abstinence even though they don't work.
Now he is talking about his great Medicare plan. Just about everything he is saying is untrue, but what I really wonder if anyone is fooled by this crap.
Well excepting Republicans who will claim to believe it even when they don't.
Hehe, now he is trying to excuse the miserable failure that is the "No Child Left Behind Act". He talks about those who would defend the "status quo" but fails to mention the lack of funding.
He just named El Salvador as part of our international coalition that sent troops to Iraq. El Salvador??? Man when you are scraping so low in the barrel that you have to name El Salvador...
At last WMD...he claims there is equipment...where is it? He is now telling us what would have happened if Saddam was still in power. Yet he did not tell me danger this country would have been in. Just the same tired claims about weapons that have so far remained unproven.
I simply cannot believe he brought up the silly carrier stunt and the Bagdad for Thanksgiving stunt. Does nothing embarrass the guy? He promises all the resources to help out troops, but of course, his record thus far seem to deny this is going to happen...
He is painting a fairly rosy picture about what is going on in Afganastan. I will have to check it out more closely. And now we enter the Iraq zone. I still cant' figure out exactly what Saddam has ever done to us. But according to Bush, his capture is a Really Big Deal! On the question of WMD? Now a rosy picture of what is going on in Iraq. Man everything is just fine. Don't worry keep happy. Still no WMD...
Now he is full of praise the Patriot Act. He claims we are merely using the same tools against the terrorist as we have against drug dealers. He is urging the extension of the Act. He seems to think it is going to aid us in the search for terrorist. Egads.
Of course, first he talks about how well the troops, ems workers, intelligent ops and well just everyone is doing so well. He claims the tax cuts are working to improve the economy. At that everyone on the Republican side gave Bush a standing ovation.
He seems to think that if he is not re-elected that means the American people are not willing to finish the fight against terrorist. Of course, we have been so busy over in Iraq, where last I check was responsible for exactly zero terrorist attacks against America, we have not had much time for Osama.
George W is coming down the aisle. According to Brokaw the speech if about 5000 words and should last about an hour. Now Bush is hugging a little black girl. Oooo ain't that sweet. It is the 2000 Republican convention all over again. Anyone for tokenism?
It seems that the subjects tonight will be the war on terror, the economy and how well it is doing, and family values including something about gay marriages. Will he come out for or against? Anyone wanna take a bet?
Well good evening, I am sitting down with my second whiskey sour of the evening, watching NBC coverage of the State of the Union (SOTU). The first thing we are told is that one member of the cabinet is safely in hiding in case anything happened at the state capitol. Don Evans drew the short straw tonight. Tom Brokaw is going on and on about how secure the capitol is tonight.
I am not going to be posting a whole lot this morning, but I plan to blog live during the State of the Union (SOTU) address tonight. So tune in around 9:00 p.m. EST or 8:00 p.m. CST.
Last year I let the Democratic party tell you what was wrong with the speech. This year I think I will take a shot. I have a feeling he is going to once again promise the sun, moon, and stars when we simply don't have the money to buy a rock. Anyone remember the millions he promised Africa to fight AIDS:
"As our Nation moves troops and builds alliances to make our world safer, we must also remember our calling, as a blessed country, to make this world better. Today, on the continent of Africa, nearly 30 million people have the AIDS virus – including three million children under the age of 15. There are whole countries in Africa where more than one-third of the adult population carries the infection. More than four million require immediate drug treatment. Yet across that continent, only 50,000 AIDS victims – only 50,000 – are receiving the medicine they need.
"Because the AIDS diagnosis is considered a death sentence, many do not seek treatment. Almost all who do are turned away. A doctor in rural South Africa describes his frustration. He says, "We have no medicines … many hospitals tell [people], ‘You’ve got AIDS. We can’t help you. Go home and die.’"
"In an age of miraculous medicines, no person should have to hear those words. AIDS can be prevented. Anti-retroviral drugs can extend life for many years. And the cost of those drugs has dropped from 12,000 dollars a year to under 300 dollars a year – which places a tremendous possibility within our grasp.
"Ladies and gentlemen, seldom has history offered a greater opportunity to do so much for so many. We have confronted, and will continue to confront, HIV/AIDS in our own country. And to meet a severe and urgent crisis abroad, tonight I propose the Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief – a work of mercy beyond all current international efforts to help the people of Africa. This comprehensive plan will prevent seven million new AIDS infections … treat at least two million people with life-extending drugs … and provide humane care for millions of people suffering from AIDS, and for children orphaned by AIDS. I ask the Congress to commit 15 billion dollars over the next five years, including nearly ten billion dollars in new money, to turn the tide against AIDS in the most afflicted nations of Africa and the Caribbean."
Well we all know what happened here. Bush under funded the effort, just like he did on the "No Child Left Behind" initiative.
So it ought to be fun to pull up a chair and watch this years SOTU with a few dozen of my readers. Could be fun!
President George W. Bush did not score a lot of points with the Rancho Cotate High School Conservative Club when he proposed granting temporary amnesty to illegal immigrants last week. In fact, it's fair to say that 17-year-old club president Tim Bueler was incensed by the president's proposal.
"The Republican Party is too liberal for me!" Bueler shouted from behind the podium at a standing-room-only meeting of the club Friday, Jan. 9. More than 60 people--students and teachers, liberals and conservatives--packed the portable classroom on the high school's blacktop. A throng of students waiting outside in the rain did their best to listen in as Bueler held court over what's become the hottest--and perhaps the most divisive--club on campus.
Clearly enjoying the spotlight, Bueler, a wiry junior of medium height with close-cropped brown hair, waved a copy of talk-radio host Michael Savage's latest book, The Enemy Within. Savage, aware of the national controversy the club has generated, donated 50 copies of his tome lambasting public education in America to the club, said Bueler, who one day hopes to be a talk-radio host himself.
Bueler certainly seems to have the mindset for it. Since forming in September, the club has rocketed to notoriety, with national articles in conservative publications such as the Washington Times and the conservative website World Net Daily. The attention has come thanks in large part to Bueler's penchant for hurling invective and innuendo, a talent on full display at the meeting.
There's never been a better time for illegal immigrants in the United States than today, he hisses, waving his arms about in the air. He brands La Raza, the Latino human rights organization, as racist simply because its name translates to "the Race." The Conservative Club has drawn fire both from students and teachers, who have criticized and allegedly harassed Bueler and the club for their views, but the ACLU won't return his phone calls, he says, because he's not a "murderer, rapist, liberal, or homosexual."
Apparently, the fact that the ACLU successfully defended the rights of the American Nazi Party to march in 1977 in Skokie, Ill., has eluded the student. But facts don't play a large role in Bueler's repertoire. Like talk radio, the meeting--and the club--is about style rather than substance, a forum for conservative, mostly white students to vent their spleens at the so-called liberal agenda allegedly being taught at Rancho Cotate High School. Unlike talk radio, there were adults present who had more than a passing familiarity with critical thinking.
"You cannot put things in black and white like that," insisted Richard Neffson, a history teacher standing in the back of the room who supports the club's right to exist but whose patience appeared to be wearing thin. "That's why I'm concerned about the tone of this club's rhetoric."
An incredulous look crossed Bueler's face, as if he couldn't believe he'd been punked on his own turf.
"He's getting pissed off because he's getting called out," whispered Danika O'Leary, one of about 20 students sitting on the left side of the room in silent protest.
By the time Bueler was finished trying to shout Neffson down, including a threat to sue the school for failing to protect him from his alleged harassers, the short lunch period was over and the meeting adjourned.
"Whadaya think?" the teenager excitedly asked afterward, as if the audience had just witnessed a great spectacle.
This is exactly the type and flavor of debate in this country that right wing nutbags like Michael Weiner aka Mike Savage (or as I like to call him, the Savage Weiner) and Rush Limbaugh are teaching to our kids. It is not important to get your facts straight, in fact, the less fact you use the better wing nuts like it. Call people names, question their motivation, question their patriotism, question their 'loyalty' hell bring up anything under the sun but the subject of the debate. We can see a perfect example of this from my run in with "The New Knighthood" (remember to page up for the other four entries).
Perhaps what the school should consider is a debate between young Tim and one of his opponents. Hopefully it would teach something to Tim, but even if that fails...should be good for a laugh!
Again it has been a busy busy day. I simply have not had any time to write. It seems that after the Christmas holidays companies want to update computer equipment and it is keeping me running around Houston like a chicken, sans head. So apologies all around.
Since there is not much to read here, perhaps you would care to listen to my latest musical effort. This is a remix of the Mando Diao song "Sheepdog". I will admit that this is probably my lamest remix so far. Oh the opening and the middle is pretty good, but I could not for the life of me figure how to end the sucker. A shame too because I really liked working with these loops, the song has a 60's rock feel to it.
You can go directly to the song by clicking here, or for the more musical adventurous you can click on "Listen to my Stuff" for a list of all the music I have uploaded to Acid Planet.
It has been a while since I mentioned this, but you will note there is a link that enables you to rate my song. However in order to do so you must be a member of Acid Planet. If you are not interested in making music I don't see why you would want to be a member, so please don't worry about leaving remarks.
And speaking of my blogroll, I plan to spend the weekend cleaning it up. I have found there are a number of blogs on the roll that are no longer updated. So if you notice that your blog is no longer on my blogroll, it is nothing personal, just update your blog, let me know you're updating your blog and I will be glad to put it back on the roll.
Please make sure my tender ears never have to hear the word "Fuck".
You know, you have to love Conservatives and what they consider important. I mean, we have an economy that, in spite of the best propaganda attempts, is still stagnate and jobless. We are in a war of aggression we started which has made not one American safer from our real enemy, anyone remember them? Terrorist? Al-Queda? HELLO??? We are losing our civil liberties, our justice system is becoming a joke and the number one leader of the free world is a babbling idiot!
But heaven forbid that I hear the word Fuck on TV. Below is yet another conservative alert showing just how amazingly petty conservatives can be.
This CONSERVATIVE ALERT is a special message from the Parents Television Council for Dominion -- and you might not want to let your kids read it:
Dear Dominion,
Please forward this e-mail to every friend, relative and colleague in your e-mail address book who shares your values about decency.
Because -- believe it or not -- the Federal government has given Hollywood the green light to say "F***" on television...
... and Hollywood has wasted no time in taking advantage of the government's OK.
When the Federal Communication Commission's (FCC) Enforcement Bureau ruled this fall that broadcast of the "F-word" during an awards show on NBC in January was not indecent, the Parents Television Council (PTC) predicted the ruling would open the floodgates to obscene language on TV and encourage more broadcasters to allow such language.
It only took a few weeks for the TV industry to prove that the PTC's prediction was correct.
During Fox-TV's live broadcast of the 2003 Billboard Music Awards, "Simple Life" star Nicole Richie said:
"Why do they even call it the Simple Life? Have you ever tried to get cow sh** out of a Prada purse? It's not so f***ing simple."
That was network TV, on a show that began at 8 pm, when millions of children were watching, and it was not bleeped out!
This total breakdown in standards of decency on TV MUST BE STOPPED!
TAKE ACTION NOW!
Forward this e-mail NOW to all your friends, associates and family members so they can join you in this fight for decency.
1. The PTC will forward your PETITION to each and every one of the five Commissioners of the Federal Communications Commission.
** This will serve as your FORMAL INDECENCY COMPLAINT against this new broadcast of the "F-word" on Fox... a COMPLAINT which federal law gives you as a citizen the right to file and to have considered by the FCC. 18,000 PTC supporters filed FORMAL INDECENCY COMPLAINTS against the original use of the "F-word" on NBC in January. We're trying to get many, many times more COMPLAINTS filed against this new atrocity.
** And it will add your name to the official APPEAL which the PTC has already filed against the FCC staff ruling OK'ing the "F-word" on TV. Many organizations are supporting this fight against obscene language on TV, but the PTC is leading the fight.. It's the Parents Television Council that filed the official appeal in the FCC, now supported by at least 8 other pro-family organizations with many millions of members. We're demanding that the FCC Commissioners vote to over-rule their staff and punish the NBC stations that broadcast the "F-word" in January... and now the Fox stations that did it again just a few days ago.
2. The PTC will also send copies of your PETITION to your two United States Senators and to your Representative in the House.
** This will make you part of the PTC's call for Congressional hearings to hold the FCC accountable for failing to do its job.
Several members of the House and Senate are already behind us on this, but we need to hear from your representatives in Washington. So when you add your name to the Parents Television Council's PETITION TO STOP OBSCENE LANGUAGE ON TV at http://www.parentstv.org/ptc/action/bbas/3.asp , your Congressman and Senators will know you want them to support the PTC's call for hearings to investigate the FCC's failure to enforce decency laws.
We urgently need you to take action NOW or we could lose this battle forever. The FCC staff gave Hollywood the green light to say "F**K" on TV, and if we don't reverse that decision, your children or grandchildren could be hearing "F**K" and "S**T" and all the other words you thought "they can't say on television"... every time they turn on the TV!
Please act now.
Gratefully,
Tim Winter, Executive Director, Parents Television Council
P.S. Forward this e-mail NOW to everybody in your e-mail address book who should be part of this campaign to protect our children and grandchildren. And please go immediately to http://www.parentstv.org/ptc/action/bbas/3.asp and add your name to the Parents Television Council's PETITION TO STOP OBSCENE LANGUAGE ON TV.
I would have more sympathy for such feelings if not for the fact that I have cable. which also means I have HBO, TMC, Cinemax, Showtime, Stars and a selection of adult channels where, not only can I hear the word fuck, I can actually see people fucking!
Oh My God!
You know, I am fucking glad that we have such fine fucking conservatives out there watching our fucking back. I mean, I would fucking hate my kids hearing the word fuck on TV. I would fucking much rather them hear such fucking words as War, Murder, George W. Bush...well you get the fucking idea. Real obscenity, can you fucking dig it?
In keeping with my New Year Resolution to try to link to more of my fellow bloggers work, "A Skeptical Blog" presents Blogger Friday, a look around the net at the best and brightest of the bloggerverse.
Ok I lied, it ain't the best, though I do like to think I only read bright bloggers. I am not going to link (real often) to blogs like Eschaton who 1) Already has a million readers and 2) you should be reading every day in any case...No instead I hope to hit the more obscure blogs like this one. I figure we can use all the help we can get. I won't always stick to this rule, for example this week I link to Rittenhouse and Talking Points Memo, but for the most part I am going to try to stick with this formula.
Wanna help? If you are a blogger and you have an interesting article you would like to call my attention to, feel free to write me and let me know. I will be more than happy to read anything you have to offer.
To start off James M. Capozzola over at "The Rittenhouse Reivew" takes on Philadelphia Daily News reporter Ronnie Polaneczky, much to Ms Polaneczky displeasure. You can read it here and here.
Now this is just very very sad. Josh Marshall reports on the idiot oncologist that was taking care of George Harrison before he died. It's simply cruel that this fool treated a dying man the way Dr. Gilbert Lederman treated Harrison.
Les from Stupid Evil Bastard asks the question why do Christians credit God with their success but never seem to blame him for their failures. He has a pretty good answer too!
If you want to take a gander at the finalist in the "Bush in 30 Seconds" Ad campaign from MoveOn.org just click here. Most of the entries are damn funny and very creative. Makes me sorry I did not take part liked I planned!
Teaching fundamentalist Christians about their own religion!
On Saturday, January 03, of this latest year, Atrios ran an item about wingnut theology! It seems that Matt Grills made a most surprising claim in a screed against Howard Dean:
Jesus taught that unless you obey God’s Old Testament laws to the letter, you don’t have a fighting chance at getting into heaven.
Really! Well like Atrios I don't claim to be a theologian, but even an old agnostic like me did not start out that way. I was a pretty strong Catholic right up to high school. Heck I was even an alter boy and if that don't scare ya I don't know what will. At least I know the bible well enough to know that the one thing that Jesus did not insist on is was following Old Testament law.
Now Atrios suggested we write Matt and send him this list of moldy oldies which does show how dumb it would be to follow old testament law. But I figured it would be a sure give away that my letter was prompted by reading Atrios. I didn't want that, so I took a different tact. I wrote Matt that to suppose Jesus wanted us to follow Old Testament law (and risk not getting into heaven if we did not) was clearly contradicted by Scriptures itself. The example I used was when the Pharisees' caught Jesus' deciples gleaning a field. There was also that whole "Last Supper" thingy. Unfortunately I did not keep a copy of my first letter to Matt but it really was not much more than this.
Well surprisingly enough Matt wrote back. Now let me make one thing perfectly clear. If there is one thing I absolutely hate more than anything, it is having to explain to Christians their own freakin' beliefs. Do these idiots not read the Bible? Hell I know that damn thing better than most Christians I've run across and I don't even believe in the silly thing. Certainly I seemed to know it better than Matt.
The following is his letter to me, along with my reply. I doubt I will be hearing from Matt after this, but if I do, I will be sure to share:
Well I really must congratulate you Matt. I don't know of many people that could do such a lousy job in interpreting scriptures, through in truth I have learned in a long life to trust no one when it comes to such things. Y'all seem so bad at it.
Thanks for writing. You raise an excellent point. When I said that Jesus taught that we must be obedient to Old Testament law, I am referring to Matt. 5:20, in which Jesus says, "For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven."
Which I will note says nothing about following Old Testament law. It clearly says that unless your "righteousness" surpasses. Now perhaps you could explain to me how righteousness turns into following old testament law? Again I can only point to what Jesus said when his followers were caught gleaning in the field.
"At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, "Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath."
"He answered, "Haven't you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread--which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. Or haven't you read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple desecrate the day and yet are innocent? I tell you that one greater than the temple is here. If you had known what these words mean, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."
"Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, they asked him, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?"
"He said to them, "If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath."
"Then he said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other. But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus."
Most theologians consider this to be evidence that Jesus was not all that concerned with following old testament law Matt. Or how about his statement on clean and unclean?
Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, "Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don't wash their hands before they eat!"
Jesus replied, "And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? For God said, 'Honor your father and mother' and 'Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death. But you say that if a man says to his father or mother, 'Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is a gift devoted to God,' he is not to 'honor his father' with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:
'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.'"
Jesus called the crowd to him and said, "Listen and understand. What goes into a man's mouth does not make him 'unclean,' but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him 'unclean.' "
Then the disciples came to him and asked, "Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?"
He replied, "Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. Leave them; they are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit."
Peter said, "Explain the parable to us."
"Are you still so dull?" Jesus asked them. "Don't you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man 'unclean.' For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man 'unclean'; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him 'unclean.' "
Needless to say I should not even have to mention the Last Supper. Something about "a new and everlasting covenant?"
Look I am sure you have heard this before, but if you are going to demand that we follow Old Testament law then you are going to have to live by dietary laws, you are going to have to stone people to death, you better not cut your hair, etc...etc...etc. I am not going to insult your intelligence by making a list.
Tell me Matt, burn a sacrifice lately? I understand the smell is pleasing to the Lord...
The Bible makes it clear that we are saved by faith alone, not by works. If we fall short of even one part of the law, we fall short of the entire law. In that case, we have all fallen short of the law, meaning none of us can enter heaven based on works. This is a claim backed up by passages in the Old and New testaments.
Which I note you don't bother to share with me. Not really a surprise since you are actually making two contradictory claims. If we are saved by faith alone and not works, then it is my faith, and not my ability to follow "law" that gets me into heaven. The very passage you are misquoting here says that being saved by faith is not being saved by law:
"But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished--he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of observing the law? No, but on that of faith. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law. Is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law."
***
Therefore, God provided Jesus Christ as a sacrifice for our sins. Jesus took our transgressions upon Himself, and God now sees us through the lens of Christ, who obeyed the law to the letter (God's law, that is, excepting the various man-made commandments imposed by the Pharisees and teachers of the law). When God sees us, Christian believers, he sees Christ, who has not sinned by breaking the law. By faith in Him, we enter the kingdom of heaven.
Sorry but you are making little sense here. Please explain the difference between those laws that were imposed by the Pharisees and teachers of the law, and God's Law. Please don't quote my own passages back to me, you can find justification for all three laws in the Old Testament. I assume that you are saying that God's law was spelled out clearly in the O.T. but that as time went on, man made laws were added. This is not a view I disagree with, but I must ask how you can tell the difference if the laws are listed in the O.T.
Jesus, did not obey the letter, or even the spirit, of the law. Come on, he proclaimed himself the Son of God, clearly against Jewish law. Heck why do you think the Pharisees and teachers of the law disliked the guy!
Basically, in Matt. 5:20, Jesus is saying we must possess His righteousness to enter the kingdom of heaven, which comes by faith in His sacrifice, i.e., death and resurrection.
But it says nothing about having to follow Old Testament law to do so.
Matt, let me leave you with one more passage:
"Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves."
You might note the new addition to the left side of my blog. It is a link that leads to "A Skeptical Store". Right now I don't have a lot for sale, just a large coffee mug (Coffee is the food of the Gods!) and a tee shirt. However I hope to offer more items as the year progresses. I have in mind a series of mind blowing slogans against the current Resident in Thief!
With a two to four dollar markup on each item I don't look to make a lot of money here. Nor am I going to beg for sales. But I would never consider putting a begging bowl on my blog (God, who would pay for writing this rough?). This way I figure you are getting some fine products along with your small donation to a most deserving blog.
So don't rush over there today...give me a bit of time to get things organized. Then we can have some fun!
Wow! Talk about honor. Two of my posts have been nominated for the 2003 Koufax Award for Best Post of the Year. I can honestly say that this was totally unexpected and completely gratifying.
I say this because I will admit that I nominated my own series of post to Jim Bomford on Homosexuality for the Best Series award. I thought that it was the best thing I did all year, in spite of an apparent inability to spell .pdf. So it was really a surprise to see that I also got, not one, but two posts nominated for best post of the year. Whoever did the nominating, thanks a lot!
You might remember that one of my New Year resolutions was to link to articles on other blogs. Unfortunately I simply don't have the time to search out and read as much as I would like. So give an old man a hand. If you write a blog and you have an article you would like pointed out, please drop me some email. Include a link to the article in question and I will be more than happy to give it a read and a link. That way we all win. I get to keep my New Year's resolution and you get a link! Makes me so happy I am almost giddy.
Happy 2004. I hope you enjoyed your holidays. It is going to be a busy year so let's hop right on it.
You might remember my writing about Brian Battaglia, the chairman of the Penn State university's College Republicans Club, and his fun Halloween Party (complete with pictures). Well it turns out being a jerk is not just the providence of College Republican! I got this Action Alert over the weekend, and decided to look deeper into this case:
This CONSERVATIVE ALERT prepared for Dominion
ISSUE: According to a recent article in the Washington Times, a high school student in California who recently founded the 50-member "Conservative Club" at his school, is under attack by the school's liberal faculty and administration, as well as student body members.
The student, Tim Bueler, "said he had received threats from other students after writing an article for the club newsletter calling for a crackdown on illegal immigration."
What was the school administration's response? "His principal and a campus police officer suggested that he stay home from his California high school for a few days."
Bueler says his club's staunch conservative views (the club has hosted speakers from groups like Eagle Forum and the National Rifle Association) inspired threats from which teachers have refused to protect him. He also reports that faculty members stand by and do nothing to help him when these threats occur.
Some FACULTY members even started a public campaign against his group; one teacher called Tim "a Nazi," while another described the club as "a bunch of bigots." In a parody of the club's newsletter, biology teacher Mark Alton called on students to "take a stand against the neoconservative wing-nuts who call themselves Americans."
Forty school staff members signed a letter, co-authored by Alton, to the Santa Rosa Press Democrat newspaper opposing Bueler's group's conservative statements; Alton (a TEACHER) stated, "What bothers me is the extreme views that border on racism or homophobia." This, about a club that includes membership of female students and Latinos and other minorities.
Well, so much for free speech in American high schools -- at least, if you're conservative. We need to STAND UP for these brave, patriotic students -- and we've set up a way to do just that.
ACTION ITEM: Things have gotten so bad that Bueler's Conservative Club has invited students to call its "liberal assault hot line" to report whether they've been "verbally assaulted for being conservative." Bueler even thought about taking his principal's advice and leaving the school, but decided to take a stand and say, "No way." He says his inspiration to uphold American ideals comes from his late grandfather, Mark Bueler, a Pearl Harbor survivor and lifelong patriot.
We need to join him in his stance. Go to our site below to send a message to Rancho Cotate Principal Mitchell Carter, asking him to tell the teachers at his school to stop harassing Tim Bueler for his conservative beliefs, and to protect his right to express those beliefs - including the protection of his physical person:
NOTE: If you prefer, you can also call Principal Carter at 707-792-4750 or fax him at 707-792-4758 to voice your opinion. Be sure to forward this Alert to everyone you know who is sick of the blatant censorship by the forces of political correctness. Thank you!
Wow sounds like a serious case of Republican Free Speech Panic. A simple case of Political Correctness gone mad right? Right??
Well maybe not. It seems that Tim Bueler has been taking classes from Brian in obnoxious behavior:
The winter break comes none too soon for Rohnert Park's Rancho Cotate High, where the school's new Conservative Club has gone from debating controversial issues to becoming one.
[...]
The club's faculty adviser, necessary for any campus club to continue, recently stepped down from that position after the club president distributed a newsletter without her authorization. That has placed the club's status in limbo.
All of which drew a simple response from students looking from the outside in on the controversy surrounding their school:
"We're tired of it," student body President Vanessa Nordin said.
The club, which may be unique among high schools on the North Coast, began this fall at the 2,000-student school after a group of students called for a forum to offer a balance to what they said were teacher opinions voiced from a liberal perspective.
At first Nordin (and others) said she admired the courage of students who wanted a club to express different views on campus. But she and five other student leaders said Friday the club's president, Tim Buehler, has repeatedly provoked controversy.
Buehler acknowledged he is provocative but denied his club promotes hate, as some students and teachers have suggested.
He said many of the school's teachers "simply don't want us here" and he likened his strategy in dealing with opponents to that of talk radio host Michael Savage, who has built a career on attacking liberals with vitriolic speech.
"We make it fun and we make it interesting and people want to come back," Buehler said.
[...]
Teachers insist the club has accused them without any evidence of instruction that is biased against conservative views. And they objected to the club flier that urged students to report to a "conservative hot line" any "un-American comments" by teachers.
"To me that harkens back to McCarthyism," said business and computer teacher Trudy Nye.
Science teacher Mark Alton agreed and asked, "Who gets to decide if someone is a traitor or not?"
A First Amendment case? Tim is being restricted in what he can say? Well at least the students attending Rancho Cotate High School don't' seem to be fooled about what is going on:
Gabby McGrath, a senior and a student government leader, said she has heard comments from a teacher that "weren't appropriate" about the club's members. But she and other student leaders said the club's participants are naive if they think they can say outrageous things and not provoke a response from teachers and students.
And Tim did admit that he was provocative!
So what is it that Tim did that provoked the ire of teachers and students alike? I mean aside from accusing teachers of being liberal traitors?
Senior class Vice President Jason Wang said students considered it denigrating when Buehler's newsletter included an article saying that "liberals welcome every Muhammad, Jamul and Jose who wishes to leave his third-world state and come to America -- mostly illegally -- to rip off our health care system, balkanize our language and destroy our political system."
This week Buehler said he was twice threatened by groups of students angry about the article, which dealt with illegal immigration. He said on each occasion he went to teachers for help but received none.
Last week, some of the 50 members of the club met with Principal Mitchell Carter to discuss concerns about the two incidents and the teacher responses. Carter later said he had investigated and found no evidence of inappropriate action by teachers.
"We take our students' well-being very seriously," Carter said. He said he earlier had suggested that Buehler stay home the remainder of the week in order to "let things settle down." Buehler declined.
Well not quite as clear cut as our Action Alert would like you to believe. Once again it a case of a Republican crying because he acted like a jerk and people called him on it.
Tim's First Amendment rights were not infringed on. Whereas it is true that the club cannot meet again until they replace the student advisor and admittedly it might be hard to find another out of that group of teacher traitors, Tim got to say exactly what he wanted to say. I think Tim needs to have a talk with Gabby McGrath. It seems she has insights into this controversy that might benefit young Mr. Tim.
Then again, maybe not.
I do agree that people need to call Principal Carter at 707-792-4750 or fax him at 707-792-4758. But I think they need to call in support of the Principal and not to complain. He made the best of a bad situation. How about letting him know that not everyone is fooled by the "First Amendment" aspects of this case.
