Policy and Politics
tfk | July 2, 2008Hilzoy mocks a column in the American Spectator. A former Reagan staffer wildly speculates that:
In this Obamaland vision the state would mandate that every heating and cooling system in a private dwelling include a "non-removable" FM receiver that would allow the government to decide the temperature inside your home.
"Wow," hilzoy boggles. "This has 'emerged as a proposal in California'??! Where? In a college dorm at 2am? Maybe a cocktail party? Definitely a sign of Obama's real intentions!"
But it's worse than that! PG&E has a voluntary program (not mandatory, as the Reagan staffer…
tfk | July 2, 2008Five years ago, President Bush called out Iraqi insurgents, telling them to "Bring 'em on!" and they did.
The only thing that has changed the rates of US fatalities seems to be a cease-fire in recent months by the forces of Moqtada al-Sadr. Evidence suggests that he is using this time to rebuild his organization, and to build ties to Iran.
Since Bush invited anti-occupation forces to "Bring 'em on!," nearly 4,000 American soldiers have died in Iraq, with roughly 29,000 wounded. The number of Iraqis killed directly by the fighting, or indirectly through stress, disease, and weakened…
tfk | July 1, 2008In an otherwise correct piece about the disappointing speech Obama gave about "faith-based" initiatives, PZ concludes by writing:
End the faith-based initiatives. The government should only be supporting programs that work — at least, in my dreams of an efficient administration, anyway.
The problem is, Obama's plan (full version in PDF) states that he will "Hold Recipients Responsible by conducting rigorous performance evaluation, researching what works well and disseminating best practices," and furthermore, groups receiving funds "Must prove their efficacy and be judged based on program…
tfk | June 30, 2008The Washington Post points out that:
as justices finished their work last week, two overarching truths about the court remained unchanged: It is sharply divided ideologically on some of the most fundamental constitutional questions, and the coming presidential election will determine its future path.
A victory by the presumptive Democratic nominee, Barack Obama, would probably mean preserving the uneasy but roughly balanced status quo, since the justices who are considered most likely to retire are liberal. A win for his Republican counterpart, John McCain, could mean a fundamental shift to a…
tfk | June 27, 2008On October 30, 2007, the GOP Convention site was overjoyed at a Washington Times article touting the convention's green efforts:
Tree-huggin' GOP
"Republicans are committed to making next year's nominating convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul the 'greenest' in party history. From transportation to venue selection to staff workspace - convention planners are working to implement the best environmental practices," Maria Cino noted yesterday.
Today, Ned Ryun, son of former Congressman Jim Ryun, calls such efforts at the Democratic convention "absurd," evidence that the party is "beholden to the…
tfk | June 26, 2008I haven't written much about Jim Slattery's race to replace Memory Pills Roberts. Not because it isn't an interesting race, just because I haven't had much to say. Slattery knows Kansas and is experienced at winning elections there, Roberts has done a crappy job, and I hope Slattery wins. For more on his biography, check out the MyDD profile.
It's been encouraging to see polls come out from the Slattery campaign showing Roberts consistently in poor position. An incumbent polling below 50%, as Roberts does in several successive polls, is in sad shape. But internal polls are iffy, not…
tfk | June 25, 2008Jim Lippard reports that the Oregon Governor declared June 21 a "Day of Reason." Am I the only one wondering what that says about the other 364?
tfk | June 25, 2008An important principle in first amendment jurisprudence is that government actions must not be undertaken solely for the benefit of religion. In 1987, the Supreme Court considered a law passed by Louisiana that required teachers who presented "evolution-science" to "balance" it with "creation-science." Legislators insisted that the bill had valid secular purposes, but the Supreme Court's majority opinion insisted that "While the Court is normally deferential to a State's articulation of a secular purpose, it is required that the statement of such purpose be sincere and not a sham."
This…
tfk | June 24, 2008MSNBC's First Read quotes McCain justifying offshore oil drilling:
Even though it may take some years, the fact that we are exploiting those reserves would have psychological impact that I think is beneficial.
In other words, it does nothing, but might sound good to people who don't pay attention to details.
This, my friends, is not what we need in a president. We need a president who is willing to tell us the truth, no matter how unpopular. Drilling for oil won't solve the problem. The problem is that we as a planet, and in particular we as a nation, use too damn much petroleum, and we're…
tfk | June 23, 2008It can be difficult to understand creationists at times. Last week, I observed Disco. Inst. blogger Martin Cothran wondered: "If their relationships are already stable, then why do they need to be stabilized?" Cothran only applies that logic to teh gays, of course. I pointed out that the same logic applies to straight folk, and that he seemed to be arguing against marriage per se.
Apparently that wasn't what he meant, and Cothran is now trying to rework the argument:
So maybe we could restate the question for Rosenau and see if we can break through the logical firewall he seems to have…
tfk | June 20, 2008Martin Cothran, blogger for the Disco. Inst., opposes gay marriage, and wonders:
If their relationships are already stable, then why do they need to be stabilized?
Compelling logic. Clearly, marriage is useless.
Of course, evidence suggests that marriage actually does have a stabilizing effect on people. And gay people, it turns out, are people, too.
tfk | June 18, 2008As Amanda points out, this isn't really safe for work. Imagine how unsafe it'd be in the White House, though.
tfk | June 18, 2008The confluence of forces that make San Francisco great:
I don't care what people say about the crazy homeless people in SF. They all hate these bigots [protesting against newly-married couples] and started picking fights with all of them because they had nothing better to do and nothing to lose if they got arrested for assault/battery. It was awesomely amusing.
Meanwhile on I-80, the Freeway Blogger asks passing drivers "If you think telling kids there's no Santa Claus is hard…"
"Try telling them there's no North Pole."
And in discussion today, it occurred to me that even a substantial…
tfk | June 17, 2008Disco. vocalist Rob Crowther wonders What Part of "shall not be construed to promote any religious doctrine" do his opponents not understand? Writing about SB 733, a creationist bill winging its way to Governor Bobby "The Exorcist II" Jindal, Crowther points out that:
Section 1D of the bill clearly states that it "shall not be construed to promote any religious doctrine, promote discrimination for or against a particular set of religious beliefs, or promote discrimination for or against religion or non-religion."
Why is it, then, that "a slew of articles have been running in which activists…
tfk | June 17, 2008Yesterday at 5:01 PM, California became the second state in which every person can get married, without regard to sexuality. Other states grant the rights and privileges of marriage under a different name, but only California and Massachusetts take the final step to equality by using the same name for everyone.
As a result of this new policy, my fellow Kansas blogger Mike Silverman is now married (and not just in Canada any more)! We met to catch up on old times on Sunday (Mike was in town for Apple's WWDC, and stayed to get married). He had to split at 4:30, because ABC News had a camera…
tfk | June 16, 2008The Washington Post reports that the Red Cross has fallen on hard times:
The American Red Cross said yesterday that it has depleted its national disaster relief fund and is taking out loans to pay for shelters, food and other relief services across seven Midwestern states battered by floods.
The Bush economy and high gas prices have led people to reduce their donations as floods and tornados have swept across the nation. As a result "The disaster relief fund today is completely depleted. The balance is zero," according to Jeffrey Towers, chief development officer for the American Red Cross.…
tfk | June 16, 2008In a press release from the Louisiana Coalition for Science, Governor Bobby Jindal's college genetics professor asks him not to "hold back the next generation of Louisiana's doctors." The press release introduces an open letter from the group calling for Jindal to veto SB 733, a bill which opens the door to creationism in the classroom,
Professor Arthur Landy, University Professor at Brown University who teaches in the medical school, taught the then-premed. Landy says "Without evolution, modern biology, including medicine and biotechnology, wouldn't make sense. In order for today's…
tfk | June 16, 2008
After 8 years of having an Alfred E. Neuman impersonator in the White House, is John McCain really considering this man to be his vice presidential nominee?
Governor Bobby Jindal is not just an Alfred E. Neuman impersonator, though. He is a graduate of Brown University, where he majored in biology. He was accepted to Yale Law and Harvard Medical School, but chose to get a degree in political science on his Rhodes scholarship.
While pondering that decision, he participated in an exorcism of a fellow student. As the female student thrashed around in what Jindal described as a seizure, he…