Politics
clock | July 10, 2006I often ask you to read several posts in succession and make your own connections. Here's a line up of some old and some new posts about the history, current state (and cultural battle) and possible future of the institution of marriage:
First off, Lance Mannion wrote a couple of days ago on Polygamy, voyeurism, and other fun things to do on the weekend:
"...a lot of Right Wing America lives on the frontier between civilization and Trailer Park choas. The reason they are so terrrified by change and the prospect of sexual and personal freedom is that where they come from all those things are…
terrasig | July 10, 2006Turns out that I was not the only one offended by the content of Ken Lay's biography and obituary:
From the Letters to the Editor of this morning's Aspen Daily News:
Editor:
I just finished reading your paper's obituary of Kenneth Lay and was somewhat puzzled by the dichotomy between Kenneth Lay, convicted felon in one of the two biggest corporate scandals in American history, and your article.
I understand not dwelling on the negative but this man was not a good Christian in any sense of the word. He destroyed many, many more lives than he ever enriched outside of his family.
Kenneth Lay…
goodmath | July 10, 2006Via [Feministe][feministe], we see a wingnut named Tim Worstall [trying to argue something about sexual education][worstall]. It's not entirely clear just what the heck he thinks his argument is; he wants to argue that sexual education "doesn't work"; his argument about this is based on abortion rates. This
is an absolutely *classic* example of how statistics are misused in political arguments. So let's take a look, and see what's wrong.
[feministe]: http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2006/07/10/lies-damn-lies-and-sta…
[worstall]: http://timworstall.typepad.com/timworstall/2006/07/…
pharyngula | July 10, 2006Billmon reviews An Inconvenient Truth, and its more of a lament for the fact that science and reason seem to have little compelling power to a nation raised on ranting idiots and authoritarian dogma.
In my darker moments, it sometimes seems as if the entire world is in the middle of a fierce backlash against the Age of Enlightenment, the Scientific Revolution and the ideological challenges they posed to the old belief systems. The forces of fundamentalism and obscurantism appear to be on the march everywhere—even as the moral and technological challenges posed by a global industrial…
j7uy5 | July 9, 2006Foreign Policy magazine has an article (
href="http://web1.foreignpolicy.com/issue_julyaug_2006/TI-index/index.html">The
Terrorism Index) about the Global and Perpetual War
on Terrorism. It is a compilation and analysis of the results
of a survey of 117 experts on foregin policy and terrorism.
The main finding is that 86% of the experts agree that we are
losing the war on terrorism.
It is remarkable that there is such strong agreement among experts on
this topic. Given the strength of their findings, and the
popularity of the topic, you might think that the article would gain…
terrasig | July 9, 2006I wasn't going to disclose my location while on working vacation, but since half the world already has my dang cell phone number, I might as well share with you the latest from Aspen, a magnificent mountain town whose winter opulence gives way to slightly less opulence in the summer, together with some great art, music, science, and discussions of great ideas. Apologies to my SciBlings Karmen and Kevin for having such a short jaunt through the Front Range and being unable to catch up in person this time. Sounded like Kevin was checking out for awhile himself.
Got in late last night and had…
stcynic | July 9, 2006John Amato at Crooks and Liars has a very compelling question: why isn't the administration and the conservative blogosphere and media attacking the NY Daily News for reporting leaked information on an ongoing investigation about the alleged subway bombers in New York? Here's the original report:
The FBI has uncovered what officials consider a serious plot by jihadists to bomb the Holland Tunnel in hopes of causing a torrent of water to deluge lower Manhattan, the Daily News has learned.
The News has learned that at the request of U.S. officials, authorities in Beirut arrested one of the…
oracknows | July 9, 2006Well here's an interesting tidbit. Check out this campaign ad for John F. Kennedy from 1960:
It kind of puts the whole English-only issue into new perspective, doesn't it? Here's a video of Jackie Kennedy, "pandering" to the Hispanic vote" for her husband 46 years ago! Did the Kennedy campaign's outreach to Hispanic voters cause an uproar then?
The fact is, the U.S. has always been a polyglot nation, particularly beginning in the late 1800's and early 1900's, when a huge wave of immigrants arrived. English is the official language, but many other languages were commonly spoken. In many…
stcynic | July 8, 2006Our old pal Larry Darby is back, and if you thought the term "Judeo-Christian" was meaningless, wait till you see his new term: "Judeo-Marxist". He released a statement to the press saying that he's now a Christian (at least he accepts Jesus' moral teachings - I accept many of them too, but that doesn't make me a Christian). And he can't imagine why atheist groups didn't support his run for attorney general in Alabama:
Darby, a Montgomery lawyer who received more votes in Huntsville than Mobile County District Attorney John Tyson, released a long written statement Friday saying that others in…
oracknows | July 8, 2006Not surprisingly, it comes from Ann Coulter:
Throw in enough words like imagine, perhaps, and might have -- and you've got yourself a scientific theory! How about this: Imagine a giant raccoon passed gas and perhaps the resulting gas might have created the vast variety of life we see on Earth. And if you don't accept the giant raccoon flatulence theory for the origin of life, you must be a fundamentalist Christian nut who believes the Earth is flat. That's basically how the argument for evolution goes [emphasis in original].
Fortunately, Robert Savillo over at Media Matters has provided an…
j7uy5 | July 8, 2006Earlier, I wrote a post entitled
href="http://scienceblogs.com/corpuscallosum/2006/06/selective_moral_outrage.php#more">Selective
Moral Outrage, in that post, I discussed the fact
that some site, particularly conservative sites, picked on the New York
Times for reporting on the monitoring of international money transfers.
It wan't just two-bit pundits who got on this bandwagon.
href="http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,201549,00.html">Senator
Bunning openly accused the NYT of treason.
Now, we see a similar situation, but this time,
everyone is curiously silent.
I wonder if this…
jlynch | July 7, 2006Andrew Greeley in today's Chicago Sun Times:
The United States is caught up in a new campaign for a military dictatorship -- rule by a military chief with absolute power. The White House, inspired by Vice President Dick Cheney, has argued that in time of great danger, the president has unlimited powers as commander in chief. ... Many, perhaps most Americans, don't mind. The president is "tough on terrorists" and that's all that matters. What is the Bill of Rights anyway? George W. Bush, his supporters will argue, is a good man, even a godly man. He won't misuse the powers, even if the power…
jlynch | July 7, 2006The New York Times is running a story about white supremacist groups infiltrating the US military in preparation for the "coming race war". Says Steven Barry, a former Special Forces officer and National Alliance "military unit coordinator":
Light infantry is your branch of choice because the coming race war and the ethnic cleansing to follow will be very much an infantryman's war. It will be house-to-house, neighborhood-by-neighborhood until your town or city is cleared and the alien races are driven into the countryside where they can be hunted down and 'cleansed.' ... As a professional…
clock | July 7, 2006
This post is really ancient - from September 24, 2004 - but it was fun to write, I remember. In the meantime I learned that it is actually official - as an atheist I cannot get elected for any office in North Caroina (and a dozne or so other states). That is written in the state law. Only people who believe in fiary tales (or are good at lying about it) can get elected here. Under the fold....
I will never be elected a dogcatcher. I'd never run for that office as I happen to like dogs and would have a problem with taking them to the pound. Even if I ran I would never get elected for a…
goodmath | July 7, 2006Or at least his financial advisers can.
Kiplinger's, via MSN Money, are [reporting that Dick Cheney is betting that the economy is going to tank][cheney-invest]. When you take a look at the numbers: the deficit, the state of the dollar, the price of energy, stagnant wages, and the way that the economy is only being propped up by consumer spending, it's hard to be optimistic about the economy. And apparently, despite what he says, Cheney's not betting his own money on the success of he and George's economic policies.
[cheney-invest]: http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/Extra/…
oracknows | July 7, 2006On Wednesday, in response to really bad analogy attacking the NAACP and the Black and Hispanic Congressional Caucuses, I wrote a rather lengthy post that attempted to educate the rather clueless blogger by the name of LaShawn Barber who had produced the rant about how the white nationalist teen singing duo Prussian Blue (who, according to LaShawn, are only expressing "white pride") got their name from a technique of Holocaust denial.
Well, it turns out I've been trolled. LaShawn has posted an update that's basically one big gloat:
A belated "Happy Independence Day" to all the left-leaning (…
clock | July 6, 2006George Lakoff has a new book out - Whose Freedom?: The Battle Over America's Most Important Idea. You can read short blurbs and reviews on Rockridge Isntisute site, Salon and Washington Post. I have placed it on my wish list as well.
clock | July 6, 2006I just finished listening to Fresh Air on NPR. Terry Gross had an interview with Geoffrey Nunberg whose book, Talking Right: How Conservatives Turned Liberalism into a Tax-Raising, Latte-Drinking, Sushi-Eating, Volvo-Driving, New York Times-Reading, Body-Piercing, Hollywood-Loving, Left-Wing Freak Show just came out. As you know, I am interested in the way the Right has appropriated English language in the US so I listened carefully. You can also hear the podcast (a little later today, I assume) and read a little excerpt from the book on the link above.
While most of what he said is pretty…
pharyngula | July 6, 2006While I'm announcing a few carnivals, I'll remind all of you readers in West Central Minnesota that there will be a Drinking Liberally tonight at 6:00, in Old #1 on Atlantic Avenue in Morris.
Otherwise, for those of you trapped in the virtual world…
I and the Bird #27
Skeptics' Circle #38
clock | July 6, 2006OK, today I'd like you to superimpose a couple of very different articles that all look at the difference between patriotism and nationalism, but each from a different angle and see if, and how, they inform each other. First, I'd like you to read one of my old posts (which I may decide to re-post here one day, but for now, check it out on my old blog) - Nationalism is not Patriotism. That would be a bare-bone introduction to political psychology of patriotism and nationalism:
Why is there a widespread belief that the difference between patriotism and nationalism is one of degree: loving one…