Okay. I wanted to write a lengthy response to Professor Volokh’s bombshell in which he advocates torture (you’re never going to get on the Supreme Court that way, Eugene!), but I guess I better focus more on Terri Schiavo since — I’m told — my analysis of the case was rather amateurish and undetailed. To which I plead guilty. Guilty … Read More
Terri Schiavo News Wrap-up
Today is the day that Terri Schiavo is to have her feeding tube removed and to have a dignified death. But, you know how busybody some people are. Even though they don’t know her, or claim to know her, or claim to know what Terri would have wanted, the conservative we-know-better-than-you-because-God-tells-us-we’re-right assholes are doing all they can to make sure … Read More
Life Imitates “Footloose”
Where’s Kevin Bacon and Patrick Swayze when you need them? Lawmaker Seeks to End Sexy Cheerleading By APRIL CASTRO, Associated Press Writer AUSTIN, Texas – The Friday night lights in Texas could soon be without bumpin’ and grindin’ cheerleaders. Legislation filed by Rep. Al Edwards would put an end to "sexually suggestive" performances at athletic events and other extracurricular competitions. … Read More
Scenes From A Cultural Revolution
Billmon compares the right-wing attempts to "improve" academia with other cleansings of the past: The Left has taken over academe. We want it back. Mike Rosen, Rocky Mountain News columnistCU is Worth Fighting ForMarch 4, 2005 In this great Cultural Revolution, the phenomenon of our schools being dominated by bourgeois intellectuals must be completely changed. Central Committee of theCommunist Party … Read More
O’Reilly Makes Shit Up
Bill O’Reilly on the March 15 edition of Westwood One’s The Radio Factor: O’REILLY: You know, the Founding Fathers didn’t write anything into the Constitution about gay marriage. Because back then, if you were gay, they hung you. So — you couldn’t get married ’cause they put you in the rack. You know, if you were runnin’ around wearing a … Read More
Fundies Stole My Jesus!
That’s the cry of an angry single mom at, uh, the Angry Single Mom blog. Here’s a sample: Arthur Ruger wrote a thought-provoking article about the dichotomy between the Jesus of the New Testament and the Jesus of the fundamentalists. He correctly compares the High Priests of Evangelical Hyperbole to the Pharisees and the Sadducees, those responsible for Jesus’ death. … Read More
You’re The One
"You know, abstinence works. It honestly, truly does. That having been said, it doesn’t help much when you’re having sex." – Jesse Taylor of Pandagon. He’s right, you know. It’s part of the problem with abstinence-only education, as highlighted in Jesse’s post and this article: Half a dozen 13-year-old boys munch pizza and slurp soda as they watch a video … Read More
What Is That Smell??
Why, it’s Jesus burning! Couple Sells Candles That Smell Like Jesus A South Dakota couple makes and markets candles they say smell like Jesus. You can find candles with just about every fragrance imaginable, from blueberry to ocean mist to hot apple pie. Now there’s a candle that lets you experience the scent of Jesus, and they’ve been selling out … Read More
Hitler’s Christianity
"To deny the influence of Christianity on Hitler and its role in World War II, means that you must ignore history and bar yourself forever from understanding how this atrocity occurred." That’s sure to ruffle a few feathers. Read more.
Project Steve
I just found out about this. This is great. This is how you win debates — with humor and snarkiness. From the National Center for Science Education ("Defending the Teaching of Evolution in Public Schools"): NCSE’s "Project Steve" is a tongue-in-cheek parody of a long-standing creationist tradition of amassing lists of "scientists who doubt evolution" or "scientists who dissent from … Read More
The Band Wagon
The greatest movie musical of all time — yes, even better than "Singing in the Rain" — is Vincent Minelli’s "The Band Wagon", with Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse. If you enjoy old movie musicals and still haven’t seen this, then what the hell are you doing claiming that you enjoy old movie musicals? And the really good news is … Read More
Bible Translation Causes Controversy
From the Daily Telegraph: One of the world’s most widely read Bibles, the New International Version, has been modernised by a team of 15 American and British scholars and is published today. Gone is the word "aliens", which the academics thought was invariably associated in the minds of the younger generation with extra-terrestrials. It is replaced with "foreigners". Even the … Read More
JeffJim GannonGuckert Stupid Question du Jour
Let’s see what JeffJim would ask today: While I am on hiatus from the White House briefing room, I’m going to post the question I would have asked had I been there. It will be interesting to see if anyone else asks it. March 15, 2005 "Please comment on Monday’s ruling by a California judge that declared that state’s ban … Read More
Excerpts From Same-Sex Marriage Ruling
Here are excerpts from San Francisco Judge Richard Kramer’s ruling that California’s ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional: "It appears that no rational purpose exists for limiting marriage in this state to opposite-sex partners." "The state’s protracted denial of equal protection cannot be justified simply because such constitutional violation has become traditional." "One does not have to be married in … Read More
Block That Metaphor!
Stupidity from Doug Giles: God designed Christianity to be a 4WD spiritual vehicle with mudders, a truck that brings life to the outback. It is not a sensitive Miata that must be preserved from going offroad and into the bush. I’m just wondering . . . why didn’t God give Christianity bigger cupholders and DVD players for the kiddies in … Read More