Religion Losing Influence in America (And It Is About Time)

Two-thirds of Americans think religion is losing its influence on U.S. life, a sharp jump from just three years ago when Americans were nearly evenly split on the question, according to a new Gallup Poll.

Sixty-seven percent of Americans think religious influence is waning while just 27% say it is increasing. That perspective demonstrates a continuing downward trend, Gallup said.

But the 27% figure is still higher than the record low, set in a 1970 poll, when just 14% of Americans thought religion was increasing in influence.

Those who regularly attend worship services are more likely to say religion is losing its influence; three out of four weekly attenders (74 percent) said religious influence is falling, compared to 24% who thought its influence is on the rise.

At other times in American history, religion has been perceived by more Americans as having increasing significance. In 1957, 69% thought its influence was increasing, compared to 14% who thought it was declining. Likewise, in 2001, three months after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, 71% saw an increasing religious influence, compared to 24% who said it was decreasing.

Senator Bill Clinton?

Sen. Bill Clinton? Sen. Mario Cuomo? Don't completely rule it out. The former president and the former New York governor are among several boldface names being touted as possible "caretakers" for New York's Senate seat — people who would serve until the 2010 elections but wouldn't be interested in running to keep the job.

As the process of picking Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's replacement gets messier, the option may become increasingly attractive to Gov. David Paterson, who has sole authority to name a successor.

I doubt President Clinton would be very interested in the job, but it sure would be fun to watch the right wing haters start foaming at the mouth over the prospect... but I guess they're already foaming about Caroline Kennedy, huh?

Battle of the Nutball Christians

MSNBC's Rachel Maddow believes that the uproar over Barack Obama's selection of Pastor Rick Warren to deliver his inaugural invocation might have been subsiding by now, except that Warren himself -- very much like Reverend Jeremiah Wright last spring -- has stirred things up again with a video address in which he accuses his critics of being "Christophobes."

"Not only it is getting worse," commented Maddow, "it's getting weirder."

In the 22 minute message to his congregation placed on his website last Sunday, Warren first denied ever "equating gay partnership with incest and pedophilia" -- which Maddow quickly disproved with a clip of him doing just that -- and then went on to attack his critics for their "false accusations, attacks, outright lies, and hateful slander, and really a lot of hate speech."

"It's what I would call 'Christophobia.'" Warren concluded. "People who are afraid of any Christian."

"Might those people possibly just be Pastor Rick-o-phobes?" Maddow asked.

Maddow was joined by Nation columnist Katha Pollitt, who commented, "Rick Warren, I think when you said he confuses himself with Christ, I think you're onto something. The man obviously has a colossal ego. ... This is a big opportunity for him."

Pollitt added, however, that "I thought that the things you noticed would fly by the people that that was aimed at who share those beliefs. They also think that they're the real Christians, so if you don't like Rick Warren, you don't like Christ."

However, not everyone who thinks of themself as a real Christian does approve of Rick Warren. Wiley Drake, the pastor of a Southern Baptist church in Orange County, California has been bashing Warren for agreeing to appear at the inauguration.

In a widely-distributed email, Drake -- who does not believe that Obama is an American citizen -- thundered that "God will punish" Warren for his "recent plan to invoke the presence of almighty God on this evil illegal alien." In a later interview, Drake explained, "It's an abomination before God and God's going to deal with that."

Rick Warren: Pizza-Eating Moron

"Just because I like pizza it doesn’t mean I should marry it. Biologically, I am predisposed to enjoy the immaculate melding of mozzarella cheese, red sauce and thick crust baked to tasty perfection.

"But that doesn’t mean I should enter into a lifelong commitment with Sicilian or plain, nor bed it down, nor bring children into the world and have them have to explain to their classmates why their mom’s crust is not a crisp as it once was.

"Does any child deserve to have their friends tossing Monday 2 for 1 coupons in his face? Not in my world they don’t. Yet, to say that I am against pizza-eaters or gays is absurd. Our Saddleback Church offer more weight-watchers meetings to overeaters than any other evangelical megachurch on the west coast."

This is the kind of sharp thinking typified by evangelicals of Warren's ilk. The above is his defense when asked about his recent gay hating.

I do give Warren credit for the good things he does so let's not go down that stupid rat hole. This is all about his activisim against giving gays equal rights.

Huh?

Rebecca Hancock told FOXNews.com that Grace Community Church, a non-denominational church in Jacksonville, Fla., was against her relationship with boyfriend Frank Young because the two were sexually active but not married.

When she wasn’t willing to obey the church's orders to leave him, she decided to leave the church instead, allowing her two children to remain active members.

Now, she says, church elders have given her the worst ultimatum yet: In a Dec. 8 letter, they told her she either has to meet with them and end her "immoral" relationship or she will face public humiliation.

Just when I think there is not enough stupid to go around, a story like this raises its ugly head. First of all, this church is fucked. Who would want to be a member of a church like this? Unfortunately, I think, the answer is a lot of people. If the clergy at that church "believe" her relationship to be harmful then they should be trying to help her, not threatening to publicly humiliate her.

If the church is truly trying to carry out the word of its god, then they should schedule a public stoning of this woman because that is the biblical punishment for adultery.

Then there is this woman who, worried about public exposure, takes her case to the press. If her little fucktard offspring hadn't known that Mommy was fucking her boyfriend they sure do now. If she was interested in publicly flogging this church, better to have waited until after they "outed" her (or invite a journalist to the outing).

Stupid just oozes outta every pore of this story.

Issa He Fucking Kidding?

After years of habitually resisting and belittling attempts to use a key House committee as a mechanism to investigate and hold the White House accountable, Republicans are deciding they want to get into the oversight game.

Rep. Darrel Issa (R-CA), who will become ranking member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, is making clear the next president will be firmly in his sights.

This ass clown (and his compadres) spent the past 8 years with their fingers up their ass watching the most corrupt, inept, and dangerous administration in the history of this country run rampant... and now he is interested in oversight? Fuck him.

Of course, oversight is a great thing, and Congress needs to get back to doing it. But that hypocrite Issa can eat me. Whenever Henry Waxman investigated abuses within the Bush administration (admittedly, not enough since taking charge of the Oversight Committee two years ago) Issa bitched and moaned.

For anyone interested, here is classic Issa in action.

Sock and Awe

Betcha thought I wasn't going to comment on the shoe-throwing incident? Well, I wasn't until I saw this great web game where you can hurl shoes at W.

It is called "Sock and Awe" - and if you know me, I just cannot resist a good pun!

Caroline Kennedy? There's Gotta Be Someone More Qualified

Caroline Kennedy has voiced her desire to be named to succeed Hillary Clinton as the junior Senator from New York after Hillary is confirmed as Obama's Secretary of State. I don't see it happening... Yes, I know that there may be sentiment for Teddy Kennedy to turn his Senate desk over to someone in the family... he sits in his brother's (JFK's) desk in the back of the Senate.

But that is no way to choose a replacement Senator. Kennedy's only "qualification" is having the last name of Kennedy. I guess she could learn on the job, but I hope Governor Patterson appoints someone more suited to hit the ground running (maybe AG Andrew Cuomo?)

Not Even Bush Believes in Literal Bible

US President George W. Bush said in an interview Monday that the Bible is "probably not" literally true and that a belief that God created the world is compatible with the theory of evolution.

Interesting. I tend to think that most religious people do not believe in the literal truth of the christian bible. But I might be wrong.

It really wouldn't surprise me to find out that I am wrong because people, in general, tend to be stupider than I give them credit for being.

Not sure I understand exactly what Bush's position on evolution actually is... but then again, the man is less than consistently coherent in his public statements.

A Nobel Laureate as Energy Secretary

President-elect Barack Obama will nominate Steven Chu, a Nobel physics laureate and advocate of alternative energy research, as his energy secretary, a Democratic aide said on Wednesday.

Did W have any nobel laureates on his team anywhere?

"Religion is but Myth and Superstition that Hardens Hearts and Poisons Minds"

The Freedom From Religion Foundation won a lawsuit to place a sign next to a nativity scene that has been set up in the Washington state capitol building. Good job FFRF!

With a nod to the winter solstice - the year's shortest day occurring in late December - the placard reads: “At this season of the Winter Solstice may reason prevail. There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell. There is only our natural world. Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds.”

I like this idea. What do you think?

Nutball Catholic Church Must be Stopped

The Rev. Joseph Illo, pastor of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Modesto, Calif., has told parishioners in a homily and in a follow-up letter that if they voted for Barack Obama, they should consider going to confession because of the president-elect's position on abortion.

"If you are one of the 54 percent of Catholics who voted for a pro-abortion candidate, you were clear on his position and you knew the gravity of the question, I urge you to go to confession before receiving communion. Don't risk losing your state of grace by receiving sacrilegiously," Illo wrote in a letter dated Nov. 21.

This is the kind of putrid bullshit that religion brings. It is mind control and the attempt to control people's actions and even their vote. Vote for this guy or you might go to hell! What stupidity!

And even more offensive than just making these type of stupid statements is that they then pass the collection plates so that the sheep attending these services can donate their money to pay for the lawyers to defend the pedophile priests. Hey, now there is something that could get you sent to hell (if one actually existed) - pedophilia... not voting for Barack Obama.

Fuck the "reverend" Joseph Illo up the ass with a white hot tire iron.

Early Happy Thanksgiving

I'll be traveling up North to visit my in-laws for the Thanksgiving holiday and won't have (much) access to the web. So, I thought I'd just post a quick little message today to wish everyone a very enjoyable Thanksgiving holiday... don't eat too much and I'll see (well, electronically interact with) ya'll next week!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Merry Fucking Christmas, Daniel Henninger

There it was, in the Wall Street Journal, the most incredibly fucking stupid thing I've read in a long time. You see, it is the lack of people saying "Merry Christmas" and the so-called "War on Christmas" that caused the financial meltdown... and not, well, not greed and the lack of reasonable regulations.

I rubbed my eyes, shook my head clear, and decided that I must have read it wrong. But no, there it was, in all its insipid glory.

Could it be meant as a joke? Shit, I hope so, but it isn't funny, so probably not. And that right wing turdbag Rupert Murdoch owns the WSJ, so it looks like anything goes now in terms of being published in the Journal, as long as it adheres to a right wing ideology... even if it is colossally insane.

Huge Amounts of Water on Mars

NASA scientists have discovered enormous underground reservoirs of frozen water on Mars, away from its polar caps, in the latest sign that life might be sustainable on the Red planet.

Ground-penetrating radar used by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter reveals numerous huge glaciers up to one half-mile thick buried beneath layers of rock and debris. Researchers said one glacier is three time the size of Los Angeles in area.

"All together, these glaciers almost certainly represent the largest reservoir of water ice on Mars that's not in the polar caps," said John Holt, a geophysicist at the University of Texas at Austin and lead author of a report about the discovery, which appears in the November 21 issue of the journal Science.

"In addition to their scientific value, they could be a source of water to support future exploration of Mars," said Holt.

Ted Stevens Loses

Alaska GOP Senator Ted Stevens has lost his bid for a seventh Senate term, the Associated Press reported. Stevens, the longest-serving Republican in the United States Senate, has until tonight held his seat since 1968.

Democratic opponent Mark Begich, mayor of Anchorage, had an insurmountable lead of 3,724 votes in Tuesday's tally, with only 2,500 left to be counted.

It is great news that this convicted felon has lost his re-election bid...

To quote Queen: Another One Bites the Dust!

Will You Scratch My Nuts?

The Ted Stevens Watch

Republican Sen. Ted Stevens, a titan of Alaska politics convicted of felony charges last month, fell behind by three votes Wednesday as the count resumed in his re-election bid.

Democrat Mark Begich, the two-term mayor of Anchorage, began Wednesday down more than 3,200 votes but closed the gap as officials resumed counting early and absentee ballots. The tally was 125,019 to 125,016.

Neither side expected to be able to claim victory Wednesday. By late afternoon, officials had counted more than 44,000 of the roughly 90,000 outstanding ballots.

Three votes! That would be classic if that fucker lost by three votes... even better, just one vote. I'd laugh and laugh and laugh!

"Fox and Friends" Snipes at Atheists

The American Humanist Association (AHA) has launched a holiday advertising campaign, with ads in major newspapers and posters on Washington, DC buses proclaiming, "Why believe in a god? Just be good for goodness' sake."

AHA spokesman Fred Edwords told the Associated Press, "Our reason for doing it during the holidays is there are an awful lot of agnostics, atheists and other types of nontheists who feel a little alone during the holidays because of its association with traditional religion."

The hosts of Fox and Friends naturally saw this as something to snipe at. Brian Kilmeade found it particularly hilarious and offered a variety of possible slogans to promote sympathy for the feelings of lonely atheists.

He began with, "A lot of times during the holidays, we don't think enough about people who don't think enough about the holidays."

He then offered, "There's nobody's birth to celebrate, so give an atheist a hug."

His third suggestion was that "atheists should get together and not celebrate all at once."

But the accumulated paradoxes finally made Kilmeade's head explode. "I really don't understand this story," he expostulated. "I don't understand the campaign. They don't want -- leave them alone!"

As an atheist, I do not feel left out of Christmas. I celebrate the season with my family and friends as the non-religious holiday it mostly has become.

If you're interested, here is the information on the holiday campaign from the American Humanist Association.

Ralph Nader Now Officially a Crazy Old Man

Ralph Nader, the consumer advocate turned professional political sideshow, was interviewed by Fox News on Election Night and asked about this statement he'd made earlier on a radio show:

"To put it very simply, he [Barack Obama] is our first African American president, or he will be. And we wish him well. But his choice, basically, is whether he is going to be Uncle Sam for the people of this country or Uncle Tom for the giant corporations."

Surely, you'd like to believe that Nader could have made his point without using a racial slur, wouldn't you? Or is he just a relic of days gone by and doesn't realize how stupid his statement was?

It is now time for Nader to slink away and live the remainder of his life out of the public lime light. What a sad way for someone who was a crusader, of sorts, to go out.

By the Way...

...good riddance Elizabeth Dole. I was pleased to see her voted out after she went out of her way to accuse her Democratic challenger of hanging out with atheists. True, the challenger denied it and distanced herself from atheism, but it was good to see that such stupid "attacks" did her no good.

Office of the President-Elect

It looks like Barack Obama will utilize social media and networking as part of his administration, not just his campaign. Check out the "Office of the President Elect" at www.change.gov.

LMFAO

End Of Election Causes Obsessive Obama Supporters To Realize How Empty Their Lives Are

The Onion's Election Map

The election map put together by the folks at The Onion is actually quite amusing. Take a minute to click on over and view it here.

My favorite part is "the forbidden zone."

Election 08

You Know Your Campaign is in Trouble...

...when Whitesnake complains that you are using their music!

Undecided?

David Sedaris has an excellent piece in the New Yorker on undecided voters. You really ought to read it...

I found it to be hilarious, but then again I am a long-time Sedaris reader and fan.

Addicted to Blogging?

82%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

A 13 Point Lead and I Still Wonder...

...what the Republicans will do to steal this election. Hope I'm wrong...

Here is the link to the story about the 13 point lead in the polls: Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) is trouncing Sen. John McCain in the latest CBS/NY Times poll -- by a margin of 13 percent. This is three percent more than the Gallup poll released Saturday, in which Obama took the largest Gallup lead ever over McCain.

"With two days left until the presidential election, Barack Obama continues to lead John McCain by 13 points among likely voters, 54 percent to 41 percent," CBS writes. "The margin in the new poll, released Sunday, is identical to that in a CBS News poll released Saturday."

The number of undecideds are dwindling, the poll found.

How Much Does Experience Count?

Clueless Sarah

Two Canadian DJs prank Sarah Palin...

Y'know, I can understand being faked out a bit in the beginning, but after a minute or so only a clueless person would think that the person on the other end of the phone was still Sarkozy.

Bill Maher and Mike Huckabee Discuss Faith

From November 1, 2008

McCain Earns Dick Cheney Endorsement

And Barack Obama's response is wonderful!

I'd like to congratulate Senator McCain on this endorsement because he really earned it. That endorsement didn't come easy. Senator McCain had to vote 90 percent of the time with George Bush and Dick Cheney to get it. He served as Washington's biggest cheerleader for going to war in Iraq, and supports economic policies that are no different from the last eight years. So Senator McCain worked hard to get Dick Cheney's support.

But here's my question for you, Colorado: do you think Dick Cheney is delighted to support John McCain because he thinks John McCain's going to bring change? Do you think John McCain and Dick Cheney have been talking about how to shake things up, and get rid of the lobbyists and the old boys club in Washington?

Those McCain-Supporting Pussies!

I was on a business trip this week and I forgot to remove my Obama magnet when I parked in the airport parking lot. Just as I figured, some jackass Republican shit-for-brains stole the magnet and poured coffee on my car.

What the holy happy horse fuck is it with people who do such lame-brained shit? ...like that will cause me to vote for McCain?

Will Stevens' Senate Seat Go Dem?

Now that Republican Senator Ted Stevens, convicted liar and thief, has had his day in court - and lost - it will be interesting to see if those chowderheads in Alaska vote him out of office. They should - which means one more Senator on the Democratic side.

At this rate, the Democrats could gain a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate (that'd be 60). And that may be scary, but it means the Dems won't have any more excuses and the Dems will get the blame/credit for the next few years.

And the Dems stand to gain in the House of Representatives, too. Of course, my district will likely go back to being Republican. Nick Lampson has done a very good job the past two years (especially during the aftermath of the recent hurricane) but the district is so hopelessly gerrymandered to skew Republican that not even Jesus Christ could win if he ran as a Democrat.

I Voted Today

I took advantage of early voting and voted today around 10AM.

There were no lines, but there were a good number of folks there voting for a Friday morning.

It looks like the turnout for this election will be huge... I hope that is a good thing.

Opie Cunningham Endorsed Barack Obama

See more Ron Howard videos at Funny or Die

Obama-Biden Tax Cut Calculator

Barack Obama will cut taxes for 95 percent of working families, and provide at least three times as much tax relief for middle class families as John McCain. The Obama/Biden plan provides $1,000 of tax relief for workers and new tax benefits to help families pay for college, childcare and save for retirement.

Click here to calculate your tax cut under the Obama/Biden plan.

Palin as President?

Check out the Palin as President site.

Be sure to click on the picture to enjoy all the crazy goings-on during a Palin administration. I especially enjoyed the dinosaur walking by the window and throwing the dart at the crazy baby names on the wall... not so much shredding Roe v. Wade, though!

How Does Experience Equate to Presidential Greatness?

I thought it would be interesting to bring an article to everyone's attention that examines the experience of the US presidents against their historical "greatness" at executing the job of president.

This scatter graph from the article linked above is quite interesting:



The bottom line of the article is this: "There does not appear to be any relation between experience and greatness."

Obama Gaining Ground in Polls

Barack Obama continues to lead in all the national (tracking) polls. The average of all the national polls yesterday (Oct 20) put his lead at 6.3%. Here are the data:

- Diageo (Obama +7)
- Gallup expanded (Obama +7)
- IBD (Obama +5)
- Rasmussen (Obama +6)
- Research 2000 (Obama +7)
- Zogby (Obama +6)

Furthermore, and more importantly, this election could easily be an electoral vote landslide for Obama. The latest state-by-state polls put things as follows:

- Obama 364
- McCain 171
- Ties 3

Another interesting tally is the number of newspapers that have endorsed Obama. Although this probably has little to no effect on the election, 105 have endorsed Obama, to only 33 endorsing McCain. And the complete list of papers is telling, too. McCain's major endorsements have largely come from papers such as the San Francisco Examiner, the New York Post, the Columbus Dispatch, and the San Diego Union-Tribune, all Republican-oriented rags, every one of which also endorsed GWB in 2004.

It would seem that something rather astounding would have to happen for McSame to pull this one out. Something like cheating (rigged voting machines, voters removed from the registration rolls, etc.) or racism (people saying one thing and voting another way because they just can't vote for a black man) maybe?

OK, ACORN-Heads, Whaddaya Make of This?

The Los Angeles Times reported on Saturday that dozens of voters have complained they were duped by a firm working for the GOP into switching their party registration to Republican while being told they were signing a petition for tougher penalties on child molesters.

The switches could impede Democratic get-out-the-vote efforts and could prevent those affected from voting in next year's Democratic primaries. Some of the voters were even switched to absentee status, meaning they could lose their vote entirely if they show up at the polls on Election Day without bringing an absentee ballot.

This seems to me to be a much worse transgression than anything the right tries to drum up regarding ACORN. If you're interested, here is the LA Times story.

Houston Chronicle Endorses Obama/Biden

For the first time since 1964, the Houston Chronicle has endorsed the Democratic ticket for president.

And Colin Powell, a Republican who was President Bush's first secretary of state, endorsed Democrat Barack Obama for president Sunday and criticized the tone of Republican John McCain's campaign.

Also, Obama has been advertising on television in Texas. I find that incredible. I know he has a rather large war chest, but to be advertising in traditionally staunch Republican Texas speaks volumes about Obama's strategy and confidence.

I sense a landslide... but I hope the Dems and the Obama campaign do not get over confident and blow it.

Ed Schultz Rocks!

The video that should sink John McCain's presidential dreams

Idiots Like These Cause Me To Continue to Worry...

Palin the Abuser

The New York Times reports: Gov. Sarah Palin abused the powers of her office by pressuring subordinates to try to get her former brother-in-law, a state trooper, fired, an investigation by the Alaska Legislature has concluded. The inquiry found, however, that she was within her right to dismiss her public safety commissioner, Walt Monegan, who was the trooper’s boss.

A 263-page report released Friday by lawmakers in Alaska found that Ms. Palin, the Republican vice-presidential nominee, had herself exerted pressure to get Trooper Michael Wooten dismissed, as well as allowed her husband and subordinates to press for his firing, largely as a result of his temperament and past disciplinary problems.

“Such impermissible and repeated contacts,” the report states, “create conflicts of interests for subordinate employees who must choose to either please a superior or run the risk of facing that superior’s displeasure and the possible consequences of that displeasure.” The report concludes that the action was a violation of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act.

Smell it? The acrid, smell of corrupt Republicans... it oozes out of Palin's pores like puss out of a boil on the bum of America!

McCain Hangs Out With Terrorists!

Well, well, well... after all the stupid bullshit with McCain trying to insinuate that Barack Obama hung out with a terrorist, it seems that old Grandpa Cancer Head has hung out with terrorists his own damn self!

One association, which seems to have gone unreported until now, involves a delegate who represented McCain at this year's Republican convention and previously expressed sympathy for an activist accused of shooting a doctor who performed abortions.

Terrorist! McCain hangs out with and embraces terrorists!!!!

And what the hell, let's go for broke... by using the same tactics and "logic" of the McCain/Palin camp it is easy to argue that the members of the GOP ticket are "palling around" with abortion clinic attack sympathizers, supporters of right-wing militants, perpetrators of political espionage and revolutionaries seeking to secede from the United States.

Bottom line: when you play with shit, the stink clings to you, not necessarily to those you try to throw it on!

On the Difference Between Reps and Dems

First we have this:

At her last rally in Florida, Sarah Palin told the audience that Barack Obama "palled around with terrorists" adding,"I am just so fearful that this is not a man who sees America the way you and I see America." Upon hearing the Republican VP candidate's concern that Sen. Obama might be a terrorist, a voice in the crowd cried out 'Kill him!'

And then there is this:

McCain was speaking today in New Mexico, doing his usual personal attack on Barack Obama, as the stock market plummeted (you can see the ticker next to McCain on the screen, an apt reminder of what McCain and his fellow Republicans represent), and McCain asked the crowd "who is Barack Obama?" Immediately you hear a supporter yell "terrorist." McCain pauses, the audience laughs, and McCain continues on, not acknowledging, not chastising, not correcting. Oh, but McCain does say in the next sentence that he's upset about all the "angry barrage of insults." Is McCain losing his mind, or just a liar?

Number one, can you imagine this happening at either an Obama or a Biden rally? I can't.

Number two, if it ever did happen, neither one of those two men would have put up with that and would have castigated the offending hooligan(s).

If I Have to Hear...

...John McCain say "my friends" one more time I will lose my mind!

Did anyone actually count the number of times he said that during the debate? Has the man started going senile?

The Sarah Palin Debate Flow Chart

Pat "Fucking" Robertson

Christian looney bird Pat Robertson is at it again, predicting "armageddon" in the next 100 or so days ("we have between 75 and 120 days before the Middle East starts spinning out of control") and stating that "The Western powers have left Israel no choice but to strike Iranian nuclear facilities now..."

Another example of how religion is, as Lewis Black might say, the root of all evil!

Read all about it here.

Palin Bingo

This looks like a fun game... I guess she is so predictable in what will spew out of her mouth that somebody has created Palin Bingo cards.

I watched the debate on Thursday night and Sarah Palin did not crash and burn like many thought she would. The expectations were so low that she'd have had to come out and take a shit on stage to do worse than the expectations.

That said, she didn't answer many of the questions posed to her... and to me, at least, that means she lost. Of course, Biden didn't set the stage on fire, but he did reasonably try to answer the questions that were asked of him.

Homer Simpson tries to vote for Obama

John McCain, Astronaut, on Health Care

Great question posed to McSame in Des Moines about him always being provided for by a tax payer health care system. Watch his answer here, about never having been an astronaut?

But, wait-a-minute, didn't he say he was an astronaut in the past?

Intrade Predicts Obama Landslide

Today's electoral map from www.intrade.com predicts a landslide victory for Barack Obama. Intrade is a betting site where users buy and sell "shares" of candidates in elections.

The bettors think Obama will sweep all the states John Kerry won in 2004, plus the swing states of Florida, Ohio, Virginia, Colorado, New Mexico, and Nevada. The only swing state bettors think McCain will take is Missouri.

If this map ends up being the final one, Obama wins 339 electoral votes to McCain's 200.

I sure hope they're correct!

On The Financial Meltdown

I copied the following post from a data management forum, but I thought it was very interesting and worth sharing:

Regrettably, we're all focused on the mortgage holder that's stuck or behind, or whatever.

That's NOT what this is about. They are the instruments that brought this into existence, and lenders, banks, etc, may have caused it, but that's not the point.

Here's a close to home example. Liz just bought that house for $290K. Mike bought a Cape about 9 years ago for $120. That's 2.5 times price increase in under 10 years. Liz's house has about $50K worth of improvements, so that, in theory brings it down to about $240. Just 2x Mike's house...

The mortgage on the house was $313K. There were ZERO payments for 12 months prior to the sale. The interest rate was 10.45%. So, just straight interest, there was $33K in lost interest. So, the "true" debt was about $350K. The mortgage holder got $265 after all expense of the sale were deducted. So, the mortgage holder lost $85K.

Likely, the mortgage holder took that mortgage and bundled with a bunch of others and sold them to a bank. That bank was to use the future interest to pay interest on deposits, etc.

Because the home owner defaulted, the bank's customers were not able to get paid... So the bank had to take the owed interest out of reserves.... Multiply that by some quantity, and then the bank goes under.... etc. Multiply that by whatever and you have the dimensions of the problem.

If the bank needs money, then it cannot lend. That means that farmers cannot get advance on crops, business cannot buy equipment on credit against further sales, and all that....

Vapor lock takes over....

"We" are all what this is about. The businesses that we use, services that we get, and all that depend very much on credit from large banks. Because of this mess, the whole flow of money could come close to stopping.

So, what we, regrettably need to keep focused on is that if this doesn't get fixed we all suffer.

Truth Fights Back

Nice new web site Truth Fights Back tracks the Republican deceit, smears and lies and offers up the truth... for those who can handle the truth.

Three Cheers for Americans United

Last Wednesday, September 24th, Americans United sent out a press release that read as follows: Houses of worship that flagrantly violate federal tax law by taking part in a Religious Right-led effort to politicize America’s pulpits this Sunday will be promptly reported to the Internal Revenue Service, says Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), a Religious Right legal group based in Arizona, is urging pastors to endorse or oppose candidates from the pulpit on Sept. 28, even though IRS regulations forbid tax-exempt groups from intervening in political campaigns. Reportedly, about 30 churches will participate.

“Taking part in this reckless stunt is a one-way ticket to loss of tax exemption,” said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United. “We’ll be watching, and pastors who violate the law can expect their churches to be reported to the IRS the first thing Monday morning.”

Since 1996, Americans United has sponsored Project Fair Play, an effort designed to educate religious leaders about the requirements of federal tax law. AU has filed complaints to the IRS about 85 houses of worship and religious non-profits. One church lost its tax exemption, some have been audited and others have received IRS warnings.

Lynn noted that tax exemption is a privilege and it comes with certain limitations.

“Houses of worship exist to enrich people's spiritual lives, not act like political machines that issue marching orders to voters,” Lynn said. “They are tax-exempt because their work is religious and charitable, not political.”

Earlier this month, prominent Washington tax attorneys and former IRS officials Marcus Owens, Mort Caplin and Cono Namorato told the IRS that the ADF’s scheme is a “mass violation of federal tax law” and clearly violates the ethics rules governing practice before the IRS. They called for an IRS investigation and appropriate penalties for the ADF.

Meanwhile, Americans United is circulating a letter to churches advising religious leaders on the rules governing tax-exempt entities and politics. Churches should not participate in the ADF’s “Pulpit Freedom Sunday” scheme if they want to hold on to their tax exemption.

Many clergy have opposed the ADF’s plan for this Sunday.

Archbishop John C. Favalora of Miami released a statement indicating that none of his Catholic churches or priests will participate in the initiative.

The Rev. Eric Williams of North Congregational United Church of Christ in Columbus, Ohio, urged clergy all over America to give sermons in support of church-state separation and against partisan politics in houses of worship.

Americans United’s Web site, http://www.projectfairplay.org/, educates pastors, laypeople and others about the requirements of federal tax law. It also serves as a place to report tax law violations to Americans United.

Added Lynn, “Pastors who are thinking of joining the ADF’s gambit still have time to change their minds and I urge them to do so.”

Err, What Does That Plank Say Again?

The Republican Party platform adopted 3 weeks ago explicitly opposes government bailouts of private companies. Here is the pertinent language (from the section titled "Rebuilding Homeownership"):

We do not support government bailouts of private institutions. Government interference in the markets exacerbates problems in the marketplace and causes the free market to take longer to correct itself. We believe in the free market as the best tool to sustained prosperity and opportunity for all.

But true to their elephantine ways, many Republicans (including head honcho W) are not beyond completely abandoning their supposed "principles" to grab more power.

Satire from Roger Ebert

I enjoyed Ebert's piece titled Creationism: Your Questions Answered. He uses creationist's own beliefs to satirically swat them upside the head. Really, it is funny... click over there and read it.

And yes, I know it is satire. Of course, I'm sure the drooling ID fools will try to use it as proof that another intelligent person embraces their stupidity. But one only needs to look briefly at Ebert's writings to understand his intelligence (that is, of a non-designed nature).

The Latest "Nigerian" e-Mail Scam

Dear American:

I need to ask you to support an urgent secret business relationship with a transfer of funds of great magnitude.

I am Ministry of the Treasury of the Republic of America. My country has had crisis that has caused the need for large transfer of funds of 800 billion dollars US. If you would assist me in this transfer, it would be most profitable to you.

I am working with Mr. Phil Gram, lobbyist for UBS, who will be my replacement as Ministry of the Treasury in January. As a Senator, you may know him as the leader of the American banking deregulation movement in the 1990s. This transactin is 100% safe.

This is a matter of great urgency. We need a blank check. We need the funds as quickly as possible. We cannot directly transfer these funds in the names of our close friends because we are constantly under surveillance. My family lawyer advised me that I should look for a reliable and trustworthy person who will act as a next of kin so the funds can be transferred.

Please reply with all of your bank account, IRA and college fund account numbers and those of your children and grandchildren to wallstreetbailout@treasury.gov so that we may transfer your commission for this transaction. After I receive that information, I will respond with detailed information about safeguards that will be used to protect the funds.

Yours Faithfully Minister of Treasury Paulson

W - Four Massive, Country Changing Failures

MSNBC's Rachel Maddow suggested on Monday that the continuing debate among historians about whether George W. Bush will find a place in the presidential failure hall of fame alongside Herbert Hoover and Warren G. Harding "is over."

"Barring yet another disaster of unimaginable scale, we now know that the presidency of George W. Bush will be defined by four massive, country-changing failures," stated Maddow .

She went on to cite 9/11, the "mendacious launch of the Iraq War," the drowning of New Orleans, and now an economic meltdown in which "we're borrowing $700 billion dollars, probably mostly from China, to stem off utter collapse."

"Eight years, four crises, each one awful enough on its own to brand any presidency an abject failure," Maddow quipped. "And we got them all done with just one guy. Bargain."

McCain to protect offshore tax havens

(Not So) Stupid Church Signs #3

Kudos to the Northwest Assembly of God, for getting it 100% right... albeit, most likely, inadvertently.

But I gotta wonder, what were they thinking? Were they trying (badly) to disparage reason...

Neo-cons and W Privatize Profits and Socialize Losses

The bailout of Wall Street’s largest players by the federal government is another example of the Bush administration pursuing a corporate agenda at the expense of average Americans, a prominent author argued on Friday.

In a Friday night interview on HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, Naomi Klein said President Bush’s $700 billion proposal to rescue the financial sector stems from a profiteering streak that has dominated the last eight years.

"The disaster is far from over," Klein said. "The disaster was on Wall Street and they have moved the disaster to Main Street."

This cannot continue without bankrupting the US.

ABC - Palin Lied

When Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin was interviewed by ABC's Charlie Gibson this week, she made a number of assertions that ABC itself found it necessary to fact-check.

Wow, imagine that, the media actually fact-checking something that a politician said! I want more of this and I want it now!

The specific lies: Palin denies ever having denied that global warming is caused by man; Palin asserts that other VPs never met a head of state. Click on the link above to read the entire article.

On Torture

I just read a very interesting comment on another one of the blogs I read about John McCain and torture. It reads:

"...if McCain accepts the Bush administration definition of torture, he should shut up about his treatment in Vietnam since it wasn't torture by that definition."

An interesting conundrum, no?

Probably not, since conservatives don't rely on facts and truth.

OK, Let's Talk Issues

If you are still undecided about who to vote for in the upcoming presidential election, let me try to help out in terms of issues.

If you are pro-choice you should favor Obama/Biden; if you are anti-choice you should favor McCain/Palin. This is a HUGE issue this time around because the right has been successfully loading the Supreme Court with right wing judges. A vote for the Obama ticket will probably cause at least one of the SCOTUS judges to step down (Stevens) and be replaced with a like-minded liberal-leaning judge. A vote for the McCain ticket may allow McCain to replace a liberal judge with a conservative one (Stevens would have to die, doubt he'd step down if McCain wins)... and that puts the future of Roe v. Wade in doubt.

If you are concerned about Social Security existing in a form similar to the way it has existed since its inception, then you should favor Obama. If not, McCain has clearly communicated his dislike of Social Security.

If you are interested in some form of universal health care you should favor Obama. He has a plan that could be implemented in short order if the country is behind it (which most polls show it is). If not, you should favor McCain. He has no plan for universal health care.

If you are in favor of continuing our occupation of Iraq, you should favor McCain. He has publicly stated his willingness for our service men and women to remain there almost indefinitely. If you are interested in ending the occupation, you should favor Obama.

If you think war is solution to the global issues we are facing, you should strongly consider McCain. If not, you should strongly consider Obama.

And if you are in favor of providing for our brave service men and women after they come home and need some help, then you should favor Obama. If not, then McCain is your man.

If you are not concerned about the economy and think things are going along nice, you should favor McCain. If you think changes are needed, you should favor Obama.

Indeed, if you are a fan of the George W Bush years, you should favor McCain. He has voted almost in lock-step with the Bush administration over the past 8 years. If you think we need a dramatic change from the Bush administration, you should favor Obama.

If you favor a religious view of political issues, well, both seem to favor that more than I would like. The addition of Palin to the McCain ticket tips the god-scale in his favor. If pentecostal religious fervor frightens you, favor Obama.

If you want a diverse group of people running the country, both candidates have indicated that they will build a staff of people who are not yes-men and would probably look to offer positions to people from both parties. Personally, I do not trust the Republicans to do that. After all, the last guy ran as a "uniter not a divider" and promised "compassionate conservatism" - both of which were lies.

Speaking of lies, if you are interested in having liars running the country, favor McCain.

Two Ladies Who Definitely Do Not Like Sarah Palin

Rock group Heart, angry that its 70's hit "Barracuda" is being used as the unofficial theme song for Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin, is biting back at the Alaska governor.

"The Republican campaign did not ask for permission to use the song, nor would they have been granted that permission," according to a statement issued late on Thursday on behalf of the sisters.

Why do Republicans keep on trying to co-opt songs like this without first seeking out the right to use them? I remember when Reagan started to use "Born In The USA" until Bruce Springsteen asked him to stop (it was obvious the Reagan camp did not understand the song).

Hey Republicans! Leave artistic endeavors to Democrats, why doncha... stick to things you know like taking away our rights, wiretapping us, and gay sex in public restrooms!

Will you yield the floor to the racist Republican from Georgia?

Speaking to reporters Thursday, Rep. Lynn Westmoreland of Grantville, Ga., described the Obamas as members of an "elitist-class ... that thinks that they're uppity," according to The Hill, a Capitol Hill newspaper.

Asked if he intended to use the word, he said, "Yeah, uppity."

No sirreee, we caint let dem uppity Negroes win, Ma... fetch me m' shotgun and get a rope ready!

Stupid Church Sign #2

Ahhhh... Can you smell the sweet, crackling aroma of stupidity?

Republicans Laugh at and Attack Community Organizers

Did you watch Sarah Palin's awful speech at the Republican convention on Wednesday? Oh, she proved she could deliver a speech, but not a message. All she did was attack... and lie a lot.

When she used part of the most important speech of her life to crow about firing her chef, all I could think was "I sure hope that chef has found another job!" I guess I just can't bring myself to think like a Republican. (And that's a good thing!)

She also mocked community organizers. With the nation watching, the Republicans mocked, dismissed, and actually laughed out loud at Americans who engage in community service and organizing. I wonder if Palin has a clue what she did when she did that? I wonder if the clueless, rabid, right wing masses in attendance knew what they were laughing at when they chortled at her mockery?

What do I mean? Well, here are three very famous community organizers - at least one of which many of those obnoxious laughing fools claim to worship... hmmmm...

A Modest Drilling Proposal

I couldn't help but shake my head in disbelief as I watched and listened to a crowd of idiots at the Republican convention last evening chant "Drill Baby, Drill" over and over. Expanding drilling is a red herring. It will not deliver enough oil to make a dent in our reliance on foreign suppliers. In some cases, it would endanger eco-systems, wild life, and other environmental factors. Furthermore, the oil would be gathered (eventually, some time in the distant future) by large international oil conglomerates with no promise that the oil would ever be used by Americans.

But, hey, I'm willing to compromise. After all, I'm not a mindless Republican automaton. So, here is what the Democrats in control of Congress at the moment should do. Author a bill that expands drilling in more areas (except ANWR), with the stipulation that ALL oil gathered MUST be used for US domestic purposes only.

I wonder, d'ya think the Reps would vote for that?

Stupid Church Sign #1

I find it interesting how low churches will go to try to attract people to come to their boring weekly ceremonies. Here we have a Wisconsin church attempting to solicit Packer fans by reminding them that their Hall of Fame quarterback deserted them by somehow promising them that god won't. Hey, why doesn't their god strap on the shoulder pads and don the green and yellow? Oh, that's right, because he doesn't exist.

Republicans Party With Hookers & Blow

After John McSame says that events will be scaled down to only the essential due to Hurricane Gustav, Republicans decide that the following are essential: parties thrown by lobbyists, some with pink boas, and one with "Hookers & Blow."

Palin's Teen Daughter: Pregnant, Single, Not Married

In yet another surprising development in the Republican presidential campaign, vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin confirmed in a statement Monday that her 17-year-old daughter Bristol is five months pregnant.

This is interesting for several reasons:

First, Palin is a conservative Christian who denounces such actions, yet could not instill the same "values" in her own child.

Second, it really boggles the imagination to "believe" that the McCain team thoroughly vetted this woman. I mean, c'mon. Pregnant unmarried daughter, under investigation for abuse of office, only 20 months of "experience" as governor.

Third, if they did vet her, and then decided that she was the most qualified person to be picked for Veep, then that speaks volumes about McCain's ability to make the tough decisions... it says he can't.

Doocy Slings a Doozie!

Hey, did you know that according to dimwit right wing commentator Steve Doocy, McSames's VP pick Sarah Palin does have foreign policy experience after all?

DOOCY: But the other thing about her, she does know about international relations because she is right up there in Alaska right next door to Russia

I briefly listened to right wing radio today, too, and a similar statement was made, but it was even more ridiculous because it ended with the commentator (don't know who it was) saying "...and Russia hasn't invaded Alaska, have they?"

It was so stupid I went limp... and then when I realized the guy was serious I laughed so hard snot bubbles came out my nose. If this is the best they can do to prop up this poor choice, the next coupla months are gonna be interesting indeed!

Defenders of Wildlife Response to Palin Selection

Rodger Schlickeisen, president of Defenders of Wildlife made the following statement about Sarah Palin being tabbed to run with John McCain:

“Senator McCain’s choice for a running mate is beyond belief. By choosing Sarah Palin, McCain has clearly made a decision to continue the Bush legacy of destructive environmental policies.

“Sarah Palin, whose husband works for BP (formerly British Petroleum), has repeatedly put special interests first when it comes to the environment. In her scant two years as governor, she has lobbied aggressively to open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling, pushed for more drilling off of Alaska’s coasts, and put special interests above science. Ms. Palin has made it clear through her actions that she is unwilling to do even as much as the Bush administration to address the impacts of global warming. Her most recent effort has been to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to remove the polar bear from the endangered species list, putting Big Oil before sound science. As unbelievable as this may sound, this actually puts her to the right of the Bush administration.

“This is Senator McCain’s first significant choice in building his executive team and it’s a bad one. It has to raise serious doubts in the minds of voters about John McCain’s commitment to conservation, to addressing the impacts of global warming and to ensuring our country ends its dependency on oil.”

McCain Shows Bad Judgement Again

Today John McCain announced that his choice for VP running mate would be first term Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, who is currently under investigation for abuse of her office. At the end of July 2008, KTVA reported Lawmakers will hire someone within a week to investigate whether Governor Sarah Palin abused her power in firing Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan. The legislative council approved 100,000 dollars for the investigation that will find out whether Palin was angry at Monegan for not firing an Alaska State Trooper who went through a messy divorce with Palin's sister.

On Monday afternoon, the Joint Legislative Council, filled with Republicans and Democrats, voted 12 to 0 to formally call for an investigation against Governor Palin in a manner—that they are stressing—will be unbiased and done in a timely fashion.

Legislators approved hiring a special investigator to look into the controversial firing of former Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan. Monegan was fired two weeks ago without explanation and has said he was pressured by the governor and her staff to fire a trooper who was once married to Palin's sister.

Accusations have risen that Monegan was fired for his refusal to fire trooper Michael Wooten. The council's intent is to investigate the circumstances and events surrounding the termination of Monegan and potential abuses of power and improper action by the Governor and her administration.

That is the kind of stench that a presidential campaign should try to avoid.

Furthermore, the McSame camp constantly tries to paint Obama as unqualified. Then he goes out and chooses a former Miss Alaska runner-up who has been governor of Alaska for eighteen months, and before that she was the mayor of a town of 8,000 people. And if McSame were to win, she would be a heartbeat away from the presidency in the administration of the oldest man ever elected.

That is supremely bad judgement!

John Kerry : Before McCain Debates Obama He Should Debate Himself!

John Kerry's speech to the Democratic convention is worth reading:

Thank you so much. Four years ago, you gave me the honor of fighting our fight. I was proud to stand with you then, and I am proud to stand with you now, to help elect Barack Obama as President of the United States.

In 2004, we came so close to victory. We are even closer now, and let me tell you, this time we're going to win. Today, the call for change is more powerful than ever, and with more seats in Congress, with more people with more passion engaged in our politics, and with a President Obama, we stand on the brink of the greatest opportunity of our generation to move this country forward.

The stakes could not be higher, because we do know what a McCain administration would look like: just like the past, just like George Bush. And this country can't afford a third Bush term. Just think: John McCain voted with George Bush 90 percent of the time. Ninety percent of George Bush is just more than we can take.

Never in modern history has an administration squandered American power so recklessly. Never has strategy been so replaced by ideology. Never has extremism so crowded out common sense and fundamental American values. Never has short-term partisan politics so depleted the strength of America's bipartisan foreign policy.

George Bush, with John McCain at his side, promised to spread freedom but delivered the wrong war in the wrong place at the wrong time. They misread the threat and misled the country. Instead of freedom, it's Hamas, Hezbollah, the Taliban and dictators everywhere that are on the march. North Korea has more bombs, and Iran is defiantly chasing one.

Our mission is to restore America's influence and position in the world. We must use all the weapons in our arsenal, above all, our values. President Obama and Vice President Biden will shut down Guantanamo, respect the Constitution, and make clear once and for all, the United States of America does not torture, not now, not ever.

We must listen and lead by example because even a nation as powerful as the United States needs some friends in this world. We need a leader who understands all our security challenges, not just bombs and guns, but global warming, global terror and global AIDS. And Barack Obama understands there is no way for America to be secure until we create clean energy here at home, not with a little more oil in five, 10 or 20 years, but with an energy revolution starting right now.

I have known and been friends with John McCain for almost 22 years. But every day now I learn something new about candidate McCain. To those who still believe in the myth of a maverick instead of the reality of a politician, I say, let's compare Senator McCain to candidate McCain.

Candidate McCain now supports the wartime tax cuts that Senator McCain once denounced as immoral. Candidate McCain criticizes Senator McCain's own climate change bill. Candidate McCain says he would now vote against the immigration bill that Senator McCain wrote. Are you kidding? Talk about being for it before you're against it.

Let me tell you, before he ever debates Barack Obama, John McCain should finish the debate with himself. And what's more, Senator McCain, who once railed against the smears of Karl Rove when he was the target, has morphed into candidate McCain who is using the same "Rove" tactics and the same "Rove" staff to repeat the same old politics of fear and smear. Well, not this year, not this time. The Rove-McCain tactics are old and outworn, and America will reject them in 2008.

So remember, when we choose a commander-in-chief this November, we are electing judgment and character, not years in the Senate or years on this earth. Time and again, Barack Obama has seen farther, thought harder, and listened better. And time and again, Barack Obama has been proven right.

When John McCain stood on the deck of an aircraft carrier just three months after 9/11 and proclaimed, "Next up, Baghdad!", Barack Obama saw, even then, "an occupation of "undetermined length, undetermined cost, undetermined consequences" that would "only fan the flames of the Middle East." Well, guess what? Mission accomplished.

So who can we trust to keep America safe? When Barack Obama promised to honor the best traditions of both parties and talk to our enemies, John McCain scoffed. George Bush called it "the soft comfort of appeasement." But today, Bush's diplomats are doing exactly what Obama said: talking with Iran.

So who can we trust to keep America safe? When democracy rolled out of Russia, and the tanks rolled into Georgia, we saw John McCain respond immediately with the outdated thinking of the Cold War. Barack Obama responded like a statesman of the 21st century.

So who can we trust to keep America safe? When we called for a timetable to make Iraqis stand up for Iraq and bring our heroes home, John McCain called it "cut and run." But today, even President Bush has seen the light. He and Prime Minister Maliki agree on - guess what? - a timetable.

So who can we trust to keep America safe? The McCain-Bush Republicans have been wrong again and again and again. And they know they will lose on the issues. So, the candidate who once promised a "contest of ideas," now has nothing left but personal attacks. How insulting to suggest that those who question the mission, question the troops. How pathetic to suggest that those who question a failed policy doubt America itself. How desperate to tell the son of a single mother who chose community service over money and privilege that he doesn't put America first.

No one can question Barack Obama's patriotism. Like all of us, he was taught what it means to be an American by his family: his grandmother who worked on a bomber assembly line in World War II, his grandfather who marched in Patton's army, and his great uncle who enlisted in the army right out of high school at the height of the war. And on a spring day in 1945, he helped liberate one of the concentration camps at Buchenwald.

Ladies and gentlemen, Barack Obama's uncle is here with us tonight. Please join me in saluting this American hero, Charlie Payne. Charlie, your nephew, Barack Obama, will end this politics of distortion and division. He will be a president who seeks not to perfect the lies of Swift boating, but to end them once and for all.

This election is a chance for America to tell the merchants of fear and division: you don't decide who loves this country; you don't decide who is a patriot; you don't decide whose service counts and whose doesn't.

Four years ago I said, and I say it again tonight, that the flag doesn't belong to any ideology. It doesn't belong to any political party. It is an enduring symbol of our nation, and it belongs to all the American people. After all, patriotism is not love of power or some cheap trick to win votes; patriotism is love of country.

Years ago when we protested a war, people would weigh in against us saying, "My country right or wrong." Our answer? Absolutely, my country right or wrong. When right, keep it right. When wrong, make it right. Sometimes loving your country demands you must tell the truth to power.

This is one of those times, and Barack Obama is telling those truths.

In closing, let me say, I will always remember how we stood together in 2004, not just in a campaign, but for a cause. Now again we stand together in the ranks, ready to fight. The choice is clear; our cause is just; and now is our time to make Barack Obama the next President of the United States.

Have You Heard the Really "Good News"?

Survey results released last Thursday show that a slim majority of Americans, including a surprisingly high number of traditional Christian conservatives, want to keep religion out of politics.

As reported by Reuters, 52 percent of respondents from the Pew Research Center survey thought that churches and other religious institutions should stay out of politics, 8 percent higher than when the same question was asked four years ago. Of those who identified themselves as “conservative,” 50 percent said religion be separate from politics. That’s up from 30 percent in 2004. On the other hand, 45 percent of respondents said that churches and other religious bodies should be involved in politics. [Yuk!]

The Pew Forum has been conducting this survey since the 1996 presidential election cycle, and this is the first time that “keep them separate” has been the majority opinion. [Yeah!]

I like the general trend of these polling numbers away from combining church and state, but 45% is way too high of a number for the opposite view.

Can One Text From the Grave?

It was five years ago when Frank Jones' wife and son died unexpectedly. His son, Steven, died of a brain tumor at an early 32. Three months later, his wife, Sadie died from a heart attack at the age of 69.

Sadie was a cell phone addict. "She always had a mobile with her," Jones told the Blackpool Gazette. So, of course, they buried Sadie with her cell phone.

Now Jones believes Sadie is getting service six feet under, and she has been sending him text messages with words only Sadie would say. Of course, there is no return number on the messages or missed calls, leading Jones to believe the communications are form his deceased wife.

I feel for this guy's losses, but how fucking gullible can people be? I chalk this kind of stupid shit up to the continually declining ability of Home Sapiens to use his brain to reason.

Great Moments in Presidential Speeches

I don't know about you, but I couldn't stomach another 4 years of this. Even McCain's wheezy whining stutter-talk would be a minor improvement...

The Experience of Being Wrong... Ha! I Love It!

From the Raw Story: Democrats plan to take a harsher tone at this year's convention than they did four years ago, not letting Republican attacks go unanswered. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is no exception, criticizing John McCain's "experience of being wrong" while decrying the "silliness" of his campaign.

Asked which celebrity she would compare McCain to -- in response to his campaign's linking Barack Obama to Britney Spears and Paris Hilton -- the San Francisco Democrat demurred.

"I'll leave that to the popular culture folks," Pelosi said during a breakfast discussion sponsored by Yahoo News, Politico and the Denver Post. Later in the panel, she accused McCain of simply trying to distract voters with his celeb campaigns.

"We cannot be diverted to the silliness that the McCain campaign -- of course they want to talk about Paris Hilton," she said. "Would they want to talk about why they have the worst record of job creation in America? Of course they want to talk about something else. ... They don't want to talk about the issues."

But she did not back down from her harsh condemnation of McCain's two decades in Washington, especially over the last few years when he's been closely alligned with the Bush administration on tax cuts, the war in Iraq and spending on social programs.

"I was just speaking truth about his record," she said. "When they talk about John McCain's experience, he has the experience of being wrong."

While she criticized the GOP's presidential nominee, Pelosi also said she hoped an Obama administration could lead to improved relationships with members of the opposite party. She said she hoped the first 100 days of an Obama presidency would be a time of bipartisanship and reaching out to Republicans.

Pelosi also addressed criticisms from members of her own party, especially anti-war activists upset Congress has done little to change course in Iraq and others who would like to see President Bush impeached. She said impeachment shouldn't be used simply to solve political disagreements but accused the president of a litany of abuses.

The House Speaker praised Oversight Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, who has spearheaded several investigations of Bush administration abuses, and said the House would keep up court battles over contempt citations filed against officials who have ignored subpoenas demanding their testimony.

"This isn't over," she said. "We have Karl Rove to deal with."

Bill Maher on Larry King Live: On Religulous and More

How Many Houses Do You Own?

How many houses do you own? Most Americans could answer that question quite easily.

But John McCain couldn't remember when asked by reporters. It's actually kind of ridiculous. He paused and said, "I think—I'll have my staff get to you."

The correct answer? At least seven.

John McCain is way out of touch with regular Americans. It is abundantly clear that McCain does not understand what most Americans are going through right now. It was recently reported that he wears $520 shoes on the campaign trail—more than some families pay each month for food or rent.

This past week, McCain and Obama were asked what constitutes "rich." Obama said, "If you are making more than $250,000, then you are in the top 3, 4 percent of this country...You are doing well." McCain answered, "I think if you're just talking about income, how about $5 million?"

Not only does McCain not possess the temperment to be president, he doesn't have a frame of reference or the empathy.

More McCain Plagiarism?

Did John McCain copy the content of his "Christmas" ad from a story in Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's novel The Gulag Archipelago?

Only John knows for sure, I guess, but it sure smells fishy to me.

Exxon John

Ya Just Gotta Love the New York Times

Excerpted from Op-Ed piece in August 12th issue of the New York Times:

Evolution should be taught — indeed, it should be central to beginning biology classes — for at least three reasons.

First, it provides a powerful framework for investigating the world we live in. Without evolution, biology is merely a collection of disconnected facts, a set of descriptions. The astonishing variety of nature, from the tree shrew that guzzles vast quantities of alcohol every night to the lichens that grow in the Antarctic wastes, cannot be probed and understood. Add evolution — and it becomes possible to make inferences and predictions and (sometimes) to do experiments to test those predictions. All of a sudden patterns emerge everywhere, and apparently trivial details become interesting.

The second reason for teaching evolution is that the subject is immediately relevant here and now. The impact we are having on the planet is causing other organisms to evolve — and fast. And I’m not talking just about the obvious examples: widespread resistance to pesticides among insects; the evolution of drug resistance in the agents of disease, from malaria to tuberculosis; the possibility that, say, the virus that causes bird flu will evolve into a form that spreads easily from person to person. The impact we are having is much broader.

For instance, we are causing animals to evolve just by hunting them. The North Atlantic cod fishery has caused the evolution of cod that mature smaller and younger than they did 40 years ago. Fishing for grayling in Norwegian lakes has caused a similar pattern in these fish. Human trophy hunting for bighorn rams has caused the population to evolve into one of smaller-horn rams. (All of which, incidentally, is in line with evolutionary predictions.)

Conversely, hunting animals to extinction may cause evolution in their former prey species. Experiments on guppies have shown that, without predators, these fish evolve more brightly colored scales, mature later, bunch together in shoals less and lose their ability to suddenly swim away from something. Such changes can happen in fewer than five generations. If you then reintroduce some predators, the population typically goes extinct.

Thus, a failure to consider the evolution of other species may result in a failure of our efforts to preserve them. And, perhaps, to preserve ourselves from diseases, pests and food shortages. In short, evolution is far from being a remote and abstract subject. A failure to teach it may leave us unprepared for the challenges ahead.

The third reason to teach evolution is more philosophical. It concerns the development of an attitude toward evidence. In his book, “The Republican War on Science,” the journalist Chris Mooney argues persuasively that a contempt for scientific evidence — or indeed, evidence of any kind — has permeated the Bush administration’s policies, from climate change to sex education, from drilling for oil to the war in Iraq. A dismissal of evolution is an integral part of this general attitude.

Mci-Pedia?

Evidently John McCain delivered a speech which plagiarized material from Wikipedia.

Now, can you imagine the uproar if Obama had done this? McNasty woulda shouted how this showed his inexperience. And the right wing talking heads, well, they would've talked til they were blue in the face.

And they'd have been correct to point out the poor judgment of using Wikipedia as a source for a political speech... especially without any attribution.

The bottom line is that McCain is proving to be the one showing poor judgment and inexperience in this race, not Obama.

A Christian MP3 Player?

Have you seen this MP3 player yet?

I'd like to get a hold of one of these puppies and fill it up with Ozzy, Black Sabbath, Slayer, Iron Maiden and Morbid Angel tunes... and then leave it in a church... with a note that said something like "To the person who finds this, it is your lucky day! Enjoy the music on this special MP3 player!"

It'd be fun to follow the person who finds it and watch their crazy little head explode as they listened to "Satanic" heavy metal on a cross-shaped MP3 player...