this is who we are

Global Warming Ain’t No Problem – The Bible Told Me So

Nov 262010

Illinois representative, Republican, climate change denier, John Shimkus. He'd like to have a hand in our energy policy!

With the incoming class of Republicans set to begin their rule in the House of Representatives this coming January, battles for leadership of various positions and committees have already begun. Names have been put forward hoping to step into a larger, brighter spotlight – as is the norm in the world of politics. As each formally unknown (or better said, not-as-known) Congressperson steps forward, the evaluation of who they are and what they believe begins. One of the bigger standouts in this arena of committee leadership change comes from Illinois representative John Shimkus, who is aiming for the leadership of the Energy and Commerce committee.

As the title of the committee indicates, one of the realms that it has jurisdiction over is the nation’s energy policy. As an extension of that, it also has huge effects on our environmental policies, just by which policies and energy sources would be favored by it (coal vs. clean, for example). With the threat of Global Warming still incrementally playing out year by year across the world, and with so many things related to energy, consumption, and resources seemingly near dramatic tipping points, now would be the time for some decisive leadership to help ensure that America will be on the right paths to not only help itself from an energy standpoint, but also help the world in the fight against Global Warming.

Instead? Mr. Shimkus takes his cues on Global Warming from The Bible. Continue reading »

We’re still at war, by the way. Does anyone know with who?

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Oct 232010

The “Ground Zero Mosque” debate (which, by the way, has all but died as we approach election day) continues to have its effects seen in televised topical conversation, melted into a gigantic pot that contains general hatred of all Muslims and the heaviest ingredient – the world since 9/11.

The most recent blowup in this never ending discussion came from The View, where two of the hosts walked off the show in disgust after Bill O’Reilly of Fox News said “Muslims attacked us on 9/11″. Vague and generalizing, such a sentiment doesn’t do much of anything to advance discussion and peer into the why behind the why behind the why – a process typically called “understanding”. Such foreign concepts are usually a good idea to research if one would actually like to understand why a conflict is going on and, better yet, how to end it.

The discussion is nowhere near that. The discussion is a lot closer to the link above. There are well thought out rebuttals that make huge strides toward actually understanding the roots of conflict, but they’re typically left to obscurity – since reason and thought aren’t good for ratings. Still, thankfully it happens (skip ahead to about 2:45 for something of relevance):

Intelligence like this, sadly, winds up tossed to the wind of the discourse, as all the mature people stand on the sidelines – trying to live their lives – hoping the day will come when the windbags of fear and broad-based discrimination finally blow their selves out.

Nine years later, unity is (mostly) dead

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Sep 132010

When there was still hope (from September 18, 2001): Thousands of Iranians hold a candlelight vigil in honor of the victims of the 9/11 attacks.

Still more of a fresh wound than a fading scar, nearly a decade out and the attitudes and politics of the United States are still writing the epilogue to the decade-defining events of September 11th, 2001. Hoping for the best – for peace and a sense of unity in the wake of an event designed to divide, scare, and poison the discourse and the nation itself has done nothing but devolve into exactly what was to be avoided: the hatred has never been more thick, the fear never more irrational, the outright racism displayed for one of the world’s largest religions reaching a thickness in America not seen since pre-Civil Rights movement America.

What has changed? What has gone wrong?

The battle of perception has been lost. The lunatics have taken control of the echo chamber, and for the moment have an unshakable grip on the message.

Your livingroom is a battlefield

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Jun 042010

It’s 8:30 on a winter’s evening. You’re relaxing with your wife and child in your bedroom, it’s a day just like any other.

Then this happens…

A ‘Jack Bauer’ Republican, except this is the real world

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May 192010

Ilario Pantano (right) after his primary night victory

While we are still months out from the midterm elections in the United States, at this early day there are some rather intriguing races setting up. Some of these races involve incumbent Senators getting upset by radical-leaning constituents showing up to a caucus and demanding someone even more conservative than who is already in place, some of these races involve closely-fought over seats from the 2008 elections, and one in particular, involves references to a man who is synonymous with Chuck Norris in the world of meme-based tough guy lore, Jack Bauer.

Jack Bauer became a household name by taking one day out of his otherwise uneventful year to save the country from imminent attacks by terrorist organizations. Instead of abiding by the laws and process in place of the day, Bauer used torture tactics to get exactly the information he needed, virtually exactly every time he needed it. This recurring and successful plot tangent wound up being used as justification (by some) for real torture in the real world, whether that be CIA renditions or episodes like Abu Ghraib.

Enter newly-official Republican nominee for Congress, Ilario Pantano. He has become a sort of darling in Conservative circles with his backstory…

In 2001, immediately following the 9/11 terror attacks, Pantano, a veteran who had previously fought in the Gulf War, left his career as a successful producer and media consultant in his native Manhattan to rejoin the Marines and was eventually deployed to Iraq.

A vet, a hero, someone who has fought for this country. This is something you would expect to come from the right, since they like to wrap the flag around their selves the tightest – when push comes to shove. There’s one other significant detail in his bio, however…

In April 2004, Pantano killed two unarmed Iraqi detainees, twice unloading his gun into their bodies and firing between 50 and 60 shots in total. Afterward, he placed a sign over the corpses featuring the Marines’ slogan “No Better Friend, No Worse Enemy” as a message to the local population.

Even Jack Bauer would be impressed.

Does any enabler of child molestation deserve immunity?

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Mar 292010

Pope Benedict XVI at Palm Sunday Mass (March 28th, 2010) where he said that faith leads "toward the courage of not allowing oneself to be intimidated by the petty gossip of dominant opinion."

Under increasing scrutiny from different countries around the world for what seems to be an ever-building list of claims of sexual abuse carried out by members of the Roman Catholic clergy, Pope Benedict XVI had something remarkable to say during his service this past Sunday:

While he did not directly mention the scandal involving sexual abuse of children by priests, parts of his sermon could be applicable to the crisis he and the Roman Catholic Church are facing.

The pontiff said faith in God helps lead one “toward the courage of not allowing oneself to be intimidated by the petty gossip of dominant opinion.”

As mentioned, the Pope never addressed the notion of sexual abuse of the young being carried out by members of the organization that he leads, but that was the most direct he has spoken on the subject yet – the latest indication that the cloud of scandal that has gradually formed around the Church for the past thirty years may finally be coming to a defining moment.

More scary, and more likely, it could just be business as usual in Rome and around the world.

Disasters & The Moans to Not Help People Anymore

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Mar 102010

UN forces patrolling Port-au-Prince in the aftermath of the January 12 quake

On January 12th of this year, a 7.0 earthquake all but destroyed the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince, killing an estimated 230,000 people and left an additional million homeless. Aid from around the world was announced and has since begun to pour into the devastated island nation. Amongst all the aid pledged was a promise of some $379 million from the United States. As has occurred in response to countless disasters in the past, the United States has offered to put its immense resources and wealth to work for those who are less fortunate because in the end (in addition to any medium or long term political goals it may also accomplish) it is the right thing to do.

A little more than six weeks later, an 8.8 earthquake struck the Pacific Rim nation of Chile. Being centered further under ground, much further away from a multi-million-populated urban center, and occurring in a country that actually had building codes, the death toll was much lower – perhaps under 500 people. As the first images from the quake region were being broadcast internationally, President Obama was once again front and center at the cameras, pledging that America would respond in whatever way it could, depending on the need. With the absence of a devastating death toll or a flattened capital city, as of the current writing the largest American commitment to the area has been the setting up of a field hospital in Angol, Chile.

Somewhere between the initial impact of the Haitian earthquake and the Chilean quake (as whatever ‘it’ is, ‘it’ was in full swing by then) a curious attitude toward aid to disaster-effected regions began to rise, almost a Oh no, we have to spend more money now to help out poor people? from certain segments of American society. Ironically enough, the segments that it arose from were that of the conservative wings of America, and they had once again formulated and came up with arguments that would defy logic and boggle the mind because, in the event anyone had yet to figure this out by now, everything – every last little thing in the world – is a fair-game political football. Even helping out your fellow human.

“Chicago’s Olympic Bid Fails” is a pretty sad straw to grasp at

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Oct 052009

"Clearly a bunch of let down people is what is right for America." – The Right's Narrative

In 2005 and 2006, five cities in the United States were vying for the opportunity to host the 31st Summer Olympics in 2016: Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and San Francisco. The United States Olympic Committee would narrow this list down to three cities on July 26, 2006 – Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. After San Francisco pulled out of their bid that November, Chicago and Los Angeles duked it out with their presentations until a final decision was made on April 14, 2007 – Chicago was chosen as the city to represent the United States in a bid to get the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Chicago would eventually find itself on a short-list of four potential cities – along with eventual winner Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Madrid (Spain), and Tokyo (Japan). Those cities were widdled down from a list that included Baku (Azerbaijan), Doha (Qatar), and Prague (Czech Republic) in June of 2008. On October 2, 2009, a lengthy process spanning nearly half a decade came to an end when the International Olympic Committee chose Rio de Janerio to be the host city of the 2016 games.

It’s a shame that these days simple news stories like this can’t just go by without the fangs of toxic political jockeying sinking its teeth into places that logic would otherwise defy their existence but… well… the narrative from this?

Barack Obama was defeated by the rest of the world for the 2016 Olympic Games.

On this most socialist of holidays…

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Sep 072009

Clearly socialist propaganda

Who thought a series of degrading events would leave one hearkening back for the old days when “liberal” was the ultimate insult that could be hurled against any politician. Well past that looking glass, we’ve now entered a most unique land where socialist, marxist, nazi, fascist, and communist all apparently mean the same thing and can be used interchangeably to describe the same person or policy. That alone is almost worth the humorous snicker that it gets but finds itself surpassed only by the look of confused disbelief on the faces of someone who has to have the differences in such different theories explained to them – if they even take the time to listen and don’t just respond by shouting socialist nazi!!!!! back at you even louder than the first time.

Such… unique circumstances… are where we find ourselves in today, where the “insult” socialist is apparently the new black. I wish I could only be referring to something as simple as the health care debate – even those were good old days that left us earlier this summer. Now anything and everything proposed by someone on the left side of the political isle is being branded as socialist (or nazi, fascist, whatever else) by a rather impressively organized (or desperate) right. So I figured – why not point out the socialist tendencies of Labor Day, and maybe that can be protested against in earnest as well. Maybe we can get hysterical paid-for “grassroots” protesters to shout at town halls or perhaps parades until we are relieved of this terrible liberal nazi socialist fascist plot to turn America into an evil red country that has a day off every year in honor of the labor movement. Continue reading »

Bill Maher responds to latest whine-fest

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Aug 092009

After touching off a fire storm by suggesting that America might not be the most bestest country EVAH FOR ALL TIMES and even dared to bring up the word “stupid”, Bill Maher went ahead and responded to the criticism he’s received since that Wolf Blitzer interview:

New Rule: Just because a country elects a smart president doesn’t make it a smart country. A few weeks ago I was asked by Wolf Blitzer if I thought Sarah Palin could get elected president, and I said I hope not, but I wouldn’t put anything past this stupid country. It was amazing – in the minute or so between my calling America stupid and the end of the Cialis commercial, CNN was flooded with furious emails and the twits hit the fan. And you could tell that these people were really mad because they wrote entirely in CAPITAL LETTERS!!! It’s how they get the blood circulating when the Cialis wears off. Worst of all, Bill O’Reilly refuted my contention that this is a stupid country by calling me a pinhead, which A) proves my point, and B) is really funny coming from a doody-face like him.

There’s plenty more, of course, but here are some of my other favorite highlights:

And before I go about demonstrating how, sadly, easy it is to prove the dumbness dragging down our country, let me just say that ignorance has life and death consequences. On the eve of the Iraq War, 69% of Americans thought Saddam Hussein was personally involved in 9/11. Four years later, 34% still did.

…

I’m the bad guy for saying it’s a stupid country, yet polls show that a majority of Americans cannot name a single branch of government, or explain what the Bill of Rights is. 24% could not name the country America fought in the Revolutionary War. More than two-thirds of Americans don’t know what’s in Roe v. Wade. Two-thirds don’t know what the Food and Drug Administration does.

…

Sarah Palin says she would never apologize for America. Even though a Gallup poll says 18% of Americans think the sun revolves around the earth. No, they’re not stupid. They’re interplanetary mavericks. A third of Republicans believe Obama is not a citizen, and a third of Democrats believe that George Bush had prior knowledge of the 9/11 attacks…

…

And I haven’t even brought up America’s religious beliefs. But here’s one fun fact you can take away: did you know only about half of Americans are aware that Judaism is an older religion than Christianity? That’s right, half of America looks at books called the Old Testament and the New Testament and cannot figure out which one came first.

Preach, Bill. Preach.

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