-This is outrageous- A person's lack of religious faith has no bearing on one's ability to be good parents, and taking a little girl away from her adoptive family because Dad is an atheist and Mom is a pantheist is not a road this country wants to venture down. Freedom of religion means some of us will choose to be free from religion, and if one judge can nullify an adoption on the grounds of the parents religious faith or lack thereof, what is to stop another judge from nullifying adoptions of fundamentalist or evangelical Christians? After all, I am of the opinion that those wackadoodles are far more dangerous to a child's development and future mental health than any atheist. (Oops. I didn't catch the date on this story when I was working on the roundup simultaneously to racing the flu-bug that has had me sidelined since I hit "post." My apologies.)
Does the fringe-right really want a civil war with live rounds? That's what it sounds like when a man stands up at a Congressman's town hall meeting and says "I am a proud right wing terrorist," and the Congressman says "Amen. God bless you. There is a great American." These people are going to find out that when you uncork the crazy, that's a genie that doesn't go back in the bottle willingly.
Why do newspapers even have fashion pages, anyway? People who give a rat's ass about that stuff read look at the pretty pictures in Vogue, don't they? Robin Givhan, in an especially pretentious and obsequious offering is still, over a week later - going on...and on...and on...about Michelle Obama wearing shorts to hike in the Grand Canyon. In summer.
The stupid...It burns...The College Republicans at the University of Toledo will hold their first meeting of the school year Tuesday, and guess who will be in attendance to help them plot their strategy to "take back the campus"? That's right. Joe the Plumber. I'm sure he'll be a natural in an academic setting...
Matthew Vadum has lost whatever remnants were left of his ever-lovin' feeble mind! He has a screed in the American Spectator in which he rails that 'nihilistic liberals are planning to drain 9/11 of all meaning' because this administration will observe the day as a national day of service. One of Vadum's sources is especially paranoid - "They think it needs to be taken back from the right," said the source. "They're taking that day and they're breaking it because it gives Republicans an advantage. To them, that day is a fearful day." Of course! After all, fearmongering and the sort of chest-thumping nationalism that makes people hate us the world over and want to kill us in the first damned place is a much better way to honor the memory of the people lost that day than spending it in service to our communities.
We know what Max is, and we also know he negotiated a damned good price The Senate Finance Committee is rumored to have a bill in the works that is a bonanza for the insurance companies that have given so very much money to Chairman Max Baucus. Apparently the Finance Committee wants an individual mandate with subsidies to and no competition for the private insurance industry. Fortunately, the House will strangle this nonsense in it's crib.
I usually agree with Jamison Foser 110% but not this time. I don't think Howard Kurtz would see the light if we blasted him into the center of the sun. (Note: This is NOT an argument against launching Howard Kurtz into the center of the sun. In fact, we think that's a pretty good stand-alone idea.)
Get to the bottom of this right now and fire the person responsible for the error At least 1200 veterans of the Gulf War were mistakenly notified that they suffered from a fatal neurological disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease. National Gulf War Resources Center Vice President Denise Nichols says panicked veterans from all over the country have contacted her group. The letters went out on August 12 and were intended to inform veterans with ALS how to go about applying for VA benefits, but an internal coding error caused the letters to be sent out to veterans who do not have the disease.
That lying shit won't fly in the heartland, assholes. Try Mississippi. The group that backed Prop 8 in CA has turned its suppurating, pus-filled attention to Iowa.
Can you blame them? "Researchers testing ways to treat the psychological wounds of war among Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are encountering a serious roadblock: a shortage of willing study participants. A strong stigma in the military associated with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, is blamed for the reluctance of combat veterans to take part in a pair of treatment programs being evaluated by staff from the Veterans Administration in Boston at facilities in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire, study directors said."
Seven years stolen from teen now finally home. "A young Afghan held for six years at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, rejoined his family in southern Kabul late Monday, ending an odyssey that came to symbolize many of the problems of the Bush administration's war on terror detention policies. Mohammed Jawad, who may have been as young as 12 when he was arrested in 2002 for allegedly throwing a grenade that wounded two American soldiers, pronounced himself "very happy" but tired after a day in which he arrived in Afghanistan on a U.S. military flight - in shackles and blindfolded, according to his lawyer."
Too good to be true? After 30 straight years of coral die-off, "farmed" coral reefs in the Florida Keys appear to be propagating on their own.
Another reason to love Hugo. He hates golf. "Venezuelan golf fairways, bunkers and greens have become both the stage of an ideological war headed by President Hugo Chavez and a showcase for the Bolivarian revolution's internal contradictions. After a 70-year presence in the country, golf is now the target of criticism and attacks by Chávez administration leaders and organizations."
The banality all but drips from DiFi's statement made in light of the torture revelations in the IG's report.
Somebody is going to jail The LA County coroner has ruled Michael Jackson's death a homicide, making charges against his personal physician who was with him when he died all the more likely.
It's the obvious place to start Following the funeral of former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, the delegations from the two Koreas that held talks while the Northerners were in the country for the funeral of the widely respected and admired Kim who died last week announced that the two nations would work with the Red Cross to reunify families that have been separated since the countries civil war in the early 50's.
Someone explain to Ari Fleischer that no one gives a rat's ass that he thinks accountability for torture is "disgusting." Especially since the most common reaction to him from thinking people is revulsion at his ability to lie so glibly and easily and call on Jeff Gannon like he was a real reporter or something.
And while you're at it, tell Mitch McConnell that elections have consequences and voters turned the GOP into a rump regional party because we want a whole bunch of people to go to jail. We want prosecutions for a whole bunch of thugs who raped our country and our Constitution, and Mitch cam pick up his skirts and jump up on the table and yell "Eeek! A terrorist!" to his hearts content - but the fact remains that the Bush administration made more terrorists and enemies than they ever had a prayer of catching with their waterboarding and their mock executing and their threatening with power drills and their stress positions and their sleep deprivation and banana-republican treatment of captives and their...(Do I really need to go on? I mean, if you don't get it by now, what's it gonna take??)
Bernanke to get another term Citing Bernanke's expertise on the great depression and his performance under pressure as the economy tanked last year, President Obama took a few minutes off from his vacation to tell reporters he was nominating Bernanke to a second term.
Ouch The CIA is not only getting reined in on interrogations, the new High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group will be headquartered with the CIA's nemesis-agency, the FBI. The Director will come from the FBI and the top deputy will come from one of the intel agencies, but not necessarily the CIA. At least Panetta can get some cold comfort out of it. He may have lost when Blair took the authority to appoint the CIA station chiefs away from the CIA, but with this development, Blair joins him in the losers bracket.
A blue dog gets bit by a constituency that doesn't just favor reform, 61% favor a strong public option. Rep. Jim Cooper from Tennessee was instrumental in killing reform in 1993, and apparently his constituents remember that betrayal and won't let him get away with it again.
He's sure got a funny way of showing it! Max Baucus may say he wants a public option as part of healthcare reform. I dunno about you, but I have a hard time swallowing that line of BS, since he is chairing a committee that is producing a bill that doesn't have one.
Wingnuts sure know how to keep it classy For the cover of his upcoming book, Glenn Beck is dressed as an East German soldier. Seriously. He is dressed like a commie. Words fail...
And since we are talking about that lunatic: 36 at last count That is how many sponsors Glenn Beck has lost to date, with three more joining the exodus today, his first day back after a forced one week vacation from the airwaves. One advertiser, Clorox bleach, will no longer advertise during any political broadcast, conservative or liberal. That sounds to me like they will be taking all their ads off of Fox News, not just ads during Beck's time slot. Good. Hope the idea spreads and businesses stop associating themselves with the crazies by sponsoring their shows.
And finally,
Yeah...we're just going to let this headline stand alone: "Colorado wildlife experts get aggressive going after 'smart bears.' |
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Best New SoapBlox - 2008
