Apparently if your are a Republican politician, you just can't stop lying. Adulterer and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich decided the Death Panel lie wasn't working any more so now he has started another. This time he warns of "16,000 IRS agents" who will constitute "a health Gestapo". Wow, specific numbers? Must be true?
Hardly! FactCheck.org says any action by the IRS will probably be handing out tax credits made possible by the new bill.
Sometimes the BIG LIE is about all the GOP has left. Watch for this whopper to be repeated over and over again hoping it will stick. What can you do? Tell the truth, over and over again.
Wednesday, April 07, 2010
Another Right Wing Wacko Arrested for Making Death Threats
I have to wonder what Charles Allen Wilson expected when he left a profanity laced threat on Senator Patty Murry's voice mail?
When you call someone up leaves the cheery recording, "there's a target on your back now...it only takes one piece of lead. Kill the (expletive) senator!" it's not a joke. That is a direct death threat and no mater how you parse it it's wrong.
What's worse, the guy who left it had a blocked number. Luckily the FBI wasn't deterred and found the caller and confirmed his threat by posing as an anti-health care reformer. Sure enough he repeated the threat and told the caller he had a gun and would use it.
This kind of anger is being stirred up by the Tea Baggers and their media friends at Fox. They sit back like kids on a playground goading others into a fight. Once the actual violence begins they shake their heads and wonder how it got this far.
Well, I know it seems like a pat answer, but in this case it's true, blame the media.
Specifically, Fox and the right wing noise machine have got their minions so scared that they would resort to violence to stop Congress from passing a bill that will bring them better and more affordable medical care. Go figure?
I have read much of the bill and it is far from socialized medicine, in fact it is a boon to insurance companies. Why the vehemence? That comes from the GOP and the right who is really angry that they lost the election, and they have diverted that anger into anything the President wants. It's all about race people, if you don't believe it listen to the "protesters" at the Tea Bagger rallies and their name calling and racial epithets.
The calls of "we want our country back" really mean "we don't like the fact that we lost" and "we don't want a black man in the White House". The level of anger is not over health care reform it's over a bunch of white people who are incensed that things in this country have changed and racial prejudice is dying. The Tea Party is the last gasp of racism, fighting with all its strength to stay alive.
Luckily, the tide of history is sweeping over these folks and they will soon fade away. They won't go quietly, and until they either learn to live with a more egalitarian power structure or they shrink back into the backwoods, they will be noisy. They will also bear watching.
When you call someone up leaves the cheery recording, "there's a target on your back now...it only takes one piece of lead. Kill the (expletive) senator!" it's not a joke. That is a direct death threat and no mater how you parse it it's wrong.
What's worse, the guy who left it had a blocked number. Luckily the FBI wasn't deterred and found the caller and confirmed his threat by posing as an anti-health care reformer. Sure enough he repeated the threat and told the caller he had a gun and would use it.
This kind of anger is being stirred up by the Tea Baggers and their media friends at Fox. They sit back like kids on a playground goading others into a fight. Once the actual violence begins they shake their heads and wonder how it got this far.
Well, I know it seems like a pat answer, but in this case it's true, blame the media.
Specifically, Fox and the right wing noise machine have got their minions so scared that they would resort to violence to stop Congress from passing a bill that will bring them better and more affordable medical care. Go figure?
I have read much of the bill and it is far from socialized medicine, in fact it is a boon to insurance companies. Why the vehemence? That comes from the GOP and the right who is really angry that they lost the election, and they have diverted that anger into anything the President wants. It's all about race people, if you don't believe it listen to the "protesters" at the Tea Bagger rallies and their name calling and racial epithets.
The calls of "we want our country back" really mean "we don't like the fact that we lost" and "we don't want a black man in the White House". The level of anger is not over health care reform it's over a bunch of white people who are incensed that things in this country have changed and racial prejudice is dying. The Tea Party is the last gasp of racism, fighting with all its strength to stay alive.
Luckily, the tide of history is sweeping over these folks and they will soon fade away. They won't go quietly, and until they either learn to live with a more egalitarian power structure or they shrink back into the backwoods, they will be noisy. They will also bear watching.
Tuesday, April 06, 2010
Censored Moments in Cinema History
The Dallas Voice posted this just a few minutes ago. The clips are wonderful and the idea that these were once considered scandalous amazes me. I am reminded of the reel of film that is shown at the end of Cinema Paradiso of the great kisses that were excised from films in a small Italian town. Thanks to Tammye Nash for finding this clip.
Here is that scene from Cinema Paradiso. Life imitates art or vice versa?
Here is that scene from Cinema Paradiso. Life imitates art or vice versa?
The Real English Patient May Have Been Gay!
So I guess the "chick flick" the English Patient will have to be reshot, but this time with a decidedly non-chick angle. According to letters discovered by the Heinrich Barth Institute for African Studies in Cologne, the hero of the story in real-life, Count Laszlo de Almásy had a male lover. In fact they say he might have had several.
So instead of being a womanizer as in the film, he was a prolific gay lover and his correspondence shows he might have even been involved with royalty. The names of several Egyptian princes pop up in them.
According to a report in OneIndia.com "the correspondences also suggest that Almásy died of amoebic dysentery in 1951 and not of a morphine overdose, as believed until now."
That will be some rewrite!
So instead of being a womanizer as in the film, he was a prolific gay lover and his correspondence shows he might have even been involved with royalty. The names of several Egyptian princes pop up in them.
According to a report in OneIndia.com "the correspondences also suggest that Almásy died of amoebic dysentery in 1951 and not of a morphine overdose, as believed until now."
That will be some rewrite!
Standing Cat - Video
OK, it's silly but cute. This cat standing to see out a window looks like a person, almost!
California Scientist May Have Proof of a Parallel Universe
I love physics, more specifically Quantum Physics. Though I will never be able to "grock" the formulas and complex mathematics, I get the basic premise and really love the whole "spooky action at a distance" that Einstein described.
When you begin to delve into the quanta, the smallest most basic stuff of reality, things get very fuzzy, in fact they look down right fictional. That's why the latest experiment by Andrew Cleland at the University of California, Santa Barbara is so fascinating. In his experiment he was able to show that an object in this universe might be connected or entangled with a similar object in a parallel universe.
Got you attention now, don't I?
What the scientist did was seemingly simple. He took an ultra tiny metal "paddle" and cooled it to very low temperatures and then under a vacuum and very controlled conditions, he "plucked it" causing it to vibrate. What was observed was not just the paddle vibrating, but simultaneously NOT vibrating. Now that is strange and yet it is what one would expect from an object in both universes at the same time.
"When you observe something in one state, one theory is it split the universe into two parts," Cleland told FoxNews.com. That is something physicists have been postulating for a while, but it was only at the subatomic level. Now this may be evidence that back up here in the big world things may be equally as spooky.
This one bears watching.
When you begin to delve into the quanta, the smallest most basic stuff of reality, things get very fuzzy, in fact they look down right fictional. That's why the latest experiment by Andrew Cleland at the University of California, Santa Barbara is so fascinating. In his experiment he was able to show that an object in this universe might be connected or entangled with a similar object in a parallel universe.
Got you attention now, don't I?
What the scientist did was seemingly simple. He took an ultra tiny metal "paddle" and cooled it to very low temperatures and then under a vacuum and very controlled conditions, he "plucked it" causing it to vibrate. What was observed was not just the paddle vibrating, but simultaneously NOT vibrating. Now that is strange and yet it is what one would expect from an object in both universes at the same time.
"When you observe something in one state, one theory is it split the universe into two parts," Cleland told FoxNews.com. That is something physicists have been postulating for a while, but it was only at the subatomic level. Now this may be evidence that back up here in the big world things may be equally as spooky.
This one bears watching.
Monday, April 05, 2010
Phelps Son Speaks Out Against Gay-Hating Father
If you have never been to GodHatesFags.com, don't bother. It will only make you angry or want to puke or both. That notorious website is the home of Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas. It is the handiwork of Fred Phelps and his family who regularly show up at funerals of gays, and service members to parade with their inflammatory signs.
To say they are inflammatory is putting it mildly. Their demonstrations often are the source of angry and sometimes violent backlashes by people enraged at the rhetoric used by the Phelps cult.
Now Phleps estranged son comes forward to talk about the "church" and his less than perfect family life. Nate Phelps now lives in British Columbia and drives a cab. He and his family are happy to be away from his radical father and his angry messages.
In an interview for Vision TV, Phelps tells of his father abusing his mother and constantly haranguing his children with threats of hell. Sounds like Nate lived in a hell for quite a while before he left for good in 1980.
More here at the Gazette.
To say they are inflammatory is putting it mildly. Their demonstrations often are the source of angry and sometimes violent backlashes by people enraged at the rhetoric used by the Phelps cult.
Now Phleps estranged son comes forward to talk about the "church" and his less than perfect family life. Nate Phelps now lives in British Columbia and drives a cab. He and his family are happy to be away from his radical father and his angry messages.
In an interview for Vision TV, Phelps tells of his father abusing his mother and constantly haranguing his children with threats of hell. Sounds like Nate lived in a hell for quite a while before he left for good in 1980.
More here at the Gazette.
Sunday, April 04, 2010
Happy Easter
Easter is here, and with it come the thousands of once-a-year Christians. Our church was packed to standing room only at every service this morning which was a good thing, however next week I can guarantee there will be only a few hundred in attendance.
The Sunday after Easter is called "low Sunday" by the clergy in many churches because of the low attendance.So if you were ever wanting to visit a church but were not comfortable in crowds, next Sunday is for you!
Seriously, I don;t have a problem with all the visitors. It gives many of them exposure to our church and I know for a fact some end up coming back.
Meanwhile, go out and find those eggs!
The Sunday after Easter is called "low Sunday" by the clergy in many churches because of the low attendance.So if you were ever wanting to visit a church but were not comfortable in crowds, next Sunday is for you!
Seriously, I don;t have a problem with all the visitors. It gives many of them exposure to our church and I know for a fact some end up coming back.
Meanwhile, go out and find those eggs!
Friday, April 02, 2010
"Some Day in the Future" - Back in 1969
I have been working on a project for several years that will explore the future that was sold to me as a child and the future as it happened. For example, where is my flying car?
Sometimes those future predictions get things right...almost. This video from 1969 shows what the Internet might look like in the future, even before it was called the Internet.
Sometimes those future predictions get things right...almost. This video from 1969 shows what the Internet might look like in the future, even before it was called the Internet.
Census Time
It amazes me how every ten years the nuts come out of the woodwork shouting that the census is illegal. It's in the frigging Constitution! It is not only legal, but without good figures on how many Americans there are the government couldn't serve the people's interests in a HUGE variety of ways. Highway money, education, health care, law enforcement, emergency services, broadcasting, telecommunications, just about every aspect of our lives is affected by this.
The follow up survey which some folks receive that asks more detailed questions is equally important. It gives a better picture of who America is and how we live. Without that information lawmakers would be far less informed as to the makeup of their constituents. (I know some are clueless anyway...but....)
The most common paranoia is that the goverment will be coming to your door to:
The follow up survey which some folks receive that asks more detailed questions is equally important. It gives a better picture of who America is and how we live. Without that information lawmakers would be far less informed as to the makeup of their constituents. (I know some are clueless anyway...but....)
The most common paranoia is that the goverment will be coming to your door to:
A. Take away your hunting rifleHere's the deal, they aren't going to do any of that! So please fill out the census and return it so we can have the representation we deserve in DC, and so we won't have to spend a whole lot more money tracking down the holdouts and wackos, just to count them!
B. Euthanize your grandmother
C. Take away your children
D. Insert crazy idea here!
New to CNN - Right-Wing Wack Jobs!
Yes, buckling to the ratings over at Fox, CNN figures it can get ratings by hiring a new right-wing wack-job named Erick Erickson. Formerly a blogger at RedState, his downright stupid remarks are hardly worthy of a new organization.
Take his response to the Census. Part of the survey is a detailed form called the American Communities Survey. This form asks questions that help give the government and lawmakers a better idea of the living conditions and demographics of the country. Without this kind of information it's only an educated guess about how American's live and work. Valuable info such as commute times and availability of indoor plumbing all fall into this survey's purpose. (and yes there apparently are folks without indoor plumbing in the 21st century.)
Erick's response?
Take his response to the Census. Part of the survey is a detailed form called the American Communities Survey. This form asks questions that help give the government and lawmakers a better idea of the living conditions and demographics of the country. Without this kind of information it's only an educated guess about how American's live and work. Valuable info such as commute times and availability of indoor plumbing all fall into this survey's purpose. (and yes there apparently are folks without indoor plumbing in the 21st century.)
Erick's response?
"I'm not filling out this form. I dare them to try and come throw me in jail. I dare them to. Pull out my wife's shotgun and see how that little ACS twerp likes being scared at the door. They're not going on my property. They can't do that. They don't have the legal right, and yet they're trying."This is news? Oy vey!
Thursday, April 01, 2010
It's Maundy Thursday
It's Maundy Thursday, go wash some feet.
Seriously, it is indeed Maundy Thursday, and for those not familiar with Holy Week activities the services at many churches feature foot washing as part of the service on this day. The act is to commemorate Jesus washing the feet mentioned in the Gospel of John (15-16), "If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you."
Tomorrow is of course Good Friday, and one of the most somber services of the year as the church is traditionally stripped of all decorations at the end of the service and left in the dark. Serving as a contrast to Easter when churches are traditionally resplendent in flowers symbolizing the Resurrection of Jesus.
OK enough Christianity 101, hope you all have a wonderful Easter weekend.
Seriously, it is indeed Maundy Thursday, and for those not familiar with Holy Week activities the services at many churches feature foot washing as part of the service on this day. The act is to commemorate Jesus washing the feet mentioned in the Gospel of John (15-16), "If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you."
Tomorrow is of course Good Friday, and one of the most somber services of the year as the church is traditionally stripped of all decorations at the end of the service and left in the dark. Serving as a contrast to Easter when churches are traditionally resplendent in flowers symbolizing the Resurrection of Jesus.
OK enough Christianity 101, hope you all have a wonderful Easter weekend.
Let the Schism Begin! Family Research Council Splits From RNC
The lesbian bondage club scandal, LezBondGate, as I call it, has trickled down to some of the Republicans biggest supporters. Tony Perkins, of the radical Family Research Council is urging his flock to stop supporting the Republican National Committee!
In a CNN report Perkins is quoted as saying in his organizations website, "I've hinted at this before, but now I am saying it -- don't give money to the RNC. If you want to put money into the political process, and I encourage you to do so, give directly to candidates who you know reflect your values."
This may be the latest crack in the monolithic GOP voting block. The fundies are beginning to realize they have "layeth down with dogs" and now they are suffering the fleas! (Quote from Benjamin Franklin, not the Bible by the way!)
In a CNN report Perkins is quoted as saying in his organizations website, "I've hinted at this before, but now I am saying it -- don't give money to the RNC. If you want to put money into the political process, and I encourage you to do so, give directly to candidates who you know reflect your values."
This may be the latest crack in the monolithic GOP voting block. The fundies are beginning to realize they have "layeth down with dogs" and now they are suffering the fleas! (Quote from Benjamin Franklin, not the Bible by the way!)
Republicans Offers Phone Sex Line In Latest Mailer!
First it's the lesbian/bondage strip club and now this! Looks like the RNC has really loosened up on the "family values" thing. Apparently they sent out a fund raising direct mail piece that looks suspiciously like an official census form. If that wasn't bad enough, they had a number to call on it that was misprinted.
And where did the number send callers? Drum roll please!
A phone sex line! No wonder Sarah Palin asked to be removed from the invitation list for the RNC.
Ben Smith has the story here, and as far as I can tell, it's not an April Fool's joke.
And where did the number send callers? Drum roll please!
A phone sex line! No wonder Sarah Palin asked to be removed from the invitation list for the RNC.
Ben Smith has the story here, and as far as I can tell, it's not an April Fool's joke.
Starbucks Introduces Extreme Sizes
In an effort to stay on the cutting edge of beverage sales, Starbucks introduces the new extra-jumbo sized "Plenta" to their line up of "Tall, Grande, Vente". For those who like their caffeine in industrial size portions, the Plenta features 128fl. ounces of deliciousness. For the lesser coffee fans, who just ant a sip or two, the new "Micra" (2fl. ounces) will give drinker just a quick jolt.More here on the Starbucks site. (Note to readers: Remember the date!)
Catholic League Continues to Blame Gays for Pedophilia Crisis
Watch this clip and get smoking mad!
Amazing crap streaming from Catholic League President William Donohue's mouth. What's worse, even though the interviewer called attention to the lie that all gays are pedophiles, Donohue continues to assert it using slightly different language. Outrageous!
Amazing crap streaming from Catholic League President William Donohue's mouth. What's worse, even though the interviewer called attention to the lie that all gays are pedophiles, Donohue continues to assert it using slightly different language. Outrageous!
Gay Animals - Just in Time for Easter
The New York Times magazine has an extensive article on same-sex couplings in the animal; world. Up to now, many scientists have treated same-sex pairs in the animal kingdom as just an interesting side note, but recent studies show it isn't all that rare.
The Laysan albatross is a startling example. The article tells of how a female pair of these birds nested and raised a chick together and display all the behaviors of a mated pair. These albatross mate for life, so it is a committed relationship!
Read more in the New York Times. (And no this isn't an April Fool's joke!)
The Laysan albatross is a startling example. The article tells of how a female pair of these birds nested and raised a chick together and display all the behaviors of a mated pair. These albatross mate for life, so it is a committed relationship!
Read more in the New York Times. (And no this isn't an April Fool's joke!)
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