Stephen Fry on the Catholic Church
Stephen Fry explains why the Catholic Church is not a force for good in the world. Fry is a well known British actor, but is probably best known to American audiences for his role in V for Vendetta.
Read moreSociety
A general category for things related to our society and how we interact with one another.
Trolling for an Assassination
From time to time I have a discussion of politics with someone at work. He’s very much a conservative Republican. Yesterday our discussion went to how far off the cliff the most extreme elements of theright-wing have gone. He kept insisting there were extremists on the left as well. And now come forth the Psalmists. Apparently they are now printing the phrase, “Psalm 109,” on mouse pads, bumper stickers, and even teddy bears. The Biblical verse Psalm 109: “Let his days be few; and let another take his office. Let his children become fatherless; and his wife become a widow.”
Read moreAn Explosion of Crazy
We’ve got crazies coming out of the woodwork. In Tampa we have a guy calling 911 for phone sex, and another guy taking a tire iron to a Greek Orthodox Priest (because we all know how easy it is to mistake them for Arab Terrorists), and a “Christian” group wanting to try to incite people to gay bash so they can become martyrs charged under the revised hate crimes law. WWJW
Read morePaul And Jeanette – A couple more Mainers who get it
Paul explains he’s a bear protecting his cubs as he talks about his two daughers, one of which is gay. He talks about being a Catholic family, and how they love both their daughters equally. Paul talks about his service in Vietnam, and how if people don’t think equal rights are important, they should have some of their’s taken away sometime.
Read moreRaised to Believe That All Men Are Created Equal And Never Forgot That
In the Maine same-sex-marriage campaign 87-year-old Philip Spooner, a World War II veteran spoke in favor of same sex marriage at public hearing at the Augusta Civic Center last spring. Spooner says he is a life-long Republican who believes gay and lesbians should have equal rights. He says it’s what he fought for in WWII, and says he didn’t raise four sons for three of them to have equal rights, and the gay son to be treated differently.
Read moreBuju Banton Coming to St. Petersburg Venue
Buju Banton is a Jamacian Reggae star who riled up the gay community with songs like “Boom Bye Bye” which calls for gay people to be shot in the head with automatic weapons, have acid poured on them, and be burned “like an old tire wheel.” He currently has an American tour being roundly opposed by the gay community, and a number of events have been cancelled. Unfortunately, the owner of a concert venue in downtown St. Petersburg, Janus Landing, feels no responsibility to help build an inclusive community.
Read moreMan Sues for Being Fired for Voting for Obama
Wired.com has a story out of Kansas about a copier salesman who is Suing his former employer for wrongful termination. His claim is that his boss sent out e-mail telling employees they would be fired for voting for Obama. I’m not convinced on this one. What do you think about bringing electoral politics into the workplace?
Read moreThe Conservative Bible – Because Jesus Was Just Too Liberal
Turns out the Bible is just too progressive in its views for some. So the Conservative Bible Project has been formed to use Wiki technology to create a whole new, and more conservative, translation of the Bible. The group cites a few reasons why the Bible is too progressive: “Lack of precision in the original language … lack of precision in modern language” and “translation bias in converting the original language to the modern one.”
Read moreOlbermann's Special Commentary on Healthcare Reform
As usual, Keith Olberman does a good job of explaining the need for healthcare reform, and explaining the public option. Olberman cites a comment by Winston Churchill: Churchill’s argument was this, “I have heard it said that the government had no mandate such a doctrine is wholly inadmissible. The responsibility for the public safety is absolute and requires no mandate!”
Read moreRobert Reich Explains the Public Health Care Insurance Option
Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich explains what a public option for healthcare coverage really means for working people.
Read moreGetting Past The Village Idiot
Rachael Maddow reports on a survey that says that more than one in three conservatives in New Jersey believe that Obama is the anti-christ. She discusses with Republican operative and former religious right co-founder Frank Schaeffer how we respond to the idiocy. Schaeffer rightly notes that there is a sub-culture within the ultra-conservative evangelical right that is taught from birth to reject fact as a matter of “faith.” These are people who believe the world is only about six billion years old, that humans lived with dinosaurs, and that John F. Kennedy was the anti-christ. He refers to them as a “fifth column of insanity.”
Read more