Recently in Current Events Category

The anti-choice folks have struck again, holding over 60% of the country hostage to their irrational beliefs as a price for health care reform.  No health care reform unless abortion is made even more difficult than it already is.  If thousands die from lack of insurance, well, as Lenin said, you cannot make an omelet without breaking eggs. Their lives are not as important as a zygote's. But abortion is MURDER these [eople whine.  Let's examine that example, based on logic rather than carefully chosen Biblical texts that ignore other longer and more detailed texts.
 

Many Americans believe abortion is murder.  Bad as I believe their reasoning is, and I believe it's bad, it's a fact.  Given that fact, it is difficult to ask them to contribute their tax money for murder - though most of them have no problem asking us to contribute ours for the murderous wars that a majority of them support.  But for the moment that's another issue.

As I write abortion proponents are using the issue to hold up health reform for everyone.  There is not much reasonable people can do to stop them.  The price of even a small amount of health reform might be to make abortion even more difficult than it is today.  But that might finally force some creative thinking on this issue.  Here's my contribution.

The people who destroyed our economy, like CITI and Goldman Sachs, are now getting privileged access to HiNi vaccinations.  Hospitals go without, but not these jokers.  Huffington Post has more on this abomination. 

While I think they were wrong, very seriously wrong, in what they did, I am daily becoming more sympathetic to the motives that led French Revolutionaries to deal with their own aristocracy during their Revolution.  Almost certainly some kid will die because some parasite got a privileged place in line.

On a pretty important issue the United States is on the side of the Vandals, Mongols, and Thugs.  Italy is on the side of civilization and the rule of law.

Matt Ygelsias over at Think Progress has posted an interesting, if confusingly colored, map showing what percentage of white men voted for Obama on a state by state basis.  He titles his headline "White Men Aren't Very Progressive."    His following discussion explored the allegedly "thin talent pool" from picking so many candidates from such a supposedly thin selection of "liberal" voters.

This map is provoking discussion widely in the blogosphere.

While I think president Obama's obsession with bipartisanship is an error and a weakness, he has pulled off a rare success against the military-industrial-congressional complex with his defense budget.  Whether it's a false dawn, time will tell.  I hope I...

This issue has repeatedly arisen on this blog, perhaps because people think, mistakenly, that I am an 'ultra liberal.'  The issue arose most recently as a question for the special Beliefnet post I am developing.  I won't use it for...

Glenn Greenwald has a disturbing wrap up of Obama's cover-up of Bush's war crimes and his assertions, under his pretty rhetoric, that he can do the same.  Traditional Obama supporters such as the New York Times and The Nation are...

Thankfully genuine Christians are finally intervening.  I wish them well.And I hope there is never a case of moderns claiming to be Pagans acting as the 'witch' killers have, and that if it does happen, that our community intervenes more...

What do John L. Perry, Jim DeMint, Wiley Drake, Steven Anderson, and the prominent conservative news site, NewsMax, have in common.  A hatred for democracy when they lose is a start.  The political disease that calls itself modern conservatism is...

We have all heard, if we've paid attention, of how stories of Americans widespread torturing of Muslims have served as a big recruitment draw for groups fighting us.  Torture is what Americans have been doing because our amoral leaders say...

Some Fundamentalists think they have concocted a neat way of attacking evolution on the 150th anniversary of the publication of Darwin's Origin of Species, lowering our national IQ below even the level to which it has currently sunk.  A young...

I missed Sara's third and final post on the fascist threat to America and what can be done to prevent its triumph.   It came out at the end of August, and I was deep into my own stuff.  But...

In earlier comments, Jaundiced pointed out that there were 9 states that allowed domestic abuse to be a reason for denying health insurance care.  I was curious as to what states allowed insurance corporations - 'company' is too good a...

In earlier comments, Jaundiced pointed out that there were 9 states that allowed domestic abuse to be a reason for denying health insurance care.  I was curious as to what states allowed insurance corporations - 'company' is too good a...

There are really no words of kindness to describe the people who knowingly defend a health care system that can allow this to happen when there are many countries less rich than ours where it cannot.There are words to describe...

I said that the best quick and dirty way you could tell when a 'conservative' leader was lying by whether his or her mouth was moving.  Some people took exception.  Now It's objective and not a matter of debate.At one...

Joe Conason has written a very thought provoking piece on politics and empathy in today's Salon.com.  If he is right, and I think he is, there are serious mental disorders underlying a great many of today's leading 'conservatives' and presumably...

Starhawk tells it like it is and while it's too late to save Van Jones' position because of Obama's increasingly apparent lack of character, it's not too late to tell this so-far failure of a leader that he made a...

Conservative "pro-life" Christians, especially Texans, now have an interesting moral challenge.  Cameron Todd, an innocent man, was executed in Texas.  The facts of his innocence are overwhelming in this case.  For a start, see Huffingtonpost  as well as Barry Scheck's...

I just came across a fascinating anecdote that might shed light on something that has long fascinated and horrified me about my country.  At a recent town-hall meeting in Iowa a local weekly quizzed attendees as to whether or not...

As I promised, here is Part 2 of Robinson's post. In it she discusses what people can do in the short run to forestall things getting further out of hand than they are.  She promises a Part 3, that will...

UPDATE - links added.As often happens here, the issue I wanted to discuss has been all but lost from sight by issues my readers would rather discuss.  My argument as to why from a PAGAN perspective one should boycott Whole...

For most people the appeal of fascism is first and foremost to feel powerful, particularly to dominate those they blame for their sense of themselves being exploited.  But unlike many movements against oppression, fascist movements do not target those had...

The post says it all.  We are watching American fascism as a powerful movement develop before our eyes.UPDATE Dave Neiwert at Orcinus has added further information, including videos in "'Brown Shirts'? Town Hall teabaggers' ranks are indeed riddled with right-wing...

Brooks Bothers rioters, teabaggers, professional agitators, and resume padding thugs.  It's all here....

UPDATES I - IV  on Blackwater and the accuracy of these reports below the fold.I have long thought Blackwater was one of the scariest and most subversive institutions the Bush regime established within the US.  Highly armed, lethally trained, militantly...

Normal 0 0 1 59 341 2 1 418 11.1282 0 0 0 Lindsey Beyerstein over at Majikthise provides more information about the utter hypocrisy and genuine nastiness of the triumph of "pro-life" forces in Nicaragua in outlawing abortion...

Normal 0 0 1 35 203 1 1 249 11.1282 0 0 0 The many murders by self-described 'pro-life' supporters are only the down payment in deaths of real people rather than zygotes if those who want to ban...

Normal 0 0 1 69 395 3 1 485 11.1282 0 0 0 A number of people have suggested I was unfair to Sam Harris in criticizing his attack on Frances Collins.  Below I reprint his column from the...

Normal 0 0 1 73 417 3 1 512 11.1282 0 0 0 Sam Harris  has a column in today' New York Times objecting to Obama's naming Francis Collins  director of NIH.  He objects solely because Collins is a...

Huffpost has provided an important account of the human cost to Americans of turning control over our health provision to sociopathic corporations....

Normal 0 0 1 75 428 3 1 525 11.1282 0 0 0 After huffing and puffing that he would still frequently vote against the Democrats, new "Democrat" Arlen Spector of Pennsylvania, has fallen into line.  Understanding why gives...

UPDATE BELOW I have been following Jeff Sharlet's reports about "The Family," for some time.  His report in Harper's  initially alerted me to this loathsome organization.  It was followed by his book, The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of...

As we commemorate Apollo 11's successful trip to the moon and Neil Armstrong's first steps there, all done with the aid of less computing power than exists in my cell phone, I am reminded of how in one respect it...

Some European friends were over to visit last night, and our conversation ranged all over the place.  One area where we spent considerable time was discussing various countries' violence against others.  My German friend expressed a strong sense of collective...

The hearings over Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor are giving us wonderful opportunities to see the psychopathology of modern 'conservatism' in action.  I am indebted to Daily Kos for much of the information that follows. Here are some interesting factoids...

Frank Rich has written a wonderful piece.With thanks to Balloon Juice....

When I did a couple of blogs a while back, here and here,  on 'conservatives' as having, on balance, not really advanced far beyond a tribal identity, some of my readers got upset.Try these recent gems of wisdom regarding how...

Sebastopol had its annual fireworks show last night, on the 3rd.  (That way people can take in even more fireworks nearby, on July 4.)  Analy high school's athletic field and bleachers were filled by hordes of happy spectators celebrating our...

The rapid appearance of books by atheists in the United States is a predictable result of the rise of intolerant religion.  Nothing turns people off to religion faster than self-righteous fanatics and power junkies intent on telling you how to...

California is entering into a financial abyss, an abyss of its own creation.  The budgetary disaster that is eliminating health care and summer school for thousands of children, closing state parks, and leading to state workers and small businesses being...

Today Canadians are celebrating Canada Day, their national equivalent to our 4th of July.  Their celebration reminds me of how fortunate I think we are to have such an independent country as our northern neighbor. ...

In a sane world, with sane opposition on issues of concern this would not be happening.  The video is here.  It may no longer be a question of left vs right, where genuine issues exist over which people of good...

I am amazed that I have heard so little as to why the purely private option no longer works for medical insurance and never will again.  The reason lies in the very logic of capitalism and the market.  While right...

From an Iranian student on her blog.  Look for 3:09 PM."I will participate in the demonstrations tomorrow. Maybe they will turn violent. Maybe I will be one of the people who is going to get killed. I'm listening to all...

We now have quite strong statistical evidence that conservative Republicans are way out of step with the rest of the country with regard to how they see empathy as a virtue.  Daily Kos commissioned two polls, with fascinating findings, here ...

Politics is a free-for-all of men and women made crazy by their love of power, and  even the best of politicians often find what seemed possible before winning was impossible once in power.  America's system favors the status quo, even...

A few blog commentators have wondered whether I might be walking close to the line, or even stepping over it, in describing the enablers of murder as moral monsters who are committing treason against the United States.  I appreciate their...

In the past year there have been many murderous terrorist attacks in the United States, and all have been from the radical right. Jim Adkisson killed two Unitarian church members and wounded others because they were "liberals." Kieth Luke, a...

Newt  Gingrich, the thrice divorced defender of family values and Catholicism, warned "I am not a citizen of the world. I am a citizen of the United States because only in the United States does citizenship start with our creator." ...

There is only one variety of committed opponent to the legality of all or most abortion who holds a position I can respect as indicating personal sincerity, a sense of responsibility,  and moral integrity.  Only one....

A few weeks ago I warned that the violent rhetoric of the culture warriors would lead to deaths, and that right wing terrorism was the chief terrorist threat to many Americans.  I am sad but hardly surprised  to report that...

Senator Carl Levine has called Dick Cheney a liar for claiming classified documents demonstrate torture saved American lives.  The Senator, who is Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he has seen the documents Cheney is always referring to,...

It just gets worse and worse.  According to Retired Major Gen. Antonio Taguba, who oversaw the U.S. investigation into the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison, and who ought to know, the suppressed torture photos include pictures of men raping female...

Jason over at Wild Hunt has some very good insights on why every Pagan should be thrilled with Sonia Sotomayer's selection for the Supreme Court.  Jason's post is up to his usual excellent standards - give it a read and...

Alternet just added more insight to the mentality of those who led us into war in Iraq.  Turns out that Rumsfeld's juicy little Biblical quotes juxtaposed with American firepower in his memos to Bush were part of a bigger pattern. ...

Gambia's sordid dictatorship  is conducting "witch hunts" and spreading fear throughout its territory.  This time it's not being done in the name of religion, and it isn't targeting children, but it's still dreadful and murderous.  It is a bizarre and...

Huffington Post has a report on many decades of sexual and physical abuse of thousands of Irish children by priests and nuns in Catholic run reform schools.  ( I do not want to be accused of just picking on Protestants...

Evangelical pastors torturing and sometimes killing children because they accuse even 6 and 8 year olds of being witches.  Thus has been the blessing of evangelical Christianity in significant areas of Africa.  Over 2000 evangelical churches have participated....

Any questions anyone might have had about the religious fantasies and hallucinations behind those who launched aggressive war on Iraq can be put to rest with the publication of Donald Rumsfeld's pretty memos to George Bush II.Our foreign policy was...

This is wonderful.  If you didn't see him, see him now!...

My spirituality and torture post made some people angry, who claimed that the PEW polls on torture showing more church goers were supporters of torture than non-Christians were somehow unreliable or not representative.  Now some other polls have emerged....

Valerie Voigt told me about the May issue of Harpers, whose cover story, "Taking of Jerusalem by crusaders,"   describes the attempt by conservative evangelical Christians to take over the American military, turning it into a vehicle of religious indoctrination at...

I was replying in the comments section to some arguments about my last post on the PEW poll and disproportionate LDS involvement in torture, but I ended up in territory that I decided merited a post of its own.For years...

Mormons Disproportionately Involved in Torture Regular Church goers are more likely to approve of torture than others, Evangelicals scored highest of all, at over 60%....

I have been taken to task for my curt response to Mike who responded to my post on John Boehner and torture.  My reply has grown to being a small post of its own that I hope will interest a...

Eagle-eyed Valerie Voigt has again sent me an important link.  It is to a UN publication on contemporary persecution of witches.  It is calledWitchcraft Allegations, Refugee Protection and Human Rights: A Review of the Evidence, produced by the United Nations...

House Minority Leader John Boehner just took the Republican Party another big step towards what at one time conservatives would have called totalitarianism when he said:  "Last week, they released these memos outlining torture techniques. That was clearly a political...

Valerie Voigt reports that a Pagan Veterans association is in the process of forming.  Its url is  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Pagan-Veterans-USA/ Their organizational statement reads: WHEREAS thousands of Pagan men and women have served and are serving the United States of America in...

The difference between Democrats and Republicans is finally clear.  The former rejects the rule of law, the latter will honor it, at least to a point.  The former rejects human decency, the latter respects it.  The former believes in government...

Michael Lind has written a wonderful piece over at Salon on how America is Not a Christian Nation.   Go on over and have a read!  It has some good history in it that if it had ever been taught might...

President Obama's endorsement of George Bush's contempt for the rule of law, his Nixonian claims for executive authority on civil liberties and Presidential power, and violation of campaign promises, gives us a wonderful test of a claim I recently made...

It's no secret that I think Barack Obama is immensely better than any Republican office holder as President of the United States.  Any Republican.It is also no secret that I have been pretty critical of some awful things he has...

Glenn Beck, Michelle Bachmann, Rush Limbaugh, and others like the are seeking to destroy the United States by replacing citizenship with tribalism.  I do not think most of them intend this consequence, but they are so intoxicated by their self-righteousness...

While I suspect Iowa's Supreme Court ruling went well beyond the current moral capacities of many of that state's citizens, their unanimous ruling establishing the right of gay marriage is a wonderful one.  And as usual, the culture warriors are...

Glenn Greenwald has just published a very important article on Wall Street's Ownership of Government through its Democratic component, and the deep moral and barely legal corruption of men like Larry Summers and his likes.  It is time, past time,...

The Washington Post reported in a front page article,  that in retrospect the Bush regime's practice of torture saved no lives, led to no critical information, foiled no plots, and like most everything else that group told the American people,...

Tonight, at 8:30 in whatever time zone they live, millions of people will be turning out their lights in a symbolic action pressing for worldwide change on energy and our relations with the More Then Human World.Sponsored by the World...

Glen Greenwald over at Salon has an important post  for anyone interested in understanding our economic crisis, and the shortcomings even Democrats have in dealing with it.  George Bush treated this country like a banana republic.  But Argentina might be...

Given that even Fundamentalist Jews can endorse and presumably practice genocide, it is refreshing to see what Pagans are doing in this context.  April is Genocide Prevention Month  because it is the month when many genocidal events began.  An interfaith...

I try to give religious fundamentalists the benefit of the doubt, innocent until proven guilty, and the like.  I have members of my family who hold those beliefs, and they are good people in their personal relationships.But by the Gods...

Mark Kleiman over at the Reality-Based Community has a hopeful story  about a recent legal victory by a Santo Daime branch in Oregon which uses ayahuasca as a sacrament.  If you, like me, believe that psychedelics have a valuable role...

The latest scandal with AIG, the upcoming paying $165 million in bonuses to executives managing a company needing the largest taxpayer financed bailout in world history.  To make matters worse, some recipients of this money are in the very unit...

While we are a small portion of America's population, on occasion we can be mighty.  Ten years ago the Headwaters Forest  in northern California was saved from the rape and pillage methods of logging by Texas financiers who took over...

The final panel I attended at Pantheacon was on  international interfaith work.  Its participants were an impressive group: Glen Turner, Starhawk, Don Frew, Selena Fox, Anastacia Nutt, Rachel Wachter, and EliSheva Nesher.  While present at the Con, Rowan Fairgrove was...

Pantheacon coverage will return shortly - I gotta catch a plane.Markets are wonderful means by which people can make voluntary exchanges.  They are indispensable servants.  But when they become our masters all values are subordinated to enabling the most ruthless...

I had not planned to do another blog till at Pantheacon, but upon reflection, I am making an exception.  I was one of many who rejoiced when Barack Obama won the presidency, bringing I hoped an end to the lawlessness...

I have been working on a book on the 60s and the culture war.  As part of my research, I looked at Biblical criticisms of abortion - not a major theme of the book by any means, but I am...

We Pagans have made giant strides in public acceptance and in the numbers of Americans interested in our path.  This is wonderful.  But no good thing comes without at least a potential shadow.  Our current financial crisis  can help Pagan...

We are hearing an unending stream of please for 'bipartisanship' on the part of the Republican Party and the corporate press.  People with actual memories have pointed out this sentiment was utterly lacking when Republicans dominated all branches of government. ...