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August 31, 2008
Palin Derangement Syndrome Begins
Well that didn't take long. The reality based community have begun the obligatory self-beclowning contest. Via Glenn Reynolds, we present Contestant #1:
On the other hand, claims that Palin faked her pregnancy would have to count as dumber . . . .
Dumb has nothing to do with it. The truly scary thing is that these people are serious. But wait! Unbelievable as it may seem there's even more blithering idiocy where this came from!
Not content with slandering Palin's teenaged daughter (never mind all that righteous indignation about leaving candidates' wives out of the campaign - that was just for show), now Obama supporters are demonstrating their deeply held convictions about a woman's right to control her reproductive destiny.
You remember that, don't you? Senator Obama was quite explicit on this point. A woman's original decision regarding her reproductive destiny must not be questioned:
SEAN HANNITY, CO-HOST: Senator Obama's state Senate vote on abortion continues to draw criticism from all sides. And now audiotapes have surfaced of the Illinois senator arguing against the bill that would have protected babies who survive a botched abortion.Now listen to this.
BARACK OBAMA, (D) ILLINOIS SENATOR: And that essentially adding an additional doctor, who then has to be called in an emergency situation to come in and make these assessments is really designed simply to burden the original decision of the woman and the decision to induce labor and perform an abortion.
Yep. Those lofty principles sure can prove inconvenient. And when they get in the way they must be sacrificed to expediency. So much for a woman's right to control her own reproductive destiny! And that pesky right to privacy thing? Out the window! Enter Contestant #2:
It's almost as if the Dems can't help but to resort to misogynistic antagonism in dealing with Gov. Sarah Palin. This comes courtesy of Alan Colmes, citing Rogers Cadenhead who questions Palin's maternal abilities:
One bit of weirdness associated with Palin concerns the birth of her youngest child. As the Alaskan media reported, Palin was attending an energy conference in Texas on April 18 when her water broke four weeks before her due date. After this happened, Palin didn't head to a hospital or even leave the conference, even though the premature rupture of fetal membrances [Ed note: Huh???] is normally a cause for an immediate examination by an obstetrician, who will observe the fetus on a monitor to guard against infection and other life-threatening complications. Two other reasons for heightened concern were Palin's age, 43, and the fact that prenatal testing indicated the child had Down syndrome.Palin stayed at the conference and delivered a 30-minute speech, then boarded a 12-hour Alaska Airlines flight from Dallas to Anchorage, neglecting to tell the airline her water had broken — most airlines won't fly a woman in labor. The motivation for all of this appears to be the Palins' desire that the child be born in Alaska. Her husband Todd told the Anchorage Daily News, "You can't have a fish picker from Texas."
When she arrived home, Palin was hospitalized immediately and the baby was born prematurely after labor was induced in the middle of the night.
So let's look at the "charges" here:
Governor Palin stands accused of wanting to control her own reproductive destiny endangering her "fetus".
As we all know, this is something the reality based community finds utterly unacceptable. And then there's the troubling matter of the way Governor Palin neglected to tell the flight crew her water had broken! Apparently she was supposed to have done this because...
[wait for it]
...most airlines won't fly a woman in labor.
Except Gov. Palin wasn't in labor yet:
When she arrived home, Palin was hospitalized immediately and the baby was born prematurely after labor was induced in the middle of the night.
Now maybe it is just me, but normally doctors don't have to induce labor if one is already in labor. Oh wait a minute -- my bad. Logic and facts tend to interfere with the narrative, don't they?
The real question here is this: according to Barack Obama nothing must be allowed to interfere with a woman's absolute right to control her own reproductive destiny. You know: that whole "right to privacy" thing? It's sacrosanct... except when it gets in the way of the narrative:
... essentially adding an additional doctor, who then has to be called in an emergency situation to come in and make these assessments is really designed simply to burden the original decision of the woman and the decision to induce labor and perform an abortion.
According to Obama supporters, he doesn't support infanticide. He supports a woman's right to determine her reproductive destiny. Governor Palin consulted her physician and then made an informed decision regarding her reproductive destiny. But Obama supporters think a live child is a "risky" outcome that disqualifies her from being Vice President of the United States?
Lovely. I'm pro-choice and this doesn't make sense.
Grim was right. This kind of nonsense survives only because people deliberately refuse to think about the policies and candidates they support. I support limited abortion rights, but I don't delude myself about what it is I am supporting and I don't support the unconditional "right" of a woman to "choose" certain things:
You can't "let" a baby live. A baby will not live if you do not care for it. At that moment -- the one being discussed, when a baby has survived an abortion attempt and is now delivered and alive -- we must make a decision. We must accept the child into the human community and care for it, or let the baby die.
These people have maintained all along that a fetus is not a baby. It has no rights.
So what, precisely, are the grounds for people who support unlimited abortion rights to question any action of Governor Palin's in relation to her pregnancy? Obama supporters favor the unconditional right of a woman to have her baby cut into pieces, without any anaesthesia, while fully alive and conscious; but not for her to board a plane to Alaska, while not even in labor yet, and after consulting her physician?
On what basis? That she was "endangering" a fetus they claim is not human and has no rights?
This is the definition of intellectual dishonesty, and it's pathetic.
I wondered what these people were going to do after Bush was gone.
I think we have our answer: Bush Derangement Syndrome will be replaced by Palin Derangement Syndrome.
Posted by Cassandra at 11:32 AM | Comments (108) | TrackBack
August 30, 2008
Will Palin Cost McCain Gay Polar Bear Vote?
Somewhere in the wee hours of the morning a distressing thought floated to the forefront of the Editorial Staff's pea sized brain. Naturlich we promptly sprang from betwixt the marital sheets, positively a-tingle with curiosity. "What would the sachems of political discourse have to say about this historic choice?", we wondered? We were happy to see the lamestream media continuing the thoughtful, impartial and incisive reporting which characterized their coverage of Hillary Clinton:
"Children with Down syndrome require an awful lot of attention. The role of vice president, it seems to me, would take up an awful lot of her time, and it raises the issue of how much time will she have to dedicate to her newborn child?"
But though the press can barely contain their excitement over the historic nature of this pick, they appear mindful of their duty to explore compelling issues like Gov. Palin's child care arrangements while not neglecting the question on everyone's mind today: can a mere woman ever hope to wrap her mind around complex and highly nuanced foreign policy issues?
Fortunately, the media's well known sense of fair play prompted admonishments that it is unsporting to pick on girls, especially ones who are so clearly out of their depth:
TODD: She's going to have an expectations bar that's really low, and, you know, there's going to be questions that are given to her in such a way, that, to see, just on a basic qualification test, how well she knows certain world events. So she's going to have a very low bar to pass..
Imagine our surprise (considering the gravity and thoroughness with which Gov. Palin is being vetted by the media), however, when this morning's news turned up nary a word regarding what may well turn out to be a fatal miscalculation by the McCain campaign. Amidst the grave questions raised by the VP pick (What was McCain thinking when he recklessly and unilaterally selected a running mate without the prior approval of Germany and France? How could he choose a running mate who conspicuously lacks the internecine Capitol Hill connections considered essential in establishing genuine "Washington outsider" bona fides? Is this yet another sign that McCain's POW experiences left him mentally unstable and unfit to lead?) we found ourselves stunned to see the media ignoring the most disturbing aspect of the McCain pick. The choice of Palin represents a stinging slap in the face to a key McCain constituency: gay Ursine-Americans and lovers of Knut, the adorably psychotic baby polar bear. We would have thought that Palin would be more sympathetic to Knut, another compelling public figure who bears many startling similarities to the now-embattled VP pick. Like Palin, Knut has his share of skeletons in the closet:
Berlin Zoo is having to frantically deny reports that Cuddly Knut, its adorable yet controversial polar bear cub, was indirectly responsible for the death of its panda Yan Yan.
The Editorial Staff have been following the trials and tribulations of this cuddly denizen of the Arctic for some time:
Mein Gott im Himmell! one day the arrogant Bu$Hitler will rue his crimes against the Multiverse. Dennis Kucinich has sworn it!Sadly, the viciously specie-ist and human centric policies of the current occupants of the Oval Office continue unabated. Is there no end to the tortures visited upon our unsuspecting fur-brothers? Of all the horrors in an increasingly irritating world, no one could have imagined a fate so cruel, so exquisitely agonizing that it would reduce the strongest among us to a quivering mass of jelly. We are, of course, speaking of the nightmare of Suri Cruise...
The young ursine has been the target of death threats for his prescient and principled opposition to European Islamofascists. Thus, we found ourselves deeply disturbed to learn that, not content with being a bad mother, animal hater and strident foe of a woman's exclusive right to determine the reproductive destiny of both partners in a sexual relationship, Gov. Palin has come out against same sex marriage rights for polar bears.
In light of this unsettling news, we have no choice but to reconsider our support for John McCain. In a civilized society, some things just will not stand.
Posted by Cassandra at 10:28 AM | Comments (26) | TrackBack
August 29, 2008
First Reaction on Palin
Sorry - I'm too busy for anything other than a brief comment. My initial reaction to the Palin choice was mixed.
Primarily, it distresses me a bit to think she was chosen because she is female. I found myself, and I know no one here is going to want to hear this, oddly moved by watching the delegate count at the DNC the other day. Some time ago, Grim pointed out to me that many blacks have their hopes and dreams tied up in Barack Obama.
At the time, I thought it a bit amusing because as a woman, quite a few of my 'hopes and dreams' were tied up in watching Hillary Clinton - though I vehemently disagree with her on many issues - run a credible campaign against the juggernaut that is Barack Obama. I thought she was the best of the candidates the Democrats fielded, and I thought she deserved the nomination. Apparently this assessment was insufficiently widespread.
But in my mind, there was no question that she ran a good race and part of me - my heart - found it painful to see a woman lose to someone I will always view as less qualified. At the same time my Inner Rethug was pleased, as I believe Barack Obama will be easier to defeat.
As for Palin, I don't know much about her. As a general note, I keenly dislike seeing race and gender play the outsized role they have in this campaign: I don't see this as a step forward for either blacks or women.
On the otter heiny, I can't help reflecting that choosing a relatively inexperienced women was extremely shrewd of the McCain folks. To the extent the Obama folks denigrate her experience and cast aspersions on her ability to lead, they risk re-igniting the burning resentment of not just Hillary supporters, but many other women as well. I won't defend her mindlessly: she's got to prove herself to me. But when the Obama campaign starts right in on her "lack of experience", they risk looking not just disingenuous but patronizing and sexist to a group of people who are already inclined to view Obama that way.
And I think the backlash could well cost them the election.
Posted by Cassandra at 01:38 PM | Comments (197) | TrackBack
Thame Old Thong....
God help us all if Bob Herbert gets wind of this:
Yesterday, ads for Barack Obama appeared on sites for several Clear Channel stations next to links for Red Light Girls, Chicks on Toilets and Thong of the Day.
Posted by Cassandra at 08:16 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
August 28, 2008
God Plans to Vote for Obama. Who Knew?
This is beyond parody.
In an aside, Darleen takes a swipe at something I noticed the other day:
Then there is how Donald Miller gave the benediction last Monday night at the Democrat Convention:Give those in this room who have power, along with those who will meet next week, the courage to work together to finally provide health care to those who don’t have any, and a living wage so families can thrive rather than struggle.
Hep (sic) us figure out how to pay teachers what they deserve and give children an equal opportunity to get a college education.
Help us figure out the balance between economic opportunity and corporate gluttony.
A prayer to enact specific Democrat legislation.
Obviously Darleen didn't hear the Right Rev. Cynthia Hale:
Please rise for the invocation, offered by the Reverend Cynthia Hale from Georgia.REV. CYNTHIA HALE: Good afternoon.
It is my privilege to lead us in prayer.
Great and awesome God, as we gather in this place from all across the length and breadth of this nation, we pause to acknowledge you as the one in whom we live and move and have our being. You, oh, God, created us in your image and likeness and invited us to partner with you in the stewardship of your world.
We are called to be faithful over the Earth, its people and its resources. On this day, as we gather to renew America's promise, we are keenly aware of the challenges American families are facing. People are being hit hard by the economic downturn, the energy crisis and rising food costs. Their spirits are being crushed by the mortgage mayhem, as well as the absence of affordable housing and health care.
Parents desire and deserve to be able to give their children quality and affordable education, from preschool through college. Times are tough. People are struggling. Some have lost hope.
We know, oh, God that this is not your perfect will for any of your people. It is your will that all people have their basic human needs met. It is your desire that all would prosper and be in good health, even as our souls prosper. It is your desire that everyone would be treated with dignity and respect.
As a nation and as a party, we are at a crucial time. We have an opportunity to not only make history, but to bring about change we can all believe in and restore hope to the hearts of women and men.
Unite us as a party, oh God. Let us be one in this common purpose -- to renew our promise so that we might live out our creed to be one nation under God, with liberty and justice for all.
In your strong and mighty name we pray.
Amen.
Who among us can know the will of God?
To all appearances, the Rev. Cynthia Hale. And she wants you to know that Almighty God is squarely behind Barack Obama :p
Posted by Cassandra at 06:33 PM | Comments (64) | TrackBack
Classy
via bthun
Posted by Cassandra at 05:15 PM | Comments (12) | TrackBack
Obama Campaign, DNC Crush Dissent
Another mystery solved. At last we know what a community organizer does:
Stanley Kurtz's appearance on the Milt Rosenberg radio program in Chicago last night provided an unsettling look into the authoritarian tactics being employed by the Obama campaign to stifle and intimidate its critics.I happened to be in the WGN studios for the entire affair because my friend, Zack Christenson, produces the show in question. He was aware of my previous reporting on the Obama-Ayers connection and kindly invited me to sit in on the two-hour interview. (For full disclosure, I work for two other radio stations in Chicago, WIND, and WYLL).
As I arrived at the downtown Chicago studios a few hours before show time, the phones began ringing off the hook with irate callers demanding Kurtz be axed from the program. It didn't take long to discover that the Obama campaign—which had declined invitations to join the show for its duration to offer rebuttals to Kurtz's points—had sent an "Obama Action Wire" e-mail to its supporters, encouraging them to deluge the station with complaints.
Why? Because, naturally, Kurtz is a "right-wing hatchet man," a "smear merchant" and a "slimy character assassin" who is perpetrating one of the "most cynical and offensive smears ever launched against Barack."
Evidently, much of Obama nation is comprised of obedient and persistent sheep. They jammed all five studio lines for nearly the entire show while firing off dozens of angry emails. Many vowed to kick their grievances up the food chain to station management. After 90 minutes of alleged smear peddling, Milt Rosenberg (a well-respected host whose long-form interview show has aired in Chicago for decades) opened the phone lines, and blind ignorance soon began to crackle across the AM airwaves. The overwhelming message was clear: The interview must be put to an end immediately, and the station management should prevent similar discussions from taking place.
Here's the text of the Obama campaign's email (via Memeorandum). Kind of like deja vu all over again, isn't it?
Here, the Swift Boat vets reply to the charges made against them by the DNC. Apparently the letter has been largely unsuccessful - only one station has so far refused to air the ad on advice of counsel.I decided to look at the actual text of the Swift Boat Vets ad and contrast that with the charges made in the DNC letter to see if the DNC's charges of lying were grounded in fact:
John Edwards: "If you have any question about what John Kerry is made of, just spend 3 minutes with the men who served with him."
Al French: "I served with John Kerry."
Bob Elder: "I served with John Kerry."
What the DNC threat letter says "the advertisement contains statements from men who purport to have served on Senator Kerry's SWIFT Boat in Vietnam"...In fact, not a single one of these men who pretend to have served with Senator Kerry was actually a crewmate of Senator Kerry's and the man pretending to be his doctor was not. The entire advertisement, therefore, is one inflammatory, outrageous lie. ... Not a single one of these men served on either of Senator Kerry's SWIFT boats (PCF44 or PCF94).
Fact check: The DNC's allegation is false - Not a single one of the 12 men in the ad states that he served aboard the same boat, nor that he was a crewmember of Kerry's. French, Hildreth, and Elder don't even say they served with Kerry in Vietnam. Applying standard used in their own letter (one falsehood invalidates the whole), the DNC's allegations are therefore "one inflammatory, outrageous lie".
George Elliott: "John Kerry has not been honest about what happened in Vietnam."
Al French: "He is lying about his record."
Fact check: The Swift Boat vets are not the only ones to catch the Kerry campaign re-writing the official record. Senator Kerry has been loose with the facts on several occasions. Here and most importantly, here where THE BOSTON GLOBE catches the Kerry online bio taking credit for combat incidents that occurred before Kerry took command.
It's always interesting, what you find out when you start looking into these accusations of "lying". Unfortunately, heavy handed attempts to intimidate local TV and radio stations are nothing new for Democratic presidential candidates. Rather than address allegations on the merits, they prefer to suppress "inconvenient" speech entirely. As I documented carefully several years ago, the Kerry campaign's claims didn't bear close inspection.
But then that's just the point, isn't it? Because close inspection is precisely what they hope to avoid through threats and intimidation. The Swift Vets weren't the only targets of the Kerry campaign's threats - he went after The Club for Growth as well. Seems intimidation has been quite profitable for the DNC - after all, it worked against ABC.
Ruth Marcus asks:Does it matter that ABC invented and distorted history in its "warning: this is not a documentary" docudrama, "The Path to 9/11"? After all, the first night of the faux drama was trounced by the brother-against-brother actual drama of "Sunday Night Football."
I have a better question for her.
Does it matter to the media that for the first time I can recall in my life, a major TV network was intimidated by the threats of Democrat Senators into censoring the content of a clearly-labeled fictionalized account of a historical event until it conformed to the "government approved" version of events? If this is the standard the Democrat Party wishes to see enforced on Hollywood then Fahrenheit 9/11, Michael Moore's blatantly inaccurate "docudrama", should be immediately pulled from the shelves of American retailers and its content revised until Bush administration officials are satisfied that it agrees with the historical record.
One can't help but wonder how Ms. Marcus would respond if six Republican Senators wrote a letter threatening Congressional action unless he edited the content of a movie to their satisfaction, or better yet, pulled it altogether.
But you see, that wouldn't happen. These people manufacture conspiracies to crush dissent when the Joint Chiefs merely write a polite letter to the editor yet ignore it when their own operatives use federal tax dollars to suppress viewpoints they find "unacceptable".
I guess their professed reverence for free speech and the toleration of dissent only applies so long as it's not their ox being gored.
Update: More "community organizing" by the DNC, from Darleen:
I work with cops. I have a great deal of respect for cops. But this was beyond the pale. This was cops acting as paid thugs for the DNC to keep embarrassing pictures from the press. What fool believes a public sidewalk is owned by a private hotel?Those so-called Denver cops should be immediately suspended and the DNC should be held accountable.
A picture is worth a thousand words here. Video link at Darleen's place:
My son is a cop and I agree, 100%. As Glenn Reynolds notes, the "over the top" response by the Obama campaign to any criticism is as revealing as it is counterproductive:
The Ayers connection itself is less interesting to me than the campaign's over-the-top response. It seems to me that they could have put this behind them already, but instead their reaction seems to be fanning the flames.
This YouTuber looked at the McCain account vs. the Obama account and found 36% negative comments on the McCain account. The comments were allowed to stand.
On the Obama account, there were 0 negative comments. And this is the President who promises to listen to opposing voices?
If Obama and his supporters are already indulging in this kind of wine and cheese thuggery, what will he do when he has the power of the federal government at his behest?
Question for the ages: where are Sue Sarandon and Tim Robbins when you need them? If the progressyve community were really serious about bringing back 1968, they appear to have done a bang up job. Sadly, the only thing I feel blowin' in the wind is a very big chill.
Update II: Fausta has lots more on this.
Posted by Cassandra at 02:38 PM | Comments (17) | TrackBack
August 27, 2008
Time Wasters
What does your favorite color say about your sex life?
How masculine/feminine are you?
Here's a fun one for the ladies: what does your lipstick say about you?
What a hoot! The shower quiz.
Posted by Cassandra at 10:16 PM | Comments (17) | TrackBack
McCain VP pick.
John Hawkins asks reich wing bloggers three questions. No, not those three questions...
Out of the following VP candidates rumored to be on McCain's short list, which one DO YOU THINK HE WILL TAKE?Out of the following VP candidates rumored to be on McCain's short list, which one WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE HIM TAKE?
Out of the following VP candidates rumored to be on McCain's short list, which one WOULD YOU LEAST LIKE TO SEE HIM TAKE?
Feel free to opine in the comments section. Grim (meanwhile) asked a good question of his own based on our exchange in the Kay Bailey Hutchison thread which I'd like to add to the mix:
Who is a credible standalone candidate for 2012, in the current field?
I await your thoughts with a keen sense of anticipation.
Posted by Cassandra at 01:08 PM | Comments (97) | TrackBack
Please Tell Me McCain Is Not This Dumb
A stuffed marmoset by parcel post to the lucky reader who can tell me what factor of more than esoteric interest to bitter, God-and-gun clinging folk like yours truly receives nary a mention here?
Posted by Cassandra at 11:55 AM | Comments (36) | TrackBack
Incroyable!
This would be amusing if it weren't so pathetic. For saying he likes Michelle Obama better when she's independent, outspoken, and sometimes controversial (in other words, when she's herself) Richard Cohen is called a racist woman hater by his commenters:
The transformation of Michelle Obama from a bracingly proud contemporary woman -- mother, wife, career woman -- into a prime time Betty Crocker was sad to see. This is not to say that she was not up to the task assigned her Monday night. She spoke well and looked swell. But her speech was like one of those buildings where the interior structure can be seen. You could watch her hit all her marks, answering, point by point, the uninformed criticism: angry, although mighty privileged, black woman. Never mind that that was a canard. Just as much a canard was the woman who spoke almost entirely of motherhood and wifehood and the incredible greatness of America -- a land once of searing racism, which, if mentioned, is seen as proof of irrational rage and for which whites now have three words: get over it.The transparent purpose of the speech, its kitchy effort to reassure, gave Michelle Obama a glaze of insincerity. In the post-speech commentary, many of the TV types, schooled now in empathy and not objectivity, gave her high marks for what she did. But what she had really done, she had done earlier in her life. Last night, she gave the standard “Log Cabin” speech expected of nearly all American public figures -- born poor, raised in faith, etc. -- with nary a mention of race. It was a speech designed to reassure...
You know identity politics is imploding when it loses the ability to tell friend from foe.
Morons...
Posted by Cassandra at 08:56 AM | Comments (22) | TrackBack
Facts Can Be So Tedious
Wallah!
Andrew Sullivan has conclusively proved Ted Sampley is a big fat liar and a phony. Obviously, the man was never in Vietnam because the Swift Vets never mention him anywhere on their site and surely if they served together, they can't help but remember him. It's getting durned hard to refute brilliance like this.
Sampley can take some comfort in the fact that Sully didn't call him a Christianist.
Them would be fightin' words.
Posted by Cassandra at 08:32 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
Interesting Reads
Good morning. The Editorial Staff are attempting to motivate our intrepid staff of itinerant Eskimo typists with a combination of dire threats and liberal doses of caffeine. While you await yet another display of their typing prowess, a few interesting reads from around the 'Net:
FactCheck.org has looked into Obama's claim that pro-life activists are "lying" when they say he supports infanticide:
At issue is Obama's opposition to Illinois legislation in 2001, 2002 and 2003 that would have defined any aborted fetus that showed signs of life as a "born alive infant" entitled to legal protection, even if doctors believe it could not survive.Obama opposed the 2001 and 2002 "born alive" bills as backdoor attacks on a woman's legal right to abortion, but he says he would have been "fully in support" of a similar federal bill that President Bush had signed in 2002, because it contained protections for Roe v. Wade.
We find that, as the NRLC said in a recent statement, Obama voted in committee against the 2003 state bill that was nearly identical to the federal act he says he would have supported. Both contained identical clauses saying that nothing in the bills could be construed to affect legal rights of an unborn fetus, according to an undisputed summary written immediately after the committee's 2003 mark-up session.
Whether opposing "born alive" legislation is the same as supporting "infanticide," however, is entirely a matter of interpretation. That could be true only for those, such as Obama's 2004 Republican opponent, Alan Keyes, who believe a fetus that doctors give no chance of surviving is an "infant." It is worth noting that Illinois law already provided that physicians must protect the life of a fetus when there is "a reasonable likelihood of sustained survival of the fetus outside the womb, with or without artificial support."
Of particular interest is Sen. Obama's comment on the 2001 Illinois bill (which he also voted against):
... whenever we define a previable fetus as a person that is protected by the equal protection clause or the other elements in the Constitution, what we’re really saying is, in fact, that they are persons that are entitled to the kinds of protections that would be provided to a – a child, a nine-month-old – child that was delivered to term. That determination then, essentially, if it was accepted by a court, would forbid abortions to take place. I mean, it – it would essentially bar abortions, because the equal protection clause does not allow somebody to kill a child, and if this is a child, then this would be an antiabortion statute.
What the FactCheck article elides right past (and what I continue to find deeply troubling) is the fact that it makes it expressly legal to deliver abort a live fetus and then leave it - unattended - to die. The physician has no duty of care unless, in his or her own judgment, the fetus "has a reasonable likelihood of sustained survival outside the womb, with or without life support".
What doctor in his right mind, accused of having letting a baby that *could* have survived with life support die unattended, is going to scratch his head and say, "Gee whiz... now that you mention it, maybe I made the wrong call? Go ahead and throw me in jail."
As a parent, one of the first things you learn is never to make an unenforceable rule. This strikes me as one such.
Punishing kids for being competent:
A Connecticut youth baseball team with a phenomenal 9-year-old pitcher has been disqualified because its team is too good.The team, Will Power Fitness, has an 8-0 record thanks in large part to pitcher Jericho Scott, the New Haven Register reports. His pitching is so fast and accurate, the Liga Juvenil De Baseball De New Haven asked the team's coach, Wilfred Vidro, to replace him so he wouldn't frighten other players.
What a lovely message to teach our children: now inequality of ability is "unfair"? Whatever happened to learning to accept both wins and losses with grace? Losing seasons happen and ability is not always evenly distributed between teams. That's not a bad preparation for life, which isn't always fair either. When my sons played rec soccer, often the "town" teams (vs. the base teams) had kids who went to expensive soccer camps and had skills the base teams, who accepted all players, couldn't easily compete with. We played everyone, every game, where the town teams did not. But a good coach teaches kids to compete with pride, to do their best, to work together, and above all, not to let defeats beat them down. These are valuable coping skills, as in real life it is often the most persistent competitor rather than the most talented who eventually walks off with the prize. How much more valuable would it have been, had the league decided to use this boy's ability to challenge the other players to do their best?
This is just one more manifestation of our education's penchant for promoting self-esteem over ability and effort over achievement - the league lost a 'teachable moment', here. Via a certain Colorado Feline.
Heigh ho, heigh ho, it's off to work I go...
Are fathers necessary? Apparently so:
While a rare condition PWS (Prader-Willi Syndrome) is thought to be the leading cause of genetically caused obesity, its effects can be mitigated by the participation of the father.The research by University of Tennessee, Knoxville, professor Francisco Ubeda finds that the amount of care a father gives to his child may cause a shift in the syndrome in which its symptoms, in essence, reverse themselves.
In a world where fathers are now considered akin to the appendix, its interesting to find more information that the presence of a father changes the outcomes for the children in drastic ways. Yes I said more, as females raised without a blood father present have lower ages of onset of first menses. That if a human female is raised without a father, or with a stepfather, she matures earlier, and so her time to learn is clipped by biological urges appearing earlier than later.
Personally, this type of research seems like a threat to a woman's total control over her reproductive destiny. It should probably be suppressed immediately.
The Democratic National Convention as musical comedy:
Meanwhile, the allegedly nonpartisan press, fresh off a cover version of "Hopelessly Devoted to You," is doing its best to convey every jot and tiddle of the Obama narrative as given to them by his campaign. They want voters to look at Obama and think "We Go Together." The risk in this, of course, is that the gap between the Democrat call for "change" and "chang chang changity chang shoo bop" is a small one, and either mantra can give your legs a tingly feeling.So prefabricated Americana hangs in the Denver air like dust motes spiraling through a shaft of sunlight, and paid operatives are desperately trying to bottle patriotism for anyone who harbors doubts about the candidate who edited the Harvard Law Review but never wrote an article for it...
Ouch!
And the Freudian Slip of the Week goes to:
... that's not even to mention good old Charlie Wilson:"We should be led by Osama bin Laden," he said, then quickly corrected himself. "I mean Obama and Biden."
Honestly, this is the best convention anyone has ever had. The Republicans don't have a chance of topping this.
Via Grim, who is having way too much fun.
And finally, via Glenn, a few thoughts on love. My favorites:
'When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth.' Billy - age 4'Love is what makes you smile when you're tired.' Terri - age 4
Yep.
Posted by Cassandra at 05:01 AM | Comments (10) | TrackBack
August 26, 2008
A Message From Management
The Editorial Staff have not been abducted and impregnated by aliens. We apologize for the bloggy lameness - we are just experiencing technical difficulties negotiating the space-time continuum**
We expect to restore normal programming NTL tomorrow a.m. If you have any questions, concerns, etc., please tune into tonight's live coverage of the DNC. We hear Barack Obama has a plan for that.
Thank you for your patience. We now return you to the usual villainry, mayhem, etc.
** in other words, we have been a busy little bee this week.
Posted by Cassandra at 07:29 PM | Comments (12) | TrackBack
August 25, 2008
A Day in the Life of a Guard at Guantanamo Bay
Courtesy of Brig. Gen. Gregory Zanetti, deputy commander of the Joint Task Force-GTMO. His summary of a typical daily brief:
“Good morning sir, Chief Simmons Camp 6. We have 112 assigned, 112 present. Last night detainee 765 requested onions and parsley on his salad and requested to see the camp commander regarding his request. 844 wants a better detainee newsletter and 632 has requested a Bowflex machine because he says he is not getting enough of an upper body work out.“We had 3 significant activities last night: 601 balled up feces and threw it at the guard hitting him in the chest saying next time he would hit him in the mouth. Next, as 155 was being taken to rec, he bit a guard on the arm until it bled. Detainee was not allowed rec and had comfort items removed. When asked why he did it, 155 just laughed. The guard was sent to medical where he is being evaluated. Finally, 767 yelled at female guard saying, ‘I am going to rape you. I am going to rape you. And when I get out of here I am going to kill you and your family.’ Sir, barring any questions, that concludes my report.”
Many may believe the above BUB report is exaggerated or hyperbole. It is not. It could have just as easily been a detainee demanding a lighter gray shirt because the dark gray shirt “hurts his gall bladder.” Or a detainee smearing feces on the walls of his cell. The guards refer to these detainees as “painters” or “poo-cassos.”
What occurs daily inside the wire is a bizarre mixture of the dangerous, the disgusting, and the absurd. And, despite urban legends and misperceptions, any mistreatment or abuse that goes on inside the camps is that of detainee-on-guard, not the reverse.
Here is the aftermath of the BUB.
Detainee 632 did not get his Bowflex machine. The guard who was bitten is fine. We are working on the parsley and onions request, but not too hard. The feces battles never end. In fact, the latest detainee tactic is to grow their fingernails long, put feces underneath the nails and then try to scratch a guard’s face.
Meanwhile, I happen to know the female guard who was verbally abused. Coincidentally we both went to Valley High in Albuquerque, N.M., albeit about 30 years apart. Still, we are both Vikings.
After the briefing, I saw this young soldier and said, “Hey Viking, I heard you had quite a night last night … are you OK?” She said, “Yes sir, I’m fine.”
I looked at her with some skepticism to see if what she was saying were true. What I saw in her eyes surprised me, but shouldn’t have. She really was fine. That detainee’s comments did not bother her in the least.
She is more than he will ever be and she is not alone. Rest assured if the guards at GTMO are any indication, the generation that is now coming of age will do its duty; they will defend our nation with courage, honor, and integrity. So don’t elevate the detainees to sainthood and don’t talk to me about unprofessional behavior, mistreatment or abuse at GTMO, because, frankly, I am more than a little sick of it.
This treatment has been reported by the Associated Press:
The Landmark Legal Foundation, a conservative legal group that fought to force the Pentagon to release the reports under the Freedom of Information Act, said it hopes the information brings balance to the Guantanamo debate."Lawyers for the detainees have done a great job painting their clients as innocent victims of U.S. abuse when the fact is that these detainees, as a group, are barbaric and extremely dangerous," Landmark President Mark Levin said. "They are using their terrorist training on the battlefield to abuse our guards and manipulate our Congress and our court system."
Though all detainees are foreigners, many are clearly Americanized when it comes to their insults and gestures. Male guards are frequently derided as "donkeys" while female guards are routinely called "bitches" or harassed by references to their breasts or genitalia, the reports said.
In all, nearly a quarter of incidents involved female guards, the reports show.
"They absolutely target female guards," Nicolucci said. "They have a lot of cultural biases about females, and we let them know in our culture that females do everything males do in a professional job environment, and we just hold firm."
James A. Gondles Jr., executive director of the American Correctional Association that sets standards for U.S. prisons, said much behavior inside Guantanamo mirrors that of civilian prisons though the attacks with bodily fluids seem more numerous.
"It happens from time to time at facilities here, but it seems the majority of ... assaults at Gitmo were either spitting, or bodily fluids being thrown on the guards," said Gondles, who has visited Guantanamo twice at the Pentagon's invitation and reviewed the reports at AP's request.
The bodily fluid attacks are so numerous that guards now frequently wear specialized shields to protect their faces.The incident reports show waves of orchestrated behavior.
For instance, prisoners repeatedly grabbed their guards' whistles over a five-day period in June 2004. In July 2005, guards reported several instances of rock throwing, spitting and flip-flop hitting. Rocks were hidden under shower mats, the reports said.
The incident reports also are noteworthy for information that is missing. With redacted names, it is impossible to tell whether bad behavior is widespread or the work of a few repeat offenders. Likewise, the documents don't tell whether certain guards are prone to confrontation.
Prisoners' hunger strikes, suicide attempts and threats to injure themselves aren't considered disciplinary matters and thus aren't recorded in the incident reports. Yet the Pentagon acknowledges there have been scores of such incidents.
Interesting, what the media choose to emphasize, no?
Posted by Cassandra at 08:36 AM | Comments (29) | TrackBack
August 23, 2008
Is There A Full Moon Or Something?
Shorter Jacob Weisberg:
"You may or may not agree with Obama's policy prescriptions..."
but if you don't vote for him, you do so for one reason and one reason only:
... "the color of his skin."
No disagreement is possible on this question. None. Forget civilized debate, forget the exchange of ideas, forget that whole "dissent is the highest form of patriotism" thing. You see, under an Obama administration only one set of policy preferences will be tolerated: Obama's.
Just ask Jacob. The good thing about this is that when Obama is elected, we'll have a convenient method for identifying the racists: all we have to do is wait and see who criticizes him. Obviously anyone who does so will have revealed himself as a racist, and by their words, we will know them.
It would probably be a good idea to identify them in some way. After all, racists are dangerous people. I'm thinking a gold star.
The idea has historical precedents.
What a whack job. If Jacob wants a rational reason not to vote for Barack Obama, how about the thought that some people can't stand the thought of watching their country being torn apart for the next 8 years by a bunch of whiny, mouth breathing moonbats and their cretinous conspiracy theories?
In over four years of blogging, I have never used the term "moonbat". This is a first for me. That is a sad, sad comment on the travesty this election season has become. I intend it to be the last time I use that term.
And if this is the Obama campaign's idea of uniting America behind the audacity of hopeful change (though I certainly don't blame Barack Obama for Weisberg's idiotic column - in fact, I feel sorry for Mr. Obama) I want no part of it.
Morgan Freeman was right. The best way to get beyond racism is to just treat each other like human beings and stop talking about race.
Knock it off. You are doing real damage to this country.
Posted by Cassandra at 07:42 PM | Comments (159) | TrackBack
August 22, 2008
Top Ten Things I Don't Give A Rat's Ass About This Election Season
The Blog Princess woke in the middle of the night with a deep sense of fear and loathing.
The election is beginning to wear a bit thin.
The candidates have now officially been campaigning since the early Mesozoic Era. There are fossils older than some of the scandals still popping up like Whack-a-Mole between the National Enquirer, Drudge, the MSM, Bill Keller, and the BlatheroSphere. In my more rational moments I suspect there must be one or two decent human beings left somewhere in the universe. I keep hoping someone will do the right thing and refuse to drop another savory Hamsher Pellet into the open jaws of the Beast.
I keep being proven wrong.
I am tired of being whipsawed between the MSM, the blogosphere, and the latest scandal du jour. But most of all, what I'm sick to death of is Us. Because "we" - the seemingly insatiable hunger of both sides in this political slugfest - is what these people keep pandering to. You can't sell dirt without a ready and willing buyer, and day after day we show up looking for something dirty on the opposition.
Why we do this instead of focusing on the issues, instead of discussing what's important: the major events of the day, things that are changing the world as we know it, is a depressing topic in and of itself. I have my ideas, but there's not enough alcohol in the world to make me kiss that pig. So let's change the subject.
I'd like to discuss inconsequential trivia: the top ten things I adamantly refuse to give a rat's ass about. Ten things that, if I never hear mentioned again, I won't miss one bit. For instance:
10. I couldn't care less that John McCain left his first wife years ago. Get the hell over it. The man is divorced. D-I-V-O-R-C-E-D. His marriage ended. It ended badly. There is a word for matters like this, for things that pass between a husband and wife in the bou-doir: "private". Divorce is not a crime in the United States of America. It's not a question of moral turpitude. Sure, I'd rather he'd stayed married, but if I'd spent several years in a North Vietnamese prison camp apart from my wife, I imagine:
(a) we might have grown somewhat apart as a couple, and
(b) I might have a tad bit of emotional baggage to work through as a consequence.
To all appearances the man seems to have coped admirably with a horrific experience I can't even begin to imagine. Cut the guy some slack.
9. What, exactly, is the big deal about John McCain living off his wife's money? Does a former attack plane pilot lose Man Points for using girly money? Are there cooties on it? How is a man supposed to be married to a woman without ever allowing any of their funds - much less other body parts - to co-mingle? And while we're on the subject, is there anything more delicious than watching Green Glennwald twist himself into a nasty little rhetorical pretzel (now with 25% Extra Hypocrisy!) to justify deliberately engaging in what he, himself calls "the deep stupidity of our political discourse"? Deliberately deep stupidity: now *there's* change the reality based community can believe in!
Somehow, the deep stupidity of our political discourse actually manages to escalate during presidential campaigns, becoming even more vapid and idiotic than normal. But, as I argued continuously when I did my book tour in April and May for Great American Hypocrites, this is the kind of campaign the GOP runs every election and in which they specialize, and there are only two options for Democrats in response: (1) purport to "rise above it" and thus ensure that they get slaughtered in a one-sided, one-way War of Personality Demonization which renders issues irrelevant (hence: the all-American Everyman War Hero versus the rich, out-of-touch, effete elitist), or (2) attack the GOP candidate using the same lowly character themes in order to neutralize the attacks and prevent the election from being decided on these grounds. It's good to see the Obama campaign, finally, engaging these issues aggressively.
Translated from the Original Phrench, this equates to:
1. Can you believe how Stupid and Evil Rethugs are?2. Thankfully, we in the Reality Based Community have superior morals. But nice guys are losers. Sometimes morals must give way to pragmatism.
3. Since we're not only more moral but also smarter, the right moral choice is to out-Stupid and out-Evil your opponent!
4. [The Green Glennwald Corollary] But it only acquires true moral shininess when you do it!
8. Whether Barry Obama is black enough. Or whether he was raised as a Muslim. Or whether he is "too rich" or "too educated". When did the Right begin having a problem with ambition? Though some of the criticism of people saying this is misguided, there are actually folks making these arguments, nutty as they sound.
My opposition to Barack Obama's candidacy springs from his political views and his character, not externalities shared by thousands of other Americans.
7. That John Edwards had an affair. Trust me, I understand it was wrong. And I don't excuse what he did. And the double standard employed by the media really is inexcusable. But does that mean two wrongs make a right?
Edwards is not the only one involved here, and the spectacle of the press feasting on a family's private agony is just too ugly for words:
It is shameful that the tabloid press has followed him and hounded him into hotel basements and men's rooms and wrecked his wife's remaining life. Freedom of the press is precious, but so is the privacy of a man and woman and baby who are not running for anything. I really wonder if there are any limits on the viciousness of the tabloid press.And finally, it would be interesting to know about the private life of the media people who presume to judge others I know a lot of them and to say they live in glass houses is putting it mildly.
I understand the hypocrisy issue. Really, I do:
In a posting on Daily Kos, Elizabeth Edwards pleaded for an end to "the present voyeurism." No one wants to add to Elizabeth Edwards's misery. She's been dealt a terrible hand.Except, he was the one who told us that character counted. As in these remarks about Bill Clinton in 1999: "I think this president has shown a remarkable disrespect for his office, for the moral dimensions of leadership, for his friends, for his wife, for his precious daughter. It is breathtaking to me the level to which that disrespect has risen."
Or, in a March 2007 interview with Katie Couric discussing the return of Elizabeth's cancer: "I think every single candidate for president, Republican and Democratic, have lives, personal lives, that indicate something about what kind of human being they are. And I think it is a fair evaluation for America to engage in to look at what kind of human beings each of us are, and what kind of president we'd make."
What was Elizabeth Edwards thinking, sitting there with her husband the philanderer and Couric?
In fact, if she wanted to avoid "the present voyeurism," what was she thinking when she supported his running? She knew about his affair, she knew that everything about a presidential candidate's life is at risk of exposure, and she encouraged him? If she cared about shielding her family from this terrible intrusion, what did she think was going to happen if he won the nomination -- or the presidency?
But sometimes I wonder. Is there anything we are willing to leave public servants in the age of 24/7 TV and Internet scrutiny? Is there any private space to be human, to screw up, to make mistakes, to have (as Shakespeare's protagonists all did) tragic but in the end understandably human flaws?
My God, who would go into public life, knowing what we ask? Not me. Who would subject their family - their children - to this hell?
6. What Barry-the-Human-Barometer Thinks about the Surge... this week:
It's a miracle! Once again The Lightworker has brought his special brand of Audacious Hope to another failed state. I'm so sure the years my husband and thousands of other Marines, soldiers, airmen, and sailors have spent over there had nothing to do with it. You know, I have a feeling one day we'll all look back on this week and realize that THIS is the moment when the world began to heal.
Stay classy, Barry.
5. Whether John McCain and every "Christianist" POW who ever served with him in Vietnam imagined, made up, or were abducted and impregnated by space aliens who hypnotized them and forced them to recite the "cross in the dirt" story when they heard the words "CONE OF SILENCE":
Andrew Sullivan is not giving up and is linking to a Bud Day ad (Day was a P.O.W. with McCain and is a Medal of Honor winner) for John McCain that doesn't mention the cross story in a effort to make the case that the cross-in-the-dirt story is made up. The Day excerpt:
"Christmas of 1971 was centered around scripture that John had gotten from the first Bible we had been able to get from the Vietnamese," Day says in the first radio ad. "John composed an extremely compelling sermon that night about the importance of Christmas ... I think it was certainly a shot to everyone's morale to hear those Christian words in that very un-Christianlike place."I've already linked to another Bud Day story on McCain's Christian beliefs. Rather then undercut the argument that McCain is a Christian, Sullivan and Co. are actually making the argument that McCain's religious beliefs have a depth that most voters never knew.
Eventually this will pass. I look forward to moving on and discussing more pressing issues like health care. And when we do, in fact, move on, friends of Senator McCain, like Bud Day, can talk about McCain's experience as a combat medic:
4. Who the father of Rielle Hunter's baby is.
You know what? This is NONE OF ANYONE'S DAMNED BUSINESS, whether you are on the right or the left. Who cares? Leave these people alone.
If you are on the right, try being happy this woman didn't have an abortion. Stop calling for a paternity test. And for God's sake, get a life of your own.
3. Who Barack Obama is going to pick for VP.
Does anyone care about this anymore? This man has got to be the world's biggest dick tease. Jenna Jameson is calling him for lessons. Mercy.
John McCain's family owns at least eight properties — not the seven Democrats are alleging or the four McCain's staff identified — according to a Politico analysis of property and tax records, as well as interviews.John McCain's family owns at least eight properties — not the seven Democrats are alleging or the four McCain's staff identified — according to a Politico analysis of property and tax records, as well as interviews.
The presumptive Republican nominee, though, may have some wiggle room in explaining why he couldn't immediately provide an answer when asked by Politico how many houses he and his wife, Cindy, own. Sen. McCain himself does not own any of the properties. They're all owned by Cindy McCain, her dependent children and the trusts and companies they control!!!!
Shocking, I know. And now we can all sleep at night again.
And the #1 Thing I Do Not Give a Rat's Rosy Pink Patootie About....
[drum roll]
1. Conspiracy theories over Barack Obama's birth certificate, or either candidate's eligibility to serve as President.
Whatever you people are smoking, all I have to say is, "Can you please pass some of it my way?"
Because it appears to be some really mind blowing stuff. Two hits of whatever you've been puffing away at and we'll all be ready to swear Dick Cheney is the illegitimate love child of Val Plame and Karl Rove.
And who knows... maybe it's even true.
Posted by Cassandra at 07:15 AM | Comments (76) | TrackBack
August 21, 2008
Joy
Teaching children to love what is beautiful, they learn to appreciate that which transcends culture, race, ideology:
At Harvard's Graduate School of Education, Howard Gardner has long taught his theory of multiple intelligences to enable his students, when they enter their own classrooms, to understand and nurture these various strengths in the youngsters they teach. As explained by a Gardner practitioner, second-grade teacher Christine Passarella, in last fall's Adelphi University newsletter: "In the past, if you had linguistic intelligence, if you could read and write, you were smart. If you had mathematical and logical intelligence, you still got credit for that. But what if you had musical intelligence or what if you had kinetic intelligence? You see that with musicians and athletes. So Howard Gardner says there are gifts in all of us and it's up to us to teach to those."Teaching in the Holliswood School, P.S. 178 in Jamaica Estates, Queens, she says, "I have worked on wonderful projects on artful thinking with the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Children studied paintings not just about the artist and his style but to look at the relationships between the characters in the painting, and the setting. It's a way of developing thoughtful dispositions."
Ms. Passarella told me that she teaches "in a looped classroom that gave me two years to develop my program with the same children, starting in the first grade. I began mixing great works of art with classical music; and over time I introduced rock, the blues and jazz."
A childhood friend, blues guitarist Joey Leone, had at first introduced her to the music of John Coltrane, and when she played his recordings "the children were drawn to the range of feelings in the songs as I gave them the backgrounds of the compositions.
"'Alabama,' for example, was about Martin Luther King and racial discrimination; and while 'My Own True Love' concerned a man and a woman, John Coltrane's 'Love Supreme' expressed a love for humanity."
This reminded me that in one of my conversations with Coltrane he said he was searching for the sounds of what Buddhists call "Om," which he described as the universal essence of all of us in the universe. He also told me regretfully, "I'll never know what the listeners feel from my music, and that's too bad."
Ms. Passarella's second-grade students, she says, would have told him how moved they were by not only the ballads "but the more avant-garde recordings, such as 'Interstellar Space.'" She notes that, through her teaching, "I have discovered that young children have open, welcoming minds, and the more pure and emotional the music, the more they connect. Soon they were hooked on John Coltrane's music."
The children learned that Coltrane lived in Dix Hills -- a hamlet on Long Island not all that far from their school -- from 1964 to his death in 1967 (his family sold the home in 1972). And they were saddened to discover that the house -- where he composed "A Love Supreme" and all his last works -- had been in danger of being demolished by the real-estate developer who now owned it. But they and their teacher soon were excited by the news that a resident of Dix Hills, Steve Fulgoni, a longtime jazz enthusiast, had come to the rescue of the Coltrane home.
...Starting what he calls a "grass-roots effort" to save the house -- aided by news coverage in New York City and Long Island newspapers and on television -- Mr. Fulgoni eventually persuaded the Town of Huntington, of which Dix Hills is a part, to make the building a local landmark; in 2005, the town bought the home from the developer. It has since been listed on the New York State and National Registers of Historic Places -- with the ownership transferred to "Friends of the Coltrane Home," whose board includes Coltrane's son, Ravi; Ravi's wife, Kathleen Hennessy; and Mr. Fulgoni. Before her death, John Coltrane's widow, Alice, was an enthusiastic proponent of restoring the house.
But the structure, left untended for years, requires much fund raising to become what the Coltranes would like it to be -- "a place of learning" where, for example, Coltrane's Meditation Room would change into a multimedia room for schoolchildren. Contributions can be sent to Friends of the Coltrane Home, P.O. Box 395, Deer Park, N.Y., 11729 (www.the coltranehome.org).
Among the more dedicated recent fund-raisers were Ms. Passarella's second-graders. They engaged in raffles, cake sales and a book fair. Then, their teacher tells me, on May 23 of this year -- at a special assembly program in Coltrane's honor -- "they sang their original songs and choreographed ballroom dances." One was named "Chasin' the Train" (Trane was his nickname).
I've often said children come to appreciate things more when they aren't just handed to them. These second graders were given a priceless gift by their teacher:
What they earned for themselves - and for others - is the capacity to experience a few moments of grace, infinitely suspended in time. May they enjoy it for the rest of their lives.
Posted by Cassandra at 08:09 AM | Comments (15) | TrackBack
Creeping Incidentalism Alert
Along about 4 a.m., the Blog Princess was slowly lured into something vaguely resembling consciousness by the gurgling of the coffee pot. Carefully opening a jaundiced eye, she took stock of the Clueless White Guy she graciously allows to infest the Marital Bed:
Pros:
Pays bills
Diligent about servicing cars, other things, regularly
Nice chest hair
Lots of muscles
Better than hot water bottle at night
Brings flowers and other nice things
Makes me laugh
Spider removal
Cons:
Won't admit I am always right and he is always wrong
Needs to work on the whole sarcasm thing
Won't ask for directions
Bogarts remote control
Issues with accepting authority (odd ... he seems to be fine with rank structure at work!?!)
Impractical. Spends too much of disposable income on thongs and other fripperies he can't even use.
As she studied him in the pre-dawn darkness, she tallied up the list of recent grievances in her mind, sleepily wondering what fresh hell he had in mind for her today. Men are so brutal and callous. Everyone knows women are just as strong as men; we're fully capable of coping in a man's world. So when will they finally begin to treat us as the strong, empowered equals we are?
Why don't our schools teach those knuckle draggers not to run roughshod over our delicate, flower-like sensibilities?
...in the way of explanation, much of today's ideologically driven curriculum entails group-related skin thinning. Courses in Women Studies, for example, entail leaning to see once hidden victimization, e.g., all sex is rape. Meanwhile, those enrolled in Queer Studies 101 will come to grasp that even the very idea of "normal" is a plot to stigmatize those who just want to be different. Now students "progress" into wisdom by learning to "see" oppression everywhere, and the grand prizes go to the most ingenious at sensing what have never even been imagined. Competition can be fierce, and we should note that last year's Grand Champion was a feminist scholar who proved that Darwinism is a male plot to impose the idea of competition on naturally non-competitive women.
Exactly. How are we ever going to demand our rights as equally strong equals if mean old nasty men don't *let* us compete with them on a level playing field? How are we ever going to reclaim our own self esteem if men keep making us work for it as though we had some sort of control over what we think of ourselves?
Good nightshirt. Got logic? The truth is that, as these smart, smart folks are quick to point out, Teh Patriarchy is always trying to put one over on us:
Gen. David Petraeus, the top commander in Iraq who will soon take control of Central Command, has found himself embroiled in the “ongoing conflict over religious proselytizing in the U.S. military.” Petraeus’ published endorsement of an Army Chaplain’s Spiritual Handbook for Military Personnel, in which he says “it should be in every rucksack for those times when soldiers need spiritual energy,” has led a watchdog group to call for Petraeus’ dismissal and court martial. The book’s author now claims that the endorsement wasn’t meant to be published:But the endorsement - which has spurred a demand by a watchdog group for Petraeus’ dismissal and court martial on the grounds of establishing a religious requirement on troops - was a personal view never intended for publication, the book’s author now says.
“In the process of securing … comments for recommending the book I believe there was a basic misunderstanding on my part that the comments were publishable,” McCoy said in an Aug. 19 email to Military.com. “This was my mistake.”Mikey Weinstein, the head of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, says that it “strains credulity” that Petraeus didn’t know his private written endorsement of the book had been public since last year. But Petraeus’ spokesman Col. Steven Boylan says Petraeus was unaware because he has been in Iraq since February 2007.
"Strained credulity" is right. Everyone knows that our brave, murdering troops are not too bright, or they wouldn't be in Irak in the first place. Some people are tempted to think that people like my spousal unit may actually have IQs barely above room temperature, just because they went to good colleges and even have Masters' degrees in fields like Econometric Analysis. But in reality, this is all a clever feint, carefully arranged years ago by the BushReich.
How they did all of this in the past 8 years, I am not certain. Bush is not too smart. After all, the man choked on a pretzel for Christ's sake, and the esophagus is located pretty near the brain.
I have not figured out how the Chimp managed to fool so many people who are smarter than he is. It is one of the enduring mysteries of our time: I mean, if the man is blitheringly incompetent and inept, how does he simultaneously manage the whole fiendishly clever/Machiavellian shtick? But he did, and now he is preparing to usher in a Thousand Years of Jackbooted Theocracy. This much is obvious, because everyone knows the average military person is so dense that a single endorsement on the back of a religious book no one is forced to buy has the power to impel troops - in the field, in barracks or in garrison - posthaste to their PCs. Yes, off they'll go, lemming-like, to Amazon.com, where they will have no choice but to fork over their hard earned pay (no doubt the poor dears will have to make a choice between eating, paying the rent or being Baptized by the Light, all thanks to the oppression of one David Petraeus, Jackbooted Oppressor).
The fiend.
You know. Because military folks are all alike. They have no independent will of their own. They're incapable of distinguishing a personal opinion about a book ("I think this is a useful resource") from a direct order ("You will buy this book, or else").
Full disclosure here:
I happen to believe in God.
I haven't attended church in quite some time.
Jackbooted attempts to shut down free speech in the armed forces only make me feel like running right out and buying 50 copies of this book to spite the jackass who is making such a big deal over this. I don't believe for one second that a man who has abstained from voting in U.S. elections for years in order to remain above the appearance of partisanship would knowingly have given a written endorsement to be used in selling a book.
But even if he did, that is all it is: a personal endorsement, not a command order to purchase the book. Words have meaning:
"General Petraeus has, by his own hand, become a quintessential poster child of this fundamentalist Christian religious predation, via his unadulterated and shocking public endorsement of a book touting both Christian supremacy and exceptionalism," Weinstein told Military.com Aug. 16.And by endorsing a book that argues only those who believe in God can fully contribute to the military mission or unit, Weinstein contends that Petraeus insults ""the integrity, character and veracity of approximately 21 percent of our armed forces members who choose not to follow any particular religious faith."
He said that even if Petraeus offered his comments personally, that's a distinction without a difference. "Privately he's denigrating 21 percent of troops," Weinstein said. Suppose he privately denigrated women, African-Americans or Jews? Weinstein asked.
"He should still be relieved of duty and court martialed," he said.
Rev. Billy Baugham, a retired Army chaplain and executive director of the International Conference of Evangelical Christian Endorsers, backs Petraeus' right to plug the book. Past generals, among them George C. Marshall and George Patton, made the case for religion in the ranks.
Marshall claimed that the Soldier's spiritual life was critical to his morale, even more than equipment, while Patton, said Baugham, had a chaplain pray for good weather for an coming battle and then submitted him for an Army Commendation Medal afterwards, when the weather turned out clear.
"So the ICECE would support what General Patreaus has done," Baugham said.
This in-Duh-vidual is doing his utmost to make the Air Force look stupid and overzealous.
Military personnel do not lose the right to their opinions when they don the uniform of the United States of America. They do not lose the right to the free exercise of religion - and more importantly, the free exercise of Christianity does not denigrate other religions. I have personally overheard religious observances in base chapels that were extremely intolerant of other religions and other ethnicities, and these religious groups were allowed to spout their divisive, openly racist, deeply troubling and hate filled messages with no repercussions because they were not Christian.
It is time for our government to stop persecuting Christians just because they can get away with it. If one religion is protected, they must all be protected. It truly is that simple.
And it is time for DoD to stop bowing to blackmail. Secretary Gates is a smart man. He needs to put his foot down.
Unless, of course, he wishes to prove the junior Senator from Massachusetts right:
Posted by Cassandra at 06:08 AM | Comments (35) | TrackBack
August 20, 2008
Wednesday Evening Jam
Amazing. Sometimes I get such a kick out of the blogosphere.
Posted by Cassandra at 05:59 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
It's Twue, It's Twue!!!
The women *do* get prettier at closing time. Who knew?
For the first time, scientists have proven that "beer goggles" are real — other people really do look more attractive to us if we have been drinking.
However, you may want to watch the Corona Effect:
Surprisingly, the beer goggles effect was not limited to just the opposite sex among the ostensibly straight volunteers recruited for the study — they also rated people from their own sex as more attractive.Scientists in England gave 84 heterosexual college students chilled lime-flavored drinks that were either non-alcoholic or given a dose of vodka equivalent in alcohol to a large glass of wine or a pint-and-a-half of beer.
After 15 minutes, the volunteers were shown photos of 40 other college students from both sexes. Both men and women who drank booze found these faces more attractive, "a roughly 10 percent increase in ratings of attractiveness," said researcher Marcus Munafo, an experimental psychologist at the University of Bristol in England.
The researchers also asked volunteers to rate their mood, "and there were no differences on those measures in the alcohol group compared to the no-alcohol group," Munafo added. "This suggests that the effect we observed wasn't due to a general change in mood."
It did not escape Munafo that the results are rather obvious.
"Everyone knows about beer goggles," Munafo said. "But some of our results suggest that there's more going on than we might have thought."
The Editorial Staff has no comment at this time, other than that we find ourselves strangely thirsty...
Posted by Cassandra at 04:41 PM | Comments (12) | TrackBack
Time Waster
Help us name our next grand child!
Posted by Cassandra at 06:49 AM | Comments (11) | TrackBack
In Kirkuk, Iraqi Women Form Thin Blue Line Against Terror
In the Iraqi city of Kirkuk, Iraqi women step up to the plate in the war on terror:
Thirty-seven females attended the first day of training at the Kirkuk Police Academy outside of Kirkuk City, Aug. 16.It’s been a year since the academy has seen any Iraqi females in blue, and never a class of this size.
“We need these females badly,” Lt. Col. Muid, a cadre at the academy said. “It is our religious custom not to touch our women, so we cannot search females. Our female IPs will be extremely important to use at checkpoints and government buildings throughout the province.”
The cadre pointed out that they would also be bringing a different perspective to policing.
“Women think differently than men,” he said. “They will bring fresh ideas to how we conduct business.”
The 37 females are split into squad-like elements. Each squad will have a female military police Soldier assisting - Sgt. 1st Class Sumalee Bustamante and Spc. Jennifer Swierk.
“This is going to be a big challenge,” Swierk said, referring to the cultural differences, “but I’m proud to be a part of this page in Kirkuk’s, if not Iraq’s history.”
“This is going to be an amazing experience for all of us,” Bustamante added. “I’m looking forward to helping my fellow female police officer and being a part of the positive historic changes occurring here.”
For Nowal, 30, a trainee who has never held a job and lives with her brother - also a member of the Kirkuk police force - the experience so far has her realizing she has a lot of work ahead of her.
“I am very tired,” she said of the first day of training. However, she is determined to “serve my country.”
In lieu of the recent increase in female suicide bombers, these women are undaunted by the dangers of the field they have chosen. When asked what they would do if they were to spot one at a check-point, as a group they did not hesitate to answer:
“Man or women, if you come through our check point we will stop you.”
“Terrorists are not welcome in the province of Kirkuk,” Intesar, 29, said. “They are not Iraqis - they are not Muslim. It is not our way.”
This is just one more hopeful sign that Iraq is finally on the path to normalcy:
In the southern Rishad valley of Kirkuk province lies the remote village of Gaydah, located several miles off the nearest main road and even further from the nearest substantial city or district.Already accustomed to seclusion, the village residents were surprised when Soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division showed up in their community in February. The residents were more surprised when they announced that they would set up operations there; living and working with the residents for the next two months.
Operating from within a schoolhouse in the area, the Soldiers spent the next several weeks meeting with the villagers, providing humanitarian aid, rebuilding infrastructures, and planning future civil service projects.
The mission complete, Soldiers left. But they returned Aug. 20, along with members of the 443rd Civil Affairs Battalion, to receive updates and determine plans of action.
... Until recently, the U.S. government has provided American dollars for all projects, with the Coalition forces conducting the labor and Iraqi Security Forces following their lead. The focus is now being completely transformed, with the Iraqi people in charge of all future projects, while Coalition forces step in the background, assisting only when necessary.
Relationships such as the one occurring between U.S. Forces and the village of Gaydah are emerging all over the country, signifying the kind of change the world hoped to see when operations first began here.
Such changes have been increasingly evident in the Kirkuk region, where Coalition forces have witnessed security gains measured as a 67 percent reduction in total attacks across the province, according to military reports.
In the words of Capt. Gregory Hotaling, commander, Company D, 2-22 Inf. Regt:
“When I talk to my family and friends back home, they want to know what it’s really like over here and if we are truly making a difference,”“Each time, I have explained to them the kind of change they have not witnessed yet. Battles and lethal operations have long ago ceased to be priorities. Our focus now is a return to normalcy – living and working and interacting with the Iraqi people. Positive changes are happening every day. They might not be big or flashy, but they are making lasting improvements that have already put victory for the Iraqi people within their reach.”
Posted by Cassandra at 06:24 AM | Comments (16) | TrackBack
August 19, 2008
You Go, Girl!
You have to love a womyn who is in touch with her own Inner Psycho:
... I do not feel that I am insane at all, and am resisting the definition of sanity because it seems itself insane to me. It makes no sense to me that people who have visions must hide for fear of being branded crazed or a witch.I knew from a very early age that I was crazed and a witch by patriarchal definition. I knew too however, because I was shown it by a being from another dimension who appeared to me and said: "You will talk about the (female) Shekkinah and her temple priestess and be a witness for he/she/ it. You are the only one in your world who is not crazy , and you will always need to reverse what is being said and then reverse it double. Here is the code you will use to stay sane in an insane world: You will see signs that tell you that you are right. If you do not see the sign immediately, then it is not a sign. Signs happen immediately and not outside the NOW. The sign that you are right will be: everyone thinks YOU are crazy. They will shake their heads roll their eyes, argue or ignore you, but they will always appear not to listen...the only ones who do listen will be the insane and the drunkard...then you will have reached the higher place, and that is the place where fame and money mean nothing to you...then and only then will you be able to plant the seed of the tree of life, and help to raise an army of the insane who will using their combined insanity, recreate reality as a place so insane that it will actually worship inner peace."
{I knew at age three that this plane called "existence" was a correction, a punishment, a prison where the realization that witnessing for (christ) Higher Mind meant being cut off from the world. I realized that this place is hell itself, and that we go up and down the ladder of that realization.
At the top of the ladder is the positive negative and at the bottom is the negative positive. In between those two poles are the rungs of consciousness of polarities.
Reviling one of the poles as untouchable allows it to attach to you. (freud said where there is a fear there is a wish). The only way to cure insanity is by paying homage to its' force field and then telling it about the FACT that it serves sanity not defeats it. How do we do that ? We gird ourselves with a shield called truth, which destroys resistance and we become brave enough to reconcile opposites! When you are using the laser of your mind to witness truth to darkness, you are removing yourself from hell and fulfilling your duty to humanity}.
When those who have no visions regard you as insane, you are assured that you have planted within their reality the seeds that grow completely protected in their dreamstate, and remain dormant there until the dreamer hears the magic word and awakens. The word is: "mind'seye". (adonai). the mind's eye is where all battles begin and end, and where the pharmaceutical-military industrial complex now targets as the new battleground....cyberspace on the net.
In an age where economic hardship may force helpless American schoolkids to allow themselves to be herded onto giant yellow deathtraps built by the Patriarchy, we desperately need this kind of breathtaking intellectual
clarity. Now if she can just save us from Brangelina, a new Progressyve Age of Light and Reason will be ushered in where dissenting viewpoints will be greeted with that form of enlightened tolerance we've all come to expect from the Left:
all celeb news is calling me to come on their shows and talk about my "attack" on brangelina. They say nothing about my attacks on howard dean, pumas, obama, hillary, maureen dowd, bush cheney, pelosi, congress, religion capitalism and satan though...I liked angelina til i heard her say she likes insane mccain for potus. By the way, I think elizabeth hasselberg is a f'r s're closet case that wants to get whipped by sherri shepherd in a black corset while old babs slaps a riding crop on both of their exposed butt-oxes.
Word.
Posted by Cassandra at 08:39 AM | Comments (26) | TrackBack
And The Bride Wore White....
Ah! Young Love! It is so inspiring, no? Who among us does not find that weddings bring a tear even to the most jaded orb?
The wedding was on a Michigan beach, the reception was in an art gallery -- but a former Chicago couple's wedding night was spent in separate jail cells after both bride and groom got shocked by a police Taser and arrested at their raucous reception.Andy Somora and Anna Pastuszwska's July 19 wedding reception in tiny Lakeside, Mich., is still the talk of the town after officers from 14 police departments swarmed the art gallery to quell a melee. The groom's father, uncle, aunt and cousin -- several of whom hail from Villa Park and La Grange Park -- also got arrested.
"The short version of the story is they didn't want to quit their partying," said Mike Sepic, Berrien County, Mich., chief assistant prosecutor. "If you put this in the class of wedding receptions gone bad, I guess this would take the cake."
And the story didn't end after the reception. Two nights later, the bride and groom were again arrested in Michigan -- and again shocked by a stun gun -- after struggling with police investigating a noise complaint, Sepic said. The groom was charged with pushing his new wife down during that incident, but the charge was later dropped as part of a plea bargain, Sepic said.
Key quote:
Wedding photographer Kacper Skowron, a friend of the bride, said the party was "civilized" and "top-notch," with guests from around the country.
At least until:
...fueled by alcohol, it got out of control and potentially dangerous, including