[+/-] Who are they talking about?

Who are these folks criticizing?

"There has to be a functional trust by reporters of the person they're covering. [He] lies knowing that you know he's lying. It's brutal and it subjugates the person who's being lied to. I resent deeply being constantly lied to." - Hardball's Chris Matthews

"The deep and searing violation took place when he not only lied to the country, but co-opted his friends and lied to them." - Reagan/Clinton adviser David Gergen

"What is troubling is the deceit, the failure to own up to it. Before this is over the truth must be told." - Sen. Joe Lieberman

"The judgment is harsher in Washington. We don't like being lied to." - Washington Post columnist David Broder

"When you lie to the country, you are using your authority to undermine the presidency." - Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin

The answer may not surprise you.

[+/-] Today's quote: Voltaire

"Of all religions, Christianity is without a doubt the one that should inspire tolerance most, although, up to now, the Christians have been the most intolerant of all men."
~ Voltaire (i.e. François Marie Arouet 1694-1778)

[+/-] Carnival of the Godless #14

The Carnival Of The Godless #14 is here! Check it out on this fine Memorial Day. The next COTG will be held at What You Can Get Away With on June 12, 2005. Please send your submissions to cotg-submission@brentrasmussen.com.

[+/-] Bush fiddles as Earth burns

As the first-ever heat warning was issued for Seattle, and as the heads of 12 top British firms -- including energy companies BP and Shell -- demand long-term policy on climate change, the Chimperor plans to block UN action to address global climate change.

[+/-] Truth versus fact

I have a friend who became a christian fundamentalist after having questioned her faith for years. One evening, on a beach, she proclaimed, "If there is a god let me see a shooting star right now!"

A shooting star crossed her path.

Whether she actually saw a meteorite is irrelevant. My friend believed she saw it and now believes the Earth to be 6,000 years old. When faced with "evidence" that points to the existence of the supernatural, and evidence that the Earth is four billion years old, she chose the former and disregarded the latter.

When creationists in Kansas demand evidence that evolution exists, yet do not demand evidence that god exists, it really pisses me off, but it also exposes a philosophical divide: theists value truth; non-theists value fact.

A theist will tell you that there is an eternal absolute truth, revealed in the holy texts of their religion. They will selectively use facts -- or bend them -- to fit their truth. The fact that most shooting stars are visible in the evening is irrelevant, as is the fact that statistically, this event is probable. The "truth" that the star was a message from a deity overwhelms fact.

A non-theist, in contrast, is less concerned with truth and more concerned with fact. If new facts are uncovered (for example, discovery of the various behaviors of subatomic particles) the truth is changed to reflect these new facts. If the truth of the Newtonian universe is replaced by the truth of the Einsteinian universe, so be it.

If one day we could obtain enough facts to prove the existence of a supernatural deity, scientists would accept it, eventually. In contrast, if we could prove that such a god did not exist, theists would still balk.

The fact of evolution points to the truth that life's complexity was not designed intentionally, but evolved from simpler forms. One day new facts might be uncovered to challenge this truth. On that day, the scientifically literate, rather than balking, will rejoice for the advancement of human knowledge and understanding.

[+/-] Bishops can predict the future

Ten years ago I was at a Catholic wedding of a (very Catholic) college friend. Pretty standard wedding all the way around, but one event from that wedding was the most memorable.

I was seated with friends at the reception awaiting dinner when the best man -- the groom's brother -- stood to make a toast. He described how he had met the local bishop a few months before, and related to him that his brother was soon to be married. "It will be a happy day," said the bishop. The best man then raised his glass, and we toasted.

Finished, the best man sat down. I was caught off guard, waiting for the punchline. I didn't understand the point of the story. I turned to my (also very Catholic) friend, Mary, to ask if she "got it" and noticed a tear in her eye. "Isn't that amazing?" she exclaimed. "And it is a happy day!"

Clearly my friend took something from the best man's story that I did not. Most weddings are, in fact, happy occaisions. My interpretation of the bishop's comment was that he was engaging in polite smalltalk. As a deeply Catholic person, Mary greatly valued the words of the bishop, and experienced the story quite differently, as if it were a prediction that had come true.

I relate this event because it nicely illustrates what I perceive to be a universal human trait: we tend to experience only what we value. Think about that for a moment and you will probably come up with (even mundane) examples from your own lives. The last time you bought a car, for example, were you surprised to suddenly notice that everybody was driving the same model?

[+/-] Today's quote: Gide

"Believe those who are seeking the truth; doubt those who find it."
~ Andre Gide

[+/-] The Newsweek Effect

Check out a good E.J. Dionne column today:

I fear that too many people in traditional journalism are becoming dangerously defensive in the face of a brilliantly conceived conservative attack on the independent media.

Conservative academics have long attacked 'postmodernist' philosophies for questioning whether 'truth' exists at all and claiming that what we take as 'truths' are merely 'narratives' woven around some ideological predisposition. Today's conservative activists have become the new postmodernists. They shift attention away from the truth or falsity of specific facts and allegations -- and move the discussion to the motives of the journalists and media organizations putting them forward. Just a modest number of failures can be used to discredit an entire enterprise.

[+/-] Bush inadvertantly tells the truth

At a scripted, invitation-only "discussion" on Social Security, Bush let this slip:

If you've retired, you don't have anything to worry about -- third time I've said that. (Laughter.) I'll probably say it three more times. See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda. (Applause.)

Confirming what most of us already knew, and a few others don't want to admit, the Chimperor is merely the figurehead mouthpiece for the theocon war machine.

[+/-] A family-values affair

Are there any reTHUGlicans that aren't hypocites? Is “pro-family” just another word for “pervy”?

[+/-] We got yer ribbons

And I support quasi-fascist automotive fads...

[+/-] Today's quote: Maher

"I have a problem with people who take the Constitution loosely and the Bible literally."
~ Bill Maher

[+/-] Scopes is 80

It is a shame that we are still fighting these crackpots eighty years later.

[+/-] Today's quote: Goldman

"The philosophy of atheism represents a concept of life without any metaphysical Beyond or divine regulator. It is the concept of an actual, real world with its liberating, expanding and beautifying possibilities, as against an unreal world which, with its spirits, oracles, and mean contentment has kept humanity in helpless degradation."
~ Emma Goldman

[+/-] Psychiatrists push for gay marriage

Representatives of the nation's top psychiatric group approved a statement Sunday urging legal recognition of gay marriage:

If approved by the association's directors in July, the measure would make the American Psychiatric Association the first major medical group to take such a stance.

The statement supports same-sex marriage "in the interest of maintaining and promoting mental health."

It follows a similar measure by the American Psychological Association last year, little more than three decades after that group removed homosexuality from its list of mental disorders.

That is good news, although I believe that it will give the neochristian fascists one more reason to hate science.

[+/-] Today's quote: Winstanley

"While men are gazing up to Heaven, imagining after a happiness, or fearing a Hell after they are dead, their eyes are put out, that they see not what is their birthright."
~ Gerrard Winstanley (The Law of Freedom, 1652)

[+/-] The culture of death

The hypocracy of the neochristian right leads to some unsettling conclusions. Maybe we should just use arab embryos?

[+/-] Jesus on Newsweek

Too true:

[+/-] Neochristian sex ring

Today's neochristian deviance brought to you by the red state of Louisiana:

Eight people have now been arrested in connection with the church based sex cult in Tangipahoa Parish. That includes four more suspects who were booked Thursday. Three of the suspects are women. Authorities say many children were raped at that church, as well as dogs and cats.

This is conservative family values? Jesus would be so proud.

[+/-] A quiz

Guess who said this:

"Bush’s lies have caused the deaths of tens of thousands of people, injured and maimed tens of thousands more, devastated a country, destroyed America’s reputation, caused 1 billion Muslims to hate America, ruined our alliances with Europe, created a police state at home, and squandered $300 billion dollars and counting."

1. Some lefty blogger at DailyKos
2. Ralph Nader
3. Conservative comentator Paul Craig Roberts, senior research fellow at the Hoover Institution

Yes, it's true Herr Chimperor. Everyone hates you.

[+/-] Red states gain under base realignment

You think politics isn't playing a role here? Bullshit. To the (corrupt) victor, go the spoils. #1 gaining state? Texass.

[+/-] Today's quote: Roosevelt

"If there is one thing for which we stand in this country, it is for complete religious freedom, and it is an emphatic negation of this right to cross-examine a man on his religion before being willing to support him for office."
~ Theodore Roosevelt, letter to J. C. Martin, November 9, 1908

[+/-] Conservative cartoon causes rioting in Pakistan

Do you believe the Bush Cartel will demand a retraction from his friends, the Moonies? Don't hold your breath:

A cartoon in The Washington Times lampooning Pakistan's role in the US war on terror has turned into a rallying point for nationalist passions and hidden anti-American sentiments here.

The "offensive" cartoon (published May 6) shows a US soldier patting a dog (Pakistan) that holds Abu Faraj Al Libbi (a terrorist linked with Al Qaeda) and saying, "Good boy ... now let's go find bin Laden."

[+/-] W: unloved at home and abroad

At home:

George W. Bush's job approval ratings have dropped to post-election lows as Americans have become increasingly concerned about their personal finances and the national economy according to the latest survey from the American Research Group. Among all Americans, 43% say they approve of the way Bush is handling his job and 51% disapprove. When it comes to Bush's handling of the economy, 37% of Americans say they approve and 57% say they disapprove.

And abroad:

Anti-American feelings are widespread in the Muslim world and extend to U.S. consumer brands, according to a report released Wednesday. It suggested the U.S. burnish its image with a change in tone and by publicizing aid programs....

Many young Muslims said they admired Osama bin Laden, while views of President Bush were uniformly negative. All focus group members rejected U.S. views of the war in Iraq, saying the United States invaded on a false premise to further its own regional goals.

Anti-Semitic stereotypes also were noted. Focus group members saw the United States and Israel as synonymous and estimated the proportion of Jews in the U.S. population at up to 85 percent; it is 2 percent.

The report found negative opinions of the United States are taking a toll on U.S. companies, and that amounts of U.S. aid were massively underestimated....

Thanks a lot, you dumbass chimp.

[+/-] Today's quote: Besant

"No philosophy, no religion, has ever brought so glad a message to the world as this good news of Atheism."
~ Annie Wood Besant

[+/-] Bush in action

Today's news provides a snapshot of the way the Chimperor's Amerikkka operates:

1. Defend and promote the liars and bullies.


2. Put burkas on the womenfolk.


3. Eliminate the last vestiges of democracy.


4. Arm the children.

At least Fox "News" viewership is dropping like a stone.

[+/-] Today's quote: Bacon

"Atheism leaves a man to sense, to philosophy, to natural piety, to laws, to reputation; all of which may be guides to an outward moral virtue, even if religion vanished; but religious superstition dismounts all these and erects an absolute monarchy in the minds of men."
~ Francis Bacon

[+/-] America´s empire ends not with a bang but with a belch

Alan Bisbort asks, "What is it about Americans that makes us think we're immune to the same physical and biological laws that have felled civilizations -- ones that make our 230 years of existence seem paltry by comparison -- before us?"

In The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Edward Gibbon's brilliant narrative power and avalanche of names and numbers is peppered with words like "dissolution," "vice," "fear," "avarice," "lust," "cruelty," "religious zealotry," and "gluttony." The empire, it's clear, was not so much conquered by barbarians as it was felled by the sheer weight of its decadence.... They believed that their status as "the world's only superpower" (is there an echo in here?) was ordained by God. Thus, they believed they could do anything they wanted -- including squander the world's riches -- without remorse or retribution. This, famously (see Fellini's Satyricon), included orgies of sex, drink, gore and food. Lots of food. Their empire, and waistlines, expanded, even as they collectively grew more weak.

Flash forward to America in 2005. The same suicidal mindset has been reborn. George W. Bush is our Nero, jogging and riding bicycles while Iraq burns. Rumsfeld is our Caligula, blood dripping from his fangs. James Dobson and Pat Robertson share the role of Constantine, religious whack jobs willing to take the rest of us down with them in their rush to the Rapture. And so on. A great writer put it this way: "There is nothing new under the sun."

[+/-] John Bolton = Neal Horsley

Heh...

[+/-] Today's quote: Jefferson

"History, I believe, furnishes no example of a priest-ridden people maintaining a free civil government. This marks the lowest grade of ignorance of which their civil as well as religious leaders will always avail themselves for their own purposes."
~ Thomas Jefferson, Letter to von Humboldt, 1813.

[+/-] Liberals spend more educating their children

No wonder that are so many red-state mouth breathers are so fucking stupid:

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2003 the per capita amount spent on Public Elementary and Secondary Schools across the United States was $1,453. 26 out of 31 Conservative States had a lower than average per capita amount spent on Public Elementary and Secondary Schools (84% of Conservative States) versus 5 out of 20 Liberal States that had a lower than average per capita amount spent on Public Elementary and Secondary Schools (25% of Liberal States).

See here for other evidence that Bush supporters are utter dumbasses.

[+/-] The resignation of Scott McClellan

Check out what Keith Olberman has to say about the Newsweek affair. Good read!

Last Thursday, General Richard Myers, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Donald Rumsfeld’s go-to guy whenever the situation calls for the kind of gravitas the Secretary himself can’t supply, told reporters at the Pentagon that rioting in Afghanistan was related more to the on-going political reconciliation process there, than it was to a controversial note buried in the pages of Newsweek claiming that the government was investigating whether or not some nitwit interrogator at Gitmo really had desecrated a Muslim holy book.

But Monday afternoon, while offering himself up to the networks for a series of rare, almost unprecedented sit-down interviews on the White House lawn, Press Secretary McClellan said, in effect, that General Myers, and the head of the after-action report following the disturbances in Jalalabad, Lieutenant General Karl Eikenberry, were dead wrong....

Whenever I hear Scott McClellan talking about "media credibility," I strain to remember who it was who admitted Jeff Gannon to the White House press room and called on him all those times.

Whenever I hear this White House talking about "doing to damage to our image abroad" and how "people have lost lives," I strain to remember who it was who went traipsing into Iraq looking for WMD that will apparently turn up just after the Holy Grail will - and at what human cost.

Soldiers died because Bush lied, remember?

[+/-] Today's quote: Moyers

"The more compelling our journalism, the angrier the radical right of the Republican Party gets. That's because the one thing they loathe more than liberals is the truth. And the quickest way to be damned by them as liberal is to tell the truth."
~ Bill Moyers

[+/-] Jesus on Hager

Heh.

[+/-] Thousands secretly sterilized

Absolutely horrifying:

From the early 1900s to the 1970s, some 65,000 men and women were sterilized in this country, many without their knowledge, as part of a government eugenics program to keep so-called undesirables from reproducing.

"The procedures that were done here were done to poor folks," said Steven Selden, professor at the University of Maryland. "They were thought to be poor because they had bad genes or bad inheritance, if you will. And so they would be the focus of the sterilization."

[+/-] Secular reproductionists, unite!

What are you: a storkist, or a secular reproductionist? Clever stuff from This Modern World.

[+/-] Carnival of the Godless #13

Check out the 13th COTG over at Scottish Nous, full of godless goodness!

The next COTG, #14, will be hosted by deanpence on May 29, 2005. If you would like to host a future COTG, please send your hosting request to cotg-host@brentrasmussen.com.

[+/-] Today's quote: Franklin

"Lighthouses are more helpful than churches."
~ Benjamin Franklin

[+/-] What liberal media?

It is shameful that I had to go to Australian media to find this:

The biggest anti-US protests since the fall of the Taliban have spread across Afghanistan as unrest sparked by alleged abuse of the Koran at the US jail in Guantanamo Bay left three more people dead.

Seven people have been killed and at least 76 injured during three days of violent demonstrations, all of them in clashes with security forces and police in conservative towns east of the capital Kabul.

Angry Afghans shouting "Death to America" poured onto the streets of Kabul itself for the first time today and protests at the reported religious slur have now broken out in 10 of Afghanistan's 34 provinces.

Thanks a lot George, you fucking dumbass chimp!

[+/-] Only sluts get mono

Two stories from the "They will know we are christians by our love" department:

First, "Indiana Jury Convicts Couple Accused of Letting Newborn Die:"

FRANKLIN, Ind. (AP) - A couple who rejected medical intervention for their ailing newborn daughter, choosing prayer as the only treatment, were convicted of reckless homicide Thursday.

Second, "Girl singled out for mono sues teachers:"

Mononucleosis, the class was told, is a disease that "whores" get.

Former students at Mother McAuley Liberal Arts High School say that was part of a lesson given by a teacher who disclosed a student's case of mono and explained it was spread by "sexually active girls."...

[English teacher Judy] Neary led a class discussion about Alvarado, telling them the "number one" group to get mononucleosis was "sexually active girls."...

More classes heard the same lecture from Neary, it says, including a discussion about whom Alvarado was friends with and sleeping with.

[+/-] Today's quote: Hume

"A wise man proportions his belief to the evidence."
~ David Hume

[+/-] The religious right: an anti-American terrorist movement

Axiomatic in the worldview of the fundamentalist, born-again Christian is: "I have the truth, I'm right; you don't have the truth, you're wrong." As a result, critical thinking, research, or intellectual freedom of exploration are not only unnecessary, they are dangerous and potentially heretical....

But simply shunning critical thinking does not make one a terrorist. What does, however, is the notion that because one "has the truth" and everyone else who believes differently is "wrong," those individuals will be condemned to spend eternity in hell and must be incessantly reminded of their fate and their "inferior" status in the eyes of God. Moreover, because of one's "superior" spiritual status, one has the so-called "divine authority" to subvert, by whatever means necessary, the very machinery of government in order to establish a theocracy in which one's worldview is predominant....

Christian fundamentalism is fundamentally UN-American. Dominonists clearly desire a revised United States Constitution that will institute a fundamentalist Christian theocracy. As Katherine Yurica has so assiduously reported, the Domionist agenda would shred the Constitution and end the democratic republic our Deist founding fathers hammered out for five grueling months in 1787 in Philadelphia.

In fact, Pat Robertson believes that only Christian people should interpret and benefit from the Constitution. Read more...

[+/-] Why corporations will oppose the culture war

Tom the Dancing Bug makes a timely point:

If you don't believe that the culture wars have begun to effect the corporate bottom line, check this out.

[+/-] Cowards rule America

The incomparable Doug Thompson takes Americans to task for being a nation of frightened, over-reactive sissies:

Osama bin Laden and his band of thugs did a lot more than kill 3,000 plus people on September 11, 2001. They turned this nation into a jittery pack of nervous nellies, with paranoid delusions fueled by fear mongering politicians who turn tragedy into vote-generating opportunity....

America is vulnerable because our efforts are wasted on political expendiency, not security. Our leaders pander to fear, not logic. We waste our resources, and American lives, half a world away on a war that had nothing to do with the attack on our nation while our enemies are free to regroup and plan anew.

[+/-] Today's quote: Madison

"Religious bondage shackles and debilitates the mind and unfits it for every noble enterprise."
~ James Madison

[+/-] Eisenhower predicted GOP demise over Social Security

Thanks to David Sirota for finding this gem:

"Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes you can do these things. Among them are [a] few other Texas oil millionaires, and an occasional politician or business man from other areas. Their number is negligible and they are stupid."
- President Dwight D. Eisenhower

[+/-] Customize the bible

Make yours here.

[+/-] Bolton is toast

Just like Bernie Kerik, it's all about the sex:

Mr. Bolton’s first wife, Christina Bolton, was forced to engage in group sex have not been refuted by the State Department despite inquires posed by Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt concerning the allegations. Mr. Flynt has obtained information from numerous sources that Mr. Bolton participated in paid visits to Plato’s Retreat, the popular swingers club that operated in New York City in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

[+/-] Ridge admits political basis of terror alerts

The Bush administration periodically put the USA on high alert for terrorist attacks even though then-Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge argued there was only flimsy evidence to justify raising the threat level, Ridge now says:

"More often than not we were the least inclined to raise it," Ridge told reporters. "Sometimes we disagreed with the intelligence assessment. Sometimes we thought even if the intelligence was good, you don't necessarily put the country on (alert). ... There were times when some people were really aggressive about raising it, and we said, 'For that?'"

[+/-] "Suicide"

A combination of incriminating inside information and relative obscurity can prove to be deadly. Just food for thought.

[+/-] ID proponent spills the beans

Looks like Kansas District 6 School Board member Kathy Martin -- one of the most outspoken of the ID proponents at the Kansas Science Standards hearings -- forgot to memorize her talking points:

"Why shouldn't theology be taught in the classroom? Morality ought to be taught in every class. Prayer ought to be allowed. Whenever a child wanted to pray in class, I prayed with them. All children believe in God. Even little children whose parents don't take them to church believe in God."

The Discovery Institute must be thrilled. Heh.

How do you believe the Kansas state board of education was created? Go vote in this poll.

[+/-] Submissions requested for Carnival of the Godless #15

Don't forget that entries for the next Carnival of the Godless are due by midnight, Friday May 13, 2005. Please send your submissions to cotg-submission@brentrasmussen.com. COTG #15 will be hosted by Scott over at Scottish Nous.

[+/-] Today's quote: Galbraith

The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.
~ John Kenneth Galbraith

[+/-] Praise Batman!

Scientology Losing Ground To New Fictionology:

Fictionology's central belief, that any imaginary construct can be incorporated into the church's ever-growing set of official doctrines, continues to gain popularity. Believers in Santa Claus, his elves, or the Tooth Fairy are permitted—even encouraged—to view them as deities. Even corporate mascots like the Kool-Aid Man are valid objects of Fictionological worship.

Doesn't that just describe religion as a whole? :)

[+/-] Junk science

Kudos to George Monbiot for putting a scientific smackdown on David Bellamy over global climate change:

It is hard to convey just how selective you have to be to dismiss the evidence for climate change. You must climb over a mountain of evidence to pick up a crumb: a crumb which then disintegrates in the palm of your hand. You must ignore an entire canon of science, the statements of the world's most eminent scientific institutions, and thousands of papers published in the foremost scientific journals. You must, if you are David Bellamy, embrace instead the claims of an eccentric former architect, which are based on what appears to be a non-existent data set. And you must do all this while calling yourself a scientist.

[+/-] American fascism at the grassroots

The always excellent Dave Neiwert has a long piece on how the whole Chan Chandler event is just the tip of the iceberg:

On a liberal chatboard I was suprised to find a conservative taking information from chatter's profiles. He claimed that whenever someone spoke against the United States occupation of Iraq, or President Bush in general he'd contact his local Homeland Security and FBI offices to report terrorist activities on the part of the democrats....

Similarly, another reader from a "red state" describes her local milieu:... Anyone, even children, who dare to voice a dissenting opinion about our "glorious leader, George Bush" are immediately labeled as trouble makers and the kids are subtly ostracized by not being invited to birthday parties etc. Most of the teachers aren't right-wing radicals but the administration is and they dare not disagree with anything that the headmaster says for fear of losing their jobs....

[+/-] You might be a christian fascist if...

Intelligence Squad defines christian fascism:

Believing that God created individually each life-form that ever existed on Earth is not Christo-fascist.

Trying to alter the definition of science so that religious-based theories of the origin of species can be taught alongside the theory of evolution in high school biology classes, as the state of Kansas is currently considering doing, is....

Voting for one presidential candidate because you believe he is a "better Christian" than the second is not.

Excommunicating people from your church because they voted for that second candidate, as took place last week in East Waynesville, North Carolina, is probably the hallmark of Christo-fascism.

[+/-] Today's quote: Mencken

"Faith may be defined briefly as an illogical belief in the occurrence of the improbable. A man full of faith is simply one who has lost (or never had) the capacity for clear and realistic thought. He is not a mere ass; he is actually ill."
~ Henry Louis Mencken

[+/-] "Christianity" in comic form

This would be much funnier if it were not also true.

[+/-] Bush lied about captured al Qaeda leader

Yet another lie:

The capture of a supposed Al-Qaeda kingpin by Pakistani agents last week was hailed by President George W Bush as “a critical victory in the war on terror”. According to European intelligence experts, however, Abu Faraj al-Libbi was not the terrorists’ third in command, as claimed, but a middle-ranker derided by one source as “among the flotsam and jetsam” of the organisation....

A former close associate of Bin Laden now living in London laughed: “What I remember of him is he used to make the coffee and do the photocopying.”

So if our media is liberal, why aren't they reporting this two-day-old story?

[+/-] When the preznit talks to god

Brilliant song by Brighteyes. Video is here.

[+/-] Today's quote: Bellarmine

"To assert that the earth revolves around the sun is as erroneous as to claim that Jesus was not born of a virgin."
~ Cardinal Bellarmine

[Ed. note: Kinda sums it all up, huh? :) ]

[+/-] The American jihad begins

The American jihad has begun:

For those that thought that there has not been a full scale war lanched against liberals; for those who didn't take the radical right's promise to "eradicate liberals" seriously, I present to you, Exhibit A: East Waynesville Baptist Church has just kicked out all its Democratic members.... One of the local women who got excommunicated said on TV that it was like a cult. Another man who got excommunicated said that the rest of the congregation stood up and applauded as the Democrats were told to leave....

This isn't a "culture" war, people. This isn't some sort of political game. This action merely foreshadows what is to come: the radical religious right seeking to impose a theocracy upon this nation. Purge the liberals from society.

Video is here.

[+/-] Today's quote: Sagan

"For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring."
~ Carl Sagan

[+/-] New periodic table of the elements

Check out the new periodic table of the elements, coming soon to a school near you courtesy of the neochristian fascists.

And yes, I know it is satire.

[+/-] Lower teen birthrate in blue states

I remember my gradeschool teacher telling us, "When you point a finger at someone, three other fingers point back at you."

Perhaps the neochristian republican bigots in the red states should keep this in mind.

[+/-] Time to impeach Bush

The facts were fixed:

The top-level government memo marked "SECRET AND STRICTLY PERSONAL," dated eight months before Bush sent us into Iraq, following a closed meeting with the President, reads, "Military action was now seen as inevitable. Bush wanted to remove Saddam through military action justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy."

[+/-] Republicans say the darndest things

[+/-] Today's quote: Clarke

"The greatest tragedy in mankind's entire history may be the hijacking of morality by religion. However valuable - even necessary - that may have been in enforcing good behavior on primitive peoples, their association is now counterproductive. Yet at the very moment when they should be decoupled, sanctimonious nitwits are calling for a return to morals based on superstition."
~ Arthur C. Clarke, "Arthur C. Clarke's 'Credo'", Skeptical Inquirer (Vol 25, No. 5, Sept/Oct 2001, pp 61-63)

[+/-] We're number 2!

According to the American Religious Identification Survey:

Americans who answer "none" when asked to identify their religion numbered 29.4 million in 2001, more than double the 14.3 million in 1990. If unbelievers had their own state -- the state of None -- its population would be more than twice that of New England's six states, and None would be the nation's second-largest state:

California, 34.5 million.

None, 29.4 million.

Texas, 21.3 million.

We are set to move into the number one slot soon, my friends.

[+/-] Today's quote: Madison

"Religious bondage shackles and debilitates the mind and unfits it for every noble enterprise."
~ James Madison, April 1, 1774

[+/-] Dawkins on evolution and religion

Richard Dawkins explains how humanity would be better off without religion:

We'd all be freed to concentrate on the only life we are ever going to have. We'd be free to exult in the privilege -- the remarkable good fortune -- that each one of us enjoys through having been being born. An astronomically overwhelming majority of the people who could be born never will be. You are one of the tiny minority whose number came up. Be thankful that you have a life, and forsake your vain and presumptuous desire for a second one. The world would be a better place if we all had this positive attitude to life. It would also be a better place if morality was all about doing good to others and refraining from hurting them, rather than religion's morbid obsession with private sin and the evils of sexual enjoyment.

Read the lengthy interview with evolutionary biologist Dawkins and he will explain why God is a delusion, expound on why religion is a virus, and argue that America has slipped back into the Dark Ages. Good stuff.

[+/-] Today's quote: Roddenberry

"We must question the story logic of having an all-knowing all-powerful God, who creates faulty Humans, and then blames them for his own mistakes."
~ Gene Roddenberry

[+/-] Bush denies Prince Abdullah's claim of 'scoring'

WASHINGTON (DPI) - U.S.-Saudi relations became strained today when an unnamed source revealed that Prince Abdullah told close associates and advisors that he "got some" during his recent visit with President Bush. According to the source, Abdullah "told some of the OPEC guys" in the Royal Locker Room that he "got pretty far" with the president. The source said that the prince wasn't specific, but that "it sounded like third base, at least." The White House vigorously denied the allegations. After a lengthy telephone conversation with the prince later in the day, a puffy-eyed President Bush announced that he was cancelling his plans to accompany Prince Abdullah to the Mohammed High prom in Mecca this June. Link