April 2009 - Secular Humanity

Texas has often been called "unique." A word that means different things to different people, for sure. To Texans, it's a source of pride beyond compare. To others, Texas brings up different thoughts. I remember a friend who once said the biggest problem he had with Texas is that it is full of Texans.

And in a fine example of Republican hypocrisy at it's best, Texas governor Rick Perry, who over the last couple of weeks has been saying how "independent" Texans are, and how he drops hints to the secessionists to fire them up and speak to right wingers throughout the country as he sounds the water for a presidential run - now is running to the trough for federal funds.

And for what? Some of that money so decried by him and his ilk all around the country, good ol' federal funds. Pork is good when you might need it, I guess! Now that Texas part of a possible front line against a flu pandemic, those federal funds the righties forced out of the stimulus package that were - wait for it - specifically designated to improve the nation's ability to respond to a flu pandemic.

It's interesting, the three most odd people I have ever known were from roughly the same area in West-Central Texas. I don't mean strange or weird, I celebrate strange and weird. I mean wtf? Kind of odd, wonder if they shouldn't be in a very secure rubber room kind of odd.

Don't get me wrong, I know there are alot of good people in Texas, but they kind of bring it on themselves. So full of bravado and all. So people, don't get too offended. Just laugh, and then laugh again at the stupid talk about Texas leavng the country. Not that it would be all bad, especially if we could deport our rednecks there.

So -in light of the recent comments regarding Texas seceding from the Union, here are some fun pokes at the Lone Star State.

Q.What's the best thing to ever come out of Texas?
A.Interstate 10 heading west.
Q.What do you get when you take all the B.S. out of Texas?
A.Rhode Island.
Q.How many Texans does it take to screw in a light bulb?
A1.One, he/she holds it and the world revolves around him/her.
A2.They have electricity in Texas?
A rhyme - Here I sit, my muscles a flexin' just gave birth to another Texan!
Q.Why does the wind always blow in New Mexico?
A.Because Texas sucks!
Here's a fun one for the secessionist in your family - Hell, there wouldn't even be a Texas if the Alamo had a back door!

OK, that's enough -point is, Texas, you're part of the good ol' US of A, so get used to it. And that USA is getting more liberal. Get used to that too. C'mon, be part of the family.

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Posted By: Jeff Musall - Category: No Category

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UN Convention on the Rights of the Child angers American fundamentalists

April 26th 2009 21:48

The fearmongers on the far right who have for decades counted on hordes of voters coming to the polls to vote against homosexuals have found they are losing traction. Hell, even Iowa is going to allow gay marriage next week. So what are they to do?

After all, without generating fear of the "other" the hatemonger can't get alot of mileage. The tactics used to make suburban families fear the welfare queen in the Cadillac, the dark Willie Horton, the gay man and "San Francisco Values," the Muslim. All are designed to thrive on fear of the unknown coupled with prejudice against that which is not easily recognizable or people who aren't "like" them.

The latest "thing" making the rounds has actually been on the table for a few years, but is receiving renewed attention. Just this week I have heard it talked about on Janet Parshall's Christian right wing rant site and Mike Huckabee's FOX show. And of course the Culture Warrior himself, Billo, jumped all over it. They want you to think a dark international conspiracy is looking to take control of America's children. What's behind all the "discord?" Protecting children.

The threat to families presented by the far right blowhards is nothing less than the most widely accepted treaty in the history of the world. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, or UN CRC, was drafted in 1989 and soon thereafter ratified by most of the planet's governments. In fact, only two countries haven't done just that. Which two? Take a guess.

On the website www.unicef.org/crc the UN states "The Convention on the Rights of the Child is the most widely and rapidly ratified human rights treaty in history. Only two countries, Somalia and the United States, have not ratified this celebrated agreement. Somalia is currently unable to proceed to ratification as it has no recognized government. By signing the Convention, the United States has signaled its intention to ratify—but has yet to do so."

That's right, Somalia, home of no government and pirates, and the United States. Of course some countries have implemented the rights support for children alot more than others, but at least they went so far as to make an attempt and not hamper the movement.

Who signed it on behalf of America? Madeline Albright, under Bill Clinton's presidency. Why hasn't it been ratified by the United States Senate? Clinton didn't submit it, sensing right wing ideologues would keep it from passing. Now that the balance has shifted somewhat in the Senate, the fundamentalists are afraid the treaty will be put forth for ratification. And it may well be soon, as President Obama has called the failure for the U.S. to ratify "an embarrassment," rightly so.

As the U.S. Congress never seems to be lacking in right wing mouthpieces ready to obstruct anything moving people forward, Pete Hoekstra (R-MI) early this month put forward the so-called Parent's Rights Amendment to yes, it's true - amend the U.S. Constitution to protect parents from their children having rights too.

The scare site www.parentalrights.org has been set up to push the movement, even claiming that gay marriage should be an example. Stating that if an amendment to the Constitution prohibiting gay marriage would have been put forward sooner, it might have passed (presumably they mean under Reagan or the first Bush). They don't want us to make the same "mistake" with kids (by letting them have some rights too) so they are acting now.

In reality, it;s probably just as much an attempt to keep the right wing satiated and heading to the polls in future elections as it is genuine concern. The base conservatives need focused enemies to keep them going. Sure, they still have gays and Muslims, but Iowa has gay marriage and the torture debate has exposed them even more so as anti-Arab. Time for another bogeyman to come out from under the bed.

Yes, America, it's time to stand against conservative idiocy once again, this time on behalf of children everywhere. Funny, the right will fight to the end for embryos -but children out in the world, that's a different story.

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America tortured.....those of us who thought the worst of Mr. Bush and company appear to be right..

April 24th 2009 02:06

Some of us never trusted Bush and company - some of us would listen to his twisted logic or hear the groanings of Cheney and knew. Yes, deep down, we knew they were bad. President Bush called the soldiers charged after the Abu Gharib debacle "a few bad apples." Truth is, the whole damn tree was rotten from the top.

Various torture techniques described in memos are more detailed and were far more prevalent in use than most Americans dared to imagine. Still, the diehards who would follow Bush off the proverbial cliff like good lemmings find excuses. They call the techniques "not torture." And in another twist of right wing logic, they claim the ends justify the means. If it isn't torture, what would it matter? Of course the end would justify the means, if the means were merely interrogation.

Of course that doesn't make sense. Because it IS torture, as defined by every sensible judge, jury, or government. Funny, our government had no problem calling waterboarding torture when trying Japanese who had performed it on Americans.

Personally, I would consider waterboarding a despicable torture. I love water, but I am not a very good swimmer, and have had to be rescued from near drowning twice in my life. I couldn't imagine going through that 186 times in a month. But my feelings aside, the consensus among civilized individuals and organizations is that waterboarding is indeed torture. Not to mention the other "enhanced" tactics.

And now it looks like those tactics were introduced early and often. Even before the memos of legal opinion (or schill lawyers issuing a blanket justification for something everyone knew was wrong) were written, all the higher-ups of import in the Bush Administration had already jumped aboard the torture train. And for real, actionable information?

No. It looks like, especially in light of the timing of the extraordinary use of waterboarding, that they were looking for someone to tell them Iraq and Al Qaeda were involved with each other. Any expert on torture will tell you that eventually the person being tortured will tell you what they think you want to hear. And that, sadly enough, is what evidence as pointing to as the reason for the torture in the first place.

It's easy for cowards like Sean Hannity or Mark Levin to rant about how it's comparable to fraternity pranks. Let me tell you, as someone who has nearly drowned, just how damn frightening it is. What this is has done is to draw a fairly clear line. Either you are for torture, or you or not.

There is little gray area here, little room for semantics. Yes, or no. Torture, or interrogation. I can understand Mr. Obama's decision to not go after those who carried out actions they were told were legal, at least to the degree that to pursue them would undermine current intelligence efforts.

That doesn't let them off the hook, mind you. The FBI said early and often the "enhanced" methods were illegal and told their agents to not take part. What did the FBI know that apparently the military and CIA couldn't figure out? That torture is illegal.

So take your side, Americans. For the "rule of law" or the "law of the jungle." For civilized behavior, or not. Against torture, or for it. This is a decision we can tell our children we were part of. And we could be proud, or we can hang our heads.

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Jeff the Cable Installer challenges Joe the Plumber to a debate!

April 15th 2009 04:24

Ok, I'm tired of Joe the plumber being looked upon as some kind of representative of the working people of America. Joe, you're a sham, a puppet of the far right, given over to schlepping for the corporate elite. Joe, you don't represent real workers or real worker's issues.Am I saying I do? A hell of alot more than you do, Joe!

My current day job is in the cable industry, installing television, phone, and internet services to homes and businesses. I've done other things too, Joe. Retail, underground utility, airline, insulation installer, landscaping. Joe, I think I can say I've been a worker. And I think I know what real worker's issues are

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Goin' to a tea party? how sheepish...

April 15th 2009 04:19

As the conservative movement flounders about like a crappie on the dock, their leaders try to motivate their minions to rally for the rights of the downtrodden - those poor, unfortunate souls who are going to be paying more in taxes under the Obama Administration.

Never mind that the only people getting taxes "raised" are those who are doing quite well, thank you very much. Never mind that the very, very top of the American population has seen it's share of the pie grow to never before seen proportions. And forget the working people, who have seen their real wages go down. Nope, none of that encroaches on the twisted version of reality known as the ultra-conservative mindset

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God, the father???

April 6th 2009 23:20

First, I must say as an atheist I don't buy any of the mythologies concerning gods or god, whatever book he lies within. That said, it's important to engage those who do in debates that center on questions designed to get them to think about why they follow religion at all.

The vast majority of religious people follow the religion of their birth, from the area they were raised. Even if they later in life make changes, they are usually semantic, involving minor changes in doctrine. There are some who completely switch religions, but that's not too common. Some completely walk away from faith, leaving behind what they see as antiquated and wrong-headed perceptions about the world and our place in it

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Class warfare in America?

April 6th 2009 20:14

There have always been some Americans who think leadership is the purview of a special elite, be it economic, political, or social. There are those who tell what needs to be done, and those who do it. Like the feudal systems of yesteryear, this line of thinking holds that there are those who are destined to be in charge, regardless. Whether they truly believe that divine inspiration got them where they are (like George Bush) or just imagine themselves better because of wealth, special nature or great talents aren't the only factors that determine wealth.

What they fail to recognize is the biggest single determining factor in success in America is birth. The second is luck. If you are born into wealth, it is likely you will be wealthy. If you are born working class, odds are that's where you will stay. Of course there has always been the potential for upward mobility in America. That used to be part of America's promise

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We have a minimum wage, why not a maximum?

April 6th 2009 01:36

The concept of a minimum wage is fairly well known and widely accepted, save from a few on the radical right. Still, the idea of placing a cap on the top is something foreign to many. But alas, there is restlessness afoot. More and more people are starting to realize just how badly the corporate structure has screwed them.

Real wages for real workers have stagnated at best and gone down for most since the dismal failure called trickle down economics took root in the 1980s. Millions of hardworking Americans have little or no health care to show for their efforts. Of course, the news hasn't been all bad

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November 2009

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August 2009