Author Archive: grumpypilgrim
Grumpypilgrim is a writer and management consultant living in Madison, WI. He has several scientific degrees, including a recent master’s degree from MIT. He has also held several professional career positions, none of which has been in a field in which he ever took a university course. Grumps is an avid cyclist and, for many years now, has traveled more annual miles by bicycle than by car…and he wishes more people (for the health of both themselves and our planet) would do the same. Grumps is an enthusiastic advocate of life-long learning, healthy living and political awareness. He is single, and provides a loving home for abused and abandoned bicycles. Grumpy’s email: grumpypilgrim(AT)@gmail(DOT).com [Erich’s note: Grumpy asked that his email be encrypted this way to deter spam. If you want to write to him, drop out the parentheticals in the above address].
Who created hell and why?
If you’ve ever read the book of Genesis in the Bible, and exercised at least a little bit of skepticism, you might have noticed that the Official Creation Story contains several conspicuous omissions. I’ve already discussed one of them — the strange case of the Tree of the Knowledge — and now I’m going to [...]
“Country First?”
I was stunned this week to see that the McCain camp has adopted the slogan “Country First” as the organizing principle for its campaign. In what way has McCain put “country first” by nominating a staggeringly unqualified V.P. candidate? Palin’s only credential for being on the Republican ticket appears to be that she is a [...]
Tax cuts are just another type of government spending
Republicans like tax cuts, probably because the vast majority of tax cuts go to rich people, most of whom are Republicans. Of course, they can’t admit that this is the reason why they like tax cuts so, instead, they declare that tax cuts will “stimulate the economy.” Simultaneously, they condemn Democrats, whom they criticize for [...]
Does Sarah Palin still support abstinence-only sex education?
Although I agree that the families of political candidates should be off-limits to questions, the announcement that Sarah Palin’s unmarried teenage daughter is pregnant raises a question that bears directly on Palin’s qualifications for the V.P. job: given that abstinence-only sex education obviously failed to prevent Palin’s daughter from getting pregnant, doesn’t Palin’s support for [...]
A blessing in disguise
Did you notice how eagerly the McCain camp scaled back the Republican National Convention on account of Hurricane Gustav? And did you notice how quickly Bush and Cheney backed out of their scheduled attendance? Even after the hurricane was downgraded from Class 4 to Class 2, and then to a tropical storm, Convention planners kept [...]
Palin being investigated for misconduct in office
Although John McCain hails his running mate as a model of ethical behavior in office, the State of Alaska would apparently disagree: it is investigating Palin for abuse of power in office. Palin, without explanation, recently fired a state employee, who now claims that Palin pressured him to fire a state trooper who was, at [...]
McCain’s experience: strength or weakness?
McCain’s campaign ads on television spend a great deal of time talking about his experience. Things such as getting shot down in Viet Nam, being bayoneted and tortured, and then spending 5 years in a POW camp seem to rank very high on McCain’s list of what he believes are his qualifications for being president. [...]
Things that make you go, “Hmmm….”
I thought this was interesting…while America drowns in red ink from a combination of Bush tax cuts and the money pit known as Iraq, Iraq has been racking up nice profits from selling all that oil they have. This year’s spike in oil prices has been especially good for Iraq — according to this website, [...]
Drilling here, drilling there
In America, many Republican politicians, including presidential candidate John McCain, are using the recent spike in oil prices to call for increased domestic production, including opening wildlife refuges to oil drilling. In response, opponents are arguing that increased production will merely perpetuate America’s addiction to oil, worsening environmental damage and global warming. Unfortunately, both sides [...]
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