Go Ahead…Make My Day…Again…Again…

It’s like Clint Eastwood has come to town and all the bad guys are hiding under the tables or in closets. President Obama is striking down one stupid rule after another his predecessor left behind. It’s a martial arts level kung fu pen-fest, signing (or consigning) the detritus of ignorance from the last eight years into the dustbin of… Well, he's overturned the international gag rule concerning abortion information. He’s undoing the restrictions on stem cell research. He has ordered Gitmo shut down within a year and a panel to look into what to do with the detainees. Before the vacillations of moral outrage erupt over the gag rule overturn, it should be considered how absurd and cowardly a ban on talking about something actually is. And I don’t mean from a national security perspective. Clearly, some information is sensitive in that sense and should not be publicly disseminated. But in the case of the gag rule, we’re talking about something that is, for all intents and purposes, Public Knowledge. If you know what to look for, anyone can find this information and not be arrested for having it. Yet grown men and women have been constrained from talking about it in the performance of their duties as doctors and nurses. What part of “choice” do the enemies of choice not understand?

Continue ReadingGo Ahead…Make My Day…Again…Again…

George, meet Barry. Now sod off.

Don't let the Whitehouse door hit you in the arse on the way out. On the other hand, I hope someone jams your pinky finger in it. And smacks you in the nuts with an army boot. But, seriously, now that he's gone, I guess we can't rag on Dubya anymore. Sure, he's given the world enough material (both unintentionally comedic, in a painful, Ricky-Gervais/Steve Carell-in-The-Office kind of way as well as just plain tragic) to last the next 8 years, but have pity - he's unemployed now. He's likely to stay that way too - given his oratory skills it's doubtful he'll be able to make a living on the lucrative public-speaking circuit like his silver-tongued predecessor Bubba Clinton. But hey, there's always Pop to turn to. Hell, who do you think got him his last job? And the one before that? Oh well, he's got plenty of time to work on his golf game - and no pesky-ass reporters asking him about boring shit like wars or deficits or hurricanes or drowned cities.

Continue ReadingGeorge, meet Barry. Now sod off.

Steven Pinker on the credibility of science

Alternet has interviewed Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker on the credibility of science.   Pinker's answer bears on many of the discussions we've had at this site.  In the following excerpt, Pinker distinguishes the scientific method from the "method" of politics, though his logic applies to most things that are not science…

Continue ReadingSteven Pinker on the credibility of science

“Synchronized Presidental Debating” highlights the lack of meaningful dialogue.

In this video from 23/6, we can exactly how little valuable dialogue arose from the three presidential debates: Funny thing: I don't exactly blame the candidates for becoming sad little broken records in this reductio ad absurdum. I blame the media for asking the same questions over and over in…

Continue Reading“Synchronized Presidental Debating” highlights the lack of meaningful dialogue.

Bedrock conservatives decry McCain-Palin

Today's news is that Colin Powell has endorsed Barack Obama. Rather than being an unusual event, Powell's endorsement of Obama is simply the continuation of a trend:  Conservatives endorsing Barack Obama. George Will wrote; “Under the pressure of the financial crisis, one presidential candidate is behaving like a flustered rookie…

Continue ReadingBedrock conservatives decry McCain-Palin