McKay Time

Feministing was pointing to this great video of musician and song writer Nellie McKay doing what she does best, asking good witty music.

When is it time for Nellie McKay? ...Anytime!

Reprieve in TX

No, not anything death penalty related. That never happens.

This is about the State Board of Education. It has been a long fight over trying to foist religious beliefs on to the curriculum in various ways, including ridiculously bad textbooks.

But there has been some good news.

Incredible news out of Texas: creationists have lost a big battle to destroy science education in the Lone Star State!

The State Board of Education voted on the science standards — the list of basic scientific knowledge students should have at various grade levels, like knowing that atoms are the basic building blocks of matter, the Earth goes around the Sun, and — say — evolution is the basic and most fundamental aspect upon which all of modern biology is based.

Creationists on the board (and there are many) tried to water down the standards by creating a phony baloney "strengths and weaknesses" amendment, a totally bogus and arbitrary rule that says that teachers have to point out where a theory has faults. They did this specifically to weaken the teaching of evolution in biology classes. They don’t actually care if the students get a solid education on the fact of evolution, they only care to tear down real science and replace it with Biblical literalism.

And they failed. According to the fantastic science-based Texas Freedom Network, which has been live-blogging the vote, the creationist amendment lost in a 7-7 vote. They could not add the amendment without an actual victory, so the tie means the garbage amendment goes down.

But before you dance in the streets, have a mind that the vote was tied 7-7. In other words, half the people on the Texas State School Board of Education thought it was fine and dandy that evolution, a foundation of modern science and shown to be fact beyond reasonable doubt, be taught as being weak and flawed.

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The Bushvilles

They are so named to honor the last dark time large tent cities sprung up around the country. Hoovervilles. Now, for Bush, Bushvilles.

AMERICAblog:

At the press conference Tuesday night, NBC's Chuck Todd asked Obama why he hadn't asked the American people for specific sacrifices. And, Todd wanted something specific. I thought it was an odd question considering how many jobs and homes have been lost across the country. Almost everyone who has a 401-k has watched it tank. Things just aren't good. But, Todd wants more. Obama basically told him the American people are suffering enough. That seemed lost on Todd. That exchange revealed just how deep the chasm is between reality and the DC elite.

Perhaps Mr. Todd could visit one of the tent cities springing up around the country. Obama was asked about them, too, on Tuesday, by Kevin Chappell from Ebony who noted "With shelters at full capacity, tent cities are sprouting up across the country." But, that question might have gone over the heads of Todd and his colleagues.

Today's NY Times reports on the growth of tent cities across the country. Atrios calls them "Bushvilles." I imagine the people living in Bushvilles would consider it a sacrifice.

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Eschaton:

NYT:

Like a dozen or so other cities across the nation, Fresno is dealing with an unhappy déjà vu: the arrival of modern-day Hoovervilles, illegal encampments of homeless people that are reminiscent, on a far smaller scale, of Depression-era shanty towns. At his news conference on Tuesday night, President Obama was asked directly about the tent cities and responded by saying that it was “not acceptable for children and families to be without a roof over their heads in a country as wealthy as ours.”While encampments and street living have always been a part of the landscape in big cities like Los Angeles and New York, these new tent cities have taken root — or grown from smaller enclaves of the homeless as more people lose jobs and housing — in such disparate places as Nashville, Olympia, Wash., and St. Petersburg, Fla.

Going down to the Queen Mary (no, the ship)

The Skeptologist visited the Queen Mary (ship/hotel). They were looking for ghost and to take a look at the whole ghost hunting phenomena.

Here is a description of trip. Part 1 / Part 2

And here is an extra bit that happen, but has been left out of the pilot. Ryan Johnson explains the mystery of the Green Room.

Denziens of this new age

There have been a number of troubling stories as the economic situation has worsened.

Some sad and tragic. Like a story told at an event Ed Schultz had. Where a man told the story of the state of his family. They were well off, he had a business that was doing well. Then his wife became sick. They tried to find answers in Arizona with no luck. The insurance company was no help, and as we all know these days, hostile. When they wanted to go to Mayo in Minnesota, but that was a no no for insurance. But that is where the specialist were, and the family wanted to help mom. So they went and found some answers. But it is draining what money they saved. Even when you are financially well off and a hard worker, insurance companies are looking for pre-existing conditions (Jindal thought this was a funny thing?) and loop holes to get out of doing there function.

HEALTHCARE...Yeah we need to deal with it to.

Then their are more pathetic ones.

Like an example that came up on Break Room Live. Where this husband had a VERY nice job a few years back, enough to have half a million at least stashed away for the future...so better than any of us. Well, he quit that job to go and become a solo hedge fund manager...yeah, really. SO that didn't go well. Now they have apparently burned through all of that savings. They also are more than 100,000 in debt. So they lament he is forced to deliver pizza now. And they are worried about their extremely expensive car, expensive house, the pair of jet skis in the garage gathering dust, and the kids in their expensive private schools...really. So before going into debt blowing through the retirement cash, they never thought, and still don't think it is worth it to sell the car, house, or jet ski's, or putting the kids in public school. And this guy is hoping for a few big breaks that he can ride...back. He is in denial and unwilling to admit his life has changed radically. That is pathetic.

Also we have the public resignation from AIG...AIU now. They exec is upset. He got picked on by the boss and by Congress. How unfair. His division worked, and made money. Sure the whole company nearly collapsed, but he wants his money. Sure in other businesses and for other workers, a loss of benefits or pay is expected (see the unions), but not him. What galls me more about his 1 buck a year salary, compensated by the bonus he gets of 750 grand. Isn't this what the rich do to avoid taxes? Take a buck, to get out of income tax and protect their actual income. And he is complaining about his victim hood.

Yeesch. Just yeesch.

The media and its questions

Following on the press conference last night it is interesting to reflect on how the media handled the little outing.

The NYT...

The president was "not...fiery and inspirational," write Peter Baker and Adam Nagourney in the morning NYT. "Placid and unsmiling, he was the professor in chief, offering familiar arguments in long paragraphs -- often introduced with the phrase, 'as I said before' -- sounding like the teacher speaking in the stillness of a classroom where students are restlessly waiting for the ring of the bell.

"This was Mr. Obama as more enervating than energizing."

In one Baker-Nagourney sentence, even a compliment is only a prologue to a dig that, come to think of it, might help explain why they're so petulant:

He showed his usual comfort with a wide array of subjects, even as he
excluded the nation's big newspapers from the questioning in favor of a more
eclectic mix.

My italics but their pique. Take that, Barack Obama, you pompous pedagogue, stringing together whole sentences and indeed paragraphs as if Americans were entitled to hear a line of reasoning. Take that if you dare to exclude "the nation's big newspapers" even as they prove less big every day.

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FOX...

FOX's Brett Baier's first impression of President Obama's National Press Conference after telling us how long it was and how many questions he took was to cut to a shot of the massive screen in the back and middle of the room and he said that Obama read his opening statement there. Wow. Did the media focus on President Bush's use of the teleprompter, ever?

Critics say Obama relies too heavily on his teleprompter. As Politico notes:

"Obama's reliance on the teleprompter is unusual -- not only because he is famous for his oratory, but because no other president has used one so consistently and at so many events, large and small."

They make an interesting point, why would a president want to be prepared and careful about what he says? The guy who had the job for the last eight years didn't need no stinkin' teleprompter!

Charles K thought Obama was workmanlike.

As usual BillO had on Karl Rove for some crackling FOX News analysis, even though he's one of the men responsible for the mess this country faces. He said President Obama just mailed it in.

Bill, as I predicted, was just so bored by it all. Karl said he was an arrogant guy...

MSNBC...

Chuck Todd Apparently Thinks Americans Haven't Suffered Enough

Here is what I thought was one of the more infuriating moments of last night's press conference. Chuck Todd with this doozie:

Todd: Some have compared this financial crisis to a war and in times of war past Presidents have called for some form of sacrifice. Some of your programs whether main street or Wall Street have actually cushioned the blow for those that were irresponsible during this economic period of prosperity, supposed prosperity that you were talking about. Why, given this new era of responsibility that you're asking for why haven't you asked for something specific that the public should be sacrificing to participate in this economic recovery?

Really, Chuck Todd? You're joking, right? If you had asked what he should have asked Wall Street to sacrifice, that would have been one thing. But the public? Unbelievable.

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CNN...

Probably the funniest and saddest moment from the press conference last night: President Obama's response to Ed Henry's 'gotcha' question.

Henry: Why did you wait days to come out and express that outrage? It seems like the action is coming out of New York and the Attorney General's office. It took you days to come public with Secretary Geithner and say look we're outraged. Why did it....

Obama: Look it took us a couple of days because I like to know what I'm talking about before I speak. Alright?

Apparently Henry wasn't satisfied when he didn't respond to the question the first time around. ...

Alex Castellanos: Tonight You Saw the First Hint of a President Who Could Be a One Termer

Yes, a right wing hack who hasn't seen too low a blow yet against an opponent thinks the president looks testy.



First the President was too serious on the economy, then the media screams he is too glib for cracking a single joke. He is too cool to some, now that he didn't care for frivolous questions he's loosing it.

I'm outta heres

Time to take some Spring Break time off in ole England. Hopefully I will return a bit saner.

Thanks Vatican

Well in the wake of the horrible rape of a 9 year old in Brazil, the Church threatened and warned those that might seek to end a pregnancy that came to be because of it. This disturbed many.

Now that an abortion has happen. The Church decided to pass out the old papal pink slips.
Excommunications for everybody! So now everyone that has acted to help this small child in the wake of her rape are being given the grandest of punishments. May I remind you this is the church that just re embraced a holocaust denier and hides pedophiles in there midst.

Thankfully, the president of Brazil is ticked. Nice to see more willingness in leaders in South America stand up to bullying from the Vatican. One can only hope it is a trend.

History and hysterics

Crooks and Liars offers a useful reminder for the day (and a nice cartoon). Obama and the plan for the economy are taking a lot of flak.

But it is nothing that Roosevelt didn't have to deal with in his time.

With the endless drone of hate and vitriol spilling out of last weeks CPAC cabal, it's comforting (somewhat) to realize the amped-up hysteria and whining is just what history does, and does over and over. It's never civilized, it's never constructive and it is always based on fear and paranoia.

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A nice reminder to all of us. And I do love some old cartoons from the day.

Let's call the whole thing off.

Former Senator Coleman seems determined to retain his seat. He tried to call off a recount, he's tried to reshape the recount, and then he tried to sue his way back in. None of that worked, so now he wants a do over.

Coleman Continues To Cast Doubt On Election Result

Coleman Lawyer Floats New Possibility To Judges: Throwing Out The Election

The recount was a burden on the citizens of the state, but now he wants a truly major expense.

Franken Lawyers To Court: Throwing Out The Election Is Not A Legal Option

Explainin' Religion

I forgot MacFarlane was doing these shorts online. Watch as dad explains monkey God and monkey Jesus.

Mettle of their Steele

It is funny to see how quickly Republican leaders bend their knees before Rush Limbaugh...actually it is sad. It used to be a joke, that the RNC lived in fearful obedience. Not it is just them that are the joke.

Now it's Steele, leader of the RNC, which is an adjunct of The Rush Limbaugh Show.

He actually challenged Rush's words and attitude. Kind of like how he talked up embracing new voters and outsiders, like homosexuals.



Then Limbaugh reacted. Limbaugh blasts GOP party head Steele, questions why any Republican would ever give a dime to the RNC.

But TPM saw what was coming. Another Ritual Mea Culpa Coming?

Then reality hit him, like with gay rights, he ran back to the base.

Steele caves, apologizes to GOP party chair Rush Limbaugh

Steele Apologizes To Limbaugh, Praises His Leadership

Steele's Re-Education Complete!

Steele Reports To The Politburo

This is the RNC, and the true voice of Conservatism. How sad.

The News and the Politics

This bit on the Daily Dish sums up how politics have been seen in the MSM for too many years now.

Drum explains why the TV networks are obsessed with the Dow:

...nobody makes or loses money based on betting on the unemployment rate. And we don't have exciting video of traders going nuts on exchange floors when hourly wage numbers are announced. And anyway, all that stuff is only available on a monthly basis. You can hardly run a 24/7 cable show based on that, can you?

They also need winners and losers, as their treatment of politics has become indistinguishable from their treatment of sports. I'm happier online myself.

Speech!

Pres. Obama gave a hell of a speech tonight.

Here is the text of the speech.

Video here.


It is lovely to see Jindal's big shot went flat following on the president. Hmm, a future opponent's sabotage? Text for speech.

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And you know it's bad when the folks at Fox think Jindal blew it.

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Though I have to say this. I have started people today begin mocking Jindal through the use of his original Hindi name. Let us agree to not go there, okay? Doing to to Pres. Obama was bad. It demonstrated a nastiness and ugliness in Reps. If we go there and use his changed name (he apparently changed it out of a love for the Brady Bunch), how are we better? Cause we don't mean to be bigoted? Are we sure? He is an ass. He jumped into his faith as he got older in a creepy way (see exorcism). Let us be sure not to raise him up as a hero to conservatives and an example of how mean Dems and Liberals are. We are better than that.

There has to be a line

In the debate about religion, there has to be a lines, frontiers, points where we can't all go. All faith and lack their of, deserve scrutiny, debate, and healthy arguments. When it is too far, when it is dangerous to people, when it drives cruelty upon others, we have to stand up and say no.

But there are lines. There are plenty of problems in Islam, but not all Muslims are the same. Their are friendly neighbors, obnoxious bores, pricks, shy thinkers, doting parents, etc. The same is true of Christianity, and its sects, Judaism, Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, etc. When you have large and spread out populaces, you have diversity. To blindly jump at any possible opening is fraught with great risk for any honest person looking to bolster secular society. We have stories arise of atheist being threatened with being fired from jobs, but going in half cocked to find the person exaggerated a more complicated trouble cannot help but make us look bad. It is bad enough, through works like Expelled, Creationist try to spread false claims about science. We need to be better.

Which takes us to Bill Maher. Not exactly a poster boy for any positive cause. He is loud arrogant and abrasive, and more contrarian than debater. Put works like Religulous can open the questioning of religion to a few more...perhaps (Though I did really enjoy the monologues on the DVD).

But with the opening episode of this season of Real Time, he had on one Brigitte Gabriel. Who apparently sees all Muslims as a threat, and can never be trusted. That is not someone you turn to have a sane discussion on an issue, like the recent murder and beheading that have caused quite a stir. Where a Muslim husband viciously murdered his wife. Some have jumped to the assumption that it is yet another honor killing. But it does not seem so clear yet. It seems more likely that a husband was being left by his wife, and he took on the role of complete an utter fucking bastard, murdering her. It doesn't take faith to do this...ask Scott Peterson. But Maher likes to do his thing and she was the perfect choice to lay into the story. This murderer deserves scorn and punishment. But let us be sure we actually understand what happen. Let's not become Brigitte Gabriel, that helps no one. We need to be better.

Crooks and Liars:

I was wondering if Maher even realized who he was bringing on his show to comment on the beheading of a Muslim woman. Talk to Action's Chris Rodda has more on that in his post Maher Season Premiere Includes Islamophobe Who Said Muslim-Americans Shouldn't Hold Public Office:

But, while Maher was just exploiting the irony of the story, his via satellite guest for the segment, Brigitte Gabriel, was given a forum to further her fear-mongering cause. And, although as more of the facts emerge, the murder of Aasiya Hassan is looking less and less like an "honor killing," and more and more like just a horrible case of domestic violence in which the perpetrator happened to be a Muslim, this story is pure gold to someone like Gabriel, whose mission is to spread a message that no Muslim-American, no matter how "assimilated" they may appear, can be trusted. With her glee in proclaiming on Real Time that Muzzammil Hassan had called the police to "brag" that he had murdered his wife (something that is not true), Gabriel came across to the audience as a funny, personable guest joining Maher in a bit of sarcastic repartee about the story. To those of us familiar with Gabriel, however, her glee was taken as something quite different.

The real Brigitte Gabriel is a woman who has said that Muslim-Americans shouldn't be allowed to hold public office; instructs people to contact the F.B.I. if they see a mosque being built in their neighborhood; and has said that Muslim-Americans "are good at nothing but complaining about every single thing" and that "Every practicing Muslim is a radical Muslim."

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The Post and Global Warming.

Many of us have noted the odd failure of the Washington Post to hold George Will massively inaccurate global warming pieces in check.

WaPo Loves Them Some Will-Full Deceit

But the Ombudsman of the Post has come out to make things worse.

Washington Post Ombudsman Compounds Global Warming Misinformation In Response To Reader Protests Over Will's Column

Lucky Andy Alexander. Even before he introduced himself as the new Washington Post Ombudsman, replacing the embattled Deborah Howell, he has already stepped into a rather steaming pile of dung. Sadly, instead of discerning the truth for the readers of Washington Post, Alexander opted to compound the error...

You see he claims that the ACRC report that Will quoted as supporting his position, despite the fact it doesn't, does support Will and is in line with the claims printed in the paper. What does one say when the vaunted middleman for the press and public says something like this? You call them a LIAR.

The Loyal Opposition

So what is happening among the Republicans these days?

Taking out vendettas against those that vote with the president.

Getting high level jobs at CBS News.

Trying to be hip, in the way ones parents occasionally try and fail.

Blocking another Dem from getting to the Senate by any means.

Being pissy about helicopters.

Trying to have their cake and eat it to.

Interesting note on strategy.

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Matthew Yglesias has some thoughts on why Jindal is doing this in his post Bobby Jindal's Hostages.

My other thought is that there may be a “beggar thy neighbor” strategy going on here. If Louisiana makes its unemployment benefits less generous than what’s available in other states, then maybe unemployed citizens will leave Louisiana for Texas and other neighboring states, thus creating an artificial appearance of an improved economic situation. It would be the equivalent of Mike Bloomberg fighting poverty by demolishing all the low-income housing in New York and hoping the poor people all move elsewhere.

It's hard to say whether that might be true or not but since that was pretty well the response to Hurricane Katrina nothing would surprise me from the Republicans. The other possibility is that Ray Nagin is right and it's Jindal putting his presidential ambitions before the interest of his state. Not that I'm any fan of Ray Nagin but I'd have a lot of trouble disagreeing with him on this point and that it isn't just all politics for Jindal.

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Making stupid comments (though that story looks exaggerated now) and claims about the presidents citizenship.

Being post-racial in the most old school ways. Thanks for reminding us Pat.

Claiming THEY are out to get them.

Relying on decades outdated strategies to knock down a president.


Ah, the Republicans. Not getting it since the 1920's.

Religious test two step

PZ Myers has taken note of a couple maneuvers across the country, involving how to treat faith and the absence.

Arkansas - Surprisingly there is a move to allow atheist in.

It's an ugly little open secret that Arkansas, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas have constitutions that explicitly forbid atheists from holding state office. These laws are archaic and unenforceable in principle — they were all ruled unconstitutional in 1961 — but of course they're still in effect across all 50 states in practice, since public opinion makes it almost impossible for an atheist to get elected to high office.

Now, though, a representative in Arkansas has submitted a bill to amend the Arkansas constitution and remove the prohibition of atheists. ...

Washington - Don't disrespect my faith, and don't forget to acknowledge it.

While Arkansas takes a small step forward, a few people in my home state of Washington want to take a great leap backwards. Some crank named Kimberlie Struiksma, who is apparently associated with education, has proposed to put a remarkably clueless measure onto the ballot. Behold Initiative Measure No. 1040:

Ballot Title
Initiative Measure No. 1040 concerns a supreme ruler of the universe.

This measure would prohibit state use of public money or lands for anything that denies or attempts to refute the existence of a supreme ruler of the universe, including textbooks, instruction or research.

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Deny? What does that mean. If a text contradicts "your beliefs", it's out? If research would bring troubling, to "your beliefs", realities of science to light, is it to be blocked? If I want to put up a Christmas display at the capitol that challenges "your beliefs, it is banned? Oh, you bet.

Iraq and Afghanistan

Informed Comment on Iraq:

McClatchy is alarmed at the rapid deterioration of relations between Kurds and Arabs in the north of Iraq. The victory of the Sunni Arab nationalist party, al-Hadba', in Ninevah Province has dealt a setback to the Kurds, who initially controlled the province's governing council and whose paramilitary, the Peshmerga, was deployed in parts of the province with Kurdish populations. The Kurdistan Regional Government has already erased the provincial divisions among Dohuk, Irbil and Sulaymaniya, and would like to absorb much of Ninevah Province, as well. The Green Line separating Kurdish territory from Arab is being redrawn and challenged, to the benefit of the Kurds.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, a centralizer, has come into conflict with the Kurds over his desire to restore an effective central government.

Some of the alarmism on this issue derives from Iraqi-Kurdistan Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani, who says that Obama should intervene to settle outstanding Kurdish/ Arab disputes before the US troops draw down.

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Informed Comment on Afghanistan:

President Barack Obama has decided to send 17,000 additional troops to Afghanistan, on the grounds that "the situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan demands urgent attention". Civilian deaths from political violence increased about 40% in 2008 over 2007, reaching over 2000. They will be sent to the Pushtun south and east of the country, where guerrilla fighting is expected to pick up with the advent of warm weather. The BBC says, "The deployment will be made up of 8,000 marines, and 4,000 army soldiers, plus another 5,000 support staff." The Marines will begin arriving in May.

What we saw in Iraq was that the sheer number of troops did not matter so much as how they are deployed and for what purpose. I hope that these troops are used well.

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Michael Shermer and the Builders of the New Ark.

Interesting trip, can't help but be reminded of an episode of Johnathan Creek with a group of religious nuts building an ark in the center of Britain.

Skeptiblog:

During the first week of February, 2009, on the occasion of Charles Darwin’s 200th birthday celebrations at various locals around England (including his birthplace city of Shrewsbury — see photo montage below), my hosts Andrew Kelly (a science writer who authored a gorgeous coffee-table book entitled Darwin: For the Love of Science) and Bruce Hood (a University of Bristol cognitive psychologist and author of the forthcoming book Supersense), arranged for a visit to Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm in Bristol, run by a kindly creationist gentleman named Anthony Bush. (Yes, in addition to being a zoo for the public to tour, it is a working farm.)

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