I’m not a big fan of web-based petitions. They’re generally pretty worthless when it comes to actually getting things done, but they also make participation really, really easy. So, in the spirit of supporting the federal recognition of Darwin Day in the United States, I signed this petition put forth by the International Darwin Day …
Category Archives: Politics
Those stupid scientists!
From Calamities of Nature comes this comic (the image here is just the first panel). I don’t want to spoil it for you, but I’ve heard a similar argument made by Sam Harris concerning the word “elite” in a Newsweek essay about Sarah Palin and politics last year. Not exactly the same argument, but related. …
Tea baggers praying for Senator Byrd to die
Just a quick note to highlight a post by Jesse Galef on The Friendly Atheist blog. The Washington Post reported an interesting statement by Senator Tom Coburn (emphasis mine). [Senator] Robert Byrd was wheeled in at 1 a.m. to break a filibuster on the manager’s amendment. Byrd’s presence was not required, especially considering that he’d …
Continue reading “Tea baggers praying for Senator Byrd to die”
Right turn, Clyde… or not.
I’ve mentioned before that I wish the Republican party would “go back to being the fiscally conservative, small government party they used to be instead of the religious, anti-science, anti-intellectual, anti-environment party they are now.” Andrew Sullivan, over at The Daily Dish, seems to have the same idea, but in more detail. Andrew and I …
Sarah Palin and the political spotlight
Sarah Palin is the darling of the Republican party, but her cries against the “Washington elite” are contradictory with her own desire to become one… as Christopher Hitchens points out.
One reason McCain lost my vote in 2008
Here’s an excerpt from a review by Michiko Kakutani of Sarah Palin’s new book, Going Rogue. Elsewhere in this volume, she talks about creationism, saying she "didn’t believe in the theory that human beings — thinking, loving beings — originated from fish that sprouted legs and crawled out of the sea" or from "monkeys who …
Jon Stewart channels Glenn Beck
Jon Stewart displays his mad skillz as an impressionist, practically channeling Glenn Beck in this Daily Show bit on Comedy Central bit last night. Though I would never wish an appendicitis on anyone and hope Beck recovers fully, his on-screen persona is, in my opinion, worthy of mockery and derision… and Stewart nails it.
Hate Crime Legislation Updated
Existing hate crime legislation has been updated with the passing of a new federal law designed to include crimes based on gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability. The Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act, named for a gay man who was murdered eleven years ago, expands the original list of criteria which includes race, …
Bush is now a motivational speaker
George W. Bush has started making the rounds as a motivational speaker and was given a warm welcome at a Texas event attended by around 15,000 people. He was speaking along with Colin Powell, Terry Bradshaw, and Rudy Giuliani among others. Bush was not the headliner of the event and only spoke for about thirty …
Outside the Chapel Doors
For the past few days, I’ve been mulling over the issues of health care and global warming (or climate change, if you prefer) in the context of who opposes the issues. It seems that almost every person who opposes (meaningful) health care reform and who denies global warming is either very conservative and/or very religious …