Yesterday, nine members of Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) testified about the dehumanization of the Iraqi people, the abuse of detainees, the changing rules of engagement and the killing of innocent civilians before members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. Unless you watched C-SPAN 3, you probably didn’t hear about it (my Comcast cable […]
Last week, I saw this post Leading America Into the Wildnerness, at Kos:
Whether it’s finance or science, health care or education, America isn’t leading the way — it’s not even pointing the direction. Instead, we’re on the sidelines, trying to squeeze the grip of our still considerable military leadership ever tighter, only to have more […]
This morning’s Trib contained an op-ed from Maggie Jessop, that began with the not so provocative opening line:
So, you want to hear from the FLDS women, huh? OK, you asked for it.
Normally, “You asked for it” is followed by a good rant. Not in this case. The op-ed itself is semi-coherent - […]
This week’s “very special kind of stupid” award goes to Kathleen Roberson, of Dove Creek, Colorado. Her letter in the Trib has a special mix of “bumpkin” and pearl-clutching, “Get me my smellin’ salts, Vern, I’ve got the vapors” kind of stupid and moral indignation:
During a visit to Salt Lake City, just blocks from […]
Fixed fortifications are monuments to man’s stupidity.
– General George S. Patton, Jr.
U.S. Army soldiers from 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment of the 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division guard construction of a concrete wall running through the Shiite enclave of Sadr City, Baghdad, on Sunday, May 4, 2008.
Why is the U.S. Army building […]
Saw this at PZ Myers’ place and decided it was simply too weird to be true but apparently not . . .
Land ‘O Lakes, Florida — The stories in the news about inappropriate relationships between teachers and students have been overwhelming. There was even a substitute teacher in New Port Richey who got in trouble […]
Today the rest of this nation knows what some of us have known for seven years and counting. We have the most unpopular boob in American history running the country in the most frightening period of national history. His incompetence is legend. Let me name the ways:
First, of course, this war of choice, […]
It’s rare, but it happens. I watched The Golden Compass last night and I have to say I think it was a better movie than book. Interestingly, all the kerfuffle from conservative christians about the film was a mistake - the film’s supposedly anti-Christian content is all but missing. To be honest, I expected more.
But […]
Before convicted criminal, Republican congressman, Bob Ney went to prison, he pushed the “Help America Vote Act (HAVA)” through congress under the false premise that it would help standardize the way America votes and come into compliance with the Federal Supreme court decision to break precedence and overrule states rights in the 2000 election contest […]
MoveOn.org has come up with the best way to commemorate five years of mission accomplishment in Iraq. Heckuva job. If you can’t see YouTube, it’s a “Mission Accomplished” birthday cake… and the five candles keep multiplying until there are a hundred.
shit like this happens:
In September of 2007, the principal at Hollis F. Price Middle College High told teachers she wanted the names of all student couples, “hetero and homo,” because she wanted to monitor them personally to prevent students from engaging in public displays of affection.
The principal heard about them through another student, then wrote […]
Think back to when President Bush and the neocons wanted to justify the invasion of Iraq. We heard the same words over and over. The Iraqis were “terrorized, tortured, and brutalized” by Saddam Hussein. Saddam “used weapons against his own people.” After it was clear that Iraq did not possess any […]
Via Dispatches From the Culture Wars, I saw this great article by Elizabeth A. Castelli about the persecution complex among America’s conservative Christians. These whiny ass titty baby Christians start crying persecution and “War on Christians” whenever things don’t go their way. They create arguments in which a pharmacist refuses to fill prescriptions for contraception […]
The news media often uncritically report federal government national economic indicators, without explaining how they are calculated. Well, it seems Mark Twain was right when he noted (quoting Benjamin Disraeli), “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.” The unsurprising truth, according to John Williams of Shadow Government Statistics (SGS): […]
A while back, I posted about problem solving and the way in which many people seem to believe that doing something is the same as solving problems. The thinking seems to be “If I’m taking action, I must be solving the problem.” Such thinking misleads people into frantic activity when confronted by a challenge, activity that […]
I love the scienceblogs!
There’s a vigorous debate taking place about the connection between the evolution denier piece of crap film Expelled and Holocaust denial. Some folks are saying the deliberate and dishonest connection between evolutionary theory and the Holocaust amounts to a form of denialism. Other folks are saying it is profoundly and hugely dishonest […]
According to a new report (PDF) from Refugees International, the Maliki Green Zone government’s failure to respond to the needs of an estimated 2.7 million internal refugees has provided militias with a valuable propaganda tool and a way to strengthen their respective bases of support.
Following the Hezbollah model, it’s Moqtada al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army that […]
Condoleezza Rice may be the worst National Security Advisor ever (9/11), but she’s not one to rest on her laurels. She is now trying to be the worst Secretary of State ever. Never has the acronym “SOS” been more appropriate. Just the other day, Rice issued an ill-advised challenge to Moqtada al-Sadr, […]
Members of the military can now show how many tours of duty they’ve had in Iraq when they wear their Class A uniforms. The Department of Defense has announced that campaign stars are authorized for the Iraq Campaign Medal (ICM), also for the Afghanistan Campaign Medal (ACM).
Service members who have qualified for the medals […]
The news from Iraq in recent days has gone from bad, to very bad, to extremely bad. Now it’s unbelievably bad. Here’s the headline: Secretary of State Rice Mocks Muslim Cleric Moqtada al-Sadr as a Coward. American diplomacy at work, as 107mm rockets and mortar shells rain down on the Green Zone.
“I […]
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