He’s coming in second in the DeathRace. Actually, I liked this Pope. I attended an Easter Mass in Vatican City in 1983. He blessed us in, like, a hundred different languages. A whole generation is about to learn (and I am about to re-learn) those silly and wonderful rituals about black smoke and white smoke as a new pope is … Read More
More Rightwing Self-loathing
At Alan Keye’s Renew America site, they aren’t mincing words: Dear President Bush, As a lifelong Republican and staunch supporter of you and your policies, I feel compelled to write to you today, during this Easter season of life and liberty from sin and death, where we all come together to experience the transcendent joy which traditionally marks the anniversary … Read More
Harvard Political Review on Jon Stewart
Inciteful comments on The Daily Show from the Harvard Political Review: People are listening to Jon Stewart. With his recent best-seller America (The Book) and his hit fake news show on Comedy Central, The Daily Show, it seems clear that his message is being heard: for instance, over 1.5 million people tuned in to watch Stewart interview John Kerry. Still, … Read More
March 29, 2015
March 29, 2015 is the day that, according to that mental giant Bill O’Reilly, we will all be able to marry goats, "mark his words": O’REILLY: The judges in Massachusetts knew they weren’t going to be impeached when they said to the state legislature, "Gay marriage is now legal in Massachusetts because we say it is. We the judges" — … Read More
Now That Terri’s Dead . . .
Amy Sullivan asks the one question that I would like answered: A cradle Baptist, I was taught in the church that while we were not to hasten death, neither were we to postpone or fear it. The ending of a life was sad for those who remained, but a joyous event for the one who died. As one of my … Read More
The Man Who Saved The World
Incredible(!) story from The Moscow News about something that happened in 1983 that you didn’t know about, because you were sleeping soundly in your bed. I reprint it here in full: The Man Who Saved the World Finally Recognized Sirens blaring, warning lights flashing, computer screens showing nuclear missiles on their way, one man in charge of a red button … Read More
Right Fight!
Ah, let’s hope it lasts: Glenn Reynolds has more, but that’s probably because he’s in the middle of the right-wing blogosphere.
Schiavo’s Body Is Dead
RIP, finally. UPDATE: The response from the right-wing blogosphere — full of death poems and scripture, not to mention wailing and gnashing of teeth — was a little TOO predictable, don’t you think? UPDATE #2: I take that back. I was just home for lunch and caught about 20 minutes of the cable news networks. Man, do they want this … Read More
Now THIS is a Living Will
Slightly altered from Robert Friedman’s brilliant column: * In the event I lapse into a persistent vegetative state, I want medical authorities to resort to extraordinary means to prolong my hellish semiexistence. Fifteen years wouldn’t be long enough for me. * I want my spouse and my parents to compound their misery by engaging in a bitter and protracted feud … Read More
Those Evil, Terrorist Loving “Libruls”
From Thoughtcrimes.org: Issue Liberal Position Osama bin Laden Position NeoConservative Position Abortion Favors Opposes Opposes Prayer in School Opposes Favors Favors Separation of Church & State Favors Opposes Opposes Censorship Opposes Favors Favors Pre-emptive Attacks Opposes Favors Favors Interpretation of Religious Scripture Not Literal Literal Literal Women’s Rights Favors Opposes Opposes Death with Dignity Favors Opposes Opposes Theory of Evolution … Read More
NARAL Fighting Back
…with this ad. Meanwhile, here is a blurry graphic showing where this problem is growing:
Technology – A Pain In The Arse
Having trouble getting your cable modem to recognize your network router? Yeah. Bummer. Remember the good old days when the hardest thing to do — technologically speaking — was programming your VCR clock? Of course, nothing beats this — a seven minute instructional (silent) film from 1927 called "How To Use The Dial Phone". We may laugh now, but it … Read More
Religious Right Represents One Small Part of Spectrum
Barbara O’Brien has a must-read over at The American Street. To quote the best parts is an injustice to the whole thing, but I reluctantly will selectively quote and summarize anyhow: Right now Michael Schiavo and his supporters are hoping an autopsy of Terri Schiavo’s brain will eventually settle the matter of her persistent vegetative state beyond a shadow of … Read More
We So Crazy
57 per cent of Australians think US foreign policy to be as great a threat as that of Islamic fundamentalism. Can’t imagine why. Unless you think about it. I mean, of ALL the nations on this planet, which one has been involved in more wars and had more of its troops in other sovereign lands? Which nation invokes "pre-emption" as … Read More
Baghdad’s Grassy Knoll?
Body and Soul has the low-down on the killing of Nicola Calipari, the Italian intelligence agent who American soldiers shot and killed early this month as he was transporting an Italian kidnap victim to safety. The U.S. government story has always been that the American soldiers, located on the most dangerous road in Baghdad, got a little jumpy and fired … Read More