Westboro Baptist Church vs. University Of Chicago

Ken AshfordGodstuffLeave a Comment

The UofC students done good:

Over 100 students gathered on South University Avenue and in Hutchinson Courtyard Monday to demonstrate against six protesters from the Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) advocating against the University of Chicago, the Chicago Theological Seminary (CTS), and the University of Chicago Law School’s employment of Barack Obama.  

The WBC protesters arrived at the CTS at noon. Carrying signs reading “God hates the world” and “Bloody Obama,” they stood on the corner of East 58th Street and South University Avenue for half an hour. They allowed people to photograph them and held up their signs, smiling. At one point, Shirley Phelps-Roper, WBC’s spokeswoman, sang a joyful rendition of “God Hates America.”  

The WBC people are the "God hates fags" people who show up at funerals of dead U.S. soldiers to inform the bereaved that our soldiers are dying in Iraq as punishment by God for allowing "fags" to exist.  They carry signs that say "God hates our fallen U.S. soldiers".

Seriously sick people.

But the students of University of Chicago welcomed their protest and turned into a mocking carnival:

They were accompanied down the street by a group of students mocking the WBC’s message. The students held a sign reading “Figs Doom Nations” and planted themselves across the street from the WBC, drawing from a Biblical passage in which Jesus disparages a fig tree. “If you need scanty biblical evidence for anything, we’ve got it,” said fourth-year Carmel Levy as he handed out flyers containing biblical citations that read: “Jesus rebuked the fig as an evil abomination” and “God Promises Terrible Vengeance Upon Any Fig-Loving Nation.”  

“We just wanted the world to know that God’s vengeance doesn’t just fall on the gay, but also on the fruit,” said fourth-year Max Shron.  

On the eastern side of the quad, students who had been waiting for the group waved signs mocking the WBC’s trademark “God Hates Fags” poster. The signs bore slogans such as “God <3’s internet porn,” “God hates the new Facebook,” and “God hates dial-up.” 

"God hates the new Facebook".  I love it.

Shorter Ann Coulter

Ken AshfordRight Wing Punditry/IdiocyLeave a Comment

Shorter Ann Coulter: Democrats want to tax the rich, thereby proving that Democrats hate the little guy.  Also, since Democrats are rich, they are only taxing themselves.  Ha ha!  Which makes them socialists!

Seriously, Ann Coulter is just plain bizarre.

BONUS WINGNUTTERY FROM MARIE JON:

On Nov. 5, 2008, Americans woke up to a very real Marxist coup — although most didn't realize it. I sat down and cried while a huge crowd gathered and were cheering. I intuitively knew something was very wrong. After watching Barack Hussein Obama aggressively pursue his agenda as president, I now understand why.

Most Marxist coups rely on deception — and that was certainly true of this one. Just about everything Obama said during the campaign was a calculated lie. His handlers and key supporters were equally willing to lie and deceive to gain advantage.

Once Marxists seize power through deception, manipulation, exploitation, and corrupt interference with the political process, they never give it up. It is entirely possible that we will never see the end of the current regime of Marxists in America. In 20 years, the President of the United States might still be a man named Barack Obama. At the very least, we can expect Obama and his fellow conspirators to do everything in their power to ensure that outcome.

She seems a little confused as to whether the "real Marxist coup" took place on November 5, or if it will come about in the next 20 years of the Obama administration.  In fact, she doesn't seem to know what Marxism is, except that it is bad.

By the way, I enjoy the links she uses to support her proposition.

The Royal Wedding Is Kaput

Ken AshfordElection 2008Leave a Comment

Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston have broken off their engagement.

When it was revealed that Sarah Palin's unmarried teenage daughter was pregnant, it was a tough time for family values folks.  But they were quick to point out that Bristol was doing the right thing by getting married because babies get their magic from having two parents (of the opposite sex, of course).

And then John McCain stood with the happy couple, while Levi felt the definite pressure of a rifle muzzle at his back.

The election came and went, and yet, no marriage.  That was somewhat understandable — Sarah was a little busy.

A few months pass, and the baby (Tripp) was born, and yet, still no marriage.  What was the hold-up?

If you ask me, they never intended to marry.  But of course, they couldn't say that at the time and alienate the religious right.

So I am shocked, SHOCKED, I tell you.

Now for some details:

Levi's sister Mercede Johnston says Bristol actually broke up with Levi more than a month ago, is not attending school and rarely lets her baby daddy see their young son. Mercede also says Bristol even told him that she hates him and, when she learned she was pregnant, wished the baby wasn't his.

That's interesting, because in an interview just last month with FOX's Gretta Van Susteren, Bristol said the 19-year-old Levi is a hands-on dad and that they planned on marrying after finishing their education.

Jerry Springer needs to book the Wasilla hillbillies as soon as possible, and bring some healing.

Watching The Space Shuttle Liftoff [UPDATE: Um, not so much]

Ken AshfordScience & TechnologyLeave a Comment

You want to watch the Space Shuttle go up?  Not on TV?

Tonight Thursday night may be your night, if you live in the East Coast.

People in the eastern United States will get a great opportunity, weather permitting, to see the Space Shuttle Discovery launched into orbit Wednesday evening.

The shuttle flight (STS-119) will be the 28th to rendezvous and dock with the International Space Station (ISS), and the glow of its engines will be visible along much of the Eastern Seaboard of the United States. A SPACE.com map shows the area of visibility.

Here's the area of visibility:

090309-shuttle-spot-map-02

NASA info: Weather permitting, a night launch of the space shuttle is typically visible from much of the East Coast. The most dramatic view is from inside the yellow circle. But within the red circle, skywatchers may see very bright, pulsating, fast-moving object that resembles the brightest stars in the sky from 3 to 8 minutes after launch. For viewers near the edges of the circles, however, the shuttle will hug the horizon, so an unobstructed view is needed.

So, for us in the Triad, we would look into the southeast skies about 3-7 minutes after liftoff.  It may be possible to see the shuttle with the SRBs, but that will be very low on the horizon.  More likely, observation of the shuttle will be just with the main engine.  If eight or more minutes pass, you can pack it in.

You'll want to look low on the horizon, so make sure there are no trees or buildings in the way:

Depending upon your distance from the coastline, the shuttle will be relatively low on the horizon (5 to 15 degrees; your fist on an outstretched arm covers about 10 degrees of sky).  If you're positioned near the edge of a viewing circle, the shuttle will barely come above the horizon and could be obscured by low clouds or haze.

The key, of course, is to make sure the shuttle has taken off.  So watch it on TV (liftoff is was scheduled for 9:20:10 p.m. ET) and make sure it goes on time (it doesn't always).  Then go outside at your pre-planned sighting spot.  (If you're not sure which direction is "southeast", use Google Maps to type your address).

The forecast for the Triad tonight (at 9:30 p.m.) is "mostly cloudy", but you may have some luck.

Happy shuttle spotting!

BREAKING NEWS — Uh, hold off on that for a day:

NASA has postponed the launch of space shuttle Discovery because of a gas leak. The leak of gaseous hydrogen occurred as the launch team was filling the external fuel tank for liftoff Wednesday night. The seven astronauts had yet to board the spaceship.

Discovery's flight to the international space station is already a month late because of concern about hydrogen gas valves in the engine compartment.

NASA officials say the leak occurred in plumbing outside of the shuttle and had nothing to do with those valves.

Shuttle officials are now shooting for a launch on Thursday night.

We're supposed to get rain tomorrow night…..

New Blood To Lead GOP

Ken AshfordRace, RepublicansLeave a Comment

The Republican whisper campaign to remove its own leader gets louder:

Steele May Face No Confidence Vote

Republican insiders tell Political Wire that a no confidence vote on RNC Chairman Michael Steele is likely to be called after the NY-20 special election on March 31 — regardless of whether Republicans win the seat or not.

Katon Dawson, who came in second in the January RNC vote, is said to be quietly organizing a vote and is getting the support of several state party chairmen who want to dump Steele.

Now, Steele really is muffing things up, starting with the fact that he appears to more interested in doing TV appearances than hiring staff.

But the bigger picture is this: The Republican party is setting to dump its first African-American leader mere weeks into his tenure in favor of Katon Dawson, a member of an all-white country club.

Says a lot, doesn't it?

Banks Upset To Discover There Is No Such Thing As A Free Lunch

Ken AshfordCorporate Greed, Economy & Jobs & DeficitLeave a Comment

Bailed-out banks are complaining:

Financial institutions that are getting government bailout funds have been told to put off evictions and modify mortgages for distressed homeowners. They must let shareholders vote on executive pay packages. They must slash dividends, cancel employee training and morale-building exercises, and withdraw job offers to foreign citizens.

As public outrage swells over the rapidly growing cost of bailing out financial institutions, the Obama administration and lawmakers are attaching more and more strings to rescue funds.

The conditions are necessary to prevent Wall Street executives from paying lavish bonuses and buying corporate jets, some experts say, but others say the conditions go beyond protecting taxpayers and border on social engineering.

Some bankers say the conditions have become so onerous that they want to return the bailout money. The list includes small banks like the TCF Financial Corporation of Wayzata, Minn., and Iberia Bank of Lafayette, La., as well as giants like Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo.

They say they plan to return the money as quickly as possible or as soon as regulators set up a process to accept the refunds. On Tuesday, Signature Bank of New York announced that because of new executive pay restrictions in the economic stimulus package, it notified the Treasury that it intended to return the $120 million it had received from the government only three months ago.

Other institutions like Johnson Bank of Racine, Wis., initially expressed interest in seeking bailout funds but have now changed their minds. Bank executives told The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that one reason they rejected the government money was to avoid any disruption in the bank’s role in the local community, including supporting the zoo or opera company if they chose to.

[Emphasis added]

WTF?  Yes, banks — if you get millions, or even billions, in taxpayer money because you f'ed up your business, you've got to expect some taxpayer oversight.

The article goes on to note that some of the "strings attached" might cause banks to lose money.  Well, join the club.  Everybody has lost money.  (Want a gander at my 401(k)?)

But, you might argue, we can't have banks lose money.  That will make them insolvent.  And how will that help the economy?

Well, apparently some banks are not too concerned about insolvency, if they intend to return the bailout money.

Which brings up the larger point in this: If the banks are in such a position where they can return bailout money, then why did we give it to them in the first place?

Punditry At The Corner

Ken AshfordHealth Care, Right Wing Punditry/IdiocyLeave a Comment

Ramesh Ponnuru:

The other day I commented on the poor quality of polling on stem-cell research. I'm afraid that the Rasmussen poll, cited in today's web briefing, is no exception. Here's the question they use: "President Obama has decided to lift the ban on federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. Do you agree or disagree with President Obama’s decision?"

What is wrong with that question, Ramesh?  Slanted?  Hardly.  Perhaps your problem is that it is not slanted.  Perhaps you think the polling question ought to be: "Do you agree or disagree with killing babies in their extreme infancy?" [UPDATE:  Well, I was right.  The preferred question is: "An embryo is a developing human life, therefore it should not be destroyed for scientific or research purposes.  Agree or Disagree?"] [ANOTHER UPDATE:  Kevin Drum agrees with me].

Then, as if to outdo himself, Ramesh writes:

Rasmussen also reports that 40 percent of those surveyed say they have followed the debate "very closely." No estimate is given for the percentage of those respondents who are lying.

Seriously???  When has any pollster provided an estimate of how many respondents are lying?  And how would a pollster even have the basis for making such an estimate?  Maybe they should ask a follow-up to respondents: "Are you lying?"

This, of course, is yet another example of right-wing pundits and their inability to accept reality.  The majority of the nation supports Obama.  The majority of the nation supports stem cell research.  Poll after poll shows this.  Deal with it, Ramesh, and stop blaming the pollsters.  You and your party are not going to get out of the woods until you stop denying that you are in the woods.

UPDATE:  Now, this is an example of a poorly-worded poll question (click to enlarge):

Tempimage13 

Fortunately, CNN changed it an hour or so ago….

 

The Last Photo Of Lincoln?

Ken AshfordHistoryLeave a Comment

A descendent of Ulysses S. Grant may possess the last known photograph of Abe Lincoln before his assassination, some believe:

If it is indeed Lincoln, it would be the only known photo of the 16th president in front of the executive mansion and a rare find, as only about 130 photos of him are known to exist. A copy of the image was provided to The Associated Press.

Grant's 38-year-old great-great-grandson, Ulysses S. Grant VI, had seen the picture before, but didn't examine it closely until late January. A tall figure in the distance caught his eye, although the man's facial features are obscured.

He called Keya Morgan, a New York-based photography collector and Lincoln aficionado, who helped identify it as Lincoln.

"I was like, 'I don't know who this is, Keya,'" said Grant, a Springfield, Mo., construction business owner.

Although authenticating the 2 1/2-by-3 1/2-inch photo beyond a shadow of a doubt could be difficult, several historians who looked at it said the evidence supporting Morgan's claim is compelling and believable.

Prior to this discovery, the last known photograph of Lincoln is widely believed to be this, taken on March 8, 1865, a little more than a month before he was assassinated:

March08abe

Well, let's have a look at the newly discovered photo:

Lastabe 

Let's blow it up to see (supposedly) Abe:

Abeclose 

There is handwriting on the back of the photo saying “Lincoln in front of the White House”, as well as the date 1865 and the seal of photographer Henry F. Warren.

I can buy that the tall man, apparently with a beard, is Lincoln.  I'm not convinced it is necessarily the last photo of him.

Warren took the photo at the top of this post, widely believed to be last photo of Lincoln.  So the newly discovered Lincoln photo bearing Warren's sesal may have been taken on the same photo session.

But Warren's notes suggest that he took three photos that day.  The first one was supposedly a "standing shot"; the latter two were head and chest.  Warren's first photo (or its negative) have never been seen. 

Which raises the question: is this [the newly discovered photo] the first of Warren's three photos?  If so, then it is not the last photo of Lincoln.

This doesn't undermine the historical importance.  Any photo of Lincoln is an historical find.  And if this "new" photo is, in fact, Lincoln, it is the first known photo of any President in front of the White House.

Cramer vs. Non-Cramer

Ken AshfordPopular CultureLeave a Comment

The TV battle between Jon Stewart and that crazy financial Cramer guy goes on.  You can catch up here.

The two go mano-a-mano on Thursday night, when Cramer appears on Stewart's show.

UPDATE:  The countercriticism levelled against Stewart is that he "cherry-picks" things to make Cramer's predictions look bad.  To which Stewart essentially replies, "Yes.  That's what I do.  And I do what I do well.  Do you do what you do well, Mr. Cramer?"

To be fair, it's kind of easy to "cherry pick" from Cramer's predictions to show he's not exactly very good:

Cramer_prediction_graph

I, Soothsayer

Ken AshfordRandom MusingsLeave a Comment

I had a dream that Robert McNamara died within the coming week.

So I'm recording it now just in case it happens.

Unless of course, he's already dead.  But I don't think he is.

Space, The Fragrant Frontier

Ken AshfordPopular CultureLeave a Comment

Yes, they are coming out with "Star Trek" colognes:

Tiberius

Named after James T. Kirk's middle name. It has sweet citron zest, black pepper, and cedar as its top notes (top notes refers to those scents that are noticeable first) and warm vanilla, white musk, and sandalwood as its base notes (scents perceived last, usually about a half hour after application).

Gw_tiberius_t 

Red Shirt

Tag line: "Because Tomorrow May Never Come".  Cute.  The cologne has top notes of green mandarin, bergamot, and lavender, with base notes of leather and grey musk.

GW_redshirt_t 

They're also coming out with Ponn Farr cologne, named after the seven-year-cycle Vulcan mating ritual.

Star trek cologne 

Oy.

2,116 North Carolina Sex Offenders Are On MySpace

Ken AshfordCrime, Local Interest, Sex/Morality/Family Values4 Comments

CNN has the story:

More than 2,100 registered North Carolina sex offenders were found on the social networking site MySpace, the state attorney general's office said Tuesday.

In response to a subpoena from state Attorney General Roy Cooper, "MySpace turned over the names, IP and e-mail addresses of 2,116 convicted North Carolina sex offenders found on its social networking Web site," Cooper's office said in a written statement.

Cooper has requested similar information from Facebook, another popular social networking site, the statement said.

MySpace has told North Carolina authorities that the sex offenders it identified have been removed from the site.

***

North Carolina passed a law last year banning sex offenders within the state from social networking sites where children are members, making it a felony offense.

My first reaction is: OMG?  There are that many sex offenders in North Carolina?

I mean, 2,100 is a high number – especially since it represents only those who are on MySpace.

But I went to the NC Sex Offender Registry, and found out that 27 registered sex offenders live within 5 miles of my house.

Very disconcerting….