Today, Attorney General Eric Holder announced that prosecutors will be seeking the death penalty against Dzhokhar Tsarnaev for the bombing of the Boston Marathon. This is not without precedent, and this was not unexpected. Hell, it might be the most predictable news story of the day. There are a number of reasons to find the death penalty unjust. Some see the massive racial disparity, some see the sheer number of innocents who accidentally get murdered by their state, some see the torture possibly inflicted by unverified drug cocktails, some straight-up do not believe the State, as such, has...
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A final short thought on the State of the Union address
Yes, I’ve called the State of the Union address long, boring and pointless. And it is. But how is it that the most important presentation before the most powerful and important institution in the country is basically a 16th-century Puritan sermon? Hell, even churches—those bastions of technological innovation—in the 21st century use music to accompany to enhance the experience and use screens to present images to make the material a little easier to understand. But the president walks up an aisle, stands at a lectern, and simply talks for a while, thanks God, and then we’re on our way...
Continue reading...“Well, space is there, and we’re going to climb it, and the moon and the planets are there, and new hopes for knowledge and peace are there.”
I’ve been struggling all day to put together thoughts on the Challenger tragedy anniversary and the bigger question of what role the U.S. should maintain in humanity’s exploration of space. Part of it is the very happenstance of the calendar: it’s a thought that only occurred because of the anniversary, as probably any other day that isn’t already taken over by State of the Union madness would be a better day to meditate on the theme. Surely, unlike President John F. Kennedy’s address to Congress on May 25, 1961, or President George W. Bush’s own 2004 State...
Continue reading...The State of the Union address is too long and boring
As according to custom, the president (LOL) has been invited to address Congress tomorrow on “the State of the Union and recommend to their Consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.” There are lots of ruminations and predictions going about as to what the speech will contain, what themes will be prevalent, and what initiatives will be unveiled. I predict that it’s going to be long, boring and utterly ineffectual. Arguably the greatest State of the Union address to date is President Franklin D. Roosevelt\’s 1941 installment (he, uh, had a few), which is...
Continue reading...Christine O'Donnell "not a witch"
In her new 30-second spot, Delaware Republican nominee Christine O’Donnell—who claims to have “dabbled in witchcraft“—begins by making it quite clear that she is not, in fact, a witch. But, with that black top, dark backdrop, and pale skin, it might be fair to say “She look like one?”
Continue reading...Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!
I have very little to say, and even fewer excuses to make. So, instead, I propose a gift and we’ll pretend all of this never happened: You’re welcome, and I hope it’s still available, because that’s genius. Starts a little slow, but from about 2:30 on, it’s straight fire.
Continue reading...Christine O'Donnell's imaginary witchcraft
Slactivist: The oddest thing to me about Republican Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell’s “I Was A Teenage Witch” claims is that so much of the reaction has accepted her claim that such a thing might be possible. It is not. Her claims of “dabbling” in what she called “witchcraft” are not true. The supposed witchcraft she describes is not something that exists. Such stories of bloody altars and Satanic covens are common and they are false. All of them. That is a matter of established fact. The supposed witchery O’Donnell describes is simply the stuff of Satanic panic...
Continue reading...The Politics of Birth Control
Pop Quiz: Match the country with its government\’s birth control news: 1) In Country A, the president pledges to provide birth control to poor couples who want it. 2) In Country B, the legislature hedges on making any commitments to providing low-cost birth control to women who want it, in the face of loud opposition from Catholic Bishops. Ok, from the set-up of the question, you might already have guessed that Country B is the U.S. (come on, President Obama making pledges about birth control? Sounds like something Candidate Obama might have said…) The surprising part is that Country A is...
Continue reading...Atheists, agnostics, Jews and Mormons know more about religion than you do
The Pew Forum on Religion and Public life released a report today on America\’s religious knowledge, and the findings were…pretty surprising? Atheists and agnostics, Jews and Mormons are among the highest-scoring groups on a new survey of religious knowledge, outperforming evangelical Protestants, mainline Protestants and Catholics on questions about the core teachings, history and leading figures of major world religions. On average, Americans correctly answer 16 of the 32 religious knowledge questions on the survey by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life. Atheists and agnostics average 20.9 correct answers. Jews and Mormons do...
Continue reading...Moody's "double agent" ratings: How the game is rigged
RJ Eskow: Despite all the evidence, Moody\’s is still treated as a credible player … and one that\’s powerful enough to send a warning shot across the bow of the United States government. It threatened to downgrade the US government\’s debt last March if more wasn\’t done to reduce the government\’s debt. That\’s the kind of rigged game we\’re facing: One of the biggest sources of the government\’s debt is the economic collapse. That collapse was enabled in large measure by the bad ratings issuing by rating franchises like Moody\’s. Now Moody\’s wants to hamstring the government\’s...
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