Archive for the ‘culture’ Category
To my friends in California
Please, vote NO on proposition 8
Filed under culture, politics : Comments (0) : Sep 21st, 2008
When Gay = Negro
While watching this hateful little screed, imagine that they’re talking about interracial marriage instead of gay marriage and you’ll get a true taste of the hate and fear spewing forth from the homophobic wingnut brigades. They’ve merely transferred their venom from African-Americans to another minority group they can punish for being different.
I encourage everyone to visit “No on 8″ and contribute what you can to ensure that the hate-mongers on the right don’t win.
Filed under culture, education, politics : Comments (1) : Sep 19th, 2008
The Fact About Fact
You have to hand it them–the Republicans have been incredibly successful in dismantling the concept of objective evidence or fact. In this campaign (just as in 2004 and 2000), it’s not facts that matter. It’s feelings. It’s emotions. It’s who would make a better drinking buddy or hockey mom.
This article from the Washington Post sums it up nicely:
As Campaign Heats Up, Untruths Can Become Facts Before They’re Undone - washingtonpost.com via kwout
This is the theme we see over and over and over again. In the unholy alliance between the big two parties and their big media friends, politics have degraded into “he said/he said” juvenile bickering with no adult supervision. No one is being held to any standard of honesty or integrity. Fact has become nothing but a four letter word.
In my mind, this election is as much a referendum on the American electorate’s ability for rational analysis as it is a contest between McCain and Obama. I really hope that fact still have a place in our Democracy. Because once we give up on that, what do we have left?
Filed under culture, education, politics : Comments (1) : Sep 10th, 2008
Political Cartoons
My two favorite politcal cartoons from this week:
Above really captures the way I’ve been feeling ever since McCain started on his new “change” campaign. Did we really forget that the Republicans have been in charge for the last 8 years? And for the first 6 of those years they controlled both houses of Congress as well!
Below just makes me laugh.
Filed under culture, politics : Comments (2) : Sep 8th, 2008
The stupidity of “intelligent” design
Muttmutt writes:
In retrospect, Twitter is a really stupid medium for discussing something as complex as the nature of science, evolution and the retrograde stupidity that is “Intelligent Design” (aka creationism in a new package). So I figured it was worth my time to provide some basic groundwork for people who think that the complexity of life on Earth is somehow the result of some design rather that the work of natural (rather than supernatural) forces.
I must admit that it boggles my mind. Here we are in the 21st century and we still to have to argue with 14th century ideas.
Filed under culture, environment : Comments (1) : Sep 7th, 2008
Facebook ad of the day - BaconSalt
This demonstrates two things:
1) Facebook is able to target ads with a very fine grain
2) My demographic on Facebook has very strange food preferences. (BaconSalt? Seriously?)
Facebook ad of the day - BaconSalt
Filed under Milwaukee, culture, technology : Comments (0) : Sep 7th, 2008
Community Organizers
I thought it was an exceptionally low blow when Sarah Palin and Rudy Giuliani laughed at the concept of a community organizer last night. To be clear, they weren’t saying that Obama is inexperienced because he was a community organizer, they were saying that “community organizer” is a job worthy of ridicule in and of itself. This, in my estimation, is shameful–and a big mistake.
In so doing, the GOP last night really drove home the notion that they’re the party of wealthy white people who don’t need (or understand the role of) community organizers. The kind of people who have been in positions of power for so long that they don’t even recognize their own affluence anymore. (And yet, ironically, seem to always make themselves out to be the victims of some attack by the ‘liberal elites’)
Here’s a gentleman who agrees:
Filed under culture, politics : Comments (2) : Sep 4th, 2008
Sarah Palin Sex Ed “Don’t ask, don’t tell”
My most recent tadfad post (and artistic endeavour) takes a direct shot at the Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin. Some (including Barack Obama) want to take the high road and keep Palin’s family out of the debate. I’m not ready to be the good guy.
And here’s why. For years, self righteous socially conservative Republican religious extremists have advocated abstinence only sex education (or as I call it, “don’t ask, don’t tell”). This unique flavor of [non]education tells kids to “just say no” to sex until marriage. Because if we’ve learned nothing else from the last few thousand years of human civilization, it’s that teenagers raging with hormones are just not that interested in sex.
This is lunacy. Sheer and utter lunacy. A complete abdication of our moral duty as adults in equipping our children with the knowledge required to safely navigate the world they live in. Teenagers need to comprehend safe sex and need easy access to contraceptives. There is no morally acceptable alternative. And that is why I’m not ready to be the nice guy with Sarah Palin.
She has demonstrated in a very personal way exactly what her “don’t ask, don’t tell” sex education approach creates : teenage mothers. And frankly, this infuriates me. We can do better. Our children deserve better. We owe it to our future generations.
In closing, a brief plea to Sarah Palin (and the) : WAKE THE FUCK UP AND START TALKING TO YOUR CHILDREN ABOUT SEX. Thank you.
Filed under culture, politics : Comments (1) : Sep 3rd, 2008
Alaska is for lovers
Would you buy this on a shirt?
Filed under culture, politics : Comments (2) : Sep 2nd, 2008
Obama’s 2008 Acceptance Speech - Word Cloud
A word cloud from wordle.
Filed under culture, politics : Comments (0) : Sep 2nd, 2008
