Archive for the ‘Splenetics’ Category
You Go, Roger Ebert!
The Panda's Thumb suggests "One Thumb Up for the TalkOrigins Archive?" over this startlingly frank piece by Roger Ebert: "Film about volcanoes falls victim to creationists", on the basis on the final paragraph: […] Surely moviegoers deserve the right to decide for themselves what movies to see? "Volcanoes of the Deep Sea," according to the […]
In: All, It's Only Rocket Science, Splenetics
Pseudo-Science & Schools
Some things just make you want to throw your hands up in the air, or scream and punch a brick wall or something. Somebody kindly pointed out this transcript of a report on yesterday's Newshour with Jim Lehrer called "Creation Conflict in Schools", reported by Jeffrey Brown. Here were a few comments made by students […]
In: All, It's Only Rocket Science, Raised Eyebrows Dept., Splenetics
How Could They Be So Stupid?
The following exhilarating exchange was reported by Media Matters as taking place "On the March 28 edition of MSNBC's Scarborough Country, host Joe Scarborough interviewed Dr. Ronald Cranford, one of the two neurologists selected by Michael Schiavo to examine Terri Schiavo pursuant to an October 2001 appellate court mandate." [Lisa] DANIELS: Doctor, was a CAT […]
In: All, Raised Eyebrows Dept., Splenetics
Good-News Recruiting
One notes, in passing, that these are the people who [erroneously] believe that homosexuals recruit (evidently proven by the fact that we "cannnot reproduce"): Good News Clubs are sponsored by the Child Evangelism Fellowship, a national group that seeks to convert young children to fundamentalist Christianity. At the weekly meetings, children are divided into groups […]
A Federal Case
If it weren't that the issues are rather serious, as are their implications, one could almost chortle with a gleeful sense of schadenfreude at the way some Republicans are revealing so clearly that their sanctimonious rhetoric is just so much hot air. This past week, against the backdrop of the attempted emotional exploitation in the […]
The Homosexual Agenda
I have, for more years than I can remember, been part of the Homosexual Agenda; I can even remember back more than 20 years when it was the militant homosexual agenda. I don't think we were ever very clear at the time just what was on the homosexual agenda — lists have surfaced from time […]
In: All, Eureka!, Splenetics
Erring for Future Life
This past weekend, I've heard the phrase "culture of life" quite a bit more than before, not to mention quite a bit more than I'd like. We've also seen the introduction of the Bush Doctrine of Erring: with tough questions, one should err on the "side of life" (which is all for the best in […]
In: All, Eureka!, Splenetics
Special Marriage
Another Eureka! moment, thanks to the NYTimes via the International Herald Tribune ("Exploiting Terry Schaivo"). …supporters of Schiavo's parents, particularly members of the religious right, leaned heavily on Congress and the White House to step in. They did so on Monday with the new law, which gives "any parent of Theresa Marie Schiavo" standing to […]
In: All, Eureka!, Splenetics
"Old Jewish Men Confused"
[NYTimes] Scott McClellan, the press secretary to President Bush, called on you and allowed you to ask questions on a nearly daily basis. What, exactly, is your relationship with him? [Jeff Gannon] I was just another guy in the press room. Did I try to curry favor with him? Sure. When he got married, I […]
In: All, Common-Place Book, Raised Eyebrows Dept., Splenetics
Religion a Choice?
The Panda's Thumb reports on research suggesting that "Genes contribute to religious inclination". Now, if I were writing the story, no doubt a thriller pitting anti-evolutionist Christians against brilliant, couragous, but slightly naive scientists studying evolution, I'd probably plan a climax in which it is revealed that genes — those bugaboos that keep throwing Darwin […]
In: All, Splenetics, The Art of Conversation
Republicans Unexpectedly Oppose Traditional Marriage
When I first read these paragraphs in an editorial from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer ("Congress: Democracy's day off"), I looked back at it several times, wondering where the typo was, or where the word had been left out that changed its meaning: The House passed on a voice vote, without hearing or thought, a measure to […]
In: All, Raised Eyebrows Dept., Splenetics
Oh No! Gay Porn!!
Noted with irritation: Gay author Greg Herren said he was surprised when he was asked to give a presentation to the Gay-Straight Alliance at Manchester High School in Chesterfield County, Va. He was told that his presentation had been approved by the faculty adviser of the school’s one-year-old Gay-Straight Alliance, as well as by the […]
Preserving Citizens' Rights
From an interview that Raw Story had with Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), this excerpt: “It seems like on every front they’re [Republicans] trying to frustrate, obfuscate and make it as difficult as possible for citizens to assert their rights,” he added. Conyers said he believes the American democracy is struggling under the weight of current […]
In: All, Common-Place Book, Splenetics
Blame the Phone
In Brick, New Jersey, the Board of Education seems embarrassed over an incident that occured on their watch. In brief, according to the Asbury Park Press, …a videotape showing a Brick Township High School teacher [Stuart Mantel] screaming at his students to show respect for the national anthem — and then pulling the chair from […]
In: All, Raised Eyebrows Dept., Splenetics
No Pajamas, Please!
Okay, so there's this interesting court case going on in California in which the question, arises: "At a Suit's Core: Are Bloggers Reporters, Too?" (by Johathan Glater, in the NYTimes). It's fascinating, and the question is interesting and all that, but here's the bit that bothers me: Attempting to draw a distinction based on the […]
Radical Homo Operatives
To my eyes via Digby quoting Garance Franke-Ruta, this snippet: Which brings us back to Jordan. He was brought down not by outraged citizen-bloggers but by a mix of GOP operatives and military conservatives. I have always wanted to an "operative" — on the side of the forces for good, of course. Maybe this my […]
Heterosexuals Support Gay Marriage
The fabulous Deb Price, in "Heterosexuals increasingly back gay marriage" (the Detroit News), talks about the welcome support that we get for marriage equality from some unexpected quarters. She leads with this story: When Baptist Pastor Stephen Jones talks about what makes for a happy marriage with Janice, his wife of 35 years, one special […]
The Warm-Up Battle
Digby writes in his blog about feeling that the President's stumping for social-security "reform" is, well, hard to explain: I think one of the things that is hurting Bush is the fact that he's putting so much energy into something so abstract and far away. He's supposed to be the dude who deals with bad […]
A Climate of Hate
In a fascinating and provocative entry in his AMERICAblog, "A judge's family is brutally murdered, and the religious right spews crap like this", John Aravosis says: […] That then got me wondering what else the religious right has publicly said about judges, and whether a climate of hate against judges is being created in America. […]
The Object of Loyalty
Today I finished reading a crime novel, A Bitter Feast, by S. J. Rozan. Her main character, PI Lydia Chin (or Chin Ling Wan-ju), enters a room (on p. 276) and listens in on the conversation of an elder in her family association: His position, as I stood respectfully listening, seemed to be that no […]