May 2009 archive

May 28 2009

Ban On Hugging

(Crossposted from  The Free Speech Zone)

This story is very personal for me seeing how every person I am friends with or meet for the first time gets a variation of a hug.  

The response is usually “why is this person hugging me?” but the awkward moment subsides when they realize that anyone who hugs strangers is crazy enough to kill you.  They smile, laugh, and eventually give up on feeling weird and associate my presence with a hug.  Eventually, they think i’m awesome.

And now, all the kids realize that hugging is cool.  So of course, “the man” bans it….

May 28 2009

EXPOSED! The Media Lie Of A Center-Right Nation

Throughout much of last year’s presidential campaign, and right on through the first weeks of Barack Obama’s administration, the media has persistently peddled the falsehood that America is a center-right nation, politically and socially. Now Media Matters has published a study (full pdf here) that thoroughly debunks this notion, and they do it by using surveys and facts that realistically portray the ideological character of the country – something the media may want to check in to.

The Media Matters study is a comprehensive look at the American electorate. It covers virtually every one of the most debated subjects of public discourse: Size of government; health care; taxes; abortion; gay rights. It also examines the demographics of age, ethnicity, gender, and geography. And every case the evidence shows that America is a progressive, and yes, a center-left nation.

And nowhere is this more misunderstood than in the media…

May 28 2009

EXPOSED! The Media Lie Of A Center-Right Nation

Throughout much of last year’s presidential campaign, and right on through the first weeks of Barack Obama’s administration, the media has persistently peddled the falsehood that America is a center-right nation, politically and socially. Now Media Matters has published a study (full pdf here) that thoroughly debunks this notion, and they do it by using surveys and facts that realistically portray the ideological character of the country – something the media may want to check in to.

The Media Matters study is a comprehensive look at the American electorate. It covers virtually every one of the most debated subjects of public discourse: Size of government; health care; taxes; abortion; gay rights. It also examines the demographics of age, ethnicity, gender, and geography. And every case the evidence shows that America is a progressive, and yes, a center-left nation.

And nowhere is this more misunderstood than in the media…

May 28 2009

EXPOSED! The Media Lie Of A Center-Right Nation

Throughout much of last year’s presidential campaign, and right on through the first weeks of Barack Obama’s administration, the media has persistently peddled the falsehood that America is a center-right nation, politically and socially. Now Media Matters has published a study (full pdf here) that thoroughly debunks this notion, and they do it by using surveys and facts that realistically portray the ideological character of the country – something the media may want to check in to.

The Media Matters study is a comprehensive look at the American electorate. It covers virtually every one of the most debated subjects of public discourse: Size of government; health care; taxes; abortion; gay rights. It also examines the demographics of age, ethnicity, gender, and geography. And every case the evidence shows that America is a progressive, and yes, a center-left nation.

And nowhere is this more misunderstood than in the media…

May 28 2009

Confirmed: Abu Ghraib abuse included rape

You read it right.  This “conspiracy theory” is now confirmed thanks to the Telegraph, a UK based newspaper.

Reading further is pretty graphic, if short…

May 28 2009

EXPOSED! The Media Lie Of A Center-Right Nation

Throughout much of last year’s presidential campaign, and right on through the first weeks of Barack Obama’s administration, the media has persistently peddled the falsehood that America is a center-right nation, politically and socially. Now Media Matters has published a study (full pdf here) that thoroughly debunks this notion, and they do it by using surveys and facts that realistically portray the ideological character of the country – something the media may want to check in to.

The Media Matters study is a comprehensive look at the American electorate. It covers virtually every one of the most debated subjects of public discourse: Size of government; health care; taxes; abortion; gay rights. It also examines the demographics of age, ethnicity, gender, and geography. And every case the evidence shows that America is a progressive, and yes, a center-left nation.

And nowhere is this more misunderstood than in the media…

May 28 2009

EXPOSED! The Media Lie Of A Center-Right Nation

Throughout much of last year’s presidential campaign, and right on through the first weeks of Barack Obama’s administration, the media has persistently peddled the falsehood that America is a center-right nation, politically and socially. Now Media Matters has published a study (full pdf here) that thoroughly debunks this notion, and they do it by using surveys and facts that realistically portray the ideological character of the country – something the media may want to check in to.

The Media Matters study is a comprehensive look at the American electorate. It covers virtually every one of the most debated subjects of public discourse: Size of government; health care; taxes; abortion; gay rights. It also examines the demographics of age, ethnicity, gender, and geography. And every case the evidence shows that America is a progressive, and yes, a center-left nation.

And nowhere is this more misunderstood than in the media…

May 28 2009

Overnight Caption Contest

May 28 2009

Pony Party: Relaxation Time

Happy Wednesday, everyone.  The pony party is a place to relax, enjoy, and post weird things in the comments.  It is an Open Thread.  Please do not wReck the party.

funny pictures
moar funny pictures

May 27 2009

TPM Reporting Sestak WILL run against Specter.

Brian Buetler of TPM is reporting that Congressman Sestak will run against Senator Specter in the Pa. Democratic primary.

Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA) is privately telling supporters that he intends to run for Senate, TPMDC has confirmed.

“He intends to get in the race,” says Meg Infantino, the Congressman’s sister, who works at Sestak for Congress. “In the not too distant future, he will sit down with his wife and daughter to make the final decision.”

TPM: EXCLUSIVE: Sestak Intends To Run For Senate

Follow the link and read the handwritten note to a supporter in which Sestak announces he will run and asks for a contribution.  And give TPM some views, because they broke the story.  

May 27 2009

Four at Four

  1. Reuters reports Iraq starts oil exports from Kurdistan. “Iraq started exporting oil from its largely autonomous Kurdistan region for the first time on Wednesday, Iraq’s Oil Ministry said, in an apparent breakthrough after years of deadlock over disputed Kurdish oil contracts.” The oil is flowing over pipelines to the “Turkish port of Ceyhan at an initial test rate of 10,000 barrels per day”.

    The Financial Times adds Baghdad may yet fulfill its potential. “After almost 40 years of exile, international oil companies are about to return to Iraq. For companies such as BP, Shell, Total and ExxonMobil, Iraq represents the biggest opportunity in decades.”

    A reason for war? “International groups have been short of opportunities to tap easy oil as oil-rich countries have closed their borders to them and relied on their own national companies and on service contractors”.

    Meanwhile, the NY Times reports “A roadside bomb killed three Americans traveling in Falluja,” including State Department official Terrence Barnich, the deputy director of the Iraq Transition Assistance Office in Baghdad. “The attack also killed an American soldier and a civilian working for the Defense Department.” The AP adds May was “the deadliest month for the American military since September.”

Four at Four continues with CO2 emissions, national security changes, and Sotomayor is the antithesis of the Republicans’ “stealth candidate”.

May 27 2009

Breaking The Taboo: What We Face On Every Front

I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him;

The evil that men do lives after them,

The good is oft interred with their bones,

So let it be with Caesar

Billy Shakespeare

This essay is taboo, this essay speaks an awkward, uncomfortable truth. This essay is controversial. This essay speaks plainly of something that is not easily spoken about. This essay will contain more caveats than I have ever written!

Los Caveats: Please read before proceeding.

For I place this essay before you today not to condemn a subset of humanity, not to say that they are evil, not to call for their heads, and certainly not to condemn every person reading it who shares any of the characteristics of the subset in question. I share them myself.

If you are reading this and yet do share some of those characteristics…you have probably been fighting your whole life to defeat…..”it.” Yet, it will probably still sting. You may feel a sense of shame, but I say to you now, with all of the honesty I can muster after examining my heart and conscience, I do not write this to shame you. You may what I am about to write and you are about to read… ‘insensitive.’ You may even find it insulting. You may become angry. The words on this page may make you feel…..a certain way. Which is why they are taboo. But they are, to the best of my ability to perceive it, The Truth. And though I take full responsibility for writing them, I do not take responsibility for how they make you feel. I did not make this Truth. I just have the temerity to set it in print.

As the subset I am writing about often are heard to say….I apologize if what I say offends you in any way.

If you have read and understand these caveats, you may proceed below the fold.

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