Thursday, June 30, 2005

Democrats did good framing till they blew it

George Lakoff (he of "framing" fame) says that the Democrats were doing some pretty good framing of the issues last week - until they blew it.
For a while last week, the Democrats were doing better at framing the issues. The poll numbers showed that Bush’s approval rating was down, that around 60% of the voters had turned against the Iraq War, that support for Bush on his handling of 911 and terrorism was lower, but still pretty high.

They correctly recognized in the numbers that the public had begun to separate Iraq from 911, and they recognized the relevance of the Downing Street memo in showing that Bush had betrayed the trust of the American people in sending troops into Iraq on false pretenses. They had begun to form an anti-Iraq-War caucus and to hammer home the consequences of these development. And even staunch Republicans were listening to their arguments and coming to Bush to suggest withdrawal of troops from Iraq.

In short, the Democrats had begun to use the basics of framing issues in terms of their own values and principles, the lessons arising from research at the Rockridge Institute. Had they continued to argue with unity on the difference between 911 and Iraq, and on the fact that George Bush betrayed our troops and is weakening our country, they might have made it impossible for Bush to once again link Iraq with 911.

Then they lost it. Karl Rove outsmarted the Democrats again. And he used the most basic trick in the book to do it. ...

Well, practice makes perfect.

Use of "brainstorming" no longer permitted

The Observer reports that, in the government in Ireland, the use of "brainstorming" is off the table.
David Brent would never approve. 'Brainstorming', the buzzword used by executives to generate ideas among their staff, has been deemed politically incorrect by civil servants because it is thought to be offensive to people with brain disorders.

Instead staff at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (DETI) in Belfast will use the term 'thought-showers' when they get together to think creatively. A spokeswoman said: 'The DETI does not use the term brainstorming on its training courses on the grounds that it may be deemed pejorative.'

Sources inside the department said there was concern that the term would cause offence to people with epilepsy as well those with brain tumours or brain injuries....

Thought-showers. Yep, that'll work.

Engaging Our Theological Diversity

The Unitarian Universalist Association's Commission on Appraisal published a 1-page 2005 Annual Report. They discuss their new Report, entitled Engaging Our Theological Diversity, the culmination of nearly four years of intensive work. The 160-page report is available at the UUA Bookstore for $14 plus $5 shipping.

I just ordered mine.

Talkin 'Bout Theology

PeaceBang writes about the fact that Unitarian Universalists are talking about theology.

As is often the case, I picked up on one made-up word she uses to describe UUs: our pre-offendedness. Yep, that's us ... waiting for someone (an evangelical Christian, perhaps) to say something that automatically offends us. I can relate to that.

For being self-defined open-minded people, we UUs ought to think about being a little more open-minded.

Wednesday, June 29, 2005

Testing the Supreme Court's eminent domain decision

A recent Supreme Court decision made it easier for municipalities to take land by eminent domain. According to this press release, at least one person is gonna test it out:
Weare, New Hampshire (PRWEB) Could a hotel be built on the land owned by Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter? A new ruling by the Supreme Court which was supported by Justice Souter himself itself might allow it. A private developer is seeking to use this very law to build a hotel on Souter's land.

Justice Souter's vote in the "Kelo vs. City of New London" decision allows city governments to take land from one private owner and give it to another if the government will generate greater tax revenue or other economic benefits when the land is developed by the new owner.

On Monday June 27, Logan Darrow Clements, faxed a request to Chip Meany the code enforcement officer of the Towne of Weare, New Hampshire seeking to start the application process to build a hotel on 34 Cilley Hill Road. This is the present location of Mr. Souter's home.

Clements, CEO of Freestar Media, LLC, points out that the City of Weare will certainly gain greater tax revenue and economic benefits with a hotel on 34 Cilley Hill Road than allowing Mr. Souter to own the land.

The proposed development, called "The Lost Liberty Hotel" will feature the "Just Desserts Café" and include a museum, open to the public, featuring a permanent exhibit on the loss of freedom in America. Instead of a Gideon's Bible each guest will receive a free copy of Ayn Rand's novel "Atlas Shrugged."

Clements indicated that the hotel must be built on this particular piece of land because it is a unique site being the home of someone largely responsible for destroying property rights for all Americans.

"This is not a prank" said Clements, "The Towne of Weare has five people on the Board of Selectmen. If three of them vote to use the power of eminent domain to take this land from Mr. Souter we can begin our hotel development."

Clements' plan is to raise investment capital from wealthy pro-liberty investors and draw up architectural plans. These plans would then be used to raise investment capital for the project. Clements hopes that regular customers of the hotel might include supporters of the Institute For Justice and participants in the Free State Project among others.

Conservatives for American Values

I just ran across a blog for Conservatives for American Values.

Please tell me this is a parody site.

Please.

Finding more UUs

They say that lots of people, once they discover Unitarian Universalism, comment that they've been UUs all their lives - they just didn't know it.

ChaliceChick has her list of how to find more UUs. I think it's a very good, practical list.

Tuesday, June 28, 2005

Santorum says priest abuse happened because of liberalism

Thanks to Atrios, we learn about an editorial on Catholic Online by Senator Rick Santorum which once and for all lets us know why the clergy sex abuse scandal started:
It is startling that those in the media and academia appear most disturbed by this aberrant behavior, since they have zealously promoted moral relativism by sanctioning "private" moral matters such as alternative lifestyles. Priests, like all of us, are affected by culture. When the culture is sick, every element in it becomes infected. While it is no excuse for this scandal, it is no surprise that Boston, a seat of academic, political and cultural liberalism in America, lies at the center of the storm.
It was Boston's academic, political and cultural liberalism that made priests sexually molest children??? What is Santorum drinking??

Christian author says abortion helping them win the culture war

The viewpoints of some individuals are just plain scary. Here's a press release that was published on PR Web ...
According to the author of a new book, "Understanding the Cultural War in America," abortion is actually helping religious conservatives win the cultural war. By eliminating their offspring, liberals are inevitably handing the victory to the other side.

Broad Run, VA (PRWEB) June 28, 2005 -- Henry C. Smith, author of the new book, considers it one of the greatest ironies of our day. The very practice which religious conservatives have so fiercely opposed, has actually, in the end, helped their cause. And this same practice, which the humanists, liberals, and feminists have been fighting so hard to protect, is literally destroying their political base.

Mr. Smith points out that since abortion was made legal, roughly one quarter of the thirty and under generation has been exterminated. For every three children in our society today, there should have been a fourth, if it were not for abortion. Since conservatives in general, and religious conservatives in particular, do not approve of abortion, it stands to reason that the bulk of these dead children would have come from liberal homes, and probably would have become liberals themselves. By consistently eliminating such a large portion of their own political base, they are literally handing the victory to their opponents.

Mr. Smith believes the recent trend toward the right by American society, including the handover of the White House and both branches of Congress to the Republicans, is at least partially due to this effect.

As Mr. Smith points out in his book, “Understanding the Cultural War in America,” “While the humanists are busy killing off their own offspring, they are really helping us. I am not saying we should approve of abortion for that reason. It is clearly a wicked act, one which, from God’s perspective, is worthy of death. But we must not overlook the fact that those who commit this horrible act are nevertheless doing us a favor. By destroying their own offspring, they are killing off a source of future voters, the majority of whom would probably grow up to be just like their parents. Thus, abortion ultimately works to our advantage. It helps cleanse our society of future humanists.”

“We really shouldn’t be surprised at this result,” says the author. “Evil always tends to be self-destructive.”

Mr. Smith says this particular issue should not be blown out of proportion, as it only takes up a couple of pages in his 283 page book. The main thesis of his book is that America’s past success has been inevitably linked to its Christian foundation, and the moral and cultural decline of our society is the result of an attempt to replace this religious foundation with another religion, based on humanism. Unlike many similar titles available today, he also offers a well thought out (though somewhat surprising) solution to this problem that is threatening to destroy our culture.

Monday, June 27, 2005

Christian Alliance for Progress

A new liberal religious organization has been formed called the Christian Alliance for Progress. Here's where they stand on various issues:
  • Pursuing Economic Justice
  • Responsible Environmental Stewardship for Today
  • Equality for Gays and Lesbians
  • Effective Prevention vs Criminalizing Abortion
  • Seeking Peace, not War
  • Health Care for All Americans
Check out their web site for more details.

The UU-FAQ II: UU Principles

Here's another chapter of Doug Muder's UU-FAQ. It discusses the Unitarian Universalist statement of principles:
We, the member congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association, covenant to affirm and promote
  • The inherent worth and dignity of every person;
  • Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;
  • Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;
  • A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;
  • The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large;
  • The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;
  • Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.

Friday, June 24, 2005

AMA: Pharmacists can't refuse to dispense

Medpage Today says that physicians are charging pharmacists with interference in medical care. Thbe June 20 article says
The American Medical Association's policy-making body voted today to press for state laws that would allow physicians to dispense medications when there is no nearby pharmacist willing to dispense the prescribed drugs.

The new AMA policy is an attempt to overcome what doctors say is a stampede of pharamacists who say they cannot in good conscience dispense certain medications. The issue of conscientious refusal was first raised when some pharmacists refused to fill prescriptions for the emergency contraception pill, called Plan B. Additionally some pharmacists refused to fill prescriptions for birth control pills.

But AMA delegates say the conscience-based refusals have now spread to psychotropic drugs and pain medications. ...

The AMA's exactly right. The only situation in which I would agree with reluctant pharmacists would be one where there were another pharmacist in the same store willing to dispense the medication.

Thanks to Nellie B in the Huffington Post for pointing this out.

Presbyterians may split

The Associated Press via the Boston Globe says that a Presbyterian group is fueling talks of a split.
While the Episcopal and United Methodist churches have struggled over homosexuality, another mainline Protestant denomination -- the Presbyterian Church (USA) -- has been relatively quiet. But that is changing.

Since 2001, Presbyterians have been awaiting recommendations from a ''Peace, Unity, and Purity" task force, charged with seeking a way to overcome severe disagreements on gay relationships and other issues. ...

... representatives endorsed platforms that laid out essential doctrines and ''ethical imperatives," including the Bible as infallible, salvation through Jesus Christ alone, the necessity of world evangelism, and rejection of gay sex and abortion.

EMILY's List Presents 2005 Women’s Monitor Report

EMILY's List says" National study shows erosion in Republican support from women and opportunities for Democrats".
A new EMILY's List Women’s Monitor report - “Women at the Center of Political Change” – shows that Republicans have failed to hold the support among women that won them the White House in 2004. The national survey of more than 2000 women and 600 men also showed that Democrats need to proactively connect their message to the real personal values of women.

There is a clear message from the women we spoke to: never stand between a woman and her desire to protect and care for her family,” said EMILY's List President Ellen R. Malcolm. “Republicans will continue to lose women if they fail to respect that women see themselves—not government or politicians—as the arbiter of family values. From the intrusion of government into private family decisions, the risk created by efforts to privatize Social Security, and the ‘my way or the highway’ foreign policy of the Bush administration -- the Republican’s own agenda has worked to turn women away from that party.”

Thanks to Salon (subscription required) for passing this along.

Public Broadcasting Funds Restored

From People for the American Way ...
When a U.S. House committee voted to strip $100 million from funding for public radio and television, People For the American Way immediately galvanized its supporters and activists to call on Congress, generating hundreds of thousands of contacts over the phone, through email and on the web. After today’s landslide, bipartisan vote on the floor of the House to restore the funding to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) budget, People For the American Way President Ralph G. Neas had the following statement: “This shows the power of people coming together to make their voice heard. We didn’t whisper. We shouted to the rooftops: ‘Keep your mitts off Big Bird,’ and the U.S. Congress heard us loud and clear. “In all seriousness, the massive response from the American people sends a message to this Congress that people value the independent voices of public broadcasting, and want to keep the news, public affairs, educational and arts programming that public radio and TV uniquely provide. On behalf of my five-year-old daughter and all her schoolmates across the nation, I hope CPB Board Chairman Kenneth Y. Tomlinson was listening: Mess with Elmo, and you’re messing with America. “People For the American Way called this morning for President Bush to fire Mr. Tomlinson, and we renew that call. Partisan politics has no place in public broadcasting, and independent voices must not be silenced. Mr. Tomlinson should take this vote as a sign of things to come, and step down.”

Encouraging your minister

Jollyblogger has a good article called How To Encourage Your Pastor. I saw a reference to it on ChaliceChick's Blog and I would agree exactly with her comment that " I don't think a UU would write it this way, but it certainly has some food for thought."

Is there more than love and hope to religion?

Yet Another Unitarian Universalist Blog comments on Day Two of the Unitarian Universalist General Assembly.
I had dinner with Mellen Kennedy, one of the movers and shakers behind the Small Group Ministry Network. We talked about small group ministries, but then the conversation swung over to theology. Mellen has been feeling that there is no theological center to Unitarian Unviersalism of recent years. I admitted that might be true, but then I said Universalist theology -- the strong sense that there is hope in a hopeless world, the idea that love is the most powerful force in the universe -- that's what keeps me within Unitarian Universalism. Mellen brought up forgiveness as a centgral theological concept that we need, and I think she's right -- and that would be a great new direction for Universalist theology.
Is it just me, or is it simplistic to base one's religion around things like love and hope? Of course love is a good thing. Of course we should love one another. Of course hope is a good thing. Is there anyone in any religion who would disagree? What's the point in discussing how great a thing love is and how we should encourage it?

Thursday, June 23, 2005

UU-FAQ I

Doug Mudar has published the first chapter of what he's calling his UU-FAQ: A Creedless Religion.

A good start to answering questions about Unitarian Universalism.

Wednesday, June 22, 2005

Don't swear on the Quran in Guilford County

According to the Winston-Salem Journal ...
The state's judges will be asked this week to decide whether witnesses in North Carolina courtrooms can be sworn in on a Quran rather than a Bible.

The move comes after Guilford County judges rejected an offer last week by the Greensboro Islamic center to donate copies of the Quran, the Muslim holy book. ...

"An oath on the Quran is not a lawful oath under our law," W. Douglas Albright, Guilford's Senior Resident Superior Court judge, said earlier in the week. ...

A fetus is not person

So says the Bible, according to Will Shetterly.

Tuesday, June 21, 2005

The State of the [Christian] Church 2005

Next-Wave discusses a publication from The Barna Group entitled The State of the Church: 2005. Next-Wave says ...
The bottom line is that the spirituality served up in the name of Christ in the U.S. is distinctly unproductive and unprofitable. Some churches have remained largely unchanged while others have changed the ambiance, the music, the lighting, added video screens, pastors, elders, and websites. Others have embraced bigger buildings with different architectural features. Some have turned to new delivery systems, serving up their products via seminars, books cd’s, dvd’s, live television and training by subscription satellite broadcasts. According to Barna, no matter what the Christian retail outlets have done to attract customers and change them by virtue of how or what they consume, there appears to be no measurable transformational effect on their behavior, after dining in these establishments over a period of time.
Thanks for Church Marketing Sucks for passing this along.

Friday, June 17, 2005

2 weeks severance for 30 years ... maybe

Brian McGrory in the Boston Globe writes about a Boston-based venture capital company by the name of Capital Resource Partners and how they treat employees of a company they purchased.
First, CRP, as it's often known, decided to shutter a Vermont manufacturing plant it has owned for a few years that has been in operation since the 19th century. The plant, part of Specialty Filaments Inc., makes bristles for hairbrushes, brooms, and Oral-B toothbrushes. If there's anything more American than a northern New England bristle-making factory, I haven't seen it.

CRP summoned the plant's hundred or so workers to a downtown Burlington hotel last month and hired some outsourced human resources types to give them the cheery news. Police stood at the edges of the room. The announcement lasted less than five minutes. The officials left without taking questions.

Good going, guys. Good going.

But maybe, just maybe, you can chalk that up to overseas competition, maybe a change in oral hygiene habits. Possibly people are suddenly sweeping less since CRP bought the company.

But that's not the bad part.

No, the bad part is what happened a few days later. A few days later, Capital Resource Partners told the plant workers that they would each get two weeks' severance, regardless of their tenure at the plant. The worker who had labored at the plant for 20 years would get two weeks' worth. Thirty-year veterans, two weeks. Forty-year veterans, well, you get the picture. ...

When I was younger, I used to think of myself as a capitalist of sorts. No more. This story really describes the term "capitalist pig". CRP should be ashamed.

95 theses for a new Reformation

From ekklesia ...
Crowds gathering at the famous Wittenberg Cathedral (Schlosskirche) have witnessed the nailing of 95 Theses for a New Reformation, by American theologian Matthew Fox.

Like Martin Luther in 1517, Fox believes that the church is in trouble and in need of a drastic change.

Fox has taken it upon himself to write an updated version of the 95 Theses for this millennium.

While Luther's protest was against indulgences and corruption in the administration of Pope Leo X, Fox's beef is more attuned to what he sees as the injustices and power abuses currently in the Vatican under Pope Benedict XVI and the apathy epidemic present in Protestant Churches. ...

Thursday, June 16, 2005

What's weird ... unacceptable ... acceptable?

PeaceBang posted an article about a guy who's into infantilism. As you'll see, ChaliceChick said "And the diaper thing is really appalling.". The article refers to the fact that the guy has chosen to be deliberately incontinent, and I'm not sure if CC meant that wearing a diaper is appalling, or being deliberably incontinent is appalling. For the record, the incontinence-in-public thing to me is offensive and unacceptable.

In my replies (PB cut off additional posting so I had to move it here) I tried to separate out dressing as an infant from the issue of deliberate incontinence and stick with the former as the issue. The next post I was going to make (after PB said "Paul, I hear you comparing a man who *chooses* to remain in an infantile, socially pathological condition to a gay person. That disturbs me.") was ...

Who's to say what's chosen and not chosen? Many people still believe that homosexuality is chosen. I don't. Gender transformation is another issue ... some people believe that people go through that complex process simply as a choice as opposed to trying to live the way they are.

Personally, I believe that the guy in this article doesn't have the feelings he has by choice any more than gays have their feelings or transgendered folks have theirs by choice.

If there were any group of individuals who I thought would have given this guy some slack (again: putting aside the deliberate incontinence issue) I would have thought it would have been UUs. Whatever happened to the inherent worth and dignity of every person? I know, I know ... we can grant him his dignity as long as he doesn't move into our congregation.

Wednesday, June 15, 2005

The Perils of Liberalism, According to Janice Rogers Brown

A New York Times article shows that the new judge isn't exactly in the liberal camp.
Janice Rogers Brown, the African-American daughter of Alabama sharecroppers who was confirmed Wednesday to the federal appeals court here, often invokes slavery in describing what she sees as the perils of liberalism.

"In the heyday of liberal democracy, all roads lead to slavery," she has warned in speeches. Society and the courts have turned away from the founders' emphasis on personal responsibility, she has argued, toward a culture of government regulation and dependency that threatens fundamental freedoms. ...

Tuesday, June 14, 2005

Fundamentalists vs Evangelicals

A Book by BelietNet discusses the differences.
In the early 1940s, a distinct split grew between evangelicals and fundamentalists over how to apply the "fundamentals" of faith to the modern world. In 1941 Rev. Carl McIntire founded the American Council of Christian Churches, an extreme group that favored separatism from hostile cultural forces. Some went so far as to refuse contact with anyone who did interact with the culture. Not all "fundamentalists" (that is, those who believed in the fundamentals) felt this way, however. One branch of Bible believers -— evangelicals -— wanted to engage the culture, while the other branch -— fundamentalists -— moved away from it, sometimes belligerently. Kenneth Kantzer, a keen observer of the changing picture, said that for many evangelicals who had considered themselves "fundamentalists," the term became "an embarrassment instead of a badge of honor." ...

Evangelical Liberals

DriveDemocracy.org discusses an MSNBC feature called In evangelical world, a liberal view steps up.
While the majority of people who describe themselves as evangelical Christians may be very conservative, there is a growing group who do not accept the idea that Christ taught a message of intolerance, judgementalism, and hatred. The article suggests that part of what drives the perception that evangelicals are far-right ideologues is a biased press. ...

Vatican Touts Victory in Fertility Referendum

In The Boston Globe and many other sources, it's been noted that
In a victory for the Vatican, Italian voters shunned a referendum that would have eliminated bans on egg and sperm donation, freezing embryos, and other widely used methods by couples wanting to have children.

Pope Benedict XVI had endorsed a call by Italian bishops for a boycott of the vote, held Sunday and yesterday. The four ballot measures drew 25.9 percent of eligible voters, roughly half the required turnout of 50 percent plus one for the results to be binding on Parliament.

The Church, of course, is entitled to its own opinion and to distribute its opinion to Catholics. What infuriates me about this, however, is that the Church subverted the democratic process by encouraging people not to vote. That, to me, is unconscionable.

Feeling the Hate

Harpers has an article called Soldiers of Christ II - Feeling the hate with the National Religious Broadcasters.
Since the reelection of George W. Bush in November, the rhetoric on the Christian right has grown triumphal and proud; rumors of spiritual war are abroad in the heartland, and fervent whispers of revolution echo among the pews and folding chairs of the nation’s megachurches. I have traveled to Anaheim, California, to observe the rising power of the evangelical political movement at first hand. Orange County, along with Colorado Springs, is a center of the new militant Christianity, and it is here, among friends, that the National Religious Broadcasters association—which brings together some 1,600 Christian radio and television broadcasters, who claim to reach up to 141 million listeners and viewers—is holding its annual convention. ...

In the parking lot outside the center, I come across a pickup truck with large hand-painted panels bearing anti-gay slogans and a round red circle with a line through the center superimposed on the faces of two men kissing. STOP THE INSANITY, it says across the top. I pick up one of the pamphlets in a metal box on the side of the truck: “Protect Your Family & Friends from the Dangers of . . . Homosexuality: The Truth!” It lists “the facts about homosexuality they refuse to teach in Public Schools or report on the Evening News!” including: “homosexuals average 500 sexual partners in their short lifetime” and “because of unsanitary sexual practices homosexuals carry the bulk of all bowel disease in America.” ...

Thanks to The Revealer for pointing this out.

Monday, June 13, 2005

Public Broadcasting Targeted by House

The Washington Post reports that a panel seeks to end the Corporation for Public Broadcasting's funding within 2 years.
A House subcommittee voted yesterday [Thursday, June 9] to sharply reduce the federal government's financial support for public broadcasting, including eliminating taxpayer funds that help underwrite such popular children's educational programs as "Sesame Street," "Reading Rainbow," "Arthur" and "Postcards From Buster." In addition, the subcommittee acted to eliminate within two years all federal money for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting -- which passes federal funds to public broadcasters -- starting with a 25 percent reduction in CPB's budget for next year, from $400 million to $300 million. ...

A Personal Response from a Mega-Church

Mega-Churches like the New Life Church in Colorado Springs seem to be ok unless you want to ask the pastor a question, says Non-Prophet. That's when the stuff hits the fan.
Dissent and disagreement between members of a congregation and its leader -- within even a tiny church -- are not the exception but the rule. Here is an example of that happening within New Life Church here in Colorado Springs. A member of the congregation was upset with the email regarding media coverage sent out by Pastor Ted Haggard, and the following exchange was the result. I think the most interesting thing here is Pastor Ted's elaboration on his motivations for the memo regarding the media coverage they were to receive in the coming week. He speaks very much in line with how Ted Olsen from Christianity Today described his efforts as, "mission through a media lens." I don't see Pastor Ted's agreement that he should leave New Life Church as necessarily incendiary, but rather terse honesty. I'm sure you'll have your own opinion on the exchange. ...

Anti-gay Boycotts and Pressure Campaigns

An article in LA Weekly called The New Blacklist discusses an increase in the blacklisting of corporations who sponsor gay events or gay-oriented broadcasts.
Spurred on by a biblical injunction evangelicals call “The Great Commission,” and emboldened by George W. Bush’s re-election, which is perceived as a “mandate from God,” the Christian right has launched a series of boycotts and pressure campaigns aimed at corporate America — and at its sponsorship of entertainment, programs and activities the Christers don’t like.

And it’s working. Just three weeks ago, the Rev. Donald Wildmon’s American Family Association (AFA) announced it was ending its boycott of corporate giant Procter & Gamble — maker of household staples like Tide and Crest — for being pro-gay. Why? Because the AFA’s boycott (which the organization says enlisted 400,000 families) had succeeded in getting P&G to pull its millions of dollars in advertising from TV shows like Will & Grace and Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. P&G also ended its advertising in gay magazines and on gay Web sites. And a P&G executive who had been given a leave of absence to work on a successful Cincinnati, Ohio, referendum that repealed a ban on any measures protecting gays from discrimination was shown the door. ...

Thanks to The Revealer for pointing this out.

Which NY Times Op-Ed Columnist Am I?

I took the Which New York Times Op-Ed Columnist Are You? survey and the results are:

Bob Herbert
You are Bob Herbert! You're not the most sparkling
writer, but one of the most solid and selfless
on the Op-Ed staff. You focus on New York
politics, the poor, race issues, and civil
liberties. You like to quote others, and rarely
place yourself in your columns. You keep it
real. Seriously.

Which New York Times Op-Ed Columnist Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Wednesday, June 08, 2005

Tulsa zoo controversy

In the "the logical of this totally escapes me" category, see if this makes any sense to you:
  1. The Tulsa Zoo has a globe inscribed with the words 'the earth is our mother'.
  2. The Tulsa Zoo has an elephant statue which is an artistic image of the Hindu faith.
  3. Therefore, the Tulsa Zoo should have a creationism exhibit.
Didn't think so.

UAT: some phone companies support sinful behavior

A story on ABC News says
The newest battle in the culture wars is being waged on the telephone lines. In a departure from the standard telemarketing calls aimed at selling long distance service, United American Technology has taken telemarketing to a whole new level.
A telemarketer for UAT tells a caller not to do business with AT&T (because they've given millions of dollars to the Gay and Lesbian Alliance), Verizon (because "they train their employees to accept a gay and lesbian lifestyle") or MCI ( because "they have a pedophile Web site for men who love boys").

No New Money for Abstinence-Only Sex Education

From the UUA Washington Office for Advocacy ...
The Unitarian Universalist Association has signed on to a coalition letter urging Members of the US House of Representatives to oppose any new money in the federal budget for abstinence-only-until-marriage programs.

You, too, can be involved in the effort to oppose abstinence-only education and support comprehensive, medically-accurate, age-appropriate sexuality education. Visit http://www.nonewmoney.org/ to learn more about the downfalls of abstinence-only programs and to take ACTION to oppose new money for these harmful programs. From this site, you can write your Member of Congress and express your views, as a Unitarian Universalist, as an Our Whole Lives teacher / participant / parent, as an advocate of education or public schools or medical accuracy. Or simply as a concerned American.

Free Beethoven's symphonies downloads

The BBC is offering free downloads of all Beethoven's symphonies performed by the BBC Philharmonic, conducted by Gianandrea Noseda.

Working Americans Let Down by the Republican Party

Former senator John Edwards comments on something Howard Dean said..
What a flap has arisen over a disagreement about the way something is said! I was in Nashville over the weekend, thanking the good people of Tennessee who supported the Democratic presidential ticket this year, when I was asked whether I thought that it was fair to say that people who were Republican hadn’t done a good day’s work. Of course, I didn’t think so, and I said that. I don’t think our DNC chair, Howard Dean, would put it that way again if asked either. I disagreed with him, and I said so. And, I want to be clear, I would have to say so again if I were asked again. I said a lot of good things about Howard’s outreach program and invigoration of the internet as a communication and fundraising tool, but no one wrote about that. Instead the headlines blared that I disagreed with Howard. And then the flap arose: A chasm! A split! A revolt! ...

Tuesday, June 07, 2005

More liberal bias, they say, in K-12

The Christian Science Monitor reports that complaints that teachers push liberal ideology are trickling down from college campuses to the K-12 level.
Concerned that public schools are becoming sites of liberal indoctrination, activists have generated a wave of efforts to limit what teachers may discuss and to bring more conservative views into the classroom.

After all, they say, if related campaigns can help rein in doctrinaire faculty on college campuses, why not in K-12 education as well? ...

Why aren't there a lot of kids in San Francisco?

According to Robert Knight, director of the Culture and Family Institute in an article on Agape Press, it's those darn homosexuals. Knight
believes a major reason for this statistic [San Francisco's 18-and-under population is just 14.5 percent -- the lowest percentage of children for any major city in the United States] is that San Francisco's dominant subculture is prompting families to flee the city. That subculture, Knight contends, is largely made up of childless adult singles and couples -- many of them homosexuals -- who live well and who live mainly for themselves. ...

Court says gay man can drive

Just had to share this store from Reuters via Yahoo News ...
A Sicilian court condemned road authorities Monday for suspending the driving license of a man after finding out he was gay.

The court on the Mediterranean island said being gay was merely "a personality disturbance" which had no bearing on a person's ability to drive, Ansa news agency reported. ...

A Christian Case for Gay Marriage

In an article entitled Sins of Sodom?, the Boston Globe interviews the authors of What God Has Joined Together?: A Christian Case for Gay Marriage.
Can we find our way back to a culture that supports our families, instead of attacking them? I say, 'Yes we can,' " Sam Brownback, Republican senator from Kansas, declared last year in a stump speech, making reference to his sponsorship of a proposed federal amendment banning same-sex marriage. David G. Myers, professor of psychology at Hope College, a Christian liberal arts college in Holland, Mich., and Letha Dawson Scanzoni, a Christian author and scholar based in Norfolk, Va., also think we can - but that's where they part ways with coreligionists like Brownback. Interviewed by phone and e-mail last week, Myers and Scanzoni spoke about their new book, ''What God Has Joined Together? A Christian Case for Gay Marriage" (HarperSanFrancisco), which was front-page news across Michigan last month, even before it was published. ...

Gary Hart: Political Parties are Disintegrating

Former senator Gary Hart says The parties are over.
Out of power, the watchword among Democrats, and many independents, is: “I don’t know what the Democrats stands for.” That’s because the Party’s old coalition—traditional liberals, labor, minorities, women, environmentalists, and internationalists—is in the process of disappearing and a new one has yet to be formed. Millions of people wait to hear what the twenty-first century Democratic Party stands for, and Democratic Party “leaders” are not saying until they see what the new coalition is going to look like. They are afraid of taking principled stands for fear of alienating some group they think they need. So there is a kind of stand-off. Voters afloat want to hear what the Party has to say, and the Party is trying to find out what they want to hear.

But many traditional Republicans don’t know what their Party stands for either. It used to stand for balanced budgets, resistance to foreign entanglement, laissez faire economics, smaller government, and individual freedom. Not any more. That old coalition has disappeared as well. The new Republican Party stands for big government, huge deficits, pre-emptive warfare, massive nation-building, neo-imperialism in the Middle East, intrusion on your privacy, and a semi-official state religion dictated by fundamentalist ministers.

This new Republican Party is merely a temporary diversion because its new political base is too far out of step with mainstream America, an America which includes the traditional Republican base. Democrats used to be the Nanny Party in the secular realm; the neo-Republicans have become the Nanny Party in the religious realm.

Monday, June 06, 2005

McGoverns argue for withdrawal from Iraq

George McGovern, the 1972 Democratic nominee for president and Jim McGovern (no relation) who represents the Massachusetts 3d Congressional District say, in the Boston Globe, "withdraw from Iraq".
We were early opponents of the US invasion of Iraq. Nonetheless, once American forces were committed, we hoped that our concerns would be proven wrong. That has not been the case.

The United States must now begin an orderly withdrawal of our forces from this mistaken foreign venture. ...

Sunday, June 05, 2005

Sometimes a death changes your perspective

From the Boston Globe ...
Two years ago, Brian T. Hart, an avid supporter of the American military mission in Iraq, wrote to the Board of Selectmen in Bedford to complain about a 20-foot banner strung from the front of the First Parish church that read, "Speak Out For Peace."

Today, Hart, now a blistering critic of the campaign in Iraq, plans to return to the church on the town green to speak out for peace at the pulpit.

The reason for his transformation: His son, Private First Class John D. Hart was killed outside Kirkuk, Iraq, in October 2003 when insurgents firing small arms and rocket-propelled grenades attacked his unarmored Humvee. ...

Friday, June 03, 2005

Cowardice?

One thing that really, really irritates me is the misuse of the word cowardice. As an example, the Boston Globe has an article about a guy who attacked an officer writing a traffic ticket.
"This is just another alarming case of cowardice on behalf of somebody who chose to park illegally, and couldn't deal with the consequences," Tinlin said. "nobody likes to get a parking ticket, but when it reaches the level as extreme as this and couple of other occasions in the past, when things escalate from the verbal to the physical, you have a real problem."
Princeton's WordNet defines cowardice as "the trait of lacking courage". What on earth does this situation have to do with lacking courage? Does it now take courage to accept a parking ticket?

In my mind, there have been other serious misuses of the word over the last few years, but I'll leave it up to you to come up with them yourselves.

Thursday, June 02, 2005

Patriot Pastors

Thanks to DriveDemocracy.org for letting us know about the Ohio Restoration Project's plan to get email addresses of church members from conservative Christian pastors. Specifically, they will
Help build a network of addresses and e-mails that will equip concerned Christians to become informed "Minutemen" of our day. Patriot Pastors will work towards adding 200 names to our statewide mailing and 100 e-mails. We presently have 60,000 names on our AFA Ohio mailing and 55,000 on other lists that have been made available. This does not include the 55,215 e-mailing addresses that we currently have. We would like to build that to a total of 300,000 on the mailing list and 100,000 e-mail addresses. In a single day, we could educate and mobilize hundreds of thousands who are able to pray at a moment's notice. A website could be developed helping thousands of families to have access to information that equips these folks to make a stand.
Yikes.

American Family Association Boycotting Ford

Paul Feig discusses The American Family Association's boycott of Ford ..
Thank GOD that the American Family Association has finally boycotted Ford for being "the company which has done the most to affirm and promote the homosexual lifestyle"! I KNEW that Taurus I bought always seemed a little swishy going over potholes. Did you know that if you rearrange the letters in Ford, they spell "F-Rod"? You think that's a coincidence? Not on your wholesome heterosexual life, my friend. It's the Gay Agenda Ahoy! And I for one am not stowing away on that ship.

I fully support the Christian right in going after gay people, especially gay couples, and especially those who would dare to fall in love and try to get married. Don't they know what an assault that is on traditional marriage? Why, there's a couple of gay men living a few blocks away from my wife and I, and I blame them directly for a fight that the Mrs. and I had the other day about the fact that I had lost my last paycheck at the race track. I don't know what it was but there was some sort of gay tractor beam or something aimed at my kitchen that I'm absolutely sure made my wife become irrational at the fact that I couldn't pay our gas bill. Reverend Wildmon, I salute you for trying to protect my marriage. We need all the help we can get.

See the story on the American Family Association site. Update: as of June 7, the boycott has been stopped.

The Wal-Mart documentary

Robert Greenwald discusses a Wal-Mart documentary he's created.
The Wal-mart documentary had its genesis in the doctor's office.

Strange, but true. I was having a routine check-up for some fairly mundane complaint. As the exam went on and various tests were ordered, I began to mentally calculate how much the bill for this visit was going to come to. But I was thinking of a friend of mine -- a hard-working salt-of-the-earth kind of guy -- whose recent health crisis had severely strained his family's resources. He did not have the kind of high-quality health coverage that I had through the Directors Guild.

Days later, with my friend's situation still on my mind, I met a new neighbor who was a Wal-Mart sales clerk. He worked there full time but could not afford the health care plan they offered. Wait a minute, I thought. This clerk worked full time for a company whose profit was ten BILLION dollars annually, and they did not provide health care? But it got worse. The clerk said that the company had very kindly advised him how to apply for Medicare, so he could get public aid. So taxpayers were paying for Wal-mart employees to get medical care! I really found it hard to believe. I assumed that if it was true, it had to be an isolated incident. ...

Wednesday, June 01, 2005

Fox News admits they're not exactly "fair and balanced"

Slate provides a quote from Scott Norvell, London bureau chief for Fox News:
Even we at Fox News manage to get some lefties on the air occasionally, and often let them finish their sentences before we club them to death and feed the scraps to Karl Rove and Bill O'Reilly. And those who hate us can take solace in the fact that they aren't subsidizing Bill's bombast; we payers of the BBC license fee don't enjoy that peace of mind.

Fox News is, after all, a private channel and our presenters are quite open about where they stand on particular stories. That's our appeal. People watch us because they know what they are getting. The Beeb's [BBC] institutionalized leftism would be easier to tolerate if the corporation was a little more honest about it.

Wow ... who woulda thunk?

Ending UU summer vacation

Yet Another Unitarian Universalist Blog has a relevant commentary called Ending the church year -- or not.
The end of the church year is coming up, and we're all getting ready for summer, when things slow down. But I wish our liberal churches never slowed down, and I also I predict that within a few years, the most successful Unitarian Universalist churches will no longer take a break in summer. ...

">