The Seventh Sense

"What Do You Think I Fought For At Omaha Beach?"

A WWII vet talks about marriage equality...

"Hold That Line! Hold That Line!" (Luke 3:7)

I don't have all the facts, just this:

Cheerleaders at a north Georgia high school will have to fall back on school spirit alone to inspire the football team tonight against a longtime rival because the school district will no longer allow them to hold up signs bearing Bible verses.

The Catoosa school district banned the signs over concerns they were unconstitutional and could provoke a lawsuit, the Associated Press reports.

That has angered a number of people in this deeply religious community near Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe High School and many held a rally last night to protest the ban.

For tonight's game against Ridgeland High School, an area outside the stadium has been designated for displaying the signs. Football fans will be allowed to take their Bible-verse signs into the stands as long as they're hand held, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reports.

A sign at a recent game read: "Commit to the Lord, whatever you do, and your plans will succeed."

School superintendent Denia Reese says she invoked the ban after getting a call from a Ringgold, Ga., resident, Donna Jackson, who allegedly said the signs could provoke a lawsuit. The school's attorney agreed.

Reese also said that Jackson filed an open records request for financial documents on the purchases of supplies used to make the banners, the Times Free Press reports.

Jackson denies the allegations, calling them "absolutely false."

I'm not sure it is unconstitutional, to be honest.  The U.S. Supreme Court has already ruled that students can pray at football games (or pre-games), so long as the prayer is not school-sponsored or school-funded or broadcast over school equipment.  That's the bright line, and there's nothing (yet) to suggest that the religious banners and signs were bought and paid for by the school district.  In fact, the Chattanooga Times Free Press says "the cheerleaders said they raised all the money to make the banners".  If that's true, I think they're okay.

The larger question for me is: What the hell does God have to do with high school football?

Score a touchdown for Jesus?  Oh, come on.  And what happens if the other team scores a touchdown?  Who is that for?  Satan?

I'm no biblical scholar, but I don't think "goal" as used in Phillippians 3:14 was intended to mean the goal line in a football game.  And in fact, in the Kings James Version of the Bible, that passage reads: "I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."

Generally, speaking, the Bible doesn't serve well as a football playbook (ignoring the fact that the Bible predates football by about seventeen centuries).  Take Joel 2:8, for example:

They do not jostle each other; each marches straight ahead. They plunge through defenses without breaking ranks.

Well, that might work for short running plays where your team is inches from the goal line, but you've got to put the ball in the air once in a while, right?

Another one that won't work, Genesis 4:8:

"Let's go out to the field." And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.

That's probably an egregious foul.  Just guessing.

And why no Galatians 3:3 banners?

Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?

Yeah, I guess that banner wouldn't go over too big.

Of course, I think the most problematic verse for football players is Deuteronomy 14:8:

The pig is also unclean; although it has a split hoof, it does not chew the cud. You are not to eat their meat or touch their carcasses.

Not sure how you can score a goal if you are forbidden to touch pigskin.

Chicago Nixed For 2016 Olympics

To all the conservatives who rooted against America (which, not too long ago, you once considered a bad thing), pat yourselves on the back:  Mission accomplished.

Never mind that the event would have brought in 22.5 billion in economic activity (the equivalent of 315,000 permanent jobs in America), much less be a good place to exhibit American pride.  It's more important to conservatives that Obama lose.  Malkin's mocking the U.S. defeat; so is the Weekly Standard (the offices of the Weekly Standard, in its own words, "erupted" in "cheers" after the announcement). Fox News, which launched an aggressive effort against Chicago's bid, will no doubt follow.

Sad, really, that they're lust to see Obama "lose" trumps everything good.  Let's have a flashback to January 2008:

President Bush Meets with Chicago 2016 Bid Committee and United States Olympic Committee Members

THE PRESIDENT: I want to thank the members of the 2016 Chicago bid to get the Olympics. Listen, Mr. Mayor, you and your committee have put together a great plan. It's a plan that will make America proud.

They say that the Olympics will come to Chicago if we're fortunate enough to be selected, but really it's coming to America, and I can't think of a better city to represent the United States than Chicago.

This is a well thought out venue. There will be -- the athletes will be taken care of. People who will be coming from around the world will find this good city has got fantastic accommodations, great restaurants. It will be safe.

And so I -- this country supports your bid, strongly. And our hope is that the judges will take a good look at Chicago and select Chicago for the 2016 Olympics.

Kevin Drum reminds us:

Remember, in 2005, when New York was eliminated as a host city for the 2012 Olympics, and liberals everywhere giggled like children and mocked the Bush administration?

Oh wait, that didn't happen.

UPDATE:  One conservative columnist, at least, has some sense:

I don't think conservatives should be celebrating the U.S. losing out on the Olympic games. The Olympics is always a chance to put our national pride on display. However, this might be an instructive lesson on how Obama views the world and possibly the miscalculations of his political team.

Obama looks bad. Anyone disagreeing is being disingenuous. But conservatives should temper their excitement. Is losing the Olympics enough to really go nuts over an Obama loss?

Oh, and Rio won, by the way.

Blame it on Rio.

Letterman's Confession

Image via Wikipedia

I'm fairly sure it is none of our business who David Letterman had sex with.  But he told us anyway.  He didn't have to; the guy who was blackmailing him was arrested.

Still, you don't see this kind of honest very much, delivered with humility, candor and humor.  Interesting TV.  Slate calls it a “deeply personal, bizarre monologue.”

From a PR standpoint, Letterman handled this perfectly.  He has a deep resrvoir of good will with the public, and he dipped into it, delivering a glib retelling of the extortion attempt and his "bad behavior" that led up to it.

The extortionist, CBS said, is an employee of the CBS show "48 Hours" named Robert J. Halderman.  He was "let go" by CBS yesterday.

UPDATE:  One of the female employees Letterman had a sexual affair with was named Stephanie Burkitt.  She's a New Hampshire native and a Wake Forest graduate (she's following me!).  She made some on-air appearances for The Late Show.  That relationship ended in 2003, before David's child was born (and before David married the child's mother).  Burkitt later became involved with the Halderman, who apparently accessed Burkitt's diary, and got the goods on Letterman.  Burkitt is apparently "mortified" that Halderman would have done something like that.

UPDATE:  There's a lot of crowing from conservative blogs about Dave Letterman, who, as a late-night talk show host, has had his share of laughs about other people's sex scandals -- people like David Vitter and Larry "Wide Stance" Craig and Governor Mark Sanford.  I'm not sure the comparisons are the same. 

For one thing, David Vitter and Larry Craig and Mark Sanford ran for office as politicians esposing "family values".  David Letterman never claimed to be a "family values" champion.  He certainly can't tag him as being a "moral hypocrite".

Secondly, I'm not sure where there "sex scandal" lies here.  There's no evidence to suggest that Letterman, who got married six months ago, cheated on his wife, unlike the objects of Letterman's jokes about past sex scandals of others.  He was, at the time of these "bad" things, a single man.  I don't think single men with girlfriends should cheat on those girlfriends, but I don't think it rises to the level of marital infidelity.  And for all we know, Letterman may have carried on these trysts when he wasn't involved with someone (he had an on-and-off relationship with his current wife for many years).

The only real allegation of true immorality comes from the fact that Letterman apparently slept with co-workers, and apparently subordinates.  To my mind, this is rather low on the list of sins.  Yes, such behavior could involve power plays and the subordination of women, all of which are inappropriate office behavior.  But it doesn't automatically mean this happened in this case.  Isn't it possible that these women were mature consenting adults, and they received no benefit/promotion (or punishment/demotion) from their liasons with David Letterman?  Is there any evidence -- any whatsover -- of this?

The story here is that Letterman was involved in "sex scandals".  The story here is that Letterman was the victim of extortion.

The Jeanne Dixon Of Baseball

Asked prior to the Mariners game against the Toronto Blue Jays last week for a prediction for the game, Mike Blowers, a former Mariners player and now color commentator, said he expected rookie Matt Tuiasosopo to hit his first big league home run in the game.

But not only that - he predicted that it would come on a 3-1 count.

But not only that - he predicted that the pitch would be a fastball.

But not only that - he predicted it would come in Tuiasosopo's second at bat.

Guess what? All of these things happened.

Check it out -- this is fun...

New North Carolina Laws Day

Being the beginning of another fiscal year, about 100 new laws go into effect in the State of North Carolina today.  They're all listed here (PDF).

But just so you know, here are a few:

• Local governments get to regulate golf carts now. Phew.  Our long national nightmare is... uh... over?
• It's now illegal to sell novelty lighters. (A "novelty lighter" is defined as a lighter which is designed to look like a "cartoon charactor, toy, gun, watch, musical instrument, vehicle, animal, food or beverage, or similar articles, or that plays musical notes" -- in other words, a lighter that might attract kids,  A regular lighter with a logo, however, doesn't count)  
• "Truth in Music Performances" Law: It's now illegal to give a live musical performance pretending to be somebody else (e.g., Elvis) unless you make it clear that it's a "tribute".
• You can no longer object to the location of an ABC store, if the municipality allowed the store to be located there after a public hearing.
• North Carolina will conduct a swine flu-related study to see if it needs to change the wild boar hunting season.
• Municipalities can take vehicles abandoned on public property to the junkyard if the vehicle is more than five years old and worth less than $500 (it used to be $100).
• It's still illegal for motor vehicles to stop on a highway in a way which impedes traffic, but now there's an exception for garbage trucks collecting garbage.  Lovely.
• Beaver traps with a mouth greater than 7.5 inches and less than 26 inches can only be placed in water where beavers hang out. [Insert your own joke here]
• Municipalities can go after chronic violators of public nuisance ordinances by serving a single notice.
• It's now easier for residential areas off of state roads to get speed bumps put in.
• Before, stray dogs and cats which bit a human could be tested for rabies and if needed, euthanized; now, it applies to stray ferrets as well.
• Safety rules which applied to skiers also apply to snowboarders and other winter sports people.
• It's still illegal to drive while watching TV or a computer screen, but GPS screens don't count.  Neither do factory-installed video screens which provide weather or radio information.  Glad we got that straightened out.
• Public wine-testing events were always legal (with a permit); now beer-tasting events are legal (with a permit) as well.  NASCAR enthusiasts rejoice.
• If you want to be a licensed marriage or family therapist in NC, they have to run a criminal background check on you now beforehand.
• Dealers who buy gold or other precious metals from the public have to be licensed. That law is probably a fallout from the Cash4Gold.com scandal.

Big intrusive government bastards.... messing with my beaver traps and boar hunting.

Oh, and while I'm on the topic, there are two other notable new criminal laws on the books:

• It's now illegal -- a Class 1 misdemanor -- to vandalize a Port-a-potty (NOTE: Actually, this law isn't effective until December 1, 2009, so you have a couple months of scot-free Port-a-potty destruction ahead of you, if you are so inclined).
• TEXTING WHILE DRIVING IS ILLEGAL -- Okay, this doesn't start until December 1, 2009, but don't do it anyway.  I'm driving NC roads...

Governor Perry (R-Tx) Trying To Bury The Willingham Case

I've blogged twice now (here and here) about Cameron Todd Willingham, the Texas man who was tried, convicted, and eventually executed on what now appears to be really bad "expert" testimony.  In a nutshell, arson "experts" were convinced that Willingham intentionally started a house fire intending to kill his children (all three died).  There was no other evidence against Willingham -- just the opinion testimony by arson "experts" who were, as it turned out, not experts at all.

This is, sadly, quite common in Texas -- people convicted and/or executed for "bad science" offered as evidence through opinion testimony.  So overwhelming pervasive is the problem that Texas decided to adopt a Forensic Science Committee.

Well, guess what happened when the Forensic Science Committee was set to look at the case of Cameron Todd Willingham?  From yesterday's New York Times:

Gov. Rick Perry replaced the chairman and two members of the state’s Forensic Science Commission, two days before the commission was to hear evidence that Texas executed an innocent man. The new chairman canceled the hearing, at which an arson expert was to present a report critical of the arson analysis that led to the conviction of the man, Cameron T. Willingham. Mr. Willingham, above, was executed in 2004 after being convicted of setting a 1991 fire in which his three children died. Governor Perry, who was in office at the time of the execution, has expressed confidence in Mr. Willingham’s guilt. “This is like the Saturday night massacre,” said Barry Scheck, co-director of the Innocence Project, which has been working on the case. “It’s like Nixon firing Archibald Cox to avoid turning over the Watergate tapes.”

Scheck, who has said there is "no doubt" about Willingham's innocence, was alluding to former President Richard Nixon's firing of independent special prosecutor Archibald Cox, who had been probing the Watergate scandal in 1973.

The governor's office claimed that there was nothing unusual about replacing members of the Forensic Science Commission, saying that some of their terms have expired.

The Houston Chronicle adds some color to the story.  One of the commission members ousted by Governor Perry said nothing about his term expiring. 

The report by the arson expert (Craig Beyler) concludes that the findings at the heart of Willingham's conviction -- that the fire that killed his daughters was set deliberately -- "could not be sustained" by either modern science or the standards of the time.

Two previous reports by other experts also concluded that the fatal blaze was not arson, but Beyler's is the first commissioned by the state.

Regarding the Beyler report, the Chronicle writes:

Beyler, a nationally known fire science expert, was commissioned not by a newspaper or an advocacy group, but by a state commission chaired by Perry's own political appointee.

So, when Beyler concluded recently there was no credible scientific evidence to support the finding that the Willingham fire was arson, and likened the investigative methods used to folklore and mysticism rather than science, it appears that the governor had to find a way to silence him.

At first, Perry tried to discredit Beyler, using air quotes in an interview with The Dallas Morning News two weeks ago to refer to “latter-day supposed experts” who have cast doubt on Willingham's conviction.

Then, this week, days before Beyler was scheduled to present his findings to the Texas Forensic Science Commission in a public meeting Friday, Perry made a move so blatantly political that it was stunning even for a candidate locked in a tight primary battle.

He canned the commission's chairman, Sam Bassett, his own two-term appointee, and replaced him with a new chairman who promptly canceled Friday's meeting on the Beyler report.

It's pretty clear what's going on.  Governor Perry was governor when Willingham was executed.  He refused to grant clemency for Willingham, at the time ignoring the conclusions of many many arson experts who said that the conviction of Willingham was based on "folklore" forensics conducted by untrained non-experts.  Now, in the middle of a heated re-election bid, the governor is trying to sweep the Willingham execution under the rug by removing state investigators intent on looking into the matter.

More from CNN

Another Day, Another Michelle Bachmann Lie-Meme

So here's what The World's Worst Politican Evah (tm) said on the floor of the House last night:

For the video-impaired, here's a transcript:

"[T]he bill orders that these clinics protect patient privacy and student records. What does that mean? It means that parents will never know what kind of counsel and treatment that their children are receiving. And as a matter of fact, the bill goes on to say what's going to go on — comprehensive primary health services, physicals, treatment of minor acute medical conditions, referrals to follow-up for specialty care — is that abortion? Does that mean that someone's 13-year-old daughter could walk into a sex clinic, have a pregnancy test done, be taken away to the local Planned Parenthood abortion clinic, have their abortion, be back and go home on the school bus that night? Mom and Dad are never the wiser.

[Emphasis mine]

By the way, this is classic GOP fearmongering.  You know how you can tell?  Because it comes in the form of a question. 

As in "Does the mean....?" or "Could it be that...?"

Example:  "The Constitution says that the president is commander-in-chief of the armed forces.  Does this mean that Obama will command the United States Marines to come to your home, rape your children, and drink the blood of your grandmother?"

Then they'll add (usually in a follow-up on MSNBC's Hardball), "Well, it doesn't say otherwise.  So naturally, we must take it to mean that Obama will command the United States Marines to come to your home, rape your children, and drink the blood of your grandmother."

That's how the game works.  Learn it.  Look for it.

Anyway, back to Bachmann.

What she's doing is echoing a bottom-dweller convervative argument.  The origin of this argument, which has been hitting GOP inboxes in chain-letter fashion, seems to have come from blogger Peter Fleckenstein and trumpeted by the anti-abortion Liberty Counsel, which recently claimed that Page 992 of the bill "will establish school-based 'health' clinics. Your children will be indoctrinated and your grandchildren may be aborted!"

The nonpartisan (and Pulitzer-Prize winning) PolitiFact, which provided the Liberty Counsel origin, found the assertion baseless, giving the charge its lowest rating, "Pants on Fire."

It concludes:

"The money could also be used to provide 'mental health assessments, crisis interventions, counseling, treatment and referral to a continuum of services including emergency psychiatric care, community support programs, inpatient care and outpatient care.' The clinics would have the option to provide 'oral health, social and age-appropriate health education services including nutritional counseling.'

"Clinics getting federal dollars must act in accordance with federal, state and local law, according to the bills. For example, clinics in Louisiana are not even allowed to counsel students on abortion, according to the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals."

But these inconvenient facts are overlooked by Bachmann and her brethren.  None of the three bills in the House explicitly prohibit the use of the school-based clinics to steer kids to abortion clinics, so naturally allow for it, according to the odd conservative logic.

And soon you'll see the lie-meme popping up in ads, complete with scary music underneath, presenting this as truth.  Oh, and Beck, too.

Watch.  You'll see.

The Japanese Mystery Cafe

In Kashiwa, Japan, the mysterious Ogori Cafe had a unique way of filling your order. According to Cabel Maxfield Sasser:

At this cafe, you get what the person before you ordered. The next person gets what you ordered.

The point of the cafe seems to have been to introduce surprise into an ordinary day and to encourage strangers to interact with one another. And I love what Sasser's friend ordered for the customer after him:

Mike went up to the cafe, slapped down a couple thousand yen (~$25), and ordered a little bit of everything: some ice cream, some snacks, some candy, some drinks, a Japanese horn-of-mysterious-plenty intentionally set up as a shocking surprise for the next lucky customer.

After making his order, Mike received single iced coffee.

Unfortunately, the Ogori Cafe seems to have been short-lived. Sasser reports that it's now gone.

Over The Top

This hockey open for the UAF Nanooks (aka "The Alaska Nanooks") strikes me as a bit much.  I mean, a hockey playing polar bear destroying the solar system?  First of all, how does he breathe?  And secondly, what does that have to do with hockey, really?

It should be noted that the UAF Nanook hockey team rejected this as being "too eighties", presumably because of the Kenny Loggins music.

I think that's the least of its problems.

The White House Does A Reality Check on Glenn Beck

Read it.  Here's my favorite:

RHETORIC:   BECK SAID VANCOUVER LOST $1 BILLION WHEN IT "HAD THE OLYMPICS."   Glenn Beck said, "Vancouver lost, how much was it? they lost a billion dollars when they had the Olympics."  [Transcript, Glenn Beck Show, 9/29/09]

 

REALITY:   VANCOUVER'S OLYMPICS WILL NOT TAKE PLACE UNTIL 2010.   Vancouver will host the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games from February 12 – 28, 2010 and March 12-21, 2010, respectively. [Vancouver2010.com, accessed 9/29/09]

Yup.  Beck claimed that Vancouver lost $1 billion when it had the Olympics, even though Vancouver hasn't had the Olympics yet!

Nate Silver vs. Strategic Vision

In a series of blog posts, statistician Nate Silver has made a compelling case that Strategic Vision, LLC is a public realtions/polling firm which, put bluntly, makes up data.

In this post, Silver looks at a recent poll conducted by SV, which made some news.  The upshot of the poll, commissioned by the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, is that Oklahoma public high school students are extraordinarily stupid.  The poll showed, for example, that only 23% of public high schools students could name America's first president (George Washington). 

I saw that poll reported in the news; I almost blogged about it.  But where I was left astonished, Silver smelled a rat.  And he went on to make a convincing argument that the numbers appear to be, quite simply, fabricated.

In another post, Silver notes that Strategic Vision appears to make up numbers because in its polling, a statistically high number of the Strategic Vision's raw numbers have trailing digits that end in 5,6,7,8 or 9 (as in 148, 326, 49, etc.)  Obviously, when you are dealing with polls, trailing digits of 1, 2, and 3 ought to show up just as often as trailing digits of 7, 8, and 9.  It's suggestive, albeit not conclusive, that Strategic Vision makes shit up.  "Over a sample of more than 5,000 data points, such an outcome occurring by chance alone would be an incredible fluke—millions to one against," writes Silver, who allows that "some intrinsic, mathematical reason that certain trailing digits are more likely to come up than others" may be an alternative, yet unproven explanation.

But Nate Silver isn't alone on this crusade.  In fact, he didn't even start it.  The governing industry body for pollsters, the American Association for Public Opinion Research  (AAPOR) criticized Strategic Vision LLC for refusing to disclose "essential facts" about surveys it conducted prior to the 2008 New Hampshire and Wisconsin primaries (AAPOR was conducting a study because some of the polls in the 2008 election were wildly off).  Strategic Vision is not a member of the AAPOR (nearly all major polling firms are), which alone ought to tell you something.

Strategic Vision, which normally gets retained by Republican/conservative clients to conduct polling, has a history of questionable practices:

Details of Strategic Visions polls have long raised flags among pollsters, in part because it refuses -- unlike other pollsters -- to release "cross-tabs" -- the detailed demographic breakdowns of individual polls. A source noted other anomalies to me today. One is that the pollster always reports having called a round number of respondents -- unusual in an industry that typically uses large call centers and winds up -- as casual poll readers know -- with uneven numbers of calls.

Another question is how the firm pays for its polls. Its website lists at least 172 public polls, and at a stated cost of $30,000 a poll, that's an expenditure of more than $5 million -- quite a sum for a small firm.

A third question has to do with the firm's offices. Its website, as recently as last month, listed offices in Atlanta, Madison, Seattle, and Tallahassee -- all of which match the locations of UPS stores, rather than actual offices. The addresses are now gone from the site entirely, though it now also lists a Dallas presence.

If the allegations are true, this rises above the usual "lies, damned lies, and statistics".  This is outright fraud committed by a polling company on the American people.

Did I mention that Strategic Vision routinely conducts polls for Republican and conservative think-tanks and causes?

I'm Shocked, Shocked That There's Hyperbole In The House

I wasn't going to write about this, but there was some Democratic theatrics on the House floor yesterday.  A Democratic congressman -- Alan Grayson of Florida -- got up in the House and made a tongue-in-cheek mockery of the Republican health care plan.  The freshman Florida Democrat said the Republican health care plan calls for sick people to "die quickly."

"It's a very simple plan," Grayson said in the speech Tuesday night. "Don't get sick. That's what the Republicans have in mind. And if you get sick America, the Republican health care plan is this: die quickly."

Here's the vid:

This morning, Republicans are outraged and insulted about the terrible lack of decorum, etc.  Outraged and insulted, I say.  Rep. Tom Price, R-Georgia, announced Wednesday he will introduce a resolution condemning Grayson for the comments.

Rep. Jimmy Duncan (R-TN) declared:

"That is about the most mean-spirited partisan statement that I've ever heard made on this floor, and I, for one, don't appreciate it."

Really? The most mean-spirited partisan statement ever heard on the House floor?  Apparently, they are oblivious to similar statements from their own ranks.  Ryan Grim at the Huffington Post took a preliminary look at a few Republican representatives who claimed the Democratic health care plan spelled death for Americans:

Take Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite (R-Fla.), who said in July: "Last week, Democrats released a health care bill which essentially said to America's seniors: drop dead."

Or Rep. Paul Broun (R-Ga.), a doctor, who reviewed the public health insurance option in July and diagnosed that it is "gonna kill people."

Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), not one to pull punches, suggested on the House floor that Congress "make sure we bring down the cost of health care for all Americans and that ensures affordable access for all Americans and is pro-life because it will not put seniors in a position of being put to death by their government."

July was a busy time for House floor death sentences. Also that month, Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas), noted: "One in five people have to die because they went to socialized medicine...I would hate to think that among five women, one of 'em is gonna die because we go to socialized care."

Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) had a similar assessment. "They're going to save money by rationing care, getting you in a long line. Places like Canada, United Kingdom, and Europe. People die when they're in line," he said on the House floor in July.

UPDATE:  A video compilation:

Classic case of dishing it out, but not being able to take it.

Your God Sucks

Sorry, but I had to say it.  It's International Blasphemy Day.

Hey! New Supreme Court!

Okay.  Most of you know the drill.  Sit still, look at the camera, smile, and shut up.

Kennedy, shut up!  He doesn't want to hear you!  Sonia, can you smile, please?  Clarence, don't slouch.  Geez.  (Every year... the same thing....)

Can someone go see where Ruth is?  Didn't she know... oh, hi there, hun.  Didn't see you back there.  My bad.  How are you feeling?  Fellas, why don't one of you let Ruthie have a chair?

Fellas?

Ok, never mind.  Okay.

Folks, look up here.  Scalia, don't.  Don't do the finger thing behind Alito's head.  It just wastes film.

Okay.  Look at the camera.  The birdie.  Whatever.  Smile.

Okay.  I guess that's the one.  Whatever.  We're done.  Thank you all.

Justice Ginsburg, you can go too.  Ginsburg?  Can someone see if he's alive?

Quote Of The Day

Sarah's got a book coming out soon called "Goin' Rogue" (I guess "maverick" was taken).  She reportedly got a $7 million advance on the book, which is good for her, because she's not exactly taking the lecture circuit by storm:

Palin's bookers are said to be asking for $100,000 per speech, but an industry expert tells Page Six: "The big lecture buyers in the US are paralyzed with fear about booking her, basically because they think she is a blithering idiot."

Imagine my surprise.

If Republicans Are Worried About Wasteful Government Programs....

... and that's why they supposedly oppose the public option, then why are they throwing money at government programs that don't work?

That's right.  The Senate Finance Committee yesterday rejected two amendments to its health bill which would have added the public option.  But what amendment did the Republicans and Blue Dog Dems vote for?  Providing more money to abstience education programs:

The Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday night approved an amendment providing tens of millions of dollars to fund abstinence education programs for teens.

The proposal, offered by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), would provide $50 million per year through 2014 exclusively for abstinence education programs. The measure would effectively reinstate the controversial Title V program, which offered $50 million per year to states for abstinence education, but prohibited them from tapping the funds for other sex-ed subjects like contraception. The same prohibition would accompany the Hatch amendment. “Abstinence education works,” the Utah Republican said.

The vote was 12 to 11, with Democratic Sens. Blanche Lincoln (Ark.) and Kent Conrad (N.D.) voting with every Republican to secure passage of the measure.

Hatch, defending the truly ridiculous government spending, said, "Abstinence education works."

No, Orrin.  It doesn't. 

The facts have been stubborn on this. The nonpartisan National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy found that abstinence programs do not affect teenager sexual behavior. A congressionally-mandated study, which was not only comprehensive but also included long-term follow-up, found the exact same thing. Researchers keep conducting studies, and the results are always the same.

Whatever merits one hopes abstience-only education possesses, the bottom line is this: IT DOESN'T WORK.  Yet, the Republicans want to fund it anyway, at the expense -- and as part of -- a healthcare reform bill intended to bring low-cost affordable health care to everybody.

Insane.

Friedman's Must-Read

NYT columnist Thomas Friedman recalls not too long ago when Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin was accused by his political opponents of being a socialist, a Nazi, a treasonous villian, etc.  That all pretty much ended when Rabin was assassinated in 1995.

Friedman today writes that what we're seeing in America now is much the same thing:

Others have already remarked on this analogy, but I want to add my voice because the parallels to Israel then and America today turn my stomach: I have no problem with any of the substantive criticism of President Obama from the right or left. But something very dangerous is happening. Criticism from the far right has begun tipping over into delegitimation and creating the same kind of climate here that existed in Israel on the eve of the Rabin assassination.

What kind of madness is it that someone would create a poll on Facebook asking respondents, “Should Obama be killed?” The choices were: “No, Maybe, Yes, and Yes if he cuts my health care.” The Secret Service is now investigating. I hope they put the jerk in jail and throw away the key because this is exactly what was being done to Rabin.

Even if you are not worried that someone might draw from these vitriolic attacks a license to try to hurt the president, you have to be worried about what is happening to American politics more broadly.

Our leaders, even the president, can no longer utter the word “we” with a straight face. There is no more “we” in American politics at a time when “we” have these huge problems — the deficit, the recession, health care, climate change and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan — that “we” can only manage, let alone fix, if there is a collective “we” at work.

Sometimes I wonder whether George H.W. Bush, president “41,” will be remembered as our last “legitimate” president. The right impeached Bill Clinton and hounded him from Day 1 with the bogus Whitewater “scandal.” George W. Bush was elected under a cloud because of the Florida voting mess, and his critics on the left never let him forget it.

And Mr. Obama is now having his legitimacy attacked by a concerted campaign from the right fringe. They are using everything from smears that he is a closet “socialist” to calling him a “liar” in the middle of a joint session of Congress to fabricating doubts about his birth in America and whether he is even a citizen. And these attacks are not just coming from the fringe. Now they come from Lou Dobbs on CNN and from members of the House of Representatives.

Again, hack away at the man’s policies and even his character all you want. I know politics is a tough business. But if we destroy the legitimacy of another president to lead or to pull the country together for what most Americans want most right now — nation-building at home — we are in serious trouble. We can’t go 24 years without a legitimate president — not without being swamped by the problems that we will end up postponing because we can’t address them rationally.

The American political system was, as the saying goes, “designed by geniuses so it could be run by idiots.” But a cocktail of political and technological trends have converged in the last decade that are making it possible for the idiots of all political stripes to overwhelm and paralyze the genius of our system.

Those factors are: the wild excess of money in politics; the gerrymandering of political districts, making them permanently Republican or Democratic and erasing the political middle; a 24/7 cable news cycle that makes all politics a daily battle of tactics that overwhelm strategic thinking; and a blogosphere that at its best enriches our debates, adding new checks on the establishment, and at its worst coarsens our debates to a whole new level, giving a new power to anonymous slanderers to send lies around the world.

As if to prove Friedman's point, Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele responded to Friedman's editorial by calling Friedman "a nut job".

Also proving Friedman's point, an op-ed in Newsmax appeared yesterday endorsing a potential military coup as the only way to solve the "Obama problem".  Newsmax appears to have taken down its article, but here's the full text of the article as it originally appeared.

The article not only endorsed the idea but seemed to suggest that top military brass were also planning or actively considering such an option.  That, however, is dubious.  In his Washington Post column, former Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson acknowledges that “military leaders seem impressed” with President Obama’s decision-making process. “Obama’s engaged, deliberate style has fans in the military,” he writes.

My Take On Roman Polanski

Yes, the 13 year old victim, now in her 40's, has long since forgiven him.

Yes, the victim's mother at the time was apparently some freaked out fame wannabe, and put her daughter in that position.

Yes, it was a long time ago.

Yes, he's famous.

But here's the thing.  A crime is a crime.  He committed a crime.  He pled gulity to it, before he fled.  That's all that matters.  And crimes, by the way, are crimes against the state (that's why criminal cases are typical title "The People versus Joe Smith"), so it doesn't matter what the victim says now.

And it doesn't matter how long ago it happened (no statute of limitations once you've pled guilty).

And it certainly doesn't matter that he makes movies.

Poll Results: 15,000 Women Rank Lovers By Nationality

Telegraph:

WORLD'S WORST LOVERS:

1. Germany (too smelly)
2. England (too lazy)
3. Sweden (too quick)
4. Holland (too dominating)
5. America (too rough)
6. Greece (too lovey-dovey)
7. Wales (too selfish)
8. Scotland (too loud)
9. Turkey (too sweaty)
10. Russia (too hairy)

WORLD'S BEST LOVERS

1. Spain
2. Brazil
3. Italy
4. France
5. Ireland
6. South Africa
7. Australia
8. New Zealand
9. Denmark
10. Canada

One wonders about these women who apparently have slept around enough to be able to make these comparisons in the first place.

Pancake Porn

An strangely intriguing industrial film about a robotic device which can stack pancakes at 400 ppm (pancakes per minute)

Mmmm.... pancakes.....

[Via Mental Floss]

Red Sox In Postseason

Losing five in a row will get you a wild card spot only because Texas lost three in a row.

Not awe-inspiring, but I'll take it.

Still, they will have to get their mojo on as they face Anaheim post season.  No slouching across the finish line against guys like that.

Lots O' Sex at my Alma Mater

I graduated from Tufts University, as did my sister and brother-in-law.  And my nephew attends it now.

So this caught my eye:

Tufts University, just outside Boston, has issued a new policy for the 2009-2010 school year regarding sexual activity in dorms.

Here's the key update in the revised campus handbook:

You may not engage in sexual activity while your roommate is present in the room.

Any sexual activity within your assigned room should not ever deprive your roommate(s) of privacy, study, or sleep time.

The Boston Herald says the changes came in response to student gripes about "rambunctious roomies and their raunchy romps."

I suspect this is a problem at all universities, not just Tufts.

God, I hope so.

Who's Afraid of the Public Option?

The Senate Finance Committee is debating whether a public option amendment should be added to their bill.  As expected, Republicans and Blue Dog Dems are opposed.

But, listening to their debate here in the background all day, their arguments against the public option are all the same: government-imposed rationing, long wait times, bureaucrats making treatment decisions, etc.

In other words, it's a bad program that doesn't work (they claim).

What doesn't get said, and what needs desparately to be said, is that the public option is designed to compete with private insurance.  And people can choose the public option (if they want) or stay with their private insurance.

So... even IF the public option turns out to be the terrible nightmare that Republicans claim, what's the downside?  If it's going to be that bad, then people simply won't choose it, right?  So, private insurance companies "win"; it won't cost much to run, etc.

And yet, some Republicans claim that the public options is just a stepping stone to a single payer system, where there are no private insurance companies.  Well, how will that work, if the public option will be so terrible?

You see, it's a shell game.  The truth is that Republicans fear the public option, not because it won't work, but because they fear it will work.  They fear, and rightly so, that on a level-playing feel, insurance companies will fare badly, and (at worst) have to adjust their business practices to be more consumer-friendly. 

UPDATE: Senate Finance Committee votes 15-8 against Rockefeller amendment on public option.

But there's still the public option amendment offered by Sen. Chuck Schumer.  That's up now...

UPDATE:... which loses 13-10.

Has-Been Kirk Cameron's Latest Hijinx

The former Growing Pains star, who has gone full-blown creationist now that the plum roles are no longer coming his way, has teamed up with other anti-evolutionists in what he imagines to be a clever ploy to teach people about how bad evolutionary science is:

The 'Growing Pains' alum released a video last week announcing that on Nov. 19, he and other Creationist activists will distribute a special 'Species' [Darwin's Origin of Species] with a 50-page intro that slams evolution and paints Darwin as both racist and misogynistic and explicitly highlights "Adolph Hitler's undeniable connection to the theory."

Man, Hitler hasn't had this much airplay since the days of Hitler.  Seriously, can we STOP it with the Hitler already?!?  (By the way, Obama is in Denmark today pushing for the Olympics to come to Chicago.  And you know who else hosted the Olympics?  Hitler!!!)

But Kirk's logic is laughably fallacious.  I'm not saying Darwin was/wasn't racist and misogynistic -- I honestly have no idea -- but assuming he was, what does that mean?  It means nothing.  If the Grandwizard of the KKK said that "2+2=4", he's still correct, isn't he, regardless of his racist views?  Or do we reject math?

And sure.  Hitler believed in a "superior race" which was rather loosely based on "survival of the fittest" -- a concept coined and popularized by Darwin.  But Hitler's "undeniable connection" to evolution means that evolution is... what, exactly?  It only means that he bastardized and corrupted the work of Darwin, at worst.

By the way, Kirk, what about Hitler's "connection" to Christianity?  From Mein Kampf, here's what Hitler said about the Jewish person:

"His life is only of this world, and his spirit is inwardly as alien to true Christianity as his nature two thousand years previous was to the great founder of the new doctrine... Hence today I believe that I am acting in accordance with the will of the Almighty Creator: by defending myself against the Jew, I am fighting for the work of the Lord."

So maybe other people should go around on November 19 passing around Bibles on college campuses, complete with a 50-page introduction discussing the apostles' support of slavery and Hitler's undeniable connection to Christianity.

Right, Kirk?

UPDATE:  Love this...

TLC Math

(Jon and Kate Plus 8) - Jon = Kate Plus 8

Document Dump

Remember a few months ago when a bunch of black kids from a day camp tried to go swimming in a community pool (permission having been granted by the pool's Board of Driectors), and were then told to leave because some of the pool members (all white) complained?

The Human Relations Committee came out with a damning report this past week.  You can read it here (PDF), but the bottom line is this:

The commission ordered the club to pay a $50,000 civil penalty for the club's discrimation again one child, whose parents filed the complaint with the commission.

The report also orders Valley Club to pay other damages, including reimbursing the parent who filed the complaint for all related expenses. If there is no settlement made between the parent, the club and the commission, either party can request a public hearing before the commission and can after that be challenged in court.

The $50,000 civil penalty is to be paid to state government, under terms of the finding.

Palin Memoir Due In November; English Translation To Follow

HuffPo:

NEW YORK (The Borowitz Report) - A memoir by former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin will be published this November, with an English translation due shortly thereafter, her publisher confirmed today.

According to Carol Foyler, a spokesperson for the publisher, translators are working "around the clock" to translate Ms. Palin's text into English.

"We have hired the best linguists in the country, but this is still hard work," Ms. Foyler acknowledged. "It must have been easier to crack the Enigma code in World War II."

Ms. Foyler said that the publishing company was "delighted" with Ms. Palin's manuscript and "deeply relieved that she didn't quit in the middle of it."

400 pages.  In four months. 

And no, Sarah didn't write it.  It's no secret that the actual author is someone named Lynn Vincent who co-wrote Donkey Cons: Sex, Crime, and Corruption in the Democratic Party.

Other reactions, compiled by The New Yorker:

“Many in the mainstream media will also be eager to see how the Republican hockey mom praises them for their objective portrayals of her—and, indeed, her entire family—all last fall.”—L.A. Times Top of the Ticket

“Harper ... has moved the release date up from the spring to November 17. That gives Palin followers just less than two months to learn how to read.”—Faded Youth

“I’ve come to learn that if Palin is involved in anything in any way, shape, or form, then the chance of batshit insane things happening increases exponentially. Even if it’s her dictating her “life story” to a ghostwriter. She is like the King Midas of batshit crazy.”—Balloon Juice

“The world will discover the true Sarah Palin and the truth to which we have not heretofore had access. She will give the public her own unfiltered message—untainted by the likes of the agenda-ridden mainstream media. You might want to get in line now.”—Sarah's Web Brigade

“The book was slated for the spring, but was finished so why not get it out in time for holiday sales?”—Elect-SarahPalin.com

“She needs the money sooner because her handler, Meg Stapleton, screwed up the negotiations for last week’s Hong Kong speaking debut by inadvertently agreeing that Palin would be compensated in Chinese Renminbis rather than U.S. Dollars.”—Lynnrockets

“Sarah Palin finishes memoir, a 400 page pop-up book. Comes with free Crayons, Palin-English dictionary, aspirin.”—Muck Rack

“In lieu of sanctions, copies of former US Vice President hopeful Sarah Palin's memoir 'Going Rogue' will be air dropped over the entire country of Iran. The US State Department commented, "If we cannot starve them, we will bore them to death.”—Trans Talk

“I guess ‘Goin’ All Mavericky’ was taken?”—Beach Peanuts

“Normally I don’t like political books with a lot of photos, but this is an exception. There’s nothing I like more than a girl with a plan … especially when that girl is Sarah Palin.”—Be John Gault

“Remember how I have been warning that she was going to be free to roll around the country like a loose cannon? Well, that time has come upon us, just in time for the 2010 campaign stumping.”—God's Own Party?

Supreme Court Cases I'm Following: At A Glance

Hearing date	Case	Summary	Where did the case come from?	Government position	My position	My prediction for outcome
9/9/2009	Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission	Whether to overrule precedents upholding state and federal limits on corporate political spending.	D.C. Circuit	No	No	Yes
10/6/2009	U.S. v. Stevens	Can the government criminalize selling dogfight videotapes or other depictions of animal cruelty?	3rd Circuit	Yes	No	No
10/7/2009	Salazar v. Buono	Can an individual challenge a cross on property the government transferred to a private organization?	9th Circuit	No	No	No
11/2/2009	Jones v. Harris Associates	Can an investor challenge a mutual-fund adviser for charging excessive fees?	7th Circuit	Yes	Yes	No
11/3/2009	Hemi Group LLC v. City of New York	Can a city use civil RICO lawsuit to collect cigarette taxes?	2nd Circuit	N/A	No	No
11/4/2009	Pottawattamie County, IA v. McGhee	May a prosecutor be sued for allegedly using false testimony to win a conviction?	8th Circuit	No	Yes	Yes
11/9/2009	Graham v. Florida	Can a juvenile offender be sentenced to life without parole for a non-homicide crime?	Florida Supreme Court	N/A	No	No
11/9/2009	Bilski v. Kappos	Must a business method patent be tied to a particular machine or apparatus,” or transform something "into a different state or thing," to be valid?	Federal Circuit	Yes	Yes	Yes
12/2/2009	Stop the Beach Renourishment Inc. v. Florida	Does a state program to replenish eroded beaches for public use unconstitutionally deprive coastal property owners of their private ocean access?	Florida Supreme Court	N/A	No	No
Not yet scheduled	U.S. v. Comstock	Do federal prisons have the authority to hold "sexually dangerous" inmates past their sentences out of fear they will violate state law?	4th Circuit	Yes	No	No
Not yet scheduled	American Needle Inc. v. NFL	Extent of NFL monopoly over individual team logos	7th Circuit	Not yet filed	Teams, not NFL, control team logos	Teams, not NFL, control team logos
Not yet scheduled	Florida v. Powell	Does merely telling the accused that he can "talk to attorney" meet the Miranda rights requirement?	Florida Supreme Court	N/A	No	No

NEXT DAY UPDATE:  Add one more -- a biggie -- to the list:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Supreme Court will decide whether the constitutional right of individuals to own firearms trumps state and local laws, reviving the legal battle over gun rights in America.

The high court said Wednesday it agreed to decide the reach of its landmark ruling last year that the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guaranteed an individual right to own guns and use them for lawful purposes like self-defense in the home.

Gun rights cases have been among the country's most divisive social, political and legal issues. The Supreme Court split, in a 5-4 vote, between the conservative and liberal factions, in the 2008 ruling.

The court last year prohibited the federal government from imposing certain restrictions, but it left unclear whether the right also applied to state and local gun control laws.

The Supreme Court said in a brief order it would settle that question by ruling in a dispute over a strict gun control law in Chicago.

Not The Strongest Defense

The Vatican addresses the whole clergy-pedophilia thing:

The statement, read out by Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, the Vatican's permanent observer to the UN, defended its record by claiming that "available research" showed that only 1.5%-5% of Catholic clergy were involved in child sex abuse.

Oh... "only 1.5% to 5%"?  Is that all?

Imagine that pedophile statistic being applied to, say, public school teachers.

P.S.  The Vatican would also like you to note that the Protestant and Jewish faiths have their fair share of pedophilia problems, thankyouverymuch.

So noted.

Remember Those Anti-Health Care Reform Town Hall Protests Last Summer?

They didn't speak for the majority then, and they speak for a small minority now.

[Source]

Loon River

Count in singer and still-not-dead Andy Williams as a teabagger:

"Don't like him at all," he said, "I think he wants to create a socialist country. The people he associates with are very Left-wing. One is registered as a Communist.

"Obama is following Marxist theory. He's taken over the banks and the car industry. He wants the country to fail."

It's okay to cut Andy some slack.  he's got to be close to senility by now.

"Hostile Toward Christianity"

Blogger Tom McMahon thinks that the National Park Service is "hostile toward Christianity" because it recommends that its publications use BCE (before common era) instead of BC, and CE (common era) instead of AD.  From the editorial style guide of HFC:

Since when does adopting neutral non-religious writing style become "hostile toward Christianity"?

That's the problem with some of these people.  They think that if you don't bend toward Christianity, you're "hostile" to it.

Yeah, People... Seriously. You Don't Want To Be Embarrassed Like This.

Hugh Jackman, performing in previews of "Steady Rain" (opening September 29), stops the performance for a cell phone ring in the audience.  Happened last Wednesday.

AP:

NEW YORK – Hugh Jackman knows how to stop the show. He did it recently when a cell phone call interrupted a preview performance of "A Steady Rain," the Broadway play that stars Jackman and Daniel Craig. The moment captured on an amateur video shown by the TMZ.com Web site appears to have been recorded by someone in the audience.

It shows Jackman breaking character to tell the owner of the ringing cell phone, "You want to get that?" as the audience erupts in cheers. As the ringing persists, Jackman pleads: "Come on, just turn it off." He then paces the stage of the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, waits about a minute for the ringing to stop and the play resumes.

Producers of "A Steady Rain" declined to comment.

The interruption occurred during an intense moment in the play, when Jackman's character, a Chicago policeman, reveals haunting memories.

A customary loudspeaker announcement reminds theatergoers to turn off their phones. Since the incident, ushers who seat patrons and pass out playbills at Schoenfeld are also instructing patrons to silence their phones.

"A Steady Rain," a taut drama about the relationship between two policemen, opens Tuesday for a limited engagement through Dec. 6. The play by Keith Huff already has proven to be a potent box-office winner, playing to capacity audiences since it began previews on Sept. 10.

Knickers Twisted

Letter to the Editor recently:

Increasingly common

My wife and I recently attended a performance of Moonlight and Magnolias at Twin City Stage ("Movie Stage," Sept. 13). What we were hoping for was a wholesome comedy. What we experienced was a profanity-laced production that made frequent use of a variety of obscene language.

This is the type of language that is becoming increasingly common not only at Twin City Stage and in movie theaters, but also throughout our society.

A sewage pond is not pleasant to smell. Most people would try to avoid being anywhere near it. Yet, it seems as if many people in our society today don't mind hearing -- and even speaking -- obscenities.

Ephesians 4:29 instructs us to "let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth."

Likewise, Colossians 3:8 instructs us to rid ourselves of "filthy language out of your mouth."

It would be no stretch to assume these biblical passages also imply that Christians shouldn't casually stand by and listen to such language when it is spoken by others. Such language not only contaminates the person who is speaking, but may also contaminate those who are listening to it. Consider what the psalmist says in Psalm 19:14: "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer."

How pleased God would be if each of us tried to honor him through the words we speak and the words to which we listen.

HARVEY E. ARMOUR
Winston-Salem

Ah, vox populli.

My favorite paragraph starts:

It would be no stretch to assume these biblical passages also imply that Christians shouldn't casually stand by and listen to such language when it is spoken by others.

"No stretch to assume these biblical passages also imply...?"  In other words, he's saying the Bible commands him to condemn, although it actually doesn't.

People like Mr. Armour drive me nuts.  It's not his objection to foul language.  It's his supposition that we all must conform to his sensiblities.  I call it the "prude veto".  Mr. Armour can choose to live his life as he chooses, and take whatever steps he needs to avoid the cesspool of language which offends him so.  There are off buttons on remote controls.  There are knowledgeable people at the theater who can tell you language content.  But to sanitize all things -- especially all entertainment -- to cater to the the likes of Mr. Armour is simply ludicrous.

People, in this country, you're allowed to clutch your pearls and swoon onto the fainting couch.  You're not allowed to make other people do that.  It's one thing to ask people to respect your religion; quite another to ask them to respect your taboos.