Hanna Rosin, author of The End of Men: And the Rise of Women, has written a delightfully snarky response to that article on the Fox News website by Suzanne Venker, Phyllis Schlafly’s niece, claiming that women have to go back to being women again (when did they stop?) so men can be men again. Or …
Monthly Archive: November 2012
Nov 29 2012
If I Prayed, I’d Pray for This
In the buildup to the 2012 election, I was fervently hoping to see Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry and other wingnuts in the presidential race. They did not disappoint, of course, giving me endless entertainment. So all I have to say about this is please. Please, please, please, please, please.
Nov 29 2012
What Marketing Pitches Reveal About the Religious Right
A long time ago I signed up to be on Peter Popoff’s mailing list, which led to getting some truly hilarious letters in the mail (I especially enjoyed the vile of “holy water” that would bring miracles into my life). Rick Perlstein signed up for emails from a bunch of right wing sites and magazines …
Nov 29 2012
The Convenient Federalism of Conservatives
I am always amused when conservatives wax eloquent about the wonders of federalism. They talk grandly of the states as the laboratories of democracy and the evils of federal control of whatever they’re against in the first place. But only when the outcomes match their preferences. When an issue comes up that they feel strongly …
Nov 29 2012
Barton Whistles Past the Marriage Equality Graveyard
In the wake of the stunning victories for marriage equality in all four states where it was on the ballot a few weeks ago, David Barton is trying to paint a smiley face on the whole thing. He dismisses those victories as purely “rhetorical” and, as usual, distorts the truth in the process:
Nov 29 2012
The Importance of Upgrading the Electrical Grid
James Surowieki has a column in the New Yorker talking about the crucial need to upgrade our national infrastructure, especially the electric grid, as well as making New York and other coastal cities safer from the inevitable effects of global warming. I’m going to focus on the electric grid:
Nov 29 2012
Fertility Rates and the Political Divide
Lauren Sandler, writing in New York magazine, notes something very interesting and not at all surprising to me. There seems to be a direct correlation between fertility rates and one’s political beliefs. The larger the average family size is in a state, the more Republican it is, and vice versa.
Nov 29 2012
How Will the SCOTUS Handle Marriage Equality?
The U.S. Supreme Court may decide as early as Friday which of the many cases involving marriage equality under appeal that they will hear. Chris Geidner has a rundown of all the various cases they could take on, which are the most likely, and what all the scenarios are for how they will handle them.
Nov 28 2012
Akin May Write a Book
Teagan Goddard reports that Todd Akin is considering writing a book now that he has lost both his House seat and the Senate seat he would almost certainly have won if he had not revealed his ignorance and extremism to the world. That is, of course, the first step to becoming a star on the …
Nov 28 2012
Christian Fraud to Address Pentagon Prayer Breakfast (Update: Not Anymore)
The Pentagon is hosting a prayer breakfast on Wednesday and the keynote speaker will be Ray Giunta, a man with a rather sordid past and another in a long line of Christian frauds who bought a worthless degree and then went around calling himself a doctor. Amanda Terkel reports:
Nov 28 2012
The Conservapedia of Fact Checking
There’s a new site called Conservative Fact Check that will likely provide a good deal of entertainment. The creator of the site, some guy named Chuck Rogers that few people have heard of, says it is “dedicated to providing a conservative alternative to enormously liberal-biased fact checking sites like snopes.com, factcheck.org, and politifact.com.”
Nov 28 2012
Your Epic Wingnut Rant of the Week
Man, I’ve seen some incredibly delusional sermons in my day, but this one may take the cake. It’s from the Deliver Us From Evil conference in October. This is Steve Foss, senior pastor of Upper Room Church in Keller, Texas. Republic of Gilead spotted this and has a partial transcript. This is interspersed between momentary …
Nov 28 2012
Levin Does His Job
Sen. Carl Levin may be a Democrat, but as the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, he also knows which side of his bread contains the butter — and who is paying for it, too. Like Leon Panetta, he is trying to stir up fear over even the tiny cuts in defense spending in …
Nov 28 2012
Morton a Victim of His Own Demon
I meant to write about this a couple weeks ago and forgot, but PZ’s post reminded me. Like PZ and Aron Ra, I knew Glenn Morton as an ally, and a very important one, in the fight against creationism. I worked with him on a couple different projects over the years. And I, too, am …
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