Those of us in the US who are atheists and other forms of skeptics and are surrounded by religious people tend to look enviously at countries in Europe that seem to have thrown off those shackles a long time ago. I have long argued that things are not nearly as bad as they seem and that there are increasing signs that disbelief in the US is growing and it will only accelerate with time. [Read more…]
You might think that given the realization that the US was taken to war under false pretenses and the subsequent revelation of all the abuses that occurred during that war, the US public might have at least some second thoughts about the wisdom of the many abhorrent practices that were adopted as part of the generalized war on terror. [Read more…]
Election campaigns throw up wacky distractions from time to time but I never expected Big Bird of all people (or rather birds) to suddenly make a cameo appearance in this one. Mitt Romney’s throwaway remark in the debate that he would get rid of funding for Sesame Street and Big Bird was not his finest moment, considering that by now a couple of generations of people have grown up with fond memories of the giant muppet and want their children to experience the same magic. My own children loved him. [Read more…]
Today is Pulpit Freedom Sunday, when about 1,4000 clergy around the country are going to tell people whom they should vote for in the coming election. [Read more…]
Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan have been remarkably evasive about the details of their tax plan which calls for reducing the marginal tax rates by 20% (which reduces revenue) but also reducing or eliminating deductions and loopholes (which raises revenue). [Read more…]
The post-mortems on the first presidential debate provided me with first-hand experience of something that I had previously only read about, which was that the reactions of actual viewers of such debates immediately after watching them can differ quite widely from the media consensus generated afterwards. The things that we are told were significant events in past debates tend to be things that many viewers did not even notice in real time but were created as part of the post-debate narrative. [Read more…]
One of the things that happen when you get older is that you realize that everyone, even the people you look up to, has flaws. But it still does not make it easier to deal with the fact that those whom we greatly admire for some things turn out to be quite awful in other respects. [Read more…]
Via Ted Rall, I discovered the official insignia of the US Navy’s Executive Office for the Unmanned Aviation and Strike Weapons Program. This is part of the drone program that is responsible for the deaths of so many civilians in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen, and other countries in the region that have generated so much anger and hostility towards the US. [Read more…]
Some of you may have been following the controversy involving posters in the subways. Pamela Geller, who sees the threat of Sharia under every bed, wanted to place signs in the subway stations of the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) of New York that said “In any war between civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man. Support Israel. Defeat Jihad.” The odd wording derives from something that Ayn Rand once said. [Read more…]
It seems clear that the leaked video of Mitt Romney’s 47% comments at the event held for wealthy contributors has hurt him more than his campaign anticipated and that they are in serious damage control mode. I fully expect him to spend considerable effort in the debate tonight trying to correct the image that he is an out of touch rich guy. [Read more…]