Getting angry with allies

We are at that stage in the election campaign where nerves are getting frayed, people are getting testy, and sharp lines are being drawn. The question “Which side are you on?” in the form of “Who are you going to vote for?” is being posed with greater frequency and sharpness, and whips are being cracked to bring people into line. One of the things that puzzles me is the way partisans of one major party or the other react when other people say they will not vote for their preferred candidate. The most venom is directed against those who people think should vote with them but say they are going to vote for someone else. [Read more…]

Does Michelle Obama not act and look like a First Lady should?

You may recall I wrote last month about the minor flap that occurred when NPR reporter Ari Shapiro broadcast a short interview with a woman named Bobbie Lussier at an American Legion meeting in Indianapolis. Referring to the Obamas, Lussier told him, “I just – I don’t like him. Can’t stand to look at him. I don’t like his wife. She’s far from the first lady. It’s about time we get a first lady in there that acts like a first lady and looks like a first lady.” [Read more…]

Upcoming events of interest to skeptics in the Cleveland area

1. The Center for Inquiry Northeast Ohio will be holding its 2012 conference on the topic “On the Barricades: Reason vs. Religion in Public Policy” on Saturday, October 6, 2012 from 9:00am to 4:00 pm in the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Independence, Ohio.

More details of the program and registration information can be found here.

2. The CWRU chapter of the Center for Inquiry will be hosting Eddie Tadash who will talk on “Is America a Christian Nation?”

The talk is free and open to the public and will be held on Sunday, October 7 at 6:00 pm in Room 322 in the Wickenden building on the Case quad of the campus.