Edward _

Today’s vocabulary word: madrassas

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UPDATE: This nonsense is spreading:

Alternate Evolution Theory OK’d for Teaching

With a vote last month, the school board in rural south-central Pennsylvania community is believed to have become the first in the nation to mandate the teaching of "intelligent design", which holds that the universe is so complex that it must have been created by an unspecified higher power.

Critics call the change in the ninth-grade biology curriculum a veiled attempt to require public schoolchildren to learn creationism, a biblical-based view that credits the origin of species to God.

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From Texas and Georgia come disturbing stories of how religious beliefs are changing what students in public shools are being taught. From Pharyngula:

It must be sad and hard to be a textbook in Texas.

Last year, the school board was trying to cut evolution out of them.

This year, they’re removing references to pollution, global warming, and overpopulation.

Oh, and the phrase “married partners” is not to be used, because it’s too general and could include gay couples.

And health/sex ed books contain no mention of contraception. At all. Did you know that Texas is the #1 ranked state for teen pregnancy? I guess it’s like football: they’re going to hang onto that championship.

Continue reading that story. It’s an alarming tale of one fanatic’s (Terri Leo) crusade to rewrite the state’s textbooks with her own religious views. (My personal favorite is: She’s been working like a maniac to gut textbooks; she’s even tried to get publishers to add little “facts”, like “Opinions vary on why homosexuals, lesbians and bisexuals as a group are more prone to self-destructive behaviors like depression, illegal drug use, and suicide.”)

But things in Georgia are little better:

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“Automatically Reinstated in Washington”

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Via Instapundit~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ According to David Broder in the Washington Post, outside of Texas, where there had been agressive gerrymandering, 99% of the incumbents running for re-election to the House of Representatives won their seats. Most in landslides. The case of Congressman John Mica (R. Florida) was told to Broder by a former journalist who had … Read more

When the Blue say “I Do” They Actually Mean It

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Via a website with a name that violates the posting rules (warning, site is highly offensive…click through at your own risk). And for the record, the author of that site is a lunatic…I just believe in citing my sources.
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As the culture wars rage on, one of the themes we hear again and again is that conservatives place more importance on family values than liberals do. That’s why conservatives are more likely to want to ban gay marriage, in order to protect their families, or so they say. The fact that Massachusetts, the state the conservatives love to hate, has the lowest divorce rate in the nation has been making the rounds lately, but as divorcemag.com illustrates with this table, it’s not just Massachusetts. Nine of the 10 states with the lowest divorce rates are Blue states:

  1. Massachusetts
  2. Connecticut
  3. New Jersey
  4. Rhode Island
  5. New York
  6. Pennsylvania
  7. Wisconsin
  8. North Dakota
  9. Maryland
  10. Minnesota

But wait…there’s more. Ten of the bottom 10 states are Red states.

  1. Florida
  2. New Mexico
  3. Idaho
  4. Alabama
  5. Indiana
  6. Wyoming
  7. Tennessee
  8. Oklahoma
  9. Arkansas
  10. Nevada

And more than just Red states, nine* at least 5 of the bottom 10 are Bible Belt States.

Aside from the quickie-divorce Mecca of Nevada, no region of the United States has a higher divorce rate than the Bible Belt. Nearly half of all marriages break up, but the divorce rates in these southern states are roughly 50 percent above the national average.

These are the same people who claim that my marrying my fiance will threaten their marriages. Any scapegoat in a storm, eh?

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An Issue of Integrity

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The arguments against drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) are many, but most are idealistic. The arguments in favor of drilling for oil in ANWR are many, but most are practical or economic (not always the same thing). Having suffered defeat in the Senate last time around, the Bush Adminstration now feels safe to announce it’s renewing efforts to open up for drilling the area represented by Section 1002 of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980. I say "safe," because we heard little to nothing about this during the campaign. But the campaign is over, and Bush never said he’d drop the matter, so it’s no surprise. The only mystery at this point is how much of his new found political capital he’ll spend to see this happen.

Strongest among the arguments against drilling are the effects it could have on the environment there. Those anxious to take the oil argue that "We have the technology to develop oil without harming the environment and wildlife." But they don’t argue that they’ll use that technology. In fact, there are precedents to suggest that once they have the go ahead, the Bush administration will let industry drop their green facades.

But the question for me has never been how greenly the oil can be extracted, but rather how much integrity the concept of a National Wildlife Refuge has for the people of the United States. Pro-drilling enthusiasts like to argue that "The debate in Congress today centers solely on this small section [1.9 million acres]; the remaining 17.5 million acres of ANWR lie in the protected enclave that cannot be developed." Or they faithlessly argue that section 1002 is not pristine (the it’s-ugly-so-why-do-you-care argument). This argument is particularly disengenous though, because those offering it surely understand that any impact on section 1002 (which includes the shoreline) has been determined as very likely to have significant effects on the rest of ANWR, which even the Heritage Foundation admits is America’s "last true wilderness, a hallowed place, and a pristine environmental area."

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Friends Don’t Let Friends…

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Via Mike Hoye’s Weblog blarg? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It won’t surprise anyone here to learn that I’ve gone rounds and rounds with anti-gay Americans about why they are opposed to more rights for the nation’s homosexual citizens. Often they’ll quote the Bible, or they’ll raise the specter of rampant man-on-box-turtle sex, or they’ll suggest that even terrorism … Read more

43 X 2

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A few days ago, when asked to take a pledge to support the winner of the presidential election, constant reader Anarch made what I thought was a sound observation: My rule is much simpler: whoever gets inaugurated on January 21st is the President. Period. You don’t have to like it, you just have to accept … Read more

ObWi Wins!

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OK, so on a blog like this one, where the writers represent the right, middle, and left, there’s not very likely to be a uniform sense of joy across the board after election day. Still, we were very pleased to hear that we had been selected as Best Political Group Blog on the esteemed blog … Read more

‘Til Death Do Us Part

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Under the belief that if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em, I’m hereby launching a campaign to strengthen and secure the sanctity of marriage in the United States. I’m calling for an Amendment to the Constitution of the United States that will protect this cornerstone of civilization and ensure its definition as found in Judeo-Christian tradition. Under this amendment, marriage in the United States will be defined as between one man and one woman AND it will be binding. As Jesus noted, quoting the Jewish tradition:

What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate….And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.” (Matthew 19:3-9)

Therefore, once passed, this amendment will enforce that all Americans live up to their vow before man and/or God to remain married until death do them part. This, and only this, can protect this tradition we hold so important. This, and only this, can end the mockery that passes for marriage in our society today. Nothing threatens our very way of life in this country more than divorce and it must end. Therefore, I’m asking all Americans to join me in this effort. Write your congressmen, write your senators, call your local radio stations, write your local newspapers. Join me in stomping out this modern-age scourge that tears families apart and in the end benefits only the litigious divorce lawyers.

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Almost the Leader We All Deserve

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E.J. Dionne Jr. offers an excellent analysis of, as he calls it, “what Bush threw away.” As I’ve written repeatedly, Bush’s 90% approval rating after 9/11 offered the nation and the world an awesome opportunity to regain clarity about what’s important in life and what’s best about mankind. Rather than be the leader of the … Read more

Those newfangled blog thingies

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The New York Times, always on the bleeding edge, has recognized the influence of blogs on the election this year: Every four years, by journalistic if not political tradition, the presidential election must be accompanied by a “revolution.” So what transformed politics this time around? The rise of the Web log, or blog. The commentary … Read more

Today We Have Our Say

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I love voting day. After months of boasts and promises, mud-slinging and baby smooching, pundits and polls (and polls and polls), it all boils down to one very intimate action, humanity’s simplest idea and yet grandest achievement: one person, one vote. Like a child at Christmas, I wake up early, excited on election day. I … Read more

Spinmeister Contest Open Thread

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This post on Marshall has got me wondering: Delightful. I’m looking at a flyer sent around Florida by an outfit called the Florida Leadership Council. The headline reads: “First Day of School: Eighth Grade South Florida Middle School, 2007” Under that is a class of school children wearing gas masks and beneath that is the … Read more

Number of US Abortions Increased during Bush’s 1st Term

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Hat tip to constant reader wilfred for this item ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The data are incomplete, but they make a strong case for why “pro-life” single-issue voters might want to reconsider who they’re pulling the lever for tomorrow. As Joshua Holland reports on the Gadflyer, “abortions in this country have skyrocketed under the Bush administration after a … Read more

After the Election: Iraq Reality Coming Home to Roost

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Via a thought-provoking diary by Spin Doctor on Tacitus
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Freedom may be on the march in Iraq, but it’s very likely about to hit a serious pothole. Regardless of who wins the White House this week, what’s waiting for him to deal with in Iraq is no Inaugural Ball. From Newsweek:

And so the bloody battles of the Iraq war—which never quite ended—are about to start up again in full force. Much depends on the new offensive. If it succeeds, it could mark a turning point toward Iraqi security and stability. If it fails, then the American president will find himself in a deepening quagmire on Inauguration Day. The Fallujah offensive “is going to be extremely significant,” says one U.S. official involved in the planning. “It’s an attempt to tighten the circle around the most problematic areas and isolate these insurgents.” But it will also be “the first major test” of the new Iraqi security forces since the debacle in April, says Michael Eisenstadt, an Iraq expert at the Washington Institute. Their performance, he says, will “provide a key early indicator of the long-term prospects for U.S. success in Iraq.”

For months the American people have heard, from one side, promises to “stay the course” in Iraq (George W. Bush); and from the other side, equally vague plans for gradual withdrawal (John Kerry). Both plans depend heavily on building significant Iraqi forces to take over security. But the truth is, neither party is fully reckoning with the reality of Iraq—which is that the insurgents, by most accounts, are winning. Even Secretary of State Colin Powell, a former general who stays in touch with the Joint Chiefs, has acknowledged this privately to friends in recent weeks, NEWSWEEK has learned. The insurgents have effectively created a reign of terror throughout the country, killing thousands, driving Iraqi elites and technocrats into exile and scaring foreigners out. “Things are getting really bad,” a senior Iraqi official in interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi’s government told NEWSWEEK last week. “The initiative is in [the insurgents’] hands right now. This approach of being lenient and accommodating has really backfired. They see this as weakness.” (emphasis mine)

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Arnold’s Seed Bears Unacceptable, er, Fruit

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I love a good insult. I’m a bit thicked skinned about them so long as I’m free to fight back with the drunken-sailor language that rolls quite naturally off my tonuge. Given license to let loose, I even enjoy a good gutter-level war of words. I’ve had exchanges in the streets of New York that would make Howard Stern blush. But, as with everything in life, there are times and places such actions are inappropriate.

Back when Arnold Schwarzenegger mocked the California legislators who wouldn’t pass his budget as “girlie men,” I understood the uproar among some folks in the gay community, but never really felt it myself. (In fact, if anyone should have been insulted by that it was women, who in my experience are just as tough negotiators as men and don’t deserve the slur.) Even his RNC taunt to not be “economic girlie men” was more embarassing (must he run every one-liner his writers hand him into the ground?) than insulting.

Of course Arnold’s overall record on gay rights comes into play here, buying him some benefit of doubt that he wasn’t slurring the gay community (again, not everyone will agree with me here), but Arnold’s words may have had an unfortunate side-effect in that they lowered the bar of acceptable rhetoric.

Cut to the Kentucky US Senate race between Republican incumbent Jim Bunning and Democratic challenger Daniel Mongiardo. Top state Republicans campaigning for Bunning have been pushing the envelope on acceptable insults, with regards to slurs generally insinuating homosexuality (via Marshall):

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he said, He said

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I’m not comfortable with all the God talk taking place this election. Fearing the consequences of seeming too secular, all kinds of pols are increasingly wearing their religion on their sleeves. As The Nation reported recently, it’s become important to acknowledge that God is now a integral part of our election process, if only because Democrats are alarmed at how the Republicans are winning by doing so:

At last month’s Democratic convention, few words were uttered more frequently than the one that seems to roll most easily off the tongue of George W. Bush: faith. “Let me say it plainly,” announced John Kerry in his acceptance speech. “In this campaign, we welcome people of faith.” John Edwards thanked his parents, Wallace and Bobbie, for instilling in him an appreciation of “faith” from an early age. Barack Obama declared that Kerry “understands the ideals of community, faith and service,” and added, to those who think only Republicans turn to religion for inspiration, “We worship an awesome God in the blue states.”

That Democrats are eager to propagate this message is not surprising. The United States is, after all, an astoundingly religious country. And in recent decades, Americans who take their religion seriously have been flocking to the GOP in numbers that have left Democratic strategists alarmed. Back in 1992, voters who told exit pollsters they attend prayer services on a frequent basis supported George H.W. Bush over Bill Clinton by a margin of 14 percent. Eight years later, in 2000, those same voters backed George W. Bush over Al Gore by 20 percent. In the 2002 Congressional elections, the religiously devout also favored Republicans by 20 percent, prompting Trinity College religion professor Mark Silk to observe, “Never before in American history have churches been tied so directly to one political party.”

I guess most of my personal discomfort with this comes from my own very strict religious upbringing. God knows what’s in your heart, I was taught, and there are few things more sure to enrage Him than false prophecy. Exploiting His name in any context is extremely dangerous. So much so, that it’s best never to even approach it. Hence our reticence to wear our religion on our sleeve in my family. It’s respect and fear that causes us to believe God’s will shouldn’t be reduced to slogans for bumper stickers, T-shirts, or campaign speeches (as if one understood God’s will well enough to boil it down into a sound bite). It’s also tacky, but that’s another thread.

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Uniting Iraq by Trying Hussein

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Regardless of who wins here next Tuesday, we’ll still have at least 2 1/2 months before elections in Iraq during which time plenty needs to be done to stablize that country. Security for the voting locations is a big concern, but there’s also the question of the Iraqis’ mindset. Will they unite behind the winners or will they pull back into camps that left to simmer will eventually boil over into a civil war? And what can the US do to promote the former outcome?

The Washington Post’s Anne Applebaum suggests one thing that might help unite Iraqis is a very public, very open trial of Saddam Hussein. This may not happen easily though:

Clearly there are some in the new Iraqi leadership who would prefer not to hold a trial at all, or at least not one involving lawyers, presentation of evidence and national debate. While visiting the United States last month, Allawi several times stated his preference for a fast trial, and a fast execution, possibly as soon as this month. It’s not hard to guess why: A short trial would let a lot of senior Baathists off the hook, would consolidate former opponents of Hussein behind Allawi, and would dispense with the whole thorny problem of “guilt” altogether. Although it seems the American government has so far persuaded him not to go that route, Allawi has embroiled the ongoing investigations and preparation in controversy by effectively removing Salem Chalabi, the Iraqi exile lawyer who set up the tribunal last winter.

What Applebaum and others argue, however, is that not having the trial may be feeding the insurgency, as least by not providing a unifying alternative dialog:

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Greedy and Greedier

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Fortune magazine is reporting that Bush’s latest tax cut will bring the business community’s “share of the national tax burden to its lowest level in decades”: Economists Alan Auerbach and James Poterba have shown that most of the drop between 1960 and 1985 came from declining corporate profits rather than a falling tax rate. But … Read more

The Day After A Week From Now

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As I watched the talking heads this past Sunday, all I could hear was blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I am saturated, and I really, really wish election day were today and not a week from now. This has been draining. Daniel Drezner asks the question I believe our nation’s best minds should be focussing … Read more

Rehnquist hospitalized

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MSNBC is reporting that Supreme Court Chief Justice Rehnquist was hospitalized with thyroid cancer. No other details yet, but I suspect this might energize those who vote for the POTUS with an eye on who gets nominated for SCOTUS.

The Need for Nuance

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Criticizing both the Bush and Kerry plans for Iraq, former National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinksi suggests a new way to approach the challenge we face. He suggests that we form a “Grand Alliance” with the European Union and focus on the Middle East’s three most inflammatory problems together: “the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the mess in Iraq, and the challenge of a restless and potentially dangerous Iran.”

His “Grand Alliance” is offered in direct opposition to the “anti-Islamic alliance” he suggests we’re being led into, and somewhat against our best interests, inadvertently by the alienation Bush’s lack of diplomacy has brought us and perhaps intentionally by those with competing interests:

The notion of a new Holy Alliance is already being promoted by those with a special interest in entangling the United States in a prolonged conflict with Islam. Vladimir Putin’s endorsement of Mr. Bush immediately comes to mind; it also attracts some anti-Islamic Indian leaders hoping to prevent Pakistan from dominating Afghanistan; the Likud in Israel is also understandably tempted; even China might play along.

In particular, Brzezinski argues we’re faced with a civil war within Islam, pitting extremists against somewhat cowered moderates, but he warns against staying the course we’re on now, which increasingly sounds like a holy war:

The undiscriminating American rhetoric and actions increase the likelihood that the moderates will eventually unite with the jihadists in outraged anger and unite the world of Islam in a head-on collision with America.

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This wasn’t just Plain terrible, this was… terrible with raisins in it

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So the rumor mill is humming, and how, over whispered reports that the Cleveland Plain Dealer will endorse George W. Bush for re-election tomorrow despite their seven-member editorial board voting 5-2 to endorse Kerry. Reportedly, the paper’s publisher, Republican Alex Machaskee, overruled their vote for the first time in his history at the paper. This … Read more

It’s Kerry’s to Lose

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While the Bush camp goes into overdrive—all pretense of optimism pushed aside—with an all-out charge aimed at scaring the nation (with wolves and suggestions that there won’t even be an economy or social security or environment or whatever to worry about if you don’t elect them [“All progress on every other issue depends on the … Read more

Today’s Reason to Smile

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Nobel Prize winning Colombian write Gabriel Garcia Marquez has kept fans waiting for a decade for his latest novel Memories of My Melancholy Whores. And with a title like that, anticipation has been extremely high. But when word got out of a pirated version hitting the Colombian streets early (a practice all too common there), … Read more

Shhh…Be vewy, vewy quiet. It’s Libewal Season.

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Hunting for conservative votes, John Kerry got photographed in his autumn camouflage and carrying a 12-gauge shotgun outside of Youngstown, Ohio. Reportedly be bagged a goose, but let someone else carry it:

“I’m too lazy,” Kerry joked. “I’m still giddy over the Red Sox. It was hard to focus.”

The NRA is, as one might expect, mocking the Senator’s efforts to appeal to the hook-and-bullet set:

The National Rifle Association said it bought a full-page ad in Thursday’s Youngstown newspaper that says Kerry is posing as a sportsman while opposing gun-owners’ rights. Kerry has denied NRA claims that he wants to “take away” guns, but he supported the ban on assault-type weapons and requiring background checks at gun shows

“If John Kerry thinks the Second Amendment is about photo ops, he’s Daffy,” says the ad the NRA said would run in The Vindicator [ed’s note: I delivered this rag as a kid]. It features a large photo of Kerry with his finger on a shotgun trigger but looking in another direction.

Meanwhile, labor unions have been circulating fliers among workers that say Kerry won’t take away guns. “He likes his own gun too much,” says one of the fliers from the Building Trades Department of the AFL-CIO that features a picture of Kerry aiming a shotgun.

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I Feel So Used

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Simon World posts an interesting piece on pollster extraordinaire John Zogby, who spoke recently on the state of the election. He had plenty of interesting feedback, but this one in particular struck a cord: Blogs: Zogby saw these as important, with each having its own constituency. However they are unlikely to change minds; instead “they … Read more

All Trick and No Treat

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Dick Cheney is out scaring folks a bit early: We cannot wait for the final proof — the smoking gun — that Kerry is the wrong choice — that could come in the form of a mushroom cloud. —Dick Cheney, October 19, 2004 OK, so those weren’t his exact words, but close enough: Vice President … Read more

Buchanan, Putin, and Now Iran

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Via Kos ~~~~~~~ The endorsements for Bush keep pouring in: The head of Iran’s security council said Tuesday that the re-election of President Bush was in Tehran’s best interests, despite the administration’s axis of evil label, accusations that Iran harbors al-Qaida terrorists and threats of sanctions over the country’s nuclear ambitions. Historically, Democrats have harmed … Read more

General Misunderstandings

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In today’s NY Times, General Tommy Franks criticized Senator John Kerry’s repeated assertion that Bush botched our best chance to get bin Laden at Tora Bora. Although he makes a good point that there’s no proof bin Laden was in Tora Bora at the time, he acknowledges that some intelligence sources thought he was. Where … Read more

Putin Takes Post as GOP Pundit

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Moscow’s champion of democracy and paragon of integrity, Czar Vladimir Putin has pushed Tony Blair off GWB’s lap so that he can curl up there and sniff the crotch of the leader of the free world. Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday that terrorists are aiming to derail U.S. President George W. Bush’s chances at … Read more

Bush rejects offer of troops for Iraq

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Via Kos ~~~~~~~ It’s stuff like this that makes you question this adminstration’s priorities in Iraq: President George W. Bush rebuffed a plan last month for a Muslim peacekeeping force that would have helped the United Nations organize elections in Iraq, according to Saudi and Iraqi officials. In typical, “The Buck Actually Stops?” Bush fashion, … Read more

Forget the Soul, How’s About Some Chicken Soup for this Cold?

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Feeling totally under the weather today…caught a bad cold walking across the Williamsburg Bridge without a coat in the rain (it was romantic, but stupid). I’ve ingested every over-the-counter drug I could find, Vicks vapour-rubbed my chest, even tried an old Turkish home remedy for my stuffy sinuses (chewing gum…not sure it did much). Still … Read more

WWKD?

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The presidential endorsements from the nation’s newspapers are pouring in and, just like the electorate, the opinionmakers of the op-ed pages seem rather evenly divided.

On the pro-Kerry side, there is the now well-explored litany of complaints against Bush: rampant faithlessness, credibility problems, incompetence, cronyism, torture, fiscal irresponsibility, etc. etc.

On the pro-Bush side, there are two primary complaints against Kerry: he’s inconsistent and he’s too liberal.

I’ll gloss over the glaring paradox of how anyone can be both “too liberal” and “inconsistent” at the same time. Apparently, they’re not expecting the nation to use their heads in this election.

But if you look more closely at the endorsements you’ll find that, despite all the rhetoric, only one important issue seems to tilt the scale for the Bush supporters: the belief that only Bush can win the “war on terror.” They’re willng to admit Bush hasn’t exactly shined in other areas, but…

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Open Thread on Generosity and Selflessness

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I’d like this to be an open thread on generosity and selflessness, two character traits I personally really need to work to better develop and which my partner is helping me with.

My partner observes Ramadan each year. Otherwise he’s not that religious, but he feels the way about Ramadan that I do about Christmas. It’s something to look forward to…a joyous time full of hope and remembrance.

I’m still learning about this holiest of holidays in Islam, but on the surface of it, there are some impressive aspects of it. Clearly it’s very demanding. For the entire month there’s no eating or drinking during daylight. There’s also no smoking, alcohol, or sexual relations during the fasting. There are incredibly detailed rules about the fasting as well.

My partner gets up at 4:00am to have some breakfast and then goes back to bed…by the end of the month this no longer wakes me up…fortunately for us, the days are currently getting shorter (my partner tends to get a wee bit grouchy when he’s hungry…I’m learning to be “busy at the gallery” until after nightfall…although the joy in his face when night finally falls during Ramadan, and the peace in his heart, is beautiful and inspiring).

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