Everyone needs a good laugh now and then, this is a good one.

Scared of Santa photo gallery

] The AP sent BCS coordinator Kevin Weiberg a
] cease-and-desist letter, dated Dec. 21, stating that use
] of the poll is unlawful and harms the AP's reputation.

As if there weren't enough problems with the thing, now the AP wants out? Ouch. Bye bye BCS, don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.

AP tells BCS to stop using its poll

] "It's not a terrible loss," Army Burns, spokesman for the
] Pentagon's Iraq Project and
] Contracting Office, told the Los Angeles Times.

Wait... the SPOKESMAN's name is Army Burns??? I think we've found our Bagdhad Bob!

Major US contractor withdraws from Iraq reconstruction effort: report

flynn23 wrote:
] As an individual in this society, I do try my best to
] understand my common man. I may not agree with someone who
] feels abortion is evil, or that homosexuality is evil, or that
] prayer in schools should be required. But I'll die supporting
] their ability to speak about it, propose it, and even lobby
] for it. I'm willing to spend the time, energy, and attention
] to at least hear their perspective and contemplate it.
]
] What I'm offended by is that this is not reciprocated. I don't
] hear about groups aligned with these agendas willing to listen
] to alternatives, or even acknowledge their existance in most
] cases. I rarely engage with an individual who overtly sides
] with these issues and related issues who's willing to even
] listen to a rational alternative, much less engage in
] discussion. Hence, I don't ever get the feeling that there's
] mutual respect on the other side. I don't get the feeling that
] anything less than total conversion is acceptable. And that is
] extraordinarily upsetting.

[ That's because discussion and rational argument is a virtue for you, whereas moral certitude and faith are virtues for them. It is our very open-mindedness that makes us weak, at least in the framework that exists at present. We're easily painted as wishy-washy, unsure of ourselves, directionless and so on. It's because grey areas, and the very concept of being convinced by logical argument are completely foreign to the mindset of a fundamentalist.

In fact, once you start painting issues in the colors of religious doctrine, not only is dissent impossible, it's evil, by definition.

And I'm generalizing, of course... there are levels to which this mindset has been adopted, but at the core, openmindedness and fundamentalism are completely irreconcilable. They *can't* listen to your point of view, because doing so would undermine the rock of faith, on which they've based their entire lives.

] Why is it that by doing the right thing (being tolerant, even
] supportive) puts you in a position of being abused and
] vulnerable? Why can't we agree to disagree and leave it at
] that?

[ The "right thing" is a construction of your value system. Tolerance, much less support, of viewpoints which counter what they think of as the "right thing" are more than incorrect or fallacious... they're wrong... morally wrong. It's a framework we on the left have trouble with, not because we don't believe in morality or even religion, but because we don't discuss our ideological stands on the basis of morality. It's not impossible, though I don't argue that it's the best or only thing to do...

] I don't want to make the rest of the country in my own
] image. Why do they?

[ Well, in the sense that you want them to address all situations with an appeal to logic, reason, discussion, and anlysis, you do, and with the belief that doing so will yeild results similar to those you came to. The distinction being that if, through their analysis, they come to a different conclusion, one that can be articulated without vague assertions of what Jesus would do, or stubborn adherence to dogma, you'd be happy to accept that situation. -k]

Yep, God says I'm right, so you're going to Hell. Well My book says, "God isn't an asshole. He might not be fair, but he's got better things to do than go out of his way to screw with someone."

I'll be greatly entertained when I see every single televangelist on the planet getting roasted in Hell because God decided, "Guys, you went around and made people miserable and you did it under My name? Jesus may be willing to turn the other cheek, but He's only part of Me and the other parts say you can go burn in Hell."

RE: Moral values... (from atrios)

I don't know what to say about this other than to say, oh my god.

Shatner+Rocketman=ummm...

] "There will be some upfront transition financing that
] will be needed to move toward a better system that will
] allow younger workers to invest a small portion of their
] own money into personal savings accounts," White House
] spokesman Scott McClellan said.
]
]
] Asked if transition costs, estimated at between $1
] trillion to $2 trillion, would be financed by government
] borrowing, he added: "That's what you're looking at doing
] as part of the transition to a better Social Security
] system."

Part of this is just me, but another part is me screaming "NO!" The current state of affairs is, the government has been living well beyond anything close to its means since the "Reagan Revolution" with the exception of Clinton's second term. Part of the problem here is the same as the problems people have with 401k's where what you have in has little or no bearing what comes out, especially if there is a market collapse.

In the late 70's/early 80's, the normal place for the Dow to hover was in the 700-1000 range. On Black Monday 1987, the Dow dropped 22.6% from around 22-2300 to 1700-1800 with a 508 point decline (yes, that took some looking for those rough numbers, but it's accurate enough). Black Monday 1929 the Dow dropped 24%, from about 300 to about 225 and bottomed out just over 40 in 1932. The Dow didn't get back to pre crash levels until 1954!

What that all means is, the market (the same place that they're planning to stick those dollars) is a volatile place. Between 1980 and 1998 or so, it was a great place for money, moving up roughly 1500%. This is why Warren Buffet is one of the richest people on the planet. But, it is also a place where incredible amouts of money can be lost.

Now stacking on top of all the other problems that already exist, these guys want to borrow another 1-2 TRILLION on top of that? Once upon a time, the Republican party billed itself as the party of fiscal responsibility. I'm sorry, but this doesn't look even remotely responsible either to the people putting their money into the system or as a general move by a government already wallowing in a sea of red ink.

Is this something that might have potential? Sure, if you were running a government that were financially sound, the government could go ahead and do something along these lines and at the same time ensure a minimum return (which is what Social Security was created for in the first place!). But that is not what we have. What we have is 7.5 TRILLION dollars in debt that is moving up at a clip of about another 12 BILLION a week. Interest on that debt accounts for about 1 of every 6 dollars in the budget.

This isn't an investment opportunity, it's a recipe for a return to 1929.

W.House: Borrowing to Help Fund Social Security Plan

] The provision would apply to all schools, elementary
] through college, that receive federal aid. Education
] groups worry that the provision could be the opening
] wedge in a campaign by Washington to influence what
] schools teach.
]
]
] Byrd carries a copy of the Constitution in his breast
] pocket %u2014 over his heart %u2014 and often waves it on
] the Senate floor. He lamented in a recent speech that
] even some of his colleagues in Congress didn't know fully
] what it said. "An informed public is our best defense
] against tyranny," he said.

I'm not especially in favor of saying teach this or teach that, but this is one I'm 100% in favor of. Way to go Robert Byrd!

Yahoo! News - Mission to Mandate Teaching of Constitution Inserted Into Bill

] "The Bush Administration is spending millions of dollars
] on abstinence-only programs that mislead people at risk
] of HIV/AIDS about the effectiveness of condoms," said
] Rebecca Schleifer, another Human Rights Watch researcher.
] "Exporting these programs to countries facing even more
] serious epidemics will only make the situation worse."

"AIDS? Isn't that the gay disease?" Thanks W...

Groups Says Condom Limits Sap AIDS Fight

] This article is the first in a series that will be
] covering the construction of project WMD, my very own PC
] doomsday device.

Okay, now this is a casemod...

bit-tech.net :: WMD - Part 1

] After Nuremberg, you recall we didn't hang the German
] "Soldaten," we hung the "Generalen." That was the right
] idea then, and it's the right idea now.

Georgie Geyer is pissed off again. Always fun when that happens.

SHIFT THE BLAME, DODGE THE FIRE