February 2012
11 posts
Robert Reich: The Sad Spectacle of Obama's Super... →
robertreich:
It has been said there is no high ground in American politics since any politician who claims it is likely to be gunned down by those firing from the trenches. That’s how the Obama team justifies its decision to endorse a super PAC that can raise and spend unlimited sums for his campaign.
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How do we know Franklin Graham is a Christian?
Franklin Graham said this week that you cannot really know whether or not President Obama is a Christian but he is sure that Rick Santorum and even Mitt Romney is a Christian.
And its not like he was caught off guard with the question. Lawrence O’Donnell (MSNBC) asked him whether Obama was a Christian last year. He weasel worded then and he hasn’t worked on his delivery since.
...
Where's the separation?
Last year, Franklin Graham lent his private jet, which I’m sure is sanctified for charity work with Samaritan’s Purse, to Sarah Palin for her exploratory travels last year. I’m just now hearing about this but it bears repeating.
Now this doesn’t per se violate the separation of church and state but it points to a typical example that convinced the Founders that theology...
The 99% Declaration
July 4, 2012. Philadelphia, PA.
http://www.the99declaration.org/
4 tags
Obama's faith
President Obama is a born-again Church of Christ christian. How do we know? Because he said so. Can we please move on? #morningjoe Santorum’s comments are hateful and untrue.
And what is born again? People have different meanings but the outcome is that you are deliberately and persistently trying to emulate the mind of Christ.
Ask yourself, of all the candidates, which one looks the...
Google's Dirty Little Secret
What’s up with Google exploiting the Safari browser? Graduate Student Jonathan Mayer uncovered Google’s secret practice of planting information in the form of browser cookies without your knowledge or permission.
Third-party ad agencies, such as ClickThrough, have for years set cookies on your computer so that they can follow customer behavior. As you surf from site to site, this...
None of them
They say what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. In the case of the Republican contenders, I’m not so sure. One by one, each has had his turn in the pit and has come out bloodied and malled. As this contest dragged on and on, Mitt, Rick and Newt look worse. The better we know them, the less we like them. They have failed on the two criteria that matter: 1) I wouldn’t want any...
Big ToDo
Life hack thinks that ToDo lists don’t work. I am interested in this belief because I have several todo list that are unfulfilled and abandoned.
One of the reasons they say is that todo list have a list of large projects that can’t get done right away. So most people do the small unimportant tasks just to be able to check something off.
Of course, the way to get around this is to...
Internet Insecurity Myths
Network World has a nice article on what IT SHOULD NOT do to make your web presence safer.
It is a list of 13 commonly held myths that many, including IT staff, believe will improve internet safety. One of them, change passwords every 90 days, is an old saw that I personally would like to see retired.
Some are obvious. Some have been ingrained into policy. All need to be scrutinized to see if...
2 tags
Why We All Just Can't Get Along
Yesterday on Bill Moyers and Company, Jonathan Haidt finally explained why we all just can’t get along.
Moyers and Haidt had a fascinating discussion about why it is so difficult for us to be able to “agree to disagree” with those who think differently than we do. Haidt said that it is because we have sacralized, that is, made sacred, our politics and our faith, so much so that...
Romney Misunderstands My America
The problem with what Mitt Romney said — “I’m not worried about the very poor.” — is that it misses the point of upward mobility. He said that they have their safety net so they are covered. What a calloused view! Like they are happy with their food stamps and public housing. He’s not concerned with them. They are not going anywhere. Let’s just warehouse...
January 2012
11 posts
Red states get your tax dollars
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2012/jan/26/blog-posting/red-state-socialism-graphic-says-gop-leaning-state/
This is an old chart but still relevant. Red states, characterized by people who hate government handouts, are receiving more in federal funds than blue states. Citizens who declare themselves to be followers of Jesus rail against programs that care for the least of...
Lying vs. Truthiness
Don’t fall for the Devil’s lies:
1) Its not a lie if you believe it. Yes it is. If you tell someone something that you didn’t know was false, that’s ignorance. If you keep saying it over and over again, then you’re a liar. 2) Its not a lie if you keep saying it. Yes it is. The earth is not flat no matter how many times you proclaim that “fact” or you...
4 tags
How to pick a president
Confused about who to support this election cycle? Here’s the short path to choosing your candidate. Look at Obama, note what he has said in the last four years (a lot). Discard the retoric. Examine the actual promises he made and see if he actually worked toward any of them. Perhaps he didn’t accomplish everything he promised, but he has been there for three years and should have...
Earth as home
Earth shot 2012. This picture, released today by NASA, should remind us what a finite marble our earth is. And, more importantly, how all humans are part of one family, from the richest mogul on Wall Street to the smallest malnourished child on the streets of Calcutta. As far as we know, no other planet in our universe has the wonderful diversity of life that we do on Earth. God has given us a...
Treating the feds like family
I want to disavow Newt Gingrich of this insane notion that our national budget works like a family budget. It does not. And should not.
Let me explain the difference.
Families should run a budget that incurs no debt. That is true. That is because the family budget is the nucleus of our economic system. Things get out of whack at this level when we live beyond our means. But, even though we all...
Something stinks
There’s something wrong with the American electoral system when a party has to abandon it’s beliefs, it’s morals, it’s long-held principles in order to find a candidate that can beat the other party.
Chances of Wealth: Poor
Its official. Western Europe is now more upwardly mobile in terms of moving up the class ladder than the U.S. As someone said the other day, “there’s a highway from the middle class to the poor house and a bicycle path back.” If you aren’t born into money, your chances of accumulating lots of it are shrinking. Republicants don’t want to talk about class warfare...
1 tag
Happy talk
#DanBuettner, studying happiness says people making $40-$70 are the happiest, if you measuring them real time. Higher-income people say they are happier in retrospect because they tend to forget the bad stuff and remember the good. #bizville
October 2011
1 post
3 tags
Fair share
Republicans defend the rich as the innovators and sustainers of our economy. The truth is that most of this wealth is earned on exclusive tax instruments which they lobbied for and has little or nothing to do with making anything. There is nothing patriotic, or admirable, or sustainable about the way this 1 percent can launder their fair share of tax contributions through the international...
August 2011
1 post
Chris Mathews is wondering if its time to go to cash with his portfolio. Chris, its too late. You’re a poorer man than you were last month because of the Tea Party antics.
April 2011
1 post
HAL, thy name is Watson. →
February 2011
1 post
September 2010
1 post
Swarms
Apparently, the next big thing is swarm theory. Read about swarm theory. Smell swarm theory. Be swarm theory. Now. What are you all thinking right now?
April 2010
1 post
The Dow closed at 10.9K today. And automobile sales WAAAAY up. Are we back yet?
March 2010
2 posts
Five Free Ways to Identify That Song in Your Head →
January 2010
1 post
Time to erase the white board and eject the brain junk and start over. It’s a whole new decade and I, for one, am ready for it.
August 2009
1 post
WikiHow - Here’s a concept. A Wifi (editable web site) for the how-to crowd. Now this is what Web 2.0 was meant for. This particularly one “How to dress like a hippie” is particularly appropriate because its something everyone thinks they already know how to do. I’m waiting for “how to develop the ultimate computer back-up system.”...
May 2009
3 posts
Truth is relative to the evidence at hand, at the time the decision is made.
Shure - Microphones - SM58+X2u USB Digital Bundle →
New Testament Democrats - Old Testament...
Dean Hartwell, at the Political Gateway, has posted an article that’s worth a read. It points out the different ways that Christian Republicans and Christian Democrats interpret the Bible.
Hartwell says that the difference is not in the theology but more in the politics. I think he has something there. He says that the Republicans get their politics from the Old Testament while the Dems...
March 2009
1 post
ChristNotes - good study resource
Here’s a great resource for going deeper into Bible texts. Specifically, you can see Matthew Henry’s and Wesley’s notes on specific scriptures. There are several Bible translations at your fingertips and a lot more. I need to explore this more.
February 2009
3 posts
On Islam bashing
Islam bashing seems to be popular again. The Religious Right has always felt Righteous Indignation against Islam but Former Senator Rick Santorum has heated up the wires with a speech that basically says that Islam cannot support a democratic society because Mohammed won’t let it.
President Bush used Islam bating to start an unecessary war and ruin 200 years of international relations with...
All good is hard
All good is hard. All evil is easy. Dying, losing, cheating, and mediocrity is easy. Stay away from easy. Alexander, Scott
Dump Burris
Roland Burris should resign. He says he has nothing to hide but that’s a sure sign he has something to hide. My daddy told me, “When you lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas.” Burris is associated with that embarrassing excuse for an Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich and its a stain he cannot wash off. Bloggo nominated Burris to take the heat off his outrageous abuses of...
November 2008
2 posts
Obama - the smartest guy in the room
I am happy for black people who feel that they finally have one of their own in the White House.
But that’s not why I voted for Barack Obama. The reason I supported him is because he was the smartest guy in the room. He is brilliant and self-assured and doesn’t mind having smart people around him. He tolerates clashing ideas and discussions and wants to tease out the best thinking...
