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Thursday, September 02, 2004
Because the actual press isn't doing its job, Comedy Central's "fake news" show, The Daily Show, is being forced to pick up the slack. In case you didn't see this last night, some plucky soul has posted the fabulous mock Candidate Bio flick they showed last night, documenting Dubya's heroic struggle pitting words against facts. It's a must see.
Via Atrios
posted by jeev |
10:17 PM |
 
Porno for Pandas:A panda in China who became pregnant after watching sex education videos has given birth to twins.
Before she became pregnant, Hua Mei had been shown videos as preparation for a series of "blind dates" because experts feared she had little knowledge of mating after living in captivity.
posted by jeev |
9:46 AM |
Monday, August 30, 2004
Because sometimes you have to focus on the good news:Eating dark chocolate may not leave you with the feeling of guilt anymore. Greek researchers say they have evidence that shows chocolate improves the function of blood vessels, which in turn helps prevent dangerous blood clots and can help to reduce heart disease.
posted by jeev |
11:06 AM |
Sunday, August 29, 2004
It's tempting to take sarcastic pot-shots at the kind of rhetoric Sheri Dew uses. For one thing, even the most casual of Usenet posters knows about Godwin's Law, in which bringing up Hitler automatically qualifies whatever point the arguer was making as being meaningless, over-the-top drivel. And there's the underlying reality that this sort of thing is just rabble-rousing window dressing, a cultural war distraction from the true mission of this Republican administration - the gutting of environmental protection, the ravaging of the economy in favor of the weathiest among us, the war for oil and some irrational need to punish Iraq that had its origins well before the events of 9/11. Still, we would be wrong to merely shake our heads at the idiocy of it all, ruefully laughing at those who eat this wacky stuff up, while their actual needs - for jobs, for a good education for their kids, for access to health care - are completely ignored. Because the truth is, these folks could win. In some very important ways, these folks are already winning; they are effectively controlling the field on which these discussions can even take place, the terms that are used, the oppositions and possibilities that are allowed. And if "our" side can't get a grasp of that, and soon, we could end up with more than Four More Years: we could end up with a terrible legacy that I'm not sure we'll be able to unravel in my lifetime.
posted by jeev |
7:25 PM |
Supporting gay marriage is equal to supporting Hitler? Sheri Dew, chosen to present the opening invocation at the Republican National Convention, seems to think this is a fair comparison. In a recent speech she opined:Also, while I was peddling away, I found myself reading the latest edition of one of the nation's most popular news magazines. One of the major articles was about gay "marriage." There were several statements that stood out for me in a dramatic and terrifying way, but one of the most sobering features of the entire article was a picture of two handsome, young men, getting "married." What distressed me most was the fact that they were both holding an infant "daughter"--twin girls they had adopted. I was, frankly, heartsick. What kind of chance do those girls have being raised in that kind of setting? What will their understanding of men and women, marriage and families be? Is there any chance that, as adults, they could expect to marry and enjoy a healthy relationship with a man, including rearing children together? In addition, there were alarming concepts about "family" presented throughout the article-concepts that even questioned the validity of heterosexual families.
To say I found the entire article sobering would be a grand understatement. And I found myself thinking, "Talk about influence. Imagine the influence of that one magazine in presenting ideas about the family that are totally in opposition to God's plan and will for His children."Lining Up With Hitler or Against HimThis escalating situation reminds me of a statement of a World War II journalist by the name of Dorothy Thompson who wrote for the Saturday Evening Post in Europe during the pre-World War II years when Hitler was building up his armies and star"ing to take ground. In an address she delivered in Toronto in 1941 she said this: "Before this epic is over, every living human being will have chosen. Every living human being will have lined up with Hitler or against him. Every living human being either will have opposed this onslaught or supported it, for if he tries to make no choice that in itself will be a choice. If he takes no side, he is on Hitler's side. If he does not act, that is an act--for Hitler."
May I take the liberty of reading this statement again and changing just a few words, applying it to what I fear we face today? "Before this era is over, every living human being will have chosen. Every living human being will have lined up in support of the family or against it. Every living human being will have either opposed the onslaught against the family or supported it, for if he tries to make no choice that in itself will be a choice. If we do not act in behalf of the family, that is itself an act of opposition to the family."
At first it may seem a bit extreme to imply a comparison between the atrocities of Hitler and what is happening in terms of contemporary threats against the family--but maybe not. Two people in a committed, loving relationship equal to the the author of the Holocaust? A bit extreme? For the Republicans, apparently not.
Via Atrios.
posted by jeev |
7:08 PM |
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