Residents of the 6th Congressional District of Minnesota are tired of Michele Bachmann, so they formed a PAC.
Ms. Bachmann and Ms. Palin will be here next week for a fundraiser.
I'm so excited.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
*sigh* America
Reminder to self: do not read comments following articles on yahoo.com.
Birthers, teabaggers, and denialists in an echo chamber of stupid.
Birthers, teabaggers, and denialists in an echo chamber of stupid.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
They are praying for us, so no worries for a month
Nonbelievers out there will be happy to know that on April 1st, you will being prayed for in an organized, Facebook-y fashion complete with bullet points. Because we are fools. Participants in the "Pray for an Atheist Initiative" are told to:
I think it's nice that they are not just putting out a blanket prayer for all atheists, but picking one BY NAME for one month. All that concentrated prayer energy has more of a chance of turning a nonbeliever away from reason. The second bullet point is very important because everyone knows that one only becomes an atheist due to some sort of trauma or moral failing, and it's good that people are being encouraged to read. The third bullet point confuses me because I admit, it sounds very much like the first, and I am not sure how they are different. But that's probably just because I am a fool. The last one seems like something they are doing on Facebook all the time.
I think they missed an excellent acronym: PIE.
Everyone loves Pie.
I'd become a fan of Pie or Pi before I even realized what I had gotten myself into.
- PRAY for an atheist by name for one month
- UNDERSTAND how people become atheists through resources (‘The Making of an Atheist’ by James Spiegel, professor of philosophy and religion at Taylor University in Upland, Indiana)
- INTERCEDE through prayer for an atheist. College professor and former atheist, Holly Ordway, author of ‘Not God’s Type’, credits the prayers of her local church for her conversion to Christianity
- ENCOURAGE other Christians through email and prayer who may have questions or have their own questions
I think it's nice that they are not just putting out a blanket prayer for all atheists, but picking one BY NAME for one month. All that concentrated prayer energy has more of a chance of turning a nonbeliever away from reason. The second bullet point is very important because everyone knows that one only becomes an atheist due to some sort of trauma or moral failing, and it's good that people are being encouraged to read. The third bullet point confuses me because I admit, it sounds very much like the first, and I am not sure how they are different. But that's probably just because I am a fool. The last one seems like something they are doing on Facebook all the time.
I think they missed an excellent acronym: PIE.
Everyone loves Pie.
I'd become a fan of Pie or Pi before I even realized what I had gotten myself into.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Good Morning!
Isn't America supposed to be a smoking hole in the ground now that the health insurance reform bill has passed?
I was surprised to wake up to a bright, sunny day free of streets full of black-coated G-Men, tanks, and mayhem.
Maybe it will happen on Tuesday when President Obama signs the bill into law.
Yeah, that must be it.
I was surprised to wake up to a bright, sunny day free of streets full of black-coated G-Men, tanks, and mayhem.
Maybe it will happen on Tuesday when President Obama signs the bill into law.
Yeah, that must be it.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Just Live Within Your Means
I couldn't sleep last night, for a number of reasons. First there were the two hours of back and forth of getting babywhumpus to sleep in his crib, then feeding the cats at midnight, getting up because I could not remember if I had locked the car, getting up because I thought I heard someone outside, getting up because the alarm on the sound machine in the baby's room started going off, and then daddywhumpus coming home from amateur night gigs, but there was also the mind-racing-for-no-particular-reason element.
It's all this talk about how government, like people, should "live within its means," and if government can't afford it, it shouldn't do it, just like people should do. It bugs me. It really bugs me. I think that the macro economics of the federal government are a bit different from the economics of the "kitchen table" that our governor, in particular, likes to bark about.
If I choose not to do something or buy something because I can't afford it, our household can adjust and that one thing won't affect the bottom line of The Economy. When numerous households can't afford it, this affects the bottom line. When the government cuts programs or even contracts to companies which, in turn, provide jobs, it affects both The Economy and individual households. It's not like the need goes away when the program is canceled. And, if the program is canceled and people lost their job because the government didn't grant the contract, that's a double hit. Need gets shifted, but it rarely disappears. That means someone still has to pay, somehow. It will come back to get us in our state, our county, our school district, our municipality, or it will be spread out in another fashion when corporations try to profit or nonprofits have to meet their bottom line.
Am I loving deficit spending? Not so much. But I do understand that there are greater forces at work, and the mess that we are in requires a large response. The institution in the best position to enact a large response is the federal government. I don't agree that this situation could be addressed by cutting taxes and going even more supply-side on the recession that supply-side had a part in creating.
Mostly, I don't know what I am talking about because I don't remember a lot from my Economics class in high school, nor do I fully understand the succession of decisions actions that led to the crisis. And I think that many people grousing about "living within your means" don't know much either.
It's all this talk about how government, like people, should "live within its means," and if government can't afford it, it shouldn't do it, just like people should do. It bugs me. It really bugs me. I think that the macro economics of the federal government are a bit different from the economics of the "kitchen table" that our governor, in particular, likes to bark about.
If I choose not to do something or buy something because I can't afford it, our household can adjust and that one thing won't affect the bottom line of The Economy. When numerous households can't afford it, this affects the bottom line. When the government cuts programs or even contracts to companies which, in turn, provide jobs, it affects both The Economy and individual households. It's not like the need goes away when the program is canceled. And, if the program is canceled and people lost their job because the government didn't grant the contract, that's a double hit. Need gets shifted, but it rarely disappears. That means someone still has to pay, somehow. It will come back to get us in our state, our county, our school district, our municipality, or it will be spread out in another fashion when corporations try to profit or nonprofits have to meet their bottom line.
Am I loving deficit spending? Not so much. But I do understand that there are greater forces at work, and the mess that we are in requires a large response. The institution in the best position to enact a large response is the federal government. I don't agree that this situation could be addressed by cutting taxes and going even more supply-side on the recession that supply-side had a part in creating.
Mostly, I don't know what I am talking about because I don't remember a lot from my Economics class in high school, nor do I fully understand the succession of decisions actions that led to the crisis. And I think that many people grousing about "living within your means" don't know much either.
March 18th
Better known to me as The Day When All White Americans Are Hung Over.
St. Patrick's Day in America is amateur night, as far as I am concerned, and I avoid going out at all costs. As much as I would love a pint of Guinness on a Wednesday in March, I'd like that pint to be in a glass-not plastic, without shoving, and completely free of hammered white people.
St. Patrick's Day in America is amateur night, as far as I am concerned, and I avoid going out at all costs. As much as I would love a pint of Guinness on a Wednesday in March, I'd like that pint to be in a glass-not plastic, without shoving, and completely free of hammered white people.
Friday, March 12, 2010
Donate to Charity, Get Ripped On
President Obama has announced the list of charities who will receive a portion of his monetary award from the Nobel Peace Prize. It seems like a well-thought-out and well-rounded group to me.
And the comments on articles like this one go to show you that he could personally save a child from a burning building and people would say he hates firefighters.
And the comments on articles like this one go to show you that he could personally save a child from a burning building and people would say he hates firefighters.
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