Memorial Day, 2011

Oh, my goodness; just watch it, please:

So much for civil liberty

This saddens me greatly:

It's an important tool for us to continue dealing with an ongoing terrorist threat.

- President Obama, after he signed into law a four-year extension of the Patriot Act, post–Sept. 11 powers to search records and conduct wiretaps in pursuit of terrorists

Mr. President, what part of "The terrorists have won," don't you understand?

By the way, the so-called "Patriot Act" allows much more egregious violations of civil liberties than the ones mentioned above. But that's Time Magazine's description - not mine.
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Ya think?

Good grief:

This is a blatant attempt to sexualize women.

-- Janice Forsyth, director of the International Centre for Olympic Studies at the University of Western Ontario, after it was ruled that women must wear skirts to play badminton at the elite level

Skirts???? For Olympic athletes? Required?

Absolutely ridiculous.
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Friday cat blogging!

Photo from Wikimedia Commons

Tornadoes

Here's an Alternet headline I want you to see:

Killer Tornadoes: How Devastating Extreme Weather Is Linked to Human-Caused Climate Change

And here's one paragraph from someone being interviewed:

BILL McKIBBEN: Sure. Look, what’s happening is we’re making the earth a more dynamic and violent place. That’s, in essence, what global warming is about. We’re trapping more of the sun’s energy in this narrow envelope of atmosphere, and that’s now expressing itself in many way. We don’t know for sure that any particular tornado comes from climate change. There have always been tornadoes. We do know that we’re seeing epic levels of thunderstorm activity, of flooding, of drought, of all the things that climatologists have been warning us about.

Will we ever wake up and confront what is happening?
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Good God. What are they THINKING?

Senate Republicans Vote Overwhelmingly To End Medicare

Just go read it. It's short.
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Definitely the quote of the day (last night)

This:

Kathy Hochul's victory tonight is a tribute to Democrats' commitment to preserve and strengthen Medicare, create jobs, and grow our economy," Pelosi said. "And it sends a clear message that will echo nationwide: Republicans will be held accountable for their vote to end Medicare.

-- Nancy Pelosi

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Well, this is an eye opener:

Thanks to Rhonda S. for sending this in.
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Taking America to a dark place

This morning I'd like to recommend a very brief article that I found over at Alternet. Here's the headline:

I Was a Right-Wing Evangelical Pastor -- Until I Saw the Light

Here's a brief excerpt:

I want you to know that the fundamentalist political movement is the beginning of a cultural revolution that will take our nation to a very dark place. You have to understand that this has been methodically planned and is being carried out with the utmost vigilance. In accordance with their worldview, my old friends do not in the least care about what you think. They are against democracy, and they are seeking to end the rule of the majority in our great country.

They truly believe that if you have not been “saved,” you are living under a curse and are incapable of knowing what is best and that because of this you should be ruled over. You should also know they do not believe that even centuries-old Christian communities (Catholics, Anglicans, Greek Orthodox, etc.) are “saved,” only those who think like they do.

You might be thinking that a minority fundamentalist group of zealots can’t really take over the direction of a society. Just look at Iran, or the countless other places where people have allowed this to happen.

This is a message from the "inside" people. Others have told us before; this is just one more voice - a voice to which we ought to listen, in my humble opinion.

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VERY clever:

Excellent:

Fox "News" and Palin

This really isn't hugely surprising:

Fox News Chief Roger Ailes Thinks Sarah Palin Is 'Stupid': New York Magazine

It's a very short piece. Just click on through and read it.

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Oh, ouch!

Today's CNN QuickVote

Hmmm. Sounds about right:

Are you worried about the doomsday predictions?

No

95%

Yes

5%

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Sad, really:

RomneyCare

The headline is from The Onion, okay? But still, it strikes very close to home:

Mitt Romney Haunted By Past Of Trying To Help Uninsured Sick People

Here's how it gets started:

Though Mitt Romney is considered to be a frontrunner for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, the national spotlight has forced him to repeatedly confront a major skeleton in his political closet: that as governor of Massachusetts he once tried to help poor, uninsured sick people.

Romney, who signed the state's 2006 health care reform act, has said he "deeply regrets" giving people in poor physical and mental health the opportunity to seek medical attention, admitting that helping very sick people get better remains a dark cloud hovering over his political career, and his biggest obstacle to becoming president of the United States of America.

Now, lest anybody get all in a dither about this, it's satire, folks.

And it's making a powerful point all the same.
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