Destor on Ordering a Pizza Conservatively in Texas
Ramona: Hatred in a Lovely Church
Gallup: Obama 46, Romney 46
Book of the Month
From the Readers
- quinn esq 5 hours ago
- Wattree 1 day ago
- Another Trope 1 day ago
- CVille Dem 2 days ago
- PeraclesPlease 3 days ago
- PeraclesPlease 3 days ago
- PeraclesPlease 4 days ago
- ironboltbruce 5 days ago
- Orion 6 days ago
- bslev 6 days ago
Creative corner
- Donal 2 days ago
- MrSmith1 5 days ago
- MrSmith1 1 week ago
- tmccarthy0 2 weeks ago
- MrSmith1 2 weeks ago
From the Dagbloggers
- destor23 11 hours 25 min ago
- Donal 16 hours 31 min ago
- Ramona 1 day 15 hours ago
- Donal 1 day 16 hours ago
- destor23 2 days 13 hours ago
- Donal 3 days 5 hours ago
- Donal 5 days 12 hours ago
- William K. Wolfrum 5 days 18 hours ago
- Ramona 5 days 18 hours ago
- Doctor Cleveland 6 days 3 hours ago
Hits of the Day
History
- Member for
- 3 years 22 weeks
Blog Posts
-
- 5 comments
- 183 reads
-
- 34 comments
- 1747 reads
-
- 37 comments
- 715 reads
-
- 167 comments
- 3304 reads
-
- 26 comments
- 264 reads
-
- 61 comments
- 769 reads
-
- 51 comments
- 629 reads
-
- 90 comments
- 769 reads
-
- Add new comment
- 59 reads
-
- Add new comment
- 132 reads
How Do We Avoid The "Backfire Effect?"
by stillidealistic 7/28/2011 - 12:23 pm
I would venture to guess that for most of us, blogging gives us an opportunity to get our thoughts out there and, hopefully, get a few people to see the wisdom of our words. I know I hope to make an impact, and so and I comment here and there, put up a blog or two, pass along my "wisdom" on my Facebook page, write to many politicians on a regular basis, phone some, and try to work politics into personal conversations whenever I can.
I'm beginning to wonder if it is all in vain, after reading an article titled:
Snails and Republicans
by stillidealistic 7/24/2011 - 4:08 pm
I don't normally get to garden much this time of year, but since our normal heat seems to be going to other parts of the country this year, I was able to get out and putter today.
I do my best thinking out there. It's quiet, and pulling weeds and dead-heading plants require little brain power, so my mind gets to work on other things. Today, probably because of all the consternation the deadlock on the debt ceiling is causing me, I was reflecting on politics, and a comparison between politics and the garden came to mind.
Earlier this year I planted a gorgeous dahlia plant. It was tall, sturdy, and had many blooms; a very healthy looking specimen. I positioned it in a place of honor because I was certain it would be a focal point. [Read more]
The Debt Ceiling and the 14th Amendment...Who Knew?
by stillidealistic 6/29/2011 - 12:20 am
Well, according to a piece on Countdown tonight, the Dems may be able to skewer the Repubs with the Constitution itself, making raising the debt ceiling a moot point, and at least temporarily taking away the possibility of a default.
The 14th Amendment states in section four: "The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned."
Apparently a number of constitutional lawyers are saying this means that the government has the Constitutional obligation to pay its debts and that a "debt ceiling" violates that provision. [Read more]
Sometimes The Voice of Truth Makes Me Want To Vomit
by stillidealistic 5/20/2011 - 5:33 pm
I hadn't planned to turn this into a post, but it fell off the front "news" section quickly, and I think it is worth more discussion. My apologies to those who commented in the news section. Please feel free to move your comments over here, should you choose to.
The original article "The Obama Deception: Why Cornel West Went Balistic" was written by Chris Hedges, detailing the feelings of betrayal felt by Cornel West towards the President, and can be read here.
The article threw me for a loop, because, as I read it, I had the sick-to-my-stomach-feeling that I was reading a truth I didn't want to know. [Read more]
Matt Taibbi Strikes Again
by stillidealistic 5/13/2011 - 12:30 pm
Matt Taibbi is quickly becoming the journalist I most enjoy. His writing style is fun and easy to read, and he has an amazing ability to use analogies that make complex issues easy to understand.
In his latest article at Rolling Stone, he discusses the Goldman Sachs screwing of America, no, the world, and gives us a brilliant view of the fraud perpetrated by them. It will be interesting to see what happens now that the Senate has all the info the government needs to get these evil people convicted. [Read more]
Public Service
by stillidealistic 3/20/2011 - 7:01 pm
Maybe in light of the uproar over the pay/retirement of public servants, we should institute a nationwide policy of ALL public servants being paid minimum wage, including ALL elected officials. Since the jobs they perform are so easy and unimportant. Imagine the money that could be saved!
It is interesting to me that during the high times, no one wants these jobs. Many agencies have problems finding qualified applicants willing to work for the pay. But things get a little tough, and all of a sudden, they are gold-plated jobs, and the people who hold them are greedy scum suckers.
The people who take them are generally willing to work for less now, in favor of a good retirement later. You can't just decide now, well, later isn't going to happen, either. [Read more]
Hi, It's Me, Stilli - Ranting Again!
by stillidealistic 12/5/2010 - 4:17 pm
Earlier to day I spent about an hour and a half constructing my first blog in nearly 2 months. I carefully chose my words, editing and re-editing to use non-explosive terminology, and laying out my premise as thoughtfully as I could.
Well, maybe I'm not supposed to blog today, because my computer froze up and my well-crafted blog is out there in the universe somewhere, and you're going to get the "Readers Digest," thrown together version, instead, because I don't have time to be careful now, and I'll deal with the fallout from that decision as I have to. Yeah, I could just fore-go the whole thing, but I'm going to frickin' explode if I don't get this out. [Read more]
It's Been Awhile Since I've Cared Enough To Rant
by stillidealistic 10/14/2010 - 11:05 pm
but the time has come. I have so much pent up anger and hostility I have to rant, or I'll explode.
I have spent the last two years+ supporting and defending the President. And in spite of how angry I am at him this moment, I will still support him until I see a better choice. Defend? Maybe not so much. Because this time, unless I convince myself otherwise during the course of sorting this out at your expense, what he is doing is indefensible. [Read more]
The Gift of Fear
by stillidealistic 9/13/2010 - 3:48 pm
Fear, a gift? Think about it. If we listen to our fear, it can keep us from doing some incredibly stupid things.In 1997, Gavin de Becker wrote a self-help book called "The Gift of Fear." In it he discusses fear... [Read more]
The Gift of Fear
by stillidealistic 9/13/2010 - 12:54 pm
Fear, a gift? Think about it. If we listen to our fear, it can keep us from doing some incredibly stupid things.
In 1997, Gavin de Becker wrote a self-help book called "The Gift of Fear." In it he discusses fear and it's role in keeping us safe in the face of violence in a number of circumstances, dating, the workplace, home...
He doesn't mention politics or voting, but I can see the application. Think of it in terms of fight or flight.
Are we going run away and hide from the big scary republicans? Or are we going use our fear of what they are trying to do to this country and fight?
[Read more]
In the News
-
Conversations with suicide bombers
By Elizabeth Weingarten, ForeignPolicy.com, May 23, 2012
It was 2009 in Peshawar, Pakistan, and Mossarat Qadeem was sitting on the floor of a house with about a dozen young Pakistani men -- some of whom had nearly become suicide bombers. Qadeem's goal: to undo the destructive brainwashing of the al-Qaeda and Taliban teachers who trained them in extremism, in part by asking the students to narrate their life stories.
"We were handling one of the boys, and he just came, put his head here in my lap, and he started crying and weeping," Qadeem recalls. "I was taken aback. It is very unnatural in my country that a man that tall can just sit at your feet and put his head here. [The other men] were all crying with him, and I was looking at him, and thinking, ‘my God.'"
All in a day's work for Qadeem. She's the national coordinator of Aman-o-Nisa, a coalition of Pakistani women that convened in October 2011 to combat violent extremism in Pakistan at the grassroots level. [....]
Read the article at http://afpak.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/05/23/conversations_with_suicide_bombers- Add new comment
-
For Native American Women, Scourge of Rape, Rare Justice
The issue of sexual assaults on American Indian women has become one of the major sources of discord in the current debate between the White House and the House of Representatives over the latest reauthorization of the landmark Violence Against Women Act of 1994.
.......
“We should never have a woman come into the office saying, ‘I need to learn more about Plan B for when my daughter gets raped,’ ” said Charon Asetoyer, a women’s health advocate on the Yankton Sioux Reservation in South Dakota, referring to the morning-after pill. “That’s what’s so frightening — that it’s more expected than unexpected. It has become a norm for young women.”
The difficulties facing American Indian women who have been raped are myriad, and include a shortage of sexual assault kits at Indian Health Service hospitals, where there is also a lack of access to birth control and sexually transmitted disease testing. There are also too few nurses trained to perform rape examinations, which are generally necessary to bring cases to trial.
-
Doctor Who Helped Find Bin Laden Given Jail Term (for...
By Ismail Kahn, New York Times, May 23/24, 2012
PESHAWAR, Pakistan — A Pakistani doctor who helped the Central Intelligence Agency pin down Osama bin Laden's location under cover of a vaccination drive was convicted on Wednesday of treason and sentenced to 33 years in prison, a senior official in Pakistan said.
A tribal court here in northwestern Pakistan found the doctor, Shakil Afridi, guilty of acting against the state, said Mutahir Zeb Khan, the administrator for the Khyber tribal region [....]
-
Russia lawmakers advance bill on penalties for protesters
By Sergei L. Loiko, Los Angeles Times, May 23, 2012
MOSCOW — Stiff new penalties aimed at opposition protesters were given preliminary approval Tuesday by Russian lawmakers loyal to President Vladimir Putin, the target of mass rallies and demonstrations before his March election victory.
The bill, which opposition parliament members termed draconian and protested by threatening to file out of a legislative session, calls for fines of up to $50,000 and up to 200 hours of community service for organizers of rallies and demonstrations that grow violent or exceed the approved number of participants.
The sanctions were approved on first reading by parliament's lower house, which is controlled by Putin's United Russia party. They mark a return by the Kremlin to a tough stance against critics after concessions during the recent election campaign [...]
Also see:
Russians back Putin, strong leadership
Washington Post, May 22, 2012A Pew survey of 1,000 Russians found that President Vladimir Putin is well-liked by more than 70 percent of citizens, especially older adults.
-
In Cuba, Mystery Shrouds the Fate of an Undersea Internet...
Associated Press, May 21, 2012
HAVANA — It was all sunshine, smiles and celebratory speeches as officials marked the arrival of an undersea fiber-optic cable they promised would end Cuba's Internet isolation and boost web capacity 3,000-fold. Even a retired Fidel Castro had hailed the dawn of a new cyber-age on the island.
More than a year after the February 2011 ceremony on Siboney Beach in eastern Cuba, and 10 months after the system was supposed to have gone online, the government never mentions the cable anymore, and Internet here remains the slowest in the hemisphere. People talk quietly about embezzlement torpedoing the project and the arrest of more than a half-dozen senior telecom officials.
Perhaps most maddening, nobody has explained what happened to the much-ballyhooed $70 million project....
Latest Comments
-
in The Hijinks Of The...PeraclesPlease
-
in Halo.Another Trope
-
in Halo.Another Trope
-
in The Hijinks Of The...A Guy Called LULU
-
in The Hijinks Of The...A Guy Called LULU
-
in Halo.PeraclesPlease
-
in The Hijinks Of The...PeraclesPlease
-
in Halo.A Guy Called LULU
-
in Halo.Richard Day
-
in Dr. Boyce Watkins on Gay...Articleman
-
in Halo.Dan Kervick
-
in The Hijinks Of The...rmrd0000
-
in Something Happened in...artappraiser
-
in Halo.MrSmith1
-
in The Hijinks Of The...Doctor Cleveland