AMERICAN ANGST

Candidate Mitt Romney has been having a bad week. Tim Pawlenty, who had a short run in the conservative primary, has left Mitt's campaign to go work as a lobbyist. When your milk toast compatriots start running away, you know there's a problem.

Most of the flack that Romney is the deserved brunt of this week, revolves around the idea that 47% of the U.S. populations are freeloaders who will vote for Obama so they can keep their entitlements. That was the big story, though if you listened to the full video there were many more statements from the gentleman that deserved your scorn.

Romney decided to target immigrants with a few really wild statements. He sarcastically stated that "If you have no skill or experience you are welcome here." If you have a PH.D., he'd like to "Staple a green card on your forehead and welcome you to the country." I may be making those statements difficult to understand, but the gist is that the only immigrants we have are uneducated, unskilled and unwelcomed. He would like to be involved in a hostage situation so he could take advantage of the opportunity. He made false claims about the Federal Reserve buying up three quarters of the American debt and that if he's elected there will be easy dividend gains for the rich. Among other ridiculous claims, he also stated that he was as poor as a church mouse.

The gentleman hasn't a clue.

His seemingly nice wife Anne stated in his defense that "It is hard" to run for president. This statement was directed at conservatives who thought Mitt's 47% remark might damage his chances at being elected. Thanks for the clarification.

This week Romney's tax returns remained a hot topic. He dumped his 2011 return late on Friday, as most politicians do when they have news they'd like to bury. Interesting enough, he paid more than he needed to in 2011. I would think that was a deliberate overpayment to help bump his tax rate up; even though percentage wise it is still less than what the middle class pays.

Ryan helps out by speaking in front of a AARP convention, the boos were apparently music to his ears, why else would he wear that silly grin all the time?

The right is ramping up the crazy. Megyn Kelly, a Fox employee, compared the Obama campaign poster to an image of a blood streaked wall in Libya.

In Texas, a gentleman has lynched an empty chair adorned with an American flag in his front yard. I think it not hard to comprehend what the man has in mind.

Santorum made this incredibly awesome comment in front of a conservative group last Saturday, "We will never have the elite, smart people on our side." Finally a conservative who realizes the truth. Theists have no use for the hard to con group.

My favorite Romney weirdness this week was his appearance on Univision. Apparently Mitt darkened his face to appeal to hispanic voters. Weirdness defined.

This would appear to be a constant conservative error. They make statements that anyone who would wish to do so can fact check; yet they don't care. The lies and deceit flow from their mouths on the American public like Niagra Falls dumps water on sightseers. I can only ponder the incredulous reality that much of the American public either doesn't care, or is so easily duped, that a politician would not think twice about the lies spread. 

I wonder what the makeup would look like if he was addressing the NAACP? Could Mr. Romney then lay claim to becoming our second black president?

Too funny.

CULTURE CLASH

In Michigan, we have passed legislation that will require schools to have an American Flag and to give every student the opportunity to vocalize the Pledge to Allegiance. The bill doesn't require students to take part, but we all know what this is; a bill that will make sure that young women and men feel peer pressure from those whose parents have already warped their minds with theist insensibilities.

Texas Governor and ex-presidential hopeful Rick Perry has stated that the separation of Church and State is the work of Satan. The nonsense could be easily ignored except that he mentions "Christian Warriors," which is pretty creepy. He also states that those who preach tolerance and diversity are actually bullies. Ah, the twisting of reality into a parallel universe continues.

Texans appear to be leading the crazy train this week. High school cheerleaders, who were ordered to stop waving around bible verses at football games, are apparently going to sue for the right to infringe upon everyone else's rights. Nothing gets those athletes more fired up than Sodom and Gomorrah tales. A local judge is allowing the verses to be displayed for at least a couple of more weeks.

The drug wars are still failing. In Mexico, President Calderon's war on the drug cartels has killed 50,000 citizens since he's been in office. Please put down your fatty and come out with your hands up. Disgusting.

GOD'S GREATEST

This is my favorite story of the week. Apparently a new text has been discovered that implies that Jesus was married. Take that all you catholic priests living lonely lives of celibacy, you could of had a wife instead of the boys choir section.

Though pedophilia is not amusing in any way, shape or form, it would be even more of a horror if the sheepherders had deliberately twisted a story that then allowed for the depravity. the long years of child molestation could have been prevented. I would think the Pope dude will say this is not real, how else can one protect the reign of nonsense.

CLIMATE CHAOS

If you haven't joined Michel's group, "Our Climate," you should.

The latest data are showing the summer ice cap is the smallest in recorded history. Scientists are thinking we may be running out of time. Keep yourself up to date on the data being collected; it is the only way to contradict the science deniers. We really can't let them have the last word. 

I watch daily as energy companies advertise the benefits of raping and destroying the planet. As a stopgap measure for rebuilding the economy, there may be a grain's worth of truth in the messaging. The lie is not exhorting the values of renewable energy and the jobs that industry would build with the same vigor.

OCCUPY OASIS

We still hear almost nothing about the OWS movement. It would appear to be nonexistent if you follow the usual media news sources. Yet on the year one anniversary, there were almost 200 arrests made. The article I'm linking states 100 were arrested, others say 180. 

The question this raises is the following; if there was a movement that no longer exists, how is it possible to arrest non-existent protestors? The powers that be do not want you to hear or understand what is still going on.

If nothing else, remember that the movement coined the 99% phrase. If that were to be the movements only moment of shining glory, it is still a powerful one. It could possibly become a message that will resonate with the public for many years to come.

PLANET POLITICS

Libya is not happy with the militias in the country. Whether the latest uprising is secular or not, apparently the citizens have had enough of terror tactics. They are actually supporting the U.S. in protests occurring in the city of Benghazi. They want nothing to do with the militias and al Qaeda. 

If nothing else, these protests show that the Arab Spring still survives and that freedom is still a desired outcome for the people of the region. It appears that the common thread of reasoning by the people is that the country is theirs and not owned by anyone who would claim to rule.

A great message that the citizens of the U.S. could learn from.

FOOD FIGHT

Is Heaven anything more than a way to way of subduing the feeling of regrets that humans embrace when a loved one is lost? If you think about it, what a perfect comfort the thought would be if you had treated your elders badly. Don't feel bad, they're living it up in heaven and you can join them when it's your turn. All regrets need not be heeded. All your non-caring behavior is absolved. All meanness forgotten.

Modern theist thinking is that the western countries are so advanced that we have too much comfort on earth. No dealing with the weather, no dealing with a cruel life of working from sunup to sundown trying to survive. When life sucked, heaven was a place to look forward to. Literal comfort makes us believe that our heaven is now, that life is the best it's going to be right now, and these thoughts are horrendous to those who preach.

Amazing that they can make a good life a bad thing, but if you think about it, a comfortable life does suck for those promoting the game of worship. 

They do not rejoice in the advances man has made to secure that comfort, since it takes away from their dominion. They would rather believe said comforts cheat our minds from the thought that their is a better place for us in our future. 

And that thought would keep them in control.

Even if life is tough, heaven cheats us of the desire to make our lives better; why work for this life when you have one that somebody else built. Why reach for the sky when you can wait for death to take you there. 

Many seem to take comfort in the thought that there is a god and an afterlife, I think it part of human selfishness to absolve themselves of responsibility. It is not comfort, it is the coward's way out.

AMERICAN ANGST

The Tea Party is still preaching the hate and divisiveness that the Romney Campaign says is what President Obama is doing. In fact, if anyone is paying attention, you'll notice that the strategy in the conservative camp is to repeat whatever the president has to say about them and toss it back. If the Obama camp says Romney/Ryan will destroy medicare, you can bet that the opposing camp will level the same accusations.

Back to the friendly Tea Party patriots, they hoisted this billboard in Elkhart, Indiana. In keeping with their friendly banter, they show the conservative talking points to be lies. A few people showed up to protest the sign, but apparently no one really cares. 

Nebraska has joined Arizona in flaunting federal law. In those two states, young immigrants will not be able to obtain a driver's license. Would make it a little hard to be competitive in the job market, since they will always have to rely on someone for transportation and will not be able to get a work permit.

To add to the fun, Tea Party House candidate Samuel Wurzlbacher, "Joe the Plumber," was campaigning with Tea Party candidate Lori Klein in Arizona. His plan for stopping illegal immigration is to "Put troops on the border and start shooting."

Yes Mr. Romney, hate and divisiveness describe conservatives very well, thanks for the phrase.

A reporter for CNN, Soledad O'Brian, had the audacity toquestion a conservative about his statements on medicare. She asked what was the difference between Mitt's and Paul's plan. The conservative, ex-Governor Sununu, didn't like the facts of the conversation and at one time replied, "Put an Obama bumper sticker on your forehead when you do this,” responded by pivoting to the Obama administration, slamming the president for “taking $717 billion” out of Medicare via the Affordable Care Act, a statistic O’Brien said had been debunked."

“They are assuming, Soledad, stop this!” “All you’re doing is mimicking the stuff that comes out of the White House and gets repeated on the Democratic blog boards out there. If you’re going to mouth what comes out of the White House."

Then the reporter dared once again to quote the facts. Really fun to watch if you haven't done so already. Sununu's as ugly on the outside as he is on the inside. Instead of subjecting all to hate's face, we'll look at Soledad instead.

Again Mr. Romney, hate and divisiveness? 

The voting controversy roles on. After a judge decided that Pennsylvania's attempt to deny the right to vote was fine by him, the state promptly shut down online absentee ballot applications. That would have allowed voters to exercise their rights without a valid identification card. Sorry, if you're old or poor, no voting for you.

Ohio is doing their best to subvert voting rights as well. In democratic counties early voting stations will only be open Monday through Friday from 8 am to 5 pm while republican counties have expanded hours allowing voting at night and on weekends.

In Florida, Governor Rick Scott failed again in his attempts to prevent minorities from voting. Georgia, Tennessee and West Virginia have also reduced early voting in the hope of suppressing democratic voters from voting.

Tom Morello, guitarist for Rage Against The Machine says Ryan, who claims to be a big fan, is exactly the sort of person the machine rages against. But except for that bit of sanity, recent political viewpoints from conservative celebrities have been outrageous.

On Friday, crazy Hank Williams Jr. stated at the Iowa state fair that "We’ve got a Muslim president who hates farming, hates the military, hates the US and we hate him!” His adoring fans responded enthusiastically to the nonsense.

Dave Mustaine, singer for Megadeath, had this to say. "Back in my country, my president," Mustaine begins and then pretends to gag himself with his finger, "is trying to pass a gun ban so he's staging all of these murders. The 'Fast and Furious' thing down at the border. And Aurora, Colorado, all the people that were killed there. And now, the beautiful people at the Sikh temple."

He is accusing the president of staging the deaths of innocents to promote a gun ban. Though celebrities are not my idea of news, especially when you get to the bottom of the barrel has beens, it goes along with the main subject:

Mr. Romney, please tell me about hate and divisiveness again.

FEMININE FIXATION

Ryan apparently doesn't have much use for women. His votes on women issues have been atrocious. He voted for the "Let Women Die Bill" which would have allowed hospitals to deny a woman an abortion even if her life was in danger. He co-sponsored a federal personhood bill which stated that a fertilized egg is the same as a person. Has voted against equal pay for women bills, against Title X family planning programs, against Planned Parenthood funding and many other bills that disproportionately harm women. He voted against allowing military women to have an abortion, even if they were able to pay with their own money.

Part of the VAWA, Violence Against Women Act, that is being held hostage in congress is the campus SaVE act. Congressional conservatives have continuously subverted this act that protects women. The SaVE act is one of the provisions they've removed from the VAWA that is crucial for women in college. The stats are unreal; one in four women will be sexually assaulted during their college years. 

It follows that conservatives wish to ensure that women are abused for attempting to gain an education; Taliban methods apparently work for them.

There was a win in Kansas. It had been reported that the state was going after Planned Parenthood for possible illegal abortions.  They have now dropped all the foolish charges. Curious how a federal law can be determined illegal at the state level.

If Romney and Ryan were to win, Planned Parenthood would be gone.

Once again let us reflect on divisiveness and hate. We know the source, it is the Romney/Ryan message to all women; specifically the poorest among us.

EDUCATION ENEMIES

Anti-evolution laws on the the state level are evolving. After the Dover, Pennsylvania case, anti-science went back to the drawing board. There is no more "Intelligent Design," now the buzz words to watch for in your area are "Academic Freedom."

As a country we still seem to dislike educators . In New York nearly half of the teachers in the state who were at the end of their probation were denied tenure. This is starting to happen all across the country as we decide that state budgets should get rid of teachers as a way of saving money. War dollars yes, education dollars no.

In Louisiana the dismantling of public schools continues. We've had several people comment on this on the site but all you have to really know is that tax payer dollars will be used for vouchers so children can attend private schools. Schools that have a strong religious message. Part of the plan? The Lochness Monster is real and disproves evolution. Get your crazy here.

The dismantling of the public school system can be seen in Milwaukee as well. A Lutheran school received a nice sum of money from the taxpayers that prevented it from closing. Vouchers is the word for violating the separation of church and state.

Kentucky legislators recently commented on their thoughts about evolution. “I would hope that creationism is presented as a theory in the classroom, in a science classroom, alongside evolution,”said state Senator David Givens. State Representative Ben Waide made a more precise statement:

“The theory of evolution is a theory, and essentially the theory of evolution is not science – Darwin made it up,”Waide said. “My objection is they should ensure whatever scientific material is being put forth as a standard should at least stand up to scientific method. Under the most rudimentary, basic scientific examination, the theory of evolution has never stood up to scientific scrutiny.”

PLANET POLITICS

Russian punk band "Pussy Riot" gets two years for making anti-Putin statements. I guess the U.S. might be doing a little better, so far we're not being locked up for having a bit of fun at our leader's expense. Not much fun for the ladies in the group, but for this Ukrainian protestor it was fun. She cuts down a cross with a chainsaw, topless, in protest of the arrest. Woman know how to grab our attention.

In South Africa, 34 miners were shot by the police. Apparently some countries have different methods of dealing with a strike. The police claim the miners came after them with machetes, and possibly a man wielding a gun. So they killed, wounded and arrested literally hundreds.

Julian Assange is in Ecuador for now. The government there has granted him asylum. He seems to be out of Swedish, and possibly American, hands for now. He renounced the U.S. witch hunt and stated that Bradley Manning should be released.

Chris has a discussion going on about Assange for those who want to concentrate on the issue. 

Chile's indigenous people are still under attack. Apparently land reparations are not coming anytime soon. This is what all conquerors do to the natives of any land, so shouldn't be a surprise.

ERODING ECO-SYSTEM

The XL pipeline's southern portion is being constructed despite protest. It has now been rebranded as the "Gulf Coast Project," no need for any better descriptor. This story is not going away. Oil companies make money as citizens are poisoned; the usual story.

In November, Californians will be voting on Prop 37 which would force companies like Monsanto to reveal which foods have been genetically modified. D.C.'s Grocery Manufacturers Association, which represents the 1.2 trillion dollar big food industry, is throwing money into the defeat of the bill.

Begs the question, what are they hiding?

If you care at all about life on this earth, make sure you read Ryan's views on Global Warming. Besides denying the science, "we still have snow" Ryan wants to dismantle green technology by calling for "drastic cuts in federal spending on energy research and development and for the outright elimination of subsidies and tax breaks for wind, solar power and other alternative energy technologies."

Not only do conservatives dislike women, apparently they really dislike all life on this planet.

OCCUPY OASIS

An interesting point on homelessness. Does the Occupy movement make it illegal? Homelessness is on the increase the last thirty years, definitely whenever a conservative was in the oval office. We've had shanty towns in the past, and the protections that helped the homeless are being dismantled.

The one year anniversary of the Occupy Movement is September 17th. On September 15th the Occupiers will retake New York City's financial district. Will this get any media attention? Probably not much. Except for a few far left news sources, everyone else is ignoring.

I think we are deliberately left out of the conversations that our government does not want to take place.

QUICK QUOTE

Yes, I have been a fan of Mr. Ingersoll for a long time, enjoy the message:

"Reason, Observation and Experience — the Holy Trinity of Science — have taught us that happiness is the only good; that the time to be happy is now, and the way to be happy is to make others so. This is enough for us. In this belief we are content to live and die. If by any possibility the existence of a power superior to, and independent of, nature shall be demonstrated, there will then be time enough to kneel. Until then, let us stand erect."- Robert G. Ingersoll in "The Gods" (1876)

I really like that ending; plenty of time to kneel but for now stand erect. Robert is the man.

FOOD FIGHT

It seems that new crimes are being thought up on a daily basis. There is a movement by those in charge to criminalize chalk drawings. Yes, children and adults being arrested for drawing pictures and messages that are temporary in nature.

What does everyone think? It seems to be a simple and fleeting way to protest. From beautiful artwork to hopscotch, is there a reason that anyone here would think this should be an illegal activity?

I really enjoy creativity and think that this is more insanity from a growing police state that most of us will ignore.