Truth was first US casualty in Iraq war

Two articles on the same new study that show how the President George W. Bush and his top officials waged a carefully orchestrated campaign of misinformation about the threat posed by Saddam Hussein's Iraq, lying a total of 935 times in order to prepare the public to support their intent to wage war! If that's not one of the most despicable actions that you've ever heard perpetrated in the name of the American public then I'd like to know -- so please Comment.

Once again, CH says it like it is

Christopher Hitchens, interviewed last month makes several good points. Here's his parting commentary on why many need religion:

Look, the whole point about religious faith, in my opinion, is that it's not possible to imagine us ever living without it, or eradicating credulity. We are a credulous species. We're programmed to look for patterns, which is a good thing, because it's enabled all our progress and all our innovation. The problem is that people will take a junk pattern over no pattern at all. Just as they'll prefer a conspiracy theory to having no opinion. And religion is a huge help in doing that. Like astrology: "Well now, come to think of it, the movements of those heavenly bodies are just out there to determine what I'm supposed to do on Friday. How simple it all now seems. How nice that is, by the way, that this vast business should be set in motion just to advise me on my career moves."
But it makes sense to individuals, because they have a high opinion of themselves. Religion also flatters our solipsism, and our selfishness, and our self-centeredness, while pretending to teach us to be modest. That's the joke of it. By pretending to say, "Be modest and humble," it promotes the most fantastic arrogance and self-centeredness and conceit. I find that quite amusing. It also trades on the fear of death. And that is a pretty good selling point. I'm not afraid of death myself, because I'm not gonna know I'm dead. I'm awed a bit by the idea, but I'm perfectly reconciled to it. Certainly I am, as everyone is, reconciled to everyone else's death but their own. They think an exception can be made in their own case. And religion encourages them to believe something as absurd as that. You can sit in the airport and watch everyone go by, and think, "Yes, if they make the right noises, they'll get eternal life." Isn't that a nice idea? No, they don't want it for them, they want it for themselves. So religion is this corrupt racket, but it can't fail because there will be infinite demand for that. Religion will die out when we stop worrying about death.

More Republican Wars

They've lost the war in Iraq, Afghanistan, on Drugs, poverty, healthcare, ... No Child Left Behind, caring for war veterans, caring for New Orleans, child healthcare, sex education, etc, etc. The war on science is still waging strong however, and here's a new twist -- maybe they could combine their fervor for anti-science, anti-drugs, anti-healthcare, anti-compassion and anti-common sense? What do you suppose the chances are that Dr. Bertha Madras, deputy director of the White House Office on National Drug Control Policy, is in fact just another Bush crony spouting ideology instead of doing her job protecting Americans -- that we all pay her to do?

Like bugs? I *used* to!

But after seeing this, not so much. So there's 1.5 billion bugs for every human? I'll take mine in ladybugs, please.

Since it's time for politics, why not laugh?

We miss you, Richard!

50 Most Loathsome People in America, 2007

Funny article from The Beast (I hadn't heard of it either) on who were the most loathsome in '07 -- cool drawings too. See if you agree. Here's a sample:

50. Nicole Richie

Charges: Not a brick house. Not mighty mighty. Vastly easier than Sunday morning. Her criminal exploits, attended by hollow contritions, do inestimable harm to drug legalization efforts; while inexplicably adding nothing to the forced-sterilization debate. Quite possibly a reason the terrorists hate us.

Exhibit A: "I've just gone through so much in my life that pulling my top up just doesn't seem like that big a deal."

Sentence: Sealed neck-high in the outhouse foundation of a popular Mexican Spring Break destination. Jaws propped open.

9. You

Charges: You believe in freedom of speech, until someone says something that offends you. You suddenly give a damn about border integrity, because the automated voice system at your pharmacy asked you to press 9 for Spanish. You cling to every scrap of bullshit you can find to support your ludicrous belief system, and reject all empirical evidence to the contrary. You know the difference between patriotism and nationalism -- it's nationalism when foreigners do it. You hate anyone who seems smarter than you. You care more about zygotes than actual people. You love to blame people for their misfortunes, even if it means screwing yourself over. You still think Republicans favor limited government. Your knowledge of politics and government are dwarfed by your concern for Britney Spears' children. You think buying Chinese goods stimulates our economy. You think you're going to get universal health care. You tolerate the phrase "enhanced interrogation techniques." You think the government is actually trying to improve education. You think watching CNN makes you smarter. You think two parties is enough. You can't spell. You think $9 trillion in debt is manageable. You believe in an afterlife for the sole reason that you don't want to die. You think lowering taxes raises revenue. You think the economy's doing well. You're an idiot.

Exhibit A: You couldn't get enough Anna Nicole Smith coverage.

Sentence: A gradual decline into abject poverty as you continue to vote against your own self-interest. Death by an easily treated disorder that your health insurance doesn't cover. You deserve it, chump.

"Calling things by their name" - Ayaan Hirsi Ali

"Calling things by their name." - Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Is America Still #1?

Best quote:

My message to you is a simple one, we *can* do better! The real problem is complacency... [and] the America, love it or leave it types who refuse to examine their own country critically. By ignoring the countries weaknesses they further weaken the country they claim to love.

The same guy has a number of other clips; so far they seem pretty good -- like:
America The Stupid
Abortion Saves Lives

Randy Newman - A Few Words in Defense of Our Country

Rolling Stone magazine rated this as the #2 song of 2007:

Having trouble communicating?

This is a great summary of the differences between many men and women in communication style.

Bill Maher Tells It Like It Is

He was on Conan recently and was funny, blunt and on target -- skewering those that need it. Best part: "Religious people are schizophrenic. You can't be a rational person six days a week and on one day of the week, go to a building and think you're drinking the blood of a two thousand year old space god."

About Tolerance, 2007

Good LA Times editorial about the need for more tolerance and less dogma around the world. The tag line is "Religion hasn't been responsible for a lot of peace this year, but hope appeared in some unlikely places."

Religious intolerance is flourishing around the globe, and in 2007, the world witnessed fierce outbreaksof repression and violence, hatred and bigotry.

In the U.S., the GOP presidential contest features a disturbing contest between Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee over who is the better Christian. Huckabee asked disingenuous questions designed to fan doubts about Romney's Mormon theology, suggested that religion is a suitable test for public office and said that Americans should choose a president who speaks "the language of Zion" as a mother tongue. Romney warned against those "intent on establishing a new religion in America -- the religion of secularism." He went on to assert that "freedom requires religion, just as religion requires freedom." These statements betray a militant theism that has become alarmingly common in our national dialogue.

Fortunately, not all was negative on the world stage as a former Bin Laden supporter breaking with "brother Osama" for spilling the blood of innocents and tarnishing the image of Islam.

"My heart pains me when I think of the number of young people who had so much potential -- who would have made such great and original contributions to society, who had so much to offer that was constructive and positive -- who have been turned into living bombs. Here is the vital question that you need to ask yourself and that others have the right to demand an answer for: What have all these long years of suffering, tragedy, tears and sacrifice actually achieved?"

The "New Atheists" are responding to provocation

AC Grayling blasts back at Theodore Dalrymple in this New Humanist article.

I wonder if today’s liberal Western democracies would exist, and with them the rule of law, freedom of speech, liberty of the individual, the enfranchisement of women in political, economic and social respects, saner attitudes to sex and sexuality, and some of the other characteristic goods of contemporary secular society, if all the efforts to overturn the hegemony of religion and the Divine Right of Kings had failed in the mighty endeavour to break free of both during the centuries including and since the sixteenth? Not that either the church or crown gave up easily; what a lot of blood was spilled, lives lost, torture suffered, in the struggle to break their oppressive grip; and this is to say nothing of the blood and suffering endured in the long centuries beforehand, when priests and kings had that grip firmly on the throats of the people who toiled in superstitious fear, illiteracy and poverty.

Pope condemns the climate change prophets of doom

Apparently the 80-yr-old pontiff, not know for environmental expertise, has provided his well-considered scientific opinion that that any solutions to global warming must be based on firm evidence and not on dubious ideology. I suspect that this may be the first time he's sided with "firm evidence" over "dubious ideology" or perhaps this only applies to areas *other* than religion. Funny how it seems that he only has problems with the dogma he perceives in others. :)

Remember Kids, Some Adults are NOT Trustworthy

Just in time for Christmas, the New York Archdiocese of the Roman Catholic church has an unusual new weapon against child abuse -- a coloring book; but wait, what's this:Thanks, Newsweek.