Where will we be in 50 years? August 27, 2006
Posted by Evil Bender in bigotry, News and politics.3 comments
Against my better judgement, I’m feel the need to respond to Marshwiggle’s latest post. He’s concerned that Pat Buchanan is right, and that the US will shortly see Caucasians become a minority:
Let’s see if we can agree on what America is now- Predominantly white, english speaking, predominately christian/roman catholic w/ a 40/40 split republican democrat, with politicians from both parties invoking God when convenient.
Where will America be 50 years from now? Predominately Hispanic, spanish speaking and roman catholic.
Let’s assume that it’s true that whites will no longer be a majority by 2056. It doesn’t follow that we’ll be speaking Spanish. In fact, almost all immigrant populations speak English exclusively or primarily by the 3rd Generation. In other words, the Spanish-speakers coming to this country now will have grand and great-grandchildren speaking English, and since English is the official language, they’ll likely be thrilled about it. After all, don’t we all hope our children have more opportunities than we did?
And besides this, what will be the real problem with any of it? Where’s the harm in Spanish-speaking? As a white man, I’m looking forward to whites losing majority status. We’ve done little with it but cause harm, and it seems unlikely that things would get worse once other racial groups have more political power. If nothing else, we could use the varying voices.
But then we see what Marshwiggle’s really concerned about:
Where will Europe be? Predominately arabic and muslim.
This is shakier. The immegration patterns in Europe are more complex, and it’s not at all clear that such patterns will continue regardless of what is happening in the Middle-East. But even if it’s true, one could ask, so what? Why should Europe continue to be a white-dominated area forever?
Here’s the bad news, folks. Liberals, the world doesn’t care about your overpopulation theories. Third world Roman catholics and Muslims don’t give a whit about your theories like the spineless politicians in america have. There’s no sitting on the fence or being converted to less children.
These aren’t theories: overpopulation is a huge problem, and likely to get worse. Marshwiggle is right that not everyone is on board with population control, but guess what? That doesn’t change the facts. We shouldn’t respond to a refusal to use birth control in the developing world by trying to out-race them. We should expand our push for education so that as many people as possible can make informed decisions about family planning. What we should not do is try to outbreed those we don’t like.
Israeli bombs still killing Palestinians August 27, 2006
Posted by Evil Bender in Israel, Lebanon, Middle East, News and politics.add a comment
Israeli cluster bombs still liter souther Lebanon, according to the UN.
Dalya Farran, a spokeswoman for the U.N. Mine Action Coordination Center, said cluster bombs have been found in 285 locations in south Lebanon.
And of course, using those bombs in civilian areas is illegal:
“It’s not illegal to use (cluster bombs) against soldiers or your enemy, but according to Geneva Conventions it’s illegal to use them in civilian areas,” Farran said. “But it’s not up to us to decide if it’s illegal – I’m just giving facts and letting others do analysis.”
I’m sure the civilians who are still being killed would tell us that none of those bombs were aimed at civilian areas.
But Israel enjoys US support and so probably won’t face sanctions for its most recent round of war crimes.
Bad argumentation meets bad “science”–what a shock! August 26, 2006
Posted by Evil Bender in Right-wingers, Science.add a comment
Many of you have probably already seen this amazing example of right-wing stupidity. For those of you who teach kids, it’s a great example of how not to argue: unsupported claims, complete lack of evidence, blaming those opposed to you of exactly what you’re guilty of, ignoring evidence against you–it’s a regular carnival of pain!
Why did science stray from the path of truth? I think it is because we ceased educating the men of science with a knowledge of religion – a knowledge, that is, of genuine truth, genuine reason, and the relationship of man to creation, and his Creator. When science became a narrowly forcused[sic] search for something immediately practical, it was bound to eventually be hijacked by people who wanted to use the cover of science for very impractical efforts.
Science ‘strayed’ from the path once it decided not to let religious dogma pre-detirmine the outcome of its experiments. And I’ll give Republican Anti-Science Idiots this: science, like most things, is much easier when you let dogma detirmine your conclusions. No need for all that complicated “thinking” and “reasoning.”
A story worth hearing August 26, 2006
Posted by Evil Bender in News and politics.2 comments
For those of you who didn’t catch it, check out this story on inmates who have been held, in some cases much longer than the term of their sentence, sicne Katrina. The best part is when the
When the Christian Right says they care about you August 26, 2006
Posted by Evil Bender in Religion, wingnuts.5 comments
it’s a good sign they don’t give a shit. Take Focus on the Family, an organization dedicated to creating an American Theocracy and generally controlling the lives of others. They’re up in arms about this weeks long-overdue decision to finally allow Plan B to be sold over the counter, where it can be most effective.
“This decision is a disaster and a danger for girls and their parents.” That’s the blunt and straightforward assessment from Carrie Gordon Earll, senior analyst for bioethics with the Colorado-based ministry. “There are no safeguards, legal or otherwise, to prevent this powerful drug from falling into the hands of teen girls — or, worse, into the hands of men bent on sexually exploiting teen girls by flashing a magic pill as a promise that they won’t have to worry about getting pregnant.”
See, before Plan B was over-the-counter, young girls were never being exploited by older men. But now that there is another layer of protection, we’re sure to see all that change. See, now men will be easily able to talk women into having unprotected sex, because an expensive, less-effective pill is so much easier to convince a woman to use than is a condem.
Or could it be that Focus on the Family really only objects to the idea that people might have sex without producing kids?
FotF only cares about peoples’ rights when those people are using them to deny others rights. So while it’s a terrible decision to give adult women more control over their own bodies, it’s perfectly acceptable to let pharmacists pretend they are doctors: (more…)
You’ve got to watch out for those scary gays August 26, 2006
Posted by Evil Bender in Religion, wingnuts.2 comments
or they might hurt you.
Not surprisingly, there were a lot more homosexuals out in the market tonight. It’s no surprise because they are having their detestable parade this Lord’s Day afternoon. Interestingly enough though, the bulk of insults against us were not from this particular group of sinners. For the most part, they ignored us tonight. Please pray that the Lord will use my pastor and I this Sunday, as we will be going to the “pride parade” with our Gospel signs; pray for protection from harm, and more importantly, that the Lord would see it fit to save some of these lost souls.
Man, if I had a nickle for every time a protester at a Pride Parade has been assaulted, I’d have, well, about 3 cents. I heard a guy tripped over a protester once. Does that count?
Random Quotes: Sunday discussion thread August 20, 2006
Posted by Evil Bender in Blogging.2 comments
There’s a pretty cool random quote meme that’s been going around recently. You just browse the random quotations here until you find five that you like. Mine are below. What are quotes that stood out to you? What about the ones I’ve selected? Feel free to make fun!
The man who writes about himself and his own time is the only man who writes about all people and all time.
- George Bernard Shaw
Irish dramatist & socialist (1856 – 1950)
Puritanism: The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.
H. L. Mencken
US editor (1880 – 1956)
It is undesirable to believe a proposition when there is no ground whatsoever for supposing it is true.
Bertrand Russell, Sceptical Essays (1928), “On the Value of Scepticism”
British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 – 1970)
There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written or badly written.
Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray, 1891, preface
Irish dramatist, novelist, & poet (1854 – 1900)
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.
Aldous Huxley, “Proper Studies”, 1927
English critic & novelist (1894 – 1963)
Bush responds to Judge, shouts “look over there!” and runs off. August 18, 2006
Posted by Evil Bender in constiutional issues, Dubya, News and politics.22 comments
Okay, not exactly, but he did do the only thing he knows how to do. Confronted with harsh evidence of his own illegal activities, he blamed the terrorists. This is the political equivalent of the “interrupting cow” joke:
Bush: Knock, knock.
Mainstream Media: who’s there?
Bush: The interrupting cow.
Mainstream Media: The interu–
Bush: MOO!
Faux News: Legality be damned August 18, 2006
Posted by Evil Bender in constiutional issues, Dubya, News and politics.add a comment
John Gibson, who we must number among those who somehow have a public platform despite their obvious lack of rationality, has this to say about the ruling striking down Bush’s secret, illegal spying program:
I agree that the program might not be strictly legal, though I think it is strictly necessary. Perhaps Congress should amend the law to make it entirely legal. But whether we need it or not is beyond question.
See, the President broke the law, but it must be okay, because Goddamn it, who cares about the law? THEM TERRORISTS IS COMIN’, PA! Of course, Gibson can’t make a coherent argument (his claim that civil libertarians believe terrorists have a right to kill us is so idiotic it staggers the mind) about how we’re safer. Where are the terrorists who would have made a phone call knowing there could be a secret FISA-allowed spying program, but won’t make the same one under the illegal policy of the president? Why would getting a court to agree a terrorist is a terrorist possibly be a bad thing, especially since it can often be done retroactively?
But none of that matters to John “Fuck the Law” Gibson. To him, it’s enough that the President says everything’s cool.
I just have one question for Gibson: if this program is so necessary, why didn’t Bush get Congress to authorize it? Think back to when you were a kid: did you ask your parents for permission to do something when you were sure you should do it, or when you were sure you couldn’t? Bush is acting like a child: he hid his illegal program, then claimed it was always legal. But if it was always legal, it would have been a simple matter to get the Republican Congress to pass the law, or to run it by FISA for legality. He did neither. His program is more than “strictly illegal”: it is illegal and unconstitutional. Everyone knows this. FISA clearly does not allow what he is doing, no do the President’s war powers. If the President–whose job it is to uphold the law–is himself actively breaking it, and covering up his illegal activities–then he should be impeached.
How the same data can lead to different conclusions August 18, 2006
Posted by Evil Bender in News and politics, Religion, wingnuts.4 comments
That bastion of Jesus-based life, the American Family Association, is busy trying to scare parents from getting their kids educated because they might leave college and no longer pray to the AFA Jesus. They have a nice graph and everything. But they make it clear that things have been rough for a while:
But what students and parents don’t realize is that today’s campuses are functioning as an indoctrination into the realm of liberalism. As early as the 1790s, Yale college students were openly disavowing Christ.
Taste the breathless panic! The 1790s, people. Did you know that even two hundred years ago, people weren’t all Christians? Gasp. But of course it’s worse today:
[S]tudents at the University of Michigan may sign up for “Lesbian Worlds: Subject, Object and Representation,” “Introduction to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender and Queer Studies” and other homosexual-based offerings for the 2006 fall semester.
Oh your God! Students can learn about Gay People. The horror!
It goes on:
