Dispatches from the Culture War

Thoughts From the Interface of Science, Religion, Law and Culture

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March 14, 2010

09:30
It's a big basketball weekend, of course, as we prepare for March Madness and the NCAA tournament. And John Beilein, the coach of the Michigan Wolverines, should be fired for one of the worst coaching decisions I've ever seen in the game against Ohio State on Friday. With 2.2 seconds left and his team up by two, Ohio State was taking the ball out on the far end of the court. Everyone in the arena knows that Ohio State wants to get the ball to Evan Turner, their all-American guard. So what does Michigan do? They sit at the other end of the court in a 1-3-1 zone defense, allowing Turner to catch the ball at full speed and sprint across half court to take a 3 pointer - which he made, of course. Read the rest of this post... | Read the comments on this post...
09:23
Remember the idiot cop who got out and started brandishing a gun around at a peaceful snowball fight a couple months ago? The internal affairs panel that looked at his case has apparently recommended a 10 day suspension for his actions. The police union plans to appeal the ruling if and when it comes down. Because cops never do anything wrong, of course, even when it happens on video. Read the comments on this post...
09:16
If you liked Glenn Beck's amusing interpretations of the symbolism in artwork found at the Rockefeller Center in Manhattan, you're going to love his brilliant analysis of the lyrics found in rock music. He's discovered - gasp - that Bruce Springsteen is - shhhhhh - a liberal. Beck and crew call Springsteen's "Born in the U.S.A." "anti-American." On Beck's radio show, co-host Pat Gray stated: "How many of us go to the Fourth of July fireworks display, we see the fireworks blasting, exploding in the air, and we hear 'Born in the U.S.A.' by Bruce Springsteen, and we're like, 'Yeah, "Born in the U.S.A." ' And you get filled with patriotic pride, and then you find out that Bruce Springsteen's 'Born in the U.S.A.' is anti-American." After Beck read the lyrics of the song, Gray said, "That's what it's all about. That's what America's about, according to Bruce Springsteen." Beck responded: "See, here's the thing that I don't think people understand yet -- I think you do -- that it is time for us to wake up out of our dream state, wake up out of the propaganda." Read the rest of this post... | Read the comments on this post...
09:09
We've already documented many of the ways the Republicans in Congress have shown rank hypocrisy over the health care reform bill. Their latest meme is that the Democrats are trying to "shove health care reform down the throats of the American people" by arm-twisting their own party and giving away favors to get people to vote for it. Ezra Klein looks at how the Republicans managed to pass the Medicare drug prescription benefit -- a totally unfunded mandate that ballooned the deficit, pushed through by a Republican president whose party was in control of both houses of Congress -- in 2003. Read the rest of this post... | Read the comments on this post...
09:02
From Rush Limbaugh, promising to leave the country if health care reform passes: I'll just tell you this, if this passes and it's five years from now and all that stuff gets implemented -- I am leaving the country. I'll go to Costa Rica. Psst. Rush. Costa Rica has universal, nationalized health care too. Read the comments on this post...

March 13, 2010

09:23
Jerome Corsi, an endless fount of stupidity, has an incredibly dishonest article at the Worldnutdaily accusing the media of inconsistency for allegedly paying so much attention to the question of whether McCain was eligible to be president and paying none to the Obama birther bullshit. The headline screams: Meet the surprise 1st 'birthers' of 2008 presidential election Eligibility issue huge for press, FactCheck.org, Democrats when McCain was focus of attention Read the rest of this post... | Read the comments on this post...
09:16
Here are some criminals with serious chutzpah. A European Poker Tour event in Berlin was robbed by six armed men -- with cameras rolling for television. I don't know whether they got away with the prize money from the tournament, but I would think it's pretty unlikely that they did. Here's video of it all starting: Read the rest of this post... | Read the comments on this post...
09:09
This is great. A web comic called Ataraxia Theatre has turned me and many of the other Science Bloggers into professional wrestlers. He has me and PZ pitted against one another in a fight over who has the best beard. But since I'm only sporting a goatee these days, I'm afraid I'm gonna have to concede that one to PZ. And then I'll have to give him the old steel chair to the head. Cuz whatcha gonna do, brother, when you get an Ed upside your head? http://ataraxiatheatre.com/2010/03/12/what-erv-really-stands-for/ Read the comments on this post...
09:02
An NYPD officer has revealed publicly what everyone assumed was true, that the police have quotas they have to meet in terms of tickets and summonses given out every month. He has audio of his superior officer saying so and demanding that he increase his numbers to meet the quota or he'll find himself delivering pizzas for a living. Video below the fold. Read the rest of this post... | Read the comments on this post...

March 12, 2010

16:04
I just thought some of my regular readers might like to know that Ellis Washington finally replied to me about evolution and ERVs. Well, kind of. I don't have time to write it all up now, but I'll have it for Monday morning. Prepare yourself for epic stupidity of the Kirk Cameron variety. Amazingly, I underestimated him and he still managed to disappoint. This is going to be fun. Read the comments on this post...
12:09
The Texas Freedom Network continues to live blog the Texas State Board of Education hearings where the collection of ignorant dolts on that board debate and amend the social studies standards. And it's getting downright surreal. They actually removed Thomas Jefferson and the Enlightenment from the history standards. Seriously. Read the rest of this post... | Read the comments on this post...
12:02
A school in Mississippi is canceling its senior prom because two lesbian students in the school wanted to go to it. And that would be all icky and stuff. A northern Mississippi school district will not be hosting a high school prom this spring after a lesbian student sought to attend with her girlfriend and wear a tuxedo. The Itawamba County school district's board decided Wednesday to drop the prom because of what it called recent distractions but without specifically mentioning the girl's request, which was backed by the American Civil Liberties Union. Read the rest of this post... | Read the comments on this post...
09:30
There is now every indication that President Obama is going to pull the plug on civilian trials for those behind 9/11, which will at least make his policy consistent since he was denying civilian trials to the rest of the detainees at Gitmo. But I've been thinking about this and I think there's a way this could be made to work that might satisfy both sides (something that Obama is always looking to do). Let me explain. First, let's recognize that the question of civilian trials vs. military tribunals is really about due process. Let's also recognize that due process can be achieved in either a civilian or military setting. The problem with the military tribunals that were set up at Gitmo, both before and after the passage of the Military Commissions Act, is that they did not provide even minimal guarantees of due process. Read the rest of this post... | Read the comments on this post...
09:23
As yet another example of why most celebrities should really just shut the hell up when it comes to politics, I present this quote from Sean Penn: PENN: The collaborative opportunity in Haiti, when you talk about Hugo Chavez, and some of the other people who are demonized [think Castro], and you know, when some of these countries accuse us of an occupation -- where I believe this was strictly a humanitarian action by the United States military, and an incredible one - I'm a little sympathetic. Because every day, this elected leader is called a dictator here, and we just accept it! And accept it. And this is mainstream media, who should - truly, there should be a bar by which one goes to prison for these kinds of lies. Read the rest of this post... | Read the comments on this post...
09:16
Here's a hilariously idiotic ad from Republican Senate candidate Sue Lowden of Nevada, who is running to replace Harry Reid. Now, Reid badly needs to be replaced. But not by this dolt who -- in the same goddamn commercial -- criticizes Reid for trying to "weaken Medicare" AND for pushing health care reform because "government run health care is wrong." Seriously. Here's the transcript. Video is below the fold. As a mom I know one-size-fits-all clothes don't fit, aren't comfortable and are seldom a bargain. So why does Harry Reid want to force one-size-fits-all government health care on us? Harry Reid thinks Washington knows best, but I think we the people know best. Harry Reid's big government health care plan will raise taxes, put a bureaucrat between you and your doctor, weaken Medicare, kill jobs, push us further into debt. I'm Sue Lowden and I approve this message because government run health care is wrong. Read the rest of this post... | Read the comments on this post...
09:09
Mother Jones has a profile of the Oath Keepers, a new right wing group made up almost entirely of military and law enforcement personnel. It starts out benignly enough: There are scores of patriot groups, but what makes Oath Keepers unique is that its core membership consists of men and women in uniform, including soldiers, police, and veterans. At regular ceremonies in every state, members reaffirm their official oaths of service, pledging to protect the Constitution--but then they go a step further, vowing to disobey "unconstitutional" orders from what they view as an increasingly tyrannical government. Read the rest of this post... | Read the comments on this post...
09:02
From the LA Times: An off-duty Orange County sheriff's deputy, who allegedly was intoxicated when he crashed his Mercedes-Benz into another vehicle and injured a passenger, had crashed 30 minutes earlier and was allowed to drive from that accident scene by fellow deputies, authorities said Friday. Sheriff's deputies were called Monday afternoon to a crash involving Deputy Allan James Waters, 36, and another vehicle outside City Hall in Dana Point. Deputies took a report and permitted Waters keep driving, said Assistant Sheriff Mike James. Read the rest of this post... | Read the comments on this post...

March 11, 2010

12:23
On today's Declaring Independence (unless Rachel calls again): On today's show, just a single guest for the full hour: Paul Krassner. Founder of the Yippies (Youth International Party), member of Ken Kesey's Merry Pranksters, publisher of The Realist, and the world's only investigative satirist. Oh, and did I mention that he dropped acid with Groucho Marx? This should be a most entertaining show. Read the comments on this post...
12:16
At the American Independent News Network, we focus on what we call impact journalism -- stories that can lead to some positive action to change something for the better. And what more impact could you get than this? On Feb. 23, I broke a story about how the Senate Armed Services Committee determined that Blackwater employees in Afghanistan signed for hundreds of AK-47s and pistols using the name "Eric Cartman," evidently a reference to the popular "South Park" character. On March 17 -- which Dave Weigel tells me is the season premiere -- "South Park" will show Eric Cartman signing for the guns. Read the rest of this post... | Read the comments on this post...