White Picket Fence Fantasies

Leonard Pitts of the Chicago Tribune penned a piece today he called, Memo to the GOP: Say You're Sorry.  Of course, today's Republicans never do; their arrogant righteousness precludes them from doing so. Have you noticed?

White Picket Fence Fantasies appears towards the end of his essay, shortly after this plum:

As many pundits and even party officials have noted, given the dramatic cultural and demographic changes under way in this country, the GOP faces a real possibility of being reduced to a regional party of limited national relevance unless it broadens its appeal beyond angry white men living primarily in the states of the old Confederacy.

Angry white men in the old Confederacy.  Still fighting 'the war,' you know, the War of Northern Aggression.  Just why DID the North attack Fort Sumner anyway?

The white picket fence fanticies- I'm getting to that, but you've probably already figured it out.  Mr. Pitts says, 

"The GOP has reliably been able to woo them [extreme social conservatives] by demonizing gays, people of color, Muslims, feminists and anyone else who did not fit their white picket fence fantasies."

Ah, the white picket fence of the 1940's when 'those' people knew their place in our society. The good old days of America. Seems like these old white guys would rather turn the clock backward so that they could be more relevant than they now are, you know- when white men ruled.

Change scares the hell out of them. Sort of like a touch of Asperger's or autism. The Rainman. The white picket fence. It was all so easy then.

Southern Legislators Hate the Government, Love the Aid

Senators Shelby, DeMint, Burr, Graham, Wicker and Governors Jindal and Sanford whine about 'big government' taking over our lives. Some have even called the current administration, 'socialist.' Even though they themselves are 'government,' they think that government in general is a bad idea. That's why, in an earlier post, I used the term GOP anarchists.

But wait! Like those TV infomercials, there's more! Hypocrisy abounds when Republicans speak. Guess which part of our nation receives more Federal dollars than they send to Washington. You got it- the South. In fact, Mississippi gets a 2 for 1 deal- two Federal dollars for every dollar it sends to DC. Jindal's state, Louisiana,  gets $1.85 for each $1 it sends to Washington. Alabama, Shelby's state, gets $1.63. Those whiners from South Carolina get 33% more than they send away. Damned Federal government!

Up North, where seldom is heard a discouraging word, the blue states get screwed! Michigan gets only 73¢ for each dollar it sends to Washington; New Jersey receives 65¢ and Connecticut 73¢. Illinois, Obama's state receives 78 cents. Why no bitching? I guess that, perhaps, the folks living there have a more generous spirit- a more Christian giving mind set.

Whiners drive me nuts! Especially two-faced whiners. It's time to grow up, Richard Shelby, and stop playing political games with the U.S. Treasury where MY tax dollars sit.

America is Less Religious- Say it Ain't So!

Yes, I'm afraid that it's true: More Americans say they have no religion. Apparently, we are re-joining the rest of the world, except for the expanding Islamic nations. The AP reports:

A wide-ranging study on American religious life found that the Roman Catholic population has been shifting out of the Northeast to the Southwest, the percentage of Christians in the nation has declined and more people say they have no religion at all.

Fifteen percent of respondents said they had no religion, an increase from 14.2 percent in 2001 and 8.2 percent in 1990, according to the American Religious Identification Survey.

My, oh my! What has become of us? Apparently our endemic motto, 'God Bless America' hasn't been too successful. Where is Kate Smith when you need her? No doubt, we're all going to Hell in a hand basket. Cue the choir, pass out the hymnals.

Northern New England surpassed the Pacific Northwest as the least religious region, with Vermont reporting the highest share of those claiming no religion, at 34 percent. Still, the study found that the numbers of Americans with no religion rose in every state.

More a-theists, fewer Republicans. That explains why there is a dearth of GOPers in New England, why it has become so blue on the political map. Heathens!

Here's a sobering statistic: About 12 percent of Americans believe in a higher power but not the personal God at the core of monotheistic faiths. Twelve percent? Holy cow! Holy smoke, too!

So the Bible-thumpers are pretty much on their own here in the land of the free and the home of the brave. Judas priest, who could have imagined that?
Well, actually it was predictable, as far as our 'founding fathers' noted back when they planned this non-religious nation in the first place. Apparently we were slooooooooow learners, eh?

Science Research Back After Eight Long, Political Years

With a stroke of his pen, President Obama brought science research back from the shadowy corners where George W. Bush had relegated it some eight years ago. Yes, real science returns to the White House after years of the phony church-science of political payback. President Obama signed an executive order today repealing a Bush-era policy that limited federal tax dollars for embryonic stem cell research. Obama's move overturns an order signed by President Bush in 2001 that barred the National Institutes of Health from funding research on embryonic stem cells beyond using 60 cell lines that existed at that time.

The religious right no longer holds the White House hostage, deo gracias. Finally, solid science research can proceed unfettered from political posturing. It is hard to imagine what a waste of time these past eight years has meant to those suffering diabetes, Parkinsons, spinal cord injuries and a whole host of other diseases and disabilities.

No longer muzzled by religious doctrine, the NIH is now free to pursue the study of stem cells with the support of Federal dollars. Free at last! Free from Taliban-like influence and regulation.

Anarchist Republicans

I heard something amazing the other day which caused me to laugh out loud at the TV screen. Some Republican congressman, whose name escapes me, was in a rant that 'most of government is a waste of our tax dollars.' He went on, dropping the usual GOP terminology in a castigation of government in general.

I thought to myself, here's a government official, being paid $174,000 [4 times the median American salary], bitching about government waste of tax money. What am I missing?

The current junta that holds the GOP hostage hates 'government' in general. The way they babble, one might get the impression that they'd rather enjoy anarchism. In fact, this junta really are anarcho-capitalists. Anarcho-capitalism advocates:

the elimination of the state and the elevation of the sovereign individual in a free market. In an anarcho-capitalist society, law enforcement, courts, and all other security services are provided by voluntarily-funded competitors such as private defense agencies rather than through compulsory taxation. Because personal and economic activities are regulated by the natural laws of the market through private law rather than through politics, victimless crimes and crimes against the state would be rendered moot. [Wikipedia]

Sound like the last 8 years? Been there, did that, watched most everything wash away, left holding the bag. Yet, undaunted by those failures, they continue to bloviate their idiocy once again. Here's the important question: will they, again, fool the people? Don't bet that they won't.

Gamma-ray burst offers first peek at a young galaxy's star factory

It came from outer space- deep outer space, near the edge of the universe, some 11 million light-years away. It was gone in a flash! Yet, it was one of the largest 'bangs' ever witnessed. In fact, it occurred at the edges of the Big Bang; GRB 080607 blew up when the universe was just 2.2 billion years old.

Gamma-ray bursts- the most violent and luminous explosions occurring in the Universe since the Big Bang- are caused by immense explosions following the collapse of the core of a rapidly rotating, high-mass star into a black hole. Fascinating stuff, indeed.

Astronomers believe most occur when exotic massive stars run out of nuclear fuel. As a star's core collapses into a black hole, jets of material — powered by processes not yet fully understood — blast outward at nearly the speed of light. The jets bore all the way through the collapsing star and continue into space, where they interact with gas previously shed by the star and generate bright afterglows that fade with time.

Astrophysists are coming closer to the edge of the universe and the so-called Big Bang itself, just 2.2 billion years away. We all wonder what they will discover at that precipice of time. Perhaps they will find the 'master' of the universe there, shining magnificently, sitting on a gamma-ray throne.

"Answers" on Creation Coming Your Way

If you live in the Northwest Ohio area, and want the 'answers' to creation, be sure to mark down March 15 and 16th on your calendar. Those two days hold the answers to the questions of life on earth. An adjunct lecturer with the Institute for Creation Research and expert in the field will hold a seminar to help us understand how 'it' all happened.
Sorry, but the series won't be held at the University of Toledo nor bowling Green State University and the lecturer is not a paleontologist, biologist or biochemist. No. It is at the Monclova Road Baptist Church.

Yes, friends, everything you wanted to know about primordial matter, DNA and RNA, cell-formation, enzymes, ester-linked phospholipids, cyclic 2,3-diphosphoglycerate, and abiogenesis in general will not be heard on those days at that location.

Rather, "Answers in Genesis" will be the subject of this lecture series. Everything that you wanted to know about the science of life is contained in both of the stories of creation presented in that ancient Jewish document.
The presenter is Mike Riddle- " a dynamic and passionate speaker, with a wealth of experience in creation ministry. He already has a phenomenal reputation, and brings another exciting dimension to the AiG outreach—including his ability to produce curriculum for many levels. Mike’s a great speaker and curriculum developer.”

What more is there to say? The Answers in Genesis website has some interesting topics that the curious scientist may wish to explore such as, Are Some Mutations Directed? and What Really Happened to the Dinosaurs? Also, Does Distant Starlight Prove the Universe Is Old?

There you have it, amateur scientists, everything you wanted to know about creation in two exciting, science-filled days. And this about the lecturer: Mike Riddle is a former world-class athlete in the multi-event decathlon (i.e., becoming proficient in ten athletic events, with each decathlon conducted over two grueling days), it’s not surprising that Mike is also versatile in his “creation evangelism” efforts.

Finally, this piece of information to help you decide whether you'll want to attend the church series: Mike will also be holding workshops in the new AiG-USA facility (within the Creation Museum) in Northern Kentucky.

Mr. Bean for Head of GOP

Mr. Bean would make a great replacement for embattled GOP chief, Michael Steele. He has all of the qualifications, especially this one: "a child in a grown man's body." Mr. Bean is based on a character developed by Rowan Atkinson which followed the exploits of Mr. Bean, described by Atkinson as, "a child in a grown man's body, in solving various problems presented by everyday tasks and often causing disruption in the process." 

You have to admit that the 'solutions' offered by most of the current members of the Republican Party have already been presented on British Comedy Television. They are clearly 'adolescent' in depth and 'childish' at best.

Mr. Bean, you are da man!

Joe the Plumber's Newest Job

He isn't a plumber and his name is Samuel, but what the hell does that matter? Samuel Wurtzelbacker, author, war correspondent, and red herring for the McCain/Palin presidential campaign now hopes to 'earn' a living through litigation proceedings.

A federal lawsuit filed Thursday by Washington-based Judicial Watch says Samuel J. Wurzelbacher suffered emotional distress, harassment and embarrassment as a result of the search of his records by three former Ohio officials. It seeks unspecified punitive damages. I bet it does.

Looks like Joe aka Sam might just make it to the $250,000 level- the tax level of which he complained to candidate Obama in October. At the time, Joe was a worker for an unlicensed plumber, now out of business. He lives with his son in his dad's house and, at the time of his encounter with Obama, owed back taxes to the state of Ohio. He apparently went through an interesting divorce and payments to a woman's shelter were included in the settlement. No doubt, these facts catapulted him to a top position as model citizen for the Republican Party.

Recall the GOP mantra- 'frivolous lawsuits?'

You betcha!

Looking for Earth 2

Spacecraft to blast off in search of 'Earths' is the headline today. NASA on Friday prepared to launch a telescope that will search our corner of the Milky Way galaxy for Earth-like planets.


The Kepler spacecraft is scheduled to blast into space on top of a Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida just before 11 p.m. ET today.

"This is a historical mission. It's not just a science mission," NASA Associate Administrator Ed Weiler said during a pre-launch news conference.

"It really attacks some very basic human questions that have been part of our genetic code since that first man or woman looked up in the sky and asked the question: Are we alone?"

Kepler contains a special telescope that will stare at 100,000 stars in the Cygnus-Lyra region of the Milky Way for more than three years as it trails Earth's orbit around the Sun.

The Science Channel previewed the mission last evening as it presented three hours of space programs to eager amateur astronauts like me. I became interested in the stars when my father purchased an 8-inch reflecting telescope that he operated in our back yard in the 50's and 60's. It was a quite-powerful instrument which detailed the moons and rings of Saturn as well as far-away galaxies and nebulae. I retain memories of those magical evenings even today, especially as new instruments offer yet another glimpse into the heavens.

Black holes, exploding red giants, pulsars and quasars had not yet been discovered back then, and the twin mighty midgets, Voyager 1 & 2 had not sent back their marvelous images of our own planetary system and beyond. Today we look for planets similar in size as well as distance from their star in the hope of finding another world, another set of life, another intelligent species.

As Carl Sagan used to say, 'We are all star-stuff,' and thus, any newly discovered earth-like planets will also be star-stuff as will any life thereupon.

"Finding that most stars have Earths implies that the conditions that support the development of life could be common throughout our galaxy. Finding few or no Earths indicates that we might be alone." said William Borucki, Kepler's science principal investigator at NASA's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif.

As the universe is 13 billions years old, I suspect that there has been ample time for life to have evolved on many planets orbiting stars throughout our Milky Way galaxy. Maybe they already know about us. If so, I wonder if they have concluded that we are an 'intelligent' species?