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December 29, 2005
Sunday, October 02, 2005
Sunday's Links
Activism
Share the Sacrifice. Sharing sacrifice? What a concept! Share the Sacrifice is an organization dedicated to supporting our returning veterans. With our government neglecting the needs of our veterans, citizens need to step up their support. At the website, you can volunteer to help those returning veterans, especially the homeless ones. As it says on the site: "You can have all of the yellow ribbons on cars that say 'Support Our Troops' that you want, but it's when they take off the uniform and transition back to civilian life that they need support the most."
News
Buying of News by Bush's Aides Is Ruled Illegal. So, finally the government has concluded what we knew all along: In paying Armstrong Williams and engaging in other P.R. work, the Bush Administration "had disseminated 'covert propaganda' in the United States, in violation of a statutory ban." Clearly, the administration knows that its ideas about education are so weak that they can't stand on their own. It's nice that the GAO report was so scathing: "We see no use for such information except for partisan political purposes. Engaging in a purely political activity such as this is not a proper use of appropriated funds." Here's the bonus question: Now that they've violated the law, who is going to be held accountable?
CPB Taps Two GOP Conservatives for Top Posts. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting made big headlines earlier this year when Kenneth Tomlinson made remarks that punlic broadcasting was filled with too much of a "liberal bias," and commissioned a taxpayer-funded survey to determine just that thing. Only, the survey, done by Tomlinson's good friend, showed no such liberal bias. Frustrated with Tomlinson's ineffectiveness, CPB has elected yet another conservative to replace him: Cheryl Halpern. The mannish-looking Halpern brings another conservative voice with her to be the board's vice chairman. This frustrates us not only because conservatives are being rewarded, but because the CPB was created to be an unbiased voice of the people. It's funded with federal money, and it's done a fairly good job of distributing news and opinion bias-free. Let's hope it continues to stay that way.
Parents Protest Georgia School Closures. For quite a long time the South has been saddled with the stigma of "backwater education." We know it's not always deserved, but then we get to stories like these, and we know where that stigma comes from. Consider Georgia's Republican Governor Sonny Perdue. Perdue closed schools on short notice last week, ostensibly "as a hedge against possible fuel shortages" due to Katrina and Rita. Well, those shortages never occured. And really, what kind of decision is that in the first place? Possible fuel shortages, and the first thing you think of is to close schools? Brilliant! The South may rise again, but not until they get some Democratic leadership.
Editorials
Gitmo's Hunger Strikers. Remember the hunger strike? Not Ghandi, but Gitmo. We're approaching the two-month mark, and the press still isn't really talking about it. The prisoners at Gitmo "have no rights, no hope. So why not take [our] destiny into [our] own hands, and die for a principle," as one refugee asks. The strike stems from disagreement over the definition of the word "torture." The government and army think that it is an important word, but when it comes to terrorism and war, they are willing to look the other way and/or sacrifice those on the bottom of the totem pole in order to acheive "national security." The refugees don't agree; thus, the hunger strike. We haven't forgotten that there is legislation going through Congress that seeks to redefine what is and is not legal torture, and we hope Congress hasn't forgotten either.
The Dark Side of Faith. According to a new study by Gregory S. Paul, of Creighton University, most religious democracies exhibited substantially higher degrees of social dysfunction than societies with larger percentages of atheists and agnostics. Of the nations studied, the U.S. also has by far the highest levels of homicide, abortion, teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. Yay us! Paul surveyed "18 prosperous democracies" to come to his conclusion. As the author of this editorial, Rosa Brooks, writes, "When it comes to "values," if you look at facts rather than mere rhetoric, the substantially more secular blue states routinely leave the Bible Belt red states in the dust." When it comes to homicide rates, for example, six of the top seven states are red. Infant mortality, highest in the South and Southwest, lowest in the Northeast. We don't lament the rise of Christianity in this country. We do, however, lament the political influence Christians have seized lately. However, that's not the point of the study. Paul concludes that secularization does not cause violence. The difference is important, and will become evident in the first Blogger Commentary, below.
Blogger Commentary
You've Just Got Time to Say Your Prayers... Continuing the train of thought from the last editorial, Mahablog writes about some of the right-wing blogs that have denounced the Paul study, challenging his conclusion that religion causes violence. As we said above, the study does not conclude that religion causes violence. It concluded that secularization does not cause violence, which is an important distinction. Of course, the easy, simplistic analysis would be that "evil, god-hating scientists are trying to remove all religion from society", but that's not the rational conclusion. But then, it's not like anyone said the religious right was rational.
Another Person Missing. Still Fighting exclusive blogger Andrew Duggan strikes again! This time, he discusses a disturbing media phenomenon: Coverage of relatively trivial cases involving the misfortunes of white women. Sure, it's disturbing, but why is there so much of this coverage at the expense of much bigger issues. We have a war going on and billions being squandered, yet the media is just giving the public what they want. And that's where Andrew touches on a larger issue: Why are we so riveted by the misfortunes of others?
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December 29, 2005
Sunday, October 02, 2005
Sunday's Links
Activism
Share the Sacrifice. Sharing sacrifice? What a concept! Share the Sacrifice is an organization dedicated to supporting our returning veterans. With our government neglecting the needs of our veterans, citizens need to step up their support. At the website, you can volunteer to help those returning veterans, especially the homeless ones. As it says on the site: "You can have all of the yellow ribbons on cars that say 'Support Our Troops' that you want, but it's when they take off the uniform and transition back to civilian life that they need support the most."
News
Buying of News by Bush's Aides Is Ruled Illegal. So, finally the government has concluded what we knew all along: In paying Armstrong Williams and engaging in other P.R. work, the Bush Administration "had disseminated 'covert propaganda' in the United States, in violation of a statutory ban." Clearly, the administration knows that its ideas about education are so weak that they can't stand on their own. It's nice that the GAO report was so scathing: "We see no use for such information except for partisan political purposes. Engaging in a purely political activity such as this is not a proper use of appropriated funds." Here's the bonus question: Now that they've violated the law, who is going to be held accountable?
CPB Taps Two GOP Conservatives for Top Posts. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting made big headlines earlier this year when Kenneth Tomlinson made remarks that punlic broadcasting was filled with too much of a "liberal bias," and commissioned a taxpayer-funded survey to determine just that thing. Only, the survey, done by Tomlinson's good friend, showed no such liberal bias. Frustrated with Tomlinson's ineffectiveness, CPB has elected yet another conservative to replace him: Cheryl Halpern. The mannish-looking Halpern brings another conservative voice with her to be the board's vice chairman. This frustrates us not only because conservatives are being rewarded, but because the CPB was created to be an unbiased voice of the people. It's funded with federal money, and it's done a fairly good job of distributing news and opinion bias-free. Let's hope it continues to stay that way.
Parents Protest Georgia School Closures. For quite a long time the South has been saddled with the stigma of "backwater education." We know it's not always deserved, but then we get to stories like these, and we know where that stigma comes from. Consider Georgia's Republican Governor Sonny Perdue. Perdue closed schools on short notice last week, ostensibly "as a hedge against possible fuel shortages" due to Katrina and Rita. Well, those shortages never occured. And really, what kind of decision is that in the first place? Possible fuel shortages, and the first thing you think of is to close schools? Brilliant! The South may rise again, but not until they get some Democratic leadership.
Editorials
Gitmo's Hunger Strikers. Remember the hunger strike? Not Ghandi, but Gitmo. We're approaching the two-month mark, and the press still isn't really talking about it. The prisoners at Gitmo "have no rights, no hope. So why not take [our] destiny into [our] own hands, and die for a principle," as one refugee asks. The strike stems from disagreement over the definition of the word "torture." The government and army think that it is an important word, but when it comes to terrorism and war, they are willing to look the other way and/or sacrifice those on the bottom of the totem pole in order to acheive "national security." The refugees don't agree; thus, the hunger strike. We haven't forgotten that there is legislation going through Congress that seeks to redefine what is and is not legal torture, and we hope Congress hasn't forgotten either.
The Dark Side of Faith. According to a new study by Gregory S. Paul, of Creighton University, most religious democracies exhibited substantially higher degrees of social dysfunction than societies with larger percentages of atheists and agnostics. Of the nations studied, the U.S. also has by far the highest levels of homicide, abortion, teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. Yay us! Paul surveyed "18 prosperous democracies" to come to his conclusion. As the author of this editorial, Rosa Brooks, writes, "When it comes to "values," if you look at facts rather than mere rhetoric, the substantially more secular blue states routinely leave the Bible Belt red states in the dust." When it comes to homicide rates, for example, six of the top seven states are red. Infant mortality, highest in the South and Southwest, lowest in the Northeast. We don't lament the rise of Christianity in this country. We do, however, lament the political influence Christians have seized lately. However, that's not the point of the study. Paul concludes that secularization does not cause violence. The difference is important, and will become evident in the first Blogger Commentary, below.
Blogger Commentary
You've Just Got Time to Say Your Prayers... Continuing the train of thought from the last editorial, Mahablog writes about some of the right-wing blogs that have denounced the Paul study, challenging his conclusion that religion causes violence. As we said above, the study does not conclude that religion causes violence. It concluded that secularization does not cause violence, which is an important distinction. Of course, the easy, simplistic analysis would be that "evil, god-hating scientists are trying to remove all religion from society", but that's not the rational conclusion. But then, it's not like anyone said the religious right was rational.
Another Person Missing. Still Fighting exclusive blogger Andrew Duggan strikes again! This time, he discusses a disturbing media phenomenon: Coverage of relatively trivial cases involving the misfortunes of white women. Sure, it's disturbing, but why is there so much of this coverage at the expense of much bigger issues. We have a war going on and billions being squandered, yet the media is just giving the public what they want. And that's where Andrew touches on a larger issue: Why are we so riveted by the misfortunes of others?
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December 29, 2005
Share the Sacrifice. Sharing sacrifice? What a concept! Share the Sacrifice is an organization dedicated to supporting our returning veterans. With our government neglecting the needs of our veterans, citizens need to step up their support. At the website, you can volunteer to help those returning veterans, especially the homeless ones. As it says on the site: "You can have all of the yellow ribbons on cars that say 'Support Our Troops' that you want, but it's when they take off the uniform and transition back to civilian life that they need support the most."
News
Buying of News by Bush's Aides Is Ruled Illegal. So, finally the government has concluded what we knew all along: In paying Armstrong Williams and engaging in other P.R. work, the Bush Administration "had disseminated 'covert propaganda' in the United States, in violation of a statutory ban." Clearly, the administration knows that its ideas about education are so weak that they can't stand on their own. It's nice that the GAO report was so scathing: "We see no use for such information except for partisan political purposes. Engaging in a purely political activity such as this is not a proper use of appropriated funds." Here's the bonus question: Now that they've violated the law, who is going to be held accountable?
CPB Taps Two GOP Conservatives for Top Posts. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting made big headlines earlier this year when Kenneth Tomlinson made remarks that punlic broadcasting was filled with too much of a "liberal bias," and commissioned a taxpayer-funded survey to determine just that thing. Only, the survey, done by Tomlinson's good friend, showed no such liberal bias. Frustrated with Tomlinson's ineffectiveness, CPB has elected yet another conservative to replace him: Cheryl Halpern. The mannish-looking Halpern brings another conservative voice with her to be the board's vice chairman. This frustrates us not only because conservatives are being rewarded, but because the CPB was created to be an unbiased voice of the people. It's funded with federal money, and it's done a fairly good job of distributing news and opinion bias-free. Let's hope it continues to stay that way.
Parents Protest Georgia School Closures. For quite a long time the South has been saddled with the stigma of "backwater education." We know it's not always deserved, but then we get to stories like these, and we know where that stigma comes from. Consider Georgia's Republican Governor Sonny Perdue. Perdue closed schools on short notice last week, ostensibly "as a hedge against possible fuel shortages" due to Katrina and Rita. Well, those shortages never occured. And really, what kind of decision is that in the first place? Possible fuel shortages, and the first thing you think of is to close schools? Brilliant! The South may rise again, but not until they get some Democratic leadership.
Editorials
Gitmo's Hunger Strikers. Remember the hunger strike? Not Ghandi, but Gitmo. We're approaching the two-month mark, and the press still isn't really talking about it. The prisoners at Gitmo "have no rights, no hope. So why not take [our] destiny into [our] own hands, and die for a principle," as one refugee asks. The strike stems from disagreement over the definition of the word "torture." The government and army think that it is an important word, but when it comes to terrorism and war, they are willing to look the other way and/or sacrifice those on the bottom of the totem pole in order to acheive "national security." The refugees don't agree; thus, the hunger strike. We haven't forgotten that there is legislation going through Congress that seeks to redefine what is and is not legal torture, and we hope Congress hasn't forgotten either.
The Dark Side of Faith. According to a new study by Gregory S. Paul, of Creighton University, most religious democracies exhibited substantially higher degrees of social dysfunction than societies with larger percentages of atheists and agnostics. Of the nations studied, the U.S. also has by far the highest levels of homicide, abortion, teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. Yay us! Paul surveyed "18 prosperous democracies" to come to his conclusion. As the author of this editorial, Rosa Brooks, writes, "When it comes to "values," if you look at facts rather than mere rhetoric, the substantially more secular blue states routinely leave the Bible Belt red states in the dust." When it comes to homicide rates, for example, six of the top seven states are red. Infant mortality, highest in the South and Southwest, lowest in the Northeast. We don't lament the rise of Christianity in this country. We do, however, lament the political influence Christians have seized lately. However, that's not the point of the study. Paul concludes that secularization does not cause violence. The difference is important, and will become evident in the first Blogger Commentary, below.
Blogger Commentary
You've Just Got Time to Say Your Prayers... Continuing the train of thought from the last editorial, Mahablog writes about some of the right-wing blogs that have denounced the Paul study, challenging his conclusion that religion causes violence. As we said above, the study does not conclude that religion causes violence. It concluded that secularization does not cause violence, which is an important distinction. Of course, the easy, simplistic analysis would be that "evil, god-hating scientists are trying to remove all religion from society", but that's not the rational conclusion. But then, it's not like anyone said the religious right was rational.
Another Person Missing. Still Fighting exclusive blogger Andrew Duggan strikes again! This time, he discusses a disturbing media phenomenon: Coverage of relatively trivial cases involving the misfortunes of white women. Sure, it's disturbing, but why is there so much of this coverage at the expense of much bigger issues. We have a war going on and billions being squandered, yet the media is just giving the public what they want. And that's where Andrew touches on a larger issue: Why are we so riveted by the misfortunes of others?
