Religion kills "A BABY boy was killed when 12 people leapt off a second-floor balcony - to "get away from the Devil". ... Eight people, including several children, were hurt, some seriously. Police are trying to get to the bottom of the bizarre tragedy. ... Survivors of the mass plunge from a flat in a Paris suburb said the incident began in the early hours of the morning when a dad got out of bed naked to feed his crying baby. ... They said the man's wife saw him moving around and started screaming that she had seen the Devil. ... The man was then stabbed in the hand by his wife's sister and thrown out through the door of the flat. ... But when he tried to get back in, the other people inside grabbed their children and jumped off the 20-foot balcony. ... A spokeswoman for the local prosecutor's office said: "Panic erupted.""
This way-over-the-top ad is for Colorado's retrograde ballot measure 62, which would declare legal personhood the moment the sperm and the egg meet, and essentially force a Xristian Xrazy world-view on the citizens of that state and completely take away choice for women. It really opens the door to all sorts of issues that theocrats love. Women who terminate a pregnancy would be prosecuted for murder, and of course, so would the doctor. Presumably crossing state lines to have an abortion would be problematic, too. It's very draconian.
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Wow. Bob Dudley has achieved what we thought impossible...he makes us miss Tony Hayward. "BP's new chief executive said on Monday that its rivals and the media had helped cause a climate of fear during the summer when the oil giant's blown-out Gulf of Mexico well caused the worst ever oil spill in the United States. ... The comments by the chief executive, Bob Dudley, represented the latest volley in BP's battle to rebuild its battered reputation by taking a harder line with those who had attributed the disaster to a safety culture at BP that, they said, put cost-saving before safety. ... In an address to the annual conference of a British business lobbying group, the CBI, Mr. Dudley said there had been "a great rush to judgment by a fair number of observers before the full facts could possibly be known, even from some in our industry."
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Then again, we exist in a counter-factual America where objective reality is a conspiracy and facts are considered "liberal math."
But we have to try, dammit. Go!
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If you're into economics, you will waste a significant portion of your day here:
Using these clips (as well as clips from other television shows or movies) makes economic concepts come alive, making them more real for students. Ultimately, students will start seeing economics everywhere – in other TV shows, in popular music, and most importantly, in their own lives.
I wonder what they'll do with "mulva?"
This weekend, Tea Party Nation (TPN) sent an email in support of Lynne Torgerson, who is running against Rep. Keith Ellison in Minnesota. In the email, TPN lists the reasons Ellison should be "retired." Among them: "He is the only Muslim member of congress."
The email:
There are a lot of liberals who need to be retired this year, but there are few I can think of more deserving than Keith Ellison. Ellison is one of the most radical members of congress. He has a ZERO rating from the American Conservative Union. He is the only Muslim member of congress. He supports the Counsel for American Islamic Relations, HAMAS and has helped congress send millions of tax to terrorists in Gaza.
May I suggest that teabaggers are for the most part a small-minded lot of bigoted scum?
(For the record, there is a second Muslim in Congress: Rep. Andre Carson of Indiana. Shhh. Don't tell anyone.)
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Here's what Americans have to look forward to after the midterms compliments of Mitch McConnell and his retrograde GOP cohorts.
"[W]e need to treat this election as the first step in retaking the government. We need to say to everyone on Election Day, 'Those of you who helped make this a good day, you need to go out and help us finish the job.' [...]
The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president…. Our single biggest political goal is to give our nominee for president the maximum opportunity to be successful."
Steve Benen explains the implications of McConnell's statement.
This comes, by the way, on the heels of several other high-profile Republicans admitting last week that they have no intention of compromising with the White House on anything.
The obvious takeaway here is that GOP leaders have literally no interest in actually solving problems or passing legislation. None. But the larger truth is that President Obama, who's spoken a bit lately about the need for "humility," needs to realize that Republican obstinacy and extremist tactics aren't going to get better after the midterms; they're going to get worse.
McConnell and his cohorts have made abundantly clear that Americans' welfare and the nation's future pale in comparison to the Republican quest for power. The president stands in the way. If he's not prepared for what they intend to bring, the showdown isn't going to go well.
Republicans have done little to attempt to mask their do-nothing political strategy so none of this should be a surprise to anyone. As Republican Senator John Thune put it last March.
"Throwing grenades is easier than catching them."
Yes it is and Republicans have been consistent in displaying a complete lack of concern for the collateral damage caused by their grenades. Namely, the well-being of an entire nation.
