Headlines - Friday December 31

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Even as he tried to stick to the official stance about progress, NATO spokeman Brigadier General Joseph Blotz conceded that violence would escalate yet further in 2011, adding that "there is no end to the fighting season."

 

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The pope is now making excuses for pedophelia

You see, it's the 1970s' fault.

"In the 1970s, paedophilia was theorised as something fully in conformity with man and even with children," the Pope said.

Asking how abuse exploded within the Church, the Pontiff called on senior clerics "to repair as much as possible the injustices that occurred" and to help victims heal through a better presentation of the Christian message.

"We cannot remain silent about the context of these times in which these events have come to light," he said, citing the growth of child pornography "that seems in some way to be considered more and more normal by society" he said.

You mean a context in which the Pope himself, let alone the senior management of the Vatican, aided and abetted ongoing pedophilia, and thus encouraged the problem to continue and grow?

Real piece of work.

 

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Wisco: Taking exception to the concept of "American Exceptionalism"

 

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Morning Joe contemplating running for office again. Gee, wonder what lori klausutis's family has to say about that?

 

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While business will still think he's a socialist, the rest of us wonder when he's going to stop being such a hard-core corporatist and think about the middle class. Corporate profits are booming so why is it so hard to start giving a damn about the decades old decline of the middle class? Wouldn't it be great to have a Democrat in office who actually gave a damn about someone outside of the corporate world?

 

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Gary Bauer believes Muslims in America are treated better than Christians.  Well, if he is representative of Christians in America, it's understandable why that would happen.  But, in truth, he looks more like someone who should be a representaive of that very rare sect, the Albino Chameleons.

Because the Vatican has such a great record of investigating its own cover-ups of child rape. "The Vatican has set up a new financial authority to fight money laundering and make its financial operations more transparent. The Pope has signed into law new rules to bring the Vatican's banking regulations in line with international efforts to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism. The move comes ahead of an EU deadline. It follows accusations the Vatican had been contravening international rules on money laundering."

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Fourteen Afghan civilians dead in roadside bombing of minibus "At least 14 Afghan civilians, including women and children, have been killed in a roadside bombing in the southern Helmand province. ... The bomb struck a minibus travelling on the main road that connects the Sangin district to the major city of Kandahar on Thursday. Several civilians were also wounded. ... Ghulam Haidar, who said two of his brothers died in the attack, told the Associated Press news agency that the bus was transporting residents to a nearby market. ... "There was a huge blast ... body parts were scattered far away," he said. ... Daud Ahmadi, a spokesman for the Helmand provincial government, blamed the Taliban for the attack. The Taliban denied that allegation."

 

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It's not right that animal menaces like beavers have such cute babies. Note this science is being done by a Kentucky university. "The secrets lives of beavers have been revealed by a new study. Using discrete video cameras, scientists have been able to study the long-term natural behaviour of beavers "at home" in their lodges. The tiny, waterproof cameras, inserted into beaver dens, show that beavers lead very different private lives when at home than when outside. At home, the animals are surprisingly co-operative and scientists have even recorded baby beavers growing up. "Much of what we know about beavers and their use of dens is limited to questions like 'what times of day do they go in and out of the den'", says Cy Mott, a biologist at Kentucky Wesleyan College, in Owensboro, US. "Simply because, until recently, we haven't had the technology to follow their behaviour within the den without potentially disturbing natural behaviour." So Professor Mott and colleagues, Craig Bloomquist and Clayton Nielsen of Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, US, decided to study American beavers (Castor canadensis) denning on the Mississippi flood plain in south-western Illinois. Beavers in this region declined drastically in the 19th and 20th Centuries, but have since recovered due to a ban on hunting them for their pelts. The researchers used special "probe" cameras that do not disturb the beavers to record the animals' behaviour in 23 colonies over the course of more than a year."

 

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Americans admit their religion is fading away

 

 

The empty Saturnalia of Christmas has come and gone again, so it's time for pollsters to ask depressed Americans if religion is still important. About half say, "I guess, to me, a little." But 70% admit that their sad devotion to that ancient religion doesn't really matter, as the actual influence of traditional religion on America's trash society of mouth tattoos and teen pregnancy and foreclosed homes full of prescription numbing agents and wide-screen pornography is all but finished. READ MORE »

 

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2000 vs 2010 at a glance.

 

Nearly a billion more people in just ten years and almost twice as many endangered species. Embiggen for a better look.

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A growing number of ultra-conservative groups are planning to boycott next year's Conservative Political Action Conference because of the organizer's decision to include the GOProud group which represents openly gay Republicans. Two more groups can now be added to the list of those who plan to skip the conference -Family Research Council and Concerned Women for America.

FRC and CWA join the American Principles Project, American Values, Capital Research Center, the Center for Military Readiness, Liberty Counsel, and the National Organization for Marriage in withdrawing from CPAC. In November, APP organized a boycott of CPAC over the participation of GOProud.

Both groups site the inclusion of the GOProud group along with a "movement away from conservative principles" as a reason for their decision to skip the conference.

After all, CPAC is known for its family friendly speakers and wholesome conservative debate. The inclusion of GOProud would just make it a total loss.

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GOP to filibuster New Year, in order to avoid responsibility of governing

"WE'RE TAKING THE POSITION THAT IT TAKES AT LEAST 60 VOTES FOR THE EARTH TO FINISH ITS REVOLUTION AROUND THE SUN, AND TO PLACATE OUR TEA PARTY REVOLUTIONISTS, WE'LL BE PROPOSING A CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT TO ADOPT THE MEDIEVAL POSITION THAT THE SUN CIRCLES THE EARTH."

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Facebook page launched to encourage dems to switch affiliation to nominate palin for gop prez candidate.

 

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Yes, the right wing is so stupid that they are boycotting Justin Bieber based on a hoax!

 

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Black on Beck.

 

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Charles Krauthammer.

…one of the gay rights movement's most elusive and coveted breakthroughs.

The symbolism of the don't ask, don't tell repeal cannot be underestimated. It's not just that for the civil rights community, it represents a long-awaited extension of the historic arc – first blacks, then women, now gays. It was also Obama decisively transcending the triangulated trimming of Bill Clinton, who instituted don't ask, don't tell in the first place. Even more subtly and understatedly, the repeal represents the taming of the most conservative of the nation's institutions, the military, by a movement historically among the most avant-garde. Whatever your views, that is a cultural landmark.

True, except it should be seen as more than a victory for the gay rights movement.  It is a victory for anyone who believes in a just and civil society – one which promotes equality regardless of color, religion or sexual orientation.  Let history not forget which political party took on the role of opposition in this epic battle for civil rights.

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Via Political Humor, some of the funnier material from the year.

"Of course, a lot of right wingers are very upset about this because they believe this health care bill will cost a lot of money. You know what I think? Just pretend it's another unnecessary war. You'll feel better about it already." —Jay Leno

"Sarah Palin is joining Fox News. The new slogan is 'hair and unbalanced."' —David Letterman

"One of John McCain's former top campaign aides says that when he talked to Sarah Palin after McCain picked her to be his running mate, she said it was 'God's plan.' So, apparently, God wanted Obama to win." —Jay Leno

"Some critics are saying that Palin won't last on Fox because she's an over-emotional woman who gets the facts wrong. But I disagree. It's working great for Glenn Beck, so she'll be fine." —Craig Ferguson

"In Austin, Texas, President Obama told an audience, 'If you want to go forward you put your car in 'D.' If you want to go backward, you put your car in 'R." But you know something? Either way, the economy is still F'd." —Jay Leno

"What a day for the tea party people. Did you see that? America's parks and fairgrounds were lost in a sea of man-boobs. They were venting their anger and rage against taxes, which, of course, in most cases for them went down. Protesting their taxes went down, but you know, why let the truth spoil a perfectly good Klan rally." —Bill Maher

Jon Stewart on News Corp donating $1 million to the GOP: "This is a travesty. I really think, if anything, the Republicans should be paying FOX News millions and millions of dollars."

"Maybe Sarah Palin would be smarter if she had bigger hands." —Jimmy Kimmel, on Sarah Palin's hand notes

"Sarah Palin's also getting criticized because last week she demanded that Obama's chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, step down because he used the word retarded. But then, Rush Limbaugh did the same thing on his radio show, and that, she said, was O.K. Unfortunately, she's been unable to respond to the criticism because she's wearing mittens." —Jimmy Kimmel

"In Delaware, former Republican governor Mike Castle was defeated by Sarah Palin favorite Christine O'Donnell. Nobody knows what Christine O'Donnell does for a living, if anything. All we do know is that she's gone on the record to oppose masturbation, for real. I have a feeling Christine O'Donnell opposes masturbation the same way Bristol Palin opposes pre-marital sex." —Jimmy Kimmel

"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me eight times, I must be a f**king idiot." —Jon Stewart, on the last eight presidents vowing to end America's addiction to foreign oil

"In a new interview, BP's CEO said that the Gulf Coast oil spill is relatively tiny compared to the 'very big ocean.' That's like telling someone who's just been shot not to worry about the bullet because they're really, really fat." —Jimmy Fallon

"Well, folks, Sarah Palin has admitted she tried marijuana several years ago, but she did not like it. She said it distorted her perceptions, impaired her thinking, and she's hoping that the effects will eventually wear off." —Jay Leno

"How to describe Rand Paul? I mean, he's a doctor. It's as if Sarah Palin somehow made it through medical school." —Bill Maher

"Today we found out that a third college Christine O'Donnell said she attended has no record of ever knowing her. I'm starting to wonder if she ever really went to Hogwarts." —Bill Maher

"Somebody threw a book at President Obama. If you're trying to scare a president by throwing a book at him, you're one president too late." —David Letterman

"John McCain said that there will be no cooperation from Republicans for the rest of the year. So that should be good for the country. What a shame to see all that cooperating end, you know? This is like the coyote announcing he's no longer cooperating with the road runner." —Jimmy Kimmel

Beep. Beep.
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