One by one the Supreme Court is saying "nahhhhh" to these silly Obama-isn't-a-citizen conspiracy theories. The conversations in the comments where the "birthers", as some are calling them, confront a knowledgeable audience, are well worth reading. Note how, as with all conspiracy theories, they have no evidence supporting their position. All they have are questions about the position they are attacking, a common disinterest in looking for answers, and a bizarre attitude that someones unwillingness to accede to their every rhetorical whim implies some sort of guilt. Indeed, that is all what makes conspiracies what they are. These are the very same people that don't see why the fourth and fifth amendments are important.
The best retort to them from those threads:
"You know, if Obama would just give us a blood sample and hair follicle and semen sample for DNA testing, we might be able to stop asking him so many questions about his authenticity.
I also hear he has the Islamic crescent & star (team logo) tattooed on his ass with his Kenyan birth UPC code, if he would just pull down his pants and end all the speculation, we could submit to his authoritah."
Satire is the best weapon when dealing with loons.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
No Arabic in our Airports!
A man completely minding his own business was told he had to change his clothing because he was making the other passengers uncomfortable. What was he wearing? A bomb? Something sexually explicit? A big smelly fur? Nah, just a t-shirt with (gasp!) Arabic writing on it!
Jarrar, a US resident, was apprehended as he waited to board a JetBlue flight from New York to Oakland, California, and told to remove his shirt, which had written on it in Arabic: "We will not be silent."
He was told other passengers felt uncomfortable because an Arabic-inscribed T-shirt in an airport was like "wearing a T-shirt at a bank stating, I am a robber,'" the ACLU said.
Sure, because we all know a huge proportion of people wearing Arabic on their shirts are terrorists. This is another example of a zero tolerance attitude amounting to zero thought. I wonder if the guy who made that comment thought Obama was an Arab too?
Jarrar, a US resident, was apprehended as he waited to board a JetBlue flight from New York to Oakland, California, and told to remove his shirt, which had written on it in Arabic: "We will not be silent."
He was told other passengers felt uncomfortable because an Arabic-inscribed T-shirt in an airport was like "wearing a T-shirt at a bank stating, I am a robber,'" the ACLU said.
Sure, because we all know a huge proportion of people wearing Arabic on their shirts are terrorists. This is another example of a zero tolerance attitude amounting to zero thought. I wonder if the guy who made that comment thought Obama was an Arab too?
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Top Jobs Report Good News for Scientists
A new report is out on the best and worst jobs to have, and the list is mighty kind to scientists:
The Best and Worst Jobs
Of 200 Jobs studied, these came out on top -- and at the bottom:
The Best
1. Mathematician
2. Actuary
3. Statistician
4. Biologist
5. Software Engineer
6. Computer Systems Analyst
7. Historian
8. Sociologist
9. Industrial Designer
10. Accountant
11. Economist
12. Philosopher
13. Physicist
14. Parole Officer
15. Meteorologist
16. Medical Laboratory Technician
17. Paralegal Assistant
18. Computer Programmer
19. Motion Picture Editor
20. Astronomer
The Worst
200. Lumberjack
199. Dairy Farmer
198. Taxi Driver
197. Seaman
196. EMT
195. Roofer
194. Garbage Collector
193. Welder
192. Roustabout
191. Ironworker
190. Construction Worker
189. Mail Carrier
188. Sheet Metal Worker
187. Auto Mechanic
186. Butcher
185. Nuclear Decontamination Tech
184. Nurse (LN)
183. Painter
182. Child Care Worker
181. Firefighter
The pattern is clear: those that think are at the top, those that work hard and sweat are at the bottom. We are truly in the information age.
The Best and Worst Jobs
Of 200 Jobs studied, these came out on top -- and at the bottom:
The Best
1. Mathematician
2. Actuary
3. Statistician
4. Biologist
5. Software Engineer
6. Computer Systems Analyst
7. Historian
8. Sociologist
9. Industrial Designer
10. Accountant
11. Economist
12. Philosopher
13. Physicist
14. Parole Officer
15. Meteorologist
16. Medical Laboratory Technician
17. Paralegal Assistant
18. Computer Programmer
19. Motion Picture Editor
20. Astronomer
The Worst
200. Lumberjack
199. Dairy Farmer
198. Taxi Driver
197. Seaman
196. EMT
195. Roofer
194. Garbage Collector
193. Welder
192. Roustabout
191. Ironworker
190. Construction Worker
189. Mail Carrier
188. Sheet Metal Worker
187. Auto Mechanic
186. Butcher
185. Nuclear Decontamination Tech
184. Nurse (LN)
183. Painter
182. Child Care Worker
181. Firefighter
The pattern is clear: those that think are at the top, those that work hard and sweat are at the bottom. We are truly in the information age.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Venus' Ashen Light, and it's Lesson for ID
Venus' "Ashen Light", first noticed by Italian astronomer Giovanni Riccioli in 1643, continues to defy explanation after almost four centuries of observation. The article has some interesting astronomical tidbits:
"Riccioli was an astronomer of some repute. Working in the first generation after Galileo, he discovered that Mizar (the middle star in the handle of the Big Dipper) is actually a double star — the first one known. He also discovered satellite shadows on Jupiter and published a map of our moon's surface. The names he assigned (e.g., Sea of Tranquility, Sea of Storms) are still used today"
The mind boggles at someone able to discern a double star with 17th century technology. But the real eyebrow raiser for me was the conclusion:
"It's also possible the Ashen Light of Venus is caused by solar particles energizing the atmosphere like the terrestrial Aurorae Borealis and Australis — hence its evanescence.
Or it's some previously unknown combination of things we understand.
Or something we don't understand at all"
Much of that could be said for many fields of science, with evolutionary biology being prominent among them. Like the astronomers struggle with an explanation for Venus' light patterns, so biologists will struggle with explanations for much in the living world, particularly its beginning. This no more justifies inserting supernatural designers into biology than it would to suggest a supernatural source of light on Venus. Unknowns in the face of little evidence represent the frontier of knowledge for science, and deserve the "I don't know" answer science gives, rather than the baseless certainty in religious fictions clung to by so many.
"Riccioli was an astronomer of some repute. Working in the first generation after Galileo, he discovered that Mizar (the middle star in the handle of the Big Dipper) is actually a double star — the first one known. He also discovered satellite shadows on Jupiter and published a map of our moon's surface. The names he assigned (e.g., Sea of Tranquility, Sea of Storms) are still used today"
The mind boggles at someone able to discern a double star with 17th century technology. But the real eyebrow raiser for me was the conclusion:
"It's also possible the Ashen Light of Venus is caused by solar particles energizing the atmosphere like the terrestrial Aurorae Borealis and Australis — hence its evanescence.
Or it's some previously unknown combination of things we understand.
Or something we don't understand at all"
Much of that could be said for many fields of science, with evolutionary biology being prominent among them. Like the astronomers struggle with an explanation for Venus' light patterns, so biologists will struggle with explanations for much in the living world, particularly its beginning. This no more justifies inserting supernatural designers into biology than it would to suggest a supernatural source of light on Venus. Unknowns in the face of little evidence represent the frontier of knowledge for science, and deserve the "I don't know" answer science gives, rather than the baseless certainty in religious fictions clung to by so many.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Whine Baby Whine! Sarah Palin Goes All Ben Stein on Us
She just can't stay away. Apparently being the biggest political joke in the history of this nation, and singlehandedly dragging down the intellectual level of national political discourse wasn't enough for Sarah Palin. Now she and her delusional followers are pretending that somehow all the idiocy that was the Palin campaign, that was literally too much to keep track of for us mere mortals, was somehow all the fault of a biased media out to get the poor widdle governor. Prepare your irony meters:
"As a public official, I expect criticism and I expect to be held accountable for how I govern,” she said. “But the personal, salacious nature of recent reporting, and often the refusal of the media to correct obvious mistakes, unfortunately discredits too many in journalism today, making it difficult for many Americans to believe what they see in the media.”
Refusal of the media to correct obvious mistakes? You mean like 95% of what came out of Palin's mouth? For someone who accused her opponent of "palling around with terrorists", as well as countless other objectively refutable falsehoods, this goes beyond chutzpa. It is unmitigated gall, the equivalent of a child who murders his parents and then asks for clemency on the grounds that he is an orphan.
However, she's got a whole film crew to do her bidding in a new propaganda piece in the spirit of Expelled called "Media Malpractice - How Obama Got Elected. Never mind the obvious reasons Obama won. Conservative radio host and film maker John Ziegler treats irrelevancies and fictions as facts in an unabashed display of the flaws of right-wing thinking. They took a poll of Obama voters they think reveals something about the media and, well, it has to be seen to be believed:
"71.8% could NOT correctly say Joe Biden quit a previous campaign because of plagiarism (25% chance by guessing)
82.6% could NOT correctly say that Barack Obama won his first election by getting opponents kicked off the ballot (25% chance by guessing)
88.4% could NOT correctly say that Obama said his policies would likely bankrupt the coal industry and make energy rates skyrocket (25% chance by guessing)
56.1% could NOT correctly say Obama started his political career at the home of two former members of the Weather Underground (25% chance by guessing)."
Translation: The mass media didn't treat our paranoid conspiracy theories and irrelevancies as important, therefore the media is unfairly biased. This is denial of the highest order, since in politics, what is and is not important is part of the game. Politicians constantly lose because no one thought the issues they emphasized were important. This is sore loser whining, simple as that. It again, exactly mirrors Expelled, which accuses scientists of a bias for rejecting Intelligent Design according the rules of science.
Also noteworthy was what the polled Obama voters knew about Sarah Palin, and the HowObamaGotElected's crew's reaction to that:
"Only 6.2% failed to identify Palin as the one with a pregnant teenage daughter
And 86.9 % thought that Palin said that she could see Russia from her "house," even though that was Tina Fey who said that!!"
Well, when one parades one's knocked-up teen daughter in front of the national media while assuming sanctimonious positions on social issues such as teen pregnancy, sex education, and abortion, one can hardly be surprised if notice is taken and an issue is made of it. If Palin wants to play with the big boys, she's gotta take the hard knocks with the rest of them. As for the Russia/house comment, this is a good example of fixation on minutia while missing the bigger point. Sarah Palin did claim that Alaska being next to Russia somehow gave her foreign policy experience, which is what the Tina Fey skit was mocking. That Palin never actually said the line is completely irrelevant.
Palin mentions the "editing" and "splicing" of the Couric interview, as if that's news. All interviews are edited to make for a more entertaining production. The implication is that somehow the interview was cut (a la the interviews in Expelled) to give a false impression of what Palin actually thought, yet no evidence is ever given to support this.
Palin also speaks as if the controversies over her daughter's pregnancy and Trig's parentage were the focus of the attention on her, when in fact the Trig issue came and went rather quickly in all but the most paranoid corners of the internet. The film completely ignores the myriad errors Palin made, and her clear lack of qualification for the position of Vice President, which were the focus of the election and the reason ultimately she was rejected. The film is one giant red herring.
For additional laughs, watch the excerpts from the Palin interview in the film, where Ziegler's self-described "tough interview" asks her gut-shot questions like:
"How did you feel about the Katy Couric interview? Did you feel it went well, not well?"
After seeing a Tina Fey joke about shotgun weddings, "How did that make you feel?" "Did you know about it before you went on the show?" "Would you have gone on if you did?"
"Do you feel [Couric and Fey were made heroes for what they did to you?]"
"Would you be willing to go through this again?"
Oh yeah John, real tough questions there.
And if you are sitting down, here is the ultimate zinger:
"If by chance you had been chosen as a VP candidate for Barack Obama...how do you think your candidacy would have been treated differently?"
"I think they would have loved me..."
Seriously, she really said that. Words fail me. Denial is not just a river in Egypt. More importantly, this is yet another example of conservatives justifying their theories with speculation rather than facts. Never mind showing that the media actually did treat someone differently, just speculate and make shit up. Perusal of the comments in the WJ article also reveals this mindset in several hilarious instances:
"The reason John McCain did as well as he did was because of Sarah Palin. He ran a lack-luster campaign. She brought life to the ticket. The reason he lost was because of his support of the bailout. Had he come out against bailing out companies like AIG, he would have won."
Uh, no, McCain was well behind in the polls immediately following the revelations (through the Gibson and Couric interviews) of what an ignorant hayseed Sarah Palin was, and well before the economic meltdown occurred.
"Just wait and see there will most likely be a President Palin in 2012 because Obama is already proving to be a terribe president. Just look at the stock market after Obamas speech. It achieved triple digit losses"
Obama's not even sworn in yet and already they are blaming him for Republican screw ups.
"the country is destined to be attacked and destroyed due to the weakling administration we are about to employ.. we are about to enter into another clintonesque administration, which started the economic downfall, not bush, this stuff doesnt happen overnight or in 8 years. look back in 4 years if we are still around, and look at what the socio-communist left has done to us. stockpile your weapons and supplies, pray for gods mercy. because while obama is “negotiating” with hamas and the muslim world iran, china and russia will destroy us. i am ashamed today to be a weak american the rest of the world cant stand. corruption, drugs, laziness, and greed along with this nut you elected king have killed us all."
Methinks someones tinfoil hat is on too tight. More seriously, the amazing thing about people who say things like this is when none of their predictions come true, they don't think once about whether it is because their worldview is flawed. They simply make up another conspiracy and move on.
"The media is an arm of the anti- American, anti-US Military, anti-God Democrat Party."
Ah yes, this is the same media that continually eviscerates atheists on panels about atheism that include no atheists. And isn't Democrat leader Obama having Rick Warren give a prayer at his inauguration? Rightwingers have no concept of what an anti-god party would look like. Don't miss their desperation in clinging to the "Obama's not a citizen" and "Who paid for his Harvard education" conspiracy theories as well.
My GOP, how you have fallen to come to this. Enough about Sarah Palin. She revealed herself to be an ignoramus of the highest order, and a consistent liar, and that is why she lost, and why so much of America thinks ill of her. Get over it already, because if you run her in 2012, you will only get another crushing defeat.
"As a public official, I expect criticism and I expect to be held accountable for how I govern,” she said. “But the personal, salacious nature of recent reporting, and often the refusal of the media to correct obvious mistakes, unfortunately discredits too many in journalism today, making it difficult for many Americans to believe what they see in the media.”
Refusal of the media to correct obvious mistakes? You mean like 95% of what came out of Palin's mouth? For someone who accused her opponent of "palling around with terrorists", as well as countless other objectively refutable falsehoods, this goes beyond chutzpa. It is unmitigated gall, the equivalent of a child who murders his parents and then asks for clemency on the grounds that he is an orphan.
However, she's got a whole film crew to do her bidding in a new propaganda piece in the spirit of Expelled called "Media Malpractice - How Obama Got Elected. Never mind the obvious reasons Obama won. Conservative radio host and film maker John Ziegler treats irrelevancies and fictions as facts in an unabashed display of the flaws of right-wing thinking. They took a poll of Obama voters they think reveals something about the media and, well, it has to be seen to be believed:
"71.8% could NOT correctly say Joe Biden quit a previous campaign because of plagiarism (25% chance by guessing)
82.6% could NOT correctly say that Barack Obama won his first election by getting opponents kicked off the ballot (25% chance by guessing)
88.4% could NOT correctly say that Obama said his policies would likely bankrupt the coal industry and make energy rates skyrocket (25% chance by guessing)
56.1% could NOT correctly say Obama started his political career at the home of two former members of the Weather Underground (25% chance by guessing)."
Translation: The mass media didn't treat our paranoid conspiracy theories and irrelevancies as important, therefore the media is unfairly biased. This is denial of the highest order, since in politics, what is and is not important is part of the game. Politicians constantly lose because no one thought the issues they emphasized were important. This is sore loser whining, simple as that. It again, exactly mirrors Expelled, which accuses scientists of a bias for rejecting Intelligent Design according the rules of science.
Also noteworthy was what the polled Obama voters knew about Sarah Palin, and the HowObamaGotElected's crew's reaction to that:
"Only 6.2% failed to identify Palin as the one with a pregnant teenage daughter
And 86.9 % thought that Palin said that she could see Russia from her "house," even though that was Tina Fey who said that!!"
Well, when one parades one's knocked-up teen daughter in front of the national media while assuming sanctimonious positions on social issues such as teen pregnancy, sex education, and abortion, one can hardly be surprised if notice is taken and an issue is made of it. If Palin wants to play with the big boys, she's gotta take the hard knocks with the rest of them. As for the Russia/house comment, this is a good example of fixation on minutia while missing the bigger point. Sarah Palin did claim that Alaska being next to Russia somehow gave her foreign policy experience, which is what the Tina Fey skit was mocking. That Palin never actually said the line is completely irrelevant.
Palin mentions the "editing" and "splicing" of the Couric interview, as if that's news. All interviews are edited to make for a more entertaining production. The implication is that somehow the interview was cut (a la the interviews in Expelled) to give a false impression of what Palin actually thought, yet no evidence is ever given to support this.
Palin also speaks as if the controversies over her daughter's pregnancy and Trig's parentage were the focus of the attention on her, when in fact the Trig issue came and went rather quickly in all but the most paranoid corners of the internet. The film completely ignores the myriad errors Palin made, and her clear lack of qualification for the position of Vice President, which were the focus of the election and the reason ultimately she was rejected. The film is one giant red herring.
For additional laughs, watch the excerpts from the Palin interview in the film, where Ziegler's self-described "tough interview" asks her gut-shot questions like:
"How did you feel about the Katy Couric interview? Did you feel it went well, not well?"
After seeing a Tina Fey joke about shotgun weddings, "How did that make you feel?" "Did you know about it before you went on the show?" "Would you have gone on if you did?"
"Do you feel [Couric and Fey were made heroes for what they did to you?]"
"Would you be willing to go through this again?"
Oh yeah John, real tough questions there.
And if you are sitting down, here is the ultimate zinger:
"If by chance you had been chosen as a VP candidate for Barack Obama...how do you think your candidacy would have been treated differently?"
"I think they would have loved me..."
Seriously, she really said that. Words fail me. Denial is not just a river in Egypt. More importantly, this is yet another example of conservatives justifying their theories with speculation rather than facts. Never mind showing that the media actually did treat someone differently, just speculate and make shit up. Perusal of the comments in the WJ article also reveals this mindset in several hilarious instances:
"The reason John McCain did as well as he did was because of Sarah Palin. He ran a lack-luster campaign. She brought life to the ticket. The reason he lost was because of his support of the bailout. Had he come out against bailing out companies like AIG, he would have won."
Uh, no, McCain was well behind in the polls immediately following the revelations (through the Gibson and Couric interviews) of what an ignorant hayseed Sarah Palin was, and well before the economic meltdown occurred.
"Just wait and see there will most likely be a President Palin in 2012 because Obama is already proving to be a terribe president. Just look at the stock market after Obamas speech. It achieved triple digit losses"
Obama's not even sworn in yet and already they are blaming him for Republican screw ups.
"the country is destined to be attacked and destroyed due to the weakling administration we are about to employ.. we are about to enter into another clintonesque administration, which started the economic downfall, not bush, this stuff doesnt happen overnight or in 8 years. look back in 4 years if we are still around, and look at what the socio-communist left has done to us. stockpile your weapons and supplies, pray for gods mercy. because while obama is “negotiating” with hamas and the muslim world iran, china and russia will destroy us. i am ashamed today to be a weak american the rest of the world cant stand. corruption, drugs, laziness, and greed along with this nut you elected king have killed us all."
Methinks someones tinfoil hat is on too tight. More seriously, the amazing thing about people who say things like this is when none of their predictions come true, they don't think once about whether it is because their worldview is flawed. They simply make up another conspiracy and move on.
"The media is an arm of the anti- American, anti-US Military, anti-God Democrat Party."
Ah yes, this is the same media that continually eviscerates atheists on panels about atheism that include no atheists. And isn't Democrat leader Obama having Rick Warren give a prayer at his inauguration? Rightwingers have no concept of what an anti-god party would look like. Don't miss their desperation in clinging to the "Obama's not a citizen" and "Who paid for his Harvard education" conspiracy theories as well.
My GOP, how you have fallen to come to this. Enough about Sarah Palin. She revealed herself to be an ignoramus of the highest order, and a consistent liar, and that is why she lost, and why so much of America thinks ill of her. Get over it already, because if you run her in 2012, you will only get another crushing defeat.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
A Sample from the Conservative Asylum
For a good understanding of how the 28% tick (those that would give W a passing grade regardless), check out the comments on this article discussing why that poor lying propagandist Ann Coulter is treated so poorly by, well, everyone who isn't in the Asylum. Note the rampant paranoia, lack of logical justifications, and boogie-man attitude towards those fictional "liberals" who are the cause of all ills. Note their continued insistence that Coulter is never rebuked with facts, when the reality otherwise takes little more than the ability to google "Coulter evolution" to find. This is what happens when people insulate themselves from actual information and pay attention only to that which reinforces their views. These are the same people that still believe Barack Obama never did anything in the senate:
"...as we all know, the left has no respect for life as the unambiguous bullhorn leaders for abortion at every stage and probably the future champions for euthanasia for everyone."
"Pravda aka The MSM (that's what I've taken to calling to the MSM from now on, since it seems content to be nothing more than a state organ for the Obama Administration in the same way that the original Pravda was a state organ of the Russian communist regime"
"i would tune in if someone stormed the stage and took the mike from one of these Liberal Slugs and/or smacked them in the nose.
I don't know their bosses, but they had better pay attention to the permanent damage these thugs are doing to this country. And by god that's a fact.They are creating a situation where ONLY a revolution will reverse it."
"You cannot be a hypocrite unless you have some principles and consciously violate those principles. Since Liberals only abiding principles are personal pleasure and personal comfort they cannot be hypocrites. Self sacrifice for a greater good is out the question for them."
"I can support your point about liberals being angry over beautiful conservative women. ...and the fact liberal females are butt-ugly."
"The problem liberals have with Coulter is that she’s right – and they absolutely hate the fact that they have no good counter-argument. I NEVER see anyone from the Left argue with what she’s said..."
"Every single objective study EVER conducted of news outlets have found FOXNews and Drudge Report to be the most "balanced" news outlets out there."
"Just because there are "millions" of Christian liberals out there doesn't mean your title makes any more sense. Kind of an oxymoron like saying you are a Nazi-Jew."
"Several trolls have said you can't trust Drudge. When one has the highest response to current events,it is natural that some stories are not always word for word."
"'all that is wrong with the republican party' is far worse in the democratic party where they start comparing people to hitler if they aren't whole heartedly in favor of a womans right to choose or some other liberal cause. "
"Go check the real facts and not what Huffy Puff, brainmovedon or commie Kos tells you. Dr. Demento Dean and fatman moore told you that you could make a difference like your hippie dad and protest, protest, protest. Well guess what? The technology these days is just a bit different and your buddies, you know, the throat cutters on video, can listen to what you say instantaneously. If FDR was president today you would already be shot for siding with them."
"You've been frolicking in the Goebbels style propaganda for the last eight years which included putting national security secrets on NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, NYT and WP. And anyone that participated in that should be in a cell. And I would prefer it to be with a terrorist. And as for Jan 20 I think we've already seen what were in for. This machine style will include Truth, Youth, Green and Food Squads."
"...every so often we do have to persue some false leads (Blago etc), since none of you idiots will connect the dots on any real ones (Reverend Wright, Ayers, Tony Rezko). He barely knew Ayers right? And he NEVER heard Wright spew racist, anti-American speeches.
You have proved yourself through your posts to be an anti-American slime. Not to mention a complete leming who will believe anything the democratic A-holes sell your way."
Amazing, isn't it? After getting their asses handed to them in November, they are still unwilling to admit defeat, unwilling to accept the reality that theirs is not the majority, or factual, view, instead inventing conspiracies and prattling on about nonissues like Ayers and ACORN.
There's a word for people whose predictions consistently fail to come true and yet refuse to alter their views, and it's not "scientist", or even "liberal".
"...as we all know, the left has no respect for life as the unambiguous bullhorn leaders for abortion at every stage and probably the future champions for euthanasia for everyone."
"Pravda aka The MSM (that's what I've taken to calling to the MSM from now on, since it seems content to be nothing more than a state organ for the Obama Administration in the same way that the original Pravda was a state organ of the Russian communist regime"
"i would tune in if someone stormed the stage and took the mike from one of these Liberal Slugs and/or smacked them in the nose.
I don't know their bosses, but they had better pay attention to the permanent damage these thugs are doing to this country. And by god that's a fact.They are creating a situation where ONLY a revolution will reverse it."
"You cannot be a hypocrite unless you have some principles and consciously violate those principles. Since Liberals only abiding principles are personal pleasure and personal comfort they cannot be hypocrites. Self sacrifice for a greater good is out the question for them."
"I can support your point about liberals being angry over beautiful conservative women. ...and the fact liberal females are butt-ugly."
"The problem liberals have with Coulter is that she’s right – and they absolutely hate the fact that they have no good counter-argument. I NEVER see anyone from the Left argue with what she’s said..."
"Every single objective study EVER conducted of news outlets have found FOXNews and Drudge Report to be the most "balanced" news outlets out there."
"Just because there are "millions" of Christian liberals out there doesn't mean your title makes any more sense. Kind of an oxymoron like saying you are a Nazi-Jew."
"Several trolls have said you can't trust Drudge. When one has the highest response to current events,it is natural that some stories are not always word for word."
"'all that is wrong with the republican party' is far worse in the democratic party where they start comparing people to hitler if they aren't whole heartedly in favor of a womans right to choose or some other liberal cause. "
"Go check the real facts and not what Huffy Puff, brainmovedon or commie Kos tells you. Dr. Demento Dean and fatman moore told you that you could make a difference like your hippie dad and protest, protest, protest. Well guess what? The technology these days is just a bit different and your buddies, you know, the throat cutters on video, can listen to what you say instantaneously. If FDR was president today you would already be shot for siding with them."
"You've been frolicking in the Goebbels style propaganda for the last eight years which included putting national security secrets on NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, NYT and WP. And anyone that participated in that should be in a cell. And I would prefer it to be with a terrorist. And as for Jan 20 I think we've already seen what were in for. This machine style will include Truth, Youth, Green and Food Squads."
"...every so often we do have to persue some false leads (Blago etc), since none of you idiots will connect the dots on any real ones (Reverend Wright, Ayers, Tony Rezko). He barely knew Ayers right? And he NEVER heard Wright spew racist, anti-American speeches.
You have proved yourself through your posts to be an anti-American slime. Not to mention a complete leming who will believe anything the democratic A-holes sell your way."
Amazing, isn't it? After getting their asses handed to them in November, they are still unwilling to admit defeat, unwilling to accept the reality that theirs is not the majority, or factual, view, instead inventing conspiracies and prattling on about nonissues like Ayers and ACORN.
There's a word for people whose predictions consistently fail to come true and yet refuse to alter their views, and it's not "scientist", or even "liberal".
Friday, January 9, 2009
Abstinent-Only Mississippi Leads in Teen Pregnancy Rates
Predictably to those of us in the reality-based community, but surely as a shock to those in the faith-based community that are so enthused about abstinence-only sex education, their leader in that pedagogy Mississippi, now leads the nation in teen pregnancy rates:
The Centers for Disease Control released a new report today that found that Mississippi “now has the nation’s highest teen pregnancy rate, displacing Texas and New Mexico for that lamentable title.” The report found that in 2006, the Mississippi teen pregnancy rate was over 60 percent higher than the national average and increased 13 percent since the year before.
While the new report does not explain why the state’s teen pregnancy rate is increasing, one reason may be the poor quality of its sex ed programs. As the Sexuality Information and Education Center explains, Mississippi focuses heavily on abstinence education and teachers are prohibited from demonstrating how to use contraceptives:
Mississippi schools are not required to teach sexuality education or sexually transmitted disease (STD)/HIV education. If schools choose to teach either or both forms of education, they must stress abstinence-until-marriage, including “the likely negative psychological and physical effects of not abstaining.” […]
If the school board authorizes the teaching of contraception, state law dictates that the failure rates and risks of each contraceptive method must be included and “in no case shall the instruction or program include any demonstration of how condoms or other contraceptives are applied.”
Of course this data, as always, will be ignored by the abstinence-only crowd in lieu of their faith in theoretical canards like "abstinence is the only 100% effective prevention method", which any thinking person should be able to fisk with little effort.
It does however, have a certain amount of evolutionary benefit to their DNA. Idiocracy, here we come.
The Centers for Disease Control released a new report today that found that Mississippi “now has the nation’s highest teen pregnancy rate, displacing Texas and New Mexico for that lamentable title.” The report found that in 2006, the Mississippi teen pregnancy rate was over 60 percent higher than the national average and increased 13 percent since the year before.
While the new report does not explain why the state’s teen pregnancy rate is increasing, one reason may be the poor quality of its sex ed programs. As the Sexuality Information and Education Center explains, Mississippi focuses heavily on abstinence education and teachers are prohibited from demonstrating how to use contraceptives:
Mississippi schools are not required to teach sexuality education or sexually transmitted disease (STD)/HIV education. If schools choose to teach either or both forms of education, they must stress abstinence-until-marriage, including “the likely negative psychological and physical effects of not abstaining.” […]
If the school board authorizes the teaching of contraception, state law dictates that the failure rates and risks of each contraceptive method must be included and “in no case shall the instruction or program include any demonstration of how condoms or other contraceptives are applied.”
Of course this data, as always, will be ignored by the abstinence-only crowd in lieu of their faith in theoretical canards like "abstinence is the only 100% effective prevention method", which any thinking person should be able to fisk with little effort.
It does however, have a certain amount of evolutionary benefit to their DNA. Idiocracy, here we come.
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