Looks like the infamous Los Angeles Math Proficiency Test has come around again -- and in a truly ugly way. This time, a Barrie police officer is on indefinite leave after circulating the "test" (a commentary on gang culture, but which has been given as a real test in some schools in the US and Canada), this after the TO School Board decided to create a school with an "Afro-centric" syllabus.
The test is in and of itself funny. (The tip-off is right at the top, when the student is asked to give his or her name, and his or her gang affiliation.) The context under which this was circulated -- in my opinion, blatant racism -- is anything but. I wrote a few weeks back why I don't agree with the idea of a magnet school of this type. This event further underscores the argument why we need to have a system that reflects all cultures and not just the Two Solitudes; and not a fragmented system.
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Friday, February 15, 2008
Which states matter?
Something that still bugs me about Hillary Clinton's machine is their insistence that Barack Obama has only won in states with relatively smaller populations or where there are caucuses. The races that really matter are the "big" states -- New York, Massachusetts, California (which she has won) as well the big prizes yet to be won: Texas, Ohio, Pennsylvania.
That's a rather smug attitude to have. It is right out of Karl Rove's playbook of dividing the country into "red" and "blue" states. In this case, it's navy blue for Obama and robin's egg blue for Clinton. The notion is, even if most of the map is coloured in favour of Obama, it doesn't matter as long as she has the "states that matter."
Every state matters, Sen. Clinton. Every one. If you win the delegate race in the popular vote fair and square, then fine; you're the nominee. But if you treat people in Missouri, Virginia and Connecticut with that kind of an attitude on the way there, then it says a lot about wanting to be a unifier; especially when your husband was extremely divisive although one of the better Presidents from a technical standpoint. It also says, however, that you will tolerate the continued shenanigans he got away with, if he manages to return to the White House as First Gentleman. And that if there's a flood in one state or shooting in one state or a part thereof, you'll respond; but not if it's in another.
Get a grip. Treat all people in your party with respect, not based on what state they're from.
(And for God's sake, have Bill chemically castrated.)
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That's a rather smug attitude to have. It is right out of Karl Rove's playbook of dividing the country into "red" and "blue" states. In this case, it's navy blue for Obama and robin's egg blue for Clinton. The notion is, even if most of the map is coloured in favour of Obama, it doesn't matter as long as she has the "states that matter."
Every state matters, Sen. Clinton. Every one. If you win the delegate race in the popular vote fair and square, then fine; you're the nominee. But if you treat people in Missouri, Virginia and Connecticut with that kind of an attitude on the way there, then it says a lot about wanting to be a unifier; especially when your husband was extremely divisive although one of the better Presidents from a technical standpoint. It also says, however, that you will tolerate the continued shenanigans he got away with, if he manages to return to the White House as First Gentleman. And that if there's a flood in one state or shooting in one state or a part thereof, you'll respond; but not if it's in another.
Get a grip. Treat all people in your party with respect, not based on what state they're from.
(And for God's sake, have Bill chemically castrated.)
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FISA! FISA! You not give me FISA, I kill you!
Dubya is so hell bent on getting Congress to reauthorize FISA -- the Foreign Intelligence Security Act -- that he even threatened to postpone a trip to Africa to make sure the legislature passed the bill. They haven't yet, to his satisfaction, so for now he's oddly backed off. But the notion that America would be less safe if FISA expired is ridiculous.
In fact, the opposite is true. America would be safer because America would be less under a state of fear. People would be more willing to report suspected terror threats, not keep them under the rug or having to encrypt them a 100 different ways.
The FISA law may not technically apply to Canada (i.e. US laws can't be enforced here), but I have friends in the States and every single e-mail I've sent to them, and all the ones they've sent to me, are in US custody. Along with every other transborder communication. Why?
And let's face it, the real aim of FISA is to spy on domestic phone calls and e-mails as well, as well as library records and other electronically stored sundry. If I borrow The Anarchist's Cookbook, or I want to chat with a Muslim friend, or I just want to vent about what I think about the lack of civil rights at this time in the USA, that's my business and no one else's. The intelligence services of the States -- indeed in all democracies -- have more than sufficient tools at their hands. The Echelon project -- run by Canada, the US, the UK, Australia and New Zealand -- monitors every single phone call and e-mail on the planet. Every single one.
Should we be able to stop the terrorists before they strike us? Absolutely. Are FISA and other related laws the way to do it? No. We need to restore the principle of probable cause, not just act merely on a "hunch."
Who's being unpatriotic here? I don't go as far as Keith Olbermann in suggesting that GWB is unpatriotic -- but FISA does come very close to Orwell's 1984. It's time to kill the incipid law, and restore the Bill of Rights.
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In fact, the opposite is true. America would be safer because America would be less under a state of fear. People would be more willing to report suspected terror threats, not keep them under the rug or having to encrypt them a 100 different ways.
The FISA law may not technically apply to Canada (i.e. US laws can't be enforced here), but I have friends in the States and every single e-mail I've sent to them, and all the ones they've sent to me, are in US custody. Along with every other transborder communication. Why?
And let's face it, the real aim of FISA is to spy on domestic phone calls and e-mails as well, as well as library records and other electronically stored sundry. If I borrow The Anarchist's Cookbook, or I want to chat with a Muslim friend, or I just want to vent about what I think about the lack of civil rights at this time in the USA, that's my business and no one else's. The intelligence services of the States -- indeed in all democracies -- have more than sufficient tools at their hands. The Echelon project -- run by Canada, the US, the UK, Australia and New Zealand -- monitors every single phone call and e-mail on the planet. Every single one.
Should we be able to stop the terrorists before they strike us? Absolutely. Are FISA and other related laws the way to do it? No. We need to restore the principle of probable cause, not just act merely on a "hunch."
Who's being unpatriotic here? I don't go as far as Keith Olbermann in suggesting that GWB is unpatriotic -- but FISA does come very close to Orwell's 1984. It's time to kill the incipid law, and restore the Bill of Rights.
Vote for this post at Progressive Bloggers.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Why should Fonda apologize?
Aussie comedian Kevin "Bloody" Wilson once griped that you can't say c*%^ in Canada (after Bowser and Blue had to edit out the word from one of his songs they adapted for their act); but apparently, you can in the good old US of A.
Like Jane Fonda did this morning. Let the conservatives rage all they want. Fonda may have had to apologize for her ill advised trip to Hanoi, but she doesn't have to for discussing that word with a morning talk show host. I actually congratulate her for finally saying the last of the Seven Filthy Words on network TV.
(And for the record, Wilson actually got back at the CRTC by dropping the c-bomb himself -- right in Montréal. Good for him, too.)
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Like Jane Fonda did this morning. Let the conservatives rage all they want. Fonda may have had to apologize for her ill advised trip to Hanoi, but she doesn't have to for discussing that word with a morning talk show host. I actually congratulate her for finally saying the last of the Seven Filthy Words on network TV.
(And for the record, Wilson actually got back at the CRTC by dropping the c-bomb himself -- right in Montréal. Good for him, too.)
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Screw Valentine (Open Thread)
I don't particularly like today, because it's so commercialized and so pointless. But I have no intention of being mean about it.
So if you don't have someone in your life, happy Singles Awareness Day.
If you do, happy Valentine's.
I'm leaving this as an open thread today. If you want to talk about Harper, the US election, Valentine's or Britney Spears -- whatever -- feel free to rant. Just keep it clean.
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So if you don't have someone in your life, happy Singles Awareness Day.
If you do, happy Valentine's.
I'm leaving this as an open thread today. If you want to talk about Harper, the US election, Valentine's or Britney Spears -- whatever -- feel free to rant. Just keep it clean.
Vote for this post at Progressive Bloggers.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Spielberg gives Beijing middle finger
One of the highlights of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City was the flag ceremony -- and the five rings being carried in by a truly impressive group; among them Desmond Tutu, Lech Walesa, Cathy Freeman -- and Steven Spielberg. So one can imagine the annoyance of many when Spielberg was invited to be an artistic coordinator for the opening and closing ceremonies for this year's Summer Olympics in Beijing.
Spielberg has now announced he's pulling out. The reason: Beijing's refusal to do anything about the situation in Darfur. Mainland China gets a lot of its oil from Sudan so many feel that it is uniquely positioned to put influence on Khartoum to do something.
It was the right thing for Spielberg to do, and he should be congratulated for it. A lot of the suffering in that part of the world is due to China's indifference or cooperation and it should be called out for it.
Vote for this post at Progressive Bloggers.
Spielberg has now announced he's pulling out. The reason: Beijing's refusal to do anything about the situation in Darfur. Mainland China gets a lot of its oil from Sudan so many feel that it is uniquely positioned to put influence on Khartoum to do something.
It was the right thing for Spielberg to do, and he should be congratulated for it. A lot of the suffering in that part of the world is due to China's indifference or cooperation and it should be called out for it.
Vote for this post at Progressive Bloggers.
Obama, McCain cross Potomac
Big wins for Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) as they further consolidate their positions; both ran the board in Maryland, Virginia and Washington DC. In fact, not only did Obama take the overall lead in delegates over Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY), after taking the lead in the popular vote over the weekend; he also got more votes in Virginia than all of the Republican candidates combined.
Noteworthy is that in DC voting for Democratic candidates outpaced Republicans nearly 19-1; but that's to be expected when the Dems support statehood for the nation's capital and the GOP does not. Also, the primaries in DC and Maryland are "closed" -- meaning only open to party members -- but Obama clobbered Clinton there as well. Clinton is supposed to have the advantage in closed primaries according to the conventional wisdom.
What is more significant, in my opinion, is that for the first time Obama also took the advantage among two of Clinton's natural constituencies -- women and unskilled workers. Clinton has an edge with Hispanic voters still but my sense is that is slowly starting to trend away from her as well.
My concern is that she's pretty much given up on Wisconsin and Hawai'i and instead putting all her eggs in Texas and Ohio on March 4th (Vermont and Rhode Island also have polls that day). That would be a terrible mistake on her part. Rudy Giuliani tried that one or two state strategy and it failed miserably. In a general election as well as in the primaries, every precinct -- not just every state -- is a battleground. The one who gets it in the end is not always the one with the most money but the one who believes he or she has to earn the position, not the one who believes he or she is entitled to it.
To be blunt, Obama's "Yes We Can" is a more inspiring message than "Solutions for America" or the "I'm Your Girl" which appears on one of her campaign buttons (really). Also, last night Obama emphasized collective responsibility in his speech; all I heard from Clinton was "me, me, me." Obama has now clearly taken the Bill Cosby approach to civil rights (pulling up one's bootstraps and doing something)as opposed to the Hillary Clinton / Jesse Jackson one (whine, whine, whine). America has paid the price for narcissism in the past, it can't afford it in the future.
I still get the impression, unfortunately, that Mrs. Clinton believes she's entitled to her entitlements and she sees this new kid on the block as the party pooper. After two more of her campaign staff quit last night (or were fired, depending on your point of view) she really needs to regroup and fast.
On the GOP side, McCain is starting to pick up conservative voters who have tended towards Huckabee, but still not quite at 50% of them. For that reason, Mike Huckabee refuses to bow out. There are ways to lose gracefully but increasingly the latter seems to go out like a crybaby as well. At that rate, he can forget the vice-presidency. I don't think McCain would want him as Secretary of Education.
UPDATE (12 noon EST, 1700 GMT): Some minor corrections.
Vote for this post at Progressive Bloggers.
Noteworthy is that in DC voting for Democratic candidates outpaced Republicans nearly 19-1; but that's to be expected when the Dems support statehood for the nation's capital and the GOP does not. Also, the primaries in DC and Maryland are "closed" -- meaning only open to party members -- but Obama clobbered Clinton there as well. Clinton is supposed to have the advantage in closed primaries according to the conventional wisdom.
What is more significant, in my opinion, is that for the first time Obama also took the advantage among two of Clinton's natural constituencies -- women and unskilled workers. Clinton has an edge with Hispanic voters still but my sense is that is slowly starting to trend away from her as well.
My concern is that she's pretty much given up on Wisconsin and Hawai'i and instead putting all her eggs in Texas and Ohio on March 4th (Vermont and Rhode Island also have polls that day). That would be a terrible mistake on her part. Rudy Giuliani tried that one or two state strategy and it failed miserably. In a general election as well as in the primaries, every precinct -- not just every state -- is a battleground. The one who gets it in the end is not always the one with the most money but the one who believes he or she has to earn the position, not the one who believes he or she is entitled to it.
To be blunt, Obama's "Yes We Can" is a more inspiring message than "Solutions for America" or the "I'm Your Girl" which appears on one of her campaign buttons (really). Also, last night Obama emphasized collective responsibility in his speech; all I heard from Clinton was "me, me, me." Obama has now clearly taken the Bill Cosby approach to civil rights (pulling up one's bootstraps and doing something)as opposed to the Hillary Clinton / Jesse Jackson one (whine, whine, whine). America has paid the price for narcissism in the past, it can't afford it in the future.
I still get the impression, unfortunately, that Mrs. Clinton believes she's entitled to her entitlements and she sees this new kid on the block as the party pooper. After two more of her campaign staff quit last night (or were fired, depending on your point of view) she really needs to regroup and fast.
On the GOP side, McCain is starting to pick up conservative voters who have tended towards Huckabee, but still not quite at 50% of them. For that reason, Mike Huckabee refuses to bow out. There are ways to lose gracefully but increasingly the latter seems to go out like a crybaby as well. At that rate, he can forget the vice-presidency. I don't think McCain would want him as Secretary of Education.
UPDATE (12 noon EST, 1700 GMT): Some minor corrections.
Vote for this post at Progressive Bloggers.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Sorry is always the hardest word ...
... but at least in one country, Australia, it's finally being said. The country's new PM, Kevin Rudd, has offered an official apology for the cultural genocide committed against Aboriginals on the continent as well as the Torres Strait Islands.
Like the disgrace committed by Canadians against the First Nations here in Canada, those afflicted in Australia were truly the stolen generations and no amount of money can compensate for the damage done. The former PM there, John Howard, said it would be wrong to say sorry because the present generation shouldn't be held responsible for the sins of the past. Rudd, however, has taken the high ground as primus inter pares. He's understood it doesn't matter when it happened, it happened and to not make amends however belatedly is just as wrong as the abuse that happened in the first place.
Rudd gets a huge thumbs up from me. If only Harper would get the courage to say "sorry" instead of "regret," he might get some respect from me for a change. It's time to implement the Kelowna Accord.
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Like the disgrace committed by Canadians against the First Nations here in Canada, those afflicted in Australia were truly the stolen generations and no amount of money can compensate for the damage done. The former PM there, John Howard, said it would be wrong to say sorry because the present generation shouldn't be held responsible for the sins of the past. Rudd, however, has taken the high ground as primus inter pares. He's understood it doesn't matter when it happened, it happened and to not make amends however belatedly is just as wrong as the abuse that happened in the first place.
Rudd gets a huge thumbs up from me. If only Harper would get the courage to say "sorry" instead of "regret," he might get some respect from me for a change. It's time to implement the Kelowna Accord.
Vote for this post at Progressive Bloggers.
Patty Hearst: The (something) is back, so to speak
Remember Patty Hearst -- the newspaper heirress turned Symbionese Liberation Army terrorist? She was eventually pardoned by Slick Willy in exchange for her testimony against Kathleen Soliah.
Last night, she won the 2008 Westminster Dog Show. Well, actually, her pet, a French bulldog. Seriously. Yeah, like that makes up for taking part in a series of bank robberies. Stockholm Syndrome, my butt cleavage.
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Last night, she won the 2008 Westminster Dog Show. Well, actually, her pet, a French bulldog. Seriously. Yeah, like that makes up for taking part in a series of bank robberies. Stockholm Syndrome, my butt cleavage.
Vote for this post at Progressive Bloggers.
Words of wisdom from Thomas Jefferson
As America decides who will its next President be, as we Canadians decide how to go forward in Afghanistan ... and as progressives continue to be called traitors or worse by our conservative colleagues, let us remember these words from Jefferson when someone suggested to him that Shays' Rebellion was a terrible thing and the rebel leaders deserved to be executed:
A little rebellion now and then is a good thing. …God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion. The people cannot be all, and always, well informed. The part which is wrong will be discontented, in proportion to the importance of the facts they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions, it is lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty. …And what country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to the facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure.
Amen. Never be afraid to speak out, never be afraid to express your opinions, never be afraid to call it as you see it. Fear is what Cheney and Rove; Harper and Van Loan, want from here to eternity. Enough.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Prayers for Big Blue Wave
Please say a prayer for Big Blue Wave. She's pregnant, and hemmorhaging. You can leave your thoughts and best wishes at her comments. Kathy Shaidle: Thanks for the heads-up.
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Huckabee shafted?
Earlier today, I was very critical of Mike Huckabee and his association with Ken Copeland; and I stand by that. However, and with absolutely no relation to that issue, Huckabee is absolute right to raise a stink about the way the votes have been counted in the Washington State caucuses. Josh Marshall, no friend of Huckabee by any stretch, covers the points in this entry at TPM.
Keep in mind, this is a state where Republicans tend to be more liberal than average. That's no excuse to stop counting the ballots and declare John McCain the winner after only 87% of the returns and with a 1.8% gap between him and Huckabee.
This wouldn't be the first time the apples in Washington were rotten. Christine Gregoire, the state's Democratic governor, won with less than 6000 votes a couple of years ago and also under very suspect ballot counting procedures as well.
It's bad enough not to have a recount like in Florida in 2000. To not even count all the ballots and just presume McCain won is outrageous. Count the ballots -- all of them -- and let the people's voice be heard.
Vote for this post at Progressive Bloggers.
Keep in mind, this is a state where Republicans tend to be more liberal than average. That's no excuse to stop counting the ballots and declare John McCain the winner after only 87% of the returns and with a 1.8% gap between him and Huckabee.
This wouldn't be the first time the apples in Washington were rotten. Christine Gregoire, the state's Democratic governor, won with less than 6000 votes a couple of years ago and also under very suspect ballot counting procedures as well.
It's bad enough not to have a recount like in Florida in 2000. To not even count all the ballots and just presume McCain won is outrageous. Count the ballots -- all of them -- and let the people's voice be heard.
Vote for this post at Progressive Bloggers.
Mulroney's "lobbying": Denials he both did and didn't
Brian Mulroney has a lot of explaining to do. In testimony to the House of Common Ethics Committee back in December, Mulroney admitted taking payments of $225,000 from Karlheinz Schreiber for consulting work for arms and steel manufacturer Thyssen (now ThyssenKrupp). Claimed Mulroney, the payments were in exchange for lobbying work to governments in France, China, and Russia; as well as the United Nationas.
Seems the CBC and the Globe and Mail decided to check out his claims. So far, they report, they can't prove either that he's telling the truth or that he's lying. The most bizarre point, though, is that no one at Thyssen has any records of Mulroney ever doing any work for them.
It's bad enough Mulroney would want to lobby for the very firm whose name -- Krupp -- still sends shivers up the spines of veterans and war historians. Yes, Germany like most of the rest of the EU is presently an ally of Canada and it's a good thing that they are; but it wasn't that way 60 years ago and memories die hard. But it gets worse.
As far as the claim about China goes, Canada's ambassador to Beijing does state that, yes, Mulroney went on a trade mission to China in 1993; yes, he did lobby the government for arms deals; but no, Mulroney never stated he was specifically acting on behalf of Thyssen. However, if Mulroney did so, he would have violated the very same trade sanctions he imposed on Beijing after Tiananmen and which were in place at the time.
Russia: Jane's Defence Weekly scoffs at the notion Russia would want to purchase materiel from Canada when its own defence plants were in dire straits at the time. France: Why would it favour German industries over its own (even though EU rules require equal treatment)?
So here are my questions:
Seems the CBC and the Globe and Mail decided to check out his claims. So far, they report, they can't prove either that he's telling the truth or that he's lying. The most bizarre point, though, is that no one at Thyssen has any records of Mulroney ever doing any work for them.
It's bad enough Mulroney would want to lobby for the very firm whose name -- Krupp -- still sends shivers up the spines of veterans and war historians. Yes, Germany like most of the rest of the EU is presently an ally of Canada and it's a good thing that they are; but it wasn't that way 60 years ago and memories die hard. But it gets worse.
As far as the claim about China goes, Canada's ambassador to Beijing does state that, yes, Mulroney went on a trade mission to China in 1993; yes, he did lobby the government for arms deals; but no, Mulroney never stated he was specifically acting on behalf of Thyssen. However, if Mulroney did so, he would have violated the very same trade sanctions he imposed on Beijing after Tiananmen and which were in place at the time.
Russia: Jane's Defence Weekly scoffs at the notion Russia would want to purchase materiel from Canada when its own defence plants were in dire straits at the time. France: Why would it favour German industries over its own (even though EU rules require equal treatment)?
So here are my questions:
- Are these countries telling the truth when they say they had no contact with Mulroney?
- Is ThyssenKrupp telling the truth when they say they never heard of Mulroney?
- If the money wasn't to lobby for Thyssen, then what was it for?
It's worth remembering Mulroney did this lobbying, or alleged lobbying, after he stepped down as PM but was still the MP for Québec's Charlevoix district (which includes his hometown of Baie Comeau). He was no longer a member of the Cabinet, but some ethics rules still bound him as to what he could and could not do. Schreiber claims the first payment was made while Mulroney was still Prime Minister which would have been, at the very minimum, a conflict of interest.
Beyond that, it goes to the issue of character. I will not deny that he did a lot of good for Canada. He streamlined the collective bargaining process for the federal bureaucracy; made the family allowance means tested (a necessary step on the long term goal to eliminate child poverty); made a sincere effort to reform pension. On the world scene he spoke out for freedom in Eastern Europe and in South Africa; and was seen as an honest broker between Washington and Moscow, particularly during the first Gulf War.
But when one minister after another got caught in scandal in both his administrations, he was seen as incompetent in his choices. Of course, one naturally had to ask if he himself was on the take. He never delivered on the massive retraining program he promised during the free trade election. And forget Meech Lake. He waited until the last possible moment to rescue it rather than fight for it from the very beginning.
I can't help but wonder if he tried to contain the damage of the early scandals he might have been a truly great Prime Minister. Instead, he's remembered as someone who occupied the office. Someone with incredibly bad taste in the choice of friends.
One last point: I'm not against arms dealers. Someone has to do it, no matter how shady the business can be at times. Even Dodi Fayed, allegedly, was one; as is Mark Thatcher (son of Margaret). But why would Mulroney lobby for a German company, even one with a Canadian branch plant? Shouldn't be have been lobbying for Canadian arms manufacturers instead? Where's the patriotism working for a guy who'd rather sing Das Lied der Deutschen than O Canada? Yes, I know, Schreiber is a Canadian citizen, but he himself should have been working on behalf of Canadian companies rather than German ones, too.
Huckabee has some 'splainin' to do
Recently, a rather disturbing videotape was leaked showing televangelist Kenneth Copeland during a supposedly "closed door" session with other ministers; endorsing Mike Huckabee after Copeland got the impression that if Huckabee was elected President he'd make sure the IRS didn't interfere with TV ministries.
Copeland also basically told Sen. Chuck Grassley, a fellow Republican leading the investigation of his and five other ministries, NFW. Yesterday on Meet the Press, Gov. Huckabee gave a rather half-baked explanation -- saying Copeland was a "Friend" but that he'd never interfere with a Congressional investigation.
Uh, yeah.
Well, Grassley isn't giving up. He's threatening to sub poena documents from the five of these so-called "churches" that haven't yet complied with his request. (The only one who has so far is Joyce Meyers.)
Look, I'm all for freedom of religion. And while I have repeatedly criticized the "Word of Faith" for its teachings which contradict sound Biblical principles, I won't oppose their right to preach so long as they comply with the law; and walk their talk. Copeland's using his private jet to go on ski trips despite his very specific public vow never to do so is just one example.
Does Huckabee support this kind of hypocrisy? He sure seemed to imply that yesterday on MTP -- and I suppose those who vote for him do also. We have much to fear if McCain picks him as his running mate. (McCain would be wise not to -- Gerald Ford regretted dumping Rockefeller for Bob Dole, saying caving in to the evangelicals was one of the biggest mistakes of his life.) Granted, Huckabee does have a point about investigating all 527 (c) groups as well, but this kind of friendship is too close for comfort.
After all, you didn't see JFK having a lovefest with Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen. Not that Sheen would have wanted the company -- he was too busy being chummy with Robert Schuller and Billy Graham.
Vote for this post at Progressive Bloggers.
Copeland also basically told Sen. Chuck Grassley, a fellow Republican leading the investigation of his and five other ministries, NFW. Yesterday on Meet the Press, Gov. Huckabee gave a rather half-baked explanation -- saying Copeland was a "Friend" but that he'd never interfere with a Congressional investigation.
Uh, yeah.
Well, Grassley isn't giving up. He's threatening to sub poena documents from the five of these so-called "churches" that haven't yet complied with his request. (The only one who has so far is Joyce Meyers.)
Look, I'm all for freedom of religion. And while I have repeatedly criticized the "Word of Faith" for its teachings which contradict sound Biblical principles, I won't oppose their right to preach so long as they comply with the law; and walk their talk. Copeland's using his private jet to go on ski trips despite his very specific public vow never to do so is just one example.
Does Huckabee support this kind of hypocrisy? He sure seemed to imply that yesterday on MTP -- and I suppose those who vote for him do also. We have much to fear if McCain picks him as his running mate. (McCain would be wise not to -- Gerald Ford regretted dumping Rockefeller for Bob Dole, saying caving in to the evangelicals was one of the biggest mistakes of his life.) Granted, Huckabee does have a point about investigating all 527 (c) groups as well, but this kind of friendship is too close for comfort.
After all, you didn't see JFK having a lovefest with Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen. Not that Sheen would have wanted the company -- he was too busy being chummy with Robert Schuller and Billy Graham.
Vote for this post at Progressive Bloggers.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
UK censors athletes
The Olympics are supposed to be non-political but they wind up being such anyway. One of the most blatant (but also one of the most justified) examples was when John Carlos and Tommie Smith raised their arms in the "Black Power" salute at Mexico City 1968.
Now, the British Olympic Committee is forcing its athletes to sign a contract forbidding them from criticizing China's human rights record -- or anything else political -- during this summer's games in Beijing. It's interesting to note that Canada, the US and Australia are not putting similar restrictions on their participants. Yet.
Since China will not change before August, barring a miracle, I think all competitors should be granted diplomatic status by their countries for the duration of the games so the Commie Bastards can't do anything to them. And although I personally don't like tattoos, it'd be nice to see some participants write "Fuck the Butchers of Beijing" in Chinese characters on their arms -- then raise them during the medal ceremonies with the Black Power salute, just as Carlos and Smith did 40 years ago.
Vote for this post at Progressive Bloggers.
Now, the British Olympic Committee is forcing its athletes to sign a contract forbidding them from criticizing China's human rights record -- or anything else political -- during this summer's games in Beijing. It's interesting to note that Canada, the US and Australia are not putting similar restrictions on their participants. Yet.
Since China will not change before August, barring a miracle, I think all competitors should be granted diplomatic status by their countries for the duration of the games so the Commie Bastards can't do anything to them. And although I personally don't like tattoos, it'd be nice to see some participants write "Fuck the Butchers of Beijing" in Chinese characters on their arms -- then raise them during the medal ceremonies with the Black Power salute, just as Carlos and Smith did 40 years ago.
Vote for this post at Progressive Bloggers.
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