Democracy is as good as its participants. An informed, interested & engaged citizen is the lifeline of a healthy society. A liberal citizen is vital to our American democracy as a conduit for progress. This liberal citizen advocates humanism, scientific reason, and a progressive culture of life.
Ah, this is a great time for celebrating. The colder weather--at least here in the northeast--requires a cozy atmosphere. The winter solstice just took place, so the "new sun" will rise higher and higher for the next 6 months, but every season is nice to experience... all because our earth wobbles like a drunkard! ha!
Enjoy life and don't waste your time with pettiness and unnecessary grief.
As we progressives look at the president-elect's choices for his cabinet, it's a mixed bag of goodies & baddies. This election was about change, and Obama has promised to usher a new era of healing and true progress--a progress in science & technology, civil rights & liberties, and caring for the world & our fellow humans. That is a very tall order, but, as I've maintained here, it is imperative that the new president steers the USS America in the correct direction. The speed on which we travel remains to be determined.
One of the most important powers the president has is the power to convince. He is the center of attention, so his choices set the national agenda. Impressions also matter as they set the tone. Take for example his choice for Energy Secretary, Dr. Chu. As a energy-hungry nation we need to make the right choices today and this a nice way to start by having someone who knows lots about this subject.
Now, on the other hand, what the heck was BO thinking when he chose Rev. Rick Warren to deliver some voodoo during the innauguration? Yes, I said, it's voodoo, because it's prejudicial, superstitious, and does not reflect a truly enlightened society. Obviously, Mr. Warren thinks he's praying to a god that wants the gays, Jews and Muslims to burn in hell, women not to have reproductive choice, and all sorts of other nonsense, like the soul existing in a petri dish--hence, the religious nuts opposing stem cell research.
I understand that this country is religious, but it wasn't necessary for BO to pick anyone like this backward-looking "reverend." There are plenty of much better choices out there that have more progressive views. If the new president wants a godly approach, he should pick people whose gods are more humanistic. After all, if BO is intent upon carrying out his social, pro-"main street" policies, he shouldn't be so accepting of people (like Warren) who call such approach marxist!
"Like every candidate, Obama must appeal to millions of voters who believe that without religion, most of us would spend our days raping and killing our neighbors and stealing their pornography. Examples of well-behaved and comparatively atheistic societies like Sweden, Finland, Norway, and Denmark--which surpass us in terrestrial virtues like education, health, public generosity, per capita aid to the developing world, and low rates of violent crime and infant mortality--are of no interest to our electorate whatsoever. It is, of course, good to know that people like Reverend Wright occasionally do help the poor, feed the hungry, and care for the sick. But wouldn't it be better to do these things for reasons that are not manifestly delusional? Can we care for one another without believing that Jesus Christ rose from the dead and is now listening to our thoughts?
With the new president-elect being more visible and active that the sitting president, much has been said about Obama's choice regarding his cabinet and other high posts in his administration. I've been part of endless discussions about Obama scorning the progressive community that played a huge part--especially early on when he mostly needed the money and the ground troops--in his campaign for the presidency. But let's see what this man does when he has power.
Reaching to the established powers and even across the aisle is less important than the actual policy implemented. If, like he recently re-affirmed, he is the author of new policy, then I don't care who implements it. Of course I have issues with, say, keeping Gates in the Defence Dpt. This reinforces the notion that Republicans are stronger on defense! And, the economic team does not include Nobel-laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz, the one who has progressive ideas on economic and warned us about "free market fundamentalism."
Perhaps this is Obama's way of saying, I'm mainstream, but will nevertheless push for progressive politics. The other reality is that Obama probably feels that there's no option for failure. The country is quite messed up, domestically and internationally. This is a chance for redefining the role of government and re-arranging our national priorities. This is a chance for a non-traditional leader to show that certain ceilings & barriers should be demolished for good.
If there's progress regarding health care, access to education, the environment, science, and smarter foreign policy, I'd be ecstatic! Let's see what takes place.
PS. You might find this opinion on The Washington Post interesting. David Corn criticizes BO for his early picks.
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What kind of society, exactly, do modern Republicans want? [...] They say they want a smaller government but that can’t be it. Most seek a larger national defense and more muscular homeland security. Almost all want to widen the government’s powers of search and surveillance inside the United States – eradicating possible terrorists, expunging undocumented immigrants, “securing” the nation’s borders. They want stiffer criminal sentences, including broader application of the death penalty. Many also want government to intrude on the most intimate aspects of private life.
"They call themselves conservatives but that’s not it, either. They don’t want to conserve what we now have. They’d rather take the country backwards – before the 1960s and 1970s, and the Environmental Protection Act, Medicare, and Medicaid; before the New Deal, and its provision for Social Security, unemployment insurance, the forty-hour workweek, and official recognition of trade unions; even before the Progressive Era, and the first national income tax, antitrust laws, and Federal Reserve.
They’re not conservatives. They’re regressives. And the America they seek is the one we had in the Gilded Age of the late nineteenth century."
Santorum is Right: The Conservatives Won't Win the Smart Thinkers
The conservative disposition lies in the individual's own temperament, and his aversion to progress. The elites always used the conservative disposition of the masses to extract their loyalty. The "bargain" has been God, religion, morality, stability, the known-and-true. Primitive taboos against innovation and change. Education and tolerance of diversity are deadly threats to conservatism!
Donate to Good Charities
The Role of Government
You be the judge!
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Below, a place tea-baggers would love....
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Basics of Critical Thinking
The Skeptics Guide to the Universe
On Occasion, Size Does Matter!
Sure, we can all attain a high material life with ever-increasing possessions. The whole world hopefully will become like us someday--by which time we'll be even more prosperous and wealthy.
What? We need 6 Earths to do that? Noooooooooo!
A Form of Child Abuse
I have an affinity for education, but I define education as a means to learning, not indoctrination. Every child starts with a blank slate, so it's up to the parents and the society-at-large to rear this young human being into a critically-thinking adult. When you teach religion as fact--like people literally turning into pillars of salt, snakes bite the sinners, the earth is only 6,000 years old, and all that garbage--then it's a form of child abuse. It's stunting the development of the human mind and turning people into obedient ignoramuses.
As it often happens, especially around xmas time, I get into discussion whether the US is a Christian country. [discussed here in an earlier...
Even Fools Should Have Free Speech! Idiocracy Further Exposed...
Dangerous Attitudes
"Forty-four percent of the American population is convinced that Jesus will return to judge the living and the dead sometime in the next fifty years. According to the most common interpretation of biblical prophecy, Jesus will return only after things have gone horribly awry here on earth. It is, therefore, not an exaggeration to say that if the city of New York were suddenly replaced by a ball of fire, some significant percentage of the American population would see a silver lining in the subsequent mushroom cloud, as it would suggest to them that the best thing that is ever going to happen was about to happen—the return of Christ.
It should be blindingly obvious that beliefs of this sort will do little to help us create a durable future for ourselves—socially, economically, environmentally, or geopolitically. Imagine the consequences if any significant component of the U.S. government actually believed that the world was about to end and that its ending would be glorious. The fact that nearly half of the American population apparently believes this, purely on the basis of religious dogma, should be considered a moral and intellectual emergency."
With beliefs like this, who cares about climate change? Maybe Marge Simpson is right...
An Easy Step to Help the Environment
Do you get tons of catalogs that clutter your mailbox? Catalogs that you don't really use since it's easier and more up-to-date to simply use the internet? Here's something you can do to help yourself and save a few trees: Catalog Choice, a sponsored project of the Ecology Center, whose mission is to "improve the efficiency of catalog distribution by reducing the number of repeat and unsolicited mailings, and to promote the adoption of sustainable industry best practices."
Give it a try. It's free & easy.
Quoting intelligence...
"Being a cynic is contemptibly easy. If you let yourself think that nothing you're working on is ever going to make a difference, why bust your tail over it? Why care? If you're a cynic, you don't have to invest anything in your work. No effort, no pride, no compassion, no sense of excellence, nothing...
..Any good teacher will tell you that aiming at the lowest common denominator is poor practice. In communicating anything, you do better if you aim slightly above the heads of your audience. If you make them stretch a little, they respond better. If you keep aiming at the dumb ones, you never challenge them and you bore the hell out of the bright ones. You also commit the grievous and pernicious error of thinking the that people is dumb. One of the most horrific results is that the people start to think so themselves."
--Excerpts from Molly Ivins Can't Say That, Can She?
Understanding Evolution: We're Here 'Cause of It!
It's amazing that the majority of Americans--sadly, including students--not only don't understand the theory of evolution, but they reject one of the strongest scientific theories we have in favor of superstition, myths, and theories with no evidence or rule of reason!
And, this is a more serious explanation by Richard Dawkins..
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