News and Politics

Thanks to Minipundit for bringing this article to my attention.

I refuse to buy into the current fear & hysteria over terrorism. I don’t believe there’s any major danger. If there is any risk, it’s very miniscule.

Indeed, as John Mueller pointed out in his seminal article, “A False Sense of Insecurity,” there’s good reason to be very skeptical of terrorism-prevention schemes in general. Terrorism is exceedingly rare. We’re blessed to live in a world where the actual number of people inclined to murder Americans in terrorist attacks is very small. As Mueller writes, “The number of Americans killed by international terrorism since the late 1960s (which is when the State Department began counting) is about the same as the number of Americans killed over the same period by lightning, accident-causing deer, or severe allergic reaction to peanuts.”

I’m more annoyed by standing in line at security checkpoints, having to take my shoes off, and removing my MacBook Pro from the bag and hoping it doesn’t get dropped or stolen. If I do go to MacWorld Expo in January, instead of flying I plan to take an extra week to drive there. My reason for not flying isn’t fear of terrorism but wanting to be able to use my iPod & MacBook Pro in peace without too much hassle.

This article at Newsvine proposes appointing Nelson Mandela to mediate peace in the Middle East. Madiba is one of the most credible people on earth and he may be the only one who can bring peace to that troubled region.

Via Newsvine: Like most pastors who lead thriving evangelical megachurches, the Rev. Gregory A. Boyd was asked frequently to give his blessing — and the church’s — to conservative political candidates and causes.

After refusing each time, Mr. Boyd finally became fed up, he said. Before the last presidential election, he preached six sermons called “The Cross and the Sword” in which he said the church should steer clear of politics, give up moralizing on sexual issues, stop claiming the United States as a “Christian nation” and stop glorifying American military campaigns.

“When the church wins the culture wars, it inevitably loses,” Mr. Boyd preached. “When it conquers the world, it becomes the world. When you put your trust in the sword, you lose the cross.”

Via Daily Kos — Charlotte Aldebron wrote this in ’02 for a competition in her 6th grade English class while attending Cunningham Middle School in Presque Isle, Maine. Four years later, it seems even more relevant:

The American flag stands for the fact that cloth can be very important. […] You can tell just how important this cloth is because when you compare it to people, it gets much better treatment. Nobody cares if a homeless person touches the ground. A homeless person can lie all over the ground all night long without anyone picking him up, folding him neatly and sheltering him from the rain.

School children have to pledge loyalty to this piece of cloth every morning. No one has to pledge loyalty to justice and equality and human decency. No one has to promise that people will get a fair wage, or enough food to eat, or affordable medicine, or clean water, or air free of harmful chemicals. But we all have to promise to love a rectangle of red, white, and blue cloth.

Betsy Ross would be quite surprised to see how successful her creation has become. But Thomas Jefferson would be disappointed to see how little of the flag’s real meaning remains.

Via Oliver Willis – Like Kryptonite To Stupid:

I don’t believe in god and have a hard time accepting any religion that tells us to accept without questioning what’s written. I’ve been learning more about Buddhism and it’s the only religion that makes any sense to me. It doesn’t tell you what to believe. Instead you’re expected to seek the truth. I would like to explore it further and go to a retreat to get rid of my anger & negativity.

Via Street Prophets: Keillor published an op-ed in yesterday’s Baltimore Sun, lamenting the fact that Republicans have sunk so low as to pin all of their election-year hopes on linking Nancy Pelosi to San Francisco (um, that’s where she lives!) and attempting to establish House Speaker Denny Hastert as the Republican poster boy.

Keillor makes a very good point: tolerance and equality are not only moral imperatives, they are also sound economic policy. Ideas thrive in an open society, and more risks are taken in an atmosphere of openmindedness. The sentiment “You can’t do that here” is not only un-American in this case, it’s also bad for business.

Two comments nail it:

Without the Arts, the Sciences, Freedom of Belief, the Love of Books, The Right to Express Ideas, we will slip slowly into obscurity beneath the weight of our stupidity.

…

No society has ever succeeded by moving backwards. Progress requires openness, tolerance, liberal ideals, and free thinking.

The Senate voted today to reject an amendment that would have written discrimination into the U.S. Constitution. Republicans had been using this wedge issue in hopes of distracting from their failures and dividing Americans to win elections.

Republicans tried to end debate in order to force a vote on the bill. They failed to get 60 votes needed to end debate. Had this amendment to the U.S. Constitution come up for vote, Republicans would have needed 67 votes for it to move to the next phase, votes they clearly did not have. (Via Kicking Ass)

Maybe now they’ll stop wasting time on this and do some real work, but I doubt it.