Health Care Reform in a Nutshell

The Republicans are engaging in fascist tactics to repress town hall Democracy while spitting out the most vicious and fearful lies they can think up.
The misnamed center straight up wants to kill health care reform.
The Democrats are working to ensure whatever reform exists will have as little meaning as possible, keeping the control with a [...]

Against Institutionalized Child Abuse

We live in a sick, twisted world. Sometimes it is too much. This is one of those times (via Jesus’ General).
These places need to be shut the fuck down.

Question for Randall Terry

Randall Terry,
Since you are effectively endorsing murder, if someone kills you will you have reaped what you’ve sown?
Or just maybe, will a fucking crime have been committed?
I disagree with you strongly, but I will never, ever advocate violence against you. That’s a key difference of character between us. And I feel for the [...]

Andrew Sullivan: Shutting Down Discourse

If there is one thing I hate more than watching journalists cook up weak or phony examples of left wing wrong doing to “balance” their stories, its when those journalists use that nonsense to attempt to shut down discourse. Andrew Sullivan is a choice exemplar. He gives his Moore award to Sara Robinson [...]

Its Hard to Say Rape

Its hard to say rape, nevermind talk about it.  Yet talking about rape is the surest way to fight it.  Leaving rape as an unspeakable part of our discourse leaves victims and criminals out of the public consciousness, and only serves to aide rapists and rape-apologists.  The more we talk about rape, the less they [...]

Israel vs Palestine: Trust

A huge problem I have negotiating the very rough waters of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is trust.
Both sides have such a problem seeing and understanding the other that the views pouring out of that miasma are convoluted and stained with assumption.  The pro-Palestine side seems to think a rain of rockets is a mild annoyance, and [...]

Anti Israel Protests and Staying Safe

There are two kinds of protests going on right now.  Anti-Israel and Anti-War.  The media is conflating the two.  See if you can spot the subtle difference that has Reuters confused.
Protest 1 (emphasis mine):
demonstrators at the Israeli embassy in Dublin threw shoes and carried a mock coffin, covered with pictures of wounded or dead Palestinian [...]

Police in San Francisco Commit Murder

This is horrifying (Holly at Feministe, emphasis mine):
On New Year’s morning, the San Francisco BART police–yes, transit cops–dragged a bunch of young men off a train, including Oscar Grant. An officer then proceeded to execute Grant of them with a gunshot through the back, while he was restrained and lying face-down on the ground.
I think [...]

Preventing Prison Rape

From Alas, a Blog (via Our Descent Into Madness):
In a letter published in The New York Review of Books, David Kaiser of Just Detention International argues that we could significantly reduce prison rape, if we genuinely wanted to.
Why aren’t we doing this?  Do we consider the rights of inmates to be that unimportant?  Is it [...]

Slate’s Misleading Take on the Israeli Peace Movement

From a Slate article by Anne Applebaum on the explosion in Gaza:
The Israelis—both on the “peacenik” left and the more bellicose right—believe that the only way to prevent Hamas from firing rockets is to fight back.
The article links to an interview with an Israeli author, who states his opinion that the Israeli left  supports the [...]

Israel/Palestine: In Their Shoes

My friends and family are very much split when it comes to Israel/Palestine.  Nearly a year ago I examined my own feelings and observations on the mess.  Its nearly impossible to really get a handle on a reality most of us don’t have to confront on a daily basis.  I remember my own understanding of [...]

Fox, The Simpons, Family Guy and Rape: WTF?

Being a fan of Family Guy, I read this piece from Jessica @ feministing back in October:
The most recent episode, I Dream of Jesus, featured this conversation with Peter and a waiter (Peter is trying to get the waiter to give him a jukebox record he likes):
Peter: Can I have that record? I [...]

Handling Threats in Comments

I have a comment hanging around in my moderation queue.  It reads like an angry 8th grader’s racist bathroom graffiti.   It contains a threat against President Elect Obama, exhorting readers to “give him the MLK lesson”.
In keeping with the comment policy at this blog, I’ve decided to allow it.  However, I’ve also decided, given its [...]

The New Taliban

What’s keeping me up at night?  Via Majikthise, an article in Rolling Stone by the incredibly brave Nir Rosen.  I couldn’t stop reading it.
At one point, I got the distinct impression our leaders are acting like irresponsible doctors prescribing anti-biotics, sending more and more troops.  Amid the same signs of hope for negotiation Rosen picks [...]

Jesus Christ the Dread Champion

Sarah Palin has been linked to Joel’s Army, an apocalyptic cult preparing to use violence to force Christianity on unbelievers.  The details are over at Orcinus, I’m just going to give you the link.  This is something to be read in its entirety.  Trust me, once you start reading, you won’t stop until you’ve finished.
The [...]