Just a heads-up to those who frequent this blog...I will be taking a break from posting here for a few months, maybe even a year. I was going to just make the site private during this time but several of you requested that I leave it open so you could access links and old posts. Consider your request granted and I apologize for the inconsiderate way I made the site private without notice.
Because I have less and less time to spend online as the 3-D world around be becomes more demanding, instead of blogging, I am going to be spend my online time interacting with people on other blogs and news sites.
I will also be spending more time actively advocating my views on issues of importance to me (atheism, humanism, politics, environment, etc...) by becoming more active in my local community and State (Alabama).
I thank all of you who have read my blog and those of you who have shared your opinions, both favorable or unfavorable. Those who wish to keep in touch can follow me on twitter.
As many of you know, Ronnie James Dio realeased his last breath into the universe a couple of weeks ago on May 16th, 2010. For those unfamiliar with Ronnie, he was the singer and songwriter for many bands over the last few decades including Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Heaven & Hell, and Dio.
I am absolutely flabbergasted by an article I just read by Ayaan Hirsi Ali in which she justly condemns the American Academy of Pediatrics for recently proposing that “American doctors be given permission to perform a ceremonial pinprick or “nick” on girls born into communities that practice female genital mutilation.”
According to Ali:
Female circumcision is a custom in many African and Asian countries whereby the genitals of a girl child are cut. There are roughly four procedures. First there is the ritual pinprick. This is what Pediatrics refers to as the “nick” option. To give you an idea of what that means, visualize a preteen girl held down by adults. Her clitoris is tweaked so that the circumcizer can hold it between her forefinger and her thumb. Then she takes a needle and pierces it using enough force for it to go into the peak of the clitoris. As soon as it bleeds, the parents and others attending the ceremony cheer, the girl is comforted and the celebrations follow.
There is a more sinister meaning to the word “nick” if you consider the fact that in some cases it means to cut off the peak of the clitoris. Proponents compare “nicking” to the ritual of boy circumcision. But in the case of the boys, it is the foreskin that is all or partly removed and not a part of the penis head. In the case of the girls, the clitoris is actually mutilated.
Then there is the second method whereby a substantial part of the clitoris is removed and the opening of the vagina is sewn together (infibulation). The third variation adds to this the removal of the inner labia.
Finally, there is a procedure whereby as much of the clitoris as possible is removed along with the inner and outer labia. Then the inner walls of the vagina are scraped until they bleed and are then bound with pins or thorns. The tissue on either side grows together, forming a thick scar. Two small openings roughly equal to the diameter of a matchstick are left for urination and menstruation respectively.
Often these operations are done without anesthesia and with tools such as sharp rocks, razor blades, knives or scissors depending on the location, family income, and education. It is thus more accurate—as does the World Health Organization—to speak of female genital mutilation (FGM) instead of the obscure and positive-sounding “circumcision.”
What the hell is going on here? How can legalizing this procedure even be considered in the United States? Is this really where we're at in America?
We as a society need to stop giving religious people and organizations special rights to harm others just because it’s justified by barbaric practices taught within their belief systems.
We can start by urging congress to pass the bill recently introduced by Congressman Joseph Crowley (D-NY) to “toughen federal laws by making it a crime to take a girl overseas to be circumcised.” I don’t know what the name of the bill is but I will post it as soon as I find out. Also, if there isn’t already one, some individual or organization needs to start-up a campaign to urge the American Academy of Pediatrics to reconsider their insufferable proposal.
I'm all for multiculturalism and toleration but neither consists of catering to rituals that disregard the human rights and freedoms that we as a Nation have won over the last few centuries.
Update: 05/29/2010
Good news, it looks like the AAP got the message and retracted their heinous policy statement, which condoned FGM, on Thursday.
According to CNN:
"The American Academy of Pediatrics has rescinded a controversial policy statement raising the idea that doctors in some communities should be able to substitute demands for female genital cutting with a harmless clitoral "pricking" procedure.
"We retracted the policy because it is ... See Moreimportant that the world health community understands the AAP is totally opposed to all forms of female genital cutting, both here in the U.S. and anywhere else in the world," said AAP President Judith S. Palfrey.
The contentious policy statement, issued in April, had condemned the practice of female genital cutting overall. But a small portion of statement suggesting the pricking procedure riled U.S. advocacy groups and survivors of female genital cutting. "
What is Towel Day? Every year on May 25th, Douglas Adams fans from around the universe pay tribute to his memory by carrying their favorite towel with them.
Ohhh...I can't wait to get my hands on the first volume of this.
Exactly a century after rumours of his death turned out to be entirely accurate, one of Mark Twain's dying wishes is at last coming true: an extensive, outspoken and revelatory autobiography which he devoted the last decade of his life to writing is finally going to be published.
The creator of Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn and some of the most frequently misquoted catchphrases in the English language left behind 5,000 unedited pages of memoirs when he died in 1910, together with handwritten notes saying that he did not want them to hit bookshops for at least a century.
That milestone has now been reached, and in November the University of California, Berkeley, where the manuscript is in a vault, will release the first volume of Mark Twain's autobiography. The eventual trilogy will run to half a million words, and shed new light on the quintessentially American novelist.(Read More!)
I foresee much wisdom and many great quotes to be gleaned from the pages of this much awaited autobiography. In the mean time I'll be rereading some of my Mark Twain favorites...full text linked below.
Tim James rolled through Huntsville Alabama yesterday but his idiotic views on church/state separation did not go unchallenged thanks to Blair Scott and the North Alabama Freethought Association. In the clip below, Blair explains to a local news reporter why the NAFA is protesting the want-to-be Governors appearance in Huntsville.
There's really nothing for me to add on the issue at hand here because Mr. Scott said everything that needed to be said and did a damn good job of it as well.
On a side note though, this clip shows that we are not all ignoramuses here in Alabama and if we can stand up for freethought and secularism in this state, anyone in any state of the union can.
A Jefferson County teacher picked the wrong example when he used assassinating President Barack Obama as a way to teach angles to his geometry students.
Someone alerted authorities and the Corner High School math teacher was questioned by the Secret Service, but was not taken into custody or charged with any crime.
"We did not find a credible threat," said Roy Sexton, special agent in charge of Birmingham's Secret Service office. "As far as the Secret Service is concerned, we looked into it, we talked to the gentleman and we have closed our investigation."
Corner High geometry teacher picked the wrong example, President Barack Obama, to use in a lesson on angles. The lesson resulted in a Secret Service investigation. (AP) Sexton said he generally doesn't discuss threat cases, but confirmed his office investigated the incident. No federal charges followed the probe.
The teacher was apparently teaching his geometry students about parallel lines and angles, officials said. He used the example of where to stand and aim if shooting Obama.
"He was talking about angles and said, 'If you're in this building, you would need to take this angle to shoot the president,' " said Joseph Brown, a senior in the geometry class. (Source)
Poor judgment is not quite the characterization I would use to describe Mr. Harrison's lesson plan. I sure love Dixie but there seems to be no shortage of obnoxious people with leadership roles here.
Recently I was approached online by a journalism student—currently pursuing a degree at the faith oriented Loyola University of Chicago—who had perused my blog and wished to interview me for a “Feature and Opinion” piece on “non-religious aid organizations and the general topic of morality and atheism”. The student had a deadline and I was fairly busy at the time but I agreed nonetheless. In the short time I had available to spend on this I did managed to answer all the questions; however, I was a bit rushed towards the end of the interview as the deadline approached so I didn't get to give as much thought to the latter questions as I would have liked. Hopefully I did a fairly decent job. That being said, I am sharing the interview below because I am interested in reading how other atheists and secular humanists might have answered some of the questions posed. Please feel free to address as many of the questions below as you wish in the comment section.
Thank you...TPO INTERVIEW
When did you start considering yourself a Humanist, Atheist, free-thinker, whatever you’d like to call it? I stopped believing in the Judeo/Christian god I was raised to believe when I was 15 after winning a Bible reading contest held by the small Pentecostal church I was brought up attending. Before that I was a very serious young Christian who would admonish my peers and even older teenagers for cursing on one of the larger Baptist churches' basketball courts I frequented after school; however, once I actually read the "King James" Bible from cover to cover a couple of times, I decided that I could not in good conscience worship the god depicted within its pages. I stopped going to church after this and studied up on several other religions over the next couple of years but I pretty much became an atheist that summer in 1986. Looking back at my reaction to the Bible, I guess I a humanist way back then but I didn’t’ understand or adopt the philosophy of secular humanism until I was in my twenties.
Are you a part of any organizations affiliated with such philosophies/ways of thinking? Yes, I’m a member of several atheist and humanist organizations.
You promote a lot of non-religious aid organizations on your blog. Why do you think it is important to have non-church affiliated aid options? This is important because most non-believers already donate a lot of their time and money to charitable causes but we don’t like to give our time to religious charities that discriminate against certain minorities (atheists, homosexuals, etc...) and we don’t like it when significant portions of our monetary donations are used for proselytizing and converting vulnerable people over to what we deem to be harmful and often intolerant belief systems. I promote these secular charities on my blog so other like minded atheists, agnostics and secular humanists can see that there are charities out there that can help them satisfy their desire to help those in need without compromising their own conscience.
Do you contribute to any of these organizations? If yes, which ones and why? Yes, I currently make a monthly donation to Foundation Beyond Belief and I have contributed time or money to Doctors Without Border, UNICEF, The Humane Society, Humanist Charities and the American Red Cross in the last year. I’ve also made contributions to United Way of America, Oxfam America and other charities in the past. For the why, see my answer to the previous question.
Have you noticed growth in terms of membership and publicity of these organizations in recent years? I have noticed an increase in the number of charities that distinguish themselves from religious charities.
I gathered from your blog and your facebook info that you work for the military in some capacity. Does your non-belief ever become an issue? What is your experience in terms of religion and working for the military? Have you found many others that share your views? Many evangelical Christians in the military became very emboldened and aggressive about proselytizing during the eight years of the Bush administration and they managed to infiltrate the highest ranks of the military. This is why organizations like the Military Religious Freedom foundation and the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers became necessary. Personally, my non-active duty professional experience working with the military has been good for the most part but I [get put in the hot seat] once during a previous job with the Army when, as part of my duties, I [admonished] a user for sending out a mass email to everyone on base that was overtly Christian and virus laden. That being said, religion doesn’t come up a whole lot in my current position but I am always honest about my atheism when I am asked about my beliefs. I know of only one other atheist in the unit I work for and he is about to deploy but I have had a few student pilots come through the training program who were non-believers.
In terms of government, do you have any commentary/opinions on the U.S. and its division (or lack there of) of church and state? Do you think that the U.S. can ever truly separate the two? I think the separation of church and state is vital for the success of our democratic republic whose citizens include believers of many different religions and a significant number of non-believers who do not adhere to any religion. President George W. Bush’s administration made a concerted and somewhat successful effort to deteriorate the “wall of separation between church and state” that Thomas Jefferson so eloquently wrote about so I’m not sure if we will ever truly separate the two but my hope has been revitalized by the election of President Obama who stated that America is not a Christian Nation but a Nation of many religious faiths and a Nation of non-believers as well. President Obama further encouraged me by stating that “democracy demands that the religiously motivated translate their concerns into universal rather that religion specific values. It requires that their proposals be subject to argument and amenable to reason” and that he was “suspicious of using government to impose anybody’s religious beliefs–including [his] own–on nonbelievers."
Have you noticed any recent events that seem to either promote or deter from creating such a nation? Yes, President Obama’s recent appeal of a court decision that found the National Day of Prayer unconstitutional and his continuation of President Bush's Faith-Based Initiative which condones taxpayer funded discrimination practices which allows religious groups to openly refuse to hire or provide services to people because of their beliefs and lack thereof.
What do you think it would or will take to create a truly secular government? It will take a persistent vigilance on the part of those who understand the necessity and importance of a truly secular government.
I recently read a statistic posted by PEW research that though the number of decidedly non-religious in the U.S. is now reaching 16%, more than half of U.S. citizens do not believe one can be grow to be a “moral adult” without a religious upbringing. What do you think is the perception of non-religious, atheist, humanist, free-thinking, etc. people in the current age (in the U.S.)? Although we've made progress, atheists are still the most reviled minority in America but most non-religious people think that religion is more of an obstacle to becoming a truly “moral adult” than a requirement. In my opinion, not believing in a god gives atheist, agnostics and secular humanists more time to devote to more important things like family and friends. An atheist professor at Virginia Tech put it best when responding to an attack on atheists in the aftermath of the 2007 shooting he said: "We atheists do not believe in gods, or angels, or demons, or souls that endure, or a meeting place after all is said and done where more can be said and done and the point of it all revealed. We don't believe in the possibility of redemption after our lives, but the necessity of compassion in our lives. We believe in people, in their joys and pains, in their good ideas and their wit and wisdom. We believe in human rights and dignity, and we know what it is for those to be trampled on by brutes and vandals. We may believe that the universe is pitilessly indifferent but we know that friends and strangers alike most certainly are not. We despise atrocity, not because a god tells us that it is wrong, but because if not massacre then nothing could be wrong."
If this perception is negative, how do you think this can be changed? I think if more non-believers come out of the atheist closet, so to speak, we will become more accepted as family and friends have to learn to accept us.
Do you think that American society is moving toward accepting non-religion as an option? Yes.
Whether yes or no, do you have any insight into what secular-humanists can do to further this sort of “movement”? We must continue to advocate human rights, freedom of speech and environmental justice and we must continue to speak out against discrimination and injustice in all its forms.
The clip below is an interesting little video that concisely summarizes the origin and evolution of Americas Pledge of Allegiance.
Some people refuse to recite the pledge for religious reasons, others on ideological grounds and I understand why and support their right to do so on both accounts. I personally have no problem pledging allegiance to the idea of “liberty and justice for all” and since that is what the American flag is supposed to represent, I have no qualms about committing myself to its defense; however, I do think that “liberty and justice for all” should encompass the whole human race and not just one nation. That being said, the addition of the phrase “under God” to the pledge makes a mockery of the Constitution’s 1st Amendment and I have not recited it since I was in the 10th grade.
In his May 4 letter to the editor, [TPO] starts OK defending his concept of “freedom from religion” because no one has a right to impose on the freedom or property of another (think health care tax).
But he begins his distortion with a fallacy, “separation of church and state,” and supports it by misrepresenting the Treaty of Tripoli. He attempts to extend it to the people and the states of America.
The treaty told Muslim pirates that they would not be dealt with on a religious basis because congress can make no law (assuming ratification of a treaty) regarding religion. The job of the federal government is to deal with foreign nations, not to control the states; and this is exactly what Jefferson was speaking of about the “wall” as well. Many states had official religions when the Constitution was ratified, and they still can.
[TPO] forgets that the First Amendment only restricts congress from making laws and everyone else gets free practice.
[TPO] also commits his own error in omitting the Northwest Ordinance. Approved under the confederation, it was reapproved by congress in 1789 and states “Religion, morality, and knowledge” are “necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged.”
So it seems that congress recognized that it could encourage religion because our government needs it and the schools should teach it. States, municipalities and schools can teach religion if the people in that area want to — it is not the business of the federal government. How about that?
Of course, after reading such a flawed interpretation of the facts, I felt obligated to send in the following rebuttal to Mr. Woodard's letter.
Mr. Woodard, although the phrase “separation of church and state” does not appear in the 1st Amendment, the concept does. To deny this is to deny the concept of “religious liberty” because those words do not appear therein. The Treaty of Tripoli is relevant because it reaffirms what the Constitution intended. President John Adams, one of its principle authors, signed the treaty and proclaimed “all persons bearing office civil or military within the United States, and all other citizens…[must] observe and fulfill the said Treaty and every clause and article thereof."
The Constitution calls on no power higher than “We the People” and its authors intentionally excluded mentioning any ‘God’ when penning its articles and amendments. When looking at their deliberations and other writings, it becomes very clear that Article 6 and the 1st Amendment were included to put a stop to what Jefferson referred to as the religious tyranny over “the mind of man.” It’s true that many states had official religions when the Constitution was ratified and many state delegates opposed both Article 6 and the 1st Amendment but they lost in their bid to inject a religious test into the Constitution.
In reference to the Northwest Ordinance, while it did encourage religious literacy as one aspect of a well rounded education, it does not condone the sectarian practice of exclusively teaching a particular belief system such as Christianity or Islam in our schools. That being said, it also encourages morality and knowledge which are concepts that exist independently of religion and are valued by both believers and non-believer alike.
In conclusion, any type of government sanctioned religious belief—including states, municipalities and schools—can only discourage cooperation, tolerance and diversity. Thankfully the authors of our Constitution had the experience and foresight to realize this.
As noted in my previous post, I only had three hundred words to respond with so there was much more I could have said on the subject. I will post a link below when and if this letter is published.
Over the last couple of decades I've noticed so called 'Christian' martial arts organizations popping up all over the America and now it appears that Jesus has decided that mixed martial arts is where it's at.
According to 37-year-old Pastor John Renken, the legendary "Prince of Peace" was actually the "Ultimate Fighter."
When most people in western societies like the United States and the European Union think of superstition, they think of harmless beliefs like carrying a rabbits' foot for good luck, wearing a cross to ward off evil or getting bad luck for breaking a mirror and walking under a ladder. As a result of this common delusion, they often vociferously object to any criticism of superstition by atheists and skeptics.
Of course this does not deter us because the truth is; superstitious belief can be very harmful to our friends and family in monetary, emotional, and material ways. Also, superstition can be especially dangerous in less developed parts of the word like Africa where belief in witchcraft, fear of malevolent magic and other malicious beliefs often go unchecked. For example, a 5-year-old albino boy and his mother were murdered in Burundi recently because of the superstition that albino body parts bring wealth and success to their possessors.
Those deaths and other recent attacks in Tanzania are part of long pattern of violence against African albinos. At least 10,000 have been displaced or gone into hiding since attacks against them spiked in late 2007, the International Federation of the Red Cross says.
Since then, 57 albinos have been killed in Tanzania and 14 in Burundi, said Vicky Ntetema with the rights group Under The Same Sun.
The killings are fueled by superstitious beliefs that human albino body parts will bring others wealth and success, Ntetema said.
"Body parts are sought for their supposed miraculous powers," she said. "Some use them as human sacrifice as advised by witch doctors."
African albinos endure insults and segregation throughout their lives, and face greater discrimination than Western albinos because they live in darker-skinned communities. They also have a high risk of contracting skin cancer in a region where many jobs are outdoors.
Ten assailants armed with guns and grenades killed Desire Vyegura, 5, and his mother, Susann Vyegura, in Burundi on Monday, said Kassim Kazungu, head of the Burundi Albino Association.
Both victims had their limbs chopped off. Attackers also pulled out one of Desire's eyes and chopped off his mother's breasts, Kazungu said. The attack took place in Cankunko village in the Cendajuru district, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) east of the capital city, Bujumbura.
Kazungu said Thoma Vyegura, who was not albino, was also killed while trying to protect his daughter and grandson.
The IFRC said in report last year that the market for albino parts exists mainly in Tanzania, where a complete set of body parts — including all limbs, genitals, ears, tongue and nose — can sell for $75,000.
This may seem like an unfair example of the dangers of superstition to some but it is not an anomalous one. In fact, equally horrific acts are commonly committed in many parts of the world as the result of superstitious or religious beliefs.
In light of this knowledge, as a secular humanist, I am compelled to condemn all harmful superstitious and religious beliefs no matter how vociferously those who hold them dear object, because to be silent is to be complicit.
I leave you with a comment on this issue from fellow atheist Tommy Holland who makes a poignant and less reserved observation.
Much like rhinos are captured to have their horns cut off so that poachers won't kill them for their horn's non-existent healing powers, these unfortunate people are hidden by humanitarians to protect them from superstitious murderers.
For those who would ask, "What's the harm?" in allowing people their religious nonsense, I suggest you pray to whatever God you worship that someone doesn't come to believe that your body parts have magical properties.
Christians, like other animal lovers, sometimes form very strong bonds with dogs and other pets, often loving them like children. It comes as no surprise then that many Christians feel extremely uneasy about the fact that their theology offers no place in its promised heavenly afterlife for their cherished earthly companions. This inconvenient truth about their religious doctrine causes many Christians to be emotionally divided between their joyous anticipation of the rapture—the point in the future when Jesus returns to earth to catch up the ‘Church’ and all his worshippers and return to heaven—and their fear of what will happen to their beloved pets when they are gone.
That being said, this may not be enough for those believers who do not wish spend eternity without their pets; in which case, there is a different type of service now being offered for Christian dog lovers in Massachusetts who are open to a less dogmatic interpretation of scripture.
A Massachusetts church is scheduled to launch a new monthly worship service - for dogs. Calvary Episcopal Church will offer later this month its first "Perfect Paws Pet Ministry" aimed at giving area pooches and their owners improved odds at getting canines into heaven. The Danvers church plans to hold the service on the third Sunday of every month, complete with communion for the humans and special blessings for pets. Dogs will get special treats.
Now the cynic in me wants to think that this is just another gimmick to lure in those fence sitters since it has already laid claim to hundreds of new worshipers; however, the cynic in me may very well be wrong. Regardless of whether the pastors intentions are sincere or not, I'm all for religious practices evolving into more benign forms.
If I was still a Christian though, I think I would feel more comfortable trusting my dog to the care of an animal loving atheist than I would trust Yahweh to change its position.
Those who are interested can find more details about this service at original story published in the Salem news.
In the 1940 film The Great Dictator, Charlie Chaplin spoke for the first time in a motion picture. In the clip below he gives an amazing speech with a message that seems just as relevant today as it did 70 years ago.
Another important note about this film is that it "was the only major feature film of its period to bitterly satirize Nazism and Adolf Hitler" and was "unusual for its period, as the United States was still formally at peace with Nazi Germany."
As an avid fan of Chaplin's silent films, I think the message he delivered in his first true talking picture was one of his finest moments.
Of course we are! Sure, we're drowning in a sea of information and the world is going to shit but isn't knowledge power? We just have to learn how to harness what is most important.
I agree with Mr. Citron to a point but many of the stories he flippantly disregards are very important to those of us who live in the now even if they may only be resurrected in the future when history repeats itself as it so often does. No, I’m not referring to the death of Michael Jackson or any other celebrity news but the economy and war will surely be topics of interest in the future and if we don't have factual reports to refer back to, we are destined to repeat the same mistakes.
That being said, I found this short talk rather fascinating and I will definitely be exploring the information provided by The Long Now Foundation.
It’s been nearly two weeks since BP’s oil rig exploded off the coast of Louisiana resulting in what will likely turn out to be the most devastating environmental disaster in U.S. history.
As a native of the Gulf Coast area—I live about 1hour 30 minutes or 70 miles from the coast—I am very worried and upset by the imminent danger this growing oil slick poses to the regions environment, marine life and so many people’s livelihood.
Yesterday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration closed down over 7000 square miles of prime fishing waters off the coast of Florida, Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi for 10 days so scientists can test water samples for contamination.
Although this puts many of my neighbor’s livelihoods in limbo, I think it was the responsible move for NOAA to make since there are already signs of possible contaminated marine life with over 20 dead endangered sea turtles washing up along the coast of Mississippi on Saturday.
Also, dead catfish, horseshoe crabs, and birds—including a duck, a pelican and a seagull—were found dead on beaches Sunday.
Response from the Obama Administration
Back in early April, while praising the safety and advanced technology of offshore oil rigs, President Obama repeated the false claim made by Sen. John McCain and other conservatives that "even during Katrina, the spills didn’t come from the oil rigs, they came from the refineries onshore."
This type of dishonesty after removing the moratorium on offshore drilling was very disappointing to me and many other citizens who voted for him partly on our naive assumption that because he wasn't the "Drill Baby Drill" candidate he would be less likely to make such a broad move.
Of course, if we had paid more attention, we would have saw this coming back in 2008 when said that his administration would be "increasing domestic production and off-shore drilling" during the first Presidential debate and in the second debate when he stated the need to find "new ways to get more oil" which "includes offshore drilling.”
Hopefully this disaster will convince this very centrist president, whom I agree with more often than not, to reverse his plans to include expanding offshore drilling in the upcoming energy bill.
All that being said, it was good to see President Obama visit the region yesterday and make it very clear that BP will be held accountable for the cost of this disaster and vowing that the federal government “will do whatever it takes, for as long as it takes” to stop the leak and revive the area.
It was unfortunate however, that the GOP propaganda machine made it necessary for the President to reiterate over and over the fact that the federal government has been involved in the rescue and recovery operations from the very beginning in spite of BP's downplaying of the severity of the indecent for the first several days. In fact, it was government scientists who realized the leak was five times larger than BP had led the public to believe.
The claim that the federal government and the Obama administration have not responded to this disaster is clearly false since the United States Coast Guard has been involved in rescue and recovery efforts since day one; yet, numerous right-wing commentators and ‘Tea Party’ loyalists seem to be upset by the perceived lack of intervention by the "Big Government" so many of them were protesting last month.
Where are all the rallies protesting the "Big Government" recovery operation that is obviously underway now that the severity of the disaster has been revealed?
What ever happened to that Republican mantra "Drill Baby Drill" we kept hearing during the last election?
For now, their are no rallies and the mantra is no more but the GOP 'News' network and their followers are out in droves making excuses for the poor "Big Oil" company and demonizing the expected environmentalist backlash.
As the founder of the Waterkeeper Alliance and lawyer for thousands of Gulf Coast fisherman has stated, this disaster "was caused by carelessness. There have been 858 spills and explosions to a lesser degree since 2001, because the Bush administration lifted federal oversight of offshore oil rigs. It became the Wild West. The budget was cut and acoustic regulators that should have been in place to trigger a defensive action to plug the hole—was not required.”
So don't blame Obama folks, although he does deserve criticism for his recent polices on offshore drilling, thank former President Bush's hands off deregulation polices instead.
I sent the following letter out to several Alabama newspapers a couple of weeks ago, including both the Dothan Eagle and the Enterprise Ledger. To my knowledge, neither paper printed it but I received a letter in the mail yesterday from a reader of the Birmingham News thanking me for writing it and requesting that I send it to his local paper. He said it was published on May 15, 2010.
It would have been good to see it published locally but at least I know it some Alabamians got to read it. A few weeks ago Alabama citizens showed up in droves all over the state for ‘Tea Party’ rallies, supposedly to protest federal taxes, big government and so on. Hundreds of people attended these gatherings in several towns throughout the Wiregrass, including Dothan and Enterprise. As in other parts of the country, the message conveyed by many speakers and protesters was a familiar one and much of the outlandish rhetoric disseminated daily on Fox 'News' was frequently echoed as many unsubstantiated claims made by the GOP 'News' network—such as Obama is a communist-fascist dictator who wants to turn America into a socialist cesspool by raising taxes, taking over the health care system, stealing our freedoms and taking our guns—seemed to be the common theme.
I find it very perplexing that so many Alabamians, a majority of whom actually received a federal tax cut under Obama’s tax policy, choose to protest the Obama administration raising taxes on Alabamians making over $250.000 while ignoring the fact that Alabama taxes the poor more than any other state in the Union.
In fact, Alabama is one of only 13 states that collect income taxes from families at the federal poverty line and the threshold where a family of four starts paying Alabama's income tax is the second lowest in the country at $12,600.
As a recent report released by the Center on Budget and Policy illuminates, it's not the federal tax system the working poor should be up in arms about since it's actually the state income tax that is driving their families deeper into poverty.
Where is the outrage? Why arent there any rallies being held around the state to protest this injustice? How can the dominantly Republican government of Alabama justify their claims of being against taxes while “a family of four earning $21,947 in 2009 owed $468 in Alabama income tax?”
This paradox on the part of the Alabama 'Tea Party' is truly tragic.
Source: Center on Budget and Policy: http://www.cbpp.org/
Planet Atheism buttons
FAQ (includes joining info)
RSS feed
Email subscription
