Amusing cartoon embedded in this ReadWriteWeb article.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Some Conservatives want to Boycott World Net Daily
This is encouraging. Some on the right want to boycott World Net Daily (known by many as World Nut Daily for its fringe right positions, especially for being the main support of the Birther movement). I hope that it takes hold in the responsible sections of right wing opinion.
Bob Herbert on the Death Penalty
I've been hearing bits and pieces about the case of Cameron Todd Willingham, who was executed in 2004 for allegedly starting a fire that killed his three children. Bob Herbert here gives a more detailed description of the case and why there are good reasons to think that Willingham was innocent.
This is an important issue for me because I feel it says something very bad about our justice system that the ones executed for crimes are overwhelmingly poor and minorities. It also points out that forensic evidence, or at least those that interpret it, aren't always reliable, and how highly unreliable eyewitness testimony can be. Do I want killers set free? Usually not, certainly not if they are still dangerous. But if the death sentence cannot be applied equitably, and the innocent freed, then the death penalty should be abolished.
Hilarious Video from The Onion
The Onion is a great source of satire. In this video they have pundits talking about the use of the Minotaur in terrorist interrogations.
Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza
Matthew Yglesias has this post on Hamas joining in with the Holocaust deniers. That is bad, but the rest of the post talks about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza:
"A recent ICRC report emphasizes that the Israeli blockade has pushed unemployment to over 40 percent, while depriving the population of regular access to running water, to say nothing of proper medical. They warn that tens of thousands of children are going malnourished due to “deficiencies in iron, vitamin A and vitamin D.” The indifference of both the Israeli government and the Hamas leadership toward the practical aspects of this humanitarian crisis is truly appalling."
Fundamentalist Sources of American Irrationalism?
Gus diZerega writes A Pagan's Blog. He is a pagan but also a professor of political science. In this post, he is trying to answer the question of why American political discourse is devolving so rapidly and why it seems to be from one side of the spectrum. He ties it to a fundamentalist culture raised to value faith alone, and to distrust reason and even facts. Here's his central point:
"A entire culture trained to distrust reason and facts as even evil when applied to their deepest beliefs is a culture where we can truthfully wonder whether they are capable of democratic self government rather than mobocracy. I would argue they are not. The states they dominate are not like Iran because they exist within the American constitutional framework. They are nice people in many cases, but they are not very good citizens of a free society."
Critical Thinking and Religion
Here's a post from a professor who teaches Western history and humanities. She has difficulty teaching to 18 year olds who view anything critical about their religion as of the Devil. Here's the great point she makes:
"...you can critique the past and question the documents and still conclude that the important message is still true."
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