Monday, April 30, 2007
Pay No Attention to that Yucky Old Piece of Paper...
It never stops being hilarious.
- A Push to Legalize Gay Marriage
Published: April 30, 2007
To the Editor:
You're worried that religious groups might "dictate who can and who cannot be married by the state" (editorial, April 24)?
Consider this: my Christian faith profoundly informs the way I vote. If I believe that a legislative proposal threatens the common good, I will vote against it and encourage others to do the same.
That's not dictatorial. That's democracy.
(Rev.) James D. Miller?Tulsa, Okla., April 25, 2007
The writer is pastor of the First Presbyterian Church.
- To the Editor:
You're worried that religious groups might "dictate who can and who cannot be married by the state" (editorial, April 24)?
Consider this: my [fill in the blank] faith profoundly informs the way I vote. If I believe that a legislative proposal (such as allowing blacks to marry whites) threatens the common good, I will vote against it and encourage others to do the same.
That's not dictatorial. That's democracy.
(Rev.) James D. Miller?Tulsa, Okla., April 25, 2007
The writer is pastor of the [fill in the blank] Church.
To the Editor:
You're worried that religious groups might "dictate who can and who cannot be married by the state" (editorial, April 24)?
Consider this: my [fill in the blank] faith profoundly informs the way I vote. If I believe that a legislative proposal (such as allowing women to vote) threatens the common good, I will vote against it and encourage others to do the same.
That's not dictatorial. That's democracy.
(Rev.) James D. Miller?Tulsa, Okla., April 25, 2007
The writer is pastor of the [fill in the blank] Church.
To the Editor:
You're worried that religious groups might "dictate who can and who cannot be married by the state" (editorial, April 24)?
Consider this: my [fill in the blank] faith profoundly informs the way I vote. If I believe that a legislative proposal (such as allowing Catholics to be citizens) threatens the common good, I will vote against it and encourage others to do the same.
That's not dictatorial. That's democracy.
(Rev.) James D. Miller?Tulsa, Okla., April 25, 2007
The writer is pastor of the [fill in the blank] Church.
To the Editor:
You're worried that religious groups might "dictate who can and who cannot be married by the state" (editorial, April 24)?
Consider this: my [fill in the blank] faith profoundly informs the way I vote. If I believe that a legislative proposal (such as allowing the slaves to go free) threatens the common good, I will vote against it and encourage others to do the same.
That's not dictatorial. That's democracy.
(Rev.) James D. Miller?Tulsa, Okla., April 25, 2007
The writer is pastor of the [fill in the blank] Church.
To the Editor:
You're worried that religious groups might "dictate who can and who cannot be married by the state" (editorial, April 24)?
Consider this: my [fill in the blank] faith profoundly informs the way I vote. If I believe that a legislative proposal (such as forbidding the strangling of female babies in the cradle) threatens the common good, I will vote against it and encourage others to do the same.
That's not dictatorial. That's democracy.
(Rev.) James D. Miller?Tulsa, Okla., April 25, 2007
The writer is pastor of the [fill in the blank] Church.
To the Editor:
You're worried that religious groups might "dictate who can and who cannot be married by the state" (editorial, April 24)?
Consider this: my [fill in the blank] faith profoundly informs the way I vote. If I believe that a legislative proposal (such as forbidding the stoning of adulterers) threatens the common good, I will vote against it and encourage others to do the same.
That's not dictatorial. That's democracy.
(Rev.) James D. Miller?Tulsa, Okla., April 25, 2007
The writer is pastor of the [fill in the blank] Church.
To the Editor:
You're worried that religious groups might "dictate who can and who cannot be married by the state" (editorial, April 24)?
Consider this: my [fill in the blank] faith profoundly informs the way I vote. If I believe that a legislative proposal (such as allowing unwed mothers to keep their children) threatens the common good, I will vote against it and encourage others to do the same.
That's not dictatorial. That's democracy.
(Rev.) James D. Miller?Tulsa, Okla., April 25, 2007
The writer is pastor of the [fill in the blank] Church.
To the Editor:
You're worried that religious groups might "dictate who can and who cannot be married by the state" (editorial, April 24)?
Consider this: my [fill in the blank] faith profoundly informs the way I vote. If I believe that a legislative proposal (such as teaching woman to read) threatens the common good, I will vote against it and encourage others to do the same.
That's not dictatorial. That's democracy.
(Rev.) James D. Miller?Tulsa, Okla., April 25, 2007
The writer is pastor of the [fill in the blank] Church.
What a Surprise
201k, Friday, March 02, 2007:
"No one could possibly have foreseen that turning the regulation of our food over to industry lobbyists would result in safety and wholesomeness being compromised for profit..."
- Why are nearly all the frozen organic vegetables sold in Whole Foods and Wild Oats from China?
Can't we grow vegetables here anymore? Is it really cheaper to ship frozen peas from China to Boston than from, say, western Massachusetts or New York?
And how, exactly, do we know that broccoli grown in China is "organic"?
Speaking of which, where, exactly, is this bucolic image of "Cascadia Farms" supposed to be:
...because most of their vegetables seem to come from China, too. Which is odd, considering that Cascadia Farms' parent company is named "Small Planet Foods." You can't actually get much farther away from here, planet-wise, than China.
Unless you decide to get organic vegetables from Uranus.
Oh, look: Small Planet's parent company is General Mills.
This might explain why Wal-Mart has announced it'll be selling organic produce in its stores. No doubt it's coming from the same place they get everything else.
- April 30, 2007
Filler in Animal Feed Is Open Secret in China
By DAVID BARBOZA and ALEXEI BARRIONUEVO
ZHANGQIU, China, April 28 -- As American food safety regulators head to China to investigate how a chemical made from coal found its way into pet food that killed dogs and cats in the United States, workers in this heavily polluted northern city openly admit that the substance is routinely added to animal feed as a fake protein.
For years, producers of animal feed all over China have secretly supplemented their feed with the substance, called melamine, a cheap additive that looks like protein in tests, even though it does not provide any nutritional benefits, according to melamine scrap traders and agricultural workers here.
Melamine is at the center of a recall of 60 million packages of pet food, after the chemical was found in wheat gluten linked this month to the deaths of at least 16 pets and the illness of possibly thousands of pets in the United States.
The link to China has set off concerns among critics of the Food and Drug Administration that ingredients in pet food as well as human food, which are increasingly coming from abroad, are not being adequately screened.
The pet food case is also putting China's agricultural exports under greater scrutiny because the country has had a terrible food safety record.
In recent years, for instance, China's food safety scandals have involved everything from fake baby milk formulas and soy sauce made from human hair to instances where cuttlefish were soaked in calligraphy ink to improve their color and eels were fed contraceptive pills to make them grow long and slim.
"It's true you can make a lot more profit by putting melamine in," said another animal feed seller here in Zhangqiu. "Melamine will cost you about $1.20 for each protein count per ton whereas real protein costs you about $6, so you can see the difference."
Evidence is mounting that Chinese protein exports have been tainted with melamine and that its use in agricultural regions like this one is widespread.
"No one could possibly have foreseen that turning the regulation of our food over to industry lobbyists would result in safety and wholesomeness being compromised for profit..."
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Ok...
...maybe the Rangers will win one. But that's it.
Friday, April 27, 2007
Joe, We Hardly Knew Ye...
We know you turn to 201k for all your sports needs, so we'll share two predictions with you:
1. Joe Torre will not last the season with the New York Yankees.
2. The New York Rangers won't win a game against the Sabres -- not one. Sabres in 4. Mrs. 201k is not happy about this. In her words, and we quote, "I hate the Sabres."
1. Joe Torre will not last the season with the New York Yankees.
2. The New York Rangers won't win a game against the Sabres -- not one. Sabres in 4. Mrs. 201k is not happy about this. In her words, and we quote, "I hate the Sabres."
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Live Free or Die
Congratulations to New Hampshire, whose people have validated our faith in them, and our love for the state -- which is 201k's home away from home.
In other words, freedom means freedom. Great work, New Hampshire!
- April 26, 2007
New Hampshire Senate Approves Civil Unions
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 12:23 p.m. ET
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) -- A bill authorizing civil unions for gays cleared its last hurdle Thursday in New Hampshire, the first state to embrace same-sex unions without a court order or the threat of one.
The Senate passed the bill 14-10, sending it to Gov. John Lynch, who announced last week he will sign it.
"To me this legislation is a credit to our state. We're making this move not because some court some place is telling us that we must," said Democratic Sen. Joe Foster of Nashua. "We do so today because it is the right thing to do."
There are no active court challenges of New Hampshire's marriage law. Two years in a row, lawmakers defeated proposed constitutional bans on same-sex marriage.
In other words, freedom means freedom. Great work, New Hampshire!
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
An Exchange of Ideas
Senator Harry Reid of Nevada and Vice President Dick Cheney have engaged in a war of words over President Bush's handling of the war in Iraq.
Reid said that Bush's inability to change course in the face of an obviously failed policy which was based on a false premise and which is opposed by a majority of Americans suggests that the President is in "a state of denial" about the war.
Cheney rebutted that Reid hates America, that Democrats want to see the terrorists win, and that liberals "have turned our children into homosexuals."
Chris Matthews can see both sides.
America, 2007.
Reid said that Bush's inability to change course in the face of an obviously failed policy which was based on a false premise and which is opposed by a majority of Americans suggests that the President is in "a state of denial" about the war.
Cheney rebutted that Reid hates America, that Democrats want to see the terrorists win, and that liberals "have turned our children into homosexuals."
Chris Matthews can see both sides.
America, 2007.
Perspective II
Let's just be clear about this:
Getting a $400 haircut: Not Ok.
Jetting around in donated corporate jets: Ok.
It's all a matter of perspective. Like Mother 201k used to say: if a Democrat does it, it's graft; if a Republican does it, it's patronage.
Getting a $400 haircut: Not Ok.
Jetting around in donated corporate jets: Ok.
It's all a matter of perspective. Like Mother 201k used to say: if a Democrat does it, it's graft; if a Republican does it, it's patronage.
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Perspective
201k and family were in Manhattan for a few days, and watched the first Red Sox/Yankees game of the season, Friday night, on YES, the Yankee's TV network.
Interesting experience, being in NYC and watching the Yankees blow a lead to the Sox in the 8th back at Fenway.
Interesting as in, hilarious. Awesome, actually. Monumental.
Watching the Sox/Yankees on YES is kinda like watching Star Wars from the Empire's perspective. Just trying to run the Galaxy, you know, and you have these terrorists trying to blow up your most expensive weapon, the Planetary Liberation Sphere.
Interesting experience, being in NYC and watching the Yankees blow a lead to the Sox in the 8th back at Fenway.
Interesting as in, hilarious. Awesome, actually. Monumental.
Watching the Sox/Yankees on YES is kinda like watching Star Wars from the Empire's perspective. Just trying to run the Galaxy, you know, and you have these terrorists trying to blow up your most expensive weapon, the Planetary Liberation Sphere.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
The Ethics of Emergencies
The agendas were out quickly.
Who's to say that having more guns around, which may or may not help in these sorts of extraordinary circumstances, would not cause more harm than good on balance? What's the trade-off? A student with a gun maybe stops this kid before he does as much damage as he did -- in exchange for how many more murders a year?
Only the ideologues of the right would think the answer to a shooting spree is more guns.
- In Virginia and on gun-rights blogs, some critics were challenging university rules that prohibit gun owners from carrying their weapons on the campus. A committee of the State House has considered but failed to approve legislation to override the ban, which is common at many colleges.
No one can say for sure if allowing students and faculty members to carry arms would have prevented the rampage, said Philip Van Cleave, president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League. "But they wouldn't die like sheep, at least, but more like a wolf with some fangs, able to fight back."
Who's to say that having more guns around, which may or may not help in these sorts of extraordinary circumstances, would not cause more harm than good on balance? What's the trade-off? A student with a gun maybe stops this kid before he does as much damage as he did -- in exchange for how many more murders a year?
Only the ideologues of the right would think the answer to a shooting spree is more guns.
- From: BJ
To: 201k
As you doubtless will not be surprised to know, I am nauseated that Shrub is hustling to Virginia to attend a memorial service. Not that it's not appropriate for a U.S. President to be present at such an event. But not this one, with his phony election, his phony compassion, and his phony ideals. Not this one, who won't go within a hundred miles of a military funeral or allow coverage of one, because that would "violate the dignity and privacy of the families."
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Misspent Capital
201k are not peace-niks. There -- we said it.
We love John Lennon. A lot. And "Give Peave a Chance" is a great idea.
It only works, though, if everyone embraces it. And, sadly, that's not the world we live it. We live in a hockey world, which means: sometimes you have to send in the goons. Otherwise the other guy will run your goalie all night.
It was perfectly natural -- and proper -- for Americans to want to respond to 9/11. The desire to respond, combined with the will to prevent a reccurance, was human. It was right. It was natural.
But George Bush hijacked that desire, that emotional capital, and used it to fulfill an ideological agenda in Iraq. He spared no effort trying to convince Americans that this agenda was in fact the response to 9/11, bending and in some cases inventing wholecloth the truth, while never (well, rarely) lying outright.
9/11 created emotional capital. George Bush took it and spent it somewhere else.
When will he, and his enablers in the media, pay for this horrible, horrible act?
When?
We love John Lennon. A lot. And "Give Peave a Chance" is a great idea.
It only works, though, if everyone embraces it. And, sadly, that's not the world we live it. We live in a hockey world, which means: sometimes you have to send in the goons. Otherwise the other guy will run your goalie all night.
It was perfectly natural -- and proper -- for Americans to want to respond to 9/11. The desire to respond, combined with the will to prevent a reccurance, was human. It was right. It was natural.
But George Bush hijacked that desire, that emotional capital, and used it to fulfill an ideological agenda in Iraq. He spared no effort trying to convince Americans that this agenda was in fact the response to 9/11, bending and in some cases inventing wholecloth the truth, while never (well, rarely) lying outright.
9/11 created emotional capital. George Bush took it and spent it somewhere else.
When will he, and his enablers in the media, pay for this horrible, horrible act?
When?
Sunday, April 01, 2007
C'mon, New York...
Give the clown his bike back.
Cry Me A River.
How do you like this guy?
But now my kid has to go to Iraq, so I'm suddenly granting interviews saying, really, I was opposed to the President's policies all along -- I just never, you know, said so, or "submitted" any of my strongly-worded criticisms, or actually protested in any way whatsoever.
But seriously, all along I was on the, uh, other winning side -- the one that will bring my kid back from Iraq.
Your kids -- I couldn't care less about.
Weasel. Just like all the rest.
- Ex-Aide Says He's Lost Faith in Bush
By JIM RUTENBERG
April 1, 2007
AUSTIN, Tex., March 29 -- In 1999, Matthew Dowd became a symbol of George W. Bush's early success at positioning himself as a Republican with Democratic appeal.
A top strategist for the Texas Democrats who was disappointed by the Bill Clinton years, Mr. Dowd was impressed by the pledge of Mr. Bush, then governor of Texas, to bring a spirit of cooperation to Washington. He switched parties, joined Mr. Bush's political brain trust and dedicated the next six years to getting him to the Oval Office and keeping him there. In 2004, he was appointed the president's chief campaign strategist.
Looking back, Mr. Dowd now says his faith in Mr. Bush was misplaced.
In speaking out, Mr. Dowd became the first member of Mr. Bush's inner circle to break so publicly with him.
He said his decision to step forward had not come easily. But, he said, his disappointment in Mr. Bush's presidency is so great that he feels a sense of duty to go public given his role in helping Mr. Bush gain and keep power.
Mr. Dowd, a crucial part of a team that cast Senator John Kerry as a flip-flopper who could not be trusted with national security during wartime, said he had even written but never submitted an op-ed article titled "Kerry Was Right," arguing that Mr. Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat and 2004 presidential candidate, was correct in calling last year for a withdrawal from Iraq.
In the last several years, as he has gradually broken his ties with the Bush camp, one of Mr. Dowd's premature twin daughters died, he was divorced, and he watched his oldest son prepare for deployment to Iraq as an Army intelligence specialist fluent in Arabic. Mr. Dowd said he had become so disillusioned with the war that he had considered joining street demonstrations against it, but that his continued personal affection for the president had kept him from joining protests whose anti-Bush fervor is so central.
During the interview with Mr. Dowd on a slightly overcast afternoon in downtown Austin, he was a far quieter man than the cigar-chomping general that he was during Mr. Bush's 2004 campaign.
Mr. Dowd said he decided to become a Republican in 1999 and joined Mr. Bush after watching him work closely with Bob Bullock, the Democratic lieutenant governor of Texas, who was a political client of Mr. Dowd and a mentor to Mr. Bush.
Mr. Dowd established himself as an expert at interpreting polls, giving Karl Rove, the president's closest political adviser, and the rest of the Bush team guidance as they set out to woo voters, slash opponents and exploit divisions between Democratic-leaning states and Republican-leaning ones.
In television interviews in 2004, Mr. Dowd said that Mr. Kerry's campaign was proposing "a weak defense," and that the voters "trust this president more than they trust Senator Kerry on Iraq."
But he was starting to have his own doubts by then, he said.
His views against the war began to harden last spring when, in a personal exercise, he wrote a draft opinion article and found himself agreeing with Mr. Kerry's call for withdrawal from Iraq. He acknowledged that the expected deployment of his son Daniel was an important factor.
"If the American public says they're done with something, our leaders have to understand what they want," Mr. Dowd said. "They're saying, 'Get out of Iraq.' "
But now my kid has to go to Iraq, so I'm suddenly granting interviews saying, really, I was opposed to the President's policies all along -- I just never, you know, said so, or "submitted" any of my strongly-worded criticisms, or actually protested in any way whatsoever.
But seriously, all along I was on the, uh, other winning side -- the one that will bring my kid back from Iraq.
Your kids -- I couldn't care less about.
Weasel. Just like all the rest.
