Jail for Facebook

Did you know there was a time when the California legislature was considering making it illegal for teachers to be facebook friends with their students? Of course, this very action (along with emailing a teacher) is illegal in Missouri. The idea of teachers and students interacting about something other than school (GASP) is still terrifying parents. One teacher quit his job in order to be with a student he loved. She loved him. The relationship was completely legal and consensual, but the mother wanted the teacher arrested anyways. Of course, there is the issue of "dude, you have a daughter who's at the same high school as your girlfriend," but that shouldn't be a legal issue. Yet it continues to be one, despite the myriad of other issues the California state legislature SHOULD be dealing with. There's also the issue that these issues are based on the idea that teachers are pedophiles-in-hiding. Simply not true; if you look at a teacher's job, they work hard for little money. They enjoy helping their students. And now, after Missouri does this, California goes back to considering this law. There is no logical reason to do this. It's not "protecting children," if they are of legal age. What that is suddenly doing is taking away rights, and on top of that, it is stopping students and teachers from having a friendship, a simple friendship, because of the fear that teachers will brainwash all their students, forcing them into relationships. Now, texting a student, or messaging them on facebook, WOULD BE A FELONY. Let that sink in for a minute. Of course, with that done, why not ban teacher-student eye contact while walking in the halls? That could lead to something bad too! There is absolutely no reason why electronic contact should be any different than contact made in-person. The logic is, as it often is with the government, noticeably missing.

Fox News Withdrawl

According to a recent study by Fairleigh Dickinson University, a follow-up to this previous study, people who watch absolutely no news tend to know more about current events than people who watch Fox News. Those who watch NPR know more. 

     On average, respondents got correct 1.8 of the international questions and 1.6 of the domestic 

     questions. (I know, I know.)

     People who mainly listened to NPR did somewhat better: an average of 1.92 correct on the domestic 
     section. 
     People who watched no news at all averaged 1.22 domestic questions right. 
     And people who watched only Fox? 1.04                                          (The Daily Beast)
Now, the number of questions asked was 5 on domestic issues, 4 on foreign ones. So on average, people would fail a test on these issues. Of course, those who read sources like The New York Times were generally more knowledgable than those who did not follow the news. And Jon Stewart also increased knowledge of domestic affairs. Should you wish to take the tests yourself, they are contained in the links to the studies above. Only 41% of people new that the Egyptian protestors were successful in getting rid of Mubarak. Only 55% knew that Assad was still in power. So it looks like the liberal indoctrination publications and news outlets contain facts, while Fox News decides to withdraw those facts. Of course, it appears that neither side is doing a very good job educating people. Just don't ask a Fox News viewer about it.

Someone Will Fix It

It appears that the peoples of Greece want their leaders to use magic wands to get rid of extensive problems in Greece. According to NPR, "Most Greeks want to keep the euro as their currency. Most also want to cancel the eurozone-imposed austerity measures that come with the billions in international bailout loans keeping the country solvent." It is commonly believed in Greece that the Greek people are sacrificing much while Europe sacrifices little. Of course, Greece is the nation that had a retirement age in the 50s; there is much that needs to be "sacrificed" there, and elsewhere. There appears to be a mentality of "someone will fix it eventually, without any spending cuts." Yet despite Greece threatening to leave the Euro for the Drachma (which could cost up to a trillion dollars), and despite Greece's continued problems (like the common belief that austerity measures are an attack on Greece by greedy capitalists; that sounds eerily like Soviet Russia), other European leaders want to keep Greece on the Euro, despite the tiny size of Greece's economy in relation to the total Eurozone economy. The effects of Greece leaving the Euro, according to major banks, would most likely be horrendous. Greece's economy could experience something similar to America in the Great Depression; of course, that would spread much less than America's downturn. Unemployment in, and around, Greece would rise, potentially to the highest levels seen in fifty years. And the use of the Drachma would in itself cause huge problems, given how weakly it would be valued; money may have very little value in Greece for an extended period of time. And due to fears over what the government will or will not do, about a billion dollars a day are being withdrawn from Greek banks, in a sort of slow bank run (some call it a bank jog). It appears that the future of Greece is going to involve some major problems.

Rights? Nah

If you haven't already heard about this, the people of North Carolina have passed a Constitutional Amendment saying this: "Constitutional amendment to provide that marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this State." Justice Scalia would agreed, given that he stated that women and gays do not necessarily have rights; rather, they are to be given rights, or be denied rights, by the legislature. Of course, there is no reason why gay people are denied the right to marry—well, no reason except the great and loving religious peoples of America (notice the sarcasm?). But if corporations are people, then this amendment discriminates against them too!


The same people who preach "small government" also preach regulation of the bedroom, regulation of the vagina (you know, the whole movement against abortions), and regulation of who you love. Don't you love hypocrisy?

China's (Temporarily) Slowing Economy

As opposed to the growth rates of over 8% that people have come to expect from China, a growth rate of between 7.5% and 8% is being projected for this coming quarter in China. Even the Chinese government is making 7.5% growth in GDP its official target. The Chinese leadership is not quite sure what is causing the slowdown in growth, but Chinese officials are moving to remedy the situation, as to allow 8% GDP growth for the year. Whether or not these measures will work remains to be seen, though there is a good chance that they will work to an extent. These measures include lowering the tax rate — a year after China had its largest tax intake ever — and easing regulations on credit, by lowering the amount of money that banks must have in reserve; this is designed to free up more credit for loans. The government may also be investing in infrastructure, in order to stimulate the economy. Of course, even with a slowing on growth, analysts and the Chinese government expect growth rates to once again rise after this quarter.

Of course, if a Western nation had a GDP growth rate equal to China's "slow" growth rate, it would be bigger news than China's slowing growth, and for good reason. Western growth tends to hover around 2% to 4%.

My Compatibility with Various Republicans

Here are the percent of issues on which I agree with various Republicans, according to Americans Elect (good website, you should check it out).

Conservative "Thought"

If you've ever heard conservatives talk, or seen their political writing, you hopefully know that they have lost connection with reality, and that instead of using facts, they pull stuff out of their—sorry, they "speak from their hearts." Take a look at this (click on it to go the website)

For starters, TARP debt comes from Bush's bailout of the banks; it's completely unrelated to GM. On top of that, it appears that Mr. Steve Breen does not understand how "loans" work. They involve paying the money back over a period of time. I'm sorry that that period of time isn't over yet. If Republicans actually had an issue with bailouts, you'd see them whining about Bush's bailout. But they don't do that, so quite obviously, they don't really care about bailouts; their only goal is to make Democrats and Obama look bad.

Outgrown

America is supposed to a country of economic growth and opportunity, yet the "developed world" is now being outgrown by the developing nations. There are many things you can blame: lack of political efficiency, economic crises and trouble recovering, distribution of natural resources/oil, the ownership of said natural resources, oppressive but effective regimes in the developing world, industrialization constantly occurring in the developing nations, et cetera. But the bottom line is this: the economies of the East are out-growing the economies of the West. A list of the top economies in 2050 released by HSBC shows that America, Germany, England, France, and Canada will be 5 of the 10 biggest economies in the world; however, the other five (aside from Japan) are considered "developing nations." 12-14 of the top 20 are "developing nations" (depending on who you consider "developing.") While America, Canada, and a few select European nations will still have strong economies, the trend is for "developing nations" to become more powerful, "Western" ones less powerful.

They're Everywhere!

As you may or may not know, I don't exactly like pop music. Yet I have nothing against pop artists as people, simply because they are pop artists. But Christian groups in South Korea (and, well, the world over) hate pop artists like Lady GaGa, because they support gay rights.

Lady GaGa is doing a show in South Korea, yet South Korean Christian groups have managed to get the government to ban anyone under 18 from seeing it. These people put forced religious conviction above freedom of speech—sound familiar? They also are willing to boycott Hyundai and its sub-companies because they sponsor the tour. Hating gays seems rather antiquated and stupid, yet these "devout Christians" still follow backward principles, given that the only reason to is because of a "great holy spiritual book." It appears that crazy religious people are everywhere.

EDIT: I am not talking about all South Koreans. Just the crazily religious ones.

"These guys don't get it!"

The interest rates on student loans are set to go up on July 1 if Congress does not act. Republicans, of course, are saying that students just need to deal with it, because the national debt needs to be lowered. Yet they won't even THINK of raising taxes on the rich. They claim that the national debt is hurting the economy, yet as President Obama pointed out, so does making it harder to get education, and less education only makes the economy even worse. Of course, there is always a political motivation, and Obama is of course attempting to gain the youth vote. The total amount of student loans in America now total $1,000,000,000,000; that is a HUGE source of debt, about 6.25% of the debt owed by the government, who has many, many more expenses. 40% of adults over 35 who took student loans still haven't payed them off, yet Republicans STILL insist that student debt is not that big of an issue.

And now that this is becoming such a huge negative issue for the Republicans, they are proposing to pay for these subsidies by taking money out of the Affordable Care Act; raising taxes on millionaires and billionaires just isn't an option. I mean, why should people who have more money than they know what to do with find a way to actually use SOME OF that money?

And here's a funny (and worrying) bit on this issue from Jimmy Fallon, President Obama, and the Roots.

Farewell to Facts

This is not something that I wrote. It is, however, quite true, and somewhat worrying.

Facts, 360 B.C.-A.D. 2012

Let's Not Actually Fix It

Tennessee uses an abstinence-only sex education program. Of course, states that use abstinence-only sex education programs have higher teen pregnancy rates than states that use a more comprehensive method. Teen pregnancy rates are, however, going down overall. "This good shift is largely the result of an increase in teenagers' use of birth control — a fact that Congressional Republicans ignore as they seek to dismantle reproductive health programs" (The New York Times). This is worrying, yet not surprising: Republicans are once again ignoring reality and making another bullshit argument. So instead of using education that involves simply saying, "look, there are these things called condoms. You use those correctly, and you've basically eliminated any chance of becoming pregnant," Tennessee Republicans are amending the law so that they teach against "gateway sexual activities." Of course, they don't take the time to even DEFINE that term in the law. For all we know, teachers may now be required to tell their students, "Don't hold hands, you might end up having sex and getting pregnant!" Instead of fixing the problem, they are creating a "solution" that, unlike tried and tested solutions that actually work, fixes nothing.


Stephen Colbert has a brilliant bit on this "new approach" to sex education.

Einstein was an Atheist

For those of you who have facebook accounts (or if this can be seen without one, I don't know):
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150730485329578&set=p.10150730485329578&type=1&theater

Anyways, it claims that Einstein was a Christian (false), that cold does not exist (because it's technically just the absence of heat), that darkness doesn't exist (because it's technically just the absence of light), that brains don't exist (because you haven't seen them, felt them, right?), and that all this somehow proves that God exists.

Every argument made to "prove" God is false (why is that not surprising?). Cold=absence of heat. Ok, congrats, which means cold does exist, as a way to express the absence of heat. By the "student's" own argument. Cause I'd rather say "it's cold outside" over "it is lacking heat in the exterior terrain." And you can go on and do basically the same thing with every other argument made.

"Guns N' Roses"

Turns out that Wal-Mart sells guns. And not just paintball guns and Airsoft guns; real rifles. You can go into to Wal-Mart and get guns and roses! There's even a pink rifle, and they sell shotguns too. I think that this might be a sign that gun laws are a little too lax.

Silence the Heretic!

That sounds like something you'd hear in a movie set in the Middle Ages. Funny thing: it's still happening.

Irish Catholic Priest Tony Flannery was silenced by the Catholic Church. Flannery was often critical of the Church, on issues like clerical sex abuse in Ireland, the Church's handeling of sex abuse in Ireland, the blocking of women from becoming priests, and censorship by the Church.

The "great" and "moral" Vatican is censoring its own priests, instead of actually fixing the problems the priests are bringing up. They're ignoring the actual problems! Why am I not surprised?

America Sues Apple

"'As a result of this alleged conspiracy, we believe that consumers paid millions of dollars more for some of the most popular titles,' Holder said." The United States government decided to sue Apple because of "price manipulation." The main argument given by the government was that Apple and publishers conspired to eat into Amazon's share of the eBook industry through price manipulation.

Last I checked, it is still legal for a company to decide at what price it will sell its products. It appears that the United States government (and no, that does NOT mean it's all Obama's fault) is having some trouble figuring out how Capitalism works.

The government also was angry about how Apple made a product, as shown here.

"'Throw in with Apple and see if we can all make a go of this to create a real mainstream e-books market at $12.99 and $14.99,' Jobs wrote to one of the publishers, according to the Justice Department's complaint.

Apple successfully persuaded the publishers to adopt an 'agency model' that allowed publishers to set the price of e-books and in turn, Apple would take a 30 percent cut, the government said. The Apple agreements with publishers effectively barred them from allowing rival retailers to sell the same books at lower prices.

The strategy upended the 'wholesale model' in which retailers pay for the product and charge what they like."


Oddly enough, the government doesn't seem to care that Amazon set eBook prices at $9.99, yet Apple trying to get higher prices is apparently an issue. As to why Amazon setting the price is legal, and Apple setting it isn't, I don't know.

The government didn't like that Apple was making a product differently than normal. There are legal reasons for the case, but the laws make very, very, very, very little sense. Thus, as one can expect with Apple, the case is being ignored by the corporation. Which is now technically a person. I guess they can't just put Apple into the back of a cop car.

Another Supreme Mistake

If you are arrested, you can now be strip-searched before being put in jail. Doesn't matter what the offense was, or if there is any evidence, or if you've had a trial. The Supreme Court said that Supreme Court, who's primary purpose is to determine constitutionality, cannot question law enforcement officials. Of course, their primary job is indeed questioning, so it is troubling to see them take this stance. It will be interesting to see what happens because of the ruling; lawsuits? Maybe, just maybe. The Supreme Court has taken some, I'll say "odd" to put it mildly, stances recently, including Citizens United and Scalia's odd stance that women don't necessarily have rights, nor do gays; apparently, legislatures get to decide if there is gender equality or inequality.

Conservative Teen

There's a magazine called The Conservative Teen.

It makes me wonder if Republicans have ever talked to anyone under thirty.

Broccoli

Fox News and CNN are wondering if the government can make you buy broccoli, because of the precedent set by ObamaCare.

The answer? "Wtf? Guys, please, start showing actual news"

The clips of them talking about it are in this episode of Colbert.

Santorum wins Louisiana

Santorum recently won the Louisiana primary. But Mitt Romney still leads Santorum by a ratio greater than 2:1. Which brings up the question: does it really matter if Santorum wins? I'd argue not, given that Santorum has to win a lot more states to be equal to Romney. And what happens if Santorum does win the primary? He'd have a very small chance of winning, given that he wold have to sway the independents who, wait for it, aren't extremist Christians!

Soft on Porn

Rick Santorum is accusing Obama of being soft on porn. He calls porn a "pandemic." As the porn industry points out, Santorum has no evidence as to the detrimental effects of porn. He makes claims to that porn increases violence against women (without evidence; there may be some, I don't know, but he should be able to point to some), yet banning contraceptives will apparently help women. You know you have an issue when the porn industry is making better arguments than a potential president. Santorum is, however, right about one thing: Obama is softer on porn than Bush was. But maybe Santorum hasn't noticed, but Obama has a few bigger issues to be dealing with right now.

Obama: The Fiscal Conservative's Ideal Candidate

The Republican/Conservative candidates say that Obama spends too much. Yet of the last 3 presidents, only Clinton spent less, per capita, than Obama. All the "great" Republican/Conservative presidents spent MORE than Obama and Clinton, per capita. Reagan spent more per capita than Obama and Clinton, combined. So really, Obama is the conservative's ideal president.

Woah.

You may have noticed I've stopped doing citations. That's cause I embed my sources as links in the posts.

Kony (again)

You know Kony isn't a problem anymore when Kony has only 3x as many followers as you had people view your blog on a single day.

Seriously guys, Kony is not an issue. Did you hear about the founder of Invisible Children being taken into custody in San Diego for being drunk in public? Because getting wasted in San Diego SAVES LIVES.

Euthanasia

According to Rick Santorum, 10% of all deaths in the Netherlands are from euthanasia. Also, 50% of all seniors apparently get killed by euthanasia without consent. Also, the old apparently wear "Do Not Euthanize Me" bracelets.

Every single one of these claims is false. The Netherlands allows the use of euthanasia, but only after a lengthy process that involves the person being euthanized to explicitly request it multiple times.

Of course, when asked about these claims, one of his spokeswomen said that what matters is what's in his heart. What the hell? In my heart, it is true that Rick Santorum eats babies. You can't provide any evidence for or against it, right?

Of course, if you want to see "the other side," (lacking evidence, as normal), by all means, go here.

Note: over the course of 3 minutes, I have been able to compile more evidence than the entire Santorum campaign team. Houston, we have a problem.

"Don't Say Gay"

You may know about Tennessee's controversial "Don't Say Gay" Bill. Recently, it has been tabled (technically put away for later, but rarely are tabled bills revisited). "'We found out that there really is not sex education curriculum in K-8 right now,' said state Rep. Bill Dunn, R-Knoxville, the bill's original sponsor" when he talked about having the bill tabled. Which either means one of two things: 1. Dunn and his fellow Tennessee conservatives are too lazy to find out information relating to their bills, OR 2. They're okay with bending the truth in order to try and get a bill passed. Both lead to the same conclusion: they're vile, hate-filled men:1, because it shows that they will dogmatically adhere to, and promote, their beliefs, no matter what, and 2 because it shows that they dogmatically adhere to, and promote, their beliefs, no matter what.

ObamaCare

To any Conservatives who may read this blog: it's not a bad thing, you dolts (I've wanted to use that for a while).

Let's look at some Republican claims about the Affordable Care Act: it's communist, it's socialist, it's a government take over, it gives us Canadian healthcare, blah blah blah.

Let's look at what it actually does: gives care to the uninsured, checks healthcare costs, makes insurance companies spend at least 80% of the money you pay them on you, cover preventative care, improve computer systems, pay for medicare, make medicaid easier to use, et cetera.

Of course, you could argue it doesn't do any of that. Obama is just a secret Communist Muslim involved in a massive cover-up (sarcasm). On top of that, private insurance companies are not destroyed, and we don't get Canadian style healthcare. Of course, if you were to actually look into it, you would realize that Canadian healthcare is actually pretty effective.

The Irony

I did not make this. But hey, it's funny. And somewhat worrying....

This helps explain the American government's economic problems

The Arab Spring is Fall-ing

     In the spring, everyone (who pays any attention to the world) was excited about the Arab Spring. But there were those who were skeptical about its chances of success. In Egypt's drive to Democracy, there is much cause for worry. Turnout for the last election was only 6.5%; transitional cabinets have done too little to reform and guide Egypt. The interim military leadership has been ambiguous and violent. Women have been sidelined. Egypt's first president will be a man, without doubt. But the major problem is that he will not have any defined powers, or a definite job, until Egypt can put together a constitution. Only now is Parliament starting to address this problem. There is debate over who should write the constitution. Ultra-conservatives currently control the Parliament. One popular presidential candidate is anti-Israel and anti-Christian, but could gain the backing of much of the Muslim Brotherhood and Egyptian military. The number of people contemplating running exceeds that of the American Republicans at the beginning of their election season. Almost all the candidates, and all the popular ones, are going to be fiercely conservative. Egypt has many problems, and is nowhere close to figuring out its democratic system.

"Wanted: Maybe a President?" The Economist 10 Mar. 12: 58-59. 10 Mar. 2012. Print.

Joseph Kony

Joseph Kony. Has a child army. Violent guy. Leader of a rebel movement in Uganda. Uses little girls as prostitutes. Also, subject of the latest facebook craze.

It continues to amaze me that people put things up on facebook, to be seen by their friends (who have seen and posted the same thing), in an effort to "raise awareness." Maybe they should actually do something about it. Like contact a state legislator, contact a national legislator, donate money, write a letter to someone affected (to show that the world cares), raise money to donate, etc. But no, putting it on facebook will somehow help.

The Economist and National Geographic had articles on this last year. He's been known about for months. But only NOW do people start "caring."

And more truth for lazy people. This is actually really, really old news.

ADDITION:

Invisible Children (the people who posted the KONY video): a really, really bad non-profit organization. Most of the money donated to them doesn't even make it to their "cause"! Want proof? I, for one, trust the Guardian. On top of that, making Kony famous could actually HURT Uganda. He isn't even IN UGANDA ANYMORE.

So Much for Cheap State Schools

Due to the ineptitude of our state politicians, and their inability to get anything done, California's state universities are now more expensive than, and as expensive,as Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, and a plethora of other private universities, at least for middle-class students. Why? Because the private schools can afford to provide financial aid. People complain about rising prices for college, but it's not as bad as it looks, at least for private universities and colleges. Unless you're making a large amount of money, and can afford to pay it anyways. Stanford tuition: about 57,000 dollars. But should one be from a family making under 200,000 a year, it's about 25,000; state universities cost about 24,000 for a middle-class family. But "middle-class" is defined as "making under 80,000 dollars a year," or under 140,000 for Berkeley students.

For the Universities of California, and the California State Universities (two different systems), tuition has DOUBLED since 2007. California, a state that used to be able to give its students a nearly free education. And the universities themselves would love to offer cheaper education; but they can't. Why not? Because the politicians in our state Congress, and the national one, can't get their acts together.

You should write your senator/representative. Just a short email that basically tells them to stop the partisan shit and actually get something done. For once.

Krupnick, Matt. "Believe It: Harvard Cheaper than Cal State." MercuryNews.com. 05 Mar. 2012. Web.
     06 Mar. 2012.

The Irony

I should stop trying to draw these things. Takes too long...

The irony is somewhat depressing, because so many people don't see it

Detroit's Back

GM is once again the largest carmaker in the world. 1,450,000 jobs have been saved. GM has had its largest — ever. Michigan has it's lowest unemployment rate in three years. GM will be able to pay off its loans in a short amount of time. Yet Mitt Romney still defends his stance of "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt," believing that Detroit could have rebuilt itself. Much like how I am building a factory outside my house without any money. Several conservative publications have even said that they were wrong about letting Detroit go bankrupt. Maybe it's time for Romney to admit he was wrong, so that he can start doing something other than praising the height of the trees and the color of the grass in Michigan.

But of course, government intervention never works. Please ignore this event.

"A Million Jobs." Editorial. The New York Times 26 Feb. 2012. The New York Times. The New York
     Times, 25 Feb. 2012. Web. 26 Feb. 2012.

"GM Earns Its Highest Profit Ever in 2011 with $7.6 Billion; Overseas Losses Cut 4Q Profit."
     Washington Post. The Washington Post, 16 Feb. 2012. Web. 26 Feb. 2012.

Jamieson, Dave. "Mitt Romney Defends 2008 Stance to 'Let Detroit Go Bankrupt'" The Huffington Post.
     TheHuffingtonPost.com, 22 Feb. 2012. Web. 26 Feb. 2012.

Girl Scouts: Minions of Satan

I just want to say that recently, my conviction that the Republican party is lost beyond all means of short-term recovery was reconfirmed. Indiana Representative Bob Morris recently said that through research on the internet, he came to the conclusion that the Girl Scouts are an evil, pro-abortion, pro-communist, pro-lesbian, pro-feminist group. It is interesting to note that he fails to provide where he got this misinformation from. Last I checked, the only thing that most people have ever seen Girl Scouts promoting is cookies. But hey, who knows. Maybe cookies are evil maniacs planning on taking over the world!

Morris also claims that Planned Parenthood has an agenda of "sexualizing" little girls through the Girl Scouts. This guy is messed up. He vies abortions as the biggest evil of our time! Because there is nothing else remotely bad going on, right? And once again, the hypocrisy: "Small government, unless I want big government!" Best part: his daughters used to be part of the Girls Scouts. Used to, until he decided to accuse the Girl Scouts of being evil.

Jaffe, Matthew. "No Do-Si-Dos Here: Indiana Republican Rips Girl Scouts." ABC News. ABC News
     Network, 22 Feb. 2012. Web. 25 Feb. 2012.
Sabella, Jen. "Bob Morris, Indiana Lawmaker, Apologizes For Girl Scouts Comments." The Huffington 
     Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 24 Feb. 2012. Web. 25 Feb. 2012. 

Church Contraceptives

Obama is making Catholic institutions provide coverage for contraceptives as part of their health care. Of course, this is part of what employers are legally bound to provide in America. But what some people (like John Boehner, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, and Mitch McConnell) are doing is calling this a war on religion, which is quite ridiculous. And given that the religious institutions pay no taxes, the LEAST they can do is FOLLOW THE LAW.

Really, it's not that big of a deal. Why are Republicans more angry about this than the Pope? Because it helps them stay in office. They also seem to think it'll win them the White House; in truth, it will only alienate the independents. Below, a video with a speaker from CPAC, and Rick Santorum spouting some more of his crazy ideas.

Jessica Ahlquist

Recently, Jessica Ahlquist had a religious banner removed from her public school after winning a court case. Given the separation of Church and State, this was the right thing to do. Cranston High School West having the banner was actually illegal. The prayer read "Our Heavenly Father, grant us each day the desire to do our best, to grow mentally and morally as well as physically, to be hind and helpful....Amen." Now, there's nothing wrong with a message of mental and moral growth. But this issue remains that school sanctioned religion and prayer is illegal. However, prayer in school is NOT illegal, as the Right would like you to believe. She didn't even start the movement; she was a major part of it, but not the originator.


And now, to the sad part: people are threatening to kill her. She is being insulted and threatened simply because she is an atheist. "Let's all jump that girl who did the banner #fuckthatho" reads one threat. "lol I wanna stick that bitch lol" reads another. Yes, that kid is saying "lol" about killing someone with a knife."Brb ima go drown that atheist in holy water," which seems like an oxymoron, because one would assume that murdering someone with holy water would make it un-holy. Of course, comments like "wen the atheist dies, they believe they will become a tree, so we shld chop her down, turn her into paper then PRINT THE BIBLE ON HER" show a horrid lack of knowledge about atheism. I believe these idiots have it mixed up with Shintoism, or Pokémon. "literally that bitch is insane, and the best part is she already transferred schools because shes knows someone will jump her #ahaha." What we're really learning here is that religion isn't helping these people be nice. It's making the violent and stupid. Of course, the best is "When I take over the world I'm going to do a holocaust to all the atheists." Because Ahlquist was part of getting rid of a sign that is illegal, we have Christian kids THREATENING TO MURDER MILLIONS OF PEOPLE. They're GLORIFYING the holocaust. And people claim religion is the only reason we have morality...right.


What's great is that even Rhode Island State Representative Peter G. Palumbo said "we're crucifying Jesus again," calling Ahlquist a "pawn star," a "clapping seal," and an "evill little thing." One would hope that a Representative would be more mature. Obviously not. I have sent Representative Palumbo (a DEMOCRAT, surprisingly enough) an email. If/when I receive a response, I will put it up here. 


Christina, Greta. "Why Is an Atheist High School Student Getting Vicious Death Threats? Home | 
     AlterNet. 18 Jan. 2012. 13 Feb. 2012. 
     <http://www.alternet.org/belief/153803/why_is_an_atheist_high_school_student_getting_
     vicious_death_threats?page=1>.


Goodnough, Abby. "Student Faces Town's Wrath in Protest Against a Prayer. The New York Times. 
     26 Jan. 2012. Web. 13 Feb. 2012. <http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/27/us/rhode-island-city-
     enraged-over-school-prayer-lawsuit.html>.

The Best of Us All

As you undoubtedly know, many people seem to think that priests are great people. Not sure why, considering many of them do almost nothing except rant on God. Now, there are those to do service projects, but that is what makes them great people; not the fact that they are priests. Interesting side-note: when the Mormons gave up polygamy, a small sect of them broke off and continues to practice. They often "marry" teenage girls. It's sickening.

And here's something else: a new case of child sex abuse involving the Catholic Church! 200 priests, many of whom have admitted to sexually abusing children yet who have not been convicted anything, are living in California. So guess what the great Catholic Church did in 2007? It reached a $660 million settlement, a massive coverup, instead of addressing the problem. The Church KNOWS that there is a large amount of sex abuse going on, yet all it does is cover it up. And the Church is supposed to be a great moral entity.

Two syllables: bull-shit.

Snepp, Frank, and Tara Kangarlou. "200 Priests Suspected of Abuse Living in California, Victims'
     Lawyer Says." U.S. News. 11 Feb. 2012. Web. 12 Feb. 2012.
     <http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/12/10386205-200-priests-suspected-of-abuse-  
     living-in-california-victims-lawyer-says>.

Evil Ellen

Apparently, since Ellen is Lesbian, she is evil, and JC Penny should fire her. "The majority of JC Penny shoppers will be offended [by JC Penny hiring Ellen deGeneres as a spokesperson] and choose to no longer shop there," said the American Family Association. Given that JC Penny has not collapsed in massive financial failure, I think that they were wrong there. I think that, in truth, the majority of JC Penny shoppers do not care who the spokesperson is. Tim Cook is gay, and the CEO of Apple now. Yet last I checked, if the laptop I'm typing this on has a problem, I can still take it to the Genius Bar. "One Million Moms, which claims to be 'the most powerful tool you have to stand up against the immorality, violence, vulgarity and profanity the entertainment media is throwing at your children,' is going after one of the country's most well-liked television hosts" (Reuters). Last I checked, being lesbian did not mean that someone was inherently evil. These people are, quite simply, crazy. The Bible is not a legitimate source for business plans or governmental action. Once again: look at Jeremiah 10:2. It quite obviously is anti-Christmas tree. Just a little odd.

Weinstein, Joshua L. "One Million Moms to JC Penny: Ellen's Gay -- Fire Her." Business & 

     Financial News, Breaking US & International News | Reuters.com. 01 Feb. 2012. Web. 11 

     Feb. 2012. <http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/02/idUS36911478620120202>.

Failing Education Standards?

Today, I took the math portion of the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE). Not interesting, I know.

Of course, the questions tended to be around the difficulty of the last one: "If -x=-2, then x is equal to what?" Hmm, good question. Maybe "x=the-education-standards-of-the-state-and-country-are-so-rapidly-declining-that-to-now-pass-the-CAHSEE-all-you-need-is-a-fifth-grade-education." I find it depressing. To get through 46 problems that were supposed to show a sophisticated knowledge of math, it took me ten minutes. Problem much?

Prop 8 Overturned

Finally. The Proposition from 2008 has been ruled unconstitutional, because it denied same-sex couples the ability to marry. Of course, in California, they had every other right associated with a partnership. This is great news, unless you're a conservative. Then it means that we're going to have massive problems in America because God is angry. Of course, God doesn't like Christmas trees (Jeremiah 10:2)(seriously, look it up), and last I checked, trees have not yet destroyed America. "Proposition 8 served no purpose, and had no effect, other than to lessen the status and the human dignity of gays and lesbians in California," said the Court (Prop 8). To read the full decision, go here. And of course, the Mormons have to respond. Last I checked, those guys are based in Salt Lake City. I'm not sure about this, but I don't think that's in California (sarcasm: of course it's not). They, of course, hate it. Apparently, they had also put a lot of money into getting Prop 8 passed. Maybe they should stick to their own state, instead of trying to fight gay rights everywhere.


"Mormon Church Responds to Prop. 8 Ruling." Salt Lake City, Utah News, Weather, Traffic, Sports, 
     Breaking News and Severe Weather Coverage. Mormon, LDS News, KTVX - ABC4.com - Salt Lake City, 
     Utah News. 07 Feb. 2012. Web. 07 Feb. 2012. <http://www.abc4.com/mostpopular/story/Mormon-
     Church-responds-to-Prop-8-ruling/Stt_1ZDTbEOwsFF4ahfwGw.cspx>.


"Prop. 8: Gay-marriage Ban Unconstitutional, Court Rules." Blogs - Latimes.com. 07 Feb. 2012. Web. 07 
     Feb. 2012. <http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/02/gay-marriage-prop-8s-ban-ruled-
     unconstitutional.html>.

"To Infiniti and Beyond!"

Currently, America is facing some budget problems, as you already know. Republicans, as you also know, seem to think, for some strange reason, the way to fix this is lower taxes, cut spending, ban abortion, ban gay marriage, and lessen education spending. Which makes it extra surprising that Newt Gingrich, a Republican, has stated that he wants to get a colony on the moon. He wants to make the moon the 51st state of America! Now, I support space exploration. But having a lunar colony in 8 years? It's just no feasible.

On top of that, it would be ridiculously expensive. Newt Gingrich wants a base on the moon before China gets there. Last I checked, China does not feel the need to spend money on a very difficult-to-obtain goal that obtains nothing. Nor do I, and nor should the American government.

Friedersdorf, Conor. "To the Moon, Callista! Newt Gingrich Promises Lunar Colony by 2020" The 
     Atlantic — News and Analysis on Politics, Business, Culture, Technology, National, International, and 
     Life — TheAtlantic.com. 26 Jan. 2012. Web. 27 Jan. 2012.
     <http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/01/to-the-moon-callista-newt-gingrich-promises-
     lunar-colony-by-2020/252025/>.

Krauss, Lawrence. "Newt Gingrich's Moon Colony and Mars Plan - Slate Magazine." Slate Magazine - 
     Politics, Business, Technology, and the Arts - Slate Magazine. 27 Jan. 2012. Web. 27 Jan. 2012
     <http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2012/01/newt_gingrich_s_moon
     _colony_and_m ars_plan_.html>.

Sopa the Second

Sopa the Second is a massive bill known as the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). And ACTA is a hell of a lot worse. Suddenly, there is an international ban on generic drugs! So Tylenol would be able to stop Walgreens from making the same drug, even though the patent has expired. And only one brand of drugs means higher prices, of course. Even if the drug saves lives, it can be withheld. On top of that, it forces internet service providers to police their customers. Everything that you do on the internet would now be visible to internet service providers and the government. Copyrighted seeds would be disallowed. So if I'm a farmer, planting seeds, and one of them by random chance (wind pushing seeds around) is from Monsanto, I can't plant any seeds anymore. Now I'm completely dependent on Monsanto. Even worse than it is now.

Countries can join voluntarily. The European Union, Japan, America, Canada, and other nations plan on joining.

On top of that, developing nations were excluded from the discussions. So most of Africa had absolutely no say in this, a bill that could help shape their future.

The members of the World Trade Organization have raised concerns over trade problems caused by this bill.

Copies of the bill have been distributed only under non-disclosure agreements. These copies were given to Google, eBay, Intel, Dell, News Corporation. Sony Pictures, Time Warner, and Verizon.All pertinent information is "classified." The main source of information on ACTA is a leaked document. Of course, after early drafts were leaked, governments decided to put out an official copy.

About 10,000 people took to the streets in Poland to protest this. It'll be nice to see others follow their example.

ACTA circumvents the democratic process because the negotiators are members of only a select few countries, and they are not elected representatives.

ACTA needs to be stopped. Spread the world.
------------------------------------------------------------

"Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement | Electronic Frontier Foundation." Electronic Frontier      
     Foundation | Defending Your Rights in the Digital World. Web. 25 Jan. 2012.
     <https://www.eff.org/issues/acta>.

"BBC News - Thousands March in Poland over Acta Internet Treaty." BBC - Homepage. 25 Jan.
     2012. Web. 25 Jan. 2012. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16735219>.

Gee, Sue. "SOPA and PIPA Shelved But Is ACTA Unstoppable" I Programmer - Programming, 
     Reviews and Projects. 22 Jan. 2012. Web. 25 Jan. 2012.
     <http://www.i-programmer.info/news/81-web-general/3649-sopa-and-pipa-shelved-but-is-acta-
     unstoppable.html>.

Rose, Michael. "OpEdNews - Article: Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) Removes Any
     Need for SOPA or PIPA. It's WORSE." Opednews.com Progressive, Liberal United States and 
     International News, Opinion, Op-Eds and Politics. 24 Jan. 2012. Web. 25 Jan. 2012.
     <http://www.opednews.com/articles/Anti-Counterfeiting-Trade-by-Michael-Rose-120123-
     260.html>.

8 Votes

8 votes is all that ended up separating Rick Santorum from Mitt Romney. Mitt Romney won it. Funny thing: The Associated Press, Google, and NPR are all reporting on more votes than the Iowa Caucus 2012 website (well, as of writing this).

Now, what will be interesting to see is if Santorum can keep this up in the next caucuses. Personally, I would have to say no. but I guess we will see.

Also, Michele Bachmann and Jon Huntsman got very little support, as expected. Rick Perry also fared poorly. The 3 of them will most likely drop out of the race soon, when they realize they have almost no shot at winning. And if they don't realize it, their corporate sponsors will. The field will (finally) be heavily narrowed down.

"AP Results: Iowa Caucuses : It's All Politics : NPR." NPR : National Public Radio : News & Analysis, 
     World, US, Music & Arts : NPR. 03 Jan. 2012. Web. 03 Jan. 2012.
     <http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2012/01/03/144593901/ap-results-iowa-caucuses>.

Iowa Caucus 2012. 03 Jan. 2012. Web. 03 Jan. 2012. <http://iowacaucus.com/>.

EDIT: RICK SANTORUM HAS NOW BEEN DECLARED THE WINNER BY 34 VOTES.
However, I still don't think he can keep it going.

Money in Politics

That's a corrupted Ben Franklin on the $100 bill

More Christian Than the Pope

For a long time now, the Roman Catholic Church has accepted the theory of Evolution. Yet Republicans cannot seem to understand that Evolution is fact. I get it, not all of our Republican "candidates" are Catholic. HOWEVER, the Pope, whose job is to do do various religious tasks, understands that Evolution and Creationism (or, as the Republicans say, "Intelligent Design") are not mutually exclusive. And one would think that Republicans could talk about more pressing issues, like the economy, the environment (sorry, forgot, Global Warming is a lie according to Republicans), education ("we must teach unsupported theories alongside theories that have actual evidence behind them!" seems to be the Republican view), and the budget ("no taxes, no spending!" cause that has apparently worked).

Jon Huntsman is the ONE Republican candidate who has come out and said that Evolution is a fact. And he points out that as Republicans continue to oppose scientific fact, they only make themselves look more and more stupid (Chivers).

And what's amusing and depressing is people try to refute Evolution by saying it is only a theory. Technically, Gravity is "only" a theory. Theories are highly tested hypotheses that have never been disproven, yet Republicans say they are not credible. And they can get away with it in America. Not even Italy, the country with the Vatican it, by the way, has this kind of religious idiocy.

Also, I offer two pieces of evidence to disprove Intelligent Design:
1. Michele Bachmann
2. The people who support Michele Bachmann

Chivers, Tom. "Jon Huntsman, the Lone Voice of Scientific Sanity in the US Republican Presidential
     Race — Telegraph Blogs." Telegraph Blogs. 08 Sept. 2011. Web. 03 Jan. 2012.
     <http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/tomchiversscience/100103801/jon-huntsman-the-lone-voice-of-
     scientific-sanity-in-the-us-republican-presidential-race/>.

Irvine, Chris. "The Vatican Claims Darwin's Theory of Evolution Is Compatible with Christianity - Telegraph." Telegraph.co.uk - Telegraph Online, Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph - Telegraph. 11 Feb. 2009. Web. 03 Jan. 2012. <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/4588289/The-Vatican-claims-Darwins-theory-of-evolution-is-compatible-with-Christianity.html>.

"Pope: Creation vs. Evolution an Absurdity - World News - Europe - The Vatican - Msnbc.com."
     Msnbc.com - Breaking News, Science and Tech News, World News, US News, Local News - 
     Msnbc.com. 25 July 2007. Web. 03 Jan. 2012.
     <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19956961/ns/world_news-europe/t/pope-creation-vs-evolution-
     clash-absurdity/>.