Secular Front

Jesus hates horses

2007-02-11T09:08:00.000-08:00

According to the final installment of the "Left Behind" franchise Glorious Appearing:Men and women soldiers and horses seemed to explode where they stood...It was as if the very words of the Lord had superheated their blood, causing it to burst through their veins and skin...Even as they struggled, their own flesh dissolved, their eyes melted and their tongues disintegrated.via Bartholomew's

Beware the scientists

2007-01-31T20:11:00.000-08:00

The Pain Comics

Jeane, Jeane the death squad queen

2006-12-10T17:33:00.000-08:00

Some classic scenes from the romance that was ... Jeane Kirkpatrick.Click on image to enlarge.Click on image to enlarge.Click on image to enlarge.

Slow Learner

2006-12-09T09:03:00.000-08:00

Reality finally dawns even on the short bus.Friday, December 08, 2006 GOP senator criticizes Iraq war in emotional speech WASHINGTON (CNN) -- In an emotional speech on the Senate floor Thursday night, Sen Gordon Smith, a moderate Republican from Oregon who has been a supporter of the war in Iraq, said the U.S.

Zombie chickens

2006-12-04T13:07:00.000-08:00

'Zombie chickens' hatch debate over older chickens' fate PETALUMA (AP) - In this rich agricultural region of Northern California, ranchers have been turning chickens too old to lay eggs into compost at a rate of a half-million hens a year.But some chickens not properly euthanized have been seen crawling out of the compost piles, earning them the name "zombie chickens'' -- and hatching a debate

Bush's man in Iraq

2006-12-01T03:22:00.000-08:00

Bush's man in Iraq GLOBE EDITORIALDecember 1, 2006 'HE'S THE right guy for Iraq," President Bush said of Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki after two hours of discussion with the Iraqi leader yesterday in Amman, Jordan. Notwithstanding this endorsement, the true import of the Amman encounter will become clear only in policies decided in Washington and unfolding facts on the ground in

Kissing Bush's Ring

2006-11-14T16:36:00.000-08:00

“We in the Middle East have followed the American policy in Iraq for a long time, and we are very much impressed and encouraged by the stability which the great operation of America in Iraq brought to the Middle East.”--Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert 11/13/06

Quote of the day

2006-11-09T11:23:00.000-08:00

Theme: Imagery"The lean, ascetic, ideological purity of the Gingrich Republicans of 1994 had yielded to the corrupt, feather-your-own-nest psychology of the current Republican congressional leadership." Dick Morris "Off With Their Heads."

Fair and balanced, now with an exclamation point

2006-11-05T06:39:00.000-08:00

Click on the image to enlarge.

Quote of the day

2006-10-31T11:09:00.000-08:00

Theme: Imagery“I’m a mild-mannered guy,” Michael Mattison, a partner in a software venture development firm, said as he stabbed a piece of halibut in the sunlit dining room of a local bistro. “But we can no longer be subdued.”

It's not all about us

2006-10-31T10:05:00.000-08:00

Danny Schechter provides a incisive commentary on the shallow nature of much of the anti-war sentiment in this country.IF YOU ARE AGAINST THE WAR, TAKE THIS QUIZOK, class. No talking. Pencils up. All eyes on the exam. Here's the first multiple-choice question.The Iraq War is Bad Because: a. It is illegal, immoral, and criminalb. It has ended up killing and maiming millions of Iraqis we promised

Pynchon Watch

2006-10-28T15:57:00.000-07:00

A new Pynchon novel out Nov. 21st.

Snoopy Guernica

2006-10-28T15:13:00.000-07:00

Click on picture to enlargeSnoopy Guernica by Ron English on display at the Pop Art Gallery.The Simpsons upcoming Halloween episode parodying the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq, titled The Day the Earth was Stupid (slated to air Nov. 5, two days before the election) reminded me of the cartoon characters' earlier statement about war.

The future ain't what it used to be

2006-10-28T14:34:00.002-07:00

Things Magazine has a great post on NASA-commissioned space colony art from the 70s. They comment:I suppose at some point in the last 30 years these might have seemed remotely feasible, but today the emotions they stir are not of tomorrow's new frontiers, but of past engineering glories, nostalgia for unfettered enthusiasm and self-belief.Jon Langford's Sputnik 57 explores a similar theme. If

Hubris

2006-10-28T13:48:00.000-07:00

Frequent use of signing statements

2006-10-06T06:29:00.000-07:00

Bush signings called effort to expand power Report sees broad strategy By Charlie Savage, Globe Staff | October 5, 2006 WASHINGTON -- President Bush's frequent use of signing statements to assert that he has the power to disobey newly enacted laws is ``an integral part" of his ``comprehensive strategy to strengthen and expand executive power" at the expense of the legislative branch, according

Is the U.S. still a democracy?

2006-09-11T20:55:00.000-07:00

On the fifth anniversary of 9/11

2006-09-11T11:15:00.000-07:00

torture, torture, incompetence, greed, more torture, toxic, boo!, corruption, more torture, warmongering, mass death, boom, boo!, posturing, arrogance, boom, boom, boom, more torture, boo! etc. ad infinitum.

Anatomy of a bogus headline

2006-09-10T12:12:00.000-07:00

The original CBS headline posted on Saturday reads:Sen. Rockefeller: Iraq Would Be Better With Saddam...But that's not what Rockefeller says, and they've since changed it....Rockefeller: Bush Duped Public On Iraq Senator Says World Would Be Better Without Iraq InvasionNonetheless, as of 11:54 am Sunday, a Google search still findsclick on image to enlargeand Drudge continues to carry the original

Evolution--it's not for everyone

2006-09-07T18:27:00.000-07:00

New Ron English Billboard Subversionclick on image to enlargeThe Guardian had a good article about his artwork last month.

Everything old is new again

2006-09-04T14:51:00.000-07:00

via Pharyngula.

Vintage 2006

2006-08-22T22:38:00.000-07:00

Click on image to enlargeClick on image to enlargeClick on image to enlargeClick on image to enlargeClick on image to enlargeSubmitted to Cursor.org by Gary Indiana.

Liquid fish--a tale of revenge

2006-08-08T13:19:00.000-07:00

A friend of my wrote up this account of her amusing encounter with an annoying church across the street.Liquid FishIn the late 80’s as a student I lived in South Austin just south of the river near the Continental Club and the Opry House when it was still a cheap place to live. Our house was across the street from the back of the South Congress Avenue Baptist Church, which was probably the second

W's 4 point plan for the Middle East

2006-07-29T15:33:00.000-07:00

from Betty Bowers (via One Good Move)

Terrible, shouldn't be allowed...

2006-07-29T15:00:00.000-07:00

The Tiger Lillies "Terrible."

Sunday Bible Story

2006-07-29T06:16:00.000-07:00

The Dr. Seuss Bible from Kids in the Hall.

The Neanderthal Genome Project

2006-07-28T18:19:00.000-07:00

The Neanderthal Genome Project A study with a lot of balls Jul 27th 2006From The Economist print editionA brave attempt to sequence the Neanderthal genome THE Human Genome Project is sooo yesterday. So what is a firm with a clever, new gene-sequencing technology to do in order to make a splash? Look yesterday squarely in the face, of course. And that is exactly what Jonathan Rothberg

Keeping up with the war

2006-07-25T11:57:00.000-07:00

Some good recent stuff:Stephen Frug does a good round up of response to Dershowitz & company who want to introduce gradations of humanity to justify war crimes.The Angry Arab has a nice biting response to NYT pontificator Nicholas Kristof: "I have always believed that people who can finish a whole column by Kristof should receive a blender as a gift ... I really believe that American liberals are

Idle bloodlust

2006-07-23T08:42:00.000-07:00

I have never liked Bill Maher. The fact that he passes for a representative of the left in the U.S. is in itself an indictment of the shallowness of our political culture--of our culture. After this puff piece on the Huffington Post though, I refuse to believe that anyone serious can take him seriously.I Love Being on the Side of My President[Obligatory sexual innuendo deleted] ... I love it

Dance like a monkey

2006-07-22T13:06:00.000-07:00

The New York Dolls come back from the grave to teach creationists how to "dance like a monkey."

Oh oh oh no god no...

2006-07-22T11:49:00.000-07:00

There's more

Send Pizza to the IDF

2006-07-20T18:27:00.000-07:00

An ad on the website of the Israeli paper Haaretz. There's nothing that says apocalypse quite like eating pizza as you bomb a civilization back into the stone age. And from their website:Mmm. Goes well with a side of Lebanese civilians.

Praying for you

2006-07-19T10:42:00.000-07:00

Nothing fails like prayer, so it's no surprise that that is what the U.S. is offering Lebanon, as we affect patience and disinterest while our client state goes on a mad and bloody rampage with the weapons we bought for them.Rice tells Sfeir U.S. is 'Praying' for Lebanese CiviliansU.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir on Tuesday that Americans were praying for

Rumsfeldian quote of the day

2006-07-12T07:35:00.000-07:00

Asked about the various atrocities, including the rape and murder of a 14 year old woman, "allegedly" commited by U.S. troops that have been center of controversy in Iraq recently, Donald opined:"Ninety-nine percent of the American troops and the coalition forces are performing in a highly professional, courageous and skillful way," he said, and allegations of murder "obviously hurts the 99.9

Stay in your homes!

2006-07-11T13:07:00.000-07:00

Can't breathe? Here's why.Earlier: The Plague of Air-Conditioning.

Give up!

2006-07-04T11:58:00.000-07:00

Negativland's Christianity is Stupid with video from the Passion of the Christ and other holy epics = The Mashin' of the Christ

News for patriots

2006-07-04T08:49:00.000-07:00

The Reality Beneath the Flag-Waving by Paul Craig RobertsAmericans who get their propaganda from Fox "News" or are told what to think by right-wing talk radio hosts are outraged at news reports that U.S. troops planned and carried out the rape and murder of a young Iraqi woman. They are not outraged that the troops committed the deed; they are outraged that

Burning love of country

2006-07-04T07:23:00.000-07:00

The Pledge of Allegiance by Jello BiafraI pledge defiance to the flag of the United Snakes of CaptivityAnd to the Republic for which it stands, I dip it in kerosene,and stick it up the ass of you know who--and light itOne nation, under God--or elseOne nation, under psychopath Pentagon gangsters,whose idea of democracy is concentration campsfor the people who go and use the drugsthat the

The plague of air conditioning

2006-06-29T07:06:00.000-07:00

A window on downtown HoustonHaving grown up in Houston, a town whose climate and "culture" I loathe, this definitely resonates.America's Air-Conditioned NightmareBy Stan CoxAir-conditioning puts a chill on community spirit, aids the cause of anti-enviros, and just might have given us President George W. Bush.***Keeping people indoors and comfortable reinforces a tight focus on the individual

This is what a Niagara of ridicule looks like

2006-06-28T06:51:00.000-07:00

In a rhetorically overblown attempt to sneer at the YearlyKos convention, Christopher Hitchens cites Alexander Cockburn's actually quite excellent critique of the event.The Daily Kos lot received such a Niagara of ridicule for their meeting in Las Vegas (Alexander Cockburn's column in The Nation, available in a slightly different form on the Counterpunch site, making me almost feel sorry for them

Flag Pandering Wankers

2006-06-27T20:10:00.000-07:00

A trophy photo being circulated among our glorious troops in Iraq. No flag was burned to make this picture. So the constitutional amendment banning flag desecration didn't pass, by a brave single vote. Still, virtually all of the opponents felt compelled to kowtow before the idol of patriotism and denounce flag-burning in the most stringent, and vague and incoherent of ways.Atrios: The narrow

Sympathy for the devil

2006-06-23T18:06:00.000-07:00

Sympathy for the Devil--Laibach gives it all the proper gravitas.

But my i-pod is my friend

2006-06-23T06:06:00.000-07:00

Study: 25% of Americans have no one to confide inBy Janet Kornblum, USA TODAYUpdated 6/22/2006 Americans have a third fewer close friends and confidants than just two decades ago — a sign that people may be living lonelier, more isolated lives than in the past. In 1985, the average American had three people in whom to confide matters that were important to them, says a study in today's American

Failures of the capitalist imagination

2006-06-22T06:32:00.000-07:00

Some things just can't be fixed though advertising. Newsweek has a story about the creation of a $1 million PSA to discourage suicide bombing.This Is Your Street Mid-BombingA Hollywood-budget public service announcement aims at discouraging suicide attacks in Iraq and elsewhere."We all watch it on the evening news," says 900 Frames partner Drew Plotkin, "but we're using a 120-camera set up that

Last Throes

2006-06-20T21:41:00.000-07:00

Cheney Reasserts That Iraqi Insurgency Entered Its ‘Last Throes' in May 2005

William Shatner goes to hell

2006-06-20T18:06:00.000-07:00

All the best parts of a very bad movie. But the cast--Ernest Borgnine, Eddie Albert, Ida Lupino, John Travolta and William Shatner. And the pathos. And did I mention devils! William Shatner goes to hell!

Underground Radio

2006-06-17T17:44:00.000-07:00

Radio Venceremos and Radio Farabundo Marti from back in the day. More videos on related topics here.

Spelunking to Afghanistan

2006-06-16T14:19:00.000-07:00

GYWO asks, what's happening in Afghanistan?From today's Cursor:As "Operation Mountain Thrust" debuts in southern Afghanistan, where command is being transferred to NATO, one observer is told "the beleaguered Donald Rumsfeld is desperate to bring some American troops home by November's congressional elections." Plus: "Every rocket was a painkiller."

Wargasm

2006-06-14T08:29:00.000-07:00

Wargasm wargasm one, two, threeTie a yellow ribbon around the amputeeMasturbate watch it on TVCrocodile tears for the refugeeWargasm wargasm one, two, threeSmutty bloody pictures, ecstasyBlue balls waiting impatientlyFrom Alcatraz to Lady LibertyBody bags and dropping bombs,The pentagon knows how to turn us onWargasm wargasm one, two, threePit bull pit bull ecstasyWave those flags high in the

The menace of married gay flagburners

2006-06-11T07:27:00.000-07:00

'Secret DOJ Memo Explains Why the Flag Burning Amendment is Unnecessary'Under the theory of the Unitary Executive underlying Article II of the United States Constitution, the President of the United States, as Commander-in-Chief-of-everything-under-the-sun, has plenary and unreviewable authority to detain, try, punish and execute enemy combatants. Persons who trample on, deface, or destroy the

No sense of irony

2006-06-07T20:22:00.000-07:00

From today's New York Times:President Bush urged immigrants on Wednesday to learn English and history and civics with the goal of "helping us remain one nation under God."Leaving aside the fact that Bush has yet to master his native language--Chomsky thinks he's faking, I don't--and is famed for his lack of intellectual curiosity, this is a man who cheated his way into the presidency twice by

Belching Souls

2006-06-06T18:07:00.000-07:00

Demon Seed

2006-06-06T18:06:00.000-07:00

The spawn of hybrid life form Brangelina recieved a blessing in the mostly Orthodox West Bank town of Shiloh, after which it was named. The celebrity family is currently residing in the small African nation of Namibia, which they have taken over so they could share the high security special experience of childbirth together. Rumors that the child is guarded by a heretofore unknown breed of

On objectivity

2006-06-06T12:12:00.000-07:00

This fits in just right with the article I took apart in the previous post.JON STEWART: Here's what puzzles me most, Rob. John Kerry's record in Vietnam is pretty much right there in the official records of the US military, and haven't been disputed for 35 years?ROB CORDDRY: That's right, Jon, and that's certainly the spin you'll be hearing coming from the Kerry campaign over the next few

Propaganda about "docu-ganda"

2006-06-04T09:13:00.000-07:00

The Christian Science Monitor has published an impressively blatant piece of propaganda attacking films like "An Inconvenient Truth" as "docu-ganda."The term "docu-ganda" itself is introduced as if it were an objective description. It implies without argument that the point of view presented in the film is false and deceptive. However, neither the point of view nor any of the evidence presented

Promised to the Night

2006-05-31T17:51:00.000-07:00

Click on the image to exchange your soulfor momentary aesthetic gratification.In preparation for the upcoming festivities and following up on a suggestion by Comandante Agi here's some music to burn souls by.Eternity's end -- Ron English w/ Tomorrow PeopleIs she weird -- The PixiesGingerbread coffin -- RasputinaSheena's in a goth gang -- The CrampsThe mariner's revenge song -- The

Gothic Feng Shui

2006-05-31T12:26:00.000-07:00

A panel from this week's Slowpoke on "Aesthetic Movements to Come."Hey, that's me!

On degeneration

2006-05-31T11:01:00.000-07:00

The New Yorker has a thoughtful in-depth profile/interview of famed Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci. Known for her biting interview style, she notably wrote an important eyewitness account of "the events of October, 1968, in Mexico City, when soldiers shot and bayonetted hundreds of anti-government protesters."Today, she is a self -styled "Christian atheist" consumed with blinding rage against

Onward christian vidiots

2006-05-30T11:05:00.000-07:00

In line with the growing trend* of virtualizing preexisting hostilities and fantasies of domination to stoke hatred and make violence more of a reflex, we now have Left Behind: Eternal Forces.Imagine: you are a foot soldier in a paramilitary group whose purpose is to remake America as a Christian theocracy, and establish its worldly vision of the dominion of Christ over all aspects of life. You

All washed up

2006-05-30T10:12:00.000-07:00

The Independent has an extended extract from Chomsky's new book Failed States. The section on recent developments in Latin America is of particular interest.Meanwhile, Cuba-Venezuela relations are becoming very close, each relying on its comparative advantage. Venezuela is providing low-cost oil while in return Cuba organises literacy and health programs, sending thousands of highly skilled

Don't pray for me

2006-05-28T12:58:00.000-07:00

I got accosted by some Jehovah's Witnesses last week who made the mistake of knocking on my door early Saturday morning. Let's just say that I put my best face on and gave them something to talk about in church the following week.Scout Prime over at First Draft has a good post Momma, Don't let the Baptists pray over my dead body about another vile outfit called Victim Relief Ministries, which

Recycling an implausible narrative of persecution

2006-05-24T09:00:00.000-07:00

The New York Times profiles a group called the Seekers which are infiltrating NY high schools. The group promotes a "Jesus day" at the schools, the main purpose of which is evangelism.The rather long article quotes many of these Jesus promoters about their feelings of persecution, about how in the past pushing their religion on others received no official sanction and how some people laughed at

Fairy Tales

2006-05-22T14:15:00.000-07:00

Juan Cole and a number of other intrepid bloggers caught a particularly blatant piece of war propaganda this weekend about a supposed new Iranian law "forcing Jews and Christians to wear colored badges." Turns out the source was a bit suspicious, as was the paper that published it.And now the Telegraph runs this utterly implausible story, unsourced of course, that seems scripted straight out of

The incorruptable baby jesus

2006-05-20T06:01:00.000-07:00

"Even baby Jesus accepted gifts and I don't believe it corrupted him." -- Rep. Drew Saunders, D-Mecklenburg, in support of an amendment to the legislative ethics bill that lowers the monetary threshold on gifts lawmakers may receive from neighbors and state employees.The Charlotte Observer 5/17/06

Lo! --for a sign has appeared...

2006-05-18T13:25:00.000-07:00

A recent inspiration of Ron Englishclick on picture to enlarge"...holy terror2000 years in the tomb9 months in the wombI'm back...."

Like bringing radiation to Chernobyl

2006-05-16T21:47:00.000-07:00

The Guardian reports that Bono gave George Bush an ipod and a bible...WTF is the matter with Bono. Dropped on his head? Fell down a well? I had always known he was a total wanker, but really...

Great Satan Park

2006-05-16T14:22:00.000-07:00

'Great Satan Park' plannedTehran - The former US embassy in Tehran could soon see a new chapter in its troubled history, with a top Iranian commander calling for the downtown compound to be turned into a "Great Satan Park"."We would be able to nicely show off the American crimes to citizens strolling in the park," General Mir-Faisal Bagherzadeh told the official news agency IRNA."The former

The spin machine goes off cycle

2006-05-16T08:57:00.000-07:00

I. Happy Gitmo: Pentagon launches Guantanamo PR campaignGood Morning Gitmo!The Pentagon has launched a public relations campaign to offset the negative publicity about its terrorist detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Officials from the Joint Chiefs of Staff Detainee Affairs Section have worked up a new briefing and made presentations in recent months to some 3,000 people, including media

Homersapiens meet Mt. St. Helens

2006-05-14T10:46:00.000-07:00

On tonight's episode of the Simpsons:Lisa is arrested for defying the new law in Springfield against teaching evolution after Reverend Lovejoy is appointed by Mayor Quimby (at Ned Flanders' request) to be the town's new "morality czar" in charge of promoting creationism; can a comment made in the show's first season come back to save her? Guest stars Larry Hagman and Melanie Griffith. --via

The Iraq War Dividend

2006-05-11T12:37:00.000-07:00

Iraq: the common factor in two tales of unpopularityThere is a single issue that unites George Bush and Tony Blair. It is Iraq. The two leaders speak with the same voice. They have an identical policy and exit strategy. Both repeat the mantra that US and British troops will stay in Iraq to see the job through and will be pulled out only when security conditions are right so the Iraqi army and

A gang of anarchist Robin Hood-style thieves

2006-05-09T21:19:00.000-07:00

German 'Robin Hoods' give poor a taste of the high lifeThe Scotsman 5/9/06A GANG of anarchist Robin Hood-style thieves, who dress as superheroes and steal expensive food from exclusive restaurants and delicatessens to give to the poor, are being hunted by police in the German city of Hamburg. The gang members seemingly take delight in injecting humour into their raids, which rely on sheer

WP wanker explains how opposing a war prolongs a war

2006-05-09T13:43:00.000-07:00

From Salon's War Room:Cohen: Colbert was rude, and his defenders are dangerous When we last heard from Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen, he was declaring Stephen Colbert "not just a failure as a comedian but rude." Cohen has now heard back from those who disagree with him. He says that they're rude, too. In the sort of thin-skinned response we've heard from the Post before, Cohen

Funny arguments

2006-05-08T19:40:00.000-07:00

I. P1. If Bush doubted there was good evidence of WMDs in Iraq, he would have planted a throw-down.P2. There was no evidence of WMDs found in Iraq, not even a throw-down, despite every opportunity (even now!) to throw evidence down._____________________________________________________________C. Bush did not doubt that there was good evidence of WMDs in Iraq.(via but not endorsed

Thank you for not breeding

2006-05-06T13:05:00.000-07:00

This photo actually appears above the UPI story.A local story nicely illustrates the maxim that not everyone should have children.Ratbitten baby's parents jailed The parents of a 6-month-old Medford, Oregon boy who police say was bitten as many as 200 times by a rat they took home have been jailed. Robert Horsfall, 21, and Maegan McCleary, 19, said they found the rat at a creek and put it in a

Fin du volcano

2006-05-05T14:24:00.000-07:00

Mt. St. Helens is growing a spine. Maybe it can teach the Democrats something!Short video here (May 3rd).From the Washington Post:If the skies are clear as forecast, volcano watchers who turn out for the reopening of the Johnston Ridge Observatory on Friday will get a spectacular view of a hulking slab of rock that's rapidly growing in Mount St. Helens' crater.It's jutting up from one of seven

Cole v. Hitchens

2006-05-02T22:38:00.001-07:00

The most prominent difference between Hitchens and the people atLittle Green Footballs is that Hitchens gets published in Slate.Juan Cole has an amazing piece up about Hitchens hacking and posting some of his private communications in yet another despicable smear campaign. The goal: Hitchens wants a war with Iran. Of course Hitchens' interpretation of the messages he pilfered doesn't pass the

Tuesday Comics

2006-05-02T14:01:00.000-07:00

A panel from Crap I Drew on My Lunch Break 4/4/06A panel from The Boiling Point: "It's My Religion!"A panel from Slowpoke: Wall*Bank

On the interpretation of silence

2006-05-02T10:02:00.000-07:00

Apologies for continuing to harp on Stephen Colbert's performance at Saturday's White House Correspondents dinner, but as much as I liked his act, the reaction of the mainstream press has been even more interesting. As I pointed out in my previous post, it was mostly a non-reaction, beautifully documented in all its lock step uniformity in a very nice piece at Media Matters.As many have pointed

I'll be your mirror

2006-05-02T04:23:00.000-07:00

Much of the press and the entirety of the right wing didn't see the humor in Stephen Colbert's "blistering comedy tribute" to President Bush at the White House Correspondents dinner on Saturday. In their report on the event, the New York Times didn't even mention his keynote perfomance in their coverage of the event. Down the memory hole, literally.Editor & Publisher, which has had some of the

This week in schadenfreude (updated)

2006-04-28T19:17:00.000-07:00

It has been a really bad week for the Mayberry Machiavellis, hence a really entertaining week for the rest of us.The Crawford Caligula, to use Chris Floyd's apt epithet for him, decided to cut out the middle man, and merge the office of press secretary with Fox news in a pathetic attempt to staunch plummeting ratings in opinion polls. The incoming press secretary, who is by the way an avowed

On the credibility of the FDA

2006-04-26T09:50:00.000-07:00

A New York women's group is trying to force approval of over the counter sales of Plan B, an emergency contraceptive pill over FDA objections. In an FDA memo, uncovered during the discovery process, an agency official raises the following objection to approval:"we could not anticipate, or prevent extreme promiscuous behaviors such as the medication taking on an 'urban legend' status that would

Texas Tea

2006-04-25T17:07:00.000-07:00

"However much they built one day the earth swallowed up the next, in such a way that they had no idea where their work had vanished to." --Geoffery of Monmouth History of the Kings of BritainThe New York Times today has a perhaps unintentionally humorous article about the neverending disaster attending the attempted rebuilding of Iraqi oil pipelines.When Robert Sanders was sent by the

The atheists under the bed

2006-04-22T21:30:00.000-07:00

In a rather juvenile and loosely reasoned diatribe "The left's own religious whackjobs," Raw Story columnist Melinda Barton marshals a series of straw man arguments against the threat of what she terms "secular whackjobs."As far as I can determine, her basic point is that secular extremists pose a danger to "the integrity and success of progressive movements" in America. Curiously, the only two

Emotional Correctness

2006-04-21T11:24:00.000-07:00

Writing in American Prospect about "enlightened pro-war liberal" Paul Berman's response to Francis Fukayama's change of heart on Iraq, Jim Sleeper digresses to gratuitously kick the unpatriotic left.As his example, he takes Daniel Lazare's unflattering review of Todd Gitlin's ode to patriotism.Berman has a point in lampooning people who write as if terrorists were just anti-imperialists in a

American Ethnic Geography

2006-04-21T09:35:00.000-07:00

Map of religious adherents as a percentage of all residents (2000) Click on the image to enlargeAs we continue graphics week here at Secular Front, American Ethnic Geography has a very informative series of maps of the US by ethnic group, cultural region, religion, language, politics and socio-economics. Notice in the map of religious adherents above, Oregon is the only state lacking even a

Graphing the apocalypse

2006-04-21T07:58:00.000-07:00

Click on image to enlarge. From a series of apocalyptic graphics in the new issue of Seed.

Yojimbo in Iraq

2006-04-20T10:16:00.000-07:00

Like the frontier town in Yojimbo, Iraq still has one major growth industry.

Democracy grows out of the barrel of a gun

2006-04-20T06:36:00.000-07:00

From Kirk Anderson's BusheviksAnd while we are on the topic of social realist aesthetics, this month's Prospect has a fun piece on the culture and politics of humor under communism: 'Hammer and Tickle.'

Thus passeth Piggy

2006-04-19T13:22:00.000-07:00

"He's Piggy in Lord of the Flies: a living victim,whose reason for being is, apparently, to shoulder public ridicule and pain."-- Michael Wolff, "Words Fail Him" Vanity Fair

The revolt of the generals

2006-04-17T08:29:00.000-07:00

Ruchira Paul has a good, concise overview of the generals' revolt (now including Wesley Clark).Rootless Cosmopolitan speculates about the reasons for doing it now and why Rumsfeld is the target:Rumsfeld is, in some ways, low hanging fruit for the generals. After all, he's the civilian political appointee who translates administration policy into the military, and as such is the obvious target of

Failure

2006-04-17T06:42:00.001-07:00

Alas, despite the valiant efforts of the troops, the war on Easter has failed. FOX news reports.Up Next: The war on the American flag--sadly, not a joke. And it's as bipartisan in its detachment from reality as support for the Iraq war.-------Update 4/17: 'Easter Bunny Busted in Mall Attack.'

Guilty Pleasures

2006-04-14T06:51:00.000-07:00

I"It make my day," Mr. Moussaoui said several times when asked about one witness or another.In his heavy French accent, he ridiculed the tearful testimony of several family members who told the jury how profoundly the attacks had affected their lives."I find it disgusting that some people will come here to share their grief," he said. Americans should know, he said, that grief is precisely what

Participatory democracy

2006-04-13T16:44:00.000-07:00

In September 2005, Tom Hayden wrote a new preface and introduction to The Port Huron Statement, the founding manifesto of the SDS. These are now available on Truthdig, with some additional, more recent reflections on Rachel Corrie and Israel.Of particular interest is the discussion throughout of the lasting legacy of participatory democracy, both in terms of the sources and affinities of these

Is this really happening?

2006-04-12T18:14:00.000-07:00

This is no dream! This is really happening! --RosemaryJorge Hirsch, a physicist and frequent commentator on Iraq and nuclear weapons has even more dire predictions about Bush Administration plans than Seymour Hersh.If there is an aerial bombing of Iran, I believe it is inevitable it will go nuclear. The intention is there, the advisors are there, the nuclear policies and the weapons are there.

Yuri's Night

2006-04-12T14:11:00.000-07:00

Jon Langford: Sputnik 57 from All the Fame of Lofty Deeds45 Years ago today, on April 12th 1961, Yuri Gagarin became the first human to go into space. Tonight there is a worldwide celebration of his achievement--on all 7 continents. The site has a nice video with some old footage of Gagarin set to music plus a few tunes. I thought I might suggest some more appropriate music.Sputnik 57--Jon

End of the line for the godfather

2006-04-11T22:32:00.000-07:00

An inspired headline mashup from The Independent.

Complaints from strange quarters

2006-04-11T13:37:00.000-07:00

So it appears that Romano Prodi has won both houses of the Italian parliament in Sunday's tight election. Berlusconi, who personally controls the bulk of the Italian media, including all 7 television networks, and whose party changed the election law at the last minute in what his own Interior Minister has admitted was a "dirty trick," is complaining about voting irregularities and refusing to

Reading bird entrails in Iran

2006-04-11T09:31:00.000-07:00

Using reason to try to figure out what the Bush regime is likely to do in Iran is about as reliable as trying to divine the future in bird entrails. This is after all a regime that proudly rejects the reality based approach to the world.Nuking Iran would be "completely nuts," says British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw. Well yes, of course it would, but what does that really tell us about how

The will to believe

2006-04-10T12:07:00.000-07:00

My UFO sighting in SE Portland yesterday after seeing The God Who Wasn't There at the Longbaugh film festival.click on image to enlarge

Averting nuclear war in Iran

2006-04-09T09:31:00.000-07:00

I imagine most people have read Seymour Hersh's new piece on current plans for a war on Iran, including possible use of nuclear weapons. The claims have of course been denied, anonymously, of course, but the Washington Post offers some confirmation. And Hersh appeared on CNN today to discuss the article. Video and transcript are at Think Progress.The War in Context has an interesting take on