A Trapdoor In The Sun

Is the controversy over building a mosque near ground zero a grand distraction or a grand opportunity? Or is it, once again, grandiose demagoguery? It has been said, “Nero fiddled while Rome burned.” Are we not overly preoccupied with this controversy, now being used in various ways by grandstanding politicians? It looks to me like the politicians are “fiddling while the economy burns.” The debate should have provided the conservative defenders of property rights with a perfect example of how the right to own property also protects the 1st Amendment rights of assembly and religion by supporting the building of the mosque. Instead, we hear lip service given to the property rights position while demanding that the need to be “sensitive” requires an all-out assault on the building of a mosque, several blocks from “ground zero.” Just think of what might (not) have happened if the whole issue had been ignored and the national debate stuck with war, peace, and prosperity. ...

Once again, Islamophobia raises it's ugly head. I bet you if a Catholic Church petitioned to build a 'community center' across the street from ground zero, not one person would raise their hand in protest. In fact, the center would likely be funded by some Faith Based initiative (which is conserva-speak for religious welfare). But when a Muslim group decides they want to build a community center two and a half city blocks away from ground zero, the Right Wing Jezus-Zombies start coming out of the wood work, citing one non-factual claim after another to incite fear among the population. So much so that these morons have began protesting mosques being built all over the country. Now, I can see if this Park 51 was built ON ground zero, how that could be a problem. But it isn't. It's two blocks away. But at the core we see what a double standard these idiots subscribe to. On one hand, they go on about the Constitution and Freedom of Religion. They constantly decry the...

Coffee Vomit is when you get a nice steaming cup of to-go Joe topped by one of those plastic lids with one singular uncovered hole on the top, only to have coffee suddenly shoot out of the opening like a gusher from a whale blowhole. Usually it's your freshly clean dress shirt and tie that suffers the most, aside from 3rd degree burns on your cup holding hand.

If you've never heard of Ted Olson, he's the attorney that successfully argued Bush V Gore in 2000. Although he is known to be a staunch conservative, he was the attorney behind the repealing of Prop 8 in California last week. In this interview on Fox, Olson schools Chris Wallace on the 14th Amendment, the Bill of Rights, and what truly defines the overused phrase, "judicial activism". Where is the right to same-sex marriage in the Constitution?" asked Wallace. "Where is the right to interracial marriage in the Constitution, Chris?" replied Olson. "The Supreme Court has looked at marriage and has said that the right to marry is a fundamental right for all citizens. So you call it interracial marriage and then you could prohibit it, no? The Supreme Court said no. The same thing here," explained Olson. "The judge after hearing three weeks of testimony and full day of closing arguments and listening to experts from all over the world c...

 Ah... I love the Constitutionally enforced freedom of religion in this country... unless your religion is Islam. Then you are a filthy terrorist. Seriously, what kook kool-aid do these people drink? While a high-profile battle rages over a  mosque near ground zero  in Manhattan, heated confrontations have also broken out in communities across the country where mosques are proposed for far less hallowed locations. Related Mosque Plan Clears Hurdle in New York  (August 4, 2010) Planned Sign of Tolerance Bringing Division Instead  (July 14, 2010) Times Topic:  Cordoba Center (Ground Zero Mosque) Enlarge This Image Christopher Berkey/Associated Press In Murfreesboro, Tenn., arguments broke out over a planned Muslim center. In Murfreesboro, Tenn., Republican candidates have denounced plans for a large Muslim center proposed near a subdivision, and hundreds of protesters have turned out for a march and a county meeting. In late June, in Temecula, Calif., me...

I really haven't visited Blogger much in the past few years or so. I think MySpace took over and now Facebook seems to be the place to be. For a while I was blogging at a nice little site called Multiply, but I have since moved on from there. I'm still living in Central Ohio... in beautiful Grandview Heights. We're located about 2 miles out of Columbus' downtown area. I'm currently sharing a very spacious townhome with another room mate, Ben. It's a fairly cooperative living situation, as he spends much of the year away from home, working sound on cruise ships and as a music teacher at a Jewish summer camp in rural PA. Thus, I get the place to myself for the most part. I am again working for Chase Bank in mortgage servicing. As an account supervisor, I work with heated borrowers to resolve escalated issues and serve as a team lead for my department. It's been quite the learning experience, but I definitely have a front row seat to the issues that have been...

I want to shake... I want to wind down... I want to leave... this mind and shout I've lived all this life like an ocean in disguise... I won't live forever... you can't keep me here.

by Paul Hawken When I was invited to give this speech, I was asked if I could give a simple short talk that was “direct, naked, taut, honest, passionate, lean, shivering, startling, and graceful.” No pressure there. Let’s begin with the startling part. Class of 2009: you are going to have to figure out what it means to be a human being on earth at a time when every living system is declining, and the rate of decline is accelerating. Kind of a mind-boggling situation… but not one peer-reviewed paper published in the last thirty years can refute that statement. Basically, civilization needs a new operating system, you are the programmers, and we need it within a few decades. This  planet came with a set of instructions, but we seem to have misplaced them. Important rules like don’t poison the water, soil, or air, don’t let the earth get overcrowded, and don’t touch the thermostat have been broken. Buckminster Fuller said that spaceship earth was so ingeniously de...

I'm going on the record as of now and stating implicitly that I do not support the health care bill as it was passed by Congress and signed in by the Obama Administration. Do I believe that health care is important and a necessary security blanket for all individuals? Absolutely! However, what was passed in DC is so far removed from the original concept of a single-payer system that, in my opinion, it is nothing more than a give away to the Insurance Industry and Big Pharma. So what if they have to drop their pre-existing conditions clause? Insurers don't care because THEY HAVE MILLIONS UPON MILLIONS OF NEW PEOPLE ENROLLED! And for those who can't afford their premiums, Uncle Sam will subsidize them and pay for them with borrowed money.  Quite frankly, I find it disgusting and I feel betrayed. We voted for change, but it seems that Obama is picking up the baton of corporatism dropped by Bush Jr. and sprinting for that finish line. Along with the recent SCOTUS decision to gi...

I was listening to this earlier on my iPhone. I really, truly, love this song. I can't put it into words. It's very simple and childlike. When I listen to the words, I fall back to a simpler time as a kid growing up in Florida. We would take these trips to Walt Disney World every couple of years for our vacation. I remember the long drive back home, late at night, after a long day in the Magic Kingdom. My sister Jennifer and I would lay down in the back of the parent's AMC station wagon and watch the starry night sky through the back window. I remember how good the cool summer breeze felt coming through the cracked windows. I recall falling asleep on the long drive home, trying to pick out Orion and the Big Dipper from a black-blue sky full of gems and rhinestones. I miss those days. I miss not having to worry about bills or making it to work on time. Everything seemed perfect. I roll the window down And then begin to breathe in The darkest country road And the stro...

Well, today marks the 10 th anniversary of the release of Trent Reznor's "The Fragile". This double album was way ahead of it's time sonically, although so was The Downward Spiral. What sets The Fragile apart is the composition of the songs. They are more detailed and intricate than anything on The Downward Spiral. There are moments of beauty, such as La Mer , well you can tell that the sun is peaking out from the dark places in Trent's soul. And of course, there are the angry screamers like No You Don't and Starfuckers , Inc that definitely reflect Trents aggro writing style. Overall, though. This was a really decent record, and one of the best prior to the Orwellian stuff he has gotten into lately with Year Zero. Trust me, Trent. We've already got Muse covering that. Leave it alone and go back to what you do best.

I picked up the new Pearl Jam album, Backspacer, over the weekend. I have to admit I was a little bit worried that I may not be able to enjoy it as much as I wanted to. Not because I expected a lesser effort from the band than they put out with their self-titled album, but because I've been on a Pearl Jam moratorium for a few years now. Pearl Jam was the one band that I shared with an ex I had dated for six years. We were both enthusiastic Jammers, attending some 13 shows around the country between 2000 and 2006. We went through a pretty brutal break up during the bands last tour. I guess I was worried that I would associate the new material with those memories and it would sap the enjoyment out of it. The good news is that the whole album seems fresh to me and I don't feel even a twinge of emotional heartache when listening to it. By far, the earworm on the album is a rocker called "The Fixer". My take on the song is somewhat personal. As men, it seems like we spen...

Welcome to the day after. You are probably waking up right now and feeling that exact feeling of dread that I felt in 2000 and 2004. I don't envy you. But at least look for the silver lining. Now the Limbaughs, Hannitys and Savages have enough fodder to keep them employed for at least the next four years. Think of this as job security. I've read a few very angry and hateful posts this morning on Multiply. I don't understand why some people take it so personally that in a democracy as the United States happens to be, their neighbor or friend or relative may have voted for 'that guy' instead of McCain. Perhaps they do not understand that when it comes down to it, there are much more important issues at hand than a so-called racist preacher, a washed-up former domestic 'terrorist', a birth certificate (which to my knowledge has still not been proven to be false), and other below the belt associations and accusations. Shut down the propaganda mill. The whistle j...

A forged letter linking Saddam Hussein to the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks was ordered on White House stationery and probably came from the office of Vice President Dick Cheney, according to a new transcript of a conversation with the Central Intelligence Agency's former Deputy Chief of Clandestine Operations Robert Richer posted Friday. read more | digg story

The vast majority of Americans are dissatisfied with the U.S. health care system, and 82 percent think it needs to be overhauled, a new survey found. "There is a broad view by the public that our health care system needs a full overhaul, either to be totally rebuilt or reformed." read more | digg story

http://www.newsobserver.com/politics/politicians/helms/story/1135443.html RALEIGH - L.F. Eason III gave up the only job he'd ever had rather than lower a flag to honor former U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms. Eason, a 29-year veteran of the state Department of Agriculture, instructed his staff at a small Raleigh lab not to fly the U.S. or North Carolina flags at half-staff Monday, defying a directive sent to all state agencies by Gov. Mike Easley. When a superior ordered the lab to follow the directive, Eason decided to retire rather than pay tribute to Helms. After several hours' delay, one of Eason's employees hung the flags at half-staff. The brouhaha began late Sunday night, when Eason e-mailed eight of his employees in the state standards lab, which calibrates measuring equipment used on things as widely varied as gasoline and hamburgers. "Regardless of any executive proclamation, I do not want the flags at the North Carolina Standards Laboratory flown at half staff to ...

http://wonkette.com/401018/anti-gay-alabama-attorney-general-caught-being-gay Anti-Gay Alabama A.G. Caught Being Gay This may come as a shock, but a prominent anti-homosexual Republican attorney general has apparently been caught having homosexual sex intercourse with his homosexual gay male assistant. Bonus: The dude’s wife caught him, in their bed. This is the rumor that the AG’s office has officially denied, so now of course everybody is spilling the sordid details. AG in question is Troy King, who, of course, is only interested in outlawing homosexuality and sex toys. His gay lover is either a college “buddy,” or a very young youngster and “Homecoming King” from Troy University. What are the odds of a dude named Troy King getting caught in bed with a Homecoming King from Troy University? This seems like a wacky sitcom plot, on a gay porn channel. (Is this what that Will & Grace was about?)

Are we in the 70's again? Should I break out some platform shoes and start wearing wide ties? Today's crunch feels like '70s By Michael E. Kanell The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Published on: 07/13/08 High oil prices, a sluggish economy, persistent inflation , an unpopular president and the Eagles are out on tour. Sounds like a rerun of the 1970s. But it is also a snapshot from the summer of 2008 —- even if it does conjure images from the past. "The similarities are there," said economist Gerald Lynch of Purdue University. "That was a miserable time for the economy. And the clothes were ugly, too." Wide ties may not be making a comeback, but hints of the era's economics are in the air. One of the stars of that original '70s show was stagflation, a term invented to describe a mix of rapid inflation and near-stagnant growth. The word has re-entered the economic vocabulary of late. "As far as I can see, the wheels have fallen off ...