Red Day news and stuff - 14 February 2011
Feb. 15th, 2011 10:47 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
silveradeptGreetz, all. Today has been IHHIWTMFSOTMFP. Although there have been touching moments about it, too, like Representative Giffords speaking and mouthing words to songs, it's definitely been IHHIWTMFSOTMFP in our personal life. It does not look to be letting up soon.
Up top, in case you were wondering, no, your library workers are probably not getting paid more than private sector counterparts, no matter how much the anti-tax, kill the public services people in your government or crafting initiatives want you to believe.
The Beeb offers awful framing to what would be an excellent bill - requiring churches to allow marriage ceremonies to QUILTBAG persons to take place in their religious sanctums or face penalties. From the use of quotes arround marriage when used to describe a non-hetero partnership as well as mostly letting the churches talk about how horrible it would be for them to have to marry those people instead of mostly discussing the bill in the article, the Beeb's not exactly showing the unbiased journalism they're supposed to be the best at. Plus, there's the part where when threatened, suddenly democracy by majority and mob rule are very important, as is self-determination for pirvate organizations. Coming from places that routinely say that everyone should follow their interpretation to the exclusion of others, even though they're a minority, well, speck-plank problems are bound to come up.
Speaking of media bias and criticism, a source inside FOX News admits that not only do they not fact-check, they make stuff up. Propaganada arm of the Republican Party is the best they can hope for now.
Finally, a sensible strategy for education, courtesy Finland - lots of recess, lots of arts, crafts, and hands-on learning, paying teachers what they deserve while also making sure those who teach are the best of the best, and doing away entirely with standardized testing. You want to see a good education system, here it is - and I'll bet it costs about the same or less as what we're spending now.
Out in the world today, human rights groups swear to box in the previous administrator and at least prevent him from traveling without risking arrest for his role in Guantanamo Bay torture.
Also, an interactive graphic going inside Tahrir Square in Egypt, to see how the camp that changed the government was set up. The army formally took charge of the government, dissolved the parliament, and set a term of six months or elections as to the length of their rule. On his way out, Mr. Mubarak declared that a radical government would replace him in a call to the Israeli Prime Minister. I'm waiting for the conservative opinions here to catch on to that morsel - they'll call it proof they're right and The Bloodthirsty Religion will Inevitably Take Over...even though there haven't been elections. Of course, I could be wrong, and the columnists could focus on the people of Egypt and how they overcame their struggles with dictators and praise the events as the best chance that Egypt has to create a functional and stable democracy, but I think that those columns will be a minority in the coming days.
Algeria cut off access to the Internet as their own protest ranks swelled. Which is following the same track as all the other unsuccessful attempts to abort the revolution. One would think somewhere along the line they'd figure out it Doesn't Work. That said, there are plenty of opportunities for someone else to pick up on it, as protests continue to rage across the Arabian Penninsula.
Yemen's military will be receiving extra counter-terrorism training, due to fears of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. United States officials don't anticipate the public protests in Yemen causing difficulties.
More articles about what the Bible Really Says on sexual matters - well, there is something to be said for being able to interpret for yourself, isn't there? At the very least, it generally leads you away from overbearing fundamentalist insistences that anything fun or with the whiff of not being part of your religion is to be banned.
Domestically, A school district in texas canceled some Arabic language instruction classes after parents complained that their students were going to be taught Islam. *facepalm* There are several witty retorts available, but none of them will work in the face of what needs to be said: Whomever planted the seed of that phenomenally stupid idea in their heads needs to fix it, and fast.
Republicans will need to get on their horses and craft a budget with their proposed and ideal cuts, as President Obama unveils his budget at $3.73 trillion USD. There's your target, Republicans, now go at it. You've even supposedly been fired up by seveal far-right anti-Obama speeches from the CPAC conference to keep that fire burning in your eyes as you search for the cuts that will help you donors the most and hurt Obama's the most.
Training is underway to make the military ready for the formal repeal of the ban on open lesbian and gay servicepersons.
In opinions, Mr. Freeman dismisses any attempt to recase the Great Saint Reagan as some sort of moderate or compromiser, pooh-poohing Mr. Reid's words about the President who would be 100 years of age this year, were he still alive.
Mr. Decker sits and laughs at the fact that liberals and others will make fun of the President, apparently doing their work as conservatives for them when Bill Maher says that the President isn't really all that much of a Christian. He's right, at least insomuch that almost all American Presidents seem curiously deaf to the exhortations to take care of the poor and to love their neighbors in the same way they love themselves. What I find more interesting is that Mr. Decker thinks that Bill Maher making fun of Obama's American Christianity is seen as some sort of death-dealing strike to him. Perhaps among the social issues voters he was never going to get anyway, but for most Americans, just saying you are is enough - practicing it, well, that's another story entirely. Most American Christians don't really want to practice the whole of the religion themselves, and I'm not just talking about Levitical pronunciations here.
Last out, because he feels the need to send a nice Valentine, Mr. Pendry assures his readers that the United States really is the greatest country in the world, espousing the greatest of Christian virtues, resisting the pull of the statists and big-governmenters, and having fidelity to their Constitution. Well, at least the True Americans are - liberals and Obama supporters need not apply.
However, winning a Gold Star for tonight is Mr. Medved, who points out that attributing all the woes of the country to the malice of President Obama does disservice to the conservative movement, flies in the face of historical precedent regarding the character of Presidents, and violates the maxim abnout attributing to malice what can easily be explained by incompetence. (Although he didn't actually write that, I suspect he would be okay with that characterization.) He suggests that if conservatives hope to have a prayer at taking the White House in 2012, they should run against the inhabitant of the office and not against the office itself, and painting the President as someone who Hates America and wants it to fail is bound to backfire horribly.
And last for tonight, Bittersweets, perfect for those of you who have the right sense of humor around a greeting card holiday.
Up top, in case you were wondering, no, your library workers are probably not getting paid more than private sector counterparts, no matter how much the anti-tax, kill the public services people in your government or crafting initiatives want you to believe.
The Beeb offers awful framing to what would be an excellent bill - requiring churches to allow marriage ceremonies to QUILTBAG persons to take place in their religious sanctums or face penalties. From the use of quotes arround marriage when used to describe a non-hetero partnership as well as mostly letting the churches talk about how horrible it would be for them to have to marry those people instead of mostly discussing the bill in the article, the Beeb's not exactly showing the unbiased journalism they're supposed to be the best at. Plus, there's the part where when threatened, suddenly democracy by majority and mob rule are very important, as is self-determination for pirvate organizations. Coming from places that routinely say that everyone should follow their interpretation to the exclusion of others, even though they're a minority, well, speck-plank problems are bound to come up.
Speaking of media bias and criticism, a source inside FOX News admits that not only do they not fact-check, they make stuff up. Propaganada arm of the Republican Party is the best they can hope for now.
Finally, a sensible strategy for education, courtesy Finland - lots of recess, lots of arts, crafts, and hands-on learning, paying teachers what they deserve while also making sure those who teach are the best of the best, and doing away entirely with standardized testing. You want to see a good education system, here it is - and I'll bet it costs about the same or less as what we're spending now.
Out in the world today, human rights groups swear to box in the previous administrator and at least prevent him from traveling without risking arrest for his role in Guantanamo Bay torture.
Also, an interactive graphic going inside Tahrir Square in Egypt, to see how the camp that changed the government was set up. The army formally took charge of the government, dissolved the parliament, and set a term of six months or elections as to the length of their rule. On his way out, Mr. Mubarak declared that a radical government would replace him in a call to the Israeli Prime Minister. I'm waiting for the conservative opinions here to catch on to that morsel - they'll call it proof they're right and The Bloodthirsty Religion will Inevitably Take Over...even though there haven't been elections. Of course, I could be wrong, and the columnists could focus on the people of Egypt and how they overcame their struggles with dictators and praise the events as the best chance that Egypt has to create a functional and stable democracy, but I think that those columns will be a minority in the coming days.
Algeria cut off access to the Internet as their own protest ranks swelled. Which is following the same track as all the other unsuccessful attempts to abort the revolution. One would think somewhere along the line they'd figure out it Doesn't Work. That said, there are plenty of opportunities for someone else to pick up on it, as protests continue to rage across the Arabian Penninsula.
Yemen's military will be receiving extra counter-terrorism training, due to fears of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. United States officials don't anticipate the public protests in Yemen causing difficulties.
More articles about what the Bible Really Says on sexual matters - well, there is something to be said for being able to interpret for yourself, isn't there? At the very least, it generally leads you away from overbearing fundamentalist insistences that anything fun or with the whiff of not being part of your religion is to be banned.
Domestically, A school district in texas canceled some Arabic language instruction classes after parents complained that their students were going to be taught Islam. *facepalm* There are several witty retorts available, but none of them will work in the face of what needs to be said: Whomever planted the seed of that phenomenally stupid idea in their heads needs to fix it, and fast.
Republicans will need to get on their horses and craft a budget with their proposed and ideal cuts, as President Obama unveils his budget at $3.73 trillion USD. There's your target, Republicans, now go at it. You've even supposedly been fired up by seveal far-right anti-Obama speeches from the CPAC conference to keep that fire burning in your eyes as you search for the cuts that will help you donors the most and hurt Obama's the most.
Training is underway to make the military ready for the formal repeal of the ban on open lesbian and gay servicepersons.
In opinions, Mr. Freeman dismisses any attempt to recase the Great Saint Reagan as some sort of moderate or compromiser, pooh-poohing Mr. Reid's words about the President who would be 100 years of age this year, were he still alive.
Mr. Decker sits and laughs at the fact that liberals and others will make fun of the President, apparently doing their work as conservatives for them when Bill Maher says that the President isn't really all that much of a Christian. He's right, at least insomuch that almost all American Presidents seem curiously deaf to the exhortations to take care of the poor and to love their neighbors in the same way they love themselves. What I find more interesting is that Mr. Decker thinks that Bill Maher making fun of Obama's American Christianity is seen as some sort of death-dealing strike to him. Perhaps among the social issues voters he was never going to get anyway, but for most Americans, just saying you are is enough - practicing it, well, that's another story entirely. Most American Christians don't really want to practice the whole of the religion themselves, and I'm not just talking about Levitical pronunciations here.
Last out, because he feels the need to send a nice Valentine, Mr. Pendry assures his readers that the United States really is the greatest country in the world, espousing the greatest of Christian virtues, resisting the pull of the statists and big-governmenters, and having fidelity to their Constitution. Well, at least the True Americans are - liberals and Obama supporters need not apply.
However, winning a Gold Star for tonight is Mr. Medved, who points out that attributing all the woes of the country to the malice of President Obama does disservice to the conservative movement, flies in the face of historical precedent regarding the character of Presidents, and violates the maxim abnout attributing to malice what can easily be explained by incompetence. (Although he didn't actually write that, I suspect he would be okay with that characterization.) He suggests that if conservatives hope to have a prayer at taking the White House in 2012, they should run against the inhabitant of the office and not against the office itself, and painting the President as someone who Hates America and wants it to fail is bound to backfire horribly.
And last for tonight, Bittersweets, perfect for those of you who have the right sense of humor around a greeting card holiday.
