John and Tim both died today. What a coincidence huh? They left the site to me. Sorry. Deal. Open thread. They’re dead. How do you like that?
Republicans suck – ahmmmm, until I confirm the actual fatalities.
This post is in: Previous Site Maintenance
John and Tim both died today. What a coincidence huh? They left the site to me. Sorry. Deal. Open thread. They’re dead. How do you like that?
Republicans suck – ahmmmm, until I confirm the actual fatalities.
This post is in: Previous Site Maintenance
I’d like to get together and argue with you on Saturday at a local pub. Maybe Prince of Wales or Hand in Hand. If you like Irish music, we could go to Limerick Junction.
This post is in: Politics, Republican Stupidity, General Stupidity, Outrage
Dreggas left this link in the comments.
Here’s the text of H.Res. 847, just so you know how important Christianity and Xmas are:
“Recognizing the importance of Christmas and the Christian faith.
Whereas Christmas, a holiday of great significance to Americans and many other cultures and nationalities, is celebrated annually by Christians throughout the United States and the world;
Whereas there are approximately 225,000,000 Christians in the United States, making Christianity the religion of over three-fourths of the American population;
Whereas there are approximately 2,000,000,000 Christians throughout the world, making Christianity the largest religion in the world and the religion of about one-third of the world population;
Blah, blah, blah, “Christmas is important.”
Every one of them. EVERY ONE OF THEM who votes for this should be kicked out of congress next term. Every. Single. One.
Now, pardon me while I go sit by my menorah and weep.
The War on Christmas, Part…Uhmmmm, Oh Fuck, Part InfinityPost + Comments (165)
This post is in: Politics
…but he would lose to a Democratic competitor by double digits.
In head-to-head matchups — the first [poll] to include Huckabee — the former Arkansas governor loses to Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York by 10 percentage points (54 percent to 44 percent), to Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois by 15 points (55 percent to 40 percent) and to former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina by 25 points (60 percent to 35 percent).
My only surprise here is John Edwards’ lead, especially since he’s behind Obama and Hillary nationally. I’ve always liked him, but can’t figure out why he’s so far ahead of Obama in a matvchup against Huckabee. I know why he’s ahead of Hillary – because there’s a visceral reaction to any Clinton from the right. But Obama? I don’t get it.
**Clarification: I guess my question is this: Why is Edwards first in this poll, but third nationally among Democrats? Is there something about Huckabee?
This post is in: The War on Your Neighbor, aka the War on Drugs
This is a good decision from the Supreme Court:
The Supreme Court called Monday for a retreat from the strict national sentencing guidelines set during the “war on drugs” of the 1980s, ruling that federal judges may set prison terms well below those recommendations.[…]
In 1986 — alarmed by the sudden increase in the use of crack — Congress applied harsh mandatory minimums to crack-related crimes. As the court’s majority opinion noted Monday, legislators apparently believed that crack was highly addictive, that its users were more prone to violence, that it was more harmful to users than powder — especially to children whose mothers had smoked crack during pregnancy — and that its low cost and short but intense high made it particularly popular among young people.
Under the law, dealing 5 grams of crack could send a seller to prison for five years — the same sentence imposed for 500 grams of powder cocaine.
No question that crack is highly addictive. But the problem is two-fold:
First, Congress made an arbitrary decision because it was good politics. No surprise there; that happens all the time (see sex offender registries) More importantly though, this law disproportionately affects minorities. I’m not sure the intent was to do that, but as is nearly always the case in feel-good lawmaking, it was certainly the effect. Crack is a much cheaper drug than powdered cocaine and, therefore, became much more prevalent in the African American community and other communities with lower income levels. The result was that African Americans were the chief targets of the law. Many hundreds of thousands of them are in jail for much longer periods because they couldn’t afford the powdered version.
But that’s just me. What do you think? Personally, I think the “War on Drugs” is nothing but a scam perpetrated by politicians who’d rather you focus on that than their own incompetence. It’s a feel-good, reactive “war.” I don’t blame this on the Bush administration – it’s been going on far longer than this – but if Bush and future presidents want an example where pre-emptive war is a good idea, then this is certainly one where that philosophy would work. Legalize or decriminalize drugs like pot and pardon every single person who is serving or has served time for it. Then, find other ways to deal with harsher addictive drugs like cocaine, heroin, and meth.
I’ve no problem with major dealers being incarcerated. My problem is with recreational users-turned-addicts being put in jail. Not only does it cost you and me many, many billions of dollars a year, it accomplishes nothing to solve any drug problem we have in this country.
This post is in: Assholes, I Read These Morons So You Don't Have To
I don’t believe this tale about Gang Rape because, well, teh left may get mad about it.
by John Cole| 61 Comments
This post is in: Republican Crime Syndicate - aka the Bush Admin.
“Screw it. Maybe I am guilty after all, and if I push the issue Bush won’t be around to get me off the hook again.”