A lot of my peeps are in 508 and 617. This just came in from one of them:
I just got a polling call about Martha Coakley. I also had to answer questions about gay marriage, Israel, and malaria, including this one: “In World War II, 6 million Jews were killed by the Nazis. Now 6 million Israelis live under constant threat of attack from Islamic extremists. Meanwhile, 1 million women and children in sub-Saharan Africa die each year from malaria. The United Nations could use its billions of dollars to protect the people of Israel or to prevent the spread of malaria. In your opinion, is the threat to security in Israel a more pressing concern that should immediately be addressed by the United Nations than the epidemic of malaria in Africa?”
I forgot the best part: “A study by Syracuse University found that although liberals make more money than conservatives, conservatives give more. Does this sound reasonable to you?”
Update. The number it came from is 202-461-3411 202-461-3441.
New Yorker
What the fuck is up with the first one? I mean, it has to be a push poll to make you say “Israel” (I mean, why else the Nazi crap?), but it really doesn’t “push” you there…..
Alex S.
There have been several reports of push-polling. Makes sense when you see polls like the “Pajamas media” poll showing Brown 15 pts ahead. No doubt, the Republicans are fighting dirty. The Democrats should never take a single thing for granted.
Epicurus
Conservatives give more? Sure, to the NRA, Focus on the Family, Right to Life idjyits…conservatives value property rights first, liberals/progressives know that human rights take serious precedence. Conservatives want to take away or abridge the rights of others (except to own gun, but that’s another story) and progressives want to let people exercise as many of their rights as possible. That’s why I will never, ever be a Republican…
henqiguai
The charitable donations thing has been reported previously. Something along the lines of religious teachings and a closer link with community churches and their good works. This is not unexpected.
PurpleGirl
There was a book published about two years ago, IIRC, that said conservatives give more money than liberals/progressives. The caveat to remember: the conservatives included money given to their own church for congregational support. This wasn’t usually mentioned in the MSM but I remember seeing the point made in professional fund-raising media.
Bill H
The first is typical inanity; they are not mutually exclusive, so why not do both? The second is just nonsensical; how is that either reasonable or unreasonable – it is simply (supposedly) a fact.
General Winfield Stuck
Turned on the teevee this morning and the bobbleheads were all aghast at the Coakley major major gaff of calling Curt Shilling a Yankees fan, and some idgit reporter on the scene confirmed it could be a game changer.
I then turned the teevee off with the thought that if false, this report is just another reason our media is operating in La La Land. And if true, then Mass deserves the wingnut they will get as Senator. And the rest of us get our shit sandwich with Clam Chowder.
Sam Hutcheson
It’s a push poll. It isn’t meant to be “sensical.” It’s meant to push the negatives of Martha Coakley higher than they currently are.
CT Voter
I get it. I think.
People who say they’re going to vote for Coakley think, contrary to reality, that liberals give more than conservatives, AND think malaria is a bigger deal than the Holocaust and the state of Israel combined?
Um, shorter version?
People who vote for Coakley are self-centered jerks more interested in saving the dirty unwashed masses of Africa than in protecting Israel.
There.
Michael
In my mind, stuffing the pockets of some glad-handing, shit-drawling redneck pastor of your local Southron megachurch isn’t charity. Its club dues, and shouldn’t be tax deductible.
Take churches that don’t actually do charity out of the charity mix, and watch those percentages converge.
Michael
Substitute the “N” word for “masses” – once you’ve done that, you’re thinking like a Southerner.
asiangrrlMN
Wow. That first one broke my brain, methinks. As for the second, proof? And, yeah, I’d like to see giving to the church taken out of the equation as well.
valdivia
Push poll. I am sure this is one of the polls from Pajamas Media that had Brown up 15 points?
Luthe
I got that same poll in December (I live in CT). The first questions weren’t about the MA Senate race, obviously, but about health care reform. The “Israel vs. Africa” question came later.
It’s a poll by the Family Research Council, btw. Here’s my write-up at the time.
grass
@New Yorker:
A push poll that’s designed to make you feel shitty no matter what you answer.
Zifnab
A) Yes
B) No
C) What?
D) 42
Let me see if I can rephrase the question.
I’ll go with E) Fix’d.
jrg
Stuff like this always helps our cause here in NC. Thanks, Michael, keep up the good work.
General Winfield Stuck
Sounds like a load of hooey. But if you counted corp charity giving for tax write offs maybe, just maybe. But not individually. Just look at Hollywood celebs as an example. The ones that get called commies and America haters for there bleeding heartism.
wiley
I will not answer a poll unless they tell me who funds it. You might want to consider getting that information before giving any. What a twisted question.
Napoleon
DougJ – it would be interesting to find out if that was a push poll. Sure fire way to figure it out is if the call started with a whole series of questions meant to determine how likely you are to vote (are you registered in Mass/did you vote in the last election/how likely are you to vote) then runs through straight questions as to the candidates (X and Y are running, who do you intend to vote for) then if they want to test a potential line of attack or something like that it will come at the end after the long sting of straight questions so as not to prejudice the straight questions (and I have twice received polling calls exactly like this). A push poll will pretty much get to the attack stuff as quickly as possible while still maintaining an illusion it is a poll. The idea is to get as many robo calls out there not collect good data.
J.W. Hamner
I’m 617, and I haven’t answered the phone in like a week since this nonsense started, but I had a D.C. number call about a poll and leave “we’ll call back” messages twice.
I’ll be happy tomorrow night just because the robocalls will stop.
valdivia
In the meantime this lovely type of campaigning is bringing in the right results for Brown eh?
licensed to kill time
@Zifnab:
I always go with 42, myself ;-)
And then thank them for all the fish.
The Grand Panjandrum
@Michael: I hate to break the news to you but the last big battle over desegregating schools and bussing was in Boston (the one in Massachusetts). But no worries, I’m sure all the progressives in Southern states appreciate you lumping them in with the racists found in all corners of the country, including yours.
Lev
@General Winfield Stuck: Entirely defensible if true. Liberals believe that government should set policy to help out poor people and the environment, instead of relying on charity to do so. And it’s a good thing, too, since if it were the other way around, we’d be losing endangered species all over the place because they looked ugly.
I think it’s an entirely worthwhile argument, though, and I’d love it if we could actually have it. But no, it’s really just an attempt to boost right-wingers’ self esteem by showing how much more “kind-hearted” they are. The question they should be asking is: why do they need this constant validation of how good they are? Bit insecure, perhaps?
General Winfield Stuck
@Zifnab:
”
A) Yes
B) DIAF
C) Yo mother wears combat boots
D) Yes
beltane
@Alex S.: The Republicans always fight dirty. That’s why Chuck Schumer did so well as head of the DSCC; he is one of the few Dems who can out-nasty the Republicans.
Sam Hutcheson
Another interesting fact on MLK Day. Martin Luther King, Jr was a Southerner you fucking self-righteous prick.
PTirebiter
It’s one of George Will’s go to factoids to prove GOP empathy.
First, the best they can actually say is that Conservatives file for more charitable deductions than liberals. All the other qualifiers are fairly obvious; Mormons tithe reliably but it’s Mormon on Mormon charity for the most part. Catholics buy indulgences etc. etc. And what about the breakdown for those who file standard returns?
You can’t deduct for volunteering, portions of the milk of human kindness you distribute or the buck you give to a drunk or stranded stranger. Besides, it doesn’t count if you expect a reward. Well, not as much anyway.
El Cid
‘GAA flibberty bobble TERRORISTS argedy blargle MUSLIMS wakka wakka wakka WELFARE bigaba wolwolwol GIVEAWAY!
Bender
Right sites have similar reports of push-polling for Coakley (“Would knowing that hate groups support Scott Brown change your opinion of him?”). It’s sad, but that’s the state of things these days, on both sides.
J.W. Hamner
That’s the same number that’s been calling me all weekend… they called again today according to my online check of my voicemail. So that’s 3 times. If they call again I’ll answer it.
Betsy
The part that doesn’t sound reasonable to me is that liberals make more money than conservatives. I thought the data suggested otherwise. (Or at least, that Democrats earn less, on average, than Republicans.)
bago
That’s a DC number. Someone is ratficking.
mcc
once you’ve done that, you’re thinking like a Southerner.
Welcome to Massachusetts!
SpotWeld
So, liberals are more economically savy?
tc
I just googled the 202 number, and it goes back to the Republican National Committee. So there you go.
kid bitzer
it doesn’t have to be coherently anti-coakley or anti-brown or coherently anything.
if it leaves you feeling disgusted with politics, or feeling generally fed up, then it drives people away from the polls.
and turn-out is going to be key tomorrow.
so incoherence, “wtf?”, and general nastiness are all big pluses for brown.
shortstop
@wiley: No reputable pollster will tell you who their client is.
No disreputable one will, either, come to think of it, but for different reasons.
J.W. Hamner
To clarify, I’ve got two numbers from DC on my call log to my land line… 202-461-3441(Today) and 202-461-3440 (Saturday and Sunday). Haven’t answered the phone and they just leave a message about it being a “public survey call” and how they may call back later.
Darryl
There’s real opportunity for microtargeting here.
When calling the home of:
Michael O’Brien: “Considering that Scott Brown said the Roman Whore was the source of America’s problems, do you support….”
Vishnay Ramapajaduranajamaran: “Considering that Scott Brown said Indians were taking tech jobs from real Americans, do you support….”
D’Alonte Jackson: “Considering that Scott Brown said Affirmative Action is promoting unqualified black people, do you support….”
This is the info age. They should be using more precise, data-driven methods…Hmm…maybe a bidness opportunity there…I’ll call the business IntelliScum Analytics :-)
The Grand Panjandrum
@SpotWeld:
We don’t send our money to Oral Roberts and Pat Roberston … that says a lot.
Fencedude
@The Grand Panjandrum:
Zandar
Wait, what?
On this entire thread, even.
They still surprise me.
Alex S.
@Bender:
True. I think I am more disappointed with the democratic complacency than with the push-polling itself. This race shouldn’t have gotten so close.
I guess that Michael Steele is bankrupting the RNC with his off-year spending, but if all this republican activity succeeds at snatching this seat, it was a worthwhile investment.
Demo Woman
Push polls about life and death.
Evangelicals want the land not the people and most Jewish people understand that.
Xenos
In my childish cynicism I can’t figure out whether the proper name for this country should be ‘The United Serfs of America’ or ‘The United Suckers of America’. When the armed division of Amway takes over we can be both at once.
The Grand Panjandrum
@Fencedude: Your welcome. I don’t give a shit if you are the reincarnation of the Liberal Diety. I was merely pointing out that Southerners don’t have all the racism gathered up for their own personal use. So bite me asshole.
Michael
For all who are complaining:
1. I’m a Southerner.
2. My community battled over desegregation after Boston. And yeah, I know the Southies acted like assholes, but by and large, the North does a helluvalot better on this than we do.
3. I’m so liberal that I’d hang a Commie flag in my garage if I could find one. Further, I’d never follow Brother John Birch and would throw the members of the Antioch Baptist Church into a re-education camp, given a chance.
4. I know damn well how my non-progressive Southern brethren feel and talk about race in private, so my original comment stands.
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
@Fencedude: I was about to say the same thing. Here in the great southern state of Texas plenty still openly use the N-word. Heck, some are wondering why we are even helping in Haiti.
Zuzu's Petals
@henqiguai:
It’s the tithing thing. Factor that out and it wouldn’t surprise me that the finding is reversed.
Tom
Someone on this page claims the number is from The National Organization for Marriage.
gbear
@J.W. Hamner:
You’re lucky you can even hear the phone at that age.
I would imagine that very few people even heard that message. I usually hang up on those calls within 5 words and I’d imagine 19 out of 20 recipients do likewise.
anniegetyourfun
The number is listed to the National Organization for Marriage, no? Makes sense.
Chuck Butcher
If you’ve got a low turn out election with base support your object is to discourage any non-base voter.
arguingwithsignposts
The glennzilla thread is now up to 873 comments and people are still arguing!
Michael
Didn’t you know that the single greatest freedom desired, sought and righteously inveighed “agin’ all o’ them PC speech codes” is the ability of ugly, mean, angry white redneck failures to be able to commonly refer to black men and women by the “N” word without any form of criticism?
To them, criticism over speaking like that is the most evil form of repression on earth. Worse than the USSR, wrse than Hitler, even.
A bigger bunch of whiny assed titty babies couldn’t be found.
Courageous? Bullshit. My valorous and moral southern ancestors plowed their fat redneck asses into pews while helping to ensure that members of their own communities couldn’t vote or hold businesses or go to their schools. They excluded and segregated them into a second class society. And why? Because they perceived via the right wing populist wurlitzer that somehow they’d eke out an existence ahead “o’ them uppity n*****s”.
Marie
The logical fallacy in the first is that, assuming the statistics are correct, 1 million Africans die of malaria *every year*. Israel may be under threat (though the risk isn’t as constant or likely to kill the country’s entire population as the poll suggests), but that’s six million people alive, and the vast majority of them are still alive from one year to the next. All you have to do is look at the last six years combined for African deaths to equal Israeli population.
satch
Remember way back when, how smug we were, and how funny we all thought it was when Dem Bill Owens won the congressional seat in NY23 after the teabaggers shot themselves and the Pug establishment in the head over ideological purity? You know, the seat which had been a Pug legacy for 150 years? If Mass voters elect Senator Centerfold tomorrow, it will prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that they are ten times dumber than the Teabaggers. And yes…I’m a Mass voter…
AhabTRuler
@arguingwithsignposts: Nah, the hardcore types are running out of steam. If someone wants to go spread some kerosene, that might help. I can’t figure out if it would have to be very, very good trolling or very, very bad trolling to be successful.
All I know is that I have lost a little respect for every
personpersona who commented, and that includes myself. Kind of reminded me of the S, N! sammich wars.mai naem
Anybody heard of the GOTV calls to ethnic Dems(primarily Eastern European) using heavy black/latino accents(so as to really discourage turnout ). I read about that in 06 in some NE state. I bet that will go on in this race.
General Winfield Stuck
@arguingwithsignposts:
DIE THREAD DIE
**shakes plastic Unicorn
Demo Woman
@arguingwithsignposts: How many of those actually read John’s post..
The RNC can push poll about Nazi’s and Sophie’s Choice and no one calls them on it.. Just WOW!
Xenos
@gbear:
I have to wonder who is answering the phone at this point. I can’t believe there are many Massachusettsians who are not fanatics who are willing to answer these incessant polls. Thus, there is an ‘only teabaggers are answering the phones’ adjustment of 20% that needs to be done on all these polls.
That is my latest theory based on wishful thinking. I really hope it is right.
valdivia
@General Winfield Stuck:
where can i get mine? I mean, plastic unicorn?
I can’t believe that thread is still going. I had to give up reading after the 600th comment.
TooManyJens
Your friend should send this to TPM; they track these kinds of calls.
General Winfield Stuck
@valdivia: Glenzilla supporters have apparently picked that thread as their hill to die on. amazing.
valdivia
@General Winfield Stuck:
ah now I get it. Definitely not reading now.
gbear
@General Winfield Stuck:
So why don’t they just declare victory and get out? They really can’t stand having someone disagree with them. They also can’t stand seem to handle not having the last word.
I gave up at about 600 too when someone came in saying it was such a shame that people wouldn’t listen to reason (fdl being reason).
The Raven
@valdivia:
Over at the font of evil, a “support Coakley” thread started at 10:30am has made 463 comments, many from neo-Naderites, in less than four hours.
Kraw.
General Winfield Stuck
@gbear: It’s a mystery to me.
edit- it will no doubt set the BJ record for number of repetitive comments, save for The Great Cookie threads.
maus
@PurpleGirl:
Yep. And of course all nonprofits can be replaced with church tithes.
Ecks
I don’t know about the conservatism / liberal axis, but there’s a bunch of data showing that religious people give more to charity than non-religious types. When you remove
non-church donations from the equation they still give slightly more, but it’s close. I’d imagine it’s similar with conservatism/liberalism.To give (some, non-movement) conservatives credit, they really do think that charity is the answer and pitch in some bucks. They are just aggressively oblivious of the fact that it isn’t nearly enough, and has never consistently been so.
Deborah
My husband got a call that seemed to be push-polling in both directions.
I’ve gotten 2 Coakley calls today, both on abortion. The second was a recording. The first was a live person who was so determined to read her script that she talked right over my attempts to say “I’m voting tomorrow, for Coakley.” I eventually hung up.
Nothing I’ve seen of Coakley’s endgame has been positive: Abortion not played well, Kennedy legacy, Brown is Bush. Had I been undecided going into the weekend, I might be tilting Brown now. (I vote on the issues, and I’ll be voting for Coakley. But man is she making me feel like a NJ Dem voting for Corzine solely because I don’t vote for Republicans.)
AhabTRuler
@General Winfield Stuck: Stuck, don’t pretend that you are a disinterested party in that thread. Many people chose “hills to die on,” not all of them sensible.
Luthe
@Tom:
When they called me in December (as I noted above), the call was from the Family Research Council. ::actually made it through the whole damn thing to find out who was calling::
General Winfield Stuck
@AhabTRuler:
Yea, well, I did participate in it, but did not get involved with the whole Greenwald/Hamsher funding line of attack/debate.
That is when it went off the rails imo, that and when people started calling others “stupid cows” and such.
I had a specific question I wanted answered. A simple one that went to the thread topic. I don’t agree it is a terrible thread, but the mindless back and forth about Greenwalds funding took it to where it is now. Needing to die.
JL
hahahahaha! Give more? Give more to what? They are trying to imply give more to “charity” i suppose, but it could mean “give more to Pat Robertson” too. LOL.
How is this stuff not illegal?
JL
As for that Israel or malaria question…..hello false dichotomy!
hads
I’ve had four of these calls the last few days. I answer so I can hear the latest garbage they are throwing out against Coakley and offset it w/ comments to certain friends! The first did ask me if I was going to vote for Coakley, and when I responded “yes” it then went on with lots of loaded ?’s filled w/ misinformation/lies. When they asked me “Do you consider yourself a tea party patriot? I just laughed and they hung up!
Worse is the one from independent 3rd party Joe Kennedy today (not Ted’s nephew Joe Kennedy) linking himself in every way w/ Sen Kennedy. That was disturbing and made me wonder who on Brown’s side was paying for it. It was definitely designed to confuse voters not paying much attention, or elderly voters. Could cost Coakley votes.
Shell
Does anybody really listen to these messages? More than seven words of any recording crap and I slam down the phone.
Grumpy Code Monkey
So out of morbid curiosity I decide to see what the fuss is with Glenzilla and go to Salon (which I’ve removed from my bookmarks because, well, Jesus), and what’s right in the middle of the chaotic mess that passes for a front page? “The Atheist’s Dilemma”.
Jesus.
I don’t know if it’s Joan Walsh or Laura Miller or whoever has a bug up their butt about atheism, but it’s gotten pretty relentless. It pissed me off enough that I didn’t even bother reading the Glenzilla thread.
General Winfield Stuck
@Grumpy Code Monkey: I think the first 3 to 4 hundred or so comments, it was actually a terrific thread about the dichotomy of support for Obama and about to what degree this is a scandal, and what part false meme building by some.
russell
I’m in 781. I got the “should marriage only be between a man and a woman” question. I said “no”, no further questions.
Same exact number except the last digit was 0.
Pinko Lanterne
Hmmm, I wonder if the money my (mainly) liberal friends and acquaintances have donated over the past year to several folks in our circle who have been dealing with massive health and health insurance problems counts?
I’m guessing it doesn’t unless I give it to my local church and force them to attend services before receiving anything.
SiubhanDuinne
@gbear:
Laugh. Spit. Wipe monitor.
henqiguai
@Tom (@52):
Yeah, those idiots called my number as well. Started off with some inane crap about my state of grace or marriage or some such noise and as soon as their name actually parsed in my head I simply hung up. Just don’t have the knack for the quality of snack too many of y’all have here.
And (#51), thanks Zu Zu’s Petals; I was seeing that, and it was probably a part of the original report. Flaky memory, and it also reinforced my own observations, so I didn’t really pay much more attention to the report.
DL
Yeah, I got it on my 413 area code number (Western MA) about 45 minutes ago. Caller ID was that number, yes.
PaulW
there are so many frakking things wrong with our electoral system that it should all be investigated for fraud. I’m serious. Criminal charges on both parties, maybe then they’ll frakking clean house.
pcbedamned
I’ve said it before…
How many conservatives would continue to donate so much if the benefit of having the tax write-off was removed?!?
Seriously.
PaulW
@DL:
Anyone investigate whose number that is?
debbie
@Michael:
I lived in Boston from 1970 until right before the busing riots, and there were quite a few racists in the “Cradle of Liberty.” Not just Southies, either. (Listening to my Armenian supervisor from Watertown totally curled my hair.)
I thought they were the worst racists until I encountered people from Indiana. And then there was Howard Beach…
Face it, racists are everywhere.
amanda
Fyi there’s an audio link on the front page to an eddie murphy routine and it destroyed my virus software and crashed my computer
On the thread topic…I and several friends have gotten multiple calls from those numbers…ratfucking indeed
Jessica
I would give more credence to the “more conservatives give money to charity” argument if conservatives weren’t also aggressively trying to strip every social program out of government at the same time, while simultaneously campaigning to legally oppress those groups they don’t agree with (gay marriage, discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, adoption law, abortion law, welfare). Big deal, so you gave a hundred bucks to your church to help starving children. Then you vote against the minimum wage because it would “kill business” to pay people enough money to live on, then you vote to kill welfare and health care reform because people should know better than to be poor and sick, and you vote for increased defense spending because you take personal pride in seeing our military kick someone’s ass. I’m sorry, but no personal donation is big enough to make up for the complete absence of generosity of spirit that saturates the GOP. Their entire purpose for existing is to strip wealth from the many and concentrate it in the hands of the few, and to that end they have been successful beyond their wildest dreams. But we’re supposed to think they’re more CHARITABLE? That’s like saying Satan is charitable because he pays you for your soul.
Steph
@russell: I got the same one – as soon as I said “no” when they asked Do you agree marriage should only be between one man and one woman, it was over.
Honus
how was the syracuse study done? How do you identify conservatives and liberals, and then, how do you determine the amount of charitable giving? More conservatives probably give to churches, and then report it, and undoubtedly conservatives are are more conscientious about being sure they get a tax deduction. Liberals may simply be more prone to informal or non-reported giving. More working class republicans go to churches and give weekly, but that doesn’t generally buy anything but more churches.
Comrade Darkness
@PaulW: Short of undoing election results for illegal activities, nothing will improve. Lieberman’s huge illegal slushfund at the end of his last election never hurt him. Never even got a second glance. So, now, that sends a signal that illegal slushfunds are great. Every time, they push the envelope and nothing happens, that becomes the standard. The campaign that doesn’t push it to at least the same limits as the last round, will lose.
Redshift
@Steph: I got the same one, including both the gay marriage and Israel questions (in a different order) here in VA a couple of months ago. Maybe it was just before the gubernatorial election; I don’t remember. Interestingly enough, it didn’t end when I said I was in favor of gay marriage and health care that included government funding of abortion; I got bored just after the Africa vs. Israel question and hung up.
It didn’t seem to be a push poll. My best guess was that it was a scattershot attempt to find potential Republican voters that weren’t on their lists already, but it was pretty weird even for that.
spaceman_spiff
Ahem…NO. Malaria threatens at least a billion people, while Israel can — and does — take care of itself quite well, if by hideously bad & wrong means.
Liquid
I’m sorry, I don’t understand.
Six million Israelis live under * threat * from their neighbours,
One million women and children * die * annually from malaria.
Which should be protected first?
Really, I don’t get it. If I say: ‘The Israelis!’ is that the right answer? Or if I say ‘The women and children!’ is it?
Bruce Webb
@henqiguai: “The charitable donations thing has been reported previously. Something along the lines of religious teachings and a closer link with community churches and their good works”
I am thinking that closer link is with Tele-evangelists and their multi-million dollar Crystal Palace churches, $5000 suits, and huge mansions. Every dollar directed to hate-monger Marion ‘Pat’ Robertson registers as ‘charity’ on this scale.
On the other side so does every $10,000 donation to some symphony or art museum even as it serves to get you preferred admission, a bunch of fancy dinners, and social esteem among your social circle. Both ‘charity’ and ‘philanthropy’ have as much to do with what the tax code decides is either than any measure of inner good will towards men. You can reject every single line of the Sermon on the Mount, spend every Sunday on the golf course, and spend not a second doing good works, and still end up at the top of the list of charitable individuals.
And whether you are Christian, Muslim, or Jew historically there have been multiple avenues for giving ‘charitable’ donations to terrorist groups. Back in the day I was in many Irish bars where they didn’t even disguise the fact that their ‘charity’ drive was to raise funds for the IRA.
Question for people from Utah. Utahans routinely top lists of charitable givers, but I wonder how much of that is simply the result of more or less mandatory tithing to the Mormon Church. And while Mormons are known for taking care of their own in times of adversity does that extend to people not in the faith? Are social services in Utah really funded in such a way that everyone is served? Or is tithing simply a way to avoid taxation for the benefit of the Other?
This is not to pick just on Mormons, for example there are plenty of generous Jews and Christians whose rewards will come in heaven but also in the form of a prominent plaque on the wall of the synagogue or one the end of the pew in the sanctuary.
Oh and that ordinary act of kindness? Sorry, not itemizable.
ben
Somerville here. I got one of these last night on my cell phone. I didn’t answer it, but it was that number.
Kelsey
This is really strange. That same phone number is sending out anti-BROWN messages, claiming that pro-life groups favor Coakley over him. (The exact opposite is true.) What a shamefully dirty election!
lifenews.com/state4738.html
Jon H
@The Grand Panjandrum: “I hate to break the news to you but the last big battle over desegregating schools and bussing was in Boston (the one in Massachusetts). ”
Boston has a South. ;^)
towerclimber
@Michael:
wow…just WOW!
how quickly you’d put something like that out there shows how truly racist and ignorant you are.
I’ll bet you’re white too.
Transference is a rough thing to suffer from..I suggest you get help.