8/28

By BlackJack

On the lawn.
That green space.
Near the monuments of a freedom not yet fully realized.
The air stands calm and listens.

One came who would hold up his brothers.
One came who would give the weak a proud voice.
One came who would change the world.
His words are of true freedom.
His words are of the power of love.
His words are of peace to all the world.

The seasons cycle 47 times.
Nature looks down upon the toiling of mankind but pays it no mind.
His voice again bring hope to many.
But as before the shouts of hatred crash back against his words of peace.

One comes who would stand where he stood.
One comes who would speak to many.
One comes who would claim the mantle.
But his words are not of peace but of division.
But his words are not of love but of hatred.
But his words are not of tolerance but bigotry.

The good man's dream was a gift to the world.
This man's 'dream' is a gift for himself alone.

On the lawn.
That green space.
Near the monuments of a freedom not yet fully realized.
The air divides and turns away. [Read More]

The Palin Solution

By BlackJack

I was reading Shannyn Moore's post about Sarah Palin's run-in with a couple of locals in Homer, AK when I stumbled upon a solution to the issue of Mrs. Palin running in 2012 (although honestly I'm secretly hoping she runs so I can be watching when the whole thing comes undone). You see Sarah was in Homer filming for her upcoming 8-part pseudo-documentary "Sarah Palin's Alaska" on Discovery networks TLC.

When I first heard that Sarah "Drill-baby-drill" Palin landed a nature show on Discovery I thought it was 'Opposite Day'. When I found out Discovery's new COO Peter Liguori came from Fox just last December I realized it was 'More Of The Same Day'. I can only suspect they'll follow this up with 'Strom Thurmond's History of Civil Rights' or 'Karl Rove's Cavalcade of Nobel Peace Prize Recipients'.

There was a time when the initials TLC stood for The Learning Channel but slowly over the last decade or so the channel dropped the edutainment programming and went for a line-up with more 'mass appeal'. Nowadays the channel is the home of a host of overly large families ('Jon & Kate Plus 8', '17 Kids And Counting'), little people ('Little People, Big World', 'Little Chocolatiers') and a collection of people with dysfunctional families, police women and their staple daytime standards of weddings and babies.

So, here was Sarah Palin in tiny Homer, Alaska setting the hooks for halibut and taunting the Democrats from afar. I'm sure she was having a grand old time rubbing elbows with the locals, or at least rubbing elbows with her hired security thugs who were busy patting down the locals who came onto the docks, when she ran across a local teacher named Kathleen Gustafson. Kathleen's husband runs a fishing business on the docks and he'd help her hang a homemade 30-foot banner that read 'WORST GOVERNOR EVER' on his shack. The Palin's weren't amused.

One of Palin's daughters taunted at the Gustafson's "You're and A-hole" and then "You're just jealous". Ah, there's those fine mother grizzly family values. What a lovely brood of children you've got there, ma'am.

But that's when it hit me. Palin doesn't want to be the POTUS - she wants to be a celebrity! She's geared toward teleprompters and scripted conversations captured on camera. She was a journalism major who dreamed of being a sportscaster, even going so far as to name her daughter after the city where ESPN's headquarters are located.

So I can't wait for Sarah's new show to start. I'm going to watch every moment on all the TVs in my home and record it on my DVR. I'm petitioning to get a Nielsen box in my house. I need each and every one of you to join me. If we get her ratings high enough maybe they'll sign her to a long term contract and prevent her from running for office.

After all, we're all just jealous, aren't we? [Read More]

Spinning Fault For The Gulf Oil Disaster

By Brent

The name of this blog is perfect for the Oil Companies. Mortal Spin. Because it hurts us mere mortals just listening to the spin from the Oil Companies associated with the Gulf Oil geyser. Here you have BP, Halliburton, and Transocean testifying in front of a Senate committee blaming each other. Oh, and by the way, they were also blaming the government regulators for things that might have caused the explosion of the rig.

Executives of the three companies involved in the Gulf oil disaster — BP, Transocean and Halliburton — testified before senators Tuesday and were quick to lay blame elsewhere.

In their opening statements, the executives said it was too early to draw conclusions but then explained what they thought went wrong and who was responsible.

Transocean, which owned the rig that exploded, suggested work done by subcontractor Halliburton could have been the key factor. Halliburton and BP, meanwhile, said the blowout preventer that failed on Transocean's rig was critical.

So here is the straight talk on the players. Transocean is the owner of the rig that exploded. BP is the company that leased the rig and actually drilled for oil. Halliburton is the company that BP hired to encase the well pipe in cement before plugging it. All 3 companies are involved deeply in this incident, and no one is taking the blame. We love the spin here.

I hope that each of these 3 companies are fined to the fullest extent of the law. I also hope that congress decides to pass even higher fines for companies that violate safety regulations. I am glad that the government has decided to split the Mineral Management Agency in two. One section will be responsible for collecting the over $10 Billion in taxes from oil and gas drilling. The second will be responsible for enforcing laws and regulations for oil drilling. Finally, something smart coming out of the government concerning this incident. We know that they haven't figured out to hold the big oil companies responsible for this yet. And we absolutely know that they haven't got a clue on how to end the geyser of oil that is dumping into the gulf each and every day. So, at least we get one minor good thing out of this.

As for each of the companies involved in this fiasco, the federal government needs to make a point of inspecting these companies and their dealings fully over the next year to see if there is another situation which could cause devastation like this is doing. And if there is, shut the son of a b**** down and start making it extremely difficult for the company to do business in America. [Read More]

The Bishop and The Bill - Bishop Aquila's Anti-life Stance

By BlackJack

It's no April Fool's Day joke - The Catholic News Agency today published statements from the Bishop of Fargo, Samuel J. Aquila, critical of both the new heath care law and some "so-called ‘Catholic’ groups" who supported it. The Bishop criticized Catholic health groups, referring specifically to the Catholic Health Association (CHA) and others who had come out in support of the bill.

God Complex

The Bishop critisized what he called "self-described Catholic groups" who endorsed the health care bill despite objections and “severely damaged” the common good and diluted the pro-life witness of the U.S. bishops and the Catholic faithful. These groups, Bishop Aquila says, acted "in direct contradiction to the bishops" who are the "guardians" of authentic Christian teaching.

His critisizm seems to contradict a statement he made in September of 2009 in the same publication. In the article the bishop listed conscience protection as another important facet of health care for health care professionals.

“The doctors, nurses and health care professionals who possess such medical expertise are prime candidates for coercion from those who would destroy the most vulnerable human lives. The right to follow one’s conscience, as informed by God, must be guaranteed,” he stated.

But wouldn't the right to follow one's conscience also allow for them to make the decision to support the health care bill if that person feels they've been properly "informed by God"?

The Sister Speaks
The CHA is an association of Catholic health care organizations including 60 health care systems, 620 hospitals and long-term care facilities. The association also represents the thousands of Catholic nuns who serve in the health care industry.

In a statement titled "The time is now for health reform", published in the association's "Catholic Health World", CHA president Sister Carol Keehan said "The insurance reforms will make the lives of millions more secure, and their coverage more affordable."

Specifically addressing the issue of abortion Sr. Keehan said "CHA has a major concern on life issues. We said there could not be any federal funding for abortions and there had to be strong funding for maternity care, especially for vulnerable women. The bill now being considered allows people buying insurance through an exchange to use federal dollars in the form of tax credits and their own dollars to buy a policy that covers their health care. If they choose a policy with abortion coverage, then they must write a separate personal check for the cost of that coverage."

And that's where Bishop Aquila's so-called "pro-life" fervor is revealed. Although a person would have to pay for an abortion out of their own pocket, Aquila is still opposed to the new health care law because that person would be eligible for tax credits. A woman would have to  pay for a legal medical service from their own money, without being reimbursed by a health care plan.

Bishop Aquila would throw away all the good the plan does for millions of Americans simply because it doesn't somehow make abortions illegal, which would be impossible without the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade.  The new law addresses the medical needs of millions of pregnant women and their unborn children.

As Sr. Keehan said in her endorsement of the law "there is a wonderful provision in the bill that provides $250 million over 10 years to pay for counseling, education, job training and housing for vulnerable women who are pregnant or parenting. Another provision provides a substantial increase in the adoption tax credit and funding for adoption assistance programs."

It seems Bishop Aquila would rather throw out the baby with bathwater. Perhaps absolute political power corrupts absolutely?

The Truth
The truth is that conservatives were invited to participate in crafting the bill before it was passed and they instead chose to spend the time campaigning against even discussing it in any meaningful way. President Obama was fulfilling a campaign promise to make health care affordable. The Republicans chose to fight against it and ally themselves with their corporate campaign donors, the health insurance industry (over the last 20 years, 63% of all donations from the industry have gone to Republicans).

The legal truth is that abortions ARE legal and will remain so until the Supreme Court finds otherwise. The moral truth is that it is impossible to stop abortions. Making them illegal will not stop them, just force those who seek them to go to extraordinary and dangerous means to obtain them. The political truth is that the right-wing opposition to abortion will continue to construct lies and terrorize those who support choice until they make safe and legal abortions impossible to find, risking the lives of millions of Americans in the process. And they call that "pro-life". [Read More]

Tea partiers protest outside Dems convention in Fargo

By BlackJack

The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead gave it's usual level of unbiased coverage to a group of protesters outside the North Dakota Democratic-NPL state convention this past weekend. By unbiased I of course mean completely biased.

First, in the article titled Tea party rally to protest health care reform votes at Democratic-NPL convention, reporter Kristen Daum allowed herself to be used to further the Tea Party's "grassroots" myth. In the second paragraph she writes,

Grass-roots conservatives plan to gather Saturday for a tea party rally outside the Civic Center

and then two paragraphs later

Fargo conservative radio talk-show host Scott Hennen, who’s helping coordinate the rally

How can a protest, organized and promoted by an extreme right-wing radio show host (and station owner) be considered "grassroots"?

In a follow up article on the rally itself, titled Tea partiers protest outside Dems convention in Fargo, the ignorance of the Tea Party crowd was documented humorously.

Carl Hedman of Ellendale, N.D., carried a broom to “sweep ’em out” of office, he said of the Democratic congressional incumbents.

“They looked me in the face and said they would not support abortion, and then they voted for it,” Hedman said.

Of course, payments for abortions are not covered in the bill as signed into law by President Obama. The ill-informed have a home in the Tea Party. [Read More]