Archive for September 8, 2010
“The Beginning” — Colorado’s Personhood Amendment
This “personhood amendment” is on the ballot in Colorado in November, thanks to the wingers:
CONGRATULATIONS to the 1,400 petition circulators and to the co-sponsors, CRTL’s very own Leslie Hanks and Gualberto Garcia-Jones of Personhood Colorado! The Colorado Secretary of State has certified that Personhood Amendment 62, Definition of Person, will appear on the statewide ballot in November!
The official text of Amendment 62, as on file with the state, is:
Be it Enacted by the People of the State of Colorado:
SECTION 1. Article II of the constitution of the state of Colorado is amended BY THE ADDITION OF A NEW SECTION to read:
Section 32. Person defined. AS USED IN SECTIONS 3, 6, AND 25 OF ARTICLE II OF THE STATE CONSTITUTION, THE TERM “PERSON” SHALL APPLY TO EVERY HUMAN BEING FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE BIOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THAT HUMAN BEING.
So, far as I can tell, that means I’m nine months older than what my birth certificate says.
My parents are dead so I can’t ask them what I was like when I was oh, say a few seconds old — so I’m trying to remember.
It’s not all that easy though because this would be me back then:
(Via.)
Genetically “Altered” Salmon, Genetically “Modified” Salmon or Genetically “Engineered” Salmon?
Per the Washington Post, the FDA Nears Approval as Food of Genetically Altered Salmon.
Think about that headline for a sec. Seems to me the WaPo wonders whether “genetically altered” salmon is a food? Don’t know exactly. That’s one of the worst headlines ever written.
Not only that, in the first sentence of the article, the author switches from “genetically altered” to “genetically modified:”
The Food and Drug Administration is poised to approve the first genetically modified animal for human consumption, a highly anticipated decision that is stirring controversy and could mark a turning point in the way American food is produced.
In the second sentence, the author moves on to “genetically engineered salmon.”
FDA scientists gave a boost last week to the Massachusetts company that wants federal approval to market a genetically engineered salmon, declaring that the altered salmon is safe to eat and does not pose a threat to the environment.
Gosh. You gotta feel for the poor “reporter.” What are the ah, facts? She/he hasn’t quite gotten that part down yet.
Oh, BTW, one hopes there are regs in place (socialist government and all) such that we serfs can identify whether we’re eating “genetically altered” salmon, “genetically modified” salmon, or “genetically engineered” salmon.
Chances are, there aren’t.
Boulder Wildfire — Update
UPDATED @7:56 p.m ET
@6:24 p.m. ET
First of all, IT’S RAINING and the temperature is roughly 78°! Yippee! But with that comes wind, so that’s not good.
Per a televised update from the Sheriff’s Department just now:
140 structures destroyed, and that includes sheds, barns and homes. They hope to post a detailed list later today @ boulderOEM.com.
3 people are missing.
“No containment number” as of now, meaning, I presume, they can’t give a percentage of how much of the fire is contained.
Two slurry planes were working today. Four planes weren’t because per FAA rules, the pilots were required to take the day off. All six should be in the air tomorrow.
The wind is supposed to pick-up tomorrow afternoon.
Ugh.
This is painful — the people who live in the burn area are being asked to be “patient” — while they’re ready to jump out of their skin with worry and a lack of information.
For an idea as to what the area looks like, here’s a NASA image from Discover Magazine that is roughly 190 miles across.
The interface between the mountains and the Great Plains is very dramatic. Here’s what it looks like on the ground:
(Via.)
This shot is looking west. The “Boulder Fire” is about four miles to the north, just over the most east-facing ridge.
UPDATED @7:56 p.m ET:
It’s still raining, HARD!
Is Your Religion Next?
New Republic Publisher: First Amendment Should Not Apply to Muslims:
As Rosh Hashanah begins, and Ramadan ends, the virulent Muslim-baiting continues.
The controversy over the so-called “Ground Zero Mosque” is only a pretense to express the hate that was already there. On Wednesday, the Republican leader in the House of Representatives refused to condemn the burning of Qurans by a deranged fanatic in Florida. He even suggested a moral equivalence between the building of the Islamic center in Lower Manhattan and the burning of the Qurans. He refused to do the right thing despite the echoes from Berlin in the 1930s and despite General Petraeus’ warning that defiling Qurans would endanger American troops in Muslim countries.
It’s getting bad.
This past spring, the radical right and its mouth pieces (especially Fox News) were all about immigrant bashing. But, by summer, the Muslims took the place of Latinos and, as we’ve learned, there is absolutely nothing one cannot say about them, no lines that can’t be crossed when it comes to Muslims.
But while Muslim-baiting has become part of the right’s platform, that doesn’t mean liberals are guiltless.
Take for instance Marty Peretz, owner of the New Republic. Peretz is no right-winger. In fact, he is on the left on most issues and so is his magazine. As long ago as 1968, he took a considerable chunk of his wife’s fortune and put it into the anti-Vietnam war movement and Eugene McCarthy’s candidacy for president.
But he hates Muslims. Initially, he limited his hate to Arabs, particularly Palestinians. But once the Israeli government came around to accept the legitimacy of Palestinians as a negotiating partner, Peretz began to lose it. He felt betrayed by Israelis — he is positively obscene in his loathing for Israeli President Shimon Peres — who for some reason are not as willing to fight to the last Israeli as he is.
Yesterday, Peretz wrote that American Muslims should not be entitled to the protections of the First Amendment.
When “liberals” join the wingers, one wonders where the sane people are. (Obama, I’m lookin’ at you.)
Terry Jones — the Koran-Burning Minister — is a David Koresh Wannabe
Why oh why does it take a German magazine to expose the real Terry Jones — the pastor of “Dove World Church” — who’s planning on holding a Koran-burning on Saturday:
In the United States, Jones has already attracted attention on several occasions as an Islamophobic provocateur. What is less well known is that the pastor led a charismatic evangelical church, the Christian Community of Cologne, in the western German city up until 2009. Last year, however, the members of the congregation kicked founder Jones out, because of his radicalism. One of the church’s current leaders, Stephan Baar, also told the German news agency DPA that there had been suspicions of financial irregularities in the church surrounding Jones.
A “climate of fear and control” had previously prevailed in the congregation, says one former member of the church who does not want to be named. Instead of free expression, “blind obedience” was demanded, he says.
Various witnesses gave SPIEGEL ONLINE consistent accounts of the Jones’ behavior. The pastor and his wife apparently regarded themselves as having been appointed by God, meaning opposition was a crime against the Lord. Terry and Sylvia Jones allegedly used these methods to ask for money in an increasingly insistent manner, as well as making members of the congregation carry out work.
Andrew Schäfer, a Protestant Church official responsible for monitoring sects in the region where Cologne is located, confirmed the accounts. “Terry Jones is a fundamentalist,” he told SPIEGEL ONLINE.
Both major churches in Germany have “sect commissioners” who monitor the activities of religious groups, sects and cults. Although they are obviously not totally impartial, the officials’ findings are usually considered to be trustworthy.
‘Delusional Personality’
Former church members are still undergoing therapy as a result of “spiritual abuse,” Schäfer said. According to Schäfer, Jones urged church members to beat their children with a rod and also taught “a distinctive demonology” and conducted brainwashing.
(Read the whole article. There’s lots more there.)
So, we’re essentially letting this nut hold the country hostage? Are you kidding? Yo, “liberal” American media — EXPOSE THIS GUY!
Beck and Palin Turn 9/11 Into a Cash Cow
This so exposes what Glenn Beck and $arah Palin are all about:
The spiritual guru of the 9-12 Project will be marking the anniversay of 9-11 along with his new best friend Sarah Palin with a high-priced (and as far as the actual program goes, somewhat mysterious) event at the Dena’ina Center in Anchorage, Alaska. The potential event has been rumored and discussed under the radar for days, possibly even as the launch of a Palin 2012 presidential bid.
But apparently, in the immortal words of Steve Martin in “The Jerk,” it’s yet another “profit deal” for the two leading high-def hucksters of the right wing. According to the Ticketmaster page, tickets for this solemn 9-11 commemoration run from a low of $73 to a top price of $130, and that’s not all. There’s also $225 for a special meet-and-greet with Beck (and possibly with Palin), so that die-hard (and not economically struggling) Beck fans can wish him a happy 9-11 in person.
What sanctimonious frauds.
Oh, and just in case the Ticketmaster page gets taken down or changed, here’s a screenshot:
Parker-Spitzer on CNN — Judging From the Promo, It’ll Be Awful
“Parker-Spitzer” a new ah, political gab show, debuts on CNN on October 4 at 8:00 p.m. ET, opposite Keith Olbermann. It will feature Kathleen Parker, a conservative writer, and Eliot Spitzer, the “disgraced” former Democratic Governor of New York.
Judging from the silly promo, I’m handing the ratings to Olbermann right out the gate.
There is a Potentially Explosive Situation Brewing in Washington, D.C. on 9/11
What do you get when you mix thousands of tea partiers with tens of thousands of black families on the National Mall? We’ll find out on September 11.
While the planning wasn’t intentional, tea partiers and Glenn Beck groupies will get a chance to really make good on their protestations that their ranks aren’t polluted by racists. That’s because conservative activists, some affiliated with Beck’s 912 Project, have organized a big march and rally on the Mall on the very same day, and in virtually the same place, as the National Black Family Reunion. Started 25 years ago by civil rights icon Dorothy Height, the reunion was created to showcase the strengths of the black family. In the past, it has drawn as many as 250,000 people over two or three days. This year, the event will be a one-day “mega-fest” on the Mall between 7th and 14th Streets NW.
Blocks from where Al Sharpton will be leading the prayer breakfast kicking off the reunion, Unite in Action (an umbrella group for some 40 tea party, 912, and other “patriot” organizations) plans to occupy the Mall between 3rd and 4th Streets NW. From there, activists will march down Constitution Avenue to the Washington Monument, essentially sandwiching the Black Family Reunion. Given tea partiers’ propensity to show up at rallies with offensive anti-Obama signage, the set-up has all the makings of a powder keg.
I don’t think the planning on the part of the Tea Partiers was unintentional. How hard is it to contact the National Park Service and find out what other events are scheduled for a given day before you schedule yours? I think this is an in-your-face, hostile act on their part.
Think Republicans Are Good For Your Pocketbook? Think Again
Here is the single most important graph in American politics.
Good Morning
It’s a good morning because the smoke from the wildfire isn’t near as bad as it was yesterday morning. Guess I’ll go for my walk.
The situation here is heartbreaking; watching our neighbors watching (literally, on television) their homes burn.
So far, the number of structures confirmed to have been damaged or destroyed is 93, and that’s with only 5 – 10% of the area surveyed. This is the largest fire — in terms of damage to private property — in Boulder’s history and it is still zero percent contained.
Slurry bombers were flying back and forth over our house all afternoon yesterday and they’re supposed to start that process again at any minute.
Fingers crossed that dumping all that slurry starts to make a dent in this.
