Roy Torcaso, Notary Public, R.I.P.

   A notary public myself, I have to give Roy my “stamp of approval”:

   “Roy R. Torcaso, 96, whose application to be a Maryland notary public led to a U.S. Supreme Court case that affirmed his refusal to take a state oath requiring him to declare a belief in God, died June 9 at the Himalayan Elderly Care assisted living home in Silver Spring. He had complications of prostate cancer.

  “Mr. Torcaso, who said he was an atheist, was a bookkeeper by profession. He worked for a Bethesda construction company when his legal challenge started in 1959. He had been urged by his boss to become a notary public.

  “At the Montgomery County Circuit Court, he refused to swear to a state oath given to notaries public that made them profess the existence of God….[Rest of obituary]

This Is What Is Wrong With America

  “Bottled water has become the indispensable prop in our lives and our culture. It starts the day in lunch boxes; it goes to every meeting, lecture hall, and soccer match; it’s in our cubicles at work; in the cup holder of the treadmill at the gym; and it’s rattling around half-finished on the floor of every minivan in America. Fiji Water shows up on the ABC show Brothers & Sisters; Poland Spring cameos routinely on NBC’s The Office. Every hotel room offers bottled water for sale, alongside the increasingly ignored ice bucket and drinking glasses. At Whole Foods (NASDAQ:WFMI), the upscale emporium of the organic and exotic, bottled water is the number-one item by units sold.

  “Thirty years ago, bottled water barely existed as a business in the United States. Last year, we spent more on Poland Spring, Fiji Water, Evian, Aquafina, and Dasani than we spent on iPods or movie tickets–$15 billion. It will be $16 billion this year….”[Rest of article]

***

And so, this must be said: You people are stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid!

Thanks for listening.

 

Elizabeth Edwards vs. Ann Coulter

Here’s a video posted to YouTube by an Ann Coulter fan (hence the editorializing titles at the beginning). I’ll let the video speak for itself:

This was in response to Ms. Coulter’s witticism on ABC earlier:

Tony Blair, Casualty of War

   Recent polls say that 2/3 of the American public  believe that they are “smarter than George Bush”.

   Today we lose one of the world’s truly intelligent leaders.  I will miss hearing Mr. Blair speak.  It is inspiring to see a world leader who is able to construct an intelligible sentence.

   The British take on his resignation today here.

   [Thanks to The Tony Blair Generator for helping make the picture]

 

 

 

 

Tony Blair, Casualty of War

   Recent polls say that 2/3 of the American public  believe that they are “smarter than George Bush”.

   Today we lose one of the world’s truly intelligent leaders.  I will miss hearing Mr. Blair speak.  It is inspiring to see a world leader who is able to construct an intelligible sentence.

   The British take on his resignation today here.

   [Thanks to The Tony Blair Generator for helping make the picture]

 

 

 

 

Everyone We’re Fighting In Iraq Is Al-Qaeda Now…

   I thought that I was the only one who was noticing this happening with increasing frequency–even on CNN, the Anti-FOX:

  “One of the most astonishing instances of mindless, pro-government “reporting” yet:

   “It’s a curious thing that, over the past 10 – 12 days, the news from Iraq refers to the combatants there as “al-Qaida” fighters. When did that happen? 

  “Until a few days ago, the combatants in Iraq were “insurgents” or they were referred to as “Sunni” or “Shia’a” fighters in the Iraq Civil War. Suddenly, without evidence, without proof, without any semblance of fact, the US military command is referring to these combatants as “al-Qaida”.

  “Welcome to the latest in Iraq propaganda.

  “That the Bush administration, and specifically its military commanders, decided to begin using the term “Al Qaeda” to designate “anyone and everyone we fight against or kill in Iraq” is obvious. All of a sudden, every time one of the top military commanders describes our latest operations or quantifies how many we killed, the enemy is referred to, almost exclusively now, as “Al Qaeda.”

  ”But what is even more notable is that the establishment press has followed right along, just as enthusiastically. I don’t think the New York Times has published a story about Iraq in the last two weeks without stating that we are killing “Al Qaeda fighters,” capturing “Al Qaeda leaders,” and every new operation is against “Al Qaeda.” [Rest of article]

 

So. Carolina Library Cancels Summer Reading Program

  Continuing on with the theme of the blog post below:

  “A South Carolina library system has closed down its summer programs for young adults after receiving threats and allegations that it was trying to promote “witchcraft” and “drug use.”

  “The Pickens County Library System’s half-hour summer programs for middle and high school students were supposed to take a light-hearted look at the topics “Secrets and Spies: How to Keep a Secret by Writing in Code or Making Invisible Ink” and “What’s Your Sign?” Another program was to examine astrology, palmistry, and numerology; and others were to feature tarot cards, tie-dying t-shirts, how to make a Zen garden, and yoga.

  “Now the programs are cancelled in the wake of phone and e-mail threats from the community, believed to emanate from a single local Baptist church. The astrology program was labeled as “witchcraft” by callers, while the Zen garden and yoga programs were objected to as “promoting other religions.” The t-shirts workshop? “Promotes the hippie culture and drug use,” callers said….[Rest of article]

Michael Moore’s Movie “SICKO”–Available Free (Sort Of) On the Internet

I like Michael Moore’s movies. Yeah, they can be a little manipulative but…so can our friends at FOX NEWS.

There has been much todo in the press about his upcoming new movie SICKO, a documentary about the American health care industry. It is my understanding that it is universally well-reviewed–even by those that think Mr. Moore is the Anti-Christ.

If you object to giving any of your hard-earned dollars to Mr. Moore, you may be pleased to know that the movie is available all over the place on the Internet. Just GOOGLE “SICKO torrent” for the torrent. Don’t know what a torrent is? Ya gotta be kidding me.

The “illegal” (sort of) download has Mr. Moore’s blessing (sort of). No, really! Not saying that his distributor is that wild about the idea, but here is Mr. Moore on the issue:

Personally, I’m going to wait for it to be in the theaters–it’s fun to watch his movies with others around. Not that many movies you go to where there is almost always spontaneous applause at the end.

The American Electorate

My “…strong automatic preference for European American compared to African American”

   I just took this Harvard-designed test available here.  (It takes about 10 or 15 minutes–you’ll need at least a double-digit IQ to follow the instructions).

   I don’t want to discuss the methodology here, as I wouldn’t want to effect your own results.

   I was disappointed in mine.  I expected some “slight preference” for associating European American faces with positive images flashed on the screen (what with being European American and all)–but the test results came up with, gulp, a “strong” preference.

Well–good to know.  More to work on.

Better to be aware of that than have the self-delusion of the “not a racist bone in my body”/”why, some of my best friends are…” bunch.