Politics

No real reason for putting this in Politics forum, but here it is anyway.

Lord Carey: I support assisted dying The intervention of the former Archbishop of Canterbury is a dramatic departure from the official line of the Church of England By John Bingham, Religious Affairs Editor 8:57PM BST 11 Jul 2014 The Telegraph Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, is supporting moves to legalise assisted dying, it has emerged. His intervention is a dramatic breach with the official line of the Church of England. It comes days before the House of Lords considers a Bill tabled by Lord Falconer allowing doctors to prescribe terminally ill patients a lethal dose of drugs. Lord Carey is expected to argue that upholding the sanctity of human l…

PUT CITIZENS UNITED IN THE DUMPSTER OF BAD IDEAS Look, Citizens United was a disaster. The question is, what are we going to do about it? How are we going to stuff this “corporations are people, elections are auctions, democracy is for sale” mess into the Dumpster of Bad Ideas? Here’s how: A constitutional amendment that puts power back in the hands of the people. The actual, human people. Sign below to join me in calling for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United. PETITION We, the undersigned, have had it. Corporations are not people. Elections should not be auctions. And we refuse to let our democracy be put up for sale. We are standing toget…

Astronomers in Ukraine Named a Star "Putin is a Dickhead" Aleksander Chan gawker.com E As tensions rise in Ukraine in their battle against pro-Russian separatists, a group of Ukrainian astronomers have come up with a way to deliver a cosmic burn: by naming a star "Putin-Huilo!" after Russian President Vladimir Putin. "Huilo" (or as it is sometime seen, "khuilo") is a useful Ukrainian word that roughly translates to "fucker," "asshole," or "dickhead" in English. According to The Wire, the star was adopted through the Pale Blue Dot Project, which allows anyone to adopt a star (and name it) for $10. "Khuilo" has taken on a life of its own as a meme/insult of choice t…

Pope Francis just expertly trolled his critics When faced with a McCarthy-esque smear campaign, best to pull a communist switcheroo By Elizabeth Stoker Bruenig | 8:03am ET The Week Nothing diabolical going on here. (Franco Origlia/Getty Images) Since Pope Francis began speaking in public about the Christian view on economic matters, opponents have engaged in what often feels like a McCarthy-era smear campaign, accusing the Pope of things like Marxism, communism, and Leninism. It was Rush Limbaugh on his radio show that first leveled charges of Marxism after the publication of Pope Francis' apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium; he later doubled down o…

From Mother Jones. The 8 Best Lines From Ginsburg's Dissent on the Hobby Lobby Contraception Decision —By Dana Liebelson | Mon Jun. 30, 2014 11:32 AM EDT On Monday, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg penned a blistering dissent to the Supreme Court's 5-4 ruling that the government can't require certain employers to provide insurance coverage for methods of birth control and emergency contraception that conflict with their religious beliefs. Ginsburg wrote that her five male colleagues, "in a decision of startling breadth," would allow corporations to opt out of almost any law that they find "incompatible with their sincerely held religious beliefs." More MoJo coverage of t…

I suppose DC has to try to be MORE PC than anywhere else but really why does the Patent Office think they know anything about Native Americans? Will the Atlanta Braves, Cleveland Indians and others similar be next? Does this mean we can no longer pay our Native American escorts with wampum? BTW, where are our NA escorts? Where is PETA on such as the Wolverines, Bears, Lions, Tigers, ad nauseam? Will our sports teams soon be called Sunflowers, Crab Grass, Mighty Oaks, Willows, etc.? Our saps are better than your saps. The whole thing is silly. However, in answer to such as the NCAA, such as the Florida State Seminoles can keep their name courtesy of a local tribe…

Greenwald back in fine form. Almost channeling Chomsky et al. (Which in my book is high praise.) http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/13/glenn-greenwald-anonymous-mass-surveillance-governments-nasa-no-place-to-hide

Obama image spotted in urinal Posted by CNN Political Unit (CNN) – A cartoonish figure of President Obama was found in a urinal at a major conservative gathering in Washington on Friday. It's unknown who put the item there. One White House official responded with humor to an article about the foam figurine. "Totally uncalled for: Those ears are huge," Dan Pfeiffer, a senior Obama adviser, posted on Twitter. http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2014/06/20/obama-image-spotted-in-urinal/?hpt=ob_blogfooter&iref=obinsite

How to recognize an open-carry patriot byRubenBollingFollowforComics Found at: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/06/12/1305939/-Cartoon-How-to-recognize-an-open-carry-patriot?detail=email

So I have made much before of how Yale lit-crit Harold Bloom is my intellectual god beyond all others. Here he is in an interview on the topics in his book Jesus and Yahweh: The Names Divine. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1573223220?pc_redir=1401724401&robot_redir=1: P.S. Extraordinarily good review: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/review/1573223220/R3LY7P82N4SG94/ref=mw_dp_cr?cursor=1&sort=rd

This past Wednesday Canada's Attorney-General, Peter McKay, announced new legislation to replace the prostitution laws struck down last year by Canada's Supreme Court. The Supreme Court struck down the existing laws set out in the Criminal Code because they exposed prostitutes to violence and danger and therefore violated section of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms -- "security of the person". The Charter is part of Canada's constitution. The ruling party, the Conservative Party of Canada, instead adopted a "made in Canada" approach based on the Nordic model (Sweden and Norway) which criminalizes the purchasing of sex. The legislation that would impose a high pena…

Interesting argument for expanding the Supreme Cpurt to 19 Justices: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/jun/27/bigger-better-supreme-court-reform

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/29/bilderberg-60-inside-worlds-most-secretive-conference

http://money.cnn.com/2014/05/29/news/economy/uk-italy-prostitution-gdp/index.html

It hit the Irish pub scene

Thanks to "The Soup," I learned about the exciting gubernatorial race in Idaho. Here's an excerpt of a debate courtesy of the BBC. http://youtu.be/zjRGTI9g25w

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/may/22/pope-francis-holy-land-two-state-palestinians

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=29Mg6Gfh9Co

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LLCF7vPanrY

I don't much like Elizabeth Drew at all but this is reasonably interesting and even-handed: http://m.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/elizabeth-drews-washington-from-covering-nixon-to-making-new-friends-on-twitter/2014/05/14/751e7daa-dac5-11e3-bda1-9b46b2066796_story.html?tid=pm_lifestyle_pop

This could get interesting. Clay Aiken may run for Congress The out singer has been active on LGBT issues in recent years. | AP Photo By TAL KOPAN | 1/3/14 6:13 AM EST politico.com Former American Idol runner-up and singer Clay Aiken is taking steps toward a run for Congress, according to a new report. Sources told The Washington Blade that Aiken has been meeting with political operatives in D.C. and is actively considering launching a bid for Congress in North Carolina. Aiken has reportedly reached out to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, according to North Carolina strategist Betsy Conti and polling firm Hart Research Associates. If he were to r…

Here's link to the recent Supreme Court decision on the town of Greece, NY versus Galloway. http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/13pdf/12-696_4f57.pdf