EXPLOD!

Preacher tells parents to beat homosexuality out of pre-school children

Wed, 02 May 2012 18:52:00 -0400

Preacher tells parents to beat homosexuality out of pre-school children:

Everyone needs to know about this piece of shit. If you can stomach listening to the audio, be sure to take special note of how the crowd eats this garbage up.

pol102: And then there’s this nice counter to my previous post....

Wed, 02 May 2012 17:52:33 -0400

pol102:

And then there’s this nice counter to my previous post. There’s hope for the next generation—so long as they remain childlike (which is not the same childish). My students think it’s funny, but I regularly use examples from my kids’ daycare to illustrate critical thinking skills. Perhaps I should start collecting these vignettes …

From politicalprof:

Couldn’t be said better.

think4yourself:

Boom!

Near the top of my list of people I want to meet.

Santorum Asks for Help With Debt and Hints at His Plans - NYTimes.com

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 10:18:00 -0400

Santorum Asks for Help With Debt and Hints at His Plans - NYTimes.com:

Mr. Santorum did make clear that he was eager to pay off his campaign debt. He asked for donations during the conference call and on Tuesday followed up with yet another e-mail solicitation to supporters, telling them that he must retire his debt before he gets involved in anything else.

My grandmother (a lifelong Republican) got contacted by the Santorum campaign yesterday and was asked to contribute to paying off his debts. The suggested donation was $2,500. She laughed and later said she should have mentioned that she is having work done on her basement, and asked if Santorum could help foot the bill for her.

How terribly grand this is. Santorum, of the “don’t be a lazy handout taking bum and get a job like everybody else” party, is literally asking for handouts to pay off his debt. I wish it worked that way for people who got a 4 year degree, have about $50k in student loan debt and are fighting to pay it off with a part time job in a field unrelated to their degree of study. To top all this off, the popular Republican response to my plight is, “You should have gone to a cheaper school.”

I’d say, “Get a job, Santorum,” but it’s kind of clear that the “dignity of work” is only good enough for us middle class peons.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg On The NRA’s Nightmare Nation

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 18:45:00 -0400

Mayor Michael Bloomberg On The NRA’s Nightmare Nation:

These [Stand Your Ground] laws are vigilantism masquerading as self-defense, and getting half of the nation’s states to pass them is one of the best con jobs the NRA’s leaders have ever pulled off. They want to create a nation where disputes are settled by guns instead of gavels, and where suspects are shot by civilians instead of arrested by police. We have too many murders as it is without passing laws that lead to even more.

pol102: Absolutely! From thelifeguardlibrarian: National...

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 11:18:07 -0400

pol102:

Absolutely!

From thelifeguardlibrarian:

National Library Week

misslilyf: I know the word ‘obsessed’ gets thrown around a lot...

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 11:17:30 -0400

misslilyf:

I know the word ‘obsessed’ gets thrown around a lot these days. “I”M OBSESSED WITH HER PURSE” or “I’M OBSESSED WITH THE PRADA LOOK BOOK.” Obsessed is a pretty strong word.

However, there are some albums right now I would dare to use that word on.

1. Husker Du-Anything at all, but if you’re going for a beginners course “Warehouse: Songs and Stories” is a good place to start.

2. Samiam-You Are Freaking Me Out

3. Crystal Stilts-Alight of the Night

4. Red Hot Chili Peppers-Stadium Arcadium (both discs)

5. The Beatles-Revolver

Alight of the Night is a dope ass album.

teachingliteracy: meanwhile-imh

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 10:51:35 -0400

teachingliteracy:

meanwhile-imh

In Florida, even non-Floridians can get a concealed carry permit. You can get the application online. From the Department of Agriculture.

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 23:09:12 -0400

In Florida, even non-Floridians can get a concealed carry permit. You can get the application online. From the Department of Agriculture.

thefrogman: [pick-it-up-and-smell-it]

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 09:45:01 -0400

thefrogman:

[pick-it-up-and-smell-it]

The Case of Khalifah al-Akili

Wed, 28 Mar 2012 09:48:00 -0400

The Guardian posted an article telling the story of Khalifah al-Akili, a Pittsburgh man who was arrested on March 15. The Guardian writes:

He was later charged with illegally possessing a gun after having previous felony convictions for drug dealing. However, at his court appearance an FBI agent testified that al-Akili had made radical Islamic statements and that police had uncovered unspecified jihadist literature at his home.

But, in a strange twist, al-Akili’s arrest came just days after he had sent out an email to friends and local Muslim civil rights groups complaining that he believed he was the target of an FBI “entrapment” sting. That refers to a controversial FBI tactic of using confidential informants – who often have criminal records or are paid large sums of money – to facilitate “fake” terrorist plots for suspects to invent or carry out.

Using a bit of tech savvy, al-Akili put one of the alleged informant’s phone numbers into a Google search, and it returned the case of the Newburgh Four, where it was made public that the FBI used informants to arrest four Muslim men who were accused of plotting to shoot down military airplanes flying out of a base in Newburgh, New York. This revelation prompted al-Akili to reach out for help.

CNN.com posted the same story… but with a slightly different spin on things:

A convicted drug dealer arrested on a weapons charge will remain in jail pending trial after a court appearance in Pittsburgh on Friday.

A federal law enforcement official said prosecutors introduced evidence at the hearing alleging that Khalifa Ali Al-Akili, who was arrested Thursday, had made statements that he wanted to join jihadist groups such as the Taliban overseas.

While the article does mention that there have been no charges of terrorism officially brought against al-Akili, there was no mention of his outreach to the Guardian et al. 16 comments made it in before CNN closed the section to any more submissions. Here’s one that pretty much sums up the rest of them:

albro

Well, this “person” must be the pride of isalm! Mr. James Marving Ali Al-A killa, drug-dealer, felon, and defender of the faith. As an American who has espoused anti-American dogma and indicated terroristic desires, if found guilty, the penalty for treason is still DEATH! Is y’all willin’ to give yo’ life for Allah, brutha?

This is on CNN.com, mind you. None of the 15 other comments stray very far from this line of thinking. And there is no note as to why the CNN article was closed to comments. It could very well be that it was full of comments similar to albro’s. However, I would think that if that were the case, CNN would have removed the other comments from the article.

Regardless, I think that everyone needs to be aware of the treatment of al-Akili, how his trial progresses, and his treatment before, during and after his trial.

Elderly Couple In Fear Over Spike Lee Tweet

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 23:20:39 -0400

Elderly Couple In Fear Over Spike Lee Tweet:

The residence on Edgewater Circle is actually the home of David McClain, 72, and his wife Elaine, 70. The McClains, both of whom work for the Seminole County school system, have lived in the 1310-square-foot lakefront home for about a decade, records show.

In an interview tonight, Elaine McClain told [The Smoking Gun] that she and her husband were “afraid” due to the online linking of her address to Zimmerman. “We’re keeping everything locked,” she said. McClain added that the couple was particularly unnerved by a letter mailed to them at their home. On the envelope, she said, were printed the words “Taste The Rainbow,” the slogan for Skittles. Martin was carrying a pack of Skittles and a can of ice tea when he was gunned down by Zimmerman.

McClain said her husband returned the envelope unopened to the post office.

WHAT THE HELL IS IT GOING TO TAKE TO GET EVERYONE TO REALIZE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN PEOPLE TAKE THE LAW INTO THEIR OWN HANDS?

What's with all this crap being thrown around about Trayvon Martin?

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 09:46:00 -0400

First it was, “oh, he had no reason to be in that private community!” But he did. So then it was the hoodie business. Which everyone immediately (and rightly) rejected as asinine. Now it’s this crap about his problems in school (specifically the marijuana residue in a baggie that was on his person that led to his suspension). Judd Legum has a great article on ThinkProgress that shows some of the other stuff that’s been tossed around about Martin.

Now, the marijuana possession was being handled by his school. He was on suspension because of it. Even if police were involved in the matter, it’s a non-violent crime, and doesn’t give any “proof” of Martin being a violent, aggressive person. And even if the rest of these things were reasons to punish Martin at school or under the law,none of them are acceptable reasons for murder/manslaughter/physical attack/anything other than informing the proper (read: real) authorities and letting them handle it.

I understand and agree with the fact that Zimmerman gets to have a fair trial, and that he is innocent until proven guilty. That isn’t the issue. The issue is, is that a boy was stalked by an older man armed with a firearm, the boy was subsequently killed with that firearm, the killer was known to police, and he wasn’t arrested. Setting aside the stand your ground bullshit, if I was being followed around by an angry looking dude who then got out of his car to confront me, I would have been panicking, too. And if you listen to Zimmerman’s call to police, it’s not as if he has the outward demeanor of a calm, caring person. He was noticeably pissed. So I think it’s a real big stretch to call Zimmerman a victim, given his set of actions (which he did against the non-binding advice of law enforcement). It’s kind of amazing to me that people can say that Martin deserved to get shot if he attacked Zimmerman first, but that same reasoning applied the opposite direction (i.e., Zimmerman shouldn’t get protection as a “victim” because he actively followed and confronted Martin) is a ridiculous notion.

Anyway, whatever you say about Martin’s family, or Martin himself, their cries of injustice are more than valid, because the process to seek and obtain justice hadn’t even been properly started.

Zakaria: Incarceration nation – Global Public Square - CNN.com Blogs

Sat, 24 Mar 2012 09:19:48 -0400

Zakaria: Incarceration nation – Global Public Square - CNN.com Blogs:

Is this hyperbole? Here are the facts. The U.S. has 760 prisoners per 100,000 citizens. That’s not just many more than in most other developed countries but seven to 10 times as many. Japan has 63 per 100,000, Germany has 90, France has 96, South Korea has 97, and Britain - with a rate among the highest - has 153….

This wide gap between the U.S. and the rest of the world is relatively recent. In 1980 the U.S.’s prison population was about 150 per 100,000 adults. It has more than quadrupled since then. So something has happened in the past 30 years to push millions of Americans into prison.

That something, of course, is the war on drugs.

theeconomist: Tomorrow’s cover today: our cover in America...

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 19:45:40 -0400

theeconomist:

Tomorrow’s cover today: our cover in America notes that change is coming to Cuba at last. But the United States could do far more to encourage it.

deantrippe: grumpyhawk: We totally could. I think about this...

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 18:11:56 -0400

deantrippe:

grumpyhawk:

We totally could.

I think about this every day.

Free Zombie Books: Today’s 11 Free Zombie Books (3/22/12)

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 11:03:58 -0400

Free Zombie Books: Today’s 11 Free Zombie Books (3/22/12):

zombiebooks:

Most of these zombie Kindle books are free for today only, so download the ones you want right away. They can be read without a Kindle, and can even be read in your web browser with Amazon’s free Cloud Reader.

Note: There are a lot of really highly rated zombie books today. Please help…

Love me some free zombies.

oldflorida: Surfs up on Madeira Beach. St. Petersburg,...

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 09:29:01 -0400

oldflorida:

Surfs up on Madeira Beach.

St. Petersburg, 1977.

(Alvin Lederer Collection)

FACT CHECK: More US Drilling Didn't Drop Gas Price

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 09:15:00 -0400

FACT CHECK: More US Drilling Didn't Drop Gas Price:

A statistical analysis of 36 years of monthly, inflation-adjusted gasoline prices and U.S. domestic oil production by The Associated Press shows no statistical correlation between how much oil comes out of U.S. wells and the price at the pump.

Hell yes. Can’t wait for Tuesday.

Sun, 04 Mar 2012 11:36:56 -0500

Hell yes. Can’t wait for Tuesday.

npr: flavorpill: The tree lobster, you guys! “On Howe, there...

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 10:44:04 -0500

npr:

flavorpill:

The tree lobster, you guys!

“On Howe, there used to be an insect, famous for being big. It’s a stick insect, a critter that masquerades as a piece of wood, and the Lord Howe Island version was so large — as big as a human hand — that the Europeans labeled it a “tree lobster” because of its size and hard, lobster-like exoskeleton. It was 12 centimeters long and the heaviest flightless stick insect in the world. Local fisherman used to put them on fishing hooks and use them as bait.”

- Robert Krulwich