Merry Christmas

Beware the word "Thug"

"Thug." Watch it carefully. It's only use is to dehumanize people. We humans have inalienable rights and even criminals are protected by the due process clause. But if you're a thug? Not so much. "Thug" is just a spam-filter safe spelling of "ni&&er".

Somebody help me out......

What I find fascinating is that while we all worry about the rise of the surveillance state, it's first and most prominent victims are the police. I'm not sure what to make of that.

New Republic goes after Dawkins.

The capacity and propensity for destruction goes with being human. One does not have to be religious to acknowledge this dark fact.

It's astounding how many writers get this exactly backward. As animals, we simply are.. There are no value judgments to be applied beyond the fact that living seems better than dying. It's quite unremarkable that we are capable of evil. What is absolutely ASTOUNDING is that we are capable of thinking about it. Good and Evil is a strictly human preoccupation; it does not exist in nature without our very peculiar and rare brains. It's worth noting too that all creatures on earth are equally evolved. Therefore intelligent, moral creatures are a one in a billion long shot.

I take issue

I take issue The rise of intelligence and consciousness, far from being a natural result of evolution is incredibly rare. On earth it has only been achieved by one species out of millions (all of which are equally 'evolved') You may be right about what's next for us, but you can't accurately portray it as a natural progression. Our's is a quite unique road.

Re; Upcoming ISIS operations.

My #1 concern is that our enemies in Iraq and our friends in Syria happen to be the same people. Current estimates of ISIS fighting strength is only 30,000 or the number in attendance at a typical Hockey game. Do we really think that we can muster a force that will defeat them while that force is in fact fighting the Syrian regime side by side with their alleged enemies. This whole mess is a direct result of the American reflex that insists that no matter what, we have to DO SOMETHING. It doesn't help that 'Caliphate" is one of those magic words that causes neocon's ears to bleed whenever they hear it. Obama has to DO SOMETHING and by God, he's going to do it, at least until 11/4 is safely in the rear-view mirror.

Re: McCain vs Carney

The trouble is that this clip has now appeared on every news site there is. McCain isn't going away until people start ignoring him. When I asked the folks at Time why he was always on TeeVee, they insisted that it's because he always "makes news". Unfortunately as long as we consider crap like this "news" they will continue to be right.

Ask Time Magazine

#AskTime My Grandfather was Methodist Minister, a noted leftist, and dedicated his life to helping the less fortunate as Director of the Indianapolis Goodwill for 35 years. I attended Church as a youth and was taught in no uncertain terms that Jesus's mission was one of mercy and forgiveness. I then attended a summer camp run by Wheaton College and was presented with an entirely different and (to me) alien version of Christianity. 

My question is simply this: What happened to allow the word "Christian" to become a synonym for "Right Wing"? I know for a fact that there are literally millions of Liberal Christians but any close look at the media and the words they choose, makes it seem like such people are insignificant to the point of non-existence. 

What we do to help journalists write more carefully so they aren't lazily conflating two very different concepts?

Another way "Centrism" equals dishonesty.

It appears that every news outlet that covering the Lerner story is ignoring the fact that the subject of the conversation was "the whacko wing of the GOP". That does not mean 'Conservatives". That does not mean 'Some Republicans" The fact that they are pretending that it does means that the MSM INCLUDING Time is willing to lie in order to push a false narrative. Lois Lerner's e-mails acknowledged a simple fact that is also apparent to most mainstream Republicans. The fact that they are unwilling to admit it makes them liars as well.

Reminder

Of course Benghazi wouldn't be nearly the obsession it has become if Mitt Romney hadn't made a complete a$$ of himself the night it happened. Accusing the Commander in Chief of the Armed forces of siding with the enemy is NOT something you should be doing if you happen to be a loyal American. The real cover up is the fact that no one remembers that little slip because of all the chaff that's been deployed since.