Prayer for Grandpa

PRAYER FOR GRANDPA

This is just too beautiful not to share.

Dear God, please send clothes
for all those poor ladies
on grandpa's computer.
Amen!

Religious intolerance

Classic!

Find 28 more clever signs by clicking here.

Prop 8 overturned

California's Proposition 8 has been ruled unconstitutional!!

The religious right and fundamentalist wackos need to just give it a rest and realize that same-sex marriage is going to be the law of the land. It is simply inevitable as society continues moving towards a more-tolerant attitude.

U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker issued a 136-page ruling (read it by clicking here) that lays everything out pretty well. His decision will probably be appealed to the Supreme Court, and although that court is packed with conservative activist judges, even if the Supreme Court overturns Walker's decision, it is still only a matter of time until they are removed and replaced by more-tolerant judges.

Naturally, most of the opposition to same-sex marriage comes from a religious perspective, as if the "Bible" can be trusted as an authority on anything. Geez, people, it was "written" by who knows who thousands of years ago, has been transcribed, re-translated and transliterated countless times since.

Come to think of it, a theological degree is the only "educated" degree where you are not supposed to "think." Lovely.

If the above link to the Judge's ruling doesn't work too well, there is a .pdf of the decision here.

Jersey Shore

The premier of "Jersey Shore" was the most watched cable program of the year.

The bad news: The premier of "Jersey Shore" was the most watched cable program of the year.
- Jay Leno

Quote of the Day

QUOTE OF THE DAY.... One of the uglier strains of modern conservative thought is pervasive anti-intellectualism. As Faiz Shakir noted today, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) offered a rather classic example on "Fox News Sunday."

Host Chris Wallace noted that "a number of top economists" believe that the nation, right now, needs "more economic stimulus." Boehner replied, "Well, I don't need to see GDP numbers or to listen to economists; all I need to do is listen to the American people."

That's actually kind of crazy -- the "American people," en masse, lack the qualifications and background needed to make sweeping decisions about complex economic policies. It's why our system is built around the notion that voters will choose sensible representatives to do this work for us -- evaluate a situation, consider the judgment of experts, and ideally reach a wise decision about the way forward.

If Boehner were facing a serious ailment, would he say, "Well, I don't need to see lab results or to listen to medical professionals; all I need to do is listen to the American people"? Maybe so, but at this point, the serious ailment is our national economy, and it affects us all.

When Wallace pressed Boehner on how he'd pay for trillions of dollars in tax cuts, the would-be Speaker eventually concluded, "This is the whole Washington mindset, all these CBO numbers."

I don't even know what this means. "All these CBO numbers"? Boehner loves those CBO numbers, when they're telling him what he wants to hear. But when tax cuts for billionaires are on the line, suddenly objective, independent budget data is deemed useless.

There's just no seriousness here. Boehner comes to the debate with all the sophistication of a drunk guy yelling at the TV from the end of a bar. He hasn't thought any of this through, and seems prepared to argue that he shouldn't think things though because forethought is part of "the whole Washington mindset."

If I thought Boehner was just playing for the cameras, throwing out garbage on Fox News, when in reality he actually takes reason, evidence, and arithmetic seriously, I wouldn't be scared of his leadership role. But all available evidence suggests Boehner simply doesn't know what he's doing and he believes his own nonsense.

As political hackery goes, it's the worst possible combination of traits.

Original.

Oy

It's a new month, but some things never change.

The wife and I are up in Arkansas for a few days to spend some time with my aging father. We'll be with him for his 84th birthday. Probably like most 84-year-olds, my father is in declining mental health. He's not bad physically, mostly because I and my three siblings convinced him to work with a personal trainer to regain his strength after a fall and extended hospital stay early this year.

But his mind is showing some obvious signs of decay. He's certainly not to the babbling fool stage yet, but he's moving down that road. He's a hardcore Republican, so in one sense, he's already a babbling fool. Sorry, couldn't help that one.

He's very sympathetic with the Tea Party and thinks Sarah Palin is "smart" and Glenn Beck "makes a lot of sense." I could go further and suggest that anyone who actually believes the demagogues on the right should be committed to a facility, but that would be silly. Maybe not wrong, but silly.

He, like the Teabaggers, thinks he's paying too much in taxes. He, like most of the Teabaggers, does not think that he got a tax cut under Obama, when he and they did. Earlier today he is railing that he's paying too much in taxes. He's Taxed Enough Already!

My wife tells him that the average American's tax rate is actually in the 15-20% range, which I believe is a very reasonable tax rate, for those of us who are not rich, by American standards. He agrees that 15-20% is not unreasonable, but he's sure his tax rate is much higher than that.

So, he eventually scurries off and digs up several of his most-recent tax returns, to try and prove us wrong. Sure enough, one year his effective tax rate was 16.5%. Another year it is 14.2%. Another year it was actually 9.8%! Yet another year it came in at 5.5%!!

So he comes back to us bragging about how low his tax rate is, and "See! I told you that I was paying less than 15% in taxes!"

(sigh) No, an hour ago, you disagreed with our 15-20% tax rate average. You claimed you were paying more than that. And now that you discover that we were right, you claim that that is what you had claimed all along.

Is it being a Republican, or is it his mental decline? Well, he is a Republican, after all. In my experience, they're born liars. It's like they can't help themselves. And then they try to take credit for something that they previously disagreed with, if they think it is to their advantage.

And one more example that I perceive as his decline: he's wearing the same clothes today, Monday, that he was wearing Saturday when we got here. He's sleeping in his clothes. Yesterday, he was working outside a bit and his shirt was almost totally soaked in sweat. Will he take a shower? Later, perhaps, when his clothes start disintegrating off of his body.

As people are living longer and longer, their bodies are lasting longer than their minds. It's pretty sad. I have no doubt that millions of other Americans are going through similar things with their elders. Good luck to all of you.

August stargazing

Don't stop looking up!

AUGUST STARGAZING SUMMARY

An extraordinary show plays out in the west during early evening this month: an ever-changing configuration of the planets Venus, Mars, and Saturn. Mercury tries to join them, but it remains low in the twilight, and sets by the time night falls. The Summer Triangle — the stars Vega, Deneb, and Altair — highlights the eastern half of the sky. And on moonless nights, the glowing band of the Milky Way arches across the sky. The combination of stars and planets makes this a must-see month for skywatching.

More stargazing information: http://stardate.org/nightsky

RADIO PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

Hear StarDate every day on more than 360 radio stations nationwide. Or subscribe to our podcast and RSS feed. http://stardate.org/feeds/rss.xml

August 2-8: Summer tea party Sagittarius scoots low across the southern sky on summer nights. It’s easy to find because its brightest stars form the shape of a teapot. Join us for the constellation, some of its brightest stars, and its hidden wonders.

August 9-15: From meteors to the Milky Way This is a great week for watching some faint treasures in the night sky, including the Milky Way and a good meteor shower. And on the brighter side, the crescent Moon passes some bright planets.

August 16-22: Evening treats The Moon passes by the bright star that marks the heart of the scorpion this week, while a bright planet puts on its own good show. Join us for the Moon, the planets, and many more treats in the night sky.August 23-29: Building planets Astronomers have discovered hundreds of planets outside our own solar system, and they expect to find many more. We’ll talk about how these worlds form, and how some of them get unusually puffy.

August 30-31: Danger from beyond Thousands of asteroids pass close to Earth’s orbit around the Sun — and some of them could someday threaten us with global destruction. Join us for details on efforts to find them and ways to knock them off course.

August Program Schedule: http://stardate.org/radio/calendars

Find an Affiliate: http://stardate.org/radio/affiliates.php