my teeth have the same color as McCain's

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Thursday June 05, 2008 · 4:17 PM PDT

2008/06/05 · 16:17

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I'm incredibly proud of my Ph.D. from Boston University in part because it's something I share with MLK, and in part because my grandmothers were illiterate. In the past, I noted in comments that Markos, MLK and I have advanced degrees from the same school, but, you know, his was only a master's or something like that. (I respond to condescension in kind.)

I strongly favored John Edwards because I judged the candidates by their words. Nevertheless, I had been rejoicing those words from MLK for the past several months, and especially yesterday, because Obama became the nominee based on his words and character. Today, I recall them in a negative light.

Markos, thank you for reminding me that my teeth are "gross" as a consequence of having uneducated refugee immigrant parents who let me drink coffee every morning throughout elementary school but didn't encourage me to brush my teeth, because they just didn't know any better. I'll rush right out and get my teeth whitened for you.

DrReason

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Tuesday December 04, 2007 · 9:06 PM PST

2007/12/04 · 21:06

I knew little about Michael "Mike" Huckabee. Except for his religiosity, I had this impression that he was a likeable fellow. I wasn't surprised to learn that he supports the teaching of creationism in public schools, and I wasn't surprised that the AP incorrectly calls this nonsense a "theory".

However, I was surprised to learn that Huckabee is unhinged and corrupt, Giuliani-like, and that as governor of Arkansas, he secretly lobbied the state parole board for the release of a convicted rapist who then

"molested and killed one woman and was suspected of doing the same to another, but died in prison before he could be charged in the second case."

And of course:

To this day, Huckabee tries to minimize his responsibility for DuMond's release. Huckabee's 2007 book "From Hope to Higher Ground" also fudges the facts, implying that DuMond died before being convicted of either Missouri murder. In one recent interview, he even suggested that he had fought DuMond's parole, a statement his own writings prove to be a lie.

Details below. Michael "Mike" Huckabee, you likeable, friendly scumbag.

DrReason

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Monday January 01, 2007 · 9:07 PM PST

2007/01/01 · 21:07

A diary that was on the rec list opened with:

I'm not kidding about the Free Mumia thing: many liberals cite that very phrase as one of those "fringe" topics on the left that make them CRINGE in embarrassment on behalf of similiarly minded liberals.

I didn't get that diary, but I have strong feelings about this subject. I became involved in Mumia's cause when I read that the bullet that killed the officer did not match Mumia's gun, and devoted countless hours to this cause (details below). I CRINGED in anger when I read this exchange involving Mumia's then-new lawyer:

SAM DONALDSON: But if it's a .38, then your contention that it was a .44 is wrong.

LEONARD WEINGLASS: Well, I think that issue is very much something that should be played out in front of a jury.

Part of what makes me a liberal is that I form my opinions based on evidence. I hate bullshit and deceit, staples of the Republican diet. I don't support the death penalty and I agree that it appears that Mr. Cook/Abu-Jamal didn't get a fair trial, but in a fair trial, he would be found guilty. I see nothing wrong with liberals cringing in this case.

DrReason

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Wednesday May 03, 2006 · 9:58 PM PDT

2006/05/03 · 21:58

"I applaud them moving out of the shadows and into the light because of the human rights issues involved," Mr. Walters said of illegal immigrants. "I've given my entire life to issues of social justice as an activist and an academic. In that sense, I'm with them.
"But they also represent a powerful ingredient to the perpetuation of our struggle," he said. "We have a problem where half of black males are unemployed in several cities. I can't ignore that and simply be my old progressive self and say it's not an issue. It is an issue."

Mere days ago, we were outraged to learn that Bush had violated on the order of 750 laws. We expect him to obey the law. Shouldn't we likewise expect all immigrants to arrive here legally? If not, why do we have laws? If so, why don't we lobby to change the law?

I ask you to read what I think the problems are and to suggest concrete solutions. If you've already decided that I'm racist, I'm a Republican troll, etc., we won't have much of a dialog, so goodbye. Read More

Sick of [DKos] pro-Serb propaganda

DrReason

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Sunday April 16, 2006 · 12:21 AM PDT

2006/04/16 · 00:21

[Update 2: changed the title.] A relevant reminder: Soj doesn't believe that genocide occurred in Srebrenica. Soj sides with the Serbs this time by portraying the Kosovar Albanians as criminals not deserving of independence, and yet does not offer a single solution.

Detailed rebuttal of the propaganda on the flip, but here's why Serbs have no right to rule Kosovo::

'Once you touch the woman, you touch the honour of the family and you provoke the man to react. The Serbs knew this. Belgrade had, for years, put out propaganda that the only thing Albanian women could do was produce like mice. So daughters were gang-raped in front of their fathers, wives in front of their husbands, nieces in front of their uncles, mothers in front of their children, just to dehumanise, just to degrade.'
It is estimated by the World Health Organisation and the US-based Centre for Disease Control that as many as 20,000 Kosovar women (4.4 per cent of the population) were raped in the two years prior to Nato's forces entering the benighted territory. Numbers to match Bosnia, if not more.

DrReason

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Sunday April 02, 2006 · 11:13 PM PDT

2006/04/02 · 23:13

Greg Petsko, who works on protein structure at Brandeis University in Waltham, MA, writes a monthly comment in Genome Biology. One month it's about the dog genome and the next month it's about banning the use of supplementary materials. (Sorry: all articles require a subscription.) I really love his style. Here's an excerpt:

But the category that I want to discuss here isn't any of these. It's the one that gets my blood boiling every time I think about it: 'things I really didn't want any part of but got anyway'. George W Bush. Reality TV. The war in Iraq. Male pattern baldness. And of course, supplementary material.

This month, however, he tackles dwindling funding for NIH research. The situation is dire, but he does pledge to write next month about how to fix it. Read More

NYT on kids in Iraq, w/pix. Very sad.

DrReason

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Sunday December 25, 2005 · 11:38 PM PST

2005/12/25 · 23:38

While I'm thoroughly outraged at the NYT for its shenanigans in favor of the fascist administration, there's an article up currently about civilians coping with the violence, with some very moving but disturbing pictures.

The caption for one picture in particular knocked me out:

We used to play soccer 11 on a side. Now there's only enough for three against three.

That's 11-year-old Muhammad Sattar speaking. His twin brother was killed in a bombing. Can you imagine these six kids? Politics aside, this is simply heartbreaking. Read More

I thought Special Ops were tough (cost of Iraq)

DrReason

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Saturday November 26, 2005 · 1:41 AM PST

2005/11/26 · 01:41

Like many of you, I read about this goddamn war just about every day. It never ends:

three members of a special forces unit based at Fort Carson, in Colorado Springs, have committed suicide.

I thought those Special Ops guys were tough. Suicide? Did we lower the bar to meet recruiting goals? I think not. Things must be tough.

The NYT has an article on the psychological cost of this war. Here's how it ends:

"The great change among American troops in Germany during the Second World War was when they discovered the concentration camps," Dr. Marlowe said. "That immediately and forever changed the moral appreciation for why we were there."
As soldiers return from Iraq, he said, "it will be enormously important for those who feel psychologically disaffected to find something which justifies the killing, and the death of their friends."

54% of soldiers say that morale is low or very low. I don't think they'll find the justification they need when they come home. Another consequence of this adventure. Read More

Can't happen here? It has before and will again.

DrReason

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Thursday October 27, 2005 · 12:48 PM PDT

2005/10/27 · 12:48

The Weekly Dig is a free magazine here in Boston. The editorial this week is excellent, and I obtained permission from the author, Joe Keohane, to reproduced it here. Here's a snippet:

Earlier, the town cynic, an editor, berates a room of neighbors who insist a dictatorship can't happen here. "The hell it can't," he says. "There's no country in the world that can get more hysterical!" He launches into a litany of ways Americans have espoused fascist ideals, one of which is, "Remember when hick legislators in certain states ... set up shop as scientific experts and made the world laugh itself sick by forbidding the teaching of evolution?"
Ha ha. Remember that?

Keohane is quoting from Sinclair Lewis's 1935 book It Can't Happen Here. Full text after the flip. Read More

Rat's ass? Ashamed by reaction to Obama

DrReason

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Sunday October 02, 2005 · 1:56 PM PDT

2005/10/02 · 13:56

Perhaps because I'm an immigrant (now naturalized), government was a distant entity for a long time, so I'm impressed when elected officials reach out to us here, to regular people: Reps. Conyers and Slaughter and now Senator Obama, just to cite a few examples. Whether or not we agree with them about specific policies, it's in our best interest and theirs to have them as allies, and we must treat them courteously if we hope to stay in contact.

I was horrified by some of the reactions, including the diary entitled I don't give a rat's ass about DeLay or Obama. Read More

Bush not super-Christian, private about faith

DrReason

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Saturday August 27, 2005 · 4:37 AM PDT

2005/08/27 · 04:37

I was going to do a diary on Jason Ring's 42" "verticle" (see the ad on the front page). A verticle is defined as "n. 1. An axis; a hinge; a turning point." Verticle of evil? I think they meant "vertical" as in "leap". Or vertical + clavicle = verticle?

Anyway, Maureen Dowd's latest column led me to this bit by David Froomkin which refers to this Financial Times article about the guy in charge of crossing the line between Church and State. He claims:

President Bush doesn't portray himself as a super-Christian. He is very private about his faith. I work with people who are very devout Christians who say let's pray together. He doesn't do that. He is all business in the Oval Office.

Hm, I wonder, could it all have been an act? Read More

Help the NYT: ID not a theory

DrReason

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Friday August 19, 2005 · 9:07 PM PDT

2005/08/19 · 21:07

Would you please help me bombard the NYT with letters reminding them that so-called "intelligent design" is not a theory?

Yet another NYT article refers to ID as a theory, three times:

Frist Urges 2 Teachings on Life Origin

he said that the theory of intelligent design as well as evolution should be taught in public schools

The theory of intelligent design holds that life is too complicated to have developed through...

Critics say intelligent design theorists are trying to supplant science with religious beliefs.

A THEORY MUST BE THOROUGHLY SUPPORTED BY EVIDENCE. THERE IS NO EVIDENCE IN SUPPORT OF ID, THEREFORE IT IS CONJECTURE. (Goddamnit, they piss me off.)

Please join me in writing to them at letters@nytimes.com. Read More

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my teeth have the same color as McCain's

Huckabee responsible for two women's deaths (updated)

Mumia: guilty (me: angry former supporter)

Against illegal immigration, or why do we have laws?

Sick of [DKos] pro-Serb propaganda

System broken: US bioscience funding ailing

NYT on kids in Iraq, w/pix. Very sad.

I thought Special Ops were tough (cost of Iraq)

Can't happen here? It has before and will again.

Rat's ass? Ashamed by reaction to Obama

Bush not super-Christian, private about faith

Help the NYT: ID not a theory