(cross posted at kickin it with cg and motley moose)

In case anyone was jonesing for a some homophobia and well, douchiness in general should be sure to check out last Thursday's O'Reilly Factor.  In it, O'Reilly does a segment on the protests in California over Prop. 8 and really does not disappoint in reaffirming that he is a number one ignoramus.

O'REILLY: So you can see the debate over gay marriage is now a full fledged national battle. As talking points said last night the election of Barack Obama has emboldened secular progressives who feel it is their time. Gay marriage is just the beginning. Other cultural war issues will also be in display very shortly. These include limiting gun possession, legalizing narcotics, unrestricted abortion and the revocation of the Patriot Act.

(cross posted at kickin it with cg and motley moose)

Back in June, I observed that political machinations reverted into the oldest stereotypes - namely that women should ONLY be depicted as wives or mothers. Unfortunately now that the transition is in place it would appear that we are headed back in that direction with Michelle Obama's recent visit to the White House with Laura Bush.

In an interview with CNN's WH Correspondent Elaine Quijano, Bush describes the meeting:

QUIJANO: The role of the First Lady is certainly something that I'm sure you discussed with Mrs. Obama earlier this week. How did that visit go? And could you tell us any anecdotes?

BUSH: Well it went great. It was very private, really. It was really much more, I think, two mothers talking about home more in this visit, because of course I showed her the rooms that are our girls' rooms now that I think are the perfect rooms for her girls when they move there.

We talked more about really making the White House a home for a family. And what I know from having lived here and from visiting my mother-in-law when she made this family a home and from reading about all the other families that have lived here is this house really can be a home. And I know that they'll make it that way for their little girls.

QUIJANO: Certainly, there must be some increased pressure, a lot of scrutiny, of course, living in the White House. I was wondering, did you share any advice with her as a mother who has been through it, having had two daughters spending some formative years?

BUSH: Not really. I think I showed her the closets, I showed her all the things that women are interested in. But I didn't try to give her a lot of advice. I know she knows that she can make it home.

And that's what she wants to do.

QUIJANO: Last question then. Your husband, the day after the election, talked about it being a stirring sight to see the Obamas because of the historic nature of having the nation's first African-American president. I wonder if you could share your thoughts on that, as well?

BUSH: Well I also think it's very, very important. I think it's important for American history. I think it's a message to everybody in the United States of what's possible. But it's also a message around the world because I know, because I heard from them, that there were leaders in the -- around the world who didn't think the United States would elect an African-American man. And so, I think it's a really important message about our own democracy to people around the world.

QUIJANO: Mrs. Bush, thank you so much.

BUSH: Thanks a lot. Thanks a lot.

Watch:

And because its Friday and I cannot think of something positive to say about the meeting, or how pathetic this sounds in the year 2008, I'd like to think that the end of the meeting went something like this:

Maybe her and Michelle burned one in the Rose Garden and then Laura showed her where she grows her own.

Laura: The Secret Service NEVER comes in here. I tell George it's where the government keeps Noriega and only Cheney is allowed in there. He just nods and pretends he knows it. HEY! Why don't I just leave the equipment and sh*t for you?

Michelle: Girl, SOLID!

(fist bump between the two)

(cross posted at motley moose)

Yesterday marked the 70th anniversary of Kristallnacht, or the Night of Broken Glass, Nazi Germany’s pogrom that signaled the beginning of the Holocaust and the stripping of rights of European Jewry. Two hundred synagogues were burned, Jewish businesses throughout Germany and Austria were looted, which eventually led to the deportation of tens of thousands of Jews to concentration camps.

So as we remember the crimes against humanity of which my grandparents were victims of, I want to express my outrage while invoking Godwin's Law with regard to Prop 8.  

It is outragous that in the year 2008 - that the LGBT community was stripped of their equal rights.  ALL of those that voted for Prop 8 deserve shame and ought to listen carefully to the following:...

You're on the wrong side of history.

(cross posted at motley moose)

Well since the election I have attempted to return to the progressive blogosphere full force ahead and the results have been mixed at best.  It sort of seems to me of what I imagined people were feeling in Europe at the end of WWII.  People hobbling out of bombed out buildings, reuniting with their families, etc.

However I have noticed a disturbing trend that was also seen in those post-war days.  Bullying.  From revisiting primary grudges to mocking  progressive causes based on the opportunity to bait Clinton and Edwards (or their supporters). I am not certain why this is of course, but a wise person had an interesting thought on the topic:

The last few days have been very odd.  The election was a success for all Democrats but the most die-hard haters.  We did well, very well and shared a hell of a campaign and a great night.  

There is this colossal, post-election letdown going on (was almost going to write post-partum because it almost seems like that is what is going on) and folks are a bit nuts, floundering, trying to find the solid ground on which to take the next step.

Everyone wants to claim some ownership of the near-miracle that has just happened in this country.  Everyone also has an agenda.  We are not fighting the GOPs at the moment, but are looking for little battles to fight among our own.  

I think the voices here to just disrupt will go away at some point or be overshadowed, as they usually tend to be, in the long run by saner ones.  I think as any of us say anything right now we need to consider what brought us to this, where we are, and the massive job that needs doing now to fix the country and to heal the wounds of the  primary (a lot of genuinely important issues that came out of that were put on hold but not addressed) as we continue to revel in what has happened, and how all of this is going to kind of be splattering all over the place.

I am speaking to myself first and then anyone reading this, forbearance and patience for the moment.  All that rational exuberance needs to die down and we can get to the point where this is about how we are doing as a party, governing, but right now, well stress comes with major life events, the good and the bad and folks are kind of frayed.

Is this it?  I don't know.  But one thing is for certain, in the dawn of a new political era we would all be better off to show more kindness to one another.

(cross posted at kickin it with cg and motley moose)

Bill McKibben, whose 1989 book "The End of Nature" was one of the first to warn of the threats of climate change, has helped launch a 90-second clip that puts the spotlight on global warming and where we need to be if human civilization is going to survive.  The clip does not have words and it is assumed that this is because, global warming is a problem transcends language, culture and country.

Once upon a time, long ago, before industrialization, before coal-fired power plants spewed carbon dioxide into the atmosphere that's precipitated climate change, there was a number. That number, 275, was the parts per million of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere.

Flash forward more than 150 years later, that number has risen. The earth is hotter and we are in serious trouble. We're up to about 387 parts per million of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere.  Based on the most up-to-date science, the goal to avoid any kind of global catastrophe and to get our carbon dioxide number down to 350 parts per million.

"We now in the last year have that number," McKibben says, "and it's probably the most important number in the world."

If you feel like taking action and inviting the next US President to attend the UN Climate Meetings this December in Poland and rejoin the world's fight against the climate crisis, then please go here or visit www.350.org

(cross posted at kickin it with cg and motley moose)

The AP is reporting that Malaysia's main body of Islamic clerics has issued an edict today banning tomboys in the Muslim-majority country, ruling that girls who act like boys violate the tenets of Islam.

The National Fatwa Council forbade the practice of girls behaving or dressing like boys during a meeting Thursday in northern Malaysia, said Harussani Idris Zakaria, the mufti of northern Perak state, who attended the gathering.  Harussani said an increasing number of Malaysian girls behave like tomboys, and that some of them engage in homosexuality. Homosexuality is not explicitly banned in Malaysia, but it is effectively illegal under a law that prohibits sex acts "against the order of nature."  Harussani said the council's ruling was not legally binding because it has not been passed into law, but that tomboys should be banned because their actions are immoral.

"It doesn't matter if it's a law or not. When it's wrong, it's wrong. It is a sin," Harussani told The Associated Press. "Tomboy (behavior) is forbidden in Islam."  Under the edict, girls are forbidden to sport short hair and dress, walk and act like boys, Harussani said. Boys should also not act like girls, he said.  "They must respect God. God created them as boys, they must behave like boys. God created them as girls, they must act like girls," he said.

Council chairman Abdul Shukor Husin said the ruling was prompted by recent cases of young women behaving like men and indulging in homosexuality, according to the national news agency Bernama. He did not elaborate.  Malaysian media have reported on recent incidents of school bullying among girls, which have been caught on film and circulated on the Internet. In one film, some girls are seen beating up another girl in a bathroom.  A well-known Malaysian Muslim actress caused an uproar last year when she shaved her head bald for a film. Harussani and other muftis urged Muslims not to watch the movie, arguing that the actress had violated Islam by making herself look like a man.  

Muslims make up some 60% of Malaysia's 27 million people, and are subject to Islamic laws and the council's edicts, even if the rulings have not been enshrined in national or Shariah law.  As was noted, it was not immediately clear what kind of punishment awaited those who violate the tomboy edict.

(cross posted at kickin it with cg and motley moose)

These "superhuman black men" will be coming on October 31st to support Barack Obama, according to Prophet Yahweh, Seer of Yahweh, Master UFO Caller.

He claims that these space beings are the Angels of Yahweh, the Creator of all things. And, they are talking to him, on a daily basis, via a sophisticated form of telepathic, non-verbal, none-talk, brain-to-brain communication. Most of the time, when they contact him, he is asleep.

Further, he notes that: 'Unless I am misinterpreting my visions, it's very likely that Yahweh's angels are going to descend down from space, in one of their spaceships, on two different occasions, in a different, single ship, each time, and hover over my school, in Las Vegas, NV for three days so the media can film them.'

When asked why the spaceships will appear, Prophet boldly says that:

One of the many reasons why they will do this is to show support for Presidential candidate Barack Obama. This will be done so people will know that Obama is the best choice to lead America through the troublesome times to come.

However, he admits he might off about the date and the details. But really, they're going to help Obama save the USA from Iran and Russia.  Video of Prophet Yaweh below:

You can't make this stuff up.

(cross posted at kickin it with cg)

Video from the Gala Dinner at Take Back America 2007 in Washington, DC - June 19, 2007

That is all.