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filthy
SFN Die Hard

USA
14408 Posts

Posted - 09/01/2008 :  08:56:59   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send filthy a Private Message  Reply with Quote
My nasty, suspicious nature stands vindicated yet again:
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Republican officials say their radically curtailed convention offers a big political opportunity for the party to redeem itself on the competence issue — and for John McCain to step out of President Bush's shadow once and for all.

There's no doubt it's a bit morbid to think about (and write about) the politics of a potential natural disaster, and the thoughts — and prayers — of those gathering here are keenly focused on the Americans who face potential peril in Gustav's path. That's true for Republicans, Democrats and members of the media alike.

But this is a national political convention, and the potential political fallout of Gustav is a topic that was consuming Republican Party and McCain campaign officials on Sunday — one day before the official start of what had been planned as four days of festivities here.

“You don't wish for it, but it shows McCain dealing with a surprise — a big event that has consequences on people,” a convention planner said. “It's redemption for the Republican Party on the competence issue. The convention ends up being about John McCain showing the best way to serve a cause greater than yourself.”
And another advantage is that Bush & Cheney won't be around to fuck up the convention by speaking at it.




"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)

"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres


"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude

Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,

and Crypto-Communist!

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filthy
SFN Die Hard

USA
14408 Posts

Posted - 09/01/2008 :  09:27:00   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send filthy a Private Message  Reply with Quote
A little more on Palin. No suprises at all. She's just another run-of-the-mill fundie, and really, shows nothing exceptional even at that.

I've not bothered to exerpt the article becauses, as I said: no suprises.




"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)

"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres


"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude

Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,

and Crypto-Communist!

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Kil
Evil Skeptic

USA
13476 Posts

Posted - 09/01/2008 :  10:45:18   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit Kil's Homepage  Send Kil an AOL message  Send Kil a Yahoo! Message Send Kil a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Originally posted by filthy

A little more on Palin. No suprises at all. She's just another run-of-the-mill fundie, and really, shows nothing exceptional even at that.

I've not bothered to exerpt the article becauses, as I said: no suprises.




This just in, and it follows filthy's post nicely.

Palin's Daughter Pregnant, Campaign Announces .

I guess abstinence only (Palin's official position on sex ed) didn't exactly work on this 17 year old girl. But by gosh, they will support her decision to give birth, as though they would have supported any other decision.

"Our beautiful daughter Bristol came to us with news that as parents we knew would make her grow up faster than we had ever planned. We're proud of Bristol's decision to have her baby and even prouder to become grandparents," Sarah and Todd Palin said in the brief statement.


“It's a nice day for a white wedding…”

Uncertainty may make you uncomfortable. Certainty makes you ridiculous.

Why not question something for a change?

Genetic Literacy Project
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Dave W.
Info Junkie

USA
26020 Posts

Posted - 09/01/2008 :  11:12:00   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit Dave W.'s Homepage Send Dave W. a Private Message  Reply with Quote
And then there's this brouhaha.

- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too.
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Simon
SFN Regular

USA
1992 Posts

Posted - 09/01/2008 :  13:10:55   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send Simon a Private Message  Reply with Quote
She is good looking, personable and, dare I say, not black. And that will be good enough for some people.


I was wondering about Condi myself.

She is experienced and was pretty popular not so long ago. I was wondering why she was not even considered.
I thought it might have been a choice to distancing McCain from Bush; I didn't even think that the skin colour might be an issue here...


As for Michael Moore; yeah, it's a pretty shitty thing to say.

Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there – on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.
Carl Sagan - 1996
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Kil
Evil Skeptic

USA
13476 Posts

Posted - 09/01/2008 :  13:32:23   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit Kil's Homepage  Send Kil an AOL message  Send Kil a Yahoo! Message Send Kil a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Originally posted by Simon

She is good looking, personable and, dare I say, not black. And that will be good enough for some people.


I was wondering about Condi myself.

She is experienced and was pretty popular not so long ago. I was wondering why she was not even considered.
I thought it might have been a choice to distancing McCain from Bush; I didn't even think that the skin colour might be an issue here...


As for Michael Moore; yeah, it's a pretty shitty thing to say.

Yeah, I think Condi's association with Bush was a big negative.


I also think that Moore's remark was misunderstood, even though he contributed to that view by not making himself clear.


Uncertainty may make you uncomfortable. Certainty makes you ridiculous.

Why not question something for a change?

Genetic Literacy Project
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Robb
SFN Regular

USA
1223 Posts

Posted - 09/01/2008 :  14:06:57   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send Robb a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Originally posted by Dave W.

And then there's this brouhaha.
This is just irresponsible. He says in the article he has no proof. But just as with most media types concrete proof is not needed for conviction.

Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master. - George Washington
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Robb
SFN Regular

USA
1223 Posts

Posted - 09/01/2008 :  14:14:06   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send Robb a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Originally posted by Kil



I guess abstinence only (Palin's official position on sex ed) didn't exactly work on this 17 year old girl.

Are pregnancy rates lower for girls taught safe sex? If not then any sex education has had little effect. Probably due to most parents letting either the state or church teach sex ed. The best position is to teach them all about sex and contraception but indicate that not having sex as a minor is the best method for eliminating any unplanned pregnancies.

I would say that everybody knows someone who has had a pregnancy as a minor. It is true on what Obama said about coming together to try to prevent unplanned pregnancies is a good idea. Why not teach absitenance along with safe sex practices.

Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master. - George Washington
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tomk80
SFN Regular

Netherlands
1278 Posts

Posted - 09/01/2008 :  14:21:20   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit tomk80's Homepage Send tomk80 a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Originally posted by Robb

Originally posted by Kil



I guess abstinence only (Palin's official position on sex ed) didn't exactly work on this 17 year old girl.

Are pregnancy rates lower for girls taught safe sex?

Yes.

If not then any sex education has had little effect. Probably due to most parents letting either the state or church teach sex ed. The best position is to teach them all about sex and contraception but indicate that not having sex as a minor is the best method for eliminating any unplanned pregnancies.

Indeed, teach them the truth instead of lying to them in abstinence only programs. Truth beats lying everytime.

I would say that everybody knows someone who has had a pregnancy as a minor. It is true on what Obama said about coming together to try to prevent unplanned pregnancies is a good idea. Why not teach absitenance along with safe sex practices.

Nobody I've heard about responsible sexual education objects to including abstinence. All people I have heard regarding responsible sex ed (ie, not abstinence only) are in favor of including abstinence. But give a good education program where all these issues cross the table. Because we know from Texas that quite a number of those youths are going to fuck anyway.

Tom

`Contrariwise,' continued Tweedledee, `if it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be; but as it isn't, it ain't. That's logic.'
-Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Caroll-
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Dave W.
Info Junkie

USA
26020 Posts

Posted - 09/01/2008 :  15:39:38   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit Dave W.'s Homepage Send Dave W. a Private Message  Reply with Quote
When did you go to school, Robb? My county began including comprehensive sex-ed in 1978. The mantra back then was, "the only way to be 100% safe is to not have sex." This was repeated over and over again, after every mention of the success rate of various forms of protection from both STDs and pregnancy. For example, "The contraceptive pill is an extremely reliable form of birth control, but the only way to be 100% safe is to not have sex."

The choice is between comprehensive sex-ed and abstinence-only. The difference is that comprehensive sex-ed teaches everything that abstinence-only does, plus all the information one needs to know if one is going to have sex. Teaching a less-than-comprehensive course that doesn't mention abstinence is almost as unwise as teaching only abstinence.

Oh, and not only do we already know that abstinence-only sex-ed results in a higher pregnancy rate, it also results in a higher rate of disease. Kids being kids, they equate abstinence with virginity, and so long as nothing gets stuck into the vagina, they think they're still virginal. Lots of oral and anal sex going on, without protection of any sort.

- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too.
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filthy
SFN Die Hard

USA
14408 Posts

Posted - 09/01/2008 :  15:49:06   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send filthy a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Believe, it or not, it's worse than even I thought!

I'd read all of this in bits & pieces, but seeing it all together, I've got to ask again: What in the hell was McCain thinking?! Or was he thinking at all? I think it was showboating and throws a huge cloud over his judgment. Quite frankly, I don't want a craps-shooting, cowboy anywhere the office of president. Craps is a game for losers anyway, and against the house, idiots. And speaking of idiots:
The Top 10 Conservative Idiots, No. 350

September 1, 2008
Soul Mates Edition

Before we start this week, I'd like to say a special "thanks" to Elad, Hissyspit, and TygrBright for reporting for DU from the Democratic National Convention last week, along with Ava, DFW, and HawkeyeX. If you haven't seen the Denver Journal, you can read it here.

And now, on with the show. (I would have done more this week but by the time I'd finished these two, my eyeballs were bleeding.)
Mine too....

As for abstinence-only, sex education, sure, abstinence works, but only if strictly adhered to. But it will not be strictly adhered to in many, possible most -- who knows? -- cases when the hormones kick in. And pregnancy is not the only result of premarital sex. It is my understanding that venereal disease rates are on the rise, meaning that Jack and/or Jill could come home with a nice dose of whatever might be passing around at the time, including HIV. Abstinence might be a worthy goal, and it is, but the reality is that many care more about racing than finishing. That hormone thing again, coupled with the perfectly natural, teen-age rebellion against parental authority. It is a far bigger sin than fornication, to leave your children uninformed.








"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)

"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres


"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude

Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,

and Crypto-Communist!

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bngbuck
SFN Addict

USA
2437 Posts

Posted - 09/01/2008 :  16:19:50   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send bngbuck a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Today it comes to light that she is worried enough about the malfeasance charges that she has hired a civil attorney to defend her!

Wouldn't want to go to jail, it's hard to tend to all the religious and political duties of a Republican vice president while behind bars; and then there is the matter of the nanny costs for two infant grandchildren, plus a private eye to shadow her 17 year old and try to get her to keep her legs together!

Sarah Palin, ethics failin', heading into rough sailin'! Daughter's out piece of tailin'. Folks keep railin', Sary be bailin', soon she's wailin', heading for a long term jailin'!
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filthy
SFN Die Hard

USA
14408 Posts

Posted - 09/01/2008 :  17:17:23   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send filthy a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Wait... What?!

This has nothing to do with Mrs. Palin, a lady whom I'm tired of discussing, but at least belongs at the Republican's Army Corps of Engineers doorstep.
Investigates: Floodwalls stuffed with newspaper?

11:54 PM CDT on Thursday, April 24, 2008

Lee Zurik / WWL-TV News Anchor

“It blows my mind.”

Video: Watch the Story Those are the words St. Bernard parish president Craig Taffaro used to watch videotape Eyewitness News showed him, of floodwalls built to protect his parish.

“That should be criminal,” Taffaro continues.

What he's talking about was witnessed by a St. Bernard Parish resident who didn't want to be identified, but did have sharp criticism of the work done by a contractor hired by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

“It's like putting a Band-Aid on the hole of a gas tank of an airplane,” the resident said.




If this is true, someone should be jailed along with whoever was supposed to inspect and approve these repairs. Or taken out side and shot.




"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)

"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres


"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude

Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,

and Crypto-Communist!

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Simon
SFN Regular

USA
1992 Posts

Posted - 09/01/2008 :  17:24:14   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send Simon a Private Message  Reply with Quote
't was McCain making a PR move (to overshadow the very sucesfull Democrat convention and and Obama's speech in particular) while playing footsie to the religious conservatives which explains how little research they seem to have done.

Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there – on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.
Carl Sagan - 1996
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Dave W.
Info Junkie

USA
26020 Posts

Posted - 09/01/2008 :  17:39:00   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit Dave W.'s Homepage Send Dave W. a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Questionaire for the 2006 Alaskan Gubernatorial race:
[Question] 11. Are you offended by the phrase "Under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance? Why or why not?

[Sarah Palin]: Not on your life. If it was good enough for the founding fathers, its good enough for me and I'll fight in defense of our Pledge of Allegiance.
See "The Pledge of Allegiance: A Short History."

HT to Taz at Dispatches.

- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too.
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