Politics & Society

Obama's Ecomomic Policy: Why so Lame?

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I don’t know if Claire Snyder-Hall is correct that there’s a Constitutional remedy to the crisis looming on raising the Federal debt limit. Still, her links to Paul Krugman’s NY Times “Conscience of a Liberal” blog are instructive. There’s also Krugman’s print column, in which he speculates that Obama may actually believe the right-wing line on the need to curb the national debt even at this time of sluggish economic growth and high unemployment:
One striking example of this rightward shift came in last weekend’s presidential address, in which Mr. Obama had this to say about the economics of the budget: “Government has to start living within its means, just like families do. We have to cut the spending we can’t afford so we can put the economy on sounder footing, and give our businesses the confidence they need to grow and create jobs.” That’s three of the right’s favorite economic fallacies in just two sentences.

General News

A Debate With Greta Christina About "5 Myths"

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Greta Christina argues that a personal belief in God will make you more likely to harm others and embrace an “extreme, grotesque immorality.” In her rebuttal to my article “5 Myths Atheists Believe About Religion,” (reprinted on Alternet.org) Greta Christina claims that I’ve reproduced religious privilege and oppression. How? Because I used the word “myth” and associated it with atheists. According to Christina by using the word myth (which I could easily interchange in this case with “have wrong,” or “incorrect”) I’m in the same category as all of those people who attack atheists with harmful slurs.

General News

If I Were an Atheist I Wouldn't Trust the Religious Either

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The vast majority of religious and spiritual people don’t really care about atheists and that’s why if I were an atheist I wouldn’t trust them as far as I could throw a Bible. At worst, many religious people and their associated institutions are responsible for a long history of dehumanizing atheists. A most recent example is that of the atheist senior high school student Damon Fowler. After objecting to the illegal publicly sponsored prayer scheduled for his graduation ceremony he was “hounded, pilloried, and ostracized by his community; publicly demeaned by one of his teachers; physically threatened; and thrown out by his parents, who cut off his financial support, kicked him out of the house, and threw his belongings onto the front porch.” At best, progressive religious organizations may include articles from authors that are atheist, advance viewpoints that are humanistic or attempt to engage atheists in interfaith work.

Gender and Sexuality

Straight Talk on 'Pinkwashing' Israel and the Flotilla

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An article at Salon.com, “Pink-washed: Gay rights and the Mideast conflict” by Justin Elliot, discusses both “A hoax video trying to paint pro-Palestinian activists as anti-gay …,” and the fact that Israeli policies regarding LGBT people are actually progressive:

A mysterious video painting the organizers of the latest Gaza flotilla as anti-gay was exposed as a hoax last week, in the latest instance of what pro-Palestinian activists call “pinkwashing.” The term refers to efforts by the Israeli government and its allies to highlight the rights afforded to the gay community in Israel — and the plight of gays in Arab countries and the Palestinian territories — to distract from or justify the continued occupation of the West Bank and the blockade of Gaza. … This video appeared on YouTube purporting to show an American gay rights activist explaining his rejection by — and disillusionment with — the organizers of the latest Gaza flotilla. It was promptly promoted on social media by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs and an intern in Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.

Gender and Sexuality

Is the New York Marriage Decision Really a "Mixed Blessing"? Some Thoughts on Domestic Partnerships and Civil Unions

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In a well-received Op/Ed piece in the New York Times, Columbia law professor, Katherine M. Franke explains why she considers the New York marriage decision a “mixed blessing.” Why does she say that? First, Franke is concerned that the decision to allow same-sex couples access to civil marriage in New York will most likely lead to the elimination of domestic partnership status. She sees this as unfortunate because having domestic partnership as an option provides “greater freedom than can be found in the one-size-fits-all rules of marriage.” Second, Franke does not think people should be “forced” to get married in order to access their partners’ health insurance and other benefits.

Politics & Society

US Supreme Court's June 27 Decision Shows Why the ESRA is Needed

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The Supreme Court’s June 27 narrow 5-4 decision called McComish v. Bennett continues the Roberts Court’s retreat on fairness in elections, striking down trigger provisions that allowed publicly financed candidates in Arizona to receive additional funds for their campaigns when their spending was outstripped by their privately financed opponents. Brenda Wright, Director of Demos’ Democracy Program, commented, “The Court’s ruling distorts the First Amendment into a caricature that would be unrecognizable to its creators. The very purpose of the First Amendment is to encourage public debate and dialogue in the political sphere. The Roberts Court has turned this tradition on its head by ruling that the First Amendment should shield privately financed candidates against any response by their opponents.” This is why state actions are not sufficient–anything re-empowering ordinary citizens by a state legislature will be declared unconstitutional.

War & Peace

The Fool's Gold of U.S. Foreign Policy

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by Jim Knapton
Fourteen trillion dollars is a lot of money. That is the size of our national debt. Someone said recently that if it were in five-dollar bills placed end to end, they would almost reach the moon. That’s what the USA owes the world, from the newest born to the oldest still with us: $40,000 each! Yet we’re at war in Afghanistan wasting billions on what?

General News

As Ray McGovern and Other Americans Head to Gaza, Our Neighbor Says "I'm afraid they're going to kill him!"

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As we sat in the “story time” area of our shop yesterday, working on a curriculum about service learning, a neighbor stopped in and thrust a news article into our hands. She was distraught about the news that Ray McGovern, a former CIA analyst / presidential daily briefer and now anti-war activist, was getting ready to board a ship sailing to Gaza. This ship, named The Audacity of Hope, is one of a group of ships forming a flotilla to bring attention to and potentially break the blockade imposed by Israel on the Gaza Strip. Today the White House issued a warning to the nearly 40 Americans planning to sail on that ship that the U.S. would not only do nothing to protect them, but might prosecute them if they do break the blockade and survive to return to the United States. This won’t be the first time people risk harm, prosecution, or death for something they really believe in.

General News

A Debate with PZ Myers Over "5 Myths Atheists Believe About Religion"

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Prominent atheist and scientist PZ Myers has written a rebuttal called “Myth-bustin’ bad arguments about atheism” to my article “5 Myths Atheists Believe About Religion.” I respond to his criticism below but I must say it seems he largely misunderstood the points I was making. I’m not saying this just to try and prime my audience, but I found myself mostly answering to claims that I’ve never made. I do appreciate the discussion and hope that it spurs healthy debate. We need more dialogue and engagement with these very important issues.