Franken Wins!

The supreme court of Minnesota today ruled in favor of Al Franken, Norm Coleman has conceded the election to Franken. Al will most likely be sworn in next week as Minnesota's second senator.

We now have the magical 60 "super majority" in the Senate. So President Obama can we please now stop this pi-partisan unity crap and start ramming some bills down the throats of Republicans? Now is the time for change, Now is the time for health care reform and an end to religious intolerance in this country against gays and lesbians. So let's unroll the laundry list of changes and get to work!

When dogs attack.... your vagina.

Ok nothing to do with politics, just funny as hell.

Rep. Cynthia Davis voted "Ass Clown" of the week

From the River Front Times:

"Yes, in stunning fashion Daily RFT readers voted State Rep. Cynthia Davis (R - St. Charles) as the region's most embarrassing headline maker of the last week for a newsletter she sent out criticizing hungry (and presumably lazy) Missouri families. The newsletter also earned her mention on Olbermann's show."

Michael Savage makes threats against Liberals

As some of you may know Media Matters is a political news site with a Liberal slant. However what they really focus on is posting links and quotes to Republican commentators such as Limbaugh and O'Rielly. They post these comments in a fair way including the context in which they was said. So what is the problem you may ask? Well the problem is lately Republicans can't seem to remove the foot from their collective mouths. So when they are called out and quoted on some of the more insane rantings, they come off looking usually like huge jackasses.

So here comes Republican radio host Michael Weiner (AKA Michael Savage) who has decided to encourage his listeners to post pictures and personnel information about any editor or contributor on Media Matters. While Savage stops short of suggesting harm against these people his innuendo suggests it.

We have a disgusting trend in this country among Republican commentators who seem to think it's perfectly fine to encourage personnel attacks on what they consider Liberal targets. Let's post pictures of planned parenthood doctors along with addresses and for good measure let's call them "baby killers" 47 times in a course of a few years, afterall that is what Bill O'Rielly did. They then hide behind free speech and condemn murderers after they stalk and kill one of these people.

I find it ironic that Savage will claim this is free speech, although he is responsible for attempts to sue activists for encouraging advertisers to pull ads after he made several homophobic references. This guy is as low as slimes comes.

American Health Care

As I was watching the news earlier today, I heard one of the most common tag lines from a Republican Senator that seems to be spewed out on a almost hourly basis "America has the best health care in the world!". We have the best health care in the world? That's an interesting statement, looks have a look at some hard numbers shall we.

The World Heath Organization currently ranks the United States 37th in the world in health care, ranking behind such countries as France, Spain, Denmark, Iceland and Saudi Arabia... yes you heard me correct, Saudi Arabia.

Life expectancy in the United States ranks 24th in the world.

We currently have 44 million uninsured Americans in this country.

The United States has the world's highest prescription cost! And unlike many other countries we have no laws or bans that regulate the advertisements of prescription medicines.

We also have a serious issue with doctors in this country. We are beginning to have a lack of general practitioners, to many young adults currently in medical school have chosen to specialize. To put it plainly we have far to many people who want to make the big bucks of specialized medicine and fewer who want to be family doctors. After all why only have one BMW when you can own five?

So think about these statistics next time you hear a politician proclaim the excellence of American Health Care. Then remember they have a comprehensive health care plan paid for by you the American taxpayer.

Governor Sanford to take his own advice?

As most of you have heard by now it turns out Governor Sanford who was missing for almost a week was in Argentina having an affair with a woman now known as Maria. The ironic part of this story is Sanford was one of the most outspoken critics of President Clinton during the whole Monica Lewinsky scandal. Here are a few of his quotes about President Clinton.

"very damaging stuff, I think it would be much better for the country and for him personally to resign."

"I come from the business side, If you had a chairman or president in the business world facing these allegations, he'd be gone."

"I think what he did in this matter was reprehensible... I feel very comfortable with my vote."

That last quote was concerning his vote to impeach President Clinton.... Ironic no? So how about it Governor Sanford, Will you take your own advice?

Homosexual Demons, And no I'm not joking.

Yup thats right, Homosexual demons! Have a gay friend? Get them exorcised today! But seriously folks this stuff has to stop, being gay is not a lifestyle choice, and it's not caused by homosexual demons.

I just feel sorry for this poor kid who is being brainwashed into thinking he's either possessed by demons or somehow mentally broken because he's gay.... this is disgusting folks.

Iran Vote

O'Reilly & Beck Make Fun Of Waterboarding

Had to share this, the Wiegers are a group of Chinese Muslims we held in Gitmo for the last few years as suspected terrorists, We mistreated and tortured them only to admit they was innocent and finally let them go... apparently Bill O'Reilly and Glen Beck from Fox news find this amusing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LC3ilaTTsYE

"Hunger can be a positive motivator."

Those are the words of Republican State Representative Cynthia Davis in Missouri. This is a comment on the state program which supplies free lunches during the summer to low income children. Here is the full quote.

"Who’s buying dinner? Who is getting paid to serve the meal? Churches and other non-profits can do this at no cost to the taxpayer if it is warranted. Anyone under 18 can be eligible? Can’t they get a job during the summer by the time they are 16? Hunger can be a positive motivator. What is wrong with the idea of getting a job so you can get better meals? Tip: If you work for McDonald’s, they will feed you for free during your break. It really is all about increasing government spending, which means an increase in taxes for us to buy more free lunches and breakfasts. "

Iran Election

So as most of you know Iran held a presidential election last week, and without much surprise Ahmadinejad was announced the winner. Let's also face the fact that the election was rigged. Basic logic tells you this... Unless you think counting 40 million paper ballots in under 3 hours is normal. Or how about the fact that several of the areas in Iran had over 100% voter turnout, some have been reported having as much as 140% turnout, which obviously means massive voting fraud.

Iranians have taken to the streets in protest over the last week, even recently in the face of brutal crack downs by the Iranian government. Dozens of people have died this last week at the hands of President Ahmadinejad's security forces. Response in the U.S. has been mixed, both congress and the president have condemned Iran for the response against protesters.

Ironically, Republicans have said the president is not doing enough. So my question to them is what would you have him do? Attack Ahmadinejad's resources, Invade Iran? I sympathize with those in Iran but the issue comes down to them making or breaking this revolt against the current regime. I think it would be very dangerous for the United States having much involvement in this issue. The mass consensus in the Muslim world already is that the U.S. interferes to much in the politics of Muslim nations, So us getting involved in this situation could be disastrous for U.S. relations.

No... what must happen here is for the Iranian people to not bow to the will of a oppressive regime. They must stand against that which holds them down. And before you think they could not possibly change things in Iran on their own, Keep in mind what was once said about a bunch of colonials with muskets. After all what could a bunch of farmers possibly do against the might of the British Empire?

Religulous review....

So my girlfriend wanted to watch Religulous, so we got it from Netflix. Let me say first she's a big Bill Maher fan, I also enjoy his show as well but she never misses it. First allow me to say both me and my girlfriend are Agnostic, and our view on the movie comes from that background. Also I must say that I had my concerns about the film and they proved to be correct.

Maher comes off with his usual atheistic view point, and tends to spend more time mocking peoples beliefs then trying to debate them. Another complaint that my girlfriend shared with me is instead of finding educated theologians , Maher instead looks to interview some of those most backward, uneducated people he can find.

The movie starts off with him questioning some truckers in a road side church where he promptly cusses inside the building, While agnostic I don't find this needed and rather unclassy and very disrespectful. The movie then spends the next hour or so following Maher around the world where he then mocks people without really holding much in the way of debate.

Maher also comes off looking rather poorly when he states such facts as "there is no evidence Jesus even existed" however regardless if you believe in the divinity of Christ or not there is a fair amount of historical evidence that proves that Christ was at least a real person who was executed by the romans. Even the most well know Jewish historian Josephus writes of Jesus. Maher makes several of these remarks which puts his basic knowledge of Christianity into doubt.

If you are looking for a movie with educated debate over religion, you will be disapointed. If you want to see Maher poke fun at peoples beliefs and even mock them on several occasions... you may enjoy the movie.

My girlfriend gives it a two out of five, and I must say I concur with her vote.

Bill O'reilly lies about Dr Tiller

A video I did for YouTube, check it out. :)

Crazy David Letterman Protesters Say Unbelieveable Things

You know, when you start thinking maybe there are some Republicans who aren't complete nuts.... well then you see something like this.

A story worth reading....

I posted yesterday on the topic of Abortion. Since then I have heard a few different people try to use the excuse that late term abortions are never needed and are only performed for the money. I wont get into allot of detail because I feel this is a very uneducated view and these people should really know better. But what I did want to do is post a story I think everyone should read.

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/magazine/articles/2004/01/25/my_late_term_abortion/

Abortion

Well here is a touchy subject to talk about, that has once again took the national spotlight because of the unfortunate shooting of the late Dr. Tiller. It seems as if abortion is one of the few topics that really drives a wedge in our society. On January 22, 1973 the Supreme Court ruled on the now infamous Roe vs Wade case, And since that date few issues have polarized us more.

First allow me to say I support womens right to decide on this issue. I also want to say personally I abhor abortion. Now I know what you may be thinking, how can you say you abhor abortion then claim to believe it should stay legal?

Well for starters as a man I feel regardless of my personnel feelings it's not my place to tell a woman what she can and cannot do with her body, I believe this is a fundamental right we all share, and no person or government should ever be allowed to tread upon this idea. I also believe it becomes a complex issue with the medical issues behind it.

I want to share something with you that my girlfriend recently shared with me. She recently turned 40, As many of you may know women who have children past the age of forty statistically have more issues with children being born with mental illnesses. They also have the ability now to test in the early stages of pregnancy for problems with the fetuses such as mental defects, commonly called mongoloid etc.

I bring this up because I think it's an important view on the subject. It allows a woman or a couple to decide early on if they wish to terminate a pregnancy if they know there are medical problems with the fetus. Raising a child who is born with mental retardation is no easy task, I applaud anyone who has done it, but on the same note I completely understand any couple who would decide to terminate a pregnancy over this issue.

We also have the issue of a womans health, certain conditions can cause serious health risks for the expecting mother. While rare, a persons health should never be put into jeopardy because someone else believes an unborn fetus is more important then a mothers life.

We also have a huge issue with unwanted pregnancy in this country. And ironically I blame the Republicans who have made the issue worse for years now. For years the conservative right has pushed abstinence only education in schools, This has been a terrible decision and multiple studies have shown it simply does not work.

Here is a disturbing fact for you, a recent national study said 1/3 of teenagers will contract some form of venereal disease in their teen years. 33% of our children will contract a VD... I don't know about you but those numbers should scare the hell out of any parent Liberal or Conservative. The fact is our children are having sex, and short of locking them in a room until they hit legal age it's going to be hard to stop them. So what can we do? For starters we must start educating them again, make them understand oral sex is SEX and yes you can contract a VD from it.

The reason I am trying to hammer this home is that recent statistics show on a yearly basis about 20-30% of all abortions in the U.S. are girls under the age of 19. And that repeat abortions by teen girls has risen a staggering 70%. People we have to start educating our kids on safe sex, if your schools sexual education classes wont do it we as parents have to step up.

Let's look at this logically, people have been attempting for decades to make abortion illegal. Regardless of what certain right wing groups claim they are no closer now then they was 30 years ago when it comes to getting it banned. It's a unfortunate fact of society, and it will continue. And that changing it would be a horrific step backwards, We don't need women going to back alley doctors for $50 abortions because they can no longer do it legally.

But what we can do is change how we think about the subject. Imagine if instead of throwing millions of dollars at the issue in a failing attempt to try to outlaw it conservative groups instead used that money to educate teens, and young mothers to the alternatives. Unfortunately we as a people cant seem to have a logical discussion in this country, it quickly deteriates into questions of what god wants. I simply feel instead of presuming to know the mind of god we make an attempt to understand each others minds on this issue, we may actually get somewhere.

Single Payer Insurance

So it seems the idea of getting single payer insurance is losing ground in congress in favor of a 'public option'. In case you are unaware of the differences basically here is a quick run down of what they would mean.

Single payer insurance would basically mean we would switch to a European or Canadian style of healthcare. Everyone is covered and the government acts as your insurer and you pay no premium of any kind. The positives of this system are many, One you no longer have to pay insurance costs. You also do not have to worry about your provider dropping you for any reason or denying to pay for your expenses.

The other upside of this program is it forces an overhaul of our medical industry. The government negotiates what it is willing to pay for medical services and prescriptions. This is why prescription drugs are much cheaper in Canada then the United States. A prescription here that may cost $70 for a months worth of pills may only cost $10 in Canada.

So what is the downside you ask? Well you will pay higher taxes, how much depends on how quickly and efficiently we overhaul the costs of health care. And again obviously wealthy Americans will pay more in taxes.

The second option is 'public insurance' and it has being getting allot of traction lately unfortunately. With public insurance the government becomes a insurance company. You can then decide to keep the health insurance you have or to sign up for the governments insurance policy. The plus to this is that the governments insurance would have much less overhead then private owned company's around 2% compared to 12% of private firms. So in theory the government offered insurance would costs less and no discriminate against anyone due to prior illness and so forth.

The downside to a public insurance program is that you still must pay insurance premiums, albeit possibly cheaper then you pay now. The other downside is the public option still does very little to correct the issue of inflated health care costs. It's basically turning the government into an insurance company who then competes against the other insurance giants.

The third option is to do nothing, and keep the system we have now with massive medical costs and millions of Americans being uninsured. Obviously this third option of doing nothing is unacceptable.

So the real debate is between single payer and public insurance. The problem with public insurance is it still requires people to pay premiums, which many of uninsured Americans simply cannot afford. Allot of family's currently scrape by now, and the public insurance does nothing to help those who cannot afford health insurance. If a family cannot afford $500 a month in premiums dropping that to $400 doesn't really fix the problem now does it?

The other problem is it does nothing to get control of the insurance and medical industry who routinely deny proper health care to people. We have a serious problem in this country when it comes to health care. We are the only country in the civilized world where we allow fellow Americans to die because they do not have health care.

Let's for example say someone needs a kidney transplant. If that person does not have insurance they cannot be put on the donor list because the hospital does not consider that person a viable candidate because they are unable to pay the costs for the transplant or afford the anti rejection drugs they would need.

So, because they do not have health insurance we have basically said sorry... nothing we can do. And you have basically handed that person a death sentence. As a society we are allowing people to die because of situations like this. We also are driving health costs even higher because people don't have access to proper prescriptions because they cannot afford them. In turn these people who may have easily treatable medical conditions end up getting worse and most likely end up in the ER time and time again.

The only solution that makes these problems obsolete is the single payer option, where every American regardless of class, race, job or income level receives the same health care they need.