Herd Immunity

The latest 2nd amendment "outrage"

2007-03-21T12:16:00.000-06:00

In a recent column, Michelle Malkin entreats us to an example of the "MSM," those sneaky evil bastards, once again tearing down All That Is Good and Moral, this time by a devious plot to abrogate the rights of gun owners.

Her evidence? A publicity stunt by a columnist who writes for... The Roanoke Times.

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=N2QxYmU0OGE2MTg4YzFiOTUwNTNiY2RhMTYxYzMzNGU=

Because as we all know, The Roanoke Times is the bellweather for all of the mainstream media. CNN producers don't even start their morning meetings until they get their copy of The Roanoke Times. Sulzberger doesn't allow the New York Times to decide the day's op-eds until his daily briefing from The Roanoke Times. The traitors in charge of the "MSM" do not actually take orders from CAIR, the ACLU or al Qaeda -- their every move is influenced by that titan of journalism, The Roanoke Times.

This is pretty much Malkin's M.O.: take an obscure actor such as a small newspaper or a couple of leftist crazies, and use them to generate outrage against all liberals and the "MSM." She may as well call her blog "The Daily Outrage."

But this brings up an interesting topic: Why did she have to reach all the way down to The Roanoke Times to find a liberal / MSM / traitorous (same thing) plot to do away with gun rights?

These days, it seems that even Democrats have forgotten about gun control as an issue, seeing it as a non-starter with the electorate. Even a professional America-hating, tree-hugging, terrorist-sympathizing liberal like Yglesias thinks its a bad idea and believes in the motto "if guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns." http://www.matthewyglesias.com/archives/2007/03/i_was_strapped_with_gatswhen_y/

Which is true. Has anyone ever come up with a plan that would seize and destroy all of the gazillion guns already in circulation? Is there a valid plan that would stop guns from coming across the border? Or would such a program enjoy the wild success of the "war on drugs"?

Right. I too am glad the Dems dropped this loser of a political issue, even though I too am a professional America-hating, tree-hugging terrorist-sympathizing liberal.

Sometimes, journalism still works

2007-03-02T05:52:00.000-06:00

In the wake of Dana Priest's expose of failings at Walter Reed, the army has already begun with some public beheadings of responsible figures... proving that old-fashioned muckracking journalism can still exist in this fragmented country.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/03/01/walter.reed/index.html

Another great part is, despite their hatred of the "MSM," the right-wingers could not effectively attack Priest's report without seeming anti-troop, which put them in a delightfully impossible situation.

By the by, I learned a new military term for dealing with everyday life: "Embrace the suck." It's become my new favorite term. I'm not sure that will ever make the front page of goarmy.com as a recruiting slogan... although maybe it should.

The Right's plan for Iran -- in their words

2007-03-01T14:06:00.000-06:00

In a remarkable post at the Corner, neocon Andy McCarty dispenses with the usual veiled threats and blustering and spells out exactly what he would do with Iran.

http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NThiOGZkZGQxMmZkMmQ1OGJiZjQ1MGJjMWQ1MjUzODc=

This is not just the table-pounding of some obscure right-wing blogger... this is a serious look into the minds of prominent neocons who have the ear of the White House and the Pentagon. The same guys who helped bring us the ongoing success known as Iraq.

Salient points:

1. Everything depends on the destruction of the current Iranian regime.
2. Air strikes on Iranian soil would be the first club out of the bag. (I'm sure that won't destabilize the area further.)
3. The usual economic pressures would be applied as well. Because after all, embargoes have a long track record of hurting a country's elites far more than it hurts the commoners. Just look at Cuba and prewar Iraq. Or actually... never mind.
4. On a land invasion, he offers this contradictory thought: "I would not invade Iran, but I would make clear that I was prepared to invade Iran if it did not modify its behavior." In other words... he would invade Iran, but just would need sufficient time to dig up some "evidence" that we need to.
5. We should provide aid to dissidents. After all, as we learned from giving aid to Osama, nothing bad ever comes of that.
6. Finally, the least surprising point: He would vastly increase military spending.

No clearer summary of their Iran plan has ever been written. Check it out. And remember just how much is at stake in 2008.

Surprise! Lieberman "thinking" about joining GOP

2007-02-22T16:06:00.000-06:00

And by "surprise" I mean "as expected as the morning sunrise, the melting of the snow, and KU's choking in the NCAA."

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0207/2865.html

Update: Amanda Marcotte forced out

2007-02-12T22:04:00.000-06:00

Official Edwards campaign blogger Amanda Marcotte resigned today after all, despite Edwards' previous words of support. No doubt, she was "encouraged" to do so. Word around the campfire is that her review of Children of Men was the final nail in her coffin.

http://pandagon.net/2007/02/11/review-of-children-of-men/

Now obviously this piece has a hardcore feminist slant, but we already knew Amanda was a hardcore feminist blogger. So what was the problem here? There was no disturbing verbal imagery or profanity. Why did this piece shock the sensibilities of those who seem to make careers out of being shocked? Why did a mere movie review necessitate the exit of Amanda from the Edwards campaign?

Was it the comment that "...male dominance [is] inherently damaging and egalitarian relationships between men and women as the only real source of hope"?

Or perhaps it was the disturbing notion "that real love is rooted in egalitarian relationships"?

Such ideas are anathema to the evangelical GOP base, of course. But I have an idea that the sticking point was the following passage:

The Christian version of the virgin birth is generally interpreted as super-patriarchal, where god is viewed as so powerful he can impregnate without befouling himself by touching a woman, and women are nothing but vessels. But this movie offers an alternative interpretation of the virgin birth—one where “virginity” is irrelevant and one where a woman’s stake in motherhood is fully respected for the sacrifice and hard work that it is.

Ah, yes, the Virgin Birth. The exact same subject that got her into trouble to begin with. (Damn women... why don't they learn to keep their mouths shut!) But you have to consider that maybe there are few concepts more unnatural and anti-sex than the pervasive myth of the "virgin birth." It is fed by, and fuels, the lingering male belief that female sex is dirty and denigrating while male sex is perfectly A-OK -- and ultimately, that a woman's sexuality exists only to serve the sexuality of a man.

Entire books can be written about the subject. Suffice to say that it should be a valid point of discussion, despite the cries of "blasphemy" from the usual humorless Bible-thumpers.

All that said... yes, Amanda could have been a bit more diplomatic with her posts after accepting a paid political job, due to the bland nature of the job.

But it's still a disgrace that we are not allowed to even begin to comment on the roots of anti-woman, patriarchal thoughts without getting crucified by the religious right. Pun not intended... or was it?

Tests are icky

2007-02-09T12:00:00.000-06:00

Did well on my path exam last week, but I'm pretty sure this morning's pharm test will come back with more red ink than Ford's operating budget. Ouch.

What's worse is that you can't complain to anyone to anyone outside of med school, or else they will immediately reply with this:

"Well, I wouldn't want MY doctor to be someone who flunked tests in med school!"

Well guess what? He probably DID bomb a test here and there. Most med students do. You just better make sure your other tests make up for it.

Anyway, just venting. Carry on...

Edwards caves in UPDATE: No he doesn't

2007-02-07T15:49:00.000-06:00

Looks like Edwards reversed his reversal and is keeping Amanda Marcotte and Melissa McEwan after all. Good for him.

In case you've been too distracted by the psycho astronaut story to be following this, basically, the Edwards campaign put a couple of feminist bloggers (Amanda Marcotte and Melissa McEwan) on the payroll to help with his outreach to the Internet political community. A wise choice, considering how more and more people are using their laptop as a primary source both for news and for commentary.

Of course, almost immediately, some of the usual right-wing suspects began calling for their resignation due to some inflammatory posts they had made in the past, and it looks like Edwards ALMOST took the cowardly way out.

Look, I understand how none of us can truly feel what it's like to be in the fishbowl of a presidential race until we've been there. Truly insignificant events get blown out of proportion by the media as a matter of course. Sometimes, you have to take the path of least resistance if you don't want your campaign to be bogged down on irrelevant non-scandals.

But still, I still see where the problem was. So Amanda engaged in a bit of... hyperbole... here and there as a blogger. Of course she did. It's part and parcel of internet political posts. Sometimes you resort to overly inflammatory rhetoric specifically to get a rise out of the opposition, not to mention garner some extra hits for your site -- and it looks like Amanda succeeded in this all-too-well.

It is nonsensical to treat this the same way you would, say, a newspaper column. For one thing, columnists have editors to constrain their more wild rants. It doesn't mean they're more polite or sensible than bloggers... it just means they have more censorship. For another, print columnists have much less competition for their audience's eyes in a given media market. Most cities have one to two daily papers plus one to two alternative weeklies intended for a general audience, and that's about it. But there are a good few dozen what I would call "big" political blogs on each side of the divide right now, plus uncountable smaller blogs such as this one, all demanding your attention. If you want to get your post linked to by other people, sometimes you have to go a little nuts and resort to, ah, "memorable" imagery. (such as Amanda's famous post about the God, Mary and the Holy Spirit, but I'll let you find that one on your own.)

In other words, the right-wing critics of Amanda and Melissa chose to use an unfair standard against them purely to score points against Edwards. He ALMOST caved (and I was quick to leap to judgement) but at the last minute, he did the right thing.

A view from the other side

2007-02-02T14:47:00.000-06:00

To see what the "bad guys" are thinking about the current Dem presidential hopefuls, check out Rich Lowry's take on the Corner (link to the right under Red Blogs) regarding their big DNC media event.

On Obama:

Give him this: he's got starpower and can give a speech. He's a kind of walking
poem. He refers to all the press and pundits arrayed before him and someone
yells, “WE LOVE YOU!” You could be forgiven for thinking it was one of the
pundits yelling.

On Hillary:

As a front-runner should, Hillary is trying to absorb what seems most resonant
from her opponents, so she tries to do some Obama-like hope-mongering and
Edwards-like misery-mongering. She isn't as good at it as either of them, but
she doesn't have to be. Given all her other strengths as a candidate, she
doesn't have to be a brilliant rhetoritician, she just has to be OK, and she is
OK.

The penis blogstorm gains steam!

2007-02-02T14:40:00.000-06:00

HPV's link to penis cancer, and how this is probably the only way to convince Republicans to approve mandatory vaccination, just got a front-page post on feministing. Go me!
http://feministing.com/archives/006459.html

On a related note, I must humbly retract my earlier accusation that that blog feels uncomfortable commenting on women's issues in the Muslim world. Feministing links to some good news about an Iranian woman jailed for killing her would-be rapist -- she was just released.
http://feministing.com/archives/006461.html

That nonbinding resolution against escalation

2007-02-01T19:44:00.000-06:00

Kos came out forcefully today against Reid's nonbinding resolution condemning the "surge," mainly because it's, well, nonbinding. He favors instead a more aggressive proposal to deny funding to the troops in order to perhaps force Bush to remove them.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/2/1/171732/1208

Personally, I'm split on the issue. On the one hand, it would be nice to use the new majority to stand up to Bush's latest militarist scheme. But on the other hand, cutting off funds for the troops would just play into the Republicans' hands. They could paint the Dems as bastards who would deny soldiers basic equipment and body armor just to score political points, and it would be a talking point throughout 2008.

Do not doubt Bush's (and by that I mean, Cheney's) ability to refuse to withdraw the troops even in the face of lack of funding. They will simply fob off their deaths on the Democrats. They have shown zero concern for the troops thus far... why should they start now?

Instead, perhaps a better idea would be to pepper the funding bill with specific goals and deadlines for the escalation. Then, when Bush fails to deliver on the points (as he will) the Dems can declare the escalation failed and THEN get the troops withdrawn.

Let's face it. Even with both houses of Congress, there is nothing the Dems can do short of impeachement to stop the escalation. May as well play it smart.

A feminist utopia revealed

2007-02-01T18:01:00.000-06:00

As a guy, am I weird for thinking that maybe this African tribe is on to something? Or am I just plain weird?

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/africa/02/01/guinea.marriage.ap/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

"In this archipelago of 50 islands of pale blue water off the western rim of
Africa, it's women, not men, who choose. They make their proposals public by
offering their grooms-to-be a dish of distinctively prepared fish, marinated in
red palm oil.

"It's the equivalent of a man bending on one knee and
offering a woman a diamond ring, except that in one of the world's matriarchal
cultures, it's women that do the asking, and once they have, men are powerless
to say no."

Of course, like all good things, this is being brought to an end by patriarchal missionaries. Of course.

The way to change conservative minds about HPV

2007-02-01T17:49:00.000-06:00

Whenever people start talking about HPV, it isn't long before some dour-faced religious conservative talks about his opposition to the vaccine because apparently, it turns virtuous young girls into raging sluts* overnight.

However, I believe that I have stumbled upon a way to convince Republicans to approve the vaccine and demand mandatory vaccination of all children. In fact, I believe this will cause them to fall over themselves to get a bill passed yesterday to that effect.

What is my secret weapon, you ask?

Is it approaching them with logic and reason? Goodness no.

Is it appealing to their sense of compassion toward young women? HAHAHAHA no.

It is pretty simple actually. Here it is:

HPV, besides being linked to cervical cancer, is also linked to cancer of the PENIS.

http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=9321&page=1#3whatcauses
http://www.cirp.org/library/disease/cancer/cupp1/

That's right. It can give a man the worst possible cancer he can think of. And you can probably guess how they surgically "treat" this type of cancer.

Get this information to your Republican congressman and how long will it be before he calls for mandatory HPV vaccinations for everyone? An hour? Half hour, tops.

Let's spread the word!

* Full disclosure: I personally consider the term "raging slut" to be a compliment, not an insult. But that's just me.

Molly Ivins, RIP

2007-01-31T18:47:00.000-06:00

http://www.creators.com/opinion/molly-ivins.html?columnsName=miv

Rape victim thrown in jail; religious prison official denies her access to Plan B

2007-01-31T13:20:00.000-06:00

http://www.unfogged.com/archives/week_2007_01_28.html#006190

If you haven't seen this story yet, and you are looking for a way to increase your blood pressure... check it out.

Unbelievable.

Chavez becomes dictator-for-life... officially

2007-01-31T12:20:00.000-06:00

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/americas/01/31/chavez.venezuela.ap/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

So he used the usual method for turning a democracy into a dictatorship: his hand-picked legislators give him power to rule by decree. Expect the jails to shortly begin swelling with "political undesireables."

Look, just because he hates Bush doesn't stop him from being an evil, corrupt asshat.

Are feminists allowed to condemn Muslims?

2007-01-31T12:00:00.000-06:00

From Feministing comes this story that reads like an Onion piece: a town has passed a resolution urging immigrant Muslims to respect community values by... not to stoning their wives to death or burning them alive. http://feministing.com/archives/006444.html

Now ignoring the sheer comedy value of this for the moment...

Feministing head honcho Jessica declares it racism for painting all Muslims as wife-killers. Yet she chooses to ignore the very real horrors perpetrated against women in the Muslim world, which this law is obviously a reaction to, and once again a leading feminist sacrifices her ideals on the altar of political correctness... or the altar of Bush Derangement Syndrome.

See, many feminists refuse to talk about the de facto chattel slavery endured by many women in Middle Eastern states because they feel that doing so might lend aid and comfort to neocons who want to bomb these same states. They will splash large headlines on their blogs over even minor anti-woman news events in this country, in Europe or in China (as they should)... but then sit on their keyboards when yet another woman is stoned to death for adultery in Iran or when Saudi Arabia imprisons another rape victim, lest they provide moral support for Dick Cheney's latest scheme for world domination.

This is understandable to a degree. I have as much contempt for the neocon warmongers as anyone else. But is it really a good thing to scream "racism" when someone questions the barbaric woman-loathing practices of many Muslim communities? Granted, the Quebec town in question took things a little too far, but still. Just sayin'.

The Iranians fly the F-14?

2007-01-30T18:25:00.000-06:00

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/01/30/pentagon.f14.ap/index.html

The pentagon is halting sales of F-14 spare parts because Iran uses the jet.

Is it just me, or is it a little... messed-up... that we allowed our supposed mortal enemies to be flying our jets to begin with?

The Jewish question

2007-01-30T14:49:00.000-06:00

If you follow the major political blogs, you may have noticed some of the big names trading fire over Jewish control of Bush's foreign policy. Liberal Matt Yglesias got it started by defending Wes Clark's remarks that much of the Jewish community is behind the drive to bomb Iran. http://www.prospect.org/web/page.ww?section=root&name=ViewWeb&articleId=12394

Jon Chait of TNR and Jonah Goldberg of NR took exception, and things quickly escalated.

Now I am not exactly a big fan of the worst president in history, or of his foreign policy. But I hate to see the left descend into the nightmare of anti-semitism, a belief system that is predicated on theories of a global, united Jewish conspiracy. Every anti-Jewish screed depends on the theory that Judaism is some sort of Illuminati-type organization where the Jews secretly plot to control the world -- in the latest incarnation, they control the world by using America as a puppet.

Yglesias and Clark, through their comments, give aid and comfort to this sort of thinking... one that is all-too-tempting for many liberals.

When much of liberalism is based on fighting prejudice, why do so many liberals rush to betray core principles and join ranks with such odious, anti-liberal forces as the KKK, the Holocaust-denying president of Iran, and Pat Buchanan? http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=19199 We are quick to condemn conservatives for anti-Muslim bias. So how does that make us better if we respond with charges of a vast Jewish conspiracy pulling the strings of the president?

Aren't we smarter than this?

And one final note. Bush, Dick Cheney, Condi Rice, Donald Rumsfeld, Karl Rove, plus former and current leading GOoPers instrumental in the drive to war such as McCain, Hastert, DeLay, Santorum, Frist -- not one of these people is Jewish. There were no Jews in the highest levels of the crew who orchestrated the Iraq invasion, and none who would presumably lead the charge against Iran. The closest thing you can get is Lieberman, who was still technically a Democrat in 2003. Or does Yglesias believe that former spokesman Ari Fleischer was the evil mastermind all along?

So about me...

2007-01-30T13:47:00.000-06:00

I will get this over with quickly!

I am a Midwesterner, a white, a liberal. I am not an artist, an engineer, a military buff, or someone who is particularly fond of reality TV programming. I am a feminist and I am a guy. I am a medical student. I am a journalist. I am a cat person. I am weird. I am a shut-in at times.

I like the show House, but you already knew this from the part where I said I was a "medical student."

I am not the smartest or cleverest person to write a blog. I am not Atrios, I am not Kos, I am not Jane Hamsher, I am not even Michelle Malkin. I do not have major credentials with a think tank, a news channel, a magazine or a radio show. I am just some guy with a laptop, an internet connection and a love of hearing myself talk (and seeing myself type).

I have Asperger's Syndrome.

I do not suffer from Asperger's Syndrome.

I think I am funnier than I actually am, but you already knew this from the part where I said I was a "guy."

I am a success. I am a failure. I am tall. I am not a basketball player. I laugh at stupid things. I have a brother and a sister. I have trouble getting close to other people, but you already knew this from the part where I said I have "Asperger's Syndrome."

Oh, and now I suppose I am a blogger, but you already knew this from the part where I said I have a "love of hearing myself talk (and seeing myself type)."

Testing...

2007-01-30T13:41:00.000-06:00

Ok all, I have it up. Blogger is surprising dumbed-down and easy (yes, just like me wiseass) so it took very little time.

And for anyone else who wandered in here, hello! This will be a blog devoted to (but not limited to) various political and social issues. I hope to get more authors and turn this place into a lively group blog, but for now it is just for my meanderings. I'll try to lay out where I'm coming from in the next few posts, so you can decide whether or not this is your cup of tea.

It is less of a "what-am-I-doing-right-now" type of blog. Let's face it though, most of what we are doing on a daily basis is pretty lame. "6:05 PM: I am studying pharmacology and listening to Snow Patrol." Oooh! Let's notify CNN! So, yeah. I'll try to limit it to things other than that.

Oh, and yes, I hope to get this design changed. Currently this is just using a basic template.