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POPSIn the US You Can Be Fired for Who You Marry I think that one of the greatest injustices in the USA is the tenuous nature of employment. In some states you can be fired without any cause whatsoever. Here is a story of man who is fired from his job simply because of who he married even though by all accounts he did a good job. Something completely outside of his employment became the cause for firing him. How is that just? How is that acceptable? Why aren't there laws that protect people from such capricious terminations?
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POPSMcCain Blames Obama for Wall Street Crisis Is he senile or just dumb? McCain, who has been in Washington DC for 3 decades and has lobbyists as advisers out the yin-yang, says Obama is the Washington insider who brought the crisis about? That's how I spell desperation.
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POPSIdiocy in Kentucky: God and Homeland Security Magical thinking is characterized in part by the belief that the use of certain words and evocative phrases are necessary to produce a desired supernatural response. Such childlike thinking is part of the law in Kentucky. Hopefully this group of sensible atheists can demythologize the law.
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POPSIsrael Now Admits it Used White Phosphorous in Gaza
Their denials always were incredible given the numerous eye witnesses, but Israel is finally admitting it used white phosphorous in civilian areas. The chain of evidence and denial went as follows: January 5 The Times reports that telltale smoke has appeared from areas of shelling. Israel denies using phosphorus January 8 The Times reports photographic evidence showing stockpiles of white phosphorus (WP) shells. Israel Defence Forces spokesman says: "This is what we call a quiet shell - it has no explosives and no white phosphorus" January 12 The Times reports that more than 50 phosphorus burns victims are taken into Nasser Hospital. An Israeli military spokesman "categorically" denies the use of white phosphorus January 15 Remnants of white phosphorus shells are found in western Gaza. The IDF refuses to comment on specific weaponry but insists ammunition is "within the scope of international law" January 16 The United Nations Relief and Works Agency headquarters are hi
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POPSMost Ameicans Want Bush Administration Investigated Let's do it. Let's forget this "looking forward to the future, not back to the past" business Obama is peddling. Let's realize that we are likely to repeat the past in the future if we don't understand what happened in the past.
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POPSIsrael Shells Palestinians After Evacuating Them Imagine that you are told to go to one home and take refuge there. Then, later, the very people who told you to go to that home bombards you. It's atrocious. It becomes increasingly apparent that Israel is sending a message to the Palestinian populace at large: "there is no place you can be safe from us."
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POPSIowa Understands What Equal Protection Means Iowa understands what equal protection under the law means. This ruling by the Iowa Supreme Court rightly ties the extension of equal protection to homosexuals who wish to marry to past rulings on slavery, segregation ans women's rights. They are of the same piece.
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POPSBut, John, You Can't Fire the SEC Chair One of the biggest myths of the current presidential campaign is the competence of John McCain. He makes elementary blunders often (like thinking that the Pime Minister from Spain is located in Latin America). Some are now speculating that something is "up" with his capacity to reason. It might be more charitable to simply point out that he graduated second-to-last in his class for nothing.
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POPS59 Million Americans Put Off Health Care in 07 Another sobering report about the fantasy "best health care system in the world." Private health care doesn't work. Period. Virtually all the comparative facts to public health care systems in industrialized nations demonstrate that.
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POPSObama to Let the Torturing Thugs Off It's as disgusting as something gets: let the criminals go Scott free. Obama intends to let off those CIA officials who tortured others during the George Bush regime. The reason? Because these thugs were told their acts were legal by the Bush administration. It's Nuremberg defense all over again. Apparently, as long as you believe you are following a lawful order, you have no obligation to check the law for yourself, much less employ your conscience or have one. There has never been a tyrant and his henchmen in the history of humanity that hasn't employed the same rationalization for their brutalities.
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POPSThen Let Them Pay Taxes If ministers want to use their non-partisan churches to preach partisan politics, then let them get a tax bill and explain to their parishioners why it needs to be paid. It's not as if the US budget couldn't use the extra revenue.
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POPSLeon Panetta Should Be Fired If CIA Director Leon Panetta cannot accept that it's a proper role of the Department of Justice to investigate and, if necessary, prosecute anyone in the CIA for possibly breaking federal laws against torture, then he should be removed from his job. He should be fired. His primary duty is NOT to give cover to potential criminals within the CIA but to help in upholding the law.
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POPSAs Long as They Weren't Murdered, It Wasn't Torture “is basically subject to perception. If the detainee dies, you’re doing it wrong.” These words will haunt us in the near future with an increase in terrorism and with an ugly stain of shame that might take a few generations to overcome. Shame on us.
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POPS"Good Faith" Torture Deemed OK Interesting that they set a subjective standard for torture: viz., if the interrogator thought in "good faith" that the method wouldn't cause long-term mental harm. Note that it didn't require that the method would probably cause long-term mental harm, only that the interrogator didn't believe it would. By defining torture subjectively, the Bush administration: 1. Consigned the definition of torture to belief, thereby making it impossible to adjudicate by objective measures. 2. Totally marginalized the detainee's likely reaction to the method and, thereby, nullified the detainee's humanness and recognition as a rights-bearing being. This kind of sophistry one would expect of a brutal dictatorship.
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POPSThe Return of Tent Cities to America From the news article: early 61 percent of local and state homeless coalitions say they've experienced a rise in homelessness since the foreclosure crisis began in 2007, according to a report by the National Coalition for the Homeless. The group says the problem has worsened since the report's release in April, with foreclosures mounting, gas and food prices rising and the job market tightening. "It's clear that poverty and homelessness have increased," said Michael Stoops, acting executive director of the coalition. "The economy is in chaos, we're in an unofficial recession and Americans are worried, from the homeless to the middle class, about their future." The phenomenon of encampments has caught advocacy groups somewhat by surprise, largely because of how quickly they have sprung up. "What you're seeing is encampments that I haven't seen since the 80s," said Paul Boden, executive director of the Western Regional Advocacy Project, an umbrella group for homeless advocacy
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POPSSarah Palin Likes Obama's Energy Plan Poor John McCain. Not only does he select as a Vice Presidential someone who less foreign policy experience than Obama (making her one old codger's heartbeat away from the Presidency), but she recently praised aspects of Obama's energy plan. Besides, her glasses look weird on her, and I'm well versed on wearing weird glasses.
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POPSThe Incredibly Shrinking GOP The GOP is losing support in nearly every major demographic subgroup except frequent churchgoers. It's becoming a party of religious fundamentalists. If that continues to be the trend, it will die on the vine. I used to think that is tragic, but I'm convinced that some other party will emerge to replace it. Democracy abhors the vacuum of single-party dominance.
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POPSIs the Killing Finally Over? Both sides have now declared a ceasefire. Israel went first. Hamas initially rejected it and illegally shot 8 missiles into civilian areas in Israel. But now Hamas has also declared a ceasefire and has given Israel a week to leave and to open Gaza's borders to humanitarian aid. Hoepfully, the killing has stopped and--here I am dreaming--a real peace process can begin.
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POPS16,500 Free Condoms for Antarctica I always wondered what the charm was for some to live there year round. Now I know. Still, 16,500 condoms divided by 125 staff equals considerable ambition. I guess there are no Seinfeldian infamous shrinkage problems at the South Pole in the winter.
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POPSDoes Sarah Palin Even Understand the 1st Amendment This is what happens in a country where an icon of wisdom can "credibly" be a Forrest Gump...a nation in which intelligence is ridiculed and suspected as subversive and high social achievement is to be counted among the good ol' boys. Sarah Palin doesn't even understand what can be learned in an elementary civics or US history class. Yet she is running to be Vice President of the USA. She is WAY out of her depth and yet some conservatives see her as the GOP's standard bearer for 2012. That's pathetic.
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POPSAre Prtospective Mothers Eager to Abort their Black Babies? Notice what this bigoted dunderhead, Rep. Todd Tiahart, is suggesting. Notice how his two examples are of the mothers of black children (President Barack Obama and Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas). I think it’s clear. If the prospective mothers of black babies could have their fetuses aborted and have it paid for by the government, they would do so. That is what this--it must be pointed out--Republican congressperson implied.
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POPSChristian Violence Who says that Muslims have a monopoly on violence? Violence is the province of any belief system that holds it alone is in possession of absolute truth.
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POPSTroopergate: Palin Acting As Though She Has Something to Hide One of Gov. Sarah Palin's top aides refused to be interviewed under oath as part of the Alaskan legislature's investigation into "troopergate." he aide refused because the Palin administration believes that the legislature doesn't have the jurisdiction to look into the matter; rather the state personnel office does, which happily happens to be under Palin's jurisdiction. Nice coincidence, eh? Of course, this NEW position contradicts Palin's initial vow to cooperate fully with the legislature. Obstacles and delaying a swift resolution of the investigation will undoubtedly serve the interests of the McCain campaign.
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POPSColin Powell Says No to Sec. of Education Post This is a welcome development. It wasn't clear what credentials Colin Powell had to serve as an effective Sec. of Education. Besides, Powell hit the right note. It's time for a new generation of leaders. The USA voted for change and change isn't replacing the old with them as retreads.
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POPSObama is Correct about the Palin Pregnancy Story Barack Obama is correct. Sarah Palin's daughter's pregnancy is no one's business. It should be totally off limits in assessing Gov. Palin's ability to be a Vice President. Her young daughter isn't the first teenager to get pregnant outside of wedlock and she won't be the last. In itself the event says nothing about anyone. Barack Obama has shown himself to be a man of real integrity in this matter. He didn't resort to the no comment response that some politicians use when they hope that the scandal will hurt the opponent. Instead of viewing this as a political opportunity, he told the press clearly that they were stepping over a line that should be sacrosanct. Good for him.
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