Skip to content

Common Ground between Muslims and Jews

During the holy month of Ramadan, Muslims fast from dawn to dusk, and they pray. During this time, there is increased demand for prayer space.

In Virginia, a Jewish synagogue has opened its doors to Muslims for their prayers. While this might seem newsworthy — in light of the ongoing Arab/Israeli conflict — it is actually more common than one might think. And it is leading to deepening cultural exchanges between two peoples that many might think of as enemies.

As the Rabbi of the synagogue said:

The prophet Isaiah said our houses would be houses of prayer for all people. Now, I don’t know if Isaiah could have imagined us hosting Ramadan in the synagogue, but the basic idea is there.

Share

Torturing John Yoo

Not really torture, just a good prank:

From Wikipedia:

On December 1, 2005, Yoo appeared in a debate in Chicago with University of Notre Dame law professor Doug Cassel. During the debate Cassel asked Yoo, “If the president deems that he’s got to torture somebody, including by crushing the testicles of the person’s child, there is no law that can stop him?”, to which Yoo replied “No treaty.” Cassel followed up with “Also no law by Congress — that is what you wrote in the August 2002 memo…”, to which Yoo replied “I think it depends on why the President thinks he needs to do that.”

Share

Name that Plan!

Jen Sorensen
© Jen Sorensen

Share

Republican Prescription

Steve Greenberg
© Steve Greenberg

Share

Right Wrongs Rights

Three days ago, Senator Jim DeMint was asked whether people have a right to health care. He responded:

I think health care is a privilege. I wouldn’t call it a right.

Today, RNC Chairman Michael Steele published an opinion piece in the Washington Post, introducing the Republican Party’s new “Seniors’ Health Care Bill of Rights”.

So is health care a right or isn’t it?  Is it a right only once you pass a certain age? Or is this like the situation in the UK, where even the most conservative politicians support their nationalized health care system, because it is so popular?  Maybe since Obama is about “change”, conservatives have become the party of the status quo: Existing government-paid health care is a right, but new government-paid health care is evil socialism.

One thing that always impressed me about the Republicans in the past was that they were able to all stick to their talking points and present a unified front (unlike the Democrats, who are always herding cats around the big tent).  I guess those days are gone.

UPDATE: Those days are definitely gone, since Steele can’t even keep his own talking points straight. Yesterday he may have written that no changes should be made to Medicare, but today he appeared on Fox News and called Medicare “a very good example of what we should not have happen with all of our health care.” He then went on to suggest that Medicare should be privatized.

Share

Media Trolling

August J. Pollak
© August J. Pollak

Share

Late Night Political Humor

“Former Vice President Dick Cheney is working on his memoirs. People say when the book comes out President Bush is not going to be happy. Not because the book is critical of Bush, but because it’s one of those books that’s all words.” -Conan O’Brien

“Dick Cheney is back in the news. He’s talking about his memoirs. Cheney said that George George Bush stopped taking his advice during the second term of their Administration. And in Bush’s defense, I think it’s pretty natural to lose trust in a guy who shoots his friends in the face.” -Jimmy Fallon

“Apparently Dick Cheney, is coming out with a memoir, and he said during the second term, Bush stopped taking his advice. That has got to hurt. When the most gullible man in America stops buying your bullshit. … It’s so annoying when your boss is disobedient.” -Bill Maher

“And this happens with every administration. I mean, Obama only listened to Joe Biden for — never.” -Jimmy Fallon

“It’s been reported that former Vice President Cheney is hard at work on his memoirs. It’s called ‘The Five People You Meet in Hell.'” -Conan O’Brien

“Cheney also explained that the statute of limitations has expired on remaining silent about the Bush administration. Meanwhile, George Bush said: ‘I love the statue of limitations. Beautiful lady. Is the torch open? Got to climb in the torch.'” -Jimmy Fallon

“Former President Bill Clinton was recently asked about his wife Hillary’s 11-day trip to Africa. And he said, ‘I wish she were home.’ Then he said, ‘By which, I mean, I wish her home was Africa.'” -Conan O’Brien

“Speaking of former President Clinton — have you heard about this? There are two American male hikers and one female hiker imprisoned in Iran. Some people are saying Bill Clinton should go rescue them. When asked about the idea, Clinton said, ‘I am one third on it.'” -Conan O’Brien

Share

The Cheney Presidency

Tim Goheen
© Tim Goheen

Share

If you can’t beat ’em, confuse ’em!

Joel Pett
© Joel Pett

Share

Pre-existing Condition

Jim Morin
© Jim Morin

Share

Executing the Innocent

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia seems to think that being innocent is not enough reason to not be executed, as long as the trial was “full and fair”. In the case in question, seven of the nine witnesses who identified Troy Anthony Davis as the man who shot police officer Allen MacPhail have changed their story, and several of them have even now implicated one of the remaining two witnesses.

But according to Scalia:

This Court has never held that the Constitution forbids the execution of a convicted defendant who has had a full and fair trial but is later able to convince a habeas court that he is “actually” innocent. Quite to the contrary, we have repeatedly left that question unresolved, while expressing considerable doubt that any claim based on alleged “actual innocence” is constitutionally cognizable.

Luckily, Scalia was in the minority. Was this what Obama was talking about when he said he wanted more empathy on the Supreme Court?

Share

Health Care: WTF

Share

Late Night Political Humor

“Over the past week, congressmen have been holding town hall meetings across the country. They’ve been disrupted by angry protesters who are against Obama’s new healthcare plan. And things could have gotten violent, but nobody could afford to get hurt. So, it was very peaceful protesting.” – Jimmy Fallon

“President Obama says he will not support a health-care plan where the government gets to decide whether to, quote, ‘pull the plug on Grandma.’ Apparently, Obama’s plan calls for the much quicker pillow option.” – Conan O’Brien

“President Obama has been explaining his healthcare plan now to senior citizens. And yesterday, at a town hall meeting, he promised the crowd that he will not, quote, ‘pull the plug on Grandma.’ Then, there was an awkward moment when Grandpa stood up and booed.” – Conan O’Brien

“During his town hall meeting in New Hampshire yesterday, President Obama tried to make a point about private companies and the government providing the same services. He said UPS and FedEx are doing just fine; it’s the Post Office that’s always having problems. That’s probably going to anger some postal workers but what’s the worst that could happen?” – Jimmy Fallon

“But at the same meeting, he said twice that the AARP supports his healthcare plan, even though the AARP hasn’t endorsed it. He’s probably thinking of that other senior citizens group. What’s the name? Oh, yeah, Congress.” – Jimmy Fallon

“A company in Michigan is trying to make Americans healthier by sending out ice cream trucks stocked only with fruits and vegetables. It’s not going so well, because all the trucks have been turned over and burned by angry, fat kids.” – Conan O’Brien

“Yesterday in Africa, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton lost her temper at a college student when he asked her a question about her husband’s opinion on a certain issue. She got mad. I can understand why she got upset, because the question was, ‘Who’s hotter? Megan Fox or Eva Longoria?'” – Conan O’Brien

“No, both Clintons, all over the news. While Hillary’s in Africa Bill Clinton’s in Las Vegas celebrating his birthday, which begs the question why is Bill the one who woke up 10 feet from a goat?” – Conan O’Brien

“Yesterday, GM announced they’ll be releasing a car that gets 230 miles a gallon. And today, Nissan said their new car’s going to get 367 miles a gallon. It’s crazy.” – Conan O’Brien

“In a related story, Toyota just announced their new car will get 500 miles per gallon, plant rain forests, and give birth to endangered pandas. So, that’s the one you want.” – Conan O’Brien

“According to a new report that just came out, NASA doesn’t have enough money to track all the giant asteroids that could crash into Earth. NASA says we shouldn’t worry though because they’ve given the job to Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck.” – Conan O’Brien

Share

Some Backwards Country

Joel Pett
© Joel Pett

Share

Have a nice week

I’m going to be camping for the next week, so my access to the innertubes might be a bit erratic (but I managed to post three stories a day last summer when I went camping in the wilds of Canada, so who knows).

I’ve noticed lately that people have been submitting old postings of mine to aggregator sites (like Reddit, Stumbleupon, Fark, and Digg) and I’ve been getting lots of traffic from that. So feel free to wander down memory lane, look up some old stories, and submit them to your favorite aggregator (there is a handy-dandy tool at the end of each post to help you do that). You can also post links on social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook. I’m really hoping that we can build up momentum for real health care reform.

Other than that, I hope everyone is enjoying the last few weeks of summer! And remember, the point is not which side you’re on, the point is to have a good discussion that helps both sides understand the other side’s point of view.

UPDATE: I’ve made this post sticky, so it will appear first, but I’ll still try to post things (I managed to post three stories today, thanks to the iPhone!).

UPDATE 2: I’m back home! Sorry about missing a few days — didn’t even have cell phone coverage for a few days, and very little WiFi anywhere. Highlights of the trip: renting the 24 inch telescope at Pine Mountain Observatory for the night, rafting rapids on the Deschutes River, camping inside the crater of an active volcano for two nights, spelunking inside a lava tube, sunset on Paulina Peak, and a yummy dinner at Timberline Lodge. Also see the “I could see Russia” comment.

Share