11 posts from February 2009

Well this is interesting

- Those states that do consume the most porn tend to be more conservative and religious than states with lower levels of consumption, the study finds.
- The biggest consumer, Utah, averaged 5.47 adult content subscriptions per 1000 home broadband users.
- Eight of the top 10 pornography consuming states gave their electoral votes to John McCain in last year's presidential election – Florida and Hawaii were the exceptions. While six out of the lowest 10 favoured Barack Obama.
- Residents of 27 states that passed laws banning gay marriages boasted 11% more porn subscribers than states that don't explicitly restrict gay marriage.
- States where a majority of residents agreed with the statement "I have old-fashioned values about family and marriage," bought 3.6 more subscriptions per thousand people than states where a majority disagreed.

The guy who did the study said: "One natural hypothesis is something like repression: if you're told you can't have this, then you want it more,"

Obama's Speech to Congress was very good. Despite a lot of the usual rhetoric and standing ovations every minute some of the things he said really stand out.

Here is one that is particulatly pertinant to those Republicans who think America is becoming a socialist country:

> For history tells a different story. History reminds us that at every moment of economic upheaval and transformation, this nation has responded with bold action and big ideas. In the midst of civil war, we laid railroad tracks from one coast to another that spurred commerce and industry. From the turmoil of the Industrial Revolution came a system of public high schools that prepared our citizens for a new age. In the wake of war and depression, the GI Bill sent a generation to college and created the largest middle-class in history. And a twilight struggle for freedom led to a nation of highways, an American on the moon, and an explosion of technology that still shapes our world.

In each case, government didn't supplant private enterprise; it catalyzed private enterprise. It created the conditions for thousands of entrepreneurs and new businesses to adapt and to thrive.

> You see, the flow of credit is the lifeblood of our economy. The ability to get a loan is how you finance the purchase of everything from a home to a car to a college education; how stores stock their shelves, farms buy equipment, and businesses make payroll....

It's not about helping banks - it's about helping people. Because when credit is available again, that young family can finally buy a new home. And then some company will hire workers to build it. And then those workers will have money to spend, and if they can get a loan too, maybe they'll finally buy that car, or open their own business. Investors will return to the market, and American families will see their retirement secured once more. Slowly, but surely, confidence will return, and our economy will recover.

Most Republicans say they hate the stimulus bill. But will that prevent them from taking the money for their states?
In a word, no.
Even Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal - a notable governor and leading critic of the bill - is now making a stand that he will reject $98 million from the plan. [Federal unemployment assistance].
Sounds like he is really being a principled politician, right?
Well, no.
His state is slated to get $7.68 billion and he is rejecting $98 million of it. That's a whopping 2%.
In short, he is being a politician and making some good headlines for himself. [He's a leading candidate for 2012 too].

Even if you agree with his reasoning you have to ask yourself how he can possibly get any headlines out of this when he clearly won't do anything to stop the other $6.70 billion from coming into his state.

Let me just say the Republicans are not really opposed to a stimulus bill. They are opposed to some facets of this stimulus package, yes. But I guarantee you that if the House and Senate's numbers were closer to a 50 / 50 split more Republicans would have voted for the stimulus. Granted, it would have been altered from its current state. But Republicans in the House especially knew the bill would pass no matter what their stance. So their attitude was to stand against it completely [on principle, you see] knowing full well their states would still get the money.

So these neo-Hooverites get to have it both ways. They can go home to their constituents and say they voted 'no' thus stirring [empty] populist sentiment. But yet they can also have the stimulus money come rolling into their state helping people, aiding businesses, fixing infrastructure and generally getting everyone through this tough economic time. And what's more, when 2010 and 2012 comes around many of these Republicans won't be pushed out because they are in Republican strongholds. They'll sail through because their constituents - flushed with cash and better economic times - will still hate the Democrats and love their Republicans who took a political stand. Even though the stand actually did nothing constructive.

Gotta love politicians.

Conservatives can be funny people. I'm not talking humorous. They can be that too. But, in this case, I'm talking unintentionally, of course.
The National Review has a list of the 25 best Conservative movies.
But perusing the list one would have to conclude that many of the films on the list are not Conservative movies but rather movies that Conservatives may like.
You see, they are not all made by Conservatives or really have Conservative values.

#22 is Brazil directed by Terry Gilliam who is on record saying that the film was meant to be fictional but came to life when the Bush Administration unveiled the Patriot Act and Homeland Security.
#20 is Gattaca about how a man in the future learns how to jig the system so he can succeed against genetically modified humans. The review on the National Review site says that by extension it has something to say against abortion. [No, it doesn't - unless you are reading into it].
#11 The Lord of The Rings [trilogy]. Okay, so little guys succeed against evil. How is this Conservative? Oh, okay J.R.R. Tolkein was 'conservative'. But his story is really not so much conservative as universal. I recall Star Wars deals with similar themes of good and evil yet it doesn't make the list.
#10 Ghostbusters. They base this primary on one line that Dan Aykroyd says about the private sector. The same Aykroyd who just mocked the Republicans on a SNL skit. [Yes, he is acting and saying lines in both instances]. [Okay, so the film says something negative about the EPA. I'll grant conservatives that. But they are still reading into the overall message of the movie].
#8 Juno. You know, the film written by a feminist pro-choice liberal. Again, a movie that is not Conservative but one that Conservatives loved because of the pro-choice angle. Errr, I mean pro-life angle. See what I mean? I see it as choice. But that doesn't make it a 'liberal' movie.
#6 Groundhog Day. This is a film about a man who must redo his daily routine again, and again and again until he gets it right. Sound slightly religious? Yes, reincarnation via Hinduism or Buddism. Not sure how this is Conservative [or at least of the right wing American variation].
#1 The Lives of Others. A German film that shows two things. One is how bad the German totalitarian [communist] state makes the people who worked for it as spies. Two is how one spy finds a humanitarian streak in himself and learns to do the right thing while spying on the resistance movement. How this is specifically Conservative is beyond me. Watching it one realizes how fundamentally good people can be. Fighting against totalitarian regimes [whether in East Germany or Chile] is about human rights not about a political ideology. That's something all of us [liberal or conservative] can learn from.
 
Many of the films on the list are indeed Conservative. 
But what this list shows is that some Conservatives see these movies through the lens of their own conservatism. I've been told that Conservatives see things as they are, with no lens and no embellishments and that only Liberals do that. Well, looking at this list I would conclude that is not the case. Conservatives are just as ready to bend a story to their point of view.

In fact, I did a Google search and found Daily Kos had a list of Liberal movies. You be the judge. Any films on this list you consider not Liberal? I'd argue that they are more Liberal than not.
But, really, can we all just go to the movies without politics getting in the way?

[Confession, I'm a Jean Luc Godard fan - but it's not his politics that keep me watching his films.]

This is an abuse of the American political system.

Franken, the former comedian, leads Republican Norm Coleman by 225 votes in a “Groundhog Day” of an election that dawned more than three months ago and shows no signs of ending soon. Which is exactly how Senate Republicans want it. The National Republican Senatorial Committee held a ritzy fundraiser for Coleman in Washington this week, helping him raise the money he needs to keep his legal challenges alive through a trial and then a lengthy legal process if he loses.

The GOP is determined to keep Al Franken from taking his Senate seat even if it means continuing lawsuits they know they cannot win.

Michael Steele, the new RNC Chairman is either not too bright or he thinks he is using a talking point that makes sense to everyone who has ever had a job. But he makes no sense.
He claims that government work is not a job.
Check out this exchange:

Yeah, that's right. Work is not a job.
This is the second time he has said this in a week so he must believe it.
But just on the face of it this thinking is absurd.

Now, forget for a moment that he himself worked for the government as a Lt Governor of Maryland for 4 years and forget the fact that the government, right now, employees millions of people at local, state and federal levels. [And the military too].
He has to know that people who work for the government make money. When they make money they spend money, when you spend money you grow the economy and help keep business in American afloat.
Conversely, if everyone in the government were laid off tomorrow there would be a huge hit to the economy.

Mr Steele's main argument is that government jobs are not permanent because there is a contract. But so what?
First, there is no job security anymore. The world of 10, 20 or 30 years at the same job is pretty much over for most of us.
Second, he doesn't take into account that with government jobs someone is always working - it is a revolving door. One contract expires and another comes along giving another employee [or the same one] work. You know, like Construction jobs!
Third, most jobs these days in the private sector last no longer than the government contracts because employees move on to another job - thus leaving room for another employee. Just like the government contract.
Fourth, many, many jobs are now going oversees never to come back. [On a side note what good is it to reward a corporation who moves their work force overseas?]
Fifth, if the government only creates temporary jobs it can [at the very least] serve as a bridge between the stronger private sector job markets of the early 2000's and hopefully the next few years.
Sixth, If you are an employee do you care if your job is a government contracted one or a private sector one? No. Just so long as the bills can be paid and you can buy the things you need for your family and for yourself [like dvds, shoes, a new iPod].
 
I'd understand if Steele was talking about the furniture movers over by the local UHaul. Because, after all, these workers work for only a few hours and then go back to looking for more work. But government workers are given extended contracts that can last for years. And, if a government job creates a bridge or better infrastructure then we have something we can all use. A new bridge, better roads, etc.
 
Mr Steele has to get better [and wiser] talking points or his work [not a job, remember] as the RNC head will be over in two years.

This stimulus plan looks like it may pass. But it is already being compromised mightly.

Check out some of the cuts: Fuller list here.

Total Reductions: $80 billion

Eliminations:

Head Start, Education for the Disadvantaged, School improvement, Child Nutrition, Firefighters, Transportation Security Administration, Coast Guard, Prisons, COPS Hiring, Violence Against Women, NASA, NSF, Western Area Power Administration, CDC, Food Stamps

Reductions:

Public Transit $3.4 billion, School Construction $60 billion

Increases:

Defense operations and procurement, STAG Grants, Brownfields, Additional transportation funding

Hmmmm, education and children take a hit. This is beginning to look like a Republican bill. Why did we give 700 million to Wall Street [which went unaccounted for] but now propose to cut all of this out?

Anyway, if it passes Obama will get the credit by the press. Politically this is a good thing for Obama. However, we can do better.

Apparently Obama broke a pledge and some right wing crazies are up in arms over it.

What pledge did he break? Was it his promise to help the working class, was it about ending the war in Iraq, was it about the spirit of bi-partisanship? No, turns out he signed a bill expanding healthcare for children three days earlier than he said he would.

So, yeah, he signed a bill that already [easily] cleared the House [290 to 138] and the Senate [66 to 32] and some Republicans are mad because Obama didn't put it up on the White House website for five days so they could scrutinize what was already approved?

Are these people serious?

The bill was already approved. If it sat around for three days it would do just that; sit around for three days while no one did anything except maybe ask, "Why is this bill still sitting around?"

I think the reason Obama 'rushed' it was to get some good news out there after some of the Cabinet appointment tax issues and the s-l-o-w going economic stimulus plan. But there are just too many issues out there right now than to act like 12 year olds and claim Obama broke some pledge.

Christian Right Challenges Obama's Justice Picks

Christian conservatives are challenging President Barack Obama's picks for top Justice Department positions, charging that past clients like Playboy taint their resumes....

Tom Minnery, a vice president at Focus on the Family, charges that through the nominations, the new Democratic administration is not depoliticizing, but re-politicizing the Justice Department.

"They take our breath away the more we learn about these people," said Minnery. "This is left-wing politicization of the Justice Department. This is not a Justice Department that looks like America."

Umm, news for you Mr Minnery: Do you know how many people check out porn on the internet? I think this Justice Department reflects America [and the world] very well.