The Atheist Mama

It’s a bitter-sweet morning for this central Ohioan voter.

I am ashamed to admit that I voted Straight Democrat. Why is this embarrassing to me? Well as most of you know, I’m not a Democrat - I’m a Libertarian. I was quite happy with my Libertarian choice for governer - Bill Pierce. But I didn’t feel comfortable with the overwhelming possibility that the Republicans would remain in control. So I voted democrat, all the way across the board. I feel that I wasn’t true to my beliefs, but I’m satisfied with the outcome.

I am happy to say that I voted “NO” on all Ohio issues, but disappointed in the fact that several of them passed. “Smoke Free Ohio” is one of those issues. Of course, I also voted no on “Smoke Less Ohio” as well. I just don’t support a smoking ban. Period. But apparently most Ohioans do support the idea of the government making yet another law. So it goes.

I was also disappointed in the fact that Ohioans voted to “Raise the Wage.” I’m not a supportive of a minimum wage hike. I don’t think that it can do anything but harm the economy. Small businesses have a hard enough time making ends meet. Now they’ll have to pay employees more, and as a result some of them may end up unemployed. A better idea would be to fix the heath insurance issues! Bring the price down so that people can afford it and employer can afford to help their employees pay for it. Anyway, this is a whole different post.

The only issue that I was unsure of how to vote for was Ohio’s Learn and Earn. Learn and Earn? Ha…
Let’s just call it what it is - Gambling in Ohio. Anyway, I voted no, but I tossed that one around a bit. I don’t like the idea of telling people whether they can gamble or not. But that’s not what this is about. I guess I would just rather they not do it here. There are plenty of places in this country that allow gambling. I have no problem with that. I enjoy it myself occasionally. But is it really necessary here?

I am cautiously optimistic. I really hope that “the change” all of our democratic candidates were talking up is something that we will see. They need to show the American people that they made the right choices!!

…and kidnapping, assault, conspiracy, larceny and housebreaking.

Am I the only one feeling sympathy for them?

Don’t get me wrong - what happened was terrible. What happened was a crime. But there is so much more to what happened here. These guys are in WAR.
There is an entirely different reality in their world.

They are trying to survive. Always afraid. Constantly on the look out. Sleep deprived. Hoping that they are going to make it home. Missing their families. Losing their friends and fellow soldiers. Seeing blood shed and gore. To top it all off, they are trained to kill the enemy. I’m sorry, but I don’t know how this type of thing isn’t happening more often.

I’ve been having a hard time getting the news today because of the kiddos, but from what I can gather, it sounds like North Korea is wanting to test a long range missile that is able to carry a nuclear weapon, and it has the capability of reaching the west coast of the United States?  Is that what’s going on here?

I get that North Korea would like to test it’s missiles, but who could possibly think that this would be a good idea?  Now the U.S. is saying that they will attempt to shoot it down.  Well, yeah!  That makes good sense to me!!

What am I missing here??

MUST SEE!!! I found this on Details (another Columbus, Ohio blog). This is great. Harry Taylor has some balls. So, would you be able to give it to Bush if you had the opportunity, on national television?

Wait, I found it!! Give your thanks to Harry Taylor (thanks to the Suburban Guerrilla for the tip)!

In the comments of one of the previous posts on tolerance, Goose Henry posted this:

>A question:

>Do you think the nazi regime in Germany during the 30’s and 40’s was wrong?

Ok, point taken. If morality is relative (something that I believe) then who were we to go on into Germany and stop Hitler?

My answer to your question: Of course I think that the Third Reich was wrong. It was disgusting, and I think that the United States were absolutely right to go on in there and put a stop to it. Does that make me a hypocrite? Maybe, but I also think that it makes me human.

Here are a few other things to ponder:

Genocide in Darfur
Female Genital Mutilation in Africa
“Gendercide” in China and India

The above examples are just a tiny fraction of Human Rights Violations going on in the world.
Now a question for you:

Should the United States invade the above countries and start a war with them? If you say no, why not??

I wonder… If there was oil in these countries, would we step in then?

>It has been three years since the beginning of the war that marked the end of Iraq’s independence. Three years of occupation and bloodshed.

>Spring should be about renewal and rebirth. For Iraqis, spring has been about reliving painful memories and preparing for future disasters. In many ways, this year is like 2003 prior to the war when we were stocking up on fuel, water, food and first aid supplies and medications. We’re doing it again this year but now we don’t discuss what we’re stocking up for. Bombs and B-52’s are so much easier to face than other possibilities.

>I don’t think anyone imagined three years ago that things could be quite this bad today. The last few weeks have been ridden with tension. I’m so tired of it all- we’re all tired.

Go read the rest over at Baghdad Burning.

Today in Columbus, there was a peace march and a really at the State House.

(the pictures you see may or may not reflect my personal beliefs)

It started at Goodale Park in the Short North. It’s a beautiful park, and it was a beautiful day, minus the cold and the wind!!

I showed up at around noon and there were only a few there at this point. I stood around and talked to a couple of people and ended up meeting a really nice girl named Michelle (who may come by here - if you do, say hello!!) who is also an atheist (and a mom).

People started showing up at around 1 pm or so.

This last picture is of the girl Michelle that I followed all afternoon. :-)

This was quite an experience for me. It’s the first protest/march/rally I’ve been to (except for the 4th of July Hemp Coalition Rally back in ‘92… or ‘93… that was fun).

I’m not sure how many ended up showing. I’m really bad at estimates when it comes to crowds, but there were a lot of freaking people!

Bring the troops home NOW?? Well, I don’t know… I have to say that if we were to bring them all home tomorrow, I would fear the fallout. What would happen to the people of Iraq? What would happen to us? Oh man, if the world doesn’t hate the United States now… Can you imagine what they would think if we were to abandon what we did to those countries?

I don’t know. But I do think that an exit strategy is necessary. However, I don’t think that the exit strategy should necessarily be Iran.

Forgot to add:

When the rally started, the speakers were all from religious groups. That was kind of disappointing. All of these people (most were Christian, I think) talking about peace in Iraq and pulling our troops out. It was kind of strange and backwards. We walked away just about as soon as they started.

Here was my FAVORITE sign of all today -

[Link]
Doesn’t this sound familiar?? I could swear that I heard the same thing… Oh about 3 years ago or so… Was it Iraq?? Oh, oh, I know. Al Queda. Well, who ever it was, I think I heard something like this right before we bombed the hell out of them.

The National Security Strategy is now out for us to read.
In case you were wondering, September 11, 2001 was mentioned once, and September 11 was mentioned 7 times in the document. 9/11 wasn’t mentioned at all. Yes, I counted.

And it begins:

>My Fellow Americans,

>America is at war. This is a wartime national security strategy required by the grave challenge we face – the rise of terrorism fueled by an aggressive ideology of hatred and murder, fully revealed to the American people on September 11, 2001. This strategy reflects our most solemn obligation: to protect the security of the American people.

Also, there’s this:

>We may face no greater challenge from a single country than from Iran. For almost 20 years, the Iranian regime hid many of its key nuclear efforts from the international community. Yet the regime continues to claim that it does not seek to develop nuclear weapons. The Iranian regime’s true intentions are clearly revealed by the regime’s refusal to negotiate in good faith; its refusal to come into compliance with its international obligations by providing the IAEA access to nuclear sites and resolving troubling questions; and the aggressive statements of its President calling for Israel to “be wiped off the face of the earth.â€� The United States has joined with our EU partners and Russia to pressure Iran to meet its international obligations and provide objective guarantees that its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes. This diplomatic effort must succeed if confrontation is to be avoided.

(emphasis mine)

I guess Iran is next. Watch out everyone! The United States is coming. Make sure that Bush likes what he sees.

I heard about the death of Tom Fox yesterday, but I really haven’t had a chance to read anything about him or the situation until today. While reading the an article on The Washington Post online about the discovery of his body, I learned that he was formerly an assistant manager at the Whole Foods in Springfield, Virginia.
I’m from Fairfax, VA and I was a frequent shopper at that Whole Foods. I was also an employee of Whole Foods once upon a time. I remember Tom well (although I can’t say that he knew me). He was a very nice man and I saw him just about every time I went into that store.
I know that a few of my highschool friends that were also employees there knew him well. Very well infact, and I’m so sorry for their loss. I can’t imagine what they must be feeling.

Tom was a Christian peace activist, but he wasn’t in Iraq with the sole intention of spreading the word of God. He was in Iraq on a mission of peace. Regardless of his beliefs, I’m so sorry that he suffered the way that he did.

I found a link to his blog somewhere (don’t remember where). Of course, it hasn’t been posted to since November of 2005, but he was abducted that month, so that would make sense.

I also found this today:

>The body of American Tom Fox, who was among four Christian peace activists kidnapped last year, was found near a west Baghdad railway line with gunshot wounds to his head and chest and his body bore signs of torture, the Iraqi Interior Ministry said Saturday:

>I must ask you why tom had to die, yes he was in a army GODS ARMY:

>No weapons only a bible you searched him you knew this,so why, he was there to help

>you and your people.

>You had 60% of the world trying to stop the war tom was one of them but now you have now got a holy war and god will have no mercy on your souls.

>you prove once again your cowards and sick there is nothing in the koran about killing

>christians.

>And to think we where forced to pass your places of worship knowing your so called holy men were hidding guns and criminals.

>But i will say this some of the mighty leaders of the world will be in church to-day

>saying a prayer for tom and maybe end there easy going with you lot.

>I did feel that the war should be over, but im not sure now.

>And please no moslems crying on here use your energy to write on the moslem blogs

>and ask for the release of the other christian peace activists.

>THE REAL GOD IS WATCHING YOU; SO IS THE WORLD

(emphasis mine, although I should have bolded the whole damn thing)

I don’t even know where to begin with this one. How is this (above) any different than anything going on “over there”. All I know is that I’m scared.

Well, almost.

34%, incase you haven’t already heard.

Article from The Washington Post online:

>The lawsuit by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey claims that Dubai Ports World was violating its lease by not getting consent for its pending acquisition of the current port operator, London-based Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co.

Wow. This is an interesting turn of events. I didn’t see this type of thing coming.

>The state of New Jersey filed a related federal lawsuit against the Bush administration on Thursday.

Well all right New Jersey!! My entire family is from Northern NJ, by the way.
And it gets sticky here:

>Dubai Ports World has hired a team of lawyers including former Sen. Bob Dole as it tries to save the deal.

>Dole, husband of Sen. Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C., said he won’t lobby Congress and will limit his involvement to discussions with Bush administration officials and efforts to “help the American people understand the real facts.”

>”I have not nor will I `lobby’ members of Congress on this issue, not even at home,” Dole said in a statement issued late Thursday, after the North Carolina Democratic Party called for Elizabeth Dole to recuse herself from debate about the deal.

>Sen. Elizabeth Dole is among those challenging the deal. Her spokeswoman Lindsay Taylor Mabry said she didn’t know how long the senator had known of her husband’s role in the deal.

I’d hate to be at their dinner table at night!!

I wrote about “The Valley of Wolves: Iraq” quite a while ago but a someone commented on it just last night.

>I have seen the movie and it has not change my mind regarding anti-americanism as I was already anti-american. All you have to do is watch the independed daily news everyday to see what Americans are doing around the world.
>It is also hard to understand you Americans as most of your Hollywood movies are anti-arab, anti-muslim movies. When complain about it you talk about freedom of speach/press etc. One movie is anti-american you forget all about free speach and freedom of press. wakey wakey…isn’t this double standards…I recommend the movie all to see what really is happening in Iraq as we speak.

You know, it’s not that I don’t think that the movie should have been made at all, or that the American actors shouldn’t have been allowed to star in the movie. My problem is with the fact that American actors would want to star in such a movie when we are engaged in a war. Why would they want to fuel hatred of Americans? I guess “money” would be the answer. I would never want to take their right away to star in the movie though.

As for our Hollywood movies - I’m sure you’re right. I don’t really have an answer for that, other than I haven’t been to a movie in quite a while. :-)

I came across the link to Baghdad Burning while reading a post at De Magno Opere tonight. I’ve never visited this blog before. It’s the blog of an Iraqi woman living in Baghdad. She’s an amazing writer. What she has to say about the conflict in Baghdad right now is a must read.

Since the attack on the shrine in Iraq that we heard about yesterday, I’ve been getting pretty nervous. I read this article this morning and now I’m down right terrified. That’s just one of the scary articles out there this morning.

I’ve written about my father before. He called me yesterday. I’m so worried…. I don’t know what to do. I wish there was something that I could do. I feel very helpless. It’s like watching a child cross the street and you see a car coming, but your stuck on something and you just can’t break free. It’s a terrible feeling.

You know, I haven’t said much on this topic here because I don’t really know what to say. I’ve been feeling pretty speechless. I don’t understand how this man can tell us one day that we are at war and that he needs to spy on U.S. citizens for our own protection, and then the next day tell us that he is giving U.A.E. control of our ports. How in the hell can he tell us that he was out of the loop on this deal and then threaten his very first veto if legislation tries to delay it? How can he have so much disrespect for the people of the United States, and Congress??? WTF?

Why? Because President Bush is completely out of control. This man needs to be stopped.

Sounds like someone is going to be making some serious money on this deal. Maybe something else is going on and this is a diversion.

Anyway, I would normally like to articles but I know you have all seen them, and I’ve just read to many. So I’m just putting some thoughts out there.

George Deutsch, the presidential appointee, resigned from NASA after being caught in a lie. A few days ago I wrote about Deutsch and his censoring of information coming from NASA. It was said that Deutsch was a 2003 journalism graduate of Texas A&M University. After some investigation, Nick Anthis of The Scientific Activist discovered that he never actually graduated!

Nick Anthis writes:
>The idea that NASA let a 24-year-old journalism major, with no experience in science or technology, other than writing a few articles about video games, determine what scientists were able to communicate to the public was pretty bad. The fact that he was censoring scientific information on global warming and the big bang made things more interesting, especially since he was a political appointee doing this to prevent challenges to the Bush administration’s policies. But now, finding out that he did not even graduate from Texas A&M, and may not have graduated from college at all, is absolutely outrageous.

Read more at The Scientific Activist (an excellent blog by the way).

Thanks to the Bad Astronomy Blog for the tip!

Tags:
NASA, Bush, Science, religion, politics

I’m in awe…

From the New York Times:
>In October 2005, Mr. Deutsch [presidential appointee] sent an e-mail message to Flint Wild, a NASA contractor working on a set of Web presentations about Einstein for middle-school students. The message said the word “theory” needed to be added after every mention of the Big Bang.

>The Big Bang is “not proven fact; it is opinion,” Mr. Deutsch wrote, adding, “It is not NASA’s place, nor should it be to make a declaration such as this about the existence of the universe that discounts intelligent design by a creator.”

>It continued: “This is more than a science issue, it is a religious issue. And I would hate to think that young people would only be getting one-half of this debate from NASA. That would mean we had failed to properly educate the very people who rely on us for factual information the most.”

Read all about this at the Bad Astronomy Blog, Pharyngula, Stranger Fruit, and The Reality Based Community. These guys certainly say it way better than I ever could!! All of these links have some great information and comments on the subject.

**Edited to add that the list of links above are just the ones that I read. The Bad Astronomy Blog has a whole list of blogs that are discussing this issue.

In case you haven’t seen “Fuck the State of the Union,” make sure you drop by when you have a few minutes! A must read…

>Ah, the future. Brought to us by all the smarties we’re gonna educate in those Intelligent Design biology classes you’ve endorsed. I’m thinking “and then a miracle happenedâ€� might not be the answer Microsoft is looking for on its application quiz, but it’s definitely the only way we’re gonna get those little shavers through middle school.

Tags:
bush, Politics, state of the union

So I’ve just scheduled my recordings for the evening.

8:00 pm - The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
8:30 pm - The Colbert Report
9:00 pm - The State of the Union

Popcorn and beer are on the menu.

Here’s an article on WashingtonPost.com that states:

Democrats and Republicans called separately yesterday for congressional investigations into President Bush’s decision after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to allow domestic eavesdropping without court approval.

What do you think will happen?? Is it possible?? Oh please, oh please, oh please…

Tags:
bush, Politics, President, patriot act, Civil Liberties, impeach