McCain Wants Your Water!

McCain has said that he wants to renegotiate the Colorado River Compact to take water from the upper basin states - and that includes New Mexico - and give it to his state of Arizona. Given that the states are all working well together under the recently renegotiated compact, I've no idea why McCain would want to do this. If word gets out (which, of course, it won't, given the stupid media), this could be a huge political problem for McCain in the Southwest. One thing people who live in the desert really don't like is people taking away their water.

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McCain's Mansions

I've been finding it very difficult to understand how people could come to trust John McCain to do anything but make matters worse when it comes to our ailing (okay, let's face it, our seriously ill) economy. As a graduate student, I don't find it particularly troubling that I have to scrounge or ask Mommy and Daddy for a little help now and again. That's what graduate student life is like. But when regular Joe and his wife, who hold down decent paying jobs, suddenly can't make the bills anymore, I know that something is wrong.

Some people aren't having trouble though. John and Cindy McCain certainly aren't. And John McCain's big man on economics - Phil Graham - has made it clear that he thinks that the recession we are in at the moment is a figment of our imaginations. This is the same man, of course, who helped to drive gas prices up by creating the Enron loophole, and also was a main contributor to the mortgage business deregulation that led to the mortgage crisis. Now, I'm not saying that the Obama family is particularly hard off. They aren't. But Michelle Obama isn't a beer heiress worth upwards of 100 million dollars. And Barak Obama's top economic advisor isn't a man who thinks the American people are whiners. I simply can't understand why anyone who actually feels the pinch of high gas prices, or rising mortgage payments, or layoffs could possibly think that McCain either knows that the economy actually is in shambles or that he would give a damn if he did know. His pockets are well lined whether you can make your house payment or not. BraveNewFilms puts in into video much better than I could say it, though. Just watch:

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Go and read this...

Precisely what is wrong with this country.

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What Happened To Christian Compassion?

Lloyd Clarke of Frankenmuth, MA, who happens to be an atheist, has asked that crosses be removed from two bridges and the seal of his town. Now, there is nothing terribly usual about this situation. It's far too common for Christian symbology and beliefs to infiltrate aspects of the government. And it isn't unusual for those who believe in the separation of church of state to request that the symbols, or whatever, be removed.

To be fair, the town removed the crosses on the bridges, but they are fighting tooth and nail to keep the cross on the seal. And that's not uncommon either.

Here's something else about this situation that doesn't seem to be uncommon:

Children taunted the 66-year-old Clarke. A letter writer accused him of trying to reduce Frankenmuth to "Satan's pit." Another said crosses were as much a part of the town as its renowned chicken dinners...

The local paper received a deluge of letters that questioned why Clarke moved there, accused him of harassing them, and said he should move to Russia or China.

Talk radio called him an idiot. A blogger told him to pull in his horns.

Two prominent themes run through the reaction to Clarke's request, themes we've seen played and replayed again in the fight to keep church and state separate in a country that is dominated by those of the Christian faith: the Christians are acting belligerantly toward the minority en masse and are simultaneously claiming that they are being "harrassed" for their beliefs. I don't think I have to point out the inconsistency in this particular situation. Sounds like textbook projection to me. But my question is: what happened to all that Christian compassion and humility I keep hearing about?

Christians will often say that their religion is one of compassion, love and humility. But these certain aren't traits being displayed by the Christians of Frankenmuth, nor have they been displayed by Christians in other separation of church and state disputes. I think it is about time for Christians like those in Frankenmuth to clear up this contradiction one way or the other. Either admit that your religion isn't about compassion and humility and loving your neighbor or start acting like it is.

And for those of you who have the thought "those aren't real Christians (TM)" on the tip of your brain, answer me this: are there any real Christians (TM)? Where are they? Why aren't they loudly condemning those who act the way the people of Frankenmuth have?

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Yeah, That'll Work

Apparently, people have taken to praying at gas stations in the hopes that God will bring down gas prices.



Now, I understand the feeling that many of these people have that there really aren't any viable options available to bring gas prices down. Then again, as someone who takes mass transit, I haven't really looked into it. At the end of the day, however, asking the big man in the sky to bring gas prices is, we know (and I think they suspect), going to be wholly ineffectual. How many of these people wasted gas getting to the gas station to pray for lower gas prices? How many of these people, who are so concerned about high gas prices, are looking into alternative means of bringing the price of gas down?

This is the problem with irrationality. It doesn't just infect thought, it blocks rational advancement. Rather than wasting time praying and gas getting there, these people would be much better served by putting their reasoning and creativity to work to try to come up with the solution that no one has hit upon yet. Even if they didn't come up with the solution, they would have exercised their minds, and potentially eliminated bad solutions - both of which are far more worthwhile than talking to imaginary friends.

Thanks to CrucieFiction for the video.

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Tee Hee Hee

Found on GraphJam:



If you don't get it, you really, really need to watch more Monty Python. Here, I'll get you started:

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Oh, how close we are.

Chimps have a better memory than you do.

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