The recent move The Help has focused a great deal of attention on the whole relationship between wealthy white people (and "wealthy" is a relative term) and their black domestic help. The movie (at least, I haven't read the book) cuts across many stereotypes on every side of the issue. And it's always dangerous in …
Sharia Law in Libya: Have We Done It Again?
Looks like it: But despite the Lockean tenor of much of the constitution, the inescapable clause lies right in Part 1, Article 1: “Islam is the Religion of the State, and the principal source of legislation is Islamic Jurisprudence (Sharia).” Under this constitution, in other words, Islam is law. That makes other phrases such as …
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Why Do Liberals Care When Petrol Prices Rise?
That great Socialist Bernie Sanders evidently does: Senator Bernie Sanders, a staunch critic of oil speculators, leaked the information to a major newspaper in a move that has unsettled both regulators and Wall Street alike. In a June 16 e-mail reviewed by Reuters, a senior policy adviser to Sanders discusses how his office received private …
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Reality Check: Jobs Weren't the Real Objective to Start With
Even the Black Caucus has just about had enough: The problem, Waters said, is that Obama is not paying enough attention to the problems of some black Americans. The unemployment rate for African-Americans nationally is a little over 16 percent, and almost twice that in Detroit. And yet, Waters said, the president is on a …
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If You Believe That Everything in Life That Goes Wrong is Someone Else’s Fault, You’re a Failure
A few years back I was involved in an extraordinarily complex business transaction. It was complex not only because our legal system makes even the simplest transaction a mess, but also due to the nature of both sides of the transaction. On my side, I was set as the chief negotiator of a group of …
The Differences Between Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry From a Personal Standpoint
The conventional wisdom out there is that Michele Bachmann (who won the Ames straw poll) and Rick Perry (who spoiled her victory by entering the race on the same day) are competing for the same religious conservative voters. That masks some important differences between the two, differences that will become more evident as the campaign …
The God of the Dollar
There are many things about these United States that stick in the craw of atheists, and one of them is the requirement that “In God We Trust” be emblazoned on all of our currency, both paper and specie. Their hearts are warmed at the thought that, like the Euro, any references to God would be …
The Hole in the "Dominionist/Theonomist Plan" for America
Ryan Lizza's piece in the New Yorker about Michele Bachmann brings up what must rate as the most incoate dread the left has about the Religious Right: the "dominionist" movement, which I prefer to refer to as the "theonomist" movement. You see this in left wing blogs (both in the articles and in the comments) …
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The Collapse of Political Trust = The Collapse of Expectations
In his interesting analysis about The Collapse of Political Trust, Jonah Lehrer makes the following observation: And this returns us to the present dysfunction in Washington. If trust is about the distribution of rewards – about learning to expect bonuses from others – then it’s going to be a lot harder to share those rewards …
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Rick Perry's Prayer Rally: It's Really Midnight Yell Practice
This Saturday Texas Gov. Rick Perry is sponsoring a prayer rally called "The Response." In a country whose elites are sensitive to any serious demonstration of faith, the reactions have been predictable. But in view of the buzz regarding Rick's plans after The Response, I think we need to look at this another way. Ags, …
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Positive Infinity 