Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Chelsea History/Cookie History

"While many a New Yorker has ambled through Chelsea Market and been aware that it was once HQ to the National Biscuit Company, later called Nabisco, few know just what that means in terms of the vaunted annals of cookie history. It was there, 100 years ago, on March 6, 1912, that the Oreo cookie was born."
(by Hailey Eber, NY Post, 2/26/12)

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Oscar voters overwhelmingly white, male

With the Oscars about to be handed out on Sunday, it's worth noting the overwhelmingly white, male & aging composition of the voting membership. The voters "are nearly 94% Caucasian and 77% male," with the median age of the members 62. Black voters constitute 2%, Latinos less than 2% and 14% voters under 50.

Oscar voters overwhelmingly white, male

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

On First Anniversary of Wisconsin Uprising, Gov. Walker Fights Recall Effort by Energized Movement

On First Anniversary of Wisconsin Uprising, Gov. Walker Fights Recall Effort by Energized Movement (from Democracy Now! this AM)

The Secret, Corporate-Funded Plan To Teach Children That Climate Change Is A Hoax

CONFIRMED: Anti-Science Blogger Admits Heartland Institute’s ‘Special Project’ To Distort Temperature Data: pThe second in a series of posts about the Heartland Institute’s inner workings, from internal documents acquired by ThinkProgress Green. Questions about the authenticity of the leaked Heartland Institute documents are fading, as projects described therein are confirmed. Heartland’s senior fellow James Taylor confirmed the existence of the climate-denier classroom curriculum project to ThinkProgress Green [...]/p

INTERNAL DOCUMENTS: The Secret, Corporate-Funded Plan To Teach Children That Climate Change Is A Hoax: pInternal documents acquired by ThinkProgress Green reveal that the Heartland Institute, a right-wing think tank funded by the Koch brothers, Microsoft, and other top corporations, is planning to develop a “global warming curriculum” for elementary schoolchildren that presents climate science as “a major scientific controversy.” This effort, at a cost of $100,000 a year, will [...]/p

Thursday, February 09, 2012

LGBTQ Rights Activists on Victories for Marriage Equality in California and Washington


This week has been a week of celebration for anyone who believes in equality & human rights. In both California & Washington state the right of lesbians & gay men to share in the basic rights that all human beings have to marry the people they love has taken a major stride. I have never been able to get my head around the religious right argument that one couple's getting married could have any adverse effect on our marriage. This is so bizarre. In fact, marriage will be strengthened as an institution if more people who are likely to stay together, unlike heterosexual serial marriages, get married. Here is a discussion of these developments from this morning's "Democracy Now".

LGBTQ Rights Activists on Victories for Marriage Equality in California and Washington

The New York Times misleading public on Iran - Opinion - Al Jazeera English

Do the words "Weapons of Mass Destruction" ring a bell. Well, the New York Times is leading the cheering section once again as it did in the lead up to the invasion of Iraq. According to most people who actually know anything (and are not in the thrall of the Israeli propaganda machine) Iran's nuclear ambitions are as accurate as Iraq's WMDs were.


The New York Times misleading public on Iran - Opinion - Al Jazeera English

Tuesday, February 07, 2012

California Prop 8 declared unconstitutional again



A federal appeals court Tuesday overturned California Proposition 8 on narrow grounds, ruling that Californians took away a right from a minority group without justification when they approved the 2008 ban on same-sex marriage.

"The people may not employ the initiative power to single out a disfavored group for unequal treatment and strip them, without a legitimate justification, of a right as important as the right to marry," the court said.

Now the question is, will the U.S. Supreme Court hear the appeal from this decision.

Monday, February 06, 2012

Evolution? Not for the GOP

According to the New York Society for Ethical Culture: "Today, out of seven Republican presidential candidates, only one - [now defunct] John Huntsman - supports evolution. The remaining are creationists (Rick Perry: "God is how we got here.") and intelligent design advocates (Mitt Romney: : "I believe God is intelligent, and I believe he designed the creation."

I can't help but wonder how many Republican presidential candidates believe the world is round.