Kasich Opponents: Repeal Your Anti-Union Law — Then We’ll Talk

The Ohio labor and progressive-backed political group that is behind the referendum to repeal Gov. John Kasich’s new law, which would weaken collective bargaining rights for public unions, has a response to his offer on Wednesday for compromise: We’ll sit down and talk — after you repeal the bill in its entirety.

“We are asking you for a fresh start, and that fresh start must begin with a full repeal of Senate Bill 5,” the group declared in a letter released Thursday, with emphasis in the original.

“Awwww…  Daddy, why does that clown look so sad?”

“Because he’s watching his political future disappear, son.”

Prayer circle saved Sugarland from stage collapse.

Call it a twist of fate or luck.

Whatever it was, members of Sugarland can thank stage manager Hellen Rollens for saving their lives by making a spur-of-the-moment decision to hold a prayer circle just before the stage collapsed last Saturday at the Indiana State Fair.

Looks like God was listening. Here’s what happened.

Sugarland’s manager, Gail Gellman, credited Rollens with keeping the country pop duo from walking down the ramp at the last second, just as a 70 mph gust of wind from an approaching storm caused the stage to topple over onto the crowd, killing five fans and injuring dozens of others.

So, Rollens was listening closely enough to God to realize she should call a prayer circle right before a stage collapsed.  Too bad He didn’t inspire the five poor souls that perished to maybe spend their money on something besides a crappy country music concert at a state fair so they wouldn’t die.  God is either a huge Sugarland fan and was really pissed at those other five people, or, as the article suggests you could “Call it a twist of fate or luck”.   I vote for dumb fucking luck.

But this blog post is the part that – along with most responses to tragedy from religious people – I just can’t wrap my mind around:

“Our fans just came to see a show, and it ended in something terrible. My heart is totally broken for the families and friends of those who lost their lives. It’s broken for all the people who got hurt, for the people who were scared,” wrote Bush. “I thank God for every person who lifted a truss, who pushed against that metal to get it off someone; for every person who used a chair as a stretcher. I thank God for every fan and emergency responder, for everyone who ran to the trouble instead of away from it. The courage of those men and women will forever be with me.”

Believe me when I say, I appreciate the sentiment.  I realize that they only meant to console their fans and themselves with this post.  I really understand that.  The part I feel the need to point out though is an important one.  If you can mentally grasp the severity and tragedy of five people dying because of a freak accident at a concert, how can you at the same time thank God for the heroic response to the tragedy that He, in fact, not only “caused” but could have stopped from happening in the first place?  I get that people can hold two diametrically opposing views in one head, but come on, this is basic logic.  Easy critical thinking.  Thought processes like this make me “thank god” that I’ve left behind such simple and transparent means of grieving which a belief in God allows.  This sort of thinking actually takes away from the courageousness of some of the first responders there that night.  Thank God for those people?  How about we just thank the heroes themselves?  I’d much rather have heroic humans at my side than trust in any God that could let five people die while saving Sugarland.

Of course, if God saved Weezer or the Killers, I suppose I’d understand…

From MSNBC:

More than 11 million people in the Horn of Africa require food assistance due to the region’s worst drought in half a century, the United Nations says.

The UN says that famine exists in two regions of southern Somalia, southern Bakool and Lower Shabelle. Across the country, nearly half of the Somali population — 3.7 million people — are now in crisis, of whom an estimated 2.8 million people are in the south.

And this:

The drought and famine in Somalia have killed more than 29,000 children under the age of 5, according to U.S. estimates, the first time such a precise death toll has been released related to the Horn of Africa crisis.

The United Nation has said previously that tens of thousands of people have died in the drought, the worst in Somalia in 60 years. The U.N. says 640,000 Somali children are acutely malnourished, a statistic that suggests the death toll of small children will rise.

There are ways to help if we take a second to forget about our worries and see how insignificant some of our problems are compared to real hardships around the world.  These people don’t care what political party you belong to, or what god you pray to, they just need real, tangible relief, like food, water, and shelter.

Save the Children is a wonderful way to make a small difference. It’s as easy as texting…

Save the Children You can donate online or text SURVIVE to 20222 to donate $10 (Standard message rates apply). Legal disclosure: www.savethechildren.org/legaldisclosure

A few more ways to make a difference:

Doctors Without Borders
In Dadaab, Kenya, Doctors Without Borders says it is treating more than 2,400 children in its ambulatory therapeutic feeding program and 130 children in its inpatient therapeutic feeding center. An additional 5,047 children with moderate acute malnutrition are enrolled in a supplementary feeding program. There are now around 10,000 people in the organization’s feeding program in the Dadaab camp.
Donate here or by calling 1-888-392-0392.

UNICEF
UNICEF, the UN’s children’s organization, and its partners need more money to aid children in the Horn of Africa in the coming months. Immediate measures include child immunization campaigns and water and sanitation services to ward off disease.
Text FOOD to UNICEF (864233) to donate $10, enough to feed a child for 10 days or provide 321 sachets of nutrient powder to boost infant survival and development, the aid group says.

Links to lists of charities focusing on the famine in the Horn of Africa, among other crisis around the world:

MSNBC – http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43841708/ns/nightly_news/t/famine-horn-africa-how-help/#.TkH11YKsmIg

ABC News – http://abcnews.go.com/International/somalia-famine/story?id=14088327

From Rachel Maddow, Crooks and Liars, and Right Wing Watch, a few examples of these paragons of right wing virtue:

Rick Perry Partner John Benefiel Claims Homosexuality Is An Illuminati Conspiracy:

Earlier today we posted video of “Apostle” John Benefiel, an official endorser of Rick Perry’s The Response prayer rally, arguing that the Statue of Liberty is a “demonic idol” used for pagan worship. In the same sermon, Benefiel claims that homosexuality is a plot by the Illuminati to “control the population.” He says that the Illuminati intend to reduce the world population to just 500 million people and that, along with the recently passed health care reform law, the secretive group will use homosexuality as a “perverted way” to bring about “a death culture” and population control.

Benefiel also insists that homosexuality is a “stronghold” of the “demon god” Baal.

And:

Hagee: President Obama Is A Dictator:

In an interview on the Daystar show Celebration, John Hagee of the Cornerstone Church said that President Obama is a “dictator” for his actions in Libya. Hagee, a leader in the Religious Right who is involved in organizing Texas Governor Rick Perry’s The Response prayer rally, has previously claimed that Adolf Hitler was a “hunter” sent by God to hunt Jews. “You want to talk about how absolutely insane our government is right now, we are in Libya, the President is in violation of the War Powers Act, he can only stay there 90 days at his word, we’re beyond that,” Hagee said, “Congressmen are suing him trying to get him to stop. This is the actual work, if you will, of a dictator:”

There is no way this won’t work!  Especially with Rick Perry letting Jesus take the wheel…  Unless, of course, all prayer does is make the person praying feel better about messed up shit.  Then, maybe it’s more likely to work out more like Rick Perry’s attempt to stop the drought in Texas with a big prayer.

NYT – AUSTIN, Tex. — In April, as Texas reeled from wildfires and a drought, Gov. Rick Perry sought assistance from the federal government, but also from a higher power. He asked the state to pray for rain, issuing an official proclamation that “I, Rick Perry, Governor of Texas, under the authority vested in me by the Constitution and Statutes of the State of Texas, do hereby proclaim the three-day period from Friday, April 22, 2011, to Sunday, April 24, 2011, as Days of Prayer for Rain in the State of Texas.”

And how did that go, Ricky?

Uh oh…

And the moral of the story is, go ahead and pray if you’d like.  It makes many people feel better about their lot in life.  Just don’t expect an answer.  From the Friendly Atheist, a nice image that tells the truth of the matter, and is a nice response to “The Response”.  If you want to affect change in the government, praying won’t solve a thing:

And here’s a direct response from me:

Great first episode!  Stephen Hawking’s answer to the question, “Did God create the universe?”, is no.  A remarkable answer when you consider it was given on an American cable station during prime time.  The follow up conversation was ok, when Sean Carroll was speaking.  He live-blogged it, so you should check it out.  It would have been nice for him to have gotten more time for his answers on the actual program.  Davies was alright, but mostly accommodating in his answers.  Haught was nebulous and vague, especially when trying to explain why science can’t speak on “hope”.  Try to catch this episode when you can.  You won’t regret it!

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2011/08/07/live-blogging-curiosity-hawking-and-god/

Pretty simple.  That’s what’s wrong with America.  It all comes down to this word.

FEAR.

Republicans fear taxes. Democrats fear Republicans. Christians fear Muslims. Sarah Palin fears facts.

FEAR!

That guy fears government.  She fears her 401k returns. He fears educated women. That woman fears having to make a choice.

FEAR!!!

Boogiemen. Satan. World Government. Conservative. Liberal. Alien Abduction. Terrorists. Keeping a job. Death. Actually Living. Progress. Regress. Birth Certificates. Sarah Palin.

STOP!

It’s time to stop being afraid.  If we, as a country, have any chance of digging ourselves out of this quagmire that is now our reality, it’s time to stop being afraid.  Forgive me for using a quote everyone loves, yet seem to constantly ignore: “We have nothing to fear but fear itself”.  I know, I know.  Everyone pulls this quote out in the hopes of making a point.  But, the thing is, it’s just plain truth.  We’ve become a nation of bystanders.  Watching as we dig ourselves deeper and deeper into economic malaise that will eventually destroy us.  We question our government to such an extent that we have no idea who we’re really voting for as long as it’s different.  “This guy hasn’t saved us, so lets kick his ass out!” People need to understand what the issues are.  You can’t just vote for the “NEW” guy.  That’s part of the reason we’re in this mess to begin with.  “I’d like to have beer with that guy, I guess I’ll vote for him.” or “My situation hasn’t changed in the last 2 years, so I’m going to vote for that other woman.”  We, as a nation, have stopped thinking.  Stopped considering facts.  Stopped looking at things objectively.  Too many of just keep looking for the next “best” thing.

It’s time to shut the fuck up and think!  Look at history.  Look to facts.  Look to things that work, and have worked in the past.

The last time America faced something as bad as the “Great Recession” was in the 1930s. We called it the Great Depression.  How did we get out of it?  Our government.  No matter how you look at it.  If you’re on the side, as I am, that FDR and the New Deal was the major impetus that turned things around, or you’re of the camp that says it was our involvement and manufacturing efforts in WW2 that turned the tide, it was government incentives that dug us out of the worst economic times in the history of our country.

So why is it that people now don’t think the government should, nor can, have any impact on our collective recovery?  Government is what allows our country to exist, because we have the power to vote.  It’s fucking insanity to think government is the problem.  Fuck Reagan.  Government is never the problem, it’s the people you elect to govern who are the problem.  Stop fearing government and start affecting government!

Stop blaming government.  Blame yourselves.  Stop voting against your self interests.  Look in the mirror.  Stop fearing what “the other guy” is going to do.  Do something yourself.  Stop electing people that are controlled by Wall Street.  Look out for the middle class.  Stop letting what people say are facts determine what you know are facts.  Look at things objectively.  Vote.  Protest.  Talk to all your friends.  Blog when you’re 4 gin & tonics in.

“We have nothing to fear but fear itself.”

There are solutions.  We need to make them happen.  We need to stop fearing the deficit and start investing in things that will make our country better.  Infrastructure. Education. Technology.  These are the things that have made this country the best that it has ever been.  We’ve lost that somewhere along the way.  We need to find these things again.

We need the will to find these things again!

Ridding ourselves of fear is the first step.