Irregular Posterous

I was making myself a piece of toast today, when I felt something unusual, unexpected, and rather vegetable in my mouth.  It was a rather unappetizing sensation, but I thought perhaps it was an aberration, just one bad bite.  No, it happened over and over again until that toast was crammed down my throat.

I looked at the package and saw what had happened.  My wife had brought home a load of Food for Life Ezekiel 4:9 bread.  It's made out of sprouted grains, and to tell the truth, it tastes and feels like eating a compost pile. 

Someone had convinced my wife that it would be more healthy.  Actually, the only reason the bread is made the way it is has to do with a line from the Old Testament in which the Hebrew God is supposed to be prescribing a particular bread recipe that's holier than thou.

Yuck.  This sprouted grain bread is literally cramming religion down my throat.  Disgusting.

It's not worth it either.  Do a little research, and you'll find that sprouted grain bread is no more healthy than ordinary whole grain bread.  I quote the Los Angeles Times, which writes of sprouted grain breads like Ezekiel 4:9 "Most of the health advantages touted by its proponents are valid only when compared against white breads; whole-grain breads are comparable. After that, it's pretty much a matter of taste."

As for taste... disgusting.  I'd rather eat the Bible with maple syrup and butter.

What's wrong with the Patriot Act?  Goodness me, don't you know by now?

The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America guarantees that there will be no unreasonable search and seizure.  Part of that guarantee provides that if the government wants to search for or seize anything, it's got to specify a particular person and place as a target.  The Patriot Act's roving wiretap provision clearly doesn't fit that requirement.

The Patriot Act allows the government to seize huge caches of business records, without proving that the information is related to an alleged crime.  Those records allow the government to track Americans as they go about their private business.  Combined with the FISA Amendments Act, the Patriot Act sets up George Orwell's Big Brother - a surveillance system so vast that Americans can safely presume that at any time, at any place, the government is watching them or listening in on their conversations.

99.6 percent of the time, the worst Patriot Act power are not used against anyone who is even accused of being connected in any vague way to anyone suspected of any involvement in any supposed terrorist plot.  The Electronic Frontier Foundation has uncovered tens of thousands of illegal uses of the Patriot Act by the FBI.

Protest to Repeal the Patriot Act!  You know it's a rotten law.  Now, let's speak out!

March 12, 2011 in Washington D.C. on the west side of the U.S. Capitol Building gather in protest against the Patriot Act at Noon.  It's a true grassroots protest, no big organizational agendas, no side issues.  Just you - protesting against an unjust law.

Will you be there?  Will you spread the word?

Lynn Woolsey has seen a great deal as a member of Congress.  She has seen waste, and abuse, and tragic mistakes.  She has seen these as a result of the overlong war in Afghanistan.

This week, U.S. Representative Woolsey stood on the floor of the House of Representatives and spoke in hope of a better vision, a power that uses intelligence instead of brute force.  Woolsey said,

  "Our Nation is now in its 10th straight year of war. The military occupation of Afghanistan is longer than any war in our Nation's history. An entire generation of young people--including my three grandchildren who came with me to visit Washington for the swearing in--is growing up knowing nothing but a Nation at war.

   This war is not just a moral abomination with devastating human costs, and it is not just fiscally irresponsible and unsustainable with a price tag of about $370 billion, though it most certainly is all of that. Perhaps the most tragic irony of this war is, for all of the sacrifice, it is not even doing what it was supposed to do: keeping us safe and defeating a terrorist threat.

   If Iraq and Afghanistan have proven anything to us, Mr. Speaker, it is that we need an entirely new national security model; one that emphasizes brain over brawn; one that uses soft power instead of hard; one that protects America by relying on the most honorable American values--love of freedom, desire for peace, moral leadership, and compassion for the people of the world."

Stand with Woolsey.  They're saying the United States military occupation of Afghanistan will continue on without end.  Morally and financially, America can't afford that.  It's time for us to put the failed war in Afghanistan to an end.

Barack Obama declared it dead on arrival.  Democratic leadership in the House of Representatives refused to even consider it.  These initial concessions didn't prevent Republican attacks against health care reform, though.  Instead, they emboldened Republicans, who perceived a lack of Democratic backbone.

Now, U.S. Representative Dennis Kucinich has gone back to the drawing board, and is introducing health care reform legislation as it ought to have been: A single-payer system that takes insurance companies out of the equation completely.

Congressman Kucinich will soon reintroduce the Medicare For All Act.  He says, "We would not have a situation where 50 million Americans don’t have any health insurance.  Americans would not have to worry about losing everything they have worked a lifetime for because they have an illness in the family.  This debate is the wrong debate.  A for-profit model is the wrong model.  We should be talking about universal health care, single-payer not-for-profit health care, Medicare for All, quality health care for all Americans."

Two months ago, the mid-term elections of 2010 came to an end.  This week, the 112th Congress will be inaugurated.  That places us solidly within the time for the newest presidential campaigns... with some presidential candidates who aren't so new.  Mitt Romney will be coming back around, and Newt Gingrich, Sarah Palin... and Mike Huckabee.

Mike Huckabee's theocratic extremism proved to be his undoing in his 2008 campaign for the Republican presidential nomination.  Huckabee was unable to stand, even in that year's extremely weak Republican offerings.  Still, Huckabee is back again, and preaching his radical agenda for America all over again.

In response to Huckabee's presidential campaign, progressive activists are organizing a liberal dose of resistance... starting with bumper stickers.  Their stickers could be bought by anti-Huckabee Democrats, but may prove to be just as attractive to Republican voters who prefer another candidate for their party's nomination.

A bold bumper sticker design for activists against Mike Huckabee is now available for people in the following states:

Alabama Against Huckabee bumper sticker

Alaska Against Huckabee bumper sticker

Arizona Against Huckabee bumper sticker

Arkansas Against Huckabee bumper sticker

California Against Huckabee

Colorado Against Huckabee

Delaware Against Huckabee

Florida Against Huckabee

Georgia Against Huckabee 

Idaho Against Huckabee

Illinois Against Huckabee bumper sticker

Indiana Against Huckabee bumper sticker

Iowa Against Huckabee bumper sticker

Americans have settled down for a long winter holiday season, starting with the Winter Solstice holiday yesterday.  Their political radar has turned off for the cold, nappy times, and probably will stay dormant until at least Groundhog's Day.  Nonetheless, yesterday saw a major political story that ought to wake Americans up: The release of the 2010 Census results.

What's the big deal about the Census results?  Isn't it just a bunch of statistics about the U.S. population?

Actually, these population statistics will be the foundation of one of the biggest shakeups in Congress since, well, a similar shakeup took place 10 years ago.  The House of Representatives is populated with politicians according to state population.  So, when the relative size of state populations changes, the number of U.S. Representatives a state receives also changes.

Population actually decreased in only one state over the last 10 years: Michigan.  Michigan will lose one seat in Congress.  However, some states increased their populations at a greater rate than others.  Those states were led by Texas, which will be receiving 4 new seats, and Florida, which will be receiving 2 new seats.

New York State will be losing 2 seats, as will Ohio.  Many other states will be gaining or losing one seat.  To see which states those are, visit the list of Census changes in the House of Representatives at That's My Congress.

J. Clifford of Irregular Times recently wrote: "The truth is that Islam is both a religion of peace and a religion of violence, because Islam isn’t really a single thing...  Individual Muslims can do a great deal to shift the debate toward the side of peace, of course, though they will never win over everyone to their view. Muslims can make the claim of Islam as a religion of peace more credible by being open and vocal in their Muslim identity and in their support for peace."

Religion is generally given a pass when it comes to critical thinking, and every religion, Islam included, deserves to be harshly scrutinized when it makes fantastic claims based upon the idea of special supernatural knowledge.  However, there is also some care called for when it comes to the judgment of an entire group of people according to their religious identification.  There are many in America these days who say that Muslims are inherently violent, but the fact is that most Muslims are quite peaceful in nature.

Please, read and consider more about: Muslims for Peace from the Squidoo lens of that name.

Also, the following items help to promote the idea of Muslims for peace, and give followers of Islam the opportunity to show their support for peace in public:

- A Muslims for Peace shirt design, printed only on shirts made in the USA

- A Muslims for Peace magnet

- A Muslims for Peace bumper sticker

Ann Marie Buerkle made promises when she was on the campaign trail in 2010.

She said that she was going to decrease the size of the government and lower spending.

There's just one thing Ann Marie Buerkle didn't tell you.  She didn't admit that she was crossing her fingers behind her back.

Everything Buerkle said about spending and the size of government had a big asterisk next to it.  There's a reason for that.  Ann Marie Buerkle is itching for more expensive war.

"Our armed forces must be ready to act anywhere in the world," Buerkle says.

Anywhere in the world?!?  Our soldiers are already fighting two wars, and are stationed all over the globe!  How much more military spending does Ann Marie Buerkle want?  How much war is enough for her?

Our deficits are rising because of irresponsible world policing of the sort proposed by Ann Marie Buerkle.  Our grandchildren can't afford her extravagant borrow and spend policies.

It's time for us to come together to work to replace Ann Marie Buerkle with a more reasonable voice in Congress.

(download)

Click here to download:

amb2.mov (19.09 MB)