The Age Of Miracles

"The past comes upon you like smoke on the air, you can smell it and find yourself gone
to a place that you lived without worry or care. Isn't that where we all once came from?

Green leaves and tall trees and stars overhead and the sound of the world through the screen
But now you sleep with the covers pulled over your head and you never remember to dream

You think you're just standing still, one day you'll get up that hill
In the age of miracles, is one on the way?

Greenland is melting, the west is on fire but don't ever stop praying for rain.
It's a curious place between hope and desire - different gods but the prayer is the same.

And a thousand-year storms seem to form on a breeze, drowning all living things in their paths
And when a small southern town finds a rope in a tree, we're all once again trapped in the past.

It seems we're just standing still, one day we'll get up that hill.
In the age of miracles, is one on the way?

We can fly through space with the greatest of ease, we can land in the dust of the moon.
We can transform our lives with the tap of the keys, still we can't shake this feeling of doom.

But I woke to find monks pouring into the streets marching thousands strong into the rain.
Now, if courage comes dressed in red robes and bare feet, then I'll never be fearful again.

If I'm just standing still, one day I'll get up that hill
In the age of miracles, there's one on the way, there's one on the way, there's one on the way..."

- MCC

Mother Nature Sends A Strong Message To Republicans

This excerpt from HuffPost:

"Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano declared the slick "a spill of national significance," meaning the government is designating more forces to contain its spread toward the U.S. coastline. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said President Obama has directed more people and equipment to the area to "aggressively confront" the spill.

An executive for BP PLC, which operated the oil rig that exploded and sank last week, said earlier in the day on NBC's "Today" that the company would welcome help from the U.S. military.

"We'll take help from anyone," said Doug Suttles, chief operating officer for BP Exploration and Production.

The Coast Guard has urged the company to formally request more resources from the Defense Department. Obama has dispatched Napolitano, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lisa Jackson to help with the spill.

But time may be running out: Oil from the spill had crept to within 12 miles of the coast, and it could reach shore as soon as Friday. A third leak was discovered, which government officials said is spewing five times as much oil into the water as originally estimated -- about 5,000 barrels a day coming from the blown-out well 40 miles offshore."

So, "Drill, Baby, Drill" huh? One could say that a "higher power" has obviously intervened. Speaking of - where are all of the lunatic televangelists and religious zealots who should be touting how this is God's retribution for man raping the Earth?

Silence.

America, The Chubby

Thanks to Andrew Sullivan's, "The Atlantic" for this startling story:

Alex Tabarrok posts the above picture of "Chauncy Morlan (1869-1906) who, because of his 'freakish' weight, people once paid good money to see as he toured Europe and America with the Barnum & Bailey circus" and asks:

What would the circus goers of 1890 have thought if they were told that in the America of 2010 Chauncy Morlan would be unremarkable?

Sarah Palin Sells Out For A Cool $12 Million

From ABCNews' The Blotter:

Pundits can debate the political costs and benefits of Sarah Palin's decision to step down as Alaska governor, but the monetary advantages of leaving her $125,000-a-year public service post are beyond dispute.


Former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin addresses attendees at the National Tea Party Convention in Nashville, in this Feb. 6, 2010 file photo.

Since leaving office at the end of July 2009, the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee has brought in at least 100 times her old salary – a haul now estimated at more than $12 million -- through television and book deals and a heavy schedule of speaking appearances worth five and six figures.

That conservative estimate is based on publicly available records and news accounts. The actual number is probably much higher, but is hard to quantify because Palin does not publicize her earnings. She reputedly got a $7 million deal for her first book, with the bulk of that money due after her resignation as governor, and will earn about $250,000 per episode, according to the web site The Daily Beast, for each of eight episodes of a reality show about Alaska for the The Learning Channel. She has managed to keep a lid on reliable figures for her earnings from a multi-year contract with Fox News and a second book deal with HarperCollins.

A Palin aide responding to questions from ABC News said the governor "is now a private citizen. As a result, her fees and earnings are private."

While book and television royalties are huge earners, Palin, 46, has taken on a breakneck schedule of public speaking engagements, booked through the Washington Speakers Bureau. Her typical fee is $100,000, according to a January report in Politico, though she accepts a somewhat smaller fee for events on the West Coast because they are easier to get to from Alaska. Speakers Bureau officials did not respond to emailed questions.

Palin appears to select audiences that are likely to provide a warm welcome. In February, Palin coupled a paid speech to the Daytona Chamber of Commerce with an appearance at NASCAR's Daytona 500 and a local book signing, and was welcomed with cheers of "We love you, Sarah!" In the past nine months, she has stopped in to address the Bowling Proprietors Association of America, the Complete Woman Expo, the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America, and the Sierra-Cascade Logging Conference, among others.

The Piece Of Sh*t That Is Mike Huckabee

This from Think Progress, and other sites:

Huckabee Compares Gays To Drug Users, Says They’re Unfit To Adopt Kids Because ‘Children Are Not Puppies’
Former Arkansas governor and current Fox News personality Mike Huckabee gave an interview with the College of New Jersey’s magazine The Perspective in which he made clear that he is just as intent on depriving gay men and women of equal status as ever. For instance, he said that gay couples shouldn’t be able to get married because it would be like accommodating drug habits of addicts:

Even civil unions are “not necessary,” Huckabee said. “I think there’s been a real level of being disingenuous on the part of the gay and lesbian community with their goal of civil unions,” he alleged, referring to LGBT activists who first claimed that their goal in several states was to enact civil unions, but subsequently launched efforts to implement full marriage rights.

Huckabee went on to draw parallels between homosexuality and other lifestyles that are considered by some to be morally aberrant. “You don’t go ahead and accommodate every behavioral pattern that is against the ideal,” he said of same-sex marriage. “That would be like saying, well, there are a lot of people who like to use drugs, so let’s go ahead and accommodate those who want who use drugs. There are some people who believe in incest, so we should accommodate them. There are people who believe in polygamy, so we should accommodate them.”

Huckabee also insisted that same-sex couples shouldn’t be allowed to adopt or become foster parents because they’re somehow unfit to take care of children:

“I think this is not about trying to create statements for people who want to change the basic fundamental definitions of family,” Huckabee said. “And always we should act in the best interest of the children, not in the seeming interest of the adults.”

“Children are not puppies,” he continued. “This is not a time to see if we can experiment and find out, how does this work?”

Alvin McEwen writes at Pam’s House Blend, “While Huckabee doesn’t come out and say it, the nasty implication is clear — lgbt families are inferior because lgbts are incapable of giving love and support to children. Furthermore, lgbts don’t really want the children. They just want to further their ‘agenda.’”

Huckabee has proudly stated in the past that he is not “pro-gay,” which he has equated with being “pro-sodomy.” He has tried to downplay violence against gay men and women, compared homosexuality to necrophilia, and said that “civilization” may not survive if “what marriage and family means” is “rewritten” to allow gay marriage.

Right On! - Michael Jensen

AfterElton blogger, Michael Jensen had some appropriate words for CNN's lack of credible journalism. He get's today's "Right On!" award: "It's 2010 and CNN expects me to seriously sit here and expect that this issue is really still up for debate? It certainly is in some quarters, but those are quarters that at this point respectable journalists should stay out of. I guess this means we can look forward to other CNN segments including 'The Holocaust — did it really happen?' with anti-Semites invited to discuss the topic, as well as 'Race in America: Should African Americans go back to Africa?' with Ku Klux Klan leaders brought on as 'experts.' And just to be well-rounded, how about 'Is the earth really flat?'

"When I contacted CNN, I honestly assumed they'd at least issue an apology for the offensive wording of Phillips' question and admit Cohen was a poor example for an 'expert' to discuss this issue. Instead, they defend their actions as if they are actually behaving responsibly by doing this story and doing it this way. Oh, and CNN? Don't bother 'exploring other views and positions.' You've now got zero credibility on the subject anyway, so why bother?"

Massey Energy CEO Has Blood On His Hands

Since the SCOTUS has now allowed corporations to have the same rights as individuals, it seems that Massey Energy's CEO Don Blankenship needs to be held accountable for the 25 (so far) deaths that have taken place in the West Virginia coal mine. Blankenship released a statement immediately following the disaster : "Our top priority is the safety of our miners and the well-being of their families." Bullshit.

The New York Times is reporting that in 2009, the mine registered 458 safety violations. The Los angeles Times reports that federal officials have repeatedly cited Massey for safety violations. Clearly, Blankenship doesn't give a shit about his employees.

Not only is this a real argument for banning coal, but it brings up a more timely - possibly political argument; if corporations now have the right's as individuals regarding funding campaigns, doesn't that also come with the responsibility of being held accountable when you murder your employees?

Every share holder at Massey Energy needs to be held accountable for the dangerous conditions they placed each of their miners.

What's it called when you kill people?

Tea Party Movement As Popular As Socialism

This interesting chart/graph from guest bloggers over at Think Progress:

The numbers don’t lie.

Check out this link to see the charts: http://thinkprogress.org/2010/04/05/socialism-vs-tea-parties/

The percentage of Americans viewing “The Tea Party movement” favorably: 37 percent. The percentage of Americans with a positive image of “socialism”: 36 percent. (Both sources, Gallup).

Although the question wording is not exactly the same, the point is obvious. You can find roughly 4 in 10 Americans who will give a positive rating to just about anything in politics that they know little about.