MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'conservative'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:00:54 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5077944&cid=t_106235_133_f&fid=35452&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.graphictruth.com%2F2011%2F07%2Fobama-on-debt-ceiling-negotiations-tax.html Ah, the irony. The sweet, sweet, unintended irony!I've said this a bunch of times out loud and in print, but had despaired of ever seeing anyone important and well-connected saying something like this out loud. This is one of the great shared secrets of power. Not all taxation is called taxation.Remarks by the President on the Status of Debt Ceiling Negotiations | The White House: "Keep in mind, if we don’t do that, if we don’t come to an agreement, we could lose our country’s AAA credit rating, not because we didn’t have the capacity to pay our bills -- we do -- but because we didn’t have a AAA political system to match our AAA credit rating.And make no mistake -– for those who say they oppose tax increases on anyone, a lower credit rating would result potentially in a tax inc... Graphictruth blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5077944 Fri, 29 Jul 2011 18:59:00 +0100 5077944 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5077945&cid=t_106235_133_f&fid=35452&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.graphictruth.com%2F2011%2F07%2Fjohn-mccain-wakes-up-in-bizarro-world.html I remember back to the dawning of the current Cycle of Unease, the days immediately after the 9/11 attacks.I'd been ignoring politics almost entirely; politics, current affairs, world news and for the reasons most people do.It's boring. Politics are supposed to be boring. Like soccer, golf or Dungeons and Dragons, while it matters a great deal to those who enjoy the sport and great benefits are claimed of it, the rest of us are mostly glad that it keeps those who are interested in such things locked away in oppressively smoke-free rooms, chewing nicorette and trying to look dignified while peeing on one another's shoes.It is not particularly surprising that those who participate in this needful task try to make it seem more significant than it is when in the ideal, it is a mind-numbing rou... Graphictruth blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5077945 Fri, 29 Jul 2011 17:46:00 +0100 5077945 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4841428&cid=t_106235_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FkaQMRIKleIg%2F By David BoazThe Washington Post just did a major poll of Virginians and tantalizingly included this note in writing up the results: In contrast to four years ago, about as many Virginians consider themselves to be liberal on social matters as call themselves conservative. Fiscal conservatism is on the rise, but on these social issues, it’s liberalism that’s ticked higher. But those questions were not included in the published data. Thanks to the generosity of Post polling director Jon Cohen, I can report that the percentage of Virginians who said they were socially liberal or moderate and fiscally conservative went from 16 in 2007 to 23 in the latest poll. This reflects a small increase in the number of social liberals and a larger increase in the number of fiscal conservatives. And h... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4841428 Thu, 19 May 2011 19:43:49 +0100 4841428 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4813248&cid=t_106235_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FjvfxlWlE_Rw%2F By Gene HealyOver at the American Conservative, I have a review of Eric Posner and Adrian Vermuele’s new book Executive Unbound: After the Madisonian Republic. Funny enough, the working title for my book on presidential power was “Executive Unbound,” but P&V have a very different take on the dangers of concentrating power in the executive (they coin the term “tyrannophobia,” for irrational fear of executive abuse). From the review’s intro: The New York Times book editors assigned their review to the Straussian political philosopher Harvey Mansfield, the self-styled expert on “manliness” who’s as rabid a supporter of the imperial presidency as you’re likely to find. In the late Bush era, Mansfield wrote a 3,000-word Wall Street Journal op-ed, ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4813248 Wed, 11 May 2011 16:30:24 +0100 4813248 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4610795&cid=t_106235_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F8PneG7ZOVVw%2F By Daniel J. MitchellThere's an interesting debate in the blogosphere about whether President George W. Bush was a conservative. Here's a good summary of the discussion, along with lots of links. (I especially like this analysis since it cites my work.) I've already explained that Bush was a statist rather than a conservative, and you can find additional commentary from me here, here, here, and here. Simply stated, any president who doubles the burden of federal spending in just eight years is disqualified from being a conservative — unless the term is stripped of any meaning and conservatives no longer care about limited government and constitutional constraints on Washington. But if you don't want to read the blog posts I linked above, this chart should make clear that Bush was a big ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4610795 Fri, 18 Mar 2011 18:55:13 +0100 4610795 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4605988&cid=t_106235_133_f&fid=35452&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.graphictruth.com%2F2011%2F03%2Fmocking-stupid-on-floor-of-house.html I can only hope that something as entertaining as this comes from the dreaded-but-necessary upcoming Canadian elections.Because when you are dealing with people who are in denial of climate change, don't see dereguation of the oil and gas industries as a problem, think that the solution to every crisis is to drain the purses of the poor while reducing the obligation of the rich further, when a substantial proportion of the opposition party is either a "Birther" or dares not call birtherism nonsense, when a majority of them does not believe in evolotion, or science, and when they think that this particular issue - defending- NPR based on an entirely bogus "investigation," well, mockery and ridicule is the only proper response.By all means, let's dispense with collegial respect. Respect is d... Graphictruth blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4605988 Thu, 17 Mar 2011 20:27:00 +0100 4605988 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4525136&cid=t_106235_133_f&fid=35452&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.graphictruth.com%2F2011%2F02%2Fwisconsen-cops-call-for-fresh-deck-and.html <p><p><p><br><br><br>but</p></p></p>I wonder if Walker truly comprehends what sort of situation he could be in. The entire public service infrastructure wants to see him dangling from a light-pole, but will no doubt se... Graphictruth blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4525136 Sat, 26 Feb 2011 21:54:00 +0100 4525136 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4517156&cid=t_106235_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F4s9Nn8lvb68%2F By Jason KuznickiThe Obama Administration's decision to stop defending DOMA in the courts has provoked some widespread commentary. Jim Burroway hints that Obama's strategy here is both deep and cynical. Obama's locked in a losing fight with Republicans over the budget, because Americans really do want to cut federal spending. This remains true even if, notoriously, nearly the only specific program they want to cut is our negligible foreign aid. The mood is anti-spending, and it's just possible that a government shutdown scares Obama even more than it scares the Republicans. The remedy? Change the subject. Make Republicans in Congress defend their stance on gay marriage, which is so not the discussion they'd like to be having. It could be one of the first instances in which gay marriage cou... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4517156 Thu, 24 Feb 2011 17:43:20 +0100 4517156 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4450278&cid=t_106235_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F4LMFaCq0MuI%2F By Jim HarperReports the Los Angeles Times: A House GOP push to permanently extend expiring provisions of the Patriot Act is running into opposition from conservative and "tea party"-inspired lawmakers wary of the law's reach into private affairs. Congress has made a practice of kicking the Patriot Act can down the road, but it could be that the new crop of legislators isn't inclined to go along. Julian Sanchez has blogged here about the complexities of this government surveillance law. His podcast on the topic, released yesterday, is titled "The Patriot Act Sneaks to Renewal." Maybe it can't sneak through after all... Patriot Act Extension Runs Into Conservative Opposition is a post from Cato @ Liberty - Cato Institute Blog (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4450278 Tue, 08 Feb 2011 15:26:59 +0100 4450278 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4327011&cid=t_106235_133_f&fid=35452&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.graphictruth.com%2F2011%2F01%2Fif-this-is-not-terrorism-word-has-lost.html Let's just come out and say it:The "War On Terror is not." Because if it actually were, social conservatives, talibancials and right-wing freakout artists who gin up this sort of violence would be IN Gitmo, worksopping the question as to whether or not waterboarding is, in fact, torture.So, "Terrorism" is in fact anything that threatens the continued dominance of the talibancial, theocratic right wing and their desire to run everyinting for the benefit of the war and oil lobby.By the way, I have nothing against waging war or drilling for oil. I just want responsible and competant people doing both. And of course, the War On Terror means that if you queation the competaince, intelligence or motives of either group.. welcome to the No Fly List, you International Terrorist Conspiritor, you. (... Graphictruth blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4327011 Sat, 08 Jan 2011 23:42:00 +0100 4327011 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4313987&cid=t_106235_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FLOu1IAoxepY%2F By Walter OlsonWhile others wish the new Congress well today on its swearing-in, I plan to light a 100-watt incandescent bulb and hoist a caffeinated alcoholic beverage in honor of a different milestone: starting today, the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee will no longer be under the control of Henry Waxman (D-Calif.). Some lawmakers can talk a decent game about lean ‘n’ smart regulation, but no one ever accused Waxman of having a light touch. (The 900-page Waxman-Markey environmental bill, mercifully killed by the Senate, included provisions letting Washington rewrite local building codes.) He’s known for aggressive micromanagement even of agencies run by putative allies: his staff has repeatedly twisted the ears of Obamanaut appointees to complain that their... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4313987 Wed, 05 Jan 2011 19:30:34 +0100 4313987 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4309637&cid=t_106235_99_f&fid=35344&url=http%3A%2F%2Fzackarysholemberger.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F01%2Fwhat-does-halachah-say-about-how-to.html Someone skeptical about halachah might ask, "Does Jewish law have anything useful to say about a public policy debate as complicated and multifactorial as health care?" Unfortunately, after reading the chapter devoted to health care in Rabbi Jill Jacobs' There Shall Be No Needy, I have to say no.I wanted Jacobs' book to provide halachic metaphors to help me understand better what it means to support health care reform - and, ideally, to help me judge the relative ethical benefits and risks of various alternatives, even in a general way. I don't need halachah to tell me about the necessity of health care, the critical role of the health care provider, or the community's role in providing such care: these are relatively uncontroversial, things that even opponents of health care reform suppor... Zackary Sholem Berger blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4309637 Tue, 04 Jan 2011 15:24:00 +0100 4309637 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4142956&cid=t_106235_136_f&fid=37852&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdonnatrussell.com%2F2010%2F11%2F08%2Fdemocrats-regroup-rebrand-reboot%2F New cartoon by Trussell & Trussell on Politics Daily. Democrats: Regroup, Rebrand, Reboot. (And the lion will lay down with the rack of lamb…) Filed under: Politics Daily Tagged: blue dog, conservative, democrat, humor, political cartoon (Source: Donna Trussell) Donna Trussell blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4142956 Mon, 08 Nov 2010 05:04:26 +0100 4142956 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4124987&cid=t_106235_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FAUD9aIqCVv4%2F By David BoazLibertarians are getting strange new respect. Or at least the major media are mentioning libertarians and libertarian ideas more often. Just a few items I noticed this weekend: New York Times political reporter Matt Bai profiles David Kirkham, founder of the Utah Tea Party, one of the first Tea Party groups to draw political blood when it knocked off Sen. Robert Bennett in the Utah Republican caucuses. Kirkham, he says, is a classic car enthusiast and a father of four. He was largely apolitical until he saw how socialism worked in Poland and then was shocked by the bailouts and overspending here at home. And, Bai says, now he’s a “self-described libertarian.” The Los Angeles Times reports from Flushing Township, Michigan, on how four “budget hawks,&#822... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4124987 Mon, 01 Nov 2010 23:19:06 +0100 4124987 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3795003&cid=t_106235_133_f&fid=35452&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.graphictruth.com%2F2010%2F07%2Fsara-palins-house-as-seen-from-taiwan.html "Ah wad some power the giftie gie us To see ourselves as others see us." — Robert (the stupid, it) Burns (Source: Graphictruth) Graphictruth blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3795003 Tue, 27 Jul 2010 20:24:00 +0100 3795003 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3795004&cid=t_106235_133_f&fid=35452&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.graphictruth.com%2F2010%2F07%2Fcourtship-of-eddies-ideology.html Given the way politics have been drifting in the direction of NeoConservatismand NeoFeudalism, I think Edmund Burke himself would consider crossing the aisle.I get excited when I stumble across something that appeals to my own confirmation bias.... I mean, my nuanced, principled and well-founded view of our social, economic and political landscapes. Nice Guy Eddie brings the heat...Since I don't let an ideology do my thinking for me, I don't really care what positions fall under which label. I really, just DON'T CARE. I'm not trying to Liberal here, I'm just trying to be RIGHT. (As in "correct," not "wing.") And the way I see our modern discourse going, there are really only two groups:One is very strictly and narrowly defined, and I've written about them here here&nbsp... Graphictruth blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3795004 Tue, 27 Jul 2010 20:15:00 +0100 3795004 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3780509&cid=t_106235_133_f&fid=35452&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.graphictruth.com%2F2010%2F07%2Fit-reminds-me-of-mulroony.html The CBC reports:Industry Minister Tony Clement has dismissed growing calls for him to reverse his decision to scrap the mandatory long-form census, saying he and Prime Minister Stephen Harper are on the same page on the issue."There's not a micron of difference of opinion between myself and the prime minister on this," Clement told the CBC's Rosemary Barton in an interview on Power & Politics with Evan Solomon.During the interview from London, Clement said the government has taken a "compromise position" between privacy concerns and ensuring usable data from the next census in May 2011. Clement's comments came a day after Munir Sheikh, the head of Statistics Canada, the national statistical agency, resigned in protest over the move to scrap the mandatory survey.Meanwhile on T... Graphictruth blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3780509 Fri, 23 Jul 2010 04:33:00 +0100 3780509 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3780340&cid=t_106235_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fdi24ujeeNXI%2F By Neal McCluskeyOn NRO today, the Fordham Institute’s Chester Finn and Michael Petrilli take a little time to gloat about the continuing spread of national education standards. In addition, as is their wont, they furnish hollow pronouncements about the Common Core being good as far as standards go, and ”a big, modernized country on a competitive planet” needing national standards. Oh, and apparently having counted the opponents of national standards on “the right,” they note that there are just “a half-dozen libertarians who don’t much care for government to start with.” Now, there are more than six conservatives and libertarians who have fought national standards. But Finn and Petrilli are sadly correct that most conservatives haven&... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3780340 Thu, 22 Jul 2010 21:19:09 +0100 3780340 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3737202&cid=t_106235_133_f&fid=35452&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.graphictruth.com%2F2010%2F07%2Fyour-unfriendly-neighbourhood.html This should give you an insight into why the protection of free speech is so broad and sweeping in the US and Canada. If speech like this were illegal, you wouldn't know what sort of ideas people like this supported - and you might not realize that such people were being courted and pandered to by less indiscreet conservatives. Hell, you might just think such people who say they are Christians and Conservatives actually knew what those words mean. (Source: Graphictruth) Graphictruth blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3737202 Thu, 08 Jul 2010 20:59:00 +0100 3737202 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3599363&cid=t_106235_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FXLX84oX8KM8%2F By Neal McCluskeyOver at Matt Yglesias’ blog, Ali Frick wants to know why she hasn’t detected any “conservative outrage” over the great Texas textbook tangle. Strangely, though, she only critiques Cato by name. That’s odd because (a) Cato is a libertarian organization, not conservative, and (b) there are many other libertarian — as well as truly conservative — think tanks out there. Unfortunately, those things are just the beginning of the post’s odd twists. Before I get into the weirdness, though, let me cop to the charge of relative silence. I’ve been meaning to hit the Texas situation harder, but have been dealing with a much greater education threat to the country — truly national curriculum standards — as well as ot... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3599363 Tue, 25 May 2010 16:18:00 +0100 3599363 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3595553&cid=t_106235_87_f&fid=36050&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblisstree.com%2Flive%2Fpublic-policy-do-accused-rapists-deserve-privacy-protection%2F photo: Thinkstock We all know the sites you can visit to find out how many sex offenders live or work near you. It’s seen as a measure of public safety to keep the community informed of their whereabouts. It also may be another form of punishment for the offender; a reminder that they’ve lost all privacy. In England and Wales, there’s a movement to keep the identities of rapists anonymous. The Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition thinks the fact that the victim is unnamed, but the accused is identified, creates a double standard. Great Britain tried not naming accused sex offenders once before for 12 years, but the policy was eventually repealed because it was impeding police investigations; authorities wanted other victims who had been attacked by the accused to come ... Breastfeeding 1-2-3 blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3595553 Mon, 24 May 2010 22:35:21 +0100 3595553 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3533918&cid=t_106235_109_f&fid=34786&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdrmichelletempest.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F05%2Fcampaigning-last-few-days.html The Conservative campaign here in North West Durham has been going from strength to strength. Today the team (Margaret pictured here) were out campaigning in the centre of Crook - with David Cameron (our blue bear). The children adored him.It has been such a great honour to meet the hundreds and hundreds of people on the doorstep. If I had a pound for every time I heard 'You're the first ever candidate who has ever called', Gordon Brown's debt would be greatly reduced. The Conservatives are not taking the voters for granted in the North East and I am very much looking forward to Election night. The choice is yours - Vote for change - Vote Conservative. (Source: The Psychiatrist Blog) The Psychiatrist Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3533918 Tue, 04 May 2010 20:09:00 +0100 3533918 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3524320&cid=t_106235_109_f&fid=34786&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdrmichelletempest.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F05%2Fsupporting-local-business.html Today the Conservative team were out in Shotley Bridge campaigning all day. Thank you all so much for your hard work - I know we all walked miles. This is a photograph of a wonderful local business, Savilles, that I would highly recommend. As usual it was the lovely people of North West Durham that really made our day. (Source: The Psychiatrist Blog) The Psychiatrist Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3524320 Sat, 01 May 2010 21:32:00 +0100 3524320 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3515333&cid=t_106235_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F3vBUYab2bfI%2F By Roger PilonSpeaking to reporters last evening on Air Force One, in the context of his upcoming Supreme Court nomination, President Obama warned of “conservative judicial activism.” “In the ’60s and ’70s, the feeling was, is [sic] that liberals were guilty of that kind of approach,” he said. “What you’re now seeing, I think, is a conservative jurisprudence that oftentimes makes the same error.” That error? “Not showing appropriate deference to the decision of lawmakers,” the AP reports. Really. And which “activist” decisions from the ’60s and ’70s does this former constitutional law instructor have in mind? Griswold v. Connecticut (1965), where the Court found unconstitutional a state statute criminalizing the sale and use of cont... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3515333 Thu, 29 Apr 2010 13:59:38 +0100 3515333 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3490747&cid=t_106235_125_f&fid=34820&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dentalblogs.com%2Farchives%2Fadministrator%2Fno-more-dental-drill-with-icon-caries-infiltrant%2F Minimally invasive is in. That makes DMG America one cool cat. Instead of treating a decaying tooth with remineralization or a filling, dentists can now rebuild a decaying tooth with Icon caries infiltrant by DMG America. No drill. No filling. No problem. Icon is a microscopic, invasive material that literally fills and reinforces tooth enamel. The product can be used for smooth surfaces and proximal caries that extends to the first third of dentin, D1. In just 15 minutes, you can restore the integrity of a tooth with progressing caries. Simply prepare the area with a rubber dam, then treat the tooth with a gel containing 15% HCL. The pores will open in the affected area, and you will then rinse, apply ethanol to dry, and then air dry the tooth. Apply Icon to the lesion and light cure. A s... dental blog for dentists about dentistry blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3490747 Wed, 21 Apr 2010 14:05:41 +0100 3490747 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3460151&cid=t_106235_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fp-ta1-uWmjQ%2F This article by Veronique de Rugy is probably a good place to begin since it compares all Presidents and shows that Bush was a big spender compared to Reagan…and to Clinton. Chris Edwards has similar data, capturing all eight years of Bush’s tenure. But the most damning evidence comes from the OMB’s Historical Tables, which show that Reagan reduced both entitlements and domestic discretionary spending as a share of GDP during his two terms.  Bush (and I hope nobody is surprised) increased the burden of spending in both of these categories.That’s the spending side of the ledger. Let’s now turn to tax policy, where Thiessen writes: Bush enacted the largest tax cuts in history — and unlike my personal hero, Ronald Reagan, he never signed a major tax increa... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3460151 Mon, 12 Apr 2010 12:39:32 +0100 3460151 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3408578&cid=t_106235_133_f&fid=35452&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.graphictruth.com%2F2010%2F03%2Fconservatives-disgusted-with.html Passed on to me, and since TPM is being freaking crushed by the traffic... I'm copying in toto. (so you have somewhere else to point people too. Hey, I'm on blogspot... I don't pay bandwidth... )Let me just add that I wish, I wish, I'd been able to put this together. Now, when the traffic abates a bit, I want you to to the highlighted link and thumb it, stumble  it, tweet it, send it to all your flyover state inbred cousins and generally make a big fat hairy fuss. Because, as Josh says... You MUST check out Russell King's "Open Letter to Conservatives" posted on his Talking Points Memo Blog. As MeMeMeMeMe said, it is "the most effective smackdown of rightwing lunacy in the history of the internets."I concur.An open letter to conservativesMarch 2... Graphictruth blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3408578 Fri, 26 Mar 2010 03:17:00 +0100 3408578 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3298301&cid=t_106235_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FWyI3OXjBna0%2F By Gene HealyIn recent weeks, conservatives have worked themselves into a self-righteous lather over how the Obama administration handled the would-be Christmas bomber.  It’s a complaint you could hear again and again at last weekend’s Conservative Political Action Conference: Mirandizing the 23-year-old Nigerian Muslim was a big mistake, the story goes, because it denied us valuable intelligence, and it’s just so typical of Barack Obama’s callow, weak, law-enforcement-oriented approach to the terrorist threat. As a constitutional matter, I’ve never been entirely comfortable with the Miranda decision, which smacks of judicial lawmaking, and I don’t think liberty stands or falls on whether one failed terrorist got read his rights.  In fact, I think Mirandizing Abdulmu... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3298301 Mon, 22 Feb 2010 20:39:03 +0100 3298301 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3298302&cid=t_106235_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F7XrmFzHmMgM%2F By David BoazSome lively debate this week on our papers on the libertarian vote and on the broader questions of how many libertarians there are, whether they’re a voting bloc, and whether they might be targets for both parties. Ed Kilgore, managing editor of The Democratic Strategist, wrote in the New Republic that any possible alliance between liberals and libertarians is shown to have gone by the wayside in Cato’s new paper, “The Libertarian Vote in the Age of Obama,” even though, he says, “ modern liberals and libertarians share common ideological roots in eighteenth and nineteenth century Anglo-American liberalism, … these groups have a sociocultural affinity,” and “New Democrats” are more sympathetic to libertarian arguments on te... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3298302 Mon, 22 Feb 2010 19:26:02 +0100 3298302 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3279957&cid=t_106235_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FHmy8tPqML5U%2F By Chris Moody Is there a place for gay people in conservative politics? We’ll be discussing it today at Cato. Watch here live at 12 PM EST. President Obama announces $8 billion in loan guarantees to build a new nuclear power plant in Georgia. But are government subsidies for pet energy projects a good idea? Are there loopholes in Obama’s ban on torture? What happens when the Olympics don’t go completely according to plan. Podcast: “Lessig, Schumer and Citizens United” featuring John Samples. (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3279957 Wed, 17 Feb 2010 15:49:29 +0100 3279957 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3223241&cid=t_106235_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FJQRt0ZNHKf4%2F By David BoazA study by the Tarrance Group for the Republican organization GOPAC provides further evidence on the existence of voters who don’t fall into the “conservative” or “liberal” box.  Tarrance asked people who voted in the 2008 election not just to label themselves conservative or liberal, but to describe their views on both fiscal and social issues. The questions were: When thinking about fiscal issues, like taxes and government spending, do you consider yourself to be: Very conservative, Somewhat conservative, Somewhat liberal, or Very liberal? When thinking about social issues, like abortion and gay marriage, do you consider yourself to be: Very conservative, Somewhat conservative, Somewhat liberal, or Very liberal? Tarrance leaves out the &#8... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3223241 Fri, 29 Jan 2010 17:44:34 +0100 3223241 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3208340&cid=t_106235_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FCxYYVBCYszo%2F By David BoazTerry Michael, former press secretary for the Democratic National Committee, has some advice for Democrats wondering what to do with a Democratic party that can’t win Massachusetts — Jeffersonian liberalism: We have met the new center, and it is us, the sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll baby boomers and our younger Gen X siblings and children. Because of our advanced age, we are the “most likely voters” that pollsters and their political clients focus on. That is precisely the opposite of what happened in the first year of the Obama administration. The new center tilts liberal on social issues, like gay rights and abortion. It zigs left on national security, having seen two really bad elective wars in our lifetimes: Vietnam and Iraq. But it zags right on econom... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3208340 Mon, 25 Jan 2010 21:45:01 +0100 3208340 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3153397&cid=t_106235_99_f&fid=35344&url=http%3A%2F%2Fzackarysholemberger.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F01%2Ffuture-reasons-for-interrogation-by.html 1. Tzitzit while ovarian.2. Female etrogging.3. Giving tzedakah while under the influence of X chromosomes.4. Studying Torah . . . while female!5. The tallit was too cute.6. Singing. Singing is just bad. All singers should be arrested a priori.7. Mitzvot are disruptive in general to the status quo. All the more so when done by women.8. Arrest them all! Let Ovadiah Yosef sort them out. (Source: Zackary Sholem Berger) Zackary Sholem Berger blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3153397 Thu, 07 Jan 2010 21:15:00 +0100 3153397 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3146157&cid=t_106235_133_f&fid=35452&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.graphictruth.com%2F2010%2F01%2Fthats-mighty-white-of-you-dale.html H/t to Skippy for this one:The Washington Independent brings us this moment of revelatory hilarity, in which it is revealed that "All it takes to start a new meeting is resentment and a pot of tea."Dale Robertson, a Tea Party activist who operates TeaParty.org, is getting stung for an old photo — taken at the Feb. 27, 2009 Tea Party in Houston — in which he holds a sign reading “Congress = Slaveowner, Taxpayer = Niggar.”After the ResistNet listerv promoted “Liberty Concerts” to be held by TeaParty.org, a source passed on this photo of Robertson, after the jump.Update: Josh Parker of the Houston Tea Party Society tells me that Robertson was booted out of the event for this sign.So, if I'm parsing this correctly; rather than accepting that the movement is not helped by the growin... Graphictruth blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3146157 Wed, 06 Jan 2010 00:03:00 +0100 3146157 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3039844&cid=t_106235_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2009%2F11%2F29%2Fwhen-all-else-fails-brain-surgery%2F Like many others, I’ve never been a big fan of surgery as a solution for mental disorders like obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) or depression. A medical procedure done on a bodily organ whose functioning we’re only beginning to grasp — the brain — seems a little premature. It hits too close to the thinking behind frontal lobotomies and the justifications doctors used for them back in the 1950s and 1960s, “By cutting and removing the front part of the brain, we help quiet the unrest in these troubled minds.” As we later found out, we also quieted the entire person to the point of many of those people become drooling vegetables. That was considered “progress” by many well-educated professionals for many, many years during this time. Amazing.... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3039844 Sun, 29 Nov 2009 22:22:31 +0100 3039844 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3026697&cid=t_106235_99_f&fid=35344&url=http%3A%2F%2Fzackarysholemberger.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F11%2Fnofrat-frenkel-in-and-out-of-spotlight.html I appreciate the piece by Nofrat Frenkel in the Forward, but it is hard to square with what was said in her name on a Conservative e-mail list I subscribe to:Sat, Nov 21, 2009 at 10:47 AM[Shefa] Women of the Wall (WoW)On Shabbat I spoke with Nofrat Frenkel and she asked to clarify: 1) She was not arrested. She was detained for questioning. 2) She did nothing that is not regularly done at WoW service. She has no idea what caused the police to suddenly intervene. 3) She would like the issue to drop out of the spotlight, so the police close the case without a trial and her (future) license to practice medicine is not jeopardized. A good week to all,I suppose it wouldn't be the first time that someone in the spotlight, for reasons not of her own choosing, is unsure whether she wants to be th... Zackary Sholem Berger blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3026697 Wed, 25 Nov 2009 03:47:00 +0100 3026697 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2970381&cid=t_106235_135_f&fid=35247&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmyjourneywithaids.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F11%2F07%2Funelected-mike-duffys-shameful-disrespect-for-ndps-elected-mp-peter-stoffer%2F London-area Liberal MP Glen Pearson rightly calls out Mike Duffy in his blog for Duff’s disrespectful and mean-spirited views on NDP Member of Parliament Peter Stoffer. I say shame on you Duff you flabby, blabby embarrassing symbol of everything that is wrong with the Senate. (Glen Pearson uses parliamentary tact. I choose not to do [...] (Source: My journey with AIDS) My journey with AIDS blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2970381 Sat, 07 Nov 2009 10:31:31 +0100 2970381 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2939270&cid=t_106235_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F83vP-Zx2o-g%2F George Will’s latest column takes a look a drug policy and the views of the new drug czar, Gil Kerlikowski.  Notably, Will mentions Portugal’s experience with decriminalization of all drugs since 2001 and says Kerlikowski is aware of the Portuguese policy as well.  Cato published a report on Portugal’s drug policy in April and the author, Glenn Greenwald, discussed his findings at a Cato policy forum here.  George Will’s shifting views on drug policy (toward liberalization) reflect the shifting views of other conservative pundits and the public more generally. Will appeared on ABC on Sunday, and discussed his views on drug policy. Watch: For more Cato work on drug policy, go here, here, and here. (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2939270 Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:44:03 +0100 2939270 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2934657&cid=t_106235_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FTwfUIfDaPW0%2F In today’s Washington Post, William Kristol exults: The Gallup poll released Monday shows the public’s conservatism at a high-water mark. Some 40 percent of Americans call themselves conservative, compared with 36 percent who self-describe as moderates and 20 percent as liberals. Gallup often asks people how they describe themselves. But sometimes they classify people according to the values they express. And when they do that, they find a healthy percentage of libertarians, as well as an unfortunate number of big-government “populists.” For more than a dozen years now, the Gallup Poll has been using two questions to categorize respondents by ideology: Some people think the government is trying to do too many things that should be left to individuals and businesses... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2934657 Tue, 27 Oct 2009 20:02:30 +0100 2934657 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2930998&cid=t_106235_99_f&fid=35344&url=http%3A%2F%2Fzackarysholemberger.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F10%2Fwhat-does-conservative-commentary-on.html 1. An introduction placing the SA in context within the general halachic philosophy of the C movement, answering (or at least approaching) such questions as these: is the SA normative? some of the time, maybe? or all of the time? (It can't be normative all of the time, because no law code is normative all of the time. Customs, other halachot, and the march of history supplant numerous rulings in the SA.) If it's not normative, what is it?2. A general answer to the question, "what do we do when the halachah is immoral" (e.g., when we are told that cheating non-Jews in financial dealings is okay so long as they don't know about it; or when it is assumed that women are not intellectually fit to learn Torah or participate in community life)3, I am a cultural nationalist, so I think any such co... Zackary Sholem Berger blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2930998 Tue, 27 Oct 2009 02:01:00 +0100 2930998 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2927321&cid=t_106235_99_f&fid=35344&url=http%3A%2F%2Fzackarysholemberger.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F10%2Fwhere-is-conservative-shulchan-aruch.html I was talking with a friend about all manner of things (mostly his research, which I do like to hear about). We got onto the topic of the Chofets Chayim, and I mentioned that whenever I learn the Shulchan Aruch, it's as if the Chofets Chayim is commenting on another work entirely, so different his world view seems from that of the Mechaber and the Rema.So I thought: where is the Conservative commentary on the Shulchan Aruch? Shouldn't there be a maestro halachist somewhere in JTS (or UJ, or Schechter) that can bestride the centuries, bringing Caro's mystical magid into our studies?Failing that, maybe the lay public can try, in the spirit of open source Judaism. An act of massive chutzpah? Sure. But what of worth was constructed without it? (Source: Zackary Sholem Berger) Zackary Sholem Berger blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2927321 Sun, 25 Oct 2009 17:38:00 +0100 2927321 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2858743&cid=t_106235_133_f&fid=35452&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.graphictruth.com%2F2009%2F10%2Fjunior-senator-from-trick-or-treat.html John Ensign is apparently only capable of speaking the truth when he thinks he's lying for effect. John Ensign Scandal: Senate Republicans Decline To Defend Colleague: "'I have a little alert to tell Washington,' Ensign said during the televised hearings. 'The people don't trust us. They don't trust us to make these decisions.'"It is the usual tranparent appeal to the prejudices of the wingnut social conservative fringe, who can be depended upon to take the assertion as gospel. On the other hand, it's a pretty moronic idea for a Senator be flinging around - because there is no more important thing than having a government that you CAN trust to "make those decisions." That is, after all, the job.The man often referred to as "the Hairdo" by his critic is not the sort of man that it is wise t... Graphictruth blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2858743 Sun, 04 Oct 2009 03:14:00 +0100 2858743 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2851790&cid=t_106235_99_f&fid=35344&url=http%3A%2F%2Fzackarysholemberger.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F10%2Fgalgal-ha-machzor.html The Rabbinical Assembly continues to be liturgenic. Before Yom Kippur I got a look at a PDF (uncorrected, not for distribution, highly radioactive, not proofread, and under the strictness of Conservative cherems. Also available here) of the new RA High Holiday machzor, scheduled for publication in May, 2010. Readers of this blog (hi, Dad) might know that I have bitched and moaned in the past about the Conservative machzor, vintage 1978, with its worst translation in the world and assorted theological missteps (confessing our sins against the victims of the Holocaust!). Features of the new machzor, or at least what I saw of it, that I like:Retaining (or reviving) the double-acrostic al-chet.Revising and in many cases improving the English translations.Including piyyutim (liturgical poetry) ... Zackary Sholem Berger blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2851790 Thu, 01 Oct 2009 17:09:00 +0100 2851790 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2846569&cid=t_106235_133_f&fid=35452&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.graphictruth.com%2F2009%2F09%2Fbloomburg-dodging-rogue-elephant-shit.html The Rogue Sarah Palin T-Shirt by webcarveBrowse other Politics T-Shirts I don't know if you've noticed this, but within the ungentle confines of political reality within The "Untied" States, the only way to run for office as a well known conservative is to run away from the GOP.New York City's generally well regarded and quite conservative mayor has "shaken the dust from his feet," in a way that can't have made him any friends within the GOP. But then, his political calculation is pretty much summed up as "And your point would be?" (NBCNewyork.com) Mayor Michael Bloomberg doesn't know who the GOP candidates for citywide election are, but he says they've got no chance at winning – an interesting comment from the guy who, ahem, is running for ma... Graphictruth blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2846569 Tue, 29 Sep 2009 19:30:00 +0100 2846569 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2839124&cid=t_106235_133_f&fid=35452&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.graphictruth.com%2F2009%2F09%2Fon-value-of-minding-ones-own-business.html quotes by meiteniite25Buy shirts at zazzle.comThere's a fundamental principle of fiscal and, yes, even social conservatism, which may be stated as follows:"Don't sweat the small stuff."If you would like it in more Biblical terms - and I do, for it proves just how obvious and old the precept is, it can also be summed up as "straining at gnats and swallowing camels."That is to say - for explaining the obvious is my lot in life - a fixation on a trivial detail can distract you from large and critical matters. Most of life amounts to doing the best you can with what you have for the largest net effect. This applies to everything, from heating your home to keeping a community running to the essential goal of keeping people as healthy as possible - because plague is a bad thing, and almost alway... Graphictruth blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2839124 Mon, 28 Sep 2009 16:34:00 +0100 2839124 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2809869&cid=t_106235_136_f&fid=37852&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdonnatrussell.com%2F2009%2F09%2F18%2Fchaos-theory-rush-limbaughs-bus-to-nowhere%2F New cartoon by Trussell & Trussell on AOL’s Politics Daily: Rush Limbaugh’s Bus to Nowhere. Posted in Media, Politcal Cartoons Tagged: bus, conservative, rush limbaugh, segregated, segregation (Source: Donna Trussell) Donna Trussell blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2809869 Fri, 18 Sep 2009 20:14:40 +0100 2809869 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2782256&cid=t_106235_133_f&fid=35452&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.graphictruth.com%2F2009%2F09%2Fmaddow-henke-cronkites-heir-highlights.html I had pretty much given up on finding a sane conservative perspective for my blogroll. Hell, I'd pretty much given up on the idea of calling myself what I am, an ethical anti-authoritarian, centrist pragmatist who's policy stance is always in favor of enhancing the practical freedoms and opportunities of the individual or that is to say, an actual Libertarian.I have strong principles, but to paraphrase Issac Asimov, I try never to let my morality get in the way of doing the right thing. Indeed, I've considerably revised my moral views over the years based on the frequency of collisions between Morality and Reality.One of the greatest problems of the Right (at this point in history) is a smugly moralistic worldview that tends to sharply restrict their ability to even notice, much less recog... Graphictruth blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2782256 Wed, 09 Sep 2009 16:27:00 +0100 2782256 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2774890&cid=t_106235_136_f&fid=37852&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdonnatrussell.com%2F2009%2F09%2F08%2Fchaos-theory-the-tao-of-recession%2F New cartoon by Trussell & Trussell on AOL’s Politics Daily: The Tao of Recession. Posted in Politcal Cartoons, Politics Tagged: conservative, democrat, economy, liberal, recession, republican (Source: Donna Trussell) Donna Trussell blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2774890 Tue, 08 Sep 2009 16:46:37 +0100 2774890 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2441163&cid=t_106235_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FAjEqW0zgX5g%2F In a hagiographic profile of Obama budget director Peter Orszag, Ryan Lizza of the New Yorker writes of the “pressure” he might get from congressional deficit hawks: The respective heads of the House and Senate Budget Committees, John Spratt, Jr., of South Carolina, and Kent Conrad, of North Dakota, have spent years trying to control the deficit… Kent Conrad, the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, has made eradicating the federal budget deficit his life’s work. Now, you’d think that if the ranking Democrats on the congressional budget committees had made deficit reduction their life’s work, the budget wouldn’t have, you know, skyrocketed over the past decade and more. So let’s go to the tape. The National Taxpayers Union has given Spratt a... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2441163 Fri, 29 May 2009 18:48:39 +0100 2441163 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2441184&cid=t_106235_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FMZ79FXn6S2M%2F Daniel Hannan, the British Member of the European Parliament who gained fame with his devastating critique of Gordan Brown, has been equally trenchant in criticizing the excesses of the European Union.  On his blog he explains the latest self-serving intricacies of voting in the upcoming election for the European Parliament: How many MEPs will be elected a week on Thursday? Wait! Come back! I’m going somewhere with this! I realise the issue might not sound intrinsically sexy but, believe me, it demonstrates everything that’s wrong with the Brussels system. Bear with me and you will see how flagrant is the EU’s contempt for the ballot box — and for its own rule book. Had the European Constitution Lisbon Treaty been ratified, there would have been 754 MEPs in the nex... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2441184 Wed, 27 May 2009 12:42:53 +0100 2441184 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2424023&cid=t_106235_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FkjO1mEMf8kg%2F Brink Lindsey’s post, triggered by Jerry Taylor’s controversial critique of conservative talk radio at National Review online,  is part of a much-needed debate about the changes needed to create more fertile soil for limited-government — a task that is especially difficult given the GOP’s decade-long embrace of statist economic policy. But in the spirit of friendly disagreement, the problem is not Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. Talk radio, after all, existed when Republicans were riding high and promoting small government in the 1990s. The real problem is that today’s GOP politicians are unwilling to even pretend that they believe in limited government. In such an environment, it is hardly a surprise that anti-tax and anti-spending voters decide that talk sh... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2424023 Tue, 19 May 2009 21:03:51 +0100 2424023 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2424032&cid=t_106235_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FZgHHVpxPg_s%2F If you’re unclear what’s wrong with conservatism these days, I urge you to check out the tragicomic dustup accidentally provoked last week by my colleague Jerry Taylor at National Review Online’s “The Corner” blog. I don’t want to give a blow-by-blow recount of the fracas, but happily a convenient compendium of the relevant links is provided here. Go read the whole thing; you’ll be entertained, that’s for sure. For present purposes, suffice it to say that Jerry made two basic points: (1) talk radio hosts Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity are not popular outside the conservative movement; and (2) the two have a habit of making “dodgy” arguments even when their positions are sound. He might have added that the sky is blue and A comes b... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2424032 Tue, 19 May 2009 15:28:22 +0100 2424032 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2380730&cid=t_106235_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FGK5O_PL6LtI%2F I offer some evidence in today’s Chicago Tribune: Last week, Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter was one of the most liberal Republicans in the Senate. Today, he’s the most conservative Democrat…. But party-switchers often change their votes as well as their labels. The day after Republicans won control of the Senate in 1994, Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama switched to the Republican Party. He had been a relatively conservative Democrat and had high-profile conflicts with President Bill Clinton, so the switch wasn’t a great surprise. But observers might be surprised to look back at what happened to Shelby’s voting record. According to the American Conservative Union, for eight years Shelby’s conservative voting percentage had ranged between 43 and 76. Even in 199... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2380730 Thu, 30 Apr 2009 12:55:40 +0100 2380730 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2258103&cid=t_106235_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F03%2F12%2Ftushnet-on-teles-and-the-situation-of-ideas-abstract%2F Mark Tushnet’s excellent review of Steven Teles’s book, “The Rise of the Conservative Legal Movement” (forthcoming 87 Texas Law Review, 2008) is now available on SSRN.  Here’s the abstract. * * * Steven Teles’s book, The Rise of the Conservative Legal Movement, is a case study of ideological challenge. Teles, a political scientist, emphasizes the institutional dimensions of such challenges. Relying on interviews and internal documents produced by conservative organizations, he examines the development of conservative litigating groups (i.e., conservative public interest law firms), the growth of the Federalist Society, and the embedding of law and economics within the legal academy. There have been similar studies of liberal public interest law firms an... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2258103 Thu, 12 Mar 2009 04:01:13 +0100 2258103 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2156575&cid=t_106235_99_f&fid=35344&url=http%3A%2F%2Fzackarysholemberger.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F02%2Fbless-sun.html This seems a wonderful & fertile example of aggadic creativity, but I wonder how I am supposed to react to the bracha when (a) I don't think it makes sense to speak of the sun returning to the same place in the heavens, given that the heavens have changed considerably since creation; and (b) we can't date creation to any particular date, and certainly not the zero-date postulated by Chazal. So do I:1. Quash doubts nusach ha-ortodoksyah?2. View it as a pretty metaphor albeit astronomically impossible?3. Give up astronomy, especially belief in a universe billions of years old?4. Or maybe just omit shem ve-malchut? (Source: Zackary Sholem Berger) Zackary Sholem Berger blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2156575 Tue, 03 Feb 2009 21:47:00 +0100 2156575 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1879825&cid=t_106235_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2008%2F10%2F15%2Fclergy-often-dismiss-a-mental-health-concern%2F As we reported earlier today, nearly a third of Christian people in a study who went to their clergy for assistance with a personal or family member’s mental illness were told they (or their family member) didn’t really have a mental health problem. Instead, it was suggested to them that it was just a spiritual crisis. (The mental illness was already diagnosed by a mental health professional, so there was little question about the validity of the diagnosis.) The study found this occurred more often with women, and in conservative churches. A disturbing data-point. Clergy should not be making any type of judgment or diagnosis regarding the people in their church and I’m not at all clear as to why a clergy member or church leader would do so. Perhaps the problem lies i... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1879825 Thu, 16 Oct 2008 02:01:05 +0100 1879825 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1834608&cid=t_106235_109_f&fid=35044&url=http%3A%2F%2Fadultaddstrengths.com%2F2008%2F09%2F27%2Fis-the-whey-based-protein-powderbardrink-you-eat-made-with-chinese-contaminated-milk-protein-aka-melamine%2F Do you know if it is? Do you know if it’s not? Most protein powders, protein bars and protein drinks are made with whey protein, which is made from milk. Is your government checking and letting you know if the whey protein products that you’re eating or drinking safe to consume? Especially since the whole Chinese baby milk scandal was because the biggest dairy companies in China where watering down there milk to make more money and using melamine to hide that since adding melamine increases the protein content in such poisoned milk products so the milk doesn’t look like it’s watered down. Melamine is a metabolite of cyromazine, a pesticide… Ingestion of melamine may lead to reproductive damage, or bladder or kidney stones, which can lead to bladder cancer In A... Adult ADD Strengths blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1834608 Sun, 28 Sep 2008 03:36:26 +0100 1834608 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1640393&cid=t_106235_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2008%2F07%2F20%2Fchannel-n-june-2008%2F Below is a ten-minute BloggingHeads clip from a one-hour interview of social psychologist Jonathan Haidt. To watch the entire video, click here. For a sample of related Situationist posts, see “The Motivated Situation of Morality,” “Jonathan Haidt on the Situation of Moral Reasoning,” and “Moral Psychology Primer.” (Source: The Situationist) The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1640393 Mon, 21 Jul 2008 02:07:43 +0100 1640393 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1478069&cid=t_106235_99_f&fid=35344&url=http%3A%2F%2Fzackarysholemberger.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F05%2Fgrass-roots-beef.html Not surprising: the organizational impetus and scholarship behind the growing concern with Rubashkin's - this comes from the Conservative movement's rabbis. But the grass-roots activism comes from the Orthodox (albeit the most liberal). (Source: Zackary Sholem Berger) Zackary Sholem Berger blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1478069 Fri, 30 May 2008 02:18:00 +0100 1478069 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1443300&cid=t_106235_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2008%2F05%2F14%2Fthe-situation-of-talk-radio%2F This study does not include Public Radio, which by statute is required to provide differing points of view. . . .) KSAC shared another characteristic with other liberal radio stations: It had a tiny, 1,000-watt transmitter. Tough for a little station that barely reached Sacramento’s suburbs to compete with 50,000 watt giant KFBK, whose signal stretches from Chico to Modesto, from Reno to that little town of San Francisco. Despite KFBK reaching millions more potential listeners, KSAC mustered an audience nearly 20 percent that of KFBK’s. (Its ratings were double local conservative station KTKZ, which has a 5,000-watt transmitter.) And Arbitron showed the progressive station’s audience was steadily growing. KSAC was the little station that could. Until it couldn’t. It... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1443300 Wed, 14 May 2008 17:28:37 +0100 1443300 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1380585&cid=t_106235_99_f&fid=35344&url=http%3A%2F%2Fzackarysholemberger.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F04%2Ftoo-bad.html I'm sorry Abbott Katz (great name! - is it for real?) has a problem with "ultra-Orthodox". (I prefer "benighted Yiddish-speakers," myself. Or "Cholentists.")I have a problem with "Orthodox." Not with the term itself but its use. Whenever someone is observant, or considers themselves bound by halachah, the term "Orthodox" is always put into play in the article describing them. This seems to happen most often in the Times.I do accept the term when my work friends or colleagues use it to describe me, because they're not looking for a lecture on twentieth-century Jewish religious or intellectual history. But I'd rather be called Conservative, or frum-egal, or sho(y)mer mitsvo(s/t), or (halachically) observant/pious/devout/hyper-religious, or (failing all else) "that guy with the yarmulke/kippa... Zackary Sholem Berger blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1380585 Fri, 18 Apr 2008 02:46:00 +0100 1380585 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1306017&cid=t_106235_117_f&fid=34612&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedoctorweighsin.com%2Fjournal%2F2008%2F3%2F16%2Floving-our-children.html Brian KlepperAmong its many less-noticed accomplishments, this Administration has strangled funding for comprehensive sex education. Instead, it has thrown the immense weight of the US government behind abstinence-based education, an impractical ideological approach rooted in religious zealotry and a romantic notion of social mores that no longer exists for most young Americans. In 2005 and 2006, the Bush Administration spent $170 and $178 million, respectively, more than double the 2004 expenditure, much of it allocated to mostly conservative Christian organizations, to encourage children to refrain from sex without explaining the fundamentals of contraception and sexually-transmitted disease (STD). In 2004, a Minority Staff Special Investigations report prepared at the request of Rep. He... The Doctor Weighs In blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1306017 Sun, 16 Mar 2008 00:00:00 +0100 1306017 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1064254&cid=t_106235_135_f&fid=35247&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmyjourneywithaids.wordpress.com%2F2007%2F12%2F01%2Fworld-aids-day-remember-and-then-act%2F World AIDS Day has, for me, often been a day of reflection on the lives lost in my circle of friends - and there have been many.  A visit to Toronto’s AIDS Memorial reinforces that fact. However, it is the fact that there are fewer friends dying nowadays - fewer names being added to the Memorial [...] (Source: My journey with AIDS) My journey with AIDS blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1064254 Sat, 01 Dec 2007 20:02:37 +0100 1064254 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1027150&cid=t_106235_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F184862821%2F Autism is being overdiagnosed, says conservative thinker Thomas Sowell in Crusades Versus Caution, Part II, in which he suggests that the recent call for universal autism screening of children aged 18 to 24 months will lead to unnecessary alarm among the parents of young children. Sowell, a fellow of the Hoover Institute, writes that parents are being advised to get an autism diagnosis only for a child who is a “late talker” or displays some of the diagnostic criteria for autism, and only in order to access services. “Many parents have told me that they have been urged to let their children be labeled autistic, or on the autistic spectrum, in order to get money for speech therapy or other conditions from grants that are available to deal with autism,” Sowell notes. ... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1027150 Wed, 14 Nov 2007 21:00:01 +0100 1027150 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=980591&cid=t_106235_99_f&fid=35344&url=http%3A%2F%2Fzackarysholemberger.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F10%2Fmaking-minyan-women-in-tefillin-famous.html Making a Minyan: Women in TefillinFamous picture - second thoughts.As I looked at the picture over and over again, I felt used. I didn't see myself in it, nor my mother, nor the other women I knew. Instead I saw the photographer's projection of what women in tefillin must be like: angry.[. . .] We looked, to me, like a caricature of angry, scowling feminists. I called it the "Scary Amazon Women in Tefillin picture." [. . .]For me, davening in tallit and tefillin has never been about women demanding the right to engage in rituals that had been limited to men. To me, the tallit and tefillin are how Jews should pray, and I had never, until I saw myself in that picture, seen them as an act of feminist defiance. [. . .]But over time, something unforeseen began to happen. I started to get angry.... Zackary Sholem Berger blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=980591 Fri, 26 Oct 2007 03:43:00 +0100 980591 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=976330&cid=t_106235_117_f&fid=34612&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedoctorweighsin.com%2Fjournal%2F2007%2F10%2F24%2Ffire-burns-away-the-fog-of-ideology-can-humane-health-care-r.html TDWI welcomes our long time solid pal, the erudite Michael Millenson, for whom the sun doesn't shine if there's no wisecrack in the wings. Now leading a consulting firm specializing in health care quality projects, Michael is a former Chicago Trib reporter with 3 Pulitzer nominations to his credit. Michael's 1997 groundbreaking book Demanding Medical Excellence was one of the first to call attention to the problems addressed by the Quality and Safety movements. Enjoy. Michael Millenson As wildfires sweep Southern California, I have been surprised that homeowners in some of the most affluent and staunchly Republican enclaves in the state have not protested the widespread deployment of government workers bearing fire hoses and driving ambulances. The pain of watching one’s life po... The Doctor Weighs In blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=976330 Wed, 24 Oct 2007 21:31:00 +0100 976330 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=965185&cid=t_106235_117_f&fid=34612&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedoctorweighsin.com%2Fjournal%2F2007%2F10%2F20%2Fin-praise-of-the-knockout-mouse.html By Dov Michaeli MD, Ph.DTis the season of the Nobel, and we, ordinary mortals, should rejoice. Global warming was acknowledged as real yet again, sneering antediluvian conservatives notwithstanding. The prize for Chemistry was given for discovery of reactions occurring of the surface of solids—which enabled the invention of none other than the iPOD, among others. The prize for Economics was give for something that I really don’t understand, despite my earnest efforts. And the prize for Physiology and Medicine was given for something that sounds straight out of the boxing ring: the knockout mouse. But this is something too important to dismiss with a shrug and rolled eyes. This technology is already giving us something far more important than the iPOD—it’s a huge ste... The Doctor Weighs In blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=965185 Sat, 20 Oct 2007 05:48:41 +0100 965185 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=938808&cid=t_106235_99_f&fid=35344&url=http%3A%2F%2Fzackarysholemberger.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F10%2Fsukkah-poster-with-conservative-gedolim.html Sukkah poster with Conservative gedolimIs there one? Can somebody make one? (Source: Zackary Sholem Berger) Zackary Sholem Berger blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=938808 Wed, 10 Oct 2007 00:47:00 +0100 938808 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=923688&cid=t_106235_117_f&fid=34612&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedoctorweighsin.com%2Fjournal%2F2007%2F10%2F3%2Fis-the-new-age-of-enlightenment-finally-dawning.html By Dov Michaeli MD, Ph.DHere are three headlines from today’s paper:Front page: “GOP Losing Grip On Core Business Vote”. For obvious reasons.Opinion page: “Immigration Losers” by Richard Nadler, President of Americas Majority Foundation, a Midwest public policy think tank (and I might add, a Republican organization in the mold of the Taft dynasty): “ …Republicans need to repudiate… the immoral, uneconomical goal of mass deportation”.Opinion page: “The Future of Bioenergy”, by Juan Enriquez, managing director of Excel Medical Ventures, cofounder of Synthetic Genomics, and founding director of Harvard Business School Life science Project.The first article Chronicles the takeover of the Republican party by the social conserva... The Doctor Weighs In blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=923688 Wed, 03 Oct 2007 06:30:11 +0100 923688 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=923777&cid=t_106235_99_f&fid=35344&url=http%3A%2F%2Fzackarysholemberger.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F10%2Flonelinessholiness-resting-on-eighth.html Loneliness/HolinessResting on the eighth day.I like our Diaspora's Shemini Atzeret, this shy orphan yontev. Rarely is it jovially nicknamed ("what are you doing for the Shmi?"). Its songs are stolen from contiguous holidays. Some people make a point on that day of sitting in the sukkah - because it's still Sukkot. Some make a point of not sitting in the sukkah - lest it get mixed up with Sukkot, because it's a holiday of its own. The uncertainty is charmingly Atzeretsian.Come out from your cave, Shmi! We love you.* * *Even more interesting than the ongoing saga of How Dead Is Conservative Judaism (I guess it's hard to find a less interesting topic) is the tale of Arnie Eisen. This professor of sociology is now the de facto spiritual leader of the Conservative movement, meant to be the mira... Zackary Sholem Berger blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=923777 Wed, 03 Oct 2007 03:25:00 +0100 923777 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=699347&cid=t_106235_135_f&fid=35247&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmyjourneywithaids.wordpress.com%2F2007%2F06%2F27%2Fcanadas-first-nations-will-mark-day-of-action-in-a-variety-of-ways%2F As members and friends of Canada’s original peoples, aboriginal peoples, prepare for Friday’s Day of Action - be it peaceful protests or inconvenient blockades - we might all remind ourselves just how bad things are here for so many, and why they might be more than a little bit fed up! CTV - First Nations communities [...] (Source: My journey with AIDS) My journey with AIDS blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=699347 Wed, 27 Jun 2007 13:49:41 +0100 699347 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=698163&cid=t_106235_135_f&fid=35247&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmyjourneywithaids.wordpress.com%2F2007%2F06%2F26%2Fcanadas-first-nations-will-mark-day-of-action-in-a-variety-of-ways%2F As members and friends of Canada’s original peoples, aboriginal peoples, prepare for Friday’s Day of Action - be it peaceful protests or inconvenient blockades - we might all remind ourselves just how bad things are here for so many, and why they might be more than a little bit fed up! CTV - First Nations communities [...] (Source: My journey with AIDS) My journey with AIDS blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=698163 Tue, 26 Jun 2007 19:49:41 +0100 698163 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=676597&cid=t_106235_99_f&fid=35344&url=http%3A%2F%2Fzackarysholemberger.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F06%2Fjustice-justice-shalt-thou-eat-blog.html Justice, justice, shalt thou eatA blog about the "social justice hechsher." (Hat tip to S.B. of Louisville.) (Source: Zackary Sholem Berger) Zackary Sholem Berger blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=676597 Thu, 14 Jun 2007 01:22:00 +0100 676597 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=644729&cid=t_106235_117_f&fid=34612&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedoctorweighsin.com%2Fjournal%2F2007%2F5%2F29%2Fthose-liberal-californians-are-at-it-again-%25e2%2580%2593-even-the-conser.html A survey, reported on the Kaiser Family Foundation list serve, finds that eighty-nine percent of California parents, regardless of political or religious persuasion, support comprehensive sex education programs in school. That means teaching kids about all of the choices related to sexual activity ranging from contraception to abstinence. How about that?…let’s arm our children with good solid information and then guide them to make the best choices for themselves.Even self-identifying evangelical Christians said they supported comprehensive sex education. The lowest support came from the “very conservative” subset of the population and even then 71% supported comprehensive programs.The study’s lead author, Norman Constantine of the Public Healt... The Doctor Weighs In blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=644729 Tue, 29 May 2007 15:09:12 +0100 644729 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=587990&cid=t_106235_133_f&fid=35452&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.graphictruth.com%2F2007%2F05%2Forielly-less-nuanced-than-father.html In this study, O'Reilly is a heavier and less-nuanced user of the propaganda devices than Coughlin."tag: Hate Speech, Hate Radio, conservative radio, Authoritarianism, integrety. Bill O'Rielly, Fair and BalancedYou can syndicate this site using our atom feed. (Source: Graphictruth) Graphictruth blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=587990 Thu, 03 May 2007 04:00:00 +0100 587990 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=571247&cid=t_106235_133_f&fid=35452&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.graphictruth.com%2F2007%2F04%2Fwhy-hasn-limbaugh-been-fired-yet.html Alternet wonders why Limbaugh hasn't been fired yet - apparently not understanding what "syndicated" means. But I do wonder how long it will take for people to realize he's about as funny and relevant as "Who's the Boss" re-runs.This is a head-shaker. Imus gets canned for calling some college women basketball players "nappy-headed hos" and yet Rush Limbaugh plays "Barack The Magic Negro" on his show and he is still on the air?And the story links to a video that is one long "coon joke" which makes me wonder another thing entirely: How stupid do you have to be to consider this either funny or informative? If the best ammunition you can come up with against the policies of flaming liberals like Barak Obama and Al Sharpton is that they are (gasp) black, you ain't much use. Because, well, I got... Graphictruth blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=571247 Thu, 26 Apr 2007 04:00:00 +0100 571247 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=556342&cid=t_106235_135_f&fid=35247&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmyjourneywithaids.wordpress.com%2F2007%2F04%2F20%2Fthe-sky-is-falling-and-mussing-up-john-bairds-hair%2F What to make of John Baird’s histrionics before the Senate Environment Committee? Not that we have not doubted the Harper government’s sincerity before now, but is an Environment Minister not supposed to be a government’s chief advocate for the environment? We thought Rona Ambrose had disproved that and that the Harpocrites were seeing the errors [...] (Source: My journey with AIDS) My journey with AIDS blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=556342 Fri, 20 Apr 2007 07:09:11 +0100 556342 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=551372&cid=t_106235_133_f&fid=35452&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.graphictruth.com%2F2007%2F04%2Fpsa-after-imus-what-you-can-do.html Press Release from freepress.netThe controversy over Don Imus' racist remarks goes far beyond one bigoted commentator. But getting rid of Imus won't fix the media problem. Most of our TV and radio stations are owned by giant corporate conglomerates. They don't represent the views of most Americans -- and they make huge profits off the public airwaves. What we need are more diverse, independent and local media owners. Yet right now less than 10% of TV and radio stations are owned by people of color or women. But instead of addressing this national disgrace, the Federal Communications Commission is actually trying to let the largest companies buy up even more stations! Tell the FCC: We Need More Diversity in the Media What Imus said is just the tip of the iceberg. Scores of other TV and ... Graphictruth blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=551372 Fri, 13 Apr 2007 04:00:00 +0100 551372 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=531803&cid=t_106235_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F107868992%2F A recent report from the conservative Hoover Institute notes that, while the numbers of special education students have been rapidly increasing, “that doesn’t mean special education costs are rising faster than the resources available for regular education.” Interestingly, authors Jay P. Greene and Marcus A Winters note: The near doubling in special education costs is not attributable to a rise in rare and expensive disabilities. Media reports often emphasize the growth in students with autism but their numbers remain very small, less than 0.3 percent of enrollment. The total cost of special education services for autism does not exceed 0.45 percent of all spending. Severe disability categories like mental retardation, which are costly to serve, have actually experienced a de... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=531803 Tue, 10 Apr 2007 03:01:11 +0100 531803 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=504925&cid=t_106235_135_f&fid=35247&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmyjourneywithaids.wordpress.com%2F2007%2F03%2F27%2Fwith-no-apology-re-residential-schools-conservatives-fail-to-speak-for-canadians%2F As if the list was lacking, Jim Prentice has given more evidence that the Harper government does not speak for millions of Canadians in his refusal to apologize formally to the Assembly of First Nations regarding our residential schools legacy. (Click here for an excellent resource from Shannon Thunderbird.) Prentice’s hard line against adding an [...] (Source: My journey with AIDS) My journey with AIDS blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=504925 Tue, 27 Mar 2007 20:38:32 +0100 504925 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=500935&cid=t_106235_135_f&fid=35247&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmyjourneywithaids.wordpress.com%2F2007%2F03%2F25%2Fcredit-to-brad-lavigne-where-credit-is-due%2F I have expressed some frustrations with Brad Lavigne in the past so I wanted to give him due credit for his response to this week’s Hill Times question to “The Spin Doctors”. The question was, “Globe columnist John Ibbitson said Finance Minister Jim Flaherty’s ‘budget is so Liberal, the Grits should sue.’ Do you agree?” Respect [...] (Source: My journey with AIDS) My journey with AIDS blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=500935 Mon, 26 Mar 2007 04:56:44 +0100 500935 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=498913&cid=t_106235_135_f&fid=35247&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmyjourneywithaids.wordpress.com%2F2007%2F03%2F24%2Fpolitical-junkies-eyes-on-quebec-this-weekend%2F The Gazette, predictably, has endorsed the Liberals in Monday’s provincial elections in Québec. However, the rival Parti Québecois and Action Démocratique could not have dreamed that the CanWest paper, the province’s only English-language daily (the Monday-to-Friday Sherbrooke Record notwithstanding), would give the incumbent a more milquetoast pat on the back. “Lacklustre Liberals are our best [...] (Source: My journey with AIDS) My journey with AIDS blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=498913 Sat, 24 Mar 2007 18:55:24 +0100 498913 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=495586&cid=t_106235_135_f&fid=35247&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmyjourneywithaids.wordpress.com%2F2007%2F03%2F23%2Fhallelujah-wappel-not-running-again%2F With the chorus “Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead!” racing through my mind I read today’s Canadian Press report in the Star that Toronto-area (Scarborough Southwest) Liberal Tom Wappel would not be seeking re-election. This follows his recent ranks-breaking vote, with the Conservatives, on some of the Draconian measures in anti-terrorism legislation. Wappel, who won [...] (Source: My journey with AIDS) My journey with AIDS blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=495586 Fri, 23 Mar 2007 19:02:50 +0100 495586 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=495587&cid=t_106235_135_f&fid=35247&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmyjourneywithaids.wordpress.com%2F2007%2F03%2F21%2Fthis-stuff-you-just-cant-make-up%2F This morning’s Globe screamed: Battle looms over Kyoto goals as clean-air legislation stalls Tories halt talks after opposition parties propose amendments to bill setting firm limits on greenhouse-gas emissions From the Star: Clean air bill could trigger election The opposition unites to demand Tories write Kyoto targets into act And, just to triple-check that I wasn’t dreaming, the CBC: Clean Air Act [...] (Source: My journey with AIDS) My journey with AIDS blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=495587 Wed, 21 Mar 2007 23:47:45 +0100 495587 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=486319&cid=t_106235_107_f&fid=35009&url=http%3A%2F%2Fsciencesque.wordpress.com%2F2007%2F03%2F20%2Fthe-tories-focus-on%2F The big news in Canada today is the release of the 2007 federal budget by the minority Conservative government. Of all the commentaries I’ve read so far, the most astute is the article by John Ibbitson of the Globe and Mail. After spending many years as the opposition watching the Liberal government be all things to all people, the Tories have moved “boldly” towards the centre of the political spectrum. As Ibbitson said: “The Liberals should sue for identity theft”. I’m sure the Grits are calling their lawyers right now. Unfortunately, while this very Liberal budget is big on spending for families (a recent consideration of mine) and the environment (it’s about time), it falls sadly short of Liberal spending levels for the research funding agencies... Sciencesque blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=486319 Tue, 20 Mar 2007 18:25:24 +0100 486319 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=495588&cid=t_106235_135_f&fid=35247&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmyjourneywithaids.wordpress.com%2F2007%2F03%2F19%2Fcontinued-student-debt-in-english-or-french-%25e2%2580%2593-%25e2%2580%2598that%25e2%2580%2599s-our-canada-voila-notre-canada%25e2%2580%2599-cons%2F Among the many ways the French language uses the new Harper government’s budget title “Aspire” are: yearn for, yes, but also breathe in or inhale, or – worse - suck in or suck up. (Check the Dictionnaire Français-Anglais at wordreference.com if you don’t believe me.) This would account for the Bloc’s strategic no-brainer to support the budget. Let’s [...] (Source: My journey with AIDS) My journey with AIDS blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=495588 Tue, 20 Mar 2007 00:28:37 +0100 495588 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=493325&cid=t_106235_135_f&fid=35263&url=http%3A%2F%2Fronhudson.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F03%2Fgay-civil-rights-group-condemns-ann.html The following press release from the Human Rights Campaign details the disgusting public use of the word "faggot" by Conservative Republican pundit Anne Coulter to describe former North Carolina Senator John Edwards. Her remarks are out of place in this day and age and are an insult to former Senator Edwards, to the great State of North Carolina and to all LGBTQ citizens of the United States.I have called Senators Burr and Dole to ask them to publicly condemn Coulter for her remarks. You can find their contact information at the links provided. Please contact both Senators to ask them to demand a public apology for these remarks by their political ally Anne Coulter. ***[HRC]Demands ’08 Republican Candidates, V.P. Publicly Condemn Remarks at Conference They AttendedWASHINGTON – Today, a... 2sides2ron blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=493325 Fri, 02 Mar 2007 23:53:00 +0100 493325 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=495609&cid=t_106235_135_f&fid=35247&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmyjourneywithaids.wordpress.com%2F2007%2F03%2F01%2Fif-an-election-were-held-today%2F It’s one of those hypotheticals that makes party humps like me crazy. “If an election were held today”, well, I’d be nervous. Here are the headlines in response to today’s release of the latest Decima Research poll: Tories widen lead on Liberals, Greens surge: poll (canada.com aka Global TV/National Post) Tories open up lead over Grits, poll [...] (Source: My journey with AIDS) My journey with AIDS blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=495609 Thu, 01 Mar 2007 23:16:02 +0100 495609 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=505072&cid=t_106235_99_f&fid=35344&url=http%3A%2F%2Fzackarysholemberger.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F02%2Fmy-favorite-gay-and-lesbian-teshuvah-it.html My favorite gay-and-lesbian teshuvahIt took me this long to read Rabbi Gordon Tucker's teshuvah? It's as if all the questions and problems I have been having, all the points I have been fumbling after (and wasting precious bandwidth on, inelegantly and ineloquently, in this blog) have been encapsulated and justified. Go read. Let's talk. Dov W., are you out there? Come challenge. (Source: Zackary Sholem Berger) Zackary Sholem Berger blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=505072 Tue, 27 Feb 2007 04:38:00 +0100 505072 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=505076&cid=t_106235_99_f&fid=35344&url=http%3A%2F%2Fzackarysholemberger.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F02%2Fand-you-shall-bind-them-2-few-days-ago.html And you shall bind them (2)A few days ago I talked about Rabbi Michael Broyde's prediction of the Conservative movement's imminent demise. What interested me were two throwaway statements: (1) "halachah is binding" (implying that this statement is unquestionably true for everyone, in the same way, at all times), and (2) American Jews can be divided into those who believe (1) is true and those who don't.Comes a recent post by Jonathan Woocher on the Conservative e-mail list Shefa which nicely addresses point 2. So I'll quote it here in its entirety. Two points: although Broyde was trying to classify the whole of the Jewish community, Woocher talks here about the difficulty of defining the Conservative movement. I think the same difficulties apply to either, which is why I'm citing this. Sec... Zackary Sholem Berger blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=505076 Thu, 22 Feb 2007 01:56:00 +0100 505076 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=505081&cid=t_106235_99_f&fid=35344&url=http%3A%2F%2Fzackarysholemberger.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F02%2Fand-you-shall-bind-them-rabbi-michael.html And you shall bind themRabbi Michael Broyde wrote in the Jewish Week that Conservative Judaism is dying. Sad, don't you know, to see pure Jewish souls lost to the likes of Ramah and JTS. And it's all because we embraced the homosexuals and uprooted a clear "Sinaitic prohibition". (If, on the other hand, we had created a "Sinaitic prohibition" where none existed before, that would be okay. But I digress.)Now, the bulk of the article is founded on the same mistaken premise beloved by Orthodox demagogues everywhere: that "Jewish law" is by definition what Orthodox rabbis say is Jewish law. Thus Conservatism does not follow Jewish law because (wait for it) Conservative Judaism is not Orthodox. The author, I remind you, is a professor of law at Emory.But even apart from this intellectual heavy ... Zackary Sholem Berger blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=505081 Mon, 12 Feb 2007 17:02:00 +0100 505081