Fear and Irony

As today's example of America's moral crisis, I point you to your TVs. This weekend the legendary Sir Paul McCartney will be singing to the world from halftime at Superbowl XXXIX. Sir Paul is sure to delight all of the world, especially the Baby Boomers running the show. His wardrobe will also be triple-stitched.

America was in an uproar nearly a year ago after Janet Jackson made a decision in very poor taste to expose her breast on national TV. But the amount of uproar was overwhelming and unwarranted.

Janet's titillation in front of our parents was rude, but what kind of society are we that we allow Fear Factor to go on? This is a show of such low character, where people engage in dangerous, degrading, disgusting behavior for cash - while families sit together at home and watch!

If we must count deadly sins here, it's Miss Jackson: one (lust) - Fear Factor: three (pride, greed, and envy).

Now America's electric utilities are warning NBC that Fear Factor's latest stunt, competitive electric shocks, could be deadly to it's viewers.

Janet should have gotten a dressing down, but the national uproar and FCC reaction was wrong. Meanwhile, Fear Factor remains a hit with the public. I am not advocating forcing NBC, ironically owned by General Electric, to cancel the show. I am just disappointed that America keeps watching.

Will we stop watching after the first reality-show death? Or will the ratings jump?

If Americans are so concerned with values, what do we value here? Money? Fame? Buffalo Testicles?

It's time to redefine values.

Phelps is a Freak

If there is any doubt that teaching and preaching hate over reason consumes your heart and mind, please read the following press release.

Remember the "reverend" Fred Phelps who preaches hate against gays? Famous for "God Hates Fags?" Well his hatred/phychosis has grown to such levels, that any reasonable person should realize how hatred and xenophobia leads to thoughts of evil.

Now he and his church thank God for the attacks that brought death to over 3,000 Americans on September 11, and to the tsunami, which killed over 283,000 people. I almost couldn't believe his hate was that out of control, until I looked it up for myself.


The Westboro Baptist Church: Tsunami_1-1-2005.pdf (PDF!!!)

Part of our moral crisis in America is how our ability to twist the words of a book written by men 2,000 years ago intereferes with reason and compassion and love, which is what Jesus allegedly taught 2,000 years ago. This is an extreme example. But any use of the writings of the Bible to create laws that deny legitimate rights to members of our society is also wrong. Denying someone gay the ability to be a loving parent to a needy child, or a partner to a loved one in need is immoral and detrimental to society.

Ake Green Is a Persecuted Homophobe

I will never understand why homophobes are so fascinated with beastiality and pedophilia.

Still, he should be free.

Save the Children. Legalize Drugs.

Legitimate businessmen don't lose their money, and they don't stalk elementary schools either. It's only because we make drugs illegal that we create black-market thugs who come to your house and threaten your children.

More Conservative Shills

I always knew there was something suspicious about Maggie Gallagher.

Maureen Dowd offers to sell her services to the Bush administration after learning, "from the media reporter Howard Kurtz that the syndicated columnist Maggie Gallagher had a $21,500 contract from the Health and Human Services Department to work on material promoting the agency's $300 million initiative to encourage marriage."

But only man-on-woman marriage...

And what gave the administration the belief that it is their responsibility to encourage marriage?

Drug Dogs and Your Kids

Another emerging trend:

There was another drug dog decision this week.

Is this the world you want your kids to live in?

METRO Ad Censorship Is Indefensible

One of the most amazing things about our drug policies is how our legislators are so zealous against reason, they will even resort to blackmailing the Washington (DC) Metro Trasit Authority for $3 billion in desperately needed money in order to suppress free speech - namely ads by the ACLU and other groups that challenge Americans to understand and get involved with drug policy.

American Civil Liberties Union : Justice Department Refuses to Defend Congress in Legal Battle Over Law Censoring Marijuana Policy Ads

Even the government had to concede the case, because it, "Does not have a viable argument." Now let's hold accountable these clowns who wrote this unconstitutional coercive un-American law - Congress!

Get involved:

www.aclu.org/drugpolicy/
www.changetheclimate.org
www.drugpolicy.org
www.mpp.org

My Left Brain Still Hurts

Daniel H. Pink creates a rosy picture of the future for those of us who can thrive in a new Conceptual Age.

Where are we going?

With so much turmoil in the world right now, enough time had passed that I figured it was a good time to revisit one of my favorite books, the fascinating Generations: The History of America's Future, 1584 to 2069. I'm trying to get some idea how the events of the last four years will shape the future. One thing I fear is that we have only begun to experience our "secular crisis."

In an earlier post I referred to a "moral crisis." This has nothing to do with Strauss & Howe, but more to do with how our moral compass in America leans too much to religion and not enough toward reason. I hope to talk more about that in the future.

One More Step Toward a Police State

I'm surprised this has not received more commentary. In 2003, Illinois state troopers stopped a motorist for going six miles per hour over the 65mph speed limit - only six miles per hour! Without any cause, another officer showed up on the scene and began using a drug sniffing dog to direct the police to the trunk, where they found a massive amount of marijuana.

The Supreme Court
Justice Ginsburg's Dissent
The New York Times
Medill School of Journalism

I'm most concerned how any minor stop is now a tool for police to intimidate citizens. Now "routine" traffic stops can be increased in order to use a dog sniff search on anyone who fits the wrong profile. Will there be drug sniffing dogs roaming the streets, casually sniffing pedestrians and parked cars? At least one US Supreme Court justice thinks maybe.

The founders were wise when they wrote the Fourth Amendment. Their intention was to create a country where the people are free from casual searches, which demeans one's dignity and makes him subject to the whims of the state. I am especially heartened by Justice Ginsburg when she wrote (emphasis added):

• In my view, the Court diminishes the Fourth Amendment?s force by abandoning the second Terry inquiry (was the police action ?reasonably related in scope to the circumstances [justifiying[sic.]] the [initial] interference?). 392 U.S., at 20. A drug-detection dog is an intimidating animal. Cf. United States v. Williams, 356 F.3d 1268, 1276 (CA10 2004) (McKay, J., dissenting) (?drug dogs are not lap dogs?). Injecting such an animal into a routine traffic stop changes the character of the encounter between the police and the motorist. The stop becomes broader, more adversarial, and (in at least some cases) longer. Caballes?who, as far as Troopers Gillette and Graham knew, was guilty solely of driving six miles per hour over the speed limit?was exposed to the embarrassment and intimidation of being investigated, on a public thoroughfare, for drugs. Even if the drug sniff is not characterized as a Fourth Amendment ?search,? cf. Indianapolis v. Edmond, 531 U.S. 32, 40 (2000); United States v. Place, 462 U.S. 696, 707 (1983), the sniff surely broadened the scope of the traffic-violation-related seizure.

We are becoming a police state over drugs. The politicians, who use this issue for money and votes, never seem to really want to tackle the problems and find solutions. They just want to keep raking in the $$$ to support the overblown prison system. Meanwhile by criminalizing drugs, we are locking up a generation of young men, creating unnecessary animosity between police and average Americans, and creating more problems in our "solution" than drugs would cause if treated like disease.

BAN IT EVERYWHERE!

It's not bad enough that conservatives insist in 11 states that only men and women be married, they are intent on forcing their religious based values on the entire country.

What if my state wants to allow two men to marry? Who are you to tell me what my state can do?

The Marriage Amendment is back. It's stuff like this that scares me. America will come around to it eventually, but in this time of moral crisis, backlash legislators are intent to do some real damage to the U.S. Constitution.