Inglorious Sanctimony

[stewstewstewdio.livejournal.com]

( You're about to view content that the poster has marked as potentially inappropriate for anyone under the age of 18. )

Ideologues who can't accept their champions ever do anything wrong:

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

What's interesting is the degree to which conspirators will go to paint everyone who disagrees with them as part of the conspiracy. If ideology be added into it, the problems get worse, for then you've got the conspirators who can't or won't accept that their own ideological fellow-travelers could ever make mistakes or do bad things. Instead it must be wrongdoing, orchestrated by evil and shadowy cabals of Mr. Burns look-alikes who steeple hands and say "Eeexxcellent."

We all know that there is a vast, orchestrated group setting out to target, honest God-fearing real Americans, and to deny the truth of the darkness and infernal depravity of their fellow travelers. This is seen in the following conspiracy theory, behind the cut lest it with inopportune words the sensitive ears of truth-seekers abuse:
( cut as noted )

So, anyone see *why* conspiracy theories are in fact stupid and not to be respected? Particularly when it's people from a supposedly rational, reality-based group?

The pawns are a'movin

[htpcl.livejournal.com]

Merhaba, sevgili dostlar! Hi, dear pals! First of all, an article from today:
The parliamentary election in Turkey will be decisive for the entire Balkan and Black Sea region.

( Some rough translation of the key points )

So, let me try to sum it up in a nutshell (x-posted). So, after for a set of reasons all of Turkey's prior attempts to get EU access met with locked EU gates, now Turkey seems to be trying to take a new direction and change its position in the region. For that purpose, it has started to pursue a bolder foreign policy, as was seen during the Iraq war (Turkey refused to join the alliance), and around the events with the Turkish flotilla in Israeli waters (mentioned in one of the above cited posts). Besides, Turkey is seeking to attain a new role as an insurmountable factor which no one could ignore any longer - neither part of the so-called European space, nor a typical bit of the Middle East. But a middle, unique role designed after a model of their own making.

Yes, we're speaking of the big geopolitical game here, which has never really ceased to play out, just changed its dynamic and direction. And we, the smaller players around the chess table, should constantly adapt to the new realities if we don't want to find ourselves in an odd position one day.

( More on this uncomfortable situation )

The Obama Adminstration commits acts of economic imperialism:

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

http://www.businessinsider.com/wikileaks-haiti-minimum-wage-the-nation-2011-6#ixzz1OMPENOYi

I think this is another case where the Obama Administration is continuing mistakes and abuses done by its precursors. Haiti is a poor enough country as it is, and has benefited as much from the US Empire as Pakistan did from the British. I find this an example of offensive and immoral and unjust imperialism on the part of an administration that campaigned to be something other than these things. I don't think there's anything too much more to say than that.

Edit-Well, there is one thing: Wikileaks does expose the occasional thing that was not already known.

What About Rights for Men in Abortion Cases?

[dreadfulpenny81.livejournal.com]

A billboard in New Mexico is taking drivers by surprise:



The billboard shows 35-year-old Greg Fultz smiling down at the blank outline of a baby in his arms.

Now he's being taken to court by his ex-girlfriend for harassment and violation of privacy. Strangely, the decision in favor of the Westboro Baptist Church is helping Fultz. His lawyers are arguing that as offensive as the message is, it falls in line with free speech, using the Westboro decision as precedent. "My argument is: What Fultz said is the truth," says Todd Holmes, Fultz's attorney. That fact is currently being contested - friends of the woman in question say she had a miscarriage, not an abortion.

Fultz says (via Twitter), "I never made this campaign about one person my message was about some father somewhere dealing with abortion." The woman he had a relationship is never mentioned on the billboard. GEFNET is his own company and Coalition About Needed Information (CANI) is a group set up by Fultz on Facebook, so it seems this was all privately funded or maybe even funded through donations.

I agree with his message, but this isn't necessarily the approach I would have taken. I would have kept the worded message, but maybe used a stock image or something instead of his own picture. Using his own image puts him and the woman in question at risk for harassment and public scrutiny, which neither party deserves. If it comes to light that she had a miscarriage and not an abortion, then the billboard should be changed or removed and he should issue a public apology. Other than that, I think it's about time that there is a man willing to speak out about the rights of BOTH parties when it comes to abortion.

[Source - AP/Yahoo! News]

X-posted from mividaloca99/lj.com

Common Knowledge... retraction/revision

[sandwichwarrior.livejournal.com]

At the very least, Sunday night's post is simply further evidence that I need to find a way to attach a breathalizer to my "Post to Talk_Politics" button.

I failed to properly research my opponents position or vet my own sources and as a result I was rightfully smacked down by this community. As said, ".. all you've done here is prove what you've sought to disprove."

So having had the question "...and what did we learn from this experiance?" pounded into my head from a young age I started to ask myself "what did I do wrong?"

The short answer, was kind of obvious.

( The long answer )

Science post / Solar storm activity and impending 2012 maximum

[telemann.livejournal.com]

Since June is a month dedicated to science and technology themed posts, I thought this was newsworthy. A huge explosion on the Sun's surface was recorded earlier today. As Discovery Magazine notes on their website.

What you’re seeing here is a solar flare (an enormous explosion of pent-up magnetic energy) coupled with a prominence (a physical eruption of gas from the surface). This event blasted something like a billion tons of material away from the Sun. Note the size of it, too: while it started from a small region on the Sun’s surface, it quickly expanded into a plume easily as big as the Sun itself! I’d estimate its size at well over a million kilometers across [the Earth is a mere 8,000 Km in width]. It looks like most of the material fell back down to the Sun’s surface; that’s common, though sometimes such an event manages to blast the material completely away into space.

( More behind here. )