Hey, why the heck not?  After all, who is more popular at the moment?  

Ok, ok, this is really to be a sort of "fun" spirit of the Olympics diary for those Kossacks who have been following.

To be honest, I watched the women's marathon instead of the "faith" forum and I enjoyed the 4 x 100 medley relay.

It cracked me up that Japan lead midway; it had something to do with a certain swimmer named "Kitajima" who is more dominant in his specialty (breaststroke) than anyone else.

More below the fold

One of my favorite small blogs is this one:

http://seattleforbarackobama.blogspo...

They post lots of good Obama stuff.  Today, they posted a "what if Karl Rove worked for the Democrats" youtube "fake" attack ad against John McCain.

To see it, go below the fold:

In a matter of vital world importance, Russia sent military reinforcements into the Republic of Georgia, thereby escalating a dangerous situation to the brink of war...

More below the fold...

Update:  Marcion wrote a lengthy diary on this topic.

You've head it over and over from Republicans:  "the government should be run like a business". If you've had any run-ins with insurance companies, that ought to make you shudder.

Well, one consequence of this "run like a business stuff" is some of the military policies, which reads something like this: "spend as little on the troops as possible".  Here is one example:  sometimes when a soldier is injured in battle, he/she is eventually discharged.  But sometimes the injury (mental or physical) is reclassified as pre-existing so as to enable the Army to recover things like enlistment bonuses!  More below the fold...

Ah, remember the Clinton blowout of Obama in the West Virginia primary?  Remember the hard feelings from the "hard working American, white Americans" remarks?

Remember the cherry-picked racial remarks made by some of the primary voters?

Yep, I was one of those who was disgusted.

But there were other voices out there, including some here who said to not to rush to judgment and reminded us that is was Hillary Clinton that blew out Obama, and not John McCain.  I admit that I didn't listen to those voices....I should have.

More below the fold...

I have to admit it:  I've kind of liked the Billy Jack series of movies.

Yeah, bad acting, corny plots, etc.  Nevertheless, I own copies of the films and play them from time to time.

I also subscribe to Billy Jack's youtube videos.

Here is what appeared today:

Cross posted at Prairie State Blue.

Some time ago, I (and others) wrote about the Republican nominee for the IL-18 Congressional district, Aaron Schock, bringing in The Decider for a fundraiser.  Though Bush's approval ratings are dismal, he is still popular with Big Money and this fundraiser is expected to generate up to $700,000 for Mr. Schock.  

Well, Colleen Callahan decided to answer back...  

This is a light hearted comment on a video that has been going around the internet.

Hat tip to Friendly Atheist.

Video and poll below the fold.

Normally, the IL-18 Congressional district would be a safe seat for the Republicans.  It has been in Republican hands since World War I times and they now have "boy wonder" Aaron Schock running.

Schock made news for taking the Illinois 92'nd House seat away from a Democrat (in 2004) in a district that John Kerry won easily.  

But Schock has made some blunders and the race now appears to be competitive.

More below the fold

Yesterday I posted a diary which discussed a P. Z. Myers article that denounced the overreaction to a college student stealing a communion wafer.

Today, Dr. Myers is receiving DEATH THREATS and is the target of a campaign to get him fired over writing this article

There was a time when I wondered that people like Richard Dawkins (author of The God Delusion) was being harsh when he used the word "delusion".

Yes, I know about people flying planes into skyscrapers, religious murders, people killing each other (e. g., Muslim-Hindu riots, Shiites vs. Sunnis, Northern Ireland) but I wondered:  what about HERE, in the United States?  We might have a few nutcases but the rank and file from the major religions are ok right?  What harm is there in "believing"?

This week's Parade Magazine has essays from Barack Obama and John McCain on patriotism.

One can read the essays and then go online and vote in the poll which asks:  which essay is more in line with your views?

Of course, Barack Obama's stance on the FISA "compromise" bill has sparked debate and some anger.  There has been some polarization as well:  "hey, don't you want to win this November?  Lay off!" and the "blind loyalty is bad; look at what it has done to the Republicians" and to our country.

More below the fold.

I did a quick scan of the front page and of the diaries that haven't scrolled off the page and I don't see this anywhere.

Even if this appeared in the previous days, I am sure that not everyone has seen it.

There is currently a campaign called "Color Of Change" which intends to hold Fox News accountable for their brazen appeals to racism in their campaign against coverage of Barack Obama.

More below the fold

Pew just released a massive study on the religious landscape of America.  Some newspapers released headlines loudly proclaiming how many Americans "believe in god".  

But when one digs down in to the survey itself, the results are a bit more nuanced than that.  More below the fold.

It is halftime and the Celtics are leading 58-35.  But in three of the previous 4 games, one team has broken to a big lead only to see the other team come back to make a game of it; in game 4 the Celtics ended up coming back from 24 to win.

So this time: the Celtic defense is smothering; Garnett has 17 points and Pierce has 10 points and 9 assists.

Kobe Bryant started out hot with 11 early points and has 14 right now.

As was pointed out, evolution was observed to have taken place in bacteria; this was observed in a laboratory and the experiment has been rerun.

http://www.dailykos.com/...

Of course this excited me; I love it when we learn more about how the world works.

Unfortunately, there are many who are completely shut out to developments such as these; there was a time where I was one of those people; more below the fold.

You've seen the "Obama is a Muslim" e-mails.  No biggie, right?

Well, the Republican 527's have started to spread the lies; they claim that Obama was "enrolled in a school as a Muslim" and "is lying about it now".

More below the fold....