Sarah Palin is fucking crazy. That is all.

It’s instructive to me that nobody among the Republicans is telling Palin to shut the hell up and talk like a decent, rational, civilized person instead of a crazed Nazi propaganda minister.

Palin doubles down on ‘death panels’

This is what right-wingnuttery has brought society to. And people wonder how the Germans could have accepted the idea that they were a Master Race and the death camps were perfectly acceptable ways to deal with people they didn’t like, and Jews and gays and lesbians and gypsies and all sorts of others were not just expendable, but ought to be killed.

The Monster is always there, just under the surface. And if there’s anything a fundamentalist is good at — whether it’s a Christian fundamentalist, Muslim fundamentalist, Sikh fundamentalist, or Judaistic fundamentalist — it’s awakening the monster in their sheep-like followers, and teaching them to think with extreme emotions and NOT WITH THEIR BRAINS.

Could people have spoken like this – said the horrible things Sarah Palin, Bill O’Reilly, Ann Coulter and their ilk now say with blithe unconcern – thirty years ago, without getting shouted down or shunned in horror for being so rabid? NO. But three decades of whittling away at rationality, justice, and civil behaviour have now made this rabidity commonplace, and acceptable to unthinking right-wingnuts.

Thank you for illustrating that horrifyingly wicked tactic so clearly, Sarah Palin.

And John McCain…? There’s a special place in hell reserved for you, for setting this particular Monster loose in the world.

Right now I hate Alberta

Evolution classes optional under proposed Alberta law:

A controversial Alberta bill will enshrine into law the rights of parents to pull their children out of classes discussing the topics of evolution and homosexuality.

The new rules, which would require schools to notify parents in advance of “subject-matter that deals explicitly with religion, sexuality or sexual orientation,” is buried in a bill that extends human rights to homosexuals. Parents can ask for their child to be excluded from the discussion.

“This government supports a very, very fundamental right and that is parental rights with respect to education,” said Premier Ed Stelmach.

The public secular school system allowing religious people to pick and choose which parts of human rights and rational thought are going to be exercised in the public square??

They don’t like scientific facts, and they hate homosexuals, so instead of having to notice any of them, they can just walk around with their hands over their ears going “Lalalalala, I can’t hear or see you!”

Christian Shari’a law! Enshrined right into a secular state!

I am beyond disgusted. Today I hate my home province more than I can possibly express.

I wish all those bigoted, anti-democratic, narrow-minded wingnut Christian Taliban neo-Cons would move to Iran where they belong and where they can impose all their anti-human beliefs on each other to their hearts’ content.

Obvious evidence of John McCain’s senility

9/11 terrorists came from Canada, McCain insists

And what makes this even more surreal — entirely apart from the fact that McCain actually believes this stupidity which has been utterly disproven (except, of course, to the equally senile or else outright evil Faux News crew) — is that the truth is being defended by U.S. Ambassador Michael Wilson. Who I intensely dislike on the basis of all sorts of other wingnut beliefs he holds.

Proof that I have gone through the navel of the world, and come out in an alternate universe. Though one thing remains comfortingly steady — rightwingnuts are insane.

Dear Premier Stelmach: Alberta is only the same *size* as England…

In the “Just How Stupid Do You Think People Are” category, I give you this:

Photo hasn’t been a trip to the beach for Alberta rebranding campaign

Tourism officials in northeastern England are both pleased and baffled by a new $25-million Alberta rebranding campaign that features a photo of children frolicking on one of its North Sea beaches.

While the tagline on the advertisement reads: “Alberta: Freedom to Create. Spirit to Achieve.”, the Alberta government has confirmed the photo was taken near the English village of Bamburgh in Northumberland.

Because clearly, there are no photos of any nice Alberta scenery around. Nope. Nothing like that.

And rather than admitting the wrong move, the provincial spin doctors did their usual thing, of course, as every politician alive feels compelled to do:

“There’s no attempt to make people think that this is Alberta,” Tom Olsen, a spokesman for Premier Ed Stelmach, told the Edmonton Journal.

“There’s no attempt to mislead. That picture just fit the mood and tone of what we were trying to do.”

Translation #1: “…’cause everyone on the planet is rilly rilly stupid, unable to make inferences based on context, and is gullible enough to swallow any crap we feed them, including this explanation.”

Reiteration #1: “Because clearly, there are no photos of any nice Alberta scenery around. Nope. Nothing like that.” (See above)

This lying (or colossally stupid, take your pick) government official only admitted there had been an error when his nose was deeply rubbed into it. No such thing as, you know, really taking responsibility for stupidity. Can’t have that.

And lest the lying spin be too thin on the ground, the Alberta Tourism minister chimes in as well:

Tourism Minister Cindy Ady told reporters that her department wasn’t involved in the rebranding campaign (it was spearheaded by an Edmonton-based public-relations firm).

Translation #2: “We never did anything, and anyway, it was their fault!”

‘Cause of course nobody in the government who was actually in charge of this project would have bothered to notice that photos of England were being used to promote Alberta before signing off on the finished product.

Nope. Nothing like that.

Rick Warren is a Christian liar

Good little Christian pastor Rick Warren was on Larry King on CNN, on April 6. Here’s a transcript. Please note his remarks a little over halfway down in the transcript:

I am not an anti-gay or anti-gay marriage activist. I never have been, never will be.

During the whole Proposition 8 thing, I never once went to a meeting, never once issued a statement, never — never once even gave an endorsement in the two years Prop 8 was going.

Then go watch this YouTube video of Rick Warren endorsing and supporting Prop Hate, and encouraging people to do the same:

A big thank you to Tonya J for the heads-up on this.

Great news today for my gay friends!

Vermont has done it! And they did it by choice.

Today, that American state became the fourth in the country to recognize equal marriage for its citizens. After its legislative bodies passed a bill legalizing equal marriage, the Governor, Jim Douglas, vowed to veto it, and yesterday he went through with the threat.

But less than 24 hours later, the state Senate voted 23-5 to override his veto, and the House recorded a 100-49 vote to override — the absolute minimum they had to have to do so. And now it’s law.

And there was much rejoicing throughout the land!

Of course, the Republican Douglas couldn’t be gracious about it, and grabbed the opportunity to try to make citizens resent gay people:

“What really disappoints me is that we have spent some time on an issue during which another thousand Vermonters have lost their jobs.”

Riiiiight. A Republican governor all concerned about joblessness. Which was of course why he vetoed the bill so even more time had to be spent on it. Riiiiight.

Vermont is the only state so far who legislated equal marriage into existence. Three other states recognize equal marriage (Massachusetts, Iowa, and Connecticut), but it was the courts who legalized it in those places.

And guess what! The married gays and lesbians from those four states will now have their marriages recognized in Washington, DC! The District of Columbia Council voted unanimously today to recognize same-sex marriages from other states.

Of course there’s the little matter that DC, like New York, recognizes these marriages but doesn’t let these people get married there. How stupid is that? But surely it won’t be long now.

As this Carnal Nation article mentions, two other states seem to be pretty close to recognizing equal marriage as well:

New Hampshire’s House passed a marriage bill in March, which now awaits a Senate vote. In New Jersey, Gov. Jon Corzine has pledged to sign a gay marriage bill that has been introduced in its legislature.

Isn’t it a great day for gays and lesbians today? And the great thing is that Americans now have the second-largest country (as far as land mass goes) in the world sitting just up north of them, proving that the sky doesn’t fall and the earth doesn’t swallow you up if you give equal rights to all citizens. Now there are four states (and could soon be six, or even seven if California smartens up) that will demonstrate the same thing.

It’s going to get harder and harder to play the hysteria card and expect anyone to listen.

“Baby Bangs” – where are the feminists when we need them??

My first thought was to say, “This isn’t political, but it still bothers me.”

But this is political, dammit!

Baby Bangs! Made Just for Little Girls!

This ad is for something that mothers can foist on their baby girls so Everyone! Will! Know! they’re not boys. (Because babies are mostly bald, so otherwise, How Would Anyone Know??) (And apparently, it’s Absolutely Crucial That We Know.)

This is, essentially, a WIG. A headband you stick on the poor little baby’s head, with strands of hair hanging from it that make it look like the cute witto girlie has bangs. And by the way — the headband is all prettyflowerygirly. No makin’ a mistake here, by golly! This is a GIRL. (And yegods, that insane tutu that poor baby is wearing! What — someone is going to look at that and think this is a boy??)

So. We want to start early. Tell our little girls that FROM THE WOMB they are not good enough, and must be improved, must have a prescribed concept of “femininity” thrust on them. This is the prelude to their entire busy life of preoccupation with their weight, their hair colour, whether their nose is the “right” shape, whether they’re tall enough (or too tall), whether they’re pretty enough, blah blah blah blah blah.

What’s the problem with someone not knowing she’s a girl, when she’s that little? What’s the problem with telling someone, if they (understandably) get it wrong? Or even not bothering, if it’s not essential to the conversation?

C’mon, idiot parents. She’ll have plenty of time in her life to be objectified and sexualized and forced into a societal gender roll, whether or not it’s good for her. Give her at least a few months, early on, to be herself and HAVE THAT BE GOOD ENOUGH.

Canada’s Neo-Con science minister admits he thinks science is based on religion

He did everything but say it explicitly. But it was screaming out as his premise in everything he said.

So I’m spamming this story here as well as at my ExFundie blog, because this is a religious story that has deadly influence on Canada’s politics.

Canada’s Minister of State for Science and Technology gets asked a question about science (“do you believe in evolution?”), and he answers religiously (“I don’t think anybody asking a question about my religion is appropriate”).

Read the full story in this Globe and Mail article: Minister won’t confirm belief in evolution.

He might have had slight — just slight — justification in mentioning religion, since the basic question was whether he believed in evolution as our government Science guy, people being worried about that because he is a creationist.

And yet.

Do you get what he’s admitting?? Two things:

1. creationism is religious, not scientific; and therefore its sneaky relative, “Intelligent Design” (which uses the same creationist textbooks but just changes the word “creationism” to “Intelligent Design” to try to sneak it past the regulations about not teaching religion in school), is also religious
2. he believes evolution with all its evidence is merely a religious belief; this is a common fallacy taught by creationists, since they don’t base anything on actual evidence, but on their religious beliefs

And this is the guy in charge of Canada’s science and technology?? Damn, is this country in trouble.

Many scientists fear 10 years of gains will be wiped out by a government that doesn’t understand the importance of basic, curiosity-driven research, which history shows leads to the big discoveries. They worry Canada’s best will decamp for the United States, where President Barack Obama has put $10-billion (U.S) into medical research as part of his plan to stimulate economic growth.

Indeed. Be afraid, scientists. Be very afraid. We already know the government fires people from Health Canada if their evidence doesn’t support the neo-Con ideology. It’s going to get worse as long as these bastards hold any power whatsoever in this country.

Just when North America gets rid of faith-based “science” south of the 49th parallel, we’ve got a guy in charge of our own science who judges scientific ideas not by whether they are supported by sound evidence, but by whether Moses or the apostle Paul like the evidence or not.

Jim Turk, executive director of the Canadian Association of University Teachers, said he was flabbergasted that the minister would invoke his religion when asked about evolution.

“The traditions of science and the reliance on testable and provable knowledge has served us well for several hundred years and have been the basis for most of our advancement. It is inconceivable that a government would have a minister of science that rejects the basis of scientific discovery and traditions,” he said.

But at least we’ve got it on record now, and the moron can’t escape it. Creationism is not science, but religion.

Otherwise, he’d have had no problem whatsoever discussing it in the context of a conversation about science. Right?? Right.

In the “It’ll never happen (dammit)” category…

…we have Ben Armbruster’s post at Think Progress.

Next week, George W. Bush is heading for my former hometown, Calgary, Alberta, to give his first speech as an ex-president. I am already appalled that my birthplace would welcome him at all, for any reason, ever. But Armbruster reports one response to Bush’s visit that cheers me up.

instead of greeting Bush with open arms and (potentially) wads of cash, activists and human rights lawyers in Canada are hoping their government will greet him with handcuffs — or at the very least — bar him entry in to the country.

I gather we’ve got some kind of law in Canada forbidding us to allow entrance to anyone for whom there is reasonable grounds to think that they’ve committed war crimes. And of course…endorsing torture, which Bush has done (and admitted, in public, to doing)…is one of those crimes.

It’s a nice thought, and I’d love to see the plane he flies in on escorted (without being allowed to land) back across the border by fighter planes or something.

But it’ll never happen. As a friend pointed out, if we harass this criminal at the border, every single Canadian who ever crosses the border going south (or entering U.S. airspace at all — remember Meher Arar?) can expect to be harassed and worse.

Maybe the Hague would have the authority to issue arrest warrants (though both Canadian and American neo-Cons’ heads would explode, and they’d just be confirmed in their stupid belief that the International Criminal Court is “anti-good-ol-USA”), and then Bush might have to stay home, not knowing exactly where would be safe to go. Though even then, I bet Canada wouldn’t arrest him, for fear of angering the big southern neighbour.

But without that sort of backing — never. Not gonna happen here.

So George W. Bush is going to land at my Calgary airport and talk in my city.

Ew. Ew ew ew!

Boring is good

You know that little blurb on the “About” section in the corner of my blog page? Where it says the following?

“Canada is the Designated Driver of North America. The U.S. runs around excitedly blowing things up, while we follow behind with the car keys, shaking our heads.”

I’m really not kidding about it. Canada tends to be the kind of reserved relative with the thick glasses, who watches the highly caffeinated United States bouncing around the kitchen, before we roll our eyes and shake out our newspaper and bury our noses in it, trying to drown out the enthusiastic commotion across the breakfast table as we eat our bran flakes. Then the U.S. goes out to the garage and either cranks up the rock music or cranks out some new flashy gadget on the work table, while we put on our jacket and go to our accounting job.

Thing is…it’s paid off.

Worthwhile Canadian Initiative

The legendary editor of The New Republic, Michael Kinsley, once held a “Boring Headline Contest” and decided that the winner was “Worthwhile Canadian Initiative.” Twenty-two years later, the magazine was rescued from its economic troubles by a Canadian media company, which should have taught us Americans to be a bit more humble. Now there is even more striking evidence of Canada’s virtues. Guess which country, alone in the industrialized world, has not faced a single bank failure, calls for bailouts or government intervention in the financial or mortgage sectors. Yup, it’s Canada. In 2008, the World Economic Forum ranked Canada’s banking system the healthiest in the world. America’s ranked 40th, Britain’s 44th.

As it turns out, according to Fareed Zakaria of Newsweek, Canada’s banks are standing up rather nicely in the current economic crisis, while those of the U.S., Great Britain, and well, everywhere else, are collapsing or pretty close to it.

And that wild, loose mortgage scheme devised by the flashy American risk-taking capitalist crowd, that scheme that brought the whole world down? The rationale for it was that it was supposed to help average Americans own their own homes. Yet Canadian banks, plodding along in their steady way, created a slightly better percentage of homeowners in this country — without that risk and flash.

(I would add a note that I bet some of the credit for this might go to Paul Martin. Remember when several Canadian banks wanted permission to amalgamate, so they could play finance with the big boys in the rest of the world? I bet they’re glad they weren’t allowed now.)

I might beg to differ with Mr. Zakaria on one thing. There may be some immigrants benefitting from a Canadian welcome, in places like that Microsoft research centre he mentions near the end of his article. But it’s a well-known phenomenon that after we let all those immigrants with degrees into Canada, based on the points system, we find ourselves with the most highly-educated cab drivers and convenience store operators in the world.

So some parts of the story may not be quite as rosy as Mr. Zakaria paints them. But on the whole, he’s right: Canada’s reserve and scepticism about the get-rich-quick schemes of the Americans is exactly the right attitude. In the long run, it’s what is going to save us while the U.S. at least partly goes down in flames.

And yes — the United States of America would do well, for once, to listen and learn from someone else. A little humility never hurt anyone. And boring is good.