Kitchen Sink Omelet

Could it be so simple? Is this the reason ultra-orthodox Republicans are losing support? Aristotle: [1356a] Of the modes of persuasion furnished by the spoken word there are three kinds. The first kind depends on the personal character of the speaker; the second on putting the audience into a certain frame of mind; the third on the proof, or apparent proof, provided by the words of the speech itself. Persuasion is achieved by the speaker's personal character when the speech is so spoken as to make us think him credible. We believe good men more fully and more readily than others: this is true generally whatever the question is, and absolutely true where exact certainty is impossible and opinions are divided. This kind of persuasion, like the others, should be achieved by what the speaker says, not by what people think of his character before he begins to speak. It is not true, as some writers assume in their treatises on rhetoric, that the personal goodness revealed by the spea...

" Moore didn't say this, but I'd love to ask him what he thinks of something I've believed for a long time: our imaginations are weak and pathetic. For the most part, the human mind prefers to travel along well-worn ruts and not strike off into new territory very often. Imagination isn't actually an act of will, it's not something our brains are good at, but what imagination actually is is a receptivity to novel external input, and a willingness to bumble along following a weird stimulus. We don't generate it, we simply respond to a jostling off the track by either, most of the time, trying to get back on the track, or if you're like Alan Moore, wandering happily off onto strange new frontiers." --PZ Myers http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2011/06/alan_moore_at_cheltenham.php

From Daily Kos by rss@dailykos.com (Barbara Morrill): "That the birthers aren't satisfied with the release of the long form birth certificate isn't surprising. Birthers aren't satisfied because no matter how many documents Barack Obama releases it will never be enough, because there isn't a document in the world that will turn him white."

From PZ Meyers : "Don't even try to pull out a scale and toss a copy of the Koran on one side and the life of a single human being on the other — the comparison is obscene. Do not try to tell me that some people are 'moderates' when they tolerate or even support and applaud war and death and murder for any cause, whether it is oil, or getting even, or defending the honor of wood pulp and ink."

A GLOWING REPORT ON RADIATION by Anne Coulter It may take a little explanation here to show just how bat-shit insane Ms. Coulter is, and how dangerous her "advice" is. She can cite studies all she wishes; she has no understanding of what radiation is, nor what the people of Japan are being exposed to. We're not dealing with just radiated energy from a source, like standing in front of an X-ray machine. The reason high levels of radiation are being measured in the air is due to airborne particles from steam vapor and smoke fumes. These microscopic particles settle over an area and increase the radiation exposure because the particles are radioactive due to their once being part of the nuclear fuel in the reactors. Even if they are washed away, they are still radioactive where ever they accumulate. The size of the tiny particles does not determine the level of radiation they emit. A smaller particle of plutonium can emit more radiation than a larger particle of cesiu...

The next few days are going to be even more revealing in Wisconsin. Gov. Walker has achieved his tear-filled dream of stripping the citizens of his state of their First Amendment rights (peaceful assembly and petition to address grievances). I'm sure freedom of the press will be going into the crapper soon. We'll then find out why it was so important for the citizens to be deprived of their collective bargaining rights:  Walker will cut all state employee pay (except his own) across the board. Naturally state employees will rally to protest, whereupon Walker--emotionally chocked with gratitude--will then fire all protesting state employees. Be sure he will single out teachers for the hardest blows of the axe--for some reason he really hates teachers. With the (illegal) firing of his state employees, Wlaker will then make up the $140 million budget shortfall he created by funneling money to his cronies. Conservatives have stressed in their political campaigns that local g...

"The ultimate test of any political movement is whether, on Election Day, that movement can defeat the politicians who crossed it. In order to get elected officials, beltway media, organizational leaders and other decision makers to take you seriously, the specter of electoral defeat is the only iron-clad, 100%-effective method." from Daily Kos by Chris Bowers