Engaged Awakening

Is it time? Already?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 4 Mar 2011 13:06:00 -0800

Republicans are offering up some interesting potential candidates.
My bets are on Mitt Romney since I just can't imagine another one of the hopefuls equaling his amazingly facility with being boring. He's also got the best chance of stealing the political middle from Obama. But even that's a longshot at this point.

And then there's hope...

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 4 Mar 2011 09:56:00 -0800

Inspiring.

The Middle East Protests

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 14:05:00 -0800

Which one's next?
Click on the pic to go to the interactive map.

Beck and Bachman Need to Study

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 14:20:00 -0800

So Glenn Beck didn't like Chris Matthews' calling out Michelle Bachman on her ignorance. In the process, as the Huffington Post points out, Beck made himself look more than a little dopey. Consider this rant against Chris Matthews:

"You sir, are a balloon head that was taught by a balloon head and all you did because you're a balloon head was sit in your stupid balloon head Ivy League classroom and be indoctrinated by a balloon head and never ever used your balloon head to ask an intelligent question of the balloon head in the tweed jacket! You self-sanctimonious, self-important balloon head, America has had enough. Do your own homework."

Hard for me not to smile at this since Beck, himself, never graduated from college.

Intro: State of the Union

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 13:10:00 -0800

Some rightist reaction to the Arizona tragedy...

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 07:51:00 -0800

Palin says...

And Rush...

Hans Rosling's Joy of Stats

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 2 Dec 2010 10:51:00 -0800

OK, Who's At Fault?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 16:54:00 -0800

Andrew Sullivan offers an interesting bit of analysis:

Of course there are recessions at play, but this still fascinates.

The Video Is Too Damn Funny

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 3 Nov 2010 13:15:00 -0700

Dems Move to the Overlook Hotel!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 3 Nov 2010 12:22:00 -0700

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Indecision 2010 - Maybe We Can't - Election Results

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show Full Episodes

Political Humor

Rally to Restore Sanity

Capone Didn't Win?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 3 Nov 2010 12:07:00 -0700

Uh... what are we supposed to think about this?

Palin's Effect

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 3 Nov 2010 11:57:00 -0700

From POLITICO.com we get the following:

"Sarah Palin endorsed 60 candidates this year, but when dust settled Wednesday morning, the biggest beneficiary of the “Sarah Palin effect” was not necessarily the candidates themselves, but the Palin brand.

Of the 34 candidates Palin endorsed for the House, only 15 won, a less-than-stellar average for someone vying to be the difference-maker in Republican politics."

Name brand recognition is pretty important, but the Dems have got to be hoping that she runs. If she does run this will provide Obama and his party with a perfect foil. The Tea Baggers might be able to win primaries, but, as the cliche goes, they can't win general elections. For us to think that yesterdays returns suggest otherwise is naive at best, it seems, based on the numbers.

Stop Rand Paul on Election Day

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 22:04:00 -0700

Wow. That's it. Wow.

Meet the Midterms

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 13:21:00 -0700

Meet the Press, 10/24/2010
Midterm Elections

'Hiccup Girl', Bad Girl

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 09:33:00 -0700

The Daily Beast reports that the "Hiccup Girl" might be charged with murder:

Jennifer Mee became famous in 2007 after she came down with a case of the hiccups that lasted for five weeks; you may have caught her on the Today Show or other news shows at the time. Her hiccups eventually went away, but now she’s in the news again: She was recently charged with murder. Mee and two others are accused of killing Shannon A. Griffin in an armed robbery. He was found with “several gunshot wounds to his upper body,” according to St. Petersburg Police. Mee is accused of luring Griffin to the scene of the crime. She could face the death penalty.

Read it at MSNBC

Yes, Christine. There is a First Amendment.

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 14:12:00 -0700

File this under oops:

"Where in the Constitution is the separation of church and state?" O'Donnell asked [her opponent Chris Coons during a debate]. When Coons responded that the First Amendment bars Congress from making laws respecting the establishment of religion, O'Donnell asked: "You're telling me that's in the First Amendment?"
Her comments, in a debate aired on radio station WDEL, generated a buzz in the audience. "You actually audibly heard the crowd gasp," Widener University political scientist Wesley Leckrone said after the debate, adding that it raised questions about O'Donnell's grasp of the Constitution.

Okay. So. Technically she's right, but her comments suggest something really goofy. If you get the GOP nod for Senate in any state (even Alaska), you should know about the meaning of the "establishment clause." Even better if she knows about the "Lemon Test."

Colbert's Tea-Baggin' Report

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 12:27:00 -0700

On Topic: Colbert Case Files - Tea Party

The Colbert Report

Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

www.colbertnation.com

Colbert Report Full Episodes

2010 Election

March to Keep Fear Alive

California Ballot Propositions

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 09:35:00 -0700

Prop 19:

Proposition 19: Legalization of Marijuana in California from Citizen Voice on Vimeo.

Prop 20:

Proposition 20: Redistricting – Congressional Districts from Citizen Voice on Vimeo.

Prop 21:

Proposition 21: Vehicle License Surcharge for State Parks and Wildlife Programs from Citizen Voice on Vimeo.

Prop 22:

Proposition 22: Protection of Local Tax Revenues from State from Citizen Voice on Vimeo.

Prop 23:

Proposition 23: Suspends AB 32 (Global Warming Law) Until State Unemployment Drops from Citizen Voice on Vimeo.

Prop 24:

Proposition 24: Repeal of Business Tax Laws from Citizen Voice on Vimeo.

Prop 25:

Proposition 25: State Budget – Changes Requirement to Pass a State Budget From 2/3 of Legislators to a Simple Majority (50% pl from Citizen Voice on Vimeo.

Prop 26:

Proposition 26: Requires 2/3 Vote for State and Local “Fees” from Citizen Voice on Vimeo.

Prop 27:

Proposition 27: Eliminates State Citizens Panel On Redistricting/Makes Redistricting the Job of Elected Officials from Citizen Voice on Vimeo.

Mental Health Break: Go Giants!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 14:51:00 -0700

Prop 23

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 12:20:00 -0700

Yes!

...and yes again in the form of a news clip off of some guy's TV.

No!

...and no again.

Whose work crafts a more compelling message?

Prop 19

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 12:18:00 -0700

Political Quiz

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 09:42:00 -0700

Here's a basic, ham-handed political philosophy quiz I was forced to take. Interesting.

My Results

The following are your scores. They are based on a gradual range of 0 to 12. For instance, a Conservative/Progressive score of 3 and 0 will both yield a result of social conservative, yet 0 would be an extreme conservative and 3 a moderate conservative

Conservative/Progressive score: 10
You are a social progressive. You generally consider yourself a humanist first. You probably think that religion and patriotism go too far in society. You probably consider yourself to be a citizen of Earth first rather than a citizen of your country.

Capitalist Purist/Social Capitalist score: 9
You're a Social Capitalist, you think that, left to its own, Capitalism leaves a lot of people behind. You think that Health Care should be free to all, that the minimum wage should be raised, and that the government should provide jobs to all that are capable of having them. You likely hated the Bush tax cuts, and believe that the middle class has gotten poorer, and the rich have gotten richer over the past several years. The far extreme of social capitalism is socialism.

Libertarian/Authoritarian score: 3
You are libertarian. You think that the government is making way too many unnecessary laws that are taking away our innate rights. You believe that the government's job is primarily to protect people from harming other people, but after that they should mind their own business, and if we give the government too much power in controlling our lives, it can lead to fascism.

Pacifist/Militarist score: 6
You're a Moderate. You think that in very rare occasions, the United States should invade a country in order to make the world better by spreading democracy or ending a tyrants rule. You also think that defense is very important, and we shouldn't lower the defense budget. You think that, while the Iraq War probably was a mistake, that we can make the world a better place by sticking with it and spreading democracy in the middle east.

Currently, after 69400 submissions, the average Conservative/Progressive score is 5.98, the average Capitalist Purist/Social Capitalist score is 6.72, the average Libertarian/Authoritarian score is 5.51, and the average Pacifist/Militarist score is 4.58

Jerry Brown, Meg Whitman, Whores & N-words

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 11:09:00 -0700

Meg Whitman and Jerry Brown sparred last night. But rather than cover the details of their plans, the media has seemed to focus on a rather trivial and brief exchange involving the "W" word and how it doesn't equate to the "N" word.

SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – It took about 30 minutes for gubernatorial rivals Meg Whitman and Jerry Brown on Tuesday night to get at what debate moderator Tom Brokaw called the "100,000-pound gorilla in the room."
Brokaw let the Sacramento statehouse candidates duke it out first over tax and budget issues before he turned directly to the tabloid-like controversy involving a Brown aide caught on tape suggesting the Democrat could call Whitman a "whore" in a campaign commercial.

Of course, "whore" was the term used by Whitman's current campaign manager and former California governor, Pete Wilson, referred to Congress.

Read more

Chilean mine rescue freeing trapped men one by one

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 10:57:00 -0700

BBC News reports:

The operation has run smoothly so far. Health Minister Jaime Manalich said that if working conditions stayed the same, the rescue should be completed in one-and-a-half days, half a day quicker than predicted.

The men have been trapped underground since 5 August, when a rockfall caused a tunnel to collapse.

Go Chile! You're back.

Americans Aren't That Into Her

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 8 Oct 2010 12:14:00 -0700

Salon.com reports:

According to a new CBS poll, America really doesn't care for Sarah Palin. She is viewed favorably by 22% of Americans, and unfavorably by 48%. Those are not great numbers for a potential 2012 candidate.

One problem is that powerful female politicians tend to be divisive, to say the least. In a New York Times/CBS poll from the summer of 2007, Hillary Clinton was viewed unfavorably by 42% of registered voters. She polled as high as 46% unfavorable before that. (Gallup had her at 50% unfavorable.) Everyone also began hating San Francisco liberal Nancy Pelosi once she became Speaker of the House.