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Divine Schizophrenia
Author: BobR    Date: 09/23/2011 12:51:03

Hundreds of years ago, our country was settled by refugees from England, escaping the tyranny of a state-imposed religion. They came to the New World where they could practice their religion free from persecution. It was such an important notion to the authors of the Constitution that they specifically included language in the Bill of Rights allowing every citizen to practice their own religion. That freedom - when mixed with self-delusion, ego, and what could certainly pass as schizophrenia has people declaring that God has spoken to them directly, and passing that message along as though they were God's own mouthpiece.
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66 comments (Latest Comment: 09/23/2011 22:56:28 by Mondobubba)

Murder Begets Murder. Love Begets Love.
Author: Raine    Date: 09/22/2011 12:57:50

I have little to say this morning on the execution of Troy Davis last night. My heart is sad that we allow this sort of injustice in our nation. But there is something else to be said here. You see, 2 people were executed last night. The other execution was of the murderer of James Byrd. Mr. Byrd, you will recall had his throat slit, and was tied to the back of a pickup truck and dragged until his limbs fell off the rest of his body. Troy Davis was charged with mudering a police officer --altho no murder weapon was ever found. 7 of 9 witness' in his case recanted testimony, and Mr Davis faced 4 execution dates. I have long made my feeling clear about the Troy Davis case. I have also made my feeling about the death penalty clear-- I am not a proponent of it.
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55 comments (Latest Comment: 09/22/2011 20:24:15 by Raine)

Journalism 101 - Lying
Author: BobR    Date: 09/21/2011 12:35:39

Watching or reading news or "non-fiction" books these days, one often yearns for the "gold old days" of journalism. Back then, the news reported the news, warts and all, and the only "rebuttals" or spin was on the talk shows. We look back to Walter Cronkite or Edward R Murrow, thinking that News Organizations were more honest and unbiased. Never mind that Murrow's "See It Now" show was cancelled after a dispute over providing "equal time" for those painted in an unsavory light by the show. Way back in 1958, he was criticizing how news had become entertainment.

So fast-forward 50 years, and look how far the genre has fallen: We have a serious blur between news and opinion, we have rumor and popular opinion passing as fact ("some say"), and we have tell-all books with quotes from unnamed sources, corroborated by further unnamed sources. Forget the amateur journalism of people like James O'Keefe, who take a couple hours of video and snip it down into pieces and rearrange them chronologically to tell a story that never existed. Respectable journalism is just as unrespectable as ever.
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55 comments (Latest Comment: 09/22/2011 02:44:37 by clintster)

Ask a Vet
Author: TriSec    Date: 09/20/2011 10:21:48

Good Morning.

Today is our 3,107th day in Iraq, and our 3,635th day in Afghanistan.

We'll start this morning as we always do; with the latest casualty figures from our ongoing wars, courtesy of Antiwar.com:

American Deaths
Since war began (3/19/03): 4475
Since "Mission Accomplished" (5/1/03): 4336
Since Handover (6/29/04): 3616
Since Obama Inauguration (1/20/09): 247
Since Operation New Dawn: 47

Other Coalition Troops - Iraq: 318
US Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 1,774
Other Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 949
Contractor Employee Deaths - Iraq: 1,487
Journalists - Iraq : 348
Academics Killed - Iraq: 448

We find this morning's cost of war passing through:

$ 1, 252, 108, 800, 000 .00

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54 comments (Latest Comment: 09/20/2011 21:45:26 by BobR)

Arrrgh! Ye Monday Stub
Author: Raine    Date: 09/19/2011 12:37:40

Today is Talk like a pirate day! So to me fellow scurvy bilge rats enjoy this this little booty, or ah''ll make ya walk the plank!

ARRR!

85 comments (Latest Comment: 09/20/2011 01:11:33 by livingonli)

The Candidates Part 10
Author: velveeta jones    Date: 09/18/2011 15:27:18

Just when you thought the GOP lineup for Twenty-twelve was nothing but losers, snoozers, bamboozlers, loonies, hucksters and a black guy, in steps another George W Bush. This time, with brains!

Richard Jonathan "Smiley" “Rick” Perry was born in a dirt floor shack in Cob-Web Creek, TX. His mother, a stay-at-home Mom sewed all of his clothes for school, while his father worked at various odd jobs and lived off the government as much as possible.
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6 comments (Latest Comment: 09/18/2011 21:28:58 by trojanrabbit)

Not much this week
Author: TriSec    Date: 09/17/2011 11:20:35

Good Morning!

Well, it's the first time in a while that I think I've got nothing significant today.

At least in my neck of the woods, it's a glorious fall day...make sure you get outside and enjoy it if you can.
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4 comments (Latest Comment: 09/18/2011 01:20:50 by Raine)

Friday Science Stack
Author: BobR    Date: 09/16/2011 12:47:52

Occasionally at FourFreedomsBlog, we like to take a diversion from politics and delve into other interests. Today, that would be interesting stories from the world of science. Yes, science CAN be political (especially since Republican politicians don't believe in it when it contradicts the desires of their campaign contributers), but these stories should be fairly non-controversial (except to those wedded to their belief in creationism). What is wonderful about science is that it is not afraid to admit it was wrong, and makes adjustments as new data comes in. In fact, that IS what science is about - furthering our understanding of the world through investigation and gathering data.
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55 comments (Latest Comment: 09/17/2011 02:31:56 by BobR)

Truth Vaccine
Author: Raine    Date: 09/15/2011 12:55:59

Today I would like to take a look at this Perry/Bachmann HPV vaccination issue.

I don't have a problem with the vaccinations, to be honest... Rick Perry, however, only required it for females in his state. What is not reported is that it was overturned by the Texas legislature, AFTER he recieved a lot of money. But let's get back to that female thing... The CDC has stated it recommends it for males as well:
HPV vaccines prevent serious health problems, such as cervical cancer and other, less common cancers, which are caused by HPV (human papillomavirus). In addition to cancer, HPV can also cause other health problems, such as genital warts. HPV is a common virus that is easily spread by skin-to-skin contact during sexual activity with another person. It is possible to have HPV without knowing it, so it is possible to unknowingly spread HPV to another person. Safe, effective vaccines are available to protect females and males against some of the most common types of HPV and the health problems that the virus can cause.
So why not males? Are only girls sexually active? Are they the only ones responsible for sexual activity?
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62 comments (Latest Comment: 09/16/2011 02:17:29 by Scoopster)

Bloodthirsty
Author: BobR    Date: 09/14/2011 12:32:51

So the question I have to ask is: when did the Republicans transistion from the party of slow careful progress into a bunch of bloodthirsty vengeful animals? I know that's certainly a provocative question. But recent actions by both politicians and even the dedicated Republican voters have me wondering how it came to this...
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57 comments (Latest Comment: 09/15/2011 00:41:23 by livingonli)

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