Smart people saying smart things

Last updated on: July 6, 2012 at 10:26 am By Fred Clark

Linda J. Bilmes and Shelby Chodos: “Want to stimulate the economy? Let’s hand cash directly to the states“ A state-directed recovery initiative would be the quickest, easiest way to reduce unemployment and get the economy moving again. Congress would simply distribute money to the states, based on population and with no strings attached. Each state could use these funds however it chooses, whether by cutting taxes on small business and families, or by investing in education or infrastructure. … The... Read more

Remember to Rescue Me

Last updated on: July 5, 2012 at 9:11 pm By Fred Clark

Big business it don’t like you … “Remember the Time,” Michael Jackson “Remind Me,” Ella Fitzgerald “Reminder,” Radiohead “Reminiscing,” Buddy Holly “Remote Control,” The Clash “Renaissance Man,” Midnight Oil “Render Love,” The Choir “Repatriated,” Handsome Furs “Repetition,” The Kinks “Reprisidente,” Swimming Pool Q’s “Requiem,” M. Ward “Rescue,” Lucinda Williams “Rescue Me,” The Alarm That Lucinda Williams song is a lovely, lovely thing. The lyrics are here. There’s an old, old joke about Christian-brand pop music that you can just take... Read more

Evangelical tribalism on display (with photos)

Last updated on: July 5, 2012 at 6:31 pm By Fred Clark

Buzzfeed’s Matt Stopera shares “56 Things I Learned at the Biggest Christian Music Festival in the World.” That would be the 34th annual Creation Festival, right here in Pennsylvania. I’ve been there twice. Stopera’s piece is similar to the handful of CBA Freak Show articles that will be coming out later this month, after the annual ritual of the Christian Booksellers Association Convention. (This year’s CBA convention — now called the “International Christian Retail Show” runs July 15-18. Look for... Read more

Jiving us that we were voodoo

Last updated on: July 5, 2012 at 3:50 pm By Fred Clark

“So, You’ve Been Accused of Witchcraft” “Sixteen of the last 17 years have been the hottest years on record. That’s just how it is.” “If we did not have global warming, we wouldn’t see this.” “Weather + time = climate. It’s well past time to start thinking of that ‘time’ as now.” “Conservatives who profess to revere the text and original meaning of the Constitution should consider what all the sound and fury of the Federalist Society is worth when... Read more

One Step Up and Two Steps Back

Last updated on: July 5, 2012 at 1:35 pm By Fred Clark

One step up … Mary Beth Quirk: “California Goes Gangbusters Against Abusive Lending, Passes Sweeping Foreclosure-Protection Law” Hey, rest of the country that isn’t California! This is how you do it: California legislators went ahead and approved a sweeping bill on Monday that is basically a homeowner bill of rights, including ending abusive practices by mortgage lenders while at the same time helping homeowners evade the abyss of foreclosure. California ain’t kidding around. While there are other states with similar... Read more

If you believe the logo’s Man on the Moon

Last updated on: July 5, 2012 at 10:53 am By Fred Clark

Darrell at Stuff Fundies Like writes: A fundamentalist can survive without many things such as the friendship of those in his community or the pleasures of his current culture but no fundamentalist can go very long without A Cause to champion. For the wiles of the devil infect every corner of our universe and we must spare no effort to fight him wherever we spot his hand at work. No personal cost is to great, even if it means going... Read more

That side was made for you and me

Last updated on: July 4, 2012 at 11:41 pm By Fred Clark

Google’s doodle for the Fourth of July worked in the words of the great Woody Guthrie: “This land was made for you and me.” TBogg ventures over to Michelle Malkin’s corner of the Internet to find that this did not go over well at all with the right wing: “Google is carrying on it’s tradition of sneering contempt for all things patriotic and American.” “Nothing like a celebration of a communist on Independence Day.” “Scumbags from Google celebrate the 4th... Read more

Voices: Three personal testimonies

Last updated on: July 4, 2012 at 9:27 pm By Fred Clark

Three people sharing their stories. These are all worth reading in full. Anderson Cooper: While as a society we are moving toward greater inclusion and equality for all people, the tide of history only advances when people make themselves fully visible. There continue to be far too many incidences of bullying of young people, as well as discrimination and violence against people of all ages, based on their sexual orientation, and I believe there is value in making clear where... Read more

‘Libertarianism is [not] a philosophy of individual freedom’

Last updated on: July 4, 2012 at 4:31 pm By Fred Clark

At Crooked Timber, Chris Bertram, Corey Robin and Alex Gourevitch have collaborated on a post for the ages: “Let It Bleed: Libertarianism and the Workplace.” Here is their thesis, succinctly stated in the first paragraph: Libertarianism is a philosophy of individual freedom. Or so its adherents claim. But with their single-minded defense of the rights of property and contract, libertarians cannot come to grips with the systemic denial of freedom in private regimes of power, particularly the workplace. When they... Read more

‘The Cult of the Individual and the Idolatry of Greed’

Last updated on: July 4, 2012 at 2:57 pm By Fred Clark

Michael Bird is a very conservative evangelical theology professor. He’s theologically conservative in the tradition of evangelical orthodoxy and, like many evangelicals, he’s very politically conservative on social issues, opposing, he says, “same-sex marriage, euthanasia, and abortion, etc.” But Michael Bird is not an American. He teaches in Australia and formerly lived in the UK. And since Bird is not an American, he hasn’t absorbed the peculiarly American form of evangelical tribalism that regards universal health care as though it... Read more

I am three that testify on earth and agree as one. The Spirit, the water, and what completes our trio?