Why are so many black Republicans so screwed up?

Same reason so many gay Republicans are screwed up.

Check out the latest from a majorly everybody-hating candidate for the US House from North Carolina.

Who would Jesus bash? Apparently everybody. Read More......

Open Thread

What's the buzz? Read More......

More Catholic Hate mongering towards gays

The Catholic Church is a pathetic institution. They are obsessed, just obsessed with gays -- and fostering hate towards gays. The Catholic Church in Boston has a special place of dishonor -- it has some of the biggest hypocrites and haters in the world. There is a special place in hell reserved for people who allowed the abuse of children. That's some legacy.

Now, they don't want orphans to find good, loving homes because the adoptive parents might be gay. That's so Christian:

The Boston Archdiocese's Catholic Charities said Friday it would stop providing adoption services because of a state law allowing gays and lesbians to adopt children.

The social services arm of the Roman Catholic archdiocese, which has provided adoption services for the state for about two decades, said the law runs counter to church teachings on homosexuality.

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More than 5,000 secret trials in America over the past three years

This reminds me of the philosophical and/or religious tenet that good cannot exist without evil, beauty cannot exist without the existence of things that are ugly, etc. Namely, that there is no way to know a thing, or define it, or see it clearly, unless you also know its opposite.

That being said. Far too many people do not realize what our country has turned into. Where is the Soviet Union when you need it (or become it)? Read More......

We had a great meet-up in San Francisco, about 50 people or so

A good 50 people showed up this morning to our AMERICAblog coffee we held at the $3 Bill Cafe at the LGBT center here in San Francisco. Was just great. The Cafe and the Center could not have been more accomodating, and we all really had a fun talk - hell, it went from 10:30am until 3pm LOL. I'm back in my hotel with a nasty chest cold, so going to nap for the next 3 hours to try and shake it.

Anyway, was great fun meeting everyone. Yet another city I could live in....

Steve Rhodes posted some photos on Flickr, for those who are interested. Read More......

Consumers looking for organic, healthy foods but the GOP doesn't get it

Isn't it funny how the GOP Congress can ignore consumer direction like this? The GOP is so owned by the big food (really, Big Chemical) industry that they overlook the realities of the market. They GOP has no idea any more what the market actually wants because they are so interested in protecting the status quo of the market. I try to purchase organic food when I can and one of my favorite little wines is a great Anjou red from an organic winery in the Loire. The price gap over here in Europe has been declining but it's still not cheap to go organic but the demand is clearly there. Who wants to feed themselves of their families steroids, pesticides and other strange chemicals in their every day meals if they can find something that is more natural?

The GOP doesn't get it but at least consumers do. Read More......

An actual Reuters photo of Cheney

What could it mean? Read More......

Bush's IRS wants to let people buy and sell your tax info

Privacy. P-r-i-v-a-c-y. Hello, Democrats? Helllllooooo? Houston, we have an issue. Read More......

Sandra Day O'Connor warns of coming US dictatorship, blames Republican rhetoric for increase of violence against judges

And let me just say I proposed, oh, a good year ago that someone fund a campaign against judicial hate speech in order to the Republicans to this issue and ultimately make them responsible for the violence, while more broadly showing that neither the Republicans nor their religious right cronies have any respect for the American way of life or for our government. They hate our democracy because it gets in the way of their grand plans to impose their minority will on the rest of us.

You might have noticed that no one stepped up and embraced my plan. Well, except Sandra Day O'Connor.

Will the Democrats seize this opening O'Connor has given them, to talk about our democracy, our values, about violence and hate speech?

Yeah right.

Listen and read the text of NPR's story on this matter here. Read More......

AMERICAblog coffee meet-up in San Fran today (Fri) 10:30AM at $3 Bill Cafe in LGBT center

Reposting this one last time. Be there or be square (or cubed).

Ok, it's decided. Yes, the Three Dollar Bill Cafe sounds a bit more of a schlep than the Hyatt or Bodin's, but it also sounds way nicer and cozier and exactly the kind of place a bunch of online activists in San Francisco should be meeting (someone's point about the Hyatt is spot-on, I mean, what kind of liberal activists meet at the Hyatt?) :-)

So, here we go:

WHAT: AMERICAblog reader meet-up coffee with John Aravosis
WHEN: Friday, March 10, 2006, 10:30AM - Noon (or so)
WHERE: Three Dollar Bill Cafe, in the LGBT Center, 1800 Market Street, San Francisco, Phone 415.503.1532 And here's the Google Map.

More info on the cafe:

http://www.threedollarbill.com/about/index.php Read More......

Seems that Grover has been a bad, bad boy

Someone really needs to take a closer look at this. It just reeks:

The chief of an Indian tribe represented by the lobbyist Jack Abramoff was admitted to a meeting with President Bush in 2001 days after the tribe paid a prominent conservative lobbying group $25,000 at Mr. Abramoff's direction, according to documents and interviews.

The payment was made to Americans for Tax Reform, a group run by Grover G. Norquist, one of the Republican Party's most influential policy strategists. Mr. Norquist was a friend and longtime associate of Mr. Abramoff.

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Friday Morning Open Thread

Long week. And since John is out of town, blogger.com is screwing with me. Happens every time. Read More......

Bush continues to sink in latest poll

The bad news just keeps coming for Bush and the GOP in this latest AP-Ipsos poll.

• 70% of Republicans think civil war will break out in Iraq.
  
• 70% of Americans think US is on wrong track
• 37% approve of his job performance
• 74% of Republicans approve his performance, down from 82% in February
  
• 36% approval rating on domestic affairs, down from 39% last month
• 43% approval on foreign policy and terrorism
  
• 40% approval on Iraq and economy
• 2/3 disapprove of Congress job performance
  

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Extinct mammal discovered in Laos

What an amazing story. The Laonastes aenigmamus was "discovered" by western scientists in remote villages of Laos who were thrilled to find a mammal that they thought had been extinct for 11 million years. The little rodent is a nocturnal animal that is trapped and sold in the local markets for food. I'm now wondering if they were the roasted snacks sold on skewers that the kids hold up to the bus windows when you enter a village there. (For the record, I passed on sampling those particular rodents.) Read More......

This is the view out my window from the desk I'm blogging at this very second

Wow.

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Dubai port deal is dead, Dubai pulls out to save Bush's face

Though, folks should pay careful attention to make sure something fishy isn't going on here, a back door deal or something. Read More......