NO PUBLIC OPTION

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Democratic Super Majority
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Jon Stewart rips into Democrats for not passing the public option plan

What's wrong with these Senate Democrats? They couldn't pass their health care plan despite having a super majority? They had the numbers on the committee, too, but some of those mangy blue dogs voted against the amendments despite 65% national approval for the plan. Now wait a minute. While we're busy keeping the world safe for democracy, maybe we should protect the homegrown variety. Let's give the people what they want. Did I mention 65% of the public supports this? Maybe I'm a little fuzzy on civics--yes, I realize this is a Republic and not a Democracy (look it up)--but why doesn't the majority rule?

Why does the stupid 35% win?

WORDS, WORDS, WORDS!

I'm getting tired of these ignorant dolts. From now on, let's make a rule: if you use the word "socialism," make sure you're referring to "various theories of economic organization advocating public or direct worker ownership and administration of the means of production and allocation of resources, and a society characterized by equal access to resources for all individuals with an egalitarian method of compensation."

If you mean "government-run," then say that when you complain about the "socialist" health care plan, but be consistent--also rail about your "socialist" fire department, your "socialist" post office and your "socialist" public library. You may hate the library already, since libraries are filled with books espousing all sorts of philosophies and economic theories and even evolution (gasp! they allow that?) and other wide-ranging subjects probably out of bounds of your Sunday school class or right wing study group. And fiction! Yes, fiction slays tyrants. There are books, actual books that lead the reader to imagine what it feels like to be a slave, to escape from a mental hospital, to chase a great white whale with a tyrannical captain at the helm! Go ahead, read a book--and not just the Bible. Read works of free, unchained imaginations if you truly despise tyranny!

Dictators always burn the books, don't they? So if your concern for freedom is genuine, and extends beyond your own self-interest and "talking points," make sure you support your local library.


Words are important. They mean certain, specific things, so try to use them correctly. In other words, don't just sling the word "socialism" around like an insult, the way you used to scream "communism" every time someone tried to organize voters or fluoridate the water. Words have actual meanings we can agree upon. Words have connotations, some very heated, connotations that can blind us to the actual issues being discussed. Choose them wisely.

Another word is "racist." Yes, there is racism alive and well in the USA, and just because we have a black president doesn't mean we've transcended our long history of disenfranchising certain groups based on race--as well as religion, and gender, and sexual orientation, and tax brackets. Nope, Obama didn't end racism, especially not in the dumber regions of America.


Conservatives love twisting words. For them, words are just a trick to befuddle the masses, to obfuscate reality, to throw sand in the eyes of the enemy. For them, words are tools to make their point when truth and reality don't suffice. Reminiscent of the days when they would decry "PC" as a way liberals were fettering their freedom of expression, now they claim any criticism of the government will be called "racism" by the liberals. Boy, they LOVE being underdogs, don't they? They claim they can't express themselves, but they sure don't have that problem when they howl and weep and wave their guns at the Town Hall Meetings. In spite of their claims, they never seem at a loss for words--whether or not they use them correctly remains a matter of opinion.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
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AL FRANKEN TEABAGS THE TEABAGGERS

Health care reform sure brings out the frightened crazies. Ill-informed, and whipped into a frenzy by right wing pundits, they cry and scream and repeat cliches and talking points. You've got to hand it to them. They sure work terribly hard against their own interests.

Once in a while truth prevails. A glimmer of hope brightens the darkness. You wonder if maybe, just maybe, logic and intelligence can overcome fear and ignorance--at least some of the time. Here, Senator Al Franken speaks with an angry crowd of teabaggers. He would have made Paul Wellstone proud.

Dusty Rice, who posted the clip, describes the scene:

"I got to witness something really special. About a dozen tea party activists had staked out Sen. Al Franken's booth, and confronted him loudly when he arrived. But within minutes, he'd turned an unruly crowd into a productive conversation on health care. The discussion went from insurance reform, to the public option, to veterans benefits, to cap and trade. He made a few laugh and even told a touching story that moved a few to tears. A whole lot of common ground was found."

HILLARY AGONISTES

Barrack Obama found himself on the defensive in his debate with Hillary Clinton Wednesday night. She hammered away at his lack of experience, his patriotism, his lack of a flag lapel pin, his remarks about the bitterness of small town America, and his association with bomb-throwing 1960s radicals, the Weathermen.

For his part, Obama didn't get down and dirty. He defended himself, but didn't aggressively attack Hillary. He acted like an adult. It can be argued that this wasn't his strongest debate, but it's hard to tell how it played in the heartland.

For her part, Hillary pandered to gun nuts and churchgoers, something politicians have always done. If this is an example of the "change" she is promising, I'm not convinced. In both style and content, it sounds like more of the same.

Here is an interesting column from the Chicago Sun-Times about Hillary's use of polarizing politics.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/mitchell/894548,CST-NWS-mitch15.article

LISTEN TO MUSIC! DOCTOR'S ORDERS

For a long time, music has been used to treat the conditions of autism, dementia, and schizophrenia, but now a new study from Helsinki University has analyzed the effects of music on patients recovering from a stroke. Some patients listened to music, some listened to audio books and some listened to nothing.

"After 3 months, verbal memory was boosted by 60% in music listeners, 18% in audio book listeners, and 29% in the third group who listened to nothing."

Enough said. Put on some music!

To find out why, read more on the study here.

MAGIC MUSHROOMS

If you live in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, especially Oregon, you've undoubtedly seen these mushrooms growing in damp fields and cow pastures. These are Psilocybe semilanceata, or Liberty Cap mushrooms, and they contain the psychoactive compound psilocybin, a powerful mind-altering substance.
Approach with caution, and not just because they distort your consciousness. These little nipple-capped fungi are listed as Schedule 1 drugs under the United Nations 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances, and therefore illegal to possess and distribute. The classification of psilocybin mushrooms as a Schedule 1 drug has come under criticism because they are considered soft drugs with a low potential for abuse. Local laws may be somewhat ambiguous. Either way, if you're poking around cow pies picking mushrooms, be aware of the risks involved.


In this age of the Great Drug Wars, it's difficult to find a truly disinterested observor speaking candidly about drug experiences (unless we're talking legal, socially acceptable drugs like alcohol, caffeine, and tobacco) so here is something rare: an intelligent, non-hysterical talk about magic mushrooms. The speaker is the well-respected physician and health expert, Dr. Andrew Weil, author of "Eight Weeks to Optimum Health" and other bestselling books.

Forbes on-line magazine writes: "Dr. Weil, a graduate of Harvard Medical School, is one of the most widely known and respected alternative medicine gurus. For five years, he has offered straightforward tips and advice on achieving wellness through natural means and educating the public on alternative therapies."

Here, Dr. Weil talks openly about psilocybin mushrooms without the distortion of drug war politics or puritanism clouding his report.

Andrew Weil, from "Mushroom Hunting." Journal of Psychedelic Drugs. Jan-Mar 1975: 7(1).

...Soon I had eaten 25 of the tiny mushrooms...[liberty caps in a field in Oregon]

Gradually I became aware of a strange sensation in my stomach, a sort of buzzing vibration that grew slowly in intensity. It was not at all unpleasant, and I knew at once it was the mushrooms. Over the next ten minutes this unusual feeling became stronger, filling my abdomen. Then it began to invade the rest of my body, pushing outward through the muscles to the extremities. I was distinctly aware of a subtle but powerful energy vibrating through the musculature of my whole body. It made me feel warm and strong. As it reached my head, my senses sharpened, and I found myself admiring qualities of the wet pasture I had ignored until then. The green of the grass was of glowing intensity, highlighted by tones of brown and red. The smell of the earth and rain was overpowering. I had no desire to move. If the ground had been dry, I would have stretched out and rolled on the grass.

For the rest of the story:
http://www.erowid.org/plants/mushrooms/mushrooms_ps_semilanceata_info1.shtml