American Samizdat: Rebel Scum Since 2001

Melissa Slager: Bible essay stirs trouble for teacher

2007-03-18T08:23:00.000-07:00

On Jan. 31, [Gary] McDonald gave the class, which consisted of juniors and seniors taking it as an elective, an assignment to read an Iroquois tale of creation, "The World on the Turtle's Back," in the course textbook. The textbook's teacher edition suggests having students compare the creation myth with other creation accounts, as well as discuss their own concepts of good and evil. McDonald

From Every Village Green

2007-03-17T21:58:00.000-07:00

Taking place tommorow all over Maine, the Every Village Green movement was organized by a humble coffee roaster from Bar Harbor. The term 'village green' seems to have migrated to New England from old England, where the fight still goes on. Adding a 'green infrastructure' to the open spaces mix, Seattle plans ahead.

Yet Another Attempt at My Own Music Channel

2007-03-16T22:20:00.000-07:00

It only works with Mozilla. Has 50 or so vids so far. You have to move the cursor to find "play".

For Guys Who Dig Chicks

2007-03-16T22:33:00.000-07:00

From Truthdig.

Warren Ellis' "Black Summer"

2007-03-16T22:06:00.000-07:00

Here's a Watchmen like question: Who is the real bad guy: people who mug old ladies or folks who kill a half million Iraqis? If you really wanted to stop crime, then who would you kill first? I think that's the premise for this comic called "Black Summer", which I heard about at Warren Ellis' great site. More quotes from

Amnesty International

2007-03-16T21:15:00.000-07:00

'Ted Bundy was accused of torturing, raping, and assassinating at least 100 women, including a girl. He went through 3 trials and countless appeals before his case was resolved. 'He had due process of law. Why does a Guant�namo prisoner not?'

Elderly Man Beaten To Death On Highway

2007-03-16T17:02:00.000-07:00

Police said a motorist beat a former Soviet political prisoner to death with a rock Thursday at a New Jersey highway rest stop after the victim declined to buy his religious CDs. Brian White of Humble, Texas, was arrested after a 90-mile chase and charged with murder, eluding police and weapons violations. The victim's secretary said 75-year-old Michail Makarenko of Hillsboro, Va., spent 11

GMO Corn Causes Liver, Kidney Problems In Rats: Study

2007-03-15T22:33:00.000-07:00

Asamblea Popular de Modelos por Oaxaca � Supermodels for Oaxaca

2007-03-15T20:48:00.000-07:00

E-Mails Show Rove's Role in U.S. Attorney Firings

2007-03-15T17:53:00.000-07:00

New unreleased e-mails from top administration officials show that the idea of firing all 93 U.S. attorneys was raised by White House adviser Karl Rove in early January 2005, indicating Rove was more involved in the plan than the White House previously acknowledged. The e-mails also show that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales discussed the idea of firing the attorneys en masse while he was still

Trevor Blake Letter to Garrison Keiler

2007-03-15T08:41:00.000-07:00

[The following in reply to Garrison Keiler's essay Stating the Obvious at Salon.com] I was disappointed and saddened by your piece in Salon magazine. I think that you were trying to emphasize that parenthood is about children and not parents, but for no good reason along the way you took a jab at same-sex parents. It's a stone cold fact that some ethnic groups have higher divorce rates than

Ed Pilkington; Evangelical Christians attack use of torture by US

2007-03-14T12:39:00.000-07:00

The uncoupling of American evangelism from the administration of George Bush gathered pace yesterday when one of the largest national umbrella groups of socially conservative Christians issued a statement critical of US policy towards detainees and repudiating torture as a tactic in the war on terror. The National Association of Evangelicals (NAE), which represents about 45,000 churches across

whistleblower protection legislation

2007-03-14T12:59:00.000-07:00

Jesselyn Radack has the details of the whistleblower protection legislation that is being voted on today. The legislation was looking great until yesterday when the repugs tried to slice it up. Oh - and President Bush threatened to veto it . Now why would he do that?

"Human Spaces" by Miso

2007-03-12T23:38:00.000-07:00

Interesting new acid jazz tune by the band called Miso. Very Portisheadish. You can download this vid here. Below: It's not shot very well but I can't get that beautiful guitar riff out of my head. "Sweet Trip" by Chocolate Matter. "Chocolate Matter" by Sweet Trip. And Yes: I directed and produced this Broadcast video, rated at two stars which I

NEW EFF Stickers

2007-03-12T23:35:00.000-07:00

New Stickers from the EFF. (from Boing Boing)

Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif.) is first Congress member in history to acknowledge his nontheism

2007-03-12T14:16:00.000-07:00

There is only one member of Congress who is on record as not holding a god-belief. Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif.), a member of Congress since 1973, acknowledged his nontheism in response to an inquiry by the Secular Coalition for America (www.secular.org ). Rep. Stark is a senior member of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee and is Chair of the Health Subcommittee.

Religion in the News

2007-03-10T08:52:00.000-08:00

Larry Wilson: Ex-Steuben pastor pleads guilty to sex abuse charges. A former Steuben County pastor faces up to 32 years in prison following his guilty plea Monday to felony sexual abuse charges. David J. Troup, 39, of Frog Hollow Road, Painted Post, pleaded guilty Monday to all charges in a Jan. 18 indictment. The most serious charge, first-degree course of conduct against a child, carries a

Mt Blackmore: The Future of America?

2007-03-09T11:24:00.000-08:00

Someday, soon I hope, through enlightened private and public funding, we will carve out of some hills in Mississippi or Alabama, an obsidian panoply of American black heroes. There will, I'm certain, be many more than four faces. It will be called Mt Blackmore. The short list of candidates should include Marcus Garvey, Dr Martin Luther King Jr, Booker T Washington, Sojourner Truth, George

Albert Mohler: Is Your Baby Gay? What If You Could Know? What If You Could Do Something About It?

2007-03-09T07:41:00.000-08:00

What if you could know that your unborn baby boy is likely to be sexually attracted to other boys? Beyond that, what if hormonal treatments could change the baby's orientation to heterosexual? Would you do it? Some scientists believe that such developments are just around the corner. [...] If a biological basis is found, and if a prenatal test is then developed, and if a successful treatment to

Ben Evans: Gingrich Had Affair During Clinton Probe

2007-03-09T07:35:00.000-08:00

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich acknowledged he was having an extramarital affair even as he led the charge against President Clinton over the Monica Lewinsky affair, he acknowledged in an interview with a conservative Christian group. [Christianity is clearly the source of morals and moral behavior.]

Illegal immigrants are not a burden on the health care system

2007-03-08T10:00:00.000-08:00

A short item in the March/April issue of Foreign Policy (not available online) based on a Rand Corporation study takes look at the claim. The FP notes that U.S.-born residents make up 86.9 percent of the population; legal immigrants 9.9 percent and illegals 3.2 percent. Their respective shares of healthcare spending are 91.5 percent, 7 percent and 1.5 percent. Based on that data, the FP

Think you know how to read, do you? | Salon Books

2007-03-08T04:19:00.000-08:00

"A new throng of authors wants to save literature from our nefarious English departments and teach us how to read their way. Now, class, pay attention." � Tom Lutz (Salon Premium)

"Province" by TV on the Radio Plus David Bowie

2007-03-08T03:38:00.000-08:00

Province Uploaded by SteelydanAbove: Neo alt african american rockers TV on the Radio with a backup assist from David Bowie. Well directed video. Also: Yes, I directed and produced this Broadcast video, rated at two stars which I think stands for "EX cellence." And Goddamn you Reginald Hudlin. Goddamn you and BET on J to Hell.

Funny Toon by Stephanie About What We Were All Thinking

2007-03-08T03:36:00.000-08:00

Obama and Edward Said Pic

2007-03-08T03:03:00.000-08:00

The Angry Arab says Hillary will trot out this pic of Obama speaking with Edward Said, who's a bad person because he thinks Palestinians are people. Bu there wouldn't necessarily be an overt rebuke. The poison would look more like this. By the way, Said said things like this (from Wikipedia, although with a second's worth of googling you could