Recent comments

  • Highlights on the Show...February 22 - 26, 2010   15 years 11 weeks ago

    It is interesting that, just as majority leader Steny Hoyer started to introduce the idea of the public option, TV channels that were carrying the health care meeting went to commercials.

  • Highlights on the Show...February 22 - 26, 2010   15 years 11 weeks ago

    Rep. Anthony Weiner: Righteous Anger on the House Floor

    Video:

    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/ns/msnbc_tv-rachel_maddow_show#3557...

  • Highlights on the Show...February 22 - 26, 2010   15 years 11 weeks ago

    Gingrich Points One Finger at Obama; 4 Fingers Point Back at Republicans: "Gov't. is Smart, You're Stupid"

    Excellent summary of Republican/Democratic polices since Eisenhower (video):

    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/ns/msnbc_tv-countdown_with_keith_olb...

  • Highlights on the Show...February 22 - 26, 2010   15 years 11 weeks ago

    Science News - "Magic" Energy Box

    The Bloom Box may be an important future source of clean energy. This story was featured on last Sunday's "60 Minutes." A shorter story was hightlighted on MSNBC. Fascinating (video):

    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31510813/#35568227

  • Daily Topics - February 23, 2010   15 years 11 weeks ago

    I think what could unite everyone is showing, proving beyond a shadow of a doubt what actually happened with regards to 911. What American (should we succeed in proving) would stand with the side of those who had anything to do with the atrocity.

  • Daily Topics - February 23, 2010   15 years 11 weeks ago

    Nice link Zero G.

  • Daily Topics - February 23, 2010   15 years 11 weeks ago

    Gandhian.......if only.
    Even if there was no more money to be made, not one red cent, not one penny, those in power in this Country (the world) already have all they need, which is The Most. I suppose if we all united and were able to affect the financials we may be able to decrease the rate of wealth hoarding and create a sense of empowerment but don't see how it would change the fundamental caste system that historically laughs at these little "revolts" of peseants as it lives and breathes just as we do. Besides, hypothetical’s are not what movements are made of.

  • Daily Topics - Wednesday February 24th 2010   15 years 11 weeks ago

    Hello Thom, I called earlier today and was unable to answer the rest of the question related to hunting as we were short on time. You asked me if I felt crappy after shooting an animal. In short, I do, however I also feel thankful for the opportunity given me to harvest the wonderful creature god created. A mix of emotions bombard your head when you harvest an animal that is very difficult to explain. There is a feeling in taking a life that gives you a deep respect for the very life you take, a sacred, spiritual, connection with the animal that only a hunter can understand that is why I am sharing this with you and your viewers/ listeners. Most of the hunters I know share this very feeling and it ultimately contributes to the character of the individual as it gives them the utmost respect and value for life. With every animal I have harvested im my lifetime I felt thankful for the opportunity given to me to provide nourishment for my family and many other needy families in my community. I am not a killer I am a hunter there is a big difference. You had mentioned on the program as hunting being a sport. For me it is not a sport it is a way of life. I understand it is not a way of life for everyone and I respect that. Also most hunters I know share a good sense of ethics and truly value our enviornment. Hunters have greatly contributed to the reintroduction of species such as the rocky mountain elk not to mention our own deer population here in Virginia has grown leaps and bounds since I was a child this is due in part to good management and contributions from hunters. Being all this said, I do not feel humans are exceptional on this earth. All creatures have their place to inhabit the earth. Thom I would like to thank you for your viewpoints and all the good you have done in your lifetime. I feel a little more complete knowing there is hope for our country and way of life as we know it and feel fortunate to have discovered you and your program.

  • Daily Topics - Wednesday February 24th 2010   15 years 11 weeks ago

    As a Progressive, I love Thom’s show. While I consider him a genuine Progressive on economic matters... willing to challenge the basic assumptions of our market system, he seems to be caught in the middle of claiming to support democracy, talking favorably about social democracies in Europe... but seemingly incapable of mounting a serious challenge to the assumptions of our political system. It leads to some serious cognitive dissonance as we heard in today’s show.

    Thom was saying he was in favor of “democracy” in the Senate as if 51% of votes in the Senate was “democratic”. In reality because the Senate represents states not people, that 51% majority can represent as little as 18% of the US population. Here are some other numbers. Depending on the stars line up the following is possible:

    Senators representing a mere 11% of the population can block any legislation in the Senate using the filibuster.

    Senators representing a mere 24% of the population can break any filibuster.

    Senators representing about 30% of the population can ratify treaties.

    If Thom TRULY believed in democracy he’d be calling for sweeping reforms of ALL anti-democratic features of our Constitution… the Senate, the EC, the amendment process, and judicial and treaty ratification.

    Reforming the Senate is improbable given the reform-proof nature of our Constitution. But perhaps there’s a back door… using Senate rules to weight the vote of any senator to ½ of the population of their state. Read more here:

    http://reinventing-america.blogspot.com/2010/02/reforming-anti-democrati...

    Of course this would do nothing to bring other needed reforms to our system… such as proportional representation that could break up our dysfunctional if not braindead two-party system. As a Progressive I can vote FOREVER and never be represented for my beliefs in Washington.

    Maybe his on-air views have little to do with his REAL beliefs about democracy. Maybe it has more to do with his running a successful radio program and afraid of losing sponsors. After all, to question the antidemocratic assumptions that underlie our federal government is to question the moral legitimacy of our system.

    As for the missing posts... I posted them to the wrong day's blog.

  • Daily Topics - Wednesday February 24th 2010   15 years 11 weeks ago

    hey DALLAS: are you the musician who played with CSNY?

  • Is Faux News calling on Gays to be put to death?   15 years 11 weeks ago

    Ms. Ashley defines what is so wrong with this country, in that she believes she has a right to impose her own belief system--which she calls truth--onto other Americans.

    The major political parties, and most religions, also believe that their certainty of belief allows them the divine right to impose their will on others.

    Since the time of Reagan, and, some would argue, since the era conservative Theocracy first inserted itself into our political process in the 1950's, our government has not operated "for" the people, rather it has run to "influence" the people as it coerces them with a set of certainties that are not universally believed.

    Ms. Ashley comes from a sophisticated region, and most likely received her education in some of the finest schools in the Los Angeles area. It is, therefore, quite surprising she has come to the decision that her gay & lesbian co-citizens should not only have their civil rights taken away, but that they somehow deserve to be killed.

    I am Jewish, but living as an agnostic. However, it is my belief that ALL beauty pageant contestants, in fact, ALL blonde-haired women, must be stoned to death because they are suffering from extraordinary vanity. Sounds silly, doesn't it?

    If she is as well-rounded, and as well-versed in the Bible as she represents herself to be, then she knows that the Bible was written by a group of men who were desperately trying to restore order and create a safe society during a time of great suffering.

    I believe that women like Ms. Ashley should not be rewarded for making public her very shameful and divisive comments, and not be allowed to compete in a highly public competition where she have an opportunity to further divide this country with her hate speech about gays and lesbians.

    I am a straight woman, but I know with certainty that all homosexuals were born as they are; it is not a choice or even a behavior. They are gay & lesbian in the very same way that I am straight, due to their genetic makeup.

    How can anyone who claims to believe in the “black and white” Bible possibly believe otherwise? The fact that the Bible even refers to homosexuality is evidence proving the genetic reason for our sexual orientation. Does anyone think a person would choose to be gay when it meant certain death in biblical times? Why would anyone choose it today, when the hazards are as potentially devastating.

    We need to stop people from Ms. Ashley from damaging us with her hate speech by not giving her a public forum to do so.

  • Daily Topics - Wednesday February 24th 2010   15 years 11 weeks ago

    There are no comments made past 2:05p. Is there a second page to today's blog? I can't find 3 of my posts.

  • Daily Topics - Wednesday February 24th 2010   15 years 11 weeks ago

    I know a lady that keeps chickens as pets and will absolutely not sell one to you if she thinks you are going to raise it to eat. The eggs are probably ok, I think she's pro-choice ;)

  • Daily Topics - Wednesday February 24th 2010   15 years 11 weeks ago

    I have been thinking, if you all go vegan, what happens to the animals which were
    used for food. Do they go extinct? Their existence for the most part has depended on them being raised for the pot. No one will want to raise them for the pleasure alone.
    Are you ready to let another species die out? Something to think about.

  • Daily Topics - Wednesday February 24th 2010   15 years 11 weeks ago

    rewinn, thank you for the wikipedia reference! I should use wiki more often.

    Thom, I do not own a gun; I do not like guns; and I have never shot a gun. I do not say a person should not hunt but I do believe that a person should limit the killing of game life. One game life every so often to satisfy a person's taste for certain game, such as venison, pheasant, and/or duck.

  • Daily Topics - Wednesday February 24th 2010   15 years 11 weeks ago

    Quote of the day submission:

    "Dick Cheney - Staying Alive With The Best Health care YOUR MONEY Can Buy!"

    -Dallas Taylor
    St. Paul, MN...Land of Pawlenty's Victims

  • Daily Topics - Wednesday February 24th 2010   15 years 11 weeks ago

    @Gerald Socha - thanks for the Ben Salmon reference. It inspired me to start a wiki bio - perhaps you could improve it:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Salmon

    Tag! YOU'RE IT!!!

  • Daily Topics - Wednesday February 24th 2010   15 years 11 weeks ago

    I've just signed up at the Justice Robert Jackson Steering Committee website and would encourage others like minded to do so as well. http://lawsnotmen.org

    Lawyers and Journalists' Group Sees No End in Sight to the Controversy over Bush "Torture Lawyers"
    February 23, 2010
    The Justice Robert Jackson Steering Committee, a group of lawyers, journalists and advocates formed in the fall of 2008 to pursue the prosecution of top Bush administration officials for alleged war crimes while in office, is both greatly concerned and guardedly hopeful by the recent release of 2 different assessments from inside the Department of Justice on whether John Yoo and Jay Bybee, the lawyers who crafted "torture memos" inside the Bush administration's Office of Legal Counsel, engaged in professional misconduct.

  • Daily Topics - Wednesday February 24th 2010   15 years 11 weeks ago

    In this country, imho, bullets are shot by Health Insurers and unregulated polluters with the resulting deaths documented daily.

    Maybe you could incorporate as one of those?

    Human overpopulation is a problem - it's going to get a lot worse before it gets better.

  • Daily Topics - Wednesday February 24th 2010   15 years 11 weeks ago

    “The Bible is black and white.”

    I have a copy where the words of Jesus are printed in read. If Christians lived by those words and no others, we'd all be better off.

  • Daily Topics - Wednesday February 24th 2010   15 years 11 weeks ago

    Sure Bob, natural systems are not in balance, but human over population eclipses any wild animal over population.

    So do we start allowing human hunting? I might apply for a hunters license for banksters and brokers season. ;-)

  • Daily Topics - Wednesday February 24th 2010   15 years 11 weeks ago

    Hunting: if natural systems were in balance, there would be predators. Many wild animals are over populated and those who become sick die slow painful deaths, those who do not find food starve.

    This does not explain the hunting of apex predators, but it is a reason for hunting some animals.

  • Daily Topics - Wednesday February 24th 2010   15 years 11 weeks ago

    Guest request!

    JAN 16, 2010 podcast from go vegan radio

    listen to this week's program for guest KEN DAMRO, author of "A Northwoodsman's Guide to Everyday Compassion". KEN is a rehabilitated, reformed hunter, NOW VEGAN!!!

    http://www.goveganradio.com/veg/1003/Listen_to_Past_Shows.htm

  • Daily Topics - Wednesday February 24th 2010   15 years 11 weeks ago

    Thom, how 'bout a compromise, instead of experimenting on animals lets support lab testing neo-cons (there neither human or animal).

  • Daily Topics - Wednesday February 24th 2010   15 years 11 weeks ago

    You want to see how it's done, watch Anderson Cooper do it, together with David Gergen. They took Williams apart and made him dig his hole deeper, then shined the light into the hole. Transcript at CNN.

    http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0909/14/acd.02.html

    WILLIAMS: Well, I have no way of knowing for whom these people voted. I know I did speak across the country with quite a few people who did vote for Barack Obama and were very disappointed in the change that they are getting. It's not they had hope for.

    Sour grapes? These were working stiffs. These are people who pay the bills; these are the people who are being called Nazis and mobsters by their government. These are people that are being told that there's something is wrong with them. Because they embrace the Constitutional form of government we have.

    COOPER: But wait Mark, you're actually the one who called President Obama Nazi.

    WILLIAMS: I didn't call Barack Obama a Nazi.

    COOPER: Yes, he's on your list, on your Web site of like 21st century Nazis. You have his name.

    WILLIAMS: We've got the philosophy of fascism and national socialism at work here. Of course we do.

    COOPER: No, no but you have the president's name, although it's a derivation that's not his actually name, it's a name it's kind of a negative.

    WILLIAMS: Mubarak Hussein Obama.

    COOPER: Right, that's what's you call him on your Website. You're the one who's using the term Nazi.

    WILLIAMS: Sure. I call him Mubarak Hussein Obama. And he's a man who is sitting in the office right now, taking the seeds of socialism planted by George W. and fertilizing them and watering them until they go into full bloom.

    [...]

    COOPER: But I mean, Mark, what you're saying makes sense to me here when I'm hearing what you're saying. But then I read on your blog, you say -- you call the president an Indonesian Muslim turned welfare thug and a racist in chief.

    WILLIAMS: Yes.

    COOPER: Is that the kind of...

    WILLIAMS: That's the way he's behaving.

    COOPER: But I mean...

    WILLIAMS: I mean, if he cares to be...

    (CROSSTALK)

    COOPER: Do you believe he's Indonesian? Do you believe he's a Muslim? Do you really believe he's a welfare thug?

    WILLIAMS: He's certainly acting like it.

    GERGEN: You think he's a racist in chief? Racist in chief? Is that what you called him? That's unbelievable. It's unbelievable,

    WILLIAMS: Until he embraces the whole country -- what else can I conclude? He and guys like James are totally, totally isolating the rest of this country; if you're a working-class American, then you know, that's it.

    CARVILLE: I tell you, if you're an American, and you like what you're hearing from this guy, if you like celebrating a man's death, go over there with these people.

    C'mon, Thom. If Cooper, Carville and Gergen can do that, you should be able to do at least as well. You can do better than this.

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