Rand Paul supporter wants apology from protester

Rand Paul supporter wants apology from protester

Hey lady. I really think you should apologize to me since I stomped on your head!

What????

We saw Bill Maher recently, and a section of his show discussed the idea that patriotism has morphed into this nearly delusional idea that admitting anything is wrong with the United States is unpatriotic.  As Bill says often, we shouldn't want our country "back", but we should want it "forward."  He raises a good point: why does Obama get criticized when he is honest about something that the US has not done well or was wrong in as being weak?  Ridiculous.

Anyway, back to this guy who stomped on a 23-year-old woman's head: man up, apologize, you dumb brute.  But that's probably expecting too much.

Death won't halt rhino breeding program

Complements of the Cincinnati Enquirer: Death won't halt rhino breeding program

Whew. I was really worried about this. Thank you Enquirer for putting that fear to rest.

SERIOUSLY?! Am I a terrible person? Hundreds of people posting sympathy messages on Facebook? People will Facebook sympathy anything.

On a side note, I did find it fascinating that rhinos have a 480 day gestation. Holy frozen sperm, that is a long time!

Alligator eats boy's pet turtle at aquarium

I'm not sure why this article amused/bemused me so much when I saw it a few weeks ago.  It might be the unfortunate coincidence that the boy happened to be at the aquarium the very day his poor turtle was devoured.  Or the quote, "Oh no alligator, let it go!"  Or the fact that the aquarium apologized to the family for what appears to be a solid lesson of, well, nature, and thinking that the kid would be consoled by a dolphin meet and greet.  Ah the traumas of childhood.

Hiccup Girl in Serious Trouble

 'Hiccup Girl' charged with murder after allegedly uring (sic) man into trap

1. CNN, you might want to check your spelling on that title.  I do not know what uring is.
2. This is very unfortunate, and a weird reverse on "To Catch a Predator"- wonder if that's where the kids got the idea.
3. Not only is this sad for a 19 year old and the victim, it's also unfortunate that her reputation apparently proceeds her as the "Hiccup Girl."  I must have missed that particular internet sensation.

*probably shouldn't make fun of CNN when I have typos too!

Strange Phenonmenon: Making Ignorance Chic

I love this opinion article in the NYT: Making Ignorance Chic, by Maureen Dowd.  It's so sad but true- and I fear that we as a country have fallen prey to "Sarah's America."  Our country was founded by thinkers, deep thinkers.  Once upon a time, it was, as Dowd points out, "it was cool to be smart."  The mind boggling trend the past decade has been to favor the "common sense" folks with "American" values over the "intellectual elites."  Here's what I wish I understood better: where did we depart from the marriage between intellectualism and common sense?  The two aren't mutually exclusive and I don't know where the idea of the intellectuals versus... the ??? came from. 

Kurt Vonnegut's Look at the Birdie, published posthumously, has a haunting short story called "The Petrified Ants" where some anthropologists are looking at an ant civilization that has been found petrified in stone.  They observe this progression of the ants from intellectuals to being taken over by violent brutes.  Sound familiar?  Good read.

In large part, this recent rash of racist "patriotism" and intellectual hatred has to be racially based.  Why else would there be this insinuation of suspicion... or blatant outcry against well-educated people (a.k.a. Barack Obama).  Let's face it: the Republicans (as in the vocal party, I won't speak for everyone obviously) hate the idea of a black man being president.  They hate the idea that our country has become so diverse.  And they have capitalized on that hatred by reigning in uneducated bigots to do the dirty work for them.  I recently heard Michelle Alexander speak on her new book, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness.  Her premise is fascinating, and perhaps at first glance, a little strong.  But the more I think about it, the more I think this is true and that this permeates the climate in our country.  Without so many words, there is a rebellion going on- an attempt at regaining control and a perception that the majority has "lost control" of the country to the minorities. 

And what can we do about it?  Are the remaining sane people in the country too tired, too fed-up, too disdainful to stand up against this snowball of bigoted craziness?  We can't give in, we can't get disenchanted and stop being involved.  I am guilty of this- I change the channel because I can't stand the reality of this happening in the news, I ignore politics.  I'm going to stop doing that though, because we have to fight the erosion...