Philosophy, politics, and religion from behind the bar.

Religion poisons everything. http://www.skeptical-science.com/religion/salvation-army-gays-put-death-comment-happened/

  This is jaw-droppingly amazing. Watch the video. I dare you. http://samuel-warde.com/2013/09/sarah-palin-rants-ted-cruz-america-listening-laughing/   Over 40 million people once thought this illiterate psycho was worthy of being one heartbeat away from the presidency. Watch as she tries to form a coherent thought. We are doomed.   She starts out pretty bad, but I'm telling you, give her credit. She hangs right in there, and by the end, it gets even worse. A whole lot worse. It's hard to believe this is not satire. This lady is going down in our history books. Dwell on that thought for a moment. http://realitybyalex.blogspot.com/search?q=palin+watch Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day, from the one who just can't keep her mouth shut: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/20/sarah-palin-mlk_n_4632831.html

http://www.buzztimebusiness.com/smarts/bartender-dos-donts/ How to screw up, and screw up your place and fellow bartenders: http://www.artofdrink.com/archive/bartending/50-signs-you-are-a-bad-bartender/

  While we're getting distracted by all the other problems we're going to face, the population bomb is intertwined with all of them. http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2013/09/alan-weisman-inquiring-minds-population-countdown  "Everybody says that Norman Borlaug, the great plant geneticist, he disproved Malthus and Ehrlich forever," he explains. "It's kind of cherry-picked, because the part that they neglect to add, Norman Borlaug's Nobel acceptance speech, he didn't sit there congratulating himself—as he was congratulated by others—for saving more lives than any other human in history. He said, 'We have bought the world some time, but unless population control and increased food production go hand in hand, we are going to lose this.'"

  http://www.upworthy.com/that-one-time-a-ceo-said-something-so-profoundly-awful-and-dumb-that-we-had-to-fact-check-his-face?c=ufb1   Why there are not riots in the streets, why there are not tribunals calling for justice, it boggles the mind.   These guys stole EVERYTHING, and claim to be victims. They buried the American Dream, and robbed us all of our futures, and now are crying that they're deserving of it all and that they're like the victims of lynching? " In 2008, AIG received $85 billion from American taxpayers on top of the funds made available from the TARP program. Less than a week later, a bunch of AIG executives went on a “retreat” to the luxurious St. Regis Resort in Monarch Beach, Calif., where they ran up a bill of almost a half-million dollars, including $150,000 for meals and $23,000 in spa charges. Now, with Wall Street employees pocketing average cash bonuses of $121,900 — while most families’ incomes stagnate — Benmosche thinks the pu...

  http://www.nationofchange.org/ex-halliburton-official-charged-destroying-evidence-gulf-oil-spill-disaster-1379858063   Why do we get wall-to-wall coverage of every detail of a grisly murder, including live coverage of the trials, but next to nothing on investigative reporting, context, and commentary on stories like this? THIS is news. This is information that an informed electorate needs. Murders are not news.   And, as murderers go, the ones we get coverage of are rank amateurs compared to the liars, polluters, treasonous terrorists, and war mongers that are the ruling class of today's corporate U. S. A.   Never mind. I think I just answered my own question.    Local news is the worst. A constant parade of brown and black people in orange jump suits paraded in front of a judge, serving only to sell us things. Move to a better neighborhood. Get a nicer house. Buy security equipment. Get a gun. Go to church. Meanwhile, city hall is in bed with corpor...

https://www.facebook.com/FoxNews/posts/10151654692441336    I felt sympathy for him. Then the lawsuits pending are reprehensible. But to plead your case here .    This guy had a case. Then he went on Huckabee, one of the mouthpieces (along with the rest of Fox) for the largest and most devastating acts of vandalism this country has ever seen. His house got wrecked. That's bad. Criminal. But the Teabag Party, Huckabee, the GOP, right-wing radio, and their cohorts have destroyed the country. And no one is going to prison for it. Suddenly, I feel, "meh."    This lying sack of shit was almost nominated for President by the GOP. His show this weekend clocked in at over 20 lies before he got to his first guest. So, Mr. Holloway, you've got a right to be pissed. But cozying up to worse criminals isn't helping your case.

There is a slim chance that they are not hiding anything illegal. But, just the hiding should, or could, be considered obstruction of justice. Poof! They've broken the law. http://billmoyers.com/2013/09/19/conservative-lawmaker-defies-open-records-law-to-keep-alec-dealings-secret/

"We would be irresponsible employers if the jobs we provided could not support housing stability and health security. So we are motivated to gradually raise wages to a “thrive-able level” for all of our lowest-paid employees across the board. A living wage is the path to a living economy and the antidote to the current suicide economy trajectory we find ourselves on. We don’t own this approach. Nothing would please me more than for it to go viral, industry wide. But in the mean time, to start to lift millions of people out of poverty and create an economic stimulus through increased consumer spending, we cannot wait on voluntary adoption. The legal minimum wage level must correspond to the actual cost of living to produce and enforce the action needed." From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130919/OPINION01/309190010#ixzz2fSmwFpCg http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130919/OPINION01/309190010#ixzz2fNrmF9m0

http://urbanhabitat.org/node/856    It's not just about the abuse of prisoners. It's also about a shrinking job market, and wage suppression outside of the prison walls. Prison slavery affects us all. http://realitybyalex.blogspot.com/2013/08/profits-american-slave-industry.html

  How to totally avoid reality: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/09/18/gop-senate-challenger-mass-shootings-linked-to-women-in-workplace/   Has Sen. Rubens entirely lost his mind? Certainly, he has lost his humanity. And his sense of history, politics, and economics.   Is the GOP relevant anymore? Is there any reason to even have it? Well, yes, I guess. It's good to have a place where these idiots can all be gathered together so we can keep an eye on them. But if you vote for them, or join the party, we can assume you're too crazy or too stupid, or both, to own guns.   Add him to the long list of the insane that have taken over the party, and the lobbies that support them, and the ignorance in America that produces people that vote for them. http://realitybyalex.blogspot.com/2013/09/louis-gohmert-watch.html

http://www.buzzfeed.com/timchester/12-of-the-bleakest-places-on-earth-baqg   All things considered, we don't really belong on this list. But there we are, Youngstown, Ohio. I've seen much worse places in this country alone. Life sucks here, for the most part, don't get me wrong. But Camden, N.J.? Detroit? Any backwater of the South? I ain't buyin' it.   And it's an international list. Kazakstan? Zimbabwe? Haiti? North Korea?   Some idiot just put together places he imagined. Whatever came to mind first. Such is the reasoning ability of today's average American.   Did this even get considered for the list?: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2139914/A-rare-insight-Kowloon-Walled-City.html  Rep. Tim Ryan responds and straightens out BuzzFeed: http://www.buzzfeed.com/reptimryan/10-things-you-dont-know-about-youngstown-ohio-f3sg

  The question comes up often. Well answered here, and as always, in the comments of the article: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2013/09/18/answering-the-question-dont-you-atheists-have-something-better-to-do-with-your-time/    Atheism simplified in a five part list: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/staks-rosch/5-pretty-good-reasons-to-be-an-atheist_b_3434210.html

https://www.facebook.com/AllianceDefendingFreedom?hc_location=stream

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2013/09/14/most-holy-water-found-to-contain-not-so-holy-shit/

 Very long, statistics analysis on morality, crime, happiness, generosity, and a few other things. Spoiler alert, it's better to not believe...   Your mileage may vary: http://www.pitzer.edu/academics/faculty/zuckerman/Zuckerman_on_Atheism.pdf

http://www.cracked.com/blog/the-6-weirdest-things-weve-learned-since-911/ "Sure, it's not like some controversial comment on Twitter will get you sent to a gulag. It may merely get you a day spent in a hot interrogation room and your computer seized for a few months. Just a little reminder to watch what you say, and what you think, at all times. They don't have to throw you in prison, they just have to harass you enough that you'll remember next time. And the fire that makes us human grows just a little dimmer, and we shrug and say, What can we do? After all, it's a Post-9/11 World. And apparently it always will be." Read more: http://www.cracked.com/blog/the-6-weirdest-things-weve-learned-since-911_p2/#ixzz2elPZSl6a   Have no doubts about it. You want to bring the world to a stop, cheaply? Easy. Well, easy-ish. You want to stop people from scaring us all into irrational behavior? Sorry, can't be done.

Like I keep saying, I believe in the 2 party system. Democrats in the middle, and Greens on the left. Oh, and the GOP in prison.

George Voinovich shared a link . 46 minutes ago Congress is back! Here is the FixtheDebt campaign explaining the big issues facing Congress as they return. Congress needs to stop kicking the can down the road, get past partisan politics, and get serious about addressing our nation's most difficult issues. Blog: A Big Fall? - Fix The Debt www.fixthedebt.org Congress has returned to Washington after its long August recess. Lawmakers have some big decisions to make in the coming weeks. Will they face the big issues confronting them or will they kick the can down the road again? Will those decisions help the country continue its slow climb out… Like · · Share Larry Adams likes this. Bruce Beckwith Why didn't we raise taxes before the Iraq war? 30 minutes ago · Unlike · 1 Alex McDowell I see you deleted my post. And I got this dialogue on private message. (Please be brave enough to allow this and...

   My computer has been acting odd. I'm hoping to have it up and running normally, but it may be hit or miss in the days ahead. I missed it in an unhealthy way for the past day and a half...