In preparation for tomorrow night’s meeting, and our tackling of the book “What’s the Matter with Kansas,” I have a few Kansas-related links tonight… First, there’s this little movie by the folks at TruthOut.org where they’re driving around Kansas and talking to people about religion, the conservative agenda, etc. Of particular interest to me was the second half, which they spend with a folk artist mentioned in the book. (Surprisingly, he comes across much differently here than he did in the book… Maybe we can talk about it tomorrow night if you show up.) Second, there’s an article on the Intelligent Design (aka Creationism) movement in Kansas featured in the UK Guardian. And, third, there’s an interview with Tomas Frank, the author of “What’s the Matter with Kansas,” and native of Kansas, at the RawStory site. (Thanks to Arun and Cyndy for the links.)
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Mark, this is off topic, but I heard Arrested Development is going to be cancelled (or close to it).
I just discovered this show this season, and now it’s no more!
I only tell you because I know you also enjoy this show.
the term folk artist also can be interpreted as Ex-Carnival Employee who now assembles the junk cars in his front yard into “art” which he then embelleshes with some “hemp” fabric and sells to aging hippy loosers.
if you get out from under your rock, you’ll see the sun is shinning
I wish I had a more robust capacity for hate. I feel like I’m at a disadvantage in these exchanges.
No your disadvantage is you’re lack of metal capacity. Infidel!
from the AP… Al-Qaeda hates freedom .. Of course so do most of the posters on this site..
An audiotape purportedly of Al-Qaeda number two Ayman al-Zawahiri hit out at the US concept of freedom, saying it was a cloak for spreading corruption and injustice in the Islamic world.
Liberty as construed by the Americans was based on “usurious banks, giant companies, misleading media outlets and the destruction of others for material gain,” charged the voice in the recording aired by Arabic news channel Al-Jazeera.
Real freedom was “not the liberty of homosexual marriages and the abuse of women as a commodity to gain clients, win deals or attract tourists,” said the voice.
“It is not the freedom of Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib,” it said, referring to US-run prisons in Cuba and Iraq where serious allegations of torture have been levelled.
“Our freedom … and the reform that we are seeking depends on three concepts — the rule of sharia (Islamic law) … freeing Islam from any aggressor … and liberating the human being.”
In the Islamic world, the people had the “right to choose its leader, hold him to account, criticise him and isolate him,” said the audiotape, in a clear response to US calls for democratic reforms in the Arab and Muslim worlds.
“I do not think that we can achieve reform while we are under American and Jewish occupation.”
In his State of the Union address earlier this month, President George W. Bush stepped up US calls for change, urging even traditional US allies Egypt and Saudi Arabia to move towards democracy.
But the new Al-Qaeda tape argued that US allies in the region were the problem not the solution.
“The nation has to confront repression, theft, forgery, corruption and the legacy of the rule which our rulers are exercising with America’s blessing and backing,” said the tape, whose authenticity could not immediately be verified.
It was the first purported message from Zawahiri since a videotape broadcast by Al-Jazeera on November 29 in which he vowed to pursue the fight against the United States.
The new message made reference to subsequent events, including a December 16 agreement between Egypt and Israel, and historic January 30 elections in Iraq.
“We cannot achieve reform when our leaders are seeking normalisation with Israel and destroying our economies for their own personal gains, like the QIZ (Qualified Industrial Zones) agreement signed by the Egyptian regime with Israel,” the voice said.
Reform cannot be achieved “under governments installed by the occupation with forged elections,” it said.
I’ve got the Shinnin!
Sorry, I can’t make it tonight. Kill some babies and worship Satan for me though.
Mark,
You may not know this, but I have been DYING for you to link me for EEEEEEEEEEEVER. Will you ever link me? It would be such an honor. Remember all those killer plugs I gave you soooooooooo long ago?
Mark, What else can we protest? Have the neopugs come up with any facist plans in the last 24 hours.
i just got back from the book club this post is supposed to be related to.
i have some bad news. the group of elites i met with (over triple lattes) (in a government building paid for by your taxes) are very, very serious about furthering the liberal agenda. we have already put into motion sinister and far-reaching plans which will liberalize most of the free world, including you.
if you know what’s good for you, i would seriously suggest renting a copy of either barbarella or 9 to 5, if you get my drift.
be afraid. be very afraid.
Capitalism suxxors.. All I want to do is take boobie pics with my camera phone.. you guys need to
1) leave the latte shop
2) Shower
3) take that dean sticker off your econo shitbox (real men have big cars)
4) Buy a Bling Bling SUV (if you can get credit)
5) Pick up sluts and film them in the backseat
6) Create a real internet site
7) Live Large and laugh at the black brigade when they riot against big-macs and baseball.
8) Buy a fur coat (yeah Huggy Baby)
I don’t want to block the trolls from posting here, but I wish there was a way that their posts could be a lot smaller than the others… like the more hate, the smaller the font…. is there an algorithm for that?
hate of course is expressing any viewpoint not approved by Mark. Remember NAZI stood for National Socialist Party. Hitler was hardly a conservative and championed many of the same “progressive” valuse spoken of here.. Heck he even legalized gay marriage in germany.. of course those marriage certs were later used as a roundup list.. Hitler also tried to squelch dissent (he was fairly effective too).. he also had a favorite group which was responsible for all of the ills of society (jews).. most of the progressive posters have a similar dislike of christians.. Guess its really all just shades of gray and more equivilancy.
Is that the best you’ve got?
Mark,
Even if you don’t link me this place still makes me giggle and wiggle. How do you do it?
I applaud Mark’s initiative in getting the book club together and am curious to know how the discussion went. How was the book? Also, may I ask when’s the next book club meeting and have you picked a book? I might be able to go to the next one, though I couldn’t to this one due to work. Keep up the good work Mark. –Dixie of Ypsi
I’m busting a gut here watching some of the commenters here wring their brains trying to come up with an inelegant defense of their point of view. Did I just hear Falchion say “Hitler was hardly a conservative”? That has got to be the funniest thing I’ve heard all day.