The Steve Scalise story you’re not getting

Once again, journalists miss the big picture

As you may or may not have heard, Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La), House Majority Whip since August, spoke in front of some bad people back in 2002. The story was broken at a (mostly) Louisiana political blog, CenLamar, by blogger Lamar White, Jr. Steve Scalise reportedly had spoken in front of a conference held by an organization founded by none other than ex-Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan and Louisiana political darling (sorry, Louisiana, but you wet your own nest, so the stink sticks), David Duke.

Forget torture. Who would Jesus rape?

On the rapes of Majid Khan and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed

Pop quiz!

Fill in the blank: rape is morally acceptable when __________.

Time. Pencils down.

I don’t know about you, but there was never a point in my life when I needed to be told that there is no such thing as a good answer to this question. But let’s define our terms, shall we? In January 2012, the FBI finally updated its definition of rape:

“The penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.” [emphasis added]

Furthermore, the Department of Justice clarified:

For the first time ever, the new definition includes any gender of victim and perpetrator, not just women being raped by men.  It also recognizes that rape with an object can be as traumatic as penile/vaginal rape.  This definition also includes instances in which the victim is unable to give consent because of temporary or permanent mental or physical incapacity. [emphasis added]

This is what self determination looks like

Stranded in a food desert, Greensboro, NC residents make their own oasis

From Yes!: After Years Without a Grocery Store, Greensboro Neighbors Are Building One Themselves — And They’ll Own It

After learning about cooperative businesses, they decided to open a community-owned grocery store. The store would meet local residents’ needs for access to quality food and dignified, well-paid jobs. And now it’s going to happen. When the Renaissance Community Cooperative opens in 2015, it will be a conventional grocery store (like a Food Lion or Kroger) where wages start at $10 per hour.

 

Something beautiful from the MNPD (Nashville) Chief of Police

This is the talk all our police need to walk

From The Tennessean: Nashville police chief shares message, responds to questions

At least take a moment to read the email to Chief Anderson from a member of the self-proclaimed “majority” of people in Nashville (read: not, apparently) and Chief Anderson’s astounding reply.

Signal Amplification: Don’t settle for one “side” of the news

Right, left, or otherwise, by now we should all be aware that all media frames the discussion

The framing is most apparent in what doesn’t get said. Correctly or otherwise, the left omits what the right thinks is important. Correctly or otherwise, the right omits what the left thinks is important. Correctly or otherwise, the center (read: the vast majority of the mainstream media) omits what everybody else thinks is important.

Truth should matter to us every day of the year. If you were on the stand facing harsh accusations, you would want everything told, not just what the accusers have to say. In a just society, the accusers would equally accept this perspective as just. There is no making a rational decision as to the best argument in the absence of the full argument. So if truth should matter every day, should it not matter perhaps even moreso at this time of year for those who maintain that Jesus is the Reason for the Season? I ask in this context, because, as with the rest of the year, there are political forces at work that would have us believe that conservative politics and Jesus go together like milk and cookies. Without truth, either the milk is sour or the cookies are stale. We can no more stomach lies of omission than we can stomach lies of commission.

Graphic: Transparent Obama

For the first time in a while I decided to just play around with graphics. Initially I was looking to see what filters I could use to prep a photographic image for screen printing. I tinkered with a tractor and hands playing a piano with varying degrees of success, then wondered about portraiture. One thing led to another and this is what happened.

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This original work licensed under Creative Commons.
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

Comprising original work by other artists (without endorsement):
Barack Obama on the Primary
by Steve Jurvetson
Licensed under Creative Commons
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

Money!
by Tracy O
Licensed under Creative Commons
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/

The illiberalism of hypersensitivity

Cross-posted from elsewhere to further discussion

Having scratched my head and stared at my navel publicly elsewhere, I thought I should share what I found whilst scratching here as well. I would like to take a moment to share some observations about what is apparently a sensitive topic. The topic is so sensitive, however, that I feel I must preamble the [censored] [censored] out [censored] lest superior persons and others of highly refined sensibilities take this in the wrong spirit.

Point the first: I would like to express my appreciation for the people who conceived of, put into operation, and continue to maintain both with effort and money, this [well, that] website.