JISHOU, HUNAN — According to former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer has what President Obama doesn’t — balls — because Brewer dealt directly with the state’s illegal immigration problem.

Since “balls” is too rude a word for such a God-fearing woman as Señora Palin to use, she instead used the Spanish slang, “cojones.” Or maybe she was trying to show off how street-wise she is. After all, Obama used “Sí, se puede,” during his campaign.

Of course, Obama was trying to appeal to potential supporters who speak Spanish natively. Palin used Spanish slang to criticize Obama’s supposed inability to deal with undocumented Spanish-speaking immigrants.

Was she even aware of the irony? Or the fact that Obama, as a man, is more likely to literally have cojones than Brewer (a woman, btw)? Or was she trying to make a joke? I doubt it.

Here’s what she said on air Sunday, referring to the controversial Arizona state law SB 1070:

Palin said on “Fox News Sunday” that Arizona’s female Republican governor has “the cojones that our president does not” when it comes to securing America‘s borders.

 
“This is a temporary suspension of some of the key elements in the law that Jan Brewer pushed hard for Arizonans and for the rest of the country to have the result of us being more secure,” said Palin.

August 2nd, 2010 | Tags: Barack Obama, cojones, immigration, Sarah Palin | Category: Civil liberties, Commentary, Random rants | Comments (2)

JISHOU, HUNAN — Now Biblical literalism has spilled over into reading the Constitution literally. A religious group called the Faith and Freedom Institute is complaining because President Barack Obama has used the words “freedom of worship” instead of “freedom of religion.”

They sent him a letter. I predict it ends up in the trash. See for yourself:

Dear President Obama:

 
It is with great concern that we have watched your rhetorical shift in terminology, choosing to use the phrase “freedom of worship” rather than “freedom of religion.” We’ve noted your use of that phrase (“freedom of worship”) at the Ft. Hood memorial service in November of 2009, as well as your utilization of the same during speeches in Japan and China.

 
While some may deem the words “worship” and “religion” to be synonymous, and thus interchangeable, they are most definitely not! The First Amendment of the United States Constitution uses the word “religion” and states unequivocally that Congress cannot prohibit the “free exercise” of said “religion.” Your use of the word “worship” implies that we have freedom ONLY within the confines of structures set aside for religious expression (i.e. churches, synagogues, etc.). This is not only a gross departure from the original intent of the First Amendment, but is also the first step toward eliminating faith expression in the public marketplace (i.e. display of religious symbols on public land, printing of religious materials for the purpose of evangelizing, public discussion of faith, etc.).

 
Mr. President, we call on you to retract all past use of this incorrect and misleading phrase, “freedom of worship,” and cease all future use of the same. We also call on you to acknowledge America’s Christian heritage as is clearly evidenced in our Founding Documents and the overwhelming abundance of statements from our Founding Fathers.

 
Sincerely,

 
The Faith and Freedom Institute

July 24th, 2010 | Tags: Barack Obama, birthers, crazy people, religion | Category: Random rants, religion | Leave a comment

JISHOU, HUNAN — The developer of the so-called “Ground Zero Mosque” sat down for an interview recently with a blogger at Beliefnet.com. Compared to the frothing-at-the-mouth demagogues opposing the project, Sharif el-Gamal espouses true American values: rational discourse and freedom of religion.

His interview is worth reading, because it contradicts the wild assertions made by the likes of Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer, co-founders of Stop Islamization of America (SIOA).

Geller and Spencer consistently object to proximity of the project, which includes a mosque, to the former site of the World Trade Center about two blocks away. They claim the Muslim-backed center will somehow “desecrate the sacred ground” of the ruined buildings which entombed about 3,000 people on Sept. 11, 2001.

el-Gamal’s response:

We are not at Ground Zero. In fact we’re as close to City Hall as we are to Ground Zero. Lower Manhattan is pretty small. You can’t see Ground Zero from our current building and on completion of our planned building some years from now, there won’t be any views of the Ground Zero memorial from the building. To honor those who were killed on September 11th, we have planned for a public memorial within our future facility as well as reflection space open to all.

He also mentions that there are two other mosques in Lower Manhattan, which are too crowded. He doesn’t mention that there two strip clubs also near the “sacred” WTC site.

July 24th, 2010 | Tags: 9/11, Islam, Manhattan, mosque, Muslim, Pamela Geller, Robert Spencer, WTC | Category: Civil liberties, Commentary, Random rants | Leave a comment

#stupidscientology From Pharyngula: The “Church of” Scientology is upset that some official in Wales called the CoS “stupid” in a tweet. PZ suggests adding the tag “#stupidscientology” to your tweets to protest that CoS is now trying to get the guy fired. I can’t use Twitter from China, so this is my contribution. My WordPress posts are automatically sent out with Twitter.

July 21st, 2010 | Tags: free speech, scientology, twitter, Wales | Category: Civil liberties, Random rants, religion | Leave a comment

JISHOU, HUNAN — I am going off-script here because I am fed up with hearing about the so-called “Ground Zero Mosque” in Lower Manhattan.

Let’s get some facts straight first.

I am a native New Yorker. I visited the World Trade Center at least twice before it became a pile of rubble and a tomb for 3,000 people. I was one of the millions of Americans who watched in horror as a part of my hometown – my hometown! — was destroyed live on TV.

The people, the terrorists who committed this horrible act are dead. They were extremists, crazy people. They happened to be crazy Muslim people.

Now, a group of Muslims in NYC want to convert a old, nearby building that was also damaged in the attack into a community center with mosque. Local community officials have approved the plan. The neighbors have no problem with it.

And I don’t either. Read the third and fourth paragraphs again. Then read my lips. I don’t care if they build a mosque near the former WTC site. (I refuse to call it Ground Zero. Sorry if I offend anyone. It’s not fucking Hiroshima.)

Now that we got that straight, it’s time for me to cut loose.

Would all the know-nothing, paranoid, conspiracy-theorist, bigoted, knuckle-dragging idiots just shut the fuck up? Get outta town.Take a long walk off a short pier. Stuff a sock in it. Dry up. Shut yer piehole. Find somebody to fit you with cement boots for a dip in the East River. Robert Spencer, Pamela Geller, the Tea Party, Glenn Beck — I mean you! STFU!

July 20th, 2010 | Tags: 9/11, Cordoba Initiative, Islam, mosque, Pamela Geller, Robert Spencer, SIOA, WTC | Category: Civil liberties, Random rants, religion | Comments (2)

JISHOU, HUNAN — I just read this at Pharyngula. Words escape me.

Electricity magically dries this girl's hair

Any of my former physics students could write a better explanation of electricity than this tripe. It’s apparently from a homeschooling science text peddled by Bob Jones University.

[The link in PZ's post seems to be broken. The page shown is from the Science 4 textbook, printed in 2004.]

July 3rd, 2010 | Tags: education, Science, textbooks | Category: Random rants, Science | Comments (2)