"Faith Based" AIDS Research?

The Associated Press reports that "President Bush's $15 billion effort to fight AIDS has handed out nearly one-quarter [23% or roughly $3.45 Billion] of its grants to religious groups, and officials are aggressively pursuing new church partners that often emphasize disease prevention through abstinence and fidelity over condom use."

We must ask if these grants are being used to truly support AIDS prevention and research or is AIDS being deceptively used as a cover for funnelling money to politically preferred charities at the expense of fighting a devastating disease while retaining the politcal benefit of an apparently hollow claim of fighting AIDS.

At the very least, tax-payers should be questioning whether this is an efficient use of tax-payer money.

Some of the organizations receiving such grants are:

"Samaritan's Purse, which is run by [Billy] Graham's son, Franklin. It says its mission is 'meeting critical needs of victims of war, poverty, famine, disease and natural disaster while sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ.'"

"World Relief, founded by the National Association of Evangelicals. It won $9.7 million for abstinence work in four countries."

There is much, much more information in this article, please consider reading it if you are interested in what you are hearing.

Judicial Fidelity

For any interested in reading an article that describes good examples of how neither side of the political ideaological spectrum behaves consistently with regard to constitutional interpretation, see the article "Euthanize Federal Mission Creep" at www.reason.org.

The article discusses how conservative justices who frequently seek to limit the power of the federal government - over issues such as environment regulations, gun control, and labor regulations - will choose to expand the power of the federal government (allow it to "creep" into areas of traditionally state authority) over other matters they don't trust states with, such as assisted suicide, medical marijuana laws, etc.

Of course, the opposing argument is that liberal judges prefer federal protection for abortion rights and civil rights and are willing to accept expansive federal regulation on environmental issues, gun control, etc., and yet balk at the exercise of federal authority over those laws restricting the use of medical marijuana or assisted suicide.

What an Idiot

Ann Coulter, a right wing darling and FoxNews favorite offered her recommendation for "improving" the Supreme Court: "We need somebody to put rat poisoning in Justice Stevens' creme brulee . . . That's just a joke, for you in the media." That's fuckin' hilarious, but of course, murder jokes always kill right (no pun intended)? You're shooting fish in a barrel Ann, can you do any better than that?

After very little searching, I found that indeed she can. The reservoir of Ann Coulter's brilliance is plentiful. Consider some of the thoughts of someone the conservative Media Research Center selected as a "Conservative Journalist of the Year"a few years ago, including:

The crack cocaine problem "has pretty much gone away."

Referring to 9/11, she stated that "we should invade their countries, kill their leaders, and convert them to Christianity."

"Congress could pass a law tomorrow requiring that all aliens from Arabic countries leave....We should require passports to fly domestically. Passports can be forged, but they can also be checked with the home country in case of any suspicious-looking swarthy males."

"[Clinton] masturbates in the sinks."---Rivera Live 8/2/99

"God gave us the earth. We have dominion over the plants, the animals, the trees. God said, 'Earth is yours. Take it. Rape it. It's yours.'"---Hannity & Colmes, 6/20/01

The "backbone of the Democratic Party" is a "typical fat, implacable welfare recipient"---syndicated column 10/29/99

To a disabled Vietnam vet: "People like you caused us to lose that war."---MSNBC

"I think there should be a literacy test and a poll tax for people to vote."---Hannity & Colmes, 8/17/99 (See US Constitution, 24th Amendment, prohibits poll taxes - additionally, literacy tests were historically used to prevent blacks from voting.)

"I think [women] should be armed but should not [be allowed to] vote."---Politically Incorrect, 2/26/01 (See US Constitution, 19th Amendment)

"If you don't hate Clinton and the people who labored to keep him in office, you don't love your country."---George, 7/99

"We're now at the point that it's beyond whether or not this guy is a horny hick. I really think it's a question of his mental stability. He really could be a lunatic. I think it is a rational question for Americans to ask whether their president is insane."---Equal Time

"It's enough [to be impeached] for the president to be a pervert."---The Case Against Bill Clinton, Coulter's 1998 book.

Asked how far back would she go to repeal laws, she replied, "Well, before the New Deal...[The Emancipation Proclamation] would be a good start."---Politically Incorrect 5/7/97

"If they have the one innocent person who has ever to be put to death this century out of over 7,000, you probably will get a good movie deal out of it."---MSNBC 7/27/97

"If those kids had been carrying guns they would have gunned down this one [child] gunman. ... Don't pray. Learn to use guns."---Politically Incorrect, 12/18/97

"The presumption of innocence only means you don't go right to jail."---Hannity & Colmes 8/24/01.

"Originally, I was the only female with long blonde hair. Now, they all have long blonde hair."---CapitolHillBlue.com 6/6/00

"I am emboldened by my looks to say things Republican men wouldn't."---TV Guide 8/97

"The swing voters---I like to refer to them as the idiot voters because they don't have set philosophical principles. You're either a liberal or you're a conservative if you have an IQ above a toaster. "---Beyond the News, Fox News Channel, 6/4/00

"My libertarian friends are probably getting a little upset now but I think that's because they never appreciate the benefits of local fascism."---MSNBC 2/8/97

Reading Your Thoughts

Like the Republican party once used to, I believe that government involvement and investigation into the personal lives of Americans should be extremely limited.

Under President Bush's eavesdropping program the NSA may "listen in on phone calls and read e-mails of Americans suspected of communicating with terrorists." This administration refuses to say how many are affected, how they decide who is investigated, or if the program has produced any intelligence.

The NSA (nicknamed "Never Say Anything") is the largest of the US's 15 intelligence agencies.

The question I am left to ask is what evidence does it take for one to become "suspected of communicating with terrorists?" Does an email that includes a word such as "terrorism" or "al-Qaida" trigger such an investigation? Should it?

Female Detainees

In Iraq, women married to men who are suspected of being insurgents have been detained and jailed (one a nursing mother) in order to gain "leverage" over their husbands to pursuade them to turn themselves in to American forces, according to documents recently released by the Pentagon.

Is this how we are fighting for the "hearts and minds" of the muslim world? I can't help but think that with the full force and attention of the US Military, such tactics are not required and appear likely to be harmful to our ultimate goal of defeating terrorism and anti-American sentiment.

If we really want to defeat terrorism, shouldn't we make finding alternate sources of energy a greater priority and seriously pursue that course?

For copies of emails between officers regarding such detention released under the Freedom of Information Act, follow this link.