Child beating endorsed by church and dumb things Catholic clerics

 Religious rightwing churches often use violence and beatings against children if they do minor infractions. No surprise, religion is often built on violence.Rightwing religions have an authoritian streak to them. In La Habra, California a teenager wasbeaten for...

You can be charged with a prostitution offense for not much

In the city of San Francisco you can be arrested for intent to solicit a prostitute. This is something of a thought crime. If the government believes you intended enough to do an action, though you never agreed to do that action, than it is a crime. For example, if you make...

Should not speaking English ban you for running for public office

I was listening to conservative talk radio and the talk show host was angry that there were Spanish emergency instructions given by an airline, right after boarding an airplane. I wondered, what a fricking idiot. He is upset that he has to hear Spanish, even though it might...

The war on prostitution (and sex) needs to end

 I don't agree with John Stossel about everything but I definately agree with him that the government must end the twin wars on drugs and prostitution. Of course prostitution that involves women forced into it is should and continue to be illegal but many sex workers...

On government promotion of religion and evolution

The first letter is one I wrote for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. They edited out a couple of lines, which I will keep in. The second letter is an excellent letter by a Stephen Ewbanks, of Kokomo, Indiana, published in their local newspaper. His letter deals with myths...

Gay Congressman Frank to marry and marriage equality in WA

 Barney Frank, the longtime congressman (and the first openly gay congressman) is getting married. To his longtime partner Jim Ready. I guess he is now Ready. Sorry, bad pun.While this marriage by Frank (in I assume his home state of Massachusetts) is legal there, it...

Why does the religious right defend the genocide of Noah's flood?

 I was listening to conservative talk radio. The host is technically  of conservative Judaism, though his beliefs are very much in line with Orthodox Judaism. But, he defends the so called Noah's flood as strongly as any fundamentalist Christian. First of all, this...

Are there any arguments against same sex marriage? Let's explore

 These are 12 reasons to oppose same sex marriage. They are of course, a parody, but I cannot tell the difference, in terms of intellectual merit, between them and actual "arguments" against marriage equality. It is after all, kind of hard to do a satire of drivel,...

Newt Gingrich having sex affairs because he is so patriotic

I am sure by now that many of you have heard that Newt Gingrich, (Republican presidential candidate) second wife had stated that Gingrich had told her that he had wanted an open marriage, or sex with other people. Oh by the way, he was already having an affair with this...

Harvey Milk, an American hero

If  you haven't seen the movie "Milk" about the life of the inspiring  Harvey Milk, as played by maybe America's greatest actor (Sean Penn), I urge you to do exactly that.  It is truly an inspiration and it is not just about  the rights of gay men or...