Hall and Oates?

I've been a closet Hall & Oates fan for years, but now with their recent surprise appearance on the "hip and irreverent" Daily Show with Jon Stewart, maybe I can finally come out of the pop music closet. Here is their appearance paying tribute to the lone liberal on Fox News.

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Hall & Oates Pay Tribute to Alan Colmes

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video

FFRF in the News

FFRF (the Freedom From Religion Foundation) has created quite a stir recently in my state. They installed an engraved sign at the state capitol that reads:

"At this season of the Winter Solstice, may reason prevail.
There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell.
There is only our natural world.
Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts
and enslaves minds."

Somehow these words have deeply offending the "silent majority" (as a reporter on Fox referred to our Christian residents.)Isn't it funny how their faith is never quite strong enough to withstand a little criticism. The reason that the sign is on display is because of a legal decision that declares that the state cannot favor one religion over any other with displays on capitol grounds. That great defender of Christian morality, Bill O'Reilly, has been quite vociferous in his condemnation of the sign and called for protests (what a surprise!) Maybe the whole story of the Crucifixion has given the Christians a perpetual persecution complex, even though they are the majority in this country, and not exactly a silent one. They have said that the sign equals hate speech. I guess they would know about hate speech. Witness the recent passage of prop. 8 in California. The sign may offend these normally loving Christians ("love thine enemy as thyself" and all that), but we still have a thing called "free speech" in this country. Bush and his cohorts haven't done away with that yet (not for the lack of trying.) Nonbelievers need a voice too, and I'm glad that FFRF (of which I am a proud member) is there to lead the way.

Speaking of Christmas: a lovely (and reasonable) gift to give friends and family this season has just been released on DVD. Julia Sweeney's latest monologue Letting Go of God is available on DVD from Amazon.com. I was lucky enough to see Julia perform this live last year, and I saw the film at this year's Seattle International Film Festival. It's brilliant, funny and poignant. Yes, I laughed. I cried. It inspires me when I feel like the "lonely atheist." Here is the trailer from "Letting Go of God."

Reality . . . What a Concept!

The big election is over. I’ve still been watching Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow, but they don’t really merit my full attention anymore. The election isn’t quite over in Alaska, Minnesota and Georgia, but I’m not holding my breath to see if the Dems reach their much sought after 60 votes. I’m certainly not willing to support keeping Joe Lieberman onboard to try and reach that magic number. The man should have his epaulets stripped from his uniform and be banished from the process. I wasn’t a fan of his when he was Al Gore’s running mate and now that he has betrayed his fellow democrats it’s time to say so long.

I am currently about halfway through Kluge by Gary Marcus, in which he cites numerous examples to show that our brain has evolved in a haphazard manner that doesn’t allow for the most efficient use of our minds. Prior to Kluge I read The Making of a Philosopher by Colin McGinn. After these two books I’ll be convinced that reality is just not discernable with our inaccurate and biased human brains.

A Pee Wee Break

Now that the heavy tone of the presidential elections are over it's time for some well earned jocularity. Watch for the cameo by Elvira, Mistress of the Dark (AKA Cassandra Peterson.)

It's Starting to Sink In

It's been two days since the election. Two days since it was announced to the world that Barack Obama would be the next president of these United States. He gave his first press conference today after meeting with his group of economic advisers. The press jumped to their feet when he entered the room. He was presidential -- as he always is -- and even cracked a few jokes. The atmosphere was refreshing. No more do we have to watch the smirking chimp bumbling his way through this job that he was never qualified for (or elected to) in the first place. The chimp is still president for another 74 days and, believe me, he is busy trying to rape and pillage right up until the last day. Today he was trying to enable mining companies to dig for uranium up to three miles from the Grand Canyon. Never mind what Obama will do when he enters office. It's what he is going to have to undo. Close Guantánamo Bay. Ban Torture. Save the constitution. I believe that Barack Obama is the president that can start to get this country back on track. When I travel to Europe in three years I will be representing a different America. An America that is finally starting to walk the walk.

The bad news from Election Day is the fact that Prop. 8 passed in California, banning gay marriage. The Mormon Church spent at least $25 million funding the proposition to take away basic civil rights of gays and lesbians. It's a tad ironic that the Mormon Church, with their history of polygamy, is touting "traditional marriage." What planet are they from again? I still have never heard a viable reason why gay marriage threatens heterosexual marriage. Trent Lott once likened homosexuality to kleptomania, and Rick Santorum compared it to bestiality. Yet the number of rich, white Republicans, who have traded in previous wives in exchange for trophy wives (Gingrich, Thompson, Giuliani)is staggering. And where are Mark Foley and Ted Haggard these days? Snorting meth and attending the local hypocrites meet-up?

With the election of Barack Obama I want to believe that the tide is turning. No matter how much evangelicals and Mormons stomp their feet gays and lesbians are not going away. And the younger generation that helped put Obama in the White House is not so hung up about same sex marriage.




That's my son Justin, wearing his Super Obama t-shirt that I picked up for him when I was in Chicago last month. Today he spontaneously said "President Barack Obama." I think that getting him out of bed on election night to witness Obama's speech, and then lighting sparklers in the backyard made an impression. In fact, he tried to use the "Watch Barack Obama" excuse tonight to get out of bed. I had to use the "Barack Obama is sleeping" ploy to get him back into bed.

Tears of Joy

The networks announced at 8 p.m. PST that Barack Obama would be the 44th President of the United States. It took a minute to sink in and then I couldn't hold back the tears. I got my two-and-a-half year old son out of bed to share the moment. To see the seas of joyous faces across this country, who have helped to change the face of America. Most pundits are at a loss for words. Let's just savor the moment.


h/t bob cesca

Election Day

Today is the big day. It's the day we've all been waiting for. As the saying goes: Vote Early and Vote Often. First I'm off to fulfill another civic duty: jury duty. I'm secretly hoping that they will let all those who have yet to vote out of court early to stand at the polls and enable CHANGE!! First a word from the children:


After jury duty I will vote at my local community center and then sit glued to the TV for the rest of the evening. I'm hoping the race will be decided by midnight west coast time. Maybe even tenish. Let's do this thing!