Marry in Massachusetts

Solid review of this event. My family and I atten...

2012-05-13T01:15:31.511-04:00

Solid review of this event. My family and I attended and we were all left with a strong and positive impression of this young man. I saw the first steps of what I am sure will be a long successful career of public service.

Yes, what you said about the Republicans is true. ...

2012-05-11T08:25:22.024-04:00

Yes, what you said about the Republicans is true. But the Democrats are no better. Obama and the Dems have not changed our pro-war policies, have not reigned in TSA or "Homeland" Security, have not shut down Gitmo, and have not only extended the Patriot Act but now, with their help and the president's signing, we have the NDAA in place. (By the way, I notice that UU's in general have been silent on how the Democrats can act so Republican.) I think it's time for people to abandon both of the Big Brother parties. Maybe that's why so many don't bother to vote at all? If I do decide to vote, it will be Libertarian.

I'd be happy if my kid found a decent job at t...

2012-05-10T10:05:16.691-04:00

I'd be happy if my kid found a decent job at the moment.

Mr. Edgar entered a second, longer comment that di...

2012-03-20T09:50:46.572-04:00

Mr. Edgar entered a second, longer comment that did not follow the MinM posting rules. That and his subsequent request to post that screed will not be met.

He has his own blogs, which you can find through his profile linked in his message. There's plenty of his opinion there.

Honest to Ghod, I think they have the laughs beate...

2012-03-19T12:54:02.302-04:00

Honest to Ghod, I think they have the laughs beaten to unconsciousness in an alley outside the hall before the breakfast...

Elias N

It's been awhile. I must say that UUs I know a...

2012-03-19T09:30:33.438-04:00

It's been awhile. I must say that UUs I know and know of don't find such parallels with wingers.

"As a bunch, they seem to relish ceding contr...

2012-03-19T09:06:53.711-04:00

"As a bunch, they seem to relish ceding control to some Big Daddy figure, bigger than Big Brother. Freedom of speech? They'll tell you what you can say or publish. Freedom of assembly? Only where, when and in how large a group as they say. Freedom to travel? There's kind of a war on, so you have to expect a lot of restrictions. Right to due process and trial by jury? Well, not really, we have special rules about who gets a speedy, public trial or any trial at all."

Much of what you say above, as well as other elements of this blog post, are quite applicable to Unitarian Universalists in general and UU clergy and UUA leaders in particular. . . and I speak from direct personal experience of UUs ceding control to some Big Daddy figure, telling me what I can say or publish in UU controlled internet forums, having me falsely arrested on bogus criminal charges for engaging in a one man peaceful public protest against UU anti-religious intolerance & bigotry and other UU injustices and abuses. UUs pervert "due process" in their own UUA bylaws indeed they have "special rules" that favor abusive UU clergy over clergy misconduct complainants. And this too goes on and on. . . I didn't come up with the term "Totalitarian Unitarians" without some good old Unitarian Reason for doing so. . .

But doesn't everyone need a bishop to check th...

2012-03-16T18:15:17.692-04:00

But doesn't everyone need a bishop to check their mates?

It seems to me that almost everyone (except the Pr...

2012-03-06T15:03:13.070-05:00

It seems to me that almost everyone (except the Presidents of Georgetown and the US) has missed a point, and the underlying point of all Limbaugh and others of his ilk - using character assassination to deflect attention from the issues, to intimidate citizens who might speak to the issues, and, as a bonus, to make it seem normal for people to attack others with hatefulness in everyday life, this keeping them divided and conquered. Most of them, I suspect Limbaugh included, do it just for the money and power, not even in support of principles (not that doing it for principles changes the result, it's just slightly less despicable.)

My opinion is that our elections are too long. I t...

2012-02-29T20:49:55.358-05:00

My opinion is that our elections are too long. I think in the U.K., they never take longer than 45 days. (I could be mistaken.) If we could trim ours down to a national primary election and general election (combined) of 45 days in the USA, I think that would skim off a lot of the money that buys ads and dominates our politics.

Just tell them Reich wingers that if they don'...

2012-02-17T22:35:47.154-05:00

Just tell them Reich wingers that if they don't like same-sex marriages, they ought to marry some one of the opposite sex. And if they don't like contraception they ought not to use it. (On second thought....)

Yes, yes. Mitty certainly is a sperm fetishist. ht...

2012-02-16T15:56:13.759-05:00

Yes, yes. Mitty certainly is a sperm fetishist. http://bit.ly/A2aMMx

I'm waiting for Mitt Romney to announce that &...

2012-02-16T15:48:51.702-05:00

I'm waiting for Mitt Romney to announce that "Life Begins Before Conception!".

Elias

Important, productive tasks to perform? B.S. If Ki...

2012-02-02T15:45:04.780-05:00

Important, productive tasks to perform? B.S. If King and DeFranco wanted to accomplish anything, they'd stop wasting everyone's time and go do something useful. These are vanity campaigns, pure and simple.

Haar. JMP, a roué who has made other's moralit...

2012-01-20T16:12:13.782-05:00

Haar. JMP, a roué who has made other's morality a huge issue since he led the impeachment of President Clinton for lying about receiving adulterous fellatio, and then repeatedly in his campaigns and PAC ads has no dignity nor does he deserve respect. He is one of many on the right who try to control what others can do sexually and otherwise. His repeated outrageous behavior and lame defenses of it should get called out by citizens as well as media.

"The pale, corpulent roué..." "...a...

2012-01-20T16:02:53.687-05:00

"The pale, corpulent roué..."
"...an ugly, amoral beast..."
"...a whoremaster..."
Have you been taking name-calling lessons from right-wing talk radio? So much for the inherent worth and dignity of Newt, I guess. That's just for those sufficiently to the left of center. The focus on a candidates personal, moral (dare I say sexual) life used to be the habit of the conservatives, but I see that liberals can jump on the judgmental band wagon also. I am increasingly disappointed to find out that we (liberal UU's) are just a mirror image of right-wing fundamentalism. We have a sinking economy, are still mired in war, have record amounts of unemployment, and the big issue being argued is moral deficiencies. I'm not even interested.

Disclaimer: I am not a fan of Gingrich. I will not be voting in the primaries. I am not a Republican. I will not be voting for a Republican for president, but neither will I be voting for a Democrat. Both parties have lost my favor.

My religous upbringing sort of thin, and a lot of ...

2012-01-20T13:10:54.758-05:00

My religous upbringing sort of thin, and a lot of it from TV and Hollywood..

So Newt's got plenty of baggage but when I watched him, The film Raging Bull came to mind and the closing words on the screen,

So, for the second time, [the Pharisees] summoned the man who had been blind and said: 'Speak the truth before God. We know this fellow is a sinner.' 'Whether or not he is a sinner, I do not know,' the man replied. 'All I know is this: once I was blind and now I can see.'

Yesterday I was a Young Socialist, but today I can see... speaking as a fellow who carry's Marxist rather than Methodist bagagge from his youth. Today I can see...Newt's helped.

While I've studied religion, I was not raised ...

2012-01-20T11:59:16.883-05:00

While I've studied religion, I was not raised Catholic. I've been a UU for three decades.

I was a devote Christian as a child. I was Wesley Methodist, a.k.a. high-church, long before there was that watered down United Methodism. Southerners considered us almost Roman Catholic in a spectrum from RC to Episcopal to Wesley Methodist. We had bishops and no congregational form of polity. We used incense on some occasions, but did not have personal confession individually with a minister.

Are you a former Catholic?

2012-01-20T11:21:38.607-05:00

Are you a former Catholic?

I don't like Bennett, but when Dougie ran at-l...

2012-01-06T18:31:50.435-05:00

I don't like Bennett, but when Dougie ran at-large in 2009, he won the primary by finishing 7th out of 22 original candidates and got 17,000 votes. For a door knocker that lived in the city for less than 2 years before that is pretty impressive. His 4th place finish in a large field in the recent district race to more established candidates in a large field was good too considering he lived in Feeney's District for a year.

Bennett wasn't fortunate to have 13 brothers and sisters like Baker, but his performance shows that grassroots is effective. Don't be suprised if Dorcina if he does work hard does well especially with the emergence of the minority vote this past cycle.

Not all the Councilors that won did so because of ...

2012-01-05T21:23:15.787-05:00

Not all the Councilors that won did so because of large endorsements and hefty bank accounts. Mr. Sean Ryan's platform was hollow and his tactics are less than approachable. I like William Dorcena, but he is hard pressed to think he will beat Menino with grunt work.

Good luck to him. He is a good guy. I think Tomm...

2012-01-05T17:48:00.357-05:00

Good luck to him. He is a good guy. I think Tommy and his political cronies need to move onto another career.

Happy New Year. Did you hear? 'Progressive&...

2012-01-01T12:15:33.242-05:00

Happy New Year.

Did you hear? 'Progressive' was the most popular word in the US political lexicon in 2011. Forward! Solidarity.

wiunion

It effects everyone with earned income as I unders...

2011-12-22T16:39:09.295-05:00

It effects everyone with earned income as I understand, so a savvy self employed person lets say could shift their income to take advantage of the lower FICA tax if this thing not renewed after two months. (Watch the ads from tax consultants after this passes....)

Obama called for a 12 month extension of the Holiday and that's what Congress passed.

I don't think the electorate is going to view a two month extension of a very unworkable tax rule much of a victory.

The continued tax cut affects anyone fortunate eno...

2011-12-21T17:07:46.957-05:00

The continued tax cut affects anyone fortunate enough to be employed and draw a paycheck. The two-month extension is a lame stopgap, which in turn is vastly superior to taking 2% out of millions of Americans' checks as of 1/1/12. The bill always should have been a 1 year or permanent cut to the working and middle class. It is only GOP intransigence and disdain for the middle class that has led to the two-month version.