Monthly Archives: January 2012

So much for ANY good will towards SD Legislators…

Posted on January 29, 2012 by Terry| 3 Comments

Well, South Dakota Sen. Adelstein changing his mind on supporting a bill that would weaken public unions in the South Dakota had me feeling a TINY bit of good will towards the South Dakota Legislature. But of course, this being South Dakota, our brilliant legislators immediately blew that good will by introducing yet another screwed-up bill.

There’s no actual desire by energy companies to come to South Dakota and use fracking to extract oil and natural gas. But hey, don’t let a little fact like that deter the South Dakota right-wing redneck legislature from making SURE everybody knows that anyone who waves a $20 bill is welcome to come to our state and do whatever they’d like. A bill has been introduced that would let energy companies know that they are MORE than welcome to come and using fracking to get at oil and gas in South Dakota.

Nice job, South Dakota Legislature…don’t let anything like geology, just the basic availability of fracking-derived oil and gas, stop you from your noble work.  No, our legislators are always one step ahead of the game, facts and science be damned.  If there’s ANY right-wing, redneck, conservative, wacko idea out there, you can be damned sure some South Dakota legislator will latch onto the idea and push it in South Dakota, whether it applies here or not.  Thank GOD our legislators are making sure energy companies know that IF oil and gas could ever be extracted in quantity in South Dakota through fracking, energy companies are more than welcome to destroy our environment to get a few short term $$$$.

These bozos simply don’t have an original thought in their heads.  I swear our brilliant redneck legislators get up in the morning, read what bills are going through other state legislatures, and then use “copy/paste” and introduce them here.  It’s like they have some kind of inferiority complex, where they have to feel like “one of the gang” (the “gang” being other right-wing wackos).  Be it guns, fracking, climate change, or anti-union paranoia, rest assured, good citizens of South Dakota!  Our brilliant legislators are hard at work, making sure we copy the most conservative, environment-destroying, wealth-protecting bills that any other state may have passed!!

Three ridiculous bills, in the past 3 days.   I can’t wait to see what’s in store for this coming week.

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Good for you, Sen. Adelstein

Posted on January 28, 2012 by Terry| 1 Comment
South Dakota Senator Stan Adelstein

South Dakota Senator Stan Adelstein - Had the guts to change course and take back his support of a bill he sponsored on public unions.

I was just going to add a response to an earlier post, about the South Dakota legislature and their attempts to limit collective bargaining rights for public employees in the state.  However, when someone reverses course and rights a wrong, I think they deserve recognition.  God knows it can be damned difficult to change your opinions sometimes, whether you’re Republican,Democrat, black,white,purple,Christian,Muslim,Martian, etc.

R-Stan Adelstein, a South Dakota senator from Rapid City, was a sponsor of the bill that attempted to limit the power of public unions.  I ripped him, and the rest of the legislature, for bringing this bill up.  Today, Adelstein reversed his support for the bill, saying “I am not afraid to admit a mistake and attempt to set it right.” 

Way to go Sen. Adelstein…I salute you.  You have more courage to admit a mistake than I do sometimes.

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Drawing – Great Auk

Posted on January 28, 2012 by Terry| 1 Comment

Great Auk - Drawing by Terry SohlWith a work trip, it’s been over a week since I’ve been able to draw anything.  I thought I’d continue my trend of trying to draw things I don’t have photos of.  And, as with my Carolina Parakeet and Ivory-billed Woodpecker drawings, here’s another I’m quite unlikely to ever get a photo of!  This is a drawing of a Great Auk.

In case you don’t know the story of the Great Auk…they were the largest of the “Alcid” family, birds that include the puffins that most people are familiar with.  They were almost 3 feet tall and weighed over 10 pounds, and were often considered the Northern Hemisphere’s ecological counterpart to the penguin.  They were flightless, large, and easy to catch, and thus both they and their eggs were targeted as a food source.  By 1800 they were already extremely scarce in North America, and had been wiped out in Europe centuries before that.  The last bird was thought to have been sighted in 1852.

Another magnificent, unique species that we will never again have the pleasure of seeing.

Posted in Bird Art, Birds

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And the hits keep on a comin’ – SD Legislature

Posted on January 28, 2012 by Terry| 2 Comments
R-Stan Adelstein

Stan Adelstein, another grumpy white male SD legislator with a personal agenda he wants to impose on the entire state.

Man, when the South Dakota legislature gets on a roll, there is NO stopping the endless string of bad legislation. We already know our South Dakota legislators are gun-totin’, bible-thumpin’ white boys who want the rest of the world to be, well…gun-totin’, bible-thumpin’ white boys. I also swear to god South Dakota legislators are the most easily influenced group of people this side of middle-school girls at a Justin Bieber concert.

Unions are evil!! The REST of the right-wing GOP establishment SAYS so!! So by god, our brilliant and innovative South Dakota legislators are going to fall RIGHT in line with the rest of the GOP, and do away with all the harm unions have done in the South Dakota. Repubs have filed a bill that would eliminate the right of public employees in the state to collectively bargain. After all, the idea has gone over SO well elsewhere, like in Wisconsin or Ohio, where voters rebelled against laws that restricted the rights of public workers to unionize and collectively bargain.

But hey, this is South Dakota. Our boys here are a little slow on the uptake. They’re JUST startin’ to pick up on this anti-union thing, and decided that they too needed to restrict public unions that have caused SO much harm in the state. Right? I mean, there has to be SOME reason they’re introducing this bill, other than the fact that our legislators here are a bunch of slack-jawed nincompoops who aren’t capable of doing anything but following the rest of the right-wing wackos in this country.

We already have wages that are the lowest in the country. Unions aren’t exactly causing businesses to fret over wages and benefits.   State and local governments aren’t being driven to the poorhouse by union-negotiated contracts.  So what possible reason IS there for Republicans to bring this bill up in South Dakota?

How about one MORE redneck, ass-backward South Dakota legislator with a burr up his butt?  R-Stan Adelstein is the major sponsor of the bill in the South Dakota Senate.  As Adelstein makes sure to point out, “I carry a concealed weapons permit“…something I guess Adelstein wants all those rabble-rousing union folk to know, in case they had any plans of messin’ around with him.  As the Argus Leader story above notes, Adelstein has had “run-ins” with unions before, in association with his engineering business.   What the hell, might as well take his own personal issues and make South Dakota teachers, fire fighters, policemen, and other public employees pay the price.

It’s ass-backwards.  It’s the South Dakota way.

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Pity the Less Well-endowed Conservative

Posted on January 27, 2012 by Terry| Leave a comment
Intelligence - Liberals vs. Conservatives

I'm sorry, my conservative friends. When we argue, I always am reminded of Sean Connery in the Untouchables, who mocks his attacker for bringing a knife to a gun fight.

If you’ve ever even sniffed my blog, you know that I have quite strong, and generally quite liberal, political and social views.  Most of the people in my life at work, or personally, also tend to lean pretty heavily toward liberal viewpoints.  However, some of the people I enjoy the most are those who have intelligent, well-informed, and well thought-out political opinions that just HAPPEN to be the polar opposite of mine.   There’s something about having a conversation, or an argument, with your polar opposite that can be very, well, enjoyable.  Yes, people can take it too far, and be TOO serious or stubborn about their political views, something I too (obviously!) can be guilty of at times.  But it can be a real treat to find someone who is your polar opposite politically or socially, but yet is someone you still respect at the end of the day, and is someone where “arguments” generally consist of some fun teasing more than knock-down-drag-out fights.

And with that to set the tone for the rest of this post…

To put it simply…as this new study shows…if you’re, well, not blessed with intelligence, you’re also more likely to be a conservative, right-wing bigot.  It’s not fair, really.  We all have our burdens, but evidently, the facts show that if you’re born stupid, you also have some other strikes against you, things that make you, well…not so likable in my book. 

There have been many other studies that have shown similar linkages, particularly between intelligence and political persuasion.  As this report notes, the most educated cities in the United States are Boulder, CO, Anne Arbor, MI, and Washington D.C.   Talk about liberal strongholds!! As a card-carrying, tree-huggin’, liberal nutjob, I of course can take GREAT delight at finding all of the evidence that points to intelligence being directly correlated towards a tendency to hold liberal viewpoints.  For those conservative friends/acquaintances that fit in the general mold as described at the top of this post, studies such as this provide SO many wonderful opportunities for teasing and mocking. 

But alas, given that intelligence clearly IS tied to your viewpoints on life, those few conservative friends and acquaintances that I can disagree with, but yet still enjoy, are few and far between.  The Republican primaries themselves are ample evidence of the overall scarcity of intelligent Republicans.

I’m sorry, my Republican friends.  For those few intelligent conservatives who I do get along with, I not only respect you…but I actually pity you.  Being an “intelligent conservative” must be incredibly frustrating, given the mental deficiencies of all your conservative peers.   What a nightmare to be an intelligent conservative, where encounters with the vast majority of your conservative friends are marked by drooling and blank stares more than any meaningful conversation.  No WONDER the rare intelligent conservative seems to take so much delight in encounters with liberal acquaintances.  It must be like emerging from the nightmare of being alert but in a vegetative state, unable to express your views to anyone who will understand you.

So, to the few intelligent conservatives who are out there…take heart.  I feel your pain.  I will take pity on you should our paths cross.  I will engage in a hearty conversation with you.  Just remember…no matter how much we agree to disagree…the empirical evidence regarding intelligence clearly points to the likelihood that I am right, while you are wrong.

Posted in Deep Thoughts, Politics

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South Dakota House – Again Asserting their Brilliance

Posted on January 26, 2012 by Terry| 2 Comments
Mount Rushmore Faces

Washington. Jefferson. Lincoln. Roosevelt. And now, "Hickey" (aptly named) and "Bolin". I move we immediately honor South Dakota Reps. Steve "Redneck" Hickey, and Jim "Bible Boy" Bolin, for their sponsorship of the South Dakota bill that "recommends" bible study in public classrooms.

There are a number of terms you’d never likely use in the same sentence as “South Dakota House”.  “Progressive”, for example.  “Fair and Balanced”.  “Intelligent”.  My current state of South Dakota has the unfortunate honor of having the most idiotic, ass-backwards set of politicians this side of Newt Gingrich.  The pinnacle of achievement for the South Dakota House was during the 2010 session, when they passed a bill calling for “balanced teaching of global warming” in South Dakota classrooms.  Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, or the Onion couldn’t craft a more hilarious piece of legislation than what is contained in this bill.  But seriously, why SHOULD educators teach our children about climate change, when “there are a variety of climatological, meteorological, astrological, thermological, cosmological, and ecological dynamics” that really drive climate change.  That, and the fact that carbon dioxide is “the gas of life”. 

Once again, the South Dakota House is feeling the need to assert their brilliance.  They recently passed a bill that recommends South Dakota educators add a study of the bible to the standard curriculum.  After all, according to them, the bible “permeates all culture, law, and philosophy“, and really, that’s all that matters to folks, right?  At least to white male Christian folks like those making up 99.99768% of the South Dakota House.  As R-Jim Bolin states, of COURSE we should have bible study in public schools, since such common catchy phrases such as “Old as Methuseluh” come from the bible and are SO prevalent in every day conversation today.  Just check your friends on Facebook, or listen to your teenage kids…they’re ALL saying it. 

Look, I have absolutely no problem with what people personally believe.  Live and let live.  Heck, despite my own beliefs, I even don’t have a problem if schools want to talk about the bible and it’s influence on Western culture….IF it’s done honestly and fairly.  But what are the odds of THAT happening in Hickville, South Dakota (99.2% of towns in South Dakota may qualify for the title)?  If a teacher cracks open a bible and starts spouting off bible verses in class…what are the odds that teacher will ALSO crack open a Koran and do the same?  What are the odds in South Dakota that the teacher will ALSO teach the philosophy of Buddhism?  Hinduism? 

You’ll notice the white Christian males of the South Dakota House ONLY said that teachers should talk about the Bible in classrooms.  What a shock.  Gotta love good ol’ state-sponsored bigotry, which is what this bill amounts to. 

Do us a favor, South Dakota legislators.  Stick to what you know best…things like your attempts to make sure every South Dakotan is armed to the teeth with the latest concealed or automatic weaponry.  Leave educational issues to those who are, well….educated.

Posted in Climate Change, Politics

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SOTU – Polarized, Gridlock

Posted on January 25, 2012 by Terry| 1 Comment
State of the Union - Standard Speech

My proposed template for all future State-of-the-Union speeches, and opposition party responses.

Last night, as our POTUS gave the SOTU with the FLOTUS and SCOTUS present, a few thoughts crossed my mind.  First…The State of the Union address happens once a year.  I’m not sure it’s THAT common of a concept in most people’s minds that they see “SOTU” in the headlines and realize what the hell the story is going to talk about.  Hey, I work for the government.  We’re acronym loonies.  But enough with the SOTU headlines, just freakin’ spell it out.

My second thought was…is a speech like this REALLY focusing on the “State of the Union”?  Or, is it more a political stump speech for the next election?  It’s ALWAYS the latter more than the former, but even more so in an election year.  I couldn’t stomach either the speech itself for very long, or the Mitch Daniels GOP “response”.

What bugs the hell out of me…why does there NEED to be a “response” from the “other” party after a State of the Union address?   For an event that’s supposed to bring Americans together to focus on the primary issues affecting or nation, why instead has it become an event that even further strengthens the intense polarization that typifies American politics?  In the State of the Union, the President at least has to give SOME appearance that he’s outlining a path forward for our country, that Americans as a whole need to come together to solve our problems.  For the “other” party response?  As with other opposition party responses in the past, Mitch Daniels might as well have just issued a short statement…”Obama sucks, vote Republican in November”.

Not exactly a Lou Holtz type of speech to motivate the team.  The State of the Union evening has become just one more night of campaigning for both Democrats and Republicans.  There is no attempt from either side to realistically discuss bridging the gaps between the “two” sides.  Because of course, there ARE just two types of Americans…Democrats, and Republicans, an oil-and-water combo that can NEVER mix.  Instead of a night that uplifts the spirits of the American people, where we discuss our Nation’s accomplishments and path forward, it’s become a depressing night where each side tries to out-do each other in blaming the other, where the state-of-the-union is NEVER good, and it’s ALWAYS the other party’s fault for CAUSING such a sucky state of affairs.

The thunderous applause for Gabrielle Giffords was a nice moment.  That’s about what it takes for Democrats or Republicans to work together or even talk to each other…a near-death experience.  Even that isn’t above the depressing political rhetoric though, given the AMPLE stories this week from John Boehner and others, touting the chances of Republicans taking the seat from Giffords in an upcoming special election. 

I propose we replace the State of the Union speech and response with a simple press release.  “State of the Union – Gridlock in Washington, Political Partisanship Increasing – Public Following Politicians’ Example and Becoming More Polarized”.   Three little phrases, phrases that for all intents and purposes, provide the same message as  provided by the president’s State of the Union speech and the opposition party’s response.   We’d save millions in taxpayer $$$$, as the same wording, the same press release materials, could be distributed year, after year, after year, regardless of who sits in the Oval Office.  A depressing message to be reiterated every year, sure…but no more depressing than watching the current slate of speeches on State of the Union night.

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Carville and Begala response to Fleischer

Posted on January 24, 2012 by Terry| 2 Comments

This is a bloody brilliant response from James Carville and Paul Begala, to Ari Fleischer who said Democratic pundits like Carville “don’t understand” the GOP.

The intro part to this is just brilliant….read if you get a chance.

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Protecting people from their own stupidity

Posted on January 23, 2012 by Terry| 1 Comment
Idiocracy

Average intelligence of the human race takes a dive in the movie "Idiocracy". I'm sure whether to laugh or cry about the premise of the movie, given the attitudes some parent seem to have towards protecting their children from something like HPV.

Have you ever seen the movie “Idiocracy”?  Silly movie with Luke Wilson and Maya Rudolph, where they are put in “hibernation” by the military, who then forgets about them.  They wake up 550 years in the future, and find that humanity is, well…stupid.   Even stupider than they are today (Who wudda thought it was possible?).   The premise of the movie is that dumb people breed like rabbits, so by 2550, the collective IQ of the human race is about the same as my Cocker Spaniel.  Luke Wilson with his perfectly average 100 IQ thus becomes president, as he’s the smartest person on the planet.  He ends up saving the human race from their own stupidity.

Reading a story today reminds me of the movie.  As is the case in other states as well, Virginia law currently requires young girls to be vaccinated against the HPV virus.  Given the firm link between the virus and cervical cancer, you’d think parents would WANT their offspring protected from the virus.  You would be wrong, at least for many people who seem to trust anti-vaccine wackos more than the scientists that are trying to SAVE their children’s lives.  There is a push in the Virginia legislature to repeal the law.  Never mind that if a parent (stupidly) doesn’t want their child to get vaccinated, they already have an escape from the law. 

No, that’s simply not enough for the “Idiocracy” class of Virginia.  They WANT the right to be stupid.  They WANT the right to let their children wither and die someday from cervical cancer.  Obviously to these idiots, the choice is clear!  Let the STATE tell them how they should protect their children from a horrible disease that might kill them?  GOD NO!!  Just out of principle, it seems the Idiocracy class of Virginia would rather let their daughters die a horrible death, rather than trust in science or government.

Sometimes people just need to be protected from their own stupidity. This is one of those cases.  Young girls at the preferred vaccination age simply aren’t in a position to make the decision themselves.  You would HOPE a responsible parent would make the decision, and a mandatory vaccination program wouldn’t be required.  But then you would be assuming that people are rational and intelligent beings.  They obviously are not.

Whine and moan, redneck Virginia class of the “Idiocracy”.  Complain all you want about the state trampling on your right to let your own daughters die of cervical cancer.   If the Virginia legislature (or other state legislatures where anti-vaccination movements are gaining traction) had any shred of credibility, they would turn away the move to repeal the law, and do what’s right.  Protect these young girls from their own parent’s stupidity.

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Trust in Women – South Carolina Exit Polls

Posted on January 22, 2012 by Terry| 1 Comment
Marianne and Newt Gingrich

Which of these two people do you trust? Marianne Gingrich, who was cheated on, and then dumped right after she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis? Or Newt, he of three marriages, countless affairs, and countless lies? Simple! For most Americans, the answer seems to be to trust the one with the penis!!

I just happened to be born a man.   I also happened to be born white.  I also happened to be born in America.  In other words, I’ve been pretty fortunate in terms of where I started in life, because if any of those three things wouldn’t have happened, there’s a very good chance I wouldn’t be where I am today.  Your sex, your race, and your country of origin obviously (and unfortunately) play a huge role in setting the stage for your life.

Let’s just talk about one of those attributes…your sex.  As stated by Richard H. Robbins in his book “Global problems and the nature of capitalism”:

Women do two-thirds of the world’s work, receive 10 percent of the world’s income, and own 1 percent of the means of production.

Even in industrialized, “progressive” countries, there are obviously issues with unequal treatment.  So, with that lead-in, what’s my reason for talking about this today?  Again…the South Carolina primary, and the breakdown of why voters (stupidly) voted the way they did.

Astoundingly, Newt Gingrich received a far greater proportion of the “evangelical” vote than the other candidates, despite his marital issues.  “Open marriage”?  No problem for supposed “Evangelicals” (hah!!).   One reason evangelicals gave for ignoring scummy Newt’s personal life?  In exit polls from yesterday…they simply didn’t believe Marianne Gingrich and her shocking revelations on life with Newt.

WHAT…THE…HELL…is it with people and their refusal to believe women who come forward with stories such as Marianne Gingrich’s story?  WHY would you choose to trust a scum like Newt, and not believe Marianne Gingrich?  It’s not like this is an isolated incident.  There are few things more disconcerting to me than when a woman comes forward to report a sexual assault, physical violence, or other crime, and suddenly, it seems that SHE is the one portrayed in a negative light. 

Is Marianne Gingrich’s story just going to be swept under the rug, completely discounted by “social conservatives” (HAH!!)?  Will people even remember a few months from now?  Or even WORSE…Will Marianne Gingrich suffer Anita Hill’s fate, where somehow, the man she accused of being a disgusting pig is now a Supreme Court Justice, while HER reputation has somehow gone down the tubes? 

There are tangible issues for women’s rights in the U.S., with pay inequality being the one that is most often discussed.  There are also less tangible issues that show the problem runs FAR deeper than just how much women are paid.  The exit polls in South Carolina, the COUNTLESS cases where women victims simply aren’t “believed”, are rather depressing reminders as to the underlying social underpinnings to issues of women’s rights. 

It’s a man’s world.  It’s a WHITE man’s world.  And as a white man, I find that fact to be quite depressing.

Posted in Equality

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