UC Davis police officer pepper sprays sitting students because, well, just because.
Think that’s %$#ing horrible? The video’s worse.
Via John Aravosis at AmericaBlog:
I’m sorry, this has gone too far. This has happened in police department after police department, and it has gone too far. Our police look like the goons in Russia and China. Please watch this video and send it to everyone you know. This has gone too far.
Perry’s God Strategy May Be Effective. Science Explains Why
Social psychologists from Duke found that the when devout people view their government as in turmoil, they turn to God to fill the gaps in trust:
“Although there are undoubtedly multiple causes of religious belief, one cause may be that when people perceive their government as unstable, they turn to God or other religious deities to fulfill a need for order and control in their lives,” says Aaron Kay, an associate professor at Duke University.
Rick Perry and his prayer rally (which was well-received among attendees) is likely be capitalizing on those feelings, inadvertently or not. When religious Americans view the nation’s problems as “beyond our power to solve”, their psychology points them to candidates that share their trust in a higher power.
(via The Intersection)
Top Climate Scientists Support Civil Disobedience Against Keystone XL Tarsands Pipeline →
Top climate scientists from around the United States have signed a letter “to add our voices to the indigenous leaders, religious leaders, and environmentalists calling on you to block the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline from Canada’s tar sands.” Signatories include NASA’s James Hanson, Ken Caldeira, Peter Gleick, James McCarthy, Michael Oppenheimer, Michael Mann, Steve Running, Richard Somerville, and George Woodwell, all of whom have testified before the U.S. Congress of the threat from global warming pollution. “We hope those so inclined will join protests scheduled for August and described at tarsandsaction.org,” the scientists write, supporting civil disobedience in front of the White House.
Rick Perry’s environmental record
The Texas governor has a clear environmental platform — whether you like it or not is a different story.Climate change
Don’t get confused by the knowledge that Perry is a former Democrat who led Al Gore’s presidential campaign back in 1988. As governor, he has consistently resisted federal policies aimed at combating climate change.
Cap-and-trade
Under his watch, Texas has instituted the TERP program, which provides incentives for people to reduce their carbon footprints. While this may seem like a step in the green direction, it would be hard for Texas to get any dirtier. In fact, under Perry, Texas has consistently been the nation’s largest emitter of carbon emissions. Perry, who is on record saying he may be in favor of Texas leaving the United States, would have an interesting situation on his hands if his wish were granted. If Perry were to be the president of the Texas Republic, it would be the world’s eighth-largest emitter of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide.
Sharing oil revenues
Perry wants to drill offshore and be able to grab some of the cash for doing so in an effort to offset the effects of drilling off his own shores. He was also opposed to President Barack Obama’s de facto moratorium on offshore drilling after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
Fracking disclosure
Rick Perry was one of the first governors to refuse to let the natural gas industry do hydraulic fracturing (also known as fracking) in his state without disclosing the toxic chemicals it uses to do so.
Some green/clean stuff, too
Perry does have a bit of a green in his record. In fact, as governor, Perry was instrumental in 2009 in passing a $5,000 incentive for the purchase of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.
How can anyone in their right mind support a political party whose stated platform is to take away the right to pursue happiness from ANY segment of the population?
How can anyone in their right mind support a political party whose stated platform is to take away the right to pursue happiness from ANY segment of the population?
This video helped me a lot with this question (18 min, but well worth it). It is Jonathan Haidt’s TED talk on the moral roots of liberals and conservatives. It is an exploration into the morals/values that liberals and conservatives tend to find important.
A basic summary is that all human beings are born with a “first draft” of their moral mind: the five foundations of morality. These foundations develop over time, but we all are both with some kind of affinity or preparedness to adopt them.
- Harm/care
- Fairness/reciprocity
- Ingroup/loyalty
- Authority/respect
- Purity/sanctity
Liberals tend to place a high importance on 1 & 2, but reject (or at least hold in lower regard) 3, 4, & 5. Conservatives hold all five at relatively the same importance level, somewhere in the middle. These findings go across countries.
Liberals speak for the weak and oppressed; [they] want change and justice, even at [the] risk of chaos.
Conservatives speak for institutions and traditions; [they] want order even at [the] cost to those on the bottom.
He concludes that in essence, everyone thinks they are right and we need to try to understand why others think they are right. This results in moral humility, which helps us come to terms with the hard truths that we need to face in order to create a better future.
(Source: inothernews)
