Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Trig Palin speaks his first sentence. Kind of.
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| Courtesy of Facebook |
Later Palin posted this video on Facebook, with this description:
When the girls told Trig that daddy had to leave the race, he still said, "Go, daddy!" And it's sort of his first "sentence" that's kind of clear! We're proud of our boy!
Children with Down syndrome develop at a much slower rate than normal, but I was struck by Trig's difficulty with speech at almost six years old. It once again makes me think he did not get the kind of early inventions and supports that he required to help him develop.
Not only that but his crossed eyes are very obvious in this video and yet he is once again not wearing any corrective lenses.
You know to me this kind of speaks to the pro-life movement writ large.
They are all about forcing women to give birth, but the responsibilities afterward of providing adequate care, or ensuring that the child's life is as comfortable as possible seems not to matter nearly as much.
Trig seems like an enjoyable little boy, but now that he is no longer a political prop he needs to be cared for as a human being with special needs.
By the way speaking of Todd here is what is filtering in so far as to why he quit:
It didn't take long for the Iron Dog to turn into a nightmare for the dream team of Tyler Huntington and Todd Palin.
The two former Iron Dog champs ran into trouble less than 100 miles into the 2,000-mile snowmachine race from Big Lake to Nome to Fairbanks on Sunday and officially pulled out of the race late Monday afternoon.
Huntington, a two-time Iron Dog champ from Fairbanks, and Palin, a four-time winner from Wasilla, evidently had some kind of mechanical problem shortly after leaving the starting line in Big Lake.
Race officials didn't have any details as to what happened, only that Huntington and Palin had scratched from the race because of a problem with one of their Ski-Doos.
"All I know is they had some kind of mechanical issue," executive race director Kevin Kastner said. "I don't know if it was from a crash or just a mechanical failure."
You know this had me remembering the last time that Todd quit the race unexpectedly and for reasons that were never made clear.
Source
Hundreds of University of Missouri students block Westboro Church members from protesting recently out of the closet Michael Sam.
Courtesy of iacknowledge:
Wearing “Stand with Sam” pins and shirts that read “We Are All CoMo Sexuals,” hundreds of people lined up surrounding the stadium grounds. The shirts are a play off the nickname of Columbia, Mo, where the University of Missouri is located.
“Because Michael Sam stood up for Mizzou his entire career and we need to stand up for him,” a counter-protester said.
The Westboro Baptist Church was kept a short distance away from the stadium. In front of them stood the student body who – like many in America – have grown increasingly tired of the WBC’s hate mongering.
Inside the arena, the atmosphere was equally supportive. The football team was being honored for their stellar season, but it was Michael Sam who received the greatest adulation. When he appeared on the video boards during the game, the arena erupted in applause and even a standing ovation.
As the WBC stood shivering in the cold with their signs that read things like “Death Penalty 4 Fags” and “Fag Enablers,” there must be a growing concern among the members that it’s no longer about fighting a culture war against homosexuality. Staring at over a thousand people willing to stand in the frigid temperatures out of love and respect for one of their own, the WBC may have to recognize that perhaps the war is already over and they have lost.
Wow, I think that made me tear up a little.
This is such a powerful message to send to young boys and girls who are feeling insecure about their sexuality and worried about being accepted.
Source
Wearing “Stand with Sam” pins and shirts that read “We Are All CoMo Sexuals,” hundreds of people lined up surrounding the stadium grounds. The shirts are a play off the nickname of Columbia, Mo, where the University of Missouri is located.
“Because Michael Sam stood up for Mizzou his entire career and we need to stand up for him,” a counter-protester said.
The Westboro Baptist Church was kept a short distance away from the stadium. In front of them stood the student body who – like many in America – have grown increasingly tired of the WBC’s hate mongering.
Inside the arena, the atmosphere was equally supportive. The football team was being honored for their stellar season, but it was Michael Sam who received the greatest adulation. When he appeared on the video boards during the game, the arena erupted in applause and even a standing ovation.
As the WBC stood shivering in the cold with their signs that read things like “Death Penalty 4 Fags” and “Fag Enablers,” there must be a growing concern among the members that it’s no longer about fighting a culture war against homosexuality. Staring at over a thousand people willing to stand in the frigid temperatures out of love and respect for one of their own, the WBC may have to recognize that perhaps the war is already over and they have lost.
Wow, I think that made me tear up a little.
This is such a powerful message to send to young boys and girls who are feeling insecure about their sexuality and worried about being accepted.
Source
Hey, is it possible the Religious Right has simply been reading the wrong Constitution all of this time?
Source
Meet the Press sets up debate between Bill Nye and climate change denier Rep. Marsha Blackburn, giving more credence to the idea that there is no consensus on global warming.
Here was Time Magazine's take on the "debate.":
Blackburn maintained that there is no consensus in the scientific community about global warming, pointing to two vocal dissenters, Richard Lindzen of MIT and Judith Curry of Georgia Tech, who claim that humans are not causing climate change.
“Neither [Bill Nye] nor I are a climate scientist. He is an engineer and actor, I am a member of Congress. And what we have to do is look at the information that we get from climate scientists,” said Blackburn. “There is not agreement around the fact of exactly what is causing this.”
Ninety-seven percent of climate scientists agree that climate-warming trends over the past century are very likely due to human activities, according to NASA. Experts say there is still some uncertainty in absolutely linking isolated extreme weather events like Hurricane Sandy or bad droughts to global warming, but the vast majority of scientists ascribe climate change and the increase in extreme weather to human activity.
Nye responded harshly to the Congresswoman.
“We have overwhelming evidence that the climate is changing. That you cannot tie any one event to that is not the same as doubt about the whole thing,” said Nye. “There is no debate in the scientific community. I encourage the Congresswoman to really look at the facts. You are our leader. We need you to change things, not deny what’s happening.”
THAT, that right there is where the conversation should have ended! But no....
Blackburn argued that responding to climate change will involve balancing the costs of not preventing climate change with the benefits of continuing at high rates of carbon emissions.
“One of the things that we have to remember is cost-benefit analysis has to take place,” said the Congresswoman. “And it is unfortunate that some of the federal agencies are not conducting that cost-benefit analysis.”
Nye said the U.S. could stand to gain economically by investing in new technologies, but warned against the cost of denial.
“For me, as a guy who grew up in the U.S., I want the U.S. to lead the world in this,” he said. “These are huge opportunities, and the more we mess around with this denial, the less we’re going to get done.”
To my mind the idea that there should be a cost-benefit analysis on preventing a change to the environment that is currently causing massive, dangerous weather events, and will undoubtedly kill thousands of human beings and millions of animals if left unchecked, is ridiculous.
Yes, there may be higher costs in the short term, but in the long term there will be....well there will actually BE a long term!
And Nye is right that there are great opportunities to turn America's famous inventive nature to coming up with new innovations that would quickly get us off of fossil fuels and onto renewable resources. and that we could then market to the rest of the world.
We are already doing much in that area, but with more federal money and more public support the sky would be the limit.
The very clean and very blue sky in fact.
However that simply will not happen as long as news programs continue to treat this as if the jury is still out as to its cause, and allow crazy people like Marsha Blackburn to sow seeds of doubt in the minds of the American people.
Source
Blackburn maintained that there is no consensus in the scientific community about global warming, pointing to two vocal dissenters, Richard Lindzen of MIT and Judith Curry of Georgia Tech, who claim that humans are not causing climate change.
“Neither [Bill Nye] nor I are a climate scientist. He is an engineer and actor, I am a member of Congress. And what we have to do is look at the information that we get from climate scientists,” said Blackburn. “There is not agreement around the fact of exactly what is causing this.”
Ninety-seven percent of climate scientists agree that climate-warming trends over the past century are very likely due to human activities, according to NASA. Experts say there is still some uncertainty in absolutely linking isolated extreme weather events like Hurricane Sandy or bad droughts to global warming, but the vast majority of scientists ascribe climate change and the increase in extreme weather to human activity.
Nye responded harshly to the Congresswoman.
“We have overwhelming evidence that the climate is changing. That you cannot tie any one event to that is not the same as doubt about the whole thing,” said Nye. “There is no debate in the scientific community. I encourage the Congresswoman to really look at the facts. You are our leader. We need you to change things, not deny what’s happening.”
THAT, that right there is where the conversation should have ended! But no....
Blackburn argued that responding to climate change will involve balancing the costs of not preventing climate change with the benefits of continuing at high rates of carbon emissions.
“One of the things that we have to remember is cost-benefit analysis has to take place,” said the Congresswoman. “And it is unfortunate that some of the federal agencies are not conducting that cost-benefit analysis.”
Nye said the U.S. could stand to gain economically by investing in new technologies, but warned against the cost of denial.
“For me, as a guy who grew up in the U.S., I want the U.S. to lead the world in this,” he said. “These are huge opportunities, and the more we mess around with this denial, the less we’re going to get done.”
To my mind the idea that there should be a cost-benefit analysis on preventing a change to the environment that is currently causing massive, dangerous weather events, and will undoubtedly kill thousands of human beings and millions of animals if left unchecked, is ridiculous.
Yes, there may be higher costs in the short term, but in the long term there will be....well there will actually BE a long term!
And Nye is right that there are great opportunities to turn America's famous inventive nature to coming up with new innovations that would quickly get us off of fossil fuels and onto renewable resources. and that we could then market to the rest of the world.
We are already doing much in that area, but with more federal money and more public support the sky would be the limit.
The very clean and very blue sky in fact.
However that simply will not happen as long as news programs continue to treat this as if the jury is still out as to its cause, and allow crazy people like Marsha Blackburn to sow seeds of doubt in the minds of the American people.
Source
Uh oh, no Iron Dog trophy for Team Palin this year.
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| Photo courtesy of Facebook |
Palin team tows back to Big Lake: After close to 24 hours of everyone wondering what had happened to the highest profile competitor in Alaska's Iron Dog snowmachine race, race officials Monday morning posted on their Facebook page that Todd Palin is broken down but undeterred. "Our race marshals just informed us that Todd and Tyler (Huntington, his teammate) are planning to leave soon from Skwentna. They will tow back to Big Lake for repairs, and intend to continue just as soon as they can!" The duo obviously suffered major damage to at least one of their sleds only 80 miles into the 2,000 mile race from Big Lake to Nome to Fairbanks. The leaders of that race were resting Monday morning in the tiny community of McGrath on the north side of the Alaska Range and are expected to be on the Yukon River heading for the Bering Sea coast by the time Palin and Huntington reach Big Lake. Their hopes for winning this year's race are over whether they actually decide to continue or not after making repairs.
Has been politician, has been Fox personality, has been reality show star, has been book author, and now has been Iron Dog champion.
The Palin family tradition remains intact.
Source
Arkansas man shoots and kills 15 year old girl over prank.
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| 48 year old Willie Noble shoots teen girl over egging. |
An Arkansas man is facing first degree murder charges after he allegedly shot a 15-year-old girl to death over the weekend because she was participating in a prank on his 16-year-old son.
Shortly before 1:00 a.m. on Saturday morning, Little Rock Police responded to the Kum & Go gas station after a call about a shooting, according to KARK. Officers found a white Hyundai Sonata with bullet holes, broken glass, and four teens between the ages of 14 and 18.
A 15-year-old girl who was inside the car was identified as Adrian Broadway. She later died from a gunshot wound after being taken to nearby hospital. The car’s 18-year-old driver, Dshone Nelson, suffered minor injuries from broken glass.
The surviving teen victims reportedly told police that they had attempted to prank 48-year-old Willie Noble’s son by covering his car in eggs and leaves, KTHV reported.
“Apparently Mr. Noble’s teenage son had done a prank on some of the kids that were inside the vehicle on Halloween Night,” Lieutenant Sidney Allen explained. “As a result they were doing a retaliation prank and it ultimately had deadly results.”
After the shooting, the driver attempted to flee the scene to get help.
“It was a joke. We was friends, we was gonna come over there and clean it up,” 16-year-old Kortazha Williams, who was in the car, told KTHV. “It was supposed to be a prank; we were supposed to get up right now, and we were supposed to laugh.”
Yet another senseless murder in response to an innocuous incident by an unarmed teenager.
Not a very comforting pattern.
At least this guy is African American so as we know he will be unable to use the Stand Your Ground defense.
In America that only works for white folks.
Source
Hey, remember that North Carolina high school Atheists club that was rejected by school officials? Looks like things have evolved.
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| Kalei Wilson wants to start club for Atheists. |
According to one source, “the attorney for the school district has indicated that if [Kalei] make[s] a formal request to start the SSA group with Principal [Greg] Bailey, the group should be allowed to form.”
Kalei will be meeting with the Bailey early this week to begin (again) the process of forming the group.
I just spoke with her over the phone and she told me that nearly a dozen students have already expressed interest in joining the club — which is already more than some of the other clubs at the school.
Assuming everything goes smoothly from here on out, Kalei hopes to get in as many group meetings as possible before the end of the school year and show the community that “we’re good people, not bad people.”
Well good for Kalei!
Just one more step toward gaining acceptance, and proving that Atheists are not the frightening people that some in the religious community like to paint us as.
For those who did not read my original post on this, that can be found here.
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