Taking Back Moral Values

Versions of this story have been floating around the web for a little over a week.

As researchers have noted, the areas of the country where divorce rates are highest are also frequently the areas where many conservative Christians live.

Kentucky, Mississippi and Arkansas, for example, voted overwhelmingly for constitutional amendments to ban gay marriage. But they had three of the highest divorce rates in 2003, based on figures from the Census Bureau and the National Center for Health Statistics.

The lowest divorce rates are largely in the blue states: the Northeast and the upper Midwest. And the state with the lowest divorce rate was Massachusetts, home to John Kerry, the Kennedys and same-sex marriage.

In 2003, the rate in Massachusetts was 5.7 divorces per 1,000 married people, compared with 10.8 in Kentucky, 11.1 in Mississippi and 12.7 in Arkansas.

This is one of those No Shit Sherlock articles. You mean if I go to college, live my life, and make my own decisions, it is more likely that I will choose a spouse wisely? Egads!

I can't wait for the angry mail to pour in. "How dare you suggest that godless liberals are better at marriage than Christians?" Fun.

Josh Marshall gets it

Any hired-gun who worked for John Kerry and is now publicly -- subtly or not so subtly -- slipping a shiv in his back: that's someone the Democratic party can do without. Clear the decks.

We should have done that after 2000.

Bush's Veterans Day Policy

Honor Veterans...

Bush will attend a private White House reception for veterans Thursday morning. The reception will to be followed by an annual wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknowns and remarks at the memorial amphitheater at Arlington National Cemetery.

Spokesman Scott McClellan said Bush was looking forward to honoring all those who've served.

...by Creating More Veterans

The latest tally :

Eighteen U.S. troops have been killed and another 69 wounded in this week's offensive to take control of the rebel-held Iraqi city Falluja, a senior U.S. Marine Corps commander said on Thursday.

And to what end? The people we really want to capture or kill are long gone.

No this is not me being sarcastic in the face of the new normal. This is me pointing out the utter outrage of a day like to day. This should no longer be shocking. Let's face it: nothing can be shocking anymore. These last four years (and the contemplation of the four still to come) has me rendered me shock-proof. That doesn't however neutralize the rage.

Fuck Bush and his sanctimonious didn't-serve-in-Vietnam piety. He dishonors every soldier past, present, and future, simply by existing.

And you thought all we had to worry about were new pro-life Supreme Court justices! Take a closer look at Bush's FDA appointments! This is somewhat old, (he was first appointed in 2002) but he's just been reappointed, petitions are circulating to get rid of him (thanks Kimprobable!) and outrage should never get old...

Dr. Hager is a practicing OB/GYN who describes himself as "pro-life" and refuses to prescribe contraceptives to unmarried women. Hager is the author of "As Jesus Cared for Women: Restoring Women Then and Now." The book blends biblical accounts of Christ healing women with case studies from Hager's practice. In the book Dr. Hager wrote with his wife, entitled "Stress and the Woman's Body," he suggests that women who suffer from premenstrual syndrome should seek help from reading the bible and praying. As an editor and contributing author of "The Reproduction Revolution: A Christian Appraisal of Sexuality, Reproductive Technologies and the Family," Dr. Hager appears to have endorsed the medically inaccurate assertion that the common birth control pill is an abortifacient.

snip

Contrary to the claim made in the now widely-circulated e-mail decrying his appointment, Dr. Hager says he does not deny birth-control prescriptions to unmarried women. However, Time magazine reported that "In his private practice, two sources familiar with it say, Hager refuses to prescribe contraceptives to unmarried women."

Jesus

LOS ANGELES, November 9, 2004 - At 7:50 PM two armored tanks showed up at an anti-war protest in front of the federal building in Westwood. The tanks circled the block twice, the second time parking themselves in the street and directly in front of the area where most of the protesters were gathered. Enraged, some of the people attempted to block the tanks, but police quickly cleared the street. The people continued to protest the presence of the tanks, but about ten minutes the tanks drove off. It is unclear as to why the tanks were deployed to this location. Uploaded here is video from the event.

Everything you need to know about John Ashcroft's replacement is right here.

I think I should have saved some of those tears from last week. Something tells me I'm going to be pretty weepy for the next four years.

Paranoid? Moi?

David M. Miyasato enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserve in 1987, served three years of active duty during the first Gulf War and received an honorable discharge in 1991. He remained on inactive status for five more years, until 1996. Since then, the Kaua'i resident has married, started an auto window tinting business and this year, he and his wife had their first child.

But in September, Miyasato received a letter from the Army recalling him to active duty and directing him to report to a military facility in South Carolina on Tuesday.