Category Archives: Mutual Responsibility

Students from Texas Tech University build a house for Habitat for Humanity in 2010. (

In 1954, social psychologist Muzafer Sherif ran an experiment that could not be repeated today. Sherif was investigating prejudice and contesting Freud’s model of prejudice as an acting out of unresolved childhood conflicts.

At the Robbers Cave Boy Scout camp, Sherif wanted to test whether he could take a group of people, without any inherently hostile attitudes towards each other, and create conflict by introducing competition.

What Sherif found was not only that he could, but that he could also resolve the conflict if he introduced a shared goal. As I talk to people about politics and work for change, I always try to remember the importance of fighting with someone on something.

What does your kid’s sex education look like?

Choosing the Best is a company that claims to be the leader in abstinence-only sex education. Choosing the Best is based out of Atlanta, Georgia and run by Bruce and Donna Cook. CTB materials are used in 15 states and are part of the $1.5 billion in spending on abstinence training over the past 25 years.

Choosing the Best WAY is the curriculum designed for 6th graders to:

give students age-appropriate insight into what’s happening to their changing bodies and emotions, explores their new interest in the opposite sex, and teaches abstinence as the best WAY

I was introduced to Choosing the Best WAY through a presentation by Jim Helton about its use in the school his kids attend in Northern Kentucky.

Most of the CTB curriculum is based on fear and shame and, according to studies, doesn’t increase rates of sexual abstinence, the entire purpose of the program.

Here’s what this program looks like from the Choosing the Best WAY Student Manual.

This is a post to help people understand atheism. I write this because of how atheism is being portrayed in the media as a lack of morals.

The latest example comes from Phil Robertson at a Christian event in Florida:

[caption id="attachment_1873" align="alignright" width="247"] Phil Robertson by Gage Skidmore (CC BY-SA 3.0)[/caption]

Two guys break into an atheist’s home. He has a little atheist wife and two little atheist daughters,” Phil said at the Vero Beach Prayer Breakfast, audio from which was obtained by Right Wing Watch. “Two guys break into his home and tie him up in a chair and gag him. And then they take his two daughters in front of him and rape both of them and then shoot ‘em and they take his wife and decapitate her head off in front of him. And then they can look at him and say, ‘Isn’t it great that I don’t have to worry about being judged? Isn’t it great that there’s nothing wrong with this? There’s no right or wrong, now is it dude?

Atheists are portrayed as having no morals, as not believing in any right or wrong.

This is ridiculous.

Atheists are actually extremely moral people because atheists own their actions. If we make a decision, we don’t have any god or gods to fall back on.

We don’t say things like: “Well, my God told me that these other people are evil so I’m going to have to fight against them.”

If we make a decision, we have to own it. We use the word “I”.

Did Ayn Rand send Christmas cards?

According to Scott McConnell’s 100 Voices: An Oral History of Ayn Rand she did indeed. Unfortunately, none are included in McConnell’s 656 page book.

Fortunately, with a little help from the Ayn Rand Archives*, we’re able to present to you this exclusive, never-before-seen collection of Ayn Rand favorites.

Andrew W.K. might be my new hero.

He writes a letters column for the Village Voice and I’d never heard of him until yesterday when someone I know posted his response to a letter from Son of a Right-Winger.

In a recent community forum conversation, someone posted the following in a discussion about taxing the wealthy. He was describing a friend of his who owned horses and the issues this business owner faced:

Why is this amazing?

First, someone turned a $240,000 profit off of a $20,000 investment after taxes and trainer fees. That’s a 1200% return on investment. Not bad.

Second, the person involved in this tremendous profit considers this “not a good deal.”

Third, because this comment has everything to do with the recent Hobby Lobby decision.

And fourth, because I consider the author of this post an ally, not an adversary.

If any of this intrigues you, click to read on.

When I was 14, I picked up Atlas Shrugged thinking it was a science fiction novel.

My critique at the time was one word: boring. As science fiction, it didn’t measure up to Kurt Vonnegut, Philip K. Dick, Orson Scott Card, or any of the other science fiction I was reading at the time. Even L. Ron Hubbard.

With so many folks referring to Ayn Rand in the news recently and with the new release of Atlas Shrugged, I thought I’d revisit Rand to better understand it.

Why haven’t any of the mainstream media networks picked this up? The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c Worst Responders www.thedailyshow.com Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog</a> The Daily Show on Facebook The Zadroga Bill is a bill proposed to help the […]

Insurers,  large hospitals, and pharmaceutical companies.

Surprise!

Witness how much these interests have amped up lobbying to prevent any kind of real health care reform.

Since Republicans keep playing partisan politics as they have egregiously for the past 8 years (and further, the past 8 years have just been the worst), I think the Democrats should start pushing bills through Congress that will be very difficult to vote against. Here’s my list: The Banking Responsibility […]