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18451 [lbo-talk] Religion (God pissed in my Cheerios, in a very real sense) -- rank: 1000

Daniel Davies wrote: >The world didn't end. In fact, the main effect of state-sponsored >religion has >been to saddle the Church of England with a crippling financial burden of >having to maintain national coverage of churches and vicars and weaken it >forever. Also, I maintain my view that having compulsory RE in schools is >entirely beneficial, since it exposes the bright and questioning kids early on >to the fact that there are some adults out there who talk the most as ...

Document Size:	6274
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Thu Jun 9 06:42:37 PDT 2005

18452 [lbo-talk] "Damn, did God piss in your cheerios?" -- rank: 1000

B. wrote: >I disagree with Chuck0 and Yoshie on a lot of things, >but if someone like Bill O'Reilly reared their ugly >head, I'd flock to their side in a heartbeat. >Interestingly, on [ahem] another nominally leftist >forum, I posted the same statistics for atheism vs. >societal health I posted here a short while ago, and >this is a [not too untypical] response I got: > >"Damn (snark), did God piss in your cheerios or >something? Isn't this putting the cart bef ...

Document Size:	6366
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Thu Jun 9 06:26:48 PDT 2005

18453 [lbo-talk] AFP: Macho man look is out of style -- rank: 1000

B. wrote: >[But how can this be squared away with the popular >preference for political leaders like Arnold >Schwarzenegger, Jesse "the Body" Ventura, "gruff" guys >like Cheney and Rumsfeld, and Flight Suit/ranch hand >Dubya?] Because it's some sort of collective fantasy denial of what's really happening? Lots of the "macho" guys you list are cartoon versions of Real Men. Doug

Document Size:	5189
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Thu Jun 9 06:23:34 PDT 2005

18454 [lbo-talk] evolution & the female orgasm: capitalism and men still suspect -- rank: 1000

Yoshie Furuhashi quoted: >Here's a more useful study, though it would never garner as much >media attention as the above twin study: > ><blockquote>TABLE 2 > Sexual Dysfunction by Race and Gender > Type of Sexual Dysfunction > No Interest in Sex Unable to Orgasm Sex Unpleasurable > % n % n % n >Black female 42.8 142 26.6 84 ...

Document Size:	7361
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Jun 8 15:43:42 PDT 2005

18455 [lbo-talk] Rationality of the Masses -- rank: 1000

joanna wrote: >Doug Henwood wrote: > >>>I have to confess to a certain exasperation at the crazy shit so >>>many Awmericans believe - like a faith in God and a belief in the >>>actual existence of Satan that's found nowhere else in the First >>>World. Is there some polite way to express this? >> >In my book that's almost rational compared to the "belief" in the free market. Depends on what you mean by free market. If you mean the reli ...

Document Size:	5362
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Jun 8 13:45:28 PDT 2005

18456 [lbo-talk] Rationality of the Masses -- rank: 1000

Jeffrey Fisher wrote: >what i'm on about is how we talk to people like we respect them >instead of like they're f-ing morons. and i don't think doug's answer >necessitates we do that. I have to confess to a certain exasperation at the crazy shit so many Awmericans believe - like a faith in God and a belief in the actual existence of Satan that's found nowhere else in the First World. Is there some polite way to express this? Doug

Document Size:	4984
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Jun 8 12:36:32 PDT 2005

18457 [lbo-talk] Rationality of the Masses -- rank: 1000

Marvin Gandall wrote: >Doug Henwood: > >>So why is the US an outlier on religion, compared to other rich countries? >--------------------------- >Good question, lots of theories, none of them very satisfying, including >what seems to the most currently fashionable - a "market-based" explanation >which seeks the answer in the lack of an established church and an abundant >supply of competitive denominational sects agressively seeking adherents. > >The US ...

Document Size:	5908
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Jun 8 10:32:56 PDT 2005

18458 [lbo-talk] Rationality of the Masses -- rank: 1000

Jeffrey Fisher wrote: >i think there's a lot of sense in carrol's post, here, and i wish >people would consider cross-applying it in principle to the issue of >religion. it shouldn't surprise us a bit that people on the whole (not >individually, necessarily) have an aversion to letting go of religion, >teenage rebellions aside. So why is the US an outlier on religion, compared to other rich countries? Doug

Document Size:	4985
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Jun 8 09:45:23 PDT 2005

18459 [lbo-talk] Brad Pitt studying Bono's moves -- rank: 1000

USA Today - June 8, 2005 Bono's lobbying skills make impression in Washington By Donna Cassata, The Associated Press WASHINGTON - It was a long day's work for Bono, lead singer for the rock band U2 and dedicated lobbyist for the world's poor and AIDS-stricken. In Boston's FleetCenter on a Tuesday night, Bono and his band - Larry Mullen, Adam Clayton and the Edge - performed for a sold-out crowd, part of their 10-month, multicity tour of Europe and North America. Bono then rushed to the airport, ...

Document Size:	11631
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Jun 8 08:25:24 PDT 2005

18460 [lbo-talk] The New American Militarism: How Americans Are Seduced By War, by Bacevich -- rank: 1000

Speaking of whom, this is from today's Washington Post: >Some authorities on war and public opinion said the figures indicate >that pessimism about the war in Iraq has reached a dangerous level. >"It appears that Americans are coming to the realization that the >war in Iraq is not being won and may well prove unwinnable," said >retired Army Col. Andrew J. Bacevich, a professor at Boston >University. "That conclusion bleeds over into a conviction that it >may n ...

Document Size:	5627
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Jun 8 08:15:33 PDT 2005

18461 [lbo-talk] overpaying your allies -- rank: 1000

<http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/TheNote/story?id=156238> A potential blockbuster from Bloomberg's Ryan Donmoyer: "The U.S. Interior Department inspector general concluded that the Bush administration offered in 2002 to overpay a prominent Florida family for oil and gas rights on Everglades land, according to people familiar with the matter." "In a report to the Senate Finance Committee to be made public today, Inspector General Earl Devaney says the department nearly tripled ...

Document Size:	5988
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Jun 8 08:10:42 PDT 2005

18462 [lbo-talk] evolution & the female orgasm: men cleared -- rank: 1000

<http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7481> New Scientist - June 8, 2005 Genes blamed for fickle female orgasm Rowan Hooper Is this the ultimate excuse for poor performance in bed? "Sorry, darling," the man says, just before falling asleep. "It's your genes." According to a study published this week, up to 45% of the differences between women in their ability to reach orgasm can be explained by their genes. Despite decades of surveys and conjecture about the role ...

Document Size:	9805
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Jun 8 07:51:54 PDT 2005

18463 [lbo-talk] JEC: write off debt of poorest -- rank: 1000

http://www.house.gov/jec/press/2005/06-07-05.htm */For Immediate Attention June 7, 2005 /Multilateral Debt of Poor Countries Should be Written Off * WASHINGTON, D.C. - A new study released today shows that the debt owed by poor nations to the international financial institutions (IFIs) can and should be written off immediately, Chairman Jim Saxton said. The study demonstrates that existing financial reserves of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the other major IFIs are already more than ...

Document Size:	7518
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Jun 7 16:37:50 PDT 2005

18464 [lbo-talk] Bush has higher negatives than Hillary -- rank: 1000

ABC NEWS/WASHINGTON POST POLL: INTO THE SECOND TERM - 6/5/05 EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE AFTER 5 p.m. Tuesday, June 7, 2005 Concerns on Iraq and Domestic Policy Underlie a Rising Political Alienation The corrosive effects of the war in Iraq and a growing disconnect on political priorities have pushed George W. Bush's performance ratings - notably on terrorism - to among the worst of his career, casting a pall over his second term and potentially over his party's prospects ahead. For the first time mos ...

Document Size:	15984
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Jun 7 14:20:28 PDT 2005

18465 [lbo-talk] Bush's sucky poll numbers -- rank: 1000

Wsahington Post - June 7, 2005 Post-ABC Poll: Bush Ignoring Public Concerns By Richard Morin Washington Post Staff Writer A clear majority of Americans say President Bush is ignoring the public's concerns and instead has become distracted by issues that most people say they care little about, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. The survey found that 58 percent of those interviewed said Bush is mainly concentrating in his second term on problems and partisan squabbles that these res ...

Document Size:	7022
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Jun 7 09:48:44 PDT 2005