Filmmaker Josh Tickell was our guest on the show last weekend and it looks as though he got the “Belville Bump”:

Fuel Blog | Fuel
We found out that the movie played so well in Portland that it is being held over for a week - which means if you’re in Portland and you missed FUEL, there’s still time to see it in the theater! In preparation for FUEL’s release in the theater in Seattle on Friday (and running through next week), the Seattle Times published a great piece on the FUEL film’s exploration of algae as an energy source (the Obama Administration sooooo needs to jump on board with algae - it’s going to be a huge money maker and job driver). 

StopGlobalWarming.org put FUEL on its front page (thanks guys!), oh yeah and one other little tid bit - the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences also published its “Short List” of 15 documentary films that are now officially in competition for this years Oscar - and - yes - you guessed it - FUEL is one of them. (See the Academy press release here).

See!  Appear on The Russ Belville Show and you get on the short list for the Oscars!  Since both things happened consecutively, the first must have caused the second!

(Sorry, I’ve been spending too much time rebutting right-wingers, fundamentalists, and drug warriors.  It shorted my logic circuits.  Congratulations, Josh, and thanks for joining us on the show.)

This video purports to be a real video-pitch for an actual exercise machine.  I’m having trouble believing it.

Homophobes like to scare people with the idea that the gays recruit innocent straight kids and that homosexuality is but one slippery slope away from pedophilia and bestiality.  I endorse the opposite approach: the more anti-gay you are, the more I want to keep you away from the kids.

For years the Catholic Church has gotten the rap for the child sex abuse scandals they hath wrought.  In this latest Prop 8 gay marriage battle in California, there was significant involvement (cue Dr. Evil, “One million dollars!”) on the pro-8 side by the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic organization.

But then there is the Mormon Church.  Initially, there is the rank hypocrisy of a state/religion that turns a blind eye to its fundamentalist polygamists and their child brides, that then has more than significant involvement (”Twenty million dollars!”) fighting to end the marriage rights of monogamous adults.  

(NYTimes) ST. GEORGE, Utah — Polygamy is probably here to stay. But child abuse in the polygamist world must be eradicated at all costs.

That was the two-part message here on Thursday night from top state officials from Arizona and Utah, who spoke — sometimes in impassioned tones, sometimes in exasperation — to a packed audience of fundamentalist polygamists and curious local residents.

“We do not plan a raid to end polygamy,” said the Utah attorney general, Mark L. Shurtleff. “I know you’re worried about that. We’re not going to do it.”

Then there is the irony of their “prophet’s” sudden “revelations” about polygamy and black people when it becomes politically expedient – though the polygamy “revelation” took 28 years after Congress outlawed it (11 years after SCOTUS upheld it) and the less “white and delightsome” folks “revelation” took 14 years after the Civil Rights Act, so I use the term “sudden” loosely.  Yet the Mormons stubbornly insist that this time God is absolutely sure about this whole gay marriage thing and couldn’t ever change his mind?

If you ask me, the gays and lesbians have picked the right religion to picket.  Catholic God takes 359 years to change his mind.

One thing I know, having grown up Mormon, is how well they can keep a secret.  Keeping in mind the Mormons donated half of all the money given to support Prop 8, that’s a whole lot of anti-gay for me to want to keep away from the kids.  Could there be a few underaged skeletons in the temple closets?

AMERICAblog News| A great nation deserves the truth

We know how widespread the Catholic problem is. But, the Mormons have done a better job of hiding abuse. Last year, the PBS show, Expose: America’s Investigative Reports, did a show on Peter Zuckerman, a reporter in Idaho Falls, Idaho, who busted open a scandal involving sex abuse, the Boy Scouts and the Mormons. Apparently, the Mormons pretty much control the Boy Scouts in several Western states. The perp involved in the case molested a lot of young kids and a lot of adults in the Boy Scouts and the Mormon Church knew what was going on and did nothing to stop it. In fact, they kept putting the perp in positions where he was in contact with kids. They went to great lengths to cover it up. After Zuckerman exposed the scandal, he was attacked personally. And, that included going after him because he was gay. Yeah, surprise. Supporters of the Boy Scouts and Mormons played dirty and launched homophobic attacks on the reporter. According to Zuckerman, there were times when he was actually fearful for his life.

One Idaho Falls business leader, Frank VanderSloot of Melaleuca, “The Wellness Company,” (which owns Nicole Miller Skin Care), who is also a Mormon, bought full page ads attacking the series — and the reporter who wrote it. One ad included an attack on Zuckerman’s “homosexuality” claiming the gay reporter had a “personal ax to grind” because the Boy Scouts didn’t allow gay reporters. Interestingly, Belinda Vandersloot, who appears to be the wife of Frank, donated $100,000 to the Yes on Prop 8 campaign. That family can’t get enough of the gay-bashing.

Zuckerman’s full series, which originally ran in 2005 in the Idaho Falls Post-Register, can be found here. This wasn’t an isolated incident. Subsequent investigations uncovered several other pedophiles in the Boy Scouts. The series led to a change in Idaho’s laws on child abuse — ending the statute of limitations for reporting the incidents.

I was a Boy Scout in Idaho for about three weeks.  The reporter has it down; in my town, Boy Scouts and Mormon Church were essentially the same thing.  Oh sure, you could join if you weren’t Mormon, but you’d then be meeting at the Mormon Stake Center*, surrounded by Mormon kids, taught by Mormon Scoutmasters (who were the youth pastors on Sunday at the temple), introduced to Mormon scripture and practices, and forced to eat Jell-O.  My God, the Jell-O!**

The whole thing set off my then-12-year-old creep-o-meter.  I have no knowledge of anybody fooling around with the kids, but I didn’t stick around very long to find out.

[Read more →]

 

 TRBS 2008-11-15 [79:59m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Introduction - Stevie and I rank the six James Bonds in honor (ahem) of the new movie “Quantuum of Solace”.

The Big Story - Prop 8 protests by the gay and lesbian community

Lunatic Fringe - Dennis Miller on Palin’s hot sex life, Jim Quinn compares welfare to slavery, Michael Savage is still fretting about Obama’s grandma, and Joe Scarborough drops an F-bomb.

The People Speak - Dave from Michigan takes me to task for my “claptrap” about Mormon support of Prop 8 being an infringement of civil rights and separation of church and state.

Under the Radar - Director Josh Tickell promotes his new documentary, Fuel, and discusses the power of Big Oil over our economy.

Listener Email - Will in Kelso, WA asks - isn’t “renegade” a bad Secret Service code name for Barack Obama?

SALT LAKE CITY 30 June 2008 The following letter was sent from the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to Church leaders in California to be read to all congregations on 29 June 2008:

Preserving Traditional Marriage and Strengthening Families

In March 2000 California voters overwhelmingly approved a state law providing that “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.” The California Supreme Court recently reversed this vote of the people. On November 4, 2008, Californians will vote on a proposed amendment to the California state constitution that will now restore the March 2000 definition of marriage approved by the voters.

The Church’s teachings and position on this moral issue are unequivocal. Marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God, and the formation of families is central to the Creator’s plan for His children. Children are entitled to be born within this bond of marriage.

A broad-based coalition of churches and other organizations placed the proposed amendment on the ballot. The Church will participate with this coalition in seeking its passage. Local Church leaders will provide information about how you may become involved in this important cause.

We ask that you do all you can to support the proposed constitutional amendment by donating of your means and time to assure that marriage in California is legally defined as being between a man and a woman. Our best efforts are required to preserve the sacred institution of marriage.

Individuals exercising their 1st Amendment rights… or a church violating its tax-exempt 501(c)(3) status?

So, I’m elated when I read this:

First Female Four-Star General Promoted

WASHINGTON — Call it breaking the brass ceiling. Ann E. Dunwoody, after 33 years in the Army, ascended Friday to a peak never before reached by a woman in the U.S. military: four-star general.

Later Friday, at Fort Belvoir, Va. _ her birthplace _ Dunwoody was being sworn in as commander of the Army Materiel Command, responsible for equipping, outfitting and arming all soldiers. Just five months ago, she became the first female deputy commander there.

There are 21 female general officers in the Army _ all but four at the one-star rank of brigadier. It was not until 1970 that the Army had its first one-star: Anna Mae Hays, chief of the Army Nurse Corps.

Until I get toward the end and read:

Women now make up about 14 percent of the active-duty Army and are allowed to serve in a wide variety of assignments. They are still excluded from units designed primarily to engage in direct combat, such as infantry and tank units, but their opportunities have expanded over the past two decades.

Why?  Why can’t a female soldier drive a tank?  Do boobs get in the way of the steering wheel?  Tanks are small places; I had a friend who was a “tanker” in the Guard - a short, squatty fellow.  You’d think female soldiers would be a natural for tank duty.  Have you seen a woman drive an SUV (bah-dum-bum!  Thank you, tip your waiter, I’ll be here all week…)

Why can’t a female soldier be in the infantry?  Trust me, BDUs (battle-dress uniforms) and camo face paint are hardly sexy.  Is that what we fear, that male soldiers wouldn’t be able to fight with all the hot babes around?  Is it the “no gay soldiers in the shower” argument from the straight angle?  Would macho he-males make stupid decisions to gallantly rescue fallen damsel privates in distress?  (I mean, Army soldiers of the rank of “private”.)  Because I know at least one female former soldier who I’d give an M-16 and fight from a foxhole with any day.  She’s far more vicious and a better shot than I am!  With an infantry full of women who all “get in sync”, we could time tactical operations around “cycles” and rain down hell on the enemy with The Fightin’ PMS Battalion!  (bah-dum-bum-spish!  Thank you, thank you, catch me next week at Mr. Yuks in Sheboygan…)

Sexist jokes aside, really, why do we still ban women from direct combat duty?  I’m all for strict physical standards - can you do the obstacle course, shoot a rifle, carry your fellow soldier, patch a wound, and so on - but I can’t understand why if a woman can be a firefighter, cop, or four-star general, she can’t also be an eleven-bravo grunt.

Kids chant Assassinate Obama - 236.com - The Feed

Yup, that’s the state where I grew up, all right.  Red State Refugee isn’t just a tag line, it’s a badge of honor!

Glenn Greenwald - Salon.com
It is worth remembering that the Democrats who are going to exert dominant political control are the same ones who have provoked so much scorn — rightfully so — over the last several years, and particularly since 2006.  This is the same Democratic Party leadership which funded the Iraq War without conditions and voted to authorize it in the first place; massively expanded the Presidents warrantless eavesdropping powers; immunized lawbreaking telecoms; enacted the Patriot Act and then renewed it with virtually no changes; didnt even bother to mount a filibuster to stop the Military Commissions Act; refrained from pursuing any meaningful investigations of Bush lawbreaking; confirmed every last extremist Bush nominee, from Michael McConnell to Michael Mukasey; acquiesced to even the worst and most lawless Bush policies when they were briefed on them; and on and on and on.  None of that has changed.  That is still who they are.

The Democrats have at least 57 (check that, Alaska, 58!) votes in the Senate, a bigger lead in the House, and the presidency.  And yet, Democrats in the Senate are just about ready to reward Holy Joe Lieberman for speaking at the Republican Convention and maligning, impugning, and slandering Barack Obama by letting him keep his chairmanship of the Homeland Security committee, where he failed to convene any oversight hearings for Bush’s major failings in homeland security!

No wonder the “Democrats are weak” theme sticks so well.  Holy Joe was rejected by the Democrats of his own state, so he said “screw them, I know better” ran as Republicrat and won.  Holy Joe repeatedly screwed over Democrats in his cheerleading for the Bush war machine.  Holy Joe even screwed over Barack Obama, not by supporting his friend McCain, but by actively tearing down the nominee of his own (supposed) party!

And Dems are going to let him just get away with it, again, with absolutely no consequences for his treachery.

You wondered what there would be to rant about after the end of the Bush Administration?  Oh, what will the shrieking lefty talkers have to screech about without Bush?  Just you wait.  With Bush, the actions were egregious, but expected, because hey, it’s a son of a Bush.  But with Obama and the congressional Dems, with no excuse of being the minority party or facing presidential veto, you expect better.  I believe there will be plenty to talk about in the coming years… but at least it will be disappointment in an administration not doing enough good instead of the terror of an administration doing far too much evil.

The Progressive Majority

 

 TRBS 2008-11-08 [79:34m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The Big Story - The election of Barack Obama and the right-wing attempt to paint America as a “center-right” country.  

The Lunatic Fringe - Gay sex causes AIDS, conservatives hoped McCain would die, hamhocks for lunch at the Obama prison camp, and Barney Frank runs for president.

Living in America - Tenth straight month of job losses.

Under the Radar - Special Guest Saleem Siddiqui on what to do now in the Middle East.

Free for All - My “Special Comment” on Rachel Maddow’s comparison of pro-pot and anti-gay intiatives.