Sunday, April 15, 2012

The Quote Game: Who on Earth Said That?

Who Said That?: The Quote Game
Like a game of "Pin the tail on the Donkey," the Quote Game pins the quote on the person. 

Time for a little game. An afternoon diversion. I have collected these quotes by the famous and the infamous and I realized that without more information, it's becoming harder and harder to know the difference.
Take your best shot. The answers are given at the end.

1. Today Christians ... stand at the head of [this country]... I pledge that I never will tie myself to parties who want to destroy Christianity .. We want to fill our culture again with the Christian spirit ... We want to burn out all the recent immoral developments in literature, in the theater, and in the press - in short, we want to burn out the *poison of immorality* which has entered into our whole life and culture as a result of *liberal excess* during the past ... (few) years.
a. Newt Gingrich
b. Sarah Palin
c. Rick Santorum
d. Adolph Hitler
e. Jerry Falwell

Saturday, April 14, 2012

In the Absence of Justice


St. Augustine tells us that "In the absence of justice, what is sovereignty but organized robbery?
As the these articles illustrate, when there are two standards of justice, then there is none at all. You cannot allow the major offenders to loot and steal with impunity while the needy are punished simply for attempting to secure their daily bread. 

And a nation with no justice is an illegitimate state. The expectation of fairness, of being given a fair hearing in a court of law is the lowest standard for a civilized society. 
As Professor of Politics at the University of Oxford Alan Ryan writes: 
Justice is the most "political" or institutional of the virtues. The legitimacy of a state rests upon its claim to do justice.  

Friday, April 13, 2012

Nomadic Roundup: Three Attempts to Silence Dissent

by Nomad
Censorship
Three stories caught the endlessly roving blue eye of Nomad. The theme to this round-up is the attempts by the power-holders to silence dissent. From the silly and clumsy, to the heavy-handed and counter-productive and finally to the technical and sophisticated. 

Let's start in Arizona:
Caperton, writing for the blog Feministe, throws a spotlight on the recently drafted Arizona bill essentially outlawing the Internet. This has to be the most embarrassingly ignorant thing that politicians have come up with ..er, this week regarding the Internet.

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Koch Brothers Exposed: Film Trailer

by Nomad
Never in American history has there been a more organized and well-funded threat against the democratic process, the health and safety of all Americans and the impartiality of the Supreme Court. The Koch brothers have single handedly managed to corrupt two of the three branches of government and in the 2012, are seeking to make it three for three. Seriously. It makes all of the other threats America has faced small in comparison.