Bigot Fired From NPR

First, Juan Williams was fired from NPR yesterday after comments he made regarding Muslims on FOX with Bill Fucking O'Reilly.

The comment:

Mr. O’Reilly said, “The cold truth is that in the world today jihad, aided and abetted by some Muslim nations, is the biggest threat on the planet.”

Mr. Williams said he concurred with Mr. O’Reilly.

He continued: “I mean, look, Bill, I’m not a bigot. You know the kind of books I’ve written about the civil rights movement in this country. But when I get on the plane, I got to tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think, you know, they are identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous.” [emphasis added]

I love how he starts with "some of my best friends are Muslim." Always a sign of a bigoted comment to follow.

And I agree with what Sullivan says about it:

No, Juan, what you just described is the working definition of bigotry.

What if someone said that they saw a black man walking down the street in classic thug get-up. Would a white person be a bigot of he assumed he was going to mug him?

As Sully points out, the 9-11 hijackers and the Christmas Day Undiebomber were dressed like us...good ol' secular westerners. The Ft. Hood shooter was in a fucking U.S. Military uniform, as a member of the U.S. Military!

Juan got fired either because he is a bigot, or because he is a non-bigot so afraid of his bigot-but-well-paying tv show hosts that he said a bigoted thing to satiate them. Either way, NPR was right to let his ass go.

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Rickey? Helloooo?

Once again, I have to bring out the milk carton.

As fans might have noticed, “Riding with Ricky” has once again gone missing.  It has been since August since we last we saw a post over at RwR.

Again, visitors to the site are now greeted by a page stating that it has gone private.

The last time this happend, Rickey was in the process of buying a house, so to avoid the risk of being redlined out of his chosen neighborhood, he went private.

Rickey may be up to no-good again.  Maybe he is interviewing for a job?  Maybe he needed to move again?  Maybe the in-laws discovered his blog?

Your guess in the comments.

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Just Hafta Say

Political rhetoric from racist homophobes being given legitimacy on the national stage in part results in suicides the likes we have heard a rash about lately. Sure, 24-hour news networks are getting around to publishing what has probably always been happening, but a part of me feels, unscientifically, that the sharp increase in publicized anti-gay rhetoric on much-watched television and blogs has something to do with an acceptance and use of especially demeaning anti-gay sentiment.

We need, instead, more of this:

And this.

And a lot less of this shit.

It's not that there were less gay people when I went to school in the late 80s/early 90s. It's that it wasn't a big deal in my school. Assholes were dealt with. Gay and straight friends stood-up to the handful of assholes.

I, for one, will teach my kids that love and compassion trump anger-fueled dogma and hideous stereotypes any day.

This is nice to see.

Despite what I believe about belief, it is an even higher form of silliness to suggest to someone who wants to believe that they can't because they don't fit the right mold of a believer. Stupidity.

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Nothing To Lose Your Head Over

My name is Smitty, and I am a hop-head.

Took a while to get there. Maybe some day I'll document my journey from Bud and Icehouse to Labatt and Molson to the world of local breweries. Even after discovery of the unlimited tastes of "craft" beer, it took a while to embrace hops; my first foray into IPAs left me whining that the beer I tried tasted like a tin can. Funny: it's a beer I regularly enjoy now.

Once I figured hops out, though, it was all over from there. No wonder beer's forefathers eventually abandoned other bittering agents in favor of the almighty hop.

And so here I am today, blogging before you as a hop-head. And before me is a bottle of Terrapin Brewery's Hopsecutioner IPA.

Ooh, tantalizing! Hopsecutioner. Will hop-heads, erm, lose their heads with Hopsecutioner? Will its sharply-honed hops leave me senseless?

Hopsecutioner turned my pint glass a beautiful copper, slightly hazy, with a pure white, cloud-fluffy head. True to its name, this beer loses its foamy head quite quickly. Thick rivulets of lacing clung tenaciously to the pint glass as the essence of the beer drained quickly away.

Bready, biscuity malts merge with sweet apricots on the nose like marmalade on biscuits. Right behind this tea-time crumpet comes some complex - but still somehow subtle - aromas: damp cedar wood, pineappe-citrus. Juicy aroma if aromas could be juicy. Beautiful aromas, to be sure, but out of balance with what I 'd expect from an IPA. Sweet marmalade biscuits shouldn't be the first thing I smell in beers known for the hopiness.

The taste delivers what the aroma promises: bread dough and sugary-sweet malts compliment soft citrus fruits like pineapples and red grapefruit. Delicious, earthy hops mesh exquisitely chewy, juicy caramel. Hopsecutioner is well-crafted...but is off from an IPA. It is a hoppy beer, no doubt, but the hops don't dominate. Nor do they contribute as a major player. They're a partner in a beer where I expect them to be everything.

For over 7% ABV, I don't get that alcohol burn. It has a lovely, chewy, medium body, and finishes slightly dry and just a tad resinous from the hops. Maybe Hopsecutioner would be a great beer for someone who wants to try an IPA but is skeptical of everything they've heard about hops. The delicacy of the hops in this beer would shine if they weren't out-competed by the big malts also characteristic of an IPA. I do like this beer and will have no issue killing-off the rest of the 6-er; its subtlety makes it very sessionable and quaffing one after another is definitely on my agemda. But I can't say I'm going to lose my head over this beer.

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Religious Knowledge - Take the Test.

As has been reported over the last week, a study by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life found:

Atheists and agnostics, Jews and Mormons are among the highest-scoring groups on a new survey of religious knowledge, outperforming evangelical Protestants, mainline Protestants and Catholics on questions about the core teachings, history and leading figures of major world religions.

I found this concept facinating and took the test.  I got 13 out of 15.  I am such a heathen.

Take the test yourself here and let us know how you did.

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Snyder v. Phelps

As many of you probably know, the Phelps case is set for oral argument today at 10 a.m. Scotusblog has an excellent in-depth analysis of issues and arguments by both sides. Basically, what is at stake is whether funerals will receive some level of heightened protection from protests or that there is a "funeral exception."

Not surprisingly, I am not a fan of Phelps and I finds his beliefs indefensible and outrageous. I wish the 'free speech' side had a more likable and sympathetic advocate, but that is not the case. While I find Snyder's arguments to be decent and compelling, I am not sure that I want to carve out an exception for funerals and wonder if the better approach would be to go after the Phelps cult in a different manner. What do you think?

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Why run away from health care?

I have repeatedly said that the components of the health care reform bill are more popular than the rhetoric of the whole. 

For decades Democrats have run successfully in support of many of the components of the health care bill.  So, why is it any different now that they can claim success?  I think Democrats ignore the issue at their own peril and essentially wave the white flag.  E.J. Dionne, agrees and points out that some Democrats are now running on the components of health care, many of which just kicked in.  I predict those who don't hide from their vote will be the most successful in November and those who do will be tossed out.

We will see.

ALSO:  FiveThirtyEight's analysis of this issue is here.

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