NPR’s Weekend Edition from Sat. July 12th discusses a new exhibit at California’s Autry National Center which explores how Americans link their commanders in chief to the cowboys of the Wild West.
click here to listen to the show
NPR’s Weekend Edition from Sat. July 12th discusses a new exhibit at California’s Autry National Center which explores how Americans link their commanders in chief to the cowboys of the Wild West.
click here to listen to the show
So aparently Dubya was read a passage from [which is hilarious - he never read this $hit himself?] Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, and ‘learned a lesson’ from the book – which was to ban further stem cell research.
What?
First and foremost – this ninja here really thinks we believe that he took anything away from Brave New World, other than some racy talk of promiscuous women and ‘savages’? My ninjas, PLEASE.
In a new [PMNP: as of Dec. 2007] piece in Commentary magazine, Jay Lefkowitz — who advised Bush on stem cells — reveals how the President formulated his 2001 policy. While Bush heard from a variety of groups on both sides of the issue, the turning point appeared to come when Lefkowitz read from Aldous Huxley’s fictional novel, Brave New World, and scared Bush:
A few days later, I brought into the Oval Office my copy of Brave New World, Aldous Huxley’s 1932 anti-utopian novel, and as I read passages aloud imagining a future in which humans would be bred in hatcheries, a chill came over the room.
“We’re tinkering with the boundaries of life here,†Bush said when I finished. “We’re on the edge of a cliff. And if we take a step off the cliff, there’s no going back. Perhaps we should only take one step at a time.â€
[FYI to Lefkowitz: anti-utopian novel = dystopian]
Seriously though – thanks for using this piece of literature to justify something that has nothing to do with the novel. Stem cells and Brave New World? This research isn’t about making test-tube babies, my ninjas – and even if it is in some cases, we can legislate against that specifically by addressing the problems we’ll undoubtedly be facing soon enough with designer babies, genetic engineering, etc. Not to mention that Bush and his administration have probably helped bring us closer to the real issues that Huxley was getting at – like an increasingly powerful government using technology to oppress/control it’s people, and the effects of excessive consumerism [I mean, $hit - they worship Henry Ford in the book] on a society. Using this as an example for your position against stem cell research is like citing Frankenstein while condemning the use of prosthetics.
And I just had to toss this in here, my favorite comment from the ‘Think Progress’ article:
Apparently no one has taken a copy of “1984″ into the oval office.
- G
Sure they did ‘G’ – Bush + Cheney just thought Orwell had written a ‘How To’.
::original article from Think Progress, via The New Republic:
[[brought to you by your friendly neighborhood orangemenace]]
An undercover police agent in Dallas, Texas probably shit his pants today after he found some 50 lbs. of cocaine hidden in hydraulic compartments of a 2004 Infinity coupe they seized two months ago. The po-lice have been using the car in undercover operations since.
Ninjas hope to find the ’99 Honda seized at the same time and sold at auction before the police do.
Today, in Liverpool, England-home to those rude boys with the foul hair-launched the first ever Beatles Day! This celebration is certainly the first best thing Liverpool has going for it since the Beatles left. Even the name itself is pretty whack, Liverpool. Jeesh. Is it just me, or does the city’s name conjure up foul images of rotten livers floating in a warm jus?
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eejYoz3Nl0[/youtube]
Thanks for the moment, TPM.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eejYoz3Nl0[/youtube]
It really is a great strategy to hit John McCain on the one issue that he is supposed to have the most credability on: foreign policy. They really need to keep throwing shurikens right at that artery to make people realize that though McCain served in the Navy for many years, and though he was a POW, he has never commanded any military operation or personel nor has he proven to be wise in this area.
…Mix President Bush to John McCain together, you got yourself some good syrup. Barack hits McCain on fuel and the economy in the four swing states – Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iT-lxXsrgaE[/youtube]
From www.writeinbush.com:
We don’t need to worry about the details, we just trust in God and vote our faith. When we step out in faith and leave the details to God, there’s no limit to what can be accomplished.
Has to be a joke, right?
This is the new John McCain commercial set to air on national television:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpyOSLZw8qo[/youtube]
There is one line in there that’s more nauseating than most. Something like, “In a dangerous world with a broken economy,” … what? John McCain will make it more dangerous and put us further in debt? Two days ago, John McCain said that he would balance the national budget in his first term, should he be elected. This ninja here wants to know how he plans to do that. But that’s one of McCain’s secrets. In the past, candidates have offered some numbers to support their claims. But McCain’s got that one covered: if you don’t give any numbers, there’s no way people can do the calculations to shoot you down. Genius. Considering his plans to potentially lower taxes and maintain our current foreign policy that would leave him with only two more miracles before he would be canonized, right?
As far as the world being more dangerous … my ninja, please. I’m not sure I can get a ninja to tell me that this place is any more insecure (security-wise) than it was 12 years ago. Don’t buy it, folks.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWYynwrUpSw&eurl=http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/[/youtube]
…and give a kiss to my motha.