Owner: The Rudicus Report URL:http://www.rudicusreport.com Join Date: Thu, 10 Aug 2006 01:32:06 -0500 Rating:1 Site Description: Dedicated to critically thinking about government, religion & society. Ask the hard questions, think about the answers, see through the hypocrisy and propaganda.
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Another Day In The Muck. 2006-10-20 16:29:37 With election day only a couple weeks away and Republicans looking more and more vulnerable, I thought it would be nice to take a quick look at how Republicans have been handling their races around the country.
Nothing shows character better than adversity. The Republicans are definitely facing adversity with death tolls of American soldiers reaching record highs this month, page-boy scandals current and future boiling over, the economy seemingly going well (for rich people) but the regular folks still not seeing any improvement. So what do they do when the chips are down? Why, revert to even more depraved tactics, of course. That means more lies, more dirty politics and more corruption than ever before.
It’s always nice to see the group that claims to be our religious compass and holder of morals and family values so lovingly embrace the most reprehensible, ethically challenged and commandment obliterating tactics in history.
And here we go:
1. Republican Congressman Bob
I'm Not Getting On That Bus, It's Gay! 2006-10-19 15:05:26 I hate to say “I told you so…” wait a minute, I LOVE saying that!
So we’re back with a big, fat I TOLD YOU SO…
Remember all that fuss a few months back about pharmacists, doctors, nurses and ambulance drivers refusing to participate in treatment and prescriptions on religious grounds? I wrote about it here.
I was afraid it would snowball into all sorts of wild claims along religious lines as well as some dangerous ones.
Well this one is a doozie!
A newly hired city bus driver in Minneapolis, MN has filed a complaint with her new employers saying that she could not drive ANY of the busses that featured advertisements for Lavender Magazine, a local LGBT publication.
???????
The driver claimed that the ads were against her religion, and thanks to George W. Bush her assertion is not only protected, but advocated. The wrost thing is that the city let her do it.
So now, this particular driver is “under no circumstances” to be assigned to drive a
More Misdirection and Wool For Your Eyes. 2006-10-18 17:32:45 I do not seek the eradication of religion or the elimination of Christianity, I simply make one request. Can’t you just say “you know what, I realize it’s all parables and mythology designed to showcase a particular belief system, and while I understand that it is purely faith-based and unscientific, I believe in it and that’s good enough for me.” I think this would solve so many issues and reduce strife to a minimum.
The incessant need to prove the infallible reality of everything the Bible says is not only pointless it is futile. No matter how hard any well meaning person may be, you can’t make up scientific facts for things that were meant to be allegorical.
The challenge comes from having to prove to every living soul that there is only one right answer and all must believe it. It’s continually frustrating to see a zealous person desperately trying to “prove” credibility by attaching biblical events to historical facts a
Elbow Room, Elbow Room, Gotta Gotta Get Us Some Elbow Room. 2006-10-17 19:02:00 No we haven’t gone all Schoolhouse Rock on you, but it’s interesting that this cartoon from the 70’s was singing about the Western Expansion of the United States to get us some elbow room because our population was growing.
Well, it looks like we might have to start jumping into the Pacific Ocean, because as of 7:46 am this morning, The United States has just passed the 300 million person population point. Now only China and India have more citizens than the U.S.
The consequences of this are many. Certainly increasing population means increased need for housing, jobs, food, education, healthcare etc. On top of that it creates more pollution, greater strain on natural resources and the environment.
Along with all this is a change in demographics. While that is not necessarily a negative consequence, it does create more racial and ethnic strain. Look no further than all the fuss over immigration and citizenship, as well as the ongoing debates about language an Read more:Elbow
, Gotta
Deceptacons* 2006-10-16 08:00:03 We talk a lot about critical thinking on this site. We also talk a lot about media and society. The places where those two areas intersect gives us the opportunity not only to learn, but to peel back the veil on those things that they would try to pull over our eyes.
Advertising has long been suspect, but what about seemingly mundane things like packaging? We look at labels and we rarely think that people are trying to fool us, but they are. We’ve just become so well trained that we don’t even register their presence.
Think about ad words like “free”, “new”, “improved”, “natural”, “healthy”, etc. All of these are very recognizable and probably appear on many of the items in your refrigerator. They all spark subconscious feelings and beliefs and move buyer behavior, but ultimately they mean almost nothing. We are so accustomed to seeing these words that we rarely, if ever, as what they mean or are referring t
Red Alert. 2006-10-13 18:48:17 By now you have all heard about Cory Lidle’s plane crash. A small plane with two passengers crashes into an apartment building in Manhattan injuring dozens and causing damage to the building (the building did not mysteriously collapse on it’s own footprint like the twin towers, not did it sustain massive structural damage BTW).
It is tragic to lose people to accidents, and our thoughts are with the Lidle’s and the family of pilot instructor Tyler Stanger, who also perished in the crash.
The thing that really bugs me is how the hell did this happen? Not from a mechanical failure or pilot error perspective, but we’re fighting a supposed War on Terror and security is so tight that I can’t even bring a bottle of water on the plane without being whisked off to Gitmo, but these guys can just fly a plane at their leisure into Manhattan and blow up a building?
Someone’s got some ’splaining to do.
So here we are in Manhattan, home of 9/11, one month Read more:Alert
Grocery List From Hell. 2006-10-12 18:44:24 A warm salutation out to our new renter. I’ve been reading this blog more lately and I am glad they decided to rent from us this week. I’ve enjoyed their reporting on the many things in this world that are screwy. They look at the media and society with some of the same eyeballs as we do and we are happy to support them and give them some pimping.
We have already added them to our links, but please click on the upper left hand image and go say hello.
And now for some quick bits that need no further explanation.
A study that was just released on the impact of the Iraq war, an estimated 655,000 have died as a result of the U.S. led invasion. In his usually “deny everything” response, Bush of course dismissed the findings, but as usual didn’t offer any alternative figure, nor did he offer any explanation of why he disagreed with the report. I’m going to try this one next time I go to court for speeding. Upon conclusion, I’ll simply say Read more:Grocery
#1 GOP Strategy: Lie. 2006-10-11 16:22:59 How is anyone expected to discern anything from the media or politicians if it is acceptable to simply lie when things don’t go your way. I’m not talking about protective lies like “I did not have sexual relations with that woman.”  I’m talking about bald-faced fabrications intended to defraud and manipulate people.
We talk about lies and deception all the time on The Rudicus Report, but with mid-term elections coming soon and the GOP in dire straights, it seems the kid gloves have come off and the death knell has been sounded for truth.
Let’s start with the Prez. This is no big deal since he’s been lying to us since the day he took office and this is no big secret. He lied about 9/11, lied about WMD’s, and continues to lie and deceive over politics. I’ll treat you to a wonderful dressing down courtesy of one of my new favorite people, Keith Olbermann - you can watch this video here.
But what about some of this other stuf Read more:Strategy
Modern Humanist 2006-10-10 18:05:01 I wanted to spend a minute to recommend a blog to you. We spend a lot of time here on The Rudicus Report discussing what is wrong with the world. At ModernHumanist
, they are talking about what is right, and more importantly how things would be if we could let go of the tensions that divide us all. The site talks about beautiful, inspiring and pleasant things and is a good place to go if what you read here gets your dander up (which it usually does).
While they are promoting a specific life philosophy, it is done in such a way as to not be antagonistic to anyone, and in fact, probably represents what is at the core of many religions anyway (assuming they could get out from behind their own rhetoric and polarizing speech.
Given everything that is going on, it’s nice to read something refreshing and uplifting even as many parts of the world seem to be crumbling. They have some bold perspectives and views on the future, and I can’t help but wonder if this Modern Humani
Kaboom! 2006-10-10 01:15:19 While the U.S. and the Bush Administration focus on Iraq (No WMD’s) and now Iran (No WMD’s but Bush claims potential for WMD’s someday…maybe…) it seems no interest has been paid to North Korea who just conducted an underground nuclear weapons test (actual WMD’s).
So here we are stretched to the limit by a war to find WMD’s that never existed so we will be unable to actually do anything about the a REAL dangerous nation that does. Kim Jong Il may be crazy enough to actually launch one of these bad boys, or put one in a case or who knows what else. On top of that he could also easily pass it along to someone who wouldn’t mind blowing themselves up if it meant delivering one of these things somewhere in the world.
It’s nice to know we have a nuclear capable maniac running loose. I’m glad El Presidente Bush felt the nuclear test was a “provocative act” I hate to break it you GW, but Janet Jackson’s wardro
Poltics, Thy Name Is Hooey. 2006-10-24 19:06:47 There was a minor to-do last week when the State Department’s Alberto Fernandez, director of the Office of Press and Public Diplomacy in the Bureau of Near East Affairs was quoted for an article on Al Jazeera.
He said, in speaking about the Bush Administrations war in Iraq, “…because undoubtedly there was arrogance and stupidity from the United States in Iraq.”
No argument here. But apparently there WAS an argument from someone else.
Interestingly after making this particularly unambiguous comment, Fernadez had an incredible reversal.
“Upon reading the transcript of my appearance on Al-Jazeera, I realized that I seriously misspoke by using the phrase ‘there has been arrogance and stupidity’ by the U.S. in Iraq,” Alberto Fernandez said in an e-mail sent to reporters by the State Department and attributed to him.
He misspoke? This isn’t like using “affect” when you mean “effect.” It’s a clear statem
Ignore The Republican Behind The Curtain. 2006-10-26 16:59:43 There is an interesting thing going on in the world of elections right now, I’m not sure if you’ve picked up on it. Almost every polling group and media agency is saying that Democrats have a clear and often large lead and advantage going into mid term elections in two weeks. Many are predicting victory for Democrats and an almost certain power shift in Washington. The fear of a Democrat takeover is so real that most Republican
s are even running political ads to scare voters into thinking that Democrats running the legislature would put nuclear bombs in our backyards and a queer in every home. The interesting thing is that there is one specific group that is taking the contrarian approach. The Bush Administration (and their deFacto operatives).
President Bush has assured his flock that the Republicans will retain control. Darth Cheney has also echoed this opinion along with others attached to the administration. The interesting thread is this mysterious “ Read more:Ignore
, Curtain
New Audience. 2006-10-25 21:14:50 We’ll hopefully be seeing some visitor’s from another place this week as we welcome some readers from TalentZoo. TalentZoo is a great job site for people in the communications field and was kind enough to ask your old pal Rudicus to write a guest column on political advertising this week. Please give it a look see, if for nothing else than to see my charming face - but I think the article is pretty good too. Of course, if you are a communications professional looking for work, it’ll be a great place to help you with that as well.
In other news, I didn’t want any more time to go by without pimping our renter Bold Contemplations (to go to the site, you have to click on the image in the top left corner of the page). Bold Contemplations combines art, thoughts and comments to deliver a site that is both visually enjoyable and mentally stimulating. I try to visit every day, but leave the commenting to Navillus over at Modern Humanist, since he tends to be fa Read more:Audience
Vote For: None Of The Above. 2006-11-01 16:00:06 Does anyone remember that campaign slogan from Brewster’s Millions? These days it seems more appropriate than ever. No matter what your social and political leanings, it seems clear that there are very few if any politicians that are actually concerned with governing this country. Unfortunately thanks to a complete and total lack of political diversity, the nation is being run by corrupt people only interested in lining their own pockets. Choosing between Republicans and Democrats really is a choice between the lesser of two evils. And that is a sad commentary on our times and society.
Our political system is so closed and corrupt that no third party (much less many representative parties) has any prayer of winning in our current system. Why? - it’s all about the Benjamins.
Campaign finance reform is a joke. If they really wanted to level the playing field, they would need to bar anyone from running political ads, period. No soft money, no swift boat veteran
In Vino Veritas. 2006-11-02 14:21:34 Groups have been touting the benefits of Red Wine for a while now. Full of good compounds and great flavor, Red Wine has been tagged as one of the key elements, along with olive oil, as staples of the Mediterranean diet, which has confounded dieticians due to it’s fat content, but very low rate of heart disease.
Obviously this must be taken in context. Europeans DO have more Red Wine and olive oil than most Americans, but they also have real food vs. the processed packaged crap we all eat here. Add to that, less additives like trans fats and high fructose corn syrup, along with much more walking and slower living and you have a recipe for a healthier life.
But now we have a new miracle on the horizon, resveratrol. In a study by Harvard and the National Institute on Aging, resveratrol(the key compound in Red Wine) was found to counteract health problems in obese mice. In other words, they could eat whatever crap they like and still be healthy. The kicker was that while
Will America Change Tomorrow? 2006-11-07 00:07:31 Probably not. With Election day upon us, the question of whether or not Democrats can take over one or two houses of congress remains in the balance. Scandals, Iraq, greed and incompetence have marred Republicans for months and all indicators are that the Democrats should cake walk to victory by the close of business tomorrow night. But to me this remains to be seen. In my opinion if Republicans get ANY votes it’s a failure of logic and reason, but unfortunately that's an everyday occurrence around here.
The Republicans are telling everyone not to worry, every thing is fine, everything is still under control - we will all wake up on Wednesday in a red world. Amazingly timed unemployment reports indicate figures at a 5 year low (but real life doesn’t seem any better), Saddam is guilty and will be executed (even though he wasn’t actually threatening us or in any way attached to 9/11), and oil just dropped below $59 a barrel. All god news for Republicans Read more:Change
, America
Rudicus Was Wrong - Democrats Cruise To Victory! 2006-11-08 12:07:50 I always say “I hate being right all the time” with respect to pessimism about the current political climate or the ability of my fellow Americans to be critical thinkers. Fortunately I was resoundingly wrong in my predictions for yesterday’s elections.
When the dust settled, Democrats
had picked up 30 seats for disgruntled Americans to take control of the House, putting Nacy Pelosi into the Speaker’s Chair and making her the first female Speaker of the House. Especially notable were Lincoln Chaffee of RI losing and Independent Joe Lieberman winning. Personally joyful losses sent Rick Santorum packing, loony-tunes Katherine Harris of Florida back to the ward she escaped from and a resounding defeat for mudslinger Ken Blackwell who lost the dirtiest campaign in history to Strickland.
Democrats were up all over the place including taking a lead in Democratic Governors, including a great victory for Deval Patrick who became the first African-American elected Read more:Victory
, Wrong
, Cruise
Now What? 2006-11-10 13:21:53 I started this blog the day after elections in 2004 as a way to express my frustration and dismay at a population that seemed to have lost it’s collective mind.
Over the last two years, almost nothing seemed to be shaking this reality. In fact things seemed to be getting progressively worse up until recently.
Now, the nation has sounded off and taken a large step toward a better way. Assuming the new sheriffs in town can make some changes that positiviely impact the country, there is a strong possibility they will carry that good will into the White House in 2008 and give the Dems the very same opportunity that Bush had when his party controlled everything.
While this is more than many of us could have hoped for, it does pose a problem for the ranters and asocial critics - Now what?
The Rudicus Report is not a personal blog. Nor is it a niche blog like Modern Humanist. It doesn’t even really have a theme other than ranting against the US and being the self-appointed a
The New Saint Patrick. 2006-11-13 15:24:10 He didn’t drive snakes out of Ireland, he didn’t drink green beer. He was just a boy who loved a game who was killed by the members of his own team.
The boy’s name is Pat Tillman.
On Sunday, Pat Tillman Freedom Plaza opened; complete with an 8 foot tall bronze statue of the fallen player.
Pat Tillman wasn’t a hall of fame player, he was a better than average defensive player for the Arizona Cardinals, and may have gone on to do great things, but instead he dropped out of footbal to join the Army Rangers and go to war. Unfortunately after all his training he ended up being shot by fellow soldiers in Afghanistan on April 22nd, 2004.
While this story is tragic, it could be the story of hundreds of American GI’s. So why focus on this one particular man?
He was famous. As we all know the death of a famous person is far more tragic than the death of a grunt that no one but the 87 people in the podunk town that he came from give a crap about.
But why all Read more:Saint
, Patrick
What About Ann Coulter & Co.? 2006-11-16 15:45:47 What happens to idiots like Ann Cloulter and Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity now? Will they get as much press, now that the Republicans are no the rulers of everything?
Will the nations’ extreme right-wing unintelligentsia now shut the hell up, or will they become more vocal.
If the election was a referendum on the President and his policies that led to Iraq and other national challenges, will the nation no longer stand for hate-mongering morons and their propaganda?
The heart of the free press is the ability of anyone to say anything without censor or reprisal. As a result, it is only through public taste and opinion that it can be regulated.
This is the main reason why agitators work so hard to get folks riled up over things. They know, just as the Romans did, that the mob controls the senate and the media - in the end.
If we have no room in this country for bad leadership, then we certainly have no room for bad punditry.
Isn’t it time that we sent these fools pac Read more:Coulter
, Ann Coulter
Fox News Caught With Their Memo Hanging Out. 2006-11-17 15:44:11 When you talk about unbiased reporting and journalistic integrity, the first group that comes to mind is NOT Fox News. As everyone knows, Fox has long been the propaganda machine for the Bush Administration and has a long list of biased reports and other obvious challenges that have haunted their thinly veiled attempt to be considered “news.”
Fortunately, we now have living proof that Fox is nothing more the Administration’s lapdog as an internal memo reveals that the day after Democrats won both houses, Fox sent their journalists marching orders for how to report the news.
You can watch this Keith Olbermann report for the full story.
This is simply amazing, not in terms of a reveal, but as a coup for folks who have long believed, but couldn’t prove obvious bias by Fox.
Kudos to the Huffington Post for getting their hands on this memo in the first place.
While this is certainly damaging and surprising for Fox, to me the most frightening aspect, is how closely Read more:Caught
, Hanging
Sabbatical. 2006-12-11 23:57:35 The Rudicus Report will be on break until the end of the year while we decide what to do with ourselves and get our schedule sorted out.
In the meantime, please feel free to visit any of the folks in our links.
I would also recommend visiting Modern Humanist since there is a lot of great stuff going on there.
Enjoy the festive season and Merry Chrismakwanzukkah!
Read more:Sabbatical
A Year of Detrimental Happenings. 2007-01-03 18:49:28 I wasn’t sure when to come back and start up the Rudicus Report, but I figured after I won Time Magazine’s Person of The Year Award, I couldn’t disappoint my fans.
That cop-out, ole award is the perfect capper on a year of what we in the industry call crap.
Saddam Hussein the evil tyrant who terrorized millions and was personally responsible for the 9/11 attacks (wait, that wasn’t him), but he did attack the U.S. through sponsorship of Osama Bin Laden (wait, not him again either)..well he DID try to get plutonium for nuclear weapons production and had a warehouse full of WMD’s (not him again?). Well regardless, he has paid for his crimes.
As with everything else, this also provided a fitting nightcap on the year. This year which we will see as the year of exporting democracy, proved to be very enlightening.
I find it particularly interesting that the exported democracy is not very democratic at all. We exported democracy so we could bypass US laws and tort Read more:Happenings
Get Ready for Your New Lo-Jacked Passport. 2007-01-09 04:08:20 The new State Department issued lo-jack passports with Radio Frequency Identification(RFID) are scheduled to start hitting the streets soon. That means holders of the new US passport will be equipped with a handy-dandy chip embedded, always-on radio frequency signal…with, you guessed it, no encryption.
The chip which was only supposed to have a 10cm reading distance can actually be read from up to 30 feet away, which means that anyone with a reader could hack into your passport and swipe your personal information, and since it doesn’t have any encryption…well it just makes it as easy as pie to do.
This sounds like another in a long line of stupid, privacy killing, pro-spying on Americans by their own government tactics that the Bush Administration is famous for. And as usual, it wouldn't be the Bush administration if there wasn’t also the taint of corruption as well. This time it’s not Cheney, but former Homeland Defense chief Tom Ridge who just ha Read more:Passport
Gooooooood Morning, Vietraq! 2007-01-11 02:46:42 As King George goes live tonight to announce his new, brilliant “SURGE” military tactic in a vain attempt to “win” in Iraq, the first group of soldiers have already arrived.
Despite desperate a plea for congressional approval of the new tactic which is without a doubt going to ratchet the body count of dead Americans to even higher levels of unacceptability, The Prez once again forgot that he was not the Emperor and went ahead and did it his way.
This is perhaps one of the boldest moves of his presidency seeing as how he couldn’t even get full support from his own team for the move.
In a military expedition that is already bearing uncanny resemblances to Vietnam, this one should be the icing on the cake. Military leaders tried this same tactic in Vietnam and it didn’t work there either. And I think that we can safely say that this thing has gone far beyond a few vocal troublemakers churning up dissent.
The simple fact is that a country that is in Read more:Morning
If You Don't Like This Post, You're Anti-Semitic! 2007-01-15 22:57:34 One day former President Jimmy Carter wrote a book. It was a book about Palestine and the entire process of peace in that region of the Middle East. In the book he makes some claims about the peace process in the Israeli-Palestine conflict that are highly critical of Israel’s role in stalling the peace process. He also has indicated in interviews that he felt high level and prominent American Jews were impeding the process by halting any criticism of Israel as being anti-Semitic
. Fortunately the American Jews took the moral high ground against Carter’s claims by lashing out at his criticism of Israel and labeled his comments anti-Semitic.
In a further display of how exactly right Carter appears to be in this criticism, 14 Jewish members of the Carter Center Board of Trustees resigned en masse in protest over the comments and Carter’s new book Palestine: Peace, Not Apartheid.
Interestingly the resigning Jewish trustees were unable to convince any non-Jews to come w
Hang Up And Shop! 2007-01-22 06:31:37 We’ve all encountered the oblivious and inconsiderate driver that endangers the lives of everyone on the road by gabbing away in their car while trying to punch in numbers and drive at the same time.
The omnipresence of the cell phone has not only made a whole lot more things unsafe, but it has made an exponential number of things so much more annoying. Remember that time you and your friends were trying to watch a movie at home and he got a call and HAD to take it? Remember how annoying that was? Now it’s everywhere you go. To the movies, in a restaurant, at the bank and at the supermarket.
It’s gotten so pervasive that college professors actually have to threaten people with reduced grades if they don’t turn their phones off during class.
One of the most aggravating things of all has to be the check-out gabber. This is the rude individual that is chatting away on the phone while the cashier is trying to ring them out. Not only have they annoyed everyone
Rich and Famous! 2007-01-24 23:53:03 I remember when I was a kid, al the other kids wanted to be doctors, lawyers, nurses, businesspeople, teachers or something similar. Every once in a while you would get a kid who wanted to be an activist or politician of some sort. These days you’ll neither get the variety or the altruism apparently.
Today’s youth only want to be two things - Rich and Famous
!
A recent Pew Research Center poll showed that the majority of kids aged 18-25’s life ambition was to be rich and famous. The kids themselves claim that their attitudes come from celebrity magazines, reality TV shows like Nick and Jessica, MTV Cribs and certain segments of the music industry.
That’s what they see and that’s what they want to be.
At first we want to say how terrible, look at the decline of the values in the youth. At the same time, lets take a long hard look at what passes for entertainment and news in this generation. We celebrate youth, beauty, wealth and celebrity almost to
Angels Among Us. 2007-01-30 03:42:09 We already know we are in the land of God, but here’s something even more interesting. While the belief in God currently appears to rest somewhere around 83% of the U.S. population, it’s worth noting that a recent poll showed that belief in angels actually exceeded God(in one form or another) by roughly 5%!
The angels could take many forms but the poll which was conducted by AP-AOL News indicated that Angels
ruled the roost in terms of belief. The percentage of white evangelical Christians registered at a not unsurprising 97%.
Interestingly, the percentage of belief broken down by education level showed a decrease as education levels increased. However, even at the highest education level, angel existence still chimed in at 73%. And you wondered how all those big brains could back creationism.
Most societies have had spirits in their midst, whether they be ancestors, angels or other spirits, positive or negative. But it is very surprising to me that such an overwh
"Federline Fries!" Who Knew K-Fed Had So Much POWER?! 2007-02-05 15:23:15 Apparently there was some sort of game last night and in it a couple of sports teams played for some sort of award. This of course is secondary to the commercials which have taken prominence in recent years. In this cleaned-up, no boobies version of the Super Bowl, there was still room for some controversy and people complaining about it.
We know that baseball has ceased to be the national pastime and many thought football would replace it, but now it looks as if NASCAR would be the new victor. Unfortunately these both fall a distant second to the true national pastime - being stupid. This is evidenced in no more perfect way that the drama surrounding a commercial for Nationwide Insurance starring everyone’s favorite ex-hubby Kevin Federline
(K-Fed to my peeps - what what!)
If you haven’t seen this marvelous piece of advertising cinema - check it out.
The commercial is supposed to be making fun of K-Fizzie and the fact that his baby mama, Bimbo Brit-ney, sent him back
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