Featured Stories
ALEC outed, vetoed in Minnesota
February 20, 2012
by David Safier The name "ALEC" was known by just a few people as recently as a few months ago. Now it's surfacing in the news — it's about time! — and in a speech by Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton. Dayton vetoed four "tort reform" bills, saying they came straight out of an ALEC boot
Setting the record straight about K12 Inc. outsourcing student essays to India
February 20, 2012
by David Safier In 2008, I broke the story that the online education corporation, K12 Inc, was outsourcing student essays to India to be graded without parents' knowledge. The corporation eventually apologized, calling the outsourcing "growing pains" and one of those "occasional glitches." It says it has stopped the practice. Since then, when articles are
Some Mormons don’t support Romney’s candidacy
February 20, 2012
by David Safier Conflicting Mormon views on immigration continue to cause political ripples. The Mormon Church's acceptance of the principles in the Utah Compact and the backlash against Russell Pearce's anti-immigrant policies have been the clearest recent examples. Here's another, a Latino Mormon movement against supporting Romney's presidential bid. [T]wo decades after her conversion while
Background on Babeu and a hat tip to Star reporters
February 20, 2012
by David Safier Talking Points Memo published a piece by a resident of Babeu's old home town, North Adams, MA, giving background about the sheriff's pre-Arizona days. Funny thing, though. TPM puts a correction at the end saying there were errors in the piece and cites an article in our own Star to correct the
The environment gets Rick rolled
February 20, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
"Take only what you need and leave the land as you found it." – Arapaho Proverb
Rick "man on dog" Santorum strongly disagrees with this concept of "environmental stewardship":
Environmental stewardship refers to responsible use and protection of the natural environment through conservation and sustainable practices. Aldo Leopold (1887–1948) championed a land ethic "dealing with man's relation to land and to the animals and plants which grow upon it." According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, environmental stewardship is the responsibility for environmental quality shared by all those whose actions affect the environment.
Santorum's views on the environment are shaped by his views on religion. Religion and Environment:
What role does religion play in shaping our attitude towards the natural world? One answer was proposed in 1967 by UCLA History Professor Lynn White, Jr., who wrote an article entitled, "The Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis" (Science 155(3767):1203-1207, 1967). In this article, he said that the Western world's attitudes towards nature were shaped by the Judeo-Christian tradition. This tradition, White wrote, involved the concept of a world created solely for the benefit of man: "God planned all [of creation] explicitly for man's benefit and rule: no item in the physical creation had any purpose save to serve man's purposes." Along with this, Western Christianity separated humans from nature. In older religious traditions, humans were seen as part of nature, rather than the ruler of nature.
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Christianity "not only established a dualism of man and nature but also insisted that it is God's will that man exploit nature for his proper ends" . . . [White] proposed that Christianity, and Western civilization as a whole, held a view of nature that separated humans from the rest of the natural world, and encouraged exploitation of it for our own ends.
Which leads Rick Santorum to question President Obama's Christian faith because he does not subscribe to this concept of dualism of man and nature, and the exploitation of the Earth's resources for man's own purposes. Santorum is indirectly attacking millions of Americans who also do not subscribe to his views. Santorum: Obama 'world view' wrongly places Earth above man :
Rick Santorum on Sunday condemned what he called President Obama's world view that "elevates the Earth above man". . .
A day after telling an Ohio audience that Obama's agenda is based on "some phony theology, not a theology based on the Bible," the GOP presidential candidate said he wasn't criticizing the president's Christianity.
Oh yes, he is. And he is questioning the faith of millions of other Americans as well.
Reminder: District 30 ‘Boot Stompin’ Red Hot Chili Lovers Cook-off!’
February 20, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Contestants must contact District 30 by mid-week for contest rules to enter. And chili's will not be of the red hot variety. You are cordially invited to the AZ LD 30 "Boot Stompin' Red Hot Chili Lovers Cook-off!" Saturday, February 25th 12:00 – 2:00 PM Unitarian Universalist Church of
Day of Action to Protect Workers Rights
February 20, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Announcement from the Arizona AFL-CIO:
The coming week…
February 19, 2012
By Craig McDermott, cross-posted from Random Musings It's shaping up to be a relatively quiet week at the Arizona legislature…emphasis on "relatively". There are still going to be a number of controversial bills, but not the large number that we've seen in recent weeks. Of course, agendas, particularly those for meetings later in the
