The Greatest News Story of All Time

I'll just let it speak for itself:

Atheism, Billboards, and the Election

To paraphrase Three-Six Mafia, "it's hard out here for a[n]" atheist, especially for one that wants to run for president. According to the Economist, "over 40% of Americans say they would never vote for an atheist presidential candidate."

But just like Jesus (?), atheists are making a comeback. Seven years ago only 1 percent of the American population was atheist, but now it's around 5 percent. Even more striking, "the proportion of Americans who say they are religious has fallen from 73 percent in 2005 to 60 percent in 2011."

So why the dislike of atheists in the United States? A big reason is that the United States is the world's most populous Christian country and atheism is clearly an attack on their faith (or, at least, an affront to multiple faiths); however, sometimes it can be because many atheists act, well, sinfully.

The atheist group American Atheists planned to put up a billboard at both the Democratic and Republican National Conventions demonizing (see what I did there?) Christianity and the faith's "sadistic God" et al. President Obama, of course--I repeat, of course--is a Christian and this maneuver is non-partisan, but it is theological in intent. Mitt Romney is a Mormon, a faith even some Christians dislike.

The outcries of many concerned citizens caused the billboards to be removed. The real story here, though, is the rise of atheism and its effect on politics. Thanks to books by Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris, and Daniel Dennett, together known as the Four Horsemen of Atheism, the non-prophet organization has grown in political and theological importance.

While atheism is still the most "distrusted" minority in the United States, there is no reason to think that it won't continue to grow. Interestingly, the colonists came to the New World to escape European religion. Now, slowly but surely, Americans are creeping up to the same feelings as Europeans, the most atheistic continent on the planet. In France, for example, declarations of faith are discouraged for presidential candidates, since being religious makes one untrustworthy in the French electorate's eyes.

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I, personally, like the rise of atheism in this country. It allows for more viewpoints in our discourse (full disclosure: I am an atheist, as well). But I do condemn these billboards because atheists--especially the Four Horsemen--usually denounce when someone attacks someone else because of faith. In this case, atheists are attacking our Christian presidential candidates because of their non-belief and, subsequently, the belief of our candidates. Seriously, for an organization that claims to be the banner carriers of reason, they didn't think this one through.

I do hope one day an atheist can run for president and have a fighting chance. This will come from a dovetail prescription of atheists being liked and the waning of Christianity's hold in the country. But if atheists are represented this poorly, then that day won't come any time soon.

Is Finland Leaving the Eurozone?

The Economist has wonderful pieces on Finland's current debate on whether or not to leave the eurozone. After reading it, one must ask: will Finland want to leave the union and cause a "Fixit"?

One would think no, especially considering that Finland's economy thrived once adopting the euro. But the fact that Finland has been so successful, and doesn't really feel as "European" as most EU countries makes it reluctant to help those who have failed (see Greece). Here are some of the striking facts from the Economist:

- "The IMF reckons the combined gross debt of euro-area countries will peak at 91% of GDP next year, when the ratio in Finland will be just 53%, the lowest of any euro-zone country bar Estonia and Luxembourg."
-  "Only 31% of Finnish exports go to other euro-zone countries, a smaller share than is sold by Eurosceptic Britain."
-  "Five of Finland’s seven biggest foreign markets lie outside the euro zone. Its biggest supplier is Russia and its largest single customer is Sweden, whose economy is growing more quickly than Finland’s."

Source: http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2012/06/29/fixit_the_hot_new_phrase_that_might_explain_how_the_euro_ends.html

- "Unemployment has come down from a peak of 8.7% in early 2010, to 7.5%."

There is more and more. But public opinion still shows that Finland wants to be in the eurozone, mostly because Finland is more afraid of Russia than the common currency.

Yet, even a renowned economist like Nouriel Roubini is on board the "Fixit" bandwagon. It all hinges upon whether or not the politically center coalition can hold out against the extremely nationalist True Finn party. That coalition, though, may break if eurozone news continues to worsen. By that point, the "Finn red line" may have been crossed.

Ready. Fire. Aim.

I know there are a lot of arguments for more gun control lately. But it's looking like we have to start taking guns away from our cops, too. The worst news item is the last line (italicized):

All nine people wounded during a dramatic confrontation between police and a gunman outside the Empire State Building were struck by bullets fired by the two officers, police said Saturday, citing ballistics evidence.

The veteran patrolmen who opened fire on the suit-wearing gunman, Jeffrey Johnson, had only an instant to react when he whirled and pointed a .45-caliber pistol as they approached him from behind on a busy sidewalk.

Officer Craig Matthews shot seven times. Officer Robert Sinishtaj fired nine times, police said. Neither had ever fired their weapons before on a patrol.

There are a lot of misfires men make in their lives. This shouldn't be among them.

Infrastructural Problems

Infrastructure doesn't espouse the same kind of emotions that other issues in our political lexicon do. It's certainly not like abortion, an issue where everyone knows they're right. But the United States has a massive infrastructure problem, and fixing it will be a gargantuan task for a country that can barely stand taking baby steps.

Here's the current data. It's going to take $225 billion a year for decades to ensure there isn't gridlock on our nation's highways. Other estimates say that number is closer to $450 billion a year for decades just to keep our roads as they are now. And how they are now is is atrocious. According to Infrastructure.org, an infrastructure rating organization, our roads received a "D-minus Rating," and our infrastructure itself got a "D Rating." Even more troubling, the site claims the United States should invest $2.2 trillion-with-a-t over the next five years just to stay afloat.

But our roads aren't the only things that are old; our sewers need repair, too. A federal government estimate claims that we need to spend $300-$500 billion a year to fix our sewers over the next twenty years. But how much money did the country allocate to fixing sewers in 2008? $687 million.

I could go on and on. But you get the idea, and those who were in DC for the power outages don't need further reminders of how bad things can get (neither do those in India, for that matter).

Here's where I get worried. Remember President Obama's stimulus bill in 2009? Remember all the political turmoil it caused? And all that over just (relatively speaking, in terms of the problems we face) $787 billion. If we fought a bitter political war over $787 billion, then how are we possibly going to foot the bill to fix our infrastructure? It's already starting not to look good, as just this past June Congress failed to pass a long-term highway funding bill.

To cap it all off, Robert Yaro of the Regional Plan Association said that if we don't act soon (a wonderfully ambiguous timeframe), the United States will "have the infrastructure of a Third World country within a few decades." I have been to the Third World, and I would rather not drive slowly on the highway just so my suspension doesn't break falling into potholes.

We have an infrastructure problem in this country. Until we fix it, everyone can see our cracks.

The Lost Decade

I'll let the USAToday start this one off:

For the first time since at least World War II, middle-class families finished the first decade of the 21st century poorer and with lower incomes than they had 10 years earlier...

...Median household income dropped nearly $3,500 for a three-person middle-class household, to $69,487 a year, after adjusting for inflation, the Pew study said. The median household's net worth dropped 28% to $93,150. Incomes have dropped since 2000, while wealth rose modestly early in the decade before gains were wiped out by the recession that began in 2007 and the financial crisis sparked in 2008, said Paul Taylor, a Pew executive vice president.

"That the middle class always enjoys a rising standard of living is part of America's sense of itself, and it has always been true — until now," Taylor said in an interview, describing the 2000s as a "lost decade" for the middle class. "It's been 11 years since the peak in household incomes, and that covers the early part of the decade as well."

But there is more to the story. As James Lindsay shows, "In 2011, the U.S. economy generated 131.9 million jobs, that’s not only below the peak number of 138 million jobs reached just before the 2008-2009 financial crisis, it’s below the 132.5 million jobs that the economy generated in 2000."

Why is this happening? Well, the weakness of the American economy is not just an American problem. It's a global problem. Consider the fact that the last three jobless recoveries have taken longer than all the others we've gone through, and by a huge margin. Indeed, the average of all other job recoveries was around six months, and this one is currently at sixty.

Manufacturing has gone abroad, and most of our job growth has come in the non-tradable sector. In other words, we don't make anything people want (because it's not good and/or too expensive), and the American worker asks for too much money in return for her labor.

If I have a future prediction of a reckoning, it is this: the American worker, by virtue of the United States' success at turning the world into a global work force where other countries provide labor at cheaper prices, will have to accept lower wages than she is used to today. For Americans to compete internationally, we must ask for less in return for our labor. If this is true, a decline in middle-class income is likely to continue going forward.

That about sums it up. The only thing I have to add is that this article, and the current state of affairs, gives me a feeling with the same name of our current economic climate: depression.

The Foreign Policy of Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan

 According to Joe Klein, a veteran reporter for Time:

[Paul] Ryan and Mitt Romney have the least foreign-policy and national-security experience of any ticket, for either party, in the 10 presidential campaigns I've covered. (As Michael Cohen pointed out in Foreign Policy, they have the least overseas experience of any ticket since Thomas Dewey and Earl Warren in 1948.)

Even so, one doesn't need experience to have opinions on foreign policy, as Ivo H. Daalder and James M. Lindsay examine in the wonderful America Unbound about George W. Bush's foreign policy. This is the case with the Romney-Ryan ticket, as they have already expressed many of their foreign policy views. Here are some below:

Romney
- His "doctrine" will be "peace through strength," similar, if not identical, to that of Ronald Reagan. Indeed, he believes "When America is strong, the world is safer."
- On Israel, Romney wants to "keep disagreements between friends private."
- Romney likes "crippling sanctions" on Iran, but his foreign policy team seems divided on how to approach the issue of Iran's pending nuclear capabilities
- One big hole is that Romney has not yet laid out plans to deal with the euro crisis, although he has said "European socialist policies aren't right for the U.S."
- He promises to constantly drill, looking for shale gas.
- Romney has vowed to give troops whatever they need in Afghanistan.

Ryan
- Increase defense spending (like Romney).
- Cut diplomacy and development aid.
- Has yet to mention Syria.
- Believes "engagement in Afghanistan is necessary."

How you feel about the above is up to you. These are just the facts. Although one noticeable thing is that Afghanistan has been absent in this election (of course, this election is laser-focused on the economy). But, the answer may also lie in that "neither Obama or Romney have a solution" for Afghanistan. I think that might have something to do with it, too.

Burning Question (Pun Intended)

 From Bill McKibbon's excellent Eaarth (page 30):

Does modernity disappear along with the oil? It's a question worth asking, when six of the tweve largest companies in the world are fossil-fuel providers, four make cars and trucks, and one, General Electric, is, as its name implies, heavily involved in the energy industry. Just buying fossil fuels requires almost a tenth of global GDP, and almost all the other 90 percent depends on burning the stuff.

It appears there will come a time when all the cholesterol we've been consuming will give us a heart attack. Then, our lives will be walking on a treadmill and downing Lipitor with a half-useless heart. It'll still be life, but not the life we know and much harder.

And yes, that's a metaphor.

The Scariest Thing I've Read Today

The scariest thing I've read today (and it's from four years ago):

There is a 50 percent chance Lake Mead will run dry by 2021 and a 10 percent chance it will run out of usable water by 2014, if the region's drought deepens and water use climbs, the researchers said.

Lake Mead, for those that don't know, is the lake that forms behind the Hoover Dam and connects to the Colorado River. If this lake dries up, water will be "cut off...to the fifth largest economy in the world [the American West]."

Well, now I'm terrified.

Is Canada Fascist?

In the brief moment I took to breathe while laughing at the Canadian national anthem, I heard some worrisome lyrics that gave me pause:

With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!

So Canada thinks they're the true north, eh? Sounds like they're ready to "rise" to prove their point. I have an uncle, Sam, who can show Canadia who the True North really is (hint: it's the Arctic). Get ready for WWIII, where America will throw the fascists "oot" again.

Why Can't the Left Blame Obama for Anything?

Conor Friedersdorf had an excellent piece in the Atlantic yesterday asking why liberals can't seem to blame Obama for his failed policies. You should read the whole article, but here's the gist of it:

Barack Obama did win in 2008 running on a platform more liberal than the one he has pursued in the interim. Perhaps he couldn't move any farther left on immigration or health care and stay viable. But on national security, executive power, and civil-liberties issues, he campaigned and won handily repudiating Bush-era policies, only to govern to the "right" of the Bush Administration.

There wasn't a political imperative to do so. And I'm tired of that truth being obscured.

If liberals are going express horror at the GOP agenda as they enthusiastically support Obama's reelection, it's time for them to own his policies and stop trying to blame them on George W. Bush, or intransigent Republicans, or the financial crisis, or corporate campaign donations, or the desire to compromise, or an electorate that wasn't ready for the allegedly "knighted" Obama.

This likely has more to do with the fact that American society has become more tribal in terms of our politics. Indeed, we've gotten to a point where we feel "the wrong side absolutely must not win" and refuse to listen to what proves us wrong.

Well, I lean left and prefer Obama to Romney. And yet, I am willing to provide some things Obama got absolutely wrong:

1) The Drone War
2) Solyndra
3) Obama's failed tax-cut deal
4) His neglect of the Federal Reserve
5) The size and scope of the stimulus bill

Wow, I feel like a load has been taken off my shoulders! I feel like my conscience is clean enough now to complain about Bush some more. Yay!

No, but seriously, follow the facts as they are. No politician is perfect, so partisans should stop acting like their ideology is.

Hurricane Irony?

Hurricane Isaac is threatening to cause problems at the GOP convention, according to the Washington Post. This seems a recurring theme as four years ago Hurricane Gustav almost ruined McCain/Palin's big day. Further, Weather.com explains that "Republicans have selected the riskier hurricane-prone cities to host conventions than the Democrats."

Maybe this isn't a coincidence, but rather these hurricanes are trying to send the GOP a message. Perhaps the GOP's consistent head-in-the-sand response to change how the wind blows in the GOP environmental discussions. The hurricanes would have good reason, too. Two weeks ago, for example, Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) claimed that "recent scientific data shows that the earth is currently in a cooling period, and it's predicted that it will continue to cool over the next 20 years."

To be fair to Rep. Scalise, Congress has been doing so much good work that he has been stuck inside the halls of Congress passing legislation to get this country back on track. Who could blame him, after all this time, for confusing air conditioning with the current climate? If he had the chance to go outside, he would have noticed that last June:

broke or tied 3,215 high-temperature records across the United States. That followed the warmest May on record for the Northern Hemisphere – the 327th consecutive month in which the temperature of the entire globe exceeded the 20th-century average, the odds of which occurring by simple chance were 3.7 x 10-99, a number considerably larger than the number of stars in the universe.

Not even the 180 degree conversion of climate-skeptic and UC Berekely professor Richard A. Muller, whose work was funded by Charles and David Koch, to a believer in climate change will change the party's opinion. Last year a poll showed 31 percent of conservative Republicans don't believe in climate change (whereas 63 percent of moderate and liberal Republicans say climate change is real).

So this is where the hurricanes come in. They are trying to remind the GOP that climate change is a problem by bringing with them more violent, temperamental weather. The GOP is needed if action is to be taken to stop Artic sea ice from hitting record lows; the summers from getting hotter; and to save the animals that are leaving their usual habitats because of the change in temperatures.

Here's hoping Hurricane Irony--I mean Isaac--helps the GOP at least join the 63 percent of Americans that believe in climate change.

Recession Imminent, Says CBO

According to the Washington Post and the Congressional Budget Office, a recession is nigh should Congress not act prior to the country reaching the "fiscal cliff." Worse, estimates show that unemployment would go up nearly a full percentage point to 9.1 percent.

Instead of helping the situation, Congress has made it worse, as the report indicates:

Since that forecast was issued, Congress has steepened the fiscal cliff by extending a temporary payroll tax break and emergency unemployment benefits, which are now also set to expire in January.

Here's a new twist, though. Polls show Americans want more government spending. This may have to do with the fact that Obama's stimulus bill ensured we haven't gone the way of the Europeans, as this graph shows. So, it looks like Merkel's austerity measures would not be welcome here (queue Paul Krugman happy dance here).

But here's a problem: we can't just spend our way out of this recession and economic woes. We need a balanced approach. The Simpson-Bowles proposal seems the right way to go--it has the right mix of spending and cuts.

I'm not sure I agree with everything in the proposal. But there are things we need done, or we'll go off the fiscal cliff.

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UPDATE (4:57pm): Derek Thompson at the Atlantic has a great piece on a possible "budgetpocalypse." Read it.

MSNBC Fail

Oh boy. Somebody at MSNBC's "The Daily Rundown" (TDR) did not have their coffee this morning. If we're wondering why the American population is so uninformed, let's start with this (see photo).

Perhaps as important, TDR covered the remark by Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO) on "legitimate rape" in the A block. Do Akin's outrageous comments merit coverage in the news? Absolutely. Should it be the first thing we see in the broadcast? No, there are more important things to cover (somewhere, Will McAvoy/Aaron Sorkin is smiling). Why, you ask? Because here is the news from last night/this morning that is vitally more imporant:

- The 2,000th American soldier was killed in Afghanistan (NYT)

- The Congressional Budget Office says the U.S. could see another recession in 2013 (WaPo)

- Greece's prime minister seeks more time to reach deal with Germans on their borrowing (Reuters)

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We need better news. And covering what one idiot said is not the way to do it.

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