I’m reading the Complete Idiots Guide to The Gnostic Gospels, by J. Michael Matkin. It’s exciting stuff — kinda like from Indiana Jones. The book reveals how contingent orthodox Christianity is. The early Catholic Church relentlessly suppressed alternative sects, some of which were close to winning out. For example, the second century gnostic Valentius came…
Someone in my precinct emailed me (their PCO): “What is the difference between Yes on 594 and Yes on 591?” I explained I-594 is a gun control measure that requires background checks on gun purchases. Most Democrats support it. I-591 is the initiative from the gun lobby to make sure that Washington State’s gun laws…
Joshua Greene’s Moral Tribes — Emotion, Reason, and the Gap between Us and Them is a mixture of political philosophy, evolutionary psychology, and ethics. The cool thing is that Greene is a clear thinker and superb writer, so the book is accessible to the educated layperson. The central question of the book is:Â In a…
This afternoon I attended Rep. Adam Smith’s salmon bake in Bellevue. I mentioned problems with our military: ex-military generals whose punditry is corrupted by connections to military contractors; cost over-runs and design flaws in the F-35; and our history of supporting the wrong side in conflicts. As always, Smith acknowledges the existence of the problems. …
US Representative, Adam Smith (D, 9th CD WA) appeared on Meet the Press in late August with Republican Peter King from NY State. Smith said that the US must find worthy allies in Iraq and Syria. Otherwise the bombing will be ineffective.   Smith said he supports stronger sanctions against Russia and more support for the…
The Koch Brothers basically control the GOP. And here’s their 1980 Libertarian Party Platform (copied from Bernie Sanders’ webpage). If this doesn’t scare you, you are sick. Here are just a few excerpts of the Libertarian Party platform that David Koch ran on in 1980: “We urge the repeal of federal campaign finance laws, and…
On facebook, in comments to articles, and in person I often hear socialists, anarchists, and independents say things like “The Dems are as bad as the Republicans” and “Trying to fix the Democratic Party is a hopeless task.” Such views represent a gross exaggeration or distortion of the facts, but they contain a kernel of…
About 20 years ago I had an idea for a piano with a black key between each white key. The piano keys would look like the second set in the image below. The advantages of such a piano are To play a piece in a different key, one need only shift one’s hands to the…
This month’s American Prospect has an article on the Colorado model for turning a state progressive blue: use mega-donors who care and coordinate with unions like SEUI. The article says, “In Washington state, venture capitalist Nick Hanauer was one of the first to kick-start a donor network that has been working for several years to…
Reps DelBene, Kilmer, Larsen, Heck and Smith voted Yea on the McKeon Amendment that funds the arming of Syrian rebels. “The amendment would authorize the Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the Secretary of State, to train and equip appropriately vetted elements of the Syrian opposition and other appropriately vetted Syrian groups or individuals.” (source)….