We have Santorem and Specter in the Senate representing PA. Santorem is our extremist conservative with "religious" appeal. Specter is our long-term senator and the conservatives have branded him to liberal for the Republican Party. They tried to unseat him in the primaries with a guy named Toomey who is a Christian version of Osama Bin Laden in Jihad against Roe V Wade. This was a fascinating primary because the Republicans for Toomey branded Specter as a Kennedy liberal. Specter, although far from liberal, does have a history of talking to Democrats and compromising to some extent (not opposed to Bi partisanism). And, he came up with the magic bullet theory. Toomey was well within a percent of defeating Specter in the primary. Bush and Santorem backed Specter in the primary but backed away from him in the general election. I thought Specter lost before I went to bed election night but the urban vote had not come in at that time. So, now the Republicans are up in arms because Specter won and he will assume leadership of the judicial committee in the Senate (Newt Gingrich term limit legislation in the 90's forces Oren Hatch out of the job). Specter has already stated he considers RvW a non-issue in judicial appointments and that he will probably retire at the end of his term. Bush and Santorem are said to be waiting for the ground swell of opposition to Specter on his appointment to committee chairman (seniority positions him there) to polarize the state and potentially the senate as much as possible. In the local press this week there were letters bashing Specter and "praying" for his failure to be appointed to the chairmanship of the judicial committee.

Maybe you have interesting political squabbles in your area?

Closer to my part of PA, Santorum is involved in another little controversy. Seems that 5 of his children are enrolled in a cyber charter school located in Penn Hills, a suburb of Pittsburgh, under the pretense of being Penn Hills residents, at a cost of $38,000 per year to the municipality. Altho' Santorum owns a house there & is registered to vote in PA, the home that he & his family lives in year round is in VA. Appearently the kids are educated on line. Some school board members want this to cease, & have even gone to the house owned by Santorum in an effort to find out how much time he & his family spend there. (The answer: None.)

Santorum won his 1st election as a US Rep. over incumbent Doug Walgren, largely by criticizing his opponent for living in VA & promising to be a different kind of politician. When Santorum got elected to the US Senate, he immediately sold his PA home, moved to VA, & began to hold $1,000/plate dinners at a Pittsburgh country club.

Just an update! Arlen got the job but he had to promise in writing no Litmus Test! Is PA the only place with this stuff?

And I might as well update you on the Santorum crisis around here.

Santorum has withdrawn his kids from the cyber charter school. He admitted no wrongdoing, stating with arrogant defiance that he does what's best for his family & if we don't like it, we can express our opinion at the polls in 2 years. However, he has not responded to requests from the Penn Hills School Dist. to reimburse the $38,000.

A Santorum spokesman said that Santorum & his wife & 6 children spend a "lot of time" in their 2-bedroom Penn Hills home. Where the hell would they sleep?

I know Oklahoma has interesting stuff. My brother told me that the young deacons in the Baptist Church in Sand Springs are drinking beer at church socials (only the young deacons and I am sure it is light beer, probably Curs beer (they all make fun of the way i say Coors in the east, I drink Jingling Lagar myself)). What will be next, dancing? And, I hear they have legalized real gambling out of jealousy toward the Indians. Texas and Kansas are all in an uproar as that money crosses the state line! Why it has to be as entertaining politically as that Deadwood show on HBO!

We have another one here in Middle PA and Rick Santorem is involved.

The Dover Area School board passed an order to requires Science Teachers in the District to teach Scientific Creationism as a plausible alternative to Evolution. Of course there is a lawsuit (ACLU and AUSCS vs School board)and teachers in solidarity and protest an opting out of the required teaching saying "this is not science" You can guess where RSantorem's support fell but he has become "noticibly absent" since there was an outcry of parents in the district opposed to the District ruling. Gotta Love It!

A similar situation just played itself out in the House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee. Forget the names of the representatives involved, but the Republicans booted their head of the committee off because he had the audacity to actually try to INCREASE benefits for veterans, and went against the Bushies on this. Replaced with a more "company-line" Republican, dedicated to screwing the vets and making the capitalists wealthier with more tax cuts.

hey psb...i'm a stones throw from you...wrightsville....
i was reading about that in the paper today....the thing is (and i am not being sarcastic)...
i honestly believe this country is chock- full of educated, honest and freethinking individuals....i'll even go as far as saying that the majority is as such....with the ability to receive much information (fact or opinion),sort it out in their own heads and come to whatever conclusion they are comfortable with...and i believe they can do this better when presented with more than one side, no matter what info is put before them.
so these souls are capable of seeing a monument depicting the 10 commandments without their eyes burning out of the sockets and they are capable of allowing others to express their veiws without the fear of instant brainwashing taking place and they can even be presented with different theories of the creation of life and still be able to make up their own minds about what they believe....ya' see,i love this country and i am proud of this country as a whole...it's the few that see their missions as being the only way to think...well, sorry...to me that's what is the foundation of the greatness of this country...the freedom to seek out answers to the questions and being trusted enough to formulate a sensible conclusion and then being able to live their live's accordingly.........hmmm...i'm tired and on vicodan so it's probable i make little sense...but that's ok...I LOVE THIS COUNTRY.....peace..georgia

Georgia, the problem is that school-age children are being taught nonsense as though it's as valid as science. You can't tell kids that 2+2=4, but there's another equally valid view that 2+2=5. Scientific Creationism has been largely discredited as "science", and there's just no place for it in a society that believes in separation of church and state.

Wow GG, you Monkey You, Good response. Actually, if you notice I offered no opinion on the matter, I just stated some facts to stir it up. To me the problem is the mandate of the curriculum based on religious and social beliefs (of a portion of society) and not the fact that creationist theory is getting some playtime in the classroom. Forcing philosophy into a science class smacks of something the Nazi's wanted to experiment with (their experiments were scary). When I was living in small town Oklahoma the school board banned the reading of authors like Heinlein (Stranger in a Strange Land was considered anti-religious), Bradbury, Vonnegut (I hope I spelled it right) and Steinbeck (That one is shocking I know). I know by your argument this is unacceptable but it is the result of the same motivation. There is another bit to this, It is not only using a text book that includes creationism (any current textbook presenting creationism may be written with a certain Judeo-Christian slant to science) but the fact that the teachers are required to point out the flaws of evolutionary theory (something a good science class should do anyway) but they are told do it in a way that makes creationism more acceptable. No mention of pointing out the more numerous flaws of creationism I think this is where the teachers were, well how do you say, concerned.

I am a supporter of public education myself and I believe those teachers are inadequately paid for the service they try to perform. Now they are being told objectivity is to be thrown out the window.

(what do they call scientific creationism now, intelligent design I believe, this brings the question: Did God attempt to design intelligent beings or did God create man as part of a science project (if so I think he got a C))).

edited to add
An interesting failure of Darwinsim is discussed in Social Darwinism in American Thought by Richard Hofstadter, Industrialists, Imperialist and Racists found some comfort in the idea of the "survival of the fittest" between 1860 and 1930 or so
and, as long as we are on evolution
Has anyone read Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed by Jared Diamond (I am wondering should I get it!)

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<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by ggoodman:
... this country is chock- full of educated, honest and freethinking individuals...with the ability to receive much information (fact or opinion),sort it out in their own heads and come to whatever conclusion they are comfortable with...<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>That won't be true of our adult population unless children are first taught the rules of logic and how science works. I love my country, too, and when every day we slip lower in our world standing re. science--how much we do, how much we are taught, I am stronger in my belief that teaching creationism in the schools must be stopped.

This side-discussion brought to mind my high-school biology teacher. That subject had just not made a whole lot of sense to me until, one day, he got very solemn and told the class, "I have been directed by the Board of Education to tell you that you are forbidden to read Chapter 9. If I don't tell you this, I could lose my job. The rest of this class period is time for you to catch up on previously assigned reading." Guess what chapter we all read that day? Chapter 9: Evolution. And it all fell into place for me.

Off topic? Well, sort of. But that school board 40 years ago had a lot in common with some current politicians who push their own agendas ahead of the good of their constituents.

i support the public school system...however...
1. you're right..teachers should be paid 10 fold what they are since the future is there in the palms of their hands..that is also why i disapprove with tenure..
2. most text books i've encountered seem biased, inaccurate, or outdated...so the teachers have to deal with insufficent material. making the GOOD teacher's job even more difficult.
3. the schools also have to deal with parents that don't do their part, just let the responsibility up to the schools.
i could go on....

then there is the way people object to things...like janet's titty on the super bowl...they did not like what exposure was put upon the nation but then have 1543 news reports bitching about it.

this may seem off track but it came to mind...school taxes..i do believe everyone should pay them..yes i also mean childless citizens...the next presidents, you grandchild's future doctor, possible a curer of diseases..they need to be educated first...and the whole village needs to participate.

i guess that is plenty of banter for the moment.........peace, georgia

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wassa matta?...did I ruffle a feather or two?

you mean that thing about Janet, naw no big deal

I just can't seem to grok what is going on here...