The leadership forum has just ended and John Edwards is sitting down with about 200 people to take questions and speak his mind. I will be live blogging the event in the comment section. The blog will be going on over at The Seminal. Keep refreshing the page to see new updates, and if you have a question feel free to ask it and I’ll see if I can get it in.

How do you judge whether or not a movie is "good?" For me, it centers upon how much I think about the movie after I've seen it. In other words, what effect does it have on you and your life. One movie has caused me to think almost non-stop since I've seen it.

Who Killed the Electric Car should be mandatory viewing for all Americans. It's unbelievable! Not only will it piss you off, but it offers a better government lesson than you ever got out of a textbook or teacher lecture (and that's coming from a government teacher). Do yourself a favor and watch it. You won't be disappointed.

The United States of Economic Coincidence
     It shouldn't surprise anyone to learn that Americans have embraced the world of make-believe. After all, eight of the top ten highest-grossing movies of 2005 took place in far-away galaxies, starred personified animals, or revolved around alien invasions. Even the two non-fiction movies to grace the list--Wedding Crashers and Mr. and Mrs. Smith--don't exactly excite the realists among us. If this bothers you, don't worry. By collectively proving our ability to suspend reality, we are simply practicing for this year's elections when we will be bombarded with even more make-believe. Sadly, this time it won't be entertainment, but an attempt by Conservative Congressional incumbents to explain away record-high gas prices, stagnant wages, and the ballooning Federal deficit in the face of war-time tax cuts.

MORE BELOW THE FOLD:

In today's "me-first" society, it's refreshing to see that the director of the CIA, Porker, err Porter Goss is resigning--obviously to spend more time with his family. Trying not to be out done, the #3 man at the agency, Kyle "Dusty" Foggo, has followed suit in following his boss out the door and into his own family's life.

See more acts of unselfishness AND offer some helpful suggesstions below the fold:

Although the term "Catholic Leader" may seem like an oxymoron of late, this is encouraging news. You see, the leading Catholic astronomer just called creationism a bunch of bullshit. (okay, he didn't use the exact same vernacular as me, but you get the point) This is the kind of stuff Catholic leaders should be talking more about. The sane ones have let the ideologues have their views go unchallenged for too long. If they keep this up (along with their comtemplation of allowing condom use in Africa) I might just have to sneak into that back pew again.

This guy sums up the role of science and religion better than I ever could.

MORE BELOW THE FOLD:

The next time someone tells you they're a Conservative, ask them to clarify. There's a huge difference between what our college professors told us it meant, and what it means in today's reality. Here's my take on what a Conservative really is.

More Below the Fold:

Believe me, I'm no conspiracy theorist. However, this video raises more questions about what we were told about the Pentagon attack than anything I've ever seen. I wouldn't post it here if it didn't think many of you would come to the same conclusion. Please, check it out!

http://www.911truthla.org/...

P.S.
Sorry if this has been posted before, but I've never seen it. I'm sure there are plenty more out there in the same boat.

Recently I've been cheating on the Kossacks community and been "blogging" behind your backs with two guys I teach with. One is ULTRA-conservative, but an extremely nice and bright guy nonetheless. The other guy is one of the smartest guys I've ever met, but he's completely down on the whole political process--saying that Democrats are a bunch of pussies (apologies to the politically correct among us). He asked me to explain why I'm a Democrat. This is what I came up with off the top of my head.

More below the fold:

Put incumbant Congressional Republicans on the defensive. Every 2006 Democratic challenger's message should be the same: "They've controlled all three branches of government for the last 6 years (with one small exception) and what do they have to show for it?"

"Record deficits, 2000 + dead Americans, $500 Billion spent in Iraq, tax cuts for the rich while average workers wages have gone down, intrusions into the private lives of Americans (mention the Terri Schiavo debacle as often as possible), a flat stock market, 45 million Americans without health insurance, eroding international support for the war on terrorism, no bin-Laden, record levels of personal debt, record high gas prices, more reliance on foreign oil, raids on corporate pensions, and an overall management system that makes Enron look good. But wait, they did save Christmas."

MORE FODDER BELOW THE FOLD:

I am a high school government teacher. Just recently, we have been discussing the differences between the Democratic and Republican platforms. When the topic of gay marriage was raised, I gingerly explained how the two parties GENERALLY feel about the subject. (Try doing that in a class of 25 immature boys)

Anyway, I haven't been able to stop thinking about what a great commercial or soundbite this would make for a candidate trying to defend his support of gay marriage.

MORE BELOW THE FOLD

I attended a debate Saturday night featuring five of the seven candidates vying to become Cincinnati's next mayor. It was an interesting case study in grassroots and local politics to say the least. Originally, only the four candidates representing the two major parties were invited, but after some self promotion (including a song played on the harmonica) and a minor altercation, Justin Jefferies (of 98 Degrees infamy) was allowed to participate.

Under Cincinnati's new "strong" mayor system, the top two vote-getters in a non-partisian Semptember primary will then compete in a November runoff. Here's a handicapp of the field:

Kansas governor, Kathleen Gilligan Sebelius, was invited to give a commencement speech at her high school alma mater, Summit Country Day in Cincinnati. That is, until the Archbishop of Cincinnati, Daniel Pilarczyk, told the school to "un-invite" her. Why? Because Sebelius is pro-choice. According to the article in today's Cincinnati Post,
http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050505/NEWS01/505050402
Pilarczyk based his "advice" on the June 2004 document entitled: "Catholics in Political Life."
Yep, the same document that was used to keep John Kerry from receiving communion in some churches.
PLEASE READ ON:

While this was written to address the failing condition of Cincinati's Public Schools, it holds true for many inner-city public school districts. NCLB has only exacerbated the problems due to its reliance on "fudging" statistics. Please read on!

WHO'S ON FIRST AT CINCINNATI PUBLIC SCHOOLS?
     Surely you've heard the old Abbot and Costello routine, "Who's on First?" You know the one where not even the most simple, obvious question can be answered in a straightforward manner. After minutes of round and round confusion all invested parties simply give up in exasperation. Well, imagine that routine multiplied by 25 and you can start to understand the situation Cincinnati Public School teachers are facing.
     

Since most Republicans never seem to let facts get in the way of a good story, maybe a good story can help them get into some facts.

A REAL AMERICAN SUCCESS STORY
    Sure, Johnny wasn't the best student in his excellently rated suburban high school, but he was unquestionably bright, well liked, good looking, and boy, could he talk his way out of (or into--wink, wink) anything. In fact, he was so overflowing with potential that he was accepted into a pre-med program at a prestigious university. It didn't matter to Johnny that his acceptance was based--at least in part--on his glowing, albeit self-written, letters of recommendation. So what if he fudged the truth. After all, his whole life was ahead of him and he was certain that the ends would someday justify the means.