Daily Blend: Sunday, July 04, 2010 – Happy fireworks, beer and flag-waving day, USians!

Afshan Azad

I realize there’s been a marked dearth in my blogging output these days, which you can assuredly pin on reading, songwriting and perhaps general laziness. On the other hand, I’ve now resolved myself to begin perusing the Catholic League website, the WorldNutDaily and a silly little anti-liberal blog, Politik Ditto, so you can expect an upswing in the number of posts here for the foreseeable future. If the combined stupidity of those locales don’t give me permanent brain damage first.

(Oh, and happy memorial date of when you decided you’d had enough of tyranny and wanted to try out that “democratic republic” thing, you Yanks.)

• Hannity kicked off the radio-waves in Utah, possibly for being “uncivil”. Thus raising the question why aren’t all the others (Beck, Limbaugh, Savage, etc.) thrown out the window as well.
  (via @todayspolitics)

• After a comic explaining just how and why the antivaccination movement is wrong and dangerous, comes a new comic explaining just how and why homeopathy is wrong and dangerous.
  (via Bad Astronomy)

• Excellent op-ed from Jeb Bush and Robert Putnam in the Washington Post debunking several anti-immigration claims about how all those Brown people crossing over from Mexico are supposedly spelling ruin for the American way of life, or something. Also interesting is this examplary conservatard comment from Jsuf (7/3/10 5:11:04 PM): “We can't afford them. I don't want to pay for their health care and I don't want to subsidize english classes for them. I don't want these illegals benefiting from our AMAZING entitlement system. Enough is enough. Jeb, I am very disappointed in you. What are you doing working with those Harvard Liberals?? Do you have a soft spot for illegals because of your Latino wife?” So, that’s heartlessness, bigotry, ignorance, pretentiousness and dumbassery, all in one. Oh, dear typical conservatards.

• Dr. Stephen Barret, operator of the brilliant anti-pseudomedicine resource Quackwatch, is sued by probable quack group Doctor’s Data for US$10 million after pointing out possible fraud. Let’s hope this doesn’t turn into another Simon Singh affair and that the lawsuit is dismissed quickly.

• Padma Patil in Harry Potter gets bad press. Or how actress Afshan Azad [pictured] was reportedly beaten and threatened with death by her Muslim father and brother for dating a Hindu man. Somewhat ironic, isn’t it, how there’s absolutely nothing remotely “honorable” about a culture that inspires one to shame, assault and even murder their friends and loved ones for dating someone they don’t approve of.
  (via Friendly Atheist)

• Does the US Constitution really contain a missing yet valid 13^th Amendment, missing since the Civil War and never lawfully repealed, that makes any lawyers currently serving as politicians criminals?
  (via @todayspolitics)

As always, if you have any story suggestions, feel free to send them in.