Daily Archives: August 28, 2012

I would be completely on board with this genetic information being available

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Andrew Sullivan writes, “In their new book, The Chemistry Between Us: Love, Sex and the Science of Attraction, Larry Young and Brian Alexander imagine the personal ads of the future. Lisa Miller summarizes:

“Evolutionarily, women bond to nurture and men bond to protect. The hormone that activates the protect-and-guard impulse (the bonding impulse) in men is called vasopressin. A variant in a gene called RS3 AVPRIA reduces men’s receptivity to vasopressin. According to a Swedish study, the married men with this gene variation were likelier to have experienced a marital crisis in the past year, likelier to have talked about divorce than those without the variant. They were also likelier, overall, to be unmarried. “If you want a guy that’s bonded to you tightly, you want to make sure you’ve got a guy with the right variance,” says Alexander in a phone call.

“In the last chapter of the book, the authors imagine a world in which online personals contain genetic information as well as physical details and professional status. “In addition to bundling the familiar ‘tall, professional, SWM’ in personal ads, why wouldn’t men proclaim ‘AVPRIA RS3 neg.’ as yet another selling point? Men and women routinely demand body types in their personals. Why not toss in genetic types?”"

This is information that would truly matter in the long run. I think I’ve known way too many RS3 AVPRIA positives.

Pew Research poll: Mitt Romney would be better for the wealthy

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According to POLITICO, a majority of Americans think Mitt Romney would be better for the wealthy and President Obama is better for the middle class and the poor:

More than seven out of 10 Americans believe Mitt Romney’s policies would benefit the wealthy, while President Barack Obama has an advantage over his Republican counterpart when it comes to helping the middle class, according to a poll released Monday.

Half of all Americans think Obama’s policies would help the middle class, compared with only 40 percent for Romney, according to the Pew Research Center poll. Sixty percent think Obama’s policies would help the poor, compared with only 31 percent for Romney.

Seventy-one percent believe Romney’s policies would aid the rich, and only 37 percent believe the same of Obama, Pew found… Only 23 percent said the GOP favors the middle class, compared with 35 percent for Democrats. Close to two-thirds of Americans — 63 percent — said Republicans favor the wealthy. Only 32 percent said the same about Democrats and the poor.

[...] A majority of Americans — 58 percent — said the wealthy don’t pay their fair share in taxes, and one-fifth of Americans said the same of the poor. Only 38 percent of Americans said the middle class pays too much in taxes, with half saying middle-income Americans pay their fair share.

Were any conservative NON-WEALTHY base voters polled? And if so, why would they vote for Romney if they are not in the wealthiest income bracket? Is this delusion or self-hated or stupidity?


via: thepoliticalfreakshow

Tonight Ann Romney will attempt to humanize her husband for “you people”

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Because who better to humanize the Mittbot than his wife who famously drives two Cadillacs, and uses the very expensive sport of dressage as a physical therapy for MS, and has several houses with servants, but says she doesn’t feel rich? Who doesn’t connect with that?

POLITICO: Ann Romney will take to the podium here Tuesday night and try to accomplish what the sharpest minds in Republican politics have failed to do: present her stiff and awkward husband as a likable guy. Her speech is considered second in importance only to Mitt Romney’s and will set the tone for the week as the Republican Party presents its case for turning President Barack Obama out of office.


via: christopherstreet

Jesus moved the hurricane because of prayers by Florida’s Republican Christians

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Televangelist Pat Robertson suggested on Monday “that Christians in Florida had convinced God to move soon-to-be Hurricane Isaac away from Tampa, Florida to protect Republicans.”

“[...] “We have had lots and lots of people praying around the clock that it would move,” Rev. Jesten Peters explained. “And if you watch from the very beginning where they were saying it was coming up and now where they’re saying it’s going, then it’s really moved a lot for us, and we appreciate God doing that and moving it for us.”

Notice these “Christians” prayed that the hurricane would MOVE. They didn’t pray it would disappear or lose force or strength (like that would work!) — they prayed that the hurricane would simply go destroy someone else’s town because of their political convention. At least, that’s what they say they believe Jesus agreed to do for them.

Mitt Romney’s RNC: “This is the biggest power grab in the history of the Republican Party”

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Buzzfeed reports that a Paul and Santorum coalition are bringing a floor fight to the convention today over rule changes that now let the candidate (i.e. Willard Romney) decide which delegates may come to the national convention (i.e. those delegates who are voting for Romney may come).

Grassroots Press For Convention Floor Fight Over Romney’s “Power Grab”

A coalition of grassroots Republicans are pushing for a potentially distracting and noisy floor fight at the Republican National Convention on Tuesday to undo rules changes that weaken insurgent candidates and state parties.

The group, which includes supporters of Ron Paul and Rick Santorum, as well as some top state party officials who back Romney, is working to oppose changes to the Party rules allow presidential candidates the right to refuse delegates to the national convention.

[...] “This is the biggest power grab in the history of the Republican Party because it shifts the power to select delegates from the state party to the candidate,” said Indiana National Committeeman Jim Bopp in an email to RNC members late Sunday, calling it an “overreaction” to Ron Paul. “And it would make the Republican Party a top down, not bottom up party.”

It’s adorable that this coalition thought the GOP was a “bottom up party” before Mitt Romney purchased the nomination. They just cannot be that surprised that Romney is being Romney with his convention. Lord Romney will not follow your little rules. Lord Romney will change your rules to suit himself, peasants.

The Republican National Convention has been officially Bain Capitalized!

The Raw Story: Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee thinks supporters of Texas Rep. Ron Paul (R) should line up behind presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, despite the treatment they received during this year’s primary season.

Buzzfeed: Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, who starred at the 2008 Republican National Convention and will skip this one, Tuesday morning offered her support to conservatives pressing for a floor fight over attempts by Mitt Romney’s allies to centralize control over the Republican Party. (Some of the parties appear to have reached a compromise in advance of Palin’s missive.)

Live and learn — too bad the Republican voting base can’t figure out the second part.

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Bill weighs in. via: barackobama

Alternative coverage of the Republican National Convention

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Forget the networks — get live video and on-the-street blogging from the Republican National Convention — “We’re beginning to get a sense of who will be covering what at the Republican National Convention in Tampa. Forget the major networks and their talking heads — they’ll miss all of the important stories. CSPAN will have unedited feeds of the proceedings, and may even catch some of the action on the streets. My attention will be tuned to Laramie’s Meg Lanker-Simons and her Cognitive Dissonance blog, whose irreverent take on the world is always refreshing. Go to http://cognitivedissonance.tumblr.com/. Reporting live feeds from the Romneyville encampment a mile from the convention center will be Mobile Broadcast News. Go to http://mobilebroadcastnews.com.“

— via: hummingbirdminds