Breaking Down Beck: 9/12 Principles, Part 2

Before we conclude our overview of Glenn Beck’s 9/12 Principles, the first half of which we covered in Part 1, let’s take a quick look at 2009′s Misinformer of the Year courtesy Media Matters.

Principles 6-9 after the jump. Read more »

What Happened to Kestutis Smirnovas: Costar of One of the Greatest Comebacks in MMA History?

Well, according to his record, Smirnovas only had one more fight in K-1 Hero’s against Akiyama, which he lost. However,  after that he went 4-1-1 between 2006 and 2008 mostly fighting in his home country of Lithuania.

In 2008, he ran for Parliament  as part of the Liberal and Centre Union, but  his party as a whole had major setbacks and he did not get elected. Via the often spotty Google translator, I was able to read on his site, smirnovas.lt (translated) that he thanks his supporters and expects to do well in the future because he is still a young politician.  He currently seems to be a member of a city or county council.

His site also mentions that he is now a 3rd Dan black belt in Judo, attained a farming specialty in secondary school, and has a degree in education and physical education.

As noted in the title, Smirnovas was half of one of the greatest comeback fights in mixed martial arts: Sakuraba vs. Smirnovas during K-1 Hero’s 6. Check out the fight in its entirety after the jump. Read more »

Breaking Down Beck: 9/12 Principles, Part 1

In his great mission statement to save the United States, Glenn Beck says:

This is a non-political movement. The 9-12 Project is designed to bring us all back to the place we were on September 12, 2001. The day after America was attacked we were not obsessed with Red States, Blue States or political parties. We were united as Americans, standing together to protect the greatest nation ever created.

Beck goes on to say:

At the origin of America, our Founding Fathers built this country on 28 powerful principles. These principles were culled from all over the world and from centuries of great thinkers. We have distilled the original 28 down to the 9 basic principles.

Do these principles live up to this hype? They may look alright on a shirt, but to be honest, this pancake doesn’t have enough syrup. Read more »

Science: Fundamentalism on the Attack

It seems to me the whole debate between science and creationism is being characterized in this country by some as Christians against unjust oppressors. Well, hopefully this article from the Times Online, which talks about the increasing opposition of evolutionary theory from conservative Muslims, will set some people straight. The battle isn’t between science and faith. It’s between science and people who want to press their faith on others, no matter what faith that is.

“Passing the Buck on Obama, Letterman and Polanski” by Dan Gainor: A Response

WTF Dan Gainor! (FoxNews.com)

How is it Obama’s fault Rio de Janeiro got the Olympics??? I thought fault involved causation!!! Read more »

Gender and Athletics

It seems the whole Caster Semenya athlete sex/gender controversy is about to come to a head. It has been reported that the results of “gender tests” have been revealed by news reports, but the International Association of Athletics Federation will not release them officially (Hughes). Many people seemed to think that it was just stereotypes gone awry; one blogger even mentioned it had something to with euro- ethnocentric standards of beauty stating, “The issue seems to directly question race, beauty and who gets to set the standards. White and western is more female and more beautiful, black and African is less so” (Andrews). This is in contrast to quotes I read from some of Semenya’s competitors, that were to the affect “Just look, she is a man.” Read more »