More double-barrel stupid from Republicans in Jeff City

I can barely believe all I see coming out of the small-minded, destructive Republicans at our own Jefferson City statehouse.  Here's the latest one:

Missouri GOP: Allow Parents to Pull Their Kids From Science 

Get a load of this little gem:

Missouri Republicans have drafted a bill that would allow parents to pull their children from science classes that are teaching the theory of evolution. According to the National Center for Science Education (NCSE), Missouri’s House Bill 1472 would effectively “eviscerate” the teaching of biology in the state.

Remember when the nation was all for and about education and science and math and, well, honestly, intelligence?

Yeah, I sure do.

And then we started getting these demagogues who not only want to pander to their own small, small-minded voting base but also want to throw religion into our government and politics.

What gets me is not just that it's not smart--truly stupid--but that it's so irresponsible. Let's not condemn our children to mere ignorance, let's foist religion and non-science on them, too.

Then, as if that weren't enough, as if that didn't condemn Missourians enough, they came up with yet more and truly outdid themselves:

Missouri lawmakers mull 72-hour abortion waiting time 

Then, of course, they've been working on this nonsense for at least months:

Missouri lawmakers weigh bill that seeks to nullify federal gun laws

Forget that it goes against national law, forget that, totally.

It all reminds me of a movie:

That one or Psycho,

The shape of local news

Watching the news last night, I was reminded of the somewhat new comedy show on Comedy Central, Tosh.0 (which I happen to love, by the way). If you've seen it, you know what I'm talking about. It's a show that takes video clips--mostly from YouTube--and covers them with commentary and a great deal of humor. Usually the vids speak rather loudly for themselves but there's still plenty to add. And, really, this is what too much of the local evening news--"at 5 and 10"--has become. Not the entire 20 minutes but too much of it, for sure. They're doing their best to be both relevant and up to date as well as "infotainment" so people will watch and they'll get their ratings and, finally, because having those reporters on staff is more expensive but man does it make the news weak and irrelevant. You used to be to turn on the news and know what's going on in your city and region. You used to be able to know what local politico and/or agency was doing what---but no more. They have videos of "man bites dog" or some such silly, trivial and/or unimportant local event. And you know what? It's not the TV station's fault. It's our fault. It's our fault for being lazy and wanting the infotainment and light, fluffy crap. It would be nice to blame the stations but we can't. They're putting out the cotton candy we seem to call demand and require, unfortunately. So that's the way it is, this Wednesday, August 12, 2010, and it ain't pretty. Walter Cronkite is no doubt spinning in his grave.

KCMO Homicide No. 50

From Plog just now: A man driving a red SUV was shot and killed while driving along East 40th Street and Vineyard Road at around 10:15 p.m. Wednesday. The homicide is Kansas City, Missouri's fiftieth of 2010. The victim is described as a black male in his early twenties. KCMO-TV5 News, KMBC News and The Kansas City Star all reported that Mayor Mark Funkhouser still could not possibly care less. Link to original post: http://blogs.pitch.com/plog/2010/06/man_shot_to_death_while_driving_at_east_40th_street_and_vineyard_road_kcmo_homicide_50.php