State
STATE DEPARTMENT MARIELA ESPIN CUBA CUBAN DICTATOR ACADEMIC CONFERENCE LITTLE HAVANNA
“Over 50% of Florida students fail state writing test. Most educators are unconcerned, as good grammar is not needed when writing ransom notes.”
“Lockerbie bomber dies in Libya. World reacts with exaggerated shrug.”
“$3.6 million worth of marijuana was found floating in the ocean on Sunday. Someone is totally getting fired."
“Flesh eating bacteria attacks a 23-year-old woman and a mother of newborn twins. Looking to get your grandma and the disabled boy down the block next.”
I *love* living in the internet era.
Someone can give a talk in OKC on April 28th, and someone in Thailand can watch that talk while theyre doing the dishes on May 7th. LOVE IT! All the more reason skeptic/atheist/pro-science/pro-church-state-separation groups should be highlighting, encouraging, and supporting their local talent:
Read the comments on this post...
If you are in/around the OKC area, you arent going to want to miss the FREE event the OK chapter of Americans United is throwing this Saturday!Oklahoma City Chapter
Americans United for Separation of Church & State
Spring Dialogue
Saturday, April 28, 2012, 10:30 am to 1:30 pm Read more

cartoon by Mike Luckovich
Lord Acton said power tends to corrupt. I couldn’t agree more.
In a previous post, I wrote about how the government reflects the people it governs. Despite low public trust and congressional approval, throughout the years the citizenry has demanded more and more from the federal government. Read more
This is what a Democratic Party Walking Caucus looks like. It is a thing we do in Minnesota. It is so arcane and complicated that the press never covers it, so no one has any idea that we are doing this to select our nominees for political office. We have a fake "primary" at the beginning of the process, and that is what the press reports, but the "primary" result has nothing to do with the outcome of the process. Read more

In the continual spread of assaults on women's reproductive freedom in the wake of the 2010 tea party movement, another state, Idaho, is legislating women receive unnecessary and invasive medical procedures prior to obtaining abortion.
This is part of an unprecedented effort at the state level to restrict reproductive rights, and in 2011 a record number of these measures have passed. Read more
When Romney wins a state, he's quickly criticized:
he should have won by more, he spent too much,
it was his to lose & the next one will be tougher.
When he wins a debate, vulture analysts swoop in
to pick at him for winning by flip-flopping positions
or for being too aloof, then becoming too aggressive.
When he wins a news cycle, it's never to his credit:
it's due to his Super PAC, or support from GOP elites
or the absurd extremes of his radical right-wing rivals,
& everyone just waits for his next Richie Rich gaffe. Read more
Turns out I gave Virginia governor McDonnell too much credit after he rejected the VA ultrasound bill on the grounds the state should insert itself into medical decisions. He's gone and flip-flopped as a slightly revised version of the bill passes through the VA Senate: Read more
As much crap as Oklahomans get for being backwards hicks, Oklahoma is a state of many faces. Slowly but surely, the faces of the politicians are starting to represent the diversity of Oklahoma (not just middle-upper-class 'straight' Evangelical white male Oklahomans).
To counter the insane, homophobic rhetoric of Sally Kern, we have an openly, happily transgender Brittany Novotny giving the witch a run for her money. Read more
Won't you be our liberal Valentine? We sent this love letter to our members across the country and around the world today. Enjoy!
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On this Valentine's Day, Living Liberally wants to make sure your bleeding-hearts feel a little left-leaning love.
You usually hear from your local hosts, but we at Liberally Headquarters wanted to share five stories we love about liberals from the Drinking Liberally happy hours and across Living Liberally universe: Read more
On We Beasties, Kevin Bonham reports that scientists have genetically enabled E. coli to digest a sugar found in algae. Bonham writes, "Scientists have been picking this bug's locks for decades, and it's already been engineered to make not just ethanol, but many other useful products as well." With the ability to metabolize sugar from a source as prolific, low-maintenance, and renewable as algae, E. coli could become a much bigger player in biofuel production. Meanwhile, Greg Laden considers the State of the Union address from an environmental perspective. Read more
Though our Drinking Liberally members don't always know each other personally, they do know they are part of the same larger Liberal community.
We were reminded of that when we saw this video that the Des Moines Drinking Liberally group recorded and shared with Liberally groups throughout Washington State -- congratulating them on passing marriage equality.
As one of the Iowans notes, Washington is "finally as gay as Iowa."
Share with us your stories of how your Liberally chapter has helped your community, or what you love about being a member of Living Liberally.
In December, we announced our partnership with the Candidate Project, an effort to urge progressives to run for office and to help them run better campaigns. Their "2,012 for 2012" campaign is working with MoveOn, Rebuild The Dream, Color of Change, Democracy for America, CREDO and other partners to field a movement of liberals to run for local office all over the country. Read more