Maybe there's hope...

[Luna]

Yeah, I'm an optimist, sometimes.  Don't worry, life is working on beating that out of me.

But, came across two articles this morning that give me hope for humanity.  A little, anyway.

The state of Illinois kicked Catholic Charities in the teeth.  The court ruled that the state can cancel year-to-year contracts with them (that have been in place for 30 years) because they refuse to place children in homes with same-sex couples.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/20/catholic-charities-illinois-adoption_n_931893.html

And, a court ruled that a California teacher who stated that creationism is "superstitious nonsense" can not be sued for violating the First Amendment.

"In broaching controversial issues like religion, teachers must be sensitive to students' personal beliefs and take care not to abuse their positions of authority," Judge Fisher wrote.

"But teachers must also be given leeway to challenge students to foster critical thinking skills and develop their analytical abilities," he said. "This balance is hard to achieve, and we must be careful not to curb intellectual freedom by imposing dogmatic restrictions."

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2011/0819/US-judges-rule-for-teacher-who-called-creationism-superstitious-nonsense

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Perhaps bizarrely, in the last year I have found many articles in the Christian Science Monitor to be extremely accurate and unbiased, after heavily cross-referencing with other sources. They are absolutely less biased than most mainstream US media outlets, and seem to actually fact-check, which is unusual in "journalism" these days.

[Cain]

I've always found the CS Monitor to be a good source of information.  Admittedly, always means "since 2007 or so", but yeah. 

[Phox]

Hmmm. Not sure I would get my hopes up over this, but Illinois seems to be becoming more gay-friendly. But I'm going to remain cautiously pessimistic and assume that it's a distraction.

[East Coast Hustle]

I read the title of this thread and laughed out loud for a couple minutes.

But I admire y'alls optimism.

[Luna]

I read the title of this thread and laughed out loud for a couple minutes.

But I admire y'alls optimism.

Always glad to bring some laughter into somene's day.  Yeah, I realize optimism just opens you up for disappointments, but its occasionally nice while it lasts.

[Jenne]

I'm just glad to get some good news in with the bad...yeah, that's pretty much where I'm at.

[Luna]

Bernie Sanders had a bright idea.

Rather than cutting Social Security payments...  How about lifting the payroll cap, instead, and making the people making over $106,800 a year keep on paying...  That'll fund it for another few years, right?

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/08/25/304387/bernie-sanders-introduces-bill-to-lift-the-payroll-tax-cap-ensuring-full-social-security-funding-for-nearly-75-years/

Like...  75 years, apparently.