2.28.2005
Ladies, don't abort your gay fetus!
They just get crazier everyday, don’t they?
Maine State Rep. Brian Duprey has introduced legislation that would prohibit a woman from obtaining an abortion if the fetus is gay. I am so not making this shit up. Rep. Duprey claims that his bill looks into the future to a time where science can A.) map a gay gene, B.) test for said gene at some point before the end of the second trimester and C.) bar these hypothetical women from obtaining an abortion if the gene is present. Why do I feel like I am living in a Philip K. Dick novel?
I really don’t know what to say about this, so I am going to close with Rep. Duprey’s own damning words:
"I have heard from women who told me that if they found out that they were carrying a child with the gay gene, then they would abort. I think this is wrong," said Duprey, who got the idea while listening to the Rush Limbaugh Show.
Enough said.
Labels: Keep Your Rosaries Off My Ovaries, LGBT
annamaria at 11:10 AM
Isn't a persecution complex a marvelous thing?
Only in America can a religion that has virtually taken over the government and society claim persecution. This week, it is the Liberty Legal Institute crying foul over the decision by the Supremes to hear a oral arguments on whether a Christian monument in front of the Texas state Capitol violates the First Amendment.
Supporters of keeping the monument on the Capitol grounds say the traditions of Western law are rooted in the Ten Commandments. America can't scrub the role of religion from its history, said Kelly Shackelford of the Liberty Legal Institute, which defends religious freedoms and First Amendment rights and filed briefs in support of keeping the monument.
"What they're really advocating on the other side is a religious cleansing from our history," Shackelford said. "It should be treated with respect as our part of history, not some new form of pornography that has to be banned from our public arena."
Funny, that’s not the history I learned. I remember learning about Puritans escaping religious persecution—you know, fleeing the Church of England because it didn’t tolerate their particular brand of Protestantism. I also remember hearing something about the Founders being Deists, meaning that while they believed in the existence of God, they were pretty sure he stopped giving a shit about us lowly earthlings sometime around noon on the seventh day.
But I am sick and fucking tired of Christians accusing me and mine of ignoring our religious past. Yes, I understand that we are nation built upon Christian ideals, but inherent in that is the belief that those ideals and beliefs should not be forced upon anyone. Am I offended by displays of the Ten Commandments? I must admit, I don’t go into shock when I see them, nor do I feel that my personal beliefs are being trampled by the mere visage of a nativity scene at Christmas. What offends me is the conviction that a Christian is somehow more American than I am, and that the First Amendment exists solely to persecute and marginalize religious expression. We can wax poetic about religious freedom in a post-Saddam Iraq, but we have yet to fully embrace those ideals in our own country.
Am I pleased to note, however, that the Liberty Legal Institute hasn’t let me down: They are pulling a Newdow on Thomas Van Orden, the plaintiff in this case.
He generally refuses to discuss his background or why his law license was suspended several times for issues ranging from taking money for work he didn't perform to failure to pay fines. He is around 60 years old but won't give his age.
He told The Washington Post that depression cost him his practice and his family. In 1995, the State Bar ordered that a psychiatrist or psychologist certify whether he was mentally capable of practicing law. Although his license remains suspended, Van Orden still has the taste and sharp mind for practicing law.
Yep, he’s old, broke and crazy. Fortunately for us, that doesn’t make him wrong.
Check out Amanda’s take on the Liberty Legal Institute.
annamaria at 10:52 AM
F the CC
I am in a very fortunate place in that I am neither a parent nor easily offended, so maybe that is why I am constantly fascinated by FCC complaints. I keep imagining mormon families watching a particular episode of "Angel," and sitting there aghast, horrified at...vampires!! Oh dear! I thought the show was all about cherubs and seraphim. Even funnier is the shit they choose to complain about:
One scene involved Angel in an intimate moment with a female character in which Angel's hips are seen "moving back and forth," the Parents Television Council said in its complaint.
In the scene depicting the female vampire biting the neck of her partner, also a vampire, both characters had clothes on and "their breathing is heavy," the complaint said.
His hips are seen "moving back and forth"? What fucking year is it, people? Reminds of me Elvis Presley being shown only from the head of femur and up. And what astounds me most is the amount of time it takes to file a complaint with the FCC....time that would be better spent getting off your fat mormon ass and changing the fucking channel.
annamaria at 10:51 AM
2.25.2005
Aloha! See you in a week!
I'm off to lay around for a week in Hawaii. I'm leaving you all in able hands, as I'm sure Annamaria will keep you up to date with all the weird shit going down.
Ummm. Yeah. That's all. Mahalo!
Anonymous at 7:35 PM
Smooshed candy makes activists angry. Is it bad that I am indifferent?
Thoughts? Do you think this candy will cause children to run over animals with cars to see the little treadmarks appear on them?
This is a new candy created by Kraft, depicting smooshed snakes, chickens, squirrels, etc. Tasteless candy or fact of life? Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals spokesperson Matthew Stanton thinks we'll see a rash of kids poking animals with sticks.
It sends the wrong message to children, that it's OK to harm animals. And that's the wrong message, especially from a so-called wholesome corporation like Kraft.
I wouldn't really go as far as to call Kraft a wholesome corporation, especially since they are run by the devil, but whatever.
Remember Garbage Pail Kids? Do you think that they prompted child abuse and maltreatment? I'm just saying, devil's advocate-style.
Anonymous at 10:36 AM
In response to my last question: apparently not.
Enter Idaho: State Representative Ann Rydalch wants abortion providers to show women pictures of their fetuses before performing abortions. Well, I for one think this is a great idea. After all, we all know that women are nothing more than glorified children who are incapable of making decisions for themselves, and need good people like Ann Rydalch to look out for their best interests. I wonder, though, what will happen if a woman refuses to look at the pictures? Are we going to force her eyes open, demand that she look at the fundie porn and recognize the errors of her ways?Personally, I think Rep. Rydalch should expand the scope of this legislation. Women should have to look at pictures of pretty babies before buying tampons, so they can see what they are giving up every time they don't rut during ovulation. But why stop there? We should be forced to look at doctored pictures of our tonsils before having them removed. Or look at pretty cancer cells before radiation therapy. Maybe even look at pictures of Pam Anderson before having a mastectomy. It's only fair--why stop at abortion, when there are so many other areas of women's health to take over?
Labels: Keep Your Rosaries Off My Ovaries
annamaria at 10:12 AM
Christ on a cracker, will these people ever stop?
Kansas is taking up the charge on violating doctor patient confidentiality and women’s privacy rights, apparently hoping to succeed where John Ashcroft failed. The Kansas attorney general is requesting the medical records of 90 women and girls who had late-term abortions.Playing the “won’t somebody please think of the children!” card, Attorney General Phill Kline is claiming that he needs these private medical records to determine if any of the abortion seekers were young women under the age of sixteen and he has a "duty to investigate and prosecute child rape and other crimes in order to protect Kansas children." Of course, that doesn’t explain this:
The clinics said Kline demanded their complete, unedited medical records for women and girls who sought abortions at least 22 weeks into their pregnancies in 2003. Court papers did not identify the clinics.
The records sought include the patient's name, medical history, details of her sex life, birth control practices and psychological profile.
Whoa, whoa, whoa…details of her sex life? A psychological profile? I thought the point was to find statutory rapists? If so, why are adult women’s records being sought, and why are we asking for the details of a teenager’s sex life. In Kansas, anyone under the age of sixteen cannot consent to sex, so why do we need to know if she was on the pill, or if she initiated sex? Isn’t this just another means by the anti-choicers to demean and humiliate women who take control of their own reproduction and health?
It’s a new twist on the Kobe defense—if we can’t get these uppity women to consent to an invasion of their bodies and lives, then we’ll just have to do the patriarchal two-step: call them harlots and whores, and let society punish them for us.
Labels: Keep Your Rosaries Off My Ovaries
annamaria at 9:23 AM
2.24.2005
Scary Site of the Day: What abortions and lynching have in common.
My response: "Jesus Christ! Nothing!! What sick fuck would want to even compare the two??"
Well, I'm wrong according to Klan Parenthood, which asserts in a prominent statistic that Planned Parenthood kills more blacks than the KKK. Well, I guess that's where we would get into the whole debate over the definition of a life, etc.
They also have a fun little graphic! And, every abortion site's favorite thing -- pictures of "aborted fetuses." Some of which look like three-year-old children. Convincing!
Labels: Keep Your Rosaries Off My Ovaries
Anonymous at 2:45 PM
Guest Blogger Annamaria No More!
As Jen mentioned yesterday, she and I are joining forces to create a blog of epic proportions, guaranteed to be fascinating, scintillating, and thought provoking, or at the very least, one that will not bore you to tears. We’ll be discussing politics, religion, and starting May 22nd, we’ll give you full summaries of the final season of Queer as Folk. It’s going to be fabulous!So, a little history (which I am stealing from a post on my long-since abandoned diary): Jen and I met initially at debate camp in 1994 (don't laugh), but I honestly didn't think much of the cute little bubbly blonde. A few years later, I saw Jen at a friend's party, now with red hair and a Sloan t-shirt. What followed was the world's greatest platonic love story.
I like to take credit for Jen's current domestic bliss. Years ago, she called me, distraught, because one of her good friends, Ian, admitted to being in love with her. I told her to go for it. Now they are happily married, and celebrated their first anniversary last September. Now, did I will this marriage into being? Of course not! But that doesn't mean that I'm going to let someone else take the credit!
These days, Jen and I are more likely to discuss a mutual dislike of a girl named Precious than to take road trips for rock shows, and she still doesn’t agree with me that The Scissor Sisters will save rock and roll, but it is exactly that kind of discord that will make our blog a major success.
So, raise a glass of champagne (perhaps some Cristalino) and toast our joint venture!
Labels: Housekeeping
annamaria at 1:15 PM
So, is he going to fucking die or what?
Back in the hospital again. I think all the hate is making him sick.
Does he go to the hospital in the Pope-mobile or a Pope-ulance?
Yes. I already know I'm going to hell. No need to remind me.
Anonymous at 11:49 AM
2.23.2005
It's official: Scalia and Alabama hate orgasms.
The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear a constitutional challenge to a law in Alabama that deems sex toys illegal.
The law prohibited the distribution of "any device designed or marketed as useful primarily for the stimulation of human genital organs." First-time violators can face a fine of up to $10,000 and as much as one year in jail.
I'm sorry, but is it any surprise that the only other two states on record that do not allow the distribution of sex toys are Georgia and Texas? What is it with the South? If the people want to buy a big fake penis, it's their damn business!
Labels: Keep Your Rosaries Off My Ovaries
Anonymous at 4:33 PM
okay...my boss?
Officially a big fucking retard. She just came into my office asking me to put in an IT help-desk call because her computer screen was black and she "thinks the bulb blew out."I went into her office, plugged in the monitor, and turned it on.
Someone. Anyone. Please kill me now.
Anonymous at 3:23 PM
My own little corporate merger of sorts...
Remember how I had mentioned that Annamaria would be filling in, reporting on all things fucked up in the world, while I was on vacation in Hawaii? Well, little change in plan.I was telling Annamaria about my plan to take over the blogosphere, and never having to work again as a result. She didn't laugh at me, at least not openly. I extended the offer for her to submit stories to this blog as well and, hoorah!, she accepted. We are joining forces. I secretly think Annamaria agreed because she also wants to never work again, and therefore does not see my blogosphere takeover as such a crazy option after all.
At any rate, a big welcome to Annamaria!
Labels: Housekeeping
Anonymous at 1:25 PM
Did you know?: Abortions cause breast cancer.
Well, according to these whackjobs.LifeSite, one of my favorite must-reads each day, reports that the Susan G. Koman Breast Cancer foundation distributed $475,000 of the $1.54 million raised during its 2003 "Race for the Cure." This news apparently prompted a medical reseach analyst to resign -- and we are all supposed to care why she did.
Silver told the Cybercast News Service (CNSNews) Tuesday, “You can't affirm life with one hand and support an organization that kills people with the other.”
“As far as I'm concerned, anything they do in the way of drawing women in for any kind of service would simply be to acclimate them to their organization until they're ready to have an abortion,” she said.
So, apparently all of the ladies who receive annual exams at PP are just being reeled in until "they're ready to have an abortion." Interesting phrasing there, too, as if all of us who get our exams done at PP are just waiting for the day they can stand up and say, "I'm ready!"
LifeSite goes on to state that people who get abortions are more likely to get breast cancer -- a fact that is not backed up by any documented scientific study on their part. In fact, they claim the National Cancer Institute (NCI) supports their claim!
Problem is that until the Bush administration came into the White House, the NCI web site actually stated the opposite -- that there is no correlation between abortion and breast cancer. After Bush took office, this information disappeared from the site.
Medical experts, Congress, advocacy groups, et al., went crazy, prompting the NCI to revise its statement. It deemed studies not linking abortion to breast cancer "inconclusive." Maybe this is what the crazies are claiming supports their point? At any rate, this flip flopping was just fuel for the conservitive-crazy fire, who had been claiming the link as fact since the '90s.
As of now, however, the NCI have corrected themselves once again, this time stating:
In February 2003, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) convened a workshop of over 100 of the world’s leading experts who study pregnancy and breast cancer risk. Workshop participants reviewed existing population-based, clinical, and animal studies on the relationship between pregnancy and breast cancer risk, including studies of induced and spontaneous abortions. They concluded that having an abortion or miscarriage does not increase a woman’s subsequent risk of developing breast cancer.
Sometimes I just get too frustrated. Like with this LifeSite article. I just don't understand how people can believe these lies, just because it suits their agenda. I think that I'm going to start making things up to promote mine.
I mean, what's the difference between that and doctoring my resume to get a kickass job? Hell, I could doctor my resume and become a doctor. It's the same thing as people manipulating or making up data to further their agenda.
This just in: Supporting President Bush causes nasty boils. Scientists support it.
Labels: Keep Your Rosaries Off My Ovaries
Anonymous at 12:37 PM
2.21.2005
Happy Presidents' Day!
Hip-hop-hooray! I have the day off today, so chances are I won't be posting too much -- I also have a paper due this evening, so that's another contributing factor. Sometimes school is cool. Sometimes it is not so cool.
BUT do not dispair! I have an activity for you today, special just for Presidents' Day. Enjoy! Feel free to add on the requsite devil horns and what have you.
Labels: Politics
Anonymous at 12:48 PM
2.18.2005
Fair is fair. What would my plate say?
I think that the only time that one of these is acceptable is when the alternate view is also presented. [Please let me also get a little bit of joy out of the fact that this site misspelled "Plate" as "Pate" in their headline. Stupid conservatives.]
Okay, okay, okay. At any rate, Ohio's governor signed legislation for these pro-life license plates on Tuesday. Seems that the extra $20 the plates cost will be donated to pregnancy centers -- specifically those that do not perform abortions or provide referrals to other centers which do. So, yeah. Money will go to those crazy pro-life pregnancy counseling centers -- and, you know what? I have actually been to one of those, mistakenly, with one of my friends. They really are scary.
Anonymous at 3:15 PM
Scary Site of the Day: Sewage spill near abortion clinic yields body parts?
I didn't think so either. But it appears that one woman working at a nearby car dealership insists that she saw baby body parts mixed in with sewage when a sewage line broke in Houston. [Is it any surprise that this story is from Texas?]
"Whether it's legal or not, it's not right," Maribeth Smith said, as reported by click2houston.com. "This whole area is nothing but raw sewage and bloody pieces. There were little legs coming out from one side."
Smith said she took pictures of the body parts, but local health inspectors denied seeing them. Inspectors did report evidence of blood and human tissue, but nothing they would not expect in sewage.
What's worse is the title of the original story from the Houston TV station reporting the story: Human Tissue Found in Sewage Spill Near Abortion Clinic. Of course all the bells and whistles lead the story -- lady insists on seeing baby legs in sewage! Of course it came from the abortion clinic! Bloody pieces!
This car dealership employee, apparently also well schooled in the disposal of aborted fetuses at clinics, told the news station that "aborted fetuses are being flushed down the toilet." Yes. Of course they are!
After crazy-face's claims are relayed, Houston's Local 2 decided that... well... while they were at the scene they might as well talk to the fucking city health inspectors, who found no such thing at the site, confirmed the clinic's use of a medical waste service, and stated that what the woman saw (blood clots and, duh, human waste) would normally be found in raw sewage.
No baby legs, or other body parts, were found.
Tell me why this was a news story again? Oh. That's right. Because it happened in fucking Texas!
Labels: Keep Your Rosaries Off My Ovaries
Anonymous at 12:52 PM
While the United States as a whole shrugs off global warming, Seattle is hoping that individual cities don't feel the same.
I don't need to tell you that Bush is a moron when it comes to foreign policy -- from pulling out of the ABM treaty in December 2001 under the guise of preventing terror to withdrawing funding for the UNFPA for bullshit reasons. And let's just not get started about the whole "war on terror." But it appears that some municipalities are trying to give him the big f-you.While Bush backed out of the Kyoto Protocol in 2001, some cities like Seattle have been striving to form a "green team" of cities that have adopted the standards, or have set even higher goals. Nice, but I'm not sure it will make any kind of difference. These cities, after all, are probably pretty clean anyway. Not like we'll see Gary, IN, volunteering to commit to the standards.
Anonymous at 12:36 PM
2.17.2005
Is It True What They Say About Ann? Coulter, that is.
What? That she is crazy? The reigning diva of the hysterical right, as Al Franken likes to say?Apparently this DVD has come out to set the record straight. I mean, coming from WorldNetDaily, you know it has to be non-biased and straight-shooting, right?
In this 40-minute mini horror film/documentary, you get to know the "real Ann." But, wait! That's not all! There are bonus features!
Watch an additional 40 minutes of exclusive interviews with Ann.
Delight as Ann lets loose with her fans at the Conservative Political Action Caucus. [this gives me the shivers.]
Watch Ann eviscerate a special issue of the New York Times. [attractive!]
Go up close and personal with Ann at a Clare Boothe Luce event.
Flip through an Ann Coulter photo album. [sexy!]
Pick it up! I'm sure it will be, well, nauseating.
Anonymous at 3:38 PM
Wee! I'm putting in an order right now!
Have you seen these?:
From Voices for Choice, the sale of these bracelets will benefit NARAL Pro-Choice America Foundation. I love it.
Labels: Keep Your Rosaries Off My Ovaries
Anonymous at 3:11 PM
2.16.2005
Chicago lawyer refuses to return little boy's lost dog...
....and that was the story that so many in Chicago were talking about last week.It turns out that Chicago lawyer James Foley, of Hoey & Farina, was vacationing in Florida and found the dog running loose. The tags around the dog's neck were from Alaska -- but something tells me, and should have told him, that the dog didn't run that far from home.
Foley contacts the veterinatian on the tag, who says that he'll get back to him with the identity and current location of the owner. In the meantime, Jimmy gets the dog shots and gets the dog cleared to fly on an airplane -- but to Chicago, with him and his family.
A few days later, Jimmy got a call from the father of the boy who was the rightful owner of the dog. The family had just moved from Alaska to Florida.
Here's where it gets crazy. Jimmy insists that he's already spent too much money on the dog -- once he finally returned the many unanswered calls from the boy's family. And then said that he gave the dog away...to a nun he refuses to name.
Jimmy is kind of an ass throughout the entire story, making fun of the sad family, and stating that the lawyers at his firm laughed at a letter that the family sent there.
"I think that it is only fair that you are aware of the man in your organization who seems to like to play games with a little boy's emotions," Korzeniewski and his wife, Stefanie wrote.
...
Me: You were going to give the dog back until Mike Korzeniewski called the cops.
Foley: "Right."
Me: Why?
Foley: "Because the guy's a pain in the ass."
...
Curiously, he said the lawyers at Hoey & Farina were amused at the letter from Miles' parents. "They laughed at it," Foley said.
The resolution to this story can be found here. Apparently readers were so pissed and put enough pressure on Jimmy and his law office that he elected to return the dog to its owners. Seems that lawyers do have hearts after all -- when it impacts their practice.
Anonymous at 5:02 PM
2.15.2005
::may i please have a follow-up?::
Just read some of the blog of Alan Keyes' daughter, Maya, which includes the full text of the speech that she made the other day. Check it out here.Hateful Free Republic and WorldNetDaily asshats are filling her chat box with... well... hate. Be sure to go over there and show your support...no matter how much you think her dad is a whackjob.
Anonymous at 10:24 PM
What's the new, hot accessory for the season for those leaning to the right?
A gay daughter, of course! Those of you living under a rock my not be aware of Dick Cheney's lesbian daughter, Mary, whose sexual choice was brought up during the recent campaign for President.Move forward to the now. Turns out another righty has a gay daughter, and this one just happens to be batshit crazy. Yes, my friends, crazy mo-fo Alan Keyes has a gay daughter, too.
What makes this simply awesome, though, are the comments that Keyes made while running for Senate about Mary Cheney and how he would feel about having a lesbian daughter of his own.
Keyes drew national attention during the Republican National Convention last year when he called homosexuality an act of "sexual hedonism." Asked later if Vice President Dick Cheney's lesbian daughter, Mary, is a selfish hedonist, Keyes answered that she is.
A day after that interview, Keyes defended his statements, saying he would feel the same about his own daughter, although he wasn't questioned about her at the time.
Unfortunately, the Keyes household is not as accommodating of different sexual preferences as the Cheney household, and the 19-year-old Maya Marcel-Keyes was forced to move out of her house.
Marcel-Keyes then stated in a speech for a few hundred people that she "still loves her parents, and they still love" her.
Whoa, whoa, whoa. I'm sorry. I'm all for parents accepting their gay children -- and that it sometimes takes some work. But do you have any idea what your father has said about people like you? That when you find a life partner and decide to have children together they will inevitably end up in some kind of incestuous situation? Because, god knows that they will somehow find their long-lost brothers and sisters...and then fuck them.
Labels: LGBT
Anonymous at 12:36 PM
It's official...
Okay, my dear readers. Illness is gone. At least for now. Look for lots of posts today on things that I wanted to say in the last few days but was too sick (read: lazy) to write about.At any rate, just got this email forwarded to me regarding a former employer. I can't say that I'm too surprised, given the very quick turnaround of employees that PCMA suffered under his tenure, but I'm sure there's more to it. Can't say that I care too much, though.
FYI, to those not in the know, but PCMA is where I worked for the first 10 months that I lived in Chicago. Remember how happy I was all the time? I didn't think so.
Dear :
David Kushner, CAE, CMP, and I are jointly announcing today that David's contract as President & CEO of the Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) will not be renewed. He is currently completing a three-year contract, and his tenure at PCMA will conclude on February 25, 2005.
...
David was a good fit for our association these past three years, and we appreciate his accomplishments. Organizations evolve, and the needs of PCMA are changing. The Board feels this is an appropriate time for us to bring on a new leader as we embark on our new strategic plan."
Labels: Douchebags
Anonymous at 12:29 PM
2.11.2005
Even blogs get to take sick days...
I may very well be dying. Please send chicken soup, words of encouragement, dollar bills here.Labels: Housekeeping
Anonymous at 10:24 AM
2.10.2005
Kansas, didn't you learn your damn lesson last time?
Remember way back in 1999, when Kansas was a laughing stock because of several conservatives on the state board of education who ruled to de-emphasize evolution? Well, they're at it again, kids. What starts with stickers claiming that evolution is a theory and not fact, these asshats are hoping will develop into an environment that is accepting of the ideas of "Intelligent Design."Be afraid, though, fair readers. This debate is stretching outside of Kansas this time around. It seems that the fundies are trying to ride along on Bush's reelected coattails and start this ridiculous debate in other areas around the country.
In at least 18 states, campaigns have begun to make public schools teach “intelligent design” — a theory that nature is so complex it could only have been created by design — alongside Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution.
Is it me, or are these 17 states in a moron competition with Kansas. I'd say they are all tied for first place.
So, please help me with the reasoning, because I'm having a hard time in understanding. Because you believe in God your science automatically gets accepted and does not have to go through the peer review process (where it would be eaten alive - I'm just guessing, though)? How are they able to convince themselves -- and other people, for that matter -- that "intelligent design" and its "theories" constitutes actual, teachable science?
Labels: Fundies Say The Darndest Things
Anonymous at 5:29 PM
Guest Blogger Annamaria: Are Christians actually giving in? No more prayer in public schools?
Get used to my little guest blogger Annamaria. She'll be filling in for me when I'll be on the sandy beaches of somewhere or another in a couple of weeks.---
Am I the only one that thinks it ironic that Virginia, swiftly emerging as America’s most puritanical and retrograde state, was named after a woman who never married but instead kept a steady succession of lovers?
Apparently, Virginia is looking to amend its Statute for Religious Freedom to allow prayer in schools. Yeah, I know, it’s an old debate, but it’s taken an interesting turn. You see, there are Christians opposing it!
The whole shit-storm started when Del. Charles W. Carrico, Sr. spoke at a local high school about the dangers of drinking and driving, and he was criticized for using a David and Goliath analogy about overcoming adversity. Apparently, the criticism was about using religious speech in schools, and not how fucking weak his analogy was. So, Del. Carrico did was any
And here is where it gets interesting:
Committee member Del. David B. Albo, R-Fairfax, said he worried that Carrico's proposal would allow Muslims to preach "jihad against Christians" in public schools.
[…]
"One of the reasons why you're not allowed to give that David and Goliath speech to kids is that we don't want that jihad speech to be given to kids," Albo said.
Oh, is that the reason? See, here I was thinking that the First Amendment prohibits government endorsement of religion, and that is why the Supreme Court has consistently ruled that organized school prayer is unconstitutional. But I guess I was wrong; the real reason is that authors of the Constitution looked 200 years into the future and decided to save us all from the jihad-preachin’ Muslims.
The linked article also notes that at the same meeting the Privileges and Elections Committee approved a measure to amend the state constitution to prohibit same-sex marriages.
[Via Jesus’ General, who also has the full text of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom.]
Labels: Fundies Say The Darndest Things
Anonymous at 11:26 AM
2.09.2005
What wage gap?
NPR's All Things Considered broadcasted a story yesterday evening about a groundbreaking county in Texas that shatters talk of any kind of wage gap."Texas?!," you may find yourself asking.
Yes. Texas.
Turns out that not only do women make more money than men in King County, TX, but they actually make 30 percent more than their male counterpart.
Is the wage gap between men and women closing? And is it starting in a place where we would least expect it to start?
Sorry to be the crusher of souls, but not so. Turns out that all the men in this county are just cowboys, and low-paid cowboys at that. Women, on the other hand, have the lucrative jobs of "teacher" and "court clerk."
And regardless of the wage gap, the traditional male-female roles remain much the same as anywhere else. The biggest ranch in the county may be owned by a woman in Fort Worth, but it's managed by men. Men are the decision-makers at the courthouse, and both the principal and superintendent at the school are men.
Traditional male-female roles? Could we find a better way to put this in the future? Like, old-timey male-female roles, where men were the decision makers? Because, you know what? I don't find it acceptable that the "tradition" states men should make the decisions, just because they are men. So let's update that terminology, NPR.
Anonymous at 5:30 PM
My get-rich-quick plan for the day
I think I'll quit my job and look for quarters all day.Labels: Housekeeping
Anonymous at 2:58 PM
2.08.2005
I'm already planning a road trip...
...let me know if you'd like to come with, come springtime. I think it would be a very educational (?) experience to see displays of dinosaurs and humans walking side by side.And, no. I'm not talking about two separate exhibitions, or two displays within an exhibition. I'm talking about the same display in the same exhibition.
In addition, we can also learn how great catastrophes are not just random -- but stem from God exercising His wrath.
I'm glad to know that I'm a walking potential disaster. Well, from the number of times I utter "goddamnit" or "Jesus" each day, I think that everyone around me should be afraid. Be very afraid.Mr Ham's Answers in Genesis movement blames the 1999 massacre at Columbine High School in Colorado, in which two teenagers killed 12 classmates and a teacher before killing themselves, on evolutionist teaching, claiming that the perpetrators believed in Darwin's survival of the fittest.
Other exhibits in the museum will blame homosexuals for Aids. In a "Bible Authority Room" visitors are warned: "Everyone who rejects his history – including six-day creation and Noah's flood – is 'wilfully' ignorant.'"
Labels: Fundies Say The Darndest Things
Anonymous at 4:17 PM
Ladies: Hide your used tampons. Dr. Dobson wants to follow your flow.
In a very disturbing Q&A exchange, Dr. Dobson discusses how a parent can better understand their child during those ever-so-troublesome adolescent years. One recommendation for you parents of young ladies out there is to track menstrual cycles.
I strongly recommend that parents of strong-willed and rebellious females, especially, quietly keep track of the particulars of their daughters menstrual cycles. Not only should you record when their periods begin and end each month, but also make a comment or two each day about moods. I think you will see that the emotional blowups that tear the family apart are cyclical in nature. Premenstrual tension at that age can produce a flurry of skirmishes every 28 days.
Now, because I don't think I can possibly craft a better response to this nonsense, I choose to quote from an email exchange with my good friend Annamaria:
Alright, now I know that these fundie fuckwits often take leave of their intellectual faculties, but this is seriously too much. Let's get something straight here, "Dr." Dobson, your daughter has a right to privacy. That means, no sneaking into her bathroom and looking for old tampons so you can track her menstrual flow. For fuck's sake, do these people have no decency?
Don't answer that.
You know what, though? I'm going to go out on a limb here and actually answer that question. Seeing as how were are speaking of the same kind of people who call the cops on their homosexual neighbors, knowing they will be caught in compromising situations deemed illegal by their homestate I would have to say no. These people have no decency at all. They look to the "Dr." Dobsons and George Bushs and others who interpret the Bible for them. I'm not certain that there is a free thinker among them.
In other good reading, I would also like to recommend "Dr." Dobson's Q&A session on youth masturbation. Great stuff.
Labels: Keep Your Rosaries Off My Ovaries
Anonymous at 4:07 PM
Lean Cuisine and I will be best friends....
...not by choice, but it's not a bad thing, either. Guess who is the very excited winner of a month's supply of Lean Cuisine and a spa day? Oh yeah. That's me. Courtesy of V103. Love it.Anonymous at 3:50 PM
No, I'm not still bitter...
This is almost insulting to those who have actually pulled themselves through college with no financial support. In addition, universities are asking students to donate money to a capital campaign when the quality of their educations are actually going down.Some universities, *cough* EMU *cough*, in recent years, have been raising tuition costs above and beyond the cost of inflation while also offering buyout packages long-time (read: expensive) faculty, in turn offering the students a less quality education for more money. All the while blowing money on useless monstrosities, and using student tuition money to boot!
"Eastern Michigan University used student tuition and fees without required state approval and failed to adequately monitor the costs of its new $5.3 million president's house, according to a state audit released this morning."
So forgive me first-students-of-the-family. It's nothing against you. But if I should see such a campaign on DePaul's campus my money will remain in my pocket.
Labels: Douchebags
Anonymous at 11:35 AM
2.07.2005
No more Dicks in the White House -- well, at least not this one
Not really shocking news, but makes me feel better, nonetheless.At the same time, though, it's kind of depressing that this announcement had to be made. Are the Democrats so pathetic now that we could lose to a 68-year-old heart attack case? He never would have been nominated by the party, but imagine that debate -- Kerry vs. Cheney. Which robot would beat the other? Could we configure our candidates with special gadgets, like those robot attack shows on television?
Awesome. I'm looking forward to 2008 already.
Labels: Politics
Anonymous at 2:49 PM
2.04.2005
Ugly Girls: You don't stand a chance with this stud
Sorry to leave my reader wanting more. To make up for it, I've found the man who will certainly be in People's "50 Most Beautiful..." list next year. If not for his looks, but for his gentlemanly ways, and what I can only assume is a fantastic personality.A friend emailed this interesting story to me today, about a NYC councilman and his condemnation of the practices of the Standards and Ethics Committee, and the way it had handled a lengthy trial over charges that he created a hostile work environment for five women.
I'll cut to the chase and tell you the best part, though:
Jennings (D-Jamaica), has repeatedly said he was innocent and the women, who either worked for his office or the council, were too unattractive to warrant his attention.
Of course! How foolish to believe that any woman could possibly be the subject of sexual harassment. Of course it's only the super hot ones.
Upon reading this, I was intrigued. Surely this man must be a god among men. I had to see what this man looked like. Put a name to a (probably gorgeous!) face. Ready to swoon, ladies?
Please feel free to send your love (or hate) mail here.
Labels: Douchebags
Anonymous at 3:57 PM
