![There is probably no [superstition]. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life](http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad171/crispianjago/Probably-No.gif "There is probably no [superstition]. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life")
(source)
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Monday, June 27, 2011
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Friday, June 24, 2011
Going on vacation for a week
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I’m afraid this blog is now entering a little hiatus. I have a friend flying over on Saturday and we’re planning to stay locked up in his hotel room having all sorts of fun for the next week or so, so blogging will be at a severe minimum, if at all.
… What? We’re gonna play Portal and Zelda and stuffs. What did you think I meant?
Pervs.
So, anyway. I’ve set up a bunch of cute videos to be rolled out over the next few days until my glorious return two Saturdays from now (or July 02, if anyone’s confused), so this place shouldn’t get too deserted. So for now, consider this an open thread.
See y’all in a week! Meanwhile, enjoy a fennec being tormented by the evil tickle monster:
(Note: If you can’t tell this fennec is actually enjoying it, you don’t deserve to be watching this video. Or browsing the Internet. Or breathing.)
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Fail Tweet: Gay conservative angry at being called out on his unclassy hypocrisy
From Chris Barron, chair at Republican gay group GOProud:
![Tweet by Chris Barron (@ChrisRBarron) [posted 06/23/11]: “It's hard some times to stay classy with the libtards!”](http://i.imgur.com/gUGWR.png "Tweet by Chris Barron (@ChrisRBarron) [posted 06/23/11]: “It's hard some times to stay classy with the libtards!”")
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I do love self-exposing dinks. Less work for me.
For added amusement, check out his timeline, wherein he apparently had a bit of a hissy fit over Joe Jervis (Joe My God) calling him out on his duplicity. Another unfortunate sufferer of conservative thin skin syndrome.
(via Joe. My. God.)
Tags: Chris Barron • Joe Jervis • homocons • liberals • conservatives • Joe. My. God.
Newt Gingrich: Arrogant, delusional, or just full of it?
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| Newt Gingrich |
In case you didn’t know why floundered Republican presidential contender Newt Gingrich’s entire campaign staff walked out on him, here he is with this brilliant bit of reasoning:
"Philosophically, I am very different from normal politicians, and normal consultants found that very hard to deal with," Gingrich said in a speech to the Atlanta Press Club.
"We have big ideas. I just think that's part of how you campaign. You talk to the American people about big things."
I now predict that it will be a long time before we are once again graced with such a bold declaration that combines sheer blind arrogance, impenetrable delusion and being utterly full of shit.
(via Right Wing Watch)
Tags: Newt Gingrich
What is wrong with America: Criminal justice inequity edition
Posted without comment, as none is necessary:
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(via @todayspolitics)
Tags: Paul Allen • Roy Brown • fraud
Daily Blend: Thursday, June 23, 2011
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| Mother Teresa |
Florida GOP pushing for “conscience clause” allowing Medicaid providers to forgo family planning services.
Radley Balko: Myths Of The Criminal Justice System, Part 2/3. Includes higher standards, technicalities and false confessions. (Part 1 here.)
The terrible legacy of Mother Teresa [pictured].
(via @PersonalFailure)Arctic ice continues to shrink, and so does a climate change denialist claim about volcanic C02 emissions.
Darryl Cunningham investigates Evolution. (Previously: Climate change denialism, Moon landing denialism, homeopathy and antivaccination.)
(via @ebertchicago)The Illinois Family Institute’s perverted obsession with gay (male) sex is either hilarious or disturbing.
Vox Day misses the point (shocker): The fact that a tiny fraction of atheists in UK prisons has grown “explosive[ly]” into a slightly less tiny fraction is irrelevant – it’s still a tiny fraction compared to non-prison demographics. (Among other glaring fallacies in his post.)
US Airways stops Black man with saggy pants from flying, then allows White man in panties to board.
(via @todayspolitics)
If you have any story suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments or send them in.
Tags: Florida • GOP • Medicaid • conscience clauses • appellate courts • prosecutorial immunity • false confessions • Radley Balko • Donal MacIntyre • Mother Teresa • global warming • climate change • global warming denialism • natural selection • Illinois Family Institute • Laurie Higgins • homosexuality • Vox Day • atheists • United Kingdom • prison demographics • US Airways • Deshon Marman • crossdressing • racism • Darryl Cunningham • Evolution
Kansas to become first state to ban abortion outright
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After months and months of a steady stream of bad news regarding abortion rights, it would seem that Kansas is about to take the cake and prohibit abortion outright across the state [original emphasis; links removed]:
Last month, Republican lawmakers successfully passed an anti-choice bill requiring the state’s only three abortion clinics to be inspected twice a year, including one unannounced review. Under the new licensing standards, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment will create new standards for exits, lighting, bathrooms, and equipment and would have “the power to fine clinics” or “go to court to shut them down.” The law specifically targets abortion clinics and left other surgical clinics untouched by the new requirements — a fact that moved state Senate Majority Leader Jay Emler (R) to note the hypocrisy and vote against his party. However, the law passed in May and demands compliance by July 1.
Kansas Health Department inspectors began reviewing a Planned Parenthood clinic Wednesday “ahead of a decision by [the] health department on whether the state’s three abortion clinics will be allowed to continue operating” and receive licenses. Given the level of new requirements and the short time-period in which clinics have to comply, anti-choice advocates are confident that the clinics will close and Kansas will be “the first abortion-free state in the nation“:
“We have doubts that any of the abortion clinics can meet the safety requirements of the new law,” said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. “If they cannot comply, all three abortion clinics would be forced to cease abortion operations, making Kansas the first abortion-free state in the nation.”
As abhorrent as these arrogant assholes are, they’re also absolutely right. There is simply not enough time or resources to allow the clinics to meet these new standards by the end of the month. It does indeed look like abortion is about to become an impossibility in the State of Kansas.
By now, one could still retain some measure of hope that a lawsuit will be brought before the courts and that the precedents established by Roe v. Wade and similar rulings will be enough to send the anti-choice zealots packing, but this is seeming like a bigger stretch with each passing day. It’s impossible to tell where the right for women to have control over their own body is headed these days, as both alternatives – legalization vs. pre-70s’ criminalization – appear equally plausible at this point.
I dream of the day when all oppressed Americans will rise up and cut loose the depraved anchor that is the modern Republican Party … but then, we all have our fantasies. It’s just outrageous that it’s those of fetus fetishists that are materializing in real life, at the sore expense of so many others.
(via @todayspolitics)
Tags: Kansas • Planned Parenthood • Operation Rescue
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Vox Day: Women just bitch about objectification for attention
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| Dr. Tara C. Smith |
So, a few weeks ago, I commented on a blog post by Vox Day wherein he spewed his typically sexist spiel over Aetiology’s Dr. Tara Smith complaining when she had the very possibility of her being a good scientist be casually dismissed because of her looks. Rather than address any of Dr. Smith’s points, Vox rather chose to declare that she was really just bitching about it to get attention, because that’s all those silly vain females want, anyway. It was apparently inconceivable to him that she might actually have been irked at being objectified.
Well, guess who’s back?
The godless gamma
I know many alphas and even recovering deltas working on their Game find it impossible to comprehend the full depth of cluelessness about women possessed by the average gamma. But I doubt it will surprise anyone that a self-described "liberal skeptic, rationalist and atheist" who entertains "a passion for science" doesn't grasp the very first thing about women.
Yes, because when a woman is irritated at some dolt dismissing any possibility of her having a career other than being a Hollywood pin-up babe on the sole basis of her aesthetics, she’s obviously just flattered. And hiding it. Underneath her venting. For some reason.
Vox must be just incredibly in-tune with the female mind, because that makes absolutely no sense to me.
I have absolutely no doubt it doesn't. Because like most gammas, the poor lad thinks that women essentially think like men, except of course for their greater purity of character. He simply cannot fathom that women view everything through the perspective of their own sexual market value.
Did we fall into a Möbius strip of argumentation, here? Vox, who apparently believes he knows what other people think better than they do, asserts that women who bitch about being reduced to eye candy simply do so in order to garner more attention, because they’re all just desperate for flattery and acceptance by their male sexual superiors. I, drawing from my perspective as a non-male supremacist, rejoin that women are not actually as grotesquely superficial as his distorted views make them out to be. Vox then restates that, well, yes, they are. (“So, there,” basically.) What next? Should I merely reiterate that he’s got his head locked up his proudly masculine ass?
Mainstream media wants Weiner, not serious policy issues
Just in case you thought you’d seen it all when it comes to the corporate-owned mainstream media whoring itself out to the cheap thrill of sensationalism over actual issues, watch how they all breathlessly awaited House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s expected statements regarding the (former-)Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) “sex scandal”, only to shamelessly cut away to prattle on like gossiping housewives at a hair salon when Pelosi declares that the conference about jobs and Medicare and other such actual issues will not, in fact, be touching on the ex-congressman’s junk:
How remarkably pathetic.
(via Political Irony)
Tags: Talking Points Memo • Nancy Pelosi • Anthony Weiner • Weinergate • mainstream media • CNN • MSNBC • Fox News
Daily Blend: Wednesday, June 22, 2011
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| Planned Parenthood logo |
Congratulations, Republicans: Tens of thousands of Indiana Medicaid patients bite the dust due to impending shutdown of Planned Parenthood [pictured] services.
Measles rates soar due to lack of vaccinations.
Georgia officials horrified to discover that enacting legislation forcing illegal immigrants out is indeed forcing illegal immigrants out, destroying their agricultural sector in the process.
(via The Agitator)Nebraska prisons now at 141% capacity. Bah, they can hold up until 180%, right?
(via The Agitator)Possible answer to why women live longer: Being male is bad for your health. (So to speak.)
(via The Daily Grail)British soldier killed in Afghanistan, leaves friends over $160,000 for a wild vacation in Las Vegas in his memory.
(via The Agitator)
If you have any story suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments or send them in.
Tags: Planned Parenthood • Medicaid • Indiana • GOP • Measles • children • Georgia • farming • illegal immigrants • Nebraska • Alan White • women • David Hart • Las Vegas
Reps. Barney Frank & Ron Paul to present pot legalization bill
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Here’s an interesting (if seemingly symbolic, and therefore futile) development in the War on Drugs:
Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) and Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) will introduce "bi-partisan legislation tomorrow ending the federal war on marijuana and letting states legalize, regulate, tax, and control marijuana without federal interference," according to a press release from the Marijuana Policy Project that just hit my inbox. More from that email:
Other co-sponsors include Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN), Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO), and Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA). The legislation would limit the federal government’s role in marijuana enforcement to cross-border or inter-state smuggling, allowing people to legally grow, use or sell marijuana in states where it is legal. The legislation is the first bill ever introduced in Congress to end federal marijuana prohibition.
Rep. Frank’s legislation would end state/federal conflicts over marijuana policy, reprioritize federal resources, and provide more room for states to do what is best for their own citizens.
The bill is expected to provoke “a serious debate”, presumably harsher in the mainstream media than what will occur on the House floor. Personally, I’m firmly in the camp of thought that this is a mostly symbolic act that doesn’t stand much of a chance of passing the GOP-controlled House floor; after all, all of the bill’s supporters but one are Democrats, and the one Republican advocate is the one who’s consistently ranked highest in terms of GOPers who are actually trying to follow the whole “smaller government” credo, at least in general.
I’d say one should remain cautiously optimistic at best, though not to expect anything revolutionary.
(via @todayspolitics)
Tags: Barney Frank • Ron Paul • marijuana • US House of Representatives
Stewart responds to PolitiFact, rip Fox News’s “lying dynasty”
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As you may have heard, Jon Stewart of The Daily Show sat down with Fox News’s Chris Wallace over the weekend and at one point said that polls show that Fox viewers are “the most consistently misinformed” compared to other news network audiences. Well, PolitiFact thought that was worth checking out, and promptly labeled Stewart’s claim as (technically, pedantically) “False”. (Personally, given that the contradicting polls only show Fox viewers to be very misinformed rather than the most, I’d think that would qualify for “Half-True” or “Barely True” … but now I’m just being pedantic, myself. (I do that.))
Well, never one to let a piece of humble pie go uneaten, Stewart took the time last night to acknowledge that, yes, he was, in fact, wrong to say that every poll consistently showed that Fox viewers were the least knowledgeable. And also never one to let a golden opportunity to expose the wretched hive of scum and villainy that is Fox News, he then went on an extended riff listing a metric crapload of Fox claims that were awarded ratings of “False” or even “Pants on Fire!” from PolitiFact:
| Non-US readers: Go here to learn how to enable Comedy Central videos |
If you can’t watch the video, PolitiFact made the effort of posting an annotated list of every false Fox claim mentioned by Stewart – all 21 of them.
I wonder how many there are in total.
Tags: Fox News • The Daily Show • Jon Stewart • PolitiFact
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Gingrich’s presidential campaign crumbles even further
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| Newt Gingrich |
He’s not done sinking yet. Not even two weeks after his entire senior campaign staff left him to twist in the wind, it’s now being reported that Republican presidential contender and quadruple-faced hack Newt Gingrich has now lost his campaign finance team to boot:
The top fundraisers for Newt Gingrich's presidential campaign have abandoned his struggling bid amid anemic fundraising and heavy spending.
Campaign spokesman R.C. Hammond is confirming to The Associated Press that fundraising director Jody Thomas and fundraising consultant Mary Heitman have left the team.
The former House speaker's campaign has been on life support since earlier this month when 16 top aides and advisers resigned en masse over disagreements with the Republican candidate.
People familiar with Gingrich's campaign spending say his fundraising has been weak since he launched his bid and that he has racked up large travel bills. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk openly about campaign inner workings.
Gingrich has insisted that he will stay in the race.
It would seem he’s just a sucker for punishment. I see no reason not to indulge him.
(via Right Wing Watch)
Tags: Newt Gingrich
Fail Quote: Ray Comfort’s bizarre historical blindness
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| Ray Comfort |
From Ray Comfort:
Judge Jose Longoria said, "In the old days, maybe we got spanked, but there was a different quarrel. You don't spank children." What planet does this judge live on? In days of old we didn't have kids who murdered their parents, shot their schoolmates, lied daily, stole whatever they wanted, blasphemed as a normal part of conversation, or killed themselves with drugs and alcohol.
Because none of those things happened in the Good Ol’ DaysTM of 1950s Christian America, right?
Funny how Comfort accuses the judge of being out-of-touch with reality …
Tags: Ray Comfort • Jose Longoria
Grim outlook for San Francisco circumcision ballot referendum
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| The closest I’m ever posting to a circumcision pic |
As heartening as it is to see that a group was actually able to place a ballot proposal to ban infant circumcision in both San Francisco and more recently in Santa Monica, I’m afraid SurveyUSA has a bit of a bucket of cold water to upend over our hopeful heads:
San Francisco voters 4:1 oppose a ballot measure that would make it against the law to circumcise any male child under the age of 18, according to a SurveyUSA poll conducted exclusively for KPIX-TV. The city lines up on circumcision this way:* 26% see it as a harmless tradition.
* 47% see it as a medical procedure whose health benefits outweigh the health risks.
* 8% see it as a medical procedure whose risks outweigh the benefits.
* 9% see it as mutilation.Women by 2:1 say they would circumcise a boy if they had a male baby today. Men split.
Regardless of their feelings about circumcision, San Franciscans by 8:1 say the government should not be involved.Jewish voters oppose the ballot measure 18:1.
*sighs* It would be so less exasperating if those in favor of male genital mutilation at least had halfway decent arguments that aren’t either plainly nonsensical (which is all that “but it’s traditional!” arguments are) or easily and endlessly refuted, such as with those supposed “health benefits”, which in the entire scientific literature really only amount to “Your pee-pee is slightly cleaner”. (As if regular washing didn’t already take care of that.)
(via Joe. My. God.)
Tags: circumcision • SurveyUSA • San Francisco • male genital mutilation
Fail church sign of the day
A Christian church poses an edumacated question:
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I got a better one. If your God loves everyone, why is he such a dick?
Or: If your church is that clueless, why should people attend?
(via Joe. My. God.)
Daily Blend: Tuesday, June 21, 2011
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| Ryan Dunn |
Reminder: Washington, DC’s highest court rules that that police are not liable if their gross incompetence leads to horrific crimes.
(via @todayspolitics)My thoughts about Ryan Dunn’s [pictured] death: If you drink and drive, it does, in fact, make you a jackass. Sensitivity has nothing to do with it. (Ebert has more on his blog.)
False accusation leads to police raid and police dog attack on innocent neighbor.
(via The Agitator)Desperate man robs bank for $1 to get medical attention in prison.
(via @todayspolitics)
If you have any story suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments or send them in.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Liechtenstein approves gay civil unions
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| Liechtenstein [full size (325×352)] |
Progress in equality must be recognized everywhere, and now even the tiny country of Liechtenstein, which has a total population that could fit into your living room, has surpassed the US federal government when it comes to LGBT rights:
Liechtenstein has voted to officially recognize gay civil partnerships, in a law closely modelled on Switzerland's legislation.
Residents of the tiny principality voted in favour of the move on Sunday, media reported.
Gay and lesbian couples will receive the same tax, inheritance and welfare rights as come with marriage following a referendum in which 68 percent supported the law, Swiss news agency ATS reported.
Parliament had all but adopted the legislation earlier this year but its critics, the group Vox Populi, called for a public poll.
The new law is based on the Swiss model which came into effect in 2007 and therefore excludes the right to adopt children.
"With this clear 'yes' to partnerships, Liechtenstein... is putting an end to the current discrimination faced by same-sex couples," ATS quoted Prime Minister Klaus Tschuetscher as saying.
The tiny country tucked between Switzerland and Austria has a population of about 35,000.
You can’t really say you’re “putting an end” to discrimination against same-sex couples when you’re still preventing them from adopting children of their own (or from marrying outright, as well). But, as always, any progress is preferable to the alternative.
(via Joe. My. God.)
Tags: Liechtenstein • civil unions
Daily Blend: Monday, June 20, 2011
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| Apple iCloud logo |
Corporations are people. Psychopathic lying assholes with less human empathy than Jeffrey Dahmer and a bloodier legacy than al-Qaeda could ever dream of … but still, people.
Radley Balko: Myths of the Criminal Justice System: Part 1/3. Features Double Jeopardy, conviction-less punishment and “ignorance” defense.
Caveat emptor: Apple’s iCloud service [pictured] apparently doesn’t receive Fourth Amendment protections.
(via @normative)Missing the critical difference between remarking that women who knowingly, deliberately and willingly dress sexily (as part of their job) do, in fact, look sexually appealing, and actual objectification. And griping over the presence of the teenaged daughter is little more than pearl-clutching.
AlterNet article “5 Myths Atheists Believe about Religion” contains some notable truths, but also a gross mischaracterization of Greta Christina’s claim that “all religions are equally crazy”. (My comment, here.)
(via @todayspolitics)Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) blames massive Arizona wildfires on illegal immigrants. Of course.
(via @todayspolitics)BeautifulPeople.com suffers “ugly invasion” due to “Shrek virus”. No comment.
If you have any story suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments or send them in.
Tags: Radley Balko • iCloud • Fourth Amendment • Jennifer McCreight • Hooters Girls • Robert Sherman • sexual objectification • Greta Christina • Be Scofield • atheists • John McCain • illegal immigrants • Arizona • wildfires • BeautifulPeople.com • beauty • vanity • Shrek virus • dating websites
Google’s delightfully sorta-subtle endorsement of gay marriage
As New York State draws ever nearer to its final vote on same-sex marriage, Google has decided to reveal where it stands on the issue in an amusing and deceptively subtle manner. Here’s the current main page for any given search:
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| It is a timeless question to which there is no good answer [full size (769×267)] |
Nothing remarkable (other than consternation over the first result … I mean, really?). However, if one is to search for “gay marriage”:
Ooh, pretty. And what’s more, it only appears if one searches specifically for “gay marriage”. No other searches, including “same-sex marriage” or the anti-gay favorite, “homosexual marriage” (with or sans sarcastiquotes), will reveal the Pride rainbow. Fun, eh?
I ♥ Google.
(via @todayspolitics and @ggreenwald)
Tags: Google • New York • LGBT Pride
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Oppressing travelers all day must be tiring (and blinding)
Holding law enforcers up to a higher standard is not, itself, a double standard:
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(via @KipEsquire)
Tags: TSA
Obama impersonator accidentally exposes conservatives’ racism and cowardice
How’s this for revealing? A President Obama impersonator at the Republican Leadership Conference (RLC 2011) makes a bunch of (very tame) racially charged jokes about the biracial President and gets great laughs. But then, he makes a few (equally tame) swipes at some leading Republican presidential candidates over their little “flamboyant hypocrisy” problems, and immediately, everyone turns sour and he gets ushered off the stage:
REGGIE BROWN (OBAMA IMPERSONATOR): I love vacations. A few months back, the family and I took a nice, relaxing vacation in the state of my birth, Hawaii. Or, as the Tea Partiers still call it, Kenya. [Crowd laughs.]
[…]
BROWN: My favorite month is February: Black History Month. You see, Michelle, she celebrates the full month. And, uh, you know, I celebrate half. [Crowd laughs.]
[…]
BROWN: My father was a Black man from Kenya, and my mother was a White woman from Kansas. So, yes, my mother loved a Black man, and no, she was not a Kardashian. [Crowd laughs.]
[…]
BROWN: I had my team of experts use the latest computer technology to predict what Michelle and I are gonna look like at the end of my first term.
[Screen flashes scene from undetermined origin with an older Black couple in some apparent argument. Crowd laughs and applauds.]
[…]
BROWN: Don’t get me wrong. He [Mitt Romney] might make a great President, along with his First Lady … uh, Second Lady … uh, Third Lady … [Crowd sours.] It’s unfortunate that Tim Pawlenty couldn’t make it here, but cut him some slack. He’s having his foot surgically removed from his mouth. [Mild reaction.] Oh, no, don’t worry. Lucky for him, he’s covered under ObamneyCare. [Mild reaction.] So, yeah. That, along with spinal transplants. [Disapproving reaction.]
[…]
[Organizer comes up and ushers Brown off the stage to mild applause.]
Other than the obvious, all I have to say is that Brown’s voice really is remarkably like the real President’s. If only he also shared his sense of humor.
(via @todayspolitics)
Tags: Barack Obama • GOP • conservatives • Republican Leadership Conference • RLC
Arizona cop allegedly murders man for asking for a warrant
Daniel Rodriguez, 29, of Phoenix, Arizona and his mother are having a nonviolent dispute. Mother calls the cops. Cops show up. Rodriguez asks to see a warrant. Whatever happens next leaves Rodriguez (and the family dog) shot to death and a police officer who testifies that his partner, Richard Chrisman, put his gun to the unarmed Rodriguez’s head when asked for a warrant, replied with “I don’t no warrant, motherfucker”, and soon afterwards executed him following a “heated argument and scuffle” – during which Rodriguez was tased twice. Because that’s the nonlethal alternative we keep hearing about.
They then bring on some fidgety union fellow who does his best to maintain the presumed innocence of Officer Chrisman, though his defense is somewhat undercut by the fact that he looks like he wishes he could evaporate in smoke on the spot.
I’m all for due process and presumption of innocence, including in the case of Officer Chrisman. But we have both a grieving mother and a fellow eyewitness cop claiming that Chrisman threatened and murdered an unarmed victim on the site. It’s hard to get more compelling testimony than that – or to deny it actually happened.
I’m not entirely clear on the need for police officers to show a warrant if they respond to a call and are then invited into the house, but I’m still quite certain that the proper response to being asked for one is not to threaten to shoot the resident in the head. Just sayin’.
On a slightly lesser note, we can also add one more family pooch who’s paid the ultimate price for being in the presence of cops.
(via @todayspolitics)
Tags: Daniel Rodriguez • Richard Chrisman • Elvira Fernandez • Frank Marino • Phoenix, AZ
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Daily Blend: Saturday, June 18, 2011
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| Gov. John Kitzhaber (D-OR) |
Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber (D) [pictured] enacts law removing protection for parents who let kids die through faith healing.
(via @breakingPDXnews)Dilbert’s Scott Adams: Feministic society unfairly prohibits manly men from indulging in their happy-go-rapey instincts.
(via Zon)This “gender guesser” test informs me that my writing is that of a weak European hermaphrodite. Or something.
If you have any story suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments or send them in.
Tags: Oregon • John Kitzhaber • Followers of Christ Church • Scott Adams • Gender Guesser • Hacker Factor • men • women • God • Christianity • Judaism • The Onion
The Truth About the Economy: What went wrong (in 2 minutes)
The experts and pundits may be bickering away about what happened to bring about the economic recession (and who’s to blame for it), but for the rest of us mortals, here’s Clinton-era Secretary of Labor Robert Reich explaining what went wrong in just over two minutes:
CliffsNotes version:
1. Economy doubles since 1980, but wages flat. (Where did the money go?)
2. All gains from the economy go to the super rich. (and …)
3. With money comes political power. (Taxes on super rich slashed, revenues evaporate. This leads to …)
4. Huge budget deficits. (Middle class agitated, fight for scraps.)
5. Middle class divided. (Buying and borrowing slow. Resulting in:)
6. Anemic recovery.
Last line: “The only way we can have a strong economy is with a strong middle class.”
But, of course, will anybody listen? And will anybody in power care?
And why am I asking such questions?
(via Political Irony)
Tags: Robert Reich • recession
[RETRACTED] Jerusalem rabbis condemn dog to death for being possessed by deceased lawyer
UPDATE: (06/18/11 8:00 PM) – False report. It’s somewhat muddled what the rabbis do believe regarding the dog’s supposed reincarnation, but it was never ordered killed, and they only asked children to throw rocks at it to chase it away, not to harm it. Mea culpa for lack of fact-checking. (Thanks to Uzza for pointing it out.)
(Also, what the hell does “skila” mean? Both Google and Urban Dictionary fail me on that one.)
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| Pictured: Possibly reincarnated lawyer |
Your brain on religion, Judaic doggycide edition:
A Jewish rabbinical court condemned to death by stoning a stray dog it feared was the reincarnation of a lawyer who insulted its judges, reports say.
The dog entered the Jerusalem financial court several weeks ago and would not leave, reports Israeli website Ynet.
It reminded a judge of a curse passed on a now deceased secular lawyer about 20 years ago, when judges bid his spirit to enter the body of a dog.
On the off chance that your brain hasn’t just fried in your skull, you’ll be relieved to learn that the poor wayward mutt managed to escape. So, of course, the rabbinical judges were left unsatisfied:
One of the judges at the court in the city's ultra-Orthodox Mea Shearim neighbourhood had reportedly asked local children to carry out the sentence.
Yay, animal cruelty and child psychological abuse in one! Way to go, arbiters of good humane values and righteous morality.
(via Pharyngula)
Tags: dogs • Judaism • Jerusalem • rabbis • Mea Shearim
Obama declares that illegal war is legal non-war
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| Pres. Barack Obama |
When people (I included) say that President Obama, for all the good he has demonstrably done, is still a bona fide tyrant* who’s only too happy to expand the Bush administration’s unlimited view of executive power, this is a perfect representation of what they mean:
President Obama rejected the views of top lawyers at the Pentagon and the Justice Department when he decided that he had the legal authority to continue American military participation in the air war in Libya without Congressional authorization, according to officials familiar with internal administration deliberations.
Jeh C. Johnson, the Pentagon general counsel, and Caroline D. Krass, the acting head of the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, had told the White House that they believed that the United States military’s activities in the NATO-led air war amounted to “hostilities.” Under the War Powers Resolution, that would have required Mr. Obama to terminate or scale back the mission after May 20.
But Mr. Obama decided instead to adopt the legal analysis of several other senior members of his legal team — including the White House counsel, Robert Bauer, and the State Department legal adviser, Harold H. Koh — who argued that the United States military’s activities fell short of “hostilities.” Under that view, Mr. Obama needed no permission from Congress to continue the mission unchanged.
Because missile strikes and infantry deployment into a foreign country that openly and repeatedly denounces such acts don’t constitute “hostilities” now. Gee, I wonder what the threshold is for admitting they’re at war? First nuclear strike?
This is asininity laced with sheer chutzpah. Not only did the War Powers Resolution never actually apply to the United States’s participation in the “non-war” in Libya, but neither Obama nor Congress seem to care in the slightest that their 60-day window for either legally declaring war on the country they’re bombing and invading, or pulling back, expired just under a month ago. So, of course, Obama’s solution is apparently to try and seek out anybody in his administration who could twist the law and basic textbook definitions any which way to suit his fantasy that what he’s doing is in any way legal.
At this point, it has become impossible to tell whether Obama genuinely possesses the mistaken belief that the United States’s offense in Libya is legal (which, given his previous occupation as a constitutional professor and lawyer, is difficult to believe), or if he does realize that he’s greatly superseding his powers – and simply doesn’t give the slightest damn about it. The problem is that when one takes into account his administration’s current abysmal track record in keeping executive power under check, it’s hard to stop anyone with a critical mind from veering into the latter camp of thought.
This is why it’s becoming increasingly hard to defend the President against accusations of extending the Bush presidency further without getting laughed at.
(via ThinkProgress)
* Definition: “an absolute ruler unrestrained by law or constitution”.
Tags: Barack Obama • Libya • US Congress • Jeh Johnson • Caroline Krass • Office of Legal Counsel • War Powers Resolution • Robert Bauer • Harold Koh • War in Libya
Friday, June 17, 2011
Quote of the Day: Blond Nonbeliever on religions and atheism
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| Blonde Nonbeliever’s Blogger profile avatar |
I’ve already posted a Fail Quote and a Badass Quote today, so why not make it a trifecta? From the Blonde Nonbeliever:
If you have a bible on your bookshelf, you may be a Christian. If you have a Koran on your bookshelf, you may be a Muslim. If you have a Torah on your bookshelf, you may be Jewish. If you have all three, you are probably an atheist.
Her obvious message: Only by stepping beyond the confines of any single religion does one begin to realize just how similar they all are.
Perfect Memorable Quotes material if ever there was any.
(via Friendly Atheist)
Tags: Blonde Nonbeliever • Christianity • Bible • Koran • Quran • Islam • Torah • Judaism
Badass Quote: Republican snaps for gay marriage
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| Sen. Roy McDonald (R-NY) |
Last Wednesday, I wrote about how the State of New York had come one step closer towards finally legalizing same-sex marriage, mostly due to a (small but critical) number of Senate Republicans promising to break with party lines and vote “yes” on the bill. One of the senators mentioned was Roy McDonald, R-Saratoga, but the article didn’t mention in just what brilliant fashion he bucked with his party in:
[Archbishop Timothy] Dolan equated the move to allow same-sex marriage to life in China or North Korea, where "government presumes daily to 'redefine' rights, relationships, values and natural law."
"Please, not here!," Dolan wrote. "We cherish true freedom, not as the license to do whatever we want, but the liberty to do what we ought."
The opposition from Dolan, other religious groups and conservative political outfits threatening retribution at the ballot box has turned the Senate into a pressure cooker for Republicans.
And McDonald snapped.
"You get to the point where you evolve in your life where everything isn't black and white, good and bad, and you try to do the right thing," McDonald, 64, told reporters.
"You might not like that. You might be very cynical about that. Well, f--- it, I don't care what you think. I'm trying to do the right thing.
"I'm tired of Republican-Democrat politics. They can take the job and shove it. I come from a blue-collar background. I'm trying to do the right thing, and that's where I'm going with this."
At least four of McDonald's fellow Republicans are considering voting for the bill, prompting widespread optimism that the Legislature is about to cross the threshold of history.
It’s become so rare for me to find occasion to actually cheer for a Republican. It feels wonderful when it happens. And an additional glimpse at his voting record establishes him as a true moderate Republican; there are undoubtedly more than a few Democrats who are more conservative.
You, Sen. McDonald, are teh awesome. Which, these days, is saying more than I ever expected it would.
(via Political Irony)
Tags: Roy McDonald • same-sex marriage • Timothy Dolan • New York
Fail Quote: Sen. Harris “very insulted” that Spanish-speaking man testifies in Spanish
From Texas Sen. Chris Harris (R) of the State Senate Committee on Transportation & Homeland Security, interrupting a Spanish-speaking man giving testimony through a translator against a proposed anti-immigration bill similar to Arizona’s notorious SB 1070:
My transcript:
[Antolin Aguirre, representative for the Austin Immigrants Rights Coalition and a naturalized US citizen since 2001, delivers his testimony in Spanish through a translator.]
SEN. HARRIS: Am I understanding correctly that he has been here since 1988?
TRANSLATOR: He came to this country in 1988, yes, sir.
SEN. HARRIS: Why aren’t you speaking in English, then?
AGUIRRE: Well, I speak English, but –
SEN. HARRIS: You’ve been here 23 years?
[mild confusion]
TRANSLATOR: [Aguirre explains in Spanish] Spanish is his first language, and since it’s his first time giving a testimony, he would rather do it in Spanish.
SEN. HARRIS: It’s insulting to us. [mild reaction] It’s very insulting. If he knows English, he needs to be speaking in English.
How we did stuff: 15 years ago vs. today
Kinda creepy, when you think about it:
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Dear God. We’ve become drones.
… Eh, whatevs. Back to typing.
(via Joe. My. God.)
The final Harry Potter trailer: Year 7, part 2
No comment. Just pure squeeeeeeeee.
If you’re not watching it full-screen in 1080p mode, you’re not really watching it.
Voldy sure does wail a lot, doesn’t he?
(via Joe. My. God.)
This robot hand is better than your fleshy one
Next stop: the future, ladies and gentlemen.
Insanely cool … and equally freaky. (Does that mean our inevitable robotic overlords will be giant sentient claws …?)
Geekologie has more.
(via The Daily Grail)
Tags: robots
![Joé McKen (18) [taken 07/13/10]](http://i.imgur.com/2wvlR.jpg "Joé McKen (18) [taken 07/13/10]")
