Daily Blend: 04/09/13

Rehtaeh Parsons

Another teenaged rape victim ^[pictured] falls victim to rape culture and takes her own life.

Today in pearl-clutching hilarity: Exposing the top “facilitators” of the US’s “porn pandemic”, including Google Play and the American Library Association! (Also: Bonus video featuring Morality in Media’s resident porn-awareness girl scout.)

Westboro Baptist Church to complete Roger Ebert’s awesome legacy.
(via Joe. My. God.)

And finally, I break my practice of ignoring such things by pointing out that the US Interior Department’s Instagram gallery is chock-full of fuckin’ awesomeness like this:
(via BuzzFeed)

[source | full size (607×600)]

If you have any story suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments or send them in.

Daily Blend: 03/13/2013

TJ Kincaid

Heads Up: Later today/tomorrow is when Disqus is slated to force its “upgraded” platform upon users (like me) who still cling to the old, customizable version. Might take a little while for changes to take effect. Stay tuned.

I’m also trying out a new title style for this Daily Blend (rather than the usual long-form date). We’ll see if it sticks. That is all.

Oh, look, it’s another bone-chilling climate study for pseudoscientists and ideologues to deny and lie about!

New Zealand votes to guarantee passage of same-sex marriage. Yay!
(via Joe. My. God.)

Some more gay (in both senses) news: Floundering “ex-gay” group National Association for the Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) loses tax exempt status, forced to slice their Rentboy budget.
(via Joe. My. God.)

This just in: TJ Kincaid ^[pictured] is still an embarrassment to the atheist community and humanity in general. (Also: Go, Anita Sarkeesian!)
(via @SallyStrange; RT: @jennifurret)

Virginia steps a little further into the 21^st Century by overturning law against “consensual sodomy”. (Wingnut outrage in 3 … 2 …)
(via Joe. My. God.)

And finally, here’s an interactive infographic of global Internet porn habits. (East Europe is amazingly perverted.)
(via Joe. My. God.)

If you have any story suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments or send them in.

Daily Blend: Saturday, November 10, 2012

Dean Boland

Lawyer ^[pictured] ordered to pay $300K for “harm[ing]” unidentified children whose stock images he used to create fake child sex photos to prove how irrational and overbroad child porn laws are. So … mission accomplished?
(via @tedfrank; RT: @radleybalko)

The Catholic Church reaffirms its commitment to obsolescence.

Ed Brayton has a measured take on five clichéd catchphrases that atheists should stop using.

And finally, in case there was any suspicion, Vox Day is still a dumbass.

If you have any story suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments or send them in.

Daily Blend: Wednesday, November 07, 2012 – The Re-linkening

Consider this a continuation of my previous “wrap-up” post as the dust continues to settle. There’s plenty of good and a smidgeon of bad, so hold onto your butts:

The good —

LGBT: Last night was a major win for equality with same-sex marriage passing by popular vote in three states (and a constitutional ban failing in a fourth), the election of the first-ever openly lesbian senator, and the fall of anti-gay candidates everywhere like flies.

Meanwhile, in the schadenfreude department, Sen. Scott “racist” Brown (R-MA) and Rep. Joe “deadbeat dad” Walsh (R-IL) are both kicked out.

Oh, and Troy, Michigan’s notoriously homophobic mayor, Janice Daniels, is also out on her bigoted ass.
(via Joe. My. God.)

New Hampshire: I wonder how many men feel discomfited now that both state senators, both representatives, and the governor are all women?

Florida: The Sunshine State did particularly well, with voters turning down abortion restrictions, killing a ban on Obamacare’s health insurance mandate, and preventing taxpayer money from going to churches and religious schools. Upholding abortion rights, healthcare reform and secularism all in one – not to shabby for a state renowned for its zaniness.

More good Floridian news: Rep. Allen West (R) will soon be Rep. no longer, possibly as a result of all that crazy shit he’s always spewing.

Atheism: While the only openly atheist Congressperson, Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA), lost his seat after decades of serving the progressive community, candidate Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), rumored to be both an atheist and bisexual, is winning, though her opponent isn’t conceding yet.

Drug Laws: Massachusetts approves medicinal marijuana, though a similar initiative fails in Arkansas.

So, all in all, I guess this means those polls weren’t skewed against Republicans after all.
(via Joe. My. God.)

And finally, we can safely say that yes, FiveThirtyEight’s Nate Silver is (probably) a witch. (Or just very good with statistical analysis. Either way.)

Fail Quote: Fischer explains how porn could incinerate us all!

Here’s the American Family Association’s arch-crackpot Bryan Fischer, fear-mongering about a recent warning issued to employees of the Pentagon’s Missile Defense Agency to stop browsing porn on their work computers in case they accidentally download a virus that could compromise the missile defense network:

Transcript: (click the [+/-] to open/close →)

[−]

BRYAN FISCHER: What’re the guys that operating our missile systems doing? They’re looking at pornography. Do not tell me – do not tell me that porn is a victimless crime. It is not. You and I could get incinerated, burned to a crisp, toasted, because some guy’s looking at porn instead of taking care of our missile defense system. Do not tell me it is a victimless crime.

Well, that’s a new one. I’m used to all the same tired prohibitionist claims about how all porn leads to the objectification and subjugation of women and destroys marriages and how it’s all sexual slavery and whatnot (because why use actual, reasonable arguments when you can just spout hysterical nonsense instead?). But I daresay “porn will kill us all with out-of-control nuclear missiles!” is the best I’ve heard, despite best being charitably filed in the “loonybin” section.

(via Right Wing Watch)

Tags: Bryan Fischer • pornography • Pentagon • Missile Defense Agency • porn sites

‘The Daily Show’ on adult film stars and slut-shaming

It’s apparently Comedy Central Day around here, so to complement my last post, here’s a report by The Daily Show’s Jessica Williams brilliantly exposing some of the mindlessly judgmental attitudes faced by sex workers:

Non-US readers: Click here to learn how to enable Comedy Central videos

Transcript: (click the [+/-] to open/close →)

[−]

JON STEWART: It’s prom time again, a time to create wonderful memories, at least for those who have dates. For those who don’t … you can always go into comedy. (Sorry.) Then, there’s the people who had dates, only to lose them. Jessica Williams has more.

---

JESSICA WILLIAMS (v.o.): Prom: A magical evening every student looks forward to, and Minnesota’s Mike stone and his date Megan Piper were no exception.

MIKE STONE: I invited twelve girls to prom and they all said ‘no’. Then I asked Megan, and she said ‘yes’, and I was very excited.

WILLIAMS (v.o.): But then, Mike’s school, Tartan High, discovered the truth about Megan.

STONE: The school found out about it, and they said that they’re not gonna allow it to happen.

WILLIAMS: Is it because she got bad grades?

MEGAN PIPER: I’m an adult film actress.

WILLIAMS: Wait, what?

PIPER: I perform pornography.

WILLIAMS: What?

WILLIAMS (v.o.): And concerned Minnesota mothers like Marjorie Holsten applaud the school’s action.

MARJORIE HOLSTEN: I agree with the school’s decision that she should not be allowed at prom. Her profession is pornography. Every young man there is going to be mentally undressing her, and maybe that’s the type of attention she likes, I don’t know.

WILLIAMS: Thank God what Megan’s doing is considered a felony!

HOLSTEN: I don’t think it’s a felony.

WILLIAMS: So, maybe it’s a misdemeanor?

HOLSTEN: Sadly, I believe that what Megan does is legal.

WILLIAMS: So, Megan Piper is an adult who is having consensual sex with another adult in a whole other state, in full accordance of^[sic] the law, and he wants to take her to prom?

HOLSTEN: Yeah – I mean, Megan Piper said, ‘No, I’m not gonna take off my clothes and go buck-naked,’ but – it’s like, that’s what you do in your profession.

PIPER: Why do you think I’m gonna do that?

WILLIAMS: Because you’re an adult film star. It’s what you do.

PIPER: So, what you’re saying is all I do is have sex with people? I don’t do anything else?

WILLIAMS: You’re probably having sex right now!

PIPER: No – I’m just gonna go there and be his prom date an do all the normal prom stuff.

WILLIAMS (v.o.): Okay, but what does “normal prom stuff” mean to a porn star?

HOLSTEN: Probably, he would have a flower for her.

WILLIAMS: Where would he put that flower?

HOLSTEN: There’d be nothing to pin it to, so he better get a wrist one.

Cut to: Piper is seen affixing the flower to the hem of her perfectly decent prom dress.

WILLIAMS: Then what happens?

HOLSTEN: Suddenly, they’re in this limo without adult supervision.

Cut to: Stone and Piper sitting apart in the limo, looking normal.

WILLIAMS: They’re alone?

HOLSTEN: Yeah! I hope that she wouldn’t seduce him, but then again, that’s what she does for a living.

WILLIAMS (v.o.): And we all know that if you do something for a living, that’s all you ever do. Like how pro football tackle everyone they see, and therefore would never be allowed at prom.

NEWS ANCHOR: Joyce Grendel, an independent high school student, tweeted [Joe] Haden and asked the football star to be her prom date tonight. Haden said yes.

WILLIAMS (v.o.): Okay, well – Megan is different. She’s uncontrollable.

PIPER: I don’t plan on doing anything sexual with Mike or any of his friends.

WILLIAMS: Mike, does that bum you out a little bit?

STONE: No.

HOLSTEN: My expectation is it would probably be kind of a boring evening.

WILLIAMS: So … why do we care again?

HOLSTEN: It’s the concept that she is a lady who, as a profession, takes off her clothes and does things.

WILLIAMS (v.o.): So, while we can forgive some things in our society, like manslaughter convictions and political corruption, there is one profession that is completely unacceptable. Thankfully, concerned parents like Marjorie will protect our children forever.

HOLSTEN: Teenagers have hormones going and – it’s not appropriate that they see these websites.

WILLIAMS: That’s right; teenagers shouldn’t be watching people have sex on the Internet. They should learn the way I did: by watching animals do it on the street.

HOLSTEN: Actually, that was how I taught my children. We started with a boy guinea pig –

WILLIAMS: What? You taught your kids sex ed with guinea pigs?

HOLSTEN: Well, we had a boy and a girl guinea pig who clearly liked each other …

WILLIAMS: Aren’t you afraid that these kids are gonna treat these guinea pigs like role models?

HOLSTEN: Uh … well, you really couldn’t see anything, ’cause they’re big, furry little fuzzball things. I mean, that’s why there isn’t guinea pig porn movies.

WILLIAMS (v.o.): For now. But let’s hope the porn industry doesn’t catch on.

You just gotta pity that poor mom. (And her kids, even moreso.)

But as easy a target as she may be, her nonsense is only representative of the general atmosphere of distrust and even disgust that surrounds the very notion of sex work in this society, a climate wherein performs (especially women) who work in that industry are reduced to their basest sexual characteristics and activities. People are allowed to be virtually anything other without having their chosen livelihood extended to represent the whole of who they are and what they do outside of the workplace, but when they engage in sex for money, that suddenly taints their entire persons? Even male porn stars don’t get it this bad (though prejudice against them is very real, too, especially for LGBT performers).

In the end, there’s just no way to win if you’re in the sex business. But as always, it’s even harder for women.

Tags: sex workers • pornography • porn stars • adult films • Jessica Williams • Megan Piper • Mike Stone • Tartan Senior High School • adult film actors • Marjorie Holsten

Florida reinstates teacher fired over gay porn history

Shawn Loftis

In a blow to pearl-clutchers everywhere, the State of Florida has ruled that mindless puritanism and possible bigotry are not satisfactory reasons for forcing an innocent teacher out of his job:

A part-time teacher's gay porn past isn't reason enough to keep him out of the classroom, according to Florida education officials.

Shawn Loftis, who was booted from the Miami-Dade public school system last year, can go back to teaching, the Florida Education Practices Commission in Orlando ruled Friday.

He could even turn it into a full-time job, the commission decided.

Loftis — who starred in gay porn films under the name Collin O'Neil — was teaching at Nautilus Middle School when the principal learned of his past, according to WPLG 10 News.

The district suspended the substitute in January 2011, then his teacher’s certification was revoked in April, despite the fact that he’d left his porn career behind.

The commission said his past pursuits were not illegal and the school did not have the authority to dismiss him on that basis. Loftis also argued that he hoped to use his role as a teacher to help guide students away from making the choices he had made.

It’s high time people everywhere, particularly school officials, realized that whatever previous occupation someone may have had, no matter how “icky” they may think it is, has absolutely no bearing on that person’s moral character, nor on their ability to function as an educator.

And this, by the way, is a lesson that should be forcibly taught to some of the typical mental trilobites in the article’s comments:

Oscar Major: Don't have to guess what this guy will be teaching your kids. We have become a nation of perversion bordering on insanity. A nation that has no moral compass is doomed to failure.

WhoWouldHaveThunk: We're a doomed society. In a thousand years we will be known as the most dysfunctional society that ever existed. This guy would not be in a classroom any of my children would be in; I call it like it is, he's mentally ill.

Plan9frompa: I suppose if his films were heterosexual porn he'd have been banished for life. But, since homosexuality is the new norm and is celebrated daily in the media, he's exonerated. And BTW, do you really want this pervert near your kids? Not me. Also, nice touch with his screen name "Collin"

Khahn: Ah yes a pervert in the schools, nice improvement!

I hereby declare: Anyone parroting the “gays are child predators!” trope shall be forced to spend five years at an all-gay boarding school, complete with clothing-optional comprehensive sex ed courses. Also, anyone caught commenting on news sites shall be immediately marooned on a desert island with no hope of returning to civilization. And anyone claiming to be an intelligent or civil commenter on such sites shall have to write a fifteen-hundred-page public dissertation explaining why, oh why, they thought posting there was a good idea in the first place.

(via Joe. My. God.)

Tags: Shawn Loftis • Collin O'Neil • pornography • gay porn • teachers • Nautilus Middle School • Florida Education Practices Commission • FEPC • wrongful termination

Daily Blend: Wednesday, February 29, 2012 – Leap edition

“Life With Archie #16”

Why’s every calendar telling me to go bouncing around like a rabbit today? So odd.

Boo: 40,000 huffy bigots One Million Moms gripe against gay-friendly Archie comics ^[pictured]. Yay: Archie Comics CEO tells them to fuck off.

Poll: Support for gay marriage in California higher than ever.

Old gem: Neil Gaiman explains why even “icky speech” should be defended in order to preserve everyone’s rights.
(via @foozzzball)

How both amusing and revolting it is to see homophobes go into meltdown over gay love.

If you have any story suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments or send them in.

Tags: One Million Moms • American Family Association • Archie Comics • Jon Goldwater • gays • gay marriage • same-sex marriage • marriage equality • California • Neil Gaiman • pornography • lolicon • shotacon • First Amendment • Vox Day • Theodore Beale • Vox Popoli • homophobia • U.S. Marines • USMC

Daily Blend: Wednesday, January 11, 2011

Rick Santorum

• (Last October) Rick Santorum ^[pictured] thinks it’s “wonderful” ^{[warning: auto-start video]} that Iranian nuclear scientists are being murdered.
  (via @ggreenwald)

• Two Houston, TX 10-year-old boys charged with molesting 8-year-old boy on school bus. Why do I get the feeling there’s something deeper and far worse going on behind the scenes?
  (via The Agitator)

• I was about to mention nearly all of these stories individually before deciding to just link to Balko’s post instead.

• Scorned health inspector shuts down respected NYC diner after owner records him with his cellphone.
  (via The Agitator)

• On whether prison inmates should be allowed to masturbate and enjoy porn. Seems like giving confined convicts the right to release some sexual tension in private might be a smart thing, there.
  (via The Agitator)

• Exploring the vertical slums of Caracas, Venezuela.
  (via The Agitator)

• List of the best New York Times corrections ever.
  (via The Agitator)

If you have any story suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments or send them in.

Tags: Rick Santorum • Iran • sexual assault • rape • George's • Bill Koulmentas • Kenneth Reid • jail • masturbation • Caracas, VE • Venezuela • David's Tower • slums • The New York Times

Daily Blend: Friday, December 30, 2011

Jordan Miles, hospitalized

Is it just me, or do I need to variate my sources a little?

• Doggycide in Durham, NC: Herald-Sun guest columnists speak out against cops who shot their little terrier in the head while investigating break-in at neighbor’s.
  (via @radleybalko)

• Police “expert witness”: It was “illogical” for innocent Black teen ^[pictured] to run away from cops who nearly beat him to death. Un-fucking-believable.

• Maine cop writes letter begging colleagues not to retaliate against other officers who busted him for drunk driving. It’s sadly telling that such a plea needs to be made in the first place.
  (via @radleybalko)

• Los Angeles voters to decide whether condoms should be required in porn films. I thought they already were.
  (via The Agitator)

• Ridiculously childish political squabble of the day: South Carolina Democrats upset over Gov. Haley’s proposed cheery state agency phone greeting.
  (via The Agitator)

If you have any story suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments or send them in.

Tags: Bill Hardaker • Bobbie Hardaker • Jack Russell terriers • dogs • Durham, NC • Jordan Miles • Pittsburgh, PA • police brutality • Joseph Stine • Robin Parker • Maine State Police • Los Angeles • adult movies • condoms • contraception • Carmen Trutanich • South Carolina • Republicans • GOP • Nikki Haley • Democrats • John King • Wendell Gilliard

Teacher suspended, might get fired for starring in gay porn

Kevin Hogan

Yet another schoolteacher is on the verge of having his career ruined as a result of puritanical hysteria, this time possibly tinged with a bit of homophobia to boot, and all because of things that have absolutely nothing to do with his capacity as an educator or decent person. And this time, a Boston-based Fox News affiliate is leading the mob:

Kevin Hogan is an English teacher and crew coach at a top-rated Massachusetts public high school, but he brings some unusual experience to the job: until recently, he was starring in pornographic movies.

Hogan has worked at the Mystic Valley Regional Charter School in Malden since September. In addition to his coaching and teaching duties, he also chairs the high school’s English department.

But he can also be found on the Internet and in adult entertainment stores under his screen name: Hytch Cawke.

Naturally, to make sure that every reasonable person knows they’re a bunch of craven appeasers, the school has now suspended Hogan and is contemplating terminating his employment:

Now Hogan will have to answer to his school, which placed him on paid leave while they conduct their own investigation.

It’s not the kind of news the school is used to. Just this year, Newsweek magazine named Mystic Valley one of the best high schools in the country and fourth best public high school in Massachusetts.

The school released a statement saying “We value the health and safety of our students,” and that "the school followed our normal hiring practices," which included criminal background checks in Massachusetts and California, where Hogan had been living.

Mystic Valley also said "the references we received were flawless,” and noted he was placed there by the recruiting firm Carney, Sandoe & Associates. Hogan even has a testimonial on the firm's website, where he writes, "It's amazing with your help I was able to find a school that I never thought existed."

Of course, there is absolutely nothing illegal (or actually wrong in any way) with teachers engaging in whatever perfectly legal activities they want outside of school, which includes pornography, no matter how pearl-clutchers feel about it. But, of course, what fear-mongering report would be complete without an obligatory mention of mindless reactions from local parents?

Daily Blend: Wednesday, November 09, 2011

Rush Limbaugh

• Man sentenced to life without parole for looking at forbidden pictures. (And yes, that’s all this amounts to, regardless of subject matter.)
  (via The Agitator)

• Terminal jackass Rush Limbaugh ^[pictured] now attacks one of Herman Cain’s sexual harassment accusers’ 13-year-old son.

• Sad article by Greta Christina on women being forced to be either sexy or outspoken – not both. (At least, that’s what it always seems to boil down to, no?)

• Priceless: Angry Tea Partier calls Elizabeth Warren “socialist whore”, then storms off – into a locked door.

If you have any story suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments or send them in.

Tags: Daniel Vilca • Fred Hardt • Rush Limbaugh • Herman Cain • Sharon Bialek • Greta Christina • misogyny • Tea Partiers • Elizabeth Warren

Daily Blend: Saturday, October 15, 2011

Pretty much this. [full size (420×294)]

• Horrible “Let Women Die” bill passes U.S. House. ^[pictured] We could really use that veto now, Mr. President.

• Scientists rebel after Gov. Perry’s (R-TX) administration distorts their environmental report to dismiss climate change and related effects.
  (via @ebertchicago)

• The Guardian’s Andrew Brown debunks a few common Creationist misconceptions about evolution. (Relatedly, this TalkOrigins page finally helped me understand just what the Second Law of Thermodynamics and Entropy are and why they make for pathetic arguments against evolution. Hint.)
  (via RichardDawkins.net)

• Just when you start thinking the Internet is out of ideas, you get Blackboards in Porn. Guess someone’s gotta do it …
  (via Pharyngula)

If you have any story suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments or send them in.

Tags: Protect Life Act • Let Women Die bill • US House of Representatives • Rick Perry • scientists • climatologists • global warming • climate change • Texas • Andrew Brown • Creationists • Second Law of Thermodynamics • entropy • pornography • schools

Daily Blend: Sunday, October 02, 2011

Hogwarts?

Glenn Greenwald: “Those praising President Obama's actions on Awlaki include Rick Perry, Bill O'Reilly, Mitt Romney, Dick & Liz Cheney, and Peter King” If these are the people cheering you on, you seriously need to rethink your strategy.

• Anderson Cooper and guests accuse Reddit of spreading child porn with its “jailbait” subsection. Because legal photos of none-nude young adults found on Facebook and Google = child molestation. Obviously.

• Christians angry at atheist group for pointing out church’s tax fraud.

• Today, neurologists say evil doesn’t exist. Tomorrow, zoologists announce leprechauns are fictional.
  (via @ebertchicago)

• Twelve most beautiful U.S. college campuses. Almost makes me wanna go back to school. And become American. (And, with Princeton ^[pictured], feel like Harry Potter.)

If you have any story suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments or send them in.

Tags: Anderson Cooper • child porn • jailbait • Reddit • Freedom from Religion Foundation • Christ Cathedral Church • Columbus, OH • tax fraud • neurologists • evil • brain • Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain • schools • universities

Rightists hallucinate link between porn and terrorism

And also makes you blow up buildings (reportedly)

When it comes to ledes, you really can’t get more simultaneously engaging and farcical than this:

The frequency with which terrorists are found with pornography raises important questions about the possible effects of pornography on our national security.

I read that hoping it was satire. I wish I had been right. Sadly, the rest, written by Jennifer Bryson of conservative think thank The Witherspoon Institute, really doesn’t get any better. In fact, it gets worse, as Bryson proceeds down a convoluted trail of sloppy thinking and correlation/causation fallacies to try and raise Glenn Beck-esque “questions” about some possible link between extremists – Islamic extremists, specifically, as they’re the only ones she ever mentions – and their porn consumption habits.

You know right off the bat that this is gonna be painful. Any essay that treats porn as a possible cause of various cultural or ideological behavior, as opposed to an effect of ingrained cultural and ideological factors, is going to be tough to slog through. You can also dash any hopes of a mention, any at all, of the quandary that inevitably arises when it comes to extremists who don’t have a heightened interest in porn. Because they must just be outliers, obviously.

Begins Bryson [all links removed for brevity]:

This week a federal grand jury indicted Army soldier Naser Jason Abdo, age 21, on three charges related to a plot to attack soldiers near Fort Hood, Texas. When authorities arrested him, they found in his possession bomb-making materials, a gun, ammunition, and the article ”Make a Bomb in the Kitchen of Your Mom,” from a recent issue of al-Qaeda’s English online journal Inspire. Initial questioning of Abdo indicates that his intended targets were U.S. military personnel.

Okay, “Make a Bomb in the Kitchen of Your Mom” really didn’t help me in distinguishing this piece from satire. I don’t receive copies of Inspire, though, so I’ll have to take Bryson’s word for it.

Anyway. Bryson takes a while in explaining that further understanding of the causes behind terrorist wannabe Abdo’s actions is required, and then latches onto this convenient little tidbit:

Yet tucked away, often near the closing paragraph of the articles about this case, is mention of an issue that I believe warrants more attention than it has received in the past decade of terrorism studies: namely, pornography. And in Abdo’s case, child pornography.

Oh, yes. Abdo watched porn. Even moreso, he watched child porn. Because that’s bad, m’kay. Bad enough to lead to terrorism. Or something.

Bryson then wants to make it clear that she is not saying that porn causes terrorism … just that it’s probably inextricably linked to it:

Stupid Christian video: School violence caused by lack of God!

What is it about evangelical Christians that makes them so incapable of formulating any sort of a decent argument? I know it must be difficult to present factual and coherent claims in support of a system of beliefs that is, itself, nothing but purest nonsense, but still, one would think they could at least put a modicum of intellectual effort into their schtick. Alas, as we’ve seen all too many times before, that is evidently expecting too much of them.

Here’s the latest ridiculous Christian video (that I’ve come across), this one unsourced but promoted by the American Family Association, making the insane argument that the reason for the school violence in recent decades is that “[God is] not allowed in schools” and that modern kids are amoral, rapey-killy little heathens due to godless society’s moral decline:

My transcript: (click the [+/-] to expand/collapse →)

[−]

TITLES: The Day They Kicked Got out of the Schools

[FADE IN: US map with large crosshair moving over various markers in time with voiceover.]

NARRATOR: Dear God: Why didn’t you save the school children at Moses Lake, Washington [Frontier Middle School, 1996]; Bethel, Alaska [Bethel Regional High School, 1997]; Pearl, Mississippi [Pearl High School, 1997]; West Paducah, Kentucky [Heath High School, 1997]; Stamps, Arkansas [Stamps High School, 1997]; Jonesboro, Arkansas [Westbound Middle School, 1998]; Edinboro, Pennsylvania [Parker School, 1998]; Fayetteville, Tennessee [Lincoln County High School, 1998]; Springfield, Oregon [Thurston High School, 1998]; Richmond, Virginia [Armstrong High School, 1998]; Littleton, Colorado [Columbine High School, 1999]; Taber, Alberta, Canada [W.R. Myers High School, 1999]; Conyers, Georgia [Heritage High School, 1999]; Deming, New Mexico [Deming Middle School, 1999]; Fort Gibson, Oklahoma [Fort Gibson Middle School, 1999]; Santee, California [Santana High School, 2001]; El Cajon, California [Granite Hills High School, 2001]; Blacksburg, Virginia [Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 2007]? Sincerely, Concerned Student.

Reply: Dear Concerned Student, I am not allowed in schools. Sincerely, God.

How did this get started? I think it started when Madelyn Murray O’Hair complained she didn’t want any prayer in our schools, and we said, ‘Okay.’

Then, someone said you’d better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says, “thou shalt not kill”, “thou shalt not steal”, and “love your neighbor as yourself”. And we said, ‘Okay.’

Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn’t spank our children when they misbehave, because their personalities would be warped, and we might damage their self-esteem. And we said, “An expert must know what he’s talking about, so we won’t spank them anymore.”

Then, someone said, “Teachers and principals better not discipline our children when they misbehave,” and the school administrators said, “No faculty member in this school better touch a student when they misbehave, because we don’t want any bad publicity, and we surely don’t wanna be sued.” And we accepted their reasoning.

Then, someone said, “Let’s let our daughters have abortions if they want, and they won’t even have to tell their parents.” And we said, “That’s a grand idea.”

Then, some wise school board members said, “Since boys will be boys and they’re gonna do it anyway, let’s give our sons all the condoms they want so they can have all the fun they desire, and we won’t have to tell the parents we got them at school.” And we said, “That’s another great idea.”

Then, some of our top elected officials said, “It doesn’t matter what we do in private, as long as we do our jobs.” And we said, “It doesn’t matter what anybody, including the president, does in private, as long as we have jobs and the economy is good.”

And someone else took that appreciation a step further and published pictures of nude children, and then stepped further by making them available on the Internet. And we said, “Everyone’s entitled to free speech.”

And the entertainment industry said, “Let’s make TV shows and movies that promote profanity, violence and illicit sex, and let’s record music that encourages rape, drugs, murder, suicide and satanic themes. [Evil-looking skull appears on screen.] And we said, “It’s just entertainment and it has no adverse effect, and nobody takes it seriously, anyway, so go right ahead.”

Now, we’re asking ourselves why our children have no conscience? Why they don’t know right from wrong? And why it doesn’t bother them to kill strangers, classmates, or even themselves? Undoubtedly, if we thought about it long and hard enough, we could figure it out. Surely, it has a great deal to do with “we reap what we sow”.

Once again, there are just so many things wrong with this that one scarcely knows where to begin. The silliness of expecting God to save people from violence (in itself contradictory on a number of levels)? The idiocy of the idea that legislatively banning a supposedly omnipresent and omnipotent God from some earthly locale (and all limited to the US, of course, because we all know the Christian God doesn’t apply elsewhere) would somehow stint his supposedly protective influence? Or the transparent distortion being employed against the concept of separation of church and state?

Daily Blend: Sunday, July 10, 2011

Chick Beer

• Washington AG and gubernatorial candidate Rob McKenna (R) calls cops on man videotaping him during a public meeting.
  (via The Agitator)

• GOP presidential candidate Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) signs far-Right group’s pledge promising to ban all forms of porn (and that states that homosexuality is a choice and a health risk), among other things.
  (via The Agitator)

• Oh, and Rick Santorum joins her. But then, what else is a frothy mix to do?

• Washington State man thrown in jail, loses job and car when he tries to cash in erroneous cheque from Chase Bank. Chase refused to apologize to “the customer”.

• For all those who are tired of manly booze like Budweiser and Coors, now presenting: Chick Beer. Seriously.
  (via @jennifurret)

• Stars? Suns? Animals? Boooring. How flags should look like.

If you have any story suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments or send them in.

Tags: Rob McKenna • Zack Wurtz • Michele Bachmann • THE FAMiLY LEADER • homosexuality • Rick Santorum • Chase Bank • Ikenna Njoku • Chick Beer • beer • Cracked.com • flags

Daily Blend: Friday, June 03, 2011

VS Naipaul

• US Health and Human Services Department rejects Indiana GOP’s attempt at axing Planned Parenthood funding with proposed Medicaid changes.
  (via ThinkProgress)

• … So, naturally, Indiana officials proclaim their bold intention to enforce the illegal law anyway, putting all critical state Medicaid funding at risk. Brilliant tacticians, aren’t they. | Update: (06/16/11) – Justice Department now joins the battle against these idiots.
  

• Orthodox Jewish leaders apparently think the way the Catholic Church deals with clerical child abuse cases is the right approach to take.

• You know the report that the ACLU is supposedly suing to give prisoners access to porn? Rightist-spread bullshit, as usual.

• VS Naipaul [pictured]: No woman author past or present writes as good as I do! Me: At least people have actually actually heard of Stephanie Meyer.
  (via @ebertchicago)

• The Courtier’s Reply … in sausages.
  (via Pharyngula)

• Headline of the day.
  (via @radleybalko)

If you have any story suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments or send them in.

Tags: US Dept. of Health and Human Services • Indiana • GOP • Republicans • Planned Parenthood • Medicaid • Orthodox Jews • Catholic Church • ACLU • The Drudge Report • VS Naipaul • The Courtier's Reply • Answers in Genes

Daily Blend: Saturday, May 07, 2011

Claude Choules (110)

• Note to “Deathers”: Al-Qaeda confirms Osama bin Laden’s death in Internet statement at jihadist forums.
  (via Joe. My. God.)

• Pseudonymous US Military interrogator asserts that torture only harms anti-terrorism efforts.
  (via @todayspolitics)

• Florida Legislature passes bills banning bestiality and baggy pants, proves they have absolutely nothing better to do.
  (via The Agitator)

• Professional bluenosing group American Family Association throws a fit over Sears selling porn DVDs “to children” – because the site lacked age verification, so obviously, they’re pro-porn-for-kids – and then gloats as their pearl-clutching followers force Sears to pull the “extremely offensive!” listings.

• It’s getting increasingly difficult to tell whenever Vox Day is trying to be either serious or sarcastic with his lame anti-atheistic arguments.

• Last surviving WWI veteran [pictured] dies at 110.

• FCKH8: You can fucking say ‘gay’.

• This anti-evolution church sign does have a point.

If you have any story suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments or send them in.

Supplemental tags: Churches • Humor • Evolution • Claude Choules

Daily Blend: Thursday, May 05, 2011

Pat Trueman

• Texas high school teacher suspended for telling American Muslim girl “I bet that you’re grieving” over her “uncle’s death”, then sniggering when she cries. Fire the bastard.
  (via @todayspolitics)

• Research with transgender workers once again proves gender-wage gap is a thing of the present. Clincher: The closing lines.
  (via @PersonalFailure)

• City of Manhattan, Kansas votes to repeal recently incorporated LGBT inclusion in anti-discrimination policy.
  (via Joe. My. God.)

• Morality in Media’s Pat Trueman [pictured]: Legalizing adult porn leads to child porn. Seriously.

• Fox News’s Eric Bolling has apparently not yet learned the art of hole-digging course reversal.

• Cute.

If you have any story suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments or send them in.