Daily Blend: Thursday, December 23, 2010

Judson Phillips

• I dunno much about the United Methodists, but given that they have Tea Party Nation founder Judson Phillips [pictured] raving about them being “SOCIALISTS!”, I think I’ll side with them.
  (via Alison)

• Pat Robertson voices his support for … legalizing marijuana?
  (via @todayspolitics)

• Religious-Righters falsely claim victory over CDC study showing that teen pregnancies have fallen to a historic new low without any indication of the use of abstinence.

• How to get your car de-snowed overnight for free – the godless way.
  (via Friendly Atheist)

• The Niagara Falls, bone-dry in 1969. Freaky.
  (via The Agitator)

• London, abandoned. Stay away from the shadows …
  (via The Agitator)

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

Fail Quote of the Day: Donohue won’t mind his own business

Bill Donohue

From Bill Donohue, reacting to a segment on today’s episode of The View where the hosts criticized the excommunication of a Catholic hospital administrator who thought it would be better to allow the termination of an 11-week pregnancy than to allow her patient to suffer a certain death:

It is an ugly site [sight]: grown women sitting around bashing a religion that none belong to. Though at one time three did: Joy Behar, Whoopi Goldberg and Elisabeth Hasselbeck are all ex-Catholics. They went bonkers today—the crosstalk makes them look downright delirious—ripping away about the Catholic Church because a nun was excommunicated for allowing an abortion at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix. What they didn't say was that the nun gave her formal consent to the killing of an innocent child. More important, since none of the panelists are Catholic, it is none of their business anyway.

So, wait – the hosts aren’t allowed to criticize something that pertains to a religion that they don’t (or no longer) belong to? I ask, is that rule only limited to TV hosts, and not angry little blowhards who spend much of their time attacking anything and everything that doesn’t quite sit well with them, from atheists to Muslims and anything in between?

The only thing worse than Donohue’s self-righteous idiocy is his blindness to the irony of his own attacks. As one might say: Bitch, please.

The Zadroga/Stewart Bill finally passes

Jon Stewart The literal hero’s hero

And thus, we all (especially 9/11 first responders) have yet one more reason to adore Jon Stewart, as the Zadroga Bill, aka the 9/11 healthcare bill that’s been repeatedly blocked by game-playing Senate Republicans, has finally been approved:

The Senate on Wednesday approved a bill to cover the cost of medical care for rescue workers and others who became sick from breathing in toxic fumes, dust and smoke after the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center.

The vote, passed by unanimous consent, came soon after a deal was reached between conservative Republicans and Senators Charles E. Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand. The New York Democrats agreed to changes demanded by the conservative lawmakers, who raised concerns about the measure’s cost and prevented the bill from advancing in the Senate. After drawing criticism in recent days from Democrats and Republicans alike, the Republican senators backed down.

Under the new agreement, the bill provides $4.3 billion over five years for health coverage to the 9/11 workers, instead of the original $7.4 billion over eight years.

Of course, what the above report apparently forgot to mention is the reason why the Republicans’ filibuster has “[drawn] criticism in recent days” from both sides of the political aisle. It’s now pretty much clear as day that the bill would have effectively died under Republican obstructionism had it not been for Jon Stewart, and Jon Stewart alone, who took it upon himself to campaign for public awareness of this bill, for the heroes of 9/11 who were being stabbed in the back, and to show just who it was holding the knife. As The Young Turks’ Cenk Uygur put it, this might as well be named the Jon Stewart Bill in order to credit the guy for single-handedly bringing the issue back to the spotlight in its most dire hour.

So, really, if 9/11 first responders want to thank anyone, let it not be the heartless Republican ghouls who’re so willing to use them for political gain and then abandon them the next second, or the media, who’ve been just as neglectful as always in letting this crucial issue die. Let them thank that comparatively obscure funnyman who hosts a “fake news” show on Comedy Central, the comedian who’s shown time and time again why he deserves, more than nearly anyone else in the media industry, the title of the most trusted journalist in America.

Daily Blend: Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Harrison Ford in Blue Angel [source]

• President Obama signs the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal bill into law. Still not certain how long before it takes full effect.

• What religious belief(s) (if any) best fit your personality? I am apparently 100% Secular Humanist, 92% Unitarian Universalist, 78% Nontheist and only 14% Roman Catholic. I can live with that.
  (via @PersonalFailure)

• 11 Celebrities Who Were Secretly Total Badasses. It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s Harrison Ford [pictured] saving stranded hikers!

• Mmmm, steamed vajajays.

• The zaniness of when parents text.
  (via The Agitator)

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

How Jon Stewart (might have) single-handedly saved the 9/11 health bill [UPDATED]

Last Thursday night, Jon Stewart took it upon himself to end his one-man crusade for the Zadroga Bill, which is meant to offer healthcare services to all the 9/11 first responders who are suffering from various medical issues as a direct result of their work in the toxic Ground Zero during and after the 9/11 attacks, by criticizing the media for failing to report on it and even hosting a roundtable discussion with four actual 9/11 first responders to discuss the Republican blocking of the bill in the Senate. It was a magnificent bit, and pleasantly enough, it seems to be having the desired effect of waking people up to the issue:

The Jon Stewart Bill. I like that. The man certainly deserves that sort all the credit he can get.

(via @todayspolitics)

Vox Day doesn’t like Ricky Gervais’s atheistic holiday message

Ricky Gervais

Last Sunday, Ricky Gervais showed the size of either his balls or his love for rousing rabble when he brazenly, almost impetuously, took to the Speakeasy blog of the Wall Street Journal, that traditional conservative den, and posted an essay explaining why he’s an atheist. It’s a good read overall, not especially provocative or reflexive, similar to the countless others of its sort that we’ve seen over the years, but still worth checking out.

Of course, the main reason why I check out atheistic sermons (oh, you know what I mean) isn’t so much for expanding my mind, but to regale in the assured tooth-gnashing to come from nearby anti-atheists. And indeed, the response has not been disappointing, least of all on the part of my favorite chew toy, Vox Day, who just can’t miss a good opportunity to attack atheists and, in doing so, reveal once again just why no-one’s willing to share a debate scene with him. (Hint: It isn’t, as he’s whined about in the past, because others are afraid of losing to him.) Unlike Gervais’s measured, civil and generally interesting piece, Vox’s contains no more than the sort of empty insults, distorted facts and general childlike seething that we’ve come to expect of him. Hence why I so enjoy dissecting his diatribes every now and then.

So, as usual, from the top:

No, you can't have your own facts. And yet, that is exactly what Gervais attempts to do throughout his "sensitive and reasoned answer". First, Gervais is too socially autistic to to understand that the statement "I don’t believe in God because there is absolutely no scientific evidence for his existence and from what I’ve heard the very definition is a logical impossibility in this known universe” is no more patronizing or impolite than science is arrogant.

It is Gervais himself that people find patronizing, impolite, and arrogant, not his illogical statement or anthropomorphized science. He is the walking, talking evidence of the existence of the definitive Dawkinsian atheist, who does not believe in God because he is an asshole. Despite his attempts to blame people's natural dislike of him on other things, there is no irony to be found because there is simply nothing there.

Daily Blend: Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Sarah Palin and her teleprompter

• Shocking: Diehard hypocrite Sarah Palin uses high-end teleprompter [pictured] in her own home studio.
  (via @todayspolitics)

• Germans are quitting the Catholic Church in droves. Endlich.
  (via @religionnews)

• Freedom From Religion Foundation is once again complaining about the wrong thing. Seriously, folks, limit your outrage to Establishment Clause violations.

• Awesome: Missoula County, Montana District Court juries revolt, refuse to convict defendants for possession of marijuana.
  (via The Agitator)

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

Doggycide and a dumb reaction

Sad puppy is sad about doggycide

It’s the same story as ever: Cop happens to be in the neighborhood on unrelated business, dog starts barking, cop immediately shoots and kills pooch in its own yard:

A Clayton County mother of six said the family dog did what he always did when he saw someone. He barked.

But when "Boomer" started barking and running toward a police officer Saturday morning, the officer shot the dog and killed it, Lawrene King told the AJC Sunday night.

“He’s a golden retriever," King said. "He barks, but he’s never bitten anyone.”

A Clayton County police officer was on foot patrol on North Shore Drive when the dog jumped off a porch and started barking and running toward the officer, Capt. Tina Daniel said. The officer ordered the dog to stop and when it didn't, the officer shot and killed the animal in its yard, Daniel said.

The officer, whose name was not released, was responding to a call reporting a suspicious person, police said.

Meanwhile, tweep Todays Politics (@todayspolitics) had this common yet stupid reaction:

The Pedophile’s Guide author arrested for obscenity

[source]

Last November, the Internet suddenly boiled with the news that Amazon.com was selling a book titled The Pedophile’s Guide To Love & Pleasure: A Child-Lover’s Code Of Conduct, which was described as a manual purportedly informing pedophiles how to engage in sexual relations with children in a harmless manner. (Again, that’s from the book’s own back-cover description, not mine.) The outcry was as sharp as you’d expect, and before long, Amazon removed the offending book from its listings.

Now, it may be no secret that I don’t consider pedophilia, in itself, to be morally wrong, no more than any other sexuality, no matter how “deviant” society may perceive it as. (It’s the act of molesting children that’s morally wrong, and neither is it inherent to pedophilia, nor are all child molesters pedophiles. Hence my pet peeve with people continually lumping pedophiles and child molesters in the same group; don’t.) However, this being a self-proclaimed guide to consummating sexual relations with children, it had an undeniably high potential for use in harmful acts, and therefore had no place on Amazon.com; thus, and I fully support its removal.

[Update: As mentioned in the comments, I’ve changed my mind and now assert that though it’s certainly Amazon’s right to remove whatever item(s) they wish from their listings for whatever reason(s), doing so is still wrong on the basis that the book, itself, posed no threat to anyone for the simple reason that child molesters don’t need a ruddy guide in order to abuse children, and that decent people won’t be tempted to bugger minors simply because they read a book about it.]

What I most certainly don’t support, though, is its author, Phillip R. Greaves [pictured], being arrested merely for writing (or distributing) it. From The Huffington Post:

Phillip R. Greaves [source]

Now, the book's author, Phillip R. Greaves, has been arrested in Colorado for violating Florida state obscenity laws, reports Central Flordia News 13.

According to the Polk Country sheriff's office in Florida, Internet Crimes Division detectives contacted Greaves at his Colorado home and requested a copy of "The Pedophile's Guide to Love and Pleasure." Greaves allegedly sent a signed copy to the Polk County deputies.

The transaction led to Greaves's arrest on December 20, writes CFNews13.

Greaves faces third-degree felony charges for "distribution of obscene material depicting minors engaged in conduct harmful to minors," according to the Orlando Sentinel.

Daily Blend: Monday, December 20, 2010

Susan Caldwell [source]

• Terminally ill Georgia woman [pictured] sues to overturn the state’s anti-assisted suicide law. We have a right to live, and we also have a right to choose our own death.
  (via @todayspolitics)

• 5 Ridiculous Things You Probably Believe About Islam, via Cracked.com.
  (via @todayspolitics)

• So Ken Ham’s Kentuckian Ark theme park will attract either 900, 14,000 or 200,000,000 jobs. Maybe their ‘0’ key just keeps sticking.

• Roger Ebert says these animations almost rival anything Pixar does. I agree. A delightful holiday present.

• Med school is stressful and awkward enough as it is. So performing an autopsy on their own professor may not help the mood much.
  (via The Agitator)

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

Vox Day reacts to the DADT repeal

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Contrary to my expectations, my favorite target’s, Vox Day, reaction to yesterday’s landmark Senate decision to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was actually quite sane and even mostly reasonable, in contrast with his previous hysterics over other pro-LGBT rulings. There isn’t all that much of interest in his relatively short piece, save for two bits I thought were worth dissecting:

The repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell, which effectively permits the many closeted homosexuals in the U.S. armed forces to openly exhibit their abnormal preferences and presumably to act upon them, is therefore likely to prove less salutary to American military efficiency and effectiveness. While it is true that other Western militaries have eliminated their bans on homosexuals, it is also worth noting that none of them are presently capable of successfully invading Jerry Jones's new stadium even if it were defended only by the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders.

First of all, just as with so many other cranks, Vox seems to believe that allowing homosexual servicepeople to finally stop hiding their sexual orientation is apparently equal to letting them organize gay pride marches through the barracks and hit on anything that moves that has matching genitalia, or something. This is just idiotic. Straight troops certainly aren’t allowed to create sexually charged displays or disturbances within the ranks (and those who do are typically punished swiftly and harshly, as they should be). Why do DADT advocates act as though this would be in any way different for gay and lesbian troops?

And second, I really have to snicker every time some pro-DADT crank implies that the reason why other countries who allow both straight and gay servicepeople to serve openly don’t have militaries as formidable as the United States’ may in fact be due to their lack of a gay ban. Such thinking only appears logical if you coincidentally disregard the facts that the US Military A) is the best-funded on the planet (by a truly absurd margin), B) has a larger number of troops than nearly everyone else, and C) possesses all the latest in equipment and armaments, amongst other contributing factors. None of these have anything to do with the presence (or lack thereof) of gay troops and whether or not they’re allowed to serve openly. The idea that the US is only made better because gays aren’t allowed (which is contradicted by the fact that there are already tens of thousands of gay troops serving at the very least) is downright moronic.

Daily Blend: Sunday, December 19, 2010

Lt. Col. Stacy L. Maxey [photo retouched by me] [source]

• USAF Lt. Col. Stacy L. Maxey [pictured] openly asserts his intent to continue being a preachy Christian dickhead if DADT is repealed.

• Tweep Steven Smith’s tragic death reveals how the online world is filled with people, too. Includes two heart-wrenching last sentences.
  (via @ebertchicago)

• Unintended irony: House Speaker Boehner (R-OH) names Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) as new member of the House Intelligence Committee.
  (via @todayspolitics)

• Stop snowboarding like a wuss. Get a fighter jet already!
  (via Fark)

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