Bernie Goldberg and Fox News have met their maker: Jon Stewart

Jon Stewart is crazy, but it’s a good crazy. The kind you need to have the idea – and guts – to mount an 11-minute rant against Faux News during which you delightfully, almost vindictively, take each of their bullshit points apart one by one until there’s nothing left, the whole culminating with a choral ever-so-masterfully telling them to “go fuck themselves”. Really, Stewart has taken take-downs and turned them into an art – a wonderful, hilarious, derangedly satisfying art. The video (as promised earlier, itself a rebuke to both Fox News and Bernie Goldberg concerning Stewart’s original “go fuck yourselves” bit), below, along with some of my favorite excerpts beneath.

[In response to Goldberg claiming he’s blurring the line between comedy and social commentary and that he needs to “find some guts”]
“Okay, two things. One: not all of us have your guts, Bernie. It takes a tough man to walk into O’Reilly’s lions’ den and criticize liberal elites. And two: to say that comedians have to decide whether they’re comedians or social commentators – comedians do social commentary through comedy. That’s how it’s worked for thousands of years. I have not moved out of the comedian’s box into the news box. The news box is moving towards me.”

It’s a little late for remorse, Pope Ratzi

[source: BrightsOnline]

Excuse me if I don’t take his promises for granted:

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI promised Wednesday that the Catholic Church would take action to confront the clerical sex abuse scandal, making his first public comments on the crisis days after meeting with victims.

During his weekly public audience in St. Peter's Square, Benedict recounted his tearful weekend meeting in Malta with eight men who say they were abused as children by priests in a church-run orphanage.

"I shared with them their suffering, and emotionally prayed with them, assuring them of church action," Benedict said.

At the time of the private meeting Sunday, the Vatican issued a statement saying Benedict had told the men that the church would do everything in its power to bring justice to abusive priests and would implement "effective measures" to protect children.

Now, whether or not Pope Ratzi actually did cry – genuinely, of empathy – in meeting these victims, I don’t know. I don’t believe he actually is evil or truly heartless; merely self-centered and greedy (which tend to be requisites for any positions of power, churchly or not). But, the thing is, his words and promise of “church action” and “effective measures” against clerical child sex abuse may carry a bit more weight if he hadn’t dutifully upheld the Church’s policy of defending and shepherding around priests who were caught molesting children, and particularly, if he hadn’t been caught for having written a 1985 letter of his showing him resisting the defrocking of a guilty priest.

Just sayin’.

(via @todayspolitics)

Daily Blend: Wednesday, April 21, 2010

I get the feeling I’ll be installing my bedroom A/C unit early this year …

• McCain: Those damn illegal immigrants! Stealing our jobs, mowing our lawns, making our BigMacs, deliberately causing highway accidents …
  (via @mmaction)

• Did you know that soldiers and vets are also prone to being cheated out of their lifetime benefits due to bogus “preexisting conditions” diagnoses?

• Once again, court rules favorably on an atrociously unfair subject I never even knew existed: apparently, atheist ex-cons are routinely forced into religious rehab, and can be carted back to jail if they “flunk” (ie. refuse to convert). Seriously.

• I sense another “go fuck yourself” in the near future. [Note: I was more than right. I shall post a video of Stewart’s magnum opus of Fox News bitchslappings as soon as I find it.]
  (via @todayspolitics)

• Maybe governments and organizations ought to take a leaf from Google’s book when it comes to transparency.

As always, if you have any story suggestions, feel free to send them in.

Tea Party Weekly – the teabagger’s Bible

Not sure whether this would fly off the shelves or quickly go out of print. Would be interesting to try, though, no?

‘Tea Party Weekly’ | Dustinland

It’s missing an article on “Four ways to forget that Medicare is a government-run service”.

(via @todayspolitics)

What Pat Condell (and everyone) knows about Islam

Daily Blend: Tuesday, April 20, 2010

BOOOOOOBEEEAAARTHQUAAAAAAKE!!!11!

• Yet more awesome pictures of the Icelandic volcano and surroundings. The first is the greatest.
  (via @Naturalismus)

• Insane: Brooksville, FL mayor wants to have employees fired for smoking during their own personal time – just because they’re on city property, including in their personal cars. I say the following in my capacity as someone who doesn’t smoke, never will, regards smoking as a poison and would gladly see it eradicated from society: fuck off.
  (via @todayspolitics)

• I can only hope Maris is behind this somehow. No wonder I don’t like her; I just bet she’s a conservatard!
  (via @todayspolitics)

• Adam Savage (of MythBusters fame) gave a speech at Harvard concerning the nature of morality, amongst other things. A good read. (Or listen, for those lucky bastards who were there.)
  (via @donttrythis)

• Are you ready for Boobquake? One (not-so-)small rack for a man, one giant tittyshake for mankind …

• We live in the digital age now, Hannity, with numerous ways to catch your lying red-handed.
  (via @todayspolitics)

• After reading this, I wish to say: Mohammed is a stupid, self-aggrandizing little bigot who likes it up the rear. A lot. Almost too much. Yeah, he’s a perv. Pervy perv. (Blasphemous enough?)
  (via @religionnews)

As always, if you have any story suggestions, feel free to send them in.

USA! USA! We’re number … uh … #28.6!

(On average, anyway.) Here’s another one for you upholders of that “American exceptionalism” schtick:

Graphic illustrating where the US ranks amongst other countries according to life expectancy (#30), democracy (#17), freedom of press (#41), Internet speed (#15), smallest prison population (#40), lack of corruption (#22), effectiveness of education (#35), mobile phones per capita (#16), renewable energy use (#27), scientific literacy (#33), quality of healthcare (#37) and infant survival rate (#31) [click for full size]

Looking at those numbers, the only thing I have to say is:

If only Iceland weren’t so … icy.

(via @todayspolitics)

Daily Blend: Monday, April 19, 2010

And now I wake up with Dido’s ‘Best Day of My Life’ stuck in my head. Also, I hereby decree that she forfeits the right to be offended if someone casually mispronounces her name by adding an ‘l’ in there. Seriously, what was she thinking?

• Top 10 Craziest Michele Bachmann Quotes. Guaranteed to melt your brain.
  (via Dispatches From the Culture Wars)

• Who is Scott Brown? Apparently, not the enemy the Left originally made him out to be. (Not that he’s ideal, of course. But then, he’s willing to vote pro-choice and pro-gay rights despite his personal opinions otherwise just because his constituents lean that way, so that already seems to make him the most integral Senator currently in office, as far as I know.)

• The 7 Craziest Things Ever Blamed on Homosexuals. Guaranteed to make your blood boil (somewhat).
  (via Dispatches From the Culture Wars)

• Former Arkansas Governor and Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee gives interview to student journalist Michael Tracey of College of New Jersey presenting his ridiculous anti-gay rights views. Tracey writes about said interview and ridiculous anti-gay rights views. Huckabee responds by attacking Tracey. Tracey bites back by releasing full, unedited interview video, corroborating with his journalism and fully discrediting Huckabee, along with a terrific reply: “[…] his words speak for themselves, and it is a shame that he is now so quickly embarrassed of them.”. Sweet.
  (via Friendly Atheist)

• 18 amazing photos of the Icelandic volcano and surroundings. Really, this is rekindling my old passion for these mountains of fire.
  (via @Naturalismus)

• I like this image. Makes for a cool forum signature.

• I so, so, SO wish some of my past teachers would’ve had his cojones.

As always, if you have any story suggestions, feel free to send them in.

Quote of the Day: It’s not Global Warming that will end us

It’s our endless arguing leading to a lack of response to it.

“If the world dies of climate change, then written shall it be on our epitaph, that we argued ourselves to death.”

— [Unknown]

Pretty deep, when you spend a few seconds thinking about it. I found this quote a while ago over at xkcd, but honestly cannot recall where exactly.

Monday U2: Seconds

Going retro a bit, to U2’s early years: the military-themed ‘Seconds’ from War [1983].

Tell me again about how gay people are treated equally? Redux

Last October, I was saddened and outraged when I heard the story of Janice Langbehn, who was prevented from visiting her dying life partner, Lisa Pond, in the hospital, all because of rules permitting the bigots in charge to discriminate against her because she was a lesbian. Thankfully, though, a recent move (and surprise phone call) by President Obama ordering hospitals to give full visitation rights to gays and lesbians basically ensures that no such tragedy would ever happen again.

However, this welcome act came much too late for the unbelievably unfortunate couple in this particular story, a tale that perfectly, heart-breakingly and infuriatingly describes just what sort of vicious and mindless discrimination gay people and couples are routinely forced to endure in America (and across the world), even in this supposedly “enlightened” day and age. Read and weep – or punch something.

Clay and his partner of 20 years, Harold, lived in California. Clay and Harold made diligent efforts to protect their legal rights, and had their legal paperwork in place—wills, powers of attorney, and medical directives, all naming each other. Harold was 88 years old and in frail medical condition, but still living at home with Clay, 77, who was in good health.

One evening, Harold fell down the front steps of their home and was taken to the hospital. Based on their medical directives alone, Clay should have been consulted in Harold’s care from the first moment. Tragically, county and health care workers instead refused to allow Clay to see Harold in the hospital. The county then ultimately went one step further by isolating the couple from each other, placing the men in separate nursing homes.

Ignoring Clay’s significant role in Harold’s life, the county continued to treat Harold like he had no family and went to court seeking the power to make financial decisions on his behalf. Outrageously, the county represented to the judge that Clay was merely Harold’s “roommate.” The court denied their efforts, but did grant the county limited access to one of Harold’s bank accounts to pay for his care.

What happened next is even more chilling: without authority, without determining the value of Clay and Harold’s possessions accumulated over the course of their 20 years together or making any effort to determine which items belonged to whom, the county took everything Harold and Clay owned and auctioned off all of their belongings. Adding further insult to grave injury, the county removed Clay from his home and confined him to a nursing home against his will. The county workers then terminated Clay and Harold's lease and surrendered the home they had shared for many years to the landlord.

A revised poll regarding comments functionality [closed]

I previously asked you readers to tell me, via a poll, how the comments labels on the main page (“Leave a Comment”, “3 Comments”, etc.) appeared, and if it was broken (ie. if it appeared as “undefined” with a broken link). I received 5 answers in total, and as I feared, 4/5 of them were that most of the links (not all) were broken.

Problem is, though, I forgot about browser compatibility and how that might affect the results. What works well in Firefox may be all glitchy in Internet Explorer (IE), and so on. So, for clarification’s sake, I’ve created and posted a revised poll at the top right sidebar: same questions, only now I ask that you also choose which browser you’re using. You can choose a maximum of three answers (in case you use different browsers, and if you want to add a short comment under “Other”). I know it’s a bit tedious to ask again, but please, if you answered the previous poll, do answer again. It might help me decide what to do about the glitch-in-question.

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UPDATE: (5:36 PM) – I’ve (finally) just contacted IntenseDebate technical support. Here’s hoping I receive a reply before long.

UPDATE #2: (5:46 PM) – Also, I’ve closed and removed the poll as it is no longer needed. Results are clear: readers using Firefox have most of the comments labels appear broken.