Friday, July 22, 2011

Daily Blend: Friday, July 22, 2011

By Joé McKen at 3:42 PM ET | | »
Rush Limbaugh
Rush Limbaugh

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Cops threaten to kill paraplegic man’s dog in marijuana raid

By Joé McKen at 3:24 PM ET | | »
Jason “RoLLaJaY” Rivera, smoking medicinal marijuana in wheelchair
Jason Rivera

Most cases of dogs shot and killed by police are arguably the result of lack of training and/or bad judgment calls, but every now and then comes a story where it’s impossible to argue that the cops weren’t just being wanton assholes. Here’s an infuriating report of a paralyzed Oregon man, dependent on medicinal marijuana to reduce his crippling pain, being visited by the cops, who quickly turned less than amiable:

Jason Rivera, a paraplegic who suffers severe chronic pain, was detained by sheriffs presenting a warrant at his recording studio. The warrant was based on the tip of an anonymous informant, said Rivera, recounting the statements of deputies on the scene.

As sheriffs executed the warrant at the studio, one asked Rivera about searching his home. Rivera says the deputy threatened to kill his dog if he didn't cooperate. "We can do this the easy way and you can take us to your house to look around," Rivera recounts the deputy saying, "or we can detain you for six hours while we get a warrant and go to your house and shoot your dog."

What’s even worse is the vanishingly small chance that these thugs will even be disciplined in the slightest, much less fired.

As it happens, Rivera is actually a personal friend of the reporter, who makes no secret of his outrage:

In Rivera's case, however, we have officers who are obviously aware there is a dog at his home. They cannot justify using force against the animal when they have plenty of time to contact Animal Control and deal with the potential threat humanely. This threat is nothing more than emotional terrorism by our domestic police force to trample a disabled man's Fourth Amendment rights in a crusade over a plant.

(Full disclosure: Rivera is also known as "RoLLaJaY" and one of the closest friends of the NORML [National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws] SHOW LIVE podcast I produce. He donated to NORML thousands of dollars of used recording equipment that makes our show possible. He lives on a Social Security disability fixed income and requires a great amount of cannabis medicine just to live a pain-free life. He had very little usable medicine and about $80 cash when the raid occurred; coincidentally as he was listening to today's NORML SHOW LIVE. Life in a prison cell without cannabis would be devastating for RoLLaJaY... far more so than the lesser time some lowlife coward snitch just traded for my friend's health and freedom.)

How long must these miscarriages of justice go on before people finally demand reform? And similarly, how much longer before officials finally begin to realize their hysterical war on pain patients and Average Joes who just like to relax with a few tokes now and then is not only a monumental waste of time and resources, but has been fundamentally doomed from the start?

(via @ggreenwald)

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Friday Canine: What, got something in my teeth?

By Joé McKen at 12:00 AM ET | | »

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Thursday, July 21, 2011

Daily Blend: Thursday, July 21, 2011

By Joé McKen at 5:45 PM ET | | »
Photoshopped image of PZ Myers as very fat woman in lingerie
More childish than children

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Canadian “gay deconversion” group angry at proposal to strip them of tax-exempt status

By Joé McKen at 5:20 PM ET | | »
Canada Family Action logo
Canada Family Action logo

A Canadian-based “gay deconversion therapy” group is hoppin’ mad that the New Democratic Party (NDP) has presented legislation that would strip anti-gay entities like them of their tax-exempt status:

The New Democratic Party (NDP), which supplanted the Liberal Party in the May election as the dominate left-wing political group, recently held its convention in Vancouver and unanimously approved a resolution that calls on the Canadian government to revoke the charitable status of "ex-gay organizations."

Brian Rushfeldt, executive director of Canada Family Action (CFA), contends the NDP's resolution is "blatant discrimination" against groups that assist those exiting the homosexual lifestyle.

"When they will target a few particular ministries that minister to people wanting to get out of the homosexual lifestyle ... and say, 'We're going to shut you down,' there is no other word for it except blatant discrimination based somehow on left-wing socialist ideology," Rushfeldt decides. "Thankfully, the NDP is simply a party that will never, I don't think, be forming government in Canada. So that's a great protection for us from this kind of ideology."

Cry me a fucking river. Quacks who go around pretending that conflicted individuals can just prey teh ghey awey deserve to be discredited and exposed as the dangerous bullshit-mongers they are, not afforded the luxury of not paying taxes. If you’re going to go around and worsen the problems of desperate individuals who actually need qualified help, the very least you could do is pay your dues to society like everyone else. Only cranks like these could cry persecution and discrimination when told they might need to pay taxes.

Giving these charlatans the same status as the likes of the Red Cross and other benevolent charities is beyond insulting; it gives them credibility when they have none. Ideally, they would be brought to court for all the harm they so gratuitously cause, but as it is, let’s just settle for not granting them any further legitimacy.

(via Joe. My. God.)

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Doggycide: Texas cops shoot & kill family’s Saint Bernard

By Joé McKen at 4:25 PM ET | | »
Saint Bernard Payton with little boy on bed
Payton with little boy

Just more of the usual police incompetence in dealing with household pets:

LUBBOCK, TX (KCBD) - A Lubbock family has now hired an attorney after a police officer shot their dog while responding to their home being invaded last week.

John Espinoza, the owner of the house on the 6400 block of 33rd Street, said he left his garage open while he and his family were at home. He says intruders armed with large guns entered his home through the garage and asked for his wallet and his wife's purse. Espinoza refused to surrender the items, he said. Unarmed, he chased the assailants through the backyard to the next street, he said.

"At the time I didn't care if they shot me, I wasn't going to stop," said Espinoza, "The reason why they didn't take anything is they came in and I put up a fight. I got out and it's one o'clock in the afternoon. I'm yelling and kicking the gate."

That's when Payton, the family's Saint Bernard got out, Espinoza said.

Espinoza's wife called the police and officers responded to the home invasion call. The family is thankful they are safe, but it's the actions of the police that have them considering a lawsuit.

Police say when officers approached the house, the dog ran aggressively at them out of the open garage. Police shot the dog in the front yard. Espinoza says the officer shot Payton in front of his wife and two daughters.

"The officer just shot him in the head and she said when he shot him, she just saw his head rock and dust everywhere and he just fell down," said Espinoza.

Of course, anyone who has any idea what the Saint Bernard breed is like will immediately understand that the only way the cops could not be guilty of excessive force is if the pooch had somehow turned rabid the second it spotted the officers. St. Bernards are renown for being just about the most docile and kind-spirited animal out there. This effectively makes it just about impossible that the cops acted reasonably in pumping lead into poor Payton’s skull right in front of the family.

As usual, the cops didn’t even let the family take the poor creature’s remains, rather waiting for the animal services to come and take the body. Because if you’re gonna slaughter an innocent animal for no good reason, might as well go full dickhole about it.

(via The Agitator)

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A Christian quiz on dressing modestly

By Joé McKen at 3:09 PM ET | | »
Cartoon of scantily-leather-clad woman with gun
Pictured: Probably more modest in manners than most preachy Christians

Answers in Genesis has a quiz [PDF] by Revive Our Hearts, a “[w]omen’s [m]inistry” for those “[s]eeking Biblical [w]omahood”, about how we (namely, those perpetually immodest females) should all be dressing; after all, modesty is next to holiness in the eyes of the Lord, or something. Of course, these are all from a stringently God-fearing perspective, so I suppose my secular point-of-view may clash somewhat with the narrative this quiz is trying to push. Who knows.

Here’s my obligatory take on the 17-point list:

Take the following True/False quiz to discover what you really believe about clothing, and then compare your responses with the answer key below.

1. According to the Bible, the primary purpose of clothing is to cover the body.

I’m gonna have to guess “True”, seeing as I’ve never read the thing. (Fully, anyway.) Oddly enough, covering the body is also the non-Biblical reason for wearing clothes, though I suspect the motive behind this desire to envelop the body in cloth may be different than the holy book’s rationale.

2. There’s nothing right or wrong about particular clothing styles. It’s all just a matter of taste and personal opinion.

True. It’s all about individuality, after all, and if your clothes are comfortable and are allowed given any locally applicable rules (hint: no “death to Obama” shirts while in Congress!), then knock yourself out.

3. The Bible tells us what styles of clothing Christians should wear.

True. (What doesn’t the Bible dictate?)

4. Since the Bible says God looks on the heart, what we wear and how we appear aren’t that important; it’s what’s on the inside that counts.

I suppose that should be “True”, but then, God is nothing if not petty and fickle.

5. Our clothes and appearance reveal a lot about our values, our character, and beliefs.

Ambiguous. Sometimes yes, sometimes no; I’d argue that how you dress really speaks a whole lot more about your sense of fashion than anything else. That goth kid with the chains and spiky leather boots may actually be the kindest chap around, whereas your local three-piece-suit type may be the next economy-collapsing CEO. (Hey, that’s pretty evil to me.) We place way too much emphasis on how people dress.

Continued …»
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Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Daily Blend: Wednesday, July 20, 2011

By Joé McKen at 4:03 PM ET | | »
Bishop Lawrence Provenzano (Long Island, New York)
Bishop Lawrence Provenzano
[source]

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Sen. Franken slams anti-gay group for distorting study

By Joé McKen at 2:58 PM ET | | »

Twisting and distorting studies to suit their bigoted agenda is practically a pastime for anti-gay conservative “family” groups, but it’s only too rare to see any of them ever be held accountable for it. Which makes this all the more wonderful: Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) grilling Tom Minnery, the head of CitizenLink (the group behind this atrocious video), a Focus on the Family affiliate, over his insidious misrepresentation of a 2010 government study wherein he redefines “nuclear families” as “opposite-sex married families” and claims to be ignorant of which definition the study used – despite it being right there in the actual text of the study. Watch:

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

[Senate debate on DOMA repeal (SH-216)]

SEN. AL FRANKEN (D-MN): Mr. Minnery, on page eight of your written testimony, you write, quote: “Children living […] with their own married, biological and/or adopted mothers and fathers were generally healthier and happier, had better access to healthcare, less likely to suffer mild or severe emotional problems, did better in school, were protected from physical, emotional and sexual abuse, and almost never live in poverty compared with children in any other family form.” You cite a Department of Health and Human Services study – that I have right here [holds up study papers] – from December 2010 to support this conclusion.

[smiles] I checked the study out. [mild audience laughter] And I would like to enter into the record, if I may?

SOMEONE: [No objection.]

FRANKEN: And it actually doesn’t say what you said it says. It says that nuclear families, not opposite-sex married families, are associated with those positive outcomes. Isn’t it true, Mr. Minnery, that a married same-sex couple that has had or adopted kids would fall under the definition of a nuclear family in the study that you cite?

TOM MINNERY: I would think that the study, when it cites nuclear families, would mean a family headed by a husband and wife.

FRANKEN: It doesn’t. [audience laughter] The study defines a nuclear family as “one or more children living with two parents who are married to one another and are each biological or adoptive to all the children in the family.” And I frankly don’t really know how we can trust the rest of your testimony if you are reading studies these ways.

It’s less clear whether these Liars for JesusTM actually don’t bother to read the research they’re basing their bullshit arguments on, or if they do know exactly what the text says and conscientiously lie about it. Either way, it’s a pretty damning show of utter dishonesty that would immediately disqualify any further testimony they may have brought to bear in any ideal world.

For all the previous fuss over how Franken’s previous career as a comedian might hinder his competence as a legislator, he certainly seems keen on disproving such notions by being one of the damn best lawmakers in the Senate. Even more kudos to him for holding these bastards’ feet to the fire until they’re nicely burned.

(via Joe. My. God.)

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BREAKING: Ghana official orders immediate arrest of all LGBTs

By Joé McKen at 2:04 PM ET | | »
Minister Paul Evans Aidoo (Western Region, Ghana)
Min. Paul Evans Aidoo

Not to be glib about it, but if African countries want to end the stigma of being the world’s shithole, maybe they ought to stop being so retarded and inhumane, particularly when it comes to LGBTs:

The Western Region Minister Paul Evans Aidoo has ordered the immediate arrest of all homosexuals in the region.

He has tasked the Bureau of National Investigations and all security agencies to smoke out persons suspected to be engaging in same sex.

He also enlisted the services of landlords and tenants to provide reliable information which will lead to the arrest of homosexuals.

His directive follows months of campaigns against the practice of homosexuality in the country.

Only yesterday, the Christian Council of Ghana capped months of protestations against the practice of homosexuality with a strongly worded message against the practice and courting Ghanaians not to vote for any politician who believes in the rights of homosexuals.

It may be hard to believe, but it seems that Ghana has now gone even further than Uganda has, despite achieving global renown with its (now mercifully shelved) Anti-Homosexuality (“Kill the Gays”) Act.

And is anyone even remotely surprised to find that religious fervor – particularly that bastion of love and morality that is Christianity – is once again directly behind this?

(via Joe. My. God.)

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Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Daily Blend: Tuesday, July 19, 2011

By Joé McKen at 6:19 PM ET | | »
Jerry L. Guy
Jerry L. Guy
[source]

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Bachmann’s crazy possibly caused by incapacitating migraines?

By Joé McKen at 2:37 PM ET | | »
Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN)
Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN)

Not that I’m of the habit of linking to the likes of The Daily Caller, but they’ve broken a story that definitely merits a mention. Is it possible that Rep. Michele Bachmann’s (R-MN) erratic behavior (ie. her being fundamentally divorced from reality) may be at least part due to a chronic and crippling medical condition?

The Minnesota Republican frequently suffers from stress-induced medical episodes that she has characterized as severe headaches. These episodes, say witnesses, occur once a week on average and can “incapacitate” her for days at time. On at least three occasions, Bachmann has landed in the hospital as a result.

“She has terrible migraine headaches. And they put her out of commission for a day or more at a time. They come out of nowhere, and they’re unpredictable,” says an adviser to Bachmann who was involved in her 2010 congressional campaign. “They level her. They put her down. It’s actually sad. It’s very painful.”

Bachmann’s medical condition wouldn’t merit public attention, but for the fact she is running for president. Some close to Bachmann fear she won’t be equal to the stress of the campaign, much less the presidency itself.

“When she gets ‘em, frankly, she can’t function at all. It’s not like a little thing with a couple Advils. It’s bad,” the adviser says. “The migraines are so bad and so intense, she carries and takes all sorts of pills. Prevention pills. Pills during the migraine. Pills after the migraine, to keep them under control. She has to take these pills wherever she goes.”

It’s difficult to say what impact these migraines may be having on her professional career, and if they may be at least partially to blame for some of the crazy things she’s said and done. Never am I one to pry in other people’s personal affairs, but in this case, I do think it would be best to try and figure such things out as soon as possible, given the fact that this woman – who we’ve already known was at least intellectually unstable, but who we now have reason to believe may be physically or even psychologically affected as well – is running for President of the United States. I don’t know about you, but the idea of the the Commander-in-Chief having some mysterious medical ailment that can incapacitate their judgment so thoroughly and unpredictably is hardly a reassuring one.

Now, of course, there’s already virtually no chance in hell that Bachmann will ever come even near to the presidential podium, so that’s really more of a hypothetical concern than anything else. Still, though, it would be interesting to know how more sane she might seem if not for these migraines.

(via Political Irony)

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