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| “The lesser evil!” |
Voted yet?
Cracked shines some light on eight popular election myths and explain why the situation isn’t quite as dour as some make it out to be.
And finally, here’s a nice little tension-breaker for this evening:
(via Bad Astronomy)
If you have any story suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments or send them in.
Note: This post was written out of acute irritation with so much election-related nonsense and is in no way directed towards those who did cast their vote. May the candidate of your choice win. Especially if he’s not Mitt Romney.
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There’s a variety of reasons why some people who are eligible to vote choose to forgo this particular democratic right during certain or all elections. But whatever one may think of these complaints or those who present them, the right way to address them is to at least attempt to understand why some refuse to cast their ballots. While it may boil down to laziness or apathy for others, there are plenty who have perfectly reasonable reservations about being forced to choose from a given set of candidates, and it’s simply arrogant and unfair to dismiss them as unpatriotic couch-potatoes for refusing to take part in the process.
On the other hand, imagine a website that only offered childishly idiotic retorts and mindless emotional appeals to try and badger reluctant voters around rather than actually engage any of their arguments. Well, somebody created that website, and filled it with all the condescending bilge that perfectly represents why so many of those who try to motivate others to vote are terrible at it. Presenting Your Excuse Sucks:
Excuse No. 1
My Vote Doesn't Matter In My StateThere's a word for someone who only participates if they know they can win: asshole.
Oh. Well, that’s compelling. Casually dismissing the mathematical futility of voting against the overwhelming tide by bringing up a combination strawman/non-sequitur and ending with ad-hominem name-calling. Yeah, that argument was well and truly countered, there.
So let's get this straight: You’re saying your vote doesn’t count. And not voting at all definitely doesn’t count. So that means…
You're probably right. You and the 80 million other Americans who use the same line of logic surely aren't affecting anything at all.
Because if one person decides to get out and vote, then logically, so will the 80 million others who otherwise wouldn’t, just like that.
I’ve always hated this particular line of unreasoning. Yes, it’s true that if all these non-voters just magically changed their minds all at once, perhaps after being collectively dowsed with some sort of pro-voting fairy powder, then that might provide some significant sway in the polls. But on the other hand, the reality is that short of coming into possession of said fairy powder, the random individual changing their mind is not going to affect the slightest particulate of anything, much less symbiotically inspire all those millions of other undecided citizens to just go out and do their “democratic duty”. And using these cheap, manipulative tactics is not going to help anyone, either.
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| Karen Castor Dentel |
New blog policy! For the sake of convenience, I henceforth reserve the right to fix any broken links in reader comments (leaving an admin’s note whenever I do so, of course). That is all.
It still bewilders me how some cultures perceive teenaged girls showing the slightest interest in boys as a greater “dishonor” than burning them to death with acid.
(via Friendly Atheist)
Stunningly hideous Republican attack ad compares Florida elementary schoolteacher and Democratic House candidate [pictured] to Jerry Sandusky for supporting teachers’ unions.
Shorter buzz-killing scientists: Not only is light-speed space travel impossible, it would also irradiate us to death in minutes. (Stupid hydrogen.)
(via The Daily Grail)
If you have any story suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments or send them in.
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Is anyone really surprised that medical institutions headed by pious administrators would willfully compromise their quality of care depending on how a given patient’s situation meshes with their religious views? This is a reality faced by, among others, women with ectopic pregnancies, where the zygote is stuck in a fallopian tube (or elsewhere that isn’t the uterus) and poses a grave danger if it isn’t detected and removed before it grows large enough to tear the woman’s reproductive organs apart, usually with fatal consequences. Thankfully, modern medicine makes ectopic pregnancy casualties very rare, as responsible physicians understand that such embryos have virtually no chance of ever reaching viability and are usually quick to terminate the pregnancy before the would-be mother pays the price.
But not everyone in the field of medicine is a responsible practitioner. This is especially true if they believe that the supposed sanctity of life makes any and all forms of abortion unacceptable, even if there is absolutely no chance that the fetus will survive if the pregnancy is allowed to continue, the grown woman’s own well-being be damned. Enter Catholic hospitals:
[S]ome Catholic ethicists argue that the catholic “Directives” preclude physicians at Catholic hospitals from managing ectopic pregnancies in a way that involves direct action on the embryo. So a woman can have her whole tube removed (an unnecessary procedure that could reduce her future fertility), but she can not have the pregnancy plucked out (as is done with the standard therapy, a salpingostomy, where a small incision is made in the tube and the pregnancy removed) and she most certainly could not have the methotrexate [specialized drug that kills ectopic embryos].
And exactly how common is this habit of denying life-saving medical care? Someone actually looked at the numbers:
According to a study from 2011 by Foster e. al., (Womens Health Issues, 2011) some Catholic hospitals refuse to offer methotrexate (three in this study of 16 hospitals). The lack of methotrexate resulted in changes in therapy, transferring patients to other facilities, and even administering it surreptitiously. All of these expose women to unnecessary risks, expense and are, quite frankly, wrong.
Three out of sixteen hospitals may not sound like much, but when one adjusts that for the total number of Catholic-run medical establishments in the United States, it’s easy to imagine how there may be hundreds of women being rejected in their time of dire need every year, if not more. It’s unknown how many are unable to find any other avenues of care and end up suffering or dead as a result.
And still, that’s just a tiny little hint at what the future might hold if state or federal lawmakers enact any of the countless “personhood” amendments pushed by rabid anti-choicers to ban any termination of pregnancy, even when it would certainly result in the death of both mother and fetus, on the grotesque assumption that a parasitic blob of cells deserves the legal rights and protections afforded to grown human beings.
But then, that’s just a logical consequence of putting doctrine before humanity.
(via Pharyngula)
The Mars Curiosity rover’s sardonic sibling speaks its mind:
6 BILLION DOLLARS spent on 2012 political campaigns, and they think NASA and PBS are the problems here? GTFO.
— SarcasticRover (@SarcasticRover) November 5, 2012
To be clear, NASA’s annual budget is estimated at $17.77 billion for 2012, while the Congress-funded Corporation for Public Broadcasting devoted a comparatively paltry $26.65 million to PBS. But while the astute reader may note how the combined $17.8 billion is nearly three times higher than the $6 billion spent on electioneering, the facts remain that A) NASA and PBS’s combined funding amounts to less than 0.5% of the U.S.’s 2012 federal budget expenditures (and cutting it would only reduce the deficit by 1.3%), and B) there is absolutely no sane reason why U.S. elections have become so ludicrously costly, while every penny sent to space exploration and public broadcasting is crucial if the nation wants to retain its scientific and educational credibility (already suffering as it may be in the global eye).
Calls to cut funding to programs like NASA and PBS in order to reduce the deficit aren’t only logically and mathematically ridiculous, they’re outright harmful to the country’s scientific future. But then, that’s something that the sort of people who decry NASA and PBS as examples of “wasteful spending” don’t appear particularly concerned with in the first place.
(RT: @BadAstronomer)
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| Walter White |
Must-read: A U.S. historian explains in cogent and fascinating detail why he won’t be voting Republican for the foreseeable future.
(via Political Irony)
MythBusters go Breaking Bad [pictured] next spring. I think I just died from crystal-pure glee.
And finally, the “Greatest Generation” has a message about the election [NSFW language]:
| Transcript: (click the [+/-] to open/close →) | [−] |
Enter the Rosebud Nursing Home.
TITLE: A MESSAGE FROM THE GREATEST GENERATION
MARIE (97): I was born in 1915 during World War I. My first vote was in 1940 for Franklin D. Roosevelt, and I have not missed an election since. And I want the Republican Party to know: If your voter suppression throughout this beautiful country enables Romney to oust Barack Obama, we will burn this motherfucker down.
ELDERLY HISPANIC MAN: Sí se puede. (“Yes we can.”)
DOROTHI (75): I have four generations of family on this Earth and my life has been very blessed. And if the Republicans steal this election, I’m gonna track down Mitt Romney and give him the world’s biggest cock-punch! … What’s the matter, sonny? You never heard that phrase, “cock-punch”? Haha … Right in the nut-sack.
JOHN (85): I served during World War II. I’m the last of my buddies still here. And I’ve got a message for kids, Democrats, for anyone who cares about honest elections: If you let the Republicans do this to you again, after we die, we’re gonna look down on you from Heaven and we’re gonna make a point of watching you have sex every time.
Dorothi raises her binoculars with a vindictive grin.
JOHN (CONT’D): No matter how kinky!
MARIE: Especially if we’re related.
JOHN: The best way to stop the GOP from stealing the election is to make sure it isn’t even close. Go to votersrising.org.
ALL: Sign up and [?] the vote!
If you have any story suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments or send them in.
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Not that I’m particularly worried about anything else than the sheer number of people who will wind up on the wrong side of history in the years to come.
(via Political Irony)
As you watch the following video (preferably with no-one around in order to minimize risks of acute awkwardness), keep in mind that a thinking human being at PETA presumably thought it up, someone else liked it, and they all decided it was a good way to attract favorable publicity:
| Transcript: (click the [+/-] to open/close →) | [−] |
A number of men are shown moving around with large, phallic-shaped vegetable “genitals” (complete with lettuce pubic hair and round veggies for testes) swinging from their groins. (Fuck PETA for making me write that sentence.)
One would think they could choose a better way to gather people around their dubious mantra that veganism somehow improves sexual stamina than by making anyone who comes into visual contact with their ads reach for the nearest bottle of bleach to cleanse their eyeballs.
(via Joe. My. God.)
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| Eric Bodenweiser |
Meet today’s “family values” Republican hypocrite [pictured] caught diddling other women male prostitutes children.
(via Joe. My. God.)
I’m quite happy with Microsoft’s decision to banhammer anyone caught being a sexist shitheel in Halo 4 on Xbox Live. Those who can’t play well with others shouldn’t play with them at all.
(via @BadAstronomer)
Glenn Beck in 2011: Political summer camps for kids are similar to “Hitler Youth”. Glenn Beck today: Sponsors new “Patriot Camps” to brainwash kids with wingnut-approved version of U.S. history.
(via Dispatches from the Culture Wars)
And finally, Sweden continues to provide an optimistic glimpse of the future.
(via The Agitator)
If you have any story suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments or send them in.
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| Rush Limbaugh |
Rush Limbaugh isn’t happy with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) putting electoral politics aside and working with President Obama like a mature adult – and even thanking him for doing a good job – in the wake of Hurricane Sandy’s devastation:
Heed the warning. Except what Governor Christie says. He’s fat and a fool. Don’t listen to Governor Christie. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about. He makes fun of me all the time.
That screeching rumble you just heard wasn’t an earthquake, but rather, the sound of everyone alive exploding with laughter at the thought of Rush freakin’ Limbaugh unironically accusing anyone else of being overweight (entirely irrelevant as that is), stupid, or mean-spirited, given his lifelong work of perfecting his incarnation of the Ugly American. They simply don’t make irony meters strong enough to survive whenever the man opens his facial manhole.
On another level, it’s considerably entertaining to witness all the squeals of dismay from the far-Right at the sight of their erstwhile beloved politician actually pulling his sleeves up and putting the well-being of his disaster-stricken citizenry first. It’s anyone’s guess whether they’re jealous of Gov. Christie for acting in a principled manner, or whether it’s the very idea of being principled that’s alien to them.
Zach Weiner has figured it out:
![Panels from ‘Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal’ [by Zach Weiner @ 11/01/12]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_vyZ_l_LTOYPs0VDF0t0QxFUyDU9fDw7QQoV2fduxuwQnfcykPDSDxF3VaWwR9644RXf8pSXpwGMG-aN9qOaQ=s0-d "Panels from ‘Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal’ [by Zach Weiner @ 11/01/12]")
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| Transcript: (click the [+/-] to open/close →) | [−] |
PANEL 1 —
MAN: Mr. President, it’s clear to me – the reason we have natural disasters is that we let the homos practice their UNnatural lifestyle.
PRESIDENT: My God … How come no one told me?
PANEL 2 —
PRESIDENT: Why … if that’s true …
PANEL 3 —
(SOON …)
The President addresses silhouettes that wear rainbow flag patches.
PRESIDENT: Welcome to the C.I.Gay. You are an elite force of the gayest individuals in America. You are a lightning rod for God’s wrath, and it’s up to you to use that power for good.
What devious ways shall be devised? Find out when SMBC returns! … Or just go see the full comic right here.
(via Pharyngula)
![Joé McKen (18) [taken 07/13/10]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_t2wFSl18Xb1mqyiUupIS8CV0ypPg7grW6Vky2K1HqOxUbHf2w8C41-VZ-rHMh-XMSCdCX2toOhQvFFA8DQCo8=s0-d "Joé McKen (18) [taken 07/13/10]")
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I’m a liberal skeptic, rationalist & third-wave atheist stuck in a rut in Québec, Canada and who spends his time composing, writing, drawing, harboring a layman’s passion for science and technology, getting angry at social injustices, and most of all, jabbing cretins and trolls with sharp pointy sticks. (Oh, and blogging.) Proud owner of a Nize Hat!, an indomitable SIWOTI syndrome and an itchy snark finger.
You can find all my musical, literary and artistic works at my art blog, Creativitas.
![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")
![“Dear Voters, of Maine, Maryland, Minnesota and Washington, please know this: If you vote for marriage equality today, then National Organization for Marriage president Brian Brown may cry again—like he did when New York state passed marriage equality. And that would just be a shame. Wouldn't it? [source: @CLARKNT67 / photo: Rich Murray/Queer Rising]”](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_vYTdRbNwupKd5qTM1NFt7vlsYVmyRlYVN7_FPQ3vR1bfifZfW9FM6cNGzRPL448iQta0e2nzbLV2c-EjYqSQ=s0-d "“Dear Voters, of Maine, Maryland, Minnesota and Washington, please know this: If you vote for marriage equality today, then National Organization for Marriage president Brian Brown may cry again—like he did when New York state passed marriage equality. And that would just be a shame. Wouldn't it? [source: @CLARKNT67 / photo: Rich Murray/Queer Rising]”")
