tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75926274590968385012024-03-13T03:40:43.599-04:00Jawillie's WorldMy somewhat unique, very unabashedly LIBERAL view of the world we live in. Shorter title, but still all of the SNARK!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16817241701607559552noreply@blogger.comBlogger82125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7592627459096838501.post-66816092888595581522016-12-30T14:13:00.001-05:002016-12-30T15:34:32.713-05:00HAPPY NEW YEAR! Resolutions and Wishes for 2017Well, pretty much the best thing that one can say about 2016 is that it's been crazy AF. Not only have we lost seemingly everyone that made the 80's and 90's worth living, White people showed us their "true color" by electing a racist raging asshole for President of the United States. Usually I post these resolutions with a bit of tongue in cheek humor (and don't worry, you'll laugh at some of these), but this time it's a bit serious. With that in mind, here goes...<br />
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<li><strong>We should expand our rejection of MSNBC to include ALL cable news. As a matter of fact, let's just FUCK the news altogether.</strong> Since it's become quite evident that "news" is more about ratings and generating ad revenue than about actual useful information, why even bother. It's time we go back to getting our news the old fashioned way...PICK UP A NEWSPAPER.</li>
<li><strong>My 2016 nomination to be tossed into the appalling dung-heap of history, White guys with Dreadlocks (or as I like to call them, White-locks).</strong> Seriously, fellas. It doesn't make you look hip, or cool, and it certainly doesn't make you look Black. What it does is make you look like you have colonies of things habitating your scalp and I frankly don't want to be anywhere near you.</li>
<li><strong>Now that the great "la purga" of 2016 is almost over, can we all petition the grim reaper to take 2017 off?</strong> Of course, if a certain President elect were to choke on a chicken bone between now and January 20th, well...</li>
<li><strong>No, millennials. Bernie Sanders WOULD NOT have won had he been the nominee (proven decisively by the fact that Hillary WON the popular vote).</strong> If you're still telling yourself otherwise, I suggest you seek psychiatric counseling to deal with your obvious feelings of remorse for voting for Jill Stein or Gary Johnson (or staying home) on November 8th.</li>
<li><strong>Enough college bowl games already.</strong> When I was growing up we had three bowl games, the Orange Bowl, the Cotton Bowl, and the Rose Bowl. Now there are 41. Even Dollar General has a bowl game...DOLLAR FUCKING GENERAL. And "Belk Bowl"? Does Belk even exist north of the Mississippi? These "Bowl" games are like the "participant" trophy for scrub college football programs who can't get into any of the major bowls. It's as if Oprah Winfrey went into the bowl committee meeting and just said, "You get a Bowl Game. You get a Bowl Game. EVERYBODY GETS A BOWL GAME!"</li>
<li><strong>Knowing what an egotistical, easily baited man-baby Donald Trump is, every negative post about him on social media should be tagged with his handle so he'll be sure to see it.</strong> This should be done for the next four years so he knows that most of the country (at least the non-White portion) hates his guts and will never accept him as president. Besides which, I'd like to provoke him into rage-tweeting himself into conniptions. <br /><br />And now is where I get serious...</li>
<li><strong>White people need to finally OWN RACISM!</strong> And when I say White people, I mean ALL WHITE people. Whether you consider yourself liberal or conservative, whether you voted for Trump or Hillary or did that cute college third party thing, racism is YOUR problem. You had a choice this election, and it wasn't a really hard one. It wasn't a "lesser of two evils" thing, or a "they're both the same" thing. It wasn't something that you should have had to give much thought to. It was as simple as what to feed your kids for breakfast, Froot Loops or Rat Poison, and 64% of you chose Rat Poison. 64% of White America chose a guy who's made insulting remarks against Blacks, Hispanics, Muslims, Immigrants, etc. White America is the ONLY racial demographic Donald Trump WON. Instead of tearing your pretty blonde hair out trying to figure our why you now have a talking Cheeto for a President, you need to be looking in the mirror at what you have collectively been sowing since the birth of this nation. Which brings me to...</li>
<li><strong>It's time we Black people stopped being the "good nigger" (yeah, I said it).</strong> You know that "filter" we Black professionals engage with our White colleagues so that they're not too "intimidated" by our presence in what most of them consider "their space". November 8th has proven that filter to be useless. 64% of White America voted for the guy who believes that ALL Blacks are poor uneducated criminals. Those of us who aren't are the "exceptions", the "good ones", the "Black friend" they talk about when they say "some of my best friends...". I'm not saying we should roll up in the office like Black Panther militants. What I'm saying is that it's no longer our responsibility (nor should it ever have been) to make White people feel better about us, just as it's not the responsibility of Muslims to make them feel better about Islam, or the responsibility of the LGBT community to make them feel better about homosexuality. White people are the ones who seem to have the problem with Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, immigrants, political correctness, etc., and yet whenever it comes to the topic of race, WE'RE the ones tasked with trying to bring everyone together. Racism is WHITE people's problem. It's time we left it for White people to deal with...or not.</li>
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All the best wishes for a prosperous 2017.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16817241701607559552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7592627459096838501.post-34939792672907012692016-11-11T12:55:00.001-05:002016-11-11T12:55:10.792-05:00There's No Joy in TRUMPVILLEI work in a predominately White conservative suburb about 20 miles outside of Philadelphia, PA. Leading up to the election, the TRUMP/PENCE lawn signs were sprouting up wild. Now needless to say most of the people I work with are White and conservative, and if the proliferation of Trump signs is any indication I can safely say that most of them voted for Donald Trump.<br />
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Now if you're a person of color in a situation like mine, surrounded by conservative White co-workers, you may have noticed a sudden shift in their attitude towards you. Think about the interactions you've had with these co-workers over the past three days. Have you noticed a certain awkwardness when they encounter you? Perhaps a certain reluctance? Well hold on to that observation for a bit, because I'm going to come back to this.<br />
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Remember back in 2008 when we elected then Senator Barack Obama as the First African American President of the United States? I've been thinking a lot about that evening since Tuesday. I remember being so overwhelmed and so amp'd with joy that I needed to go out into the streets. To this day I'm not sure where I was going, or what I was expecting. It just felt like I had to go out and find others with which I could share my joy.<br />
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On my walkabout, I encountered some students from the University of the Arts near where I live. They were holding up pro-Obama signs and yelling to the cars passing by on south Broad Street, and the cars were honking back in approval (mostly). Inside of an hour, that small gathering of about 10-12 students swelled, first into the hundreds, then into the thousands. South Broad street was blocked from City Hall to well past South Street. Traffic on 15th and Market was blocked because people were doing the Electric Slide in the streets. The air that night was electric. I remember a Black woman in her 50s, a total stranger, who broke down and just cried in my arms because she never thought she'd see a moment like this. When she could show her children and grandchildren that someone who looks like THEM could achieve such greatness. And when Obama gave his acceptance speech, the silence was surreal as people gathered around car radios to hear the words that gave so many of us reason to hope and to be proud. Going into work the next day, at the same predominately White conservative environment where I work now, I was on clouds 9, 10, 11, 12 through about 20 for two solid weeks. And then on January 20, 2009 watching the inauguration on TV, talking to my mother on the phone, neither of us could hold back the tears as we saw Barack and Michelle Obama dancing to Beyonce singing "At Last". Even now as I write this I find myself weeping as such a joyful moment that I fear we will never experience again, and for fear of what is to come.<br />
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Now I want to take you back to my thoughts at the beginning of this post, and the interactions with your White conservative co-workers. Now odds are that not all of them voted for Trump, nor am I saying this is an indicator of who did. But did you notice since Wednesday the downcast eyes as you approach them, the mono-syllabic conversations? For those of you who work at a desk, did you note a marked decrease in phone calls, and a corresponding increase in one and two line emails and unanswered voicemail?<br />
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Most of all, notice the considerable lack of joy on the faces of these individuals. No gloating, no self-congratulations, no back slapping or glad handling with their fellow Trump voters. These people are suffering from a mental state to which many conservatives are unaccustomed. It's called SHAME. It's one thing to troll social-media when you can hide behind avatars of Gadsden (Don't Tread On Me) Flags, American Flags, Bald Eagles, and Guns. But it's another thing altogether when the object of your resentment is in the cubicle right next to you.<br />
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No. These people neither joyful nor proud of their choice for President. They acted out of what they call "economic anxiety" but what the rest of us saw from the beginning as racial resentment that others are acquiring rights and privileges that they have been able to take for granted, and now fear may be taken away from them. From the beginning of Obama's presidency these White conservative co-workers of ours - who spent the past 8 years flashing us their best Colgate smile and treating us with an almost sickening false politeness - have been harboring the fear that we might do to them what they've been doing to everyone else for the past...well...forever. So, of course they were going to take the first chance they got to "put us all back in our place" with a man who is wholly unqualified for the office of the presidency. Now they're suffering early onset voter's remorse as they have to face the co-workers who will be affected by their down-low racism.<br />
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If there is any solace we can take from this election, it's that these people will NEVER be happy. They will forever wear the shame and guilt of having chosen racism and bigotry over leadership, and further dividing this nation. Make no mistake. There is no joy in Trumpville.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16817241701607559552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7592627459096838501.post-51249661618253968182016-11-10T07:45:00.001-05:002016-11-10T07:45:58.172-05:00NOW You All Decide To Show Up...REALLY?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Last night thousands poured out into streets across the country, including here in Philly, to protest the election of Donald Trump to the White House. For the most part the protests were peaceful, and while they covered a variety of grievances, the common theme was simple. "Donald Trump is Not My President."<br />
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Now, I'm going to assume that most of the folks out there protesting actually voted for Hillary the day before, and if you're among that group then you can feel free to skip this post entirely. Nothing here applies to you. However, if you're one of those folks protesting, yet couldn't be bothered to go out and vote, or you did that cute college hippie protest vote thing for Jill Stein or Gary Johnson, then I got some words for you. <br />
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<b>WHAT THE HOLY FUCK!?</b><br />
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Now I like a little civil disobedience as much as the next liberal, and even now as I write this I'm still pissed as fuck about what happened. But seriously? What exactly do you think is going to happen? You didn't bother to vote, or you wasted your vote on a protest because you couldn't vote for Daddy Bernie. What earthly good will taking to the streets do now? Do you think somehow between now and January 20th we're going to magically change the Constitution to prevent Donald Trump from being inaugurated, or is this a sudden case of "oops, my bad" for you as you realized about 2.5 seconds from pulling that lever for Jill Stein that you helped put an orange monster in the White House.<br />
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"We're out here to make our voices heard," you tell yourselves. Sorry, but no, baby. The time to make your voices heard was on November 8 when you should have stood in whatever line you had to, for as long as you had to (I stood for about 1 1/2 hours), and voted for Hillary Clinton. But you couldn't tear your spoiled little millennial asses away from your mocha-choke-a-motherfucker latte and your Price is Right reruns to do the right thing when it mattered. So now, either out of a sense of guilt, or as a means to get out of your dorm room for a couple of hours, Donald Trump has become your new fad cause-celeb re.<br />
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<b>Seriously, FUCK ALL Y'ALL A THOUSAND TIMES!</b><br />
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As far as I'm concerned, you people are DEAD to me. You couldn't be bothered to do the right thing when it mattered. So now you decide to get all "activist" and start screaming in the streets like it's a fucking party. Meanwhile, on January 20, 2017 we'll be replacing the classiest first family my generation has ever known with Donald Trump and the FIRST SKANK (the only thing she has in common with the current first lady is a plagiarized speech), and God help anyone who isn't a heterosexual White male for the next four years. You're part of the reason he was elected, and you're going to have to deal with the consequences of YOUR actions (or inaction) like the rest of us. Hope you're happy.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16817241701607559552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7592627459096838501.post-87733747177874212242016-11-09T07:46:00.001-05:002016-12-30T16:14:06.977-05:00Trump Was White America's Test...And It Failed MISERABLY! (Continuation of previous post)This may very well come off as a rant, as I'm not really sure how I wish to express myself here. I'm still trying to process what happened to this country as it has just elected an avowed racist, an admitted sexist and adulterer, a hateful xenophobic bigot, and outright buffoon President of the United States. Ladies and gentlemen, introducing President Elect Donald Trump...White America's shame.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>In my last post I submitted that electing Trump as president would affirm just about everything everyone else in this country thinks of White America. Well, they did exactly that, and by significant margins. Now over the next weeks and months leading up to his inauguration (and the beginning of the end for equality as we know it) pundits will analyze all the reasons he won, why America chose him over the more qualified candidate, and how the polls got it so horribly wrong. I can save them the trouble. Put succinctly, the horrible truth is that White America as a collective race are a bunch of hateful, fearful, xenophobic bigots. And when it came down to it, this was all about them "taking back" an America that they believe was stolen from them.<br />
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Think about that phrase for a minute, "I WANT MY COUNTRY BACK." For conservative White America everything is about what it costs for them. Every act of charity comes with the parenthetical consideration of how it will inconvenience them financially or otherwise. The whole idea of what they call "economic anxiety" is simply their resentment of others gaining what they have to what they feel is their detriment. "How dare that NIGGER live in the White House and lead MY country", "How dare that SPIC take MY job", "How dare those FAGGOTS live in a better house than ME", "How dare that BITCH make more money than ME", "How dare those TOWELHEAD TERRORISTS teach MY children about TOLERANCE". In Donald Trump they found a Great White Hope, the proxy racist misogynist who will say out loud all of the things they're too chickenshit to say in front of their Black friends. Now, thanks to the media, these down-low racists are now emboldened, which is just how they want it. In the end, this election wasn't about who had the better policy, who had the better qualifications, or who had the better temperament. This was about White America's resentment and their perceived "disenfranchisement" over the past 8 years while the rest of us were able to enjoy a few morsels from the troth from which they've been feeding for the past 240 years. When it came down to a choice between actual leadership and race hatred, White America chose hatred.<br />
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On a personal note, my heart is heavy as I write this, and filled with much dread. In about 30 minutes or so, I must go in to a predominately White, conservative work environment, many of whom are Trump supporters. Until now I've been able to tolerate their ideological leanings because of the way I was brought up. But now I'm forced to wonder as the people flash me their best Colgate smiles in passing just what lurks beneath the surface. When they see a Black man in my position, do they understand the hard work it took for me to get there, or are they thinking "what quota did they have to fill to hire him" (despite the fact that I've been there for 10 years)? I believe that this morning for people of color, immigrants, gays and lesbians, Muslims, how they see their work culture is going to undergo a significant change.<br />
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White America, you've failed us.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16817241701607559552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7592627459096838501.post-62755768778062464132016-11-03T08:00:00.001-04:002016-11-03T08:01:08.351-04:00Trump is White America's Test...And Maybe It's Shame (A Black Man's Opinion)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Watching the campaign for president it is very clear to anyone with even a minuscule conscience that the GOP candidate, Donald Trump, appeals to a very narrow (and I'd like to think detested) segment of the country. He appeals to that segment that embraces the kind of racism, sexism, nativism, and xenophobia that was once the purview of the most extreme right-wing. The kind of racism that gave birth to people like Timothy McVeigh, Dylan Roof, and even ISIS. As president, Donald Trump may well be the one who sets back not only the cause of progressives, but the cause of freedom, liberty, and equality over 50 years. If elected he'll have a Republican House and Senate, as well as a pick of perhaps two Supreme Court justices. But more importantly, a Trump presidency would be a stinging indictment of White America, who will no longer be able to excuse isolated cases of racism with "we're not all like that". Because electing Trump will prove that they are, indeed, all like that.<br />
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As a Black man I choose to believe (perhaps naively) that the vast majority of White people are good and decent people, who harbor no ill will or resentment towards anyone because of their race, religion, gender, or sexual orientation. The thing if it is, though, that belief would seem to clash with reality when you look a the predominately White audience at many of Donald Trumps campaign rallies. Furthermore, when you listen to his rhetoric against Muslims, his comments about Women, his insulting commentary towards the Black community, and the fact that he can't seem to say "L-G-B-T-Q" without looking like he's holding back a turd, and then see the outright idolatry it inspires in his supporters, one must wonder if White America has collectively lost it's mind.<br />
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According to just about every poll in circulation, broken down strictly by race White Americans are the ONE group that Donald Trump wins consistently. He may poll up and down with other groups, but he does not have Hispanics, he does not have Asians, he doesn't have immigrants, and do I even need to mention Blacks where some polls have him at 0%. No, the only group that has been totally in Trump's corner from the beginning are Whites, uneducated White males in particular. Based on polling and simple demographics, for Trump to win he would
need more than just the majority of White votes. He would need <i>all </i>of them. If, God forbid, Trump is elected President of the United States less than one week from now, it will be because -- either through the action of voting for him, or their inaction in not voting at all (or for voting third party) -- White America put him there.<br />
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I realize this is a rather broad (and perhaps unfair) generalization, and a heavy load to place on a race. But Whites are still the dominate race in this country. For over 200 years they have been the ones who have determined the direction of this country. And let's face it, White anger at having a Black president for the last 8 years is what created the Trump phenomenon. Trump voters may represent a fraction of White America, but White America as a whole has to own them, just as Muslims have to own every terrorist that sets off a bomb, and Blacks have to own every gang-banger that shoots off a gun.<br />
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As a Black man in America this election will accomplish one of two things for me, and I suspect other minorities as well. It will either reaffirm my faith that the vast majority of White Americans are good and decent folks who are accepting and tolerant of others, or it will confirm every horrible stereotype that Blacks and other minorities believe of them. In putting Donald Trump in the White House, White America will be, in effect, embracing the racist, sexist, xenophobic nativism that he represents. White America will be telling the rest of us that they value their continued dominance in American society over calm reasoned leadership. They'll be telling the rest of us that we are merely obstacles for them to overcome, and that our presence in what they see as <i>their</i> country is not wanted. A Trump victory will tell us in no uncertain terms that the hatred and racism that he cultivates is far greater than many of us realize, and that there are indeed more racist White people in America than there are the rest of us.<br />
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Donald Trump will be White America's shame. Not only to the rest of us who live here, but to the rest of the world. November 8th will be the moment for White America to prove once and for all that they're really "not all like that". The rest of us will be watching.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16817241701607559552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7592627459096838501.post-90225774588195396402016-01-03T10:38:00.000-05:002016-12-31T15:58:30.380-05:00Things I Learned From "The Twilight Zone"Every year I spend my New Year's curled up on the couch with a pizza, a bottle of wine, and the Twilight Zone marathon on the SyFy channel. Now I have the Definitive Collection on DVD, but there's something really cool about watching and live tweeting the marathon with fellow zone-heads on social media. Through the years I've taken a few lessons from the show, and I'd like to break from my usual political musings in the blog to share a few.<br />
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<em>Note: I've updated this blog post for 2016-2017, adding a few more points and referencing the relevant episodes. </em><br />
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<li>If you want to make smoking cool again, just roll up like Rod Serling in a dark suit and start narrating people's lives (of course you should keep in mind that Serling died in his 50s from lung cancer).</li>
<li>It's pronounced "robit", not "robot". ("The Lonely")</li>
<li>Immortality really kinda sucks. ("Escape Clause", "Long Live Walter Jameson")</li>
<li>Don't be afraid of death. Chances are it'll show up looking like Cliff Robertson, or a young handsome Robert Redford. ("One for the Angels", "Nothing In The Dark")</li>
<li>If you find yourself the last person on Earth after a nuclear holocaust, make sure you have a spare pair of reading glasses. ("Time Enough At Last")</li>
<li>Never pick up hitchhikers...EVER. ("The Hitchhiker")</li>
<li>If you're searching for the person who doesn't belong in your neighborhood, look in the mirror. ("The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street")</li>
<li>If you're trying to find out who's going to betray you, look in the mirror. ("The Mirror")</li>
<li>If you need to have a long talk with your conscience, look in the mirror. ("Nervous Man In A Four Dollar Room", "Last Night of a Jockey")</li>
<li>AVOID MIRRORS!</li>
<li>If you're a mannequin on leave, remember you only get 30 days. It's really not fair to the other mannequins when you stay out longer. ("The After Hours")</li>
<li>Machines have feelings too, and a conscience, and they love to get payback. ("A Thing About Machines", "You Drive", "From Agnes - With Love")</li>
<li>If you find a crazy man howling in a room...LEAVE THEM THERE! ("The Howling Man")</li>
<li>If the state wants to exile you to an island because you're different, go willingly. The people there are way better looking and chances are you'll have more fun. ("Eye of the Beholder")</li>
<li>If you're about to get on a flight and the stewardess says, "room for one more, honey", book another flight...quickly. ("Twenty Two")</li>
<li>Likewise if a rather nervous looking William Shatner is on said flight. ("Nightmare at 20,000 Feet")</li>
<li>No one is obsolete. However, those factory jobs that Trump "promised" to "bring back" pretty much are. (Why do you think all HIS stuff is made in China?) ("The Obsolete Man")</li>
<li> If you walk into a house where everyone is terrified of the bratty little kid, just keep thinking good thoughts. Anything else is handled at your peril. ("It's A Good Life")</li>
<li>Haters gonna hate...and they always get their comeuppance. (Pretty much EVERY episode)</li>
<li>If you find yourself in a dungeon with a ballerina, a bum, a clown, and a Scotsman, with no memory of who you are or how you got there, chances are you're a toy. Just go with it. ("Five Characters In Search of an Exit")</li>
<li>There's no such disease as "exo-suspendo animation". If a relative suddenly rises from the dead in the middle of their funeral, sue their doctor. ("The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank")</li>
<li>If "friendly" aliens invade the Earth offering all sorts of goodies for humanity, look for any books that translate to "To Serve Man". ("To Serve Man")</li>
<li>However, if the alien in question is a handsome looking Hispanic man, accept them and him willingly. He may be carrying the cure for cancer. ("The Gift")</li>
<li>Avoid dummies and talking dolls at all costs. ("The Dummy", "Living Doll", "Caesar and Me")</li>
<li>Whenever you hear hate speech coming from this guy... <br />
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...chances are he learned it from THIS guy... ("He's Alive")<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QMAUld-2i48" width="560"></iframe> </li>
<li>Time travel. Don't...just don't. It NEVER ends well. ("Execution", "Back There", "Once Upon a Time", "No Time Like The Past", "Of Late I Think of Cliffordville")</li>
<li>Don't wish death on your mean old relatives. Death just makes them MEANER. ("Uncle Simon", "The Masks")</li>
<li>Best incentive to NOT drink and drive, ALIEN ABDUCTION. ("Stopover In a Quiet Town")</li>
<li>If your kids suddenly disappear at the bottom of your swimming pool, don't worry. They're over at Aunt T's and they're just fine. ("The Bewitchin' Pool")</li>
<li>If America suddenly finds itself shrouded in darkness on January 20, 2017, we should have a pretty good idea why. ("I Am The Night. Color Me Black")</li>
<li>If you're in Heaven and there's a sign that says "No Dogs Allowed", you're NOT in Heaven. ("The Hunt")</li>
<li>If you're in a casino in Heaven and you find that you win at ALL of the games, you're NOT in a casino in Heaven. ("A Nice Place To Visit")</li>
<li>If there's ever a future where we have to choose a "pattern" for our new bodies, I want the patterns to look like this... ("The Trade-Ins", "Number 12 Looks Like You")<br />
</li>
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Happy New Year fellow zoners. See you again on December 31st.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16817241701607559552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7592627459096838501.post-9218547301815448482015-12-30T07:01:00.001-05:002015-12-30T09:45:36.982-05:00HAPPY NEW YEAR! Resolutions and Wishes for 2016Hi, folks. Here once again with my list of resolutions and wishes for the coming year. Needless to say that 2015 has been an interesting year in almost every aspect. And while I can spend an entire year coming up with stuff to put here, I figure I'll just limit it list to the top whatever pops into my head. Enjoy.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<ol>
<li><strong>Can we please stop being shocked, surprised, or otherwise outraged by ANYTHING that Donald Trump says?</strong> Here's how this always works out. Trump says something stupid about Muslims, Blacks, Women, Immigrants, etc., folks get outraged, Trump gets free media coverage, his poll numbers go up. Wash. Rinse. Repeat.</li>
<br />
<li><strong>It's time to finally DUMP MSNBC.</strong> I've been making this resolution for 3 years now, and if an entire hour being devoted to Donald Trump isn't enough to convince you that this is no longer a "liberal" network, then there's not much more that will. Judging from my Twitter timeline, many of you must be sadists who enjoy hate-watching Joe Scarborough every morning.</li>
<br />
<li><strong>If you're thinking "I'm not going to vote if MY candidate doesn't get the nomination", then you DON'T get to call yourself "liberal", or "progressive", or even a Democrat. </strong>What you are is a selfish, self-entitled, whiny little bitch-baby who is willing to make the rest of the country suffer because you didn't get your way. You know, like you did in 2010...and 2014.</li>
<br />
<li><strong>You're not going to get people to support your candidate by trashing everyone else's (and their supporters).</strong> I'm not saying one side is worse than the other, but as a Hillary supporter I'm frankly "Bern'd Out" by folks who think that screeching negativity at me in ALL CAPS is going to get me to come over to their side. I respect the fact that you support a guy who's only running as a Democrat out of political expediency, but bullying and name calling isn't going to get me or anyone else to do likewise. Want proof, take a look at the <a href="http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/us/2016_democratic_presidential_nomination-3824.html" target="_blank">latest poll numbers</a>.</li>
<br />
<li><strong>Don't delude yourself into thinking that these so-called "Republicans for Bernie" are actually going to vote for him in 2016.</strong> This time I am talking to the Bernie Sanders folks. Think about this. These are the folks who called Obama a "Socialist" (not to mention Communist, Fascist, Nazi, Muslim, Arab, and stoned Gay man) because they didn't like his policies (and because they were to chicken-shit to use the word they REALLY want to use). Do you honestly think that they're going to turn around and vote for someone who proudly admits to being an actual Socialist? Seriously? I mean...SERIOUSLY?!</li>
<br />
<li><strong>White Genocide...</strong>NOT a thing.</li>
<br />
<li><strong>White Privilege...</strong>IS a thing.</li>
<br />
<li><strong>Black Lives Matter.</strong> Do I even need to go into detail? Didn't think so.</li>
<br />
<li><strong>To my fellow LGBTQ folks, like the song says "IT'S NOT OVAH".</strong> Yeah, we got the big one - legalized same-sex marriage in every state. But now you have a whole cadre of Kim Davis homophobes -- many of whom suddenly became born-again Christians on June 26, 2015 -- claiming "religious liberty" as their right to discriminate, and pretty much every current GOP presidential candidate willing to support them. Not to mention there's still housing discrimination, job discrimination, and just plain discrimination. There's still plenty of work to do for true equality.</li>
<br />
Now enough of this politics slop. Let's move on to some other musings.
<br />
<li><strong>Fellas, can we PLEASE do away with the "man-bun".</strong> I get it. You want to explore your androgynous side, your metro-sexual side, or whatever. But seriously, it looks like you're carrying a big hairy turd on top of your head. This thing needs to be thrown into the same appalling dung-heap as "meggings" and "guy-liner". And speaking thusly...</li>
<br />
<li><strong>Forget "deflate-gate" and "concussion-gate". The Roger Goodell needs to come up with a solution for what I think will be the next big NFL controversy..."WEAVE-GATE".</strong> Lately we've been seeing a lot of long-haired receivers being tackled by their weaves sticking out the back of their helmets. This is something that I think needs to be addressed quickly, or else we're going to have receivers coming out of games with bloody scalps while their opponents go over to the sidelines with fistfuls of hair in their hands.</li>
<br />
<li><strong>To Philadelphia EAGLES owner Jeffry Lurie. Next time how about hiring a coach who doesn't see the team as part of his own fantasy football league.</strong> Bringing in a bunch of big names with big numbers may look good on paper, but then they actually have to PLAY together. And it's worse when your guy totally dismantles a winning team that was 10-6 for the previous two seasons to do it. Maybe for the next coach you'll want to wait until he actually WINS a playoff game before letting him make personnel decisions, 'kay?</li>
<br />
<li><strong>Finally, can we all PLEASE just lighten up for 2016.</strong> It seems as if a lot of you, particularly those of you reading this on Dkos, subscribe to the ridiculous notion that being an "activist" means that you must be in a perpetual state of pissed-off, and you must always be on the lookout for something new to be angry about. I'm as much for political correctness as the next liberal, but just because someone says the word "Gay" (or Black, or Woman, etc.) with a bit of a titter in their voice, doesn't mean they're making some kind of derogatory joke that you should take personally. I think some folks have no real idea what they actually SHOULD be angry about, so they just decide easier to be angry about EVERYTHING. This is what I call "lazy activism". How about developing a sense of humor for the new year, and saving your anger for the stuff you should really be angry about.</li>
</ol>
And with that, I wish you all of God's blessings and prosperity for the New Year! All the best!<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16817241701607559552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7592627459096838501.post-15716216168104785712015-11-10T07:47:00.000-05:002015-11-10T07:52:39.193-05:00War on Christmas 2015Because apparently plain red cups (and political correctness) make the Baby Jesus cry.<br />
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<div class="fb-video" data-allowfullscreen="1" data-href="/joshua.feuerstein.5/videos/vb.443476065755081/689569711145714/?type=3">
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<blockquote cite="https://www.facebook.com/joshua.feuerstein.5/videos/689569711145714/">
Starbucks REMOVED CHRISTMAS from their cups because they hate Jesus ... SO I PRANKED THEM ... and they HATE IT!!!! #shareUse #MERRYCHRISTMASSTARBUCKSFollow --> Joshua Feuerstein<br />
Posted by <a href="https://www.facebook.com/joshua.feuerstein.5/">Joshua Feuerstein</a> on Thursday, November 5, 2015</blockquote>
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This is from the Facebook page of Joshua Feuerstein, who is apparently rather miffed that Starbucks doesn't put "Merry Christmas" on their new minimalist design Christmas cups.<br />
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Yes folks, it's that time of year. Time for Church Folk in America to start their annual conniptions and accusing the rest of us of waging a "War on Christmas". The imaginary war that exists solely in the minds of people who have their talking points fed directly into their synapses by Fox News, AM Radio, and Church TV. And like the proverbial "Christmas creep", it seems to begin earlier and earlier every year.<br />
<br />
Ignoring the fact that Starbucks has NEVER put "Merry Christmas", "Seasons Greetings", or even "Happy Holidays" on any of their cups...EVER, this ignoramus Mr. Feuerstein somehow believes he's "punishing" them by going into Starbucks, paying $5.75 or so for their overpriced, over-caffeinated swill, and saying his name is "Merry Christmas" so that they'd be forced to write it on his cup. And to top it off, he wants all of his nut-job followers to do the same. "and they HATE IT!!!" he posts on his Facebook page.<br />
<br />
Oh yeah. I'm sure Starbuck is just pissed that this guy is sending them all of this extra business in "protest", not to mention all of the free advertising. Mr. Feuerstein isn't a Christian by even the most innocuous standard. What he is, is about 31.5 flavors of STUPID. If Feuerstein really wanted to express his Christianity and stick it to Starbucks, instead of counter-productive stunts like this he'd do the following.<br />
<ol>
<li>STOP BUYING STARBUCKS, FOREVER.</li>
<li>Encourage his followers to do likewise.</li>
<li>Take all of the money they save and put it towards helping the poor and unfortunate (you know, like you're supposed to do during the holidays).</li>
<li>Do this ALL YEAR ROUND.</li>
</ol>
The truth is it's not up to Starbucks or any other corporate entity to "keep the 'Christ' in 'Christmas'". As a Christian, that's YOUR job. However, if you really must have the words "Merry Christmas" on your super-grande-mocha-chokabrotha-latte, you could do one thing that would require very little effort. Just ask the barista to write it on your cup. They're generally nice people and I'm sure they'll accommodate you. And while you're making this request, you may want to ask yourself why you feel that the celebration of the birth of our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ, requires a corporate endorsement.<br />
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Seriously. If you need a corporation to validate your Christianity, then you're doing it wrong.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16817241701607559552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7592627459096838501.post-63412821149119844562014-12-30T10:27:00.001-05:002014-12-30T10:27:13.676-05:00HAPPY NEW YEAR! Resolutions and Wishes for 2015.2014 has been, to say the least, an interesting year. And if this past election is any indicator, 2015 promises to be equally interesting. With that in mind, here is my annual list of resolutions that we should take to heart for the coming year. Please feel free to break them all at any time.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
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<strong>1. Let's endeavor to wean ourselves off of cable news.</strong> I know I made this resolution last year specifically regarding MSNBC, but let's expand that to include ALL cable news, period. It really doesn't do us any good to cocoon ourselves in a partisan news bubble. Just look at the FOX News nut-jobs.<br />
<br />
<strong>2. Related to above, PLEASE stop watching Morning Joe.</strong> Seriously, folks. From 7am to around 10am every morning my Twitter timeline is filled with folks bitching and complaining about something Joe Scarborough said. If the guy drives you crazy like that, why do you keep watching? Either stop watching, or STFU about it when he pisses you off.<br />
<br />
<strong>3. Elizabeth Warren is not running in 2016!</strong><br />
Elizabeth Warren is not running in 2016!<br />
Elizabeth Warren is not running in 2016!<br />
Elizabeth Warren is not running in 2016!<br />
Elizabeth Warren is not running in 2016!<br />
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!<br />
(Is that enough exclamation points for you?)<br />
<br />
<strong>4. Drafting a reluctant candidate to run for office NEVER WORKS!</strong> See resolution no. 3.<br />
<br />
<strong>5. Hillary Clinton will be the Democratic nominee for 2016. DEAL WITH IT!</strong> See resolution nos. 4 and 3.<br />
<br />
<strong>6. While fighting against voter ID laws with moderate success, let's all make sure we have IDs anyway.</strong> The reason the GOP want these laws in place is because they know that certain groups of people will be discouraged from getting them (or can't). It's time to prove them wrong. If you don't have an ID, get one. If you know someone who doesn't have an ID, help them get one even if it you have to drive them to the DMV and pay for it yourself. The best way to defeat the GOP ID push is to simply push it out of the way.<br />
<br />
<strong>7. VOTE...in 2015.</strong> I know it's an off-year where the most significant office up for election is for town wino. But imagine the shit-your-pants fear we could put in the hearts of Republicans if a whole bunch of Democrats come out to vote just for the hell of it.<br />
<br />
<strong>8. To all you DEMS who ran away from Obama in 2014, how'd that work out for you?</strong> This is why Republicans win more elections than Democrats. Say whatever else you want about them, but Republicans stand by their president even when they hate his guts. Meanwhile, Obama and most of the Democrats who ran ON his accomplishments instead of AGAINST them will still have jobs come January 20th, while those who ran away from him WON'T<br />
<br />
<strong>9. Spending money to see a movie just because a foreign dictator told you NOT to doesn't make you a patriot. It makes you a SUCKER.</strong> Look, I get it. I don't want some crackpot leader of some ass-backwards country telling me what movies I can and can't see anymore than I would the Christian Right or the Catholic Church doing likewise. And I'm glad that SONY decided to grow a pair and release "The Interview" in a limited number of theaters and on-line (like they weren't going to do that anyway). But is going out of your way to see a crappy assed frat-boy comedy just to spite some dictator any different than not seeing a good move out of fear of said dictator? If any of the self-proclaimed "freedom fighters" who flocked to see "The Interview" had bothered, instead, to go see the movie "Selma" (which was out the same day), they would have learned that true freedom fighters are those who throughout history were willing to sacrifice their own freedom, not to mention their own lives, for the cause of freedom and justice in America. The only thing the nut-bags who went to see "The Interview" sacrificed was the price of a movie ticket (or download), not to mention popcorn and soda. (And how will these folks feel if it turns out the whole thing was a publicity hoax by SONY?)<br />
<br />
<strong>10. To my fellow "gladiators", SCANDAL is not REAL.</strong> Now I love SCANDAL, and between this show and "How To Get Away With Murder", I'm willing to lobby congress to make Shonda Rhimes birthday a Federal holiday. But some of us really need to recognize that this is fantasy.<br />
- No Black man would ever be able to give his White boss a Shakespearian level monologue that begins with the sentence, "I am above your pay grade."<br />
- As far as we know, the last White president to fool around with a Black woman was Thomas Jefferson (and he was a Democrat).<br />
- A Republican president who cheats on his wife with a Black woman, is pro-gun control, pro-equal pay, anti-war, and has an openly Gay Chief of Staff? Yeah, right.<br />
- No matter how fine they look, the side-chicks never, ever, EVER GET THE MAN! (And don't tell me about Calista Gingrich, as I'm not totally convinced that she's even human. I mean...look at her.)<br />
<br />
<strong>11. Don't whine about how you'll never watch another Bill Cosby show again, when your MP3 play list is chock full of R. Kelly.</strong> When R&B singer R. Kelly was facing charges of having sex with an underage teen, Black folks flocked to his defense. Likewise when Ray Rice was seen slapping his then fiancée around in an elevator. I'm not saying that Cosby is innocent (odds are he's guilty as sin). I'm just saying let's apply a little consistency here in our condemnations.<br />
<br />
<strong>12. Finally, this is for my White liberal friends. When discussing race with Black people (or any non-White person), please do so with the understanding that you will NEVER really understand race from the Black point of view.</strong> As you might expect, over the past several weeks I've had the opportunity to discuss race and racial issues at length with some of my White co-workers. Often times during these discussions I've had to roll my eyes back in amazement at the ignorance displayed by even some of my more liberal White colleagues. Now I'll grant that most of the folks where I work are over the age of 50, and many of them probably don't have much interaction with Black people socially. But even among younger Whites I've observed a degree of naiveté when discussing race. I'm not saying that you're bad people, or racist. It's just that being White, it's understandably difficult for you to understand true racism in America having never really encountered it (and getting a side-eye from a Black person while walking through a Black neighborhood doesn't count). And when you try and express some imagined commonality with folks who have actually encountered racism (I mean the kind where you're stopped by cops for standing at the wrong corner in the wrong neighborhood), what you really end up doing is not only insulting, but belittling the problem as something that's "only in your mind". This is not to say you shouldn't discuss the topic with Blacks (in fact, I encourage you to do so at ever opportunity), just do so with he knowledge that the Black experience is simply not your experience. (And to my African-American brothers and sisters, I ask that you do so with the same understanding.)<br />
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With all that, I wish you peace, happiness, and blessings for 2015!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16817241701607559552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7592627459096838501.post-52581865699731084842014-06-12T17:16:00.000-04:002014-06-12T17:16:28.919-04:00Texas' "Pray the Gay Away" Stance Exposes Right-Wing Cognitive DissonanceFrom Wikipedia (which I try NEVER to use as a reference, but in this case will serve adequately enough)...<br />
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<blockquote>
In psychology, <strong>cognitive dissonance </strong>is the excessive mental stress and discomfort experienced by an individual who (1) holds two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values at the same time or (2) is confronted by new information that conflicts with existing beliefs, ideas, or values. This stress and discomfort may also arise within an individual who holds a belief and performs a contradictory action or reaction.<br />
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<strong>Leon Festinger's</strong> theory of cognitive dissonance focuses on how humans strive for internal consistency. When inconsistency (dissonance) is experienced, individuals largely become psychologically distressed. His basic hypotheses are listed below:<br />
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1."The existence of dissonance, being psychologically uncomfortable, will motivate the person to try to reduce the dissonance and achieve consonance"<br />
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2."When dissonance is present, in addition to trying to reduce it, the person will actively avoid situations and information which would likely increase the dissonance"</blockquote>
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The above is a pretty accurate diagnosis for today's conservatives who constantly tie themselves in knots trying to reconcile all of the conflicting ideas (i.e. voices) in their heads (like calling themselves "Christian" while being against everything Christ stood for). A glaring example of this happened this past week when the Texas Republican Convention voted to advance the debunked theory of "Reparative Therapy" in their party platform.<br />
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From <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/texas-gop-advances-reparative-therapy-gays-24020918#.U5Gf35ff-4s.twitter">ABC News...</a><br />
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Under the new proposed plank, the Texas GOP would "recognize the legitimacy and efficacy of counseling, which offers reparative therapy and treatment for those patients seeking healing and wholeness from their homosexual lifestyle."</blockquote>
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Adding to the crazy stew is sloppy-ass-drunk-I-can't-remember-which-programs-I-would-cut-as-President-Texas Governor Rick Perry, who this week compared homosexuality to alcoholism (<a href="http://news.msn.com/us/perry-discusses-view-of-homosexuality#tscptmt">msn.com</a>).<br />
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"I may have the genetic coding that I'm inclined to be an alcoholic, but I have the desire not to do that, and I look at the homosexual issue the same way."</blockquote>
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Now what the proponents of this stance are either too stubborn, too ignorant, too stupid, or too far-gone cray-cray to realize is just how it exposes their cognitive dissonance (or it could just be they don't know what cognitive dissonance is). Further, they also prove a point that the LGBT community has been making pretty much forever...that homosexuality <strong>is not a choice</strong>.<br />
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The right's big argument against hate-crimes and anti-discrimination laws that protect Gays and Lesbians, as well as marriage equality, is that being Gay is something that one chooses much the way someone choses to change their hair color. Now if you believe that being Gay is some kind of an affliction that can be affected by treatment, then it can't possibly be a choice, can it? One does not choose to catch a cold, or to have cancer. True, there are behaviors that can result in a disease such as cancer (like smoking, for instance), and actions one can take to prevent it (like quitting or not starting in the first place), but getting lung cancer is not something that is done at will. Neither is, especially if you buy into the merits of reparative therapy, being Gay. On the other hand if you believe that one's sexuality is somehow chosen (even though you'd be hard pressed to explain how you chose your own), then the idea that it can somehow be "cured" is not only illogical, it may very well be indicative of some kind of impending psychosis on your part since one cannot "cure" a choice. In short, homophobes need to pick one or the other. Either being Gay is an "affliction" to be "cured", or it's a choice. It cannot be both.<br />
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Now try to explain this to your average right-wing homophobic faux-Christian and the reaction you're likely to get is similar to the reaction of the android "Norman" in the Star Trek episode "I, Mudd" ("Everything I say is a lie. In fact, I'm lying to you right now."). And yet this is the kind of cognitive dissonance that the right faces every moment of their miserable lives. Constantly conflicting ideas and beliefs, contradictory viewpoints, opposing concepts, all battling for dominance in the paranoid delusional brain of today's conservative. And all fed by Fox News and AM hate-radio.<br />
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Obama is a Muslim...who went to a Christian church with a racist pastor for 20 years.<br />
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Climate change is a hoax...but it's God's will that the climate change.<br />
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It's Obama's fault there are no jobs...but if you can't find one you're just lazy.<br />
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KEEP YOUR GOVERNMENT HANDS OFF MY MEDICARE!<br />
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Being Gay is a CHOICE...but just let us beat you over the head with Leviticus and we can CURE you.<br />
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Cognitive dissonance. The pre-existing mental condition of today's conservatives. Good thing for them there's OBAMACARE.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16817241701607559552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7592627459096838501.post-71210858056772595722014-06-12T17:11:00.000-04:002014-06-12T17:11:37.793-04:00Texas GOP Advances "Pray The Gay Away"Solidifying its place in the ass-end of social evolution, the Texas Republican Party voted this past Thursday to include anti-gay language that would endorse "reparative therapy" in its party platform. The vote taken at their convention in Fort Worth is aimed at rebuking bans on such therapy in California and New Jersey.<br />
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From the Associated Press...<br />
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Under the new proposed plank, the Texas GOP will "recognize the legitimacy and efficacy of counseling, which offers reparative therapy and treatment for those patients seeking healing and wholeness from their homosexual lifestyle."</blockquote>
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Now it's pretty much accepted that this so-called "pray the Gay away" therapy doesn't work. Just ask any psychiatrist who doesn't use leeches to suck out evil spirits from the brains of their patients. Still, conservatives like to regale their evangelical constituents with stories of the nameless, faceless "ex-gay" who has been "freed from the sin of homosexuality" by reparative therapy. Cathie Adams, leader of the Tea-Party group "Texas Eagle Forum", urged the Texas Republican Convention to insert the anti-gay language after hearing from a man who she says has "benefited" from having the Gay "prayed" out of him.<br />
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"He knows what he's talking about. He is one of those who has benefited," Adams said. "I think the majority of Texans feel that way too. It's not like this is mandatory. This is only a voluntary program."</blockquote>
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Right. And all those "godless homos" in Texas are just volunteering around the block to have Bible verses screamed at them, and to be made to feel less than nothing because they took an extra long peek in the locker room.<br />
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Given the increasing acceptance of homosexuality in this country it's a wonder that Republicans still get raging conserva-boners over something that most Americans are either ok with or could give two shits about. Even more often, I've wondered just why there are Gay Republicans who tolerate a party that openly resents and despises them (a question I ask in more detail <a href="http://jawillie.blog.com/2012/05/05/why-are-there-gay-republicans/">HERE</a>).<br />
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The Texas Republican Convention has long been unfriendly territory for gays, even conservative ones. For years, the party has refused to let gay GOP organizations rent booths in the convention hall.<br />
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"I really beg my social conservative colleagues to let this issue go," said Rudy Oeftering, a Dallas businessman and vice president of the gay Republican group Metroplex Republicans. "It's your opinion. It's your belief — but it's my life."</blockquote>
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Sadly, it doesn't look like these social conservatives are going to let this go anytime soon. <br />
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Full story courtesy of <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/texas-gop-advances-reparative-therapy-gays-24020918#.U5Gf35ff-4s.twitter">ABC News.com</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16817241701607559552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7592627459096838501.post-15189170396659844372014-06-12T17:06:00.001-04:002014-06-12T17:06:58.287-04:00Sarah Palin Gives Her $.02 On Bergdhal (She really should have saved her money)You know, there are some people who really, REALLY should just keep their opinions to themselves. Especially if they don't want folks to start asking questions which may prove more than a bit uncomfortable to THEM. Sadly, Sarah Palin does not feel this applies to her.<br />
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Criticizing the president's praise for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who was released after five years of captivity in Afghanistan, she opines... (h/t <a href="http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/sarah-palin-criticizes-bergdahl">Talking Points Memo</a>)<br />
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"No, Mr. President, a soldier expressing horrid anti-American beliefs – even boldly putting them in writing and unabashedly firing off his messages while in uniform, just three days before he left his unit on foot – is not 'honorable service.' Unless that is your standard."</blockquote>
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Damn, Sarah! As you would say at this juncture, "Dems fightin' words." <br />
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If someone were to offer Sarah Palin a penny for her thoughts, they'd have change coming. Still, if she were capable of just a tiny bit of introspection, perhaps she'd recall the following.<br />
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"The fires of hell are frozen glaciers compared to my hatred for the American government, and I won't be buried under their damn flag.”</blockquote>
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And also...<br />
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"I'm an Alaskan, not an American. I've got no use for America or her damned institutions.”</blockquote>
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The person who "boldly" put those "horrid anti-American beliefs" into writing is a guy named Joe Vogler, founder of the Alaskan Independence Party, a secessionist group that wants Alaska to secede from the United States. Now, wanna take a guess at who was once a member of this group until 2002? None other than Sarah Palin's baby-daddy and purse holder, Todd Palin.<br />
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And while she and other conservative hypocrites are calling Bergdahl a "deserter" (and to be fair, the jury is still out on that one), one should not forget the fact that she "deserted" her post as Governor of her state because she couldn't stand the media scrutiny.<br />
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You know, Sarah, if you keep poking a hornets nest hoping to stir up trouble, sooner or later you're gonna get stung.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16817241701607559552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7592627459096838501.post-69431698004917043692014-06-12T17:02:00.000-04:002014-06-12T17:02:40.121-04:00You Are NOT A "Patriot" If...As I did my annual "walking tour" of Philadelphia this past Memorial Day, observing all of the ceremonies acknowledging the sacrifices of the men and women who have actually fought and died for our freedom, it occurs to me that there is a stark difference between REAL patriots, and those who just use the title to justify their Obama Derangement Syndrome. (Yes. I'm talking to you, Operation American Spring.) With that in mind, I figure I might provide the following as a kind of primer. Think of this as "Patriotism for Dummies".<br />
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<strong>You are NOT a "Patriot" if...</strong><br />
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<ul>
<li>You believe the only REAL patriots are people who agree with you and/or belong to your political party.</li>
<li>Your ideology divides this country into "those little pockets of Real America", and everywhere else.</li>
<li>You believe "defending America's freedom" simply means sitting in lawn chairs waving a Gadsden (and/or Confederate) flag and screaming racist epithets at passers-by.</li>
<li>You constantly shout "I want my country back," yet cannot explain how it's been taken away from you (especially since you are NOT a Native American).</li>
<li>You immediately scream "freedom of speech" the minute someone calls you out on something stupid you said in public.</li>
<li>The mere suggestion that your kids eat healthier is an infringement on your right to keep them morbidly obese type 2 diabetics.</li>
<li>You claim you are loosing your rights and freedoms, but can't name one "right" or "freedom" you've actually lost.</li>
<li>You claim your religious freedom is being oppressed, but seem to have no problem oppressing religions other than your own.</li>
<li>Your biggest complaint about "political correctness" is that you can no longer be a racist, sexist, homophobic bigot.</li>
<li>Your main justification for your racism, sexism, homophobia, etc. is "my bible says so".</li>
<li>You believe that every mass shooting since Obama's been in office has been a "false flag" planted to take away your guns and your bibles. (In fact, what that DOES make you is a raging asshole.)</li>
<li>You openly carry your gun as an expression of your "Second Amendment rights", but the thought of going near a Black neighborhood terrifies you because of "all those Black people with guns."</li>
<li>The only time you speak out about what's wrong with this country is when it's being run by a president you don't like (and then only when you think it's his fault).</li>
<li>You want to impeach the president, but... </li>
<ul>
<li>can't name one thing he's done for which he could actually be impeached. </li>
<li>have no concept of what qualifies as an "impeachable offense". </li>
<li>have no clue of how the impeachment process works. </li>
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<li>You truly could not have given less of a damn about any of the following prior to January 20, 2009, but now use them as justification for your contempt for this president. </li>
<ul>
<li>The deficit </li>
<li>TARP </li>
<li>NSA spying </li>
<li>Treatment of Veterans </li>
<li>Drone strikes </li>
<li>The debt ceiling </li>
<li>"Fast and Furious" </li>
<li>IRS Scrutiny (at least when you though it was only being done to Liberals) </li>
<li>Voter fraud </li>
<li>Government overspending </li>
<li>Attacks on our embassies </li>
<li>Any policy you hate that's been in place since the BUSH administration (or prior)</li>
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I could list lots more (and please feel free to do so in the comments), but my point is this. Real patriotism isn't merely about bitching and whining about all the things and people that piss you off. It isn't about advancing your paranoia over the latest conspiracy theory you read on World Net Daily. It isn't about marching and holding up misspelled signs calling the president a communist, socialist, fascist (especially when you don't know what those terms actually mean). Real patriotism is about loving your country unconditionally, yet being able to acknowledge that it isn't perfect. Real patriots are those men and women throughout history who've fought and died for the freedom we all enjoy today, and weren't put off by little annoyances like RAIN. This summer we should remember those patriots, as well as those who continue to fight for this country and defend our freedom...without the need for lawn chairs.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16817241701607559552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7592627459096838501.post-26476616137024979942014-06-12T16:49:00.001-04:002014-06-12T16:49:55.560-04:00BREAKING: Divorce Lawyers Expect Surge of Clients as "Opposite Marriages" Become MeaninglessWith same-sex marriage bans being challenged, put on hold, or overturned altogether across the country (the latest being in Pennsylvania), divorce lawyers are gearing up for a surge of new clientele as heterosexual couples suddenly realize that the sanctity of their marriage has been diminished by "the Gay".<br />
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"We've been receiving a torrent of new calls from distraught couples," says I.M. Slyme of the law firm Dewey, Cheetem, and Howe. "After years and years of feeling so safe and secure in the knowledge that marriage is exclusive to them and them along, I'm getting calls from new clients (mostly men) who are now just saying 'f--k it, I'm done'."</blockquote>
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In Oregon, where another same-sex marriage ban was declared unconstitutional, receptionists at the law firm Townsend, Rainer, Williams, Davis, Hamilton, etc., etc., etc., have been processing new clients non-stop, and for some it has gotten personal. One receptionist tearfully read a text that she received from her (soon to be former) husband.<br />
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My Dearest Love,<br />
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Now that the Gays can marry I'm leaving your skinny ass for your smokin'-hot sister with the tig-o-bitties.<br />
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Yours Truly,<br />
BUBBA.</blockquote>
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Meanwhile in Minnesota, where same-sex marriage has been legal since July of 2013, unsubstantiated rumors coming out of the mansion of Michelle Bachmann tell of husband Marcus being overheard lamenting to himself, "Why the hell am I still married to this crazy woman?"<br />
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All over the country Americans are gearing themselves for the end of life as they know it, as millions of godless homosexuals line up at courthouses to receive marriage licenses. The Westboro Baptist Church has announced what they call a massive emergency recruiting drive (and what we call expeditious inbreeding) to bring in new members to picket funerals of Gays, soldiers, police, firefighters, old people, small children, and pets in an effort to spread their hatred. In Washington the Republican controlled congress is working on legislation to ban Gays from marrying livestock, pets, cars, and appliances. Because, you know, slippery slope.<br />
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Homeland security has placed the military on high alert because, "if we let the Gays marry, the terrorist will attack." FEMA has warned residents of red states to prepare for an increase in tornados, floods, earthquakes, locusts, flies, frogs, and other manner of pestilence resulting from God's wrath towards America. South Carolina trailer park resident Igot Noteath explains how he is preparing for the coming apocalypse.<br />
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That n---er in the White House, Obummer. He gonna let the homuhsexuls marry, then he gonna come in and take away all our guns and bibles. That's why I'm gathering the wife here -- Cousin' June -- and the 7 kids and puttin' 'em in the shelter. Got ev'rythin I need down there. Th' freeze dried turkey jerky I ordered from Glenn Beck. A bunch of semi-automatics in case the gubment come snoopin' round. Twenty cases of Mountain Dew, and a flat-screen TV tuned to FOX News so I can keep up on what's goin on in the great big beautiful world called Amuricuh.</blockquote>
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Yes, dear citizens. This is the new America, where soon everyone will be able to marry the person they love regardless of gender. God help us all.<br />
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<em>By now, dear reader, I hope you realize that what you've just read is merely my rather puerile attempt at satire, and that any similarity between the above and actual reality is purely coincidental, though for the FOX News crowd this is pretty much what passes.</em>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16817241701607559552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7592627459096838501.post-22965357861203574842014-06-12T16:42:00.000-04:002014-06-12T16:42:32.760-04:00Operation American Spring Joins the #EpicFail Hall of ShameIn the history of really, really stupid dumb-assery there are those moments that stand out. These moments, which seem to come along just when we all need a good hearty belly laugh, deserve a special place in what we call the #EpicFail Hall of Shame.<br />
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Remember the May 21, 2011 doomsday prediction of Harold Camping? Thousands of his followers believed his prediction of impending doomsday only to end up dazed and confused like this poor fella.<br />
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Then there's this reaction by former Ohio Congresswoman Jean Schmidt when she heard that Obamacare had been overturned. Now whether she heard this from an actual person or the voices in her head, we'll never know. What we do know is that Obamacare was, in fact, upheld by the Supreme Court. Nevertheless, her near ogasmic sounding reaction is priceless.<br />
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And who can forget the epic 2012 election day meltdown of Karl Rove on the set of Fox News as he absolutely refused to believe, even as his colleagues were resigned to the fact, that Obama had won a second term.<br />
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And now we can add <a href="http://operationamericanspring.org/">Operation American Spring</a> to the list of epic conservative Tea-Party failures. The movement, which was supposed to be a rally of 30 million "patriots" to force President Obama to abdicate the presidency, only drew what generous estimates say between a few hundred and a thousand hearty souls who could manage to take time out from binge-watching Hee-Haw, leaving supporters to wonder, "WHERE YOU AT!? WHERE...ARE...YOU...AT?" (Because 30 million RSVPs via Facebook couldn't possibly have been FAKE, could they?)<br />
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Yeah. It was those damn Obama internment flood camps that kept everyone away.<br />
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So, for woefully misoverestimating just how many people in this country are as cray-cray as they are, "Operation American Spring" is the latest inductee in the #EpicFail Hall of Shame. <br />
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Congratulations, Tea-nuts.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16817241701607559552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7592627459096838501.post-47994965346176465862014-05-15T16:28:00.001-04:002014-05-15T16:28:33.835-04:00Homophobes STILL Talking About The Thing They Don't Want "Shoved Down Their Throats"It's been almost a week since the "kiss heard 'round the world" appeared on ESPN. That would be the 1.5 millisecond lip-lock Michael Sam planted on his boyfriend when he heard that he was drafted by the St. Louis Rams. By this time you'd think that most of America would have moved on, and in fact they have. The only people who are STILL talking about it are the ones who claim that the Gay "lifestyle" is being "shoved down their throats". This from Amy Kushnir, co-host of a local Texas TV station's version of "The View". (Courtesy: <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/14/dallas-morning-anchor-michael-sam-tv_n_5324870.html?utm_hp_ref=tw">Huffington Post</a>)<br />
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<blockquote>
"When parents do not have a choice as to whether or not they want their children to see this, it's wrong," she said. "It's being pushed in faces.... I don't want to see that. I don't want to see cake in your face, kissing each other."</blockquote>
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See the video below.<br />
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Parents don't have a choice? Excuse me, but do remote controls simply not work in Teabaggistan?<br />
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For people who are so grossed-out by two men kissing, conservatives seem to have an awful lot to say on the subject. Rick Santorum talks about gay sex more than most Gay men I know. People like Pete LaBarbera and Bryan Fischer give almost weekly dissertations on what Gays do, how they do it, and how disgusting it must be. And don't even get me started on crazy uncle Pat Robertson. These are like the folks who claim that they would never in their lives step foot into a gay bar, but talk endlessly about what they believe goes on inside one.<br />
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The truth is that even at a time when the LGTB community has taken great strides towards recognition and equality in America, roughly 99.44% of the imagery we see in entertainment, advertising, and society in general in this country is still geared toward heterosexuals. Yet conservatives constantly bitch, whine, and moan about being inundated by the Gay "lifestyle", and how they find it so disgusting. The obvious conclusion is that they must hang out in places where there's a lot of the "lifestyle" going on for them to see, which leads me to ask where these places are, and what's the cover charge.<br />
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Seriously, if faux-Christian homophobes are so sick of the so-called "gay agenda" being "shoved down their throats", maybe they should just close their mouths.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16817241701607559552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7592627459096838501.post-71170138943010033512014-05-12T16:17:00.000-04:002014-05-12T16:19:28.566-04:00Former Ole Miss Guard Tweets Reaction to Michael Sam...Then Spends Next 15 Tweets Cleaning It UpI love Twitter. Seriously, I just LOVE it. Mostly because it's so easy for some idiot to put their foot in their mouth for the whole world to see. Take this tweet from former Ole Miss guard Marshall Henderson.<br />
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
Boycotting sportscenter til this michael sam nasty ass shit is off .... My brothers are 7 and 11 and saw that!!! <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23SICKENING&src=hash">#SICKENING</a><br />
— marshall henderson (@NativeFlash22) <a href="https://twitter.com/NativeFlash22/statuses/465845074215960577">May 12, 2014</a></blockquote>
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Now as you might expect, this let to some serious rebuking from the folks at Ole Miss, particularly their Athletic Director, Ross Bjork, who send out these counter-tweets.<br />
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I'm extremely disappointed & we do not condone the statements made by our former bball player. We believe in respect & dignity for all......<br />
— Ross Bjork (@RossBjorkAD) <a href="https://twitter.com/RossBjorkAD/statuses/465865939020693505">May 12, 2014</a></blockquote>
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We use significant resources to educate our student-athletes about respect & dignity for all people & unfortunately not everyone gets it....<br />
— Ross Bjork (@RossBjorkAD) <a href="https://twitter.com/RossBjorkAD/statuses/465866126791286784">May 12, 2014</a></blockquote>
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Now it is reasonable to expect that this reprimand via Twitter, and the realization that the NBA draft is coming up next month, probably led to a major "Oh Shit!" moment on the part of Mr. Henderson, since he spent the next 15 tweets trying to explain that it was all just an "experiment", blaming it on the proverbial "Gay friend" (because doesn't everyone have a Gay friend who's talked them into "experimenting").<br />
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
One of my best friends, WHO IS GAY, is about to graduate in psychology, asked me to say these things so he can have responses ... TBC<br />
— marshall henderson (@NativeFlash22) <a href="https://twitter.com/NativeFlash22/statuses/465866311973629954">May 12, 2014</a></blockquote>
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I won't go into the rest of the series where he calls it a "joke", gives the "see what had happened was" explanation, feigns amazement at the reactions to his tweets, ultimately ending up with what may be taken as a mea-culpa. <br />
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THANK YOU MICHAEL SAM FOR STANDING UP FOR YOU AND MAKING THIS WHOLE PROJECT POSSIBLE!!! TRYING TO BRIDGE THE GAP ONE DAY AT A TIME!!<br />
— marshall henderson (@NativeFlash22) <a href="https://twitter.com/NativeFlash22/statuses/465874377867673600">May 12, 2014</a></blockquote>
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The moral here is, be careful what you tweet. You may get just the reaction you're looking for.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://msn.foxsports.com/college-basketball/story/henderson-blasts-coverage-of-sam-kiss-than-says-it-was-an-experiment-051214">Henderson blasts coverage of Michael Sam's kiss, then says it was an experiement (FOX Sports)</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16817241701607559552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7592627459096838501.post-33118681628503322992014-05-02T12:05:00.001-04:002014-05-02T12:07:23.278-04:00GOP State Lawmaker Claims The "Icky-Icky Butt-Sex" is Bad For YouAnd we come to yet another ridiculous argument against same sex marriage. South Dakota Republican State House rep and pastor Steve Hickey is apparently so distraught at the prospect of his state being the latest to have its same-sex marriage ban overturned that he felt inspired to beg aid from the medical community to explain how the "icky-icky butt-sex is bad because it's just icky." In a letter to the editor of the Argus Reader that he posted on Facebook he adds this bit of crazy-sauce to the stupid-stew simmering in the slow-cooker that is the Right Wing (h/t <a href="http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/steve-hickey-anal-sex-letter-south-dakota?utm_content=buffer257e2&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer">Talking Points Memo</a>).<br />
<br />
<blockquote>
"Certainly there are board-certified doctors in our state who will attest to what seems self-evident to so many: gay sex is not good for the body or mind," he wrote. "Pardon a crude comparison but regarding men with men, we are talking about a one-way alley meant only for the garbage truck to go down. Frankly, I’d question the judgment of doctor who says it’s all fine." </blockquote>
<a name='more'></a><br />
Of course by "gay sex" he means anal-sex, since evidently that's the only kind of sex two gay people can possibly have. Plus, like most homophobes who adopt this argument, he conveniently ignores the fact that heterosexuals also partake of the "icky-icky butt-sex". (Oh, wait, I forgot. It's only "icky" when gays do it.) The irony is that his entire rant was invoked by the same-sex marriage...of two WOMEN. <br />
<br />
<blockquote>
Hickey told TPM on Wednesday he was driven to write the letter after Nancy Robrahn and Jennie Rosenkranz, a lesbian couple from Rapid City, S.D., announced their intention to become the first state residents to challenge its gay marriage ban. The couple was married on Saturday in Minnesota in a wedding that was officiated by Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges, setting the stage for South Dakota to become the 29th with a marriage equality court case. </blockquote>
<br />
So does what two women do count as "Gay sex", or fantasy for horny straight guys? Confusing, isn't it.<br />
<br />
Per the Conservative Right-wing Asininely Zealous Yo-yos Association (C.R.A.Z.Y.-ASS for short) Hickey's screed contains the requisite amount of self-pitying , self-victimizing, us vs. them B.S. designed to work his fellow homophobes into a frenzy of near self-immolating over their "freedom of speech", claiming that physicians whom he fully believes are with him on this are being "silenced" by us Godless homosexuals, the media, the President, and society in general. Because, after all, doesn't everyone think the icky-icky butt-sex is just nasty?<br />
<br />
From the TPM interview...<br />
<br />
<blockquote>
"...I do believe, and I’ve heard enough medical people talking about the intimidation factor and silencing that’s going on. And you just don’t talk about it. You know, you practice medicine and it’s an issue of politicized medicine and junk science and agenda-driven studies. When the average person can just, you know, what’s self-evident is that [anal sex] isn’t good."</blockquote>
<br />
Seriously, though. I'd be interested in knowing exactly what "studies", junk, media-driven or otherwise, have ever been done regarding the effects of the anal-sex on the body or mind. Frankly, in my opinion, the only "studies" going on in this area are pseudo-Christian homophobes like Hickey sitting in a room (or booth) watching Gay Porn and contemplating fantasies involving robes, altars, and lots and lots of oil and leather.<br />
<br />
From his letter...<br />
<br />
<blockquote>
"I'm asking the doctors who practice in our state, is the science really settled on this issue or is it more the case that you feel silenced and intimidated?" </blockquote>
<br />
Um, no dude. Sorry, but the science IS pretty much settled on this issue. In 1973 the American Psychiatric Association declassified homosexuality as a mental disorder, followed in 1975 by the American Psychological Association Council of Representatives, and finally in 1990 by the World Health Organization. Reparative, or "ex-Gay" therapy as it's sometimes called, has been condemned by just about any psychiatrist who doesn't use leeches or bore holes in their patients heads to drain out the evil spirits. Even "Exodus International", the most infamous practitioners of the "pray the Gay away" therapy has gotten out of the business of converting Gays after they realized that most of the Gays they've "converted" have ended up either committing suicide, or getting right back into the lifestyle. Sounds pretty settled to me, don't you think?<br />
<br />
Honestly, I have to say I love when people like Hickey, Pat Robertson, the Duck Dynasty fake rednecks, or the inbreeds of the Westboro Baptist Church go on these little anti-Gay tirades, blaming us "Godless homos" for the destruction of their marriages, the ruination of America, and every tornado that hits a trailer park. Basically, these folks do more FOR LGBT rights and marriage equality that all of the Pride marches, protests, and boycotts ever could. The more they open their mouths, the more the sane portion of the country realizes just how stupid their arguments sound. And the truth is, they really don't have an argument. Just blind hatred that they try to justify with biblical dogma, pseudo-science, and their own rationalizations that they seem to make up out of whole-cloth as they go along. This is why we're seeing bans on same-sex marriage fall across the country. And they'll continue to fall so long as they have ass-hats like Hickey advocating for them.<br />
<br />
Keep up the good work. The LGBT community thanks you.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16817241701607559552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7592627459096838501.post-10950297634943277562014-04-16T15:28:00.001-04:002014-04-16T15:28:43.263-04:00Missouri Mayor "Kind of Agrees" with Jewish Center KillerProof that no matter how cray-cray you are, or how unforgivably violent your ideas or tendencies are, you can always find a friend somewhere. From Talking Points Memo...<br />
<br />
<blockquote>
Marionville, Mo. Mayor Dan Clevenger spoke warmly this week of Frazier Glenn Miller, who allegedly went on a killing rampage on Sunday in Overland Park, Kan.<br />
<br />
"He was always nice and friendly and respectful of elder people, you know, he respected his elders greatly. As long as they were the same color as him," Clevenger said while laughing, according to television station KSPR. "Very fair and honest and never had a bit of problems out of him."<br />
<br />
Clevenger said he sympathized with some of Miller's views, but didn't like to broadcast that.<br />
<br />
"Kind of agreed with him on some things but, I don't like to express that too much," Clevenger, the owner of a local repair shop, said.</blockquote>
<a name='more'></a><br />
"Kind of agreed..."?<br />
<br />
Isn't that a little like being "kind of pregnant", or is it just me?<br />
<br />
The story goes further...<br />
<br />
<blockquote>
...KSPR unearthed a letter to the editor that the mayor sent nearly a decade ago to a newspaper in Aurora, Mo. in which he expressed admiration for Miller's mission.<br />
<br />
"I am a friend of Frazier Miller helping to spread his warnings," Clevenger wrote, according to KSPR. "The Jew-run medical industry has succeeded in destroying the United State's workforce."</blockquote>
<br />
What's scary about this is the fact that he is an <em>elected</em> official. That means people actually <em>voted</em> for this clown.<br />
<br />
I tell ya, it's stuff like this that sometimes make me weep for this land.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/frazier-glenn-miller-marionville-dan-clevenger">Click here for the full TPM story.</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16817241701607559552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7592627459096838501.post-41578999114397815862014-04-16T07:04:00.001-04:002014-04-16T07:04:36.967-04:00Oh, Just SECEDE Already!<div id="intro">
<i>Cut and pasted from my diary entry at dailykos.com.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
From the fabled land of the Right-Wing Cray-Cray comes yet another resolution for secession. From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel...<br />
<blockquote>
Earlier this month, the [Wisconsin Republican] party's Resolutions Committee voted in favor of a proposal that says the state party "supports legislation that upholds Wisconsin's right, under extreme circumstances, to secede." <nobr><a class="FAtxtL" href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/04/15/1292288/-Oh-Just-Secede-Already?showAll=yes#" id="FALINK_2_0_1">Read more</a></nobr> from Journal Sentinel: <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/noquarter/state-gop-gets-to-vote-on-secession-at-convention-b99246196z1-255113211.html#ixzz2yzTMF4JE">http://www.jsonline.com/...</a><br /> Follow us: @JournalSentinel on Twitter</blockquote>
Frankly, I'm just about sick and tired of these Teabagger folks' constant smack-talk about secession. In fact, I've actually gotten to the point where I <em>support</em> secession. Not for myself, mind you, since my love of this country is not dependent on who's running it (or his skin color), but for the asylum escapees who have spent the past 6 years butt-hurt over the fact that America elected a Black guy as President...TWICE!<a name='more'></a></div>
<div id="intro">
<br /></div>
<div class="divider-doodle">
</div>
<div class="article-body" id="body">
The truth of the matter is that these people have had 6 whole years to make good on their "threat" (promise?) to form their own sovereign nation of Right-Wingistan, and yet to date they have made not one blessed move to do so, not even so much as a credible threat. The only thing they've done was talk, vote, more talk, scream, more talk, wave their "Don't Tread On Me" flags, and oh yeah...talk. This is because that's all these people are capable of.<br />
<br />
It used to be fun watching and listening to these wing-nuts go through their conniptions of threatening to secede, to impeach the President, to overthrow the government in some kind of coup. Now it's just boring. I mean, you can only make the same threat so many times before people either stop listening, or call you on it. Right now, righties, I'm calling you on it.<br />
<br />
If you hate this country so much that you want to secede, then do it already. Stop getting our hopes up that we'll finally be rid of you, and just go. Find a quiet little patch of dirt to form your little nation of unsophisticated, barely educated, mentally unstable inbreds, and get to steppin. Because the truth is that the rest of us have grown beyond you. We've grown beyond your bigotry, your ignorance, your homophobia, and would love nothing more than for you to just go somewhere where you can be happy living in the 18th century. So how 'bout you just put your tri-corner tea-bag hat where your mouth is, and just secede already. And don't let the doorknob hit ya where your Founding Fathers split ya.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16817241701607559552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7592627459096838501.post-30544682922379252772013-12-30T11:22:00.000-05:002013-12-30T12:53:50.592-05:00HAPPY NEW YEAR! Resolutions and Wishes for 2014.As we come to the close of another year, it's once again time to take stock of our accomplishments, and look towards the future with optimism and hope for the coming year. With that end in view, here's my annual list of resolutions that we should all try to follow (though we'll probably break most of them within ten twitter posts or so).<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<ol>
<li><strong>It's time we try to wean ourselves off of MSNBC.</strong> I'm not talking a boycott or a cold-turkey stop, but we really should dispense with the idea that we need a "liberal" network (which, let's face it, MSNBC ISN'T). The main reason that FOX News is the number one cable news network is because the right-wing needs a 24/7 echo chamber to tell them what to think, who to fear, and to make them feel good about themselves. Since liberalism hasn't completely collapsed since the exits of Keith Olbermann, and Martin Bashir, and can go whole stretches without Bill Maher, it's pretty clear we need no such crutch. Besides, is it just me or have they become really BORING lately?</li>
<li><strong>Do we really need to repeat every blessed thing that comes out of rightwingwatch.org?</strong> I realize it's important to call attention to the crazy-stupid that comes from the right. But nowadays it's an almost daily occurrence that some right-wing nut-job makes some stupid racist, sexist, homophobic statement (usually misinterpreting the Bible while doing it). Calling attention to it is like calling attention to nipples on men. Let's just accept that there's a faction of the country that exists to remind the rest of us that we are sane well-adjusted sentient human beings, and there's a reason Obamacare covers mental illness. Speaking thusly...</li>
<li><strong>Say it loud and proud. It's OBAMACARE!</strong> We need to stop hiding behind this "Affordable Care Act" nonsense as if we're afraid to associate ourselves with the president's leading agenda item. This is Obama's legacy, for better or worse, and we should acknowledge it as such. Besides which, we all know that the minute it's proven to work, the right-wing commentators will stop calling it "Obamacare" just to keep him from getting any credit for it.</li>
<li><strong>We need to stop feeding the trolls, and stop baiting them.</strong> Frankly, it just isn't fun anymore. Sure, you come out looking witty, intelligent, and clever -- who wouldn't when debating someone with the intellectual heft of a three-toed sloth -- but you'd get the same result when explaining the French Revolution to a third-grader, and the third-grader might actually get what you're talking about.</li>
<li><strong>Unless you're looking forward to a Chris Christie presidency, you might as well just suck it up and support Hillary Clinton for 2016.</strong> Time for a reality check, folks. Outside of Hillary, our bench is pretty weak this go-around. Elizabeth Warren - maybe for VP. Cory Booker - too young (and way too soon). Bernie Sanders - too damn old. Joe Biden - you're kidding, right?</li>
<li><strong>Whenever we make stupid off color statements about folks on the right, we must now qualify that we're doing it in the spirit of Christian love and fellowship, find a Bible verse that we can misinterpret to support our statements, and call it a free-speech issue. </strong>Since apparently this is a guaranteed way to get away with saying something stupid in public. Of course, it helps if you have an audience of barely educated inbred morons who will believe just about anything you say. BTW, I use the term "barely educated inbred morons" with the utmost Christian love and fellowship, and how dare you infringe on my freedom of speech by suggesting otherwise. <<frantically looking up Bible verse to misinterpret>></li>
<li><strong>Just for funsies, find 3 right-wing Christians and ask them where in the Bible does it say that marriage is between one-man and one-woman.</strong> Then watch the conniptions as they try and quote every other part of the Bible except the non-existent verse you asked about. And while we're on the subject of the Bible...</li>
<li><strong>Since the Westboro Baptist Church insist upon picketing funerals in protest of Gay rights, Gay advocacy groups should picket Red Lobster restaurants in protest of the consumption of shellfish.</strong> After all, the same set of passages that condemns "man laying with man" as an abomination also condemns eating shellfish, which is Red Lobster's specialty. (That would be Leviticus 11:10-12 in case you're wondering.)</li>
<li><strong>Again, just for funsies, the LGBT community should stage kiss-ins at Chick-fil-A restaurants across the country.</strong> What better way to counter the Dan Cathy's anti-Gay stance (and his right-wing supporters) than with a blatant display of same-sex PDA. If anyone has a beef with it, we can just say we're exercising our right to free-speech. Just remember to keep it clean. After all, it is a family restaurant.</li>
<li><strong>Some folks just need to admit that their sudden concerns about NSA and privacy like it's something new is just them looking for a cause du-jour.</strong> I'm going to be frank. If I can hear your cell-phone conversations across three tables in a restaurant, or if you insist on talking on your cell in a movie theatre as if you're at home, then you don't get to bitch about NSA spying on your phone conversations. Besides which, the NSA has been spying on you since, like, forever (or at least since 1917).</li>
<li><strong>Finally, can we please give Harrison (played by Columbus Short) a back story on SCANDAL.</strong> I know this has nothing to do with anything, but the show is in the midst of its third season and the only thing we know about the bro is that Olivia found him wearing an ankle bracelet (and not as a fashion statement).</li>
</ol>
And with that, I wish all my fellow liberal/progressives the very best in 2014. Here's hoping we vote out the GOP, and make way for Hillary in 2016. Peace and much love.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16817241701607559552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7592627459096838501.post-65910329434804480322013-12-30T09:33:00.001-05:002013-12-30T09:33:53.540-05:00Duck Dynasty: Who Are The Real Winners? We Are (LGBT folks, of course).Pretty much as expected (to me, at least), A&E decided to lift the token suspension of Duck Dynasty patriarch Phil Robertson, and the show will begin taping it's new season with the whole clan of fake-ass rednecks intact. <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/27/showbiz/duck-dynasty-resumes/" target="_blank">In their statement</a>, A&E (who sold out the "Arts" part of their name long ago) had this to say.<a name='more'></a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"After discussions with the Robertson family, as well as consulting with numerous advocacy groups, A&E has decided to resume filming Duck Dynasty later this spring with the entire Robertson family."</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"While Phil's comments made in the interview reflect his personal views based on his own beliefs, and his own personal journey, he and his family have publicly stated they regret the 'coarse language' he used and the misinterpretation of his core belief based solely on the article," A&E executives said in a statement. "But 'Duck Dynasty' is not a show about one man's views. It resonates with a large audience because it is a show about family … a family that America has come to love."<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/showtracker/la-et-st-duck-dynasty-phil-robertson-20131228,0,7784571.story#ixzz2ouRP8iq6" style="color: #003399;">http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/showtracker/la-et-st-duck-dynasty-phil-robertson-20131228,0,7784571.story#ixzz2ouRP8iq6</a></blockquote>
This reversal should come as a surprise to no one. Everything that A&E has done in regards to this issue has been all about the business end. The suspension was merely a token gesture designed to placate Gay rights groups. There was no way that they were going to let go of a cash cow like "Duck Dynasty". Their "cave", as some are calling it, is merely a business calculation. After all, how many Gay (and Black) folk actually watch "Duck Dynasty" (vs. the number of barely educated morons for whom the show is the second coming of "Hee-Haw")? The reaction from both sides in this debate is just as predictable. Righties are calling this a victory for free-speech (even though this was never about free-speech), while the Left is crying and whining about how A&E sold us out and talking about boycotts (by the way, how's that MSNBC boycott going?). However, both sides are missing a much larger picture. The fact is Phil Robertson's views on Gays (or Blacks) mean exactly dip as far as marriage equality is concerned.<br />
<br />
Let's put this in some perspective. The Gay rights movement is at a place no one even dreamed it would be five years ago. More people are FOR same-sex marriage than are against it. And just look at what has been accomplished since Obama has been president. Don't Ask, Don't Tell - GONE. Defense of Marriage Act - OVER. Proposition 8 - OUTTA HERE. Even the Boy Scouts of America will be allowing Gay members starting January 1st - though they still can't be Eagle Scouts or Scout Masters (we're working on that). Same-sex marriage is legal in 18 states and counting, and we're just one good SCOTUS case away from it being legal nationwide. And in the ultimate "in your face" to the haters, a same-sex marriage will actually take place atop a float in this year's <a href="http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/general-news/20131226/woman-calls-for-rose-parade-boycott-over-gay-wedding-float" target="_blank">Rose Bowl Parade</a>. All of this is because the haters have never had any real legal, logical, or even moral reason for being against it beyond their own twisted interpretations of the Bible.<br />
<br />
There is one other thing in which we can also take some comfort. Phil Robertson is going to die - probably sooner rather than later - just like all of the other like-minded old folks who long for that non-existent conservative utopia where there are, as the song goes, "no Blacks, no Jews, and no Gays". And young people coming up behind them don't carry the same baggage, probably because most of them know someone who is Gay (likely in their own families), and they are seeing that Gays and Lesbian aren't the Godless predators that faux-Christians make them out to be. So I say we let the Righties take their little victory-lap on this one. Let them have their scripted reality with their fake-ass rednecks. From where I and a lot of LGBT folks are standing, REAL reality is far more desirable.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
</blockquote>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16817241701607559552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7592627459096838501.post-72949541222644252642013-12-20T22:17:00.001-05:002013-12-20T22:39:21.805-05:00Dear Duck Dynasty Family, Please Take These Shows With You. Thanks, America.First, an update. After A&E suspended DD patriarch Phil Robertson for racist homophobic comments made in an interview with GQ Magazine (and when was the last time anyone read GQ anyway?) social media was ablaze with rightie outrage and the idiot claim that Robertson's "free speech is endangered". Of course, those of us who do not spend our days and nights having Fox News feed talking points directly into our synapses realize that A&E's move, whether you agree with it or not, was not done on some moral or ideological grounds. Like the firing of Martin Bashir last month by MSNBC, this was merely a business decision. Now this may be lost on folks whose business acumen extends about as far as the price of their next meth-hit, but not every reaction to something you say is a free-speech issue. Be that as it may, here's the latest from our beleaguered gang of rednecks.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"We have had a successful working relationship with A&E but, as a family, we cannot imagine the show going forward without our patriarch at the helm. We are in discussions with A&E to see what that means for the future of <i>Duck Dynasty</i>. Again, thank you for your continued support of our family."</blockquote>
Now we all know that A&E isn't about to give up this cash cow, no matter how outrageous their statements. However, as we near the end of what may come to be known as "The Great Duck Dynasty Freak-Out", it occurs to me that if these guys were to pack up their beards and go home, there are plenty of reality shows that we'd be more than grateful if they would follow the Robertsons out the same door. Here are a few of the more egregious examples whose demise we'd all happily celebrate, not because of anything they've said or done, but because with their departure the collective IQ of the country might increase just enough for folks to realize that high ratings doesn't necessarily mean the world is laughing with them, but laughing at them.<br />
<ul>
<li><strong>Here Comes Honey Boo-Boo</strong> - If southern Whites could possibly make a case for being negatively stereotyped, this show is it. Honey Boo-Boo and Duck Dynasty are the White 21st century equivalent to Steppin'-Fetchit. Yet the very folks who are quick to cry "reverse racism" whenever their racism is called out gleefully proclaim that "these are people just like us." Black folk used to think characters on shows like "Good Times" and "Sanford and Son" were just like us, but that was when TV had very few other characters that looked like us. And while I know how mean this is going to sound, I can't help but imagine that poor girl in 20 years or so, 30 pounds overweight, trying to work a stripper pole, sauntering up to desperate horny guys yelling, "I'm Honey Boo-Boo, chile."</li>
<li><strong>The Real Housewives of Wherever</strong> - This is a show that begs the question. How do you make it out of the ghetto or trailer park, come up to the big league, and still act like you live in a ghetto/trailer park? Actually, I really shouldn't make such comparisons. I've seen ghetto/trailer park sisters behave with far more class than these ladies. Just proves that old saying, you can take the girl out of the ghetto, but then you gotta introduce them to your friends.</li>
<li><strong>Any daytime talk-show that involves a paternity test, a polygraph, or a "girlfriend" who turns out to be a man.</strong> - Seriously after two minutes of watching these shows I literally start to feel my IQ points drain down my leg. And fellas, if your girlfriend wakes you up one morning and just out of the blue suggests that you both see these shows live...RUN THE OTHER WAY.</li>
<li><strong>Any show that calls itself a "talent competition".</strong> - Dancing With The Stars, American Idol, The Voice, The X-Factor. These shows are not talent competitions, they're popularity contests. No show where Bristol Palin is actually considered an "all-star" can posibly be based on talent.</li>
<li><strong>The Bachelor/The Bachelorette </strong>- My biggest complaint about this show used to be that in it's 12 year existence there has been not one African-American Bachelor or Bachelorette. But considering this shows track record (16 hook-ups, 0 actual marriages), and the fact that people would literally pimp themselves out to win the affections of some skinny, perfectly tanned, wonderfully coiffed sugar-daddy or arm-candy, frankly I'd feel ashamed to have anyone of my race even consider being remotely involved with this show. Thanks, White America, but this is one you can leave us out of.</li>
<li><strong>Any and all things Kardashian.</strong> - I've never understood America's fascination with the personal lives of vapid airhead know-nothings. Then again, we have the population of an entire state that thought that Sarah Palin was smart enough to elect governor, so I guess you really can't go by me on this one.</li>
<li><strong>WWE</strong> - News flash, America. IT'S FAKE!</li>
<li><strong>Finally, any show where people are dropped on an island, trapped in a building, locked in a mansion, or put out in a field to compete in some kind of mental "Hunger Games" contest. - </strong>Survivor was fun in the beginning because it was a one of a kind comtest. Now you have these contest that run the gammut from mediocre (The Amazing Race) to "trying way too hard" (Whodunit). It's really time to let this go.</li>
</ul>
I'll grant that this will make things rather difficult for the trailer park crowd who believe Obama is the love child of Satan, and are still mourning the cancellation of "Hee-Haw". But since these people have been threatening to secede from the country anyway, maybe this will hasten their departure. <br />
<br />
Oh, we can only hope, can we?<br />
<br />
<ul>
</ul>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16817241701607559552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7592627459096838501.post-47094518724293325782013-12-19T17:11:00.002-05:002013-12-19T23:00:13.822-05:00News Flash, Righties. Free-Speech Doesn't Just Apply To YOU!This week in a <a href="http://www.gq.com/entertainment/television/201401/duck-dynasty-phil-robertson#ixzz2nx1zcQnv" target="_blank">GQ Magazine</a> interview Phil Robertson, patriarch of the so-called "Duck Dynasty" family (a case study in what happens when rednecks are allowed to spawn), decided to use the opportunity to espouse his views on, among other things, Homosexuality.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“It seems like, to me, a vagina—as a man—would be more desirable than a man’s anus. That’s just me. I’m just thinking: There’s more there! She’s got more to offer. I mean, come on, dudes! You know what I’m saying? But hey, sin: It’s not logical, my man. It’s just not logical.”</blockquote>
But wait, there's more...<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“Everything is blurred on what’s right and what’s wrong,” he says. “Sin becomes fine.”<br />
...<br />
“Start with homosexual behavior and just morph out from there. Bestiality, sleeping around with this woman and that woman and that woman and those men,” he says. Then he paraphrases Corinthians: “Don’t be deceived. Neither the adulterers, the idolaters, the male prostitutes, the homosexual offenders, the greedy, the drunkards, the slanderers, the swindlers—they won’t inherit the kingdom of God. Don’t deceive yourself. It’s not right.” </blockquote>
And that's just the part that the mainstream media has been reporting. There's still more. Here's what he says about growing up in pre-Civil Rights Louisiana...<br />
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“I never, with my eyes, saw the mistreatment of any black person. Not once. Where we lived was all farmers. The blacks worked for the farmers. I hoed cotton with them. I’m with the blacks, because we’re white trash. We’re going across the field.... They’re singing and happy. I never heard one of them, one black person, say, ‘I tell you what: These doggone white people’—not a word!... Pre-entitlement, pre-welfare, you say: Were they happy? They were godly; they were happy; no one was singing the blues.” </blockquote>
Now, being a corporate entity, A&E which airs the "Duck Dynasty" show, did what any corporation would do when someone spews nonsense which threatens their bottom line. They immediately placed Mr. Robertson on indefinite suspension, which of course enraged fellow rednecks for whom the show is the best thing to happen since "Hee-Haw", and has sparked outrage from teabaggers like Bobby Jindal, Ted Cruz, and the undisputed queen of the phony-outrage, Silly Sarah herself...<br />
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Free speech is endangered species; those "intolerants" hatin' & taking on Duck Dynasty patriarch for voicing personal opinion take on us all<br />
— Sarah Palin (@SarahPalinUSA) <a href="https://twitter.com/SarahPalinUSA/statuses/413487351579418624">December 19, 2013</a></blockquote>
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And really, this is the part that actually bugs me. Not the comments from someone who serves as the prime justification for why inbreeding is illegal, but the fact that his supporters, as they always do in these cases, are taking what is a mere business decision and trying to turn it into a "Free Speech" issue. This is mostly because the right-wing labors under the impression that the First Amendment should only apply to them. <br />
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A couple of weeks MSNBC found itself in a similar situation when racially insensitive comments by hers truly led Martin Bashir to make some rather impolitic comments that involved consumption of bodily extractions to put it mildly. These comments led to Mr. Bashir being suspended, and ultimately fired from the network. At no time at all did we hear Ms. Palin or any of her flying monkey-drones express any concern for Bashir's free speech. Not one hint of outrage for someone being fired for calling out someone else's racism. Nothing from the people who stood up to defend Paula Deen when her racial tone-deafness was exposed, and have now planted their flag firmly in the camp of a show that operates on the level of the lowest-bitter ignorant stupid. Likewise, these people had no problem when Bill Maher had his show "Politically Incorrect" canceled by ABC for post-9/11 remarks about then President George W. Bush, nor did they seem to be worried about the constitution when Whoopi Goldberg lost an endorsement deal with Slim Fast for making jokes about Bush at a banquet. Country music radio had no reservations about "free speech" when they mounted a boycott of the Dixie Chicks for Natalie Maines' comments about being ashamed of Bush. Yet let a Rush Limbaugh, a Glenn Beck, or a Don Imus suffer even a hint of a consequence for saying something monumentally stupid and watch the heads explode.<br />
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Look. I personally don't give a flying rat's fart about Phil Robertson's opinion of Gays, Blacks, or anyone else. I don't know this man. I don't sleep with this man. He does not pay my bills, and neither he nor his family have anything that I could possibly ever need or want. My thing is how the very people who claim to be such staunch defenders of the U.S. Constitution can be so horribly wrong about it's most basic (and important) rule. This may come as a bit of a shock to Sarah, Phil, and the rest of you folks over in Rightwingistan (or as you like to call it, Real America), but free speech simply means that your speech is protected from the government, not from us. It does not mean that you get to say whatever you want with impunity. It does not mean that those of us you offend with your racism, sexism, or homophobia have to simply sit down, shut up, and take it without so much as a word of protest. It does not mean that we cannot protest and/or boycott your business. And it most certainly does not mean that your place of employment cannot take disciplinary action against you if you say something in public that could possibly cost them money. All it means is that government employed jack-booted thugs don't get to break into your house and black-bag you to Gitmo for saying something stupid, which given the never ending river of stupid that flows from the right everyday is a pretty good thing. <br />
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Phil Robertson is entitled to whatever opinion he wants to hold for whatever reason. Furthermore he has every right to express that opinion as he pleases. Likewise, the rest of the country has the right to react to it. If you people on the right don't like it when the rest of America speaks out against your hatred, then perhaps you should stop putting it on display. Rebutting the spewings of Phil Robertson does not endanger free speech. In fact, it affirms it.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16817241701607559552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7592627459096838501.post-37459392660289560212013-11-27T19:48:00.000-05:002013-11-27T19:48:19.773-05:00Where Do Turkeys Go When They're Pardoned? You'd Be Surprised.So we come to another Thanksgiving holiday, and another President gives another "pardon" to another turkey. (BTW, check out the daughters' reaction to the President's "Hunger Games" joke at mark 1:35.)<br />
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<a name='more'></a>Though the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/27/us/politics/a-history-of-the-presidential-turkey-pardon.html?_r=0" target="_blank">history of the "turkey pardon"</a> can be traced back as far as Lincoln (in whose case it was a Christmas turkey that his kid eventually adopted as a pet), the first president to actually use the word "pardon" to describe the bird's stay of execution was George H. W. Bush in 1989, and the term has been used ever since. Throughout this tradition, the impression has been that the pardoned birds go off to some pastoral Nirvana somewhere where they're lovingly pampered and cared for for the rest of their long and happy lives. One has to wonder, however, where they REALLY go after their reprieve. Maybe...<br />
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In all seriousness, though, the pardoned birds really don't live long after their reprieve, and the few remaining years they do live (on average, around two) aren't terribly comfortable. That's because these turkeys are bred for the sole purpose of being the main course. And because most of us love big fat turkeys with big fat breasts <insert joke here> they're fattened up for just that purpose. Dean Norton of George Washington's Mount Vernon estate, where the pardoned turkeys are sent, puts it this way in a <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/27/politics/pardoned-turkeys/index.html?iref=allsearch" target="_blank">CNN interview</a>.<br />
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"The birds are fed in such a way to increase their weight. [Americans] want a nice big breasted turkey and so they are fed high protein diet and they get quite large. The organs, though, that are in this bird are meant for a smaller bird. They just can't handle the extra weight, so they end up living not as long [as wild turkeys]."</blockquote>
In short, the turkeys eventually die of what would be considered morbid obesity in humans. Truth be told, the birds would probably suffer less if we just lopped off their head and feet and shoved them in an oven.<br />
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Frankly, the whole pardoning of the turkey thing is something that most recent presidents really don't take all that seriously (and judging from the looks on Sasha's and Malia's faces, neither do their daughters). Mostly it's a pointless photo op designed to give presidents an air of geniality. It's cute, and one few fluff events that doesn't invite an awful lot of controversy. But as traditions go, maybe it's time to let this one fly the coop.<br />
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Rest in Peace Popcorn and Caramel.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16817241701607559552noreply@blogger.com0