From the 83% that aren't bigots

Shameful: that's the only way I can describe the recent poll that found 17% of Canadians wouldn't want a gay person living next door. 17%: that means almost 1 in 5 of us is a bigot.

A favourite blogger of mine addressed the poll on his blog; he was understandably upset and discouraged by the results. But it wasn't just the poll itself, it was also the fact that this number, 1 in 5, which seems so high for liberal Canada, got so little publicity. Where was the outrage from the other 4 in 5 of us?

Maybe we just didn't believe it. My first thought about the poll was that it had to be some kind of anomaly, the result of bad methodology or an insufficient sample size. Undeniably there'll always be a few knuckle-dragging fucksticks around, but I couldn't believe there'd be that many. So my initial reaction to the poll was to dismiss it as a crock of shit. But under my disbelief, there was a faint shiver of shame and embarassment at the thought that maybe, just maybe, it might be true. That 1 in 5 Canadians might actually be that bigoted. Even more so when I realized the sadness and the awful, hurting hate that those poll numbers aroused in my blogging friend... and little wonder.

It doesn't do much good to apologize for the ignorant and try to assure those hurt by these nitwits that they're the exception; I understand how a number as high as 17% could be disappointing, if not paranoia-inducing. I just hope that those affected will remember that for every one of them, there's 4 of us who'd welcome anyone except a bigot as our neighbour. And when push comes to shove, 83% can push a lot harder than 17%.

Congratulations Georgie

Throughout the middle east, freedom is on the march.

"The growing Sunni-Shiite divide is roiling an Arab world as unsettled as at any time in a generation. Fought in speeches, newspaper columns, rumors swirling through cafes and the Internet, and occasional bursts of strife, the conflict is predominantly shaped by politics: a disintegrating Iraq, an ascendant Iran, a sense of Arab powerlessness and a persistent suspicion of American intentions. But the division has begun to seep into the region's social fabric, too. The sectarian fault line has long existed and sometimes ruptured, but never, perhaps, has it been revealed in such a stark, disruptive fashion."

Sure didn't see that coming! Nice work, Georgie. HECKOFAJOB.

Happy Hour at the Panda Pub
It was so cute I couldn't resist. (from Yahoo)

Portugal says yes

to womens' reproductive freedom:

"PORTUGAL'S ruling Socialists will use their majority in parliament to legalise abortion after today's referendum on the issue failed because turnout was too low to make it binding. More than half of the traditionally Catholic nation's 8.7 million electorate abstained. Of those who voted, 59.3 per cent voted to lift the abortion ban and 40.8 per cent to keep it. Socialist Prime Minister Jose Socrates said despite the turnout, the outcome was in favour of lifting the ban. Portugal's new abortion law will only allow abortions in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy."

Update: A few different sites are reporting it now. The referendum itself fell short of the 50% turnout needed, but it got enough of a turnout (44%) and was definitively in favour (60%) that the government will go ahead with legalization allowing abortion in the first 10 weeks. As much as the fundies would like to keep throwing women in jail for daring to exercise their reproductive rights, Portugal is joining the modern world.

I almost forgot

Happy "Shoot An Old Man In The Face Day"!

Find yourself an old lawyer and pepper him good!

CFNY doesn't get it

A few posts back, I vented my somewhat hyperbolic spleen about Toronto radio station CFNY (the Edge 102.1) running anti-choice commercials produced by the anti-abortion wingnut group "Niagara Right To Life". Prior to writing that post, I'd sent them an email, to which they responded today:

First of all, thanks for the note! One of the things we love about our audience is they are unafraid to talk to us about stuff they hear on the Edge, good OR bad.

(Let me apologize for the long-ish email that follows. This is a complex situation that can only be addressed from an objective, dispassionate point of view. And just so you know, this commercial campaign ended yesterday. The commercials won’t be running anymore.)

We spent many, many hours debating the situation surrounding the Niagara Right to Life ads. Ultimately, though, we came to five conclusions:

(a) Niagara Right to Life is a legal organization;
(b) They purchased a paid commercial. What you heard was NOT a public service announcement but a commercial. In fact, it’s identified as being a “paid commercial message.”
(c) As we every commercial we run for a client, the content is not reflective of the opinions of The Edge or Edge management. We are not endorsing and/or agreeing with anything in those spots. We simply sold them 15 seconds of airtime as if they were any other client.
(d) The Right to Life commercial conforms to all rules and regulations set down by the Canadian Advertising Standards Council and;
(e) As Canadian citizens, the Right to Life people have a legitimate right to offer their opinions on matters of human and social concern, regardless of how contentious it might be.

In other words, there is no legitimate legal or business reason for us to deny this organization's right to free speech as guaranteed under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It’s only when personal belief systems become involved that the waters get murky.

(It should be noted that should someone want to purchase commercial time to run a PRO abortion message, we’d be happy to oblige—as long as the commercial follows the same advertising standards codes.)

We at the Edge take the issue of free speech very, very seriously. We believe that everyone should be entitled to it—so long as no one breaks the law. We don’t believe “You’re free to say whatever you want—unless, of course, we disagree with it. Then you shouldn’t be allowed to say it at all.”

In other words, it's precisely because we're so liberal in our belief in free speech that we decided to run the commercials.

And then there’s the other side of the story. Along with emails much like yours, I've also had a number that state (and I'm paraphrasing) that said "Thanks for having the courage to air these commercials." Their passions are just as strong as yours—except that they’re on the opposite side of the debate.

In other words, it's a no-win situation. Do we run a completely legal commercial and risk annoying the pro-choice people? Or do we refuse the ad and engage in what is essentially censorship? Or do we put our heads in the sand and run cowardly from a difficult issue?

Like I said, we debated long and hard over this one. However, once this contract is done at the end of the month, we're going to spend even more time coming up with a policy regarding commercials such as these. And that's easier said than done. This is why we're carefully gauging reaction from our listeners—such as you.

Hope that sheds a little light on things—and thanks for helping us out.

Alan Cross
Program Director, 102.1 the Edge
Host, OHONM
(Emphasis mine)

I hate to be picky, but... some issues. The lines I've bolded where he says "the campaign ended yesterday, the commercials won't be running any more," then a few lines down, "once this contract is done at the end of the month". It's a form letter, probably written last month or whenever the ads started running, and maybe the "campaign ended yesterday" part was an add-on. Still, I detect the acrid aroma of bullshit.

Also, this isn't about the anti-choice wingers' freedom of speech. My email indicated that my issue was not with the commerical itself, it's with "a station that's selling itself with a progressive image airing such regressive tripe". If the commercial was running on some right-wing talk radio station, I could live with it, but not when it's hosted by a station that claims to be "progressive". The "we're so liberal we'll air anything" rationale doesn't cut it with me, unless they want to air my "Friends don't let friends practice dogmatic judgmental self-righteous crotch-sniffing leg-humping religion" commercial.

Giuliani: I want to be like Georgie

Sweet. Rudy Giuliani, who some republicans think is their best hope to win the presidency in 2008, said yesterday that he wants to be a president just like Bush.

"...America, he added, is 'very fortunate to have President Bush... Presidents can't do nonbinding resolutions. Presidents have to make decisions and move the country forward, and that's the kind of president that I would like to be, a president who makes decisions."

Keep saying that, Rudy, say it over and over, as often as you can, every day, for the next 20 months.

Socons not welcome to run for Tories

Heh. This is teh funny.

It looks like the social conservatives aren't quite the political force they thought they were within the Conservative Party. The tories aren't chancing the loss of a single seat in the next election, so they're discouraging the nomination of socons. The most recent was Heather Stilwell, a BC wingnutter who was planning to run for the federal conservatives in the next election. Stilwell is a Surrey schoolboard trustee and longtime christian soldier in the battle against those 2 issues that give socons a reason to live, abortion and gay marriage. Stilwell had been told that her social conservative credentials might cause problems for her nomination:

"Prior to launching her campaign to become the Conservative nominee, Stilwell was warned that the Party would not allow her to run due to her history as a prominent advocate for the right to life and the traditional family.

That warning came after the Party had either outright forbidden or surreptitiously thwarted attempts by other social conservatives to enter the race to become candidates for the Party. Notably in 2005, the Party forbade social conservative John Pacheco from contesting the Conservative nomination in an Ottawa riding. Pacheco was the main organizer of the Ottawa Marriage March which drew over 15,000 people to Parliament Hill. "

Well well, obviously the Conservative Party doesn't concur with socons that most Canadians share their fucked-up vision of the world. In fact, it seems as though they're afraid running socon candidates would jeopardize those ridings, so they don't want them. Pacheco was the first bible-humping hatebot to be shown the door by the tories; he contested their nomination because the candidate favoured same-sex marriage, and the party told him to get stuffed. He then ran as an independent and lost by a landslide, which no doubt didn't go unnoticed by Harper.

Ms. Stilwell was summarily rejected as a candidate because, according to Tory HQ, her nomination papers were all fucked up. Good excuse, but whatever works. The question now is when will these jesus camp rejects dump the Tories and form their own party? Christian Heritage Party? Family Coalition Party? I'd love to see them running someone to compete with the conservatives in the next election. The vote on the right is in desperate need of splitting, so go socons, I'm pulling for ya.

Holy sheepshit

More ammunition for the global warming deniers! This is ugly. Upstate New York is under 123" of snow. Isn't that 10 friggin feet? This happens there occasionally, though; there's even been songs written about it:

She said I can't go back to America soon
It's so goddamn cold it's gonna snow until June
Yeah they're freezin up in Buffalo, stuck in their cars
And I'm lyin here neath the sun and the stars... ("Manana", Jimmy Buffet)

And here's where I was today... look at all that green, and *gasp* the sun came out and it was warm enough to wear a jean jacket. Nyeah! Nyeah!

But I do feel bad about it.

I mean that.

The Spirit of Radio?

What the FUCK!!? K-Dough's Canada reports that CFNY-FM "the Edge" alternative radio in Toronto is running mealy-mouthed weasely-assed bullshit anti-abortion commercials?? This is a fucking outrage!! When I was in T.O. it used to be my favourite station... what has it come to?!

I was in advertising when CFNY first came on the dial; I've still got one of their old "Spirit Of Radio" posters (circa 1982) kicking around here somewhere. NY was always an edgy alternative station, which limited its audience and made it difficult for me to convince clients to buy airtime on it (an old boss of mine once said "our clients don't want chicks who listen to NY, they're all nuts" - what a creep, but I had to laugh since I was one of them and knew it was true). I've been out of advertising for ages, but I know the Toronto radio market is more fragmented and more viciously competitive than ever, so things can't have gotten much better for NY. It's a tough old world, so I guess when the fetus brigade showed up with their Save-the-fetus ads and their custom-made christian moneyclips, CFNY caved and hoped nobody would notice. Wrong!

This isn't about stifling the wingnuts' freedom of speech. They have a right to make their idiotic pronouncements, hand out their bullshit pamphlets, air their cataclysmically stupid commercials and spew whatever wankitude they want. I don't give a flying fuck if they dance around naked under the full moon with pigs' entrails wrapped around their necks, film it and run it during the second half of the superbowl. My issue is with a radio station that's made a business out of selling itself as a progressive voice in Toronto being a party to disseminating such regressive crap. They're not being true to their image, their audience, or their other advertisers. And one has to wonder how far they'd fall -- what's next, a Focus on the Family commercial, "Stop Gay Marriage"? If I were a media buyer with contracts on CFNY, I'd be on the phone screaming until those goddamn ads were pulled.

CFNY made a PR mistake, and unless they correct it, they'll suffer. They should decline any further association with the anti-choicers, like the Bank of Montreal did after their "Life Card" Mastercard fiasco. Although the wankers will complain, as they did after BoM dropped them like a hot potato, that it's "the feminists'" fault that businesses shy away from them, the reality that they have yet to accept is that their ideology isn't widely shared by Canadians, so businesses that associate with them suffer. When businesses suffer, they tend to correct, "abort" if you will, the cause of the suffering. CFNY should do likewise, and practice safer ad sales in the future.

(h/t K-Dough's Canada)

Friday turkeyblogging

Time: 7:30am.

Check out this mighty turkey, his feathers all ruffled and wings flapping (he's gobbling, too): mating season must be almost upon us. Maybe I'll have some baby turklet pictures later this spring? I hope!

AnnaNicoleAnnaNicoleAnnaNicole

Breaking news! Anna Nicole Smith is still dead.

So are these guys. And these guys. And these guys. And these guys. And these guys. And these guys.

I could go on, but I think I made my point.

Watch it, Hillary

Wingnut Warrior Jerry Falwell and his Christian Soldiers are gunning for ya!

Falwell (who once famously said that gays, feminists and abortionists were responsible for 9/11 -- yeah, this guy isn't nuts, sure), is gearing up for an armageddonesque battle against Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. Falwell is on a Mission to put another "like-minded" (read: "ignorant, backward") republican in the white house in 2008, and get one more ultraconservative wingnut judge appointed to the supreme court: goodbye, Roe v. Wade, goodbye gay marriage (we hardly knew ya):

"With abortion still legal, prayer banned in public schools and pornography rife, he sees a long struggle ahead. For now, he is focusing on voter registration drives and rallying the faithful with his eyes on the twin prizes of the 2008 presidential election and control of the Supreme Court."

Falwell obviously relishes the battle ahead, if only because it promises to rally the wingnut faithful who've drifted away from the imploding republicans over the last few years. Like most right-wankers, Falwell has watched aghast as the republican party fell apart, fractured by every kind of scandal from illegal wars based on cooked intelligence to fellow evangelists bursting out of the closet with a vengeance. It must have been getting to the point where he was afraid to turn on the news for fear of another scandal, another closet door flung open. But a few months ago Falwell said he looked forward to a Hillary Clinton presidential run, as it would mobilize conservatives better than the devil himself. JF said of Hil:

"She would most certainly be a formidable opponent. She is a bright lady and she has the No. 1 campaign manager in the world (former President Bill Clinton). If she can keep his attention focused, he can do her a lot of good," he said.

Unfortunately, most of the Falwell talibangelists believe that jeebus is returning sometime this year, so they may not be too concerned about what happens next year. I guess Falwell can always recruit Pastor Ted; he's cured, he's looking, and he'll definitely be left behind with all us sinners, whether he wants to admit it or not.

Stupid, squared

Sometimes perusing the Blog Exchange I'll see a heading so painfully, off-the-wall stupid that it jumps off the page and stabs me right between the eyes: instant wingnuttery-induced headache.

So-con blogger "Bold Truth" has a habit of posting poorly-sourced debunked theories as truth because they happen to coincide with his ideology. I responded to his posting of outright bullshit about the completely outdated and debunked theory that abortion causes breast cancer (backed up by a 13-year old study, ha). My response, with a link to a 2005 study refuting his claim, naturally didn't see the light of day. This is the mentality of these nitwits: don't let the truth get in the way of ideological spin and self-righteous fear-mongering.

Today he urges us not to donate to the Heart & Stroke Foundation because it funds "unethical research". Translated from so-con wankuage "unethical" means "embryonic stem cell". BT claims that in addition to embryonic stem cell research, the Heart & Stroke Foundation "funds research on body parts of aborted babies". Please. The "body parts" are little bloody snotrockets scraped out of someone's ute, pretty much the same stuff that falls out of every woman once a month. He also goes on to state (without a source) that embryonic stem-cell research hasn't produced a single breakthrough for treatment on humans yet. (In fact this is BULLSHIT, there have been several.) It also doesn't occur to him that if cures are slow in coming, it might be because he and his imbecilic ilk keep putting up obstacles to the research.

The difference between embryonic and adult stem cells is that embryonic cells are vastly more versatile, and with sufficient research, they could potentially yield cures for a lot more diseases. But as long as assclowns like BT keep getting in the way of science, we might as well get comfortable with alzheimer's, cancer and heart disease; they'll be around for awhile. Because it's so much more christian to toss stuff into a biohazard bin than use it to save lives.

Iraq's "ghost employees"

Paul Bremer, former head of the Coalition Provisional Authority in charge of governing Iraq right after the invasion, was questioned yesterday by a Congressional inquiry into exactly where the fuck $8.8 billion (of taxpayers' money) disappeared to in that hellhole. Bremer testified that a lot of it was paid to so-called "ghost employees" -- employees whose existence the CPA couldn't actually confirm. Bremer just took the word of the Iraqis providing security for the government ministries that there were other employees who needed to be paid -- in cash. Bremer continued paying the "ghost employees" to "keep the peace":

"On the streets, you'd call that protection money," remarked Congressman Danny Davis, an Illinois Democrat. When Davis asked whether any of that money had wound up in the hands of insurgents, Bremer said he didn't know. But "if we stopped paying them, my judgment was we could have real trouble." ... "When auditors first confirmed that there were ghost employees in a couple of ministries, "we asked what they had done about it," Bowen said, "and they said they had made the decision to keep paying it, to keep the peace." In one ministry, about 25 percent of the total 8,200 could not be "validated," - matched with a person, Bowen said. In another, "just a fraction" of the 1,400 employees could be located."

As if it's not bad enough that all this money was paid to non-existent employees, it's suspected that some of it may have financed the insurgency.

Amazingly, Bremer still feels justified in conducting the CPA's finances in such a mindblowingly fucked-up way. But that shouldn't be surprising; this is the guy who thought it would be a good idea to fire the entire Iraqi army en masse and send them all home with their weapons. (Instant insurgency, DUH.) But in the Bush administration, if you fuck up badly enough,you get the Medal Of Freedom.

Pastor Ted

might want to ask himself this.

(via andrew sullivan)

Mandatory pregnancy proposal

and not from who you'd expect!

This is devilishly funny: in Washington State, proponents of same-sex marriage are collecting signatures on a petition to introduce a ballot measure that would require hetero couples to have kids within the first 3 years of marriage:

"The measure would require couples to prove they can have children to get a marriage license. Couples who do not have children within three years could have their marriages annulled. All other marriages would be defined as "unrecognized," making those couples ineligible for marriage benefits."

The measure is meant to target social conservatives who bitch and moan that gays shouldn't be allowed to marry because they can't "procreate". The so-con nitwits never clarify what they'd do about people like my ex and I, coupled for 13 years with absolutely no intention of having kids. But obviously if the "procreation" argument against gay marriage stands, then it should stand equally for childless hetero marriages.

Naturally the so-con wingnuts are backpedaling like crazy on their claim that marriage exists for the sole purpose of procreation. The whole ballot measure routine is likely just a publicity stunt, but it points out the glaring flaws in the "procreation" argument against SSM. Sooner or later they'll just have to admit what most of us already know; the real reason they oppose SSM is because they're shit-eating, bigoted swine.

Pastor Ted: "I'm cured!!!"

Poor Pastor Ted. Pastor Ted Haggard, the evangelical wingnut who was outed by his gay lover last fall, now says he's convinced that he's completely heterosexual. His purge of the Gay resulted from 3 weeks of "intensive counselling" by 4 ministers (3 weeks! Fellow wingnut James Dobson said it might take years. Hmph. Shows how much he knows.) One of the ministers who "counselled" Pastor Ted said:

"He is completely heterosexual... That is something he discovered. It was the acting-out situations where things took place. It wasn't a constant thing."

News flash: people who act out gay sex fantasies (for 3 years) are usually, um, gay. Poor delusional Pastor Ted. Poor, delusional, gay Pastor Ted. Those "counsellors" shoved him back in the closet as far as he'd go, stomped on him a few times to make sure he was jammed in there good, then slammed the door and secured it with chains and padlocks. Perhaps Pastor Ted's forgotten -- you can't outrun Gay. As Jon Stewart said:

"I know that when you feel like "gay" is chasing you, all you need to do is run towards "straight" as fast as you can, hide behind that wife-and-kid fort you've been building, but here's the problem: "gay" can see through walls! The kids aren't gonna protect you from "gay." Now, you can't catch gay, but gay sure as hell can catch you. So, Ted, look at the view from here: it's not so great. But once you stop trying to outrun gay, you can catch your breath and realize, the world's actually a pretty nice place. See, there's "glory" around you, Reverend, just not in a hole."

Gay can get through chains and padlocks, too. It's just a matter of time.

Easybake Ovens Of Death

Yes, it's all fun and games until someone loses an appendage or gets burned alive.

Almost a million Easybake Ovens are being recalled by Hasbro Toys. This comes after the Consumer Product Safety Commission ruled that kids using the devilish little cooking devices are at risk of getting their fingers stuck in them or burnt by them.

"The agency says there have been 29 reports of children getting their hands or fingers caught in the oven’s opening, including five reports of burns."

Personally, I think their colour scheme alone warrants recalling the bastardous little things; that combination of Princess Pink and Mushmallow Mauve is certain to induce nausea and vomiting.

Turner turns!

Garth Turner, independent MP since getting the boot from the Conservatives thanks to Charles McVety and the rest of the religious right wingnuts, has joined the Liberals! Woot! One more seat! Linkie.

Turner's blog is "down for maintenance" (heh) til this afternoon.

Purity Balls

Social conservative whackjobs are a constant source of comedy to me, and anyone who reads this blog knows that I mock them with great gusto. So-cons have such a flair for synchronically taking themselves so seriously while being completely absurd, I'd be remiss if I didn't acknowledge it. However, there's comedic and there's creepy, and an American so-con craze that's supposed to be gaining popularity up here, "purity balls", falls into the latter category.

The "Purity Ball" concept was born a couple of years ago in some fundamentalist christian hellhole like deepest darkest Focus-on-the-Family Colorado. A Purity Ball is a fancy-shmancy dress-up party attended by fathers and daughters, where the daughters make "chastity pledges" to their fathers, and dads vow to protect their daughters' vaginas. There's a heavy religious element to it; in the father's vow he's even referred to as the "High Priest" of the family. Sometimes a father will give his daughter a little padlock, with the intention of giving the key to her husband on her wedding day. (As someone at Fark said, "It's like a car show, but for hymens".)

While fathers are normally protective of their daughters, Purity Balls and their focus of the girls' virginity and the fathers' duty to protect it is more than a little creepy. The idea of daddy giving the key to his daughter's lock to her new husband is bizarre. Where is she in all this? The girls seem incidental to a situation that's disturbingly reminiscent of property exchange. The whole routine is like some kind of weird indoctrination/control process -- keep the chastity vow, or be damaged goods.

While they might be well-intentioned, Purity Balls are actually pretty sick. Whether a girl keeps her virginity should have nothing to do with her father; it's also a lot less important than her own sense of self-confidence and self-worth, qualities that won't be enhanced by being treated like chattel.

Piss on ATMs!

From Croatia, an unusual case of ATM rage.

A guy was out getting all drunked up when he ran out of money. He went to an ATM and it swallowed his card, as they're sometimes wont to do, especially when you're in a desperate situation like drunk and in need of more beer. Drunk Buddy's response was to stand on a wastebasket and piss on the ATM. Feeling that his outrage hadn't been sufficiently vented, Buddy then dropped his drawers, approached the machine ass-first, and tried to "make a deposit". It was during this attempt that he was arrested.

"Daily newspaper Jutarnji List said he told police: 'I was really annoyed - I couldn't buy any more beer and decided to express my dissatisfaction.'"

I wonder if the security video will make it to YouTube.

(from fark)

Ignorance and the HPV vaccine

Sometimes the utter ignorance of ultra-conservative types is so astonishing that I can only shake my head in disbelief. They've always insisted on stuffing their noses into other peoples' gotchees in the name of the lord, but now it's gone from stupid to dangerous.

The state of Texas recently mandated that girls be vaccinated with the HPV (human papillomavirus) vaccine in grade school. HPV, a sexually-transmitted virus, causes cervical cancer, and the vaccine is most effective on younger people. Parents have the option to refuse the vaccine, but bible-whomping conservatives are still outraged that the it's available at all, indignantly claiming it will encourage *gasp* pre-marital sex. The choice of opting out isn't enough; they don't want the vaccine to be available at at. They claim it promotes sexual activity (and contributes to society's shredding moral fibre zzzzzz). Naturally, the Focus on the Family cretins have been all over this for months, getting parents all choked and stoked about a vaccine which could potentially save their kids' lives.

"Some conservatives and parents' rights groups worry that requiring girls to get vaccinated against the sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer would condone premarital sex and interfere with the way they raise their children."

The truth is, the nitwits that are against the vaccine don't want to admit that there's a chance the "abstinence-only" sex education won't work, or face the fact that they'd rather see their daughters get cervical cancer than admit that they might have sex. Can't say I blame them.

The Decider goes all bipartisan-like

The House Democratic party's annual retreat yesterday had an unusual visitor, George W. McAsshat himself. It was the first time in 6 years that he's even bothered to make an appearance at the democratic retreat and attempted anything even remotely resembling bipartisanship. After the unquestioned free ride he's had since 9/11, it must have been torture for Georgie to have to bother speaking to his opponents. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

But Georgie's attitude hasn't changed that much. It was obvious when he tried to apologize, in a manner of speaking, for the "mistake" he made during the SOTU speech when he referred to his opponents in the House as "the Democrat congress". (In fact, the name is "Democrat-IC", and the term "democrat congress" is considered an insult.) Heeeeeeere's Georgie:

"Now, look, my diction isn't all that good," the president said. "I have been accused of occasionally mangling the English language. And so I appreciate you inviting the head of the Republic Party."

The "Aw shucks, ma'am, I'm just a dumb fuckin shitkicker" routine never gets old for Georgie. And yet, the insincerity of his apology was palpable; behind it, the put-down lurked like the after-fumes of an especially toxic beer fart that clings to the air no matter how many windows are opened. "Okay, allright," he was saying, "here: you can call me names too. Feel better now?" It would have more productive to drop the goofy cowboy act and just make a sincere apology, in the interest of bipartisanship.

This isn't the cowed minority of years past; this is a democratic majority congress that has a strong mandate for change -- "political capital", if you will -- and can make life extremely miserable for Bush if they so choose. It's time he stopped treating them like a bunch of recalcitrant little kids and started showing them some respect, and one way to do that might be to stop belittling their concerns with amusement. The task before them all is anything but amusing.

Afterthought: Is it just me or does he look drunk in that picture?

Birth Pangs

The inventive gang at the "bread n roses" feminist forum have come up with a parody website to counter the social-conservative obsession with pushing, prodding and poking their noses into women's reproductive lives. "Birth Pangs" advocates regulating pregnancy the same way the so-cons want to regulate reproductive choice.

"Birth Pangs" contains dire warnings about the ill effects of pregnancy, like "depression, sleepless nights and teenagers". There's new and disturbing research revealing evidence that pregnancy harms women in a multitude of ways, from hemorrhoids to oversized ta-tas. And of course there's the alarming fact that pregnancy is available on demand to women of all ages, without parental or spousal consent. Egads!

The "ZOOOM! Right Over My Head" crowd didn't catch the irony at first, and one so-con blogger posted a hyperbolic article about "radical feminists against pregnancy", or some such shit. The linked site now has a disclaimer that "this is a parody". (He was just funnin'... sure buddy. I believe you.) The point of the exercise, for anyone short on irony and comprehension skills, is that regulating abortion is as ridiculous as regulating pregnancy.

Hell, if it was a real campaign, I'd be out there right now pounding the pavement as a Birth Pangs Sidewalk Counsellor, and stuffing mailboxes with graphic pictures of little kids going berserk at Chuck E Cheese's: "Don't let this happen to you!"

Eerie similarities

I couldn't help but be a little shook up by the similarities in Bush's sabre-rattling rhetoric from 5 years ago (pre-Iraq) and now (pre-Iran?), as Olbermann points out in this video.

Does anyone else feel like they're watching this all happen in slow motion?

High on persecution in Saskabush

So-Con crybabies are getting all colicky again over the recent Human Rights Commission hearing being held to determine if Orville Nichols, a Saskatchewan marriage commissioner (and bigot), is guilty of discriminating against a gay couple he refused to marry on religious grounds. The tribunal has deferred the decision until the spring, but it's indicated that it isn't buying Nichols' argument that same-sex marriage wasn't law when he became a commissioner in 1983, therefore he should be exempt from performing them. Unfortunately for Orville, the lawyer for the Saskatchewan justice department defines the marriage commissioner's job as:

"The function of a marriage commissioner is to provide the service without a distinction based on religion, without a distinction based on any of the proven grounds of discrimination."

Oh, the hue and cry from the wingnut gallery! Social conservatives are positively spasmodic as they're gripped in the throes of a collective persecution high, whimpering "religious discrimination!", and pointing to this case as "another example" of how religion is "under attack!!!". Break out the violins!

Under Canada's same-sex marriage law, religious protection exists for clergy, who have the right to opt out of performing the marriages on religious grounds. But marriage commissioners aren't clergy, they're civil servants. As government officials providing a public service, they must work within the parameters of the law, and they don't get to choose which law. Same-sex marriage is the law; a marriage commissioner's job is to provide the service, not pass personal moral judgments on it.

And if they don't like it, Walmart is always hiring greeters.

"If you think I won't eat you when you die, you're dead wrong."


Funny funny funny.
And cute. Very cute. "How to Embarrass Your Dog".

El-Rushbo's Nobel scam

I thought it had to be some kind of a sick joke at first, the nomination of right-wing blowhard Rush Limbaugh for the 2007 Nobel Peace Price. But no! Some wingnut legal group, the Landmark Legal Foundation, actually nominated Limbaugh, the guy who advocates blowing up the middle east, for a Nobel Peace Prize. By way of explanation for this lapse in what one would assume to be at least average intelligence, their letter to the chairman of the Nobel Institute said:

"Landmark Legal Foundation herewith submits the name of Rush Limbaugh as an unsolicited nomination for the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. We are offering this nomination for Mr. Limbaugh's nearly two decades of tireless efforts to promote liberty, equality and opportunity for all mankind, regardless of race, creed, economic stratum or national origin. We fervently believe that these are the only real cornerstones of just and lasting peace throughout the world."

Well, all-righty then. As one who torments myself on an occasional basis by listening to Rush on my truck radio (I'd never let Rush into my home), I can see him qualifying for a lot of prizes, but the Nobel ain't one of them. Rush and his right-wing water-carrying bullshit-spewing cohorts (Coulter, Malkin, O'Reilly etc. ad nauseum) have done more to fuel division and hatred than the fucking taliban. If everyone got along (a/k/a "peace"), there'd be no demand for the likes of Limbaugh.

But as usual with these guys, there's "the rest" of the story. It turns out that Limbaugh sits on the board of directors of the wingnut legal foundation that submitted his nomination. "It's an unpaid position!" he squealed on this morning's blat-fest, before going on to shill his new line of Rush Limbaugh Nobel Prize coins, hats, T-shirts, poop scoopers and dildos. And I bet none of those are free. Apart from all that, the "unsolicited nomination" isn't even legitimate, since the official nomination process is by invitation only.

What a scam, and all from a guy who once called Nobel Prize winners "clowns and egghead elitists who can't even button their shirts".

This is what shut down Boston on Wednesday

And somewhere far, far away, in a well-appointed cave in the mountains of Hindu Kush, Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri are laughing their asses off and high-fiving each other.

"We won! We won!"

Killing them over there so we don't have to kill them over here

The picture shows the bodies of two Iraqi boys lying in the hospital after they were killed in a mortar attack in Baghdad today.

The nitwits who rant and rave about saving "the unborn" are the same people who can somehow justify this.

Go figure.

(from Yahoo)

What's really up with Blogger?

Blogger is known to have occasional problems, especially since the introduction of the new and supposedly improved "beta" version. But the "New Blogger" is supposed to be out of beta now, having had all the bugs worked out --- WHAT? I guess that's why every time I try to save a post I get this:

We're sorry, but we were unable to complete your request. The poem didn't work?

When reporting this error to Blogger Support or on the Blogger Help Group, please: "Reporting this error", that's rich. The "help" button takes me to a few places that don't "help", then ends up back at the "help" button. It's like a cyber mobius strip, going around and around for infinity.

• Describe what you were doing when you got this error. I hate to admit it, but I was blogging: a lot to ask of a service called "Blogger".
  
• Provide the following error code and additional information.

bX-b4msgb <----This is the error code that I can't "provide" because I can't get past the HELP button.
Additional information

uri: /post-create.do
host: www2.blogger.com That's helpful.


This information will help us to track down your specific problem and fix it! "Fix it" -- with an exclamation mark, no less. Here's some more exclamation marks for ya: WHEN!!! How about NOW!!!

We apologize for the inconvenience. Oh well that makes it all okay then. Bull fucking SHIT you apologize. Is anyone even working there? Hello? You aren't all slumped over your keyboards dead, are you? Or have you been abducted by aliens?

The irony of this error message is that even though it appears to be some kind of feedback report, you can't actually send it anywhere. Or type on the page. What the hell's going on? I think I'm gonna go with "abucted by aliens".

Test

*sigh*

Poetry Corner

Trying to access any help from Blogger is a wild goose chase that starts and ends with clicking on "Help". Maybe a request for help in poetry form will get their attention:

Ode To Blogger

My comments aren't working
Whenever I click
I find error pages
I'm getting quite ticked
So fix the bastard
Or I'm leaving you pricks.