Unbecoming Levity

Attention Wal*Mart Shoppers: You Make Me Sick

Abacquer — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 09:54:00 -0500

I'd like to take this opportunity to express my utter disgust at the crowd of shoppers who mobbed the doors of a Wal*Mart in Long Island yesterday morning, broke through the doors, and trampled a 34-year old employee to death. There is NOTHING that can be found in Wal*Mart that is worth crushing a human being for--none of you were in desperate need of food or medicines that could only be had in that store and nowhere else on the planet. Believe it or not, your kids will survive if they don't get Guitar Hero for Christmas.

Wal-Mart Employee Trampled to Death (The New York Times):
...Detective Lt. Michael Fleming, who is in charge of the investigation for the Nassau police, said the store lacked adequate security. He called the scene "utter chaos" and said the "crowd was out of control." As for those who had run over the victim, criminal charges were possible, the lieutenant said. "I’ve heard other people call this an accident, but it is not," he said. "Certainly it was a foreseeable act."...

I strongly urge the detective and the county DA to pursue criminal charges against these people. There is security video from the store, so there should be no problem identifying them and providing evidence of their guilt. Nobody "accidentally" breaks a door down and kills a man. The Damour family will have an empty seat at the dinner table for the rest of their lives because of a bunch of stupid assholes wanted to save a buck.

It's 2008 folks, you don't get to be cattle anymore. Whoever went to that Wal*Mart yesterday morning and forgot to bring their humanity? I hope you rot in prison.

Election: Palin in Favor of Federal Gay Marriage Ban

Abacquer — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 02:08:00 -0500

I suppose I shouldn't be surprised given what a wackaloon theist McCain's screwhead VP pick is, but just in case it wasn't obvious... Sarah Palin supports a federal Gay Marriage ban--because her religion frowns upon it, it should be illegal for people who don't share her religion. Basically, because she is arrogant.

...in my own, state, I have voted along with the vast majority of Alaskans who had the opportunity to vote to amend our Constitution defining marriage as between one man and one woman. I wish on a federal level that that's where we would go because I don't support gay marriage. I'm not going to be out there judging individuals, sitting in a seat of judgment telling what they can and can't do, should and should not do, but I certainly can express my own opinion here and take actions that I believe would be best for traditional marriage and that's casting my votes and speaking up for traditional marriage that, that instrument that it's the foundation of our society is that strong family and that's based on that traditional definition of marriage...

Knuckledraggers love this witch. If McCain doesn't win, I expect we will be hearing from her again in 2012. Crooks and liars has the video and transcript of Palin's statement to CBN's David Brody.

Election: Obama Assassination Plot?

Abacquer — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 17:28:00 -0400

Reuters: Obama assassination plot thwarted

Sick people in this world, man. Sick people.

Comment Moderation is now On - Thank the Asshole

Abacquer — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 14:06:00 -0400

Friends and readers, ULev has acquired its own troll. I should feel flattered I guess, but this coward is such a scumbag he's not above leaving anonymous comments insulting my daughter. What does this mean for everyone else? From now on once you post a comment it will be sent to me for moderation. This means it will not appear on the blog until I approve it. I apologize for the delay. Thank the asshole.

Red States and Republicans Do Not Have a Monopoly on Knuckledraggers

Abacquer — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 12:51:00 -0400

"What you have to spew and spread is extremely dangerous ... it's dangerous for our children to even know that your philosophy exists! This is the Land of Lincoln where people believe in God. Get out of that seat ... You have no right to be here! We believe in something. You believe in destroying! You believe in destroying what this state was built upon."

-- Rep. Monique Davis (D-Chicago), speaking to atheist Rob Sherman

If Rob Sherman was a Jew or a Muslim or a Methodist or anything but an atheist, Representative Monique Davis would be openly castigated from every direction (and deservedly so). But it's okay to hate atheists here. Welcome to my country.

Mr. Sherman was testifying to the Illinois House State Government Administration Committee about a one million dollar grant slated to go to a Baptist church that was trying to rebuild from a fire. As you know churches already don't pay taxes, so it seems rather curious that anyone would think it okay for tax money to go to a church--especially in a country where church and state are supposed to be separate. The grant money story is pretty smelly all on its own, but I am not at all surprised that any outspoken atheist would have an opinion on the matter, and might choose to testify to government bodies on the matter.

But Monique Davis feels otherwise. She feels atheists have no right to testify to the American government. And for that matter we are destroyers, and dangerous to children. And it's okay to censor or silence us. Oh and the country was founded on Christian principles.

How does someone like this even get elected in the first place? Shame on you Monique Davis. You madam, are no Democrat.

Hat tip to the excellent science blog Pharyngula for the story. You won't be hearing about it on Fox.

Mind What You Post on Flickr

Abacquer — Wed, 30 May 2007 10:02:00 -0400

(Or anywhere on the internet really.) People will find your images, copy them, and use them for their own purposes.

I mention this because I have just heard about Flickr user "Lara Jade" who recently discovered that a self portrait she photographed when she was 14 years old was used as the cover for a pornographic DVD without her knowledge. The responses she has received from the DVD company border on the bizarre and betray an extremely warped sense of morality and personal responsibility.

Sadly for Lara Jade, she cannot afford the legal fees necessary to pursue the matter, especially since she lives in the UK and the photo was misappropriated by a company operating in the USA.

Read her story here.

Those of you who post personal or family photos are advised to publish them as "private" photos -- viewable only by people you name as family or friends. This is not something I've ever worried about on my blog, but I am now wrestling with the idea of marking some of my photo albums as private. If that happens, anybody who wants to view those albums will need to create a reader account so I can add you as an approved reader. I haven't decided what I am going to do. This could be a good opportunity to just switch to Flickr. I'll have to think on it.

Scumbag at Work

Abacquer — Wed, 16 May 2007 21:04:00 -0400

An Australian video game designer has caused a major uproar Down Under with his creation of a game based on the Virginia Tech massacre.

Called V-Tech Rampage, the game has several levels of "stealth and murder," reports The Sydney Morning Herald.

But what really is causing the kerfuffle--as if the game itself wasn't in bad enough taste--is that its designer, Ryan Lambourn, says he will take the game down from his Web site only if the public comes up with a $2,000 payoff.

For another grand, he'll apologize...

-- Game designer causes uproar with Virginia Tech game (Tech News Blog)

Hardesty, Oklahoma -- Home of the Ugly Christian

Abacquer — Sun, 13 May 2007 19:58:00 -0400

In another example of fundie Christian love and acceptance, a 13 year old girl in Hardesty, Oklahoma is now being homeschooled after having been basically run out of school by the local knuckledraggers. Please watch this video.

You're a brave girl Nicole. Sorry for what you went through. You should come live in Massachusetts. We have plenty of religious nuts here too, but the area is pretty liberal, and therefore most of the Christians I know actually behave like Christians.

One Lone Conservative Voice

Abacquer — Fri, 11 May 2007 04:26:00 -0400

From University panel says student parody "harassed" blacks (AP via Boston.com):
...The parody of "O Come All Ye Faithful" calls black people "boisterous" and proclaims, "Born into the ghetto. O Jesus! We need you now to fill our racial quotas."

The lyrics also say, "No matter what your grades are, F's, D's or G's, give them all privileged status."...

I can understand that someone who is a conservative might have issues with affirmative action, a system that attempts to correct for the effects of years of injustice and discrimination. But when you write "funny" songs called "Oh Come All Ye Black Folk" that indicate that black people come from the ghetto and have bad grades, you probably aren't doing your cause any favors.

But that's exactly what a Tufts University conservative campus newspaper "The Primary Source" did. You can imagine how well the idea was received, especially since it was only last month that the same paper garnered the ire of Muslim students by posting parodies of Islamic Awareness Week advertisements in which they discussed brutality in Muslim countries.

There is a value sometimes in being shocking. Sometimes it is necessary to shock someone into realizing that they are behaving in a manner they wouldn't tolerate from others. Maybe that's what this paper was doing. In order to be certain though, I'd need to see some shocking articles directed at white Christians, or something like that. Barring that, it sounds like the students who imagine themselves to be Tuft's University's "one lone conservative voice" are abusing that voice by saying things that no decent conservative I know would say.

What do you think?

A Few Random Items

Abacquer — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 21:35:00 -0400

Continuing in the vein of yesterday's post, I have a few more random thoughts to share...

Survivorman
Perhaps you've never seen this show, it's on The Science Channel (not to be confused with Discovery Channel or The Learning Channel). I really enjoy it. The premise is simple. In each episode they take Les Stroud and dump him in the middle of nowhere with meagre supplies and about 50 pounds of camera equipment. His only mission is to survive for seven days before the crew returns to pick him up. He's not allowed to break down the camera equipment and use it for survival, and he does all the filming himself. I can only imagine what an incredible amount of effort is involved in shooting himself walking past the camera or trudging off into the distance, only to have to return and get the camera. This show strikes me as one James would enjoy. I've seen this poor guy dumped in the arctic tundra, the swamps of Georgia, some desert out west somewhere, even one episode where he had to survive in a life raft at sea for seven days. You can order season 1 of the show on DVD if you are interested. I discovered this show during my many days of bedrest over the last month or so.

North and West of the City...
I'm sick of this phrase. I hear it all the time during weather reports, as in "2 to 5 inches of snow are expected in the Boston area, while areas North and West of the city could receive as much as a foot." It's snowing today. Unlike those in and south of the city, there's no rain following the storm here... it's just piling up. Day before St. Patrick's day and the snow is just dumping down. *sigh*

Cosmos and Carl
I miss Carl Sagan, and I loved Cosmos when I was a kid. One of my best memories of childhood is sitting in the living room with my Dad watching Carl explain history, other dimensions, outer space, the doppler effect, and various other intriguing things. Pat and I both talked recently of trying to find the Cosmos series on DVD to watch with Lynnea (though it might be too slow paced for her.) Amazon has it, if you are interested. One of my favorite segments of that series was when Carl explained what it would be like for two dimensional creatures to encounter a three dimensional one, as a way of explaining what a fourth dimension might be like, as a mechanism for explaining the concept of a curved universe as it relates to the big bang. The two dimensional creatures were called "flatlanders" because they lived (appropriately enough) in Flatland. I finally found that segment on YouTube, but it is included in a larger 10 minute video. You can watch it here, the part about Flatland starts about 3 minutes in, after a discussion of Hubble's discovery that the universe was expanding. In the next segment, Carl ties in the curved universe and questions about the existence of God. It's slow paced but wonderfully done. I really should pick that series up and watch it again as an adult--I've no doubt I'd learn more this time.

Destroying a Career
As you probably know, Valerie Plame testified today before House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and finally had a chance to speak out on her cover being blown by an administration with hopelessly misplaced priorities. One of the saddest things about this, as far as I can see, is that her CIA career as a covert agent is basically over at this point. That's got to be infuriating for her. I can't imagine what that must be like. From her testimony today:

..."My name and identity were carelessly and recklessly abused by senior officials in the White House and State Department. [...] I could no longer perform the work for which I had been highly trained." [...] Under questioning, Plame recounted feeling "like I had been hit in the gut" on the July 2003 morning when she saw a newspaper story by syndicated columnist Robert Novak identifying her...

Pace and the Unbagged Cat
Smooth one General, really smooth. For those of you who haven't heard, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Peter Pace, stepped in it on Tuesday by saying he supported the Pentagon's ban on gays serving openly in the military because homosexual acts are "immoral". Way to go, dickhead. There are thousands upon thousands of gay people serving in our great nation's military right now, many of them putting themselves in harm's way. Thanks for telling them that they're a bunch of immoral perverts. General Pace, for his part, has refused to apologize for the remarks, and has only gone as far as to say that he regrets making them. I'll bet he does, but only because it is inconvenient for him now that the cat is out of the bag. As far as offending the gay troops who've been valiantly serving over the last four years of this misguided war? It's clear what Pace thinks of them. I never understood the ban on gays in the military, and I understood don't-ask-don't-tell even less, except that it allows good soldiers to serve a country that needs them, regardless of their sexual orientation. And the same people that screeched in 1993 that we couldn't let gays in are screeching today that we can't let gays serve openly, for the same stupid reasons--because it would cause a breakdown in unit cohesion on the battlefield. What a bunch of bullshit. I'm sorry but a guy brave enough to crawl across a battlefield under fire while trying to avoid landmines isn't going to be worrying if the guy behind him is checking out his ass. Give me a goddamned break, PLEASE. Here's a thought, I won't ask then next time something as stupid as that enters your mind, and you don't tell, okay? (As a sad but not unexpected sidenote, conservatives are leaping to the General's defense.)

Laughing at Pain

Abacquer — Sat, 23 Dec 2006 00:52:00 -0500

You know what I don't understand? The attraction of videos featuring people having accidents. Videos of people falling off their bicycles, trampolines, horses, and what have you are posted on YouTube as humor, usually with a dubbed laugh track and moronic music. And people post comments saying how funny these videos are. Clearly I have no sense of humor because all I feel when I watch these videos is sympathy and horror for the person who suffered the injury. That and revulsion at people who think someone flipping off a trampoline and landing on their head and neck is fricking hilarious. It would be one thing if it was a stunt being performed by a trained stunt man, most of these are home videos and portray real events.

A little old lady with osteoporosis getting dragged across a lawn by a rambunctious great dane is funny right up until it's your mom.

Jesus.

Circuit City -- Eternal Assholes

Abacquer — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 23:39:00 -0500

Sorry for the inflammatory nature of that title, but I want to make sure this is noted. I was walking through a Circuit City store today as was appalled to see this abomination on the shelf:

Just in time for Christmas! A good wholesome game to teach your kid about the end times in which you either get Jews, Catholics, Atheists, Muslims, and other folks to convert to your Dominionist Christian ideology, or you murder them in cold blood on the streets of Manhattan. What fun!

You may recall I wrote about this repugnant abortion of a game some time ago. I reiterate that there is nothing remotely Christlike in its message.

The Circuit City in Leominster, MA just lost my Christmas dollars. I urge you to also take your holiday spending elsewhere.

Bill Maher Loses My Respect

Abacquer — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 22:02:00 -0500

So Steve Irwin dies in September, and in October Bill Maher thinks it would be funny to dress as a dead Steve Irwin for Halloween. What a schmuck. Fuck you Bill. Not funny man, not funny at all.

Whatcha going as next year? A Katrina victim? A World Trade Center victim? Put a fake slice in your neck and go as Daniel Perl? Hey how about going as Michael J. Fox? You can twitch and everything! As someone who was a fan of yours up until about 15 minutes ago, I suggest you dress in your regular clothes and go as an asshole.

Tip of the hat to The Superficial for the story.

Rush Limbaugh -- Blowhard Prick

Abacquer — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 13:00:00 -0400

The actor Michael J. Fox recently appeared in a campaign ad. As everyone knows Mr. Fox has Parkinson's disease, a debilitating illness for which there is no cure. Needless to say...

While You Were Sleeping

Abacquer — Mon, 09 Oct 2006 00:57:00 -0400

And while Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld* have had their attentions glued to Iraq, North Korea went and detonated a nuclear bomb. Way to go guys. I think we found the weapons of mass destruction...

Stupid Anti Gay Marriage Argument #15

Abacquer — Wed, 13 Sep 2006 08:00:00 -0400

Back in July the Twin Cities Blog (a blog for the local Sentinel & Enterprise newspaper serving Fitchburg, Leominster, and the surrounding communities) posted a simple question...

Remember

Abacquer — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 01:00:00 -0400

This is how I choose to remember the World Trade Center...

Do NOT Click That Link -- Another E-Mail Scam

Abacquer — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 01:20:00 -0400

Well I just got a scary letter from PayPal.com... the subject was "Account compromised: billing information moved or changed". So I cracked it open and it said...

And Now, In The NO DUH Category...

Abacquer — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 10:22:00 -0400

The Federal Criminal Police of Germany have concluded that two bombs found on trains in Dortmund and Koblenz last month "may have been part of a terrorist plot". Ya think? I'm glad we've ruled out that it might just have been two unrelated passengers accidentally forgetting their bombs and leaving them on the train.

Book Review -- FIASCO by Thomas E. Ricks

Abacquer — Sat, 12 Aug 2006 16:20:00 -0400

After a week of struggling I have finally managed to finish reading Thomas Ricks excellent account FIASCO -- The American Military Adventure in Iraq. I struggled, in part because I've been so sick, but mostly it would take an average of 10 pages for me to get so furious, or so disheartened, or otherwise upset that I would have to put the book down and pick it up later on. Ricks account of this war is not an easy read. Nor should it be. But having finished it I say that without a doubt all Americans have a civic duty to read this book and understand the nature of this war. Like it or not...

Terrorist Bastards

Abacquer — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 07:55:00 -0400

Well, I wake up this morning to hear that British police have uncovered a terrorist plot involving blowing up several airplanes leaving Britain and heading for the United States. Security has been clamped down at Heathrow Airport and security personnel are now forbidding just about anything you can think of bringing on a plane (which is for the best I'm sure!) Interestingly, they've specifically disallowed all fluids on planes except baby formula because the plot involved liquid explosives...

Mel Gibson is an Asshole

Abacquer — Mon, 31 Jul 2006 09:55:00 -0400

Okay I admit I've enjoyed a lot of his movies, but Mel has been getting weirder and weirder as he's gotten older. You'll probably recall that accusations of anti-semitism were leveled at him when Passion of the Christ came out. Was there anything to it? Mel dismissed it as nonsense, but provided no small amount of corroborative evidence last week when he was pulled over for drunk driving and started screaming about the "fucking Jews"...

Beyond Belief... Lies Insanity

Abacquer — Wed, 31 May 2006 14:09:00 -0400

Fundamentalism is pretty scary. Anybody nutty enough to kill a person just because they don't believe in that's person's particular fictional superbeing should be locked up for the benefit of all mankind. And yet Dominionism (the belief that Christians have a divine mandate from God to dominate the Earth) is alive and well among America's Christian population, and we really should sit up and take notice. Due for release in October 2006 is "Left Behind Games" latest offering: Left Behind -- Eternal Forces. A video game in which Christian soldiers are called upon to raid the streets of New York City where they must convert or kill liberals, moderate Christians, Catholics, Jews, homosexuals -- pretty much anyone who doesn't fit into the dominionist Christian worldview. Yeah you heard that right. Here. In America. Melting pot of diversity? Or cesspool of intolerance? ...

In The News 3/21

Abacquer — Mon, 20 Mar 2006 09:41:00 -0500

Here's a glance at a few news articles that caught my eye recently...

Better No Parents Than Gay Parents

Abacquer — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 14:52:00 -0500

Sorry little Johnny and Janey, but you'll have to remain in foster care or an orphanage, because as long as the law says we have to allow gay couples to adopt, we're not going to perform any adoptions at all. So says Boston Catholic Charities, proving that South Dakota doesn't have a monopoly on knuckle-draggers...

Nine Churches Burned... a Joke?

Abacquer — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 17:06:00 -0500

Looks like they caught the jerks that set fire to nine Baptist churches in Alabama last month. But investigators are surprised that the criminals turned out to be well-to-do college students in their late teens/early twenties. This doesn't surprise me much--bored rich kids are just as prone to stupid misbehavior as anyone else. What strikes me as incredible was the excuse they gave: it was a joke. Are you laughing? I'm not...

Focus on the Fanatics

Abacquer — Tue, 28 Feb 2006 12:19:00 -0500

New South Dakota bill would ban abortion. Welcome to George Bush's new America folks.

Republican Sen. Bill Napoli of Rapid City said, "This bill is as straight forward and as honest as it can be. It just says no more abortions unless the life of the mother is threatened."

And a hearty "go fuck yourselves" to the knuckle draggers who supported this bill. Keep pushing on the pendulum guys... I'm really going to enjoy watching how far it goes when it swings back.

Apparently the K in Kansas Stands for Knuckle-Dragger

Abacquer — Wed, 09 Nov 2005 14:52:00 -0500

The monkeys shall ultimately rue the day they started to believe they weren't monkeys... in the meantime we all have to put up with much monkey business. Today's monkey business is the requirement put forth by the (mostly Republican--big surprise there ) Kansas Board of Education that all teachers of biology must familiarize their students with the Intelligent Design-inspired criticisms of Evolutionary Theory. The fact that Intelligent Design is not science doesn't seem to have registered with these fucktards...

Party of the (Rich) People

Abacquer — Sat, 29 Oct 2005 15:00:00 -0400

Gotta love them Republicans. The minimum wage (despite the cost of living) hasn't seen a single increase since 1997. Since 1997, senate salaries have been raised seven times. So when Senator Edward Kennedy put forth a proposal to raise the minimum wage from $5.15 to $6.25 per hour, what do you suppose happened? ...

An Ugly Little Man and His Ugly Cause

Abacquer — Thu, 20 Oct 2005 09:50:00 -0400

South Newton High School is putting on a school play this year about the murder of Matthew Sheppard, the 21 year old University of Wyoming student who was tied to a fence, beaten, and left to die because he was gay. Pretty edgy stuff, but it is high school, and I think it's appropriate that people at that age understand how utterly despicable intolerance and the acts comitted because of it are. Fortunately, intolerance plans to show up in person and make it that much clearer...