why gay people shouldn't adopt children, according to Utah Senator

So the quote is funny in that way, but also note the obvious contradiction. If gay people living their lives or fighting for equality offends him so much that he sees such actions as "stuffing it down his throat," then, no, he isn't okay with gay people.

only in the CHURCH bathrooms?

Why is it some kind of crime to ask for sex in a bathroom? Why are we having undercover cops doing gay bathroom stings all the time? And why aren't Republicans fighting back on this, considering every single one of them has gay bathroom sex?

O'Reilly Fears the Pink Pistol Lesbians!

hahahahahahaha

"Well, you know, there is this national underground network, if you will, Bill, of women that's lesbians and also some men groups that's actually recruiting kids as young as 10 years old in a lot of the schools in the communities all across the country," he reported. "And they actually carry a number of weapons. And they commit a number of crimes."

"Now, the other thing, too, that our viewers are going to find very, very interesting, is the fact that they actually carry—some of these groups carry pink pistols," Wheeler said. "They call themselves the pink-pistol-packing group. And these are lesbians that actually carry pistols. That's 9-millimeter Glocks. They use these. They commit crimes, and they cause a lot of hurt to a lot of people."

beyond wow

I don't even know what to say.

update:

Seriously, if this isn't a disturbing insight into the American psyche, I don't know what is. Bombs to make enemy soldiers become super-gay and super-horny so that they would be too distracted by each other's cute asses to fight? Bombs to make people fart and have bad breath? Is our military being run by children?

You know what I hate? Faggots and stinky people! Hey let's build an awesome bomb that would turn bad guys into smelly queers!! AwEsOme LOLOLOLOL!!!1!!!1

Pete Stark steps up

Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA) recently "came out of the closet," "outing himself" (There are many parallels between prejudices against atheists and homosexuals, something I've seen noted by Richard Dawkins, among others. Contrast the tone of that link to this one from a San Francisco paper.) as a non-theist. He's the first member of Congress ever to publicly make such a declaration.

Here's a nice celebration of this significant event by Sam Harris. The American Humanist Association took out an ad in the Washington Post to congratulate Stark.

And here's an insane response from the Christian Seniors Association, a group that says that "the liberals in Congress want to throttle any school child who bows his or her head in prayer" and that liberals are "bullies who are so determined to use the power of government to silence prayer and every other religious expression of free speech." It is completely appropriate that lamentation that there is an atheist Congressman is accompanied by such idiotic nonsense.

There's plenty more backwards stupidity (and I should note that when I mention "nonsense" and "stupidity" in this context I'm not referring to their religion, but to their arguments) from Christians:

"It is unfortunate in a society that is going down the path of godlessness and making right wrong and wrong right, that we continue down this path by celebrating one member of Congress who denies that God exists altogether," Concerned Women for America Director of Legislative Relations Mike Mears told Cybercast News Service.

"The founding fathers ... founded this country on godly principles," Mears said. "Fifty-one of the 56 signers [of the Declaration of Independence] had a Christian worldview and [Stark] wants to change that and celebrate - basically - godlessness."

Perhaps George Bush the elder will now suggest that Pete Stark should not be considered a citizen or a patriot.

Amaechi

John Amaechi coming out of the closet is pretty interesting. I thought the part of the story about Andrei Kirilenko was really nice:

But Amaechi also spoke fondly of former teammate Greg Ostertag, who he said was the only player ever to ask him if he was gay (Amaechi answered: "You have nothing to worry about, Greg"), as well as another former teammate he calls "Malinka" (Russian for "little one") who Amaechi felt was aware and accepting of the fact he was gay. Amaechi's publicist, Howard Bragman, confirmed to ESPN.com that the player was Andrei Kirilenko.

"Some time after Christmas of my last Utah season, as the team was sliding out of contention, Malinka instant-messaged an invitation to his New Year's Eve party, explaining he was only inviting his 'favorite' friends. Then he wrote something that brought tears to my eyes: 'Please come, John. You are welcome to bring your partner, if you have one, someone special to you. Who it is makes no difference to me,'" Amaechi wrote. "I was hosting my own party that night, so I had to decline his sweet invitation. But I was moved. I had Ryan deliver Malinka a $500 bottle of Jean Paul Gaulthier-dressed champagne.

"The whole exchange was a revelation. Malinka's generous overture made the season more bearable. It also showed that in my own paranoia and overwhelming desire for privacy, I'd failed to give some of my teammates the benefit of the doubt. The sense of welcome and belonging, so often denied gay people even by their own families, meant the world to me, especially in the middle of a dreadful season in a strange desert state that in the end provided some of the best days of my life," he wrote.

MAN BEARD BLOG has a different take on the matter.

PUNISH THEM! KILL THE GAY!

What is so terrible about two people of the same gender rubbing their parts together? Why is this such an offensive thing?

Nigeria is preparing to pass laws that makes it a crime, punishable by 5 years of hard labor, for two gay people to be in the same place, or for someone to express gay love in a letter. What the fuck? Actually I guess they're getting off light, considering that under Islamic law, gay sex requires the offenders be stoned to death, which also happens in lovely Nigeria.

But it isn't just the asshole Muslims that are behind this. Jesus is all in favor of it too:

The new bill has the support of Nigeria's Anglican Church, and its leader Archbishop Peter Akinola who has been at the forefront of opposing gay clergy in the denomination. Conservative Anglican churches in the US have aligned themselves with Akinola.

This gigantic bigotard, who is some kind of Christian leader in the United States, calls Akinola "a shining example of one brave man" for his inflamation of hatred.

(I saw this story at Dispatches from the Culture Wars)

Gay man employed!!!

More excellent stuff from Dispatches:

Not only did they give a gay man a job, but they treated his partner and his family as though they were normal human beings. You don't have to be Paul Cameron to see where that sort of thing leads. One day you're being nice to a gay man's mother and the next thing you know we've got forced sodomy as an activity in elementary school gym class. We've got to nip this in the....well, it clearly needs to be stopped. Bill Frist will now attach a bill requiring everyone to be rude and impertinent to all gay people and their mothers to an omnibus appropriations bill.

My favorite blogs 1

Ed Brayton's Dispatches from the Culture Wars is one of my favorite blogs. I noticed I had a growing list of links from there that I've saved to write about. Here are a bunch of them.

• New Anti-Evolution Tactic? - Here Ed shreds a terrible argument that evolution is a religious belief.
• Wiccan Soldier Gets Symbol On Grave - Ed reports that the state of Nevada allowed a Wiccan symbol on the grave of a soldier. I noted this post for the comment thread, which includes a pretty sweet quote from Bush.
• Conservatives Against Republicans - Highlighting how in our 2-party system, it seems like the best we can ever hope for is a gridlocked government incapable of doing anything.
• Why Gay Marriage Matters - A genuinely moving story. I don't know how a human could read this and still oppose gay marriage.
• Anti-Drug Ads Increase Drug Use - The title says it all, but you have to read the rest of this just to see how pathetic our government's 'war on drugs' really is.
• Religious Right Loves Gambling Ban - Ed says that the assholes who seek to ban online gaming claiming that 'we must protect people from the addictions of gambling' are themselves addicted to controlling other people's lives.
• More Bush Signing Statements - President Bush is so fucking ridiculous. He signs a bill into law, then the same day says that he can just ignore it. "Bush is on a zealous mission to destroy any and all limitations on his unbridled authority. It's time for impeachment. Like now."
• And just to demonstrate that he takes positions that I'd probably never take, consider reading this post and the slew of comments, where Ed criticizes my hero, Richard Dawkins, for irresponsible scholarship in his most recent book, The God Delusion. This is just excellent stuff from Mr. Brayton.

links adspar likes 3

Here is the third installment of a recurring feature, creatively titled links adspar likes. These should keep you busy with good reading material while you're bored at work, and it makes me feel productive because most of the links are educational and/or thought-provoking.

I feel like if I was more ambitious I could form some grand thesis with all of these. Maybe someday it will turn into that. But for now I'm just linking up some cool shit for anyone who cares. On to it...


Freedom to choose won't make you happier
from Science Blog

adspar's quick summary:
Research shows that there is often no difference in how happy people are when they choose between options versus when the option is chosen for them.

why you should read it:
This is an idea I encountered recently in Daniel Gilbert's Stumbling on Happiness. He actually takes it a step further and cites studies that indicate in many situations people are less happy when they have a choice than when a choice is made for them. This has important implications for the standard idea that an option is valuable by definition. Anyway, maybe next time you go out to dinner, just have someone else pick your meal for you.


How Cooperation Can Evolve in a Cheater's World
from Terradaily

adspar's quick summary:
Evolutionary biologists have developed a model that can theoretically explain how cooperation behavior can evolve.

why you should read it:
I'm not really sure that this is anything new. It reminds me a lot of the iterated prisoner's dilemma games that game theorists have played with for decades. But this study is applying it to biology instead of economics, which is useful to reference the next time I hear someone suggest that human altruism/cooperation is a challenge to the theory of evolution, which people often mistakenly see only as a "dog eat dog" kind of system. While eating your neighbor can be a good evolutionary strategy, teaming up with him can sometimes be better.



Government funding of studies you don't agree with
by Tara C. Smith

adspar's quick summary:
This is a good conversation about a general problem raised by the stem cell research debate. Should the government be conducting research that some people find objectionable?

why you should read it:
Some have made the point that people shouldn't have to see their tax dollars spend on something they find objectionable, excluding cases necessary for the maintenance of a well-ordered society (like military action). That sounds reasonable at first, until you consider that almost ALL scientific research is bound to piss off some tax-payer. How then should the government make its scientific funding decisions? Great discussion in the comments here.



Not cool: a brief rant
by Hume's Ghost

adspar's quick summary:
MTV's show My Super Sweet 16 is the most offensive show on television.

why you should read it:
I completely agree.



The Example of Fairness & Equality Being Exhibited by Representing Them at All Is, Of Course, Completely Lost of Them
from Godless Wonder

adspar's quick summary:
There is a church group that protests at military funerals. They say that God hates America because we're tolerant of homosexuality, and that death of troops is God's revenge on us. But there are laws that prevent picketing or protesting near funerals or cemeteries. The ACLU is representing this group in a lawsuit, claiming that such protest is protected free speech.

why you should read it:
First of all, those church people are scumbag bigotard assholes. I wish impotence upon them all. However I don't know what to think about the ACLU's position here. I'm generally supportive of the Voltaire (mis)quote: "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." But shouting hateful insults at funerals crosses some line of decency that I just can't agree deserves free speech protection. One of them had a sign that said "THANK GOD FOR 9/11." How do people become so twisted?



They make me feel like this angry German kid. Seriously, you need to watch that video, which contains insane displays of profanity.




Thus ends links adspar likes 3. All of the links for it are neatly available here. I actually had a lot more content, but I'm tired so I'll just push that all into link4.



RIP: APA

BLAST!

Last Friday my girlfriend dragged me to see "BLAST!"

Kira saw highlights of the show on public television and, being a former marching bank geek, decided it would be fun to go see the live show. She offered me the option not to go with her but, being a former marching band geek, I figured the show would probably be entertaining and that I'd appreciate the performance.

But that didn't mean I wasn't going to give her shit for "making me" go to it. The whole way there I referred to the show as "QUEEF!" She reminded me several times that I had the option not to go. I really know how to make my lady feel special.

I wasn't exactly sure what to expect. A decent description of the show from their website is that "they bring the power, passion and precision of outdoor pageantry to the stage in a musical performance that we now call BLAST!"

A better description of the show would be that they "bring the power, passion, precision and homosexuality of outdoor pageantry to the stage in a musical gay orgy we now call BLAST!"

I always knew that marching band can be a bit gay, even when I was in it. I just wanted to play some fight songs at half time, but I went along with the goofy costumes and the flag formations and the making out with dudes. Thats just what being in marching band is.


And we all know that theatre can be a bit queer as well. Lots of artsy creative energy in the gay community. So I don't know why I was so suprised that this production was like they took the gayest of gayest of the gay that our nation's marching bands had to offer and pranced them out on stage. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Once you got past the gay, it was an entertaining show, and I had a lot of respect for their musical skills. But I wouldn't recommend it to any homophobes.

Probably the highlight of the show for me happened during a number called Tangerinamadidge, which featured cast members walking through the aisles of the crowd playing didgeridoos. The girl who graced our section looked cute from a distance, but seeing her up close revealed some pretty nasty acne. The drunk Chris Moneymaker look-a-like sitting next to me (who obviously had no idea what he had signed up for by coming to this show - "this is going to be like Stomp and Blue Man Group, right?") leaned over to me and said "That chick needs a face transplant. You know they did that in France, just like in that movie!" Classic.

Breaking news: WNBA Player Gay!

Shocking


"there's a sisterhood among lesbian players"

no way!


"Five years ago, when I told my mom I'm gay, her reaction wasn't any different than I expected. She just said, 'I figured.' I don't know exactly what that meant, but I could see the hurt and disappointment."

5 years later when I told the world I'm gay, their reaction wasn't any different than I expected. The world just said, "I figured." I don't know exactly what that meant, but I could see the complete indifference and annoyance that this "news" required a special announcement.