Shit that Pissed me Off – 1/26/18
School System Blames Late Busses on a Weather Report They Already Knew About
OK, so a little perspective.
Last year, my band had a holiday show scheduled on a day that was forecast to have a horrible snow storm. Even though we didn’t know how bad the story would end up being, we chose to cancel the show and refund the tickets because driving was supposed to be dangerous. The snow happened but it wasn’t nearly as bad as predicted and we could have done the show.
Earlier this week, a gigantic storm was predicted by every weather service. The local school systems opted to close school slightly early and the result was a lot of busses trying to get kids home in the midst of the worst of it. Some children were stuck on busses until past midnight.
That, my friends, is a logistical failure.
Who (aside from every meteorologist in the country) could have predicted this would happen?
Now far be it from me to add to the outrage culture in a weekly blog entitled “Shit that Pissed me Off” but the problem here is the fact the school system then blamed the weather forecast with the implication they never could have known how bad it was going to be. This ignores from the fact they were told how bad it was going to be.
It wasn’t snowing in the morning. I know because I dropped my kid off at school and it wasn’t snowing. By noon, it was horrible. Again, I know because I drive for a living and I was driving in it.
The issue here isn’t the fact kids got stuck on school busses. It’s easy to say “they should have known because they literally did know” but when do you cancel school? Before the storm hits? What if we only get an inch? So they tried to send kids home early once it was clear the storm was going to be as bad as predicted but the end result was they waited too long and some kids (and their parents) had a really shitty night.
Where they screwed up was in blaming the weather report rather than saying “we screwed up.”
The weather report was right. They didn’t act fast enough. They should simply blame themselves.*
*Note: Later in the week, the Superintendent of the St. Paul Schools sent out a very well worded apology that blamed their own shortcomings. So good for him.
Shit that Pissed me Off – 11/17/17
I almost didn’t write a post this week. I mean, I knew this was the big story and I was going to have to talk about it because it pissed me the hell right off.
But fuck.
As many liberals have pointed out, you can’t say that Roy Moore is a pedophile (he is) and Donald Trump is a sexual predator (he is) without also acknowledging that Franken’s behavior (which he has admitted) is also unacceptable.
You can’t be that hypocrite on the left.
If you are on the right, you can totally be that hypocrite (as our hypocrite in chief quickly displayed). On the left, we accept that if we are going to go after right wing predators (like our President), we can’t just ignore when our heroes do the same shit.
So fuck Al Franken for doing what he did. Fuck him for being the same as so many other guys out there.
And I’m not saying this because I think he’s a bad guy. I’m not saying this because I don’t think he respects women. I’m saying this because I think he is a good person and he does respect women.
But like so many other men, he didn’t understand what that really meant.
Shit that Pissed me Off – 10/20/17
Trump Corner – Trump Makes Dead Soldiers All About Him
This is what our President (who is also a sexual predator) does with everything. He makes it about him. He makes the suffering of the Puerto Rican people all about him. He makes the death of American Soldiers all about him.
And he lies about it.
So when asked if he’d contacted the families of Green Berets killed in Niger, he talked about how difficult it was to make those kinds of phone calls. He talked about how hard it was to write letters to the families.
And I’m sure it is.
But who gives a shit? He didn’t lose a son or a daughter or husband or wife. He just has to talk to the person who did.
I don’t like talking on the phone either. That’s one of the many reasons I never wanted to be the President you whiny jackass.
He also made clear that other Presidents (like Obama) didn’t write letters and/or make phone calls. Because he wanted to look better than them. Specifically Obama. He wants everyone to know that he is better than Obama in literally every conceivable way.
Except it was bullshit. He had no idea what other Presidents had or hadn’t done. And when he was called on it, he said, basically, “well, that’s what I heard.”
So it wasn’t his fault. Somebody told him that.
Nobody fucking told him that. He just wanted to make himself sound better than anyone else who has ever been President. Except Andrew Jackson. And that should tell you a lot.
Also, when he finally called the family members, he fucked that up too.
Also, and this is important, our President is a sexual predator.
Shit that Pissed me Off – 10/13/17
Judge Gives Rapist Joint Custody of His Child
With all the news of Harvey Weinstein and Ben Affleck and the fact we elected a known sexual predator President of the United States (fucking fuck), we should remember that this is all part of a culture that actually rewards rapists and sexual predators.
In this case, a 12-year-old girl was raped by a much older man and she chose to bear the child that was conceived as a result. Her body, her choice.
But when she applied for Government aid, she was forced to reveal the name of the biological father. And then that biological father took her to court for custodial rights. The prosecutor claimed the young woman had approved of allowing her rapist to spend time with his now eight year old son.
Thing is, she didn’t. And the judge didn’t fucking check.
Maybe they used some sort of alien mind control.
The whole story is out now and the judge has suspended the order pending another hearing but that likely means the young woman has to sit in court with her rapist just to explain why that fucker shouldn’t get parental rights to a kid who isn’t that much younger than his mother was when she was raped by his father.
All I’m saying is that women shouldn’t have to fight these fights, should they? Read More…
Shit that Pissed me Off – 10/6/2017
Sorry I’ve been gone for almost a month. Over the last three weeks, I’ve been out of town for my 50th Birthday (yay me) and playing at a funeral for someone who died much too young (boo the inevitability of death). Thanks for waiting patiently and not filling my e-mail with angry messages.
So anyway – here goes!
It Took Less Than Two Days for Conspiracy Theories To Pop Up About the Las Vegas Shooter
Here’s the dirty little secret about this kind of conspiracy theory: It never seems to happen when the shooter is a person of color. At least nobody seems to spend a lot of time talking about them.
I know someone is going to point out that there are conspiracy theories around 9/11 and the attackers there were (allegedly) people of color. Yeah, but I’m talking about mass shootings.
And the thing that seems to come into play here is that people don’t believe white guys would do this sort of thing. Not unless those white guys are members of the CIA or the FBI or Interpol or whatever the fuck these people think.
When a person of color shot up an Orlando nightclub, nobody started saying that it was a cover up. It was terrorism.
But white guys don’t commit terrorism. They are lone wolves.
Which is bullshit because wolves don’t even have opposable thumbs
So the alternative is to look at an act of senseless violence and think “I understand Islamic extremists. I don’t understand some 64 year old dude shooting up a concert so it must not be that.”
By the way – they don’t understand Islamic extremists either. But that’s for another day.
It is kind of remarkable to me that some of us can’t wrap our heads around a guy shooting up an elementary school but we can totally wrap our heads around the idea that some shadow agency decided to stage the event so they could get gun control legislation passed.
Which they can’t so what the hell is that about anyway?
Thing is, at least some of this is racism. Some of it is our inherent response that we’ve been taught the more pigmentation you have in your skin, the more violent you are.
Conspiracy theories are dumb. One guy shot all those people in Las Vegas and we will probably never know why. But it was one guy. And he was white. Deal with it.
Shit that Pissed me Off – 9/8/17
Sorbo is a Conservative Christian and while I don’t agree with him on…well…most anything in the political arena, that’s his right. So it doesn’t piss me off that he is speaking at a big old anti GLBTQ “values voters” conference more that it pisses me off that the conference exists.
I will note that twice divorced Donald Trump is also speaking at the “values voters” conference so I begin to wonder exactly which “values” are important to these folks. Apparently dumping your wife for a younger model is a completely acceptable value.
But Sorbo, star of the immensely popular (in Conservative Christian circles) but objectively horrible God is Not Dead, is outspoken about one thing that really bothers me – how persecuted he is for being a Christian.
In the article linked above, he talks about how he had trouble getting jobs after he “came out” as a Conservative Christian. I mean, his acting in “Hercules” was amazing so he should have been working all the time. I don’t know when he “came out” but I see he was in an obscure series called “Andromeda” for five years.
He was also in Kull the Conqueror. If you’ve seen it, I’m very sorry.
I mean, did David Schwimmer “come out” as a Conservative Christian? Because he hasn’t had a ton of work since “Friends” went off the air.
How about every actress in Hollywood who is over forty? Did all of them “come out” as Conservative Christians?
Sorbo’s bullshit idea that he had trouble getting work because of his Christianity doesn’t hold up to the number of credits on his resume. On the other hand, given how many of those credits are shitty Christian apologist films, his narrative is probably very useful in getting him roles in those kinds of films.
And I’ll bet those roles pay.
Poor Kevin Sorbo.
Shit that Pissed me Off – 9/1/2017
CA Restaurant Owner Blames “War on Whites” for Loss of Business
In case you missed it, a whole bunch of business owners were outed for their contributions to David Dukes failed Senate campaign, including here in my home state of Minnesota.
In California, a restaurateur has elected to close shop because he’s faced some flack over the fact he donated to one of the most prominent racists in the country who isn’t currently inhabiting the White House.
His response has been to complain about how all of this is a war on whites, which kind of explains why he chose to give money to David Duke’s campaign. He even said David Duke supports “European American Civil Rights.” In other words, the asshole is a white supremacist and screw him if he has to shut down his restaurant.
Here’s the problem that we face in all of this – I think it is great to out white supremacists. I think it is great to let them know their philosophy is bullshit.
I worry, however, that there is a lot of collateral damage. When the owner of Clubhouse Jager was outed as a Duke contributor, his employees announced they were quitting. At least one of them was later accosted at a different bar* because they worked for racist asshole even though they weren’t aware he was a racist asshole.
Please note: the person who took this picture is not a white supremacist.
I’m fully in support of outing Nazis and white supremacists. I think we should have full knowledge of who they are and then we should make our own informed decisions on whether or not to do business with them.
I just hope we don’t hurt people who aren’t white supremacists because they are unintentionally connected to racist assholes. If they lose their jobs, that sucks. Even if they leave that job voluntarily.
If we are going to cost a Nazi their business, that’s fine. But let’s not turn our backs on the people who are hurt when that business closes, OK?
*This report is from a reputable source but there is no news coverage of the incident.
Shit that Pissed me Off – 8/4/17
Marvel Editor Posts Selfie With Her Staff and Gets Harassed
Look – this sort of thing just doesn’t happen to guys. I keep bringing it up but that is only because there is some subset of the human race that will respond to this story by saying “what’s the big deal?”
The big deal is she posted a fun little picture and a bunch of people harassed her because she’s a girl and they don’t think girls should be working in comics. That’s the crux of it.
There are guys out there who think women ruin comics simply because they are involved. It’s like they think comics are the one geek medium that is reserved just for them. What with Star Wars being completely overrun with women, they really need something in this crazy world that isn’t covered in girl cooties.
The Justice League, for instance, is completely swimming in girl cooties.
So they decide to take it out on a group of women who were having lunch. Because they worked in the wrong industry.
And no, this isn’t all guys. This isn’t even most guys. This is some tiny subset of guys who feel they are losing power because the comic industry is hiring women. Not a lot of women. Not enough women. But more than zero.
If we pretend that this subset of guys isn’t a problem, though, we don’t get it. Because if a bunch of male professionals in comics posted selfies, nobody would give a shit.
It shouldn’t happen to anyone. The fact that it happens only to women should piss us off. We shouldn’t be talking about how few people are doing this. We should be talking about how nobody should be doing this at all!
Shit that Pissed me off – 7/21/17
Meme that Pissed me Off
I love/hate anti Feminist memes because they are all insufferably stupid. Take this one:
OH SNAP! Clearly the 50’s woman was perfect and the modern woman is completely fucked up! Because that is literally what every modern woman looks like!
Not that it would matter if that was what every modern woman looked like because fuck you and your standard of beauty, oh haters of feminism. Not that the modern woman in this meme has anything to do with feminism.
I mean, I’m pretty sure there are women with shit tons of body piercings who would claim they are not feminists. Also pretty sure there are women who look a lot more like our 1950’s “ideal” who are loud and proud about feminism.
And how do you know the young woman on the right didn’t alter her appearance to please the men in her life just like the woman on the left? Both of them could be sacrificing their own identity. Or, maybe, neither of them are. You don’t know. You just grabbed a couple of pictures off the internet to basically say “damn, I wish women would just shut the fuck up and meet my standards of beauty and decorum because clearly we would all be a lot happier.”
Except maybe women but why the fuck should we care about that?
Shit that Pissed me Off – 7/14/17
Kid Rock Might Be Running for Senate
The article I link to claims it is for certain but it is also on Fox News so who actually knows, right? Still, there is a website and Rock says we should stay tuned for a “major” announcement so, for the sake of this blog post, let’s just assume he’s actually planning on running.
I mean, the Kid (I call him a kid because that is his name) can run. That’s the way of our Democracy. You don’t actually have to be an experienced politician to run for office. You’d think that it might be some sort of problem that someone applying for the job doesn’t have any actual qualifications but in politics, many people consider that a plus.
He would be the first male Senator with long hair so that would be breaking a barrier, right?
That is precisely why many of us are forced to say things like “President Trump.” My fingers hurt just typing that.
So Mr. Rock is going to run for the Senate. Probably. Or he’s using the whole thing to help sell his next album (for which I would have grudging respect).
As a musician, I have to say I would appreciate another Senator who is not a lawyer. I’ve always appreciated that Al Franken is the only comedian in the Senate and I’m pleased that I have someone representing my interests.
I’m not sure about Kid Rock, though, and it isn’t just because he’s a conservative. Rather, it is because I don’t think the gives two fucks about anything but himself. And in that, he and Donald Trump have a lot in common.
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