Shit that Pissed me Off – May 17th
Minnesotans for Marriage Are Worried that People think They are Bigots
Same-sex marriage is about to be a reality in Minnesota but the folks over at Minnesota for marriage tried their best to lie their way into a victory.
They warned folks that if the marriage law passed, people who believe that marriage is between one man and one woman would be labelled as “bigots” (because they are) and “prosecuted under the law” (which is complete bullshit).
See, the law says that same sex couples can get married. You don’t have to like it. There are lots of laws different groups of people don’t like. Not liking a law is completely legal and nobody is going to prosecute you for it.
I don’t like the fact that churches are tax exempt and yet, nobody has arrested me for thinking that way. I’M BEING PERSECUTED!!!!
Now if your job is to issue marriage licenses and you refuse to issue them to a same sex couple, you might lose your job because they are legally allowed a marriage license. You don’t get to re-write the law to suit your “deeply held religious beliefs.”
However, suggesting that people will be prosecuted for believing that same-sex marriage is wrong is a great example of inciting homophobia. All they are doing is trying to make people afraid of homosexuals. They seem to imply that once homosexuals have rights, they are going to trample all over everyone else’s.
That’s what bigots do.
Geeks Without God Talks Politics
What a week it has been. When we sat down to record our podcast last week, same-sex marriage was not legal in Minnesota. Today, Governor Dayton signs that bill into law.
Eric Jacobson bid a tidy sum of money at the Fearless launch party for the right to join us this week. He wanted to talk about atheists in politics so that’s exactly what we discussed. Of course we talked about the upcoming votes in the Minnesota House and Senate and perhaps you will enjoy reaching back into history to hear our thoughts about the legislation and the chances for success.
The central question for anyone who is living a godless life is how do we have more impact on the political process as atheists? We didn’t answer that question in the podcast but we hope that by talking about politics, we can convince other godless folk to get involved in politics.
Eric also provides a stunning level of detail about his sandwich. Click here and enjoy!!
Shit that Pissed Me Off This Week – 5/10
Chris Kluwe Released by the Vikings
I don’t know for certain why he was let go. I could speculate and a lot of other people have but the fact is the dude is a great voice for change and now he’s on his way out of town.
He’s bigger than the game he plays. I know that sounds ridiculous given Football is the most profitable professional sport in the world but it is just a sport. Kluwe tried to use his celebrity to help achieve a higher goal.
What goal could be higher than balancing a football on your middle finger? Get your priorities straight, Chris! Get it? Straight???? Get it?????????
And I’m pretty sure he got fired for it. I guess you should have waited to speak your mind until you weren’t a professional football player, Chris.
Not a problem now though! Boo-yah!
Shit that Pissed me Off – 5/3
Iowa Legislators want to Punish the Iowa Supreme Court by Cutting Their Pay
Let me start by saying that this particular law doesn’t stand a chance of passing. I’m not annoyed that it could actually become law.
I’m annoyed that it is being discussed. At issue is the fact that the Iowa supreme court, in a unanimous decision, declared that banning same-sex marriage was unconstitutional. That’s why same-sex marriage is legal in Iowa right now.
Well a few Legislators feel the court overstepped their bounds by interpreting the state constitution (or – to re-state – “doing their job”) in a way that these particular Legislators felt was wrong. So they have proposed to cut the pay of the “activist” justices until such a time as same-sex marriage becomes unconstitutional.
It’s like a bribe in reverse!
Just those justices, by the way. Any new justices would come in at the regular, pro-homophobic pay rate.
I’ve got a better idea, how about the Legislators cut their own pay until they understand you don’t cut the pay of another branch of government just because you don’t like their conclusions?
Shit that Pissed me Off This Week 4/19
Eric Rush Engages in Classic Overreaction and States we Should Kill all Muslims
I’ve come out as being pretty uniformly against organized religion. I thikn it is a tool by which people push their own agenda onto others rather than a pathway to god (if there is one).
That is not the same thing as stating that everyone who adheres to a religion should be killed. Because that, my friends, is crazy talk. That is the sort of thing bigoted, ignorant people say.
Bigoted, ignorant people like this guy!
We don’t know yet if this bombing was the work of a Muslim extremist (Glenn Beck does) but even if it was, killing all Muslims is not a viable or reasonable solution. It is, in fact, far crazier than the act that just took place.
When you blame millions of people for the act of one, your priorities are seriously messed up.
Note: Reports this morning indicate the suspects were from Chechnya, which is predominantly Muslim. Preliminary evidence suggests they are Muslims. It still means millions of other Muslims had nothing to do with it.
Shit that Pissed me off This Week – 4/12
North Carolina Republicans are Pushing a Bill for a Two Year waiting Period on Divorce
Explain to me how this is less government again?
Now I have to be honest. I think couples who are considering divorce should have a cooling off period. They probably should get couples therapy to see if they can work out whatever differences they have. Unless there is abuse, of course, then I think that the marriage needs to be ended as quickly as possible.
That opinion, by the way, is not shared by the authors of this bill. There is no exception for spouses trying to escape abuse.
No matter what my personal opinions may be, however, I don’t think that the state should be the one that gets to decide when a couple has tried hard enough to keep their marriage together. To be blunt, how the fuck would the state know?
I’m not so sure gay people would want to get married in North Carolina
The law in question may even start the clock over if it can be proven the couple has had sex after filing for divorce. So let me get this straight – you want them to make sure they work on their marriage before they call it quits but if, in the natural course of working on their marriage, they have sex, they will get punished by having to remain married longer. The logic is completely idiotic.
Work on your marriage.
NOT THAT WAY!!!!
I’m sorry – now you are going to have to work on the marriage more.
Shit that Pissed me off This Week – 4/5
New York’s Cardinal Dolan wants to Improve the Catholic Church’s Message about Gay Marriage
Oh that’s great Cardinal! I’m glad to see that a high-ranking member of the Catholic Church finally realizes that the Church has no right to make moral judgements for those individuals who aren’t Catholic and you’d stay out of the political arena and…wait a minute.
No. That’s not what he thinks at all. He wants gay people to know that sex is only OK if you are trying to produce offspring so while it is totally OK to be gay, you can’t actually have sex or be married or anything like that. Gay people are totally entitled to friendship, though.
He also wants gay people to know that the Catholic Church is not anti “anybody.” They don’t hate gay people. They just want to make sure that gay people know they aren’t permitted to sexual fulfillment the way straight people are.
I came up with a new message! What do you guys think?
So basically, the difference between gay guys having male friends who are gay and me having male friends who are gay is a lifetime of unresolved sexual tension? I bring this up an awful lot but you know what? If that is really what god wants for gay people, god is a dick.
How about you work on improving that message, Cardinal?
Shit that Pissed me off This Week – 3/22
MegaChurch Pastor Told his Teenaged Girlfriend That Jesus Wanted them to be Together
Jack Schaap has pled guilty to taking a minor across state lines for the purpose of having sex. He’s not the first middle-aged guy who has shacked up with a teenager who looked up to him.
But I’m sure he’s been preaching about the abomination of homosexuality and possibly fornication and then he seems powerless to control his own lust. He even went so far as to tell his young lover that Jesus wanted them to be together.
Go ahead and do her, buddy! I’m behind you 100%! You don’t mind if I watch, do you?
I’m sure he’ll blame his behavior on the devil rather than himself. What will never occur to him (or his flock) is to question how a man so in tune with God could succumb to the same base lusts he condemns in other people. I’m sure he prayed to god for the strength to stop cheating on his wife with a child. Why didn’t god stop him? Why did he instead decide that god wanted him to do it?
It’s like the god he believed in didn’t really exist.
Shit that Pissed me Off This Week – 3/15
I get frustrated when science is doing something cool – in this case sampling water from a lake buried under four kilometers of ice to see if there is life there – and the results are less than thrilling.
I mean, it should be enough that they drilled through four kilometers of ice and took a sample of the lake water to begin with. And I admit, that is pretty fucking cool.
I was really hoping they would find something else there. Maybe they still will but for right now, it looks like the only thing they discovered was water.
Admit it. It would have been way cooler if they’d found one of these!
I don’t want to sound bitter but I’ve seen water before.
*Note: It isn’t over yet. There is a lot more scientific work to be done. For now, though, there are no ice monsters in Antarctica. Dammit.
Shit that Pissed me Off this Week – 3/8
Video Showing Income Disparity in America
I don’t talk a lot about income disparity and tax structure in America because frankly the argument bores me. There seems to be this idea that we all have a right to get rich and therefore the system is fair and us liberals should shut up about it.
But look, the system is not fair. It is designed to ensure that people with money will have an amazingly easy time making more of it while people without money will have a nearly impossible time doing the same. Hard work alone does not get you “ahead.”
Not only that, we need janitors and teachers and police officers and firefighters and none of those people are getting paid well. And they never will. The people with the wealth are not the people doing the jobs that absolutely have to get done. I’m tired of the idea that anyone can get ahead in this country.
I’ll wager that this guy is not actually one of the top 1%
The solution is not as simple as just taxing the 1% that controls the vast majority of the wealth in this country because they will still control the vast majority of the wealth in this country. I’m not saying I know the solution.
But I can sure as fuck recognize a problem.
Grail Diary 