Shit that Pissed me off this week – 3/16

The Pope Once Again Proves that the Problems with the Catholic Church Start at the top

The Pope could be an amazing force for good in the world.  He could point out that Jesus said those without sin should cast the first stone.  He could point out that when it comes to issues of marriage, the bible is a little bit wishy-washy as to what is “traditional.”

He doesn’t, of course, because he is an old man more concerned with antiquated dogma than he is with what is truly right or in the best interests of his church and it’s members.  Thing is, whoever replaces him will be another old man more concerned with antiquated dogma than with what is truly right or in the best interests of his church and it’s members.

52% of Mississippi Republicans believe that Obama is a Muslim

Holy shit are some people stupid.  Except this isn’t “some people,” this is a whole shit ton of people.

A belief so fundamentally at odds with reality doesn’t spread without help and in this case, it is the Republican party that is helping by failing to say “Obama is not a Muslim” any time the topic comes up.  They don’t because they know it helps their chances.  They can tell themselves they aren’t being dishonest, just duplicitous.

And that means they can look at a poll like this and, against all logic, still respect themselves.

Don Pablo’s has Nasty Salsa

I went to Don Pablo’s for a friend’s birthday Monday Night with a group of about 30 people.  They were woefully unprepared for a group of that size and, apparently, have never served a group of that size before.

We had one server for the entire table in spite of the fact there was a total two other occupied tables in the rest of the restaurant.  Our poor server was working extra hard but probably could have used some help from the manager, who seemed to be doing very little.  He could have, for instance, brought around a pitcher of water for those of us who had been waiting for a refill for 45 minutes.

He could have, perhaps, brought salsa refills for the people requesting more salsa.

Of course, I have no idea why anyone wanted more salsa because at Don Pablo’s they serve the blandest salsa I’ve ever tasted.  I mean, I thought Chili’s salsa was bland but I will have to write a long letter of apology to the tex-mex chain for simply thinking that.

At Don Pablo’s, it appears their recipe for salsa involves filling a bowl with ketchup and then tossing in a few tomato chunks and some cilantro.  I added about a tablespoon of Cholulu Hot Sauce to my salsa and it was still bland.

I know that we live in Minnesota where too much pepper is considered spicy but if I wanted ketchup on my chips, I would ask for ketchup.  Or catsup.

Paypal attempts to Protect Purchasers by Screwing over Purchasers

So Paypal, apparently, can withhold payment to anyone for any reason and they don’t need to explain why.  Unless, of course, you can raise enough of a stink on twitter and get some famous people like Neil Gaiman involved.

Trick is, they have already collected a fee from everyone who made a payment and they continue to collect interest on the held funds until they resolve the issue which, in this case, involves having the individual in question spend money out of their own savings.

With services like Kickstarter and Square availabe to fill the gap, how long can Paypal keep this kind of craptastic customer service up? I guarantee that I will avoid using Paypal as a result of this story. Will the ill will generated by this story be worth more than the amount they made by witholding funds from a well documented project that is clearly not a scam?

It is hard to believe that Paypal somehow fails to understand one of the cardinal rules of the internet. Don’t piss off Dr. Who fans.

Note: Later in the week, the issue was resolved by PayPal, which is great.  However, it is amazing that they seemed entirely incapable of handling the situation satisfactorally at first when the project was well documented and clearly not a scam.

Arizona Senate Committee Endorses a bill that will Require Women to prove to Employers they are Using Birth Control for Medical Reasons

So yeah, under this bill an employer can ask a woman to prove that she needs the birth control pill for medial reasons before the pill is covered by her insurance.  In typical fashion, the bill’s author claims this is a first amendment issue about freedom of religion.

Because religion is under siege in this country or something.

But women are just being overly sensitive.

If this bill passes, how about we tell men that they can’t get a prescription for Viagra unless then can prove they are impotent?

Better, under the whole “freedom of religion” banner, let’s tell single women that they have to prove they are a virgin before they can be employed by a Catholic institution.

Because “freedom of religion,” of course, means “freedom to impose my religion on everyone else.”

Terminated Advocate of Intelligent Design Claims he was Fired Because of his Beliefs and Sues

This story has been around for a while but the trial just started so now is as good a time to consider it as any…

You know, I’m not really annoyed that Intelligent Design advocates have picked up this guy’s cause and run with it. They have all sorts of money and can only publish so many books with faulty science. They need to find other ways to spend that cash.

What gets to me is the fact that this guy looks at a layoff where almost 300 people lost their jobs and claims that he was the one singled out for discrimination. If the dude could prove that everyone laid off was a believer in Intelligent Design or a Creationist, he’d have some basis for his argument.

If not, he is just a fucking whiner who can’t deal with the fact people lose their jobs all the time and it isn’t fair.  See also this guy who is so upset he got fired for having an affair with a married woman, he is going to throw his whole party under the bus.

I know a lot of people who have been fired and most of them think that the fault lies in the company that fired them and not in themselves.

I was fired once.

It was totally my fault.

A Series of Homophobic Comments from People who Would Kill Their Gay Child

OK, Rick Santorum, Kirk Cameron and the rest of you – do you get it yet?  This is the kind of thinking your “beliefs” support.

I’m sure you guys read something like this and shake your head and think “no – we are supposed to love the sinner.  This is not what I believe.”

I’m going to accept that you honestly believe that and you aren’t just saying it to alleviate the guilt you feel every time you say hurtful things about 10% of the population. But when you say homosexuality is “unnatural,” “detrimental” and “ultimately destructive,” what you are saying doesn’t really mesh with what you claim to believe.

At least the people quoted in my link, horrible as they are, are honest with themselves.

16 Year Old Moroccan Girl Commits Suicide Rather After Being Forced to Marry her Rapist

Is there anyone out there who thinks that we have women’s rights figured out? Anyone?

If anyone raised their hand, they are a jackass.  Or, apparently, a judge in Morocco who decided that the best way to punish a rapist was to “force” him to marry the child he raped.

Rick Santorum wants to ban Pornography

Never mind the first amendment issues with banning something people are doing of their own free will.  Never mind that putting your fingers in your ears and chanting “la la la la la” will not stop people from having sexual desires that you just don’t get or (more likely with Mr. Santorum) you are trying to supress.

Here’s what pisses me off.  A guy who has been campaigning against contraception and supporting invasive procedures that fit the legal definition of rape decides that he is going to say porn should be made illegal because ” It contributes to misogyny and violence against women.”

Misogyny?  Really?  Take a look in the mirror.

And hey, since gay porn doesn’t contribute to misogyny, that’s still OK, right?

Also, what kind of moron is he?  It isn’t enough that he has been working to ensure that no woman would ever want to vote for him.  Now he wants to win back their vote by proposing a ban on something that will ensure no man would ever want to vote for him.

Somebody that I used to Know by Gotye

Actually I love this song.  It just pisses me off that I didn’t write it.