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?
Speaking of Jurists Getting Punished, How About This Guy who was Sending Kids to Jail for Kickbacks?
This dude didn’t rule in favor of gay marriage so he’s not an “activist judge.”
All he did was come to an arrangement with a private prison facility to receive a kickback based on the number of kids he sent to the facility. But hey, the guy had to provide for his family, right?
This was totally bribery
So what if the way he provided for his kids was by sending other kids off to prison? I mean, that was his job, right?
He tricked some of the kids into denying refusing lawyers so he could sentence them to longer terms. So he could provide for his family. Or something.
Now he gets to enjoy jail for a while. Part of me hopes that someone gets a kickback for sending him there.
Church Cancels Football Players’ Appearance Because He Tweeted his Support for Jason Collins
In case you missed it this week, Jason Collins was the first active NBA player to come out of the closet. It shouldn’t be a big deal but then again, perhaps it should.
Especially when another person can tweet their support and have a speaking engagement cancelled as a result.
I’m not sure how sorry I should feel for a guy who gets $8500 to speak at a church and I’m certainly sure I have no sympathy for a church that can afford to pay someone $8500. The issue isn’t about a speaker losing his fee.
The issue is that one tweet cost him a job because he was supporting another person’s right to publicly acknowledge their identity.
If you think gay rights are all sorted out in this country and this fight has been won, look no further than the religious right to learn that it is far too early to start celebrating.
Florida Teen Expelled and Charged with a Felony for Science
I’ll admit I don’t know the whole story on this one but the details seems pretty idiotic. A sixteen year old girl with good grades and behavior was apparently trying a science experiment with some household chemicals and she caused a small explosion. No-one was hurt and she seemed genuinely shocked by what happened.
She was probably more shocked when she learned that she is going to be tried as an adult for her crime of curiosity. Not only that but she has been expelled from school.
For a science experiment.
The school board should be ashamed of themselves but what prosecutor tries a sixteen year old as an adult for blowing the cap off of a plastic pop bottle?
Let’s fill up our jails with drug dealers, murders and kids who like science!!!
I would imagine that this insane fucking response has to do with a heightened sense of paranoia in regards to terrorism. If you make something explode (even by accident), you are a terrorist!
So hey, let’s ruin a kids life!
That seems like a fair and balanced approach to the situation!
P.S: I told my wife about this story and her first response was: “let me guess – she wasn’t a white student, was she?”
No. No she was not. Hm.
Two Year old Girl is Shot by her Brother but she is With the Lord, so it’s OK
Ignoring the wisdom of giving the gift of a firearm to a five-year old (yes – it was his gun), I’m so upset with the empty comfort of saying that a dead child is with god now and that it was “her time.”
I understand the need to make sense of a senseless tragedy but if you honestly think that it was a two-year old’s “time,” then you are probably going to do stupid things like give a five-year old a real gun that is designed to look like a toy. Heck, it was god’s will. You don’t have to question your own choices if god wanted that little girl so badly.
See – it’s a real gun but it looks like a toy gun! What a great idea!
If you’d locked the gun up, god would have found another way to kill that toddler because he wanted her in heaven right now.
It makes god sound a little bit like a pedophile, doesn’t it????
Or, at the very least, he sounds like a colossal prick.
My, that seems reasonable. Decide that you think the Koran is in error, get killed by the state.
Anybody wonder why I think that religion has no place in politics?
Any time fundamentalist Christians try to push their agenda in America and get angry at the non-religious who want to keep organized prayer out of schools, I look to news stories like this one. This is not a problem with Islam so much as a problem with any state where law is dictated by religion.
The primary need of a religionin a position of power is to remain in power. You can’t do that if people decide to leave the religion.
Best way to make sure they don’t leave?
Tell them you’ll kill them if they do.
Problem solved!
Rhode Island Legalizes Gay Marriage
So, purely by number of states, that makes 1/5th of the United States that has gotten with the program and realized that this thing is going to happen.
I’m not pissed about that.
I think it’s fantastic.
I’m just kind of pissed it wasn’t Minnesota. It feels like we are super close to a breakthrough here but the word is we might not have enough votes for marriage equality.
And that sucks. Because marriage equality is not just an East and West coast (and Iowa) issue.
Where is our state pride? Rhode Island is tiny! You could fit, like, sixteen Rhode Islands in Minnesota (not an actual statistic)! There is a glacier in Wrangell-St. Elias National park that is bigger than Rhode Island (that is an actual statistic)! We have more lakes than they have anything!
Look at this state! It’s basically just a fjord! A fjord!
We could have been tenth! That is a nice round number people would have remembered. Now the best we can be is eleventh. That’s a prime number and a palindrome so still kind of cool but not cool enough!
Are we going to let some tiny little New England state kick sand in our face? Come on, Minnesota Legislators – MAN UP!
If we can handle the snowiest May on record, we can certainly handle a little gay marriage, can’t we????
Grail Diary 