Shit That Pissed Me Off – 3/21

Pixar is Finally Making The Incredibles 2!

Yes, I know this is, in fact, completely awesome news.  So why am I annoyed?

Because apparently nobody noticed the other movie that was announced.  That would be Cars 3.

Look, I’m as big a fan of Pixar as anyone but are we not concerned that they are making a sequel to the film that is arguably their worst movie to date?  I know that the Cars franchise has made Disney and Pixar countless millions in merchandise and that is why a third film was inevitable.

Make no mistake. This is why they are making another Cars movie.

But can I be a little upset that all Pixar is producing these days is sequels?  I want more movies like Up and WALL-E.  It’s great that Pixar has found ways to mine the existing universes they have created and I’ve been waiting for a sequel to The Incredibles for a long time.

How about a sequel every other year, Pixar?  How about that?

Meme That Pissed me Off

A friend posted this meme showing a very alarming thing that Dianne Feinstein said about freedom of speech.  Check it out!

What????  Free speech is not for the uneducated?  Why that hippie liberal Democratic old woman should be run out of this country!  DAMN HER TO HELL!!!!

But before we do that, perhaps we should see if she actually said what she is quoted as saying.  Because if we do that, we’ll discover that she…um….didn’t.  She didn’t say it.

What she did say (eight years ago) was that people on the internet have absolutely no oversight so they can say whatever they want without revealing their source (if there even is one).  Kind of ironic that what happened is some hack on the internet pasted a bullshit quote on her picture, right?

I Got Into an Argument With a Anti-Vaxxer This Week

I read the article above that was linked from a friend’s Facebook page and that annoyed me enough because it was telling me about the return of Measles, Mumps and Whooping Cough as a result of the Anti-Vaccination movement.

I’m sorry, I got that wrong.

I meant to say the bullshit anti-vaccination movement.

Then I got into an argument with someone who thinks that some vaccines are bad because Monsanto Glaxo Smith Kline paranoia paranoia idiotic supposition.

Arguing with someone who believes that pharmaceutical companies are lying about vaccines to make a profit is a completely empty gesture.  What they believe is insane.  Every try arguing with an insane person? I’m afraid I ended up being a bit of a dick.  Here’s why:

Stay away from my kids with your crazy!

Your arguments are illogical and you are completely unsupported by the facts but you will keep making them because what you believe is nuts!  The issue here is not just that you are wrong.  That’s bad enough.

The issue is that your incorrect conclusions based on a complete lack of facts kills people.

Minnesota Lawmaker Says Fair Pay Bill Makes Women Look Like Whiners

Waaaaah!  I want to make the same amount as a man for doing the same job!  Waaaaah!

Waaaaah!  I want to make more if I’m better at it! Waaaaah!

Yeah, that is some whiny ass bullshit coming from the ladies in the work force, isn’t it?

I love how you can take a bunch of people trying to stand up for basic fairness and turn it into something shameful with just a single word.  They say it’s a call to change.  You say it’s whining.

Why whine when you can just come up with words to make inequality AWESOME???

Do I think you can legislate fair pay?  I doubt it.  We’ve been trying for a long time and there is still a wage gap.  The way you solve the problem, though, is not by using patronizing language to dismiss the issue.

Pointing out inequality is not whining.  It is standing up for yourself.  There is a difference.

Remember, When A Woman Does Something With Her Body You Don’t Approve Of, You Should Just Keep Trying To Make Her Be Ashamed Of That Choice

So Duke Freshman and porn star Belle Knox has remained in the news.  This week, she was invited to be on The View so she could be interviewed judged by the show’s hosts.

At issue here is the fact that every one of their “hard-hitting” questions was about making a nineteen year old woman feel ashamed of her decisions.

Problems with the porn industry aside, we have a young woman who said “I don’t want to be in debt when I get out of college – how can I solve that problem?”  You don’t approve of how she solved it?  Whatever.  Give her the money she needs or shut up and move on.  Seriously, rich ladies on “The View.” Pay for her college tuition or leave her alone!

If you don’t want her to be a porn star, that’s your problem.  Not hers.

Judging other people for their financial decisions is pretty fucking superficial when you have all the money you will ever need.

Frankly, the women on The View missed an opportunity to point out that nobody would shame a man who made the same choice.  They could have treated her with respect and compassion and support.  Instead, they made sure they were just another face of a larger problem.

Nazi Re-enactors Have a Big Party on MLK Day

I tried to be really understanding on this one.  Really I did.

I mean, I understand re-enacting.  I know several people who do Civil War re-enactments. If you are going to accurately re-enact a historical event, someone has to play the “bad guys.”

Now let us be clear that many rank and file soldiers from the South weren’t “bad guys.”  Most of them didn’t own slaves and did not profit from the slave system in the South.  They simply felt loyalty to their state.  I’m not trying to excuse slavery but rather point out there was a lot of complexity in the men who served for the South.

Soldiers who fought for the North were equally complex.  Many were totally on board with slavery.

The Germans in WWII however, were fighting in support of a pretty bad dude. It is one of the few wars where the “bad guys” are fairly obvious.

Even when he smiled he looked constipated. How did he do that?

It amazes me that these guys thought this kind of event would be a good idea.  And I say that as someone who has produced some very offensive shows that were unquestionably bad ideas.

These guys re-enact Nazi soldiers.  That’s pretty weird but I’ve seen people do weirder stuff.  When they dress up that way for a party celebrating the way they dress up, though, they have crossed a line.  They were no longer re-creating Nazis.  They were celebrating Nazis.

Then the restaurant owner basically goes on a freedom of speech rant.  Look pal, you have the right to host this party.  It is not illegal.

But if other people find out about it, they are free to tell you they think it was a bad idea.  And they are free to go to different restaurants.  And given your defiance, they probably will.

One good thing came of this stupidity, though. My friend Rob Callahan came up with an awesome game.

Fred Phelps is Dead

He was an old man.  His life was filled with the worst kind of hate imaginable.  I don’t rejoice at his death nor do I mourn it.

Rather, I’m upset that he made such a name for himself that his death is a public spectacle.  I’ll be willing to wager that thousands of people who made a great impact on those around them died this week.  They were loving, caring people who never held a sign that read “god hates fags.”

They never sought out a reporter’s microphone to let the world know what they believed.  Nobody is talking about protesting (or not protesting) at their funeral.

Fred Phelps is dead. His hatred infected so many members of his family.  It even infected those of us who opposed him because we hated him.

What an unbelievably sad legacy.