Shit that Pissed me off – 1/2/15

United and Orbitz are Suing a Guy for Exploiting a Loophole

I just keep thinking if the dude is exploiting a loophole in your system and you want him to stop, you could just close the fucking loophole.

Instead of figuring out that problem, they are suing a guy who isn’t making any money.  He just outsmarted them.  What an asshole, right?

I said sue the smug fucker! Why would I want to hire him?

They have lawyers sitting around waiting for something to do.  It’s probably cheaper for them to threaten this kid than it is for them to figure out how to fix the gap in their own procedures.

Or they could just accept that some people are going to get a cheaper fare and stop giving out free pop on flights.  I mean, they’ll do that eventually anyway, right?

The Death of Leelah Alcorn

A transgender teen saw no way out of her despair and ended her life.  That, in itself, is a tragedy.

It is a further tragedy that her parents were at least partially responsible.

Now let us center ourselves for a moment. Suicide is a personal choice.  Her parents did not force her to kill herself.  There are many transgender teens who have made it through similarly difficult emotional times without killing themselves.

What her parents apparently did was fail to recognize the kind of help she needed.  They sent her to religious therapists who could not accept her for who she was because their faith prevented them from understanding her identity.

Her parents sound like foolish people driven by superstition and fear.  Yet I can’t see any benefit from the harassment they’ve received in the wake of their child’s death.  Aren’t they likely to spend days, weeks and years living with the self doubt and pain that goes with the loss of a child already?  Will harassment make them more compassionate?  Will it make Leelah’s siblings more likely to understand who she was?

I don’t think it will.  I think the right thing to do is to leave them be. Unless we don’t see the benefit in helping the two of them become advocates for positive change in the Christian community….

Some Crazy Ultra Orthodox Jews Are Refusing to Sit Next to Women on Airplanes

Fundamentalist Jews, Christians, and Muslims all have this idea that men are completely incapable of controlling their baser thoughts around women and this, of course, is the fault of the women.

For some Orthodox Jews, this has resulted in delayed flights as they demand to be moved away from women on airline flights.  The inconvenience to their impossible to control libidos is, apparently, far more important than the inconvenience they have been creating for everyone else.

I can see how this sort of thing would be a total turn on.

The whole idea that men are incapable of controlling themselves around women is insulting to both genders but that hasn’t stopped the behavior.

The idea that the airlines must, somehow, accommodate their request to be seated next to other men seems like religious tolerance.  I don’t think it is.  I think it is bullying.

Haven’t these guys heard of just reading a book?  I don’t want to make any assumptions, but a cookbook probably wouldn’t give them a boner.  At least one by Emeril and not Julia Child.

Everybody is Giving Idina Menzel Crap for Missing a Note on New Year’s Eve

I didn’t see it but I guess she missed a note on “Let it Go” when she performed it live and all sorts of people (at least some of whom probably can’t sing worth a damn) are giving her crap for it on twitter.

I’m a professional singer so I know a little bit about this.  I’ve performed songs with a difficult range on stage and been really sure that I would be able to hit the tough notes.

And then…

I didn’t.

So I’m not gonna hammer on Menzel, who is a far better singer than I, for hitting a bad note.  It happens to the best of us and to judge her failings would be to judge my own.

And I’m good enough at that already.

New Study Shows Reading an iPad before Bed Might be Killing You!

Well seriously, I’m over 40.  The act of living my life is killing me.

While I appreciate these studies that tell me I shouldn’t do things I enjoy, at some point I think we all need to understand that death is part of the circle of life.

The whole movie would have turned out a lot differently if Raffiki had dropped Simba.

I know I need to eat a healthier diet and exercise more and because it’s a new year, I’m going to do my best to get on that (and stay on it).  I’m getting a little tired of the fact that studies link just about every damn thing humans do to our mortality.

As if mortality should come as some sort of surprise.

At least a surprise to everyone who is not a teenaged boy.

The Imitation Game

I actually liked the film but it just raised all sorts of bile for the idea that England prosecuted homosexuals until 1967.  They put them in jail or forced them to have hormonal injections for the crime of being attracted to someone of same gender.

So yeah, it’s great that Turning was pardoned by the queen in 2013 – over fifty years after he committed suicide. But let’s be honest.  There are literally thousands of people who should also receive a posthumous pardon because they were just as wrongly convicted.

Also, I see that the children of Joan Clarke are complaining that their mother was nowhere near as attractive as Kiera Knightly.

Um…yeah.  Nobody is as attractive as Kiera Knightly.  I’m fairly certain that Kiera Knightly isn’t even as attractive as Kiera Knightly.

This year Pi Day is Going to be 3/14/15

That’s fucking great, actually.  Just think of the massive party we can all throw at 9:26!

Alas, I’ve got a St. Patricks day gig that night so I can’t have a pi day party because I’ve got a show!  That starts at 10:00!  So I can’t even celebrate Pi minute during the show!

Sad math nerd is sad.

Call me selfish but as a minor math nerd, I’m sad.

Not I-had-a-relative-on-that-plane-that-crashed sad.  I mean, I have my priorities.