Shit that Pissed me Off – 2/27

This Big Long Article on Men’s Rights Activists in GQ

To the credit of the writer, I think he was trying hide his disgust for these guys and file a report that was at least somewhat impartial.

So he impartially reports what they are saying and what they say is completely awful.  They talk about the “red pill” moments where they realized, in effect, that women are the enemy.  Every one of those red pill moments is a paranoid fantasy.

What’s worse?  They fucking co-opted The Matrix for their girl-hating movement!

I’m just going to stop listening to your stupid shit right….NOW

When I watch that movie, I already am forced to acknowledge it was made by the same people who made Jupiter Ascending. But now it has provided a catch phrase for one of the most embarrassing activist groups in existence.

Why oh why didn’t these guys take the blue pill?

Homophobes Freak Out Over a Gay Kiss on The Walking Dead

The gay characters, by the way, are straight out of the source material comic but never mind that.  They completely ruined “The Walking Dead” by bringing in that “faggot shit” (direct quote).

Some guy even went so far as to complain that he was upset his kids saw that gay kiss in a TV show filled with all sorts of violence, blood, and death.  Clearly the producers don’t understand that kids can handle hordes of rampaging zombies but if they see a couple of dudes kissing, they might start asking questions.

I think homophobic parents are upset about answering those questions because they know they are going to sound like assholes when they give an answer.

Speaking of Freaking out, How About the Bigots Upset a Puerto Rican won the Powerball?

I remember listening to a radio quiz show where a woman was asked to indicate how many US Senators were in Congress.  She answered the question incorrectly, at least in part, because the person giving the quiz would not give her a hint and tell her how many States make up our country.

This lady would have been shocked to discover that Puerto Rico was actually a US territory.

Oh shit. Really?

So, it seems, were a lot of other people when a Puerto Rican won a share of the largest Powerball jackpot in history.  They were pretty upset that someone outside America won a prize meant for Americans!

Like the folks who live in Puerto Rico.  They are Americans.  Hell, they even voted for statehood (it’s a lot more complicated than that).

So hey, folks, the next time your cruise ship docks in San Juan, maybe you could read the brochure before you go shopping for cheap diamond jewelry and ignore the rest of the island.  You might be surprised to learn that the folks selling you that jewelry are Americans.

Mike Huckabee Shows a Lack of Historical Knowledge

To be a politician in America, you have to think Israel is great.  I mean, they are one of our most important allies and a failure to support them is likely to get you a one way ticket to unelectableville.

Huckabee doesn’t want to stop at supporting Israel’s right to exist.  He wants to deny that the Palestinians exist at all.

While the Palestinians might disagree, Huckabee would probably be willing to sit down and explain to them exactly why they don’t really exist.  When he’s done with that, he’ll probably sit down with American Indians to point out that there is no such thing as Native Americans.

I’m sure once he does that, they will shut down their casinos and let white people make some money for once.

School Invites Only Girls to a Presentation by a Woman Writer

So how did we reach this point?  When an author of books with female protagonists shows up, the assumption is only the girls will be interested in what she has to say.

The double standard is obvious.  No school would even contemplate doing such a thing for a male author .  It wouldn’t even occur to them.

As the writer herself states, this sets up a world where boys are ashamed to read a book with a female protagonist.  The writing is irrelevant.  Books about girls are only for girls.

I’ve never heard of boys reading “The Hunger Games,” have you????

We all know, I hope, that this is bullshit.  It doesn’t matter, though, because the bias is built in.  We make bizarre choices like this one that simply reinforce that bias.

In the end, who benefits?  Not the girls because they are taught that what they enjoy is not good enough for the boys.  Not the boys because they are taught to avoid good work if it might be from the perspective of a girl.

The last thing we want our kids to do is understand each other.  Right?

Rude People in Movie Theaters

Last weekend, I watched Murder on the Orient Express at the Trylon theater in Minneapolis.

Now the film is a good film but it is also based on an Agatha Christie book and it was made in the 70’s.  The story is somewhat melodramatic and the acting, while good, is not the kind of acting we see in film today.

Sitting behind me were several people who clearly found the acting and story outrageously funny and they could not control their outbursts when they thought the movie was over the top.

I’ve been to movies that I felt were a lot funnier than the writers intended so I understand the ability to find unexpected humor in a bad drama.

Thing is, this wasn’t a bad film.  It was a good film that they didn’t care for.

They could have controlled their laughter but they didn’t.  Instead they were disruptive and, to some degree, insulting.  They apparently couldn’t understand why anyone in the theater would have liked the movie nor did they give a shit.

That last point to me is the worst part about their behavior.  They didn’t give a shit that other people were enjoying the scenes they found hilarious so they just ruined the moment for everyone.

This Article About a Football Player who Made a Huge Mistake

In the NFC championship game, Brandon Bostick made a mistake that probably lost the game for his team.  He wrote this piece about how that mistake has affected his life and one thing that he mentions is the number of death threats he has received since that play.

What???

It was a football game.

No. Not that kind.

The idea that fans would be sending him death threats by the hundreds makes it really clear our priorities are out of whack. Apparently we don’t fucking understand that there is a person on the other end of that e-mail.

Why has our mindset reached the point that we threaten to kill people who do human things?  Tons of professional football players mess up plays.  This guy made the wrong mistake in the wrong game.

So get over it.  And leave the guy alone.

Humanist Blogger Hacked to Death by Islamic Fundamentalists

I’m not going to go on an anti-Islam rant here.  The problem isn’t Islam.

The problem is fundamentalism.  The problem is people using their belief in god to drive their violent actions.

You can argue that some of these people would have turned into killers anyway but the truth is far more complicated than that.  Groupthink is a powerful thing.  When people are told that being a non-Muslim (or a non-Christian) is a terrible thing, you dehumanize those who are “not you.”

The result: One of those who speaks against what you believe (not you personally – just what you believe), is perceived as a threat that must be eliminated.  And since they are already considered less than human, it is that much easier to do the eliminating.

Scott Walker Wants Colleges and Universities to Stop Reporting Sexual Assaults

The narrative that seems to drive some conservative thinking these days is the idea that there “aren’t that many” sexual assaults on College campuses.

Feminists are making too big a deal about it, I guess.  They would prefer college campuses to be safer.  The retort seems to be they are already safe enough.

I would ask how many sexual assaults would be considered an acceptable number?  Twelve? Ten?

I’m fond of zero, myself.

He’s such a cute little guy!

I don’t know why Walker wants to eliminate the requirement that colleges and Universities report sexual assault statistics.  I presume, since it is part of his budget, that he thinks such required reporting is too expensive.  It probably costs tens of dollars to track those numbers.

Yet the change in policy seems to serve another purpose.  It continues that narrative that sexual assault on college campuses just doesn’t happen all that often.

Maybe it doesn’t. But we know it happens.  And if it happens at all, we should take it seriously.