Shit that Pissed me Off – 5/19

Note – I was out-of-town last week so I have two weeks of stupid shit piled up.  I probably won’t get to all of it so I apologize if your favorite annoying thing didn’t make the cut.

A Creationist Scientist is Suing the Grand Canyon

Andrew Snelling is a Geologist who is also a creationist.  This in itself makes no sense because in order to be both, you need to basically ignore all the evidence that would make you a credible geologist.  But he’s got a PhD so we have to accept that he knows stuff about Geology even if he doesn’t actually believe any of it.

So he wanted to do some research, including collecting samples, in the Grand Canyon.  Such things are allowed but you have to apply to do so and his application was rejected.

So he’s suing for religious discrimination.  You know, because Christians have it so hard in our country.

Heh.  Geologist.  So hard.  Get it?

Anyway, his claim was rejected because it was presumed he would use the samples to “disprove” existing science about the Grand Canyon and since the Grand Canyon is, you know, a protected landmark, they don’t want people taking rock samples to do bad science.  Sounds like his application didn’t really say what he was going to use the samples for, either.

Which is probably because he knew he couldn’t say “I’m going to use the samples to prove the Grand Canyon is no more than 6000 years old even though recorded human history goes back further than that and I’m a fucking idiot.”

So he basically asked to take samples without really telling anyone why and they said “no – you can’t just take samples because you have a degree in Geology.  You have to have a reason.”

And he’s responding “you hate me because I’m a Christian!  I’m going to sue.”

We don’t hate him because he’s a Christian.  We hate him because he uses his Christianity as an excuse to be a bad scientist.

Trump Corner: I Just Don’t Even Fucking Know Where To Begin

In the last two weeks, our President fired the director of the FBI who was investigating his campaign, leaked secrets to Russian diplomats, claimed he is the victim of the greatest political witch hunt in history (forgetting – or ignoring – his own support of the Birther movement), been accused of trying to cover up an FBI investigation, and members of his administration showed they didn’t really understand the geography of Israel.  I mean, he’s been busy.

What is creepy is how often the people speaking for Trump say one thing and then Trump himself says something different.  For instance, when a special counsel was appointed this week to look into the whole Russia thing, White House reports said Trump was handling thing pretty well.

And look – if the dude is innocent, he should handle it pretty well. Because a special counsel will likely find out he didn’t do anything wrong and this whole thing will be over.

But Trump doesn’t know how to accept that an investigation isn’t a conviction.  To him, any perceived slight of his unimpeachable character (no laughter please), is something to be fought with the ferocity of a Tasmanian Devil.

So the white house said he was handling thing just fine.  Then the next morning, he tweeted how he was the victim of a witch hunt.

Because – and I really need to keep bringing this up – he is a petulant teenager.  There was never a point where he wasn’t a self-centered egotistical asshole.  There was never a point where he wanted to become President to help anyone but himself.  None of this has changed.

He may not be guilty of anything when it comes to Russia (aside from leaking secrets last week – seems pretty clear he did that) but he will always be guilty of being Donald Trump.

Former Governor of Jakarta Sentenced to Prison for Blasphemy

Blasphemy laws are the ultimate miscarriage of justice.  The idea that anyone should go to prison for insulting any god is horrifying.  If a supreme being can’t handle their own affairs in that regard, they aren’t worthy of being called a supreme being.

Basuki Purnama was recently ousted as governor because he suggested that an interpretation of the Koran might have been out of line.  Purnama is a Christian in a country with a large Muslim majority and his critique of how others interpreted the Koran (not the Koran itself) has now gotten him kicked out of office and into jail.

Because that’s a completely justified reaction to someone telling you that your interpretation of a holy book might be wrong.

Thank you, Ricky Gervais.

You would think that it might occur to – I don’t know – someone that this kind of sentence for something that harms literally no-one is out of line.  You might think it would occur to the majority religion that they don’t need to fight for power in a country where every other religion has, essentially, none.

But then you look at how things are going in America where our majority religion is different and yet, seemingly, just as convinced they are being persecuted.

At least we don’t have blasphemy laws.

Yet.

Warner Brothers Markets Wonder Woman with Diet Products

I mean, we understand that marketing is part of every major film release these days (thanks George Lucas) but at times you have to ask if anyone pays attention to the message certain decisions send.

Wonder Woman is basically the first big budget super hero film where a woman is the main character.  I mean yeah, Black Widow has been featured prominently in some of the Marvel films but there is no Black Widow movie yet, is there?

Wonder Woman is about fucking Wonder Woman!  That’s pretty fucking great and if it wasn’t being produced by the same studio that produced Suicide Squad and Batman vs. Superman, I would allow myself to be more excited.

Don’t kid yourself.  I’m still going to see the movie on opening weekend.

Warner Brothers may, I hope, produce a kick-ass film but they still don’t really get it.  They take their first big budget super-hero film with a woman as the main (hell – title) character and they think “dang – maybe some women will want to see this film!  What do women like to do? Diet!”

It’s kind of like they said “hey ladies!  You can be a badass super hero just like Wonder Woman! As long as you aren’t too fat.”

Again, I hope Wonder Woman kicks ass and little girls everywhere start making DIY golden lassoes for their Barbie dolls (or their Pokemon or their stuffed unicorn or their transformer because they can play with whatever the fuck they want).  It’s about time someone made this movie.

At the same time, I hope it occurs to someone down the line that you can tell girls they are badass without also telling them they need to shed a few pounds.