Shit that Pissed me Off 5/3/19
Appeals Court Rules that Bde Mke Ska Name Change was Illegal
I’m not pissed at the court. It is entirely likely that their ruling was fully supported by Minnesota Law and their job is to uphold what is legally right. Not was is morally correct. So they did their job.
The lake currently known as Bde Mke Ska was previously named Lake Calhoun. It was named after the 7th Vice President of the United States, John C Calhoun. Calhoun was not from Minnesota (he was from South Carolina) and was a strong proponent of slavery (as I said – he was from South Carolina).
If you’d like to know what he thought about slavery, this just about sums it up:
Calhoun asserted that slavery, rather than being a “necessary evil,” was a “positive good,” benefiting both slaves and slave owners.
Before the lake was named after Calhoun, it was called Bde Mke Ska. That’s what the locals called it before the locals got told they didn’t live here any more and were told to pack up their things and move to land the people with guns didn’t think was worth anything so they were OK with people they didn’t give a shit about living there. They figured if the land turned out to be worth something, they could make the former locals move again. Because they still had most of the guns.
So the DNR and the City of Minneapolis decided the change the name back to Bde Mke Ska. Their reasoning was the name Lake Calhoun was actually a slap in the face to both black people and native Americans. Which it was. It was also kind of a slap in the face to Minnesotans seeing as Calhoun was, as I mentioned, from South Carolina.
Not everyone was thrilled about this change. And that’s OK because you are totally allowed to not give a fuck about black people or Native Americans or Minnesotans because you’ve called it Lake Calhoun for your entire life and why should you have to change?
I know I resent the hell out of all the changes made to my computer over the years!
So a venture Capitalist asshole named Tom Austin decided he hated being “bullied” by “elites” (because black people and Native Americans have historically been super elite) so he filed a lawsuit to change the name back. And he won. Because the court of appeals determined the Legislature needed to make the name change and not the DNR.
Here’s what pissed me off about Tom Austin and all the people who are thrilled that they won this court case – it didn’t fucking matter to them. If the name had never been Lake Calhoun, they wouldn’t have cared that the name was Bde Mke Ska. They just would have called the lake Bde Mke Ska.
And if someone had decided to change the name to Lake Calhoun, they would have fought that because they don’t like it when names change.
But the name Lake Calhoun was hurtful to people. So the decision was made to change it back to a name that was not. Because we’ve figured some shit out and we’re trying to do better.
Austin wasted taxpayer money on a lawsuit that didn’t fucking matter to him. He was just pissed off because he didn’t want to remember a new name and because he didn’t want to be reminded that white people in America have done some really shitty things. I mean, Tom Austin never owned slaves. And he never forced Native Americans off their lands. Why should he have to learn a new name (actually it was an old name but whatever) when none of that was his fault?
So now it is probably up to the legislature to make things right. And they probably won’t. Let me tell you why!
Shit that Pissed me Off 4/26/19
Washington State Senator Maureen Walsh Says Nurses Probably Just Play Cards all Day
Walsh has apologized for what she said and, of course, claimed that her comments were taken out of context. She’s also been sent nearly 2000 decks of playing cards because you don’t fuck with nurses.
But let’s try to look at what she said in context because it’s actually pretty bad and I’m really sick of the “out of context” excuse anyway.
Walsh was speaking for an amendment to a bill that would have provided nurses in Washington State with uninterrupted meals and rest periods. Basically, if a nurse is on a twelve hour shift and they are on their lunch break, they are on their lunch break. Find another nurse because, you know, there is more than one working that shift and they don’t all take lunch at the same time.
The amendment Walsh was pushing for (that made it into the bill) would except “critical access hospitals” in rural areas from the bill.
Walsh was arguing that outstate hospitals with smaller staffs would be hurt by this law because no nurse would leave her contractually mandated rest period if there was an emergency and they were the only nurse in the building thus possibly risking the life of a patient nurses clearly don’t give a shit about as much as having uninterrupted breaks.
Besides, she said, nurses in rural areas probably already get breaks. They probably, she said, play cards for a “considerable amount of the day.”
This is an actual picture of a Washington State nurse
In context, what she was saying was that nurses in these areas don’t work that hard anyway. She later said she was tired and regretted the comment. Maybe she should have taken an uninterrupted break.
And yeah, Walsh is a Republican. I only bring this up because the bill in question was supported by the nurses union.
In general conservatives don’t like unions. So when a union is in support of a measure, they are probably going to be against it. Unless it’s a police union.
There might be nurses in “critical access hospitals” that play cards during the day. I mean, I have no idea. Maybe they are all playing Minecraft if Minecraft is still a thing. Is Minecraft still a thing?
But no they aren’t. Walsh was pretending she was concerned about patients but really she just wanted to make sure nurses didn’t slack off. When we are tired, we usually say exactly what we mean.
Shit that Pissed Me Off – 4/19/19
Trump Corner – Twitter
Donald Trump loves Twitter. His followers love him on Twitter. He can say whatever he wants, regardless of actual facts and he can see the love immediately. The likes. The retweets. He lives for that. Every like feeds his ego like krill feed blue whales. And like blue whales, Trump’s ego is one of the largest living things on the planet.
This week, like every week, he’s tweeted some outrageous things but I’d light to highlight a two things on opposite ends of the “fuck this guy” spectrum.
On Friday, he tweeted something that was directly aimed at Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar. Omar, you may recall, has made some comments recently that were inadvertently anti-Semitic (and which she has apologized for more than once). One has to contextualize all of this by recognizing that Omar, a Muslim, is supportive of Palestine (like a lot of Muslims). Her opinions on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict will more than likely be influenced by that and anyway, she has made some comments there were less than perfectly worded. I assume that is because she is human.
Trump makes such statements all the time. But his supporters love him for it.
He also has noticed that Omar is someone his supporters inherently dislike because she is a Muslim and they really don’t like Muslims. So on Friday, Trump tweeted “we will never forget” and a video of Omar talking about persecution Muslims have faced since 9/11 and then some shots of the burning buildings.
Oops! Wrong burning building! Too soon?
It was a shocking racist embarrassment by a President whose theme song is “Racist Embarrassment” by Kid Rock.
As a result of that tweet, Omar has stated that the number of death threats she has received have increased. The conservative response, by the way? Quit whining – Donald Trump receives all sorts of death threats.
I mean, of course he does. He’s the President of the United States. Even if he weren’t an insufferable prick he would receive more death threats than almost everyone in the world. Not as many, I’ll bet, as Barack Obama received. But a lot.
Thing is, he regularly makes statements that put other people at risk and he doesn’t give a fuck.
So two takeaways here: Trump is using the fact Omar is a Muslim to fire up his base against Muslims and Ilhan Omar is getting more death threats than she used to. Which means she was already getting them all the time. But Trump made it worse. On purpose.
The second tweet I’m highlighting was after Tiger Woods won the Masters golf tournament on Sunday. Woods, once the greatest golfer in the universe (I feel confident saying that since the principles of evolution suggest there is no way any other intelligent species has developed golf), has been through a lot of challenges over the last ten years. Some (a sex scandal) were his own fault. Others (several back injuries requiring surgery) were not. His return to glory was certainly inspirational to some.
Especially Trump, who loves golf almost more than he loves himself. He tweeted out his congratulations to Woods, whom he has golfed with and would probably claim he is better than, and said as a result of Woods’ accomplishments, he was awarding him the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
The Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian honor in our country. It is awarded by Presidents to individuals who, history tells us, share their values.
I have no idea if Woods is a Republican. He’s a golfer and most golfers are conservative. He also comes from a very different background than most golfers. I also think he’s more of a pragmatist in the Michael Jordan vein who keeps his politics to himself because people of all political persuasions buy Nike products.
Like this light up Nike swoosh liberals and conservatives can buy for – this is real – $2,400! Perfect for your politically neutral man cave!
Regardless of his politics, he’s a winner. Again. And Trump likes winners. So even though there is typically a long vetting process for Medal of Freedom winners, Trump just fucking announced he’s giving one to Tiger.
Woods will be one of the youngest people to receive the award (most of the Apollo astronauts were younger).
I can see why Woods, who may be the greatest golfer in history and who has been a pioneer as a person of color in a sport that doesn’t have very many of them, is deserving of recognition.
But I’m not going to deny I’d prefer to see it happen twenty years from now when Woods has retired and, hopefully, used some of those billions he’s earned on philanthropic endeavors. But he’s probably a deserving recipient.
Here’s the thing, though, Trump isn’t giving this award to Woods because of Woods. He is giving it to Woods because in doing so, he gets to share in Woods’ accomplishments. He gets to make Woods’ Masters win, a great individual achievement, about him.
Never forget that this is all about him.
If Woods never won another major golf tournament, Trump wouldn’t have considered giving him the Medal of Freedom. Woods did it while he was President, though, and that means Trump, the President of Golf, gets to recognize him for it.
Shit that Pissed me Off – 4/12/19
I missed a couple of weeks again! I had really good excuses but never mind that. I’m going to try to hit on a few things that have come to my attention in the last few weeks. Enjoy the rapid fire journey!
South Dakota Schools Required to Display “In God We Trust”
South Dakota lawmakers, in a display of “patriotism” passed a law requiring the national motto “In God We Trust” to be prominently displayed in all public schools.
It may feel like this is a violation of the separation of church and state and no doubt that will be tested. I think it will actually stand because “In God We Trust” is actually our national motto and Donald Trump has been allowed to seat two conservative Christian white dudes on the Supreme Court.
You can argue that “In God We Trust” is a shitty national motto and far worse than the one it replaced (E Pluribus Unim or “Out of Many, One) but it doesn’t matter because it’s still the national motto. You could also argue that the word “God” could be referring to any god and not just the Christian god it clearly refers to.
Maybe it’s referring to Thor! You don’t know!
Hiding behind patriotism is the dodge that really pisses me off. I mean they have to do that because if they admitted their motivation was to put God on every public school wall because Christianity just isn’t enough places in our lives already, even Brett Kavanagh and Clarence Thomas might need to stop hitting on their clerks long enough to strike the law down. But the transparency of the act is galling. Of course this is about religion.
If you wanted it to be about patriotism, you’d just pass some law about posting the bill of rights in every school.
For the record, I’d be 100% behind that one. Kids should know their rights. Read More…
Shit that Pissed me Off – 3/8/19
A New Study Indicates Vaccines Don’t Cause Autism
If you understand anything about vaccines, you know that they don’t cause autism. They just don’t. We don’t know what causes autism. But it’s not vaccines.
But here we go – another study is showing that vaccines do not, in fact, cause autism.
So what pisses me off? Why the fuck are we still studying this?
I have an idea, let’s spent more time proving something we already know!
I don’t blame the scientists for doing so. I mean the anti-vaxx movement keeps coming up with bullshit science to link autism and vaccines in the ultimate game of confirmation bias so someone needs to keep doing actual research to counter the constant barrage of bad information.
Anti-vaxxers crawl out of the shadows every time something like this surfaces because they really want to believe big bad pharma is out to kill us all by ensuring we don’t get polio. It is a pretty sinister plot they have uncovered and the only side effects to being wrong are outbreaks of measles and whooping cough.
The other thing that bothers me is this idea that people with autism are somehow more broken than they would have been had they contracted polio. Rather than treating autism as a challenge to be managed and understood, anti-vaxxers want to believe we can just cure it. The implication that being on the spectrum is worse than dying of a preventable disease is about as bad as suggesting we shouldn’t teach blind people how to read braille because what’s the point?
Unlike flat Earthers, who are just stupid, anti-vaxxers are dangerous. They get people killed. And they divert money from studying how to help people live with autism or from determining the actual cause of autism to more studies about how vaccines don’t cause autism.
Shit that Pissed me Off – 3/1/19
I totally missed last week because I was driving to a show. So I have some items from last week I’ve carried over. Because they still piss me off.
Captain Marvel Being Panned Pre-Release by People Who Haven’t Seen the Film
In the grand and glorious tapestry that is the Marvel Cinematic Universe, there hasn’t been one film featuring a Woman as the lead character. Until March 8th when Captain Marvel will be released.
Yes, yes, Ant Man & The Wasp technically had The Wasp as a lead/title character but that was a shared lead and Ant Man came first and it was a sequel and it didn’t seem to piss off Men’s Rights douchebags so let’s try to avoid being pedantic for just a moment, OK?
When it comes to pissing off Men’s Rights douchebags, nothing works better than a movie (any movie) about a woman. Mad Max Fury Road was awesome but why did it have to have a woman in it? The worst thing about The Last Jedi was all those girls getting in the way of the story that should be about whiny emo dudes just like them.
Holy shit! That’s why they hate Kylo Ren so much!
“Look at that whiner! He has all the power but he’s still not happy with it so he’s going to take power away from everyone around him who doesn’t have it just so he can feel better about himself even though he still doesn’t. That is so unrealistic!”
The scene is a lot more interesting if you imagine this guy eating Funyuns and crying.
I’m a nice guy! Why aren’t girls interested in nice guys?
Anyway – the reviews are already pouring in for Captain Marvel and many of them are by guys who haven’t actually seen the film!
That’s right! They are already posting negative reviews with their major complaint being “I don’t like that Marvel has, after three Captain America Movies, three Iron Man movies, a couple of Ant Man movies, and so on, decided to bow to the pressure of Social Justice Warriors by making ONE MOVIE with a girl in the lead!”
Some are even gloating that they are going to kill the box office for Captain Marvel just like they did for The Last Jedi.
Whatever, guys. If you didn’t notice that nearly every woman and person of color was dusted at the end of Infinity War, maybe you need to realize that women have a bigger representation gap than you.
So go back to your meditation chamber, Kylo, and feel sorry for yourself. Because the rest of us don’t.
Shit that Pissed me Off – 2/15/19
The Cleveland Browns Signed Kareem Hunt and Colin Kapaernick Still Doesn’t Have a Job
Hunt was kicked off his former team (the Chiefs) after video of Hunt assaulting a woman became public. They claimed they knew about the incident but that Hunt had “lied” about it to them.
So Hunt was out of Football. At least he might have been were he not so gosh darn talented.
I could point out that Colin Kapaernick is more talented than – well – just about every third string quarterback in the league, probably most of the second string ones and maybe even a few first string ones and he doesn’t have a job in the NFL. Because he didn’t hit a woman on camera. He kneeled during the National Anthem to call attention to systemic racism.
But Kareem Hunt deserves “another chance.”
I’m not even going to argue that he doesn’t deserve another chance. I don’t know. Maybe he really has figured his shit out and is going to make amends and be a decent guy.
Who doesn’t want to believe, right?
What I’m arguing is that a guy who punches women has an easier time getting a job in the NFL than a guy who kneels during the national anthem.
Moreover, the response to the Hunt allegations is muted. People are shocked but immediately say “we don’t really know enough to leap to judgement.” The response to Kapaernick isn’t muted at all. It is angry. Vocal. And filled with people who are telling him that they don’t give a fuck what he says until he says it the way they want to hear it (not that they plan on telling him what would make them listen).
The NFL is a business. And they know full well that in a game as violent as Professional Football, their audience has shown a willingness to accept players who are violent off the field. What they can’t accept is a player who peacefully points out institutional racism and – yes – violence.
Note: It was just announced that Kapaernick reached a settlement with the NFL in his collusion case that claimed the NFL colluded to keep him out of a job. Of course the terms are confidential so the NFL doesn’t need to actually admit to doing anything wrong…
Shit that Pissed me Off – 2/8/19
Hello and welcome to 2019! I’ve not been blogging a lot for the last several weeks because I was on vacation and on vacation I shouldn’t have to think about things like the Government shutdown that is (temporarily) over.
I mean, I still did because a bunch of stuff was shut down at Kennedy Space Center because the NASA employees were furloughed. And TSA agents were working without pay so I never knew if my travel plans were going to have a gigantic wrench thrown into them because of a sick out (which I would have been 100% behind but it still would have been annoying).
Oh, and I couldn’t visit a National Park in the Virgin Islands. For which you should not feel bad because I was still in the Virgin Islands.
So I guess I still had to deal with the shutdown a little. And it was annoying because that shit was stupid.
Anyway, I’m back on my bloggy horse. Let’s see what we’ve got!
Road Rage Dude Shoots a School Bus Driver
Here in Minnesota we have had some really shitty weather. This shouldn’t surprise folks because it is February in Minnesota.
Last week we had some really cold weather (I’m going to talk about that more later) and this week we just had stupid little snow storms that fucked up rush hour driving. For three fucking days in a row.
Now that sounds annoying and it is. But it is something we should be used to because we are from Minnesota and it happens ever year.
Know what we call this in Minnesota? Tuesday.
For Kenneth Lily, however, it was more than he could handle. After a fender bender accident, the security guard (who was a good guy with a gun until he was magically transformed into a bad guy with a gun) got out of his car and proceeded to five five rounds at the driver of a school bus. The driver, a 73 year old man who was clearly a threat, was hit in the arm and grazed in the head. Fortunately, he survived.
So did Lily, who claims he was in fear for his life (sure he was) and who waited for the police to arrive at which point he was arrested without incident.
Yes, he’s white. How did you know?
What have I forgotten?
Oh yeah – there was an eight year old child on the bus.
Lily is also free on bail pending a hearing.
I mean….what the actual fuck?
A white guy shoots an elderly school bus driver and he is free on bail? How do you look at a guy who fires his gun at a school bus and say “yeah – I’m OK with him not being in jail?”
Were the cells too full of marijuana users?
Because if they were, I have an idea…
Shit that Pissed me Off – 11/9/18
Trump Corner: A Press Conference for the Ages
Why bury the lede on this one?
So the day after Democrats managed to take over the House (more on bullshit Gerrymandering later) but not the Senate, Trump decided to refuse to answer reporters questions.
Now I could talk about the way his administration banned a reporter using a doctored video to bolster their unsubstantiated claim the reporter attacked an intern. But they just did that because their base loves it when Trump attacks reporters.
That’s why he consistently refers to the free press as an enemy of the people.
If you hear that and nod your head in agreement, you are creeping me right out. The press is, in fact, the tool by which the people can help keep that fucker honest. Well, they can try. Honesty is not part of his meager skill set.
The truth is the enemy of the Trump camp and most reporters have a pesky way of trying to find out the truth. Best way to deal with that tendency is to discredit most of them. That way the reporters who are biased to report what you want them to report are the only ones your legions will listen to.
So that was awful. But maybe you missed when our President who, if you recall, has always been a wealthy white man, lectured a black woman on racism.
Not only did Trump lecture the reporter, Yamiche Alcindor of PBS, on racism. He wouldn’t even let her ask a question.
I mean, I know he’s the President. He can talk over whoever he wants.
Also he’s a man and what he has to say is more important.
But that doesn’t mean he should. Alcindor was asking him if his rhetoric emboldened white nationalists (it does). He could have answered the question but the answer wouldn’t have been very good. So knowing he couldn’t really address it, he just blamed the reporter – a black woman – for bringing up racism.
He claimed his poll numbers were better with African Americans then they’ve ever been (which is technically kind of true based on one poll that is historically biased towards Republicans but also really not the point).
What he didn’t do was address the question of white nationalism. He could have spoken out against white nationalism. But he didn’t. He just told a black woman she was racist.
PS: that (skewed) Rasmussen poll he cherry picked showed that he has a 50% approval rating. WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK IS WRONG WITH THIS COUNTRY???? Read More…
Shit that Pissed me Off 11/2/18
Dad Who Dressed his Kid as Hitler Upset that People Yelled at his Child
So the father in question dressed as an SS officer and dressed his kid up as Hitler.
Now we could argue that this was just innocent cosplay except for two things: the dad’s other social media posts indicate he is at least sympathetic to the Nazi ideology and there is no way dressing your kid up as Hitler is innocent!
This guy knew what he was doing. He was using Halloween as an excuse to dress up as a Nazi because he’s always wanted to dress up as a Nazi. He claims it is because he and his kid “love history” but there is a whole lot of history that isn’t Nazi Germany to pick from.
Now, if adults at the Halloween event came up to a child who looks to be around 5-7 years old and yelled at that child for his costume choice, that certainly doesn’t help matters. They should have instead yelled at the father dressed as an SS officer.
I mean, it’s pretty clear where the issue starts, don’t you think?
Hint: It’s the guy whose face isn’t obscured.
I don’t feel sorry for this guy. He’s a white supremacist who viewed a holiday as a coming out party.
I feel a little sorry for his kid because he’ll either turn out a white supremacist or spend most of his life estranged from his parents. So please, adults, do a better job adulting, OK?
The kid is still a kid and he doesn’t understand what he’s doing.
Please note: Don’t threaten this guy or his family. Leave his kids alone. Holy fuck.
Grail Diary 