Monday, August 31, 2015

Bad Ads - Herbal Essences

How many levels of approval does an ad have to get through before it makes it on the air?




The whole point of this ad seems to be that it's howlingly funny that this man:

http://c0717682.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/media/561fe2e454d8fa5c7d4c7.jpg

 . . . who is supposed to be, what, Yanomami? Guarani? anyway it's apparently supposed to be hilarious that this guy can speak proper English. This guy who is painted up like an extra from one of the Road movies, speaks like an intelligent, educated person and that's just supposed to funny? How is that not racist?

Who thinks that's funny?





Friday, August 28, 2015

Flashback Friday - Gang of Four

Gang of Four were probably the greatest band to emerge from England's late-seventies "post-punk" scene. They made music with a mix of funky beats and angular jarring guitar lines that influenced a ton of bands that could never duplicate their sound. In the early 1980's, they became more dance-oriented and accessible with fairly big hit songs "Is It Love?" and "I Love A Man In A Uniform," the latter of which was banned by the BBC for its anti-war sentiment.

Their debut album "Entertainment" is one of my favorite records of all time, and the entire LP is worth a listen, but I've included a few highlights here, along with a couple other later songs.

Enjoy!























Thursday, August 27, 2015

Do your fucking job!

Whatever happened to resigning in protest?

Kentucky Clerk To Ask Supreme Court To Keep Same-Sex Marriages On Hold

In the wake of June’s Supreme Court ruling in favor of marriage equality, Davis has argued that she has a religious objection to same-sex couples’ marriages such that she should be exempted from having to put her name on those couples’ licenses.
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Look, we get it. You're morally opposed to same-sex marriage. That's fine. You have every right to your beliefs. But you still have to do your job. If there are parts of your job that you can not, in good conscience, perform then you resign your position and send an open letter to your local paper explaining why. Or Facebook or whatever you kids are using these days with your long hair and your crazy rock and roll and getting all potted up on the weed and whatnot.


http://www.quickmeme.com/img/ab/ab196c709bb122e0c118a1bb034f767406b5e1a1aeffb742fcb13161534b9f47.jpg


You want to make a courageous stand for your moral code? Great. Good for you, you do that. But why would you think that there would be no consequences? I'm no fancy big-city theologian, but I don't think that the Bible ever said that standing up for your beliefs was supposed to be easy.

Matthew 5:10-12 New King James Version (NKJV)     10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. 12 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Luke 21King James Version (KJV)

12 . . . they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name's sake.
16 And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death.
17 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake.



So, according to Jesus who was rather an authority on the ways of Christianity, standing with Him can and will result in persecution, imprisonment, and possibly death. But hell no, I'm not gonna let you lose your job just because you refuse to do it.

You should absolutely follow your moral principles, but if that runs you afoul of actual United States laws, you face the consequences. It's called civil disobedience and it's not supposed to be easy. It's supposed to be an act of courage. It's supposed to be you standing tall and saying, you can throw me in prison, but you'll never make me go against my beliefs! It's not supposed to be you saying I'm standing up for what I believe and there's nothing you can do about it so ha ha ha. Because if it was that easy, everyone would do it. I would suddenly discover a religious principle that says I am forbidden from any heavy lifting. I'll do the other parts of my job, but not that. Oh, and God doesn't want me to empty the trash either.

And, ya know, you'd think it was just this one nutty lady who thinks she can refuse to do her job and not face any repercussions because she's so righteous and holy or whatever, but no. This is Kentucky, after all.


Defiant Kentucky clerk says he’s wiling to die for his right to tell LGBT people they’re going to Hell

Travis Gettys

27 Aug 2015 at 07:33 ET     



The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday slapped down the latest challenge filed by the Rowan county clerk, with help and encouragement from the conservative Liberty Counsel, ruling that county clerks are obligated to follow the law and not their personal beliefs.
Davis disagrees, saying his religious beliefs are more important than U.S. or state law.

He argued that the U.S. Supreme Court lacked the authority to overturn Kentucky laws that were approved by a majority of voters — and he said he was willing to become a martyr over this “travesty.”


Um. . . what? The Supreme Court lacks the authority. . . you know they've overturned a hell of a lot of state law2s in our 200+ year history, and no one has ever argued that they lack the authority since Marbury v. Madison. Oh, but I'm sure the county clerk of Butt Crack County knows more about Constitutional Law than every judge, lawyer and law professor of the last 212 years.

But at least this guy is willing to face the consequences of his actions, although he has a wildly inflated notion of what those consequences might be. Pretty sure that refusing to do part of your job is not a capital offense, even in Kentucky.

“Our law says ‘one man and one woman’ and that is what I held my hand up and took an oath to and that is what I expected,” Davis said. “If it takes it, I will go to jail over — if it takes my life, I will die for because I believe I owe that to the people that fought so I can have the freedom that I have. I owe that to them today, and you do, we all do. They fought and died so we could have this freedom and I’m going to fight and die for my kids and your kids can keep it.”

No, seriously, you won't. I promise you that you are not going to be called upon to sacrifice your life for your stupid bigoted principles. You might get fired, you might have to pay a fine. There's not going to be a standoff with the S.W.A.T. team.

“When you stand for what’s right and when you tell someone of the danger that they are in, and I think that when a person lives a lifestyle of sin whether it’s homosexuality or drunkenness or drug addiction or adultery or thievery or any kind of sin that you continue in or live in, you are endangering yourself of spending eternity in Hell,” Davis said. “So in my view of what the Bible says, when you’re truly loving someone, you stand and you lovingly tell them, ‘This is not the way to Heaven, this is not the way of right.’”

Yes. This being America, you have every right to say that. On your own time. You don't get to say shit like that when you're on the clock. Especially when you are being payed by the government which is Constitutionally not allowed to spew any religious doctrine, even if it wasn't bigoted and stupid.

He said Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear should meet with the families of slain service members and then call a special session of the State Legislature to vote on whether he should be obligated to follow court orders.

Um, let me save you a little time. Yes. Yes you are. That's why they are called court orders and not court suggestions. Don't bother the governor with this nonsense, I'm sure he has bigger fish to fry - oh, right it's Kentucky . Go right ahead.

Also, what the hell do the families of slain soldiers have to do with marriage equality?

 “Sit down with a man and a woman who sent their child off to war alive, hugged their neck, told them they loved them and brought them back in a pine box and get them to tell me what the price of freedom is,” Davis said.

Oh. . . I see, it's. . . no, wait. Still don't get it.
You know, maybe those dead soldiers died fighting for the freedom of same-sex couples to marry the person of their choice? Maybe some of them died fighting the Taliban and might not appreciate you adopting some of the Taliban mentality here at home?

Davis said the Bible was the ultimate authority on all matters, and he said the Book of Genesis defines marriage from the beginning. . . “Where is Adam and Eve’s marriage license recorded at and who did they go get them issued by? I’ll tell you, God issued them, God ordained it,” Davis said.


Um, I don't think marriage licenses were a thing back then.
Also, if there were only two people in the entire world, then of course those two were going to end up together.

http://www.e-entertainment.co/images/20150310/20150310085056.jpg 
They don't even have to like each other.

It's not as if Adam wanted to marry Brandon, but God told him "no, this license, which is totally a thing that exists in 5000BC and not something that some county clerk in Kentucky just made up, only entitles you to marry Eve. Sorry, Eve, but hey, at least he'll probably go shoe shopping with you!"



The county clerk said the court ruling that essentially legalized same-sex marriage in all 50 states had made him and other Christians victims of religious persecution.
“I think that this is a war on Christianity, I think same-sex marriage just simply brought it to the surface, but it is a war on Christianity,” David said.


 Sigh. . . of course you do. Of course you think that.

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He told the radio host that he should be allowed to defy the law because God’s laws “supersede” U.S. laws.
“God’s placed me here so that I can tell people, ‘Hey there is a higher power that we need to answer to, and it’s not people who wear black robes, it’s the one that wears the white robe,’” Davis said.


http://www.powerofcostume.si.edu/images/leiaRobes3.fw.png
Really? Coooooool!
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Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Anchor Babies



Oh, JEB. You're so pathetic. If you're going to use an offensive term like "anchor babies," just fucking own it. Don't try to back-pedal. Mostly because you're even worse at backpedaling than you are at forward-pedaling.

Former Florida Governor and Republican candidate for president Jeb Bush greets supporters at a VFW town hall event in Merrimack, New Hampshire, August 19, 2015.  REUTERS/Dominick Reuter


Have you ever seen a picture of this guy where he doesn't look like he's saying "hunh?'





"My background, my life, the fact that I'm immersed in the immigrant experience, this is ludicrous for the Clinton campaign and others to suggest that somehow I'm using a derogatory term," said Bush, whose wife was born in Mexico and who answered some questions in Spanish, "What I was talking about was the specific case of fraud being committed where there's organized efforts - frankly it's more related to Asian people coming into our country, having children in that organized effort, taking advantage of a noble concept, which is birthright citizenship," he said.


I didn't mean to say anything offensive about the Mexicans. I meant to say something offensive about the Asians!

Of course, JEB wasn't the only one to weigh in on this non-issue:

Immigration experts: Jeb Bush had a point on anchor babies
Politico - 1 hour ago

No. No he doesn't. There is no such thing as an" anchor baby." I can tell you from personal experience that having a baby born on US soil does not provide you with an "anchor" to stay here. My nephew was born in the US. He, like his father, is an American citizen. That did not prevent his mother from being deported. There is NO SUCH THING AS AN ANCHOR BABY.

Not that that's going to stop Republicans from trying to use it as their newest racist bogeyman.

"I'll use the word anchor baby. Excuse me. I'll use the word anchor baby", said Trump.


Republican presidential candidate and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) told Fox News on Thursday that he's "happy to use" the term "anchor babies" to describe children who were born to noncitizen mothers and granted citizenship by birthright.

Oh, sure. Like you mean someone whose parents were here on student visas and had a baby who was granted US citizenship due to his having been born on US soil, even though neither of his parents were Americans or even permanent residents? Like, say, oh, I don't know. . . you?




You know,  outreach to Hispanics really involves more than just saying "we're reaching out to Hispanics."
Same goes for outreach to women.
Fortunately, it doesn't look like Republicans are going to learn either lesson anytime soon.


Monday, August 24, 2015

Wait, Trump supporters are racists?





Donald Trump may have to hold his next rally in Nuremburg.


Trump Supporter Screams ‘White Power’ At Mostly-White Alabama Rally

With Trump’s outlandish claims that Mexicans are criminals, threats against a black civil rights movement, and unapologetically bigoted attitude, it was bound to happen – someone in the audience screamed “White Power” about 7 or 8 times.




The reason I was even aware that Trump was having a rally in Alabama is because the restaurant we were in on Friday had CNN  playing in the background and they were covering this white-shoed clusterhump the way ESPN covers the fucking Superbowl. There was no other story, just breathless "oh my Gawd, Trump's almost here" fanboy masturbation and interviews with random Trump fans occasionally interrupted by promos for the upcoming interview with Trump himself! He couldn't have paid for more fawning coverage.

 But anyway, one of Trump's supporters started chanting "White Power" so I'm sure Trump will be called upon to "refudiate" this guy just as strongly as he did the two volunteer Brown Shirts who beat up a Mexican man in Trump's name.


“It would be a shame. . . . I will say that people who are following me are very passionate. They love this country and they want this country to be great again. They are passionate.”