Archive for the ‘Splenetics’ Category
Witchcraft in Georgia
From the Gwinnett [County, GA] Daily Post and the continuing saga of the woman who filed the complaint to have the Harry Potter books removed from school libraries because they promote witchcraft, come these tidbits*: “I want to protect children from evil, not fill their minds with it,” Mallory said. “The ‘Harry Potter’ books teach […]
In: All, Plus Ca Change..., Splenetics
Becoming the Worst President?
Some time back, I happened to write* that, in my opinion, it is the current president's destiny to be The Worst President Ever. I would claim extraordinary prescience, except that it's such a bloomin' obvious prediction. However, I'm please to discover# that Rolling Stone magazine has jumped on board with "The Worst President in History? […]
Love the Warrior, Hate the War
Representative John Murtha quotes one of my favorites: As President Theodore Roosevelt said, "To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public." [Rep. John Murtha, "It's Not […]
Ol'-Time Religion
Finally, the new Pope sets about reminding us of all those things we didn't like about the Catholic Church but hadn't thought much about for awhile: THE Pope will deliver a blistering attack on the “satanic” mores of modern society today, warning against an “inane apologia of evil” that is in danger of destroying humanity. […]
Fast-Growing Leeches
Why is it that so many continue to believe the propaganda of the oil companies, the drug companies, and the insurance companies when 1) they tell us that times are hard and they can barely make any profit; and 2) they post incredible profits and are the fastest growing industries? BusinessWeek in a recent cover […]
Today's Word: Vaffanculo
As Radical Russ reminds us, with a lovely photo-montage featuring the images of Republican leaders, the Republicans are the Party of Fuck You ("PoFY"?), or — to use our new vocabularly word, taught to us by that black-robed man with gravitas: Justice Scalia — the Vaffanculo Party. The name itself is redolent for its constant […]
New Hampshire Still Sane
Pockets of sanity still exist in the midst of fundamentalist hysteria: CONCORD, N.H. –The New Hampshire House voted overwhelmingly Tuesday against a proposed amendment to the state constitution to ban gay marriage. The late afternoon vote was 207-125. [Associated Press, "House votes down proposed amendment to ban gay marriage", Boston Globe, 21 March 2006.]
Feeling Green
Ahh, St. Patrick's Day, when everyone is Irish — except, of coure, gay people. Fortunately, the Hibernians have kept the annual St. Pat's Day Parade in New York City pure and safe for straight-only Irish people. Phew. Could have been trouble, too, since, as the parade chairman pointed out, gays are just as dangerous as […]
Noir Politics
It's been awhile* since I've managed to read Deb Price's column in the Detroit News; shame on me. This latest piece, "Dems treat gays to 'Throwback Mountain' " (Detroit News, 13 March 2006) is a useful reminder of one of those things we know but sometimes forget in the heat of the political campaigns: that […]
In: All, Plus Ca Change..., Splenetics
Bush Cries Wolf!
Today we're hearing the very, very exciting news from the Bush League that the War On Terror is working.* We were concerned there for awhile. It seems that they just discovered that we thwarted — no doubt by using illegal surveillance techniques — a horrible, 9/11-style attack on a tall building in LA whose correct […]
In: All, Plus Ca Change..., Splenetics
Loose Lips Are Often Funny
There were amusing quotations that have come from the testimony of Attorney General Gonzales before a congressional committee about Bush's self-admittedly unwarranted and illegal surveillance of US citizens. "Our enemy is listening, and I cannot help but wonder if they aren't shaking their heads in amazement at the thought that anyone would imperil such a […]
In: All, Laughing Matters, Splenetics
The State of the President
Oh dear — I haven't been paying attention to the rules. According to Susie Bright When you publish a blog, you are obligated to write a scathing opinion the day after the President makes a State of Union speech. You have to prove you stayed awake— although it's hardly likely. I didn't even watch it. […]
Homo Irony
You may remember from not long ago the story about the arrest in Oklahoma of one "Reverend" Lonnie Latham, a fundamentalist, homophobic minister who was picked up on soliciting charges after he asked an undercover cop back to his place for oral sex. He claimed he just wanted to give "pastoral comfort" to conflicted homosexuals. […]
All In Perspective
From a report about Exxon's latest record earnings*, this extraordinary statement For the full year, net income surged to $5.71 per share from $3.89 per share in 2004. Annual revenue grew to $371 billion from $298.04 billion. To put that into perspective, Exxon's revenue for the year exceeded Saudi Arabia's estimated 2005 gross domestic product […]
In: All, It's Only Rocket Science, Splenetics
Washington State on Gay Rights
We got the news last Friday that the State of Washington finally passed some gay-rights legislation that has been pending since forever. This is the same bill that lost last year by one vote, which loss was thought to be spurred by Microsoft's taking its support away from the bill — and that action was […]
In: All, Plus Ca Change..., Splenetics
Who Owns What in America
Nancy Pelosi, current Democratic leader of the House of Representatives, published an op-ed this weekend in The Washington Post, calling for wider sharing of classified information between the White House and Congress as a means to better oversight by the Congress of intelligence-gathering activities understaken by the White House. This, of course, in light of […]
In: All, Plus Ca Change..., Splenetics
The Religious Lifestyle
Via Misty at Shakespeare's Sister, I've read the interesting news that the University of California is denying credit for some courses taught at a "Christian" High School. Skipping entirely over whatever merits there may be to the suit brought by the high school — for my money they're a bunch of cry-baby fundamentalists — I […]
Indescribable Gay Sex
Pam at Pam's House Blend ("Out Mag: "Is Alabama really the worst place to be a gay person in Bush's America?") quoted Out Magazine quoting former-judge Roy Moore, the Ten-Commandment-Lover of Alabama: Alabama’s highest judicial officer declared homosexuality “abhorrent, immoral, detestable, a crime against nature.” Gay sex, he wrote, is “an act so heinous that […]
Nixon-Like Quagmires
I am rather enjoying reading accounts of the unravelling of the Bush Felonious Wiretapping Scandal, and find myself wondering, of the following, which is the more invidious comparison to become current for the administration: Calling the elective war in Iraq "another Vietnam quagmire"; or Callig Bush's escapades "Nixon-like"? Either would seem to me to be […]
Vote "No" on 2 in TX
Welp, those Texans are out to show how much they dislike gay people again with a proposition on their fall ballot to reserve "marriage" for mixed couples, and the "no" people and the "yes" people are setting out to see who can spend the most on emotionally appealing television commercials. I particularly liked this moment […]