22 April 2009
The Gaythering Storm
I think the NOM commercial is inspiring more parodies than I've seen since Brokeback Mountain (mostly the Nickelback song). Some are definitely better than others. I think the mockery is a good way to confront the bigotry without causing more polarization.
19 April 2009
18 April 2009
15 April 2009
Texas Press Conference
While I haven't lived in the US for a couple years and will probably never return, I still try to catch the news - sometimes from The Daily Show and sometimes from downloaded podcasts - since our cable (Foxtel) only gives us the Fox News version of US events.
"Do they side with those in Washington who are pursuing this unprecedented expansion of power, or do they believe in individual rights and responsibilities laid down in our foundational documents."I'd have thought that after the last 8 years they would have been able to recognize an unprecedented expansion of power. I'd be much more concerned with Vice Presidential death squads, secret CIA torture camps, "deporting" US citizens, spying on citizens without warrants... and the list goes on.
What I believe Perry is talking about is when the US government funds programs in the states but put conditions on the money. Example - if you get federal funds for highway improvement you can't charge for the use of the roads (tollways). Obviously some states have figured they come out better charging tolls than they would accepting federal funds. They've done similar conditions to encourage setting a 21 year drinking age and speed limits. A handful of primarily republican governors are trying to cry foul because the federal government say if you want this money, you have to spend it in these areas. Some of them are refusing to take a small percentage of the stimulus dollars because they don't want to spend them on things like extending unemployment benefits (cuz unemployed people are just lazy and should get a job).
To me it seems incredibly hypocritical considering how republicans behaved when they were in power - to claim they are concerned with individual rights. It also looks stupid and petty since for all the kerfuffle, their "principled stand" only rejects a tiny percentage of the handouts they're grabbing from the feds.
12 April 2009
Sunday Blasphemy: Happy Zombie Jesus Day
As Peter, from the Family Guy would say: “NOOOO! Silly rabbit, Trix are for kids. Damn Longears, trying to take Easter away from Jesus.”
When we last saw the Easter Bunny he wasn’t looking too good, but now it’s 3 days later… or less than 48 hours if you go by dying after noon on Friday and being mobile again by Sunday morning. Will the children go without their jelly beans? I’ll let you choose:
A. or B.
10 April 2009
Good Friday Blasphemy: Roadkill
We’ll see if he comes back to life on Sunday.
Easter was a fun holiday when I was a kid. The first Easter I remember was when we lived in Nebraska and we woke up to a basket on the foot of our respective beds. There would be a hollow bunny and assorted chocolate eggs and jelly beans. After we got up, mom told us the Easter Bunny hid eggs around the house and we should look for them. Some we found easily enough, toward the end we’d play ‘hot or cold’ – giving a clue that the bunny wasn’t acting independently so we wouldn’t have rotten eggs later on.
5 April 2009
4 April 2009
Waking up to Great News
By unanimous decision, the Iowa Supreme Court has ruled that denying same-sex couple access to civil marriage violates their equal protection under the law.
While that seems like a no-brainer conclusion for anyone with a functioning brain, it still surprised me that Iowa would be one of the first states to take the plunge. I know, they haven’t yet – it will take 3 weeks for the decision to take effect. I’m sure there are plenty of people already moving forward with their wedding plans.
From what I’ve read, Iowa’s process for changing their constitution isn’t as trivial as California’s. Even if there were a push to revoke equal protection, it would take a few years. Trends in the Northeast of the country seem to indicate that when the sky doesn’t fall once same-sex couples start to marry, the resistance to them fades more quickly.
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