Daniel, say it ain’t so

Posted on July 17, 2012 by Michael

One of the things I like about Daniel Tosh, including his show Tosh.O, is its unapologetic nature. He’s up there telling jokes that, if sincere, would be just horrible. But, of course, they aren’t sincere. If they were, they wouldn’t be jokes and he wouldn’t be a comedian. Moreover, he would be a terribly human being who hates just about everyone who isn’t Daniel Tosh.

Unfortunately, Tosh has actually apologized for jokes he told during a recent routine:

So Tosh then starts making some very generalizing, declarative statements about rape jokes always being funny, how can a rape joke not be funny, rape is hilarious, etc. I don’t know why he was so repetitive about it but I felt provoked because I, for one, DON’T find them funny and never have. So I didnt appreciate Daniel Tosh (or anyone!) telling me I should find them funny. So I yelled out, “Actually, rape jokes are never funny!”…

After I called out to him, Tosh paused for a moment. Then, he says, “Wouldn’t it be funny if that girl got raped by like, 5 guys right now? Like right now? What if a bunch of guys just raped her…”

You know why he made those jokes? And why he said a gang-bang style rape would be hilarious? Because actual rape is awful. The vast majority of Daniel Tosh’s comedy is contrast. That is where the humor is, not in the actual content.

And you know what else isn’t that great? Falling down. It hurts. Yet millions watch America’s Funniest Home Videos. Or how about sports bloopers? They cause people to lose and no one likes that. Yet, surprise, shows like that are a dime a dozen. These things are not the same as rape or murder or any other violent crime, but they aren’t positive. So why do we laugh? Contrast. We don’t expect these things to happen at any specific time, so when they do, they contradict our expectations.

I don’t care to defend the specific joke Tosh made – I don’t want a bunch of feminists over here again – but I do want to defend the nature of his joke. He said something that was so absurd, only an idiot would take it seriously. That’s a good portion of his routine. And I like that style. Because it’s funny.

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Where were Mitt’s taxes born?

Posted on July 16, 2012 by Michael

Everyone seems to want Mitt Romney to release his tax returns from his days at Bain. This makes sense since Romney has staked a good portion of his candidacy on his record as a businessman. He doesn’t get to say he was good at something and that that something is relevant while simultaneously claiming that the details of that something don’t matter. He should just release everything.

Of course, I hope he doesn’t.

I have no desire to see Mitt Romney win anything and this is a great issue to hurt him. It’s his birth certificate. The only difference is that the stuff his opponents are saying about him is true.

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Quick! Lower taxes!

Posted on July 12, 2012 by Michael

We must!

In 1992, the 400th richest person in America made $24 million.

In 2007, the 400th richest person in America made $138 million (or $87 million, inflation-adjusted).

As the United States has clearly demonstrated, lower taxes for the wealthy result in nothing but jobs.

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Liars. Liars everywhere.

Posted on July 5, 2012 by Michael

To my count, I have come across four major liars in my blogging career. First up is Jack Hudson. He has the be the worst, but he also may be the dumbest. I’m not sure which part of his personality I dislike more. The next is Christopher Maloney. His lies were in the details of his writings and, to his credit, I suspect some of them were just a result of his lack of understanding of how the Internet works. Then we have Michael Hartwell. He’s a recent addition and generally isn’t guilty of being dishonest, but that doesn’t mean he’s really any better. And finally, we have braggart Roxeanne. She has mostly confined herself to misunderstanding and misrepresenting science, (did you know that because condom usage needs to improve even more in order to better combat infection rates, that means condoms are ineffective and we should advocate abstinence-only programs? Crazy, I know), but now she has ventured into plainly liar territory:

There is a reason why children are nine times as likely to be abused by their mother’s boyfriends or new husbands than by their own fathers, and why biological fathers are an impediment to abuse of children. Predators seek out the vulnerable.

Yet California, land of moonbats, decided to make it easier for non-biological “fathers” to access children. The Golden State is considering letting more than two adults have “parent” rights to a child. Now, any normal person knows that this is going to result in a lot of litigation and some serious trauma for the kid (at best) and sexual abuse (at worst), but the Left is more concerned with eliminating traditional family structures than with advancing the well-being of children. What this state has just told paedophiles is that it’s open season on little kids, and if the mother gets creeped out, said paedophile can sue to have visitation with her child. After all, the former boyfriend/ex-stepdad had a “bond” with that lovely young teen, and such a “bond” should be respected by our legal system.

Well. Isn’t that interesting. It’s like she isn’t even trying to spin her lies in a way that is even remotely plausible. Here is the actual purpose of the law:

[Representative Mark] Leno told ABCNews.com that he recognized a “problem” in the legal system in 2011 when an appellate court placed a girl in foster care when her legally married parents — two lesbians — could not care for her.

The child was taken into state custody when one of her mothers was jailed and the nonbiological mother was hospitalized.

The court did not have the authority to appoint the girl’s biological father, with whom she had a relationship, as a legal parent. That third parent could have “benefitted the well-being of the child,” said Leno.

In other words, two people can have a child, marry separate people at some point, and all four individuals can be given custodial rights. And unlike Roxeanne suggests/lies, all the parents would have to agree before anything could move forward. There is no way some ex-boyfriend or ex-girlfriend couldn’t sue for custody as a result of this law.

This bill would obviously help in same-sex situations, but I think it would more commonly be applied in cases of heterosexual divorce. That’s just basic statistics. (And even if that wasn’t the case, who cares? Gay couples form families, too.) Furthermore, this would do nothing to benefit pedophiles. That argument is patently absurd and hardly deserves a response. Roxeanne isn’t the shiniest penny in the fountain, but I think she’s just barely smart enough to know she was lying.

This is a good law. Plenty of children are in situations where there are three or four parents involved. At certain times, this can cause undue problems as a result of legal restrictions. That is, a clear authority figure with the child’s interest at heart – a biological parent’s spouse, for example – may be denied from caring for the child, such as we see from the article. That isn’t fair to anyone involved and is more a snafu in the law than anything. The only reason to oppose this is stubborn denial of reality.

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Affordable Care Act: Romney campaign makes a decision

Posted on July 2, 2012 by Michael

Yesterday I wrote about the lack of choice Republicans were (and will continue) to make regarding how they describe the Supreme Court ruling on the individual mandate from the healthcare bill. They want to call it both a tax and a fine, but those are not the same thing – nor, more importantly, do they have the same ideological basis. If they call it a tax, okay. That fits their (false) rhetoric that President Obama has done anything to raise taxes. But if they call it a fine, that is because they believe it is anti-liberty to force people to buy something. The Romney campaign sees this and has made a choice:

A senior adviser to Mitt Romney appeared to undercut a central argument Republicans hope to use between now and the November election against President Obama — that although his signature health care reform law may be constitutional, it amounts to a tax.

In an appearance on MSNBC’s “Daily Rundown,” Romney strategist Eric Fehrnstrom was asked whether Romney agreed with last week’s Supreme Court ruling.

“The governor believes that what we put in place in Massachusetts was a penalty and he disagrees with the court’s ruling that the mandate was a tax,” Fehrnstrom said.

When pressed by host Chuck Todd about whether Romney supported calling the financial burden placed on Americans who choose not to buy health care “a penalty or a fee or a fine” rather than a tax, Fehrnstrom replied: “That’s correct.”

It’s interesting that they want to call Romneycare a penalty – it undermines his argument that he’s all about liberty and freedom and guns and tits – but it’s a clear choice (at least for now – I mean, this is Romney). Now we just have to see if other Republicans will follow suit.

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Is it a tax or a fine? You can’t have it both ways, Republicans.

Posted on July 1, 2012 by Michael

The Republican outrage to the Affordable Care Act prior to the Supreme Court ruling was primarily premised in the idea that it was a fine. That is, Republicans argued that by being fined for not having healthcare, they were being coerced into something. And, of course, that is inherently anti-liberty. That was the issue. Now, however, the Court has called the act a tax. Naturally, Republicans are pounding that phrase into the ground. It makes sense since President Obama hasn’t raised taxes, despite that being all we’ve heard for nearly four years. (In fact, he has lowered them.) They finally have the ammunition they want. (Except that the tax increases primarily go towards insurance companies, the wealthy, and certain other groups. The middle class isn’t terribly affected, and even for those that are, they only face a 1% increase.)

But this raises a serious problem. If this is a tax, then it cannot also be a fine. And if it isn’t a fine, it is not an attack on anyone’s liberty. (Unless someone is ready to argue that all taxes are anti-liberty, I suppose.) The Republicans need to make a choice here: They can call this a tax; They can call it a fine; They cannot call it both. Of course, I know they will not make that choice. They will continue using both lines of rhetoric – because honesty is hard, amirite? – but logically speaking, their hands are tied one way or the other.

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Is there any doubt Republicans want to steal elections?

Posted on May 31, 2012 by Michael

I’ve bounced back and forth on the issue of voter registration and fraud. On the one hand, it’s pretty clear what each side of the political aisle is thinking: Democrats believe that voter registration efforts primarily cull voters who will vote for their party whereas Republicans, well, I suppose they see the same facts (for once). Poorer people and minorities tend to vote for the party of actual liberty and they also benefit the most from registration efforts, so that’s no good for the GOP. As a result, kicking up bullshit about voter fraud (something which almost never happens) has been the excuse for Republican actions, but this is all just politics. But on the other hand, just as voter fraud is almost meaningless to any election, it can be argued that voter registration restrictions do very little either way. Most people who want to vote are still able to do so. However, as I said, I’ve jumped back and forth on the issue. One primary reason for this is that I have seen studies which show a tremendous number of potentially disenfranchised voters if certain laws are implemented. Another reason, however, is the overt efforts of dirtbag Republicans to prevent fair voting:

A U.S. judge on Thursday declared a Florida election law “harsh and impractical” for requiring groups conducting voter registration drives to turn in registration forms within 48 hours of collecting them, and blocked enforcement of the deadline….

The law imposed a $1,000-a-day fine on groups that fail to give election authorities voter registration forms filled out by Floridians within the 48-hour deadline…

The judge blocked a requirement that voter registration groups notify the state within 10 days if any volunteer or employee stops working for the organization.

[Judge Robert] Hinkle said the law and state regulations implementing it “impose burdensome record-keeping and reporting requirements that serve little if any purpose, thus rendering them unconstitutional.”

Under federal law, organizations have the right to collect and mail in voter registration forms, but the “harsh and impractical 48-hour deadline” effectively prohibited them from using the mail, the judge said in his ruling.

I have a hard time believing that any reasonable person can say – with a straight face – that the banned provisions of this law weren’t intended to make voter registration more difficult. At no point was there any intention here to curb voter fraud or to better secure the system. The goal was bald and overt: Disenfranchise voters who will likely benefit the Democrats more than the Republicans.

I think this is the point where I’ve stopped bouncing on the issue. I do think there is a good chance people will be disenfranchised without any positive impact on the miniscule voter fraud that occurs, but even if that wasn’t the case, I would still be against all these horseshit laws. The intention here is malicious and damnable. Rick Scott and his brethren can go fuck themselves.

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From the desk of Frank Coniff

Posted on May 18, 2012 by Michael

Also known as TV’s Frank:

Arizona keeping Obama off state ballot until he presents documentation proving that he won’t still be black in November.

~Frank Coniff

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Keep the government out of my wallet and in my pants, inconsistent Republicans say

Posted on May 1, 2012 by Michael

The past year and a half has really been entertaining. The far right-wing of the Republican party, the Teabaggers, got everyone all up in a tizzy and found themselves influencing the 2010 elections, as if they knew anything about any issue. They ousted a lot of Democrats by campaigning on no more than austerity – which has worked out just so well for Europe – but once they got in office, they switched gears and started passing laws that told women they were too stupid to know what abortion entailed, which I presume was also their basis for repealing laws which said women deserve equal pay for equal work as compared to men. Apparently the government has no place in the wallets of Teabaggers – unless we’re talking about Medicare and Social Security – but it should have everything to do with the uterus of a woman. But worry not! The GOP is turning over a new leaf. That’s right. Now they’re going after the genitals of boys and girls – particularly before they even get stimulated:

[Tennessee] legislation banning teachers from promoting or condoning “gateway sexual activity” is headed to the governor’s desk after approval by the state House of Representatives on Friday.

The bill, which passed the full Senate earlier this month, would require all state sexual education classes to “exclusively and emphatically” promote abstinence while banning teachers from promoting any form of “gateway sexual activity.” The latter term, which has garnered national media attention and been lampooned by comedian Stephen Colbert, is not specifically defined in the bill.

The vote was 68-23, with all but one Republican for it.

In other news, Republicans in 14 states have passed bills which mandate books be carried by boys at all times and that the temperature in school building is to never dip below 72. GOP leaders said boys need to carry the books, especially around the age of 11, because time has proven that to be one of the most effective ways of covering up a poorly-timed erection. As for the temperature, one house member said, “We don’t want girls getting cold and pointing their thingies at the boys. Those books are there for emergencies, not leisure.”

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High school student dresses up as Jesus for “Fictional Character Day”

Posted on April 24, 2012 by Michael

I don’t know as I would have done this in high school, but I certainly would seize such an opportunity now:

A couple of months ago, Summit High School in Spring Hill, Tennessee held a “Fictional Character Day” in which students could come to school dressed as their favorite fictional character. Like the Mad Hatter. Or Darth Vader. Or SpongeBob SquarePants.

Jeff Shott came dressed as Jesus.

Before class even started that day, Shott was asked by the principal and other staffers to remove his costume. It was inappropriate, they said.

That’s sort of the default excuse the courts have given to schools, isn’t it? You want to do something remotely controversial? Nah. Sit down and shut up so you don’t disrupt anything. Or, in other words:

Here is part of what Jeff had to say about this in his own words:

I’d arrived at school this Monday before 8:15 a.m. and waited in the cafeteria until classes started, eating breakfast with friends and adding finishing touches to my Jesus costume.

The head principal, Dr. Farmer, soon came up and asked me to come to his office. The assistant principal, Ms. Lamb, and Officer Pewit, school resource officer, were waiting outside the cafeteria. Dr. Farmer asked me whom I was portraying. I told him that I was Jesus Christ. He said he had been hoping my answer would have been Zeus (or some other variation of a mythological deity).

Even though I’m typically very openly atheistic and have no problem discussing my views, I was a little distraught that all three school authority figures were addressing me at once. Dr. Farmer claimed I couldn’t have things both ways — I couldn’t complain about teachers talking about Jesus and also dress up as Jesus on Fictional Character Day.

Apparently one of Jeff’s “science teachers” is a creationist and had expressed as much, undermining the theory and fact of evolution with typical creationist tripe. Now it looks like the administration at Jeff’s school understands the constitution about as well as its teachers understand science. The fact is, whether or not dressing as Jesus is allowed on school grounds, Jeff’s teacher was promoting Christian creationism in the classroom, something which has long been established as illegal. It doesn’t matter if Jeff has a problem with that and he wants to wear a funny costume. Indeed, what a teacher tells her students and what a student wears as a costume are independent situations.

Anyway, Jeff has been given a $1,000 scholarship from the Freedom From Religion Foundation because of all this, so the end result isn’t so awful. And even better? I guarantee more students have been talking about him at school than ever would have if he wore his costume for the whole day.

Filed under: Atheism/Humanism, Creationism, Politics and Social | Tagged: , , , , , | 3 Comments »

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