Chris Kluwe: "Coach made anti-gay remarks"

NFL punter Chris Kluwe reports that a coach his former team, the Minnesota Vikings, made openly gay-hating and confrontational remarks directed at Kluwe.  Kluwe is known for his advocacy of equal rights for LGBTQ people.

Zygi Wilf (owner of the Minnesota Vikings) may have publicly supported Kluwe, but he keeps hiring coaches who don't share that view.  Then again, despite threats in the media to get rid of players involved in the 2005 "love boat" scandal (players had sex with women in front of unwilling witnesses), Wilf did little to punish them.

http://deadspin.com/i-was-an-nfl-player-until-i-was-fired-by-two-cowards-an-1493208214

Incineration without incarceration

Just what exactly is wrong with India's society that rape is an everyday event by the dozens or even hundreds?  And now this one.

On October 26, 2013, a sixteen girl was raped.  She went to the police to file a report.

On the way home, she was raped a second time.  Whether the attackers were the same or different is unknown.

Then on December 23, 2013, she was attacked again, burnt alive by two people connected to the rapists (either friends or family).

The worst thing about censorship is **********

The UK government is trying to institute a "policy" of blocking internet content that would make the Chinese dictatorship proud.  As with "filtering software" of the 1990s, the UK government's censorship is not about blocking "obscenity", it is about blocking content that differs from the governing party's religious and political views.  Allowing sites that promote hate while censoring sites that promote human rights is not the act of a free and democratic state, it is the act of a group of thugs.

Male privilege sucks: Maasai women who refuse FGM are refused marriage

In a disgusting display of arrogance, males in the Maasai tribe in Tanzania are refusing to marry women who have refused to subject themselves to the horrors of Female Genital Mutilation.

No, FGM is not "clean".  The mutilation is actually less hygenic than women's natural genitalia.

No, it is not a "minor issue".  The violent cutting of highly sensitive skin leaves women with a lifetime of pain and discomfort, and most of the time it is done to girls too young to consent.

No, it is not "cultural" or "religious", it is an act of violence.  The fiction of religion does not trump the reality of nature.

No, male genital mutilation is not comparable.  The only way it could be compared is if the head of the penis were cut off with an axe, leaving only the shaft.  And even then, it's still not an apt comparison.

Hypocrisy, thy name is America, part 1: CIA spies are exempt from laws

When countries spy on the US - from WITHIN the US - you'll Americans get into a tizzy and whine about "treason", despite the fact that only citizens can be traitors.  Foreigners who do it are spies, effectively engaging in acts of war.

So why is it when Americans spy on other countries, commit crimes within other countries on the US's behalf, they're "not criminals" and should be returned to the US?  Then again, the US is the country which whined about the Lockerbie bombers while protecting Orlando Bosch, a CIA stooge who bombed a Cuban airliner, killing 75 civilians.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/12/robert-levinson-iran-missing-cia-secret

American missing in Iran since 2007 was working for the CIA

Why I don't watch football, part 7: “This was an investigation of a rape victim”

Patricia Carroll is the lawyer of a young woman who was raped in Florida. She said, “This was an investigation of a rape victim, not an investigation of a rape suspect."

She says the Tallahassee Police Department and Florida state attorney Willie Meggs were more interested in clearing Jameis Winston of the rape charge than of finding out if he did it despite the evidence they have. Given the history of sports figures with rape accusations (e.g. Roethlisberger) and a failure to prosecute, I have no reason to doubt her.

But hey, Heisman trophies and the possibility of winning a "national championship" are so much more important than ensuring justice is carried out. Lucky for him he plays for Florida State (13-0) playing in the BCS title game and not Florida Atlantic (6-6) playing tiddly winks. Or are all football players exempt from prosecution in Florida?

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/accuser-s-attorney-says-authorites-failed-to-properly-investigate-jameis-winston-case-185538536.html

Defining stupidity

I watched a documentary on stupidity.  It posed the question of "What is stupidity?" but never defined it, probably because it's too nebulous to define.

The best definition I can think of is this:

stupidity (n.)

1. To act in contradiction to reality, facts, and/or one's own interests

2. To deny and ignore reality and facts in pursuit of one's desires or ambitions

It's not a perfect catch-all, but it fairly well describes things most educated would call stupid:

• "daredevils" and other physically dangerous acts
• religion, creationism, climate change denial, political hypocrisy
• obsession and fanaticism (music, movies, sports, etc.)

Buy Nothing Day is here at last

Novermber 29th 2013 is Buy Nothing Day in North America.

Novermber 30th 2013 is International  Buy Nothing Day.

https://www.adbusters.org/campaigns/bnd

http://www.buynothingday.co.uk/

http://www.ecoplan.org/ibnd/

Do your part by not doing what corporations want.

Buy Nothing Day isn't just anti-corporatism, it's pro-environment.  There is too much waste, too much consumerism, too much "disposable" junk.

Stop buying things that you throw away.  Buy better quality stuff, and use it until it wears out.  My last cell phone was four years old before it broke from everyday use, long after it was "outdated" in terms of features.  ("Outdated"?  No, I could still make phone calls and still receive calls.  It worked.)  And I still use the laptop computer I bought in 2006 because it works too.  I use it for recording TV shows.

The War On Cyclists and Pedestrians: Father arrested for walking to his kids' school

How ludicrous has the US become where parents are NOT allowed to walk to schools and pick up their children?  Or that parents are REQUIRED to have cars in order to do so?

"Just doing his job" is second only to "disorderly conduct" on the list of make-it-up-as-you-go-along police work.  It's not about "laws", it's about demonstrating and exerting authority (read: bullying the populace).

Libertarian clowns are trying to get mileage out of this story, but the real issues are parents having the right to see their own children at any time, and that cars are prioritized over pedestrians.

http://www.wate.com/story/24005228/cumberland-county-parent-releases-video-of-his-arrest-by-a-school-resource-officer

Cumberland County parent outraged by his arrest

A Cumberland County father didn't want to wait in a long line of traffic to pick his kids up from school. That led to a series of encounters last week at South Cumberland Elementary, and now the dad's facing charges.

Amanda Berry is alive, and Sylvia Browne is dead

People say when someone dies, you should only say good things about them.

Sylvia Browne is dead.  Good.

Browne's track record of "prediction" was so bad that random dice rolls produced better results.

http://fox8.com/2013/11/20/tmz-sylvia-browne-dead-at-77/

There are thousands of other frauds willing to cheat the uneducated out of their money, but at least Browne won't be doing it anymore.

Harassment of employees is a crime, unless you're doing it for "god"

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20131113/NEWS01/311130051/Judge-Owner-can-t-lecture-employees-on-religion

Judge: Owner can't lecture employees on religion

A southwest Iowa grocery store owner who lectured an employee on her religious beliefs must pay her unemployment benefits, a state judge has ruled.

The case centered on a question that often divides civil libertarians and people of faith: Do business owners have the right to advocate for their religious beliefs in discussions with employees?

Of course not.  Religious harassment and come-ons are as offensive as sexual harassment and sexual come-ons.  They're both unwelcome and both criminal.

The dealer has changed the packaging of his addictive drug

Changing the packaging doesn't change the fact that the drug is addictive, or that the dealer is trying to keep the profits coming in.

Arizona prisons are turning into death camps

Arizona prisons are turning into death camps, and like death camps elsewhere, many of the public think those inside "deserve it" and have no empathy for them.

http://www.salon.com/2013/11/14/arizona_horror_show_after_illegal_mistreatment_inmates_in_grave_danger/

Arizona prison horror: “Critically ill” inmates told to “pray” for healing

A new report alleges illegal and deadly mistreatment of Arizona inmates whose medical care the state contracted out to the country’s largest private prison health care provider.

Why I don't watch football, part 6: Thuggish behaviour by players and coaches

Jameis Winston, quarterback for the Florida State Seminoles professional football team (let's not pretend otherwise) is under suspicion for sexual assault allegedly committed a year ago.  It does not surprise to hear about such things when so much money is on the line (e.g. merchandise, TV rights, bowl games, et al).  Given that FSU is contending for the fictional "national championship", you can be certain that every effort will be made to keep Winston out of jail until after the championship game or bowl game which FSU goes to.  He should enjoy his freedom while it lasts.

"Looks to me a little bit like lust"

The only lust I see is Gordon Klingenschmitt's lust for hate and violence.   Or does Klingenschmitt secretly have a thing for babies?

http://www.lgbtqnation.com/2013/11/klingenschmitt-photo-of-gay-couple-with-baby-looks-to-me-a-little-bit-like-lust/

How could anyone who is well adjusted read sexual desire into the faces of a pair of loving fathers?

http://www.stonewall.org.uk/images/cm_images/gary-and-child-large.jpg

Why I don't watch football, part 5: "Keep the redskins white"

I don't see any ethical difference between Daniel Snyder's refusal to drop the name "redskins" and a picture from 1961 of Ku Klux Klan members protesting for the team to continue having only white players.

http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/11/nazis-desegregating-washington-nfl-football-team

Mother Jones: Richard Cohen's 10 Worst Moments, Counted Down

You have to wonder where someone's head is - down the rabbit hole perhaps (or somewhere else dark, wet and dirty) - to think such things.

http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/11/richard-cohen-just-the-worst

No matter which one you read first, the others are worse.

Why I don't watch football, part 4: Another dead kid

With each passing day and each new story, I regret ever having been a fan of the game.  Football should be banned, along with boxing, "ultimate fighting", "mixed martial arts" and other potentially lethal activities.

http://www.azcentral.com/12news/free/20131111northern-arizona-high-school-football-player-critical.html

A high school football player died Monday night at a Phoenix hospital, days after he suffered a blow to the head during a game.

Sacrifice to the fallacy that war can end

The enscription on the gravestone of 2nd Lieutenant Arthur Conway Young, who died on August 16, 1917, reads thus:

"Sacrifice to the fallacy that war can end."


The corpse worship that goes on every November 11th is not a call to end war, it is a call for blind support of war. And those who call for it the most are often the profiteers of war. In England, BAE (the biggest supplier of military equipment in the country) is the principal "sponsor" of the British Legion.

Good riddance to bad rubbish...I mean, bad business practices

Blockbuster Video, the lackluster rental company, is finally and permanently closing its doors.  It won't be missed.

http://business.time.com/2013/11/09/the-end-of-an-era-blockbuster-ceases-rentals-in-advance-of-closing/

The company may have been a giant, but became one at the expense of other companies and of consumers.  Its poorly written and inconsistent policies, its excessive late fees and its sheer arrogance made it easy for a competing business like Netflix to arise.  On top of that lackluster...I mean, Blockbuster failed to see the writing on the wall of their brick-and-mortar business.  Digital distribution was the future, and they failed to see it until five years too late.  I certainly won't miss them.  If I rented their movies more than five times during their existence, I would be surprised.

I preferred the mom-and-pop rental shops, and not just because they were locally owned.  They tended to be reasonable and responsive to problems, and not treat human beings as an inconvenient part of doing business.