Pot legalization has beer distributors in a panic

 General Blatherings
Sep 292010
 

Well what do you know?  Beer distributors in CA are fighting the legalization of marijuana.  Now, why in the world would they do that?  Uh-huh.  Could be because marijuana has not been proven to be addictive?  Because it doesn’t  hook you or create a chemical dependence the way alcohol does?  Yeah, I wonder.  Alcohol makes people depressed, violent, and belligerent.  It destroys people and families.  Pot just makes you lazy, hungry, and stupid.  When was the last time you saw some guy stoned at a baseball game screaming and yelling at the umpire, and picking fights with people around him?  Or stoned and beating the shit out of his wife and kid because he ran out of Doritos?

This isn’t to say that alcohol should be outlawed, because we all know that’s not the answer, but let’s not pretend pot is just as bad or worse, shall we?  Thanks!

The folks who deliver beer and other beverages to liquor stores have joined the fight against legalizing marijuana in California.

On Sept. 7, the California Beer & Beverage Distributors gave $10,000 to a committee opposing Proposition 19, the measure that would change state law to legalize pot and allow it to be taxed and regulated.

Rhonda Stevenson, the California Beer & Beverage Distributors political action committee’s coordinator, was out of the office on Wednesday.  Nobody else from the group was available to comment.

“Unless the beer distributors in California have suddenly developed a philosophical opposition to the use of intoxicating substances, the motivation behind this contribution is clear,” Steve Fox, director of government relations for the Marijuana Policy Project, said in statement. “Plain and simple, the alcohol industry is trying to kill the competition. Their mission is to drive people to drink.”

via Redding Record Searchlight

Et tu, Obama?

 Idiots & Assholes (Politics)
Sep 282010
 

I have never thought of Obama as a messiah figure coming to save us all and transform our country into a shining Utopia, because I’ve learned never to get my hopes up too high when it comes to politicians.  I know plenty of people did think of him that way, though–hope and change ahoy!  But looky here, what’s he up to now?  Why, he wants to give the government unlimited access to our private electronic communications whenever they want  it.  Unfuckingbelievable.  This makes Bush’s wiretapping shenanigans look downright tame! 

WASHINGTON — Federal law enforcement and national security officials are preparing to seek sweeping new regulations for the Internet, arguing that their ability to wiretap criminal and terrorism suspects is “going dark” as people increasingly communicate online instead of by telephone.

Essentially, officials want Congress to require all services that enable communications — including encrypted e-mail transmitters like BlackBerry, social networking Web sites like Facebook and software that allows direct “peer to peer” messaging like Skype — to be technically capable of complying if served with a wiretap order. The mandate would include being able to intercept and unscramble encrypted messages.

The bill, which the Obama administration plans to submit to lawmakers next year, raises fresh questions about how to balance security needs with protecting privacy and fostering innovation. And because security services around the world face the same problem, it could set an example that is copied globally.

via NY Times

Of course, they’re saying it’s to protect us from eeeevil terrorists and all that, but Obama’s well-known for sucking up to the entertainment industry and their absurd copyright demands.  It wouldn’t surprise me in the least if this was somehow connected to that.  Whatever it is, the ends don’t justify the means.

This is the kind of thing that makes me want to retreat back into Apathy Mode and never vote again.  Can we ever produce a President who actually has our best interests at heart?  Is that even possible anymore?

STOP BEING AFRAID

 Idiots & Assholes (Politics)
Sep 262010
 

Our politicians say the terrorists haven’t won, but watching how many of my fellow Americans are acting, sometimes I wonder.  This poster really gets to the heart of the matter, doesn’t it?  It recently appeared on Salon in a tiny thumbnail, so the artist cooked up a larger version to share on Facebook.  It’s brilliant!  (You can download a hi-res version as well.)

This ministry specializes in PROBING.

 Holy Shit! (Religion), Unfuckingbelievable!
Sep 262010
 

While poking around on the Christian search engine SeekFind for cheap kicks, I ran across a site for Probe Ministries.  That’s right:  PROBE.  Say, isn’t excessive probing what gets those priests and pastors in so much trouble with the law?  And look at the logo!  Is that supposed to be a sexual joke or am I just a filthy-minded mongrel?  I simply can’t believe this.

(Wait… Yes I can.)

Let God do that Googlin’ for ya

 Geek Streak, Holy Shit! (Religion)
Sep 262010
 

The other day I got another instant message from God (I think he’s bored) telling me about these new religion-based search engines.  They’re aimed at self-deluded people who somehow can’t get enough censorship in their lives, and these new search engines really do the trick.

Some Jews, Muslims and Christians are abandoning Yahoo and Google and turning to search engines with results that meet their religious standards.

Shea Houdmann runs SeekFind, a Colorado Springs-based Christian search engine that only returns results from websites that are consistent with the Bible. He says SeekFind is designed “to promote what we believe to be biblical truth” and excludes sites that don’t meet that standard.

Houdmann says a search on his site would not turn up pornography. If you search “gay marriage,” you would get results that argue against gay marriage. And if you type in “Democratic Party,” your first search result is a site on Marxism.

But SeekFind isn’t the only search engine carving a niche market among religious Internet users.  There is also Jewogle for Jews and I’mHalal, a Muslim search engine that started in the Netherlands.

via NPR

Narrow your search and your mind at the same time!  Wow, what a bargain!  This makes it much easier for these people to avoid being offended by other opinions and ideas, which is pretty much the way organized religion likes it.  When I asked God about that part during our IM chat, he got a little testy–he hastily typed something about people “exercising their free will to be told what to do” before closing the chat and logging off.

Naturally the first thing I did was try SeekFind myself.  The site boldly displays the Bible quote “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find.”  But what I found was that searching on certain things (non-sexual in nature) won’t turn up any related results at all.  So you can seek all you want, but you may not actually find anything because you’re CENSORING YOURSELF.

Of course, I can respect religious peoples’ wish to avoid porn and stuff like that (especially since it can show up in even the most innocent of searches), but come on–most search engines already have options for filtering that stuff.

Church, meet State.

 Heterosexually Challenged, Holy Shit! (Religion)
Sep 252010
 

Oh, this is so delicious my head might just explode.  A Christian “charity” in Hawaii has been slapped with $20K in taxes after spending a shitload of money in support of banning gay marriage.

Hawaii Family Forum, a Christian charity that helped lead the fight against civil unions, spent so much money politicking last year that it had to pay the IRS $20,741 in taxes for its “excessive lobbying,” according to its latest tax return.  The nonprofit group reported spending $125,695 on lobbying last year, a huge jump over the zero dollars it said it spent on lobbying in 2008.  The change comes after at least two complaints were filed with the Internal Revenue Service about the forum’s extensive political activities.

“This tax form just confirms what we had suspected, and that is that they engaged in excessive lobbying, that they have no charitable programs, that they are 100 percent a lobbying organization,” said Holly Huber, who filed a complaint with the IRS in June on behalf of Hawaii Citizens for the Separation of State and Church. “They should not be a tax-exempt nonprofit charitable organization. They are a political action group.”

via Staradvertiser.com

Zing!!  Now, can we do the same to other “charity” organizations which heavily influence state law?  How about the Mormons and their spending spree which helped defeat Prop 8 in California?  But really, I don’t care what church or religion you bleong to–if you want a hand in the affairs of state, you can goddamn well pay your taxes just like everyone else.

When zealots attack!

 Holy Shit! (Religion)
Sep 242010
 

I just discovered famous atheist Richard Dawkins‘ page of hate mail from religious whackjobs.  Now, I don’t consider myself an atheist (more of an agnostic, really) but I do love reading frothy-mouthed, hysterical rants of so-called Christians.  It’s endless entertainment!  Here’s one of the best so far.  Notice how he accuses Dawkins of a crime (??) and calls him “hateful”:

Just some more atheist propaganda. You atheists take the truth and twist it into a lie. Duh?!? Who is responsible for the flood? The people and their wickedness in their hearts. God since then is never responsible for any violent death. Duh?!? Ever hear of free will. God does not interfere if you want to go out and kill someone. You will pay for your crime one way or another. What goes around comes around. God can intervene with intercessory prayer. And does. You atheist Dawkins arse lickers are just so dumb, clueless and hateful. Know what you are talking about if you want to criticize Christianity. You just sound so ignorant with the things you write.

Duh!?! Brian I came to this site which is nothing more that a hate Christians site. You started the hate. I respond to it.

Atheists are anything but rational people. The most famous atheists are mass murderers. Do you call that rational?

And this gem, which is yet another example of a Christian who can’t argue why he believes in God without quoting from the Bible–as if the very existence of the Bible is proof of God’s existence!  (Hint:  it’s not.)

intellectual dishonesty and Damn Lies!
Hello! I am referring to your book, God delusion! I aleady sent you an email about your book, and you have not cared to answer my questions?? I specifically asked you two questions:
1. Jesus death & Resurrection ! Disciple John as eye-witness account! written in his gospel in around 70AD after Jesus’ death. This event was foretold in the old Jewish Talmud (Old Testament 700 YEARS BACK. any arguments??? DO YOU WANT MORE PROOF???
2. John’s gospel. do you believe it or not????
Go read the Gospel of John and you will realize that 8 authentic miracles are described!
any questions on these///
have a good day. Please reply!

via RichardDawkins.net

NTDM, dammit!

 General Blatherings, Movies
Sep 232010
 

One of the reasons I don’t go out to movies very often anymore is that there are too many distractions.  You’ve got people chomping loudly on snacks, plastic wrappers crackling, children (sometimes clueless adults) yapping, and 20 minutes of brain-melting commercials before the show.  The latest annoyance?  Cellphones.  Or, rather, people who insist on using them during the movie.  The screens light up the entire area around them, drawing peoples’ eyes involuntarily away from the entertainment they paid an outrageous price for.  If you can’t go two hours without checking your goddamn Facebook/Twitter/texts/whatever, why the hell did you pay $10 to come sit in a dark room with dozens of other people who can?  Put your phone away–it’s fucking rude and it makes you look like a royal twat.  Which you are.  (I don’t know if you can tell, but these people really irritate me!)

Anyway, one theater chain in Snottsdale Scottsdale, AZ is putting up posters which make it clear that texting during movies is makes you a Grade-A annoyance.  However, I don’t think posters are quite enough, since people like this will gladly ignore them.  I think the usher should go over and shine a flashlight right in the faces of these self-absorbed pricks so they get the message.

Predictably, one person quoted in the story makes it a free speech issue.  Nice try, but sorry–this isn’t about freedom of speech, it’s about you being a royal twat!

Officials at Harkins Theatres hope to gently steer patrons away from what has become an all-too-common practice. The Scottsdale-based chain is accelerating a campaign against texting during movies.

The campaign includes replacing promotions of coming attractions in poster cases with “No Texting During Movie” signs. The Arrowhead Harkins near Bell Road and Loop 101 had one inside the lobby this week. More are expected the weekend of Sept. 24.

Harkins’ nationwide campaign will run through Christmas.

“We’re asking that moviegoers have respect for other guests around them,” Harkins spokesman Bryan Laurel said.

The chain has heard from “plenty of people” whose moviegoing experience was ruined by texters, he said.

“People feel they aren’t disturbing others but someone getting on Facebook or Twitter, that quick burst of light can be distracting,” Laurel said. “You wouldn’t text in church or in an important meeting, and we’re trying to create some social rules here, too.”

via azcentral.com

Republicans uphold dishonor of gay soldiers

 Heterosexually Challenged, Idiots & Assholes (Politics)
Sep 222010
 

Well, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” remains alive and well, thanks to the troglodytes in the Senate G.O.P.  Oh, and some Democrats voted against the repeal as well.  Motherfuckers.  But is anyone really surprised?  Voting on Big Gay Issues to the benefit of said gays scares the living hell out of people, especially those on the Right.  Like Roger Ebert tweeted the other day, “GOP against middle class, poor, unemployed, Hispanics, blacks, gays, and the uninsured.  Who’s left?”

The effort to lift the military’s ban on openly gay and lesbian service members had a major setback Tuesday when Senate Democrats failed to win the 60 votes needed to advance a defense bill that included conditional repeal of the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell law.

Arkansas Democratic Sens. Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor joined all Republicans in opposing the measure. And neither of Maine’s Republican Sens. Susan Collins or Olympia Snowe, who had been the target of a media campaign by Lady Gaga, supported advancing it.

Gay rights advocates, who said they believed today’s vote was the best opportunity in the foreseeable future to achieve a repeal, expressed disappointment at the vote but hope the Senate might still act after the November elections.

“Time is the enemy here,” said Aubrey Sarvis of the Service Members Legal Defense Network, a gay and lesbian advocacy group. “We now have no choice but to look to the lame duck session where we’ll have a slim shot. The Senate absolutely must schedule a vote in December when cooler heads and common sense are more likely to prevail once midterm elections are behind us.”

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he would push for reconsideration of the legislation later this year.

Oh, and get a load of John McCain’s ridiculous swaggering:

Senate Republicans also accused Democrats of advancing the repeal measure and the DREAM Act amendment, which would provide a path to legal status to young illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. before age 15 and complete college or military service, for purely political reasons.

“This is a cynical ploy to try to galvanize and energize their base,” McCain said ahead of the vote.

via ABC News

Cynical?  Bite me, McCain.  This was not a “cynical vote”, but it’s easy to see why people in this country are cynical about ever ending this ridiculous discrimination against men and women who are willing to DIE for this country.

Spelling error causes pubic outcry

 Fun Stuff
Sep 212010
 

God, I love epic spelling errors.  And to think this sign passed through four different people at the sign company and nobody noticed the missing letter!

SOUTH BEND — If you ever wondered how much difference just one letter can make when it comes to a message, ask the thousands of people who drove by a digital billboard near the intersection of Ironwood and State Road 23 between Thursday and Monday morning.

The ad urged people to go to the “southbendon.com” website for a look at the “15 best things about our pubic schools.”   Thats right, the billboard said “pubic” instead of “public” schools.   The letter “L” had been left out of the word public.

Lee MacMillan of South Bend said his wife spotted the error on Saturday while sitting in traffic. “  She got home and said, ‘I cant believe it said what I think it said,’” MacMillan recalls.”  So we were out driving around yesterday and sure enough, it had that typo in it.  So we took a picture and the rest is history, as they say,” MacMillan adds.

via South Bend Tribune

This reminds me of a funny thing that happened during my high school days.  A local supermarket called Public Market lost its “L”, and being the juvenile-minded person I was (am), I ran home and got my camera as soon as I saw it.  Thus, I have the only existing photo of the Pubic Market of Winslow, AZ!  (It’s black-and-white because I was taking some photos for the yearbook and that’s the kind of film we used.)

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