Lizard Queen, you probably don’t want to read this February 20, 2007
Posted by Evil Bender in Drugs, News and politics, constiutional issues.add a comment
It’s no secret that police SWAT teams do some fascist shit while protecting us from the scurge of The Marijuana, including killing kids and destroying the property of innocent people. And that’s just for starters. But what might actually cause people to wake up about this is that they regularly kill dogs when invading houses, even if the dogs are no threat.
As PZ Myers points out, they’re trained to do so.
And I suspect they might–in many people’s minds–be forgiven for all this, if they were getting results. If trafficking, addiction and arrests were down, maybe people would be inclined to tolerate cruelty and violations of their rights (not this writer, but no doubt some would trade freedom for success). But what really stuns me is that people continue to support this destructive, pointless, and evil “war on drugs,” a war that has cost trillions and only done harm.
I’m still waiting for the reasonable argument for continuing this stupid war instead of doing the sane thing. We could start by legalizing pot, if for no other reason than it would lend public servants and health care professionals more credibility when trying to stop the spread of those drugs which are really dangerous.
Bigotry: because you’re really looking out for them February 19, 2007
Posted by Evil Bender in Israel, Middle East, News and politics, bigotry, wingnuts.2 comments
It’s not uncommon for bigots to try to justify their oppression of others by claiming it’s really just a kindly way of taking care of those weaklings who need it. For example, take the justification of ultra-Conservative Jews bullying and assaulting women to force them to dress “appropriately” and move to the back of buses.
Israeli educator and writer Shira Leibowitz-Schmidt, of the Haredi College for Women, says the gender segregation is a natural attempt by the ultra Orthodox to combat what they see as secular Israel’s growing permissiveness and the eroticization of public spaces.
“Today in Israel, women go around sometimes as if they’re at the beach,” she said. “It’s really very undignified and it’s erotically stimulating and it’s also just distracting. And that’s a form of coercion — I call that non-religious coercion. I call that coercion of eroticism. That’s a much more serious problem: the creeping degradation of the public square.”
Take a moment to think about that: those who are attacking women who don’t do as they demand are defenders of righteousness, while those who oppose such attempts to force one’s religious bigotry on others are really anti-freedom.
It’s the same no matter which religion’s fundies are at it: they will justify their theocratic actions by claiming that a) God’s with them and b) they’re really looking out for other people, doing them a favor.
In a completely unrelated matter, they should know that the Flying Spaghetti Monster particularly likes Sausage dishes (as Sausage is the meat corollary to string pasta) and so in order to keep from angering Him I must force them to eat Pork products on their buses every day in a desperate attempt to save their souls.
Of course I’d never do this: I don’t believe I have the right to force other people to live by my beliefs. Hmmm.
[UPDATE: Fixed a typo.]
Memo to McCain, Romney et al. February 19, 2007
Posted by Evil Bender in News and politics, wingnuts.add a comment
All of you Republicans (McCain and Romney, I’m looking at you) who know your wingnut credentials are somewhat lacking, let me offer you some free advice to save you time and money: it won’t work. The Religious wingnuts control your party, and especially your party’s primaries. McCain is no favorite of them, thanks to Campaign Finance Reform and a supposed willingness to be his own man, and Romney won’t win a primary: the wingnuts won’t ever let a Mormon win.
That’s the problem: if your party demands that you pander to crazy theocrats, then you’d better have always been pandering to them, or they will never trust you.
“I love women, Mandrake, but I do deny them my essence” February 19, 2007
Posted by Evil Bender in Iraq, News and politics, wingnuts.6 comments
Amanda Marcotte explains what neocons see as the real danger in Iraq: pr0n!
It seems the always-reputable posters at Townhall now have turned their attention to the dangers of porn. Those dangers?
Many continue to cite abuses at the Abu Ghraib military prison in Iraq as an excuse to oppose the war. Certainly, the abuses at Abu Ghraib must not be repeated. But that requires a lot more than re-training guards and interrogators.
Much of what is depicted in the 279 photos and 19 videos taken at Abu Ghraib resembles behavior in hard-core pornography, which is readily available to our troops via the Internet, magazines and DVDs.
Her evidence? A Chaplain says military folks are addicted to porn, and Abraham Lincoln urged the troops not to fall into “vice an immorality.” Seriously.
The Department of Defense (DOD) cannot effectively protect our military from pornography and its copious adverse consequences by banning porn only in Muslim countries. The DOD needs to understand why the troops at home are ordering the “sexual purity kits” – they need homeland security from pornographers.
For starters, the DOD must strictly enforce the Military Decency and Enforcement Act of 1996 (Act) on U.S. military bases, which it hasn’t been doing. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld the constitutionality of the Act in General Media Communications v. Cohen and the Supreme Court denied review.
That’s right, folks: to protect the troops we must ensure that if they’re getting off, it’s with only their imagination as an aide. Because that will certainly prevent abuse. I predict a porn crackdown will also do wonders for morale.
The Bush admin’s version of supporting our troops February 18, 2007
Posted by Evil Bender in Iraq, News and politics.1 comment so far
The Republicans spent last week making two arguments against the Dem’s non-binding resolution: that it didn’t do anything and that it undermined the troops. Despite the obvious fallacy there, I don’t hear them being called on it. But Democrats need to wake up. The best way to support the troops is to tie any money to overseas actions to proper training and equipment, and to do everything in its power to get the troops home safely from Iraq as soon as possible.
But instead they let the Republicans claim the high ground on devotion to the troops, despite sending them to an illegal war, giving them insufficent protection, and forcing the wounded to use decrepit, disgusting hospital facilities.
And these are the people who control the discussion on how to support out troops.
Best anti-judiciary essay ever February 18, 2007
Posted by Evil Bender in constiutional issues, wingnuts.1 comment so far
The people at the American View, who brought us such memorable essays as Democracy and Terrorism: Two Faces of the Same Evil are always spewing out nonsense in much the same way WorldNutDaily does. But you would think anyone bothering to comment on a SCOTUS ruling would at least know a little about the Law of the Land. But you’d be wrong.
So, after reading a few varied opinions across the spectrum of cases, it struck me that none of the opinions of the cases I read rendered argument based on the US Constitution. Now it is true that I read quickly and I chose a hogepodge of material from the Court’s website so I said to myself, “self, maybe you missed the text that appeal to the authority and jurisdiction of the US Constitution.”
OMG!!1! The Courts don’t care about the Constitution! A serious charge. And what’s the evidence?
In the randomly selected case BARBARA GRUTTER, PETITIONER v. LEE BOLLINGER et al. on writ of certiorari to the United States Court Of Appeals for the sixth circuit written by Justice Ginsburg, with whom Justice Breyer joins, concurring, I did not find even one citation of the US Constitution. I did find four citations and applications of rules made by the United Nations, two citations of actions made by an International Convention and actual instructions from the same International Convention directing our national court. Mrs. Ginsburg and Mr. Breyer cite previously argued and decided cases and spend a good deal of time affirming their conformity to international requirements, but not once do they cite the US Constitution.
In a completely unrelated matter, I bring you this excerpt from Article VI of the US Constitution:
All debts contracted and engagements entered into, before the adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this Constitution, as under the Confederation.
This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every state shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding.
As The Simpson’s Apu would say, “Thank you, come again.”
Why does Dubya want to attack Iran? February 17, 2007
Posted by Evil Bender in Iran, Iraq, Middle East, News and politics.add a comment
…not because they are a danger, as the Sunnis have reportedly inflicted far more casualties on US Troops than have the Shites. Maybe it’s because they want a war despite the evidence, and aren’t about to attack the Saudis, even if they are far more dangerous to US policy than is Iran.
But that’s no surprise. The Saudis have been supporting terrorists for some time, and though they might be buddy-buddy with American money, they are in no way pro-democracy.
But Iraq wasn’t about protecting us, nor was it about removing a bad man from power. Iran won’t be about either of those things, and neither will Syria or any other war Bush tries to force us into. Because it’s always been about colonialism and money, and those twin goals mean we’ll continue to threaten Iran while treating the Saudi royals like allies.
Weekend tattoo blogging (part 1) February 17, 2007
Posted by Evil Bender in Blogging.8 comments
I know some of my readers are fans of body art, so I thought I’d document here my latest piece, which is still in progress. In other words, I’m taking a moment to hedonistically show off my fancy new ink.
The Anubis-head is older, and is being worked into the sleeve. The Phoenix will include color, and above and in front of the Anubis-head I will be adding some Celtic knot-work, with some additional shading and smoke effects to tie it all together.
Thanks for indulging me. If there’s any interest, I’ll post more images as I get more work done.
“Teach the Controversy” February 17, 2007
Posted by Evil Bender in Origins, Religion, Science, constiutional issues, wingnuts.3 comments
Creationists really like to tell us we should teach the (nonexistent) controversy about evolution in schools. It’s only fair, they insist: why not teach “alternatives” to evolution? After all, if scientists are right about evolution, why would they object to anyone pointing out “gaps” in the theory?
The answer, of course, is that the “teach the controversy” meme is just the latest in the evolution of Creationism from “Creation Science” to ID to the current “teach the controversy” silliness. Opponents of good science don’t really want to teach the controversy, they want to use that seemingly reasonable idea to sneak religion into the science classroom.
But, you say, maybe they’re sincere. Maybe they really do care about their students critical thinking and want to make sure students are exposed to many ideas. Recently, they’ve stopped mentioning evolution sceptically in some of these mandates, to try to convince us tha this isn’t about undercutting science. But when they’re with only like-minded folks, we see what they think of teaching the controversy. The “Statement of Biblical Worldview” from the homeschooling, fundamentalist, conservative-propping Patrick Henry College:
Creation.1 Any biology, Bible or other courses at PHC dealing with creation will teach
creationism from the understanding of Scripture that God’s creative work, as described in
Genesis 1:2-31, was completed in six twenty-four hour days. All faculty for such courses
will be chosen on the basis of their personal adherence to this view. PHC does not intend
to limit biblically-based discussion of this issue; provided, however, that evolution
“theistic” or otherwise will not be treated as an acceptable theory.
PHC doesn’t care what anyone says about origins, but if they defend science it will be unacceptable. Of course this position is unassailable, as it is based on Faith, so evidence doesn’t enter into it. By contrast, if Creationists wish to be taken seriously, all they need to do is make some testable predictions for their theory, test those theories and publish their results in peer review. Every scientific theory was at one time the minority opinion, but science is a harsh gatekeeper: if you wish people to accept your theory, you’d best find evidence for that theory.
I won’t say liberals are more funny than conservatives February 15, 2007
Posted by Evil Bender in Humor, wingnuts.5 comments
