Obscanity: You'll know it when you see it

Ex-Sen. Claiborne Pell, proponent of student grants, dies – CNN.com.

Noisy farts, bathroom doors — couples’ boundaries – CNN.com.

The comments on this are hilarious. The article, whatever, but the comments… people are so freaking uptight. I mean, nobody says you have to go do these things in public, or think it’s cute or funny to burp your spouse’s name or blow your nose at the dinner table or something – but I think this is definitely a debate where the term “anal retentive” comes in really handy…

Israelis strike homes of 2 top Hamas figures; at least 1 killed – CNN.com.

Rayan had urged Gazans not to abandon their homes during the Israeli air attacks, even if they received threats to evacuate, Arab media reported.

Well isn’t that nice. Israel goes out of its way to warn Gaza civilians of impending strikes so as to reduce the loss of life, and this Hamas leader essentially goes, “No, no, stay in your house. You know, so we can blame Israel when you die in the airstrike…”

Who’s 2008’s Homo Hero of the Year? / Queerty.

As one of the protesters, I personally saw the changes in the way the LAPD treated the crowds. Following a march in Silver Lake through mostly empty corporate buildings, a group of 300 or so protesters, including your editor, felt that protesting was more about taking your message to everyday people than preaching to the choir and so left the area and marched on Hollywood. The police responded quickly and blocked the advancing path of protesters. For a few minutes, the police stood shoulder-to-shoulder, inches away from a crowd shouting to let them pass.

And then a call came. Everyone could tell something had changed as the police started to relax. An officer on a bullhorn shouted, “We’re going to let you march. We just need to set up the route. We thank you for your cooperation.” There was no doubt who ordered the go-ahead: It was LAPD Chief William Bratton.

In that moment, in the eyes of those marching, the LAPD became an ally of the gay community. When a mobile signboard appeared in front of protesters saying “Please move the right. We’ll be moving shortly,” they laughed at how quickly a tense stand-off had turn to mutual cooperation. When another group marched from downtown LA to Hollywood on the National Day of Impact, the exhausted group of protesters blocking the intersection of Hollywood & Highland thanked the LAPD for escorting them and broke into a sustained applause for LA’s finest.

Pam’s House Blend:: Echoes From A Birmingham Jail (Part One).

To me, a Black Gay man who has endured both racism and heterosexism, and who sees no difference in the kind of discrimination they generate, this debate has always sounded silly. That said, I find it outrageous that some anti-segregation veterans would argue that Black folk have an exclusive claim to the term Civil Rights, and that no other movement dare use it. Excuse me? Have these folks never heard of the Women’s Rights movement? The Farmworkers’ movement? The Disabled Rights movement? I don’t recall hearing any objections to those groups using the language. I find it even more outrageous that some idiotic Lesbian and Gay pundits lend this argument credence.

Will Hamas find a way to blame this one on Israel as well? Israel opened the borders to humanitarian aid, and what did the militants do? They kept firing rockets into Israel – even if some of them didn’t make it all the way there. Surprise? No. A damned shame? Yes. These children are proof that these militants have little regard for the lives of the people around them, even while they claim to be fighting for them.

Rocket kills 2 children after Gaza border reopens – CNN.com.

JERUSALEM (CNN) — A rocket fired by Palestinian militants fell on a Gaza home and killed two children, Palestinian sources said Friday, the same day Israel opened three Gaza border crossings for the first time in 10 days.

The Problem for Gays with Rick Warren — and Obama – TIME.

The Bilerico Project | Please Don’t Divorce….

Amazing pictorial project by the Courage Campaign…

Prop 8 proponents seek to nullify same-sex marriages – CNN.com.

BASTARDS! No surprise, though. They said they were not going to do this, so of course that meant that we should expect it any day.

Commentary: Why we need an obesity tax – CNN.com.

I opened this article expecting to be infuriated and ready to launch into a rant about how wrong it is to tax people for their physical condition, which many people can’t actually control… but actually, CNN really should have given the article a better title. Paterson isn’t proposing an obesity tax – he’s proposing a tax on particular products which lead to high rates of obesity, particularly among children: Non-diet sodas, and high-sugar juices that are less than 70% real juice. My only concern is that it will encourage people to buy diet sodas, which are really not the best substitute. Honestly, I’d just as soon see diet sodas taxed too, because the chemicals in those come with their own host of medical problems like cancer and digestive issues. Either way, it’s not an unreasonable tax.

Now raising taxes on iTunes downloads, on the other hand… wtf?

The TV show How It’s Made shines a light on our mechanized culture. – By Farhad Manjoo – Slate Magazine.

This video is absolutely fascinating to watch. It does leave me deeply troubled by one omission, though: Where do the perforations come from????

Credit card holders livid about ‘rate-jacking’ – CNN.com.

Count me in on that one. All of my credit card companies pulled that baloney of “We’re jacking up your interest by at least 10%, but of course you can opt out… if you NEVER USE YOUR CARD AGAIN!” But Citibank was the only one that actually required me to CLOSE my account if I didn’t wish to have a 20%+ rate (bearing in mind that my current rate is under 10%). It’s absolute bullshit.

Obama’s inaugural choice sparks outrage – CNN.com.

Okay… whatever, I’m used to evangelical pastors standing against gay marriage. I’m even used to them railing against abortion.

But they do NOT get to compare abortion to the Holocaust. Where the HELL does he get off? If you view abortion as being the same as the Holocaust, that means you view the women who get abortions as being the same as Nazi soldiers. This is absolutely disgusting and sickening. Women exercising their right to control their bodies are NOT the same as sick Nazi soldiers participating in the extermination of a people because of their race and beliefs. To suggest that they are is to dishonor those who were murdered in the Holocaust.

Gay leaders furious with Obama – Ben Smith and Nia-Malika Henderson – Politico.com.

Hopefully not a sign of things to come!

Muslim’s scarf leads to arrest at courthouse | ajc.com.

I don’t know what freaks me out more – that this judge thinks he can get away with kicking Muslim women out of his courtroom for exercising their 1st Amendment rights, or that on the news article’s survey asking, “Should Muslim women be required to removed their head scarves before they can enter a courtroom?” 41.42% (roughly 3,000 right now) of people responding answered, “Yes, what the judge says, goes.”

The Stranger | Slog | Today in Traditional Marriage.

Drew Peterson, the former Chicago police sergeant who is a suspect in the disappearance of his fourth wife, Stacy, and the homicide of his third wife, Kathleen Savio, is engaged again.

Drew Peterson, 54, recently proposed to his 23-year-old girlfriend of four months, his publicist confirmed to ABCNews.com, but he will not reveal her identity in an attempt to shield her from the media.

Well, on the bright side, this girl is pretty young, so she’s probably got a few good years before she disappears too.

Have you enjoyed reading Obscanity.com this year? Wondering how you can help to keep it going? Well, if you do lots of shopping online, you can help Obscanity without spending an extra penny – just do your shopping through Obscanity’s shopping portal. If you do your shopping entirely through Amazon.com, you can go there now!

Thank you so much, and have lots of fun and family time this holiday season!

Mekong a ‘treasure trove’ of 1,000 newly discovered species – CNN.com.

Holy bloody hell. May I never EVER come face to creepy little face with a spider that has a footlong leg span. OH EM GEE.

Miller v. Jenkins: One Gay Couple’s Custody Battle | Newsweek Culture | Newsweek.com.

This is absolutely disgusting. This is no different from those old Lifetime movies where the father would kidnap the child and remove her to some foreign country where women (and therefore mothers) have no custodial (or any) rights. It’s absolute bullshit. When you and another person bring a child into this world, you are both parents to that child, and it is absolutely abhorrent to cut one parent out of the child’s life like that, and then try to brainwash her into hating her other mother, which you KNOW this lady is doing. Family values, my ASS. It makes me want to scream.

Gay Marriage: Our Mutual Joy | Newsweek Culture | Newsweek.com.

Miller makes a pretty strong case against the sort of anti-gay, exclusive rhetoric that’s been tossed around lately. While she’s pretty strong on the Jesus, New Testament, and biblical marriage issue, I think she could have gone even further with the story of David and Jonathan. There was no brotherly love there, if you know what I mean. It’s beyond obvious if you actually read the story.

Miller gets one detail wrong – it’s true that “not many” Jewish denominations (if you can call them that) sanctify same-gender marriage. But this is a misleading statement. There aren’t “many” Jewish “denominations” in the first place. The very largest one (Reform) does officially recognize same-gender marriage, with the second-largest one (Conservative) recognizing same-gender unions but stopping short at the word “marriage.” And I’m pretty sure the Reconstructionist and Humanist Jews recognize marriage as well. So while “not many” Jewish “denominations” (and that is so not the right word) officially recognize same-gender marriage or unions, most American Jews belong to one that does.

Other than that detail, it’s actually a truly fabulous article, although you might not know it from reading the comments, which all seem to be suspiciously similar and overwhelmingly in opposition.

Gee… I wonder why?

Well, in case you hadn’t already guessed, the conservative wingnut groups have been BLASTING this article to all of their members, insisting that they take action while at the same time not-so-subtly suggesting that they don’t actually read the article before doing so (why take the chance that somebody might actually listen to reason?). I’ve gotten a few emails to this effect. One of them was from the American Foundation for Self-Righteous and Holier-than-thou Consumption of Pornographic Material, more commonly known as the American Family Association (AFA). Here’s the email they sent out (God, I love it when the AFA sends out emails):

Newsweek magazine has published a lengthy article stating that the Bible supports homosexual marriage. The article was written Lisa Miller, Newsweek religion editor.

Miller’s article is one of the most biased and distorted pieces concerning homosexual marriage ever published by any major news organization. The article is much too long for this e-mail.

Dr. Albert Mohler has offered a response to the Newsweek article. I suggest you read Mohler’s article and then read Miller’s Newsweek article.

And in keeping with my tradition of translating the AFA’s fabulous and not-so-opaque communications, here’s what they really mean:

Newsweek magazine has published a very, very, very, very, very long article stating that the Bible supports homosexual marriage. The article was written Lisa Miller, Newsweek religion editor – for now.

Miller’s article is one of the most biased (and long) and distorted (and long) pieces in favor of homosexual marriage ever published by any liberal news organization. The article is much, much, much too long for this e-mail. It’s fewer kilobytes than some of the pornographic images that we’ve sent you in the past, but I promise – it’s much, much more boring, and will take much, much too much time to read.

Dr. Albert Mohler has offered a response to the Newsweek article. It’s a lot shorter. I suggest you read Mohler’s article instead, just to get the basic points. Then you can click on the Newsweek article link and leave impassioned comments about how very WRONG the author is. Don’t worry about not reading the article. Just quote some Bible verses and nobody will know! In fact, since most of you haven’t read the entire Bible either, Dr. Mohler has even been kind enough to tell you exactly which passages to cite in your comments, and how to interpret them. God bless him!

OMG. So… I did read the article, AND some of the raving comments, on one of my study breaks. Best quote ever, in the comments section. This woman rails on the author, making personal attacks against her, questioning her journalism credentials, suggesting that she might be better suited to write for the National Enquirer, saying her editor is crazy and greedy for allowing the article to be printed, and just generally insulting her for daring to suggest that the Bible might actually condone inclusivity.

Then, she innocently laments:

“As an American, I am beginning to feel persecuted for my religious beliefs…and becoming a minority. Will Christian Americans be given the same level of tolerance we have given to others???”

Oh, precious, I hope so.

Fans bid farewell to Polaroid film – CNN.com.

Hajj makes Muslims more tolerant, study suggests – CNN.com.

Missing atheist sign found in Washington state – CNN.com.

The scene in Washington state is not unfamiliar. Barker has had signs in Madison, Wisconsin, for 13 years. The placard is often turned around so the message can't be seen, and one year, someone threw acid on it, forcing the group to encase it in Plexiglas.

Boy, I guess acid is a popular tool of violent suppression, isn’t it?

When a Job Disappears, So Does the Health Care – NYTimes.com.

In short… we are fucked. Universal healthcare, anybody?

Op-Ed Columnist – A Killer Without Borders – NYTimes.com.

Americans don’t think much about TB, just as we didn’t think much of AIDS in the 1980s. But drug-resistant TB is spreading — half a million cases a year already — and in a world connected by jet planes and constant flows of migrants and tourists, the risk is that our myopia will catch up with us.