Obscanity: You'll know it when you see it

Women Against Sarah Palin is a fantastic blog. Check it out!

It’s all fun and games until somebody loses an eye because they leaned too close to the baby…

So John McCain’s daughter has now stated in front of the camera that nobody knows what war is like other than her own family. I’m sure the troops currently deployed overseas – and gee, I don’t know, the residents of Iraq – will be relieved to know that they don’t know what war is like. Joe Biden’s family certainly doesn’t know what war is like – his son is only being shipped off to Iraq, right? Oh, but Sarah Palin’s family knows. Their son is going to IRAQ.

By the way, speaking of Sarah Palin? If her daughter’s pregnancy is off limits because family is private, then she and her lackeys need to SHUT THE F*CK UP about her military son and her baby with Down’s Syndrome. If we can’t mention her family as a point of genuine political criticism, then she can’t mention her family to garner the sympathy vote either (and that’s completely ignoring the fact that she’s the one who told us about her daughter in the first place).

Perhaps McCain should have skimmed this handy-dandy little Palin manual before picking this ridiculous, tacky, Celia Hodes of a candidate.

Best quote of the day: “So Sambo beat the bitch!” ~Sarah Palin, upon finding out Barack Obama beat out Clinton for the Democratic ticket. Gee – and you wonder why they’re keeping this lady faaaaar away from the media?

I can just hear it in that godawful smarmy voice of hers, too.

He was, you know, for it, before he was against it… yeah.

Everybody regurgitating the Republican-fed sheep-talk needs to see this video. EVERYBODY.

Sarah Palin Gender Card | The Daily Show | Comedy Central.

You’ve gotta love those live mics… Oops. Thanks for the info, Peggy Noonan and Michael Murphy.

Of course she claims she was taken out of context and that she didn’t mean what it sounded like she meant… Yeah. I’m sooo convinced. Backpedal backpedal backpedal!

But who am I to say? Listen for yourself. Headphones help.

Gay Republicans: GOP on ‘wrong side of history’ – CNN.com.

They are SO. DELUSIONAL. McCain has said OUTRIGHT that he supports California’s hateful Proposition 8, a mean-spirited and truly anti-family ballot initiative that will literally dissolve marriages into thin air and destroy lives in the process. He also promised Jerry Falwell he would support the Federal Marriage Amendment if federal courts strike down state constitutional marriage bans. And Palin, this “mostly unknown” quantity? Palin explicitly stated that she would oppose extending benefits to same-gender partners of state employees (“No, I believe spousal benefits are reserved for married citizens as defined in our constitution”). She is adamantly opposed to expanding hate-crime legislation, offering up the ridiculous old party line that “all heinous crime is based on hate.” She also listed in her THREE TOP PRIORITIES AS GOVERNOR, “Preserving the definition of “marriage” as defined in our constitution.” No, she didn’t list health care. No, she didn’t list the environment. No, she didn’t even list the energy crisis. But protecting the definition of marriage? That is a top priority. On what planet does this constitute “mostly unknown”?

Look, I realize the Log Cabiners are mostly gay men – but does that mean they have to walk around with their heads up their asses?

DailyKos is reporting on Sarah Palin’s complete idiocy and ignorance when it comes to the Pledge of Allegiance. Their link isn’t working as it seems the linked page mysteriously disappeared from the archives once people started linking to it – but a quick and easy search at archive.org reveals that the page did exist long before Palin was ever tagged for VP consideration. This is by far my favorite Palin quote of all time:

11. Are you offended by the phrase “Under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance? Why or why not?
JB: No.
SP: Not on your life. If it was good enough for the founding fathers, its good enough for me and I’ll fight in defense of our Pledge of Allegiance.

And by the way, if English was good enough for Jesus, it should be good enough for America.

For all of you out there, including Barack Obama, who allege that Sarah Palin’s family life is private and off limits: Can I just remind you that it was SARAH PALIN who fed this piece of information to the public in the first place? Nobody spied on her; nobody got hold of secret medical records or hacked into her computer. Sarah Palin CHOSE to release this information to the American people, and now it is our inalienable right to talk about it, react to it, and decide how we feel about a woman who supports abstinence-only education when it’s clear from her own family situation that abstinence-only education DOES NOT WORK.

Can we call her a hypocrite? Absolutely. She doesn’t support same-sex marriage (or domestic partnership rights, even) because marriage is soooo sacred, but she’s willing to let a CHILD enter into this sacred union as punishment for having premarital sex. So is marriage a sacrament, or a punishment? Make up your mind!

She comes from a party that cracks down on access to birth control and yet doesn’t want abortions to be legal – but STILL doesn’t support education about how not to get pregnant in the first place. This is the woman we want thisclose to inheriting the presidency from ancient, ailing John McCain?

So is her daughter’s pregnancy private? It was, until she made it public. And is it relevant? HELL. YES.

I know that many people will claim that the Palins were forced to make this announcement in order to quell rumors going around that Palin’s youngest “son” Trig is actually her grandson. There are a few points to address here. I think the people who made these speculations in the first place were just having a hard time reconciling Palin’s uber-family-values stances with the fact that she endangered her child’s life multiple times the evening she gave birth by flying even after her water broke, the fact that she simply did not look pregnant and her staff was shocked to find out she was seven months along, the fact that no picture exists that demonstrates the woman was ever pregnant in 2008, and the fact that she returned to work three days after giving birth to a baby with Down’s Syndrome. It just doesn’t add up to the Family Woman that Palin claims to be.

Much more likely (and logical, for that matter) is that she found out her daughter was in labor and THAT is why she rushed back to Alaska. Much more likely is that she thought her daughter’s pregnancy might undermine her image as uber-family-lady, while her own pregnancy might garner her some sympathy. Much more likely is that if she didn’t look pregnant, she WASN’T pregnant, especially given the photos circulating of her when she actually WAS pregnant – because let me tell you, when Sarah Palin is pregnant, she LOOKS it.

So now we’re left with this situation where the Palin family has announced their daughter’s pregnancy in order to cover their own asses as far as Trig’s parentage. This announcement proves nothing. Palin could have protected her daughter AND her image by simply providing a dated photograph of herself visibly pregnant at the time she was supposed to be pregnant (although I suppose once you’ve decided you’re going to lie to millions of people, you might as well go all the way and stuff something under your shirt). She could have provided hospital records showing that she was admitted and in labor – after all, John McCain had to provide the media with his own medical records, so why shouldn’t Palin? She could have done a lot of things that didn’t involve exposing her family and her children to further controversy and ridicule.

Instead, Palin “outed” her own daughter, thrusting her into the limelight of her OWN accord. But again, the news itself proves nothing except that the rumor-mongers weren’t so far off – the teenage daughter of this abstinence-only-education proponent IS having sex, and she IS being irresponsible about it. It actually makes the case stronger, not weaker, that Trig is her son.

But of course the real brilliance of Palin’s feeding Bristol to the lions instead of stepping up to the plate herself is that by the time the truth comes out, it will be too late. It’s entirely possible that Bristol Palin is more like three months pregnant, which means she could easily be Trig’s mother as well; we all know that teen mothers frequently make the same mistake twice (or three times, or four times…). But by the time we know for sure, either Obama will have won and nobody will care, or Palin will already be VP and it will just be another “White House Scandal”: Vice President Palin’s daughter is miraculously eleven months pregnant. Gee. Who saw that coming?

There IS a way to settle all of this without throwing your pregnant teenage daughter under the train. But I guess Palin’s choice pretty much shows us what kind of parent she is, and what kind of candidate she is, and what kind of VP she will be – a person willing to sell out those who depend on her in order to cover up her own dishonesty.

In a world without Don LaFontaine… RIP.

You would think the wingnuts would have learned their lesson about the power of prayer after Pat Robertson’s prayer death squad misfired and knocked off uber-conservative Chief Justice William Rehnquist.

Well, apparently they’re at it again. Just days after Dobson / Focus on the Family lackey Stuart Shepard encouraged his Christian viewers to pray for rain of “biblical proportions” to drown out the Democratic National Convention two minutes into Obama’s acceptance speech, America is watching as millions evacuate amid the threat of Hurricane Gustav, which is looking as though it may rain out the Republican Convention. Scheduled attendees must now choose whether to look really, really bad partying, or go home to their safe little mansions and lay low for a while so there are no embarrassing photos of them living it up while people are drowning (with the exception, of course, of those unfortunate souls who have to evacuate instead of casting their vote for the Birthday Boy).

I wonder if even one of those devout zealots who prayed for everything short of “golf-ball sized hail” will think to themselves, “What have I done? What HAVE I done?” Nope. They’ll chalk it up to coincidence. Divine intervention is only present when it suits them.

Until August 31, if you spend $59 on selected items from Amazon Grocery, you’ll get a $25 instant rebate! I got a whole bunch of Clif Luna Bar products and 100-Calorie Packs from Nabisco. Yay for cheap snackage! Read more about this offer!

By the way, if you have any problems redeeming this rebate, you can email Customer Service and they should be able to apply the refund manually from their end. There should not be any problems, though!

From EQCA:

August 27, 2008

It is with great sadness that I share with you that today, the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community lost an iconic leader and a beloved friend.

Del Martin, 87, passed away in San Francisco with Phyllis Lyon, her lifelong partner and spouse, by her side. Martin was one of the nation’s first and most visible lesbian rights activists who dedicated her life to combating homophobia, sexism, violence and racism. Martin’s many contributions to the LGBT movement will resonate for decades to come.

We are saddened to lose such a wonderful friend to our community and our love goes out to Phyllis and her family during this most difficult time. We would not be at this incredible moment in history, where all couples have equal rights under California law, if it had not been for Del’s lifetime of courage and leadership.

Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon were married in California on June 16, 2008 after 55 years together. EQCA honored Del and Phyllis with the Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon Marriage Equality Award in 2003, an award the organization gives every year in their honor.

Read more about Del Martin.

Gifts in lieu of flowers can be made to honor Del’s life and commitment and to defeat the California marriage ban through the National Center for Lesbian Rights NO on 8 committee at www.nclrights.org/NoOn8.

Our community will forever honor Del’s life and legacy.

Respectfully,

Geoff Kors
Executive Director
Equality California

Equality California is dedicated to achieving equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Californians.

Our work depends on individual financial contributions. Donate now using our secure website or download a donation form to send via fax or mail.

Donations to EQCA support our political work and are therefore not tax-deductible as charitable contributions.

Great article on CNN.com right now about “gifted” children vs. gifted children: Is your kid really gifted? Probably not. As one who was “diagnosed” as intellectually highly gifted when I was about six, I can tell you that if you’re hoping for a kid who will excel in school, follow directions, and never challenge you or cause any problems, you do NOT want a gifted kid. Trust me. I think the people over at tagfam.org put it best when they posted this chart comparing “bright” children to “gifted” children:

Comparison of Bright vs. Gifted
Bright Child	Gifted Child
Knows the answers.	Asks the questions.
Interested.	Extremely curious.
Pays attention.	Gets involved physically and mentally.
Works hard.	Plays around, still gets good test scores.
Answers questions.	Questions the answers.
Enjoys same-age peers.	Prefers adults or older children.
Good at memorization.	Good at guessing.
Learns easily.	Bored. Already knew the answers.
Listens well.	Shows strong feelings and opinions.
Self-satisfied.	Highly critical of self (perfectionistic).

Yep. Sounds about right.

No, seriously? That’s his answer?

I don’t give a shit if his wife’s father happened to be very successful in his business. When you are a HAVE, and you vote incessantly to beat down the HAVE NOTS, I don’t CARE how that money was accumulated, and I don’t CARE that it was made in the process of living out the American Dream. The American Dream is not supposed to include pissing on the people below you as you move up the ladder. You’re supposed to turn around and lend people a hand, damn it.

CNN has an interesting story about bartering sex for stuff or services. It doesn’t even portray people who do this as evil and depraved. Golly. Could it be that we’re actually making some progress in eliminating our status as one of the most prudish and Puritanical of free and industrialized countries?

At long last, it has arrived! After 22 years, the made-for-TV celebrity extravaganza has FINALLY been released on DVD! Yes, you heard me correctly – the 1985 TV movie Alice in Wonderland is now available on DVD for your viewing pleasure! This movie is PACKED with celebrities – some of them in their prime, some of them past their prime, and some of them not quite ready for prime time (hello, young John Stamos! hahaha). Natalie Gregory plays Alice, and throughout her adventures she runs into… let’s see… Sammy Davis Jr., Carol Channing, Sally Struthers, Ann Jillian, Lloyd Bridges, Red Buttons, Sherman Hemsley, Sheila Allen, Shelley Winters, Scott Baio, John Stamos, Imogene Coca, Telly Savalas, Roddy McDowall, Sid Caesar, Ringo Starr, Steve Allen, Ernest Borgnine, Patrick Duffy, Harvey Korman, Eydie Gorme, Pat Morita, and others! I think these days you can pretty much only see such a star-studded list of names if you go down to Hollywood and take a stroll along the Walk of Fame. What more can I say? It’s a fabulous movie and is my very favorite remake, and one of my favorite movies from my youth. Share it with YOUR children! You can find it for $7.99 at Amazon.com.

*squeals* No, seriously. I’m so excited.

I have a question: just who does the IOC think it is kidding? Government-issued documents are the last place they should look for reliable information. I have no doubt whatsoever that a government like China’s would not hesitate to reissue birth certificates and passports with falsified ages if it meant they would come out ahead in the Olympics. In fact, medal-winning Chinese gymnast Yang Yun has already admitted that she was 14 at the 2000 Olympics. Surely she, too, submitted legal government-issued documents proving her age? Documents provided by, oh, I don’t know, the Chinese government?

As Norm MacDonald would say on SNL’s Weekend Update, “From the Medical Journal DUH“: Pharmaceuticals found in drinking water supply.

Yet another reason why Big Pharma needs to be cut down to size. This has been public knowledge for ages; anybody in any kind of environmental work could have told you this a long time ago. So why is it only being publicized in the mainstream media NOW?

The alleged “Bigfoot” that was “discovered” last week was revealed recently to be nothing more than a RUBBER SUIT. Why do people bother with a hoax like this? Don’t they realize it’s going to be revealed?

Well, he did it. He’s the man of the hour! Michael Phelps won his 8th gold medal earlier this week, meaning he has won more gold medals than any other athlete at a single Olympiad. The record was previously held by Mark Spitz.

In other news, does anybody else think that Nastia Liukin was robbed of that gold medal on the uneven bars? What was up with that tie-breaking method? I still want to know how China expects us to believe that tiny kid who won is really sixteen. I don’t believe it for a minute. Ah well. At least Liukin got her all-around gold.

Americans for Safe Access is reporting that the DEA now claims the agent wearing the Blackwater shirt is not actually a Blackwater employee, but rather, merely a DEA agent. Not only that, but they’re also requesting censorship of the photo involved for the “safety” of that employee, who allegedly sometimes does undercover work. They asked the LA Times to blur the face of the agent in the Blackwater shirt. Since the LA Times has a policy of not altering photos, ASA reports, they removed the photo altogether.

Let’s get a few things straight… First of all, if you do undercover work, exactly how wise is it to be involved in a very public raid of a legal medicinal cannabis co-op? Shouldn’t undercover people STAY undercover, and not make themselves even more conspicuous by wearing extremely controversial and noticeable clothing in a situation where media and cameras are certain to be present? Or you know, by being involved at all in such a raid?

Second… do private security companies frequently offer their logo-bearing t-shirts to the public? And do DEA agents frequently wear logo-bearing t-shirts to raids? Do raids call for casual street attire? Wouldn’t the only logical logo for a DEA agent to be wearing during a raid be… oh, I don’t know, the DEA logo???? When’s the last time you saw a DEA raid in which the agents were wearing Abercrombie or Disney t-shirts? So this Blackwater shirt was just a coincidence? Sure. I believe that. Uh huh.

• New Yorkers try to swallow calorie sticker shock: “600 calorie muffins? The first city to adopt law faces unappetizing surprises.”
• Golden retriever adopts tiger cubs at Kansas zoo (and related but much older story, “The abandoned monkey who has found love with a pigeon“)
• World’s oldest joke traced back to 1900 BC
• Man presumed dead in 1976 Colo. flood found alive