Category: Beating Back the St00pid

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Fill in the Blank

Unattended children will be ____________.

Once again Ben and I were in a restaurant, and a pack of feral children were running wild. The parents—as usual—were completely oblivious. I can now easily understand how children go missing. With such insouciant parents, children in public places are low hanging fruit for predators.

If I had behaved the way I've seen children behaving in restaurants (and a multitude of other public places) I would've been immediately removed to the car and probably wouldn't be able to sit for a week after arriving home. My (and Ben's) parents (as did most families once upon a time) had a zero-tolerance policy in regards to behaving in public, and it was a good thing. But somewhere along the line parents gave up being authority figures and became more concerned with being friends with their offspring.

Becoming friends with your parents is something that may or may not happen after you're an adult; prior to that it shouldn't even be part of the parenting equation.

 

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France Declares Scientology a Scam

Well duh!

From Joe.My.God. (I especially like Joe's final comment. Emphasis mine.)

Now if we could only get this kind of ruling here.

A French court has slapped a fraud sentence on the Church of Scientology, saying it targets vulnerable people for commercial gain. The ruling is a major setback for Scientologists in France, and it marks the first time here that the Church of Scientology has been convicted of organized fraud. The development puts its famous recruitment methods under a spotlight. Scientologists vehemently reject the conviction, saying that they are the victims of anti-cult organizations trying to destroy them. "Respect my religion," chanted several dozen Scientologists, braving sub-zero temperatures in the front of a courthouse in Paris.

But really, France. How different are alien spaceships and soul volcanoes from water-walking zombies and talking shrubberies?

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Quote of the Day

Left at Joe. My. God. in response to this.

"Little  Ricky Frothy Mix stamping his widdle teabagger feet, hoping the wingnuts will save his now dead and rotting campaign. What is clearer than clear is this sad pathetic self-hating closet case is gay—very, very, very, very gay. And  it scares the froth out of him every waking moment of his hateful little life. Spew all the  hate you want Ricky; it won't make those glorious images of all those naked men you dream of go away. Barracade your closet door  all you want. It won't change the fact that  you are what you fear most, and what you clearly desire most." ~ DaveinSF

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Quote of the Day

Stolen verbatim from Bill in Exile. (Sorry Scott, but I couldn't have said this better myself.)

"I have to say that killing women with breast cancer before they might consider abortion sometime in their lives is one way to eliminate a woman's right to choose."

TBogg in a post about the fact that the Susan G. Komen Foundation—the foundation that sponsors The Race for the Cure that pretty much everyone and their mother has, at one time or another, been hit up for a donation, usually by a co-worker—has cut off funding for breast exams to Planned Parenthood because the Komen Foundation senior executives are virulent anti-choicers and want to punish women for having unapproved sexy time.

My mother died of breast cancer in 1987 at the age of 48 and every time I've been approached to sponsor someone participating in The Race for the Cure I've done so, gladly.

Never again.

Instead I've just donated money to Planned Parenthood and I'd urge you to do the same.

You can do so by clicking this link.

And if you do, be sure to give the donation as an Honorary Giving gift in the name of Karen Handel so that she receives a nice card from Planned Parenthood thanking her for the gift made in her name.

Because she's the fuckwit at Komen who decided it was better to let women die of breast cancer than risk giving them the ability to have control over their own bodies.

Here's her info:

Karen Handel
Senior VP of Fail
c/o Susan G. Komen Foundation
P.O. Box 650309
Dallas, TX 75265-0309

I made a donation. Have you?

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Quote of the Day

‎"Now, you can call this class warfare all you want, but asking a billionaire to pay at least as much as his secretary in taxes? Most Americans would call that common sense." ~ Barack Obama SOTU

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Just One of Many Reasons Barney Frank Will Be Missed

Interviewer: You've long argued for the decriminalization of marijuana. Do you smoke weed?

Barney Frank: No.

Interviewer: Why not?

Barney Frank: Why do you ask a question, then act surprised when I give an answer? Do you think I lie to people?

Interviewer: I thought you might explain why you support decriminalizing it but don't smoke it.

Barney Frank: Do you think I've ever had an abortion?

(source)

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Quote of the Day

"And, suddenly, the dogwhistles have turned into air-raid sirens.
I think, maybe, it's time for the nation to rise up and point out to the Republican party that, root and branch, it is a racist embarrassment to democracy and a blight on this nation that all the world can see." ~ Charles Pierce