That’s an alleged quote from Pat Robertson, God’s personal messenger, to the guy who is suing Pat.
Kind of gives you Jesus bumps, don’t it?
He’s Just Not Into You [UPDATE: Is It Real?]
There’s something about this I find particularly cruel.
Of course, there are times when you just have to end a relationship. But it just shouldn’t be done this way.
Ryan Burke is a UNC senior. His girlfriend, Mindy Moorman, was a NC State sophomore. He wanted to break up with her because she cheated on him (although, as it turns out, he cheated on her, too).
So how did he do it? He promoted the event on Facebook, inviting people to watch "a bad public breakup"). And, on Valentine’s Day, he invited Moorman to meet him at popular gathering spot on the UNC Chapel Hill campus for a "surprise". She arrived …and there, in front of a crowd of about 1,000 — and a singing a cappella group — he dumped her.
Cameras were rolling, and the videos have gone viral at YouTube. Here’s how it went down:
Here’s a post breakup interview with Ryan:
Look, I realize that we’re ALL "Time’s Person Of The Year" in that it is now technically possible to air our dirty laundry in front of the whole world. But just because we can does that mean we should? This whole spectacle reflects badly on everyone involved (including, I might add, the schools). Seriously, dudes and dudettes — take this shit to Jerry Springer. Don’t be so arrogant as to think that the world cares about your train wreck.
UPDATE: ABC News in Raleigh covers the story — is it a hoax?
Power To The People
With environment-conciousness on the rise, and much talk about alternative energies, one wonders what technology is in the offing. Sure, we all know about wind power and solar power, which are certainly better for the environment. But these have significant drawbacks, not the least of which is expense.
But are there economically feasible alternative energy sources on the horizon?
Current sources of energy (like coal and oil) cost roughly $1 for every watt generated. That’s the benchmark. Futuristic fuel sources need to beat that.
Well, here’s a good contender: solar film panels. It is expected that this technology, once fully developed, will cost 50 cents for every watt generated, twice as economically (and hundreds of times cleaner) than current sources. Moreover, they are thin and malleable, so designers can emply them easily into electronic devices, buildings, and even fabric. If all goes well, we’ll start to see these babies in five to ten years. Read more here.
Looking even longer term, what energy alternatives are there? Believe it or not, there is something out there which is 10,000 times more efficient than energy sources available now. And it’s located …in your ear. It’s called prestin, and it’s a natural chemical protein located on the outer hair cells within your inner ear. Prestin has the ability to convert motion to energy — i.e, movement acts as an energy source. Right now, the harnessing of prestin energy is still a long way away, although scientists are now looking at ways in which prestin can act as the fuel source for nano-robots (microscopic robots that can, for example, be injected into the blood and repair internal organs and vessels).
In any event, it’s fairly sure that within our lifetime, we’ll begin to see the end of coal/oil dependency. And not only will it be more enviro-friendly, it will be cheaper and smaller.
To which I say …kewl.
Meryl Streep Still Hogging All The Good Roles
She’s signed on to play the lead in the film version of Mamma Mia, and now she beat out rivals in the screen adaptation of Doubt.
Pinball Wizard In A Miracle Cure
That must be one gooooood rehab center.
Less than 24 hours after checking herself into a rehab center (following her self-delilahing behavior), Britney checks out.
Is it me, or does it seem like Britney is intentionally trying to steal focus from the REAL news story: the Anna Nicole Smith death aftermath?
The Left And God
Discussions generated from fall out surrounding Amanda Marcotte’s departure from the John Edwards campaign are still taking up pixels in lefty blogger circles. Atrios has led the league in thoughts on the subject, and the New Donkey summarizes his thoughts and responds:
His basic argument, with which I basically agree, is that once "people of faith" inject their religious views into public discourse, the content of those views is fair game for commentary, dissent and even mockery, though mockery may be politically inadvisable if you are, say, involved in a presidential campaign.
I would offer one important qualifier to his general take: mocking the religious underpinnings of some political position is one thing; denying their sincerity is another.
Atrios responds: "I do agree that questioning the sincerity of peoples’ faith does anger them. … I’ve had this conversation with anti-choice progressives, who think it’s important for me to understand that their anti-choice views come from a sincere religious belief. The thing is, I just don’t care. The fact that your political beliefs are motivated by your religion doesn’t make them special to me."
Also responding to Atrios thoughts on the subject Kos writes: "If a candidate sincerely gets his or her values from religion, then that’s fine. The Bible is a wonderfully liberal text. … But religious values are no more superior than the values I learned from my [grandma] … They are no more superior than the values Tester learned on the farm from his farmer father and grandfather. Or the values that Webb learned while proudly wearing his uniform."
Kos’ post moved Rev. Jim Wallis to respond: "So Kos, let’s made a deal. How about if progressive religious folks, like me, make real sure that we never say, or even suggest, that values have to come from faith – and progressive secular folks, like you, never suggest that progressive values can’t come from faith (and perhaps concede that, in fact, they often do)." Kos thinks this is exactly what he already proposed. Talk Left‘s Big Tent Democrat comments: "With "friends" like Jim Wallis, Dems need no enemies."
Back at Eschaton, Atrios had moved on to addressing concerns from Jesse Lava that Atrios rhetoric, including calling religous language gibberish, often sounds dismissive to "devout Christians’ ears." Atrios responds: "How is that a barb? I’m not religious, I have only a passing familiarity with Christian theology, its associated customs, and the language used by its adherents when discussing it. Finnish is also gibberish to me … I’m not obligated to understand your traditions, and don’t claim to. It’s that simple."
Terrorist Supports GOP
Abdul Tawala Ibn Ali Alishtari pled not guilty in a Manhattan federal court last Friday, denying charges that he’s a terrorist financier. But that’s a matter in some dispute, and not just by the prosecutors. According to The Blotter at ABC News.com, the indictment charges that he arranged for $152,000 worth of bank transfers to fund a terror training camp.
But if that doesn’t convince you he’s a funding terrorists, maybe this will: Alishtari also gave 10% of that total to the National Republican Congressional Committee. The NRCC won’t say what it intends to do with those funds.
Abdul Tawala Ibn Ali Alishtari also claims in an online CV to be a member of the "White House Business Advisory Committee" and at having been a "National Republican Congressional Committee [New York State] Businessman of the Year" in 2002 and 2003.
This has to be a little embarrassing to the right, who have (for years) been trying to make the case that "Democrats are in league with the terrorists" and "bin Laden wants Democrats to win" and other such fictionally-based arguments.
Democratic Swords Are Out
And now it begins. Clinton vs. Obama. The attacks have started:
Further proving that the Democratic presidential candidates are already pulling out their swords — even over the most minor of matters — the Clinton campaign is up in arms over comments that Hollywood mogul and Obama supporter David Geffen made to the New York Times’ Maureen Dowd. In a statement, Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson said, "While Sen. Obama was denouncing slash-and-burn politics yesterday, his campaign’s finance chair was viciously and personally attacking Sen. Clinton and her husband. If Sen. Obama is indeed sincere about his repeated claims to change the tone of our politics, he should immediately denounce these remarks, remove Mr. Geffen from his campaign, and return this money."
So what exactly did Geffen — who holds no formal role in Obama’s campaign — say to get the Clinton camp so wound up? It was apparently this in Dowd’s column today: "’It’s not a very big thing to say "I made a mistake" on the war, and typical of Hillary Clinton that she can’t,’ Mr. Geffen says. ‘She’s so advised by so many smart advisers who are covering every base. I think that America was better served when the candidates were chosen in smoke-filled rooms.’" More from Dowd: "Did Mr. Spielberg get in trouble with the Clintons for helping Senator Obama? ‘Yes,’ Mr. Geffen replies, slyly. Can Obambi stand up to Clinton Inc.? ‘I hope so," he says, ‘because that machine is going to be very unpleasant and unattractive and effective."
Obama has responded to Clinton’s "outrage":
“We aren’t going to get in the middle of a disagreement between the Clintons and someone who was once one of their biggest supporters. It is ironic that the Clintons had no problem with David Geffen when was raising them $18 million and sleeping at their invitation in the Lincoln bedroom. It is also ironic that Senator Clinton lavished praise on Monday and is fully willing to accept today the support of South Carolina State Sen. Robert Ford, who said if Barack Obama were to win the nomination, he would drag down the rest of the Democratic Party because he’s black.’"
I agree with MyDD’s take:
Look, it’s obvious that this is a fight between rich elites and pundits who think the public doesn’t matter and isn’t paying attention. That’s not where the country is anymore. Just stop it.
The This American Life
The This American Life, everybody’s favorite radio show that they hardly ever listen to, is coming to television.
Michael Medved On Homophobia
This guy should just stick to reviewing Disney movies.
Recent comments by retired basketball star Tim (“I hate gay people”) Hardaway did serious damage to his image and career but also unwittingly raised serious cultural issues about sexuality and gender.
Homophobia and gay-bashing were cultural issues before Hardaway came along. In truth, I think the controversy merely allows you to raise some of your anti-gay issues.
Hardaway appropriately apologized for his harsh remarks, but many (if not most) Americans no doubt share his instinctive reluctance to share showers and locker rooms with open homosexuals. That reluctance also explains the controversial Defense Department policy that prevents out-of-the-closet gays from serving in the United States military.
Regardless of what some Americans might think, the reluctance to share showers with homosexuals comes from the irrational fear — and prejudicial myth — that a gay man might rape them (because, in theory, gay men can’t control their urges and are just waiting for you to bend over to pick up the soap). I suspect that many Americans do share this belief, but only because people like Medved are all to happy to perpetuate a false image of homosexuals.
In the wake of the nearly-universal condemnation of Tim Hardaway’s statements to a radio interviewer, the substantive issue remains. Is it a reasonable for an NBA basketball player (or a soldier in basic training, for that matter) to feel uncomfortable sharing intimate quarters with a homosexual, or does this represent an outrageous, irrational fear?
He didn’t say he was "uncomfortable" — the word he used was "hate". And I don’t know what locker rooms Medved frequents, but I wouldn’t exactly call them "intimate quarters".
In response to the Hardaway controversy, several sports columnists compared his resistance to the idea of playing alongside gay teammates to the racism of previous years when white players tried to avoid competing with (or against) blacks.
And rightly so.
The analogy is ridiculous, of course. There is no rational basis for discomfort at playing with athletes of another race since science and experience show that human racial differences remain insignificant.
What the fuck does that mean? Racial differences are insignificant how? And assuming you identify that metric, why aren’t the sexual orientation differences "insignificant"?
The much better analogy for discomfort at gay teammates involves the widespread (and generally accepted) idea that women and men shouldn’t share locker rooms. Making gay males unwelcome in the intimate circumstances of an NBA team makes just as much sense as making straight males unwelcome in the showers for a women’s team at the WNBA. Most female athletes would prefer not to shower together with men not because they hate males (though some of them no doubt do), but because they hope to avoid the tension, distraction and complication that prove inevitable when issues of sexual attraction (and even arousal) intrude into the arena of competitive sports.
And there we have it. Straight men don’t want to shower with gay men for the same reason that straight women don’t want to shower with straight men. Because gay men pray on straight men in much the same way that straight men are the natural sexual predators of straight women. Apparently.
But wait, it gets worse.
Tim Hardaway (and most of his former NBA teammates) wouldn’t welcome openly gay players into the locker room any more than they’d welcome profoundly unattractive, morbidly obese women. I specify unattractive females because if a young lady is attractive (or, even better, downright “hot”) most guys, very much including the notorious love machines of the National Basketball Association, would probably welcome her joining their showers. The ill-favored, grossly overweight female is the right counterpart to a gay male because, like the homosexual, she causes discomfort due to the fact that attraction can only operate in one direction. She might well feel drawn to the straight guys with whom she’s grouped, while they feel downright repulsed at the very idea of sex with her.
What a misogynist. No fat chicks allowed, so no gays either. We are, after all, only concerned about the heterosexual males’ world.
Hey, here’s an idea. Why not think of the locker room shower as a place to, you know, wash yourself after a sweaty basketball game, just prior to getting dressed?
I’m simply suggesting that people — and for present purporse, I include NBA players in that group — don’t necessarily have to see every situation as a potential for a "hook up". In fact, if a person can’t take an after-game shower without making it into a sexual thing, then that person has a problem.
Many gay activists suggest that this near-universal straight male repulsion at the idea of sex with another man is merely the product of cultural conditioning: a learned prejudice that ought to be unlearned.
I don’t know who these gay activists are. Apparently, Michael doesn’t either.
But shower-obsessed Michael seems to confuse two concepts: one’s personal preference for engaging/not engaging in gay sex versus one’s acceptance (or lack thereof) of homosexuality. As a straight male, I am repulsed at the idea of me having sex with another man, but that’s far different from having visceral negative reaction to the idea that there are some men out there who have sex with other men. On that latter subject, I simply do not care.
Nor frankly, would I particularly care if a gay man happened to find me attractive and checked out my hoo-hah in the shower room. Really, I don’t. Being the object of a gay man’s albeit brief attention (assuming, as I do not, that it is likely to happen) does not make me gay, nor does it ruffle me in the least. In any event, it’s probably a good thing for people like Hardaway to understand what it’s like to be ogled, since he (no doubt) ogles women with the same frequency and glee as this fictional gay man he loathes.
To be honest, I think most men who have a problem with the concept of gay sex — to the point of hatred — are merely fighting some inner demons and tendencies. Witness Ted Haggard.
This represents the core message of gay pride parades and even the drive for same-sex marriage: an effort to persuade all of society that gay sex is as beautiful as straight sex, and to “cure” men of their visceral disgust at the very thought of what two (or more) male homosexuals do with one another.
Right. Kind of the black pride parades of the 1960’s.
According to the “enlightened” advocates of gay liberation, this disgust gets to the very essence of “homophobia” – an altogether unjustified fear and distaste for male-on-male physical intimacy. When Hardaway says “I hate gay people” what he suggests at the deepest level is that he feels revolted by the very notion of same-sex eroticism and that he’d prefer not to face the distraction of such thoughts in the locker room or on the court.
Dude, they’re his thoughts and "distractions". Why should other people be discriminated against, vilified, and (in extreme cases) killed because people like Hardaway’s tiny brain can’t deal with the fact that some men like to have sex with other men?
Do we do this with, say, religion? Just because devout Christians don’t "get" — or are even repulsed by — the tenets of other religions, do we have separate showers for Jews? What gives?
In this sense, the reluctance to team (in athletics or the military) with announced homosexuals isn’t bigotry, it’s common sense. The recent “Astronaut Love Triangle” provides a pointed reminder of the way that even disciplined military careerists can be diverted, even ruined, by attraction, eroticism and romance.
And this goes to my earlier point. If Hardaway’s career is "diverted" because he has to share a locker room with a gay man — if he gets so distracted by this — then I suggest that Hardaway may have some gay issues of his own.
Those who insist that basketball teams or submarine crews must welcome gay recruits must, for the sake of consistency, argue for the same welcome to teammates of the opposite gender.
That notion – that a male player could, for instance, join a WNBA team without serious problems – shows the way that political correctness now seems to deny the obvious, often overwhelming potency of human sexuality.
In other words, men are misogynist pigs who can’t help the overwhelming potency of their sexuality. Therefore, we all should just accept it. Got that, women? Now get on yer knees and blow us. And stop this "date rape" shit — you should know that we can’t help ourselves.
Seriously though, it seems that both Hardaway and Medved are longing for the locker room of ye olde days, where manly men could pat each on the butt and snap towels and each other’s private parts. Yeah, no awkward sexual overtones there, boys.
Those who suggest that a guy could shower with young female athletes without risk of arousal, or that a gay guy could shower with young male athletes with problems or discomfort, don’t merely defy common sense. They ignore human nature.
News flash, Michael. Everyday in locker rooms all around the country, gay men ARE sharing showers with straight men. It’s already happening. And there doesn’t seem to be a huge rash of rapes.
Homophobia and gay hatred may represent the ugly side of human nature, but so does racism. We certainly don’t stand for racism, so why are you attempting to give a pass to people like Hardaway?
And by the way, whatever happened to "love the sinner, hate the sin"?
On an upbeat related note, Star Trek’s George Takei has a message for Hardaway:
UPDATE: The Rude Pundit picks up on Medved’s column, too:
To parse the layers of sexual repression and self-loathing in Michael Medved’s latest "column" is to confront the horrible rage of the unfulfilled libido, the unmitigated hatred of hidden desire. See, Medved, who has long been the standard bearer for the "Stop the Fucking" brand of moral conservatism, writes that "Tim Hardaway was right" for when the ex-basketball player spoke of his sad longing to get fucked in the showers by his teammates by talking about how much he hated gay people, calling himself "homophobic." Which means that Hardaway’s a man who’s spent a lot of time naked in showers wondering if other men were looking at his johnson.
It gets ruder from there.
I love the presupposition that fat chicks and gay dudes automatically want to fuck NBA players, and that NBA players are so insecure that even if someone to whom they weren’t attracted was in their vicinity, they couldn’t begin to function. In fact, I just love the entire idea of straight men who are made uncomfortable by the mere presence of someone wanting to fuck them whom they don’t want to fuck. All I can say is that these assholes would crumple if they had to spend a week as a woman, getting chatted up, having their space invaded, being subjected to unwanted touching, and all other manner of unsubtle displays of attraction by, well, them. It’s precisely the kind of drooling, moronic Neanderthals who proffer asinine arguments like this one that have the least compunction about aggressive horniness—which is, I suppose, why they can’t imagine that there exist people who, even if they are attracted to someone, don’t feel compelled to practically hump his or her leg to show it.
LATE UPDATE: More thoughts from TRex at FDL:
A gay man loose in a locker room could look right at them and it would, what? Hurt? Cause them deep, permanent psychological damage? Decrease their earning potential? Give them cooties?
Well, welcome to the world of every single stripper you ever tipped a lousy buck, Tim Hardaway. For women, the entire world is this deadly, dangerous locker room you’re referring to where people look at you and objectify you and don’t give two shits how you feel about it. But I’m so glad that you understand this now and will never, ever again ogle a woman and make her feel like a piece of meat.
Unless of course, you are gay yourself and this entire intemperate outburst of yours is just an elaborate smoke screen you are throwing up to shield yourself against speculation about your own orientation. It’s like the classic "gay panic" defense, i.e., "Your honor, he made a pass at me and I was so
turned onfreaked out by it that, well, I just had to kill him."I wish I could harness these all-powerful Gay Black Magick super-powers that Right Wingers seem to think are my homosexual birth-right. I mean, who knew that one closeted gay man in a locker room full of mighty, manly American athletes could pose such a threat to a team’s collective strength on the field? Ditto the military. You let one homo through and they’ll gay-ify the whole damn place in nothing flat!
Iraq 101
You don’t know the difference between a Sunni and a Shia, do you. Admit it — you don’t. That’s okay — you’re in good company (the head of the House Intelligence Committee didn’t know either).
Seriously, Iraq is complicated. Which is why I recommend this piece by Mother Jones, specifically written to get everybody (myself included) up to speed on Iraq. It’s called Iraq 101, and explains what you need to know.
Full of nice easy-to-read graphs. Here’s an illuminating one. You know the theory that if we fight terrorists in Iraq, we won’t have to fight them elsewhere? Turns out, not so much. Terrorism outside of Iraq and Afghanistan has gone up following our invasion of those countries.
Hiccup Girl Update
I first blogged about her last Friday.
Yes, she still has the hiccups. But now she’s plagued with something else …instant celebrity:
ST. PETERSBURG – The notes under the door. The incessant phone calls. The impassioned pleas, all begging for a piece of the story.
It wasn’t reporters in search of secret intelligence involving the war in Iraq.
The subject: St. Petersburg’s Jennifer Mee, a 15-year-old who started hiccuping four weeks ago today and has yet to stop.
The competition for her story became so frenzied over the weekend that NBC’s Today show changed Jennifer and her mother’s New York hotel after another network’s exhaustive attempts to get an interview.
"You really never know what is going to gain that sort of attention," said John Trevena, a Largo lawyer who has represented some high-profile clients. "It seems once it starts, it spreads like wildfire. It becomes very exhausting for all involved."
Representatives from ABC’s Good Morning America called Jennifer’s home 57 times on Sunday and slipped notes under her hotel room door, her family said.
***
The Northeast High School freshman, whose family does not own a computer, can now be seen hiccuping on YouTube. Bloggers refer to her as the "hiccup girl," and people worldwide have suggested cures. A Google search for "Jennifer Mee" and "hiccups" brought up 10 pages of Web sites.
It’s all a bit overwhelming.
Jennifer has school to think about. Her mom, the family’s chief wage earner, has to get back to work. She and her husband, their five daughters and his brother rent a two-bedroom home in north St. Petersburg.
"We went to the media for one reason only, but now I just feel like she is being used," Jennifer’s stepfather, Chris Robidoux said about reaching out for help.
"She’s not for sale. She’s a human being."
While Jennifer has enjoyed being a celebrity, she’s tired. The hiccups hurt.
The Cost Of Iraq To North Carolinians
According to the National Priorities Project…
Taxpayers in North Carolina will pay $12.3 billion for the cost of the Iraq War through 2007. For the same amount of money, the following could have been provided:
2,549,652 People with Health Care or
262,688 Elementary School Teachers or
1,664,717 Head Start Places for Children or
5,677,670 Children with Health Care or
116,816 Affordable Housing Units or
1,358 New Elementary Schools or
2,675,711 Scholarships for University Students or
238,456 Music and Arts Teachers or
324,710 Public Safety Officers or
9,792,193 Homes with Renewable Electricity or
179,895 Port Container Inspectors