Interesting news thread

[Alberich]

New Rule: The more complicated the Starbucks order, the bigger the asshole.
If you walk into a Starbucks and order a "decaf grande half-soy, half-low
fat, iced vanilla, double-shot, gingerbread cappuccino, extra dry, light
ice, with one Sweet-n'-Low and one NutraSweet," ooh, you're a huge asshole.


New Rule: Just because your tattoo has Chinese characters in it doesn't
make you spiritual. It's right above the crack of your ass. And it
translates to "beef with broccoli." The last time you did anything
spiritual, you were hoping to goodness you weren't pregnant. You're not
spiritual. You're just high.

[Weasel]

heh.. sounds like something Denis Leary would say

[firebrand]

or george carlin...."why do we drive on a parkway and park in a driveway?"

rebs

[brand]

From Savage Love by Dan Savage

STRAIGHT RIGHTS UPDATE
Two disturbing developments in the battle over straight rights last week: First, we know Target fills its ads with dancing, multiculti hipsters giving off a tolerant, urbanist vibe and runs hipster-heavy ad campaigns positioning Target as a slightly more expensive, more progressive alternative to Wal-Mart. Well, as John Aravosis revealed on Americablog.com last week, the chain allows its pharmacists to refuse to dispense birth control and emergency contraception to female customers if the pharmacist objects on religious grounds. What's worse, the company claims that its employees have a right to discriminate against its customers provided the discrimination is motivated by an employee's religious beliefs. Read all about it at Americablog.com and Plannedparenthood.org.

Second, more troubling news from Tucson, Arizona, where a 20-year-old rape victim called dozens of pharmacies in town before she found one that stocked emergency contraception (EC). "When she finally did find a pharmacy with it, she said she was told the pharmacist on duty would not dispense it because of religious and moral objections," reports the Arizona Daily Star. Emergency contraception, the story continues, "prevents pregnancy by stopping ovulation, fertilization, or implantation of a fertilized egg. The sooner the emergency contraception is taken after intercourse, the more effective it is."

Don't just sit there, heteros. Defend your rights! Don't shop at Target; write 'em and say why you're going elsewhere. (Go to Target.com and click on "contact us," then "Target Corporation.") As for Fry's Pharmacy in Tucson, the shop that wouldn't dispense EC to a freakin' rape victim, the fundamentalist pharmacist claims it's her "right" not to do her ******* job. Well, you have a right to free speech. Call Fry's at 520-323-2695 and ask them why a pharmacy that won't dispense EC keeps the drug in stock. Do they do it just to torment rape victims? ("Oh yeah, we've got EC—but you can't have any. Don't you know that Jesus wants you to bear your rapist's child?") Rise up, straight people, and demand your rights!

[kjartan]

My former state of Texas is now trying to pass a constitutional amendment (in Texas, for reasons related to the problems the state had with carpetbaggers from the North passing crappy laws during Reconstruction after the Civil War, you have to pass a constitutional amendment if you want to change almost any law) to ban gay marriage. I don't think they wrote the text of it very well:
[quote:myjikoe8]SECTION 1. Article I, Texas Constitution, is amended by adding Section 32 to read as follows:

Sec. 32. (a) Marriage in this state shall consist only of the union of one man and one woman.
(b) This state or a political subdivision of this state may not create or recognize any legal status identical or similar to marriage.
[/quote:myjikoe8]
It looks to me like 32. (b) actually bans [i:myjikoe8]any[/i:myjikoe8] marriage, not just gay marriage. Because isn't marriage itself a legal status identical to marriage?

[Alberich]

Why do trolls troll? Pretty interesting discussion, actually

[quote:1daonyzq]My own theory is that persistent trolls are the online equivalent of people who do not (or cannot) distinguish between positive attention (praise, approval) and negative attention (criticism, disapproval), but simply perceive attention = good.[/quote:1daonyzq]

[url:1daonyzq]http://www.barbelith.com/topic/22769[/url:1daonyzq]

[Weasel]

Yup dead right - and that behavior is reinforced because they get the attention they desire, even though it's negative. Psych 11.

[12345]

I compare it more to rolling a snowball downhill. It doesn't take much effort, and it's fun to watch. Keyword being fun, of course.

[Alberich]

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1611970.html?menu

oh my

[13]

[quote:2bii3rdv]April 18, 2006— Remains of an enormous species of carnivorous dinosaur, which was longer than all other previously identified meat-eating dinos, have been found in western Patagonia, according to a news conference held there on Monday.

Researchers announced that the newly discovered meat muncher, Mapusaurus roseae, belongs to a group of gigantic carnivorous dinosaurs called carcharodontosaurids. This group includes Giganotosaurus, the largest meat-eating dinosaur to ever walk the earth.

The discovery is published in the latest issue of the journal Geodiversitas.

Paleontologists say Mapusaurus exceeded 41 feet in length and had a shinbone that was longer than that of Giganotosaurus. The current record-holder, however, retains its "largest" title because Giganotosaurus would have been wider and heavier than Mapusaurus. [/quote:2bii3rdv]

[img:2bii3rdv]http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20060417/meatdino_din_zoom0.html[/img:2bii3rdv]

[Mystery]

While I could in fact make this stuff up, it is unfortunately true. Tom Cruise plans on eating Katie Holmes placenta.

[Nascosto]

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2005/10/17

[Weasel]

[quote="Mystery":38j1rac8]While I could in fact make this stuff up, it is unfortunately true. Tom Cruise plans on eating Katie Holmes placenta.[/quote:38j1rac8]

ewwww
..and then what's he gonna do? dance around naked banging sticks together and chanting? wow.. out there.

[jezer]

I agree with Weasel, eating her placenta is such a waste, when it could be used as a better brain than he currently has.

[12345]

This is a year old but messed up on so many levels....

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0, ... 92,00.html

[quote="Times Online":3986egmu]The Times June 08, 2005


Anti-rape device must be banned, say women
From Jonathan Clayton in Johannesburg



FURIOUS South African women have called for a controversial new anti-rape device, dubbed a “rat trap”, to be banned by the Government.
The tampon-like device, invented by a woman, supposedly protects women from rapists by cutting into a man’s penis.



It has sparked an empassioned debate over the high number of rapes committed each day in the country and the authorities’ apparent failure to tackle the issue.

Activists are outraged and want to stop it going on sale alongside tampons in chemists and supermarkets next month.

Charlene Smith, a leading anti-rape campaigner, said: “This is a medieval instrument, based on male-hating notions and fundamentally misunderstands the nature of rape and violence against women in this society. It is vengeful, horrible, and disgusting. The woman who invented this needs help.”

The device, which Sonette Ehlers, its inventor, has patented, is worn like a tampon but is hollow. In the event of a rape, she said that it would fold around the rapist’s penis and attach itself with microscopic hooks. It is impossible to remove the clamped device without medical intervention.

“We have to do something to protect ourselves. While this will not prevent rape, it will help identify attackers and secure convictions,” Ms Ehlers told the Johannesburg Star.

Women’s groups disputed her claims, which have reopened a debate over violence against women in South Africa. The country has been called the rape capital of the world. Lisa Vetten, of the Centre of Violence and Reconciliation, said: “This is like going back to the days when women were forced to wear chastity belts. It is a terrifying thought that women are being made to adapt to rape.”

The South African Law Commission recently estimated that 1.69 million women a year were raped in the country but that only 52,000 cases a year are reported. Other estimates put the rate even higher.

Ms Smith said: “More than 40 per cent of those raped are children and nationally more than 65 per cent are gang rapes. Whether this translates as a woman raped every 26 seconds or more is irrelevant. It is far too many and not enough is being done to tackle it. This is not a male-only problem, it is a societal problem.”

The activist’s views were echoed by Jenny Crwys- William, the host of a popular radio talk show, who described the device as a “profoundly disturbing” development that underlined how society was in danger of accepting rape as a reality of everyday life. “We need more police and more sensitive police responses to rape. When more rapists go behind bars, rape rates will go down,” she told listeners.

Many callers criticised the Government for a “head in the sand” approach similar to its well-known reluctance to accept the gravity of the HIV/Aids epidemic in the country.

“This will increase the danger to women, who are already in great danger during a rape. The Government must not allow this to go on sale,” one rape victim, who was stabbed twice during an attack, said.[/quote:3986egmu]