kimmy

The University of Florida decided to cut it's Computer Science program, to save $1.4 million. In a completely unrelated development, the University of Florida has raised the budget of its athletics program by $2 million, to nearly $100 million. That was no doubt an astute decision for the students of that school. After all, this computers stuff is likely just a fad. In a few decades, the idea of a computer science departments will be as amusing as a hula-hoop department or a pet rock department. Increasing funding for football would allow the university to maintain the high standards for tailgate parties and hot cheerleaders that today's university students demand. But in a typical show of cowardice, the university backed down. "blah blah blah, misunderstanding. blah blah blah, financially difficult times, blah blah productive blah blah optimistic. blah blah blah, new proposal. blah blah consultation blah blah industry partners, etc, blah blah blah." -UF president Bernie Mechen. -k

"How can I trust you if you don't pay?" -workers and businesses that Newt has stiffed. Newt's campaign is over $4 million in debt. He owes campaign workers. He owes an airline and a security company. He owes a company that made signs for him. He owes J.C. Watts for an endorsement (you can buy those, apparently.) Newt owes lots and lots of money to lots and lots of people. (Some people he doesn't owe money to: Callista's business got paid. His annoying daughter's business got paid.) This, apparently, is Fiscal Responsibility, Newt-Style. How will he pay back all of this money? Well, perhaps he can take a cue from J.C. Watts and sell an endorsement to Mitt Romney. (what would you pay for an endorsement from Newt Gingrich? I don't think I'd go higher than about $20.) -k

Yes, we don't need to give Michael super-powers, we simply need to clone him. -k

That doesn't necessarily mean that the English teacher, the receptionist, the janitor, or the crossing-guards should all be considered "ministers". They're a pretty big deal to Catholic Charities... about 2/3 of their $4.6 billion budget comes from the US federal government (by contrast, about 3% comes from Catholic churches...) so yes, it's a pretty big stick for the government to hold. Why would you want to make a deal like that? -k

heehee! -k

Also, instead of bagging your grass clippings, leave them in your lawn. Set up your mower so that it blows the clippings to one side, and mow so that on your next pass, you run over the clippings you cut previously. Your clippings will get mulched up and stay in the lawn and help it retain moisture. This was how dad had us do it, and our lawn always looked great without any chemicals or watering. -k

A couple of points... The slogan in question-- "Life is wasted without Jesus" -- is not simply Christian, it's also condemning other religious views. (which is why adding "My" to the front of the statement was suggested as a compromise.) As well, schools have restricted student dress in many ways for many reasons, and I believe the courts have held that it is reasonable. Graphics deemed offensive for whatever reason, slogans considered obscene or inappropriate, clothing considered too revealing, clothing implying affiliation with gangs, these are all things that have been banned from schools at various times and places. School uniforms can save a lot of headaches... Third... the kid wore the same t-shirt to school every day for weeks. I mean, come on. Who does that, other than Charlie Brown? Personally, I don't have a problem with the kid wearing his shirt (assuming it gets washed frequently enough to avoid becoming smelly... ) as long as the same policy is applied if a Muslim kid wants to wear a shirt that says "Islam is the only true religion" or an atheist kid can wear a shirt that says "All religion is lies." Equally, I personally wouldn't have a problem with the school having a policy that prohibits religious slogans on clothing, as long as the policy is applied equally. -k

Well, we'll see. If the court does indeed decide that Mrs Herx is acting as a "minister" in a religious institution, that could have impact beyond just Mrs Herx. If Catholic schools are "religious institutions", then that has implications for the politicians who are trying to funnel public money into Catholic schools through "vouchers" and "charters" and similar notions. Similarly, if Catholic hospitals are going to be classified as religious institutions for purposes of the HHS mandate or receiving exemption from providing emergency reproductive services to women, for example, then maybe the government needs to reexamine whether Catholic hospitals should be allowed to receive funds from Medicare/Medicaid. If Catholic Charities is determined to be a religious institution for purposes of the HHS mandate and other purposes, then the US federal government will need to reexamine whether Catholic Charities is eligible to receive the billions-with-a-B of dollars of federal funding they're provided with. One may. So? Rest assured, Dick, if Canada's Catholics want to wade into partisan politics the way their American counterparts have, I've got my finger on the trigger. But as it turns out Canada's politicians tend to be very wary of such overt partnership with the church because they know it's political poison in vote-rich urban areas. -k

I bet that a lot of the same people who called the Dixie Chicks "traitors" and "unAmerican" and things like that for criticizing Bush are out there today calling Ted Nugent a patriot who's standing up for America and being punished for exercising his right to free speech. "The Nuge" is noted for playing rock-and-roll devil music, draft-dodging, having sexual relations with underaged women, and having children with almost as many different women as Winston Blackmore. But apparently he's hero to the "family values" types because he likes guns and votes Republican. -k

I'm not terribly worried about zombies, as my judo and boxing skills should be more than a match. Zombies never keep their hands up, have notoriously poor takedown defense, and I think that my notorious right hook should be able to shatter a rotting skull and pulpify a zombie brain without trouble. I am however a little more concerned about the inevitable collapse of human civilization, when I may need to hunt for food, as well as defend myself from you guys lawless anarchists. Video games and movies have given me an extensive knowledge of surviving in post-apocalyptic situations, and one thing I have learned is that ammunition will be hard to come by. As a result I have become interested in learning to use more traditional weapons. After watching The Hunger Games, I have become interested in bows. I had a cheap fibreglass bow when I was younger, but never got very serious about it. I'm considering trying it again. I am really only interested in shooting competitors from District 2 stationary targets at this point. I have been looking at takedown recurve type bows, because portability and storage are big issues. Do any of you psychos firearms enthusiasts know anything about archery? -k

The worst thing about the Canucks being eliminated so early is that it costs me money. No, I didn't put a bet on them. However, the Canucks being out amounts to less customers, less happy people, and smaller tips. Stupid Canucks. Just another reason why the Canucks suck. I feel the same way. -k

I think you could basically replace the phrase "One CSI episode" with "Any CSI episode" and leave it at that. -k

I saw Kony 2012 posters all over town. They were taped to almost any stationary object. They were American-designed posters featuring an elephant and donkey standing with their heads overlapping to form a peace dove, symbolically representing a call for bi-partisan cooperation to end Kony's attrocities. Lovely sentiment and outstanding graphical design, but completely unrelated to Canadian politics. -k

Although some people apparently got the impression that this thread was to laugh at "one or two Christians who do something worthy of being mocked," the real point is to challenge the idea that Christians are some persecuted victim group in America. "The war against religion" has been a big theme in US politics lately, with several of the Republican contenders having vowed to "end Obama's war against religion", as well as various religion leaders adopting the same sort of rhetoric (Bishop Jenky, mentioned a couple of pages ago, being a recent example.) Back in February, congressman Darrell Issa convened his House Oversight Committee panel on the contraception mandate. He marched out a panel of religious leaders, as well as staffers holding up 8 foot tall posters of Martin Luther King Jr and Gandhi. The message they hoped to send was clear: we're here fighting oppression, fighting for liberty. This isn't about womens' reproductive choices, they explained. This is about defending religious freedom against government intrusion. And there wasn't really a whole lot of discussion about the kind of religious freedoms that they feel are under attack. There was a lot of talk about how important religious freedom is, and of course who could be against freedom? It's like kittens and pie. Nobody's going to stand up and say "I hate freedom!" They told us to not focus on contraception, but asked us instead to think about the bigger picture. But didn't actually do much to paint that bigger picture for us. A case that is now heading to court helps illustrate the kind of religious freedoms the church people feel are under attack. Indiana schoolteacher Emily Herx has been fired for receiving in-vitro fertilization treatments. Emily taught English at a Catholic high school. She's married and wants to have a baby, but she and her husband have not been able to conceive naturally so they began IVF. I thought that Catholics loved families, but apparently not. Using unnatural means to conceive makes Emily a "grave, immoral sinner," according to the school's pastor. So she was fired. Emily believes that the firing is illegal. The school believes it's an allowable "ministerial exception", allowing religious institutions to fire "ministers" whose conduct is at odds with religious doctrine. Unfortunately the law is not very clear on who exactly qualifies as a "minister", and the case will hinge on whether an English teacher can be considered a "minister" or not. Whichever way the court decides, this illustrates the kind of "religious freedoms" the religious leaders claim are under attack. The church is upset that their right to fire an English teacher for attempting to have a baby is being challenged. When you look at the "big picture", defending religious freedom sounds like such an awesome cause. But when you look at which specific freedoms the religious leaders say are under attack, it always basically boils down to their right to be assholes. -k

I haven't started watching yet either, as I'm saving it until I've cleared a couple of other things off my to-do list. I'm really looking forward to spending some time with Dany and her babies. -k

If you've concluded that the primary point of the segment was to mock Fox News, I congratulate you on your masterful grasp of the obvious. Outstanding work! Breast cancer can also strike men, but breast cancer remains seen as a "women's issue", because in terms of frequency and severity its impact is heavily weighted against women. Ditto domestic violence. There is no doubt that the decision to send 23 people jailed for domestic violence back to their homes impacted women disproportionately higher than men. There is no doubt that the decision to repeal the civic law against domestic violence was widely seen to be putting womens' safety at risk. And as such, it entirely fits in place with the other examples provided. The point of the thread isn't to mock one or two Christians who do dumb things. The point is to mock Christians who present laughable claims of victimhood as a means of promoting political, legal, and social objectives. If you look back through the thread, you'll find examples of how this "Christians are being persecuted!" claim is being used by politicians to boost their campaigns. You'll find examples of how Christians are using "we're being persecuted!" to try to get "GCB" and "All-American Muslim" off TV and billboards from atheist groups removed from buses. You'll find examples of it being used for purely partisan political purposes, like the "Obama hates religion because he didn't thank Jesus for Thanksgiving" flap or Bishop Jenky's comments likening Obama to Hitler and Stalin and Otto von Bismarck. Or the religious lobby group getting Michigan politicians to sabotage the anti-bullying law in the name of "protecting religious freedom"; only public backlash stopped them from getting their way. I have no quarrel with Bishop Jenky if he is content to stay in his cathedral. But if he's going to step into the political arena, he had better be ready to defend himself. He's not immune from criticism just because he's a religious figure. I make no apologies for posting about this stuff. If religious people are going to make claims in an effort to influence public policy or public opinion, the merits of those claims need to be examined. And funny, it seems like they're usually found wanting. -k

Is the image offensive to women? Taken alone and out of context perhaps it might be offensive to some. In context, I think it made sense. Ultimately if you're a woman I don't see how you could watch that clip and decide that the image was the part that offended you. As for playing chicken with the county prosecutor by repealing the civic domestic violence law... in theory it might be a gender-neutral action, but in reality we both know that's not the case. Even though we can't obtain the information, we both know that most or all of the 23 people who were let loose from jail without charges in Topeka were men, because the large majority of reported domestic violence cases are commited by men. While we know that women can be the abusers too, and in much larger numbers than people realize, we also know that the large majority of deaths and serious injury in domestic violence incidents results to women. So I don't agree that declining to prosecute domestic violence isn't a women's issue. The number of reported cases, and the severity of harm to the victims gives the decision a disproportionate impact on women. -k

-k

The real star of Deep Purple is Jon Lord, the organ player. A while back I saw this neat video where he explains how he developed the unmistakable sound: -k

I don't think you and "the Catholic League" are in agreement on that point. -k

The image was pretty crass, but that's kind of the point. When states are introducing laws requiring mandatory penetration with a 10-inch probe, I don't see any reason to try to frame the discussion delicately. As for the Topeka thing... the real story is apparently that the Shawnee County prosecutor's office had their budget decimated and stopped pursuing domestic violence cases, and the city responded by repealing their civic law against domestic violence to try to force the county to resume, and the standoff only lasted a month, during which at least 35 reports of domestic violence were not pursued. So while beating your wife was never legal in Topeka, it would have been accurate to say that for a month you could beat your wife in Topeka and nobody would prosecute you for it. The truth of the story-- city council and county prosecutor playing a game of Texas Hold'em using the safety of real women as the chips-- is really not much better than the inaccurate description Stewart used. One wonders how things got so bad for Kansas that the law-and-order Republicans couldn't afford to give their prosecutors a budget to prosecute criminals. I guess that in hard financial times a poor state like Kansas has to make tough choices, and they had to save their money for the highest priority items, like buying those 10-inch vaginal probes and figuring out how to get creationism taught in public schools. -k

The Republicans got a huge boost from Palin in 2008. They lost it again once people started realizing what a blooming idiot she is, but it's clear that picking her as VP boosted the Republicans back into the race for a while. And picking the right VP candidate could provide a lot of help for Mitt Romney. If the right VP candidate existed. But they probably can't find somebody with all the attributes they need. -k

The NHL remains a gate-driven league. So it doesn't matter if hockey isn't the #1 or #2 or #3 sport in Nashville, as long as they have enough fans to fill their arena. The Predators' earlier attendance struggles were well known, but many people apparently don't realize that they have established themselves in the market and have been playing in a full arena for years. -k

Hey, there's no call for comments of a personal nature. I'm just trying to bring attention to a very important issue. Over 80% of Americans are being persecuted at this very moment! -k

The "it was just a joke" defense does not require that it be a good joke. Indeed, it is more often used in regard to bad jokes (see the Letterman/Palin thing for the flagship example.) So whether it was a good joke or a bad one is beside the point. Having now watched the whole clip (thanks, msj!) as opposed to just seeing the still-frame, I would say yes, it was a very funny segment that did make a very good point. -k