TheAgitator.com
Morning Links
Tuesday, August 31st, 2010- I don’t know about you, but the name “Wikileakileaks” makes me have to pee.
- Focus on the Family is concerned that anti-bullying efforts in public schools may prevent straight kids from calling gay kids faggots.
- Nerd jokes.
- Heavy drinkers outlive nondrinkers. Moderate drinkers live longest of all. Which means alcohol excise taxes may be killing you!
- Department of Transportation fines non-profit air ambulance service $30,000 for using the wrong pronoun.
- An armful of badgers.
Badgers?
We don’t need no stinkin badgers!
(Sorry, but I know you all are thinking it).
That must be some of that there hyperbole, because I couldn’t find anywhere in the article or the associated web site where Focus on the Family advocates bullying homosexuals or calling them faggots.
Thanks, DOT. I feel a lot safer now that you’ve brought the hammer down on a company for using “our” improperly. Nice to know you’re going after such serious issues and not working on things that might actually do good in your primarily unconstitutional agency.
The article says that longer life might be because alcohol facilitates social interactions. Geez! If life expectancy is tied to social skills, I am totally fucked.
Moderate drinkers live longest of all.
I drink in Moderation.
It’s a pub about a block from my office.
Every time I read an article about the health benefits of moderate alcohol consumption, I wish I didn’t find that beer and wine taste like sour ass.
Re: DOT fine of Texas air ambulance co.
I’m all for the prohibition of deceptive advertising/practices. But shouldn’t it be necessary to prove that someone would/could be harmed by the deception before the imposition of a fine or any sanction for that matter? This is regulation for regulation sake. It’s not surprising as this seems to be typical bureaucratic behavior but it still pisses me off.
Also, compliance would require their ad to say “We will fly a helicopter that is not technically ours but for which we are the exclusive users, to your location in the case of an emergency to your location (if you are not the owner of this location please note whether you are an invitee, licensee or trepasser).”
Dave Krueger “The article says that longer life might be because alcohol facilitates social interactions. Geez! If life expectancy is tied to social skills, I am totally fucked.”
You take pictures of naked women, that’s way more social skills than most of us have!
damn — I gotta read these things before I post ‘em.
@ David | August 31st, 2010 at 10:39 am
“I wish I didn’t find that beer and wine taste like sour ass.”
It might help if you washed your glass first.
;P
trackerk-
Yeah, Radley may have indulged in some hyperbole, but not much. FOTF states that “[gay] activists are being deceptive in using anti-bullying rhetoric to introduce their viewpoints.” The only way I can think of that “anti-bullying rhetoric” introduces “their viewpoints” is by punishing people who express anti-gay sentiment. I don’t know how it was when you were in school, but I can think of maybe one time that somebody said, “I believe homosexuality is a sin” and a million times that people said, “_______ is a fag!” (and yes, maybe once or twice that blank was filled with my name).
As I read it, FOTF’s concern is that punishing kids for calling other kids gay is implicitly teaching that homosexuality is normal. They would prefer that kids be allowed to make fun of other kids as being gay, thereby reinforcing the belief that homosexuality is wrong. Do you read it differently?
I always found teetotalers an odd lot. But I never guessed I
might outlive them.
BTW The Graber wiretapping case is getting juicy.
What I reckon, any time you have to *compel* discovery it means
adversarial attorneys are getting hot and bothered.
http://casesearch.courts.state.md.us/inquiry/inquiryDetail.jis?caseId=12K10000647&loc=56&detailLoc=K
Doc No./Seq No.: 30/0
File Date: 08/25/2010Close Date:
Party Type: Defendant Party No.:1
Document Name: Motion to Compel Discovery
Focus on the Family is concerned that anti-bullying efforts in public schools may prevent straight kids from calling gay kids faggots.
No you misunderstand. They are concerned anti-bullying efforts may prevent straight (and sometimes closeted) kids from call straight kids faggots. Because the pecking order must be maintained.
Because that is Christ like. Or something.
Well, I think we all know what this calls for…
The DOT is engaging in extortion, nothing more. This is the type of thing you expect to see on a wacky lawsuit list. As has been pointed out numerous times before on this site, when government agencies get to keep the “proceeds” from their efforts, abuse will quickly follow.
While not the most depressing set of links you’ve ever provided, I think this morning I’ll just focus on the armful of baby badgers.
Mushroom mushroom.
“Focus on the Family is concerned that anti-bullying efforts in public schools may prevent straight kids from calling gay kids faggots.”
I thought this was another link to The Onion. Alas, real life resembles make-believe news once again.
“anti-bullying efforts in public schools may prevent straight kids from calling gay kids faggots.”
And what a loss that would be. I have never been as certain of my heterosexuality as when I called gay kids faggots.
Wait…no…. meh fuck these people.
Because homosexuality is normal (about as normal as being a redhead*) and should be accepted. Opposing viewpoints by conservative Christians are indeed bigotry.
* Reliable numbers on the percentage of gays in America don’t really exist. My SWAG is ~2%, the same as redheads in the US.
“Every time I read an article about the health benefits of moderate alcohol consumption, I wish I didn’t find that beer and wine taste like sour ass.”
You just need to drink a lot more of it.
That’ll also make all the girls around you look prettier, too.
@ J sub D | August 31st, 2010 at 11:32 am
IIRC, the Kinsey Report found the number around 5%, but there was some abiguity due to bisexuality, which was not understood at the time. (The prevailing opinion before Kinsey was that you were either homosexual or straight with no gradation in between.)
See, I’m a health nut. That’s why I drink.
ClubMedSux, et al — what a bunch of bigots you are! FOTF never said kids should have the right to call gays faggots. Radley made that up, and you decided it must be true. Because when you went to school you called others fags, that somehow means FOTF wants to have other kids do that?
Radley — free speech is a great thing for everyone except FOTF, right?
Radley never said FOTF didn’t have a right to free speech, just that what they’re using that right for is stupid. Acknowledging that people have legal rights to particular behaviors doesn’t then require supporting what they use that legal right for.
One of my grandmothers was a teetotaler, she believed if you ever took that first drink you were destined to become an alcoholic, she lived to the age of 87 (she died in 1966). My other grandmother had an occasional beer, she died at the age of 87 in 1970. I have one glass of wine with dinner almost everyday, and I have a Kahlua and Cream in the evening on weekends while playing World of Warcraft, I expect to live to be around 90 (maybe longer). I think beer tastes like soapsuds, and smells worse.
FotF:
http://www.southparkstudios.com/episodes/251889/
It’s time to rid our union of all those unconstitutional agencies all of which do more harassment than regulation and more harm than good.
Oh, and those baby badgers are very cute, too bad they grow up to be such grumps.
Kids call everybody faggots not just the gay kids. Kids are douches.
George in AZ (and trackerk, for that matter)-
I’ve offered my explanation for why FOTF’s policy implicitly supports kids calling kids gay. I’m still awaiting an alternate explanation as to how anti-bullying policies support teh Gays’ agenda.
I think people should be able to call each other whatever the hell they want. I think schools are terrible with respect to deciding limits on speech, so there should not be any.
The solution, if there is one, is to use our freedom to associate (or not associate) to teach others that random verbal abuse is not cool, and that being an intolerant screw-job is going to be a hindrance to one in life. That said, I have little to no faith that it will happen that way among school age kids. Still, I’d rather have kids calling each other “faggots” than schools punishing kids for speech. As readers of this site see, schools almost always get it wrong, and “Anti-bullying” policies tend to be used to bully people who engage in behavior that we don’t like.
I knew cutting back on the beer felt wrong.
#27 | JS |
‘Kids call everybody faggots not just the gay kids. Kids are douches.’
I wanted to comment, but your comment was perfect!
http://downtownseattle.komonews.com/content/whittling-man-fatally-shot-police
Seattle police shoot whittler to death.
The issue of bullying and kids not getting along is an inevitable consequence of mandatory, state-sponsored education. The other day I was thinking about how crappy it would be for a kid to be teased relentlessly, and how I’m glad I dont have to deal with that. I don’t have to deal with that because as an adult I can just walk away from an asshole and refuse to have anything to do with them, or if they try to harm me I can fight back.
But kids are forced to go to school with their tormentors and in this age of emasculation, if they actually fight back against bullies they are re-educated that “violence is not the answer.” Well sometimes it is.
As I understand it, Wikileaks is primarily engaged in releasing government information to the public that is forced to pay for and obey said government.
As we are not forced to pay for or obey Wikileaks at the point of a gun, their internal issues are really not relevant. You don’t like Wikileaks? Ignore it. You don’t like government? Try ignoring them and see how far you get.
Another possibility is that people who don’t like the taste of alcohol are apt to be supertasters, and that goes with finding that dark green veggies are too bitter.
I generally disagree with Focus on the Family about pretty much everything when it comes to public policy, but I don’t think it’s any more fair to mischaracterize their position than it is for others to mischaracterize libertarians as nothing but a bunch of libertine dope-smokers.
It’s true that “anti-bullying” is being used in schools as a way to push the viewpoint that there’s nothing morally wrong with being gay. Preventing kids from bullying each other is a valid thing that everybody ought to support. Forcing kids to accept the viewpoint that being gay is morally acceptable isn’t. Shaping kids’ moral viewpoints about sexuality isn’t what schools are supposed to be doing. I don’t want a school pushing abstinence as a moral position, but I also don’t want a school pushing acceptance of homosexuality as a moral position.
To pretend that the Focus on the Family position is all about the desire to call “gay kids faggots” is engaging in the sort of unfair and inaccurate hyperbole that others use toward libertarians all the time. It bothers me when it’s done to us, but it bothers me when libertarians do it to them, too.
@#23 | George in AZ
I’m so glad I have the freedom to tell you that you’re a miserable cocktwadler and you can lick my balls.
Brian
They’re called possessive pronouns, but they’re used for many situations not to indicate possession, but more general relationships. I can talk about “my wife” or “my son” without anyone but real throwbacks thinking that means I actually own them. I can talk about “my apartment” even though I rent it. I can talk about “my neighborhood”, “my city”, “my county”, or “my state” without implying that I own them. I have no say in the running of my school. My senator is more likely to ignore any requests than click his heels and say “yes, boss” (more’s the pity).
David,
You say you want to prevent kids from bullying each other, going so far as to describe it as a position that “everybody ought to support.” Then you implicitly argue that teaching kids not to bully homosexuals is tacitly endorsing homosexuality. I can’t make heads or tails of that position, but you can, so please describe how schools are supposed to deal with kids bullying gay students.
David, I think you’re putting too much into the “anti-bullying”. Most teachers couldn’t care less about the social pecking order within the school or whether some kids think it’s a sin to be gay. What they do care about is having to deal with bullshit, such as bullying. Because society now deems that teachers must prevent this, they now have to be on the lookout for and report bullying behavior. If kids are repeatedly harassing someone, regardless of why, and it becomes apparent to the teacher, they have to report it to the administration and the admin will then look for a pattern and try to intervene. Most teachers see kids for 1 hour a day and hope they can get through their lesson without interruption. Whether their parents are teaching them tolerance or not is not even on their radar. I think Radley’s point about FOF stands as they didn’t seem too worried about the right to be mean to fat kids or slutty girls.
@28: I am not agreeing with commenters nor with FOTF, but here’s the argument:
It has less to do with the bullying part of the article and more with the curriculum part. By having kids sit through non-discrimination sessions in which homosexuality is discussed, it is using school curriculum to reinforce the “normalcy” (for lack of a better word) of homosexuality, undermining those who still argue that it is a choice or mental disorder (which was the argument way back in the primitive 1950s). By refusing to allow parents to opt their kids out of these sessions, FOTF and others believe it is interfering with the role of parents with their children.
So — and I do agree with this — saying that FOTF is just upset about the bullying part of things is, indeed, hyperbole.
FWIW
Also, let’s not lose sight of the most ridiculous part of the article: “Bullying is a major public health crisis in this country.” Really? Public health officials are the new secular priesthood and must be stopped. They use the guise of science to advocate a morality and attempt to turn every matter of personal choice (really? kids bully? I’m shocked!) into an “epidemic.”
Sam, you can teach people not to bully ANYBODY without it having a thing to do with whether someone is gay or not. The lesson that should be taught is that NOBODY is to be bullied, whether you agree with the person or like him or not. One can believe that homosexuality is wrong, but not bully a gay person. Is that so hard to understand? The behavior and the moral belief shouldn’t be linked. Kids bully others not BECAUSE they’re gay, but because they’re different. It’s not “accepting gay” that’s the real issue. It’s getting people to understand that being different doesn’t make it OK to bully people.
@MassHole — You do make a good point re: only being worried about some types of “anti-bullying.” I have had healthy debates with some FOTF types who argued that you DO need to use labels, such as “pot head,” to properly ostracize people and teach them that they are wrong. No shit. I’m serious about this.
I don’t see how anybody can draw anything about the actual situation from that story since it contains no information on what school districts are actually teaching (or doing) about bullying, only what Focus on the Family claims they are.
MassHole, I think teachers are in a difficult position for some of the reasons you mention, but I’m also aware that some things done in schools now in the name of stopping bullying does concentrate specifically on changing views about the morality of being gay. I’ve known teachers who have been a part of these programs (especially at the middle school level), and they tell me that they feel they’re being pushed to teach kids that there’s nothing wrong with homosexuality, but without coming right out and saying it. To me, that’s no better than sex education that pushes a Christian point of view.
On your other point, I understand that Focus on the Family is specifically picking out this one issue, as opposed to the “right” to bully slutty girls or fat kids, but that’s reasonable since a moral position about homosexuality IS a part of the group’s agenda. I doubt they have a position about the morality of being fat. :-)
Nerds drinking with badgers live longest of all.
FOTF is claiming that anti-bullying measures are part of a gay agenda. They are mischaracterizing school policy. They don’t have any proof to prove their assertions. They are liars. Don’t tell me they don’t deserve a little slanderous hyperbole.
Imagine if they instead said that anti-bullying measures were part of a secrete agenda to prove that blacks are equal to whites and that they are morally opposed to such thinking.
I can’t find a reason to defend FOTF here. They’re position on this matter is based on bigotry. It’s not based on any concrete evidence.
David,
If a kid is getting called a “faggot” at school then, your position is that the school should intervene and tell the bully, “While it is perfectly reasonable to hate that child for being gay because your religion tells you so, please don’t call him a faggot.” Is that it?
Sam, you’re clearly more interested in inflammatory rhetoric that mischaracterizes what your opponent is saying than in rationally discussing a disagreement, so I don’t see any reason to respond to you any further. You’re either not bright enough to have an honest discussion with someone you disagree with or you’re simply being disingenuous. I don’t know or care which it is.
Focus on the Family (or families full of hate) drives people away from religion. Personally, I’ll give money to getting a kid DECENT legal representation before I’ll ever give a dime to some church. I wish people were more inclined to resurrect a kid from the ditch than to build more spirals toward the sky in the name of Jesus.
You like random links? Enjoy!
Wait, why if FOTF accusing homosexuals of being Harley Riders?
The alcohol will almost certainly extend your life, but I watch the news so I know that WoW will eventually affix itself to your cerebral cortex like the newborn creatures in “Alien”, turning your brain to mush leaving you a quivering gelatinous glob, unresponsive to any outside stimulus, and burdening your family with 24/7 upkeep for all those extra years you’re going to live.
Honestly. I’m drunk right now. Therefore I submit this:
The despot’s heel is on thy shore,
Maryland, My Maryland!
His torch is at thy temple door,
Maryland, My Maryland!
Avenge the patriotic gore
That flecked the streets of Baltimore,
And be the battle queen of yore,
Maryland! My Maryland!
Hark to an exiled son’s appeal,
Maryland, My Maryland!
My Mother State! to thee I kneel,
Maryland, My Maryland!
For life and death, for woe and weal,
Thy peerless chivalry reveal,
And gird they beauteous limbs with steel,
Maryland! My Maryland!
Thou wilt not cower in the dust,
Maryland, My Maryland!
Thy beaming sword shall never rust,
Maryland, My Maryland!
Remember Carroll’s sacred trust,
Remember Howard’s warlike thrust,-
And all they slumberers with the just,
Maryland! My Maryland!
Come! ’tis the red dawn of the day,
Maryland, My Maryland!
Come with thy panoplied array,
Maryland, My Maryland!
With Ringgold’s spirit for the fray,
With Watson’s blood at Monterey,
With fearless Lowe and dashing May,
Maryland! My Maryland!
Come! for thy shield is bright and strong,
Maryland, My Maryland!
Come! for thy dalliance does thee wrong,
Maryland, My Maryland!
Come! to thine own heroic throng,
Stalking with Liberty along,
And cgive a new Key to thy song,
Maryland! My Maryland!
Dear Mother! burst the tyrant’s chain,
Maryland, My Maryland!
Virginia should not call in vain!
Maryland, My Maryland!
She meets her sisters on the plain-
“Sic semper!” ’tis the proud refrain
That baffles minions back amain,
Maryland! My Maryland!
I see the blush upon thy cheek,
Maryland, My Maryland!
For thou wast ever bravely meek,
Maryland, My Maryland!
But lo! There surges forth a shriek
From hill to hill, from creek to creek-
Potomac calls to Chesapeake,
Maryland! My Maryland!
Thou wilt not yield the vandal toll,
Maryland, My Maryland!
Thou wilt not crook to his control,
Maryland, My Maryland!
Better the fire upon thee roll,
Better the blade, the shot, the bowl,
Than crucifixion of the soul,
Maryland! My Maryland!
I hear the distant thunder-hum,
Maryland, My Maryland!
The Old Line’s bugle, fife, and drum,
Maryland, My Maryland!
She is not dead, nor deaf, nor dumb-
Huzza! she spurns the Northern scum!
She breathes! she burns! she’ll come! she’ll come!
Maryland! My Maryland!
Maria @#16
For making a Mr. Weebl reference
you win
forever.
Now look at my horse, you’ll find its quite amazing…
With all the verbally abusive comments I read here, on the Internet, it does not surprise me that kids are also that way! There is no reason verbal abuse should be acceptable. It is the way of bullies. And calling other kids names is not the “Christian” way, either! But, honestly, tell me how we are going to keep the little jerks from doing it?! Make a law? Will calling them gay, in the future, also be derogatory?
I am about as hetero as you can get (“sexually aggressive male”?) but I never had any problem with all the gay nurses I worked with, or any other gay I know. There is no, acceptable, reason to abuse any other person! Christians need to learn a little more about mercy and compassion. If they were honest to their religion, they would never judge or abuse anyone.
#25 | Windy
that’s the best south park EVER. they’ll never top it!