Their latest antic? They're not quite excommunicating a congressman (a Kennedy, no less), but they are, apparently, forbidding him to take communion because he's pro-choice.

( Linkophobes can click here to read. )

I do not know what to make of the story this article is reporting on (apart from boggling at the money that some people earn), but the writer, Peter Stanford, what the hell? Is this suppose to be funny, am I missing something. Maybe my sense of humour is broken.

---

''IS IT the 'dumb blonde' hearing you're looking for, sir?'' someone asks as I wander the corridors of Victory House, home of the London Central Employment Tribunal. Just as he is pointing out the right door, a procession topped by various shades of blonde goes through it.

( It is hard to imagine him, as Ms Wimmer has alleged, cavorting in front of her with a lap-dancer in a Paris burlesque club. )

Source

Remember the 8yo in Arizona who was gang raped?

Her parents have been arrested on Child abuse charges

( For the linkphobic )

It won't help the little girl get over what was done to her, but I can't help but feel just a tiny bit glad that this happened.

( Cut for triggery WTFery )

That headline is ridiculous. The article is not much better.

*quiet rage*

ETA: Forgot the link, had to hunt through my browser history for it.

Also, I'm still trying to figure out that line about "alleged abuse victims" -- what, the priests are convicted as pedophiles, but that doesn't mean the victims are telling the truth?

tags: another reason to hate people

I was kind of surprised this hadn't hit Unfunnybusiness yet...

( Cut for triggers. )

This is the first negative opinion piece on the Twilight series I've seen on a mainstream newspaper (well at least one that's local), possibly I've been living under a rock, but it made me very happy.

You know how hard it is when your flist is going on and on about a series you can't stand? Well, OK, you can just scroll on by, but now it's society which is going on and on about it, the advertising is driving me a bit insane, I can't wait until people move onto the next big thing.

Warning, spoilers in article.
----
When I was growing up, my literary heroine was Josephine March from Little Women. Jo was a lanky tomboy with no interest in frocks or gentlemen. While her sisters flirted and fretted about their noses, Jo scribbled in the attic, dreaming of becoming a writer. She chopped off her hair, threw snowballs and lived with gusto at a time when gusto was extremely unladylike.

( Bella has become a poster girl for the gender roles Jo and Anne rejected more than 100 years ago )

Source

Mother calls the police to her home to help her control her 10-year-old... again. Mother repeatedly tells the cop he can tase her daughter. After a brief struggle, the cop does. According to the police chief, tasing the girl was preferable to picking her up because "They can slip from you and fall on the ground."

Link

( Text for the linkphobic. )


ETA: The officer's report on The Smoking Gun, link courtesy of heuradys.

I'm surprised this hasn't made it over here yet:

Universal's UK 'Couples Retreat' Poster Brings Cries of Racism by Removing Black Actors

The excuse?

In response to outrage over the move, a Universal spokesman said the altered poster aimed "to simplify the poster to actors who are most [recognizable] in international markets."

Universal "issued a statement regretting any offense it caused, and the studio has scrapped all plans to use the modified poster in other overseas markets" but this makes it sound like the problem is with the people who took offense.

mood: grumpy

Thinks crew members of NBC's Heroes. It all started when Jim Martin (assistant to show creator Tim Kring and himself a writer on the show) engaged in conversation with (former, now disgruntled) fans about the show, and in the process uttered such gems as "Anyone who thinks they can do better... I dare you. Go ahead. :) I'd love to see it." and "If you think that Racism and Sexism are thematically integrated in HEROES then you may want to check your intelligence before worrying about it being insulted." That post has since been deleted, but a kind mouse saved it and shared it with us in wank_report. In his follow-up post about the whole mess, he whined about how he liked the internet better when it wasn't so self-righteous, and left us with even more gems as "Look up the diversity programs for writers in tv. Ask anyone in the tv world. There is a distinct disadvantage to be a white male when trying to be a staff writer." and "I'm fully aware of what you are referencing, but I don't think its a problem on Heroes and I don't think white privilege is an issue in Hollywood at this point."

Sounds bad enough, right?

But no! Turns out that was just the start of a downwards spiral of fail, and it turns out that the fail reached new startling depths when Foz McDermott, a coordinating producer and writer of the show and perpetual bringer of anti-PC and misogyny fail, decided to use his own blog to reply to a particular comment that was left on Jim Martin's blog. He starts charmingly:

“The idea that white privilege isn’t a problem in Hollywood at this point is an idea coming from a privileged standpoint.”

Holy crap lady… if you are indeed a lady… that is hilarious. In a business that is scared of and run by pussy organizations that are so scared of being sued about everything, being OVERLY PC is the actual problem. Being a white male in the business of Hollywood is NOT easy. There are programs and incentives to help everyone except white males.

( no, it doesn't get better from there )

I've personally been fuming about Heroes for months, but when it sinks so low, I'm not sure I can do much else than laugh.

What makes me really sad, and well, thinky about this is all the times I've been groped on the train, probably a dozen or so times. I usually moved away really quickly, or on one memorable occasion I elbowed a guy in the stomach. But it nevered occured to me, at the time, or any time since, to take it to the authorities, or even talk to the rail staff.

And the reason being? I don't know, I just accept that these things happen, I just accept it would be useless to make a fuss about it. In my mind, being groped on peak-hour commuting time is like spilling coke all over your dress, it happens, it sucks, you move on. Every woman knows when they are being groped. So I call bullshit on the Judges.
----
Last April, the Supreme Court reversed a Tokyo High Court decision that found Masahiro Nakura, a professor of medicine at the Self-Defense Forces University, guilty of being a chikan (groper) after he was charged with sexually assaulting a 17-year-old high school girl on the Odakyu train line in 2006. A majority of the judges said they thought the girl's statement was "unreliable."

( article behind cut )
Source

Remember the swim club in Philadelphia that wouldn't allow African-American and Hispanic children to use their pool? They're back in the news.

PhillyBurbs.com: Embattled swim club headed to bankruptcy
By: CHRISTOPHER RUVO
Burlington County Times

A Lower Moreland, Pa., swim club that made national headlines after being accused of racism for turning away minority day campers plans to file for bankruptcy, according to an e-mail from the club's president to members.

The announcement comes as the Valley Club struggles to cope with mounting debt and the cost of legal proceedings and lawsuits filed by families of children from Creative Steps Day Camp, a summer camp in Northeast Philadelphia whose members are minorities.

"The truth is that the club has struggled to stay out of the red for the last decade," Valley Club President John Duesler Jr. wrote in an e-mail that was posted on a Daily News blog at philly.com. "Our current debt from this year's operation and legal fees exceeds $100,000."

Oops! Looks like they got what was coming to them

Danvers High School Bans the word "Meep" and brings in police to enforce the ban.

The Internet is not amused.

Meep on, brothers and sisters. Meep on.

Generally, when I check on my comics-mockery blogs, I don't expect to see unfunny misogynist diatribes. But it was not to be.

( :/ )

"Toddler" microwaves a kitten.

Taken from here and rage_free on LJ.

Warning: Graphic animal abuse beneath the cut.

( Read more... )

EDIT: I called the shelter and they said that a burned kitten had come in a few days ago.

Catholic Church gives Washington D.C. an ultimatum over Gay marriage

Text below the cut for the linkphobic -

( Catholic Church gives D.C. ultimatum )

tags: jesus wept, teh ebil ghey agenda!

Bid to cut gays from surrogacy in State Parliament

Long story short, the government have drafted laws decriminalising altruistic (ie, not for profit) surrogacy for anyone in Queensland. Yes folks, this includes homosexual couples and singles. A step in the right direction wouldn't you say? Except that the opposition party aren't too thrilled about this blatent attempt at equality and have forced it to a conscience vote.

Something tells me that the law is going to be voted down or mangled so that only married heterosexual couples are able to have access to surrogacy. And on that day I'm going to really fucking hate my state.

As an aside, I went looking for Lawrence Springborg's site to see if I could send an email asking for clarification of his statements in the article, only to find that his account had been suspended. For some reason I find that awfully amusing.

mood: *Snarl*