Feb. 18th, 2009

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1. As I was falling off to sleep last night, it occurred to me that yesterday in particular, there was a lot more stupid on the Internet than usual.

Of course this came shortly after someone near and dear to me called to tell me: "Someone on the Internet is wrong!!! Eleventy!!!!!"

2. There are people wrong out there in the world as a whole, too.

Let's start with North Dakota, shall we?

Associated Press

BISMARCK, N.D.  — A measure approved by the North Dakota House gives a fertilized human egg the legal rights of a human being, a step that would essentially ban abortion in the state.

The bill is a direct challenge to Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court decision that extended abortion rights nationwide, supporters of the legislation said. Representatives voted 51-41 to approve the measure Tuesday. It now moves to the North Dakota Senate for its review.

The bill declares that "any organism with the genome of homo sapiens" is a person protected by rights granted by the North Dakota Constitution and state laws. The measure's sponsor, Rep. Dan Ruby, said the legislation did not automatically ban abortion. Ruby has introduced bills in previous sessions of the Legislature to prohibit abortion in North Dakota.

"This language is not as aggressive as the direct ban legislation that I've proposed in the past," said Rep. Dan Ruby, R-Minot, said during House floor debate on Tuesday. "This is very simply defining when life begins, and giving that life some protections under our Constitution — the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

3. Speaking of North Dakota . . .

Stupid news organizations are stupid.

The AP got it right, but the original story I saw about the anti-abortion bill referred to "Roe versus Wade" and "Roe vs. Wade."

Here in the Liamverse, we know that the proper reference to a Supreme Court case is "Plaintiff v. Defendant." That's how you tell it was a Supreme Court case.

4. There's stupid in our high schools -- well in one California high school.

Los Angeles Times

Drama students at Corona del Mar High School were excited to push the envelope with a spring production of the Bohemian love story "Rent."

But the drama teacher at the Newport Beach school says the principal told him to cancel the show because she disapproved of the gay characters in the musical.
Fal Asrani, the school's principal, disputes that she pulled the plug on the production, saying that she only asked to review the script, according to district officials.

Now, amid growing backlash and consternation from some students and members of the gay community, the actors at Corona del Mar High are grudgingly preparing for a very different show: "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown." The drama teacher said it's a safer choice and one sure to pass muster with his boss.

5. There is still a lot of stupid in Illinois (apologies to my friends there):

CHICAGO, Feb. 18 -- Despite calls for his resignation, Sen. Roland W. Burris (D-Ill.) made clear Wednesday that he intends to fight.

Burris, appointed to fill President Obama's Senate seat, is under investigation for repeatedly changing his story about contacts with associates of then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D). But he insisted that his hands are clean.

"I ask you to stop the rush to judgment," Burris told an audience of several hundred at the City Club of Chicago. "You know the real Roland. I've done nothing wrong. I have absolutely nothing to hide."

The Chicago Tribune, the state's largest newspaper, called on Burris to resign the job he has held for barely a month. The paper wrote, "His protests that he had nothing to hide just don't square with his obvious attempts to hide something."  The Washington Post also called for his resignation.

Burris has offered five varying explanations -- three of them under oath -- of his contacts with associates of Blagojevich, who was charged Dec. 9 with taking part in a bribery conspiracy that included trying to sell Obama's former seat.

6. OK, even an attempt to lower prices makes me crazy, when you're lowering the cost of a main dish to $44.

From the Albany Times-Union's Table Hopping blog:

Angelo’s 677 Prime in Albany and Prime at Saratoga National in Saratoga Springs will lower prices on all prime-grade beef steaks and chops by an average of about 8 percent, effective Friday. Citing a drop in wholesale prices for prime beef, owner Angelo Mazzone said the new prices at his steakhouses will include:

  • 16-ounce New York Strip: $39, down from $47.
  • 10-ounce filet mignon, $34 from $36.
  • 14-ounce filet, $44 from $48.

7. And now we can talk really stupid, and racist, too.

How can they not get how offensive this ?


New York Post

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1. We'll start with the comic strip this time, because this really made me smile:



2. So I come home and Aunt Janet's present is here. It's one of those warm, fleecy long-sleeve shirts -- with my wife's arms embroidered as a patch over the heart!!!!!

Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!

3. The New York Times has made a style decision that is absolutely correct!

We will now use the spelling whisky, with no “e,” when referring specifically to Scotch and Canadian spirits. We’ll use “whiskey” for the Irish and American versions, and for general references, with no place of origin indicated. Under the previous rule, we used “whiskey” in all references.

4. I am listening to k.d. lang's "hymns of the 49th parallel. Wonderful, wonderful voice.

5. I am also made happy -- for some odd reason -- by the fact that a snippet of Seanan McGuire's "The Black Death" has been running through my head in various forms all day:

Now a hemorrhagic fever is a nasty beast indeed,And we've named it for its tendency to make its victims bleed.

6. Every day that passes is a day closer to Opening Day.

7. And we'll top it off with one of the greatest sports movie quotes of all-time.

Well, I believe in the soul, the cock, the pussy, the small of a woman's back, the hanging curve ball, high fiber, good scotch, that the novels of Susan Sontag are self-indulgent, overrated crap. I believe Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. I believe there ought to be a constitutional amendment outlawing Astroturf and the designated hitter. I believe in the sweet spot, soft-core pornography, opening your presents Christmas morning rather than Christmas Eve and I believe in long, slow, deep, soft, wet kisses that last three days.

-- Crash Davis in "Bull Durham"

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