Another Old Friend...

Guess what, guys? I heard from our old friend, William “The Autopsychic” Johnson yesterday!

And apparently he’s feeling butt-hurt about the new comment settings, claiming some civil rights violation, or something… Well, here... I’ll post his email (just as I told him I would) and then put my response below it:

Re: Freedom of Speech Denied ... Expectedly

Eddie,

I see you are restricting your site to only those who give opinions that equal your own. I would expect nothing less from someone who is such a heterophobic and hater. Otherwise you would have let me post this under my previously allowed web site name. Way to support freedom of speech ... as long as it agrees with your own tweaked ideals.

my response to your hateful article:

"Did you realize that in 29 States it remaines(SIC) perfectly legal to fire someone for no other reason that(SIC) being Gay? Add another 5 where it's legal to fire someone for being Transgenered (SIC)."
Well, let's test your hypocrisy on sexual perversions: do you think it should be legal to fire someone for being a polygamist? Oh? You don't? But, yet you don't support that deviated lifestyle choice, do you? Well, I don't support the gay lifestyle choice and I don't think you should be fired for being gay either, but that isn't what the SC decided on, is it? You seem to be comparing apples to oranges in your rant about rights you think gays should get that heteros don't have. Because I don't think I've seen anything that gives marriage "rights" to heterosexuals, yet you demand those "rights" for gays and other sexual deviances (except polygamy). But, not to worry, though. Knowing you are a "progressive" fully explains the hypocrisy and hatred you hold towards others.

I think all the reasons you support and defend gay equality have been fully explained in relation to their equal standings of being perverted lifestyle CHOICES. When you can defend your heterophobia as a good thing and then refer to homophobia as a bad thing, you are being the hypocrite that all liberals are.

BTW, you DO know that if the SC would actually decide according to LAW and not their FEELINGS then the decision would NOT have gone the way you think it should have. But that's just the hypocrisy of your phobias at work there.

William

Wow. What a fucking drama queen, huh?

William: You flatter yourself. I have absolutely nothing to fear from you posting your opinion here. There has yet to be a single instance in which I’ve been worried that any remotely sensible person will read what I’ve posted, read what you’ve posted and then side with you. With you (and Anonymous, assuming that wasn’t also you) representing the voices of conservatism here, you (two?) have only ever made my job easier. So it is in keeping with both my principles AND my self-interest that your opinion is welcome here.

Now… You mentioned hypocrisy in your email. I’ll get the issue at hand in a moment, but I find it ironic that you would go that route in considering how the last time I heard from you, you accused me of “whining” and yet here I haven’t from you in months (almost a year?) and yet you start in with the melodrama from line one! Just sayin’ man, get over yourself. We’re just talking here.

And now to the issue at hand: Polygamy.

Um… I hate to burst your bubble and pretty much destroy your hypocrisy argument, but I have always maintained that I’m OK with anything going on between consenting adults, and YES, that included plural marriage. Now I’m going to cut off several lines of argument right up front...

I don’t want ANYONE to tell me about how this leads to MINORS being COERCED into these arrangements. The words “CONSENTING ADULTS” are 100% incompatible with “COERCED MINORS.” The OPPOSITE, in fact. I'm opposed to that which is COERSION, and NOT opposed to that which ISN'T. It's not that hard! Also, Will, you needn't bother going next to Bestiality, because “Consenting Adults” implies that they are HUMAN. In fact… CONSENT, in a LEGAL SENSE, already implies not only humanity, but ADULTS as well. Under most tenant of business and contract law, minors are not able to GIVE consent (hence statutory rape laws) and can withdraw it after the fact regardless (hence the need for an adult to co-sign most contracts signed by a minor.) And animals, obviously, cannot give consent in any legal sense, nor enter into contracts. So… Don’t be an idiot.

The only thing… THE. ONLY. THING… I would restrict with regards to plural marriage is the number of spouses (SPOUSES, not CHILDREN) that can be claimed as dependants for tax purposes. I’d keep that at ONE. Not to discriminate, but only to prevent some jackass from abusing the loophole and have 67 wives for “tax purposes.” And I would certainly be willing to entertain alternatves, if that seems "oppressive" to you. Aside for that? I have no problem with Polygamy. It’s not MY THING… ONE wife, darling though she may be, is MORE THAN ENOUGH for me on most days. I need another one like I need a case of bleeding hemorrhoids. But neither I nor anyone else is being harmed by the people involved, just as none are with same-sex marriage, and I see no “crime” being committed here. Neither is my thing, but I see no reason to prevent it.

It’s called, “F-R-E-E-D-O-M.” Maybe you’ve heard of it?

Also, you called me “heterophobic.” (Which, according to spell-check, isn’t even a word!) That’s a really odd accusation to make against a married man, with two children. None of what I support takes ANY of your rights or legal protections away, and none of what I support gives anything to anyone beyond EQUAL TREATMENT UNDER THE LAW. And that’s something this IS at the heart and soul of America, our Constitution, and everything we stand for and the Supreme Court recognized that and ruled accordingly. Also, I’m not sure if you know how things work in this country, but the SCOTUS is under no obligation to uphold legislation passed by Congress, State Governments or Popular Referendum. Their raison deter is to judge the Constitutionality of these very laws! They’re one of those CHECKS AND BALANCES that maybe you’ve heard of? And while I have personally disagreed with many of the decisions made by the Rehnquist and Roberts court, as is both our perrogotives, I would never be so idiotic as to suggest that it was beyond their authority to MAKE those rulings! (As you seem to have done.)

The differecne between YOU and ME is that I want the SAME rights for EVERYONE. You don't. That doesn't make either of us a hypocrite, in and of itself. It just makes you an asshole.
And with regards to being my “heterophobic…” (which, according to spell-checker, isn't even a WORD!) Dude, seriously, I LOVE heterosexuality! Especially the part abpout having SEX WITH WOMEN. Aside from a slight preference for Lesbian over Strait pornography, I don’t see where you get the idea that I am in any way AGAINST heterosexuality. Even in THAT case, it is only because the sight of HUGE COCKS doesn’t really DO anything for me. And hey: I don’t judge… If YOU’RE really into BIG DICKS? That’s OK. It’s just not my thing. But to each their own.

At this point, there’s not really anywhere for you to go from here. (So watch: You’ll probably change the subject.) You could have wasted a lot less of both our time if you bothered to google “polygamy” in the search box on the left. You’d have seen that I’ve argued my position before. But then… Research never HAS been your strong suit. Now I’m going to switch gears here a little bit, because I originally responded to William via email, explaining why I changed the comment settings, and promising to post his email and respond to it publicly. (As I have now done.) Here is the response I received from him:

I've got a google account, and it didn't work. I think you don't intend to allow opposing opinions. It has been made apparent throughout. You are hateful towards anyone who isn't fully in agreement with your "opinion", and to say you would allow it is simply silly. Thanks for the attempted explanation for you hatred, anyhow.

Oh, poor, poor William Johnson. Let’s all shed a tear for the death of liberty, and lament the passing of that time when men lived free.

BTW, Will… If I “hated” you, it would not be because of your opinions. It would mostly be because of this butt-hurt, melodramatic persecution complex you insist on wallowing in. (And it’s not “hate” so much as it’s just really pathetic and annoying.) Your opinions ARE, IMHO, ignorant, misinformed, mostly hateful, and both spiritually and scientifically misguided. But you remained entitled to both have and express them. And as I’ve said before and demonstrated with this post: I would not DREAM of suppressing them. Free speech is sacrosanct with me, and this includes even what some might label “hate speech.” (I’m not saying YOUR’S is necessarily, just saying how far I take that and how seriously I hold to that principle.) I have never, and will never, knowingly or intentionally deleted a comment from you or anyone else, with the exception of obvious SPAM. But just as you are entitled (and welcome) to speak (here), I and everyone else is entitled to our opinions and to respond in kind. So if you don’t wish to be treated like an idiot, stop posting stupid shit!

On a less histrionic note… I have noticed the lack of comments lately, possibly due to the lack of regular postings myself but also possibly due to the comment settings being overly restrictive (although to date Will is the only one who’s complained about that or let me know) or to the lack of disagreement without our favorite punching bags, William and/or Anonymous, [same person?] to kick around anymore. Well, whatever the case, I’m going to try and tweak the comment settings again. I’m going to allow anonymous posting (all posting, basically) but I’m going to require a Captcha phrase to prevent spam. I personally don’t like those, but Blogger doesn’t leave me many options. So I’m going to do that, and post a brief guideline above, just so people like William know what will get a comment deleted and what won’t. And I’ll say it right up front: If the Captcha requirement isn’t effective, I will go back to the current settings. We’ll just have to see how it goes.

And Will? you can test me all you want, but you will fail every single time. There is no political or opinion you could post here that would cause to go against my principles, and you have nowhere near the intellectual gravitas to catch me in a rhetorical trap that I can’t get out of with a trivial effort. But you are certainly welcome to try: I will continue to take on all comers.

The Radical Gay Agenda

Now that the Hall of Fame posts are up to date, I want to post some stuff about LGBT Rights, some of the recent victories, some of the disgusting backlash, and some other semi-related stuff that I've come accross that I want to share.

First of all, HOO-RAY for the Supreme Court Striking down DOMA! And hoo-ray for their deft handling of the Prop 8 case. Of course, it would have been nice for them to have struck it down outright as well, but doing it the way they did prevents establishing the precedent of CITIZENS defending unconstitutional laws, and really, makes it so that NO ONE can say that the court 'over-reached.' In fact, they dealt only with precisely the issue in front of them, staying well within the bounds or Constitutional Law and Precedent, and reached precisely the correct conclusion - in both cases - with precisely the right reasoning. (Leaving the door WAAAY open to strike down State Prohibitions in a later case, using Justice Kennedy's same reasoning.)

The wierd thing is? Had the State of California actually decide intially to DEFEND Prop 8? And then APPEAL the Lower Court's decision to overturn it? Then the Supreme Court WOULD have had the standing to strike it down, thus invalidating ALL OF THE OTHER State's homophobic marriage statutes! Isn't that amazaing? Because California did the RIGHT THING in NOT defending this abomination of a law... OTHER State's still get to discriminate!

THAT'S what you call "unintended consequences." Funny how things sometimes work out, especially considering the backlash the Godlen State would have gotten if they not only DEFENDED the law, but then APPEALED the decision to strike it down! And yet... If they did? Well, shoot, we might have Gay Marriage in all 50 States Rigth Now!

Which leads me to another milestone in the fight for gay and transgendered equality...

Did you realize that in 29 States it remaines perfectly legal to fire someone for no other reason that being Gay? Add another 5 where it's legal to fire someone for being Transgenered. Now Congress is attempting to do something about that with EDNA. And in respose to pointing out all of the media's misinformation about EDNA, MMFA poster santovicente had this to say:

And so it begins. Getting married ain't nearly good enough. Now, we gotta put up with all sorts of laws making it illegal to not like queers.

Now... I put up his post, because I would like to share my response, which I'm rather proud of, before MMFA decides to take it down. (And they really should! LOL)

You're a right royal prick, aren't you?

No, "getting married" AIN'T enough, you festering boil!

"ENOUGH" is being treaty EQUALLY. Not be DISCRIMINATED against. To have ALL THE SAME INALIENABLE HUMAN RIGHTS as ALL HUMAN BEINGS have and are entitled to, you bucket of sweltering pig's vomit!

Personally, I wonder what would be enough for YOU? Concentration Camps and re-education centers? Maybe YOU'LL be satisfied when you'll be able to go through your day without ever having to deal with anyone who's the slightest bit different that you are, you pimply pustule.

THEY are human beings. YOU would be little more than an APE, IF I wasn't such a wildlife enthusiast.

Now... Putting aside the well deserved rant and artistic vitirol, there is a serious point to make here.

In MY VISION of a perfect world, all people get to enjoy the great opportunity and quality of life that this great coutry offers, and get to participate in the great democratic political process REGARDLESS of whether they are Black, White, Red, Brown or Yellow, Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Atheist, Gay, Strait, Bi-, Pan-, Cis-, Trans-, Able-Bodied, Handicapped, Autistic, Blind, Deaf, Mute or Fluently English Speaking. In MY perfect world, ALL PEOPLE enjoy all of the great things that Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness have to offer.

Um...

What does THIS ASSHOLE'S perfect world look like, I wonder? What is so terrible about MY vision, MY ideals, MY 'perfect world' (OURS, really, but you get what I'm saying) that causes scumbags like him to recoil and lash out with hate and venom every time we take one small step closer to it? Seriously!

What are they offering that is so wonderful? What... We all get to enjoy life so long as we do everything just like them?

This isn't chariceture, and it's NOT rhetorical. I want to know what these fuck-nuts on the Right, these Religious Funny-Mentalists have against the idea that ALL human life - ACTUAL human life - is sacrosant, and that no one person's rights are greater than another's, and thus no one has the right to take anything away from another. What the fuck is so WRONG with that? What the fuck is wrong with them? Becuase I cannot even understand, let alone abide, the way these people "think!"

Another MMFA Piece, was this Washingtom Times Piece from Elaine "Shrieking Harpy" Donnelly, saying (among other things) that "Mr. Obama has used the armed forces to deliver on political promises to his homosexual base, and traditional military families are about to pay the bill." This is part of a larger column arguing (falsely) that extending marriage benefits to same-sex couples is somehow going to harm "traditional" military families. Basically that these good old, hard-working Christians are going to have to foot the bill (negligible though it may be) for treating Gays like human beings.

And again, I bring it up, because I would like to share my response:

Um... SO FUCKING WHAT?

The abolition of slavery came with a cost too.

We don't treat our fellow human beings with equality because it's cost effective, we do it because IT'S THE RIGHT THING TO DO, YOU HORRIBLE BITCH!

(What can I say... I was in a ranting mood today!)

But seriously, again: What the fuck is wrong with these fucking people? What they hell is wrong with treating HUMAN FUCKING BEINGS like HUMAN FUCKING BEINGS?! What part of "ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL" do these genetically defective mental midgets not fucking understand?!

There were others, but I'm all ranted out now. I hope you enjoyed reading that, and if I've offended your sense of Christian Morals, please feel free to go fuck yourself. Anytime.

I'll leave you with this EXCELLENT video. I almost wish that Anonymous had the intitive (and the balls) to set up some manner of account so he could keep postiong, becuase this directly debunks a lot of what we we used to argue about - the idea of CHOICE and whether or not one is "born that way." As I've said before: Science WOKRS. Yay SCIENCE. (Sadly, I am not planning to re-instate anonymous posting any time soon unless Blogger fixes their spam filter, BIG TIME. There was just too much crap getting through.)

Gold Star Awards, July, 2013

HAH! FINALLY! I'M FINALLY CAUGHT UP! LOL

1989...

Two Gold, One Silver...


The Johnny Bench GOLD STAR #71: Move On

Much as with June's induction of Color of Change, I'm sure I don't have to explain this one, other than to say that I've been meaning to include it for YEARS. Glad I could finally get around to it.


The Carl Yastrzemski GOLD STAR #72: Gawker

OK... In all seriousness, I'll adimt this was a bordeline SILVER STAR-level nominee. This is mostly... crap. Amusing crap, but yeah... Brain candy all the same. Still... it can make you think. AND it slaps the Conservatives around a bit... So it's OK in my book.


The Red Schoendienst SILVER STAR #64: Angry Toro

Funny. Funny. Memes. Funny. This is yet another collection of just funny shit. If you like The Metapicture, you'll like this. (Although you'll also notice a lot of overlap in their content.) I'm also not crazy about the one picture per page load, but there's no denying that they're always good for a smile.

Gold Star Awards, June 2013

1988...

A single Gold Star...


The Willie Stargell GOLD STAR #70: Color of Change

What can I say that hasn't already been said? This one has been a LOOOONG time coming. Please support their work.

Gold Star Awards, May, 2013

The Second of Four...

1987...

Two Golds...


The Jim "Catfish" Hunter Gold Star #68: Extreme Liberal's Blog

Really? I have to explain this one? Hey: I don't agree with him that Presdient Obama's done a "phenomonal job," all things considered or otherwise, but there's no denything that this man's heart and head are in the right place, and I'm happy to endrorse his work. So check him out!


The Billy Williams Gold Star #69: Quackwatch

If I have not yet made myself clear on this point, allow me make it clear now: I am vehemently opposed to most all forms of "alternative medicine." It's very simple: Science WORKS. And if this ABSOLUTE HORSE-SHIT worked? THEY'D FUCKING CALL IT "MEDICINE!" I hate the anti-vaxers, for all the children they've wantonly killed. I hate faith-healers and parents who pray, while their children die of curable diseases. I hate homeopethists, and all other manner of snake-oil peddlers, and pretty mush ANYONE taking your hard earned cash, while selling you some magical new form of magically endowed water, all the while telling you why Doctors are trying to keep them down. (HINT: It's becuase the shit doesn't fucking WORK!) Reiki, Reflexology, Chi-Manipulation... even Chiropracters and Acupunturists (who stuff "works" but not for the reasons they claim!) If you want all the references you'll ever (likely) need in one place, there's only one place better than Skepdic.com, and that's QUACKWATCH. Keep up the good work, and may Jenny McCarthy burn in hell for all the children she's nmurdered!

Gold Star Awards, April, 2013

OK. Fell behind on these AGAIN, and I promised to get them up to date before moving on. SO... Tonight I'm going to blog until my fingers bleed, I'm going to get these posts caught up, through to JULY, and THEM I'm going to get back to posting thing like I used to. (Works be crazy and I've been lazy. All the same, I still don't like having this backlog of HoF posts to put up. One per moneth is sufficient.) (Nobody ever comments on them anyway! LOL)

OK... We're up to 1986, One gold, Two Silvers...


The Willie McCovey GOLD STAR #67: The Smirking Chimp
George W. Bush may be gone (but for this country;'s sake, let's hope he's NEVER forgotten!) but the news and information website who name was inspired by his caricacture is still alive and kicking and every bit as relevant as ever. Any thinking person should DEFINITELY inculude this collection of 'news and commentary from the vast Left-Wing conspiorcy' in there collection of infromation source.


The Bobby Doerr SILVER STAR #62: The Adventure of Gyno-Star
Do you rememebr SNL's "Abibuguosuly Gay Duo?" Well, imagine them as an outspoken (yet somehow still failry ditzy) feminist with a spunky lit'l lesbian sidekick, only played strait, and you've got THE ADNVENTURES OF GYNO STAR. I was hooked from the moment I saw their earliest nemesis: The Glibertarian! Great sataire, great politics, great fun. Check it out.


The Ernie Lombardi SILVER STAR #63: You Suck
OK, I'll say this right up front: PORN WARNING! NSFW! This is a web-comic I discovered fairly recently, about a succubus stuck on earth and rooming with a horny, 5-foot tall, red-headed force of nature. It's an immature comic aimed at mature audiences, and while still in its early stages, I've got to admit: I love it. (And the horny, red-headed female lead? OMFG... Pure sexual chocolate. I ashamed to admit what a crush I have on her right now! LOL) ANyway, good stuff, but not for those who have a stick up their butt aboutmatuture content.>

Saddened

I was saddened today to learn about the death of an old friend of mine.  We had been out of touch for many years - pretty much since High School Graduation, I'm sorry to say. And over the years I had  looked for him many time online, but to no avail. 

We were in a band together.  I (sort of) played the drums, and he consistently amazed everyone who ever heard him play, with his incredible skills on the guitar. Having gone to a small School, over the years I have had some contact with almost everyone in my graduating class, but not Greg. He was always conspicuously absent from Classmates, Facebook, etc... But it wasn't until today that I found out why.

He passed away in 1998, at the age of 24, of complications related to a heart defect.

I had known about his medical history at the time, but I was still stunned to learn about what had happened.  When I first met him, he became the first friend I made at a new school and he remains to this day, far and away, the most talented musician I have been had the honor of sharing a stage with. I have never met a more talented or dedicated guitarist, and the world was robbed the contributions of a great artist for him having left us at such a young age.

Rest in peace and rock on, my friend.

(video not mine - created by his sister)