Hooray, now we have socio-political rage spam for penis pills

I’ve seen a LOT of spam over the past couple of decades.  I’ve seen every pitch, every clickbait subject line, every phony email supposedly from one of my contacts.  It’s just old hat by now, and I don’t even see spam emails anymore unless I go into the folder they get swept into by Gmail’s amazing filters.

But recently I looked in there for the hell of it, and I found this.  I have to say this is something completely new to me.  This spam has a very specific target: misogynist right-wing douchebags.  You know them well — they’re the guys who complain about “radical SJWs” anytime someone condemns racism or the mistreatment of women.  The guys who harass and threaten women on social media simply for saying something.  The guys who rage-shit their diapers when women have major roles in big-budget movies.  The guys who proudly call themselves “incels” and hate women because their asshole personalities can’t get them laid.

This spam is targeted directly at this type, and frankly it’s the most needlessly inflammatory one I’ve seen in ages.  It’s carefully crafted, ridiculing them for being impotent and somehow blaming “angry feminists” for it, as well as all their other troubles.  It’s utterly and laughably ridiculous, but also a little upsetting if you imagine how it affects the type of guy it targets.  I’ve never seen anything like it.

Angry Feminists Hate THIS (…)
Because they can’t stand that it’s giving men an unfair advantage in the bedroom.Given the heated social climate in America…
It’s only a matter of time before angry feminists…
Get their way and have this video censored forever.
So if you want to see what all of the fuss is about…

Click here to see the penis enlarging trick FEMINISTS HATE.
The truth is that most raging feminists…
Would rather have you suffer from ED…
Or any other problem in the bedroom…
Than have you see this controversial trick that has them RAGING mad.

Click here to see the penis enlarging trick FEMINISTS HATE.
P.S. The truth is there’s a war going on in America…
And it doesn’t involve guns or violence…
It’s a war against your manhood.
That’s why you must watch this video…
Before feminist get it taken down and censored forever.

Click here to see the penis enlarging trick FEMINISTS HATE.

News from the American Hellscape: Bullets and Bullshit

This “invasion” nonsense has been spouted by racist nutjobs for decades.  I remember in the mid-90’s there was a lot of frothy-mouthed hysteria about the “Aztlan conspiracy”, which claims that illegal immigrants are slowly and methodically invading the Southwest U.S. in an effort to re-colonize it and magically turn it into their own country.  Yeah…totally plausible.  This idea lives on today, spouted by the NRA and its mouth-breathing supporters.  And when unhinged guys with access to ridiculously powerful guns actually believe such obvious fairytales, it’s not much of a leap for them to take the next step of killing brown people in the name of “preserving American sovereignty” or whatever made-up excuse they can come up with.

The NRA Has Long Urged Americans To Arm Themselves Against An Immigrant Invasion

In 2013, LaPierre wrote an apocalyptic op-ed in The Daily Caller, a conservative outlet that has published white nationalists. LaPierre’s op-ed, titled “Stand and Fight,” was eerily similar to the manifesto reportedly written by the El Paso shooter, as well as those written by the attackers in Christchurch, New Zealand, and Poway, California.

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Meanwhile, Mike Huckabee took a break from his full-time job of fellating Satan to tap out some tweets about how gun violence can only be stopped by prayer and absolutely nothing else.  Because it’s worked so well already, right?

Mike Huckabee: Thoughts And Prayers Are ‘Only Thing’ That Will Stop Mass Shootings

On Monday, the former Arkansas governor and twice Republican presidential candidate wrote a post on his blog where he attempted to make the case that “thoughts and prayers” are “the only thing that’s ever really going to help.”  Huckabee said mass shootings will never stop until “kids are brought up once again to believe that we are all made in the image of God, that life is sacred and superficial differences like skin color are meaningless.”

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And here we have the standard “blame the homos for mass shootings, because why not” post from a clueless Republican politician, someone who likely also believes vaccines cause autism, the earth is only 6,000 years old, gay marriage causes deadly hurricanes, Jesus was a blue-eyed white guy, contrails are targeted poisonings for population control, and the moon landing never happened.  Jeezus — someone please take this bitch to a drag show and let her experience a little joy in her life already.

Ohio GOP Lawmaker Blames Mass Shootings On Trans People, Gay Marriage And More

“The breakdown of the traditional American family (thank you, transgender, homosexual marriage, and drag queen advocates); fatherlessness, a subject no one discuses or believes is relevant; the ignoring of violent video games; the relaxing of laws against criminals (open borders); the acceptance of recreational marijuana; failed school policies (hello parents who defend misbehaving students); disrespect to law enforcement (thank you, Obama); hatred of our veterans (thank you, professional athletes who hate our flag and National Anthem); the Dem Congress, many members whom are open anti-Semitic; the culture, which totally ignores the importance of God and the church (until they elect a President); state officeholders, who have no interest whatsoever in learning about our Constitution and the Second Amendement; and snowflakes, who can’t accept a duly-elected President.”

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Meanwhile, the Cheeto-in-Chief acted predictably shitty by using dozens of dead brown people (his favorite kind of brown people, apparently) as an opportunity to get in some “good” campaign photos.  Such empathy and class!

Trump Slammed For Tone-Deaf ‘Photo-Op’ With El Paso Orphan

None of the eight victims still being treated at El Paso’s University Medical Center agreed to meet with Trump during his visit, The Washington Post reported. A hospital official told CNN that the general assessment was that there was an “absence of empathy” from Trump. During his hospital visit, the president boasted about the crowd size at his campaign rally in El Paso earlier this year and called former Rep. Beto O’Rourke, a city native and Democratic presidential candidate, “crazy.”

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And then we have this:  a dipshit who thinks he’s being super clever walks into a Wal-Mart fully armed and armored, just days after another Wal-Mart was sprayed with bullets that killed 22 people.  Predictably, people freaked out and he was arrested.  He wanted to “test” his Second Amendment rights (sigh), and by his logic, the fact that it ended this way somehow proves that his rights were infringed.  What a prick.  This “reasoning” is a perfect snapshot of America as were being held hostage by open-carry fetishists who basically think they’re above the law.  They get off on putting guns in peoples’ faces and telling them not to worry — I think it gives them some kind of hero boner or something.  The fact that he put so much time and effort into this bullshit stunt (and even livestreamed it) proves this.

Armed Man Who Sparked Panic In Missouri Walmart Was Conducting ‘Social Experiment’

He was carrying an AR-style rifle and had a handgun attached to his hip, which was also loaded. While in the store, he appeared to be taking a video of himself with his cellphone as he pushed a shopping cart. An employee then pulled the fire alarm to alert customers to leave the building, and an off-duty firefighter took him into custody until police arrived. No shots were fired and no one was injured.

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And finally, we have a predictably shitty response from a Republican congressman when one of his supporters said illegal immigrants should be shot.  He didn’t shut the man down and condemn the idea of killing immigrants, oh no.  Instead, he corrected the guy on exactly which type of immigrants should be shot.  It’s stunning, and yet…should we expect any different from today’s Trumpublicans?

Republican congressman silent as constituent urges shooting immigrants

The congressman, who goes by the twitter handle @DocAbraham, was speaking at a meeting of the extremist “Acadiana Patriots” Thursday when one of the members began ranting against immigrants and pro-immigrant members of Congress.

“I think some of these people, whoever they are, ought to be shot,” said the man.

“Let me jump in here,” said the congressman who would be governor. “Many of those apprehended are not Hispanic, they are Chinese, Pakistani, Indian.”

News from the American Hellscape: Conservative Assholes Raising a Stink

Well this is something to brighten anyone’s day:  the Nazi twat who runs the Daily Stormer website will have to pay out the wazoo to answer for his stupid racist crimes.  What an unmitigated asshole.  I hope he goes broke and ends up on the soup line somewhere.  That is, if he ever comes out of hiding — apparently he’s cowering somewhere overseas, something these ultra-right provocateurs like to do when their bullshit catches up with them.  (How soon can we get Alex Jones to do the same?)

Judge Says Neo-Nazi Andrew Anglin Must Pay Muslim Comedian $4.1 Million

A federal judge awarded a Muslim-American radio host $4.1 million in monetary damages Wednesday after he successfully sued a neo-Nazi website operator who falsely accused him of terrorism.

SiriusXM Radio show host Dean Obeidallah filed the civil complaint against The Daily Stormer founder Andrew Anglin, who hasn’t responded to Obeidallah’s libel lawsuit. Anglin’s whereabouts are unclear.

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Here we go: the religious conservative persecution complex is in full bloom with this one.  This is directly from today’s right-wing playbook: spout conspiracies and medical misinformation that has deadly consequences, and when someone calls you on your bullshit, throw a persecution tantrum and declare it all a plot to silence God’s chosen people (or whatever nonsense they can come up with).  This is far easier than, you know, proving your “facts”.  Hey Mr. “Health Ranger”, here’s an idea: why not leave Facebook and stick to that one social network that promotes “free speech no matter what”, the one all the neo-Nazi types love?  Or go start your own goddamn social network and take all your trolling, believe-anything followers with you.  It’ll be a gigantic feedback loop of crazy, religion-fueled bullshit — a pseudoscience circle-jerk, if you will.  But at least you won’t have pesky critical-thinking types holding you responsible for your moronic “news”.

Facebook Suspends Natural News, Founder Calls for President Trump to Use Military Against Tech Giants

Facebook has suspended Natural News from posting on the social media platform where it has amassed almost 3 million followers. Natural News, which pushes wild conspiracy theories and once published an injectable DIY homeopathic “vaccine” for Ebola, had already been banned from Twitter and YouTube. The site was also blacklisted by Google in 2017.

Founder Mike Adams, who calls himself the Health Ranger, called the Facebook suspension an “online ethnic cleansing” that’s being carried out by people who are hoping to “enslave humanity and create Hell on Earth.” Adams also called for military action against the social media companies.

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When I saw the headline “Wasps invade Alabama”, I immediately wondered: “The insects?  Or the people?”  I also wonder if any of Alabama’s residents see this as a punishment of pestilence from God.  I mean, if God can punish California with earthquakes and fires for its embracing of [insert thing Christians hate here], is it so far-fetched to say he’s punishing Alabama for the way it treats many of its residents as subhuman?

Wasps invade Alabama

In this photograph, shared by entomologist Charles Ray, is the fate of an alarmingly high number of Alabama gutters, overhangs, soffits and corbels: “super nests” housing as many as 15000 wasps.

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And then there’s this, because America is now run by a giant bloated toddler.  I’ll bet his drooling supporters are buying these in bulk just to feel superior in some small way.

Now Trump Is Selling Overpriced Straws To Thirsty Fans Just To Own The Libs

President Donald Trump’s campaign is offering an unusual new item for sale: commemorative plastic straws with the president’s name on them.  “Liberal paper straws don’t work,” claims a tweet promoting the straws.  The Team Trump account then asks supporters to “stand with President Trump” by using his special “laser-engraved” plastic straws at just $15 for a pack of 10 (plus shipping). Typically, 1,000 plastic straws retail for about $10, making the Trump straws 150 times more expensive.

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Thoughts and prayers, y’all.  And let’s not forget that the N.R.A. has been funded by Russian oligarchs for a few years now (there’s documented proof of this, for you fake-newsers).  This is an organization as un-American and un-patriotic as it is rabid about its gun fetish.  The day the news breaks that the N.R.A. has disbanded in shame and bankruptcy is the day I’ll be dancing a fuckin’ jig out in the street, cocktail in each hand!

N.R.A. Shuts Down Production of NRATV, and Its No. 2 Official Resigns

The development is the latest in an already tumultuous year for the N.R.A. The gun group has struggled to right its finances; faced investigations in Congress and by the New York attorney general; and witnessed a leadership struggle that pitted Oliver North, until recently the N.R.A.’s president, against Mr. LaPierre.

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This is old news, but what I jotted down at the time was:  What the fuck is wrong with Republicans today, when they turn tail and run away to prevent a vote on something they disagree with, rather than just voting against it?  Is this what America is now?  Are Republicans in other states going to pull the same stunt?  They are clearly trying to emulate Trump, who does whatever he wants no matter how unorthodox, unethical, or even illegal, and he faces zero repercussions because the GOP will defend him to the bitter end to maintain their power.  They obviously think it will work the same way for them, and they’re probably right.  Oregon should hold a quick election to replace these infantile GOP shitbags with people who actually take the office of Senator seriously.  Oh, and get a load of that quote from Boquist.  Wow, such a tough and super-manly attitude!  Such machoness!  Such a prick.

In a bid to avoid climate vote, Oregon Republican Senators cross state lines, go into hiding, threaten to murder cops, as white nationalist paramilitaries pledge armed support

Oregon’s legislature is about to vote on a piece of climate change cap-and-trade legislation that the Democratic majority are likely to win, so to avoid the vote, 12 Oregon state senators have gone into hiding, thus depriving the senate of the necessary quorum.

Meanwhile, the AWOL Republicans are widely believed to be hiding out of state — the Oregon state cops are coordinating with neighboring states’ law enforcement to locate them — and Republican State Senator Brian Boquist issued this communique from his undisclosed bunker: “Send bachelors and come heavily armed. I’m not going to be a political prisoner.”

News from the American Hellscape: Blasphemy Burgers

Only in America will someone take a fantastic invention that could save the lives of millions of animals and turn it into a hysterical religious shitfest.

Christian TV Host: Meatless Burgers Are Satanic Plot To Create ‘Race Of Soulless Creatures’

“When you go to your favorite fast food restaurant, you are going to be eating a fake hamburger. You’re going to go to the grocery store and buy a pound of fake hamburger or a fake steak, and you won’t know that it was grown in some big corporation’s laboratory. This is the nightmare world that they are taking us into. They’re changing God’s creation. Why? Because they want to be God.”

Creating veggie burgers is “wanting to be God” and “changing God’s creation”?  Please tell me where I can find a meat burger that God created.  Following their logic, airplanes are also tools of Satan because God never meant for us to fly.

If you must look at this through a religious lens (sigh), aren’t they just taking the plants that God created and shaping them into a different form for our enjoyment?  Nah, that idea is too crazy.

This is just one of many unhinged things he’s said over the years.  I wonder what happened to this guy as a kid to transform him into the raving, drooling lunatic he is today.  For fuck’s sake, somebody get him into therapy before he hurts someone.  A mind that believes this kind of stuff is not a healthy one.

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This goes for any religion: if your faith is threatened by some satirical jabs on a T.V. show, maybe your faith isn’t as strong as you think.  This is fiction, something you should be familiar with.  Relax, snowflakes — your religion is still heavily dominant in this country, and it isn’t going to collapse under the influence of a satirical T.V. show.

Oh yeah, and if you’re going to protest a TV show, at least to take the time to figure out what channel/service it’s on so your protest goes to the right place.  Jesus.

Thousands of Christians Demand That Netflix Cancel a Show It Does Not Air

Some mistakes are simply too beautiful to have happened by accident—too comical to be explained by anything other than divine intervention. See, for instance, a recent petition from a Christian group calling on Netflix to cancel Good Omens,which the group considers “another step to make satanism appear normal, light and acceptable.” The problem, of course, is that Netflix does not air Good Omens; it’s an Amazon Prime series.

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So this company used to copy DVDs and Blu-Rays, then bleep out naughty words and snip out nudity and/or violence.  Then they’d stream the final version to people who are so fragile that exposure to such content would shatter their very reality.  Here’s how I envision these folks watching unfiltered shows:

“He said the F-word!  Nooooooo!”  [rends garments]

“I just saw a breast!  Gaaahhhhh!!”  [stabs eye out with fork]

Anyway, the company was busted for piracy and sued into the ground.  But somehow they stuck around, and then they started pirating and chopping up shows from streaming services, amazingly thinking they would be OK doing that.  Nope.

VidAngel Hit with $62.4 Million Judgment for Pirating Movies

VidAngel ripped movies from DVD copies, and then streamed them to users with offensive content filtered out. The company argued this was allowed under the federal Family Movie Act, but Birotte did not agree and ordered the service to shut down in December 2016. The company later relaunched a filtering service for Netflix and Amazon, which continues to operate.

How could they possibly think that breaking copyright protection and sharing the content was in any way legal?  I remember a similar service many years ago that would do this to movies on videotape — they’d bleep and snip away all the bad (good) stuff, then copy them to new tapes and rent them to the aforementioned fragile types.  It didn’t work out then, and it ain’t working out now.

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She fed him bleach to treat his autism.  BLEACH.  The same stuff we use to clean clothing, scrub toilets and tubs, and all that good stuff.  And because she saw a video about its “health benefits” on YouTube, it’s obviously a miracle cure.  What could go wrong?

Police Let Mom Keep Feeding Son Bleach After She Showed Them YouTube Videos, Doctor Approval

Search YouTube for “Miracle Mineral Solution” or “MMS” and you will find a trove of videos about how consuming bleach will treat various illnesses—acne, flu, malaria, HIV, hepatitis, cancer, and autism.

Why are people so willing to believe such obvious nonsense?  We’ve all been asking that question a lot these past few years.

News from the American Hellscape: Pride & Prickishness

Such petty bullshit coming from our government. But should we expect any better at this point?

Trump Administration Denies U.S. Embassies Permission To Fly Pride Flag

U.S. embassies in Germany, Israel, Brazil and Latvia requested permission from the State Department to fly the rainbow flag on their flagpoles and were denied, NBC News reported Friday, citing three unidentified American diplomats.

But wait! Some embassies are essentially telling Trump to shove his anti-gay flag policy right up his gnarled old cornhole. Some are flying giant rainbow flags anyway, and others are putting up rainbow lights, etc. Awesome.

Some U.S. embassies still hoisting rainbow flags, despite advisory from Washington

Since the State Department began rejecting all embassy requests to hoist rainbow flags outside the mission buildings during LGBTQ Pride Month this year, some U.S. diplomats have been finding ways to defy, or at least get around, the new policy.  Although most embassies seem to be toeing the line, the policy shift appears to have sparked something of a revolt among diplomats.

This is probably my favorite one, however:

Some embassies that have flown the flag in previous years opted this year to commemorate the month by posting on their websites President Trump’s statement affirming LGBT rights and inviting nations to join a global campaign to decriminalize homosexuality.

California’s Governor even called Trump’s bullshit:

CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR DEFIES TRUMP, FLIES RAINBOW FLAG OVER STATE CAPITOL DURING PRIDE MONTH

California Governor Gavin Newsom has ordered that for the remainder of Pride month the rainbow flag will fly above the state’s capitol building, directly flouting White House policy.  The rainbow flag was raised over the California capitol building, flying alongside the Stars and Stripes and the California state flag.

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Such compassion! Such Christlike behavior!

Tennessee Deputy, Pastor Calls For Execution Of LGBTQ People

A Tennessee deputy and pastor is being investigated by the District Attorney’s office after he gave a sermon calling for the government to round up and execute members of the LGBTQ community.

“Send the police in 2019 out to these LGBT freaks and arrest them,” Fritts continued. “Have a trial for them, and if they are convicted then they are to be put to death. Do you understand that? It’s a capital crime to be carried out by our government.”

Charming. You know, if Jesus came back today he’d slap the living shit out of this piece of trash. He did say something that made me laugh, though:

“I’m sick of sodomy getting crammed down our throats,” Fritts said during his sermon.

Um… If anyone was cramming sodomy somewhere, it probably wouldn’t be down your throat. You know?

Oh, he knows. It’s common knowledge these days that anyone this homophobic is hiding some seriously queer skeletons in his closet. It’s something we’ve seen a thousand times from a thousand vehemently anti-gay types, all of them crowing about the evils of homosexuality and how it’s “infecting” our country with…whatever. I think we should start taking bets on how many wangs this guy has had in his various orifices over his lifetime. 50? 200? Always done in strict secrecy, probably using church funds to keep the dudes quiet. You know it’s true! It’s only a matter of time before the story breaks, and I can’t wait…

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Wow.  This gay guy is the social media manager for the NRA.  He’s got some questions (and a bit of whining) for his fellow gayfolk.  Let’s take them one at a time, shall we?

I wish the gay community were more accepting of gun supporters. I should know.

If we in the gay community know we are frequent targets, why do we overwhelmingly oppose laws that protect our right to defend ourselves?

Typical NRA thinking: the only way you can be safe is carrying a gun around everywhere.  “Hey, let’s head out to the club!  Just let me grab my pistol.”  What kind of life is that?  And how is it safer if average citizens start walking around with automatic weapons?  What a sad, paranoid way to live your life.

Why do I find myself, at party after party, defending my decision to work for the NRA?

Well, let’s see.  How about…because you work for a corrupt and dangerous organization that glorifies weapons which can kill dozens of people in just a couple of minutes.  You know, like at the Pulse nightclub and dozens of other public places.  Do you really need more reasons?  There are quite a few more.

Why does my wanting to own a firearm make some gay people I meet accuse me of being self-hating?

Hmmm.  I’ll bet you’re a Republican too, because you’d pretty much have to be.  So maybe they think you’re self-hating because you’re aligning yourself with people who actively work to suppress and dehumanize gay people like yourself.  Ugh…gay Republicans are already insufferable, and adding gun-worship to the mix is especially gross.

Why is a community that prides itself on inclusion and tolerance so intolerant toward the Second Amendment, the NRA and those who believe in the right to self-defense?

To quote one of the comments on this article:  “It’s not that the gay community ‘is so hostile toward the Second Amendment’, it’s that we’re hostile towards the NRA because (I’ll stick to the facts and refrain from chanting obscenities) they’re divisive fraudulent money grubbing Trump supporting homophobic liars. They don’t exclusively OWN the second amendment and define what it means.”

This is exactly right.  The NRA is a shitty organization which has abused the Second Amendment for decades.  So fuck off with your self-pity — if you want to be liked, make yourself likeable.

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I’m happy to see this artist finally see a little bit of compensation for the abuse he and his art have taken at the hands of Nazi wannabes. Of course they’ll still use Pepe to their own stupid ends, but Alex Jones can’t even touch Pepe again. (Stay tuned for the follow-up story where he violates the agreement and does it anyway…)

InfoWars Must Pay Pepe the Frog Creator $15,000, Never Sell Pepe Merch Again in Settlement

InfoWars founder, conspiracy theorist, and tainted supplement pitchman Alex Jones has settled with artist Matt Furie, creator of the unfathomably widespread Pepe the Frog meme, for $15,000 after InfoWars used the image on an obnoxious poster it sold during the 2016 elections, Vice reported on Monday.

“Straight pride” and the hilariously pathetic self-victimization of conservative snowflakes

Ya gotta love it when straight bigots try to play the victim card.  It’s so cute how righteously indignant they are.  They actually think that by granting some people rights that have long been denied, it somehow diminishes the rights of everyone who already has them.  Especially straight white people — somehow they’re the most offended by anything like that, as if they haven’t had all the goddamn rights in the world for centuries.  These people must be staggeringly bored.

These ones in particular think they’re doing something suuuuper clever and counterculture: a “straight pride” parade.  Oh, that’ll give those gay queer faggots something to think about!  Well, something to laugh about is more like it…

It’s LGBT pride month, but three guys in Boston want a permit for a ‘Straight Pride’ parade

Pride Month kicks off in Boston on Tuesday with a lights event, a paint night — and preparations for a possible “Straight Pride Parade” this summer.  The event to celebrate heterosexuality in one of the nation’s most gay-friendly cities is meant to poke fun at the “identity politics” of the political left, organizer Mark Sahady wrote in a Facebook comment.

These are the same fuckwits who think there should be a “white pride month” because, you know, white people don’t get any attention these days and they’re sooooo persecuted and stuff.  Or those other fuckwits who get mortally upset when someone says “Happy Holidays!”, as if by doing so you’re destroying their entire religion.  It’s fucking stupid.  And these guys know it’s stupid to want a straight pride parade, but they think these shenanigans are helping to make some deeper point, when all it really does is reveal just what sad, insecure children they are.  Here’s how one of the organizers explains it:

“For them [gays] everything is based upon identity and whether or not one is categorized as a victim or an oppressor,” Sahady wrote on Facebook. “If you get victim status then you are entitled to celebrate yourself and expect those with oppressor status to defer to your feelings.”

Answer me this, asshole:  have you ever been teased or beaten up for being straight?  Been denied a job for being straight?  Fired from your job for being straight?  Kicked out of your parents’ house for being straight?  Ejected from your church for being straight?  Jailed in certain countries for being straight?  Denied marriage for being straight?  Denied adopting a child for being straight?  Tortured and executed for being straight?  Denied the right to visit your opposite-sex partner in the E.R.?  Been forced into conversion camps to cure your heterosexuality?  Committed suicide after years of being told you’re worthless for being straight?  Yeah, that’s what I thought.

OK, look.  Pride parades were borne of a need to celebrate the right to live and exist without persecution.  So instead of pouting like a spoiled toddler for not having your own “straight pride” movement, maybe just be thankful that you don’t need one.

News from the American Hellscape: Measles Mambo

Once again Russia succeeds in tearing the country into two camps, when there really should be only one.  You know, the one where science wins over conspiratorial peepeecaca.  Critical thinking is basically dead in America since social media came along — we read shit on Twitter and instantly believe and spread it as fact, which is exactly how we ended up with a fascist orange twatwaffle as president.  And now we have the highest number of measles infections in decades.  Where does this end?

Russian trolls spurred anti-vaccine debate with misinformation on Twitter, says new study

“Compared with average users, Russian trolls, sophisticated bots, and ‘content polluters’ tweeted about vaccination at higher rates,” the study, led by professor David Broniatowski, reports in its findings. “Whereas content polluters posted more anti-vaccine content, Russian trolls amplified both sides.”

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And looky here, who would have guessed?  I see they lumped blogs in with social media, which I don’t agree with.  You have to seek out and subscribe to blogs, but social media is in your face all the time with few controls on what you see, and it makes spreading misinformation easier and faster than anyone ever imagined (other than Putin, who seems to have perfected the craft).  Having said that, I have seen some blogs that eroded my brain a bit. 🙂

Twitter is eroding your intelligence: Study

Using Twitter reduced performance on the test by about 25 to 40 per cent of a standard deviation from the average result, as the paper explains.  Jeff Hancock, the founding director of the Stanford Social Media Lab, described these as “pretty big effects”.  …This finding, the paper notes, bolsters the conclusion that blogs and social networking sites actively impair performance, rather than simply failing to augment learning.

A spokesman for Twitter declined to comment on the study.

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Oh, this splotch-faced douchenozzle again?  He’s been busy spreading his fetid, racist stank all over Europe, trying to recruit more Aryan mongoloids to fight in his war against brown people, or whatever it is.  Too bad he can’t be bothered to do the appropriate paperwork…

Italy blocks Bannon’s plans for right-wing political academy

Italy’s populist government is blocking plans by former White House adviser Steve Bannon to set up an academy for future populist leaders in a medieval monastery in the mountains outside of Rome.  On Friday, Italy’s government said it was revoking the rights to the property, which were given to the Dignitatis Humanae Institute, a think-tank affiliated with Bannon.  Among other problems, Italy’s culture ministry said the institute has not paid concession fees and failed to do maintenance work on the monastery.

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This is epic.  If you’re looking for a bite-sized summary of Trump’s red flags and possible/likely crimes, this is it.

Ex-Ethics Chief Tweets Very Long List Of Bad Signs From Donald Trump’s Presidency

The former head of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics urged the American public on Friday to pay careful attention to everything that’s going on with President Donald Trump’s administration.

“Heed the signs and don’t underestimate the threat to our republic from within,” tweeted Walter Shaub, who served in the high-ranking role under former President Barack Obama and then for six months under Trump until his resignation in July 2017.

Here’s a snack-sized copy of the entire Tweet thread for your convenience:

Heed the signs and don’t underestimate the threat to our republic from within:

• Trump obstructed justice
• A McConnell-packed SCOTUS says precedent can be changed more easily than previously thought
• AG Barr is an open partisan and slow-motion Saturday Night Massacre beneficiary
• White House ignores congressional subpoenas, document requests
• Mnuchin is violating a law on turning over taxes to House
• Barr & Senate allies want to investigate officials who investigated Trump to retaliate against them and deter future efforts to hold him to the rule of law-State Dept is setting up a commission to supplant human rights with “natural law”
• An Inspector General found standing room only in border detention cells, with detainees standing on toilets to breathe
• children stolen from parents at the border are dying in internment camps-Trump cut resources for investigating domestic terrorists
• FBI reports a recent significant rise in white supremacist domestic terrorism
• evidence found of a white supremacist plot to add census Q to help gerrymander in ways “advantageous to Republicans and non-Hispanic whites”-Trump is still resisting setting up defenses against foreign election interference
• Trump’s personal attorney solicited foreign govt investigation of current Trump political rival Biden
• AG Barr said something in a weird interview about investigating former Trump rival Clinton
• There’s cause for concern Trump/Kushner personal interests may be influencing middle east policy
• Ignoring Congress, Trump declared fake emergency & abused authority to sell weapons to Saudi Arabia to continue its atrocities in Yemen, after it murdered a Washington Post reporter
• Trump declared fake emergency to get more power to ramp up activity at border
• ethics violations (and ethically dubious conduct not rising to a violation) occurring at an unprecedented rate among Trump appointees
• senior admin official says she doesn’t care about an ethics law
• if impeached, Trump says he’ll try to get SCOTUS to overturn the impeachment
• McConnell, who blocked Merrick Garland ostensibly because it was an election year, shamelessly hinted this week that he’d be willing to fill a SCOTUS position for
• Trump in an election year
• Trump is praising autocrats, undermining allies
• Tone of OLC’s recent opinions has changed under Assistant AG Steven Engel, who was tied to one of the torture memos
• Military went to the border for Trump
• Military hid a ship to placate Trump
• Airborne seen wearing MAGA patches
• Trump admin & Graham inexplicably advocating war in Iran/Venezuela
• DOJ experimenting with new legal theory for prosecuting those who publish classified information (raising a question as to whether the theory will be limited to hostile foreign actors or expanded to journalists)
• some public voices are normalizing Trump admin conduct
• voicemail from Trump lawyer to Flynn shows a disturbing carrot/stick approach (or worse)
• Trump has seemed to dangle pardons to buy silence or worse
• Trump admin officials are violating records laws to conceal actions
• Trump said “Russia, if you’re listening”
• Trump said “fine people” marched with nazis
• Trump has told over 10,000 false or misleading statements, per Washington Post
• Trump helped cover up Khashoggi murder, and Kushner’s said to have offered advice to MBS on weathering the storm
• a foreign prince is reported to have said he has Kushner in his pocket (but denies saying that)
• Helsinki
• Trump’s behavior is erratic and is marked by frequent lies, bizarre public outbursts, name-calling and confusion
• no press conferences, and no transparency
• Trump allies in congress are either lying about the Mueller report or haven’t read it
• Trump allies in congress are trying to prevent Mueller & others from testifying because they know their base hasn’t read the report and right wing media has kept them from hearing about it

But no, that’s all just Mainstream Media™ lies….