Clipmarks | thorswitch's clips

Homophobia

Fri, 15 Feb 2008 07:11:33 GMT

clipped by: Snaggle

it really is a fear of homosexuality or at least homosexuals

homophobia does kill, and it kills with surprising frequency

the deaths of homosexuals are not considered worth recording as a separate category

countless suicides every year by gay men and lesbians

not the direct result of the victim's homosexuality, but is actually the result of how the homosexual is treated by society

The Reasons Homophobes Give For Their Hatred

It's not natural.

Well, that's probably the weakest argument of all

It's a perversion.

a variation of the "it's not natural" argument

It's against God's law. Well, of course this is a purely religious argument, and it presumes that the homosexual is or should be bound by the religious principles that are propounded here by the religionist.

It's disgusting. Has the person who says that ever watched sausage being made?

The Real Reasons Behind Their Hatred

Us versus them:

Loss of control:

Threat to one's world-view:

Fear that one may actually be homosexual himself:

Britain Drops Label "War on Terror"

Sat, 29 Dec 2007 22:45:57 GMT

clipped by: BobbyRutan
clipper's remarks: And to think that those of us who suggested that describing this ideological battle as a war only aided fanatics were labeled as unpatriotic traitors. What a deference 6 years makes.

Clip Source: www.military.com

The words "war on terror" will no longer be used by the British government to describe attacks on the public, the country's chief prosecutor said Dec. 27.

Sir Ken Macdonald said terrorist fanatics were not soldiers fighting a war but simply members of an aimless "death cult."

The Director of Public Prosecutions said: 'We resist the language of warfare, and I think the government has moved on this. It no longer uses this sort of language."

London is not a battlefield, he said.

His remarks signal a change in emphasis across Whitehall, where the "war on terror" language has officially been ditched.

Officials were concerned it could act as a recruiting tool for Al Qaeda, which is determined to manufacture a battle between Islam and the West.

The term "Islamic terrorist" will also no longer be used. Officials believe it is unhelpful because it appears to directly link the religion to terrorist atrocities.

Tags: "war on terror" is not a strategy, it is only a political tool

Tucker Carlson: Wiccan lottery winner = government subsidation of Satanism

Fri, 07 Sep 2007 01:36:46 GMT

clipped by: thorswitch
clipper's remarks: Here's my nominee for Wanker of the Day. A Wiccan wins big in the lottery, says he attributes the win to Wiccan Magic and that he's going to use his winnings to quit his job and teach Wicca full time. Now, if a winner has attributed his winnings to Jesus and said that he was going to use his winnings to quit his job and teach Christianity, everyone would talk about how wonderful what he's doing is - but I can't imagine any pundit or politician claiming that its an example of the government subsidizing Christianity, eh?

And, of course, if I understand how lotteries work, the government isn't subsidizing ANYTHING. The whole point of government run lotteries is for the state to be able to raise money - usually to be used in funding education and such. Its all the other lottery players who are "subsidizing" the winners (if you want to put it that way.)

Anyway, just had to share that particular crock of crap. What a f*#^!ng donkey!

Clip Source: www.msnbc.msn.com

GEIST: And the flowers bloom on his birthday, I believe. It‘s amazing how things work there. Good for Congressman Royce.

Well, Tucker, the first of four of those giant cardboard checks handed out in the 330 million dollar mega million jackpot today. A guy from Maryland named Bunky Bartlett got his 82.5 million buck today. Make no mistake, he didn‘t win the money because of luck, he won it because of Wiccan magic.

Bunky is an accountant who also teaches Wicca, which is a nature based religion. He and his wife were on their way it a mystical bookstore when he stopped to buy the winning ticket. Bunky says, quote, the universe was working its magic. He now plans to quit his job and concentrate on teaching Wicca.

Boy you could teach a lot of Wicca with that kind of cash.

CARLSON: You‘re saying basically the U.S. government is subsidizing some kind of devil worshiper, Satanism.

GEIST: That‘s exactly what I am getting at.

CARLSON: That‘s perfect.

Tags: lottery, wicca, tucker carlson, carlson, tucker, wiccan, religion

Bush Is Just Playing Us

Thu, 06 Sep 2007 09:22:52 GMT

clipped by: thisnamecantbetaken
clipper's remarks: You can watch the video at the source.

Clip Source: www.alternet.org

Olbermann's Special Comment on Bush's Iraq Visit: "Bush Is Just Playing Us" [VIDEO]

A fiery and passionate special comment from Olbermann about Bush's lies regarding troop withdrawal and much more.

As he deceived the troops at Al-Asad Air Base yesterday with the tantalizing prospect that some of them might not have to risk being killed and might get to go home, Mr. Bush probably did not know that, with his own words, he had already proved that he had been lying, is lying and will be lying about Iraq.

“I'm playing for October-November," Mr. Bush said

“to get us in a position where the presidential candidates will be comfortable about sustaining a presence."

And there it is.

Your goal is not to bring some troops home

You are, to use your own disrespectful, tone-deaf word, playing at getting the next Republican nominee to agree to jump into this bottomless pit with you, and take us with him

War today, war tomorrow, war forever!

And you are playing at it! Playing!

Tags: olbermann, bush, war, iraq, lies, military, withdrawal, middle east

"Ask the Pilot" comment on recent "dry run" warnings from TSA

Sat, 11 Aug 2007 07:26:34 GMT

clipped by: thorswitch
clipper's remarks: Patrick Smith writes the "Ask the Pilot" column for Salon Magazine. This week, he starts by discussing the recent alert from the Transportation Security Administration concerning

would-be saboteurs engaged in terror-attack rehearsals have been caught trying to sneak bomb-making materials past airport security. Over the past several weeks, we are told, screeners have confiscated various improvised components -- including, um, wires sticking from blocks of cheese.

He says that he's reluctant to dismiss the concerns out of hand, but that there are other aspects of the story that also finds disturbing.

Clip Source: www.salon.com

but no less disturbing than the threat itself, provided that it's real, is the way we've accepted the government's account at face value. The alert was sounded on every major network, radio station and newspaper in the country, but I am yet to hear a single journalist ask the obvious question: Who were these alleged smugglers, and where are they now? Let me get this straight: People have been caught smuggling deadly components through airport security, and nobody knows or cares who they are? They must have names. Were they not arrested or held for questioning? Or did guards simply confiscate their rigged cheese and let them pass? How can it be that potential attackers disappear into the ether like that? Call me naive, but something's fishy. When it comes to airport security, we've been sheep from the very beginning, but this emerging pattern of willing submission to vague, unconfirmable threats from invisible "terrorists" is pushing things to a new level.

Tags: terrorism, airport, airport security, security

To save America, we need .... WHAT?????

Fri, 10 Aug 2007 06:34:51 GMT

clipped by: thorswitch
clipper's remarks: I can't even begin to say how offensive I find this column. My best attempt at expressing it, however, is posted over at my blog (it was too long to fit here *g*)

Clip Source: www.philly.com

Turn back to 9/11.

Remember the community of outrage and national resolve? America had not been so united since the first Day of Infamy - 12/7/41.

We knew who the enemy was then.

We knew who the enemy was shortly after 9/11.

Because we have mislaid 9/11, we have endless sideshow squabbles about whether the surge is working, if we are "safer" now, whether the FBI should listen in on foreign phone calls, whether cops should detain odd-acting "flying imams," whether those plotting alleged attacks on Fort Dix or Kennedy airport are serious threats or amateur bumblers. We bicker over the trees while the forest is ablaze.

America's fabric is pulling apart like a cheap sweater.

What would sew us back together?

Another 9/11 attack.

Is there any doubt they are planning to hit us again?

If it is to be, then let it be. It will take another attack on the homeland to quell the chattering of chipmunks and to restore America's righteous rage and singular purpose to prevail.

Tags: sanctimonious twits, iraq, politics, 9/11

Pearl Jam and Net Neutrality

Thu, 09 Aug 2007 19:16:54 GMT

clipped by: thorswitch
clipper's remarks: Sunday night, Pearl Jam played at the last Lollapalooza show of the summer. Eddie Vedder took the opportunity to make a few comments of protest against the war and the president, but somehow, the webcast - which was being run by AT&T - "mistakenly" dropped out, preventing those comments from being heard.

The band points out that this is a perfect example of why net neutrality is such an important principle. Under net neutrality, broadband companies are required to give equal access to all websites. If the telcos get the kind of legislation they want, however, they'll be able to give companies that can afford it "priority" access, prevent users from reaching sites the company doesn't approve of, and relegating smaller sites - and smaller (often new) businesses to slow, unreliable service.

Clip Source: machinist.salon.com

But if you were at home listening to the show on the Webcast being provided by AT&T, you would have missed those lines. As the band writes on its site, the Web transmission cut out the protest lines. AT&T says its monitor did so by mistake -- what a strangely precise and politically convenient mistake!

In a press release, Gigi Sohn, the president of the consumer advocacy group Public Knowledge, says:

How can we trust a company that promises not to interfere with content on the Internet when it has its corporate finger on the button to cut off political criticisms it doesn't like? The admitted censoring of a Pearl Jam performance is just one more reason why content should be protected against the actions of a company looking out for itself, rather than for consumers and the free flow of information over the Internet.... We hope the FCC and Congress take note.

Tags: politics, net neutrality, internet

Translation: Give Bush what he wants or we die!

Sun, 05 Aug 2007 04:44:26 GMT

clipped by: thorswitch
clipper's remarks: Just how stupid is Trent Lott? Seriously! Apparently, there has been recent intelligence indicating that there *may* be an attack planned on DC between now and September 11th. As the former chief of the Capitol Police notes, however, *we're* the one's with the hang up on dates and anniversaries - terrorists don't focus on those nearly as much.

But even going beyond that, Lott is telling people that it would be a good idea stay out of town until September 12th - as if the terrorists are going to keep their plan (if there is one) the same even though they know we're aware of the possibility? What makes him think that the terrorists won't just change their plans and attack on, say, the 13th, after everyone who followed Lott's advice and left will have returned? Yeesh!

And of course, everyone caved and Bush got the bill he wanted. I wonder if Trent thinks everyone there will be safe now?

Clip Source: www.wjla.com

When asked about the significance of the approaching sixth anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001, Gainer, the former chief of the Capitol Police, said, "The interesting thing with any dates is that analysts tell us that Americans tend to be much more oriented toward anniversaries and the jihadists seem to be less so. I've seen over the years where we concentrate on dates and the analysts say, 'Don't get wrapped up in dates because our terrorist jihadist enemies bide their time.'"

Without mentioning a specific threat to the Capitol, Senate Minority Whip Trent Lott (R-Miss.) ominously advised Thursday that Congress needed to pass changes to terrorist surveillance laws before leaving for the August recess and warned that otherwise "the disaster could be on our doorstep."

When asked if people should leave Washington, D.C., during the month of August, Lott responded, "I think it would be good to leave town in August, and it would probably be good to stay out until September the 12th."

Tags: politics, security theater, security, terrorism, trent lott

Ok, I'm OFFICIALLY worried

Sat, 04 Aug 2007 12:45:17 GMT

clipped by: thorswitch
clipper's remarks: SOME (and only some) of what Newt Gingrich is saying actually is making a bit of sense...

Don't worry, I still find him to be a rather loathsome fellow, but in addition to calling out the administration on the phony war on terror, he's also promoting the idea of **gasp!** both parties working together to solve some of our problems.

If the old boy's not careful, he may find himself kicked out of the GOP for being too reasonable.

Clip Source: thenewshole.msnbc.msn.com

Posted: Saturday, August 04, 2007 4:00 AM by Countdown

Guess who sure as hell aint buyin' one of those bald eagle 'war on terror' license plates?

In an 8/3 AJC article, Newt Gingrich continues to outline his split with the GOP status quo as he expresses his feelings on what he calls a 'phony war':

Washington — Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Thursday the Bush administration is waging a "phony war" on terrorism, warning that the country is losing ground against the kind of Islamic radicals who attacked the country on Sept. 11, 2001.

A more effective approach, said Gingrich, would begin with a national energy strategy aimed at weaning the country from its reliance on imported oil and some of the regimes that petro-dollars support.

"None of you should believe we are winning this war. There is no evidence that we are winning this war," the ex-Georgian told a group of about 300 students attending a conference for collegiate conservatives.

Tags: gop, politics, gwot, gingrich, energy

Images that changed the world?

Fri, 03 Aug 2007 07:04:21 GMT

clipped by: thekay

Clip Source: pinguy.infogami.com

Images That Changed The World ?

Execution of a Viet Cong Guerrilla [1968]

The lynching of young blacks [1930]

Soweto Uprising [1976]

Hazel Bryant [1957]

Triangle Shirtwaist Company Fire [1911]

Phan Thị Kim Phúc [1972]

Kent State [1970]

Tiananmen Square [1989]

Thích Quảng Đức [1963]

Portrait of Winston Churchill [1941]

Albert Einstein [1951]

Nagasaki [1945]

Hiroshima, Three Weeks After the Bomb [1945]

Dead on the Beach [1943]

Buchenwald [1945]

Anne Frank [1941]

V-J Day, Times Square, [1945]

Casualties of war [1991]

The Falling Man [2001]

U.S. Marines raising the flag on Iwo Jima [1945]

Lunch atop a Skyscraper [1932]

Migrant Mother [1936]

Omayra Sánchez [1985]

A vulture watches a starving child [1993]

Biafra [1969]

Misery in Darfur [2004]

Tragedy in Oklahoma [1995]

How Life Begins [1965]

First Flight [1903]

Earthrise [1968]

Tags: photos, news

Inappropriate, inexcusable and indefensible

Tue, 31 Jul 2007 08:07:45 GMT

clipped by: thorswitch
clipper's remarks: For the last week or so, Bill O'Reilly has been waging a one-man war against the website DailyKos. One thing he's been doing is going through and pointing out comments left in some threads that express ideas that are, quite frankly, inappropriate, inexcusable and indefensible.

O'Reilly's one to talk. Not only do comments at his own site contain comments that are just as inappropriate, inexcusable and indefensible, but Bill O'Reilly himself has been known to make comments that are inappropriate, inexcusable and indefensible himself.

Below is a quote from November 2005. I've chosen it because while it's not necessarily a recent quote, it is one that is so heinous that O'Reilly should have lost his job over it. This comment should be spread around as much as possible. Not enough was made of it at the time, but now, since O'Reilly's on his "saying hateful things is bad" campaign, he needs to be taught just what happens when hateful things come out of HIS mouth.

Clip Source: sfgate.com

The Fox News talk-show host and one-man conservative media juggernaut has concluded that the United States and San Francisco just don't go together anymore. Voting to oppose military recruitment in public schools and to ban handgun ownership, as San Franciscans did Tuesday, means the city should be cut off from federal dollars. And then some.

"You know, if I'm the president of the United States, I walk right into Union Square, I set up my little presidential podium and I say, 'Listen, citizens of San Francisco, if you vote against military recruiting, you're not going to get another nickel in federal funds,'

"Fine. You want to be your own country? Go right ahead," O'Reilly went on. "And if al Qaeda comes in here and blows you up, we're not going to do anything about it. We're going to say, look, every other place in America is off limits to you except San Francisco. You want to blow up the Coit Tower? Go ahead."

Tags: politics

very ironic pictures

Mon, 30 Jul 2007 19:03:35 GMT

clipped by: ladalooop88845
clipper's remarks: i especially like the google ad one.

Clip Source: www.oddee.com

Tags: ironic, pics, pic, pictures, picture, funny

Now THIS is dedication

Sun, 29 Jul 2007 06:28:02 GMT

clipped by: thorswitch
clipper's remarks: or someone deeply in need of some serious psychotherapy.

Clip Source: gizmodo.com

An armed gang of four kidnapped one of the world's top RPG gamers after one criminal's girlfriend lured him into a fake date using Orkut, Google's social network. After sequestering him in Sao Paulo, they held a gun against the victim's head for five hours to get his password, which they wanted to sell for $8,000. And yes, the story gets even better.

Surprisingly enough, after five hours the hostage wasn't talking. The group leader had a gun against his head all that time but the guy didn't say a word. At that point, the crooks gave up and decided to let him go. The brazilian police then caught the four suspects, aged 19 to 27.

Against all odds, our hero (or very stupid guy) resisted. Probably using some Stamina +357 spell. Or a Big Cojones +577 mana potion.

Whatever he did to resist the torture for a stupid game password, boys and girls, there's a moral to this story: if you live in Brazil, keep playing Tetris. [Folha Online (portuguese) - Thanks Diego]

Tags: weird, gaming, crime

10 Ways To Be A Body Positivity Advocate

Fri, 27 Jul 2007 20:26:57 GMT

clipped by: liotropi

Clip Source: www.bfdblog.com

1. Be yourself. Whatever size, color, religion, gender, race, or sexual orientation.

2. Understand that you’re beautiful.

3. Let go of fear. Don’t let fear keep you from living your life the way you want to.

4. Challenge fatphobic (and thinphobic) statements when you see them.

5. Read blogs, leave comments, join the community.

6. Bring body positivity and size acceptance issues into your communities.

7. Link to your favorite body positivity blogs

8. Brainstorm different ways to be an advocate. The dressing room project? Fat hate bingo? The fat rant? All of these began with individuals who are helping make things happen.

9. Create body-positive art. Be a performer, a dancer, a cheerleader, a magnet maker, a photographer, a model, a poet, a painter, a T-shirt designer, a songwriter, a novelist.

10. Have more to say or a unique perspective? Submit a guest post to a blog like this one. Or, if you’re very brave, start a blog of your own.

Tags: fatism, human rights

UGO's suggestions for upcoming superhero movie casting

Thu, 26 Jul 2007 22:07:29 GMT

clipped by: thorswitch
clipper's remarks: UGO (UnderGround Online) has a list up suggesting actors to play marvel superheros in movies that, apparently, are in consideration for being adapted to the screen. There's like 5 mentioned in the article, but because of my great fondness for Thor, this one caught my eye.

I have to agree, Karl Urban would do a nice job in the role, though I also think his former LotR co-star Viggo Mortensen could do a nice take on it as well - especially if you want to go for a bit of and older, more world-weary hero.

Clip Source: www.ugo.com

Thor
There's been some rumblings that the Thunder God may get his own movie in the near future. Thor's cool in the comics, but he can be a bit goofy with his Fabio hair and winged helmet. This movie would need to tap into some serious D&D monsters and magic for it to be really kick-ass. Karl Urban would be a great Thor. He's played a Viking before in Pathfinder and rocked the whole fantasy epic thing as Eomer in The Lord of the Rings. Give that man a magic hammer and we're ready to Ragna-ROCK!

Tags: movies, thor, actors, comics, marvel