I'm sure I've heard this somewhere before...

In a recent Forbes op-ed, Bill Flax opines that universal sufferage is a horrible, terrible thing foisted on Americans by political correctness. People who don't pay taxes (by which he means those who get refunds or refundable tax credits) shouldn't be able to vote. People on the dole shouldn't be able to vote. His bulleted suggestions:

• A basic literacy assessment;
• A non-partisan test ensuring competency of basic constitutional principles;
• A stake in the community reflected by property, employment or other measures;
• Restrict the franchise to lessen conflicts of interest regarding state employees, lobbyists, contractors, etc.;
• Surrender one’s voting privileges when seeking public assistance.

Stop me if you've heard any of these before...

LET ME MAKE THIS CLEAR

If you don't like gay marriage, don't marry someone of the same sex.

If you don't like abortion, don't have an abortion.

Gay marriage is not a threat to my marriage. Gay marriage is not a threat to your marriage. Gay marriage is not a threat to anyone except yourself and your own prejudices.

Abortion is not a threat to you. Abortion is not a threat to me, unless I have to have an unsafe one (go ahead and google the number of deaths from unsafe abortions pre Roe V Wade. I'll wait.) Plan B does not threaten you.

In short, stop being asshats and remember what Jefferson said; "I care not if my neighbor has one god or twenty, it neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg."

You know that jet?

The one Gov Palin keeps yammering on and on and fucking ON about? The one she sold on eBay? Turns out, not so much. The thing didn't sell, and yet Angry McCranky is claiming it did, and for a profit. Straight Talk Express, my pasty white ass.

The best part is that the damn jet wasn't used all that much by the governor - it was used to transport convicts to a facility in Arizona.

H/T to Daily Kos

Putin's Lost it

He's running for the Batshitcrazymobile as I type. He's now claiming that the US orchestrated the late unpleasantness between Russia and Georgia. Dude, we can't organize a fuckup in a whorehouse here in the US (see: Katrina, Rita, etc), much less half a world away!

Snerk

I am SO easily amused:

Joshua Leatherman
Republican running for MI State Rep

Let the innuendo commence...

I honestly think I may throw up

I just finished Cory Doctrow's excellent book Little Brother, which is available under the Creative Commons License, and it is the scariest book I've read in years.

Imagine you're a 17-year old kid, a 1337 hacker in the near future. Imagine you're playing an Alternate Reality Game, hunting a jammed wifi hotspot when a terrorist attack occurs. Then imagine being grabbed by Homeland Security and being held as a suspect, subject to "intense questioning." What would you do? How would the experience change you?

Think 1984, only with wifi and RFID (arphid) chips. Think about it, read the book, and find a way to do something, because it's only going to get worse unless we make it better.

Check in

The marriage is still sanctified and all (srsly, how many gay folks have to get married - legally - for my marriage to stop being valid? Because Canada and some European countries have had gay marriage for awhile, and everyone there seems to be okay. Maybe it's an American thing...)

The Derbyshire Ren Faire is going on tomorrow and next weekend, and Dun Traigh will be there, fighting, dancing, and generally getting all up in people's faces about joining. It'll be FUN!

Yay, California!

Teh Gayez are getting married in CA! Somehow, the sanctity of my marriage is okay for now. Maybe there's a tipping point? I think maybe I should monitor our marriage carefully as more and more gayez get married, just to make sure.

Confustion reigns

MSNBC.com is claiming (based on AP delegate counts) that Obama has the nomination. CNN.com says he's "inching closer." The AP story quotes insiders, who say Clinton is etting ready to acknowledge the delegate math and concede. Probably in exchange for a fairly high position in a putative Obama administration, if not the VP slot. Hmmmm...

Hagee has lost touch with the reality-based comunity

Video from Olberman:

Rev Hagee pretty much said that God allowed the Holocaust to force the Jews to return to Israel. In a way that is approving, because to most Evangelicals, the Jews returning is integral to the End Times. During which, every single frelling person (Jews included) who doesn't convert to the One True God(TM) will die an agonizing death and go straight to hell. Do Not Pass Go. They're props in the Evangelical Passion Play. The slide into misanthropy accelerates...

Edwards Endorses Obama

Not really a surprise - no matter what anyone says, the delegate math is on Obama's side. Plus, he made the endorsement in Grand Rapids, only an hour from where we live!