Tweet Of The Day

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is urging for a boycott of Hobby Lobby.  Personally, my family has been boycotting them since this entire contraception thing started.  We used to spend a lot of money there, between yarn and soapmaking supplies.

The Reason Why You Shouldn't Watch 'Dancing With The Stars' (Hint: It's Not Chaz Bono)

In recent weeks, the media, as well as numerous Christian groups, have focused on Chaz Bono, and his participation on this season's 'Dancing With The Stars'.  As Chaz is the first transgendered celebrity to participate in a nationally televised reality competition, it's easy to see why he would receive so much attention.  Christian organizations under the guise of "family groups" have called for the show's boycott.   A regular correspondent for Fox News has even warned parents not to let their children watch the show, fearing that Bono's "she/he" ways will influence their impressionable minds.

While this debate has been fervently taking place amongst the nations pundits, something far more insidious has casually been infecting the hearts and minds of DWTS viewers over the last two weeks:  Nancy Grace.

She trying to be sexy, people!!!!  Come on.  I mean, I just threw up in my mouth a little.  Last season?  Kirstie  Alley?  I totally believed it.  She sold it.  And, let me tell you something.  I was buying!  Hook, line and sinker.  But this?!

I just want a shower, and not the good kind.  Was thinking of something more along the lines of guys in hazmat suits with brushes, attached to long sticks.  

Supposedly, during tonight's live performance, Ms. Grace had a "wardrobe malfunction" of sorts.  The video below is of the end of her performance.  While it allegedly shows a "nipple slip", I don't see anything.  Then again, I'm not going to look for it, either.  The reason why I am posting the clip is the audience reaction.  There is obviously an editing error.  

The clip, of what is supposed to be a live television broadcast, has the audio of the studio audience applauding, but shows the audience quietly sitting in their seats.  They're practically motionless.  Very bizarre. It's quite a funny end to a performance on a television show.

Video: KY Airing National Commercial Featuring Lesbian Couple

For years, we have all seen the clever commercials for KY products.  They all vary to some degree, but usually, they feature a heterosexual couple talking about "the big moment".  Well, starting September 5th, "Alex and Emma", the line's first lesbian couple, joins their ranks.  From KY:

"K-Y® Brand has been a longtime supporter of the LGBT community. Since 1998, it has sponsored dozens of LGBT and HIV/AIDS organizations and has also participated at LGBT Pride celebrations and other community events. Gay male couples have been featured in print advertising since 2008 and now the brand is continuing its tradition of support and visibility with advertising that is inclusive of lesbian couples."

Here is the commercial.  Short but sweet.



Why KY Intense?  It's engineered specifically for women.  They like to call it the "Intense Effect".  It has worked on 75% of their test subjects.

I'm curious to see if the commercial will ever see the light of day on primetime television.  If and when it does, I'm sure the boycott police will be in full force.  "Boycott the network that aired this commercial."  "Boycott the program the commercial aired on."  "Boycott every store that KY Intense is sold in."  Great in theory, except KY Intense is sold in every major drug store chain - including Target and the fundie beloved Walmart.

There is only one reason why the evangelical right haven't blown up the airwaves about this already:  This is very low on their radar.  It's not like they're monitoring the advertising campaigns for sex lubricant products on a regular basis.

Dear lord, I hope not.  I'd hate to think that I have something in common with the evangelical right.  ;)

Royal Caribbean Profiting In Haiti

Last night, the Guardian paper in the UK ran a story online, reporting that Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines still has a port of call on a private island in Haiti.

As recently as January 15th, Royal Caribbean's Independence of the Seas docked in Labadee, Haiti, 60 miles outside of Port-au-Prince. There, travelers jet ski, sun bathe, and enjoy barbecue lunches behind a 12 foot tall barbwire fence, complete with armed guards.

The decision to go ahead with the visit has divided passengers. The ships carry some food aid, and the cruise line has pledged to donate all proceeds from the visit to help stricken Haitians. But many passengers will stay aboard when they dock; one said he was "sickened".

"I just can't see myself sunning on the beach, playing in the water, eating a barbecue, and enjoying a cocktail while [in Port-au-Prince] there are tens of thousands of dead people being piled up on the streets, with the survivors stunned and looking for food and water," one passenger wrote on the Cruise Critic internet forum.

"It was hard enough to sit and eat a picnic lunch at Labadee before the quake, knowing how many Haitians were starving," said another. "I can't imagine having to choke down a burger there now.''

Some booked on ships scheduled to stop at Labadee are afraid that desperate people might breach the resort's 12ft high fences to get food and drink, but others seemed determined to enjoy their holiday. "I'll be there on Tuesday and I plan on enjoying my zip line excursion as well as the time on the beach," said one.

According to Royal Caribbean, they are donating $1 million to earthquake relief efforts. They also like to point out how they're bringing 40 pallets of rice, beans, powdered milk, water, and canned foods with each trip to the island. According to their spokesman, however, "when the supplies arrive in Labadee, they are distributed by Food for the Poor, a "longtime" partner of Royal Caribbean in Haiti". Being a "longtime" partner tells me that they have been delivering these supplies for quite some time before the earthquake.

At the very least, this is insensitive. This could easily be called disgusting. As a cruise line, Royal Caribbean has many more options than to go into a country that was hit by an earthquake less than a week earlier. It is a slap in the face to the people of Haiti to treat their country as a tourist destination when 200,000 people are dead, as many as 3 million people are homeless, and eat burgers and ribs behind a fence, while armed guards are hired to keep the locals out.

BOYCOTT ROYAL CARIBBEAN. You have many other choices for your vacation or cruise provider. Royal Caribbean charges as much as $2250.00 per person for a room on the Independence on the Seas. Your lack of patronage will be felt. Let them know that you find their practices uncalled for.