John Crowder, a U.S. preacher, and self-proclaimed mystic and "Youtube Prophet", goes around the world literally getting people high on Jesus. He stands on stage and pretends to shoot up heroin or smoke a joint, starts acting high, and then encourages the audience to start shooting up as well. He's telling people to, and I'm quoting here, "Take a toke of the Jehovajuana".
What?!? People take this seriously?!? He's making a living pretending to be a "tweaker for Christ"? Current TV did a half hour piece on this guy and his followers. It's amazing to see what people will be desperate enough to believe these days.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Video: Active Duty Troops March In San Diego Pride
This is HUGE! Never in the 30+ year history of any U.S. gay pride event has a contingent of active duty LGBT servicemen and women walked the parade route en masse. Yesterday, a group of approximately 250-300 individuals marched during San Diego Pride. Many of them wore t-shirts displaying the branch of military service they represented. Most held little American flags. It was certainly a historic sight.
With the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell in the final stages of being completed, our gay and lesbian soldiers are now able to participate with the rest of their community without fear of being discharged. What a proud moment for our nation.
With the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell in the final stages of being completed, our gay and lesbian soldiers are now able to participate with the rest of their community without fear of being discharged. What a proud moment for our nation.
Fox News Focuses On Real Victim Of News Corp. Scandal: News Corp.
Unless you've been hiding under a rock with you fingers in your ears, you have heard something in regards to the News of the World phone hacking scandal. That is, unless you've been watching Fox News. Even though the UK tabloid closed it's doors on July 10th, after 168 years in business, Fox didn't air their first story on the scandal until July 13th. The nature of that story, by Gretta Van Susteren, was more along the lines of, "The British government is forcing News Corp to give up on it's purchase of BSkyB." All of the other details regarding the illegal and unethical practices News Corp has been involved in was secondary.
Fast forward to Friday morning, July 15th. Fox and Friends airs a segment with a "PR expert", saying that "the problem isn't with News Corp, but with hacking itself". The story takes a decidedly "stop picking on us" turn when they talk about how this was something that happened "over a decade ago", and that hundreds of people are now unemployed because of the actions of "1% of their workforce". Just watch:
This is not opinion. This is not editorial commentary. This is the blatant, intentional misleading of the American public. I guarantee, GUARANTEE, that if MSNBC were accused of hacking the email and personal phone accounts of 9/11 victims in order to get leads, Fox would have a fucking field day. It would be the only thing they would talk about, 24 hours a day, for weeks on end. They would be calling for the FCC to shut them down and their Democratic supporters in Washington to be arrested on accessory charges.
Oh, speaking of arrests, Rebekah Brooks, one of Rupert Murdoch's top lieutenants at News of the World, was arrested this morning on multiple corruption charges. London's Police Commissioner, Sir Paul Stephenson, resigned this morning in the wake of the growing scandal. But, I guess they're both victims of this whole thing, too.
Unbelievable.
Fast forward to Friday morning, July 15th. Fox and Friends airs a segment with a "PR expert", saying that "the problem isn't with News Corp, but with hacking itself". The story takes a decidedly "stop picking on us" turn when they talk about how this was something that happened "over a decade ago", and that hundreds of people are now unemployed because of the actions of "1% of their workforce". Just watch:
This is not opinion. This is not editorial commentary. This is the blatant, intentional misleading of the American public. I guarantee, GUARANTEE, that if MSNBC were accused of hacking the email and personal phone accounts of 9/11 victims in order to get leads, Fox would have a fucking field day. It would be the only thing they would talk about, 24 hours a day, for weeks on end. They would be calling for the FCC to shut them down and their Democratic supporters in Washington to be arrested on accessory charges.
Oh, speaking of arrests, Rebekah Brooks, one of Rupert Murdoch's top lieutenants at News of the World, was arrested this morning on multiple corruption charges. London's Police Commissioner, Sir Paul Stephenson, resigned this morning in the wake of the growing scandal. But, I guess they're both victims of this whole thing, too.
Unbelievable.
Palin Documentary Bombs. On All Levels.
In case you were looking for a movie about a witch with a magical plot line, and Harry Potter is sold out at your local theater, you may want to consider 'The Undefeated'. As you can probably guess by the title, the infomercial documentary paints Sarah Palin in a positive light. In fact, it's narrated using clips from the audiobook version of Palin's 'Going Rogue'.
The film opened on 10 screens nationwide on Friday. It isn't fairing so well when it comes to reviews from critics. At the moment, it has a 0% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Speaking for myself, in the years I have been following reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, I have never seen a 0% favorable rating. To put that into perspective, the new Kevin James movie 'The Zookeeper', the one where he takes the talking gorilla to TGI Friday's, has a score of 13%.
A reporter for the Atlantic caught one of the first showings at an AMC Theater in Orange County, CA.
If you think about it, the movie should have been called 'Two Weeks Notice: The Story of the Snowbilly Queen'.
Can't wait to see how Fox News spins this one.
Update: Early indications show that 'The Undefeated' had an opening box office weekend between $60,000 and $75,000. Compare that to the $168.6 million that 'Harry Potter' took in this weekend, and the film drew in .0035% of the audience that 'Potter' did. (As best as I can figure out with my calculator erroring out.) So, for every 30,000 people that saw 'Potter' this weekend, one saw 'The Undefeated'. I call that "defeated", wouldn't you?
The film opened on 10 screens nationwide on Friday. It isn't fairing so well when it comes to reviews from critics. At the moment, it has a 0% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Speaking for myself, in the years I have been following reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, I have never seen a 0% favorable rating. To put that into perspective, the new Kevin James movie 'The Zookeeper', the one where he takes the talking gorilla to TGI Friday's, has a score of 13%.
A reporter for the Atlantic caught one of the first showings at an AMC Theater in Orange County, CA.
"But inside, the theater was empty. I sat there alone for 20 minutes, at which point an usher stuck his head in the door, gave me a quizzical smile, and said, "How come you're not watching Harry Potter?" Then he left me by myself again, and without any good answer.Turns out, the ladies purchased tickets not knowing "The Undefeated" was a Sarah Palin fluff piece, thinking it was an action movie instead. They left about twenty minutes in. Another couple came in towards the end of the film and made out in the back of the theater, but eventually got up and left themselves.
It isn't strictly accurate to say that I sat through the whole movie alone. Just as the previews started, two young women walked in giggling together and took seats three rows behind me. Afraid that they'd ruined the only story I had at that point -- What If Sarah Palin Starred in a Movie and No One Showed Up?"
If you think about it, the movie should have been called 'Two Weeks Notice: The Story of the Snowbilly Queen'.
Can't wait to see how Fox News spins this one.
Update: Early indications show that 'The Undefeated' had an opening box office weekend between $60,000 and $75,000. Compare that to the $168.6 million that 'Harry Potter' took in this weekend, and the film drew in .0035% of the audience that 'Potter' did. (As best as I can figure out with my calculator erroring out.) So, for every 30,000 people that saw 'Potter' this weekend, one saw 'The Undefeated'. I call that "defeated", wouldn't you?
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Have You Seen The New Sexist Milk Ads?
The California Milk Processor Board, along with advertising agency Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, has debuted a new "Got Milk?" campaign touting the effects calcium has on symptoms of PMS. The problem is, the ads are some of the most ridiculously sexist pieces of marketing material in recent history. Take a look:
They've also set up the site everythingidoiswrong.org as a companion site. It features the "Current Global PMS Level" and "Video Apology Enhancer". Somewhere along the chain of custody there had to have been someone that said, "Wait a second. Does anyone else think this might not be a good idea?" Anyone? Really?
Anyone?
Video: See A Once In A Lifetime Shot Of Atlantis' Final Launch
Earlier this week, NASA released video of the final launch of the Space Shuttle Atlantis, taken from cameras placed in various locations on the solid rocket boosters. The series of clips run a little over a half an hour long, but provide a number of "Oh, wow" moments. To see Atlantis pull away as the boosters start to fall back to earth is awe inspiring. Simply beautiful footage.
'Edge Of Glory'
I've become a bit tired of talking about Lady Gaga on this website. She's run her course. I saw this video, though, and had to share it. It certainly speaks to the "glory" part of the song, if you ask me.
Love is love. Gay rights are bi rights. Bi rights are straight rights. We are all connected.
Love is love. Gay rights are bi rights. Bi rights are straight rights. We are all connected.
Carl Sagan On The End Of The Shuttle Era
A beautiful, inspiring and thought provoking send off from the hereafter.
Epic Hogwarts School Made From 602,000 Matchsticks
So, this was built back in 2007, but with HP 7.5 being released yesterday, I thought I would share. Patrick Acton from Gladbrook, IA, made a full scale model of Hogwarts School using approximately 602,000 matchsticks and over 15 gallons of wood glue. It truly has to be seen to be believed.
The school is on display at Patrick's museum in Gladbrook, IA, along with many other models including one of the United States Capitol containing 478,000 pieces. I highly recommend taking a look at his website, which details his latest project: the Notre Dame Cathedral. Absolutely stunning.
That's Patrick standing next to the model. The level of detail is insane.
Michele Bachmann's New Campaign Song
Brought to you by The Drive-By Christian Broadcasting Network School of Law for Fundamentalist Government Infiltration. Hilarious.
In Midst Of Federal Budget Crisis...House Republicans Focus On Light Bulbs?
House Republicans will be able to choose from a wider variety of light bulbs to light their offices. That is, if the government has enough money to pay it's electric bill after August 2nd. While refusing to even have discussions with House Democrats regarding the raising of the debt limit and the imposing budget apocalypse, Republican Congressmen voted to overturn parts of 2007's Energy Independence and Security Act, which set standards for more efficient light bulb use.
"The House on Friday morning moved to block federal light bulb efficiency standards without even a roll call vote.
An amendment from Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Texas) defunding the Energy Department's standards for traditional incandescent light bulbs to be 30 percent more energy efficient starting next year was approved rather anticlimactically by voice vote.[...]
Daniel Weiss of the Center for American Progress Action Fund immediately blasted Friday's move. "The House sent a clear signal on Tuesday that it opposes modern efficiency standards for light bulbs despite support from the lighting industry," he said. "[The fact that] the voice vote saved time and effort to get to the known outcome is the only energy efficient aspect of this vote against saving families money by cutting energy use."House Republicans have been using this issue as a call to rally against "the government's intrusion into our personal lives". A number of them have even gone so far as to say that the 'Obama Administration is trying to tell us what light bulbs we can use in our own homes'. Here's the great part about this whole thing.... Ready for it?
The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, that's right, 2007, was signed by George W. Bush. The phase out of incandescent bulbs was part of a Republican initiative called the "20 in 10", meaning to try to reduce the nation's fuel consumption by 20% in 10 years. When Bush signed the bill on December 19, 2007, he said himself:
“The bill also includes revisions to improve energy efficiency in lighting and appliances. It adopts elements of the executive order I signed requiring federal agencies to lead by example in efficiency and renewable energy use.”The Department of Energy estimates that the U.S. would save approximately $6 billion in energy costs in 2015 alone, the first year after the less efficient bulbs are phased out.
House GOP members failed to pass the measure earlier this week by a two thirds majority vote, so it was placed as an addendum to a spending bill yesterday and passed with a simple majority.
What I find ironic about this story is that Republicans don't want the government telling you what kind of light bulbs you can buy at Home Depot, but they're perfectly happy telling us who we can and can't marry. Maybe there is a verse in the book of Leviticus that says that CFLs are an abomination to the Lord.
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