I put this in a bucket with the "War on Christmas", "how come white people can't say the N-word" and the NiceGuy / Men's Rights Association types - it all does seem very eyerolly and foolish, but it's insidious and I think it's doing us real damage.
At the very least it shows a basic lack of comprehension on what it means to be in actual jeopardy.
I'm so sorry Drew, peace to your family.
Eh, I do think that the hatefulness inherent in the act of spiriting this away makes it kinda more criminal. Do I think it's a hate crime? Probably not.
Do I think the idea of hate crimes is overused? Probably. Do I say this as a member of a group that is often included in hate crimes legislation, and whose interest groups often lobby for hate crimes legislations? Yes.
But at the same time, when someone can be murdered not just in a random bar fight, but strung up, and "made an example" not to maybe seem gay in the bar? When a schoolkid is beat up not just to silence them, but as a warning to any other classmates who might cross gender barriers? When crosses are burnt on my lawn not just to scare me, but my fellow mosque- or temple-goers? That's not just impacting the person the crime happens to. And I can really see an argument for some punishment that doesn't just say "burning a cross on the lawn did $400 in damage, so that's the same as if you had spraypainted "GONZO WAS HERE" on their door, and done $400 in damage". Because clearly, not the same.
I am brenda.
Not het up about this at all though, because I found this to get all het up over [link]
You will pry my birth control from my cold, dead hands.
I now have: pre-interview paperwork, ten million hoops to jump through, a schedule conflict giving me angst, and the extreme desire to flip out like a mammal.
You will pry my birth control from my cold, dead hands.
In happier news, mine just went generic. Finally. Now if only I were using it as birth control I could celebrate by having sex or something.
shrift, that sounds an awful lot like actually being at work. They might as well pay you.
That's infuriating DJ. Do you read Broadsheet? In Nov, Colorado voters get to decide when life begins. Seriously.
Also infuriating: the blithering idiot who represents me in the US Senate has proposed renaming the next HIV/AIDS funding bill for her predecessor in the seat. Which could be a nice gesture if her predecessor weren't Jesse Helms, who opposed any such funding while he was in office on the grounds that people with HIV/AIDS were asking for it.
If they name an HIV/AIDS funding bill after Helms, I hope they have the foresight to hook power cables up to his coffin before it starts spinning like a dynamo.