I think America's Scared to have a Man-Date

Holy shit. Lawrence O'Donnell was really right about something. Based on his background, it should come as no surprise that Lawrence does actually seem to be fairly competent with the USC. Perhaps I simply missed the conversation about what the individual mandate actually is, but when I finally looked it up to verify, I was shocked.

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There is no such thing as the individual mandate. Wow. Lawrence is absolutely correct.

According to 26 USC § 5000A(g)(2)(A):

(A) Waiver of criminal penalties

In the case of any failure by a taxpayer to timely pay any penalty imposed by this section, such taxpayer shall not be subject to any criminal prosecution or penalty with respect to such failure.

Under this section of the IRS code, you cannot be thrown in jail for not having health insurance. It is that simple. Well simple is not the right word as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is 906 pages long, and even by legal standards is fairly complex. But not going to jail over failure to pay the mandate tax, maybe someone in the Obama Administration should have explained this point, repeatedly.

26 USC § 5000A(g)(2)(B)(i)-(ii):

(B) Limitations on liens and levies

The Secretary shall not—

(i) file notice of lien with respect to any property of a taxpayer by reason of any failure to pay the penalty imposed by this section, or

(ii) levy on any such property with respect to such failure.

The IRS cannot file a lien or place a levy on a person for failing to pay the penalty created by the individual mandate.  So if Person A doesn't have health insurance, they will be slapped with an approximate $100 tax (fine); however the government cannot put Person A in jail, secure a lien, or place a levy.  Essentially as the law is written, there is no way for the government to get the money.  Therefore, if the individual mandate is the only section of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to be struck down, it would seem consequence free for the Obama Administration. Yes that's right, the mean over-intrusive federal government is going to force you to have health insurance by doing nothing to force you to have health insurance.

Ass-hats.

I think the Obama Administration should  find an attorney and a cartoonist and have them come up with simple explanations for controversial laws, instead of having people just tune into Fox News where they hear stupid shit like death panels.

Liam '12

Freedom Just For Me

Happy Sodomy Day

Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558 (2003) turned 9 today. So go celibate with a steak and a blowjob. Just do it in your home, or you'll forfeit your right to privacy.

The Birds & the Birds and the Bees & the Bees

I think it is time to have the talk. Yep this talk is about doing the nasty, which I want to remind the straight community is only a portion of what it means to be fantastic. But now and again, gay people do happen to have sex. Shocking, I know. I found the following video on Joe. My. God.




As a quick aside I want to comment on the behavior of the sign smasher. I cannot condone what this man did, even though I understand the sheer anger and frustration that he must have been experiencing. Hate only begets hate. Violence only begets violence. The Gay Community has its freedom of speech, as well as the drool-monkeys. The Community doesn't want to be silenced, so don't silence others, even if they are liars and bigots.

Showing hatred only detracts from the truth that Gay Rights is about love and tolerance. Yes, this man was simply acting as a human and defending himself and his community, yet the community has the arduous task of being more than human.

The portion of the video that really bothers me, though, is the asinine notion that gay people practice "gerbil stuffing." Nobody actually has done that. It is an urban legend. If you are dumb enough to believe that one, please, please, for your own safety, buy a skateboard helmet. And then wear it all the time. Don't take it off in the shower or for bed. You may not be smart enough to quite grasp the whole walking thing yet, and I really don't want to see you get hurt if you fall down. If this were true, the people who were doing it would be arrested for bestiality.

Really though I want to know why it's only gays who are on the hook for being sexual deviants in this country. Why don't those up-tight drool-monkeys go and protest straight porn shops (not that I think they should.) Anyway many things that gay people enjoy straight people also happen to enjoy.

Anal Sex.  It's not just for gay people.  Secondly, not all gay people have it.  I don't mean that some people are tops, and that some people are bottoms; I mean that some couples only ever have oral sex.

On a more frightening note, fisting is real. I'm not condemning it, nor am I endorsing it. If you do not know what fisting is, I would say you're probably lucky. If you do not want to know what it is, I would say just skip down to the next paragraph, but that too is graphic. Fisting is when a person uses a lot of lube and insert the full hand after normal foreplay. Some people actually do this and here are names of famous fisters:

Alana
Alisha Klass
Ariana 

Ashley Long.

Audrey Hollander

Autumn
Autumn Hayes

Belladonna 

Bridgette Kerkove
Carli Banks
Charlene Aspen
Chloe
Daniella Rush
Felecia
Isabella
Jasmine Lynn
Juliana Sterling
Julie Silver
Katja Kassin
Keisha Kylie Ireland
Kim Holland
Meridian
Phyllisha Anne

Taylor Moore
Taylor St. Clair
Trinity Max

Venus

I could go on, but I got bored with all the porn. Notice that this list is compiled of people who are all women (if not silicone). My point is that straight people also fist. Big shock. Straight people are just as horny, just as deviant, and just as curious as gay people. Even sexually gay people are just people, the main difference is they are attracted to persons of the same sex.

Here are a few other things that heterosexuals do that are kind of silly.
 
Crush Fetish. Eroticism due to objects being crushed. If your mate is attracted to having their genitals being abused just be careful.

Pissing. You know it's true love if she let's you urinate on her.  But if she asks to be urinated on...yeah.

Pegging. I think Dan Savage came up with the term. but it definitely is a straight thing. Why would gay men need a strap-on? Well I guess if a Crush Fetish went horribly wrong...

BDSM. Ever read Venus in Furs? Kafka did. Some people like to be tied down. Some people love to get dressed up in shiny suits of leather. Others love a good ol' spanking.

Whatever people do in their home is their prerogative, with limited exception.  As long as the participating parties are consenting adults and they get off by those activities, everything is gravy. 

And for the bigots and the hate-monkeys out there who hide behind their religion, a Christian God doesn't care what people shove up their asses; a Christian God is concerned for the poor, the starving and the homeless. Two years after a massive earthquake, 400,000 people are still displaced. or why not use that Saturday where they looked like a bunch of jackass to go down to the Salvation Army. 21% of children in America live in poverty, and many local Salvation Army offices have programs which provide backpacks filled with food to qualifying children. In fact anyone reading this, gay or straight should sacrifice some of their time to this awesome program. It would make a good post pride activity in fact. I think that would make Jesus happy.

Liam '12

Freedom Just For Me

Creationism is an Insult to God

If there is a god, this would-be-god would be probably pissed at Americans for pushing to start teaching Creationism again. I took an online Pew Quiz on Religion not too long ago (I scored 15 out of 15, though it was none too hard; I was also disappointed that there were no questions on Zoroastrianism or African Animism), and there was one question in particular that stood out to me.  Erroneously, 77% of the quiz-takers believed that public school teachers cannot read from the bible as an example of literature or as a historical document.

With that statistic in mind, when I was reading this Article from Pew, I had to laugh at all the drool spewing, anger-monkeys who do not know what they're talking about or voting for:

Despite that long series of court decisions, polls show that large numbers of Americans favor looser, not tighter, limits on religion in public schools. According to an August 2006 survey by the Pew Research Center, more than two-thirds of Americans (69%) agree with the notion that “liberals have gone too far in trying to keep religion out of the schools and the government.” And a clear majority (58%) favor teaching biblical creationism along with evolution in public schools. 

Do they not understand the whole First Amendment thing, or will shoe stores in the near future stock only Velcro shoes.  The legal history of the Establishment Clause is borne not from  the scourge of Atheism, but the long standing conflict between the Protestant Majority and the powerful Catholic Minority. In State ex rel Weiss v. District Board, 76 Wis. 177 (1890), Catholic parents objected to public schools reading from the King James Bible. They objected to having a different bible being along with the whole anti-Catholic sentiment thingy. The argument is as frequently "which god," as it is "is there a god." This Wisconsin Decision would latter be adopted (after years of Selective Inclusion) by the US Supreme Court. In Schempp and other similar decisions, the Court ruled in a manner that prohibits Compulsory and Established religious instruction.  Essentially, teachers can teach the bible, but they cannot preach the bible.

America is not a Christian Nation. America is a nation where the Majority chooses to be Christian. Our system is one million times greater than any theocracy or any possible right-wing  fantasy, simply because we are allowed a choice. True belief is never forced.

The second portion of the Pew article quote focuses on the teaching of Creationism in Biology classes. 58% of Americans are doing a disservice to their children by supporting Creationism. If there is a god, god created the Universe through the Big Bang, and life follows the principles of evolution.  We know this, we have seen life evolve in front of our eyes, and there is an indisputable fossil record. Saying god created the universe in a myth-like fashion, when we know better seems to me insulting.  The creation myth detracts from the beauty and wonderment of the true universe that god (possibly) created. 

The time between the Big-Bang and  the emergence of humans did not happen in 6 days. If it did, Adam would have been baked alive by the severity of the Cosmic Background Radiation.  And let's face it, every religion and every culture has it's own creation myth. Is the Biblical creation myth any easier to swallow than Heaven and Earth literally fucking us into existence, or a Crow stealing fire from the sun, or Atum masturbating the world into existence. With Cosmic Background Radiation Maps, charted Doppler Shifts in star systems and even galaxies, photos of deep space/ early universe from the Hubble Telescope, and basic understanding of atomic theory, scientists have put forward a more accurate model of the creation of the universe using math.Quel Horreur!

If there is a god, study science and give god proper praise for god's actual accomplishments, not the false nonsense in an ancient book.

Here's My version of the Great Sky Man that should offend:

Liam '12

Freedom Just For Me

Job Creators My Ass...

The Wealthy don't create jobs. Supply and Demand does.

Facts:

1. Wealthy people are not inherently wealthy; they do not create wealth.  Money is given to them in exchange for goods and services.

2. A business will not hire additional Labor, unless Demand expands and more Labor is required to match the output necessary to supply the increase in Demand.

3. Prior to approaching the scarcity of raw goods, Supply is able to rise quicker than Demand due to the Economy of Scale, thus minimizing the role of inflation.

4. Tax reduction does not raise simple Demand, since businesses will not hire additional Labor without an increase in Demand.

5. Shifting the tax burden downwards towards the lower classes lowers simple Demand.

6. Lowered Demand causes a relative over-production of Supply.

7. Over-production of Supply requires a correction in Supply, often requiring decrease in Labor.


Here's the world's sexiest tramp stamp:

Hot.


Liam '12

Freedom Just For Me

What about My Freedom of Religion

I grew up Methodist. I thought for a while that the Church would allow gay-marriages or blessed unions depending on the legality of the state. My parents' pastor is very into gay rights and even holds a support group in a small town in America (scary).  If there were a god I would hope it is his. He is a man of peace, concerned for the poor, and a supporter of a more loving world.

It is a commonly held belief that gay-marriage is an infringement on religious liberty, which is a ridiculous statement that does not even hold up on first glance. Freedom of Association will allow individual churches the right to perform marriage and exclude gays if it is counter to their core beliefs. Many churches and religions outside of Christianity hold that having sex outside of marriage to be a sin while no longer holding homosexuality to be an inherent sin. By barring gay-marriage, Conservatives are pushing gays to choose either a life of abstinence or a life sin in the eye of their religion. The possibly for Christianity to accept homosexuality, and gay-marriage as a consequence, is quite likely.  While the Old Testament has a prohibition on homosexuality, the Gospel does not. In fact, the New Testament mentions the word 'Love' 179 times, while it mentions 'Hate' only 16 times, and 'Homosexuality' 0 times. In fact some Christian sects such the ELCA, individual UCC congregations, Anglican Church, not to mention the Reform Movement in Judaism, and various sects of Buddhism and Hinduism all accept Homosexuality. Many other Christian sects are divided on the issue.

If gay-marriage were actually accepted by the Methodist Church would it be an infringement of my religion to prohibit gay-marriage? Legally, based on past precedence as shown in  Reynolds v. United States, 98 U.S. 145 (1878), gay-marriage wouldn't be protected on the grounds of freedom of religion; however, under the logic of Loving, gay-marriage should be protected under the Equal Protection Clause. As a logical argument, preventing gay-marriage would be an infringement of my religion as it prevents me from completing a religious sacrament. Furthermore allowing gay-marriage in no way interferes with anyone-else's rights.

The other common argument I hear against gay-marriage is that it will alter 3,000 years of marriage tradition. This is not a straw-man argument, Mitt Romney actually said that. What is traditional marriage?

According to this Princeton Article  and this Independent Article 1/6 of societies practice legal monogamy currently. Legal monogamy was a rarity during antiquity and even more so in prior eras. Most Christians should understand this, because Judaism of course was historically polygamous. And the Greco-Roman tradition of man on man rumpus wasn't lost to the ages. It wasn't until the merger of Christianity and the Roman Empire that lead to an ascetic marriage tradition. I do have to say though that I'm disappointing with history, and the fact that we didn't end up with a system of polygamous gay-marriage. I think we were kind of close to that possibility.

And once this system of marriage was created, it looked very different from the nuclear family of today.  Forced marriages were common place until the 19th Century. I really don't think anyone wants to go back to that tradition.

So if it isn't tradition or religious liberty, what else is there? Many people have a problem with the gay identity, and how the gayness is the only aspect of gay people's lives.  The way I see it, gay people do not want to be identified as being gay. They are simply people who happen to be attracted to men. Why is that evil? Where is the logic behind the morality?  With the boom in human population, mass starvation (yes people really are starving), and other population related issues, perhaps we should encourage gay people to live as gay (as opposed to living a miserable closeted life and having a family that will one day suffer the consequences.)

Believe it or not, logically gay people have more to gain than the heterosexual community has to lose by granting gay rights. In marriage, gays would gain a whole host of financial, mutual-property, and other legal rights that straight couples enjoy. More marriage is not about having children (which, unfortunately for a certain writer, many gay couples wish to have) but more is a contract for living together and preparing to be divorced. Seriously a lot of the marriage laws are about merger of property, division of property, inheritance, and other depressing aspects of life.

If it weren't for the history of bigotry and hatred there wouldn't really even be a gay culture. If it weren't for being forced into gay neighborhoods, if it weren't for lynchings and murders, if it weren't for the fear of losing one’s job due to outing, if it weren't for the bigotry, gay people wouldn't have formed a separate culture, and they would simply be people. 

Liam '12

Freedom Just For Me

Douchebag of the Day

This is why Texas can't have nice things. The New York Daily News reports:

Houston cops are hunting for a dapper art vandal who was caught on video spray-painting a priceless Pablo Picasso painting at a museum last week.

Cell phone video shot by a visitor at the Menil Collection Wednesday showed a suave hoodlum in a dark suit jacket and sunglasses spray-painting a stencil over the Spanish master's "Woman in a Red Armchair."

Someone actually videotaped him spray-painting a Picasso with their cellphone.  How, what... grrr. What's going through your head if you just stand back and videotape this douche instead of actually doing something to prevent this from happening, or identifying and apprehending him.  I am only mildly upset with the film-maker; my true ire is directed towards Fuck-Head.

You're the type of douchebag that talks all through out a movie, because you are so much more brilliant than the auteur.  And I'm guessing you sing along at choir performances, because you easily could be first chair. Nope. You're not first chair, because you suck. You're not a director, because you are not good enough. People came to see Picasso not you. Get over yourself. If Marcel Duchamp had the common decency  to not actually vandalize the real Mona Lisa with a mustache, then I think you should follow suit. By vandalizing artwork, you are silencing an artist. Without art what joy is there in life?

And secondly that is such a lame tag.  Ooh Spanish writing on a Picasso. How daring.Way to teach that dead Spanish guy how to speak Spanish. Here is my suggestion on how to make a tag nobody would want to remove:

Classy, elegant, and it would now be worth much more money. Because let's face it, isn't the money what it's all about.

Do you know what, I'm just going to say it: Fuck Texas. I know this crap happens everywhere, but still let's all start mess'n wid texus.


Liam '12

Freedom Just For Me