Why we haven’t been posting much lately

I just found this article that I missed when it ran on November 3rd, but I think its especially relevant now. Please take a few moments to read it before you continue reading.

www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/11/02/60II/main652953.shtml

There is absolutely no way for this to have been just a few isolated incidents. They stopped beating him when they realized he was an American solder, his entire life is now ruined, this is horrible for him and just think of how much worse things would have been for him had he really been a detainee, like the hundreds of detainees now who haven’t even been charged with anything...

Bill Clinton was just on NPR, listen here:
www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4676259
He had a lot of great things to say.

But paying attention to the world right now is just way to fucking depressing.

We created government to organize things that involve the entire community, like education, health-care, helping the poor, protecting the environment... But now, instead of properly dealing with these important things and more, our resources and tax dollars are being spend on this, in our name, for absolutely no reason.

IS THERE ANY GOOD NEWS ANYWHERE????

I just want to hang out with my friends and play video games and read comic books. Move into a cave. Or onto a new planet. And just not be aware of all this. I seriously can’t handle it. I’m sick of trying to change things and not getting anywhere. I’m sick of paying attention and keeping track. It is just so upsetting without doing any good; I’m completely powerless and frustrated.

The recent articles outlining the argument and plans for universal heath-care are really interesting.

1. It's good for American business

2. It works for everyone else

3. It would work here

4. Americans, even most Republicans, support it

This NEEDS to be a core plank of the Democratic party platform, and honestly I dont see why it isn't being championed by Democrats and Republicans alike (other than the campaign contributions from the more corrupt segments of the health care industry).

(These links are all from the last article, but Kevin Drum also has said a lot of good over the past few months (search for "health")

Mallard Fillmore

Dear Bruce Tinsley,

I enjoyed your series of Mallard Fillmore comics dated April 25th to April 28th, 2005, proclaiming that the wage gap between men and woman is non existent and merely a myth being perpetuated by those silly liberals, but I have been unable to locate your source for this statistic and was hoping you could give me a better link.

The asterisk in the comic strips attributes the statistic to column by John Leo dated March 21, 2005 -- but I just read that column and can't find any relevant information.

I found Leo's column online here:
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/johnleo/jl20050321.shtml

Has Leo deleted the part of his column that you were referring to, or is there a paragraph I should take another look at?

I would love to use this statistic while arguing with those silly liberals, I just want to know what that statistic specifically says and it's source before I start citing it around town so I can avoid looking like a total jackass.

Please let me know.

Sincerely,
--------

New RFID Passports Put Americans In Extreme Danger

The State Department is rolling out new passports that make use of RFID Tags. This would put all Americans traveling abroad in extreme danger, as their passports would be homing beacons for thieves, rapists, kidnappers, and terrorists.

See my full article on Daily Kos

Ban Adultery

I don't know why the gay-rights has been such a hot-button issue for me lately, but here we go again:

Between the hours of vomiting out of sheer disbelief, I was able to read through Dr. James Dobson's Eleven Arguments Against Same Sex Marriage.

This document does a nice job explaining specific arguments that the Religions Wrong uses to convince people to persecute gays. It is very worth reading just to understand where these people are coming from and the nature of the propaganda they are fed to make them so irrational.

As far as I can tell, the claim is that they aren’t opposed specifically to homosexuality. They are under the impression that gays are extra promiscuous by nature, and then go into details of why promiscuity is detrimental to our society.

Regardless of how bad promiscuity really is, they seem to be forgetting just what Marriage is, specifically a PROMISE to NOT be promiscuous. If gay people are going to exist, why not let them make a promise to avoid doing exactly what Dobson claims is their reason for being so horrible??

Wouldn’t Dobson’s agenda be better served by pushing for a constitutional amendment to ban adultery, rather than banning gay marriage (since all the problems Dobson describes are problems he sees with promiscuity, regardless of if it is between a man and a woman or two people of the same sex).

As a side note, I am amused by the endless references Dobson makes to "studies" and "known facts" without actually saying what these studies or facts are. I have a sneaky suspicion that they just don't exist.

Inter-racial > Gay ???

I've spent all this time bitching about how people against gay marriage were bigots and comparing them to people who were opposed to interracial marriages..

I just read something disturbing on Atrios and did some extra digging and found out:

... when the Supreme Court struck down the bans against interracial marriage in 1968 through Virginia vs. Loving, SEVENTY-TWO PERCENT of Americans were against interracial marriage. As a matter of fact, approval of interracial marriage in the US didn't cross the positive threshold until -- sweet God -- 1991

AND

it wasn't until 1991 that a regular Gallup showed that a plurality of Americans approved of interracial marriage (48%). 4% approved in 1958. 36% approved in 1978.

WHAT THE FUCK???

I need to find some up-to-date statistics on this.. If half of the anti-gay-marriage crowd is also anti interracial-marriage, ... I cant even finish this sentence. My blood isn't even boiling anymore, I'm just throwing my hands up in frustration.

4/10/05 Update: I looked it up, in June of 2004, Gallup reported an approval rate of 76% -- meaning that ONE FOURTH of Americans STILL don't approve of interracial-marriage... But I wonder if they'd be ok with gay marriage if it was between members of the same race? Either way, fucking stupid.

This is too good... Homophobes are SO CUTE!!!

J Abnorm Psychol. 1996 Aug;105(3):440-5.

Is homophobia associated with homosexual arousal?

Adams HE, Wright LW Jr, Lohr BA.

Department of Psychology, University of Georgia, Athens 30602-3013, USA.

The authors investigated the role of homosexual arousal in exclusively heterosexual men who admitted negative affect toward homosexual individuals. Participants consisted of a group of homophobic men (n = 35) and a group of nonhomophobic men (n = 29); they were assigned to groups on the basis of their scores on the Index of Homophobia (W. W. Hudson & W. A. Ricketts, 1980). The men were exposed to sexually explicit erotic stimuli consisting of heterosexual, male homosexual, and lesbian videotapes, and changes in penile circumference were monitored. They also completed an Aggression Questionnaire (A. H. Buss & M. Perry, 1992). Both groups exhibited increases in penile circumference to the heterosexual and female homosexual videos. Only the homophobic men showed an increase in penile erection to male homosexual stimuli. The groups did not differ in aggression. Homophobia is apparently associated with homosexual arousal that the homophobic individual is either unaware of or denies.

Source:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed
(Can't direct link, but its there)
And, Google has some articles that refrence this study. And here is more from PBS.

My shirt says "Homaphobia Is Gay", I didn't know it was literally true! I used to think that the best way to deal with homaphobes was to educate them... Then I thought the best way to deal with homaphobes was to just make them feel like unwelcome biggot jerks.. But I guess just kissing them or grabbing their junk is the way to go!

Extra Extra Read All About It!

Hannity Helps 40 Year Old Virgins Find Love!

I know this isn't right, or PC, or anything... But this website totally made my day. I couldn't have made a funnier parody.

Let me say this about blowjobs

I've been with four girls to date who have claimed to really enjoy giving blowjobs.

I don't buy it.

Sucking on a cock can't possibly be pleasant. Can you imagine a girl going home and putting a big dildo in her mouth and just going at it? That might be fun to imagine, but seriously, it doesn't happen. And for girls who swallow, if I were a girl I bet that would just make my skin crawl!

I'm sure there are girls who don't really mind sucking cock, but its probably more like me and back-rubs. I know I'm good at it and I'll get joy out of knowing that I'm giving someone a massage that they're really into, but I wouldn't take a half hour rubbing down a mannequin or something. The point isn't giving the massage, it's the person on the receiving end that I'm thinking about.

I think Uncle Ben said it best, with great blowjob comes great responsibility.

In this essay I hope to make you think about blowjobs in new ways, and make you a better person. I will address the blowjob's social implication, the negative consequences on girls who would prefer to not give them, proper etiquette for the sucker and suck'ee, and how to deal with a girl who means well but just sucks at sucking.

Let me also state that the word "girl" can be substituted with "dude" if that's your thing. I'll be using the word girl from here on out merely to describe the person with the testicles on their chin.


Social Implications; Blowjobs have replaced "first base" as the new "holding hands."


My friend Pavla thinks that modern girls give head too easily. And maybe she's right.


Its possible that my friends are just all total sluts, but it appears that modern girls are really comfortable giving casual head, and modern guys are more than eager to take part. Here is a link to a recent Metro article does a pretty good job talking about this cultural shift.

[Editors note: Doing any research on the internet for sex-related topics is super difficult due to all the porn sights..]

This phenomenon isn't entirely new, and appears to go in waves. There is a wealth of pottery from ancient Roman times with paintings around the edges depicting all sorts of oral sex (hetro, homo, whatever). And don't get me started on the renaissance period, or the hippies!

But these attitudes put girls like Pavla at a disadvantage. If her peers will meet a random guy at a party, have a fun time hanging out, and suck his cock before the night is over -- how is a girl like Pavla to compete on the dating scene if she would rather abstain from sucking cock in such casual ways?

I personally will contend that this isn't a huge disadvantage, but that really depends on the gentleman she is trying to impress. I've been with more girls who haven't given head than girls who have, and a blowjob has never played into my decision process about if I thought I should be with a girl or not. But I'd feel a lot more guilty about not wanting to be with someone who had swallowed my cum than someone who haden't.

Which brings up another point,

You Don't Have To Swallow

Really girls, and I may get shit from other dudes for saying this, but when giving blowjobs you shouldn't feel remotely obligated to let a dude cream in your mouth. A thoughtful male will let you know that he is about to cream so you can decide for yourself if you wish to finish him off by hand or mouth or whatever. Just please don't leave him hanging or he is liable to die of blue-balls, which is THE WORST!

I should note that some girls appear to genuinely not mind swallowing, and see it as a practical alternative to having something to clean up after. I suppose this makes sense, but as a dude I feel kind of gross kissing a girl even ten minutes after I cream in her mouth. It would be the biggest jerk move to not kiss a girl after getting that kind of servicing, but I'd rather not have that on my mind and just dirty up my shirt or sheets instead!

I guess the point is, there isn't some graph connecting his pleasure to how much you let a dude get away with. People are different and you should communicate to find out what you will each get the most out of.

You can give a gentleman a perfectly amazing sexual experience with a combination of mouth and hands, and he shouldn't think any less of you (if he thinks any less of you for anything at all relating to a hand job or blowjob he is just a jerk anyway). Blowjobs rock because they feel really good. They do a great job stimulating more areas of the penis, in a sensual lubricated sort of way. The best blowjobs I've ever gotten have involved a combination of lip and tongue stimulation along with well-placed hand-work focused on the most sensitive areas (in my case, around the tip). Some guys love having their balls played with, I really don't, so you should find out what he's into by observing his responses to different stimulation or just straight up asking. Because seriously, if you're going to go through the trouble and icky-ness of putting his wiener in your mouth, you might as well make sure he is enjoying it!

Etiquette for Men

Just as there are rules for the person giving the blowjob, there are rules for the recipient as well.

First and foremost, do not grab hold of a girls head or body or anything to move her around on your junk. This is a real live girl going down on you, with feelings and the need to keep breathing. If you wanted to have that much control, you should just fill a sock with Vaseline and stick it in the microwave for a minute and use that, because grabbing a girls head is really just turning her into your puppet. It works in porno movies but not real life. Its rude, uncomfortable, kind of gross, and just plain lame. Don't do it.

And be sure to let a girl know when you are getting ready to cream so she can decide if she wants it in her mouth or somewhere else. Don't be upset about her not wanting to swallow your cum -- she is being nice enough to suck your dick in the first place, this is the least you can do. And most girls will do something special for you when they know you are about to blow, making it even better for you.

This is all well and good, but how about the unexpected situations?

What If She Sucks At Sucking?

Not that it's a problem, there are girls I've loved to death and been completely ecstatic about just cuddling and making out with, but trouble arises when they insist on going down on me despite their lack of skill.

This is a sticky tricky situation. If a girl is going down on you, it's your responsibility to be thankful and compliment her work, but what if she's just horrible at it but insists on trying anyway? And you give her tips and help her out, but its no good, and you don't lose your boner but don't blow a load either? I've had to mentally will myself to cream just to avoid feeling like a dick (no pun intended) to keep a girl from feeling bad or trying forever, but that doesn't strike me as a good position for either of us to be in. And they get so suspicions when you say something like "no, its alright honey, lets just cuddle", assuming you have cock-warts or STDs or something, when really you just want to be nice and save them the trouble!

Part of the problem is girls just needing to be better educated on how to give good head, but when that fails, with a generously pushy girl, what is a guy to do? Any advice on the subject will be greatly appreciated and disseminated on this blog, please comment below.

Eason Jordan Said The Right Thing

Glenn Reynolds seems to have diarrhea of the mouth with this whole Eason Jordan-gate thing.

But if Reynolds's accusations are correct, it might mean that Jordan was being a responsible journalist

First, I don't think this really is a story.

It might be a story if Jordan's words had been stated publicly or on TV or in an interview or *somewhere*, but since his alleged statements were made at a private panel and explicitly off the record, it looks like Glenn is really digging here to make it a scandal.

A lot of journalists HAVE been killed by USA troops (I assume unintentionally, covering a war is dangerous), but when the military investigates these occurrences, they refuses to release their findings. Why?

What if twelve journalists really were deliberately killed by the military? What sources could their accusers use to back their claims if the most useful documents are kept secret? Why does the military keep these documents secret? How else could one dig-up information to get at the truth?

If the military is killing journalists, someone of Jordan's caliber can't publicly talk about it, and can only have off-the-record conversations (with friends, fellow journalists, or whatever) until he has access to the first-hand sources to back his point.

Since Jordan was off the record, he wasn’t reporting on murders committed by USA troops, but privately engaging in a dialog on the subject, and referencing whatever rumors or off-the-record statements he had heard.

But his comments were still made in private and off the record, I see nothing for Reynolds to be up in arms about.

If this really is a story, I find it hard to believe that CNN doesn't have people on the inside who would help them out here in getting leaked copies of such reports (assuming his words aren't being taken out of context).

Someone really should file a Freedom Of Information Act request for copies of the militaries investigations into Journalists' deaths in Iraq. These documents can’t possible be kept secret for reasons of national security.