Tag Archives: stupidity

Annoying Legislation

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The United States Congress (Senator Arlen Spector in particular) can kiss my….Oh, wait. I musn't be annoying. I might be breaking the law.

" Annoying someone via the Internet is now a federal crime. It's no joke. Last Thursday, President Bush signed into law a prohibition on posting annoying Web messages or sending annoying e-mail messages without disclosing your true identity. "

"In other words, it's OK to flame someone on a mailing list or in a blog as long as you do it under your real name. Thank Congress for small favors, I guess."

"This ridiculous prohibition, which would likely imperil much of Usenet, is buried in the so-called Violence Against Women and Department of Justice Reauthorization Act. Criminal penalties include stiff fines and two years in prison."

….

"Buried deep in the new law is Sec. 113, an innocuously titled bit called 'Preventing Cyberstalking.' It rewrites existing telephone harassment law to prohibit anyone from using the Internet 'without disclosing his identity and with intent to annoy."

"To grease the rails for this idea, Sen. Arlen Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican, and the section's other sponsors slipped it into an unrelated, must-pass bill to fund the Department of Justice. The plan: to make it politically infeasible for politicians to oppose the measure."

"The tactic worked. The bill cleared the House of Representatives by voice vote, and the Senate unanimously approved it Dec. 16. "

I guess I'm safe because my true identity is disclosed on this site.

What a bunch of asshats. Readers are encouraged to leave anonymous and/or pseudonymous annoyances aimed at our brilliant leaders (Please keep them PG, though).

Executive Privilege

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INTERVIEWER: So what in a sense, you’re saying is that there are certain situations…where the president can decide that it’s in the best interests of the nation or something, and do something illegal.

PRESIDENT: Well, when the president does it that means that it is not illegal.

INTERVIEWER By definition.

PRESIDENT: Exactly. Exactly. If the president, for example, approves something because of the national security, or in this case because of a threat to internal peace and order of significant magnitude, then the president’s decision in that instance is one that enables those who carry it out, to carry it out without violating a law. Otherwise they’re in an impossible position.

Remind you of anyone? Nope, it’s not George "It’s just a goddamn piece of paper" Bush. It’s Richard "I am not a crook" Nixon discussing aspects of executive privilege in an interview with David Frost as it related to United States v. Nixon. Be sure to read the whole interview. I found the quote from Abraham Lincoln particularly interesting.

Religious Porn Redux

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This sleaze reminds me of Alberto Magliozzi’s tasteless calendar and Danuta Nieznalska’s blasphemous "art". (Fedora Tip: Pyromaniac)

"A German Protestant youth group has put together a 2006 calendar illustrated with erotic scenes from the Bible."

"The 12 re-enacted passages feature a bare-breasted Delilah cutting Samson’s hair and a nude Eve offering an apple."

"The Nuremberg-based group said they wanted to represent the Bible in a way that would entice young people. "

 

Bud Beer Pong

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Last month, various Christian groups, mostly Evangelical, got their burlap undies in a twist over a Budweiser advertising campaign.

"The Anheuser-Busch Company says it is pulling the plug on its promotion of a drinking game called ‘Bud Pong.’ However, a Harvard researcher is predicting the game will continue to wield damaging influence among college students."

"Bud Pong, a game distributed by beer wholesalers to bars in 18 U.S. states, is played by bouncing ping pong balls into cups, with players taking a drink if they lose a point. Anheuser-Busch claims the game is supposed to be played with water — not beer. And now, since the New York Times has reported that many players are filling the cups with beer instead of water, the company has announced that it is ending the promotion."

Both are full of crap. "Bud Pong" is really beer pong and it’s probably been around as long as beer and ping pong have. Budweiser didn’t invent it and isn’t some new social evil that’ll ruin college students for life. Bud knew damn well that folks would put something stronger than water in the cups, and Evangelicals should have visited Google before announcing the Next Big Disaster in Liberal Education™. Oh, and a big "Duh!" goes to the Harvard researcher for predicting that a game that’s been played for several generations will continue to be popular. What a bunch of ass hats.