I've made it to the initial round for favorite progressive blogger in the Air America Cruise Contest. I have to stay in the Top 5 before the second voting round begins, so your vote is appreciated! First voting round:
The Christian Civic League of Maine's Mike Hein calls Pam's House Blend: "a leading source of radical homosexual propaganda, anti-Christian bigotry, and radical transgender advocacy."
He is "praying that Pam Spaulding will "turn away from her wicked and sinful promotion of homosexual behavior."
(CCLM's web site, 10/15/07)
Ex-gay "Christian" activist James Hartline on Pam:
"I have been mocked over and over again by ungodly and unprincipled anti-christian lesbians."
(from "Six Years In Sodom: From The Journal Of James Hartline," 9/4/2006, written from the "homosexual stronghold" of Hillcrest in San Diego).
"Pam is a 'twisted lesbian sister' and an 'embittered lesbian' of the 'self-imposed gutteral experiences of the gay ghetto.'" -- 9/5/2008
Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth Against Homosexuality heartily endorses the Blend, calling Pam:
A "vicious anti-Christian lesbian activist." (Concerned Women for America's radio show [9:15], 1/25/07)
"A nutty lesbian blogger." (MassResistance radio show [16:25], 2/3/07)
Pam's House Blend always seems to find these sick f*cks. The area of the country she is in? The home state of her wife? I know, they are everywhere. Pam just does such a great job of bringing them out into the light.
--Impeach Bush
who monitors yours Bevis ?? Just thought I would drop you a line,so the rest of your life is not wasted.
This is a weird one, simply because you figure facilities in a national park aren't exactly going to be posh, but if it's newsworthy to report the horror of the current state of the potties, it's kind of frightening to think what you might find when you open that door...
New Mexico's oldest and most-used national forest restrooms will soon get a potty break thanks to $2.8 million in the federal pipeline.
The money from the federal economic-stimulus package is set to be spent on repairing and replacing aging toilets in three of the state's national forests including the Cibola National Forest where Jim Hughes is a park host.
"Because we got some places that need it real bad," Jim Hughes, a park host in the Cibola, told KRQE News 13. When Mother Nature calls he's seen people do desperate things in desperate times, he added.
"People will literally break in to use the toilets," Hughes said. "Then they'll use whatever they have instead of paper, and some things don't flush well."
Some people are calling this "potty pork" -- a waste of funds, but if nature calls, I wouldn't want to open the door to a filthy, broken hellhole.
UPDATE: But wait, there's more...additional video below the fold. All copyright Jürgen Henn - http://11foot8.com.
I love it -- this video captures the fun all of us who work in the Brightleaf Square buildings in downtown Durham get to hear at least once a month -- trucks that are too tall careening down Gregson Street and slamming into the railroad overpass. Someone in the building actually set up a camera to capture the insanity and compiled a "best of" tape. You can see them all here:
I've actually only seen it happen live a couple of times, but I can clearly hear it from my office since I have a window and face that direction. The last time I recall it happening I was getting a cup of tea across the street at Alivia's and was talking to the person behind the counter and we heard the familiar "BOOM!" We turned around and kept on talking, lol.
The scary part is that up until a few years ago, the trucks slammed directly into the bridge/overpass. Since this surely placed the trains at risk, they set up steel beams just before the bridge so the dumbasses could slam into that. And what is ridiculous is that there is a big height sign on the beam (11' 8") and not long ago they added flashing lights -- and these drivers still keep crashing into it.
A set of these hysterical images has been floating around Facebook for a while. They are from the Safe Baby Handling Tips book. My two faves are these:
A few more tips for hapless parents are below the fold.
I'd like to believe that this is a joke, but sadly, perhaps these really are poor LDS lads who need a few lessons on the art of the pickup.
One of the painful ones: "Do you believe in love at first sight...or do I need to walk by again?"
Honestly, I don't think this has anything to do with being a chaste young Mormon at all -- some of those lines are straight out of a lame-o playbook. Kate and I were out at a restaurant with one of her straight college friends while in NYC a couple of years ago. Her friend is a real (married) stunner from the POV of your average het NYC guy on the prowl, and we were witness to guy after guy coming up to her at the bar and hitting on her with the most pathetic lines imaginable. She blew them all off, but a couple of them were persistent numnuts; they couldn't seem to take a direct "no" for an answer. Hilarious.
What are some of the worst pick up lines you've heard or experienced?
Bon Jovi - Living on a Prayer (1987). Personally, I don't think of Bon Jovi as a hair band, it's just good Jersey rock, but they happened to pack the Aqua Net for the decade.
I have to put in one more Bon Jovi - the acoustic version of Wanted Dead Or Alive, from the 1989 MTV VMAs. I saw this fantastic performance when it first aired, and apparently it is what inspired MTV to launch the "Unplugged" series.
So since I've already crossed Bon Jovi off my official hair band list, let's see what I'll serve up as a full blown representative...below the fold.
The blogmistress is digging through her eclectic collection this evening. Bring out the vinyl, the turntable and put on the dancing shoes...
Sylvester: You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)
Lord have mercy, who could ever forget the real queen of disco, Sylvester. He is missed. The top one is a live performance of the song. The video has fabulous costume changes and serious diva action (and some inept, rhythmless dancers - so over the top 70s!). There's also a live performance here.
Amanda has a popular post over at Pandagon where she hates on the latest trend, blankets-with-sleeves. You know, the Snuggie.
I read this entire article (hat tip) about the war between various blankets with sleeves on them---the Snuggie, the Slanket, and the Freedom Blanket---and what was fascinating is that not once was it noted that the existence of warring blankets-with-sleeves that are all making millions of dollars in sales says something profoundly sad about Americans. Not that I'm opposed to curling up on the couch with a blanket to watch TV, but there's something about building a blanket to accommodate your remote control that seems very End Times to me. Certainly the only proper footwear to go with your Snuggie, on those rare occasions you get up from the couch and need footwear, is a pair of Crocs or flip-flops. Nothing that forces you to bend over and tie something, wasting precious calories and time.
Here's the original ad on the left, and a parody, called the WTF Blanket, on the right.
Now that's one product that won't enter my house, but not because it's a blanket with sleeves. As the Snuggie only costs $20, you know that f*cker is made out of polyester fleece, and I cannot stand unnatural fibers on my skin, especially that nasty fleece. Just imagine a smoker falling asleep in their Snuggie, an ash hitting that poly and said smoker becoming a human torch. Need I say more.
And about those Crocs, don't hate on them! I know they are butt-ugly, however they are the one kind of shoe that doesn't hurt me like the devil when I have a fibro a flare up. And for those late walks with the dogs out in the cold, you cannot beat the Crocs Mammoth. I have two pair.
OK, so weigh in on the Snuggie and Crocs: thumbs up or thumbs down -- and why.
Also, has anyone ever ordered a product you saw on one of those cheesy commercials? Was it ass, or worth the money?
I will cop to one: the Buxton bag. Actually, Kate got one for me so I could carry essentials when on the road. I still use it, but if you've ever seen the commercial, you get the idea that it holds a hell of a lot more than it actually does. The other problem is that unless you wear it over the shoulder, it's kind of awkward to carry. Fail.
At some point you simply have to laugh at the ongoing post-Prop 8 debacle. From Jesus' General - his simple headline for this is "Voted Yes on Prop 8."
You can see a bonus slow-jam version at the General's pad.
When we're in a national emergency like this, it's time to put out the Bat Signal...the Obama Bat Signal. (Goodnight, Raleigh):
The bat signal is a modified spotlight to project the iconic bat symbol into the sky or onto a building to contact and request the presence of Batman in the case of an emergency. The Obama signal above appears to indicate we are in an emergency and his assistance is needed to get us out of it.
Oh, so that's what happened to the economy (rolls eyes). I don't know what to make of this. Given what women have had to deal with because of monthly hormonal surges, the idea that men are ruled by their hormones isn't exactly a novel concept, but this kind stereotyping is useful...how?
The hormone that drives male aggression and sexual interest also seems able to boost short term success at finance. But what seems to start out well can turn bad, with elevated testosterone levels over several days possibly leading to irrational risk-taking, according to researchers at the University of Cambridge in England.
"If people want to get practical, it would be good for both banks and the financial system as a whole if we had more women and older men in the markets," said John M. Coates, lead author of a study appearing in this week's issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
OK -- now this is worth a belly laugh...
Coates and Herbert's study comes less than two weeks after U.S. researchers reported that young men shown erotic pictures were more likely to make a larger financial gamble than if they were shown a picture of something scary, such as a snake, or something neutral, such as a stapler.
Money and women trigger the same brain area in men, those researchers said.
Well, one of the things we occasionally remind people about is part of the concept behind Pam's House Blend. And that is, what we write about here -- what we discuss here -- is the kind of stuff we'd discuss in a Coffee House. So, most of the time over a PHB we talk about politics, often we talk about religious right antics, sometimes about other news and stories that interest us, and sometimes we write about what's going on with our lives.
So, this is one of the latter kinds of posts. I'm going to sit down with a cup of coffee that's infused with an added shot of espresso (which in San Diego is called a hammerhead), and talk about the Freya tattoo I had inked at High Voltage Tattoo for the show LA Ink.
Well, I thought I was going to be on LA Ink in a segment where HannahAitchison inked my tattoo. The season is over, the production company has shut down, and my segment never made it into an episode. Here I was, thinkin' I was pretty interesting and photogenic -- with a compelling narrative -- but apparently I'm not that interesting or photogenic, and my narrative perhaps wasn't compelling enough to air. * sigh *
Well anywho, the tattoo was still inked by the wonderful Hannah, a very skilled and renowned tattoo artist, and I couldn't be more pleased with it. The point wasn't to get on television; the point was to have the best tattoo artist for creating the perfect Freya ink it on me. I'm very much more than satisfied that actually happened.
So, since I promised to explain the elements of the tattoo when I finally posted the picture, let me go ahead and tell y'all about what the elements in my tattoo of the Norse goddess Freya mean...
This is good fun, as Stephen Colbert ribs HRC's Joe Solmonese (see the video at HRCBackStory). Some of the gab fest, from PageOneQ:
COLBERT: "I thought you worked for homosexual rights," Colbert says, on learning that "HRC" indeed stands for "Human Rights Campaign," as opposed to 'Homosexual Rights Campaign.' Are you saying that only homosexuals are humans and that straight people aren't humans? That's what you're implying with that name."
JS: "No, we're implying that gay rights are human rights."
COLBERT: "Well, I'm straight," counters Colbert. "I can make other humans. Doesn't that give me a leg up?"
JS: "I can make other humans too."
COLBERT: "But you choose not to -- so you've chosen not to be human."
JS: "No, I've chosen not to make other humans."
COLBERT: "So, if I use birth control, you're saying that makes me gay?"
I've posted some completely outrageous anti-gay, racist and misogynistic quotes from well-known fundies, homobigots and media lowlifes over the years, and thought I'd make a diary with some of the humdingers so we could see the breadth of batsh*ttery out there.
Feel free to search the Blend archives, or Google for some of your favorites and put them in the comments.
The AP compiled responses from the Dem and GOP presidential candidates on various personal topics, such as nicknames, most disliked foods, other blather like that.
See if any of these really amuse you.
ALTERNATE CAREER CHOICE
DEMOCRATS:
Clinton: "Continue to work for causes and issues I care about, in a setting like a university or foundation."
Edwards: Mill supervisor.
Obama: Architect.
Richardson: Center field, New York Yankees.
REPUBLICANS:
Giuliani: Sports announcer.
Huckabee: Bass guitar player for a touring rock band.
McCain: Foreign service.
Romney: Auto company chief executive.
FAVORITE FOOD TO COOK
DEMOCRATS:
Clinton: "I'm a lousy cook, but I make pretty good soft scrambled eggs."
Edwards: Hamburgers.
Obama: Chili.
Richardson: Diet milkshake.
REPUBLICANS:
Giuliani: Hamburgers or steak on the grill.
Huckabee: Ribeye steak on the grill.
McCain: Baby-back ribs.
Romney: Hot dog.
FAVORITE REALITY TV PROGRAM
DEMOCRATS:
Clinton: "American Idol."
Edwards: College basketball.
Obama: "Other than the U.S. Senate on C-SPAN? I don't watch them too often."
Richardson: "Fox News."
REPUBLICANS:
Giuliani: Baseball.
Huckabee: "Nashville Star," USA Network's country music competition.
According to Fred R. Shapiro, the editor of the Yale Book of Quotations:
1. "Don't Tase Me, Bro!"
-- University of Florida student Andrew Meyer on September 17, as he was tased protesting campus police when they tossed him out of a town hall meeting by Sen. John Kerry,
2. "I personally believe that U.S. Americans are unable to do so because some people out there in our nation don't have maps and I believe that our education like such as in South Africa and Iraq and everywhere like such as and I believe that they should our education over here in the U.S. should help the U.S. or should help South Africa and should help Iraq and the Asian countries so we will be able to build up our future for us."
-- Lauren Upton, South Carolina contestant in the Miss Teen America contest, when asked why one-fifth of Americans are unable to locate the United States on a map.
3. "In Iran we don't have homosexuals like in your country."
-- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's at Columbia University in New York
4. "That's some nappy-headed hos there."
-- Don Imus, referring to the Rutgers University women's basketball team
5. "I don't recall."
-- Former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' repeated response to questioning at a congressional hearing about the firing of U.S. attorneys.
6. "There's only three things he (Republican presidential candidate and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani) mentions in a sentence: a noun and a verb and 9/11."
-- Sen. Joseph Biden, speaking at a Democratic presidential debate.
7. "I'm not going to get into a name-calling match with somebody (Vice President Dick Cheney) who has a 9 percent approval rating."
-- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat.
8. "(I have) a wide stance when going to the bathroom."
-- Idaho Republican Sen. Larry Craig's explanation of why his foot touched that of an undercover policeman in a men's room.
9. "I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy. I mean, that's a storybook, man."
-- Biden describing rival Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.
10. "I think as far as the adverse impact on the nation around the world, this administration has been the worst in history."
-- Former President Jimmy Carter in an interview in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette newspaper.
If you're shopping for that difficult-to-buy-for person, how about surfing over to WingNutDaily's barn-burner sale. Find that special God-fearing inner patriot something special:
Best of all, through Dec. 21 we have some incredible Christmas offers, including:
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Whistleblower Complete Set - 50 percent off! They were already priced at a fraction of the normal price. Now they're priced at half a fraction!
I checked out the gift baskets to see how I could contribute toward the defeat of the secular war on Christmas, and I found the perfect one -- the God Bless America basket. It's chock full of wholesome goodness to give to your difficult gift recipient. Here's just a sampling of what will make them wide-eyed with surprise when they unwrap it:
* A Nation Adrift (DVD) - the true story of how God's sovereign hand guided the founders of America.
* The Patriots Handbook - A thorough presentation of the foundational ideas, documents, events, and personalities of American freedom, this incredible insight is an ideal resource for citizens contemplating the direction they wish the nation to take during the pivotal years to come.
* The Pledge - The phrase "under God" was aptly chosen because Abraham Lincoln reportedly used the expression, "this Nation under God," in his immortal "Gettysburg Address." For several decades, students in public schools all over America have recited the pledge with the words "under God." Now those words are under legal attack.
Contents also include gourmet hot chocolate mix, scented pine cones, select candies, Tis the Season Auto Magnet, and a Merry Christmas Bracelet. Get this historical basket now for a special friend or loved one.
It'll set you back $51.96 (marked down from $64.95, already a savings from the retail $129.00!) . Shipping is free, btw.
Snake collector Matt Wilkinson of Portland grabbed a 20-inch rattler from the highway near Maupin, and three weeks later, to impress his ex-girlfriend, he stuck the serpent in his mouth.
He was soon near death with a swollen tongue that blocked his throat. Trauma doctors at the Oregon Health and Science University saved his life.
"You can assume alcohol was involved," he said. Actually, not just beer. It was something he called a "mixture of stupid stuff."
