Links for Friday (FRIDAY!%$#@%!), 1/27/2012 January 27, 2012
Addicting Info - Anti-Gay Pastor Claims Same-Sex Marriage Will Lead To Pedophilia And Bestiality:
The blindingly obvious fallacy here is that a horse cannot consent. Neither can a child or a rock or a dog. Religious fanatics labor under the delusion that since they themselves would not consent (at least, not openly), no one else would either, so homosexuality must be coerced in some fashion. And no, this fallacy would not apply to polygamy since all parties, hypothetically, would be consenting adults. I’m not advocating for or against, but what consenting adults do in their homes is none of my business.
Hutcherson made these claims during a televised debate so they’ll be no excuses of “I misspoke.” He televised his ignorance and hate for all to see. And with all the problems we face as a country, stopping marriage equality shouldn’t even be an issue. Claims that homosexuality leads to pedophilia and bestiality has no basis in fact whatsoever. It’s just a viscous lie perpetuated by the bigoted and hateful Right Wing in an effort to force their twisted version of Biblical law upon the American people. Too bad so many on the Right are willing to believe it.
PandoDaily - Page Rage Escalates As Google Cancels Twitter Android Meeting:
Once again, the obsession with Google+ appears clouding the company’s stated mission. Android’s whole raison d’être is to be the more open alternative to Apple. Fighting with one of the world’s most important mobile applications to prop up a competitive product is shortsighted at best and blatantly anti-competitive at worst.
Sadly, Google can get away with these kinds of tactics on the search engine more easily, because Google has such a strong entrenched position there. But Android’s hold on the market is far more tenuous. If Google starts alienating core applications, it’ll reflect poorly on Android’s user experience, greatly benefitting the iPhone.
Violet Blue/Pulp Tech - Google’s Pseudonym Problem: New Implementation Revealed:
Welcome to the poor man’s pseudonym: functional, not famous. You could technically argue that Google Plus does now allow certain kinds of pseudonyms - only under specific conditions. Famous people are fine. Everyone else is seated at the kids’ table until further notice. I think that Google is simply attempting to redefine “pseudonym” without the protections a functional pseudonym affords with all that pesky anonymity. Pseudonyms used by everyday people are a cornerstone of Internet culture - in many cases, they are key to what makes Internet culture possible and great. Google+ will only ever be as great as it allows the Internet to be itself inside Google’s walled garden.
Family Research Council president Tony Perkins has taken Star Wars: The Old Republic to task for allowing gay relationships in the game. Anyone who isn't in a special interest group like Family Research Council and has paid attention to the way BioWare does things, knows that this is nothing new, of course. In one of his recent daily radio broadcast Perkins attacked the option for same-sex relationships, saying "in a new Star Wars game, the biggest threat to the empire may be homosexual activists!"
Comment: Did he just say homosexual activists are our only hope against the Sith?
The Washington Post - Ron Paul signed off on racist newsletters in the 1990s, associates say:
A person involved in Paul’s businesses, who spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid criticizing a former employer, said Paul and his associates decided in the late 1980s to try to increase sales by making the newsletters more provocative. They discussed adding controversial material, including racial statements, to help the business, the person said. “It was playing on a growing racial tension, economic tension, fear of government,’’ said the person, who supports Paul’s economic policies but is not backing him for president. “I’m not saying Ron believed this stuff. It was good copy. Ron Paul is a shrewd businessman.’’ It is unclear precisely how much money Paul made from his newsletters, but during the years he was publishing them, he reduced his debts and substantially increased his net worth, according to his congressional and presidential disclosure reports. In 1984, he reported debt of up to $765,000, most of which was gone by 1995, when he reported a net worth of up to $3.3 million. Last year, he reported a net worth up to $5.2 million.
JWZ – The latest Twitter nonsense:
"But," you may say, "They have no choice but to obey the law in all the countries in which they have offices." That's true, but I must have missed the article about someone holding a gun to their head and forcing them to open offices there. So they chose to make themselves an uncomfortable bed to lie in. How about that.
When you're in the business of providing a communications medium -- or, if you happen to have a moral compass of any kind -- there are some people you just shouldn't do business with, because it makes you part of the problem.
The Guardian - The Dukes of Hazzard star who could destroy Newt Gingrich ... again:
Jones sounded the alarm about Gingrich's dodgy practices in September 1994 at a time when he was locked in his own bitter electoral battle with the speaker over a congressional seat in Georgia. Jones, who by then had served two terms in Congress as a Democratic member having turned to politics after the Dukes of Hazzard went off the air, presented the House ethics committee with 450 pages of documents that proved to be incendiary.
They revealed that Gingrich had used charitable donations that were tax-deductible to fund his own political ambitions to launch a conservative revolution in America – a violation of the law that does not allow political activities to be written off against tax.
Comment: Dear diary… today I said “GO COOTER!” out loud. So that’s off the bucket list.
xoJane – It Happened To Me: I Eloped:
Planning to elope means having a giant happy secret that you actually kind of want to tell people, especially when they give you grief over living in sin with your partner. Planning to elope also means you kind of never want to tell anyone who gives you grief over living in sin with your partner. It means you anticipate the day of your marriage without juggling the planning of a wedding. It means your finances, especially if they are precarious, aren't extra burdened by trying to through an impressive party for other people.