You All Disgust Me

A few days ago I was reading an article about discrimination in online gaming and the associated forums.    Okay… It was a slow day and I was wading through my RSS feeds.  The discrimination (this time) was towards gays and lesbians.  Apparently, many online games have automatic filters that censor or prohibit any mention of homosexuality.  They do it to keep words like “gay” and “fag” from being used as insults.

I think that’s a cop-out, but I understand the reasoning behind it and I think that, while it’s a stupid policy with all sorts of inherent landmines, it’s not intentionally bigotted.

That’s not what I want to bitch about today.

What I want to bitch about today are liberal absolutists who spew cliche rhetoric out of their asses in the guise of being “intelligent and inclusive”.

One of the commenters to the story said “I don’t care if anyone is gay as long as they don’t throw it in my face.”

Here’s where the shit-storm of idiocy began.

The immediate reaction from the PC lemmings was:  “Oh!  So it’s okay as long as they hide it!”  and  “Oh!  God forbid two guys should kiss where you can see them!”  and “It’s bigots like you who keep people in the closet!”

You see, to the PC lemming, there are no shades of grey.    There is no difference between the kindly old woman who votes pro-life  and the person who bombs abortion clinics.  There is no difference between Rush Limbaugh and Colin Powell.  There is no difference between Bill Cosby and the KKK.

In for a penny, in for a pound.  Right?

Yeah.  Fuck you.

I spent almost 20 years working in theatre.  I think it’s safe to say that I’ve interacted with more homosexuals on an average week than most people do in an average decade.  I lived in a building in which the resident fags (they called themselves that) dubbed the west wing of the building “Dyke Alley”.  One of those “dykes” was a former girlfriend of mine.  I spent a season working with the Ice Capades, for God’s sake!   My gay friends run the gammut from “undetectable” to “flaming”.  And you know what?

I get really fucking annoyed at gays who “throw it in my face”.

Yeah.  Call me a biggot.  Please.   I need the laugh; this week has been a bit long and depressing.

People who “throw it in your face” are those who can’t define themselves as anything other than (in this case) their sexuality.   For them, everything is about their sexuality.  They aren’t a painter, their a gay painter.  They aren’t an accountant, their a lesbian accountant.   They insist on injecting their sexual orientation into every situation–regardless of the appropriateness.  They’re (wait for it…..) throwing it in my face.

To go back to an earlier context:   I respect Colin Powell; I may disagree with him on some things, but he presents himself as an intelligent, well-informed, highly-skilled person who is a republican.  Rush Limbaugh is an annoying one-trick pony who attempts to cram “republican” down people’s throats.

I’m a big boy.  My despise for Rush Limbaugh (“in your face” homosexuals) in no way precludes my affection or respect for Colin Powell (homosexuals in general).

Can you PC Absolutists understand that concept? Or do I need to dumb it down even more?

Jon Stewart, as seen on MilkandCookies and without further ado (video at bottom):

He (McCain) made an interesting vice presidential choice.

I like the woods…I just don’t know if I would pull my vice president out of the woods randomly.

She came out again today. She was talking to a small town, she said that small towns, that’s the part of the country she really likes going to because that’s the pro-America part of the country.

You know, I just want to say to her, just very quickly…F’huck you.

I’ve never seen someone with a greater disparity between how cute they sound when they’re saying something and how terrible what they’re saying is.

“Don’tcha know, Obama, by golly, he just is a terrorist? What? Oh, you know, he just, gosh, kills babies, you know.

I’m so over the idea that only small-town America is the heart and soul. You know what small-town America is fine, but it’s the same as cities. Cities are just a lot of towns piled on top of each other in one place.

They have this whole thing that somehow you can write off entire swaths of the country, that we somehow… You know, New York City wasn’t good enough for fuckin’ Osama bin Laden, it better be good enough for you.

I can’t take it anymore. I mean that is the one thing [inaudible] election cycle. After eight years of this divisiveness, we’re back to this idea that only small-town America is the real America.

I get it. I’m from New York. We have a lot of gay people. But homosexuals don’t have sodomy on top of Russian flags.

You are not allowed to sue someone just because you disagree with what they wrote about you online. Let me say that again – if someone says something factually negative about you online in a forum post, or a blog entry, suing them is not a rational course of action.

“But Mr. Quick-To-Anger Blogger, we knew that already. EVERYONE knows that!”

Not so fast there. Apparently, the fine bridge trolls** at Shop To Earn missed a memo.

Shop To Earn (google them – I won’t give them even the paltry traffic that my site might drive to them) is a MLM “company” who have decided that the best way to publicize their company is to sue anyone who says anything remotely unflattering about their pyramid marketing scheme. I know that’s a phrase that’s looked down upon by legitimate MLM companies (oxmoron, anyone?) but as someone far more eloquent than me put it:

People pay a fee to become a member of the scheme, hoping that they can recoup their money by recruiting more members who also pay fees to join the scheme. When you recruit a downline, the structure sure looks like a pyramid to me.

Basically, if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, chances are it’s going to bilk you out of your hard-earned money.

These people should really look up the Streisand effect.

The way it works is this:

To become a “website owner” it’s $349, or to become just a “business builder” it’s $99. To become a “broker” which is a website owner and business builder, it’s $448. There is also an annual renewal fee that is charged, which is $69 for a website owner or business builder, or $119 for a broker.

So basically, you’re paying hundreds of dollars for the privilege of joining a link farm. That’s ALL it is.

Popular blog Everyday Finance took a look at the company, and posted their findings online, stating that the whole thing wasn’t his cup of tea for reasons he outlines in the linked post. Unfortunately, the legal department of Shop To Earn, Mr. Gerald Nehra, decided that the best, most reasonable course of action would be to demand that he take his entire site down.

Nice.

This is Patrick Welsh. He’s the guy who created this company, and it only took him 10 years! Way to go, Patrick! This alone should tell you all you need to know about this company.

If you look at their About Us page, you’ll notice our good friend Gerald Nehra on there. The fact that a company decides that it’s a good idea to list the founder, both presidents and their lawyer on their “Meet the Company” page speaks volumes.

Matter of fact, why don’t you contact these fine people and give them a piece of your mind? Here’s the pertinent info:

Shop To Earn
Phone: (800) 239-5813

Gerry Nehra
1710 Beach Street
Muskegon, MI 49441-1008
Phone: (231) 755-3800
Fax: (231) 755-4700
Email: gnehra@mlmatty.com

Patrick Welsh
Unfortunately, publicly available information on Mr. Welsh isn’t easy to come by. Maybe you could try asking Gerry for his information?

And in news that really doesn’t mean anything, but amuses me anyway: if you go to their site – shoptoearn.org – and look at the bottom, it says “Powered by Free Website Templates”. Yeah, I want to spend my money with a company that couldn’t be bothered to design an original website, or at least pick one that didn’t look like EVERY OTHER SITE OUT THERE.

Thanks go out to Techdirt, where I first read about this “company”.

* – I should state that this is my opinion. I have absolutely no information about the parentage of even one person that works for ShopToEarn. I was using the word “bastard” to mean “jerks” anyway, which, in my opinion, they are.

** – again, this is merely my opinion. I have no firsthand knowledge of any trollish heritage, nor under-bridge dwelling habits of anyone at ShopToEarn.

When is a scarf not a scarf? Well, when it’s a “traditional scarf of Arab men that has come to symbolize murderous Palestinian jihad” of course. Sound ridiculous?

That’s because it is.

Recently, Dunkin’ Donuts yanked a proposed ad in which Rachel Ray wears a black and white paisley scarf because some right-wing whackjobs (I’m looking at you, Michelle Malkin) complained.

Dunkin’ Donuts, opting for the path of least resistance, voluntarily pulled the ad.

Quoth the harpy:

“Popularized by Yasser Arafat and a regular adornment of Muslim terrorists appearing in beheading and hostage-taking videos, the apparel has been mainstreamed by both ignorant and not-so-ignorant fashion designers, celebrities, and left-wing icons…It’s refreshing to see an American company show sensitivity to the concerns of Americans opposed to Islamic jihad and its apologists.”

You know what else would be refreshing, Michelle? Turning on the TV and seeing Fred the Baker taking a piss on your charred corpse*. Do the world a favor, Michelle – die slowly and painfully, k? Thanks.

* – yes, I know he’s dead.

Let’s play a game of “Good Idea, Bad Idea”. See if you can tell the difference between the person who is pulling random pseudo-science “facts” out of their ass, and who might actually have a little bit of training and expertise.

“I am challenging these evil genes by natural means. I am convinced that by eating biological foods it is possible to avoid tumours.”
–Gwyneth Paltrow, board-certified geneticist actress

“Diet cannot prevent cancer. The risks of some of them can be reduced with certain diets, but some cancers, alas, show no link to dietary factors.”
–Ursula Arens, dietician

Can anyone tell me what the hell “biological foods” are? What was she eating previously? Glass? Plastic? Ok. Maybe that’s the only boneheaded thing to be found here…

“If you suffer from joint pain it is a good idea to cut out or reduce the amount of tomatoes, aubergines, peppers, white potatoes and paprika that you eat.”
–Gillian McKeith, author

“Some rheumatoid patients may improve by omitting certain foods from their diets, but this must be determined on an individual basis and a blanket prohibition is totally unjustified.”
–Margaret Rayman, professor of nutritional medicine

What kind of joint pain, Gillian? What caused it? Injury? Illness? Joint pain can be caused by many things, from pneumonia to hepatitis to leukemia to just being elderly. Are you trying to say that anyone who suffers from any kind of joint pain should just stop eating certain foods and they’ll magically be pain-free? As an author, I trust that when you say something, you’ve chosen your words with a certain amount of care and precision so you can communicate your ideas without unintended ambiguity so this must be what you meant.

“Lots of skin products use the same petrochemicals as the antifreeze in your car.”
–Stella McCartney, fashion designer

“Propylene glycol is a very versatile chemical which is used primarily as a base in moisturisers, a solvent in food colouring, a carrier solvent in fragrances and in many anti-bacterial lotions. So it might sound scary, but it isn’t.”
–Dr Dominic Williams, pharmacologist

And have you heard about this dihydrogen monoxide? It can causes severe burns, contributes to the greenhouse effect, is a primary component of acid rain, and has actually been found in the tumors of cancer patients. And yet, it’s still used as a fire retardant, in nuclear power plants, as an industrial solvent and it’s even found in some so-called “junk foods”! Amazing!

“lovely make-up and moisturisers which don’t have any chemicals in them”.
–Sarah Beeny, television presenter

“Chemicals are everywhere and everything. To be chemical free you have to experience a total vacuum.”
–Ian Mabbett, chemist

Ian, in Sarah’s case, I think you hit the nail right on her vacuous little head.

(quotes taken from The Telegraph)