Insanity

Volunteer suicide bombers seek to attack Israel

By ALI AKBAR DAREINI
Associated Press Writer

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Hard-line Iranian student groups have asked the government to authorize volunteers to go carry out suicide bombings in Israel in response to the Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip.

The government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had not responded to the call by Wednesday. Five hard-line student groups and a conservative clerical group launched a registration drive on Monday, seeking volunteers to carry out suicide attacks against Israel.

In an open letter to Ahmadinjead, the students said "volunteer student suicide groups ... are determined to go to Gaza. You are expected to issue orders to the relevant authorities in order to pave the way for such action." A copy of the letter was made available to The Associated Press on Wednesday.

Volunteer suicide groups have made similar requests in the past and the government never responded to their calls. Some hard-liners have claimed previously they succeeded in secretly sending bombers to Israel, but their claims have never been verified, and there has not been any sign of Iranians carrying out suicide attacks in Israel - raising the likelihood the groups' activities are mainly for propaganda purposes.

The hard-liners started signing up volunteers after Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, issued a religious decree Sunday saying anyone killed while defending Palestinians in Gaza against Israeli attacks would be considered a martyr.

The groups claim that more than than 10,000 people throughout Iran have registered as volunteer suicide bombers in the past three days. At a gathering Tuesday in Tehran, hard-liners were distributing registration forms to volunteers.

"How can I remain indifferent while defenseless Palestinians are being butchered," said one volunteer, Ali Reza Takrim Namini, as he filled out the registration form.

Another, Mostafa Babaei, vowed, "I'm willing to sacrifice my blood in support of Islam and in defense of Palestinian Muslims."

The volunteers wore white shrouds symbolizing their willingness to die and headbands with the slogan "Defenders of Gaza" and "Ready for Martyrdom." Most of those registering were members of the Basij militia, a hard-line paramilitary group that has tens of thousands of members and is often involved in drumming up popular fervor against Israel and the West.

Israel's bombardment of Gaza, whick has killed hundreds of Palestinians, has sparked outrage in Iran and throughout the rest of the Muslim world. Israel says it launched its campaign in retaliation for rocket fire aimed at civilians in southern Israeli towns by Hamas. Iran is Hamas' main backer, providing it considerable financial aid, though Tehran denies sending it weapons.

Protesters have held daily rallies outside the Egyptian interests section in Tehran, as well as the Jordanian and Saudi embassies, protesting what they call inaction by Arab nations. On Thursday, hard-line students threatened to storm the Egyptian mission unless Egypt open its Rafah border crossing with Gaza, a step Cairo has refused.

Late Tuesday, a branch of the Italian clothing retailer Benetton in northern Tehran was set fire, apparently as part of a protest. The state-owned newspaper Iran reported the attack, repeating a claim often made by hard-liners that the chain is "affiliated to the Zionist network." The branch showed minor damage, with some burned clothes and scorch marks.

Insanity in Gaza

This is a really good article on the insanity that is going on right now.

For the great justice of Twitter

DMfail
Lulz

No shit!

Study: Teenage 'virginity pledges' are ineffective

Youths who promise abstinence are also less likely to use protection

I for one, am personally SHOCKED by this revelation. It's the secular education that is allowing kids to even know condoms exist that's the problem! Moar Gawd 4 all.

What I did not get for christmas

The REAL action figure! Maybe next year....

Oh shit!

This is NOT a good sign....

Just so women realize how against them the right really is

Read this and shudder in disgust.
Last Minute Bush Regulations Take a Parting Shot at Health Care for Women
"I'm sorry ma'am but I am morally opposed to giving emergency contraception to stop the implantation of a possible child that is the result of your rape. Sorry about that. Have fun with your new baby!"
And can you think of ANY insurance company who wouldn't suddenly become morally opposed to covering birth control?

I hate you but we're broke... Please continue to support me

Divorce rates plummet as couples realize they can't afford to sustain two homes.
The real tragedy here? The family law attorney's just trying to put bread on the table! Maybe gay marriage really could turn the economy around. They could start getting divorces like hetero's and put the attorney's back in biz. Its a win/win if you think about...

Before you ...

have religious people over for an obviously christian holiday like christmas, read this. Wouldn't want to make anyone feel "uncomfortable" now would you?

Go Franken!!!

89 votes FTW!

Beautiful - Whether you agree or not...

"She reads poetry. Anyone who doesn’t think that’s relevant needs to be reminded of William Carlos Williams’ observation: 'It is difficult to get the news from poems, yet men die miserably every day for the lack of what is found there,'" - Geraldine Brooks, explaining why Caroline Kennedy deserves a Senate seat.

Yes, I stole this from Andrew. But its an amazing quote, isn't it?

I understand "bringing both sides together"

But at some point it's overkill. I have a lot of growing anxiety about the social positions of the incoming president. . . . Having Rick Warren give the invocation is just a little bit wrong to me.

Now for something really important

This is interesting. Romantic comedies ruin your love life:

They found fans of films such as Runaway Bride and Notting Hill often fail to communicate with their partner.

Many held the view if someone is meant to be with you, then they should know what you want without you telling them.

Does this sound familiar to anyone?

Few things would truly "shock" me about the remaining days of the Bush administration...

However, this would. The BBC is reporting that the now famous "shoe thrower" has been beaten by the US military.

Muntadar al-Zaidi has suffered a broken hand, broken ribs and internal bleeding, as well as an eye injury, his older brother, Dargham, told the BBC.

If the US is in fact "torturing" the man who has become such a huge icon in the middle east, we are all truly fucked. The ramifications of this would be disastrous. It has already been widely discussed that the US position on torture in general has caused more harm to the US than anything else to date by causing more and more angry people to sign up to fight against us. If this turns out to be true, there will be very little that could be done to calm this rage against us. ...Maybe this will turn out to be false...

Irony: US anti-kidnapping expert kidnapped in Mexico

MEXICO CITY (AP) -- A well-known U.S. anti-kidnapping expert has himself fallen victim to Mexico's wave of abductions as unidentified assailants snatched him from a street in the northern city of Saltillo, one of his employers said Monday.

I totally didn't know it was illegal to sick my child to death!?!?!

Carl and Raylene Worthington are charged with negligent homicide for the death of their 2 year old daughter. She passed away from pneumonia when her genius parent's decided to "pray" the sick out of her.
This story is nothing new. But it gets kinda exciting if you read their defense attorneys' motion to dismiss the indictment. This is the most incoherent rambling piece of legal douche baggery that I have read in a LONG time. This stellar legal team argues the following:
1 - These two cannot be prosecuted because they didn't know it was illegal to let their child die.
2 - The founding father's of the Oregon constitution did not like medical doctors, so therefore, they would not have required anyone to take their child to one.
3 - That the state totally promised not to prosecute them!
4 - And that there should just be a law that says a parent has to notify the state when their kid get's sick and this would prevent killings in the future.
That last one you have to really think about now. They actually argue that because DHS exists and that someone COULD have made a neglect report (resulting in an emergency guardianship I presume) and that the state could then have taken the child to get treatment, that they can't be prosecuted. And if the court doesn't believe that will save future kids from their parents, that the court should make it a requirement that the parent's themselves notify the state when their kid is sick. Because that is WAAAYYYY less intrusive then just taking your kids to the fucking doctor.
The defense attorney's cite every case possible to argue their many varied defenses. Umm...except the ones ON POINT. Such as, maybe that the Supreme Court has already ruled on this issue?

In Prince v. Massachusetts (1944), the U.S. Supreme Court unmistakably declared that parents do not have the right, in the name of religion, to endanger the lives of their children:

The family itself is not beyond regulation in the public interest, as against a claim of religious liberty. And neither the rights of religion nor the rights of parenthood are beyond limitation…The right to practice religion freely does not include the right to expose the community or the child to communicable disease or the latter to ill-health or death…

Parents may be free to become martyrs themselves. But it does not follow they are free, in identical circumstances, to make martyrs of their children before they can make that choice for themselves.

More recently in 1972, in Wisconsin v. Yoder, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled:

The power of the parent, even when linked to a free exercise claim, may be subjected to limitation under Prince if it appears that parental decision will jeopardize the health or safety of the child.

In 1990, the U.S. Supreme Court made it absolutely clear in Oregon Department of Human Resources v. Smith that first amendment guarantees of religious freedom do not constitutionally require states to grant religious exemptions to child neglect and manslaughter laws. (Religious exemptions to medical care for children in most states are exemptions to child neglect statutes; proponents of exemptions have also claimed that such exemptions also extend to manslaughter laws.) The first amendment does not grant parents the right to let their children suffer and die because of their refusal, on religious grounds, to obtain essential medical care. The court ruled that to allow religious exemption to a wide variety of criminal laws would make it impossible for our society to function, and

...would open the prospect of constitutionally required religious exemptions from civic obligations of almost every conceivable kind - ranging from…the payment of taxes, to health and safety regulations, such as manslaughter and child neglect laws, compulsory vaccination laws, drug laws and traffic laws…

Maybe it's just me, but if I was writing the reply brief I would be pretty tempted to argue for sanctions on this one.
Oh yeah, they end their argument with a Bush quote...

Tuskegee Airmen invited to attend inauguration - Perfection

I LOVE this.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Tuskegee Airmen, a group of black pilots who fought in World War II, have been invited to attend President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration.

Carole Florman, a spokeswoman for the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, says Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., sent a letter Tuesday to Tuskegee Airmen Inc. asking them to attend. The Arlington, Va.-based organization represents 330 of the original pilots.

Each member will receive two nontransferable tickets. They have 10 days to decide if they will attend.

Feinstein, who chairs the joint committee, said in a statement the airmen helped remove race as an obstacle to public service.

Robert Rose, vice president of the organization, says members are "elated and honored" by the invitation.

Bush frustrated with UN peace efforts in Darfur

WASHINTON (AP) — President George W. Bush says he is frustrated with the pace of U.N. efforts to end a wave of killings in Darfur.

The president spoke to reporters after meeting with Dr. Halima Bashir, who was tortured and gang-raped after speaking out about rapes of girls as young as eight near her remote clinic in Darfur. For her safety, Bashir was covered head to toe in a red, black and white sheath.

Bush held a copy of Bashir's book about the years of brutality, titled, "Tears of the Desert."

He said the United Nations must expedite sending peacekeepers.

The conflict in Darfur has claimed the lives of up to 300,000 people and displaced more than 2.5 million, according to U.N. officials. The government in Khartoum argues that the numbers are exaggerated.

Hmmm....how 'bout maybe you should have done something when the whole GENOCIDE report came out, you douche! Seriously! Blame the UN a month before you leave office. You are classy...

How to increase childhood gun fatalities.

Alternate title #1 - Why you should NOT be visiting your grandmother this holiday.

Alternate title #2 - What to give your elder loved one when they are too old to drive.

A US company claims to have received federal approval to market a 9-mm handgun as a medical device and hopes the US government will reimburse seniors who buy the $300 firearm. . . Called the Palm Pistol, the weapon is designed for people who have trouble firing a normal handgun due to arthritis and other debilitating conditions.

Well this sounds like a good idea. What could possibly go wrong with arming our elderly citizens with the ability to shoot people on a whim?

The sales information reads: "It is also ideal for seniors, disabled or others who may have limited strength or manual dexterity. Using the thumb instead of the index finger for firing, it significantly reduces muzzle drift, one of the principal causes of inaccurate targeting. Point and shoot couldn't be easier."

Wait a minute...So you just push a button and a gun shoots? What about a safety? I'm still gonna give this idea the benefit of the doubt. I'm sure this is a good idea...

"The justification for this would be no more or less for a [walking aid] or wheelchair, or any number of things that are medical devices," he says. . . The company reportedly said that they are now seeking a Durable Medical Equipment coding for the gun, which if awarded would allow it to be prescribed and reimbursement paid through Medicare or private health insurance.

WTF? So....disabled? What can I get you? Wheelchair, walker, gun? It's all covered by medicaid! Get your free guns here! You never know who might break-in to your home to steal your dementia medication or your chia pet!

Gun fail is fail. Gah!

I like how this cat thinks!

more animals

Prop 8 - The Musical

This is TOOOOO funny!!

See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die

Colbert Christmas

So I wasn't a huge fan. I guess I expected a bit more. I just didn't think it was THAT funny.
However, after reading this I fully recommend EVERYONE watch it. It must be supported.

Let’s hope Stephen the Sunday school teacher doesn’t try showing this DVD at church. But as usual with satirists, he is cynical and hypocritical. Colbert proclaimed a while back on “60 Minutes” that he never lets his children watch his shows, because they don’t get his irony. He just makes them so that everyone else’s children are instructed to laugh along.

Yeah.....so he parent's his children. Maybe you should try that to? You do know that maybe if the show comes on at 10 fucking 30 a night, its maybe not the best show to let your kiddo watch. Seriously, if they are still up flip to the tivo of yo gabba gabba.

Why I love talk radio:

Its so damn classy!

Meme! Meme! Meme!!one!!1

Meme fun times. This of course is the 6 random things meme, so let's get to it!

The rules:

1. Link to the person who tagged you. (Gotcha)
2. Post the rules on your blog. (See here. Rules)
3. Write six random arbitrary things about yourself. (Can they really be random AND arbitrary?)
4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them. (hmmm...possibly...)
5. Let each person know they’ve been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

Six Random Arbitrary things:

1. I am not afraid of dying or of hell, but I do have a random arbitrary fear of mice and zombies. (Yes, you read that correctly).

2. The last movie I watched was Pineapple Express. It was quite funny. Took an odd turn half-way through but overall, funny. Not as funny as Tropic Thunder which is the funniest movie since Talladega Nights. Zomg humor. Just when you think Tom Cruise is the biggest douche bag and completely batshit insane, he goes and pulls something like this and totally redeems himself. Gah. Well kinda. Not for the scientology shit though.

3. I went to school for a VERY long time and now that I’m out I really miss it and would love to go back. Damn student loans!

4. This Friday is the final hearing in the adoption of my 2 1/2 year old darling daughter.

5. I am obsessed with my Google Reader. I mean, how else could I know when there were updates to LOLCATS and Hot Chicks with Douchebags, without actually going to the sites everyday? Well, and plus, you can get real news too. I suppose...

6. Despite my atheist character, I truly like the holidays. It really pisses me off when people claim that atheists can't celebrate thanksgiving or christmas because of some dumb-ass reason that makes no sense. I can be thankful for my family and friends and enjoy eating and drinking without it involving a magical super-being. I also recently figured out that god and Santa Claus are the EXACT SAME PERSON. Evidence: (a) both "see you when you are sleeping" and "know when you are awake"; (2) both "know if you've been bad or good"; and (tres) so you have to be good or you won't get any presents (i.e., go to Heaven). Conclusion: I have never received presents via magic reindeer, therefore, god does not exist. Q.E.D.

Tagged:
A Division by Zero
Bligbi
Homosecular Gaytheist
Sexy Secularist
Pharyngula