(no subject)

* The man who's house they let burn in Tennessee points out that his tax money helped pay for the fire truck. his dogs and cat burned to death. He and his neighbor both offered to pay on the spot if they'd just putout the fire. the man who ordered the firemen to let his house burn didn't even interrupt his golf game a couple of miles away. The fire chief there has begged them to just do a tax to pay for fire service like they do elsewhere that would cover every one. I keep thinking about the horses that burned to death in another fire down there because their owner hadn't paid the fee. It seems to me that this sort of thing is fundamentally wrong, that people should stand and watch animals burn to death, to watch a house or barn go up in smoke. In the old days, this lead to whole blocks and even cities burning.

Glen beck and the national Review applaud this. It looks like evil to me.

* (RM found) Jim DeMint goes after sexually active single teachers and Gay teachers. Asshole: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/10/05/demint-no-gays-unwed-moms-in-the-classroom/

Freedom of religion does not mean you get to impose your religion on others. It means every one gets to chose for themselves without government interference. The government firing people for not being fundamentalist Christians does not sound like freedom of religion to me. Requiring celibacy of teachers is bullshit, and it has not turned out so well for the catholic church. Teachers have a right to a sex life with other adults on their own time. Also, most places have a teacher shortage, as it requires a lot of continuing college education for which you can't get financial aid to stay certified, it's hard work, and it's poorly paid compared to other jobs requiring the same amount of college. Where are they planning to get all these celibate teachers to replace the ones with adult sex lives on their own time? Also, why the hell should legal activities pursued in leisure time make one ineligible for employment? How is it "small government" to be individually policing the personal lives of every single female teacher, as he proposes?

* (RM found), "Antigay Attacks Reported at Stonewall and in Chelsea": http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/05/nyregion/05stonewall.html?_r=1

* What with the clown scandal in Delaware, I think this election could have been written by Douglas Addams...

* Today, waiting for my flu shot, I met a guy almost exactly my age (he was a few months older), who looked like a decades older Tom Savini and who was end stage with cirrhosis, chronic pneumonia and a bunch of other things. What the hell do you say in a situation like that? His benefits were worse than mine as he got that "spin down" thing that means he has to pay for a lot of his own meds. (I was scared I'd get caught with that last spring, but it worked out for me). The poor fucker was trying to get some morphine because he needed to pack all his stuff and me out of where he was living by the end of the week, and the pain from his arthritis was making that not possible. My age, almost exactly. Looked seventy or eighty from the alcoholism. I wouldn't be surprised if his arthritis is AS, like mine, but I didn't ask. There's a reason arthritis and alcoholism go hand in hand so often.

* I know people are mocking Luke Perry over this outfit, but I'd totally dress like that if I could afford to: http://gofugyourself.celebuzz.com/assets_c/2010/10/wenn3035606-thumb-420x610.jpg