Gay people are scary

Listen

This is from Paul Hipp, the same guy who brought us The Decider and I'm So Loathsome I Could Spy.

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Waste of time

Don't you just hate stupid online polls? Who answers these things, anyway? Since this one managed to somehow squeak by my pop-up blocker, I thought I'd have a little fun with it. I didn't need to alter the photo at all; W looks ridiculous withouut my help. Go figure.

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My friend, the monthly visitor

Euphemisms for body parts or functions are stupid — unless they're funny. My friend Sophie and I call our periods "Eve." As in, "I feel shitty. Eve's here. Bitch couldn't keep her mitts off that fucking apple. Thanks a pantsload." (Well, Sophie and I find that funny.) I haven't heard anyone else refer to Auntie Flo in that manner, which is a shame, so imagine my delight when I saw that the TamPontification! site is collecting period nicknames. I submitted "Eve" a few days, and voila!

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Damn flirty apes

Human and Chimp Ancestors Might Have Interbred

The earliest known ancestors of modern humans might have reproduced with early chimpanzees to create a hybrid species, a new genetic analysis suggests.

Please don't insert a W joke here. Yes, he looks simian, but I doubt that our cousins/SOs would be flattered by the comparison.

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Have a heart

Wow, this is low, even for a Republican.

What may be a Hall of Fame moment in the annals of political ads may have come down in the GOP race for 25th State Assembly District race in the Modesto area this week.

We're talking the campaign mailer in which GOP candidate Bill Conrad attacks opponent Tom Berryhill -- for having a heart transplant.

The headline of the direct mail piece -- in blood red ink, no less: "Tom Berryhill doesn't have the HEART for State Assembly."

That's accompanied by a handy list of "Heart Transplant Facts."

It gets better.

[Conrad] dismissed phone calls and e-mails his campaign received complaining about the mailer, saying he believed they came from Berryhill supporters and likely were orchestrated by his opponent's campaign.

"They sounded scripted to me," Conrad said.

Awesome display of personal responsibility, candidate Conrad! When someone is offended by your disgusting tactics, put it back on them. Deflect and deny, like a good Republican.

Do you feel a little heartsick after reading this? I do. While I'd usually enjoy seeing one Republican attack another, this is way out of line. Try to stick to the issues, guys. Although I guess Conrad can't do that, as his views are likely as repugnant as his opponent's.

According to his web site, Berryhill is an NRA Life Member (isn't that oxymoronic?) and has received an endorsement from the gayhating "Reverend" Lou Sheldon. Berryhill also has a chip on his shoulder about San Francisco, saying "San Francisco's law-breaking politicians and their supporters in the Legislature must understand that they should be held accountable. I will introduce a bill that if passed will send public officials to jail for breaking California's marriage laws" and "I will stand up to the San Francisco politicians who want Californian families to pay for their extreme social experiments." Not sure what he means by that last bit, but whatever. Also, someone should tell Berryhill's webmaster that there is only one space between sentences, not two. A computer is not a typewriter, you know.

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Walking the walk and walking out

I wonder: how many of us are as courageous as Steve Almond? Almond, a professor at Boston College, quit his job after learning that Condi Rice was invited to speak at graduation ceremonies. In an open letter to the president of the college, Almond says

I cannot, in good conscience, exhort my students to pursue truth and knowledge, then collect a paycheck from an institution that displays such flagrant disregard for both.

Read the rest of his letter here.

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How low can he go?

Lower than Nixon: 29% Can we please just ITMFA?

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Drag, drop and help

Look what ae found: TamPontification!, an easy way to help women in need. Make a virtual donation, and Seventh Generation will give a box of tampons or pads to a women's shelter.

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Inspiration

Sometimes the simplest ideas are the best. This is brilliant.

Trevor Field, a retired advertising executive, had done well in life and wanted to give back to his community. He noticed that in many rural villages around the eastern Cape, the burden of collecting water fell mainly to the women and girls of the household. Each morning, he'd see them set off to the nearest borehole to collect water. They used leaky and often contaminated hand-pumps to collect the water, then they carried it back through the bush in buckets weighing 40 pounds. It was exhausting and time-consuming work.

[...]

Field then teamed up with an inventor and came up with the "play pump" -- a children's merry-go-round that pumps clean, safe drinking water from a deep borehole every time the children start to spin. Soup to nuts, the whole operation takes a few hours to install and costs around $7,000. Field's idea proved so inventive, so cost-efficient and so much fun for the kids that World Bank recognized it as one of the best new grassroots ideas.

In true ad-man style, Field's next idea was to use the play pump's water towers as makeshift billboards, selling ad space to help pay for the upkeep. He reserves a spot for the national loveLife campaign, which helps educate children about HIV and AIDS. "We've got to get the message through to them before they become sexually active," he says. "It seems to be working."

I love this! One man with a simple, ingenious idea, kids with a new toy, and who knows how many lives saved.

Read more about play pumps here.

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A Swift kick in the ass

It's been 48 hours, and Stephen Colbert still rules. I keep turning on the news, hoping to see reaction to his performance and I'm stunned by the silence. I can't imagine why the MSM isn't reporting that Colbert made them look like incompetent, fearful yes-people.

Fortunately, we have the blogosphere and Mark Morford.

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