That first link went straight to my organization's Net Nanny. Apparently some words are so bad that we cant even read them.
The Tennessee senate passed a bill saying that you can't utter "gay" or "homosexual" in public schools.
I am tired of reading about stupid Republican tricks. Detailing their atrocitries and imbecilities in the hope they will be shamed or ostracized has never worked, has done absolutely no good whatsoever in the fifty years I have been watching politics.
My response to this:"Just fucking kill them all."
I think the Gay Senate should outlaw utterance of the word "Tennessee."
I have no illusions that I have ever posted anything that made a Republican feel shamed or ostracized.
Possibly ostracized, actually, if they tried to get along here.
The Tennessee Senate says no robbing the rainbow.
Are they still allowed to teach about Bob Corker?
"Bob Corker" is the unofficial workaround now that teachers can no longer mention cob-borkers.
God, is there anything not to like about George Takei?
20 years, guys. 20 years and these people will be irrelevant, except as an embarrassing reminder for certain political parties.
And with one stroke of the pen, all that unpleasantness was resolved forever for old people in Tennessee.
This presumably will make it hard to teach about "Frank Sinatra Has a Cold", Hiroshima, The Beggar's Opera, or the underappreciated Revolution War hero Jonathan "Mad Jack" Homosexuality, but the good people of the Tennessee Senate probably think all those topics are totally gay.
10.1:Takei is about the only celebrity I have ever met, around 1980 at a SF convention. He was beautiful, his posture was arresting.
10.2:If homophobia is the only thing you worry about, yes, I suspect you will have much relief. But as you might know, I believe that, largely because of Republicans, very few of us may be around.
You could be wrong of course. The Scopes trial was considered a joke and that problem assumed to be laughed away.
This opens whole new avenues for stroppy kids to cause trouble. Mentioning the homosexuality of historical figures puts teachers in a bind, questions about it in biology class do also. The overloaded nature of the word 'gay' is rich with opportunities for abuse, too. The Tennessee state government just did more to undermine respect for authority among their youth than any thousand anarcho-commie-hippie-queers you could name.
11.2: Not to mention "Deck the Halls". Gay apparel? Heaven forbid.
"questions about it in biology class do also"
Surely biology classes aren't long for this world.
10.1: Some of the later Star Trek movies, maybe? I stopped watching after the one with the whale.
15: Good point. I am not going to check but if TN is one of the states that has evolution disclaimers in high school bio I would not be surprised.
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I am enjobbed! I start this summer, and may spend a few weeks in Europe (most likely ECSC members) beforehand.
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18:Congratulations
Kotsko also has a tenure-track position (see And Fur in Sich)
I like people getting jobs, even academics.
I also met Takei at a sci-fi convention in 1980. I was 12. He signed my Enterprise photo.
10 - On the plus side, George Takei cast the deciding vote to create the Los Angeles subway system. On the minus side, Heroes wasn't very good. Life is full of contradictions!
George Takei cast the deciding vote to create the Los Angeles subway system.
Yes, he was almost a city councilman (a big deal, elected position in LA). But the subway system he voted to construct was for the most part eventually torpedoed by liberal lion Henry Waxman, so we're still waiting here 30 years later for it to get built.
Be it resolved, "teh gay" shall henceforth be referred to as "the love that is prohibited by state law from speaking its name."
20 years, guys. 20 years and these people will be irrelevant, except as an embarrassing reminder for certain political parties.
I wish I thought that were so, but I'm beginning to get the sneaking suspicion that their views live on in younger generations.
23: Possibly. I don't remember a drive all the way to Baltimore, though. I bet it was somewhere in DC.
So, do you think that a teacher would get in trouble for talking about the gay 90's or gay Paris?
It depends on whether the teacher says "par-ee" or "pair-iss".
28: I'm not saying he didn't have his outside interests, but he did start a whole war over me and I'm am penis-free.
Relatedly, I was unhappily surprised this morning while listening to a radio story about the Prop 8 supporters' claim that Judge Walker had a conflict of interest not because he's gay but because he's in a long-term relationship.
The unhappy surprise was that I thought: Hmm, maybe they have a point. Not that they're not evil, disingenuous douchebags who would argue that the ruling should be overturned because it was made on a Tuesday if they thought they had a shot, but . . .
What if Loving v. Virginia had been heard by a judge in an interracial marriage? Isn't there an argument that the judge had a direct, material stake in the outcome of the case? If the marriage was held to be legal, the judge would have gain all of the financial and legal benefits (and, admittedly, liabilities) of being married.
I did make several points to myself in response, but I'm wondering what y'all would say.
the Prop 8 supporters' claim that Judge Walker had a conflict of interest not because he's gay but because he's in a long-term relationship
If the Prop 8 supporters were even the least bit honest about believing gay marriage to be a threat to traditional marriage, then anybody in a long-term opposite-sex relationship would have a conflict of interest as well. However, they aren't the least bit honest.
Neither single nor married, gay nor straight people should decide this issue. Only legally-separated bisexuals should judge.
34: That's one of the points I considered, but suppose we change the fact pattern slightly (c'mon, this is what lawyers do for fun): What if the Prop 8 argument wasn't that it's a threat to straight marriages but simply that it's immoral?
I think the deal is that on civil rights issues, you can make an argument like that that applies to anyone. Should female judges not be allowed to hear cases under the Civil Rights Act? Black judges be kept from cases under the Fourteenth Amendment? Male or white judges? What if the judge were a conservative Catholic -- would you suspect him of divided loyalties between the requirements of his religion and of the law?
Then they wouldn't have a legal leg to stand on, since accordance with the Constitution is the measuring stick. The same people who funded the Prop 8 campaign also think alcohol and caffeine are immoral.
39: So what about a judge who owns a coffee company?
(In case it's not abundantly obvious, I'm just musing about all this. I don't think for a minute that Walker should have recused himself.)
41: She would certainly have to recuse herself from any and all latte-gation. (No. Really. It's fine. I can see myself out.)
So what about a judge who owns a coffee company?
Totally gay.
I like my judges like my coffee, free of taint.
What if the judge were a conservative Catholic -- would you suspect him of divided loyalties between the requirements of his religion and of the law?
Yes.
I think coffee on your taint would be way worse than taint in your coffee. I mean, not that I want either one.
coffee on your taint would be way worse
The best part of waking up is Folger's in your butt.
OT: Did anyone else see the story about the Afghan prison break, and involuntarily picture Steve McQueen in one of those pakul hats?
I think the deal is that on civil rights issues, you can make an argument like that that applies to anyone. Should female judges not be allowed to hear cases under the Civil Rights Act?
Or indeed male judges - who, after all, would have to compete with female judges for jobs.
50: pakuls are what the Northern Alliance would wear; Terry wears turbans.