Terrorist Catholic church fires another gay teacher

If you spark terror on a regular basis, you are a terrorist. That should be simple enough to understand. The following is a quote from Kristen Ostendorf, a teacher who was fired from her job at a Minnesota Catholic high school for being a lesbian.

I’d like to be the last person to be fired for who I loved, or for the gender of the person I love. But I won’t be, probably, and the silence around it terrifies me.

Terror -- religion makes it happen every day. And on the subject of sexual orientation, the Roman Catholic church is one of the greatest terrorists.

PS: If the church lets priests marry, it'll be great fun when most of the priests announce they want to marry other men. Let the good times begin!

Sleazy Putin

Sleazy is the perfect word for an op-ed in the NYT today, allegedly written by Vlad Putin hisself. I won't run it down here. Russia is trying to sound more sensible than Obama; that's it in a nutshell. But I think it's amusing that the op-ed ends with this sentence:

We are all different, but when we ask for the Lord’s blessings, we must not forget that God created us equal. 

Are you roaring with laughter? You should be.

New IOC head

Thomas Bach, a gold-medalist in his time, has been elected as the new head of the IOC (International Olympic Committee). The link leads to Spiegel Online, but the story is minimal. No mention of...you know.

"I want to thank all my friends and colleagues who voted for me," Bach said after the decision. "I know of the great responsibility of an IOC president. This makes me humble."

That's nice, Tom. Now go straighten out this Russian gay-pogrom thing -- and get back to us right away. The world is waiting.

Pope again says atheism is fine

Okay, so he didn't put it in those words. But apparently he was asked various "theological" questions in an Italian newspaper. I really liked this answer:

To the 89-year-old Scalfari's question of whether someone without faith who commits a sin would be forgiven by the Christian God, Francis responded: "God forgives those who follow their conscience." 

That's pretty much the definition of atheism. We figure things out on our own and try to do the right thing without, you know, consulting dusty old books.

On the other hand, Ed Brayton had a post up the other day (sorry, no link) that indicated Francis talks out of both sides of his mouth on the topic of atheism. But the pope hit a high note with this remark about following one's conscience. That's the definition of morality: doing the right thing.

There's even talk today about the church putting the kibosh on priestly celibacy. Change is afoot. Now, if only he'd say there is no god. Soon, right?

Johnny Weir is an asshole

John Aravosis rips Johnny Weir to shreds in a blog post today. Good, the man is a joke.

I mean, here he is, America's uber-gay skater, and he won't say a thing against Russia's anti-gay law. He even appeared on TV in a Russian military uniform last night. He is a major, world-class fool.

Johnny Weir is and always has been a "look at me" person rather than a gay person. There's a big difference. It's almost like he's gay just for the attention.

Piss on you, Weir.

Simple is better

What do I think the athletes should do at Sochi? One simple thing: mention your significant other when you're being interviewed. This applies to both gay and straight athletes. Just be who you are.

If everyone involved reveals his or her sexual orientation, no one can be singled out for violating the rules. Hug your honey while the cameras are rolling. Speak of the support your girlfriend provides. Mention you're about to marry the greatest guy in the world.

In my years as a human rights worker, I learned the value of a good comparison. Ideally, you want the other group, in this case the straight people, to be doing exactly what you're doing. This makes it easy to note disparities in responses, should they occur. Under this plan, each athlete at Sochi will be doing the same thing: acting naturally and thereby revealing his or her sexual orientation.

The lack of different behavior patterns among straight and gay athletes will create a powerful learning experience for the TV audience and spectators. And if there are repercussions for the gay athletes, I suspect most viewers will say, "But they all did the same thing". Indeed, they did. That's the point.

Any other suggestions out there?

More Olympic piggery

So now the IOC is threatening athletes, thinking this will stop demonstrations against Russia's filthy anti-gay law. Sure, that'll work. Hah. 

Note: paragraphing is my own.

BUENOS AIRES — Jacques Rogge, the president of the International Olympic Committee, said Sunday that athletes would be warned about rules prohibiting demonstrations at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia. 

Chernyshenko said that athletes and spectators at the Sochi Games would not be affected by the law and that organizers were “absolutely confident that there will be no conflicts in that regards.” 

That is so funny! No conflicts at all. Good prognosticator, eh? 

But Gerhard Heiberg of Norway, the Olympic committee’s marketing chief, said he had heard from corporate sponsors, particularly from the United States, “about what they are afraid of could happen.”

Six of the committee’s 10 worldwide sponsors are based in the United States: Coke, General Electric, McDonald’s, Visa, Dow Chemical and Procter & Gamble.

Heiberg urged the I.O.C. to be prepared with a plan in case demonstrations against the Russian law occur.

“I think this could ruin a lot for all of us,” Heiberg said.

He urged the committee to adhere to Rule 50 of the Olympic charter, which says that “no kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted” at any Olympic site.

Rogge said athletes would be reminded about the rule, as they were before the 2008 Beijing Games.

But see, Beijing wasn't planning a holocaust for gays in 2008. Russia is. The games in Sochi are going to be interesting. There's no doubt about that. I hope Coke, McDonald's and all the other sponsors of this criminal Olympics lose business and suffer tremendous financial losses because they didn't stand up for human rights when they had a clear opportunity to do so. These companies are acting like pigs -- and they'll be in good company in Sochi.

Delicious Sochi goings-on

Check out John Aravosis' post about the state of the Sochi Olympics. Seems the evil slobs in the IOC and Russia are finally getting upset about all the negative publicity. But all they want to do is make gay people's lives miserable. So why is everyone so upset with them?!

The head of the Sochi Olympics has asked the International Olympic Committee for help in making you annoying gays, and friends of gays, stop being so mean to them.

I love the idea that hardly anyone will attend the games. That would be the best outcome. The athletes would get to compete, while Russia would look like the pig sty that it actually is. Good stuff!

About "selfie"

So it's an official word now, eh? Fine, but I think we should expand the definition and offer a variation.

Some people's entire lives are selfies. Let's start referring to them that way. I mean, seriously. All "celebrities" are on one, big, lifelong selfie.

And how about this word? Selfie-ish. To describe something done only to attract attention. "That was so selfie-ish; let's look the other way!"

Okay, I'm already tired of all these words. Let's toss the bunch.

Don't say "godspeed"

I'm somewhat horrified when I hear someone say "godspeed", as I did when NASA launched a rocket yesterday.

"Godspeed on your journey to the moon, LADEE," Launch Control said. Flight controllers applauded and exchanged high-fives following the successful launch. "We are headed to the moon!" NASA said in a tweet.

Mind you, godspeed has nothing to do with god. It's a contraction of "good speed" that became common in the old days of merry England.

Still, I don't like it. It may not mean "may god send you on your way quickly" but that's exactly what people think it means. So if you find yourself reaching for this expression -- especially if you're NASA and you're on live TV -- I think you should reach for another term. How about "Happy trails to you"?

"Happy trails to you, on your journey to the moon, LADEE" sounds just fine to me.