Funny statement of the day

Just bumped into this:

Gov. Steve Beshear's administration is arguing in a brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court that Kentucky's ban on gay marriage isn't discriminatory because it bars both gay and straight people from same-sex unions.

I roared laughing. He actually said those words, in the presence of others!

Unintended consequences and a movie

So Indiana thinks it's fine to refuse service to gays because of one's extra-special holy "religious beliefs". See, they're not being anti-gay at all. They're just being pious. And if you can't see that, you're sinful!

But, in the spirit of the Satanist Temple, an unexpected consequence has arisen. It seems if you believe that marijuana is a sacrament, the new law will protect you and your weed from the police. Fantastic. (Still, I hope Indiana falls into a huge sinkhole for trying this.)

And now, about that movie. I watched "Interstellar" last night. What a good movie. It works on all levels: cinematography, story, acting, adherence to scientific principles -- everything works! I bought the movie at iTunes since I was sure I'd watch it more than once. And I will. BTW, view it in letterbox format if you can. As I say, the cinematography (especially in the space-travel scenes) is stunning. You don't want to cut off even a bit of the screen.

Merry Monday, all. Perhaps Spring will arrive this week. That would be grand.

Torch for anti-gay Sochi Olympics gets around

A Russian rocket soared into the cosmos Thursday carrying the Sochi Olympic torch and three astronauts to the International Space Station ahead of the first-ever spacewalk for the symbol of peace. 

The unlit torch for the 2014 Winter Olympics in the Russian city of Sochi is to be taken on a spacewalk Saturday, then return to Earth on Monday (late Sunday EST) with three departing space station astronauts. 

Last month, the Olympic flame traveled to the North Pole on a Russian nuclear-powered icebreaker. Later this month it will sink to the bottom of the world's deepest lake, Lake Baikal. In early February, it will reach the peak of Mount Elbrus, at 5,642 meters (18,510 feet) the highest mountain in Russia and Europe. 

And finally, the Olympic Torch will make its way into Putin's body, to a top-secret place where the sun don't shine -- a fitting end for the world's first anti-gay Russian Olympics.

Russia to have big ears at Sochi

Raw Story reports that Olympic athletes and visitors will have no internet privacy during their stay in the bigoted pig sty referred to as "Russia".

Russia has installed an all-encompassing surveillance system at the site of next year’s Winter Olympic Games in Sochi that will allow security services to listen in on athletes and visitors, security analysts said on Monday.

The surveillance system was first developed by the Soviet-era KGB, predecessor of the FSB special services, in the mid-1980s and updated in recent years, said prominent security analyst Andrei Soldatov.

Dubbed SORM, the system will give Russian security services free access to all phone and Internet communications at the Olympic Games in February without the providers’ knowledge, according to research by Soldatov and his colleague Irina Borogan.

I don't know about you but when I hear things like this, I think "Fun!" I hope everyone who attends the Olympics will spend an enormous amount of time tweeting, texting and emailing comments like:

Wow, Russia is such a pig sty. I can't believe how backward they are. Their bigotry toward gay people has lowered their reputation throughout the world. Everyone is laughing at them. Russians are like cavemen -- and stupid cavemen, at that. Hahaha.

This could be highly amusing. Imagine the dimwitted, hateful twits who will be reading this stuff. Seriously, Russia burned its Olympic opportunity before the games even began. What a colossal failure this is -- and on the world stage, no less. It's like divine retribution, which is funny in itself.

I pity the Russian people. Oh wait, I hear they're as anti-gay as their laws. So the hell with them. I say we redraw the world map and leave Russia off. We'll pencil in a large ocean where Russia once stood.

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.

Poor, misunderstood Yelena

Today we're told that "Russian pole vault great" Yelena Isinbayeva didn't mean those nasty things she said about gay people yesterday. Heaven forfend! She loves the gays!

"English is not my first language and I think I may have been misunderstood when I spoke yesterday...I respect the views of my fellow athletes and let me state in the strongest terms that I am opposed to any discrimination against gay people."

Sure you are. That must be why you said, just a day ago:

"If we allow to promote and do all this stuff on the street, we are very afraid about our nation because we consider ourselves like normal, standard people. We just live with boys with woman, woman with boys."  

The poor thing. This was obviously just a translation problem. Reading those words (which she doesn't say are incorrect), how could anyone think she hates gay people? I mean, really, her words speak of true Christian love.

And now, Yelena, if I may speak for all the non-standard people in the world, piss off, you hateful creature. And know that for the rest of your life, you'll be remembered -- on a global basis -- as the woman who hates gay people. In real countries, (i.e., countries other than Russia), we see you clearly for the pig you are.