Note from Ian: Introducing Atom Ion! Not only is he a big fan of mine-- but I'm a big fan of his photography. I invited him to be a contributor to our site-- I figure I'll get an endless source of hot boy photos, since that's his chosen medium. I'll shut up now, here he is:
It's performance art. Started in NYC. A bunch of people who seemingly forgot to wear pants meet at a certain subway station and go for a ride. Thankfully it has spread throughout the world.
I just happened to be in San Francisco. Jan 9, 2011 in time for theirs.
Note from Ian: I'd like to introduce my good friend Sebastian Lux, our very own OneAngryCultist. He is knowledgeable about all things religious and I invited him to be a weekly contributor about the state of things in the spiritual/political realms. Welcome, Sebastian, and now I'mma let you finish.
So, in a surprise twist – not only was the shooter of US Rep. Gabrielle Giffords a little bit off his rocker, but he was also – surprise drumroll – a honest to god cultist. According to the NY Daily News:
“Hidden within a camouflage tent behind Jared Lee Loughner’s home sits an alarming altar with a skull sitting atop a pot filled with shriveled oranges.
A row of ceremonial candles and a bag of potting soil lay nearby, photos reveal.
Experts on Sunday said the elements are featured in the ceremonies of a number of occult groups.”
So, in addition to supposedly being crazy, Loughner may or may not have been sacrificing oranges to Halloween skull deities.
This wouldn’t be so disturbing in most situations, but particularly problematic with this case is: A.) Loughner was a nut job and, B.) anyone who buys potting soil is now perfectly suspect for participating in occult activities and C.) Anyone who participates in religious traditions outside the Christian ™ mainstream can now be suspect for participating in Un-American Activities.
Why is this important to bring up now? Well, if you’ll recall, it wasn’t so long ago in this quaint little country of ours that the Fundi-nuts decided that there was a great Satanic threat to – well, everyone – which resulted in hundreds of accusations against people who were a little different from the norm, most of whom didn’t have anything to do with anything particularly weird or culty. At the same time we witnessed a rise in violence against neopagans, Wiccans, practitioners of Afro-Diasporic religions, atheists and even agnostics.
Irresponsible reporting such as that in the daily news article could very easily lead to another Satanic Panic and totally distract from the matters at hand and easily hurt people who’ve never owned a gun or made offerings of oranges to Halloween decorations but who definitely buy potting soil and likely are generally good law abiding citizens.
Good friend and future contributor Atom Ion found this video and imagined it had me in the panda suit. I have to say, it's likely behavior to come from Ian Awesome.
My friend and featured Hot Man Tony Apollo was just featured on Favorite Hunks-- check it out (also he says nice things about OAQ, so whoopee for me!):
I've got a couple other friends that I'm planning on inviting to contribute to the blog, so keep an eye out for OneAngryPerv and OneAngryFeminist. Who are these folks? Keep an eye on OAQ and find out.
Sheriff Dupnik, who is overseeing the investigation of Congresswoman Gifford's assassination attempt, stated in a press conference that he believes that this attack was the result of the atmosphere of hatred and bigotry perpetrated by political candidates.
"In a news conference Saturday evening, Dupnik condemned the 'atmosphere of hatred and bigotry' that he said has gripped the nation and suggested that the 22-year-old suspect being held in the shooting was mentally ill and therefore more susceptible to overheated messages in the media.
"'There's reason to believe that this individual may have a mental issue. And I think people who are unbalanced are especially susceptible to vitriol,' he said during his televised remarks. 'People tend to pooh-pooh this business about all the vitriol we hear inflaming the American public by people who make a living off of doing that. That may be free speech, but it's not without consequences.'"
Of course, the wingnuts who would like to make everyone else believe that this is a random incident of "Death by Crazy Person" are trying to discredit his opinion. "What does he really know?" Uh, well, for one, he actually LIVES IN ARIZONA, is INVESTIGATING THE SHOOTING, and deals with the political climate of southern Arizona EVERY DAY.
I love the arrogance of overpaid talking heads. Below is the right wingers doing their best to ignore what the rest of America is clamoring.
Representative Peter King (R-NY) is the first Republican to break with his party's platform and has introduced legislation restricting firearms within 1000 feet of offices where Congresspeople work.
Gubba gubba!
"'It is imperative that we do all that we can to give law enforcement the tools they need to ensure the safety of New Yorkers and prevent an attack before it happens,' said King, who is chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, during a press conference in New York."
He has long been one of the lone voices on the right for additional gun control measures and it's doubtful any gun control measures will pass in the Republican majority House, so it probably won't go anywhere.
I kinda laugh at the measure. I mean, that would be like me suggesting legislation preventing people from bringing guns within 1000 feet of... my house. Only my house. Everywhere else it's okay. But it's important that everybody agree that I am so important I have to be protected. Uh, more protected than YOU.
Essentially: Don't give your baby a fucked up name.
"The pope, who baptized 21 children on Sunday at a traditional annual ceremony at the Vatican, said afterwards that every new member of the faith acquires the character of a son or daughter of the Church 'starting from a Christian name.'
"This, he said, was 'an unequivocal sign that the Holy Spirit gives a rebirth to people in the womb of the Church.'"
This guy. He just gets better and better. I guess he's tired of baptizing the Bronxes, Maddoxes, Apples, and Suris of the world. So name your child James, Matthew, Mary, or Agnes. Or you'll be in trouble with THIS GUY!
You name that child right! Or I'll eat it! Or something.
Sad for him. Not so sad for us. I love watching corrupt politicians who flout campaign finance law get socked in jail.
Insert prison soap joke here.
"Judge Pat Priest sentenced Tom DeLay to three years in prison.
"The three-year sentence was on the charge of conspiring to launder corporate money into political donations during the 2002 elections.
"On the charge of money laundering, DeLay was sentenced to five years in prison, but that was probated for 10 years. That means he would serve 10 years’ probation."
They're going to appeal, of course-- however, the prosecutor urged the judge to send DeLay to begin his sentence immediately. I can't say I disagree. It's bad enough it's now legal for corporations to fund political campaigns without bonerheads like this one muddying the waters with blatantly illegal actions.
A Saskatchewan court today decided to slap around anti-gay civil employees by mandating that they are NOT allowed to refuse to marry a couple based on their religious beliefs.
This guy is hot, and from Canada. Therefore, I like Canada. Deal.
"The court found that civil ceremonies free of religious implication are exactly that: free of the influence of religion.
"The court also found that people who assume roles in public offices are bound to the rules governing those offices.
"'Persons who voluntarily choose to assume an office, like that of a marriage commissioner, cannot expect to directly shape the office's intersection with the public so as to make it conform with their personal religious or other beliefs,' the court wrote in its decision.
"'In our tradition, the apparatus of the state serves everyone equally without providing better, poorer or different services to one individual compared to another by making distinctions on the basis of factors like race, religion or gender.'
"To allow civil commissioners to refuse to perform marriages solely on their personal religious grounds, the court ruled, 'would violate the equality rights of gay and lesbian individuals.'"
Once again, our neighbors to the north have proven themselves to be far more reasonable than many of our own crackpots. Who are these people who think they can refuse to do the jobs they were hired to do-- on the public's dime?
I mean, waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah-- if you seek employment with a company that makes shoes, you can't say "I refuse to make shoelaces. String is against my religion." You should be working elsewhere.
And really, refusing to give someone a civil contract on the basis of their sexuality is JUST as nonsensical as restrictions against string. Nutjobs.
Note: Just wait for the Right's response-- "They're going to arrest our pastors and dip them in boiling oil unless everyone turns gay!" Etc.
What do you think, fake account? Or has Bristol had enough? Strangely, what makes me think that it's fake is that Bristol calls her "mom." I just can't see this woman being called "mom." She probably makes her kids call her "President-Elect Queen Palin."
"An aide from Sarah Palin is now attempting to back-pedal by making the ridiculous claim that the cross-hairs on her target map, are not what they appear to be: 'We never ever, ever intended it to be gun sights. It was simply cross-hairs like you'd see on maps,' said Rebecca Mansour on the Tammy Bruce radio show. Moreover, there was 'nothing irresponsible' about the image, and to draw a line connecting Palin and Saturday's shooting is 'obscene' and 'appalling.'"
What's obscene is your dedication to lying to the American people. What shitbags. Do they really think that we-- and the gun nuts they pander to-- believe this line of crap?
Those aren't cross-hairs! They are happy bunny pictures. Thank GAWD Americans are dumb!
This bitch-- she can't be serious. The disrespect she is schlocking at us is staggering. If this weren't such a deadly-- as shown yesterday-- gaffe, I'd name her OAQ's Comedian of the Week. Maybe a new award is in order? Most Dangerous Politician? Irresponsible Crackpot of the Month?
Gabby Gifford, who was attacked yesterday in Tucson, may very well owe her life to this college intern:
Big Gay Hero Daniel, on the far right.
Hernandez calmly describes rushing towards the gunfire and performing triage on the Congresswoman in the CNN interview below. His story, and his humility when asked about his heroism, is amazing:
The fallout continues today, with liberals and even one Republican Senator (who spoke on condition of anonymity) condemning this attack as a product of hateful political vitriol on behalf of right-wing candidates such as Sarah Palin. Below is Keith Olbermann's impassioned plea to return sanity to political discourse:
Partial transcript here:
"This morning in Arizona, this time of the ever-escalating, borderline-ecstatic invocation of violence in fact or in fantasy in our political discourse, closed. It is essential tonight not to demand revenge, but to demand justice; to insist not upon payback against those politicians and commentators who have so irresponsibly brought us to this time of domestic terrorism, but to work to change the minds of them and their supporters - or if those minds tonight are too closed, or if those minds tonight are too unmoved, or if those minds tonight are too triumphant, to make sure by peaceful means that those politicians and commentators and supporters have no further place in our system of government.
"If Sarah Palin, whose website put and today scrubbed bullseye targets on 20 Representatives including Gabby Giffords, does not repudiate her own part in amplifying violence and violent imagery in politics, she must be dismissed from politics - she must be repudiated by the members of her own party, and if they fail to do so, each one of them must be judged to have silently defended this tactic that today proved so awfully foretelling, and they must in turn be dismissed by the responsible members of their own party.
"If Jesse Kelly, whose campaign against Congresswoman Giffords included an event in which he encouraged his supporters to join him firing machine guns, does not repudiate this, and does not admit that even if it was solely indirectly, or solely coincidentally, it contributed to the black cloud of violence that has envellopped our politics, he must be repudiated by Arizona's Republican Party.
"If Congressman Allen West, who during his successful campaign told his supporters that they should make his opponent afraid to come out of his home, does not repudiate those remarks and all other suggestions of violence and forced fear, he should be repudiated by his constituents and the Republican Congressional Caucus.
"If Sharron Angle, who spoke of 'Second Amendment solutions,' does not repudiate that remark and urge her supporters to think anew of the terrible reality of what her words implied, she must be repudiated by her supporters in Nevada.
"If the Tea Party leaders who took out of context a Jefferson quote about blood and tyranny and the tree of liberty do not understand - do not understand tonight, now what that really means, and these leaders do not tell their followers to abhor violence and all threat of violence, then those Tea Party leaders must be repudiated by the Republican Party.
"If Glenn Beck, who obsesses nearly as strangely as Mr. Loughner did about gold and debt and who wistfully joked about killing Michael Moore, and Bill O'Reilly, who blithely repeated 'Tiller the Killer' until the phrase was burned into the minds of his viewers, do not begin their next broadcasts with solemn apologies for ever turning to the death-fantasies and the dreams of bloodlust, for ever having provided just the oxygen to those deep in madness to whom violence is an acceptable solution, then those commentators and the others must be repudiated by their viewers, and by all politicians, and by sponsors, and by the networks that employ them.
"And if those of us considered to be 'on the left' do not re-dedicate ourselves to our vigilance to eliminate all our own suggestions of violence - how ever inadvertent they might have been then we too deserve the repudiation of the more sober and peaceful of our politicians and our viewers and our networks."
The death toll is currently six, to include a federal judge and 9-year-old Christina Greene, who was just elected to her student council at her elementary school.
This picture should haunt those politicians and pundits who encourage an atmosphere of fear and violence amongst our voters. People ask me sometimes why I'm angry-- this is why.
I'm thankful for heroes like Daniel Hernandez who are able to bring a ray of light to dark times like these. I weep that it was too late for Christina Greene.
