Texas gets smacked by Tha Court

A Federal Appeals Court ruled that Texas can't ban the sale of sex toys anymore. Welcome to the 21st century, Texas!

Check out what used to be the case in TX:

"Under Texas law it is illegal to sell, advertise, give or lend obscene devices, defined as a device used primarily for sexual stimulation. Anyone in possession of six or more sexual devices is considered to be promoting them."

So Texans, strap one on for personal freedom! Wooo!

Would you like a side of fries with your Fear burger?

Dubya is pressuring the House to pass the continuation of his warrantless wiretapping legislation. The Senate bent over for him easily already, passing their version on Tuesday. Get this: Obama was against, Hillary was absent and McCain voted for it. Oh, and this time, retroactive immunity will be given to all telephone carriers who punked out and gave the government the call records of American citizens previously. So we can't sue them if they rat out our calls to Big Brother if Big Brother says he wants to know.

Here's a little background:

"The Protect America Act, which amends the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, allows the US authorities to tap into phone calls and e-mails to or from the United States, as long as the target is abroad. Previously, they had to seek approval from a special court in advance. The act did not, however, grant immunity to the telecommunication companies who co-operated with the government's warrantless programme set up by the Bush administration after 11 September."

Laments Dubya,

"We need the co-operation of telecommunications companies," he said. "If these companies are subjected to lawsuits costing billions of dollars, they won't participate, they won't help us."

Um, it's called a WARRANT. What's so hard about getting one? Oh yeah, you have to have a reason, not just free reign over the privacy of American citizens. Remember that wacky ol' thing called The Constitution? Well, it's tired of you and your administration shitting all over it, Mr. President. (And quite frankly, I'm tired of the Democratic majority on Congress not doing a damned thing to stop him and his thugs.)

In a hot gay minute

Stephen Colbert cracks me up in this video! "If the homosexuals aren't out to destroy marriage, what ARE they out to destroy?"

Fabric nerds rejoice! Wizard of Oz fabrics are here! Unfortunately, the Lollipop Guild did not make the cut.

Oh wait! I take that back! There they are!

Canadian same-sex marriages are now legally recognized by the state of New York. The rest of the lower-48...? Still protecting the "sanctity" of Canadian marriage by only allowing straight folks to get hitched and dee-vorced.

Texas Legislature: A Voting Free-for-all

Have you seen this shit?

A hip hop dippity do!

I'm a little delirious this morning. Not sure why.

Putting the coffee down. Backing slowly away...

In other news: some jackass put a bag bomb in front of a women's clinic here in town yesterday. I'll never understand those kind of people: "Oh, I'm 'pro-life' but I'll happily kill doctors, nurses, and patients to save a blob of tissue..." Oh, puh-leese! Logic just doesn't get any more twisted than that! [Insert giant eye-roll here.]

Anyhoo, NPR has been running stories and interviews all week on the abortion debate because of the recent Supreme Court ruling that partial-birth abortions are not allowed. So the topic is kinda on my mind. I feel that I'm like most Americans when it comes to this issue: I'd rather that no woman had to have an abortion. Instead, I wish that attitudes and access to birth control and contraceptives were more accepted and widespread. American attitudes toward sex are so bizarre and unhealthy and guilt-ridden, I don't know how any babies get made in the first place!

Speaking of Americans' unhealthy and guilt-ridden attitudes toward sex: New Hampshire's sure to get backlash for legalizing civil unions in that state. NPR has an interactive map of what states allow same-sex marriage and/or civil unions and which ones don't. I find it odd that the map's blue states (the ones with so-called 'Defense of Marriage' Acts in place) don't also outlaw divorce. I mean, come on! Allowing divorce isn't really defending marriage, now is it? Someting like fifty percent of married couples divorce! It seems marriage is really just a sham in most instances, a multi-billion dollar industry designed to pressure people into getting married in a lavish ceremony, not really an institution of love. Why gays wanna get in on that crazy institution is baffling (although there are some nice perks)*.

Thus concludes today's political confusions and resulting rants. Thank you, Gentle Readers, for your love and devotion.

*Disclaimer: I have often considered gay marriage (yes, this robot is a 'mo) but my state doesn't allow it. Besides, all one really needs is a good lawyer and some handy documents...

Contaminated pet food

By now you've all heard about the contaminated pet food problem. Unfortunately people who lost pets to the poisoned food or whose animals became ill probably won't get much in the way of legal reparations since the harmed party is an animal, a mere piece of property in the eyes of the law, if you will.

Part of me understands that to open up the field of emotional damages lawsuits to include one's pets would be to open a door to frivolous lawsuit that could never be closed again. Just think: all those people who are the type to spend $5,000+ on Fluffy's kidney transplant would start demanding huge sums for harm inflicted on their pet.

On the other hand, the compassionate side of me says why not? Pets are part of our families: beloved and loving. If something happened to Daxie, I don't know what I'd do. If he had been a victim of the tainted pet food, I'd be furious. He's not a "purebred" so he's technically not worth money as property, but he's priceless to me. I've taken care of him and loved him for many years. If some company made a shitty product that harmed him, why shouldn't they be held liable?

I'm interested to see how this all plays out over the next few months. I hope some sort of reasonable balance is found. But knowing those crazy American pet owners, it's probably gonna be over the top.