Beautiful photos from Ice Swimmer, click for full size!
© Ice Swimmer, all rights reserved.
Affinity
Art, Fun, & Nonsense.
Beautiful photos from Ice Swimmer, click for full size!
© Ice Swimmer, all rights reserved.
An adorable European Robin, from Giliell. Click for full size!
© Giliell, all rights reserved.
Engaged gay couple Dave Mullins, second from left, and Charlie Craig, left, were joined by a small group of supporters in Lakewood on Saturday, August 4, 2012 to protest and boycott the Masterpiece Cakeshop. Kathryn Scott Osler, The Denver Post.
Oh, the conservachristians have their collective knickers in a knot over cake, and the fervent desire to discriminate. We’ll start with Tony Perkins, the despicable leader of the Family Research Council.
Yesterday, on FRC’s “Washington Watch” program, Perkins hosted anti-LGBTQ activist Jon Scruggs, senior counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom to discuss the Supreme Court arguments in the Masterpiece Cakeshop case. Perkins told Scruggs that requiring business owners not to discriminate against LGBTQ people seemed like a “slippery slope and there’s really no end to what the government could then force you to do.”
No, it’s not a slippery slope, and there isn’t any ‘beastly’ thing awaiting which the government wishes to force on you. It’s very simple: if you have a public business, in which you contract with the public to supply ____, then you should supply it, with no prejudice towards any paying customer. It’s not like the government is gonna come knockin’ on your door and tell you that you have to host a gay wedding or anything.
Scruggs said he agreed because the attorneys arguing for nondiscrimination protections believe that calligraphers should be forced to write wedding vows and that bakers should have to write “bless this marriage” on a purchased cake if requested, which Scruggs called “scary things.”
Oh, all the gods ever! Calligraphers with a public business might have to copy wedding vows! ‘Bless this marriage’ might have to come out of an icing tube! The horror, why those are the scariest fucking things ever! Couldn’t possibly be anything scarier, no, no.
“That sounds like to me, John, that sounds like indentured servitude. You have no choice in the matter. Yes, they’re compensating you, they’re giving you something, but you have no say as to what you do with your talent, your ability and your skills,” Perkins said.
That is not indentured servitude, it’s not even close. You fucking white christians are so damn desperate to come across as though you suffer on par with those who have been enslaved. It’s beyond offensive, and it’s arrogant assholery to the nth degree. Stop it. Of course people have a say as to what you do with your talent, your ability, and your skills. If you want to exchange your talent, abilities, and skills for money, well, then you have to deal with people. All kinds of people. If a cake baker lives in fear of the day a non-hetero couple walks in to their store, well, they could turn their talents to writing cookbooks. Then they wouldn’t have to fear facing gay people in person, and they could pretend no one but straight christians buys their cakebook. I’m an artist. I’m an atheist, bisexual artist. I’ve had plenty of christians as clients, and if someone wanted me to do a prayer in calligraphy, I’d do it. Who the fuck cares? I don’t have to believe in that crap to do my job, and I don’t have to like my clients, either. That’s kind of how business works, fellas. I’ve also had clients who decided they weren’t comfortable working with an atheist (Christians always ask), and I don’t run off screaming and crying about it. It’s not even worth a shrug.
Scruggs agreed, adding, “And even worse, not just that type of servitude based off of something that’s irrelevant, but something that cuts against the core of who you are.”
Mmmm, and cutting against the core of a happy couple in search of cake, well, that’s okey dokey, right? It won’t hurt any of the bakers or calligraphers out there to just do their fucking job. They can always fall on their knees later and pray or something.
Via RWW.
Moving on to Mat Staver:
Liberty Counsel’s Mat Staver joined Florida radio host Joyce Kaufman yesterday to discuss the Supreme Court arguments in the Masterpiece Cakeshop case, which Staver said dealt with whether a baker, Jack Phillips, would be “basically enslaved” to be a spokesperson for views he disagrees with by being required to bake a wedding cake for a gay couple.
No, he would not be enslaved. Nor would Mr. Phillips be a spokesperson in any way, shape, or form. All he was asked to do was make a fuckin’ cake, something he does in his store, which caters to the public. Soon as the cake is done, his part in it is over.
You know, [Phillips] doesn’t bake Halloween cakes either. So, you know, it’s not like he’s just picking on one person or another, he’s an artist, he’s a person who doesn’t want his business and his life basically enslaved to be the mouthpiece for some issue or ceremony or message that violates his conscience and religious beliefs, and he should have the right to do so.”
Well, if you want to go that route, then the solution is simple: Mr. Phillips can stop making wedding cakes. Once again, there is no enslavement here. If Mr. Phillips wants to have a store in which he contracts with the public, then he must deal with the public. All of it.
Via RWW.
Oh do I ever have bookshelf and house envy right now. Raging envy. This is such a good idea! And all that spaciousness and light!
Floor-to-ceiling bookshelves are lovely, and can act as a robust focal point in any home. But accessing the high shelves can be a problem. The common side-kick has always been ladders, which can also add character and charm. But for smaller homes like in Japan they can be a nuisance, occupying too much space for not enough usage. But Japanese architect Shinsuke Fujii came up with a simple, yet brilliant solution that solves another problem too: earthquake safety.
The “House in Shinyoshida,” as it’s called, named for the neighborhood in Yokohama where it stands, was conceived shortly after the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake. The client, who happened to be an avid book lover, approached Fujii with the task to design a home around a large bookshelf that’s both easily accessible but also one that won’t spill all the books if there’s ever a tremor.
The solution was to slant the entire western-facing façade and create a built-in slanted bookshelf whose shelves also function as a ladder.
You can read and see more at Spoon & Tamago.
By college, Pence had slimmed down and developed something akin to swagger. The yearbooks from his time at Hanover College, in southern Indiana, depict him as a popular, square-jawed hunk. (Hanover College).
No man can serve two masters, the Bible teaches, but Mike Pence is giving it his all. It’s a sweltering September afternoon in Anderson, Indiana, and the vice president has returned to his home state to deliver the Good News of the Republicans’ recently unveiled tax plan. The visit is a big deal for Anderson, a fading manufacturing hub about 20 miles outside Muncie that hasn’t hosted a sitting president or vice president in 65 years—a fact noted by several warm-up speakers. To mark this historic civic occasion, the cavernous factory where the event is being held has been transformed. Idle machinery has been shoved to the perimeter to make room for risers and cameras and a gargantuan American flag, which—along with bleachers full of constituents carefully selected for their ethnic diversity and ability to stay awake during speeches about tax policy—will serve as the TV-ready backdrop for Pence’s remarks.
When the time comes, Pence takes the stage and greets the crowd with a booming “Hellooooo, Indiana!” He says he has “just hung up the phone” with Donald Trump and that the president asked him to “say hello.”
The Atlantic has an in-depth look at Mike Pence, and what drives him. He seems to have a whole lot of not-so-humble ambition inside all the evangelical coating, which, while thick enough, doesn’t stop Pence from being a primary Trump apologist, or supporting all those who are certainly not in the good ethics/morals camp. It makes for interesting reading.
RuseNoun.
1: a wily subterfuge.
2: an action intended to mislead, deceive, or trick; stratagem.
[Origin: French, from Old French, roundabout path taken by fleeing game, trickery, from reuser. Early 15c., “dodging movements of a hunted animal; 1620s, a trick, from Old French ruse, reuse diversion, switch in flight; trick, jest (14c.), back-formed noun from reuser to dodge, repel, retreat; deceive, cheat,” from Latin recusare deny, reject, oppose, from re– + causari plead as a reason, object, allege, from causa reason, cause]
(1375-1425)
“She was already thinking of how she may use the astrologer to negotiate a better fee with the Village Chief. The stars and their confluence could at first be hard to read, leaving some uncertainty about whether the two prospective spouses were well suited to each other. Then, if the groom was steadfast on getting the bride that he had his eyes on, for an additional fee the matchmaker could be convinced to get a second astrologer’s interpretation, one more auspicious and conforming to the will of heaven. She had been doing her trade throughout several provinces for years, and that ruse had yet to fail her. – Village Teacher, by Neihtn.
Note: Village Teacher is an excellent story, recommended.
Here three attentive dogs are shown with collars and leads. They are the most intelligent of all animals and are devoted to humans. They can track down wild beasts, guard sheep and protect property.
King Garamantes is captured by his enemies and rescued by his dogs.
The illustration refers to the stories overleaf on f.19v.It is divided into three panels, the top two referring to the dog who carries some meat over a bridge and seeing its own reflection in the water, drops the meat to seize the reflection. Below are two dogs licking their wounds with their healing tongues.
Text Translation:
Of the nature of dogs The Latin name for the dog, canis, seems to have a Greek origin. For in Greek it is called cenos, although some think that it is called after the musical sound, canor, of its barking, because when it howls, it is also said to sing, canere. No creature is more intelligent than the dog, for dogs have more understanding than other animals; they alone recognise their names and love their masters. There are many kinds of dogs: some track down the wild beasts of the forests to catch them; others by their vigilance guard flocks of sheep from the attacks of wolves; others as watch-dogs in the home guard the property of their masters lest it be stolen by thieves at night and sacrifice their lives for their master; they willingly go after game with their master; they guard his body even when he is dead and do not leave it. Finally, their nature is that they cannot exist without man.
The illustrations to The Fairy Tales of Charles Perrault, 1922, by Harry Clarke. Click for full size.
I’ve included the moral of this one because Perrault had written Little Red Riding-Hood as a warning to readers about men who were trying to prey on young girls who were walking through the forest:
The Moral
From this short story easy we discern
What conduct all young people ought to learn.
But above all, young, growing misses fair,
Whose orient rosy blooms begin t’appear:
Who, beauties in the fragrant spring of age,
With pretty airs young hearts are apt t’engage.
Ill do they listen to all sorts of tongues,
Since some inchant and lure like Syrens’ songs.
No wonder therefore ’tis, if over-power’d,
So many of them has the Wolf devour’d.
The Wolf, I say, for Wolves too sure there are
Of every sort, and every character.
Some of them mild and gentle-humour’d be,
Of noise and gall, and rancour wholly free;
Who tame, familiar, full of complaisance
Ogle and leer, languish, cajole and glance;
With luring tongues, and language wond’rous sweet,
Follow young ladies as they walk the street,
Ev’n to their very houses, nay, bedside,
And, artful, tho’ their true designs they hide;
Yet ah! these simpering Wolves! Who does not see
Most dangerous of Wolves indeed they be?
Note: Although this particular book was published in 1922, Perrault first published his fairy tales in 1697.
Deloraine (Lori and Derias) – Priscilla’s Song from Witcher 3, cover. (Czech language).
From Lofty: A few weeks after the reserve was burnt, and two rainy periods, life returns from the bottom up and the black gradually gets replaced by golden browns. Click for full size!
© Lofty, all rights reserved.
Great Tit, from Giliell, click for full size!
© Giliell, all rights reserved.
There’s a nice idea. Unfortunately, the artful grower was arrested. You can read all about this at Spoon & Tamago.
Persecution complexes infused with paranoia are making the rounds. We’ll start with Liz “Red Shoes” Crokin:
“I did not post the weird video!!! The Deep State is trying to kill me!!!” (In all caps).
I have no idea. Source. Moving on…
Last night Steve Bannon hosted a special edition of “Breitbart News Tonight.” Sean Hannity joined Bannon and Fox News political analyst Pat Goodell to discuss, among other things, the federal investigation into suspected Russian ties to Trump campaign officials during the 2016 election. It wasn’t long before the panel began to speculate about a secret plan orchestrated by “deep state” officials to remove Trump from the White House.
“I think they’re coming after Trump because they understand they have to destroy Trump, because to destroy Trump is not to destroy Trump, it’s to destroy this movement. They want to take that voice away from the forgotten man,” Bannon said.
Sigh. The “voice of the forgotten man.” That voice is awfully damn loud if you ask me. All of you fucking nazis and fascists, you never shut up. Every single day, there are stories of all you hateful bigots spewing your hateful rhetoric all over innocent people who are just going about their business. Kind of hard to ‘forget’ you flaming doucheweasels. And y’know, if you assholes got all the things you wanted, your first order of business would be finding something to ceaselessly complain about.
…“The ultimate goal—Andy McCarthy had a great piece. This is about the impeachment of the president. This is not about Trump-Russia collusion,” Hannity said.
It can be about both. Amazing that didn’t occur to you geniuses.
Goodell brought up the idea that the government is carrying out a “slow-motion, steady effort to basically have a coup d’etat.” He said that he believes America is experiencing a “post-constitutional society” and that secret government forces are “willing to destroy this country to keep control.”
There are people willing to destroy this country to keep control. Look in the mirror, Mr. Goodell. As for being ‘post-constitutional’, no, we are not there yet. First, you have to get people to acknowledge that the constitution is seriously outdated and needs a rewrite, desperately so. The fact that it makes provision for slave owners should be a smack in the face, but no, you have to keep insisting on constitution worship.
…“By the way, people like us may end up in jail. Let me tell you. They will stop at nothing. This is what I’m trying to get across to people. This is serious. This is the rule of law in this country now,” Hannity said.
“Amen, Amen,” Bannon said.
Christ, the persecution complex conservachristians have is out of control. The projection is in your face, too. They are so desperate for the power to oppress that they think any opposition is looking to imprison them, and that the rule of law has changed, so that they are fair game. I wish they actually believed that crap, just so they’d run off and go into hiding. Obviously, they aren’t terribly concerned.
Via RWW.
