Quickie: Aww, Oil Companies Being Harmed edition

By GottaLaff

Today's Quickie:

From the Department of Feigned Shock:

ConocoPhillips announced Tuesday that it is abandoning the U.S. Climate Action Partnership, a major coalition of corporations and environmental groups that’s pushing Congress to approve cap-and-trade legislation.

ConocoPhillips, the country’s third-largest oil company, said that the major House and Senate climate change bills would harm oil companies.

Here's the feigned shock: What?! Oh no!

Poor Big Oil. They're being harmed. We aren't, of course. Just them.

That was today's Quickie. I hope you'll still respect me in the morning.

City Council votes to shut down hundreds of medical marijuana dispensaries

By GottaLaff

Because suffering through the pain of a catastrophic illness is preferable to the evils of Mary Jane ... Via an e-mail alert:

In a 9-3 vote, the Los Angeles City Council today gave its final approval to an ordinance that will shut down hundreds of medical marijuana dispensaries and impose strict rules on the location and operation of the dispensaries that are allowed.

The ordinance, which the council first began discussing more than four and a half years ago, will cap the number of dispensaries at 70, but make an exception to allow all those that registered with the city in 2007 and have remained open. City officials believe that number is around 150.

More soon at: http://www.latimes.com

My neck of the woods can be so backward sometimes.

Boy Sent Home For Drawing Of Crucifixion

By GottaLaff

Yes, everything must have the worst possible connotation, especially when it comes to religion and/or race. This poor kid:

A Taunton father is furious his eight-year-old son was sent home from school and required to undergo a psychological evaluation after he drew a stick-figure picture of a crucifixion.

It started on December 2, when the boy's second-grade teacher at the Maxham Elementary School asked the class to sketch something that reminded them of Christmas.

The boy, who has special educational needs, had recently gone with his family to see the Christmas display at the LaSalette shrine, a Christian retreat in Attleboro.

He drew what appeared to be a crucified Jesus Christ with X's covering his eyes to signify that he had died on the cross.

He then told the teacher that the person he drew on the cross was himself.

The teacher was concerned it might be a sign of violence and she contacted school officials.

And yes, race was brought up as a factor:

"As soon as he said that that was him on this cross (sleeping) – red flag! She ran with it! Touchdown! I got 'em. I'm gonna have him evaluated, there's something wrong with this minority kid. We gotta get in his mind."

"I'm sick of using the race card, but being a black man, I feel that I'm racially discriminated, me and my child."

Read the rest here. Then go hit a pillow.

H/t: Terry Travers

Joe Lieberman feels relevant

By GottaLaff

As many have already pointed out, all that really matters to Traitor Joe is Traitor Joe and Traitor Joe's ego:

But Lieberman laughed off the critics' attempts to "psychoanalyze" him.

"I feel relevant,'' Lieberman said in a conference call with a handful of Connecticut reporters this afternoon.

How sensitive of him to laugh off the millions who have died, and continue to die, because Big Insurance yanks their lives out from under them.

And I'm so happy for T.J. and his new found relevance. After all, this is all about him.

What about the more than 60 percent of state residents that back a government-run insurance option, according to a Quinnipiac University poll last month?

Some of those respondents are confused about what such a plan entails, Lieberman said.

No, actually, they're not confused at all. They know they've been screwed over by people like you and your donors for decades. You must be confusing the respondents for yourself.

And he added, "you can't make a decision like this based on polling,'' he said. Ultimately, he he said he has to do "what I think is right and hope in the end the people of Connecticut will respect me for that.''

Um, Traitor? You used the wrong R word. Nobody Respects you, but hopefully, the people of Connecticut will Retire you.

H/t: Think Progress

Misleading title-o'-the-day-- Sarah Palin: I'd come out ahead in run against Obama

By GottaLaff

Note: The title is that of the original article.

Earlier, I said this:

It never ends with Sarah Louise. Day after day, week after week, month after month, we are spoon-fed gift after gift.

And I was right:

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin says she'd come out ahead if she went one-on-one with fellow jogger President Barack Obama in a long run, according to an interview published online Tuesday.

P v. O? Head to head? One on one? Run on run? You betcha. She betchas! We all betcha!

"I betcha I'd have more endurance," she told Runner's World magazine.

::brakes scre-e-e-eching to an abrupt halt:: Endurance? Really, Miss Personality Disorder? Just a wild guess, but my money's on Obama's endurance on so, so many levels. Ya might wanna get back to us on how well you endured those Couric interviews.

So. Wanna switch lanes on that one?

"My one claim to fame in my own little internal running circle is a sub-four marathon. What I lacked in physical strength or skill, I made up for in determination and endurance."

There's that E word again. Okay, if you insist, Miss P.D. Endurance it is.

"I feel so crappy if I go more than a few days without running."

Hey, if there's one thing we wouldn't want Miss P.D. to feel, it's crappy.

"No matter how rotten I feel before or during a run, it's always worth it to me afterward. Sweat is my sanity," Palin tells the magazine.

Sweat is her sanity? That explains everything.

But she recounted one memorable run at McCain's ranch in which she fell coming down a hill.

Update: The fall, in addition to the Sanity Sweat, explains everything. I wonder if she sued McCain. He is worth quite a bit, in case you hadn't heard.

"I was so stinkin' embarrassed that a golf cart full of Secret Service guys had to pull up beside me. My hands just got torn up, and I was dripping blood. In the debate, you could see a big ugly Band-Aid on my right hand," Palin said.

I'm so stinkin' amused right now.

Anonymous Commenter: "Christians are losing religious freedoms"

By GottaLaff

Here's a comment from one of the many Rev. Rick threads. It's from a convo I was having with Anon (whoever that may be, since they won't even offer a pseudonym):

If you're paying so much attention, then how did you miss the fact that Christians are losing religious freedoms?

If gay marriage is legalized, ministers who don't choose to perform them in accordance with their beliefs will be penalized.

Christians (and others) who do not believe that abortion is morally right are going to be forced to perform them.

Certain rights, forced on others, necessitate the loss of their rights.

It's not just a matter of gays obtaining the right to marry. It ends up forcing other people to do things they don't believe in.

Oh, and I guess maybe I'd have to agree on that tyranny of the majority, if the majority voted in Obama.

That last bit was in response to a link I provided about the tyranny of the majority in relation to Proposition 8, the crux of one of the many arguments against it.

I don't have enough time to spend responding to each point Commenters make on each thread. I'd never have time to post, let alone live my life away from blogging (yes, I actually do that from time to time).

Instead, maybe some of you might want to take up the conversation from here. I suggest you follow the link back to the few comments Anon and I shared with each other, unless you feel the one I just posted here was enough for you.

Oh, look, here's an update:

No, my arguments are not faulty. There's even a lesbian professor and gay activist who agrees that religious people must lost their freedom in order for gays to get certain freedoms.

But go ahead and ignore the rights of Christians in favour of other groups. We're quite used to it.

Yes, I ignore Christian rights, Jewish rights, African American rights, gay rights, and the rights of Goldendoodles everywhere. I limit my attention solely to Laffy rights. I'm a big ol' meany bigot who refuses to acknowledge anyone's rights but my own. Anon wins. I hang my head in defeat.

I ask forgiveness of the god in whom I do not believe.