Friday, December 30, 2011

Amazon and Barnes & Noble Pull Offensive Calendar

I just checked Amazon for the highly offensive "I'm not Gay I'm a Sissy" calendar and it is n ow gone!  Barnes & Noble pulled it earlier in the week responding to widespread outrage and customer complaints. 

No official word from Amazon but I wouldn't expect it.  They will just quietly hope the controversy dies out.

Meanwhile the cartoonist is still unrepentant for his homophobic and frankly tasteless cartoons.  Glad he is defending his bigotry instead of trying to deny it.  At least he is honest about that, unfortunately he was anything but honest in his deception of people living with AIDS and LGBT people.

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Barnes & Noble and Amazon Sell "Funny" Homophobic Calendar

I have pretty thick skin. Growing up in a Jewish family and being a fat kid you learn to roll with the punches to a point. The new "humorous" calendar being sold by Barnes & Noble and Amazon really takes to cake for offensive.

Titled, "I'm Not Gay, I'm Just A Sissy" it reenforces about every negative stereotype possible.  I can only imagine the outrage if this was a 2012 Minstrel Calendar with happy laughing black face performers pictured, or a 2012 "Women are so Dumb" calendar.

This is the kind of trash I expect to see at a KKK rally, not Barnes & Noble or Amazon.  If you feel the same way, let these online booksellers know how you feel.
Amazon E-Mail: Click here.
Phone: 1-800-201-7575
Twitter: @Amazon
Facebook: Click here.

Barnes & Noble
E-Mail: Click here.
Phone: 1-800-THE-BOOK (1-800-843-2665)
Twitter: @BN_care (Customer service)
Facebook: Click here.

UPDATE:  Barnes & Noble has dropped this offensive trash from their catalog.  Amazon?  Not yet. 

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Robot Birds Flock Like the Real Thing

An amazing development in robotics and surveillance. 

Abilify - Side Effects with a Drug Attached?

I saw this commercial a few weeks ago and was astounded by the list of side effects, most of which include really nasty stuff including "death". It is used to treat schizophrenia and bi-polar disorder, but I have to wonder if there aren't safer alternatives? This sounds like a new drug looking for a market more than anything, and I guess they figure patients who might use it just don't care about side effects.

Go figure.



Now, here is a clip from Andy Behrman, a former spokesperson for Bristol Myers Squibb who make the drug Abilify. This makes more sense than the drug makers video.

Ron Paul Thinks Everything is Unconstitutional

As I have said of Ron Paul before...he is very, very fringe material.

Estimated 14,000 US Deaths Related to Fukushima Meltdown

That headline is disturbing, since I assumed like nearly everyone that the Fukushima disaster was strictly a Japanese problem. Not so according to a scientific study published in the December edition of the International Journal of Health Services.

Six days after the reactor meltdown, scientists detected a toxic plume of radioactive fallout on American soil.  Measurements by the EPA showed levels of radioactive iodine in water and milk rose to hundreds of times the normal levels.  The results?  An estimated 14,000 deaths, mostly of infants.

Want proof?  Well the Centers for Disease control monitors deaths nationwide to spot trends and epidemics.  Normally the rate is about 2.34% per 100,000 people.  During the 14 weeks following Fukushima that total rose to 4.46%.  That makes an excess of deaths of about 14,000.  By the way, an estimated 16,500 Americans died from Chernobyl, another figure you might not have heard.

Now, next time someone tells you that nuclear power is a safe alternative, ask them how many Americans died from Nuclear accidents.  They will not have a number, but you will!

Monday, December 26, 2011

SFGMC Holiday Concert

My friend Tim Seelig conducting the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus. Enjoy!