The news thread

[Venneh]

And more updates on the whole thing over in Missouri with the girl who wanted to bring her girlfriend to prom:

McMillen: I Was Sent to Fake Prom

By Advocate.com Editors

To avoid Constance McMillen bringing a female date to her prom, the teen was sent to a "fake prom" while the rest of her class partied at a secret location at an event organized by parents.

McMillen tells The Advocate that a parent-organized prom happened behind her back — she and her date were sent to a Friday night event at a country club in Fulton, Miss., that attracted only five other students. Her school principal and teachers served as chaperones, but clearly there wasn't much to keep an eye on.

"They had two proms and I was only invited to one of them," McMillen says. "The one that I went to had seven people there, and everyone went to the other one I wasn’t invited to."

Last week McMillen asked one of the students organizing the prom for details about the event, and was directed to the country club. "It hurts my feelings," McMillen says.

Two students with learning difficulties were among the seven people at the country club event, McMillen recalls. "They had the time of their lives," McMillen says. "That's the one good thing that come out of this, [these kids] didn't have to worry about people making fun of them [at their prom]."

In March, after the Itawamba County School District refused to allow McMillen to bring a female date to the prom, the district canceled the event altogether. McMillen and her lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union challenged that decision in court, and a judge ruled the district could not bar McMillen and her date.

The judge declined to force the school district to hold the prom because a parent-sponsored, private prom was being organized — and the understanding was that McMillen and her date were invited to that event. But Hampton says McMillen was never invited and organizers made it very difficult for her to find information on the time and location. That prom was later mysteriously canceled, with the Friday night event at the country club officially replacing it.

Source

Seriously, just, what the hell.

[Molly]

Are we really so wrapped up in who is having sex with who?

People are fucking starving to death in Africa. We are fighting wars in two countries. There are people losing their life savings because of crooked banking practices in this country. We are surrounded by religious and racial bigotry at nearly every turn.

And people care more about keeping two teenagers from taking two other teenagers with the same genitals to a fucking high school dance.

...I fucking quit humanity.

[Venneh]

Uhm, I would like to point out (after looking up where Suave's story happened, Georgia, for the record), that most of this is happening in the South.

Which, honestly, not that much of a surprsise. (Sorry to you E2ers who live down there, but.)

And I wouldn't doubt that the bigotry, especially on the religious end, are playing into this a lot.

[KnightWing]

Okay, I've mostly kept to myself about this here, but it's getting to be a little too much at this point.

It's pretty obvious that the vast majority of the E-2 forumites are left-leaning. That's not a judgment; just an observation.

Now, without getting into depth about it, I do not share many of the political views expressed by others here. I'm not a bigot, I don't hate anyone, and I'm not trying to push any agenda. However, it's a little difficult to come on this board every day and see people constantly ranting about how terrible my state (Texas) is, or how "religious people are destroying the country." It might be different if the boards were a little more evenly balanced (politically speaking), but it's basically just a one-sided bashing frenzy.

Now, the most obvious argument to that is "well, it's just that the South is stupid, and we're pointing it out." Well, hey, if we were to play that game, I could definitely go and find condemning articles about the "North" as well. But I really, really don't want to get into political debates or start arguments; I'd much rather find common ground with my fellow residents of Earth-2. I just want to hop online and have fun talking about geekdom, not have to constantly avoid or ignore the one-sided political arguments that people post here.

I respect everyone here, but to be honest, with all the political rants that have been going on lately, it's kind of like I have to take a slap to the face every time I log on.

[SuaveStar]

I've got to say, I've never went for the political leanings myself, not really getting involved in the debates about stuff like that on here, or in general life. It's not where these incidents happen that bothers me, as in all honesty, you're probably going to find the biggest prick you'll ever meet in the same city as some of the nicest people in the world.

Also, I didn't post my article thinking "Stupid Southern asses" I posted mine saying "You assholes, how dare you treat someone like that." The story being about the south never actually occurred to me. I'm not saying this as a "You're wrong" I'm saying this from my posting of the story, and how I feel in general, it's fucking shit practice on how some people are treated. No matter where in the world.

[Dread]

Maybe stay out of the news thread. Or choose battles. Like not taking a stance that can be construed as being on the side of those who are infringing on someone's basic human rights.

These people are bigoted. There's no political problem here. People brought up religion, but the fact of the matter is, most who would condemn gays would say they do so because God tells them to. Not because it makes them feel icky because that makes them look like a bigot (because they are).

This is bullshit. There's too much horrific shit going on in the world to care about who fucks who. A lot of the time, the horrific shit is directly or indirectly caused by those who care most about who fucks who. That's what this is about.

[Molly]

I said never made the connection between these cases and religious bigotry. As a matter of fact, I specifically said that confronting and dealing with both religious and racial bigotry is the real issue to stop all of these incidents, on both sides. I have no issue with the south, both Lucy and I have family from the South, and they're all wonderful people. My issue comes when someone's political stance causes them to stop treating others like people. It's seen on both the right and the left, pretty frequently. The left thinks we're incapable of taking care of ourselves and the right thinks it has to protect us from the gays and the terrorists.

I don't lean either way, because both sides are inherently flawed.

[Koete]

This is why I hate politics. Instead of coming together to say "these people are ignorant jackasses," we're trading words over stereotypes of people living in the south. Who gives a fuck if this happened in the north or the south? Can people agree on anything without having to bring in something else to take a dig at?

[Dread]

Exactly. There are assholes everywhere. They should be condemned for it. Done.

These are the worst kind of people, cruel heartless fucks who hide behind their morality or a veil of belief that supposedly gives them clean hands in the matter.

[Molly]

Precisely.

[Nicolette Opal]

KnightWing, I think instead of being upset at the left-leaning ways of the board, and ignoring it instead of speaking up, you should join the conversation and engage us with your point of view.

This is America and that is your right, nay, duty, as an American.

[KnightWing]

KnightWing, I think instead of being upset at the left-leaning ways of the board, and ignoring it instead of speaking up, you should join the conversation and engage us with your point of view.

This is America and that is your right, nay, duty, as an American.

Well, thank you. I will consider that.

[Missy]

It's not where these incidents happen that bothers me, as in all honesty, you're probably going to find the biggest prick you'll ever meet in the same city as some of the nicest people in the world.

Also, I didn't post my article thinking "Stupid Southern asses" I posted mine saying "You assholes, how dare you treat someone like that." The story being about the south never actually occurred to me. I'm not saying this as a "You're wrong" I'm saying this from my posting of the story, and how I feel in general, it's fucking shit practice on how some people are treated. No matter where in the world.

This.

[Molly]

And I do think that a distinction has to be made. These people aren't scum because they're conservative. They're scum that happen to be conservative, and use that as an excuse. KW, as a conservative with your head on straight, you should hate these people more than any of us, they're making you look bad. They refuse to make a reasonable argument, it's all just drum banging. Not all conservatives are ignorant rednecks, we all know that.

[Nicolette Opal]

And I do think that a distinction has to be made. These people aren't scum because they're conservative. They're scum that happen to be conservative, and use that as an excuse. KW, as a conservative with your head on straight, you should hate these people more than any of us, they're making you look bad. They refuse to make a reasonable argument, it's all just drum banging. Not all conservatives are ignorant rednecks, we all know that.

Exactly. Just like not all liberals are flag burning hippie faggots that want to tell you how to run your life and make the government subsidize it.

I think when we trade in stereotypes (while they are stereotypes for a very good reason), things get messy.

[slothian]

Speaking of politics, it's UK General Election season!!! Feel the excitement!!

[SuaveStar]

Speaking of politics, it's UK General Election season!!! Feel the excitement!!

We're fucked no matter who wins.

Off topic, but can anyone get me the logo from this years election, or anything that says the date and "Don't forget to vote on the 6th of May"

[Stavros]

Speaking of politics, it's UK General Election season!!! Feel the excitement!!

No-one really likes Labour, but everybody fucking hates the conservatives. And voting Lib Dem would be like throwing your vote away.

Eh, if there wasn't a risk of the fucking Conservatives getting in I'd probably abstain, but I can't just sit by and watch that slimy dipshit Cameron take control. At least Brown has his heart in the right place, although there are massive portions of his electronic data protection policies that I'm in opposition to.

[SuaveStar]

Speaking of politics, it's UK General Election season!!! Feel the excitement!!

No-one really likes Labour, but everybody fucking hates the conservatives. And voting Lib Dem would be like throwing your vote away.

Eh, if there wasn't a risk of the fucking Conservatives getting in I'd probably abstain, but I can't just sit by and watch that slimy dipshit Cameron take control. At least Brown has his heart in the right place, although there are massive portions of his electronic data protection policies that I'm in opposition to.

Exactly.

[Kscriv]

Oh Canada. Conservative minority government with the balance of power being held by the NDP. Please don't ever change.

[Stavros]

I got what seems like my 14th piece of mail from the conservatives yesterday. They really are sparing no expense in papering the nation.

[MaxPower]

The former leader of our opposition party announced his retirement and this was a quote from an article about his political life in the paper the day after.

Malcolm at times didn’t see the politically smart thing to do – he saw what he thought was right

This guy was a self made millionaire, and got in to politics for no other reason than he thought he could make a difference. And what happened, because he didn't play the game and toe the party line all the time, he was vilified for it!

I'm with Preston, I quit humanity.

[Missy]

Man Struck, Killed By Car In West Rogers Park

Victim Remains Unidentified

CHICAGO (Sun-Times Media Wire) ― A man died Tuesday afternoon after being struck by a car in the West Rogers Park neighborhood.

At 1:20 p.m. a female motorist was driving a Chevrolet sedan north on Western Avenue when a man "stumbled into the road" and was hit by the car at the intersection with Devon Avenue, according to police News Affairs Officer Hector Alfaro.

The motorist was not at fault, but the driver was cited with not having a driver's license or insurance, according to Alfaro who declined to release the motorist's name.

The victim remains unidentified early Wednesday but is believed to be in his 60s, according to a spokesman for the Cook County Medical Examiner's office.

The man was pronounced dead at 5:20 p.m. at Saint Francis Hospital in Evanston, according to the spokesman, who said gave a different time for the wreck -- 3:20 a.m. Tuesday.

An autopsy is scheduled for later Wednesday.

Source

The reason I'm posting this is because I live two blocks from where this happened. And based on what was said about the victim (RE: stumbling, 60 years old, no ID), I think I might know who it was. There's a semi-shambling bum of that age who hangs out on and around Western. He's pretty much a fixture of the neighborhood, so unless I see him within the next day or two, I'm going to guess I'm right.

[Dread]

You should call the cops. They might know who he is or know someone who does.

[Missy]

Good idea. If he's not hanging around this evening I'll make the call.