No problem. :) It’s an easy mistake to make, especially since sexual orientation and gender were not included for a long time. Federal protections (or lack thereof) for LGBT people are kind of a mishmash because they’re not included universally but progressive lawmakers have sort of sneaked extra protections into…

Gender identity and sexual orientation are actually covered under federal hate crime laws as of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009.

I looked up their Christmas album because I was like “how can a Christmas album be soulless?” and then I listened to their cover of “Hallelujah” (which btw IS NOT A FUCKING CHRISTMAS SONG SERIOUSLY GUYS I LOVE CHRISTMAS AND I LOVE LEONARD COHEN BUT JUST STOP IT). I used to think there was no such thing as a bad cover…

This comment made me laugh because I used a mix of that sentence and “I’m good, thanks!” (said politely and cheerfully like you would to a waiter who offered to refill your drink when you’re almost done) recently on a flight. My wife and I were sitting next to this college-aged girl who was clearly on fire for Jesus…

Eh, I don’t know about the $65 thing. I’ve unfortunately known a few neo-Nazi skinheads and they might have trouble paying rent, but they somehow always have money for often ridiculously expensive Nazi stuff. And beer. Or meth, depending on their preferences. I imagine a lot of them would spend $65 on a book written…

Craig is definitely my favorite Bond. I wasn’t allowed to watch any of the movies growing up but I was allowed to read the novels (not saying it made sense, but my parents were really strict about TV/movies but were like “eh if you can understand it, go ahead and read it” about books), and so the super suave and…

Or they could have had the AI be the one who decided to wake up Lawrence’s character after listening to Pratt talk about his loneliness for a year. That would be almost the same plot—it would be pretty natural for her to blame him and have some tension there, since he would be the indirect cause of her being woken up…

I love this song, but I don’t think they’re really comparable. Dreezy’s song is clearly about alcoholism (or at least alcohol abuse) as much as it is about infidelity, at least the way I hear it. I mean, she even says he only likes her because she’s shaped like a bottle (which is obviously not literal, but quite…

Very well said. I do wonder how much of my initial judgment about her outfits was simply not being familiar with her, too. I’m admittedly mostly a country/folk/bluegrass fan, so I really only heard a few of her top radio hits. As I’ve listened to more of her catalog over the years, I’ve realized that those aren’t…

I definitely agree about Miley, but I think it’s probably pretty calculated. There are a ton of Disney Channel stars who go basically nowhere despite being quite talented, and I think she’s trying to avoid that. The details vary, but the techniques of playing the press to create an image are basically the same.

I used to laugh at her crazy antics too but now that she’s hit her stride I have nothing but respect for basically her entire career. Meat dresses and egg costumes helped keep her in the news as she was establishing herself as a major pop star. Now she’s so big she can basically do what she wants, and she’s clearly…

I can see that. I’ve never really disliked her but the extent of my fandom was basically “if I happen to be listening to the radio and one of her songs comes on, I’ll nod my head along to it.” But I liked this album enough to buy it after hearing a few songs from it, so I’m on the opposite end of the spectrum but it…

Me too!

I’m with you. If there is a draft, men and women should be equally eligible for it. But I do not support Selective Service registration for anyone.

I’m also surprised by this! I have a pretty terrible sense of smell, too, but I’ve often smelled electricity. I guess it might be an issue of what you’re exposed to, though. I grew up in a desert area prone to thunderstorms and got caught out in the open multiple times while hiking or horseback riding. The smell of…

Cameron Todd Willingham is the case you’re thinking of. http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/09/07/trial-by-fire

I’m a religious pacifist, but I’m also a gun owner because I live in a rural area and keep livestock, so guns are sometimes necessary for humane emergency euthanasia or to protect my stock from predators. I also take the responsibility of gun ownership extremely seriously and have had extensive training. My guns stay…

For what it’s worth, I’m Christian and I certainly dislike Bill Maher due to his attitude towards Christianity. Not even his dislike of it, but his seeming belief that all Christians are ignorant fools. He portrays the particularly backwards people of my faith as the norm. We’re not all science-rejecting Creationists…

All female comedians secretly belong to a race of immortal warriors. The last remaining one will gain unimaginable powers.

FWIW, I worked at Petsmart years ago, and even then Petsmart was very much one of those companies. We were required to ask people about their pets and things like that. But all the front-end people really did like doing so. We had a few less friendly people, but they were stockers or worked in specialty departments…