So let's talk about the accelerated maturation of girls

You've probably heard about the "modern day Bonnie & Clyde teen sweetheart couple" that has so far not killed anyone. Not only is the story a fine example of hyperbole (BONNIENCLYDEDEADBURNTBODIES), but it is an excellent example of how willing society is to accelerate the maturity of girls, particularly when they aren't the right sort of girl.

These two "teen sweethearts" are actually an 18 year old young man and and a 13 year old girl.

Not so sweet. But the linked story (FOX) goes a long way to explain why various news outlets are not covering this as a child exploitation case: Tammy Martin, Dalton Hayes' mother says the girl told them she was 19 and by the time he found out she wasn't, he was in love.

OK, first of all - LOL.

Second, please shut up. "She told me she was old enough" is not a defense against charges of statutory rape. Legislators thought of that one. But we only have Martin's word for it. Which, so far as reporting the interview with Martin is fine.

Where it is not fine is at the point some pervert decided to portray this not as a possible kidnapping complete with the suspect behaving dangerously and please to rescue the girl he has with him, but as two sweethearts (aww) who are both behaving dangerously. The sheriff calls Hayes a kid and refers to her as if she bears equal responsibility.

But! We're told that the girl spent the night at Hayes' house the night before. And also she smoked cigarettes. Plus the guy's mom said she was passing herself off as 19, so she's a "Bad Girl" who tricked Hayes into dating her. Any lingering concerns that she's being sexually exploited can get tossed out of the window because she's probably not a virgin anyway.

This sort of maturation of girls isn't uncommon, although it is far more frequently done to minorities. When it is done to boys, you get kids being tried as adults when their white peers go through the juvenile justice system. Or they're killed and then blamed for their deaths.

When it is done to girls, you bet is used to justify sexual exploitation, complete with subsequent victim blaming when they are raped and/or become pregnant.

But this girl is to all appearances, from the wrong end of the economic scale, which can be as great a sin as being from the wrong end of the Fitzpatrick scale. And she did spend the night with her boyfriend. And she's a female and we know they're all worthless anyways. So naturally people have accepted the boyfriend/girlfriend it means they don't have to give a shit about her.

All that remains to be seen is when they're caught, will he blame her for his actions?

And she wasn't even 2D!

Context.

Much, much, much, much, much shorter Andrew Sullivan

"This may come as a shock, but I find I can identify with a pack of misogynist slack-jawed pickletits."

Do I harbor some traces of resentment at those who treat gay culture as some kind of straight playground, or at the mob of straight folks who will swamp any gay presence at next week’s once-very gay high heel race in Dupont Circle? Guilty as charged.

And look, many gamers were the bullied in high school; this was their safe space; it was a place they could call home. They now feel it slipping away, and it has unhinged some and disconcerted many, as a lot of mainstream culture has heaped scorn and ridicule on them at the same time. And I’m sorry, but I feel some sympathy here. 

Yes, you are sorry, you neck-bearded fucktoad. 

Merci.

The second best thing to ever happen on the internet is happening on the internet, right now

The Snarks vs. The Jet Set (courtesy of L, G & M).

I for one am pleased to see some rich person's vanity project waste money on this sort of thing. As legal representation goes it is the equivalent of dumping hundred dollar bills in a sewage treatment plant and waving bye-bye. But I also believe that attorneys have some duty to tell their clients when what they want is stupid and/or not achievable by legal means.

I've thought about it and concluded there's no way a semi-conscious attorney would believe Preserve.Us had any sort of case against Gawker.

So the firm is either:

Laden with incompetents who don't know the law from their assholes (and believe me, there are plenty of practicing lawyers who don't), or

It is full of the kind of scum who give rise to lawyer jokes. "Sure writing this letter makes us look like morons or like a bunch of lying bullies. And yeah the most likely out come is it will create more negative publicity for the client. But who cares? We've got bills to pay and puppies to abuse!"

p.s. Go Gawker!

The Ebola outbreak is bad but ...

It is in Liberia in Sierra Leone. Those are places that aren't America, so it is kind of a bummer if you're an American who wants to projectile shart all over the place. I mean, yeah there's the guy in Dallas, but the two in D.C./MD didn't pan out.  So sad.

But fear not bacon-streakers! Naomi Wolf has got you covered.

Picture this: U.S. soldiers go to the affected region, not - as the DoD claims - to build field hospitals to you know, keep more people from dying horrible deaths, but so they can be infected with the disease, bring it back to the United States and create a massive outbreak that will allow Dictator Obama to declare martial law.

I am not making this shit up, if I could make this shit up, I'd hate myself:

And…TV news in US reporting Department of Defense is sending three thousand troops to Liberia..troops with no medical expertise..to construct and run field hospitals for Ebola….then they will be quarantined for 21 days…and eventually come home. A crazy idea as Liberia and Sierra Leone already have a dense infrastructure if medical aid organizations on the ground…many Western ones…that already have doctors nurses and well tested medical education networks that were activated to educate people about AIDs. I was in Freetown and witnessed this. What they don’t have is enough doctors or supplies. They need the CDC not the Pentagon. So why send soldiers with no medical background? A. Militarized Africa has long been on the agenda but B. Three thousand Ebola-exposed American troops creates a direct vector into the US and whatever happens a narrative can exist to justify military condoning of US populations…quarantining Americans…emergency measures to limit travel…crisis best left to military not civil authorities. People in Liberia and Sierra Leone know perfectly well how to build more buildings for more beds..these are modern societies…they just need money. There is no practical reason to put our soldiers in the eye if ebola. That is why I dont like this narrative. ..

Perfect isn't it? Down to the sometimes laughable typos. References to the countries' health infrastructures would be funny ... Well not really, because what the fuck? The disease is still spreading, medical professionals are fleeing for their fucking lives. But if we just drop some money on the problem, it will be OK. Why? Because the countries have systems in place to deal with AIDS, which is a disease too, so why all the fuss, huh? 

She even manages to state that the soldiers will be quarantined and then ignore the fact that they'll be quarantined. What does she think they'll do; Smuggle a freezer bag of shit in their socks?

I'm not sure how the same military that will be the Petri dish for the Cooties of Doom will be able to enforce martial law. "Stop or I'll ... aaargh [thud]!"

Maybe that's what this incredibly gross person wants us to think. Infected soldiers will be ordered to take up station around cities and on roads, and then they'll die. Or maybe she doesn't want anyone to think at all. There's an outside chance she likes being told she's full of shit, but people like this tend to take themselves way too seriously.

Ted Cruz - Winning Hearts & Minds

So Ted Cruz addressed a group of Arab Christians. How did that go?
 
Fantastic.

The Texas senator began his speech discussing the need to defend Christians in the Middle East from terrorism. However, he quickly switched gears and essentially lectured Arab Christians to accept and embrace Israel and that Christians and Jews in the region need to form an alliance.

At that point, jeers started emanating from the crowd. Sensing the crowd was turning on him, Cruz claimed that those booing him were anti-Semitic.

He eventually had to leave the stage, with his sack of Talevangical bullshit still half-full. Poor Ted, how was he to know that the Christians in IDoC wouldn't keep a lid on their anti-Semitism?

Ray Rice - Out

I had just finished chortling over Deadspin's article on the Ravens, which highlighted all the ways the team sucks, but with a special emphasis on its coddling of Ray "1-2 Punch" Rice. Some highlights:

So true. I feel AWFUL that Ray Rice's image was tarnished. That was the real tragedy here. It's not about the lady laying unconscious on the floor. It's about a man's LEGACY here. People forget that.

This is what kills me. Here are the Ravens doing the exact wrong thing in handling the Rice matter, and they're just so goddamn PROUD of it. They treat the spinning of Rice's domestic violence charge like an act of supreme, Gandhi-like unselfishness. "By God, if it's wrong to piss in a bucket and throw it on everyone, I don't want to be right!"

As an aside, the fact that a man wrote this article - without any apparent help from his mom or a hairy-legged feminist holding a loaded gun to his nads - is one reason why I have zero tolerance for the ass scratchers who claim it is unfair to expect men to behave like human beings because they just can't get it. Like there's some fundamental glitch in Man Brains that render them unable to understand that punching someone in the face just isn't done. First of all, fuck you. If you really do insist that men are rampaging animals with all of the self-control of a baboon on meth, you're arguing that all men should be shot if they make any sudden moves, like blinking. Second of all, fuck you even harder. This guy gets it and he's a sports writer.

But anyway, I had just finished reading this article when I heard that the Ravens - after displaying the behaviors you'd expect from a bunch of shitheads who struggle with the concept that women are human beings - had cut Rice's contract. What's to say, except "Took you long enough, assholes"?

I am sure we're in for a few weeks (or more) of whining about how unfair it is that this poor man was subjected to any sort of consequence for letting someone run into his fist with her face. There will be hysteria at Fedoralist meetings because if football players can't get away with punching women, who can? And I would bet any amount of money that in the near future an all-male panel on Faux Newz will decide Rice's wife is the real sexist for making him so mad that he had to hit her.

I will enjoy the tears.

Also - Ha ha ha ha!

Your quarterback: Joe Flacco. I'll go ahead and settle the meme for you now: He's not elite. Flacco threw more picks than any other QB in football last year not named Eli Manning (Eli is basically Flacco's NFC twin). His passer rating was worse than those of Chad Henne, Christian Ponder, Case Keenum, Kellen Clemens, and Mike Glennon. That doesn't happen with, say, Peyton Manning. Peyton Manning doesn't just go out and have entire season like that. OOPS SORRY GUYS! Flacco is a streaky passer who requires a good line, a top-rated defense, and a quality domestic abuser in the backfield to really flourish.