Things That Piss Me Off Tuesday - the yes, this is happening twice today edition

Tuesday.

The gift that keeps on giving.

Insanity Pleas
James Holmes, better known as the theater shooter, officially entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity today.

Basically, what this means is that people like me will be glued to the tv for the entire trial because it's going to be the definition of a three ring circus. I cannot even imagine how they are going to argue this defense.

It's not just the level of premeditation involved with the purchases of the weapons or the stockpiling of the ammo. It's not just the fact that he bought and was wearing full body tactical armor (and incidentally why the fuck can people buy shit like that in the first place)? It's not just the fact that he booby trapped his apartment. It's not just the fact that he calmly went in, bought a ticket, propped open the doors, went back out, put all said tactical gear on, snuck into the propped doors and opened fire on a sold out theater of people.

It's all of that.

Is the guy nuts?  Yeah, almost certainly. Normal people don't do that. However, being crazy enough to commit such an unimaginable crime doesn't mean he couldn't appreciate the wrongness of his actions.

He didn't snap one day, buy some guns and shoot up a theater in a moment of delirious rage.  He planned this attack for months and was far too deliberate to claim he had no grasp of the gravity of what he intended to do.

Good luck with that, Mr. Holmes.

The War on Women Rages On
The GOP realized that they aren't going to win too many races without the help of women after the last election. This most recent attempt to butter us up, though, really???

They've come right out and said that they are planning to use "mommy blogs" to target female audiences in predominantly Democratic areas, in an attempt to garner support for their most recent incarnation of flex time legislation.

Here's the thing.

First, though I refuse the label, some consider me a mommy blogger - which is a wonderful label lumped onto all women who write, even if they hardly ever write about their kids. Please, pigeonhole me more, society. Even still, you'll be happy to know that in my publishing network agreement with BlogHer, you'll never see ads financed by the GOP or conservative groups on my page. You won't see them because it's my page and I can decide that.  Suck it.

Second, pandering to women in the wake of all the anti-women legislation that these elected representatives have authored in the last year is ridiculous. It seems to say that they're perfectly willing to tell us that we don't deserve equal pay, that we can't decide what to do with our own bodies...but when it comes to this particular topic they think they can trick us into joining team Red.  We won't. Here's why.

The plan sucks. It's not really about providing flex time options to working mothers (or fathers for that matter). It gives time off in exchange for overtime, uncompensated at overtime rates. Companies can basically employ policies that say to women, oh, your kid is sick, take off a day when you need it...but your ass is mine on nights and weekends until you repay those hours.

This isn't a real flex time option. It actually would hurt more women in the workplace than it would help, which is exactly why most women's advocacy groups oppose it.

Bleeding Misogynist Zombies (oh and the other one too...)
A gun target manufacturer has taken to making life sized bleeding zombies, perfect for really expensive twisted target practice. Two have recently come under fire. One of which looks an awful lot like the Commander in Chief (which they claim is just a coincidence....right), then other which is called the "Ex-Girlfriend", complete with unbuttoned top, exposed bra and black soulless eyes.



When shot, the zombies bleed.

Because women don't have to deal with enough misogyny and violence in the world as it is. Because it's generally frowned upon to make a threat on the life of the President, but somehow it's okay if you make an effigy of him and slap a $99 price tag on it.  Sure. We'll just call it a coincidence while you imagine killing him. Or her.


What in the actual fuck?

You want to keep your guns? Fine.

But don't for one second think that shooting at something like this makes you anything other than a sick and twisted gun toting lunatic.

Faux Friends
I talked to two friends today, fed up with how they've been treated by people they call friends.

Strike that. It was three now that I think about it.

Friends are supposed to be a positive influence in your life. They are supposed to listen, to validate your concerns, to offer support.

They aren't supposed to blame you for their problems

They aren't supposed to treat you like shit.

They aren't supposed to make you question why you even talk to them.

They aren't supposed to dismiss your feelings.

They aren't supposed to betray you.

They aren't supposed to take advantage of you.

Sometimes people come into your life, and sometimes they leave. Sometimes we have to phase them out when we realize that they can never be the friend we need them to be, the friend we are to them. When it's not a two way street, it's not a friendship. It's a parasitic, drama filled dysfunction.

I'm too old for that shit.