Cue the violins and cry me a river for all the poor, poor white bigots who’re gonna be, like, sooooooo disappointed when they discover that the Constitution — which, like the Bible, is often waved about and banged upon by people who’ve obviously never read it — applies equally to everyone and that nobody is special just because of the melanin content of their skin.

Stupid white people, who believe themselves superior to people who are not white, are in serious denial as they dream their golden dreams of running all the non-white people out of the country — even the millions who are legal citizens, some of whom were actually born right here in the good ol’ US of A  –  so they can once again claim their entitlement to special treatment they never deserved in the first place.

Under a new law in Arizona, people who cannot produce their “papers” (documents proving they’re either citizens or non-citizens who are legally in the U.S.)  can be arrested, thrown in jail for up to six months, and fined $2500.

Supporters of the law say it’s needed to protect Arizonans. They don’t really have much else of a defense they can use without coming across as bigots because there isn’t one.

And the first time an American citizen of hispanic descent is arrested and jailed, in Arizona, because he/she was not carrying his/her “papers,” Arizona’s new immigration law is destined for the courts.

This is because it encroaches upon the federal government’s authority in regulating immigration, it is overly broad, the logistics of its enforcement can be nothing but arbitrary, and it gives the police way too much power — talk about your “Big Government” — to arrest people for things like walking around in Arizona while being hispanic.

Meanwhile, President Barack Obama has asked the Justice Department to review the law’s implications, and the Arizona ACLU is already on the case.

And when it gets to the courts, it’s gonna be struck down as the unconstitutional anachronism it is.

‘Cause America ain’t just for white folks anymore.

(Y’all know who I’m talkin’at… And you know how I love to get my schadenfreude on over sniveling whiny bigots who lament the decline of “White America.”)

And homophobes everywhere are all up in arms as if this is news of pending Armageddon.

Jon Goldwater, co-CEO of Archie Comics, says it’s “about keeping the world of Archie Comics current and inclusive.”

But the homophobes, as usual, see conspiracies, and they’re not sure what it means — political correctness gone “too far,” or the standard indoctrination into the “homosexual agenda” (whatever that’s supposed to be), or that the publishers are trying to be “hip” — as if it’s, like, the late 1970s.

Well, here’s the scoop.

It’s not PC BS, nor is it indoctrination, or even an attempt to be “hip.”

It’s called progress, folks.

In the modern world — as opposed to paradise never was — we acknowledge that some people are gay and that they are as much a part of our society and culture as anyone else.

So, either live in these times, or get left behind — ’cause there’s no goin’ back to the bad old days when people who were not straight, white, Christian and male, were considered second-class citizens.

(Yes, equality can be a bitch to those who believe themselves superior!)

Source: Yahoo! News.

No, I’m not sayin’ Happy B’Day to Hitler! (Just a little trivia…)

What I am referring to is the other meaning of 420, or 4/20, or 4:20, or April 20th and how an Associated Press-CNBC poll on the medical and recreational use of marijuana was released today, April 20, 2010. (Y’all think that mighta been on purpose?)

Anyways, it seems that Americans are demographically similar on marijuana and same-sex marriage in that people under the age of 30 have the right idea, while the old fuddy duddies are, once again, letting the world leave them behind.

Overall, 33% are in favor of legalization, and 55% are against it. But, the under-30 crowd sees things differently, with 54% in favor of sensible marijuana policy. Meanwhile, folks 65 and older are 73% opposed.

Oddly enough, you can swap out “marijuana” for “same-sex marriage” and the poll numbers for/against are about the same.

We have a strange attitude toward recreational drugs in the US. Many polls show that 70% or more of the American people believe that the drug war has failed, yet only 30-40% are in favor of meaningful drug policy reform.

Yet another parody using that old Hitler movie. This one’s about JB Handley (as Hitler) and the antivax kooks over at Age of Autism.

Coutesy of Heraldblog.

Credit card companies are, and always have been, sleazy — though nowhere near as sleazy as health insurance companies (perhaps I’ll share my spittle-flecked manifesto on that subject at some future date).^*

Of course, it’s our own dang fault for running up our accounts and then wondering why we cannot get out from under all that crushing debt via faithfully making our minimum payments — all the while charging and charging until we exceed our credit limits, and our credit card companies start collecting even more fees.

However, the ethical conundrums of credit cards, personal responsibility, and blame and punishment aside, it is what it is and there’s not much left to do but to make a plan for paying off credit card debt.

Since the new credit card regulations have gone into effect, my credit card company web site now has a little calculator into which I enter my payment amount so that it can tell me how long it will take to pay off my balance and how much interest I will pay.

So, if I pay the minimum payment, here’s how it works out:

Balance as of last statement: $35,331.19
Minimum payment due: $762.00
Estimated payoff date: May 2053 (519 Months, or over 43 forking YEARS!)
Estimated total interest: $45,404
Estimated total cost: $80,735

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!!!

OMG! WTF!

Okay, I’m gonna calm down now ’cause the handy dandy calculator reveals some powerful truths:

By upping my payments by just $238 per month (and either not using the card or implementing a pay/go system in which any new purchases are added to the regular monthly payment), substantial savings can be had:
Fixed Monthly Payment: $1000
Estimated Payoff Date: Nov 2013 (45 months)
Estimated Total Interest: $9025
Estimated Total Cost: $44,356

If I add just another $100 to that:
Fixed Monthly Payment: $1100
Estimated Payoff Date: Jun 2013 (40 months)
Estimated Total Interest: $7,967
Estimated Total Cost: $43,298

And if I up the payments to $1500
Fixed Monthly Payment: $1500
Estimated Payoff Date: Jun 2012 (28 months)
Estimated Total Interest: $5,455
Estimated Total Cost: $40,786

But what if I can only afford to add an extra $100 per month?
Fixed Monthly Payment: $862
Estimated Payoff Date: Aug 2014 (54 months)
Estimated Total Interest: $11,077
Estimated Total Cost: $46,408

Or simply to round up the minimum payment of $762 to $800 — an increase of only $38 per month?
Fixed Monthly Payment: $800
Estimated Payoff Date: Feb 2015 (60 months)
Estimated Total Interest: $12,352
Estimated Total Cost: $47,683

So, even paying just a little bit more every month (and doing pay/go with new purchases) makes a HUGE difference.

AMAZING!

^*unless Congressional Democrats evolve into vertebrates and pass health insurance reform sometime before I die.