Not pro-Bono: Russian MP wants Apple to face stiff action for cramming 'gay' U2 into iCrevices Russian prosecutors have been asked to probe Apple to see if the American giant broke Russia's "gay propaganda" laws by forcibly thrusting ludicrous boy band U2's album Songs of Innocence into iThings. Alexander Starovoytov, a member of the Russian parliament, was quoted this week in broadsheet Izvestia demanding an …
Not sure what Putin hopes to accomplish with bigotry laws. The LGBT percent of the population will not change, but will be coerced into sham het marriages and/or substance abuse and/or leaving the country (by suicide or by exodus), none of which seem worthwhile goals. How is this helping? Is driving people to live lies and/or to suicide what your gods would really have you do?
If Putin thought hard about it he'd realise that if he really wants to Purge Teh Gay what he needs to do is stop forcing gay men and women to marry and pass on their genes and start encouraging them to come out and be as gay as they can and not have children.*
But I think Putin thinks hard too often as it is. He lies there at night thinking 'hard, hard, hard'.
(*Assuming homosexuality has a genetic component, natch, otherwise the Putin Plan To End Teh Gay will be a catastrophic, covered-in-sequins-and-dancing-to-Erasure failure).
I was going to say how worried I was that the image would have got Putin, (that gay icon for half the world that wants him as their icon) over excited.
I guess that it happened as I expected.
As for 'changing the proportion who are that way inclined' or some such gibberish. While the proportions in different species vary and in some species the boundary is far from hard and fast, I thought that as a general rule something approaching 10% was a good marker. Most typing for 'conditions'* covers a range of 'condition expression', from very mild to totally committed.
*Conditions = a generic term covering all sorts of human and animal, 'cases' (including such as e.g.left handedness, short sight, height, etc.) with no slight intended to any one. Since no slight is intended, I trust none will be taken - however if the nut jobs of Russia wish to take offence, so be it; there is no accounting for their inability to recognise the realities of life rather than their fantasy ideas.
Side issue, why does anyone have to care about the way others are or need to live their life?
The worth of someone is how they live and behave not how they might or might not chose to breed or do anything else.
If they are a useless waste of space then that is what they are - not because of some other alleged problem that can be hung round their neck.
Question: Why should I be forced to be involved in their life any more than I should force them to follow my obscure and odd-to-others ways?
Rant over, can we now all get on with life?
Side issue, why does anyone have to care about the way others are or need to live their life?
In a word.... control. This might just be the final frontier that Russia needs to conquer to totally control the population. Even if you're not gay, all it takes is some saying you are and you are up the proverbial creek without the proverbial paddle. The is Mccarthyism and to a similar extent what J. Edgar puylled but taken to a different level. Lives will be ruined, families destroyed, but those in power won't care because their power will be even more consolidated and massive.
Hmm... after re-reading this, I wonder if Putin is really just pulling a J Edgar.... If I were in Russia I would be expecting a knock on the door for that in 5...4...3...2....
Honestly, that cover does look just a bit gay. But not much. Of course, Putin seems to *love* having shirtless photos taken of himself. Russia's law is absurd, and this is an absurd application of the law. That said, I don't like U2 at all and would *STRONGLY* object to having anything of theirs shoved onto my device. But, I like to have control of my devices, therefore I never buy an Apple product.
I was trying to work myself into a foaming-mouthed rant, or to think of a something suitably insulting to aim at the Russian Fascists or, even, just try to make a U2 joke.
However, I just can't do any of those after reading that in this century a government of an enormous country is a fascist, stone-age mess.
What the hell does anyone do now? Trade embargoes? Another cold war? It's like the last 25 years never happened. How can this be solved without the people of Russia and the surrounding countries suffering again?
This may only* be about gay rights but, when it comes down to it, this is just a freckle of a very malignant tumour.
*I mean that in the rhetorical sense -- there is no "only" about an absolute right.
I can't completely disagree but I can't think of many countries where you can be locked up just for being you. Even the US requires that you visit family in war-torn parts of the world before they declare you sub-human and ship you off to Cuba or worse. In the UK you may not have the right to privacy but at least the right to be watched every second extends to everyone pretty-much equally.
I could go on but my main point was that Russia is a large country which has been free from outside forces for a long, long time* and when the socialist fascist state collapsed it seemed that, maybe, it would become a modern more liberal country. Then it went very wrong and now it's slipping into the kind of stone-age shithole you expect from a war-torn much meddled-with middle eastern (for example) "theocracy".
While most of us in the "free world" are battling complex threats to our privacy and the like and seeing actual improvements equality and human rights laws, with governments who may treat us like cattle but at least hear us low when it comes to election time, those in Russia are once again living in a fascist state ruled by the whims of lunatics.
This is truly sad.
*Hitler barely having scratched the surface compared to what happened to France et al for example.
You forget to ask why Putin is in power in the first place.
People in Russia expected freedom and consumer goods after the collapse of communism, not to be poorer than they already were. The West did not need to be quite so enthusiastic in encouraging Yeltsin to apply neo-liberal economic dogma, devastating the Russian economy and dispossessing its people.
Any hope of real (European style) democracy in Russia evaporated very quickly (possibly to the relief of the US?) Placing ABM systems in neighbouring countries has not helped to dispel Russians' sense of betrayal and mistrust of the West.
Nationalism was a practically inevitable response to these conditions. Any real or imagined outside interference has just helped to reinforce popular support for a repressive and increasingly paranoid regime.
You're seeing this as a Westerner but there's also history at play here. Historically, they had very strong Czars (for the most part) and the Communists were the same way when they took over. The leadership might be evil, but the mindset is "a strong leader protects us from the invaders". Putin plays into that mindset very well with this steely eyes and the horsey pics or wrestling with a bear. Democracy so far has been a wash as those preceding Putin were considered "weak old men".
I'm in two minds about this. On one hand, the photo is a bit off, looking like something from a GQ soft-porn homo-erotic incest titillator splash. But on the other hand, we have Putin thoughtfully soothing a boy's stomach in this article, and it is presented as an indication that the president is a kind, caring man:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5155448.stm
What must I think?
Well then, he should obviously realise what's going on in the pic. Daddy buys son an Apple Watch (TM'd up the wazoo). Son, being a bit unappreciative of the value of things (or the cost, at least), swallows said gizmo. The aftermath is photographed as dad tries to locate the device by listening for the ticks...
(upvotes for the best explanation of why they both need to be demi-nekkid)
I should have seen this long ago. The international repercussions of Russia's anti-gay campaign clearly outweigh any cred Putin is getting from it with the Orthodox Church in value.
But there's a large ethnic minority in Russia that has no use for extreme nationalism. From its ranks, one of Putin's most significant opponents, Garry Kasparov, came. Because they have a well-founded fear of persecution, however, Putin may be calculating that his anti-gay measures, by proving him to be profoundly illiberal, will contribute to generally cowing that minority into silence.
So it doesn't really have anything to do with homosexuality; Putin is afraid of the Jews in Russia speaking out against his rule.
Are the Russians seriously wondering whether a man ever cuddles his son? I admit the picture on the cover is a little creepy... actually just plain revolting... but really, not my issue, not me, not mine, not going to buy it... if someone else thinks they like it then good luck to them, plenty of things I like and buy they wouldn't want.
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