• So first there was the parishioner who had to admit to porn-watching in order to say he recognized the church being used for the set. And then there was the parishioner who recognized the breasts in the video …
• Marginalia: A Love Story. Race Hochdorf finds a mysterious treasure in a used book store.
Oooh. So many questions. So many story possibilities. And so much fun casting the movie version of this in my imagination. (It’s like Possession meets Julie & Julia meets Griffin & Sabine meets Hemingway & Gelhorn meets …)
• Useful advice and a helpful reminder from Kate Cox at The Consumerist: “So yes, an employer can ask you if you’re married, if you have children, if you plan to have children, if you’re gay, what country you or your parents were born in, and what religion you practice — and countless other personal things that have nothing to do with the job or your possible performance in that job. However, using any of that information as part of the hiring process is completely illegal.”
• Amanda Marcotte responds to criticism of online misandry jokes by proposing a simple compromise. Feminists will agree to stop joking about promoting misandry if anti-feminists will agree to stop being deadly serious about promoting misogyny. Seems fair.
The best part of those jokes, I think, is that it forces anti-feminists to acknowledge them in order to complain about them. “You humorless feminists are so humorless. And please stop laughing and joking so much.” Highlighting the contradictions and all that.
• “The jobs that have been added to the economy during the recovery pay 23 percent less, on average, than those that were lost in the recession, according to a report from the U.S. Conference of Mayors.” That’s awful. Even worse is that I’m sure I’m not alone in reading that and thinking, “Man, I wish my new job only paid 23 percent less than my old one.”
• From God’s Not Dead to Poison Sky — Kevin Sorbo seems to be carving out a new career as the go-to-guy for movies based on urban legends and conspiracy theories. My first thought was he might have a gambling problem or maybe a few decades of delinquent taxes and just can’t afford to turn down any parts. But apparently, no, he’s a true believer. He really hates atheists. And I guess he really believes in “chemtrail” conspiracy theories. OK, then.
So if you’ve got a screenplay for a movie about the Trilateral Commission faking the moon landing to distract the public while they put mind-controlling fluoride in the water to make us accept Agenda 21, the good news is you can probably get Hercules to join your cast.
• “Vicky Beeching, Christian rock star, ‘I’m gay. God loves me just the way I am.”
After what Beeching has suffered, why not discard the faith that considers her sinful and wrong?
“It is heartbreaking,” she says, her eyes glimmering again. “The Church’s teaching was the reason that I lived in so much shame and isolation and pain for all those years. But rather than abandon it and say it’s broken, I want to be part of the change.”