Slashdot Mirror


Social Networks Force Barilla Chairman To Apologize For His Anti-gay Remarks

ifchairscouldtalk writes "Pasta maker Barilla is in hot water over its chairman's anti-gay comments. Guido Barilla said his brand would 'never feature gays in ads' because Barilla does not agree with them. He added, '[if gay people] like our pasta and our advertising, they'll eat our pasta, if they don't like it then they will not eat it and they will eat another brand.' Vehement protest worldwide calling for a boycott of Barilla products via Twitter and Facebook forced the chairman to apologize with a video on Facebook."

456 comments

  1. Facebook? by fustakrakich · · Score: 1

    Stay away!

    --
    “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
    1. Re:Facebook? by game+kid · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Seriously, Slashdot should continue adding "(PDF warning)" to PDF links, and add "(Facebook warning)" in the same fashion to fb links.

      --
      You can hold down the "B" button for continuous firing.
    2. Re:Facebook? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You realize that was the "tech angle" that allowed this story to be featured on Slashdot.

    3. Re:Facebook? by mcgrew · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Seriously, Slashdot should... add "(Facebook warning)" in the same fashion to fb links.

      Your browser doesn't show the URL of a link you hover over?

    4. Re:Facebook? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "You realize that was the "tech angle" that allowed this story to be featured on Slashdot."

      News for Pastafarians, stuff that matters for people living in their mother's basement, noodles!

    5. Re:Facebook? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "You realize that was the "tech angle" that allowed this story to be featured on Slashdot."

      News for Pastafarians, stuff that matters for people living in their mother's basement, noodles!

      Average Slashdotters thought process: "Hmm, I wonder if they use any Barilla products in all those pizza pies I have delivered here for dinner. I hope not, because I don't agree with their policy. But maybe if the gays organize a boycott, the demand for their products will fall and the pizza place I go to will be able to lower their prices."

    6. Re:Facebook? by metlin · · Score: 4, Informative

      Not on mobile devices.

    7. Re:Facebook? by TheRaven64 · · Score: 1
      Why rely on sites to do it, when you can do it globally by putting this in your user CSS file:

      A[HREF*="facebook.com"]:after { content: " [BRAIN DAMAGE WARNING]"!important ; color: red }

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    8. Re:Facebook? by plover · · Score: 1

      Easier, I just put Facebook IN MY hosts file and never SEE them again.

      God, how does that idiot APK do all that random formatting all the time? That takes a lot of work to pick just the right set of nonsensical words to emphasize!

      --
      John
    9. Re:Facebook? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Probably wrote a Delphi program to apply his template and post the comment using 64-bit Opera.

    10. Re:Facebook? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nobody says "pizza pies"; that's just fucking stupid.

    11. Re:Facebook? by mcgrew · · Score: 1

      Good point.

  2. It figures! by jaycvollmer · · Score: 5, Funny

    Pasta-maker CEO in hot water? Is his name Al Dente?

    1. Re:It figures! by Mitchell314 · · Score: 1

      I think he done lost his noodle.

      --
      I read TFA and all I got was this lousy cookie
    2. Re:It figures! by TheloniousCoward · · Score: 1

      There's a lesson here: if you're a CEO, your customers are your partners, so don't make saucy remarks about them. Otherwise, you'll have to man-up, put your money where your mouth is, and eat your words if you want to continue making a lot of dough.

    3. Re:It figures! by bsolar · · Score: 1

      His family name is Barilla so yes, "Barilla" is in hot water... anyway he is not the CEO, he is the chairman.

    4. Re:It figures! by xaxa · · Score: 1

      The best bit is the response by a competing company, Bertolli, who have managed to personify pasta shapes: http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/bertolli-makes-most-barilla-chairmans-anti-gay-comments-152758

    5. Re:It figures! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ooh, the chair. The CEO should throw him to the wall and see if he sticks.

    6. Re:It figures! by TheloniousCoward · · Score: 1

      Darn, that one got downgraded. I was kindda proud of it. My son is reading this as I type. I hope he's still proud of me.

    7. Re:It figures! by Half-pint+HAL · · Score: 1

      The best bit is the response by a competing company, Bertolli, who have managed to personify pasta shapes: http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/bertolli-makes-most-barilla-chairmans-anti-gay-comments-152758

      But surely that's cheap, demeaning and insulting? It's just an opportunistic advertising plan devised to manipulate people's feelings for commercial advantage. Just as it's not a food company's place to attack people's lifestyles, it's not their place to support it either.

      --
      Got them moderator blues I blieve I walk out the do', With these mod-points I been gettin', I 'most never post no mo'
    8. Re:It figures! by daremonai · · Score: 1

      It's just an opportunistic advertising plan devised to manipulate people's feelings for commercial advantage.

      You can shorten that up a lot: It's ... advertising ...

    9. Re:It figures! by ifchairscouldtalk · · Score: 1

      Several Barilla's competitors expressed support for LGBT equality. Buitoni, an Italian food group owned by Nestle, was probably the first one to post a photo on their company Facebook page with the caption 'At Casa Buitoni, there is room for everyone.' Buitoni US division also posted a photo on their facebook page as explained on http://www.inquisitr.com/970331/barilla-pasta-boycott-addressed-by-competitors-buitoni-bertolli/

    10. Re:It figures! by algoa456 · · Score: 0

      Every day /. moves more and more away from the core of providing tech info and more and more into the world of lefty politics. What shite. (Please note I said shite and not shiite - soon some lefty techie wannabe will accuse me of being anti-Muslimes).

    11. Re:It figures! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      While I dislike such "politically correct" advertising, at least I know they won't take my money and use it against me.

    12. Re: It figures! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What are Muslimes?

    13. Re: It figures! by MrNemesis · · Score: 1

      They're the Muslims that British people cultivate for food so as not to get scurvy.

      --
      Moderation Total: -1 Troll, +3 Goat
    14. Re:It figures! by crabby0 · · Score: 1

      Yes he is certainly in hot water with the Board no doubt for espousing a personal opine.
      I am free to answer on his behalf though, some people do take offence at certain comments
      by their elders. That's mistake no.1, we are all Sinners no matter what we do until we
      become Spiritual. The path of life is strewn with many potholes and that's why the Lord
      said "honour your father and mother", because well you know why. We need guidance
      from the Bible, from our Parents, from the Spirit and from the Lord because it will not be
      easy to get to Heaven despite the ease of life now.

      We are all going to feel the effects of a worldwide financial crash within a decade from now and
      we will not escape it. Only the Lord's people will have the power to feed the 4 or 5 thousand as
      happened in the Bible. It is not going to be pretty at that time. Bands of Street Thugs going
      around burning houses to get inside and all the food. Then Christians will be the one's who
      learn humility and converting people to the Lord. Then the Lord shall return and the faithful
      one's will have eternal life as Spiritual Beings and the Unfaithful to somewhere else. You
      have been warned by a truth-telling Christian. P.S. Get plenty of cans of mixed veges +
      red kidney beans + baked beans + 4 bean mix. Also pans and a gas burner to cook them
      with. About 5,000 cans might be enough to last 7y. HTRH and HFTC All.

    15. Re: It figures! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He is...but not for that.

    16. Re: It figures! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's either a Freudian slip, or a glancing troll.

    17. Re:It figures! by Rakarra · · Score: 1

      if you're a CEO, your customers are your partners

      They are, just... not in a gay way.

    18. Re:It figures! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Someone mod this guy down to oblivion, please!

  3. FFS by geek · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The guy is entitled to his opinion and to run the company as he wishes. If you don't like it don't buy it. Enough with the stupid fucking boycotts that are nothing but attempts at silencing free speech.

    And wtf does a pasta makers stance on gays have to do with slashdot anyway? Can we stop pushing an agenda yet?

    1. Re:FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Choosing where I spend my money is violating someone else's free speech? What the fuck, dude?!?

    2. Re: FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      If he is allowed to run he company as he wishes, he should be prepared to deal with the backlash when spouting out such homophobic responses. If you are the chairman of a company you must keep in mind your public image because you are not just representing yourself when you speak out like this. Especially, if you are talking about your companies products.

    3. Re:FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      And wtf does a pasta makers stance on gays have to do with slashdot anyway? Can we stop pushing an agenda yet?

      It's the new Slashdot. It came out of the closet. You saw the post on Martha Stewart, no?

    4. Re:FFS by gl4ss · · Score: 4, Insightful

      so you agree with if you don't like it don't buy it but disagree with boycotts? what the fuck?

      though I'm more worried why the fuck someone is even listening what the fuck some pasta maker guy says. all their adverts are basically the same anyways, some family making food or just macro shots of spaghetti. if they changed to a gay couple fencing with spaghettis.. it might be brilliant marketing.

      but also why the fuck is this on slashdot...

      --
      world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
    5. Re:FFS by Mr.+Slippery · · Score: 5, Insightful

      If you don't like it don't buy it. Enough with the stupid fucking boycotts that are nothing but attempts at silencing free speech.

      You're not making any sense. A boycott is nothing but a large group of people saying "we don't like it, so we're not buying it." Boycotts (and buycotts) are an exercise in free speech and free markets. It is antiboycott laws (such as the blatantly unconstitutional one the U.S. has to squash criticism of Israel) that are attempts at silencing free speech.

      --
      Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | my blog
      You cannot wash away blood with blood
    6. Re:FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If it was up to me we would boycott all of Italy over this!

    7. Re:FFS by sandytaru · · Score: 4, Insightful

      He's entitled to his personal opinion. But a CEO is a very public position, and they're being paid to represent not just themselves, but also their company. For as much money as those guys make, you'd think they'd learn to separate their private opinions from their public company representation. The correct way to position this would have been: "I don't like gay people. Marketing hasn't come up with a good commercial to feature gay people, and maybe they never will. But they can still eat our pasta if they want."

      Shucks, if someone wanted to pay me five million dollars a year, I'd learn to keep my mouth shut.

      --
      Occasionally living proof of the Ballmer peak.
    8. Re:FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The story is about the power of social networks, not about a pasta maker's stance on gays.

    9. Re:FFS by bmo · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The guy is entitled to his opinion and to run the company as he wishes

      The instant you decide one person's money is less than another's, you've become bad at business.

      The converse of this is when you decide to give away too many freebies to your "friends" which is also bad business.

      I've personally seen businesses go under because of shit like this.

      He deserves this and your defense of this is idiotic.

      --
      BMO

    10. Re:FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      The people pushing the gay agenda are as rabid as any religious group. Be gay if you want. I'm all about personal freedom. Just stop trying to make the rest of the world gay, too. Tolerance != acceptance.

    11. Re:FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't agree with his opinion, but that's fine, because that's all it is, an opinion.

      People who attempt to silence this opinion (which does not affect them at all), are no different than the people who are actually trying to take away gay rights.

    12. Re:FFS by bmo · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Enough with the stupid fucking boycotts that are nothing but attempts at silencing free speech.

      Furthermore, free speech does not mean to be free from criticism.

      You are entirely free to say dumb things. Other people are free to say those things are dumb.

      --
      BMO

    13. Re:FFS by bmo · · Score: 1

      Guidos are a lot like the gays, except without the homosexuality.

      Coffee fucking everywhere.

      I'm using this.

      --
      BMO

    14. Re: FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

      How is disagreeing with someone a sign of fear (phobia)?

    15. Re: FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > Tolerance != acceptance

      That's kind of how everyone else feels about you.

    16. Re:FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      but also why the fuck is this on slashdot...

      I was wondering the same thing about you, fuck face.

    17. Re:FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you don't like it don't buy it.

      Yes... That WOULD be the point of a boycott....

    18. Re:FFS by Tom · · Score: 3, Insightful

      but also why the fuck is this on slashdot...

      Because it's on these new cool social networks that only geeks know about and ... uh, what? It's not 2005 anymore? Really?

      Ok, I have no idea. Slow news day? Some editor found it funny? Misclick? Cat video scared the editors in hitting "accept" on three random submissions? Wrong moon phase?

      --
      Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
    19. Re:FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I exercise my freedom of expression in part by boycotting asshats. What does the GP have against my freedoms?

    20. Re: FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Straight people do all those things too.

    21. Re:FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes, the point is to get him to recant, through free speech and market mechanisms. That's how companies and businesses get punished for behavior people disagree with. Activists are truthful about why people should boycott, and individuals then make free choices.

      Christians, parents, gun owners, environmentalists, and others all do the same thing. But when gays do it, somehow free speech becomes the "gay mafia"?

    22. Re:FFS by Arancaytar · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Enough with the stupid fucking boycotts that are nothing but attempts at silencing free speech.

      Boycotts are free speech, genius.

    23. Re:FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Certainly it's not respecting that right. I think if your employer stopped paying you because you promoted homosexuality you'd be lisping a different tune.

    24. Re: FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nobody is obliged to buy his pasta. Unlike your boss, who must pay you for your work, done for him.

    25. Re:FFS by wjcofkc · · Score: 5, Insightful

      but also why the fuck is this on slashdot...

      Because an equal amount of the nerd community relative to the rest of society is gay. That makes this news that matters to many nerds. But truly that is not quite enough to justify this being on slashdot. This is also an example of technology pushing social change further than it has ever been able to go by itself. So we have: 1. nerds 2. news that matters very much to many nerds 3. a news story that matters to a lot of nerds that is firmly based in technology as an example of how it is rapidly reshaping society.

      That's why it's on slashdot, it fits the bill.

      --
      Brought to you by Carl's Junior.
    26. Re:FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      And instead of calling it pasta, we're now going to call it Freedom Noodles.

    27. Re:FFS by Jiro · · Score: 1

      The antiboycott law is aimed at the boycott of Israel by the Arab League. The Arab League is composed of governments, whi can apply governmental pressure, either by deciding how to use taxpayer-collected money, or directly by not allowing companies to operate within their borders. Companies boycotting Israel as part of this are not exercising in actions of free speech, but of governmentally-coerced speech, and this can only be stopped by government coercion in the opposite direction.

    28. Re: FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "... lisping"?

      Are you in 4th grade?

    29. Re:FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The guy is entitled to his opinion and to run the company as he wishes. If you don't like it don't buy it. Enough with the stupid fucking boycotts that are nothing but attempts at silencing free speech.

      And wtf does a pasta makers stance on gays have to do with slashdot anyway? Can we stop pushing an agenda yet?

      Here is a prime reason why I hate the Slashdot moderation system. This was modded as Flamebait even though it is very germaine to the topic under discussion.

      Captcha: liberty

    30. Re:FFS by PRMan · · Score: 1

      That is almost exactly what he said. If people agree with him, they should buy MORE Barilla pasta sauce.

      --
      Peter predicted that you would "deliberately forget" creation 2000 years ago...
    31. Re:FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Funny, 'cuz from what I hear, Chick Fil-A's business got a nice little bump... but is now down from where it was before those remarks, and is staying down.

    32. Re:FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We need to organize an 'Occupy Slashdot' protest for you to get your account back. How is it that you get locked out and the spammers get a free pass? Spamming and shilling is many times more offensive than anything you ever posted.

      C'mon Slashdotters! Let's help this guy out! Attica! Attica! Attica!

    33. Re: FFS by aardvarkjoe · · Score: 1

      How is disagreeing with someone a sign of fear (phobia)?

      Because a phobia is a mental disorder, and people like to take the easy way out of an argument by claiming that their opponent is wrong because "their brain is broken." It's easier than rational debate.

      --

      How can we continue to believe in a just universe and freedom to eat crackers if we have no ale?
    34. Re:FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This was modded as Flamebait even though it is very germaine to the topic under discussion.

      And that's why I modded it "Flamebait" instead of "Troll."

    35. Re: FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He coding an extension to Emacs.

    36. Re:FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Companies boycotting Israel as part of this are not exercising in actions of free speech, but of governmentally-coerced speech, and this can only be stopped by government coercion in the opposite direction.

      Does that mean that people who refuse to vote Republicrat are 'governmentally-coerced' and thus should be forced to vote Demican?

    37. Re: FFS by mrchaotica · · Score: 1

      It's not, but "homophobia" gets used even when it's inaccurate because there's no word for "gay hater" in common use. (It's hard to construct one too: "mishomony," maybe?)

      --

      "[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz

    38. Re:FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It wasn't about being offensive. It was about pointing out the ugly truth that made the reddit crowd uncomfortable.

    39. Re:FFS by Zero__Kelvin · · Score: 1

      "so you agree with if you don't like it don't buy it but disagree with boycotts? what the fuck?"

      There is a difference that you have missed. With a boycott you don't just "not buy it", but also try to convince others to refrain from purchasing their products as well. It isn't a major difference, but there is a difference.

      --
      Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
    40. Re:FFS by phantomfive · · Score: 3, Insightful

      This is also an example of technology pushing social change further than it has ever been able to go by itself.

      Ineffective boycotts are farther than technology has ever gone? No, we've had ineffective boycotts long before then. Remember when Chic-fil-a closed because of the boycott? Neither do I.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    41. Re:FFS by Zero__Kelvin · · Score: 3, Funny

      I know I'm not considering purchasing Italy any more, that's for sure!

      --
      Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
    42. Re:FFS by fustakrakich · · Score: 1

      Enough with the stupid fucking boycotts that are nothing but attempts at silencing free speech.

      Really!

      --
      “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
    43. Re:FFS by ATMAvatar · · Score: 1

      The guy is entitled to his opinion and to run the company as he wishes. If you don't like it don't buy it. Enough with the stupid fucking boycotts...

      Boycott - this word, I do not think it means what you think it means.

      --
      "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
    44. Re:FFS by PolygamousRanchKid+ · · Score: 1

      In fact, Guidos are a lot like the gays, except without the homosexuality.

      Guido Barilla, meet Guido Westerwelle, outgoing Foreign Minister of Germany: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guido_Westerwelle

      He's openly gay, but no one makes a big deal out of it.

      --
      Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
    45. Re:FFS by wjcofkc · · Score: 1

      But do you remember the social stir and dialog that resulted from it? Much of it was constructive. Apparently you do.

      --
      Brought to you by Carl's Junior.
    46. Re:FFS by Bite+The+Pillow · · Score: 1

      Your suggestion on positioning is pretty much what he said, with one point below that you apparently didn't read.

      He voiced his opinion in an interview. And he sounds very much like the traditional mainstream. I don't know what kind of audience La Zanzara has, or that station in general, or for that matter what Italy thinks of the gays. But the "on the fence" attitude that you suggest is mainstream these days.

      Standard response for the traditional-values crowd, really.

      "I would never make a spot with a homosexual family," Guido Barilla said on the Italy radio program La Zanzara (The Mosquito), according to Italian news agency ANSA. "Not out of a lack of respect but because I do not see it like they do. (My idea of) family is a classic family where the woman has a fundamental role."

      Hell, thats almost exactly what you said, right?

      ANSA reported that when the show's hosts noted that gays and lesbians eat pasta, Barilla responded, "That's fine if they like our pasta and our communication, they can eat them. Otherwise, they can eat another pasta."

      Yup, right on message.

      Barilla, who with his brothers Luca and Paolo represent the fourth generation running the family-owned firm founded in 1877, also said, "I respect everyone who does what they want to do without bothering others," ANSA reported. He said he supported gay marriage "but not adoption in gay families."

      I think the following is where he got into trouble. This is not the "I don't like gay people" slant you took, this is "gay people can't be normal families", which the gay community has taken offense at repeatedly. This is where he should have known better.

      "As a father of multiple children, I believe it's very hard to raise kids in a same-sex couple," Barilla said, according to ANSA

      You can't say "I have no opinion on gay people". You can't say "Sure, we love the gays" because that alienates a lot of people. You can't say "We hate the gays" because that alienates the rest of the people. This was almost the required answer, except for the last bit. Keeping your mouth shut is not an option, you have to pretend to be on both sides of the fence.

    47. Re: FFS by Poorcku · · Score: 2, Insightful

      It is one of the most obscene and vulgar uses of a non-scientific term. Not only it isn't a valid scientific construct (Homophobia is not listed in any version of DSM and/or ICD) but it masquerades as one (since it has the suffix -phobia) which makes it even more dangerous. It implies a disorder when there is none making your "opponent" defending his ideas from an untenable position. The one who came up with this idea is a genius and should go to hell.

      --
      I take my children to see Madonna(..), but I never for once ever thought I was in the same business.Chris Rea.
    48. Re:FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Because if Slashdot doesn't run pro-gay stories, they'll be labeled as anti-gay.
      Because ad agencies are run by people who demand pro-gay content before they'll place their clients' ads on a site.
      Because the news business has collectively decided that anything gay-related that happens is big news.

      Because shut up. We're riding this victimization thing at full speed, for profit and power over other people. So shut up.

    49. Re:FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      recant, through free speech and market mechanisms

      You missed the point. Economics has nothing to do with it. This is about personal demonization, personal public shaming and subsequent public debasement, the same sort of thing that goes on in totalitarian regimes, esp. Marxist regimes.

      Christians, parents, gun owners, environmentalists, and others all do the same thing.

      True, they all have organized boycotts. The only economically successful one has been the boycott by 2nd amendment supporters (not gun owners per se) of Smith&Wesson in reaction to the deal that S&W cut with the Clinton administration in which S&W would be made the exclusive supplier of firearms to civilian federal govt. organizations in exchange for S&W's support of new gun control measures and S&W's parroting of gun controller's talking points.

      The difference between the boycotts by gays and by the other groups that you have mentioned is that when gays target an individual or a corporation, they have most of the western media (including most of the western state-run media), the entertainment industry, some politicians, and political pundits of many stripes joining with gay activists in personally denouncing the individuals involved, using derogatory words like "homophobe", "neanderthal", "hater", "bigot", "extremist", "intolerant", etc. Most other groups don't have the same avalanche of support when they try to organize boycotts and some groups, such as the supporters of traditional values, to the extent that they receive any public attention, are targeted by the same entities that support gay activists when they boycott something. It is important to note that the media, entertainment industry, pundits, etc. aren't representative of the public, but represent a small number of decision makers who are translating their own values into either support or condemnation. This distorted support isn't always successful in getting a particular individual or corporation to capitulate, but it does suppress the expression of ideas and opinions which are heretical to those held by the powerful.

      This behavior by the powerful obviously doesn't bother you since it supports your political preferences atm, but the political winds do change. It may be that a backlash will take place in which you end up on the losing side. Think about that along with recent revelations about the NSA and the IRS and consider the proliferation of SWAT teams, the attempt to create a unified national command structure for those SWAT teams and the control of access to healthcare that Obamacare gives to the federal govt. We are witnessing the creation of many of the elements of a police state that savagely punishes dissent. Public shaming of individuals today may well translate into imprisonment tomorrow. Try to look past the narrow confines of gay politics.

      when gays do it, somehow free speech becomes the "gay mafia"?

      There is a network of professional political activists, PR agents and an army of lawyers and sympathetic judges which promote the gay agenda through media, political and legal manipulation that have allowed the gay agenda to be forced into the education system and onto society at large. The tactics used by gays to get their way certainly involves a "win by any means necessary" mentality that involves a lot of nasty and dishonest stuff. Other groups don't have the same mindset.

    50. Re:FFS by evilviper · · Score: 1

      This is also an example of technology pushing social change further than it has ever been able to go by itself.

      We've had fire and the wheel for a few years now... We can stop putting every news story under the umbrella of: "Technology was involved, somehow".

      And if /. is the supposed hall of reverence for all things technology, why isn't every story mentioning homosexuality, followed up with links to current scientific research as they narrow in on biological causes, and develop therapies that can prevent or reverse the condition?

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biology_and_sexual_orientation

      Or is that bit of technology too politically incorrect to mention?

      --
      Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
    51. Re: FFS by Samantha+Wright · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The -phobia suffix has been used to demarcate prejudices since long, long before the DSM was even conceived of. "Gallophobia" (fear/hate of the Gallic people, i.e. the French) dates back to 1840 at the latest. You are mistaken to presume it necessarily implies a disorder, or any sort of academic authority.

      --
      Bio questions? Ask me to start a Q&A journal. Computer analogies available for most topics!
    52. Re:FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It is antiboycott laws (such as the blatantly unconstitutional one the U.S. has to squash criticism of Israel) that are attempts at silencing free speech.

      The only "boycotts" US businesses are prevented from participating in by the law you cite are those that are compelled by a foreign power (e.g. if Saudi Arabia says "You can sell to us or you can sell to Israel, but not both," the law compels you to deal with Israel rather than Saudi Arabia). Personal and private decisions that are simply coincidental (e.g. you happen to have your own personal objections to Israel) are still perfectly legal.

    53. Re:FFS by Kohath · · Score: 1

      Only when you're deciding to not hire someone.
      Or when you're deciding not to photograph someone's wedding.
      Or when you're deciding not to buy overpriced health insurance.

      Then it's not your money or your labor and you'll be forced to pay and/or work against your will.

    54. Re: FFS by I'm+New+Around+Here · · Score: 1

      He's saying "What if your boss told you to stop working for him, because you promoted homosexuality?"

      Does your gay gene make you stupid? Or are you just from a family of idiots?

      --
      If you think I voted for Trump because of this post, you're wrong. I voted for Dr. Jill Stein of the Green Party. Again.
    55. Re:FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That law is not to "squash criticism of Israel" it is to prevent companies from boycotting Israel just for being Israel. This also protects U.S. companies that do business with Arab countries and Israel- if the Arab country tries to get the company to boycott Israel to continue doing business with them, the company can point to this law and refuse to comply.

    56. Re:FFS by bsolar · · Score: 1

      He voiced his personal opinion but also stated very clearly that it's also the position of the company:

      We have a different idea in respect of gay families. To us the idea of sacral family remains a fundamental value of the company.

      Original text from La Zanzara:

      Noi abbiamo un concetto differente rispetto alla famiglia gay. Per noi il concetto di famiglia sacrale rimane un valore fondamentale dell'azienda.

    57. Re: FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We just balance it with the antonym, homomania - seems apt for the disorder.

    58. Re:FFS by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 1

      Ineffective boycotts are farther than technology has ever gone?

      The mere threat of a boycott caused the CEO to publicly apologize. How was that "ineffective"?

      Remember when Chic-fil-a closed because of the boycott? Neither do I.

      Chic-fil-a did not close, but they got a lot of negative publicity, and now other restaurant chains will be reluctant to take sides on divisive social issues. When I drive past a Chic-fil-a, I have a mental image of two ugly guys having sex, and I lose my appetite.

    59. Re: FFS by MouseTheLuckyDog · · Score: 1

      Since when can you write emacs extensions in lisp? [1]

      [1] Yes. Yes. I have written many emacs extensions and fully aware that they are generally written in a language called elisp, which kinda sorta not really mimics lisp. So please get a clue before you try to explain to me.

    60. Re:FFS by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      When I drive past a Chic-fil-a, I have a mental image of two ugly guys having sex, and I lose my appetite.

      You didn't lose your appetite just at seeing a Chic-fil-a?

      now other restaurant chains will be reluctant to take sides on divisive social issues.

      I see that as a negative.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    61. Re: FFS by Mr.+Slippery · · Score: 1

      How is disagreeing with someone a sign of fear (phobia)?

      Disagreement is taking an opposing intellectual position. Homophobia, like other forms of bigotry, is not an intellectual position.

      It is not necessarily a fear -- it is often misleading to attempt to figure out the meaning of a word by looking at its to etymology.

      --
      Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | my blog
      You cannot wash away blood with blood
    62. Re:FFS by artor3 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      What constructive dialog are you talking about?

      Some liberals were pissed that the owner was a homophobe. Some conservatives rallied to support the homophobe just to spite the liberals. Some asshole mayor tried to ban Chik-fil-a from his town. And then nothing happened.

      The only thing to come out of it was that Americans were left hating their neighbors slightly more than they did before.

    63. Re:FFS by wjcofkc · · Score: 1

      Your response to my response to his response really makes no sense. I was answering a very specific part of his question.

      I never said anything about boycotts. Moreover it's the technology fueled dialog these situations create. Such as this.

      --
      Brought to you by Carl's Junior.
    64. Re:FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Heh, heh. Yeah I remember how incredibly constructive that was. A bunch of people essentially saying,

      "You suck!"

      "No YOU suck!"

      and then trying to piss each other off with long lines / public displays of affection in the parking lot. All in all, as I recall, it was a lot like a grade school playground fight, just with adults and chicken sandwiches...

      The only thing these social media "boycotts" prove is A) Modern CEOs are quick to shoot off their mouth and slow to show any spine (Can all the gay pasta lovers in the world dip sales 0.1% or 0.2? Now we'll never know.) and B) It's amazingly easy to provoke social media users to "vehemence".

    65. Re:FFS by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      Your point rested on the idea of "technology pushing social change further than it has ever been able to go by itself."

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    66. Re: FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Because agreeing with homosexuality might cause others to call them gay. And that's what they're really afraid of.

    67. Re: FFS by Poorcku · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Usually these kinds of "phobias" are described as fear, prejudice, hatred, discrimination, or hostility towards the object of the "phobia".

      But our Barilla guy did not any show any of these: disapproval was all it took to get labeled. I call shenanigans. And as a psychologist I am terribly upset by the lack of harsh positioning on the APA's side. While they disapprove of liberal use of clinical terminology they do not do anything more.

      --
      I take my children to see Madonna(..), but I never for once ever thought I was in the same business.Chris Rea.
    68. Re:FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Exactly. So...if homosexuals make up 10% of the population (by their own estimates) or maybe more like 3-5% by others, and if traditional, religious types make up 25-30%, 50-60% don't give a crap one way or the other, why would you make a commercial with a homosexual couple? Purely from a business standpoint.

    69. Re:FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I agree.
      He should have never apologized to anyone.
      Rush Limbaugh apologized a couple of times.
      He lost respect.

    70. Re: FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The fact that someone is heterosexual means they are not gay and they do not agree with the lifestyle of being with another person the same sex as them. They do not have to say it out loud. Now.. they may not go out of their way to offend others, they may not care that other people are gay but their feelings are still the same.

      I don't really care to spend my life or have a one on one relationship with another guy, old people, goths, really young people, a movie star or a politician, drug addicts, people with no goals in life, people that do not speak my language very well, people from a cultute that varies widely from mine (a redneck, African, Russian) etc.. Statistically you will find most people are exactly like me, that is why there are not nearly as many marriages or unions of old and young compared to people closer in age, mixed race compared to same race, a small hick down girl with a pickup and a person from NYC, compared to people doing roughly from the same areas, a high school drop out and a person with a doctorate.

      There are many exceptions but they are far from the AVERAGE. Everyone hides behind these and does not talk about them because they are afraid to offend anyone but the true feelings are still there.

      Bottom line don't give a shit about what other people think. If some dude hates gays, big deal, move on with your life and ignore them. There are millions of others like them regardless if they speak out or not. They still think that way.
       

    71. Re: FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      If he is allowed to run he company as he wishes, he should be prepared to deal with the backlash when spouting out such homophobic responses. If you are the chairman of a company you must keep in mind your public image because you are not just representing yourself when you speak out like this. Especially, if you are talking about your companies products.

      He is NOT homophobic is he decides for whatever reason (religion i suspect) that he doesn't want his company to promote a lifestyle he doesn't agree with. He didn't say gay people could not buy his pasta or that gay people should be put in pasta free concentration camps. He didn't even tell gay people to not be gay. He just said he didn't want gay people advertising his product. His company, his right to do that. He did not take away anyone's freedom. As if who you have sex with is some kind of protected civil liberty.

    72. Re:FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I notice Chicka-fillet parking lot was full when I drove by a bit ago.
      I will stand by a persons right to have free speech.
      I have some unpopular beliefs, I do some eccentric things.
      I don't have to agree with someone to live in harmony with them.
      But I don't want to see manlove expressed publicly.
      If manlove is expressed publicly, we will see a rise in anti-gay expressed publicly,followed by a rise in anti-semitism followed by a rise in anti-white sentiment, followed by a rise in anti black speech, followed by a rise in pro-hispanic speech, followed by the Democratic campaign clatter, boosted by pro-Apple activists sidelining as Greenpeace stoolies protesting fur. Soon everybody is fighting over their sundry team beliefs and there is no peace; all because someone has to flaunt that they like to poke their buddys, hairy, crusty butthole.
      I don't care if they do, I don't want to bear the social burden of hearing about it or dealing with the fallout.
      Stay in the closet sister-boy, it's your patriotic duty.

    73. Re:FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Only when you're deciding to not hire someone.
      Or when you're deciding not to photograph someone's wedding.
      Or when you're deciding not to buy overpriced health insurance.

      Then it's not your money or your labor and you'll be forced to pay and/or work against your will.

      Actually, only your first example is valid. If you are a photographer, you cannot be forced or coerced to take photographs of somebody's wedding. That is your choice (the same would not be true, if you were a doctor, though). Purchasing health insurance is also a personal decision and who you decide to purchase it from does not violate anybody else's rights.

      OTOH, if you are a photographer, and other people disagree with your decision on which weddings you chose to photograph or not, they are free to choose other photographers and there isn't anything you can do about that, either, as it is their right to do so.

    74. Re:FFS by JeanInMontana · · Score: 1

      The guy is entitled to his opinion and to run the company as he wishes. If you don't like it don't buy it. Enough with the stupid fucking boycotts that are nothing but attempts at silencing free speech.

      And wtf does a pasta makers stance on gays have to do with slashdot anyway? Can we stop pushing an agenda yet?

      What agenda would that be? Human rights? Equal rights? The right to not support a bigot? News is news and that is all about Slashdot. Seems you are a bit phobic.

      --
      *Think globally~Dream universally*
    75. Re:FFS by AlphaWolf_HK · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The thing with this is there's a difference between a boycott, and then threatening them, their customers, sponsors, partners, etc with physical violence. All too often the later is what ends up happening. That cupcake business for example didn't stop because they had no customers, they had to stop because they were in fear for their lives. That is where the freedom of speech comes in.

      Somebody cracking a gay joke or not wanting to put a gay themed ad out doesn't deserve that kind of thing. Even if you don't agree, the first amendment does.

      --
      Careful with names containing L slashdot.org/~AiphaWolf_HK slashdot.org/~AlphaWoif_HK slashdot.org/~AiphaWoif_HK
    76. Re: FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Technically, he didn't spout a homophobic response. His original response was to the question of whether or not they would target gays in commercials by showing gay couples to which he responded no. He further responded if gays liked his pasta they would buy it, if not they would buy somebody elses. He didn't see the need to treat gays as a separate demographic when dealing with pasta (do gays really have different pasta needs then non-gays?) It is the media that has turned this around into an anti-gay thing.

    77. Re:FFS by Zirbert · · Score: 3, Insightful

      If you are a photographer, you cannot be forced or coerced to take photographs of somebody's wedding. That is your choice (the same would not be true, if you were a doctor, though). Purchasing health insurance is also a personal decision and who you decide to purchase it from does not violate anybody else's rights.

      OTOH, if you are a photographer, and other people disagree with your decision on which weddings you chose to photograph or not, they are free to choose other photographers and there isn't anything you can do about that, either, as it is their right to do so.

      Ahh, if only that were true:

      http://www.businessinsider.com/new-mexico-court-ruling-on-gay-weddings-2013-8

      SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A commercial photography business owned by opponents of same-sex marriage violated New Mexico's anti-discrimination law by refusing to take pictures of a gay couple's commitment ceremony, the state's highest court ruled Thursday....Justice Richard Bosson wrote that the business owners "have to channel their conduct, not their beliefs, so as to leave space for other Americans who believe something different."

    78. Re:FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      but also why the fuck is this on slashdot...

      Because an equal amount of the nerd community relative to the rest of society is gay. That makes this news that matters to many nerds. But truly that is not quite enough to justify this being on slashdot. This is also an example of technology pushing social change further than it has ever been able to go by itself. So we have: 1. nerds 2. news that matters very much to many nerds 3. a news story that matters to a lot of nerds that is firmly based in technology as an example of how it is rapidly reshaping society.

      That's why it's on slashdot, it fits the bill.

      Fair enough, but his actual comment was about not treating gays differently than non-gays, thus not having special advertising for them. So, why isn't slashdot discussing how the media twisted this into an anti-gay thing instead of a guy simply saying that he didn't see the need to market his pasta differently to gays than non-gays because both buy and eat past for the same reason?

    79. Re: FFS by ShieldW0lf · · Score: 2, Insightful

      How is disagreeing with someone a sign of fear (phobia)?

      Disagreement is taking an opposing intellectual position. Homophobia, like other forms of bigotry, is not an intellectual position.

      It is not necessarily a fear -- it is often misleading to attempt to figure out the meaning of a word by looking at its to etymology.

      Homosexuals reject procreation. That's not an intellectual position to take. People have both a civic and moral duty to procreate. A culture based around sustaining enough population to maintain itself through immigration is a) parasitic, b) evil and c) fundamentally self destructive.

      The social contract where you get to relax and let the young people take care of things when you're old and tired relies on everyone paying into the system. Not with money. With babies. Nothing else will do, there's nothing else you can create that will fill the gap left behind if you don't make those babies.

      If you don't pay in, but you take out, you're a thief. It really doesn't matter if you like babies or not, or if you like members of the opposite sex or not. People don't like going to work, but they do it because it's necessary for it to be done.

      People like to act as though this was an issue of prejudice, but it isn't.

      Believing that gay people are weak and unfit to do hard work is prejudicial, and thus, irrational. Some gay people are very strong, and you won't know until you investigate.

      Believing that gay people don't hold up their part of the social contract that makes it possible for us to survive when we grow old, however, is NOT prejudicial. When they tell you they're gay, you don't need to investigate further. You know they're not doing it.

      Opposing the normalization of homosexuality is a rational act.

      Promoting it to young people in an effort to sway them to embrace it has the same effect as attempting to persuade them to take drugs that will sterilize them. It's an attempt to do them harm.

      You know what else is irrational?

      Idealism carried too far.

      --
      -1 Uncomfortable Truth
    80. Re:FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You are entirely free to say dumb things.

      You mean like you writing your username under all your posts, when it's already clearly shown above them along with your UID?

      Yep, that IS pretty retarded.

    81. Re: FFS by jeffmflanagan · · Score: 1

      You're obviously an awful person, with the typical paranoid delusions and hatred of civilization that goes with being a wingnut, but at least you didn't post AC like the deranged bigots usually do.

      You really should get yourself some professional help. Living with a head full of bigotry and delusions hurts you much more than the people you inflict yourself upon.

    82. Re:FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Absolutely zero states have changed their policy based off of those events, right? There is nowhere since then that has started allowing gay marriage? Because that is the argument you are making. Which is outright false. Several states since then have allowed for gay marriage, and it's a social movement that is gaining more and more power.

    83. Re:FFS by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 1

      It is antiboycott laws (such as the blatantly unconstitutional one the U.S. has to squash criticism of Israel [doc.gov]) that are attempts at silencing free speech.

      I am willing to bet you are furious over the recent Supreme Court decision stating corporations, as Congressionally-defined groups of people, still have freedom of speech and may donate to politics.

      If I am wrong, I am sorry. You would therefore agree that banding together doesn't limit your rights to speech, and that being "economic" in nature doesn't mean it's a secondary right.

      --
      (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
    84. Re:FFS by dj245 · · Score: 1

      This is also an example of technology pushing social change further than it has ever been able to go by itself.

      Ineffective boycotts are farther than technology has ever gone? No, we've had ineffective boycotts long before then. Remember when Chic-fil-a closed because of the boycott? Neither do I.

      There is a small difference here. Chic-fil-a is pretty darn delicious for a fast-food restaurant. Their chicken is properly chicken, and not some ridiculous processed patty like the major fast-food chains have. I disagree with the owners completely, but the product is so good I won't stop eating there. We don't have them in the northeast US, generally, so I eat there when I can. In other words, there are many reasons to eat there, and only a minor reason to not eat there.

      However, there are dozens of makers of pasta sauces and pasta. The products are all pretty much the same on a quality per $ basis. I have no good reason to choose this company over any other pasta company, and so the 1 tiny reason not to buy their product drives my decision.

      --
      Even those who arrange and design shrubberies are under considerable economic stress at this period in history.
    85. Re:FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A boycott is nothing but a large group of people saying "we don't like it, so we're not buying it."

      But they're not saying that. They're saying "we don't like the chairman's opinions, so we're not buying his company's products". It has nothing to do with not liking the actual pasta.

    86. Re:FFS by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      Had you ever heard of this pasta brand before?

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    87. Re:FFS by porges · · Score: 1

      Which "cupcake business" is that? I found a couple of possible instances but both businesses are still there.

    88. Re:FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I believe that case is heading to the federal appellate court and is expected to be overturned. But, for the time being in New Mexico, evidently you can force a photographer to take pictures at your wedding. Then again, I would imagine you wouldn't get their best work.

    89. Re:FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Gay activists got their head handed to them over Chik-Fil-A. Later, Chik-Fil-A's business takes a slight downturn because of the continuing overall economic malaise (thanks, Obama!) and the media spins the downturn as due to the previous dust up. Get a clue. Gay activists proved to the country just how little actual support they have from the citizenry by trying to trash Chik-Fil-A. Gay activists are paper tigers.

    90. Re: FFS by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      Homophobic is actually a pretty good description of the problem - an irrational fear of homosexuality. Normal people tend not to talk in medical terms, words can have more than one meaning, meanings change over time, etc. etc.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    91. Re:FFS by seebs · · Score: 1

      The first amendment doesn't, really. All the first amendment covers is Congress making laws. That said, the principle of free speech says that they should not be threatened with violence. ... That said, I am pretty suspicious that there's a lot more people saying they were threatened than are actually threatened, because I've never in my life met one of these people who threatens people with violence, and I've met lots of people who said completely different things, then got accused of threatening people with violence. Because there's a lot of people who are pretty clear on the fact that they can say they got threatened and their core demographic will accept it as a given because of course the mean old liberals are actually violently oppressive.

      --
      My blog: http://www.seebs.net/log/ --- My iPhone/iPad app: http://www.seebs.net/seebsfrac/
    92. Re: FFS by seebs · · Score: 1

      Not all phobia is "fear" in the straightforward way. No one worries that spraying materials with scotchguard makes them "afraid" of water.

      Secondly... While many anti-gays aren't really exhibiting phobic behavior, some are. Go browse Not Always Right for a while, and look at some of the people who start freaking out and screaming because a store has a gay clerk. That's reasonably categorized as phobia-like.

      --
      My blog: http://www.seebs.net/log/ --- My iPhone/iPad app: http://www.seebs.net/seebsfrac/
    93. Re: FFS by Pseudonym+Authority · · Score: 1

      Scheme is also Lisp, even though it isn't called Lisp and is very different from Common Lisp. There is no standard Lisp, and if you mind your parentheses, you too can make your own Lisp dialect and it would be no more or less valid than any other Lisp, Emacs Lisp included.

    94. Re:FFS by seebs · · Score: 1

      Probably because they're not relevant to the story. We have technology right now to prevent male or female babies; that doesn't mean that this should be a prominent part of any story about sexism. ("And a reminder, the only reason women are getting treated this way is that people keep having girl babies, despite technology allowing us to detect them very early and abort them.")

      --
      My blog: http://www.seebs.net/log/ --- My iPhone/iPad app: http://www.seebs.net/seebsfrac/
    95. Re:FFS by dcollins · · Score: 1

      "if they changed to a gay couple fencing with spaghettis.. it might be brilliant marketing."

      Here you go... 2009 advertisement from their competitor Bertolli:

      http://youtu.be/IOQYv66CptE

      --
      We know where leadership by an anti-intellectual "strongman" who scapegoats minorities and likes boisterous rallies goes
    96. Re:FFS by Pseudonym+Authority · · Score: 1

      So Facebook dipshits boycotting spagetti and forcing a noodle maker to retract his statement is pushing social change more than, say, a Montgomery bus boycott might for civil rights did? Delusional. Go read a fucking history book and realize that this pathetic `action' will never be more than a footnote, at best, in it. This is not reshaping society any more than the invention of the wheel on the mouse did.

    97. Re: FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Er, there are enough people having enough kids to make up for the "lack of contribution" by same-sex couples, many of which foster and/or adopt and thus help raise them anyway.

      Dumb argument is dumb.

    98. Re:FFS by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 1

      now other restaurant chains will be reluctant to take sides on divisive social issues.

      I see that as a negative.

      Why? Individuals should engage in debate about issues. Why should restaurants? When I go out to eat, I should be able to choose the best food, without trying to remember their political orientation. Is it really a good thing to have "liberal" restaurants, "conservative" restaurants, "libertarian" restaurants, etc?

    99. Re: FFS by Sardaukar86 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Homosexuals reject procreation. That's not an intellectual position to take. People have both a civic and moral duty to procreate.

      If that is your genuine feeling then please allow me to offer a hearty "fuck you". Who the fucking hell are you to tell me I have a moral and civic duty to procreate?

      Given the shithole we're busily making out of our little planet Earth, I see it as my moral and civic duty to NOT procreate.

      --
      ..Mullah or Pope, Preacher or Poet, who was it wrote: "Give any one species too much rope and they'll fuck it up"?
    100. Re:FFS by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      Owners of restaurants should be able to say whatever they want. So should book writers. Attempts to stifle dissent by silencing it is a foolish idea.

      A wise man once said, "I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it." These boycotts run opposite that spirit.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    101. Re: FFS by Yosho · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Homosexuals reject procreation. That's not an intellectual position to take. People have both a civic and moral duty to procreate. A culture based around sustaining enough population to maintain itself through immigration is a) parasitic, b) evil and c) fundamentally self destructive.

      The social contract where you get to relax and let the young people take care of things when you're old and tired relies on everyone paying into the system. Not with money. With babies. Nothing else will do, there's nothing else you can create that will fill the gap left behind if you don't make those babies.

      Hahahah. Wow. Seriously, this is hilarious. I would think you're a troll, but you seem so level-headed about it, and you sound a lot like some Objectivists I've talked to.

      Homosexuals don't "reject procreation" at all. They are attracted to members of the same sex. That's it. They don't "reject procreation" any more than heterosexual couples that use birth control. Gay men and lesbian women are still perfectly fertile and capable of having children -- and sometimes they do! Sometimes they also like to adopt and care for orphaned children. I don't know if you've looked at an orphanage or adoption agency recently, but there is no shortage of children whose parents either could not or would not take care of them. Do you feel the same way about heterosexual couples who don't have more than two children? They're not doing their job to overpopulate the world!

      It seems like you think being homosexual is some kind of choice. There's no such thing as "promoting" it. People don't suddenly decide that being gay is cool and switch who they're attracted to. The only thing that not being prejudiced against gay people will do is make people who are already gay happier. The only consequence of people "embracing" their homosexuality is that they won't hate themselves because of people telling them they're evil.

      --
      Karma: Terrifying (mostly affected by atrocities you've committed)
    102. Re:FFS by Maudib · · Score: 1

      "The instant you decide one person's money is less than another's, you've become bad at business."

      Obviously false. Just consider the value of a trend setters purchase versus an average consumer. I'd far rather take the trend setters money.

    103. Re:FFS by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      Ummm, no. A boycott is more along the lines of "... but I'm not going to listen to it, and neither are my friends".

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    104. Re:FFS by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      Nothing wrong with peacefully trying to persuade them not to buy; think of it as anti-advertising. Trying to force them not to is an entirely different bucket of eggs.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    105. Re:FFS by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      If that's what you're doing, then that's fine. But that's not what happened here. The entire goal here is to use social pressure to suppress speech people don't like.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    106. Re:FFS by Zero__Kelvin · · Score: 1

      I never said there was anything wrong with it. I was merely explaining to the GP that they are not identical, and the GGP was not being contradictory.

      --
      Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
    107. Re: FFS by Velex · · Score: 1

      So, I take it you'll be finding me a mate? No, no, you idiot. I don't care that you probably had kids because you were a lemming trying to fit in and now you regret it. There are lots of other reasons to be "infertile" that aren't lgbtqfaomgwtfbbq. What about straight folks who choose not to reproduce? Where's the anger and moral outrage for them? You are nothing more than a bigot and a busybody. For the record, Barilla pasta is subpar and gets soggy instead cooking properly, so IT don't see why anyone would buy it anyway.

      --
      Join the Slashcott! Stay away entirely Feb 10 thru Feb 17! Close all tabs to prevent autorefresh!
    108. Re:FFS by OhPlz · · Score: 1

      Chic-fil-a did not close, but they got a lot of negative publicity, and now other restaurant chains will be reluctant to take sides on divisive social issues. When I drive past a Chic-fil-a, I have a mental image of two ugly guys having sex, and I lose my appetite.

      Actually, they had bad publicity for a short time, then ended up with long lines of customers who had never even eaten there before because they were pissed off by the reaction to the CEO's (or whatever his title is) opinion. Folks need to realize that attempting to bully or marginalize half the nation's population is not a path to "progress".

    109. Re:FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "If you don't like it, don't buy it" but "enough with the stupid fucking boycotts"? What do you think a boycott is, exactly?

    110. Re: FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I agree, the word "homophobia" shouldn't be used as it's insulting to people who suffer from real phobias.

      I think gay haters should be called what we've always called them: "assholes".

    111. Re:FFS by Lendrick · · Score: 1

      WAAAAHHHH! YOUR FREE CHOICE NOT TO BUY MY PRODUCT BASED ON MY BACKWARDS-ASS VIEWS IS MAKING ME SAD!!! STOP CENSORING MEEEEEE!!!!

      Hey fuckwad. People can say whatever the fuck they want. People can *buy* whatever the fuck they want. That applies to assholes, and it also apples to people who don't like assholes. Nobody is stopping your dumb ass from saying whatever the fuck you want, but free speech doesn't entitle you to respect or freedom from criticism. If you can't take the criticism, keep your fucking mouth shut.

      Oh by the way, go ahead and criticize what I'm saying. I can take it because I'm not a little fucking twat. Just remember that when you whine at me for speaking my mind that *you* would call that censorship.

    112. Re:FFS by Lendrick · · Score: 1

      So, let me get this straight:

      • * It's bad to force people to buy health insurance, but
      • * It's okay to force people to by some asshole's pasta?
    113. Re:FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So...if niggers make up 10% of the population (by their own estimates) or maybe more like 3-5% by others, and if KKK make up 25-30%, 50-60% don't give a crap one way or the other, why would you make a commercial with a nigger couple? Purely from a business standpoint.

    114. Re: FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's ShieldW0lf, he believes that producing offspring is the most important thing a member of society can do.

      If it sounds like this implies that homosexual men, men who are unable or unwilling to have children, and all women should be ineligible to participate in society (except to do heavy lifting and push out babies for him), you'd be absolutely right -- that's exactly what he thinks.

    115. Re:FFS by bmo · · Score: 1

      There is an OCD workshop at McLean Hospital.

      http://www.mclean.harvard.edu/

      I suggest you go.

      --
      BMO

    116. Re: FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In the same vein, why do you feel obligated to force your Christian viewpoints on the rest of the world?

      It's a personal decision to procreate. Just like it was your personal decision to become a Christian.

    117. Re: FFS by farble1670 · · Score: 1

      i'll bet if you asked the homophobes, they'd have a whole slew of arguments that are pretty darn rational to them.

    118. Re: FFS by farble1670 · · Score: 1

      People have both a civic and moral duty to procreate.

      you are right. the world is dangerously underpopulated.

      but seriously, you are right that our current economic system depends on young people supporting the old ... and we're in a cycle where we need more and more young people to support fewer old people. that's not sustainable either of course so let's not kid ourselves that if we keep having babies they'll all be able to take care of us when we are old.

      we are already seeing that break down. kids living at home for longer and longer because they can't make it on their own. living off their parents in stead of the other way around.

      Homosexuals reject procreation.

      i don't want to speak for all gays, but i'm pretty sure that's wrong. i've met plenty of gays that love kids and some that adopt other people's unwanted children.

    119. Re: FFS by raju1kabir · · Score: 1

      Same if you ask people who have almost any phobia. They've spent their entire lives constructing back-stories to support their reactions.

      --
      "Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it." -- GBS
    120. Re:FFS by raju1kabir · · Score: 2

      A wise man once said, "I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it." These boycotts run opposite that spirit.

      No they don't. They don't take away anyone's right to say anything.

      What they may do, however, is affect the consequences of saying things that upset people.

      And, critically, they make it possible for people with little or no voice to react in some way to high-profile speakers who have large audiences.

      That's an improvement in my book.

      Otherwise, under your system, the rich and powerful can say anything they want into their microphones, and everyone else has to just sit there and shut up and listen.

      --
      "Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it." -- GBS
    121. Re:FFS by raju1kabir · · Score: 1

      Had you ever heard of this pasta brand before?

      Has anyone not? Barilla is pretty much the only pasta brand with worldwide recognition.

      --
      "Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it." -- GBS
    122. Re: FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How is the last comment wooshing over everybody's head? He is not making an anti-gay statement.

    123. Re: FFS by Kjella · · Score: 1

      Hahahah. Wow. Seriously, this is hilarious. I would think you're a troll, but you seem so level-headed about it, and you sound a lot like some Objectivists I've talked to.

      If you think that's hilarious, you should read his posting history. He wants to "win" evolution, women should go back to being stay-at-home child breeders pumping out as many babies as they can and everyone else are worthless evolutionary dead ends. I think this one tops my list:

      But, if every woman on Earth decided that they were going to just skip having children and focus on their careers, it would then become moral to rape them into pregnancy and force them to bear their children to term, and immoral to stand by and watch humanity become extinct because we don't have the stomach to do what needs to be done. That's a ridiculously extreme example that will never actually come to pass, of course, but it illustrates the way in which behaviors become moral or immoral depending on the situation.

      Of course, he's in a way right as evolution is a game of numbers. If he's busy producing as many offspring as possible while I life my life childless and without a care in the world, he'll win evolution but I'll settle for winning life. He's thinks everyone else is working for his offspring, but that's not how it works. He's working for the future of mankind (his idea of it anyway) but I'm working for nobody but myself. He talks of young to take care of the old, but I'll be paying his young to take care of my old. He's working for me, not the other way around and he doesn't even realize it.

      --
      Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
    124. Re:FFS by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      Heh, so you can say whatever you want, but you want people to have 'consequences' for saying things you don't like? I hate people like you.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    125. Re:FFS by raju1kabir · · Score: 2

      Social and/or business consequences, yes. Legal consequences, no, as I've already made clear.

      How would you envision a world in which there were no consequences for speaking?

      And what would be the point of opening your mouth in such a world?

      --
      "Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it." -- GBS
    126. Re:FFS by phantomfive · · Score: 2

      The purpose of the boycott is to use social pressure to get them to stop talking. If people say, "I won't listen to you anymore," that is one thing.

      If the goal is to get them to stop talking, and that is your goal, then once again, you are among the few people I hate.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    127. Re: FFS by Richy_T · · Score: 1

      Heck, I'm a fan of procreation but I'll join you in your sentiment. It's a personal choice.

    128. Re:FFS by raju1kabir · · Score: 1

      you are among the few people I hate.

      Because of this, I am going to stop talking.

      --
      "Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it." -- GBS
    129. Re:FFS by Richy_T · · Score: 1

      I haven't been impressed. It seems to be loaded up with sugar or something.

    130. Re: FFS by kwbauer · · Score: 1

      Then he would rely on the laws (in the US) that violate our right to assemble with like-minded individuals to punish said boss in this country that is obviously not yet regulated enough.

    131. Re:FFS by Oligonicella · · Score: 1

      I'm sorry, you must have missed the Proposition 8 encounter where gay advocates pushed and shoved an elderly woman, took her crucifix and spat on her.

      Yes, it at times ends in violence. All sides have their psychos.

    132. Re: FFS by Oligonicella · · Score: 1

      Indeed. And you will find people on the other side constructing equally absurd rationales, like people who disagree with a particular agenda are "phobes" instead of simply not being in disagreement. One could even label them heterophobes. Kinda interesting how labeling people works.

    133. Re:FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Gay couples have this power over photographers. Straight couples have no such privilege.

    134. Re:FFS by Oligonicella · · Score: 1

      A better reason is your misquoting him to misrepresent what he said. He gave a reason - "If the goal is to get them to stop talking, ..."

      If that is not your goal, he wasn't talking to you.

    135. Re:FFS by dmomo · · Score: 1

      " If you don't like it don't buy it. Enough with the stupid fucking boycotts..."

      Isn't not buying something boycotting it? Which are you for, and which are you against? I don't agree that you should have been modded as flamebait, but you really should tighten up your complaint.

    136. Re:FFS by k8to · · Score: 1

      Original poster claimed a trend, you think you countered with an anecdote.

      That's not a contradiction.

      Original poster might be wrong, but you've really provided nothing either way.

      --
      -josh
    137. Re: FFS by I'm+New+Around+Here · · Score: 1

      Exactly. You would use the laws to force someone to act a certain way, and to associate with people he would rather not associate with.

      --
      If you think I voted for Trump because of this post, you're wrong. I voted for Dr. Jill Stein of the Green Party. Again.
    138. Re:FFS by raju1kabir · · Score: 1

      How does that misrepresent what he said? He was using social pressure against someone with whom he disagreed. If he didn't care about my reaction, he would have kept it to himself.

      --
      "Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it." -- GBS
    139. Re: FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ugh, all you silly bitches go on non stop about evolution being true and then you can't even admit than an animals duty to its species is to procreate so that evolution can offer opportunity for selection to occur and a species to evolve.

      Stupid annoying little piss ants can't even get this shit straight.

      There is no god. You're a dim witted animal. Just shut the fuck up and breed so eventually you produce something worth while.

      Annoying.

    140. Re: FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Odds are relatively high you are not going to win life. Rather, you will likely age, die, and disappear without having any lasting impact. That is all right though - you will join the majority of the worlds population in that. And that is fitting.

      If you cross your fingers and hope hard enough, maybe somebody will do the heavy lifting to allow for good health and longevity so you can suck off the teat of greatness and continue on.

      I'll make sure to hold my breath for you on that.

    141. Re: FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sounds like someone takes it in the "assholes" a bit much there, amiright?

    142. Re: FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And based on your response, we can sincerely be glad you feel that way!

    143. Re: FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is at least a reasonable response (far from Sardaukar86's apparent nervous breakdown at the mere mention of an opposing viewpoint), but from personal experience I can confirm that at least some people's attractions are profoundly affected by environmental factors including not only past experiences (either positive or negative) but also _exposure_ to attitudes and individuals. To what degree that actually constitutes "choice" is debatable, but it is undeniable that it's NOT as simple as "I was born this way" any more than it's as simple as just picking a sexual orientation (or preferences for partners within a given orientation) on a whim.

    144. Re:FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm ashamed on your behalf. I expect better from someone with such a low uid and nice username.

      A boycott, initiated by people and performed by people, is also free speech you blithering moron.

      Just as person A is free to speak about a topic and express opinions about it, person B (and C and D and ...) are just as free to speak about what was just spoken and express their opinion about it, including proposing a boycott.

      It is you who are attempting to silence free speech, if anyone, here, and you apparently don't even understand it.

      You should be ashamed, but you appear to be incapable, so I'm apologizing to everyone else on your behalf.

      Please learn more about what free speech actually is and you might do better next time.

    145. Re: FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Homophobic is actually a pretty good description of the problem - an irrational fear of homosexuality. Normal people tend not to talk in medical terms, words can have more than one meaning, meanings change over time, etc. etc.

      Actually historically the term "homophobia" was used to describe the fear of other people. "Homo" as in "homo sapiens". Somewhat like social phobia I guess, or like xenophobia but not just against people outside your nation, against anybody who is not yourself.

    146. Re:FFS by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      The people objecting are not calling for violence or making threats, just a boycott and an apology. I'm sure if you look hard enough there are some morons on Twitter and Facebook who jumped on the bandwagon, perhaps specifically so they could make the people complaining look more extreme and trick people like you into thinking that is their position.

      It's the same in every argument. Animal rights. Pro-nuclear. Anti-nuclear. Pro-life. Pro-choice. Anti-war. Gay marriage. Rational arguments are not interesting so the media focuses on the extremes, and that makes it easy for trolls or those who want to undermine the main movement to make it seem violent and threatening.

      The first amendment allows him to say what he likes, but that doesn't mean people are not allowed to criticise it or boycott his company because of it.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    147. Re: FFS by AmiMoJo · · Score: 0

      Usually these kinds of "phobias" are described as fear, prejudice, hatred, discrimination, or hostility towards the object of the "phobia".

      But our Barilla guy did not any show any of these

      Let's see. Discrimination - he thinks gay people are less worthy to raise children and objects to them doing do. That seems to fit the definition of discrimination. Prejudice too, since he apparently thinks this applies to 5% of the entire population without having met them and evaluated their parenting skills.

      You could probably argue fear as well, since all the evidence suggests that he is wrong and bases his views on an irrational fear for the children of gay couples and the effect it might have on them. Definitely the first two though.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    148. Re:FFS by dunkelfalke · · Score: 1

      Well, it is a private company, so the CEO is not just a glorified clerk.

      --
      "It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
    149. Re: FFS by EuclideanSilence · · Score: 1

      How is not liking gay people a disagreement?

    150. Re:FFS by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      It's not suppression of anything, the speaker isn't being coerced or threatened in any way.

      It's to publicize a company doing something you don't like, so that people who also don't like it won't buy from them.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    151. Re: FFS by sergueyz · · Score: 1

      Short googling indicate that lesbians are less fertile than straight women.

      http://genesis-fertility.com/diagnostics-and-testing/same-sex-couples/ - approximately 1 in 6 lesbian women will have a fertility issue.

      http://www.abc.net.au/health/library/stories/2007/05/30/1919840.htm - one of six couple are infertile, 40% due to women infertility.

      Straight women are twice more fertile as lesbian women.

    152. Re: FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He is NOT homophobic is he decides for whatever reason (religion i suspect) that he doesn't want his company to promote a lifestyle he doesn't agree with.

      Given that the lifestyle he disagrees with is "two dudes living together", I'd say that's pretty much the definition of homophobia.

    153. Re:FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      he had no reason to apologize, he said nothing wrong. That is the problem

    154. Re: FFS by marcello_dl · · Score: 1

      Indeed, it's a pity that the OP f*cked up a rather interesting point: homosexuality is not an equivalent position to heterosexuality, because we can't all resort to it. If science comes to the rescue with an artificial way to procreate, I bet in short term society loses control over natural birth, in a "brave new world" fashion.

      It's an academic point, anyway. If some group of citizens wants to run a cafeteria, you can't tell them not to because "we can't all run cafeterias, we'd run out of clients". Yet nobody can't claim the services sector (cafeterias) is like agriculture.

      --
      ---- MISSING MISCELLANEOUS DATA SEGMENT --- [sigdash] trolololol
    155. Re: FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So should Barilla also have commercials with ugly alcoholists who cheat on their wives with hairy cross-dressing shit eaters? It is discriminating to think they cannot have a family or raise children!!!

    156. Re: FFS by GameboyRMH · · Score: 1

      I imagine such workplace discrimination would get the boss in similar trouble to what he would receive for firing someone who promoted homophobia.

      --
      "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
    157. Re:FFS by GameboyRMH · · Score: 1

      No it's a good thing that this happened. This fight has been fought before, and restaurants can't refuse to serve black people today because of it.

      --
      "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
    158. Re:FFS by GameboyRMH · · Score: 1

      Have you tried delving deep into the rumors circulating right-wing forums? Fictional bogeymen like to hide there when pursued.

      --
      "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
    159. Re: FFS by GameboyRMH · · Score: 1

      Homosexuals reject procreation? I'm pretty sure they're not all VHE supporters, none of those I know are. Many not only support the concept of procreation, but want to adopt children.

      There's far from a shortage of children in the world, never mind the means to have more.

      Do you have any problems with infertile heterosexual people, just out of curiosity? I assume you wouldn't like those who could procreate and choose not to. My cousin and his wife decided they never want to have kids - not their own or adopted.

      --
      "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
    160. Re: FFS by GameboyRMH · · Score: 1

      Indeed, it's a pity that the OP f*cked up a rather interesting point: homosexuality is not an equivalent position to heterosexuality, because we can't all resort to it. If science comes to the rescue with an artificial way to procreate, I bet in short term society loses control over natural birth, in a "brave new world" fashion.

      I'm trying really hard to understand this...do you think all gay men are bisexual? And how is artificial procreation related?

      --
      "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
    161. Re:FFS by GameboyRMH · · Score: 1

      Why's that? There can be consequences whenever someone says something others don't like, why should this exec's homophobia be different?

      --
      "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
    162. Re:FFS by GameboyRMH · · Score: 1

      Not exactly, It says I will not support you if you spread this viewpoint (in the case of boycotts over speech). How is that wrong? Say I'm the CEO of the company you buy soap from, and i decide to start extolling the virtues of kicking puppies. Would it be wrong and censorious for you to start buying soap from someone else instead of giving me your money because of this?

      --
      "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
    163. Re:FFS by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      I don't like when other people try to use consequences to silence other people's speech. That is the goal of these boycotts, to stop other people from saying similar things.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    164. Re:FFS by GameboyRMH · · Score: 1

      Maybe that kick-up in profit had something to do with this?

      http://www.queerty.com/chick-fil-a-stops-anti-gay-donations-adopts-anti-discrimination-policy-20120919/

      Sounds like a success for the boycotters.

      In the US, historically "attempting to bully or marginalize" half the nation's population has been exactly the path to "progress." See: slavery, segregation.

      --
      "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
    165. Re:FFS by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      If you are kicking puppies you should go to jail.

      If you are merely extolling the virtues of kicking puppies, then that is speech, and should be answered with speech. People shouldn't be punished because they have unpopular opinions. That would be like punishing someone because they have unpopular views about sex.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    166. Re:FFS by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      It's not suppression of anything,

      A goal of these boycotts is to make it so other people are afraid to speak out in a similar way.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    167. Re:FFS by GameboyRMH · · Score: 1

      Guido Barilla should stick to his guns. Standing up to bullying by gay activists wins more customers than does capitulation, just ask Chik-Fil-A.

      Chick-Fil-A "capitulated:"

      http://www.queerty.com/chick-fil-a-stops-anti-gay-donations-adopts-anti-discrimination-policy-20120919/

      Also I love when people say "gay agenda," one of the most efficient phrases ever. It says "I am rabidly homophobic to the point that I have built overarching conspiracy theories about it."

      --
      "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
    168. Re:FFS by GameboyRMH · · Score: 1

      Why not use a right you have in this society when that same right is being used against you? If I spoke about my views about how we're living in the second gilded age with my real name, some companies wouldn't want to buy from me because they don't like that speech. If you were a gay rights activist some companies would refuse to buy from you because they don't like that speech. It's a right we have in this society, to choose not to purchase from others for any reason including their speech, and argue that others should follow. I'm not going to argue whether it's an ethical right to use because you think it isn't and we'll just have to disagree on that, so now I'm going to ask why you're putting yourself at a huge disadvantage.

      --
      "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
    169. Re:FFS by GameboyRMH · · Score: 1

      You're willing to allow more evil than I am. I would stop supporting a company and encourage others to do so if they merely advocated puppy-kicking.

      If you think speech should ONLY be answered with speech, consider that the US government classifies money as speech, allowing companies to spend unlimited money on political lobbying. So if you answer speech with (ending the flow of) money, maybe it's still speech...

      --
      "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
    170. Re:FFS by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      Someday you will understand that speech isn't free unless you also allow speech you don't like. Did you miss eighth grade civics class or something? They typically go into great detail about this topic.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    171. Re:FFS by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      If you were a gay rights activist some companies would refuse to buy from you because they don't like that speech.

      Oh yeah? What companies?? Now you've gone off the deep end making things up.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    172. Re:FFS by GameboyRMH · · Score: 1

      You're right, but the CEO should have avoided exposing his personal bigotry at all costs to avoid losing the money of that 10%. Purely from a business standpoint.

      --
      "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
    173. Re: FFS by ShieldW0lf · · Score: 0

      Homosexuals reject procreation? I'm pretty sure they're not all VHE supporters, none of those I know are. Many not only support the concept of procreation, but want to adopt children.

      There's far from a shortage of children in the world, never mind the means to have more.

      Do you have any problems with infertile heterosexual people, just out of curiosity? I assume you wouldn't like those who could procreate and choose not to. My cousin and his wife decided they never want to have kids - not their own or adopted.

      I think they're the scum of the earth.

      --
      -1 Uncomfortable Truth
    174. Re: FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Homosexuals reject procreation."

      Procreation and one's sexual orientation are two different things, last I checked. And also last time I checked, people can significantly pay into the social contract with a lot more than reproduction, otherwise we'd be neglecting people and ejecting them from society the moment they were incapable. Finally, "promoting it to young people in an effort to sway them to embrace it" (i.e. homosexuality) is a bit ridiculous. What do you think the situation is? That you can pick your sexual preferences like a political party or a religion? The general message is to have confidence in yourself, and not allow society to shun you simply because of your preferences. That's a message anyone can take to heart, homosexual or not.

      There's nothing rational about your arguments. They're bizarre. And I say that as a plain, old, heterosexual with a family.

    175. Re:FFS by GameboyRMH · · Score: 1

      I'm allowing all that speech. I'm not asking for censorship. I simply choose not to actively support speech I don't like. And I can argue for others to do the same, it's free speech. Others can do the same to me if they disagree. They can't censor me, they can just not actively support me.

      --
      "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
    176. Re:FFS by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      If your purpose in doing so is to intimidate others to not say similar things, then you suck.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    177. Re: FFS by GameboyRMH · · Score: 1

      All the groups we're discussing?

      --
      "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
    178. Re: FFS by ShieldW0lf · · Score: 1

      Of course, he's in a way right as evolution is a game of numbers. If he's busy producing as many offspring as possible while I life my life childless and without a care in the world, he'll win evolution but I'll settle for winning life. He's thinks everyone else is working for his offspring, but that's not how it works. He's working for the future of mankind (his idea of it anyway) but I'm working for nobody but myself. He talks of young to take care of the old, but I'll be paying his young to take care of my old. He's working for me, not the other way around and he doesn't even realize it.

      Your frank honesty is refreshing. I've always realized this though, and that is why I call you thieves and want you to be marginalized. For the sake of my species.

      --
      -1 Uncomfortable Truth
    179. Re:FFS by GameboyRMH · · Score: 1

      I wasn't pointing out any particular real-world example, and I didn't think that you'd deny that anti-gay sentiment exists to the point that no business would avoid supporting a known gay rights activist, but since you want some examples, see the entire history of companies discriminating against gay employees. They didn't want to buy the work of a pro-gay entity in those instances.

      Nice derail though, attack my examples instead of answering the question.

      --
      "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
    180. Re:FFS by GameboyRMH · · Score: 1

      The purpose is simply to avoid putting my resources into speech I don't like. Intimidation may be a secondary effect depending on how much money I'm cutting off or how many others do the same as I do. But I'm not threatening anyone, I just stop buying their stuff.

      Let's go back to the soap company example, say instead of kicking puppies I promote and organize boycotts, including those against homophobic companies. Would you continue to buy my soap?

      --
      "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
    181. Re:FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A goal of these boycotts is to make it so other people are afraid to speak out in a similar way.

      Um, no, it isn't. It may be an unintended consequence, but I most certainly want people to still be able to say such dumb shit. It lets me know who would use my money to harm me, and thus who to not give money to.

    182. Re:FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      though I'm more worried why the fuck someone is even listening what the fuck some pasta maker guy says.

      You're right, we should not care about what anyone else says, even if that someone has the power/money to do something about it.

    183. Re:FFS by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      Let's go back to the soap company example, say instead of kicking puppies I promote and organize boycotts, including those against homophobic companies. Would you continue to buy my soap?

      Probably. I wouldn't want to stop people from saying things I disagree with, because preventing them from talking might prevent me from realizing I'm wrong.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    184. Re:FFS by Golddess · · Score: 1

      (My idea of) family is a classic family where the woman has a fundamental role.

      Now I'm curious if any women's rights groups have taken up arms against him and his company.

      --
      "I'm not sure I like the fugnutish tone you used in your post!" -RogL (608926)-
    185. Re: FFS by tolkienfan · · Score: 1

      Choosing to single someone out based on their color, creed, or choice of who to fuck is morally wrong, and it's also illegal for a reason. People can't be free if people are allowed to infringe on the freedom of others. And that extends to who you employ.

      Being bigoted isn't worthy of much protection, except in ones speech. The guy can say what he likes, its protected, and that's his choice. If he pisses people off, it's their choice not to buy his products. This is all how it should be.

    186. Re:FFS by AlphaWolf_HK · · Score: 1

      Sorry wedding cakes not cupcakes. (There was a cupcake one too in Wisconsin or something, but I can't find it ATM, however this business in Oregon is the one I had in mind when I wrote that.)

      The proprietor didn't want to make a gay themed wedding cake supposedly. After the media storm, her business saw an immediate uptick:

      http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/11/sweet-cakes-by-melissa-oregon-lesbian-couple-business-booms_n_2664036.html

      That however was followed by bullying, which led to the close of the business:

      "There's a lot of close-minded people out there that would like to pretend to be very tolerant and just want equal rights," Aaron said. "But on the other hand, they've been very, very mean-spirited. They've been militant. The best way I can describe it is they've used mafia tactics against the business. Basically, if you do business with Sweet Cakes, we will shut you down."

      The Kleins cited a break-in to their bakery truck as one example of what's been happening to them. They said it was ransacked Sunday evening. We checked with the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office and learned there was a report filed, but no one has been apprehended.

      They also said critics harassed their vendors to the point that vendors would no longer refer customers, which led to their income dropping off dramatically.

      http://www.katu.com/news/investigators/Sweet-Cakes-responds-to--222094901.html

      That's quite a bit more than a boycott.

      --
      Careful with names containing L slashdot.org/~AiphaWolf_HK slashdot.org/~AlphaWoif_HK slashdot.org/~AiphaWoif_HK
    187. Re:FFS by AlphaWolf_HK · · Score: 1

      Slashdot and dslreports surely must be some hardcore radical right wing forums then, because they're really the only ones I actually read.

      Not only that but what makes you think my view is right wing? Free speech is one of the highest values I uphold, I'm even vehemently opposed to DDOS attacks against websites that I myself really hate, because I view a DDOS as a form of censorship. People on slashdot likewise give me shit every time I talk about how anonymous are nothing more than common thug asshats these days, because that is basically all they do. If believing in free speech makes me a right wing nut (whatever the hell that implies,) then so be it.

      --
      Careful with names containing L slashdot.org/~AiphaWolf_HK slashdot.org/~AlphaWoif_HK slashdot.org/~AiphaWoif_HK
    188. Re:FFS by AlphaWolf_HK · · Score: 1

      The first amendment doesn't, really.

      Actually it does, under case law. Numerous, numerous case laws in fact. It's just easier for me to say first amendment than to name all of the landmark decisions.

      Anyways, if you think people never make violent threats, you ought to read up on this guy Fred Phelps and his Westboro Baptist Church - they get them all the time, only they actually think they've got an edict from their silly little god that makes them feel even more righteous every time they receive them where normal people would just say "enough is enough".

      --
      Careful with names containing L slashdot.org/~AiphaWolf_HK slashdot.org/~AlphaWoif_HK slashdot.org/~AiphaWoif_HK
    189. Re: FFS by ShieldW0lf · · Score: 1

      Just the ones who had a choice.

      --
      -1 Uncomfortable Truth
    190. Re: FFS by tolkienfan · · Score: 1

      I'm not going to claim this guy is clinically homophobic, but the term, for good or bad, has entered common usage in a watered down form.
      Why does a ceo or chairman (or whatever) think it's okay to make public statements as a representative of his company relating to how his comers should acceptably fuck?

    191. Re:FFS by MrResistor · · Score: 1

      So, what you're saying is that the First Amendment protects the rights of hateful bigots to spew their filth in public, but it does not protect my right to call them out on their bullshit? I think you don't fully understand the concept of Freedom of Speech.

      --
      Under capitalism man exploits man. Under communism it's the other way around.
    192. Re:FFS by MrResistor · · Score: 1

      Ineffective boycotts are farther than technology has ever gone? No, we've had ineffective boycotts long before then. Remember when Chic-fil-a closed because of the boycott? Neither do I.

      How is this an ineffective boycott? The man has issued a public apology before the proposed boycott even had a chance to progress past the suggestion phase. That seems pretty damned effective to me!

      --
      Under capitalism man exploits man. Under communism it's the other way around.
    193. Re: FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Get fucked

    194. Re: FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No you don't. You want to, but you consistently fail to convince yourself that it's even plausible.

      That's why you always embarrass yourself whenever you fumble your way through any attempt at arguing for your position.

      You envy the childless. Your anger towards them is nothing but ineptly disguised jealousy.

      That's what you're really telling us every time you go off on one of your retarded little rants about them. And we all know it.

      You will now prove me right. You are far too stupid to do otherwise.

    195. Re: FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He can't. That's most of his problem.

    196. Re: FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In order to be a thief, one must steal. In order to steal, one must take something that belongs to somebody else without that person's permission.

      I am childless by choice. What do you accuse me of taking? To whom do you claim it belongs? And what is your evidence that I took it without permission?

      Generalities will not suffice. If I haven't "stolen" from a specific person or organization, then I haven't "stolen" at all.

    197. Re:FFS by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      Because apologies are free and ineffective

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    198. Re: FFS by I'm+New+Around+Here · · Score: 1

      Actually, "the guy" can't say what he likes. There are laws about that in the workplace too, especially if he is the boss/owner of the business.

      The irony of saying "People can't be free if people are allowed to infringe on the freedom of others", while insisting people can be forced to associate with those they don't want to, is lost on so many people.

      --
      If you think I voted for Trump because of this post, you're wrong. I voted for Dr. Jill Stein of the Green Party. Again.
    199. Re: FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If the only thing that matters to you is reproducing as much as possible, why are you posting here instead of going out and impregnating women? Aren't you stealing from society by using words instead of having sex?

    200. Re:FFS by OhPlz · · Score: 1

      In the US, historically "attempting to bully or marginalize" half the nation's population has been exactly the path to "progress." See: slavery, segregation.

      Or not, as in Chic-Fil-A. You might count the donation thing as a win, but considering the backlash of people supporting the chain, I think it'd be a bit dishonest. All those pissed off people are more likely now to regard the whole issue with disdain. It takes a lot to get an American off their ass to take action on something. Considering the numbers that came out in defense of the company, that was a huge set-back for the intolerant pro-tolerance folks.

    201. Re: FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I've never understood so I hope you can help enlighten me. What, exactly, is 'phobic' about the chairman's statements?

    202. Re:FFS by descubes · · Score: 1

      If you don't like it don't buy it. Enough with the stupid fucking boycotts that are nothing but attempts at silencing free speech.

      You're not making any sense. A boycott is nothing but a large group of people saying "we don't like it, so we're not buying it."

      But the boycott is not about a large group of people not liking the pasta, it's about a minority not liking what the CEO said, and a large group of people being manipulated into attacking him. If it was a boycott of pasta that were made with whale oil by young kids in poor countries, it would actually be a boycott of the product. But as long as the boycott is in reaction to what the CEO said, then it's a totally different matter. It's actually a blatant attempt at silencing an opinion, not an attempt at criticizing a product. And it makes the boycott totally illegitimate. If you pretend not understanding that, you are simply playing dumb.

      Unfortunately, gay activists are often violent like this. They all too often launch vicious hate campaigns against anybody who simply voices vaguely anti-gay opinions. Come on, is it a victory that a guy was bashed for saying he does not want to put gay peoples in ads for... pasta?!? What is the connexion between homosexuality and pasta, seriously? Why should I have homosexuals in ads for pasta and not, say, people with blue hair or ugly people, other minorities that are all too often victimized. Why can't Barilla simply promote pasta, instead of being forced to promote homosexuality at the same time?

      Let me be very clear. My own company does not intend to run ads with pasta in them. I hope that this won't cause me to be called a pastaphobic by all pasta lovers. I pray this won't cause a massive stir on twitter, a rally to arms of all the pasta lovers I insulted for not intending to prominently promote their lifestyle in my ads instead of promoting my products. And yes, I'm being sarcastic, because this is exactly what happened to the Barilla CEO.

      As of me, I'm so tired of this gay activism that I will say "Go Barilla" on this one, and buy more.

      --
      -- Did you try Tao3D? http://tao3d.sourceforge.net
    203. Re:FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "If you don't like it, don't buy it. Enough with the stupid fucking boycotts that are nothing but attempts at silencing free speech."

      You appear to be confused. Do you advocate boycotts or not?

    204. Re: FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Discrimination isn't "disagreeing with someone." It's just discrimination. What raises the distinct possibility that it's phobic discrimination is when the thing being discriminated against is something that people don't even have a choice with such as their skin color, eye color, handedness, what gender turns them on, or what country they were born in. While it's certainly isn't necessary that fear is behind the discrimination, it is certain that it's something irrational.

    205. Re: FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "People have both a civic and moral duty to procreate."

      Your conceptual model of reality is incorrect. People have a moral and ethical duty to cease procreation. There are over 7 billion people on the planet, with 3 more being added every second. With the exception of meteor strikes and earthquakes (and even some earthquakes are now a result of resource extraction by humans,) all of the current major threats to the continued long-term existence of vertebrate life on our planet are attributable to the effects of human overpopulation.

    206. Re:FFS by GameboyRMH · · Score: 1

      "Intolerant pro-tolerance folks?" Sounds like you've conflated the political and mechanical definitions of tolerance, a common mistake. The political meaning of tolerance is closer to "anti-discrimination" than it is to the meaning of "tolerance" in the mechanical context. This is why allowing bigotry, as the WBC often calls for, is not considered "tolerance."

      --
      "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
    207. Re:FFS by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      Afraid my ass. Afraid is for when someone threatens to shoot you. I'd say unwilling is a better choice.

      And why is people being unwilling to say retarded stuff a bad thing?

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    208. Re:FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Does a photographer 'hire' a customer? Seems like this company was offering a licensed public accomodation and the court said the have to follow the rules. IIRC this goes back to the days when banks would only do business with certain customers.

    209. Re:FFS by twocows · · Score: 1

      "If you don't like it, don't buy it. Enough with the stupid fucking boycotts."
      Uh, you do know what a boycott is, right?

    210. Re:FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Fantastic counter-argument! Idiot.

    211. Re:FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And I hate giving money to people who would use that money against me. Yet for some reason, me doing that is considered "wrong" by your standards.

    212. Re:FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Someday you will understand that speech isn't free unless you also allow speech you don't like.

      We understand this just fine. Too bad the same cannot be said about your understand regarding what is and is not a violation of free speech.

    213. Re:FFS by Rakarra · · Score: 1

      Certainly it's not respecting that right. I think if your employer stopped paying you because you promoted homosexuality you'd be lisping a different tune.

      "Free speech" just means that one is allowed to speak freely without fear of arrest. It does not entitle your speech to be respected, nor does it in any protect you from the consequences of the decisions of private individuals.

      Your free speech may sway and motivate people, just not in the way you hoped.

    214. Re: FFS by Rakarra · · Score: 1

      Well 'homo' has developed two separate unrelated definitions. One would be the genus we belong to, and this seems to come from Latin, where homo was one word for man. The other definition comes from the related Greek homos, which meant "one and the same." We get the words homogamous and homonym from that, and naturally, homosexual.

    215. Re: FFS by Rakarra · · Score: 1

      Homosexuals reject procreation. That's not an intellectual position to take. People have both a civic and moral duty to procreate

      No you don't. These days you have the civic and moral duty to not procreate too much.
      We have far too many people now to fear some sort of depopulation.

    216. Re: FFS by Rakarra · · Score: 1

      Odds are relatively high you are not going to win life. Rather, you will likely age, die, and disappear without having any lasting impact. That is all right though - you will join the majority of the worlds population in that. And that is fitting.

      Who is to say that's not winning? Why would I care if anyone knew my name or who I was in 200 years? I'll be gone, it makes no difference to me now.
      What does matter to me is that I enjoy life and work doing what I enjoy, and have enough savings to not go broke in my old age. That's winning life, and it's far better than hating existence and gaining infamy.

    217. Re:FFS by Rakarra · · Score: 1

      This, just like the White reactions to the "racism" of Speedy Gonzalez and the Washington Redskins, is nothing but bullshit is all organized by faggots and other limousine liberals from San Francisco. Chances are they never interact with lower and middle-class minorities unless they accidentally drive into the wrong neighborhoods, and even then they never lower their windows or unlock their doors.

      Boy, you've clearly not been to San Francisco.
      Must be nice to bask in all that privilege, isn't it?

    218. Re:FFS by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      From your comment, I can see you are clearly not unwilling to say retarded things. Next time if you try saying that in Latin, it might be even more foolish.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    219. Re:FFS by Rakarra · · Score: 1

      Haha, "gay mafia." You're cute.

    220. Re:FFS by Rakarra · · Score: 1

      This is about personal demonization, personal public shaming and subsequent public debasement, the same sort of thing that goes on in totalitarian regimes, esp. Marxist regimes.

      So the personal demonization lobbied against gays (they make bad families, they shouldn't be allowed to adopt kids, gay relationships are just bad, etc) is ok, but speaking out again such nonsense is not, and the hallmark of a Marxist regime?

    221. Re:FFS by GameboyRMH · · Score: 1

      Not only that but what makes you think my view is right wing?

      It sounds a lot like the "gay agenda/gay mafia" conspiracy theories that are floating around. Death threats are cheap and fly freely, but the only actual violence against a homophobic institution I know of is the FRC headquarters shooting.

      --
      "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
    222. Re: FFS by kwbauer · · Score: 1

      That was kind of the point I was trying to make but it got lost somewhere.between "violate" and "not yet regulated enough".

    223. Re:FFS by raju1kabir · · Score: 1

      Did you miss eighth grade civics class or something?

      My eighth grade civics teacher was pretty specific about how "free speech" is a construct involving the relationship between individuals and the government. Perhaps yours left that part out.

      The government is obliged to let you say what you want, without putting you in jail.

      I, however, am not obliged to continue to give you money if you are saying things that annoy me. I have the freedom to spend my money elsewhere.

      --
      "Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it." -- GBS
    224. Re:FFS by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      Very true.

      At the same time, if your goal is to stop people from saying things you don't like, you still suck and I hate you. It's all about what your goal is.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    225. Re: FFS by Mr.+Slippery · · Score: 1

      The irony of saying "People can't be free if people are allowed to infringe on the freedom of others", while insisting people can be forced to associate with those they don't want to, is lost on so many people.

      No one is being "forced to associate with those they don't want to". Property, markets, trade, and commerce are a creation of society and governments; if you want to play the commerce game, part of the ante our society and government levies is leashing any bigotry you might have.

      But if bigotry is more important to someone, they can choose to not play that game. If they don't want the damned in their store, a simple solution: close the store. Buy a couple acres in BFN and be a subsistence farmer and they can avoid having to deal with all those . Better yet, we won't have to deal with them. Win/win.

      --
      Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | my blog
      You cannot wash away blood with blood
    226. Re:FFS by balbus000 · · Score: 1

      If you don't like it don't buy it. Enough with the stupid fucking boycotts

      If you don't like it and don't buy it, that's called a boycott...

    227. Re: FFS by marcello_dl · · Score: 1

      > I'm trying really hard to understand this...do you think all gay men are bisexual?

      Do you think I meant homosexuals when I said homosexuality?

      --
      ---- MISSING MISCELLANEOUS DATA SEGMENT --- [sigdash] trolololol
    228. Re:FFS by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      I love you too

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    229. Re: FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You wanted to refute the "uncomfortable truth" I posted above. You wracked your tiny, defective little brain, and came up empty as always. So you slinked away with your tail between your legs, like the submissive little bitch that everyone knows you are. By doing so, you proved me right just as I said you would. And you'll keep on doing it.

    230. Re: FFS by I'm+New+Around+Here · · Score: 1

      Oh, I see. I misread you intent there. Now that I re-read it, I see what you are saying. Glad I checked out what responses my 'older' posts get.

      --
      If you think I voted for Trump because of this post, you're wrong. I voted for Dr. Jill Stein of the Green Party. Again.
    231. Re: FFS by Baki · · Score: 1

      5-10% of most mammals, including humans, are gay. That leaves more than enough people to procreate. What utter nonsense.
      Would you also exclude or stigmatize priests or nuns? Or anyone that doesn't procreate for whatever reason?
      Or the 0.5% of the population that have another deviation that obstructs their procreation, such as infertility? You want to stigmatize those?

      Please think again and be very ashamed.

    232. Re: FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, you've had several days to think about it. And you have been posting, so we know you've been here. And you've also replied to other AC's, so we know you don't ignore them. That means you've definitely seen my post above asking how I'm supposed to be a "thief", and you've conceded that I'm not by ducking the question.

      Maybe, in the future, you should think before you post. I doubt you will, though.

  4. Stupidity... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What a shortsighted and stupid move from a CEO of such a large multinational... If I were Buitoni, I would quickly release a few commercials featuring happy gay couples living on the Italian countryside...

    1. Re:Stupidity... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why, so he looses 3 percent of the market yet gets credit in strongly catholic (no so gay loving) countries. Pandering to everyone is not always the best solution.

  5. I've always wanted... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...to find a way to boycott the boycotters. "Fine, it's your right to boycott Barilla (or Florida or whatever the cause du jour is) but fuck you, we're all going to boycott YOUR business because of it. That's MY right."

    1. Re:I've always wanted... by Zirbert · · Score: 2

      ...to find a way to boycott the boycotters. "Fine, it's your right to boycott Barilla (or Florida or whatever the cause du jour is) but fuck you, we're all going to boycott YOUR business because of it. That's MY right."

      The problem is that the most enthusiastic and noisiest boycotters tend not to do anything economically productive that could be boycotted in return.

      I can't cite the exact source or wording offhand, but P.J. O'Rourke, when asked why liberal causes can generally bring out more marchers, ralliers, and volunteers activists than conservative ones, said, "Because we have jobs."

    2. Re:I've always wanted... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's easy. Go buy some Barilla pasta and a Chick-fil-a.

  6. He said homosexual family. Not gays in general. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There's a difference (but obscuring that difference makes people even more hostile, and that's the goal, right?)

    1. Re:He said homosexual family. Not gays in general. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're dealing with computer nerds! Don't you know there are only two sides to every argument?

      Maybe if we went to base-3 the world would be a better place for compromise.

    2. Re:He said homosexual family. Not gays in general. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, there isn't a difference. If there is a problem with "homosexual families," that necessarily implies that all homosexuals are incapable of having families.

    3. Re:He said homosexual family. Not gays in general. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      There is a difference.

      From the lede: "Guido Barilla said his brand would 'never feature gays in ads"

      See the single quote before "never"? That's meant to tell us that he said he would, "never feature gays in ads". But that not what he said. He specifically said gay families would not appear in ads because he thinks mothers are important. (He's probably already had gays in ads, though it probably wasn't obvious and he probably didn't know it.)

      I'm not sure if that distortion appeared because someone saw what they wanted to see or if they're trying to manipulate the readers, but that lack of attention to detail is especially irritating.

  7. Apologies... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    I sent off my little missive to Barilla corporate yesterday.

    Sometimes apologies don't mean shit. It's far more important to know what people really believe. And to remember it.

    1. Re:Apologies... by ozydingo · · Score: 2

      Sometimes apologies don't mean shit. It's far more important to know what people really believe.

      Which is one of the reasons I did/do not support this boycott. Best I could tell, he expressed his opinion, but wasn't or isn't actively trying to suppress gay rights. If we boycott companies for honestly stating opinions, as is my read of this situation (please inform me of any more relevant details, however), then we don't change their opinions, we just change what they say. Everybody loses.

    2. Re:Apologies... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Thats cool, I bought 10 boxes of pasta and donated them.

  8. Old people by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    While I realize that not every homophobic / racist / anti-"you are not my religion" person is not old, they seem to disproportionately skew that way. Seems a good company/government policy would be that old people not be allowed to speak publicly as representatives of the company/government, no matter how high their rank, without first vetting their proposed comments through some younger folks.

    Disclaimer: I am approaching old people status (probably already there by a lot of younger folks estimation).

    1. Re:Old people by Nightlight3 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Each generation is brainwashed into a different Matrix. 'Founding Fathers' and other great men until 1960s would by today's brainwashing be denounced as racist, sexist homophobes. Kids of tomorrow may denounce you as a hateful old polygamophobe, pedophilophobe, zoophilophobe, necrophilophobe, fetishphobe, toesuckingphobe, kleptophobe.... And then you too will wonder, what the heck is wrong with these kids, while they will insist that you vet your public speaking with younger, more enlightened folks before making a fool out of yourself. Having lived in a communist country as it flipped into its exact opposite, then not long after that it flipped back, you wouldn't believe how quickly and how thoroughly the tune in schools and media changes the dominant mythology to its complete opposite. Once you experience it, you can't take any of them very seriously.

      Of course, not all Matrices are created equal. Since each Matrix is a computational process, working out yet another provisional solution to the social harmonization puzzle, you can't know which is a good and which a poor solution until some time time has passed and the latest experimental solution had a chance to get tested under variety of conditions. As the old book taught, you will know them by their fruits.

    2. Re:Old people by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As the old book taught, you will know them by their fruits.

      ... and the new book teaches, "you will know gays by their sharts."

    3. Re:Old people by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well I, for one, enjoy knowing fruits.

      There comes a time when hearing apology after apology makes one realize that "sorry" costs -- and changes -- nothing. Haters gonna still hate no matter how many times you thpank their little bottomths and tell them to say their sorry to their sister and hug and make up. That little fucker is still a nasty shit and no one can change his bad attitude but himself.

      And the way to convince someone to improve is to remove them from society. Isolation is a powerful argument and you don't have to lock someone up in jail to employ it. Essentially, if you coral all the assholes together, then normal people don't have to deal with them anymore, number one, and number two -- the only people those assholes will be able to interact with are other assholes. Which has proven to be uniquely effective in solving a lot of problems of character.

    4. Re:Old people by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It was obvious to black people that the people in the 1960's were racist. It was obvious to the native Americans that the founding fathers were dickbags. The matrix is something called white-privilege.

  9. I Love Americans by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    business that shows families having dinner in its advertisements says it doesn't want to depict gay families, even though gay families probably make up a tiny percentage of their market: ERMAGERD BOYCOTT BOYCOTT BOYCOTT

    own government attacks state that poses no threat leading to the death of a million people, engages in torture, extrajudicial execution, mass spying on its own citizens a.la. KGB/STASI, is the worlds biggest arms dealer, supports dozens of brutal dictators in the Middle East and other places, provides crucial diplomatic and financial aid to the ethnic cleansing of Palestine: ERMAGERD MILEY IS TWERKING!!

    1. Re:I Love Americans by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think there is probably about five people that are actually upset about his comments. Most of this is media hype because flamebait and sensationalist headlines get people to click on their stories (See Slashdot.org's post on this topic).

    2. Re:I Love Americans by bsolar · · Score: 1

      business that shows families having dinner in its advertisements says it doesn't want to depict gay families, even though gay families probably make up a tiny percentage of their market: ERMAGERD BOYCOTT BOYCOTT BOYCOTT

      All of this happened in Italy so actually America is for once not involved.

      The chairman didn't state he didn't want to depict gay families due to marketing or economic reasons, he stated that the very idea of gay families is against his personal values and the values of his company. He also basically stated "if you have a problem with that feel free to buy another brand". Guess what? Many actually stated that they do have problem with that and were going to do exactly what he suggested. No surprise he and the company backpedalled lightning fast.

    3. Re:I Love Americans by ozydingo · · Score: 1

      If there are only five, I must know them all, because I've seen at least that many posts from folks in my fb network. So while it may be hype that will die down for something else next week, it's still more than just the media saying it.

    4. Re:I Love Americans by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      how many of them are just parrots that jump on the bandwagon becuase it makes them feel like a part of something. Studies being done now show that happens in social media quite often, where someone will see something like this, which they generally wont care about. but if everyone is talking about it they will too just to avoid being left out

    5. Re:I Love Americans by ozydingo · · Score: 1

      Probably most of them. But a few that I know better I'd be pretty confident in saying the feeling is their own. Still might be a more chronic version of what you're talking about, where people learn to "care" about the kinds of "news" that get clicks and headlines. Maybe you don't see that as any different...anyway I do.

  10. Re:He just sold a hell of a lot of pasta by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

    Why is it the bigots always refer to homosexuality as 'deviancy' and have a terrible obsession with the fucking-based aspects of it? Have they ever had a normal relationship with anyone?

  11. I'm sorry I was quoted... by tutufan · · Score: 1, Troll

    ...and that the Internet exists, and that gay people are not the pariahs they once were, and that I'm not quite rich enough to buy you all off. I will work harder in the future to address these faults. A boycott can only delay the day when I will succeed in doing so. Thank you for paying attention, but please stop.

  12. Why Is This On /. ??? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Waste of bandwidth.

  13. Right now would be the time... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...for a high-end premium pasta maker to make a targeted marketing push and buy some space in Gay publications and websites.

    Now where's my cushy CEO/marketing job?

    1. Re:Right now would be the time... by TMB · · Score: 1
    2. Re:Right now would be the time... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Can't blame them - and I don't for a minute think they're taking advantage of the situation.

      Bertolli must be concerned with the potential for brand-recognition fallout: their name is so close to that of Barilla that they have to be worried. I would be. It's not like the majority of consumers pay all that much attention to... well... much of anything.

  14. Re:A True Gay Man by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If you have the time, it's actually really easy.

    Though you forgot the drop of water. Makes a big difference.

  15. DON'T CARE. by beastie456 · · Score: 0

    I don't care about what this guy had to say the first time around. I don't care that he apologized. I don't care about his Pasta, his company, his facebook page or his dog. I don't care.

    1. Re:DON'T CARE. by mcgrew · · Score: 1

      So why did you even bother clicking the link, let alone commenting?

    2. Re:DON'T CARE. by beastie456 · · Score: 0

      Because it annoyed me. It annoyed me that this is a "story". It annoyed me that it is on a "tech" site only because the "story" mentions social media. Here is a few more headlines "Ignorant person says something ignorant" followed by "Commenter gets annoyed" " 53.7 of comments in Slashdot show insensitivity" "Other commentator gets annoyed with comments on Slashdot"

  16. Fake Aplology is Fake by Atypical+Geek · · Score: 1

    As predicted in Slate, Guido Barilla (yes, that's his name) issues meaningless apology. For those counting at home, this is actually the forth one. Now what?

    1. Re:Fake Aplology is Fake by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      For those counting at home, this is actually the forth one.

      I guess he's trying to build bridges. Maybe there'll be a firth one.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    2. Re:Fake Aplology is Fake by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You also misspelled "forth", unless it looked like this: : APOLOGIZE."I am sorry";

  17. Who knew pasta was so important? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Who knew the CEO of a pasta company's thoughts were so important? I would like to see a follow up story on his thoughts on the NSA and encryption, the Syria crisis, and perhaps global warming. Maybe Slashdot could solicit questions from the readers and have him respond in follow up post.

    1. Re:Who knew pasta was so important? by PPH · · Score: 2

      Who does he think he is? A Hollywood actor?

      --
      Have gnu, will travel.
    2. Re:Who knew pasta was so important? by Yosho · · Score: 1

      To be fair, as the CEO of a company, he has a pretty big influence over a lot of peoples' jobs. If he refuses to hire a certain class of people, that's a pretty big deal for any potential job-seekers in his company's area.

      --
      Karma: Terrifying (mostly affected by atrocities you've committed)
  18. Convenient aplogies ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    not accepted. You've told us who you really are and how you really feel, Mr. Bigot, uh ... Barilla.

  19. Re:He just sold a hell of a lot of pasta by Yosho · · Score: 2

    Well, you're right that "phobia" isn't really the best term. They're not scared, they're just assholes. "Bigot" might be a better term, but it's not quite as specific as "homophobic" is.

    But for that matter, homosexuality isn't really deviancy; you don't have to indulge in it, just don't discriminate against it; and you can call anybody anything you want thanks to free speech.

    Not liking pasta, now that's deviancy.

    --
    Karma: Terrifying (mostly affected by atrocities you've committed)
  20. Re:He just sold a hell of a lot of pasta by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    homosexuality [...] fucking-based aspects

    I don't know what kind of activities you engage in with your partner, but that's pretty much what sexuality means. Ergo, people who have homosexual partners will perform, or desire to perform, homosexual acts. Otherwise, it's no different that having a close friend. So yeah, people should be obsessed with the intercourse and intimacy aspects because that's all of sexuality.

  21. Sincere "OMG Sorry!" for typo in subject! by Atypical+Geek · · Score: 1

    "Aplology"?! *facepalm* Sorry, ladies and gentlemen, I think I need more coffee...

    1. Re:Sincere "OMG Sorry!" for typo in subject! by Nidi62 · · Score: 1

      We all know your apology over this is fake

      --
      The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
    2. Re:Sincere "OMG Sorry!" for typo in subject! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just wait til you get to the body of the text. Better make it four cups of coffee...

  22. Another One Learns The Lesson by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ... of attempting to use reason to engage the irrational mob.

  23. Cashing in on the Chick-fil-A effect by WaffleMonster · · Score: 1

    On a lighter note with chick-fil-a profits at an all time high what does this chairman have to fear but fear itself?

    Seriously there does seem to be a general lack of respect and tolerance for the opinions of others in the faceb00c twitterverseternet. So someone thinks your god is a loser or orange people are inferior to purple people or those who eat rice with their bare hands are cave dwelling vampires. If someone says or does something you personally don't agree with or you don't like is it really always necessary to turn the megaphone up to 11 and tell the world how wrong and out of touch the other guy is? Respect is a bidirectional affair.

    In my view intolerance and lack of respect for the views of others is no different than intolerance of race/religion/sex*/..etc. Intolerance is intolerance.

    1. Re:Cashing in on the Chick-fil-A effect by Nidi62 · · Score: 2

      On a lighter note with chick-fil-a profits at an all time high what does this chairman have to fear but fear itself?

      Apples to oranges. Dry pasta is pretty much indistinguishable between brands when cooked. Chik-fil-a has pretty much no competitor in the South in regards to their core product (you can tell a difference between a chikfila sandwich and its equivalent from, say McDonalds). There is much more loyalty to brands in the fast food industry than there is in pasta. There is also the fact that a CEOs personal belief really doesn't matter all that much. People have other overriding concerns: for example I have no problem with gays or gay marriage, but I like chikfila so I buy it (not too often though as I try to stay away from fast food) and if I need pasta and it is on sale, I will probably buy Barilla if it is cheapest. I don't care what the CEOs think about gay marriage, or their preference regarding boxers or briefs or hell, even women's underwear, who am I to judge? Because none of that really matters.

      --
      The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
    2. Re:Cashing in on the Chick-fil-A effect by PRMan · · Score: 1

      Exactly this. Since Chik-Fil-A is doing just fine, maybe Barilla should ignore the extremely vocal minority and see what the majority does with their purchasing power...

      --
      Peter predicted that you would "deliberately forget" creation 2000 years ago...
    3. Re:Cashing in on the Chick-fil-A effect by fermion · · Score: 1
      To start, chick fil a has an excellent market niche and excellent advertising. It sells very cheap junk food, albeit above average quality junk food, at reletively high prices enabling it keep it's niche and advertising. In fact the"chicken" sandwich is from a nutritional point of view much better than at most other junk food restaurants.

      This is very different from a pasta manufacturer, as most americans simply see pasta as cheap commodity product. Which chickfila there are few other options in the category. With pasta a consumer has to make a conscious decision to pay more. While chickfila is often see as a healthier choice, one pasts has nothing over another in most Americans value system.

      As far as respecting others beliefs, I think there are two issues here. One is that one can respect and still debate. For instance, on the current topic, there is a question of gay marriage. In response to this one might quip that those who voted for Ronald Reagan put the first mistress in the white house, the couple married by a radical church that continues to ignore social convention by facilitating gay marriages. If the public has no issues with mistresses destroying marriage, then why pick on gay people. I think this is respecting beliefs, but still facilitating debate.

      Likewise one might wonder why those opposed to the islamic center near the 9/11 ground zero did not also demand that the christian churches around the atlanta Olympic bombing site did not move or at least put up a monument accepting group responsibility for the terrorist attack. In both these cases, one group wants to impose thier will on another, and then claims that their own beliefs are not being respected when the subject is debated.

      he second issue is just a more extreme case of the first. When I was a kid, roving gangs would travel my neighborhood telling us we were going to hell it we did not believe as they did. Now, we were a nice lower middle class neighborhood, where kids all went to school, some to very good schools, parents put in long days working, some mothers stayed home, some did not, many has college degrees. The upshot was that no nearly everyone was living what would be considered an ethical life. So why would these gangs want to come to our homes, disrespect our beliefs, insult us, and expect anything else than malice?

      Which is what so many people miss. One can't just state any view and expect it to stand. Some views, such that it is ok to define a person by extrinsic behavior, is harmful. This is the same philosophy that some Christians have, in that non christian behavior is harmful. Some discussion on the subject is less harmful.

      --
      "She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
    4. Re:Cashing in on the Chick-fil-A effect by Minupla · · Score: 1

      There is a danger in this -

      I do the grocery shopping for our house. Pasta is a "which is cheapest" decision.

      Typically it's a dime or so difference and about 2 seconds of decision making process. Sometimes I go for the cheapest, sometimes I step up a level, depending largely on my gut reaction that day. Typically "up a level" is Barilla. Now if I buy Barilla I'm supporting someone whose views I don't agree with, so it's more likely I'll save the 20 cents and go no-name.

      Min

      --
      On the whole, I find that I prefer Slashdot posts to twitter ones because I don't get limited to 140 chars before
    5. Re:Cashing in on the Chick-fil-A effect by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If someone says or does something you personally don't agree with or you don't like is it really always necessary to turn the megaphone up to 11 and tell the world how wrong and out of touch the other guy is?

      The other guy already has a megaphone in the form of a family-owned multi-billion euro company. If nobody else speaks up, he gets to shape the entire discussion thanks to the free publicity his position affords him (not everybody has an opportunity to embarrass himself, his family and his business on national media like this).

      Respect is a bidirectional affair.

      What about self-respect? Unless you're arguing actual compulsion, why should I continue to solicit a business that clearly sees me or my friends as something less than fully human? Barilla disrespected homosexuals, end of story.

    6. Re:Cashing in on the Chick-fil-A effect by ozydingo · · Score: 2

      I guarantee you that if you by any pasta, or really any product at all, you're supporting someone whose views you don't agree with.

    7. Re:Cashing in on the Chick-fil-A effect by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Very likely true but that really isn't the point. The issue is to make it clear that homophobia is no longer tolerated by society. There will still be homophobes and other bigots but they'll keep their mouths shut and hopefully their children won't learn their bigotry.

    8. Re:Cashing in on the Chick-fil-A effect by Daniel+Dvorkin · · Score: 1

      In my view intolerance and lack of respect for the views of others is no different than intolerance of race/religion/sex*/..etc. Intolerance is intolerance.

      It's for ideas like this that the saying "it's important to be open-minded, but not so much that your brains fall out" was coined. Tolerance and respect for the views of others are, on the whole, a good thing. But the views of people who believe that other people are in the wrong simply for living their lives as they see fit deserve not tolerance and respect, but scorn and condemnation. It's pretty much the verbal equivalent of another fine saying, "your right to swing your fist ends where my nose begins."

      --
      The correlation between ignorance of statistics and using "correlation is not causation" as an argument is close to 1.
    9. Re:Cashing in on the Chick-fil-A effect by ultranova · · Score: 1

      But the views of people who believe that other people are in the wrong simply for living their lives as they see fit deserve not tolerance and respect, but scorn and condemnation. It's pretty much the verbal equivalent of another fine saying, "your right to swing your fist ends where my nose begins."

      Swinging my fist at your nose and simply not liking your nose are not the same thing. Once you refuse tolerance and respect from and heap scorn and condemnation on people just for their beliefs you've gone from freedom fighter to thought police. It is unreasonable to demand that everyone agrees with how you live your life, just that they acknowledge it's your life to live as you see fit - which is pretty much the definition of tolerance.

      --

      Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.

    10. Re:Cashing in on the Chick-fil-A effect by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Your logic is exactly why Holland is swarming with an infestation of Muslims.

    11. Re:Cashing in on the Chick-fil-A effect by SuperTechnoNerd · · Score: 1

      I make my own pasta - even cheaper.

    12. Re:Cashing in on the Chick-fil-A effect by ozydingo · · Score: 1

      There will still be homophobes and other bigots but they'll keep their mouths shut and hopefully their children won't learn their bigotry.

      They'll keep their mouths a little more shut in public, and maybe that will actually lead to some good (maybe), but not to their children. Strong opinions + lack of open conversation = more polarization.

      And, to me, it is the point. There are issues I frankly care more about a food company's position on than whether a pasta company dude thinks that the iconic family that he wants to portray in his ads includes a woman in the kitchen. I don't speak for Minupla, and have no problem if this issue makes or brakes his pasta-buying choices over other issues that I wished more people cared more about. But against his point as stated, I think my point stands valid.

    13. Re:Cashing in on the Chick-fil-A effect by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But the views of people who believe that other people are in the wrong simply for living their lives as they see fit deserve not tolerance and respect, but scorn and condemnation.

      Which people? The LGBT group that believe muslims/christians/traditionalists are wrong for living their lives as they see fit or the muslims/christians/traditionalists that believe the LGBT crowd are wrong for living their lives how they see fit? I'm confused.

  24. Where can I buy their products in US ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    I want to support someone normal.

    1. Re:Where can I buy their products in US ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      I will be sure to buy only Barilla pasta from now on.
      He has his opinion and that's all, after-all it is his business.
      Why should eveyone bow to whatever gays say.
      Because of their constant bull shit I went from being open minded to not supporting them.
      I think they should shut the fuck up and let other's have their opinions.

    2. Re:Where can I buy their products in US ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes. Why did the Gays get so much power? And why are their agenda items more important than the other agenda items on the left?

      That is what I am pissed off at. That Obama and the Democrats couldn't prioritize and get the 'normal' stuff that the left wanted before the gays came in and threw gay marriage down and made conservatives turn off and not agree with anything else that would have improved the country and both sides or at least more people could have agreed on.

  25. Re:He just sold a hell of a lot of pasta by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    But for that matter, homosexuality isn't really deviancy; you don't have to indulge in it, just don't discriminate against it; and you can call anybody anything you want thanks to free speech.

    Not liking pasta, now that's deviancy.

    But for that matter, cannibalism isn't really deviancy; you don't have to indulge in it, just don't discriminate against it; and you can call anybody anything you want thanks to free speech.

    btw... Anything that differs from the norm IS a deviancy!

  26. That's Free speech for us, not you... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    As well as sanctimonius rightousness, Mr. Barilla was also introduced to the shrill voice of America's ignorance.

  27. A competitor's reply by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I see San Remo have come forth with their response. ^_^

    Yes, this is all business. Just because it's business doesn't mean it's somehow isolated from the real world, and the need to behave in a respectful manner.

  28. Re:He just sold a hell of a lot of pasta by Yosho · · Score: 1

    But for that matter, cannibalism isn't really deviancy; you don't have to indulge in it, just don't discriminate against it; and you can call anybody anything you want thanks to free speech.

    Except, of course, that homosexuality involves loving relationships between people of the same gender, and cannibalism involves murder, so they're not really comparable at all.

    Anything that differs from the norm IS a deviancy!

    In a statistical sense this is true, but in a social sense, something is "deviant" if it differs from what society in general considers acceptable. The only people who consider homosexuality unacceptable nowadays (within the USA, at least) are the extreme right-wing, fundamentalist Christians.

    --
    Karma: Terrifying (mostly affected by atrocities you've committed)
  29. Re:What a bunch of brainwashed idiots... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You're calling other people brainwashed? Holy crap.

  30. Re:He just sold a hell of a lot of pasta by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So you're comparing cannibalism to homosexuality? Hmm. Your ideas are intriguing to me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.

  31. Shocking by Fear+the+Clam · · Score: 0

    Some Guido doesn't like gays. I bet he likes fake tits and spray tans, though.

  32. Publicity stunt? by hawguy · · Score: 1

    Am I the only one cynical enough to see this as a publicity stunt to get his product's name some free press?

    Step 1: make an inane statement that deeply offends some group, guaranteeing press coverage.

    Step 2: make a "heartfelt" apology for those that were offended by his words.

    Step 3: draw it out for a few more weeks by meeting representatives of the groups he offended, and probably make some large corporate donations to said groups.

    Step 4: profit (?)

  33. Re:He just sold a hell of a lot of pasta by mcgrew · · Score: 2

    Well, you're right that "phobia" isn't really the best term. They're not scared, they're just assholes.

    Wikipedia says "A phobia (from the Greek: ÏÏOEÎÎÏ, Phobos, meaning "fear" or "morbid fear") is, when used in the context of clinical psychology, a type of anxiety disorder". Most homophobes aren't afraid of homosexuals, but they are disturbed by them which makes "homophobe" a perfectly fitting description.

    Personally, I don't want anyone shoving their sexuality in my face, whether homo or hetero. Your sexuality is none of my fucking business and I don't want to hear about it unless you're a lesbian and I'm hitting on you; I don't want to be offensive and it would be offensive of me to knowingly hit on a lesbian.

    "Bigot" might be a better term
    Webster's:

    Full Definition of BIGOT
    : a person who is obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices; especially : one who regards or treats the members of a group (as a racial or ethnic group) with hatred and intolerance

    "Bigot" is a perfect description.

  34. Re:He just sold a hell of a lot of pasta by cdecoro · · Score: 1

    Except, of course, that homosexuality involves loving relationships between people of the same gender, and cannibalism involves murder, so they're not really comparable at all.

    We're not all murderers, you cannibophobe. All the people that I eat are already dead!

  35. Wrong by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Barilla was wrong to back down. Slashdot was wrong to post this gay garbage here on a tech site.

  36. Re:He just sold a hell of a lot of pasta by iggymanz · · Score: 1

    well, it could truthfully be called an "abnormality", like my left-handedness. we may get gay marriage in my state, but the banks will still fasten their pens on the right side of the lobby tables

  37. Sexist too by ugen · · Score: 0

    I looked at his original comments - to me they appear perhaps even more offensive to women than to gay. He's clearly a "woman's place is in the kitchen" proponent.

    1. Re:Sexist too by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "He's clearly a "woman's place is in the kitchen" proponent."

              A woman's place is in the kitchen. Where she can slowly poison and nag her husband to death. Then collect the house and that multimillion dollar insurance policy he's killing himself to pay for. At the same time, she is brainwashing their kids to her standards and point of view.

  38. Re:What a bunch of brainwashed idiots... by DJ+Particle · · Score: 1

    No popular gay-friendly songs? Have you been living under a rock the last few years?

    Actually, judging by your opinions, I guess maybe you have.

  39. Re:He just sold a hell of a lot of pasta by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Have they ever had a normal relationship with anyone?

    the fucking-based aspect is the only difference between a gay and a straight

    Looks like the parent's answer is an emphatic "no."

  40. Re:He just sold a hell of a lot of pasta by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Well, you're right that "phobia" isn't really the best term. They're not scared

    When one person feels irrationally threatened by how others live their own lives, that's a phobia. Simply because they lean more towards "fight" than "flight" doesn't mean it's not driven by fear.

  41. Re:What a bunch of brainwashed idiots... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Do gays rub their penises together? Of course not,

    Dude... wait, what?

    Google "frotting" and "docking". And let me tell you, frotting is delicious. And docking even more so, if you can find a partner with foreskin. Fuck america and our genital mutilation.

  42. Re:He just sold a hell of a lot of pasta by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    But for that matter, cannibalism isn't really deviancy; you don't have to indulge in it,

    Cannibalism, incest, and child molestation are sanctioned against by almost every society because those practices endanger the society as a whole. Homosexuality does not.

  43. Re:He just sold a hell of a lot of pasta by Servaas · · Score: 1

    You scare me.

  44. As someone not in favour of gay marriage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    and also not in favour of deliberately sticking gay people in the media to show them off, I still find his remarks very problematic.

    Choosing to not give the role of media spokesperson to someone who is gay and a public figure in "gay rights movements" is one thing. But ruling out that an advertisement can ever contain a gay family is going too far.

    In that case you are not disliking merely "the way in which they are gay", i.e. they are gay and they take specific actions and you dislike those particular actions, but you blanket exclude them regardless of what they do from the fact that they are gay alone.

    And advertisements vary hugely and can normally contain a wide range of things. Not even in an advertisement featuring a thousand families eating spaghetti would he include a single gay family. That is extreme.

    1. Re:As someone not in favour of gay marriage by wiredlogic · · Score: 1

      As someone not in favour of jewish marriage and also not in favour of deliberately sticking jewish people in the media to show them off, I still find his remarks very problematic.

      Choosing to not give the role of media spokesperson to someone who is jewish and a public figure in "jewish rights movements" is one thing. But ruling out that an advertisement can ever contain a jewish family is going too far.

      In that case you are not disliking merely "the way in which they are jewish", i.e. they are jewish and they take specific actions and you dislike those particular actions, but you blanket exclude them regardless of what they do from the fact that they are jewish alone.

      If you cringe when hate speech directed towards gays is converted into that towards another traditionally reviled minority is your dislike of gays justified? Are such traditions worth holding sacred?

      --
      I am becoming gerund, destroyer of verbs.
    2. Re:As someone not in favour of gay marriage by Daniel+Dvorkin · · Score: 1

      Oh, but that's Different, you see. It's always Different when the group being targeted is someone you personally dislike.

      Also: Godwin! Godwin! You called Barilla a Nazi! Now anything you say is wrong, because Godwin!

      --
      The correlation between ignorance of statistics and using "correlation is not causation" as an argument is close to 1.
  45. PERFECT! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    'Where a woman has a traditional role!'

    We can totally have him put up an ad with lesbians then, one totally masculine and the other totally feminine, and then just to fuck people up, have the gay male couple from next store come over to share dinner with them!

    Problem solved :)

  46. Re:He just sold a hell of a lot of pasta by Deluvianvortex · · Score: 1

    I believe you mean anthropophagosophile

  47. Re:He just sold a hell of a lot of pasta by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Because leftists control the media. They hate you, and people like you, and basically anyone who isn't a designated "victim" or a designated savior of such "victims".

  48. Gay community takes themselves down a notch? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Firstly, why are Barilla's remarks considered anti-gay? I don't feel they are. His position is that if you like his pasta, gay or not, you are free to buy it.

    Secondly, there is no universal "book of law" that states Barilla's beliefs & values must reflect anybody or everybody else's. Hypocrisy abounds. The fervor of gay community elements have reached shrieking "reverse discrimination" pitches.

    Thirdly, Barilla owes nothing to the gay community. He makes pasta. I think if he doesn't want to feature homosexuality as a cornerstone to a freaking pasta advertisement, that should be his choice. Why should he be forced politicize pasta?

    1. Re:Gay community takes themselves down a notch? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't know. I am gay and I am absolutely not offended by this guy not wanting to feature gay men in his ads. It's, like, just his opinion.

    2. Re:Gay community takes themselves down a notch? by UnknownSoldier · · Score: 2

      Exactly.

      Can we mod the article as: -1, Overblown Knee-Jerk Reaction

      Who gives a shit about the *opinion* of some businessman.

    3. Re:Gay community takes themselves down a notch? by seebs · · Score: 1

      Did you read all the remarks, rather than just the summary? Because it doesn't seem to me that you did.

      And you're right, there's no requirement that their beliefs and values represent anyone else's. Or that anyone else buy their pasta.

      --
      My blog: http://www.seebs.net/log/ --- My iPhone/iPad app: http://www.seebs.net/seebsfrac/
    4. Re:Gay community takes themselves down a notch? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      My opinion is that part of your brain failed to develop properly and you are stuck in the "girls are gross" part of childhood. One day we'll be able to implant a "normality pacemaker" in that part of the brain and you'll wonder how you could get an erection near a man.

    5. Re:Gay community takes themselves down a notch? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      +1 It's sickening that the media caters to anything to make a buck and bashes businesses/people that decide to voice their opinion. It's their choice of how they want their commercials to be.

    6. Re:Gay community takes themselves down a notch? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Mod this Comment UP Please!

    7. Re:Gay community takes themselves down a notch? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Firstly, why are Barilla's remarks consider anti-black? I don't feel that they are. His position is that if you like his pasta, black or not, you are free to buy it.

      Secondly, there is no universal "book of law" that states at Barilla's beliefs & values must reflect anybody or everybody else's. Hypocrisy abounds. The fervor of black community elements have reached shrieking "reverse discrimination" pitches.

      Thirdly, Barilla owes nothing to the black community. He makes pasta. I think if he doesn't want to feature colored people as a cornerstone to a freaking pasta advertisement, that should be his choice. Why should he be forced to politicize pasta?

    8. Re:Gay community takes themselves down a notch? by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      About 5% of the population is gay. They are people. Not a single community, not all with the same views or beliefs, just a random 5% of the population who were born with certain genes. For some reason Barilla believes that they are less able to be good parents than the other 95%, with no rational argument to support that prejudice. Make no mistake, it is prejudice in the literal sense of the word - pre-judging people's ability as parents based on their sexuality.

      The reason people, not just gay people, care about people being openly prejudiced and displaying irrational fear is that it harms them directly. Their kids end up being bullied at school, they might get turned down for a job or find it hard to get a promotion unless they hide their sexuality and pretend to be straight. Essentially they are saying that it isn't okay to judge someone based on something they have no control over, like the colour of their skin or their hair or their sexuality, and just like racism the only way to actually change people's minds and prevent them reacting negatively to the revelation that someone is gay is to make it socially unacceptable.

      Yeah, it's a belief that his views should reflect theirs, but when those views harm other people directly people have a right to defend and protect themselves. As it happens the people objecting to this are only doing exactly what he is - deciding that homophobia is wrong and that people who believe it are less worthy of being the heads of corporations and choosing to publicly shame them. He has a right to say what he likes, but must accept the consequences.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    9. Re:Gay community takes themselves down a notch? by marcello_dl · · Score: 1

      Yes, let's remove the homosexual issue altogether, what if the guy said "redhead" instead of gay.

      Barilla won't feature any redhead models for its ads, if redhead like Barilla they would buy it anyway.

      Something wrong with that? can people have preferences anymore, for themselves or for the entities they manage?

      Gays are often under threats? nail THOSE RESPONSIBLE. No prob. But leave opinions alone. After defending the right of gays shall we begin to defend the rights of homophobes? Can't we simply respect the ideas of other people as long as they don't mess with our own freedom?

      --
      ---- MISSING MISCELLANEOUS DATA SEGMENT --- [sigdash] trolololol
    10. Re:Gay community takes themselves down a notch? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Replace "gay" with "black" or "women" and see if you feel the same way.

    11. Re:Gay community takes themselves down a notch? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So what if he doesn't want to feature [black] families in his advertising? He doesn't get to choose his own advertising now? Is product advertising is about kneeling to political pressure groups, or is it about selling products?

      Gays should stop trying to bully everyone.

    12. Re:Gay community takes themselves down a notch? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      On the other hand, he's the CEO of a large company. If he's going to start opening his mouth on divisive political issues, people are going to associate that with his business and act accordingly. It's fine if you want to speak about such issues, but if you're going to use the publicity your position garners to do so, then you have the responsibility to deal with the consequences.

    13. Re:Gay community takes themselves down a notch? by dywolf · · Score: 1

      Dont you know there is no middle nuetral ground allowed here?

      If you dont seek them out to prominently display them on a pedestal and say "SEE?! LOOK AT US! WE'RE WITH IT!", then by definition you are against them, and the relevence (or lack of it) of sexual orientation to pasta advertising is completely immaterial.

      --
      The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.
    14. Re:Gay community takes themselves down a notch? by intermodal · · Score: 1

      Amen. In fact, I don't see many commercials today since I seldom watch broadcast television, but the only thing I really take away from any food commercial is the food itself. And even then, in non-brand-specific ways, since I prefer to cook most of my foods from scratch (not counting pasta, I've never made my own)

      --
      In SOVIET RUSSIA... erm...NSA AMERICA, the Internet logs onto YOU!
  49. Re:He just sold a hell of a lot of pasta by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's more of the "when are you going to have kids?" kind of question, which we ultimately decided was no one's business but our own. (Except for those who now realize that over-population is a far bigger problem than that....)

  50. Re:He just sold a hell of a lot of pasta by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I mean who could object to being defined as 'strange'. I'm sure there are a number of things biological and social that make you 'strange' if we're talking percentages, so it's only fair we start calling you queer too.

    Actually no, why do you get to keep gay and I lose queer? I say queer meaning strange or odd, with no inference to homosexuality.

    [Apologies if i missed the dry wit in your post, but you did a good job of looking like you were serious]

    captcha: repress

  51. Re:He just sold a hell of a lot of pasta by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So you don't want anyone shoving their sexuality in your face.... You however don't mind shoving your sexuality in a womans face, if you find her sexually appealing.

    I'm all up for restraint and respect, but you're just a hypocrite. I suspect you're trolling this thread now.

  52. Re:He just sold a hell of a lot of pasta by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I did not think "gay" was a self-given title. I didn't think they adopted the term "queer", either, to help better describe their sexual orientation. It's what the last generation called things to make it a little less clinical than same-sex sex and they rationalized it, much like this guy, to help themselves feel better for blaming others for not following the the expected morality. As if gender preferences have anything to do with ethics.

    Some brainwashing cannot be bleached, I guess.

  53. He could have said by Msdose · · Score: 0

    Females are able to discern who to mate with based on smell, which matches them to a different immune system and so passes on the benefits of two immune systems to their progeny. This keeps our species ahead of the pathogens trying to evade our immune system. Oral contraceptives change the female reaction to smell, causing a preference to mate with a similar immune system. Matings which result from this produce progeny with only a single source of immune system, which, if this behavior is passed on to the majority, will cause our species to be wiped out by the pathogens. To prevent this, nature makes a small percentage of the progeny of such matings effectively sterile, e.g. homosexual. Pharmaceutical companies are big supporters of gay organizations, so no boycott there.

  54. WTF? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why is this on Slashdot?

    You faggots need to shut the fuck up! You whine about being discriminated against... Well, in light of this episode, I am all in favor of discriminating against homos.

    SUCK IT, FAGGOTS!

    I'd love to see more CEOs like Dan Cathy with the balls to not fear writing off the small homo market segment.

  55. Very tolerant of them don't you think? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Did anyone read his actual comments? OK, his point of view supports traditional family structure, but certainly did not seem actively hostile to homosexuals. He seemed to be quite "tolerant". But tolerance isn't good enough anymore is it? You must actively embrace the homosexual way or you are a homophobe?

    Give me a break, and show some tolerance yourself.

    1. Re:Very tolerant of them don't you think? by seebs · · Score: 1

      Well, "tolerance" which includes saying that people shouldn't be allowed to adopt kids isn't particularly tolerant, and is very bad for society as a whole. We all suffer from kids not getting good homes, and there are more kids needing adoption than there are adoptive families. Preventing gay people from adopting would be bad for everyone, so opposing gay couples adopting is hostile to everyone.

      --
      My blog: http://www.seebs.net/log/ --- My iPhone/iPad app: http://www.seebs.net/seebsfrac/
    2. Re:Very tolerant of them don't you think? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Gays don't seek tolerance, equity or acceptance. They seek dominance which is why they insist on special legal and political treatment and try to persecute anyone who does anything less than actively promote the gay agenda.

    3. Re:Very tolerant of them don't you think? by aristotle-dude · · Score: 1

      Well, "tolerance" which includes saying that people shouldn't be allowed to adopt kids isn't particularly tolerant, and is very bad for society as a whole. We all suffer from kids not getting good homes, and there are more kids needing adoption than there are adoptive families. Preventing gay people from adopting would be bad for everyone, so opposing gay couples adopting is hostile to everyone.

      I think you need to buy an f'ing dictionary. Tolerance != agreeing with everyone. Tolerance means that you agree that everyone has a right to their opinion even if you disagree with them. You are exhibiting intolerance. You do not tolerate anyone with an opinion that differs from your own. You have a right to your opinion and your ridiculous definition of tolerance wrong though it may be. You see, I am tolerating your ignorance the definition of terms and your misguided opinions.

      I am saying that you are wrong about what those terms mean but I'm not going to try to stop you from continuing to display your ignorance.

      What is bad for society is your insistence on silencing those who think differently. That is what the nazis tried to do.

      --
      Jesus was a compassionate social conservative who called individuals to sin no more.
    4. Re:Very tolerant of them don't you think? by Yosho · · Score: 1

      What is bad for society is your insistence on silencing those who think differently. That is what the nazis tried to do.

      No, the Nazis tried to commit genocide. The fact that you would think that is even comparable to disagreeing with somebody on a public forum makes your entire argument laughable. Come back and try again when the original poster has attempted to murder you and everybody who is related to you.

      --
      Karma: Terrifying (mostly affected by atrocities you've committed)
  56. fudge by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The fudge packing union needs to make some pro-gay advertisements. Or is that just another name for the modern Democratic Party?

  57. This is a disgrace! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is a disgrace. There is no way that I am going to remain a Berilla customer after this debacle.

    From now on, I will be buying my Fagottini pasta somewhere else.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fagottini

  58. Mountain out of a molehill by Solandri · · Score: 4, Informative

    Snopes actually has a pretty good summary of the situation. The guy supports gay rights and gay marriage. He is, however, against adoption by gay parents (because it involves a person who has no choice in the matter). He wants advertisements for his pasta to focus on families, and since his beliefs (and biology) prohibit gay parents from having kids, they cannot appear in his ads.

    1. Re:Mountain out of a molehill by Yosho · · Score: 2, Insightful

      He is, however, against adoption by gay parents (because it involves a person who has no choice in the matter).

      That prompts the question, why isn't he against adoption by heterosexual parents?

      --
      Karma: Terrifying (mostly affected by atrocities you've committed)
    2. Re:Mountain out of a molehill by AmiMoJo · · Score: 2

      Implicit in that argument is that there is a reason why a child might not want to be adopted by gay parents.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    3. Re:Mountain out of a molehill by Kidbro · · Score: 1

      ...or heterosexuals having children by the regular process. The kids don't really have a choice either way.

    4. Re:Mountain out of a molehill by dcollins · · Score: 0

      He supports gay marriage? The quote from the Snopes link is:

      "I would never do (a commercial) with a homosexual family, not for lack of respect but because we don't agree with them. Ours is a classic family where the woman plays a fundamental role."

      So:
      - He is on the record that "we don't agree" with "a homosexual family".
      - His "woman plays a fundamental role" is classic fundamentalist sexist BS.
      - The idea that kids don't choose homosexual parents is no different than the situation for heterosexual adoptions; it is an invalid and bigoted argument to make.

      --
      We know where leadership by an anti-intellectual "strongman" who scapegoats minorities and likes boisterous rallies goes
    5. Re:Mountain out of a molehill by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He is, however, against adoption by gay parents (because it involves a person who has no choice in the matter).

      That prompts the question, why isn't he against adoption by heterosexual parents?

      I'll reply your question.
      First of all I support gay marriage and do what the fsck you want if its legal and don't hurt anybody stance.
      There is a a reason why gay parents should not adopt babies or small kids... the reasons are... the other kids.
      Small kids are not yet socialized, and thus, they will single out everyone who is different and bully them... too fat? the kids will notice and make fun of it... to thin? to short? too tall? need glases? the kids will notice. To socialize them and to teach respect of others are a long process, often it takes even beyond high school.
      While being born too short or with glandular or vision problems is not a decision but fate, being raised by a gay couple is a decision, a decision the kids will notice and make fun of it.And a decision the kid did not made.
      And no, it's neither a sociological problem nor a lack of education... in kindergarten the children are yet to be socialized and to learn to respect their fellow humans.
      So the adopted child will be singled out, this happens even with childs adopted by heterosexual couples, I know it, i've whitnessed it because I have a couple of cousins that were adopted, and I myself have been victim of bullying for being too fat, and believe it, because my mother died when I was 4 yo. If the adopting couple is heterosexual the child can cope better with the situation (Most often, just hiding the fact to the bullies) With a gay couple, the fact is undeniable.
      So a well caring, intelligent and honest to good intentions gay couple should refrain themselves for even thinking to push a little kid to suffer 18 years of bullying just to fullfill their "raising" needs.
      Having said that... babies and toddlers are not the only ones who need loving parents. There are a lot of children with ages ranging from 8 to legal age that are living in institutions because nobody wants them. They still need to be loved and cared an offered a caring home. At age 8 and older, the child has many more emotional tools to cope with bullying than at 2yo, and being bullied is better tha being institutionalized until legal age.If gay couples push for a bill to adopt these "too grown ups" I will support the bill enthusiatically. (Forgive any errors, English is not my native language)

    6. Re:Mountain out of a molehill by k8to · · Score: 1

      Your position is ridiculous. You think everyone needs to be the same "for the children". That will never happen.

      In practice the adopted kids in my school were never singled out. Typically the fact they were adopted was simply not known to most people, and even when it was known it was just another fact.

      In practice the children of gay couples I know from 3-12 do not have problems in school because they have two moms or dads.

      You can't justify preventing people from having kids because of some vague peer pressure idea.

      --
      -josh
    7. Re:Mountain out of a molehill by k8to · · Score: 1

      Correction, he supports *some* gay rights.

      --
      -josh
    8. Re:Mountain out of a molehill by aristotle-dude · · Score: 0

      He is, however, against adoption by gay parents (because it involves a person who has no choice in the matter).

      That prompts the question, why isn't he against adoption by heterosexual parents?

      WTF? Do you see children as chattel? Do you think children should be bought and sold to anyone with the money to pay? You can be as gay as you want to be but don't assume that anyone has an absolute right to adopt and raise a child.

      The child should be placed the the best environment possible for the "CHILD". Their needs must come first, not yours.

      Stop treating children like property.

      --
      Jesus was a compassionate social conservative who called individuals to sin no more.
    9. Re:Mountain out of a molehill by aristotle-dude · · Score: 1

      ...or heterosexuals having children by the regular process. The kids don't really have a choice either way.

      Congrats on figuring out how you got here. You seem upset that you are here? Grow up.

      --
      Jesus was a compassionate social conservative who called individuals to sin no more.
    10. Re:Mountain out of a molehill by aristotle-dude · · Score: 1
      You still think children are property. They are not property. Stop assuming that the desires of adults to adopt are more important than the long term mental health of the child. Seriously, stop being so bloody politically correct.

      Get a dog if you need a dependent. Children should not be subjected to social experiments just to satisfy the emotional needs of needy adults.

      --
      Jesus was a compassionate social conservative who called individuals to sin no more.
    11. Re:Mountain out of a molehill by Yosho · · Score: 1

      WTF? Do you see children as chattel? Do you think children should be bought and sold to anyone with the money to pay? You can be as gay as you want to be but don't assume that anyone has an absolute right to adopt and raise a child.

      The child should be placed the the best environment possible for the "CHILD". Their needs must come first, not yours.

      Stop treating children like property.

      Wow, you sure are putting a lot of words into my mouth. I never said any of those things, so stop acting like I did.

      The original poster I replied to was justifying the opposite of adoption by gay couples by saying that since the children have no choice in the matter, it's wrong. If the thing that he really objects to here is the children having no choice, then why is it ok for heterosexual couples to adopt? Why is it ok for them to give birth to children who have no choice about it, for that matter?

      --
      Karma: Terrifying (mostly affected by atrocities you've committed)
    12. Re:Mountain out of a molehill by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It is generally accepted that the most well adjusted children come from a loving family where there is a mother and a father in the home.

      Is it, now? Do provide some verifiable and credible citations, please. It seems to me that you're trying to appeal to authority here, and that won't get you far.

    13. Re:Mountain out of a molehill by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Probably because the self-designing intelligence that is Nature decided that it takes a male and a female to continue life for that species. The experience that a child gets from watching 2 people that are of the opposite sex go through things with each other, overcome those things, and the rest of what comes with a relationship between male and female, enriches one's life and provides a way for natural conclusions to arise that can then later be used by the child.

      I know a girl that was raised by gay women, and she says that although she loves her mom, she doesn't think it's a good idea for a child to grow up without a daddy, by women only, and never get feed-back from men. I assume that it's also true that it's not a good idea for a child to be raised without a mommy. Let me just tell you, this girl is one of the biggest whores that I know, and has many drug-related problems. She's not able to build friendships, as she only sees opportunities in people.

      One must learn things that no one but experience can teach them. There are limits to parenting.

      If you're gay, there's nothing that you can do about it. Go be gay! There's a lot more good that can be done to the world by gay people if they weren't trying to be so damn heterosexual all the time.

    14. Re:Mountain out of a molehill by Yosho · · Score: 1

      Why? Because a heterosexual "COUPLE", by definition has a man and a woman so the child will be exposed to both male and female role models in the home.

      The issue here isn't heterosexual couples adopting vs. homosexual couples adopting. It's homosexual couples adopting vs. not being adopted at all. I don't know if you've ever looked at the state of orphanages or adoption agencies, but they are packed with kids that are not being adopted. Do you believe it's better for a child to live in an orphanage until they're too old to keep or to be constantly passed between foster families than it is to be adopted by a gay couple?

      It is generally accepted that the most well adjusted children come from a loving family where there is a mother and a father in the home. Children from single mother or single father families tend to have some issues. For example, a girl who is raised by a single father will not have a female to model herself after and visa versa.

      "Generally accepted"? Please show me some studies and provide citations.

      I'm sorry if you are offended by "science" and "facts".

      I love science and facts, but all I see from you is conjecture.

      What are you trying to tell us here? Do you resent your parents for having you? What is up with your antagonism towards heterosexuals? Why do you hate them so much? Why do you hate the traditional family? Have you considered seeking out a therapist to work out your issues? Were you from a single parent home?

      You're stuffing words into my mouth again. What I am trying to tell you here is that I'm making a counter-argument to the original poster's argument, which you seem to have completely forgotten about. I'm from a "traditional" two-parent home and have no problems with them. I don't have any problem with heterosexuals (I am one, by the way!), just bigots.

      --
      Karma: Terrifying (mostly affected by atrocities you've committed)
    15. Re:Mountain out of a molehill by NoImNotNineVolt · · Score: 1

      And is that a false implication? Is it not possible that a child might be (or grow up to be) homophobic, or otherwise intolerant of gays? Is it not possible that the child's peers might be homophobic, or otherwise intolerant of gays? Are you honestly unwilling to admit that there are countless reasons why a child might not want to be adopted by gay parents?

      --
      Chuuch. Preach. Tabernacle.
    16. Re:Mountain out of a molehill by Rakarra · · Score: 1

      What are you trying to tell us here? Do you resent your parents for having you? What is up with your antagonism towards heterosexuals? Why do you hate them so much? Why do you hate the traditional family? Have you considered seeking out a therapist to work out your issues? Were you from a single parent home?

      Boy, you love the strawmen and ad hominem arguments.

  59. Gays are mad by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Good thing the majority of America isn't ok with homosexuality just like they aren't ok with pedophilia or beastiality. I will continue supporting Barilla and Chick Fil A and whatever company that supports some sort of morality as oppossed to those who cave in out of fear of a vocal minority.

  60. Stupid by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I am sure I consume goods produced by both homosexual and heterosexual owned businesses. Whether I support one or the other, or how they live their private lives is irrelevant.

    If we want to talk real evil, let's talk Monsanto.

  61. Re:He just sold a hell of a lot of pasta by Sketchly · · Score: 0

    We call em 'bummers' round here.

  62. Re:He just sold a hell of a lot of pasta by mcgrew · · Score: 1

    Why?

  63. Re:He just sold a hell of a lot of pasta by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Half of what group has attempted suicide? I don't think half of gays have attempted suicide. And if any have, it's because bigots like you push them to. Now tell me, what is wrong between two people who enjoy having sex with each other doing so? And what is wrong with two people who love each other getting married? Your argument is literally composed of straw men build out of straw men, stuffed with shit.

  64. No More Barillia for me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Not because of the comments...
    But because he backed down from his beliefs ... wrong or not they are his and all the whiners should STFU.

  65. Why advertising might matter... by seebs · · Score: 1

    Long story short: People react very strongly to things being unfamiliar or strange. Things you see at least occasionally are much less threatening. If occasional ads include gay couples, then people are a lot more likely to be tolerant of gays and inclined to think gays should get the same basic legal protections other people do. If there are no gay couples on TV, then people are a lot less likely to be tolerant of gays. This is just very basic low-level wiring in the brain; we distrust unfamiliar things, the same way just about all other animals do. And that means that there is significant social impact from having advertisements include, or not-include, particular recognizable classes of people.

    Of course, the advertising thing might not have sunk him; it was the adoption thing that sealed the deal.

    --
    My blog: http://www.seebs.net/log/ --- My iPhone/iPad app: http://www.seebs.net/seebsfrac/
  66. Re:He just sold a hell of a lot of pasta by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    homosexuality involves loving relationships between people of the same gender

    No it doesn't. Homosexuality means engaging in sex with someone of the same sex. Geez, why do leftists/progressives/liberals (whatever label you prefer) always feel the need to obfuscate by redefining words which have clear meanings. Homosexuals may have loving relationships either platonic or non-platonic, but homosexuality means what it means and doesn't refer to anything but sex.

    cannibalism involves murder

    No it doesn't. Cannibalism refers to a human eating human flesh and says nothing about how that flesh was obtained, whether from murder, roadkill or an enemy defeated in battle (which is not murder).

    something is "deviant" if it differs from what society in general considers acceptable

    Deviant refers to something which differs from a norm. Since Progressives are trying to abolish all behavioral norms, they don't want anything to be considered deviant. Everyone should consider that when they support the gay agenda. Progressives won't stop with the gay agenda; they will keep defining deviancy down until transsexualism, pedophilia, bestiality and public nudity are all considered normal and then they will keep pushing the envelop until anomie is reached. At that point society will have disintegrated and no one will be secure in their persons or property.

    The only people who consider homosexuality unacceptable nowadays (within the USA, at least) are the extreme right-wing, fundamentalist Christians.

    Neither do Muslims, conservative Jews, most parents and, well, most of the voting public. I'm pretty sure most of those other groups don't include a lot of "extreme right-wing, fundamentalist Christians". In fact, the only non-marginal group that supports the acceptability of homosexuality is young people who have been thoroughly indoctrinated by the education system to do so. Of course, once those youngins grow up and find out that "loving the geh" means losing your job or not being hired because you aren't openly homosexual and having the dreams for your children crushed because they have been recruited into the homosexual lifestyle, then many of those youngins with change their tune.

  67. Re:What a bunch of brainwashed idiots... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I really hope that this is Poe's Law in action. The sad part is that I really can't tell.

  68. Re:What a bunch of brainwashed idiots... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Did the penis evolve to fit the anus? No."

    Did your fingers evolve to spew BS in online forums? No.

    You're just pissed off that anal sex is so mind-blowingly awesome.

  69. Re:He just sold a hell of a lot of pasta by Sardaukar86 · · Score: 1

    Because the fucking-based aspect is the only difference between a gay and a straight, and it is indeed deviant behavior. Personally, I feel sorry for gays.

    Who died and made you God? Because whomever it was forgot to tell you that homosexuality isn't confined to Homo Sapiens Sapiens and has been going on since sex began.

    Deviant behaviour, indeed. What a fucking arrogant thing to say.

    --
    ..Mullah or Pope, Preacher or Poet, who was it wrote: "Give any one species too much rope and they'll fuck it up"?
  70. PC ?!?! This is ALL about profit by Archfeld · · Score: 1

    PC has nothing to do with this, it is all about the potential loss of profit. Barilla could really care less if people are offended, unless they stop spending then it becomes an issue...

    --
    errr....umm...*whooosh* *whoosh* Is this thing on ?
  71. Hypocrits! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And, naturally, no cocksucker steps forward to apologize for there being no "S" in "LGBT".

  72. But that's not what is happening here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    The pasta company said it happily serves gays, sells to gays, etc (no anti-gay anything) but that the corporate image is of a traditional family sitting down to a home-cooked (cooked by a mom, no less) meal... and that gays in the ads would be inconsistent with that corporate image (which it would). Corporate images are very important parts of marketing plans (think KFC and "the Colonel") the image does not have to be logical, rational, etc (Budweiser frogs?) but it is important for branding that it be consistent.

    Ahh, but OH NO! the uber-tolerant left finds this completely INTOLERABLE!!!!

    Under the rules of "tolerance" we may all think what we think and believe what we believe and live as we wish to live... unless we disagree with them and their ever-mutating, evolving standards. The moment somebody says something that can be in some way twisted into so-called "hate speech", these paragons of peace, love and tolerance HATE him. Off with his head! Destroy his business! His right to freedom ends anywhere their rhetorical fists choose to fly. They refuse to acknowledge his right to market to average families with the images of average families. By this standard, gays should be banned from using gay imagery to market products to gays (by not using straights, they are being HATERS!)

    The extreme dishonesty and duplicity of the left on cultural issues is tiresome and juvenile... it's where you end up when the focus of your life is on what's between your legs (see: gay pride parade)

  73. Liberals and free speech by gelfling · · Score: 1

    It's occasionally funny when the two mix. Like when liberals defend neo nazis.

  74. It's on slashdot because by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    The population leans younger and some of them have just discovered that people have interesting things between their legs. Some of these young people suffer from confusion and/or body dysmorphic disorders and there are others here who are much older but never grew beyond the initial fascination with their own private parts and the private parts of others. These people latch-onto anything related to "personal plumbing" and try to relate everything to their private bits.

    It's like a kid with a hammer - everything is a nail.

    Some geek with abnormal sexual tendencies sees something related to his personal issues that angers him and he HAS TO post it everywhere including on a non-sexual site - because his sexual proclivities are the most important thing in his life (whereas most of us keep our private lives to ourselves). Most people would rather not know the odd preferences/hangups of the people around them, but gays DEMAND we all know theirs and that we recite after them: "it's normal, it's normal". It's on Slashdot because somebody with a disorder decided we all had to have it jammed into our faces; it's not enough that he live his sad little life in his little corner of the universe, everybody must acknowledge him and accept him and embrace every aspect of his life (even if we never do that even for "straights"/"breeders") We are all required to join him in his OUTRAGE that somebody SOMEWHERE on Earth disagrees with him (Oh, the HUMANITY!)

  75. By your logic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    We all have the right to know which companies are "gay friendly" and to not buy from them

    This political boycott stuff runs both ways - and it's dangerous; We should all just buy based on price, features, performance, etc. and let each individual believe what he wants to believe and live as he wants to live.

    Perhaps there should be web sites that keep track of which businesses hire gays, and straight people could use this info to inform them on where to shop and what to buy... I'd bet this would immediately be denounced as "hateful" and gays would immediately DEMAND laws against it (they've actually demanded and been rewarded with a law in California that requires schools to teach positive things about gays and forbids teachers from mentioning anything negative). For the activists, this has never been about "free speech", or "tolerance"; it's always been about demanding that society embrace their standards and punish anybody who disagrees.

  76. Guess They Voted! by Greyfox · · Score: 1

    Now they're all eating Big Gay Al's Big Gay Spaghetti! You know that scene in Lady and the Tramp with the spaghetti? The photo on the box of Big Gay Al's Big Gay Spaghetti is two dudes french kissing over a plate of spaghetti.

    --

    I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?

  77. Um... by publiclurker · · Score: 1

    Not buying it is boycotting it son. Maybe you should have thought that out a little bit more before you ranted.

  78. and just how do you by publiclurker · · Score: 1

    rationally debate with a homophobe (or any bigot for that matter). their fear gets in the way of any rational thoughts.

    1. Re:and just how do you by laie_techie · · Score: 1

      rationally debate with a homophobe (or any bigot for that matter). their fear gets in the way of any rational thoughts.

      So, just because someone disagrees with you they either: have a phobia, are bigoted, or are incapable of rational thought? Who's judging whom? I believe homosexual acts are morally wrong (as is heterosexual acts outside of marriage). I am not scared of homosexuals nor homosexuality. I will fight for my right to teach my children that homosexuality is sinful while I fight to end hate-crimes against homosexuals. A bakery should have the right to refuse to make a gay wedding cake; there are other bakeries. A pharmacy should have the right to stock contraceptives; there are other pharmacies. In each of these cases, it is a private company making a moral decision.

  79. And so would the people that flew the airplanes by publiclurker · · Score: 1

    into the world trade center. That is why you don't wast time listening to nut jobs.

    1. Re:And so would the people that flew the airplanes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We need an updated version of Godwin's law. Let's call it Godwin2: "As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving the September 11 terrorists approaches 1." For a decade, Americans held to a sort of hushed reserve when it came to that subject, but now I'm hearing jokes and glib, offhand references to the event.

      You have to remember: the 9/11 terrorists planned carefully, executed the plan, and accomplished what they set out to do in spades. They weren't "nut jobs". You don't protect society by ignoring them, or trying to lock them all in cages. You do it by finding out what makes them tick, then convincing them to change their minds. Same thing for all social change, unless you're willing to hunt down and kill all the people you consider "nut jobs." But then that makes you the terrorist. (See there, now I'm doing the compare-someone-to-a-terrorist thing.)

    2. Re:And so would the people that flew the airplanes by farble1670 · · Score: 1

      you need to differentiate between simply having a belief, and taking actions supposedly supported by that belief that infringe up on the rights of, or harm, others. believing that all americans are infidels and should die is fine. it's an opinion. blowing them up for the same reason is not fine. if you are going to run around calling everyone that lacks the same opinion as you a nut job, you'd better get busy. it's going to be a life's work for you.

  80. No they don't by publiclurker · · Score: 1

    But, as we all know, homophobia, like other forms of bigotry, is not an intellectual position.

  81. Fact: Gays are bullies. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    The majority of schoolyard bullies are closet gays. Alexander the Great was gay, he treated his wife like shit and crucified entire cities to prove himself a "macho" man. Men should not try to impress other men.

    Homosexuals are irrational and hate filled and some of them even rape women because they cannot get an erection from consensual sex with women and blame the women for their inability to perform.

    PS. Some of the inner circle of the NAZI party in Germany were gay.

  82. Re:He just sold a hell of a lot of pasta by mcgrew · · Score: 1

    Every human being on earth exhibits some sort of deviant behavior. A rich man giving half of his fortune away to charity is deviant behavior. It isn't a moral judgement, it's simply an observation.

    Hating someone for their sexual orientation is deviant behavior, and I personally find bigotry reprehensible. I feel sorry for gays because of the bigotry they have to put up with.

    A woman I knew once said to me that she wished she wasn't a lesbian because she didn't want t go to hell; her preacher had just preached an anti-gay sermon. I pointed out to her that that bigoted preacher's sermon was sinful and hypocritical; we're all sinners. I guess he forgot what Christ died for.

    I suggested she find another church. This sort of bullshit is why I feel sorry for gays. They don't deserve to be treated like that, nobody does.

    "Everybody's got to deviate from the norm" -- Rush (the band)

  83. LGBT lobby makes me sick by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I shall buy more Barilla pasta, because this CEO got discriminated by the LGBT lobby.
    I'm getting sick of those groups who intend to restricy freedom of speech and to think.
    I'm free to burn any given book which I do not like, as Woody Allen is free to scrap all the Wagner records he can buy.
    So am I free to support any pasta maker.

  84. Now he's pissed off almost everyone by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Maybe he just shot off his mouth without thinking or maybe he doesn't realize that a lot of people would react badly to his comments.

    Maybe he thought those who are somewhat homophobic would appreciate his "family values".

    But instead he pissed off gay people and people who support gay rights (despite his stance on gay marriage) and then he turned around and apologized for it which has pissed off some people who don't support gay rights.

    I never pay attention to what brand of pasta I buy anyway. I did check my pantry out of curiosity though. I have 3 different brands of pasta in there and one of them was his.

    All it did was remind me I need to cook more pasta.

  85. Coward by Cammi · · Score: 1

    So .... the chairman is a coward? Check.

  86. Re:He just sold a hell of a lot of pasta by Sardaukar86 · · Score: 1

    I appreciate your reasoned response and I apologise for my outburst, I failed to understand the thrust of your original post.

    However, I still don't see how or why you consider homosexuality a deviant behaviour when it has been known as a normal part of mammalian life for some time now. That said I'd rather a biologist were here to weigh in as I'm only Wikipedia-qualified on the topic. Are you out there Samantha?

    Biology is obvious, Tab-A goes into Slot-B and that makes sense to everyone. Perhaps you feel that using these components in any combination other than the aforementioned is a deviation from original purpose; if so, then we are probably just arguing semantics rather than fundamentally disagreeing. "Deviant behaviour" in our society has somewhat stronger connotation than 'deviation from the norm' does in discussions about statistics.

    --
    ..Mullah or Pope, Preacher or Poet, who was it wrote: "Give any one species too much rope and they'll fuck it up"?
  87. Re:He just sold a hell of a lot of pasta by mcgrew · · Score: 1

    Yes, homosexuality isn't unique to our species. And I should have been more clear when I commented.

  88. Why? by terrywirth5 · · Score: 1

    Were teh gays pressuring Al Dente to have gay scenarios in his commercials? I think not and he should have kept his mouth shut except for when he is inserting noodles into said orifice.

  89. what a bunch of whiners... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There is no such thing as homophobia. It is a political construct invented by sissies and paid attention to by idiots!
    It's all about abridging the freedom of speech...

  90. Gorilla Chairman by peter.kingsbury · · Score: 0

    I read "barilla chairman" as "gorilla chairman" and immediately thought of Ballmer...

  91. Not really news for nerds by Gibgezr · · Score: 1

    The link to "news for nerds' is pretty tenuous in this case. Something is big in FB and Twitterspace, so that makes it news for nerds? I thought nerds were the people that most shunned semi-useless crap like FB and Twitter.

  92. Re:He just sold a hell of a lot of pasta by garbut · · Score: 1

    deviant behavior

    If there isn't anything you do that someone somewhere would consider deviant, I feel sorry for you.

    --
    Oh, should I have sugar-coated that?
  93. Re:He just sold a hell of a lot of pasta by mcgrew · · Score: 1

    I just said pretty much the same thing to someone who took offense at the comment. "Deviant" shouldn't have a negative spin, charity is deviant behavior. Mother Theresa exhibited deviant behavior. People shouldn't be so uptight about words and instead look at the word as communicating exactly what the dictionary says it communicates.

    FWIW I pity gays because of the bigotry they're subjected to. I especially dislike the "God hates fags" preachers and feel especially sorry for a gay that wanders into one of their churches. God loves everyone and your sins are no worse than mine or anyone else's and are none of my business.

  94. Re:He just sold a hell of a lot of pasta by Rakarra · · Score: 1

    I don't know what kind of activities you engage in with your partner, but that's pretty much what sexuality means. Ergo, people who have homosexual partners will perform, or desire to perform, homosexual acts. Otherwise, it's no different that having a close friend. So yeah, people should be obsessed with the intercourse and intimacy aspects because that's all of sexuality.

    Now I know you've never had a serious significant other.
    No one who has would say it's just a "close friendship" with sex.

  95. Re:He just sold a hell of a lot of pasta by Rakarra · · Score: 1

    Mother Theresa exhibited deviant behavior.

    I think she exhibited deviant behavior too, but a lot more disturbing than most people were aware of.

  96. Re:A True Gay Man by Rakarra · · Score: 1

    This was scored -1, but it should really be +1 funny, insightful.

  97. Re:He just sold a hell of a lot of pasta by mcgrew · · Score: 1

    Quite possibly, I never met her.