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Russia Takes Down Steve Jobs Memorial After Apple's Tim Cook Comes Out

An anonymous reader writes Citing the need to abide by a law combating "gay propaganda," a memorial dedicated to the late Apple founder Steve Jobs has been torn down. This comes on the heels of new CEO Tim Cook coming out as gay. "In Russia, gay propaganda and other sexual perversions among minors are prohibited by law," ZEFS (a Russian group of companies that originally erected the statue) said, noting that the memorial had been "in an area of direct access for young students and scholars". "After Apple CEO Tim Cook publicly called for sodomy, the monument was taken down to abide to the Russian federal law protecting children from information promoting denial of traditional family values."

266 of 430 comments (clear)

  1. Terrible by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    After Apple CEO Tim Cook publicly called for sodomy

    I know this is terrible and all, but as someone completely unaffected by this (not an apple fanboy, russian or gay) I find some kind of weird surreal humour in the whole thing.

    Mr Putin says there is no discrimination against gay people in Russia and the law was needed only to protect young people

    Like, how do you even reach this point of reasoning.

    1. Re:Terrible by MozeeToby · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I know I turned gay when I heard Tim Cook came out! Wait... that's not how human sexuality works.

    2. Re:Terrible by Payden+K.+Pringle · · Score: 5, Funny

      Then how does it work? Please cite sources.

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

      The less you hold or can hold your government accountable, the more that the logic they use for their actions will sound absurd. The statement doesn't need to appear sound or logical, it's just fluff to defend laws/rules/decisions that they know you can't fight anyway.

    4. Re:Terrible by MightyMartian · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Because you're the autocratic ruler of a backward nation where a healthy percentage of the population still believes the Protocols of the Elders of Zion is a historical document.

      Since the time of Peter the Great, Russia has been an odd mix of backwards regressive state with a shiny veneer of modern technocratic government.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    5. Re:Terrible by houstonbofh · · Score: 4, Funny

      Aperently it starts with a pizza delivery, according to may documentaries on the subject... Bom chicka bow wow... :)

    6. Re:Terrible by operagost · · Score: 5, Funny

      If the guy decides to show me his Little Caesar, he's getting no tip.

      --

      Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
    7. Re:Terrible by Gliscameria · · Score: 5, Funny

      I for one do do whatever statues tell me to do.

      --
      X
    8. Re:Terrible by MightyMartian · · Score: 4, Interesting

      "Homosexual relationships are by definition sodomy"

      This simply isn't true. Two famous homosexuals; Oscar Wilde and Noel Coward, apparently found the idea of penetration appalling.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    9. Re:Terrible by UnknowingFool · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I don't know. Ask members of the GOP. It is the same logic that says allowing gay marriage will mean fewer traditional marriages.

      --
      Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
    10. Re:Terrible by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Within the scope of their laws, it is indeed perfectly rational. It's the laws that seem a little "off".

      I get that "pray away the gay" is still a thing, but I thought in general the civilized world had gotten past the mindset that homosexuality was a learned behavior. Certainly seems weird to see a law like that in a country like Russia.

    11. Re:Terrible by Austerity+Empowers · · Score: 1

      Like, how do you even reach this point of reasoning.

      Hurrrr I ride a hoers!

    12. Re:Terrible by MightyMartian · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Putin and the Russian Orthodox Church do a lot of favors for each other. The payback for the Church's pretty much unwavering support for anything coming out of the Kremlin is that the Kremlin make sure the ROC's nearly medieval social views be propagated into law.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    13. Re:Terrible by X0563511 · · Score: 1

      Like, how do you even reach this point of reasoning.

      Ladies and gentlemen...

      This... is Chewbacca.

      --
      For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
    14. Re:Terrible by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      YOU will get the tip. ;)

    15. Re:Terrible by Rei · · Score: 4, Funny

      "If the pizzaman truly loves this babysitter, why does he keep slapping her rear?" (beat) "Perhaps she's done something wrong..."

      --
      Are there any deer in the theater tonight? Get 'em up against the wall.
    16. Re:Terrible by AK+Marc · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The humor is that by that reckoning, they'd need to tear down the Lincoln memorial if Obama came out gay. The idea that a future holder of the same job should have any relation to the past (and dead) holders of the same position. They might as well make Apple illegal in Russia, as the CEO is gay, so all Apple products call for sodomy.

    17. Re:Terrible by Crashmarik · · Score: 3, Funny

      YOU will get the tip. ;)

      no no feeex thaaat for yuuu

      in Putin's Russia you get the teeep

    18. Re:Terrible by Crashmarik · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I for one do do whatever statues tell me to do.

      Just don't blink when talking to them.

    19. Re:Terrible by rtb61 · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Forget the US government propaganda, one can not be both populists (seeking votes) and autocratic (not needing votes). It was a disturbingly very populists move to go homophobic (disturbing because other groups will also likely come under attack) in Russia with the majority supporting it. The more likely reality in this case was that it is actually an anti-American move with homophobia as the excuse (sort of a double edged attack on the US). After recent events, a trend of anti-Americanism is growing in Russia, fuelled not so much by the Russian government but the rampant hostility of western media (especially US media) to Russia and Russians. With a growing number of English speaking Russians that hostility is feeding back into the general Russian society in a very negative fashion. So it is now becoming a populist move to oppose what the US culturally promotes (often just for mass consumerism or simple political distraction or straight up propaganda). This is not just occurring in Russia but spreading throughout the world as more 'foreigners' become exposed to US media 'American Exceptionalism' propaganda meant for domestic audiences only, this of course in conjunction with the destructive global political manoeuvrings of US corporations. The TPP (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Pacific_Partnership or as I like to call it, the toilet paper protocol because of what it does to all member countries constitutions) is going to cause a huge amount of global social damage from which the US image will likely never recover (the more secret the more likely it will become a focal point for very damaging anti-Americanism).

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
    20. Re:Terrible by Delarth799 · · Score: 5, Funny

      You are first attacked by a flock of gays and if one of them bites you there is a 45% chance of being infected. With no known antidote upwards of 90% of all those infected turn into The Gay and attempt to turn others.

    21. Re:Terrible by Rinikusu · · Score: 4, Funny

      I'm not gay, but my boyfriend sure as shit is.

      --
      If you were me, you'd be good lookin'. - six string samurai
    22. Re:Terrible by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      It's better than catching The Trans*.

    23. Re:Terrible by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Castiel thats not how you watch porn!

      Caption : fetish

    24. Re:Terrible by Prien715 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      allowing gay marriage will mean fewer "traditional" marriages.

      To play devil's advocate, if bisexuality exists, then yes, it very well may.

      Not that it's a reason against it. To me, a traditional marriage is where the partners stay together until death parts them -- gay/straight/otherwise.

      --
      -- Political fascism requires a Fuhrer.
    25. Re:Terrible by MrKaos · · Score: 1

      Then how does it work? Please cite sources.

      Please refer to Apples UI source code.

      --
      My ism, it's full of beliefs.
    26. Re:Terrible by sexconker · · Score: 1

      "Homosexual relationships are by definition sodomy"

      This simply isn't true. Two famous homosexuals; Oscar Wilde and Noel Coward, apparently found the idea of penetration appalling.

      Sodomy does not mean anal sex. Sodomy refers what went down in Sodom.

    27. Re:Terrible by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Sodomy itself is not prohibited, but it is illegal to advocate it.

      I experience huge cognitive dissonance when Putin tells me that the law in question was only designed "to protect children from gay propaganda" when in reality, a statue of Jobs, who is a completely different person from Cook, gets torn down because Cook admitted that he's attracted to men. Not only does it mean that merely saying "I'm gay" could get you prosecuted because that alone is "gay propaganda", even if you said no more than that, but just like in the ole' good Soviet times, your family and associates would apparently be punished as well. Take that, all you idiotic Russophiles out there!

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    28. Re:Terrible by paiute · · Score: 1

      You clicked the EULA. Bend over.

      --
      If Slashdot were chemistry it would look like this:Cadaverine
    29. Re:Terrible by meglon · · Score: 1

      Sodomy does not mean anal sex. Sodomy refers what went down in Sodom.

      ...only to 2000 year old myth writers. Sodomy, defined both in common usage and legal usage means exactly that. Then again, if you actually read the story in the old testament, the angels get pissed when he offers up his virgin daughters to the crowd (female virginity being a HUGE thing back then) so they won't take the angels.

      --
      Fascism: An authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization. See also: NAZI's
    30. Re:Terrible by meglon · · Score: 4, Funny

      Here's traditional marriage:

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

      --
      Fascism: An authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization. See also: NAZI's
    31. Re:Terrible by khelms · · Score: 1

      Dangit. No mod points to reward a sneaky Dr. Who reference!

    32. Re:Terrible by AthanasiusKircher · · Score: 5, Informative

      Sodomy does not mean anal sex. Sodomy refers what went down in Sodom.

      ...only to 2000 year old myth writers. Sodomy, defined both in common usage and legal usage means exactly that.

      Umm, no. In modern sodomy statutes, it is typical to define any sex acts involving anal or ORAL sex as "sodomy," sometimes restricting it only to homosexual anal or oral sex. (But many states had laws on the books also including heterosexual "deviant sex," which could under certain interpretations include anything other than "missionary position" heterosexual sex of married couples.) Old laws also sometimes tended to include bestiality in the definition. We tend to forget the whole oral sex = sodomy in statutes ever since it became an acceptable part of public discourse back in the Clinton era, but that's the way many statutes are written and that's what the word clearly meant at least until 20 years ago or so.

      Then again, if you actually read the story in the old testament, the angels get pissed when he offers up his virgin daughters to the crowd (female virginity being a HUGE thing back then) so they won't take the angels.

      Umm, not really right here either. If you actually read the story, the "sodomy" as a term comes out of what the mob wants to do to the angels (who apparently appeared MALE), and then after Lot offers his daughters, the mob gets even more incensed and threatens to "do worse" to Lot (i.e., go beyond what he offered for them to do to his daughters, but in a [homosexual] way to Lot).

    33. Re:Terrible by cayenne8 · · Score: 4, Informative

      You are first attacked by a flock of gays and if one of them bites you there is a 45% chance of being infected. With no known antidote upwards of 90% of all those infected turn into The Gay and attempt to turn others.

      I don't think the bite thing is how it works, that's zombies.

      I think it works by if you "suck one dick" and then, well, you're gay from then on.

      :)

      --
      Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
    34. Re:Terrible by The+Grim+Reefer · · Score: 1

      YOU will get the tip. ;)

      That sounds like part of a "In Soviet Russia..." joke. But judging by TFS, apparently not.

    35. Re:Terrible by jbolden · · Score: 3, Interesting

      What hostility to Russia? The American media is mostly indifferent to Russia. When they aren't indifferent they either tend to be rather laudatory about the culture: ice skating, gymnastics, art... or hostile towards Russia being uncooperative with the USA.

      Now the Russian media is genuinely hostile and paranoid.

    36. Re:Terrible by fustakrakich · · Score: 1

      Like, how do you even reach this point of reasoning.

      No, that part's cool. It's just like any other S&M fantasy. The sad part is when millions of people take it seriously and start to believe and follow.

      --
      “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
    37. Re:Terrible by stealth_finger · · Score: 1

      I could understand it if Jobs was gay or it was a Cook thing but how is it 'gay propaganda' to have a memorial to a dead guy who was replaced by a gay guy. Are they insinuating gay is the new way or something?

      --
      Wanna buy a shirt?
      https://www.redbubble.com/people/stealthfinger/shop?asc=u
    38. Re:Terrible by Skuld-Chan · · Score: 1

      Sounds like most of America too... http://legacy.rasmussenreports...

    39. Re:Terrible by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 1

      Tim Cook only called for sodomy to the MCX Consortium, which does not include any Russian retailers.

    40. Re:Terrible by cold+fjord · · Score: 1, Flamebait

      To me, a traditional marriage is where the partners stay together until death parts them -- gay/straight/otherwise.

      You might want to take another look at that question. There are thousands of years (4k+) of recorded history of there being a particular set of sexes in marriage. Care to guess what it is? (spoiler at the bottom of post) The numbers may vary, the reason for the marriage might vary, but ultimately that set pattern holds true.

      .

      .

      * Man and woman are joined in marriage.

      --
      much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
    41. Re:Terrible by Payden+K.+Pringle · · Score: 3, Funny

      +5 Funny? I was actually serious.

      "However, to date there are no replicated scientific studies supporting any specific biological etiology for homosexuality."

      Saying that's not how it works implies you know how it works. Please cite sources.

      I love how hilarity comes out of misinterpreted comments on the interwebs. It's lovely. I now see the humor in my comment. Still, Please cite sources.

    42. Re:Terrible by Camembert · · Score: 1

      Even so, I wonder if the Samsung CEO toyed with the idea of coming out now that Tim did it.

    43. Re:Terrible by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Mr Putin says there is no discrimination against gay people in Russia and the law was needed only to protect young people

      Like, how do you even reach this point of reasoning.

      Through the same kind of logic that puts people in jail for possessing cartoons of nude children.

    44. Re:Terrible by user+no.+590291 · · Score: 1

      what went down in Sodom

      I see what you did there!

    45. Re:Terrible by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      But then you have to duck when he throws his Caesar salad on your direction.

    46. Re:Terrible by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

      Are you on the current iOS?

    47. Re:Terrible by quantaman · · Score: 1

      After Apple CEO Tim Cook publicly called for sodomy

      I know this is terrible and all, but as someone completely unaffected by this (not an apple fanboy, russian or gay) I find some kind of weird surreal humour in the whole thing.

      I wonder if that's intentional. If there's any liberalism left in Russia it would be in technology companies (particularly ones with Apple fanboys), and if they want to protect themselves distancing themselves from a suddenly controversial company is a good idea.

      If that's the case a ridiculous statement like "Apple CEO Tim Cook publicly called for sodomy" might be their own little in-joke at the absurdity of the politics.

      --
      I stole this Sig
    48. Re:Terrible by Beeftopia · · Score: 4, Interesting

      "However, to date there are no replicated scientific studies supporting any specific biological etiology for homosexuality."

      A simple thought experiment to see if homosexuality is a choice: If it really is a choice, try being gay for a week. Try engaging in gay physical intimacy with another man.

      Q.E.D.

      Caveat: For a bisexual, this won't be a problem. For a heterosexual, it will be extremely difficult if not impossible. I suspect those who believe homosexuality is a choice are probably bisexuals.

    49. Re:Terrible by silfen · · Score: 1

      Oh, stop bringing partisanship into this. The Democrats only supported gay marriage once it was safe for them according to the polls. And the way they are going about implementing gay marriage is causing a lot of unnecessary antagonism. And don't kid yourself: that's deliberate political calculation on their part.

    50. Re:Terrible by jbolden · · Score: 1

      What does you not likely the TPP (which I assume your government signed) have to do with the US media being anti-Russian. If you don't like your government's trade policies then work to change them. The TPP isn't something forced on anyone.

    51. Re:Terrible by cold+fjord · · Score: 1, Interesting

      The problem with your thought experiment is that many people engage in behavior that is socially disapproved of, may have serious negative consequences, and may involve disquieting physical aspects. Just look at the people involved with drugs, especially some of the more horrific ones. The outcome of meth addiction is well know, and rather ugly, but people do it anyway. Then there are the even more dangerous drugs that rot your body like Krokodil . And what about prostitution? People engaged in that are continually doing things that have a significant "ick" factor, but do it anyway.

      And lets not forget the findings of studying the Pashtun.

      Afghan Men Struggle With Sexual Identity, Study Finds

      An unclassified study from a military research unit in southern Afghanistan details how homosexual behavior is unusually common among men in the large ethnic group known as Pashtuns -- though they seem to be in complete denial about it.

      The study, obtained by Fox News, found that Pashtun men commonly have sex with other men, admire other men physically, have sexual relationships with boys and shun women both socially and sexually -- yet they completely reject the label of "homosexual." The research was conducted as part of a longstanding effort to better understand Afghan culture and improve Western interaction with the local people.

      I don't think your thought experiment covers all the ground you think it does.

      --
      much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
    52. Re:Terrible by smithmc · · Score: 1

      Well, except for that one pillar of salt - that was arguably a "what".

      --
      Downmodding is the refuge of the weak. Don't downmod, make a better argument!
    53. Re:Terrible by dbIII · · Score: 1

      so all Apple products call for sodomy

      I've certainly heard people loudly calling for sodomy when their Apple products stop working or get damaged :)

    54. Re:Terrible by smithmc · · Score: 1

      To me, a traditional marriage is where the partners stay together until death parts them -- gay/straight/otherwise.

      So, then, something like 50% of all American marriages are non-traditional.

      --
      Downmodding is the refuge of the weak. Don't downmod, make a better argument!
    55. Re:Terrible by Payden+K.+Pringle · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Your thought experiment is fruitless because there is no discernible way to tell if people could choose because they are bisexual or because sexuality is a choice. Or that if they can't "choose", if it's because it's not a choice, or if it's because of their psychology regarding the issue regarding any of the possible factors that make humans choose what they choose growing up.

      In other words, the thought experiment is pointless without the very information that quote says we don't have.

      Humans psychology is vastly complex. Solving for whether something is truly a choice or not, when that thing is deeply embedded in something we don't understand very well (our desires) is nigh impossible without a lot more information.

      I'm not arguing that it's a choice. I'm arguing that the claims that it isn't a choice are baseless.

    56. Re:Terrible by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Yup, I've been sodomizing nonstop since Thursday. It's exhausting.

    57. Re:Terrible by Noah+Haders · · Score: 4, Informative

      lool fox news report on how afghans are gay. you're an excellent troll.

    58. Re:Terrible by antifoidulus · · Score: 5, Interesting

      You are looking at this through your own cultural lens. Take a step back and look at in the context of the broader culture and conditions in which these men live. Polygamy and much shorter lifespans for women has created a shortage of marriageable women in Afghanistan. This coupled with severe cultural taboos on pre-marital sex(in the case of Afghanistan, it's not just a taboo, it's illegal) means that for many men, especially those on the lower rungs of the economic ladder, other men are essentially the only way they can have sex.

      This is not much different from any other situation where women are rare to non-existant(prison, the front lines of a war etc). In these situations men often engage in what is referred to as "trade", but of course none of them wants to label themselves homosexual because:
      a) homosexuality is taboo and/or illegal where they come from and/or
      b) they aren't actually gay, they are only engaging in homosexual behavior because that's all they have available to them.

      It doesn't surprise me at all that men in Afghanistan are having sex with each other but not declaring themselves to be gay.....

    59. Re:Terrible by Pfhorrest · · Score: 4, Funny

      No I thought it was like vampires where first they have to drain your dick and then you have to drink from theirs to be converted to a gay.

      That's why I'm only bisexual. I sucked his dick but he didn't suck mine, and I've since only sucked the dicks of guys who hadn't sucked mine, or had my dick sucked by guys who I hadn't sucked, so I remain perpetually on the verge between the straight world and the gay. I'm like Gay Blade.

      --
      -Forrest Cameranesi, Geek of all Trades
      "I am Sam. Sam I am. I do not like trolls, flames, or spam."
    60. Re:Terrible by Kaenneth · · Score: 2

      It's true, one time I accidently wandered into an Apple store, and before I knew it, there was a dick in my mouth.

    61. Re:Terrible by John.Banister · · Score: 2

      90% of the free rape porn on xvideos features Russians.

    62. Re:Terrible by UnknowingFool · · Score: 1

      But they do support it now. Can you say the same for the GOP?

      --
      Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
    63. Re:Terrible by Barsteward · · Score: 1

      ??? you believe fox news??? now, believing crap, that is something you can catch especially from a highly contagious organisation like fox news. Some people are born gullible but get over it.

      --
      "The hands that help are better far than lips that pray." - Robert Ingersoll (1833-1899)
    64. Re:Terrible by Barsteward · · Score: 1

      " I'm arguing that the claims that it isn't a choice are baseless." - are you saying that being gay is a choice? i'm reading your statement as "claims of being gay is a choice", please tell me i'm wrong and i'm still not awake enough to understand your statement

      --
      "The hands that help are better far than lips that pray." - Robert Ingersoll (1833-1899)
    65. Re:Terrible by sithlord2 · · Score: 1

      It probably involves magnets...

      --
      ...You are over-qualified and under-paid. If we give you a raise, we will break the cosmic balance of the universe.
    66. Re:Terrible by Barsteward · · Score: 1

      How do you know that they didn;t order it by the "backdoor"?

      --
      "The hands that help are better far than lips that pray." - Robert Ingersoll (1833-1899)
    67. Re:Terrible by kaur · · Score: 1

      ... as someone completely unaffected by this (not an apple fanboy, russian or gay) I find some kind of weird surreal humour in the whole thing.

      Like, how do you even reach this point of reasoning.

      I am a neighbour to Russia. They apply the same kind of reasoning everywhere, especially to politics. And as their voice is the loudest, international press buys it off and replicates and you have no good way of fighting it.

      Which means that everyone around has to mimic their rhetorics and surreal reasoning, just to stay level in the propaganda war.

      So, I *am* affected by this. And so are you.

    68. Re:Terrible by Barsteward · · Score: 1

      are you sure, i thought all iPhone user had "grindr" on it.

      --
      "The hands that help are better far than lips that pray." - Robert Ingersoll (1833-1899)
    69. Re:Terrible by Mr.+Shotgun · · Score: 4, Funny

      It's true, one time I accidentally wandered into an Apple store, and before I knew it, there was a dick in my mouth.

      Yeah, you really gotta pay attention to those EULA's before clicking agree.

      --
      Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the (supposed) good of its victims may be the most oppressive
    70. Re:Terrible by Stephan+Schulz · · Score: 5, Informative

      Saying that's not how it works implies you know how it works.

      Not true. There are many things of which I know how they don't work without knowing how they work. Before the detection of nuclear fusion, we didn't know how the sun was heated. But we did know that it was not a chemical reaction (not enough fuel for the time it had been burning). I don't know how Google indexes keywords. But I do know they are not looking them up via sequential search (too fast for that). I don't know what the annoying traffic light on my way to work is triggered by, but I know its not telepathy - or I wouldn't be standing there forever each day. And so on. Indeed, that's how science works - you formulate hypotheses and then refute them one-by-one. If you can't refute a reasonable one, that's your tentative model of reality.

      --

      Stephan

    71. Re:Terrible by dave420 · · Score: 1

      And thousands of years of slavery and disease and pestilence and hatred and war and famine and suffering ad infinitum.

      Tradition for tradition's sake is dangerous, lazy, and something I'd entirely expect you to support, as that sums up your position on so many subjects.

    72. Re:Terrible by Waccoon · · Score: 1

      Wait... that's not a bite out of the Apple logo?

    73. Re:Terrible by Plumpaquatsch · · Score: 2

      . I'm like Gay Blade.

      Ah, the both-sides-of-the-aisle-walker.

      --
      Of course news about a fake are Fake News.
    74. Re:Terrible by Dutch+Gun · · Score: 2

      I think it's just a slap at Apple for it's CEO daring to come out of the closet (it's not like no one knew about the fact that he was gay either - I was surprised when he cam out, because I thought everyone already knew). It feels like an entirely political move meant to garner nods of approval from like-minded voters, even if it makes zero sense.

      --
      Irony: Agile development has too much intertia to be abandoned now.
    75. Re:Terrible by 3.5+stripes · · Score: 1

      The church used to marry men as well, because it was a contract, and had more to do with that than love (nothing but a second hand emotion).

      --


      He tried to kill me with a forklift!
    76. Re:Terrible by tehcyder · · Score: 3, Funny

      90% of the free rape porn on xvideos features Russians.

      But is good, healthy heterosexual rape!

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
    77. Re:Terrible by John.Banister · · Score: 2

      If you like what you see, please buy the actors a coffee. Enema scenes are next.

    78. Re:Terrible by jeremyp · · Score: 4, Insightful

      You're overthinking it.

      I'm heterosexual. I cannot choose to be sexually attracted to other men, I'm just not attracted to them. Whether this is caused by psychological reasons, the chemical environment in my mother's womb, or genetic factors is irrelevant. I cannot choose.

      It should be pointed out that the choice thing is really a red herring. If homosexuality were a choice, that would still be no reason to persecute gay people.

      --
      All I want is a secure system where it's easy to do anything I want. Is that too much to ask ~~ Randall Munroe
    79. Re:Terrible by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      The problem with your thought experiment is that many people engage in behavior that is socially disapproved of, may have serious negative consequences, and may involve disquieting physical aspects. Just look at the people involved with drugs, especially some of the more horrific ones. The outcome of meth addiction is well know, and rather ugly, but people do it anyway. Then there are the even more dangerous drugs that rot your body like Krokodil . And what about prostitution? People engaged in that are continually doing things that have a significant "ick" factor, but do it anyway.

      No, the point is that if homosexuality were purely a matter of choosing between A or B, then it's irrelevant what social, aesthetic, moral or other factors are concerned.

      And people who are addicted to drugs or forced into prostitution aren't making neutral lifestyle choices.

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
    80. Re:Terrible by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      It should be pointed out that the choice thing is really a red herring. If homosexuality were a choice, that would still be no reason to persecute gay people.

      No, you're wrong, unfortunately. Those who are anti-gay would seize on the "choice" as simply being an immoral one.

      The basis of ethics is choice: if someone has no choice in how they act, you can't call it either ethical or unethical. No one says a cat is immoral for chasing little birdies.

      From the conservative religious viewpoint, you want to see gay people as making a wrong choice, not just following their natural instincts.

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
    81. Re:Terrible by gtall · · Score: 1

      Personally, I think it comes down to whom you can fall in love with. The mechanics of sex is secondary.

    82. Re:Terrible by gtall · · Score: 1

      "Indifferent" is not quite the right word for the American media towards Russia. It is more actually phrased, "who gives a flying rat's ass about Russia?".

    83. Re:Terrible by cheesybagel · · Score: 1

      In monkeys homosexual acts increase in rate when there are few females around. I wouldn't be surprised if its the same with humans.

    84. Re:Terrible by the+grace+of+R'hllor · · Score: 1

      Populists only seek votes in countries where voting is standard. If you're an autocratic despot, you can be a populist in order to not be lynched by an angry mob.

    85. Re:Terrible by cheesybagel · · Score: 1

      Sodomy means any sexual act not designed to conceive a child. So it even includes coitus interruptus.

    86. Re:Terrible by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      In monkeys homosexual acts increase in rate when there are few females around. I wouldn't be surprised if its the same with humans.

      So the Churches should really be ensuring that all vulnerable young men are supplied with a steady supply of attractive young women in order to keep them from choosing the primrose path.

      Anyone who refused to follow the way of the punani would presumably have to be tied down and raped by a gang of eager temple prostitutes.

      As a bonus, I think church attendance would rocket amonst the under 21s.

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
    87. Re:Terrible by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      To me, a traditional marriage is where the partners stay together until death parts them -- gay/straight/otherwise.

      You might want to take another look at that question. There are thousands of years (4k+) of recorded history of there being a particular set of sexes in marriage. Care to guess what it is? (spoiler at the bottom of post) The numbers may vary, the reason for the marriage might vary, but ultimately that set pattern holds true.

      .

      .

      * Man and woman are joined in marriage.

      A classic conservative argument, which can best be refuted by pointing out that for thousands of years we also had slavery.

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
    88. Re:Terrible by alexgieg · · Score: 1

      but ultimately that set pattern holds true

      Right. You told us of the history of the thing. Now explain why that having been the case means it should continue being the case.

      --
      Conservatism: (n.) love of the existing evils. Liberalism: (n.) desire to substitute new evils for the existing ones.
    89. Re:Terrible by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      Sodomy means any sexual act not designed to conceive a child. So it even includes coitus interruptus.

      Only by some weird legislatures in the US.

      In the rest of the world, "sodomy" means anal penetrative sex.

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
    90. Re: Terrible by r_a_trip · · Score: 1

      If you're trying to argue that being gay is wrong because nature, then do a bit more reading. Homosexual sexual activity is observed in many animal species across most orders.

      How dare you derail OP's dogmatic diatribe against the unatural evils of non-heterosexual intercourse with facts of nature? Don't you know gays are of teh DEVIL!!!1!!11

      As a gay man (with the only real choice to stop hiding my sexuality or else become a mental wreck by all the closeted secrecy) I find these "YOU CHOOSE TO BE WRONG, YOU EVIL CREATURE!" fantasies to be equally funny, sad and scary. It's a limited, empathyless "If you are not like me, you are wrong and must be eliminated" kind of thing.

      --
      # touch universe # chmod +rwx universe # ./universe
    91. Re:Terrible by FatdogHaiku · · Score: 1

      Like, how do you even reach this point of reasoning.

      Step One:
      Find your deepest closet and get as far into it as you can.
      Step Two:
      Stay in there no matter what and insist that this is perfectly normal behavior.

      --
      You have the right to remain sentient. If you give up the right to remain sentient, you will be elected to public office
    92. Re:Terrible by Carewolf · · Score: 1

      I'm like Gay Blade.

      You hunt gay people? You live in Russia?

    93. Re:Terrible by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      I'm arguing that the claims that it isn't a choice are baseless.

      While we can't prove that it is 0% free choice, we can be sure that it is 99% genetics. Lack of absolute proof is largely meaningless - for most people it isn't a choice, and trying to choose the opposite of what their body wants only leads to unhappiness and severe psychological problems.

      I take your point, but I certainly wouldn't call the claim that sexuality isn't a choice "baseless". There is a great deal of evidence that for all practical purposes most people cannot choose.

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

      "The means by which imperialist US corporations seek to corruptly buy up the resources off all other countries in order to prop up their insatiable psychopathic greed"
      SO fricking true!
      The War on "?" is not a war in the sense of soldiers and tanks as it is about corporate insurgency. Iraq to plant oil fields, Afghanistan to grow poppy fields, Columbia to plant cocoa fields. Now it's the war on the US government they have actually been fighting since the 1800s and have recently ramped up. The same people that constantly yell freedom (US citizens) are the same ones selling out to the corporate snake! I know a few corps that are decent enough not to get into this but some don't seem to be trying to stop this corporatizing of everything. US-people wake up and vote to stop this. If Coch (Pronounced Coke, I say Cock) supports that candidate, vote for the other one.

    95. Re:Terrible by cold+fjord · · Score: 1

      You are looking at this through your own cultural lens. Take a step back and look at in the context of the broader culture and conditions in which these men live. Polygamy and much shorter lifespans for women has created a shortage of marriageable women in Afghanistan. This coupled with severe cultural taboos on pre-marital sex(in the case of Afghanistan, it's not just a taboo, it's illegal) means that for many men, especially those on the lower rungs of the economic ladder, other men are essentially the only way they can have sex.

      There is another factor you are overlooking. From another commentary on the same report:

      DADT (Afghanistan Edition)

      ... Some of the Afghans have their own young boys they use for sexual purposes and we can't do anything about it."

      In her report, Ms. Cardinalli observed that prevailing sexual attitudes in some parts of Afghanistan are creating a cycle damaging to boys and young men:

      There is frequently the risk that Pashtun boys will face a set of experiences that mold their beliefs regarding sexuality as adults in ways that are ultimately damaging, both to themselves and to Afghan society," the report concludes. "It appears that this set of experiences becomes cyclical, affecting generations, and that this cycle that has existed long enough to affect the underpinnings of Afghan culture itself."

      And, the impact of those experiences is already being felt in portions of Afghanistan, putting American forces squarely in the middle of complex moral, social and sexual issues. A source at Army Special Operations command tells In From the Cold that Afghan women, emboldened by the presence of U.S. troops. have complained about beatings they've suffered at the hands of their husbands. The domestic violence reportedly stemmed from the inability of the women to become pregnant and produce sons, highly valued in Afghan society.

      When U.S. civil affairs teams (and other special forces units) quietly investigated the problem, they quickly discovered a common denominator. Virtually all of the younger men who beat their wives (over their inability to become pregnant) had been former "apprentices" of older Afghan men, who used them for their sexual pleasure. Upon entering marriage, whatever the men knew of sex had been learned during their "apprenticeship," at the hands of the older man. To put it bluntly, some of the younger Afghans were unfamiliar with the desired (and required) mechanics for conception.

      To remedy this situation, the Army called in its psychological operations teams, which developed information campaigns in Pashtun areas, explaining the basics of heterosexual relations and their benefits, in terms of producing male offspring. It may be the only time in the history of warfare that an army has been required to explain sex to the native population, to curb the abuse of women and young boys--and retain U.S. influence in key geographic areas.

      --
      much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
    96. Re:Terrible by silfen · · Score: 1, Insightful

      But they do support it now. Can you say the same for the GOP?

      I don't think supporting gay marriage is a good thing, for the same reason I don't think supporting straight marriage is a good thing: the extensive government support of marriage that we have is actually hurting marriage.

      In general, Democrats want to extend their lousy and destructive social policies to gay men and women; Republicans oppose this out of bigotry and prejudice. I don't care for either of them, frankly.

    97. Re:Terrible by cold+fjord · · Score: 1

      Sorry, the link was eaten. Link below:

      DADT (Afghanistan Edition)

      --
      much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
    98. Re:Terrible by Payden+K.+Pringle · · Score: 1

      Cite. Your. Sources. I'd understand if I hadn't asked, but I most certainly did ask. Just saying "This is true." is worthless on the internet.

      The reason I say what I say is because I've read about it from institutes who research the stuff. Yes, I didn't cite a research paper, but I did cite the general consensus of a major institution's stance on the issue which is in their subject field to study, which says your wrong.

      Other institutions might say they are wrong. Show me to support your assertion.

    99. Re:Terrible by Translation+Error · · Score: 1

      Wow... my sister must have some sort of strange immunity.

      --
      When someone says, "Any fool can see ..." they're usually exactly right.
    100. Re:Terrible by serviscope_minor · · Score: 1

      There are thousands of years (4k+) of recorded history of there being a particular set of sexes in marriage.

      Commonly but not exclusively. Nero married a dude (after castrating him).

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    101. Re:Terrible by jbmartin6 · · Score: 1

      No specific biological etiology is not the same thing as 'not biological in origin.' All that means is no specific set of genes or whatever have been identified. Since homosexuality has been documented in hundreds of animal species, I think there is sufficient evidence for a biological origin. Perhaps there are cases where it is choice rather than nurture, humans can be pretty diverse, but it beggars the imagination to think all those animals are choosing to be homosexual.

      --
      This posting is provided 'AS IS' without warranty of any kind, implied or otherwise.
    102. Re: Terrible by ClickOnThis · · Score: 1

      which says your wrong.

      If you're going to tell someone off (in bold-face, no less) then you'd best do it using correct grammar.

      --
      If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.
    103. Re:Terrible by NoImNotNineVolt · · Score: 2

      I'm a socialist and I voted for Jill Stein in the last presidential election. And I'm telling you that your casual dismissal of a claim merely because it is communicated to you via a Fox News link is sad. In a sense, you're no better than a Fox News viewer who would dismiss outright anything coming from MSNBC. Don't pretend you're being rational right now.

      That being said, the claim you so casually dismiss is actually true. Afghan society is interesting in many ways.

      --
      Chuuch. Preach. Tabernacle.
    104. Re:Terrible by NoImNotNineVolt · · Score: 1

      Czesc!

      --
      Chuuch. Preach. Tabernacle.
    105. Re: Terrible by Payden+K.+Pringle · · Score: 1

      It's actually correct both ways. Wrong has a noun form which this wrong is specifically his.

      Potentially esoteric definitions for words make English very pliable.

    106. Re:Terrible by Fuzi719 · · Score: 1

      An unclassified study from a military research unit in southern Afghanistan details how homosexual behavior is unusually common .... though they seem to be in complete denial about it.

      Are you sure they're not talking about GOP conservatives in the US?

    107. Re:Terrible by jbolden · · Score: 1

      I think you should drop the dollar signs nonsense. And yes I've heard of the World Trade Organization the IMF and World Bank. They aren't anti-Russian Russia is a member of these organizations.

      And membership in those organizations is voluntary. There are plenty of countries that are not members of any of them and plenty that have not taken loans or acted on their advice. The USA and Russia both being examples that have policies that disagree with the all 3.

    108. Re:Terrible by jbolden · · Score: 1

      When has our government every said #1? I don't even know what you are talking about with respect to #2. And as for #3, that's Russian propaganda. I can't think of anyone talking about a Russian attack on America.

      You are just fabricating stuff.

    109. Re:Terrible by jbolden · · Score: 1

      When US is sponsoring junta in Ukraine (Russia's doorstep) and expect Russia to roll over and be cooperative, that's unreasonable

      How is the USA sponsoring the new Ukrainian government? Friendly sure. Sponsoring? As for whether it is reasonable or unreasonable the question is what the criticism was in the USA media. The GP was misstating facts.

      What would US do if Russia started 'democratic movements' in Mexico, or Texas with the goal to moving them away from US influence and towards 'independence'.

      Mexico is independent. As for Texas it has a democratic movement. RT operates freely in the United States.

    110. Re:Terrible by Uberbah · · Score: 1

      the extensive government support of marriage that we have is actually hurting marriage.

      In general, Democrats want to extend their lousy and destructive social policies to gay men and women

      The UID "Tautology Man" wasn't available when you signed up?

    111. Re:Terrible by UnknowingFool · · Score: 1

      I don't think supporting gay marriage is a good thing, for the same reason I don't think supporting straight marriage is a good thing: the extensive government support of marriage that we have is actually hurting marriage.

      So government supporting marriage hurts marriage? Wow that is so nonsensical it's maddening.

      --
      Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
    112. Re:Terrible by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      I'm not gay, but my boyfriend sure as shit is.

      In Putin's Russia, gay boyfriends you!

    113. Re:Terrible by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      You don't plant oil fields. You can try, but you won't grow any(thing).

      Cocoa is chocolate. We grow that is West Africa, mostly, and the Caribbean. Maybe you were thinking of coca? I know cultural sensitivity is just an American lefty thing, and you hate America. but actually coca is a traditional crop in Columbia and neighboring countries. Nobody has to go there and plant it for them. Actually the CIA goes there and pays other Columbians to murder the coca farmers and burn their plantations, and they still keep planting it. There might be some wrongs there, but at least pick true ones to complain about, jeeze! This is slashdot.

    114. Re:Terrible by Uberbah · · Score: 1

      How is the USA sponsoring the new Ukrainian government? Friendly sure. Sponsoring?

      The assistant Secretary of State is on video bragging about the U.S. spending $5 billion to 'bring Ukraine the future it deserves' before the coup. After the coup, the U.S. immediately blessed the junta with legitimacy, and has given it hundreds of millions in "aid".

      What would US do if Russia started 'democratic movements' in Mexico, or Texas with the goal to moving them away from US influence and towards 'independence'.

      Mexico is independent.

      So was Ukraine, before the west decided that resource exploitation and crushing IMF austerity loans were too important to wait six months for the next set of elections, even with that $5 billion in pre-coup "aid".

    115. Re:Terrible by RivenAleem · · Score: 1

      What if you say "no homo" first? That protects you, right?

    116. Re:Terrible by cold+fjord · · Score: 1

      lool fox news report on how afghans are gay. you're an excellent troll.

      Could you expand on that? What makes a report from Fox News regarding a study conducted in Afghanistan by the military a "troll"?

      Are you claiming that the information is wrong? Does the news change when its comes from other sources? No, it doesn't look like it.

      Paedophilia 'culturally accepted in south Afghanistan'
      Afghan sex practices concern U.S., British forces
      Chapter 4. Afghan Cultural Influences

      Or are you simply engaging in anti-Fox News trolling yourself?

      Could it be as simple as "haters gonna hate" and you're a hater? Sure looks that way, "Noah."

      One more thing: LOL

      --
      much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
    117. Re:Terrible by Aighearach · · Score: 2

      Because there's not a single fact to back that up.

      There is not a single "fact" about anything in Russia, including true things, or obvious things, or things everybody saw happen, or things nobody saw happen but everybody remembers.

      Facts are for people with a culture of expecting transparency from Government. In Russia, they assume competent leaders will be able to suppress facts, and so no facts exist, none can be verified. Even if you held a fact in your hand, any Russian knows it must be propaganda. You could never verify any fact. Instead the question is, what fact must you repeat. Don't worry what fact exists. Worry only what fact you claim.

      In many places, facts make the news. In Putin's Russia, news makes the facts.

    118. Re:Terrible by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      A classic conservative argument, which can best be refuted by pointing out that for thousands of years we also had slavery.

      That doesn't refute anything if they also believe in slavery. Have you ever even talked to an American "conservative?"

    119. Re:Terrible by mjm1231 · · Score: 2

      Saying that's not how it works implies you know how it works.

      That's not how logic works.

      --
      Ideology: A tool used primarily to avoid the bother of thinking.
    120. Re:Terrible by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      I could understand it if Jobs was gay or it was a Cook thing but how is it 'gay propaganda' to have a memorial to a dead guy who was replaced by a gay guy. Are they insinuating gay is the new way or something?

      It is simple. Sodomy gives you time-traveling super-powers. These are enhanced by waves of adoration directed at idols depicting anybody close to you. So Cook being gay now, and having been close to Jobs in the past, means that by showing fondness towards a Jobs statue you enhance the Gay Superpowers of Captain Cook.

    121. Re:Terrible by sexconker · · Score: 1

      People are also "what"s. All things are "what"s, and everything is a thing.

    122. Re:Terrible by jbolden · · Score: 1

      What Nuland said was, "Since the declaration of Ukrainian independence in 1991, the United States supported the Ukrainians in the development of democratic institutions and skills in promoting civil society and a good form of government - all that is necessary to achieve the objectives of Ukraine’s European. We have invested more than 5 billion dollars to help Ukraine to achieve these and other goals.” That's not sponsoring a junta that's working with a new quasi-European country over a quarter century.

      After the coup, the U.S. immediately blessed the junta with legitimacy

      That's not sponsorship that's friendship. I agree the USA is friendly towards Poroshenko. I'm disagreeing with sponsorship. The USA disagrees there was coup. They saw it as the population and the legislative branch replacing an executive. Turchynov became president. We have the same kind of mechanism in America if our president were to lose control. Arguably that's fairly close to how Gerald Ford (who had been minority leader) became president. Which incidentally was also a replacement that we immediately granted legitimacy to.

      So was Ukraine, before the west decided that resource exploitation and crushing IMF austerity loans were too important to wait six months for the next set of elections, even with that $5 billion in pre-coup "aid".

      What are you talking about? There was a disagreement about policy in Ukraine. There were mass protests. The president began slaughtering his own population. He was replaced by the legislature. That's what happened. We aren't the ones who talked Yanukovych into massacring his population and whipping up a popular revolt. That was the Ukrainians.

    123. Re:Terrible by stealth_finger · · Score: 1

      I could understand it if Jobs was gay or it was a Cook thing but how is it 'gay propaganda' to have a memorial to a dead guy who was replaced by a gay guy. Are they insinuating gay is the new way or something?

      It is simple. Sodomy gives you time-traveling super-powers. These are enhanced by waves of adoration directed at idols depicting anybody close to you. So Cook being gay now, and having been close to Jobs in the past, means that by showing fondness towards a Jobs statue you enhance the Gay Superpowers of Captain Cook.

      Damn, I knew I should've chosen to be gay.

      --
      Wanna buy a shirt?
      https://www.redbubble.com/people/stealthfinger/shop?asc=u
    124. Re:Terrible by silfen · · Score: 1

      Well, I'm glad that you agree that these statements are tautologies.

    125. Re:Terrible by silfen · · Score: 1

      So government supporting marriage hurts marriage? Wow that is so nonsensical it's maddening.

      So what's your explanation for these trends?

      http://www.vanneman.umd.edu/so...

      http://www.vanneman.umd.edu/so...

      http://www.vanneman.umd.edu/so...

    126. Re: Terrible by ClickOnThis · · Score: 1

      It's actually correct both ways. Wrong has a noun form which this wrong is specifically his.

      Nobody says "which means your wrong" in that context with that implied meaning. Try it verbally and see what people think it means. Even with your torturous implied insertion ("which means [this is] your wrong") it still fails. It sounds like a moral judgement, not a claim of inaccuracy.

      Face it, you're just back-pedaling.

      Potentially esoteric definitions for words make English very pliable.

      That comes in handy when you're doubling down on the derp, doesn't it?

      --
      If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.
    127. Re:Terrible by Barsteward · · Score: 1

      "whooooooooooooooosh"

      --
      "The hands that help are better far than lips that pray." - Robert Ingersoll (1833-1899)
    128. Re:Terrible by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      Damn, I knew I should've chosen to be gay.

      If you find that you have the choice, you probably already are. You can verify that by posting on craigslist and finding a volunteer specialist.

    129. Re: Terrible by Payden+K.+Pringle · · Score: 1

      Strawman. You said, "you'd best do it using correct grammar." No mention of what sounds good when said verbally, or of what people would normally say & understand it as.

      Grammatically, that is correct. I'm not saying I didn't typo. I did. However, it's grammatically correct and has the same meaning both ways. There is no real difference aside from the irrelevant one of how it sounds when said. This is the internet. We're not saying any of this. We are typing it.

      Remember, we were all pushed head-first out of someone's vaginal tract. Why are we acting so dignified?

    130. Re:Terrible by Uberbah · · Score: 1

      That's not sponsoring a junta that's working with a new quasi-European country over a quarter century.

      That's some impressive contortionism. I'm suuuure you'd be saying the same thing if, say, the Chinese government had spent billions undermining the Tories in Canada, with a top official bragging about it in front of banners for Russian oil companies, and then supported a coup when they couldn't beat Harper at the box office.

      That's not sponsorship that's friendship.

      Now you're being comical.

      They saw it as the population and the legislative branch replacing an executive.

      And I'm suuuure you would have said the same thing if the Democrats had a majority vote to impeach Reagan just before the 1984 elections, when they figured they out they weren't going to win. It's okay, it would have been legit, they had a whole 55 votes in the Senate to remove him! That you need a 2/3 vote would have been meaningless trivia.

      What are you talking about? There was a disagreement about policy in Ukraine. There were mass protests.

      What are you talking about? Not only was there a coup, the same State Department official was caught picking post-coup leaders to support with the US ambassador.

      The president began slaughtering his own population.

      And the state police defending the government at the same time? Not even the junta is repeating that propaganda any more.

    131. Re:Terrible by Uberbah · · Score: 1

      Yes. I also saw your links; I'm also familiar with the term "non sequitur".

    132. Re:Terrible by jbolden · · Score: 1

      The USA did not spend billions on any particular party. And in fact the Chinese do spend money working the economy of Canada. They do trade quite a bit more than $5b.

      As for the rest i'm going with mainstream history: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2...

    133. Re:Terrible by steelfood · · Score: 1

      I don't know about prison, but you'd think that in Afghanistan, there'll always be sheep. Or goat.

      If you think I'm kidding, there are places where young men practice on livestock to get experience before getting married.

      --
      "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be."
    134. Re: Terrible by Occams · · Score: 1

      Why all this prejudice agains minors. They should be free to have consenting sex any way they like: provided that they turn off that light thingy on their hat.

      --
      Heavy is the head that wears the tinfoil hat.
    135. Re:Terrible by Patent+Lover · · Score: 1

      It's kind of like Idaho.

    136. Re:Terrible by RoLi · · Score: 1

      What hostility to Russia?

      I think it was Hillary who said that Russia has no right to have an influence on its Georgian neighbour, while of course the US, being several thousand miles away on a different continent does have a right to have an influence on Georgia.

      Now the same thing in the Ukraine: American-financed NGO destabilize the country and stage a coup d'etat against the president because he is too friendly with Russia.

    137. Re:Terrible by UnknowingFool · · Score: 1

      Causality does not imply causation. As for marriage and divorce are you aware that society and the law now accepts divorce more than 50 years ago?

      --
      Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
    138. Re:Terrible by arglebargle_xiv · · Score: 1

      After Apple CEO Tim Cook publicly called for sodomy

      I know this is terrible and all, but as someone completely unaffected by this (not an apple fanboy, russian or gay) I find some kind of weird surreal humour in the whole thing.

      What I find kinda surreal is that they were quite happy to set up a monument to a sociopath, but then felt the need to take it down when a completely different person admitted he wasn't into women so much. In post-Soviet Russia, happy ocelot pancake.

    139. Re:Terrible by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      And they weren't wearing skirts of a proper length!

    140. Re:Terrible by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      And furthermore, there are ethological models that explain how such a gene might appear and why it would stick around - even if we cannot verify them on genetic level yet.

    141. Re:Terrible by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      A "junta" is a collective military dictatorship. Can you point out who the dictators are in Ukraine, and what connection do they have to the military? Last I checked, they have an elected civilian government.

    142. Re:Terrible by silfen · · Score: 1

      Causality does not imply causation.

      I very much think that causality implies causation!

      As for marriage and divorce are you aware that society and the law now accepts divorce more than 50 years ago?

      Yes. That would be government policy, part of the package by which government attempts to support marriage. My point exactly.

  2. Because by MouseR · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Putin on a horse half naked is not gay.

    1. Re:Because by gavron · · Score: 1

      You have something against half-naked gay horses?

      E

    2. Re:Because by Payden+K.+Pringle · · Score: 1

      Just because it's erotic doesn't mean its homoerotic. /s

      Besides... You should know by now that the rules are different for the Kremlin & their cronies.

    3. Re:Because by houstonbofh · · Score: 1

      No. But if the horse was half naked on Putin...

    4. Re:Because by MightyMartian · · Score: 3, Funny

      Despite my confident heterosexuality, I'm terribly conflicted, as I truly want to see a half-naked gay horse.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    5. Re:Because by jamiesan · · Score: 2

      You mean knickers?

    6. Re:Because by rubycodez · · Score: 1

      meh, sounds softcore pornish. Wouldn't a half-gay naked horse be more titillating?

    7. Re:Because by Khyber · · Score: 1

      " I'm terribly conflicted, as I truly want to see a half-naked gay horse."

      Here you go!

      --
      Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
    8. Re:Because by rahvin112 · · Score: 2

      And the best part? Putin is either hairless or he waxes or shaves his chest. Take a look at those photo's, nary a hair visible on the upper body.

      Nothing like riding a horse topless with a shaved chest to scream gay.

    9. Re:Because by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Any guy who goes shirtless in a public place is gay.

    10. Re:Because by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

      I truly want to see a half-naked gay horse.

      I want to see a half naked-gay horse.

    11. Re:Because by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

      He could turn out to be the next Ted Haggard. :-)

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    12. Re:Because by niftymitch · · Score: 1

      You heard it here first, folks-- no shirt? You gay, buddy.

      These pederasts. I swear, m8.

      Burqas for boys... seems to be the next step....

      --
      Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn't. Mark Twain.
    13. Re:Because by I'm+New+Around+Here · · Score: 1

      "Nothing like catching a touchdown pass at the superb owl to scream gay"

      I may have missed a Harry Potter movie, but do they use a superb owl while playing quidditch?

      --
      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.
    14. Re:Because by nitehawk214 · · Score: 1

      But what does this have to do with horse tits?

      --
      I'm a good cook. I'm a fantastic eater. - Steven Brust
    15. Re:Because by Dogtanian · · Score: 1

      Putin on a horse half naked is not gay.

      No, it's not. The horse was definitely female.

      --
      "Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
    16. Re:Because by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      Half dressed horses are the ones that compete in half dressage.

    17. Re:Because by Kernel+Kurtz · · Score: 2

      the guy definitely has some unresolved issues.

    18. Re:Because by Barsteward · · Score: 1

      most rabid homophobes are scared of that, they must be teetering on the edge of the precipice of being gay

      --
      "The hands that help are better far than lips that pray." - Robert Ingersoll (1833-1899)
    19. Re:Because by Carewolf · · Score: 1

      the guy definitely has some unresolved issues.

      In Russia ... Putin is Russia's unresolved issue.

    20. Re: Because by ClickOnThis · · Score: 1

      Any guy who goes shirtless in a public place is gay.

      Beaches are public places. And zomg, Russia has beaches.

      --
      If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.
    21. Re:Because by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      Putin on a horse half naked is not gay.

      And, in Putin's Russia it is legal to fap at Putin's man-boobs, or even to admit you did it. But it is illegal to claim it was normal behavior to be attracted to the little punk.

    22. Re:Because by GNious · · Score: 1

      Why do you think the Duma created the No Gay Propaganda laws?
      Was only way to get Putin to stop the flood of questionable pictures.

    23. Re:Because by RoLi · · Score: 1

      Well, outside the sex and gay-obsessed Anglophone world it isn't.

  3. In Putin's Russia... by Noah+Haders · · Score: 3, Funny

    ... the government sodomizes you!

    1. Re:In Putin's Russia... by houstonbofh · · Score: 4, Funny

      ... the government sodomizes you!

      Have you seen the US govenrment lately?

    2. Re:In Putin's Russia... by gman003 · · Score: 2

      In Soviet America, government ALSO sodomizes you!

    3. Re:In Putin's Russia... by Xonezs · · Score: 1

      US government? Try the Aus Government, we legislate your mistakes ;-)

    4. Re:In Putin's Russia... by Zynder · · Score: 1

      But YOU have to pay for it....

  4. So clearly Android is the best. by gavron · · Score: 1

    Res ipsa loquitur.

    Glad we finally put that one to rest.

    Thank you, Russian oligarchs, putocrats, and dictators.

    Now that we've settled that, next up on /.... who's smarter, Hillary Clinton or Martha Bush. Hint: there's no right answer.

    E

  5. Never mind that Steve Jobs was not gay by Neo-Rio-101 · · Score: 1

    By the same logic, I may well be arrested for sodomy because one of my distant relations is gay.

    --
    READY.
    PRINT ""+-0
    1. Re:Never mind that Steve Jobs was not gay by hey! · · Score: 5, Funny

      Evidently gay is highly contagious. Scientists say it's not airborne, but some of them have got it, so there's obviously a lot they don't know about how gay is spread. It stands to reason we should do everything we an think of to reduce the public exposure to gay.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    2. Re:Never mind that Steve Jobs was not gay by houstonbofh · · Score: 1

      Nazi comparison in 3...2...1...

    3. Re:Never mind that Steve Jobs was not gay by MightyMartian · · Score: 1

      Oh well, then it's totally reasonable...

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    4. Re:Never mind that Steve Jobs was not gay by gnasher719 · · Score: 1

      Evidently gay is highly contagious. Scientists say it's not airborne, but some of them have got it, so there's obviously a lot they don't know about how gay is spread. It stands to reason we should do everything we an think of to reduce the public exposure to gay.

      To reduce the risk, we have to tear down all statues of men who ever worked together with a gay man. That's how contagious it is.

      Bloody idiots.

    5. Re:Never mind that Steve Jobs was not gay by SuricouRaven · · Score: 5, Interesting

      If you're accusing a country of holding anti-gay views to the point of retroactively removing people from historical displays because they associated with a homosexual, then this might be one of the few situations where you're actually allowed to make a Nazi comparison.

    6. Re:Never mind that Steve Jobs was not gay by Adriax · · Score: 2

      Of course it is. That's the whole basis of the secret american gay bomb, which russian intelligence reports was in development 20 years ago, so it must be completed by now.

      Obviously the anti-homosexual laws are truly for the public good. Suppressing the natural background count of gayness so if the americans did cowardly attack russians with their dastardly gay bomb it would be easier to detect.

      --
      I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it!
    7. Re:Never mind that Steve Jobs was not gay by Marginal+Coward · · Score: 1

      I sure hope it isn't your wicked Uncle Ernie...

    8. Re:Never mind that Steve Jobs was not gay by niftymitch · · Score: 1

      Evidently gay is highly contagious. Scientists say it's not airborne, but some of them have got it, so there's obviously a lot they don't know about how gay is spread. It stands to reason we should do everything we an think of to reduce the public exposure to gay.

      I can see the global angst now as a current US president sits down
      in front of a fireplace with a handful of trusted but silent aids to reassure
      the nation and the world that "gay" is not contagious if you wear
      head to toe protective....

      Then in less than a week he or she imports a word like tzar from Russia
      to explain it all.....

      --
      Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn't. Mark Twain.
    9. Re:Never mind that Steve Jobs was not gay by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      Does using a mac make me gay? Can I counteract it by using a Wintel machine to neuter myself?

    10. Re:Never mind that Steve Jobs was not gay by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      Can't we just have a 21 day quarantine for people arriving from a gay country?

    11. Re:Never mind that Steve Jobs was not gay by bidule · · Score: 1

      Of course it is. That's the whole basis of the secret american gay bomb, which russian intelligence reports was in development 20 years ago, so it must be completed by now.

      Way longer than that... Enola Gay.

      And don't be fooled by the minor spelling change, that african epidemic is a failed experiment.

      --
      ID: the nose did not occur naturally, how would we wear glasses otherwise? (apologies to Voltaire)
    12. Re:Never mind that Steve Jobs was not gay by drnb · · Score: 1

      But Steve chose, mentored and recommended an open gay as a successor. That is not how they do things in the Kremlin. Only the closeted gays are allowed to advanced to the leadership in the Kremlin.

    13. Re: Never mind that Steve Jobs was not gay by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 1

      bad translation probably - they heard he WAS a huge asshole. One letter.

      --
      My God, it's Full of Source!
      OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
    14. Re:Never mind that Steve Jobs was not gay by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      If you're accusing a country of holding anti-gay views to the point of retroactively removing people from historical displays because they associated with a homosexual, then this might be one of the few situations where you're actually allowed to make a Nazi comparison.

      No, I think that would come in when they started killing people because they once had a conversation with a person who turned out to be gay. Oh, wait, that was Soviet Russia. My bad.

    15. Re:Never mind that Steve Jobs was not gay by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      No, but using the term "wintel" in 2014 where most PCs are generic and windows is portable but macs require an intel processor... that definitely would have made you gay in the 90s, but we don't use that as an insult anymore. If you want to be gay, you'll have to up your game. Prove you're human, then brag about your sex life.

    16. Re:Never mind that Steve Jobs was not gay by gstoddart · · Score: 1

      To reduce the risk, we have to tear down all statues of men who ever worked together with a gay man. That's how contagious it is.

      Meanwhile, sitting around naked in a steam room, drinking vodka, and slapping yourself with birch leaves ... totally nothing gay about that.

      And, we might need to stop using computers, because I heard Alan Turing had caught the gay.

      We also might need to cut out anything from the Greeks or the Romans as well ... 'cause I heard they might have had it as well.

      Can you still catch teh gay if you don't know they're gay? Or is it dependent on knowing this? Because I think much of congress/the Senate might have come in contact with this guy, and I'm pretty sure a few paiges have been fiddled with over the years.

      And, anybody who has ever listened to Elton John. They've totally caught teh gay. So if you can find evidence Putin ever listened to Crocodile Rock, he's totally gay by now.

      And, then you have to factor in Rock Hudson, Liberace, and who knows what else.

      Then there's all of the pastors and politicians who have been caught reaching for a little sausage.

      My god, it's teh gays, all the way down!

      --
      Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    17. Re:Never mind that Steve Jobs was not gay by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      Windows is portable now? Did they resurrect the Alpha? Or are you talking the mini-Windows, like RT or CE?

    18. Re:Never mind that Steve Jobs was not gay by Archwyrm · · Score: 1

      Mr. President, we must not allow a gay gap!

      --
      Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power. -- Mussolini
  6. PR hoax by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Removal of Steve Jobs memorial due to 'gay propaganda' law turns out to be PR hoax
    http://rt.com/news/201855-steve-jobs-memorial-gay/

    1. Re:PR hoax by Anrego · · Score: 2

      To me, the fact that it was being taken down for maintenance doesn't make it ineligible to be "ordered taken down" after the fact. The fact that it was being taken down to be fixed might have put the idea in someones head, but the fact is if it was originally planned to be put back up and is no longer, then that is mostly the same as if there had been no maintenance plans.

      Very least it seems like all parties have come out with the line, and don't intend to put the thing back up for the cited reasoning.

      Opportunistic maybe, but doesn't scream hoax to me.

    2. Re:PR hoax by psergiu · · Score: 3, Informative

      It's a link to the Russia Today's website posted by an AC.
      Rusia Today is not the most reliable news source when it comes to things happening inside or near Russia.

      --
      1% APY, No fees, Online Bank https://captl1.co/2uIErYq Don't let your $$$ sit in a no-interest acct.
    3. Re:PR hoax by AK+Marc · · Score: 2

      It was taken down the day after the announcement. There are rumours it will not be put back up because of the announcement. It's a PR stunt, not hoax, to ensure it gets put back up. And the article doesn't really say anything.

    4. Re:PR hoax by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

      What most of the media also left out is the other stated reason for not putting the monument back up: Apple's complicity with the NSA as revealed by Snowden. Plus the monument wasn't being taken down by governmental sources, but by the business group that put it up in the first place.

    5. Re:PR hoax by DocSavage64109 · · Score: 1

      What complicity? Do you have a source?

    6. Re:PR hoax by Uberbah · · Score: 1

      Irony: Americans inundated by government propaganda from even "liberal" sources like National Pentagon Radio, complaining how RT repeats talking points from the state.

    7. Re:PR hoax by mr.mctibbs · · Score: 1

      So I read that article out of curiosity, and if it's representative of RT's reporting it makes American media look just, very sad by comparison.

  7. ah, I understand by rubycodez · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I didn't know a person could become gay-tainted after they die if their successor is gay. Hope the next person to have my job after I die isn't gay, otherwise my tombstone might set off someone's gaydar. that would be embarrassing.

    1. Re:ah, I understand by wisnoskij · · Score: 5, Funny

      I didn't know a person could become gay-tainted after they die if their successor is gay. Hope the next person to have my job after I die isn't gay, otherwise my tombstone might set off someone's gaydar. that would be embarrassing.

      Particularly if they were also a necrophiliac.

      --
      Troll is not a replacement for I disagree.
    2. Re:ah, I understand by tverbeek · · Score: 1

      By their logic, Boris Yeltsin (Putin's predecessor as President), as well as Viktor Zubkov and Sergei Stepashin (his immediate predecessors as Prime Minister) are now tainted as self-loathing closeted homo/bisexuals ... because Putin obviously is.

      --
      http://alternatives.rzero.com/
    3. Re:ah, I understand by UnknowingFool · · Score: 1

      Especially in a position that isn't controlled by you but these weird people called "board members". Obviously the board members must be super gay.

      --
      Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
    4. Re:ah, I understand by Etherwalk · · Score: 1

      I didn't know a person could become gay-tainted after they die if their successor is gay. Hope the next person to have my job after I die isn't gay, otherwise my tombstone might set off someone's gaydar. that would be embarrassing.

      Why would that be embarrassing? It's just gay. It's not embarrassing.

    5. Re:ah, I understand by rubycodez · · Score: 1

      oh no, "gay tainted" is not the same thing at all as gay. For example TIm Cook is merely gay, but Jobs being "gay tainted" means that even memorials to him must be demolished, no persistence in any living person's memory is allowed. Beware the taint!

    6. Re:ah, I understand by aquabat · · Score: 1

      I didn't know a person could become gay-tainted after they die if their successor is gay. Hope the next person to have my job after I die isn't gay, otherwise my tombstone might set off someone's gaydar. that would be embarrassing.

      It's the viral nature of the GPL.

      --
      A republic cannot succeed till it contains a certain body of men imbued with the principles of justice and honour.
    7. Re:ah, I understand by Mr.+Shotgun · · Score: 1

      Particularly if they were also a necrophiliac.

      "I came to bury (my bone in) Caeser, not to praise him!"

      --
      Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the (supposed) good of its victims may be the most oppressive
    8. Re:ah, I understand by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      No, they're caught in the Reality Distortion Field. It was created by Captain Cook's gay superpower. When you worship a Jobs Idol in the present, it radiates from Cook in the past as Gay Energy, establishing the Reality Distortion Field. If the Gay Agenda gains enough idol worshipers to push the field all the way back to the 70s, they can infect the Blue Boxes Jobs and Woz build so they can make toll-free calls into future, creating a feedback look into the past, short circuiting the Gay Energy through time, creating a giant explosion of Gadiation that turns your parents gay... before you were born.

      Only Putin and his Bare Nipples(+2) can stop him. But only if he can defeat all the other gays and contain the Gadiation inside his own Idols. Gay Russian Idol, coming to a State-owned media outlet near you!

    9. Re:ah, I understand by gstoddart · · Score: 1

      Beware the taint!

      LOL ... don't worry, I'm sure that gays are very conscious of the taint.

      Oh, you meant the other kind of taint ... ;-)

      --
      Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    10. Re:ah, I understand by rubycodez · · Score: 1

      Hey taints are only gay if you taste them

  8. Russian teen anal porn by BlackPignouf · · Score: 1, Funny

    Given the number of hits on pron sites for "Russian teen anal", I dare say Russia doesn't have anything against sodomy.

    1. Re:Russian teen anal porn by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      This site is full of sysadmins, don't think we don't know what you fap to.

  9. and why was there... by dAzED1 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    and why was there a monument to Steve Jobs anyway? Seems like "today is monday" would be a good enough reason to tear it down. That said, this was a spectacularly bad reason, I'm just saying no reason was necessary. Doing something for the wrong reason doesn't make it the wrong thing to do - if I make a habit of drinking several glasses of water a day because I think the midichlorians need it for fuel, that doesn't mean I was wrong for drinking water...

    1. Re:and why was there... by steelfood · · Score: 1

      and why was there a monument to Steve Jobs anyway?

      Sometime after Steve Jobs' death, the Russians managed to acquire his reality distortion field on the black market thinking they could use it to pacify the locals.

      --
      "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be."
  10. Re:Birthrate by MightyMartian · · Score: 2

    And yet we allow old people, sterile people and people who may not properly even have sex to marry...

    That someone still seriously believes that homosexuality is a threat to population is just plain bizarre. First of all, nothing stops homosexuals from having children, and many do, and second of all, they remain a very small part of the population (something like 1 in 10 people).

    And if Russia is really interested in repopulating its depleted population, it should be targeting vodka and a persistently shitty economy. Homosexuals are not responsible for the decades long drain on Russian population.

    --
    The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
  11. Re:Birthrate by MightyMartian · · Score: 1

    Since you're the one making the claim that homosexuality is counterproductive to population growth, I'm sure you can actually provide some citations.

    --
    The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
  12. Re:Birthrate by khellendros1984 · · Score: 2

    Pure homosexuals are also a minority. There may be some evolutionary benefit to "sacrificing" a small portion of the breeding population, allowing them to act as foster parents to the children of deceased heterosexual relatives. That takes the strain off of other couples that are raising their own children. I'd also argue that a sexual couple is a more basic social grouping than a family is, acting as a core that a family can grow around. Genes want to propagate, and they can get very creative in their methods. They often find counter-intuitive optimizations. Even if an individuals genes aren't spread directly through procreation, they can have a supportive influence on closely-related genes.

    --
    It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
  13. No Half Measures by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    If they claim the monument that looks like an iPhone is gay propaganda, then it should follow that all actual handheld iPhones are also gay propaganda. It also follows that all Apple products are gay propaganda. I dare them to ban iPhones and all other Apple products in Russia. Do it. DO IT.

  14. Re:Birthrate by rubycodez · · Score: 1

    Actually, no, only a fraction of the population is consuming all the porn. The majority are just too damn busy and stressed out to even want sex. That's scary.

  15. Re:How Did These People Wage The Cold War??? by rubycodez · · Score: 1

    What, you think liberal-thinking people make those kind of accomplishments? No way, conservatism drives military-industrial complexes, my boy. Liberal thinking is for developing artsy-fartsy things like fine cuisine; at the supermarket yesterday I saw a "russian cold salad" with six layers of ingredients: herring, carrots, beets, potatoes, onions and mayonnaise. So as we can see understanding Russian cuisine is easy to master, since they don't have any. QED, I rest my case.

  16. Re:How Did These People Wage The Cold War??? by daemonhunter · · Score: 2

    These people are so fucking sutpid, it is astonishing to think that they developed nuclear weapons; waged the Cold War; and to this day, launch people into space! Their entirely dysfunctional leadership does not seem capable of any rational thought. Perhaps those early accomplishments were just manifestations of autonomous reflexes?

    Are we still talking about Russia? America isn't exactly running the smoothest, most intelligent government at the moment either...

  17. Re:How Did These People Wage The Cold War??? by rubycodez · · Score: 1

    Hell, even that mayonnaise with three ingredients would have been plain white yogurt to be truly authentic. No Ivan with vodka fried taste buds would either appreciate nor need anything so complex

  18. Re:Birthrate by MightyMartian · · Score: 1

    No it is not obvious. If you can provide actual citations showing that homosexuality depresses populations, then I have no reason whatsoever to believe your claim.

    What I do know is that homosexuals, at least in any industrialized population, make up roughly 5 to 10% of the population, and that is likely be consistent for at least decades, if not longer.

    When someone responds to a demand for actual references in peer reviewed literature with "no, I won't, because my claim is obvious", then the only thing I can discern from that is that you have no data to back it up, and your simply asserting without qualification or data, that your prejudice is true.

    As to Russia, I cannot influence them, but that doesn't mean I should approve of their persecution of homosexuals.

    --
    The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
  19. My dirty mind by sundarvenkata · · Score: 1

    I read the summary as "...after Apple's Tim cock comes out". May be that tells something about me...

  20. Re:Birthrate by MightyMartian · · Score: 1

    You're the one making the claim, you demonstrate it's veracity. And no, "it's obvious" is not a defense, it's merely handwaving. You keep repeating "it's obvious" like it represent anything other than your own homophobia.

    What are you afraid of? That Mother Russia may someday have to answer for its mistreatment of minorities? That homosexuality isn't the evil you seem to believe it is?

    If you have some actual evidence, cite it. But if you think "it's obvious" will convince anyone of anything, then you're as big a fool as you make yourself appear to be.

    --
    The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
  21. Tim Cook Steve Jobs by superdave80 · · Score: 1

    Did anybody in Russia notice that Steve Jobs and Tim Cook are not the same person? I'm afraid even trying to think like a looney, anti-gay zealot, I can't figure out the line of reasoning that led to this decision...

  22. ooooww owww owww owww by djohnsto · · Score: 1

    Heh, I'm assuming you're referring to this: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt01...

    --
    Dan
  23. It saddens me by Livius · · Score: 1

    that they wanted to make a statement about Apple and couldn't be bothered to come up with a better pretext.

    1. Re:It saddens me by fraxinus-tree · · Score: 1

      What an optimist... This is not a pretext at all ! You see a clear act of self-censorship. The law mentioned has a lot of abusive potential.

  24. Why would Russia have a Steve Jobs memorial by Reidsb · · Score: 1

    Aside from being consumers of Apple products, what's the connection between Russia and Steve Jobs? I'm confused as to why they would have it in the first place.

  25. There's a Putin in the closet... by BoogieChile · · Score: 1

    Sounds like Vlad feels that being gay is a choice

  26. The Answer is Subversion (Not the RCS) by mikes.song · · Score: 2

    If you really want to know, and you should want to know, then watch this video from a KGB agent that defected to the US just to explain this issue.

    Basically the way it's explained, Russian's don't hate gays, and liberals won't protect them. They just see the gay movement as more of a way to attack the existing power structure. Is Clay Aiken really good for NC, or is he Chicken Little, setup on an issued that is only designed to get Chicken Little elected?

  27. No thought (or logic) in your experiment by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Your test for whether something is a choice is idiotic; You could equally assert a "bank robber orientation" and assert that it is provably not a choice by telling people to "try being a bank robber for 1 week". You will get no takers on such a challeng in any crowd of normal people and yet this will NOT prove that bank robbers were "born that way". Any heterosexual man has the same basic physical capabilites as a homosexual man, so he could easily engage in homosexual acts... if he simply decides to reject his moral beliefs. The fact that some people find it impossible to dump their beliefs and engage in an act they hold to be immoral does not in any way indicate that people who DO engage in those acts are "oriented" that way.

    I am perfectly capable of eating lobster, but I dislike the flavor so I do not eat it. This does NOT mean that I was born with a "lobsterless orientation", it just means that while I am quite capable of eating lobster, my personal preference is not to. Some people like mustard on their hot dogs and some do not. Such preferences are not physically hard-wired into anybody's genes, and many preferences may change during ones life. Sorry, but the fact that some of us like one thing and others of us like something else is completely meaningless in any discussion of "right" or "wrong" and is entirely unrelated to whether we have an actual choice in the matter.

    Face it: There is no "gay gene". The claim that there was or that there might be was a political tactic that was useful for a while in the late 80s. Homosexuality is nothing new; it's been around for thousands of years and is nothing more or less than a rejection of normality and moral traditions. It's no different than a Jewish or Muslim person deciding that he likes the flavor of bacon and deciding to eat lots of bacon and insist that the rules of his former belief system be changed to support his new appetite.

    1. Re:No thought (or logic) in your experiment by Barsteward · · Score: 2

      "Homosexuality is nothing new; it's been around for thousands of years" - that bit is true
      " and is nothing more or less than a rejection of normality and moral traditions." but that bit is complete crap, you should get a job at fox news

      --
      "The hands that help are better far than lips that pray." - Robert Ingersoll (1833-1899)
    2. Re:No thought (or logic) in your experiment by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      Any heterosexual man has the same basic physical capabilites as a homosexual man, so he could easily engage in homosexual acts... if he simply decides to reject his moral beliefs.

      What happens if you throw a repressed Christian in an Egyptian river?

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
    3. Re:No thought (or logic) in your experiment by TheCarp · · Score: 1

      Well there is very little evidence of a gay gene however there is a fair amount of evidence for sexual orientation and that it is influenced by very early, congenital (that is, in the womb but not genetic) factors. For example, second and third born sons are more likely to be gay than first born (not something you would expect from a genetic factor). Also there is the finger length evidence which suggests differences in hormone levels.

      All that said, it does seem that there is a spectrum from, homosexual to heterosexual with plenty of variation in between. The edge cases of strict homo and heterosexuals are interesting to study but the map is hardly the territory.

      --
      "I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
    4. Re:No thought (or logic) in your experiment by Beeftopia · · Score: 1

      Any heterosexual man has the same basic physical capabilites as a homosexual man, so he could easily engage in homosexual acts... [...] Face it: There is no "gay gene".

      1) There is the concept of physical attraction. Looking at a woman's breasts or thighs or buttocks and being attracted. Versus looking at a man's buttocks, biceps or chest and being attracted.

      2) There are simple measurable physical tests for both attraction and arousal.

      For a bisexual, he can probably be aroused by another man and get an erection. For a pure heterosexual, this is simply not going to happen.

      I'm sure there are porn stars who have such will and control over their erections that they can generate an erection on demand. But my suspicion is most mail porn stars are bisexuals. Ron Jeremy said, "At any given time there are about 24 reliable woodsmen, guys who keep good erections in the American porn scene. You know, myself, Randy West, Peter North, Tom Byron." But let's say they are pure hetero - that's 24 people he's talking about in the 300 million strong US population.

      You're right in that there is a lot of variation in sexuality. Serial killers are aroused by murdering the objects of their attraction. I've seen estimates of up to 50 active serial killers in the US at any one time.

      I'm sure there is pretty much any variation of sexuality out there one can imagine. In tiny numbers. Focusing on those instead of the larger groups is an inability to see the forest because of the trees.

  28. Re:Tim Cook Steve Jobs by fraxinus-tree · · Score: 2

    AFAIK, in Russia, Apple products are generally not considered "masculine enough" long before Cook's relevations. For many russians, i-devices are girl-only. (Well, for the same those russians, anything expensive enough is a somehow "gay" when owned by a man or somehow related to prostitution, when owned by a woman... socialism, that is.)

  29. Internal enemy by Xarvh · · Score: 1

    Putin is not an idiot.
    Giving Russian population a boogieman and someone to vent their frustrations against reinforces his power.

    1. Re:Internal enemy by oh_my_080980980 · · Score: 1

      Still means Putin is gay....So what are Russia's thoughts on Tchaikovsky....

  30. Times change by peppepz · · Score: 1

    In Soviet Russia, trampling workers' rights gets you a monument, having a gay friend (?) gets it to be demolished.

  31. Re:Birthrate by serviscope_minor · · Score: 1

    It's possible, but not every trait which exists has evolved because it has some evoloutionary advantage.

    An alternative is that it's hard to make a brain which reliably finds a member of the opposite sex, especially given that the drives are somewhat indirect. E.g. people mostly hump merely due to feeling randy. It's that which leads to making the next generation. So it's now down to a question of a brain which thinks "I'm randy now i want to stick it in something with this rather incomplete and ambiguous set of attributes". That gets even worse when you include things like secondary sexual characteristics.

    --
    SJW n. One who posts facts.
  32. Re:Birthrate by Chrisq · · Score: 1

    I thought Russia's birthrate problem was mostly due to men drinking themselves to death. Their women don't want to be around guys who are drinking themselves to death, so they prefer to become mail-order brides.

    Yes they are looking at a choice between giving up the vodka or blaming the gays .... is anyone surprised at the result?

  33. To elaborate by Kartu · · Score: 2

    To elaborate (I'm neither gay, nor gay hater, nor Russian, nor iPhone lover, please spare me and don't try reading between the lines as there is nothing in there, really)

    Russia has a law that basically forbids "as Good As You" approach. (that's where word "gay" comes from, to my knowledge)
    That is, by claiming being gay is as good as being heterosexual, or that gay sex is as normal as heterosexual sex, you break the law.
    The theory of Russian parliament is that such claims are effectively gay propaganda.

    Now, Cook not only said that he was gay (which, frankly, could also have been interpreted same way), but also claimed it to be "a gift" from God. This, apparently, breaks the above mentioned law.

  34. Re:Birthrate by dave420 · · Score: 1

    You aren't explaining anything - you are providing your opinion, and expecting that to be accepted on face value simply because it's your opinion. If you could back it up with facts, then you can get upset that people ignore it. Until then "it's obvious" is not helping your case.

  35. Re:Maybe I'm missing something. by fraxinus-tree · · Score: 1

    Being rich is a family value everywhere. Being a successful technocrat in Russia is tradition-approved, too.

  36. Back in the USSR by tehcyder · · Score: 1
    Whatever its political and economic faults, at least the Soviet Union didn't try to enforce medieval Christian values on people.

    "Traditional family values" my arse.

    --
    To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
    1. Re:Back in the USSR by Dave+Emami · · Score: 1

      Whatever its political and economic faults, at least the Soviet Union didn't try to enforce medieval Christian values on people.

      Yes, they did. They just used different language, calling it "social deviationism" or such, instead of "sinful." What happend to Yevgeny Kharitonov is one example.

      --

      "The Greens lynched a hacker in Chicago. Last month, but I think the body's still hanging from the old Water Tower."
  37. True in anglo saxon world only by aepervius · · Score: 1

    But in other country sodomy is actually only anal sex. An example is the french dictionary which *solely* describe it as anal coitus. I would not be surprised to elarn that in russia it is the same, unfortunately I cannot check a russian dictionary.

    --
    C. Sagan : A demon haunted world:
    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345409469/
    visit randi.org
    1. Re:True in anglo saxon world only by AthanasiusKircher · · Score: 1

      But in other country sodomy is actually only anal sex.

      Well, in SOME other countries, but I believe we were having a discussion of the word in English, so I presumed that the English meaning was most important.

      An example is the french dictionary which *solely* describe it as anal coitus.

      Yes, and in Germany the word Sodomie describes bestiality or zoophilia, rather than anal sex. What's your point?

      Basically, up until the 19th century or so, the word just meant "unnatural sex" or "sexual acts not leading to procreation" -- including in French. That might include anal or oral sex, bestiality, masturbation, whatever. Since the term described a number of fairly private sexual "sins," most church authorities avoided specifying all the detailed different ways one could participate in "sodomy."

      In the 19th and 20th centuries, medical and legal specificity led to the term becoming more defined, but it was defined differently in different places. In France, it has come to mean anal sex specifically. In Germany, as mentioned, it was associated with bestiality. In the English-speaking world, it retained most of its original meaning of "deviant sex" in general, though it often has a closest association with homosexual sex (of whatever type) and particularly anal sex (though "buggery" is a more exact English term for that).

      I would not be surprised to elarn that in russia it is the same, unfortunately I cannot check a russian dictionary.

      Really, with all the internet at your disposal?

      Well, have a look here, where you can find out that in Russian, the historical meaning is similar to what it was in most places, i.e., "unnatural" intercourse, and in modern times it mostly means either anal sex or bestiality or both (or only one, depending on the source). If you want to refer to anal sex specifically, you, well, call it anal sex, or perhaps use some antiquated old Church legal terms.

  38. Wait, what? by sabbede · · Score: 1

    Russia had a memorial to Steve Jobs?

  39. The Catholic church by AndyKron · · Score: 1

    The Catholic church sure has Russia fucked up the proverbial ass.

    1. Re:The Catholic church by oh_my_080980980 · · Score: 1

      Orthodox Church, not Catholic.

  40. Re:Lot of the World not so progressive by tehcyder · · Score: 1

    Seriously the gay community could have it a lot worse then not being able to marry.

    The good old "you're still better off than in Nazi Germany/North Korea" argument.

    --
    To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
  41. LOL by GameboyRMH · · Score: 1

    After Apple CEO Tim Cook publicly called for sodomy

    LOLWUT? I don't remember that. What did he say?

    "Go forth and sodomize one another, let the santorum flow freely!"

    --
    "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
  42. Rude AND illogical by SpaghettiPattern · · Score: 1

    I believe most of us agree that homophobia is rude (to say the least.) But as Steve Jobs wasn't gay, removing the memorial dedicated to him is highly illogical.

    --

    I hadn't the slightest objection to his spending his time planning massacres for the bourgeoisie... (P.G. Wodehouse)
  43. *shrug* by Mysticalfruit · · Score: 1

    The Russian government while claiming one thing does something completely different? We can't even throw stones in that regard around here either. It's been long known that being openly gay in Russia is very hazardous for your health.

    How is this surprising to anybody? Exactly, it's not.

    --
    Yes Francis, the world has gone crazy.
  44. close Boilshoi? retract Swan Lake & Nutcraker? by peter303 · · Score: 1

    Russia gays like Tschaikovski have given the world treasures. Few care they are gay.

  45. Re:close Boilshoi? retract Swan Lake & Nutcrak by oh_my_080980980 · · Score: 1

    Tchaikovsky

  46. Croeso i Gymru by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

    This coupled with severe cultural taboos on pre-marital sex(in the case of Afghanistan, it's not just a taboo, it's illegal) means that for many men, especially those on the lower rungs of the economic ladder, other men are essentially the only way they can have sex.

    Not true. Do you have a TV?

    Watch a news report from Afghanistan. There will always be dozens of sheep and goats milling around nervously in the background.

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  47. Re:ooooww owww owww owww by MrKaos · · Score: 1

    Heh, I'm assuming you're referring to this: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt01...

    I really like your reference, but I was referring to that 'Barbra Streisand' song by Duck Sauce.

    --
    My ism, it's full of beliefs.
  48. Re:ooooww owww owww owww by MrKaos · · Score: 1

    Please go back to reddit. You don't even understand the Streisand effect. What made you think you're qualified to wander outside Facebook, anyway?

    I don't use reddit or facebook and I doubt you are qualified to be on my lawn.

    --
    My ism, it's full of beliefs.
  49. Re:How Did These People Wage The Cold War??? by RoLi · · Score: 1

    Well, the not-so-gay-friendly 1960's USA was able to put people on the moon, while Obama's politically correct America is not even able to put people into orbit. Bush promised a moonshot. Obama promised a Mars-mission. Currently LEO-capability is promised for 2017. Let's see whether the 2017-promise will hold, but I'm not convinced.

  50. Biological Exuberance; Evolution & Homosexuali by Paul+Fernhout · · Score: 2

    http://www.amazon.com/Biologic...
    "Homosexuality in its myriad forms has been scientifically documented in more than 450 species of mammals, birds, reptiles, insects, and other animals worldwide. Biological Exuberance is the first comprehensive account of the subject, bringing together accurate, accessible, and nonsensationalized information. Drawing upon a rich body of zoological research spanning more than two centuries, Bruce Bagemihl shows that animals engage in all types of nonreproductive sexual behavior. Sexual and gender expression in the animal world displays exuberant variety, including same-sex courtship, pair-bonding, sex, and co-parenting--even instances of lifelong homosexual bonding in species that do not have lifelong heterosexual bonding.
    Part 1, "A Polysexual, Polygendered World," begins with a survey of homosexuality, transgender, and nonreproductive heterosexuality in animals and then delves into the broader implications of these findings, including a valuable perspective on human diversity. Bagemihl also examines the hidden assumptions behind the way biologists look at natural systems and suggests a fresh perspective based on the synthesis of contemporary scientific insights with traditional knowledge from indigenous cultures.
    Part 2, "A Wondrous Bestiary," profiles more than 190 species in which scientific observers have noted homosexual or transgender behavior. Each profile is a verbal and visual "snapshot" of one or more closely related bird or mammal species, containing all the documentation required to support the author's often controversial conclusions.
    Lavishly illustrated and meticulously researched, filled with fascinating facts and astonishing descriptions of animal behavior, Biological Exuberance is a landmark book that will change forever how we look at nature."

    Basically, for decades, even centuries, wildlife biologists have been making assumptions about the sexes of animals based on their interactions -- either than or consciously suppressing the data that shows homosexuality in the wild.

    Of course, just because animals do something has never been a conclusive argument for why humans should do it, because humans are moral beings and make choices (a point my Ecology&Evolution Prof. Larry Slobodkin made in a course of philosophy and ecology/evolution). But love is so often rare and fleeting in this life, why go out of our way to make it more difficult for some people? Was the world really better off because of what was done to Alan Turing after he helped Britain survive WWII?
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A...

    See also for references to some studies:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B...

    More discussion (which mentions the page you site):
    "Is Sexual Orientation Determined at Birth?"
    http://borngay.procon.org/view...

    And:
    http://www.bbc.com/news/magazi...
    "Paul Vasey's research in Samoa has focused on a theory called kin selection or the "helper in the nest" hypothesis. The idea is that gay people compensate for their lack of children by promoting the reproductive fitness of brothers or sisters, contributing money or performing other uncle-like activities such as babysitting or tutoring. Some of the gay person's genetic code is shared with nieces and nephews and so, the theory goes, the genes which code for sexual orientation still get passed down. ... Vasey speculates that part of the reason the fa'afafine are more attentive to their nephews and nieces is their acceptance in Samoan culture compared to gay men in the West and Japan ("You can't help your kin if they've rejected you"). But he also believes th

    --
    A 21st century issue: the irony of technologies of abundance in the hands of those still thinking in terms of scarcity.
  51. Re:Biological Exuberance; Evolution & Homosexu by Payden+K.+Pringle · · Score: 2

    Well that was an amazingly detailed post. Thank you. If I had mod points and could use them, you'd get them.

    Overall, after reading all of that along with what you yourself have said, it seems that you are saying the assertion that it's not a choice is baseless, but regardless of whether it's a choice or not, the more important issue is our acceptance of homosexuals.

    I agree with that. I'm personally of the mind that homosexuality is wrong (that's my personal moral choice), but that they should be treated no differently than the rest of humanity. I'm sure everyone has lied at some point in their life. I don't see it differently. I'm also pro same sex marriage interestingly due to the financial considerations.

    Overall, I'm pro freedom-to-do-as-we-wish as long as people are taught the responsibility that goes along with such things. i.e. abortion, guns, same sex marriage, etc.

    i.e. I don't think it's right that people do it, but I don't think they should be treated as they are for what they do.