Cold Politics

As VICE reported last Friday, the three members of Russian band Pussy Riot were found guilty of “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred” and sentenced to two years in prison. Alls they did was put down Putin during a performance in a Russian Orthodox cathedral. There's plenty of disgust to go around regarding the verdict, but the most profoundly head-shaking moment of the whole proceedings, for me at least, came when the judge stated that “The court does find a religious hatred motive in the actions of the defendants by way of them being feminists who consider men and women to be equal.”

Allow me to parse this bullshit for you. What the judge is saying, essentially, is that while the Russian government proper does believe that men and women are equal in Mother Russia, certain religious organizations—say, Orthodox Christianity—do not share those beliefs. And those religious-based rights are to be defended over the basic human rights of females. Feminists can't be allowed to stir the shit or else it will “give root to perspective hatred” (their words) between the religions.

Onto the roundup!

- Continuing a shit week in Russia, the country renewed their ban on gay pride parades taking place in Moscow for another 100 years.  - Dave Mustaine, head honcho of the still-touring-somehow band Megadeth and a person who was too big of an asshole even for Metallica, decided to use the “crowd banter” portion of a Singapore show to suggest that President Obama staged the mass shootings in Colorado and Wisconsin in order to justify passing a gun ban. It should be noted that, of course, Mustaine has been born again. - A former employee of Disneyland is suing the Mouse for “religious discrimination and harassment” after being fired for not taking off her hijab (the Muslim head-scarf garb for ladies) while on the clock. - At least 80 people were killed in a wave of car bombings and shootings all across Iraq last Thursday. No one's officially taken responsibility yet, but, c'mon. Meanwhile in Afghanistan, at least 48 people were killed in four separate suicide bombings, and 11 more were killed after a Black Hawk helicopter crashed. - In Chino, California, two gals who thought they were hot shit threw three pig legs into the driveway of a home where Muslims were praying. Turns out they were right, but not about the "hot" part. - A Catholic priest in Oregon is under arrest after allegedly molesting a 12-year-old boy. When the boy ran away from him, Father Angel panicked and chased him down the street in his underwear. And then was promptly busted. - Oh, this is easily the best story of the week: The super anti-Semitic leader of the far-right Jobbik Party in Hungary discovered he's technically Jewish himself. - An ad from The American Freedom Defense Initiative that can currently be seen around the San Francisco area on the back of a bus has an interesting take on civility. “In any war between the civilized man and the savage,” it reads, “support the civilized man.” And then it continues: “Support Israel, Defeat Jihad.” - A new mosque in Tennessee opened after three years in development. And if you think those three years went smoothly, well, here's a list that's easy to swallow in terms of information, and hard to digest due to all the harassment.

- The United Church of Canada, which boasts the highest concentration of Protestants of our neighbors to the north, has decided to boycott all products imported from Israel, singling them out as the “primary obstacle to peace in the region.”

- Have you adopted a child? Pat Robertson thinks you made a big ol' mistake for taking on "someone else's problem.” - A police captain in Tulsa was punished after he refused to go to a mandatory “cultural event” at a mosque, an attempt to get everyone in the community comfortable with the town's Muslim community. He just couldn't go to a “place where people are going to refer to Jesus Christ as merely a prophet and not his Lord and Savior.” He's suing on grounds of religious discrimination. - Cause: State Representative and Tea Party-affiliated Joe Walsh made a statement about radical Islam trying to “kill Americans.” Effect: Hours later, a white weirdo shot a rifle at a nearby mosque that was full of 500 Muslims praying. - DeWitt R. Thomas is a Texas asshole and practioner of Vedism, a form of Hinduism that does not allow someone of “negroidal” descent to touch your food. As such, he's suing a local grocery store. - And our Person(s?) of the Week: Whomever took to the interwebs to mess with the website for the prime minister of Uganda, one of the worst countries when it comes to being nice to gay folk. Keep up the good work, nerd(s)! Previously - Personal Protest